Home and Garden

Most engineers would argue that modern equipment are way specialised and not worth repurposing, but you will be surprised. This might be because most electronic parts have been miniaturised and embedded to one multifunctional piece. As the saying goes “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”, this to me is like treasure hunting. However, you could quickly find yourself on the verge of hoarding!

As a DIY electronics enthusiasts & hobbyist of anything mechanical I find salvaging other people collection of electronics fun and especially on weekends when my kids are glued to the television, I use that spare free time ravaging electronic devices that have reached their shelf life maybe after upgrades or become obsolete due to trends, what you should never get rid off is one of the generators from houseshowoff.com.

Therefore, before you go throwing your electronics as junk you might want to hold onto them as they have precious electronic components that can be repurposed or recycled.

Why recycle electronic parts?

1. Economic gains
2. Environmentally friendly
3. You learn technical skills

Common household items and parts to cannibalise.

A quick safety tip invest in some proper quality safety goggles and a tool kit with screwdrivers, grips, pliers, wire cutters, strippers, soldering iron, fluke multi-meter, oscilloscope and propane torch for mass de-soldering when your more experienced. (more…)

“There is nothing truer in this world than the love of a puppy” (Mira Grant). There is a special bond that a human and a dog share. The average dog owner spends more than $2000 a year on foods, toys, dog grooming, Medicare and pet services.

However, despite the sunshine and rainbows, there’s one thing that dog owners dread. That one thing is doggy accidents. Dog potty accidents can be troublesome because you don’t know whether or not it has happened unless you’ve stepped into it.

There are a couple of reasons why dogs poop into the house. First, a dog will poop anywhere unless you tell it where it should do it. In addition, it could also be a situation where a pet owner may not give the pup enough chances to go and poop outside.

On the contrary, the dog could have medical health issues that affect its urinary tracts. Figuring out how to clean puppy accidents is not an easy process, however, with patience and conviction, it can be done. (more…)

As COVID-19 lockdown restrictions continue to keep many employees working from home, these individuals have likely made some adjustments to how they approach their work/life balance. Remote employees don’t spell disaster for companies though. Not only do these companies save money through the reduction of office operating costs, research has indicated that working from home has had a positive impact on employee productivity and has also improved employee morale. However, there are a number of necessary considerations that must be made before employees are able to work from home.

This isn’t to say it’s a tough transition to make. The most necessary elements of a proper work-from-home setup are often common in most households. A stable fiber internet connection and hardware like a laptop or PC and monitor duo and you’re ready to get to work. This is largely in part to the availability of video conferencing for remote meetings and other work-related communication. zBackup lets you automatically upload Zoom recordings to Google Drive.

Unfortunately, what hasn’t changed with this accessibility, is the skill of being able to separate work responsibilities and home responsibilities in many remote employees. (more…)

Despite how effective the many household chemicals found in products like cleansers, deodorants, toiletries, and other disinfectants might be for ridding our homes of dangerous germs, many overlook the importance of how these products are stored. All of these products can be hazardous to you and your family’s health if they’re not stored properly. That’s due to things like leaks from improper storage, children getting accesses to these products and using them improperly, and even pets snooping where they don’t belong. In order to protect yourself and your family, it’s imperative for the whole family to understand the correct way to use these products, in addition to storing them.

The first step in the process is making sure that these products’ labels are read and understood fully before use. The labels of these products are expected to include all of the information necessary to properly use them. Directions for use, safety information, and even storage tips are likely to be found on every label. However, as many families know, a number of these products are used sparingly, and thus last for extended periods of time. As such, (more…)

Despite living in an age of such advanced technology, water contamination continues to be a significant problem around the world. Even in some of the richest nations on Earth, there are a number of infrastructure related issues that can lead to large sources of contaminated drinking water that is capable of causing serious illness. Different viruses, bacteria, and parasites can find their way into surrounding rivers, lakes, and streams. As a result, these contaminants feed into the sources of water that we use every day and can cause serious harm.

Which is why it is so important to continue following the best water purification practices including the use of filters and water softener, and investing in water treatment processes that help to ensure everyone is receiving the safest water from our water well installation or every time we turn on the faucet. If we fail to watch for these contaminants in the supply of our water, they can likely bring on illness, or even worse, life-threatening conditions.

Here’s how the contamination process could work: take a rainy day for example. The rain pouring down from the sky can wash fecal matter from surrounding farm areas and push it into nearby rivers or streams. (more…)

If you still report to the office, or if your home has recently become your office, a proper workspace is an important factor in maintaining productivity. No matter your profession, or position for that matter, you are always engaged in a battle with improving productivity and accomplishing high-quality work in a timely manner. There are a number of distractions that make this challenging in the office amongst colleagues, but there are even more at home.

Working from home can pose some unique situations that disrupt the typical work dynamic a company would experience. This can be a result of administrative issues such as work assignments becoming less clear or tasks between teams becoming more challenging, however, it is still your responsibility to find a way to endure and provide a solution. More commonly, though, delays to the workflow of employees working from home are going to be found in the form of household cleaning, cooking, and attending to children. This is why it’s important to prioritize a designated workspace to avoid these distractions. (more…)