Investing into a franchise business can be very profitable if you find the franchise that suits your needs perfectly. Finding the right franchise can be hard to find on your own as there are a myriad of sources for franchises.

A website that offer help to find the best franchises for you is AmericasBestFranchises.com. This site is an American web portal with over 350 franchises for sale.
The various franchises are divided into about 60 categories and 250 sub categories, making it easier to browse the different opportunities. The website give you detailed information about each franchise which include how much money you need to invest in the franchise, general information about the type of business and specific information about the opportunity. To get more information about an interesting franchise you simply enter your personal information into a form and AmericasBestFranchises.com will contact you as soon as possible. In this form you can sign up for a newsletter with updates and news about franchises.

AmericasBestFranchises.com also got sections for new arrivals where you can browse the freshest franchises. Another section you can browse is a section called ‘5-Star Opportunities’ where you can find some of the best franchises.

This website seems like a great resource for finding a good business opportunity if you are going to invest in a franchise.

According to an article from newscientist.com it can take up to 4000 years for rainforests to fully regenerate.
The Federal University of Paraná studied different parts of the Brazilian Atlantic forest. Sadly this rainforest used to cover 1.2 million square kilometers, but only a measly 100,000 square kilometers of forest remain today. Researchers at the university looked at different parts of the rainforests to see how is was able to cope with human activity.
The good news is that certain aspects of this forest could recover in just 65 years, but it will probably take up to 4000 years for it to fully regenerate.
The rainforests need protection now!

Related to this news is this series of images on boston.com of Amazon Indians protesting plans to build a hydroelectric dam that will destroy their living grounds. These images are truly remarkable and we should really support these natives in their fight against the big corporations/government.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is ranged as one of the best universities in the world with famous scientists such as Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud being among the First Board of Governors.
Researchers and students at this Israeli university are developing new inventions and know-how all the time. A Technology Transfer company called Yissum is responsible for promoting these inventions to the marked. The inventions and know-how that the University Technology Transfer company serve come from research fields such as agriculture, medicine, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals, computer science and many more.

Yissum has worked with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for over 40 years and are behind over 60 spin-off companies like Mobileye and Novagali.
The company has granted over 400 technology licenses and have helped many commercial products to become a success. These activities generates almost $1 billion in worldwide sales each year.

The Yissum staff works closely with the researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to find out what kind of new technology the researchers are developing. This information can be used to help the inventors by doing marked research on the various inventions. Yissum offer a wide range of different Technology Transfer Services that are both necessary and helpful when promoting new technologies to the marked.

The British organization Marine Conservation Society want to ban balloon launches because balloons can entangle wildlife and the balloons are also being consumed which can result in death. Dead birds have been found with balloon remnants around their legs and the same thing happen to turtles eating the plastics. The problem is increasing as research shows that the number of balloons found at the shore has tripled since 1996.

To change this the organization has launched a campaign called “Don’t Let Go” where they want to spread awareness about the problem. Some places in UK has already banned releasing of balloons.
It should be pretty easy to avoid releasing balloons into the wild, but I guess many people don’t think about the harm that they can cause. Kudos to this organization for creating hype about the problem. Those of us that live close to the shore should take some time now and then, and pick up plastics that litter the seaside.

Seems like this blog is turning into a “Save the oceans” blog, but since it’s called “Musings from a male knitter” I’m gonna write about things that concern me and the oceans are very important to me.
Haven’t knitted in quite some time either..

I have mentioned before on this blog that I’m moving to a new house later this summer. When I move into my new home I will have to go shopping for some new furniture. One thing I might need to buy is a new Bathroom Sink because the bathroom is rather old.

A company called Sinks Gallery offer a wide variety of different artisan and designer sinks that you can buy in their online store. They also stock bath furniture, faucets, various types of lighting, bathtubs and all kinds of bathroom accessories.

Among their big selection they got a section for Vessel Sinks. This type of sinks look really good and I especially like the vessel sinks that are made out of wood since I’m interested in having an organic home. If you are unsure about how to install a vessel sink then Sink Gallery can help you with their tips page where they go into detail about the installation of vessel sinks.

They also have section for Kitchen Sinks where you can find lots of different types of sinks. They got some sinks made out stone that have a nice design, but they also have kitchen sinks made out of wood, ceramic, metal and fireclay if those types of material better fit your kitchen.

I wrote earlier today about how a part of the Pacific Ocean is filled with plastic crap. It didn’t come as a big surprise that I found some other bad news about the ocean. According to an article at livescience.com a study by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have found chemicals made by humans in creatures living deep below the ocean surface. The chemicals were found in different species of cephalopods (among the species were octopods, squids, cuttlefishes and nautiluses) which are food for larger animals in the sea.
Among the chemicals that were found were DDT, PCBs and BDEs, all dangerous chemicals that don’t degrade and will get accumulated in bigger animals like different types of whales. The researches were quite surprised to find such chemicals and even high levels of them in an ecosystem so remote from us humans.

I have to say it again: Stop polluting our oceans please!

Investing in real estate can be very profitable if you know the ways of the trade. Getting an education in real estate investing is a must if you want to be successful in this business.

Nouveau Riche University is a school that specialize in real estate investing with classes at different locations in the United States. They are now offering a workshop called The Intensive where students learn how to make a fortune from buying and selling real estate. Among the things that the students will learn are how to find property, turning that property into profit, how to build a team, how to get funding for your buying and many other points. Visit the Nouveau Riche website to check out where the upcoming workshops are located and you can register there if you find one that interest you.

The Nouveau Riche name come from French and means new rich. It basically describes someone who comes from a poor background and is able to accumulate considerable wealth in their life span. Nouveau Riche is also related to the term “Rags to Riches” which is the same concept of going from poverty to wealth and this is what Nouveau Riche University teaches in their classes / workshops.