Peppy Square

Badge reels are a popular way to display ID cards, badges, and proximity cards. If you don’t know what a badge reel is, it is an item that attaches to an individual’s clothing so that the person can wear his/her ID. The ID is attached to a retractable cord that makes it easy for the person to pull out his/her ID and swipe it for access to secured areas. There are a lot of different badge reels available these days, so this article will take a look at what’s out there so you can choose the appropriate badge reels for your workplace or other organization.

A very basic type of badge reel is the no-twist variety. These reels contain a piece of plastic on the cord to prevent your ID card from getting twisted around. These items can either be clipped to a belt or you can attach the swivel back to your clothing. There are a lot of different colors available, so you’re bound to find the right one for your employees or volunteers.

Round badge-reels are very popular, especially since you can customize them with your company’s colors and/or logo. These badge reels can either be opaque or translucent and you can get them with a spring clip or belt clip so they can be easily attached to clothing. Some round badge reels have a reinforced vinyl strap that helps ensure your ID will stay attached to the reel at all times. Square badge reels are very similar to round ones, except that they are square. Both the round and square badge reels have a cord that is 34 inches or longer.

If displaying your company’s logo is important, you will be pleased to know that you can buy a Logoreel badge reel. These items have an imprint area that is 150% larger than the ones found on regular badge reels. That way your logo can be seen more easily. The cord is slightly longer and each reel has two different attachment options: a belt clip and a loop that can be easily attached to a lanyard. These are some of the most versatile badge reels you can buy. If you like the idea of attaching a badge reel to a lanyard but you don’t need the extra real estate for your logo, lanyard badge-reels are worth a look. Some lanyard reels are known as “Smart Reel” products because the cord will stay extended unless you press a button to retract it. (There are also Smart Reels that stand alone as opposed to being part of lanyard.)

Carabiner and heavy-duty badge-reels are both good choices if you need badge reels that are high-quality. Both of these types of reels can be customized so you can show off your company’s identity. Some of the carabiner badge reels can be attached to your clothing in two different ways (lanyard and belt clip), plus they won’t twist around. Meanwhile, heavy-duty badge reels have a belt clip and you can choose from several different styles of cords, including chain-link, nylon, and steel wire. These reels range from 18 to 24 inches long.

Finally, there are three other styles of reels you may want to look at. First, there are heart-shaped reels that are available in pink and have a pink ribbon on them to promote breast cancer awareness. (Other colors, such as red, are also available and lack the ribbon graphic.) If you (or your employees) tend to lose track of your keys, you can get key reels that clip on to your belt, so you always know where your keys are. And for you outdoor enthusiasts, there are sports clips that are customizable and can easily clip on to your jacket or backpack. These are especially great for skiers because they can hold on to your lift ticket.

Holding on to your ID card, badge, or keys can be easy when you have the right badge reel holder. Now that you’re aware of the many different types of badge reels, you can pick out just the right one for your needs.

The most commonly used formula for calculating square footage, and the one used by real estate appraisers, is to include only heated and air-conditioned areas of the house in the equation. That excludes the garage, attic storage, unfinished basements, porches, and any other such spaces.

The total square footage includes not only the areas of the rooms, but also the area occupied by the walls between the rooms. The area the walls occupy may seem small, only a few square inches, but it adds up fast. Three lineal feet of an interior wall equals one square foot. All totaled, the thickness of walls can be as much as ten percent of the overall square footage of the house.

You need to measure square footage from the outside faces of the outside walls and include the areas of the stairs. Count only spaces that have a ceiling height of more than seven feet. Stair areas count as a part of the floor from which they descend. Areas open to the rooms below do not need to be counted. Don’t worry about fireplaces, small mechanical closets, and such since these areas amount to a tiny fraction of the overall space.

Remember, the heated square footage is generally used in conjunction with a very rough estimate of the cost per square foot for preliminary cost estimating. It is one factor in the cost of construction, but it is not all that determines the actual cost of your house. There will be many costs that are unrelated to the size of the house, like appliances, landscaping costs, and the driveway, just to name a few.

Caution: Be sure the builder you are talking to defines “square footage” in the same way you do. Once in a while I run into a builder who wants to include the garage and porch areas. Or sometimes builders will count in the garage at half its square footage. This serves to “dilute” the overall cost per foot average. It can make the cost of construction seem lower, but it can make matters confusing. I prefer the appraiser’s method of counting the “heated square footage.”

Builders only use the “cost per square foot” as a rough estimate. They almost never sign a contract binding them to build a house at a particular cost per square foot. They’d go broke if they did that because there’s no way for them to know precisely what a home will cost until they know precisely what has to be ordered for the house and precisely how much labor it will take to build it. There are too many variables. You may want a stone exterior for your house. That will drive up the cost per square foot of your house considerably. Or you may want a certain kind of roof shingle that requires more labor and materials than a simpler one. That’s why some builders quote the estimated cost per square foot as a range. They won’t know precisely how much the house is going to cost until they know exactly how many and what kind of toilets, sinks, bricks, roofing material, appliances, flooring, and everything else that goes into the house will be required.

PHP is one of the most popular open-source scripting languages. Open-source means free, so you can use PHP as often as you like without having to pay for licenses or support. It is a full-featured programming language, capable of managing very large database-driven online environments.

PHP works in conjunction with HTML. If you are already familiar with HTML, making the jump to PHP is simple, and the two languages are interchangeable on the page. PHP can add new features to your site, but the appearance will be determined by HTML.

PHP is known for interactive features such as:

1. shopping carts
2. recommend similar items to your users,
3. interactive forums
4. private messaging systems

The built in mathematical functions in PHP can help you track purchases through and hits to your website. Such functions include:

5. absolute value
6. square root
7. rounding

PHP is a server-side language. This means that PHP has access to all the information the server has, and very little access to information the client has. In fact, PHP only has access to client information that the client himself has given to the server. The fact that PHP is a server-side language makes it very useful for:

8. embedding dynamic text into static text
9. integrating databases with websites

C programs are ‘pre-compiled’, which in short means that they need to be re-compiled every time you switch machines. Most Internet Service Providers, or ISPs, do not provide you with a C compiler. Using PHP avoids this problem. If it works on one server, it will generally work on any other server that has it. And, most ISPs that provide server-side scripting provide PHP. So the final benefit is:

10. portability

With just a little effort to learn and use this language, PHP will increase the functionality of your site, making it more effective for both the site owner and for the customer.