Welcome to Summer Sparks, our quick-hitting series on cash-saving deals and fun stuff for summer. We hope these posts will spark some summer fun ideas of your own.

For those looking for a cheap vacation spot this summer, instead of booking a pricey plane ticket to a distant isle, it’s easy to find an equally beautiful destination right here in the U.S. of A.

The National Park Service maintains 58 national parks (and 333 other sites) spanning every state and most territories in the U.S. (besides Delaware, but are you really surprised?). They charge from $3 to $25 for a week’s pass, or $80 for an “America the Beautiful” year-long unlimited pass. Most offer, or are near, cheap camp sites, and unlike most touristy destinations there are no other costs once you get there (unless you’re into gift shop kitsch).

My introduction to the National Park system happened last year when I made a spring break trip to visit a friend in Utah. As a starving college student, I couldn’t afford a ticket to Cancun, but I found Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks far more rewarding. Instead of dealing with the stress of airport searches and getting ripped off at beachfront restaurants, I enjoyed the simple pleasures of eating Pasta-Roni at a snow covered park with a few good buddies. And instead of surrounding myself with girls in bikinis, I got to see what my hair looked like after 4 days of hiking in a wool cap.

The National Park Service’s site, nps.gov, lets you find parks by state, and their Find A Park page lets you search with more refined criteria. So instead of flying halfway across the world, find out what makes America one of the most geographically unique countries in the world.

–Cody

Store credit cards usually have high interest rates, or offer low introductory fees that can skyrocket after a neglected payment. Put a card in the hands of someone that already has bad spending habits, and they can rack up some serious debt. Since most store credit cards have instant approval, that’s exactly what can happen. By offering 10 percent off one purchase, they might receive twice that amount in interest or fees.

To avoid these troubles, avoid these store credit cards. If you’re interested in a particular card’s rewards, take a brochure home and compare the rates and benefits with other credit cards to make sure the rewards are actually worth it. According to Bankrate.com, many cards require you to spend a minimum amount every year in order to take advantage of their perks. Others only offer you small gift cards for the hundreds or thousands of dollars you spend. Also, keep in mind that too many credit accounts or too much available credit can hurt your credit score.

If you do decide to sign up for one of these credit cards, at least try to use the 10 percent discount on a big-ticket item like a TV rather than a T-shirt. You may as well take full advantage of their offer–assuming you can pay it off quickly.

Store credit cards can end up costing you if you aren’t careful, but with a little responsibility they can be worth it. Check the upcoming August issue of brass|MAGAZINE for more helpful info on credit cards.

–Cody

Here’s a couple of headliner examples:
iPhone: The ad says it all, “Twice as fast. Half the price.” When first released the iPhone cost $599. A couple months later, the price was dropped by $200. The rapid reduction in price caused Apple to release an apology and give a $100 voucher to those who had already bought one. A new iPhone 3G starts at $199. But, you might wait until the glitches are fixed before you buy one.
Xbox 360: The Xbox 360 originally sold for $399 and had 20 GB of storage. The price then dropped to $350. Now a brand new 60 GB version is going to be sold for the same $350 price. Another reason not to buy right off the bat: The Red Ring of Death glitch, which prompted a global recall that cost Microsoft an estimated $1 billion dollars plus.

These are just a couple of examples, but they illustrate the bigger point. Wait a while before you buy the latest and greatest, and you’ll avoid headaches and overspending. Check out the upcoming August edition of brass|MAGAZINE to get CEO/founder Bryan Sims’ take on buying to be cool.

–Jens

Curious about how these changes might affect your travel plans? Check out this helpful graphic and article from USA Today here. 300 U.S. airports are seeing schedule changes, most of them cutbacks.

Some of these cutbacks have happened, others won’t take effect until November. Still, for all you out-of-state students flying back to school in September, speaking as a former out-of-state student myself, I’d book now.

–Peter

They’re so huge, it can be hard for the average Joe to look up and take it all in. That is, until there’s trouble. Over the past year, the state of the housing market has taken its toll on the industry’s two biggest players. Now the giant wheels are in danger of going askew.

Mortgage or no mortgage, debt or no debt, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are big enough players in the economy that their situation could affect everyone.

Combined, the two government-created firms own or back about $5 trillion of home debt. That’s about half of all the mortgage debt in the United States. So if they go under, it would be like a pair of hippopotamuses doing cannonballs into a pool. But the government won’t let this happen.

This week, the Fed and Congress are pushing to come up with a rescue plan for the two giants. A report today in the New York Times says Congress could be asked to extend a $300 billion line of credit to help the two institutions.

To put things in perspective, together the two companies have lost about $12 billion since last summer and their stock share prices have hit 17-year lows.

So how does this affect us? According to a CNN Money report, with the home and credit markets having taken a beating, the two companies have been the largest (and virtually only) source for financial institutions to find funding for home loans. Want to take out a home loan? There’s a pretty good chance either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac make that loan possible.

This all comes on the heels of the failure of IndyMac last week, which was huge in providing home loans to people who weren’t required to provide documentation of income. According to NPR, it was the second largest failure of a financial institution in U.S. history. Such a fold is big, but analysts say most financial institutions are quite safe, and IndyMac customers are FDIC insured.

Also, for all you students out there, I’d keep tabs on SLM Corp., aka Sallie Mae, which controls a huge chunk of student loans. According to Forbes Magazine, they’re fairing better, but still feeling the pressure too. Check out Sarah’s previous brass Blog post on the student loan crunch.

It’s time for all of us to look up at those wheels in the sky and cross our fingers. Stay tuned everyone.

–Peter

The finished product should look something like this. For those of you who are visual learners, here’s a photo journal and a video.

The system works on the principle of heat exchange. Basically, as cold water flows through the copper tubing, the air around it is cooled. The fan then blows this cool air around the room. There’s far more technical, sciency stuff going on here, but my heat-wracked head wasn’t able to handle it. All you need to know is that it makes the room cooler than it was.

However, don’t expect it to pump out cool air like your store-bought AC system. You won’t be able to turn it on high and send out a 55 MPH gust of the north wind–the heat exchange system isn’t as powerful, because it doesn’t use artificial coolants or a large motor.

In my (nonexpert) opinion, I recommend spending some coin on an aquarium pump. It makes the whole system more efficient, because water is cycled back into the tank instead of drained outside. You won’t have to refill your cooler as often.

In any case, have some fun with this. Sure, you can probably find a used air conditioner for under $100, but half the fun is making something yourself.

Remember, water and electricity don’t mix, check out these safety tips for using electricity near water.

– Cody

True, no one wants to ever be in the delinquent position of having a debt collection agency coming after them. Still, third-party debt collection plays an important role. According to the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, there are 6,500 collection agencies in the United States; and in 2005, they returned $39.3 billion back into the economy.

That being said, not all collectors follow the rules in getting people to pay up. According to a CNN Money report out this week, complaints against debt collectors are on the rise. Sometimes, aggressive collectors cross the line into harassment–doing things like calling at odd hours (up to six times a day) and threatening debtors with jail time. According to the Federal Trade Commission, here are some basic rights everyone has to protect against overly aggressive third-party debt collectors:

• They cannot contact you at odd hours (like before 8am or after 9pm) unless you agree. They also can’t repeatedly call just to annoy you.
• You cannot be threatened with arrest, jail time or personal harm.
• They can’t intimidate you with false statements like exaggerating how much you owe, list crimes you haven’t been charged with or claim they work for a credit bureau.
• According to the CNN report, you can stop a debt collector from calling by writing a letter to the agency telling them to stop.
• Also, if you have an attorney, debt collectors must contact them and not you.

If you think a debt collector has crossed the line with you, contact your state attorney general’s office and file a complaint with the FTC. Debt collection isn’t very pretty, and undoubtedly there are delinquents out there who need to be chased aggressively, but everyone has rights–that’s the law. For more information on debt collection, check out this brass article.
–Peter

I recently came across an interesting story of a blue M&M… and the brief-clad, guitar-playing cowboy who has stepped up to defend the use of his image. If you’re not getting me yet, I’m talking about The Naked Cowboy. He is a NYC-based street performer who’s leveled a $6 million trademark infringement lawsuit against Mars Inc., over a video billboard featuring a blue M&M allegedly made in his likeness. You can check out the story on CNN here.

Sounds like a joke right? Well, the courts aren’t laughing. Recently, a judge ruled the case fit for trial, despite a Mars Inc. defense arguing the parody was permissible under the First Amendment.

This performer may come across as an eccentric character, but in truth there’s more to him than just a guy looking for attention and photos with tourists. The cowboy’s real name is Robert Burck, and he’s actually a business owner who’s taken all of the legal steps necessary to protect his image and likeness.

Burck has capitalized on his unique persona, appearing in ads, cameos and even a Super Bowl commercial by Chevrolet. He may be goofy, but he’s business savvy too.

Anyway, I think this is a great story highlighting the importance of registering (and respecting) trademarks. If you have a business or a marketable public image, read up on registering for a trademark. That way no one will be able to make money directly off your image or idea without your permission.

–Peter

In honor of American Independence Day, here are some fireworks numbers to amaze, a list of shows you want to catch at least once, and some links to get you in the spirit.

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Fire-working facts

• 16,000 fireworks shows will be held across the U.S. this year. 225 million pounds of fireworks are blown up across the U.S. on the 4th of July.
• $900 million–the value of the fireworks spectacle production industry in the U.S.
• $3,000 to over $75,000–the budget for a fireworks show produced by trained professionals.

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Shows to see

1. Washington DC: Half a million people, a huge parade, our capital, and all the history you could ask for.
2. NYC, NY: 3 million people come to watch 40,000 shells explode in 30 minutes at Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks show.
3. Boston, MA: The 23-minute show is synchronized to a live performance by the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra. Just loading and wiring the mortars takes two weeks of work.
4. Lake Tahoe, CA: The 10th-deepest lake in the world is the mirror for this 5,000 explosion show.
5. Seattle, WA: 10,000 effects, 2,300 shells, 21 minutes and the Space Needle.

Be safe
Get out and celebrate the founding of our country, but be smart about it. Stay safe and check out the laws in your state before you light anything .

– Jens

This is a massively huge question in the media industry right now. Increasingly, viewers are accessing streaming or downloadable content on their iPhones, Blackberries and laptops. This shift by users away from the boob tube to new devices has a term–The New TV Ecosystem. In this new environment, folks are now consuming mainstream media on-the-go and on-demand.

According to a report by MediaPost’s Online Video Insider, Internet advertising revenue–at $21 billion–outstripped both Cable and broadcast TV advertising in 2007. To illustrate the growth of the New TV Ecosystem even more, the amount of streaming content and podcasts online jumped 133 percent from June 2007 to March 2008. You can check out the full report here.

Here I go with connections again: a shift in user habits means a shift in the business landscape. It’s left some pretty big corporate players scrambling to readjust and stay in the black. As for now, most major networks are offering popular TV shows streaming online. The business model used by broadcast TV for decades is really being forced to adapt now. The trick is to figure out how to monetize all this stuff and survive in the age of YouTube.

It’s an exciting time, and a win-win situation for us viewers.

– Peter