When we think of small living expertise, we think of NASA, submarine engineers, or tiny house enthusiasts. Hotel designers don’t come to mind, but they ought to: Like these two Dutch architects managed to wedge nearly everything you’d need to live comfortably into a wood mechanism the size of a walk-in closet.
Looks like Apple doesn’t want Microsoft to hog the OS spotlight today with its announcement of Windows 10. As Microsoft was unveiling its next iteration of Windows, Apple quietly pushed out the first GM Candidate for OS X Yosemite, a firm indicator that we’re on track for a public OS X Yosemite release in the very near future. For members of the public beta test program Apple today released OS X Yosemite Beta 4.
OS X Yosemite GM Candidate 1.0 weighs in around 857MB and carriers build number 14A361c. Along with it Apple has also released Xcode 6.1 GM seed and OS X Server 4.0 Developer Preview. Apple has told developers that they can now submit apps and app updates to Mac App Store build with Xcode 6.1 GM seed.
A new security vulnerability was discovered recently named “Shellshock.” Apple has already issued a fix for OS X Mountain Lion and Mavericks and with its latest pre-release beta for developers it has also fixed the bash security issue in OS X Yosemite.
When Yosemite was unveiled back in June Apple said that it would be released later this fall. Since iOS 8 has already been rolled out all eyes are on the company now to quickly release its new OS X iteration.
It is widely believed the OS X Yosemite will be released to the public some time next month, a formal release date has not been confirmed by Apple as yet.
OS X Yosemite GM Candidate 1.0 Released For Developers
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It takes time to hone your cocktail craft. Thanks to Ozz, the learning curve isn’t quite so steep. The device visually guides pouring and mixing so that you don’t have to worry about eyeballing the notches on a shot glass. A companion app for iPhone…
Surprise, surprise: the government doesn’t take kindly to being hacked. The United States Department of Justice announced today that four members of an international hacking group have been indicted for stealing over $100 million of software and…
This piece was written by Sarah Chang of GoGirl Finance for Betterment.com.
Scan a hospital bill for the cost breakdown for services. The difference between your out-of-pocket costs and the hospital billing costs is astonishing.
Take the cost of having a baby in an American hospital. The total bill typically ranges from $32,000 to $51,000–however, your out-of-pocket costs average only $2,444, according to a data report from healthcare analytics group Truven Analytics.¹
As most financial planners will tell you, good health insurance can prevent financial ruin. However, this is not the only form of insurance that most people need to adequately protect themselves and their finances. One of the key tenets of a solid plan is having comprehensive insurance.
Here are three types that you may have overlooked–but should consider as part of your financial plan.
1. Long-Term Care Insurance
The phrase “long-term care” can bring to mind nursing homes and hospitals, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Long-term care really just means the type of care you will need when you are “no longer able to perform normal daily activities for yourself like bathing, dressing, and eating.” Long-term care can take place in a nursing home, of course, but it can also happen at home or in an assisted living facility.
You may be thinking, “But I’m not old! This isn’t something I need to be thinking about just yet.” But the facts tell a different story. Financial planner and founder of Next-Gen Financial Shannon McLay says that 41% of all people requiring long-term care are under the age of 65–meaning it’s not just an issue for the elderly.
She notes that long-term care is not cheap; the national average is between $1,500 and $7,800 a month. Considering it’s not typically covered by Medicare or private health insurance, this kind of insurance can get very expensive. Some workplace benefit programs may cover long-term care insurance.
“Most people do not want to think about long-term care until they need it and by then, it’s too late,” says McLay. “The best time to start searching for long-term care insurance is when you are in your 50s, and you are still in good health.” Considering family members often shoulder the brunt of long-term care costs, early and complete coverage can lead to a better outcome for everyone.
2. Disability Insurance
You may be in perfect health right now, but it’s hard to predict when an injury or illness could impact your ability to work. Ashley Feinstein, expert for financial advice website GoGirl Finance, says “this is often an overlooked form of insurance.”
But considering 18.7% of Americans are currently living with disability, and one in four people in the United States workforce will suffer a disabling injury before they retire, it’s incredibly important, Feinstein says. However, if you’re shopping for disability coverage there is one thing to note: Premiums for women tend to be slightly higher than those for men, as they have a statistically higher chance of filing a claim. However, unisex premiums are available so it pays off to look around for coverage. Costs range from a couple hundred to thousands of dollars per year depending on health, age, income level, and more.
3. Renters Insurance
If you’ve purchased a home, you would have been required to provide proof of homeowners insurance. If you’re a renter, it’s possible you haven’t put much thought into getting renters insurance. You are just renting, after all… right?
However, renters insurance–which ranges from $180 to $360 annually, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners–can be a financial lifesaver. Insurance providing coverage for unexpected events, such as a flood that occurs in another apartment or even hotel costs if your living space become uninhabitable.
Feinstein suggests taking note of the deductible when purchasing a renters policy. If the policy’s deductible is $500, for instance, you will not receive coverage for the first $500 of loss. Make sure you don’t select a policy with a deductible that’s beyond your financial means.
Where to Find Coverage
If you are looking to increase your coverage and your employer provides benefits, start there. Many companies will have different options and perks as part of their benefits package.
However, if you are unsure of where to start, or if you’re looking at purchasing life, disability, or long-term care insurance, it’s a good idea to speak with a broker. Speak with friends and colleagues for recommendations, check online, and hold in-person interviews to find the right person. You can also consider going directly to companies like MetLife, Liberty Mutual, Penn Mutual, and State Farm–many of which will discuss options over the phone.
¹ The study found that among women and newborns with employer-provided commercial health insurance, average total charges for care with vaginal and cesarean births were $32,093 and $51,125.
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PHOENIX (AP) — Federal authorities who have pushed back against Arizona’s attempts to confront illegal immigration in recent years face a Tuesday deadline to comment on two state immigration policies being scrutinized by the courts.
The Obama administration is scheduled to provide input in a challenge of Gov. Jan Brewer’s policy that denies driver’s licenses to certain young immigrants who have avoided deportation under a change ordered by the president. White House officials are also expected to urge a judge to throw out Arizona’s 2005 immigrant smuggling ban.
Brewer and the Obama administration have clashed over illegal immigration before, most notably in a federal challenge seeking to throw out Arizona’s 2010 immigration law, SB1070.
In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law’s most contentious section, requiring police to question, while enforcing other laws, the immigration status of people suspected of being in the country illegally. Other parts, such as a requirement that immigrants carry registration, were struck down.
On Arizona’s driver’s license policy, the federal government didn’t issue a challenge but was asked by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to offer input in a lawsuit by immigrants’ rights advocates who are seeking to overturn it.
In July, a three-judge panel of the court blocked the driver’s license policy and suggested the rules were intended to express hostility toward the young immigrants.
Brewer, a Republican, pointed out that the judges who ruled against her were appointed by Democratic presidents. She has asked a larger panel of the court to reconsider the ruling.
The state driver’s license policy was a reaction to steps the Obama administration took in June 2012 to shield thousands of immigrants from deportation and expand their legal rights. About 580,000 people have been approved to take part in the program, including about 20,000 in Arizona.
Meanwhile, the administration has asked U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton to block the smuggling law as part of its challenge of SB1070, which made a minor change to the older legislation.
The federal government argues the state smuggling law is trumped by a similar federal law. Brewer’s attorneys contend the smuggling law doesn’t conflict with federal law and that the Obama administration hadn’t presented a proper challenge of the entire smuggling law.
The dispute over the smuggling law is all that remains of the administration’s challenge of SB1070, but a coalition of civil rights groups is continuing to push a separate challenge.
Does the idea of taking “a basic woman” and turning her “from a red hot mess to a bootylicious babe” make you uncomfortable? If so,Lifetime’s new series “Girlfriend Intervention” may not be for you… but this spoof on it is.
Comedians Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson dig at the premise of the new series: four black women, who coach white women on how to let out what the show’s trailer calls the “strong black woman” that is “trapped inside” of them.
“The Intervention,” produced by Williams, Robinson and Jonathan Mayer, features the funny lady duo interviewing white women walking through Union Square Park in New York City. Their first question draws a variety of serious and silly responses, some half-joking some half-mortified.
“What’s the name of the black woman inside you?” throws a few interviewees far out of their comfort zone right off the bat. That is, aside from the woman who answers “Laetitia” without skipping a beat.
Williams and Robinson later instruct ladies on the street to “put on these headphones like a black girl,” to which one woman can’t help but reply, “I feel like that’s offensive.”
The video concludes with coronations, as the two comedians bequeath their subjects with black womanhood.
And Williams doesn’t hold back her sarcasm, “By the power invested in me, on the behalf of Oprah Winfrey and Alfred Woodard, you are now officially a black sister.”
What do you think about “Girlfriend Intervention”? Tell us in the comments below.
Image Credit: Pixabay.
It’s a blistering 30 degrees outside, Michael is walking down the street in shorts and a T-shirt. Many drive past, curiously looking at him. But one family turns the car around. With that little decision, everyone’s life is turned upside down.
It’s the inspiring story behind the movie The Blind Side. Not only is Michael Oher’s life transformed into an NFL star and Superbowl champ, but the entire Tuohy family is blessed beyond anything imaginable.
Our culture is captured by the epic, grandiose, and monumental. “Go hard or go home” is the mantra for success. We stand in awe of Goliath and pay no attention to young David.
Indeed we forget that little decisions have profound effects. As stones took down a giant, here are 40 little decisions we can make today to deeply enrich our lives:
What is the best advice you can give to someone attending their first year at a university?: originally appeared on Quora: The best answer to any question. Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from experts and get insider knowledge. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
Answer by Jessica Su, CS PhD student at Stanford
…
Answer by Jaclyn Konzelmann, Graduate of Honours Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo
I hated my first year at University. I was dating someone at a different school who I didn’t get to see that often (compared to high school when we saw each other every day), none of my friends from high school went to the same University as me so I started out having no friends, and to top it all off, I quickly realized that while I may have done well in high school, an engineering calculus class was no comparison to grade 12 math (I still remember the shock of seeing my first 60 something mark).
It took me about 10 months to finally open up and start having fun in University. It was the summer after first year that things turned around for me and I started to LOVE University. Having said that, if I were to give any advice based on my own personal experiences in school – and after meeting a ton of new grads at my first job and talking to them about school, I would say:
#1. It’s ok to be scared, nervous, sad, anxious, uneasy…at first. Work through this and try to open yourself up to new experiences. Change can be scary, but it can also be exciting, fun, exhilarating, and lead you to amazing new places in life!
#2. Everyone else around you is in the same place in life as you. It’s easy to get caught up in your own feelings, but remember that everyone around you is in a similar position. They are all there to make new friends and experience new things. Let people in and reach out to others. This is also one of the ever diminishing times in your life where you will be surrounded by people who are in the same place as you. Once you start working, you will be surrounded by people who may have already been working for 5, 10, 15 years and are at a different place in their life. But right now, you can easily relate to everyone around you. This is something that took me 10 months to realize – but was definitely one of my breakthrough moments in school.
#3. Travel. This is something that I never did because I never really realized it was an option. If you get the chance to do a year or a term or a semester abroad and you think it might be fun – do it. Not only will it be a lot of fun, it will also make you a much more interesting person when you meet people later on in life. It also gives you something cool to talk about. My sister worked abroad for a term in Scotland and she loved it – and learned a lot.
#4. Do well in school, but don’t think you need to have the rest of your life figured out. Sure school is the next step in figuring out what to do with your life, but don’t thing that you should have everything figured out as soon as you start University. Heck, don’t think you need to have it figured out in your last year. Life is an adventure, school is a key part of it, so try your best at everything you do and take it one day at a time. I ended up graduating from Engineering and am now working in a Business role, I’m still thankful for the education I got because I know school was more about shaping me as a person than teaching me all the skills I would need in a working environment.
#5. Make friends. Even if you end up in different places in life after graduation, you will keep in touch with the people that matter most to you. And it will give you a good excuse to visit different places if you do end up all scattering. Most of my friends ended up staying close by and I was the one to move, but it was great having them come out and visit me 🙂
#6. Have fun! I realize this is a generic piece of advice but nonetheless I don’t think it can be stressed enough. Do what makes you happy and try new things. Whether that means joining your school’s robotics club or playing on a sports team; if it will make you happy then do it. Be responsible, but always always make time for having fun.
…
Answer by Benedict Chiu, USC Class of 2017
I just finished my first undergraduate year of college and it was a big transition year for me. I offer some humble advice!
Building your social life from scratch is hard, but necessary
Through elementary school, middle school, and high school, you have mostly grown up with the same group of people. Sure you’ll make new friends and new enemies, but the bottom line is that you know everyone by face if not by name.
College is overwhelming in the sense that you know close to no one; everyone is a stranger. Don’t worry, you’re not alone on this. Putting yourself out there and interacting with people is essential and out of most people’s comfort zones. However, it does wonders because your first semester is really a time in which people are open to meeting complete strangers. You’re not going to like everyone you meet, but eventually you will find a niche of friends that you’ll become closer to.
Study smarter, not harder
You will have a lot more free time in college because of more flexible scheduling. There’s a lot of time for fun, but you need to also find time for academics, as that is your primary purpose at a higher education institution. However, you’ll realize that there are many different areas of education in humanities, social sciences, technology, and business, etc. Depending on what you’re studying, your GPA might not be the most important thing to focus on.
Are you looking to go to graduate school or medical afterwards? Are you looking to start working right out of college? What do companies look for in your academic discipline? Do they care about your grades or your experience more? Find out what you want and balance your study time accordingly. It pays off sometimes to sacrifice two hours of studying to go to a networking panel event.
Some other random tips that I wrote for my friend:
1. Figure out your alcohol limits. You have a semester before people get annoyed by people who are out of control and/or puke everywhere.
2. A lot of people want to “just have fun” with regards to dating. Don’t hold it against them and just go with the flow.
3. Dining hall food is usually shit. But it’s better than eating out and spending your life savings.
4. Go to a lot of football games or whatever your school’s big events are because those are a lot of fun and not worth missing.
5. Remember how much you’re paying to go to college. Take advantage of every opportunity.
6. A lot of people you meet you won’t see much of or won’t remember their names. Don’t worry. Just hang out with the people that make you happy.
7. Try something new every semester/quarter. There’s no shame in joining and leaving multiple organizations between each term. But try your best to find something that you like and stick with it.
8. Free shit is the best. Seek that out whenever you can.
9. You won’t be able to keep in touch with everyone back home. That’s just life, but chatting people randomly once in a while is perfectly acceptable.
…
1. Choose roommates with caution if you have apartments or rentals. Don’t renew contracts just out of friendship with someone if your lifestyle and theirs isn’t compatible.
2. Don’t drink during the week. Make a rule: save it for the weekends.
3. Get involved in a student group that shares your goals–social, religious, environmental, etc.
4. Hold a part-time job.
5. Remember that there are a lot of good people out there who will help you.
6. Remember that there are a number of bad people out there who want to take advantage of you.
7. Go to class. Don’t make excuses. (See number 2 above)
8. Find a quiet place to study and write, and use it.
9. Don’t be afraid to set boundaries with people you date (time investment, level of involvement, commitment, etc.).
10. Don’t amass debt on credit cards.
More questions on Quora:
Article by Ernan Roman
Featured on CMS Wire
An enormous shift is occurring in how B2B customers think about engagement and relationships. Customers expect marketers to achieve relevance by providing personalized communications based on their individual preferences, rather than continuing with irrelevant “spray and pray” marketing blasts. It’s this new way of thinking that’s unlocking the true potential of human data.
A SHIFT IN STRATEGY
Gone are the days when B2B prospects and customers would sort through piles of spray and pray “stuff” to uncover the few relevant messages. They expect marketers to find them and provide relevant offers and communications based on their individual needs and preferences. This means that marketers must develop bold new strategies that achieve the delicate balance of requesting in-depth data in exchange for providing the value of significantly improved customer experiences.
That is why after careful research, The UPS Store repositioned itself as a small business peer to peer company which made it more relevant to its target audience. Its research showed that 90 percent of small-business owners would prefer to do business with other local business owners. The UPS Store targeted this small biz niche and carefully crafted its messaging to directly answer their specific requirements.
A marketing initiative was created to let UPS directly connect with this audience in order to provide personalized services, products and offers of real value. They launched a Small Business Solutions portal, offering resources for small-business owners and the Small Biz Buzz, an online community of more than 300 small-business owners.
AN EXCHANGE OF VALUE
Just like their B2C counterparts, B2B marketers are realizing that to be truly personalized, marketing must be based on more than transactional, overlay and inferential data. It has to be based on the individual customer’s stated needs and self-profiled preference information.
However, developing a program to gain progressively deeper levels of self-profiled data must start with a foundation of trust. Per findings from Voice of Customer research conducted by ERDM, B2B customers and prospects are willing to provide trusted brands with meaningful information in exchange for more personalized offers, communications and experiences. We call this exchange of value the “Reciprocity of Value.”
This Reciprocity of Value, built on trust, is the critical aspect of both B2B and B2C data-driven marketing. It is trust, and a perceived reciprocity, that will motivate customers to provide the preference-based information needed to drive truly relevant, engaging communication.
Keep in mind:
In summary, earning the in-depth “human” preference data that drives personalized marketing is an essential strategy for B2B marketers looking to go from transactions to a long-term, value based relationships with customers.
Ernan Roman is president of ERDM.
ERDM conducts Voice of Customer (VoC) research to identify high impact Customer Experience strategies.
Inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame due to results clients achieve with ERDM’s VoC research driven strategies.
Clients include IBM, MassMutual, Microsoft, NortonAntivirus, QVC and NBC.
Roman is the author of Voice of the Customer Marketing and of the Huffington Post published blog, Ernan’s Insights on Marketing Best Practices.
Named by the Online Marketing Institute as one of the “2014 Top 40 Digital Luminaries” and by Crain’s BtoB Magazine as one of the “100 most influential people in Business Marketing”.
www.erdm.com
ernan@erdm.com
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