Super Computers for Our Earth

If you stay up on the Scientific Magazines and Journals you will know that NASA has come a long way in their research to study our Earth. They now have more data than ever before and can use this data with the aid of super computers to process it. In the past computers could not crunch the numbers fast enough to handle the massive data sets and numbers of data sets. Now super computers have changed all that, now we can develop models to answer questions, which help us know the future. To many these models appear like magic.

Such modeling can help us understand the effects of an asteroid or god, forbid a comet hitting the earth and what will be the most likely outlet of such. Which regions will be devastated by the blast and which regions will receive its long-term effects and where life will survive conquer and adapt.

We can use such modeling to predict pollution coming from Fires in CA or China and how they affect the entire Earth Atmosphere Grid. We can know the currents of Volcanic Ash as it sweeps and dissipates around the planet. We will even be able to predict what this ash will most likely do to the current and near future weather patterns and what such a chain reaction will do to our surface plants and animals long term. We can also understand the climate changing effect of burps of Earth through volcanic activity and the amount that space weather, solar flares and our own pollution contribute or take away from the whole of the atmospheric earth system. Super computers are making this a reality today. Think what this means to the future of mankind?

7 Ways to Increase Your Market Value

Why is it important to increase your market value? With today's increasing demand for better efficiency, diversified skill sets, and creativity, and with companies on a down-sizing frenzy, if you're not constantly upgrading your skills, you may soon find yourself disposable and obsoleset by most companies. In order to stay ahead of the market and increase your income, you must constantly increase your market value.

Here are 7 things you can do to increase your value in the market place.

1. Increase Your Writing Ability

This is a skill that can be a great asset to your palette of expertise. Today, everything is about communication. You must be able to communicate effectively in order to get your message clearly understood. The ability to write well is something the majority has yet to acquire so if you can master it, you will have a tremendous advantage over the competition. You can take a writing class or study and emulate the writing styles of great authors.

2. Increase Your Public Speaking Skills

As mentioned earlier, the ability to communicate effectively is one of the most important skills you can develop. The fact is that most people are uncomfortable with public speaking yet it is often a skill that is essential in positions of leadership. If you want to be in such a position, improving the ability to communicate well through speech is absolutely critical to your success. A great way to improve your speaking skill is to join a Toast Masters club.

3. Increase Your Technological Skills

If you have not already, master the basics of using a computer. These things include being able to type at least 30 words a minute, using spreadsheets, creating power point slides, using a word processor, and being able to do research efficiently on the internet. If you have internet access, you can learn all of these skills through online tutorial videos for free.

4. Increase Your Network

You know the saying, "It's not what you know it's who you know." In today's economy, with rising unemployment and everyone fighting over jobs, knowing the right people can get you into doors you never even knew existed. If you ask random people how they got into the company they work for, you'll find that many of them were referred by a friend. Expanding your network will also lead to great business opportunities as well. You can do this by simply making the effort to get to know more people.

5. Increase Your Knowledge

If you're not constantly reading and soaking up new information, then you will quickly fall behind your competitors. Developing the habit to read daily is one of the most valuable habits you can develop. I'm not talking about romance novels by the way. I'm talking about nonfiction works on a variety of topics such as leadership, motivation, and the latest cutting-edge technology in your industry. Reading keeps your mind alert and improves your ability to learn quickly, which are things that will definitely increase your market value.

6. Increase Your Vocabulary

Research shows that people with the best vocabulary get the best jobs. The reason is because, as stated before, communication is everything. Words are tools to express our thoughts. The larger your vocabulary the better you can express yourself and when you can express yourself more more clearly, you will get your message across more effectively. You can start by simply learning a new word a day and actually use it in your everyday conversations.

7. Increase Your Confidence

People are attracted to confident individuals. When you are confident in yourself and your skills, you portray a message that says, "Leave it to me, I'll get it done." You can increase your writing skills, speaking skills, vocabulary and any other skill, but if you portray a lack of confidence in yourself, you may not even be given a chance to showcase your skills.

Confidence is nothing more than a feeling of certainty. You must be certain in yourself and in what you have to offer. This can be accomplished by just standing upright with relaxed shoulders. When you speak, use a firm tone of voice, not one that conveys uncertainty. Be prepared and know your stuff. Just remember that there's a difference between confidence and arrogance. One will get you places while the other will just get people annoyed.

Invest your time, energy, and money to increase these skill sets and you'll be well on your way to increasing your market value which will result in an increase in your income.

Bitcoin: What Is It, and Is It Right for Your Business?

OK, so what's Bitcoin?

It's not an actual coin, it's "cryptocurrency," a digital form of payment that is produced ("mined") by lots of people worldwide. It allows peer-to-peer transactions instantly, worldwide, for free or at very low cost.

Bitcoin was invented after decades of research into cryptography by software developer, Satoshi Nakamoto (believed to be a pseudonym), who designed the algorithm and introduced it in 2009. His true identity remains a mystery.

This currency is not backed by a tangible commodity (such as gold or silver); bitcoins are traded online which makes them a commodity in themselves.

Bitcoin is an open-source product, accessible by anyone who is a user. All you need is an email address, Internet access, and money to get started.

Where does it come from?

Bitcoin is mined on a distributed computer network of users running specialized software; the network solves certain mathematical proofs, and searches for a particular data sequence ("block") that produces a particular pattern when the BTC algorithm is applied to it. A match produces a bitcoin. It's complex and time- and energy-consuming.

Only 21 million bitcoins are ever to be mined (about 11 million are currently in circulation). The math problems the network computers solve get progressively more difficult to keep the mining operations and supply in check.

This network also validates all the transactions through cryptography.

How does Bitcoin work?

Internet users transfer digital assets (bits) to each other on a network. There is no online bank; rather, Bitcoin has been described as an Internet-wide distributed ledger. Users buy Bitcoin with cash or by selling a product or service for Bitcoin. Bitcoin wallets store and use this digital currency. Users may sell out of this virtual ledger by trading their Bitcoin to someone else who wants in. Anyone can do this, anywhere in the world.

There are smartphone apps for conducting mobile Bitcoin transactions and Bitcoin exchanges are populating the Internet.

How is Bitcoin valued?

Bitcoin is not held or controlled by a financial institution; it is completely decentralized. Unlike real-world money it cannot be devalued by governments or banks.

Instead, Bitcoin's value lies simply in its acceptance between users as a form of payment and because its supply is finite. Its global currency values fluctuate according to supply and demand and market speculation; as more people create wallets and hold and spend bitcoins, and more businesses accept it, Bitcoin's value will rise. Banks are now trying to value Bitcoin and some investment websites predict the price of a bitcoin will be several thousand dollars in 2014.

What are its benefits?

There are benefits to consumers and merchants that want to use this payment option.

1. Fast transactions - Bitcoin is transferred instantly over the Internet.

2. No fees/low fees -- Unlike credit cards, Bitcoin can be used for free or very low fees. Without the centralized institution as middle man, there are no authorizations (and fees) required. This improves profit margins sales.

3. Eliminates fraud risk -Only the Bitcoin owner can send payment to the intended recipient, who is the only one who can receive it. The network knows the transfer has occurred and transactions are validated; they cannot be challenged or taken back. This is big for online merchants who are often subject to credit card processors' assessments of whether or not a transaction is fraudulent, or businesses that pay the high price of credit card chargebacks.

4. Data is secure -- As we have seen with recent hacks on national retailers' payment processing systems, the Internet is not always a secure place for private data. With Bitcoin, users do not give up private information.

a. They have two keys - a public key that serves as the bitcoin address and a private key with personal data.

b. Transactions are "signed" digitally by combining the public and private keys; a mathematical function is applied and a certificate is generated proving the user initiated the transaction. Digital signatures are unique to each transaction and cannot be re-used.

c. The merchant/recipient never sees your secret information (name, number, physical address) so it's somewhat anonymous but it is traceable (to the bitcoin address on the public key).

5. Convenient payment system -- Merchants can use Bitcoin entirely as a payment system; they do not have to hold any Bitcoin currency since Bitcoin can be converted to dollars. Consumers or merchants can trade in and out of Bitcoin and other currencies at any time.

6. International payments - Bitcoin is used around the world; e-commerce merchants and service providers can easily accept international payments, which open up new potential marketplaces for them.

7. Easy to track -- The network tracks and permanently logs every transaction in the Bitcoin block chain (the database). In the case of possible wrongdoing, it is easier for law enforcement officials to trace these transactions.

8. Micropayments are possible - Bitcoins can be divided down to one one-hundred-millionth, so running small payments of a dollar or less becomes a free or near-free transaction. This could be a real boon for convenience stores, coffee shops, and subscription-based websites (videos, publications).

Still a little confused? Here are a few examples of transactions:

Bitcoin in the retail environment

At checkout, the payer uses a smartphone app to scan a QR code with all the transaction information needed to transfer the bitcoin to the retailer. Tapping the "Confirm" button completes the transaction. If the user doesn't own any Bitcoin, the network converts dollars in his account into the digital currency.

The retailer can convert that Bitcoin into dollars if it wants to, there were no or very low processing fees (instead of 2 to 3 percent), no hackers can steal personal consumer information, and there is no risk of fraud. Very slick.

Bitcoins in hospitality

Hotels can accept Bitcoin for room and dining payments on the premises for guests who wish to pay by Bitcoin using their mobile wallets, or PC-to-website to pay for a reservation online. A third-party BTC merchant processor can assist in handling the transactions which it clears over the Bitcoin network. These processing clients are installed on tablets at the establishments' front desk or in the restaurants for users with BTC smartphone apps. (These payment processors are also available for desktops, in retail POS systems, and integrated into foodservice POS systems.) No credit cards or money need to change hands.

These cashless transactions are fast and the processor can convert bitcoins into currency and make a daily direct deposit into the establishment's bank account. It was announced in January 2014 that two Las Vegas hotel-casinos will accept Bitcoin payments at the front desk, in their restaurants, and in the gift shop.

It sounds good - so what's the catch?

Business owners should consider issues of participation, security and cost.

• A relatively small number of ordinary consumers and merchants currently use or understand Bitcoin. However, adoption is increasing globally and tools and technologies are being developed to make participation easier.

• It's the Internet, so hackers are threats to the exchanges. The Economist reported that a Bitcoin exchange was hacked in September 2013 and $250,000 in bitcoins was stolen from users' online vaults. Bitcoins can be stolen like other currency, so vigilant network, server and database security is paramount.

• Users must carefully safeguard their bitcoin wallets which contain their private keys. Secure backups or printouts are crucial.

• Bitcoin is not regulated or insured by the US government so there is no insurance for your account if the exchange goes out of business or is robbed by hackers.

• Bitcoins are relatively expensive. Current rates and selling prices are available on the online exchanges.

The virtual currency is not yet universal but it is gaining market awareness and acceptance. A business may decide to try Bitcoin to save on credit card and bank fees, as a customer convenience, or to see if it helps or hinders sales and profitability.

Are you thinking about accepting Bitcoin? Do you already use it? Share your thoughts and experiences with us.

5 Reasons Little White Bumps Are On Your Face and How to Get Rid Of Them

Are you making these mistakes each time you spot a little white little bump on your face? Fixing those little white bumps starts with a small dose of education and ends with a big dose of prevention. After understanding the five reasons below, your little bumps should give way to clearer skin.

Reason #1: You have no clue what those little white bumps are anyway.

Little white bumps, or milia, are keratin-filled cysts, or simply little globs of protein under the skin. There are generally two types of milia. Primary milia may result from oil glands that have not fully or properly developed. Secondary milia result from trauma to the skin.

Reason #2: You think all little white bumps are acne, and treat them that way.

Just because you have little white bumps on your face does not necessarily mean that you have acne. Milia, are little balls of protein beneath the skin that do not have a pore, or hole in the skin through which to escape.

Comedones or whiteheads are excess fats and wastes that are trapped in a hair follicle and so they clog up the pore. In short, milia are proteins trapped within the skin, while comedones are fats and skin debris trapped within the pore.

Exfoliating the skin, or removing the dead skin cells from your skin with an abrasive product or chemical, is beneficial. But brutally scrubbing your face with soaps and chemicals too frequently may actually create milia. To avoid this, remember that gentle exfoliation helps prevent excess dead skin cell build-up that could clog your pores and cause whiteheads, not milia.

This gentle exfoliation helps make eventual removal of the milia easier because the skin layer around the milia becomes thinner, with frequent, yet gentle exfoliation. In short, Exfoliate your skin to prevent milia, not to cure them.

Reason # 3 You have no idea what causes those little white bumps anyway.

When you were a baby, you were probably covered with milia that disappear after a few days. Or, you may have inherited milia from your parents.

On the other hand, you may develop milia after excessive exposure to the sun. The reasons for developing milia after sun exposure are debatable. According to some studies, the active ingredients sunscreens like Parsol 1789 may cause sun allergies and later lead to a milia breakout. Other studies blame the sun itself for "damaging" the skin can thus causing little white bumps.

Some people experience milia around the mouth. This could be the result of fluoride irritation from toothpaste.

Reason # 4: No one ever told you how to prevent milia.

The best way to prevent milia is to avoid treating your skin with excessively harsh chemicals and to limit sun exposure.

To reduce creating milia around the eyes, use eye creams with the least amount of ingredients possible to avoid irritating the delicately thin eye area. Also, gently touch the eyes and avoid rubbing the eyes vigorously so as not to damage the skin.

When brushing you teeth, try to keep the pasty foam from staying around your mouth too long. This limits possible fluoride irritation to the skin.

Use a sunscreen with the least amount of ingredients. Extraneous ingredients like fragrances may irritate your skin. Additionally, purchase sunscreens that offer physical sun blockage that contain active ingredients like titanium oxide or zinc oxide.

Reason #5: You still want to know what you can do right now to get rid of milia.

The key to getting rid of milia is realizing that they have no escape route, those little bumps are trapped under the skin. So, to get them out, you'll need to have a professional like a dermatologist or aesthetician extract them. You can extract the milia yourself, but this involves risks.

Precautions





You need to ensure that you milia are not symptoms of some underlying disease or illness. Also, if you extract the milia yourself, you may have trouble completely pulling out the cysts, as the removable process may prove too painful.

Otherwise, if you are confident with your health and courage, you can cleanse your hands and face. Then wet a cloth with warm water and apply it to your face for a few minutes. Gently apply a sterile needle to the center of the little white bump to create a tiny opening in the skin.

Wrap your thumbs in a clean tissue and, using your thumbs, proceed to gently squeeze the contents of the little white bump out. Finally, cleanse the area of the extracted little white bump with an astringent.

Now, you have no reason to walk around with little white bumps on your face. If you still think you do, please consider the possibility that you're just telling yourself little white bumpy lies.

Three Advantages Of Having Mini Dash Cams Installed In Your Vehicles

With the ever-increasing amount of people on the road these days, more and more accidents occur. If you wind up involved in an accident, having an in-car camera installed will protect you from wrongful blame when you're not at fault. However, that's not the only reason for putting a dashboard camera in your car. There are several other advantages of having mini dash cams installed in our vehicles. Below I have listed a few of those advantages.

Insurance Premiums

Installing a dashboard cam can prevent your insurance premiums from rising. Drivers have started using the video from these cameras as an independent witness to prove who is at fault after accidents. You will now have rock solid evidence of any collision or other incident should you need it. Right now there are no insurance companies that offer discounts on premiums for adults that install dash cams. However, there is one company that discounts premiums for young new drivers that have them. This brings me to the next advantage on our list.

Teen Safe Driver Program

A company known as American Family Insurance has started a Teen Safe Driver Program where they give new teenage drivers a free mini dash cam for one year. Included in the program is driver coaching and education for helping them be better drivers. The camera that the company provides records inside and outside of the vehicle when it detects swerving and sudden speed decreases or increases. The recordings are then sent to the driving coaches through Wi-Fi where they can grade the teen drivers on a weekly report card. Parents can review the report each week by logging in and checking the videos and grades. By participating, teens get a ten percent discount on their premiums. Therefore, not only are these cameras allowing lower premiums for teen drivers but they also help parents keep an eye on their children's driving. All the while, making our teens better drivers and making the roads safer to drive.

Crash for Cash

This is similar to the reasoning behind the insurance premiums. A dash cam protects you against scammers that intentionally have car accidents to extort money from their victims. It has become such an epidemic that it now has its own nickname. This dangerous stunt has become known as, the "crash for cash" scam.

You can find thousands of dashboard cam clips on YouTube. The reason is incidents are commonly caught on tape. They're usually caused by a person doing something that is less than ethical. For example, one of the most popular dash cam videos shows a guy that runs in to the road and starts acting like he was hit by a car. The funny thing about it though, is that the car had already come to a complete stop before the guy ever came in to the road. Who knows what would've happened if there hadn't been video evidence to prove that the guy was faking? Considering the cost at risk of not having one versus the cost of the cam itself, the advantages of having mini dash cams installed are obvious.

4 Useful Ways to Make Money Online

Whether you are looking to make a sustainable income or some fast cash, there are plenty of ways to earn extra money with the wide-ranging opportunities offered online. However, it is necessary to be disciplined in your approach to making money. Also, it can help to enter an area that interests you to help stay focused and interested.

Here are four ways to make money online:

Start a blog

One of the most sustainable and easiest options to make money online is by starting a blog. A well planned blog that is based on the right niche with plenty of useful and unique content that targets a specific audience has the potential to make passive income over the long-term. Many think the process of setting up a blog is difficult, but in fact the learning curve isn't too bad. There are several website building tools available to make creating an online presence quite straightforward. In the process of building a blog, you need to think about the offers or ways to make money, such as selling e-books, full-blown training, mini-email courses, or similar.

Email marketing

Email marketing is certain to appeal to anyone interested in online marketing. It starts with creating a website, setting up email software and then to develop a sales funnel that targets the right audience. The marketing material send out to your list must deliver value and cannot simply be marketing related. Without a regular supply of high-quality content that engages your audience, it can be difficult to keep members subscribed to your list.

There are several ways to get subscribers signing up to your list. A typical method is to use lead magnets like cheat sheets, checklists and e-books. Also, there is the option to convert an article into a PDF to add extra resources such as audio files and video training courses.

Webinar training

A very potent way to make money online is with webinar training. But, this is only an option for those with in-depth knowledge on a particular subject that others want to learn about. Also, a website with a decent online presence and a product or service to sell is necessary.

Develop Apps

Learning to become an app developer is certain to appeal to many people. While it will be difficult to compete with the major brands and apps, there are still plenty of opportunities to think up a niche idea that can meet the needs of certain people. This can be something like a podcast organizer, a list and illustrations of yoga poses, a tip calculator, or anything that interests. Also, for those with a unique app idea, but without the programming know-how to build an app, there is the option to hire someone to build it on your behalf.

Save Money! 10 Free Ways To Eject A Stuck Disk From Your Mac Superdrive

Firstly the ever present disclaimer ... these tips have been tried and tested by Mac users all over the world, but I'm the first to admit that your Mac might have a problem that no one has come across yet. Use the more radical methods at your own risk.

Here are the top ten ways I've found to eject a stuck disk from your superdrive, and hopefully one of them will work for you. If they do not it might mean a trip to your local Apple store with your credit card in hand, but I doubt it.

New to Macintosh?

Firstly, here are the standard methods of ejecting a superdrive disk, so follow these three steps first, before moving on to the more esoteric stuff below, and even if you are an experienced Mac user, I suggest you follow these steps to ensure you have covered all the faultfinding bases, an Apple techie would start from here too.

1. Press and hold the eject key (marked with a triangle on top of a hyphen), if it does not eject try these other two methods in turn:
2. Drag the disk icon to the trash basket in your dock.
3. Find the disk icon on your desktop. Right click it with your mouse, and when the drop down menu appears, scroll down and click on eject "whatever disk".

If the disk remains in situ try these:

Macintosh heal thyself

Macs can sometimes cure themselves, especially if you have been running your Mac for days without switching it off and it's rather hot. To see if this is the cause of your problem power down your Mac and go and do something else for half an hour or so. Power it back up and go and grab yourself a coffee, when you come back, your disk might be waiting for you.

Try Ejecting Using Disk Utility

Go to your applications, find your Utilities folder and double click on Disk Utility. You will see your disk over on the left under your hard drive icon. Left click once on your disks icon to select it, and the click on the blue eject icon up there on the right in the toolbar. No Go?

The Trackpad and Mouse Trick

Restart your Mac while at the same time holding down the left key of either your mouse or your trackpad (depending on your Mac model) as your computer reboots itself. Continue to hold this down until your disk pops out.

Using The Mac Terminal

This might seem a little daunting if this is the first time you have used the Macs Terminal interface. Just look at it as the Macs boiler room, the bits of script that work all those easy to use icons that other manufacturers try so hard to emulate.

Go to your Utilities folder and double click on Terminal and your white terminal command box will open. Your cursor will be sat there waiting. Now type the following: drutil eject (leave a space between both words) and press return. The disk should now pop itself out. Quit Terminal.

Still stuck fast in there? If so the probable cause of your stuck disk is that it has come unseated as the disk drive lifts it upwards to present it to the slot for ejection.

This in turn lifts the edge of the disk up slightly and rather than eject safely, the disk misses the slot and touches the body of the Mac. Rather than damage itself, your Mac immediately pulls the disk back to its start point, and the process continues until it can be freed, all the while the superdrive will keep spinning.

It's time to play our last few cards. Literally.

The Macbook Shuffle

This can only be used with a laptop (or a mac mini if ​​you've got hands like a quarterback) - it's a bit of a juggling act, but can be quite successful.

Restart your Mac, and then pick it up and hold it so the superdrive slot is facing downwards. Now press the eject key while you just shake your Macintosh up and down and side to side ... remember you're trying to get the disk to find the slot, so jiggle away!

If At First You Do not Succeed, Try Your Credit Card!

It might appear a little radical, and it might be your last resort, but believe me, it works 99% of the time.

What you have to do is disrupt the eject cycle I mentioned earlier, (when your disk is sitting the housing slowly above the slot).

Firstly, restart your Mac while holding your down mouse mouse / trackpad key as before. Take a credit card or a thick piece of cardboard and insert it on the left hand side of the slot drive - you are trying to push the disk down slightly as your Mac tries to eject it. Keep trying to it ejects.

Other variants on the same theme that do not involve a restart are: Using a large mailing label to make adhesive contact with the disk, then press the eject button and give it a little assistance to pull it out. Duct tape smoothed onto the DVD using your credit card, then pulling while pressing the eject button, is another way Mac users swear by to get a disk out.

If none of these work looks like you have a major drive issue that will need looking at.

Well, there they are, all the tips I know to get a stuck CD or DVD out of a Macs superdrive slot. I hope one of them works for you, and saves you the time and money an engineer would charge you to fix it.

Spend the money on someone you care about, they deserve it!