Monthly Archives: July 2017

Want Great Sound? Get a Blue Tooth Speaker!

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Hi everyone! I’ve been curious about these portable blue tooth speakers lately. I did have some computer speakers that could be used alone with my mp3 player, but they required an additional plug-in to an electrical wall socket and also weren’t very loud, despite being of otherwise good quality. I had another set that was completely portable that I could also use with my mp3 player. The great points for this set of speakers were that they were very light weight, required neither an additional plug-in to an electrical socket or computer or anything else, and also required no batteries! I would just plug them into my mp3 player and they worked. But they were extremely weak and just being more than about 5 feet away from them meant not really hearing what was playing.

Both sets had some extra wires to contend with and neither set could really fill the room with sound.

I’d seen the portable blue tooth speakers in stores and found most to be quite impressive sound-wise, and have no wires to contend with, but I really wasn’t sure if these speakers would work as well in my place, especially the smaller ones. And many of them are pricey, especially if they are of any size, and many don’t have a battery life of more than 10 hours.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to check them out on Amazon, as I can often find more varieties here than at almost any store, plus with reviews and usually more information, and I found one I liked, with a 24 hour battery life and the ability to connect with non-blue tooth items via an auxiliary audio cable, like the one I sometimes use to connect my mp3 player to my car’s stereo, so I can listen to my playlists on long trips. And it only cost $30!

 

This is it. And I am very satisfied!

Buttons on top include the power button, volume down, play/pause, volume up, and blue tooth. This area, which goes around the speaker via the top and bottom, is rubberized so the speaker won’t slip easily.

Many portable blue tooth speakers have some sort of rubberized surface, and some are even made to be water-resistant with the outdoors in mind.

 

 

And, it is just under 7 inches long!

And light enough to take anywhere! I’ve known people who pair these speakers to their phones and take the speakers with them where ever they go.

And the sound? It is great! Once you connect it via blue tooth to your phone, or computer or other device, you will notice the difference right away! This speaker, despite its small size, will fill the room, and possibly your whole house, with great sound!

So how long will it play? I haven’t yet played it for a really long time, but it’s battery life is rated at 24 hours and the reviews seem to bear this out.

It does come with a micro usb cable which can be used to charge the speaker using a computer or a wall charger with usb ports. You can also use any wall charger with a micro usb plug-in.

 

 

But of course, the blue tooth connectivity is the best feature of these speakers, as you don’t need any type of wired connection to use it with another blue tooth capable device! And you can pair many of these speakers with multiple devices, as well. So you can take one of these speakers and play the music files from your laptop through the speaker, and can take the speaker into the bathroom while you shower, or onto the porch or balcony, or into the kitchen, and enjoy great sound!

Do bear in mind, these speakers do have a range and this range varies from speaker to speaker. Mine has a range of 66 feet, which is more than enough for my place, but some have a range of 30 feet, so if you have a mansion, you would want to take this into account.

Also, many of these speakers allow the use of an auxiliary audio cable so you can attach that old, non-blue tooth mp3 player to the speaker and still enjoy great sound!

And, you don’t have to spend a lot to still get a quality speaker. Checking YouTube to see if there are comparisons between the one you are interested in with other well-known brands can help with your research also. So, if you want great sound that you can take with you, think about a blue tooth speaker!

Happy listening!

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Aiding an Unproductive Employee

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We’ve all been there before. We’ve had a couple of employees or perhaps just a single one that is being problematic. It’s not that they aren’t willing to work, it’s not that they’re breaking the rules either, it’s simply just their productivity. Maybe they’re not working as quickly as they should, perhaps you’re unsure what kind of work to give them or maybe you’re stumped because you’re unsure how often you should be giving them a new task.

 

It’s usually not their fault or yours. Maybe there’s just a little break in your office right now and perhaps there’s no need for so many employees. You’ve considered telling them to take a holiday, but they don’t want to use their dates yet and you’re paying them a salary anyway, so why not make use of them? Unfortunately, this type of problem is fairly common in the world of business because there will always be ups and downs in your sales and there will always be quiet periods where almost no one does any work.

 

In order to straighten out this situation and help the unproductive members of your workforce, here are a couple of useful tips and tricks to keep in mind. The last thing you want to do is fire your employees, so use these as an alternative.

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Creating a work schedule

 

One of the most problematic things with unproductive employees is the feeling that they could be doing more. You’re unsure if they’re simply doing their work too quickly or if the work you’re assigning is just far too easy for them. Perhaps it’s the opposite and they’re taking way too long to finish a task that others can do in a matter of minutes. It’s hard to judge this without evidence or statistics, so here’s how to solve the issue.

 

Get an average of how long it takes to finish a task. It could be sorting mail, writing up an article or even responding to a certain amount of customer queries. Once you have this average, use it to judge whether an employee is being too slow or too fast. Then, take a look into their work and ensure they’re not being lazy or rushing it. Ideally, everyone should finish their tasks at the same time, but it’s understandable when a handful of people don’t meet the average and either go above or below it.

 

Another useful thing to have is a work schedule app. This can help your employees stay on track for when they’re doing their tasks, and it will give them a general sense of direction on what to do next without having to ask their colleagues or speak with you.

 

Allow them creative freedom

 

Something that tends to annoy employees is their ability to be autonomous in your business. Limiting employee creativity is a sin and it should never happen unless the job they have is strictly something logical that doesn’t require creativity. There aren’t many roles in the office that promote this, which is why there is almost never an excuse to not be creative.

 

If you know your business inside out, then there are undoubtedly some ways in the back of your mind that an employee can be more productive. Let’s say you have an employee that isn’t really working much because they always finish their work on time. Instead of limiting their talents, why not give them a new role in the office that involves design, such as website design or content creation? By stimulating their creative urges, you effectively give an employee a little more control over how they help your business.

 

Money usually isn’t the reason for people becoming unproductive and lazy at work. You can’t exactly throw money at someone and expect them to work harder or be more productive. Instead, what your staff really want is job security and a sense of belonging. They want to feel like they’re actually contributing to your business, not just following orders and acting as a small cog in a large machine. Offer them some autonomy and give them some creative freedom so that they may affect your business in their own way and feel a sense of accomplishment when your business succeeds in something.

 

Summary

 

In short, make sure that you’re making the most use out of every employee you have. Whether it’s by offering them more creative freedom in their tasks or monitoring what they do and optimising their working hours, it’s important to nurture every member and staff and turn them into staff that are proud to work for you.

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When it Comes To The World Wide Web, How Safe Are You Really?

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In today’s digital age, staying safe online is of the utmost importance. Every day, businesses are targets of fraud and individuals are subject to identity theft. Hackers can ravage our devices, and even celebrities aren’t immune- with a number of them having photos stolen from their phones. We live so much of our lives online, it’s how we work, socialize with friends, we do our banking online and have all kinds of personal and sensitive information stored on our devices and online accounts. So our safety online is something that we all should be taking very seriously. Here are a few points to consider

 

Safety on Your Smartphone

It’s well documented that Apple iPhones are more safe and secure than any other model. All of the apps you can download are verified, and overall it’s almost impossible to hack your information from them. A new update means you can set up two-step verification for icloud too meaning this is unable to be compromised. If someone has physical access to your phone for any length of time, it’s possible to jailbreak and store malicious software, however, for the average person, this really isn’t a concern. According to http://www.icloudlogin.com/, on any device, you should be exercising caution such as not clicking links in text messages from unknown senders, or using unsecured wifi networks. However, the security on iPhones are far better than the other leading models. So if you’re in the market for a new phone and safety is high on your priority list then investing in an iPhone is a good option. There are a number of apps now which let you log in using your fingerprint, it’s worth setting this up if you have the option to give you that added peace of mind.

Image: Pexels

 

Safety When You Make Purchases

There’s a reason the high street is in decline – rather than trawl through the shops most of us prefer the convenience of shopping from the comfort of our homes. Online shopping has taken off massively in the last few years, but this can also mean it’s something we need to be conscious of from a safety point of view. Websites selling counterfeit goods are common, and others are simply set up to take your money with nothing ever even being posted. Be wary of where you shop online, even if it’s a big brand or well-known store be sure to check the website’s URL. If it’s not the official link, then it’s likely to be a scammer. If you want to shop from a site you’re unfamiliar with, one thing to look at is their social pages. Scam sites that have been set up in a hurry won’t have tons of followers and interaction. Check on their socials for customer reviews, see if there are any complaints and if so, the way they have been responded to. And unless you’re using a very well known site like Amazon, always use PayPal to make purchases. That way, if anything does go wrong during the transaction, you know that you will be able to get your money back – there’s more information on how this works here https://www.paypal.com. You don’t want to be entering card details into anywhere that you’re unsure of, and it goes without saying that you should never send over bank details. Any company asking you to do this is definitely not legitimate.

 

Safety on Social Networks

The problem with social networks is that privacy settings are regularly changed, meaning you might be sharing details that you didn’t intend to. Snapchat for example recently released an update allowing you to share your location. If you share to Snapchat’s story, your location will show regardless of what settings you’ve chosen. These kinds of issues should be taken seriously, so make sure you’re not putting yourself at risk. Things like your phone number, email address and other personal details should be set to private. Do regular privacy checks to make sure everything looks as it should. It can be worth regularly deleting private messages too, we bear all to our friends in messages, and if someone does gain access they’re going to be able to see everything. Be sure to actually delete rather than archive where they can’t be recovered.

Image: Pexels

 

Safety on Email

Safety on all of your accounts is important, but particularly so when it comes to email. If a hacker gains access to your email, then they can reset passwords and gain access to everything that’s linked to it. Be sure to set a strong, complex password (and make sure you’re the only one who knows what this is). A mixture of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation will make it extremely difficult to crack. Avoid kids, pets, partners and nicknames, important dates and other passwords that someone could guess. Always set up two-step verification too for email. This is often done by texting a code to your phone before you can log in, or you can sometimes use an authenticator. This is an app which you can link to your accounts and generates codes every thirty seconds, there’s more info on the way they work on sites like https://security.stackexchange.com. To log in, you simply enter the code shown. These days most email inboxes will automatically filter junk, but be careful of clicking on anything that looks dodgy from unknown senders and certainly don’t click on any links. If you receive an email from somewhere like Paypal or your bank and you’re unsure if it’s legitimate, always type the address in manually into your browser and log in this way instead of going through a link. Since the link can lead you to a website that looks exactly as it should but is really just there to steal your details and login to your account.

 

Have you put much thought into online safety? What steps do you take to ensure your details are kept safe online?

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If You Love Traveling, One of These Amazing Jobs Are for You!

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If you love traveling (and who doesn’t?), and are in the market for a new job, maybe you should think about getting a job that would suit your traveling dreams! The days of working and saving every penny you have just so you can quit your job and travel for a month, are long behind you once you’ve seen these! There are what you can do while traveling! There are a surprising amount of jobs out there which do aid you if you wanted to go traveling, you just have to make it happen! Have a look here if you want to find out what they are!

 

1) Working at a local bar

This one may sound like something you’ve heard before, but that is because it is fantastic for working while traveling. In every place you go to, they always have bars or clubs. This is the perfect type of job as well because they usually high a high turnover, meaning more opportunity for yourself! As well as not too much commitment, so if you felt like moving on to another place after a little bit of time, you wouldn’t feel too bad about leaving because that’s just how it’s done! You can always find places that need English speakers if you do a bit of research online beforehand.

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2) Find a cafe you love

In a similar vein, if you’re more of a night owl and don’t want to be working at nights, which you would be in a bar, you could work in a cafe. It is the same thing but just in the day time. For this, you would probably have to be in a touristy area where most people spoke English unless you are talented enough to pick up another language! Similarly to the bar work, these sorts of places also have a high turnover. You could find a beautiful place that is run by a little local family is you wanted! It would be a great way to have a chat to some locals as well!

Pub Cafe Gastronomy Restaurant After Work Bar

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3) Find work on a tugboat

Another great way to find work abroad is to look for jobs on a tugboat. There are loads of these going all over the world if you do a little search online before you go, you almost definitely be able to find something! Or you could go the other route and have a look at NautiSNP – tugs for sale and get your tugboat! You may have to save for a little while, but you could start up your own tugboat business abroad! That would be such a great way to get some traveling in a while not only making money but starting your whole own business. If you were nervous about it, you could also sell it on when you wanted to move on to a new place, or just expand your business!

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4) Become an au pair

This is probably the most convenient way to get some traveling in. There are countless sites online full of people looking for au pairs. As an au pair, you mainly travel to someone’s house abroad for a few months or so, and you get to stay there and help out with either some childcare or a little bit of housework. You usually get paid for it as well, so you get to go abroad, stay for free and get paid for doing a bit of work in their house! It’s a fantastic deal! Just make sure you know when your free time will be so you can organize thing you want to do while in that country!

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5) Become a flight attendant

This is more of a permanent job, but that is ok when you are constantly going to different places all across the globe. As a flight attendant, you obviously have to work abroad the plane. There are loads of airlines you could get a job with but try to go for an international, worldwide one to get to go to a wider variety of places! If you want to become a flight attendant, you might need some experience in service, so hopefully, that waitressing job you had in college will come in handy after all! You will also need to pass a medical test.

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6) Teaching English abroad

This one is great if you wanted to be part of a program or something. It is also great because you do get a great feeling that you are giving something back to the place you are staying in. You can make a decent amount of money doing this as well if you go to some locations. It is a way to meet people while you are out there as well. You can meet other people working there and the people you are teaching as well! This is also the kind of thing that you can do in several places, not just the one!

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7) Find a cruise ship

As most of these jobs, you’ll be able to find a great one if you have a look online! But work on a cruise ship is pretty much a dream! There are so many things you can do, unexpected things as well. There is all sort of filming job, service jobs, chef jobs, just imagine the cruise ship as a little community and every job you can get on board you can pretty much get on board! You also get several stops off along the way at all different places. You have to find out when your free time is as well to work out if you might want to do something like this!

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8) Any work from home job

Traveling is so important to a lot of people, and luckily, there are a lot of jobs out there where you can work remotely, this means that you can work anywhere including on a beach somewhere if you want (and are capable of making your deadlines with a lot of distraction)! Or if you wanted to work for yourself, you could start up a travel blog and get that going to the point that you can make a living off of it! It is possible to do if you put a lot of hard work into it!


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7 Ways To Bring Your House Together

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When it comes to making your house feel like a home, we all have our own personal style that we like to exude in order to get it feeling that way. That being said, it doesn’t mean that we can’t take inspiration from other sources. Sometimes we need a little nudge in the right direction or for something else to be suggested in order to realise what needs to be done to get us feeling truly at one with the space around us. So what are the recommended things to have around a house to make it feel like you’d never want to leave?

 

Plants

 

There are so many great plants which can be a welcome addition to any home. It doesn’t matter how much room you do or don’t have – there will always be one to suit your lifestyle. Succulents and cactuses are great for people who are more on-the-go and not home often enough to cater for watering them all the time. If you are looking for a statement plant to go in a lounge or dining room, monstera and zebra plants can really help to bring the room together. Not only are they good for aesthetic purposes, but they’re also fantastic at making your home just that little bit more healthy. It’s been proven that there are certain plants that make you feel happier in your day-to-day running of life, as well as the fact that they naturally purify the air in your home. Surely those are reasons enough to get some – as well as them just looking really cool.

 

Refurbished Furniture

 

If you know that something has seen its day in terms of fitting into your home, do both you and it a favour – and refurbish! There is so much waste that is coming out of households due to people simply changing their personal tastes. Tables, chairs and so much more get left out either for somebody else to claim them or to go straight to landfill, but it doesn’t have to be this way. If you have any metal furniture, you can get custom wytelyne powder coating to cover it to any colour that you desire. It’s something that you don’t have to worry about getting right yourself; simply send it off to a recommended company to do and wait for it to be sent back with a new lease of life. It’s especially handy for the bits that you thought were beyond help and have rusted past repair to some extent. Wooden furniture can be painted in all sorts of styles, with chalk paint being the recommended go-to for the inexperienced DIY-er. It doesn’t require for the furniture to be sanded down beforehand, and sticks quite well, adding a shabby-chic look to keep up with the trend.

 

New Upholstery

 

There’s a lot that can be said for a new rug and a pair of new curtains. They can add so much to a room that previously wasn’t there before – a lacking of je ne sais quoi. These can be bought relatively cheap, especially if you are buying from a preloved site such as eBay or on a group from Facebook. If you are growing bored with the scheme that you have going on around you, all that needs doing usually is refreshing with new upholstery in order to bring the room back to life. This goes for your sofas, if made of fabric too; giving them a new lease of life from getting them re-upholstered can do wonders for how you feel about your home. The great thing about picking your own fabric to get it done is that it opens up so many doors to you; you can usually only get sofas and curtains in

via Pexels

 

A Calming Colour Scheme

 

A lot of the time, we tend to overdo it and make the rooms that we are trying to relax in way too busy for what we actually need. We want something to take away the stress from us, not overstimulate our senses. Bright colours can seem like a great way to add an energetic flair to your rooms, but if you want to truly sit and relax and make it cosy then going for a muted version of what you already have is a good idea. Don’t think that you are stifling your style by doing this; there are so many ways to get your personality into a room rather than splashing it all over the walls (quite literally). If you can’t deviate from putting a brash pattern or scheme in, try to make a feature wall so that you have somewhere to avert your eyes to when you just want to relax. If you are unsure where to start, cast your eyes to Pinterest or other interior design sites and see what colours they are recommending currently. We’re living in quite a minimalist age at the moment, so it’s best to look at the colours on the walls and how these are used to create the feeling of the room that they are in. Showrooms in stores like IKEA have been designed by top interior specialists who are employed for their colour matching skills, so taking a few hints from a place like this would only be utilising the best free advice that is available to you. It’s a no-brainer when it comes to drawing inspiration and thinking about where to get it from – why would you buy a magazine?

 

What You Love, All Around You

 

Our personality can be showed in a variety of ways, but none more so than a reflection of what we love around us in our home. Pictures of friends and family in the rooms that you and your guests most frequent can be a welcome addition, as can framed photos of concerts you have attended, places that you have visited and adored and musicians that you have followed for years. Don’t be afraid to be a bit bold with what you are framing – you can get away with anything. It could be a funny newspaper article, a flower that you have picked and dried or even a tweet that you have liked and had printed out (and yes, it does happen). This is limited to what is going to go on your walls; have what you love all around you. It doesn’t matter where it goes, as long as it makes you happy.

 

Cushions & Throws

 

If you have a sofa that has seen better days but you can’t afford to buy new or it’s past being done up, cushions can often do wonderful things. Not only can they be changed as and when to suit a colour scheme that you are trying to achieve, but different prints and patterns can be mixed and matched without being too garish. They add a really homely feel to any environment – who doesn’t love snuggling up in cushions? – and are a really cost-effective way to bring the room together. The same goes for throws; there are so many different types that you can buy, and they’re not just brilliant for decoration but have the additional benefit of being a warm alternative to put over you when the nights are getting colder. They can come in a variety of materials from crocheted wool to fleece, and the mismatch of textures can be quite a comforting sight – fortunately, this mismatch is currently very on trend, so you will also be at the height of interior fashion by doing so.

 

Lighting

 

When we think of lighting in a room, we tend to focus on a big central fixture which provides us with artificial beams. Instead, we should be looking at making our house feel more homely with lots of different sources of light – and in varying shades. This can be done by the addition of lamps and mood lighting dotted around the room. You don’t need a lot of plug sockets for this to work – either get an extension lead or buy battery-operated lamps which work on solar sourced energy or the power pack that’s within them. For most of our working day, if we are working in an office, we are subject to unnatural sources of light. These come from our phones, laptops and what’s hanging above our heads in order to give us the ability to see what we’re doing. However, that’s not to say that it is good for us and our brains. In fact, it can be quite the opposite; migraines, headaches and other symptoms often come on as a result of subjecting yourself to being in light which your brain can’t process. The more natural light that you can get into your home, the better. Be it through curtains being open more, bigger windows being installed or even rooflights being fitted into rooms that require them. You will feel more benefits to your actions as time goes on, especially as the seasons change; Seasonal Affective Disorder can often be cured by adding more light into the home by any means.

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Why Everyone Should Have Their Own Website

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Have you ever wondered why people have their own website? Most people are more than content just managing their Facebook accounts. They can share funny articles and memes. They can post their favorite photos, and they can give their friends updates about big events in their lives. So why should anyone want to give up their time and energy with a website as well? There may be more reasons that you think!

 

Starting A Business

If you want to start up your own business, a website is essential. It helps you to let customers know where you are, what you do, and what your product or service is. It can also be used to contact you. Perhaps you would like to have an online contact form or a live chat service? Most importantly you can post articles, information and images about all the things you sell.

Picture from Pexels

 

Many business websites can also handle online purchases. You need a secure website and an online checkout system. These might require additional costs, but they will help your customers purchase safely. The ordering system will then alert you that you have a sale so you can process the order.

 

Perhaps the best thing about having an online business is that you can trade globally. You might pick a domain name for your website that is the same as your company name. That will probably end in “.com” if you’re in the States. But if you want to sell in the UK or Canada or anywhere else, you might also buy the domain name relevant to that region. UK domain name registration is as easy as any other. You can even register all your preferred domain names with one company if you like.

 

Say It With A Blog

If you find you’re posting to Facebook and other social media accounts a lot, you might love the idea of having your own blog. As with a business website, you can choose to register your own domain name, making it uniquely yours. And just like every other kind of website, you will need to pay a company to host it for you. There are plenty to choose from, and contracts often last for a year. Consider how much storage you need. Lots of photos and videos will take up more room.

Picture from Pexels

 

WordPress is a firm favorite for bloggers because it is often already installed on your domain when you buy it. You can then pick a theme, add a couple of photos or a logo and you’re good to go. The platform is really easy to use. Simply type and post. You can add plugins to help you share your articles across all your social media accounts, so you don’t have to double up the work.

 

Getting A Job

If you’re not keen to run your own business, but you are serious about pushing your career forward, then use your website to promote yourself. You shouldn’t publically list lots of personal information from your resume, but you can upload your portfolio and samples of your work. If you’re applying for jobs, you should include your website URL and your LinkedIn profile on your application. Potential employers can then see if you’re a fit for their company. You can visually demonstrate your skills and experience – this is perfect if you’re not a wordy type of person!

 

Organizing An Event

A big event like a wedding or birthday party can be tough to organize. You can use your website to detail the different companies you’re using and to post records of the event. This might include photos and videos. You can add quotes from happy guests and post a big thank you to everyone who helped. It’s a great place to collate everything from the event in one place.

Picture from Pexels

 

While you’re planning the event, you can use online survey forms to garner opinions. “Which color do you like?” “Do you like roses or tulips best?” “Should I order this chocolate cake or this fruit sponge?” Visitors to your website can answer the surveys so you can make a decision based on their responses. Again, these posts can all be shared to your social media accounts with a single click.

 

Entertaining

Of course, websites should be entertaining. Websites can be designed to show off your talents as an entertainer. If you love singing, dancing, or performing, why not set up a website to showcase your skills? YouTube has been a popular video platform, but your own website can be used to promote upcoming gigs and even to sell tickets direct. What will you use your website for?

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Fast Forward: Top Destinations For Next Years Vacation

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The chances are, you’ve already got your summer vacation all wrapped up. You know where you are going, what you are doing, perhaps you may have already had that relaxing two-week break, and you are already back to work, day dreaming of your next escape. This is where I come in. There is nothing wrong with a bit of forward planning, and often, booking in advance can save you a fair bit of money as well. So I thought I would share with you some of the top destinations to consider for next years vacation.

 

Why not head down under?

 

Australia may seem like a faraway destination, but it is definitely something you will find on many people’s bucket lists, including yours maybe, so why not allow next year’s vacation to be the time you tick a destination off? Heading down under could be a fantastic holiday and one not to forget. You could stay in the bustling city of Melbourne, voted as one of the best places to live in the world. Maybe you want to swim in the Great Barrier Reef or do a road trip and take in as many sights as possible. Or perhaps you just want to head to Surfers Paradise where you can master your surf technique or try out some other water sports. Whatever takes your fancy, Australia is sure to offer it.

 

Fancy an opulent vacation next time round?

 

Maybe you want a vacation that is filled with an opulent lifestyle, never ending shopping experiences, amazing buildings, and even more amazing hotels. Then Dubai is the one for you. Enjoy taking in the sights yourself or book one of the many Dubai tours available to you. Dubai has much to offer for a vacation, and whether you are traveling there as a couple or as a family, you are sure to find something to do to fill your time.

 

The perfect escape?

 

Many of us see our vacations as a chance to unwind from the daily grind and really rejuvenate ourselves. So more people consider beach filled islands as the perfect location for their holidays, and perhaps next year you may want to consider The Maldives. With the sea of stars to accompany you at night and blue crystal waters to soak your feet in by day, there really is no further escape from reality than this collection of islands. Furthermore, you could even choose to stay in an overwater villa, offering you, even more, privacy to relax.

 

Is it all about the food and drink?

 

Finally, if you find yourself to be a bit of a foodie, then you may want to think about heading to the country that one of the most well-loved culinary options comes from, Italy. Italian food can be some of the world’s most favorite cuisine, with the love of pizza and pasta why not head to the place it originated from and sample it at it’s finest? Italy also has many destinations to see including Rome where you can take in the glorious churches and visit Vatican City or shop to you drop on the streets of Milan, to name a few.

 

I hope this has offered some inspiration for your next trip.

 

 

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Don’t Let Your Work Damage Your Health

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Are there hidden dangers in your workplace? Even if you don’t work in bomb disposal or on a fishing trawler, your job may still be having negative effects on your health. Here are a few ways that you can spot the dangers and lower the risks.

 

Be attentive with health and safety

 

If you work on a building site, it’s likely everyone will be strictly ordered to wear a hard hat and a hi-vis at all times. However, in some jobs the equipment may be there – and it may be recommended that you use it in a job contract – and yet most people won’t wear it because no boss is strictly enforcing it.

 

This can sometimes be the case when handling various chemicals such as industrial cleaning fluids. If special gloves are available, be safe and use them.

 

If you believe your workplace hasn’t got effective health and safety measures in place, you can always contact the HSE and they will be able to send in an inspector to see if health and safety laws are being broken. If you know that laws are being broken, you may even be able to file a lawsuit against your employer (especially so if you have already been poisoned by chemicals in the workplace). Be aware that your employer may not always be aware of certain hidden dangers (e.g. asbestos on the roof, broken safety equipment).

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Reduce stress

 

Work related stress is thought to be one of the biggest causes of heart failure. By raising blood pressure, stress puts more strain on the heart. Clots are also more likely to form due to an excessive build-up of white blood cells in the arteries. The stress hormone cortisol meanwhile has many other negative effects on our body such as muscles strain, aging of the skin, infertility and inability to sleep properly.

 

The best remedy for stress in such a situation is to find a new job, although of course this isn’t always possible. Some people may be addicted to work as they try to chase a promotion, resulting in the excessive stress. In some cases, a job’s pay may make it hard to leave without having to sacrifice a certain lifestyle. Often small steps can be made to make work less stressful, whether it’s working fewer hours, taking on less responsibility or simply going on a break. In all cases, you should talk to your employer, or a counselor if you feel your employer may be the reason for your stress.

 

Beware of ill colleagues

 

Whilst generally not a major danger to our health, most of us will catch illnesses and infections off of our colleagues. This could be prevented if everybody stayed at home when sick, but many of us guilty of going into the office when we feel unwell, either due to the pressure of the job or a need to receive full pay. If somebody else is seriously ill and you’re worried about it, it’s worth telling your employer who then may be able to send that staff member home. No employer wants their entire workforce getting sick.

 

Give yourself recovery time

 

Many of us can do damage to our health simply by returning to work to early after a major illness or accident. For example, someone with a broken ankle may decide to return to their job as a waiter before the recommended period and cause extra damage to their foot. Often putting strain on an injury before the recommended recovery period is over can result in lasting damage. It’s common for those in manual labour jobs to permanently do their back in due to lifting a heavy object with a recovering back injury. Listen to the doctor and stay away from work until you’re well enough. There are certain methods that may allow you to recover faster, but you should always clarify these with a medical professional first.

 

Avoid repetitive strain injuries

 

Some injuries can be done through doing the same action day in, day out. These don’t just apply to manual labour jobs, sitting at a desk and staring at a screen has all kinds of bad long-term effects such as damaging posture, damaging vision and damaging muscles in the waist from constant sitting down. Taking a break from the screen and stretching your legs throughout the day can help lessen this damage. There are also methods such as buying a stand up desk, as well as special exercises behind a desk (or deskercises).

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Running Down The Costs of Owning a Car

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There are few things more frustrating than seeing large chunks of our monthly salary being spent on a necessity: our car. We need our car, but they can end up costing us a pretty penny, money that we’d much rather spend on the finer things in life, or put straight into the savings pot. If it feels like you’re spending too much of your hard-earned dough on your vehicle, take our tips below. We have four pieces of advice that’ll ensure you’re not spending more money than you have to.

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Have the Right Car

 

If you’ve just bought a car, then it’s too late to take this piece of advice, but for everyone else, are you driving the right car? We tend to have a non-intellectual approach to what car we want to have. When deciding which car to buy, you should think about what will be best for your needs, not what has the most gadgets included or looks the best. For example, if you’re a single person living in an urban area, then you won’t need a big SUV. Buy with your brain, not your ego.

 

Use It Wisely

 

If you’re automatically jumping in the car every time you need to go anywhere, then you’re not using it wisely. Instead, consider your options. If you’re driving to work, then why not look at carpooling with someone else. You’ll drive both of you one day; they’ll drive the next. Just by making a small change to your driving habits, you’ll be putting much more money back in your wallet. Also, if you’re driving to and from work each day, do you want to be behind the wheel on the weekend? Use public transport instead: it’s cheaper, more relaxing, and better for the environment too.

 

Take Care Of It

 

All cars will have problems at one stage or another. However, you can reduce the likelihood of these faults by keeping your car in tip-top condition. Take your vehicle to an auto repair garage for regular maintenance; they’ll be able to check that everything’s working as it should, and be able to make any mild repairs before they have a chance to become too serious. As well as ensuring that your car runs as smoothly as possible, this will also increase the longevity of your car. There’s no expense quite as big as having to buy a new vehicle just because the old one has died.

 

Knocking Down Insurance

 

Insurance is a fact of life when it comes to cars. However, there are ways you keep your insurance costs down. You should keep your vehicle off the road when it’s parked at your home (a secure garage is best), ask if any of the car’s safety features make it eligible for any reductions, and shop around for the best deal. If you like your present insurance company, still negotiate. The worst deals are always for those who auto-renew without asking for further reductions.

 

There you have it. But don’t forget: it costs nothing to walk from time to time!

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Kick-start Huge Life Improvements with These Major Changes

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Are you happy with your life right now? Sometimes you can get this feeling that it’s time for a change, but you don’t know what it is yet. You want to improve your life in some way, and it might not matter yet just how you might do it. However, if you think a major change is in order, you should probably spend some time considering the best way to make an adjustment in your life. While making small changes slowly is one way to change your life, sometimes it’s a big and sweeping change that works best. If you’re not sure what that change might be yet, try the following options.

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Change Jobs (or Even Careers)

 

Your job (or your career if you think you have one) is a huge part of your life. Even if you don’t want to be defined by what you do for money, it is what you spend a lot of your time doing. Looking for a new job or maybe even changing your career path altogether can give your life a proper shake up. Doing the same thing day-in and day-out can get you down, but changing employers or trying something different can really improve things. If you’re not ready to move on, though, consider whether you can make any improvements in your current job.

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Find Somewhere New to Live

 

Moving into a new home is a major change which can take you on a few different paths. You could stay relatively close to your own home, so you live in a similar environment. But maybe you want to move further out of town, to the suburbs or even into a more rural area. Some people even think about making a major move to start a new life. The choice to buy a new home could have a significant effect on your life. Perhaps your current one is too small, or it’s not in a convenient location. Maybe it’s time for you and your partner to have your first real home together. There are many reasons to buy a home and improve your life.

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Get Back to Education

 

Going back to school isn’t something that appeals to everyone. Many people have nightmarish memories of school, from elementary all the way to college. Subjecting yourself to structured education again might be the last thing you want to do. But experiencing education as an adult can be very different, and there are lots of options. You can choose to do anything from a short diploma course to a degree. And you can study many things online so you can do them in your own time.

 

Start a New Hobby

 

It might not seem like a major change, but picking up a new hobby can change your life a lot. It can lead to new friends and relationships, new skills, and new experiences. The most life-changing hobbies are often the ones that get you out and meeting people, as well as trying exciting things you’ve never tried before.

 

If you feel like your life might be stagnant, a major change could help to kick-start it again.

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