Overweight pup gets additional opportunity at life

Overweight pup gets additional opportunity at life

Corpulent, unfortunate and grieving the loss of his proprietor, Vincent was surrendered to an area creature cover in Houston two weeks prior. His prospects didn't look great.

He tipped the scales at 38 pounds, twofold the sound weight for a 7-year-old dachshund. He had elevated cholesterol and his back plunged from the additional weight, putting him at danger of nerve harm. Mary Tipton, the admission facilitator for K-9 Heavenly attendants Salvage, and an individual from the top managerial staff for Harris Region Creature Asylum, happened to be at the sanctuary for a meeting when she spotted him.

"Vincent was simply gigantic," Tipton said. She took a photo and presented it on Facebook on discover him a temporary parent. Inside of 15 minutes, dachshund rescuer Melissa Anderson volunteered to take Vincent in.

Vincent's case is compelling, however weight influences a ton of pets. In 2014, an expected 52.7% of U.S. mutts were overweight or fat, as per the National Pet Corpulence Appreciation Day Overview.

Presently Anderson is gradually taking Vincent back to wellbeing.

The principal week wasn't simple for either Vincent or his non-permanent parent. At the point when leaving the vet with such a vast pooch, Anderson said she felt fat-disgraced by somebody strolling on the walkway.

"They let me know, 'Now that is simply mishandle,' and acted like they needed to make a special effort to stroll around Vincent," said Anderson. "A few individuals simply don't know other individuals' stories. They simply show up."

When she took him home, Vincent got wiped out, both regurgitating and miracle entrails, when he ate the solid puppy nourishments she gave him. Anderson could tell he was discouraged.

"I am not certain what the past proprietor sustained him, but rather I think it was all fast food. He was truly detoxing the first week," she said.

Anderson said when she went to a Starbucks drive-through one day, Vincent got truly energized by the radio's sound. "He bounced on my lap and stuck his nose outside the window, simply sniffing endlessly."

In any case, after only two weeks, Anderson said Vincent is well on his way to a healthier way of life.

Vincent eats an extraordinary canine nourishment; Anderson offers him green beans or carrots as "treats" however he hasn't generally gone for those yet.

He's on a really thorough activity administration, taking an interest in water high impact exercise five times each week and playing with her others mutts in the yard. The water high impact exercise assist bring with compelling off Vincent's strained joints. Besides, with the 100-degree climate in Texas, it offers a pleasant cool-down for both Vincent and Anderson.

At in the first place, Vincent would simply glide in his life coat. In any case, his continuance is developing. Vincent can now paddle in the pool for around 15-20 minutes, five days a week. Some time recently, he could just waddle around the yard with alternate puppies. Presently he finds himself able to run.

"He is truly more content now than he was," said Anderson. She said he keeps an uplifting disposition and appears to know they are attempting to help him.

K-9 Heavenly attendants Salvage is wanting to get him to a solid weight so he can be prepared for selection, however they aren't against him being received in his present condition.

"We take selections case by case. In the event that there was an immaculate home that needed to assume control over his weight reduction venture we may mull over that," said Tipton. "We are in no rush to dispose of him however there are different puppies at the haven that are prepared to be spared."

Presently, Fat Vincent is en route to wind up Thin Vinnie. He was 38-pounds and after two weeks tips the scales at 35.2. His weight reduction will be a moderate process however with the assistance of K-9 Holy messengers Salvage he is en route to his new life.

Read More :  What is Leverage by Jeremy Wagner, Head Forex Trading Instructor

Source by, CNN.com

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Sex-trafficking survivors utilize new ink to recover their lives

Sex-trafficking survivors utilize new ink to recover their lives

Jennifer Kempton is an in number lady. She's seen - and experienced - the most exceedingly terrible of individuals and broken free from an existence of sexual bondage and dependence.

In any case, Kempton said, each time she looked in the mirror, she was helped to remember her past.

That is on account of she had been marked by her previous pimps. "Marking" is the point at which a pimp tattoos a lady with an imprint to connote she is his property - like dairy cattle.

Four tattoos on Kempton's body were a day by day indication of what she had been through.

In the same way as other casualties of sex trafficking, Kempton's inconveniences started in adolescence, where she was mishandled and disregarded.

She said the tipping point was the point at which she was assaulted by a companion's sibling when she was 12. That drove her down a risky way of constrained prostitution and medication fixation in the place where she grew up of Columbus, Ohio.

Kempton put in over five years in the city. She persevered through rehashed beatings and was compelled to have intercourse with several men. In April 2013, after the most savage assault she had ever continued, Kempton chose she had enough.

She put a noose around her neck, wanting to end her life. The rope broke, and at that point, she discovered motivation to live.

"God came to me and identifies with me and he said I have a reason for you and it's not to kick the bucket in the cellar of a break house," Kempton said.

Recuperation from medication habit has not been simple, and Kempton said she backslid more than once. To some degree, the brandings were a consistent indication of what she had been through. She couldn't overlook it.

Kempton at long last sufficiently earned cash to get another tattoo to cover one of her brandings.

"It was so freeing to take his name off of my body and have what I need there," Kempton said, "The adoration I had been looking for my entire life, I got it with that tattoo."

Kempton made them brand secured with a tattoo of an intricate cross with "Affection" and "1 Cor 13 4:13." The Scriptural verse starts with the surely understood quote, "Adoration is patient, affection is thoughtful," and closes with the line, "And now these three remain: confidence, trust and adoration. In any case, the best of these is affection."

Kempton said the new ink changed the way she took a gander at herself, however regardless she had three different brandings. There was one on her neck, one on her back and one right over her crotch that said "Property of Salem," a trafficker who assumed a noteworthy part in bringing Kempton into the life she had now deserted.

She enlightened a human trafficking supporter concerning the "property of" tattoo. The backer reached a relative who consented to pay for her to have whatever is left of her brandings secured.

This was the start of Survivor's Ink.

Kempton needed different survivors to encounter the opportunity she had discovered, so she began a charitable association that pays for trafficking survivors to have their marking tattoos secured by new tattoos of their picking.

"It all that much so is a mental type of servitude," Kempton said. "It binds you to those recollections and it binds you to those emotions that you felt when you persuaded that and to have the capacity to be free of oppression and afterward to settle on a dynamic decision of, 'This is the thing that I need on my body, not this present man's name or this current posse's image, I need my girl's name, I need an excellent blossom, I need a religious sacred text, I need a butterfly to demonstrate that I have wings, and I can fly.'"

As the physical scars go away, the mental scars can recuperate, as well.

"It began when I got the one on my neck concealed and the following morning when I took a gander at myself in the mirror and I wasn't reminded that I worked for posses and I was a piece of that sort of life, to have this lovely blossom opening and sprouting, it was just, gave me an entire new breath of life," said Kempton.

Since beginning Survivor's Ink in September 2014, Kempton has helped numerous ladies cover their brandings, including Angela Ritter.

Ritter looks at her initial life to June Knife, "You know, room-mother, group mother, simply included in everything my children did; truly regarded in my group," she said. In any case, when she turned 30, her life took a dim turn and she twisted up, in her words, "a dependent road walker."

Ritter put in 13 years under the control of traffickers. She was dependent on medications and said she was compelled to engage in sexual relations with a larger number of men than she can tally.

"I simply came to a point where I felt passing on me, I mean, truly felt demise on me each and every day," she said, "it's similar to God was simply shouting at me that on the off chance that I didn't get assist and with getting out now, that I was going to bite the dust there."

Knowing her pimp wouldn't enthusiastically give her a chance to leave, Ritter let him know she was simply setting off to the store, yet she said when she was outside of anyone's ability to see from his window she ran.

Like Kempton, Ritter has recovered her life, and like Kempton, she has lived with a steady indication of her previous life: a brand by the group that trafficked her for sex. She regularly wears a Band-Help on her upper arm to cover what she calls "a major range of dull disgrace" on her body. The tattoo peruses "Dark's Excellence," with a dollar sign.

"Well that says I'm some person's 'ho,'" Ritter said. She couldn't bear to have it concealed until she got some answers concerning Survivor's Ink.

"Who might have ever imagined that there would be somebody willing to commit their time, their materials, you know, to liberating us from a pitiable, dull past, you know? In any case, I express gratitude toward God for Jen, I say thanks to God for Survivor's Ink, I say thanks to God for the opportunity to be that survivor," Ritter said.

Tattoo craftsman Mike Prickett gives his opportunity to Survivor's Ink, and he has seen firsthand the effect the brands have on ladies.

"I think with anything, particularly tattoos on the grounds that they're so lasting, certain things are going to keep you away from doing the things that you need or consistent indications of something negative that you did or that transpired," he said, "Having the capacity to wash that away and begin crisp, I imagine that is a risk that everybody merits."

Together, Ritter and Prickett thought of an important configuration that Ritter will be pleased to hotshot.

"At long last, will be me once more. I'm not going to fit in with anyone but rather God, and that is the way it should be," Ritter said. "Not everyone persuades an opportunity to be a survivor, and there are young ladies out there at this moment that don't even realize that they're casualties. ... However, perhaps, quite possibly, they'll see one of us and they'll hear one of us and they'll realize that there is help, there is trust and there is an exit plan."

Read More :  Marked The stunning existence of a sex-trafficked young lady

Source by CNN.com

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Marked: The stunning existence of a sex-trafficked young lady

Marked: The stunning existence of a sex-trafficked young lady

It's similar to a medication. It lifts you up and afterward it crushes you on the ground. While you're into it, everything is skewed.

You are advised your life will be extraordinary. You are let you know will carry on with the high life loaded with excellence and allure, cash and more deference than you can stomach. It is energizing.

You are acquainted with ladies who are more established than you, and they are lovely. They wear splendid, lovely garments, their hair is flawless, their mani-pedis shimmer. They appear to be delightful. They are all having a ton of fun in Los Angeles.

You need to be them. Certain, guaranteed, and they let you know they're profiting. This is the life, you contemplate internally. No tenets. Just fun.

At that point you start. It's somewhat unnerving at first. This isn't your normal employment. Once in a while it includes men who are inebriated and grimy. Now and again they frighten you. In some cases they undermine to murder you. At times they hold blades to your gut. Once in a while it's a firearm to the head.

You figure out how to quiet them down notwithstanding when you are panicked. You are just 13. In any case, you are told everybody who isn't in your profession is misleading themselves.

The general population society esteems as ordinary are slaves, as well, they simply don't have any acquaintance with it. They are "squares" that don't get it. They'll never get you. Before you know it, you have faith in that.

You trust you will never fit into a typical life as a wife with a minding spouse. You can't envision that even exists. You choose this life is better. It is all the more energizing. You get the opportunity to do what you need.

All things considered, with the exception of when your trafficker doesn't get the cash he has requested. At that point you get beaten and censured. You choose you will be the best there ever was at this. You will work 24 hours a day on the off chance that you need to make his standard. You are doing it. You are adulated for your diligent work. You are remunerated with visits to the salon.

This is the life you have picked, you let yourself know.

Infrequently he treats you like a girl. Once in a while a significant other. Some of the time an article. Relies on upon his state of mind. He generally needs you to demonstrate your reliability, demonstrate you're worth, demonstrate your adoration. You are presently 14.

He says the most ideal approach to demonstrate the majority of that is to put something lasting on your body to tell everybody you are his. It's sort of like a wedding band, he lets you know.

It's his epithet, in dark ink tattooed on your body. You aren't the main young lady who has been inquired. At first every one of the young ladies say no. You do, as well.

In any case, then you choose you need to be his "base bitch," the person who will do everything and anything for him. It implies you can lead over his different young ladies. I'll do it, you say. You need to be extraordinary.

You're in a house. It is grimy. There is a bedding on the floor. The stench of sweat and sex fills the air. There's a tattoo firearm. Some ink. There's a man staying there. He's your trafficker's sibling. Is the needle clean? You ponder. You don't inquire. You take a seat.

He starts to jab away at your skin. It takes a while. Your skin is hot and swollen. The letters "CREAM" blast from you're mid-section. They have an importance. "Money Tenet Everything Around Me."

That is the thing that your manager passes by. That is the thing that has quite recently been tattooed on you're mid-section. You pillar with pride. Somebody asserts you. This is your new gang. You have a place. He takes a gander at you diversely now, you think. It's actual he does. He has recently denoted his property. Presently everybody will know you are his.

After four years, you are as yet doing likewise. You are not free. You are not loaded with happiness. You are not carrying on with the fabulous life you were guaranteed. Not yet. It will happen, you let yourself know.

One day you meet somebody who used to be similar to you yet 20 years more seasoned. Her teeth are thumped out. Her fingernails are grimy. Her hair tousled. The more youthful young ladies call her grimy prostitute and split head, however not you. On this day, you choose to stop and converse with her in light of the fact that business is moderate.

You ask who she is. She recounts to you her biography, at any rate the most sensational parts. She was really, much the same as you, once upon a time. She was the everybody's indisputable favorite on the strip. She could do no off-base. She could make more than any of alternate young ladies.

In any case, one day she got grabbed by the wrong client. He crushed her teeth out. Abandoned her wounded and battered by the street. She felt monstrous. She required something to cover the hurt, the disgrace and the self-hatred.

She began taking medications. The medications began to lead her life. It didn't take long until she couldn't discover out. The avenues turned into her eternity home. There was no backpedaling.

You wake up. You quit having confidence in the fantasy you were guaranteed four years prior when you were 13. You know you need to get out.

You don't know how. You are still dependent on "the life," however you aren't dependent on medications. Presently you are not certain which one is more regrettable.

The medications are more awful, you let yourself know. That is the reason you decline to take them. Be that as it may, the passionate dependence on "the life" is likewise capable.

Your withdrawals are simply diverse. You feel the agony of forlornness, disgrace, uncertainty and incoherence, at the same time a few days.

You are so used to being on caution, from the hazardous fellow, or the beatings by the man who is your new "father" in the city. You can't quiet down sufficiently long to feel safe regardless of where you are.

You need to begin your life once again, yet there are an excess of alternatives. Which one do you pick? Will the world acknowledge you as something else, another person?

You have spent your young years offering yourself, demonstrating your sturdiness, your magnificence, your value in dollars and pennies. All you truly need is affection, however you didn't know how to name it in those days.

Your heart continues getting broken, many times. Be that as it may, it won't quit breaking. You are in modest pieces and choose that every piece will have a name. For every piece, you make an alternate persona. This is the manner by which you adapt.

You lift yourself up, dry your eyes and retreat out. Some of the time it happens in an auto, some of the time in an inn room, once in a while in a condo. Now and then it makes your skin slither. Some of the time it's alright on the grounds that he's decent. It pays well, at times.

Source by CNN.com

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What is Leverage? by Jeremy Wagner, Head Forex Trading Instructor

What is Leverage? by Jeremy Wagner, Head Forex Trading Instructor (freeforexexpertadvisor.com)

Leverage is a financial tool that allows an individual to increase their market exposure to a point that exceeds their actual investment. For example, a trader goes long 10000 units of the USD/JPY, with $1,000 dollars of equity in their account.

The USD/JPY trade is equivalent to controlling $10,000. Because the trade is 10 times larger than the equity in the trader’s account, the account is said to be leveraged 10 times or 10:1.

Had the trader bought 20,000 units of the USD/JPY, which is equivalent to $20,000, their account would have been leveraged 20:1.

Leverage allows an individual to control larger trade sizes. Traders will use this tool as a way to magnify their returns. It’s imperative to stress, that losses are also magnified when leverage is used. Therefore, it is important to understand that leverage needs to be controlled.

FXCM provides flexible leverage to its clients. You can trade with no leverage at all, or you can trade with a significant amount of leverage.

FXCM believes clients have a greater chance of long-term success when a conservative amount of leverage, or even no leverage, is implemented.

Written by Jeremy Wagner, Lead Trading Instructor, DailyFX.com Education

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The Long and Short of it, by James Stanley, Forex Trading Instructor

The Long and Short of it (Photo by, coastalcarenet.org)

Aspiring traders will often be familiar with the concept of buying to initiate a trade. After all, since many of us are children we are taught the basic premise of ‘buying low, and selling high.’

In financial markets, jargon often plays a key role. Jargon helps show familiarity and comfort with a particular subject matter, and nowhere is this jargon more apparent than when discussing the ‘position,’ of a trade.

When a trader is buying with the prospect of closing the trade at a higher price later, the trader is said to be going ‘Long,’ in the trade. The following graphic will illustrate the dynamic of a long position:

While this premise may seem easy enough, the next may be slightly more unconventional to new traders.

The concept of selling something that isn’t already owned may prove as a confusing concept, but in their ever-evolving pragmatism traders created a mannerism for doing so.

When a trader is going ‘Short,’ in a trade, they are selling with the goal of buying back (to cover the trade) at a lower price. The difference between the initial selling price, and the price at which the trade was ‘covered,’ is the traders profit to keep less any fees, commissions, or selling expenses. The chart below illustrates a ‘Short,’ position.

It’s important to note the interesting distinction between currencies and other markets. Because currencies are quoted with two sides (each quote references 2 different currencies taking opposing positions), each trade offers the trader long and short exposure in varying currencies.

For example, a trader going short EUR/AUD would be selling Euro’s and going long Australian Dollars. If, however, the trader went long the currency pair – they would be buying Euro’s and selling Australian Dollars.

Written by James B. Stanley

To contact James Stanley, please email Instructor@DailyFX.Com. You can follow James on Twitter @JStanleyFX

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Currency Names and Symbols, by Richard Krivo, Trading Instructor

Currency Names and Symbols, by Richard Krivo, Trading Instructor

As you may have noticed, the symbols (abbreviations) for all currencies have three letters. The first two letters denote the name of the country and third letter stands for the name of that country’s currency.

As an example, let’s look at the USD. The US stands for United States and the D stands Dollar.

The currencies on which the majority of traders focus are called the “majors”. The most widely traded currencies are represented on the grid below:

Not to be confused with major currencies are the major currency pairs. The Major Pairs are any currency pair with USD in them. For example, the EURUSD would be considered a Major Pair.

Currency pairs without the USD in them are referred to as Cross Pairs. The EURJPY would be an example of a Cross Pair.

To carry this one step further, any EUR pair without the USD in it would be referred to as a Euro Cross. So the EURJPY would be a member of the EURO Cross group. Other member of that group would be EURGBP, EURCHF, EURNZD, EURCAD and EURAUD.

Other currency groups of this type would be comprised of the JPY crosses, GBP crosses, AUD crosses, NZD crosses and the CHF crosses.

by Richard Krivo, Trading Instructor / dailyfx.com

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The Basics of How Money is Made Trading Forex

The Basics of How Money is Made Trading Forex (gorillaconvict.com)

Trading currency in the Forex market centers around the basic concepts of buying and selling.

Let's take the idea of buying first. What if you bought something (it could literally be almost anything...a house, a piece of jewelry or a stock) and it went up in value. If you sold it at that point, you would have made a profit...the difference between what you paid originally and the greater value that the item is worth now.

Currency trading is the same way...

Let's say you want to buy the AUDUSD currency pair. If the AUD goes up in value relative to the USD and then you sell it, you will have made a profit. A trader in this example would be buying the AUD and selling the USD at the same time.

For example if the AUDUSD pair was bought at 1.0615 and the pair moved up to 1.0700 at the time that the trade was closed/exited, the profit on the trade would have been 85 pips. (See the chart below…)

 Had the pair moved down to 1.0600 before the trade was closed, the loss on the trade would have been 40 pips.

Also, it makes no difference which currency pair you are trading. If the price of the currency you are buying goes up from the time you bought it, you will have made a profit.

Here is another example using the AUD. In this case we still want to buy the AUD but let’s do this with the EURAUD currency pair. In this instance we would sell the pair. We would be selling the EUR and buying the AUD simultaneously. Should the AUD go up relative to the EUR we would profit as we bought the AUD.

In this example if we sold the EURAUD pair at 1.2320 and the price moved down to 1.2250 when we closed the position, we would have made a profit of 70 pips. Had the pair moved up instead and we closed out the position at 1.2360 we would have had a loss of 40 pips on the trade.

Remember, we are always buying or selling the currency on the left side of the pair. If we buy the currency on the left side, which is called the base currency, we are selling the one on the right side which is called the cross or counter currency. The opposite would be true if we were selling the currency on the left side.

Now let's take a look at how a trader can make a profit by selling a currency pair. This concept is a little trickier to understand than buying. It is based on the idea of selling something that you borrowed as opposed to selling something that you own.

In the case of currency trading, when taking a sell position you would borrow the currency in the pair that you were selling from your broker (this all takes place seamlessly within the trading station when the trade is executed) and if the price went down, you would then sell it back to the broker at the lower price. The difference between the price at which you borrowed it (the higher price) and the price at which you sold it back to them (the lower price) would be your profit.

For example, let’s say a trader believes that the USD will go down relative to the JPY. In this case the trader would want to sell the USDJPY pair. They would be selling the USD and buying the JPY at the same time. The trader would be borrowing the USD from their broker when they execute the trade. If the trade moved in their favor the JPY would increase in value and the USD would decrease. At the point where they closed out the trade, their profits from the JPY increasing in value would be used to pay back the broker for the borrowed USD at the now lower price. After paying back the broker, the remainder would be their profit on the trade.

For example, let’s say the trader shorted the USDJPY pair at 76.28. If the pair did in fact move down and the trader closed/exited the position at 75.81, the profit on the trade would be 47 pips.

On the other hand, if the pair was shorted at 76.28 and the pair did not move down but rather it moved up to 76.50 when the position was closed, there would be a loss on the trade of 22 pips.

In a nutshell, this how you can make a profit from selling something that you do not own.

In wrapping up, if you buy a currency pair and it moves up, that trade would show a profit. If you sell a currency pair and it moves down, that trade would show a profit.

by Jeremy Wagner, Head Forex Trading Instructor, dailyfx.com

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What is Forex? By, Jeremy Wagner, Head Forex Trading Instructor

What is Forex? By, Jeremy Wagner, Head Forex Trading Instructor Pic by, businessforextoday.com

What is forex? Why trade forex?

The foreign exchange market – or forex for short – is the buying and selling of currencies, and it’s one of the fastest growing markets in the world. From 2007 to 2010, forex market activity increased by 20%, with average daily turnover reaching nearly $4 trillion in April of 2010.

 

Forex trading works much like it does with stocks, you buy low and you sell high. The benefit of trading forex is that you don’t have to choose from thousands of companies or sectors. Plus, you can make things even simpler than choosing which company to buy.

For example, most people, even those that are new to forex, have an opinion on the US dollar and the US economy. They can easily take their opinions and translate them into a forex trade. Buying or selling US Dollars as simple as they buying or selling a company’s stock.

Also, another advantage of the FX market is that it doesn’t begin at 9AM and end at 4PM. Trading takes place 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. For most people 24 hour trading means they can trade before or after work. Plus, you have the flexibility to make your trades online.

Plus, you can buy and sell at any time, in up trends (also called bull markets) and in down trends (also called bear markets).

It’s easy to get started. You can sign up for a free demo with FXCM and get $50,000 of virtual money to practice trading online with one of FXCM’s easy to use trading platforms, including mobile and tablet offerings. At FXCM we provide all the educational resources and trading tools you need to go from practice trading to real trading. Online educational seminars and a suite of video lessons are only a few examples.

The time to trade forex is now. Join the millions of traders around the world.

By, Jeremy Wagner, Lead Trading Instructor, DailyFX Education from dailyfx.com

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The Big Implications of the Google, FTC Antitrust Scandal

The Big Implications of the Google, FTC Antitrust Scandal

A 160-page report that was far more complete than the FTC no doubt wanted last week was leaked to The Wall Street Journal, clearly showcasing that the FTC staff recommended action against Google for anticompetitive practices.

The FTC commissioners then decided -- indicating that they treat staff reports about like executives in public companies do (been there done that) -- to let Google off the hook, apparently because it made some minor changes. Because the Obama administration and Google have been especially cozy, that move gave the impression that the FTC was effectively in Google's pocket.

This scandal -- and it does count as a scandal -- suggests three things: One is that we have another three-letter agency that can't spell "document control"; two, that the FTC's ability to argue it isn't controlled by the Obama administration just took another solid hit; and three, that the EU now will likely step in and use this to jump on Google's head.

This has something for everyone -- a hint of cronyism, a dash of corruption, a taste of government incompetence, and just a smidgen of hypocrisy (an administration that ran on a platform of its predecessors not being transparent being even less so).

I'll dig deeper into that and close with my product of the week: the Dell Venue 8 7000 Tablet -- the halo product from Intel and Dell that I've been using for a few weeks.

 Document Management

Considering that it ran on "transparency," it is somewhat ironic that the Obama administration's transparency generally has resulted from folks like Bradley Manning, Eric Snowden, and now some bureaucrat (likely ex-bureaucrat) -- who likely was overworked and underpaid -- deciding to give The Wall Street Journal and other news services one hell of an early birthday present.

No wonder ex-Secretary Clinton had her own email server -- for all she knew, her entire email repository might have been gifted to her political rivals several times a week. Granted, since it likely wasn't secure that may have happened anyway, but seriously -- whatever we are paying for information security, we are clearly paying too much, because the security we are getting is crap.

It isn't that hard to call Varonis, the firm that specializes in problems like this, and take a meeting. I get that the government isn't telling me the truth very often -- I really don't need to have my face constantly rubbed in that fact -- and I have to wonder how often these mistakes are made with folks like foreign governments that don't make their "gift" public, rather than a newspaper that does. Christ -- what is it going to take to put some controls in place to stop this B.S. -- a leak of pictures of the first family in their birthday suits?

You may think I'm joking, but given how badly the Secret Service is behaving, I don't think even that scenario is a stretch.
The IRS, FCC, FTC - WTF?

The FCC and FTC, in theory, are at arm's length from the political side of the administration, as is the IRS. First the IRS came under fire for acting in a partisan fashion against conservative nonprofit organizations. Then the FCC came under fire for being the agent of the administration with regard to its Net neutrality stance. Now, the FTC looks like it unusually favored a big Obama donor and political ally. It has gotten so screwed up that AT&T (too many three-letter things) actually is using the FCC against the FTC. Seriously, speaking of three letters, WTF?

Granted, this may all be smoke, but it is a lot of smoke -- and collectively, it paints a picture that will make it hard for any of these organizations to survive the next election process intact, let alone get anything done now.

It isn't hard to imagine that the conservative side will use fixing these organizations as a primary political argument for giving them more power. They don't have to invent anything -- these agencies do look to be out of control, and that means it is becoming far more difficult to get anything major done, because they are increasingly untrusted.

There is no upside to a government that appears both inept and untrustworthy.
Google's Lesson

Google needs to read up on Standard Oil, because it stopped trying to repeat Microsoft's mistakes some time ago and now appears to be going down the Standard Oil path.

Standard Oil was a huge scandal in the first half of the last century. Because folks came to believe they effectively controlled the government, the firm was painfully taken apart. The U.S. effectively lost control of the world oil market as a result, and that did some rather ugly things -- particularly in the gas-starved '70s, when some government idiot thought building crappy cars would fix all our woes.

You may recall that when the U.S. government failed to break up Microsoft, the EU decided to beat the company over the head with a stick until it effectively gave up much of its control over key products. The EU likes pointing out that the U.S. regulatory organization is, pick one, corrupt or incompetent, and likely will use this leak to help nail Google's hide to the wall.

Once you get to Google or Microsoft's size, you no longer need to play dirty. Ironically, during the Microsoft trial, we learned that none of the dirty things Microsoft did actually worked, which really added insult to injury for that firm. In Google's favor, it did make changes and didn't publicly call out the Attorney General or some such silliness, but the international focus on Google continues to grow.

At some point, if Google doesn't dial it back a bit, they are going to find that governments don't have a problem raising money from fines, and billion-dollar fines aren't even that unusual anymore. In short, if Google doesn't want to be Standard Oil or RCA, it needs to stop acting like it needs to be broken up.
Wrapping Up

We had great hopes for Obama, who presented himself as technically competent, but that competence unfortunately was applied only during the election and re-election process, and not as part of his administration.

It is pretty clear now he really doesn't get technology. Maybe that goes to the heart of the problem more than anything else.

Leaders today, to be effective, have to understand technology in order to comprehend how problems are identified and fixed, and to understand how security actually works. He doesn't get any of that, which likely explains why the government seems to be such a mess at the moment.

Hopefully, the next president will not just create a technology image, but actually understand how it works -- so maybe we can at least fix some of the new problems the current administration is accidentally creating for us.

 The Dell Venue 8 7000 is a halo product from Intel and Dell that showcases both companies' mobile capabilities. Granted, Intel is actually on a roll at the moment, announcing an Intel-inside watch with no less a watch powerhouse then Tag Heuer.

However, the Venue 8 7000 has three clear advantages over other tablets in its class, most notably the iPad mini. It has the Intel Real Sense depth camera, which allows you to change focus after the picture is taken and potentially measure things accurately from their pictures.

It has an OLED screen, very rare in tablets, which is brighter and better looking than LCD alternatives. Also, it is one of the thinnest tablets ever made, which showcases that Intel can make a processor that works in this class of product and works relatively well.

Like all Halo products, the technology is a bit ahead of the user experience, which means there are some slightly annoying aspects to this -- like the fact it doesn't suspend when you close a cover over its face, or it doesn't have a flash for taking pictures in low light or at night. Granted, given the nature of the camera, it would require a rather unique kind of flash. The camera has three very separate lenses and sensors.

In use, the camera is light, with decent battery life (more than 10 hours) , a screen that makes other tablets look dull in comparison, and amazingly good front-mounted speakers (though most of us likely will use headphones). Performance is in line with other tablets when playing games like Kingdom Rush, which I'm currently hooked on. Both movies and TV -- mostly Netflix and Amazon Prime -- are excellent.

Overall, the Dell Venue 8 7000 has turned into one of my favorite tablets this year, and I'm a long- time Kindle fan. The Venue is a decent reader, so it is a good showcase for Dell and Intel's capabilities, and it is my product of the week.

by, Rob Enderle from technewsworld.com

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Creating Your Social Networking Website Profile

Creating Your Social Networking Website Profile

How you would like to meet and communicate with other internet users, especially ones that share the same views and beliefs as you do? If you would then you may want to think about joining a social networking website, if you haven’t already done so. When it comes to easily finding and communicating online with other internet users, social networking sites are, perhaps, the best way to go.

If you are interested in joining a social networking website, the first thing that you will need to do is find a network to join. You can easily find a number of networks by performing a standard internet search. For the best search results, you may want to search with the words social networking or social networking websites.  In your search, it is likely that that you come up with a fairly large number of different networking sites.  Popular sites that may be included in your search results may include, but will not be limited to, MySpace, Orkut, Yahoo! 360, FriendFinder, FriendWise, Facebook, and Classmates.

Once you have made the decision to join a particular social networking website, whether or not it is one of the ones mentioned above, you will need to need to register with the site.  Even free networking communities require that you go through the registration process. Once you are registered, you should be able to start communicating with other community members.  Before you start communicating, you may need to develop your online profile or profile page, depending on the networking site in question. Although it may seem easy enough to create a profile, there are many internet users who are unsure exactly what they should and should not include.

Perhaps, one of the most important things to include in your online website is your picture. While a personal picture is optional, it is ideal. Many internet users enjoy taking to someone that they can see in their minds, without a picture this is difficult.  If you are looking to use social networking websites just to meet new friends you may not necessarily need to post a private picture, but you may need to if you are looking to find love online. When it comes to internet dating, many individuals will not even view an online profile if a picture is not included.

In addition to your photograph, you may want to include your name.  Now, when it comes to your name, you need to be cautious.  You are advised against giving your full name, especially if your profile or profile page contains a personal photograph of you.  In addition to your name, you may want to put down your location.  As with your name it is important to display caution.  Your picture, your address, and your full name can be dangerous, especially if it falls into the wrong hands. As much as you would like to fill your social networking profiles with personal information, you are advised to think about your safety before anything else.

You may also want to include information on yourself. This information may include your hobbies, issues that are important to do, your likes, and your dislikes.  With many social networking websites, including MySpace, you will find that there are preset profile fields for this information. In addition to preset questions or categories on your likes and dislikes, you may also find additional information, including fun questionnaires.  Many social networking websites will ask that you describe your favorite color, your goals in life, your most embarrassing moment, and so on. As with your other personal information, it is important to stay as vague and possible and not use any full names, especially real ones.

By keeping the above mentioned points in mind, you should not only be able to create an online social networking profile that is filled with valuable information, but you can do so while staying safe at the same time.  Your safety on the internet is in your hands, that is why it is important to think about safety, as well as internet popularity. 

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