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Award-Winning Travel App Protects You from Damage Liabilities

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In this day and age, who doesn’t rent or share something on certain occasions?

Maybe it’s a vacation condo, a speedboat for the weekend, or a car for the hour, day, or longer. And of course, when it’s in your possession, it’s your responsibility.

It only makes sense that you’d want to memorialize its condition when you got it. And now you can.

The Record360 app is free to consumers, and there’s also a version for the variety of industries whose clientele make use of their assets.

The app is as user-friendly as it gets:

Record360 operation

Thus, at time of property, equipment or vehicle exchange, simply walk around the item or dwelling, using taps on a smart mobile device to capture video, images, highlights and necessary annotations from all angles.

Record360 then creates a time-stamped, geo-tagged record stored in the cloud. With proof of condition in hand, disputes at the point of return are a thing of the past.

Here’s the app in action:

Record360 is a simple tool that gives travelers and anybody who needs to share or rent equipment the peace of mind they should expect, just like any industry where goods and services are exchanged.

Android devices can download it from the Play Store, and iPhone users can access it from iTunes.

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40 Awesome Spots in the World You’ve Gotta Visit

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Sometimes you just need to stop and appreciate what’s out there.

And by living the Dot Com lifestyle, you can go one better and do it in person!

After all, you’d only need a laptop and a cyberspace connection to manage your business.

It’s hard to say whether a single lifetime would be enough to truly experience all the world has to offer — such as the Arctic’s Northern Lights shown above — but it’s worth making a serious dent in your bucket list.

Here’s a picturesque menu of 40 incredible places around the world that are definitely worth considering:

1. Bagan, Myanmar

3. Li River, China

amazing-places-to-see-before-you-die-1-3

4. Meteora, Greece

5. Salar de Uyuni: One of the World’s Largest Mirrors, Bolivia

6. Tianzi Mountains, China

7. Santorini Island, Greece

8. Angkor Wat, Cambodia

9. Yosemite Valley, USA

10. Hitachi Seaside Park, Japan

11. Bamboo Forest, Japan

12. Petra, Jordan

13. Machu Picchu, Peru

amazing-places-to-see-before-you-die-26-1unbelievable-places-26-2

26. Victoria Falls, Zambia/Zimbabwe

31. Mount Roraima, Venezuela/Brazil/Guyana

33. Batu Caves, Malaysia

34. Gásadalur, Faroe Islands

35. Antelope Canyon, USA

36. Iguazu Falls, Argentina/Brazil

37. Giza Pyramids, Egypt

38. McWay Falls, USA

39. Cappadocia, Turkey

40. Name it.

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10 Useful Rules to Know when Fine Dining

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The Dot Com lifestyle affords more opportunities to sample quality cuisine in elegant settings.

Perhaps you’ll be invited by a new associate who has done well in life, or perhaps you’ll have a lunch or dinner meeting with a financial professional or prospective business partner.

So be ready for it.

Here are the Top 10 tips to guide you through a fine dining experience so you’ll blend right in with surroundings that feature all the trappings of success:

1. Knives and Forks

Queen Mary 2 Queens Grill Place Setting

This is one of the most common issues for people who are used to flatware (knives and forks) being brought to the table with each course.

On a properly set table, you usually see a series of forks on the left side of your plate and a series of spoons and knives on your right (the table is always set for right handed people). The very simple rule is to always work from the outside in; the cutlery farthest away from your plate is for the first course. If you’re still unsure what to do, wait and follow your hostess or host.

Always take small portions of food at a time and put your cutlery down between each mouthful. When doing so, place it on the plate, never back on the table, and do not rest it half on and half off the plate; cross the tips of the two pieces (if there are two) or angle it if there is just one. This tells the server that you’re not finished.

When you are finished, place your knife and fork together in the centre of the plate vertically. The tines of the fork should point up, and the blade of the knife should point to the center towards the fork.

You should always hold both your knife and fork as opposed to carving your food at the start and then using only your fork (this is an American tradition and is generally fine in America, but not in Europe). The tines of your fork should always point down toward the plate; for difficult foods like peas, you should use your knife to squash them onto the tip of the fork. The fork is not a scoop, so don’t use it like one.

Do not pick up any cutlery that you drop to the floor. It will be replaced by the server.

2. Soup and Pudding

Pudding

Soup spoons generally come in two shapes: one like a round bowl, and the other like an egg.

The soup bowl must stay on the table. It is never acceptable to drink your soup from the bowl. To eat your soup, push your spoon away from you, starting at the center of the bowl and moving to the farthest edge. Bring the spoon to your mouth and drink the soup from the edge; do not put the whole spoon in to your mouth. Obviously, do not slurp.

Pudding is not to be confused with dessert. They’re two entirely separate courses, though one can take the place of the other. Pudding is a sweet course, whereas dessert is usually fruit or cheese.

To eat pudding, you’re usually given both a fork and a spoon. The pudding spoon is held in the same way as your knife, with the bowl of the spoon facing inwards, and is held in your dominant hand. The pudding fork is used as a pusher only. You don’t put a pudding fork into your mouth. Using the fork, push a small portion of your pudding onto the angled spoon. As you lift the spoon to your mouth, tilt it a little so the bowl is now facing upwards. When you’ve finished eating, the same rules apply here for placing your cutlery back on the plate.

Occasionally, the pudding fork and spoon will be found directly above your plate, rather than in the cutlery at the side.

3. Napkins

Napkinfoldcone

A napkin is used for one thing only: dabbing the mouth. Never wipe your mouth with a napkin, you should always dab.

Your napkin should be unfolded and placed on your knees. It is never acceptable to tuck your napkin in to the front of your shirt or dress. In ancient times, this was normal, but nowadays, it’s the height of vulgarity.

If, for some urgent reason, you must leave the table before you have finished, you should place your napkin on your seat after you have asked your hostess to excuse you. This tells the server that you plan to return. When you’re ready to sit down again, simply replace the napkin upon your knee.

If your napkin drops to the floor, it’s acceptable to pick it up unless the house has a butler or servants near the table. In those cases, they will remove the fallen napkin and replace it with a fresh one. Never place anything in your napkin, and especially not food.

When you’ve finished eating, the napkin should be placed neatly, but not refolded, to the left side of your plate, but not on your plate.

4. Glasses and Wine

Wine Glasses1

Normally, you’ll have two or more glasses at the table. They’ll be placed on the right upper side of your plate.

You can have up to four glasses. They’re usually arranged in a diagonal or roughly square pattern. The top left glass is for red wine. It will usually have a fairly large bowl. Directly below that, you’ll find the white wine glass; that will be smaller. At the top right, you’ll find a champagne glass or perhaps a smaller glass for dessert wines or port. On the bottom right is your water glass.

If someone offers a toast to you, you remain seated while the others may stand. Never raise a glass to yourself. You should never touch glasses with other guests when toasting; it is enough to raise the glass in their direction. Keep eye contact when toasting. If you wish to raise a toast, never tap the side of your glass with a utensil, which is the height of rudeness, not to mention the possibility that you could damage very expensive glassware. It’s sufficient to merely clear your throat.

Do not gulp your wine. Sip quietly and occasionally. The purpose of the wine at dinner is to complement your food, not to help you along to way to drunkenness.

If your server is refilling your glass, you should never place your hand over or near the glass to indicate when you have enough. You should simply tell the server that you have sufficient or tell him prior to pouring that you do not wish to have any more. Never hold the glass for the server to pour your wine.

5. Body and seating

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There will usually be a seating plan near the door of the dining room, or placards on the table. If neither exist, wait to be seated by your hostess.

There are strict rules as to whom sits where at the table, and it would be extremely embarrassing if you had to be asked to move, both for you and your hostess. Remember, the hostess governs the table, not the host.

The host will sit at the head of the table, which is normally the seat farthest away from doors or commotion. To his right sits the wife of the guest of honor, and to his left sits the wife of the next gentleman in order of importance. The hostess will have the guest of honor on her right, and the second most important gentleman on her left. The remainder of the seating plan can often be arbitrary but will always alternate based on gender.

When you are seated at the table your feet should be firmly planted on the floor in front of you. Do not cross your legs, do not lean back on your chair, and do not shake your feet. Your elbows should be at your side at all times. Sit upright and do not lean over your plate when you’re eating; bring your food to your mouth.

In England, the correct behavior is to keep your hands on your lap when you’re not using them. In France, the rule is to keep your hands above the table at all times. You may place them on the edge of the table, but you must never put your elbows on the table.

6. Food in General

Fine-Dining-Restaurants-Kw

You must not start eating until everyone has been served. If there are a large number of guests, the hostess may indicate that you may begin early. If this is the case, you should begin.

If you take a mouthful which contains something you cannot swallow, excuse yourself and remove it in privacy. Absolutely do not do so at the table and never place it in your napkin or on your plate for all to see.

If you’re eating something that has stones or pips in it, you may use your forefinger and thumb to remove them from your mouth. Place them on the side of your plate. You must never use a toothpick at the table, nor should you blow your nose. If you have something stuck in your teeth that you must remove, excuse yourself and go to the restroom to remove it. It’s also acceptable to remove bones with your fingers.

Do not salt your meal before you have tasted it; this is an insult to your hostess. If you do need salt, use the tip of a clean knife — if a salt spoon is not provided in the salt dish — to transfer some salt to the side of your plate, which you can use for dipping.

Small pre-dinner snacks must always touch your plate before being put in the mouth. Do not take it from the serving tray and put it straight in your mouth.

7. Bread

Painananasviolette

If you’re having bread with your meal, there will usually be a small side plate on the left of your place setting; if so, use it. If not, it is perfectly acceptable to place your bread directly on the table to the left of your plate.

You should not put the bread on your plate directly.

Bread should never be cut. When you wish to eat it, tear a bite-sized piece off with your fingers. Don’t worry about crumbs if there are no side plates; the servers will sweep each setting between courses if need be.

Normally, there should never be butter served at a dinner table, but these days, it is seen from time to time. If there is butter, use your butter knife — found either on the bread plate or to the extreme right of your setting — and transfer sufficient butter for your bread in one go. Place it on the side of your side plate.

If there is no side plate, your hostess should ensure that you have your own individual butter dish. You should butter each piece of bread as you eat it, rather than buttering it all up front.

8. Conversation

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Unless you know every guest at the table very well, you should not discuss politics, religion, or sex at the table.

You should also avoid any controversial subjects that may fall outside of the scope of those three topics. Dinner is meant to be enjoyed, not to be a forum for debate.

You should give equal time to the person sitting on your left and your right. It can be difficult to talk easily with strangers, but it is absolutely imperative that you do so that everyone can join in on the conversation.

Do not raise your voice to the ends of the table. You should speak in low tones, but you don’t have to act like you’re in church or a public library. Dinner is meant to be enjoyed, and the conversation is a fundamental part of that.

If you’re not very confident with speaking to others, a good rule of thumb is to ask the person questions about themselves, but never personal questions. Everyone loves to speak about himself or herself, and this will also make you appear to be a good listener.

9. Difficult Foods

Artichoke1

Some foods can be difficult to eat. This is how you should do so:

Artichokes: using your fingers, break of one leaf at a time. Holding the spiny end, dip the base in your dish of melted butter or sauce and suck out the fleshy interior with your teeth. Place the remains on your place. Once you reach the soft center — called the heart — use a knife and fork to eat it as you would a steak.

Asparagus: Pick up each stem with your left hand and dip the tip in the butter or sauce. Eat it one bite at a time; never put the whole stalk in your mouth. If you’re left with a hard base, you may discard it on your plate. The thick white variety sometimes seen in Europe should always be eaten with a knife and fork and never with your fingers.

Cheese: Small round cheese must always be cut in small, pie-shaped wedges. Larger cheeses that have already been cut into should be cut from the pointed end first (this is called the nose).

Escargots: These snails are usually served with a special gripping tool and a small fork. Grip the snail shell with the tool and use the fork to turn the meat out.

Fruit: If a dessert course is served, you will probably have a dessert fork and knife. You should use these on larger pieces of fruit.

10. General Dont’s

Poste

  • Don’t make a fuss. If you don’t like something, leave it.
  • Don’t blow on hot food to cool it down. Wait for it to cool itself.
  • Don’t photograph the table, it looks desperate.
  • Don’t move your plate after your meal has been served.
  • Don’t treat the servers badly. It makes you look common.
  • Don’t eat chicken or chops with your fingers.
  • Don’t point with your cutlery.
  • Don’t hold your fork while you drink your wine.
  • Don’t overstay your welcome.

Finally, be sure to say thank you to your host and/or hostess before leaving, and send a message of thanks the next day.

Bon appetit! Or mahlzeit if German is more appropriate! Or even Smaklig måltid should Swedish be in order! But for Приятного аппетита in Russian, you’re on your own.

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The Science of Generosity: Why Giving Makes You So Happy

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No one became successful all by themselves.

Especially those who have achieved the Dot Com lifestyle.

While there are numerous coaching services for hire and instructional programs for purchase, there are few industries that exceed the scope of mentorship than entrepreneurial e-commerce.

mentorship

Yes, there are commercial benefits for those who mentor, but on a higher plane You have made them smile, and that’s worth far more than money or any material item.

We find great satisfaction in giving back to the world around us. Many of us are far more privileged than others, and when we become aware of that, we often have an innate desire to help the less fortunate.

After all, we can’t move forward as a species when such a significant number of people are left to suffer in the shadows.

Winston Churchill

It’s through giving that we enrich and perpetuate both our own lives and the lives of others.

money can't buy the things that count

Research has shown that giving makes us far happier than receiving. Thus, in a way, we are actually being both selfish and selfless by giving to others.

Numerous studies have shown that giving money to others or to charity will put a much bigger smile on your face than spending on yourself.

Michael Norton, a professor at Harvard Business School, conducted one such study. Along with his colleagues, Norton questioned 632 Americans about their level of income and how they spent their money. They were also asked to rate their own happiness.

North and his colleagues found that, regardless of income, those who spent money on others were decidedly happier than those who spent more on themselves.

Anne Frank quote

Simply put, enriching the lives of others makes us all wealthier.

True wealth is not acquired through earthly possessions, but by leading a fulfilling life. There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing you have made a palpable difference in the lives of other people.

Giving to others might take money out of your wallet, but it could mean the difference between life and death for some people. You never know how far a dollar might go. A tiny stone can create a massive ripple when thrown into water at the right moment.

At the same time, there’s widespread evidence that we could all give much more and that we need to be more careful about how we give.

In other words, don’t just give because it feels good. Make sure your generosity actually has an impact.

generosity

Humans are an inherently social species. We’ve survived and thrived because we take care of one another.

Generosity is, in part, a survival instinct. Even the simple act of sharing food or shelter with another person is an example of humanity’s intrinsic generosity. If we were an overwhelmingly selfish species, we would’ve gone extinct a long time ago.

By giving to one another, we’ve prolonged the survival of the human community.

We still have room for improvement, of course.

Many Americans likely believe that their government already gives a great deal to foreign aid. In truth, only about 1% of the federal budget goes to foreign aid. Yet, America spends around 20% of the federal budget on defense. Both are important, but perhaps sending mentors, food, and water to other countries will diminish the need to send bombs.

Life is calling

On average, the USA gives much less than other wealthy countries. In 2012, for example, Denmark and Luxembourg gave five times as much in foreign aid as America did.

Concurrently, global poverty is still an enormous problem. At present, around 2.7billion people live on less than $2 per day. Millions of children die from malnutrition every single year.

Poverty impacts everything from nutrition to education to healthcare.

It can be difficult to connect with these numbers. Seeing is believing. Yet, you can never truly understand poverty unless you have experienced its horrors.

Ghandi quote

Impoverishment not only robs people of their dignity, it threatens their very existence. It can also lead to political and social unrest, and even war.

Some Americans might argue that they would rather the government spend more on defense than foreign aid, in the sense that it goes towards our protection. Yet, when poverty makes the world less stable, we’re all less safe.

It’s also true that there is evident poverty within the USA that also requires imminent attention. This is a fair point. Yet, in this globalized world, we have to view poverty as a borderless problem.

Global peace will never be achieved, in any form, until poverty is mitigated.

Unfortunately, even when we do give to charity, the money doesn’t always reach those who need it. With foreign aid, for example, corrupt governments often intercept what’s given and use it for their own devices.

The Internet is a powerful entity, and it can be used to ensure that charitable donations end up where they’ll be most effective. Hence, don’t just give because it’s satisfying, do a bit of research beforehand.

Perhaps the reason it feels so good to give is that we know, deep down, that an individual can play a part in changing the world. All it takes is one small act of kindness.

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5 Books That Will Challenge You to Change Your Life

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Obviously, any meaningful change in your life comes down to making a commitment and having the discipline to keep it.

But that’s easier said than done.

Here’s one way to prepare for it:

Train your mind

This doesn’t necessarily mean diving into a pile of self-help literature. All you really need to do is engage into truly thought-provoking works that cause you to focus on topics delving deep into the human consciousness.

The objective is to drill deeper into them than you’ve ever done in your reading before and further than you ever thought you could or would.

The five books listed here are capable of enabling intense focus. You’ll most probably learn from them, but here’s the key: in your mental journey through their well-crafted passages, literally place yourself into the narrative and constantly analyze the direct effect it’s having on you, right then and there.

In the process, you’ll learn even more about yourself and what you can accomplish when you focus your mind.

1. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Brief history of timeBeyond brilliant, this tome isn’t the easiest in the world to read. That said, if you stick with it, you’ll start to see that the big message here is the importance of time and that it has a clear direction.

A top priority of the Dot Com lifestyle is the value of time. While Hawking’s priority is the properties of time, the connection between these two concepts is inescapable.

Even if his presentation leaves your head spinning, your takeaway will be that time is a precious commodity that deserves your respect.

It’s mind-bending, but getting into it will make you feel a little closer to understanding the universe.

2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and punishmentThis classic travels in a completely different direction: into the inner reaches of the human psyche.

Rodin Raskolnikov is a student fraught with making sense of his place in society. His ego maintains he’s above it all, but is he?

There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to commit an unspeakable act and get away with it. He considers this a privilege of the destined, who justify causing harm to others in the name of a greater cause.

It’s a dark tale, but shining through the tragedy is its theme of personal accountability to oneself and to society. We do the right thing not merely because it’s the thing to do, but because it’s the right thing.

There is no greater good to be served through inequality of any kind.

3. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Yes, everyone knows the basic story, but the richness of this fact-based novel is its detail of imagery, both real and symbolic.

With characters named after Old Testament figures and ambiguity laced throughout this tale of obsession, friendship, greed, defiance, and ultimately, death, Melville’s use of the pen as a paintbrush affords readers the license to draw their own interpretations as to what it all means.

Some have said that within this work, he foretold the coming of the American Civil War, while others consider it the ultimate allegory of Free Will vs Fate.

 

Moby Dick‘s reputation as the Great American Novel grew during the 20th century. William Faulkner confessed he wished he’d written it himself, and DH Lawrence called it “one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world”.

Call me Ishmael is one of literature’s most famous opening sentences.

4. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Catch-22First of all, Catch-22 is just plain funny, and that makes it wonderful all on its own. But it’s also a truly great read, because it skillfully points out the absurdity of war.

Of course, war isn’t the only target of satire here. It’s the ossification of organizational structure that replaces reason with ritual and the resultant effect it can have on an individual.

Frankly, that’s the sort of rigidity that makes the Dot Com lifestyle so much more appealing.

It’s simply another way of explaining the rat race, which is an insane way to go through life when desirable alternatives exist. And they do.

5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey

7 habits of highly successful peopleAfter those forays into the nature of the universe, society, and humanity, here’s a read that suggests how to make the best of it all.

Your mind will surely be attuned to the principles that are listed here.

Covey details an approach to being effective in attaining goals by aligning oneself to what he calls true north principles of a character ethic that he presents as universal and timeless.

This book is a classic in time management and should be mandatory reading for anyone who aspires to the Dot Com lifestyle.

Before you can succeed in an individual endeavor, you have to win in your head.

The mental training involved in heavy reading and the critical thinking that accompanies it will go a long way toward accomplishing your life’s goals.

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Hyperloop: 750mph Train Travel Zips Closer to Reality

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One of the fundamental tenets of the Dot Com lifestyle is to earn back time.

That can be a challenge when it comes to travel.

Owning and operating an online business eliminates those soul-crushing daily commutes to someone else’s office, but there are still occasions in the course of commerce when journeys are required. The most annoying are those mid-range distances that can burn most of a day.

Enter billionaire and tech supremo Elon Musk. He’s conquered cars, is in the process of doing the same with spacecraft, and has now turned his attention to mass transit.

Introducing the Hyperloop:

The principle of objects being propelled quickly through a pneumatic tube is universally accepted. Just think of making a deposit at an outer drive-in banking lane.

Musk started getting serious about the Hyperloop in 2013, and now, prototypes are ready for real-world testing:

As well, Musk announced the finalists in a competition — sponsored by his SpaceX operation — to determine a design for the first tests. A group from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won top standing and will be one of 22 teams chosen to proceed with their ideas.

Here’s what runner-up Delft University in the Netherlands proposed and will pursue:

Ultimately, within the next few years, Musk and his associates expect your travel experience to look something like this:

If all goes as planned, those living the Dot Com lifestyle will be well-placed to capitalize on yet another 21st century advance to keep them in command of how they spend the best portion of their days.

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Online Dating: 11 Smart Precautions

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The Dot Com lifestyle features a match made in heaven:

You and your PC.

And with that intimate relationship, it may well be that you’ll combine to seek something even more intimate: one involving another human.

Why not? Online dating is much more logical than the hit-&-miss of everyday life. So much so that in June 2015, for example, over 105million visitors in the USA along hit those sites.

online dating

Still, it can be a crazy world out there, so as with any other endeavor, it’s a good idea to look before you leap.

A hard look definitely beats a hard landing.

Here are 11 dating research tips well worth taking the time to do:

1. Ask a basic question more than once.

To gauge their honesty, “ask them a question, and then later ask them the same question in a different way,” says Garth Bruen, security fellow of the Digital Citizens Alliance, a Washington DC-based coalition that promotes Internet safety. One example: Asking where the person went to high school.

2. One-stop-shop in their soul.

Hop on Refresh and see all their latest social media interactions: Where they’ve checked in, what groups they’ve joined, if they’ve changed their LinkedIn job from “accountant” to “body-ripper,” etc.

3. Get an instant background check.

After using DateCheck, you can say — with confidence — that your match has probably never killed anyone. The app runs a full background check on the person you’re potentially meeting for a date: marital status, age, education, and even criminal history.

4. Make an email address just for dating.

Besides helping you stay organized, you can pick an email address that isn’t your full name and have more control over your privacy.

It’s the same principle you should be using in your online business. Having a screening e-mail address helps to keep the junk away; that’s the address you give when you’re asked to stick one on a squeeze page. Later, if you decide you like that contact, you have the option of sharing your more direct details.

5. Set up a Skype account just for hook-ups.

It’s a bitch to change your phone number. What’s not as much of a bitch: Deleting a Skype account. Make one just for online dating and give them your handle once you’re down to meet.

6. Get a deep-drilling Caller ID.

CallerSmart is an app that would make your mother proud. How it works: Type in an unknown number, and it will generate the caller’s full name and crowd-sourced info about that person. Sometimes, it might even link to their Facebook page. In short: Stalking 2.0

7. Do a reverse image search.

Just to make sure that the pictures they posted are actual photos of them.

8. Break it off with zero confrontation.

If you’re not into it for whatever reason, break it off ASAP without a face-to-face meeting. Use Slydial when you call to get sent straight to their voicemail.

9. Ask for a recent photo.

View post on imgur.com

Emphasis on the word recent, because some people will try to get away with sending pictures of them from 20 years ago. If you say recent and still get an old one, it’s time to go. Immediately.

10. Read their face. Like, really.

You just left your first date and something feels amiss. Get a little more info on your own terms. Drag their profile picture into Nametag, which uses facial recognition software to uncover any pictures that feature your face on the Internet.

11. Let friends keep tabs on you with Tag.

Location sharing apps are available and simple to use. So use them.

A bit of mystery might be fun when getting into a relationship. But more than that just isn’t worth the emotional investment. Better to remove as much as possible before starting.

It’ll increase your chances of a real match.

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10 Books to Guide Your Financial Planning

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Better to realize it now, if you haven’t already:

Getting rich quick is a myth.

Building wealth is a process that requires strategy and time. Get rich quick schemes tend to prey on people with the desire but not the willingness to truly achieve financial security.

There’s nothing wrong with big dreams. They should be goals, in fact. However, they need the reality of planning a logical course and then taking action.

Here’s a list of books to help you set your frame of reference:

1. The Richest Man in Babylon – George S Clayson

Richest Man in BabylonThis set of faux-biblical parables about acquiring wealth has inspired investors since the 1920s. Like most of the personal finance books that followed, The Richest Man In Babylon emphasizes saving over spending. Just know the difference between saving and saving. The book also insists that charitable giving is equally as important, provided you don’t allow those to whom you give to become dependent upon your gifts.

Best quote: “Budget thy expenses that thou mayest have coins to pay for thy necessities, to pay for thy enjoyments and to gratify thy worthwhile desires without spending more than nine-tenths of thy earnings.”

2. Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad Poor DadAn eighth-grade dropout who spends less than he earns is smarter than a college professor who can’t make ends meet, according to Robert Kiyosaki. Consider that a nod to street sense. Furthermore, while working for a steady paycheck can get you started, your best investment of your time and money is to buy property or a business.

Or better yet, do what Kiyosaki did and write a best-selling book.

Best quote: “The key to financial freedom and great wealth is a person’s ability or skill to convert earned income into passive income and/or portfolio income.”

3. The Millionaire Fast Lane – MJ DeMarco

The Millionaire Fast LaneWorking hard, saving 10%, and retiring at 65 is a chump’s game because:

  • Financial markets are simply too volatile, and
  • You’ll “be in a wheelchair” by the time you actually have enough to retire.

DeMarco believes it’s better strategy to use the volatility of the financial markets to build wealth aggressively and enjoy it now.

Best quote: “Show me a 22-year-old who got rich investing in mutual funds. Show me the man who earned millions in three years by maximizing his 401k. Show me the young twenty-something who got rich clipping coupons. Where are these people? They don’t exist.”

4. Your Money or Your Life – Vicki Robin & Joe Dominguez

Your Money or Your LifeContrary to popular belief, living more frugally increases — rather than decreases — your quality of life.

Author Vicki Robin cites many examples, such as the practice of working at a job that brings in less than the amount you pay out for childcare and “time saving” trips to fast-food joints.

Best quote: “Conditions have changed, but we are still operating financially by the rules established during the Industrial Revolution — rules based on creating more material possessions. But our high standard of living has not led to a high quality of life — for us or for the planet.”

5. The Science of Getting Rich – Wallace Wattle

The Science of Getting RichEven though it contains nothing that even vaguely resembles science, this 1910 book provided the intellectual framework for thousands of personal wealth-building seminars.

Author Wallace Wattle believed that your ability to accumulate wealth is directly dependent upon how you think about it. In other words, if you believe money is the root of all evil, you’ll never be wealthy.

Besides, it’s the love of money that’s the root of all evil. That’s a huge distinction.

Best quote: “No man can rise to his greatest possible height in talent of soul development unless he has plenty of money.”

6. The Millionaire Next Door – Thomas Stanley & William Danko

The Millionaire Next DoorThrough research into American households with a net worth of $1million or more, authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko identify most individuals as Under Accumulators of Wealth (UAW) who have a low net wealth compared to their income.

They then provide advice — like “take skimpy vacations” — to help people achieve a higher net worth compared to their income.

Of course, one way to enhance that advice is to set the Dot Com lifestyle as your goal. Scalability is a wonderful thing.

Best quote: “People whom we define as being wealthy get much more pleasure from owning substantial amounts of appreciable assets than from displaying a high-consumption lifestyle.”

7. Total Money Makeover – Dave Ramsey

Anyone who’s listened to Dave Ramsey’s radio show knows that he’s all about common sense:

  • avoid buying on credit,
  • pay cash for everything possible,
  • get yourself out of debt, and
  • build an emergency fund.

Rather than blue-sky promises and feelgood anecdotes, Ramsey offers solid basic advice for the everyman and everywoman.

Best quote: “What I have done is packaged the time-honored information into a process that is doable and has inspired millions to act on it.”

8. Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, & Broke – Suze Orman

Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and BrokeMost personal finance books seem to be written with the about-to-retire set in mind.

In this sprightly offering, TV star Suze Orman helps millennials navigate the basics of the financial world, like coping with huge student loans and a job market that, for young people, is nearly as dismal as the Great Depression was for their grandparents.

Best quote: “You picked up this book because you are broke. Keep reading, and you will discover what you need to know — and do — so you will not be broke forever.”

9. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind – T Harve Eker

Secrets of the Millionaire MindIf you’re poor, it’s because you think like a poor person. If you’re rich, it’s because you think rich.

According to author and multi-millionaire T Harv Eker, your frame of reference defines your horizons.

To make matters worse, poor people essentially program their children to be poor by providing them with a worldview that makes wealth accumulation impossible. Not to worry, though. If you start thinking like a mogul, you can be one, too.

Just have a plan.

Best quote: “The vast majority of people simply do not have the internal capacity to create and hold on to large amounts of money and the increased challenges that go with more money and success.”

10. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow RichWay back in the 1930s, author Napoleon Hill interviewed a series of millionaires and philanthropists, starting with the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. The result was a perennially best-selling work of self-development that encourages the notion that, basically, “greed is good” as long as you’re willing to share your wealth.

Best quote: “If you truly desire money so keenly that your desire is an obsession, you will have no difficulty in convincing yourself that you will acquire it. The object is to want money and to be so determined to have it that you convince yourself that you will have it.”

Special thanks to Geoffrey James for compiling this list.

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How Short-Sellers Use Twitter to Hedge Their Stock Bets

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Few will dispute that perception of data is as influential as the data itself.

Once you’ve achieved the Dot Com lifestyle and start building your investment portfolio, odds are you’ll first look to cyberspace for guidance, as that’s where you made your money in the first place.

Just know there are wily promoters out there using social media platforms to shade your perception. Short-sellers, in particular, have become commonplace.

First, a quick primer on how laying a put positionie- betting a share price will go down in a given time period — works:

This is fertile ground for short-sellers, and Twitter makes for an excellent bullhorn:

  • They select the company their research indicates as a good target for puts;
  • They carpet bomb Twitter;
  • They fuel speculation that their spin on the research is accurate;
  • They then clean up on the falling stock’s price when the put comes due.

Do know this is perfectly legal.

Here’s an example:

In 2013, shares of NQ Mobile, a Chinese company that provides security apps for mobile devices, were trading at around $25 each. By the end of the year, however, its stock had been slashed by more than half to around $11 per share.

That’s because a dude named Carson Block has carved out a niche for issuing scathing reports detailing suspect accounting practices at publicly traded Chinese companies he’s short-selling. He sent tweets like this daily, on multiple occasions:

Carson Block tweet

The nearly 15,000 followers of Block’s hedge fund research firm Muddy Waters bought into his belief that the company was fraudulent.

The fact that the stock rebounded to $20 soon thereafter is inconsequential. Block and his flock had made their killing.

Short-sellers like Block contend they’re simply countering the corporate spin machines with vast resources, thus making for an more even playing field.

That may be so, but the fact that many of their targeted stocks actually bounce back in price after their settlement dates indicates a cagier edge is present in their strategies.

Here’s Don Steinbrugge, managing director of hedge fund marketing consultancy Agecroft Partners:

“Big picture, if you’re shorting a company and you want the stock to go down, the more people [who] hear your negative views on the company and understand those negative views, the more pressure there will be on the stock to decline.”

Perception is indeed a powerful thing.

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Here’s the One Thing All Successful Entrepreneurs Do

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First of all, let’s get the quotation straight:

The love of money is the root of all evil.
— 1 Timothy 6:10

There’s nothing wrong with money per se, and the more we make, the more we reclaim our time.

Clearly, the best chance of making more money is to:

That’s the essence of becoming an entrepreneur, and with the advent of e-commerce in the 21st century, it’s never been a more accessible goal.

It may take a bit of dreaming and scheming, but in order to truly set a course for the Dot Com lifestyle, here’s the one thing that every successful entrepreneur does:

Take Action

As obvious as that sounds, it’s the first hurdle that separates potential winners from everyone else.

You must take action

Here’s how you take efficient action:

  • Make a commitment that you can keep,
  • Carve out a regular part of every day where you can honor this commitment, and
  • Maintain a positive mental attitude during that day-part.

As in every new endeavor, there will be bumps and bruises along the way. No one is immune. It’s all part of the learning process, which is how those who live the Dot Com lifestyle viewed those experiences on their way to success.

Stormy seas

It’s important to emphasize the action you take must focus on building your business.

Here are examples as to how this tenet fits into my mantra for achieving the Dot Com lifestyle:

This is more a matter of diligence than it is of intelligence. Smarts help, but consistency helps more.

It all starts, though, with taking action.

Have a hard look at your situation now. Is it really something you want to accept for the rest of your working life? You surely agree there’s more to life than working all day for a wage set by someone else!

If you agree your future could be better — much better — then prove it to yourself.

Do more than nod. Get started!

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8 Ways to Beat Jet Lag

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At some point along your journey to achieving the Dot Com lifestyle, travel is going to enter into the equation.

Fortunately, it will be travel you want to take as opposed to travel you have to take. Everything from dream vacations to marketing and networking events, which you’ll soon find to be essential elements in your e-commercial success.

Amidst all the fun and profit, though, can be the side effect of getting there and back.
Jet lag.

Waking up in the middle of the night and feeling sleepy and hungry at the wrong times can be all sorts of annoying when all you want to do is get on with your itinerary.

It happens because your body’s internal clock gets out of sync.

Beat Jet Lag

Every cell in your body has its own circadian clock, and they’re all regulated by a central one called the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus region of your brain. When you skip time zones, it sends these little clocks out of whack.

The good news is external signals help regulate your internal clock, and you can use that to your advantage.

Body clock

Your hypothalamus judges what time it is by the signals your body sends it. Most of those are based on light, but when you eat also factors into the mix.

Here are eight things you can do to help your body adjust and overcome jet lag as quickly as possible:

1. Start to shift your body clock before you go anywhere.

Beat Jet Lag
Professor Richard Wiseman, author of Night School (Macmillan, 2014), recommends making use of the days before you travel.

There’s some evidence that starting to get up earlier in the few days before traveling east can alleviate some of the horrible fuzziness jet lag brings.

A study of 28 people in the Journal of Biological Rhythms found that bringing sleep forward an hour a day for three days and exposing participants to bright light in the morning meant they could advance their sleep pattern without losing out on alertness.

If you’re going west instead of east, you need to delay your sleep pattern, to try sleeping in an hour later per day for the three days before you travel.

2. Adjust your watch as soon as you get on the plane.

Adjust your watch as soon as you get on the plane.

And try to do whatever you would at that time.

If it’s time to sleep, get your head down. If it is dinner time, eat something,” writes Wiseman.

3. If you need to sleep on the plane, avoid sitting on the sunny side.

It’s going to be difficult to convince yourself to sleep if you have bright daylight streaming in through the window next to you.

You can use the website Sun Flight to check where the sun will be during your flight to book the best seat.

4. Know whether to seek out or avoid light when you get to your destination.

Know whether to seek out or avoid light when you get to your destination.

As a general rule, if you’ve travelled east, you’ll need to avoid morning light but make the most of it in the afternoon, says Wiseman. If you’ve travelled west, try to expose yourself to light throughout the day.

If you want to get really detailed, the University of Michigan has created an app called Entrain that can take your normal sleep schedule and travel schedule and tell you exactly when you seek out bright light and when to avoid it.

5. Use sunglasses to control your light exposure.

Get Over Jet Lag

In a New York Times article, Steven Lockley from NASA’s fatigue management team, recommends wearing sunglasses during a flight if you need to sleep, as well as at the airport once you arrive if necessary.

For example, on an overnight flight from New York to London, Lockley says you should wear sunglasses for the entire flight and until 11am local time to help yourself adjust.

Don’t seek out bright light right away, because your body thinks it’s the middle of the night and you’ll just exhaust yourself.

6. If you really need to nap when you get there, make sure you time it right.

Get Over Jet Lag

Between 1pm to 2pm in your new time zone is your target, according to Wiseman.

7. Melatonin supplements could help you control your sleeping patterns.

Melatonin sleep

Melatonin is a hormone that regulates your body’s sleep and wake cycles.

“Research suggests that daily doses of melatonin can help alleviate jet lag, and that short-term usage seems to have few negative side effects,” writes Wiseman.

A Cochrane review of the evidence found that melatonin is “remarkably effective” at preventing or reducing jet lag.

Obviously, though, you should consult your doctor before taking any medication.

8. If your trip is short, it might not be worth trying to adjust at all.

wide awake

“Adjusting to a new local time takes about half a day per time zone if you are flying east to west, and two-thirds of a day per time zone if you are flying west to east,” writes Wiseman.

If your trip is only a few days anyway, you’ll just be getting on local time as you leave to go back home and have to do it all over again.

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Acorns App: Building an Investment Portfolio out of Small Change

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If you’re truly committed to achieving the financial freedom that the Dot Com lifestyle can offer, you’re going to make money.

Ultimately, that means a bit of financial planning wouldn’t go amiss.

In fact, it might even provide additional incentive to stay the course until those life-changing revenues start rolling in.


All successful entrepreneurs know that Step One in any endeavor is to take action. That applies to getting a start on your investment portfolio, too.

Fortunately, even if your only spare cash right now is all in metal form, there’s an app that can allow you to nurture it into an efficient base for better days ahead:

To be clear, investing is complicated. There’s no sure-fire way to approach it. Risk is part of the picture.

However, while you’re focus is on building a strong foundation in e-commerce, this app helps to simplify what will become a major consideration in your life soon enough.

Acorns enables you to connect you mobile phone to your bank accounts and invest the change from purchases you make every day.

Here’s an overview of Acorns’ capabilities:

  • Available Accounts — Individual only. Retirement accounts are not available.
  • No Minimum Deposit — You can start right away.
  • Annual Fees — $1 per month for accounts under $5,000, and 0.25 percent per year for accounts over $5,000. Individuals under 24 years of age and those attending college pay no fees.
  • Mobile App and Website Access — iPhone and Android support as well as website access.
  • Round-Ups — For each credit card transaction, the Round-Up to the nearest dollar is invested into Acorns.
  • Scheduled Deposits — Set recurring daily, weekly or monthly investments.

As your fortunes grow, you’ll be able to spend more time taking a more detailed look at your portfolio’s performance. You’ll possibly decide to utilize more sophisticated tools and services.

Until then, though, you’ve got things to do. So let Acorns handle the small change for now while you’re making the big changes happen.

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12 Nifty Little Life Hacks

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If you’ve made it to the Dot Com lifestyle — or if you’re on your way — you got there by having instant access to information and knowing how to take action.

But it’s still cool whenever you can make life’s little pleasures more satisfactory and little tasks even simpler.

With that in mind, here are a dozen useful tips to zip up those minor moments

1. A cure for that cardboard taste the next day

2. Take a hint from lamplighters in the days of yore

3. Avoid a reheat from becoming a re-reheat

4. Neutralize the wiseacres

5. Add panache to your snacking

6. All you need to do is remember where you put it

7. Just possibly the smartest hack in the batch

8. The perfect segue to mention your administrative skills

9. Don’t forget to follow-through

10. In the age of smartphones, a real reason to have post-it notes

11. Just know that it’s also wise to inhale at some point

12. Obviously, being on an airplane is optional

 

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Bitcoin’s Halving Event: Will It Be a Stability Test?

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Slowly but surely, the world’s first and best-known cyber-currency is making its way into the mainstream economy.

Of course, much of the credit for this gradual acceptance goes to the blockchain technology that verifies transfers.

Given that hackers have had their successes black-hatting the banking system, there’s little doubt that blockchain will ultimately evolve into a superior means of secure transfer.

Its technology has already made Bitcoin indistinguishable from other currencies to those whose financial transactions are already digital.

Bitcoin’s main issue, then, remains on the reliability of its value.

Its volatility episodes — both exotic and market-driven — are what make this summer’s development well worth watching. That’s when Bitcoin’s next built-in halving mechanism will be triggered.

Check out Point No 2 in this report:

Halving is Bitcoin’s way of internally adjusting for its supply and demand:

  • Every four years, the system’s creator — whoever he is — cuts in half the number of Bitcoins that can be mined.
  • Mining involves a series of calculations to discover a specific number, and the first one to do so gets the reward of 25 bitcoins, currently valued at $10,500.
  • Miners need banks of high-octane computers to do this, which gulp large amounts of electricity, among other things.
  • If the miners can’t generate as many Bitcoins, their profits are slashed.

In theory, this scarcity should cause the price of Bitcoins to rise. However, with other factors in play — such as volatility — what if it doesn’t?

For one, miners could be less inclined to keep going, which could trigger a severe market swing. Rather than raising Bitcoin’s value, such a scarcity could negatively affect stores and services willing to go to the time and effort to accept them.

On both sides of the play, currency speculators will be all over the Bitcoin halving, for better or for worse.

In either case, the winner will still be the blockchain, which continues to be a true revelation. No matter what happens to Bitcoin, blockchain is the future.

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Unique Travel Tip: Get Lost on Purpose

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The Dot Com lifestyle is all about doing things most people can only imagine, and doing it on our terms.

So, there’s no right or wrong way for us to travel.

When it comes to visiting a new city, it’s natural to prioritize what we want to do and see. But how we go about doing that can mean the difference between an average trip and a life-changing one.

underwater bell

Try to make trips events we’ll never forget, by doing our forgetting before we go.

The goal is to just get completely lost along the way instead.

After all, we can afford an open-ended travel itinerary. This can expose us to experiences we never even imagined would come our way.

There’s nothing wrong with doing our homework before checking out a new locale, but there’s also a lot we can gain from throwing caution to the wind and diving headfirst into the unknown.

solo gondola cruise

Here are five reasons why we should intentionally get lost in virtually every locale we visit:

1. We get a feel for the different neighborhoods, not just the busiest ones.

It’s easy arrive in a city and never set foot outside of its most popular neighborhoods. But just because something’s crowded doesn’t mean its the best a city has to offer.

Just ask New Yorkers how often they visit Times Square.

But getting lost in a city lets us see firsthand how its different parts form a unique whole. We see how one neighborhood transitions into the next, each with its own tastes, smells and sights. It paints the kind of vivid picture we don’t get by strictly following an itinerary.

food carts

2. We see the people who actually live there.

What makes a city great? The people who live there, of course.

When we get lost in a city, we see how locals go about their daily lives: The stores they own, the places they shop, the ways they talk, and the foods they eat. Its by observing them that we realize how we’re both alike and different.

Wandering around gives us the freedom to see how a city works on the human level.

Because we’re not rushing from one place to the next, we can sit on a park bench and take it all in for a while. We can even strike up a conversation and ask for recommendations from the people who know the city best. We might even be exposed to unfamiliar cultures and new types of people from whom we can learn and grow.

We won’t get that personal touch if we don’t leave some things to chance.

visit with locals

3. We stumble upon unexpected places we’d never see otherwise.

Sure, its great to knock popular tourist attractions off our to-do list. But if we’re following a rigid timeline, we’re closing ourselves off from the possibility of seeing the city’s hidden treasures.

Allowing ourselves to get lost, however, gives us the opportunity to come across places and things that we’d otherwise have missed. We’ll shop at the small mom-&-pop shops that remind us of home; we’ll walk into a bakery with the best pastries we’ve ever tasted; we’ll see the types of landmarks that locals love and frequent.

We’ll get an alternative view of the city, one that we can’t find online or in a guide book.

Post Alley Seattle

4. We create a travel guide that’s uniquely ours.

There’s nothing wrong with checking out guide books other people have written, but there’s something more special about making one ourselves that no one will ever be able to replicate.

Spending the day getting lost in another city let’s us take as many twists and turns as we’d like. We’re calling our own shots, winging it in a way that only we can.

At the end of our trip, the path we took has your unique stamp on it. There’s a good chance we probably won’t even remember how we got from one place to another.

But we’ll remember one thing: that route is 100% ours.

Jim Morrison gravesite

5. Our phone is always there to bail us out if we actually get lost.

The very idea of getting lost is enough to send some people into a spiral of anxiety.

Why? We can always use our phone to get out of a tricky situation.

After all, wandering around a city doesn’t mean we’re trying to create some sort of puzzle that needs to be solved. There’s nothing that says we can’t be lost in a new place if we’re still occasionally checking whether we’re headed toward a new part of town or a neighborhood we’ve already trekked through.

We don’t have to go completely off the grid just to go off the grid.

And if we seem to be on a one-way route to oblivion?

One acronym: GPS. Two other options: Über or Lyft. How tough can it be?

rides

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Spike S-512: The World’s First Private Supersonic Jet

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Not even the most dot-com of Dot Com lifestylers might have a spare $73million lying around.

But they might well be elevating their social circles to include someone who does.

So when 2018 rolls around, it might be possible to hitch a ride on one of these:

Sounds like Spike has a lot to do between now and 2018, but the joy of technology is someone being up to the challenge.

Do note that the travel time compression mentions points separated by large bodies of water. The USA is among a number of nations that prohibit commercial air transport that exceeds the speed of sound.

Still, anything that can slice air time between continents is a welcome boost to anyone committed to reclaiming the fourth dimension.

Specifications of the Spike Aerospace S-512 jet. Never underestimate human enterprise.

And never underestimate yourself!

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Gadget Flow: An App That Finds All the Cool Stuff

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It’s awesome to live in an age where neat things just keep on coming.

The most obvious perk of the Dot Com lifestyle is disposable income.

With its focus on all things that put you in control of your time, the Dot Com lifestyle naturally gravitates your attention to seeking them out yourself.

But doesn’t that quest itself cost you time?

It’d be much more efficient if you had access to tools and services that can source them for you.

Enter the Gadget Flow app.

The app serves as a convenient buyer’s guide for cutting edge items in virtually any category that suits your interests.

Gadget Flow identifies 10 new products daily, conducting searches that would’ve blown your entire day. Its results include items you probably would’ve never thought to consider, not only for you, but as possible gift ideas for someone close to you.

What’s more, when you do see a product that hits your must-have impulse-buy button, the app enables you to make the purchase right then and there. You can also share items via social networks, email, and text.

Yes, there are video channels out there that bring their discoveries to you …

But with Gadget Flow, you can create an account for free, customize your preferences,  and know every product presented will interest you.

The Dot Com lifestyle is built on three simple principles:

  • Create a plan, something that you’ll enjoy doing;
  • Find a mentor, someone who’s successful and interests you; and
  • Automate as much of your daily business tasks as possible.

If you have a need to know what’s out there to make your days more efficient and/or enjoyable, then Gadget Flow will automate your quest.

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10 Valuable Things That No Amount of Money Can Buy

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The Dot Com lifestyle is synonymous with success.

It’s the sort of prosperity that returns your time to you.

Sure, money’s part of the scenario. We obviously need it to function in an economy. However, the overall objective is to attain value in all aspects of your life.

value in life

Chasing money is no way to realize value in life, as it becomes an all-consuming goal.

Working smartly to regain time allows you to stop chasing. The discipline involved in achieving the Dot Com lifestyle hardwires day segments of the day where you can take a step back, survey your situation, and make the most of every moment in the real world.

Life is amazing because every single person in the world is capable of accomplishing just about anything he or she could ever dream of doing.

Especially in this, the Information Age, if you have the will, you can find a way to make it a reality. Just be sure that what you’re chasing after is worth chasing after.

The last thing you want is to arrive at your destination and realize that you plugged in the wrong coordinates.

Real friendships

Friendship is one of the most valuable things in the world. Having relationships based on mutual respect is the only thing that allows societies to function as well as they do … as well as most do, anyway.

Friendship harnesses trust, and without trust, you cannot have a healthily functioning society. Moreover, having good friends in your life makes for a better life altogether.

friendship

Friends function as a support system — if things get tough, you have someone to call on for help. Even if you don’t ever bother calling on your friends for support, knowing that you have that support system will make you more confident and more daring in your personal endeavors.


Family ties

You can’t put a price tag on family. They may be a pain every now and then, but the truth is that they more likely than not will have your back even when the rest of the world turns away.

Friends come and go, but family is there to stay. If issues exist, address them.

family discussion

Depending on the relations you have with your family members, the support they provide could mean the difference between being successful in life and being miserable.

There’s little in life that can be accomplished entirely alone. Family ensures that you never really have to be alone.


Good health

If you aren’t healthy, stop ignoring it. The unhealthier you are, the more likely you are to die. Avoid it for as long as you possibly can. The healthier you are, the more likely you’ll be to have extra time to do the things you wish to do.

healthy

Being healthy isn’t just about living longer; it’s about living better. The healthier you are, the healthier you feel, and the more you’ll enjoy the things you experience in life.

It’s difficult to understand the difference until you experience how it feels to be exceptionally healthy. Getting bloodwork done annually can help you better understand your body, tweak your diet, and enhance your general lifestyle in order to maximize the pleasure you get from living.


Knowledge

To be clear, this isn’t about institutional education. Luckily, we live in an age where anyone who wants knowledge, who wants to get his or her hands on the right information, can do so anytime from anywhere.

life experience

If you’re going to trade your time for anything, trade it for knowledge. It will benefit you more than anything else in life — in more ways than one.


Rational thought

The world would be a much better place if people focused more on rationalizing life and the situations they find themselves in rather than basing their entire lives, and all their actions, on some sort of faith. While moral beacons can be a part of personal choices, rational thought always has and always will reign as king.

rational thought

Question everything. Consider all possibilities, all possible causes and outcomes. Make decisions after you’ve thought everything through rather than just acting on gut instinct or acting on outdated information. No matter what you believe you know, you could always be wrong.

Circumstances always change, but the right — or best — decision can always be found. Don’t be mind-lazy.


Honest love

Finding anything honest these days is hard enough, but finding honest love is by far the most difficult. It takes time to understand people and their true intentions; rarely are people the open books we believe them to be.

Most individuals won’t ever open up enough for you to ever get to know who they really are.

honest love

Honest love isn’t so much found as it is created and nurtured. It takes years to develop and a lifetime to maintain. However, when someone loves you for the rawest version of yourself — and you find that you love that person just as honestly in return — what the two of you have together makes up some of the greatest stories the world has ever known.

Honest love may come with a price-tag, but not a monetary one.


Good times

The concept of time and how our psyches, although seemingly able to bounce between present and past, truly only exist in the present alone. It may be an illusion of sorts, but nevertheless, it’s an illusion we all adhere to.

Think about the person you are right now, the existence you’re now experiencing. It almost certainly feels like the only existence you have.

You don’t feel you existed in the past. You remember the past. Instead, you realize that you exist in the current moment. One day in the future will be the last day of your life, and you’ll feel as if it’s the only time that you’ve ever existed.

Except, of course, for all those memories you’ve created over the years. It’s these memories, these good times, that remind you that you haven’t just existed for the millisecond, you’re living in right now. You’ve existed for a lifetime. Without such memories, life will one day seem entirely void.


True success

Money can’t buy success. It can buy you a lotta stuff, and although just about everyone believes that it can buy success as well, it can’t. Do the most successful people have a lot of money? Some do, but not all.

Neither fame nor money makes you successful, only success does that.

real success

You have to be careful with how you measure success. Create your own standards instead of relying on the standards of others. Success is the end destination of our personal journeys.

What success means for one individual will differ from the next. Be certain as to how you define success, and then go after it. Money may not be able to buy it, but you can nonetheless create it.


Our ability to create change

This is probably the most undervalued aspect of life. The fact is that you can only matter to you, and then to other people.

you matter

The only way you can matter to other people is if you either have or continue to influence their lives in some shape or form. Because you affect them in some way, you literally become a part of their lives. Become the part of enough people’s lives in a positive manner and the possibilities are endless.


Happiness

You can’t buy happiness. Sure, you can buy jet skis, and no one frowns while flying off ocean waves, but that’s joy, not happiness. Joy does factor into happiness, but more than anything else, contentment is what matters.

When you’re content with yourself, what you have done with your life and with what you can still do with your life, you become happy. Why? Because you can’t find a reason to be unhappy.

Happiness is so incredibly elusive because it isn’t actually a thing or presence; it’s a void. It may seem counterintuitive, but that’s only because our minds have a difficult time grasping how something seemingly positive could stem from the lack or negation of something.

The only other trick is understanding what is worth being unhappy over and what is trivial.

You can’t purchase happiness, but when you learn to understand it, it becomes second nature.

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7 Things Every Millennial Needs to Know about Money

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Maybe you’re still at that stage of early adulthood where money … just … appears out of nowhere to cover expenses and the like.

Maybe you’re at that stage of discovering that, from now on, the only way money appears is due to what you’re doing to earn it.

Maybe you’ve passed both those stages and simply wonder why the money’s going somewhere and you’re still going nowhere.

buy vs afford

If so, maybe it’s time to list a few fundamentals that not only sound good, they’re solid financial fundamentals:

1. Actually make a budget. No, seriously, make a budget.

Before you can do anything — make investments, save for retirement, save for a vacation — you have to know how much you spend.

You can do this the hard way, or you can use Mint. Its basic budget- and spending-tracking tools are free. The trick here is to figure out how much you spend in a typical month and then figure out how much you have to save.

2. Prune your subscriptions.

Look at your subscriptions.

  • Are you actually going to the gym that much?
  • Do you really need Hulu Plus and Netflix?
  • And cable TV?

Subscriptions work by masking their true annual — and longer — cost, so be sure you’re only subscribing to stuff you really want or need.

3. Invest if possible, but keep it simple.

Socrates may or may not have said, “I am the wisest man in Athens for I know nothing,” but he would have been an excellent investor.

When you’re choosing a mutual fund or funds for your 401(k) or other retirement savings, pay attention to the fees, especially the gross expense ratio, which is an all-measure of the costs of running the fund.

You’re probably not a great judge of which mutual fund strategies will work in the future, but it’s easy to see which are the cheapest.

4. Be careful with credit cards.

If you have a steady income, going into some credit card debt isn’t the worst thing in the world for one-off expenses.

But using your credit card — assuming you don’t pay the full balance every month — on routine expenses is a recipe for carrying a larger and larger balance and then making interest payments that are always higher than you expect, leaving you paying off your balance for longer than you think

5. But be a credit card baller, if you can.

If you’re stretching on your credit card, try to find the lowest interest rate and annual fee.

But if you’re paying off the full balance and spending a high amount, then look around for which card has the best rewards program. Mint has a great guide, so there’s a simple research resource.

If you’re a responsible credit card user and aren’t getting the best rewards, you’re just leaving money on the table.

6. Be prepared for a big financial snafu.

Big financial problems happen when people face huge expenses from something like a health emergency or an income suddenly drying up because they lose their job.

Plan ahead for self-dependency.

It’s vital to insure yourself against low-risk, high-impact events. This means getting some sort of health insurance, even if you’re young, strong, and saving. And don’t think you’re at risk of losing your job.

Better yet, create your own job! Now would work. Quite well, in fact.

7. Spend on experiences, not stuff.

This is a little philosophical, but it’s unlikely that buying another thing — clothes, shoes, sunglasses, whatever — is going to make you that much happier for all the money you spend on it.

But activities you do with people you like — day trips, going out to eat with your friends, concerts — will make you happy every time. And having good relationships is the best investment you can make.

And if all of this fails … you can always just marry rich.

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15 Tips to Sort Out Your Home

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A primary benefit of the Dot Com lifestyle is getting to choose your work environment.

While it can be anywhere in the world you choose, most of the time, it’s going to be your humble abode.

Part of running an efficient business is keeping a sleek workplace. The logical extension for entrepreneurs who work at home, then, is to maintain your surroundings in an orderly fashion.

Your stuff may define you, but don’t let it dominate you.

Here are 15 tips you might want to consider:

1. Purge, don’t organize.

Purge, don't organize.

Organizing now means reorganizing later, again and again and again.

If you haven’t touched an item in six months, toss it or re-home it. Just don’t store it.

2. Consider your reduceables.

Consider your "reducables".

Sure, you’ll never toss all your towels, but do you need a dozen or two?

What about your five mixing bowls and three butcher knives?

Duplicate items will never be missed.

3. Stop bargain hunting.

Stop bargain hunting.

Buy what you need — and only what you need — when you need it.

Just because it’s nice and on sale doesn’t mean it has to be yours right then and there.

4. Re-purpose your time.

Repurpose your time.

The average American spends 8 hours a week cleaning and dealing with stuff.

Time spent purging your clutter will reappear as leisure time down the road.

5. Use it or lose it.

Use it or lose it.Give your wardrobe a minimal overhaul and discover less stress getting dressed and lots of time saved on laundry.

6. Start small.

Start small.

Looking at piles upon piles of stuff and wondering where to begin?

Try anywhere. Grab a box, open a drawer and start evaluating.

7. Look to the future.

Look to the future.

When considering adding possessions, try to picture the item in your home six months from now.

You’ll generally find that you can skip it.

8. Do it now.

Do it now.Never leave for later what you could sort now.

And if you stray from that philosophy, never pass an object in need of a home, especially if that home is the garbage.

9. Keep your counters clear.

Keep your counters clear.If it doesn’t fit in a cabinet, ask yourself if you use it often enough to warrant looking at it every day.

I’m looking at you, juicer.

10. Dream in color.

Dream in color.While neutrals and grey tones are a hallmark of the minimalist movement, there’s no rulebook.

Go ahead, add a splash of color.

11. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

Can't stop, won't stop.

Stay vigilant as new clutter finds you.

12. Replace rather than increase.

Replace rather than increase.

Buying something new? Swap out something old.

13. Make a minimalist wish list.

Make a minimalist wish list.Rather than spending your money on things, consider investing in experiences or services that will enrich your life without cluttering your home.

14. Don’t let consumption consume you.

Don't let consumption consume you.

One can furnish a home very luxuriously by taking out furniture rather than putting it in. — Francis Jourdain

15. Omit needless things.

"Omit Needless Things"The principle comes from Elements of Style co-author William Strunk Jr and can be beautifully applied to all aspects of life.

Less is more.

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