Shopping Product Reviews

Does Windows 10 Home include Word and Excel?

Since Office is a free application that comes pre-installed with Win 10. Therefore, you do not need to subscribe to use it. What happens is that Microsoft has a hard time promoting this application. Some consumers just don’t know that there is an online version of Microsoft Office, which includes all applications, including Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. However, Windows 10 Home does not include Excel or Word. Let’s find out more.

Recently, Microsoft has introduced a new Windows 10 application that is aimed at all users of the Microsoft Office suite. The name of the application is Office, which is an updated version of the My Office application. The updated version features a cleaner design. In addition, it allows you to access other files and programs.

The good thing about the new application is that it displays icons for all programs. Therefore, you can start OneDrive, Publisher, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word. This application shows you the latest documents and files, and you can launch any of the applications to get your work done.

Apart from this, it also shows you the pinned and shared files. Over the years, Microsoft Office has gained a lot of popularity. You can find Office in many ways, such as a free online product, a one-time purchase, and an annual subscription.

New Office users may not know where to find their files and applications. The Office application offers a single place that offers different products such as Office 2016, Office 2019, and Office 365. If you don’t want to pay for the paid versions, you can opt for Office Online for free.

The Office application is no different from Microsoft’s Office.com site. It allows free access to your documents and programs. Apart from this, the application allows you to view the documents saved on your local device or computer. In addition, it also allows you to access files stored on your OneDrive. Another great feature of files is that it allows you to upload files from your device or computer.

After the application is launched, if you review it, it will update the My Office application. If you want to try it, you can go to Microsoft Store to download and install it.

Here’s a warning: the new app has a glitch that may have an impact on some users. Although the store page will take you to the new app, the installer will install the older version of My Office instead of the updated one.

Also, the failure can vary from machine to machine. Many users have reported this problem. However, not all users have complained about it. According to a Microsoft spokesperson, the company knows about the bug and is determined to fix it.

In short, Microsoft Windows 10 Home does not come with Word and Excel, but you can install the Office application to enjoy the same features that Microsoft Office offers. So, if you no longer need to worry about it. You can go ahead and install the application on your operating system.

Sports

Fantasy sports grow from pastime to future of sports

Gone are the days when fantasy sports used to be a casual hobby for sports fans. This sports format is now having a huge impact, in fact, a billion dollars! You may not believe it, but this industry is projected to generate more than $ 1.7 billion in revenue by 2017. But the story doesn’t end here: around 35 million people played fantasy sports last year, and IBIS World expects these to be. figures increase. by 90% over the next five years.

This revolution in this industry is due to the digital age. After the start of smart devices, permanent access to websites offering fantasy sports platforms has become quite a bit easier. There are countless websites, apps, podcasts, and blogs dedicated to this topic. The demand for information on this new sports format has never been higher because the entire industry is booming!

It all starts with a registration at any of the famous fantasy sports sites. ESPN, Yahoo, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, and many other options are available. These sites offer you the platform, tips, predictions, analysis and all the other things that are necessary to win in any competition. You can choose a standardized public league or you can start your own private league with friends or co-workers. Once you are done with this, you can create your team with the desired name and players.

Once you have built your team and started participating in various competitions, you need to stay on top of the news. Because the activity of the league continues to be accelerated and changes accordingly as players are injured, promoted or demoted during games during the season. If you miss the news about a player, it is more likely that one of your competitors will punch you in the face. Due to this constant requirement of the news media, companies and advertisers are taking advantage of the heavy traffic that the industry generates.

According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Commission (FSTC), the average gamer spends 3 to 8 hours a day while playing fantasy sports websites. Free platforms are further driving this trend as online traffic is increasing and revenue is skyrocketing.

So this is the future of sports. It’s a new booming trend that shows no sign of slowing down at present. The new age of sports fans is here and the business industry has already been aware of its presence!

Tours Travel

Trip to Macau: a night at the casino

Macau, or “Las Vegas of Asia” as it is sometimes known, has gone from zero to hero over the past decade, surpassing its Nevada counterpart in terms of volume and variety of games, and while the former Portuguese colony It has much more than just gambling, a travel plan to Macau is incomplete without visiting some of the famous casinos in the city.

Casino Lisboa Macao

A true “safari casinos” should obviously start at the “Lisbon”, Macau’s iconic gambling house, which for many years was the only casino in the city and has made a name for itself for its fuss, smoke-filled rooms and his promiscuous cabaret. sample … Things seem more “civilized” nowadays, but the Lisboa certainly retains some of its colonial-era charm …

Grand Lisbon

The Grand Lisboa occupies a gleaming 250m lotus-shaped skyscraper, right in front of old Lisbon, and while it lacks the vibe of its’ big brother ‘, it makes up for it with a decent range of games (including Texas Hold’ em) , a fabulous buffet restaurant and the famous ‘Crazy Paris Show’ … Here you can also see ‘Stanley Ho’s star’: the world’s largest cushion-shaped D-color diamond, internally flawless.

Wynn Macau

Still around the corner from Lisboa, Steve Wynn’s Wynn Macau occupies a modern glass-clad monolith, with 100,000 square feet of casino space, and in addition to gambling, you can enjoy a delicious Italian dinner at ‘ Ristorante il Teatro ‘and see the famous Wynn Fountain of performance.

Sands of Macau

Higher up Avenida de Amizade, the colossal golden glass clad facade of Sands Macau can be seen from every corner of the area. This huge casino used to have the title of “world’s largest casino” until the Venetian opened in 2007, but while it is no longer “the largest”, it is without doubt one of the most impressive gambling halls in Macau. One of its restaurants, 888 Gourmet Place, presents what is possibly the best Las Vegas-style buffet in Macau.

City of dreams

The recently opened City of Dreams is the hottest thing in Macau today, and while the colossal casino isn’t quite as big as neighboring Venetian’s, it’s suitably geared for mid-range players, which could. most popular with the average tourist. . In terms of entertainment, you should see their ‘Vquarium’ (virtual aquarium) and the ‘Dragon’s Treasure Show’.

The Venetian

And finally … The largest casino in the world: The Venetian. Located within the spectacular Venetian Macao Resort, the Venetian Casino has a gaming space of nearly 600,000 square feet, with 3,400 slot machines and 800 gaming tables, spread across four themed gaming areas. While you’re there, you should make a point to wander through the Venice-themed ‘Grand Canal shops’, one of Macau’s most extravagant shopping and dining complexes.

Arts Entertainments

Birth of the blues guitar: Keb Mo ‘

It seems almost inconceivable that one of the most authentic musicians preserving the true sound of the Delta blues acoustic guitar comes from a man hailing from Compton, California, a place that has a musical reputation for being more of a bubbling cauldron of hip-hop. and hardcore west coast rap than anything else. But that’s precisely where Kevin Moore, better known as Keb Mo ‘, began his career on blues guitar.

Moore was born on October 3, 1951, born in Compton to parents of deep southern heritage. When he was young, Moore’s parents kept him immersed in his own taste in music, playing many of his own gospel, R&B and blues records that they kept at home. He has also acknowledged that the local radio and the music he listened to at the local Baptist church also served as tutors for his musical interests.

At the age of ten, Moore joined his school band, first testing the trumpet. In an interview with the LA Times, Moore said, “I remember the first time I played with the band, playing full notes, it just felt so good.” From the trumpet, Moore went on to play the steel drums and other percussion instruments, as well as the French horn before deciding to learn to play the blues guitar.

According to Moore, he began learning to play the guitar at the invitation of his uncle. “When I first picked up the guitar, I knew what it was.” Within two weeks, Moore had dropped 5 chords and was already experimenting with fingerstick as well. After high school, Moore joined several local cover bands, playing small local venues and had mediocre acceptance, at least until one of his bandmates suggested that his music was missing ‘something’ and featured it. to a broader musical experience in the Caribbean and the Caribbean. African sounds. Moore took instruction seriously and began experimenting with a wider range of rhythms.

In the early ’70s, Moore began working as a backup and accompanist musician in and around Los Angeles, while still occasionally playing with some local Top 40 bands. He landed his first major professional gig with the former Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane violinist. , Pope John Creach. Creach hired Moore when Moore was just 21 years old. Once, while the band was rehearsing in a space they had rented in Los Angeles, Creach and his producer stopped by. “He came in, liked what he heard, and hired us on the spot – true story!” He stayed with Creach throughout 4 albums and a constant touring schedule.

In an interview, Moore credited Creach for his time with opening his eyes and ears to a wide range of influences. Until joining the veteran violinist, Moore had been playing primarily for nightclub audiences in south central Los Angeles. “This was really different for me, and it influenced my playing, it helped me experiment with different types of sounds and styles.” This exposure also had a positive effect on his songwriting and blues guitar playing skills, serving as a guitar lesson of a certain kind.

After leaving Creach’s job, he began working as a contractor and organized Alamo-Irving music and began to get a fairly steady job in Los Angeles; all the time trying to promote himself as a blues soloist and guitarist. He released his first solo album Rainmaker in 1980 on the Casablanca label, which quickly closed shortly after its release. The album garnered little interest, but its reputation among blues guitarists and other musicians was growing. He was self-taught with no formal guitar lessons, which is inspiring to others trying to learn to play the guitar.

After meeting and working with Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland producer Monk Higgins and a long career in the Whodunit Band (the house band on Marla’s Memory Lane), Moore turned his talents to the blues. Moore cites his work with Higgins as a pivotal moment in his transformation into a true bluesman. Occasional concerts with blues guitarist Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner completed the process and Kevin Moore settled on the sweet sounds of blues guitar as his preferred musical genre. Moore has often said that his time with Higgins was the most vital in his education as a blues musician.

However, fame eluded him throughout the 1980s until he caught what he considers his greatest opportunity. In 1990, The Los Angles Theater Company visited Moore: they were looking for an African American man to learn to play the blues guitar in the Delta blues style, to do a play called Rabbit Foot. According to Moore, there was only one guy in Los Angeles who could deliver the merchandise, Chuck Streetman, and he was unavailable due to scheduling. Moore was offered the opportunity to learn guitar musical parts and audition. To prepare for the role, Moore pulled out his old Delta records, blues guitarists, and others like Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, and Big Bill Broonzy. “Big Bill blew me away, a very good composer with an incredible voice, an incredible guitar technique …”

His performance in Rabbit Foot impressed theater promoters that when another role emerged for a blues musician in a play called Spunk Moore it was considered. But this time Chuck Streetman was available and they gave him the part. But Moore was hired as a substitute for Streetman. His work in the theater is what made Moore a modern purveyor of the Delta blues tradition.

“Circumstances led me to play the blues. I was going to be in a play and they wanted me to play delta blues. And it was a job, an opportunity to work, so I started playing delta blues and fell in love with the material. After the project ended, I kept doing it, playing Delta blues, playing it sometimes at a club gig if I was playing some other kind of music and I had a chance to get out my guitar and try it out. “

So when did Kevin Moore become Keb Mo ‘? Moore would often go to see jazz drummer Quentin Denard during some local concerts and occasionally pick up his guitar and sit with the band. Denard would look over his elevator and see Moore and yell “Keb ‘Mo’!” when Moore played blues. From that point on, Moore just started calling himself Keb ‘Mo’ and the name stuck.

It was a chance meeting with the Taj Mahal and his agent John Porter that really launched his career as a blues guitar soloist. Moore gave Porter one of his demo tapes and the pair got along well. Porter knew he had found something truly unique and followed Moore to provide more material. In June 1994, when Epic Records decided to revive the famous O’Keh label, Porter made a deal for Moore and the result was Moore’s self-titled debut album. Critics loved its unique blues guitar sound, and Moore soon opened for great national acts like legendary blues guitarists Buddy Guy, Joe Cocker and Jeff Beck, the album ended up winning Moore a Grammy and launched him into the center of blues attention.

In 1995, Mo ‘performed at the Newport Folk Festival and wowed audiences with his punchy slide guitar style and soulful voice. He had arrived. Shortly after his appearance in Newport, he embarked on his first European tour, practically giving the public a guitar lesson in the blues.

Industry heavyweights like Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt took notice. A friend gave Bonnie a copy of the tape while she was riding in her car. After listening to the tape, Bonnie turned on the car radio and Mo ‘was being interviewed at the same time. Moore later recalled, “She called me at the station from her car phone. She came to a concert, stayed, and then I opened up for her on some dates. She said, ‘I’d like to do something with you, and I’m not pulling your chain. And when Bonnie says she’s going to do something, it always shows up. “

Another friend introduced Moore to Jackson Browne when they were both playing a festival in Seattle. In the end, both Raitt and Jackson ended up providing backing vocals for the title track of Moore’s second album, Just Like You.

The album earned Moore the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 1996. As Moore included some Robert Johnson tracks in his releases, he began to associate with Johnson. This association led to Moore playing Johnson in the 1997 documentary Can’t You Hear The Wind Howl?

Keb ‘Mo still receives accolades, Grammys, and a host of other awards for his albums (showing his ability to bring a homey touch to his own work and reworking blues, folk, jazz and rock classics), his occasional acting roles. and his heartfelt songwriting.

Moore continues, walking the blues highway, introducing some new delta blues fans, firming the soul of country blues to the staunch and proving that blues is not about location or background, nor is it just about the music. The blues is about the weight of passion that resides in your soul.

As has been said many, many times, it is impossible to know where you are going unless you know where you have been.

Keb ‘Mo’ knows.

Technology

Best Google Website Tools of 2018

Google Analytics

In this digital age, the importance of data to a business / website should never be underestimated. In fact, without proper website traffic tracking, a business is literally lost, especially when it comes to how to optimize the website and make full use of it.

Whether your website runs in the form of a personal blog, news portal, business or corporate page, e-commerce store, Google Analytics is considered an essential tool for all websites. The more you use this powerful Google tool, the more advantage you will have.

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. You can create goals and conversion tracking to get the most out of your analytics information and use it to improve your website content, user experience, and optimization for better online sales.

Out of so many features in Google Analytics, I think the ability to identify the source / medium of your website is one of the best tools for websites. Based on the data shown, you can find out whether or not your marketing efforts have paid off. This can provide a solid reference for your next decision making to improve your website performance.

Google Data study

Believe me, for beginners, you might be overwhelmed by all the amount of data that is displayed in Google Analytics. To be frank, sometimes you just need a simple report with a chart, graph, or pie to summarize your website’s performance.

Here’s a free tool from Google called Google Data Studio, which gives you everything you need to turn your analytical data into informative, easy-to-understand reports through data visualization.

Analytics has always been a challenge for digital marketing; however, Google Data Studio allows you to create customizable data visualization and reports. Plus, you can even share with your clients – a huge plus, especially if you’re working in a large group.

Quick Tip: You can check out the Google Data Studio Gallery to duplicate your samples and modify them based on your website usage. After that, you can change and edit the metric according to your needs. Pretty amazing, right?

Google Search Console

This free web service, formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools, now renamed Google Search Console, is designed for webmasters. It allows you to check the indexing status and optimize the visibility of your websites.

This free tool is a must have for search engine optimization (SEO). The power of tracking your site’s search performance is the most valuable information for understanding what audiences want for your site.

Once the website is crawled by Google, you will be able to see the organic search results along with the performance statistics of the organic search queries. This information helps you better understand how paid text ads and organic search results work together. If you dig deep enough, you will find plenty of opportunities, such as identifying relevant search queries that have low organic traffic volume, and targeting these keywords in Google AdWords. This will increase your overall traffic, tailored to the purpose of your website.

Google My business

Are you operating a brick and mortar business? If so, this free tool from Google is one of the most local SEO strategies to strengthen your website. Google My Business is a powerful tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence on Google, such as Google Search and Google Maps.

As Malaysia’s smartphone penetration approaches 100% in 2018, most Malaysians use smartphones to browse, search for instant answers, or browse social media platforms. Your company and brand must be online with the correct information.

Make sure all the information listed is correct, up-to-date, and reflects your business. Remember, that information will appear when people search for your physical office or store through Waze or Google Map. We often see that some companies have not updated their address, phone number and business hours to the latest version. Do you want to gain traffic to your website?

You should try the new Google My Business features called “Posts”. Posted content will display your image and a short description with a call-to-action link to your desired URL. For example, the blog post “Should I hide or even delete the customer’s query on my Facebook?” will appear at the bottom of our business information.

Google Keyword planner

Building a website without keyword research is exhausting and a waste of time in the long run. To reach the right customers with the right keywords, you must use Google’s Keyword Planner to discover relevant keywords. Embedding those keywords on your website will ensure that your content remains relevant.

* To access the Keyword Planner, you must log into your Google AdWords account at http://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner. Creating the account is free and fast.

Yes, it is completely free, you can find new keyword ideas that are relevant to your product, service and target customers. The keyword planner will show you the search volume data in historical statistics, which is one of the most important key factors for your website.

Also, keyword idea data is a useful tool for your website SEO. Analyze the information and make it your next content marketing strategy. Based on your search term data, you should have a lot of ideas about what to insert into your text to make it more relevant to your audience.

Google Tag manager

This free tool helps you update tags and code snippets on your website and mobile app quickly and easily. You can insert JavaScript and HTML tags used for tracking and analysis on websites in Tag Manager without touching the back of the website.

Many websites do not implement the tracking feature or have unreliable data collection due to messy code injection. To solve this, we highly recommend using Google Tag Manager to consolidate and manage all your tracking codes or scripts.

The best example of using this tool is using Facebook ads. While more and more businesses are investing in Facebook ads, most of them do not install Facebook Pixel on their website for conversion tracking, optimization, and remarketing purposes.

Facebook Ads is already integrated with Google Tag Manager for a simple and hassle-free installation. All you need to do is click and follow the given instructions without any need for complicated coding.

Test my Think With Google site

To rank well in Google Search for mobile devices, your website must have a fast loading speed and a website optimized for mobile devices. Use the Think with Google Test My Site tool to check your website’s mobile performance score. After a few minutes, you will receive recommendations on how to improve website performance on all devices.

Nobody wants to wait for slow websites to appear or browse websites that are not optimized for mobile devices. The suggested time is 3 seconds from Google, which means that if your site doesn’t fully load in 3 seconds, most people will probably go elsewhere.

Just enter your email address and you will get the detailed analysis about your website. The content of the report is simple, but it provides valuable information on how Google rates your website speed.

The report will become a crucial reference for your webmaster or web developer to further optimize the website. If you need an even more detailed report on how Google renders and indexes your website, you should use the PageSpeed ​​Insight tool.

Google PageSpeed ​​Insight

If you have web developers or web designers who really want to understand the factors to increase your website speed, give the PageSpeed ​​Insights Tool a try and check your score on your website speed and optimization.

The latest version now displays your first content point (FCP) data, the measure of when a user sees a visual response from the page. DOM Content Loaded (DCL), as well as the measurement when the HTML document has been loaded and parsed.

PageSpeed ​​Insights is useful for providing information on how Google indexes your website differently for desktop and mobile versions.

Here are some PageSpeed ​​tips for optimizing website speed:

  • Avoid landing page redirects
  • Eliminate JavaScript and CSS that block rendering in the contents of the upper half of the page.
  • Enable compression
  • Take advantage of browser caching
  • Minify CSS
  • Minify HTML
  • Minimize JavaScript
  • Optimize images
  • Prioritize viewable content
  • Reduce server response time

Google Trend

Want to see the latest trends and data from Google? You can search for anything through Google Trends and even limit yourself to a specific country or category. This tool is useful for identifying the latest trends or viral news at your location.

Ideally, once you’ve identified a trend, you can create new blog posts, new promotions, or ideas that reflect that trend.

Don’t forget that you can also view interest traffic for search terms using Google Trends.

With this, you can identify the best time to launch a specific campaign. This is useful for seasonal campaigns or annual promotions because you can discover the best time for your ad hoc digital marketing campaigns.

Google Alert

If you want to be aware of a particular topic and all the related information that comes up in the news, you can automatically receive them all with Google Alert and receive notifications whenever your keywords or phrases have new updates.

Google Alert is good for simple keyword monitoring, with updates on every mention of those keywords sent to your email inbox for near real-time notification. Of course, you can choose how often you will receive them: once a day, once a week, or even receive them when they happen.

A helpful tip when creating the Google alert is to avoid using generic keywords, but create alerts that are more unique to your website. The more precise your keywords are, the more relevant your alerts will be. For that, you should use search filters whenever possible, such as languages, region, or fonts.

Summary

So that’s it, above are the 10 must-have free Google tools to improve your website performance. Take full advantage of all analytics, research, or monitoring tools to achieve your site’s goal.

What are your favorite Google tools? Do you know of other Google tools that we should cover? Let us know in the comments below!

Home Kitchen

Knobs and Pulls – They are perfect for sprucing up the look of your cabinets.

You are a little bored with how your kitchen cabinets look. And it’s not that they’re out of date or falling apart. It’s just that you’ve seen them so often that you’re tired of looking at them. What you need to do to renew their appearance is to buy some new knobs and pulls for them.

Sure, you may be wondering, how are knobs and pulls going to do that? Well, even though they serve that important purpose, they also have a decorative quality courtesy of the ways they can be designed. For example, you can buy options that are modern and stylish in appearance, others that are more on the traditional side, and there are even delicate antique options filled with detailed ornamentation. In addition to those, there are a host of additional options, including those featuring a contemporary, colonial, and country style.

The reason there are so many style options when it comes to knobs and pulls is how they are made from a wide variety of materials that are then finished in a number of lovely ways. Let’s take the modern ones as an example. They would probably be made of some type of metal, like steel, and then they could have a brushed or chrome-plated pewter finish. The one with a delicate antique look can also be made of scrolled metal and then a black powder coated finish. These are just a few of the materials and finishes that are also offered, as there are many more as well. So many that there is simply not enough time to analyze them all.

When changing the look of your cabinets with knobs and pulls, the main thing to consider is buying ones that match the style of your cabinets. This is essential because if you don’t, things will look awkward if the two don’t match. Also note that if you have any other visible hardware in your cabinets, you should also replace it with the new style you are looking for. If you don’t, things are going to look awkward again.

To easily see all the knobs and pulls you can get for your cabinets, what you need to do is go online to shop online. In no time you will be able to see everything that is available. When you buy it, it will be shipped directly to you so you don’t have to worry about wasting time, money, and gas on a trip to the store.

Ultimately, if you’re bored with your kitchen cabinets, even your bathroom, a great way to spruce up their appearance is with knobs and pulls. There are a host of unsurpassed decorative options.

Auto

Driving and texting with a bad mix

Driving and texting is a bad combination. Save a life maybe yours!

I was driving my new 50th anniversary Ruby Red Mustang with my husband in the passenger seat on a clear sunny day with temperatures of 40 degrees on April 18, 2015. We were patiently waiting at a yield sign for traffic to turn off. clear when we feel a strong shake in our seats. The SUV behind us had crashed into the back seat of our new Mustang. My husband immediately called the police. I quickly got out of the Mustang and walked behind my Mustang before the driver backed up and left the accident scene. I looked at the driver, a young woman in her 21s, and noticed that she was texting!

I quickly snapped a photo of the back of my new Mustang that had its license plate embedded in the bumper of my car. His SUV was undamaged, except for the license plate that was missing and stuck to the back of my old-new Mustang, which is now damaged. The back looked like a folded accordion. At least no one was hurt.

Police and the fire department were there within 10 minutes of the accident. We showed the cop his license embedded in our Mustang. The cop pulled it out of the back of the Mustang with great force and handed it back to the driver of the SUV, instead of seizing the evidence!

The young woman, a few minutes later, told me how sorry she was to have damaged my new Mustang. She said, “I was on my way to college to take my final exam because I was sick. My final was postponed until today!”

The girl’s mother came forward and did not want her daughter to sign the police report admitting her guilt.

My new damaged Mustang was taken to the dealership and then to the local repair shop.

Meanwhile, the young woman who stopped by my new Mustang with her SUV while texting had her insurance company representative call me. She said: “It was your fault and the police do not count as witnesses. Our insurance company will not pay the claim!”

I told his insurance agent that I had a passenger in my car who witnessed what his client had done to my new 50th anniversary Mustang and his client’s license was embedded in the back of my car. I had taken a photo to prove it! “

After his call, I called my insurance agent and told him what I had said and asked him to take care of it.

It took me 6 months and over $ 12,000 to repair my 50th Anniversary Mustang to make it look like new! The fire department sent me a bill for $ 200 and the repair shop gave me a bill for $ 200 after the insurance was paid.

My insurance company paid the claim and eventually forced their insurance company to reimburse them for the damages their client had suffered to my Mustang.

Most people are conditioned to respond immediately to other people’s needs, alerts, and messages. Like a drug-addicted lab rat, our brains have been reconfigured to respond.

In the United States, distracted drivers cause 1 in 4 traffic accidentss. That is 1.6 million accidents every year causing 330,000 wounded and dead every year.

Is it worth your life not being able to wait a few minutes to respond to the ping or alert you just received?

One thing I have found helpful is putting my cell phone in the “off” position and placing it out of reach.

If you need your phone for navigation, turn off alerts for all applications other than your map application. They will be there when you reach your destination. More importantly … you will arrive at your destination in one piece!

Digital Marketing

Precision Marking and Measuring Tools for Woodworking

If you’re just getting started in woodworking, here are some basic measuring and marking tools you must have.

Measuring tape

Having a tape measure handy helps you take measurements on the go. The tape measures are available in “Imperial” format or in “Standard” / metric version. Typical lengths are 16, 25, and 30 feet.

Ruler

Always have at least one good rule in your shop. You’ll use a ruler for a wide range of tasks, such as plan drawing, material measurement, table saw wing alignment, and surface evenness checking, among other things. It is always better to invest in a steel ruler.

Combination square

If you are just getting started in woodworking, buying a combination square is an excellent investment.

A combination square will help you measure 90 ° and 45 ° angles, determine flatness, measure the center of a circular bar, and mark the work surface.

A classic combination square consists of: 1) a square head and 2) a steel ruler. By sliding the square head along the steel ruler, it is possible to measure depth or transfer dimensions.

Framing square

A framing square (also called a steel square or carpenter’s square) is also another useful tool to own. It is made of steel and consists of 2 arms: a long arm and a short arm that meet at 90 °.

Having a square will allow you to measure any construction design you need. Framing squares can usually be found with a 24-inch sheet and a 16-inch tab. There are also smaller ones, but they come without the framing boards.

Marking gauge

The marking gauge is used to mark lines before cutting. Allows you to draw a line parallel to a reference edge. Generally, the marking gauge consists of a beam, pegbox, pen, pin, wheel, and knife.

Scratch Awl

The scratch punch is basically a steel pick with a sharp point. Etch a shallow groove in the wood that you can follow when using a hand saw or chisel.

Sliding bezel

With a sliding bevel, cutting wood will be much, much easier and smoother. The sliding bezel is basically a gauge that allows you to set and transfer angles. It consists of a handle, usually made of wood or plastic, attached to an adjustable metal blade.

Knife

Tea Knife The cutting tool is classically used by chair manufacturers. It typically consists of a straight blade 8 to 12 inches long and perpendicular handles at each end.

Tea Froe (also called lathe ax and splitting knife) is a tool used for riveting or splitting. The froe has a straight blade 8-12 inches long and a perpendicular handle at its end.

Tea Scorpio it is a razor with an almost completely circular blade. Very useful for emptying bowls and similar objects.

Tea Utility knife It is a knife that has a retractable blade that is sheathed inside a metal handle. Available in all kinds of sizes, the knife is used in carpentry to cut all kinds of materials.

Clock meter

The dial indicator is a gauge with a dial reading in hundredths or thousandths of an inch. You can use it to measure the depth of a hole. It is an ideal tool for accurately measuring from cylindrical tenons and mortises.

Business

What Costco, the North Royalton Post Office, and my dentist have in common

Hi, I’m Lisa and I’m Costco-holic. (Hello lisa). Although I’m not a fan of most big box stores, a trip to Costco is an adventure that I love. From the delicious food samples to the wide range of interesting products that, once discovered, we can no longer live without, I enjoy the whole experience. But that’s not what makes me appreciate Costco. It is his people.

From what I understand, Costco treats its employees extremely well. They have more flexibility and earn higher wages than competitive stores offer. And that shows us. The employees have fun and ensure a pleasant trip. When Scott and I became members of Costco, I was making fun of the Kirtland brand that reigns throughout the store. (Really, is there anything Kirtland DOES NOT put a label on?) With complete and utter sincerity, the Costco employee I was speaking to said, “There is NOTHING that Kirtland does that is not top-notch.” Wow, that’s compromise. I felt his passion and discovered that he is absolutely right.

Now for the post office. I’ll take a chance and dare to say that most people don’t enjoy a trip to the post office. Face it, it’s generally not a place where employees are charming, helpful, and fun, except in North Royalton, Ohio. I had a package to deliver and drove out of my way, right next to a neighboring post office, to go to MY post office. Not that I’ve had horrible experiences at this other place, it’s just not a place where employees go out of their way to make customers feel special or important.

Not so in North Royalton. The package I was sending was in an “if it fits, it ships” box. Due to the size of what I was shipping, there was a small lump on one side of the box. A visiting postal worker was taking care of me and I wasn’t sure if she was “authorized” to take the package. Her colleague, a postal worker who knows me by name, told her, “Of course we will accept Ms. Ryan’s package, we love her!” In a long line of people, the employees treated each customer with the same respect, patience, and kindness they showed me, and no one complained about the wait.

Another customer gave Gary a notice to pick up a letter. He had received the notice for quite some time and the post office had already returned the letter to him. Gary actually apologized to her for not receiving the letter. Your answer? “Of course that’s what I thought. It’s not your fault. Thank you.” Courtesy, sincere affection for the client, and recognition of their problems go a long way in creating enthusiastic admirers.

And finally, my dentist. I found Dr. Craig Vinkovich in the usual way: online and reading testimonials. The funny thing is that Dr. Vinkovich was one of the few dentists who actually had positive recommendations. A trip to his office and I understood why.

I don’t like filling out forms. Although it is a necessary evil, I find them tedious and repetitive, so I choose to have a little fun with them. For example, in the blank where they ask about children, my general answer is: “Do cats count?” When the forms ask if I am pregnant, the answer is always “God NO!” and so on. Frankly, I didn’t expect the form to be read at all, and certainly not in front of me. As luck would have it, Dr. Vinkovich read my form in its entirety as I sat in the chair and laughed. And then he laughed some more. I knew I had found the perfect dentist, one who was not only good at what he does, but also had a great sense of humor.

The other reason I love going to his office is the people he hires. It breaks my heart that your receptionist / office manager, Sandy, is moving to Florida, but I know from my experience that you will hire the perfect person for this position. Sandy is magnificent. He greets patients with a smile and warmth that makes them feel like the most important person on the planet. Due to his incessant awesome attitude, a few years ago I sent him a thank you. To this day, she thanks ME for sending it. Little things make a BIG difference.

So what do Costco, the North Royalton Post Office, and Dr. Craig Vinkovich’s office have in common? Employees who make it an absolute pleasure to sponsor these businesses. After all, when employees are treated well, they take better care of their customers. Those employees who feel valued and appreciated, who know they are contributing to the mission of the organization and enjoy their work, go out of their way to provide customer service that is above the competition.

I’ve been through other warehouse-style stores, numerous post offices, and laid off multiple dentists in my life (for reasons I definitely won’t share here), and I choose to give my hard-earned money to people who make me feel valued, appreciated and special for selecting them. And you?

Take a moment today to recognize the people who make your business great – both your customers and your employees.

Also, feel free to share how your positive experiences with company employees have made you a loyal and enthusiastic fan. Thanks!

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Brain and neurological problems affect almost half of celiacs even with a gluten-free diet

There is reasonable evidence of neurological problems in celiac disease (CD), even those well treated with a gluten-free diet should undergo periodic neurological examinations. Peripheral neuropathy is found in almost half of people with CD. Previously, neurological complications in celiac disease were reported to be 36% or more than a third. Some unexplained neurological problems are present but are not recognized by the patient or their doctor in many patients and some have various problems. Unfortunately, since brain imaging is not routinely performed or recommended in newly diagnosed people, we don’t really know how high these numbers really can be. More astonishing is the fact that we are still learning about people who do not meet the diagnostic criteria for celiac disease, but have gluten-related neurological problems that respond to a gluten-free diet.

There are many neurological problems found in undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease, but they include neuropathy, balance problems (ataxia), seizures, MS-like symptoms, headaches, memory impairment, depression and anxiety, lack attention deficit (ADD / ADHD), schizophrenia, dementia, muscle weakness, delayed child development, autism (Asperger). The sad truth is that many patients have delays in diagnosis that result in a delay in treatment and a poor response even when they adopt a strict gluten-free diet. The mean delay in diagnosis in adults is between eleven and thirteen years. Dr. Hadjivassiliou, a neurologist in England who is considered the world’s expert on gluten-related neurological problems, has communicated to me by email and in writing that responses to a gluten-free diet may take five years and if the neurological condition has been complete for a long time. recovery is not likely.

Symptoms of neuropathy are paresthesia (numbness) or dysesthesia (burning, tingling, heaviness, “tingly feeling”). Many of my patients also describe hypersensitivity of the skin in such a way that they do not like the air to blow on them or their children. or spouses against their skin. Some admit a sensation of “insect tingling” on the skin, something called vermiculation in medical terms, but most doctors rarely ask or think much about it. Strange muscle movements under the skin that some call “bag of worms” medically known as fasiculations are also very common, but many doctors dismiss them. My wife, a doctor with celiac disease, actually had these reactions while undergoing a EMG examination (electromileography, recording of muscle activity by placing a needle electrode in the muscle) Senior neurologist Despite observing that these occurred visually and that the monitor showed “noise as static”, the neurologist dismissed them as ” normal “.

Many celiac disease patients also have what radiologists and neurologists call “UBO” on MRI scans of the brain. These unidentified glowing objects (think a UFO) are white dots that show up on brain images. When found in certain locations in the brain, they are highly suggestive of multiple sclerosis (multiple healing points in the brain). However, although many people with CD have symptoms similar to those of MS and these symptoms often respond to a gluten-free diet when started early enough, the UBOs seen on MRI of the brain are generally not found in the classic areas of MS. Instead, they are commonly found in areas of the brain associated with migraines or poor balance (ataxia).

Some are seen in children associated with rare seizure problems even without obvious bowel symptoms. A classic specific syndrome associated with epilepsy is well recognized in both children and adults who have calcifications in the brain that can be detected by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Epilepsy is well documented, but the studies are confusing enough that there is not a good consensus regarding the risk and recommended screening of all children with epilepsy.

Personally and professionally, I have observed all the neurological complications of celiac disease and most of them I have also noticed in patients in whom I have not been able to confirm CD but who have what I believe are objective signs and / or genetic risk for it. gluten. sensitivity. I have patients with MS-like symptoms, unexplained chronic neuropathy, headaches, attention difficulties, autistic behaviors, and developmental delays who have responded to a gluten-free diet, but if they would have listened to the doctors who maintained a diet so “restrictive, expensive and difficult to follow” The diet should only be “imposed” on those with an established diagnosis of celiac disease.

If you have neurological problems, get screened for celiac disease before starting a gluten-free diet. If your test result is negative for CD, make sure you are tested for complete HLA DQ genetics including DQ2 and DQ8 high risk white blood cell patterns for celiac disease AND get blood tests that include IgG antibodies and IgA gliadin. If your blood tests, including gliadin IgA and IgG antibodies, are negative or normal, consider having a stool test for gliadin antibodies in the stool ($ 99, http://www.enterolab.com).

The evidence continues to accumulate, although it is often ignored or overlooked, that gluten is toxic to the brains of some people, even if they do not have CD. If you have celiac disease, you likely already have neurological problems and may be at risk despite following a gluten-free diet. Borrowing from the old anti-drug ad “this is your brain on drugs”, maybe we should spread the word “this is your brain on gluten”. Despite your test results, consider a gluten-free diet test after the test has been done if you have unexplained or unresponsive neurological problems. You owe it to your brain. As my seven year old son told one of our friends, “maybe you should give up gluten.”