Got a Wrinkle? Get Rid of It With Skin Tightening


If you're aging and are tired of wrinkles ruining your complexion, you don't have to slather on the makeup to hide them.
 
In Toronto, skin tightening has become one of the most commonly performed treatments to fight this pesky sign of aging. A series of treatments will smooth away your wrinkles and lines, leaving your complexion flawless (or close to it!). 

Skin tightening treatment, as performed by ReFirme™,  utilizes advanced laser energy combined with radio frequency energy. This patented technology, known as elōs™, is really the latest and greatest in terms of non-surgical anti-aging treatments. Although hundreds of thousands of cosmetic surgical procedures are still  being performed annually, non-surgical methods are and will always be favoured by the public because of their ability to achieve fantastic results with less or no downtime and far fewer negative side effects. Think about it - the alternative to skin tightening treatment is a facelift. A surgical facelift involves an extensive surgical procedure that usually lasts a few hours, the administration of anesthesia (which poses its own set of risks including the rare one of death) and then a lengthy recovery that requires considerable post-operative care instructions and months of healing. On the other hand, non-invasive skin tightening requires just a topical anesthetic at most to minimize discomfort, practically no downtime so you can carry on with your regular daily activities immediately after a procedure, plus far less intensive post-procedural care instructions to follow. Despite the fact that results appear gradually with a series of treatments, laser skin tightening is really the way to go if you can't afford the time and care necessary for surgery, and you want to avoid going under the knife. 

But the real question to ask then, is does skin tightening work?

Of course! Medical clinics across Toronto wouldn't be offering the treatment if it didn't garner a loyal following of men and women tired of looking older than they actually are. Let's take a look at industry's gold standard of skin tightening technologies, ReFirme™.

ReFirme™ Skin Tightening
ReFirme™ features elōs™, a combination of light energy with bipolar radio frequency (RF) waves. When directed at a wrinkle, the energy gently warms the inner layers of the skin in the target area to precisely stimulate collagen production on a cellular level without damaging healthy skin. With dramatically improved levels of collagen in the skin, your wrinkles are plumped up and smoothed away in the time following your sessions. Loose skin can also be targeted, so get ready to say goodbye to those jowls and belly sag! Yes, the results appear gradually, but patients promise that it's totally worth the wait.

So what makes ReFirme™ Skin Tightening the choice of celebrities (Carnie Wilson is one)? It's all because of that unique elōs™ technology. Other technologies tend to be too aggressive and cause lasting damage to the skin despite their possible effectiveness, which tends to cancel out the results. They can leave redness, hyper pigmentation, and other serious complexion irregularities. They may also not be suitable for some types of skin, such as very fair or very dark tones. However, the RF combination of ReFirme™ solves these concerns. It's great for all skin types, is extremely gentle yet still achieves fantastic results, and is currently leading the way in terms of skin tightening treatments. That's right; look out for more technologies in the near future featuring RF energy.

Legit, Free Apple Products

Hey, just a quick post today. Check out these offers on free Apple products.

It's not a scam site....they test their offers every day and provide a 100% guarantee. It's nice to have a site that does all that work for you.



Anyways, my friend just got a free iPad 2 Smart Cover from them, so I'm hoping to get lucky today!

They've got lots of testimonials, and it looks like new offers are added every day.

FreeiPad2Cases.com

A Broad Definition of Life Insurance

Life insurance is a contract between the policy holder and the insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money (the "benefits") upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger payment.

In return, the policy holder agrees to pay a stipulated amount (the "premium") at regular intervals or in lump sums. In some countries, death expenses such as funerals are included in the premium; however, in the United States the predominant form simply specifies a lump sum to be paid on the insured's demise.
The value for the policy owner is the 'peace of mind' in knowing that the death of the insured person will not result in financial hardship.

Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; common examples are claims relating to suicide, fraud, war, riot and civil commotion.
Life-based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:
  • Protection policies – designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment. A common form of this design is term insurance.
  • Investment policies – where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms (in the US) are whole life, universal life, and variable life policies.
There is a difference between the insured and the policy owner (policy holder), although the owner and the insured are often the same person. For example, if Joe buys a policy on his own life, he is both the owner and the insured. But if Jane, his wife, buys a policy on Joe's life, she is the owner and he is the insured. The policy owner is the guarantee and he or she will be the person who will pay for the policy. The insured is a participant in the contract, but not necessarily a party to it. However, "insurable interest" is required to limit an unrelated party from taking life insurance on, for example, Jane or Joe. Also, most companies allow the Payer and Owner to be different, e. g., a grand parent paying premiums for a policy on a child, owned by a grandchild [or vice versa].

The beneficiary receives policy proceeds upon the insured's death. The owner designates the beneficiary, but the beneficiary is not a party to the policy. The owner can change the beneficiary unless the policy has an irrevocable beneficiary designation. With an irrevocable beneficiary, that beneficiary must agree to any beneficiary changes, policy assignments, or cash value borrowing.

In cases where the policy owner is not the insured (also referred to as the celui qui vit or CQV), insurance companies have sought to limit policy purchases to those with an "insurable interest" in the CQV. For life insurance policies, close family members and business partners will usually be found to have an insurable interest. The "insurable interest" requirement usually demonstrates that the purchaser will actually suffer some kind of loss if the CQV dies. Such a requirement prevents people from benefiting from the purchase of purely speculative policies on people they expect to die. With no insurable interest requirement, the risk that a purchaser would murder the CQV for insurance proceeds would be great. In at least one case, an insurance company which sold a policy to a purchaser with no insurable interest (who later murdered the CQV for the proceeds), was found liable in court for contributing to the wrongful death of the victim (Liberty National Life v. Weldon, 267 Ala.171 (1957)).



I hope this taught you guys some good info about life insurance!

Debt Consolidation - A Broader Definition

After my last post on debt consolidation, I received many e-mails asking me to provide a broad definition of debt consolidation. So today, instead of talking about student loan consolidation, I'm going to discuss debt consolidation as a whole.


Debt consolidation entails taking out one loan to pay off many others. This is often done to secure a lower interest rate, secure a fixed interest rate, or for the convenience of servicing only one loan.

Debt consolidation can simply be from a number of unsecured loans into another unsecured loan, but more often it involves a secured loan against an asset that serves as collateral, commonly a house. In this case, a mortgage is secured against the house. The collateralization of the loan allows a lower interest rate than without it, because by collateralizing, the asset owner agrees to allow the forced sale (foreclosure) of the asset to pay back the loan. The risk to the lender is reduced so the interest rate offered is lower.



Sometimes, debt consolidation companies can discount the amount of the loan. When the debtor is in danger of bankruptcy, the debt consolidator will buy the loan at a discount. A prudent debtor can shop around for consolidators who will pass along some of the savings. Consolidation can affect the ability of the debtor to discharge debts in bankruptcy, so the decision to consolidate must be weighed carefully.

Debt consolidation is often advisable in theory when someone is paying credit card debt. Credit cards can carry a much larger interest rate than even an unsecured loan from a bank. Debtors with property such as a home or car may get a lower rate through a secured loan using their property as collateral. Then the total interest and the total cash flow paid towards the debt is lower allowing the debt to be paid off sooner, incurring less interest.


Student loan consolidation

In the United States, federal student loans are consolidated somewhat differently than in the UK, as federal student loans are guaranteed by the U.S. government.

United States

In a federal student loan consolidation, existing loans are purchased by the Department of Education. Interest rates for the consolidation are based on that year's student loan rate, which is in turn based on the 91-day Treasury Bill rate at the last auction in May of each calendar year.

Student loan rates can fluctuate from the current low of 4.70% to a maximum of 8.25% for federal Stafford-loans, 9% for PLUS loans. Upon consolidation, a fixed interest rate is set based on the then-current interest rate. Reconsolidating does not change that rate. If the student combines loans of different types and rates into one new consolidation loan, a weighted average calculation will establish the appropriate rate based on the then-current interest rates of the different loans being consolidated together.



Federal student loan consolidation is often referred to as refinancing, which is incorrect because the loan rates are not changed, merely locked in. Unlike private sector debt consolidation, student loan consolidation does not incur any fees for the borrower; private companies make money on student loan consolidation by reaping subsidies from the federal government.

Student loan consolidation can be beneficial to students' credit rating, but it's important to note that not all federal student loan consolidation companies report their loans to all credit bureaus.


United Kingdom
In the UK, Student Loan entitlements are guaranteed, and are recovered using a means-tested system from the students future income. Student Loans in the UK can not be included in bankruptcy, but do not affect a persons credit rating because the repayments are recovered from the students future salary at source by the employer before any income is paid, similar to income tax and national insurance contributions. Many students however, are struggling with debt well after their courses have finished

The level of personal debt in the UK has also risen astonishingly in recent years:
"Total UK personal debt at the end of February 2008 stood at £1,421bn. The growth rate increased to 8.9% for the previous 12 months which equates to an increase of £111bn.

Concerns

In recent years, reports in the media have raised concerns about the use of consolidation loans. The worry is that many people are tempted to consolidate unsecured debt into secured debt, usually secured against their home. Although the monthly payments can often be lower, the total amount repaid is often significantly higher due to the long period of the loan. Debt consolidation sometimes only treats the symptoms of debt and does not address the root problem. In some circumstances, snowballing debt may be a better solution.

Alternatives

Other options available to overburdened debtors include credit counselling, debt settlement, and personal bankruptcy. Some consolidation lenders will renegotiate with the creditors on the debtor's behalf, as a credit counselor does.

Have a great day guys!

Best, cheap health insurance plans

With the public debates over health care still ongoing in the United States, it's clear that universal health insurance is a contested issue.

Even in Canada, which has universal health care, there are problems. Long line-ups, poor coverage, and a shortage of doctors leaves many people without proper health care.

Unfortunately, health-care costs are not going to stop rising. That being said, there are plenty of discount health insurance companies that provide great value.

While our sample region was New York City, the information here is pertinent to people choosing health care all over the country. Check out online insurance providers, like esurance, for more information.


1- Tradition Plus Hospital Program

Monthly cost: $136.85

This health insurance package provides the overall best value for single males. The reason? It's simply a no-frills, essentials plan. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield is the stable, financial backer to this health care plan. The program is an indemnity plan, which means that you don’t have to worry about whether a certain doctor is in the network. The best part is that there is no deductible. However, that comes at a cost: you don’t have coverage for prescriptions, maternity or office visits. This is simply a good, cheap plan for a single guy who wants to make sure he’s covered in case of an emergency.

2- Full Coverage HMO with no RX

Monthly cost: $288.78

Covered by Atlantis Health Plan, this health insurance package is great for single guys who want good medical coverage without the prescription coverage. If you are a guy who requires no permanent medication, it will be well worth it to pay for your prescriptions only when you need them. However, if you do buy a lot of medication, don't purchase this health insurance plan. Instead, choose a plan that has prescription coverage. 

The HMO (health maintenance organization) part means that you choose one doctor to be your 'family doctor'. This physician will always offer the first diagnosis and recommend a specialist if you need one. Another bonus? This plan offers maternity coverage and coverage for office visits.


3- Full Coverage HMO with RX
Monthly cost: $331.87

Do you use medication? If so, this is a great plan for you. This health insurance package provides solid, all-around coverage at a good price. Like the previous package, it is an HMO plan, meaning you get a doctor dedicated to you and your needs. With this good value health care plan, you will have no deductible, plus you will get maternity and prescription coverage. This is a main thing which sets it apart from the previous health insurance plans. Furthermore, you’ll get help with any office visits.

Things to know before choosing your cheap health insurance plan

You really should assess your needs as an individual. Obviously, if you or your partner is not pregnant, then don't pay extra for maternity coverage. Likewise, if you don’t need medication, then don't pay the extra $50 a month for the prescription premium. Most importantly, don’t just take the first plan that is offered to you: decide what you really need, and customize your plan. 


Also, make sure you learn some important acronyms that designate various plans, like PPO, HMO, EPO, POS, etc. Break down the pros and cons, do a little homework, and make sure you get the best cheap health care plan possible. A little time invested now will more than pay for itself in the long run.

Easy anatomy lessons: our review of HumanAnatomyCourse.com


A big thank you to the staff of Cheap Essays.net for use of this article! Check them out for any college cheating tips and tricks you may want.

The hype is real, but how good is the actual product? We ordered the home study package offered by Dr. James Ross’ HumanAnatomyCourse.com to find out.

If you’re in any sort of science program, you may have heard about HumanAnatomyCourse.com. It prides itself on being the easiest way to learn human anatomy in three days or less.

If you’re one of those nerds who sits at the front of the class and gets straight A’s and “never studies,” then this course isn’t for you. For the rest of us, this course is an extremely useful tool.

The package comes in three convenient parts:

1) Human anatomy and physiology
2) Pharmacology, drug dosage, and human therapy
3) Detailed illustrations, graphics, and references

It does an excellent job of providing an alternative to standard, boring textbooks. In fact, I’ve heard that some people use Dr. Ross’ course as their only textbook and refuse to buy any book that their professor recommends.

So what’s the secret method of instruction behind HumanAnatomyCourse? I wouldn’t say it’s anything revolutionary – there are no messages implanted in your brain and no tapes to listen to while you sleep at night. Instead, it’s good, proven, psychological science.

These medical professionals know a lot more about the human brain than I do. While reading through the package and doing the chapter quizzes, the learning just felt…easier.

The course seems to have an intuitive knowledge of what you need to focus on. I never felt rushed into learning new material, nor did I ever feel too stupid to push myself forward.

This ease of learning is what led me to give such a high score to HumanAnatomyCourse.com – no matter how good a textbook is, learning is something that comes from within the individual.

"By putting you in a positive mental state, this course gives you the extra boost of confidence that is so integral to the learning process."

Apparently, HumanAnatomyCourse was originally only available as a reference text for medical professionals. When they realized its potential as an educational tool, they opened it up to the rest of the world. After reviewing this product, I can confidently say that this was an excellent decision.

Put simply, HumanAnatomyCourse.com is the easiest way to learn about our body. Whether you’re learning for a college course, or just out of curiosity, this package is a great (and cheap) investment.

It’s currently on sale for a startling price of $37. As a graduate of my university’s science program, I can safely say that $37 is less than the price of any single textbook I’ve ever purchased. Considering that this package can potentially cover several science courses, it’s a very reasonable purchase.

HumanAnatomyCourse.com has great value, great credentials, and easy learning. Overall, a very engaging, thorough text.

4.5/5 STARS



Reviewed by: Jennifer 
Currently pursuing her doctorate in Molecular Biology at Stanford University, Jenn graduated from UCLA in 2004 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology.

How to get an online degree

A lot of people would like a perfect degree, particularly those people who have experience in crappy, minimum-wage jobs. These individuals feel as if they're within a never-ending cycle. Recently, there has been a flourishing of competitive, online universities which offer high-paying, high-quality online degrees.
Many people who start online school just don’t have the time to attend full-time classes, or even night classes. Put simply, online degrees are the most convenient way to get the job you want now. Even my university, a traditional brick-and-mortar institution, is beginning to offer “Distance education”, which allows current students to take courses from other partner universities online.


However, it can be challenging to research online degrees. This is primarily because many of the so-called “colleges” you find online are not properly authorized, and are just trying to scam you into giving them your money. Moreover, numerous colleges and universities don’t provide the individualized education as well as guidance from which true learning emerges. This is absurd, especially because the tuition costs for these online universities are so high.

The good news is, there are several internet colleges or universities that are completely legitimate, and will significantly improve your chances of attaining your dream job. I’ve put together a quick ranking of the top three accredited online schools.

1) DEVRY
Devry is the #1 student-rated online university in the world. It’s completely licensed by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Students have the option of pursuing an associate's, bachelor’s or master’s diploma in a number of different fields.  Many of their programs are specifically tailored to modern career paths, and will give you a leg up over a person with a more general education.  Like other online schools, Devry is extremely accommodating and will meet your schedule needs.

2) STRAYER
Coming in 2nd place is Strayer University, which is one of the top spots for online adult students. The focus is on intensive, group-based learning among professional adults. Since the average age of a Strayer student is 34 years old, you can be assured that you are working with mature peers. Among the three online schools we’ve chosen here, Strayer has the highest-quality professors. They will work with students on an individual basis, ensuring maximum learning. While it placed slightly behind Devry, both schools are a great place to get online degrees.

3) KAPLAN
Last but not least is Kaplan University, which is the best place to earn an online master’s degree. Often described as the most trusted online university in the country, Kaplan students enjoy great success in their chosen educational field, with a large percentage employed in their field of study within 6 months of graduation. This is largely due to Kaplan’s focus on continuing education and certificate programs, which are designed for responsible, adult members of the workforce who seek to upgrade their skills. As with all online degrees, Kaplan will fit your schedule perfectly.

You Laugh You Win

My friend started a new funny pictures website called "You Laugh You Win." It's hilarious stuff.



The idea is to start a collection of the funniest and stupidest pictures on the internet. Some of them are so dumb, you just have to laugh. Other times, the daily post will be a collection of the top 25 pictures of a certain meme.

Like the site on Facebook or follow on Twitter to get daily updates of funny pictures directly to your news feeds. Check it out!

Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle looks sweet. It's only $139 on Amazon.ca, and I have a $50 gift certificate for the site.



Do any of my readers have one? It looks like you can transfer files via USB cord, but can you put any .pdf files on there? There are always a ton of ebooks on places like ThePirateBay and other torrent sites (some legal, some illegal), and I'd like to read a bunch of those.

If I can do that, then I don't see a reason not to buy a Kindle. I travel and move around a lot, so having one notebook-sized device would be a lot smarter than having 30 books of different sizes.

Anyways, here is a (paperback) book I've been reading this week. It's called Paths to a Green World



It's about international politics towards the environment, and it is very relevant to my major and interests. Well-written and informative. Check it out if you want.

Top 5 Ways to get TV on your PC

I have a problem: I spend a lot of time in my room, staring at my computer monitor. Watching TV is difficult, as I don't even have a cable hookup in my dorm:

The obvious solution is to watch TV on my computer. Here are the five easiest ways to do that:


5) Bit Torrent 

90% of you use it already. The other 10% want to, but don't know how. Want to catch up on three seasons of your new favourite TV show? Download uTorrent, go to ThePirateBay, and search for it. It's simple enough that anybody can do it.

Pros: Free; simple; early access to movies and games

Cons: Usually illegal, slow speeds; angry Internet Service Providers (ISPs); not live, streaming TV


4) Illegal Streams

There are a number of sites that stream live channels for you. These streamers are normal people who upload a TV signal over their internet connection for your convenience. To generate some income, they often fill their pages with annoying ads.

One of the best sites for finding these streams is ATDHE, which offers popular channels like CNN, Fox, as well as live streams of weekly top TV shows. For live sports, I use MyP2P.eu, which has streams for all major sports leagues and games.

Pros: Free; live;

Cons: Unreliable (streams often go down, or lag); annoying ads; additional software to download (sometimes containing viruses)


3) Legal Streams

Sites like Hulu offer a wide range of shows and movies for free. Or, network sites, like NBC, Global, and CBS, will let you watch their shows after viewing some short advertisements. Regional restrictions prevent this method from becoming more widespread, as Canadians (like myself) generally do not have this option.

Pros: Free; live; watch it when you want it

Cons: Watching repetitive advertisements; geographic limitations; not live; limited programs


2) Legal sports streaming

Websites like ESPN and Yahoo! Sports (in the United States) will stream certain sports games online. In Canada, CBC.ca streams most of its content online (as we pay for it through our taxes), while TSN.ca will do the same for big games.

Pros: High-quality, live streaming; free; easy-to-use

Cons: Limited content; usually must watch it live; geographic limitations


1) Satellite Direct

I saved Satellite Direct for the top of this list because, quite simply, it’s the easiest way to watch TV on your PC.

I’ll try to avoid the sales pitch, as you may have already seen it on TV. It works like this: the customer downloads software that gives you access to around 500 channels. All you need is an internet connection.

Satellite Direct costs a one-time fee of $49. The way I look at it, $49 is less than what many people pay per month with their cable plan. Plus, the hassle of dealing with poor streams, torrents, and angry ISPs is completely avoided – that’s worth something to me. I can spend more time watching commercial free TV and less time clicking through shady sites trying to find a stream of Finding Nemo.

With Satellite Direct, anywhere you have internet, you have TV. It helped me survive my first year of college.  
If you’re interested in getting Satellite Direct for cheap, use my link. It’s the lowest possible price ($49 is the price with my discount).

Pros: Great selection; available in all countries; 24/7 access; cheap (low, one-time fee); no bandwidth limits, subscriptions, or monthly fees; no commercials; legal

Cons: Not free;

Get paid to write online articles

A lot of bloggers make money from Adsense. Unfortunately, as many of you know, it's not very much money.

Some of you may wonder how I make my online money, because most of it does not come from Adsense. I'll share one of these ways today.

One of the most entertaining ways to make money online (taking surveys is such a grind) is to simply write: there are billions of people out there who need a 200-word article per day for their website and are willing to pay for it. Essentially, if you passed high school, then you are more than skilled enough to make money from writing articles on the internet.

As a university student, I have more formal education in writing than many  people. However, writing is something that you can work at to improve your skills. In fact, most advertisers recommend dumbing your writing down to an elementary school level: the customer doesn't want to work hard when he or she is shopping for an item.

The important thing is to write clearly and concisely. Nobody likes to sort through BS to get to the point of the article. Remove your flowery writing and try to avoid long sentences.



ONLINE WRITING SERVICES

There are many legitimate online businesses that organize writers. If you want to go freelance, you can try Fiverr or Elance, but it can be difficult to get jobs if you don't have an established name.

Fortunately, there are some businesses which organize writers like you and me. The best service I've found is called RealWritingJobs.com, but they have limited space available. If you can get accepted, then you can make a decent amount of money. And yes, the work can be done at home, in your pajamas! The payouts are generous (anywhere from $25 to $30 per blog post).

Between my two part-time jobs and my full-time university schedule, I don't have very much time to write. Lately, I've managed to set aside one hour each night to write assignments from RealWritingJobs and it's clearly paying off financially.

I spent about 1.5 hours last night preparing an article. 2 cups of coffee later, I managed to squeeze out a well-written and informative article and was paid $52 for it (RealWritingJobs will pay up to $100, but you don't usually make that much).

Another incentive they have is to write a short story and get paid $500 (!) for it, so I've been kicking around some ideas for that.

If the writing gets tedious, just imagine saving up for a vacation
The part I like is that I can pick up assignments whenever I have some spare time.When school ends, and summer begins, I anticipate having a lot more free time to write!

Also keep in mind that I'm Canadian and do this, so they're not picky about where you're from. As long as you have PayPal and the motivation to write, you're good to go.

Always remember that quality is worth more than quantity. The admins will recognize this and you will be justly rewarded. I'll post pictures of my Paypal account in a later post.

There are other services out there that do a similar job, but I really recommend RealWritingJobs, as they won't try to screw you out of money, and I've always been paid on time. Anyways, good luck writing!

LINKS TO ONLINE WRITING JOBS
www.elance.com
www.fiverr.com
www.realwritingjobs.com




EDIT: I just checked the RealWritingJobs website, and they're offering access to their services for $5/month, which is insanely good. It says they've slashed prices down from $90, which isn't what I paid for it (I paid around $45 a few weeks ago but I made it back in a couple nights).

Anyways, definitely go for it if you've got some spare time! Adsense only gets you so far =P

Acai Berry Diet

Ever heard of Acai berries? The first place I heard about them was in my Booster Juice smoothee. After running at the gym, sometimes I'd stop there and get a BJ (lol) with protein and acai in it.

The berry comes from a palm tree, found mainly in South America. Over the last few years, there has been an explosion in demand for acai because of its "miraculous weight loss" properties.

Like every single thing ever written on the internet, take this information with a huge grain of salt.Although there are some nutritional benefits to eating concentrated acai berries, there are plenty of people who believe they can eat the fruit and continue to pick breakfast, lunch and dinner off the McDonald's Dollar Menu. If this were true, there would be no fat people.

Like any diet, acai berries provide a healthy, nutritional supplement to your healthy eating and exercise routine. However, there is no documented, scientific evidence that they influence dramatic weight loss, cure diabetes, or increase penis size. In fact, if you’re looking for anti-oxidants, you’re better off drinking a glass of red wine. These are claims made by affiliate marketers who are trying to make an easy, sleazy dollar from you.

Nevertheless, these outrageous claims still circle around the internet, especially among middle aged women. In my opinion, you're better off buying frozen fruit, low-fat yogurt, and protein powder from Wal-Mart to make one delicious (and healthy) smoothee.

The significance of home equity loans

I've talked before about the importance of owning property. Whether you live in the place you own, or you're renting it out, it's nice to have your monthly rent payment going towards something rather than "down the drain."

Aside from that psychological boost, there is a financial advantage to owning your own home. Obviously, you're increasing your net worth, but you are also eligible for a home equity loan.


Essentially, you're borrowing money against the value of your house. A home equity loan is generally used to pay off big purchases, like medical expenses, a college education, or a super nice car (?).

The interest rate is generally fair, at a little over prime. You must have a good credit rating, and the cash is delivered in a lump sum payment (very nice).

Alternatively, you can get a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC). This is similar to the home equity loan, in that  you are also borrowing money against your house. However, rather than receiving a lump sum payment, the borrower is given a line of credit within which to work: it's pretty much like having a large credit card.

Abusing the Home Equity Line of Credit is often faulted as one of the reasons for the subprime mortgage crisis: essentially, people were exploiting this generous line of credit in order to buy less-than-important items, such as boats, cars, and prostitutes.

After the mortgage crisis in the United States, many American banks froze HELOC lending, as so many homes had been suddenly reduced in value. Banks like Chase are now facing lawsuits over this freeze.

To sum up, owning a home can be a lifesaver when you have to pay off medical bills or college tuition. It's nice to have the security of a large amount of collateral under your feet whenever the situation arises.

Online degrees

Are you reading this alone, in your computer chair, in your crappy apartment? Well, maybe you should consider getting an online degree to make bank.

There are a number of online universities and training programs that will give you a 'quality' education (for a price). 

The most famous one is the University of Phoenix, which has a countless number of commercials and online ads claiming that you can start your life fresh, get a degree, and find a rewarding job. It's that easy!



But should you really take these programs? The answer, for University of Phoenix, seems like a pretty resounding NO. 

A simple google of "University of Phoenix scam" comes up with some scary posts, like this one, where one man claims that his degree consisted solely of him paying $50,000 to fill out a bunch of thoughtless papers and get a useless degree.

Unfortunately, students at many good universities also experience this 'scam'. The online University of Phoenix takes it one step further, however, by accepting ANYONE into their program. Here's an example from the aforementioned article:

"1. They enroll anyone and everyone meaning if you can't get accepted at any 2 year or 4 year college, they will accept you, even if you failed your S.A.T. exam.

2. You don't have to take any SAT or other scholastic achievement college entrance examinations to enroll.
3. You don't have to take the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) to enroll in graduate level study.
4. The majority of colleges and universities in the U.S.A. state that if you have been out of college for 10 years, all of your college credits that you have earned become expired, meaning, you have to start all over again, as a freshman with 0 college credits. University of Phoenix Online will still accept your college credits even if you've been out of school for 20 years.
5. They will take life experiences as college credit.
6. They enroll people with extremely bad English grammar and writing skills.
7. They say that they'll train you and teach you job skills like how professionals do it in the real world and they don't.
8. Classes are an easy 5 weeks of typing papers and relying on the person with the most knowledge to pass the learning team.
9. Classes are taught by facilitators, not instructors or teachers."

Sounds way too sketchy for me! However, if you're looking in getting a few shady looking degrees under your built in order to apply to some equally shady jobs, then by all means, look into more online degrees. 


Get paid to blog

Just a quick money-making tip for today! If you enjoy blogging, and have free time, you might want to check out some paid blogging jobs for some extra money.

There are some websites that do this, but the best one I've found is http://www.bloggerjobs.biz/

Just taking a quick browse through their top jobs, I've found a couple that could be for me. Social media expert? That's easy.

Sites like this are especially useful if you know a lot about one particular subject. I'll have to think about that and browse some more, but it sure would be nice to be paid anywhere from $20 to $100 per blog post.

Online Dating Part 2 - Getting Laid Quickly

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Online Dating

Single?

Socially awkward?

Ugly as fuck?


















Maybe you should consider finding your love online. According to a recent eHarmony statistic, one in eight couples now find each other online through dating websites. Whether they get married is another story, but sites like that have made it their business to get you laid.

Free sites - The best free dating website to use is PlentyofFish.com
Unfortunately, because it's free, it's attracted a lot of creepers/pedophiles/girls-who-actually-have-dicks
You take with the good with the bad and maybe - just maybe - you'll end up with a mate. Let's hope she doesn't look like the 'chick' above.


Paid sites - eHarmony
Apparently, eHarmony is now responsible for about 5% of marriages in the United States. That's insane. They place a lot of emphasis on their unique, in-depth questionnaire that will find you your perfect match in the online dating world. They have plenty of success stories to back them up. Clearly, they're the number one playa in the industry. 



Oh, and eHarmony also has sections for those who only want to date Blacks, Christians, Jews, and old people (lol). I guess this is assuming you're of the same faith, but I'm sure it's useful for the KKK and such.

All right I can kinda see the Jewish nose
But how much does eHarmony cost? It doesn’t cost anything to fill out the eHarmony questionnaire, receive your Free Personality Profile, and be matched up with prospective partners. You only pay when and if you want to communicate with one or more of your matches. eHarmony offers four subscription rates:
  • $59.95 for one month
  • $110.85 for three months ($36.95 per month)
  • 173.70 for six months ($28.95 per month)
  • $251.40 for 12 months ($20.95 per month)
That's pricier than I thought it would be, but I guess true love is priceless (should I work for eHarmony or what?)


The next big company is Match.com, who will pair you up with a bang-buddy for only $29.99 a month. The into to their site is pretty clever - apparently they've picked the top 30 or so singles on their website and liberally sprinkled their lovely faces on the opening page.

See all these beautiful people you can meet? Well, prepare to be introduced to people who look about half as cute as they do. Such is the nature of the beast, I suppose.

This is exactly what's going to happen

Now, if any of my readers are married, you may be thinking MY PARTNER WILL BE REALLY PISSED IF I LOOK FOR SEX ONLINE. Fear not, there's a website for you too.

Ashley Madison is a dating website that has been featured on several crappy TV shows (see above). It's a service that discretely hooks up horny married people with other horny, married people (or prostitutes - see above).

If a girl sends you this picture online, she's not a girl
This discreet dating site has three different packages for you slimy people: $49, $149, and $249. The former gets you enough 'credits' to contact 20 people, while the other packages have scalable numbers of credits. Just like in real life, the more you pay for, the more you fuck.

If you just don't care, have no morals, or are really drunk on a Friday night, Craigslist is probably your best bet. It's filled with people just like you (and rapists).

Tiger Blood

Hey did you hear how much coke Charlie Sheen did?

Enough to kill two and a half men.


Also, check out this video for a good Charlie Sheen lol:


youtube

Seriously, does anybody else think this guy is just trolling the entire celebrity media? I can't stand Two and a Half Men, but the stuff that Charlie Sheen is doing now is hilarious to me.

Google Finance

I like money, you like money. When I can't find something to spend my money on, I like to put my money to work for me.

I have a little bit of money right now that's just sitting in a savings account, and I'd rather be making more than a measly 2% (!). However, I've never really ventured into the stock market, or even shopped around for different mutual funds.

Enter Google Finance. In five minutes, I set up a portfolio of 15 different stocks that have been recommended to me by various websites. My plan is to watch their performance over the next month or so, and then make decisions on where to invest based on that.

The best part? Google also lets you have some 'play money'. E.g. I've selected $10,000 to be placed in a few of the stocks that I think will do well. I'll let you know how that goes, but after 3 days I'm down about $50. Whatever.

Check Google Finance out! Maybe one day you'll be a millionaire.

How to make money from buying domains

Remember a little while ago when I made a post on making money from domain names? Essentially, you buy a domain name for a cheap price now, and then sell it for a higher price later.

The next level of this money-making venture is to actively search out popular domains that are coming up for auction and transform them into something useful: you can just put a bunch of ads on the page if you want.

The key is to buy a domain that everybody is already going to.This traffic may come from search engines, or backlinks to a site that once existed at the URL.


Google has a service for this called Pagerank (named after founder Larry Page), which lists websites according to their relevance within a certain topic. It uses complex algorithms and other things that fly way over my head, but it essentially ranks sites based by the number and quality of links that are directed to that website.

Anyways, the money-making part: there are several plugins which will scan the auctions of domain-registry websites like GoDaddy.com and automatically sort through the domains based on their PageRank (which is publicly available). These plugins are incredibly useful because they put all this information right in front of you with just a click, as seen in the picture to my left:


These plugins are not free, but they're not nearly as expensive as one may think. The one I'm using only costs $9.99 because it shows auctions that expire in one day as opposed to auctions that expire in 5 (I don't understand why you would pay more to see auctions that are farther away...?)

Doing a quick search, the best one I've found is at FFPlugins.com

It's clean, professional, and really straightforward, which is way more than I can say about the other plugins I tried. Using their GoDaddy Auctions Plugin, I bid for a couple of sites right before they expired, and they are now making money for me through adsense. It's kinda strange how much traffic you can get with a high PageRank, but I'm not complaining.

With the two domains I've bought, I've made more money in a week than I make in a week at this website (Shelby's Shells, unfortunately, does not have a high PageRank). Check it out if you're serious about this money-making stuff.


Once again, the link is here if you're interested        

LASIK Eye Surgery

Since most of us spend HOURS a day staring at screens, our eyes are gradually turning to crap. Personally, I spend about $300 a year on contacts and I buy a new pair of glasses every few years.

This is why LASIK eye surgery is becoming more popular - you pay a (hopefully) certified optometrist a bunch of money (usually between 1 and 2 thousand dollars per eye) and your eyes are cured! Essentially, you're investing in your future, right?

However, there have been complaints - some complain of tunnel vision, headaches, and other persistent annoyances. Thankfully, a new Lasik surgery has been created.

New LASIK is more advanced - often, you require an ophthalmologist, who uses "wavefront-guided LASIK" to form an optically perfect eye. Some ophthalmologists promise super vision - greater than 20/20. This usually isn't true, but wavefront-guided LASIK certainly has better results than regular LASIK has had in the past.

For those who freak out during surgery, LASIK would be an uncomfortable experience. The patient is awake for the procedure, although they are sometimes given sedatives like Valium and, obviously, a local anesthetic is applied to the region. Your eye is held in place and the doctor slices a flap in your cornea, giving access to the parts underneath, which are then modified by lasers. I got goosebumps just writing that.

Anyways, LASIK is something I'd be willing to try in the future...hesitantly. It's worth looking into.

Summer School?

Don't worry, I'm not failing. Rather, I was thinking that taking a couple courses during the summer would set me up nicely for my final year.

Rather than taking 5 upper level courses each semester next year, I can take 2 courses over the summer and drop that down to 4 and 4. Less stress = better marks = more time to make money.

I haven't taken summer school before, mostly because I thought there was a stigma about it - it's for losers who have failed a couple classes, or Asians whose parents are making them take every possible class (I have a friend who has been forced into summer school every year since grade 11). The stigma should be that it's for smart people who want to put themselves ahead of the game.

The sun will be impressed with me
Class runs three days a week for a couple hours, so I will still be able to work full-time and make some money online. I think it will work out well.

Also, my city is a tourist hub in the summer because it's so sunny and warm, so I'll finally be able to experience the best my city has to offer. Sweet!

Who here has taken summer school?