fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
One Human Family…
By: Chezney Rokovia
Tags: Covid, Divine Feminine, Humanity, Human, Poetry

One Human Family…

The more in tune I allow myself to be with nature, the more it makes sense to me. We are living on borrowed time, that it is our duty to always choose to right by oneself and others…

To face your shadows, to unleash all your insecurities. To become one with your brothers and sisters. To get your mind right, as we are all players of the good fight.There is nothing more than make believe… What you can affirm aloud, you can achieve. There is a light within. I fell in love with yoga, when the inner light was lit… I looked around the yoga room, and saw the same divine light in each of you around me.

I fell in love with the painkiller, when I was a victim of the pain. I was lured into what soothed me. Hypnotized by what bruised me. In a paralyzing effect. Lingers like a weight, after the night fall. Answers like a stripper, who’s gonna take it all…

Stagnant lives is when you start to die, I can hear that voice tell me. I start to decay, when I find myself living the same version of another day. Child inside is screaming to come free. Are you somewhat relatable, you and me?
IMPACTS OF A SECOND | Chapter 26
By: Larry, Bubbananda
Tags: Covid, Tigers In Teacups, Second, Bubbananda, Larry Andrews

The scientific definition of a SECOND is the period required for 9,192,631,770 transitions of radiation of the Cesium 133 atom. Did that help? No, then let’s explore further.

1 SECOND — duration of a heartbeat. Also, the minimum amount of time it takes to decide “NO” and break someone’s heart — or to become infatuated with a new love.

20 SECONDS — often the time required to do the first 80 SECONDS of a 100 SECONDS task. So, 80 SECONDS is then required to do the last 20 SECONDS of the task. [This is the 80/20 Rule — you get 80% of the result from the first 20% of the effort.]

60 SECONDS (or one minute) — time for 18 regular breaths. Also about as long as I can hold my breath.

The average human life span is 2,650,000,000 (2.6 billion) SECONDS. About 900 million of those will pass while we are sleeping. Of course, our brain is never fully asleep. It is still signaling for heartbeats, breaths, dreaming, etc. How many of the remaining 1.7 billion SECONDS of wake time do I spend unaware, drifting, paying for war?

SECONDS:

1,000–17 minutes

1,000,000–278 hours

1,000,000,000–11,574 days

1,000,000,000,000–31,710 years, How might we make use of this calculation?

The U.S. has spent over $2 trillion dollars (some think it $4 billion) for wars in the Middle East in the past 20 years. At the rate of $1 (one dollar) per SECOND, it would take around 64,000 years to pay that debt, and more when the interest on required borrowing is added.

Now add another $2 trillion (or more) for the “war on COVID”. The annual revenue of our government is only about $2.5 trillion ($31 million per SECOND). The lockdown of the population and the shutdown of the economy will significantly lower the government’s revenues. So, can we afford these wars?

Have we not heard of the Pyrrhic Victory — a triumph that ruins the winner? Debt from wars collapsed both Greek and Roman empires. “Those who don’t know history will inevitably repeat it.” Don’t you think it’s time we should take a SECOND, and reconsider wars?
Did You Feel A Kick In The Butt?
By: Pam Murphy, Mshn Rrt
Tags: Covid, Health Living, Health, Nutrition

Did You Feel A Kick In The Butt?

We have lots of data from the Covid situation now. The data tells us people with co-morbidities had a greater chance of dying from covid. That would be people with diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and autoimmune disorders.

And this is true of any virus.

Do you fit into any of those categories?

If the answer is yes, covid should have been a wake-up call and not a little one, but a HUGE KICK IN THE BUTT (not yelling, just emphasizing) to improve your nutrition status.

Just getting any three meals a day does not automatically give you a healthy immune system. You have literally been shown you ARE what you eat. The quality of your food matters. A steady diet of junk food snacks, fast food and processed foods all of which are nutrient-poor leaves you malnourished with a weakened immune system.

Covid isn't the last virus. The only thing stupider than wearing a useless cloth mask (and I'm a respiratory therapist retired after 34 years so don't argue with me) is wearing a mask and social distancing without working at reversing your health issues. Sorry, hmmm, not sorry, to be blunt.

Where do you start?

This:

1. Stop eating drive-thru fast food.

2. Increase your intake of fresh fruit and fresh/frozen veggies. If you must eat meat make it grass-fed.

3. Drink water. Cut out soda. Yes, even diet soda.

4. Cut out sugar.

5. Get some fresh air and sunshine daily

6. If you don't know your vitamin D level get it checked and get it up to par. (Note government recommendation is to low. Check out Dr. Mercola's recommendation at mercola.com )

7. While you are there check out what he says about vitamin C and zinc.

8. If you need to lose weight read "The Obesity Code" or if diabetic, "The Diabetes Code" by Jason Fung MD. You can catch him on YouTube.

If you will commit to planning your next days eating every evening you will automatically upgrade the quality of your nutrition. Excuse my ego... but this is a super tip. Do this. Look in a mirror and tell yourself you are worthy. You are. You must love yourself like you love your best friend. Love yourself healthy!

Make the commitment to a healthier lifestyle! You can do it!
Build a Simple COVID-19 Tracking App
Tags: Covid, Cypress, Pwa, Workbox, JavaScript

Let’s get it done already

First of all, let’s create a very simple index.html with a few HTML elements and the JavaScript app.js for downloading and processing the data.

Your first index.html

Next, of course you might have already guessed, create the app.js

The logic of the app

Fetching the data

The most important part of this implementation is how we could get the data. As aforementioned, I get the data from this GitHub. There are lots of different kinds of data there. For simplicity, we only focus on the data showing the reported case of all the countries daily. It is located in this directory — https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19/tree/master/csse_covid_19_data/csse_covid_19_daily_reports. If you one step ahead of me, you might already navigated to the directory and study the structure of it. Well, as you have seen it has all the data starting from January 22, 2020 to the current day (or yesterday). The file is in CSV and named as MM-DD-YYYY format. If you click on one of the csv file and click on RAW button it, it will display you the file in the raw format with the different link — for example, https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19/master/csse_covid_19_data/csse_covid_19_daily_reports/03-07-2020.csv.

Voila, this is how I could get the daily data. What we need to do just to replace the “03–07–2020” with the current date or any date we would like to fetch.

Fetching data with CORS

If we zoom in to the fetchData, first it construct the url for fetching data by get the value from the passing date argument and patched it up with the “https://cors-anywhere.herokuapp.com” as the CORS proxy url to tackle the cross-origin problem. Then it will return the data if it is available or try fetching the yesterday’s data and so on.

Rendering the data

After we got the data, the next and final task is to cook the data to our desire and imagination and display it on the plate.

Cooking the data …

Our goal is to get the total of confirmed cases for each country. Therefore, I got you a very simple solution which is to get the country name from 4th column. In addition, if the country is “other”, we concat the “province” column to add meaning to it. Finally, we display it in the simple list elements. And we’re done!
The Ugly Americans
Tags: Vieques, Covid

My family and I visited Vieques for vacation last month. Vieques is a small island off the east coast of Puerto Rico. For many years it was essentially invisible to the world, as the island was a U.S. military base, and therefore not on most maps. Protests against the United States using the island as a bombing range and testing ground led the military to leave about 20 years ago. To this day, the scars of occupation remain, with rusted military vehicles still dotting the island, and whole sections still quarantined, waiting to be restored after ordinance and worse is removed. Estimates are that it will be decades before we return the island to its people.

But the island is stunning, with wild horses roaming everywhere, and beautiful beaches with vibrant reefs all but abandoned. The people — about 10,000 — are friendly and welcoming, as tourism has only slowly developed across the island, especially in the south.

And the people are striking as well in their vigilance against COVID. That makes sense: There is no real hospital on the island, and the disease would therefore be devastating to anyone who contracted it. Family members would have to move to the main island to support any sick family member. Most obviously could not afford that.

So everywhere, there are proud announcements about how effective the people have been in protecting the island against the virus. Reports are that there have been no cases so far. Every store has disinfectant available as you enter; most have an automatic thermometer measuring your temperature. And everyone wears masks everywhere — including outside, walking along the streets.

Except the American tourists. And ever wanting to believe in US, this just astonished me.

There is no ambiguity about the local rule. It is advertised everywhere, with a punch line at the bottom of every sign, “our house, our rules.” But many many tourists, presumptively American, refused to follow Vieques’ own rules. In one restaurant, my family had reluctantly decided to eat inside, as the space was not occupied and it was early. Everyone on the staff was wearing masks. For about 45 minutes, it felt very safe. But then about 10 Americans came inside, all standing around a bar, either trying to order food or find a place to sit. Only 2 wore masks. The rest, mainly men, but not exclusively, were almost proud in their defiance. “Screw you, Vieques. We own you. This is an American territory. We get to set the rules.”

When I was growing up, the “ugly American” meme felt like a fashion statement. We were loud, differently dressed; we stood out from the Italians or Parisians, because we looked and sounded so different. Now it feels like a moral statement. We act as if to declare, “We’re better than all of you, more powerful, more entitled.”

Such a declaration would be ugly enough even were it true. Are we really the last to recognize how obviously false it has become?
IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT I THREW MY MASK OFF
By: B Walvat
Tags: Covid, Realationsips, Coronavirus, Psychology

IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT I THREW MY MASK OFF

Since March I have been doing my best at sheltering in place. Working out of my basement office five days a week. I get out a little bit on weekends with my medical mask fitted over my mouth and nose. I keep hand sanitizer with me at all times and keep my distance. I have abstained from family and friend gatherings and have been very critical of anti-maskers. This summer I even had a heated argument with my son’s hockey coach about the benefits of masks in a locker room. Then something changed and I flipped.

This fall my friend, who has been conditioned to be conservative over the past 10 years, named me a groomsman in his wedding. I have been privately concerned about the wedding and events leading up to wedding knowing that he held views that masking is anti-personal freedom, that Covid is a conspiracy that will go away when the imaginary deep state installs Biden into office, that Covid is blown out of proportion because 99% of people survive.

Last Saturday we had a tux fitting party. Seven guys were going to gather, get fitted and then have a few drinks. My wife knew I felt anxiety going to this event. She reminded me of the crowd I was going to be with and to be safe, wear a mask. I arrived at the bar and saw my table of friends. None of them were wearing masks inside the bar. In fact, nobody except the servers were wearing masks. I sat down, ordered a beer, and took of my mask. I was now one of them, joking around and having a good time and connecting with old friends. I know there was strong cognitive dissonance flowing through my mind when I took my mask off. I am bad, I am good, I am having fun with best friends, I am going against the advice of my wife, and science. But, why did I go against science, my wife’s advice, things that I stood for? What happened in the moment?

Below is a snapshot of the Minnesota bar I visited last Saturday. It felt like a respite from 2020. Fist bumps, French fries and foosball. Good times on 11/07/2020

Did I choose to make a Faustian bargain with my conservative friends? Was this a classic bow to peer pressure? Yes, and yes and arguably indefensible behavior. But here’s the thing: my friend has always been there for me. Last weekend I wanted to be there for him. In the heat of the moment I was ambivalent to the warnings and chose him. I rolled that dice, and I didn’t think I would get Covid. And I got Covid. I have now exposed my family to the virus and I am very sorry. The heat of the moment probably put us on this earth and the same heat of the moment might take us off this earth. I wanted to share my lesson so you can learn to choose smarter. Right now be strong against Bro culture and choose science over friends and family. Thanksgiving is coming up, and holiday party’s. Skip them. Don’t fall into my mental trap. We’re going to get through this.
Recover of Covid with Parental Advice
Tags: Positif Thinking, Covid, Drugs, Recovery Covid, Parental Advice

Recover of Covid with Parental Advice

The high level of intelligence and technology makes it easier to interact with each other and fulfill the needs of life, but the healthy habits taught by the previous people are getting faded and forgotten. This lifestyle creates new things in various lines of life, including the emergence of new types of diseases for which no effective antidote has yet been found. At this time, everyone on earth is afraid of the emergence of Covid-19 as a result of the savagery of technological progress, which is currently a pandemic in any country. Covid-19 has changed the way people live in almost all sectors of life. However, this pandemic has made the world's economy that produces drugs and medical devices gain significant profits due to demand that cannot meet all consumer needs. The domino effect that appears is that consumers have to spend more to get it. The activity of consuming medicines and supplements in curing Covid is not done by all, especially the poor or those who can only buy necessities. This situation is for them to only make changes to their lifestyle again, using the way their parents used to. This is part of my experience when I was sick with Covid with limited financial conditions. The day after I traveled out-of-town by motorbike, I had a fever and lost my sense of smell. Fear began to appear when, the next day, my wife and children showed the same symptoms. My family and I can only self-isolate at home and follow health protocols. The medicines and vitamins we consumed only use herbal remedies, namely regularly consuming 2 tablespoons of bitter honey 3 times a day and raw shallots as a side dish when eating and eating lots of fruits available at home (oranges, bananas, etc.). Another thing I did, was to bask in the morning sun for ± 30 minutes and always try to generate positive feelings through positive words such as making new life goals or targets and plans to make them happen as a determination to achieve those dreams. It would be better to use the treatment recommended by the doctor and combined with herbal remedies. This article does not mean that what I have experienced when I am infected with Covid applies to all sufferers, but can illustrate that the habits of previous people can still be used and proven effective.
3D Print Your COVID-19 Solution
Tags: Innovation, Covid, Printing, Co Vid

I have a personal belief that, when bad things happen, the best reaction is to channel your energy into being one of the “helpers,” as Mr. Rogers put it. So, when the COVID-19 crescendo started to build in the United States, I found stability in redirecting my helplessness and anxiety into what I believe to be a force for good: crowdsourcing and open innovation.

If you’re reading this, you probably already know: That also happens to be what we do for a living here at IdeaScale. What was energizing to me was to see that my colleagues, and our outstanding clients, felt the same way: Let’s lean into this to see how this thing we do everyday can help contribute solutions to today’s most urgent global problem: COVID-19.

So we organized as a team, and as a network. We crowdsourced problem statements and statement starters, we’ve held two webinars, we’re even offering complimentary services to support our clients’ COVID-19 response efforts.

Then came this: An airman in the U.S. Air Force, an IdeaScale client, is spending all day every day 3D printing face shields and face masks to help protect his colleagues. So, how might we help here? What if we expand the types of attachments our platform allows to include common 3D-printing template file types? This would enable him to upload his template to their Innovation platform to more easily share it with other AF innovators.

Enter our Product Team. They classified this as a QTAT (Quick Turnaround Time), and, in less than two weeks, it was designed, built, tested and released. IdeaScale now supports file types .OBJ, .STL, and .STP.

Right now the Air Force is working on printing face shields and face masks, but you can make tons of amazing things with 3D printing technology that might be able to help during this chaotic and creative time: oxygen valves for ventilators, respirators, hands-free door handle attachments, and even quarantine booths to help hospitals.

Do you have 3D printers in your network with capacity to spare? Any 3D-printing hobbyists in your community looking for a way to help out? Would the ability to share 3D-printing templates across your organization help in the fight against COVID-19? Stand up a campaign. Empower your community members to share their time and talents and become change-makers, aka “helpers.”

This article was originally published on the IdeaScale blog here.
Masks for mental health and personal freedom
By: Charlie Tango
Tags: Covid, The Venting Machine, Psychology, Masks, Social Awareness

2) Honesty is Hard — Lying is even Harder

I detest lying, and I can’t do it well — or ever. Yet, throughout my life, I have been forced to do just this in social settings so that other humans that feel less comfortable with the full array of emotions that we are naturally supposed to feel (and which are ALL valid and important for their required purposes) feel more comfortable and safe while engaging.

These days, if I am having a shit day and am pissed off or sad (for valid reasons because of life, love, and humanity), I can simply put a mask on when I go outside and leave my face to be comfortable being my actual face. I no longer have to concentrate on looking serene or grinning manically to avoid scaring “The Tribe” or eliciting some kind of rescue response from those more concerned humans that are trying to connect and actually do give a fuck about the people around them.

I can just “be” with the feelings and still go about my day. Until they have been acknowledged and felt and pass — which feelings always do when they are felt and accepted in full-and the necessary action to change the situation they are trying to communicate occurs. This is healthy. This is how feelings are supposed to “work.” So before we talk about the health risks associated with wearing masks, perhaps we should factor in how unhealthy it is to repress emotions on a long-term basis.

Wearing a mask has liberated me in more ways than just this. I actually see now why a journalist who converted to Islam and chose to wear a Burka could write the article I read on how “liberating” it was. I get it. In full. Because it is. Really.
COVID-19 Vaccine Rush: Caribbean Nations Roll-Out Vaccination Programmes
By: Caribbean Culture, Lifestyle- Belize
Tags: Covid

Latin America and the Caribbean have been hit disproportionately hard by COVID-19. The region has only 8% of the world’s population, but it accounts for 28% of the world’s coronavirus deaths. And as a developing region, it’s had relatively little access to vaccines. That’s why vaccination is so important. Last week, COVAX announced its vaccine launch for Latin America and the Caribbean. Led by the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the Global Vaccine Alliance, or GAVI, the goal of COVAX is to make sure poor and middle-income countries get the COVID-19 vaccine doses they need. While some Caribbean nations ready themselves for vaccine deployment from COVAX and other allies such as India, vaccine roll-out programmes have begun across the region.

Barbados



On February 10, Barbados received India’s gift of 100,000 COVID-19 Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines, distributed under their Vaccine Maitri initiative. At the end of January, Mottley wrote to India’s Prime Minister Modi requesting about 200,000 vaccines. The vaccines were manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SAT). Now, the island undertakes its largest mass vaccination program in its history, to fight the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus. As of the end of February 16, Barbados announced that 6,665 persons have been vaccinated — at a rate of over 1,000 persons a day.
Businesses are willing to recruit freshers across India
By: Daily Times India
Tags: Entry Levelprofessionals, Covid, Fresherjobs

Businesses are willing to recruit freshers across India



According to a survey by TeamLease EdTech, recruiting entry-level professionals is likely to experience a major uptick going forward as businesses are willing to recruit freshers across job roles. India Inc is keen on attracting new professional talents, according to TeamLease EdTech, formerly known as Schoolguru Eduserve, and more than 15 percent of businesses have expressed an aim to employ freshers.



The ‘Career Outlook Report Feb-Apr 21’ report indicated that the leading work positions for new recruitment are business development, sales professionals, graphic designers, digital marketing associates, content writers, and web developers.



The Career Outlook Report offers insights into work responsibilities, the skills needed by the business, and the kinds of courses that prepare job seekers to respond effectively to market demand. The study analyzes insights gathered from 815 employers in India, spanning 18 industries and 14 cities.



The recruiting of freshers appears to be on a high growth track, considering the COVID-19 pandemic. Freshers recruitment intent has increased by 2.5 times from the lockdown period for the period February-April 2021, and as the economy opens up, it is expected to go up higher, said TeamLease EdTech founder and CEO Shantanu Rooj.
Telangana forms four committees to implement COVID vaccination across the state
By: India Ahead News
Tags: Covid, Telanagana, Coronavirusvaccine

The government of Telangana has constituted four committees for COID-19 vaccination in the state. The four committees are based are State Steering Committee, State Task Force, District Task Force and Mandal Task Force. An order was issued by the Telangana’s health and family welfare department on December 11.



The order read” The government has begun preparations for the possible introduction of COVID-19 vaccine. It is anticipated that initially the supply of vaccine will be limited in view of huge demand, hence, prioritization of high-risk groups will need to be done for vaccination and subsequently, other groups will be included for vaccination,”.



Like every state the vaccination program will start from health care workers and frontline workers followed by high risk patients and senior citizens after which the general population will be vaccinated. The government hopes that a vaccine could be available in the first quarter of the next year as the Indian government has already booked 1.6 billion doses, the largest order of any country in the world.



The State reported 635 cases and four deaths on Friday as total cases rose to 2,77,151 and total deaths stands at 1,489 while the cases per million stands at 7,875.
THE CAPACITY OF INTENSIVE CARE IN SABAC HAS BEEN COMPLETED
By: Šabac News
Tags: Covid, Covid News, Sabac, Serbia

The epidemiological situation in the city of Sabac is extremely unstable, it was concluded at today’s session of the Crisis Staff. In the last two days, 632 people were tested for the corona virus in Šabac, of which 248 were positive.

“There were 1527 actively ill people on the territory of the town of Sabac. The working-age population was the most affected. Everyone should be serious, respect the measures. There is really no need for any gatherings. You should not gather in private apartments and houses and make parties, in that way the health system is endangered. With this situation, there will certainly be no New Year’s celebrations, “said Dr. Dragana Radojicic from the Institute of Public Health.

194 patients positive for corona with a moderate and severe clinical picture were hospitalized at the General Hospital in Šabac.

“What is worrying is the number of patients in the intensive care unit, which is 12, and that is the maximum capacity of our intensive care unit. There are 10 patients on the respirator, of which four are intubated, and six are on non-invasive ventilation. There are a larger number of patients who are with low saturation, and at the maximum flow of oxygen. The big problem is that the intensive care units in Belgrade are full as well. We can only appeal to the citizens to take care, not to gather and to reduce contacts so that we can help patients who are ill “, said Dr. Snezana Kovacevic, Assistant Director of the General Hospital in Sabac for the internal medicine sector.
Thank you for this article.
By: Kenneth Burke
Tags: Covid Treatment, Covid, Covid Vaccine, Coronavirus, Covid Immune Response

Thank you for this article. After treating over 100 patients with covid in our practice, the only consistent finding we have found is- inconsistency. By that I mean the illness is all over the board with its spectrum of symptoms.

In regard to the vaccines, I do have one concern that I have been pondering for a while based on this theory about the autoimmune possibilities as a cause for illness. Please know that I am not an “anti-vaxer.”

Here me out…

We get mRNA vaccine

It causes our cells to make Covid spike proteins

Proteins are released to the immune system to make antibodies

So my question is, how do we know that the production of the proteins artificially in this way will not set off a “cytokine storm” and other unregulated immunologic phenomena and cause illness?

Our body can’t tell if we are infected with covid or if we are making covid proteins.

I think only time will tell. There may be some genetic input here also that makes some people who are exposed have a more vigorous anti-viral response and hence more fulminant symptoms.

In regard to the hearts looking like they were rejected transplants- this raises the question about whether or not we should be thinking about using drugs like tacrolimus, sirolimus or mycophenolate ( all used to prevent rejection) in those who are seriously ill.

All questions that need to be answered by people much smarter than me.

The opinions expressed are my own and not those of my employer.
Benefits of online shopping
Tags: Saving Money, Ecommerce, Shopping, Online, Cigarettes

Online shopping gives you a freedom to place your order sitting at your home and track your delivery. You can shop even after a few drinks and no need to worry about going somewhere. Most of modern companies have online shopping as a big share in their daily sales. For example in 2018 online shopping in UK was worth more than 150bn pounds.

Main reason of course that it is duty free. We can see that duties and taxes are constantly rising and it directly effects on retail in-store prices. You can find tax-free cigarettes cheaper for 50%. Main value in retail cigarette price comes from taxes and duties. Because generally, pure production cost for cigarettes is very low. It is no more than 10% of the price tag you see at your neighbor store shelf.

Also online shopping provides you with the largest choice of any brands all over the world. Buying cigarettes online is much more convenient than buying for example a dress, because when you buy duty free Richmond cigarettes online you exactly know what is on its way to you. In addition, with dress there could be misfit, color mismatch or other issues.

Another important reason is a refund. Good duty free cigarettes stores offer you refund in case your order is lost or damaged. Normal practice protects you at all times. Moreover, there will be no difference between online shopping and in-store visits.

All you need while shopping online is to pick a right place. Website have to be serious. Because unlike some fraud websites trusted ones have put a lot of efforts and investments into website building and promotion. Good websites have at least SSL encryption that guarantees your data safety. Customer service should also be on a high level. If online store wants to run its business, it pays a lot of attention to a customer satisfaction.

Generally, online shopping is easy. Easier than visit to a supermarket. You will get low prices, no crowd, no additional marketing tricks that will push you to make unnecessary purchases. As soon as you will find the right shop, you will use it repeatedly. All you will need is to make couple of clicks and estimate time when you will need your cigarettes. You save your money and what is more important you save your time.

There is great online shop that matches all above criteria: Gigarettes.com. There is low pricing, duty free express delivery, wide range of genuine products and top quality customer service. You will get your parcel in days and enjoy your regular cigarette brands for super discounted prices. Moreover, company offers free shipping for orders with two and more cartons. Don’t miss the chance to buy duty free cigarettes online and start saving your money!
Your home loan deserves 30 minutes (Part 1)
Tags: Saving, Loans, Saving Money, Interest Rates, Emi

Simplifying home loan math

When you take a home loan, you need to pay back the principal amount, as well as some interest. That’s simple.

How much you pay as “interest” depends on 3 factors — (i) principal or loan amount (ii) loan tenure (iii) interest rates. As these increase, the interest payable increases and vice versa.

What’s in the banks’ interest

It’s in your interest to pay the minimum possible interest. Banks on the other hand would like you to pay the maximum possible interest. After all, that’s how they make money.

As the first factor (loan amount) is a constant, banks only get to play around with the other two, in order to make money.

So what happens when interest rates fall? Well, to begin with, banks might not apply the new rates to you, until you chase them. Here’s what’s at stake.

Wouldn’t you like to save 11,000 bucks every month, and reduce your interest payout at the same time? I know I would.

So what should you do

The first step is to download the latest copy of your home loan statement and check your interest rate. Is it higher than the prevailing home loan rate? Check out all the facts. If you have a case, then call your relationship manager at the bank and negotiate. These 15 minutes will be well spent.

Hold on. But we had said 30 mins.

Not to worry. We’ll cover the next 15 minutes in part 2 of this article tomorrow. Until then, if you have a home loan, do find out the facts.

Join our Telegram channel for more.
7 Ways To Save Money, According To Millennial Women
Tags: Millennials, Saving, Saving Money, Money, Money Management

By Anabel Pasarow

We asked you, our readers, to give us your best savings hacks, from buying in bulk to using only a few tablespoons of laundry powder instead of the full cup. Whether you bring an avocado in your purse so you don’t have to pay extra to add it to your salad, or split a Netflix membership between five of your friends, we don’t judge, we just want to save, too!

Ahead, 10 millennial women share their best cheap living hacks for saving on food, transportation, beauty, travel, and everything in between.

Name: Alexis

Age: 23

Location: San Diego, CA

Salary: £28,000

“I keep apples, a box of porridge, and peanut butter in my desk so I’m not tempted to spend money on food at work. I also avoid buying alcohol with meals out. It can double your bill in no time!

“When I see a good deal on any kind of meat, I buy a bunch of it, so I’ll have plenty until it goes on sale again. I also plan my meals around what produce is on sale at the supermarket. If I have a £20 note, I will go out of my way not to break it, and when I’m tempted by small purchases I ask myself: ‘Is this worth breaking my £20?’ It almost never is.”
How I Saved $720/year on High-Speed Internet by Switching from Bell to Rogers, but Was it Worth it?
By: Dani Shulman
Tags: Internet, Saving Money, Internet Service Provider

Our home internet from Bell was around $100 + Tax/month. After chatting to friends and family I quickly realized we are over-paying for internet service. Honestly, it’s hard to complain about the quality of Fibe Bell internet, speed was great, and uptime was consistent as well.

In Ontario, Internet providers are generally operating in monopoly mode. Bell and Rogers own all the networking infrastructure and a bunch of smaller companies reselling their networks.

This search turned up a bunch of pages that describe the on-going deals, deals you won’t find by visiting the Rogers website directly. I took one of those links and went to the Rogers website and started a Live Chat with an agent.

In the chat, I showed the agent a link with the deal I wanted to get. The agent explained the link was outdated, and quickly made an offer and took my info. At this moment I wasn’t ready to leave Bell just yet, I was shopping around but it was nice to have this lower offer at $50/month.

Next, I called Bell to find-out about cancelling my service. The rep did everything in her power to offer me “the best deal possible” at $65/month (taxes included). I accepted the new offer, and I said thank you. Thinking that my savings hunting is over and Bell will stay my provider.

The next few days I was literally chased by the Rogers rep. He texted me and called a few times. He was offering me service for one year for just $38/month. This seemed too good to be true, I asked him to send me some official offer documentation to my email. He even agreed to wave the one-time setup fee of $50. At this point, I couldn’t say no.

Rogers agreement — see bottom left total

Rogers sent an installer to my home and the internet was up. That’s how I saved around $720/year on High-Speed Internet.

Was it worth it?

When running a speed test the Rogers internet does show some impressive numbers.

With Bell, I had 50Mbps download and 50Mbps upload. So now my download is apparently six times faster. But apparently Bell accelerates faster than Rogers, which means webpages load faster on the Bell network, but Rogers does a better job at downloading large files.

I work as a web developer, and I access a lot of web pages on a daily bases. To be honest, Bell was better suited for my line of work. The 50mbps upload was also nice when I had to upload files to the cloud.

On the other hand, I do like getting a good deal.

Happy Saving!
HOW TO EARN MORE INCOME THROUGH SAVING.
By: Danrich Cloete
Tags: Cryptocurrency Investment, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Make Money Online, Saving Money

Wouldn't it be great if you can skip the small amount that banks give you when you save money using them, and earn more interest income another way?

The bank I'm using offers me 2.25% interest income per year. Now, what is interest income? Is it when interest come in? No, or yes, if the interest is money. Interest income is the money you earn by saving your money in a bank account. The bank pays you for saving your money with their account.

What does 2.25% look like? Well lets make a crazy example and say you save R100 year, you put R100 in your bank account in January and at the end of the year you would have a total of R102,25 , but wait...

Then you still have to minus and deduct the bank costs per year . Lets say the bank cost is a very low R4 per year, so lets do the very extremely difficult math:

R102,25 - R4 = R98,25. ( yes , i know, started from the top now you here).

What about a better way? Earning more with interest income by saving that is actually saving you money and not losing you money. Now you can, yes you can, by saving using a digital money account instead of using a normal money account and using digital money instead of normal money.

What you do is , you transfer your normal money into your digital money account( Crypto account) that is on the crypto app like Luno, then , when your money shows in your Luno account, then you buy bitcoin with that money and save it. Then you will be earning up to 7% interest income , while your digital money also increase in value overtime.

Just having digital money is a plus for you, earning more interest income is another plus and the increasing value of digital money is another plus. Oh wait, here is another plus: when you buy R500 worth of Bitcoin you will get an extra R25 worth of Bitcoin for free.

In 2015 bitcoin was worth around 10 000 if i remember correctly, January 2021 it was around R900 000 . Imagen if you bought 1 Bitcoin in 2015, saved it and sold it in January 2021? Thats R800 000 profit you would have made, but its not too late, actually its still very early for digital money.

To save using a digital money account, just download the Luno app by clicking here .
How to Find the Best Amazon Deals
By: John W. Defeo
Tags: Online Shopping, Saving Money, Amazon, Deals And Discounts, Black Friday

Finding the Best Amazon Deals

The best Amazon deals aren’t always on Black Friday, Cyber Monday or even Amazon Prime Day: Most products record an all-time low price on one of the other 364 days of the year.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I might earn a referral fee (at no expense to you) when you click a link below.

I monitor the prices of top-rated Amazon products that are untainted by fake reviews. When one of those products falls to within 5% of its all-time low price, I post it to my Black Friday Today sub-Reddit via Amazon Smile.

(Amazon Smile allows shoppers to support a charity of his or her choosing.)

Nevertheless, there are more products for sale on Amazon than I could ever hope to monitor. To that end, here are tips for spotting daily Amazon deals.

Amazon’s Gold Box section is a roundup of daily deals sortable by category (e.g. electronics, kitchen appliances, etc.). Gold Box also highlights upcoming deals, lightning deals and discounts on outlet, warehouse and renewed (i.e. used) items. It’s an intimidating list that many websites attempt to filter:

Deal blogs and websites like Buzzfeed highlight interesting deals and unique finds. However, many editorial websites don’t do a good job of excluding products with suspicious reviews.

Social media websites and forums are a good place to find deals in theory. Unfortunately, crowdsourcing often leads to self-serving spam (this is why the Amazon Deals Reddit was banned).

Price-tracking websites like CamelCamelCamel use data to spot deals, not human editors. On the downside, some coupons and promotions may not be taken into account.

Woot! has a clearance section that sells some Amazon products more cheaply than Amazon.com, but some of these products are “gray market goods” that do not have a U.S. warranty.

How to Get the Best Amazon Deals

Amazon’s best deals are often “Prime-only deals,” i.e. exclusive deals for Amazon Prime members. For this reason, some shoppers sign up for a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime in mid-November, giving themselves access to deals on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the entire holiday shopping season.

How to Search Amazon Deals

One of the best Amazon shopping hacks is to search directly within the “Deals” department. Unfortunately, this Amazon department is only active from November to early January (when year-end sales finish).

However, Amazon Prime members can search for active deals within the “Just for Prime” section. Additionally, tools like Fakespot and ReviewMeta are useful for filtering out product reviews that are too good to be true.

About the Author: John DeFeo is a data scientist who specializes in analyzing online customer reviews. He was formerly the head of editorial insights for brands such as Tom’s Guide, Laptop Mag and Tom’s Hardware.
Spring cleaning for your personal finances
By: Dzing Finance
Tags: Budgeting, Financial Planning, Spending Habits, Personal Finance, Saving Money

If you want to make drastic changes in your personal finances for the better, there is no time better than spring! This time can effectively be used to bring about significant improvements in how you handle your finances so that you can get rid of the bad financial habits and make plans that can pave the way for a secure financial future.

Tackle your finances

Spring is not just the time to clean up your wardrobe. You need to pull up your socks and deal with your financial matters as well so that everything can be sorted. This can be a tad bit confusing. Let us help you out in cleaning your personal finances in the best possible manner.

Get rid of old spending habits

Spring is the perfect time to get of everything that is of no use to you. This holds true for your bad spending habits as well. Now is the time to analyze your spending and gauge which expenses are harming your finances significantly. Perhaps you go on a shopping spree every week or have a habit of eating out all too often.

A pattern will become apparent when you analyze your spending habits, and this will make it easier for you to determine what needs to be changed.

Time for budgeting

It is quite possible that you have not been following your budget regularly. Now is the time to change this. Budget can be pivotal in maintaining financial stability and paying off debts.

It becomes a whole lot easier to reach the financial goals that you have set for yourself if you follow a budget consistently. Budgeting also ensures that you do not have to endure any unnecessary financial stress. Therefore, take some time out at the beginning of each month to plan a budget and make sure that you follow it religiously.

Meet the deadlines

This is the perfect time to meet all your financial deadlines while also catching up on all the late payments. If you have not yet made payments that you were supposed to or have a debt that has been accumulating, you need to start thinking about paying it all off.

Look for ways to earn some extra cash like a yard sale. Try saving money so that you can settle your debts once and for all.

Get rid of the debts

Debts can be quite stressful. They are like a constant weight on your shoulders. Now is the time to ease this burden away.

Come up with a debt payment plan so that you can get rid of all the debts. Perhaps you might not be able to pay it all off this spring, but you can at least take the first step to make some pivotal changes. The plan should include your ideas on how to earn the extra cash to pay off the debts. Budgeting will play a crucial role in this.

Final words

It is during spring that you start planting your garden for the coming year. Similarly, this is the time when you should start planning your personal finances as well. A well-thought-out financial plan can make a world of difference!
Money Myths
By: Becky Gripp
Tags: Savings App, Financial Planning, Saving Money, Financial Inclusion, Finance

Money Myths

A myth is a popular belief or tradition that is held by the majority of people but happens to be false. Like in all things, there are some beliefs around money practices that we may have never really questioned. Let’s rethink a few of these common money myths and rethink if they hold any truth.

Myth: I know where my money goes and don’t need a budget.

Truth: When you track your spending, you are looking at how you already spent your money. A budget helps you plan ahead of time how you are going to spend your money. It can help you prioritize your bills, pay off debt, save for the unexpected and plan for the future.

Myth: I don’t earn enough to save. In some cases, this may be true but not in many.

Truth: Try paying yourself first. We often say, “I’ll save what’s left at the end of the month”. Setting up an auto-deposit to a savings account from your paycheck will help you beat this common misconception. You can’t spend what you never had.

Myth: Loaning money to your family or friends shows you care.

Truth: Loaning money to family members or friends seldom gets paid back. If you have the money, make it a gift. A loan may be one of the quickest ways to ruin a relationship.

Myth: Credit cards are bad for you and they should be avoided.

Truth: If you pay off your credit card balance in full each month, making purchases with credit is not always bad. Using credit responsibly can help increase your credit score and earn you a lower interest rate. This will come in handy when you have to borrow in the future for a large purchase like a car or a home.
How To Be Frugal Without Actually Being Cheap
Tags: Frugal, Saving Money, Save Money, Finance, Cheap

By: Arielle Bental

There’s always a bit of a struggle between being cheap and being frugal. Just because you’re one doesn’t always mean you’re the other. Most people who are close to you can always tell if you’re being cheap. 9 out of 10 people don’t like to be known as the ‘cheap’ friend. However, being generous should never put you into debt or financial misery. It is quite the balancing act to be smart with your finances, so we’re here to give you some examples of ways to be frugal without actually being cheap af.

Order a glass of wine instead of the whole bottle;

It’s pretty cheap if you’re not ordering alcohol at all. Unless you are sober, but if you want something at dinner just get a glass! No need to get a whole bottle, you can always celebrate further when you get home.

Buy a used car instead of a new one;

Do you really need a brand new fancy one? Unless it’s something you’ve been saving up for, for a while what’s the point? As long as it gets you from point A to point B there’s really no difference.
66% Savings Using MyQ Solution
By: Myq Solution
Tags: Business Intelligence, Saving Money, Printing, Business Strategy, Technology

The challenge

Metrostav was looking at steep growth in its total printer costs and ineffective control over document workflows. They had nearly 1,700 printing devices spread across European building sites, from various manufacturers, and most of them were technologically obsolete. Many of these printers had been damaged by dust from construction-sites, reducing output while increasing service and maintenance costs.

The MyQ solution

To overcome these challenges, Metrostav optimized its printer fleet with new MFPs equipped with the MyQ Embedded Terminal, giving users secure access via PIN or a personal ID card. Each Metrostav location was equipped with the MyQ central print monitoring system, ensuring better accountability for print consumption. The MyQ Service Module was incorporated into the new devices, automating both toner orders and repair reports.

The technical summary

When MyQ was finished, Metrostav had gone from 1700 devices to 440 devices: 300 KYOCERA TASKalfa 250ci MFPs with the MyQ Embedded Terminal and 140 KYOCERA MFDs with a MyQ central print monitoring system. That’s a decrease of nearly 75%. Since Metrostav has offices spread throughout Europe, each location with two or more MFDs were installed with the MyQ Service Module.