Here’s some interesting links I’ve come across the past few days that are worth a look:
In this day and age, cash seems to be going the way of the dinosaur. People simply do not carry cash with them anymore. As much as I personally tried to avoid joining this increasing majority, I’ve become one of them. I always keep a few dollars in my wallet and always have an emergency $20 folded and tucked inside my wallet, but, other than that, I stick with me debit card.
This trend has lead to a much-debated question: Should you use a credit card or a debit card? I’ve chosen to use a debit card but many people swear by using a credit card for all purchases. Below, I’ll outline a few of the benefits of choosing to use a credit card.
Avoid Fraud
Using a credit card helps reduce the risk of becoming a victim of fraud. When fraudulent charges are discovered, they are marked as disputed and you are only responsible for paying the undisputed charges.
Maintaining Records
The information contained in your credit card statement, both paper and online, provide you with the ability to easily keep track of your spending. This benefit is also available with debit cards.
Rewards Programs
This is probably the biggest benefit of using credit cards. Most credit cards offer a rewards program. The most common examples include cash-back programs and reward points programs. Many people choose to make all of their purchases on a credit card so that they can receive the rewards, then simple pay the bill at the end of the month. The logic behind this is that you would be spending the same amount of money if you wrote a check or used a debit card. By using a credit card, the reasoning goes, you get more for your money in the overall picture. If you can use self-discipline to control your spending, then I see where this method would be beneficial.
Here’s a few links to help you find more information about President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor:
Earlier today, President Obama named Sonia Sotomayor as his Supreme Court nominee. This makes judge Sotomayor the first Hispanic nominee for the high court and, if confirmed, she would become the third women to serve. This historic nomination warrants a rather serious question: Who is Sonia Sotomayor?
Background
Sonia Sotomayor is currently a federal judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for he Second Circuit. Prior to this, she served as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was nominated to her district court position by President George H.W. Bush and to her current one by President Bill Clinton. In all, she has 16 years of court experience, providing her with more experience as a judge than any current member of the high court had when nominated.
Sotomayor’s parents traveled from Puerto Rico to New York during World War II and settled in a public housing project in the Bronx. Her father, a factory worker who spoke no english, died when she was only 9 years old. Her mother worked two jobs as a nurse so that she could send her two children to Catholic school.
Education
Sotomayor attended Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. While there, she was the co-recipient of the M. Taylor Pyne Prize, the highest honor Princeton awards to an undergraduate. She subsequently attended Yale Law School, where she served as the editor of the Yale Law Journal and the managing editor of the Yale Studies in World Public Order.
Legal Career
After law school, Sotomayor spent 5 years as a prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney. She then entered private practice and gained substantial experience as a commercial litigator. In her 1992 Senate confirmation hearings, her substantial pro bono activities during her time in private practice were much touted:
For 12 years she was a top policy maker on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. She was also on the board of the State of New York Mortgage Agency, where she helped provide mortgage insurance coverage to low-income housing and AIDS hospices. In her leisure time she became a founding member of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, which distributes public money for city campaigns.
What Happens Now?
The Senate Judiciary Committee will likely conduct hearings in the third week of July, allowing written committee questions the following week and a floor vote before Congress leaves for its summer recess on August 7. This could potentially have the new Justice taking her seat by the time the Court opens its 2009 Term on October 5.
Apparently eating Cheerios for breakfast every morning doesn’t warrant the “pat on the back” I’ve been giving myself for the past few years. The FDA recently sent General Mills, the makers of Cheerios, a sternly worded letter warning them about the health claims on Cheerios boxes. In the letter, the FDA notes Cheerios is “misbranded” in a way that makes the cereal sound like a drug to prevent, mitigate, and treat high cholesterol and heart disease.
The Fitness Insider blog, over at Men’s Health, did a good job of breaking down the health claims made by Cheerios and separating the fact from the fiction. Here’s what they had to say:
The sell: ”You can lower your cholesterol 4 percent in 6 weeks.”
The science: This claim is based on a 1998 study in which people who ate 3 cups of Cheerios a day lowered their LDL (bad) cholesterol by 7 points. The box says this makes Cheerios “the only leading cold cereal proven to lower cholesterol.”
The fine print: The University of Minnesota researchers who conducted this study credit this LDL reduction to the cereal’s content of soluble fiber (1 g per cup). So any cereal that provides the same amount of soluble fiber should have the same effect. But here’s a more important point: Is lowering your LDL by 7 points really that signficant? I’m a bit of a cholesterol skeptic, so I don’t believe so. Beyond that, though, if you eat the cereal, but don’t control your overall calorie intake—thinking simply that Cheerio’s has the magical power to lower your cholesterol—what happens to your triglycerides? How about your good HDL cholesterol? In the study, the Cheerio eaters, 65% of whom were men, consumed about 1900 calories a day, so they weren’t overeating. And remember, to experience this reduction, you have to eat 3 cups of Cheerio’s every day—and that means you’ll be going through boxes pretty fast.
Does this mean you should stop eating Cheerios for breakfast? Not exactly. The truth is, you could be doing much worse with regard to your cereal choices. The real issue here seems to be that the claims on Cheerios boxes may go a little to far (possibly so far as to bring it into the realm of a “drug” under FDA regulations). So, if it’s between Cheerios and Lucky Charms in the morning – I’d go with the Cheerios.
If you’re anything like me, you spend a decent amount of your couch-time with a laptop sitting in your lap. I fully admit that I’m one of those people who is no longer entertained by just sitting around watching TV. However, this seating arrangement creates on rather large problem: hot laptop + lap = burning lap. My laptop gets uncomfortably warm while I’m using it so I’ve discovered the ultimate weapon to combat this little lap bonfire – laptop stands. These lap-saving devices provide a lap desk for you to keep your computer on and keep it from getting too hot in your lap. Below are some of the laptop stands that I’ve personally used and my recommendations.
Allsop 29591 Cool Channel Notebook Platform
This is my top choice and the one that I currently use. It’s lightweight and doesn’t add too much bulk. It’s small size also makes it easy to take with you while traveling.
Belkin F8N044-BRN CushTop Notebook Stand
This laptop stand it a little bigger and bulkier. I only used it briefly because I found it to be a little too heavy. Also, my laptop slid around a lot while on it.
This one definitely gets the award for the coolest looking laptop stand. The brushed metal and cushioned leg and arm rests makes it pretty comfortable. The only problem I ran into was that my computer sat a little lower than the cushioned arm rest and caused me to have to reach down to type. I have a MacBook so I think readers with PC computers that are thicker would not have this problem.
Here’s some interesting links I’ve come across the past few days that are worth a look:
Here’s some interesting links I’ve come across the past few days that are worth a look:
Here’s some interesting links I’ve come across the past few days that are worth a look:
Here’s some interesting links I’ve come across the past few days that are worth a look:
