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http://wjno.clearcontests.com/front/register.asp?Action=New
Why to buy a home rather than rent:
http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2012/04/24/10-reasons-to-buy-instead-of-rent
Bottom line: I've been pretty direct in my belief in Florida real-estate in the early part of this year & and thus far it's proven to be well targeted as we've seen three consecutive months of year over year price increases in real-estate in the Palm Beaches and parts of the Treasure Coast.
Trulia now provides this little nugget further providing a reason to buy if you have the means to do so... 98% of the areas they have information for show that it's cheaper to buy a home and service a mortgage than it is to rent that home. That's huge and for more than just the obvious benefit.
I've tracked historical information during housing downturns and the point at which renting and buying was near or at parity we've always seen price recovery in housing. Now clearly buying isn't always possible or the right thing to do. But if you have good enough credit (620 or better), at least 3.5% to put down (FHA min. requirement) and at least a three year time horizon (five ideally) it's likely in your best interest.
New relationship stress and even legal questions arise due to social media:
Bottom line: Social media relationship stress isn't any newer than social media itself. From the first days of My Space there have been jealousy issues, questions over messages posted on others pages and such but the issues are evolving as the use of social media does. At issue, research has shown that couples often don't agree with what's acceptable to share via social media. This includes inside info about habits, disagreements and pictures.
We've all have unflattering pictures taken that we've not wanted to share but in today's world of Instagram to edit and push to all social media at once the pictures can be out there before the other is even aware it's occurred. It's these types of situations that are creating additional social media stress in many relationships and could even create legal issues.
In many cases pictures taken in private settings require consent of the person or people involved in order to legally share. If a relationship heads south those sharing the picture(s) could be facing legal issues.
It's just a good idea to have a conversation with your significant other to ensure you're on the same page before traveling down this path. Save the stress and worst case scenarios.
Facebook ups security & is offering free anti-virus software:
Bottom line: Facebook has been responding to the many complaints about privacy issues and vulnerabilities of personal info. Their latest effort includes a bonus for Facebook users. Your choice of several anti-virus products (including MacAfee and Norton) free for six months. If you're interested the link above will take you to the Facebook page with the info and to download the software.
Sprint promises to keep unlimited plans with the next iPhone:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/25/sprint-unlimited-data-iphone/
Bottom line: There had been speculation by some that as Sprint continues to lose money they would follow in the footsteps of Verizon and AT&T and drop the unlimited plans going forward. Sprint made it clear yesterday that they will keep the unlimited plans for the foreseeable including the next iPhone which is certain to be 4G LTE (and the biggest data hog yet).
Updating your resume and staying relevant:
Bottom line: Times change fast these days. Keeping your resume relevant should be something we all do at least once a year - just for diligence. With that in mind top head hunters came together to compile a 2012 list of resumes do's and what not to do. I won't dwell in a complete breakdown here. Click the link above. What I will add is based simply on what I look for as a hiring manager.
Simplicity - being brief and keeping your resume to a page if possible and no more than two. So many resumes come though that anything longer can work to your disadvantage. No grammatical errors, remember that computers sort many resumes these days. Errors in your resume could lead to a human never even seeing what you submitted. No clichés' - just the facts.
Extended warranties are rarely worth it:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/6-reasons-why-never-purchase-202002517.html
Bottom line: About two years ago I covered this topic and arrived at the conclusion that US World and News has provided in the link above. Extended warranties are rarely worth it. Often factory warranties are sufficient and when it comes to house hold items - the value of the items by the time something is likely to break, is likely to be less than buying the same item new.
Google turns to
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304811304577365792554560470.html
Bottom line: Last month Google declared they'd satisfied all of their initial requirements to move forward with self-driving technology. They shared the story of their primary tester, a blind gentleman who had been using the technology to be driven to the grocery store and even the drive-thru at fast food restaurants. But to date they've had to retro-fit existing automobiles (Prius). Now they're ready to start co-producing their own.
Google went to
What Apple now means to the overall stock market:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/stocks/story/2012-04-25/apple-influence-on-markets/54539482/1
Bottom Line: Apple's record size as they are closing in on $600 billion in valuation is creating record importance in financial markets. Apple is now 4% of the S&P 500 and a stunning 12% of the NASDAQ which is an index of more than 2500 companies.
