There are many ways a holiday loan can help this season. (Photo: PamelaVWhite/Flickr/CC-BY)

There are many ways you can benefit from a holiday cash advance. Christmas is just around the corner, and if your budget unexpectedly falls apart before it gets here, you’re going to need some help. With a holiday loan, you can pay off surprise bills and quickly get your finances back on track. Even better, you can use the money to take advantage of all the savings opportunities available around this time of the year — for a limited time only.

Stay out of the red with a holiday cash advance

People everywhere can use a small holiday cash advance loan. You don’t have to wait two whole weeks to pay an unexpected bill or start saving on your holiday purchases. In fact, waiting too long to take care of short term money issues can cause you more problems in the long run. If you think you are in danger of over-drafting your bank account because poor Rover had to make an emergency visit to the vet, these loans can help keep you in the green. You can take out a small loan and pay it back in a couple weeks, eliminating the potential cost of bank fees and other penalty charges. Who needs extra stress this holiday season?

Holiday cash advance loans online

If you want to get the money you need the fastest and easiest way possible, apply for your holiday cash advance directly online. You can complete the online application form in minutes, get an answer in seconds and be on your way to enjoying the holidays like you’re supposed to. You can apply for up to $1,500 and have the funds sent straight to your bank account, upon approval. Because Personal Money is backed by a vast number of reputable online lenders, your chances of approval is much higher compared to other providers.

So, don’t let the holidays bring you down this season. Apply for a quick holiday cash advance today and have a merry Christmas.

Apply for fast Holiday Loan online | Start HERE

Find a good source of information

Finding a good source of information is the first step. If you don’t have the time to research the things you need yourself, then find someone who already knows what to look for and where to find them. Start working with them on ideas and new ways to cut your taxes. Having all your information in order and getting it in early gives you and your tax person extra time to come up with effective ways to save money. If you already have a tax preparer, but he or she does not discuss saving ideas with you, find a new one who will. Unfortunately, some tax preparers get confused and think they work for the IRS — the good ones remember that they work for you!

Resources online

There are many resources online that will help you investigate your options. You can even look them up in the comfort of your own home or office. If what you’re reading confuses you, dig deeper to find another source. Someone else may have the same information but in a more user-friendly format. Knowing ahead of time that there are ways to save money on your taxes will help you persevere until you find the right opportunity for you.

Business taxes

Big corporations hire full time attorneys, and doing taxes is generally their only job. They watch the income and suggest new ways to help the big companies save money on taxes. Many people assume that individuals don’t have the same options and end up using payday loans online, instead. But whether you find yourself a knowledgeable person or do the research yourself, getting ready now to do your taxes can help keep more money in your own pocket, rather than flying out the window unnecessarily, straight into the pocket of the IRS.

Caps are great on heads, but no so great for cash advance lenders. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

One of the most common regulations on the cash advance industry is to cap interest rates. It may seem like it’s a good thing to do to protect consumers from unfair interest rates. In reality, interest rate caps are an unfair standard on cash advance loans. Furthermore, rate caps constrain businesses in an industry in which almost half of all loan lenders are small business owners.

The cash advance rate cap uses bad math

Many states have introduced initiatives that cap interest rates on loans, aimed at capping the rate of a cash advance, usually at 36 percent APR. It seems like an altruistic thing to do, but there are problems with a rate of 36 percent. First, one can hardly assess the fees on a cash advance or payday loan as APR. Annualized Percentage Rates should hardly apply to a loan that matures in two weeks or less. Assume a loan lender assesses a fee of $20 per $100 loaned. If that $20 fee were compounding once a month, the APR is 240 percent. If it is assumed to compound every two weeks, that $20 fee is 480 percent annual interest. However a fee of $20 per $100 assessed in simple interest, or a ratio of the total amount paid back to the amount borrowed, it is only 20 percent interest.

Cui Bono

The phrase “cui bono”, in Latin, basically means “Who Benefits?” In the case of a short term loan rate cap, the beneficiary is banks and credit unions. Credit cards look a lot more attractive than payday loans when APR is the standard.  However, if the total a person pays back were divided by the total amount of credit used, as in simple interest, payday advance loans start to look a lot better.

Price ceilings are bad

Essentially rate caps function as price ceilings, where a business has to charge no more than a certain amount. This means that the margin for profit is drastically reduced, and the consumer cannot benefit from price competition. About 50 percent of all payday loan store owners are independent small business owners, not giant corporations. Is that who should be punished in this economy? You can read more in the Payday Loan Facts and Statistics Report on Personal Money Market.

Cash advances don't cause SWAT teams to get called in. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Claims have been made that when lenders offering cash advances move into an area, crime is sure to follow. There have been many problems throughout history attributed to things that have nothing to do with them. For instance, crime used to be blamed on people drinking alcohol. When Prohibition went into effect, violent crime increased at least fivefold. Crime and cash advances have nothing to do with each other.

Of crime and cash advances

People who aim to cure society of its ills, perceived or real, usually have good intentions. That said, sometimes ridiculous claims can be made about what causes the evils they rail against. For instance, there have been claims that cash advances and cash advance loans lenders cause the crime rate to rise. The idea is that payday loan stores move into a neighborhood and get people hooked by their short term loans. Then the people who are borrowing money get desperate and turn to crime. If it were true, then neighborhoods that don’t have lenders offering cash advances would have lower crime. As it turns out, that is not the case.

Neighborhoods with lenders and crime rates

A study from 2010 by Heather Luea looked at crime rates in neighborhoods that had cash advance and payday loan lenders. The study also looked at neighborhoods that did not have short term lenders. The study found that neighborhoods in which payday lenders were present or had a higher concentration of them, actually had lower rates of property crime. There was an increased amount of violent crime, but the increase was negligible – less than 2 percent. Neighborhoods that have payday loan shops nearby, in fact, have lower property crime rates than wealthier neighborhoods with no payday lenders present.

Interesting attributions

Few throughout history have attributed crime to anything other than poverty. When people are desperate for money, they are more likely to turn to criminal activity. Payday loans and cash advances are only available to people who can repay them, so a link between payday lenders’ locations and crime seems a suspect attribution at best. You can read more in the Payday Lending Facts and Statistics Report on Personal Money Market.

Price ceilings, like rate caps on payday loans, can create business margins that make coal mining look comfortable. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Some people have the idea that the payday advance industry does not compete for prices. In fact, many suspect lenders collaborate to keep prices and profits high at the expense of consumers. This case has been argued, citing the near uniformity of the price of the typical payday advance. However, those who make these claims have clearly not done their homework.

Fiction of non-competing payday advance lenders

One of the constant criticisms of the payday advance industry is that lenders do not compete for prices. The Consumer Federation of America asserted in a study that payday lenders, if not put under a vigorous rate cap, will charge the maximum amount allowable. The study in question looks at prices charged on cash advance loans in Colorado, which has a rate cap on the fees that can be charged. However, that study does not address why payday loan fees are so close to the legal maximum.

Price ceilings

Most states that allow payday loan lenders to offer payday advances to borrowers also impose a cap on rates and fees. Typically, the cap imposed on loan lenders is between $15 to $20 on every $100 loaned, which is called a price ceiling. The idea is that this keeps prices from being too exorbitant. However, price ceilings that are too close to the break-even point, where no money is lost, ensure that a business has to charge close to the ceiling in order to barely make a profit, never mind keep the doors open. Not only that, but a price ceiling that is too low, according to Wikipedia, also ensures the black market will enter the picture.

Someone skipped Econ

Price ceilings are part of rudimentary economics taught at the high school level. Forgetting the basics of how the world works to try to make a moral point is farcical at best. You can read more in the Payday Lending Facts and Statistics Report on Personal Money Market.

Urban blight and cash advance loans have as much to do with each other as chocolate and the fall of the Roman Empire. Image from wikimedia commons.

The universe operates on a system of cause and effect, which contradicts one of the claims some make about cash advance loans. For instance, there are people who blame a phenomenon called “urban blight” on cash advance loan lenders. The phenomenon of urban blight, or urban decay, began far before the cash advance industry even existed. That claim uses what is called a logical fallacy.

Cash advance loans blamed for urban blight

Numerous people have pointed to the cash advance loans industry as a culprit of urban blight. In fact, some cities have run cash advance and payday loan stores out of town because they believe that idea. Urban blight or urban decay is a phenomenon that has usually been associated more with a weakened economy, rather than the emergence of a single factor such as payday lending. It often goes without saying that this kind of decay really began decades before payday loans, as a product, even existed. It isn’t known where the first actual payday loan store was opened, but it is believed that among the first was Q.C. Holdings in 1988.

Fallacy of logic

The idea that payday loan lenders cause urban decay is a logical fallacy called “cum hoc ergo propter hoc.” Literally it means “with this, therefore because of this.” Basically, it means that because two things coincide, there must be a cause and effect relationship. If that were true, then a Pepsi commercial could cause a football team to lose the Super Bowl. There’s no evidence that payday lending is a cause of poverty, proximate or otherwise. One has to bear in mind that there was abysmal, wretched poverty in the world, including the United States, long before payday lenders arrived and even before the modern financial system did.

Dubious attrition

Poverty has a multitude of causes. Given that many negative economic conditions have nothing to do with short term consumer lending, crediting payday loans with urban blight it is a dubious attrition. You can read more in the Payday Loan Facts and Statistics report on Personal Money Market.

(Photo: John McGerr/Flickr/CC BY-ND)

Home schooling is ever growing in popularity these days. There are many reasons some parents may choose to home-school their children. At one time, home schooling was the only education our forefathers had. Commonly, when children started their education, they were about 12 years old or older.

Famous persons such as Thomas Edison, George Washington, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson were educated at home. The law for school attendance was not established until the 19th century.

Some reasons parents opt to home-school their children

About 50 to 90 percent of parents in the U.S. who choose to home-school their children do so for religious reasons. They feel that schools have too many atheistic influences, which is no wonder considering some of the recent occurrences that have taken place in the school system. Parents are concerned with the breakdown of morals and influences of peers that can expose their children to harm at a very young age. There are fears of gang-related occurrences, such as shootings and drug dealing, among many others.

Parents can teach adequately

There is much evidence showing home-schooled students pull grades equally or above the standard school test score. This does not, however, prove that it is better for them. There is no way to really prove this assumption without proper research, and some school districts can be uncooperative and skeptical. They may feel that parents do not have the capability to adequately teach from home. Parents do not need to have college degree levels to teach, as there are a number of research tools and sources made easily accessible. Finding these necessary tools is almost as easy as getting instant payday loans or cash advance loans online. Parents can hire private tutors who can help in any area they feel would be better explained from an experienced outsource.

Consider the cost of home schooling

To answer the question of whether home schooling is right for you, you must consider the following areas: willingness, cooperation, understanding, patience and individual circumstance. It takes strong commitment from you and your child to make home schooling beneficial. It can be done. Make sure you find out what the home schooling regulations are in your area, as it varies for each state. You still will need to consider how much it will cost to home-school, if you can afford teaching materials, tests and other things you will need each year.

Tarballs at Key West were not from the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico 2010, but the BP oil leak has entered the Gulf loop current and could arrive on Florida's beaches in 10 days. Flickr photo.

Tarballs showed up at Key West beaches as a preview of coming attractions for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association said traces of the BP oil leak are starting to enter the Gulf of Mexico loop current, which could carry the oil spill to Florida in 10 days. Tarball and loop current news isn’t helping the hotels and fishing boats in the gulf, who are battling public perception that the region is covered in oil. Meanwhile, hurricane season begins June 1.

Key West tarballs: false alarm

“Tarballs at Key West” was the latest alarming headline as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 defies an all-out effort to stop the BP oil leak. As it turns out, the Coast Guard said the Key West tarballs didn’t come from the BP oil leak. But even though very little of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has reached landfall to date, media coverage of the disaster is threatening to devastate the Gulf Coast tourism and the seafood industry. A region getting by on cash advance loans was anticipating a complete return to pre-Katrina prosperity in 2010, but the oil spill just happened to show up right before another hurricane season officially kicks in on June 1.

Key West tarballs a bad omen

The Tarballs at Key West didn’t come from the gulf oil spill, but the BP oil leak could be arriving on Florida’s shores eventually. The Los Angeles Times reports that a Coast Guard analysis determined conclusively that the Key West tar balls do not match the type of oil from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010. But traces of the BP oil leak have started to enter the Gulf of Mexico loop current, a powerful stream of warm water that circulates in and around the gulf, then south to the Florida Keys and the Gulf Stream.

BP oil leak devastating seafood industry

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is putting tens of thousands of Gulf Coast business owners’ and workers’ livelihoods at risk. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expanded a fishing ban in the Gulf because of the BP oil leak. Now the banned area covers 19 percent of the gulf, nearly doubling the size of waters prohibited to the region’s $2.4 billion seafood industry. USA Today reports that Bayou La Batre, Ala., the “Seafood Capitol of Alabama,” has nearly come to a standstill as shrimping vessels with nothing to do pack the bayou. A shortage of fishable areas could limit shrimp supplies and increase prices.

Key west tarballs undermine Florida tourism

The tarballs at Key West were sticky blobs of congealed oil that occasionally turn up on beaches there. They form from oil dumped from ships’ bilges, leaks from offshore rigs and seepage from other oil wells. Even so, the New York Times reports that under normal circumstances, most hotels in the Florida Panhandle would be fully booked by now for Memorial Day weekend — the traditional start of the peak summer tourism season. Since the BP oil leak, plenty of rooms are available. Florida’s department of tourism is fighting back against the BP oil leak with information about Florida’s destinations on its Web site in real time with beach Webcams, Twitter feeds and photos. Gov. Charlie Crist said he had secured $25 million from BP to fund the tourism advertising campaign after an initial $25 million went to disaster preparation and response.

Gulf of Mexico loop current

The tarballs at Key West could be a sneak peak of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 for Florida’s beaches. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Jane Lubchenco told the Associated Press that aerial surveys show some tendrils of light oil close to or already in the loop current, but most of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico remained dozens of miles away from the current as of Wednesday. Lubchenco says it will take about eight to 10 days after oil enters the Gulf of Mexico loop current before it begins to reach Florida. But scientists from the University of South Florida are forecasting it could reach Key West by Sunday.

British Airways flight attendants are planning to walk out next week. Image from Flickr.

Though negotiations have been ongoing, the labor union of British Airways employees has scheduled a British Airways strike to begin next week. The union is asking for more concessions on air travel perks and guaranteed employment. British Airways is asking for the union to accept cost-cutting measures. Either way, British Airways will need cash advance loans to survive the British Airways strike.

British Airways strike plans

The current plan for the British Airways strike is a 20-day strike, split into four 5-day chunks. The British Airways strike has been announced seven days before the first planned walkout. The strike will include “cabin attendants” and will ground many British Airways flights. The current dates for the British Airways strike are May 18 to May 22, May 24 to May 28, May 30 to June 3, and June 5 to June 9. This walkout will snarl air traffic in Europe, in addition to continuing problems with the Icelandic ash cloud.

At issue with the British Airways strike

The latest round of negotiations that have led to the British Airways strike stem from cost-cutting measures instigated last year. Last March, British Airways strikes cost the airline about 45 million pounds. British Airways fired several employees because of those strikes and withdrew free travel perks. The employees are asking for these free travel perks to be reinstated. Additionally, the union is requesting that all employees who were fired as a result of the March strike be reinstated.

British Airways attempting to keep service open

Though the planned British Airways strike will ground much of BA’s air service, the airline is attempting to keep services running. British Airways is going to be hiring private plains as well as booking with other airlines to maintain services as much as possible. Each seven days of service stoppage leads to about $67 million worth of losses for the airline. BA is on track to record more than 800 million pounds for this year. However, pay freezes, staffing levels and other cost-cutting measures are still at issue with BA and their employee union.

Sources:
SF Gate
BBC News

In Bangkok, red shirt protests and clashes with military have been increasing. Image from Flickr.

Thursday evening, the capital of Thailand was rocked with several grenades; the Bangkok explosion is serving only to worsen tensions between anti-government red shirt protesters, government troops and pro-government “no color” protesters. The Bangkok explosion started when at least five M-79 grenades were shot into the business district of the heavily populated city. The government of Thailand is seeking cash advance loans to help quell the protesters, while anti-government groups are building makeshift forts in large areas of the city.

Bangkok explosion origin unknown

The origin of the Bangkok explosion is currently under heated debate. Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Suthep Thaugsuban, told reporters that the Bangkok grenade attacks originated with an M-79 grenade launcher, which has a 400-meter shooting range. He claims “it was clear that it was shot from behind the King Rama VI Monument where the Red Shirts are rallying.” However, Sean Boonpracong, a Red Shirt spokesman and Jatuporn Prompan, a Red Shirt protest leader, deny that the Red Shirts had anything to do with the Bangkok explosion.

Casualty reports of the Bangkok explosion

Reports of injuries and deaths from the Bangkok explosion are still coming in. The grenades were shot into many heavily populated areas, including train stations. The Bangkok explosions also ripped through a “no-color” pro-government rally. Current reports are that three are dead and at least 75 are wounded.

Bangkok explosions at a time of high tension

For the last six weeks, mostly poor and rural Red Shirt protesters have been marching on the Thai government, demanding immediate governmental elections. Less than two weeks ago, the government used payday loans from its own treasury to send in troops to disperse Red Shirt protesters in Bangkok, but the ensuing clashes led to 25 dead and hundreds injured.

Many Red Shirt protesters are starting to take over sections of Bangkok, reinforcing them with sharpened bamboo sticks. The government has warned the protesters that they will face “live weapons and tear gas” if they do not disperse. For the most part, Red Shirt protesters are claiming that the current government, the result of a 2006 coup, is illegitimate.

Sources:

New York Times
National Post
Wall Street Journal
Sydney Morning Herald

YouTube (owned by Google) is being sued by Viacom for alleged copyright infringement. Image from Flickr.

This morning, a New York Federal Court judge released hundreds of thousands of pages (PDF) of documents related to the three-year-old Viacom v. YouTube lawsuit. Viacom is the owner of a huge variety of media outlets, including Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTV and BET. Viacom is suing Google – specifically, Google’s YouTube property – over alleged copyright infringements. At the basis of this lawsuit is the 1996 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. There have been other cases testing the DMCA, but the Viacom vs. YouTube/Google case is the largest, asking for more than $1 billion worth of fast cash for Viacom.

The Viacom allegations against YouTube

Filed on March 13, 2007, the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube alleged copyright infringement. In the released documents, Viacom claims that YouTube engaged in “massive intentional copyright infringement” by making available over 100,000 “unauthorized” clips of Viacom-owned materials and taking no actions to remove or block copyrighted information from YouTube.

Google’s defense of YouTube

Google has defended YouTube against Viacom’s allegations in several ways. First, Google claims that Viacom has taken many of the YouTube e-mails included in the court documents out of context. As reported by CNet, Viacom’s complaint omitted the word “stop” from an e-mail a YouTube founder sent saying “…please stop putting stolen videos on the site.” Google also provides e-mails from 2005 in which YouTube’s founders outline that “video must be about you, must be appropriate for all audiences, cannot contain contact information, no copyrighted material.”

In the defense of YouTube against Viacom, YouTube has also alleged that Viacom secretly uploaded thousands of hours of video content at the same time they were complaining about that content’s presence on YouTube.

Viacom retaliation for YouTube purchase attempt?

CNBC has reported that Viacom’s lawsuit may be about more than just copyright protection. YouTube and Google claim that Viacom had tried to purchase YouTube before Google did, and then offered to partner with Google to purchase YouTube – using cash advance loans from both Viacom and Google to invest in YouTube. When both of these efforts failed, YouTube alleges, Viacom filed the lawsuit in retaliation.

YouTube protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act?

The lawsuit between Viacom and Google/YouTube is based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This law was passed in 1998 and conforms to treaties the United States made with the World Intellectual Property Organization. In short, the act protects service providers (such as YouTube) from copyright infringement lawsuits if they remove material when a copyright claim is made by the media owners. Viacom is claiming that while YouTube did remove copyrighted material when asked, YouTube did not take appropriate actions to prevent the copyrighted material from ever being posted.

The implications of Viacom v. YouTube

In the end, no matter how many allegations Google and Viacom make against one another, the real matter at hand is if YouTube violated the DMCA. While YouTube’s terms of service have always included a prohibition against copyrighted content, the judge must rule if YouTube took actions that violated Viacom’s copyright. If YouTube is found guilty, it could have wide-ranging implications for the availability of commercially copyrighted content on the web.

A waddle of King Penguins usually looks pretty homogeneous. Image from Flickr.

Standing out in a crowd can be tough – especially when everyone’s wearing the same uniform. One all-black penguin, though, seems to have been given the genetic gift of being able to really stand out in the crowd of King penguins on South Georgia island in the sub-Antarctic. Maybe this all black penguin will be next on the list for some enterprising filmmaker with funding from installment loans for people with bad credit to feature at Sundance.

All black penguin really stands out

Andrew Evans, an author who traveled 10,000 miles by bus, snapped the now-famous picture of this all-black penguin while he was with a group of Lindblad Expeditions tourists. On the National Geographic Blog, he tells the story:

He looked like a single black king moving across a chessboard of so many white pawns. Our first glimpse was puzzling until we drew closer and realized that this was not some other bird but indeed another penguin of a different color.

Melanism caused all black penguin’s coloring

The all-black penguin that Andrew Evan’s group saw is very unique, and has been documented only a handful of times in King penguins on South Georgia island. The condition is called “melanism” – and simply means that the animal’s skin, fur, or feathers have unusually dark pigmentation. Melanism is the opposite of albinism – or albino coloring. In some species, such as leopards, up to 50% of the population has melanism – we know these dark leopards most often as black panthers.

The all black penguin seems healthy

According to both Andrew’s report and the report of Ted Cheeseman, this all-black penguin seems to be both happy and healthy. He is a fairly large penguin, and appears to interact with the other penguins well. Some scientists are waiting excitedly to see if this King penguin will have any little penguins, and if his unusual coloring is genetically passed onto them. Who knows, some may start looking into cash advance loans to camp out on South Georgia until he does.

All black penguin accepted by its peers

Despite the fact that this all black penguin seems to have dressed down at this black-tie party, the other penguins seem to have accepted him into their waddle. At times, animals have been known to pressure or attack members of their groups that are “too different” for the group to safely include them. However, the all-black penguin seems to have escaped this fate. Perhaps, like in Happy Feet, this little guy will prove that being just a little bit (or a lot) different can be a good thing.

A lone restaurant stands in the rubble of the February quake in Port au Prince (photo: flickr.com)

A House bill was introduced yesterday which, if signed into law, will allow taxpayers to deduct last-minute, charitable donations for disaster relief in Chile from their 2009 tax returns rather than waiting to claim the deductions on their 2010 returns. In order to qualify as deductions for the 2009 tax year under the proposed bill, donations must be made to qualified, tax-exempt charities before the April 15, 2010, filing deadline.

In January, Congress passed a law making charitable donations to Haiti between January 11 and March 1 tax-deductible on 2009 tax returns. The new bill would also extend the time for making donations to Haiti until the April 15 filing deadline.

Worthy causes for cash advances

Taxpayers who have already filed returns and wish to make additional or last-minute donations may amend their 2009 returns or wait until next year to claim the deductions. The causes are so worthy and the tax-incentives so appealing that cash-strapped taxpayers may want to consider cash advance loans or even cash advances on credit cards as ways to get funds for donation.

Hoping to encourage further donations

According to CNNMoney.com, it is hoped that the bill, introduced by Sander Levin, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, and Dave Camp, a Republican on the committee, will encourage further charitable donations to these two countries, both of which are in dire need of aid.

Millions homeless and in need of essentials

It is estimated that 2 million people in Chile have been affected by the February earthquake and 708 have been reported dead. The January earthquake in Haiti left more than a million people homeless and an estimated 212,000 dead. The Haiti situation is now complicated by an outbreak of typhoid fever and officials fear that a cholera outbreak may ensue.

Generosity demonstrated even in tough economic times

Despite uncertain economic times, millions of individuals have given selflessly to these two countries recently struck by natural disasters unfathomable proportions. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, which tracks corporate donations for disaster relief have also been impressive. More than 350 corporate donors have provided a combined total approaching $150 million of disaster relief for Haiti.

That’s right, I said sugar daddies

When there’s cash now, people are interested. While some would argue that sugar daddies and sugar mamas and their beneficiaries simply reinforce the downward spiral of co-dependency that plagues thousands of relationships, there’s no disputing that enough people are interested to make being sugar daddies an online industry. Web sites like SugarDaddie.com, SeekingArrangement.com and MillionaireMate.com are a current phenomenon that has some people crying prostitution, while others see it as a way for people already in the relationship market to meet.

The founder of SeekingArrangement.com wrote the book

Specifically, in “Seeking Arrangement: The Definitive Guide to Sugar Daddy and Mutually Beneficial Relationships,” we see that current online sugar daddy companies are looking to smash old stereotypes. Being honest about such things as sex, money and morality are vital in any healthy relationship. Brandon Wade suggests that this emerging market is “not a rich decrepit ‘captain of industry’ exploiting empty-headed vixens for hedonistic pleasure, but a mature gentleman seeking fun and pleasure with women of substance.”  If his business can help interested parties avoid scams and find happiness, Wade questions why such a thing should be considered “wrong.” But he admits that it isn’t everyone’s cup of “sugar.”

Sound dating advice

That’s one of the major selling points SugarDaddie.com uses. Their commitment to quality includes both online and telephone support, which is more than many fly-by-night online companies offer. Shady deals don’t sell well when it comes to online dating through paid sites, which may be why Web sites for sugar daddies and their ladies claim they’re looking to bring customers not simply a happy ending, but lasting happiness with their chosen lifestyle.

Well, if Dr. Phil approves…

OK, so he isn’t really a doctor anymore. But sugar daddies dating sites are garnering attention from noteworthy public figures… this isn’t pickup on South Street, but a portal for quality interaction. If I myself were in the position to be a sugar daddy, perhaps I’d test it out and report to you. As it stands, the word of the media must suffice – and “Dr. Phil,” “Richard and Judy” (UK), the New York Post, The Sun (Canada) and News of the World (also UK) all have given the sugar daddies phenomenon their due attention.

“Our success can only be measured by your success”

That’s what SugarDaddie.com says about what they do. Think about it – if this were some cheap, tawdry dead end, would the glorious American and British popular media cover it so extensively? Would customers come back for more? Repeat business keeps the registers ringing, so pucker up, all you sugar daddies and sugar mamas – your business is a real stimulus package. Some people need cash advance loans – others have sugar daddies and sugar mamas.

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TigerText does exactly what legions of Judge Judy litigants, wandering spouses (yes, Tiger Woods, that means you), and college kids would take out huge cash advance loans to be able to do – keep text messages truly private. As the company puts it on their website, they help you “cover your tracks”.  For the record, TigerText was named long before the golfer’s scandal, but you can bet he wishes he’d used the application, too.

TigerText keeps your text messages private

The concept of the TigerText App is simple – you set how long you want a text message to “live” and at the end of that time, the message gets deleted. If you would like to keep messages around for a week, you can. If you would prefer that a text message gets deleted as soon as you read it, TigerText can do that too. Rather than storing text messages on your cell phone provider’s server or cell phone handsets, TigerText runs a set of independent servers that completely erase the text messages when they are set to expire.

Both people need TigerText

Simply downloading the TigerText app onto your iPhone does not mean, though, that your text messages are safe. The coding of the program requires that both the sender and the recipient of the text have TigerText installed. Receipients who do not have TigerText installed must install the application, and then they can read whatever message you send for free. However, if they want to send their own self-destructing messages, they only have 15 free days before they have to pay. The pricing depends on the number of text messages sent each month, so some teenagers may end up having to take out overnight loans just to pay their phone bills.

TigerText for Blackberry and Android

Right now, TigerText is only available for the iPhone. This means if you’ve got a Blackberry or Android smartphone, TigerText isn’t going to be able to keep your messages off of Texts From Last Night. The company says they are working on versions for both of these smartphone operating systems. If your phone is a little less smart, well, then deleting your text messages is your own responsibility. Just remember that when a text message is sent over normal SMS systems, your phone company can store that message and retrieve it later, even if you delete it off your handset.

Know how much TigerText will do for you

Like every good cell phone application, TigerText does give you a few options. The date, time, and recipients of your text messages will be saved on your handset unless you select the “delete history” option. Any message sent through TigerText cannot be forwarded and cannot be saved – though anybody who really wants to save a message can always take a photo. It may not be perfect, but TigerText can certainly give you a hand next time you want to feel like you’re sending a Mission Impossible style message.

The internet as we know it or at least Google is in serious jeopardy. Three Google executives were convicted Wednesday of failing to remove a video that was inappropriate in nature. The case is still in the process of being appealed. Benny Evangelista, a Chronicle staff writer, quotes Officials from the Mountain View Company as saying:

“If the verdict is allowed to stand, the Web as we know it will cease to exist. One thing’s for sure that all internet companies will be on red alert erasing any questionable videos and screening new uploads much more closely.”

It’s ridiculous how a provider like Google can get criminally convicted over content that they did not even create, especially considering that here in America, there is free speech. How does anyone infringe on the rights of others? It would take forever and cost millions to scan and approve everything uploaded on the internet today. If anything, the person who specifically approved this video should be under fire and not the people who manage Google, unless they knowingly approved the video despite obvious objections. Someone is going to need extra money from a cash advance loan or a payday installment loan to pay for all this trouble.

Internet ethics examined

The video that Google allowed to be uploaded in 2006 was about an autistic boy being attacked and insulted by teenage bullies at school. This was before the now popular YouTube was available. This video drew 5500 views in two months. The boy’s father, joined with an advocate group for people with down-syndrome, contacted Italian police. After Google was notified, they pulled the video within two hours. The claim is that the “video violated privacy protection laws,” states Evangelista. “Google vice president and deputy general counsel Matt Sucherman stated that ‘The verdict attacks the very principles of freedom on which the Internet is built,’” Evangelista wrote.

Support for Google

In defense to Google, I would think it would be quite difficult and time-consuming for these executives to even know about such a video on the web, and I think it’s crazy that these executives are being treated like willing participants, as if they were the teenage bullies. Leslie Harris, President of “Center for Democracy and Technology,” stated, “The Italian court’s actions today will surely embolden authoritarian regimes and be used to justify their own efforts to suppress Internet freedom (B.E). Now that this can of worms has been opened due to rash actions without proper investigation by Italian officials, the entire colony of free civilizations is in cahoots.”

Pressure on Italy

“There will be a lot of pressure on the Italian government to rethink this shortsighted approach once the Italian citizenry realizes how limiting it will be to only have access to government-approved media,” states Benny Evangelista and Jason Schultz, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley. I think they’re right about this one, but I hope America’s officials can be discerning enough to see the truth of the matter without making biased excuses for negligence.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/24/BUHC1C6KIQ.DTL#ixzz0gX7zqVE5

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannysullivan/ / CC BY 2.0)

Do you know what site you're on when you put in that username and password? Are you sure?

If someone breaks into your home and steals your stuff, there are ways to cover expenses until you recover. Cash advance loans come to mind. However, if your sensitive log-ons for E-mail, social networking and banking are compromised, lasting damage can be the result.

Guess what? We now have the devious Kneber botnet!

According to PC World, the Kneber botnet has already dug its claws into over 74,000 computers running Windows worldwide – including but not limited to corporate and government networks – and that number will surely increase because Kneber is so hard to detect. Specifically, Kneber botnet is a ZeuS Trojan botnet that knows exactly what kind of juicy information to steal from your computer. Throw in a little Waledac Trojan to sweeten the deal and you have a nasty problem. Merck & Co, Cardinal Health, Paramount Pictures, Juniper Networks Inc. and others have been compromised, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Studying the area of impact

The U.S., Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey have been hit the hardest by Kneber botnet so far, and the primary Windows OS version being hit is XP Pro, Service Pack 2. It has not been detected on a Windows 7 system as yet. If you frequent Facebook, Yahoo, hi5, metroflog, sonico or netlog, you should be concerned, but as reports have indicated, banking Web site data has also been targeted.

Beware the phishing lure

If you receive a suspicious E-mail with an attachment, don’t open it. If an E-mail or Facebook message is prompting you to visit a suspicious Web site, don’t fall for it. Either method could be used to upload malware to your system. The Kneber botnet can then do its work. The general rule users should follow is to be smart. Don’t enter your log-in credentials to just any Web site that asks for it. Be cautious, make sure your antivirus definitions are updated and ask a computer savvy friend or family member if you aren’t sure about whether a request for information is legitimate. Cash advance loans may replace stolen clothes, but they won’t make you feel and less cyber-violated.

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Defense establishments in the country are on a hiring spree, and have hired 97,445 people in the first nine months of 2009. There’s more to this than meets the eyes as the government is also looking to retire a number of employees in order to control the budget. Should people be happy or sad? While some are getting much needed jobs, others are losing them and making a beeline for a cash advance to meet expenses. People who planned for such a day are not the ones who are worrying, but rather, those who had no plans are scurrying to find extra cash.

Heightened Expectations

The departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs hired a total of 97,445 personnel in the first nine months of 2009. At the same time, they offered early retirement plans to 37,000 employees working in seven other departments, which included buyout offers of an average of $25,000 for early retirement. These amounts depended on the length of service, if they had completed 25 years in service or more. The postal department made the maximum offers accounting for 81% of all offers made, and surprisingly, nearly 70% of all people who had received these offers have accepted them before the deadline, which expires at the end of the year. Other agencies are also looking at similar offers and giving their employees extended time limits to accept them. There have been no reports as to the response of the employees offered these buyouts, but what is inevitable for people who have not planned for this day is a quick visit to the loan store for a cash advance.

Reorganized Agencies

Agencies that are looking to lay off employees are doing so with the intention to reorganize themselves in a different way, but this does not indicate that the current employees were in any way ineligible for the jobs. The agencies may be looking to cut costs or even improve productivity with more employees. However, they are doing so at a cost, which may to some appear small, as the retirement buy outs are starting from $15,000 to $25,000.

Win Sum, Lose Sum

There have been some people who have accepted these offers, and were happy to get out of their departments and finally say good bye to their long standing government positions. These are the people who had planned for their early retirements and get involved in the community rather than look for another job. They were relieved that they had received such an offer and made the best of it. Others, however, were not so lucky, as they may have debts to pay off and responsibilities to meet and will rue their wasted opportunity if they dare accept such an offer. The buy out package, or early retirement benefit, that they get may go towards the cash advances that had already borrowed, or they may be able to put it in a savings or investment account while they look for a different job. This is a difficult time for all.

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