Five measures of efficiency

Little things can make big differences when it comes to getting through a day as efficiently as possible. The report identified five simple criteria for measuring urban time-efficiency and ranked cities based on their combined scores in all categories.

1. Ease of movement and travel (traffic congestion, commute and walking efficiency, airport timeliness)
2. Ready accessibility of health and safety services (waiting times for medical appointments, number of physicians, emergency response times)
3. Availability of information and technology (broadband and wireless, bookstores and libraries, telephone hotlines)
4. Environmentally sensitive time-savers (efficient and inexpensive recycling programs, bicycle friendliness, farmers’ markets, community gardens)
5. Lifestyle time-savers (take-out restaurant food, personal trainers, personal organizers)

Honorable mention for a sixth modern convenience

Ready availability of payday installment loans and short term loans for bad credit didn’t merit a separate time-efficiency category in the CNN Living report.  In all major U.S. cities, however, the best payday loans can be found online very quickly; and logically, their availability is subsumed in the information and technology category.

Ten top time-saving cities

1. Seattle. Seattle boasts extensive public-transit systems and a state-of-the-art signal-optimization program that synchronizes hundreds of traffic lights to promote smooth vehicular travel through the city. Seattle is also known to have one of the most on-time airports in the country, and in the last two years, the city has added 50 miles of new bike lanes. Seattle has several Neighborhood Service Centers where people can pay utility bills and parking tickets, apply for passports and even hold a hearing with a magistrate — all in one stop. Waiting times for doctor appointments are said to be short. Not surprisingly, the city has more coffee shops than any other city in the U.S. as well as the most Wi-Fi spots.

2. Portland, Ore. Bike-friendly Portland is home to the nation’s fourth-largest light-rail system, and airport delays are few. Emergency services are so responsive that the city has one of the country’s highest cardiac-arrest survival rates. Equally important from a time-saving perspective, finding an inexpensive lunch is reputed to be very easy.

3. San Francisco. San Francisco offers smart technology to help residents make the most of time. San Francisco ties Seattle for the most booksellers per capita and offers an endless array of fast dining options. San Francisco has a 24-hour 311 information hotline, a 511 hotline and online services providing updates on biking, public-transit and traffic conditions.

4. Boston. Not only does Boston have the highest walk-to-work rate in the nation, it also offers technological tools such as Boston’s Citizens Connect app for instant reporting of problems or complaints (with or without photos for proof) from an iPhone. Single-stream recycling pickup means residents don’t spend time sorting, and abundant farmers’ markets make “green” a time-efficient choice.

5. Minneapolis. Minneapolis is number one for farmers’ markets, number two for bicycle accessibility and among the top few in terms of community gardens per capita. Snow alerts are available via text message, e-mail and online social networks. No matter how cold the day, in just a minute and a half, residents get hot Neapolitan pies at Punch Pizza, a popular Twin Cities restaurant chain.

6.  Denver. Denver offers a city-wide bicycle-share program that makes commuting by bike a time-efficient choice. Waits for doctor visits are short, and Denver has the largest number of certified personal trainers per capita in the nation. Denver also speeds the flow of information with wide-spread library services and internet accessibility.

7. Washington, D.C. The nation’s capital has the second-highest non-car commuting rate and one of the highest ratios of farmers’ markets to population. Other time-savers include proportionally large numbers of take-out restaurants, certified personal trainers, and professional organizers.

8. Pittsburgh. Public transit in Pittsburgh is impressive for a city of its size. Most notably, the system includes three bus-only highways to maximize commute-time efficiency. Pittsburgh is also one of the top five cities in the country in terms of the number of bookstores per capita.

9. Miami. Miami has the highest number of doctors per capita of any city surveyed, which should translate to short wait times for appointments. It’s also easy to save time when parking on Miami city streets. Miami is the first major U.S. city to make it possible to pay for street parking by cell phone. Not only do you save time by not having to run somewhere for meter change, when you pay by cell phone, text alerts tell you when time is running out. Miami also has widely available internet access, free single-stream curb recycling, and a wide array of take-out food.

10. Atlanta. Atlanta has the shortest wait for doctor’s visits of all cities surveyed. Traffic moves at a snail’s pace, but the city makes up for lost time with abundant community gardens and an efficient recycling program.

Eleven more time-efficient cities

To see how Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and eight other major U.S. cities help people save time, read the full report at CNN Living.

Google is the nearly indisputable king of internet searches; last month alone, it claimed 72.11 percent of all searches in the U.S., according to HitWise. It makes sense, then, that Google would be trying to break into China, where the number of internet users exceeds the entire population of the U.S., according to the McKinsey Quarterly. Google initially censored many search results in order to comply with the government in China – blocking results about democracy, pay day loans, and Tienanmen Square. However, it appears that Google and China have reached an impasse in negotiations about censorship, and google.cn, the Chinese-based portal for Google will be shutting down.

Google’s China-based search

Google.cn, the Google China web site, started in 2005. Originally, Google had agreed to censor search results in China to meet with the Chinese government’s requirements. Google took some very heated opposition to this move, but the proposition of getting their “foot in the door” to the very large Chinese market encouraged Google to work with the requirements of the government in China. There were some that accused Google, a very public supporter of net neutrality of putting their principles on the back shelf by agreeing to censor their results. Like short term loans for bad credit, Google was willing to take out some search results in order to get things on track.

The disagreement between Google and China

Google is the best-known name in search in most of the world - but Google's China operations will be shutting down. Image from Flickr.

After the initial anger about Google censoring its search results to meet with China’s government regulations died down, things remained fairly quiet until January of this year. On Jan. 12, Google announced a “New approach to China.” This move came as the result of cyber attacks not only on Google, but on the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists and advocates. At that point, Google announced that it would no longer be censoring search results in China. The government in China, as reported by the BBC agreed to talks with Google about censoring practices. However, the New York Times reports that those talks appear to have broken down. Nicole Wong, Google’s Vice President outlined in a statement:

“We are no longer willing to censor our search results in China, and we are currently reviewing our options. If the option is that we’ll shutter our .cn operation and leave the country, we are prepared to do that.

China has gone so far as to warn Google partners in China that they need to find “alternatives” to their Google search boxes.

History of internet censorship in China

The government in China, for the most part, appears to be very unconcerned about Google’s decision to remove its censored search engine. This is, in part, because China has a fairly well-developed system of internet censorship that they have been monitoring and using for years. Known as the “great Firewall,” there is a massive no-access blockage to many web sites available online.

Many popular web sites, such as YouTube and Wikipedia, are also heavily restricted based on certain topics. China also requires internet users to provide personal information to log onto the internet in Internet cafes, where most internet users in China log on. This massive effort of information control is known as the “Golden Shield Project.” Many U.S. companies, such as Google, have altered the way they do business in China in order to work with their huge population and growing economic power.

What Google will do with China

Now that Google is “most likely” shutting down its Google.cn operations, internet users in China will most likely not be able to access Google.com. Though they will be effectively cutting themselves out of a very large market, Google’s handling of the government in China is just the latest of a long string of U.S. Companies clashing with the Chinese government. Google has stated that it hopes users in China will continue to use Google.com, though in reality, Google will most likely lose the market share available in China.

Some beezid.com auctions increase a penny at a time - for $1 a bid. Image from Flickr.

Most everyone who shops on the internet is looking for a deal. There are many auction and low-price websites out there that are very popular, though Beezid.com offers a rather unique action-style experience. You can get a good deal on Beezid items, though, like most online shopping, the “ticket price” of Beezid products isn’t the real price you pay. Make sure you know how Beezid works before you end up taking out online cash loans to pay for your purchases.

Beezid Bids

The Beezid online shopping system is half auction house and half pay-to-play. You purchase “bids” – much like credits – from the Beezid site. These Beezid bids range in price from $1 each if you buy 15 bids down to 60 cents apiece for 200 bids. These bid credits from Beezid are non-refundable, so once you have purchased them, you cannot get your money back.

Beezid Auctions

There are then two basic types of auctions – penny auctions and reveal auctions. Penny auctions increase the price of the item by one penny each bid, and a timer resets every time a bid is made. The person with the most current bid when the timer runs out wins the item for whatever price is listed. Reveal auctions start with a higher price that you cannot see. You spend one Beezid “bid” to see the price of the item. Each time the price is revealed, it goes down. After a certain price point, you can choose to “buy now.” There are also “cherry auctions” that are reserved for first-time Beezid users only.

The real cost of using Beezid

Beezid auction offer both big and small ticket items at what appear to be great prices. There is the unpredictability of other users on Beezid, and  you never know exactly what an item will go for. It is important to remember, however, that each time you click the “bid” or “reveal” button on Beezid, it costs you between $.60 and $1. This means if you bid on an iPod 30 times and win it at $30, you will have spent $60 before shipping. On small items, this may not add up very quickly, but on large items you may quickly get yourself into a situation where you’ll need short term loans for bad credit to pay for the item you’ve won. You can still get great deals on Beezid, but there are costs above and beyond the final auction price.

Image of the Lincoln Monument from Flickr.

Most Americans celebrate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and George Washington (Feb. 22) on the third Monday in February. But it hasn’t always been that way — and in some states, it still isn’t. Just as some states have different laws governing short term loans for bad credit, some follow their own rules about Presidents Day.

1. Washington’s Birthday

The official name of the federal holiday that falls on the third Monday in February is Washington’s Birthday. According to Wikipedia, “A draft of the Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 would have renamed the holiday to Presidents’ Day to honor the birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln, but this proposal failed in committee and the bill as voted on and signed into law on June 28, 1968 kept the name Washington’s Birthday.”

2. Showing Lincoln some love

Though the official federal name of the holiday is still Washington’s Birthday, 12 states have officially renamed the day Presidents Day. Newspapers nationwide also use this term, as do most schools, and thus Presidents Day is actually the more commonly used and accepted name.

3. Massachusetts mania

In Massachusetts, the holiday is still called Washington’s Birthday. However, each year the governor issues a proclamation honoring all of the presidents from Massachusetts: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge and John F. Kennedy.

4. Oh what a state they’re in

Residents of New Jersey, Connecticut, Missouri and Illinois get an extra holiday. The federal holiday Washington’s Birthday is observed the third Monday of February, and they celebrate Lincoln’s Birthday on Feb. 12.

5. Thomas Jefferson was a Virginian

In Alabama, they celebrate Washington and Jefferson Day on the third Monday in February. Thomas Jefferson’s birthday is in April, and he wasn’t from Alabama.

6. Virginia is not impressed

Though Alabama went through the trouble of naming the holiday Washington and Jefferson Day, Jefferson’s home state of Virginia doesn’t share the sentiment. The holiday in Virginia is officially known as George Washington Day.

7. Now that’s a mouthful

Arkansas also has its own special name for the holiday: George Washington’s Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day. Daisy Gatson Bates was instrumental in ending segregation and establishing social programs in Arkansas in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s.

8. They really love their presidents

In some areas, instead of closing for one day to celebrate Lincoln and Washington’s birthdays, they close for an entire week. One such place is the New York City School District.

9. Fair enough

In New Mexico, Presidents Day, as a state government paid holiday, is the day after Thanksgiving. I guess they just decided to move it to a more convenient time.

10. Washington and the Purple Heart

Washington conceived the Badge of Military Merit, for wounded soldiers,  and awarded three during his term. The award wasn’t used again until it was revived and renamed the Purple Heart on his 200th birthday, in 1932.

Short term lending products are usually a little scary for many who perhaps may be weary of applying over the internet. Pressing the submit button on an online form along with your private information being processed carries risk in the eyes of most. However, our primary concern is your safety. You don’t have to fret about cyberpunks getting your personal information from our system.

You should know you can get an immediate decision

Waiting for a decision can be a major problem. There is nothing worse than feeling insecure after submitting your information because you did not get an instant decision. Applications only take a few short minutes. The average time it takes to fill out the form is 2.5 minutes. Your decision only takes a few short minutes more. Don’t get distracted from viewing the decision that will pop up on your monitor screen.

Did you know you can get cash in 2 hours?

Even if you are approved on another site like thinkcash.com, you may have to suffer through a waiting period before getting your money. Applying right now on this website can get cash in your hand in as little as 2 hours. In some cases, though, you may have to wait until morning. Having to wait several days to get spendable money can drive people crazy.

No faxing required with short term loans for bad credit

It is rare for lenders to require that you fax in identification documentation as everything is processed online. Proof of income is not necessarily something you will have to worry about. Proof of residence is not required for processing of your application. For an immediate decision, the information you provide in the application is all that is needed. If a lender has questions about your information, in some cases, they may indeed as for this information. Nonetheless, it’s really no big deal.

Start your Short Term Loans application HERE!

Image from Flickr.

I don’t know how it happened, but the day Richard Heene pulled the Balloon Boy prank, everyone in the U.S. heard about it. For hours, “balloon boy,” “Falcon Heene,” “boy in spacecraft” and other various related phrases were the only ones people were typing into their Google search bars.

Richard Heene wanted publicity and attention, and that is exactly what he got. Now, on the day of the Balloon Boy sentencing, his fame continues. First, he was famous for being the father of a lost boy, one who might have been floating away in a huge balloon. Then he was famous because it was discovered he was a con artist who had staged the whole thing while his son safely hid in the attic for hours. Now he is famous for getting a sentence of 90 days in jail and four years of supervised probation.

A special kind of jail sentence

Of course, Richard Heene and his wife — who did not get off scot-free — have to pay all kinds of fines and bills from the city. They won’t be able to pay them off with short term loans for bad credit, either. It’s somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000.

Richard Heene will spend 30 days straight in jail, and for the remaining 60 days he will be allowed to go on work release. That means he’ll leave jail for work in the morning, then go back to jail to sleep at night and on the weekends. Can you imagine doing that for two months? If not, make sure you don’t elaborate your kids in any elaborate hoaxes and get caught.

Mayumi Heene’s sentence

Though Richard Heene pleaded with the judge not to send his wife to jail, his wish was not granted. Mayumi Heene was sentenced to 20 days in jail. Luckily for their kids, she won’t have to serve her jail time until Richard Heene has completed his.

Though Richard Heene did achieve fame thanks to the Balloon Boy hoax, he will not be allowed to reap any financial benefit from it for at least four years. Both Mayumi and Richard Heene will undergo four years of supervised probation, and the judge clarified:

“The terms and conditions will be that Mr. Heene is in fact prohibited from receiving any form of financial benefit — whether it be media, a book, an article he writes — anything of that kind that stems from this incident.”

From Flickr. com. And No, gouging isn't cool.

Brandon Spikes, a middle linebacker for the University of Florida Gators football squad, has been suspended for a whole half a game after gouging the eyes of a downed opponent in the Gator’s recent game against the University of Georgia Bulldogs.

Since then, searches for and views of the Brandon Spikes eye gouging video have been popular, and some people would give short term loans for bad credit to see him not take the field again for at least a game or two.  Some will doubtless take the minimal sentence as evidence of the ridiculous favoritism showed college athletes, as a half game for an eye gouge is a light sentence.

Well…maybe those critics have something there.

A half game off is a light sentence for such a dangerous action.  There is currently no sport in which eye gouging is close to being allowed.  Not to mention that the Brandon Spikes eye gouging video shows he gouged the eye of a down player.  Not to knock the Gator’s football program, but that is cowardly.

In American Football, people wear helmets, and as a result, there can be no such thing as an accidental eye gouge or fish hook.  Even some past infamous enforcers never tried to commit such egregious offenses – people like Jack Lambert, Lawrence Taylor, Jack Tatum, Dick Butkus, or Ray Nitschke never had to resort to gouging – they let the hits do the talking.

If we are going to have some sort of pretense that athletes aren’t given rampant favoritism at the university level, he should get far more than a half game off.  If someone were to stand up and chin the nearest student in Anthro 101, they would be expelled, and probably prosecuted.

What? Did he think it was a rugby match?

The glorious sport that gave birth to gridiron football is played without padding, and the occasional eye gouge does happen as well, but since there aren’t any helmets used in the Game Played in Heaven, it’s harder to prevent, but it can be accidental.  That said, it isn’t tolerated, at all – two recent instances of eye gouging resulted in long bans.  For instance, a test match in July between South Africa and the British and Irish Lions in which South Africa’s Schalk Burger accidentally gouged the eye of an opposition player got him 8 weeks out.  For an ACCIDENT – Spikes’ infraction was intentional, and even though it’s claimed he was only retaliating, this is unacceptable.

If we’re going to justify the ridiculous nature of college sports, let’s have some higher standards.

Though many people enjoy college sports, and there isn’t intrinsically wrong with it.  That said, a lot of people get to go to college for free because of sports.  I’m sorry, but if a potential genius engineer or physicist doesn’t get to go to university because they can’t come up with the requisite cash advance loans for tuition, but someone else DOES because whatever pitiful thing they can do on a field – something is wrong.  The Brandon Spikes eye gouging video makes it obvious that this was no accident – and if I were a Gator student, I would be spitting mad because the athletics program had cheapened the integrity of the academic establishment for the sake of some silly GAME.

Related Video:

From Wikimedia Commons

A few days ago, a Washington DC television station, WJLA, aired a series about women’s health, particularly calling into question and to the audience’s attention the need for more women to be aware of how to properly conduct a breast examination on their own.  The WJLA breast exam video has been causing a lot of  controversy, and of course the usual goofballs are looking for the video for, shall we say, ulterior motives.  (In other words, not for educational purposes.)  The portion dealing with a self exam, aired without obscuring anything.  It was part of a four part series.  And no, we won’t be posting it here, no matter if you offer instant cash or not.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Granted, disease awareness causes can make it seem like there’s a foundation for any and every affliction and therefore can start to seem a little maudlin, but breast cancer isn’t trite.  It isn’t funny.  People are dying, and of BOTH genders as a minority of males get the disease too.  (2000 U.S. men per year.)

Prevention is vital

Over 40,000 a year die.  That number of people is almost the population of my hometown.  That’s a football stadium full of fans.  In America, 1 in 35 women will die from it, 1 in 8 will get it, and some people deign to think educating the public on how to self screen is obscene?  Why, because someone might have seen a nipple?  The stupidity it takes to believe that idea is obscene.  According to physicians, the best chance a woman has of beating it is early detection.  For women in the United States, it is the most common cause of cancer and second leading cause of death from cancer.  (Lung cancer is first, though more men smoke than women.)

From the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month website

The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month website recommends the following:

• Yearly mammograms and screening by a physician starting at age 40
• Yearly clinical exams
• Monthly self examination
• Consulting with a physician about your risk

It’s one of the most survivable forms of cancer for men or women, as the 10 year survival rate, according to an article on breast cancer on Wikipedia, is between 98% to 10%, depending on the exact type.  According to the Center for Disease Control, it’s the 7th leading cause of death in women, and the best method of prevention is to catch it early, by annual screenings.

So there – I’ve done my part

In the end, a small handful of people might get upset about a breast being shown on TV. Oh, they got mighty mad when Janet Jackson had a wardrobe accident, I know, but this was intentional and for a purpose that is in no way unjustifiable – how could anyone get mad? Seriously, folks – do yourself and your health a favor.  Get regular screenings.  Learn the correct way to self examine.  It can save your life.  Just anyone who counts themselves among the working poor has joked that we can’t afford to throw money away on a doctor, but it is worth even a short term loan for bad credit to get an annual screening.

Apply for Short term loans for bad credit at PersonalMoneyStore.com! (Photo: picasaweb.google.com)

When you need extra cash in two hours or less, there is no better way than to apply online for a short term loan for bad credit. Personal Money Store provides applicants with the best chance of getting approved. The best thing is there are no credit checks, faxing, or collateral required to get a short term loan online.

Bad Credit Is No Problem with Short Term Loans

Because there are no credit checks, it is exceptionally easy to get a short term loan from direct lenders through our Web site. We have the best lender-finding service available on the Web. Our applications are secure and hassle-free. Bad credit, poor credit and bankruptcies are no problem.

No Faxing Required for Short Term Loans for Bad Credit

Many Web sites require you to fax all kinds of personal information about you, your identity and your financial situation in order to get approved. Personal Money Store does not cause you this type of problem. Headaches are the last thing you need when you need short term loans for bad credit.

No Collateral for Unsecured Short Term Loans

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You will get an instant decision on your bad credit short term loan application. It takes just a couple of minutes to fill out the application and another few to get an actual decision. You will get approved and redirected to the approving lender’s Web site to sign the E-signature or you will be told a lender was not found and redirected to a secondary financial offer that hopefully still helps you.

Start the Application for a Short Term Loan for Bad Credit Now!

Even if you have bad credit, short term loans are available to help you in an emergency! (Photo: picasaweb.google.com)

When we have to buy a gift for a loved one, need funds for repairs, face an unforeseen emergency, or maybe we just want to celebrate a special occasion, most of us will need quick cash long before our next paycheck. This is a very problematic situation that all of us face regularly. Short term loans for bad credit may serve the purpose of getting a cash advance immediately without all the hassles of traditional lending.

Short Term Loan for Bad Credit is Collateral-Free

A short term loan for bad credit is hassle free because it is totally confidential and easy to obtain. Typically they do not require credit checks. So even if you have a bad credit history, you may secure an easy loan with no collateral required.

Short Duration Loan with a Low Fee

You may apply for a short term loan for bad credit for amounts ranging from $100 to $1,500. The industry average for lenders when charging a fee is $15 for every $100 borrowed. The industry average loan duration is 14 days. Due to increasing competition amongst lenders, you may research and find a lower fee without much effort. In some cases, just inquiring about lower interest rates or longer payment periods can get you what you want.

Faxless Application for the Short Term Loan

You’ll have to apply for a short term loan online if you want quick cash. You’ll fill out an application form giving details like your name, address, phone, E-mail and details about your job. Once this information is verified and approved, the loan amount will be electronically deposited into your bank account usually on the same day and sometimes in a just matter of hours.

No Fax Means Saving of Time and Money

For a no fax short term loan for bad credit, you won’t have to go out to a loan store where everyone in town may see that you are short on cash. You will be happy to know the application process is totally private and confidential. You do not even need to fax any documents to the lender. That saves on fax fees, which are usually charged per page. You needn’t hunt for a fax store either.
Fax stores can easily charge you up to $1 per page. So if you have to fax 10 pages, it’s a $10 savings for you. Because the loan process is completely online, you may even sign your application form online. This is called an E-signature.

Plan and Repay Your Short Term Loan on Time

It can be easier to repay the loan on time if you authorize the lender to withdraw funds electronically from your bank account after your next pay date. You may have the loan rolled-over for a little extra fee, but by delaying the deadline you deliberately allow interest to add up. Since it’s a short term loan and the fee is usually high, the situation may easily get worse than it was before you opted for the loan. Realize that this loan is a temporary solution and not a long-term solution for your financial troubles.
So if you are in need of some extra cash and you are caught between paychecks, a short term loan for bad credit is the fastest and easiest way to obtain a quick loan. Most lenders have customer service representatives and loan advocates there to assist you with your online short term loan application process.

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