Bo Bigelow's Blog, page 7

What Are The Common Timeshare Resale Scams To Avoid?

Many owners decide to get rid of their timeshares once they can’t cope with high maintenance fees or aren’t satisfied with the services of a timeshare company. It is where a timeshare exit appears – owners can deal with this task on their own or hire a team of professionals. An individual who owns a timeshare and wants to get out of it might think about selling ownership. But there are a few things to be aware of while listing a timeshare property on the resale market. Keep reading to find out the most widespread timeshare resale scams.

What is a timeshare resale scam?

Like any other industry, a timeshare industry is equally full of reliable partners and unscrupulous companies. Timeshare resale scams are common for fraudsters to cheat on individuals and owners to make large money on their timeshare properties. Fraudsters in the timeshare industry mostly pretend to be legitimate real estate companies and hunt the owners who listed their ownership for sale in resale markets. They work by putting forward requirements to pay high upfront fees, but when an individual performs all the required taxes, a real estate agent disappears.

Timeshare resale market scam: the most common variants
Cancellation of a timeshare contract

The first concern for every individual willing to sell their property remains companies or timeshare cancellation attorneys that ensure a money-back option. Unfortunately, it is a resale scam that already harms multiple timeshare owners. A money-back guarantee is not fulfilled in most cases, while a contract will include terms that don’t provide refunds if a cancellation process continues. Instead of promised timeshare cancellation, the owners will be left with a foreclosure on their ownership.

Stopping paying required maintenance fees

When owners deal with fraudsters pretending to be a timeshare exit company or a timeshare cancellation attorney, an individual is likely to follow the advice to stop performing maintenance fees. This can be explained that a lawyer or a team is now working hard on getting an owner out of a timeshare contract. But it is another scam. Stopping paying maintenance or annual fees means a foreclosure for timeshare owners that harms a credit score.

An unreal resale agent

Once you list your property on the resale market with a legitimate resale team, you might encounter other tactics of fraudsters. They might contact you and claim they are employees of a resale company you hired. Before you decide to deal with such an employee, check up on a phone number and email that should coincide with contacts of your resale company. If the references aren’t the same, it can be the red flag that you spot fraud.

Paying upfront fees

Remember that any professional resale agent or company won’t ask you to pay upfront fees before the job is done. If a resale company you want to work with demands you to pay high upfront taxes, run! You are likely to deal with fraudsters.

 

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What Is LTO (Linear Tape-Open) Technology?

LTO tape, or Linear Tape-Open, has remained a competitive solution among different data storage choices for many years. Widely implemented in the entertainment industry since the `90s, LTO as data storage was appreciated for its reliability, advanced capacity, and performance. Times change, but LTO stays the same, and like any other storage solution, it has a list of pros and cons. This article will discover what is LTO and what benefits and downsides this technology can provide.

What is LTO Tape?

An LTO definition goes to an open-format tape storage technology that was originally designed in the late `90s. Open-format means the users receive access to several sources for storing their data and media. Hewlett-Packard, Seagate Technology, and International Business Machines are known as developers of this technology.

Additionally, the famous implementation of LTO is the LTO Ultrium format. The original version of Ultrium had seen the world in 2000 and could store up to 100 GB of data in its cartridge. Until 2020, developers have produced nine generations of LTO Ultrium that were significantly improved. The latest version of LTO Ultrium can carry 18 TB of data in the same-sized cartridge.

Pros of LTO
Huge storage capacity

Without a doubt, an LTO technology stands for its high-capacity storage options. LTO cartridges tend to hold massive amounts of data and expand their features with every new generation. For instance, LTO-10 can hold up to 48 TB native and 120 TB compressed.

A widely adopted standard

Being on the market for more than 20 years, LTO technology has become leading among other tape technologies. It remains the expected standard for archives and other industries since it can create backups for any content.

Ensures long-term storage

Tapes technologies are used only when transmitting data, unlike disks or hard drives. Hard drives require to be connected with electricity consistently, while LTO tapes are a simple device for data storing. LTO can not be exposed to any hacking attacks that make them more reliable than other solutions.

Reduced costs

LTO technologies stand for their low prices per 1 gigabyte compared to other storage options. Such tape technologies don`t demand much energy and provide less expensive and, herewith, capable storage.

Cons of LTO
Strict storage demands

The storing place for LTO must be as clean as possible since any excessive dirt or dust can influence performance. The archival storage places are ideal for keeping LTO safe and clean.

The possibility of obsolescence

Another concern related to an LTO technology goes to regular upgrades that can lead to confusion and obsolescence. However, these improvements are essential to optimize the technology working.

Administrative requirements

LTO tape technologies need testing, labeling, and other tasks to ensure required access. This way, planning, and expertise are essential while working with LTO tape solutions.

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How To Build A Hybrid-Cloud Strategy?

Hybrid cloud solutions are pretty popular these days since organizations and businesses are looking for efficient and affordable computing technologies to meet their needs. But sometimes, using technologies alone is not enough. To build your hybrid cloud, you need to elaborate on a complex strategic approach. Implementing an effective and secured cloud strategy into your business requires time and some effort. This article will discuss a hybrid cloud strategy and how to build a hybrid cloud quickly.

A hybrid cloud at the glance

Essentially, hybrid clouds are the specific cloud computing environments that combine features of different types of a cloud. It includes on-premises, private clouds, and public clouds with third-party services. Hybrid clouds typically offer connections from data centers to a public cloud and incorporate other private assets, like edge devices. Besides, hybrid cloud strategy is how to plan and deploy a mixed storage environment considering the most influential factors for the needs of an organization.

A hybrid cloud’s workload involves hosting, a network, and web service features of applications. While using this cloud, a company can deploy its workload in a private cloud environment or public cloud and move between these solutions depending on the changing demand. This allows an enterprise to achieve greater flexibility and extra data deployment options. In short, hybrid clouds are needed to create a single virtual environment where a client can use on-premises, public, and private cloud resources.

Benefits of a hybrid-cloud strategy Flexibility

A hybrid cloud model commonly includes some traditional systems and the latest cloud technologies. This allows enterprises to migrate from one environment to another if needed easily. The ability to adjust a company’s infrastructure according to changing conditions remains a promising advantage of hybrid clouds.

Scalability

Hybrid clouds utilize services of public cloud providers that allow deploying and scaling resources required to meet demand. Once demand exceeds the capacities of a data center, an enterprise can migrate the applications to the public cloud to reach better capacity and accessibility.

Reduced costs

Both private and public cloud models require different costs. At the same time, while using hybrid cloud solutions, companies can choose where to run their workloads in either environment that turns out more cost-effective.

How to build a successful strategy for a hybrid cloud?       Understand why you need a hybrid cloud strategy

Hybrid clouds are well-known for their flexibility to move between different environments. It never hurts to figure out what outcome your company expects to get with a hybrid cloud.

      Choose the professional provider

Different hybrid cloud providers offer other services, so do your research in terms of your requirements to find the best expert support.

      Analyze workload demands

Whether you will implement a hybrid cloud solution into your business, discover if a hybrid cloud infrastructure can support workloads that are in priority.

      Outline the positions to support a hybrid cloud strategy

It would be better to determine who will be responsible for a hybrid cloud infrastructure for the next few years. These people should clearly understand the pros and cons of hybrid clouds and how to manage and upgrade them. This helps to build security for the hybrid cloud, too.

 

 

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Who Made The First Christmas Card?

The Christmas season is yet to come, but it’s time to think about a Christmas tree in NYC. While all of us decorate evergreens and send greetings to relatives and friends on Christmas Eve, the history of Christmas cards celebrates 175 years today! Originating in the United Kingdom, the first Christmas card has become a worldwide tradition soon. Have you ever wondered when was the first Christmas card sent and what design was in the early Christmas cards? In this article, we’ll discuss the most popular questions.

The early history of Christmas cards

Initially, Sir Henry Cole invented Christmas cards in 1843. He was a dedicated civil servant and scholar in the UK and had worked to implement a reform related to lowering the prices for postage to a single penny. However, he still needed a working solution to encourage citizens to use the services of the British postal system. And he has found it.

A majority of modern Christmas traditions come to us from the times of Victorian society, including the organization of banquets, charities, and parties, as well as caroling. Apart from this, British citizens tended to write long letters with greetings, send them to relatives and friends, and visit beloved ones to wish Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Such practice on Christmas Eve turned out to be exhausting and consumed much time. Sir Henry Cole was willing to solve these issues by implementing nice-decorated Christmas postcards instead of long letters.

In 1843, Henry Cole ordered a design of a Christmas card in Mr. John Calcott Horsley. They printed around 1000 copies of postcards and successfully sold them out at a shilling per unit. Sir Henry Cole linked the popularity of Victorian Christmas cards with an increase in mail volume that has reached 11.5 million over the next year. The practice of sending such original greetings rapidly became widespread throughout the United Kingdom.

Design of the early Christmas cards

The very first Christmas card was made using lithographic printing that gave some monochromatic effect. The banquet scene was depicted in the center of a Christmas card, inspiring the Dickensian motives. Even though the design was quite festive and straightforward, there was a contradictory moment of depicting children with a glass of wine in their hands. On the side parts of a postcard, we can see the charity practice, a popular activity on Christmas Eve in Victorian society. Generally, the first Christmas card wasn’t very colorful, but it was appreciated anyway, thanks to its holiday spirit.

As for the later postcards, the motives of the banquet were still the central theme, but some other scenes were also added. This concerns scenes of ice skating, toasts, and more charity acts. Additionally, other significant trends in Christmas cards` printing of that time include the children’s portraits dressed in holiday suits and complicated lettering hidden in different elements of a Christmas scene.

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Top Personalized Gift Ideas For Employees

You might not think about it for now, but you really should think about the custom gifts for employees list for Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthday, promotion or prosperity, and so on. Otherwise, you will turn into a person whose gifts are perceived with bewilderment and ridicule. You can always look into such a sheet and find something that will suit this particular person and right now. We decided to help you in this challenging task and create a universal virtual assistant for you, which you can always use in such a situation. 

Things that can bring joy to your employee quickly, inexpensively, and for sure:

1) Personalized canvas prints;

It can be anything – a photo from work, business trips, events;  a set of inscriptions from your favorite movie, TV series, or colleague’s song;  tags from all joint projects with a motivating inscription, maybe even a QR code with a specially prepared link with nice words, and so on. It should be something unique and meaningful for a person and not a universal image suitable for everyone.

 2) Phone case with initials;

Such a solution can become a leader among personalized gifts for employees. The choice of material is enormous: leather, silicone, plastic, metal, and so on, but we would still advise you to pay attention to high-quality, dense leather, which can be easily initialized or engraved. First, find out which phone model your employee has.

 3) Special gift set;

Collect a gift for a colleague yourself or use the help of specialists from the gift shop. It can be a box with beautiful, exciting cosmetics and personal care, a belt, cookies, or various grocery or wellness kits.

 4) Expensive engraved pen;

You should see similar handles made of metal and wood in stationery stores, comfortable, perfectly balanced, engraved, and inlaid with various stones or other magical gift items. The advantage of such a gift is that it is necessary for absolutely everyone and always, but at the same time, it is not difficult to make it personalized.

 5) Suitcase or carry-on with a personal engraving;

First, it’s a great idea, as losing a suitcase with your name on it would be a big deal. The employee will always identify his belongings in a second. In addition, there is less chance that someone will steal a bag at the airport or on the way to it. If you don’t want to make such a significant gesture, you can give a regular elegant suitcase and printed gifts to get your employees, for example, a leather name tag for luggage.

 6) Personal coffee mug;

The essentials of the office, isn’t it? Why not make the employee smile and feel sympathy and gratitude every time they take their cup off the shelf. To get such a reaction, you don’t need much. Just write one cute phrase on the mug and sign “loving colleagues”.

 7) Special laptop sleeve;

Your employee should feel great when they go to work. To be remembered more and make a small surprise, it will be enough for you to decorate a laptop bag so that a person’s mood from cozy and beautiful things improves even at home. In addition, this gift will be equally helpful on trips and during a regular workweek.

We hope that you will keep our recommendations as a keepsake and use them with pleasure. Good luck!

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How To Care For A Christmas Tree In A Pot

We all want to prolong the feeling of the holiday or even leave it with us forever, right? Of course, for all 365 (or even 366) days, not throwing out the dried tree and not removing the decorations is not a good idea. But eco concerned people have found an excellent way out of this dilemma. Just buy one lovely green beauty in a pot. It will always live with you and please the eye.

However, even here, minor difficulties may arise. It is most likely that you hardly needed the knowledge of what effective Christmas tree care should be. Now you should consider and try to fill the gap in your understanding of horticulture. Well, this is not a problem if you have a trustworthy source of information because we will be happy to share information about growing Christmas trees in pots, for free and without registration!

How to care for a Christmas tree in a pot?

Here are the basic guidelines for keeping a prickly baby in excellent condition from the moment of purchase and indefinitely. What do we have to do:

 1) Choose your Christmas tree pot wisely.

If you already have experience choosing a freshly cut plant, you are in luck because it will be easy for you to decide which living tree to take.

But even if you have no idea what selection criteria exist, it’s okay; we will help you!

First, look at the branches and needles. They may help to understand the potential vitality of any plant. You will need to check the brightness and saturation of the color, the flowability of the needles with a slight shake. It will also be appropriate to examine the tree trunk, ensuring no damage to it. Touch the potting soil with your hands. If it is overdried, then you should not buy such Christmas tree pots, since it is possible that they were not treated in the best way before.

If you are truly interested in preserving the tree for years to come, ask a specialist at your gardening center for advice. He should help and suggest which varieties are well tolerated by changing temperatures, conditions and transplanting from a pot to the ground and back. 

When buying, check with the seller for the background of the plant. If it first grew in the ground, and then was dug up and placed in a pot, then do not take it. Such a tree is less likely to survive than the one that initially grew in a container.

 2) Help the plants adapt.

Experts advise placing pot grown Christmas trees outdoors in the garden as a starting point, rather than carrying them indoors. Then rinse and water the plant well.

When the time is right, bring it home. However, you should not remove it from the native container. If you cannot do this, then buy a special planter for an evergreen tree in advance. The main thing is not to damage the root system.

 3) Be attentive in the room.

Do not place in a warm place, especially near radiators or fireplaces. Then the tree will die quickly.

Water in moderation, otherwise the plant will either dry out or begin to rot from the inside.

 4) When planting in the garden, do not forget about the rules.

If you are going to display and decorate the Christmas tree in the house every year, and not just leave it in the garden, then do not remove it from the container when planting.

The choice of places is very limited by the parameters of moisture, coolness, and inaccessibility to sunlight.

Feed the plant during the spring months. Don’t forget to water it. Ready!

Happy Holidays!

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How To Prepare For Enclosed VS Open Auto Shipping?

Most likely, you have not yet faced the need to deliver a car to another city or country. This business is not difficult, the main thing is to take into account some factors of transportation of such an expensive property. The first and most important question that you have is something like this: “Is open or closed transport better? What can I expect from each of the methods? ”.

Let’s take a look at the opposite options together so that you can choose the right type of transportation that suits you. Don’t worry about the facts below, as we have prepared this information based on the knowledge of the experts who provide auto shipping services and who know this kitchen from the inside.

What is auto shipping enclosed carrier vs open carrier?

So, an open car transporter is, first of all, transportation using a light trailer, which, as a rule, has only a couple of floors.
Of the advantages of this delivery method when choosing between auto shipping open truck vs enclosed, we can highlight the following:

as cheap as chips;

The method will save your money perfectly since you will not have to pay a huge amount for fuel for a heavy and unwieldy car.

ease;

Because this is the most common way to transport anything, finding a good driver and a company providing such a service will be incredibly easy.

Now it’s worth talking about the strong arguments against this delivery method:your load is going to go through all the trials and tribulations;

Open transportation will not protect your property from terrible weather conditions. Sun, hail, and frost can await your car on the way. An open trailer will also not save your vehicle from any debris that can get into it. However, the vehicle is exposed to similar influences during use.

If you agree to such conditions, then for you in the battle between open vs enclosed car shipping, open carriage wins.

Now let’s take a closer look at situations when closed transportation will be preferable for the owner, for the service, and the car. Here are some new facts to compare shipping a car in an enclosed trailer vs. an open trailer.

What does it mean to transport a car in a closed car transporter?

This is а delivery is fully protected and safe wagons, designed for one or a maximum of two places in the trailer. Typically, this service is provided for vehicles that require more attention and special care. The service is exclusive and more expensive.

The advantages are as follows:the ability to successfully translate luxury vintage cars;

Fear for the safety of the rare, almost priceless property. An ideal solution if you are afraid that your car will be damaged during transportation, as no natural disasters will touch it.

good drivers;

We do not doubt that people who openly transport goods are also professionals in their field. However, it is worth noting that the salary of a carrier of rare equipment is several times higher, and companies spend more time and money on their training and checking the reputation since they have to ultimately bear responsibility for damage of such value.

Of the minuses, only a few points can be named, but they are still very significant:you will pay an arm and a leg;

You will have to pay in full the costs of the company for one flight, including refueling the transport of the carrier company, driver services, etc., since most likely one of your cars will be delivered to the specified address.

not as fast as you would like;

There are not many auto transporters in the United States offering this kind of delivery, which means it will take longer to calculate the trip than you might expect.

We hope that we have made your choice between enclosed vs open car shipping a little easier. We wish your favorite purchase a safe journey and joy from the first meeting with it!

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What Cross Did Knights Templar Wear On Their Chest?

Now there is a new wave of popularity of medieval objects and symbols. The mysterious order of the Knights Templar received special attention. At the moment, people are actively making, selling, and buying such things as delicate pendants, embossed medallions, and even a Templar cross ring in the form of a signet.

But how much do we know about the history of these knights and the meaning of their signs?

Historians say that the Knights Templar left behind a few memorabilia and information, however, oddly enough, this did not prevent their contemporaries and writers of the next generations from mentioning them in their literary works.

As the identification mark of the heroes belonging to this movement, all authors, including Dan Brown and Robert Zelazny, point to the knight’s Templar cross on their chests. There are several varieties of it, the most popular is a red, slightly curved cross on a white background and a cross combined with a pentagram. Let’s explore together the meaning of the symbol, the history of its appearance, and how descendants use it.

The history of the knight Templar cross

The appearance of this symbol in the form in which we know it is closely related to the history of the Order of the Templar (Templars). So, these warrior monks existed from the beginning of the XII to the end of the XIV century. This alliance was the main strength of the crusader movement and participated in all campaigns. Members of the Order of the Knights Templar, as well as all other military formations, needed distinctive signs such as a coat of arms, flag, and motto.

We cannot say for sure about the specific moment of the appearance of the famous cross, since historical information sometimes does not correspond to reality, but we can share with you one entertaining legend associated with this image.

It is argued that the act of the Pope led to the appearance of the red cross. White robes were worn by the knights of the order when the head of the church sent them on their first campaign and gave instructions. During the farewell, the Pope tore his scarlet robe into many pieces and distributed it to the warriors as a blessing. They did not want to lose such a valuable gift on the way, and sewed scraps to white clothes somewhere in the chest area.

Thus, after the first journey, the Templar were recognized only by an unusual, distinctive sign. The Order sewed a uniform for its soldiers, making it large and symmetrical in the form of a straight equilateral cross with flared ends.

Obviously, its form cross of the knight’s Templar borrowed from Celtic culture. The Ancient Celts referred to a similar pagan symbol as the “Fingered Cross”. So we see that even the most fanatical people will not be able to claim that this subject speaks of the power of the Christian faith because the ancient people also endowed it with the meaning of unlimited love for the gods.

The colors of the sign also acquired meaning, since armor with such a banner left a smack of red blood on the lands of the infidels, and white symbolized the victory of good over evil.

What about Templar cross meaning?

We know that this symbol is rooted in antiquity. However, to this day, there is a general tendency to see in this symbol the color and strength of life, the power of fate and the sky, as well as the breath of eternity.

At the moment, scientists who research this topic interpret this cross as a sign of a balance between good and evil, darkness and light. Knowing this fact, it is easy to guess that the knights of the Templar cross banner contain a protective function. He says that the bearer of this symbol will not go over to the side of evil, because harmony reigns in his heart.

Throwing aside the historical reputation of this cross, we can now turn to this image for protection from enemies and ill-wishers, from rumors and gossip, from negativity. It is also believed that the sign is a way to give the wearer unprecedented energy and strength.

So do not be alarmed, although this talisman was not previously worn by the order with the purest reputation, however, its followers and members in most cases turned out to be much more persistent than other warriors at that time, and this alliance existed despite the prohibitions and attempts to obstruct them. Who knows, maybe this is due to their long-standing symbolism!

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Do You Need Incubator To Grow Shrooms?

Growing mushrooms at home have long been the most convenient way to get the product all year round. However, there are still connoisseurs of psilocybin who have not tried it. That is why we will tell you how to grow shrooms yourself. Here, you will also answer the question of what is the best way to choose an incubator to grow shrooms. 

Of course, this is a very interesting and at the same time complex process. However, if you want to try psilocybin for the first time, you can buy shrooms in Canada. There you will find a wide variety of choices, after which you will become a connoisseur of magical mushrooms.

Growing magic mushrooms at home

So let’s talk about growing magic mushrooms at home. First, it is a very convenient way to get a quality product that you always have on hand. It can also be an interesting hobby because mushroom growing is quite an exciting process. However, this can be a full-fledged test for beginners in this business. You have to be very careful and responsible the first time. However, later you will become a skilled grower of your psilocybin mushrooms.

There are two ways to grow mushrooms. This article will help you choose one of them. So, first, we will talk about the method for which you need an incubator for growing magic mushrooms. We will also tell you how to do it yourself at home and discuss another method that does not require an incubator.

Why do you need to grow shrooms in the incubator?

So, why do you need a mushroom incubator? You can do without it. It is enough to use incubation jars and a box. This is the first method of growing. However, this may take a little longer. So, how long does it take to grow shrooms without an incubator? The first stage is vaccination and germination of spores, which takes 1 week. Then you have to wait until they are fully germinated. It will take about 4 weeks. Fruiting will begin two weeks later. So, the whole process will take about 6 weeks. This way, the incubator will provide better conditions for mushrooms. It will maintain a temperature of 82 degrees. It will promote the faster ripening of mycelium. Likewise, it also helps fight contaminants that are dangerous to your mushrooms.

How to make an incubator for shrooms?

So, how to make an incubator for shrooms? We will tell you how to do it from the refrigerator. It is a very simple way that everyone can repeat. So, how do you make an incubator out of an old mini fridge for shrooms?

– Take everything out of the fridge.

– Wipe it with a mixture of water and bleach.

– Place a container of water on the bottom of the refrigerator.

– Put in it a heater for an aquarium with a capacity of 25 W.

– Pour bleach into the water to avoid mold.

– Put banks with disputes into the fridge.

– Close the refrigerator and turn on the heater.

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