Animals Suffer From Nature’s Wrath

We all dread the onslaught of natural disasters. We are forced out of our comfort zones especially if there is a need to evacuate in the case of flash floods and severe flooding. Everyone is focused on saving as many people as possible out of harm’s way and many often forget that there are also other species that needs saving – our animal friends. Devoted pet owners don’t just leave their homes without their pets in tow. However, there are some that completely forget about the animals they leave behind as they make their way to safety.

If you’ve seen the news lately, you’ll not only see people in evacuation centers or homes/properties submerged in flood but of poor and helpless animals left to fend for themselves in the face of the harsh elements. Fortunately, some are saved by animal shelters before it is too late. However, because the recent hurricanes proved to be really powerful ones, even the shelters themselves weren’t safe and animals in their care had to endure for a while as they and their carers battered the storm and the painful recovery that follows.

The news of dogs left tied up, abandoned by owners in Palm Beach County to fend for themselves during Hurricane Irma, disturbed many of you, and us.

The question .. will Palm Beach County hold those pet owners accountable?  

It's not something the animals asked for, to be abandoned by their families, for a storm. 

"Absolutely unacceptable. People need to be responsible pet owners in this community," says State Attorney Dave Aronberg.

"The animals should be a valued part of your family and they should be a part of your plan," says Animal Care and Control Capt. Dave Walesky. 

(Via: http://www.abcactionnews.com/weather/hurricane/animals-abandonedleft-chained-during-hurricane-irma-will-owners-be-held-accountable)

While it is understandable that pet owners are terrified for their lives that they leave home in a hurry to save themselves from whatever a hurricane like Harvey or Irma may bring, it is absolutely unacceptable for them to leave behind their furry friends. They signed up as pet owners and should likewise be responsible and held accountable for the safety and well-being of the animals in their care. They can’t just leave them behind without knowing what the elements have in store for all of us and for how long before they can come back home.

The flooding arrived Monday morning at the back door of Clay County Animal Care and Control — and within 45 minutes, the entire shelter was knee-deep in water.

As Hurricane Irma moved across Northeast Florida, entire neighborhoods disappeared under the storm’s flood waters. Rain and wind poured onto already saturated land — and rivers and lakes and creeks overflowed, unable to contain the sheer amount of water.

It was all hands on deck, said Christina Sutherin, the Clay County facility’s director.

“It all happened so quickly,” she added. “I have the most amazing staff ever. They left their families. They left their homes, dropped everything to come out. All they cared about was making sure our animals were safe.”

(Via: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2017-09-13/animal-shelters-seek-help-public-hurricane-irma-aftermath)

The shelters are also damaged as is the rest of the community, where the authorities estimate the damage left behind by both disasters to be over several billions of dollars. In the aftermath of the storms, it’s the flooding that makes recovery more challenging than it already is. With limited funds, most animal shelters struggle in securing the safety of all the animals in their care. More animals are even added into their custody as they rescued displaced animals abandoned by their owners that were out in the flooded streets.

Even wild animals were caught and rescued during the storm, not only those pets with owners. Animals can sense when danger is coming and many of them flee before disaster strikes but fortunately, most of them bounce back pretty well soon after while a handful is rescued and picked up by most local shelters.

The following blog post Animals Suffer From Nature’s Wrath was initially seen on PopEgo.com

source https://popego.com/animals-suffer-from-natures-wrath/

Hurricane Survivors Get Help From Charities

The entire world is aware of how two recent hurricanes left certain US states in a bad shape today. Texas and Florida residents were once again reminded of the power of Mother Nature’s wrath and many are quick to surmise that climate change may have a hand in this. It is not often that Americans experience natural calamities like these two, so it is a major eye opener for many especially the ones who had to go through the ordeal of the storm. The fear caused by the heavy rain and flooding forced people out of their homes with only the most important items in their possession without really knowing when they’ll be able to go home and bounce back.

The government is always ready to help its citizens but one can’t expect to receive everything they will ever need to recover from the state. After all, major public properties and infrastructures were also destroyed during the storm that the government has to fund and rebuild. Non-profit organizations pitch in to help and they have been of great help to each and every community for the longest time. They not only hand out relief goods but even aid in the relief and rescue operations.

More than 50 local and national charities have raised more than $350 million in the nearly three weeks since Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas Gulf Coast, and the disparate groups are trying to decide on priorities while some storm victims still await help.

Distrust of large charities such as the American Red Cross has driven many donors to smaller, local organizations. For instance, Houston Texans football star J.J. Watt has raised more than $30 million for his foundation, an effort he started by posting appeals on social media.

One donor to Watt's effort, Helen Vasquez, stood outside the Texans' stadium and said she had seen a Facebook post listing the salaries of executives at top national charities. She gave Watt $20 instead.

(Via: http://m.startribune.com/harvey-charities-raise-more-than-350m-in-less-than-3-weeks/444459993/?section=nation)

Charities help disaster survivors in every possible way you can ever imagine. Big charities like the Red Cross are all over the place while smaller ones also do their part and make a difference to people’s lives. During times of disasters, others who are unaffected by the tragedy do not hesitate in giving back to these charities in order to help them mobilize help where help is needed.

Hurricane Irma is no more, but the response and recovery to the devastation the storm left behind in Florida and in the Caribbean is fully underway.

The damage to some island nations in particular is difficult to comprehend. The small island of Barbuda had 90 percent of its structures damaged or destroyed, according to the Washington Post. Anguilla saw similar damage to its electricity infrastructure. On St. Martin, 70 percent of the homes had been damaged or destroyed, leaving tens of thousands in need of public shelter. A million people were without power in Puerto Rico, and millions more were without electricity in Florida, where the fiscal damage has not yet been calculated.

If you’re wondering what you can do, one easy way to pitch in is to give money to one or more of the many charities involved with the response and recovery. Here are some suggestions and a little guidance if you’re not sure where to start.

(Via: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/11/16287944/hurricane-irma-donations-charities-disaster-relief)

The survivors need your help now more than ever. You may not be able to extend help physically in aid of the recovery efforts but whatever amount you share can go a long way in uplifting the lives of these people who do how to move on from this tragedy. Giving financial donations to these charities or humanitarian organizations is perhaps the best thing you can do in helping another person in need. You may also donate in kind, although, some advised that monetary donations are better because of the challenge posed in transporting goods and clothing in the affected areas where most infrastructures have also been damaged by the hurricane.

Hurricane Survivors Get Help From Charities Read more on: The PopEgo.com Blog

source https://popego.com/hurricane-survivors-get-help-from-charities/

Wiping Your Computer Clean

The world we live in now is highly digital. It is inevitable for you to deal with tech gadgets in the course of your day because it is all over the place. And as such, we have also started to embrace more of these modern contraptions into our personal lives. Can you imagine going about your day without your handy and ever reliable smartphone that can do just about everything you’ll ever need for the day? The answer is probably no, right? But let us not forget what started it all – computers. Their presence enables mankind to shift from manual labor and consequently automated most of our tasks, so we have a lot to be thankful for their existence.

But just like any material object (especially a tech one) you have at home, school, work, or everywhere else, they are subject to normal wear and tear especially when misused or abused. Over time, your computer would need fixing or worse, a replacement. Other time, you simply just want to upgrade and buy that shiny new laptop or Mac you saw at the mall the other day. Sooner or later, you’ll have to say goodbye to your desktop or laptop but it’s not as simple as you think. There are data to be transferred and saved but do you know where to start?

Many families have welcomed new PCs into their homes, thanks to back-to-school and Labor Day sales, leaving older computers to be donated, recycled, or sold. That makes this a good time to learn how to perform a factory reset.

What is a factory reset? That's when you wipe your computer's hard drive and reinstall its operating system. Doing this reverts your computer to its pristine state, deleting all your personal information, applications, and files in the process.

Getting rid of a computer without performing a reset could put your data in the wrong hands—and you and your family at risk for identity theft. 

Can't I just delete the files? Matt Ham, owner of repair service company Computer Repair Doctor, explains that manually purging files isn’t enough.

(Via: https://www.consumerreports.org/computers/how-to-wipe-a-computer-clean-of-personal-data/)

The number of digital data/files you have saved on your device depends on how long you’ve been using it and how often you use it. You may save photos, songs, videos, movies, and most importantly, documents that mean the world to you. You also use your PC when browsing the web, accessing social media accounts, or when doing online banking, which means there is a big possibility you have saved sensitive login details and passwords on the device.

Step 4: Delete!

You’re now ready to delete the contents of the hard drive. Drag everything from your Documents, Pictures and Music folder into the Recycle Bin, then right-click on the Recycle Bin to delete its contents.

This alone won’t fully delete your PC’s contents, but will speed up the secure deletion process. For this, try the free Eraser tool - it overwrites deleted files several times so they cannot be recovered.

Install the Eraser software and select the files and folders you want to permanently erase. Be warned: it’s a time-consuming process. Remember to repeat the Eraser process for files on all the user accounts on your PC.

(Via: http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/computing/laptops/how-to-securely-wipe-your-laptop-or-pc-windows-7-11363807738531)

Cleaning up may be a hassle for many but it is a crucial step you should not miss out on when selling your old PC or laptop because there is the risk of you leaving behind important data that you don’t want others to see or gain access to. But before doing anything like a factory reset, make sure you back up all your data first before they are gone for good. If not, you may have to undergo the costly and painful process of data recovery that is dreaded by most computer users. You can either transfer these files to an external hard drive or up in the cloud for safe keeping. The cleanup process may vary, though, depending on operating system version, so also bear that in mind.

The following blog post Wiping Your Computer Clean See more on: PopEgo

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The Era Of Fake News

We live in a digital age where information is passed around even faster than the speed of lightning. With social media dominating the web, you can very well read stories and see photos and videos of events happening in various parts of the world in real time without knowing how credible its sources are. Politics is often targeted by fake news that usually leaves the public confused because they can no longer tell what is real and what is not. Technology is a big factor why fake news is able to spread like wildfire. Anybody can post anything they want on social media or on certain sites that people can easily see and quickly shared with others.

Politicians have also benefited from these false stories especially when it discredits the credibility of their rivals. Perhaps it also explains the unprecedented win of President Donald Trump in last year’s election. Other times, it can help dictate the direction a certain nation is going. Take Brexit, for instance. The people’s opinion was greatly influenced by the intentional spreading of fake news before and during the time of voting. So you see, we can’t just turn a blind eye to this public nuisance anymore because of its large-scale implications that can make or break nations, actually.

How can we fight back against the fake news infecting our information feeds and political systems? New research suggests that education and filtering technology might not be enough: The very nature of social media networks could be making us peculiarly vulnerable.

The intentional spreading of false stories has been credited with swaying such monumental events as last year's Brexit vote in Britain and the U.S. presidential election. Tech firms such as Alphabet Inc. unit Google and Facebook Inc. have been trying to find ways to weed it out, or at least help users spot it. Some say we need to start earlier, educating children on how to think critically.

But understanding the unique epidemiology of fake news may be no less important. Unlike a typical virus, purveyors of falsehood don't have to infect people at random. Thanks to the wealth of information available on social media and the advent of targeted advertising, they can go straight for the most susceptible and valuable victims — those most likely to spread the infection.

(Via: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-fake-news-google-facebook-0904-story.html)

Many people use social media today and in the course of our use, we share personal information through the details we disclose on our accounts, posts we like, share and comment on, surveys we take, etc. We are practically the products being sold by SNS platforms to third-party advertisers. This information, when it goes into the wrong hands, allows the perpetrators of fake news to publish targeted posts to a specific niche or group of people for them to realize their goals whatever they may be. Hence, it’s also the reason why we can’t just easily put an end to fake news because it thrives in social media, a platform the majority of us can’t live without right now.

The White House’s social media director tweeted fake news about Hurricane Irma Sunday.

Dan Scavino shared a short video showing flooding at an airport he said was of Miami International Airport.

“Sharing #HurricaneIrma on social media with President @realDonaldTrump & @VP Pence hourly. Here is Miami International Airport. STAY SAFE!!” he wrote.

But that wasn’t Miami International Airport.

(Via: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wh-social-media-director-tweets-fake-news-hurricane-irma-article-1.3485541)

Even public officials are fooled by fake news. This is especially common during natural calamities and disasters when news is flooding in and everyone is glued to the latest updates that many gullibly share or retweet posts without verifying their legitimacy or credibility first. Since we are undeniably in the midst of the fake news era, what we can do to somehow lessen its damage, prevent them from trending, or protect you and your family from any problems arising from such posts is to refrain from sharing whatever you see on your newsfeed. Sometimes, you just have to bite back your (virtual) tongue and stop flaming the fire that is fake news – the new favorite of cyber criminals aside from the spreading ransomware attacks.

The following article The Era Of Fake News was initially published on Popego

source https://popego.com/the-era-of-fake-news/

Ebay’s Attempt to Dominate China

Most global businesses today are online businesses. It's a no brainer considering how digital the world has become. For example, Amazon, Facebook (and most social networking sites), Google, Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, Sony, etc are online brands that have been widely accepted by almost everyone on the planet and their popularity just keeps on growing. The demand for their products and services is so big that they have managed to wipe out most competitions without a sweat at all. While most of these brands are success stories, it is not always the case.

Take for instance eBay’s attempt to penetrate the Chinese market. We all know how big of a company eBay is in the Western Hemisphere and just how big and powerful a country China is. Unfortunately, this US-based multinational e-commerce corporation failed to establish their business in “The Land of the Red Dragon” as early as 2002 because they have little understanding of how the Chinese deals with business. It’s also worth pointing out that the government is pretty much involved in all the affairs of its people even if it is a private company or corporation and perhaps was also a factor to the company's failure. Jobs weren't an issue.

He points to eBay’s unsuccessful 2002 bid to make it in China. The internet giant ran up the white flag after being beaten by a then much smaller home-grown company, Alibaba. It’s what can happen when a multinational doesn’t give its China office enough autonomy, says Tse. 

“eBay didn’t understand the complexities of the China market. They required everything to be done almost exactly as they they did it in the US,” he says. 

“Alibaba was smaller but its team was flexible and adapted quickly. They understood what the consumer wanted and they developed a locally accepted version of the business model. 

“If it would take a week before eBay [with its head office overseas] could make a decision and come back to China with it, during that one week Alibaba could have made five decisions. This is how Alibaba beat eBay.” 

(Via: https://www.intheblack.com/articles/2017/09/01/edward-tse-consulting-china)

What entrepreneurs need to remember when crossing borders and bringing their brands to foreign markets is to have someone oversee everything that is familiar with the market and has a good grasp of the culture and practices in that place so that their efforts do not go to waste. At times, entrepreneurs must learn to adapt and be flexible, something that eBay wasn’t able to do when the opportunity to expand there presented itself.

About a decade ago, EBay Inc. made a legendary retreat from the Chinese auction business in the face of growing local competition. It was a defeat so humiliating that it became a business school case study. Since then, however, the Chinese e-commerce market has changed drastically -- and so has EBay. As the company makes its return to the mainland, it may be at the forefront of an important trend in online trade.

EBay recently announced that it's partnering with Ningbo, a major port and manufacturing hub, to help boost the city's e-commerce with the rest of the world. That's a farsighted move. In 2016, Chinese shoppers made a whopping $86 billion in online purchases from vendors in other countries. Globally, such trade was just as healthy, adding up to $300 billion in 2015 and growing at nearly 25 percent a year -- faster than domestic e-commerce. At a time when globalization otherwise seems to be in retreat, companies taking advantage of this kind of trade are looking like the future of retail.

(Via: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-02-22/why-is-ebay-returning-to-china)

However, it seems that more than a decade is enough time for eBay to innovate and rethink their strategy because they’re once again considering a China expansion. They sure have learned from their mistakes and the Chinese market is pretty big and profitable for them to keep ignoring it any longer. This time, they are partnering with Ningbo to help them realize their dream of enjoying a slice of China’s pie. It may actually work this time as Chinese consumers are constantly anxious about the dangers of many fake local products and there is a growing middle and upper class that can afford more expensive (even luxury) Western brands.

Ebay’s Attempt to Dominate China Find more on: PopEgo.com Blog

source https://popego.com/ebays-attempt-to-dominate-china/

Snoring Is No Joke

We all look forward to a good night’s sleep after a long day at work or school. Our body craves the comfort of our bed where we can just lie down and simply not do anything until we eventually fall asleep. For many, this is the definition of pure bliss. However, not everyone gets to enjoy sleep the way some people do. There are actually two people that come to mind: those who snore and then there’s their partners/spouses. The loud snoring in itself is so annoying that it even triggers a break-up or for couples to even for them to consider having separate sleeping arrangements.

While we may laugh at someone who snores loudly, we fail to realize just how dangerous it truly is. Although not all snorers are diagnosed with sleep apnea, everyone who has sleep apnea actually snores. People with this condition stop breathing many times in their sleep aside from just snoring and that it itself is a very dangerous symptom. Your brain is basically choosing between sleep and breathing and that should not be the case as breathing is essential to life.

Snoring is no laughing matter. Besides sleep deprivation - for the snorer, and especially for anyone within earshot - snoring is linked to more serious consequences.

It increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as heart attacks or a stroke, and can even result in premature death.

Earlier research has shown that a tendency to snore can be established early in life.

To find out why, researchers led by Karl Franklin of University Hospital in Umea, Sweden asked more than 15 500 randomly selected people in Nordic countries about their early childhood, and their snoring habits.

(Via: https://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/health/snoring-is-no-laughing-matter-413556)

If you are a habitual snorer, you probably know it by now because it is not something that just pops up out of the blue. So what are you waiting for? Isn’t your partner nagging you enough for you to go get yourself checked? Do not just turn a blind eye to your condition simply because you are deep in slumber when it manifests. The danger is still there. There are numerous sleep clinics you can visit for a consultation and many people do it now. It is just proof that snoring is a common predicament experienced by the majority of the world’s population today.

You’ve probably heard of sleep apnea, and if you haven’t already, chances are you will. Sleep apnea is a common disorder that affects one in five adults, afflicting more men than women. What many don’t realize is that sleep apnea can lead to serious health issues, even death, if left undiagnosed and untreated.

The experts have spoken. Sleep apnea requires medical attention. Before trying any treatments or solutions, get yourself diagnosed first to receive the best treatment for whatever you are suffering from, which is most likely sleep apnea if you are a heavy snorer. You can even ask your doctor if an anti-snoring mouthpiece is good for you just so you don’t lose more sleep than you already did.

Sleep apnea is a condition to take very seriously. Not only can it be life threatening, but the sleep deprivation, daily fatigue and other symptoms will make your life miserable if not properly treated.

With insurance coverage readily available for diagnosis and treatment, there’s every reason to see your doctor and start to sleep soundly and wake up healthy, happy and refreshed!

(Via: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obstructive-sleep-apnea-a-common-disorder-to-treat_us_59972074e4b02eb2fda31f8f)

It was probably alright to just laugh about issues like snoring if we were back in the 80s or 90s but not today. We all know by now the many dangers posed by sleep apnea and we just can’t afford to be negligent with our health when there are many health risk factors around us waiting for our immunity levels to go down. And that is bound to happen when you can't sleep soundly at night Get that much-deserved sleep because that is all that your body needs and wants after toiling hard for the day. Give it some rest and you might even be able to live until you are 100.

The following article Snoring Is No Joke was originally seen on The PopEgo.com Blog

source https://popego.com/snoring-is-no-joke/

Possible Business Changes Shakes American Entrepreneurs

No man is an island. How many times have we heard that before? Nobody can exist alone. It’s the same thing to our society. Nations work with other nations in making the world go round. From sharing the world’s resources (at a cost, though) to trading with one another, we all make allies to help the country provide everything it needs for all the citizens of the land and it is actually a never-ending process. Some nations will cease to work alongside a certain country for various reasons, though, and it may unnecessarily cause a strain that can impact the lives of those affected and affect the overall economy as well.

Many changes are happening today in America under the leadership of President Trump. We know he has created one of the biggest empires in the U.S. but he has a lot to learn when it comes to politics and running the country for he is absolutely a total newbie. He can’t always just post his sentiments on Twitter and not give a care as to what its impact to the public will be given his position in the government. It’s even more important that he reflects on his actions and the policies he is supporting right now since he’s the one in command of the country and everyone else counts on him to do what’s right to make America great again.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned on Friday that the Trump administration was making “highly dangerous demands” in the North American Free Trade Agreement modernization talks that could erode U.S. business support and torpedo the negotiations.

John Murphy, the chamber’s senior vice president for international policy, said the largest U.S. business lobby was urging the administration to drop some of its more controversial NAFTA proposals, including raising rules of origin thresholds to “extreme” levels.

“We’re increasingly concerned about the state of play in negotiations,” Murphy told reporters.

(Via: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-chamber/u-s-chamber-warns-against-trumps-highly-dangerous-nafta-demands-idUSKBN1CB2IR)

And President Trump’s potential pullout from the NAFTA will be a major blow to American businesses as many things will suffer if relationships with Canada and Mexico will be put to an end once the president decides to put an end to this agreement. While like any other agreement there is, the North American Free Trade Agreement is not perfect but it does not mean the president should totally abolish it for it can also mean a certain disaster. Perhaps a little tweaking can help but not necessarily put an end to it like what the president is suggesting right now because many businesses are not yet ready for it.

America's biggest business group is warning the Trump administration that a withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement would be a "political and economic debacle" that would cost hundreds of thousands of United States jobs.

Talking with reporters Friday, John Murphy, a senior official with the US Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber would work to rally support for the trade deal and against the administration's hard-line demand for concessions from Canada and Mexico.

The comments were unusually blunt for America's biggest business group.

The Trump administration, which has threatened to pull out of NAFTA if the three countries can't agree on far-reaching changes to favour American interests, quickly returned fire.

(Via: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20171008/us-chamber-commerce-sounds-alarm-about-nafta-pull-out)

Of course, President Trump is only thinking about the country’s welfare and is perhaps the likely justification why he is making all those demands but he fails to realize that this is an agreement between three countries. Hence, it must somehow be beneficial for all and not to just one party. As a businessman, it should have been clear to him how these things work since you negotiate with others and strike up a deal. It is true that America is still one of the most powerful and influential nations in the world but it still needs to work side by side other nations especially when it comes to trade.

Possible Business Changes Shakes American Entrepreneurs was initially seen on PopEgo.com Blog

source https://popego.com/possible-business-changes-shakes-american-entrepreneurs/