3 Constructive Ways To Safely Get Rid of Old Electronics

Technology changes rapidly, which means you probably upgrade your electronics every year or so. If you are like most people, you probably have a draw or box of outdated items collecting dust in your house. Why let it continue to pile up when you can choose one of these three constructive ways to get rid of your gear?

1. Recycle Them

Electronics contain a wide range of metals and materials, most of which can be recycled. Look for a facility that offers computer recycling near you. Chances are they will also take some of the other tech gadgets that you have lying around, too. This is a win for you and the environment since it clears up space both in your home and landfills. 

2. Donate Them

Tech can get really expensive — whether it’s a PC for schoolwork, a tablet to keep kids entertained or a cell phone to stay in touch with friends and family. The reality is that many families are unable to buy the latest gadgets. That means there are probably thousands of people who would absolutely love to have your outdated electronics. Look for charitable organizations that accept electronics. Many will wipe them clean and refurbish them before getting them to people most in need. 

3. Sell Them

While some people might not view this as a constructive solution, your wallet definitely will. Keep in mind that there are a few things you will want to do before you decide to sell any unused electronics:

  • Completely remove any personal or identifying information
  • Disable Wifi connections
  • Make a list of any features, including those that do not work properly

Taking these extra steps can make selling old electronics safer and easier. It allows potential buyers to know exactly what they are getting. That should not include your personal information, which is why it is so important to completely wipe any personal information from every internal drive.

If you have outdated electronics laying around, recycling, donating or selling them can clear up space and give them new life.…

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How To Have a Successful Restaurant Opening in Texas

Texas is a food heaven for critics and appreciators alike. Between the foodie hot spots of Austin, Houston, Dallas, and many others, this state has some of the best restaurants in the world. It’s no wonder new food establishments seem to be popping up every week.

Whether you have dreams of converting an old trailer into a food truck or creating a 5-star fine dining experience, opening a restaurant is no small feat. With the right amount of planning, organization, and preparation, you can successfully avoid some of the stress that accompanies the weeks leading up to your grand opening. Here are 4 avoidable mistakes made by first-time restaurant owners.

Not Having the Proper Licenses

While you’re in the midst of recipe testing, menu creation, hiring staff, and remodeling the space, it’s easy to forget to apply for restaurant licenses and permits. Without the proper licenses, restaurant owners may find themselves facing a hefty fine. By doing research ahead of time on documentation like a Texas alcohol permit, business license, and Employer Identification Number, you can avoid major roadblocks like fees and waiting periods.

A Large Menu

Creating the menu is one of the most exciting tasks for restaurant owners and staff ahead of opening. However, it’s easy to get carried away when deciding what your patrons will want to eat. The more long and complicated your menu is, the more chaotic your dinner rushes will be. By minimizing the number of items on your menu, you will avoid additional ingredient costs and overwhelmed customers. After all, time is money– the more time customers take reading the menu and deciding what they want, the fewer profits you come home with at the end of the night.

Untrained Staff

Restaurant staff members are the backbone of a successful night of service. Having improperly trained staff members may lead to avoidable mistakes and unhappy customers. Crosstraining staff members is a great way to ensure all your bases are covered. Additionally, making sure your restaurant staff is happy is the key to a profitable grand opening. Nobody likes a high turnover rate, so you should always make sure your staff is treated fairly, compensated well, and feels valued as employees.

Lack of Internet Presence

Social media is everything nowadays. For many restaurant-goers, their first impression of your restaurant will be made by your presence online. Having a consistent, positive, and well-regarded presence on sites like Facebook and Instagram can make or break a business. Planning out your social media strategy is the key to ensuring you have a following online, which will in turn drive business to your restaurant.…

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John Branca Harvard Interview on Media

In years past, the term “media” only encompassed a few things, such as television, radio, and print media. Now, the definition of media has expanded greatly, for better or worse, and many celebrities and entertainers find themselves struggling to keep up with the legality of it all. Having a top attorney on your side as you navigate your career in entertainment can help you stay out of legal trouble on various forms of media, or it can help you receive compensation when someone else is irresponsible with their media use in a way that negatively affects you. 

Entertainment Lawyers and Social Media

Social media has largely changed the way most of us interact with the world, and it often allows us to have a more personal connection with entertainers and creators that we admire. This can be amazing for both fans and entertainers, as they can interact in a meaningful way like never before. 

At the same time, social media has allowed people to spread false narratives and hateful messages like never before, which can harm an entertainer’s public image and negatively impact future career prospects. 

Entertainment lawyers can step in on an entertainer’s behalf if there is potential for a defamation case, where another person lies about their client with malicious intent. Or, they can help an entertainer who may have made a legal mistake while using social media. 

Entertainment Lawyers and Podcasts

Podcasts are also a newer form of media that have been around for less than two decades. Podcasts allow people to have short or long-form conversations, and many podcasts have taken the world by storm in recent years. 

Some podcasts are purely informational, delivering the latest news for various industries. Others are only for entertainment, supplying comedy or fictional stories to listeners. No matter which type of podcast a person has, they may need an entertainment lawyer if someone attempts to steal their intellectual property or if they are being sued for something they said about someone or something else. 

Entertainment Lawyers and Video Games

Video games have come a long way in the last few decades, offering more complexity and immersion than ever. That increased complexity often comes with more legal needs, such as software licensing, music licensing, and merchandising. It’s always a good idea for a game development team to have an entertainment lawyer on call. 

Entertainment lawyers may be able to handle media of the past, such as newspapers and radio broadcasts, but they can also assist an entertainer with legal issues that arise on newer forms of media like social media, podcasts, and videogames.…

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Wide Load

You’ve seen the ride along cars warning commuters that a tractor trailer with a heavy load is behind it. You may have wondered where that load was going or how much it costs to ship something that big from point A to point B. Let’s face it, you may have even been annoyed that your commute intersected with this load because frequently, those tractor trailers slow down the traffic around them in the interest of safety. Have you wondered about the logistics of moving these wide loads, though? It’s more difficult than you think.

Heavy Machinery

When you’re an operator of heavy machinery moving equipment, the attention to detail it takes to ensure all your ducks are in a row comes as second nature to you. The general public, however, has no idea of everything that has to be in place before the rubber meets the road in transporting those heavy machines. There are different Department of Transportation regulations that vary from state to state and movers have to know all of them. There are permits for which to apply and documentation to provide. The routes have to be analyzed to make sure that bridges and overpasses can handle the combined weight of the transport and the equipment being transported. Don’t forget, the overpasses under which the caravan will pass have to be height checked. It’s a pretty catastrophic event to try to pass under an overpass only to have the equipment you’re hauling destroyed by all that concrete.

Moving Around

The equipment for transport itself has to be checked prior to loading. If there are moving parts, those have to be secured. If those pieces are removable, sometimes it’s smart to remove those parts and ship those separately. If there are parts that will stick out past the flatbed on which everything’s loaded, those need to be flagged so other motorists won’t run into them.

Prior to shipping, the destination has to be prepared, too. It’s no good for a piece of heavy equipment to arrive at its journey’s end only for that terminus point to be unable to accommodate said equipment.

Boats

The logistics of moving boats overland is similar. The biggest difference between moving heavy equipment by tractor trailer and shipping boats the same way is who’s requesting the moving. Clients for boats tend to be private citizens rather than the companies who own the heavy equipment. Both types of companies have to have excellent reputations, talented drivers and adequate insurance.

The process of shipping large objects overland is more complicated than you think.…

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3 Reasons Doctor Should Monitor Patient Progress at Home

The thought of at-home doctor visits disappeared decades ago as the medical field shifted heavily toward a clinic-based approach. While useful in many ways, creating a structured time and permanent location for physicians, this approach limited the contact and awareness that medical professionals had with their patients. There are ways, though, that people may enjoy the best of both worlds. Remote patient monitoring is of great benefit, permitting doctors to understand how the sick feel and act at home without traveling to tons of homes.

1. Improve Focus and Fine-Tune Treatments

Someone with blood sugar levels would typically set up an appointment to regularly have blood drawn and consult in-office about how the body is doing. At this time, the doctor and patient may chat about meals and any concerns. However, with the proper remote patient monitoring tools, better snapshots may be taken, showing a more accurate reflection of sugar levels throughout that time. The information is sent directly into the system, allowing for more efficient, timely reviews and quicker medical advice. 

2. Create Personal Connections

Motivation may play a role in how people handle their health challenges. For example, overweight people may care about what the doctor thinks upon entering for a visit. Once home, knowing it’s going to be another year, that same person may cave into eating whatever they want until about a month before the next checkup. This impersonal relationship is only a fear tactic, not an encouragement. Using the remote devices, lets professionals see the weight changes from the beginning, holding people accountable for their health. More follow-ups also show a sincere interest in doing what is best. This could be useful in reaching goals and warding off undesirable health issues.

3. Enhance Patient Awareness

When someone has to take blood pressure daily, logging it into the database, those readings become an undeniable reality. Excuses diminish because someone cannot say that it’s only bad at the appointment or that the unusual reading occurred because of an indulgent day. It’s good for someone to realize the state of the body and how choices impact it. Remote tools give awareness to doctors, but the tools also enlighten patients about how little decisions make major impacts.

If you’re looking to overhaul your practice, remote tools could be an answer. The devices and programming may build better relationships, strengthen the body, improve overall physical health, and reduce the need for hospitalizations or long-term medicines.…

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How To Increase Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction ratings have a huge impact on your business. A low customer satisfaction rating can spell big trouble for growth and capital returns as you’ll likely see a decrease in returning customers and brand image. Taking care of your customers is essential to growing your business and is the foundation to becoming a strong competitor in your market. If you’re looking for ways to keep customers coming back these tips are here to help you do just that.

Increase Customer Trust

Gaining the trust of your customers is no easy task, but it is a critical part of creating and keeping a positive image of your company. The most foundational way to gain customer trust is to decrease financial risk while maintaining your companies profit margins. In ecommerce, fraud in its various different forms is incredibly common. While keeping your customers happy is essential, making sure that you’re not risking your financial success is also a critical step to creating a profitable business model. You’ll want to reduce chargebacks while maintaining your relationship with your customers. This can be done by investing in various forms of merchant fraud protection, including but not limited to address verification services, negative database security, and tracking buying pattern data to detect unusual buying patterns. Another solid way to increase customer trust is by delivering on your promises. Making sure they know that they are important and worth the trouble in an area as little as shipping and their quoted amount can really go a long way to satisfying their needs.

Create Faster Customer Support

In ecommerce, customer support is essential to maintaining a good business model. Customers want to know that if they have a problem, it can be solved by contacting the company and getting a real response in a timely manner. Making your customer support systems constantly available, whether that be by phone or online, is a great way for customers to feel comfortable buying from you again and again. Concentrate on making it easy to contact the company for any questions, and ensuring that all customers get quick responses. You should also think of ways that you can increase accessibility, like creating more channels for contact like social media and other platforms. By engaging with your customers through various outlets, you’ll create sustainable relationships with your customers.

Establish Self-Help Resources

Creating channels in which customers can help themselves can greatly increase customer satisfaction and increase your profit margins by decreasing the number of interactions that you’ll need to have with customers. Knowledge bases and easy to use and understand accounts for customers accounts can go a long way in ensuring your customers are happy with purchasing from your business. Letting customers handle things like their own subscriptions and shipping information can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.…

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