How To Make The Backyard The Style Center Of Your Home

For many homeowners, the backyard is not at the forefront of their home-design plans. But procrastination can be an advantage when it comes to outdoor living. By the time many people consider the backyard, they have developed a strong sense of their own décor personality.

Most consumers’ design styles can be classified as traditionalist, bohemian, modern, eclectic, rustic or industrial, according to Belgard, a company dedicated to outdoor living design and elements for patio spaces and beyond.

Fortunately, there are backyard design plans to suit any taste, as well as any budget. Some design elements that might have particular appeal to different décor personalities include:

*For the traditionalist: Classic comfort. What is the primary purpose of a patio? A place for sitting and relaxing. Attractive, sturdy pavers in appealing patterns provide easy walking and an artistic base for conversation nooks of tables, chairs, planters, and picnic tables.

*For the bohemian: Fire pit. Fire pits are an easy way to promote cozy gathering for all ages. And everyone can appreciate freedom from bugs; wood fires can help hold mosquitoes at bay.

*For the modernist: Multiple levels. Homeowners seeking a modern look can consider a range of options for walkways and pavers that might include steps and slopes to wind through a terraced garden.

*For the eclectic: Water features. But not just for swimming. Homeowners can show off an eclectic backyard style with a fountain, fish pond, or other water feature that makes a splash.

*For the rustic: Eating out. Cooking outdoors can reach a new level, as advanced outdoor kitchen units allow guests to help with meal preparation or just chat with the host/chef while enjoying the outdoor setting.

*For the industrial: Unique lighting is a way to make a statement and set a mood in an outdoor setting. Some ways to get creative with light include not only hardscape lighting and illuminated planters, but short-term elements such as lighting fixtures that highlight cool metals and metallics for a more urban, industrial vibe.

Belgard, part of Oldcastle Architectural, was established in 1995 and remains a respected source of durable, classic, stylish outdoor-living products and a resource for design ideas to help homeowners take on backyard design with confidence.

Read More

What You Have To Give Up To Pay For An Unexpected Hospital Visit?

We may all be one stomach bug away from an unexpected hospital visit. Accidents and illnesses can occur without warning, wreaking havoc on finances and negatively impacting everyday life, even with health insurance. While many people have major medical insurance, rarely do they prepare for the additional financial impact of out-of-pocket costs even a short stay in the hospital can incur. The average length of a hospital stay is 4.6 days and costs $11,000, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

What would the average family have to give up to pay that type of medical bill — eating out at restaurants for a year or more, weekly lawn service, maid service, pet grooming or family movie nights? No one should have to stress about the impact hospital visits and related expenses could have on everyday life. That’s why companies like Aflac have designed supplemental hospital indemnity insurance policies to help cover what major medical insurance may not. Hospital insurance provides additional coverage that can help protect individuals and families from potentially devastating medical expenses, allowing them to keep their lives on track.

Heading Tag 2

When specific events associated with a hospital visit occur, policyholders receive cash benefits that can be used to help cover everything from treatment costs to expenses that health insurance doesn’t typically cover, such as, rent, gas, groceries, utilities, child care and other necessities. Do your kids realize just how much money you’re really worth once all your assets are added up? If they’re anything like the adult offspring surveyed for Fidelity Investments’ “Family & Finance Study,” the answer is a resounding — and rather scary — “no.” In fact, seven out of 10 of them underestimated their parents’ estate by an average of $278,000.

Heading Tag 3

That’s right, by more than a quarter of a million dollars. The reason that’s scary — and why it should be a wake-up call for even those with modest estates they hope to pass on to heirs — is simple: It illustrates a breakdown in communications that Kevin Ruth, head of Fidelity’s wealth planning and personal trust, says badly needs addressing through ‘frank conversations” between parents and their adult children.

Heading Tag 4

We all want our kids to have movie-star smiles as adults. As parents, this means knowing how to protect their teeth when they’re young, while ensuring that they practice good dental health care for a lifetime. Because February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, it’s the perfect time to “brush up” on instilling good oral-hygiene habits. Consider this: according to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), nearly one in three children ages two to five years old in the U.S. are affected by tooth decay, which is one of the top chronic infectious diseases among children and can compromise their health, development, and quality of life in both the short and long term.

Read More

Apps News YoutubeGoogle Launches a Dedicated Street View App

Street View is the latest Google service to get the dedicated app treatment, launching today on both iOS and Google Play. With Google’s new app you can view 360-degree panoramas, which allow you to get a better look at an outdoor space, or tour the interior of a hotel or restaurant. If you find a location that doesn’t yet have its own panorama view, you can upload your own photos or panoramas right to Google Maps from the Street View app.

An Explore tab allows you to browse galleries of Street View collections and content contributed by others. You can search for and explore any location of your choice and see it from just about every point of view imaginable. If you happen to own a spherical camera, the new Street View app is compatible with models like the Ricoh Theta S and NCTech iris360.

You can use either of these cameras to shoot and upload your own panoramas to the app. Of course, you can also use the camera on your phone if you prefer, which is likely how the majority will end up uploading photos The Street View app is now available to download on both iPhone and Android devices. Editorial Credit: Shutterstock

Read More

YouTube Launches YouTube Newswire, A Feed Dedicated to Eyewitness Video

As more people turn to eyewitness video to keep up with breaking news events as they happen, YouTube has launched a site to help people follow this kind of content more closely. In partnership with social news agency Storyful, YouTube has launched YouTube Newswire — a curated feed of newsworthy eyewitness videos of the day, vetted by Storyful’s editorial team and embeddable from the original sources.

YouTube Newswire will contain global and regional feeds containing the most relevant videos in different parts of the world. In addition, YouTube has introduced two new resources specifically for journalists: The First Draft Coalition and The WITNESS Media Lab. The First Draft Coalition is a new site with educational resources for verification and ethics training, tools, research, and case studies around the biggest news stories of the moment.

The First Draft Coalition is said to launch this fall. The WITNESS Media Lab is a new site focused on tackling pressing human rights issues by analyzing eyewitness video. This site will contain a series of in-depth projects focusing on human rights struggles from the eyewitness perspective of real people who live, witness, and experience them.

YouTube Newswire and the WITNESS Media Lab are live as of today, with the First Draft Coalition to follow in the coming months.

Read More

Facebook’s News Reader App, Paper, Launches Today on iOS in the US

Facebook Creative Labs have launched their first ever product, a curated visual news reader app called Paper. If you live in the US and own an iPhone, you can download it now from the App Store. Paper is already being lauded by the tech and mobile app community, receiving rave reviews and high praise for its design and user experience.

Most are saying its unlike anything Facebook has done before. What sets Paper apart from other news reader apps out there is its distraction-free, full screen design that completely immerses its users. Paper is made up of sections that you can customize yourself, pulling in stories from your News Feed and external sources including authoritative publications across the web. Each section in Paper uses a combination of human and machine curation.

The Paper algorithm curates stories, pictures and videos that have been posted publicly to Facebook, while human editors will throw in interesting content from lesser known sources. With Paper, Facebook wants to surprise and delight its users by showing them content they may have missed, or content from sources and authors they never would have sought out on their own. Another great feature of Paper is that it doesn’t completely separate you from the Facebook experience, it adds to it.

You can share content, or compose your own content to be shared on Facebook right from within Paper. You will also be able to access Facebook notifications and messages without having to leave the app. If you have had a chance to download and use Paper, what do you think of it so far? I really want to know because I’m an Android user living in Canada, so it might be a while before I get to use it myself. Let me know what I’m missing out on!

Read More