The Best Android Apps for Your Car

So, you have a brand new Android device. Congratulations! Android is truly the best mobile OS out there, and the devices being made are just fantastic. However, there is a myth that a smartphone in a car will just distract a driver. Well, this is partly true. When using a smartphone in a car, a driver should be very careful. At the same time, with the right set of applications it is possible to turn your Android device into a great helper. Android smartphones are not only for run. There is an array of apps that can make a driver's life much easier and sometimes even save life. So, here's the list of apps that I think every driver should have in his / her smartphone.

GasBuddy

This application is a real catch for drivers who want to cut down fuel expenses. GasBuddy will point out gas stations offering the lowest fuel prices. By searching out your destination or current location, the app will map up the nearest stations where you can fill up. Using GasBuddy is especially beneficial when driving long distances, as you will always know where to fill up your car for less.

Maps, Navigation and Car Mode

These apps come with all Android devices (version 2.0 or higher) and can make your driving experience more smooth and pleasant. Paper maps are useless, unless you have an additional pair of hands to hold them. With Android maps you can drive in the right direction without making frequent stops or asking someone to check the route on the map.

Navigation is helpful while you are driving within the touch area of ​​a data signal. The Car Mode will come in handy when your hands are occupied. It will pull off Voice Actions and make navigation directions safer. At the same time, it will point out the nearest hotels, restaurants, ATMs, gas stations and other spots.

Gas Mileage Calculator

As the name suggests, this app will help identify gas mileage of your auto. All you need to do to determine your mpg is to enter the cost of each fill-up. The main drawback of the Android gas mileage calculator is that it does not save the results. In other words, it eliminates the option of further analysis.

Trapster

If you are an aggressive driver and are fond of speed, consider downloading Trapster. This app knows the locations of about 5.5 million speed traps located worldwide. Thus, avoiding speeding tickets with this app is easier. Another beneficial feature of Trapster is the in-built local speed limits alerts.

PlugShare

This Android application was developed for electric vehicle drivers. The main drawback of electric vehicles is the limited range. This can be a huge problem if you do not know where the nearest charging station is. PlugShare will help you find the nearest charger. However, remember that this app provides information about charging stations located in North America.

The Benefits And Disadvantages of Saving Money

It may come as a surprise, but saving money does have it disadvantages in some situations. In this article you will get to know the benefits of saving money but also the disadvantages.

The benefits of Saving Money

If you aren't as fortunate that you have so much cash that you can do what you want, saving is a really good option. That way, you can afford something (like a new phone) after a few months. Saving for the future is the way to go if you want to do something nice in the future. When buying new stuff or traveling, you are offered to get something now and pay later. Don't accept any of these offers ever. These offers are evil. It is basically debt, but when you lose your job or your financial situation changes you might not be able to pay for it later on.

When is it better to not save money?

If you have debt (a mortgage or a credit card) it is better to pay of this debt as soon as possible. It doesn't make any sense to get 4% interest, when debt will cost you 6% (for example). You should pay off this debt, because it saves you a lot of money in the long run. Consider as much overpayments on your mortgage as possible, as soon as possible. It will help you to save hundreds of dollars on the short run. You will save even more on the long run.

The basic saving rule says that you will need 50% of your income. You can spend a maximum of 30% on the things you want in life. The other 20% you can use to save or to pay off any existing debt.

5 Best Android Apps for Graphic Designers

For designers from all walks of life, mobile phones and even tablets are becoming useful and personal tools to excel in their field of creativity. Most of the phones whether it be low-budget or high-end flagships, they run on android as it is the most popular mobile platform in the world.

Basically, android apps make smartphones and tablets interesting tools to do anything a user feels like. There are tons of apps on Google Play Store to help you make graphical masterpieces but to find best ones is not a piece of cake! Do not worry as here is a list of top 5 android apps for professional graphic designers:

1. Sketchbook Express
   Sketchbook Express can become your companion in those moments when you see something and want to draw It out. Originally created by Autodesk, Sketchbook Express is a free professional sketching and painting app which is specially built for creative soul fanatics who loves to draw down every imaginative idea! This app features various tools to help graphic designers ensure that their work is one step ahead than others. Overall, it is a great app which every designer should install.





2. Paperless
   Another android app that is gradually leaving its mark on minds of every designer in the world and making its place in Google Play Store Best Apps for Designers is Paperless. Rather than creating masterworks, you can jot down your imaginative ideas and organize them in form of canvas, or e-books. There are 6 tools present for designers which help to sketch, color and writing notes. Without having to log in to your social accounts, you can easily share your creations.





3. Infinite Design
   Do you want to meet a new kid on the block? Here is Infinite Design which is new on Google Play Store but doing really good and making its space in the industry. All the vector art lovers and designers, this app is specially designed for you as it lets you create immensely mind-boggling designs on smartphones or tablets. It comes packed with various tools like endless layers, infinite canvas and much more which makes this app rather special for graphic designers.





4. ArtFlow
   If you are finding something different, then here is an android app for graphic designers that tops the popularity charts: Artflow! The user-friendly interface steals the heart away. Creative person of any age group can use ArtFlow. Some of the features that make it stand out are 6-steo undo, 70 brushes, up to 16 layers, etc. Moreover, its 'Palm rejection' feature makes it favorite of designers.





5. Adobe Illustrator Draw
   After reading the name, you would have figured out the makes of this android app. That's right, Adobe Inc. As a professional graphic designer, if you want to make some exceptional vector artworks and illustrations, do not think twice before using Adobe Illustrator Draw. With 5 vector brushes, scalable strokes, intuitive interface, it becomes a go-to app for every designer.

A designer's life is unpredictable. You don't know what may strike you and when. If you are a freelance graphic designer or a professional one working in an agency, try using these apps for making strokes of genius.

History of the Computer - Cache Memory Part 1 of 2

We looked at the early digital computer memory, see History of the computer - Core Memory, and mentioned that the present standard RAM (Random Access Memory) is chip memory. This conforms with the commonly quoted application of Moore's Law (Gordon Moore was one of the founders of Intel). It states that component density on integrated circuits, which can be paraphrased as performance per unit cost, doubles every 18 months. Early core memory had cycle times in microseconds, today we are talking in nanoseconds.

You may be familiar with the term cache, as applied to PCs. It is one of the performance features mentioned when talking about the latest CPU, or Hard Disk. You can have L1 or L2 cache on the processor, and disk cache of various sizes. Some programs have cache too, also known as buffer, for example, when writing data to a CD burner. Early CD burner programs had 'overruns'. The end result of these was a good supply of coasters!

Mainframe systems have used cache for many years. The concept became popular in the 1970s as a way of speeding up memory access time. This was the time when core memory was being phased out and being replaced with integrated circuits, or chips. Although the chips were much more efficient in terms of physical space, they had other problems of reliability and heat generation. Chips of a certain design were faster, hotter and more expensive than chips of another design, which were cheaper, but slower. Speed has always been one of the most important factors in computer sales, and design engineers have always been on the lookout for ways to improve performance.

The concept of cache memory is based on the fact that a computer is inherently a sequential processing machine. Of course one of the big advantages of the computer program is that it can 'branch' or 'jump' out of sequence - subject of another article in this series. However, there are still enough times when one instruction follows another to make a buffer or cache a useful addition to the computer.

The basic idea of cache is to predict what data is required from memory to be processed in the CPU. Consider a program, which is made up of a series instructions, each one being stored in a location in memory, say from address 100 upwards. The instruction at location 100 is read out of memory and executed by the CPU, then the next instruction is read from location 101 and executed, then 102, 103 etc.

If the memory in question is core memory, it will take maybe 1 microsecond to read an instruction. If the processor takes, say 100 nanoseconds to execute the instruction, it then has to wait 900 nanoseconds for the next instruction (1 microsecond = 1000 nanoseconds). The effective repeat speed of the CPU is 1 microsecond.. (Times and speeds quoted are typical, but do not refer to any specific hardware, merely give an illustration of the principles involved).

Budget and Financial Management

There are three main phases to the local government budget process:

1. Budget Preparation - Budget guidelines are established based on the annual plan and goals

2. Budget Adoption: Budgets are adopted by the government

3. Budget Execution: Implementation of the budget consistent with nationally established accounting procedures and policy with oversight mechanisms to ensure funds are properly spent.

Guidelines established by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) steer the local government budget process. These guidelines include:

1. Establish Broad Goals to Guide Government Decision Making - Strategic Planning Process

2. Develop Approaches to Achieve Goals- Objectives and Activities to Achieve

3. Develop a Budget Consistent with Approaches to Achieve Goals

4. Evaluate Performance and Make Adjustments

There is no question that these guidelines create a sound finance and budget process. But, as is evidenced by the current financial state of most local governments, additional standards are required to ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of a community.

Persisting with processes that create annual budgets based on past budgets with incremental changes, does not take into account the volatility of the economic environment in which we are operating. Nor does it provide for future stability.

While Zero Based Budgeting is an old tool; when used correctly it provides a process for budgeting, which promotes a more thorough operation analysis which can be based on an analysis of current and future variables affecting revenue and anticipating outcomes for more than a single budget year. In particular, costs associated with personnel and benefits, the largest percentage of most government budgets, must be reviewed and analyzed based on long-term liabilities. Additionally, long-term planning for infrastructure maintenance should have been based on a ten to twenty year horizon, not the traditional five-year planning scenario. This process requires more intense and focused planning, including a realistic environmental scan that provides a thorough understanding of the impact of growth and future service needs, coupled with changing economic conditions and other factors that impact service delivery.

To be successful, the budget process must be a fluid process, revenue projection and expenditure analysis must be ongoing and not a once a year static process. Adopting a process similar to what successful companies utilize requires looking at governmental management in a different way than we have in years past. In the private sector, successful companies routinely incorporate "what if scenarios" or projected outcomes which may be triggered by certain events and constantly monitor those events and the potential impact on the budget. In local government, we should be examining potential "trigger events" such as weather phenomenon and its potential impact, economic or community issues and other variables including political shifts, which may affect not only the stability of resources, but the services required.

The economic, political and cultural components of our communities are constantly changing. Therefore, the way we budget and plan for services must be more inclusive and consider both the current and long-term impact of these variables . Efficient and effective local government management requires long-term sustainable solutions not just annual budget 'quick fixes'.

To accomplish this goal,

Managers must learn to be adept at

Determining when to contract services and when to add the necessary overhead to provide direct services with City employees.

Establishing fund reserves for future growth and needs for capital planning and infrastructure on a long-term basis.

Managing growth and not letting the growth drive service demands.

Knowing how and when to structure the city organization and keep staff focused on the larger picture-the vision of the elected body and its citizenry.

Recognizing that government is not always the answer to a service delivery problem

Thus, managers must learn to create alternative solutions to service delivery by asking different questions including:

What are the services we provide? What services should we provide? What is the true (total) cost of that service-dollars, people, infrastructure, overhead etc.? Is there a way to provide this service more cost effectively and efficiently?

Why do we provide this service? Does it really meet a current need? Do our citizens really want this service? Does it really promote and protect health safety and welfare of our citizens? In other words is it really a CORE services that is a necessity that should be funded by local government? If so,

Who should provide this service? -County? City? Private? Can we give up control / turf to improve the service or make its delivery more efficient by finding a better provider (s)?

How should the service be provided? Are there different types of service delivery that might work better? Is there a new technology which can provide the services more cost effectively in the long run?

In summary, local government finance and budget management is more than a standardized set of guidelines and processes; it can and must be innovative and visionary, seeking long-term fiscal sustainability.

Financial Skills - How to Budget & Balance Accounts

I was surprised when I asked parents to tell me the life skills that they wanted their kids knew, and there was a resounding request for a few topics:

• How to open a bank account
• How to budget & balance accounts
• How to write checks and pay bills
• And how to start saving for retirement

It seems some of the things we take for granted are, as a result, missing from what we teach kids.

In the last article, we focused on opening a bank account. This article is the second article in the four-part series and will look at how to teach kids to budget and balance their accounts.

Budgeting

It's not shock that budgeting can be boring and tedious. I've personally never been excited to sit down and create my budgets, but it's something that creates wealth and pays off down the road.

So how do you get kids excited about it? How can you add a little glamor to something so dull and boring? Easy - make it a game with payoffs.

Firstly, it's important to know how to create a budget, then to adhere to the budget.

Creating a Budget

You may have your own way to create a budget, and that's fine. In my experience, the easiest way to make a budget is as follows:

On a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle:

1. Spending Budget Calculate your average monthly gross income and put that at the top of the page, then multiply it by.80 (for example, if you earned $ 1,000, you would end up with $ 800)
2. Fixed Expenses Write down all of your FIXED expense categories (ie phone bill, insurance, mortgage etc ...) and put them in one column on the left side of the page
3. Variable Expenses Next write in the variable expense categories (ie food, gas, leisure, etc ...) and put them in another column on the right side of the page
4. Fill in all of your expenses
5. Net Budget after Fixed Expenses - Subtract fixed expenses from your spending budget, if it's a positive number, you do not need to change anything If it's zero or a negative number, you should look for expenses that you can cut or lower
6. Budget variable expenses - Using your Net budget after fixed expenses, determine what you can spend on variable expenses without overspending each month
7. Set a budget for each variable expense so you know what you can spend on each category in a given month

Making it Fun

OK, now that you have a budget outline, it's time to get the kids excited.

I know what you're thinking: "My kids will never be excited for this."

They will if you give them some prizes or payoffs. Here's how:

First, tell them what a budget is and show them the paper. Next, tell them that you're going to do a contest (if you have more than one kid, this works even better).

Contest 1: Anticipating Spending

The first contest is to see how close they can budget their money to reach a break-even or $ 0 over the course of a month. In other words, the goal is to predict your spending as close to the penny as possible.

If you have more than one kid person that gets the closest to break-even without going negative wins a prize. With just one kid, tell them that they get $ 5 or $ 10 if they reach break-even, and every penny they are off, you deduct 10¼

Contest 2 - Saving After Spending

The second contest is to see how well they can budget their money over the next 30 days. If they can save money, tell them you will give them whatever they save. That means if they save $ 5, you'll give them another $ 5 (just like companies matching a person's 401K contribution).

If you have more than one kid, tell them who ever is able to save the most will win and get a special prize. You will obviously choose the prize since you know your kids best.

Coming Soon

In the next article, we'll discuss how to write checks and pay bills. You will also learn how to combine check-writing with these contests to simulate the real world of budgeting for your kids.

Newspapers Vs Internet News

Once, it was difficult to imagine morning without a newspaper. We wake up, drink a cup of coffee and read newspapers in order to find latest news in the country and around the world. Today the world has changed. Every hour there is news, every minute something happens. In order to get the latest news, just go to the internet. And if you prefer, you can even get updates (the results of football games, for example), directly to the mobile phone. And this, of course, without any mention of television news channels, which broadcast 24 hours a day. So who really needs the newspapers and there is still the future of this industry?

First of all, many people read newspapers from the habit. Indeed, why, to change anything? Why switch on a computer or TV, if tomorrow morning we will find a newspaper at the door. And if there has been something abnormal sooner, we will probably hear about it on TV. The feeling of reading the newspaper like reading books, and it is rooted in many people. You can read during meals, in bed before sleep, or even in the bathroom. You can certainly use the laptop in these places, but it is far less convenient.

Major newspapers around the world have already noticed this problem a long time. They understand that the news on the Internet is the future. It should also join this trend and this will help in particular to promote the newspaper. Who does not do so, will be left behind. Creating new and popular site with interesting material is not detrimental to the newspaper, but also expands the sources of funding. Many of those who advertise on the Internet are not always advertised in the newspapers. Thus, a circle, in which newspaper promotes the website and the website, brings new readers to the newspaper. Of course, the web site which belongs to well-known newspaper has an excellent starting point on the Internet.

Statistics around the world shows that the number of readers of newspapers is falling every year, and this is very reasonable. The younger generation does not have a natural attraction to the paper, newspapers and books and they are more drawn to the buttons and screens. Therefore, it is clear that slowly, most of the budget of papers will move on to the Internet. During this transition period, they must retain its best reporters, or their level falls, and they will lose many readers.

Personally, I and my family have long ceased to read newspapers, and it happened as soon as I realized that all the news that I read there, I already knew from websites or TV. If the newspaper does not give new information, so why buy it and spend precious time. Online news sites saves time, allows you to filter content, and make information retrieval comfortable and efficient. I like sites that collect the latest news from different sources. This way you can get convenient and most reliable objective information.