Archivos de la categoría: Lifestyle

Tablets vs. TV: Which Screen Time Is Better For Your Kids?

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If your kid asked if he could watch TV or play on the iPad for an hour, which would you let him do? Naturally, it depends on what your child is doing on the iPad, but does your instinct prompt you to answer any particular way? That question gets asked of me all the time by my son and my first thought is always the TV.

Yes, I know there are tons of amazing educational apps out there. I’m not against iPad usage for kids by any means, but with my own, I tend to take a slightly different stance. It has really only been in the past year that the iPad has become such a treasured pastime for my son, thanks to his discovery of the FIFA Soccer and Madden Football apps. If left to his own devices, he would likely tap and swipe for four hours straight without breaking to eat, use the bathroom or straighten the inevitable c-curve his back would form into.

While there’s no time to play on the iPad during the week, we started getting lax with monitoring his usage on weekends, sometimes coming downstairs to find him sitting in the exact same place (and exact same position), without us realizing how much time had elapsed. Whenever I would mention how entrenched he’d be in his iPad, he’d respond with something like, “I watch movies and those are two hours. At least with the iPad, I’m doing something and not just sitting there.” Valid point.

Married Couple Wanted for Private Mars Voyage in 2018

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A new nonprofit led by the world’s first space tourist is mounting an ambitious plan to launch the first manned mission to Mars in 2018, a voyage that could include an adventurous married crew.The project, led by American millionaire Dennis Tito — who paid his own way to space in 2001 — aims not to land people on the surface of the Red Planet, but to take advantage of a rare planetary alignment that would allow a relatively easy, quick flyby of Mars.

Tito announced the private Mars voyage plan today at the National Press Club, where he held a press conference to launch his new organization, the Inspiration Mars Foundation, to back the mission.

Tito hopes to choose a space capsule and rocket from among those already on the market, and modify them to carry two people to Mars and back in 501 days.

And to combat the loneliness and isolation that would doubtless set in during such a mission, Tito is proposing something that’s never been tried before: sending one male and one female, preferably a married couple.

“When you’re out that far and the Earth is a tiny, blue pinpoint, you’re going to need someone you can hug,” Tito told SPACE.com. “What better solution to the psychological problems you’re going to encounter with that isolation?”

5 Ways to Improve Your Time Management

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Research shows small business owners consider time to be a more valuable asset than computers, mobile phones and the company’s office or storefront. In addition, one-quarter of small business owners would pay $500 for one extra hour in their day.

Since adding a 25th hour to the day is an unlikely possibility, a few simple time-management strategies can help entrepreneurs gain that extra time they’re looking for, says Mike Pugh, vice president of marketing for j2 Global Communications.

However, Pugh advises that time management isn’t just about getting work done, the purpose is to help small business owners take a meaningful look at the tasks at hand so they can maintain a healthy work-life balance. His tips include:

1. Empower Your Employees

Business owners must learn to let go of the day-to-day tasks that are taking up their time to focus on the big picture. They should take a hard look at what they’re spending the most time doing everyday and then think about what they actually should be doing. Whatever doesn’t fall into the “should be doing” category needs to be reassigned to a staff member. Not only does this help them focus on larger business issues, but also empowers their employees by letting them take on tasks normally assigned for the boss. This challenges employees and allows them to gain more responsibility ultimately freeing up the owner’s time.

2. Learn to Pilot the Cloud

Taking the time to navigate through cloud solutions that help organize business communications and documents will be a big time-saver. Applications like Google Docs allow business owners to collaborate in real time with employees, while Evernote allows business owners to take notes on the go. There are thousands of simple, effective solutions available to the business community that can help save time.