Bitcoin Is An Intersting Alternative to Traditional Currencies

If you’ve never heard of bitcoin, you’re certainly not alone.  It has been around for several years, but until recently, has received very little publicity.  So what is Bitcoin, and why are people using it now?

Bitcoin was started by a Japanese computer science major.  The idea behind it is pretty simple.  To create a currency that cannot be manipulated.  No matter how much faith you have in currencies such as the dollar, Euro, or yen, these currencies are under the direct control of central banks.  These banks can decide to increase or decrease the money supply denominated in this currency at any time of their choosing.

Japan is a great example.  For over two decades Japan has had a problem of deflation.  Deflation is the decrease in the price of goods or services.  It can happen for a variety of reasons.  Central banks and governments in general don’t like deflation.  And most central banks have a policy of inflation.  This includes Japan.  They are attempting to drive the prices of their imports up by devaluing their money.  They do this by printing more and more money.

The same thing is happening in the U.S. right now as well.  Because the U.S. has so much debt, they can make servicing this debt less expensive by creating more money with which to pay for it.  Of course for anyone holding dollars this is bad news as each of their dollars becomes worth less and less.  In good times inflation is generally around 2%.  This is a small enough number that most people don’t notice the increase in prices that is taking place.

So how do bitcoins fit in to all of this?  Bitcoins are a currency that is beyond the control of any central authority.  Therefore bitcoins cannot be created beyond what is allocated in the  design of the currency.

As a result of this, citizens in countries that are experiencing high inflation rates are turning to bitcoins to preserve their wealth.  Traditionally this was done with hard assets such as gold, silver, or even real estate.  These types of assets generally increase in value as the value of currencies decline.  This is because they are strictly limited resources.  You cannot create more gold, silver or real estate out of thin air like you can dollars.

But getting your hands on gold and silver can be expensive.  And then you have to store these assets somewhere safe.  Bitcoins are all online, and they are protected by the same encryption systems that banks use to protect their financial transactions.  And since they cannot be created, only traded for money, goods and services, their value is not dependent upon the whim of a central bank or any other authority.

More and more businesses are accepting bitcoins as payment.  And as this increases, their value and use will grow.  If you live in a country that has made inflation part of their fiscal policy (like the U.S. and Japan) you might do well to take a look at bitcoins yourself.

Some Cool Tools for the Weekend Warrior

waterheaterinstallationpros.comFor many people one of the best parts of owning their own home is the weekend projects they get to perform when they want to update or repair things around the house.  And one of the best parts of performing projects is acquiring the tools necessary to successfully accomplish said projects.

If you’re one of those people that love browsing the isles of your local home improvement stores, here are a few tools you should check out on your next trip.

Plumbing Issues

If you have a toilet, sink, or drain, and most homes do, you will at some point or another have need of some sort of plumbing repair.  In our house, there are four girls.  So on a regular basis this means pulling out the power drain snake to clear out the big gobs of hair that get combined with soap and other materials and then lodge themselves firmly in our pipes.

There are lots of options when it comes to cleaning out your drains.  Some opt for the liquid approach.  This website offers some helpful information.  But sometimes when the works truly get gummed up you need a power tool.  Nothing less will suffice.

The nice thing about a drain snake is that you can use it on both drains and toilets.  There’s just about nothing they won’t tackle.

Drywall Repairs

Another fun activity that you might get involved with when you own a home is drywall repair.  Homeowners with kids can especially appreciate how quickly a new house can start looking more like an old house when kids bump into walls and poke holes in ceilings.

And if the kids don’t get you, forces of nature will.  Even new houses are subject to occasional roof leaks from inclement weather.  Over the last couple of years we have seen an increase in violent and dangerous weather across the U.S.

Having the right tools can help you quickly and efficiently repair these types of damage, no matter their source.

One of the best tools you can have in your tool belt for repairing walls and ceilings is a drywall knife.  This piece of hardware allows you to quickly cut holes and patches for any sort of repair.  All you have to do to perform a patch is cut the damaged area into a square shape.  Then you can cut a new piece of drywall into a square that fits into this hole.  Using drywall repair clips, you can then hold the piece in place while you apply the mud to cover the edges of the hole.

Once that’s done, all you have to do is sand and repeat.  This cool trick to ensure that you get a smooth finish is to hold a flashlight up to the wall at an angle.  If it casts a shadow where you just patched the wall, you need to perform some more sanding.  Once the flashlight casts no shadow, your patch will disappear under any lighting conditions.

Another item to keep handy when performing sheetrock repairs is a bucket.  This gives you a place to put all of that annoying blow in cellulose insulation when it comes tumbling out of the wall or ceiling.

These are just a couple of the cool tools you can use for basic repairs and maintenance around your house.  Check back to this website on a regular basis, as we regularly update our content.

With So Many Online Music Choices Available, Which Makes the Most Sense for You?

These days you can listen to any kind of music that you want any time you want to hear it.  From Golden Oldies to Alternative rock every genre you could possibly imagine is now no more than a click of your mouse or a touch on your iPhone away.  But are there any diamonds in the rough when it comes to online music services?  Let’s take a look.

Sirius/XM Radio

Sirius/XM has been around for quite a while now.  I can remember when these two companies were in their infancy how absurd it seemed that businesses would attempt to stream music from satellites.  For a long time it seems they did nothing but launch satellites and lose money.  Though it eventually took the two companies merging, they finally did manage to figure out the satellite radio thing.  And now we have hundreds of stations that stream non-stop to cars, homes, boats, wireless speakers systems, whatever you want.

With so many stations to choose from, you really can’t go wrong.  And the pricing structure is such that you get pretty good value for your money.  One drawback is that you are locked into listening to whatever a particular station wants to play.  For most listeners this is fine, but some want the flexibility of choosing what they’re listening to, and that’s where Sirius/XM falls a bit short of some of it’s competitors.  And with many pricing plans available, you won’t have to forgo your Roth IRA contribution limits 2012 just to enjoy listening to your favorite music.

Pandora Radio

Originally launched in January of 2000, Pandora has been around for quite a while now.  Pandora allows users to create their own radio stations based on songs or artists that they like.  Using an algorithm, Pandora’s ‘Music Genome Project’ then attempts to match you up with other songs and artists you might like based on your music preferences.

Originally most people used Pandora directly from their desktop or laptop computer.  Eventually they created apps that allow them to run on just about every type of device imaginable from phones, to Bluray players, to surround sound systems that utilize the in ceiling surround sound speakers in your home.

There is both a free and pay version of Pandora.  The free version requires you to listen to commercials occasionally and limits the number of stations you can create. The paid version removes these limitations.

Rhapsody

Rhapsody is another popular streaming music source.  Originally started in December 2001, Rhapsody has taken a different approach than both Sirius/XM and Pandora.

Rhapsody allows you to choose exactly what you’re listening to at any given time.  It’s like owning just about every song in the world.  It allows you to choose an artist, album, song at any time and listen to it at your leisure.  Additionally you can create a playlist that takes songs from any album you like.  And I do mean just about any album you like.  There are any number of bootlegs and and unreleased songs from all sorts of artists on Rhapsody.  It’s sort of like carrying around your entire music catalog in your men’s messenger bag.

In addition, they have stations that they have created that conform to more traditional radio stations by playing specific genres.

All three of these services offer outstanding streaming quality from just about any device.  Sirius/XM has the advantage of being the only one that is widely used in vehicles, on boats, and in remote areas with poor cell phone coverage.  But as internet access improves, this advantage will disappear.

Pricing plans for these services vary depending on the specific details of how you plan on using it (number of devices etc), so it’s best to check each companies website for current specials and pricing.  They are all pretty reasonable though.  None of them will set you back as much as cushion cut engagement rings will, for example.  :-)