jared, Author at Jared Connell's Blog

Announcing PayYour.Rent – A Whole New Way For Tenants to Pay Their Landlords

May 12, 2018 jared My Sites

My friend, Jeff Bailey, and I have recently announced the launch of our latest project that we are working on together – PayYour.Rent, a revolutionary new way to connect tenants and landlords to pay their rent and communicate. Think of it as a social media platform for landlords and tenants to connect, allowing payment of monthly rent and other fees as well as providing a channel of communication for both parties. It simplifies the entire payment process for monthly rent as well as paying deposits, utilities, home-owners association fees and much more. Payments can also be scheduled to remove any chances of late payments. And if a payment does happen to be late, the PayYour.Rent platform will automatically notify the tenants and any late fees are automatically added. That means that landlords no longer have to waste time collecting payments, contacting tenants if they are late, and having to add late fees when payments are late. And tenants don’t have to worry about forgetting about paying rent because they can schedule auto payments or have the platform remind them of when payments are due. It’s a win-win situation for both parties that will save them both time and headache.

In addition to facilitating payments, PayYour.Rent also allows tenants and landlords to communicate and share documents. Documents such as rental agreements and liability waivers can be saved on the PayYour.Rent platform to allow both parties to view them at any time so that there are never any questions about what said documents contain. Tenants and landlords can also communicate on record, which protects them both in case anything happens. If the tenant has a need for any repairs, they can do so within the platform, and the landlords can schedule any needed repairs. Other things can be scheduled, like annual walk-throughs or regular maintenance so both parties can easily enter what times and dates are available and an amicable time can be easily selected. And if things go bad and the landlord needs to evict the tenants, all communications are on record as well as exact dates of payments and the terms of the rental agreement so there is no chance for any discrepancies.

So whether you are a landlord who wishes to streamline their rental payment collection process, or you are a tenant who wants to be able to pay their rent quickly and easily online, check out PayYour.Rent today. Don’t keep writing checks or having to get money-orders. Don’t manually call each tenant every month to see if they have the rent money and have to schedule a time and place to pick up payment. Bring your rental payment process into 2018 with PayYour.Rent!

Best and Worst New Domain Name Extensions

March 28, 2018 jared My Thoughts

When people think of a website name, they automatically think of the .com suffix and that is historically the standard domain name extension which is also known as a TLD, which stands for top level domain, for commercial websites – in fact, the ‘com’ in .com stands for commercial. There has always been other TLDs used as domain extensions, including .org which was originally intended for non profit organizations, .edu for educational institutes, and .net for internet service providers and other computer networks, as well as the strictly limited .int for internet agencies, .gov for US government agencies, and .mil for US military agencies. Other countries have their own domain name extensions, such as .co.uk for the United Kingdom, .ca for Canada, .mx for Mexico, .it for Italy, and .ru for Russia. Creative use of country TLDs has caused many to be commonly used for other sites not from those specific countries, such as .tv (Tuvalu), .ai (Anguilla), .am (Armenia), .fm (Federated States of Micronesia), .io (British Indian Ocean Territory), and .me (Montenegro) come into common use. But by far the most commonly used TLD is .com and up until recently there hasn’t been any choice besides the original and country specific TLDs, meaning if you wanted a new domain name you had a pretty small amount of choices since most good .com names were already taken. But recently ICANN, the organization responsible for doling out domain names, has allowed for the creation of many more domain name extensions which opens the floodgates for all kinds of domain names.

Among the choices available for the domain name extensions when creating a new domain name are those such as .deals, .bio, .cheap, .discount, and .online which can be used for many different types of organizations in many different fields. There are also those that can be used by individuals and organizations in certain industries such as .art, .band, .cars, .fitness, .clothing, .movie, .healthcare, .lawyer, etc. And domain extensions like .associates, .company, ..industries, .partners, .productions, and .ventures can be used by organizations in any industry so they can get a personalized domain name to match their organization’s name. TLDs such as .kyoto, .london, .vegas, .kiwi, .barcelona, .berlin, and .quebec are among the new domain extensions that can be used for sites for businesses in a certain geographic region. There are also TLDs like .cool, .xyz, .blue, .fyi, .wtf, .ninja, and more that can be used for all kinds of purposes. But what are the domain extensions that are the best and worst of the new TLDs?

Among the new domain name extensions that are likely to be used the most are ones like .clothing, .games, etc. that pertain to a certain industry and those like .partners, .company, etc. that are for a certain type of organization. Some of the new TLDs that I think are pretty neat that might allow for creative domain names include those such as .exposed, .news, .guide, .ist, .live, .life, .buzz, .ink, etc. I also think that domain extensions that lend themselves well to sites of a certain nature are those such as .vote, .chat, .webcam, .auction, etc. There are also those new extensions that are good for personal websites, such as .guru, .ceo, .mba, .vip, and .pro. Politicians will likely make wide use of the new extensions .vote, .republican, democrate, .red, and .blue. One set of new domain name extensions that I believe were very necessary and will be widely used are those that denote adult sites, such as .porn, .xxx, and .adult. The use of these adult domain extensions allow for more effective content filtering based solely on a sites domain name. Of course it won’t apply to older, already established adult sites, but if all new adult sites had a .xxx, .porn, .sex, .adult, or similar extension in their domain name it would make it easier to block new sites coming into existence. And of course there are new extensions that are intended to be a catch-all for any type of website of any organization in any industry to be used instead of the standard .com extension. Examples of this are .website, .internet, .one, .earth, and .site.

But there are many new domain name extensions that I think will rarely be used. Most of these are just bad and don’t lend themselves to good, memorable domain names. Among the new extensions I find odd are those with the names of colors like .blue, .pink, .red, etc. with the exceptions of .red and .blue which could be used for politicians and political organizations depending on their party affiliation, as well as .gold which could be used for jewelry and precious metal sites or organizations with the word gold in their name, and .black which could be used in some creative ways for sites that are related to black and African American subjects. A few domain extensions that I think are so targeted that I can’t see many organizations wanting to use are those like .vodka, .taxi, .cards, .surf, etc. And there are some new extensions that I think are just dumb or don’t really make sense as domain name extensions that I don’t see much use for, such as .cool, .xyz, .bingo, .codes, .desi, .earth, .fail, .glass, .horse, .kim, and .best.

However dumb the domain extensions in the previous paragraph may be, there are some that will get much less use. Those are the new extensions that are just outrageously expensive that nobody will want to use them, no matter how catchy they may be. For reference, a normal .com domain name is usually under $20 per year to register. Some of the new domain names are more expensive in comparison, but will still probably be used by companies in that industry, such as .casino ($199.99), .doctor ($129.99), .credit ($129.99), .creditcard ($199.99). Some sites that aren’t an arm and a leg but I still see the price being a factor that causes not many sites to use that specific TLD are .fans ($99.99), .film ($119.99), .host ($129.99), .tires ($129.99), .energy ($129.99), .bingo ($69.99), .best ($129.99), .build ($99.99), .ceo ($129.99). Among the most expensive new TLDs that I can’t see any organization, no matter how big, using are .auto ($2,799.99), .car ($3,999.99), .cars ($3,999.99), .luxury ($799.99), .movie ($399.99), .security ($3,999.99), .theatre ($999.99 – .theater on the other hand is only $69.99), and .protection ($3,999.99). I don’t see any company wanting a .protection or .security domain name enough to pay $4,000 each year just for the domain name!

Only time will tell how popular these domain names will come. Will people start to realize that there are many more domain name extensions than just .com and .net and if when they see something like jared.blog or jared.productions that it is a website just the same as when they see jared.com. I hope they start to take off because we need more domain names than the .com TLD allows, but the prices on some of them are just outrageous.

Get HIGH Gains with Marijuana Related Stocks and Funds

March 7, 2018 jared My Thoughts

I am not a weed smoker myself, but I live in a state where it has been legal for medicinal use for a while now and it recently became legal for recreational use, so I know many who do smoke or consume it in other forms and I know that it has great medicinal potential as well as a recreational drug that is a good alternative to alcohol. Although the legalization of recreational use has lowered the price since there is so much competition, for many people it can still be an expensive habit. And now, instead of all those profits going into the hands of the drug dealers in the communities, it can go to actual legitimate companies – companies that you can invest in to ride the weed wave and get your portfolio high! Every time new legislation passes that legalizes marijuana the sector enjoys a nice surge, and in the past few years there has been a lot of different places legalizing it in one form or another. There are many aspects to the marijuana economy – including the companies that provide equipment and supplies to grow it, the companies that grow and process it, the storefronts where it is sold, and even all the companies that make everything for the weed culture like pipes and rolling papers. There are many companies that are seeing the uptick in profits after the legalization in many states and it is only going to continue to grow from here. More and more states are going to legalize it, either for medicinal or recreational use, and that means more people buying it through legitimate channels instead of on the street. But if you want to really find that hidden gem of a stock, then you’ll need research the individual companies that deal with each link of the marijuana chain. Just like any industry, there are companies that make the equipment and supplies for production, the companies that produce it, companies that sell it, companies that sell devices and accessories to use the product, companies that consult and provide other services to the producers, and companies that deal with other aspects or multiple aspects of the sector. Except instead of making and selling widgets, the marijuana industry grows their product. Here is a list of companies that deal with each different aspect of the marijuana industry that I put together from a few different sources that I think have the best potential for the future.

First of all are the companies that sell the products for growing weed. Unlike decades ago, marijuana production is now highly methodical, requiring special equipment and products to get the best quality and highest yield possible. Even though it is just a plant, most marijuana is not grown outside, or even in soil for that matter. Most growers do it inside with artificial lights and hydroponic systems that immerse the plant’s roots in water. That means that a lot of equipment is needed to grow marijuana. Equipment like high intensity grow lights, water pumps and valves as well as other hydroponic equipment, soil, nutrients, fertilizer, etc. Just like in a vineyard, the better taken care of the plant, the higher the quality of the end result – meaning that the best weed comes from plants that are babied with super bright lights, the perfect amount of water and nutrients, proper amounts of CO2, and kept free from fungus and pests. So that means that the companies that make and sell these products are looking to make huge gains in the future as they are the backbone of the marijuana industry. Some of the companies that are in this category include: Scott’s Miracle Gro (SMG), AeroGrow (AERO), Fusion Pharm (FSPM), GreenGro Technolgies (GRNH), Cabinet Grow (CBNT), EffTec (EFFI), Future Farm Technologies (FFRMF), GreenGrow (GRNH), Grow Solutions (GRSO), GrowGeneration (GRWG), Heliospectra (HLSPY), Solis Tek (SLTK), Nutritional High Intl (SNRA),

Of course the next link in the cannabis chain is the actual growers. There are some major growing operations going on out there and their plants are treated with the care and attention of a pharmaceutical lab. No contaminants are allowed in and there is very strict security. And that is because marijuana can be a very profitable crop to harvest and a whole crop can be wiped out if something goes wrong. If a problem like fungus, parasites, or other serious problem hits the grow operation it could ruin a whole crop. Whether done traditionally in soil outdoors, or inside with artificial light and hydroponics, these grow operations can make some serious money. And luckily some of the companies involved in growing marijuana are publicly traded, such as: ABCann (ABCCF), Invictus MD Strategies Corp. (IVITF), Medreleaf Corp. (MEDFF), Marapharm Ventures (MRPHF), Maricann Group (MRRCF), Newstrike Resources (NWKRF), Sunset Island Group (SIGO), Canopy Growth Corporation (TWMJF).

Then of course there are the storefronts and delivery services that provide their patients and customers with the final product. These are very large money makers but most are small mom and pop style dispensaries at the moment. But it is expensive to have a weed dispensary, you need to acquire the products, hire security and knowledgeable staff who can be very trustworthy, and don’t forget all the red tape that they must go through to be legal – which takes a lot of time and money because many jurisdictions require large up front fees to even open up a marijuana dispensary, which keeps a lot of the would be’s out of the market and makes more room for the larger established dispensary chains with the money to invest in building new dispensaries. Companies in this area include: Cafe Serendipity (CAFS), Canntrust Hldgs Inc (CNTTF), Diego Pellicer Worldwide (DPWW), Organigram Holdings (OGRMF).

Don’t forget the products and accessories related to the weed culture. You can’t buy weed or hash without having something to consume it with. And nowadays there are so many options it would make your head spin! Just walk into a head shop and you’ll see shelves lined with all sorts of crazy contraptions for consuming their marijuana products. Traditionally people used small metal pipes to smoke, but those are almost extinct in today’s weed marketplace. Now glass is in, and some of the glass pieces made for smoking weed are so elaborate they belong in an art gallery not a head shop. And nowadays the same type of electronic ‘vaping’ contraptions you see people using can also be used for smoking cannabis oil as well. And don’t forget the rolling papers and cigar leaves that people use to roll up joints and blunts with, jars to keep the marijuana in, grinders to grind it up, and other marijuana accessories. There are many companies that belong in this category, such as: Advantis (ADVT), Kush Bottles (KSHB), mCigInc. (MCIG).

Of course, no matter what the business does, they will need a place in which to set up shop and in need of real estate services. With all the regulations and stipulations regarding cannabis based businesses, a real estate company that is familiar with such rules might be of great importance to those businesses. One such company is Innovative Industrial Partners (IIPR), a San Diego based real estate investment firm, that is the world’s first cannabis real estate fund to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company doesn’t deal with the plants or the end products, but will seek to buy commercial and industrial real estate and then lease the spaces to cannabis companies. Others in this category include: AmeriCann (ACAN), Agritek Holdings (AGTK), Grow Condos (GRWC), Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR).

Although marijuana has recently become legal for recreational use in many jurisdictions, the main use remains medicinal. Many companies out there specialize in medicinal uses for marijuana, which differs from recreational use marijuana in the fact that the strains are bred specifically to target certain medical conditions while minimizing the intoxicating effects. Many uses for medical marijuana include anti-convulsion, neuroprotectant, anti-inflammatory, anti-nausea, glaucoma, pain management, and appetite stimulation. Companies that specialize in this area include: Auscann Group Holdings (ACNNF), Cannabis Science (CBIS), CB Scientific (CBSC), Canadian Cannabis Corp. (CCAN), CURE Pharmaceutical Holding Corp. (CURR), CV Sciences (CVSI), Emerald Health Therapeutics Inc (EMHTF), Emblem Corp. (EMMBF), GB Sciences (GBLX), GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH), InMed Pharmaceuticals (IMLFF), OWC Pharmaceutical Research (OWCP), Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. (TMPMF), 22nd Century Group (XXII).

Some companies that are in the marijuana sector don’t really fall into any of the above categories. Whether it is consulting, grow op set up, Some of these include: Cannabix Technologies (BLOZF), Bang Holdings (BXNG).

There are also companies that are involved in many parts of the marijuana sector, do business with other companies in the marijuana sector, or companies that don’t deal with the marijuana sector exclusively. These companies are good for a little diversification. This category includes: American Cannabis Company (AMMJ), Abattis Bioceuticals (ATTBF), Axim Biotechnologies (AXIM), Weed Inc (BUDZ), General Cannabis Corp (CANN), Crown Baus Capital (CBCA), Cannabis Sativa Inc. (CBDS), CannaGrow Holdings (CGRW), Cannabis Life Sciences (CLSH), United Cannabis Corp (CNAB), Cannabics Pharmaceuticals (CNBX), CannaRoyalty (CNNRF), DigiPath (DIGP), Earth Science Tech (ETST), EVIO Labs (EVIO), Helix TCS (HLIX), Kaya Holdings (KAYS), Medicine Man Technologies Inc. (MDCL), Medical Marijuana Inc. (MJNA), MJ Holdings (MJNE), Namaste Technologies (NXTTF), Nutritional High Intl (SPLIF), Stony Hill Corp. (STNY).

Or if you aren’t sure where to start, a good marijuana focus mutual fund will cover all your bases. One such fund is the American Growth Fund Series II E (AMREX) which was not involved in the marijuana industry when it was originally established in 2011, but reorganized to focus on the marijuana industry in July 2016. Another is the Tierra XP Latin America Real Estate ETF (LARE) which recently transitioned from a real estate investment trust, the new ETF will track cannabis cultivators, producers and distributors, along with cannabinoid drug makers, fertilizer producers and tobacco companies.

If you’re like me and you think that marijuana stocks and funds have a good outlook in the future, check out the ones listed above and due your due diligence in researching them. I currently do not own any shares of any companies or the fund that I mentioned but am currently doing my own personal research and plan on investing in at least one in the near future.

Destiny Gurus Site Launch – Destiny Exotic Quests, Raids, and More!

September 3, 2017 jared Client Sites

I am pleased to announce the launch of my latest client project, Destiny Gurus! Destiny Gurus is a site that offers services for those who play the hit game Destiny as well as the upcoming sequel to launch in a few days, Destiny 2. Destiny Gurus offers help for players who are struggling with the game or who just want to get their characters up in level or pass a certain raid or quest without the hassle of actually playing through it. So if you want to save some time and get past some raids or exotic quests or want some great new weapons or items, then go to Destiny Gurus. They play on both PlayStation 4 and XBox One consoles so no matter what console you have they can help you out. They can even stream the gameplay so you can see what they do and check out their techniques. This can help you even more as you can actually see what the pros do and how they complete quests and raids.

One of the owners of Destiny Gurus is my good friend and he is a great gamer who wants to help the Destiny community with his skills. The site is 100% safe and secure and they are very trustworthy. Do not worry about your personal information or payment details, as they are very trustworthy. I can vouch for that myself. And of course since I developed the site, it is 100% safe and secure. No need to worry about hackers getting your credit card info or stealing your Destiny characters. PayPal handles all the payment transactions so the site never actually sees your payment info. And as far as your Destiny account info, only the player who handles your order will see that information and it is held safe and secure so nobody else can access it. So don’t worry because it is absolutely safe and secure to order from them. So if you play Destiny or plan on getting Destiny 2, be sure to check out Destiny Gurus.com today!

Top ‘Must Have Apps’ for New Windows PC Installations

September 3, 2017 jared My Thoughts

Whenever I set up a new Windows installation – whether it be because I get a new computer, reformat and repartition my computer, or am helping someone ‘fix’ their computer by reinstalling Windows – there are a few applications that I usually always install. These are the top applications that just about everybody needs to have 0n their computers, consisting mainly of freeware utilities and other applications. Some apps are not free, but I have included freeware applications that are a good alternative where applicable. Also, a few of these applications are not needed by everybody but I typically install them on my computers anyways, so I wrote this list in a vague most-to-least important order so that the most popular and important apps are first and the least important ones are last. The first item in the list isn’t actually a program but it is a one-stop-shop for you to download most of the top software packages that you are likely to need. Anyways, on with the list:

Ninite – http://ninite.com/

The first thing I do whenever I set up a new computer or install a fresh copy of Windows is to go to Ninite.com to download most of the software I need in one fell swoop. Ninite is a website that lets you select from over 80 programs to install and you simply download the customized installer program that will download the latest version of each program and install it automatically. No need to go to tons of different sites in order to download each program individually, just go to Ninite and get them all a once! If you don’t know what a program is you can hover your mouse over the name and it will tell you what the program does. So whenever you need to install some up to date software for your Windows PC, check out Ninite.com.

Chrome – https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/index.html

Every computer these days needs a browser, and I prefer to use Google’s Chrome as my preferred browser of choice. It allows you to visit any web page you need, as well as having a great built in web developer’s toolkit that lets web developers see and play with the different aspects of a web page as they load, helpful for determining what code is rendered for the browser and what CSS it is using. Chrome also lets you modify the browsing experience by adding different plugins and themes.

Firefox – https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

A close number 2 in my book is Firefox, the contemporary to Chrome. It does just about everything Chrome does, and it is best to have at least 2 browsers installed in case some web site doesn’t load properly in the other. I also keep two different browsers in case you want to log in to 2 different accounts to any given website. This lets you be administrator and user on the same site to make sure both parts of the site are working correctly. Also I like to make sure that every part of the site works in each browser.

Opera – http://www.opera.com/

Although Opera is not my favorite browser I still usually install it on my regularly used systems, however I am setting up a system for someone else or if I am setting up an installation of Windows for a particular purpose I don’t typically install it. Opera has some pretty neat features and claims to be fast at loading and rendering web pages so you may want to check it out as an alternative to Chrome or Firefox. But as a web developer I like to have all the commonly used browsers in order to check the compatibility of web sites to make sure that they load on all browsers under different versions of Windows. That is why I included it on this list but at a lower spot than Firefox or Chrome.

VLC – http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

In order to play all the media files that you may download, you need a player that will play them all. The built in Windows Media Player that comes with Windows is not very useful and does not play all file types, so it is usually necessary to have another media player application that can play all your files. VLC is my go-to media player that will play just about every file type and has many great features.

MPlayer – http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html

Another good player that lets you play all the files you may download is MPlayer. MPlayer is lower on my list because it has a few ads that are a little annoying but it still makes the list because of all the great features it has.

WinRAR – http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm

In order to use some of the files that you download that are compressed, you need a good file extraction program such as WinRAR. WinRAR allows you to compress and decompress files in many different formats like .zip, .tar, .gz, and of course .rar. There are both free and paid versions of WinRAR that you can download.

K-Lite Codec Pack – http://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

Many audio and video files are compressed with a certain codec, and many of these codecs are not included with video players and must be downloaded seperately. One way of downloading them all at once is by downloading the K-lite Codec pack. This pack includes all of today’s popular audio and video codecs.

Microsoft Office – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/office.aspx?q=office

As the standard for office type applications, Microsoft Office is almost necessary for today’s computer users. I try to install it or an alternative on all systems I work on. Of course the downside to Microsoft Office is that it is expensive and most users don’t want to have to pay for it only to use it every so often. If you don’t already have a copy of Office and don’t use it enough to pay for it, I recommend an alternative such as OpenOffice or LibreOffice which are both listed below.

OpenOffice – http://www.openoffice.org/download/

A great alternative to Microsoft Office is OpenOffice, which has programs that are equivalent to Word, Excel, Outlook, and all other MS Office apps. I usually install OpenOffice if I cannot get a license for Microsoft Office because it has much of the same features but you don’t have to pay for it. OpenOffice is not as polished as MS Office but does have just about all the functionality you need and can read MS Office files. So if you want the functionality of Microsoft Office but don’t want to buy it, give OpenOffice a try!

LibreOffice – http://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/

Another good alternative to Microsoft Office is LibreOffice. It contains all the typical office-like productivity applications, including programs for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, database creation and manipulation, charts, and more. And it lets you both read and write documents in standard office formats so you can share documents with friends and colleagues who u se Microsoft Office with no problems. If you do not want to pay for Microsoft Office but still want to be able to have the ability to write letters, make spreadsheets, manipulate databases, etc., LibreOffice is a very good choice.

iTunes – https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Apple’s media player, iTunes is a must have for anyone with an iPhone or iPad. I usually install this for most people as a lot of people have iPhones or iPads. Even if someone doesn’t have an Apple device, iTunes has many good features, including the iTunes store for music, movies, TV shows, and more. This allows people to buy or rent videos and music to watch on their computer or portable device. However my favorite feature of iTunes that is the main reason I install it on my own systems is the podcast library. Podcasts are basically radio shows that can be downloaded and listened to at anytime, and there are tens of thousands of podcasts out there. I regularly listen to many podcasts and iTunes is the best way to browse and listen to podcasts on the computer.

WinRAR – https://www.rarlab.com/download.htm

If you download things from the internet then you will probably need to extract compressed files such as .zip, .rar, and .tar.gz files and as such you will need a program such as WinRAR. Supporting pretty much every compression and archive format you can imagine, WinRAR is easy to use but still has all the great features that you could want. It integrates into the Windows shell so you can right-click on any archive and extract it like that. WinRAR is a paid product but comes with a free trial that never expiress;

NotePad++ – https://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v7.4.2.html

Any power user needs a good text editor, and there are a few pretty good ones for Windows. My favorite is NotePad++ which is great for developing software and web sites in all different languages. It has automatic formatting and coloring to help you write and read code for all kinds of languages. It is a must have for all developers as well as all general users.

TextPad – http://textpad.com/download/index.html

TextPad is another very good text editor that facilitates the editing of all kinds of files. it automatically recognizes the type of file and helps you edit many different types of source code files for all kinds of languages. It also has many great text editing features like search/replace, macros, regular expressions, etc.

GIMP – https://www.gimp.org/downloads/

A free open source alternative to Photoshop is GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, which allows you to create and edit images of almost any format. If you do any type of photo manipulation and cannot afford or get a version of Photoshop, then this is your best bet. It is a little hard to use and get used to, especially if you have never used Photoshop before, but once you get past that it is very powerful.

FileZilla – https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client

If you need a good FTP program then FileZilla is a great choice. It allows you to upload files to a remote server over FTP or SFTP protocols. Not all users need an FTP application but if you do then you should try FileZilla out.

PuTTY – https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html

Most users will probably not need a terminal client, but if you do need to connect to remote servers via SSH or telnet, then PuTTY is my favorite one for Window based PCs. The program features many options and lets you customize the terminal in many different ways. If you need a good SSH or telnet client then give PuTTY a shot.

My Dog News and Information Blog

June 16, 2017 jared My Sites

I do not have kids, so I treat my dogs like they are my children. And as such I love them very very much and want them to be the healthiest, happiest dogs ioDn the world. And because of this, I am constantly reading all kinds of information about dogs and am always interested when a news story appears about the canine world. So in order to help keep myself and others on top of the latest dog related news, I have created a new dog news blog all about dog related news and other dog information. The blog contains news stories about dog health, food and nutrition, food and toy recalls and other safety information, courageous and heart wrenching dog news stories, dog and animal charity information and events, and everything else dog related that crosses my path and is blog worthy. So if you are also interested in any dog news or other dog related information, please come check out my new Dog News and Information Blog now!

Electric Vehicles News and Information Blog

June 16, 2017 jared My Sites

As two of my interests are cars and electronics, it makes perfect sense that I would be into electric powered vehicles. So because of my interest in electric cars, I have created a new electric vehicle blog to showcase information, news, and how-to’s related to the electric vehicle scene. One day I plan to start building my own electric vehicle and I want to include posts on how others can convert their own cars to electric power and if or when I do begin my own build I will start to write posts to document the entire project. But until then, on my new EV blog I will write on the current news of the electric vehicle world, reviews of electric cars, how to’s and do-it-yourself guides for everything from maintaining your electric car to converting a gas vehicle to all electric. So for all your electric vehicle needs, check out Jared’s Electric Vehicle Blog.

How I ‘Fixed’ My Dell Laptop’s Power Issue

May 21, 2017 jared My Thoughts

My main computer that I use is my Dell Inspiron 13 i7359 Convertible 2-in-1 Laptop that I purchased about a year ago, and it has performed very well since then. But two weeks ago I started having some issues. At first the computer started to tell me that the power adapter was not being recognized as an official Dell product and that it would not charge the battery since the power output could not be determined. This continued for a few days but I didn’t really pay any attention to it since I usually use it plugged in anyways. But after a few days the laptop just stopped working at all. I couldn’t get it to turn on or do anything at all. I tried everything I could think of and searched the internet for answers to no avail. I was thinking that the power supply was powering the computer fine but not charging it so it seemed like it was fine but short from sending my computer to Dell and see what they said and possibly pay for them to fix it, I don’t know what I would do to fix the problem.

At this point I was at my wits end I decided to just go ahead and buy a new power adapter and try and see if it works. So I ordered one on Amazon for $40. And when it arrived, sure enough it worked and my laptop started up right away. I was so exstatic that I fixed the problem that I didn’t even mind spending that $40.

So if you are having a similar problem with your dell computer, where it isn’t turning on and you don’t know why, it might be a good idea to go ahead and try a different power adapter. The reason is that Dell laptops require Dell OEM power supplies in order to function properly. If they don’t detect that they have a proper power supply they won’t charge, won’t operate at full power, or possibly won’t turn on at all. If you don’t want to pay for a new power supply because you aren’t sure it will fix it maybe you can try a different one that should work, maybe you can borrow one or use one at a store or repair shop. Try going to a store that sells computer, like Best Buy or Fry’s Electronics, and bring in your computer and try to plug it in. Tell them that you bought it there and you want to try a new power supply before you try to return it or something like that. Or try to find a computer repair shop that has a proper Dell power supply that you could use. Tell them that you want to get your laptop fixed but you think that it might work with a new power supply and if it doesn’t work you want them to diagnose and possibly fix it. That way if it does work you know that you just need a new power supply and if it doesn’t maybe they will diagnose it for free and you can then decide if you want to pay to get it fixed or not.

Building the Cottonwood Cove Houses

May 17, 2017 jared My Pictures

A few years back my dad and his business partner bought up a large lot of land and went on to build 9 houses on it. It took a while to get though planning and approval because our city has a ‘No Growth’ policy in place that only allows a few new houses to be built every year. You see, we live in a pretty small city on the outskirts of Las Vegas and they don’t want it do be over come with people trying to get away from the big city. Our small town is nice and quiet and they want to keep it that way. Because of this it is hard for those who do want to build to get approved.

But shortly after the approval did happen, they broke ground and the houses started to go up. I helped my dad do many of the smaller, more menial tasks, as well as being around to see him do a lot of the more important things so I learned a lot of things about construction and real estate. I helped him do things like doing the low voltage wiring and helping him decide on some of the design issues that he was unsure about. He wanted these homes to have the ability to have custom home entertainment packages and high speed data run throughout the house. As such I designed and ran the wiring set up for all the houses to include surround sound and HDTV wiring built in to all the houses so the buyers could have the option to have them terminated and connected or even have an entire home entertainment package installed for an additional fee. Also when the houses were done being built I created a website and flyers for the advertisement and sale of them.

Here are a few pictures that I took during construction and after they were built for the website and flyers.

New Homes for Sale Banner — New Homes For Sale Banner for the Cottonwood Cove homes.

New Homes Sign for Cottonwood Cove Houses

Cottonwood Cove Entryway — A view of the entryway in one of the homes at Cottonwood Cove.

Cottonwood Cove Kiten — A view of the Cottonwood Cove kitchen with light colored counters.

Living room at Cottonwood Cove — Cottonwood Cove living room with home entertainment system

All the Cottonwood Cove houses — A view of all the houses on Cottonwood Cove

House on Cottonwood Cove — One of the houses on Cottonwood Cove

Photos From My College Graduation

March 18, 2017 jared My Pictures

It has been exactly 10 years since I graduated from ITT Technical Institute. I received my BS degree in Information Security – basically anti-hacker training (or hacker training depending on whether you are white-hat or black-hat). Here are some photos from my graduation ceremony and celebration dinner later that night.

Since it is now 10 years after my college graduation, here are some photos from my ceremony and celebration dinner