JackieProcter, Author at Inscrib'd

Future Predictions Of The Mobile Internet

Sorry, no flying cars here or future predictions of quantum computing. Instead, let’s conduct an earthbound thought experiment; one that looks 30 years into the future. Let’s peer down the rabbit hole and consider a real-life scenario of the devices we will carry, how they interact with us and each other, and what they’d be used for.

Most of us carry around a smartphone and in the future, this will be no different. The “phone” part of the name, even today, is just a small part of the device’s capability so it’s really a poor description of what the device does.

Our device is a handheld computer used not just for voice communication, but also for data transfer, gaming, recording life’s moments through photos and videos, watching television, listening to music and radio, alarm clock to wake us up every morning, maps to help us travel, heck, most of us even use it as a flashlight to illuminate the hallway at 3AM.

Fundamentally, it’s an information hub where all our data, entertainment and communications flow through.

How about we call our futuristic device an iHub. It will be the smart device that controls all other dumber devices we own.

To think about digital devices of the future, I think we first need to consider 2 main problems.

1. Power
2. Connection

How Will Devices Of The Future Be Powered?

Put your hand up if you’re sick of plugging your device into a wall or computer to charge it? Soon enough, this will seem as foreign as TV remotes with wires.

Although battery capacity will vastly improve in the next 30 years, they will still need the occasional charging. But I doubt it would be a hassle, or that you’d even *know* the device is charging.

“What the … ” I hear you say.

Inductive charging is a relatively new technology but has already been in the mainstream for several years, such as the PowerMat.

In the future, inductive charging technology will be embedded in all device’s batteries. I also presume the mat itself would become a lot thinner and even transparent. That means, you could essentially have a sheet of transparent plastic laying on your kitchen bench and every time you set your device down, it begins charging.

Your office desk may even have inductive charging built right in to the surface so that every device around you is fully powered up.

That’s not all. If you catch public transport – bus, train, tram, ferry – all will come equipped with inductive charging technology built into the hand rails. Just hold your device there for a minute or two to juice it up.

Batteries Of The Future

future predictions

Recent advances in Lithium Ion batteries have been shown to deliver far more power than anybody thought possible at 30 times greater than today’s Lithium Ion batteries of the same physical size and also making charging 1,000 times faster.

Just a few minutes on the inductive charging kitchen bench should power up your iHub for days, if not weeks.

In 30 years, it’s not hard to imagine that continuing breakthroughs using nanotechnology will increase battery capacity a further 10 times to achieve 300 times greater than today’s Lithium Ion.

Charging time would also be reduced significantly, perhaps to the point where the latest tech devices would be promoted as “fully charged in under a minute”.

How Will Devices Of The Future Be Connected?

Isn’t it obvious? The Internet of course! D’uh!

But that’s not what I’m getting at. Let’s use my printer as an example. It is connected to my home Wi-Fi so that my laptop and desktop can print to it. If I was resourceful enough, I could get it to print when I’m not even home.

But it relies on my home Wi-Fi, and the Wi-Fi relies on ADSL. Essentially, the printer is disconnected and “dumb” without those 2 required connections.

Let’s imagine a home of the future. We don’t have Wi-Fi. We don’t have ADSL. They’re not required.

The current mobile carriers are building the next generation networks running on LTE, that is about 10 times faster than the older 3G technology. While LTE is the 4th generational mobile technology, in our future 30 year hence, we’d be into the 8th generation (presuming a 7 year technology cycle).

The 8th generation mobile networks would have already overcome the issues of delivering high enough speeds to satisfy our demands – more than 10,000 times faster than today’s networks – while also using power efficiently.

The more pressing issue would be overall capacity – the number of “channels” that can be squeezed into the available bandwidth.

In our future homes, we’ll have a printer. Not just to print on paper, but to print 3-dimensional objects. This reality is a lot closer than you think.

In our future scenario, we’ll be able to buy these printers for just a hundred dollars from the local bricks and mortar store (yes, we’ll still have those in 30 years).

The proof of purchase is sent to our iHub receipt repository which also stores a unique identifier connecting our iHub to the printer’s serial number.

All we have to do to set up the printer when we get home is unpack it and put it on our inductive charging desk, hold our iHub next to it, type in a password and claim the device as our own (we could have done this in the store at point of sale). It’s pre-configured and connected to the 8G mobile network like all our other devices. It’s always connected, permanently.

The printer asks (in actual audible words) if we’d like to do a test print and we agree by saying “yes”. It prints out a kitschy keyring with the device maker’s logo.

Our printer and every other electronic device being manufactured would have a mobile chip, it’s own unique internet address, and be running standardized protocols for interacting with our iHub device.

This is the “internet of things”. Some devices would even be aware of each other and automatically configure to work together, say, from the same manufacturer.

Talking Devices

Speech recognition has come a long way with the most popular PC and Mac software Dragon NaturallySpeaking is made by the same company behind Siri (purchased by Apple).

Even now, with Dragon NaturallySpeaking you can simply talk to your computer and it will browse the internet, take dictation and open up software for you, amongst other things, all hands-free.

Devices that are not your primary iHub device could be considered peripheral devices, such as your printer, the kitchen kettle or the little space heater in your guest bedroom.

Not only will peripheral devices of the future be able to understand what you are saying, but they will be able to reply to you audibly. “Kettle, Turn on”, “Heater, make the temperature higher”. I suspect some of these devices would still have screens (like the printer), but a lot of them will not.

These peripheral devices will also be able to communicate, via 8G, to your iHub. I’m not going to guess whether email will still be widely used in 30 years (please let email die), or a service like Twitter or Facebook. Either way, your peripheral devices will be able to message you on whatever platform you prefer to use.

A peripheral device laying in your desk draw for a few months may send you a notification such as:

Hey, you haven’t used me since May 12th, 2039, and only three times since you got me. My battery is running low at 20%. My location is shown on [this map]. I have researched some options for you.

Re-charge my battery, or
Sell me [second-hand market rate, based on my condition is USD$44.50], or
Gift me to [Jim Brewer (colleague), Frankie (brother), Mom (mother), more…], or
Ignore this notification. [ignore this time, ignore forever]

TV over Mobile Data

Internet Of The Future

Out of all the peripheral devices we’d have lying around the house, the one on your wall will be the second smartest of the lot. That is, your television.

You’d be able to screenshare your iHub to your television, stream movies to and from the TV, use your iHub as a remote, a gamepad and anything else necessary. The TV wouldn’t be sold with a remote. The TV would come complete with the standard 8G mobile protocol.

Here’s the kicker for my future predictions.

Your TV will not rely on cable, ADSL or traditional broadcast signals. It will use the 8G mobile network to receive and send video. It won’t be a one-directional viewing device. It will be a large version of your smartphone/iHub. Bi-directional communication.

It will receive 3D Ultra high-definition video streams. The resolution is enormously higher than the standard HDTV’s we now own, making the picture crystal clear with pixels smaller than the eye can see.

hdtv

Let’s hope by then 3D has done away with the glasses.

Traditional cable networks should not be shaking in their boots though as there will probably be a merging of telecom companies with content providers. TV over Mobile is already starting to take shape and will long be available before our 30 year future has taken it’s course.

Disclaimer: Links to 3rd party sites included within this article denoted with /go/ in the URL may result in commission being earned if you decide to make a purchase.

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Technology - 05/08/2013

How To Make Money On eBay Without Any Products In Stock

Thousands of average people have struck it rich by learning how to make money on eBay. Some start out by selling unused items from around the house or by creating art and crafts from the comfort of their living rooms.

If you don’t have a production line of family members trawling through the garden shed or sewing cross-stitch day and night, your potential earnings are limited.

eBay Success Stories

But there are sole operators who are making money on eBay – a lot of money! They operate like a business and use eBay as their shopfront, such as Beth Van Doren from NouveauQueen.

Beth sums up one of the key problems selling while selling on eBay.

“Finding inventory is a big problem … It can take an enormous amount of time to find products.”

Stay at home mother, Brandi Tolley from Buy BIG From Brandi is another example of a huge eBay success story, earning up to $200,000 per year.

Brandi came across 75 large and tall Tommy Hilfiger men’s shirts in a closeout sale in a local shop and paid $3 each.

She then on sold these for as much as $55 each online. She decided to specialize in clothing for big and tall men but finding a constant supply was a headache.

Brandi realized,

“If I can find sources for this kind of product, it can be a really good way to make a living.”

Meg Williams, former CEO of eBay said,

“Everyday the eBay marketplace becomes indispensable to more people and small businesses around the world.”

How To Find Products To Sell on eBay

First, sign up for a business account with eBay.

To make serious coin on eBay, you’ll need a steady supply of products, and establish procedures to manage orders and get them out to customers on a daily basis.

This is a huge stumbling block for most eBay sellers. To make money on eBay you have to source, store and ship your products. Visiting stores, developing relationships with wholesalers and taking many trips to the Post Office are extremely time consuming jobs to do.

What about taking photos of products and writing descriptions? Being an eBay seller can be a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be!

eBay Product Sourcing Solution – Dropshipping

make money on ebay

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If you’ve never heard of the term “dropshipping”, it’s a business technique where the seller does not keep goods in stock, but instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to the wholesaler. It is the wholesaler who then ships the goods directly to the customer.

The wholesaler also supplies all product information and images to the seller, who makes a profit from the difference between the wholesale rate and the eventual selling price.

eBay have strict rules about dropshipping and there is only one wholesaler on eBay’s Certified Providers list. It’s a badly kept secret that Doba have supplied millions of products to eBay sellers, earning them huge profits for very little work.

Doba is a product sourcing company which has done all the hard work for you. They have already created relationships with wholesale distributors and manufacturers, and offer an online catalogue of over one million products ready for you to sell on eBay.

Doba have made it really easy to find products and get them listed under your eBay account. With their application ‘Push To Marketplace’, all you need to do is select the products from Doba’s catalogue and then with a few clicks they are pushed to live auctions and sales immediately.

The products on Doba’s catalogue are priced significantly lower than most wholesalers too. When you list the goods on your eBay page, you make the purchase price higher than what you will pay Doba for their catalogue price and when they sell, you keep the difference in profit! Too good to be true, right?

It is true and Doba has helped thousands of sellers make money on eBay.

How To Pay For Products Before Selling Them?

Another common problem for eBay sellers is cash-flow. You need money to buy products first, and then only profit after the product is sold. Sometimes it could be a month between purchase and sale, so getting your money back as quickly as possible is very important.

This is where Doba is different.

You don’t need to pay money upfront for any products; you only pay when you have made a sale and the buyer has paid you. That’s when you order the product from Doba and pay them the wholesale price.

Doba then organizes all the shipping for you. During the whole selling process, all you are really doing is clicking your mouse here and there. You do not need to find anywhere to store the products, nor do you need to arrange any labeling, packaging or shipping!

Doba is a fabulous tool for entrepreneurs to use to set up their own online retail company and start making money on eBay. With the added bonuses of no money upfront, pay only when you sell a product, not having to source, store or post any products and their low purchase prices, it seems like a no-brainer.

For a limited time, Doba are offering a free 7 day trial, so there’s no excuse not to try it out.

Happy selling!

Disclaimer: Links to 3rd party sites included within this article denoted with /go/ in the URL may result in commission being earned if you decide to make a purchase.

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Make Money / Technology - 05/07/2013

How Income Protection Insurance Will Save You During Tough Times

Income protection insurance protects the most important thing that most of us do not protect – our income.

When we name the insurance policies we have, we usually rattle off the well-known ones of house, contents, life and car insurance.

Yet income protection insurance should be right up there in our policy collections, but only an estimated ten percent of us are covered.

Stunning really, considering that for most of us, two weeks is the average time that we would be able to survive with no money coming into the household.

What would you do if you were unable to work for six months due to illness or injury?

It is predicted that one in four of us will need at least three months off work during our working careers due to sickness or accidents.

In fact we are three times more likely to need long term sick leave than we are to die during our working life.

Would you have enough savings to pay your day to day bills or would you need to borrow off of others? If so, how would you pay them back? Could you turn your assets into cash in a hurry, assuming that somebody is willing to pay the price you want?

Who Should Have Income Protection Insurance?

If you have financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or other loans, or you are the family income earner, you need to protect your wage.

Our incomes pay for our lifestyles, our mortgages, our car repayments, food and clothes for our kids and even our electricity bills.

Without any money coming in to the household, we would be unable to pay for these items. The power is cut off, the bank forecloses on our properties, the car is repossessed and we have to rely on the generosity of others to feed and clothe our children.

Yet it is simple to protect our biggest asset, which is our ability to earn a wage.

Types Of Income Protection Insurance

There are two types of income protection insurance – the indemnity and agreed value options.

An indemnity or loss of income policy will pay up to a certain percentage of your annual gross income.

The percentage varies according to the policy you choose, but is generally around the 80% mark.

This policy is also calculated when you claim on it, meaning the insurance company will require financial evidence about how much you were earning just prior to your claim. So if your income drops before you claim on your policy, your claim would be based upon your smaller latest income.

An agreed value policy will pay a set amount of your annual gross income, usually around 50-70%, which also varies depending on your policy and insurance company.

When starting this policy you are required to present financial documents as evidence of how much you earn. Then an agreed set amount is decided upon which you would be paid monthly, should you claim and if your claim be accepted.

If your income was to go up during the course of your policy and you did not update it, you would still only receive the initial amount that was agreed upon at the commencement of your policy.

Benefits Of Income Protection Insurance

Basically the most important benefit is knowing that you will have guaranteed income should you not be able to work due to injury or illness.

Even though it is not the full amount of your salary, chances are that it is still significantly higher than any government or social welfare payments.

You will have the peace of mind of not having to worry about not having to worry about where to get money from and know that you will not be a burden on your family.

How Long Does Income Protection Insurance Last?

Policies will usually have a stand down period, meaning that once you claim upon it, you will have to wait a set amount of time before you start getting paid.

Once payments begin, you will be generally paid until you are able to return to work or until you reach retirement age.

Companies and policies do vary, so it pays to check around and find one that will meet your specific needs.

Income Protection Insurance Costs

Policy costs vary depending on your personal circumstances. This includes your age, gender, if you smoke or drink, where you work and sometimes your health history.

Once again it pays to shop around to get the best deal, but can you afford not to pay it?

You could spend your entire working life paying for an insurance policy that you do not need. But that is what insurance is about.

The small cost of having income protection insurance is well worth being able to sleep at night without wondering what you would do if you did not have one.

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Tags: disability insuranceincome insuranceincome insurance protectionincome protectionincome protection insuranceprotection insurance

Technology - 05/02/2013

Where To Download Free Photos For Your Website

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You need to be cautious when you download free photos that may carry licensing restrictions on how they’re used.

Who wants to pay a thousand bucks for a crappy pixelated image? Not me, that’s for sure! But that’s exactly what Getty Images demanded from Ryan Healy and countless others several years ago after they used one of Getty’s images on their website.

Royalty free images are deceptively not free of cost. Just take a look at Getty Images royalty free prices. A high quality photo will set you back $940!

“The term royalty-free means that once the content is licensed under a set of guidelines, the licensee is normally free to use it in perpetuity without paying additional royalty charges.”

“Once the content is licensed”… meaning, you pay for the license, then you can use the image “freely”.

If you’re a photographer, I’m not knocking your right to earn a living from your work. Not by a long shot. You can charge whatever you feel the market will pay for your photos.

In the case of small business owners or individuals posting to their blog or Facebook wall, I tend to think most would opt to download free photos. Not royalty free. COST FREE.

Cost Free Photos

I understand the photographer’s perspective. If you take a photo of your dog and then find the image used in a commercial, wouldn’t you feel a little peeved? Sure you would. You’d be happy to be paid for it though. But what if the image is just used on someone’s website. Perhaps you’d be satisfied with an acknowledgement or attribution, with a link to your website.

That’s where Creative Commons licensing comes in.

Images may be used without written permission from the licensor, but

some licenses require that the original creator be attributed,
some licenses require that the specific license be identified, and
some licenses require that if you modify the work, your modifications must also be similarly freely licensed.

The first point is very important. Attribution is required. Here on inscribd.com, we tend to link to the creator’s page or the source image, denoted by ‘Source‘.

Warning: When You Download Free Photos

1. Just because you can use an image freely, doesn’t mean you *should*. For example, images containing logos, products or people that are depicted in a manner damaging to the company or person’s reputation, could get you sued.

2. Don’t search for, or use, any images that are illegal in your country.

3. Don’t rely on Google Images to source your pictures because it is difficult to know the licensing requirements of each photo.

OK, here’s where to find free images. Remember, most still require you to attribute the creator appropriately.

Flickr

Download Free Photos

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Flickr Creative Commons is Inscribd’s best friend for images. Photos are tagged well, making the thousands of images easily searchable.

Flickr is great for finding pictures of people, casual photographs and all manner of objects. Most pictures are from amateur photographers, but there are some great, professional looking photos available under Creative Commons as well.

Stock Xchng

free photos

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Stock Xchng is owned by Getty Images, so take extra care to look at the licensing conditions of any images you choose from this site.

You’ll need to sign up before you can download any high quality images, but there are tens of thousands to choose from, all tagged and easily searchable.

MorgueFile

free images

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Despite the seemingly morbid name, MorgueFile offers some truly awesome images free to use in your creative projects.

WikiMedia Commons

free photos

Source: Picture of the Year 2012

WikiMedia Commons is brought to you by the same people from WikiPedia.

Images on WikiMedia are sourced from around the Internet and can be used freely with attribution.

WikiMedia also hold a contest every year for the best Creative Commons photos. Some of them are truly wonderful images.

public-domain-photos.com

download free images

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public-domain-photos.com offers over 5000 photos and 7000+ clip art images, separated into categories.

StockVault

Download Free Photos

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StockVault has some great images that you can use with and without attribution, but be cautious where you click as some of the images lead to paying websites like ShutterStock.

Any Government Website

Download Free Photos

That’s right. Most images used on government websites are in the “public domain” and therefore can be used freely without attribution or payment. The includes every piece of text, video and image on whitehouse.gov

For a full list of US government sites, visit usa.gov where you can download free photos.

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Technology - 04/26/2013

Women Business Suits - Pants Suit Or Skirt Suit?

Women business suits come in all manner of fashion and styles. The choice women make can often be influenced by the industry in which they work. Depending on the season or general climate, a pants suit or skirt suit could be the first decision to make.

Business leader, Dale Carnegie once said,

“The expression a woman wears on her face is far more important than the clothes she wears on her back.”

Dale’s comment still rings true, but we do need to dress professionally at the office. When it comes to choosing the perfect womens business suit, we have two main options; the pants suit and the two piece skirt suit.

Skirt Suit

skirt suit

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The most traditional form of business dress for women is the two-piece or skirt suit. Coco Chanel was responsible for modernizing the skirt suit to its common pencil shape and giving the jacket a more boxy shape.

She said,

“Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.”

So when choosing a dress suit we also need to take our body shape into consideration.

The skirt suit combination consists of a tailored jacket and pencil skirt, worn with a tailored silk or cotton blouse.

As with all women business suits, the jacket is the most important part.

It is essential that when we are choosing a jacket that we ensure that it is made well. Check that the hems are even and that there is no loose stitching. The sleeves should touch the wrist bone, the shoulders should be wide enough to balance our hips and the jacket should button without wrinkling or pulling.

Suitable fabrics include wool and wool blends.

Jackets With A Skirt Suit

When it comes to choosing a skirt to go with our jackets, the options vary.

We can go for a matching skirt in the same material as the jacket or choose several different material and style types to mix and match our suits.

This can be a very cost effective option to build versatility in your wardrobe, as you can buy more skirts than jackets because they are cheaper to purchase.

The basic skirt styles to wear with our jackets are a pencil skirt, sitting just above or at knee level, or a longer calf length skirt which is also form fitting.

Skirts that are flowing or ankle length should not be chosen as part of a dress suit as they just don’t project the professional image we need to have at work.

Pantsuits

pants suit

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During the late 1960’s, as increasing numbers of women entered the workforce, Andre Courage created the pants suit. It was designed to give men and women equal footing in business dress.

At first it was not a popular choice, with many traditionalists firmly believing that women should wear skirts, not pants. But it has gained a popular foothold in women’s business attire and is now worn by lawyers, accountants, receptionists and every profession in between.

As Vera Wang said,

“A woman is never sexier than when she is comfortable in her clothes.”

Women have adopted the pantsuit as a smart and comfortable piece of business wear of their own.

Jackets With A Pants Suit

As with the skirt suit, the jacket remains the most important aspect of clothing, with the same rules in choosing a jacket applying.

The fabric choices are somewhat different however and we can choose from different materials such as silk, linen, velvet, crepe and wool. This is because of the differences between the way skirts and trousers are cut and sit when sewn.

Pants, when forming part of a suit, are very well tailored, though unlike men’s pants, do not need to have a permanent crease in the front. Instead they should be form fitting, but not tight or loose and flowing, but not baggy.

A Technicolor Dream Suit – Or Not?

When choosing a color for women business suits, we need to remember that we want to present a professional statement, not a fashion statement.

Therefore sticking to traditional colors like black, navy and grey are sure fire winners. However, by introducing colorful accessories such as shoes, handbags, scarfs and jewelry, we can show our love of color.

This can also be achieved by changing the color of the blouses we wear too and just like men’s ties, the color choices we choose for our blouses, also imply things about our personality and the type of office environment we work in.

Scott Adams quipped,

“Your Business clothes are naturally attracted to staining liquids. This attraction is strongest just before an important meeting.”

So when choosing a business suit for women, remember that most of our dress suits are made from materials that are dry clean only.

This can work out to be very costly, but by wearing suits with a herringbone, plaid, check or tweed pattern, stains and dirt are harder to see.

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Tags: pants suit pantsuits skirt suit two piece suit women business suits womens suit

Career - 04/25/2013

13 Credit Score And Credit Report Myths Busted

Do you have a high FICO credit score? FICO stands for Fair Isaac Corporation, which is the company that created the industry standard credit scores used by almost all loan lenders.

If you have a high credit score, you’re one of the lucky ones. When a loan lender looks at your credit report, a higher credit score shows how likely you are to repay a loan on time. The higher your credit score, the more likely you will be approved for a line of credit.

1. Myth: If you always pay bills on time, you don’t need to worry about checking your credit report or credit score.

Busted: Sometimes mistakes can creep onto your credit report, from innocuous stuff like incorrect date of birth or missing accounts that are in good standing. Identity theft can also be a problem where someone has fraudulently opened accounts in your name. It’s recommended to check your report yearly to make sure the information on file is correct.

2. Myth: Your credit score is merged with your spouse’s credit score.

Busted: Credit scores are not like assets that become merged upon marriage. Your credit score is yours and no-one elses. But your partner’s credit history can affect your ability to qualify for credit together.

3. Myth: Checking your own credit report can hurt your credit score.

Busted: You can check your credit score as often as you wish, but it doesn’t change your credit score.

4. Myth: Opting out of pre-approved offers will benefit your credit score.

Busted: Occasionally you may receive pre-approved offers through the mail coming from banks. If you are opting out to stop receiving junk mail, sure, go ahead. But opting out of these offers will not benefit your credit score what-so-ever.

5. Myth: If you correct an error on a credit file with one credit reporting agency, the correction will carry through to all agencies.

Busted: Each credit bureau maintains its own separate database. When you find an error on your credit report from one of the three major agencies, you should also check if it also appears on the credit reports from the other two.

6. Myth: Settling a judgment or lien will remove that item from your credit reports.

Busted: Most negative events that have been resolved will fade away from your report after 7 years, except for bankruptcies that can last up to 10 years. They do not disappear immediately after being settled.

7. Myth: You can’t have any negatives on your report.

Busted: If you have a missed payment or you’ve even been bankrupt, don’t worry too much. Over time, negative marks against your report fade away into less significance. It’s the most recent credit data that is used in calculating your credit score.

8. Myth: Requesting a lower credit limit will benefit your credit score.

Busted: If you can control your spending and finances, there’s no point asking for a lower credit limit because it will not benefit your credit score. But keep in mind, lowering your credit limit will effectively increase your debt to credit ratio and this would have a negative effect.

9. Myth: Filing for divorce will release you from financial responsibility for an account.

Busted: No. Since your credit score is yours and no-one elses, your credit score follows you, regardless. If you have joint debts between you and your ex, divorce settlements do not carry weight with creditors.

10. Myth: Using debit or check cards can help rebuild your credit score.

Busted: Debit/check cards have no bearing on your credit score. However, if you overdraw your account using a check card and fail to repay the negative balance, this may harm your credit score if the bank files for collection.

11. Myth: The higher your credit score, the lower interest rate you’ll get.

Plausible: This is not always the case because loan lenders calculate interest rates using a grading system. Scores that fall within a specific range will be given a grade corresponding to a particular interest rate.

That means a score that is at the top of the range wont get a better rate than a score at the bottom of the range. Eg, a score between 760 and 850 might get an “A” grade and be eligible for the lender’s lowest interest rate. Therefore, raising your score from 760 to 800 would not affect your interest rate.

12. Myth: Your credit report will show a zero balance for any credit cards paid off before the due date.

Busted: It’s not the due date that’s important. Lenders usually report to the credit bureaus on the statement closing date that appears on your statement. It’s generally 20 to 25 days before the due date.

13. Myth: Your salary and your level of education can affect your credit score.

Busted: Neither your salary nor your level of education affects your credit score. Lenders may consider this information, but it does not change your FICO score.

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Career - 04/15/2013

10 Easy Ways How To Get Backlinks To Your Website

For the purposes of search engine optimization (SEO), it’s very important to learn how to get backlinks, which is when another website links to a page on your website.

Increasing the number of inbound links to our website has a positive effect on Google’s search engine rankings. Don’t make these mistakes in your SEO efforts though. There can also be negative consequences to your actions such as building up inbound links too quickly.

If you’re an Internet Marketer, Google owns you. Everything you do is to satisfy Google in some way or another, directly or indirectly. That’s because Google’s web properties get an enormous amount of overall Internet traffic that Internet Marketers want to tap into. Anyone who’s online (and doesn’t live in China) will probably interact with Google on any given day.

If you’re just an average web surfer, you most likely use Google to find information, watch videos (on YouTube, owned by Google), use Google Drive for file storage, Gmail for emails, Blogger for your personal website (also owned by Google). Your phone might use the Android operating system (owned by Google) and the list goes on and on … Google, Google, Google.

Most importantly, if you have a website, you want to be at the top of Google’s search engine results page. You may spend thousands of dollars on SEO and dozens of hours of your own time making sure your website has the best title, meta tags and content. Read How Copywriting Killer SEO Page Titles Destroy The Competition

You also want to make sure your written text is rich in useful keywords so that people searching for you, your product, or your service, can find you.

The point is that Google is practically inescapable and understanding how their search engine works is vital.

How To Get Backlinks

The way Google ranks it’s search results page is with a mathematical algorithm it calls PageRank.

PageRank tries to find the “best” website page for any given search term. It will then rank each result from best to worst. The top 10 best results are displayed on page 1.

So how does it know what is the “best” page? Well, the honest truth is that it’s extremely complex and no human can fully comprehend all the factors that goes into determining the “best”. Google have super-computers to do that.

But let me explain…

Back in the “old” days, “best” was largely determined by the number of links pointing at a website. So, I could simply have 100 other websites linking to my website and I’d get a good ranking.

The thinking goes, that if other websites link to my website, I have something worthwhile to say. So Google predicts my website would be a better result than another website with less links pointing at it. That’s a simplistic explanation, but I’m just trying to illustrate the point.

Skip forward to today, and while the number of links pointing at your website is still a large factor in PageRank’s algorithm, there is something new to skew the results. That “new” is social media

Google began to calculate how much “authority” a page has. That is, not simply how many links are pointing at that page from other websites, but the frequency in which that page is discussed, for example through Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, blogs, forums, etc.

A page that is linked to during a public conversation, or shared on a social network carries a lot of weight. Over time, if a page is talked about less frequently (or not at all), it’s PageRank can drop and so can your ranking in the search results page.

The more your website is talked about and linked to, the higher “trust” and “authority” your website seems to have, and you will be rewarded in the search results page with a higher ranking.

PageRank is not a static value. It ebbs and flows.

Ultimately, these changes mean that the days of manipulating search results and finding loopholes are gone, and with it, a whole bunch of old-school Internet Marketers who haven’t kept up with the trends.

The end goal in trying to be in the #1 position of Google’s search results page is to get visitors to your website, also known as “traffic”.

How To Get Backlinks?

There are a number of ways to increasing your backlinks, and therefore your “authority” according to Google.

You could use software like Backlink Beast to help get you links on other websites through automation, or you could put some time into the following:

Social bookmarking sites (eg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Scoop.it, etc).
Guest blogging – write an article for another blog, which then contains a link to your website.
Blog comments – contribute quality commentary on blogs, link your name to your website.
Submit to article directories (eg, EzineArticles, GoArticles, Amazines, etc).
Social media profile links – create accounts that include your website link in the profile (eg, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc).
Forum discussion boards – put website link in signature and contribute to discussions.
Submit your blog RSS feed (eg, Feedburner, etc).
Private blog network – create dozens of blogs on free blogging platforms and link to your primary site (eg, Blogger, Tumblr, Squidoo, etc).
Press releases. Cost Of Press Release – 5 Do’s And 5 Don’ts To Save You Money
Paid advertising – ask a website owner to put your link on their page for a fee.

When adding backlinks with these 10 methods, you’ll be linking to your website using anchor text keywords that related to your website.

If you are serious about SEO and are building backlinks right now, you MUST read our next article Why Keyword Anchor Text Links Got Smashed By Google

Disclaimer: Links to 3rd party sites included within this article denoted with /go/ in the URL may result in commission being earned if you decide to make a purchase.

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Tags: building backlinksHow To Get Backlinksinbound linkspagerankSearch engine optimizationseo

Technology - 04/15/2013

5 Microsoft Office Alternative Packages You Can Use For Free

Microsoft Office alternative software packages are in high demand even though Microsoft Office is the market leader and industry standard suite of applications for business.

Microsoft Office has been the mainstay of businesses around the world for decades and the king of integrated applications has yet to be dethroned for everything from word processing to spreadsheets, presentations, database management, email and desktop publishing.

However, Microsoft Office can be costly but there are several free alternatives to Microsoft Office from the open source community.

“Open source” doesn’t have the stigma of the past which had users worried about the quality of software being produced. Today’s open source software is feature-rich with full community support from product developers and users.

You shouldn’t need to worry about these open source software packages supporting the common document file types. Across the board, file formats are a non-issue.

Microsoft Office Alternative Packages

1. Google Drive

microsoft office alternative

Google Drive, previously known as Google Docs, is one of the better Microsoft Office alternative suites available. With your Google account, you can create, share and collaborate on the same document with multiple users who have been given edit, comment or view access.

Google Drive stores your work in the cloud and can be accessed from any device with a browser and Internet connection. It supports a wide array of file types, including Microsoft Word which can be downloaded for offline use as well. Files can be downloaded as Word, OpenOffice, RTF, PDF, HTML or zip files.

Google Drive includes the Spreadsheets packages which is an alternative to Microsoft Excel that can create and format spreadsheets and charts that can be embedded in your blog or website. You can import and export file types .xls, .csv, .txt and .ods data.

If you’re looking for a Powerpoint alternative, Google Presentations lets you create, share and edit visual presentations that can be saved as .pptx, .pps, pdf, or .txt file. You can also insert images and videos and even give presentations online in real-time.

As alternatives to Outlook go, you can’t get any better than Gmail. Gmail offers POP and IMAP email service which works with Outlook if you want to integrate the two.

Since this is a Google service, Drive works well with Google+, Gmail and Google Calendar for greater integration capabilities and convenience. Google’s storage allowance is consolidated between Drive, Gmail and Google+, offering users 15Gb of free storage shared across all three platforms. If you need more space, you can also upgrade for a few dollars per month.

Google Apps for Business is a separate service that costs $50 per user account per year. It has all the same free services, but more support, more space, more features.

2. Apache OpenOffice

microsoft office alternative

Apache OpenOffice is a freely downloadable Microsoft Office alternative that can be installed on Windows, Linux and Mac computers.

Apache OpenOffice is one of the first challengers to Microsoft’s dominance for installable software and offers many of the same tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics and databases.

You can import and export Microsoft Word documents or in the OpenDocument format.

The OpenOffice word processor is called Writer, and features desktop publishing tasks include design wizards, formatting and autocorrect, HTML coding and tables.

The spreadsheet application is called Calc, that can create reports and graphics from databases, natural language formulas, and maths equations.

You can also create multimedia presentations with Impress utilizing multiple monitors as well as tools for drawing and diagrams, together with Draw to produce 3D illustrations.

Base is the database tool that can create and modify tables, forms, queries and reports.

The open source community frequently develop and itterate new features for OpenOffice that will continue to remain free.

3. LibreOffice

microsoft office alternative

LibreOffice is a spin-off of Apache OpenOffice. In 2010, the Document Foundation decided to use the same source code as OpenOffice with all the same features and tools, but took it in their own direction.

The two major differences are in the application’s features, usability and community support. LibreOffice is fairly simple to use and can import .pdf documents and includes a Wiki publisher. Users can enhance functionality by installing extensions and different templates.

The software can even be installed on a portable drive, USB stick or SD card.

4. Zoho Docs

alternative to microsoft office

Zoho Docs is similar to Google Drive in that it is a Web-based alternative to Microsoft Office. The basic package offers 1GB of free online storage to save documents from the word processor, spreadsheets and presentations. Users can edit documents with each other in real-time, although the feature has room for improvement.

After signing up for the software, you can log in using any web browser on any device, which also includes a mobile app for Android and Apple devices.

Zoho Docs offers added flexibility over Google Drive or Microsoft Office by enabling sharing with any email address.

5. Kingsoft Office

office alternative

Kingsoft Office is developed out of Hong Kong, and tends to be a stripped down alternative to Microsoft Office with three counterparts for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Kingsoft Office is quick and lightweight boasting a long list of file format compatibility. Included is a PDF converter and tools for adding watermarks to documents.

Versions for Android and iOS are available and are free to install.

These are just a few of the best alternatives to Microsoft Office. As more people go mobile, tablet and web-based apps will continue to improve and provide just as much flexibility and function as desktop applications. Microsoft are pushing into the web-based world with Office 365

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Tags: Google DocsGoogle DriveKingsoft OfficeLibreOfficeMicrosoft Office alternativeoffice alternativeOpenOfficeZoho Docs

Technology - 04/11/2013

Is This An April Fools Joke From Google Analytics?

Is this yet another April Fools Day joke from Google? Someone from the International Space Station may be taking a look at your website right now!

If you log into Google Analytics and watch the Realtime Overview in the Standard Reports section, you may notice something very special.

Click on Image to Enlarge:

Don’t be fooled though. It’s yet another gag from Google.

Oh, but did you hear the sad news that Youtube is shutting down?!

OK, it’s not.

But hang on a cotton-pickin’ minute! Google have just announced powerful new technology about to be unleashed on your olfactory senses. Ever wanted to know what a ghost smells like?

OK, that’s an April Fools Day joke too. But don’t feel disappointed that the technology isn’t real. Perhaps a good old-fashioned treasure hunt will cheer you up?

Happy April Fools Day

The only day of the year where tech giants don’t want to be taken seriously.

Nice one Google.

Technology - 04/01/2013

30 Celebrities Born With Awesome Names Who Don’t Use Stage Names

Using real names in the business world is essential to maintain trust and honesty. Unfortunately, having an ordinary real name does you no favors. Printing your ordinary name on an ordinary business card looks like you’re handing out a sample from the printing company.

To those of you born with interesting names, be sure to thank your parents because names make a big impression on people. Celebrities generally don’t change their names to flee from the law or for more mundane privacy reasons.

When actors are forced to change their real names, sometimes it’s because of rules governing the Screen Actors Guild that says no two members can have the exact same name. For example, this rule forced Michael Douglas (not the one who played Gordon Gecko) to become Michael Keaton (the one who played Batman).

In our companion article 30 Celebrity Stage Names You Thought Were Real, you’ll find out which celebrities use a sneaky stage name rather than their real birth name. Some may surprise you!

But continue reading as you may be gobsmacked to learn of some celebrities with real names you’d swear they made up, but are in fact their birth names!

elon musk

elonmusk.com

1. Elon Musk

A serial entrepreneur who could easily release a scented perfume in his own name, Elon Musk is the co-founder of Paypal, the online payments processor. Paypal was bought by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion giving Elon an enormous windfall of cash.

Elon shot for the stars (literally) and created Space Exploration Technologies, known as SpaceX which was the first private company to successfully launch and dock a spacecraft with the international space station.

Back down on Earth, Elon also started an all-electric American car company called Tesla Motors that manufactures affordable electric vehicles.

Wolf Blitzer

Wolf on Twitter

2. Wolf Blitzer

Sounding like he can slay wild animals with his bare hands, Wolf Blitzer is an American journalist and CNN news anchor known for his in-depth reporting on international news.

Blitzer has won many personal awards for journalism as well as being on the team reporting during 1991 Gulf War. He has also been awarded several honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.

Over the decades, Blitzer has reported on a wide range of major breaking stories around the world that have shaped the international political landscape.

jude law

Jude Law on IMDB

3. Jude Law

The Beatles weren’t singing about him, but many women certainly do. British heart-throb Jude Law started acting at the age of 12.

He learned ballet dancing for the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley. He’s also appeared as Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes alongside Robert Downey, Jr.

He’s quoted as saying, “Face it, I didn’t become famous until I took my clothes off.”

quentin tarantino

Quentin on Facebook

4. Quentin Tarantino

Director of Django Unchained, Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2 with his film debut in 1992 of Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino has made a series of cult classics amassing a huge following.

In 1996, Quentin was planning to direct an episode of “The X Files” at the height of it’s popularity, however he refused to join the Director’s Guild of America and subsequently could not direct.

His movies often feature violence mixed with subtle humor and favors working with actors Uma Thurman and Samuel L Jackson.

Muhammad Ali

ali.com

5. Cassius Clay (aka Muhammad Ali)

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., Muhammad Ali changed his name after converting to Islam in 1964.

At the age of 22, he won the world heavyweight boxing championship and was nicknamed “The Greatest”.

Ali’s title would be stripped after his refusal to be drafted to Army service, only to return years later facing off against heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman in 1974 in a bout nicknamed “The Rumble in the Jungle”. Against the odds, Ali regained the title.

Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, possibly brought on by head trauma suffered during his career in boxing.

val kilmer

Val on Twitter

6. Val Kilmer

First becoming popular in the mid-1980s appearing in Top Gun, Val Kilmer received critical acclaim for his performance as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s The Doors. The real members of the band said they had difficulty distinguishing Kilmer’s voice from that of Morrison’s.

Following his rise to stardom, Kilmer acted his way into Bruce Wayne’s shoes in Batman Forever – the only blonde actor to have played Batman.

Val apparently turned down Patrick Swayze’s role in Dirty Dancing because he didn’t want to be perceived as a “hunk.”

channing tatum

Channing on Twitter

7. Channing Tatum

His name sounding like a Gregorian chant to be repeated with a fulfilling ‘ohmmm’, Channing Tatum’s career began as a fashion model and cast as a dancer in Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” music video.

He has starred in films She’s The Man, Step Up, 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike.

8. Humphrey Bogart

Widely regarded as a cultural icon and amazingly born in the 1800s (Christmas Day, 1899 to be exact), Humphrey Bogart shot to stardom as an actor in the 1930s rising to the peak of his profession with his performance in Casablanca.

Bogart was a founding member and the original leader of the Rat Pack, consisting of other icons of film Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. The “Rat Pack” was named by Bogart’s 4th wife, and another Hollywood icon, Lauren Bacall.

He appeared in 75 feature films.

Powers on IMDB

9. Powers Boothe

Faster than a speeding bullet, Powers Boothe sounds like he could beat superman in a race around a department store.

Boothe appears mostly in TV (24, Deadwood) and also cinema such as Sin City and The Avengers.

He’s been quoted as saying “I’ve done love scenes with Jessica Lange and Jennifer Lopez, and I won’t kid you, they’re fun.”

Charlize on Facebook

10. Charlize Theron

This beautiful bird was born in South Africa with a name that sounds just like… well… a beautiful bird, Charlize Theron is an actress and fashion model who’s won the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress amongst many others.

Early in life, she has danced ballet in “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker” but a knee injury put a stop to her dancing career.

Charlize has starred in Prometheus, The Italian Job, Mighty Joe Young and Monster for which film critic Roger Ebert called her acting “one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema”.

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Mary on IMDB

11. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Sounding like a descendant of royalty, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is an actress who has starred alongside Al Pacino in Scarface and in The Color of Money, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She’s also worked in television starring in Without a Trace, Grimm and playing Captain Zoe Callas in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

James on Twitter

12. James Van Der Beek

Perhaps best known for his portrayal of lead character Dawson Leery alongside Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson in Dawson’s Creek, Beek sounds like he’d be right at home on the waterfront.

In 2002, he played Sean Bateman in The Rules of Attraction, which was initially a box office flop, but found a cult following on DVD.

James also featured in Kesha’s music video for “Blow”.

soleil moon frye

Soleil on Twitter

13. Soleil Moon Frye

With a name that could tame planets, Soleil Moon Frye shot to stardom as a child actor playing Punky Brewster and also joined the cast of Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

punky brewster

She frequently lends her voice to animated characters for TV.

Keira Knightley

Keira on IMDB

14. Keira Knightley

As her name suggests, like defending the crown of the realm, Keira Knightley’s role as the decoy queen in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was kept secret throughout the film’s promotion, maintaining that Natalie Portman played both the Queen and the decoy.

The similarity between Knightley and Portman meant that during the filming, their own mothers could not tell them apart once in makeup.

Her filmography also includes Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of the Caribbean, Love Actually and Pride & Prejudice.

forest whitaker

Forest on Twitter

15. Forest Whitaker

Smarter than the average bear, vegetarian Forest Whitaker ran with films Platoon, Stakeout and Good Morning Vietnam.

Forest was originally cast in the role of “Sawyer” on “Lost”, but later opted out.

He has said his droopy eye condition is genetic, passed down from his father.

We still have 15 more celebrities to take a look at. You may be surprised to find some of your favorite famous names were not made up, but are in fact their birth names!

jennifer love hewitt

Jen on Twitter

16. Jennifer Love Hewitt

What’s not to love about Jennifer Love Hewitt? Right, guys? Jen rose to fame starring in Party of Five and a lead role in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Jennifer had mixed success in music with her song How Do I Deal charting thanks to featuring in the movie soundtrack.

Antonio Banderas

Antonio on Wikipedia

17. Antonio Banderas

He’s a Puss. And he’s in Boots. Although his tough guy name doesn’t lend well to his singing and dancing, voice of Puss In Boots from the movie Shrek, Antonio Banderas can also slice a mean ‘Z’ right into your shirt.

Also know for his role as Zorro The Mask of Zorro, he’s also starred in Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia, Desperado and Spy Kids.

He has his own cologne brand for men and has been quoted as saying “There is nothing in the world that cannot be cured by love.” Aww. You old Spanish romantic, you!

Boutros Boutros Ghali

Boutros on Wikipedia

18. Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Got to love the double name. Boutros, the Arabic version of Peter, is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN).

His grandfather had been Prime Minister of Egypt for 2 year before being assassinated in 1910.

His unique name is frequently mentioned in comedy TV shows, such as Seinfeld, King of The Hill, Friends and was interviewed by Ali G in a comedy sketch.

Yo-Yo Ma

yo-yoma.com

19. Yo-Yo Ma

Grammy Award winning, French-born American cellist and virtuoso, Yo-Yo Ma is another unique name frequently cited in comedy TV shows. Here is a double whammy from Seinfeld.

Ma was also seen with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, often invited to perform on stage during event keynote presentations, as well as appearing in a commercial for the Macintosh computer.

Edward on IMDB

20. Edward Woodward

How much wood could an Edward chuck if Edward Woodward chucked wood?

This British actor and singer was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) and rose to stardom in the mid-80s thanks to the The Equalizer, earning him the 1986 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Drama Actor.

He’s landed lead roles in TV and also made a brilliant performance in the original version of The Wicker Man and also in Breaker Morant.

leonardodicaprio.com

21. Leonardo DiCaprio

With a similar name to the famous artist Da Vinci, Leonardo DiCaprio has risen to become the “king of the world” of entertainment.

Leo got his start in the TV show Growing Pains and became truly recognised for his acting prowess in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Romeo + Juliet.

Not even icebergs could crash this rising star after stellar performances in Titanic, The Beach, Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, Shutter Island, Inception, Django Unchained and many other great films.

Dick on Wikipedia

22. Dick Van Dyke

With a lengthy span of 7 decades – his career, that is, Richard “Dick” Van Dyke is an American actor and comedian starred in the films Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and in the TV series The Dick Van Dyke Show and Diagnosis: Murder.

Ambidextrous, Dick dabbled in computer animation since the 1980s. Using Newtek’s Lightwave 3D from home, he created and animated a CG version of himself that he danced along with as seen in The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited (skip to 6:50 min).

“Van Dyke” on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was misspelled as “VANDYKE”. At the revealing, he laughed, took a pen and drew a slash between “VAN” and “DYKE”. The star was corrected soon after.

billy bob thornton

billybobthornton.net

23. Billy Bob Thornton

With such a pointy name, William Robert (Billy Bob) Thornton drew blood from Wife #5 in Angelina Jolie, most famously wearing one another’s blood in vials around their necks.

Jolie once had a tattoo in the name of her 2nd husband “Billy Bob”, which she has since lasered off her skin.

He has starred in The Man Who Wasn’t There, Sling Blade and Bad Santa.

Danny Elfman

Danny on Wikipedia

24. Danny Elfman

It’s no surprise that with such a cartoony name, Danny Elfman, American composer and musician created The Simpsons main title theme.

He’s also well known as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Oingo Boingo as well as providing the musical scores for most of Tim Burton’s movies.

Elfman has worked on Terminator Salvation, Spider-Man 1 & 2, Men in Black trilogy and dozens of other movies.

leonard nimoy

Leonard on Twitter

25. Leonard Nimoy

“Live long and prosper” as the aliens would put it. Well, only if they were half human, half alien. Leonard Nimoy is best known for his role as Spock in the original Star Trek series.

Nimoy wrote two autobiographies, the first in 1975 titled I Am Not Spock. Later, relenting with the second in 1995 titled I Am Spock.

He was best man at co-star and good friend William Shatner’s third marriage, and still has the last pair of Spock’s ears he wore on the series, as a memento.

Yoko on Twitter

26. Yoko Ono

Imagine all the people angry with this woman, whose name translates to “ocean child” she caused quite a storm during her marriage to John Lennon. Both the public and media blamed for the breakup of The Beatles.

During Lennon’s last two years in The Beatles, he and Ono began public protests against the Vietnam War.

She is a Japanese artist norn in Tokyo and an avid peace activist with her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking.

David Hasselhoff

davidhasselhoff.com

27. David Hasselhoff

To the surprise of some American’s from his home country, ‘The Hoff’ (as he calls himself) is not just an actor, but also a singer who’s very big in Germany and Eastern Europe, selling millions of records.

He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch, running in slow-motion down the beach alongside Pamela Anderson.

Uma Thurman

Uma on IMDB

28. Uma Thurman

Former model who was 5 foot 10 by age 13 and named after the goddess of light and beauty in Indian Mythology, Uma Thurman earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Quentin Tarantino classic Pulp Fiction.

Director Quentin Tarantino (also on this list – see page 1) considers Uma to be his muse. Along with Pulp Fiction, she starred in his films Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2.

Uma describes herself as ‘Tall, sandy blonde, with sort of blue eyes, skinny in places, fat in others. An average gal’.

Shaquille ONeal

Shaq on Twitter

29. Shaquille O’Neal

One of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA standing at 7 foot 1 inches, Shaquille O’Neal overpowered his opponents on the court with the ‘Shaq Attaq’.

In addition to his basketball career playing in 6 teams, Shaq has released four rap albums, with his first, Shaq Diesel, going platinum.

gwyneth paltrow

goop.com

30. Gwyneth Paltrow

Not too fond of paltry poultry, wife to Chris Martin from Coldplay and daughter of Hollywood star Blythe Danner, Gwyneth Paltrow has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Gwyneth once dated Ben Affleck, reportedly is good friends with Madonna, and also became engaged to actor Brad Pitt but the two did not marry.

She speaks French and did her own singing in the movie Duets. Her godfather Steven Spielberg had her play Wendy in flashbacks for his film Hook.

Having an interesting name can certainly get you places and celebrities are the perfect example of this. Luckily for the folks in this list, they were born with fantastic names.

But what about those celebrities born with boring names? That’s what stage names are for!

Read our next article 30 Celebrity Stage Names You Thought Were Real to discover which of your favorite celebrities have been deceiving you with fake names.

Career - 03/21/2013