The increase in ATM fees could potentially cost individuals hundreds of dollars this year. Fees don’t appear likely to come back down anytime soon either. Banks are still seeking revenue to make up for losses brought on by recent regulations like the CARD Act and the Dodd-Frank Bills, according to Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com. Hardekopf anticipates an increase in the use of ATMs due to the high number of people using prepaid cards to withdraw cash from ATMs. He believes that “That increase in demand could lead to higher revenues from ATMs and possibly a higher fee to use the ATM.”           

Do you expect that you will be impacted financially by the increase in ATM fees? If so, how do you plan on dealing with this issue?

Jay-Z’s got a lot to keep himself busy these days.  As if becoming a part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets while maintaining his place as one of the biggest names in hip-hop industry wasn’t enough, he also signed onto Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated film adaptation of The Great Gatsby as the film’s soundtrack producer.  Jay’s responsibilities for the film include “procuring, performing, producing and arranging for a soundtrack featuring some of the world’s top musical artists.” 

Jay-Z became involved with the project after being introduced to Luhrmann by “Gatsby” star Leonardo DiCaprio.  Jay was immediately attracted to the idea of putting a contemporary spin on the classic American story of extravagance, disillusionment, and the unattainable “green light.”  Luhrmann felt that he was the perfect candidate for shaping the musical direction of the film and decided to use his track “No Church in the Wild” for the film’s trailer music.  According to a press statement, Jay-Z and Luhrmann spent two years working together trying to blend the lavish lifestyle of the 1920’s as depicted by F. Scott Fitzgerald with modern cultural elements, specifically hip-hop.  Luhrmann had the idea that the excitement of “the Jazz Age” felt in Fitzgerald’s novel would best be translated in a modern context through the energy of hip-hop.  And what musical figure represents the excitement of today’s hip-hop culture better than Jay-Z?

          1. Strong Start

Often, the first joke in a set can make or break the entire presentation. Carefully pick the tone and run with it—sudden changes in expression or mood can mean a confused audience. Make sure everything you give them is consistent, well thought out and is true to the style you choose to pitch. There’s nothing more uncomfortable than watching a colleague bomb a presentation, weeks of work melting away in front of your eyes, so make sure every presentation begins on a high note.                       

Additionally, it is important to keep in mind your body language and tone of voice when beginning a presentation. Just as important as the content, the delivery of a presentation needs to be strong and convincing. If you’re fidgeting, swaying from side to side and always looking down, your presentation may not come off as strong as it could.

            2. Audience Interaction                      

Asking questions is a great way to keep the audience engaged. Challenge your listeners to come up with their own ideas, which will often lead to everyone learning even more than you could have taught them had there been no audience participation at all. Some learn better from peers and from sharing their ideas, so, to cater to different learning styles, audience participation should be a key ingredient. The goal of a presentation is to convey an idea and make it understood.                        

Every audience is different. Some audiences will have an energy about them that will make it impossible for them to stop sharing their ideas. Sometimes, audiences will be so rowdy that the presenter has to get involved and ask the rowdy person to leave the room. Dealing with uncooperative audience members can be tricky—especially if you have a tight time constraint. A comic can fix the situation by poking fun at the audience member who is being especially rowdy.

            3. Be Spontaneous

As much as you have prepared for a huge presentation to be given in front of the most important people in the company, you have to remember that the people you’re presenting to are just other people. They have wants and needs and senses of humor and favorite foods—just like you. Tap into this human connection and make relevant points that everyone can relate to. Since the audiences are so varied, it’s hard to plan exactly what you’re going to say before you actually see for yourself who they are. Prepare for every audience situation and be flexible.

The game acts as a prequel to the show’s critically acclaimed first season. You play as Daryl Dixon: misunderstood tough guy / televisions favorite crossbow wielding zombie hunter, navigating the mean streets of Georgia in the early days of the zombie apocalypse. Along with your less lovable brother Merle, you meet other survivors each of which will individually affect your outcome depending on how you treat them. The game seems pretty sweet and I will finally be able to live out my armchair zombie hunter dreams. The game comes out in March 2013 on Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. Be sure to check it out!

“What if Alex shows his wife and she tells mine? What if my wife goes through my phone and sees the picture later?”

Well you’re in luck! Two brilliant undergraduates at Stanford wanted a way to share pictures with their friends without long-term consequences. Their logic behind the app now known as Snapchat? Some images are meant to be shared with friends but not to be kept by them. Not every moment in our lives has to be a shining, perfect, Kodak moment. Sometimes you just want to make the ugliest face your can possibly make—warping your facial features and pushing down on your neck to create roll after roll of glorious extra chins. Snapchat pictures self-destruct after a maximum of 10 seconds. Perfect for people concerned with their social media footprints, the pictures disappear from the depths of the Internet—forever.  So, if you want to send a quick, yet personal message to a friend, you can use Snapchat. Take a picture of whatever you’re doing (or of yourself), add some text, draw on the picture even! Then, with a couple of quick taps on your phone screen, the image can be sent to any number of your Snapchat contacts. If someone tries to break unspoken Snapchat code by taking a screenshot of your snap, the app notifies you.

Some recent Snapchats sent to me include my friend Camille sitting at a café in Paris where she’s studying abroad, textbook in hand, frown on her face with the text “I don’t want to study”. Another includes a snap from my friend Nick of his old flip phone captioned as “so meta”, taken on his shiny new smartphone. Snapchat is still in a weird place. No one really knows how or if it will change the social media playing field, but experts have valued the service at $50 million. The application is great for those with growing concerns regarding Internet privacy and safety, and can help people feel better about sharing photos online.

So, go ahead and send that snap of the perfect V-Day present. Add any caption you want! After all, it’s only going to last a few seconds.

However, in December 2012, only 27.4 million hits were recorded—a misleading travesty of a number when comparing the total number of Internet users in 2008 with the 2012 number. Currently, there are about 2.4 billion Internet users, which represents a billion more users than the 1.4 billion in 2008. Taking that into account, the number of individual hits on the MySpace website were…dismally low. With the website already on life support, management rebranded the website, adding an entertainment focus and to be spearheaded by none other than pop idol Justin Timberlake.

Wait a second—you just can’t ignore the eerie similarity of MySpace’s situation to “The Social Network” (2010). The Fincher film dissects the real-life lawsuit filed against Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg by two of his Harvard classmates. In the film, Timberlake plays Sean Parker: co-founder of the computer service “Napster” which allowed users to share files, namely music, with one another for free. Timberlake’s character eventually becomes a detriment to Facebook and damages the company’s reputation, resulting in Parkers ejection. In an ironic twist, Timberlake was hired to pioneer the rebranding of MySpace as a music hub for artists to share their work with the public. MySpace boasts a collection of more than 50 million songs, which makes it the largest music library on the Web.

However, Merlin, a group that represents “thousands of small labels” (Sisario, New York Times) claims that the website uses “members’ music without permission.” Merlin’s contract with MySpace ended more than a year ago, which means more than 100 of Merlin’s labels are still readily accessible on MySpace. As a rebuttal, management released a statement saying that all material used without permission has been, for the most part, uploaded by members and that it can be removed at the request of the creator.

MySpace is down-for-the-count but willing to get back into the game by changing its image and focusing on promoting “social entertainment”. The barriers to entry are high—up and coming names like “SoundCloud” and “bandcamp” offer similar services for artists trying to make a name for themselves. A shiny new exterior and a focus on entertainment…is it enough to turn MySpace on its head?

Bowling is a well-known, fun activity that anyone can enjoy. Whether you are going with your family or friends, bowling is a great way to stay active and have some fun. Here are the top three reasons as to why you should try bowling: 

It helps you stay active and in shape 

While it’s not as physically demanding as other activities, bowling is still a sport with a good learning curve where you get better the more practice and dedication you put into it. Systematic activities help to prevent or cure health problems and promote good health.  If you want to perform well, you need to have good strength, hand eye coordination and precision. However, you don’t necessarily need to be in perfect shape to do well in bowling; it doesn’t take Herculean muscles much to knock down a few pins. If you’re looking for a sport that is relatively easy to learn and not physically demanding, then bowling is definitely a good idea. It’s also a sport that is quite safe; bowling injuries are quite rare if you’re careful enough. Some effort is required, but it’s so fun that you will soon forget that you’re actually getting some exercise. 

You can make good friends 

Bowling alleys are known to be a place where you can socialize with others. In many cities, there are amateur bowling clubs that get together every week or so. Forming a group and competing against other teams is definitely a great way to get to meet new people and socialize more. If you just recently moved to a new part of town, it is a good activity choice, since it’s a very open, relaxed atmosphere that promotes engaging and social interaction. 

You don’t have to join a team if you don’t want to. You can always go to the bowling alley any time you feel like it, and chances are you will still meet some new friends. 

It’s a fun activity for everyone 

Bowling doesn’t require you to purchase expensive equipment, or train for several months before you can be good enough to participate in the sport. If you practice for a few days, you will eventually see improvement. However, if you’re serious about bowling, you can take courses or get coaching from some of the best bowlers in your city. Look for ads posted on the billboard of your local bowling alley. Renting a lane at a bowling alley is usually quite affordable, as many of them make promotions and discounts during certain times of the year. Bowling is available to people of all skill ranges, both casual and competitive. 

It is also an activity that people of all ages can enjoy. This is why when you go to the bowling alley, you will see families with children, groups of men and women, as well as many seniors. In fact, for seniors who would like to stay active, bowling is one of the top choices as a sport and leisure activity, since it doesn’t require too much physical exertion.

As any contemporary small business owner can tell you, the game of building a successful company has changed drastically in recent years. Craftsmanship, personality, and determination are all still very important characteristics for aspiring business people, but the way that those qualities are expressed is very different than in the past. Owning a business is no longer as simple as maintaining a brick and mortar shop and hiring decent shop people to look after it. These days, owning a business is further complicated by the digital world. 

If you’re a business owner, you’ve probably already realized that a company’s online presence is absolutely crucial to its success. These days, if you’re not a solid entity on the Web, you may as well not exist at all. The most successful businesses in the world today are operations that have figured out how to make the Web to work for them. From using a bulk email sender to optimizing your content with SEO, there are plenty of ways you can make the internet into your company’s greatest ally, instead of an obstacle. This digital reeducation doesn’t need to be something you dread! 

If you are new to the digital marketing game, you may want to begin by simply evaluating whether your company is taking advantage of the internet as much as possible. The first thing you need to think about, if you’re just starting up, is your company’s website. Your site is crucial to the way that your company will be accepted and responded to in the real world. A successful website is unique and well-designed. Put away the clip art and word art; here are five tips to having a totally unique site! 

1. The first thing you’re going to want to do is research. Look at the websites of companies that operate similarly to yours, or who sell a similar product or service. This will give you an idea as to what has been done before.
    
2. Next, you need to choose a server that will allow you to customize your site as much as possible. Having the capacity for variation is very important in the eventual server that you choose, and can make all the difference in the long run.
    
3. Either hire an employee, or take advantage of someone already on the payroll, who knows HTML. This is the key to making your site unique.
    
4. Don’t be afraid to use an unconventional format for your site. Who’s to say that a Tumblr or Pinterest isn’t the best format for your company? Whatever makes the most sense for you, layout-wise, is what you should go with.
    
5. Produce as much original content as possible, rather than using recycled or stock media. Instead of buying a set of stock photos, hire a photographer to take some for you. This will ensure that your site is as unique as can be. 

By using these five tips, you’ll be able to make sure that your company’s website is a one-of-a-kind representation of what your company is all about!

A degree from Harvard is extremely helpful when it comes to finding a job. Harvard business school alumni know this very well. Your school’s name recognition can open the door to big firms and other companies, and if you did well in school, this is even more important. A 4.0 grade point average from Harvard will have more appeal to an employer than a 3.5 average from a small liberal arts school. Your ability to leverage the connections you made at your school can play a big role in your career path. Here are three big tips that can help you to maximize your chances of getting a better job by relying upon your education.

1.)    Network. Networking is extremely important. Harvard alumni are often in high places within companies, and if they can put in a good word for you because you know them, you stand a better chance of being appointed than if you were to not have such a connection. Who you know is so important, and today this is even easier than possible. You can use Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to maintain relationships with people from college with quite a bit of ease.

2.)    Keep your name relevant. If you are a member of the Harvard Alumni Association, routinely fill out information on yourself and what you are up to for their newsletter. When people that know you read your name, they are more likely to have a favorable image of you. This will be beneficial if you are looking to have these people recommend you for a job or a position. When your former department chairman sends you the department newsletter, carefully read it and fill out any questionnaires that might have been sent with it, too. The more people that you keep in touch with, the better off you will be.

3.)    Keep in touch with your favorite professors. Your college professors might already have jobs, but oftentimes they will be approached by firms or corporations and alerted to the fact that certain positions are opening up. Your old professors might know about a major job opportunity before it is even posted on a job site like Monster. If you have these connections and they know what you are looking for, they will be more likely to recommend you for the position. Professors often have the inside track in this regard and might even have sway over the company’s final new hire choice. If this is the case, being friendly with your old professors will definitely be to your advantage in a big way.

Networking and all the components of it are so important and if you want to get the very best job based upon your desires and skills, networking can only help you to find what you are looking for. You probably already have a number of connections with friends and classmates that you made during school, now it is time to maximize these connections and start using them to your advantage.

Cloud computing has increased our overall productivity in our personal and work lives and has even done a lot toward ensuring that important files are not lost. If you are like me, you are always backing up files on jump drives and emailing them to yourself in the off chance that your computer crashes and you lose everything important to you. A computer crash can be catastrophic—regardless of where the crash occurs.

• At work, it might mean that your client presentation is lost the night before it is due.
• At home, it might mean that your financial tracking software is erased of the most current data.

Regardless of what you use your computer for, you will have files to save. Using a cloud storage area to put your important information within can be the difference between saving files and losing them.

Your business life is important. If you use a computer for work, you are likely paranoid about losing that information you have worked so hard to create. You might even be worried about your job’s security if you were to lose these vital files. Cloud Management Service plays a big role in file preservation. For example, if you are putting together a PowerPoint presentation for a client that is due the next day and your computer crashes, even if the file is saved, your computer might not be fixed for a few days. If that presentation is stuck on a computer that you cannot access, you might be in a lot of trouble. Cloud storage solves all of the problems that might be created in this act.

Your personal life can also be made easier with the cloud. Storing important files shouldn’t be a chore, and manually backing up everything can be a big pain. With so many important pieces of paperwork now in digital format, you need to have a plan in place so that these files are not lost if your computer crashes. For instance, many insurance companies, in an effort to save money, will send you important documents as PDF files. Rather than printing them out and filing them away in a cabinet, you can download the file and store it away digitally, but if your computer crashes, those important documents might become lost. So instead of taking this risk, store your files away in the cloud and you never have to worry about losing important files again.

Cloud computing is a really great advance in technology and allows us to use our computers with a worry free air and reduces stress levels by a lot. If you have ever needed to deal with computer problems, you know just how difficult this can be. By eliminating this type of worry, you are free to spend your time being more constructive in other areas. Saving time and energy is what good technology is supposed to do for us, and in this regard, cloud computing really delivers on its promise.