• Society
    How to Track a Cell Phone Number

    Tracking a cell phone number is illegal in the country if you are an ordinary civilian. It is a federal crime even if you know how to track a cell phone number. However, you can do it if you are confronted by a specific situation that necessitates cell phone tracking, such as to ensure that the person using the phone is safe, or if your phone has been stolen and you want to trace it. For all these scenarios, you need special permissions for the same. Even law enforcement officials need a warrant if they want to track you using your phone number. If you are wondering how to track a cell phone number without getting into trouble, the following are some of your options.

    • Using cell phone carriers
      All the major telecom companies in the country, like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T mobile offer a paid feature that allows you to track cell phone numbers attached to your account. To use this service, you require permission from the number you want to track. Therefore, this method is completely legal. Using this service, a user can keep track of family members and friends and ensure their safety.
    • Using smart-phones
      The invention of smart-phones has made tracing cell phone numbers an extremely easy task. If the number or person you are trying to track uses a smartphone, you can track it using your own smartphone. The Android device manager of Android phones lets a user track any Android phone using the Internet, but this works only if the GPS setting is switched on. Apple users can use the Find My iPhone app or Find My Friends App to trace any iPhone using another iPhone.
    • Using third-party apps
      This is the trickiest method on how to track a cell phone number because tracing a cell phone number using a third party app needs a written permission, else you may end up in legal trouble. There are many third-party applications like mSpy and Find My Friends that let you track a phone number using GPS. One other issue with this method is that both the phones, the one being tracked and the one used for tracking, need to have the app installed on them. Therefore, you will have to physically access the phone that you want to track and install the app on it, which might not be as easy as it sounds.

    You may go ahead and try these methods, but you have to make sure that you are following all the legal rules and do not end up behind bars.

  • Society
    4 Apps That Inform You About Interstate Traffic Conditions

    Traffic has become the bane of our lives. Today, many cities are congested because almost everyone has a car, but there is no space to drive it. Most cities have more cars than needed because everyone wants to be comfortable while commuting. Due to this, citizens have to deal with congested streets and constant traffic jams. Thankfully, we now have some great apps that can tell us which road is blocked and guides us about alternative routes. Therefore, the next time you worry about interstate traffic conditions, use one of the apps mentioned below to reach your destination in a flash.

    Waze
    Waze is one of the top traffic apps because it provides the latest updates about interstate traffic conditions along with dependable driving directions. Waze also reads and stores data related to your drive and shares it with other Waze users on the same route. It records your speed, your route, and other factors that help users enjoy a comfortable journey. Waze is a user-driven app, where users come together to create data, report instances of traffic, discuss weather conditions, and note the presence of police officers. People can also chat with each other to get better updates. Along with traffic and driving guidelines, the latest update on Waze also helps you with parking.

    Google Maps
    Google Maps is a navigation and traffic app that is popular across the globe. This application is extremely user-friendly and so dependable that it gets more than a billion users per month. Google Maps is loaded with data about interstate traffic conditions and can help you reroute quickly in case of traffic or other delays. It also helps you with bus routes and walking directions.

    INRIX
    INRIX is another great app that can give you updates about interstate traffic conditions. This app is supported by a cloud platform called Autotelligent. You will find it on the dashboard of cars from top brands like Porche and BMW. This app is proactive as it optimizes and reroutes your vehicle as and when needed. Just like Google Maps, this app is also capable of calculating the expected time of arrival (ETA) based on current traffic conditions and helps you make informed traveling decisions. What makes this app different from the ones mentioned above is that it captures the driver’s habits and uses that data to give route advice in the future.

  • Society
    Top 3 Assisted Living Centers for the Elderly

    Assisted living centers for senior citizens have changed a lot in the last few years. Today, these places have become very senior-friendly and are much more comfortable than they used to be in the past. Today, assisted living centers for the elderly have become customized care centers where seniors can enjoy their lives and participate in activities that make them happy. It is safe to say that assisted living centers have hit the right balance between providing care and letting the seniors feel at home.

    Aegis Living
    Aegis is a Redmond, Washington-based assisted living center for the elderly. It is pet-friendly at nearly all the locations and has been designed keeping in mind the needs of seniors who require wheelchairs and assisted walking facilities. Aegis provides appetizing meals to its residents. Additionally, a physician is always present at the center. Other doctors, like dentists and therapists, are available on call too. Most of the care centers help patients with memory problems or behavioral issues lead a comfortable and life. At some locations, Aegis also provides vegetarian food. The minimum age for entry in Aegis Senior Homes is 65 years.

    Integral Senior Living
    Integral Senior Living is one of the top assisted living centers for elderly citizens. It owns 48 communities within the country, and they have numerous centers in Arizona and California. It is the 17th largest senior living provider in the country. It specializes in assisted living, memory care, and independent living. For more than 18 years, this brand has managed to deliver top-quality senior living setups along with modern and satisfying workplaces. The minimum age required to start living in one of these centers is 55 years. All the centers have a resident physician present at all times, and other doctors and therapists are available on call too. They provide many food options, and patients can choose meals depending on their health conditions.

    American House Senior Living Communities
    American House Senior Living Communities is the 31st largest senior living provider in the country. It is well-known for its hospitality, housing, and personal care, and it has been taking care of seniors for more than 30 years now. This assisted living center for the elderly is an independent living setup. However, it does provide assisted living care at three of its locations in the states of Michigan and Florida.

  • Society
    5 Essential Digital Photography Tips for Beginners

    A great photograph is a work of art. With the advent of digital photography, clicking and developing photos has become simple and easy. However, if you have just got your hands on a brand new DSLR, photography could seem like a daunting task. Don’t worry. Here are five essential digital photography tips to get you started.

    • Follow the “Rule of Thirds”
      One of the basic tenets of photography, the “Rule of Thirds” concept states that ideally, the subject of your image should never be in the exact center of the frame. Rather, you should picture two horizontal and vertical lines dividing the frame. The point of intersection of these lines is where your subject should appear. According to the “Rule of Thirds,” this is the best way to focus attention on your subject.
    • Learn about the “Exposure Triangle”
      The “Exposure Triangle” consists of the interrelationship between the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings in photography. Understanding this basic principle will help you shoot brilliant images effortlessly in different lighting conditions. It will also help you experiment with photography as an art form. However, mastering this technique will require a great deal of practice.
    • Shoot in RAW
      Before you start clicking photos, go to your camera settings and change the type of file shot from JPEG to RAW. Why should one choose the RAW format? RAW is a type of file format that is best at capturing all the data as seen by your lenses. Thus, your photograph has more details, and you also get greater control while editing images. Moreover, most leading digital photography professionals prefer using the RAW format to click splendid shots.
    • Try out different lenses
      If you are a beginner at photography, there are high chances that you still have the standard 18-55mm kit lens. If you want to improve your shots, experiment with different types of lenses. Go for a telephoto lens with higher zoom quality, a prime lens, a wide-angle lens, or even a razor-sharp macro lens. Your creativity will bloom when you start experimenting.
    • Never use flash indoors
      Indoor photography works best with natural lighting. So, don’t hesitate to turn off that flash, bump up the ISO to around 800 or slightly more, and use your widest aperture. The era of digital photography has made it easy to shoot with natural light. You can instantly see your shots on the camera’s LCD monitor.
  • Society
    4 Popular Enter-to-win Sweepstakes in 2018

    Sweepstakes are a good way of testing our luck at winning some money or a vacation to an exotic location. Most people do it as a hobby but studies have proved that entering sweepstakes is addictive. However, winning sweepstakes requires a lot of patience and persistence. If you love sweepstakes, but lack the time and energy to look for and enter the best ones, following is a short list of sweepstakes that you can enter to win. They are exciting and will not take up much of your time.

    DIY – Ultimate Retreat Giveaway
    If you enter this sweepstake, you stand a chance to win a beautiful home of your choice along with a cash price of $828,000 or $450,000. You can enter once a day, and the entry can in-person or through email. Check the end date for entries and remember that it is only open to American citizens.

    MLB – Beat the Streak Sweepstakes
    With this sweepstakes, you stand a chance to win $5.6 million. All you have to do is correctly guess the name of the baseball player who is going to score a hit during an MLB game each day. The entry frequency for this sweepstakes is once daily, either in-person or through email. Just like the previous sweepstake, you need to check the end date for this enter-to-win sweepstake which is open only to American citizens.

    Cost Plus World Market – 60 Makeovers in 60 Days Sweepstakes
    If you enter this sweepstake, you stand a chance to win $61,000, which includes a fully furnished tiny bungalow. You also stand a chance to win 60 gift cards, which are worth $1000 each. The entry frequency is once a day, though you can make an entry every day. You have to be an American citizen to participate in this enter-to-win sweepstakes.

    Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Play-offs Sweepstakes
    In this sweepstake, you stand a chance to win one of the three vehicles announced by the company, or you can win weekly prizes, like one year’s supply of M&Ms or gas worth $2000. Each participant can make up to three entries in a day.

    All you have to do is keep an eye on the website of these sweepstakes and enter as soon as the entries start. New sweepstakes are introduced every month, and you can check these out as well.

  • Society
    Free Dating Sites You Can Use to Find Your Partner

    People of all age groups are considering online dating websites to find a partner these days. Today, thousands of people are looking for love online using various free dating sites. There are some paid options as well, but we suggest that you start with the free ones and check whether you’re comfortable with online dating. Later, you can choose to upgrade to the premium version, where websites charge you a fee for matching you with like-minded people and help you find a partner. Following is a list of the best free dating sites that you should try if you are open to dating and meeting people over the internet.

    Coffee Meets Bagel
    Coffee Meets Bagel is a dating and social networking website based out of San Francisco. You can download their app from Apple’s App Store for free. It is a lesser-known dating website, but once a user tries it, they are sure to get hooked. Coffee Meets Bagel combines some of the best features of the top online dating sites and provides a platform that is easy to use and fun. This site gives its members a report card-like interface which states all the reasons why someone did not like their profile, or if the display picture was not good enough.

    OkCupid
    OkCupid is a popular free dating site. It is ideal for singles who want to test the waters of online dating. This site has maintained the same design and features for years which has made it extremely easy to navigate. The profiles on this website are very insightful. The site asks you a few questions before it starts matching you with other registered users. It also lets you control your searches by offering match suggestions.

    Plenty of Fish
    Plenty of Fish is one of the easiest ways to find potential partners on the internet. It is a free dating site, and it also has an app. Individuals who are looking to find a date can go through millions of choices. The website has a lot of profiles, and it receives close to 4 million logins every day. Plenty of Fish has been designed to help individuals find long-term partners. At the same time, it also has some scope for casual meets and can help you make new friends.

  • Society
    A Comparison of Gas Prices Across Five States

    The price of gas keeps rising, and people are unsure about how to deal with it. Gas is an essential commodity in the country, and some of the states that always have high prices are California, Washington, Alaska, Michigan, Utah, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Oregon. In these states, the gas price almost always hovers around $3.50 per gallon, give or take 10 cents. The reasons behind these soaring gas prices are the government’s policies as well as tensions between the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exchanging Countries) and Russia, who decided to cut their production of oil drastically in this year. Some of the aforementioned states have higher state taxes, and this contributes to high gas prices. Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma have the cheapest gas prices. The rates fluctuate around $2.70 per gallon in these states.

    Following are some of the most expensive states based on our comparison of gas prices.

    • California
      California, which is also known as the Golden State has the highest gas prices as compared to other states. These high prices are primarily because of the state’s environmental standards which mandate that refineries create a special blend of gasoline. This move leads to a rise in prices when one refinery goes offline for maintenance. The state also adds a high tax on gas, and this causes prices to skyrocket.
    • Hawaii
      The cost of shipping gallons of oil to the refineries (there are two of them) make prices soar in this state. The cost of transportation and other overheads make the gas prices more expensive on this island state. At one point, Hawaii was paying the most for fuel, and even today, the gas prices are around $3.7 per gallon, which makes it one of the highest figures in the country.
    • Alaska
      Alaska has the lowest taxes on gas in the entire country, but the problem is that it does not have the refinery capacity to meet the demand of all citizens. The oil-rich state is trapped in a strange situation as it ships oil to refineries on the West coast. They send back refined gas that is quite expensive as per our gas price comparison index.
    • Washington
      Partly due to legislation, notably the Jones Act, and the fact that Washington imports oil from Alaska with high costs of transportation, the prices of gas in this state are very high. Washington also levies the second-highest state taxes on gas.
    • Oregon
      Oregon drivers cannot pump gas by themselves, so they have to pay attendants to do it. In addition to that, Oregon imports gas from Washington and California. Thus, the gas prices are higher in comparison with other states.