By Samuel Phineas Upham

Researchers have known for a while that our brain releases natural painkillers when an individual experiences physical pain. However, Science Daily reports that a new study reveals that the brain releases the same chemicals when a person experiences social rejection.

In addition to being released during social rejection, the study found that opioid was also released in the brain during social acceptance. “The opioid system is known to play a role in both reducing pain and promoting pleasure, and our study shows that it also does this in the social environment,” said Hsu.

The findings of the study will be helpful to researchers who are studying depression and social anxiety. Senior author of the study, Jon-Kar Zubieta, M.D., Ph.D., told the paper that, “”It is possible that those with depression or social anxiety are less capable of releasing opioids during times of social distress, and therefore do not recover as quickly or fully from a negative social experience.”

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/

About the Author: Samuel Phineas Upham is an investor at a family office/ hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phin Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media and Telecom group. You may contact Phin on his Samuel Phineas Upham website or Facebook.

By Ted Dhanik

A company is ready to go forward. The products are finished, the services have been created. And the elements of marketing have been built or rendered, and are ready to be embedded. And yet, how does a company get its marketing to the customers they desire or cater to?

Contextual advertising is a crucial step in any online marketing campaign. No matter how many elements, banners, and streaming videos are prepared, without having the ability to get them in front of the eyes of potential customers, they cannot perform the function that both time and money was used to create. A contextual advertising system solves that problem.

Basically, this system scans the texts of various websites for particular words or phrases. In doing so, it can then find relatable sites that can feature a company’s goods or services to those who may be seeking said products. Take for example a website that caters to antique hunters, which also shows hotspots and areas that posses a great deal of these type of treasures. This probably wouldn’t be the ideal place for a sports company to advertise. However, it may be perfect for a company that works with antique restoration or a travel company that builds trips to these favored hot spots.

By having the service of a contextual system at a company’s disposal, it guarantees that the marketing campaign will be seen by the intended target audience. It is one of the advantages that online advertising has to offer, using digital and technological tools for a digital and technological age.

This post has been brought to you by Ted Dhanik and friends. For all of your advertising needs, Ted Dhanik is the solution. Be sure to visit Ted Dhanik at his website and discover what he has available for you and your business.

By Phin Upham

A recent article in AEON Magazine posed an intriguing question: are there limits to the types of decisions that computer-driven algorithms can make? The article presented several hypothetical situations which showed that there are instances where the human thought process is needed even if it is not as logically sound as a computer algorithm.

One example given was a choice that a driver might need to make if a school bus was careening out of control at them on a small bridge. Would they choose to stay on the road and force the school bus over the edge or sacrifice their safety by driving off the road? It’s a choice that comes down to a person’s morals and personal beliefs and one that would be impossible to ask an algorithm to predict if a car was driven by a computer.

Find out more at: http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/steven-poole-can-algorithms-ever-take-over-from-humans/

About the Author: Phin Upham is an investor at a family office/ hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phin Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media & Technology group. You may contact Phin on his Phin Upham website or Twitter page.

By Ted Dhanik

Display marketing has a certain ring to it. After all, it is a visual marketing tool used on various webpages. But what are the benefits to it? Is it worth the extra cost?

Yes, and current users of display marketing say so as well. Display marketing is a great way to focus a business’ marketing strategy to achieve a specific goal and to increase traffic to a website immediately.

It does this by putting ads on sites that are specific to the clientele that browse that site. A lot of research goes into the consumers in order to construct ads that will be the most likely to guide them to a company’s webpage. Many aspects are taken into consideration and compared, such as the frequency of traffic, what times of day and when during the week these clients are viewing the pages, how often they refresh or select an ad- many of these things. All of these are combined to produce a marketing product that creates an ad geared specifically at the users and consumers.

And display ads are not just utilized on webpages. Because people have so many interfaces that they use, such as a mobile device on their way to work, a computer at work, a tablet at home, and then the television, different ads are required to fit each device. So an ad shown on a phone would not be the same one shown on a webpage- and for good reason.

It is important when selecting a display marketing company to dmake sure that they offer these specified and detailed arrangements. Display marketing will work if it is researched and prepared correctly. And simply putting ads on high traffic websites will not guarantee success- the level of detail described above is what increases a company’s ROI and web traffic, not flat and unprepared visibility.

Guest post provided by Ted Dhanik, CEO of engage:BDR. Ted Dhanik and his company offer high-performance marketing solutions in display advertising. Ted Dhanik offers his insights on display advertising in his professional blogs.

By Samuel Phineas Upham

Scott Harrison understands the perception of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as being self-centered and unconcerned with the plight of others. It’s something that he’s hoping to change by taking tech hotshots directly to where help is needed the most. According to the New York Times, Harrison’s charity: water has installed wells and hand pumps in 20 Third World countries, giving more than one million people access to clean water.

The work of charity: water doesn’t just revolve around rich CEOs cutting a check to a charity. Their donors actually go to the countries to see that their donations are being turned into clean water for underprivileged people. The trip chronicled in the New York Times included the founders of Spotify and WordPress along with celebrities such as Tony Hawk.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com

About the Author: Samuel Phineas Upham is an investor at a family office/ hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phin Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media and Telecom group. You may contact Phin on his Samuel Phineas Upham website or Twitter.

Sure, you’ve got a website that serves your firm, and you’re pretty proud of it. It has the crisp, collected look that says “this business is a force to be reckoned with”. If you’re looking for weaknesses in your façade, you’d better go look elsewhere. Your website is the public face of your company, and like anyone else, you want to take good care of your face. Many people will judge the veracity of your business after glancing at your website for a mere few seconds. This will tell them all they have to know about whether or not your business is a solid one that has survived through any number of market plunges and surges.

People visiting your site will notice whether or not your site has convincing, professionally crafted graphics. Readers might not have the remotest idea of what constitutes “professional” graphics. It’s merely a sense that they will get. Depending on whether or not your website impresses those viewers, they will make a split-second decision whether or not they feel confident doing business with you. A good-looking, professionally organized site will make readers want to stick around. A hackneyed, amateurish website will make them look elsewhere for better prospects.

If your website is slow to respond to the readers’ calls for pages and links, you can pretty much write yourself out of the picture. A sluggishly performing website with links that take forever to open and slow streaming media spells “amateurs” to most who surf websites. One way you can help ensure that your website performs robustly is to employ CloudTest load testing tools. That will tell you whether or not your website is firing on all cylinders, and chances are if there is a data bottleneck somewhere in your computer network, it can cause some of your Web applications to run more slowly than they should.

It may be hard to imagine that a simple slowdown in your website’s performance will drive away customers, but remember that there are likely plenty of your competitors out there with a Web presence. And if your website is performing slowly, the user will tend to lose patience and look for alternative sites that provide the same offering that you’re providing.

CloudTest mobile app testing and SOASTA performance testing for websites will help you to assess your website’s strengths and weaknesses, and will show areas where improvements can be made. Certain difficulties, such as data bottlenecks, can prevent your website from performing at its full capacity. With a little bit of proactive testing and assessment, you’ll be able to keep your site running without hindrances that can make customers see your business in a dim light. You owe it to yourself to make sure that you test and then make improvements based on the results that you find.

Read more about Technology Blogs.

SOASTA is the leader in cloud testing. Try CloudTest Lite. It’s revolutionary. And It’s free.

If you’re the proud owner of an iPod or an iPhone, you’re undoubtedly enjoying the advantages that these devices can offer. You can listen to music on both kinds of handhelds, so that’s an advantage for those who like to take their tunes with them wherever they go. It’s so easy and convenient to buy and download music from iTunes that many people who purchase one or both of these devices end up feeling a little spoiled at first. After all, you can find and download copies of just about any music that you desire, and you can do it instantly. There’s no more waiting for your local CD shop to stock the disc that you’re interested in, and then making a trip to the store to pick it up. No matter what musical impulse catches your interest from moment to moment, you can probably what you’re looking for online and be listening to your own copy of the music within seconds.

Both the iPhone and the iPod are sleek, attractive devices, as well, and they are built to last a long time. But you will likely want to help ensure that your device will stay in excellent shape for a good amount of time by getting a case for it. Not only do cases protect your phone or music player, they also are often quite decorative and can give your device a cool new look. You just might want to march into a local store and ask for Shades Touch 4G cases, say, if that’s the kind of device that you own. You’ll ask for the cases that fit your particular model, since designs vary from one model of device to another; you’ll want to get a case that’s an excellent fit.

If your iPhone or iPod looks like it could use a colorful makeover, you could ask local merchants for an iPod nano 3rd generation case, if that’s what will best fit your iPod. You’ve undoubtedly paid a goodly sum for your iPhone, so you want to keep it in the best shape possible, and a protective case will help shield it from cracks and scratches should you accidentally drop it on a hard surface such as the sidewalk. A sharp impact could also cause your phone to malfunction, so it’s an excellent idea to protect it from accidents that could knock the device out of commission for a while.

You’ll be amazed at the number of case styles, colors, and patterns that you can readily purchase in local stores or from online sources. Just about every taste and preference can be satisfied with the great variety of offerings available these days.

So if you want to keep your handheld device in perfect shape, and you want a new, colorful look for it, you should look into the cases that you can purchase. You might be surprised at what you’ll find.

Read more about Technology Blogs.

ShadesCases.com –  our products are made with a durable scratch resistant soft plastic, providing your device with full screen protection and access to all the Apple ports.

Protecting your phone and music equipment is crucial. Using a cover or case is the best way for you to protect your items from damage. Finding a protector is the easiest part. You will discover that there are millions of options in materials, prints, and colors to suit your personal taste and style. Unfortunately, this is not what you should be concerned with, when picking out the best cover for protection. A case or cover should certainly represent who you are but more importantly how it will protect your equipment.

Covers and cases come not only in a million different colors and styles but also in a number of different materials. Some are better than others, and you should base your decision on how hard you are on your personal products. In today’s market, you will find protectors in leather, plastic, silicone, metal, and rubber. Metal covers can be ideal as they absorb hard shocks better. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, rubber protectors can be just as efficient. Rubber is extremely durable and typically easy to get on and off. Plastic covers are also usually very cheap. Plastic is wonderful for protecting from abrasion.

Once you base your cover and case purchase on materials, you can begin to sort through fun designs to express your individuality. The best iphone 3gs cases and iphone cases and covers, come in extremely sleek styles, giving you the ability to see the original casing design quite well. These products look sharp on their own, and sometimes you don’t want to have to cover them up. Plastic and rubber options come in millions of colors, patters, and designs. These products really give you the ability to have some fun and display a little bit of your own personality.

As you begin to do some research on a case or cover for your phone and music equipment, consider your own personal habits. If you are someone who is tough on their personal items, you will want to make a decision based on durability. By providing a quality protector for your device, you will be able to save its life for a longer period of time. Covers and cases can provide your items from protection from drop damage, dust, and some moisture. If your device is submerged in water, there is nothing that will be able to protect it. Have fun, and pick something out that is creative and expresses your own personality. With the ability to choose from millions of options, your choices will be endless.

Find out more about Technology Blogs.

ShadesCases for iPad, iPod, and iPhone – strives to be environmentally friendly through our products & packaging.

Posted by: Sweepstakes Machines

People are usually pretty skeptical of internet cafe sweepstakes.  They feel as if it is just another internet scam that lures naïve consumers in to just take more of their hard earned money.  This cannot be further from the truth though.  Companies provide internet cafes with products, games, and software that entice consumers to return for both the product and services they are enjoying, but also for their chance to win wonderful prizes.  There is internet cafe sweepstakes software at many of these locations where individuals can win and win big, and it does not require any purchase on their part directly. 

Customers pay for their time in the café, and with their purchase they are entered in for a chance to win bigger and better prizes.  Having these machines in your internet café can help bolster your customer numbers, and they won’t feel cheated for loosing either.  They are already there to spend their money to go online, and with these machines they have a great chance at winning some good prizes. 

Since the Internet has entered many households few people have sought out cafes as a place to gain Internet access.  Instead they are content with going to their local coffee shops with their laptops and tablets to do all their work, but with the recent thefts at a lot these places many have become wary of returning with their valuable products.  Therefore, the internet café franchise industry has grown as a result, and they are here to stay by keep the customers coming with entertaining games and valuable prizes.

In today’s world, you have to have the right skills to get a new job, or get a promotion. But, how do you get the experience you need without spending a fortune? Head to CoursePark!

CoursePark is a learning management network.

But what exactly does that mean?

CoursePark is full of members – like businesses and corporations – who offer to share what they know with other people. It gives people a chance to learn new skills and boost their expertise – right from the comfort of their own computer! You don’t have to worry about making time to head to a classroom.

All you have to do is browse through CoursePark’s website and build courses that suit your needs. In fact, the learning management network has more than 3,500 courses available for you to take! Once you decide on a curriculum that works best for you, you can learn right from CoursePark members – all of whom are experts in their fields.

Before you know it, you are learning the skills you need to move ahead in your career – right from the people who you may want to work for!

It really is that easy!