What Attracts Burglars To Homes?
Burglary has been on the rise for the past few years at a staggering level across the globe. Although it took a tool amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, still its rate is increasing rapidly. People are showing growing concerns about it as they feel unsafe in their homes. The fear of theft is something that causes sleepless nights to many and PTSD to the ones who have gone such a horrific experience in their lifetimes.
With the increasing rates of burglars targeting valuables at multiple homes, you all need to know the reasons behind it. What causes burglars to target a specific home or an office? What are their criteria for a target and how they plan on robbing their potential targets etc.? All of these things must be looked into to find out any loopholes within your home and office accessibility and security systems. Perhaps you need to look into some of the Best Wireless Intruder Alarms for providing you with an edge over them.
Here Are Some Of The Potential Things Which Might Attract A Burglar Into Your Homes
Ease Of Access To Your Home
Having very accessible entry and exit points within your homes might be one of the first things that will catch a burglar’s eye. If your doors and windows are installed with breakable locks, then it might be a wise idea to replace them with something more durable. Garage and pet doors are also vulnerable passages for them to slip in. Perhaps your house is located in such an area where they can easily escape to some highway. All of these things need to be looked at from a burglar’s perspective in order to take effective precautionary measures.
Any Signs of You Being Away From The Home
This is another reason for burglars to target your home. You need to make sure that your house does not indicate any signs which show your absence. Most of the burglary takes place while the owners are absent. It is a common misconception among people that burglars break into homes at night mostly. Usually, they break-in at day times as they expect the homeowners to be away for their work, college or errands etc.
Low Level of Security
Many criminals target such homes which are either away from the public eyes or have a low level of security equipment installed. This will make things easier for them as they would not have to worry about getting caught in any way. So if your house has no security sensors or cameras etc. then it can easily be targeted by burglars.
Keeping in mind all of the above, you should consider revising your security plan for your home so that your houses can be protected from such horrendous acts of crime. Prevention is better than cure. You should make sure in advance that all of the points mentioned are taken care of so that burglars don’t try to lay an eye on your property in the first place.
2 most important things to consider while looking for home furniture store
With many of us working and working from home more than ever before, it’s essential to make our homes cozy, attractive, inviting, and comfortable.
For those who work from home, a home office is an absolute necessity to complete tasks. After the day’s work is done, you have a myriad of possibilities to entertain yourself at the comforts of the home. When you’ve got your basic furniture and accessories, an accent piece of furniture will bring a splash of style and color to give your home a unique look.
Whether you have a big area to set up your home office, or even some space in your basement area or the great room, there is the perfect furniture for home offices to fit your space. From the small computer, desks to complete home office sets that include bookshelves, hutches with shelving, and matching file cabinets, It is important to choose high-quality furniture from the furniture stores in your home.
To stay up-to-date with the latest trends in interior design, finding affordable furniture is crucial. Numerous brands and retailers are offering affordable and stylish items to assist you in making your interior design desires become a reality. If you’re searching for modern interiors with sleek lines and simple designs for low costs, you need to be aware of what to search for.
Keep In Mind The Quality Of Home Furniture
If you’re in the market for new furniture, you need to choose furniture that has the style that you like. Furniture is a purchase, which is why it’s important to understand how to recognize quality furniture so that you can get the most from every cent you spend. From the style to the material and the construction method, knowing what brands are of the best quality is an essential aspect of making sure you purchase the right furniture. You need to find out the top furniture brands to ensure you select beautiful furniture to decorate your home and endure the test of the years.
Furniture that is of the highest quality is made from premium materials. In general, it is. But a table that is made from durable wood could be unfinished. Furniture materials are a sign of quality. However, do not leap faith based solely on this fact.
Quality pieces will be free of knots, even on surfaces that aren’t exposed. Knots are prone to cracking. Because of this, pinewood is not as desirable. Furniture of poor quality is usually constructed of small plywood, fiberboard, particleboard, or pressboard.
When it comes to furniture made of wood, a good way to determine the quality of the construction is the joints. Wood from a top-quality furniture piece must be scratch-resistant, but if it easily gets scratched, the furniture won’t withstand the rigors of daily use. To test this, draw a line on an unexposed area using your finger to determine if it makes an obvious dent.
Need To Know The Latest Trends In Home Furniture
A sofa, a few wall hangings, and an area rug, this is so boring! The year is 2021, so why choose to stick with the traditional method of organizing your furniture?
The right furniture can boost the look of your home on numerous levels. It can enhance the overall appearance and ambiance of your interiors. The best part is it is not necessary to be restricted to one particular type of furniture for each room. Every room has a distinct flavor and appearance. Today we live in an age where home improvement design aesthetics have surpassed boundaries, and we’re not restricted to sticking with the latest trend in the local area.
Combining natural materials can be popular this year. Combining two natural materials can create an intriguing variation in texture and design and is in fashion at this moment. Vintage furniture is returning to fashion, and many people are searching through thrift and antique stores to find a piece of vintage to decorate their homes. But, it’s pretty simple to find similar items new because they are manufactured in the present.
Color trends are among the most sought-after in the world. Most people start with a neutral palette and then introduce the color of statement pieces, furniture, or smaller accessories. Unlike Ultra Violet, navy, mustard, emerald, and Terracotta are among the most popular colors this year. Another popular color is Oceanside which is a blue-gray-green shade. Natural tones are also trending this year. Many homeowners are creating a bohemian-inspired vibe within their homes, which leads to natural shades in their rooms.
Online Home Furniture Store
Furniture and furniture retailers of any size have gradually lost brick-and-mortar presence with the advent of internet shopping and the increase in market share by Warehouse price clubs.
The decade started with the onset of what’s known as “Retail Apocalypse,” with rapid declines in stores occurring every year. The pandemic has led to an increase in furniture sales and online shopping, and many experts predict that increasing online sales and there is no sign that closings of stores in the retail sector are slowing.
While seeing all these things happening, a large amount of people move to online shopping and the ecommerce business increases day by day. So, shop from home furniture stores which have the best collection of quality furniture and decor.
SECRETS to make your home space even better
Some design experts say that when decorating your home, you don’t have to follow new trends to have a luxurious home. With only creativity and the following tips, you can turn your home into a wonderful living space
Applying the 60-30-10 rule in home decoration
This is considered a “classic” rule in the field of home design and decoration, especially how to mix colors in your living space. This rule can be applied in all the design styles and design trends that you love.
Basically, the 60-30-10 rule can be understood as follows:
The main color gamut occupies 60% of the space when decorating the house. You should choose light colors to bring spaciousness to the space and better light absorption. In addition, using bright colors as the main color also makes color coordination easier.
The secondary color gamut accounts for 30% of the residential space. Secondary colors should choose colors with darker tones to avoid bringing boredom when the living space has only 1 color.
Accent colors occupy 10% of the housing space. The highlight is created by using contrasting colors such as red, black, yellow, orange, etc.
Color in home decoration is not only reflected in the paint color of the walls, ceiling or floor, etc. but also includes the furniture you plan to arrange in that space.
Therefore, decorating a house is not an easy job, self-concept and implementation of ideas.
Capture, create, and manipulate light
How do get, create and manipulate light?
If you own a house in peaceful countryside, you will enjoy natural light most easily. Every morning when you wake up, you just need to open the window and the light will follow it into the house, creating an airy and cool space. However, in urban areas, when houses grow close to each other, from townhouses, and villas to apartments hundreds of meters high. Therefore, it becomes difficult to get light, especially for houses in an unsightly location such as houses in alleys or houses surrounded by buildings, etc.
There are many ways to GET light in home decor, like:
Get light from the design of many windows, using glass doors instead of wooden doors.
Get light from the roof of light corrugated iron or glass,…
The design of the skylight not only brings in more light to the living space, but also brings airiness and coolness to the house.
In addition to getting light from nature, you can CREATE light from light-emitting objects such as lamps ranging from tube lights to chandeliers or recessed lights. Nowadays, owning energy-saving lamps is very easy.
CONTROLING the light will be based on your design and layout so that the light enters the house as you want. Usually you should look to some experienced designers to do this when decorating your home.
Always be creative, don’t stick to the mold
Being creative in home decoration is not an easy task because of the restriction in thinking or not daring to express themselves,… Therefore, when decorating houses, some people choose to use appliances. Available designs are then imposed on their own space. This helps homeowners save time, even costs when decorating the house.
It’s very simple, you just need to know the rules of design and be creative by flexibly operating those rules, from the color scheme to the interior layout to or the out-of-the-ordinary design,…
There are 5 rules you need to know when designing and decorating houses, specifically as follows:
The law of balance is the symmetry and balance of the elements of space composition from height, width, and interior arrangement,… Symmetrical balance and asymmetrical balance are two ways. the basic design of this rule.
The law of rhythm is concerned with the movement and direction of vision by elements arranged in a composition. Rhythm often creates a smooth, continuous flow of vision in space.
The law of emphasis is a way to create visual effects to attract and keep the focus of the interior space. For example, a yellow sofa in an all-white space – this is a contrast, a common practice in home decor
The law of harmony creates a connection between elements in an appearance. It is the right balance of all elements to create a pleasing whole.
The law of proportions and proportions
Above are some rules that when decorating your home you need to know and apply it creatively to turn your home into a dream living space .
What are anti-ligature blinds?
Anti-ligature blinds are becoming increasingly popular in a range of different settings. The way these blinds differ from traditional blinds is that they are designed to prevent suicide by hanging.
Initially, uptake for this type of blind was largely restricted to high-risk environments such as psychiatric hospitals and prisons, where suicide is common. In mental health environments and detention centres, suicide via hanging is common and preventative measures must be implemented. A huge range of objects could be used to create a ligature point, meaning anti-ligature systems are highly important.
Over the years, anti-ligature blinds have been supplied to hospitals, schools, student accommodation and even hotels.
How do they work?
There are a range of different systems on the market, but the most reliable could well be the magnetic anti-ligature system. YewdaleKestrel® products utilise load release magnets which separate when a downward force is exerted on the product. This means that the product falls to the ground safely and prevents suicide via hanging.
The magnetic systems used in Yewdale’s products are highly reliable because magnets don’t lose their strength for hundreds of years, guaranteeing a lifetime of lifesaving functionality.
Anti-ligature blinds usually have a magnetic connection point above the blind’s barrel. The blind is easy to reconnect to the magnetic bracket after it has fallen to the floor.
If you are considering an anti-ligature blind, Yewdale is a highly recommended company. Based in the UK, Yewdale produce a wide range of anti-ligature products, commercial blinds, and healthcare products including hospital cubicle tracks and medical curtains.
Yewdale produce other anti-ligature products too including a soft, lightweight en-suite door and other accessories such as soap dispensers, toilet roll holder, shelves and artwork. You can see the full range on the website using the link below.
Complete weight loss strategy
For those who want to lose weight
Research on the causes of obesity, knowledge about weight loss, and various diets for weight loss are updated every year. However, with the update of knowledge and the release of diet pills one after another, the obesity rate continues to rise every year, and there is no sign of wanting to decline. I used to be very, very fat, and I am also a person who is prone to obesity.
So I understand the voices of fat people, I really want to lose weight, but I tried many ways to lose weight at that time without success.
I have tried the common boiled meals on the market, eating less and moving more, but it was not until I tried other diets that I managed to lose weight. After I lost weight, I began to study the essence and method of losing weight, and wrote him in this weight loss strategy article, hoping to help you.
A few key myths about losing weight
The weight loss myth of eating less and moving more
The phrase “eat less and move more” is actually true, but most people do it wrong. Many people think that they should eat less of everything, so they limit their calories to a very low level, and it feels a bit like eating an ultra-low-calorie fairy meal. Then, for the hyperactive part, the first thing that everyone thinks of is aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, etc., but in fact, this is a very short-term and easy way to regain weight, mainly because eating too little is an easy way to lose weight. The reason for the loss of muscle mass, coupled with the fact that aerobic training is not helpful for muscle mass growth, causes the metabolism to drop too much.
Maybe you can lose 5 kilograms in this way, but if your metabolism declines, you will easily regain the weight. And it’s all the fat that gets back up, not the muscle you lose that makes you look fatter than before. This is what we call the yo-yo effect, lose weight, get fat back, get fatter than before, lose weight, get back on Fat, get fatter than before.
Stop taking diet pills and meal replacements
At this time, you may start to seek other ways, eat weight loss meal replacements, taking diet pills, and so on. But believe me, most diet pills will inevitably hurt the body, especially the gastrointestinal tract. You may actually lose weight in the moment, but when your gastrointestinal tract is damaged, you will be fatter than before.
The key to understanding how to lose weight
You must have thought, why some people will not gain weight no matter what they eat, while some people will gain a kilogram the next day after eating a little bread? What is the cause of obesity? This is not a simple answer that can be solved!
You can see the link to the picture below, mainly talking about the influencing factors of obesity, which are very, very complicated.
Image source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296290/obesity-map-full-hi-res.pdf
In the middle of this picture is the heat balance
So we can know that calorie balance is very important
But this article doesn’t keep preaching that calorie balance is the key to losing weight like other sites
If you don’t know what calorie balance is, you can probably imagine that our body has calorie consumption (exercise, thermogenesis, basal metabolism), and calorie intake (eating).
When calorie consumption exceeds calorie intake, the weight will drop, so the truth of weight loss is to eat less and move more, very simple. In the short term, it is really possible to simply achieve weight loss by eating less and moving more, but simplicity is not simple, because the operation of the body is very complicated. Many people think that they can control their calorie consumption, that they can achieve a lot of calorie expenditure by running all the time, and that eating fairy meals (low-calorie meals) can reduce calorie intake and then easily lose it.
However, according to research, 90% of people who use calorie control, eat less and move more to lose weight will fail or regain the weight.
Because eating less and moving more for too long, metabolism will easily drop, hormones will easily become imbalanced, and muscle mass will easily be lost. Even if you lose 10 kilograms, you will easily regain weight.
When losing weight, the body is like a factory
For me, the key to long-term weight loss and maintaining good posture is the environment in the body, such as hormones, the level of inflammation in the body, and the gastrointestinal system.
Think of the body as a factory
-Your hormones are the managers and workers of factory operations
-Inflamed condition is how good factory machinery and hardware are
-Calorie intake is wages for factories as well as fuel
If the manager of this factory is an idiot, or if the hardware in your factory is completely rotten, then no matter how it works, it will create a pile of waste. Just as our hormones are already out of balance and the level of inflammation in the body is very high, no matter how much you eat, if you don’t solve the existing problems, it will easily accumulate into fat. It may be easier to understand with a few examples.
Hormones vs Weight Loss
This study looked at the effects of sleep and weight loss
Research source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20921542
Both groups of humans were calorie-restricted, but one group slept 5.5 hours a night and the other 8.5 hours. Both groups lost weight, but the group that slept less lost 55 percent less body fat and 65 percent more muscle mass than the group that slept more. It is equivalent to losing weight, but most of the loss is muscle mass, which reduces metabolism and makes it easy to regain weight later.
There is such a big difference mainly because poor sleep has a negative impact. The imbalance of the secretion of these things will easily increase fat and reduce muscle.
This next study looks at the effect of insulin sensitivity on body composition!
Research source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19471290
Basically, many chronic metabolic diseases, obesity, and poor muscle-building effects are closely related to low insulin sensitivity. Insulin is an anti-catabolic hormone whose main function is to store nutrients in cells. For example, after heavy training, our muscles will be more sensitive to insulin, and the nutrients we eat will be more easily absorbed into the muscles. When insulin sensitivity is low, the nutrients we eat are more likely to be stored as fat rather than absorbed into muscles.
We can simply say that the nutrients in the food eaten by people who are insulin insensitive are more likely to be stored as fat, and the relative fat mass will be much higher than the muscle mass.
To put it simply, the key to losing weight is actually to improve hormones, improve inflammation in the body, and add an appropriate calorie deficit. It is not difficult to achieve a calorie deficit. What is more difficult is how to choose the type of food that suits your body to improve hormones and achieve a long-term good body.
If you only pursue short-term weight loss and rely on a lot of calorie deficits to achieve the effect of weight loss, and then the hormones are still the same after the loss, then I can guarantee that you will gain weight very easily.
With so many ways to eat on the internet, which diet should I try?
When talking about losing weight in Taiwan 30 years ago, everyone would definitely want to use boiled meals
When it came to losing weight five years ago, everyone might think of using a low-sugar diet. When it came to losing weight in the past two or three years, everyone might directly think of the ketogenic diet.
I lost 30kg in 3 months on a low-sugar diet myself for the first time, so I used to believe that a low-sugar diet was the best way to lose weight
But after my long-term understanding of weight loss-related research, genetic cognition, and observation of students, there is no diet that is most suitable for everyone! Although it is said that high-carbohydrate foods will most stimulate insulin secretion, which in turn promotes the storage of nutrients into fat, some people are naturally good at metabolizing carbohydrates, so they can still be healthy and strong after eating high-carbohydrate throughout their lives.
For example, this study compared the responses of people with high and low insulin sensitivity to high- and low-carb diets.
Research source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2005.79
The study concluded:
-For people with high insulin sensitivity, eating high-carb and low-fat to lose weight is very helpful
-However, people who are insulin insensitive use a high-carb low-fat diet to lose fat, but the weight loss effect is not so good.
But on the contrary, studies have also shown that people with low insulin sensitivity have a very good weight loss effect on a low-carb high-fat diet, which shows that improving insulin is very important for weight loss, and it also shows that people with insulin insensitivity are more suitable
Lose weight with a high-carb diet.
So if you have been obese for a long time, you know that you eat carbohydrates easily, or you know that you have diabetes in your family and want to lose fat, then I would suggest that you can start by reducing carbohydrates, which is what we call low carb diet!
The Negative Impact of E-Levy on Mobile Banking.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Mobile Banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that allows its customers to conduct financial transactions remotely using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
Electronic Transaction Levy or “E-Levy” is a tax applied on transactions made on electronic or digital platforms.
ADVANTAGES OF MOBILE BANKING
Mobile banking offers numerous benefits such as ease of transaction, convenience, time-saving, managing your finances, and budgeting. Some advantages of Mobile Banking in remote areas include:
Financial Inclusion — mobile banking offers convenient and easy banking services to people in remote areas. Thus, it allows banking on the go and offers all benefits of a banking system to rural areas without the presence of a financial institution.
Accessing the bank 24/7 — Mobile banking provides ubiquitous banking services without the need to visit the bank to have access to services. This offers time to benefit and ease of transacting at a distance.
Cost-benefit — Mobile banking saves the banks the cost of building physical infrastructures (branches) and maintaining branches and staff. Also, reduced costs on the customer side since the burden of visiting the bank for services is eliminated.
Improving resilience in the face of poverty — Mobile money acts as both a savings vehicle and a means of transferring funds during times of economic or environmental shocks.
Strengthening the formal economy — For many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), opening a mobile money account can facilitate access to formal financial services. Mobile money is well placed to address the issue of informality that blights many developing economies and hampers domestic resource mobilization efforts. Mobile Money enables ease of transacting, thus increasing business profits for MSMEs.
Facilitating economic growth — Mobile money has been shown to contribute to economic growth by increasing both productivity and per capita incomes
DISADVANTAGES OF E-LEVY ON MOBILE BANKING
The design of mobile money taxation policy appears to be the antithesis of a well-designed tax system. The disadvantages include:
Inequity — Mobile money taxes as currently structured to create inequity in the tax system. As the tax is mostly borne by the poor and users of the services are subject to additional taxation (unlike bank or cash transactions), the principles of both horizontal and vertical equity in the tax system are contravened.
Uncertainty -. Uncertainty and lack of transparency over taxation systems can have a direct impact on the operations of the tax authority, increasing enforcement costs, as well as discouraging investment.
Inconvenience — The administration of mobile money transaction taxes creates an inconvenience for MMPs who must calculate and collect the tax on the revenue authority’s behalf. There is an additional inconvenience for users of the service for whom remote digital transactions become more expensive or out of reach if they revert back to cash.
Inefficiency — Badly designed mobile money taxes have been shown to have a distortionary impact on demand for mobile money services. This in turn has had negative impacts on overall tax takes, as well as impacting the attainment of national economic and development goals.
EFFECT OF MOBILE BANKING — CASE STUDIES
The decision to impose taxes on mobile bank transactions will trigger so many problems.
Ghana — According to The Fourth Estate Ghana; Although the government projects a 24% decline in transactions when the levy is finally implemented, preliminary findings published by the bank of Ghana indicate the value of mobile money transactions had dropped by 3.2 billion in December 2021, less than 2 months after the proposal to introduce E-levy.
Uganda — An e-levy of 1% introduced in 2018 has led to an overall drop in the person-to-person transaction by more than 50%, and a 24% drop in industry transactions within the same year the tax was introduced according to a report by Global system for mobile communication (GSMA).
Congo — An e-levy of 1% was introduced in 2019. The government had to reverse the tax on cash outs only due to negative results of the levy on Mobile money users such as a decline in mobile money agents (unemployment) and high-value withdrawals by people.
Other countries include Benin (5%) and Cameroun (0.2%). In all these countries, the e-levy has imposed a negative effect on the economy and people. If we want to ensure the financial inclusion of people in rural areas, we need to ensure that we encourage mobile banking by withdrawing the e-levy tax.
Reference:
https://thefourthestategh.com/2022/03/16/e-levy-this-is-what-happened-when-other-african-countries-passed-it/
Purohit, S., & Arora, R. (2021). The benefits and challenges of mobile banking at the Bottom of the pyramid. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government Vol, 27(1).
Charles G. Kpan, Jr. is an Information Technologist with over 5 years of experience in the provision of Information Technology Services and an emphasis on Web Development and Visual Branding. He’s the managing Director of CYGEC IT SOLUTIONS INC. and holds a bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from Blue Crest University, Liberia.