Month: September 2020

A Guide to Building your Own Gaming PC

If you are an avid gamer, you certainly wouldn’t be alone with your love of hi-speed gaming, and if you are looking to replace your old PC and do some it recycling, why not build your very own gaming machine? If you have a basic understanding of computing and know what each component does, there’s no reason why you can build your own gaming platform.

Here is a list of the major components you will need to source.

  • Mainboard – The mainboard is the foundation of the system, which contains sockets for the many components, like the CPU, VGA card, RAM chips and possible a sound card. It is important to consider upgrades when looking at mainboards, so always check that the board can be upgraded. Asus is one of the best mainboard brands for both reliability and performance and do check for compatibility when looking at mainboards.
  • CPU – The central processing unit is the heart of the computer, and there are only two brands worth considering; Intel and AMD. Intel’s Core i9 is the fastest CPU out there at the moment, while the core i7 is also very quick. They also offer a core i5, which can be found in machines that are a few years old, and if you are investing in a new unit, core i7 and up is recommended.
  • Monitor – Of course, you ideally want a state-of-the-art gaming monitor, one that can handle high frame rates, and there are curved models that are designed specifically for gaming.
  • VGA Card – This is perhaps the most vital component of all for the serious gamer, as the VGA card handles the graphics you see on your monitor, with Nvidia and AMD both offering state of the art performance. With 6-11 GB of onboard memory, a top-flight VGA card is essential for hi-end gaming, and the card comes complete with its own cooling system. The Internet of Things will shortly be rolled out and this will bring a new dimension to online gaming.
  • SSD – Solid state drives are much faster than SATA units and you are recommended to install 2 SSD units, one for the OS and one for data storage. These simply plug into the mainboard and such is the system that you cannot insert the drive in the wrong place.
  • Computer Case – There are some stunning examples of casing, with LED lighting and a solid cooling system (critical for gaming PCs), and it is important to check that the case is compatible with your choice of mainboard. Click here for information on consumer protection for foreigners in Thailand.

There are YouTube tutorials for assembling a PC from scratch, and if you search online for a hi-end gaming component supplier, you can acquire everything you need in a single shop. Once all the components are securely installed, do a complete check before powering up the computer, then you can go ahead and install your preferred operating system (Windows or Linux) then install the games and configure the system to your preferred settings and you are good to go.

Most Cost-Effective Hobbies

Most people understand the importance of hobbies. They help bring meaning to our lives. All too often, people end up spending massive sums on their favorite hobbies. In the majority of cases, this is unnecessary. Proper preparation can limit your expenditure dramatically.

 Benefits of Hobbies 

Hobbies benefit numerous aspects of your life. When you participate in your favorite hobbies, your brain releases endorphins and neurotransmitters. The net effect is an improved mood and sense of well being. There are more than enough reasons for you to enjoy your hobbies. That does not mean you must drain your bank accounts to support them, in any case.

  • Mental Health Benefits

Hobbies bring a sense of purpose to many people’s lives. This sense of purpose is essential. Without a sense of purpose, it is easy to get weighed down by the meaninglessness of things. You can avoid that negativity with avid participation in hobbies.

Physical Health BenefitMost hobbies involve some physical components. When you participate in a physical hobby, the health benefits are extensive. The human body is made to move. Modern life forces many of us to live sedentary lives. This is problematic. As we age, the effects of sedentary life accumulate. When you have a physical hobby, it can ward off many of these adverse effects.

Expand Your Perspective:

Hobbies also offer a crucial avenue for learning. Picking up new hobby forms all kinds of new connections in your brain. This will keep you sharp well into old age. Never underestimate the power of trying a new hobby.

  1. Hobbies That Can Help Your Mental and Financial Health

There can be more than just mental benefits when you have healthy hobbies. You can also streamline your financial life. Some hobbies help bring in more income. Others help limit your expenses. The result is the same. You have a healthier bank account at the end of the month.

Top Hobbies For Mental Health and Financial Wealth

  • Hiking
  • Art
  • Writing
  • Budgeting
  • Couponing
  • Cooking
  • Gardening

Learning New Things Benefits the Brain

The human brain is an incredible machine. It is capable of learning new information at a rapid pace. Unfortunately for many of us, we slow down the pace of our learning with age. This creates a negative feedback loop. Ultimately you stop trying to learn as it becomes more challenging to learn. Break the cycle. Continue to try new hobbies regardless of your age. The benefits will be astounding.

Do Not Be Afraid of Starting Many Things

Often we limit ourselves because of a fear of failure. You must refine your perception of failure. The only way we indeed fail is when we give up. As long as you continue to try, there are no failures. Each one is a new opportunity to learn.

Always Keep an Open Mind

Make it a hobby to find ways you can lower your monthly expenses. Cooking and gardening are hobbies that can save you a significant amount of money on your household bills.There are many areas you spend more than is necessary. Gardening is great for your physical, mental and financial health. It can save on your produce bill at the grocery store, add value to your home, and it can help shade your home from the sun which can save on your Direct Energy bill. DoorDash and dining out is a huge monthly expense, many might be shocked it they knew the amount that they spent on food each month. Cooking is a great skill to master and it has an added benefit of saving a significant amount of money each month.

Make a Budget Plan and Put It On Paper

Our best piece of advice for keeping a healthy bank account and maintaining your hobbies would be to make a budget. Put it down on paper. When you have a written budget, it is much easier to limit spending. You can not control what you do not track.

Final Thoughts About Cost-Effective Hobbies  Your hobbies say a lot about you. The most important thing is that you have them. Do not let a lack of funds limit you from enjoying life. There are ways you can afford to have hobbies. Follow the advice from this guide, and you will be well on your way.

How Technology Has Changed The Workplace

Technology seems to advance continually. If anything, it is advancing at an ever-increasing pace. Today it is possible to do many things with the help of technology that was only dreamed in the past. Working from home is more popular than ever before. It is a great idea, especially in the face of Covid 19.

Technology Advancements and Working From Home  


The year 2020 will forever be remembered as the year of the coronavirus pandemic. It will also be seen as a key moment when many jobs began to transition to a work from home model.

Pandemic Response and The Work From Home Movement:
Social distancing is one of the most powerful tools available in response to viral pandemics. Most viral contagions will not spread unless you are near other infected individuals. Working from home allows you to work without putting yourself at any risk.

Video Calls:
You no longer need to be in the same room to have meetings with other people and see them. Video conference calls are becoming increasingly popular in the business world. They allow you to have all the benefits of face-to-face contact without any of the risks.

The Internet:
Thanks to Internet connectivity, you do very few things at work that would be impossible to do at home. It applies to almost all industries.

How to Thrive While Working From Home   


Working from home may sound like a dream come true. However, it would be best if you prepared to encounter some common challenges. Most people have not ever worked from home. Thus, they do not have the experience of social isolation that often accompanies working from home. Here are some things you can do to minimize any negative effects.

Maintain Your Sanity By Minimizing Stress:
It would help if you worked hard to minimize any sources of stress in your life. Social isolation is only compounded when you are stressed about other things. One way that you can reduce your stress is by minimizing your expenditures. Since you are working from home, you will be using more electricity. By switching to a new provider, you will have a lower electric bill.

Set Up a Good Sleep Schedule:
When you work from home, maintaining a regular sleep schedule is essential to success. Disruptions in your sleep schedule can impact every area of your livelihood. One of the best ways we have found to improve the quality of our sleep is blackout curtains. Ambient Light easily disturbs people and disrupts their sleep. Blackout curtains ensure that you can get a full night’s rest.  Blackout curtains also help save energy.   Green Mountain Energy offers competitive electricity rates, and offers a great tool that will help you can see who offers the most best utility rates in your community.

Separate Work and Home Life:
When you are from home, it is difficult to balance your work life with your home life. This is especially true during your initial transition. When you work in an office, you can compartmentalize your work life and separate it from your home life. If you want to succeed when you are working from home, you must do something similar. We recommend creating a specific area of the home and delegating it to work. When you are outside of that room, you should not think about work or do any work. That way, you can maintain a home life and a work-life that are separate from each other.

A Mindset of Abundance in the Modern Economy  


There are so many benefits of working from home; it is difficult to decide which is the best. One of our favorites is the location of independence it gives you. When you are not working in an office, you can move to areas with much lower costs of living. It may not be a raise, but the effect will be the same. At the end of the month, you will have more money in your bank account.

Read More About: 7 Marketing Strategies Every Startup Should Know

How To Prevent eCommerce Fraud

eCommerce Fraud is a major issue for many small businesses. In fact, every $1 of fraud loss can cost your company $3.13 . It is essential to implement protections to safeguard an ecommerce store. One of the first measures you could implement is requiring customers to enter strong up to date passwords. Another way to enhance protections is to install fraud protection tools. For example, an AVS or address verification service is a great way to confirm that the address and zip code match up with the billing information. Make sure to check out the infographic below if you are interested in learning more about how to prevent eCommerce Fraud.

Infographic created by First Data, a credit card processing company

8 Red Flags You’re Owed Unpaid Wages

You got your dream job, or you found a job that you think pays a fair wage. However, you started working and realized that you might not have been paid everything that you are owed. Perhaps you’ve started your career as a social worker and you were soon disappointed after encountering endless problems in your day-to-day activities. Because of this, you need to be on the lookout for the eight red flags listed below that show you might be owed unpaid wages.

1.  You aren’t tracking your time

If you have not been tracking your time, your employee is likely guessing. This is especially important if you are a contractor and work more than what you agreed to. The bookkeeper who reconciles payroll will assign you 20 hours, 40 hours, or whatever they think is correct.

If you are tracking your time, you will realize that sometimes your paychecks are a little bit off.

2.  You’re working overtime

If you have been working overtime, you need to make sure your paychecks reflect your overtime. This goes hand-in-hand with tracking your time. Your paycheck should see a significant boost if you have some overtime hours on it.

3.  You’re Working Before Clock In and After You Clock Out

If you are working before and after you hit the clock because your employer asked you to, you need to start clocking in. You should also calculate how much you worked outside of the clock and request reimbursement.

4.  You Have to Clock Out for Every Break

You are supposed to receive a 30-minute meal break within the first five hours of your shift. If you work up to ten hours, you get another 30-minute break.

You also get rest breaks every four hours. If your employer forces you to clock out for these breaks, you are owed unpaid wages. In a more sinister scenario, your employer might require you to take a break just to go to the bathroom or take a medication that you need to remain healthy.

5.  You’re On-Call During Your Breaks

If you are on-call during your breaks, you are not on break. Period. You should be paid for your on-call time, and you might even be owed overtime if these hours take you over the 40-hour threshold.

6.  You’ve Been Misclassified as Exempt or a Contractor

If you have been misclassified as a contractor or exempt employee, you may be owed overtime. This is why it is important to track your hours appropriately and speak to an employment lawyer if you believe you have been mistreated.

7.  You Aren’t Being Paid Commissions Properly

If you are supposed to make commission on each sale, you should see that money in your paycheck. Track your commissions on your own so that you know if they have been paid properly.

8.  Your Bonuses Are Being Withheld

You may have been promised bonuses in your contract, and they should be included in specific paychecks. Track your paychecks and bonus periods to ensure you have been paid properly.

What Can You Do?

You should reach out to an employment lawyer when you need assistance with your pay because you have not been paid properly, misclassified, or denied wages to which you are entitled.

Tips For Finding The Right Estate Agent

It doesn’t matter if you’re buying a new property, or selling your current one, you really do need to find the right real estate agent, to complete the whole process for you. Property prices have been rising steadily in Australia over the years, and they don’t look like they’re going to slow down any time soon. This is why it is essential you have an expert on your side, negotiating on your behalf, and trying to get you the best price for your property, if you’re selling, or get you the best price for the property, if you’re buying. Having the right estate agent, could be the difference between spending additional thousands of dollars on the property. It really is that serious, and so it is something that you need to take seriously.

It’s all about finding the estate agent who has the relevant experience, who was sold or bought, numerous properties over the years, and who doesn’t charge you an arm and a leg for their services. Trying to find such a person by yourself, would be an almost impossible task, but if you turn to a reliable source like LocalAgentFinder in Buderim, then you will find all of your answers. This fantastic service provider tells you absolutely everything you need to know, about the local estate agents who operate in the area in which you wish to purchase. It provides a wealth of information, that every buyer or seller, needs to know, before they make a decision on who their estate agent is going to be.

You can combine this information with the following tips, to help you choose the right estate agent for your next enterprise.

  • Do your research – Even when you get all of the above information from LocalAgentFinder, you still need to do your own research. Look online for websites where customers go to comment on their experiences with estate agents in that area. If there are any negative comments about a particular estate agent, then you know to stay well clear. Talk to people who live in the neighbourhood where you want to buy, and ask them about their real estate experiences, and who it was, that found them their property in this particular area.
  • Choose local – It is better to choose an estate agent who knows the area in which you are looking to buy a property. He or she needs to know immediately when new properties come on the market, so that you can get in early to make a bid, and hopefully be successful. They need to know the properties that haven’t been taken care of, and if it needs essential roof maintenance, that is going to cost you a pretty penny, if you decide to buy. Your agent should be aware of the local scene, and be able to assess properties, and compare them with other properties. If you want to find out more about agent obligations with regards to local government rules, then you can find additional help online.

It is important that your estate agent can communicate and talk with you, and so you need to be comfortable with their particular communication style. It is important that they are a good listener, and whether or not they are friendly. When you meet them for the first time, were they welcoming, and if they seemed like they wanted your business. Using the above tips should help you to make an informed decision.

How Company Registration Can Help To Improve Your Business

As business owners, we are always looking for new and improved ways to make our business better. In a highly competitive field, it is important that we do anything that we can, to help improve the chances of success. There are many companies out there that are providing the same products and services that you are, and so it’s best to make sure that everything is above board, and legal. One way to make sure that your company is a success, especially in the Asia region, is to have it registered with the local government. You want to make sure first of all, that the name of the company that you want to register, has not already been taken, and so it’s best to make sure that your company is registered as soon as possible, in case someone else takes the name.

If you are currently going through a company registration in Indonesia, then you’re doing the right thing to get your business off to a strong start. Some people think that it is an unnecessary procedure, but the benefits that come from company registration are many, and we will cover just a few of them here today.

  1. Helps build your reputation – Potential customers want to deal with a business that they can trust, and if your business isn’t registered, then they may be a bit reluctant to hand over the money. Once your business has been registered, it will be seen as a reputable organisation, and if you also decide to do business online, and enjoy the benefits of technology, then your customers can send funds into the company account, before you send out the goods that they have offered. It allows your customers to have more trust in your business, and allows you, to trust your customers.
  • You get liability protection – Once your business has been registered as a limited liability company, then this separates you and your personal belongings, from that of the company. The company is now a legal entity that stands by itself, and so you cannot be held responsible for any liabilities, or debts that the company may incur. In the unlikely event that your company gets into difficulties, and you have to shut down, then the creditors can only sell what belongs to the company, and not what belongs to you.
  • You can open a company account – This is essential if your business is to be a success. Your suppliers and any other business partners, as well as your customers, will want to do business with a credible company, and one that they can really trust. Opening up the corporate account in your company name, is the first step towards others trusting your business. For additional help on registering your business, talk to your local government.

As you can see, these are only three of the numerous benefits that you will get, from doing a company registration. In many cases, it is best to let the service provider do all of this for you, so you don’t have to deal with all of the paperwork, and all the stress.

How Your Business Could Benefit From Search Engine Optimisation

Online marketing can play an important role for every business as it can help you to promote your products and services to a particular group of customers. Indeed, if you want your business to benefit from the use of search engine optimisation, then you should think about consulting an online business directory in order to identify a number of agencies that can assist you throughout the process. However, you should be aware that by using search engine optimisation your business could enjoy a number of benefits. This is especially pertinent if you are looking to market a new product or service, or even if you are preparing to increase your online presence. If so, you should be aware that search engine optimisation can provide you with a fantastic way to reach your customers.

  • Reach target markets and customers
  • Get high quality web traffic
  • Create a dynamic experience on your own website

A.           Reach your customers

One of the main benefits of implementing a search engine optimisation campaign for your business is that you can reach your customer base. Furthermore, you should also be aware that the amount of people that conduct online searches is in the billions of people every day. As a result, if you want to reach a large target audience that use search engines you should think about implementing a digital marketing campaign using search engine optimisation as soon as possible. However, if you are unaware about how to go about the process of implementing a search engine optimisation strategy, then you should think about contacting www.moveaheadmedia.com.au/services/seo/ as they will be able to assist you throughout the entire process.

B.           Get high quality traffic

Furthermore, you should also be aware that implementing a search engine optimisation campaign can allow your business to obtain high quality web traffic. Indeed, the concept of search engine optimisation can help your business to appear in the search results for a particular term. If your business appears in the search results for a term, then the person may buy your offering. It is important to remember that you will be able to generate high quality traffic and potentially increase your sales by using the right digital marketing strategy. If a particular search term relating to your products and services is returned in the search engine results, then you may be able to attract more people that are interested in a variety of your products and services.

C.           Create a dynamic user experience

Finally, you should be aware that implementing a search engine optimisation campaign can give you the opportunity to create a dynamic user experience on your own custom website or to run promotions for your products and services. Indeed, search engine optimisation uses modern technology to drive customers to your website after searching for particular terms in a search engine. If you can create a dynamic user experience, then you will be able to grab the attention of any potential customer that carries out a search for a particular term or a customer that has visited your website after being provided with a link by a search engine.

Therefore, in conclusion, if you are looking to implement a digital marketing campaign you should be aware that search engine optimisation can help you to reach your customers regardless of their location and to get high quality traffic which could create an extra amount of sales.