Monthly Archives

May 2018

6 Ways to Build Lean Muscle According to Experts

Lean muscle building doesn’t only benefit body builders and gym goers, it also delivers health perks to any other ordinary people. For athletes, boosting the growth rate of lean muscles can improve their health, performance, and can lower their chances of injuries. On the other hand, building lean muscles for the elderly can improve functional abilities, and their quality of life by giving them enough power to be independent in their daily lives.

If you’ve been searching for ways to improve your muscle mass, you came at the right place. In your search for answers, you probably have read or heard many tips and advices from other people based on their own experiences. Although, their routines might also work for you, there’s a chance that it won’t because people have different bodies. If their routines are not based on facts and scientific research, you can’t be totally sure if what they do can deliver the same results to your body. Thus, in this chapter, we’ll share 6 good tips from experts on how you can build lean muscle, sure and fast.

#1 Volume Load

Volume load simply means the amount of work you do (i.e. number of reps), and the weight or load you lift. Volume load plays an important role in building lean muscles, and you must pay attention to it. To get the right volume load that determines the capabilities of your muscle growth, you should calculate the amount using this equation: load = Weight x Reps x Sets. It means, multiplying your reps each set to the number of sets and the weight you lift in a single rep.

Research says that there’s a link between your muscle growth and volume load, implying that the higher the volume you lift in a certain period of time, the faster you’ll grow your muscles. Researchers also found a meta-analysis, showing the correlation between the two, and determined that 10 sets per muscle can suffice a weekly work.

However, increasing the volume abruptly, and out of nowhere increases the chance of injuries. To be able to efficiently use volume load that can lead to gains, you must track it. You can gradually increase the weight you have now, by adding 10% more weekly. This way, you’re overloading your muscles and allowing your body to adapt, which causes your muscles to grow. If you’re working out for the past 1-2 months with great intensity, you may reduce your volume in 1-2 weeks. This way, you’re allowing your body to recover, and grow correctly.

#2 Rest intervals

Rest intervals are important when building lean muscles. Rest intervals are the pauses you do every after set. It has a major impact on your muscle growth, and the intensity of your training. Rest intervals under half a minute, boosts the production of muscle building hormones such as, testosterone and IGF-1. However, it also increases metabolic stress levels. The short intervals have good and bad consequences, but putting them altogether has more beneficial effects in building lean muscles than just acutely increasing hormones.

Long intervals (more than 90 seconds), however, will help your body adjust better, allowing you to lift heavier weights. Therefore, experts recommend combining short and long intervals when working out. The combination of varied intervals will optimize your total workout volume.

#3 Rep ranges

8-12 rep range is typically used for building muscle, but it doesn’t mean, that’s the only option you have. Although, researchers demonstrated a level of muscular hypertrophy between rep ranges 4 and 30, it doesn’t mean you should cross out everything in between. Changing your rep ranges will confuse your body in adapting, meaning your muscles will grow constantly. Switching rep ranges also stimulate different muscle fiber types, which grows muscles using various methods.

In a study conducted to see and compare the effect of varied rep ranges, experts found that people who train with with rep ranges of 2-3, 8-12 and 20-30 acquired better results in building muscles than those who do their rep ranges constantly over the week. Varied rep ranges will also avoid boredom, and will make you feel more motivated. You may stay at 8-12 rep ranges, but do some very light or heavy work out at lower or higher reps. Adding advanced workout routine to your reps could also help.

6 Ways to Build Lean Muscle

#4 Learn about creatine

Creatine monohydrate has shown impressive effects in improving muscle mass and muscle strength. In the recent years, it has been the most researched supplement for people looking for something that can help them build muscles fast, efficient and safe. Researches showed that creatine is a great supplement that gives the body more adenosine tri-phosphate, which is turned into energy used for intense workouts. Research showed that people who took creatine while working out had double muscle gains over 12 weeks than those who worked out without it.

Other studies also found that creatine and resistance training on lean muscles can increase the average body mass by 4.4 pounds. Over 200 researches, creatine has been proven safe and effective for human consumption like all other supplements in the market. Creatine won’t only help you gain muscle, and give you more strength when working out, it can also improve your overall health.

Average dosage of creatine is 5g per day before and after workout. It’s advised, however, to first undergo a loading period of creatine into your muscles. To do it, take 4 doses of 5 grams everyday for five days.

6 Ways to Build Lean Muscle

#5 Consume whey protein

What’s so special with whey protein, and why almost everyone at the gym has it? Well, it’s all about its rich leucine content. Whey protein helps a lot in boosting lean muscle mass, as it makes muscle protein synthesis larger than muscle protein breakdown. Taking whey protein after working out, allows the body digest leucine quickly. Leucine is an essential amino acid that aids muscle growth. When taken after a workout, leucine is quickly absorbed in the body that makes protein synthesis faster. According to studies, taking whey protein and doing high intensity resistance training, statistically increases body mass by an average of 2.2 pounds. Taking 1-2 scoops of whey protein 30 minutes to one hour after training can improve workout results drastically. For those who are not allowed to have whey protein, chicken, beef or egg protein can serve as substitutes.

#6 Casein before bed

There are two main reasons why you need to take casein before you hit the bed: one, it improves protein synthesis; second, it aids greater body fat loss. Casein is a protein derivative that can be found in milk. This protein digests slowly, which means, taking it before sleeping will allow you to stay in anabolic phase, helping your body recuperate. In a study involving 16 young, healthy males who workout with high intensity are observed to identify the effects of casein in the body. Half of the subjects were asked to take casein before sleeping, while the other group was given with a placebo. The results were impressive. The group who took casein had 22 percent better protein synthesis than the other group who took a placebo. In other research, it showed that taking casein before bed improves body fat loss over time. When taking casein, drink 30-40 grams before sleeping. Casein, besides those in powdered form, can also be acquired in cottage cheese or high-protein Greek yogurt.

6 Ways to Build Lean Muscle

May 31, 2018 0 comment

Business

The Modern Boss: Leading People Through Coaching

written by Feras Antoon

A real boss isn’t someone who puts up his feet on the desk, while his employees do the job. At least, that isn’t what a good boss does. It’s time to lose the old definitions of a boss. If you’re aiming to be one — an efficient, successful boss, you must know that good leadership involves standing up as your team’s coach.

Leading your people on the path where you want to go requires coaching. To be a coach, employees don’t need an often tap on the head, nor they don’t need you to guide them, hand-in-hand in every step of the way. To be successful in your goals, and turn your visions into reality, you need to give your employees regular and effective feedback, effective communication, drive and support.

More and Frequent Feedback

It’s typical for businesses to conduct an annual review among employees, where positive contributions and areas for improvement are being addressed. Leaders know putting down employees can never lift them up, neither it can sculpt productive and talented team members.

Giving frequent feedback to employees is critical for coaches. Soon Millennials will take over a large percentage of the workforce, and these young professionals will want regular feedback at work. Providing frequent feedback encourages openness in the office. Positive and constructive feedback helps build a kind of company culture that allows employees to evaluate their own work, their productivity, and their work-life balance.

Personal control is one of the aspects of positive psychology. When a person can take negative feedback, it provides an opportunity to practice personal control by analyzing his or her internal and external goals. Employers may provide external rewards like bonuses, but employees are also driven by internal goals such as, seeing the project they’re working on succeed, or having more time with their families.

Modern Boss & Employee Coaching

Both leaders and employees must look into their goals alongside their drives to make good use of the feedback they get. Giving regular feedback also allows people, both CEOs and staff, to grow each day of the year.

Leaders must also be open to the employee’s positive and constructive feedback. More importantly, bosses must be responsive. All professionals, whether a newbie or a CEO, have opportunities for growth, which they can use to improve and become better.

The importance of communication: trust and empowerment

Every coach knows that good communication builds trust between employee and employer; it can effectively empower others as well. If you’re a leader, have you thought about how your communication is like with your employees?

It’s a common situation where a boss feels superior, and uses tone for communication following this perspective. However, using a disciplinary tone makes employees feel like a child, especially if the boss reprimands in front of other staff or customers. For improved communication, leaders must use active listening and hear out employees. They must understand the situation thoroughly. Communicate your employees’ points back to them using your own words, and then follow up with some questions. Besides, bosses who are good listeners can be sound strategists.

Through effective communication, leaders can empower employees by letting them know, failures offer opportunities, too. Coaches can transform points of weakness into valuable lessons both in life and business. Provide optimal feedback that is given in a practical and timely manner. Given observations must be detailed to have a clear understanding for the both sides, avoiding miscommunication and negativity.

Employers must communicate with empathy, and work with the employee towards solutions if they’re having a hard time at work or in personal life. Great bosses see the person behind the employee, and not just a worker bee.

Encourage employees

Coaches encourage the team to innovate and experiment. Great coaches know, stagnancy hinders progress.

Leaders serve as a great example for employees, who they learn from the importance of the initiative of developing opportunities. Coaches and supervisors don’t sit back, do nothing, and wait for opportunities to knock; they create it themselves. Encourage your employees to grow, and go outside their comfort zones. Coaches empower employees to innovate, create, and experiment. Allow them to present new ideas, and let them propose about taking risks, especially if they have valid points to back up their claims.

To be an effective leader, it also means you should be the coach of your team. Coaching involves providing regular and frequent feedback, and helping them get outside of their comfort zones. Encourage them to experiment, and innovate. Focus on quality, rather than quality, when it comes to handling people. Most importantly, serve as a good example; someone your team can look up to, and follow steps.

Enjoy this video that discusses being a modern boss and the importance of good employee coaching:

May 25, 2018 0 comment

World

A Newly Developed ‘Vaccine’ Shows Promising Results in Eliminating Mice Tumors

written by Feras Antoon

Experts at Stanford University may have finally crafted a new vaccine in the ongoing fight against cancer. In a recent experiment, the scientists used immune-stimulators to target tumours in mice, and showed encouraging results.

For the experiment, the experts combined two immune boosters, and injected it to mouse tumours. The vaccine eradicated all traces of the targeted tumours in mice, even the metastases that were formerly untreated.

“When we use these two agents together, we see the elimination of tumours all over the body,” said Dr. Ronald Levy, senior author of the study, to the Stanford Medicine News Center. “This approach bypasses the need to identify tumour-specific immune targets and doesn’t require wholesale activation of the immune system or customization of a patient’s immune cells.”

In the study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, one of the two immune agents has been approved in a vaccine to be used for human trial, while the other agent is currently being used in a trial vaccine for lymphoma treatment.

The study explains how the immune system fails to work against tumours. According to it, the immune system detects cancer cells in the body, and produces T cells to attack the tumours. However, the cancer cells overpower the T cells, and eventually start growing even bigger.

New Vaccine Kills Mice Tumors

In the experiment, the experts were able to rejuvenate the T cells when fighting against the cancer cells using a microgram (one-millionth of a gram) amount of the two immune boosters. The combination of these two immune boosters was injected to the lymphoma tumour of the mouse. The rejuvenated T cells moved on to other identical cancer cells in the animal’s body and destroyed them. However, although the T cells were successful at eliminating the targeted tumours, it didn’t move on to cancer cells in the colon found in the same animal.

“This is a very targeted approach,” Levy said. “Only the tumour that shares the protein targets displayed by the treated site is affected. We’re attacking specific targets without having to identify exactly what proteins the T cells are recognizing.”

The vaccine was tested in 90 more mice subjects, and had successfully removed tumours in 87 mice. The tumours recurred to 3 animal subjects, which regressed after subjecting the animals to another treatment. The experts also found that the vaccine can also remove tumours in the breast, colon, and melanoma, allowing them to declare the subjects to be cancer-free.

“I don’t think there’s a limit to the type of tumour we could potentially treat,” Levy said, “as long as it has been infiltrated by the immune system.”

New Vaccine Kills Mice Tumors

The study can change the current cancer treatment methods that we have today. Unlike what we currently use to treat cancer, this method does not require infiltration of the whole body’s immune system, nor it doesn’t need to use body samples from cancer patients. Current treatments on the market, such as what we use for leukaemia and lymphoma, the patient’s entire immune system need to be removed from the body, and then genetically modified to combat against cancer cells before the immune system is introduced in the body again. This kind of method is an expensive, lengthy and complex process that involves massive side effects. The newly developed method, on the hand, is much simpler.

“All of these immunotherapy advances are changing medical practice,” Levy said. “Our approach uses a one-time application of very small amounts of two agents to stimulate the immune cells only within the tumour itself. In the mice, we saw amazing, body-wide effects, including the elimination of tumours all over the animal.”

May 23, 2018 0 comment

Tech

Snapchat & Learning The Hard Way That Sending Nudes Is a Major No-No

written by Feras Antoon

The great Snapchat has been brought into being for several reasons: as a mere communication tool, for entertainment purposes, and as another platform for social media. Noticeably, as an instrument for sharing nude photos of yourself isn’t included in the list, because Snapchat is not meant for such desires. Though it’s always up to the users how they would like to get the most of the app, and many have successfully used Snapchat for sexting purposes, we can never be sure of the circumstances.

Snapchat Oops…

Snapchat users know that messages and photos we privately send to meant receivers self-destruct in 1-10 seconds after being watched. Our posts, on the other hand, automatically vanish after 24 hours. This is probably the reason why some naughty people use the app for sending nude pictures, thinking the app offers watertight security. However, most of these people overlook one crucial factor that could lead them to shameful scandals: pushing the wrong buttons, aka human error.

One best example is about the 2016 Draymond Green fiasco. If you follow the NBA, and many of its prominent players, you may have witnessed too (and wished you didn’t), Green’s tragic fate. The power forward for the Golden State Warriors has mistakenly and unintentionally clicked the wrong button, and sent a Snapchat of his angry, fully-erected, and very detailed penis. Everyone on his list, including thousands of his followers and his mother, had that shocking image in mind that they can never unsee.

LSnapchat & Learning the Hard Way

Ten minutes later, the photo was deleted, and Green said his Snapchat account was hacked. A trite phrase no one gets a bite. Obviously it was just an excuse, which he admitted later when he confessed about his mistake. Now, we’re coming up with these conspiracies that he was probably drunk when he did it, or he did it with an intention to humble brag. Absurd, yes. Truth can be absurd, but please don’t believe us.

Using Snapchat Wisely…

Green’s mistake happened for a reason: it’s to teach us an important lesson to never share naked photos online. No matter how secured the app is, once a file or a photo has been uploaded to the world wide web, it belongs to the mysterious internet. So, keep your private photos on your device. Unless, you aim a pornographic stardom.

Friendly advice: if you can’t help it, let’s say you’re in a long distance relationship, and your lover misses the sight of your uncovered, beautiful body. Make sure that the recipient of your dick pic or your beautiful busts is someone you can trust. The person on the other end must be as respectful of discretion as you are. Otherwise, they can take a picture of your unveiled flesh using their own device and keep it for reasons that the old gods and the new only know.

Snapchat & Learning the Hard Way

Private Snapchat photos of our poorly lit nude bodies going unintentionally public is not many of us dream about. However, if you’re one of those few (and we hope not) who had his sexy selfie sent across the cruel internet, there is this one guy who will probably turn it into art. mr.dick_pic is a humble artist who is curating dozens of cock shots to turn them into hilarious images of cartoon characters and gust-busting dick jokes. If you’re into this kind of daily amusement, check out mr.dick pic’s creative posts.

May 18, 2018 0 comment

Financial Tips for Rising Interest Rates

Business

Interest Rates and Financial Tips You Can Use When They Rise

written by Feras Antoon

Interest rates may have reached its end for US and Canada. Alongside is an imminent end of the bull market bond after 33 years in the economy.

A familiar pattern can be highly useful when joining the game of stocks: interest rates drop, bonds rise, and leads to the creation of a bull market. Lately, we’ve been seeing drops in bond prices, and rises in yields. These events are hints of the start of a bear market for bonds, and the rotation of soaring interest rates.

The cycle’s turnaround is a crucial and a significant event for individuals involved in the markets. Reversal of interest rate trends only happens three times in each person’s lifetime. Thus, it’s important to prepare for such events. Taking notes and creating strategies are the best moves one can take to be able to save their self from possible negative effects. Being cautious and aware of the situation can also help your business and portfolio to benefit from this trend.

Circumstances following the 2008 financial crisis led to a S&P 500 drop. After the crisis, banks all over the world have been printing money and have been following an “easy money” policy with the most minimal fear of inflation. On the other hand, while US and Europe undergo an anemic economic recovery rates, the Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) showed hints indicating a start of reducing the quantitative easing (QE) program, which threatened North American equity markets. These events caused a 4.8% drop for the S&P 500 in just four days; the worst ever over a span of 20 months.

Financial Tips for Rising Interest Rates

The Fed’s announcement was released last year in September. However, no tapering activities have begun just yet. Many believe it’s just a matter of time before the tapering starts.

Although, markets are anxious about the end of the Fed’s easy money policy and bond buying program, it’s true that a better economy will emerge once these changes occur. It’s good news; an economy that doesn’t rely on life support means a stronger economy, and for stock markets, it means improved profitability for businesses.

A safe, steady market may sound enticing. For years, we have been accustomed to this type of economy that provides stable and low interest rates. For instance, Canada has the same rates since September 8, 2010. While US rates haven’t shifted since December 16, 2008.

Recently, an upturn in bond yields had turn apparent. After 10 years, when the U.S. Treasury bond yields dropped to 1.43% last year, it resulted in a 2.98% yield rise on September 5, 2013. It’s the highest surge since early 2011. Many financial experts believe that once the 10-year yield rises to more than 3%, it will be the start of the trend reversal.

Together with the recovering global economies, these are clear signs that short-term interest rates will rise, too.

Therefore, instead of wasting time being afraid of the upcoming reversal trend, what we need to do is prepare for this change. We can profit from this reversal through careful planning.

The rise of interest rates will bring impact to your investment portfolio, real estate market and corporate profitability. Placing fitting strategies for each of these areas will be anyone’s best tool to adapt and gain profits from the cycle turn.

Financial Tips for Rising Interest Rates

Interest Rates & Your Investment Portfolio

Reversal in trends would initially bring negative effects to markets. Rising interest rates may be taken as bearish signals for stocks. However, markets typically recover in just a few months, and returns could even improve because of better corporate profitability.

In 2007-2008, a bullish signal took place, which may happen again in the coming days. In 2009, a widening yield curve emerged, which can also be one of the bullish signals for stocks and the economy at this point. In September 20, 2013, the gap between US 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields expanded to 2.41%, or 241 basis points, which could be similar to a rising yield curve at 121 basis points last year.

We could be wrong, of course. The steeping yield curve last year could be short-lived, and can change when short term interests arise. But if the snowballing of yield rise end exceeds the short end rise, the growing yield curve may stay intact.

In 1897 and 1942, when rates reached a bottom after a long secular drop, it created a secular bull market in the stock market.

During 1897, interest rates reached a bottom after a 30-year drop. During the same time, a cycle of rising rates took place which clashed with the start of a secular bull market on Wall Street. These events lasted until the 1929 market crash, and the beginning of the Great Depression. All this happened again in 1942.

The change in the cycles requires you to have new strategies for your portfolio. You may hold on to short term maturities, and move to your GICs and bonds as they mature. This will allow you to invest the maturities at higher interest rates as they build up. Keeping the maturities short term will also help you avoid capital bond losses, which is quite inevitable in an environment with rising rates. The longer you keep maturity bonds, the higher the capital loss because of heightening rates.

Financial Tips for Rising Interest Rates

Interest Rates & Real Estate Market

The real estate market tends to suffer from negative consequences when interest rates rise. When interest rates go up, mortgages become less affordable, causing a cool down on the activities of the housing sector, which eventually leads to decrease in prices.

Although, there have been a buying spree in the real estate market when buyers wanted to assure their mortgage rates before further rate increases occur, it may end shortly when a consistent rising trend starts. Activities in the mortgage and real estate market may begin to cool down as a result.

Since 1996, the real estate market has experienced a bull run, which is longer the most of the previous bull runs in the US. Therefore, this is the best time to reconsider your real estate holdings, and begin gaining profits from properties that have good appreciation. You may also want to assure your mortgage rates at the on-going low rates before the trend reversal heats up.

This is also the time to reduce mortgage debts because higher interest rates mean higher costs. During a trend reversal, real estate rates go lower, which means it’s not the best time to sell properties. You must be sure that you can afford mortgage rates even if rates rise above 3 to 4% and higher than their current rates. According to cbj.ca, “While the interest rate rises in store may be more muted, rates did rise 4.25% from June 30, 2004 to August 17, 2007 and they rose 3% from February 4, 1994 to July 6, 1995.”

Interest Rates & Corporate Profitability

A better economy means a better environment for businesses. It also means consumer spending rises, as well as abundance in businesses’ capital spending. These are good news for corporate profitability.

One side effect of an improving economy is rising interest rates. When rates go up, financing costs rise, where corporations with high debts suffer due to bigger financing costs. The time that bond yields rise, corporations will have to offer higher rates on their bonds to attract more investors – a painful event for corporations.

The best move is to reduce corporate debts that will help you prepare for a new environment with high rates. If you are planning to start a new venture, the earlier you kick off and the longer guarantees you have for your financing rates, it may allow you to have a more secured, lower rates for financing.

On a positive note, it’s a good step to have new ventures in a growing environment. It could be more profitable as it can make up for higher borrowing costs.

Study the changes that happened in the history of interest rate trends, and make modifications based from it. Use them for your business, investment and real estate portfolio. Eventually, the changes will pay dividends in the long run.

May 14, 2018 0 comment

Business

Puertopia: A New Crypto Utopia in Puerto Rico

written by Feras Antoon

Puertopia, is what the crypto world they’re creating was initially called. Then someone finally realized the Latin translation of this term means, “eternal boy playground”. So they just call it, Sol.

A new world is about to emerge; a crypto utopia in Puerto Rico, where tons of people, including entrepreneurs and investors, are seriously planning to settle. Wealthy individuals who found success in blockchain and cryptocurrencies are heading to Puerto Rico this winter. These people live in the US, and have started selling their homes, cars and properties, so they can transfer to their Caribbean dwellings to avoid the state, and the federal taxes on their mounting wealth, which some have grown into billions of dollars.

These people have a bright vision for the future. With their immeasurable wealth, they are planning to create a crypto utopia built in a Puerto Rican city, where money is virtual and all contracts are available to everyone. Their aim is to show the world what a crypto utopia looks like – the future. The basis of cryptocurrencies, Blockchain, can change how society works. Puertopians are taking the initiative to prove that to the world.

Why Puerto Rico? We asked that same question, too. For more than a year, the entrepreneurs looked for the best location to establish their paradise. In September, establishments in Puerto Rico got devastated by Hurricane Maria. During the same time, cryptocurrencies began to soar. Entrepreneurs saw an opportunity in these events, and felt a sense of urgency.

In just a short time, the crypto community flocked into Puerto Rico, and started their mission. Since then, the entrepreneurs are looking for properties where they can build their own docks and airports. They bought hotels and a museum called, Old San Juan. The entrepreneurs said they are near to getting the Puerto Rican government allow them to have their first cryptocurrency bank.

Puerto Rico Cryptocurrency

“What’s happened here is a perfect storm,” said the founder of the news site CNET, Halsey Minor, who is moving to Puerto Rico this winter together with his new blockchain company called, Videocoin. Referring to Hurricane Maria and the projects that pursued, he added, “While it was really bad for the people of Puerto Rico, in the long term it’s a godsend if people look past that.”

The most enticing perk about the Puerto Rican land is its unparalleled tax incentives. The government offers no federal personal income taxes, it has no capital tax gains, and offers favorable business taxes; most especially, they don’t require renouncing your American citizenship. For now, the Puerto Rican government seems docile to the entrepreneurs’ plans. The governor will speak in the upcoming blockchain summit conference, called Puerto Crypto.

Giovanni Mendez, the go-to blockchain tax lawyer of Puerto Rico, expected the expats to decrease in number after Hurricane Maria, but instead it has grown larger.

“It’s increased monumentally,” said Mr. Mendez, who handles about two dozen crypto clients. “And they all came together.”

The flock of new entrepreneurs in Puerto Rico alarmed the earlier expats. One of them is hedge fund manager, Robb Rill, who handles a social group for those who are taking advantage of the tax incentives.

“They call me up saying they’re going to buy 250,000 acres so they can incorporate their own city, literally start a city in Puerto Rico to have their own crypto world,” said Mr. Rill, who had been on the island since 2013. “I can’t engage in that.”

The Puertopians haven’t yet decided on how the new utopia would look like. Some of them wants to build a city; others said it’s enough to move into Old San Juan, while a few want to move fast.

“You’ve never seen an industry catalyze a place like you’re going to see here,” Mr. Minor said.

Puerto Rico Cryptocurrency

Puertopian Base: The Monastery

The soon as the Puertopians landed, they settled on the Monastery, a 20,000-square-foot-hotel that they leased as their base. The Monastery was barely touched by the hurricane.

Matt Clemenson and Stephen Morris were drinking on the rooftop of the Monastery one Monday afternoon. They wanted to make one thing clear: they want to help Puerto Rico after the hurricane, and they come in peace.

“It’s only when everything’s been swept away that you can make a case for rebuilding from the ground up,” Mr. Morris, 53, said.

“We’re benevolent capitalists, building a benevolent economy,” said Mr. Clemenson, 34, a co-founder of Lottery.com, which is using the blockchain in lotteries. “Puerto Rico has been this hidden gem, this enchanted island that’s been consistently overlooked and mistreated. Maybe 500 years later we can make it right.”

More Puertopians went to the roof. Most of them just got back from a property hunting bus tour. One of the pack was the leader of the Puertopia movement, Brock Pierce, 37. Mr. Pierce and the others reached the island last December.

“Compassion, respect, financial transparency,” Mr. Pierce said when asked what led them here.

Mr. Pierce is a major figure in the crypto community. He’s the director of the Bitcoin Foundation, as well as the co-founder of Block.One, a blockchain-for-business start-up.

Block.One has sold more than $200 million EOS, a custom virtual currency in an initial coin offering. Now the value of EOS token has mounted to around $6.5 billion.

Puerto Rico Cryptocurrency

Mr. Pierce is a child actor. He began his crypto journey as a professional gamer, where he mines and trades gold in the video game, World of Warcraft. Mr. Pierce has a controversial history where he has been sued for fraud, among other matters.

“The U.S. doesn’t want us. It’s trying to choke off this economy,” Mr. Minor said, while lounging on an alcove chaise. He was referring to the tough challenges that crypto investors have dealt with the US banks. “There needs to be a place where people are free to invent.”

The entrepreneurs were chatting that day in the same room where Mr. Pierce paces with his hands in fists. Mr. Pierce frequently plays a video on his phone with portable speakers for the group. Several times a day, he puts on Charlie Chaplin’s 1940 “The Great Dictator.”

“I’m worried people are going to misinterpret our actions,” Mr. Pierce said. “That we’re just coming to Puerto Rico to dodge taxes.”

Mr. Pierce shared that he plans to create a charitable token, he calls, ONE using $1 billion of his own money. “If you take the MY out of money, you’re left with ONE,” Mr. Pierce said.

“He’s tuned in to a higher calling,” said scion of the Canadian clothing company Nygard and crypto investor, Kai Nygard. “He’s beyond money.”

Mr. Pierce’s personality and spirituality have a huge impact to the crypto community, whose large part is agnostic. Mr. Pierce regularly does rituals, just like when the group was looking for property, and they had stopped at a historic Ceiba tree, known as the Tree of Life.

“Brock nestled into the bosom of it and was there for 10 minutes,” Mr. Nygard said.

While everyone stopped at the tree, Mr. Pierce walked around it, and said prayers for the Puertopians while holding a rusted wrench he found somewhere. Mr. Pierce has also kissed an old man’s feet, blessed a crystal clear water, and played Chaplin’s speech to everyone and to the tree.

Later that day, the group had dinner in a nearby restaurant, where they debated whether to buy Puerto Rico’s Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. It’s a 9,000-acre property adjacent to the airport, and has two two deepwater ports. The catch: the place is a Superfund cleanup site.

The entrepreneurs, in fact, have started turning their vision into reality. They began with a big pink building in an old town square. It was once a children’s museum, but they plan on turning it into a crypto clubhouse and outreach center, which will serve as the link “to bring together Puerto Ricans with Puertopians.”

Crypto Land: The Vanderbilt

The Condado Vanderbilt is an old hotel that Puertopians are working on. Bryan Larkin, 39, and Reeve Collins, 42, are working on this property occasionally with their laptops on a pool bar with frozen piña coladas.

“We’re going to make this crypto land,” Mr. Larkin said.

Mr. Larkin, the chief technology officer of Blockchain Industries, has mined about $2 billion in Bitcoin. Mr. Collins, has mined over $20 million from an initial coin offering for BlockV, an app he created which tokens are worth about $125 million. Mr. Larkin, also an internet veteran, co-founded Tether which tokens are worth about $2.1 billion.

“So, no. No, I don’t want to pay taxes,” Mr. Collins said. “This is the first time in human history anyone other than kings or governments or gods can create their own money.”

Mr. Collins moved to Santa Monica with just a few bags, and now he has started a local cryptocurrency incubator called Vatom Factory.

“When Brock said, ‘We’re moving to Puerto Rico for the taxes and to create this new town,’ I said, ‘I’m in,’” Mr. Collins said. “Sight unseen.”

As soon as they got back to work, they checked Coinmarketcap.com, a site where anyone can see the price of cryptocurrencies.

Puerto Rico Cryptocurrency

“Our market cap’s gone up $100 million in a week,” Mr. Collins said.

“Congrats, man,” Mr. Larkin said.

Is this the start of the Puertopia?

Locals have different insights about the flock of these crypto expats. Some welcome the arrival of infusion and ideas.

“We’re open for crypto business,” said chief business development officer for the Department of Economic Development and Commerce, Erika Medina-Vecchini. During her interview at her office, she said they are creating an ad campaign that targets the crypto expat swell. They came up with a tagline, “Paradise Performs.”

While others are concerned about the island being used for experiments, and a probable “crypto colonialism.”

Richard Lopez, 32, owner of a pizza restaurant, Estella, in the town of Arecibo said at a house party in San Juan, “I think it’s great. Lure them in with taxes, and they’ll spend money.”

On the other hand, 33-year-old worker at Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, Andria Satz, who also grew up in San Juan, disagreed.

“We’re the tax playground for the rich,” she said. “We’re the test case for anyone who wants to experiment. Outsiders get tax exemptions, and locals can’t get permits.”

Mr. Lopez believes Puerto Rico needs something to kick-start its economy.

“We have to find a new way,” he said.

“Sure then, Bitcoin, why not,” Ms. Satz said.

Mr. Lopez and Rafael Perez, 31, his childhood friend are trying to setup a Bitcoin mine in their hometown. However, the electricity is a major obstacle in their goal due to its inconsistency. Mr. Lopez said, mining a single Bitcoin requires tons of power

May 9, 2018 0 comment

Business

$1.8 Billion Indian Bank Fraud Unraveled After 7 Years of Operation

written by Feras Antoon

The biggest question is: how this billion-dollar Indian bank fraud lasted 7 years? This greed-crime happened right under people’s noses, while all were sleeping soundly for many nights. Alongside this global fraud are $81 million cyber-heist in Bangladesh, lenders abuse, and a series of missed massive opportunities.

It all began in 2016 after an infiltration from hackers got detected in the Bangladesh central bank’s system. It was also when its Indian counterpart sensed a lurking danger. So, the Reserve Bank of India prompted all the lenders to check if their computer networks were properly integrated with Swift, the system used in the Bangladesh theft for sending transmit payment instructions.

Unfortunately, out-of-the-radar was a rogue employee of the state-owned Punjab National Bank who was allegedly taken advantage of this system flaw. RBI knew nothing about this person’s stealthy deed until 5 years later, which resulted in a $1.8 billion fraud swell.

“The biggest thing that didn’t happen was the linkage between Swift and the bank’s back-end software — they didn’t talk,” according to Abizer Diwanji, a financial services partner at the accountancy firm EY in India. “The ball was first dropped,” when PNB failed to settle the two systems together, he added.

Indian Bank Fraud

The incident had spread fast, then government agencies performed efforts to investigate. Above all the chaos and mishaps one thing came clear: the ones worth blaming were inferior technology, flawed risk management, and inadequate monitoring. An $800 million loss could’ve been dodged if the fraud had been discovered a year earlier.

Former PNB employee Gokulnath Shetty is being alleged of providing billionaire jeweler, Nirav Modi, and his associates guarantees of acquiring loans from abroad. According to PNB’s complaint, over 2011 to 2017, there had been guarantees issued without collateral worth 65 billion rupees ($1 billion), which was then followed by guarantees worth 49 billion rupees between March to May last year, the same time Shetty retired.

According to R. Gandhi, a former RBI deputy governor, we can link the incident to RBI not integrating the two systems back then, since many Indian banking systems were not compatible to Swift. However, Gandhi added, banks like PNB which didn’t integrate the two systems have been required to perform manual checks to compare Swift’s messages with the banks’ internal records.

According to Tim Phillipps, an Asia-Pacific financial crime specialist at Deloitte, reconciliation between Swift and other bank systems is crucial for banks since there’s a prevalence of fraud across global finance trade. He added that it’s not hard to create an interface that can link the two programs.

Indian Bank Fraud

“Trade finance operations at banks are one of the riskiest parts of the business they do and also one of the most profitable,” Phillipps said. “Most checks in a world structured environments don’t allow data to be entered directly into Swift because that is where many of the big problems have occurred over the past decade in terms of falsifying information.”

According to the director in the financial institutions group at Fitch Ratings, Saswata Guha, changing costs may have contributed to the continuous upgrades in the Indian bank systems. For years, indian lenders have been struggling from ceaseless rise of loans, and insufficient capital, which Guha believes can turn worse in the upcoming years after new regulations are mandated.

Discovering the billion-dollars Indian fraud

These incidents that took place over the four months played an important role in the discovery of this global crime.

RBI released statement on its site saying it cautioned banks about the misuse of Swift on at least three occasions. “Banks have, however, been at varying levels in implementation of such measures,” the RBI said.

Indian Bank Fraud

Has justice been served?

Shetty got arrested by federal officials, but shared zero comments on the allegations. PNB had nothing to say as well, and Swift comments none about any allegations or customers.

On the other hand, Modi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal told NDTV that Modi denies his involvement in any fraud incidents, although all his transactions with PNB are documented.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reminded supervisors and auditors to make sure that any fraud activities must be detected early. According to Bloomberg, “the 10-member Bankex index rose 0.3 percent in Mumbai on Wednesday, snapping a three-day drop, as the main equity gauge advanced 0.4 percent.”

There are on-going efforts to reform India’s banking sector. For years, the Indian government and the central banks have been working together to set up panels, and suggest new recommendations. However, the progress has been sluggish, said Fitch’s Guha.

“If a few people, or connivance of a group of people, can take a bank this large down to its heels with the kind of capital market implications one has been seen, then it poses very serious questions,” he said. “At the core of it, it’s really governance.”

Have a look at this video that goes into more detail about this longstanding bank fraud issue:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-21/how-an-1-8-billion-indian-bank-fraud-lasted-seven-years

May 7, 2018 0 comment

World

Get a Good Night Sleep Using These 8 Expert Tips

written by Feras Antoon

It happens – there are nights when our brains just don’t let us have that sweet, and deep sleep. We toss and turn on our beds with busy thoughts including, of course, that embarrassing moment we had in high school. Before we know it, the sun has already set and we have to begin a new, restless day.

A blabbering mind can be a sign of some serious mental problem like anxiety. However, sleepless nights happen to everyone, every once in a while. Now that we’re too old for bedtime stories, consulting experts is probably the best way to go.

So we’ve gathered eight tips from experts that can put an end to our late-night racing thoughts. Besides, these suggestions can be a good read when you find yourself wide awake, staring at the ceiling at past three.

Think about meaningless lists

“The absolute prerequisite for sleep is a quiet mind. Think of something else, rather than what’s worrying you — something with a story to it. It can be anything of interest, but of no importance, so you can devote some brain energy to it without clashing into the real world and going straight back to your worries.

I fly a lot, so I imagine I have my own private jet and how would I arrange the furniture on it. If you’re someone who likes going to music festivals, what would your lineup be?” – Neil Stanley, a sleep expert.

Tell yourself to remain awake

“Thinking about sleep and wishing for it to happen is a recipe for staying awake. This is where paradoxical thinking comes in. If you give yourself the paradoxical instruction to stay awake instead, you’ll be more likely to fall asleep.

If you can be comfortable with the idea of remaining awake, then the performance anxiety and frustration that are associated with trying to sleep have nowhere to go and your arousal level drops.” – Colin Espie, University of Oxford’s professor of sleep medicine.

8 Sleep Tips

Get up and off the bed

“If 20 minutes has gone by as the mind races and is unable to relax back to sleep, it’s best to get out of bed. Without looking at your phone or any other screen devices, go to another dimly lit room where you keep a notebook. Write down the thoughts that are keeping you awake.

Finish with the words, ‘It can wait until tomorrow.’ Then, go back to bed, focus on the breath, and mindfully relax into those words, giving yourself permission to yield to sleep.” – Jenni June, sleep expert consultant

Write down your worries

“Spend a maximum of 20 minutes just getting everything out of your head and onto paper every day. It’s a therapeutic way to see that you probably don’t have loads to worry about, rather just a few reoccurring things. You can then see which worries are hypothetical (i.e., what if I make a mistake at work and lose my job) or ‘real’ worries (e.g., I made a mistake and have lost my job).

For the real worries you can then make an action plan/problem-solve and for the hypothetical ones, learn to let them go.” –Kathryn Pinkham, insomnia specialist at National Health Services

8 Sleep Tips

Perform breathing exercises

“Deep breathing … acts as a powerful distraction technique, particularly if paired with counting. You want to aim to breathe out for longer than you breathe in, and pause after breathing in and out; so you might choose to count for three when you breathe in, then pause and count to five when you breathe out, then pause.

Really focus on your breathing and counting, and if your mind wanders off, just take note of that and return your attention to the exercise. You may need to do this for ten minutes or so.” – Christabel Majendie, sleep therapy expert

Don’t try too hard

“Try not to struggle or ‘try harder’ to overcome the sleeplessness or get rid of unwanted thoughts, as this can worsen insomnia. One successful approach to overcome this negative cycle is to instead learn to observe and accept these struggles, using mindfulness strategies to help.” – Jenny Stephenson, director of HappySleepers

Get more sunlight during the day

“Getting more sun exposure in the midmorning can help readjust the brain’s internal clock and make it easier to fall asleep later that night. In my book, I write about how sun exposure is now a key part of many professional athletes’ travel schedules, and seen as a way of preventing jet lag. Non-athletes can do similar things.

Someone who can’t seem to fall asleep at night may want to try getting as much exposure to natural light in the morning, essentially prepping themselves to fall asleep when they want to.” – Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep author, David K. Randall

8 Sleep Tips

Go far and beyond

If all aforementioned tips fail, you can always go the extra mile. Even since the early modern Europe era, experts have been seeking for ways to attain marvelous eves of slumber. Some of them are the following from Benjamin Reiss’ book, Wild Nights: How Taming Sleep Created Our Restless World.

From 16th-century French physician André du Laurens: Grab a few bloodsucking leeches, and place them behind your ears. When the leeches bore holes in the skin, pull them out and put a grain of opium in the holes.
From 16th-century French surgeon Ambroise Paré: Kill a sheep, and press its lungs on one side of the head. Keep the head pressing in place as long as the lungs remain warm.
From 15th-century philosopher Marsilio Ficino: After dinner, eat lettuce and drink wine. Then, rub an ointment made of violets or camphor on the temples. Dilute a few seeds of poppy, seeds of lettuce, balsam, saffron, sugar, and cook them in poppy juice. Lie in bed while listening to relaxing music, and cover yourself with leaves of cool and fresh plants.

May 4, 2018 0 comment

Tech

China’s High-Speed Train Technology Turns Sewage into Purified Water

written by Feras Antoon

China has successfully turned its rural sewage into clean water using the toilet technology used in their high-speed trains.

The mind-blowing innovation was developed by CRRC Corporation Limited, China’s largest high-speed rail carriage creator. The first demonstration of the project took place in Sanxing Township, located on the island of Chongming in Shanghai. A purification tank integrated with a bio-filter has been installed underground, 10 meters deep from rural houses.

In the demonstration, sewage water was collected from two families that flowed down to the tank through gravity where the water is treated using a microbial anaerobic-aerobic process. Then, the water underwent a deeper treatment using a bio-active filter in the tank.

When the treatment has been completed, the sewage was turned into clean, odorless water, which when tested, passed Shanghai’s first-class standard of discharged water. The treated water can be used for irrigation and supplementing natural water.

China's High-Speed Train Technology

The tank developed by CRRC Corporation Limited can be wirelessly monitored in a village control room where real time data and decontamination results are available. Meaning, if ever technical issues happen, it can be addressed quickly and in a timely manner.

“The secret of the purification tank is the bio-active micro flora that eat the dirty stuff in sewage,” according to Ni Xiaohong, 25, a sewage treatment worker in Chongming in an interview.

Vice general manager of Shandong Zhongche Locomotive Co. Ltd. Shanghai Branch, Yang Zhen, said the water purification technology used in the tanks came from the vacuum-drainage and biotechnology used in treatment devices for the toilets of high-speed trains.

Zhen added that there have been pilot projects that used similar technologies for treating rural sewage, which have been launched in more than 20 provinces and regions across China since 2015.

A small tank can be installed in one day, which can purify at least a ton of sewage per day. One small tank is enough for treating daily discharge of two to three families. The purified sewage can flow directly into the streams after passing the tank.

China's High-Speed Train Technology

According to Yang, the tanks can treat the household sewage of people living in remote areas. Just recently, the Chongming District government announced that they target to provide tanks for the treatment of the whole rural domestic sewage by 2020. In some villages, the government uses drones to monitor water pollution.

The government of China plans to use the CRRC-developed sewage tanks for households in remote areas. For villages with high population, centralized water treatment is used, such as, Shanghai Electric’s container-size sewage treatment station that can purify water for up to 200 households. This type of sewage treatment uses micro-dynamic, high-efficiency biofilm technology.

Residents who will use the treatment system will only have to pay for the regular sewage treatment fee. Besides that, installation and maintenance of the equipment are free.

According to district official Xu Xiaodong, this technology is huge help towards Chongming’s goal to become a world-class ecological island.

The island of Chongming is located 45 kilometers east of downtown Shanghai, where the mouth of China’s largest river, Yangtze, is found. As the world’s largest estuary alluvial island, it needs a clean and healthy water environment to maintain biodiversity, as well as the growing rural developments on the island.

Learn more about how China purifies water with this train technology here:

May 2, 2018 0 comment