Father lays into news photographer

THE father of a missing teenager has been caught on camera attacking a news photographer outside an inquest into his daughter’s disappearance.

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175 Gap stores to close their doors

Store closures will only affect Gap stores, and not its other brands — Banana Republic, Old Navy, Intermix and Athleta — or its outlet and factory stores, and the brand will continue to run about 1,600 Gap stores worldwide.

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EDC creator Rotella a new partner in Life is Beautiful

Pasquale Rotella, founder of electronic music and dance event promoter Insomniac and creator of Electric Daisy Carnival, the music and dance festival in its fifth year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway later this week, is a new partner of the Life Is Beautiful music and art festival.

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9 Reasons to Buy Your Glasses Online (+ How to Get a Pair for Only $24)

On a typical day, you’ll find me blogging from my couch wearing sweats and glasses, my 10-year-old lab Franklin at my side.

When I got my first pair of glasses in 10th grade, I hated them. But I’ve actually grown to love them. Glasses are way cooler now than when I was a kid. And over the years, I’ve picked up quite a few pairs so that I can switch them out depending on my mood.

Since I’m all about being creative with my budget, buying glasses the old way doesn’t quite do it for me. And by old way, I mean going to an optometrist where you spend a ton of money on their pricey prescription frames.

To save money, I buy glasses online. I can get way more bang for my buck and get glasses that are of equal or better quality than frames sold in-store.

But saving money isn’t the only reason I prefer shopping online for glasses over visiting stores. Not convinced? As a long-time glasses wearer, here are more reasons you should consider making the switch.

1. Wider Selection

Brick-and-mortar stores have limited floor space, so they can only display so many frames. This explains why they try to showcase as many high-priced designer glasses as possible; those frames make them more money. Depending the store’s vendor relationships, they might offer only specific brands, which further limits their selection.

When you pick from a selection someone else curated, you don’t see other frames that might be more your style. When you shop online, you have your choice of a larger range of styles, brands and frames.

If you have a style in mind — say classic tortoise shell glasses — you might find two or three pairs in-store. Search for the same type of frames online, and you’ll find a wider selection.

I must have 10 different pairs by now. Here’s one of my favorite pairs that I picked up from GlassesUSA.com (product name: Muse Jazz Brown)

2. Clear Vision While Shopping

If you already wear glasses, trying on glasses in-store can be a bit tricky. You’ve got to take them off to try on frames, so… you can’t really see what the new frames look like on your face! If you’ve got a high prescription, it’s nearly impossible to get a good look at the glasses on display, much less what they look like on you.

To make matters worse, you’ll often shop for glasses right after having your eye exam, where your optometrist dilated your pupils — making your vision even blurrier than usual and your eyes sensitive to light. Not ideal for any kind of shopping.

At home, you can wear your glasses while you shop for new glasses. When you want to get a good look at something, 20/20 vision sure works wonders.

3. No Pressure

The in-store experience can create anxiety and pressure.

Optometrists usually have small storefronts with just one or two salespeople on duty. All eyes are on you as you shop. And once you’ve taken the time to try on a bunch of frames, the pressure’s on to make a purchase — even if you haven’t found something you like.

Plus, you don’t want to be that annoying guy who tries on every single frame in the place. But why shouldn’t you? These things are going on your face. You may wear them every single day for a long time. You want to be certain you’ve made the right decision.

Shop online, and you can take as long as you need to find that perfect pair. Take hours if you like. Days even, if you want to mull over a couple options. Buy when you feel ready — not because other customers are waiting and the salespeople are getting impatient because you haven’t made a decision.

4. No Sales Pitch

Optometrists don’t make money on your eye exam. They make money selling frames. So they have important partners in crime. They hire expert salespeople to help you shop immediately after your exam.

Yet if the person helping you doesn’t quite understand your style or has different opinions about looks good on you, this can be an awkward conversation. You might feel pressured into buying glasses that are not totally “you.”

If you already know what types of frames you like — for example, designer, retro or rimless — then it’s easy to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for online. If you’re new to this whole shopping for glasses thing, you can narrow your selection by frame features, measurements or even by your personality.

5. Virtual Try-Ons

Worried about not being able to try on potential new frames? After all, you want to see what each pair will look like on you, not a model.

Get this — GlassesUSA.com offer virtual try-ons. Just upload a photo of yourself and you can see how the frames fit your face and style. Trying to decide between a few different frames? Take a couple of screenshots and send them to friends or family who will give you an honest opinion about what looks best.

Here’s one of me playing around on their site…

 

6. No Sticker Shock

Ever notice that it’s often hard to find prices on frames in the store? Sometimes they have no price tags at all.

This isn’t by accident. The store hopes you’ll fall in love with a pair of frames, and by then it’s too late. Once you hear the price — even if it’s way over your budget — they’ve got you hooked. They sell you a pair of pricey frames and you max out your credit card.

Prices are clearly marked online, so you know exactly how much each frames costs up front.

This pair costs less than $50…

My glasses from GlassesUSA.com (product name: “Dickenson Brown”)

7. Efficient Shopping

The in-store experience often goes something like this: Go to store. Take time to try on a bunch of frames. Make your selection. Order frames. Leave store and wait for a couple weeks until they’re ready. Go back to store to pick up frames. After wearing glasses for a few days, realize your glasses are too tight and have been giving you headaches. Go back to store to get frames adjusted.

It can be a huge hassle that requires multiple trips.

Cut out all that back-and-forth by ordering frames online. Shop from your couch and get them shipped straight to your door. It doesn’t get much easier or more convenient than that!

8. Generous Return Policies

Ever tried to return a pair of prescription glasses you bought from your optometrist’s office? Yeah, right. It’s usually out of the question.

That’s not the case with most online retailers. Many accept returns and exchanges within a certain window of time. Some even send along a free return-shipping label and offer a no-questions-asked return policy if you’re unhappy with your glasses for any reason.

9. Lower Prices

When you buy a pair of frames in store, you’re also paying for lens crafting and customizing. The total price can run anywhere between $200 and $800. However, in most cases, when you purchase online from GlassesUSA.com, basic single vision lenses are included in the price you see! That alone can help you save up to 70% on the total cost of the glasses.

Can’t decide between a handful of frames that you like? Why not pick up a few pairs and mix things up a little? Instead of spending an arm and a leg for a pair of glasses from the store, spend even less on a few pairs.

Penny Hoarder Readers Can Save An Additional 50%

This is pretty incredible. GlassesUSA.com is offering a special deal to Penny Hoarder readers this month.

If you use the coupon code “PENNY50” at checkout and you’ll save an additional 50% off your order, plus they’ll give you free shipping!

Their glasses are already very inexpensive, so by combining a coupon you can score a pair for as little as $24.

Awesome!

Sponsorship Disclosure: A huge thanks to GlassesUSA.com for working with us to bring you this content.

The post 9 Reasons to Buy Your Glasses Online (+ How to Get a Pair for Only $24) appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Facebook Sued In Belgium For Social Plug-in Tracking, EU Passes Stricter Privacy Law

Just like Google, Facebook faces a wave of investigations and potential sanctions across Europe for its privacy policies. A series of Belgian privacy watchdog-sponsored reports have been harshly critical of Facebook’s policies and alleged lack of transparency to end users. Now the Belgian...

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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First Friday festival group going nonprofit

The First Friday art, music and culture festival is going nonprofit, as First Friday Las Vegas LLC is donating its assets, intellectual property and $100,000 to the First Friday Foundation and its newly revamped 17-member board.

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Marketing Day: Facebook Campaign Awards, Public Relations Tips & Content Creation Tools

Here's our recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on Marketing Land and other places across the web. The post Marketing Day: Facebook Campaign Awards, Public Relations Tips & Content Creation Tools appeared first on Marketing Land.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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Supermarkets’ dirty tricks revealed

SHOPPERS are flocking to Aldi as a “protest vote”, but the discount chain is “even worse” than the Coles and Woolies duopoly, author Malcolm Knox argues.

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7 Father's Day Sales Worth Shopping

You can get great deals on the perfect gift for dad. 

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The Strong Dollar Is Causing Travelers to Make a Big Credit Card Mistake

The dollar may be strong against the euro, but that doesn't mean you should use it to pay.  

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From Orange Is The New Black To Netflix Streamosphere Dominance (And Some Spoilers)

Orange is the New Black Season 3 Continues to Ensure Netflix Dominance in Original, Subversive and Adapted Content.

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Can Voting Restrictions Impact An Election? An In-Depth Look At A Divisive Issue

Last week, Hilary Clinton made an impassioned call for voting rights, particularly regarding minorities. Clinton boldly asserted that “what is happening is a sweeping effort to disempower and disenfranchise people of color, poor people and young people from one end of our country to the other.” In a not-so-subtle, rather direct jab at some of her Republican opponents, Ms. Clinton specifically called out Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Texas governor Rick Perry, accusing both of having (at least) intentions to pass laws that would have impeded the rights of minorities to vote.

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Uber In China Overdrive With $1 Bln Spending Plan

Bottom line: Uber and rival homegrown Chinese hired car services are likely to ultimately get a green light to operate throughout China, providing a much-needed shot of competition to traditional taxi fleets.

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Struggling With Facebook Organic Reach Decline? Try This New Open Source Social Networking App

If you have been burnt by the decline of the organic reach of your Facebook pages, you may consider trying something different, although of course it's hard to replace a website that has become such an integral part of our lives.

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Four Seasons Has An App (And Human) For That: High-Tech vs. High-Touch Customer Service

So here's the problem. I guess I've become the high-tech/high-touch customer service guy. But does that mean I want every company in the world to be split right down the middle of technology and touchy-feeliness in their approach to customer service? (Or, for that matter, to head entirely over to the high-tech side of the equation without a customer-driven rationale for doing so?)

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Business Of Golf: 2015 U.S. Open Championship

For the first time in its storied 115-year history, the U.S. Open Championship will be hosted in the Pacific Northwest at Chambers Bay Golf Course (University Place, Wash.), situated on the Puget Sound and located one hour south of Seattle. For one week, small businesses – from Olympia to Everett – are expecting a massive monetary influx from golf enthusiasts traveling to the “Evergreen State” to witness golf’s best players battle it out over seventy-two holes.

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How Exceptional Companies Create High Performance Cultures

Organizations that set very clear and aligned values and processes will consistently outperform those that cannot. So, how can leaders intentionally create a culture of high performance?

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5 Essential Lessons For Business From LeBron James

While fans are watching the excitement of the 2015 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, leaders in business should be learning from LeBron James on how to run their companies.

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Phil Mickelson Tops Tiger Woods As Golf's Highest-Paid Player

Golf's top 10 earners banked a total of $271 million over the past 12 months.

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The Highest-Paid Golfers 2015

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Too Big Not to Fail: Lessons from Comcast's Failure

Last month, we watched the DOJ block proposed mergers between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, as well as Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron. The resurgence of this brand of mega-deals — transactions worth $10 billion or more — has brought increased regulatory scrutiny across all industries. The Department of Justice has already rejected nearly $200 billion worth of M&A in this year alone1. In turn, the federal government’s heavy-handed approach to large transactions is making deal-makers take notice and explore a variety of new acquisition strategies.

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The Wealthiest Universities In The United States [Infographic]

Universities in the United States are getting wealthier and wealthier. A report from Moody's Investors Service measuring the total wealth of 500 public and private institutions in cash and investments found that the country's top ten richest universities held a third of the total wealth.

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Why Learnings From The ‘90s Banner Ad Still Apply Today

The technology behind display advertising remains a key underpinning of what advertisers are seeking today, explains columnist James Green. The post Why Learnings From The ‘90s Banner Ad Still Apply Today appeared first on Marketing Land.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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Why We Are Revising Our Price Estimate For Perfect World

. The games have a social team element and also allow the players to customize their characters and upgrade their experience/abilities over the course of the game. Perfect world's list of best-selling games include Neverwinter, Forsaken World, Torchlight, Battle of the Immortals, Jade Dynasty, Fantasy Zhu Xian, Zhu Xian and Swordsman Online. The company recently announced that it has entered into an agreement and plan of merger with Perfect Peony Holding Company Limited and will be going private sometime in the second half of 2015. We are increasing our price estimate for Perfect World to $20.15 based on the following analysis.

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Too Big Not to Fail: Lessons from Comcast's Failure

Last month, we watched the DOJ block proposed mergers between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, as well as Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron. The resurgence of this brand of mega-deals — transactions worth $10 billion or more — has brought increased regulatory scrutiny across all industries. The Department of Justice has already rejected nearly $200 billion worth of M&A in this year alone1. In turn, the federal government’s heavy-handed approach to large transactions is making deal-makers take notice and explore a variety of new acquisition strategies.

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Improving Jobs And Housing Market Good News For Bed Bath & Beyond

The past two months are indicating a changing scenario for the retail sector. The number of jobs has been increasing faster on a month-on-month basis and wage rates are finally starting to witness a significant rise as well. Consumers' propensity to spend is hence on the rise, as a result of which retail sales are also expected to witness an increase. The retail sales numbers for May will be released today, and the consensus is that these numbers will show a 1.1% increase in retail sales, primarily driven by an improvement in the U.S. job market.

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Some Hope For Alzheimer's Patients From Biogen's Data, But Upside For Roche Is Limited

We are not boosting our estimate despite the recent news that Roche will re-open the trials for its experimental drug gantenerumab, which was being tested to treat Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia with a growing patient base and no cure. The reasons are simple. First, the decision is based on recent study results announced by Biogen. The company was testing a similar drug targeting the beta amyloid protein. Although the data are promising, the study is based on a small sample size. Second, almost 70% of Roche’s value comes from oncology drugs and diagnostics business, which means that the company’s competitive advantage lies elsewhere and not neurology. In fact, we estimate that neuroscience drugs constitute less than 5% to its value.

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Diageo: Merger With AB InBev Might Not Be Lucrative

In case of a merger, AB InBev’s biggest gift to Diageo would be their strong hold over beer in many developed markets such as the U.S. However, the U.S. has been increasingly seeing customers shifting from beer to spirits, with market share for spirits increasing from 34.7% to 35.2% between 2013 and 2014, and that for beer declining from 50% to 47.8% between 2010 and 2014. In this situation, Diageo may not experience as much of a gain from AB InBev’s business in the longer term.

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These Scenarios Could Push Our Valuation of Kimberly-Clark Below the $100 Mark

The competition in the personal care industry is at an all-time high due to the ongoing long-term strategic initiatives by market leaders P&G and Unilever (Read: Are P&G And Unilever Headed In Opposite Directions?). Kimberly-Clark is also beleaguered by soaring commodity cost inflation, which dragged down its EBITDA margin by 2.2 percentage points, to 19%, in 2014. We believe that these two factors, that is, the threat of market share losses due to increasing competition and lower profit margins due to commodity cost inflation, could potentially have a significant impact on Kimberly-Clark's valuation.

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Launching Into Spain, Italy And Portugal Makes Sense For Netflix

Streaming giant Netflix recently announced that it will be launching its services in three countries - Spain, Italy and Portugal - in October 2015. These launches are part of the company's aggressive international expansion strategy, in which it intends to launch streaming services in 200 countries in the next two years. We believe that a launch in these countries is a good move and could be very beneficial for the company. Netflix is currently available in more than 50 countries and has over 62 million subscribers globally.

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These 5 Tech Dow Stocks Have Negative Weekly Charts

Five tech stocks in the Dow ended last week with negative weekly chart profiles. Here are trading levels for investor who want to buy on weakness or sell on strength.

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Fitbit Is Days Away From This Year's Hottest IPO

In the fast-growing wearables market Fitbit boasts some of the strongest financials around. But can it stay in the lead with Apple and Xiaomi close behind?

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CVS Will Buy Target's 1,600 Pharmacies, Clinics For $1.9B

CVS Health (CVS) said today it would buy add the pharmacy and retail clinic business of retail giant Target (TGT) for $1.9 billion in a bold move to expand its brad.

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What Microsoft Needs To Do To Beat Sony At E3 2015

Bethesda kicked off the first of three days of press conferences at E3 last night with a stellar showcase that’s going to be hard to follow. But through the years, the biggest press events of the show have always been from the console manufacturers, not the game publishers, and for the last decade or so, that means Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

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3D Printing is About to Change the World Forever

I believe, along with a growing number of leaders around the world, that 3D printing will change the way things are produced more in this century than the industrial revolution did over the last 300 years.  

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Germany's Kaufhof was just sold to Hudson's Bay

Kaufhof was just sold to Hudson’s Bay

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Still More Success, This Time From Hadoop

Speaking of big data success stories – which I was just last week – I got a chance to head down to the Hadoop Summit in San Jose last week. While it more closely resembled a Hortonworks user conference than an industry trade show – not that there’s anything wrong with that – there was a customer panel on Thursday that really solidified the value of Hadoop.

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How To Get The Best Out Of Employees With Creative Minds

There's a view in the corporate world these days about how to foster creative minds in the workplace that Gordon Torr, a former advertising executive and author of a book on managing creative people, wants desperately to debunk. “It's this notion that if you buy a whole lot of bean bags and spread them around the company, everyone will suddenly become more creative.”

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Mitch McConnell Is Wrong: No Tax Reform Until 2019, At The Earliest

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) last week said in an interview with Reid Wilson of Politico what many both inside and outside of Washington have been unwilling to admit to themselves or anyone else: A comprehensive tax reform plan isn’t going to happen this year.

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Come To SMX East As A Team & Save. Let The Learning Begin!

Hone your digital marketing team’s knowledge and skills at SMX East. Over 60 sessions focused on paid search and SEO tactics allow attendees to customize a program based upon responsibilities, needs and experience. Whether you’re a small business or Fortune 500 company, digital or media agency,...

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.

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We All Have A Bias Blind Spot, Argues Study -- Some More Tenacious Than Others

Most of us recognize that our thinking features a certain degree of bias. But just how biased our thinking is when compared to the next person – that’s a different story. When it comes to making those comparisons, we are far better at identifying the bias in another’s thinking than we are at finding our own. That’s called the “bias blind spot” and a new study says no matter how impervious to bias we imagine ourselves, we all have one.

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The Quiet Charms Of West Sweden

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Noble Energy: Operator Highlights

Lloyd Noble’s namesake Noble Energy (founded in 1932) has long been an important and innovative operator in Oil & Gas Exploration and Production. Their current portfolio of international and domestic projects include offshore Gulf of Mexico and West African operations, as well as leadership positions in the US Marcellus and Niobrara plays. They are also one of the first players to take advantage of the current oil price climate with their recent acquisition of Eagle Ford and Permian Basin Operator Rosetta Resources for $2.1 billion.

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Spotify's CEO Is Serious About Showing What Stockholm Has To Offer The World

While the brands they represent may be globally known, Daniel EK, the CEO of Spotify, and Ash Pournouri, the founder of At Night Management (which reps big-name acts such as EDM wunderkind Avicii) are both keenly aware of their heritage.

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A Pause In Global Warming? Not Really

According to new study published in Science by NOAA, the rate of global warming during the last 15 years has been as fast as the warming seen during the last half of the 20th Century, refuting the notion that there has been a slowdown, hiatus, or Pause, in the rate of global warming in recent years. The Pause has been a rallying cry for those not wanting to accept climate change as real. Those same people also say the new study tampered with evidence because, supposedly, that’s what scientists do.

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Five Ways To Improve Gender Equity In The Tech Sector

In many respects, the technology sector in the United States is flying high these days. But when it comes to gender equity, the technology ecosystem, which prides itself on being a meritocracy in so many other respects, is failing badly.

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Why Accounting Firms Leave A Lot Of Money On The Table

Accounting firms, especially the larger ones, have clients and solid businesses, and, critically, they tend to want to grow. The irony is that many if not most of these firms are defining growth as bringing in new clients. They are missing the more immediately extremely profitable route to growth… maximizing their relationships with their existing clients.

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Aledade Which Helps Small Doctors Run Their Practice In Age Of Obamacare Raises $30 Million

Farzad Mostashari, who was formerly national coordinator for health information technology, raised $30 million in series B funding for Aledade. ARCH Ventures Partners led the round, with participation from return investor Venrock, bringing total funding to $35 million. Mostashari, an internist, oversaw the nationwide implementation of electronic health records in the initial stages between 2011 and 2013. Last June, he founded Aledade to help doctor practices, as small as one, band together in so-called accountable care organizations (ACOs).  The shift from fee for service to payment based on keeping patients healthy and out of the hospital demands a level of technological and financial sophistication that small practices can rarely afford. As a result, more than half of physicians are now employed by hospitals, which are looking to bolster their own network of doctors as they form ACOs.  To comply with new payment models, health care providers have to become more proactive in managing patient care. By taking preventive health measures and coordinating care, ACOs aim to lower their costs below a benchmark set by Medicare or a private insurer, and capture savings. Aledade offers doctors an alternative to being hospital employees, giving them greater control over decision-making. “We’re helping physicians who want to stay independent and prepare for the future for value-based income models,” says Mostashari.  His clients don’t have to rip and replace their electronic health records, as is often the case with hospital-based ACOs. Aledade’s chief technology officer Edwin Miller has developed software that runs on whatever EHRs doctors have, to analyze patient populations, track hospital discharges, or pinpoint patients racking up medical bills, among other tools. Miller has amassed experience working at practically every cloud-based EHR vendor from athenahealth to Practice Fusion. 

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History Rife With Disastrous Consequences Of Abandoning Gold Standard

Despite the fact that previous attempts in other countries to adopt fiat currency systems wreaked havoc on their economies, the U.S., under President Richard Nixon, cut all ties between the dollar and gold in 1971. Gold rose 2,330 percent through early 1980, from $35 per ounce to $850.

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Making Money with YouTube – Interview with Judy Travis

One of the most frequent questions I receive is … How can I make money by creating YouTube videos? While I know the basics of how to do it, creating YouTube videos is not my forte. So I’m excited to announce this week’s work at home woman, Judy Travis. Not only does Judy have over […]

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Greece Just One Reason Why Fed Will Not Hike Rates Until 2016

With the chance of a Greek debt default now a certainty, I believe the global economy is now very vulnerable to a major slowdown.

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How to Make Your Own Baby Wipes: This Mom Saves $250 a Year

From the moment I read the word “Pregnant” on that Clearblue pee stick, I suddenly became hyper aware of my body and everything in my environment that could be affecting it.

“What chemicals are in that lotion I just put on my legs? What pesticides were on that inorganic apple that I ate yesterday? And what the heck is in a Chicken McNugget?!” I spent those nine months researching a healthier lifestyle and implementing my findings in my own life.

One day, as I was perusing the baby care aisle at Walgreens, I picked up a container of baby wipes and began to read the list of ingredients. As I read, I thought to myself, “Man, there’s a lot of stuff I can’t pronounce in these things. Can’t I just put some soap and water on a paper towel and use that to wipe my baby’s butt?”

The answer is, pretty much — and not only is making your own baby wipes super easy, it’s way cheaper than buying them.

Want to give it a try for yourself? Here’s how I DIY my baby wipes.

How to Make Your Own Baby Wipes

While I was pregnant, I looked for a good baby wipe recipe, and found this one on Wellness Mama. I made my first batch and started testing them on myself. They felt quite nice, and I didn’t have any sort of negative reaction — I actually still use them for those times when toilet paper just won’t cut it — so I approved them for use on my baby.

So far, they’ve worked like a charm: My son is six months old and has never had a diaper rash.

Here are the ingredients I use, slightly adapted from Wellness Mama’s recipe:

• 1 cup of water
• ½ tablespoon of castile liquid soap: Made from plant oils, this soap is more delicate on skin than regular soap. Wellness Mama’s recipe calls for 1 tablespoon, but I found the wipes to be way too soapy so I reduced it by half.
• 1 tablespoon of witch hazel
• 1 tablespoon of aloe gel
• 1 roll of paper towels: I recommend Bounty or Brawny, which I buy on Amazon using the Subscribe & Save program. I tried Viva as well, and I do not recommend that brand, as they completely fell apart.)
• (Optional) A few drops of essential oils for scent, but first be sure to verify your oil of choice is OK for babies’ skin.

Cut the roll of paper towels in half so you have two short rolls instead of one tall roll. You can use a kitchen knife, or even a chop saw, which my helpful husband was more than happy to have an excuse to use.

Take out the cardboard roll, and put the paper towels into the container you plan to use to store the wipes. I use a quart-sized ziploc bag nestled in a Nellie’s Laundry Soda tin. Boil the water and let it cool until it’s just warm, then stir in the other ingredients. Pour over the paper towels, and you’re done!

I love that this simple recipe doesn’t leave your kitchen looking like a tornado just blew through. Clean up is simple — just rinse your pot with water.

It only takes about five minutes to make a batch of wipes, and each batch generally lasts me about four days. Since bacteria grow in water over time, I generally only make one or two batches at a time. However, if you wanted to make them in bulk, lavender, tea tree and lemon essential oils act as natural preservatives and you could add one of them to extend the wipes’ shelf life.

How Much Do You Save With DIY Baby Wipes?

Depending how dedicated you were to couponing or finding sales on baby wipes before, your savings will vary. But I’ve calculated this strategy is saving us about $250 a year. Here’s how I broke it down:

So one batch of 116 homemade wipes costs $1.02.

You could spend $3.68 for 116 Pampers wipes, or $1.02 for the same number of homemade wipes.

Assuming you use about 29 wipes per day, you would spend about $93 per year making homemade wipes, and about $336 on Pampers wipes, leaving you with an annual savings of $243.

To make these wipes even cheaper, Wellness Mama suggests skipping the paper towels and storing the liquid in a spray bottle. When it’s time for a diaper change, spray onto a washcloth or cut-up old T-shirt. I do this to clean up my son’s wet diapers, and use the paper towel version for the poopy diapers.

Your Turn: Have you tried making your own baby wipes? Share your tips and recipes in the comments!

Disclosure: We have a serious Taco Bell addiction around here. The affiliate links in this post help us order off the dollar menu. Thanks for your support!

Jennifer Moyer is a crunchy stay-at-home mom living in south Alabama with her hubby, their four-month old son and their fur baby Lucy.

The post How to Make Your Own Baby Wipes: This Mom Saves $250 a Year appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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