New Law for People Website

New Law for People Website

In accordance with SB989, the OBA is now the custodian of the Oklahoma guardian ad litem manual and guardianship handbook. These materials are available on the new Law for People website.

The Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section produced the guardianship handbook as a how-to guide for those needing to establish legal guardianship. The Family Law Section assembled the Standard Operating Manual for Oklahoma Guardians Ad Litem Under Title 43.

Law for People is intended to grow to include even more as sections continue to produce additional materials. The site also includes basic legal information for the public on topics like bankruptcy and wills, links to low-cost legal resources like clinics, as well as information on what to expect when hiring a lawyer and a link to Oklahoma Find a Lawyer.

https://www.okbar.org/a2j/

No more Stroud McDonald’s for Visitation Exchange

Big changes coming to service areas on turnpike between Tulsa and OKC

A turnpike service area between Tulsa and Oklahoma City that provides a meeting point for people exchanging kids, pets and valuables is going away as a halfway stop serving both directions.

The Stroud service area on the Turner Turnpike will undergo major renovations and become a westbound-only stop in the next two or three years.

The change is part of major overhauls to the turnpike’s service areas designed to improve safety, said Oklahoma Turnpike Authority spokesman Jack Damrill.

“That service area, as it is now, is going away,” he said. “Parents who exchange kids will have to find a new location to meet up, probably the (other) McDonald’s (just east on Oklahoma 99) in Stroud.”

The current service area — located almost exactly halfway between the state’s two largest cities — has become congested with semi-tractor trailer parking, and its outdated design isn’t safe for motorists, he said.

“You have high-speed traffic merging with low speed traffic in the left lane(s)” when traffic from the service area merges onto the turnpike, he said. “That curve is dangerous.”

The service area was designed when the speed limit was 55 mph, not 75 mph, he said. A bill signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt last week would allow the OTA to raise the speed limit to 80 mph.

Plans call for the OTA to straighten the highway on the south side of the current service area, as well as construction of a new building that will house both a McDonald’s restaurant and an EZ-Go convenience store, Damrill said.

Currently, the two are in separate buildings.

Only traffic heading toward Oklahoma City will have access to the new service area, he said.

Another, new service area for eastbound traffic heading toward Tulsa is being constructed about 4 miles east of the Chandler exit, he said.

That service area will also have a McDonald’s and EZ-Go, he said.

In addition, both new service areas will have about 125 semi-truck parking spaces.

The current service area in Stroud has about 75 semi parking spaces for both directions of traffic. The new spaces will more than triple the current truck parking available at the Stroud service area.

Damrill said he was driving west to Oklahoma City on the turnpike on a recent late night and went through the Stroud service area.

“There were (semi) trucks parked on the entry ramp. They were parked on the exit ramp. It was a mess,” he said.

The OTA approved the projects last year. They are part of its capital plan, Damrill said.

An exact timetable of when the changes will take effect has not yet been set, but work on the new service area in Chandler has already begun.

The new Chandler service area will cost about $9.5 million (not including the vendor’s cost for the building and adjacent parking), and the new Stroud area’s preliminary cost is about $6.5 million (with plans at 50%), he said. Funding is coming from tolls.

The current McDonald’s on the Turner Turnpike — Interstate 44 — was completed in 1987. Before that, the site had a Howard Johnson restaurant and a gas station, he said.

Damrill said plans call for the current McDonald’s and EZ-Go to remain open as long as possible while the highway is being realigned and until the new building housing both can open.

Damrill said he realizes parents and others who have been meeting halfway between Tulsa and Oklahoma City at the Stroud turnpike service area to exchange kids and other reasons will be disappointed that the site will be changing.

“We have to take safety into consideration,” he said. “Traffic for us is growing. Safety is always our No. 1 concern.”

The Turner Turnpike has about 14,300 vehicles passing each direction through Stroud each day, according to 2017 OTA traffic counts, the most recent available.

That number is up more than 17% from about 12,200 vehicles per day in each direction in 2007.

 

Source: https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/big-changes-coming-to-service-areas-on-turnpike-between-tulsa/article_0d303e79-927e-5a03-b4eb-5ae1d1fd9801.html?fbclid=IwAR19MsXUUyKUq1QTJcVj7XSrP3tSs172ybjH6GxEhkoNKNb1B0jLWdYV4yE

A Psychologist Explains How to Beat Social Anxiety

It is rarely helpful to tell a shy person to “just be yourself!” Riffing on that frustrating exchange, clinical psychologist Ellen Hendriksen has written a book that she hopes will answer the question the anxious person usually asks in return: How?

Hendriksen received her doctorate from UCLA and today works at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. She is the author of How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety, out last week from St. Martin’s Press, which she describes as “a book I wish I had when I was 20.”

The Verge spoke with Hendriksen about the most helpful techniques to combat social anxiety, daring to be average, and why most people’s social skills are just fine.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Let’s start with the basics. In the early chapters, you define social anxiety as “self-consciousness on steroids.” Can you be more specific about what that means? What is social anxiety?

Social anxiety is a perception that there is something embarrassing and deficient about us, and, unless we work hard to conceal or hide it, it will be revealed and we will be judged or rejected for it.

We can all relate to the experience of looking in the mirror and zooming in on a perceived flaw like a zit. There is a sense of wanting to hide that perceived flaw and that leads you to, say, throw on some tinted moisturizer. That feeling — that urge to hide — is the exact same feeling that one gets with social anxiety, except with social anxiety it’s about our internal self, about our personality or our social skills or simply who we are as a person.

The one thing I always like to add is that social anxiety is a package deal, and it often comes bundled with strengths like high standards and empathy and being helpful and altruistic. People who have social anxiety are often good listeners and conscientious and they work hard to get along with fellow humans. And those are all really amazing strengths that won’t go away even as people work on their social anxiety.

In the past few years, there’s been a lot of talk about introverts and extroverts, and people often confuse being introverted with being socially anxious. But, in fact, introversion and social anxiety are separate. How can people tell which is which?

Introversion is how you’re wired, whereas social anxiety gets in your way. Introverts get their energy by being alone or in small groups, while extroverts get their energy from larger groups of people.

Non-anxious introverts are perfectly happy to leave the party early, but people with social anxiety often leave because they feel so worried and want relief. Social anxiety is something that is holding you back due to fear instead of due to choice. A classic example is that students with social anxiety will forgo the part of their grade that’s based on “class participation.”

Ellen Hendriksen. Photo by: Matthew Guillory

And socially anxious extroverts do exist. I was talking just the other day to a man who is a teacher and a standup comic. He loves being in front of people, but he’s also simultaneously afraid that they are judging him. You can get energy from other people and still be anxious around them. Or you can get your energy by being alone and not be bothered by it at all.

So, let’s get to the meat of it. How do you overcome social anxiety?

Go forth and do. I often talk to clients who say, “I wish I could hit pause on the world and I could retreat and work on myself and gain confidence and remerge confident and be ready to live my life.”

That is backward. A nice analogy is that of mood and action. We often think we have to “feel” like doing something before doing it. We think we have to feel like going to the gym before going to work out. But if we lace up our shoes and go to the gym, often our mood catches up, and we’re glad we went. With confidence, it’s the same thing. We have to put action before feeling confidence because when we see ourselves doing challenging things, we start to believe we can.

You offer a few “magic questions” for socially anxious people to ask themselves before an event. How can these help?

The first trick is asking people to be really specific. Anxiety is often vague and says things like “everybody will hate me” or “something bad will happen” or “what if something bad happens?” So if we can specify, what exactly we’re afraid of, who exactly would “hate you,” sometimes that’s enough and we realize that our anxiety is not particularly credible and that the worst-case scenario that it’s spinning and is setting off our alarm bells is not likely. Part of that is asking what the odds of these worst-case scenarios really are.

The second question is “how bad would that really be?” and the technique is called decatastrophizing. That’s simply asking, “Is this truly a catastrophe? Would I die? Is this irreparable?” And the vast majority of the time, the answer is no.

The third is “how can I cope?” If we have a plan to either rectify the situation or take care of ourselves and move on, that will make us feel better knowing that we have a plan and we can care for ourselves regardless of what happens. That helps refute the two most fundamental lies of social anxiety.

What are they?

The first is that the worst-case scenario is a foregone conclusion and is definitely going to happen. And the second is that “I can’t deal.” When we avoid experiences, we don’t get the evidence to disprove those two lies of social anxiety. We don’t see our own capabilities. So these questions can act like this nice runway to help launch us into action and to go ahead and try to do those things that we’re a little bit scared of.

One piece of advice I found compelling was to “be brave for one minute.” What’s the thinking behind that?

The vast majority of social anxiety is anticipatory. Oftentimes, once we take the leap and are in the moment, we do feel anxious at first, but if we can resist the urge to avoid pulling the plug, the anxiety will naturally plateau and start to decline. But by avoiding anxiety, we never get to find that out. So, by committing ourselves to being brave for one minute and also dropping our safety behaviors, that’s where the learning occurs.

Tell me more about the safety behaviors.

This concept comes from the work of psychologists Lynn Alden and Charles Taylor. People who are socially anxious engage in “safety behaviors,” which are simply behaviors that trying to help you tamp down anxiety in the moment. For example, if you’re at a party and feel anxious, you hover on the edge of the room or you scroll on your phone or you might rehearse what you plan to say beforehand to make sure it doesn’t sound stupid. People generally do know what their safety behaviors are. And they do make us feel better, but it comes across as off-putting or rigid. They send the wrong message, and folks who are socially anxious don’t always realize that.

What do we gain when we drop the safety behaviors?

Alden and Taylor challenged people to drop their safety behaviors to see what would happen. When they did that, their conversation partner in this experiment rated the people who dropped these behaviors as more likable and more authentic. We become the way we are naturally with our closest friends.

These behaviors take up a lot of bandwidth. If you’re thinking about how you come across, and there is very little room left over to just be our authentic, friendly self. When we drop our safety behaviors, the gaps are naturally filled in with listening and curiosity and interest and we come across as more genuine and therefore our conversation partners like us more.

That seems related to a chapter in the book devoted to explaining why most of us don’t have terrible social skills. Why do you believe that?

With most people, it’s not so much that our social skills are lacking, it’s that our inhibitions get in the way and prevent us from using our social skills. We monitor ourselves and overread everything. “Oh, she just shifted in her seat, does that mean she’s bored?” Or, “I hope I don’t sound like an idiot.”

With all that happening, there’s very little room left over to pay attention to what’s happening in the moment or even to stand properly or to not spill our wine. So when we’re feeling particularly inhibited and anxious, it seems like we have no social skills, but we do.

Instead, try to turn your attention inside out, focus on anything except yourself. Look at who you’re talking to, ground yourself in your surroundings, listen closely to what is being said. And that turning of attention from the internal commentary can greatly reduce anxiety and help us make use of our skills that we naturally have.

Even in those cases, we’re still going to be awkward sometimes, right? You write about perfectionism in the book and also “daring to be average.” What does that mean?

Perfectionism as a term is a misnomer. It isn’t about being perfect. It’s about never being good enough. It social contexts, it’s all or nothing. So, unless we give a stellar performance, we are an abject failure. The answer is to simply lower the bar. It’s okay to have an awkward silence. Your social life isn’t a laser maze. If you make one mistake, alarms are not going to go off all around you. Daring to be average means daring to just be totally normal, which can help you relax and, again, relax into the skills we have.

Be well informed. Read The Verge.

This post originally appeared on The Verge.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/a-psychologist-explains-how-to-beat-social-anxiety

 

How to Find New Music You’ll Actually Like

Lifehacker Visit Site

By Nick Douglas

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Be friends with Lester Bangs/Vinyl Films

Some people can dig up great music like magic, or have friends inside the industry who keep them updated. Some people are contented with their weekly Spotify Discover playlist. But if you need more ways to find music, here are 50 ideas, taken from Twitter users, my colleagues at Lifehacker’s publisher Gizmodo Media Group, and some of my own habits. Some are obvious, some bizarre, some embarrassing, but they’ve all helped people find their new favorite song, or even their favorite band.

“Best Of” Lists

If you’re getting into a new era or genre, or if you just want to “be more of a music person,” you might enjoy a guided tour.

Music Review Sites

If you find a site whose taste matches yours, great! If not, you can still use these to just see what’s out this week.

  • Metacritic Music averages critical reviews, so it’s a good starting point, and shows you what’s controversial or universally acclaimed. From there you’ll find review sites like these:
  • “I check Pitchfork every morning to see what just came out; they publish 4-5 album reviews a day. I don’t really read it or care what they say too much. Pitchfork’s ratings are arbitrary!”—Joel Kahn, senior video producer at Lifehacker
  • Consequence of Sound uses a letter-grade system for reviews, and streams new tracks as they come out (sometimes before they hit Spotify or iTunes).
  • Needledrop keeps a running “loved list” of its favorite new songs. It’s a tight selection; this year’s list only has 13 tracks so far. (via Péter Szász, managing director at GMG Hungary)

The Rest of the Internet

The internet wants, very badly, for you to hear new music.

  • Each month, Bandcamp names the best new music on the platform, in varying genres. E.g., March’s best ambient music, or February’s best hip-hop. (via Maria Sherman, writer/editor at GMG)
  • You can dig deeper into Bandcamp by “tag surfing” from a band you like to others, or following the Bandcamp blog, says GMG developer Janos Hardi.
  • SoundCloud is similarly built for wandering; when you’re done with a track, it autoplays something else you might like. Find an artist you enjoy, then check out the tracks they’ve “liked.” Tag surfing works great here as well.
  • Pandora might show up in Google below the jewelry brand of the same name, but it’s still one of the best “custom radio” services. Just tell it an artist you like and it builds a new station. For less obvious results, plug in a band that you’ve only recently fallen in love with.
  • iHeartRadio is also still around, streaming radio stations (both old-school and niche digital-only) based on your genre preferences.
  • Tools like Gnoosic and Musicroamer work like tiny versions of Pandora or Spotify Discover, suggesting new music based on what you enter.
  • Spotify and Apple Music try to alert you to new releases by artists you already like, but their delivery systems kind of suck. (Just give me a playlist, and don’t clog it up with bands I “might like,” you weirdos!) But you can fix that with services like Album Reminder, MuzeRoom, muspy, Beathound, and Swarm.fm. They all offer different options for importing your listening history from iTunes, Spotify, or last.fm, plus options for manually entering bands to follow.
  • You might have a hard time getting your friends to gather for an in-person listening party, but you could probably coax them onto JQBX, where users synch up their Spotify playback in a virtual DJ room. You need Spotify Premium to use it, but JQBX also lets you import and export music to Spotify—plus its search function seems to work better than Spotify’s own. Lifehacker loves it.
  • If your workplace has a chat app, start a channel for sharing music. That’s where I got all the recommendations from my GMG colleagues, and it’s also where Nathan Edwards, senior editor at the Wirecutter, finds music: “Our work Slack has a music channel and there’s usually recs from people younger and cooler or older and wiser than me.”
  • Join last.fm, which tracks your music listens across different platforms, and you’ll have a centralized record of your listening habits, along with recommendations. I’ve had an account for over a decade, and sometimes I dig into the archives to find forgotten favorites.
  • If you’re still using Facebook, join some music-based groups, or follow the pages of specific artists. Music recommendation communities can be intimidating, but Facebook has a way of making it all feel accessible.
  • Apple Music, as everyone knows, sucks at algorithmic music recommendation. But its staff-curated playlists are intricate and reliable. For major artists, Apple supplements its “essentials” lists with “next steps,” “deep cuts,” and music that influenced or was influenced by the artist. There are even playlists of the best covers of certain artists.
  • Compilation streams on SoundCloud: On “Vintage Obscura Summer Mix 2014,” I found the Smiles original “I Am Just a Star on a Democratic Flag,” which you won’t find on Spotify or Apple Music. (You will find a beautiful, if less haunting, cover by Pink Flames.)
  • Compilation streams on YouTube: The internet is really into the stream “lofi hip hop radio – beats to relax/study to,” stream. Gaming site Polygon even made a parody, lofi chill beats X hip hop study X waluigi. The 7clouds account runs 7 live streams of good background music.
  • /r/vintageobscura is the source for that summer mix; all entries are obscure tracks from 1900 to 1989. Most entries link to YouTube, home of all rarities. You’ll find more mixes and genre filters in the right rail.
  • NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series is a fun listen in itself, but it’s also a cool way to get a “live” introduction to an artist. Most of the concerts are 15-20 minutes, the correct length for a music set. If there’s anything wrong with discovering music this way, it’s that everyone sounds their best behind the tiny desk.
  • Similarly, the A.V. Undercover series brings in bands to play covers of famous songs, from a tracklist hand-picked by Lifehacker sister site the A.V. Club. If you like the “cheesy song played straight” trope, there’s plenty here for you—try Atlas Genius’s cover of Hootie and the Blowfish’s “Only Wanna Be With You.”
  • You probably already bump into covers when you’re looking for music. Try collections of covers of your favorite artists (Spotify probably has a cover for every Beatles song), to find groups that might have a different sound, but share your love of the first artist.
  • Vice News Tonight has a tragically overlooked segment called New Music Corner in which they ask musicians to comment on new releases from other acts. This construct leads to surprising moments like Weezer discussing new tunes from Bjork and Kelly Clarkson, Yo La Tengo being baffled by a new David Byrne record, Andrew W.K. somehow finding glee in every scrap of recorded sound, or Liam Gallagher walking off the set for being subjected to modern music. Finally, a way to experience new music while watching Run The Jewels beef with Sheryl Crow.”—Rex Sorgatz, author
  • Subscribe to some music podcasts. Each episode of Song Exploder breaks down one song’s inspiration, composition, and production. That’s where I first heard Ibeyi and Mitski. It’s also a good place to rediscover older acts in a new phase of their careers.
  • “The podcast Reverberation Radio is just a weekly playlist. Most songs not on Spotify though,” says Beth Griffenhagen. There are currently 257 available episodes, and in each one, the music feels obscure, like something you heard in a dream.
  • Tumblr has tons of individual music blogs. The good ones—the ones with really obscure shit—can be tough to find. But search Tumblr for band names and dig around til you find a blog that matches your taste. You could start at naquelescaminhos, recommended by Jezebel writer Ashley Reese.
  • Late Night Tales: Each album in this compilation series is curated by a recording artist like the Flaming Lips or Belle and Sebastian. You’ll hear some rarities and deep cuts as the artists try to impress and surprise you. Here’s a sampler from Bandcamp.
  • Check out other releases from your favorite artist’s label. “Follow the labels on Twitter and they’ll tweet support for other bands and labels.”—Pat Cartelli
  • “See who your favorite artists are talking about. I’ve found that often people who work in music—those on top of their discovery game—learn about cool new shit before everyone else simply because they saw a musician they like tweet about it.”—Maria Sherman

Soundtracks

Music rating sites have to churn through everything as it comes in; soundtracks are curated samplers of one particular sound.

  • I first heard a lot of my favorite songs through my favorite TV shows. Some shows (like GIRLS, Atlanta, The Magicians, Divorce, and Mad Men) are just constantly playing bangers. “[Soundtracks] remind me of the poignant scenes they underscore, so the songs alone can elicit that same catharsis & blend of emotions,” says Lou McLaren. “Watch CW shows to hear what the teens are listening to,” says Alicia Adamczyk, personal finance writer at Lifehacker.
  • Same goes for movie soundtracks, which will have a narrower range of sound, but often their own original hits, like Black Panther, Call Me By Your Name, and anything from Wes Anderson.
  • And don’t forget video game soundtracks; sister site Kotaku fell in love with Far Cry 5’s in-game cult radio. The Grand Theft Auto series has always been a home for rarities by good bands. More instrumental soundtracks can make great work/study music. We’re fans of the soundtrack to 2d platformer Celeste, which combines piano, synth, and drums.
  • Look, I’ve not only googled the music from Apple ads, I’ve done it at least five times. Apple has a good ad agency! They pick the songs because they’re catchy! I’m not ashamed but I feel like I’m supposed to be! AppleMusic.info lists the music from Apple commercials from 1984 to 2017.

Spotify and Apple Music

There are loads of features beyond “Discover” for finding new music. And some of the best have nothing to do with algorithms.

  • Watch the social feed on the Spotify right rail, says Drew Olanoff. And dig through your friends’ public playlists.
  • If you haven’t searched Spotify for incredibly specific playlists, just to see if they exist, you’re missing the best part of the app. Start with the musical toyboxes we covered.
  • Listen to the thousand-song Spotify playlist of music from The Best Show, says Twitter’s jitka. This weekly comedy show plays a wide variety of new and old songs.
  • Search for Spotify Sessions, exclusive recordings from big artists. Apple Music also features exclusives on its Browse tab.

The World

Did you know music exists outside your computer?

  • Do you always hear good music in the local coffeeshop or bar? When the staff isn’t busy, they would probably love to tell you all about it. Like, you might get dragged into a music lecture. But really, just ask them.
  • Because everywhere else, where the staff didn’t pick the music, you’ll have to ask Soundhound or Siri. And usually that will work, but you won’t hear about all the other related shit. You won’t connect with a real human being, maaan.
  • You wanna connect? Show up at local shows. Or just make a habit of choosing a bar with live music—I get antsy at shows, so I like this low-commitment option, where the band complements the drinks and not the other way around.
  • The radio tends to be a terrible place to find new music; it’s the ultimate in “played to death.” But find your local college radio station, where the kids are more interested in impressing you than playing the hits.
  • Public radio is similarly unconcerned with hits, and if (like me) you’ve barely listened to it since the iPod came out, you’ll be happy to find that many public radio stations are diversifying from the old “classical and jazz” mix.
  • “I think the most underrated (and coolest) way to discover new music is to just see who your favorite acts are touring with, who they’re bringing on as openers. Like goddamn Lorde has Run the Jewels and Mitski out with her right now.”—Maria Sherman

This post originally appeared on Lifehacker.

Fake Productivity vs Real Productivity

Putting in work or “hustling” is the most widespread maxim for success in the world of entrepreneurship. But the question is this: Are you really being productive with your time or is your work merely a heightened form of procrastination?

The three levels of productivity:

The first level of productivity is outright procrastination

It is zero productivity. It’s neglecting your priorities and responsibilities in lieu of the dopamine rush of a Netflix series or a video game. Procrastination is a killer of success and deserves no further mention.

The second level of productivity is work

However, it is not productive work but it is the work you use as an alibi against procrastination. It is cover-up work.

When you are engaged in cover-up work, it may seem like you are being productive and putting in the sweat necessary for success. In reality, you are running a hamster wheel, making no discernible progress.

An example of cover-up work is the salesman who is making 100 sales pitches every single day, closing one. His approach is self-pitying and self-centered. Rather than focusing on the potential customer, he focuses on his own deep desire to sell. His egocentric mindset shines like a flare gun.

Nevertheless, the salesman sits at his laptop in the evening and posts on Twitter “Putting in work! The hustle is real!”

People engage in cover-up work to feel better about their lack of progress. If you are doing cover-up work, you are stuck in your comfort zone.

The third level of productivity is the only work that will take a person towards their entrepreneurial aspirations

It is level-up work at the very top of the productivity pyramid

Let’s examine.

Level-up work means doing the tedious work. It means digging up the roots, getting dirty, and planting new seeds. It means dealing with the grit. Real productivity is hardly exciting.

If the aforementioned salesman engages in level-up work, he will spend his evenings learning about human psychology. He will start going from house to house and website to website to learn about his customer base. He starts reading books and magazines that help to increase his social acuity. As his knowledge expands, his percentage of converted customers increases exponentially. Rather than closing one out of 100 cold-calls, he closes 10 out of 20.

Level-up work requires spending unromantic hours in your room filling your head with all the knowledge that you will require in your field and then some. It means building the backbone of your business. It means becoming more than your next competitor. In the end, it is the only path towards true success.

To engage in real productivity, start mastering level-up work: Become more than your competition. Be smarter, better practiced, more up-to-date. Put in the hours that matter.

See Also: 6 Strategies to Increase Productivity in the Workplace

The post Fake Productivity vs Real Productivity appeared first on Dumb Little Man.


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Author: Severin Mudd

How to Play Roulette Like a Professional

Roulette is a game of chance. This game was created by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1655. Roulette is a game of numbers – 0, 00, 1-36, and multiple bet selections available to players. Players are tasked with selecting a number, set of numbers, or selection of options during the wagering session, followed by the croupier’s announcement: ‘No More Bets!’

All winning bets are paid out, according to the pay table. The rules of each Roulette casino game variant determine the bet selections, minimum and maximum bets, payouts, and odds of each game. Frank Scoblete the well-known casino pro has written a very comprehensive guide on how to play roulette, including the mechanics of the game, bets, strategies, and bankroll management options for European Roulette, French Roulette and American Roulette games.

Different Roulette Variants

Each Roulette wheel is comprised of 3 unique divisions. These include the ball track, the base track, and the wheel. While it is possible to find dozens of Roulette games at casinos, the most popular variants are the big 3: European Roulette, French Roulette, and American Roulette.

The former two games are single-zero Roulette games. These Roulette wheels feature numbers: 0, 1 – 36. Originally, French and European Roulette games featured 0 and 00. These were gradually phased out to become single zero games. The house edge on a European Roulette game is 2.70%.

All Roulette wheels feature alternating red and black numbers. The European Roulette wheel numbers are as follows: 0-32-15-19-4-21-2-25-17-34-6-27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5-24-16-33-1-20-14-31-9-22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26. The 0 is green, and the other numbers are either red or black.

On an American double zero Roulette wheel, the clockwise configuration of numbers beginning with double zero is: 27-10-25-29-12-8-19-31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2-0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34-15-3-24-36-13-1. The 0s are both green. The American Roulette wheel features an extra digit (00), and a lower probability of any single number occurring at 1/38 or 2.63%. Over time, the French and European variants became staples in Europe while American Roulette was adopted in the US.

All the Bets in Roulette Games

The sum of numbers on a Roulette wheel is 666 – the Devil’s number. This has spawned a legacy of superstition, myth and fantasy. Roulette games are pervasive around the world. While the rules of play for Roulette variants are similar, payout percentages and minimum/maximum bets may change with these casino games. There are typically two broad categories of bets available: inside bets and outside bets.

High-Low, first dozen, second dozen, third dozen, red or black, odd or even are examples of outside bets. As a rule, players will enjoy much higher payouts on inside bets, although the odds of winning these bets is lower. Outside bets payouts feature odds close to 50-50 (red or black, odd or even, 1-18, or 19-36), but the 0s slant odds in favor of the house.

Outside bets are equally important in all Roulette variants. They include a combination of betting options such as Red or Black Bets with even money payouts (recall the green 0 and 00 make it favorable to the house), High or Low Bets (1-18 & 19-36), and the Odd or Even bet (players lose if 0 or 00 comes up).

Other important outside bets include the Dozens Bet. There are 12 numbers in each Dozens Bet (1-12, 13-24, 25-36), and the payout is 2:1. If the green 0 or 00 comes up, the player loses the bet. The final outside bet is the column bet. The column bet has a winning payout of 2:1, and players place wagers at the bottom of the column they believe will win on the current spin.

Inside bets include 6-number bets with a payout of 5:1. This bet is placed on the borders of 6 numbers. 5-number bets are only available on American Roulette wheels. Winnings are paid at 6:1 with a house edge of 7.89%. Experts do not recommend this bet since it is more profitable to wager on individual numbers. The four number bets are available if four numbers are located on a square. The payout is 8:1 on these bets.

Street bets a.k.a. trio bets have a payout of 11:1, and the bet is on three numbers. Split bets are placed between 2 numbers. The payout is 17:1 on these bets. Straight up bets are placed on individual numbers with a payout of 35:1, even though there are 37 numbers on a European/French Roulette wheel and 38 numbers on an American Roulette wheel. Incidentally, that’s where the house edge comes from!

Tips and Tricks for Playing Roulette Games

Roulette is a numbers game. For example, players with a preference for more betting selections may be inclined to select the double zero Roulette games. Remember that the house edge in American Roulette games is 5.26%.

Players looking for a player friendly Roulette variant will prefer either European Roulette or French Roulette. Both of these games have a house edge of 2.70%. With no 00, there are just 37 numbers on the wheel. In French Roulette the house edge can be whittled away to just 1.35%. This occurs if specific bets are placed such as En Prison and La Partage.

For example, if a player has an even money bet in play, and the green 0 lands, only half of the bet will be lost. This is known as La Partage. The En Prison rule by contrast states that the even money bet will remain in play if the Green 0 lands for the next spin. This gives players a second chance of winning. With even money bets, it is possible to enjoy a house edge of 1.35% with French Roulette.

Bankroll management is an effective component of an overall Roulette strategy. Players should enter gaming sessions with a specific bankroll in mind. Various bankroll management techniques like Martingale can be employed to assist players in their Roulette game play. This strategy requires players to double their losing bets on every spin. Once the betting limit is reached, Martingale becomes ineffective.

Additional Roulette Betting Systems and Strategies

Other systems include the Reverse Martingale, Fibonacci, James Bond system, Labouchere, Paroli Betting System, D’Alembert and Oscar’s Grind Strategy. Perhaps the most important takeaway for players is the following: There is no single-best Roulette strategy to prevent losses and maximize winnings.

Rather, players are encouraged to enter Roulette gaming sessions with a fixed budget, and the objective of having fun. Games with a low house edge (European Roulette or French Roulette) are preferred, and players are encouraged to understand the rules of play for each variant before wagering on real money online Roulette table games.

Free Roulette games are useful for players. It’s a good idea to begin wagering at low limit tables before graduating to high limit Roulette tables. Free Roulette games are readily available at online casinos. These games mimic authentic Las Vegas or Atlantic City table games with Flash or HTML 5 functionality.

Practicing with Online Roulette Table Games

The benefit of free Roulette games online is that players can practice different betting options at zero risk. Roulette is riddled with all sorts of intricacies. It is an art to determine how many bets to place on individual numbers, columns, and selections. Careful and methodical play is the best way to fully understand the rules and maximize the effectiveness of play.

The most important point to remember is the following: every spin is 100% independent of every other spin. Players invest tremendous energy in formulating Roulette systems, strategies, and betting practices. Some players swear by superstitious habits, while others eschew them in in favor of statistics and probability analysis.

The post How to Play Roulette Like a Professional appeared first on Dumb Little Man.


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Author: DLM Editor

Should You Be Googling Yourself?

In 2004, after being shot by an unknown assailant, one Australian man encountered some disturbing information from Google search results. Revealed in image searches and even filled in by Google’s autocomplete searches was his own name, linked with the names of local criminals, mobsters to be exact.

This false information nearly cost him his very life. Yet, it was still plastered over the front page of Google search results begging the question – if it’s on Google, does it even matter if it’s true or not?

Do You Know What Google Says About You?

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Today, Google handles over 3.5 billion searches every day, a portion of which is simply folks searching for their own names. Millennials lead many previous generations in self-searches for reasons ranging from satisfying their curiosity to damage control.

Among Gen Zers, the younger post-millennial generation, more than one in ten even do so daily. Personal name inquiries to Google aren’t just a young person’s game, however; even boomers aren’t immune to the temptation.

Among the generations:

  • 48% of Gen Zers have Googled themselves
  • 57% of Millennials
  • 45% of Gen Xers
  • 37% of Boomers

In Googling oneself, many people aren’t too happy with what they find, be it true information or otherwise. In fact, only one in five people who self-search actually find relevant and accurate information about themselves, most of it either outdated or in reference to a different person with the same name.

Common outcomes include:

  • 33% are influenced by people with the same name
  • 20% find inaccurate, outdated information
  • 12% are unpleasantly surprised by search results
  • 8% find embarrassing or even potentially damaging information

What Does Incorrect Or Harmful Information Mean To You?

Though accounting for one very extreme case, the situation of this Australian man is something we should consider as a warning. The false information that was revealed to him, unfortunately, didn’t stop there, reminding us that what we can see when we search on Google for our own name is also what other people can see as well.

This can include potential employers, as they are the most likely to do a full background search, including a Google search, on their candidates. Cyber criminals are ever lurking in the shadows of the internet. For them, Google is a trove of valuable and potentially compromising information on their victims.

Americans love their social media and are willfully sharing more information about themselves than ever. That said, half of Americans also believe that their information is less secure than it was five years ago. But where do we point the finger other than towards ourselves?

Habits of oversharing come along with their own interpersonal annoyances, but very perceptive criminals and scammers see it as opportunity.

  • 68% of Americans have their own active Facebook account
  • 35% use Instagram
  • 25% have a LinkedIn profile

On Googling Yourself

On top of social media, two in three Americans use at least one other online secure account for managing personal data. All told, the average American frequents three different sites containing personal data. Though each account is (hopefully) protected with unique login credentials, including passwords, criminals can still use this information against you.

Much like slapping together a ransom note with letters cut from a magazine, cyber criminals know exactly where to look for information. All together, this creates a pretty comprehensive picture of a victim with information ranging from technical data, like account numbers or passwords, to personal information which include security question answers and even personality traits.

Among adults online:

  • 15% have had their social security number compromised, and as a result 14% have had their identity used to open credit cards, and 8% have had someone use it to try and claim a tax return
  • 35% have had sensitive personal information compromised
  • 29% have had an unknown person hack into their social media or email accounts

Cyber criminals prey on vulnerable individuals from the very young, the very old to the very lonely. What we get is hyper-targeted cyber attacks from email phishing to dating site cat-fishing.

How secure is your information online?

The answer could be just a Google search away. Take control of your online data and keep it out of the wrong hands by Googling yourself on a regular basis.

Detailed in this infographic is the current state of online security, how far Google searches can really go, and what it takes to keep your online slate clean in the face of employers and criminals alike.
When Was the Last Time You Googled Yourself?
Source: SocialCatfish.com

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Author: Brian Wallace

5 Quick Ways to Deal With the Confusion and Conflict Within You

If you are going through a transition, you’d know how it feels.

You may be confused, disorganized or even frustrated. You don’t know what’s what anymore and life doesn’t make sense.

It used to be logical and you used to know what to do. Now, it’s all up in the air. I know, because I’ve been there and in this article, I’ll give you five quick ways to deal with it.

Chaos

Before a new order can emerge, there’ll be chaos. Similarly, whenever you are about to have a breakthrough, you will experience confusion and chaos.

Confusion really is a prerequisite state in order for us to have breakthrough experiences. This means that whenever you feel confused, there is something happening within you.

It doesn’t always seem like that but once you get through to the other side, you will see that something has changed for the better. The same thing happens when you learn something new.

At first, you feel confused and it just doesn’t make sense. But when you return to the material a few days or weeks later, you suddenly understand more than you did before.

Acceptance

Do you feel like your whole life is crumbling away?

Again, this is just an external manifestation of point #1 above. Whenever you feel confused, accept whatever goes on within you. It may be hard in the beginning, because it’s scary to face your fears and other negative emotions.

Most people try to run away from them and you can probably guess where that leads. Just take a look around you and see how happy most people are (hint: they are miserable).

Look inside and breath into your emotions. Accept whatever is there and get curious about what kind of shape your feelings are, what kind of color, and how they move within your body. It sounds weird, but it works when you are willing to try it.

Release

The more you let go of the old, the easier your life will be. When you try to hold on, you suffer.

Letting go means being open to new ideas. Everything is constantly coming and going. The job you once had no longer exists but when the door closes, another one opens.

The problem is that most people stay and knock at the closed door for the rest of their life. Then, they wonder why no one is opening the door.

This doesn’t have to happen, because you can open your mind, release the old, and embrace the new. This is scary, because it is the unknown and we, as humans, tend to like what’s familiar. At some point, we will hold onto negative emotions and behaviors rather than let them go just because they are more familiar.

It’s a bit scary when you put it like that, isn’t it?

Get Help

If you want to speed up your progress, I recommend you work with someone. I’m not talking about a psychotherapist. I’m talking about something like a qualified NLP practitioner, a hypnotherapist, or even a good EFT practitioner.

The reason I make these statements is because in my life, the biggest changes have happened by using NLP and both myself and my clients. You can’t always see where you are stuck and that is where another fresh pair of eyes comes in.

The problem is that most people don’t like to ask for help, because it is viewed as a sign of weakness in today’s society. I used to think like this as well, but I didn’t start to really excel until I started opening up and getting feedback.

It might be something for you to consider, or not. It’s always up to you.

See Also: How Personal Counseling Helps Mental Health and Addiction

Cycle

This cycle will continually repeat itself, because that’s what cycles do. Just like a wave builds up and crashes and returns to the sea, so will your life have its ups and downs. The sooner you accept the fact, the better you will feel. You will go through confusion and clarity over and over again. It’s a part of life.

The bottom line is that most confusion and conflict is created within you. That means that you alone hold the keys to your salvation.This isn’t easy for most people to accept, which is why they might dismiss an article like this. In the end, only you can make a difference in your life. Will you?

Written by Henri Junttila, writer at Wake Up Cloud where he shares his personal tips on how you can live the life you know you deserve. When you feel ready to take action, get his free course: How to Find Your Passion (And Build a Business Around It).

The post 5 Quick Ways to Deal With the Confusion and Conflict Within You appeared first on Dumb Little Man.


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Author: Henri Junttila

The 5 Most Common Obstacles That Keep You From Reaching Your Goals

Let’s take the example of starting an Internet business as our model to see how to overcome your obstacles. Here are 5 of the most common ones you may come across while seeking your goal:

Too much information

You’ve read the books, taken the teleclasses, and studied the websites. You’re on information overload, so you go into analysis paralysis which means you do nothing.

Solution: Pick one person to study and go with that model. One of the earliest Internet success stories was Corey Rudl and after he died, Derek Gehl took over. So, if I were building an Internet business, I would choose him as my role mode., I’d read his website, buy his products, and take his courses. 

No clear plan

Many people get lost after they decide to pursue a certain goal. Most goals are merely a progression from where you are to where you want to be. You need a clear plan from A to Z so that there’s no guesswork.

Solution: Derek Gehl, for example, has a 30-step action plan that can keep you on course. 

Shortage of time, money or other resources

We often are enthusiastic about achieving a certain goal, but fail to do our homework before embarking on the course.

Solution: Before you set out on your goal, figure out the amount of time you will need, the costs you will incur, and the resources you will need to obtain and use. For our particular goal of launching an internet business, these could include software for auto responders, shopping carts, eBooks, a copywriter to write your sales page, and at least 2 hours a day to learn the specifics of online marketing. 

Mindset and attitude

If you don’t have the mindset and attitude of a winner, you have less chance of succeeding.

Solution: Find successful online marketers and study them. Talk to them and listen to their language. Adopt the mindset of success by thinking and speaking positively. Adopt the attitude of success by seeing obstacles as opportunities and setbacks as feedback. 

Lack of support or guidance

You may hit some roadblocks and get stuck, not knowing what to do next. On any journey, support and guidance are essential. On a road trip, it’s your map or GPS system. For an online business, it’s experienced marketers.

Solution: Find a mentor, coach, teacher, friend or joint venture partner. It can be anyone who will hold your hand, guide you, support you until you reach your goal. Then, you can celebrate together!

Written by David B. Bohl, the author of Slow Down Fast.

See Also: How to Set Goals When You Have No Idea What You Want

The post The 5 Most Common Obstacles That Keep You From Reaching Your Goals appeared first on Dumb Little Man.


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Author: SJW

The Very Slow Movie Player shows films at a fraction of normal speed

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There’s surely a movie you love enough that you wish you could put it on your walls.

The Very Slow Movie Player (VSMP) is a device that plays films at 24 frames an hour, rather than the usual 24 frames a second. 

In a Medium post, designer Bryan Boyer explained that he put the project together to “celebrate slowness.” The device consists of an ePaper display, hooked up to a Raspberry Pi computer with custom software, and housed in a 3D-printed case. 

Every 2.5 minutes, one frame from the film stored on the computer’s memory card is extracted, converted to black-and-white, then displayed on the screen. Read more…

More about Tech, E Ink, Epaper, Tech, and Other


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Author: Johnny Lieu