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Get Paid to Exercise, Yes Really!

February 27th, 2012

XTC Fitness launched a 12 week weight loss challenge that is probably about half way through by now and the winner gets a lot of cash.

Now for those who missed out on this opportunity and for those that are not members at XTC Fitness you can still get paid to workout.

Here is how this works. There is a gym mobile application called Gympact that pays you money for working out. Unfortunately it is only available for the iPhone at this time.

It may sound too good to be true but it is for real. What happens is that you setup an account with them and a part of that includes giving them your credit card information.

You set a number of days you plan on working out at your gym per week. Gympact asks you to check-in through their app when you go to your gym so they know you went.

This application basically helps to keep you accountable to your gym workout goals. If you fail to go to the gym the allotted number of days you set than you end up paying money instead of getting money.

If you workout everyday you promised Gympact will pay you for it.

So what you have is a pool of money from all those people that failed to workout. If you are good at sticking with your fitness goals you have one more reason to show up to the gym now.

If you have yet to find the best Tyler TX gym I would like to direct you to go by Tony Cruz XTC Fitness & Sports. This is a very large mega-gym in Tyler I visit 4 – 5 days a week.

XTC has over 80 group exercise classes a week and is sure to give you plenty of planned out reasons why you should come to the gym at almost any hour of the day.

Other fitness applications that reward you although not in cash like Gympact are: Earndit, Fitocracy, Switch2Health, and Nexercise.

Earndit is the closest to Gympact because you can win gift cards to retail stores. You can connect your RunKeeper or FitBit account to this app. To connect up you can simply login to the app using Twitter, Facebook, Google, OpenID, and others and start earning.

If you just like that motivation that comes from the praises of others than Fitocracy may be the app you need. This app is heavy on the gamified aspect of design. You get a combination of a game and social network that allows users to join groups and motivate one another in a contest of sorts where you earn many different coveted badges.

Switch2Health is like Earndit because it allows you to win gift cards. This app is also compatible with many different devices such as the iphone, Nike, Foursquare, and Android.

The last app I am aware of is called Nexercise. This app is an iphone fitness app with a lot of promises such as coupons but at this time only offers a gamified competitive fitness experience with other gym goers like the popular Foursquare check-in service. You can expect things like badges for reaching different fitness achievements.

Steve Jobs Has Died

October 5th, 2011

A remarkable man died today. If you haven’t watched “The Pixar Story” which is about Steve Jobs I highly recommend it! The Pixar Story

Steve Jobs Has Died

Steve Jobs iPhone

Interesting site created about Steve Jobs although it is in Chinese…but still cool! http://tech.sina.com.cn/z/stevejobsdie/index.shtml

He died of pancreatic cancer today at age 56 but was peaceful and surrounded by family.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

Our prayers are with his family.

I never owned an Apple computer but I did buy an iphone and 2 more since then and understand just how remarkable this guy was.

I switched to an Android device because the service plan was about $100 cheaper but the guy created some awesome stuff in his life many times over.

He is someone that many people try and learn and emulate as he seemed to have a formula for success.

Iphone 4S To Be Released Today as Market Tanks

October 4th, 2011

Iphone 5 isn’t really coming out today but what is coming out is being called iphone 4S and it is the latest iphone available now. For those of you who think the iPhone is a frenzy about nothing and simply a bunch of Apple fanatics I must tell you this is not completely right. The Iphone offers superior battery life compared to all other phones and you can access the internet while your talking to someone on the phone at the same time.There are several exclusive apps that are only available on the iPhone such as instagram that offer a really phone user experience.I am not an iPhone fanatic but I do appreciate the iPhone benefits compared to Android phones.One last positive not is simply that the iPhone has less security vulnerabilities compared to Android devices that constantly get infected by Malware.

The negatives regarding the iPhone would be the $100 plus a month service charges the crappy ability of itunes when installed on a PC and how expensive these things are…it is like carrying around a bar of gold or something. For a quick summary of the iphone please look at the nifty infographic below. Keep in mind that the iPhone 5 will likely come flying off the shelves making Apple billions even though American Airlines is talking about bankruptcy today, the market has crashed for several days now, and Bernanke gets ready to announce just how long he expects we will have to wait for the economy to recover.

 

Southside Bank in Tyler TX and obtaining a business loan

January 24th, 2011

Southside Bank Tyler TX Banks
Southside Bank is considered to be the most convenient bank in Tyler TX because they are in just about every grocery store in town and they are scattered throughout the city in several much larger facilities. Their recent billboard campaigns encourage you to use them for family loans for things like vacations and old antique cars. I have tried getting a loan for an antique car before and let me tell you if you want to see a bank loan officer give you a blank stare just ask the question about a loan for an antique car, very few know if this type of loan is even possible accept for the uber wealthy.

Southside Bank Locations in Tyler and Phone Numbers

 

  • 1201 South Beckham Avenue, Tyler – (903) 526-8682
  • 6201 South Broadway Avenue, Tyler – (903) 581-9773
  • 113 N Northwest Loop 323, Tyler – (903) 535-4463

Southside Bank has been around Tyler TX for some time and most who have lived here for awhile have noticed how well they have spread themselves out over the city.

They have not only created large brand new facilities going out as far as Lindale TX but they have gotten into almost every Brookshires grocery store in town as well.

Southside Bank also happens to be in the SuperOne food Store on Hwy 110. When visiting the Southside Bank website it looks a little old school when logging into their online banking but the functionality is all there.

I have been pleased with the online banking this far as I can easily check my bank account on my computer or iphone. I have made transfers between accounts through their online system on my phone as well.

When talking about loans with Southside Bank I have had great conversations with one loan officer there while another one sort of gave me as little information as possible.

As you can imagine banks get asked by thousands of people a year for loans and many of these people simply have no credit and have done no research in regards to a business plan or how a business idea may succeed.

When you walk into Southside Bank asking for a loan you need to come with an easily understood business plan. Although it is good to have a complete business plan with figures to back it up a loan officer will usually glance over one page that outlines what it is you want to do and make their mind up for there.

A trick to getting a loan for a business idea is to visit 100 banks if you have to. Tweak and redefine your business plan and make it easy to read. Be a pleasant person to talk to and don’t come across as begging the loan officer.

One last few bits of advice is to attempt ahead of time to establish some kind of business credit.

There used to be the things called pass book checking accounts in the old days but these are no more. The pass book account allowed businesses to slowly build up credit.

A better way to build up business credit is to buy a CD (Certificate of Deposit) at the bank you are trying establish a reputation at and take a loan out on that CD.

Pay the CD off over a few years time and never be late in making your payments on that loan. Once your business loan is paid off you will have a better credit score to use in getting that business loan.

Also try opening up a cell phone business account using your tax id as this will assist in building business credit. Go out to mint.com and find a good low interest business credit card and apply for that as well. By having the credit card, bank loan, and cell phone account you will be establishing credit using 3 different business accounts, just don’t be late on your payments.

If you haven’t already you will need to setup an LLC which will allow you to get a tax id to establish credit on. Rather than building up credit on your personal social security number you need to build up business credit. Go out to legalzoom.com and they can automate much of the tasks involved in setting up a new Limited Liability Company. You will get a tax id that you can use to open up a business banking account.

Be sure to buy that CD and take a loan out on that CD using your business tax id number and not your social security number so that you are building business credit and not personal credit.

Coalition of Patent Fairness hopes to end corrupt nature of some patent litigation

December 23rd, 2010
patent fairness coalition fighting patent attorneysA lot has been said about so called “patent trolls” creating a ruckus with their abuse of the legal system in order to gain wealth. This practice of obtaining and using held patent rights to gain financial rewards by targeting larger, successful businesses for patent infringements has been greatly looked down upon.

This victimization of large companies has woken a sleeping giant and resulted in the formation of the Coalition of Patent Fairness in order to address the abuse of patent infringement. But, as we use to say back in the day, while big companies have their one finger pointing in accusation, there are 3 more pointing back at them. It looks like the big guys are going after each other as well. In what has become a highly competitive race for the best “smartphone” the big boys are getting a little dirty.
Although patent infringement is a legitimate concern, it seems to me that Apple and Motorola are getting a little petty as each has filed lawsuit against one another for technology “copycatting”. Motorola was the first to strike after filing suit versus Apple for tech infringements concerning the iPhone, iTouch, iPad. But Apple has hit back more recently after filing for tech infringement of their touchscreen and display application versus Motorola and their Droid phone.

And based on Apples choice of Wisconsin for the filing, it looks like they mean to take care of business fast. East Texas has long been seen as the location of choice, but due to the back up of so many patent litigation cases, Wisconsin is quickly gaining recognition as the fastest docket in the nation. Despite location choice, these two companies actions versus one another looks to have taken the edge off of what can be deemed as “unethical” business done by “patent trolls”.