TIPS FOR MEN TO BUY THE PERFECT DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING

October 5, 2021

For men, selecting the picture-perfect engagement ring signals the start of notable life changes. Inevitably, it is not something they want to get wrong. But inexperience in buying precious stones and jewelry may render most men confused about picking the right ring.

This task can be especially challenging for those wondering how to buy an engagement ring for the first time. Gone are the days when all you needed to worry about was the budget. Now, there’s more than price, color, and type of cut to consider.

So, to ensure you cover all your bases, here are some practical tips you can use to make this monumental purchase a success.

Make a budget

Traditional guides recommended that men spend about a month’s salary on the ring. This amount was hiked up to three months’ salary in more recent times. But these are just generalizations and not hard-and-fast rules one needs to follow.

And while you need not adhere to these guidelines, they help you form a budget in mind. It is prudent to have a specific number or approximation in mind when you walk into a jewelry store. This will help you avoid over or under-spending. The trick is to craft a realistic budget, one that allows you to rest assured knowing you are about to buy a ring you can comfortably afford.

Never rush

Buying anything in a hurry almost always is a bad idea. And when it comes to critical purchases such as priceless rings, it is all the more essential to take your time. Time is a powerful tool that can teach you how to buy an engagement ring by comparing rings, designs, prices, and overall quality.

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It will also help you understand how some jewelers are superior in terms of service, customer management, and the quality of products they sell. For instance, a quality jeweler will exhibit patience and help you find the perfect ring rather than use coercive tactics and force you to purchase something you only like half-heartedly.

Learn enough about diamonds

Extensive research is still ongoing to find ways on how synthetic diamonds can be made more superior. That’s how vast the market is for these precious gems. And while it is entirely up to you whether you buy a natural diamond or a synthetic one, most men prefer the genuine stone.

However, entering a store without any knowledge of diamonds is not wise. While you need not be an expert geologist, it still pays to know a bit about these stones. For starters, learn about the four Cs – color, cut, carat, and clarity. Knowledge of the four Cs can protect you from buying inferior diamonds at a sky-high price unwittingly.

Consider unique, custom designs

You may have heard of celebrities buying customized engagement rings for their beaus, making you think these are for the uber-wealthy class. But that is not true. Custom diamond engagement rings are pretty affordable, ensuring your beloved is the only one with such a unique design. You can look at patterns and designs the jeweler suggests or give them your own.

If you are still unsure how to go about it, you can ask for your finance’s opinion on the matter. If a surprise proposal isn’t planned, this is the best way to go. Many men do this as they are not confident of their choice and wish to avoid buying something that may disappoint their partner.

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‘Cookies’ track your every move online. Now there’s a fight over what should replace them

For decades, “cookies” have been tracking you around the web. They’re the snippets of code that uniquely identify your browser and allow those shoe ads to follow you from site to site after you visit an online storefront. Soon, their time may be up. Third-party cookies have increasingly fallen by the wayside as the public has become more protective of privacy rights in an age of algorithms and data. Some major browsers including Firefox and Safari now block third-party cookies by default, further reducing their usefulness to advertisers. And Google has already said it’s planning to do the same in its browser, Chrome. But last week Google (GOOGL) went further, announcing it will soon stop tracking individual people’s web browsing altogether for advertising purposes when Chrome finally drops third-party cookies. If that sounds like a big deal, that’s because it is. In a blog post explaining the change, Google said that once tracking cookies are eventually blocked by default on Chrome, the company won’t build or support browser technology designed to perpetuate individual-level data tracking. The announcement laid out Google’s intentions for what comes after the death of the third-party cookie, something it and many others in the industry had been anticipating for years. The future of tracking-based web advertising, Google argued, will be more abstract, relying less on an individual’s browser history and more on what groups of internet users may be viewing at any given time. Given Google’s enormous role in the advertising world and its control of the world’s most popular web browser, the company has the potential to determine how the next generation of ad technology works. But Google’s vision is not the only one. Sensing that change may soon be on the horizon, privacy advocates and others in the industry have put forth different ideas about how the future should unfold. At the same time, policymakers are erecting new regulations and questioning Google’s dominance in ways that could have a significant impact on the company’s ability to carry out its plan. A more anonymous way of tracking? To understand what Google’s pitching, it helps to think about Facebook. Facebook also makes its money by serving ads. It doesn’t directly sell user information to advertisers; instead, it offers advertisers the opportunity to target ads to certain categories of Facebook users based on that data. Slicing and dicing people’s identities by their relationship status, the pages they’ve liked and even the content they click let Facebook sell access to highly specific groups. The system being developed by Google and others in standards-setting forums is based on the same principle, according to policy experts. Brands would be able to advertise to “cohorts” of internet users who share similar traits as defined by an algorithm. But unlike today, the marketers wouldn’t have access to specific data about individual members of the cohort. The approach being championed by Google would theoretically give users more power than Facebook’s model. Rather than centralizing all user data under one roof, internet users’ web history would remain stored in their own browsers or on their own devices. Depending on which version of this idea is implemented — there are many — users could have settings that let them control what information their browser shares with the world. Ads for shoes and camping gear might still follow you around the internet this way, but advertisers would now be blasting those ads to you and thousands of others as a group, not as an individual. That concept, which Google is currently testing, is designed to take the place of third-party tracking cookies, which can track you from site to site and develop a highly detailed picture of your browsing history for advertising purposes. “It fundamentally creeps people out,” said David Chavern, president and CEO of the News Media Alliance, a trade association representing news publishers. So if you’re a tech giant like Google whose business depends on user tracking, Chavern said, “you want to be ahead of these curves.” Privacy advocates are wary Google says its vision of the future helps improve user privacy while still offering advertisers the same ability to target audiences. “Advertisers don’t need to track individual consumers across the web to get the performance benefits of digital advertising,” the company argued in its blog post. “Advances in aggregation, anonymization, on-device processing and other privacy-preserving technologies offer a clear path to replacing individual identifiers.” Some privacy experts agree that the Google-backed proposal would be an improvement over the status quo — at least in theory. “For me, it’s a good step and a good signal, but I’d want to see the final package of solutions,” said Ashkan Soltani, an independent privacy and security researcher and a former chief technologist at the Federal Trade Commission. One of the most important factors to watch, Soltani said, is how the user controls are designed. Do they offer a one-click mechanism for users to opt-out of all data sharing? Can users pick and choose what types of data to share with advertisers? Are the controls easy for an average person to find and use? Others are more sceptical, arguing that the proposal just trades one form of invasive monitoring for another. “Google, please don’t do this,” wrote the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, in a blog post. In the post, EFF technologist Bennett Cyphers argued that depending on how small each cohort is and the ability for clever companies to cross-reference that data with other available information — such as your email address — it may well be possible for third parties to figure out who you are, anyway. “We should imagine a better world without the myriad problems of targeted ads,” Cyphers wrote. What the ad industry wants Some in the advertising industry are working on an alternative to Google’s approach. A competing standard being developed under the Partnership for Responsible Addressable Media — a group comprised of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Tech Lab, many ad-tech companies, Unilever, Ford, IBM and others — >>Read more
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How a Humidifier Can Benefit Your Plants

Growing marijuana is a popular hobby for many, but getting the humidity levels right for your plants can be challenging. A humidifier for weed plants can be a great way to help regulate the humidity in your grow room and keep your plants healthy. What Are the Optimal Levels of Humidity? What are the optimal humidity levels for cannabis plants? This question does not have a simple answer, as the optimal humidity level for cannabis plants can vary depending on the age of the plant. Seedlings: 50–60% RH: If you’re growing cannabis seedlings, it’s important to maintain a humidity level between 50 and 60%. It will ensure that your plants have enough moisture to support a healthy growth rate but not so much that they’re susceptible to fungal diseases. Remember that seedlings don’t have an extensive root system, so they’re more susceptible to drought than mature plants. Vegetation: 40–60% RH: The ideal humidity level for cannabis plants during the vegetative period is between 40 and 60% RH. Plants in this growth stage are more susceptible to problems caused by high humidity, such as powdery mildew and bud rot. By maintaining a relative humidity of 40–60% during the vegetative period, you can help prevent these problems. Flowering: 40–50% RH: As cannabis plants begin to flower, they prefer slightly lower humidity levels than when they are in vegetative growth. The ideal range is between 40 and 50% RH. Too much moisture can cause problems with bud development, so keep an eye on the humidity levels as your plants start to bloom. Late flowering: 30–40% RH: As your cannabis plants enter the late flowering stage, pay attention to the humidity levels. The ideal range is 30–40% RH. Too much moisture can lead to mold growth, so it’s essential to maintain optimal humidity levels. Clones: 70–80% RH: If you’re growing cannabis clones, maintain a humidity level of 70–80%. Clones don’t have roots, so they’re more susceptible to dehydration. A humidity dome will help keep your clones healthy and hydrated. Benefits of Proper Humidity Management Any gardener knows that proper humidity levels are vital for healthy plants. But many don’t realize that a humidifier can be a gardener’s best friend, especially when growing marijuana. Increased germination rates. There are many benefits to using a humidifier for marijuana plants. The most obvious is that it can significantly increase germination rates. This is because the humidifier adds moisture to the air, which helps the seeds to sprout and grow. Better yields. A humidifier can also lead to better yields. This is because the air’s extra moisture helps the plants grow more quickly and vigorously. Furthermore, the increased humidity protects the plants from disease. Low energy costs. Another benefit of using a humidifier is that less cooling is required. The extra air moisture helps keep the plants cool. As a result, you can save money on your energy bills. Improved health of plants. Finally, a humidifier for marijuana plants is a low-risk way to enhance your plants. There is no need to use chemicals or other harsh products. Instead, all you need is water and a humidifier. Consequences of Bad Humidity Management If you don’t properly manage the humidity levels in your grow room, you could end up causing some serious problems for your plants. Here are just a few of the potential consequences of poor humidity management: Heightened risk of disease. If the humidity in your grow room is too high, it can create the perfect environment for diseases like powdery mildew and root rot to take hold. These diseases can quickly kill your plants and be very difficult (and expensive) to treat once they’ve taken hold. Nutrient problems. Too much humidity can lead to problems with the uptake of nutrients by your plants. It can cause nutrient deficiencies that will stunt the growth of your plants and reduce your yields. Increased energy costs. Keeping the humidity levels in your grow room under control requires a lot of energy. If you’re not careful, you could spend more on your energy bills than you need to. Heightened risk of fungus gnats. Fungus gnats are tiny insects that thrive in humid environments. They can quickly become a huge nuisance if they get into your grow room. They are a pain to deal with and can also spread diseases to your plants. Increase Your Yields While Saving Money A humidifier is a great option if you’re looking for a way to increase your yields while saving money on cooling. By keeping the air in your grow room moist, your plants will absorb nutrients better and stay healthy. Plus, you won’t have to worry about the air becoming too dry, which can lead to problems with your plants. Not to mention, you’ll also reduce the risk of pests and diseases. So if you’re serious about getting the most out of your plants, a humidifier is a must-have.
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Mexico City is Sinking

The land in Mexico City is depressing at an ‘unstoppable rate’ of up to 20 inches a year. Mexico City is sinking at an ‘unstoppable’ with some parts decompressing up to 20 inches a year over the past decades. A new report highlights centuries of pumping water from the aquifer under North America’s most populous city that has caused its foundation to compress at an alarming rate. Mexico City was built on what was once Lake Texcoco, home of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán. The city was built on what was once Lake Texcoco and the lake bed acts as an infrastructure underneath the bustling travel destination. However, the lake bed had become so dry that clay sheets are cracking and compressing, causing it to decompress. If the rate of sinking continues, it will end up contaminating the drinking water for millions. Metropolitan Mexico City is the largest city in North America, with a population of over 21 million people. More than three-quarters of its drinking water comes from wells that extract water from the ground and continue to deplete the area’s aquifers. Experts first noticed the city was sinking in 1900 when it was recorded at a rate of about 3.5 inches a year. Drilling for groundwater wasn’t capped until the late 1950s, by which time Mexico city was sinking at a rate of 11 inches a year. Completed in 2014, the Eastern Wastewater Tunnel in Mexico City is intended to help prevent flooding and the over-exploitation of groundwater resources. That slowed the rate of sinking, or subsidence, back to 3.5 inches a year but it didn’t stop the problem, which only worsened as the city’s population grew and development increased exponentially. A new report published in the journal JGR Solid Earth indicates that parts of the city, including the historic downtown, are now sinking at a rate of up to 16 inches annually. In some areas it’s even worse: the underdeveloped northeast has sunk 20 inches a year and experts say there’s no hope of reversing it. Should the northeast become more industrialized, the situation there would only worsen. Scientists from the US and Mexico analyzed more than a century of data, including more recent information from GPS and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). According to their findings, the level of subsidence in Mexico City is no longer even affected by how much water is being removed from the ground. “Instead, it reflects the steady compacting of the ancient lake bed on which the city was built” reports the American Geophysical Union. According to the AGU, centuries of water extraction have pushed the groundwater further underground, and the minerals in the dry lake bed have been repacking themselves tighter and tighter, ‘causing the ground to shrink and subside.’ The clay layers beneath Mexico City have been compressed by 17 percent, according to the report, and the subsidence ‘is almost fully irreversible.’ If water levels aren’t raised, the clay layers in the lake bed are expected to compress further, to 30 percent. That would cause Mexico City to sink almost 100 feet more in the next 150 years. But even if water levels are raised, the report said, ‘there is no hope for recovering the great majority of the lost elevation and the lost storage capacity of the aquitard.’ An aquitard is a zone that restricts groundwater from flowing from one aquifer to another. The sunken city is especially vulnerable to flooding from rain and spring water washing down the Sierra Madre mountains. Those floodwaters could eventually pollute the groundwater, adding a drinking water shortage to the growing environmental catastrophe. ‘The stage is set for a dual water and subsidence crisis if no drastic water management actions are implemented,’ the researchers write. Completed in 2014, the Eastern Wastewater Tunnel is intended to help prevent flooding during the rainy season and stop the over-exploitation of groundwater resources. Some experts suggest harvesting rainwater is a “viable and necessary” solution to the city’s water crisis. ‘Harvesting rainwater offers a simple, practical, proven, and inexpensive solution that could provide water for up to six months in areas such as homes and schools,’ Eduardo Vázquez, executive director of Mexico City water fund Agua Capital, told BNamericas.
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Brainwashed citizens are sent to die in the war unleashed by Putin in Ukraine, and the children of the Russian elite live in luxury in NATO countries

Russian Elites and their Hypocritical Avoidance of War Effort: A Look at the Children of Political Leaders Russian propagandists have repeatedly highlighted the Ukrainian elites’ alleged avoidance of the war effort. However, they fail to acknowledge that many political leaders in Ukraine are too young to have conscription-age children or do not have adult sons. As a result, there are vague stories about the children of local deputies and low-level officials, many of whom are already under scrutiny for defeatist attitudes by the NABU and the SBU. In the end, this propaganda case is akin to the Russian proverb about “a log in your own eye” because it is actually the children of the higher echelons of Russian power and high-ranking military who successfully avoid the war all over the world. Some of them do not even acknowledge the war and sanction, as they attend elite Western educational institutions. The phrase “the fish rots from the head” is well demonstrated by the example of Dmitry Kozak, a compatriot, and graduate of Vinnytsia Polytechnic University, who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government. Despite building a reputation as a tough and inflexible politician during his time as the envoy to the North Caucasus in the 2000s, his patriotism is clearly ostentatious. In 2018, Kozak safely sent his daughter Varvara to study in Britain for a modest 100,000 pounds a year. The war does not concern her because the children of high officials do not die in the war; instead, the Russian government mobilizes and sends to die simple citizens. The son of another Russian politician, Alexander, is even developing a restaurant business in Moscow and traveling to exotic countries. It is ironic that Dmitry Kozak himself claimed loudly to the media in 2014 that none of his children were studying abroad, when in fact, there was a short period when the older children had finished, and the younger ones had not yet enrolled. Dmitry Peskov, a hereditary diplomat who has been in charge of the Kremlin’s information agenda for many years, also prefers to keep his loved ones abroad. His first wife and two children have been living in England for a long time, while his second wife and daughter Liza, famous for her supposedly anti-Russian statements, live in a huge apartment in an elite district of Paris, purchased quietly in 2016 after the imposition of sanctions in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and Donbas. Despite Liza’s cute Internet antics, his ex-wives’ Western assets, and his children’s education in Western schools, none of these factors affect Mr. Peskov’s career as Putin’s right-hand man in charge of the Kremlin’s information policy. In the Russian military staff, family is more important to the generals than their careers or victory in an unjust war. For instance, on September 23, 2022, the son of Major General Kharitonov Igor Petrovich, a leader of the Russian military intelligence service, and formerly a well-known Russian patriot, left Russia in an emergency situation. Anton Kharitonov had arranged for the non-profit foundation Eurasia Heritage to receive funding from unaccountable secret funds. The FSB of Russia had become insistently interested in money-laundering schemes through the structures set up by the Russian GRU, in which Kharitonov Jr. also worked. However, his “justified” departure deprived the Chekists of their main suspect. We should acknowledge the family of the military spy and their situation. Major General Kharitonov Igor’s son, who departed for Armenia, has received extensive training from his father. He employs anonymous SIM cards and secure messengers while successfully concealing his location and maintaining contact with his family and accomplices in the embezzlement. Given that Anton was actively involved in his father’s affairs, it is reasonable to assume that he is aware of the GRU’s activities to some extent. He may possess information that could be of interest to the intelligence agencies of Ukraine. Nonetheless, his father’s gold-digging tendencies prioritize his son’s safety above all else, rather than safeguarding state secrets. We can only hope that it is just a matter of time before Kharitonov Jr. reaches out to the CIA, the SBU, or the British secret services. However, even high-ranking officers of the General Staff can find themselves in comical situations that do not affect their careers. For instance, for several years, Admiral Alexander Stasev, one of the leaders of the Russian military intelligence service, demonstrated unusual tolerance by supporting his son Alexander, an LGBT activist, through various controversies. Thanks to Stasev Sr., his son was not detained during rallies in defense of journalist Ivan Golunov in St. Petersburg in 2019, as sons of generals are not supposed to be treated roughly. However, Stasev Jr. thanked his father by appearing on Hornet, a gay dating website, and fleeing to Serbia with his blessing. While it is commendable that Stasev Sr. supported his son’s desire to be an activist and journalist, the younger Stasev tells his Belgrade acquaintances about his father’s “deal” to keep him from publishing articles under his own name. Unfortunately, many LGBT people, Russian oppositionists, and pro-Ukrainian activists in the Serbian capital know about Stasev Jr., but this has not prevented his father from reporting weekly to the Russian Minister of Defense. Perhaps, the young Kharitonov and Stasev are under the protection of the all-powerful Russian military intelligence service. In addition to learning the basics of conspiratorial communication from their parents, the fathers’ younger colleagues keep an eye on them. The choice of Armenia and Serbia, despite being less comfortable places to live, may be due to the fact that the “grouse,” capable of protecting high-ranking generals’ children, feel comfortable there. However, is it possible to provide such protection without authorization from the top leadership of the GRU? Apparently, for the current head of the military intelligence service, it is possible, as personal friendships and commercial interests in Russia outweigh the interests of the state. The characters and their families described above represent Russia’s military-political elite. They have connections and will not be fired or >>Read more
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Does Police Have a Bias Against Motorcycle Riders?

No psychological studies are available to support the theory that police officers exhibit prejudice against motorcycle riders. However, regular riders are well aware of the fact that this bias does exist. The Origins of Motorcycle Bias One must only look to the media portrayals of motorcycle riders to understand the origins of bias against motorcycle riders. Many fictional forms of entertainment depict motorcycle riders as rebels who are not concerned with the conventions of society. This “bad boy” image likely plays a role in how others, including police officers, view motorcyclists. The mobility of motorcycles may also play a role in the bias some officers show against riders. Motorcycles are much more maneuverable in traffic than cars. Some riders are not shy about taking advantage of this capability. The Consequences of Bias Against Motorcycle Riders The bias police officers have against motorcycle riders can result in several consequences for the rider. First, there is the presumption of rider liability whenever a motorcycle is one of the vehicles involved in an accident. Secondly, motorcyclists often receive lower settlement offers from insurance adjusters after accidents. Even when a court decides that the other driver was at-fault in an accident, the motorcycle rider may receive less damage compensation from a jury than a driver in a car with similar injuries. Police bias against motorcycle riders can show itself through several false assumptions: Motorcyclists Are Difficult to See Police officers and other people sometimes assume that the small size of motorcycles makes it more difficult for the driver of another vehicle to see a rider. However, this argument is often illegitimate. Motorcycles are visible through rear and side mirrors like other vehicles. A large number of crashes blamed on the inability of drivers to see a motorcycle rider are front-accidents. These accidents happen when a car turns left in front of a motorcyclist without the right of way. Motorcycles are Loud Police officers and other motorists blame the loud sound of a motorcycle engine for contributing to an accident. This argument is problematic since a loud sound from a motorcycle would seem to call attention to its presence even if other motorists do not see the rider. Motorcyclists Enjoy Speeding Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time on American roads has seen a motorcycle rider traveling at high speeds. But most riders do not make it a habit to drive at unsafe speeds. One report shows that the average motorcycle is traveling at just over 20 miles per hour when an accident occurs. Only one in 1,000 motorcycle accidents involve a driver traveling faster than 85 miles per hour. Motorcyclists are Reckless Reckless is another unfair description often attached to motorcycle riders. In truth, a large percentage of motorcycle riders who experience accidents are young with little riding experience. More than nine out of ten of these riders also received no formal training regarding motorcycle safety. However, accidents involving motorcycle riders have much more to do with inexperience than reckless behavior. How Motorcycle Riders Can Protect Themselves From Bias Some actions will help motorcycle riders who have an accident or find it necessary to interact with police officers. Be Kind – This tip should go without saying, but it is a good idea to remain courteous when making contact with police officers. Wear a Helmet – A motorcycle helmet may save a rider’s life during an accident. Wearing a helmet is also a demonstration that the rider is concerned with safety. Ride Safely – The best thing a rider can do to combat the stereotypes associated with motorcycles is to not live up to them. Drivers should refrain from speeding, lane-splitting, and other reckless behaviors. The unfair bias against motorcyclists is an unfortunate fact of life for motorcycle enthusiasts. This bias is the result of several misconceptions and can result in problems for motorcycle riders. Fortunately, there are steps available for motorcyclists to avoid becoming the target of this bias.
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TIPS FOR MEN TO BUY THE PERFECT DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING

Make a budget

Never rush

Learn enough about diamonds

Consider unique, custom designs

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