3 Kids and Us

As Seen on TV: Have Family Fun Searching-Out Iconic Images in NYC

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New York City needs no introduction. It’s one of the most star-studded places on the planet. It’s the reason countless television series and movies are shot there. A tourist is sure to come upon places that are popular with locals but recognizable to many around the world. Here’s a rundown of popular places from movies and TV you’ll want to seek out in NYC.

Katz’s Delicatessen

Head to Houston Street and walk in Katz’s deli. You don’t have to ask many people to hear about the pastrami. It’s famous. But even more famous is the table where characters Harry and Sally met from When Harry Met Sally.

Joe’s Pizza

What family won’t make time for pizza? Actually, you’ll find a number of Joe’s Pizza shops around the city, yet one, in particular, served as Peter Parker’s aka Spider Man’s place of early employment. In the film, Peter Parker briefly works as a pizza delivery boy for the Carmine Street pizzeria.

Buddakan

Buddakan is one swanky place to have a meal. Fitted with chandeliers and world-class kitchen crew, it’s a treat for the eyes as well as the mouth. You may notice the glamorous interior from Sex and the City. It was the spot where Carrie and Mr. Big have their rehearsal dinner.

Bubby’s Pie Company

Many young people dream of working within NYC’s fashion district. The book made into a film, The Devil Wears Prada, features a doe-eyed young woman who wants to be a successful writer but settles to be a fashion giant’s assistant. Bubby’s is a local hangout and a place for the family to grab some snacks. You’ll probably want to order some pie.

Smith and Wollensky’s

In the mood for a steak? Walk out of your Marriott Fairfield Inn and take a cab to Smith and Wollensky’s. Another book made into a film, American Psycho, is a satire about the excess of 80s life. In the film, Patrick Bateman ironically orders his steak without hash browns. The establishment is popular with stuffy investment bankers as well as locals with a hunger for juicy steaks.

Cafe Lalo

The owners and staff at the cafe boast that theirs is the most famous in the city. Of course, that is up for debate yet you can’t deny the cafe hosted a scene in You’ve Got Mail, one of the famous romantic comedy movies from the 90s. Actually, the cafe is where Tom Hanks goes to meet Meg Ryan’s character for the first time.

Pershing Square

In the movie, Friends with Benefits, two friends decide to take things to the next level and kick things off at Central Cafe, which is Pershing Square renamed for the movie. The cafe is right across from Grand Central Station.

Russian Tea Room

A major music star, Madonna, worked at the city spot before making it big. It also stars in the movie, Tootsie, where a fading actor assumes the identity of a woman to salvage his career. If you’re more of a television viewer, you may recognize the Tea Room from Gossip Girl.

Boost Your Bedroom’s Beauty – Some Tips When Renovating and Decorating

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Often people settle for drab decor when it comes to their bedroom. Their content to just sleep in it, and leave the rest of the house to look glamorous. It’s a room that may not get as much publicity as the other rooms, so it gets thrown on the back burner of rooms to transform. You don’t have to worry about sky high costs that come with redesigning your chamber, there’s ways to decorate and bring beauty into your special space without breaking the bank. Bedding and curtains are one of the best ways to make magical modifications in your bedroom. With Julian Charles there’s a selection available to fit everyone’s taste. Here’s some ideas to consider when renovating your bedroom.

Bedding

Sleep is one of the most comforting, reward, and generally helpful things a person can receive, but the bedroom is a place that should be luxuriated in and prized, not only slept in. It’s a space where you can be alone, and unwind,  and you want to do that in a place that’s pleasing to the eyes and that’s not just accumulating ancient accessories that you’ve dotted in there to fill the space.

Bedding is one way to bring that brilliance back into your room again. It can be the first thing that adds more flavor and flare to a bedroom that’s become distasteful. New bedding can instantly give a room a whole new image, from stifling to spacious, shabby to chic, bland to beautiful. Get the style that suits you and instantly feel and see the difference.

Think of what other accessories could shaz up your bed, from the textures of the sheets, whether patterned, colored or whatever special factor you’d like. You could purchase more pillows for extra comfort, maybe even in different shapes and sizes. Applying bed skirts could add a luxurious flair to a bed as well as conceal any clutter. Or you might like to spice things up with a bed runner that brings out even more contrast in the room.

Curtains

When you close your curtains do you feel like closing your eyes too. You don’t have to look away from your worn out curtains that are desperate for a change, but you can replace them today with resplendent drapes that will leave you gazing. Your curtains can either accentuate or attack the rest of the decor in your room, so make sure you pick the right ones.

Your curtains serve as a piece of art in your safe space, and with the right ones they can leave you feeling serene instead of stressed. You can have light curtains that offer life to your room, or modern ones that cause you to muse. It’s whatever tickles your fancy.

From imogen, to paisley white, that makes your room feel like paradise, to harrison or blossom silver that makes you feel at ease. Daydream about your perfect curtains no longer, there’s a range of opulent designs available to make you love your luxurious space.

Additional Aims

It’s time for you to #RenovateRedecorateInspire. You can reveal your personal side with canvases and colors that make you feel comfortable. Let the walls stand out with a coat of fresh paint. You might even like a new side cabinet, or lamp, or other accessories that will spice things up abit. Check out this ebook for more tips and advice when making small affordable changes to your home.

The Ways of the People in Nigeria

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Nigeria has an ancient culture that has existed for thousands of years. Some 500 different ethnic groups make up the country, each of which have their own history. The country has three major tribes, but also many minority tribes. The cultural heritage in each of these groups, passed down from father to son and mother to daughter, is tremendous.

Esther Nenadi Usman, who is the former finance minister from the state of Southern Kaduna, has been particularly interested in the cultural influences of Nigeria on the woman. As Senator Nenadi Esther, and particularly because she worked as a minister in the economic and financial arena, people could be forgiven for saying that she very much wears the trousers. Interestingly, however, up to the 1990s, it was classed as irresponsible for a woman to wear trousers at all. In Kaduna, women would wear gowns or skirts and blouses below the knees, using tie wraps should they so wish.

Today, however, Usman is happy to see that some 70% of women wear trousers. In fact, they even wear them to church! This does not mean that Nigerian culture is disappearing. Nenadi simply believes that there is a place for culture, and there is a place for practicality. The same is seen in men, actually. Esther reminds people that men were not allowed to have any long hair or to weave or plat it. Furthermore, men were not allowed to have beards. Today, men are allowed to style their hair in whatever way they see fit.

Marriage in Nigeria

One area in which Nenadi Esther Usman has seen tradition is still very strong in Nigeria, is in marriage. Women are expected to marry between the ages of 24 and 31. Any older than that, they are classed as liabilities. This means that she would continue to have daughter rights, but she would no longer be as accepted. What has changed, according to Esther Usman, is that few people continue to follow customary law for marriages, which means that a man is introduced to a daughter as a husband. Some elements of this tradition, such as the telling of a funny story, are perhaps to be cherished, but Nenadi Esther strongly believes in choice. She herself became Esther Nenadi Usman after marrying her Muslim husband, this despite her being Christian herself.

Other family traditions are also being questioned. For instance, the woman is traditionally responsible for looking after the family, although the man is classed as the owner of any children. Women look after the home, doing 90% of the housework, whereas men go out to work and earn the money to pay the bills. Esther Usman clearly changed this.

Certain traditions in Nigeria are to be applauded and maintained, even if it is just for the sake of cultural heritage. Others, however, have to become more fluid because of advancing times. Women, for instance, must become more empowered, something that Nenadi has been personally invested in. She has shown the country that a woman can take on any role, and she hopes that others will be inspired by her.

Different Types of Accounting Reports and When You Need Them According to Scott Tominaga

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The SAS 70 Report was recently changed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Mainly, they added new guidance that relates specifically to service organizations. This change came into force on June 15, 2011 and professionals like Scott Tominaga.

Originally, the SAS 70 Report was designed to ensure auditors could communicate about assertions in financial statements. However, it quickly started to become almost like a certification, designating availability, security, and more in the world of financial reporting. Because there are no significant risks in organizations, many of which are outside of financial reporting, new reports were needed as well.

What the AICPA decided to do, was create an alternative so that those who use third-party services could remain focused on the key issues at hand, being:

  • Privacy.
  • Confidentiality.
  • Availability.
  • Processing integrity.
  • Security.

All of these issues were place into the new Service Organizational Control (SOC) reports. Three versions of them now exist, SOC 1 through 3, and each has a unique purpose.

Three SOC Reports Explained by Scott Tominaga

  1. SOC 1

This report looks at the controls within service organizations as this relates to the entities of users who have internal control of financial reporting. SOC 1 is compliant with the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 16.

  1. SOC 2

This report also looks at the control within service organizations. However, this report is specific to privacy, confidentiality processing integrity, availability, and/or security. This follows a number of set criteria and determines whether organizational operations are fully compliant.

  1. SOC 3

This report is different because, while it still relates to service organizations, it is the SysTrust report. This means it is similar to SOC 2, but it focuses particularly on basic trust services. It does not look into more details and tests. The SOC 3 can also be added as a seal on a website.

How Reporting Has Changed

Because of the new standards, reporting contents have changed significantly, as has the process itself. This means that organizations can now set themselves apart as being more relevant to their clients. Any service organization must describe what their system is, and this goes into far more details than the original SAS 70 did. In fact, it must include details about:

  • Technology.
  • Processes.
  • People.
  • Transaction classes.
  • A written assertion that indicates management is fully responsible for how the system works and according to which evaluation criteria.

How to Choose a SOC Report

When you choose a SOC, you have to consider who will read it, what they will use the report for, and why. Ask yourself whether auditors will require the results and whether they need to know what test results you had and what your controls were. You need to know, basically, how much detail they require. Transitioning from SAS 70 to SOC is quite a lot of work, but that is why there are professionals like Scott Tominaga who are there to explain it all.

Common Social Media Usage Mistakes

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It is a known fact that social media has completely changed the way we speak to each other, both to our customers and to our friends. Businesses with a big presence on social media have a strong competitive advantage and tend to be a lot more profitable. However, others still shy away from it because mistakes have been made, and they have had a significant impact on their revenues. So which mistakes are they?

  1. Being Boring

Once upon a time, businesses were formal corporations. While this still continues to this day, social media is informal and sociable. You may have business ethics of formality, your Facebook page is not an extension of your boardroom. In fact, it would be unacceptable to behave in that manner. Social media is about being engaging with everybody, and you cannot expect only those who wear suits and ties to speak to you, because social media is open. Unfortunately for you, “corporate” now means “boring” and boring is bad for business.

  1. Not Updating Properly

Second of all, if you use social media, you should use it properly. This means posting regular and frequent updates – but not too frequent or they will appear as spam. The postings should be original and engaging, and make people want to speak to you. There are situations in which you feel as if you literally have nothing to post. In that case, ask your followers how they are doing. This is a simple exercise that has a tremendous impact, making you more approachable and interesting straight away.

  1. Blocking, Deleting, or Not Responding to Rude Updates

The issue with social media is that anyone can say anything about you, and sometimes those things are not nice to hear. This is the point where you have to be ethical, which is legal and social media ethics expert Matthew Knouff‘s particular area of expertise. You can, and should, make it clear, for instance, that rude or aggressive behavior will not be tolerated. And you should make it clear that someone who breaches those ethics will be blocked and removed. However, you have to be very careful to not simply block and remove anyone who criticizes your organization either. Complaints are not the same as rudeness. If you are seen to remove those, you will significantly damage your reputation, and that type of information spreads like wildfire in the social media stratospheres.

Social media is a hugely important tool in terms of business growth, and it can literally make or break a business. Knouff believes that a focus on ethics is absolutely vital to ensure the outcome is that the business grows, rather than that it is destroyed. The above three mistakes are the kind of mistakes that can destroy any efforts that a company makes, and there are many more. Hence, Matt Knouff believes that a proper policy, which also focuses on methods of communication, language, and corporate ethics, must be created for all companies to benefit the most from social media.