Financing Your Web Designs

via graphicdesignjunction.com

Whether you’re looking for something for personal use or something for a commercial business, there are quite a few things that you need to consider when it comes time to decide on a web design. One of the biggest factors you’re ultimately going to have to think about is the price.

Decide if it’s something you want to take on yourself or have someone else do for you. There is quite a large number of options out there for people who want to try their hand and making their own web designs, some of which are even free. Many web hosting companies will allow you the option of building your website right from their services.

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

Infographic: Gaming Development Financial Realities

via blog.profitbricks.com

In honor of #GDC2013 going on this week in San Francisco, ProfitBricks is pleased to present this infographic, entitled “Gaming Development – The Financial Reality Behind Great Ideas.” People at the show are confirming what we already suspected: gaming is moving into the cloud. As thin clients in browsers, on laptops, or on mobile devices, continue to grow in popularity, they need a back-end to store data and process large environment mechanics, while the front end focuses on graphics and the human interactions.

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

Pinterest Raises Another $200 Million and is Now Worth $2.5 Billion

via businessinsider.com

Pinterest, a site for sharing and discovering images, has sold $200 million in stock to new and current investors for less than 10 percent of the company, valuing it at $2.5 billion, the company just confirmed to Business Insider.

The Wall Street Journal first reported rumors of a new financing earlier this month, placing the valuation between $2 billion and $2.5 billion.
AllThingsD's Kara Swisher reported the financing earlier on Wednesday.

"Our focus is on helping millions of people discover things they love and get inspiration to go do those things in their life,” Pinterest cofounder and CEO Ben Silbermann said in a statement. "This investment gives us more resources to help realize that vision."

Valiant Capital Management, a hedge fund which owns large stakes in Apple and Google, is leading the round. Valiant founder Christopher Hansen was an early investor in Facebook as well.

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Rumor: The PlayStation 4 Will Cost Over $400

via gizmodo.com

Everybody is expecting Sony to announce the PS4 on February 20th that it's a forgone conclusion at this point. Now rumors are coming out about the price of the next generation system. Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun is reporting that the PS4 will retail for over $400. Expensive?

Specifically, the Asahi Shimbun reported a 40,000 yen price which translates to $428 in ol' greenbacks. For reference, the PS3 launched at 50,000 yen for the base model and 72,000 yen for the 60GB version. In the US, the launch prices were $500 and $600, respectively. So possibly a little more affordable than the launch of the PS3 but significantly more expensive than how much the PS3 costs now. Which to tell the truth, isn't that surprising.

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Report: The Next BlackBerry Will Cost Less Than $199

via businessinsider.com

BGR has a huge feature on BlackBerry 10 with a 100-screenshot tour of RIM's next operating system.

BGR says this version of BlackBerry 10 is the "Gold Master," or the final version that will appear on new BlackBerry phones when they launch in a few weeks.

The source who provided the images also told BGR the new phone, called the BlackBerry Z10, will cost less than $199 on contract.

That leaves a lot of wiggle room, but it sounds like RIM is willing to sell its new phone on the cheaper side in the hope that people will choose it over other top-tier phones that cost $199 and up.

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The Best Used Cars For Your Money

via forbes.com

The bad news for cash-strapped shoppers is that prices for late-model used cars, which had begun to decline after reaching historic highs the last two years, are on the upswing again. To blame this time around is October’s Superstorm Sandy that left tens of thousands of vehicles destroyed.

The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) predicts prices for used vehicles will jump from 0.5% to 1.5% by year’s end, and could go even higher for those living in areas ravaged by the storm. “The loss of used-vehicle supply and the increase in replacement demand after Sandy will have the greatest impact on used-vehicle prices in December,” says Jonathan Banks, executive automotive analyst with the NADA Used Car Guide. “Regionally, the concentrated damage that occurred in New Jersey and New York mean that used-vehicle prices, particularly for import and luxury cars, will most likely increase beyond NADA’s national level expectations.”

The good news is there are still plenty of good deals to be found among late-model used vehicles. The key is to find a car or truck that performs well and has a good record for reliability, but through no fault of its own carries a lower resale value – which makes it more affordable in the used-car market – than other models in its class.

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The Cost of Powering The Internet [Infographic]

via gadgetose.com

Seldom does one think about the internet as a whole, generally speaking as long as your favorite sites are up and running all is good. The infographic below brought to us by Wireless Satellite Internet takes a minute to step back and look at the big picture.

The internet is growing at an incredible pace, there are 2.4 billion internet users today which is double that of 2007. The fact of the matter is that the internet consumes 1.5% of global electricity (the equivalent of 30 nuclear power plants). To foot the bill it would cost $8.5 billion dollars annually.

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How to Raise Your Freelance Pay Rates in the Next 60 Days

via freelanceswitch.com

Freelancers interested in earning big should always be looking for opportunities to raise rates. Luckily, if you’re reading this in the fall, you’re at one of the easiest times of year to get a raise.
I’ll explain why in a minute.

But first, let’s talk a little economic reality about why you need to get aggressive about asking for a raise.

Freelancers need to continuously raise rates, because the cost of living isn’t stable. The price of oil and corn are both going up as I write this, for instance.

You need your rates to rise a bit just to keep up with inflation — and they need to go up more if you want to get ahead.

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

The Cost to Educate a President - Infographic

via degreejungle.com

As Election Day looms, voters across the country are deciding which of the two candidates will get their vote. The political views of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have been evaluated and dissected by hundreds of websites and countless political pundits. We’ve seen the two candidates debate on TV and approve countless commercial messages. We’ve heard their talking points and read their plans. However, we wanted to know how they got so smart.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Why Don’t People Want To Pay For Good Design?

via hongkiat.com

If you’ve ever come across a client (or 20) who refuses to pay you what you know you’re worth, you might start to think that there’s no one out there who knows the value of good design. And you’re definitely not alone – so many designers compete on price that those who want to compete on quality often feel left out.

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How To Buy A Smartphone: How Much Should You Pay?

via readwriteweb.com

So, you want a new smartphone but do not want to sell of your firstborn to afford it. Well, you are in luck. The latest models come in a variety of sizes and prices. Depending on what you are looking for, likely there is a price that suits you. Yet it is not always simple to figure out. Here's everything you need to know to find a smartphone that fits your budget.

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The Rising Cost of Higher Education

via schooltutoring.com

Attending a college or university represents a significant investment for families. Tuition fees have continued to rise which has made it increasingly difficult for families to accurately budget and save. This problem is exacerbated for low and middle-income families where tuition fees as a percentage of median family income has increased significantly. Learn how affordable tutoring can help your child.

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The Real Value of a Facebook Like

via socialmediatoday.com

Trying to qualify the value of a Facebook Like for a given brand has been shown to be an incredibly elusive and often frustrating exercise. An exercise many brand managers and marketing managers would say ends more often than not, in futility.

Sure, having that large number of Facebook Likes is always great for the ego while standing around the water cooler with the brand managers and marketers – but what is the inherent value?

What good are all these Likes if it doesn’t correlate to increased revenue?

Two recent studies have shed some light on what the value of a Facebook Like truly is:
“The Facebook Factor” via Forrester and the “Power of a Like 2” the sequel to comScore’s “Power of a Like” released last year.

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Famous logo designs and how much did they cost?

via stocklogos.com

I found most of these incredible, and one of them unbelievable. Literally... I don't believe them...

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The Cost of Being Iron Man [Infographic]

via howtogeek.com

Yesterday we took a look at the estimated cost of being Batman; today we’re looking at Iron Man and, let us tell you, it’s not exactly cheap building a technologically-rich exoskeleton.

Looking at the estimated development and construction costs, it’s a good thing Mr. Stark has Stark Industries behind him.

Hit up the link below for a high-res version of the image.

Posted via email from Inspiration

The Cost of Being Batman [Infographic]

If you’ve got lofty dreams of being Batman we’d suggest running it by your accountant first–Baterang replacements alone will run you a mortgage payment.

Courtesy of MoneySuperMarket, the inforgraphic fields some best estimates on how much it costs to pull off the whole saving-Gotham gig. From tear gas to training costs, it’s not cheap being the Dark Knight.

Hit up the link below for the full resolution image.

The Cost of Being Batman [MoneySuperMarket]

via howtogeek.com

If you’ve got lofty dreams of being Batman we’d suggest running it by your accountant first–Baterang replacements alone will run you a mortgage payment.

Courtesy of MoneySuperMarket, the inforgraphic fields some best estimates on how much it costs to pull off the whole saving-Gotham gig. From tear gas to training costs, it’s not cheap being the Dark Knight.

Posted via email from Inspiration

9 Ways to Cut Your Smartphone Data Bill

via gizmodo.com

As the average webpage/image/file on the internet has grown, most folks' monthly allowance for mobile bandwidth has gotten smaller. (Exceptions: Sprint users and those grandfathered into an unlimited plan.) Today, it's extremely easy to use a gigabyte of data in a month. The quantity will just keep rising—and with it, the potential for massive monthly bills.

So what are the best ways to put the brakes on the neediest data hogs? Here are the nine most effective changes you can make to get the of your daily data usage.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Here's How Much It Costs To Charge Your Gadgets Each Year

via businessinsider.com

We learned via Apartment Therapy that the Electric Power Research Institute has determined that your iPad uses 12 kWh of electricity over the course of a year at a cost of $1.36.

Here's the breakdown on the annual cost of other gadgets they looked at:

iPhone 3G -- $0.25

laptop -- $8.31

60W compact fluorescent light bulbs -- $1.61

42" plasma TV -- $40.57

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The astonishing costs of raising a child: By the numbers

via theweek.com

Finally, we have "an official price tag for parenthood," says Suzy Khimm at The Washington Post. This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that the average family can expect to spend a cool quarter of a million dollars to raise a child — and that doesn't include the cost of college, nor the indeterminate post-graduation period of unemployment when Junior lives rent-free at home and constantly raids the fridge. While the USDA perfunctorily notes that the "considerable" cost of child-rearing "may be outweighed by the benefits of children," the price tag is enough to make some parents daydream of what they would do "with all that kid money," says Lindsay Cross at Mommyish. Here, a look at the numbers behind that drooling ball of chub...

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» How Much Does Obesity Cost To Employers [Infographic]

via thetechnologycafe.com

Currently, more than one-third of adults are obese. That’s more than double what it was 30 years ago. And as bellies swell, so do serious risks of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other ailments. Across the world, a staggering amount of employers are experiencing a greater loss in productivity as their employees burn through sick days recovering from illness, running to the doctor and trying to keep up with work from home.

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