10 Most Interesting Plants in the World

 

There are numerous fascinating floral species in the world, each with its own unique characteristics and beauty. While it is challenging to narrow it down to just ten, here are ten notable floral species that are often regarded as interesting:

Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum): Known for its enormous size and pungent odor resembling rotting flesh, this flower is a rare and remarkable sight.


Rafflesia (Rafflesia arnoldii): Considered the world's largest individual flower, the Rafflesia has a distinct appearance with its massive size and unique reddish-brown petals.


Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii): A rare and elusive orchid that lacks leaves and appears ghostly due to its pale coloration, making it highly sought-after by orchid enthusiasts.


Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae): Named for its resemblance to a tropical bird in flight, this flower features vibrant orange and blue petals, making it visually striking.


Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys): Renowned for its remarkable turquoise-green flowers that resemble hanging clusters of jade, this vine is native to the Philippines.


Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus): Not only does this flower have an alluring deep red color, but it also emits a delightful chocolate fragrance, making it a unique and sensory experience.


Bleeding Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis): This flower has distinctive heart-shaped pink or white petals, which hang gracefully from arching stems, creating a charming and whimsical appearance.


Passion Flower (Passiflora): With its intricate and vibrant blossoms, the passion flower is a captivating sight. It is known for its complex reproductive structure and symbolism.


Flame Lily (Gloriosa superba): This striking flower has unique flame-like petals in shades of red, orange, and yellow, creating a visually stunning display.


Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum): Similar to the corpse flower, the titan arum is also renowned for its large size and strong odor. It is famous for producing one of the largest unbranched inflorescences in the plant kingdom.

Anti Virus ~ Protecting Yourself Online

 Good online habits are the first and foremost defence against online viruses and other threats. Avoid sites that are well known to host viruses ( mainly porn sites). Don’t click on links in emails unless you have verified they are from official companies that you have an ongoing relationship with or that you recognise as you have had dealings with them before. Never give out details or sign up to something that is too good to be true. And be careful downloading things online that may carry viruses.

Back Up

Back up all your important files to a separate drive, then back up your operating system to a different drive. You can use USB thumb drives for this purpose, an external HD or for files you can use a cloud service.

Use secure Password services built into Web browsers.

All web browsers now suggest strong passwords for your online accounts and allow you to store them encrypted in the cloud. This stops you from using the same password for multiple sites and the passwords are very secure with a random mix of numbers and letters. 

Eero Wifi router with Secure+ 

This wifi router is super easy to set up and use and uses the latest WiFi tech to give you fast stable connections to all your devices. For an optional monthly fee you also get a network adblocker, plus malware bytes antivirus protection for 3 devices. And the 1password password manager. This is a great option for many windows pc users as it will offer you better protection online from the wifi network to your pc.

There are multiple virus protection services available, and its worth looking for services that include security software or looking for discounts at reputable online stores. Many security software companies also offer free basic protection which may be fine for many people who generally keep their internet usage to emails and social media.

Buy Eero Wifi router

Online shopping the best marketplaces Amazon OnBuy & AliExpress UK

 There are many places to shop online, too many to go through in this section. But the main marketplaces where you can buy a whole range of products are: Amazon, Onbuy and Aliexpress.

So what makes a marketplace different from other online stores such as Argos, MGVT, or John Lewis?

Marketplaces are major sites that allow many business to sell their products on their platforms. So when you purchase something you will be buying not from OnBuy but a smaller independent company who lists their products on the platform. Amazon is a hybrid website, selling their own stock and allowing smaller business to list on their website as well. This is different to sites like MGVT etc. which only sell their own stock.

Amazon - Best for Prime Members

If you have a prime membership amazon is a great main option for you, to make the most of your prime membership with fast free delivery. They have a huge range of items and generally have good sales offers.They have however recently had trouble with counterfeit items being sold through the website. Always check the reviews and if it doesn’t seem right send it back. 

OnBuy - Best for Free Delivery & Shopping by Paypal

OnBuy is the fastest growing marketplace in the UK. OnBuy doesn't sell its own products it is just a hub for smaller individual businesses to sell their products. A great aspect with OnBuy is they use PayPal as their payment service provider giving you a extra layer of rotection when you buy. There are some great items on OnBuy and you can find great value. 

AliExpress - Best for Cheap items

Aliexpress is best for ultra value items provided you can wait up to a month for your item to be delivered from China. If you can you can find items that you can buy for just a few pounds compared to the expensive items you may find elsewhere. You can also find pretty much anything to buy on here.

INCASE FOR NEW IPHONE SE 2022 / 2021

Wireless MESH Routers. What are they and why do you need them

 So, your broadband provider gave you a wireless modem as part of your package - why would you pay good many for something that you already have?

Well, the router provided by your broadband company is not the best. That is putting it lightly, in fact, its pretty terrible. You may have noticed the drops, the slowdowns when there are many devices connected and the poor reception is some places. Buying a decent wireless router gives you the most out of the money you are paying monthly for broadband with faster more stable connections. 

Many wireless routers also come with good parental controls that can block access to adult websites, block certain apps access to the internet and set times that your kids devices are allowed to access the network. This is a great boon for parents that need to set specific bedtime routines but who also may use it as a discipline/ reward mechanism. 

A good wireless router is also the first line in defence from viruses, scams and attacks that lurk in the World Wide Web. 

A MESH router is a system that helps eliminate dead spots in large houses. They provide one stable connection throughout the house - but they are only feasible for very big houses or homes with lots of interference with the signal. 

Possible Consideration:

TP-Link AX5400 VDSL

Understanding & making the most out of Amazon Prime - Delivery / Video / Music / Photos / Kindle

 Amazon offers one of the most complete and useful subscription services available online. Understanding what benefits it could bring is key to deciding if you NEED it and how to make the most of your amazon prime subscription. 

The biggest draw is free delivery on most orders. If you are a loyal amazon customer or just order quite often from amazon this is probably the biggest benefit you will see. It is a good idea to take a quick look at your order history over the last 12 months. If you order allot and would benefit from things like one day delivery or if you notice that you have often paid for a delivery ( not meeting the £20 order minimum) then it could be a good choice and potentially save you money in the long run. Be aware that some items are not shipped by amazon and may not be eligible for free delivery no matter what the order total is. These are usually independent sellers on amazon marketplace. 

Prime Video

Perhaps the best way of using your amazon prime subscription is to use prime video as your main TV source. This way you can cancel your BBC License fee and save upwards of £150 per year (as long as you don’t watch live video). That alone will pay for your prime subscription and bring in more value than just paying for TV. 

Music: 2M Songs Included

This could save you a decent £9.99 per month on its own. If you like to use streaming services mostly to discover new music then buy the ones you like either digital or CD or if you only listen to music occasionally this is a great addition to your prime subscription. Used best for discovering new music then buying your favourites it is a great way of cutting down on your monthly bills. 

Photos

Included in your prime subscription is photo back up. It is normally recommended that you have some sort of photo back up for your device. So this is highly recommended if you have no current photo back up service running, or if you are paying for a service like iCloud/ google it may save you some money to cancel those and just keep amazon photos. Alternative cloud services include Microsoft 365, Google, Apple iCloud (best for iPhone users) and Mega.nz 

Kindle eBooks

Many eBooks and magazines are included in your prime subscription, to make the best use of it download the app to your phone or tablet and this will be a great and cheap way of passing the time on your commute, lunch or waiting etc. There are many great choices include including some notable classics.

Social Media its uses and dangers.

Social media has made keeping in contact with friends and family so much easier and has made the spread of information far quicker than at any other point in human history. But this does not mean that it is always positive. Its has also contributed to the spread of misinformation, lies (now called fake news), cyber bullying, depression and anxiety among a whole group of negative things.  Like with all things it should be used in moderation with strict time limits and periods in place especially for kids. The best way is to have a certain time of day to check so ial media and reply to messages., and to choose friends carefully. 

Each site is has different aspects and you may find one suits you better than others, below is a quick overview of some of the most popular sites. 

Social media sites

Facebook

One of the original sites,  with tons of features for keeping in touch,  sharing content selling items etc.  It's free but does track everything you (including outside Facebook) do to sell your info to advertisers. 

Instagram 

Owned by Facebook with similar features but focused more on sharing images and now videos. Uses the same process as Facebook for selling your behaviour to other companies. 

Snapchat

Great for keeping in touch and giving little updates to your friends and family. Is rather fun with great filters for sharing funny moments. Messages disappear once read unless you decide to keep them. 

Twitter

Bite sized updates you can send to everyone who follows you.  Use dmostly for sharing opinions and news. 

LinkedIn 

More career focused site used for job hunting and career progression. Has since expanded into a learning platform.

How to create a strong and easy to remember password

 

How to create and remember good passwords

A good password should be easy for you to remember but hard for anyone else to figure out, and it is important to secure your online accounts with a safe and effective password.

It sounds simple, but is often a pain and somewhat difficult to implement properly, but there is a way. And it involves including Mnemonics. Mnemonics is a system used to aid information retention. It is very powerful and can be used to create great passwords only you can remember easily. So lets start with some general tips on creating a strong password:

General tips for creating a good password

• Avoid using information that many people know about you, like your birthday, where you always go on holiday, the names of your pet/children etc.
• Avoid using actual words. Yep, don't use words. If someone is serious about getting into your account they will be able to run programs like a dictionary to try to get access.
• Always use upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters such as % or *
• Now use the journey method below in Mnemonics with Acronyms to create a great password!

Using the Journey method to create your password 

Lets create an over simplified password for an example. 

Os@Mm1fs 

This was done in a few seconds, and uses the Journey method to help you to remember it. 

So this simply means Online shopping @ M(GVT) my number 1 favourite store 

- Now you can read this out to yourself, and as you create it. It's a password for a shopping account so I used that for the first 2 characters, then the name of the store where I am shopping. Then something about the store I like. Using the letters of each word, plus a special character and number and you have an easy to remember password. Associate images and sounds to each character, even move along a path in your mind if it helps, and see the different characters, you should be able to say your password and type it as it appears above, second nature after a few attempts.    

If you really struggle you can always use a Letts Password Book

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