Uber vs. Lyft in Cleveland

The team here at NEO-Growth have used car services and taxis all over the world. We have found that car services / taxis often provide an overpriced and unsatisfactory service. Uber and Lyft have turned the for-hire transportation service market on its head. Uber and Lyft have gained traction in large part with lower fares, nice vehicles, easy to use smartphone apps and a much better customer service. The email confirmation of the ride and payment makes tracking business expenses a breeze.

The market dissatisfaction was true not only for riders but also for drivers. Rideshare companies often offer promotions to increase driver retention and satisfactions. However, like any service, there have been reported incidents of criminal activity by the drivers harming riders. (Reported Rideshare Incidents)  BR-5223_CHINAoctdrive15_MG_2360 Unlike Lyft, Uber’s process for onboarding drivers, does not involve meeting drivers nor inspecting their vehicles before allowing them to ferry passengers. It is important, whether you are taking a taxi, Uber or Lyft, you need to exercise caution. Once the rider is picked up, insurance from either Uber or Lyft takes effect to protect the rider in the event of a motor vehicle collision.

Uber and Lyft both claim that they are totally different than any other service out there. However, these claims are obviously ridiculous. A large percentage of drivers, work for both companies. Each service has basically four different services:
Uber VS. Lyft

The ability to quickly pay your fair, track your driver’s arrival time and record expenses for business travel, make both of these services highly recommended. We suggest that you sign up for both services as the availability of drivers at certain times and locations can very.

Sign up today and get free credits for your first rides:

(click HERE for free LYFT rides!)

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(click HERE for free UBER rides!)

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DIY Network Rack.

Do you have a wiry mess under your desk? We have a cornucopia of network routers, wireless routers, external hard drives, each with its own power converter box and power strips with long cables and cords running everywhere. Also, as a safety concern, these long wires and cords are an attractive target for the curious hands of small children.

There is a simple solution to this mess of wires: making your own home network rack. I made the pictured network rack for less than $20.00. This idea was taken from a corporate network rack. Those tend to be surprisingly neat and organized, even though they hold, as you can imagine, a much larger volume of wires and cables.

Supply list: 1. Wire shelf & 2. Zip ties

First, go to your local big box home improvement store and find the Wire Shelving Accessories in the Storage and Organization Section. I used the two-foot wire shelf pictured below.

 

rack - Copy Network Rack 1 - Copy

 

I liked the one on the right above because it can stand on its own or could be mounted on the wall. If you want to  spend less than $5.00,  you can always go with a simple but strong wire deck.   Also, pick up a pack of zip ties. I prefer black, if they have that color.

Second, untangle your mess of wires and devices. Lay these things out on the shelving in an arrangement that looks neat and organized. Zip tie all boxes, power strips to the wire shelving. Zip tie the power cords so that you can plug in the routers, hard drives, etc.

Third, connect everything back and test it to make sure it works, zip tie all the network cables and other loose cords and cables. If you want you can hang your network rack on the wall or under your desk using some simple hangers. But note that you will want to make sure there is good airflow so that the devices do not get too hot.

IMG_3897 DIY Home Network Rack

 

 

Upgrade Your Laptop with a Solid-State Drive (How-To)

Do you want your laptop to run faster? 

If your laptop is getting slow, it is time to upgrade to a solid-state drive (SSD). You can test your current hard drive speed with one of the free testing applications in the Windows Store. We like PC Benchmark which is a versatile tool for measuring speed of main computer components such as system storage (HDD or SSD), CPU, Memory and GPU.  There are also several similar apps available in the Mac App Store.

Why get a SSD?

A SSD is much faster than a standard  hard disk drive (HDD) because there are no moving parts in a SSD.  A HDD uses “a mechanical arm with a read/write head to move around and read information from the right location on a storage platter.”

The advantages of upgrading to a SSD are:

  • Speed
  • Safer: no moving parts
  • Lighter
  • Improved Battery Life

Items you will need:

Software you will need:

  • Drive Cloning Software:

The steps necessary to upgrade your hard drive to a SSD are simple as detailed in the below tutorials:

How to Upgrade Your Laptop with a SSD Drive.

How to upgrade a SSD on a Mac.