April 26, 2022

The paperwork you'll need to complete for a mortgage loan

Preparing to apply for a mortgage loan? You may be curious: What paperwork do you need for a mortgage? When you apply for a mortgage loan, you’ll eventually need to supply different documents to the lender before you can get approved. Additionally, you’ll be asked to sign several other documents before and after approval.

Learn more about the documentation required as well as tips on how to keep this process moving along smoothly and effectively by reading my newest piece for Home.com, available here.

April 20, 2022

When Uncle Sam comes calling with a tax bill

You’ve done the calculations and finished your tax return. The bottom line shows that you owe money to the IRS. Problem is, it’s going to be tricky to pay this bill due to tight finances. Fortunately, you can pursue options to pay what you owe and avoid penalties.

Learn more about IRS rules for paying your tax bill and the repercussions for not doing so by reading my first article for new client Credit Sesame, available here.

April 14, 2022

Cineversary podcast sends 70th birthday wishes to Singin' in the Rain

 

In Cineversary podcast episode #46, host Erik Martin honors the 70th birthday of what most regard as the finest Hollywood musical of them all, Singin’ in the Rain, directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. Joining Erik for this installment is Turner Classic Movies host Alicia Malone, author of the newly released book Girls on Film: Lessons From a Life of Watching Women in Movies. Erik and Alicia examine how Singin’ in the Rain remains a bona fide classic 70 years later, why it still matters, its cultural impact and legacy, and what we can learn from all this genius singing and dancing today. Erik also chats with Brian Eggert, a film critic, essayist, and owner of DeepFocusReview.com, about Kelly’s unique approach to dancing on film.
Alicia Malone and Brian Eggert


To listen to this episode, click here or click the "play" button on the embedded streaming player below. Or, you can stream, download or subscribe to the Cineversary podcast wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple PodcastsCastboxStitcherSpotifyGoogle PodcastsPocket CastsPodBeanRadioPublic, and Overcast.

Learn more about the Cineversary podcast at anchor.fm/cineversary and email show comments or suggestions to cineversegroup@gmail.com.

April 12, 2022

Trick of the tongue


“Words: So innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.”
—Nathaniel Hawthorne

This master of American literature sounded prescient when he uttered this quote back in the 19th century. That’s because Hawthorne seems to herald a warning in the 21st century about things he couldn’t have possibly foreseen, such as the dangers of bogus audio in the form of speech deepfakes, which employ artificial intelligence and machine learning to create convincing synthetic audio of a human speaker.

How convincing? Consider that, in a well-reported 2019 AI-powered crime, criminals used deepfake technology to mimic the voice of a company’s chief executive over a phone call where the speaker directed the transfer of around $250,000. The funds were transferred and redistributed, and no suspects were identified. Another widely-reported deepfake-enabled financial heist resulted in the cloning of a bank director’s voice and the illegal transfer of $35 million. 

Before you scoff at the idea of being fooled by a phony voice, take a moment to learn the facts as well as the risks and liabilities that threaten large and small organizations alike. And learn ways that you can help prevent being victimized by this increasingly concerning digital danger by reading my newest article for Speech Technology Magazine, available here.

April 5, 2022

Understanding the metaverse and how your business can benefit

Turns out The Matrix, Avatar, Inception, and Ready Player One were on to something more than entertaining our eyeballs. The visually dazzling futuristic virtual worlds in these stories have been translated to the real world (minus the digitally dystopian scenarios suggested, at least so far) in the form of the metaverse—which is getting lots more attention lately in the media and on social networks.

Indeed, a lot is happening in this fresh iteration of cyberspace, which represents a major leap of faith for many, including organizations looking to capitalize on the metaverse’s potential to transform business and commerce. Now’s the time to learn what it’s all about, its prospects for profitability, and if your enterprise need apply. Learn more by reading my newest article for Destination CRM, available here.