AuthorPPA Staff

Si el clima cálido reciente no te da a entender que la primavera está a la vuelta de la esquina, aquí tienes otra pista:

¡El Philadelphia Flower Show está de vuelta y llama la atención al Pennsylvania Convention Center!

Aquí está el trato.

Desde el 11 de marzo hasta el 19, entusiastas florales tendrán el lugar perfecto para inspiración porque el PA Convention Center tendrá una exhibición de jardines elaborados y masivos, paisajes, y arreglos florales. Eso tiene sentido debido al tema de este año: Holanda: la Floración del Mundo.

Te lo creas o no, sin embargo, una de las más, digamos, principales atracciones más interesantes este año será un balneario. Es verdad, un balneario jardín con estaciones de relajación que ofrecerán masajes electrónicos mientras bebes champán y miras las obras maestras que te rodean. ¿Te parece bien? Cómprate los billetes aquí y échate un vistazo a más eventos y actividades que vas a descubrir al show.

Antes de aparcarte en el sillón de masaje, ¡asegúrate de que aparcas tu auto primero! Mira los precios y ubicaciones más cercanas abajo – ¡y no dudes en contactarnos por Twitter o Facebook con cualquier pregunta!

El AutoPark en Gallery Mall

Precios:

• Hasta 1 hora: $5.00
• Hasta 2 horas: $9.00
• Hasta 3 horas: $13.00
• Hasta 12 horas: $21.00

Especiales:

• Madrugador – Entrar a las 10 a.m., salir a las 6 p.m. – $13.00
• Super Madrugador – Entrar a las 8 a.m., salir a las 8 p.m. (lunes a viernes) – $10.50
• Después de las 4 p.m.
  • Hasta 1 hora – $5.00
  • Máximo hasta la medianoche – $9.00

Parkade en la calle 8

Precios:

• Hasta 1 hora: $9.00
• Hasta 1 1/2 horas: $12.00
• Hasta 2 horas: $15.00
• Hasta 12 horas: $18.00

Especiales:

• Madrugador – Entrar a las 10 a.m., salir a las 7 p.m. – $12.50
• Precio de noche – Entrar después de las 5 p.m., salir a las 3 a.m. (lunes a viernes) – $9.00

Garaje de Family Courthouse

Precios:

• Hasta 1 hora: $13.00
• Hasta 1 1/2 horas: $18.00
• Hasta 2 horas: $24.00
• Hasta 12 horas: $26.00

Especiales:

• Madrugador – Entrar a las 9 a.m., salir a las 7 p.m. (lunes a viernes) – $16.00
• Después de las 5 p.m. (salir a las 6 a.m.) – $10.00
• Fin de semana (cada día, salir a las 6 a.m.) – $12.50

PHOTO POR: M. FISCHETTI PARA VISIT PHILADELPHIA

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As the weather starts to heat up, many of us will be itching to take to the streets on our two wheelers. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of getting out on your motorcycle or scooter. But along with that great feeling comes dangers we should all watch for.

• Go over your two-wheeler carefully before heading out. You should give your bike or scooter a thorough review every time you use it. But pay special attention when getting it out after winter storage. Tire condition, air pressure, fluid levels, suspension, lights, brakes and more can change while the machine is in storage. Make sure all your systems are safe and fully functioning.

• Wear proper gear every time. The goal is to make it to your destination and back without incident. But if you do have an issue, you will be glad you took the time to don a jacket, helmet, gloves and boots, even for a short ride.

• You’re not the only biker back on the road. With the advent of warmer weather, the streets are suddenly flooded with motorcycles and scooters. Other road users should be paying plenty of attention, but your smaller profile isn’t as obvious as cars and trucks, especially in congested urban areas.

• Other road users may easily not see you. Bright or reflective clothing will help, but the best thing you can do is ride defensively. Be sure there is plenty of room between you and the other vehicles on the road.

• Give yourself extra time to get to where you are going. Between the extra time to check over your bike and the time it takes to put on your gear, you’ll need 10 minutes or more of additional time before heading out. The need to hurry causes us to be less cautious in our actions. And you don’t want to be anxious while on two wheels.

• Sign up for a riding course. It doesn’t matter if you’re a new rider or veteran rider. The Pennsylvania Motorcycle Safety Program offers free basic rider courses for beginning riders. BRC2, which allows you to improve basic skills on your own bike, and advanced courses are also available for more experienced riders.

• Know where and how to park. The Philadelphia Parking Authority has special rules for motorcycles and scooters. And the city offers parking corrals for bikes. You can find the “Do’s and Don’ts” here.

The keys to city riding are to remain focused, ride defensively and gear up. Have a great riding season!

Marie Wuelleh is the recreational riding and volunteer manager for the American Motorcyclist Association.

Acelera los motores: Uno de los eventos anuales más amados de Philly, el Philadelphia Auto Show, regresa al Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Aquí está la primicia:

Desde el 28 de enero hasta el 5 de febrero, aficionados de los automóviles están de enhorabuena, habrá más de 700 coches clásicos, exóticos y conceptos en el piso de 700,000 pies cuadrados del Pennsylvania Convention Center. Así que si estás buscando comprar un coche nuevo, no pierdas esta oportunidad, especialmente porque vas a ver los modelos más nuevos que se estrenarán en las agencias de autos locales. De hecho, tendrás la oportunidad de hacer pruebas de manejo con algunos de los autos con “ride y drives.”

Si buscas nuevas ruedas, o simplemente quieres observar los avances en la industria automóvil, asegúrate que compres los billetes aquí. Psst—mira los descuentos.

Antes de empezar a mirar boquiabierto los automóviles del futuro, asegúrate de que aparques el suyo. Por suerte tenemos tres garajes a poca distancia a pie del Pennsylvania Convention Center. Mira la ubicación y precios abajo. Y como siempre ¡mándanos algo en Twitter o Facebook si tienes cualquier pregunta!

El AutoPark a Gallery Mall

Precios:

• Hasta 1 hora: $5.00
• Hasta 2 horas: $9.00
• Hasta 3 horas: $13.00
• Hasta 12 horas: $21.00

Especiales:

• Madrugador – Entrar a las 10 a.m., salir a las 6 p.m. – $13.00
• Super Madrugador – Entrar a las 8 a.m., salir a las 8 p.m. (lunes a viernes) – $10.50
• Después de las 4 p.m.
  • Hasta 1 hora – $5.00
  • Máximo hasta la medianoche – $9.00

Parkade en la calle 8:

Precios:

• Hasta 1 hora: $9.00
• Hasta 1 1/2 horas: $12.00
• Hasta 2 horas: $15.00
• Hasta 12 horas: $18.00

Especiales:

• Madrugador – Entrar a las 10 a.m., salir a las 7 p.m. – $12.50
• Precio de noche – Entrar después de las 5 p.m., salir a las 3 a.m. (lunes a viernes) – $9.00

Garaje de Family Courthouse:

Precios:

• Hasta 1 hora: $13.00
• Hasta 1 1/2 horas: $18.00
• Hasta 2 horas: $24.00
• Hasta 12 horas: $26.00

Especiales:

• Madrugador – Entrar a las 9 a.m., salir a las 7:00 p.m. (lunes a viernes) – $16.00
• Después de las 5 p.m. (salir a las 6 a.m.) – $10.00
• Fin de semana (cada día, salir a las 6 a.m.) – $12.50

PHOTO CREDIT: R. KENNEDY FOR VISIT PHILADELPHIA

1800s, when the first electric motor was built by New York mathematician Joseph Henry, people have dreamed of using electric cars to get to and from the places they want to go. By the 1970s, the Department of Energy began to offer funding to build an efficient electric car. A viable electric car would not be produced until the mid-1990s, although a few came out as early as 1982 when a hybrid model was built at a research lab by GE that was controlled by a computer.

In 2008, Tesla introduced the Tesla Roadster that was capable of being driven 200 miles on a full charge. Since that time, electric cars have seen quite a few advancements – not only to the motor, but also to the battery life and the overall appearance. When you want to save on fuel charges, owning an electric car may be your ideal mode of transportation, especially with the rising cost of gasoline.

Battery Power
Batteries have more than doubled in the last decade alone. In the past, the electric car battery standard was whether push up to 60 miles per charge, or two to four hours of drive time. With the increase in demand for more power, companies such as Green Motor Sport have worked with rapid battery charges, and through a great deal of dedicated technological work, they have been able to build a battery that has the capability of reaching up to 300 Watt hours.

This is more than twice the average battery that is only able to reach between 80 and 160 Watt hours. This is still in development, and while the majority of electric cars have the ability to travel around 100 miles per charge, many still function at 70 to 80 miles per charge.

Companies such as Tesla, Chevrolet and Volkswagen are working to engineer new electric cars and already have several out that are able to travel 300 to 400 miles per charge. With the advancements in technology over the years, this is something that could potentially ensure that future electric cars will have a greater travel distance per charge than ever before. Many cars today have charging systems that allow for quick charges, and with a higher demand for fuel efficiency and eco-friendly modes of transport, you can find charging stations along many city streets as well as apartment complexes and other areas of cities nationwide.

Speed
Many people have argued that electric cars just do not have the same ability as gasoline-powered vehicles to reach speeds that are high enough to go from one place to another quickly. Older electric cars have had issues with reaching higher speeds and those that could reach them tend to have a lack of battery power to keep the car charged for long periods of time.

For instance, when Chevrolet introduced the Volt hybrid in 2010, the car took nearly 10 seconds to go from zero to 60. Today, the Volt takes just a few seconds and can travel up to 380 miles on a full charge and a tank of fuel. While the Volt hybrid runs with the assistance of gasoline, the electric motor is still a large feature. Other cars like the Tesla S P100D can reach zero to 60 in under 3 seconds and run solely with electric power as does the new Chevy Bolt which is set for release in 2017.

Needs
Gas prices have been on the rise for the last several years and this has left people in a bind to locate fuel efficient cars that are affordable. Many of the new electric cars have a rather high price that may not be within a range of affordability for many consumers. Thankfully, although we have quite a few electric cars that have high price tags, there are also several newer ones that have lower price ranges and can offer middle class families a viable option for going green with their vehicle. The 2017 Chevy Bolt is set to debut at only $30K while the Mitsubishi MiEV was introduced in 2016 for a starting price of just under $24K. Other electric cars ranging from the Chevrolet Spark to the Nissan Leaf and the Smart Fortwo are all under $30K and have excellent efficiency with battery power and travel mileage between 100 and 200 miles per charge.

Driving an electric car can not only be fun, especially if you are used to driving gasoline powered cars, but most also take up less space when parking and you can even get some great rebates and tax credits for going green when you own one. Depending on which area of the country you call home, some of the new electric cars may not yet be available for sale where you live.

Thankfully, you can always check out the vehicles that may interest you and if you decide on one that is sold on the other side of the country you can always hire a licensed and bonded car transport company to bring the car to your door. Going green with an electric car is a great way to really be able to keep harmful pollutants from the atmosphere while having plenty of fun while driving.

About the Author:

Jason Mueller is a hard working entrepreneur with businesses in USA and Costa Rica. He strives to create and maintain a self-sustainable life and looks forward to a world with greener options. His shipping company takes many green initiatives in an effort to reduce emissions, and some new electric trucks are in the new future.

I work in the field of cyber security.  Specifically, I focus on credit card information safety. I am sure it comes as no surprise that protecting credit card information is a hot button issue at the moment and people working in security are constantly trying to fend off every conceivable attempt to steal your credit card information.    

So with that in mind, here’s a few goodies to help keep your credit card information safe online:

Do not respond to any email or click on any link when you cannot confirm the identity of the sender:

This one should be obvious by now, but I still hear about tech savvy people responding to a survey or clicking a link to see if they really did win a $1000 gift card to Trader Joe’s, Wal-Mart or wherever. Joe and Mr. Walton would not give you a $1000 dollars if their lives depended on it. Relax, I’m sure they are great people that do amazing things in the world, but these types of emails are not from their companies. They are phishing scams meant to steal your information.

Avoid unsecured websites:  

Okay, this one may be a little tricky. Have you ever clicked on a link to a site and a message pops up stating the “site is not secure, click to proceed anyway?” This has nothing to do with the self-esteem of the site or its creators.  

Secure sites are “secure” for a couple of reasons. One reason is to carry a valid ID around so when they get “carded” by your computer, they can be deemed “trusted.”  The ID is called a site certificate and they are issued by a few organizations that are allowed to give them out  or sell them. They verify the site is who it says it is. Just so you know, whenever you click “proceed anyway” you are basically letting in an unidentified site. That’s important to understand.  

Don’t use a credit or debit card linked directly to your account at non-reputable establishments.  

I would like to take this a step further; nowadays there are so many options to build your own prevention plan. There is no getting around the convenience of using plastic. But learn how to be a little covert about it.  

Load up a good pre-paid card and use that instead of the debit card linked to your main checking account. There are some inexpensive cards out there that you can use to protect your main account. And yes, banks are good about returning stolen funds, but sometimes it gets ugly and can take a while. An investigation could take some time, leaving you high and dry.

Be very careful downloading free apps on your Android smartphone.  

This may seem extreme, but I’m going to give you some inside hacker info here people: Those free games and useless apps in Google Apps are written and used to gather and/or steal information from you. Sometimes they are so blatant, they will post the make and model of the phone and the username of the device online to let the creator and other hackers know where the hack works. The software may not automatically grab your card info, but it will send personal information to the hacker’s repository where it can be packaged and sold.  

Keep your home computer safe:

1. Do everything you can to keep malicious software off of any computer you shop or manage your banking on. Surf and download very cautiously.
2. Use malware and virus protection software and run it often.
3. Use a good cleaning utility to clean old temp files and wipe the free space of your hard drive. Remember, things are not deleted when you send them to the recycling bucket. I like CCleaner. It’s free and it has options for wiping clean old deleted files.
4. Keep your computer up-to-date. Do not ignore updates.
5. Restart your computer often. This isn’t one you hear about too much anymore, but sometimes information can sit in RAM (this is another type of storage your computer manages) indefinitely and if you are hacked, the files this memory uses could be compromised. Restarting the computer will clear this memory out.

Photo Credit: bykst via Pixabay

About the Author:

Thomas Daley is the Network Security Specialist and certified Payment Card Industry Internal Security Assessor at the PPA.  Tom is a lifelong native of Philadelphia, grew up in Kensington, graduated from Visitation BVM grade school, Northeast Catholic High School for Boys, and Duquesne University. He has 18 years of diverse IT experience, including the incorporation of his first I.T. Consulting Business when he was 24 years old.  Later he worked for Lockheed Martin as an Information Assurance Security Officer (IASO) for the United States Army.

(PHILADELPHIA) In a statement today, PPA Deputy Executive Director Corinne O’Connor said, “While we understand that TNC services (Uber X and Lyft) are very popular with the public and many elected officials want to see them continue, with the expiration of Act 85, TNC service in now illegal in Philadelphia and the PPA is committed to enforcing the law.  As a result, the PPA is providing 48 hour notice that it will resume enforcement against illegal TNC service in Philadelphia.”

Regarding taxi regulations, O’Connor announced “immediate waivers of certain existing taxi regulatory requirements,” pending formal board approval and a full review and promulgation of new permanent regulations, as follows:

1.      Upon installation of an approved camera system, operators may remove shields.  Operators are free to propose alternative systems for approval, particularly in light of the fact that they may operate without a shield if they have a camera system.

2.    While the 8 year age limit is statutory; we will  Increase mileage limit to 350,000, consistent with PUC mileage limitations.

3.      Waive requirement for semi-annual inspections until a vehicle reaches 200,000 miles.

4.      Waive requirement for two-way radios, with the caveat that we will continue to demand compliance with the panic switch requirement to protect drivers.

5.  We will allow operators to use stand-by vehicles to be used in the event of some problem which will cause the medallion vehicle to be out of commission; the Authority will determine an implementation plan within 30 days. 

 6.  We will allow all driver training (standard and WAV) to be done by operators or third parties, provided that a training program and syllabus is first approved by the TLD. The Authority will continue to conduct training for those who do not wish to pursue other training.  The Authority will continue to accept all driver applications for the processing of background checks and conduct testing for the issuance and renewal of driver certificates.

7.     We invite and will expedite consideration of new meter technologies, and are willing to grant experimental/condition authority for such new technologies.

8.  We invite and will expedite consideration of any petitioner for alternative rate arrangements (for example, differential rates applicable to trips book in advance through applications).

Concluding, O’Connor said, “we want to make clear that we will consider any other petition seeking a waiver of regulatory requirements to the extent it is permissible under law.  We cannot waive or relax statutory requirements.”