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For many people, winter is a time to settle in and get cozy at home. However, not everyone wants such a relaxed few months waiting for the warm weather to return. Just because the temperature is dropping doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying the great outdoors. Looking for some fun new sports to try as the winter season approaches? Check out these four winter sports perfect for the coming season.

Snowmobiling

Certainly not for the faint of heart, this adventurous sport is perfect for the thrill seeker in winter. There are a surprising number of people who partake in this sport every year. Currently, there are over 1.2 million registered snowmobiles in the United States, and over 600,000 registered in Canada. Just make sure you have a professional to help you if you’re new to the sport.

Snowboarding and Skiing

If you want the same fast-paced adrenaline rush of snowmobiling but don’t want to hop on a vehicle, snowboarding or skiing might be for you. For beginners, this will take some practice to perfect, but after a while, you’ll be able to freestyle ski and snowboard with the best of them. Once you’re really comfortable, you can even try a few tricks off the jumps on the slope.

Dogsledding

Not a fan of heights, but still want the high speeds? Dogsledding can give you the same rush of speed without having to worry about heading down a mountain. While this sport may look fairly simple to the untrained eye, there’s a decent amount of complexity that goes into racing. This is definitely a fun one to try if you want fast speeds powered by paws. Besides, who doesn’t want to spend a day with a group of excited dogs?

Skating

Skating is a perfect activity for the whole family to enjoy. Ice skating is fun at all different levels of expertise, from first stepping out onto the ice to gorgeous figure skating and intense, fast-paced speed skating. If you’ve got little ones you want to enjoy a new sport with, skating will be the perfect way for you to combine family time and winter exercise.

Once the snow has started to fall, there are plenty of fun activities available for all different types of people that keep you active and outdoors. Try these four exciting sports to find your new favorite wintertime activity.

House hunting is an exciting but stressful process, especially for young people trying to afford their first home. To save money and make a home their own, many first-time buyers look for fixer-upper properties that have a little wear-and-tear. Properties that need renovations are often posted at discounted prices, which brings in buyers with limited budgets.

Sometimes, a little DIY know-how and creativity can mend problems quickly and save buyers thousands. However, other problems are much more serious and costly.

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It can be hard to know the difference between a quick fix and a big, expensive problem. Use this guide to sort the ugly from the seriously bad problems when house shopping to avoid headaches and big expenses during future renovations.

1. Poor Maintenance

When you first take a glance at a home, don’t be distracted by colorful decorations or charming landscaping. Instead, pay attention to how the structure of the property was maintained. Are the windows clean and in good condition? Doe the roof look faded and patchy? Don’t hesitate to inquire about the previous owner’s maintenance habits. Come armed with knowledge of proper home care, and ask direct questions like whether the roof has been inspected once or twice a year, or if the windows have been replaced in the last decade. If you get the sense that the home has been neglected, you might find even worse problems during your own repairs, so proceed with caution.

2. Foundation Problems

Take note of the foundation’s appearance from the outside of the home. If possible, ask to see the property’s basement. Look for signs of foundation damage, like big cracks in the floors or bowed walls. Foundation problems are rarely easy to fix, and will add significant costs to your renovation budget.

3. Patches of Fresh Paint

A fresh coat of paint can be a good or a bad sign. Ideally, the homeowner wanted to freshen up the property for sale, and is looking to impress buyers with on-trend colors and styles. However, beware of a single wall that has been freshly painted– the paint could be an attempt to hide mold or stains from moisture. It’s better to add fresh paint yourself than to have to fix a property with leaking walls or a mildew problem.

4. The Neighborhood is Empty

HGTV warns that if a home is one of many for sale on a street, there may be something wrong with the area. Be sure to do a little research about why so many people are abandoning a location, since no matter how much you spend on fixing a house, you can’t pick it up and move it to a new town!

Many buyers (34%) want to avoid renovations and problems with plumbing or electricity when purchasing a new property. However, it is important to know the difference between major issues and quick fixes. Use this guide to determine when to work with an issue, and when to walk away.

Finding the right school to send your child to can be incredibly stressful. As a parent, you’re worried about every last detail: how your child gets to school, their behavior once they’re there, what are they learning, are they making friends, are they going to be successful, and so on. One of the most important decisions you can make as a parent is whether you’re going to send your child to a public school or a private school. Here are just a few benefits of private schools to help you make your decision with confidence.

• Individualized Education: 36% of private schools averaged student-teacher ratios of ten to one or lower, compared with 10% for public schools. With fewer students in a private school classroom than in a public school counterpart, children are able to get more customized education that can cater to their individual learning styles.
• Parental Involvement: Private schools tend to have a much higher degree of parental involvement than public schools, partially due to parents’ status as “paying customers” that schools must appeal to. Private schools tend to have more parent-teacher meetings, social events, and fundraising activities to foster a strong sense of community.
• Specialization: Unlike public school, private schools offer ways for your child to specialize in one particular interest. While they will likely still go through general education courses to develop knowledge in several fields, private schools are able to have specialists for subjects that your child might not otherwise get to explore.
• Test Scores: Because of the smaller class sizes, personalized attention, and thorough education provided at private schools, private school students generally score higher on standardized tests than public school students. This can open up doors for your child later on in life when applying to colleges and even jobs.

With the many benefits of private school, it is definitely worth considering enrolling your child in a private school if possible. Making sure your children get the best education possible is essential to their futures.

The value of the 2017 video game market in the United States was approximately $18.4 billion. As 2018 winds down, there have been plenty of popular games that will surely help with the growing market. Many of those games are still on their way with October release dates.

Though some of these games are already out and garnering plenty of gameplay, there are plenty of excellent titles that will be released over the next few weeks.

Here are some of the most anticipated video games of October:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

The Call of Duty franchise has been one of the most successful gaming titles of all time and this new installment will likely not disappoint. Only a few days into its release, millions of players are enjoying this multiplayer action-packed gameplay.

Released date: October 12, 2018 — Available on: PS$, Xbox ONE, and PC.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Another popular franchise, Assassins Creed, released its 11th major installment (and 20th overall) of the game. As of September 2016, the company has sold over 100 million copies, becoming Ubisoft’s best-selling franchise and one of the highest selling video game franchises of all time.

Released date: October 5 — Available on: PS4, Xbox ONE, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Forza Horizon 4

Forza Horizon 4 is an open world racing game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios. The game is set in a fictionalized representation of the United Kingdom and offers single-player and multiplayer racing gameplay.

Released date: October 2, 2018 — Available on: Xbox ONE and PC.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar Games has developed some of the most popular games of all time over the last few decades and Red Dead Redemption 2 will likely be one of their most successful titles. This game is a Western-themed action-adventure game and is the third entry in the popular Red Dead series.

Released date: October 26, 2018 — Available on: PS4 and Xbox ONE.

Soulcalibur VI

Developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, this is an upcoming fighting game that utilizes weapon-wielding parry and innovative thrust mechanics. Additionally, the game introduces a new mechanic known as Reversal Edge, enabling players to defend against oncoming attacks and quickly strike back in slow-motion.

Released date: October 19, 2018 — Available on: PS4, Xbox ONE, and PX.

For more check out this gaming blog.

In the past few years, the U.S. has seen devastating results from hurricanes. Just last year, Florida, the state that has a population that grows by almost 1,000 people every day, was hit by Hurricane Harvey and saw extreme flooding and damages that are still being dealt with today. And now, Hurricane Florence has wreaked havoc on the Carolinas and is moving throughout Virginia. Fortunately, drone technology will make disaster relief a bit easier for these states.

As the forecasts for the hurricane change, there is a small army of drone pilots staged in areas where they can be most useful in helping with disaster response. Drones are going to play a key role in identifying and even helping to fix damages caused by the hurricane. And with machinery shipments increasing over the years, totaling $407.4 billion in 2012 alone, recovery teams have access to more drones and drone equipment than ever before.

Florence has already caused immense flooding, coastal erosion, wind, and torrential downpours. And to keep up with the damage the storm is causing, there are at least 53 drone teams with 100 operators, with recovery efforts being managed by the Edison Electric Institute, based in Washington.

There are also numerous other companies and organizations offering their drones for disaster recovery aid — Duke Energy Corp., Southern Co., and the New York Power Authority. Insurance companies like Travelers Cos. and United States Automobile Association already reported that they plan on using drone technology in order to collect evidence for damage claims once the storm has passed.

Drone technology can prove to be extremely useful in situations where it’s crucial to quickly find issues in dangerous areas, like particularly heavily flooded areas. The drones used in recovery efforts have special equipment like infrared and high-zoom sensors. These additional pieces of equipment can help locate and inspect things like downed power lines that may be too dangerous for humans to get to.

“When we’re predeployed, we have our rations—it’s an ongoing joke of beef jerky and pretzels,” said Hadley Doyle-González, who runs SMG Drones, in Palm Beach, Florida. “We have a ridiculous amount of batteries. We need to be able to fly for 24 hours with no power.”

And this isn’t the first time drones have been used in recovery efforts. Over the past few years, drones have been used more and more for commercial purposes, with Gartner reporting 110,000 drones being sold in 2016 for commercial use. Last year when Hurricane Harvey hit, drones were used to build a backup substation and also aided in checking generators at hospitals as well as other tasks.

Of course, there are other safety protocols in place, like NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, which requires workplaces and occupied buildings provide updated evacuation plan information, there are some recovery tasks that humans can’t do quickly or safely after disasters like hurricanes.

The CEO of PrecisionHawk, a North Carolina-based drone company, Michael Chasen explained, “As people, companies, cities and states come together to support safety as best possible as Hurricane Florence bears down, drones and pilots are poised to play a critical role in the triage of affected eastern states, post-Florence.”

While drones won’t necessarily be used in emergency rescue efforts after the hurricane dwindles down, but they will be utilized greatly during recovery efforts. The equipment drones are hooked up to can capture necessary data and images that can help analyze property damage and other areas damaged by the storm. And once the storm has calmed, drone companies will then work with local authorities to use the gathered information to make plans for repairs and other necessary actions.

Recovery efforts after storms like Florence generally take time, sometimes years to fully repair the damages. But with technology like drones, people have hope that they’ll be able to assess and repair damage quicker than ever before.