Justin Lavelle

Justin Lavelle is the social media director and blogger for BeenVerified.com. He is based out of Northern Virginia.

3 Olympians With Criminal Records

Justin Lavelle

August 12, 2016

The Olympics are a time for national pride and the Summer Games are going particularly well for the USA in Rio. However, that very same success can later cause trouble for some athletes who are not used to the sudden thrust and scrutiny of the spotlight. Below are three notable US Olympic athletes who got into criminal trouble, including one who has been winning gold medals this very week. Michael Phelps

How to Calculate Your Net Worth

Justin Lavelle

July 14, 2016

Presidential candidate Donald Trump claims he’s worth more than $10 billion. But is he really worth that much? How does he even come up with that number? Forbes did some investigating and came up with a net worth $4.5 billion. According to Forbes, Trump has been overestimating the values of his properties and inflating his value because “it was good for financing” – as Trump admits. A story by Fortune revealed that Trump was counting revenues from golf courses, hotel rooms and sundry sources as “income”, but failing to subtract routine costs – salaries, utilities, maintenance, etc.

How to Spot a Liar

Justin Lavelle

July 12, 2016

Every day we make a choice: tell the truth or tell a lie. Often times we do not even think about the lies we are telling. In some cases, we even feel okay about being deceitful when we believe the lies will help avoid conflict or avoid hurting someone’s feelings. Studies have shown that you may be lied to from ten to up to two hundred times a day and on average, a stranger lies three times within the first ten minutes of meeting.

Online Deception: What to Watch For

Justin Lavelle

July 19, 2016

Last week we discussed how to identify verbal and nonverbal cues to tell if someone is lying, but what if the person you are interacting with is online? How do you know if that person really is who he or she says they are or if you are dealing with some form of online deception? The truth is that it is very difficult to tell if someone is lying to you online.

Pokémon Go: Stop and Read This

Justin Lavelle

July 15, 2016

Pokémon GO is an augmented reality app game that overlays the graphical world of Pokémon in an effort to encourage players to get outside and venture their surroundings. The app uses your phone’s GPS and camera to track and display where you are in the real world. As you walk around in real life, your character moves and Pokémon are revealed on the screen. Your goal is to catch and train Pokémon.

The Battle Against Cybercrime

Justin Lavelle

August 8, 2016

The Cyber Grand Challenge, the first all-computer cyber defense tournament, recently came to an exciting conclusion. Seven computers competed in Las Vegas to autonomously defend their systems from attacks and point out flaws without human intervention. The challenge was an effort by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, to train computers to be strong enough to protect themselves against hackers. Today, the only way to detect unknown flaws in software is for a human to find and fix them.

The Future of Augmented Reality Apps

Justin Lavelle

August 3, 2016

_This is part two of our look at augmented reality (AR). Read part one here. _ The craze of Pokémon GO has captured the attention of millions of users with its use of augmented reality. Now, it seems, we are just at the beginning of a new kind of industrial revolution. By the year 2020, augmented reality and virtual reality together are expected to generate roughly $150 billion in revenue.

The Niche Online Dating Effect

Justin Lavelle

July 30, 2016

Whatever your interest – may it be offbeat, looks-based or food-oriented – there’s a dating site for it; because after all, there has to be someone out there who likes Ayn Rand as much as you and is looking for a romantic relationship. We seem to think we know exactly what we want in life; especially when it comes to a romantic relationship. This idea has given way to the rise of niche online dating sites today.

Top 3 Airbnb Scams

Justin Lavelle

July 25, 2016

Don’t let your summer vacation be ruined by a rental house scam. Airbnb is one of the coolest innovations to happen in recent years, giving travelers more options that ever before to find that perfect beach house or downtown condo, often for way cheaper than a hotel. Airbnb and similar sites added security and verification features also make them better bets than relying on the more anonymous and scam-infested Craigslist.

What Is Augmented Reality?

Justin Lavelle

July 26, 2016

With the help of Pokémon GO, augmented reality (AR) has exploded into the mainstream consciousness. This growing technology is set to rise with an expected compound annual growth rate of 96% over the next five years. The question is – in what ways will it affect our lives? Here are some of the new applications (and risks) on the horizon: Online Dating In a world where online and offline data is increasingly merging, online dating will be affected in both good ways and bad.

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Justin Lavelle

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