Events, software

Everything Apple announced at the WWDC 2021 Keynote

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference officially kicked off with the main opening keynote event for WWDC 2021, featuring tons of new software updates we’ve been waiting for.

WWDC 2021 — June 7 | Apple

iOS 15

iOS 15 is packed with new features that help you connect with others, be more present and in the moment, explore the world, and use powerful intelligence to do more with iPhone than ever before.

Coming this fall

FaceTime

  • Spatial Audio coming
  • Voice isolation
  • Wide Spectrum
  • Portrait Mode
  • FaceTime links, including with Android and Windows users
  • SharePlay – Watch and listen together with friends, share screen and more

Notifications

Quickly catch up with a helpful collection of your notifications delivered daily, based on a schedule you set. The summary is intelligently ordered by priority, with the most relevant notifications at the top.

Live Text, Focus, Maps, Photos

Maps: Immersive walking instructions with step-by-step directions you can view in augmented reality.

Live Text: Live Text sophistically unlocks rich and useful information inside your images, so you can make a call, send an email, or look up directions with just a tap on the inserted text in a photo

Photos: Memories introduces a new interactive interface, along with new Memory mixes that let you personalize the look and feel of your story and include a song and vibe to match.

Focus: Focus helps you stay in the “zone” when you need to concentrate on something. Choose a Focus that allows only the notifications you want to show up — free of any distraction. You have aa choice to pick from a list of suggested Focus options or create your very own.

iPadOS

iPad enables you to do so much, so easily. iPadOS 15 takes this versatility further, making it easier to get things done, find and organize information, and make iPad even more capable.

Coming this fall

  • Multitasking – The iPad screen is great for working with multiple apps, taking your productivity to a whole new level. And now with iPadOS 15, multitasking is a lot more easier to discover, use, and view.
  • Widgets – Now you can place widgets alongside the Apple apps on your iPad, and  take full advantage of the iPad canvas.
  • App library – The App Library will automatically organize your apps into helpful categories like Productivity and Games, for quick access.
  • Notes – Notes goes system-wide with Quick Note, a fast and easy way to get to a note no matter what you’re doing. Add @mention, #tags and more.
  • Translate – The Translate app is now available on iPadOS. System-wide translation lets you translate text anywhere on your device.
  • Swift Playground – Swift Playgrounds brings a new level of productivity to iPad, and now its capabilities go even further. Learn code, build real apps with Swift UI, and see your ideas come to life on the App Store.

 

watchOS 8

watchOS 8 helps you stay connected, active, and healthy like never before. Share your favorite memories with the enhanced Photos app. Put more fun into your texts. Find new ways to center yourself and be present. And that’s just the start.

Coming this fall

  • Photos & Portrait watch face: Put your favorite photos of friends and family front and center in your watch face, to give the people you care about a lot more attention; now with a dynamic, multilayered effect.
  • Health – The Breathe feature has been refreshed with new graphics and visualizations alongside new tips that help you focus, center, and connect as you breathe.
  • Fitness – New guest trainer and Artist Spotlight

 

macOS Monterey

  • SharePlay – Keep FaceTime conversations going as you watch TV shows and movies, listen to music, or share your screen with SharePlay.
  • Shortcuts – Pre-built shortcuts to get the word done, faster
  • Safari – The new tab bar design takes up less space on the page and takes on the color of the site you’re on. More menu, enables you the access to powerful Safari features .
  • Universal control – A single keyboard and mouse or trackpad now work seamlessly between your Mac, iPad and other Apple devices. You can even drag and drop content from one Mac to the other device.
  • AirPlay to Mac – The power of AirPlay comes to Mac. You will be able to share, play, or present content from another Apple device to the big, screen. You can also mirror or extend your display to enhance productivity.
  • Shortcuts – Automate the things you do most often. Save time by turning something that would take multiple steps into just one.

 

 

 

 

News

Everything Apple announced at the ‘Spring Loaded’ Event: New iMac and iPad, AirTags and More

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, Apple officially announced some new and fascinating products at its “Spring Loaded” event last night. If you haven’t been following along with the rumors, here’s a quick recap of everything that Apple introduced: A new iPad Pro 2021 with M1 chip and XDR display, a new iMac desktop with colorful design and M1 chip, next generation Apple TV 4K with Siri remote, and AirTags.

Apple Event — April 20

 

Apple AirTags

Apple today introduced AirTag, a small and elegantly designed accessory that helps keep track of and find the items that matter most with Apple’s Find My app. Whether attached to a handbag, keys, backpack, or other items, AirTag taps into the vast, global Find My network1 and can help locate a lost item, all while keeping location data private and anonymous with end-to-end encryption. AirTag can be purchased in one and four packs for just $29 and $99, respectively, and will be available beginning Friday, April 30

All-new iMac With M1 Chip

 Apple today introduced an all-new iMac featuring a much more compact and remarkably thin design, enabled by the M1 chip. The new iMac offers powerful performance in a design that’s just 11.5 millimeters thin, with a striking side profile that practically disappears. Available in an array of vibrant colors to match a user’s personal style and brighten any space, iMac features a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display with 11.3 million pixels, 500 nits of brightness, and over a billion colors, delivering a brilliant and vivid viewing experience.

 

The new iMac also includes a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, studio-quality mics, and a six-speaker sound system — the best camera and audio ever in a Mac. Also, Touch ID comes to iMac for the first time, making it easier than ever to securely log in, make purchases with Apple Pay, or switch user profiles with the touch of a finger. Combining the power and performance of M1 and macOS Big Sur, apps launch with blazing speed, everyday tasks feel incredibly fast and fluid, and demanding workloads like editing 4K video and working with huge images are faster than ever. The new iMac joins the incredible family of Mac models powered by M1, including MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, marking another step forward in Apple’s transition to Apple silicon. iMac is the most personal, powerful, capable, and fun it has ever been, and customers can order it beginning Friday, April 30. iMac will be available in the second half of May.

New iPad Pros With M1 Chip

Apple today announced the most powerful and advanced iPad Pro ever, pushing the limits of what’s possible on iPad. The addition of the Apple-designed M1 chip delivers a massive leap in performance, making iPad Pro the fastest device of its kind. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro features a new Liquid Retina XDR display that brings extreme dynamic range to iPad Pro, offering a stunning visual experience with more true-to-life details to the most demanding HDR workflows. Cellular models with 5G deliver even faster wireless connectivity when on the go, and to provide users with pro-level throughput for high-speed accessories, iPad Pro now includes support for Thunderbolt. Additionally, an all-new Ultra Wide front camera enables Center Stage, a new feature that automatically keeps users perfectly framed for even more engaging video calls. The new iPad Pro is available to order beginning Friday, April 30, on apple.com, and will be available in the second half of May.

The breakthrough M1 chip takes the industry-leading performance of iPad Pro to an entirely new level. The 8-core CPU design features the world’s fastest CPU cores in low-power silicon — delivering up to 50 percent faster CPU performance than A12Z Bionic. The 8-core GPU is in a class of its own, delivering up to 40 percent faster GPU performance. This combination of CPU and graphics performance on iPad Pro widens its lead as the fastest device of its kind. Powerful custom technologies, including a next-generation 16-core Apple Neural Engine, an advanced image signal processor (ISP), a unified, high-bandwidth memory architecture with up to 16GB of memory, 2x faster storage, and up to 2TB capacity, make iPad Pro more capable than ever. The industry-leading power efficiency of M1 enables all of that amazing performance along with all-day battery life in the thin and light design of iPad Pro.1 Because M1 shares the same fundamental architecture of A-series chips, iPadOS is already optimized to take full advantage of the powerful technologies in M1 to easily handle everything from simple navigation to the most demanding workflows.

Next-gen Apple TV 4K

Apple today announced the next generation of Apple TV 4K, delivering high frame rate HDR with Dolby Vision and connecting customers to their favorite content with the highest quality. At the heart of the new Apple TV 4K is the A12 Bionic chip that provides a significant boost in graphics performance, video decoding, and audio processing. And with an all-new design, the Siri Remote makes it even easier to watch shows and movies on Apple TV with intuitive navigation controls. Together with tvOS — the most powerful TV operating system — Apple TV 4K works seamlessly with Apple devices and services to magically transform the living room in ways that everyone in the family will love.

Apple Podcasts

Apple today unveiled Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, a global marketplace for listeners to discover premium subscriptions offered by their favorite creators alongside millions of free shows on Apple Podcasts.
Starting in May, listeners in more than 170 countries and regions can sign up for premium subscriptions that include a variety of benefits curated by creators, such as ad-free listening, access to additional content, and early or exclusive access to new series. Listeners will be able to enjoy premium subscriptions from independent voices and premier studios, including Tenderfoot TV, Pushkin Industries, Radiotopia from PRX, and QCODE, to leading media and entertainment brands, including NPR, the Los Angeles Times, The Athletic, Sony Music Entertainment, and many more.

 

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini in a stunning new purple

Apple today unveiled an all-new stunning purple finish for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini. This new color beautifully accentuates the flat aluminum edges of iPhone 12, which are perfectly color-matched to the precision-milled back glass. Both models feature an advanced dual-camera system that delivers powerful computational photography features and the highest-quality video in a smartphone, with expansive edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays with OLED for a brighter, more immersive viewing experience, and the Ceramic Shield front cover, providing the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone. The Apple-designed A14 Bionic — the fastest chip in a smartphone — powers every experience on iPhone 12 while efficiently managing battery life. iPhone 12 models also bring the best 5G experience, and introduce high-powered wireless charging with MagSafe and a new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone.

Business

6 Benefits of Using Vehicles to Advertise Your Small Business

Having a small business can be tough work, with a small budget and a long list of things that need doing. Advertising is all about getting your name out there, with numerous ways to go about it, but what better way to do it than an eye-catching wrap for your vehicle. Getting a vehicle wrap will not only make a memorable first impression but a lasting one at that. If you’re not already sold on the idea, here are some benefits to sway you forward.

Economical

As mentioned earlier, small businesses are put under tight budget pressures. Putting your advert on billboards and other recurrent-cost methods just guzzles your finances. Vehicle wraps from companies like remixwraps.com are cost-effective, with the average professional price for a full wrap being $2,500-$5,000. This seems like a lot of money, but the staying power will give you years of advertisement, and you will easily make a return through increased custom.

Protection

Having your car vehicle wrapped will add a layer of protection from dents and scratches made by flying debris. You don’t need to worry about damaging the original paintwork of the vehicle because specialists can easily remove the vehicle wrap; you will never know it was there.

Attention Please!

Colorful vehicle wraps will put your company above the rest; white vans just don’t grab people’s attention. Your colorful vehicle will automatically draw eyes. When designing your vehicle wrap, you can use color to generate different responses by doing a little reading into color psychology.

Far and Wide

If you’re lucky enough to have a fleet of vehicles and travel across the country, you can reach thousands of viewers per month. Vehicle wrapping is often seen a lot more over people stumbling across websites by chance because anyone can access the advert.

Subtlety

On the whole, customers react better to advertising that isn’t in their face, like radio adverts and handing out flyers. Advertisements with as few disruptions to potential customers are the most effective. Vehicle wraps get your message across without causing any disturbance to anyone. Another form of non-aggressive advertising is using social media.

Get Moving

Stationary adverts like billboards rely heavily on potential customers coming across them, and during rush hour, these are likely to be the same people daily. Investing in a vehicle wrap allows your advert to become mobile and will be seen by more people.

DIY

You should ideally get a professional to do your car, but it is possible to do it yourself. It will take longer, and you could mess it up before you master it, but once you have you have mastered the technique, you will save a lot of money – especially if you have more than one vehicle.

Hopefully, now you have seen enough benefits of vehicle wrapping for adverts that you’re already scrambling to get a quote. If not, then get on the phone and speak to a reputable specialist – an investment in vehicle wrapping is a futureproof spend.

 

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin Hits $50,000 For The First Time Ever!

UPDATE: Bitcoin just crossed the $51,600 mark

 

——

Ladies and gentleman, the inevitable has finally taken place with the Bitcoin officially surpassing $50,000.

Years ago, it was just $300 and then went up to $500 and then $1000 and $2000 and then just like that it was $10,000 and $20,000 and now it has blast through the $50K barrier.

The cryptocurrency market has been volatile since its early days, but Bitcoin has shown consistency and progress on its way to the holy grail of $50K.

Bitcoin’s market cap has grown past world’s largest financial institutions, such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, and is close to reaching 1 trillion dollars. with the price of 1 bitcoin now at merely $50,245.

“Good morning to everyone except the people who said Bitcoin would never reach $50,000” @APompliano 😂

— Bitcoin (@Bitcoin) February 16, 2021

Bitcoin has been very active lately and seems to be taking over the mainstream with the recent Tesla announcement that it has invested over $1.5 billion in the digital currency and would start accepting bitcoin as a payment method for its products when the powerful B has seen its price close in on the milestone.

In addition to that, Mastercard will also begin facilitating cryptocurrency transactions during 2021.

Analysts are projecting the popular cryptocurrency will reach over $100,000, then $150,000, then $200,000 and so on and so forth, but predictions are good for what they’re worth.

Deals

Best iPhone 12 Accessories Everyone Must Have

So you’re getting yourself a brand new iPhone 12. Congrats!

Now what? Which accessories can you get these days? What accessories should be good for your daily use? Thanks for asking, that’s why we’re here.

The iPhone 12 offers new MagSafe accessories designed to deliver improved functionality and a smoother user experience.

While it may seem like Apple just wants you to spend more money on stuff you should have gotten from the start, what you may discover may actually enhance your daily life.

We rounded up some of the coolest accessories available to help you make the most of your new iPhone 12.

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Deals

The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide: Best Gifts and Ideas For Everyone

2020 was a crazy year for the consumer-facing industries

For many, it was a very challenging year, but every challenge is a step to making things better.

The holiday season is going to look very different this time, but even as we may be forced to stay indoors and away from people outside in favor of more intimate work and entertainment, the shopping experience has suddenly and dramatically changed and shifted more traffic to digital channels and online shopping.

As the year is drawing to an end, we would like to highlight a few of the more attractive and popular products that we liked, products that were always on our wish list and that helped us shape our year for the better.

This list offers some inspiration, ideas, and gifts to buy and give to your loved ones.

 

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Audio, Cryptocurrency

AirPods Max vs Ethereum, Which Would You Rather Buy?

Apple has just announced their new and most advanced $549 AirPods Max noise-canceling headphones, set to arrive on December 15th and competing with Sony and Bose with nearly double the price. The company justifies the high price tag with “incredible high-fidelity audio, adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancelling, and spatial audio,” like the AirPods Pro.

On the other hand, Ethereum digital currency which has recently launchced its next itteration, also known as Ethereum 2.0, started to soar since the epic launch last Tuesday.

Both offer great value and are popular in the market, but which would you prefer more at $600?

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Applications

8 Best Home Cleaning Apps for Android & iOS Everyone Must Try

What’s one way to make your home more pleasant while reducing the stress and headache of getting it done? Why not try one of the cleaning apps from this round-up The Cleaning Services Group developed to help singles, families and friends make an unpleasant task more manageable?!

Keeping your home clean makes a difference with everything from comfort and organization through to health and safety. 2020 has been defined as a year where we look at our environments very differently with an unprecedented global public health crisis leading many people to spend weeks and even months in lockdown inside their homes. Keeping our homes clean is more important than ever before yet it’s possibly even harder than in pre-coronavirus times.

Taking steps to prioritize, simplify and even enjoy cleaning is possible with the apps in this round-up. Still not sure? Well, ESparkBiz says there are many positive impacts to introducing cleaning apps into your routine. They said, “There is no doubt about the concept of on-demand house cleaning app[s] which has changed the whole perspective of digital innovation, by providing the users with a solution to the most common problem of their lives.” With proof of concept, it’s time to check out the full list of apps selected for their:

  • Ease-of-use
  • Overall ratings
  • User friendliness
  • Opt-in for extra users
  • Customizability

Spick & Span: The Ultimate Cleaning App Shortlist

 

1.   OurHome

This app is a gamified task system that will get every family involved in the chores. An organized interface means you can individually allocate responsibilities as well as assign To Do’s for today or tomorrow. It’s not just cleaning either — this is a comprehensive points system that covers everything you need to get done including exercise prioritization, taking the dog for a walk, and sorting the laundry.

Available for Android and Apple users.

2.   Done

Take your life beyond cleaning with this simple habit tracker that will improve more than just your dusty shelves! This colourful system creates tracking building blocks based on a motivational system that encourages progress and healthy routines all while letting you know when you’ve hit a streak and built a success chain.

Available for Apple users.

3.   Homey

Built upon principles of accountability and positive achievement with goals, this app is a great incentivizer for teaching kids about accountability. It’s also a great starting point for helping kids learn about money in the framework of motivation to meet targets like making their bed as well as understanding allowances.

Available for Android and Apple users.

4.   Unfilth Your Habitat

Make your cleaning about incremental completion so you can just get on with chores bit by bit rather than slog out marathon cleaning sessions. This app is definitely for users with a sense of humour who appreciate foul-mouthed prompts with a side of cleaning challenges to motivate you to get both gunk and germs gone!

Available for Android and Apple users.

5.   Tody

To help users keep up with home cleaning, this app works as a smart assistant so every resident can live comfortably without ever feeling guilty about getting behind on vacuuming, mopping and everything in between. Rather than battle overwhelm, Tody can be tailored to the user, is adaptable to your house size and uses a rating indicator system to track when you need to clean.

Available for Android and Apple users.

6.   Labour of Love

Couples and families are rewarded for getting through their chores and keeping their spaces pleasant in a collaborative way that uses appreciation to positively reinforce progress. The idea is to ‘marry’ users so that everyone feels valued for the tasks that are assigned to them as well as allowing them to log the errands they already complete in the day-to-day.

Available for Apple users.

7.   HomeRoutines

Reduce the monotony of repetitive tasks with this app that’s all about celebrating the

routine of mundane jobs with gold stars. As the name says, users can divide chores

between residents with frequency and time-related reminders serving as a catch-all

for a huge range of domestic life administration such as school drop-off, grocery

shopping and paying bills.

Available for Apple users.

8.   Clean My House

This intuitive app is built around supportive schedules you can custom-build for your family life including cleaning, errands and all of your important tasks. The personalization encourages all family members to get involved while reminders ensure nothing is missed and you can plan out an entire week without ever running out of milk, forgetting to pay a bill, or missing laundry day!

Available for Android users.

 

Read on for the full infographic that shares more details about each of the apps so you can make your life easier and mitigate any cranky moods around cleaning in your household all while making your surroundings more hygienic and pleasant whether you’re studying, learning or relaxing.

 

Home Cleaning Apps to Try in 2020 (Infographic)
Marketing

The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Business with Influencer Marketing

Today, the world’s most rising form of marketing is influencer marketing. About 40% of companies have started allotting a huge budget for influencer marketing and 80% believe that influencer marketing helps them achieve their company objectives. With the internet being accessible to almost everyone in the US, plus some of the biggest ISPs like Xfinity and Spectrum internet offering cheap internet, there are a lot of influencers with huge followers online. However, still, most of the people are unaware of how to take advantage of them.

What is Influencer Marketing?

The fusion of traditional and modern marketing methods is influencer marketing. It is a technique that corporations use by working with prominent bloggers, vloggers, or social media users to market their goods and services. These influencers hold a large following and a dedicated audience with which brands can gain recognition and even generate sales.

How does it work?

Influencer marketing is considered to successfully work with companies of all types and sizes, irrespective of whether you are a startup and want to create awareness, or a major company trying to promote a new line or push a particular product to offer. Brands would typically approach an influencer and pay them to make content regarding the products or services offered by a company. The influencer subsequently updates and shares the contents with their social network – typically Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc.

The price is traditionally negotiated and paid before the content has been produced to the influencer –generally based on the following size of the creator and surprisingly not on content quality.

Creating the Plan

Since 47% of users now use Adblock technology, influencer marketing is by all means the fastest and most efficient way of creating premium content for the consumers it is intended to attract. The strategic marketing approach can instantly boost brand awareness and supercharge sales.

Only ask yourself some crucial questions to get going first…

Why Use it?

In a survey carried out by the Keller Fay Party, 82 percent of respondents indicated that they were likely to obey an influencer ‘s advice. And, 70 percent of the young generation prefers goods promoted by non-celebrity influencers, according to a major Cultural Prejudice poll. Consumers are mostly attracted by micro-influencers because they are relevant, intriguing, and amiable – promoted by real people who themselves use and are satisfied by the brand and item. The engagement rates of micro-influencers have been shown to be higher than other big celebrities. Although major celebrities can set a massive network, it is highly likely that most of their followers won’t be in your brand – most of them being passive spectators instead of being active.

Micro-influencers, on the other hand, have devoted followers that are primarily engaged in their work. According to research, 3k to 10k is the ‘top pick’ for marketing, since, the engagement rate is inversely proportional to the audience size.

What is your Objective?

It is important to provide a specific campaign goal as it tells the content creator precisely what you expect of them. The first step towards creating exclusive, entertaining content for your brand is to prepare your approach and to identify your goals. It is all down to discovering out which technique best suits you.

Try to figure out what you want: is it boosting sales? Establish the image of your brand? You want to meet customers who are unaware of your company, or engage in the main target market?

For good quality material, a simple, succinct summary is important. This may be an inspiring vision across the board of your mood, a connection to a website, a discount code, and a submission that builds visibility and dedication.

How To Choose Suitable Influencers For Your Business?

After making a list of influencers, it is about time you find out who is worth talking to about partnering with you. You surely did some of this already while creating the list, but you ought to focus on discovering the right influencers for your company.

You have to deal with trustworthy and appreciable people. People who are effective and match your style and objectives. Therefore, observe their audience engagement, the audience must match well with the people you are targeting. Perhaps you should not spend time dealing with influencers that do not have a strong identity, your best option is to create a positive product experience – growing engagement levels and the impact of your potential relationship.

How To Sustain Healthy Influencer Relationships?

Influencers are smart enough to know how to best utilize their channels to boost the message of a brand in a way that works effectively for their followers. It is also very important to address the influencers with courtesy and compassion while choosing them – it is a partnership after all!

Final Thought

Most of influencer marketing lasts a couple of months only. However, taking the right approach with planning can prove to be extremely successful for your business, fulfilling all your goals be it creating brand awareness or generating profitable sales revenue.

Business

4 Sure-Fire Ways to Save Money During the COVID 19 Pandemic Outbreak

The entire market around us has shut down.

We are now finding ourselves lock inside our house without any chances to mitigate or interact with friends outside. Lockdown is in effect biasing us to our own home doors and not allowing us to go and interact with businesses, shops, visit malls, or theaters. All public places have now come to complete closure and as a result, many individuals have lost their jobs and their lives have come to an abrupt hold. Amid the chaos, one of the major concerns among these individuals is how exactly can they ensure their money can be secured. What lies ahead we do not know, but what we can harness today, is something that we do know. Our assets, our money, our savings! It’s all we have for survival.

Today, we are going to talk about 4 ways how each and every single one of us can save money. These lessons will not only help you to secure your finances during the pandemic but it will surely exceed it.

So without further ado, here are 4 interesting lessons on how one can secure their finances.

Lesson # 1: Organize Your Finances

Has the pandemic taken its toll on your already? Have you just lost your job or you’ve come to a spot where you’ve to spend your emergency funds? If you feel panicky or hyped up with anxiety, don’t fret.

Instead, go ahead and calculate how much are you left with and how long can you survive on it.

Now take out your notebook, jot down all your expenses in one place, and analyze how much you’re spending per week? Is there some way you can cut down on the luxuries if you can then there’s no better time than now to do it. Now compare the end results with the amount of money that you might get either from the government or some secondary source of earning. If you don’t have one, try searching up an online job at Glassdoor or LinkedIn. There are many options on how to make money.

Analyze how long you can survive & establish a median between your earnings & your expenditures.

Lesson # 2: Minimize Your Billing Expenditures

There are several mortgage lenders and capital financing firms out there who are more than willing to lend money at the hour of your need. They have helped many businesses survive when they were going through a tough time. They have plenty of investments and right now, many of these capital investors are interested in helping those who have experienced a reduction in income or totally lost their jobs. If someway, you can reach these guys and show them that you’re in need, they just might help you. Getting helped by lenders is one thing but at the same time, it is important that one must cut down on his/her expenditures too. Again, I would like to emphasize money is a necessity right now.

For example, if you are burdened with credit card debts, you can always reach out to your bank and ask them to do you a favor by waving it off during this moment of crisis. If they do not agree, then you can ask them to at least lower the interest rates or completely mitigate them as survival gets difficult.

Such practices may make you sound needy but desperate time calls for desperate measures.

Lesson # 3: Ask For Discounts Where You Can

Businesses are at a demise and right now they are selling products at great deals and discounts. If you can cut down on cost some way, it’s by asking others to offer you a discount. So what if a store is not offering a good percentage off on a product/service, you can always choose to ask them for a discount on your own. Go ahead, be a little blunt and shameless, ask if they are willing to give you a discount on the following product or service because of the COVID outbreak. Who knows, you just might get a chance to purchase a product even at half the price from the original being in the moment.

At the same time, also offer them your help if in some way you can assist them, such as promotion.

These tactics can come in real handy because it’s all that businesses want right now, and if you can offer them this, you are capable of getting a decent discount & at the same time help businesses run.

Lesson # 4: Don’t Fret, Be Grateful for What You Already Own

Trust me!

The last piece of my cake of advice is, be grateful for all that you have right now.

Do you know that there are many people whose lives are in a much worst state than your own? There are plenty of homeless people who haven’t had a proper meal in days. They are living in the corner of the dumps, and on the streets where the virus is the most vulnerable and can infect them very soon. They don’t have access to clean drinking water, a roof for shelter, no proper hygiene, no food!

Such are the conditions for many and at times like this, when you the blessings of a roof and shelter, when you have food stocked up at home, or access to pure drinking water, then you must be grateful.

Pray and thank God for the blessings you have!

He surely works in mysterious ways.

So that’s the end of my article… I hope these lessons may have helped you decide what is best for you. If you enjoyed reading it, please feel free to share your comments with us and I will contribute more.

Internet, software

Download Managers: How to manage Internet Content Transfers

Download managers are a great way to manage content transfers from the Internet. Very useful, always, in the current era of increased traffic by telework, tele-study and leisure consumption imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, its use is advisable to improve transfers.

It allows you to take full advantage of the performance that the Internet connection you have contracted allows, whether you have a faster fiber optic connection or an ADSL. Although the acceleration of transfers is its strong point, download managers have other advantages as they allow you to automate transfers, schedule them, resume them, and generally better manage and administer content. In this article we are going to review the operation of the software and offer a  few existing free options.

How download managers work

These types of applications use mirror websites ( multiple mirrors ) with similar to speed up the download or automatically choose between several servers that have the file available, opting for the one that offers better stability and performance.

Another important point is its ability to resume deliberately paused downloads or interrupted by server or line error without losing the part of the files that had been downloaded until then. Additionally, it prevents an unfinished download from being corrupted if there is an accidental disconnection.

They also allow us to automate and schedule downloads or uploads at the time that interests us most, usually outside of the working day or at night when the networks are less saturated, in addition to downloading a large number of files at the same time prioritizing performance over those We are more interested in or limit the download speed so as not to saturate the connection and allow us to use the equipment in functions such as navigation

Other added benefits of download managers is file type management and more accurate information on transfer speed and download times. Some applications integrate antivirus for malware checking or a viewer for video and audio preview.

Download managers for browsers

This type of software has enough performance, administration and control advantages to keep a dedicated application installed. But if you think that you will only use it in these times of confinement due to traffic congestion, you can start without having to install independent applications by activating some of the existing plugins for the main web browsers, such as:

1. DownThemAll (Firefox)

It is the manager that we like the most for the Mozilla web browser and one of the best absolute integrators you can find. Its integration with Mozilla is perfect and it is even integrated in the Firefox download menu. It is capable of detecting all the media links on a web page (with the corresponding filters), automatically downloading at high speed and allowing them to be summarized.

2. Video Download Helper (Firefox and Chrome)

Ideal if you are looking for a program for occasional video downloads on the web. It does not work with some YouTube videos as it usually happens with these managers.

Chrono Download Manager (Chrome). Exclusive to the Google browser, it integrates very well with the interface and use of its download system. Includes the “Chrono Sniffer” function that detects all links, images, audio and video on a web page.

3. Fruumo Download Manager

Without as much integration as the previous one, it does its job as a manager in the Google browser with an intuitive interface. Very simple, but download, pause and resume downloads like the rest.

4. EagleGet

Without the power of the installable version, you can integrate it into Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera.

ALSO READ: Bollywood Box Office Collections and Verdict Report

Independent download managers

For those who want to keep browsers as clean as possible and the most complete options in download managers, independent applications are the ones that work best. We leave you some of the most interesting:

1. JDownloader

One of the most used especially when we work with direct download services and multiple files. An open source platform written in Java with a lot of plugins to use with the options of the previous ones, such as the separation in packages to allow to pause and continue the downloads individually.

It has captcha recognition, allowing batches of downloads without user intervention. In addition to Windows, it has versions for Linux and Mac. If you use many direct download servers, it’s a reference.

2. FlashGet

A classic download manager that has been with us for nearly 20 years and that promises to speed up transfers “between 6 and 10 times”. It includes the general characteristics of a download manager including virus checking. You can download from websites, from FTP and even .torrent files although in this case it is always better to use a dedicated P2P client.

To start a download, simply drag the download link into a small window that acts as a minimal interface. An interface that could use an update, although for many it is still the best in the industry. It also has a portable application.

3. Free Download Manager

Another good download manager (free alternative to the well-known Internet Download Manager) that can also be used in a portable version on all your Windows devices without the need for installation.

Like the previous download managers, it increases the download speed by dividing the file into pieces and connecting from various mirror sites, it allows you to resume and schedule downloads, a video and audio viewer before the download is finished, and a long etc. It includes the HTML Spider function that allows you to download entire websites.

4. EagleGet

Simple and efficient, it promises to increase the download speed by up to six times what it would take for simple direct download from a web browser.

It is multilanguage, has pause and resume capabilities, day and time programming, integrity checker, malware checker and even video format converter.

5. BitComet

You probably know it more as a client for BitTorrent, but it also includes support for HTTP and FTP protocols, which allows it to act as download managers.

 

Please let us know if you ever used any download manager, and which of the ones is your top most favorite.

Marketing

9 Effective Email Marketing Tips That’ll Help You Generate More Leads and Revenue

Leads, leads, leads, they are wanted by everybody, and once you have some, you want more. When you do get longer, you want far many better-quality ones. It’s all part of conducting business. When we have done a survey of small business owners earlier this year, 45 percent of them said their biggest challenge is revenue generation.

Getting them is another matter while everybody wants more leads. Lead generation is a whole specialty unto itself. There are lots of strategies. Some are more successful than others, and some are more expensive. Most experienced salespeople enjoy the ways that were proven. The lead generation tactics which don’t cost an arm and a leg do not need a staff of ten and do not expect a degree. Just like useful, that is a humble old email.

In its crux, marketing is about building confidence with your own existing and potential clients. To accomplish that, you may work with a personalized transactional email, a promotional email, free shipping coupons, and anything else that will encourage devotion. Email creates a brief list of approaches for lead creation, but Ascend reminded all of us it is. The email came in as the most effective online tactics for lead production.

Read on if you would like to test out the # 1 technique for lead gen, or if you want some new ideas for how exactly to get your email lead gen better. All these are some of the methods around:

Effective Newsletter

A newsletter is a traditional means of boosting your brand and staying on top-of-the-mind of one’s visitors. However, what Entrepreneurs miss would always be to make them enlightening and relevant to their clients. Most of the newsletters are too self-promotional when they should be quite the opposite.

It’s necessary to continue to keep the viewer and their interests once you craft a message. Build the information of most newsletters based on customers their interests, pain points, frequently asked questions. You may also consult with several eBooks’ newsletters (based on web analytics along with societal networking metrics), that you’ve sent before and design accordingly.

More Cost-Effective than Traditional Marketing.

Email marketing is relatively inexpensive in comparison with other traditional marketing tactics such as direct mail and print press. While these conventional print marketing tactics require you to shell out money on printing and advertisement space, email marketing requires just a small investment of resources and time at developing content. Along with relatively low operational expenses, email marketing additionally offers an attractive return on investment (ROI). According to a report from DBS Data, organizations can expect an average yield of 38 for every $1 they spend on marketing.

Peoples Check their Email Almost Everyday

How often you open your email on the mobile product or your pc? Whether it’s work-related or personal, most people today check their email at least once every day to see what new messages they have received. To make sure, they assess their inbox 20 times each day. And 68.9 percent of those recipients receptive marketing messages using their mobiles 2-3 days each week. It usually means that email marketing provides small businesses the advantage of getting before their audience. The easy fact your customers check their email every day could be the essential benefit.

Automate your Sales Cycle

Email marketing automation allows you to boost your earnings cycle. Your business can utilize email automation tools to develop trickle campaigns, which send email messages to individuals within a group program, helping you make automated touchpoints with clients.

You might set automation attempts up to trigger specific messages when an individual chooses an action on your website. For example, if the customer visits your pricing site but then leaves your site, you can reach out to them via an automatic message to be sure they haven’t any further questions.

Easy to Track and Measure

With email marketing, you can look at how many people reading are starting, and even clicking through your articles. It enables you to see just how much of a return on investment these campaigns are currently offering your business and to decide if your email promotions are successful. Since you make alterations to messaging subject lines and kinds of supplies, you’re able to carry on to track success to find out which strategies are bringing you the most useful results.

Reach an Already Engaged audience

Email marketing is one of that only platform which consumers ask to receive. Messages sent by most organizations using the platform to people individuals who have signed up to get them. It will enable conversions that are higher as a company is targeting.

It is possible to send unsolicited marketing messages. However, this is only likely to frighten consumers and lead to a brand image. As a business that offers email marketing applications, we suggest that you don’t use lists for the email marketing — as the outcomes, you’ll notice from acquiring customers and growing your record will cause results.

People Prefer Email

Customers and your leads are more inclined to see and do it on your marketing emails because lots of these are currently excited about receiving this kind of communication from you. According to Marketing Sherpa, 72 percent of U.S. adults prefer email communications from businesses. That compared to only 17 percent of U.S. adults that prefer communicating through social networking channels.

Content is Shareable

Make your email content sharable. It helps enhance your reach and deliver networking. Add share buttons in your email, which let Making your email marketing content shareable and accessible.

You Can Reach People on Any Device

More and more people are assessing their email from their mobile devices. Based on the most recent figures published, 41.9 percent of email opens using smartphones. What does this mean for your business? You may use email marketing to reach people no matter what sort of device they’re on, improving visibility, or where they are and reach over time. Make sure that your mails are simple to open and read from mobile devices, paying attention to image sizes as well as the total amount of text.

 

smart home

4 Modern Smart Technologies For Your Home That’ll Make Your Life Easier

Most people have a lot to do in their daily lives: a 9-5 job, caring for kids, making dinner, cleaning the house, finding time for hobbies and extracurricular…some people even work two or more jobs to make ends meet!

Well, the good news is that you can streamline your daily life with smart home technology, and it is amazing! It’s trending in 2020 and becoming a staple of many home and kitchen appliances.  From the simple things in life, from turning your lights on and off or setting your alarm to the more complex voice activation and surveillance, smart home technology can do it all.

 

Here are four of the most popular modern smart home appliances.

Amazon Echo

The Amazon Echo is a Bluetooth smart speaker that features a familiar voice: Alexa, Amazon’s virtual assistant. You have easy access to the breadth of content on the internet if you need to look up recipes, gifts for your family, play your favorite YouTube video…whatever you need!

You can also integrate Alexa with your smart lighting system, Nest thermostat, cameras, and much more. We’ll go over more of these modern smart devices below. But before we do, here’s a cool way you can integrate your Alexa with other devices.

Pair Alexa with IFTTT, which stands for  If This Then That, and you’ll have increased functionality across the board. IFTTT allows you to connect your smart devices to one another, and automate all reminders, alerts and toggle chains (for lights, thermostats, and more).

The Echo family includes smart tablets and speakers as well that you can check out here.

Philips Hue Smart Lighting

Even something as simple as turning on and off your lightswitch can be made even simpler and automated. The Philips Hue Smart Lighting products allow you to change the intensity of your lights and the color! Sure, colorful lights aren’t a necessity for your home, but they can be a great surprise for your guests or a fun way to inject some life into a party.

At the very least, you can integrate the lights with your Google Assistant, Alexa, or IFTTT for incredible ease of use.

Check out Philips Hue Smart Lighting here.

Google Assistant

Like Alexa for Amazon, Google’s developed its own virtual assistant, Google Assistant. Google has incredible access to its own search engine data. This makes it tremendously powerful when it comes to assisting and alerting you and helping you get through your day more efficiently.

In October 2019, Perficient Digital conducted a study that showed that the Google Assistant answers more questions than Alexa, Siri, and other voice assistants – it’s also more accurate than its competitors. The Google Assistant was found to be about 90% accurate and uses natural language better than its rival Amazon Echo.

You can find the Google Assistant here.

Nest Thermostat

Rounding out this list is the Nest Thermostat. This smart thermostat works with most heating and cooling systems and allows you to control your thermostat from your smartphone! It will even automatically turn up and down your home’s temperature as you come home and leave. That way you only pay to heat or cool your home when you are there. It’s brilliant!

Not only that, but Google reports on their site that “Independent studies showed that Nest saved people an average of 10% to 12% on heating and 15% on cooling.” So you’re getting great savings and exceptional convenience!

With the Nest, you can ensure your home is comfortable, always.

Thanks for reading about four of the most popular smart home technologies. These products will bring you savings, convenience, and they’re great conversation starters. When was the last time you saw someone with red and green lights in their family room?

 

So, what are you waiting for? Enjoy the latest in home automation.

software

Why It’s Important To Update Your Windows Drivers

What are Device Drivers?

Device Drivers are programs that help your PC to communicate with various hardware components connected to it. Along with your hardware devices like printer, webcam, etc, your software programs like Word, Excel, games also need a proper and updated driver for smooth functioning.

Outdated Drivers can make your system sluggish and result in noticeable performance degradation issues. Updating device drivers from time to time will solve most of the issues, but automatic updating is what we need.

This blog will help you in understanding the importance of updated drivers and when you should update them.

Why Do I Need To Update My Windows Drivers?

Broken or outdated drivers can prevent system programs and applications from working, result in error messages and can cause frequent system crashing issues or can simply degrade its overall performance.

If you want your system to work in good operating conditions, you should always ensure that your device drivers are updated, this will also save you from falling into any potential problems. Neglecting driver updates is something that should not be missed at any cost.

But do we need to update all our drivers?

Well, the answer is No. If your drivers are not outdated, don’t fix them. We always hear, regular updating is crucial to fill any stability and security voids, but there are few hidden exceptions to it.

The Golden Rule is: If particular hardware is functioning properly, then there is no need of updating as it might result in some compatibility issues.
Common Issues Caused by Broken Device Drivers:
Most system issues and complications are caused by broken drivers. The most prominent and annoying ones are:

1. Monitor Display and Screen Crashing Issues

There is nothing more frustrating than staring at a blank PC screen. One of the most common causes of the blue screen is device drivers that are severely broken and outdated.

2. Inability to Detect Your Windows USB Mouse

Outdated drivers can handicap the basic functionality of your PC, and mouse recognition is one of them. If your system is working on broken drivers it might not be able to recognize your mouse and display a “not detected” error.

3. Webcam Problems

The webcam is a crucial element that supports amazing video chat and video calling experience on various platforms. A dysfunctional webcam can result in highly annoying circumstances especially when you need it for some important work.

The best way to handle such issues is to ensure that all your webcam drivers are updated from time to time. Picking the Best Driver Updater Software will imperil your PC webcam and will also support its vital functioning.

4. Another Important Reason, Why is It Important to Update Device Drivers

Broken drivers can result in security loopholes making it vulnerable to malicious software and cybercriminals. Therefore, security updates are released from time to time to patch these voids.

A system running on updated device drivers is the safest to use. It saves you from disastrous levels of damages both at the business and personal front.

Reduced gaming speed can be another issue associated with broker Windows drivers.

So, now that we are well aware that updated drivers are important for your PC’s optimal functioning, let’s walk through some of the methods on how you can update and fix driver issues.

How to Update Windows Driver?

1. Check for Windows Update

Although Windows keeps updating most of the software regularly, there are many instances where you have to install and update the latest Driver manually. To do so, follow the simple steps as mentioned below.

  • Open the “Settings’ ‘ tab, and choose Select “Update & Security”. Next click on “ Windows Update”.
  • From the displayed window, click on the updates option.

2. Use Device Manager to Update Device Drivers

This is the following activity from point number 1, if you are unable to find any update requirements, then you can manually update your Windows driver using Device Manager.

  • Open Device Manager
  • Right, click on the driver you wish to upgrade and then choose “Update Driver Option”.
  • From the displayed options click on “ Search automatically for updated driver software”.
  • If the latest version is available, your Device Manager will automatically do it. However, if no results are found, you may directly download one from the Manufacturer’s website.

However, using the Manufacturer’s support website for checking driver updates can be a tedious and time-consuming activity. We would recommend you to use a good driver updater tool that will automatically check and update all your broken drivers

3. Use Driver Updater Software

Driver Updater tools offer the easiest and the most effective ways to enjoy optimal system performance. These tools will automatically scan and update all your broken Windows drivers within seconds.

Wrapping up

When it comes to maximizing system performance, choose wisely and smartly. Updating outdated drivers is always a good choice, but doing it manually may not be the smartest thing to do.

Choose a good Windows driver Updater for hassle-free working and enhanced PC performance.

Computers, Tech

5 Areas to Manage as a Tech Company Selling Their Flagship Product

A company that is known through its flagship product has a huge responsibility to manage the production and sale of this product efficiently. Companies can expand to offer other products but not without the consistent revenue created by a company’s cash cow of a product. Maximizing revenue from the product should be the primary goal while balancing the product’s quality simultaneously. A company that continually relies on the newest releases of their flagship product for annual revenue need loyal customers. Consumers that have had issues with iPhones could swear them off for the Android equivalent. One mistake or glitch can lead a customer to go elsewhere so quality should never be low priority.

Inventory Management is Imperative

Inventory management needs to be closely monitored as running out of a certain piece of a product can halt production indefinitely until the parts come in. Manufacturers need to have a software that helps with this as it can be easy to overlook a certain part of inventory if numerous parts are needed per product made. Multiple channels to find the same part can be essential especially if one partner runs out of parts unexpectedly on a regular basis. Doing an IC search can help list out parts as well as companies that produce these parts around the world.

Customer Service Needs to be a Focus

Customer retention needs to be as high as possible when it comes to a flagship product. Different generations of a product can span over decades allowing a company to be profitable over considerable amounts of time. John Deere tractors and lawnmowers are a great example of products that are used for a lifetime. Entire families use the same brand lawnmower especially if they live on a large piece of land or a farm. Being able to quell the concerns of an customer that is upset can salvage a relationship that leads to multiple future purchases. Addressing the concerns of the customer will also give the product another chance in their minds if sent a new model. Social media is a platform where people can voice their complaints in a public way so others can see. Failure to respond to these complaints looks like lack of care for the customer. Saving a relationship with a customer by offering a discount or replacement is well-worth the time/new product.

Offers to Purchase The Rights of the Product

A smaller company might be approached by a tech giant to purchase the rights to the product. The Oculus Rift is a great example of a product that helped a small company be absorbed by Facebook for an immense payout. Offers might come pouring in depending on the popularity of the product as well as what kind of patent it may or may not have. Partnerships should not always be rejected as the right partner can take the sales of the product to new heights. Keeping a record of all of these offers as well as expiration dates of the offers need to be handled. The ultimate decision to sell the rights to the could be up to a committee of investors so gathering these offers in an organized way is essential.

Improvements/Updated Versions

Improving a product is going to happen with time as materials improve to become lighter or more eco-friendly. The tough aspect to manager during the improvement of a product is not to change the product too much. Losing the integrity of the original product can lose customers that thought the original product was practical. Slowly rolling changes out over time can help sell more products as everyone wants the best version of a product they use consistently. Feedback from customers can be the perfect way to prioritize updates to the product as this data can easily be gathered from reviews across the internet. Market research over time can be a huge help as well as seeing the way consumers are thinking in terms of a product over time is valuable information. Seeing the trends of consumers can allow a company to update a product in a way to appeal to the current owners and potential buyers.

Client Managers Meeting Face to Face with Large Accounts

A tech product that is sold in retail store across the country truly has expanded its reach into the daily shopping experience. The account manager that deals with large accounts like that of Walmart need to meet with their point of contact face to face a few times a year. A product being on the shelves of this retail giant is far more valuable than visiting this client weekly if need be. Client managers should build rapport with clients as well as take them out to dinner/entertain them. The point of contact for a large client will not leave a business relationship they are happy with as long as it continues to be mutually beneficial. A tech company selling their flagship product in all major retailers is a recipe for success but the competition to do so is intense.

Selling a flagship product needs to be done carefully as tarnishing the name of the company or product can spell doom for a business. Take the time to focus on manageable details to help increase the likelihood for success!

Design, software

How Augmented Reality Is Being Used in Home Decor

Augmented reality or AR is growing at a compound annual growth of 24.4% and is predicted to be worth $950 million by the end of next year. This technology may seem futuristic, but in reality it’s being used in a variety of different markets. From construction to maintenance, AR is able to solve problems and make processes faster and easier. 

One unlikely candidate for this type of technology is the home decor and renovation sector. While a home remodel might not strike you as a space to integrate digital content with the real world, there are many innovative apps that are doing just that. 

Augmented reality apps allow you to do a variety of things, from see how furniture will look in your apartment to test out paint colors to measure the room and create a floorplan. These AR apps make the process quick, easy and attainable to anyone not just contractors and interior designers. 

 

How Do These AR Apps Work in Your Home?

Each app has a different set of directions based on its intent, but in general they can be figured out in a few steps. First you’ll be selecting the feature you want. This could be a new sink for the kitchen or a rug for the living room. Some apps allow you to choose specific products you can buy and others give you generic items to test out.

Once the product is chosen, you’ll scan the room with the camera on your phone. This will give the AR software an idea of the original space. Often times the app will direct you to scan the floor so it can gauge the depth of the room. 

When the room is scanned, you’ll be able to view how your feature looks in the home. You can adjust its size and position to how you would normally have it and see if it will fit in the space. 

animation of augmented reality in home decor

 

7 AR Apps You Can Try in Your Home

Not all AR apps are the same. They each have a different specialty. To help you decide which is best for your home, ApartmentGuide has a list of seven augmented reality apps for the home. 

Build.com

This is an app made for remodeling the home. It specializes in home appliances and allows you to experiment with different finishes and styles. 

magicplan

This AR app will help you measure how many square feet you have in your home. This is helpful when renovating or viewing a new home. It will create a floorplan so that you know exactly how much space you have to work with.

Graham & Brown

This company lets you visualize a new paint color or wallpaper on your wall without sampling it yourself. This app will also estimate how much wallpaper or paint you’ll need to complete the projects which save you money and time. 

ColorSnap

ColorSnap is perfect for those painting a room. It allows you to conceptualize a color palette and will also suggest complementary colors to try. 

DecorMatters

This app is made for redecorating your space. It allows you to view home furniture, decorations and art from popular stores like IKEA, Target, Overstock, WestElm, Crate&Barrel, Living Spaces and Ashley. 

roOomy

If you want to stage a room, roOomy allows you to create a custom design. This app is targeted towary homebuyers, renters and real estate agents.

Housecraft

This app allows you to see furniture in a space, but only provides generic furniture. This works well for people who don’t want to be pressured into purchasing anything right away. 

Cryptocurrency, software

HP and ExpressVPN’s New Partnership and What it Means

Introduction

When you shop for a new laptop or PC, it’s uncommon to see them bundled with some sort of anti-virus software. For example, if I go on to Best Buy and look at the newest laptops, Best Buy tends to throw in a 12-month subscription to Webroot, an anti-virus program.

Most of the time these offers go unused, as Windows Defender offers enough virus protection for most. HP knows this, and they want to go in a different direction, according to their new press release for their new Spectre laptop, the Spectre x360 13.

HP’s New Laptop and Partnership

The press release listed feature after feature, upgrade after upgrade, but the new security improvements are what caught my eye. A way to turn off the webcam, a dedicated mute button for the microphone, an optional, built-in privacy screen: all of these promised as new improvements for the new Spectre.

However, one announcement overshadowed everything else, and that was HP partnering with ExpressVPN, currently one of the more popular VPNs available on the market.

It’s not often that a VPN company partners with a tech company, so the announcement was a pleasant surprise. The partnership brings some benefits to users of the new Spectre as well.

First off, ExpressVPN will be preinstalled on the new Spectre 13, saving users from having to download it themselves. Along with this preinstallation, users will receive a free 30-day trial to the VPN, allowing them to use the VPN before locking themselves into a monthly/yearly subscription.

This may not sound all that special; after all, what good a 30-day trial to a VPN will do? Well, it can do quite a bit, especially if you’re using your laptop in public areas (coffee shops, libraries, universities, etc.).

VPNs keep your data encrypted while on a public network, so any cybercriminal or hacker hoping to steal your information will be unable to.

HP and ExpressVPN’s partnership highlights a growing need for better security in the tech industry, and it seems these two companies are attempting to pave the way for this to take place, though it’s impossible to tell if it will work.

But what’s the harm in this promotional move? Nothing. In fact, ExpressVPN claims that more partnerships will be announced in the next few months, solidifying the growing focus the tech industry is shifting towards.

Conclusion

While HP’s new Spectre 13 won’t be released until sometime in mid-October, HP was kind enough to provide us with more than enough information about the new laptop. Furthermore, the new partnership with ExpressVPN will not only help secure users who may need it but will also spread awareness about the ways in which they can stay secure.

If you’re curious about VPNs, there are plenty of helpful guides to show you how they work. If you’re also interested in the new Spectre, feel free to check out the press release and keep an eye on HP’s website for when the Spectre releases.

software

Bitdefender BOX: An Easy Way to Keep All Your Smart Devices Secure

It’s the age of being smart. Not only in our thinking, but our devices have also become smart and have made our lives more convenient. However, with technology has come the fear of being intruded upon. Yes, there are many individuals who are waiting to hack your devices and unfortunately, you do not have anything major to stop them with. This is until you decide to invest your money in a Bitdefender BOX, which provides security to your smart devices. Below, we discuss how it does that.

 

Finds out weak points

First and foremost, Bitdefender BOX finds out how vulnerable your devices are and tells you how to remove those vulnerabilities. As a reputed IoT security solution Bitdefender BOX uses data from online sources to yield you this information.

Prevents attacks and stops exploitation

The Bitdefender BOX knows from where an intrusion can happen and it tell you what those weak points are. It also protects you against repeated forceful entry to access your passwords. There could be unlimited attempts to attack you but this device limits them. This means that once the ceiling of forced attacks is reached the box would halt automated probing.

Finds out anomalies

Bitdefender BOX will continually analyze your smart devices. When it notices any kind of suspicious activity it promptly notifies you about it. This in no way would affect the way your system is going to operate.

Blocks websites

With the assistance of a  free IoT scanner the Bitdefender BOX can also let you know which websites are prone to be infected by malware. So if you are planning to open any of the websites, the device would let you know and save you from getting your device infected.

Identification of phishing attempts

The Bitdefender BOX has a whole list of malicious links that it keeps for reference. It doesn’t matter which device you are working on. If you have reached a link which is a copy of the original link the BOX would detect and block its usage immediately. This way you know that your devices remain stay safe no matter what happens.

Protects your data

Sometimes you log in to websites which ask for your personal details. However, not all such websites are reliable and unknowingly you can give them the chance to take advantage of your data. Bitdefender BOX knows if the website can be trusted with this data or not and informs you so that you can stop yourself from making a huge mistake.

Takes care of all your devices

It is not as if the BOX would take care only of your laptop or computer. Whatever smart devices you have in your home will fall under the care of this device, and this means you get peace of mind, which is unbeatable. What’s more, if someone else comes to your home and uses his device with your Wi-Fi then he or she also receives the Bitdefender protection.

Conclusion

Bitdefender BOX is your all in one tool to keep all your smart devices working properly. In today’s time when hackers are just waiting to enter your system, you can use the BOX to keep them away. Plus you can also get the benefit of parental control which means that your children do not watch anything that they should not. With this device around you do not have to worry about buying antivirus software. It knows from where unwanted access requests can come from, and notifies you well in advance thus keeping the devices safe and data protected.

 

Video

5 Great Tips for Starting a YouTube Channel at Home

Whether you’re looking to connect with other like-minded people, grow an audience as a career, or just want to express yourself with something you’re passionate about, starting your own YouTube channel can be one of the best ways to move forward. We live in an age of content, and it’s not surprising you might want to try the path out for yourself.

However, getting started with your own YouTube channel is no easy feat, and while a lot of creating content is trial and error to see what works and what doesn’t, today we’re going to explore the top five tips you need to know to get off to the best start.

Get the Essentials

The amazing thing about YouTube is the fact that anybody can do it. All you need at a real basic level is a camera and a microphone. When you’re starting out, even just an iPhone or smartphone will be enough, but there are a few pieces of basic equipment that can help you improve your quality from the word ‘go.’

Things like gimbal stabilizers, tripods, external microphones, lenses, decent lighting equipment, and memory cards are all fantastic things that will help you make content easier. Don’t forget you’re also going to need some form of video editing equipment!

Provide Valuable Content

When you’re going through your content during the editing process, you need to make sure every single second of content is providing value to your viewers. You might spend days, weeks, or even months creating and recording content, but if it doesn’t fit into the final cut, don’t put it in or try and force it. Create a plan you can follow.

The idea of creating content is the fact that you enjoy yourself, and you keep your viewers engaged in what you have to offer. Of course, if your style is to be all over the place, that’s also fine!

Quality Audio is Key

So many YouTubers starting out will focus on making sure their video is the highest possible quality, and everything looks as good as it can be. However, it’s important to remember that the audio is just as, if not more, important. If people can’t hear what you’re saying and can’t listen to your ideas, they’re not going to be able to connect with you.

Whether you need to invest in a proper microphone or learn how to sound proof a room, there are plenty of ways to improve the quality of your audio easily. Again, just keep it in mind as you’re creating content!

Start Small, Build Up

Just because you’ve started making content, you don’t need to splash on expensive equipment and fancy editing software that costs thousands of dollars. Start small with free software and experiment. Get to know the features and what it can do, and slowly build yourself up over time. This will help you learn the skills you need, rather than overwhelming yourself too quickly.

Use Other Social Media Channels

Just because you’re on YouTube, doesn’t mean you need to just stay on YouTube. Instead, start a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account to work alongside your YouTube channel. You can create other content throughout your day, and it will help you grow and interact with your audience, only resulting in more loyal viewers.

Summary

Whereas you can follow these tips to help you successfully get started on YouTube with your own channel, it’s important to remember that everyone’s journey is different, and you’ll need to think outside the box and, most importantly, be yourself!

General

5 Simple Useful Gadgets for Your Everyday Life

 

What is an essential gadget, you guys are asking yourself? Usually, it’s a product or an item that will make your life easier, often in unexpected way. The items below are relatively simple, but they truly can solve some daily little problems.

 

Light Up Charging Cables

Sometimes you need to look at your phone in the dark and you basically can’t find it without turning the main lights on (something that you don’t necessarily want to do).

This great idea has the right solution:  You don’t have to fumble around in the dark, and if you need to re-plug your phone in a snap, you can easily find it with the cable and light.

 

Esky Wireless Item Locator

Stumbling around and looking for items you misplaced in your home or struggling to find a last minute product can be very frustrating in times. But with this little gadget from a company called Esky your problems are likely to completely be gone.

All you need to do is simply press the color-coded key on the little included remote and the item locator will activate a sound that will help you retrieve the item you lost. Of course, not losing the remote control itself is a whole other story you are going to have to work on.

 

AquaNotes

Do you often have an idea that comes to your mind while taking a shower? Do you tend to forget it because you didn’t really have something to write on? Well, let me tell you something, you’re certainly not alone. But with this amazing gadget you don’t need to lose your ideas ever again.

It is true to say that if there is a problem, there will be a solution, and AquaNotes is just what you need for this tricky problem. Waterproof paper – simple, but amazing.

 

Compartment Pan

There are times when you want to cook several things for dinner, but you don’t necessarily want to cook more than what you really need for that particular meal you’re making, and Compartment Pan is exactly the idea that will help you with this problem.

 

Tablets

Tablets are great. They’re usually placed somewhere between your phone and your laptop. The best 8 inch tablet will fit easily in your bag, and will always keep you light when traveling abroad.

They are the best choice to make if your phone is just too small and your laptop is too heavy to carry all day long. You can either watch TV or can read a book on the go when you’re doing your way to work or just sitting in your home.

 

Conclusion

These cool little gadgets make great gifts for others, but also solve different issues in our day-to-day problems. They are mostly affordable and accessible to all, so if you think you deserve one it is time to make the call. Not just for yourselves or your beloved ones but for anyone you know. They’re essential and useful so enjoy ’em y’all.

Marketing

Step by Step on How to Optimize Any Content for Search Engines

Search engine optimization is arguably the most crucial part of the content game, after content itself. Search engines and content are two peas in a pod; your audience uses search engines to find the answers you create content to provide. If you’re not visible on search engines, your ideal audience can’t see the great content you’ve put out or convert to paying customers.

Search engine optimization is what you need if you’re trying to bring in new audiences; remember, great content is nothing if it doesn’t reach the people who need it. Moreover, more reads mean more leads and ultimately, more money for you. If your content keeps coming up when people search for related keywords, they’d be more inclined to trust and patronize you. In this article, we show you how to optimize content for search engines in a few easy-to-apply steps.

Create Your Content Strategy with SEO in Mind

A common mistake people make is that they create good content strategies but leave out search engine optimization. SEO isn’t just a promotional tool to bring in after you’ve created content; it should be the basis of your content strategy.

A good content strategy is premised on keyword and user intent research to find out what your target audience wants, what they’re likely to search for, and how you can meet these needs. When your content strategy begins with this, it’ll be much easier to create optimized content and rank on Google’s algorithm.

Create High-quality Content

After you’ve created your SEO based content strategy, the next step is to create high-quality content that’s relevant to the keywords you use. To calculate the relevance of your post and rank it, Google’s algorithms also check user experience and how long visitors stay on your page. If users typically leave your page within a few seconds of opening it, Google will mark your page as being irrelevant and give it a low rank.

Pro Tip: When you create high-quality content, your readers are likely to share it with their network, contact you for further information, and be willing to pay for your services.

To create high-quality content, pick out 1-2 long-tail keywords (more on this below) to center your post on. With the keywords in mind, you can create organically optimized content. When you have a clear and narrow topic – because you’re answering a particular question instead of writing broadly – it’s easier to create content where the keywords flow naturally.

Incorporate Long-tail Keywords that Match the User Intent

Ranking on SEO isn’t about using as many keywords as possible; in fact, using many keywords can hurt your SEO because Google considers this keyword stuffing, i.e. using many keywords to aid ranking. Using many keywords also takes away from the user experience, which is something Google uses to check if you meet the needs of your visitors.

What you want to do is focus on a few long-tail keywords (phrases with 3-4 words) that your reader is likely to search. This helps you keep the focus of your post narrow enough, so you spend your time optimizing for a few keywords and keep you focused on answering a particular question your reader has.

When you focus on long-tail keywords – which are usually question based – you’re more likely to attract visitors who will read your entire post, and have a higher chance of converting and earning you money.

Include the Chosen Keywords in Specific Areas of Your Post

There are certain essential areas of your post where you should include your keywords; these are your Title tag, URL, meta description, headers and body.

Your title tag is the first contact the Search Engine, and the readers have with your post. It’s how they know if your post is relevant to the search. Google’s algorithms cut off your title tag after the first 60 characters, so ensure you put the keywords in the first 60 characters of your title tag.

Your URL, unique to every post, is another thing search engines look at to know what your post is about and rank it. Take advantage of your ability to customize your URL to optimize it for SEO by including as many as two keywords in it.

A meta description is the short description of a page that comes up on SERPs. This can be a section of your post with the relevant keyword or a specially curated summary. When writing your meta description, include your long-tail keywords, try to answer the question the reader is asking without giving so much away that they don’t need to open your page anymore. Also, keep in mind that meta descriptions are cut off after the first 300 characters so keep your copy straight and to the point.

Your keywords should be included in your headings and throughout your copy in organic ways that won’t come across as keyword stuffing and get you penalized. Focus on providing the information your readers need, and you’ll find that the keywords flow naturally into the text, whether directly or with synonyms.

Create Keyword Clusters

Since you’re focusing on 1-2 long-tail keywords per post, you won’t be able to speak about a topic in one post completely. This is where keyword clusters come in. What this means is that instead of having several posts with similar keywords who’d have to compete for ranking, you’d have a group of posts with the same primary keyword but different long-tail keywords, so they don’t compete for ranking on the same SERPs.

Using keyword clusters also drives traffic to several pages on your blog with just one search. How does this work? Well, the posts in the cluster – since they answer specific questions regarding a broad topic – would link to each other. Therefore, if a reader wants to know more, he’d be inclined to click on the hyperlink to your other posts. In essence, you’re getting views on several posts from one search engine query.

Conclusion

Optimizing your content for search engines is like the proverbial journey of a thousand miles; it begins with your first step. It can seem like a daunting task, but once you start, it gets easier. Remember to keep the focus on creating content your readers want to see and not on search engine visibility. Once you provide useful content and implement the right strategy, visibility is sure to follow.

Social Media

Facebook Privacy: 5 Settings Every User Needs to Know

Social media has caught up in mysterious ways! No matter how addicting it gets, we still can’t go for a day without using our social media accounts, especially Facebook. Yes, that’s right! Checking Facebook’s news feed is literally the first thing we do, and yes even before we get out of our bed. We somehow love to see what our friends have been up to, where they have partied this weekend or whether our favorite celebrity crush has uploaded any recent picture or not. Facebook is about everything!

But what about privacy? Don’t you think the over-dosage of social media accounts sabotage our privacy and increases the risk of being exposed online? We love uploading pictures and videos on our Facebook accounts and yes, we almost never forget to upload a status checking-in at our favorite restaurant or any place we visit. Well, the more you share, the more is the risk of exposing your privacy online. Wondering how can you secure your Facebook account while you can keep doing all the things we love ? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Here are some of the best Facebook tips and tricks that can make your social media experience a pleasant one while making a few tweaks in Facebook privacy settings.

Image Source: Abine

Let’s get started and explore a few Facebook tricks that can enhance the privacy and security of your account.

Facebook Tips and Tricks to Boost Privacy

Run a Privacy Checkup

Before we dig any deeper, first you should get an overview of your current Facebook privacy settings. As a responsible Facebook account user, one should be aware of all actively applied settings like who all can view your posts, which all third-party apps can access your basic account information, how does

your profile appear to someone who is not added in your contact list and so on. Well, what we do recommend you is to keep your posts restricted to minimum friends and followers who are a part of your inner circle. Don’t make all your posts public, unless if you’re a business page or a celebrity or social figure.

To review your privacy settings, log in to your Facebook account and open Settings. In the Settings window, select the “Privacy” section from the left-hand side menu pane. Here you can get a quick glance of your Facebook account setting and you can customize it to make your account more secure. You can choose who can see your future posts and also limit the audience of your previous posts.

Enable Two Factor Authentication

Talking of privacy, next on our list of Facebook tips and tricks comes enabling Two-Factor Authentication on your account. Enabling Two-Factor Authentication on your Facebook account will add an extra layer of protection where you’ll be prompted to enter a security code (via SMS) each time you wish to log in to your account.

To enable 2FA on Facebook, open Facebook Settings and switch to the “Security and Login” section. Scroll down until you find the Two-Factor Authentication option and tap on it. So, in case if you’ve not already opted for 2FA, tap on the “Get Started” button, follow the on-screen instructions and add an extra layer of security to your account.

View How Other People See your Profile

Well, this may sound obvious but if anyone wants to stalk you, checking your Facebook profile is one of the easiest things to do. Our Facebook account includes our entire history, from our birthday to places we visit, the music we like, family info, educational background, work info, and almost anything. Sharing all this info with your inner circle is fine, but not with strangers and stalkers, right?

Image Source: The Mac Observer

So, to make sure your Facebook account is secure one should be completely aware of how your Facebook profile appears to someone who is not added in your contact list. To check this, head on to your profile page, tap the three-dot icon on the bottom right corner of your cover picture and select “View as”. Here Facebook will tell you how your profile appears to public and you can review all your posts and content that is easily accessible on your account. Doing so can give you an upper-hand where you can customize who all can see your posts and info, and you can change the privacy of shared posts accordingly.

Third-Party App Settings

As Facebook has a gigantic user base that connects millions of people worldwide, it’s not just confined to connect with our friends and in fact, it has become a lot more than that! Facebook is also used as a promotional tool by marketers where they target us with advertisements and offers based on our interests and likes.

Image Source: CNET

So, to review which all third-party apps and services are associated with your Facebook account, here’s what you need to do. Head on to Facebook Settings> Apps and Websites to see which all third-party apps are being accessed through your Facebook account. If you wish to revoke the permission of any third-party app, tap the cross icon next to it!

Recover Deleted Messages on Messenger

Next on our list of Facebook tips and tricks is recovering accidentally deleted messages on Messenger. Yes, it does happen with all of us, right? So, let’s cut to the chase and explore one of the best Facebook Messenger tricks that will allow you to easily recover deleted messages within no time.

Well, all you have to do is open any active Facebook conversation on Messenger and tap on the gear icon placed on the top-right corner and select the “Archive” option. Yes, that’s right! Archiving your Facebook conversations is a great solution to keep all your conversations preserved. Even if you accidentally delete a text in a conversation, it will still stay preserved in Facebook data history.

Also, for more detailed information, tap on this link to know all about how to recover deleted messages on Facebook Messenger to keep your precious memories intact!

Wrap Up

So, fellas, this ends our quick list of Facebook tricks to ensure more privacy in your account. We would still recommend you limit the visibility and share restricted content on your Facebook account. Try to keep all your pictures, videos, and posts private, so that there’s a lesser risk in being exposed online. Privacy is a crucial concern and you should certainly not ignore it any cost especially while accessing social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram. Follow these above-mentioned Facebook tips and tricks to add an extra layer of security to your account.

Good luck and stay safe!

Summary: Checking Facebook’s news feed is literally the first thing we do to start off our day, right? But don’t you think the overdosage of social media accounts sabotage our privacy? Here are some of the best Facebook tips and tricks to protect your account.

——–

 Author Bio: – Chandra Shekhar Choudhary is working at Systweak Blogs, as an SEO analyst and technical Content Writer. His potential of writing is PC tips, Android and Mac tricks and he is anxious in writing other technical blogs. You can also find Chandra Shekhar on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

 

General

5 Important Things to Know about Arc Flash

Arc flash is a dangerous type of electrical accident caused when current jumps between voltage levels in an unintended way. The result is a powerful explosion that can lead to serious consequences. These are five important things to know about arc flash:

 

Human Error Is the Most Common Cause of Arc Flash

Some estimates say that about two-thirds of all arc flash accidents are caused by human error. The most common of these situations is when a worker doesn’t follow the protocol for ensuring equipment isn’t carrying a charge. When most people make a mistake at their job, they can just fix it. Arc flash doesn’t give you a second chance. This is an unfortunate reality of working with electrical equipment.

While mistakes on the worker’s part—either due to fatigue or simple oversight—are the most prevalent causes for arc flash, there are several other factors that can lead to it. Faulty components are another major risk. It’s important for enterprises to update any equipment that doesn’t adhere to OSHA standards. You can easily get any replacement parts from a company like Schneider Electric, which will help reduce the likelihood of arc flash.

 

Arc Flash Can Generate Temperatures Hotter Than the Surface of the Sun

Some people simply don’t understand the magnitude of an arc flash explosion. Electrical shock actually isn’t the primary danger of arc flash; burns are. On average, there’s more than one death every day associated with arc flash burns in the United States. Thousands are injured every year by these burns.

Arc flash is capable of creating incredible heat. In some cases, it has peaked at over 30,000 degrees Fahrenheit. To give you some perspective, the surface of the sun is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

You Need to Wear Special Clothing to Protect Against Arc Flash

Based on the previous point, it’s pretty obvious you don’t want to enter a situation where arc flash might occur wearing shorts and flip-flops. It’s essential for people working on electrical equipment to wear arc flash-protective clothing.

Even though having the proper clothes can help prevent burns, it doesn’t protect workers from all the dangers of arc flash. Hearing loss is a major concern in these accidents, as well as projectiles coming from the explosion area. It’s important for everyone within the immediate area of a potential arc flash site to take precaution.

 

Several Arc Flash Accidents Happen Every Day in the United States

Arc flash isn’t some once-in-a-lifetime event that you don’t really need to take seriously. This phenomenon happens multiple times every day in the U.S. All organizations that use electrical equipment need to consider the risks of arc flash.

The potential damage caused by arc flash can be devastating to individuals and organizations alike. Severe burns, broken bones, deafness, blindness, and death are all possible with arc flash. Even in the fortunate circumstances where no one is hurt in an arc flash explosion, it can still cause massive damage to equipment.

 

Arc Flash Is Almost Always Preventable

As mentioned earlier, human error is the most common culprit of arc flash accidents. While this can seem like a negative thing, there’s actually a positive element to it. Since mistakes are by far the most-cited reason for arc flash, there are steps that can be taken in order to reduce the likelihood of these incidents.

Better training for workers is one of the best ways to reduce the likelihood of arc flash. Make sure anyone working on electrical equipment has a thorough understanding of how to avoid an accident. Fatigue is one of the elements that leads to human error. Implementing protocol that limits workers from having to get into situations where they’re prone to making mistakes can help mitigate arc flash. It’s also management’s role to stay on top of updating and replacing equipment as necessary.

No one wants to deal with arc flash or its aftermath. But this is just a reality when it comes to working with electrical systems. Knowing more about arc flash, however, can help to lower its occurrence.

Business, Marketing

5 Great Customer Retention Ideas That Work

An army of loyal customers is every company’s goal. Yet, it’s one that can be quite hard to accomplish. Here are 5 ideas for customer retention that work.

1. Know Your Business

Having your own business means much more than having a job and paying you salary. Your basic roles are in finance, administration, marketing, and the responsibility of personnel. You need to know what you can deal with yourself and which parts you’re going to need help with. One person can rarely succeed in all of these to get the best results.

Many companies are run by people with great business acumen, yet they fail because they don’t have all the information they need to do their job. This includes a clear notion of marketing mix, market segment, customer service, target markets, product selection, promotional activities and pricing tactics. You need a well-devised business plan if you want to succeed. This will help you make the right decisions.

2. Pay for Good Training

Train your employees to always be available. Retail has always been about interacting with shoppers. Yet, staffs are often so busy multitasking that they ignore customers who are obviously looking for help. They need to be trained and taught that no task is more important than paying attention to customers because customers pay their salary.

If you have a larger company, you should train your managers to be the best salespersons. A manager probably won’t recognize, analyze, and give direction when a sale is lost if he or she doesn’t have the background knowledge to begin with. A good manager will know how to make a sale.

Finally, teach your managers how to train their associates. It can be that staffs are promoted to managerial positions not based on skills, but on how long they’ve been working for a company, and the disastrous results soon follow. They need proper retail sales training themselves if they’re to manage effectively. It takes more than criticism or praise. Both approaches can create a lot of damage to your staff that are left adrift.

3. Get a Reliable POS System

A full-scale POS solution like Aloha POS is of paramount importance to customer retention. It will allow you to efficiently manage all your back office activities. Reliable systems are rich in features to optimize inventory management and take the guesswork out of purchasing decisions.

A POS system addresses the needs of businesses in many sectors and industries, including grocery stores, convenience stores, apparel, fashion, and sporting goods, liquor, gift shops, and specialty stores.

Among its advantages are the following:

  • Top-Notch Order Fulfillment
  • Robust Email Marketing
  • eCommerce
  • Inventory Management

You’ll be able to attract more customers by offering better value. You’ll also be able to offer more opportunities to shop at your store. It’s your job to give your customers what they want, because if you don’t, they will stop doing business with you. The products and services you provide should be in tune with customers’ needs and wants.

4. Sustain your Unique Image

To attract more customers and understand them better, develop a unique image. This image is important and is a function of your marketing materials and efforts. Customers create their perceptions of your store from your name, location, web site appearance, products, prices, visual merchandising, displays, signs, business cards, customer service, newsletters, advertising material, and anything else that relates to your business.

Try to think like your customers do; buy, show, sell, and give them interesting information (not only what’s interesting to you). Your success is determined by the customer.

To maximize your online revenue, you need to develop a website where to sell your products. You can build the site yourself if you are familiar with HTML or similar programs and codes. It is essential that you determine the niche of your website. Some niches are less lucrative than others. You have to find a balanced relationship between passion and profit until you start making money.

For many years, many people have been selling private label products through sites like Amazon. The profit potential of the Amazon FBA program is huge. You need to make a product, choose a manufacturer and start selling this product on Amazon. The first step is having the right keywords. To obtain long-term customers, you need to acquire them to begin with, and this isn’t very easy either.

Also ,use multiple channels for customer service. This creates an opportunity to create an omni-channel experience, where the customer’s experience with the brand is consistent across different channels and devices. This brings about loyalty and greater customer satisfaction because it makes your customer service offer user-friendlier, which is exactly what your brand needs when your customers need assurance they will be served well, as always.

5. Market Based on Good Customer Experiences

Share any and all positive customer experiences with your brand with as many other people as possible. Collect customer feedback and share your reviews to inform your customers of the perks that your company can provide. Sharing “success” stories across an omni-channel communication system will be viable because new customers tend to trust old and loyal ones more than advertising. To maximize value, leverage these interactions effectively.

Creating customer loyalty is no easy feat, but know that customers are driven by their goals like all people and they will be loyal to the company that can meet their needs. If your competitor offers them a better deal, their positive experience with your company doesn’t matter. The customer will go for the better deal.

To build customer loyalty, you need to be aware of your customers’ needs very well. A multi-channel service system is one of the best ways to stay connected with your customers, particularly if they need help with something. Your customers will have better access to your service staff, which will generate a higher number of customer interactions. The more often you can interact with your customers, the better your chances of influencing their experience and retaining them.

General

Want to Boost Hospital Margins? Start with the Supply Chain

Most of us probably think of manufacturing and sales when we come across the term “supply chain.” And although that’s a justified association, supply chains play an important role in many other industries, too. The dictionary definition of supply chain tells us it’s the “sequence of processes involved in the production and distribution of a commodity.” And just think about how many industries besides manufacturing and retail deal with products—playing some role in connecting end users with these commodities.

Healthcare is a perfect example here. Hospitals are doing all they can right now to strengthen their bottom lines—an endeavor that requires cutting costs just as much as it does maximizing revenue.

Want to boost your hospital’s margins? Start with the supply chain, a solution that’s easy to overlook but can unlock significant potential gains.

 

Hospital Supply Chains: Missed Revenue Opportunity?

How hospitals source health equipment, products and medications matters big time for their bottom line. Even a slight cost difference between Item A vs. Item B can add up to a significant sum over time when you consider its use across patients on a regular basis.

One management consulting firm studied 2,300 hospitals and found that organizations nationwide could save $25.4 billion “if they improve their supply chain operations and harness data.” As Modern Healthcare reports, this translates to an average expense reduction for supply chain costs of 17.7 percent, or up to $11 million per hospital annually.

This study found that the hospitals leading the pack in terms of supply chain optimization are doing a few things right. First of all, they’re employing data-driven physicians capable of identifying cost-effective items and medications that perform equivalently to more expensive alternatives. This allows hospital staff to standardize the products they use in their care. After all, cutting costs in an impactful way requires getting everyone across an organization on board.

 

Exploring the Relationship Between Cost and Quality

There’s an assumption that products that cost more tend to deliver better results, right? This explains why so many consumers and organizations opt for name-brand products when the generic version performs the same or better.

But the latest wave of supply chain analytics from providers like ThoughtSpot can help organizations dive into data to study relationships between cost and quality. Here’s an example outlined in Becker’s Hospital Review: A hospital starts spending more on a certain product or process, but this increased expenditure is supposed to end up being offset by a reduction in infections. Only data will reveal the relationship here—whether springing for the more expensive initiative did, in fact, result in lowered rates of infection in patients.

This example just goes to show that hospitals today more than ever need a surefire way to study the effects of making changes to their supply chains. Self-service analytics, specifically, equip clinicians, nurses, administrators, pharmacists and more to conduct their own data analyses—asking questions and getting answers in seconds—rather than having to wait for an IT team to produce reports on their behalf. In an environment where time is quite literally money, speedy supply chain analytics can do wonders for a hospital’s margins and outcomes.

Not only does supply chain management matter in terms of cost, but it also affects patient outcomes—something every hospital should be striving to maximize in this healthcare climate.

Although most hospital leaders recognize the potential for supply chain management to ramp up return on investment (ROI), 27 percent of hospitals still have yet to utilize data analytics to evaluate their supply chains for opportunities to improve quality and efficiency. Another 19 percent of hospitals “aren’t even analyzing it at all.”

When you’re searching for solutions to improve hospital margins, consider the supply chain—and how better analytics can help you optimize operations here.

Tech, Wearables

Curious to Know What to Do With AR and VR? Look to the Artists

Most businesses are connected to the concept of using virtual and augmented reality in some capacity, and while the possibilities may seem endless, that concept also becomes quite overwhelming. Nailing down exactly what VR and AR can do for you may mean looking to where the technology is being used in its most creative form. At museums around the world, artists are stretching the limitations of this tech and it may be that through understanding their concepts one can find how best to employ these tools for their own purposes.

As museums create immersive concepts, pieces that allow for greater depth, and even some ways to change history, it’s crucial to consider what the best way to use this tech may be exploited for you. AR and VR are about to explode into everything from marketing and shopping to education and entertainment, and before that happens in earnest, it’s best to find out how you might explore the tech for your own purposes.

Below, Invaluable has an infographic showing innovations in AR and VR from museums around the world. All it takes is a small amount of imagination to see how this might connect to your and your own professional journey.

Cryptocurrency

A Scramble for Tech dominance: Governments Creating Favorable Environments for Advancement in a Bid to Corner the Market

Ten years ago, the current in-demand tech jobs such as Cloud Specialist, iOS and Android app developers, Big Data Architect, and Data Scientist did not exist.

Projecting forward, statistics indicate that 47% of the jobs now will disappear in the next 25 years thanks to the efficiency technology brings. Technology is changing lives and systems at an unprecedented speed, and governments are realizing that those who control it in the future will garner significant global influence, and more importantly, reap the financial gains from dominating the market.

In that regard, tons of countries are implementing laws that create a favorable environment to foster interest in technology in a bid to spearhead technological breakthroughs in the country. Amongst them, 2 prime examples are Singapore and Taiwan.

Taiwan’s goal to dominate the market in blockchain technology

Recently, Taiwan has begun implementing serious laws and legislation that will help make the country a notable crypto nation and a ‘blockchain island’. The effort is spearheaded by entrepreneur turned Congressman and Legislator Jason Hsu.

In an interview, Jason said that he intends to turn the country into a haven for people working on different applications of blockchain technology. Additionally, he said that he sees the potential for blockchain technology in many areas of life, including education, health, and the justice system.

He also noted that he intended to develop a ‘special economic zone,’ that would bring 200 global blockchain companies to Taiwan. In a bid to spur on adoption, the government of Taiwan will also come up with a digital identity solution known as “Taiwan Global ID,” that allows citizens to get their visas utilizing decentralized blockchain.

Finally, the government will leverage Taiwan’s primary strength—semiconductors and IC chip design—to build more powerful mining chips. As a result, instead of just one company monopolizing mining machines, the average citizen will be able to mine and add on to the ecosystem.

Decentralizing the hash power or hash rate, Jason believes, will help contribute to the advent of a true Bitcoin peer-to-peer network.

Singapore’s smart nation initiative

Last year, Singapore appointed the first Government Chief Digital Technology Officer—Mr. Chan Hoe—as part of the Smart Nation Initiative. The initiative aims to serve Singaporean citizens and businesses better through technology.

One of the ways the initiative will serve citizens better is by thinking of Singaporeans as customers of digital services the government puts through the GovTech agency.

Once the government starts thinking of its citizens as customers, it will then consider their input when developing solutions and as a result, provide better solutions. Mr. Chan Hoe likened it to the Agile software development framework which depends on customer feedback at each stage of development, which results in updates and tweaks that produce more comprehensive apps that end users love.

An example of the Singaporean government commitment to this mode of thinking was a session held in May last year to get feedback from senior citizens on the emergency alert system that uses sensor technology.

Moreover, one of the services already deployed—parking.sg—was in response to citizens’ need for an efficient way to pay for parking instead of using physical coupons.

Finally, the government is doing its best to educate its citizens so that there can be a mind shift, and citizens can embrace technology and see it as a good thing.

Conclusion

Referencing the above examples; it is evident that governments are doing three key things to put their countries at the forefront when it comes to technology.

One, as noted with Singapore, the government is educating local talent to increase interest in tech innovation. The GovTech agency noted above is a government-sponsored agency that sources its talented engineers and software developers locally. GovTech is responsible for creating the hugely successful parking.sg app also mentioned above.

Second, as seen in Taiwan, governments are working to attract foreign talents through favorable policies. The ‘special economic zone,’ in Taiwan will play a key role in putting the country on the map regarding global companies that want to invest.

Finally, governments are also equipping their citizens with needed tools to enable them to succeed in the highly competitive tech industry — case in point, Taiwan’s manufacture of high functioning machines to help in mining cryptocurrencies.

General, Hardware, software

Apple’s Fascinating 43-Year Journey From Small Project To $1 Trillion in Valuation

Is there any more fascinating success story in the world of tech than that of Apple Inc.? What began as a small project in the back of Steve Jobs’ parents’ garage has turned into the first trillion dollar company in the world.

It all started with Apple I, the first Apple product released by Jobs and Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak in 1976. Following the success of Apple’s first two personal computers – Apple I and Apple II – the company went public in 1980, and its founders became multi-millionaires overnight.

The 1980s saw the debut of the first personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI), named Lisa, as well as the release of the Macintosh computer.

What followed, however, was a series of setbacks for Apple, including Jobs’ resignation in 1985. If you want to know what happened next on Apple’s journey to $1 trillion, take a look at the comprehensive infographic below by The Watchstrap.co detailing the success story of the biggest tech company in the world.

 

software

The Masters of NoSQL Group: Redis vs MongoDB

MongoDB and Redis are totally different NoSQL databases. They each have different performance capabilities and the Application Programming Interfaces are both different.

The two have gained massive following for being among the most popular solutions for data storage. The key point is that both technologies deliver superior performance through a simple structural interface.

The superiority of each database solution lies in the unique needs of each development team. We are quite sure that most teams will boast of how grander their choice is than the other. Well, here comes the kicker; Redis and MongoDB are both awesome.

In case you don’t take my words, here are facts to base my argument. The distinctive user cases are what exemplify each database solution over the other.

User Case One: Storage of Session Cache

Redis uses flexible data storage technique similar to python dictionary or a hash. Storing its data in main memory makes Redis an extremely fast database technology. Where teams want to store and access temporary data on the fly, Redis becomes the appropriate tool.

MongoDB uses schema-free data storage procedure similar to JSON documents. The storage here can only be accessed through MongoDB’s query language which has a striking resemblance with SQL.

Session caching involves a computer user setting up memory unit that stores session caching for site visitors. Session caching data is only meant to be temporary. In most cases, the cached storage will hold pages and items that website visitors have clicked for 24 hours.

In this case, Redis is the best choice. Mainly because such data is temporary and when there comes its needs; it should be assessed quickly and with a faster technology solution.

The fast response time and simple lightweight structure of Redis makes it an exemplary solution for hot data.

User Case Two: Scaling

Redis is limited growth by the amount of RAM in a system. But MongoDB would easily support multi-threading. In case you plan to scale up in future; it is advisable to use MongoDB because it supports multiple scaling methods. It is however possible to scale up database software using Redis but the process is more complex and capital intensive. When it comes to MongoDB, the process is quite simple and concise.

Hence, you can easily notice the clarity of the different ways that the Redis Vs MongoDB user cases fit various needs.

User Case three: Query Flexibility

MongoDB remains to be the most effective data storage solution for querying data in a variety of ways. The schema –structure for data storage offers the user a flexible for data storage in a variety of ways. In fact, you do not even have to create table fields.

MongoDB also comes with a set of querying tools that gives users the best opportunity to query data in different ways.

User Case four: Performance

The performance of Redis is unrivaled. A user needs the fastest data storage solution and when it comes to choosing speed and reliability over other user cases.  Redis provides unmatched support for performance.

However, the speed of MongoDB is also good. But the gap between performance of both Redis and MongoDB is unmatched.  

Conclusion

Now that you are armed with familiarity of different user cases for each data storage solution; you can easily make an informed decision on the best solution for your software needs.

 

 

Wearables

20 Coolest Things You Can Do With The Apple Watch

If we’re talking about companies that have consistently lived up to their marketing promises, it’s impossible not to mention Apple Inc. Just one look at the latest Apple Watch and it becomes clear why this tech giant has garnered a worldwide following that few other companies can rival.

Have you ever forgotten to put your phone on silent and ended up embarrassing yourself in the middle of an important meeting? With an Apple Watch on your wrist, situations like this one will become a thing of the past because all you need to do to reject a call is cover the screen of the smartwatch with the palm of your hand.

Apple Watch also allows you to ditch your phone entirely and check your messages and emails on the go, shop online, and keep track of your fitness progress – to name but a few.

To find out what other cool things you can do with your Apple Watch, check out the infographic below by The Watchstrap.co.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin: A Contemporary Way to Make Payments

While bitcoin has been around for nearly 10 years, it is still a relatively new phenomenon and its use in the retail industry has been somewhat slow. But one of the most frequently asked questions by folks who’ve just heard of bitcoin is,”Where can I use it? What can I buy with it?”

Online Shopping

While many online shoppers are used to making payments via fiat gateways,there are some online retailers that have moved along with the cryptocurrency tide. Although major retailers such as Amazon do not accept bitcoin payments, there are some workarounds that circumvent that.Meanwhile sites such as Overstock, Newegg and Gyft have integrated bitcoin into their payment systems.

Digital Purchases

The gaming community is likely one of the most demanding group of people out there.Since blockchain technology gained traction,some video game retailers jumped at the chance to attract its tech savvy community.You can now purchase video games in many sites and pay with bitcoin.Some good examples are microsoft, g2a and gamesplanet. You can also pay for your application subscriptions such as Tunnelbear and Namecheap by funding your accounts with bitcoin. With the value of bitcoin plummeting  in the recent past,most companies now use gateways such as bitpay to process payments in order to safeguard buyers and sellers from volatility.

Travel Services

Are you planning to go for a vacation or business trip? If so bitcoin might come in handy.You can book your flight through cheap air.An added advantage is that when you pay with bitcoin you don’t have to fill the address form thus saving time.If you are looking to purchase a specialized vacation package with tours,cruises, plus pay for it through bitcoin payment, Ships And Trips travel are ready to serve you. Another company, Expedia, is known for offering competitive rates when it comes to travel services plus they support booking hotels with bitcoin.

There is no denying that bitcoin as a mode of payment will improve over time. With many people getting wary of giving out their private information before transactions, bitcoin is surely in the forefront in terms of payments that offer anonymity. Despite the fluctuations and legal woes,the future of bitcoin as a payment method is getting brighter by the day.So the next time you purchase something, try out bitcoin.

software

4 Signs That It’s Time To Upgrade Your CAD Software

In any business that focuses on design as part of a project, CAD software is often very important. Once you have been using the same piece of software for a while, it can be easy to ignore the fact that another package could be better suited to your needs.

The truth is that CAD software in 2019 is very advanced and it is likely that the package that you are using isn’t aiding your design as much as it could be. Here, we are going to look at some of the signs that might indicate that you need to upgrade your CAD software. Keep reading to find out more.

You Have High Scrap Costs

One of the biggest signs that you need to upgrade your CAD software package is the fact that your scrap costs are too high. When you constantly need to scrap projects because of errors in the design, this could be down to the CAD software package that you are using. If this is the case, you might want to invest in a more accurate package that aids your design rather than hinders it.

You Don’t Have 3D Design View

Did you know that the latest CAD software packages offer 3D design? When you can design in 3D, you are more likely to find issues early on and so you can have a more accurate design. A 3D view can be very helpful for many different types of projects so make sure to upgrade your CAD software package if you find that yours doesn’t offer this.

You Have Some Spare Project Cash

If you have some spare cash for your next project, then you might want to use that to upgrade your CAD software package. You might not notice the issues at first, but once you replace your software, you will see that you should have been using the latest version before now. Of course, you can also download CAD software free trials from websites such as Altium. This will give you the chance to try it out and make sure that it is right for your business.

Things Are Taking Longer Than They Should

The final sign that it might be time to upgrade your CAD design software package is that your projects are taking longer than they should. If you find that you are wasting both time and money waiting for your software to respond or save a file, then you need to think about upgrading it. Once you have your upgraded version, you will notice the difference in how long things take.

Final Verdict

In any company, it is advised that you have the latest software to ensure your projects are completed as well as they can. If you use a CAD system, then you should make sure that you are taking advantage of the latest technology that aids design. Replace your CAD software today and you’ll notice the difference in no time at all.

Real Estate, software

How Augmented Reality is Transforming the Construction Industry

The building and construction industry has started appreciating the benefits of technology. Though it has taken quite some time, the construction industry is prepared to capitalize on technological advances just like any other industry.

The construction industry is now going paperless. Big blueprints, plans, and endless forms are being done away with. Construction workers and foremen are becoming familiar with the use of smartphones and tablets.

Construction records and data are now being stored on hard drives, cloud, and servers. The entire industry is becoming paperless. This technological advancement has taken years before being incorporated into the construction industry. In fact, the construction processes and systems had remained unchanged right from the 1940s.

Currently, things such as automation, mobile computing, cloud-based data analytics, and artificial intelligence are being used. These components are not only boosting margins but also driving efficiency. Besides, there is the use of drones to gather information from areas inaccessible to humans.

Augmented reality is expected to really change the construction industry. This is possible if only construction companies embrace it.

Augmented Reality

AR (Augmented Reality) has some close relationship with Virtual reality. Augmented reality is becoming more and more useful in offering solution to daily activities. It is evident in surgical procedures and social media filters.

Augmented reality takes up the virtual world elements and integrates them to the real world. As a result, it enhances everything you feel, hear and see. Augmented reality is aimed at enhancing our real world. It adds touch feedback, sounds, and graphics into the natural world.

How does it work?

Augmented Reality works in three technologies which are:

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping( SLAM)

SLAM is focused on solving complicated Augmented Reality simulation problems. It is neither a specific software nor an algorithm. It is a group of algorithms which solves both localization mapping and simultaneous problems.

Recognition Based

This is also referred to as Marker-based Augmented Reality. Here cameras are used to discover objects or visual markers, for instance, NFT makers and QR codes to reveal an overlay whenever a device identifies a marker. It makes use of cameras to differentiate a natural project from a marker. This gives the user a chance to assess all the object’s details.

Location-based

Location-based is also referred to as markerless. It uses an accelerometer, velocity meter, and digital compass to offer data in relation to augmented reality visualizations and location which are activated by the inputs. This Augmented reality technology is becoming more popular now that it can be used right from your smartphone. It is used in searching nearby services and mapping directions.

Augmented reality applications in the Construction industry

There are many ways in which Augmented reality will be applied in the construction industry. Below are the ways through which this technology will benefit the construction industry:

Accuracy

Accuracy is very crucial in construction activities. First of all, accuracy saves money and time. Augmented reality is going to provide exact measurements and specific details in construction plans. Engineers, Architects and project managers are to get the needed data for better speed and accuracy.

Saves time and money

Time and money are important in construction. AR is expected to save not only time but also money. It will curb any need for brand new architectural plans, that indeed is time-consuming and expensive. This technology, allows you to modify virtual plans and 3D models prior to construction.

Project management

Augmented reality does not condole any guesswork. This technology will do away with manual drawings and records. It is expected to deliver accurate images and create whole spaces. Not only planning but also managing projects are to become a time saving and efficient.

Design Analysis

AR is going to induce accuracy in design analysis. Architects and other construction professionals will go through a project to correct possible errors. No guesswork will be carried out. Thorough inspections are going to be carried out in the finished building to get rid of any simple mistake.

Actual Construction

Construction processes are bound to take the least time possible. A construction expert can access a project’s virtual model easily. The smooth flow of construction processes is expected to make companies save money and time.

Construction safety

Safety is very important during construction. Workers at the construction site need to be protected at all costs. This is a mandate that is going to be quite easy with the application of Augmented reality technologies. Augmented reality emphasizes on equipment training effectiveness to ensure safety is upheld during construction. Besides, AR is to ensure instant access to every worker at the construction site.

Change is inevitable

It is evident that important changes are set to be incorporated in the construction industry. The industry is to undergo a great revamp. Augmented reality is arguably one of the things at the center of the revamp. The use of tablets and smartphones in construction is going to become popular.

General

How Tech Is Making Homes More Energy Efficient

The United States uses the most energy in the world, responsible for 20% of global consumption. China takes second place, coming in at 15%. The more energy used, the more carbon emissions there are, which is bad news for the planet. Electrical devices, appliances and gadgets are part of life and all require power, as well as the need to heat and cool homes. Tech is finding new, innovative ways to help people live their lives in an energy efficient way without having to make sacrifices. 

Energy-efficient dishwashers 

Ditching washing up at the sink and opting for a dishwasher has many benefits, but you may be surprised to know that it can save you water and energy. Washing by hand can use up to 27 gallons of water per day, whereas an energy efficient dishwasher can use as little as 3 gallons. Using less water means less energy is used to heat the water too. Even dishwashers that have a long run cycle will use very little energy and water, yet get your dishes clean and dry every time. Technology is making dishwashers smarter so that they can detect how dirty dishes are and jets are more powerful, meaning less energy is needed to operate them.

Smart windows

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have teamed up with Pella Windows to create a highly insulated window that uses sensors and microprocessors to adjust how much light, and therefore warmth, is let into a home. It bases this on the amount of sunlight and time of day to give highly efficient lighting and temperatures. Another company, View, have worked on similar technology and claim that savings on lighting, electricity, heating, ventilation and air conditioning can add up to 23% at peak times. 

Magnetized fridges

Currently, refrigerators in the US use approximately 60% less energy than they did 20 years ago, which is down to technology helping to making them more energy efficient. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and General Electric have teamed up to take the energy efficiency of fridges one step further. Their aim is to make a domestic fridge that uses 25% less energy than current modern fridges by using a technology known as magnetocaloric effect, or MCE, instead of conventional vapor compression. Basically, temperature is controlled by a changing magnetic field, which means the use of harmful refrigerants is eliminated.

Technology has been responsible for an increased consumption of energy, but it’s also being used more to look at ways of making appliances and devices work in an energy efficient way. Tech can also take everyday objects and make them smart to help reduce the need for electrical devices to be turned on, such as air conditioning, which further helps to reduce energy consumption.

Mobile

Why Your Website Should Be Mobile Friendly

Have you ever visited a website while logged onto a desktop or laptop computer, only to visit the same website on a mobile device and find the experience clearly displeasing? That, of course, is an example of how to quickly turn off a customer (or potential customer): by denying them the ability to get the information they need in what is more and more the way of viewing the internet and interacting for the things we want.  In fact, more and more people are turning off their computers entirely and instead moving to a mobile-only experience.

And making sure the mobile experience is optimized affects you in a more practical way, too: You’ll get dinged by Google if your site doesn’t work well on smart phones and tablets. But luckily, diving in and re-adjusting the experience isn’t that hard and there are some good practices to put into place. This graphic reviews them.

Hardware

Augmented Reality Becoming a Focus in Maintenance Technology

Augmented Reality, “an enhanced version of reality where live direct or indirect views of physical real-world environments are augmented with superimposed computer-generated images over a user’s view of the real world.”

The fourth industrial revolution is upon us and industries like manufacturing are taking advantage of AR technology to enhance employee experience, keep employees safer, and also close the knowledge gap.

Maintenance plays a vital role in industries like manufacturing. It has a direct influence on performance, productivity, and product quality; maintenance is a craft that is always being improved upon and now with the innovation of augmented reality, it can take maintenance to a whole other level.

Augmented Reality in Maintenance

Augmented Reality allows users to enhance their field of view with real-time super imposed digital information. This allows users to gain any/all information on an asset or step by step instructions on how to repair an asset, for example.

But before we dig into practical applications, let’s discuss the proven advantages of augmented reality maintenance.

Benefits

  • Reduced human errors
  • Reduced execution time
  • Reduced breakdowns
  • Reduced downtime
  • Reduced cost
  • Increased productivity
  • Increased operation speed
  • Increased fix rates
  • Increased compliance
  • Increased profit

These benefits prove true for the companies below that have already implemented augmented reality technology in their facility.

GE Aviation – Experiences an average of 8-12% in efficiency

GE Renewable Energy – Wiring technicians are yielding a 34% increase in productivity

These are just two examples of how AR is impacting the industry, but much has changed since the origins of the industrial revolution. From physical documentation, moving to the desktop, to the progression of mobile, to now wearable devices/technology.

AR powered solutions for maintenance and repair operations include:

  • Preventive Maintenance
  • Operator assembly instructions
  • Service inspection instructions
  • Detailed instructions for unfamiliar procedures
  • Compliance checklist
  • Corrective Maintenance
  • Service manual instructions
  • Remote assistance
  • Predictive Maintenance
  • Performance Panels
  • Real-time access to data: monitoring, control actions, disruptions, analytics

All the above have their own unique value, but let’s take a deeper look into the workforce and how AR is impacting engineers.

Technology in the Workforce

Facility managers are constantly looking at ways to increase productivity, decrease costs, and keep engineers safe on the job. These technologies below integrated with an EAM CMMS system can help achieve all those goals.

Infrared thermography allows engineers and mechanics to see electrical systems, mechanical equipment, building applications, and fluid systems through the use of thermovision. Engineers can spot faulty connections, abnormal motors, pipe temperatures and tank levels through this equipment showing different colors without having to touch the equipment. This reduces the risk of engineers getting hurt on the job.

A company called DAQRI is focused on AR technology and developed a wearable AR tech smart helmet for industrial use. Engineers can see 4D images above assets in their facilities that prompt them with instructions and also give them a mapping of all asset functionality. This wearable technology allows engineers to discover asset information faster and closes the knowledge gap for new hires.

Another company called UpSkill connects the workforce through augmented reality in its wearable technology guiding technicians in real-time to complete tasks, checklists, work orders, and send media to managers.

Finally, a company called Worklink has made it possible for the user to create their own smart instructions for assets to allow for less human error, increase safety, and also walk engineers step-by-step on repair processes. This can increase the time it takes to complete work by also complying with facility procedures.

This equipment is becoming more prevalent and as more machines becomes connected to the internet, approximately 50 billion machines will be connected on the internet by 2020 it becomes imperative facilities and industries adopt these devices and make them apart of their facility operations.

A CMMS has the capability to provide maintenance management and staff with an automated tool capable of scheduling inspections, preventive maintenance, managing inventory, work orders, and retrieval of recorded asset history.

Technicians can perform actual work with instructions on handhelds, enter how long it takes to complete work orders, filter through past work orders, and close out of the system. All the information is recorded in real-time, so managers can access the information instantaneously.

The ability to track your work, document it, and send it to managers could be paired with wearable technology, like the companies above, to get engineers an elevated view of assets through thermal technology or the ability to see instructions on assets and use that data to train new hires and not have to worry about on-boarding.

A CMMS could also benefit from machine learning using algorithms to monitor assets like meter readings and the ability to calculate readings by the second which would be humanly impossible to do; this will cut down on extraneous labor costs and allow facilities to allocate dollars elsewhere.

The possibilities are becoming endless when it comes to how IoT, AR, VR, and Machine learning can help facilities with energy savings, labor savings, employee safety, and more. The future is a scary and exciting thing but ultimately inevitable for change.

 

Design, General, New

How Artificial Intelligence is Changing The Art Industry

At the end of last year, a work of art created by an algorithm was auctioned off for the first time ever. It was a painting and, though it was only expected to sell for around $10,000, it sold for a whopping $432,500, further cemented the growing interest in AI art. Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly changing the future of technology and business practices, but it’s making waves in the visual arts sector as well. AI artists are collaborating with machine learning technology to write novels, produce fine art, expand capabilities in the culinary arts, produce music, and even help with choreographed dances.

The idea of artificial intelligence creating art has been met with many divisive thoughts from creators, artists, and collectors alike. Who technically owns the art and should profit from its sale? Can a machine evoke the same creativity that human can? Will it ultimately replace artists? Auction house, Invaluable, explores the capabilities of AI art and answers these questions in their infographic below. You can see the full article here.

Internet, New

Why Your Site Desperately Needs Search Engine Optimization

You have probably heard about search engine optimization (SEO). From a scientific point of view, search engine optimization is a series of steps aimed at increasing the site’s search results. By using SEO, you can list new user sites quite high on search engine sites. High-ranking websites can be found on the first available search engine page, while lower-ranking websites can be found several pages down.

Today, Internet users are impatient and refuse to search for information for more than a few minutes. Content that cannot be found is useless. Your site needs information that can be found easily. According to HigherVisibility, it is important for online companies to optimize their website SEO.

6 Important Elements of SEO

• Your Target Audience & Niche

• Research Keywords

• Intent of User

• Analytics and Reporting

• Mobile and Technical  SEO

• Crawling and Indexing

Why optimize your company’s SEO?

The Internet has been used mainly to collect information, but the situation has changed significantly. The growing number of Internet users and new technologies is a good marketing tool with many other factors. The growth of e-commerce, for example, shows that Internet technology can benefit website owners.

For any Internet user seeking similar goods or services, online advertising may be useful. Statistics show that more than a third of Americans are Internet users. With an online presence, a company is more attractive and accessible to the public. Consider this, there may be thousands of people every day looking for your products, but because your website lacks SEO, they buy from your competitors instead of you.

This is not necessarily because your competitors are better, their site has just found an effective way to top search engines. As hard as it might look, high rankings are not rocket science. Your website can also use search engines to get lots of traffic. It only requires a little optimization.

Does my site have to be the first result on search engines?

The answer, yes. There are many reasons why you need your site to rank in the top 5 sites. First and foremost, being highlighted on search engines in this way links your business to being one of the most famous companies in your city. A customer often gets a great first impression and can plan to visit your business based solely on the visibility of your site.

Your prestigious rank gives customers greater confidence in your company, even if they have never experienced your service personally. This method seems stereotypical but works almost 100 percent of the time. That is why SEO supports and often uses this stereotype to its advantage. Major sites are usually seen as the most prestigious company with the best service.

Secondly, many people will be interested in a first-page ranking site simply because Internet users are impatient. It is well known that 95% of Internet users do not look beyond the first 10 sites on the results page, so the higher the rank, the bigger the traffic. With a website on the fourth page of your search engine, you’re almost guaranteed to have a failed online business. The fourth page typically attracts less than 2 percent of Internet users. Consistently aim for the top five search results, and you can’t go wrong.

Why does the list of requirements matter?

The optimization of search engines requires time and money and the involvement of a number of experts, including customer experts. Your site cannot be on a competitive market to ensure rapid results. The promotion doesn’t stop, even after a site is secured in the top ranks. The content must be updated regularly.

Search engines also rank sites according to how much time a user spends on a page, but a large amount of text does not attract visitors. Actually, it’s known to do the opposite. Some good ways to keep your visitors’ attention would be to use thematic videos, high-quality photography and info-graphs to divide the articles into blocks. Quality content must be created, but you don’t have to do all the work alone. Experts, authors, publishers, designers, and photographers are available on freelance websites to help you add a new online article with at least 5,000 characters or more every two weeks.

Mobile, New, Phones

Why Smartphones are Such a Popular Tool

These days, everyone who has a pulse has a smartphone. When they first came out, only the people who had a ton of money had it, and it was a tool that people have shown off with. However, the smartphone has become one of the most common tools among many different people. As a matter of fact, the other types of phones have become increasingly rare. It is not just a sign of status that attracts people to the smartphone. There is also the use that the smartphone offers.

Surf the Internet

With the popularity of the internet, the smartphone has become popular because of the ability to surf the internet and do some of the same things that are done on a full sized computer. As a matter of fact, many mobile carriers double as internet service providers in order to provide you with the services you need. Smartphones are often used to access apps. Often times, people use their smartphones in order to access their favorite video streaming sites and apps.

Connect With People

Smartphones seem to have become very popular at the same time that social media has become mainstream. People use smartphones to connect on social media. However, there are other things you can do with your smartphone as well as social media. Once you develop enough of a following, then you can use the smartphone to make money in various ways. The smartphone has resulted in more people becoming connected than ever. This has also provided people with opportunities to network and build something that is going to be great for their lives.

The Types of Smartphones to Look For

As with many other products, not all smartphones are equal. As a matter of fact, you might want to be careful with the type of smartphone you are purchasing. Some smartphones are going to be very useless when it comes to battery or other aspects of the phone. Before you decide on the type of smartphone you are going to use, you want to make sure that you are getting a phone that you can handle. You want a battery life that is reasonable and not liable to leave yo constantly looking for a charger. While you don’t necessarily have to pay a fortune for the latest smartphone, you might want to look at the features and the performance of the phone before trying to move forward with one.

High Quality Entertainment

One thing that the smartphone has done was open people’s mind when it comes to how they can watch shows. While people still look to a big screen with a large sound system, the high quality image and sound has also been translated to the smartphone. A reasonable sized smartphone is good enough to watch a show. Also, if you want high quality sound, the streaming sites have a great sound quality with really good dynamic range that translate well to your headphones. There are also some phones that support multi-channel surround sound.

Watch TV

Speaking of entertainment, the internet and the mobile web has advanced to the point where you can watch TV. This includes all of the programs and the advertising from channels in the palm of your hand. There are plenty of streaming services that offer television service with a few different channels that you can choose from in order to watch your favorite shows. You can watch them in the highest possible quality with your device and headphones.

One of the reasons that smartphones have become so popular is that there is just so much you can do with a smartphone besides connect with others and talk. It can actually be your only source of entertainment if you want it to be. This is one of the reasons that people find them to be very fascinating. Some people may find themselves struggling to live without a smartphone. Fortunately, smartphones can be used for reasons that are related to productivity as well so that they can be of greater benefit.

Computers, New

How AI is Changing the Future of Job Market

What else captures the imagination than artificial intelligence?

In the past, the very idea of human-manufactured intelligence stood as an allegory from anything from the pitfalls of mankind itself to the dangers of playing god. Today, however, AI is very much a reality and perhaps shows how well early science-fiction writing predicted a future of digital intelligence. What remains is a tremendous responsibility on the shoulders of us humans to create intelligent, yet ethical, technology – but not everyone sees it that way. 

In the wrong hands, AI capabilities become an incredible weapon to fuel social unrest, political instability, support propaganda of authoritarian regimes, and even build an autonomous battlefield. In China alone there are over 200 million active surveillance cameras – nearly four times more than in the US. Utilized by the Chinese police along with high-tech facial recognition eyewear, law enforcement is able to scan the faces of every citizen, picking our criminals and gathering enormous amounts of data along the way. In some ways, AI seems to understand us better than we understand ourselves, for better or for worse, and while our lives may not always be on the line, our data sure is. AI phishing tools for hackers can hyper-target specific victims and quickly sift through datasets identifying the most vulnerable victims. Customized malicious links, nearly indiscernible from authentic links, can be generated in the blink of an eye targeted to individuals or entire databases. 

Dr. Fei-Fei Li, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab described a hope and noble intentions for AI – “Whether breakthrough occurs in Silicon Valley, Beijing, or anywhere else, it has the potential to make everyone’s life better for the entire world.” Where some leaders would see AI as a tool of mass control, this isn’t a sentiment shared by every forward-thinker. In 2017, Google built a project known as PAIR, or People + AI Research, with the simple yet deeply complex goal of building an AI that treats everyone equally. Tackling our own human biases, prejudices, and problematic thinking, this project begins with the good that evaluate and improve on the datasets that train AI itself, taking it right to the source. 

From any perspective, it’s clear to see how powerful AI is. Early in 2018, Amazon opened its completely cashier-less grocery store that is still a successful operation today. A living example of AI in service industries and a small glimpse into a possible future of full automation, more and more service jobs may be on the chopping block in the coming years. By the mid 2030s, artificial intelligence and automation is predicted to hit 38%, potentially eliminating many US jobs. Industries like manufacturing, retail and construction are at the forefront of being hit the hardest.  All told, millions of jobs could be lost to the cold hand o robotics but it’s what needs to happen in the meantime to reach this reality. Whilst 37% of people are concerned about automation cramping their positions at work, 73% of people say that technology will never replace the human mind, further reminding us that AI is only possible and will only go as far as we allow it to.

An automated future doesn’t necessarily mean more robots – if done right, it could mean more humanity. What does the future of AI look like to you? Detailed in this infographic are the current capabilities of automation, both for good and evil, and what responsibilities we all have to ensure that this technology works with us and not against us. 

 

noodle.ai---the-dark-side-vs-a-force-for-good-b-2

CES, Mobile, New, News

Kunpeng 920: Huawei Unveils World’s Highest-Performance ARM-based CPU

Just in time for CES 2019, Chinese tech leader Huawei, strategically unveiled the Kunpeng 920, the industry’s highest-performing ARM-based processor. At Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China, Huawei released the impressive CPU, intended for handling applications like big data processing and distributed storage.

William Xu, Director of Huawei’s Board and Chief Strategy Marketing Officer, said during the press conference that “Huawei has continuously innovated in the computing domain in order to create customer value. We believe that, with the advent of an intelligent society, the computing market will see continuous growth in the future. Currently, the diversity of applications and data is driving heterogeneous computing requirements. Huawei has long partnered with Intel to make great achievements. Together we have contributed to the development of the ICT industry. Huawei and Intel will continue our long-term strategic partnerships and continue to innovate together.”

William Xu, Director of Huawei’s Board and Chief Strategy Marketing Officer (credit: Huawei)

Kunpeng 920: High-Performance ARM-based CPU

Huawei’s high standards of leading the industry are very clear with the release of the new Kunpeng 920.  The new CPU, similar to Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 980 (launched in October 2018), was  designed in-house and manufactured on a 7-nanometer processor. According to Huawei, the gain in performance between these two CPU’s emerges from a series of optimized branch prediction algorithms and an increased number of OP units, along with an improved memory subsystem architecture. The Kunpeng 920 provides both higher computing performance for data centers while decreasing overall power consumption. The Kunpeng 920 is packed with 64 cores, clocking an impressive 2.6GHZ, and paired with 8-channel DDR4 memory allows the Kunpeng 920 to score over 930 on the SPECint Benchmark, 25% higher than the industry benchmark.  For the sake of comparison, the previous industry leader was the Fujitsu 7-nanometer A64X. Beyond its speed is the CPU’s power efficiency, which performs 30% better than its competitors.

Kunpeng 920 performance (credit: Huawei)

In terms of system integration, the new CPU has increased with two 100G RoCE ports. Kunpeng 920 also supports PCIe Gen4 and CCIX interfaces, and provides 640 Gbps total bandwidth.  In addition, the single-slot speed is twice that of the incumbent offering, effectively improving the performance of storage and various accelerators.

TaiShan Series: Huawei’s ARM-based Server Built to Perform

To complement the Kunpeng 920, at today’s press conference Huawei also released its TaiShan series servers, powered by the company’s new CPU. Aimed at tackling three distinct issues, storage,  high-density, and balancing both requirements, the Taishan series designed three unique models. Powered by the Kunpeng 920, the TaiShan servers are built for big data, distributed storage, and ARM native application scenarios. These unique scenarios are ideal for the ARM architecture offering many advantages in many-core and performance per watt. The TaiShan series are ideal computing platforms for enterprises with high performance and low power consumption. Designed especially in big data scenarios, the TaiShan servers are tuned for optimal many-core high concurrency and resource scheduling to deliver a 20% computing performance boost.  

As Mr. Xu stated at the press conference, “The ARM industry is seeing a new development opportunity. The Kunpeng 920 CPU and TaiShan servers newly released by Huawei are primarily used in big data, distributed storage, and ARM native applications. We will work with global partners in the spirit of openness, collaboration, and shared success to drive the development of the ARM ecosystem and expand the computing space, and embrace a diversified computing era.”

TaiShan server (credit: Huawei

Open and Collaborative ARM Ecosystem is Geared for Mutual Success

For years, Huawei has continuously promoted industry cooperation and collaboration among its industry partners in terms of hardware, basic software, and applications. The company’s unique approach is predicated on the growing trend that an intelligent society, with all things connected, and sensing, is well underway. In light of these industry trends and application requirements, a new era of diversified computing is emerging. The ability to process multiple data types and scenarios are the driving force behind optimizing computing architecture.   

Summarizing the company’s vision of serving as an industry leader across all verticals, from telecommunications to servers to handsets, Mr. Xu noted that “With Kirin 980, Huawei has taken smartphones to a new level of intelligence. With products and services (e.g., Huawei Cloud) designed based on Ascend 310, Huawei enables inclusive AI for industries. Today, with Kunpeng 920, we are entering an era of diversified computing embodied by multiple cores and heterogeneity. Huawei has invested patiently and intensively in computing innovation to continuously make breakthroughs. We will work with our customers and partners to build a fully connected, intelligent world.”

Cryptocurrency

The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency Investment

References are made wherever possible. All statements are based on the author’s experiences. I take pride in informing the public and helping as many as I can through sharing my experiences with my readers. That said, no one except you can take responsibility for your Cryptocurrency Investing decisions, so do think it through before investing.

It would be appropriate to start this guide off with the premise that an increasing number of e-commerce stores are beginning to accept crypto currency payments. These stores range from e-commerce shops, recruitment sites, clothing stores, marketplaces and many others. This is a clear indicator that cryptocurrency is to stay and it is therefore important to start from the beginning.

When I first started taking an interest in cryptocurrency I thought I was so lost in this huge sea of unknowns. Where do I start? What are the useful keywords to look up and keep in mind? What are the available helpful resources? This cryptocurrency investing guide is written so that in just 20 minutes, you would have a sense of what to expect of your upcoming crypto journey, and how to best go about starting it. Enjoy it, it might just be the most exhilarating ride of your life.

Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency Investing

Rise of the Cryptocurrencies

As the tech literacy of the population increases, acceptance of crypto as a legitimate store of value follows, and it boomed. Titles along the lines of ‘Bitcoin price hits new all-time high’ and ‘Ethereum price surges’ are starting to perforate the general public’s news feed. What we know for sure is that people who were once sceptical of Bitcoin and the technology behind it are slowly understanding and getting increasingly involved with crypto. As at the time of writing, the market cap of the entire crypto space is at 30.9 billion USD. It was 20 billion just four months ago. What would it be four months from now?

Current Makeup of the Cryptocurrency Space

You would have heard of Bitcoin and the ‘altcoins.’ How this naming convention started was because back in the days of 2011, forks of Bitcoin appeared in the markets. The forks, or clones, each aspire to serve a niche area, aiming to be ‘better’ than Bitcoin. Since then countless new crypto has emerged, eroding away Bitcoin’s crypto market cap dominance. These altcoins are gaining market share at an alarming speed. Ten times or more growth has been observed in a time span as short as six weeks (see PIVX, an altcoin).

Cryptocurrency, Stocks, and Fiat

The currencies we know are referred to as ‘fiat’ by the cryptocurrency community. Although having ‘currency’ in its name, cryptocurrencies share more similarities with stocks than currencies. When you purchase some cryptocurrency, you are in fact buying some tech stock, a part of the blockchain and a piece of the network.

Cryptocurrency Exchanges

The most common place where people buy and trade cryptocurrency is on the exchanges. Exchanges are places where you may buy and sell your crypto, using fiat. There are multiple measures to judge the reliability and quality of an exchange, such as liquidity, spread, fees, purchase and withdrawal limits, trading volume, security, insurance, user-friendliness. Out of all these, I find Coinbase as the best exchange hands down. It has a beginner-friendly user interface, and an unbeatable 100% crypto insurance.

After setting up an intermediary bank account and verifying your details with Coinbase, you are only five simple steps away from a Bitcoin purchase:

★ Access the ‘Buy/Sell Bitcoin’ tab

★ Select the payment method using the drop-down menu

★ Enter the desired amount

★ Click ‘Buy Bitcoin Instantly.’

★ View your credited Bitcoins on your dashboard

When you get acquainted with buying crypto and start to itch for some crypto trading (e.g. BTC/ETH), simply perform an instant transfer from Coinbase to GDAX free of charge and start trading. Think of Coinbase as the place to conveniently buy and store your crypto and GDAX as your margin trading platform. Transfers between the two are instant and free.

As you slowly get familiar with other currencies, you might want to have the option of investing in them. Bittrex and Polo are two exchanges that offer a wide selection range.

When signing up on these exchanges for the first time, do make it a point to verify your account with the required documents early, as you do not want to be caught in the middle of some tedious and slow admin work when the trading opportunity comes. Verification on these exchanges may take days, and purchase/withdraw limits may only increase gradually as you trade.

An additional point to note: if you are using a currency other than USD, do check out the exchange’s ease of funding and withdrawal. You do not want your exchange to come into fiat withdrawal problems like Bitfinex did recently.

Cryptocurrency Wallets

Exchanges have inbuilt online wallets to keep the cryptocurrency you purchased. However, for those who heard of the Mt. Gox hack, you might feel uneasy to put on an exchange. If you do not wish to keep your crypto holdings on the exchange, you have the option to either use a paper wallet service like myetherwallet.com or spend 99 USD on a hardware wallet like KeepKey. Both serve the purpose of removing platform risk, at the cost of taking up the responsibility of keeping your cryptocurrency safe.

To transfer your crypto from exchanges to your hardware wallet for long term storage, simply follow these steps, using Coinbase and KeepKey as an example:

★ Plug in your KeepKey USB cable

★ Open your KeepKey Client (on Google Chrome under Apps)

★ Find your wallet address on the KeepKey Client UI

★ Access Coinbase ‘Send/Request’ tab and input your KeepKey wallet address

★ Confirm amount and click ‘Send Funds’

Take note to first send a tiny amount (e.g. 0.0001 BTC) for testing before sending the bulk, lest an error occurred and the transfer amount is lost. A small network transfer fee might be charged.

Personally, I own a hardware wallet, as I love the feeling of a having around a tangible reminder of my crypto holdings. Also, the hardware wallet’s user interface makes it easy to keep multiple coins, which is especially handy when you participate in ICOs (Initial Coin Offering) in the future.

Cryptocurrency as a Percentage of Your Portfolio

This part will be wildly subjective. Crypto has the potential to realize many ‘rags to riches’ stories, but its volatility makes it unpredictable. As a precaution, the money you put in crypto should be money that you are fine with losing. I cannot emphasize the importance of this as we often underestimate how the volatility affects our emotional capacities. The upside is huge, but it comes with lots of risks and, if I may put it, emotional torment.

A conservative portfolio I would suggest is as follows:

★ < 30 years old (max) 30% Crypto, 50% Traditional Investments

★ 30 – 40 years old (max) 20% Crypto, 60% Traditional Investments

★ > 40 years old (max) 10% Crypto, 70% Traditional Investments

This is not meant to be age discriminatory but considers the fact that one takes up more financial responsibilities (mortgage, family) as he grows older.

Within the designated crypto share of your portfolio, you may diversify your coins based on your risk appetite.

Show Me the Money!  Cryptocurrency Investing

Now, this is where it gets exciting.

How do we pick the winner? How do we avoid picking the loser?

Note that crypto is now in a huge bull market and anything could rise over time. Also, do not dismiss the possibility that we may be in a bubble like the-dot-com boom back in 2000. Still, ask yourself these questions before you decide to invest in a coin:

Are my investments safe with the dev team? The first rule of investing should always be the preservation of capital. Can you trust the dev team with your money? Are you about to leave your money with founders who have been involved in previous scams? If you see these telling signs, back off immediately. The coin’s price might grow for all you care, but it is just not worth it to put your capital at such risk.

Does my coin of interest have a long-term plan? If you cannot understand their yellow paper, at least read their white paper. What are the team trying to achieve? Do they have the means, or have they already worked towards their goals? What are the timelines and milestones?

Does my coin of interest seem like a well-marketed plan with no backup? Lots of ICOs these days just have a pretty webpage, and then they’re shipped out to sell. Watch out for these: are they able to deliver?

How long should I stay in this? Do I have an exit plan? There will be coins where you do not want to hold forever, but wish to flip for some short-term gains. In this case, be sure to set a timeframe, or an exit price, to reduce to effect of emotions on your trades. Stick to your plan and watch your emotions.

Does it have a real-world use case? Some coins seem to keep increasing in value simply due to supply-demand factors. This trend might not be sustainable. For a coin to have long term supported value, it must have a real-world use case eventually. Look out for coins that look too much like a get-rich-quick scheme.

Short Term Trading with Margin

Once you get familiarized with crypto, you may want to trade on your ‘stash’ in hopes of increasing it. For the experienced forex traders, this is nothing new. But for the new crypto investor, you may want to brief up on how to make a leveraged trade.

Short-term trading takes advantages of incoming news to make a quick buck. If you foresee good news from an upcoming release of a coin, you may want to open a long and see how it goes. Remember, buy the rumor, sell the news; act fast and be daring if you wish to make a profit with short term trading.

Mining

For those who are more comfortable with a predictable form of reward, mining is the way. Mining involves setting up of a rig, consisting of GPUs or CPUs and an investment in the electricity. Mining is only possible on cryptocurrencies that follow the Proof of Work protocol. It takes some effort to setup and gets things running, but it is attractive as a long-term passive income as long as you frontload the work.

Staking

Staking is the Proof of Stake version of ‘mining.’ Think of this as making dividends on your stock. The reward rate and staking method differ greatly among Proof of Stake coins, but in general, it takes less effort as compared to mining.

Arbitraging

As you get a hand in multiple exchanges, you may wish to buy from one exchange and sell on another to make ‘arbitrage’ gains when you spot an arbitraging opportunity. Take note of two things if you wish to do so: remember to factor in fees, and remember that the price could change when you are transferring your coin between exchanges, especially during volatile times. USD tends to be liquid so this happens less for it, but for other currencies such as CAD (Canadian dollar) and SGD (Singapore dollar), there may exist more arbitraging opportunities to exploit.

Helpful Resources

Check out coinmarketcap for the tabulation of various coins’ market cap and price. Check out cryptowat for the prices of popular coins across different exchanges. Check out the respective coins’ subreddits for available news and market sentiments. Lastly, check out hypecoaster for how much more crypto you need for a Lamborghini Aventador 🙂

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That’s about all I have, for now, invest smart and most importantly, don’t forget to have fun!

Applications, Mobile

8 Apps to Make Moving Abroad Easier

When you move to a new country, it’s all too easy to become overwhelmed by your ever-growing to-do list. This list includes a curated list of eight handy apps designed to help you learn the language, get around, stay safe and make friends in your new home.

Apps can be a great way to build up your language skills by helping you develop vocabulary, grammar and conversational abilities. Offering nearly 150 languages, Tandem is a great option for intermediate-level speakers who want to practice talking with native speakers in a judgement-free environment.

Mobile apps can be a real lifesaver when it comes to navigating around your new hometown. Handy alternatives to Google Maps include Waze and Moovit. If you intend to use public transport a lot, then Moovit: Public Transit is an absolute must-have as it uses real-time information to help you plan your bus, subway, rail or bike trip in many locations throughout the world.

In addition to knowing your way around, it’s also very important to know how to look out for yourself. Help yourself stay safe and alert by downloading a personal safety app. One of our favourites is TripWhistle which enables users to quickly contact local emergency service phone numbers anywhere in the world. 

For many expats, the most difficult part of moving abroad is making new friends. Fortunately, there are plenty of apps designed to connect you with people in your area. One of the most popular is Meetup, which allows you to form groups and plan fun outings with people in your area who share similar interests.

If you would like to learn more about the best apps for travelling and/or moving abroad, take a look at this super informative infographic guide from the team at Hansen & Company.

Read the infographic below to learn more.

 

Marketing

How Augmented Reality Represents A Marketing Bonanza

The mobile augmented reality (AR) market is projected to reach a staggering $79.77 Billion by 2022 and will be one of the fastest growing sectors in upcoming years.

Functionality has already spread far and wide. Emergency responders use AR to help them train to coordinate dangerous situations. In healthcare, an AR scanner called AccuVein projects vein density on a patient’s arm in real time so injections and taking blood can be quick and easy. Another App can even project surgeon’s hands onto another doctor so they can match movements for complex procedures.

AR is prevalent in helping those with disabilities. Recently, Temple University received part of a larger AR related grant to create glasses that would facilitate captioning for live performance for HOH and Deaf patrons. The same tech can be used for ESL or Foreign language speakers.   

However, people probably best recognize AR from games like Pokemon Go — where frenzied players were able to capture their favorite creature avatars in order to gain advancement in the game. Retailers at the time were quick to realize that a Pokemon stop near (or in) their location meant increased foot traffic and tried to capitalize on the phenomenon.  

From there marketers could truly realize the potential for AR tech. Ostensibly there are a few of major avenues where AR intersects with marketing right now.

Wayfinding

Google Glass ended up looking a little goofy, but the technology promised by apps like Google Lens, which gives consumers ways to access businesses easily just by looking at the facade, may revive the glasses wearable. In AR, companies can offer discounts and coupons that entice passersby or using software like wikitude, the app can actually lead a customer to their desired location. Already, Gatwick Airport uses a sophisticated wayfinding AR feature to help people get to their gates quickly and efficiently. It is possible for any business to incorporate this kind of tech too.

AR is usually thought of as a way to add imagery to a screen, but it can also be used as a focusing tool to take away distractions. For example, there is tech being designed to help grocery shoppers get only what they need for a recipe or to see only gluten free options so they don’t pick the wrong items.    

Product Pre-Assessment

Another way AR is being used effectively in retail markets is in product assessment prior to purchase. This is accomplished in a number of innovative ways by smart retailers. Ikea’s virtual catalog has become a standout in the area with the ability to scan your room and digitally place a piece of their furniture in a spot of your choosing so customers can see how they like the look and color of something before purchase.

Other retailers have created variations on this same theme. Warby Parker scans your face and places their glasses on you, so you can avoid going to the store to try on all their styles. L’Oreal has a way to see how their makeup might look if you were to apply it. Clothing retailers also are allowing shoppers to visualize clothing without going to a changing room. And some even make changing room options easier with smart mirrors that allow you to see the garment you are wearing in different styles or colors without having to search around the racks.

In a similar vein, architects, interior designers and the real estate industry has taken up AR for their marketing efforts. Prospective clients can virtually visit their construction projects or look at their current furniture in a planned new house.

Improved Engagement

Other retailers have seen how AR helps with general product engagement. Lego has created AR stimulated kits that “come to life” when seen with their app. Disney has similar functionality with their coloring books. Movie posters also have been using AR to target cinema goers, giving them an additional thrilling glimpse into a film while waiting in line for popcorn.

Is AR Tech Too complicated for me?

The most intriguing part is how AR is becoming more democratic in its use. Applications like Adobe Spark AR and Apple’s ARkit allow anyone to get in on the ground floor with things like Instagram logos and simple AR additions to branding.

The question of how to assess metrics however, is still evolving. How does an AR view compare with a video view, for example? Marketing consultancies like CleverTap provide strategies to connect meaningfully with demographics and to assess ROI — and they also have get to know AR articles and infographics to help marketers get the hang of why and how to use AR for their own products.

See the infographic below for a quick guide to the ins-and-outs of AR tech. The best part, however, is that the applications for AR are still being worked out. Anyone could have the next innovation in AR in the marketing sphere — maybe a floating fish that eats your emotions will be the next big thing. Or maybe you have a good new idea.

Internet

What We Can Learn from Google Updates to Improve Our Marketing Strategies and Performance

Some digital marketers might yearn for life without Google updates because they think that it would be easier for them to attain the marketing goals. However, is it so? Those who are even slightly aware of the good that the updates can do for marketers would prefer to take its advantage for taking their marketing initiatives to new heights. The updates are the early signs of things to come and the sooner you can pick the signals, gain knowledge and stay prepared; you stand to make good gains in SEO. You will experience improvement in search rankings and traffic flow that promises of higher conversions and sales

Updates will happen

Google has to keep launching updates, which are nothing, but algorithmic changes, most of which are minor and few major ones. The Google search algorithm undergoes regular and continuous changes because of Google’s commitment to serving users with the best experience in searching. Indeed, this is not the only reason because the need to stay updated with the technological advancements compels Google to update the algorithm time and again. On an average, Google releases 500 to 600 updates in a year, and this has been happening ever since its inception. It points to the fact that Google works relentlessly to provide the best platform for online marketers.

Staying updated

The continuous changes happening in the technological arena like the advent of the social media, the popularity of mobile devices and similar developments impact the behavior of users. As user behavior keeps changing, Google adjusts its algorithms to suit the behavior of providing them the best experience.  As a result, marketers receive new directives in the form of updates. A typical effect of Google update resulted in providing a guide for real backlinks when the focus shifted to the quality of backlinks and not its quantity as it used to be earlier. In this article, we have discussed the reasons that prompt Google to release updates. We will also evaluate the benefits marketers derive from updates.

Updates can do much good to marketers

Although there are reservations among some marketers about Google updates, there is no good reason for it. Google wants to keep improving its game and marketers who can adjust to the changes as quickly as possible, would reap the rewards.  There is a wrong perception about updates that marketers look upon it as some penal action, which it is not.  Taking the updates in the right spirit would elevate the marketing campaign, as marketers can derive lots of benefits from updates. It is the unnecessary fear that arises from ignorance that holds back marketers from taking advantage of Google updates.  However, marketers have no choice but stay tuned to the updates or algorithmic changes because being on the wrong side would spell the doom for the marketing campaign.

The motivation for creating high-quality content

Content is the prime mover of the marketing campaign, and it is not for nothing that people consider content as king in marketing.  Despite admitting the need for quality content, marketers often tend to lose direction in marketing and fall back upon low quality and thin content hoping to make gains in link building. However, with the release of Google Panda update, there is no place for any low-quality content in the campaign. As low-quality content drives you nowhere, the update compels marketers to create high-quality unique content that is long enough to provide its inherent strength.

Well-researched, informative and relevant content creates better user engagement, reduces bounce rates, drives more traffic and improves conversions. Long content attracts Google too, as it looks upon it as value providing content that is capable of improving search rankings. In-depth, innovative and educational content that we now see around us is the result of Google Panda update.

Keep the content fresh

Google updates have helped to do away with stale content. Marketers eager to remain in the good books of Google have understood how important it is to maintain a steady pipeline of contents so that they can serve fresh content to viewers. Whenever you publish fresh content on the website, Google not only indexes it but also awards a score for it. To keep earning the recognition of Google, marketers have no choice but keep producing fresh content on a continuous basis that ultimately pushes up search rankings. At least, one new content every week is the norm today.

Increased brand awareness

Some of Google’s algorithmic changes have compelled marketers to give more emphasis on branding.  The trend of stuffing internal links with keyword rich anchor text is now gone. Instead, including brand names in the anchor text has helped marketers to give the brand building exercise a boost.

Updates are good for marketers provided you can understand it in the right perspective.

 

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About the author: Derek Iwasiuk is a Google webmaster who has acted as a guide for real backlinks in several top-notch SEO projects.  His knowledge and experience have helped many marketers to change their fortunes. Derek is fond of books and reading thrillers is what excites him most.

Internet, Mobile

This Amazing Public WiFi Chart Shows a Massive Access Growth in Europe

Over the last five years, public WiFi has become far more accessible throughout Europe. From 16 million public hotspots in 2013, there are now more than 100 million across the continent, with countries such as Italy, Norway and Austria drastically improving their WiFi availability in that time. However, the Irish government has come under fire recently for substantial delays in the implementation of broadband availability to remote regions of the country.

While great strides have been made in public WiFi availability since 2013, the EU continues to work towards grandiose medium-terms to improve the service further. Within the next two years, it intends to have free WiFi in every municipality in Europe and a minimum download speed of 100MB per second in all households. By 2025, it hopes to introduce 5G broadband throughout the continent, although progress on this remains slow for the short-term.

In an increasingly digital age, the need for reliable public WiFi has never been greater, even though international roaming charges have largely been abolished. The infographic below, which was created by Paradyn, shows how substantially European public WiFi has grown and why this growth shows no sign of stalling.

Computers, General, Mobile

11 Important Cyber Security Tips That Will Help Seniors Protect Themselves From Hackers

With the increasing impact of the digital world, an AgeUK study shows that senior citizens are making use of emerging technologies – in fact the number of over 75s using the internet in particular has doubled in the last five years.

Seniors are not only using the internet, but the majority of seniors also own smart phones, online shop and 50% of internet users aged 65-75 have a social media account. The main ways seniors tend to use the internet is to keep in touch with family abroad, for general browsing and for entertainment purposes.

Although seeing the older generation taking advantage of the latest trends and technologies shows the positive impact of these innovations on people of all ages, there are also many potential threats they need to be aware of when using the internet. Only 32% of seniors surveyed claimed they were confident using the internet safely, and 25% of over 75s stated that technology made them feel vulnerable. Seniors particularly need to be aware of how to use the internet safely as they appear to have a lack of confidence and awareness, making them prime targets for cyber criminals. 1 in 5 seniors also don’t have anti-virus software installed on their devices leaving them vulnerable.

This infographic created by Focus Training introduces simple yet effective ways seniors can safely use the internet and protect themselves from potential cyber attacks.

 

software

Review: What Makes EaseUS the Best Hard Drive Recovery Software For Us

Is all your data lost from your hard drive? Are you looking for the best software that will help you recover all the files that you need? Is it getting hard for you to select the best hard drive recovery software? We know that you want the best services and it is getting tough for you. There is no need to select any random software when you have the EaseUS hard drive recovery software available. You must have been wondering why is it the best, right? Here we have some of the features you will find in EaseUS:

Fastest recovery

EaseUS hard drive recovery software provides the fastest recovery for all the data you want to recover from your hard drive. We all know how hard it is to recover this data, mainly because of the very long process. However, with EaseUS hard drive recovery software, you won’t have to deal with those issues. It will recover the data in a very short time to assure you will get it right back onto your computer device.

Amazing scanning services

EaseUS has the best scanning services available for you. There are two special scanning services available.

  1. The biggest attraction of the EaseUS recovery is the superficial scanning service feature. If you have a limited time, you can quickly conduct a superficial survey and have all the data recovered for you.
  2. However, if the files you wanted are not scanned with the superficial scanning option, fret not because deep scanning services are also available. They will help you recover the files in no time, to assure you won’t lose anything in the process. Once you have found all the data, you can stop the scanning process and recover the files immediately back.

Device and data support

The biggest attraction of the EaseUS hard drive recovery software is that it works with pretty much all devices you can think of. It means that you can easily recover any of your files, whether it’s a PC, a smartphone or even just a memory card; recovering your data is easy and fast. You will not have to deal yourself with any confusions, and it will help you in managing the process in the best possible way. You will not have to deal with any possible issue whatsoever, while working to recover your valuable data.

For your own computer or smartphone sake, be sure to install the hard  drive recovery as soon as you can. It will save you the time to wait for recovering the data and will manage the process effectively as possible. The use is very simple and it’s easy to recover all the data that you want, and without the hassle of dealing with problems. Managing the process properly will assure that you’ll recover your data and get the lost files. In fact, with EaseUS you won’t be losing files, it has everything you want to make your data safe.

Cryptocurrency

How Crypto-Backed Quick Loans Are Going to Change the Crypto-Industry

Cryptocurrencies are gaining unimaginable popularity all over the world. A wide array of demographics has been proven meddling with cryptocurrencies, from meager to hefty amounts. As volatile as it is, the more tech-savvy people find digital trading enjoyable and profitable. But if you’re a cryptocurrency neophyte, learning the ropes and consulting the experts are the best bets before jumping into this risky investment.

Another facet of cryptocurrency that’s also making waves in the market is crypto-backed quick loans. Although this is considered a new innovation, some people see it as a great way to leverage their cryptocurrency investments while some people say borrowing from a crypto-backed quick loan is completely ridiculous.

The populace is divided. But only one fact remains – crypto-backed quick loans will definitely have a huge impact on the crypto industry.

How Do Crypto-Backed Quick Loans Work?

When borrowing from crypto loans, you eliminate the middleman during the transaction process such as banks and other financial institutions. In other words, it’s not a conventional type of borrowing money. Some of these loans offer better rates than bank interest rates. Say, for example, you have crypto assets, in most cases, a crypto holder sells their crypto when the time is good for selling to gain profits. However, some investors use their cryptocurrencies as collateral when borrowing from a crypto quick loan, allowing them to still manage ownership of their funds and getting some cash at the same time for whatever purpose it serves.

Some people say it’s completely mad to borrow from a crypto loan because it’s a very capricious business. Prices can fluctuate and drop anytime. A borrowed cash of a thousand dollars can make you end up paying off double or triple the borrowed amount if you get caught in the price drop frenzy.

If you ever want to buy a new home, diversify investments, pay off travel expenses, settle your long overdue debts, or fund a business; crypto quick loans are an excellent way to start getting cash. It’s very fast, easy, and hassle-free.

The initial step when borrowing is of course – assessment. A borrower is evaluated based on his credit score, demographic data, and online activities to assess if the borrower is eligible for a loan and is trustworthy of paying it off.

The Impact on the Crypto Industry

Now that you know the ins and outs of crypto-backed quick loans, it’s time to scrutinize how this effective innovation will change the entire crypto industry.

First of all, cryptocurrency will be more popular than ever. It’ll entice more investors in joining the bandwagon. We all know how cryptocurrency sometimes gets a bad rap for its volatility but with crypto-backed loans, people will assume that this is a progressive and positive industry which is worth taking a risk for.

Secondly, because the entire borrowing process is quite easy to accomplish, more and more people will opt for borrowing crypto loans instead of borrowing from conventional lending institutions. Although most crypto loans strictly do credit checks on borrowers, there are some crypto loans out there which don’t adhere to this initial step. It’s very convenient for people who are struggling with their credit history. Consequently, the industry will become a top choice for loaning money and cryptocurrencies will gain more trust from people. In the future, we can expect these crypto platforms to multiply in number and there will be an influx of investors as well. The crypto world will be a topnotch investment caliber in digital trading.

Thirdly, as more and more people enter into the world of digital currencies, we can expect an increase in digital coin prices. The value of these digital coins will see a price surge because there will be a higher demand in the future.

Lastly, all preconceived notions about cryptocurrencies being a negative way to achieve profitability will be completely eliminated. The crypto world will become a force to be reckoned with.

Is It Worth Borrowing from A Crypto-Backed Quick Loan?

As previously mentioned, you could end up paying triple the borrowed amount because cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile. True enough, it has been proven to be a risky digital trading. While some people advice that if you need instant cash, all you have to do is sell your coins and that’s it. But because the crypto industry wants the best for their investors in terms of convenience, crypto holders can now use their cryptocurrencies as collateral when borrowing from quick loans without having to sell their crypto. Then they can pay off their loan and get all of their crypto back.

There’s a reason why the crypto world has opened up this new facet in the middle of its booming digital situation. And that’s because they see this as a better option of getting instant cash while avoiding endless queues and a bunch of red tape during the entire process in traditional lending companies. So I guess you could say – YES, borrowing from crypto-backed quick loans are worth it.

 

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Author Bio:Lily, is a blogger, who enjoys sharing tips on personal finance, business and entrepreneurship. She is currently working for My Quick Loans, which offers fast loans online in the UK including Christmas loans, Payday loans, Late Night loans, Weekday loans, Student Short Term Payday loans and many more.

Cryptocurrency

Top 5 Cryptocurrency Tips for GAINS during DOWNTIME

There’s a reason why people opted for cryptocurrencies many years back. With most of them claiming that it’s profitable, secure, and free from system outages; people have jumped right into the bandwagon without doing further research.

Sure enough, users may have had a seamless user experience ever since Bitcoin was launched in 2009. But with an upswing of several downtime occasions from several exchanges or online wallets in the last recent years; this leaves one question which is probably still up in the air, at the time of writing: Are investors at risk now due to downtime inflation?

Coinbase’s downtime occurrence last December 2017 and Bitcoin’s so-called “system maintenance” last August 2018 have left a lot of investors hanging by a thread. Not that a system glitch is something out of the ordinary; but the fact that the system was disrupted for about 12 hours and 2 hours, respectively, while the value soared at noticeable prices during those times left investors asking yet another question: Were those manipulated?

The Worst Downtime in Cryptocurrency History

During a dreadful downtime and sky-high values happening in cryptocurrencies simultaneously, sometimes investors can’t help but speculate if these are indeed planned or a big coincidence. As if missing out on a good trade isn’t bad enough, put hacking into the mix and investors will find themselves really keeping both eyes on those computer screens until the page doesn’t annoy you with that all-too-familiar blue screen.

The most recounted downtime in cryptocurrency history that led to class suits should remind investors that this is somewhat the price they pay for not doing due diligence. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, has found itself in a conundrum when its users have filed a class suit after a 90-minute server outage on November 12, 2017. Although this might not sound as bad as Kraken’s 48-hour server maintenance, investors claimed of losing millions of dollars when the outage hit the fan – a $250-million loss to be exact.

Let’s not forget about Kraken’s DDoS attacks last June 2018 which formed a bunch of Florida users to file a class suit against the said platform. They allegedly claimed of losing up to a million dollars during the frenzied trading.

How to Ensure Gains in Case a Downtime Occurs?

As crypto investors, this is an inevitable situation nowadays but since investors are nevertheless responsible for their investment decisions, here are 5 simple ways you can do to prepare yourself in case a distressing downtime happens:

1 Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

As with any other investment options, having different portfolios or platforms might save you from a great deal of money whenever your favorite exchange or online wallet’s server fails. But that’s not the only benefit you’ll get from diversifying, you also get to leverage your trading on different platforms with different prices.

2 Choose Decentralized Platforms

A distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) is when an influx of users simultaneously uses the system. When you’re investing in a centralized platform which is handled by a sole controller, you’re bound to see doom. The advantage of decentralized platforms is that they are managed through peer-to-peer transactions, therefore, lessening the risks of DDoS attacks.

3 Look at Long-Term Holds

While it’s almost always tempting to sell when “it’s too high”, putting your investments in long-term holds will be beneficial for you in the long run – if you’re patient. So during a downtime, when an upsurge of value takes over, don’t worry if you can’t log in. Who knows, it’ll be double or triple a week from now or even months from now! You’ll likely thank the server for failing at an opportune time.

4 Consider Stop-Loss Orders

If you really don’t want to further your loss and maximize your gains pre, during, and post downtime; don’t forget to set up stop-loss orders across all your exchange platforms. When a downtime occurs, at least you can sleep you at night knowing you won’t be losing that much.

5 Be Patient. Persist.

If you really want in on a good trading situation during a server crash, be unrelenting in clicking the “refresh” button. Patience is a virtue, they say. So hope for the best but don’t expect too much.

As the surge of cryptocurrency investors seems to fortify more people, downtime occurrences are also giving some of them a huge scare. These simple tips will maximize gains or control losses during server outages; so it’s vital to be always on the ball about your investments.

 

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Author Bio:  Lily Brooks, a frequent traveler and numismatist, loves to write about little-known facts and fun stuff about coins, travel, health and food. She is currently working for First Fidelity Reserve, which specializes in rare United States coins and precious metals, including gold, silver, and platinum bullion and provides superlative service, insightful analysis and comprehensive consultation for rare coin investors and collectors.

 

 

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