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Top Tips to Avoid Stagnation and Keep a Growing Business Afloat

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One of the most significant issues hitting most newer businesses today is the threat of stagnation. Too many young companies end up in a downward spiral much too early, unable to move forward because they’ve hit something of a snag – and they can’t get out of it. It’s unfortunately due to running into more than a few beginner’s traps. For example, neglecting certain elements of a growing company might be a calculated risk, but if it goes for too long, it risks suffering from stagnation with little hope of recovery.

What can a growing business do to keep afloat, and avoid the dreaded possibility of stagnation? It isn’t easy, even for a seasoned entrepreneur and business owner, but it isn’t impossible. Here are just a few top tips for avoiding stagnation and keeping a growing business afloat.

Take advantage of every software opportunity that you can get

While it’s certainly a very broad term, it depends on your chosen industry. For example, there exists many types of different business management services and software available for a budding company to take advantage of. From overall asset management to gas engineer software, you’d be surprised just how many different types of software are available that can help your company right this very moment.

Remember that trying to keep a young company afloat is all about lightening the load of tedious elements, giving you a chance to innovate and move your company forward without being bogged down. Business software is the solution to the issue of tedium, and it does wonders to avoid stagnation.

Heed the advice of mentors who have gone through the same thing

It might seem strange, looking for a mentor to show you the ropes when it comes to managing a business – but it’s a necessary endeavour to remain relevant in an ever-changing marketplace. It’s critical that you ask for help from those who have been through the same thing and succeeded. What they can teach you in a single hour can save you months of heartache. Don’t suffer through things on your own when you can get the advice of people who have suffered in your stead.

Always take care of your employees

It doesn’t matter what state your company is currently in. If you don’t take care of your employees, your business has no hope of succeeding. Your employees are the lifeblood of your enterprise, and it’s essential that they’re given the respect and recognition that they deserve. Give those who work under you a reason to work hard – focus on incentives, and invest in a human resources department. It might feel like that money is better served elsewhere, but your employees are your best investment.

It’s never easy to avoid stagnation and ensure that your company is on the right track. However, if you prepare yourself beforehand and focus on the correct elements of your company, you won’t have to work very hard to avoid stagnation.

To read more on topics like this, check out the technology category.

How To Recover Lost Data From Your Website in 24 hours

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One of the first rules of running an online business is that you regularly have an updated backup of your website. This way, you can recover your lost information from an existing backup.

The following tips will help you recover the contents of your website in just a few hours.

Recover lost data using Google

If you’ve lost the contents of your website and don’t have a backup, you can retrieve your lost data using Google cache. According to the search giant, “Google takes a snapshot of each web page as a backup in case the current page isn’t available. These pages then become part of Google’s cache.”

Google cache helps to improve website performance by providing future page requests from the stored cache rather than from the origin server, providing faster page load speed and improved user experience. Using Google cache to recover lost data, however, involves manual work. This article provides an in-depth tutorial for recovering lost website data using Google cache.

Using internet archive

Google cache is not the only way you can recover lost data on your website. Sometimes, Google cache may not work, particularly if the Google cache system has updated the current state of your website. In this situation, the internet archive can provide an alternative solution.

The internet archive is a not-for-profit platform that contains an internet library of all the websites and other important contents on the internet. Using its Wayback Machine, you can travel back to a prior version of your website and use the pages there to rebuild your website. Not only can you get text content on the internet archive, but you can also save media files to a local folder and re-use them on your rebuilt website. You will find snapshots of your website on the Wayback Machine calendar and you can click on each one to find the version that you want. How to use the Wayback Machine can be found here.

While you are recovering the lost data on your website, your business does not have to suffer. There are other options you can use to keep your business running such as the workplace recovery platform by Iomart. This kind of service will make sure all data has been effectively, routinely and securely backed up.

Build a backup culture

There is never a better time to back up your website like the present. This is the best way to keep the data on your website safe. There are tons of articles on the internet that can teach you how to back up your website as often as you want, and you can also use the professional cloud backup and recovery solutions available online. If your website is built on WordPress, there are many WordPress backup plugins to choose from–free and premium.

What is The Difference Between Shared Hosting and a Dedicated Server

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A dedicated server is only responsible for hosting a single website, while a shared server hosts multiple websites.

If you’re looking to publish a new website and are tossing up whether to purchase a dedicated server or to opt for shared hosting, simply continue reading to discover everything you need to know about choosing the right option for your website’s needs.


What is the difference between shared hosting and a dedicated server:

1. The amount of bandwidth offered

If you opt to host your website on a dedicated server, you won’t have to worry too much about exceeding your bandwidth allocation as websites which are hosted on dedicated servers usually boast more bandwidth than you could possibly use.

However, if you choose to host your website on a server which hosts multiple websites, you will be allocated a smaller amount of bandwidth. As the servers bandwidth will have to be shared out across the different websites which it is currently hosting.

2. The amount of disk space offered

Dedicated servers will also offer far more disk space than shared servers. So if your website requires ample disk space, you’ll be far better off paying a little more for a dedicated server, rather than sharing a server with other individuals or businesses.

3. It’s often safer to host your website on a dedicated server

If you want to decrease your website’s chances of being targeted by malware or viruses, your best bet may be to host your website on a dedicated server. As if no other websites are being hosted by your server, your IT team will be able to control your security measures more effectively.

However, if you don’t have your own IT security team, it’s still well worth considering purchasing a shared hosting plan for your website. As many shared hosting plans include security options, whereas if you purchase a dedicated server for your website, in most cases, you will be fully responsible for the security of your website.

4. There are more risks involved in opting to use shared hosting

As an example, in another individual or organization who shares your server engages in illegal practices or is caught spamming websites, your IP or website may be blacklisted by certain websites as a result. So it pays to be very careful when it comes to choosing a shared server for your website.

As you only want to sign up to use a shared server, if the business who you deal with carefully screens all of its clients. As the last thing you want is for your website to be hosted on the same server as websites which may be illegal or fraudulent in nature!

5. Shared servers are often slower at certain times of the day

As an example, visitors to your site may find that it takes a long time to load your website at peak times when the other websites hosted by your shared server are attracting a lot of hits.

Hopefully after reading the informative article above you are now clear about some of the benefits and disadvantages of using shared hosting and dedicated servers.

How Your Car Cover Can Protect Your Vehicle

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Do you realize that using Chevy car covers can be very good for your car? Your car can be better protected when it is indoors. It will have a roof over its head. It will not be too exposed to the outdoors too. It is different when your vehicle is outdoors. Even the lightest wind might blow some small twigs and even pebbles that will scratch your car when it does not have any car cover. Some of those dents that are made by small pebbles will not immediately be visible. The more that it happens, the more obvious they will look like.

It can be even harder for your vehicle if it is exposed to the changing weathers all the time. You can have the best dash covers when the weather is extremely hot. The sunlight that is streaming through the dashboard can cause some damage to your interiors especially if it would get exposed for a long time. Aside from sunlight, expect that your car will also experience damage when exposed to seemingly never-ending rain and snow.

You need the right car cover that will protect your car from all types of weather but there are still other benefits that you should not forget:

  • Your car can be a less likely target of theft. There are a lot of thieves who are hoping to find vehicles that are parked on the street. Your car may be one of them but with the right car cover, your car will be a hassle for thieves to get. The fact that they need to more effort will make your car an unlikely target.
  • You can keep insects off your car. There are various insects that may try to get into your car through the small entry points available. They may enter under your hood or even through the tailpipe of your car. You can stop them from gaining access to outdoor car storage covers.
  • You will protect your car from animal scratches. There are different animals that may try to scratch your hood, your trunk, and your roof. Prevent these animals from scratching with the right car cover.

Do you think you are ready to get the right car cover to protect your vehicle?

Guitar Skills Checklist: Do You Have These Covered

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As a guitar player, do you ever look back to see how much you’ve improved since the first day you made your first strums and chords on your acoustic guitar? It’s actually good for guitarists to do a reality check every now and then and evaluate themselves, not just their gear.

While it’s definitely a plus to have a pro-level guitar to help you become a better player, you also need to assess your skills and see which aspects of guitar playing you still need to work on. This is why we’ve come up with a checklist of skills that every guitar player needs to have. Give this a read and see if you have everything covered – if not, you know what to do: keep on studying and practicing!

Fretboard Knowledge

Do you know all the notes on the fretboard? Do you know the chromatic scale on all six strings by heart? How about horizontal and vertical scale patterns and scale tones in all of the 15 keys? Can you easily find all the places on the fretboard where you can play a particular pitch? If you have a good understanding of the fretboard, you should be able to play the same chord or scale in another part of it.

Reading Music

Being able to read music is a plus for guitar players who want to have a professional career. You need to be able to read chord charts, tabs and standard notations quickly and competently.

Rhythm

If you can’t keep time properly, or can’t figure out where the beat is, you’ve got a lot of work to do. Poor rhythm is one of the main reasons why many aspiring guitarists often can’t get a riff right.

Ear Training

Not everyone is born with perfect pitch, which is why ear training is important, especially for guitar players who want to have a good career in music. Training your ear allows you to determine whether a string is out of tune, play the sounds and melodies you hear and transcribe music.

Guitar Technique

Technique is something you develop the more you practice. A good technique will allow you to hit the right notes and get the right sound from your guitar, no matter your playing style.

Song Memorization

Using sheet music to learn a song is good, but if you can’t memorize the song even after listening to and playing the same thing over and over again, you need to work on your music memorization skills. There are plenty of exercises that can help you play from memory, so try them out and see which works for you.

Repertoire

Pro guitarists need to expand their repertoire to show their versatility and knowledge of various musical genres. If there are only a few songs you are comfortable playing, consider stepping out of your comfort zone and exploring other genres, songs and playing styles. Building a repertoire also develops the skill of playing from memory, plus you’ll be prepared when someone asks you to play something.

Improvisation

Last but certainly far from being the least is improvisation. To be able to make improvisations well, you need to be good at all of the aforementioned skills. Being able to improvise also improves your other guitar skills, so the more you practice playing guitar solos, the better you become as a musician overall.

So, which of these skills do you feel you need to spend more time improving? If there’s more than one, focus on your major weakness first, and work from there. Take your time to master these guitar skills and you will surely become a more accomplished and competent player.

 

3 Easy Ways To Start Editing Videos Effectively

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Starting to edit videos for the first time isn’t easy, and it is completely natural if you feel lost when you launch a video editor for the first time. With so many features and options laid out in front of you, figuring out where to start can be the most difficult part.

Although each video is unique and may need to be edited in a different manner, there are several easy ways that you can start to edit videos effectively that are fairly universal:

  • Understand the different types of cuts and how they work

One of the most important parts of editing videos is to ‘cut’ them together, by removing unwanted parts and merging clips of footage to create the final video. Because of that a good place to start is to learn more about the different types of cuts that are out there, and how each works.

Cutting videos is normally fairly straightforward, and in most editors you should be able to position a marker and split the video footage at any point that you need to. After that you can join videos, rearrange video clips, or remove unwanted parts as required.

  • Improve the white balance and color settings

In most cases the raw footage that you’re working with won’t look perfect – and one of the easiest ways to enhance it is by improving the white balance and color settings. Although adjusting the color settings manually can be tricky and requires experience, most editors nowadays have automated features that will let you improve the white balance with a single click.

As you become more familiar with the color settings you can try adjusting the brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, shadows, highlights and other parameters manually and observe the affect that they have.

  • Crop to adjust the frame and composition

Another simple yet extremely useful way to edit videos is to crop them. By cropping your video and removing a section of it, you can directly adjust the frame and composition of the video.

It is best to use the crop feature in conjunction with composition techniques such as the rule of thirds to improve your video’s visual impact. However at the same time you should be wary of cropping too much of the video or it will affect its resolution and quality.

Each of the ways to edit videos described above can be performed with pretty much any video editing software for Mac or PC. That being said when you first start out you should try to find one that has a reputation for being user-friendly, as it will make it much easier to edit your videos. For example you could try Movavi Video Editor for Mac if you’re looking for an editor that is easy to use.

By focusing on the areas listed above, you should find it much easier to get started and edit your videos effectively. After you become familiar with these methods, you can move on to other editing techniques and try them out too.

5 Biggest Tech Trends Of 2018 So Far

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There’s a lot of much-hyped technology available out there, but it is how you use it that will offer you and your business the best opportunity for growth

Every year brings an onslaught of ‘must have’ technologies your business apparently cannot do without over the coming twelve months. While there is a lot of innovative and forward thinking business technology out there for you to try, most technology leaders report that their top priority for 2018 is unlocking growth.

Flashy new apps and software are grand, but not always necessary in order to help your business succeed. Instead of experimenting with disruptive technologies, create a strategy which helps you optimize existing systems to achieve lower costs and better results. Here are a few of the most effective ways to use technology trend in 2018, courtesy of Syntax IT Support London.

Increased Automation

The unstoppable freight train of 2018’s technology trends, increased automation offers organisations of every size the opportunity to work smarter by transforming data into value. Increased productivity, better quality control due to the absence of human error, and the ability to better utilise a workforce, are just a few of the benefits automation offers.

Increased automation technology can be incorporated into the workplace through the adoption of marketing apps, recruitment tools for the human resources department, and sales enablement software.

Smarter Network Security

The importance of a secure network has not been far away from the news over the past few months. A new, unique strain of malware is discovered on average every 4 seconds. If that doesn’t terrify you; it should. Particularly because the information security skills gap means that many technology businesses are going without an online security specialist. This means that investing in greater network security is vital, especially with all the recent discussion about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

A proactive approach to network security is the best approach most organizations can take, whether through solutions to leverage the cloud, or more AI to protect sensitive data. Smarter security isn’t an expensive, frivolous trend in 2018, but an absolute necessity.

Analytics Expansion

If your organization is without a data science team or specialist, then investing in greater analytics could prove invaluable. Even if you do have such a specialist, the recent advancements in user friendly solutions for big data storage, data processing and visualization mean that expanding your big data analytics can only benefit your business.

Cloud Optimization

Most IT leaders would opt to use a cloud over an in-house alternative. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, it has lower costs to run, runs quicker, on average, and better scales for large data. Secondly, optimizing or outsourcing to a managed services provider could result in superior performance, as well as lower risk. Over the next year over half of businesses will spend time focusing on optimizing their cloud services and storage to reduce costs in the year to come.

Managed Solution Investment

Most IT forms are better funded this year than they ever have been, but still feel as though they don’t have a big enough budget. If you don’t have enough resources at your disposal, achieving growth is impossible, which is why outsourcing to managed service providers is becoming increasingly popular. Whether you invest in a trusted third part partnership for managed print services, fully outsourced virtual consulting, or any other on demand IT services, it could allow your IT team to benefit from a wider range of expertise while also giving you greater control over how you spend your budget.

Using Technology To Transfer The Way You Manage Money

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Money is important and essential for living. Unfortunately, not everyone is like Bill Gates, and has billions of dollars to spend. This is why it is important to budget, and manage your money efficiently.

Moneyfarm’s infographic on the wealthiest people in history shows the many different ways that people of inspiration like Bill Gates, and Oprah have built their wealth and success.

See what you can learn from some of the wealthiest people in history from past to present and in what ways they spent and managed their earnings.

If you’re interested in learning more about how you can manage your money like the icons in Moneyfarm’s infographic and in what ways you take advantage of technology in relation to your money, simply continue reading to discover 4 tips on how to harness the power of technology in order to positively affect your savings!

Using technology to transform the way you manage money:

  1. You can set up automatic payments within minutes, with little hassle

As an example, if you want to ensure that you save a reasonable portion of your income, you can set up your primary bank account to transfer a set amount of money to your long-term savings account. Which will make it far easier for you to save a portion of your income, which you can then choose to invest if you’re not happy with the interest rate which your bank currently offers you.

  1. You can use an app on your phone in order to quickly and effortlessly transfer money to your friends and family members

As an example, if you go out for dinner with friends and the restaurant asks your group to pay your bill as a single bill, you’ll easily be able to transfer your portion of the cost to your friend’s chosen bank account using your chosen bank’s app on your smartphone. Which means that you’ll never have to walk to an ATM in order to get out cash, in order to pay a friend back for money which they’ve spent on you, ever again.

  1. You can use Paypal in order to pay for any goods and services which your purchase online

If you ever feel comfortable giving out your bank details or your credit card details to online companies, it’s well worth signing up for a free Paypal account. As a large portion of online stores now offer Paypal as a payment option. You can even use Paypal to pay for any eBay auctions which you win.

Better yet, if a company doesn’t send you the item which you purchased or there is some kind of dispute with a purchase you’ve made through Paypal, you can contact Paypal’s friendly customer service team you’ll be able to reverse the charges which have been made. Which means that you should always select Paypal as your preferred payment option, in order to decrease your chances of being scammed online.

  1. You can keep up to date with your expenses on a daily basis

While in past decades you may have had to wait for a printed bank statement to be sent to your home address in order to see all of the transactions which you’ve been made, in today’s day and age you can log into your internet banking account as often as you’d like. Which will give you the chance to cut back on your spending, if you find that you’ve already exceeded your weekly budget. Which will help you keep on track of your monthly expenditure.

In conclusion, it’s well worth using all of the four tips listed above in order to harness the power of technology in order to help you manage your money better today!

How Tech Can Only Advance Online Gaming

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Technology has always been a positive force for change in our lives. It has also become an integral part of your life. Can you imagine being able to function at home or work with no internet, Wi-Fi, smartphones or tablets? According to reports, 54% of the global population now uses the internet, which is a staggering figure.

While some people resist the changes that new tech can bring, it will only enhance the way you enjoy life and can help you perform some essential daily tasks. Entertainment is one sector that tech plays a huge role in shaping – online gaming in particular.

How has tech shaped online gaming? 

In the old days, playing games was done via a console like the Sega Megadrive or on a desktop PC. The problem was that the games you could play were limited to that machine and what games you had in your collection. It also made playing against others difficult, as they had to be there with you. Enjoying casino games was even more inconvenient! To enjoy some poker or baccarat, you would have to find a casino nearby and then actually go out to use it.

With the rise of the internet and the advent of online gaming as a result, all the above issues have been solved. Online casinos make playing your favorite table or slot game much easier, and online video gaming makes the whole world your playing partner.

Will tech help online gaming evolve further?

It is a pretty sure thing that new tech being developed will only help online gaming develop further. To start with, more powerful technology will allow bigger, better games to be developed for online play. The extra capabilities the online space offers will help game developers produce titles that give a more detailed, immersive experience than ever before.

The online casino sector is another niche where technology will only help it to advance. Casino games will become even more sophisticated and awesome to play. Virtual reality is set to really help online gambling make the next leap forward, with full VR casinos already starting to pop up.

This next gen tech will help players get the perfect mixture between the convenience of online play but with the real-life feel of offline connections. It also opens up a huge range of possibilities – want to play a few hands of blackjack at the Bellagio in Vegas? VR casinos may allow you to do just that but with no need to travel or spend hundreds on a plane ticket!

Technology is key for online gaming

Technology and online gaming are so intertwined that any developments in tech will only help online gaming push on. This is great news for you as a player, as it will mean better games to play and more immersive experiences to enjoy. When you factor in possible future developments like online games that recognize your emotions when playing or can be voice-activated for more realism, it looks set to be exciting times ahead.

John Kang WebMD Discusses Artificial Intelligence Fear And Hype In Healthcare

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Whenever discussing modern healthcare it is hard not to mention artificial intelligence since AI stands out as a huge hope and fear for future developments. John Kang WebMD, surgical oncologist and healthcare IT specialist, discusses the hype and fear surrounding artificial intelligence as it is now used in healthcare and how it might be used in the future.

John Kang starts by talking about the fact there is a constant increase in the number of tech firms and startups that are now active in AI research and development. There are various possible sophisticated solutions offered for healthcare, ranging from nurse-bots to AI wearables the elderly can use. Most of the AI research done at the moment is highly interesting but it is not yet transformative. John Kang WebMD believes that fear surrounding artificial intelligence is not warranted since almost all new solutions proposed did not manage to improve life expectancy or quality.

The biggest hype surrounding AI use in healthcare comes from aspiring entrepreneurs that believe AI will be the next big thing and that humans will be replaced by machines. Interestingly, this is also the biggest associated fear. What should be known, according to John Kang MC, is that the fear noticed is simply grounded in Sci-Fi culture, not in reality. Computer intelligence does advance much faster than our own intelligence but this actually opens the doors to opportunities, not dangers.

Various reports highlighted that computer speed is doubling every few years. If this keeps happening and we see a 5 times speed increase in the following ten years, inexpensive diagnostic software and machine learning tools can easily become as common for the doctor as we all know the stethoscope is.

Unfortunately, those working in healthcare will be affected if AI keeps evolving. This is a reality. Technology can lower healthcare costs and improve quality. Because of this, there are healthcare jobs that are going to disappear. Studies show that AI can take over around 47% of the entire US employment market if it keeps evolving at the current rate. However, this is not an accurate representation of healthcare. Blue-collar jobs are mostly affected.

John Kang is a truly positive light in the modern healthcare industry since he is one of those that embrace everything that has the potential to improve life quality. Progress is something that can improve lives while lowering healthcare prices. Similarly to how robotics affected manufacturing, artificial intelligence can impact modern medicine. However, the need to have doctors is still strong and will most likely not change. Computers cannot show compassion or empathy and most decisions are made based on probabilities.

Businesses and entrepreneurs will keep investing in the development of artificial intelligence applications. This means hyping all applications. However, even if machine learning can take medicine to a whole new level, this is not going to happen as fast as promised. At the moment we need to keep our feet on the ground and understand that all the hype and fear associated with AI use in healthcare is wildly misunderstood.