How to Use AI Technology in Your Business

There’s no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way businesses operate. But what does that mean for your business? Here’s a look at how you can use AI technology in your business and what benefits you can expect to see.

Use AI to Improve Operations

Artificial Intelligence can significantly increase the efficiency of your business if it is properly implemented. Remember that not only do businesses fall under different industries and categories but even businesses under the same category have varying workflows and operations. For this reason, AI development services work closely with their client businesses to deliver customized solutions. For example, by using AI as a virtual customer service agent, you can free up staff to focus on higher-value tasks. In addition, for an e-commerce store AI chatbots can be used to automatically answer commonly asked questions and direct consumers towards products that they might not have otherwise considered. This will help drive additional sales and improve overall conversion rates.

If your company offers a product or a service that’s in demand right now but soon won’t be due to changes in technology or other factors, you need the ability to pivot quickly. You may find AI training helpful in getting certified experience using AI tools for your business. With AI systems constantly monitoring various data sets, they can easily notify you when things change so that you can respond accordingly before your entire business model becomes obsolete.

Use AI to Generate Insights

The insights generated by artificial intelligence can help you make more informed decisions about your business. For example, if you run a retail store, you can use AI to study customer behavior and preferences. This data can then be used to tweak your marketing strategy, product offerings, and even the layout of your store in order to boost sales.

AI can also be used to analyze financial data in order to identify trends and forecast future performance. This information can be used to make more informed investment decisions or help you adjust your budget in order to stay profitable.

Use AI for Personalization

One of the advantages of using AI is that it allows for a high degree of personalization. With conversational AI technology, businesses can provide a conversational experience to customers that is tailored to their specific needs. By enabling users to have an interactive conversation with the AI system, companies can gain invaluable insights into customer preferences and behaviors.

This means that you can tweak your product offerings and services to better suit the needs of your customers. For example, by using AI chatbots on your website, you can direct customers towards products that they’re more likely to buy. This will increase sales while also helping improve overall conversion rates.

In addition, AI systems have a high degree of accuracy across a broad range of data sets which means that they can measure customer behavior with a high degree of precision. With this information, you can fine-tune everything from advertising campaigns to promotional strategy in order to boost revenue and maximize profits.

Create Intelligent Products

AI is now being used as an integral part of research and development into new technologies such as robotics and self-driving cars as well as other machinery. By using AI to develop these products, you can create machines that are capable of making their own decisions and solving problems on their own. This will allow your business to stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive in an ever-changing market.

Use AI to improve customer service

There are many ways that AI technology can improve customer service in businesses, and it is a tool that should be seriously considered by all companies. First of all, it is important to remember the basics when thinking about how AI can improve customer service. Customer support can always be much better than it currently is if using AI technology for three very simple reasons:

  1. Customers are not always satisfied with their experience. Be proactive and resolve issues before they arise with an automated system that constantly monitors customer service metrics. A great example of this was provided by American Express, which partnered with IBM Watson to continually monitor activity on its credit cards via social media postings. This allowed them to immediately identify issues – such as fraudulent transactions – before they become serious problems. Imagine how many customers’ days were made when their transactions were blocked before they could be hacked.
  1. Intelligent agents can identify the root cause of customer service issues and create solutions that work in real-time. This provides a dynamic process that is not static like current systems.
  1. AI has the ability to anticipate customer needs before they even realize these needs exist, providing an unparalleled level of service.

Use AI for Marketing 

There are various benefits of AI in the marketing world. For example, you can use AI to collect data about customers and their preferences. This information can be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that are relevant to individual customers. Additionally, AI can be used to automate the process of selecting the best marketing approach for each customer. This technology is beneficial for understanding consumer behavior in order to make things simpler for marketers to target specific audiences with individual ads. This is the advantage of using machine learning systems that offer quick cost-effective solutions.

AI can also provide complex analytics that assists in determining what type of advertisements are most successful with certain individuals or groups. Content-based algorithms analyze various factors such as word choice and sentiment in order to determine what someone finds funny, serious, sad, etc., about a particular topic. 

Another use of artificial intelligence is detecting fraudulent traffic on websites which are referred to as “clickbots.” These clickbots look like normal website visitors but their actions don’t help advertisers get more exposure for their products. AI technology can equip businesses with countermeasures to stop clickbots from interfering with their site traffic by adding CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA features.

In conclusion, there are many ways in which artificial intelligence can be used to improve the efficiency and performance of your business. By utilizing AI technology, you can gain a competitive edge over your rivals and stay ahead of changes in the marketplace. So if you’re looking for a way to improve your business, consider using artificial intelligence as a tool to help you achieve your goals.

How is a Video Downloader Beneficial for You?

Platforms for video sharing, for example, Dailymotion and YouTube are incredibly popular sites because they allow free streaming of videos, films, songs and whatnot for the sole convenience of their viewers. Given that these platforms are free to use. Assuming that these platforms run free of cost, you must be thinking for what reason you need a video downloader. Given below are a few reasons why you need a video downloader.

It gives quick speed to the process of downloading. There’s another advantage, users can pick a resolution of their choice to download. If you think the download is not proceeding because the size of a video is too large, don’t worry, pick a smaller resolution. Video lovers like me and you can without any problem download and save videos by simply pressing a button, and afterward play it whenever you want and how many times you want.

What are the Advantages of having a Video Downloader?

Save E-Learning Content

We all know that Youtube or Facebook videos are amazing tools to learn. In case you’re a speaker or an instructor you can download informative videos through a site that allows youtube download for PC or download video Facebook and afterward show them to your college students. This is an amazing choice in case you don’t have easy and quick access to the web in the class.

Learning isn’t limited to merely passing information to your students, however, it additionally makes you a student because learning has no end. YouTube and DailyMotion offer informative content that gives such a vast insight into various skills, language and genes. If for instance, you’re figuring out how to code, you can download numerous available videos on the subject and study anywhere without having to worry about finding wifi.

Uninterrupted Video Streaming

Who doesn’t adore continuous video play without any interruptions or loading? Just think that you’re watching a film and right at the climax of the movie, it begins buffering-once more! Those couple of moments of buffering feel like hours, isn’t that right? Thus, to save yourself from that torment you should choose a reliable video downloader. It’ll save a lot of personal time and energy! Also, the downloading speed is very smooth and fast.

Mobdro offers a wide range of genres including Sports, Music, Movies, Entertainment, Technology, Animals, Gaming, Anime, and Spiritual, has become the most popular live-streaming platform for people of all ages due to its user-friendly interface, regions (it can be streamed in 30 countries), and language (it has shows in 10 languages).

Streaming apps might stop working due to technical hitches, restart issues or complete shutdown from authorities. It’s a common scenario for thousands of streaming apps on the internet where the piracy war never ends. However, some apps manage to come back in the same version or different, and others don’t make it. For Mobdro APK fans, fate will decide whether it will revive again. The tech world has various Mobdro alternatives, which will provide the same best quality as Mobdro APK and keep you entertained.

Share Your Content

Assuming you stumble over a really funny clip, one of the first things you’ll need to do after laughing uncontrollably is share that clip with your family and friends. Most video clips can without any trouble be easily shared on Instagram or Facebook, however, shouldn’t something be said about places like WhatsApp? Download these clips, save them on your phones and afterward share them with your family and friends. Even full scenes of American Idol or Games of Thrones can be downloaded and easily shared with others.

Different Video Sites are Supported

Rather than allowing downloading of specific content from YouTube, downloading software allows you to download content from across the web.

Simple To Use

Engineers make software like video downloaders for the client’s convenience, realizing that various kinds of people will be using it, and not every one of them will be well informed about technology. Thus, keeping this in mind most downloading devices or applications have a straightforward interface.

Installation is not Required

You shouldn’t try to download applications on my phone as a result of room and battery use. Additionally, a few applications contain malware and spyware which needs your special attention. Sites that have downloading tools inbuilt are heavenly since they don’t need to be installed or downloaded. All you want is any browser of your choice and you can download as many videos as you want.

Is Ethereum Mining More Green Than Bitcoin Mining?

Bitcoin mining has often been accused of exploiting the world’s energy resources for an unfair advantage. As various renowned tech-heads such as Elon Musk and Bill Gates express concerns regarding the power-hungry cryptocurrency, and countries such as China, Iran, and Thailand ban and restrict Bitcoin mining, there is a dire need to convert to greener mining cryptocurrencies.

After Bitcoin, Ethereum (which is the blockchain) and its cryptocurrency Ether is the largest and most popular cryptocurrency to dominate the market. With Bitcoin’s notoriety increasing due to its horrific energy consumption, Ethereum had no choice but to think quickly and adopt a more sustainable approach to sustain itself. Thus, in this blog, we will be analyzing whether Ethereum mining is greener than Bitcoin or not.

Energy Consumption of Bitcoin

To put things into perspective, if Bitcoin were a country, it would rank in the top 30 most power-consuming countries of the world. At 87.3 TWh annually, Bitcoin consumes more energy than many leading countries of the world such as Finland (which consumes 84.2 TWh annually) and Belgium (which consumes 82.05 TWh annually).

To validate one Bitcoin transaction, 1702.85 kWh of electricity is required, which would be sufficient in powering the average US house for about 58.37 days.

Thus, Bitcoin has had a devastating effect on the environment by devouring a hefty chunk of the world’s nonrenewable resources in its short existence. The carbon footprint a single Bitcoin transaction leaves behind is approximately 549.74 kg of CO2. Therefore if the trajectory prevails, Bitcoin alone has the potential to increase the earth’s core temperature by 2 degrees due to global warming.

Energy Consumption of Ethereum

The first aspect to be taken into consideration is that while Bitcoin is assumed to be running on an average of $0.05 kWh, Ethereum miners are paying an average of $0.10 kWh. The difference is due to Ethereum being run on Ethash. Ethash is an algorithm, which is resistant to application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, a technology that is prevalent in the Bitcoin network.

Compared to Bitcoin, if Ethereum was a country, it would be ranked as the 46th most power-consuming country in the world, devouring 63.39 TW/h per year. Thus, making Ethereum more power-hungry than Switzerland (which consumes 63.3 TWh annually) and Israel (which consumes 60.5 TWh annually).

Moreover, a single Ethereum transaction requires 144.7 kWh of electricity, which is equivalent to how much power is consumed by the average US household in 4.89 days. Additionally, the carbon footprint of a single transaction of Ethereum is 68.73 kg of CO2, which is equivalent to 152,329 VISA transactions.

Hence, it can be deduced by the statistics provided above that Ethereum mining is much greener than Bitcoin. However, we should further analyze the working of Ethereum to comprehend what it is doing differently than Bitcoin.

What Distinguishes Ethereum from Bitcoin

Observing the fate of Bitcoin, Ethereum had to think fast to find a greener solution to cryptocurrency. Otherwise, the crackdowns we are witnessing for Bitcoin mining will soon be conducted against Ethereum mining. Therefore, Ethereum founders are working on shifting Ethereum mining to a more energy-efficient solution.

By overhauling the Ethereum blockchain code, the newer version will be far more efficient than Bitcoin in regards to data storage, value distribution automation, and decision support. Officially named Ethereum 2.0, this upgraded version of Ethereum is not only efficient in terms of transactions but is cost-efficient as well, aiming to reduce the energy requirement by 99.95%.

How Will Ethereum Achieve 99.95% Energy Reduction?

While Bitcoin uses the Proof-of-Work (PoW) model, Ethereum will shift to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model, which will replace power-consuming mining with staking. The PoS model has been divided into 3 stages:

  • The Beacon Chain
  • The Merge
  • To introduce Sharding

Out of these three, the first stage, The Beacon Chain, is already in full effect, which has allowed a conservative statistical analysis to take place.

Contrary to PoW, PoS does not require power-hungry computers to process transactions to earn newly mined cryptocurrency. The validators, who were formerly known as miners under PoW, will have to offer a stake as collateral. For solving the algorithm and processing the transaction, the stakers are rewarded with Ether, which is treated as a passive income.

Greener Results of Ethereum 2.0

According to an estimated statistical analysis performed by the Digiconomist, while Bitcoin consumed almost 14 Gigawatt of power at the beginning of 2021, Ethereum under PoW consumed almost 5.13 Gigawatt of power in the same timeline. Whereas, it is estimated that Ethereum under PoS would consume 0.00262 Gigawatt of Power.

Thus, it can be observed from the conservative estimations above that PoS is approximately 2000 times more energy and resource-efficient than PoW. Hence, Ethereum under this upgraded model will be able to decrease total energy consumption by 99.95%.

According to the Ethereum Foundation, if we translate this data into per transaction figures, we will receive 35 Wh under Ethereum 2.0’s PoS model, which is equivalent to 20 minutes of TV. On the other hand, Ethereum under PoW consumes energy that can be used to run an average US household for 2.8 days per transaction. PoS’s efficiency against Bitcoin is prominent and shows the game-changing potential.

Wrapping Up

From the above literature, it can be confidently said that Ethereum mining is far greener than Bitcoin mining. If the minds behind Ethereum manage to reduce power consumption by 99.95% with the emergence of the PoS model, then it will revolutionize the face of cryptocurrency and the finance industry for a more sustainable, greener, and eco-friendly future.

How to Put Micro SD Card in Computer Without An Adapter

Introduction

Transferring your data from a storage card to your computer can be quite a lengthy process if you don’t know how it works. Many people connect their phones directly through the USB cable not knowing that using their USB cable will only help them access the contents of their phone’s built-in memory and not the SD card.

SD cards are storage devices which store your data and when you have the entire space on them fully occupied, you need to transfer some of it to your computer to save it as a backup. Many people have no idea how to transfer contents from their SD card to their PC. This is why we are going to bring you one of the simplest methods to carry out this process.

For today, we shall be discussing the difference between an SD card and a micro SD card, how to insert a micro SD card in your computer without an adapter, and some FAQs on micro SD cards.

Difference Between SD Card and Micro SD Card

Your standard SD card is known as the secure digital card and compared to the micro SD card, it is bigger in size. Of course, the word micro in the micro SD card does tell us just by reading its name that it is smaller in size compared to the SD card. The dimensions of the SD card are 24 x 32 x 2.1 but the micro SD card has dimensions 15 mm x 11 mm x 1mm.

The reason there is a difference in the sizes of both SD cards is because of their placement in different devices. Some phones and cameras have an SD card slot whereas some of them have a micro SD card slot. A micro SD card is also sometimes known as a TF card.

How to Put a Micro SD Card in Computer Without An Adapter

The procedure to install a micro SD card is not a complicated process but it can be done in a number of steps. Insert the flash drive into your mobile phone and connect your computer and phone with a compliant USB cable to your phone. Usually, the phones that are being manufactured now make use of a type-C cable.

Once you connect the phone to the laptop, you will receive a notification that the USB has been recognized. Tap the Setup button on which you will send the information. There are two options after this.

In the first option, you will utilize the flash as mobile storage and the second one is to use it as internal storage. Soon after, a new notification will pop up and you will need to click on the “Explore” option. Go into “Settings” and then go to “Store and USB”. Then you may switch your phone to your SD cards and view your files as per your liking.

If you don’t have a file manager then you can obtain support from other applications that are present. An example is the “ES File Explorer” which is a great application to carry out and fasten this process. You can easily download this application from the Play Store which is going to offer you loads of convenience.

No need to worry if there is no built-in micro SD flash slot with your PC or laptop, you can still transfer files from your device to your PC with a tiny SD flash. All you need to do this is a tiny SD flash slot USB data cord smartphone and you’re good to go.

To put a micro SD card in your computer without an adapter, follow these steps:

  1. Insert the micro SD flash in the memory slot of your smartphone
  2. Connect your smartphone through a suitable data cord to the PC
  3. Click on the starting menu icon ‘My Computer’
  4. Double-click the smartphone name
  5. Choose the files on your SD flash and drag them to your computer desktop or any other location
  6. The file transfer should begin successfully from your micro SD card to your PC successfully without an adapter.
  7. If you can not transfer files or your mobile is not getting connected to pc then you should check if drivers are updated or not you can download driverpack solution from driverpacksolutiononline.com. Driverpack solution will help you to update drivers in one click.

Now that we’ve understood the process of how to insert a micro SD card in a computer without an adapter, we shall be looking at the relevant queries that many users ask in this process.

For trouble shooting SD card not recognized on Mac errors, check out iBoysoft who specializes in data recovery and disk management solutions.

FAQs

  • Can you put a Micro SD Card in a Laptop?

Yes, you can do so when you insert the micro SD card in the adapter slot. Insert the adapter card in the SD card port on a laptop with the inserted micro SD card. If a card reader has no SD card connector, pop the installation disc into your laptop’s optical drive for an external card reader.

  • What if my laptop does not have an SD card slot?

If your laptop doesn’t have an SD card slot then you will have to find a free USB slot on your laptop which you could make use of. After this, you will need to buy a USB card reader for your type of card (SD card or micro SD card)

  • Is there any need for an adapter for a micro SD card?

SD cards allow for easy file transfer between two devices. A micro SD card adapter is occasionally included in a micro SD card but you can also buy a separate converter. Any computer SD card reader or SD media port can accommodate the adapter easily like a conventional SD card.

  • What is a micro SD adapter used for?

A micro SD adapter is used by a computer to read the micro SD card that is inserted into it since laptops don’t come with micro SD card slots built into them.

What To Do If You Think You Have Lost SD Card Data?

PITS Data Recovery’s software employs advanced algorithms and cutting-edge technology, ensuring a high success rate in data recovery. With its intuitive interface, you can easily navigate through the recovery process, selecting the specific data you want to recover. The product also offers a range of scanning options, allowing you to target specific file types or perform a thorough scan of your entire Samsung device. PITS Data Recovery is dedicated to customer satisfaction and provides excellent technical support, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience. By choosing this product, you can regain access to your lost data and preserve your valuable memories and important information.

Business Success Is Achievable Through UX Designs: Read More!

Creating business value is imperative to achieving growth and success. Every business organization in the world should have UX designs. As such, you should hire a legitimate UX design company to ensure that you can gain the momentum of your business operation. Topping the competition is never easy. But it is doable through the help of a UX design company. Hiring one is suggested because it can lead you to the right way.

Product design is a sensitive matter. You have to make sure that it can meet what the target users are looking for. Meeting the needs and requirements of the potential market should be done through creating a user-centered product. The potential market is looking for a great provider of effective solutions. Resolving problems and issues can effectively be done through UX designs. Hence, you have to incorporate UX design as part of the overall business strategy.

Read more details about UX designs.

According to this Forbes article, there are good benefits that a business can have from a good UX design. It means one thing. If you want to succeed as a business organization, then you have to consider having a UX design team to work in your business. Your biz organization will be able to attract more leads if you can assure them that what you can provide is the best solution for their problems. Problem-solving is the main aspect that you need to prioritize if you want to become a successful business entity.

Improving user experience is the main focus of UX designing. When the experience of the users of your product is great, of course, it can be translated to more sales and revenues. There will be more leads to be converted into regular customers when you are able to provide what the potential market is expecting. Your brand should serve as a solution provider. This is the essence of branding. There have to be stories relevant to what people are clamoring about. Those brand-related stories should be favorable and good. They have to emphasize how beautiful your offered solutions are.

You Can Simply Hit Competitive Advantage Through Having a Good UX Design

Beating your competitors is not that easy. It is never a walk in the park. If someone tells you that his or her business is gaining momentum so easily, you should not believe it. Why? Because hitting a competitive edge requires cleverness and brilliance. Relevance is the rule of the game. It has to be observed. The point is, you need to produce relevant and useful products. This is through this way where you can elevate your chance of winning the tight business competition.

Did you know that 89% of the potential customers will buy from a competitor that can provide them the best experience ever? The implication is that when your business offers poor experience, it is likely that the potential buyers will look for a solution from others. It will be one of your competitors that the potential market will rely upon if you are unable to provide them with their expected products. The quality of the products should be present. It is through this manner where you can have more business opportunities.

Good user experience design is what you have to secure for your business organization to stand out. Be reminded that your business is just one of many companies out there. In your chosen business industry, there are a lot of businesses trying to be on top of the competition. Hitting competitive advantage is quite challenging. But you can achieve this goal once you have the best solution for the target customers. The products to be made available on the market must be relevant. Otherwise, your competitors will beat you. And, of course, you don’t want this to happen, do you?

What should you do right now to avoid misfortune while doing your business? You need the help of a professional UX design team. Make sure that your products or services are created out of great UX designs. It is the satisfaction of the users which you have to prioritize. Nothing else. When you prioritize customer satisfaction, for sure, you will be able to reap massive growth and dramatic success. Certainly, your brand will go to the next level.

Great UX Designs Can Help Your Customers Understand Your Offers

Aside from hitting competitive advantage, another aspect you should look into is the assurance that the potential customers will understand your offers. Having said this, you have to ensure that the offered products or services can answer the call. What does it mean? The potential customers may have specific needs and demands. Those things are based on the present dilemmas and problems they are facing. All you have to do as a brand is to make sure that those things are met.

Your brand performance will become excellent only when you have the best solution for the target customers. For example, you are planning to have a tangible product and you want to sell it online. So, you need a website where you can showcase your planned and conceptualized product. Your website should be able to cater to the needs of the users first and foremost. What is the specific need? The need to have useful and vital information. Hence, the information architecture, content quality and overall visual design must be favorable.

More to say, the product to be sold through a website must be great. To realize this goal, you should understand the needs and problems of the target market. This is through this process where you can make your business profitable. You are on your way to great growth and dramatic success when you have the best UX design. It basically serves as the framework and basis to produce a great product for the target audience. A great user experience design is one that will bring your business to the next level.

Having a UX Design Can Reduce the Costs and Time to be Spent for Product Development.

Reduction of costs when it comes to product development should be evident. This is a helpful way for your business to thrive without compromising your financial aspect. Your pocket capacity might be limited more especially if you are just starting up your business. That is why it is a must to find cost-efficient ways and strategies. Having a UX design is great and helpful for this particular purpose. The point of the matter is that you can save more time and money when you hire the best user experience design company today.

Why is hiring a UX design company helpful in terms of saving money and time? Of course, you need to produce a perfect product for the audience. But then, you should be monetarily practical. Implementing cost-efficient approaches is a must. When you have a UX design, it can perfectly help you in saving money and time. The point is that you can use a UX design to polish a certain mockup for presentation purposes. Instead of having an actual product to be utilized during a product presentation, all you need is a user-focused mockup design. Such a design should be developed with the help of a UX designer.

You can get the comments and feedback from the attendees of the presentation. Who are they by the way? They are those people whom you are targeting as the direct users of your product. They are the potential market. You need their feedback to polish the end product. That before you are going to launch the product on the market, you are sure and certain that they can help the audience in remedying and solving their problems. In one way or another, you can save time and money when you have the best UX design. For sure, you will be able to produce a product with great quality once it is developed through the right UX design process.

Conclusion: Find the Right Company to Help You Today!

You are not a UX designer; hence, you need the help of a professional UX designer. Between a freelancer and a UX company, you are advised to look for a company. Why? Because they have the tools, resources, and right team to work for your business. Under a certain contract to be agreed upon and inked mutually, you will be able to achieve your goals and objectives as a business organization. In other words, your business success is near at hand when you have help from a legitimate UX design company.

A high-quality and positively-impacting product is what you need to launch on the market. You can realize this objective once you are assisted and guided by a legitimate UX design agency. The top-secret of every successful business organization is about having great UX designs that are based on results-oriented UX design principles.

What Changes Have Occurred in Instagram and Youtube in 2021

Social networks develop and update every year. Below is a list of the most important updates of 2021 for two social networks – Youtube and Instagram.

Instagram

Instagram had 5 interesting updates in 2021, but the logo hasn’t changed since 2016.

Update Feed Algorithms

The update made the distribution of posts in the news feed based on user preferences. That is, the more often a user enters the profiles of other users and performs actions in these profiles (comments, “I like”, saves), the more likely it is that the next time the user enters the feed, the user will see the corresponding content. The updated algorithms of the social network work constantly, remember the actions of users and rank traffic.

Blocking Bots

User profile moderation has become more efficient. If the user violates the conditions of the site, he can be blocked without the possibility of unblocking. This rule applies to both users who visit very rarely and those who promote their profile through third-party services. The algorithms study the limits of each profile and can block any profiles if there are suspicions of cheating. Blocking is also extended when complaints about spam appear (then the profile will be deleted permanently.

Advertising Settings

The target still has a direct link to the social network Facebook. User promotion is carried out through the news feed and stories. There are 4 types of advertising publications:

  • One image.
  • Ring tape.
  • Slideshow.
  • Video.

All 4 types of posts are paid either per impression or per click, as the author decides. The promotion strategy can be configured to work automatically or manually. The social network itself can independently set the minimum cost per click/impression, saving money during a trial run.

In 2021, a modified ad filtering setting appeared, so advertisers have the opportunity to reach users by country, age, gender, marital status and other parameters.

Instagram Reels

Riels is one of the Instagram updates that we started working on back in the fall of 2021. Users ended up with their own local Tik-Tok and the ability to share small videos with music and special effects. Promotion of such videos costs nothing, and interesting publications can gain tens of thousands of views every day.

Linking to Other Social Networks

After another update, Instagram removed synchronization with the Russian social network VKontakte. At the same time, the ability to duplicate content through the application is still available. The “Share” button through other social networks also remained available.

Youtube

In 2021, Youtube had 2 interesting updates, and they all came in early June 2021 (they were introduced in the US in November 2020).

Advertising Placement

Now video hosting YouTube can place commercials on any channel without asking permission from the channel authors. Previously, this rule applied to those users who were partners of the video hosting program. Now this update has also affected those users who have content for children.

Payout Taxes

Authors who received income through video hosting will now pay taxes to the US budget. Also without the consent of the authors.

Logos

Social media logos have also changed. Basically, the logos have changed towards simplification – the letters have become simpler, and their outlines are clearer.

Why You Need Online Proofing Software

Proofing is an essential process of any creative workflow. It allows stakeholders to review and approve a mock version of creative work (the “proof”) without printing or producing the full version of the deliverable. 

However, the proofing process (and the approval workflow in general) is often a significant bottleneck in any creative workflow, slowing down the whole process in general. 

In short, streamlining the proofing process to ensure it’s as optimized as possible is crucial if you want to improve your business’s efficiency and productivity. 

Thanks to technology, however, now we have online proofing as a more optimal method to improve the speed and efficiency of the proofing process, which in turn will provide numerous benefits for the business. 

The Proofing Process

The proofing process originated when printing was invented with the famous Guttenberg printing machine.

Back then, a “proof” is a mock print that a printing company provides to its client for approval. For example, a client ordered 1,000 pieces of brochures to be printed, and in this case, the printing company first printed one brochure as a “proof.”

Only when the client has approved this proof will the printing company start the production of 1,000 brochures, so as you can see, an approved proof prevents potentially costly errors and acts as an approval agreement between the printing company and the client. 

The evolution of the proofing process

With the invention of computers, however, the proofing process has also evolved. With the popularity of home PCs since the late 1990s and early 2000s, a creative agency can now show “soft proof” by showing the computer screen to a client. 

Then, the internet was widely available, allowing us to send image files over the internet. This enables creative workers to send digital proof files via email, and thus the email-based proofing process becomes the standard. 

Online proofing: the key to optimizing approval workflows

Email-based proofing, however, isn’t perfect and has its significant flaws. 

First, different computer monitors might not be color calibrated so that they may produce different colors. Second, is that email is not a practical method when it comes to real-time collaboration and file sharing. 

For instance, if the project has been going on long enough and we’ve shared multiple different files via email, it can be challenging to look for a specific file (version) when it’s needed. Accountability can also be an issue: we can’t tell whether an assigned approver has opened the email and reviewed a deliverable thoroughly, which is another common issue in email-based proofing. 

Online proofing was invented to tackle these issues with email-based proofing. 

An online proofing process uses dedicated online proofing software to facilitate centralized communication and collaboration between creative workers and approvers. 

A graphic designer can share their deliverable on the online proofing system and send a link to the approver. The approver can then click on the link and view the deliverable on the cloud-based online proofing system right away. No downloads and installations are required, then the graphic designer can communicate, leave feedback, and collaborate in real-time on the platform. 

Also, all shared files on the online proofing platform can be easily searchable whenever they are needed. 

How Online Proofing Software Works

While the actual online proofing process may vary with different software solutions, a typical online proofing software will work in the following manners: 

  1. A creative worker uploads a file (the digital “proof”) to the online proofing platform
  2. The creative worker invites other collaborators and approvers by sending an invite link (or other methods) so the other parties can also access the online proofing software
  3. The invitees can join the cloud-based online proofing system without needing to download and install anything
  4. Communications and collaborations can happen in real-time on the online proofing system. Approvers can view files and leave feedback without needing to move to another app or screen. 
  5. When revisions are needed, the creative worker can upload another file (the revised proof). All the different file versions will be stored in the online proofing software. 

With these features, online proofing will streamline the whole approval process while at the same time improving the transparency of the process and accountability of all stakeholders involved in the proofing process. 

Why You Need Online Proofing Software

To really understand the benefits provided by an online proofing software solution, we have to first discuss some of the common problems that happen in traditional hardcopy-based or email-based proofing processes. 

Common issues without online proofing software

  • Frustrating, back-and-forth proofing process, often with endless revision cycles
  • Lack of a centralized platform for communication and collaborations 
  • Lack of transparency and accountability since we can’t monitor who has viewed (or not viewed) the deliverable, leading to potential confusion and disputes.
  • Back-and-forth emails with scattered attachments
  • Need to render/export files before we can send proofs to approvers, wasting time and resources
  • Prone to errors and mistakes due to inefficiencies and manual operations
  • Printed, hardcopy proofs got lost or broken during transport
  • Approvers forgot to review the proof, resulting in missed deadlines

Benefits of online proofing software

An online proofing software solution can tackle the above issues and can provide the following benefits for your business: 

  • Faster and more accurate delivery of your creative projects
  • Reduce or completely eliminate the need of lengthy phone calls and back-and-forth emails
  • Fewer revision cycles due to a more streamlined, optimized, and transparent approval process
  • Facilitating accurate and efficient proofing processes even when your teams are working remotely, including when clients or approvers are located in different cities or even different countries
  • Searchable files, allowing traceable changes on files and versions
  • Reducing errors, improving the overall quality of deliverables
  • Eliminate costs on printing papers, more environmentally friendly

Closing Thoughts

An optimized proofing process can help streamline and improve the efficiency of creative workflows by removing bottlenecks in the approval process. 

An online proofing software solution can facilitate a more transparent and efficient feedback process by offering a centralized hub where all stakeholders of the creative workflow can communicate and collaborate in real-time. 

As a result, the more effective approval process will make it easier for the organization to manage a higher volume of creative production while at the same time also effectively reducing the compliance risks of the product deliverables. 

Looking to Avoid Business Vulnerabilities? 6 Reasons Patch Management Matters

When a software provider sends you an on-screen notification to update your software, you might be in the middle of a project. You don’t have time to wait for your computer to update, so you click on the “remind me later” option. 

All too often, it’s easy to forget to update your software with the latest patches. If you want too long, you could have serious problems that affect your cybersecurity and other vital issues. When you’re in charge of a business or an IT department, encouraging people to download and install updates can be even more challenging. If you’ve been letting your patches fall by the wayside, here are six reasons why you should manage them sooner than later.

Most Businesses do not Have a Cybersecurity Expert On-Site

Cybersecurity professionals demand high salaries, so many small businesses cannot afford to employ them. These businesses rely on their software companies to provide cybersecurity. 

Whenever software companies discover vulnerabilities in their products, they release updates or “patches” to fix the problem. Unfortunately, many companies often wait three or more months to update their software, creating dangerous situations for your data in the meantime. That risk can grow exponentially if you drag your feet around installing the updates. 

If you don’t have a dedicated IT department or you otherwise struggle to dedicate time to your patch management strategy, consider automation. Automated solutions like TuxCare patch management install your patches automatically, taking a massive weight from you and your employees’ shoulders. In this case, you’ll never have to worry about accidentally leaving the door open to thieves and system crashes. 

Antivirus Software Often Becomes Outdated

When you neglect your patch management, your antivirus software loses its efficacy because it becomes outdated. Cyberhackers can access your sensitive data and steal information if your software is vulnerable. Patches update cybersecurity measures, making it harder for hackers to penetrate your system. 

A Security Breach Costs More than Patches Cost

The cost of paying for security breaches is more expensive than any patch. Often, patches are entirely free, but they do require businesses to pause their systems for a short time. You might lose a sale or a bit of productivity, but it is nothing when compared to the cost of losing customers because of a security breach. 

If a hacker invades your system because you neglected a patch, they could take your financial information and steal money from you. Cybercriminals could also steal money from your customers, and your customers could come to you for reparations. Patching your software helps you avoid these potential pitfalls. 

Software Becomes Vulnerable to Hackers

Patches update your software in several ways. These pieces of code can fix bugs that affect productivity and correct problems that open your system to hackers.

Patch Updates Minimize System Downtime

When you update your system each time a patch comes through, you shorten system downtimes. Without patches, your system is vulnerable to problems that could force your system to shut down unexpectedly. If you wait too long to update your system, you could be forced to shut down your system for a longer time to access all of the upgrades. 

Avoiding Compliance Fines

Many industries have compliance rules for software systems, and avoiding necessary patches and updates can force you to fall out of compliance. As the expenses for repairing data breaches, compliance fines can be more costly than the time allotted for the patch itself.

Before You Go

When you neglect your patch updates, you put your business, finances, and customer data in danger. You open your business up to potential fines and time-consuming repairs. The best way to avoid software problems is to upload the patches or schedule the upload as soon as they arrive. 

What’s New with 5G in 2022?

5G is the wave of the future — and the future is now. Long heralded as a new era of outstanding connectivity, high performance, and unprecedented technological capability, it’s finally here, and it’s becoming increasingly ubiquitous.

While 5G is largely confined to densely populated areas at the moment, its increasing rate of adoption by the general public and across a wide variety of industries, from retail to manufacturing to healthcare, indicates that it will enter a new phase in the coming year.

In fact, 2022 will be a pivotal year for 5G. It’s highly likely that the vast majority of mobile phones and tablets sold in the next year will support 5G. And the top carriers have all announced their plans for rollout — a rollout that is coming sooner rather than later.

Are you ready for the 5G revolution? Here’s what you can anticipate in 2022.

Adoption Will Skyrocket

Global adoption of 5G will reach — and, in fact, surpass — one billion devices in 2022, Ericsson projects. Its June 2021 Mobility Report notes that it is overtaking the world at a far higher speed than that of 4G. In fact, Ericsson anticipates that there will be more than half a billion 5G users by the end of 2021 alone.

This isn’t true across all regions, though. It will inevitably take longer for some regions to adopt and deploy 5G than others.

3G Will No Longer Work

3G made its debut roughly 20 years ago. At the time, it represented a new era of internet connectivity. But that era is coming to an end. In 2022, all of the major mobile carriers in the U.S. plan to retire 3G. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, the 3 top carriers, have announced dates at which this service will end in the coming year.

This should affect very few users since most people have moved onto 4G devices. However, anyone who still relies on a 3G device should be aware that they will long longer be able to make or receive calls and send or receive text messages in early 2022, although wifi service will still work.

New Players Will Join the Game

All the major players have invested in the 5G Infrastructure Market. Apple entered the game in fall 2020, with its iPhone 12 debut, which has 5G capabilities. Samsung started even earlier, back in 2019. But even smaller players are getting in on the action, too.

For example, Nokia will serve as the supplier of UScellular’s standalone 5G network. The carrier serves a relatively low number of customers, despite being the fourth-largest carrier in the U.S., but its deployment of 5G, expected to be completed by the end of 2022, could increase its popularity — as well as that of Nokia.

Some Rollouts Are Slightly Delayed

AT&T and Verizon had originally planned to roll out their new 5G frequency band on December 5, 2021. However, concerns about interference with cockpit safety systems have led them to delay their rollouts until January 5, 2022. Now, they are working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration to hear their warnings about these potential dangers so they can assess and address the safety concerns.

5G Is Going to Be Faster — But Perhaps Not as Fast as Expected

Ultra-fast download speeds are one of 5G’s main claims to fame. And for the most part, it is proving to live up to the hype — to an extent. According to an analysis by RootMetrics, 5G speeds were higher than 4G speeds for each carrier they assessed. For AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, the speeds were higher than those of the previous year’s 5G results.

However, RootMetrics also reports that these speeds aren’t necessarily as fast as anticipated. Service isn’t equal across the board and, in some cases, download speeds aren’t even that much faster than those of 4G.

It Will Increase and Improve Connectivity

5G has a number of benefits, including lower latency, increased bandwidth, and greater capacity. One sometimes-ignored advantage is the fact that it could improve connectivity for underserved populations.

Communities that rely on wired broadband connections can now enjoy better connectivity, after having been overlooked in the past. Thanks to the performance and super-high speed of 5G, rural communities and areas with low populations now have access to better internet connections.

What’s new with 5G in 2022? As you can see, the answer is quite a bit. 5G certainly had a moment in 2021, with an increased rollout and new benefits emerging. But next year we will see this standard take its capabilities and features to even greater heights. It’s time for the world to adjust to make way for the next era of broadband cellular networks — and technology itself.

The Tech Behind MOOCs

“Remember the MOOCs? After Near-Death, They’re Booming.”

That was a May 2020 New York Times headline.

Massive open online courses, known as MOOCs, became a phenomenon in 2008. Early platforms like Coursera, edX, and Udacity sought to completely overhaul the concept and delivery of higher education, offering free means of learning from top institutions. These courses were accessible to practically anyone with an internet connection.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of students sought to study with world-class institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. But as challenges emerged, enrollment began to decline.

Perhaps in response to the pandemic, the MOOC movement was recently revitalized. This edTech innovation now has a new life — and, thanks to technology, it has the power to once again revolutionize education at all levels.

The Tech That Supports MOOCs

Digital Content

The backbone and very essence of MOOCs is the digital content it includes digital readings, video lectures, graded assessments, social networking, and much more. This content is often self-paced and accessible via a library or your account on the platform.

Online Forums

Often, MOOCs offer an online forum where peer learners can ask and answer one another’s questions, get help with assignments, exchange ideas, and pick one another’s brains. These discussion forums give students an opportunity to engage with others, lending a personal touch to a usually impersonal method of teaching and learning.

Educators sometimes engage in these forums, too, offering responses to questions, posing critical thinking questions or topics, or otherwise sparking and continuing discussions.

Big Data Analytics

Big data is the result of tremendous innovation in technology, which has produced an abundance of data. MOOCs, like other platforms, collect information, which specialists can analyze and transform into meaningful insights.

They can, for example, assess performance and progress in given courses and offer guidance on how to make changes for better outcomes.

Predictive Analytics

Meanwhile, predictive analytics can be used to assess students’ learning and predict completion rates and how given individuals will perform in various courses. By analyzing information like assignment completion, the number of logins, and so on, systems can anticipate who is likely to see success in given courses and who won’t.

Using this information, the system could autogenerate messages to coach at-risk students or otherwise provide guidance to steer them toward completion, as well as warn them as to their current progress or lack thereof.

Artificial Intelligence

AI plays an integral role in MOOCs. It’s leveraged for a wide variety of purposes, such as auto-grading assessments. Additionally, it can assist with personalizing coursework and course progression. For example, by analyzing student performance, the technology can offer suggestions, including types of courses that might interest students in the future.

Moreover, AI can offer guidance and assistance through means like chatbots.

Benefits

MOOCs are lauded for their many benefits, which include:

• Accessibility to a wide variety of learners
• Self-paced learning
• Low-cost or free education model
• Short timespan
• Collaborative environments
• Flexibility
• Breadth of topics

Criticism of MOOCs

Still, MOOCs aren’t without their critics. One of the main critiques of this education model is that there is usually a lack of interaction between students and their instructors. Typically, courses are taught asynchronously, which means that instructors and pupils don’t even share screens and material at the same time. Many believe technology simply can’t replace the personal connection required for learning.

Moreover, teachers don’t actually do the grading of assessments most of the time. While automation and peer grading may suffice in some cases, there are others, such as those in some humanities courses, where a human touch is necessary. Students won’t receive personalized feedback, either.

All of this summarizes a chief complaint of MOOCs: They tend to be highly impersonal.

Another complaint is that MOOCs have previously seen relatively low completion rates, especially compared with other higher education models. Perhaps the low-stakes nature of these courses could account for dropouts, or maybe it’s due to the aforementioned lack of interaction. Whatever the reason, this is something those who design MOOCs must strive to address.

MOOCs of the Future

College and university enrollment fell by more than 3% between fall 2019 and fall 2020 across the United States. This suggests that students could be beginning to question the value of higher education, and they’re left wondering if the steep price of a college education is worth the investment.

Could MOOCs be the solution? With so many topics available, some learners are turning to the model to upskill, relying on a more cost-effective solution for the education on the subjects they really want to learn.

While MOOCs are certainly not without their flaws, they have come a long way in the more than a decade they’ve existed. And as higher education sits at a precipice, MOOCs may very well over be the answer to the challenges of teaching and learning.