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All you need to know about GTA: Online Cayo Perico Heist before starting it

NPCs In GTA 6

For the first time since 2013, GTA: Online is transporting you beyond the borders of Los Santos to the island Cayo Perico, a private island in the Caribbean, off the coast of Colombia. I you haven’t played GTA V yet, you have to have a feel from the base game to get the full experience from the new DLC, the best way to get the game is to look up GTA 5 cd key and find the best price available, alternatively, you can use Gamecamp where you can see price comparisons for all type of games. 

The Cayo Perico Heist was introduced to GTA Online as part of the newest title update and has been a highly-anticipated mission for dedicated fans. Announced on December 15, this new heist, features an assortment of new vehicles, weapons, and radio stations. The Cayo Perico update was also the first map expansion to come to GTA Online, with a new private island, owned by the melancholic infamous drug dealer, El Rubio. El Rubio has taken sensitive documents away from the Madrazo crime family and is trying to blackmail them. The Madrazos have asked for your help to steal them back. You must go via the Russian submarine operator named Pavel, to infiltrate Cayo Perico and bring back the documents!

To start The Cayo Perico Heist, you’ll need to do take care of one thing: You’re going to need to have a good amount of spare cash lying around.

First, you’ll need to be a VIP, CEO, or Motorcycle Club President. You can register in the SecuroServ section of the Interaction Menu to become one.

If you don’t already own a Penthouse at the Diamond Casino and Resort, you’ll need to purchase one. Head on over to the Diamond Casino and head inside and approach the customer service desk. You will need to use the Penthouse computer to purchase a Penthouse. Once you own a Penthouse, you’ll gain access to The Music Locker, a club in the basement of The Diamond. You are now all set to start the heist!

When you first log in on GTA after the update, you will receive a text from Miguel Madrazo, who will arrange a meeting at The Music Locker. Enter the Diamond Casino and Resort, take the elevator down to The Music Locker. Once you reach the bottom, exit the elevator and head down the spiral staircase. You will see a door to your left. Open it to enter the club. Once you are inside, make your way through the dance floor and head to the VIP section on the left to initiate a short cutscene.

After you meet with Miguel Madrazo, he will ask you to infiltrate Cayo Perico and steal back some sensitive files the drug lord “El Rubio” has in his control.

Once the meeting is concluded, you’ll need to spend $2.2 million on the GTA Kosatka submarine which you will use to travel to your destination, this may be a big amount but the payout is worth it. You can find your new submarine on the map and the Services Menu will allow you to call a dinghy to transport you to the submarine. Once you reach the Kosatka and step aboard, you will meet with submarine operator, Pavel.

That’s all you need to start! you can plan out your heist according to your teams liking!

Selling iPhones Without Power Adapters Save 861,000 Tons Of Metal Ore

Apple has decided to no longer include the charger with the new iPhone 12

Despite backlashes, power adapters are no longer included with the iPhone 12 because Apple assumes that most customers already have a USB charger. In this way, according to the Apple’s Environmental Progress Report 2021, 861,000 tons of metal ores from copper, zinc, and tin can be saved.

The iPhone 12 models are also sold in more compact packaging than their predecessors, which results the company to ship the device more efficiently as well. In some cases, up to 70 percent more boxes fit on the shipping pallets than on the previous model. This provides advantages in terms of transport.

Overall, Apple said it reduced its CO2 emissions to 22.6 million tons in 2020 — in 2019, it was 25.1 million tons of CO2.

We committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 for our entire footprint—from our supply chain to the use of the products we make. Those same products now use more recycled materials than ever, like the 40 percent recycled content in the MacBook Air with Retina display, and the 99 percent recycled tungsten we now use in iPhone 12 and Apple Watch Series 6.” — said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president for environmental, political and social initiatives.

Apple’s environmental efforts are to be welcomed. But while the environment can be spared by omitting power supplies, the question arises as to why the iPhone 12 smartphones don’t also cost less than their predecessors. After all, Apple also saves the cost of the power adapter, and smaller packaging also makes transport cheaper.

4 Reasons Why Businesses Need A Managed IT Service

Businesses Need A Managed IT Service

There’s a business expression often said by exasperated owners when their people don’t do the things they expect to be done, or they’re not done the way they expect them to be done. And it goes like this: ‘if you want something done, you have to do it yourself.’ But this isn’t always true, especially when you want to do something that requires expertise in the complex field of Information Technology (IT).

Managing your company’s IT is important to your business operations, but it may not even be a part of your company’s core objectives. If it’s not, then you might want to think about getting someone to help you manage your IT needs and resources. Here are four reasons why you should get managed IT services:

1. It Facilitates Better Focus On Your Business’ Core Objectives

If IT is not a core objective of your company or organization, then you might be better off letting a team of professionals handle your IT network, infrastructure, and systems monitoring, including repair and maintenance tasks.

When you hire another company like Verticomm to handle your IT needs, you’re freeing up company resources and time, which would allow you to focus on your core objectives better. Although sometimes, companies may be confused about the extent of their core objectives especially with the current trends on digitization, and the subsequent shift to online transactions and remote work operations. However, for more modern, web-based companies, IT is a crucial part of their core objectives.

2. Growing IT Needs That Your Company May Not Be Able To Handle Anymore

There is a common perception among companies that they need to allocate more money and resources to their IT departments because of the global trend towards digitized operations and online transactions. However, while it’s true, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have to handle the IT work themselves.

If there’s a genuine need for more corporate budget and resources to be allocated to improve the IT capabilities of your company, then it could be an indicator that it’s about time for your company to hire another entity to handle all IT needs. In fact, the current trend is to avail of  IT as a service.

When there’s an increased need for something in your business operations, it doesn’t mean you should undertake the task or work yourself. For instance, if there are new or increased risks in shipping items, or making sure that your products are delivered to your customers, it doesn’t mean you should hire more delivery staff (unless you’re in the shipping or logistics business, of course). What you do is you look for a better logistics company or get delivery insurance for your cargo.

It’s the same when your need for better IT management increases.

3. Reduction of Total IT Costs

The third reason why you should consider hiring managed IT services is they can help you bring down the cost of your website and IT maintenance with better systems.

If you’ve your own IT department with several teams assigned across different areas in IT, then you’re most likely spending a lot of corporate funds, time, and resources on IT management. And when one or some of your IT staff resign or retire, you’ll have to spend additional resources on recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and training new staff.

But if you hire a managed IT service company, you can be spared from the tedious tasks involved in staff turn-over. Managed IT service companies manage and maintain their own staff and workers. They handle all the training and continuous learning that IT workers need. They’ll also be the ones to spend for the recruitment, hiring, and onboarding expenses if some of their workers leave. Most of all, your business operations won’t be interrupted. That’s a lot of weight off your shoulders already, and your pocket.

4. Round-The-Clock Support

Another reason why you should consider getting managed IT services is support reliability. Most of them offer 24/7 support, which is how it should be as technical issues may happen anytime. The growing number of IT support companies is also something you can use to benefit your company’s finances. Because they’ll all basically compete to get clients, you can ask some of them to submit a proposal of services that will suit your budget. This way, you can make the most of your company’s budget for IT services, and be able to choose the best services within that budget range.

You can also negotiate for a more customized contract to suit your needs better, especially if your business has unique needs. Most IT service companies are flexible, you just have to ask them.

Leaving IT To The Pros

Business-related decisions require a lot of careful consideration. However, you should also be wiser when trying to determine whether an issue is something you can address without compromising resources, or something that’s best left to the professionals. If IT isn’t really one of your company’s strengths, then perhaps it’s about time you let a managed IT service company take over.

SpeechStew: Google Researchers Mixes All Available Voice Data For Better Speech Recognition

Siri or Google or Alexa

A team from Google Research and Brain departments has reportedly used “all” currently available output data for speech recognition to train a single, huge neural network — SpeechStew.

As reported by VentureBeat, in terms of speech recognition, the result achieved values ​​that could compete with other models with improved details.

Often, models for speech recognition are only trained with one set of initial data since these are often very homogeneous in terms of their annotation and, above all, speech quality. Ultimately, this also simplifies working with the data and optimizing a model.

In the case of the SpeechStew model, the researchers involved decided on a completely different approach. According to the information, the speech data from the following corpora for spoken language were combined for SpeechStew — “AMI, Broadcast News, Mozilla Common Voice, Librispeech, Switchboard/Fisher, Tedlium, and Wall Street Journal.

These were simply mixed together without specially weighting or coordinating individual components. Together, the data comprises more than 5,000 hours of annotated voice data.

According to the team’s statements, SpeechStew achieves, as mentioned, the speech recognition of other modern systems in some benchmarks or even exceeds it in some cases. In addition, the model should be able to adapt to different tasks.

Comparatively, little additional initial data was sufficient to ultimately achieve the results of specially trained and adapted models. This is likely to be due to the wide variety of the selected starting data.

When asked by Venture Beat about the practical application of these findings, the researchers involved respond cautiously. It is possible that work like SpeechStew could be used in the future as a kind of general model that would serve as the basis for other specialized tasks in speech recognition.

How To Select An IT Consulting Company

IT Consulting Company

An IT consulting company refers to a group of professionals who help clients solve information technology-related problems. Especially in this day and age of technological advancements, it’s a given that many businesses are now utilizing many advanced tech solutions, from basic network analytics to more complex IT solutions.

Choosing an IT company can be quite a challenge, especially if you’ve never worked with one before. Apart from the overwhelming myriad of options, perhaps you don’t even know where to start or what to look for. Most IT consulting firms will obviously claim that they have considerable experience to back them up and extensive expertise. When you go through their portfolio, you’ll find them to have dozens of completed projects as well.

So, how do you create the select an IT consulting company that’ll help achieve your business goals better? This article gives you some insights:

1. Study The Profile

Start by studying the profile of well-established IT firms like Resilient Managed Computer Service. The most important thing that you’re looking for is their ability to successfully fulfill their clients’ IT-related needs at all times. It’s only fitting for you to check what the specific objectives of the IT company are to ensure that they can provide the appropriate solutions for your business’s needs.

There are so many IT companies now operating, and each of these has their fields of specialization. For instance:

  • Companies that are specialized in just one area, such as technical consulting;
  • Companies that have a very wide range of competencies, usually coming from the financial side of consulting;
  • Companies that also tackle management consulting.

2. Ask About Their Customer Service

If you’re going to invest in IT support and monitoring for your business, it helps to consult with professionals who possess excellent customer service skills. Remember that you’re not just going to be dealing with them once. Your goal is to establish a long-lasting professional relationship. The only way to achieve this is if they’re pleasing and amicable to deal with.

The truth is, you don’t even have to be a client yet for you to assess the quality of their customer service. For instance, how long did it take you to follow up once you’ve reached out to them and asked for a quotation? This can give you insights into how long it’ll take for you to wait for their services too, once you become a paying client.

3. Go Through The Services They Offer

Third, ask for a full list of the services they offer. You don’t necessarily have to go with the company with the most extensive list of services. What matters most is how they offer the right services to meet your needs. Otherwise, if they don’t offer the service that best addresses your needs, then there’ll only be a mismatch.

Of course, the choice is entirely up to you. If you’d like to go for one that has quite a comprehensive list of services, then that’s great too. That way, should you have an unexpected IT-related need, you wouldn’t have to jump to another company to have this problem solved. You can continue working with the one with whom you’ve already established trust.

4. Assess Their Reputation

If you’ve got colleagues or even relatives and friends that have also hired an IT consulting company in the past, you may want to get in touch with them to ask for their recommendations. This is one good way of assessing the reputation of certain IT companies. You wouldn’t want to make the costly mistake of dealing with a firm that’s sketchy or has a bad reputation for being ineffective and unprofessional.

If this first-hand opinion isn’t available to you, you can also browse through their website. There, you’ll have information about previous case studies, success stories, and testimonials from previous clients who became happy customers.

Follow your gut if there’s anything negative that you hear about a certain IT company. Especially if the issue stands out as a red flag to you. Remember that hiring these companies come at a price. You wouldn’t want to be the one to suffer an expensive mistake.

5. Narrow Down Based On The Markets They Operate In

Another one of the most important criteria in selecting an IT consulting firm is to check the markets they also operate in. This is also referred to as industry experience or the number of completed projects in a given industry.

Some common examples of these industries revolve around retail, food, pharmaceutical, construction, and of course, technology. Find out a few details on the following:

  • The type of projects that the company carried out in a certain industry;
  • Whether or not their clients in that market segment returned for more services;
  • When these projects in a particular market happened, and when they were completed;
  • Why the client from a certain market chose to work with this IT company.

Answering these questions can help you better understand and assess the level of expertise that the IT firm has in the market you belong to.

6. Analyze Your Goals And Needs

All other factors considered, you can only truly say that an IT consulting firm is perfect for you when you’ve analyzed your company’s situation, needs, and challenges. Otherwise, no matter how good an IT company might be, if what they offer don’t match with your needs, then they also won’t be able to maximize the full potential of their expertise.

Hence, it’s also very important to analyze your goals and needs. You can start by answering the following questions:

  • What is the main problem that needs to be addressed, and how can these be solved?
  • What are the causes of these main problems?
  • What are your expectations for hiring an IT consulting firm?

Once you’ve answered all these, it’ll also be easier to narrow down options based on what you want the IT firm to achieve for you.

Conclusion

The benefits of improving your business’s IT infrastructure can potentially transform your brand. If hiring an IT consulting company is part of your introduction to IT as an exciting field and an integral part of the modern marketplace, you want to select a firm carefully. Don’t shortlist yourself of the possibilities. Because of the demand for their services, it’s also a given that there are so many consulting companies operating in this industry. Your task is to make sure that you’re dealing with the perfect one for your company’s needs. The tips above aren’t exhaustive, but they can guide you through this selection process.

13 Security Tips When Working From Home

Encryption Is The Most Overlooked Cybersecurity Practice

Working from home has a lot of advantages, including improving productivity and morale while reducing costs. But at the same time, working from home introduces new security vulnerabilities you’ll need to consider – and guard against – within your organization. 

Fortunately, the biggest and most common threats can often be thwarted with even the most rudimentary security measures. 

Security Tips When Working From Home

If you or your staff members are working from home, make sure you follow these tips: 

  1. Establish clear protocols for your remote workers. If you’re in charge of an entirely remote workforce, the most important step for you to take is to write and enforce a set of clear protocols for your employees when working from home. Layout all formal requirements and recommendations for security in one document – and make sure your employees read and fully understand this document. 
  2. Secure home routers. At the office, you might have a securely protected router. But are you sure that everyone working from home is following the same protocols? Simply encrypting your router can instantly improve the security of your home network. 
  3. Keep work and personal devices separate. Hopefully, your employees were already doing this when they worked in the office – but it’s even more important to recognize and follow when you’re tempted to mix personal and work devices regularly. All work devices should be used exclusively for work purposes, and work tasks should never be done on personal devices. 
  4. Invest in email security. It’s also important to invest in email security since you’ll be relying on email as your primary mode of communication when working from home. Simple measures, like setting up a more robust spam filter and scanning incoming emails for malware, can instantly boost your cybersecurity. 
  5. Passwords protect your devices. All your devices should be protected with a strong password. This is especially important if you’re bringing portable devices to a public place; if your device is stolen, you’ll have the first line of defense against would-be hackers. 
  6. Keep everything updated. Software developers and technology companies routinely issue updates designed to increase security and guard against newly revealed threats. Accordingly, it’s in your best interest to keep your hardware and software updated at all times. You should probably turn on automatic updates so you don’t miss anything important. 
  7. Use a good password manager. The strength and integrity of your passwords are vital for online security. That’s why it’s a good idea to use a password manager like Keeper. With the right password manager, you can generate strong, random passwords on-demand and store them for convenient use – all while keeping them safe from cybercriminals. 
  8. Install antivirus software. Every device used in a home environment should be equipped with basic antivirus software. These programs proactively scan the device for potential malware, guard against certain threats, and often recommend best practices for better security. 
  9. Rely on two-factor authentication when possible. Two-factor (or multi-factor) authentication is a system that effectively requires two forms of identification before giving a user access to a given system. In addition to providing a password (and standard login credentials), you must verify your identity with a special code sent to your email and/or mobile device. It can be a pain, but it greatly improves your security, since it will be much harder to access your account. 
  10. Use a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) is designed to encrypt your traffic and access networks remotely. It’s not going to keep you safe from every threat, but it can give you more confidence when working remotely. 
  11. Be wary of public networks. People working from home frequently consider working from a public location, such as a café or a library. However, you’ll need to exercise caution when using unsecured public networks; in fact, you probably shouldn’t use them at all. Instead, rely on known, password-secured networks. 
  12. Completely wipe devices before selling them. If you’re going to sell a company device, either because you’re upgrading or because you’re downsizing, make sure to completely wipe it before selling it. Just deleting the data won’t be enough to truly erase the hard drive. 
  13. Don’t neglect third-party security. While working from home, you’ll likely be working with a wide range of third-party individuals and companies. Make sure you do your due diligence and check these third-party systems for vulnerabilities before working with them. 

Staying Up to Date

It’s also a good idea for you and all your other remotely working peers to stay updated on the latest security threats. Read news and updates from popular cybersecurity-focused channels and pay attention to publicly disclosed data breaches. The top threats are always evolving, so it pays to remain adaptable.

Easy steps to help small business benefit from Instagram

Instagram for business

Nowadays, small business owners tend to feel like they’re in way over their heads. How can a business compete head-to-head with big corporations that can outspend them? The answer to that question is Instagram. The social media platform gives everyone an equal chance to the success if you’re willing to put forth the effect to succeed.

It begins with you choosing the right hashtags

Using the proper hashtags may be a must if you would like to succeed at Instagram. However, using the right hashtags alone doesn’t guarantee success. It takes far more than simply adding a couple of tags to your posts for your account to grow. If your Instagram account isn’t growing, then you are not reaching new customers. It doesn’t matter if you run a small local shop or a startup business, you would like to grow. The only way to grow the business is by ensuring that your Instagram account continues to gain new free Instagram followers every day.

Every Instagram account hits a couple of roadblocks

You might be unhappy with the progress that you’re making right now. It’s understandable if you feel like you’ve hit a brick wall. If you have no idea how to get more followers, and it’s really driving you crazy. Well, it shouldn’t drive you crazy because the solution may be a simple app called GetInsta. It is a free app to help get free Instagram followers to assist your account grow. If your account is growing, it means that you’re on the right track. The only measurement that creates any difference is your follower count. If you are not seeking out new followers, you would possibly also kiss the thought of getting new customers goodbye.

Why does Instagram care what percentage followers you have?

Instagram uses a classy algorithm to rank content on its platform. A critical think about their algorithm is that the number of followers that you simply have. If you’ll tap into this source of free Instagram followers, then the algorithm will devour thereon. Once Instagram sees that your account is gaining in popularity, it’ll begin to point out your content to more people. It isn’t long then that you simply gain more followers and Instagram likes free organically, and your business’s growth features a snowball effect.

Enjoy a spurt of free Instagram followers instantly

It doesn’t get much better than instant. Instagram followers app offers you the power to grow your account in a moment. It takes a couple of minutes of your spare time to use the app, and that’s all. From what you are doing in the app, your account will grow, and you’ll enjoy the fruits of your labor. You see, the thing most small businesses lose sight of is growth. You must continue to always grow if you want to succeed. A business which doesn’t grow is one that is dying on the vine. You have an excellent idea, but you would like to possess how of getting it out there. An app like this makes it possible, and it is a cinch to use. You’ll be surely surprised by how quickly and efficiently the growth of followers’ number is by using the free GetInsta app.

Bitcoin Vs Gold: Which is the Better Investment in 2021

Bitcoin Vs Gold

If you had to choose between investing in Bitcoin and Gold, which would you choose? Or, maybe there is even a better option! This article covers both major assets’ pros and cons and introduces how the two intersect to create gold-backed cryptocurrencies such as Goldcoin.com.

Pros and Cons of Bitcoin

Bitcoin has become one of the best-performing assets of all time, but there are still some caveats to this type of investment. As the first cryptocurrency to become mainstream, Bitcoin enjoys the first-mover status, and its Network continues to grow rapidly as institutional investors hop on board. But you won’t always hear about the risks – that is because Bitcoin is largely an unregulated asset that has no company or government behind it. Let’s go over the pros and cons to help bring a better understanding one how investing in Bitcoin works:

Pros

  • Bitcoin is one of the most “uncorrelated” assets available, meaning when stock markets swing (in either direction), BTC price does not always follow.
  • Bitcoin rests on the world’s largest and most secure computer network. It is both extremely difficult to hack and also economically unfeasible to do so.
  • Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are attractive to the millennial investor who favors a modern approach to investing.

Cons

  • While Bitcoin is an uncorrelated asset, its price is highly volatile. 30% price swings are not uncommon.
  • Once you own Bitcoin in your wallet, it is YOU that must keep it secure. There is no customer service chat line to call if you lose the seed phrase to your Bitcoin.
  • Bitcoin is complicated. It’s built using highly complex, cutting-edge technology that many people have trouble understanding.

Pros and Cons of Gold

Gold has been traded, used, bought, and sold by humanity for thousands of years. It not only has value as a safe haven investment, but it also has real-world use in technology manufacturing and many other business sectors. But does investing in physical gold make sense in a digital world? Let’s explore the pros and cons of the gold investment:

Pros

  • One of gold’s most advantageous properties is its liquidity. It is second only to USD cash in this respect. You can walk downtown in almost every town across the globe and sell your gold in a pawn shop. Not only that, there is a multitude of online markets for buying and trading gold.
  • Gold’s usefulness is another great reason for investing. You’ll find gold in many industries, from jewelry and electronics to aerospace and dentistry. So gold not only has value as an investment but also in the physical world, adding to its overall value.
  • Gold is an inversely correlated asset, meaning when stock markets crash, gold is often soaring. This makes it a great hedge for investors looking for portfolio protection during times of market upsets and political upheavals.

Cons

  • Unless you are a seasoned collector, it may be difficult to ascertain the value of gold and its authenticity. Everyday investors must rely on third-party dealers of physical gold, who charge premium prices for buying and liquidating.
  • The storage of gold is another issue that investors must take on. They either find safe storage for their coins and bars or rely on a 3rd party company to store the gold for them.
  • In the digital age, millennials and other younger generations may view gold as old school, preferring high-tech options like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Gold Meets Crypto: The Best of Both Worlds

Thanks to online markets and the introduction of cryptocurrencies, investors can now select a gold-backed cryptocurrency. By harnessing the value proposition of gold with digitization, projects like GoldCoin can offer people a highly liquid crypto asset with the revered aspects of physical gold standing behind it. Gold investing with crypto-backed coins removes the storage problems of physical gold and the complexity of crypto to offer an easily understandable, modern way to invest in gold.