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How to Take Your Career in Tech to the Next Level

Technology and innovation

Do you dream of maximizing your potential in the tech industry? If you want to climb your chosen career ladder and one day reach the pinnacle of it, you cannot ever afford to stagnate. The moment you stand still is the exact moment you ruin your chances of future success, which is why you need to evolve with the times and keep pushing forward.

No matter what stage you are at in your career as a tech expert, you should now be looking for ways to take that all-important next step. To find out what you must do to achieve this crucial feat, be sure to read on.

Switch-off during your downtime

Technology is a very demanding industry. While you’re at work, you’ll need to be switched on at all conceivable points of the day in order to ensure that you don’t miss any crucial pieces of data or information. 

Sooner rather than later, the intense nature of your work will take its toll on your mental well-being; fatigue, lack of focus, and an inability to come up with new ideas are just a few of the problems that you will be liable to face at some point in your career. 

Fortunately, however, there is something that you can do to combat these issues and, in turn, stop them from derailing your career plans — simply relax your mind. Whenever you are afforded a break from your work, it’s essential that you take full advantage of this downtime by finding a way to switch off. What you do to switch off in this sense is completely up to you. You could read a book, listen to music, go for a walk, or even play poker at Unibet casino. So long as your pastime of choice distracts you from your daily tech tasks and subsequently relaxes your mind, you will be sure to re-enter your workstation feeling refreshed, refocused, and ready to push forward.

Expand your horizons 

Regardless of how much you think you know about your niche tech industry, make no mistake about it, there are always lessons that you can learn. If you’re serious about climbing your career ladder, you need to embrace the idea — no, the fact — that you don’t actually know everything. Commit yourself to continuous learning, find yourself a mentor that has been there and done it all, and never stop expanding your professionals horizons.

One of the best things that you can do to expand your horizons in this sense is to network with fellow experts and specialists in your field. This will allow you to gain new knowledge about technology and, more importantly, it will help you to spread the word about your skills and capabilities.

If you want to network effectively in the digital age of today, be sure to put the following advice into practice:

  • Take full advantage of LinkedIn
  • Connect with other professionals via online platforms (Zoom and Meetup are particularly popular at this moment in time)
  • Start your own blog and produce valuable content on a regular basis

Is AppleCare Worth Buying?

Apple Inc

Apple provides most of its products with a one-year warranty that covers common manufacturing defects and hardware issues. Buyers also get complimentary technical support of not more than 90 days. For those who want to extend the coverage, the company offers the AppleCare plan.

Before we look at the pros and cons of AppleCare and whether you need it for your iPhone or MacBook, let’s look at what the default warranty offers.

Apple’s Standard Warranty

The limited warranty that comes with each of Apple’s devices is no special or different from what you get from other consumer electronic device manufacturers. It is essentially a promise from the manufacturer that your device will work as intended for a limited period of time. Most Apple devices come with a one-year, with only the Apple Watch offering two-year coverage.

If any part of the device stops working within this period and Apple proves that it was through no fault of your own, the company will either fix the issue or give you a new device.

Note that the standard warranty is automatically applied regardless of where you bought the device. It can also be transferred together with the product if you provide the new owner with proof of purchase. That said, the new owner’s warranty period will be based on the original purchase date, so if you buy a used iPhone X months after the initial purchase, you will only get two months of the warranty coverage.

Is it worth extending the coverage?

AppleCare steps in only when the user needs to extend the coverage. However, what is AppleCare, and is it worth the money?

AppleCare’s protection plan can be bought within the first year of purchase to provide an additional two years of coverage for your Macs and an extra year for iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Apple TV.

It is, however, worth noting that the AppleCare plan doesn’t cover all your devices collectively. It will cover additional PC devices such as the computer display and the router if they are bought together with the computer. If they are bought separately, AppleCare must also be purchased separately, which can be quite costly, given different products come with different warranty prices.

Apple is known for producing quality devices. This is a factor you must take into consideration before purchasing AppleCare. But then again, you can’t base your judgment on past repute as every mass production is bound to have a few faulty units. Thankfully, you have a whole year to explore your device and perceive any obvious hardware and functional oversights.

If your decision to purchase AppleCare will be based on price, then some products may not be worth the warranty. For instance, a $49 iPod will cost you $39, which doesn’t make sense at all.

If you are going to base your decision on reliability, Apple TV and iPad have a reputation for toughness, so you can rely on the one year warranty.

The iMac may prove a tough call because the computer and the display are all in a single package. If something goes wrong, you have to replace the whole computer.

Endnote

AppleCare is a worthy investment if you have a pricey product or one with a high likelihood of giving up the ghost. For the cheaper and generally reliable products, sticking with the one-year warranty may prove a more rational idea.

The Role of Cross Browser Testing for developing today’s Apps

Cloud based Cross Browser Testing

None other than applications have caused an impactful digital transformation that covered the entire globe. This journey has evolved and continues to grow in the future. The OEMs are releasing new and a variety of devices with different browsers at high frequency. 

Today we need the applications to have multi-platform support i.e.; it should match a combination of variations like device- browser, OS -browser, browser-browser versions in order to guarantee seamless user experience. So cross browser testing is like salt to develop a high performing application. In this blog, we will discuss the need of cross browser testing in developing applications of these modern times and also discuss how pCloudy, a continuous testing platform delivers high performance cross browser compatibility.

The need of cross browser testing in today’s time

In order to keep pace with the fast-growing app industry, new version browsers are being released to get an edge over the competitors. There are numerous areas where one browser is different from another. Every brand wants to provide a unique experience to its users irrelevant to the device that they are using. This is imperative for providing a good UX. Otherwise the user may switch to the competitor.

Therefore cross browser testing is the most crucial step in developing an application. It must be included in every test cycle to ensure compatibility against all the devices present in the target market.

Essential Elements for Automated Cross Browser testing 

A cloud based testing environment:

Parallel testing is crucial for cross browser testing. Testing an application until it meets all the variations of the browser available in the target market needs a set up for parallel testing. What better than a cloud platform that eliminates the high cost and time in setting up a physical lab with complicated networking issues. Testing in a cloud-based environment is just a matter of a few clicks and you are good to go. Also a cloud-based cross browser testing is highly scalable as you can add or remove the devices as per the project requirements. These elements in a testing environment drive the automation effectively for cross browser testing.

Advanced test automation techniques: 

For developing applications of today which are highly dynamic in nature, the automation techniques for cross browser testing must be put at place by using advanced automation techniques like rapid automation. The basic selenium web driver or other automation test scripts won’t work for cross browser testing. High end techniques like Artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, and object recognition techniques can help in building more stable test scripts for cross browser testing.

pCloudy a one-stop shop for cross browser testing 

pCloudy is a cloud-based continuous testing platform for testing both mobile and desktop web applications. Now list some of the features that provide the end to end testing requirements for cross browser testing.

  • Consists of an individual platform for desktop web application testing along with mobile application testing platform with unlimited testing hours. Get all the services under one roof.
  • Consists of more than 5000 device browser combinations for mobile applications and more than 2000 device browser combinations for web applications. Hence provides compatibility testing for all the devices available in the target market.
  • Being a cloud platform it provides a highly scalable test environment which enables the flexibility of adding and removing devices as per the project requirements.
  • Provides codeless automation testing as it is integrated with zero coding platform called Opkey
  • Create dozens of different test environments and execute them in parallel to reduce the feedback time.
  • Works on mobile devops to provide a streamlined ci/cd pipeline which helps in delivering speed@quality testing.
  • Provides integration with various bug reporting tools which provides insightful and automated testing reports.
Conclusion 

These are some of the features of pCloudy that build a conducive environment to drive cross browser testing extremely effectively.

2021 Trends In The IT Support Industry

PC laptop business

Technology continues to evolve, and it seems that several things are in store for the IT support industry in 2021. Various companies and professionals in this sector continue to hone their practices, introduce new skills, and use updated technologies to help brands solve their various tech needs. Continue reading the rest of this article to know various IT support trends that might occur in 2021. 

1. Computer Programming

Software development might continue to become more advanced than its current state when 2021 arrives. Various organizations continue to look for digital solutions to help them develop actionable strategies and implement effective solutions for various concerns. 

The IT support industry aims to help clientele with different computer programming for software development and maintenance. Many reliable firms in this sector know various programming languages, including (but not limited to) the following:

  • Python: A beginner-friendly language for relatively easy app creation and maintenance. Companies looking to develop and care for relatively basic programs may look into hiring IT support services that know this particular language. 
  • Java: A widely used language for different enterprise-level app development procedures. It’s also an ideal choice for developing mobile applications, particularly for the Android environment. 
  • JavaScript: An ideal choice for both desktop and web apps. Several offline and online programs use the JavaScript programming language to enhance user accessibility and experience. 

Organizations may want to capitalize on hiring IT support services that know different programming languages. Note that 2021 is fast approaching, hence, it might be a good idea to future-proof software development and maintenance with updated knowledge of various programming languages.

2. Web Development

Aside from computer programming and software development, trends in the IT support sector may provide additional and numerous benefits for companies in 2021. 

IT support firms may use evolving systems and tools to help brands grow, particularly in the online space. Some advantages that IT support companies may offer their clientele may include:

  • Progressive Web Apps (PWAs): PWAs use modern web development standards to deliver advanced user experiences, such as offline mode and interactive mobile viewing. These apps tend to use languages like CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to promote top-class online and offline experiences.
  • Single Page Applications (SPAs): SPAs help online pages with instant user feedback, especially for slow-loading websites. Various websites use SPAs to provide quick loading times, while maintaining optimal functionality for their interactive features. 
  • Voice recognition and recording: Brands may look into hiring IT support firms that offer services for developing apps that can capture voice data from web users. However, business owners should adhere to strict online rules to ensure they’re not using the captured data for illicit activities. 

Brands looking to gain the upper hand in competitions in the online realm may consider hiring reliable IT support services. Use the professional help of an IT firm that can help your business create and maintain web apps to improve sales funnels. 

3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) And Machine Learning (ML)

Among the different facets of IT support, AI and ML might be gaining significant leads in the race to become widely used technologies in 2021. 

For starters, AI seems to continue to integrate itself into various traditional systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and contact center management systems. Various AI systems tend to go beyond traditional ML. These frameworks may help different devices communicate using natural language processing. Additionally, AI may help understand various types of online content to improve the quality of life of various users. 

Also, businesses with access to AI and ML may pull ahead of the competition. It’s because these technologies embrace this trend to provide their operations with industry-specific business content. These companies may also take advantage of exclusive data access and pre-trained models, thanks to the automatic acquisition of pertinent and relevant information. 

IT support companies may help other organizations in the installation and maintenance of both in-house and offshore AI and ML systems. But, these businesses must hire reliable IT services to increase opportunities to gain industry-leading practices through these technologies.

4. Cybersecurity

The Internet might not be as friendly as before. Always keep in mind that hackers and other cyber attackers are continuously upgrading their tools to breach digital security systems. Many trustworthy firms in the IT support industry understand this threat. It’s also for this reason (among several others) that companies in this sector continuously learn and upgrade their systems and tools to ensure IT systems won’t become the subject of cybersecurity attacks. 

One facet of cybersecurity that a reliable IT support firm may dabble into is mobile security. Many people are now using their smartphones over computers, thanks to the former gadgets’ portability. But, several hackers want to take advantage of this popularity by searching and using tools to penetrate mobile systems. 

Mobile device users may consider using secure smartphones with different security protocols in place. IT support companies may also help in the development of mobile cybersecurity apps, like anti-malware and virtual private network (VPN) applications. Additionally, the chosen IT company may also help in updating and maintaining these apps for potential cyber attacks. For instance, IT professionals may develop algorithms that can detect distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks before they manifest. DDoS attacks flood servers with fake visitors, causing websites to crash or have significantly slow loading times. 

The algorithm may interfere with an unusually high spike in visitor count by placing extra firewalls at the onset of the attack. The website might suffer some downgrades to its speed once the additional firewalls appear, but this scenario might be better than experiencing site downtimes. 

Brands may consider talking to IT firms with various cybersecurity services. Without this help, online businesses might be at higher-than-average risk of compromising their in-house IT systems because of potential cyber attacks. 

Conclusion

Various changes may happen in 2021 for the IT support industry. Many brands in and outside this sector may expect to see alterations and updates in areas like AI, computer programming, web development, and network monitoring. Nonetheless, it seems that the future of this sector seems bright as it continues to press forward despite certain challenges.  

Artificial Intelligence Judges Your Face: This Is How Facial Recognition Works

How Facial Recognition Works

Until not many years ago, facial recognition seemed like a thing of science fiction, and today we have it even in the cheapest smartphone as a means of unlocking.

To try to shed light on facial recognition, technology critic and privacy designer Tijmen Schep has created a website where he explains step by step how companies and governments around the world use facial recognition systems.

To learn how facial recognition works, first, we have to visit the website called Hownormalami and give access to the camera of our computer or phone.

From there, it will begin to detail the operation of facial recognition and what things they can know about us in a few seconds. The project is funded by the European Union, and, as reported in the terms and conditions, the website will not store facial recognition data.

How Facial Recognition Works

After turning on your webcam, the website starts to record your face and analyze the features based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Tijmen Schep himself will be the one who guides us in this ‘adventure’ through the different steps of facial recognition. 

The project’s main aim is to make us understand why facial recognition is important in our day-to-day and some examples of companies that use it as another metric.

The algorithm then begins to work with our face, and little by little it collects data about it. Once we manually choose the age, the algorithm compares our level of beauty with the database. According to the creator, this aspect is used in some dating social networks and others such as TikTok, which ‘reward’ users with views that the algorithm classifies as handsome.

The next step in the process is real age recognition. Schep says that age is one of the most important factors for some companies. He gives the example of facial recognition in some supermarkets that are able to know the ages of their customers to better classify the products to offer. This time I almost got it right, I’m 28 years old, and the algorithm throws me 29.

Facial recognition is also capable of recognizing the gender of the person in front of it. And Schep indicates that it is used by some companies to classify users of their applications or customers who physically go to a store. Similar to what happens with age.

The next step of analyzes is estimating the body mass index. In this case, it is based on our face and explains that some companies are able to know that a user has lost weight or gained weight using this data and comparing it over time.

Based on all of the above, the algorithm developed by Tijmen Schep provides a life expectancy. It ensures that this prediction can be used by insurance companies to offer different prices according to what the algorithm estimates that we have left to live.

One of the most interesting points is that of the facial print. Just as each person has a fingerprint pattern on the fingers, the algorithms are capable of identifying different patterns on our face to create a 100% personal fingerprint. This can lead to an identification system that can be used by governments or companies to know the movements and behaviors of a person, associating a face with that facial print.

The experiment is coming to an end, not without first informing us about the expression on our face. For this, in the first moments of the study, we are shown an image of a dog. If we smile, the algorithm will detect it, and it will be able to know our mood or our reaction to seeing a dog.

And finally, it informs us of how much we have interacted with the web page through a heat map. Some pages incorporate a code that is able to recognize where we have moved the mouse to learn more about the behavior and habits of the users who visit it.

Before giving us the ‘normal’ score that we are based on facial recognition, the creator allows us to upload our case to the cloud so that the algorithm can continue learning or continue without sending any data.

Two Ways to Perform Data Migration from Thunderbird to Outlook

Chat mail stories

Each user has their own reason for moving from one e-mail manager to another. However, there is also a distinctive similarity — the painfulness of data transfer procedures, which can cause loss of personal information. Therefore, today we will talk about how to transfer e-mails from Thunderbird to Outlook. So, let’s begin.

Two Mailing Clients — Two Different Formats

The problem that people usually face when exporting e-mails from Thunderbird to Outlook is the incompatibility of the two e-mail clients. Since they use two different data formats (MBOX and PST), it seems impossible for users to find a convenient solution — the approach that does not interfere with the data integrity of mail messages after conversion.

There are two popular options for data conversion: using IMAP or professional software. For example, you can perform Thunderbird full download kit on https://www.thunderbirdtooutlook.com/download/, and get rid of the necessity to make the manual migration. Please note that both provided options have been extensively tested and have already helped millions around the world. Which one you choose is entirely up to you.

IMAP Configuration in Thunderbird

Internet Message Access Protocol (commonly known as IMAP) is an Internet standard protocol that synchronizes two-way communication between an e-mail client and a webmail e-mail account. It is designed to provide access to the same account from multiple clients. Therefore, it is recommended to use this protocol to transfer mail from Thunderbird to Outlook. However, this method is applicable only for exporting multiple e-mail messages.

When to use it:

  • if the number of e-mails is limited;
  • when your main concern is migrating e-mails without focusing on folder structure;
  • when you have already set up Thunderbird and MS Outlook.;

This method is usually preferred by home users because accessing their e-mail in MS Outlook is their primary concern. However, professionals don’t risk losing data and prefer software for seamless migration from Thunderbird to Outlook.

Professional Solution

The Internet is full of third-party Thunderbird to Outlook export solutions. These converters simplify the migration of all correspondence and give accurate results in minutes. They provide a secure platform to convert Thunderbird MBOX to Outlook efficiently and securely. Simple features help users to customize the conversion according to their needs.

When to use it:

  • if you need fast and accurate conversion;
  • if a folder structure, data integrity, and e-mail titles are important to you;
  • when the number of e-mails is large (more than 500).

Both home and professional users use automated solutions to make conversion easy and fast. The focus here is on quickly delivering original e-mails from Thunderbird to Outlook without losing any attributes.

In Conclusion

E-mail conversion is always a problem. People think that transferring e-mails is easy to do somehow. However, it doesn’t work like this. In this article, We’ve explained two conversion scenarios, and this is your task to select between them. Good luck!

The Benefits of Using Self-Service Kiosks While the Hotel Industry Resumes Business During the Pandemic

iPad technology

The hotel industry has opened its doors to the customers post the Covid-19 lockdown. However, they have to take several measures to ensure that the premises stay safe for use for their guests.

While it is relatively easier to maintain safety in the rooms with thorough sanitization, other areas may present problems due to human interactions. That is why most hotels are opting for self-service kiosks these days to enable contactless services for the guests. 

What Are Self-Service Kiosks?

Self-service kiosks are digital touchscreen devices placed at various points in a hotel so that guests can use several services themselves instead of having to rely on hotel staff.

Recent surveys have shown that travelers do not mind staying in sanitized hotels, as long as they don’t have to come in contact with other people and the hotel staff. So hotels are placing these kiosks at strategic places in the hotel so that the guests can take care of the following aspects of their stay.

  • Check-in
  • Check out
  • Concierge service
  • Room service order
  • Temperature check

Self-service kiosks are not new to the hospitality industry. Several hotels, restaurants, and airline services used kiosks to provide information and services to their customers. However, these kiosks are bulky and expensive, so placing them in each room is not feasible.

That is the many hotels are switching to using iPads as kiosks. Ipads are compact, cost less, and can get installed anywhere using an iPad lock. Since iPads can operate wirelessly, hotels only have to put a charging cable with the iPad lock, and the system is up and running.

These locks make it convenient for iPads to get placed at the check-in counter, concierge, rooms, restaurants, and anywhere else in the hotel. Guests can avail every service in the hotel without coming in contact with hotel staff unless there is a dire necessity. 

How Can Hotels Benefit From Self-Service Kiosks?

There are several benefits for hotels to use self-service kiosks in the current post-pandemic scenario.

Better Customer Satisfaction

Hotels can achieve better customer satisfaction using self-service kiosks because the guests will appreciate the lack of human contact. They would also feel safer staying in hotels that provide contactless services for most of their facilities. 

Reduce Check-In Time

Self-service kiosks ensure that the check-in time gets reduced drastically. Guests would not need to stand in line for a long time waiting to get checked in, which means they will be able to reduce three chances of human contact even more. Hotels prefer using iPads at the reception counter because guests can use their personal devices to check-in without ever touching the iPad.

Several hotels are implementing a system where the key gets generated in the customer’s mobile phone, and they can use it as a touch device to unlock the room. Guests appreciate that they can sidestep the requirement of a psychical key card and do not have to touch anything until they reach their rooms. They also appreciate the hotel’s approach to reduce plastic waste.

Convenient Check Out and Room Service

The iPads placed in their rooms can also be used to order room service and to check out. It is another beneficial service the hotel can provide, which reduces the chances of human contact. Guests can enter their payment details on the kiosk unless the room is already paid for while they check out. Guests can also connect to the hotel website and take care of all these things on their personal mobile devices. 

Personalized Guest Experience

Hotels can use the kiosks or the customer’s mobile devices to provide customized services to the guest according to their preferences. Once the guests connect to the hotel’s management system, they can pick and choose the services they want.

The hotel staff can focus their efforts on those areas to provide personalized care to the customer so that they can have a wonderful experience. Guests can also choose a language of their preference to interact with the services and sidestep any language barriers. 

Use the Customer Data for Marketing and Promotions

The hotel kiosks integrate all the information and management systems of the hotel. Therefore, they can be used to promote products and services through the displays on the kiosks while they are idle or in use.

The hotel can promote personalized offers by anticipating the needs of the customer from the data they acquire. The kiosks facilitate streamlined marketing strategies for better responses and increases in revenue. 

Post the Covid-19 pandemic, every person on the planet has become cautious of human contact. Hotels are one of the most severely affected industries because the chances of coming in contact with another human being are maximum. By using iPads or other types of self-service kiosks, hotels can make their guests feel safe from the virus on their premises and increase their business.

5 Technological Tools Every Forward-Thinking Business Must Adopt

Business collaborations

Running a profitable business is not an easy task.

Thankfully, existing and emerging technologies can make things easier for the enthusiastic entrepreneur. Think about saving time, cutting costs, seamless collaboration, easier data management, and a host of other things. Get started with mobile marketing by setting up an online SMS campaign.

But there is a catch 22 situation. There are lots of solutions available, and it can become overwhelming to figure out which ones your business could benefit the most from. If you have found yourself in this conundrum, here are the top 5 tools forward-thinking businesses have adopted.

Mobile Marketing Tools

There are about 4.7 billion internet users globally. This increased connectivity has made it a lot easier for businesses to reach their customers.

A significant percentage of these internet users access the web through mobile phones. According to recent statistics by the World Advertising Research Center, 2 Billion people exclusively use a smartphone to access the web. This essentially makes mobile marketing the holy grail of marketing.

As such, if you want to get the message closer home, it is time to go the mobile way. Think about branded SMS, in-app messages, push notifications, etc.

Hiring Software

The people you hire can make or break your business.

One of the critical things to take care of when hiring is conducting background checks to ensure the people you bring on board are not liabilities.

Today, you can get an online hiring software to streamline the entire process. This can include background checks, credit checks, resume verification, drug screening, and so on.

Because consultancy firms can be expensive, this offers you a more cost-effective option besides speed and accuracy.

Cloud Storage

Most businesses today collect a significant amount of data. This includes marketing information, accounts data, financials, and so on. Cloud storage means you can access your information from anywhere. The same applies to your staff with access credentials.

However, holding sensitive information means you need a secure channel to access and share this information confidentially. This is where virtual data rooms come in. Firmex the best data room offers that and more.

Collaborative Working Tools

Most large and even medium-sized companies today require some level of collaborative work to function optimally. These have increased in popularity as globalization has taken root. Today, more and more organizations have offshore sites and remote workers.

This has made it necessary to find a quick, cost-effective way for workers to reach each other and managers to be able to communicate with their subordinates.

Online collaborative tools make it possible to relay messages quickly. They also provide a platform for group discussions among people scattered across the world. Essentially, these streamline both external and internal communication.

Accounting Software

Running a successful business is partly dependent on keeping expenses low. For small businesses, hiring an accountant can be expensive.

Of course, the business owner can attempt to do the accounting by themselves. While this is doable, you need a certain level of expertise. Accounting software bridges this gap perfectly.

With these, all you need to do is input prompted data, and the software does all the computation for you. No manual calculations and stuff.

This option is more affordable, helps you save time, and leads to more accuracy. In addition to this, you can store your accounting data on the cloud, freeing up space on your office laptop or desktop computer.

Final Word

As the business world becomes more competitive, you must think outside the box or pass into oblivion. Luckily, technology offers a springboard allowing even small businesses to compete with more established ones.

However, tech solutions can be expensive. Therefore, it is important to weigh each available tool carefully to identify those that will bring the most value to your business. One way to do this is to test different products on a free trial basis before committing to premium services.