Techy Office Gifts

No software development company is quite complete without these interesting and also useful techy gifts. You can't overestimate the importance of a correctly positioned computer monitor — placing your screen in the wrong spot can cause eye strain, neck pain and poor posture. Not to mention when you are using internet phones, it would be a good idea to have it positioned just right. Essentially, you want to keep your body as loose as possible using the minimum amount of effort to view your screen. No matter how hot Starbucks makes their coffee, even it can cool within minutes of reaching the office — especially in blustery winter weather. A trek to the kitchen can interrupt work and decrease productivity, so consider gifting a USB coffee warmer. This simple device, which easily plugs into your computer, can keep a mug hot without a trip to the microwave. And for less than $10, it makes a great casual gift for coworkers or friends. There are also many different solar powered chargers on the market which can make a great gift for the tree hugger in your life.

Internet Keeps Getting Better

There are some things about the internet that are good and not complicated and without people spying on what you are searching for. While it is used for content management systems for businesses to be in control of the content on your website without having to know the ins and outs of web development, there are a lot more things that you can do that will help improve your skills. First of all you can read faster with Spreeder. Copy and paste the text of an article into the box, and Spreeder will flash each word on the screen individually, helping you read hundreds more words per minute than you could on your own. Have you ever asked, "What time works for everybody?" and then wanted to bash your face against your keyboard? This is where Doodle comes in. Ask all parties to check off the times and dates that work for them so you can pick a time from a neatly organized chart. StudyBlue helps you make digital flashcards to help you study. It keeps track of the ones you got wrong, too, so you can use your desktop or mobile device to focus on the material you're most unfamiliar with.

Planning

No matter what field you are in, planning is crucial. I have often heard that without a plan to succeed, it is a plan to fail. All it takes is twenty minutes each day to make a plan but it will save you so much time and stress in the long run that you will wonder why you have not been doing this all your life. It will give you a chance to improve and better yourself (and who does not want to do that?). Here is an example of the process you could try out. You will need to make eight goals for the day, six that are professional and two that are personal, in the morning. The next morning, check that list and see how you did and create a new list for that day. On Saturdays, have two professional and six personal goals. Then on Sunday, there are no lists. Even if this does not work for you, find a system that works for you. You can even get the help of mobile applications.

What to Do On Slow Days

Even the busiest business professional have days that are slow and there is nothing to do. There are several options that you have before you go playing all those mindless mobile gaming applications just to pass the time. You can organize your desk which in turn will help organize your thoughts for the next big project or anything that comes up. Get rid of anything lying around that you don't use on a daily basis. Take a moment to organize all your short-term and long-term tasks. Even on a slow day, you likely have a few projects or long-term commitments that are sitting on your back burner. Take a moment to analyze and sort all the tasks you're currently facing. On slow days you could take the time to learn something new. You could attend a webinar or read up on the subject in your field to stay on top of the news and developments. There are also many different youtube videos that you could check out.

Office Hacks

Work can sometimes be frustrating especially if that business application development or content management systems are not quite working the way they should. Then something another small frustrating things happens and it is like the straw on the camel's back and next thing you know, the day is really going downhill. Luckily, there are things that can help turn it around. Cords laying around everywhere can get distracting so you can use a binder clip to wind your earbuds around or to tidy up those other cords and keep them in place. If your WiFi is acting up, you can use foil to control the direction of it and make sure that it is coming your way and no one is hopping on it and slowing things down. Do you have anymore suggestions to make the workday a little bit less stressful?

Cloud Computing: What It Is

Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities. Just the same way that there is less and less hard copies and paper, there is less software that is directly on the computer's hard drive. It is stored in another place that can be accesses through the internet and any device. One of the best parts about cloud computing is that you can build only what you need and what you will be using. This is a great aspect of the cloud if you are a business professional looking for that edge. Do you use the cloud?

Voice Over Internet Protocol

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a business phone system that resides in the cloud. If your company is using Hosted VoIP, the phone set on your desk utilizes the internet to connect to your provider’s phone system. This service reduces the amount of equipment a business needs to own and maintain. Hosted VoIP providers maintain multiple systems and provide automatic failover should one become inoperable. One of the things that you will need is cabling and it might be better to call a third party cabling company which will give you an estimate ahead of time. You also need cable internet otherwise VoIP might not be worth it. How many phone sets do you need and how many phone lines or call paths do you require? What percentage of your employees will be on the phone at the same time? Human nature is to order more lines than you actually need. Most businesses can get away with 40 percent less phone lines than phone sets. If you’re considering Hosted VoIP, start keeping track of the percentage of your employees that are using the phone at the same time.

Mobile Applications for the Mind

Dementia can be a scary thing, on both ends. We can do something to delay it if not prevent it. There are a lot of mobile applications and even web applications that help train the mind and give it an exercise. One of the apps is from Lumosity which helps with memory, attention, and processing speed. You can also use CogniFit Brain Fitness which lets you take a quiz that determines the difficulty and tailors the games to your needs. Personal Zen enables you to follow animated characters and trains your mind to focus on the positive which will help in being resilient in life situations. There is also an app that helps to increase happiness called Happify. Eidetic uses a technique called spaced repetition to help you memorize anything from important phone numbers to interesting words or facts. It works differently from typical brain training apps by using items that have meaning and context, like your beau's phone number, bank account details, or a new quote worth reciting.

Introverts: Network Like an Expert

If you are an introvert, sometimes networking can be extremely tedious. One helpful tip is to prepare and think of some open ended questions because most people love to talk about themselves. I am sure there is probably a mobile application for it. That is almost a given. Also, set a time limit to the event because it will make it finite and much less intimidating. At least plan for 20 minutes and to meet one person. Introverts are usually fully-engaged and fantastic listeners. Because most people are better at talking than listening, you’ll stand out as someone who values others. Score for the introverts! Make it a habit to take advantage of everyday opportunities to network. At the office, take small breaks to walk around and casually socialize with your colleagues. Once a week, invite a colleague to join you for lunch or coffee. If you constantly put yourself out of your comfort zone, it will become comfortable and you will surprised at what you will get done and how far you will come.

Feel Good Accomplishments

There are days when you just not getting into the groove and that software development project has way too many bugs to tackle all at once. At times like these, try keeping a list of things that make you feel good. One of those things is fixing something....anything. The confidence that will come with it is astounding. You will be strutting around the place like you are magic worker or something. Another thing that can be totally rewarding is tackling that to-do list and getting everything done on it. At this point you could kick back and waste time on that mobile application or get the software development project finally accomplished. Better yet, you could create something. Whether it is a game, story, or a cabinet system, it is there because of you. Not to mention you will have great stories to share the following Monday.

Sense of Touch

Researchers have found a fascinating property in the metamaterial: the ability to hide or "cloak" the existence of foreign objects hidden within it. It works by being able to disperse the pressure from the other object so that it cannot be detected. It's a discovery that could lead to making everything from more comfortable camping gear to shoes that make you feel like you're walking on air. Of course there is the other side of the coin when people will want to hide things using this material. It might be able to cloak any weapons that someone might be trying to hide. Link this technology with software development or even mobile applications and the possibility become even more endless. Where do you think that this type of tech is headed?

There Can Be Too Much Communication

How often do you check your email, internet fax, and voicemails? I thought so. We live in a constantly connected world where you are probably thinking of checking it right now as you are reading this post considering that I have just reminded you that you need to get back to answering all those emails and meticulously going through them. Well hold on a moment. There is a spectrum here, Some people treat email like a constant stream of communications that they let go and only answer when they can without necessarily answering every one of them. On the other hand, there are some that let it pile up higher and higher until they just decide to delete it all and start fresh. Both ideas seem like the perfect way to slow down productivity and put a damper on your business. These communication services were meant to improve life and not destroy it. The first thing to do is to shut off those notifications and only check email three times a day. No more. Another solution is to use Unroll.me to unsubscribe from those emails that you constantly get and never get around to reading. Happy communicating!

Doing LinkedIn Right

If you are in the professional world, it is very important to have a LinkedIn account. Secondly, it is important to have a good LinkedIn account. It doesn't matter how well you can provide content management services, if you do not present a good image of yourself. Customers want to be able to see what they are buying. First of all, you need to include a profile picture, and a good one at that. The professional headline also needs to be good in the sense that it needs to be specific and be able to grab the attention of viewers. The summary section acts as an elevator pitch where you can talk about who you are, what you have done, and where do you hope to be professionally. It should make the reader want to scroll further down. Lastly, always be honest about your accomplishments because a lie like that is grounds for firing.

Future of Computing

When people speak of the future of computers it always seems a bit gloomy and reminiscent of the Terminator. It is not all completely bad. For one thing computers can store a lot of information and are great at retrieving it. The ultimate librarian. Many of the databases are used for research purposes so that scientists will be able to use the information to save time and money just by looking something up. Researchers are getting better at teaching robots how to read the syntax of human movement, so they can work more closely on more complicated projects. Machine learning isn’t just keeping the cloud services clutter-free; it’s going to turn smart phones into geniuses. Current machine learning programs can require hundreds or thousands of iterations, but researchers are building animal-inspired algorithms that can learn good from bad after only a few trials.

Connected Bikes

These days everything is connected and customized. We do not have the courage to go off the grid...ever. Even if we decide to go out for a nice bike ride, there are plenty of mobile applications that can be right there with you. If you decide to ditch your phone, you can use you bike to gather data about that bike ride. It isn't so leisurely and enjoyable anymore, is it? The Toronto-based Vanhawks crew went whole hog and put all of the “connected” functionality that the Helios bars have into a badass, heck of a good-looking bike. And they took “the internet of bikes” theme quite a bit further than Gibbs did, though he still has one thing on them -- his Helios bars have blinking directional lights, a safety feature we’re surprised the Valour doesn’t seem to have. Designed to make urban bike commuting safer, the Valour does, however, warn riders of dangers lurking in their blind spots. The bike’s mesh network, ultrasonic haptic feedback sensors detect nearby vehicles. When riders veer too close to traffic, the sensors trigger the handlebars to vibrate, another industry “first” the bike’s designers claim they boast the bragging rights to. What do you think of this bike?

The Internet: Again

How long can you go without being online? Would you be able to ignore those internet faxes or emails for more than a day? And what exactly did we do with our time before the internet? It is easy to hate the internet and what it has made us into. People used to have conversations face to face and spent their time meaningfully. Now many of us are checking our Facebook statuses and reading Twitter feeds in between the time we are playing riveting games of candy crush. Admit it, you know it sucks when you run out of lives in that game. These days we actually have to tell our kids that they should never type anything online that they could not say to their mother's face. Anonymity has given people a wall that they use for protection. Along the same lines, what if the internet have left some positive effects? It has been able to connect more people that live thousands of miles away. It has exposed many companies and businesses and made everything more transparent. People have more access to information. The question then becomes, are more people taking advantage of everything that the internet has to offer?

Glass and Bars

Would you ever wear Google Glass into a bar? Can you even imagine the repercussions that might follow?I f you’re unfamiliar with Glass, as it’s called for short, it’s a set of glasses—sometimes prescription, sometimes not—that come with a little visible camera affixed. Glass can read your email, take videos, take photos, Google stuff for you, and in the not-too-distant future, instantly recognize faces at bars and tell you whom you’re talking to. Ok, first of all, no one wants to be recorded in a bar with a camera or internet phone services. People go to the bar for a reason and sometime things do not turn out the way they are supposed to and you end up with a night that you would much rather forget. But throw in Glass, and it is a whole other animal. Someone might think that it is funny and post it somewhere. You can see where this is going. But can we be honest? Facial recognition is going to be the saddest prospect of all. Because while bars can be places to make deals and break them, make out and break up, one of their primary lures is meeting people, sometimes people in whom one has a romantic interest. And Google Glass marks the end of mystique.

Universality

If Pythagoras had not lived, or if his work had been destroyed, someone else eventually would have discovered the same Pythagorean theorem. Moreover, this theorem means the same thing to everyone today as it meant 2,500 years ago, and will mean the same thing to everyone a thousand years from now — no matter what advances occur in technology or what new evidence emerges. Mathematical knowledge is unlike any other knowledge. Its truths are objective, necessary and timeless. What kinds of things are mathematical entities and theorems, that they are knowable in this way? Do they exist somewhere, a set of immaterial objects in the enchanted gardens of the Platonic world, waiting to be discovered? Or are they mere creations of the human mind?This question has divided thinkers for centuries. It seems spooky to suggest that mathematical entities actually exist in and of themselves. But if math is only a product of the human imagination, how do we all end up agreeing on exactly the same math? Some might argue that mathematical entities are like chess pieces, elaborate fictions in a game invented by humans. But unlike chess, mathematics is indispensable to scientific theories describing our universe. Another interesting part of this whole conundrum is that a lot of the computer science, technology, and communication services that we use now is based off of the math. If the math that is "universal" can be used then what of the things that it is used for?

High Tech Beds

At what point does a bed have to be smart enough that we can be sufficiently afraid to go to sleep in it? I understand we want everything so connected but this bed that was showcased at the CES is going overboard. First of all the bed has a WiFi connection. Why is this necessary? Because a bunch of sensors built into the bed can track your sleep patterns, relaying your sleepy-time data to a connected app that gives you a sleep score. Also with the internet connectivity you might throw in some app development for this bed and program how it work and more than you can do with it. The bed also has tasteful ambient lighting that shoots out from under it in a sort of nightlight mode. And the thing does full-body massage, because of course it does if you are going to be paying eight grand for it. All existing technology of it aside, use your imagination as to the different apps and sensors that you can have on it.