End the Day on a Great Note

All is well that ends well. For the most part anyway. If you are one of those people that feel utterly stressed and worn out at the end of the day and can hardly relax, there are things that you can do before hitting the sack that will help make you feel more positive and get tomorrow off to a great start. The first thing that you should do is get a pencil and paper and write down the things that you are grateful for in your day. Did that video conference go well? Or did you have a good lunch with a friend? You cannot let bad incidents in the day determine your mood. Another great way to de-stress is to take a break from social media and find time to exercise. Take a walk after dinner or if the weather is not good, do some yoga in the house. Lastly, keep things in perspective. No matter how much we plan, things can take longer and get carried over into the next day. It is important to make time for your home life nonetheless. Keep that balance and you will feel better and ready for the next day.

Become a Morning Person

Are you one of those people that hit the snooze several times before you get up in the morning? If you really think about it, it is absolutely ridiculous that we hit the snooze button. It is like saying that you hate getting up in the morning so you do it over and over again. So the question becomes how in the world do you get up in the morning when it is so hard? You could try some mobile applications to get up in the morning and get moving. The key is to consciously decide the next-day's intentions every night to actively and mindfully create a positive expectation for the next morning. Another great trick is to move your alarm clock to the other side of the room. This will make you get up and moving. While you are up, brush your teeth and drink some water. You might be feeling dehydrated which can make you tired.

Big Data and Being Happy

Big data is a good thing in more than one way. It has great advantages in the way of being able to get a glimpse of the trends and some other analyses. It is used for software development as well as in laboratories. There are some things that we as humans can do to really take advantage of it. First of all, since it can be used to remember things, our minds can be less crowded and we can appreciate the moment more fully. Of course, this is easier said than done because we still seem to have our noses in our phones constantly so this "present moment" can get a bit fuzzy. Big data can also know your preferences which means that you will be having to make less choices which in turn will free you from decision paralysis as well as decision regret. We can offload tasks to digital assistants and be able to focus more on the things that make us happy.

Ways to Reduce Stress in the Office

If I were to ask a group of people who feel overwhelmed, most of them are going to raise their hands. As business professionals it is very common to end up feeling overworked as well, no matter how great the content management systems are or the cloud services. One of the solutions is to be able to understand how you work best and be in tune with the rhythm. Do some experiments to figure out what works best for you. While you won't always be able to stick to your plan, you will always have a plan to return to. You will need to schedule the most important tasks first so you can do the things that add the most value either to your career or life. Also, if you are faced with hard tasks, take a walk and use that time to take you might off of the task or decision. You will be surprised with what you come up with. Lastly, make sure that you are in control of your distractions such as phone calls, emails, and office drop-ins. It is important to set boundaries.

Really Fast Internet

What do you think that life would be like if the internet was 100 times faster? Cloud services would become the norm for one thing. There would also be a significant increase in the usage of telepresence technology. Just imagine being able to be together for a dinner when the people are in several different parts of the world. This is the rise of a virtual world where we have avatars and holograms. A faster internet would also mean that humans and robotics would come that much closer and smart devices will be the standard. Not to mention the rise of smart transportation. With less human errors in robotic cars, there will be less accidents and transportation will be more efficient. Of course, this might also open many more doors for hackers and people that want to jump on the network for malice. What other things do you think will be the norm with a larger bandwidth?

Talking to Your Car

Just because you can talk to your car doesn't mean you should. Two new studies have found that voice-activated smartphones and dashboard infotainment systems may be making the distracted-driving problem worse instead of better. Let us put aside the fact that it is a bit odd to talk to a machine. According to a recent study, the voice activated system can be very distracting because they are so complex. Throw in some internet phone services that are in the cars and we will have even more problems. Of course, the better systems have less issues and are not nearly as distracting but the fact remains that the driver is splitting her attention between driving and talking to the car. Why would anyone want to post to Facebook while driving anyway? And if we really need to send a text message, we can pull off. Do you talk to your car?

Email Marketing

Mobile media marketing does not mean that you have to leave email marketing behind. According to a recent estimation, 3.6 billion have an email address. Over the years, email marketing has gotten a bad rap because of spam. Realize that spam is everywhere, even on social media. People still respond to the right kind of emails. Smart entrepreneurs use email marketing to create new business and turn customers into repeat customers. One of the ways to get people to answer those emails is to offer an incentive for people to sign up. The free content should be good enough that people would be willing to pay for the premium content. This is also the place where the business professional that likes to look at every single detail shine. The little things in emails are important because potential customers pay attention to them.

An Apple a Day

With all these great new Apple products coming out, you are probably wondering just how you might be able to profit from them. One of the newest tech is the mobile payments. Well, it is not new in itself but Apple is trying to make it easier and more mainstream. Would you feel comfortable paying with your phone? American Airlines has already created a mobile application for the Apple Watch that will allow you to track your baggage. Apple announced that W Hotels is also working on an app that would allow a customer to unlock her hotel room door by waving her device in front of the door.There is also home automation where you will be able to program the phone to control appliances such as the coffee maker in the morning when you are trying to drag your butt out of bed. You can even hook it up to your phone services to have someone else wake up that it not really there. On the other hand, all these features have already been on the scene for the past two years.

Increase Your Value

In this job market, it is imperative that you increase your value and have a edge up on the competition. One of the best things that you can do is study up in your field. You need to keep on top of all the developments in the industry that you are in and be aware of the new discoveries or cloud services. The internet has so many resources that it is ridiculous that not everyone is taking advantage of them. I mean there are podcasts, YouTube videos, free online courses, and all kinds of audiobooks so you can even listen to them in the car during your commute. Another great things you can do is ask to be taken on a tour and ask a lot of questions while doing it. Many people love to talk about themselves and what they do for a living. You will be able to gain some knowledge and make some valuable connections. As far as the learning about your industry goes, you can even attend tradeshows and conferences. This is also a great opportunity to network and meet new people.

First Impressions

In every area of life, first impressions are everything. It might be a good idea not to ruin them. One of the things that you should not do is have sunglasses on. The eyes are the gateway to the soul and can show a lot of things about a person. Make sure to take them off before talking with someone new. Another thing is that you need to pay attention to the way that you dress. It conveys an idea that you care about your image at least somewhat. The limp handshake is one of the biggest no-nos. The way that you shake a person's hand shows a lot about you. In general, people like dealing with other happy people, but you got up on the wrong side of the bed and it showed. It really doesn’t matter that you’re in a bad mood, because you only get one chance, so put on a smile, at least until the interaction is over, then you can go back to being moody. If you can’t put your phone away with all the mobile applications while you talking with someone new -- or really anyone -- it’s clear that you have absolutely no interest in them.

Smart Cars: Smart Than Us

Technology in cars can go both ways. Internet phone services might not be as useful as braking assist in terms of saving your life and others. The technology in cars has improved and been added in at an exponential rate. Some of the collision preventive tech is adaptive cruise control which eases off the accelerator if it senses a car in front that is going more slowly as well as a sensor that engages the breaks which stops the car before you plow into another car that just came out of nowhere. Other alerts include blind spot indicators and lane correction that will let you know if you are changing lanes unexpectedly, such as a sleepy driver, and some model will even nudge the car back into the lane. The catch here being that the features are going to cost you several more thousands that you were going to spend but in many cases it is very much worth it. In time the features will become standard and the prices will inch on down. For example, the rear-view cameras are going to be required on every new car built starting in 2018. Car will become much more than just transportation.

Virtual Reality

The Electronic Entertainment Expo where the gaming industry giants showed off their latest toys and software development advancements has recently ended. It was certainly impressive to say the least. No wonder teens are addicted to their consoles. If I didn’t have to work for a living, I’d join them. A VR headset contains two small displays, with their imagery slightly offset to give the illusion of three dimensions. These mini TVs are strapped to your forehead, along with tracking technology that determines your head position and orientation inside the virtual environment. The virtual reality is still more virtual than reality but the developments are constantly improving and it is starting to look more and more like real life. It is definitely the next big thing in gaming when these systems will be available for consumers. This type of technology is also going to be great in other fields, not just gaming.

Mobile Applications

Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of applications, particularly in mobile. Everything from instant stock quotes, to weather forecasts and GPS navigation are now available with a touch of your finger on your cell phone. Surgeons can scroll through years of patient history in minutes. Smart meters bring instant feedback to consumers, reducing energy waste and saving money, without any sacrifice to lifestyle. You can also waste plenty of time on gaming applications of just fill your time while you are standing in line. Hopefully you do not open any applications while driving, save for the GPS, or even while at a red light. It is amazing just how many people still text and drive even after several states have passed laws against it. One of the challenges being that it is hard to enforce. Even talking on the phone or using phone services that are connected to your car can be a major distraction. I can say that I am guilty of talking on my phone while driving as well but I have made a real effort to put driving a priority and set a great example for the kids for when they finally get their license. Yes, that day is very much dreaded.

Skype Translator

It will soon be possible to talk with someone over internet phone services such as Skype that speaks a different language. The VoIP services is intent of breaking all kinds of language barriers. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Gurdeep Pall, the vice president in charge of Skype, demonstrated the technology Tuesday night in California at the Code Conference, sponsored by tech-news site Re/Code. After a short delay, the system posts one user's translated comments as text onscreen to the other user while a synthetic voice speaks them aloud. Pall said Skype Translator will be available first as a Windows 8 beta app by the end of this year. This new technology is taking social media and communications to a whole new level. There are less and less barriers to break down. In the beginning of the century, it was about mails and telephones that made the world smaller and brought people together and now the languages are not an issue. Another idea is that this technology could be used in everyday life and not just on communication devices, but that would raise a whole slew of new issues.

Technologies to Disrupt the World

Two hundred times stronger than steel and light as a feather; tougher than a diamond, but stretches like rubber; able to conduct electricity and heat better than a copper wire, graphene, ladies and gentleman -- the very ingredients in the substance of your No. 2 pencil is changing the world. Electronics is becoming a hotter topic these days with electric cars and such along with communication services and devices.  Doctors in the Netherlands did, printing a lower jaw for an 83-year woman. And its success only makes this trillion-dollar technology even more appealing for both doctors and patients around the world. And if that weren't enough, the technology could be used to print out skin, ears, bones and organs. We already know 3D printing is primarily used with industrial design, aerospace and engineering, but its revolutionary applications are changing the medical space.

The iPhone 6

There have been recent rumors that the iPhone 6 will be coming out this August which is about a month or two before the usual date. If the release date rumor comes true, Apple might be trying to stem the slowdown in iPhone sales that happens every summer. Smartphone shoppers have become conditioned to Apple’s yearly cycle; typically, iPhone sales crater in the summer months as everyone waits for the newer model. The Economic Daily News also says that the display on the iPhone 6 will increase to 4.7 inches on the diagonal, and that an even bigger iPhone, with a 5.5-inch screen, will follow in September. In order to compete with Samsung, Huawei, and others in the massive Asian market, Apple needs to come out with a bigger screen for its iPhone which many companies in software development are looking at anyway. Of course, there needs to be confirmation of these rumors. Are you going to get the new iPhone when it comes out?

Technology

What is technology doing to us? Between the digital skeptics and the wide-eyed utopians sit the authors of The Second Machine Age, two MIT scholars with an interest in consensus and moderation. Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, both at the university’s Center for Digital Business, realized that things were moving way faster than even they would have predicted. Just as the Industrial Revolution saw machines replacing human brawn, the second machine age sees them replacing our cognitive faculties. These two, whose previous book, Race Against the Machine, took a cautionary look at the way computers, software development, and artificial intelligence were making human beings obsolete, now describe themselves as cautiously optimistic.

Searching With Images

In the past, we have searched with words but now software development has come so far that you can search with images. Curious? Well, armed with a smartphone and one of these apps, all you have to do is snap a photo and the app will try to identify the object or landmark and find information on it. No matter what kind of information you want, Google Goggles can help. This is a stand-alone app for Android, but it’s built into the Google Search app for iPhone (tap the search bar and then the camera icon to search by image). Take a picture of whatever you want to know more about, from a place to a work of art to a barcode or text (even in a foreign language), and Google will bring up more information. If the item is for purchase, you’ll also find shopping links and reviews. Looking for the perfect home? Homesnap is the app for you. If you see a property you like while you’re driving around looking at neighborhoods, take a photo using the Homesnap app to pull up the home’s complete real estate listing. You’ll get easy access to the property’s full details plus photos, all without having to get out of your car to grab a flyer.

Pressure Sensitive Phone Case

Canopy, a Minneapolis-based startup, thinks touch screens limit how we interact with our smartphones. And this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show here, the company debuted the latest version of Sensus, an iPhone case that transforms the back and sides of your phone into large, pressure-sensitive touch pad. This, Canopy says, has two advantages: It allows people to use their phones without touching the screen, increasing the viewable area (great for playing games). It also lets people use varying pressure to get different responses from apps and games. This could definitely open doors for mobile application development in so many different dimensions. I can just imagine the news ways in which people will be interacting with their phones. It seems like people constantly need a different interface and the tech companies are looking for problems to which they have a solution for. Interestingly enough nearly all windows phones already have a pressure sensitive screen.