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Business Benefits of Leveraging Professional 2D Animation Services

January 31, 2023

Are you looking for new digital marketing strategies to enhance your business development? Well, look no further; 2D animation is the latest promotional model that is being used by both up & coming and older businesses alike. This new bloom in 2D animation marketing is due to its immense reach when it comes to connecting with viewers on a mental level.  In recent years, we have seen a growth of  about 40% when it comes to businesses that have incorporated 2D animation into their promotional strategies. If you’re curious as to why that is, you have come to the right place.

What Is 2D Animation Marketing?

Animation is a popular form of entertainment. Be it Disney or Japanese anime, animated forms of media tend to communicate to children and adults alike. This is what intrigued modern marketing strategies, who saw animation’s growth and popularity among people of all ages and ethnicity, and looked for a way to leverage the platform in a way that is not only presentable but also beneficial. But how does 2D animation work?

A double dimension basically means that the content only has length and height aspects. One second of an animated video consists of 24 time frames hence there can be as many as 24 sketches in a second of an animated 2D video.  In this generation, high-end technological advances have made 2D animations much more easy to create and cost-efficient.

Benefits of Incorporating Professional 2D Animation Services

There are several reasons why companies these days are looking for 2D animation services in order to amplify their brands. The following are some of the reasons why:

  • Brand Awareness

Animated videos are an innovative way to approach a client base and educate them about your brand, product, or service. 2D animations can be easily adapted to the brand’s desired domain. Therefore, 2D animation incorporation is a smart way for brands to advertise their name to gain popularity among netizens. Animations can also be easily updated along with each new service the brand decides to offer.

  • Appeals to Customers

Having a structured storyline and building a connection with the audience of any age group, animations have always had the exquisite ability to be appealing to its watchers. 2D and 3D animation services are sought by business heads for a more vibrant advertising of their brands, as animation incorporates a symphony of well thought-out presentations in an audio-visual platform that works well with engaging the audience.

  • Search Engine Optimisation

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is when websites incorporate animation into their structure, and get featured in the first page of a search engine. Web pages that appear on the second or third pages of the search engine have little to no chances of being noticed by the readers, as more than half of the readers never go past the first page of the search engine. Google, Bing, or any other search engine, gives preference to engaging web pages, and 2D animation can help you achieve make your site more engaging.

  • Increase in Revenue

Animations communicate with the audience very well and help them know better about a product. By using 2D animation services and incorporating them into a brand’s marketing strategy, companies can build a more diverse group of clients. This in turn increases the profit margins and produces more income.

  • Cohesive Communication

2D animation not only sends the message across coherently, but also dials down the complicated parts of a service in an easier, more conceivable format. Hence, animations are one of the best ways for businesses to conduct better and more effective communication with their clientele.

  • Expands Platform Reach

Animations allow brands to expand into several different video platforms. Social Media platforms are the central pillar of digital marketing. YouTube, in specific, is one of the biggest competitors of them all. It is a popular source of infotainment for free use by people around the world. It is an essential tool for businesses to promote their brand’s name through ads or even paid collaborations with a YouTuber. Statistics by Hubspot’s State of Inbound Report state that YouTube is being added by about 48% of all the digital marketing strategists for their businesses. It provides access to different languages and can help a brand with SEO, brand awareness, and expandability. 2D animated videos have a specific fan following on YouTube and targeting that audience base is an important move for businesses if they are looking to grow.

Conclusion

Digital marketing plays an important role when it comes to a business’s growth and development. Hence, the emergence of newer marketing strategies by companies is a way to keep up with the fast-paced world of technology. Animation is a field that will continue to be leveraged for a while yet. With the ever-expanding market reach of the field, investing in animation as a way of promotion is a smart move that will be extremely fruitful in the long run.

What is the goal of supply chain?

January 17, 2023

You need to know your business’s ultimate goal before you start managing your supply chain. The supply chain has an all-encompassing plan. It is to be ON-THE-TOP in the market by offering sustainable service or adding value to the community. Supply chain management helps to lower extra expenses and boost productivity. It’s not enough to just make a product available, you also need to ensure quality and service thanks to supply chain consulting, this will save you time.

The Goal of Supply Chain

The major goal is a sum of all small goals. We’ll talk about them here. As for the top goals of supply chain management, they are:

1. Promote Effectiveness

Supply chain management relies on efficiency. As important as it is to have an efficient business, it is much more important to have an efficient supply chain. The coordination between the production, distribution, and retailing sector can improve operational efficacy. The supply chain efficiency will improve as a result.

2. Optimize Logistics

The supply chain also aims to improve logistical efficiency. Implementing cutting-edge technology is the most efficient method for enhancing your logistics operations. Improvements in both industry and technology have made it simple to optimize logistics. Supply chain management tools can be invaluable in realizing these aims. You can optimize work efficiency by using AI and ML strategies.

3. Maintain Financial Growth

Supply chain management is necessary to increase revenue in the modern business world. It also helps to expand a business into new markets. The primary goal is to boost the company’s competitive edge and shareholder return. The business person needs to focus on a company’s cost management and revenue growth. By doing so, a business person can lead the business.

4. Follow Quality Approach

The primary goal of supply chain is to serve customers with quality products. Customers deserve the finest value you can provide them, and you should give it to them. So, a businessperson can work with logistics providers to increase service performance. Making something of use to your target audience is possible in this manner.

5. Enhance Adaptability

Companies that expect flexibility in their supply chain are doomed to fail. That’s why firms must have flexible operating models that can change. It allows businesses to adjust production levels in response to demand shifts. Any supply chain should not follow quick adoption for any new circumstances. The reason is that it will disrupt the system. The business person can make it flexible for quality enhancement. They should not be greedy for revenue generation.

Summing Up

The GCL crew will help you to measure the efficiency of your organization. You can craft a successful supply chain plan for your business. It’s time to succeed by leaps and bounds. This article has covered the goals of supply chain management. You need to plan yours and execute them. If you need any points added, please write below. We would love to hear back from you.

 

Amer Deeba On Avoiding Tech Burnout and Reaching Your Goals

January 6, 2023

Amer Deeba’s reputation precedes him. Born in Marjaayoun, a small, picturesque town in the South of Lebanon, he is a first-generation immigrant. Naturally, he had to overcome many obstacles that come with being an immigrant. Today, he is the CEO of a company he helped cofound. He is a well-respect senior marking executive in Silicon Valley and has been working in the IT industry since 1993. However, in getting here, Deeba had to tackle discrimination, uncertainty, and exhaustion.

It is quite common to celebrate the successes of people but what’s often missing from the conversation are the obstacles they faced and how they overcame them. In this article we talk about Deeba’s career, and how he tackled one of the most common challenges facing IT professionals, something so common to the industry that it is called ‘tech burnout’.

“Burnout in tech and especially in Silicon Valley is a classic syndrome,” Deeba told Authority Magazine. The IT sector is a fast-moving industry, and this brings its own challenges. Stress and extreme exhaustion have become increasingly commonplace in this sector. While professionals in any field might get burned out, professionals in the IT sector are at a higher risk. The lack of work-life balance has led to 2 in 5 workers being at risk of burnout according to a mental well-being platform.

The reasons for burnout being so common in the tech industry include unfair treatment, prolonged working hours, lack of support, and insufficient rewards. If you are suffering from, or at the risk of burnout, you may be unmotivated, emotionally exhausted, self-doubting, or see a reduction in performance. Burnout can also affect personal relationships.

Deeba, like all others in the tech industry, has had to deal with these lows during many points in his career. However, he has soldiered on. In a career that spans three decades, Deeba has achieved things many only dream about. Dubbed a rare executive by Forbes, he is one of the few IT professionals that have worked as a coder and handled the business side of things. How has he been able to do this?

“In life, my wife gave me the best advice: To be more mindful. With her help and encouragement, I started practicing mindfulness and it’s been very beneficial. Mindfulness lets you be in the present moment. It increases your emotional intelligence. It helps you understand your situations, make better decisions, and become calmer, less reactive, and more engaged,” he shared.

Deeba was only 8 years old when civil war broke out in Lebanon. His mother was eventually forced to put him in the trunk of a cab when the war came too close to home. In a display of exceptional resilience, Deeba stayed in Lebanon and completed his education. At the time, his only goal was to reach the US in hopes of a better life. He eventually made it to the country to pursue a master’s degree.

“Having grown up surrounded by civil war, I naturally try to anticipate problems so that I can proactively and quickly address them. But too much of that attitude creates unnecessary anxiety, especially when concerns are unjustified. Anxiety prevents you from appreciating the present moment,” says Deeba.

Trying to anticipate problems and being proactive is something most IT professionals are required to do to succeed in this highly competitive industry. However, as Deeba rightly pointed out, being on the edge always creates unnecessary anxiety. This is why he now tries to approach his work in a balanced way, something that he recommends others to do too.

According to Deeba, another way to avoid burnout is to find a purpose. “Working on something you love and are passionate about helps you to continue the mission and enjoy it along the way. It will also help you avoid burnout and inspire you to take the necessary break to recharge and get re-inspired. I personally like to spend time with my family and my 1-year-old son who puts it all in perspective for me,” he says.

A key takeaway from Deeba’s advice is that one should try and find something, other than work, that inspires them. It could be family or a hobby. We often make everything about work, so much so that it becomes an all-consuming aspect of our lives. Yet this is not good for growth, personal or professional.

These little changes in his life have allowed him to take on bigger challenges and excel personally and professionally. He is the CEO of Normalyze, a platform that is disrupting the cloud data security landscape. He co-founded this company with Ravi Ithal, who is the company’s CTO. The platform has quickly attracted attention from all corners and is the object of Silicon Valley’s praise. Recently, it was selected by Corelight as its primary security platform. This is a big achievement for Deeba and his team because Corelight is a leader in network detection and response technology.

Under Deeba’s leadership, Normalyze is rapidly scaling. The company has already employed more than 25 people that are based in the US and India. It has also filed for 4 out of 40 patent claims.

About: Deeba started his career working for Verity. He later joined Adobe and was responsible for optimizing pdfs so that they could be opened in web browsers. He worked at Qualys for the longest time and played an instrumental role in getting the company it’s initial public offering. After working at Qualys for 17 years, Deeba joined Moogsoft as their Chief Operating Officer. Alongside being the CEO of Normalyze, Deeba also advises CyCognito and Monad Inc, two cybersecurity companies. You can learn more about him at www.amerdeeba.com.

 

How Most Electronic Products are fabricated

December 14, 2022

Have you ever wondered how they make the telephone or the computer that you are reading this article on? Is there such a thing as an Apple or an HP manufacture in the world, where they put together, exclusively, their own line of products? The answer to that is no. In the case of such giants, they call upon electronics manufacturing services companies to do the work. In fact, most electronic devices you own are made there. Here is more on the subject.

Most Companies in the Electronic Field don’t produce Their Own Products

It takes a lot of employees in order to produce the necessary quantity of iPhone that the world asks for. That is why such brands needs to hire an EMS company that can to the job for them. In fact, you will be surprised to know that many of the major brands have their computer or telephones manufactured in the same location. Why, you may ask, are they not worried about their competitors? Because they each own the protected rights to their product.

Basically, a phone company like Apple or Samsung will design their phone in their offices and prepare their version of the printed circuit board that can be found in their devices. This is what differentiates them from one another. Then, they send the information to the EMS company, which will handle the electronic PCB assembly for them. That helps to keep the costs as low as possible, to make the most profit that they can.

Electronic Brands are All About Design and Innovation

Building video Games, phones, tablets and computers is not what major brands do. They handle the creation part before the products actually get produced. The intellectual property is what interests these giants, as they let manufacturing specialists handle the part of putting the whole thing together. The difference between brands always comes from the design and innovation that can be found inside the product. Of course, they can’t afford for the devices not to be put together perfectly. In fact, EMS companies are fully vetted before they start collaborating with one of the major names from the electronic industry.

Computers and telephones have the same basic capacities. However, they differ in size, weight, screen quality, sound quality, and other technical prowess that these products offer. The quality of the fabrication is usually similar though, since they are being manufactured in the same place. But it is the brand that chooses the materials, so that part can vary from one to another.

A Little Different for Video Games

Video games are all about software. You need more people to create the design and the story of the games in the first place. Just like a movie, a video game takes a long time to be created, usually a few years. They also require a great number of graphic designers that all work simultaneously on various part of the game, so that it can be finished sooner. In fact, you can play a video game online without ever needing a machine to play on.

 

What is cybersecurity, and why is it so important in the 21st century? We answer!

December 13, 2022

With the development of technologies and their introduction to modern enterprises and organizations, the demand for cybersecurity specialists is growing. It is they who are to protect the company’s systems and data against a cyberattack. What is cybersecurity? Why is it so important, and how can you provide it to your company? Read on for our tips!

Cybersecurity – what is it?

Typically, when we mention cybersecurity, we refer to all techniques and practices that allow you to protect data, software, and devices both at a company or organization. This protection consists in both securing and dealing with the danger in the event of a hacker attack. Cybersecurity specialists are responsible not only for protecting applications or networks, but also for protecting the personal data of employees and confidential data of a given organization. Hackers can act individually, but complex attacks by a group of cybercriminals are also increasingly common, to which large enterprises are particularly vulnerable.

How to take care of cybersecurity

One of the more frequently repeated myths about cybersecurity is that company data can be protected by setting strong passwords and buying antivirus software. Unfortunately, hackers easily breach this type of protection. Therefore, even in the smallest companies, it is worth investing in training on Cyber Ranges, such as https://cdex.cloud/cyber-range/. These are virtual environments that allow you to exercise in safe conditions and under the supervision of specialists. The activities carried out there are intended for both amateurs and experienced industry specialists.

How do Cyber Ranges work?

Cyber ranges are purpose-built environments that provide organizations with a safe and controlled environment to conduct cyber security training and simulations. By replicating real-world scenarios, cyber ranges allow security teams to assess their readiness and response capabilities in the event of a breach or attack. In addition, cyber ranges can be used to test new tools and techniques before deploying them in production environments. Cyber ranges typically consist of a network of virtual machines that can be configured to simulate various types of attacks. The range operator can also create custom scenarios by injecting malicious code or traffic into the system.

This allows security teams to practice their detection and mitigation skills in a safe setting. Organizations can use cyber ranges to train employees on proper security protocols, such as handling sensitive data or responding to phishing emails. They can also be used to run annual penetration tests, which help identify vulnerabilities in an organization’s systems. By regularly testing their defenses, organizations can ensure that they are able to effectively respond to the ever-changing threat landscape.

In the 21st century, it is hard to find a company or organization that does not have an internal database and does not use modern information transfer technologies. Each such enterprise is exposed to an attack that can cause serious damage to its operation. The only way to prevent this is to find properly trained specialists. Platforms such as CDeX offer special Cyber Ranges, where users can experience simulated hacker attacks. These are real-time, automatic and team training, during which everyone can face the most real danger. During each exercise, you can test your ideas for data protection, and at the same time learn incident response, i.e. a procedure that helps you deal with a cybercriminal.

 

How Scammers Use AI to Attack Users

December 12, 2022

For many years, artificial intelligence and machine learning have helped organizations fight various types of cybersecurity attacks. Recently, scammers have started to use the same technology to attack users. They use it to launch successful phone scams. They use AI to scrape the internet and obtain big data that help them get insights for organizations with weak cybersecurity measures. They have learned the importance of data in getting real-time statistics that help them make informed attack decisions.

Use of AI to launch more effective scams

Technological developments have been instrumental in improving business processes and productivity. Cybercriminals have learned to use technology to increase their chances of succeeding in cyberattack plans. They use AI to learn the behavior patterns of individuals, which makes it easier for them to convince their targets to reveal their sensitive data.

AI helps them understand the cybersecurity strength of an organization which helps them decide if it is worth launching an attack. They train AI to detect online security weak points in an organization so that they can know where to gain access. A Proofpoint phish report in 2022 shows 83% of organizations reported successful email scam attacks in 2021. This was a 46% increase compared to 2020.

In the same period, 77% of organizations experienced business email compromise. Some of the employees or employers were lured into sending money or goods to scammers, while others were tricked into revealing sensitive information. Individuals and organizations need to make anti-phishing efforts to prevent phishing and other forms of attacks. Scammers are taking advantage of every breached data they find online. They combine it with AI to help them make accurate attacks on targets.

Due to the use of AI, the number of successful phishing attacks has recently increased. Total ransomware payouts have also increased to nearly $1 billion in the first half of 2022. The number of organizations that agree to pay ransom increased by 32% in 2022 compared to 2021. Statista shows the average ransom paid by each target was $1.85 million, and 62.9% of targets paid the full amount demanded.

How scammers use AI to increase the success rate of attacks

Scammers use different strategies to lure their targets to provide them with the information they need, make fake payments, or send goods.

· They make calls to their targets and make false promises. They may lure them into buying products, investing money, or telling them that they will receive free products.

  • They send emails pretending it is coming from a genuine sender
  • They add links or documents that contain phishing software
  • They send texts with fake promises
  • They threaten their target with lawsuits or leak their secrets/sensitive data

These strategies are used to create fear in the users so that they can take action and do what the scammer requests. The aim can also be to build confidence in the target so that they trust the source of the email as genuine and take action as instructed. To prevent being scammed, it is essential to create strategies that help in ensuring the safety of your website and company system network. AI helps scammers achieve different goals.

Guess passwords quickly

A Dataprot report published in 2022 shows 90% of internet users worry someone might steal their password. Identity theft in 2022 increased by 19% to over 5.8 million incidences. Dark Web recently published a report that shows there are 555 million password breaches recorded from 2017 to 2022. More internet users are aware of the seriousness of password breaches.

They have taken extra measures to ensure they use stronger passwords that are harder to guess. Scammers use guessing tactics to gain access to millions of user accounts. Since it is harder to guess passwords nowadays, scammers use AI to enhance their password-guessing strategies. AI is helping them get password insights that make it easier for them to guess passwords quickly.

Social engineering

Social engineering leverages the manipulation of human psychology to make people behave in a certain way. The tactic aims to make users provide confidential information such as passwords, credit card data, bank information, and many more. AI has for many years been effectively trained to collect and analyze data in real-time for insights. This makes it possible to launch phishing attacks faster before targets detect them. Scammers use AI to generate super-targeted emails, links, social media posts, websites, and documents.

Create almost real fakes

Scammers leverage creating almost real fakes to increase the probability of their tricks working. They create fake data or things such as:

  • Fake emails
  • Look-alike websites
  • Fake social media accounts
  • Fake videos or audio

They need to use AI to make the emails, websites, videos, audio, and social media accounts look credible. A report by the FBI shows fake scams through fake emails, accounts, and websites have caused organizations more than $43 billion in losses from 2016 to 2021. AI is helping scammers create highly sophisticated phishing emails. They publish them on dark web forums where they promote and sell fake services or goods. AI helps them ensure the phishing emails they create do not land in spam folders but directly in the user’s inbox. This helps reduce the chances of users suspecting the email is fake.

Bypassing captchas

Many websites nowadays use captchas to differentiate between real human beings and bots. They help protect user accounts from being hacked through stolen logins. Scammers seek to access user accounts using stolen credentials, and thus captchas act as blocks to their strategies. Due to this, they use AI to cheat the captcha website security systems and bypass captchas. A recent captcha breach report shows that 50% of captchas are bypassed using AI.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity gaps and challenges are widening every year, even as programming experts work hard to minimize breach incidences. Scammers have become more adaptable to technology and are using AI to make attack predictions and success rate better. They use AI to implement malicious activities such as quickly guessing passwords, generating harder-to-detect fakes, cheating systems, and gathering big data for analysis. Organizations need to invest more in cybersecurity to ensure they have strong systems.

 

Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Prize Announces 2023 Winners

December 7, 2022

For the 11th consecutive year, the Breakthrough Prize and its founding sponsors — Israeli entrepreneur Yuri Milner and his wife Julia, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, Sergey Brin, and Anne Wojcicki — have announced the winners of the prestigious science awards.

Renowned as the “Oscars of Science” for its glamorous awards ceremony and multi-million dollar prizes, the Breakthrough Prize recognizes the work of the world’s top scientists in the fields of Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics, along with early-career researchers who have made significant contributions to their disciplines. The Breakthrough Prize represents a considerable part of the Milners’ Giving Pledge commitment to science philanthropy, celebrating the achievements of great minds and inspiring the next generation of scientists.

2023 Breakthrough Prize Laureates and Award Winners

The Breakthrough Prize annual gala award ceremony is a major televised event that honors new laureates, introduces them to the public, and features short films about their groundbreaking work. The ceremony also features celebrity appearances and live music from world-famous artists. Alongside the star-studded evening, the ceremony schedule includes a full-day symposium and a program of lectures for general audiences to get acquainted with the winning ideas.

This year, the Breakthrough Prize has awarded a total of $15.75 million in prize money, with each 2023 Breakthrough Prize laureate receiving $3 million.

In addition to the main prizes, six early-career researchers who have made a substantial impact on their fields have received New Horizons Prizes in Physics and Mathematics, each worth $100,000.

On top of this, three women mathematicians who have recently completed PhDs and produced impressive work have received Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prizes, each worth $50,000.

2023 Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences

This year, six individuals received Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences:

● Clifford P. Brangwynne (of Princeton University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Marine Biological Laboratory) and Anthony Hyman (of Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics) for their discovery of a fundamental cellular organization mechanism mediated by phase separation of proteins and RNA into membraneless liquid droplets.

● DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, for their radical deep learning AI technique that can predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins from their amino acid sequence.

● Emmanuel Mignot (of Stanford University School of Medicine) and Masashi Yanagisawa (of the University of Tsukuba), for their groundbreaking insight into the cause of narcolepsy that can now make way for the development of new treatments for sleep disorders.

2023 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

The 2023 Breakthrough Prizes in Fundamental Physics go to Charles H. Bennett, of IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center; Gilles Brassard, from the University of Montreal; David Deutsch, of Oxford University; and Peter W. Shor, of MIT, for their foundational work in the field of quantum information.

2023 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics

Yale University’s Daniel A. Spielman received the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics for his innovative contributions to theoretical computer science and mathematics, including areas like coding theory, numerical linear algebra, optimization, the Kadison-Singer problem, and spectral graph theory.

2023 New Horizons in Physics Prize

This year, three New Horizons in Physics Prizes went to eight physicists:

● David Simmons-Duffin, of Caltech, for developing analytical and numerical methods for studying conformal field theories, such as those that describe the superfluid phase transition and liquid-vapor critical point.

● Anna Grassellino, of Fermilab, for discovering substantial performance enhancements to niobium superconducting radio-frequency cavities.

● Hannes Bernien, from the University of Chicago; Manuel Endres, of Caltech; Adam M. Kaufman, from JILA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the University of Colorado; Kang-Kuen Ni, of Harvard University; Hannes Pichler, from the University of Innsbruck and Austrian Academy of Sciences; and Jeff Thompson, of Princeton University, for developing optical tweezer arrays to obtain control of individual atoms with multiple valuable applications.

2023 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize

The three 2023 New Horizons in Mathematics Prizes winners are:

● Ana Caraiani, from Imperial College London and the University of Bonn, for her transformative contributions to the Langlands program.

● Ronen Eldan, of Weizmann Institute of Science and Microsoft Research, for creating the stochastic localization method that has helped advance several open problems in high-dimensional geometry and probability.

● James Maynard, of Oxford University and the Institute for Advanced Study, for several contributions to analytic number theory, especially prime number distribution.

2023 Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize

The three 2023 Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prizes have gone to:

● Maggie Miller, of Stanford University and Clay Mathematics Institute, who completed her Ph.D. at Princeton University in 2020, for her work on fibered ribbon knots and surfaces in four-dimensional manifolds.

● Jinyoung Park, of Stanford University, who completed her Ph.D. at Rutgers University in 2020, for her work resolving several major conjectures on selector processes and thresholds.

● Vera Traub, from the University of Bonn, who completed her Ph.D. there in 2020, for furthering approximation results in classical combinatorial optimization problems, such as the traveling salesman problem.

How and Why Yuri Milner Created the Breakthrough Prize

When you think of the world’s most influential figures today, any number of business entrepreneurs, sports personalities, singers, and actors might come to mind, but perhaps not too many scientists or mathematicians.

10 years ago, in his Giving Pledge letter, Yuri Milner vowed to change this. Yuri Milner and his wife Julia joined the Giving Pledge, Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates’ philanthropic campaign, on a mission to dedicate at least half of their combined significant wealth — several billion earned through successful technology and internet investment — to scientific causes.

“In my opinion, scientific brilliance is currently under-capitalized,” Yuri Milner declared when he signed the Giving Pledge. “And along with financial capital comes cultural capital: Why shouldn’t scientific superstars have the same power to inspire as their peers in art, media, and sport?” The billionaire philanthropist describes each of the Breakthrough Prize winners as “leaders.” Of the 2023 laureates, he describes their embodiment of the power of science “both to reveal deep truths about the Universe and to improve human lives.”

Investing in Scientific Brilliance

Yuri Milner’s passion for championing scientists comes from his close relationship with, and passion for, the subject. As a child in the 1960s, against the backdrop of the space race, he read Iosif Shklovsky and Carl Sagan’s book Intelligent Life in the Universe, lighting a fire for the topic that would continue to burn throughout his lifetime.

Though he soon discovered that he was better suited as a business entrepreneur than a scientist, after decades of investing in technology and internet companies, Yuri Milner also began investing in scientists when he launched the first Fundamental Physics Prize in 2012. Over the last decade, the total amount awarded to pioneering scientists and mathematicians stands at just under $300 million.

About Yuri Milner

Yuri Milner is an Israeli investor who specializes in technology and science. He is best known as the founder of DST Global and the mind behind the Breakthrough Foundation.

Pursuing an education first in science and then in business, in the late nineties Yuri Milner established one of the top internet companies in Europe. Later, he founded DST Global to focus on global internet investments. The company found stratospheric success with prominent clients like Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb, and Alibaba.

Yuri Milner began his career as a theoretical physicist, and he remains passionate about science. Described by Stephen Hawking as “something of a visionary,” Yuri Milner and his wife created the Breakthrough Foundation in 2012 to raise the profile of scientists, bring awareness of scientific endeavors to the general public, and inspire children to engage with the subject. The Breakthrough Foundation powers the Breakthrough Prize, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, and the Breakthrough Initiatives.

 

Everything You Need to Know About Web Development

November 26, 2022

Do you want to learn how to create a website from scratch? Are you curious about web development? In this blog post, we will discuss everything you need to know about web development! We will cover the basics of web development, including HTML, CSS and JavaScript. We will also talk about more advanced topics such as front-end frameworks and back-end programming languages. If you are new to web development, don’t worry – we will walk you through every step of the process!

What is Web Development?

Web development is the process of creating a website or web application. This can include anything from developing a simple landing page to building a complex web app. Web developers use various coding languages to create websites and web applications. Some of the most popular programming languages for web development are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

What is HTML?

HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, is the standard markup language for creating web pages. HTML is used to structure the content of a web page. This includes adding headings, paragraphs, and images. HTML also allows you to create links between different web pages.

What is CSS?

CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in HTML. CSS is used to style the content of an HTML document. This includes adding colors, fonts, and layouts.

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript is a programming language that enables you to create dynamic web pages. JavaScript can be used to add interactivity to a web page. For example, you can use JavaScript to create forms, games, and animations.

Benefits of Web Development

There are many benefits of web development. For businesses, a website can be a great way to promote and sell products or services. A well-designed website can also help to build brand awareness and credibility. For individuals, web development can be a great way to create a personal online space. You can use your website to share your interests, experiences, and skills with the world.

Web Development Tools

There are a variety of tools available to help you with web development. These include text editors, code libraries, and debugging tools. Some popular text editors for web development are Sublime Text and Atom. Some popular code libraries are jQuery and Bootstrap. And some popular debugging tools are Chrome Developer Tools and Firebug.

How much does it cost to develop a website?

The cost of web development can vary depending on the project. A simple website may only cost a few hundred dollars to develop, while a more complex web application can cost several thousand dollars. The best way to get an accurate estimate for your project is to contact a web development agency or freelancer and discuss your specific needs.

Conclusion

Web development is the process of creating a website or web application. This can include anything from developing a simple landing page to building a complex web app. Web developers use various coding languages to create websites and web applications. Some of the most popular programming languages for web development are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. There are many benefits of web development.

Asset Management App for Field Service Providers

November 21, 2022

 

 

Mobile tech development rendered an opportunity to expand field service operations. The industry is huge nowadays, and it’s still growing. Therefore, it needs sophisticated tools in order to maintain that growth alongside day-to-day processes. A premium software can help with that. In this article, we will shed more light on the subject.

Asset management: field service is all about it

Complex devices, transportation trucks, employees and products scattered all around the town… These are some of the assets that filed service managers need to have under control. The bigger the company, the more challenging this problem gets. That’s where an asset management software becomes quite handy.

As we can read on the Comarch website (https://www.comarch.com/field-service-management/asset-management/), portable and designated digital solutions allow streamlining asset management processes, and therefore help mobile service technicians in registering transfers of the resources and their current location. Many of these processes are conducted automatically. This means, the software does a lot of the work. The technicians receive data and interpret them. When necessary, they implement changes right there in the field, and the whole system gets immediately updated. The company knows everything it needs to know, usually in a matter of seconds.

In the field service sector, such tools are very valuable. Because inventory management demands moving from one point to another, an internal net of constantly updated data allows fast communication alongside better quality of services and products. But most of all, it allows more effective management of the whole enterprise. That reduces costs. Significantly.

Features of the Field Service Management software

A field service software with asset tracking is useful, yes. Obviously, that refers to both internal and customer assets that are out there. And this is just the beginning. One of the other feature an FSM application provides is the “scan and go” mode, for example. Mobile workers can use it to extract a QR code or a bar code from any object in order to register it in a database. On the other hand, the same scanning mechanism (available within an employee’s smartphone) can provide crucial information about that particular object. Was it broken in the past? What is the warranty policy? Who was the subcontractor? Many of such questions can be answered immediately after the code is scanned.

Another useful feature of a software for asset management field service companies can benefit from is a scheduling tool. It provides real time data about asset availability. That can refer to equipment as well as field service technicians. Human resources need to be properly managed too, right? Therefore, smarter scheduling can be very beneficial for a company. Proper real time allocation of employees is crucial in many industries. Besides, monitoring gives control. Control gives better performance assessments. That can lead to more sufficient decision-making outcomes.

The above is just a scope of what different field service organizations can gain from implementing a set of digital tools designed to make their job easier. What’s more important, the end users receive better problem-solving services. Smart management of assets leads to that. It improves efficiency on many levels. Equipment, human resources, the general flow of information… More can be found here: https://www.comarch.com/field-service-management/asset-management/.

 

Gennady Yagupov: What is freelancing and how to become a freelancer

November 17, 2022

Freelancing is useful not only for ordinary people, but also for businesses. Many entrepreneurs and start-ups turn to freelancers to save a little money on work or to order only a narrowly focused task. Below, let’s break down the main benefits of freelancer for business, why professionals benefit from freelancing, and how to get started.

What is freelance

Freelancing is a way of earning money that allows you to work with different employers without a permanent job.

Freelancers are freelance specialists of various profiles who perform the role of a remote freelancer. That is, they take on a certain amount of tasks or a specific service.

In simple terms, freelancing is the fulfillment of orders on the Internet for money, and a freelancer is anyone who works on the Internet. Most often freelancers are called specialists in IT, advertising and marketing, and representatives of creative spheres, who look for orders themselves, carry them out and get paid for it. It is possible to work as a freelancer without any special education. For example, a person wants a website, he does not know how to create them. Then he appeals to a freelancer and asks to make a website for an agreed amount. Freelancer creates a website and gets paid for it. It looks simple in practice. The key point is this: it is sometimes unprofitable for businesses to pay for a full-time full-time specialist (even a remote one), and entrepreneurs optimize their costs by solving a number of problems through freelancing. The important role of freelancers is to save entrepreneurs’ resources on organizing real jobs.

Why it is beneficial to hire a freelancer

In freelance, you can find a specialist for a narrow range of tasks, taking into account your financial capabilities. For example, freelancers mostly write texts to order, and they are also excellent at organizing small advertising campaigns. Employers are more profitable to hire freelancers than office workers for the following reasons:

  • Freelance workers don’t need an office. So – no expenses: for rent, furniture, office equipment, consumables.
  • No need to make deductions in taxes from the wages of an employee. There are no costs for social guarantees – vacation and sick leave.
  • Payment is made solely for the results of the work performed, not for time.
  • All expenses incurred can be charged to tax-deductible expenses. Provided that the payment is made under contract and the freelancer is an individual entrepreneur.
  • You can choose a contractor for your tasks and according to your criteria. You can at any time refuse the services of one specialist and make an agreement with another. That is, you can choose a more professional specialist, and who is best suited for the project.
  • You can order a separate layer of tasks. For example, the drawing of a single logo.
  • On average, the work of a freelancer is cheaper than going to a firm or keeping a hired worker.

Existing remote professions

Freelance activities can be divided according to a variety of criteria. We will divide by the main popular directions, which are often allocated on the exchanges. More texts by Yagupov https://yagupov.biz/

Popular professions:

Specialists in working with texts:

  • Copywriters (text development)
  • Copywriters
  • Content managers
  • Editors and proofreaders
  • Authors of poems, songs and fairy tales
  • Translators of technical and fiction literature, websites, etc.

Programmers who perform such tasks:

  • Website layout (Web site codifier. Frontend developer)
  • Creation, development of sites and adjusting their functions (for example, chatbots)
  • Work with 1C

Designers and work with pictures:

  • Interior and landscape designers.
  • Graphic designers, illustrators who develop banners, calendars, etc.
  • 3D graphics and design.
  • Ux/ui-design – development of interface designs.
  • Web design – comes up with an idea, style and creates a unique website.
  • Development of graphics, infographics.
  • Product photo processing, such as for placement on a marketplace.
  • Game designers.

Working with audio and video:

  • Videographers
  • Cameramen
  • Streamers
  • Composers
  • Arrangers
  • Editors
  • Voice actors

Marketing, PR, internet marketing, advertising:

  • Marketing and PR specialists
  • SEO specialists (promotion and increase of sales with Google and Yandex)
  • Traffic-dealers (sells traffic)
  • Internal communication specialists
  • Project administrator (Youtube channels or social networks)
  • Internet-shop or web-site administrator and auditor
  • SMM-manager, SMM-specialist (SMM – work on promotion in social networks)
  • Ads adjusters in Google Ads

Coaches (trainers) in online education are freelancers who are specialists in some field and offer their services for training. They are:

  • Teachers and tutors
  • Administrators of online schools

In addition, there are quite a few areas of freelancing that are not directly related to the Internet, and their work can not always be classified as remote (online):

  • Engineers
  • Designers, architects
  • Builders
  • Photographers and videographers
  • Journalists
  • Lawyers, tax consultants, realtors, experts from various professions, incoming accountants, etc.

You can also earn from doing simple requests by performing actions like: subscribe, leave a comment or review, register, type.

What you need to know and be able to do

Freelancing does not require special education or required skills. However, there is a list of conditions that you need to consider and educate yourself. Pay attention to:

  • Skills and knowledge for which the Internet can pay well. For example, writing texts, programming, creating designs or illustrations, editing videos, making banners, running social media. If there are no skills, you can do work that does not require special training or learn a new profession on your own from scratch.
  • Online courses. There are many sites on the Internet with courses that help you learn different directions.
  • Self-learning skills. Many beginners start by learning how to do simple projects and earn money on websites. As their experience and knowledge grows, they move on to more complex and monetary orders.
  • Communication. Skill in communication with people, presentation of services, sales – the basis of working with people. It will not be superfluous to understand the psychology and rules of business etiquette.

A freelancer must also have the appropriate qualities that will become the foundation for working for themselves. For example, self-discipline, assiduity, attentiveness. It is important to be able to prioritize work and approach tasks responsibly. In the work at home time passes not very efficiently, so it is not superfluous to study time management.

Pros and cons of freelancing

Like any profession, freelancing has its advantages and disadvantages. Check out the lists below so you know what to prepare for.

Pros:

  • Free schedule. This is important if you have children or find it difficult to live on a schedule.
  • Saving time and money for travel to the office, clothes and food in the cafe.
  • Opportunity to earn more than what is paid in hiring. On average, the income of freelancing can be 1.5-2 times higher than wages in the workplace.
  • Great opportunities to realize their potential.
  • Stability of income, as there is no dependence on one employer. You can cooperate with 5-6 different entrepreneurs. The loss of an order is not critical.
  • The feeling of freedom. There is no boss, no dress code, and no fixed schedule.
  • You can live in any city, and work for customers in Moscow and receive income from the capital.
  • More opportunities to travel, to travel. You can take a vacation at any time.
  • Freelancing is a great solution to start working “for yourself”. For many, it is the first step towards setting up their own business.

Cons:

  • You need to look for orders yourself and communicate, clarify details, and respond to vacancies.
  • Until you have a client base, portfolio and ratings, it can be difficult to find orders.
  • Initially have to take low-cost orders.
  • Requires yourself to organize a working day, control yourself, monitor the implementation of deadlines.
  • Not everyone can easily work in a home environment. Often distracted by family, household chores or outside noises.
  • You need to do your own professional development, pay for courses and software.
  • There is no paid vacation and other social security as in a salaried job.
  • Need to calculate financial and legal risks.
  • Unstable budget and sharp decline during holidays/weekends.

How to become a freelancer and start working

It is never too late to start freelancing. But the main thing is to approach it seriously in order to avoid negativity and a lot of mistakes at the start. Here is a detailed guide for beginners:

  1. Choose what services you will provide or what you will do. Get acquainted with the list of services, study the interface. We recommend that you choose something that will interest you. This is the basis of success in freelancing.
  2. Watch free lessons on YouTube and read relevant literature on your chosen profession. Learn the basics of the programs to get the skills you need for the job, close the basic questions. You can learn a lot on your own.
  3. If possible, take online courses in your profession of interest (there are paid and free). That way you can get your first orders and get a better grasp of the profession.
  4. Determine the list of services you will offer and their prices. Do not ask how much you are willing to pay. Such questions give away beginners who are unaware of the cost of their labor. Be guided by your competitors’ average prices. You can do this by sorting freelancers by the service you are interested in and reviewing their profiles.
  5. Make a portfolio. These can be projects for friends, acquaintances, community organizations, or just for showcasing. Need examples of work that you can show.
  6. Decide on your legal status. Not paying taxes is both dangerous and irresponsible, and characterizes you negatively as a professional. In many countries, you can become self-employed or self-employed.
  7. Register on freelancer sites. Post your portfolio everywhere and respond to orders that interest you. You can add your areas of employment, market achievements, description and photos to your account. Users are attracted to this.
  8. At the start, do not chase expensive orders. In the beginning, it is important to get experience, expand your portfolio and build up your client base. So try to take on projects not with the highest prices, but which you are sure to do well and get positive feedback.
  9. The last thing you can’t forget is that as your experience grows, increase your rates and move on to more profitable projects.

How to avoid being cheated

On exchanges, it is possible to cooperate through a “safe deal”. In this case, you will have a guarantor: the exchange administration or the person who controls the process. And if the client makes unfounded claims about the quality of the work, they will forcibly write off the money and transfer it to your balance. If you interact directly, you can be cheated. For example, they may receive the work done and not pay you, and your contact will be blacklisted.

To protect yourself we recommend:

  1. Collect information about the client: reviews, rating of the customer on the exchange before cooperation.
  2. Do not agree to perform complicated test tasks for free.
  3. Do not do more work if you have not been paid for the last one. For example, do not undertake to write 10 articles with pay-as-you-go. It is better to ask to pay for each.
  4. Do not pay insurance premiums and do not agree to deals through unverified guarantors. Don’t give clients confidential information that can be used to gain access to your accounts, bank cards.
  5. Offer clients to break up projects into parts with payment after each stage. For example, you’ve been ordered a website design. You do the layout – get paid. Prepare the layout – get the next transaction. You set up the CMS and integrate the design into it – you get part of the fee again, etc.
  6. Check out articles on the internet about Scams, visit freelancer blogs. They will help you avoid many of the risks that are in freelancing.

Tips for beginner freelancers

Look for clients, figure out the task, negotiate payment. And if you’re happy with everything, you start doing it. Every order has a deadline. It all sounds simple, but you need to consider a few nuances. Tips for newcomers to making money online:

  1. Work on reputation – rating, reviews, directory.
  2. If you need help specifying the task – ask for clarification from the customer. This gives an indication of your involvement in the project and disposes.
  3. Pay attention to the specified work deadlines. Often customers underestimate the timing of the work.
  4. Improve your skills in your chosen specialty and in selling your services. Every successful freelancer knows how to present their services and sell them more expensively.
  5. Try to answer the order as quickly as possible. The history of responses shows first the first requests.
  6. Always pay attention to the reputation of the customer on the exchanges.
  7. Never fail the customer. If you are not confident in your abilities or the speed of execution of the task – the best refuse. Reputation is more expensive than the short-term profits.
  8. Try to use as many channels of attraction as possible – all popular exchangers, message boards, advertising in social networks, etc.
  9. Prepare cases in different areas of your business. Each case should contain a description.
  10. When working directly, you should make a sample contract for your services in advance and sign it with each new customer. This document should specify the cost and period of the services, all the data of both parties and list the criteria for assessing the quality of the work. A scammer is likely to refuse to sign a contract.
  11. To avoid the risk of non-payment, it is better to cooperate on full or partial prepayment, or on a contract.
  12. Do not agree to do lengthy test tasks. One of the most widespread types of deception in the network – a scammer promises to pay for the test after checking it, but after submitting the task he disappears, or says that your work does not suit him.
  13. When applying for a job, look at the information about the company or the person: whether such a company exists, what is written in the client’s profile in social networks.

 

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I’m Tim from The Tech Block. Tim Techy! haha. I’m all about gadgets, gaming and technology. I don’t just sit in my house all day playing around on gadgets, but they are very integrated into my everyday lifestyle. When I work out I use technology to track it, when I turn the heat on in my home, I use my computer to do it and when I travel, I take my fun techie stuff with me!

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About Us

I’m Tim from The Tech Block. Tim Techy! haha. I’m all about gadgets, gaming and technology. I don’t just sit in my house all day playing around on gadgets, but they are very integrated into my everyday lifestyle. When I work out I use technology to track it, when I turn the heat on in my home, I use my computer to do it and when I travel, I take my fun techie stuff with me! Read More…

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