Leading real hands on tech review site in Ireland with technology, business news and more. Jim O Brien Tech.
Author: Jim O Brien/CEO
CEO and expert in transport and Mobile tech. A fan 20 years, mobile consultant, Nokia Mobile expert, Former Nokia/Microsoft VIP,Multiple forum tech supporter with worldwide top ranking,Working in the background on mobile technology, Weekly radio show, Featured on the RTE consumer show, Cavan TV and on TRT WORLD. Award winning Technology reviewer and blogger. Security and logisitcs Professional.
We have covered many of tiles products here on site before but now they have a new performance pack in their line up, Nothing else has changed bar the looks which are really nice and not forgetting the worlds biggest lost and found community. In this pack you get a Tile slim for your wallet and Pro for whatever you might want to attach it to like gym bag or handbag for example and these has a fresh new look that stand out.
The tile slim can fit into any wallet and is a credit card size but this can also be used on flat surfaces too and your own imagination can be used where to place it, the tile pro can be attached to anything too and can be hidden a bit better and has a 400 metre range which is rather impressive and this also comes with a user replaceable battery..
The most important thing here too is their app which is simple to use and get set up very quickly, check out the video below and search TILE for the other products we have reviewed on site.. These are worth the price to pay and ideal for those with escooters or bikes as they are hot right now getting stolen
Over the last few weeks we have been testing the notiOne locator which will help you find your location not only in the vicinity, but almost anywhere. notiOne increases the safety of children and the elderly, secures dogs and cats against loss, and protects keys, wallet and bicycle against loss or theft and of course vehicles so if you have a vehicle it is more suited to this as I find it too big for the likes of keys and wallets etc you can of course place it in a bag but for motoring it is a much better suited product and their smaller tracker more suited to the smaller items. the tracker is waterproof so ideal for the likes of bikes and motorbikes.. Bikes are real target of late so do not let your bike go astray.
Set up is easy and takes a few minutes you need to download their app which is available on both Android and iOS and has been tested on both for my thoughts, the UI is simple to follow and imagine using google maps on your phone you get a similar experince when tracking an object if you will.
Weight and size
The small size (97 x 25 x 31 mm) and weight (100 g) of the locator will allow for discreet installation, e.g. in a car or motorcycle, attaching it to a pet’s harness, or securing luggage.
Working time
The battery lasts for several days of continuous operation with the basic settings. You charge the device via a cable with a USB type C (attached to the device) for a minimum of 3 hours.
No extra cost
When buying notiOne locators, the only cost is always the cost of the device. notiOne GPS is no exception. You buy once and enjoy a fully functional device with no additional fees imposed.
You can choose from two versions of the notiOne GPS device: the basic version and the PLUS version.
NotiOne GPS locator
The basic version of notiOne GPS updates its position every 5 minutes while it is in motion. When it isn’t moving, it sends an update every 6 hours.
You can also check the location history for the last 30 days on your phone .
NotiOne GPS PLUS tracker
This variant is the possibility of advanced device configuration, that is:
defining the frequency of position updating when the device is in motion (every 10 sec, 1 min, 10 min, 60 min),
define the frequency of position update when the device is at rest (every 6h, every 12h, every 24h),
theft alert , i.e. a notification when the device starts moving,
foreign roaming, i.e. locating the facility also outside Poland.
Accordingly, you can also adjust the battery life. More frequent updating of the location is associated with higher battery consumption, less frequent extends the operating time of the device.
The premiere gift
The great news is that the first notiOne GPS users will receive a PLUS package for several months, regardless of which version they purchase initially. Hurry up and take advantage of this premiere offer ! If you like additional features, you will be able to buy them from the application level at any time.
As the country re-opens this week, now is the time to re-discover Ireland with the help of Google Maps and its community of Local Guides. We all know Google Maps can help us find the best directions but the app has more uses than just directions.
With help from Local Guides you can also use the wisdom of local experts to find hidden gems close to home you may never have known existed or to get to know an area before you visit. Local Guides is a passionate community of users who share reviews, photos and local knowledge about places around the world and every day make more than 20 million contributions from reviews to photography of local places on Google Maps.
Dana Singh is a local guide based in Dublin that’s an active member of the Local Guides community who not only uses other Local Guides reviews to help plan her own day trips and holidays but likes to give back to this online community by sharing reviews and images of everywhere she visits. She’s uploaded over 1,000 images to help people plan their own trips and they’ve been viewed millions of times by other users. Her images and first-hand knowledge of everything from beauty spots to local businesses helps other users every day whether its visiting a local business or a trip further afield. Dana is also passionate about helping local businesses and has connected with many businesses in her community to help them update their business listings, making sure Google Maps users can easily find them and plan their visit with up to date business information and images.
Local Guides goes beyond navigation to help people explore the world around them and the hidden gems in our local communities – what better way to discover Ireland than with the help of local knowledge. If you want to get to know a particular area you plan on visiting you can follow a top local guide in the area to see all of their reviews to get to know the area better before you visit or closer to home you might find a Local Guide who regularly reviews restaurants and you can easily follow them to get reviews before your next takeaway or planning ahead with a reservation in June. Local Guides can also prove helpful for those who need accessibility information before a visit , many Local Guides include accessibility information such as parking, terrain and how much walking is involved as part of reviews to help those for whom this information is crucial for.
In the Explore tab you can easily explore any area in Ireland and find; local cafes, restaurants and bars now doing a take-away service, newly reopened galleries and museums and, if you can face another walk, the best beaches, landmarks or parks to visit. Then in preparation for the summer of staycation-ing ahead keep track of all your favourite places or spots you want to visit using Lists which you can keep to yourself or share with friends.
Balancing Monkey Games, in partnership with independent games label and developer, Team17, has today brought its non-violent, civilization-building title Before We Leave on Steam. Set in a world rebuilding after an apocalypse and ripe for exploring and recivilizing, Before We Leave launches on Steam with brand-new content, including scenarios and weather that affects fatigue, crop growth, and movement speed; in-game performance updates; as well as the multiple waves of content first released on Epic Games Store during the past year when it was exclusive to the platform.
The new scenarios and weather update are also available to players on Epic Games Store.
The game’s Steam launch comes with a slew of incredible content updates that have been added to the game since it first launched a year ago. This includes
The Kraken Comes: An update bringing submarines, trading ships, the Kraken guardian, and underground shelters.
Over & Under: An update rolling out new overlays for better experiences, new UI and UX, new languages, and more.
Paving the Way: A visual upgrade, new roads, new resources, new type of Warehouse, new effects, and more.
Biomes & Beasties: Three new island biomes, new visuals, inclusion of animals, discoverable secrets, and more.
Before We Leave is available to purchase on Steam and the Epic Games Store for $19.99/€17.99/£15.99.
Forget worrying about achieving great lighting results on the go – the new JOBY Beamo Ring Light 12” is a lightweight, portable ring light that delivers10 brightness levels and three different colour temperatures, all at the press of a button. It is powered with a simple USB cable and pairs perfectly with a 5V/2A+ external battery or power adapter. Complete with a 1.7m cable, creators can position the ring light wherever they want to get the best effect. This is the new favourite addition to the full extensive JOBY range.
To support the ring light, simply team it up with our GorillaPod® supports. Add on a GripTight™ phone mount and Wavo™ microphone, and users have a complete mobile content creationkit. While phone clamps and tripods are not included, this versatile ring light fits easily into any kit bag or home studio setup, and will work perfectly with all existing JOBY equipment.
Mix things up with up to 10 different brightness levels and three colour temperatures to change the mood. Choose from 3000K, 4000K, or 5600K to give a soft, warm coloured effect, or go for crisper, blue-toned lighting. It comes with four cold shoe mounts that enables the microphone to be positioned at different points around the phone or camera for premium audio capture, and a cold shoe adapter for easy device mounting. The JOBY Beamo Ring Light 12” is compact enough (30.6×30.6x3cm) and incredibly lightweight (330g) to take on any trip or to keep it ready-to-use in a home studio or workspace. Ready to use right out of the box and compatible with existing JOBY products, the Beamo Ring Light 12” is perfect for all kind of content creators.
The JOBY Beamo Ring Light 12” can be bought in a bundle or as an individual product. For more information see:
If you have ever heard of the term death by PowerPoint, then you’ll know that it’s a phenomenon that’s real in every workspace. Recall the presentations with big walls of text, crammed layout, or too many elements all in one slide, and you’ll remember the overwhelming feeling of watching a bad presentation.
The concept of information overload has a lot to do with the “death of PowerPoint” in presentations. Most of us have experienced information overload in our lives, while many of us have also caused it with our own congested presentations. Anyway, if making presentation is still a difficult task, it is always easier to find paper writers for hire online, who will make any task for student on a high score.
In this article, we’ll go into detail about what information overload is, and we’ll share 6 ways on how to combat information overload when creating our presentations.
What is Information Overload?
Information overload is when there’s too much data or information presented that it leaves the audience lost, confused, or unable to grasp the central message of the presentation.
When you have surpassed your audience’s capacities, your presentation runs counterproductive and your audience now retains less information as you put out more information.
As presenters, our goal is to deliver maximum value to your audience, but this does not necessarily mean delivering the most information possible. Here are 6 ways on how to deliver a brain-friendly and effective presentation, while combating information overload.
How to prevent information overload in your presentations
1. Avoid the scarcity mindset.
The temptation to put every single thing into your presentation is strong, and it’s often fuelled by what’s called the scarcity mindset. When you have this kind of mindset, you think that this presentation will be the only time you’ll have with your audience, so you must take advantage of the time and cram as much information as possible.
Falling into this kind of mindset becomes counterproductive for your presentation. Instead of learning more, your audience actually retains less information when there is too much of it in your presentation. You cannot and should not try to relay everything to know about your topic in just one presentation.
A better way to think about your presentation is as an introduction to your topic, rather than a one-off event. Depending on the situation, you can expand on that topic through various channels, such as a Q&A session, a future follow-up presentation, or by connecting with your audience through the internet.
2. Less is more in presentations.
Take note that humans can only take in so much before they can no longer process new information. The more points you try to include in your presentation, the less powerful and memorable each point becomes. You also run the risk of losing your audience’s interest if you go beyond their capacities to take in information.
Oftentimes, less is truly more when it comes to presentations. Instead of squeezing in ten ideas into one talk, it’s more effective to introduce two or three central ideas that you build on for the rest of your presentation, this is especially useful when you plan on how to start the presentation. This way, you can make sure to relay the heart of your topic with the most impact on your audience.
The study The Magical Number Seven, written by the cognitive psychologist George A. Miller, is useful to understand how this affects memory capacity. Known as Miller’s law, this law argues that the number of ideas or concepts an average human can hold in his short-term memory is seven plus-minus two.
3. Keep it visual.
The number one culprit of information overload is the wall of text that fills up your entire slide. Your audience cannot read your text and listen to you at the same time, and this is simply too overwhelming for anyone to take in.
As the popular adage goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, and that is especially true in presentations. Visual elements like pictures, infographics, charts, and other graphics can get your point across more quickly and effectively. And they eliminate the chunky blocks of text that saturate your audience. To create beautiful and professional slides, good presentation backgrounds can be used to create a unique impact on the audience and highlight the presentation.
If you ever need to include more information aside from what’s on your slides that cannot be expressed through visuals, then consider making supplementary handouts for your audience to go through at their own pace.
4. Make your slides breathe.
The layout and design of your slides can also contribute to the overwhelming feeling of information overload. The different elements in your slide may be too crowded together, too little in size, or too straining for the eyes. So even if you haven’t put that much information in your slides, the poor layout evokes the same miserable feeling in your audience.
White space is the key to making your slides easy on the eyes. Going back to the concept of less is more, the fewer elements you have on your slide, the more purposeful and memorable they become. Allow ample space between different elements, and keep everything (especially text) big and readable even at the back of the room.
5. Stay relevant.
Different audiences will require different ways of how you present your topic. Your crowds will have different levels of prior knowledge about your topic, and you’ll need to adjust what you present depending on what they want or need to know.
When you’re speaking in a business or academic setting with professionals in the field, you are allowed to be more technical in your content, but you cannot use the same slides when presenting to a general audience of non-experts.
Stay relevant by tailoring your content to your audience’s capabilities, desires, and needs. If possible, find out early on what the general population of the audience will be, so you can structure your presentation’s level of depth accordingly.
6. Tell a story.
One strategy to keep your audience hooked until the very end is to tell a story. Humans are wired to learn new knowledge best when it is presented as a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
By having a natural flow to your ideas, you empower your audience to connect these ideas together to build on your central idea. Because of this, these ideas stick to their heads and your message can endure long after the end of the presentation.
Conclusion
No matter what the field, information overload seems to be a problem that everybody has experienced. But as professionals, we can avoid information overload in our personal workspaces by creating smarter and cleaner presentations that can get your message across without overwhelming your audience.
You heard about the old proverb “time is money” and it is still true in the modern era. Everything is required to be done very fast today because of the competition out there. That is why you need to learn about some google features that will help you be ahead of others. Follow this article to learn how to use Google to get your work done better and faster:
Google Translate
One of the most important features of Google, not just for work, but in general, is Google Translate. This addition will help you learn faster, and market faster since it is an easy way to translate anything you need from any language. You can also expand your business to multiple countries by translating your own articles on the blog so that you can reach out to more people. This Google feature is widely known as the most reliable online translator, and the speed it works with is incredible.
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a great feature that will surely help you organize your days better. It will help you keep up with everything you need to do, and it will make sure you don’t forget a thing. The Calendar is set to alert you about every important thing you need to take care of in a day, and it will remind you constantly. Also, the app is created, so the sheets are easy to read and fill. It is very simple to find your way around it, and it will do the organization for you.
Google My Business
Another great organizational tool is Google My Business, but it is way more than that. This is an addition that will help you get discovered by customers, and you’ll see just how important it is to use it. GMB will help give the people that google you the services you provide and basic information they should know about your company and brand without even visiting your website. Besides all that, Google My Business will help you navigate your business in the right way by teaching you how to do the following things:
Make customer reviews
Add posts that will be SEO compatible
Create user-generated content
Connect locally
Google Assistant
You should look at this feature like the Google version of Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. Google Assistant has been in constant progressive development since it was launched in 2016 and should be considered as the most advanced assistant on the market. This is a voice- and text-activated virtual assistant created as an extension for Google Now, but since that doesn’t exist anymore the Assistant stayed and developed.
It executes commands, searching, and device control and lets you complete many tasks much quicker than earlier, making your workday far simpler. Here are the features of this amazing addition:
It controls your devices and your smart home
Runs timers and reminders
Opens apps on your phone
Reads out the notifications you get
It does real-time spoken translations
It finds information online about all work-related things you want to know
It has access to information about your calendars and personal information
Google Workspace
This Google feature brings information, applicants, and people together in a new way. It will help you companies to prepare for new expectations brought by the modern era of business. Google Workspace is another planning tool that will help you connect with every other app need for your business, but it will also help you organize your work better.
Google Drive
A lot of companies have trouble with sharing documents that are too big to be sent through social networks or email. Google Drive is here to help you with that since you can send up to 25 MBs at once using this app that is directly connected with your Gmail account. Using this feature will surely be simpler than carrying around a hard drive with all the data you need to present to your boss or employees.
Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides
Many projects at work are done in groups nowadays, but it can be complicated to send the same documents but with revisions back and forth non-stop. That is why a feature called Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides was invented. You have the chance to review and edit the same document at the same time. When someone shares a document you need to review, you suggest revisions and just tell them to go to the same link. You can even look at it simultaneously, and you can see the work getting done right in front of you. When looking to speed up your work with Google’s features, one handy capability to consider is how to convert Google Docs to Google Slides. This can be a valuable time-saving technique for your tasks.
Now that you know how much help you can get with these Google features you’ll have no problem getting your work done more efficiently. You might need time to learn how to use some of them, but be patient, and it will pay off in the end. These apps have already helped many people and will surely help you. By using them, you will be ahead of many other people.
The Skullcandy Indy ANC are the latest true wireless on offer and in fact is one of their best selling line and the new Indy should with ease continue to keep the trend, the new earbuds are similar to their previous model but much more enhanced and pack all the features you come to expect from the brand and not only this the sound quality is excellent and for the money you will find it hard to get the same level of value here with all the features given.
Recently reviewed here the all new Skullcandy Hesh ANC the brand has boosted their range with great quality and sound and the earbuds are no different , it is hard to pull off great ANC on earbuds but they have done so here and due to their enhanced fit you will feel all the benefits.
They do at first feel a bit large but once fitted with the right tip you are good to go and you will notice the external sound vanish more or less, next up then is to tune them up with the Skullcandy App and you are good to go and also lets not forget TILE here too.
There controls are easy to use here and there is several modes and the MOVIE mode is fantastic if you watch movies or Netflix and is my chosen mode for all use it is just great and suits me. When it comes to your listening experience all round it is a win, nice and loud highs, lows and mids are great, sound, direction and they almost do a great job as their headphones and that is saying something. Also not forgetting the modes you can switch between and like I said try the movie mode and of course ambient mode is present here too.
You can expect around 15 hours on a full charge with ANC ON and high volume and for a standard use you can get up to 19 hours so the battery endurance is just below par here but you can forgive that with their feature set, you can also you these individually which is important for many people today and it works well and also to note this works fine with calls and they sound fine with calls being clear both ends. Last thing to mention is wireless charging which I have adopted big time with earbuds and this is present, see the video for more below..
After testing out the EVO last year I would find it hard for them to beat but they do not do that overall however come really close to it and for the price you will pay these are certainly worth buying if you are in the market for a new pair of headphones. First off the overall audio experience is great with nice bass and loud volume and then comfortable.
They have a similar design language to the EVO which are still one of favourite headphones today and of course more expensive and worth every cent and these come in much cheaper and to take into account what you spend on the all new HESH they are a steal for the money if you are on a budget,,
Controls are nicely placed on one side and easy to command and you will have no issues controlling these in no time at all and almost everything is at your fingertip minus one or two features which are no huge deal, you of course have TILE built in here too which is great for those who misplace things or just loose them.
Comfort is quite nice even for long term use and in my case having worn them for several hours on the go they did not bother me at all, no sweat and no head pinching and this is an important factor to note for those who wear headphones for several hours. Speaking of hours you can get 3 hours of charging in just ten minutes and a full charge will give you 36 hours of course that is impeded if you use ANC dropping it down to around 32 but overall a great battery life.
Overall these are a bargain for the money when it comes to sound which is what most people are after and easy recommendation from me if you are on a budget and want a pair of excellent pair of headphones not falling far from their top of the line crusher EVO. Check the video below for more on the HESH ANC as we take a look at the features and how to operate.
