Irish consumers have started planning for a summer outdoors, and recent Google search terms show that the weather is top of mind with searches for ‘retractable windbreakers for gardens’ increasing by 429% last month.
Other popular items are picnic baskets and barbecue tool sets, searches for which increased by 119% and 180% respectively month-on-month. With recent trends showing a 20,000% increase in searches for “support local businesses”, Google is highlighting the importance of for small businesses to be visible online in order to reach new and existing customers.
Commenting, Alice Mansergh, Director for Small Business at Google said, “These trends show that people are already planning how they are going to make the most of the longer days and warmer weather. We know that Irish consumers are actively supporting local businesses, and what we’re seeing is that they are searching for very niche products to buy locally. This is a prime example of how being visible online and appearing in those search results can help retailers capture business and ultimately drive sales.”
Google has announced a number of free tools and resources for Irish SMEs to help them transition to operating online, regardless of their skills or resources including the Google for Small Business and free digital skills training.
Google for Small Business is designed for small Irish businesses and provides a free step-by-step guide to taking a business online, from setting up a Google Business Profile to creating a website, along with tips and advice on how to reach and grow a customer base.
“While getting online is crucial for small businesses, it can be overwhelming especially in the midst of the challenges that businesses are facing. We’ve launched Google for Small Business for those who possibly don’t know where to start. Our goal is to support them on their online journey in their own time and at their own pace,” concluded Alice Mansergh.
Any businesses hoping to start reaching customers immediately can do so by setting up a free Google Business Profile and simply adding their location and contact details, in addition to photos of available stock and other details like availability of click and collect and delivery options.
Other Google tools and resources such as free digital skills training is accessible for Irish SMEs on the Grow with Google website.
When it comes to work, you have to bring maximum creativity to the table if you want to get promotions and earn your name in your employer’s good books. Different people use different approaches to be more productive at work. However, one of the most common mistakes that many people make is that they don’t use practical approaches, and therefore, no matter how hard they try, they end up being less and less productive every day.
If you want to improve your productivity at work and want to do your work efficiently, this blog is just what you need to read. I’ve narrowed down some of the most effective ways that’ll help you in increasing your productivity at work.
So, let’s look at these tips and see how they can improve your work performance.
Start Using the Right Tools
The first and most essential thing you need to do is to make sure that you are using the right tools to save your time. For example, if you have to convert documents, then you can simply use https://www.sodapdf.com/pdf-editor/and save a lot of time and effort. Similarly, there are many tools that can save your time that you invest in something more. One such tool to build effective business presentations is visually engaging PowerPoint templates. These templates can save the time and effort spent in creating impactful presentations from scratch, thereby increasing workplace productivity.
Sort your Tasks of the Day in Priority Order
One of the most important things that you need to know if you want to show your 100% productivity at work is to know your important work. It means that you have to make sure what task is important, and you must do it before anything else so that you can give your undivided attention to it and achieve your targeted goals.
Figure Out the Most Difficult Part of Your Job
More often than not, we are unable to understand what is affecting our productivity at work. If that’s the case with you, then you need to figure out the most difficult part of your job and then work on it. You need to find solutions that’ll make your most difficult tasks at work easy, and you’ll be able to figure them out just like a piece of cake.
Take Small Breaks – It’s Important
Constantly working can make you exhausted, and it can affect your performance at work. Ultimately, your productivity is also affected. Therefore, if you need to perform better at work and enhance your productivity, then you must make sure that you take small breaks during your workday as it’ll help you in starting every task with a fresh mind and you’ll be able to perform better.
Don’t Put in Extra Hours
Many people believe that putting extra hours at work improves their productivity. However, it is not true. If anything, it can make you exhausted, and you won’t be able to show your productivity and creativity at all. Therefore, you always need to complete your work in a given time period if you want to increase your productivity at work.
Nokia today announced the launch of Nokia Data Marketplace as-a-service to facilitate secure sharing of data and AI models, enabling digital transformation and data monetization for enterprises.
As data volumes continue to surge, AI and machine learning are increasingly crucial in business decision making. Nokia Data Marketplace is designed to help enterprises and communications service providers (CSPs) use data in strategic decision making, by providing real-time access to massive trusted datasets.
The new service also enables enterprises and CSPs to become data marketplace providers themselves, by monetizing data exchanges between customers or business ecosystem participants.
Nokia Data Marketplace ensures trusted data exchange and authorization mechanisms. This enables a wide range of vertical use cases, including electric vehicle charging, environmental data monetization, supply-chain automation and preventative maintenance powering numerous vertical segments, including transportation, ports, energy, smart cities and healthcare.
Friedrich Trawoeger, Vice President, Cloud and Cognitive Services at Nokia, said: “Our customers need secure and trusted access to data for effective business decision making. With Nokia Data Marketplace, enterprises and CSPs can now benefit from richer insights and predictive models to drive digital ways of working and tap into new revenue streams.”
Nokia Data Marketplace accelerates AI initiatives through federated learning. This approach, combined with orchestration capabilities, facilitates collaborative development of highly accurate machine learning models for analytics use cases. It also meets growing demand for a platform that can efficiently apply AI and machine learning algorithms to in situ data.
Nokia Data Marketplace complements Nokia Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING), which offers global IoT connectivity and vertical applications. For example, Nokia WING’s asset tracking solution is enriched by Nokia Data Marketplace’s blockchain to provide secure and automated data exchange and transactions between logistics’ ecosystem partners for faster turnaround.
Kaladhar Voruganti, Senior Fellow, Office of the CTO at Equinix, said:“Nokia Data Marketplace combined with Equinix data centers allows organisations to share data and algorithms globally at more than 240 metro edge locations. Our Metal platform augments this to provide secure, proximate, on-demand infrastructure to enterprises and government agencies. Sharing and processing of data close to its point of creation mitigates issues related to latency, compliance, and network backhaul cost. These neutral and secure edge locations are connected via high-speed and secure networks to data sources spanning across public clouds, private enterprise data centers and data brokers.”
Wouter van Neerbos, Chief Executive Officer at Marlin, said:“Through automated data exchange among shipping participants, Nokia brings us the transparency and operational efficiency required in our global marine supply chain. This reduces waiting time for shipping participants in the marine ecosystem, enables faster turnaround for ships, and reduces our costs.”
Justin van der Lande, Principal Analyst at Analysys Mason, said:“Data is the energy needed to run all future business; critical to their success in creating the best AI based insights and needs access to the largest data sets. Data sharing between enterprise partners is vital in building complete data sets. Facilitating data sharing using a secure platform, such as Nokia’s blockchain-based Data Marketplace, accelerates enterprises’ building of new data sets and creates richer business partnerships for them.”
Urbanista, the Swedish lifestyle audio brand, launches exclusive limited edition Urbanista Miami Crystal Edition wireless headphones, embellished with crystals from Swarovski®. The stylish crystal encrusted version of the popular Miami headphones combines the brand’s trademark Scandinavian design aesthetic with showstopping sparkle and come as a limited edition, available to consumers only via the brand’s website and from exclusive retailers worldwide.
Priced at £ 300 / SEK 3000 / EUR 300 / USD 300 / NOK 3000 / DKK 3000 MSRP, Urbanista Miami Crystal Edition boasts full compatibility with iOS, Android and Windows devices.
Urbanista, who name their products after the world’s greatest cities and are heavily influenced by music, arts, fashion and urban culture, recently launched Urbanista Miami, an addition to their wireless headphone range. Following a successful launch, Urbanista brings to market this exclusive limited edition, Urbanista Miami Crystal Edition, which takes inspiration from the city’s nightlife scene and glamour.
Tuomas Lonka, Brand and Marketing Director, comments: “We wanted to create an exclusive limited edition that really elevates the Miami headphones bold design aesthetic. The Miami Crystal Edition, which is embellished with crystals from Swarovski®, is unapologetically flashy, extravagant and designed to stand out. We are proud to bring this exclusive limited edition to our customers and hope it allows them to express their personal style, loud and proud.”
The Urbanista Miami Crystal Edition is designed to fit comfortably over the ears and boasts up to 50 hours playtime so you will never be far away from sparkling sound to light up any moment. Miami Crystal Edition’s Active Noise Cancelling eliminates unwanted background noise so you can enjoy your audio without interruptions, or stay in tune with your surroundings with Ambient Sound Mode that enforces and defines outside voices without the need to lower the volume or hit pause. The Miami Crystal Edition will be available in two stylish colourways: Crystal Black and Crystal White.
I am not a huge camera fan and I hardly use a proper camera if you will I have always been one to use my mobile phone and this was due to Nokia devices such as the Lumia 1020 for example and it pretty much has been the same since until Nokia/ Microsoft left the scene then I moved onto other devices and back to Nokia branded devices when HMD took the helm. I hold a huge collection of these phones and other brands and they have been pretty much the staple for photography and video for me and I know many others in the same boat and it will always be that was since mobile phones have got so good with their cameras.
I am a retro fan and collector when it comes to many things in life, phones is my main favourite then trainers and watches and I have amassed a huge collection over the years and these still grow today and this is why I like the Instax cameras and this model in particular even more so. These cameras are a niche product but a large niche and I can see why people love them, The INSTAX SQUARE SQ1MINI LINK and MINI LI PLAY are previous models I have tested and have went down really well with 85K views alone on You Tube and over 250K site views combined which shows there is interest in these products and I can understand why and that is from someone who is not a DSLR/Camera fan to begin with but understands the technology behind such but they just never appealed to me but these cameras do.
It is a big camera lets not mistake this it is cumbersome you have to carry film with you it will take up room in your bag but the thing is you get your images there and then, when was the last time you actually went and got films developed?? Go on I will wait for that answer.. We are so immersed in our mobile phones today and even before the pandemic struck I really cant remember when I seen someone with an actual proper camera in their hand apart from tourists on O Connell st bridge and they where huge DSLR cameras and they both tie in together here when it comes to size but the outcome is different.
Ok so the deal overall here is this is a retro camera that takes decent images pending the conditions and it is a simple click and go, no messing around with settings like your phone or standard camera and so on, I find that things closer to the lens come out better and sharper and bright conditions the best but for a night out or a trip to the park or sea this is great for getting those family shots etc, the only caveat here is that film is expensive and at times images can get blown out but it is a really nice camera to have at your disposal and is fun to use and most importantly you get a credit card sized photo there and then rather than having to wait for them to be developed.
Sports fans from around the world spend thousands of dollars every year to gain access to their favourite teams’ games. Otherwise, if they’re not subscribed to the broadcasting channels, they would need to find a sports bar or hang out at a friend’s place to watch the games. However, a few years ago, with the rise of social media, live streaming came into existence and it completely changed the way things are done. Despite the resistance of major leagues and sports clubs, live streaming found its way into the fields and arenas and built quite the fan base posing as a real threat to the age-old sports broadcasting industry. However, live-streaming apps are only just starting so it’s a little early to claim that they will fully replace the mogul sports broadcasting industry. However, it’s worth considering that they’re going to have some major effects. If you’re interested to learn more about the relevance of live streaming to the future of sports broadcasting, continue reading.
It’s Not One or the Other
Even though live streaming might seem like it’s here to take over broadcasting and become the favoured medium for sports fans, their relationship is actually complementary. Live streaming plays a huge role in deepening the connection between fans and their favourite teams. It even has a direct effect on improving the popularity of underdog leagues and sports altogether. This only means that the sports industry as a whole including broadcasters is going to grow even further. Which is the main reason why established sports broadcasting channels are jumping at the opportunity to create their own streaming/OTT (over the top) platforms.
It Will Make Way for Better Cost-Efficiency
The sports broadcasting industry is worth billions of dollars, it’s almost impossible to assume that all of this money is properly and fairly allocated. With live-streaming coming into the picture, fans are dropping their cable subscriptions in favour of the more engaging streaming apps, this will encourage broadcasters to change their ways and rethink their wasteful strategies. Experts over at Australia-based streaming platform https://blog.ligrsystems.com/customer-stories/cluch-tv-is-producing-over-100-live-games-a-weekend-using-ligr explain that as live streaming is becoming more dependent on cloud-based solutions, there’s an opportunity to produce high-quality content at the fraction of the costs incurred by major sports productions. However, the initial investment to set up the necessary graphics tools for an aggregated OTT platform should be taken into account for actual cost estimation.
It Stimulates the Need for Better Content
One clear way where live streaming is completely dominating traditional broadcasting is the creative content. The spontaneity of live streaming makes for much more captivating content than that of the often rigid live production. After-match Q&As, exclusive interviews, and special footage have all become synonymous with live-streaming and are the primary reasons fans are hooked on this new sports viewing platform. This will only stimulate the need for richer content from broadcasters and force them to start moving out of their comfort zones to create a more interactive medium if they want their avid fans to stick around. In addition to content, live streaming is also excelling in automated graphics which significantly enhances the viewing experience. If broadcasting channels want to keep up with live-streaming apps, they will have to up their game in terms of the visual effects and graphics that they employ when airing important sports events.
It Will Attract More Fans
Live streaming allows the audience to watch games whenever and wherever they wish. This accessibility is likely to encourage the so-called casual viewers to follow sports more intently just because they’re in charge of the viewing terms. A casual viewer won’t commit to a monthly cable subscription to watch the premier league. However, the same viewer could be interested in following the league on their smartphone during their daily commute. This will increase the probability of more casual viewers turning into proper fans which in turn increases the likelihood of them activating a cable subscription so as not to miss out on their newfound obsession.
It Might Steal Away Ads Deals
In recent years, there have been a number of incidents where live streaming platforms stole away ad deals from traditional broadcasters. Since ads are one of the most important sources of revenue for broadcasters, this might be a real challenge to try to overcome. However, competition only means better service and content for the audience who seem to be the only party benefiting in all cases.
Live streaming is indeed coming in with a bang. However, as mentioned above, it doesn’t have to be an ‘either/or’ situation where fans have to make a choice between live streaming and traditional broadcasting. Broadcasters can find imaginative solutions to use live streaming platforms to enrich their already-established market. If done right, all parties involved will benefit from this.
The use of animation has brought a huge change to the visual industry. Animations bring ideas and stories to life. A good animation combines art, motion, sound, and narration to help get a message across viewers. Animations are used in a broad spectrum throughout different industries. The major use of animation production is in the film and gaming industry. The process itself comprises many components. For better understanding, here’s the ultimate guide to learn everything about animation production.
Animation Production Basics
Animations are produced through a set of planned stages, each of which plays an important role in the quality of the final animation that is produced. An animation studio consists of different departments, projects, and people that come together to build animations.
1. Pre-production
Pre-production is actually the earliest part of the film. It involves various activities such as scriptwriting, storyboarding, visual development, and others like it. The building blocks of the story are created here.
2. Production
Production is said to be the middle stage. This is the essence of a film. It mainly includes pieces such as characters, modelling, rigging which leads to animation. These people in production are responsible for producing an animation for any purpose, as this is where the story takes shape and by using the initial blocks set in the pre-production phase.
3.Post-production
Post-production is the final stage of filmmaking. It revolves around compositing, VFX, and color correction. This last step is used for the finishing touches. It’s used to polish the story and finalise it for the audience.
An Animator’s Job
Animators are considered Da Vinci’s of this industry. Their job is to bring life to the director’s vision. They do this by taking the script and the vision and breathe life into the characters. It is actually up to to the animators to sell the story to the audience using their characters. Their purpose is to shake the audience with their wonderful animations. They greatly influence the whole film as their role is to create dynamic and interesting character performances for various purposes such as Movies, TV shows, etc.
Animators
Animators have a huge impact on the film and their role is of the utmost importance. They generally have two main categories
1. 2D Animators
2D animators are considered old-school nowadays. This is because they use traditional methods. These methods may include hand-drawn techniques or modern digital tools to help tell the story. They use a specific strategy of making the most out of timing, spacing, and appeal to give life to characters.
2. 3D Animators
3D animators are the real deal. They use the help of software to accomplish what the 2D animators do. They also work on the fundamental principles of animation but in addition to that, they use software to push their art to the next level. Softwares help push the quality up a notch. They are the ones who are responsible for the dragons and spaceships which you see in your movies and TV shows. At their core, they’re the same. Moreover, they can pursue several careers but below are the most demanded and sought-after roles.
a. Feature Film Animators
FFA’s work on movies and TV shows. They display eye-catching and appealing performances. It’s them who are responsible for the famous character performances in movies like Frozen, How to train your dragon, and Spiderman.
b. VFX Animators
VFX animators use a certain level of exaggeration to animate their digital characters keeping in view their live-action counterparts. They usually bring superheroes and colossal robots. All the fantastic and mythical creatures you see in movies are their creations.
c. Game Animators
Game animators’ primary purpose is to focus on body mechanics and physical performance. This is done by emphasizing the weight and impact of the body. They are responsible for the dynamic animations by keeping both gameplay and storytelling in their mind.
How The Process Works
In the animation process, the story which your brand plans on telling comes to life using complex tools. Movements, audio, effects and motion, and well-chosen words are used to describe your brand. After the idea is set, a script is created, which is then followed by animators to create the best characters and storytelling possible. It is then finalised in the last step called post-production and given the finishing touches to present to the audience.
You need to make sure you get the attention of your target audience and animation is the best tool for that. It grabs the audience’s attention because it doesn’t involve old-school methods such as typically text-based storytelling. The chance of grabbing attention greatly increases by animation. It stands apart and has life. It moves and speaks for itself which is more appealing. If you’re a brand and you need attention, don’t worry, animation is there for you to get you the attention you deserve.
There’s plenty of entertaining videos on the internet that aren’t offered for offline viewing. Here’s how you can get your hands on all of the high-definition videos to watch offline withSnapDownloader.
Ever since videos sharing websites like YouTube, Metacafe, and Dailymotion, along with social media giants such as Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, and others, took over, the content creation and sharing of videos have skyrocketed. It isn’t a secret that video content is growing on social media platforms, which is why services such as IGTV by Instagram and the video-centric platform of Facebook Watch were created in the first place. YouTube alone is home to more than 1 Billion active users, which means virtually unending videos that you could watch during your entire lifetime.
Why SnapDownloader Video Downloader?
With thousands of big-time content creators out there, millions of up-and-coming independent content creators, and news organizations offering plenty of video content on these media platforms, you have all the reasons to download videos for viewing offline, and SnapDownloader is here to make it easier than ever. But there are already hundreds, if not thousands, of different video downloaders out there, so what makes SnapDownloader any better than the rest?
SnapDownloader Features:
Supports 900+ websites – SnapDownloader enables you to download video content not just from social media networks such as Facebook and Instagram but more than 900 websites, which includes the unconventional ones such as Reddit, TikTok, BBC, and more.
Convert videos to MP3 audio – This distinct feature comes in handy when obtaining audio content on websites such as YouTube. Whether you wish to fetch audiobooks, podcasts, audio tracks, or documentaries, SnapDownloader helps you get it done.
Download in 8K quality – While YouTube is currently the only platform that supports 8K streaming, SnapDownloader already supports downloading it. Additionally, you can fetch videos in 4K, 1080p Full-HD, 720p, and even other standard video formats too.
Built-in proxy – SnapDownloader brings the ability to quickly set up a geo-proxy and get past the geo-restrictions on YouTube and other social media platforms. If you want to download a video from a website that is restricted in your country of residence, SnapDownloader will get the job done.
Users love the UI – One of the biggest pain points with hundreds of other video downloaders is the dated user interface and a barrage of ads that cloud everything. SnapDownloader keeps it all neat and clean for you to enjoy the video viewing experience every time, and no unsolicited advertisements that could harm the device.
Cutting-edge advanced features – Apart from getting the core features right, SnapDownloader adds a cherry on the pie with video editing features baked into the app. You also get a Bulk Downloads feature to fetch up to 15 videos from different sources, all at once.
Download Videos from Any Website with SnapDownloader
Before you can begin enjoying the best of video content without an active internet connection, you will need to download the SnapDownloader app, and here’s how you go about it:
Install SnapDownloader for Windows or macOS and launch the app to continue.
Launch the web browser and open YouTube, Facebook, or any other video-sharing platform from where you wish to download the video.
Copy the video link by right-clicking on it and paste the link of the video in the SnapDownloader app.
Similarly, you can also use the search bar to enter a keyword and search the video online.
Select the option of Output (MP4 or MP3), where you can even convert the video to an MP3 file directly.
Now, choose the Video Quality in which you wish to download the video.
Press the Download button to begin right away, or select Schedule for later if you wish to fetch the video at a later time.
The download will begin, and details such as the file size, download speed, and even the estimated timeleft will be showcased.
That’s all there is to it! You will now have the video ready for viewing offline. While one video is downloaded, you can also cue up to 15 videos for downloading on SnapDownloader, all at once!
Final Words
The complete process for downloading videos from any other popular social media platform like Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, and other video-sharing platforms is exactly the same. All you have to do to get started is fetch the video URL, enter it into the search field of the SnapDownloader app, and you’re all done. While there are plenty of video downloader services that tend to help youdownload YouTube videos, the number of service providers for fetching content from other social media platforms is fairly limited, which is why SnapDownloader comes in handy.
Are you hoping to give SnapDownloader a try and see how it can help you download any video from the World Wide Web with just one click? We would love for you to let us know your thoughts on SnapDownloader in the comments section down below.
Have you ever tried accessing data on the internet only to realize that it is restricted to your location? In this case, a proxy server can be valuable. Other than unblocking content online, proxy servers can offer more benefits for businesses. This article will teach what you need to know about proxies, their uses, and how you can use them in accessing geo-restricted content.
What is a proxy?
The internet provides important data that can contribute to the overall success of your business. However, if you are unable to access data from various sites, tools such as a proxy server can be very useful. A proxy server works by hiding your device’s original IP address and serves as a gateway between the website you’re trying to access and your device.
Without a proxy server, it can be impossible to access restricted content. A proxy server will forward web requests on your behalf and get the web server response. Your request will be validated by HTTPS, which will hide your real information and allow you to access the data.
There are two ways you can use a proxy to unblock websites.
Web proxy
A web proxy works by unblocking sites accessed on public computers. To get this done, you will first need to connect to a proxy server. Your original location will be masked once you are given access to unblock a restricted site.
These web proxies are usually free but can be tasking, especially when you want to stream content online. Also, before visiting the site, you need to navigate each tab of the web proxy every time you use it.
Proxy extension
This works faster than a proxy server, but the idea is basically the same. A proxy extension eliminates the need to navigate each tab when using a proxy server since it sits in your browser. This means that you can access blocked content easily whenever you need it.
When it comes to using proxies, you can choose between public and private (dedicated) proxies. Many companies and individuals prefer the latter for the added security. In this case, IPs are usually provided by your local Internet Service Providers. The main difference between the two is that public proxies are free while you have to pay to gain access to dedicated proxies.
Main use cases of proxies
Wondering why you need to use proxies for your business? Here’s a look at the top six use cases of proxies:
Brand protection
Proxies provide an added layer of protection against data breach. Using proxies will allow you to gain control over brand reputation risks and manage your brand perception. If a hacker is trying to breach your data, the proxy servers will act as a buffer and your server will be less vulnerable to attack.
By using proxies, you will be able to check potential abuse of your brand. You will protect your company’s public image and have low chances of monetary loss or data breach.
Market research
For your business to do well in a competitive landscape, it is important to acquire relevant market information including about your competitors. However, most websites have measures in place to restrict web scraping and this is where proxies come in handy.
Many businesses find it easier and faster to gather customer information and conduct data harvesting online through automated solutions they access through proxies similar to your static residential IP Proxies will allow you to collect real data about your target audience by accessing online forums and communities. The result will help you in forming wise business decisions.
Access geo-restricted content
Do you need to access content from a website that has country restrictions? Different types of online content are hidden in geo-restrictions to prevent authorised users from accessing it.
Fortunately, you can use a proxy server to bypass these websites to get access to the geo-blocked content regardless of your geo-location. This is because the proxy server will hide your IP address. For instance, a Hong Kong proxy can prove useful when you are trying to gain access to restricted Hong Kong content. Visit this website for more information about a Hong Kong proxy or other types of proxies.
Ad verification
This is another way of protecting your brand through the use of proxies by improving ad performance and detecting ad fraud. Proxies will help you identify fraudulent marketing activities, such as fake traffic. It can also detect when your competitors place ads on sites that may harm your reputation.
Also, proxies have tools that gather data online to help you process measures in allocating ad budgets. These tools will perform an analysis of the ads you’ve done in the past. You can then use the results to tweak or retain positive points for the ads you’d run in the future.
Pricing intelligence
There are proxies you can use to gather reliable pricing data in real-time. This will allow you to track your competitors to change your pricing based on the trend.
Conclusion
By learning how to use proxies to your advantage, you will explore various marketing solutions that will boost your business’ growth and success. You only have to find the right provider suitable for your business requirements.
