Skip to content

Month: June 2016

Say Goodbye To Noisy Tech

Our obsession with tech with tech has made many of our households very noisy. Cars and airplanes meanwhile have also contributed to noise pollution. In a bid to make our lives more peaceful, engineers around the world have been coming up with ways to make silent solutions to usually noisy appliances and machinery. Here are just a few examples of such innovations.

Silent fridge/freezers

The hums and rattles and gurgles of many of our home fridges can be irritating. However, companies such as Caldura have been coming up with a silent solution. These quiet fridges are absorption powered making them different to compressor fridges in that they do not require a motor and instead rely off energy from heating. Many hotels with a mini-bar will consider such fridges as a way of keeping the room more quiet. 

Silent washing machines

Washing machines are among one of the loudest appliances in our homes, with some operating at eighty decibels, which is more than a hoover or ringing telephone. However, quieter washing machine models as produced by the likes of Whirpool can sometimes operate at just over forty decibels, which is the same as a quiet library. These are ideal if you need to put a load of laundry on at night but don’t want to wake the rest of the house up. There are further ways to soundproof your washing machine such as not putting it on an uneven surface and tightening shipping bolts.  

Silent computers

PCs – particularly high-performance models as used for gaming – can also be very loud due to the amount of fans needed to cool them. Fortunately, there are now quiet desktop models out there as sold by companies such as AVADirect. These computers use low-noise components and sound-proofing to prevent the usual whirring of fans and clicking of the hard-drive that regular machines suffer from.

Silent cars

Cars are also progressively becoming quieter. The once 82 decibel legal limit has been reduced to 74 decibels. Some modern cars however such as the BMW 730d Blue Performance reach as low as 58 decibels at 100 km/h – the equivalent of the sound of normal conversation. And of course electric cars are much quieter than their petrol counterparts, cutting out the engine noise at low speeds (although at high speeds they still produce the same tyre and wind noise as petrol cars).

Silent jet planes

No, silent jet planes aren’t a reality… yet. The Silent Aircraft Initiative believes they will be however by 2030. The group of engineers are looking at ways of making airplanes run on lower thrust levels, which could also reduce air pollution as well as noise pollution. Currently a jet plane taking off reaches a staggering 150 decibels, which is the very limit our eardrums can withstand before rupturing. Anything over 85 decibels is thought to damage our ears when exposed to long periods of time, contributing to gradual hearing loss. Could jet planes ever operate at below this level?

Appmazing: What Does It Take To Design An Application That Wows?

You know that Apple advert, the one where one person asks another person for help with a certain task, and they respond with “there’s an app for that”? The concept of this advert is to show that there’s an app for almost everything. A few years on from the release of that advert and there really is an app for everything – well, almost. With apps being so in demand, it makes business sense to take advantage of this and design your own app. If you have the skills, knowledge, and ideas for app design, that is.

The vital thing when it comes to app design is understanding that there is a lot of competition and that it’s fierce. So if you are going to design an app, whether that’s to tie in with your business or as a new venture, it’s crucial that you understand how to create an app that stands out for all the right reasons. To be able to do this you need to be somewhat of a tech geek; you need to be an innovative thinker, someone who loves creating new products and is passionate about cutting edge technology.

To help you get started on app creation, below are some tips for designing an application that has the wow factor and is sure to be a success.

Develop your idea first

There’s no bigger mistake when it comes to app design than rushing the process. What you want to do is take the time to develop your idea before you begin turning it into an app. For your app to have the wow factor, it can’t be rushed. It is important not to rush the process because once you have started creating your app, it becomes more difficult to edit or change the concept, which is why it’s best to take your time developing your idea before you begin the process of turning it into an app.

Make user-focused design a priority

If you have ever built a website, you will know how important a user-friendly design is. The same rules that apply to web design apply to app design – it needs to be user-friendly to be successful. So when it comes to developing your app, it’s important to take the user experience into account. Think about how easy the layout will be to navigate, how quickly the app will load, and how clear the content is. If there are certain tasks you can’t deal with yourself, don’t be afraid to outsource them. Part of focusing on user-experience is ensuring that your app runs smoothly and is free from bugs. An app that has glitches can severely impact the user experience, which is why it’s worth using resources like https://www.globalapptesting.com/product/mobile-app-testing to ensure that your app runs smoothly. By testing your app before releasing it, you can find any bugs or glitches and fix them, ensuring that your app is as user-friendly as possible.

Focus on branding

Whether you are creating an app to link to your brand or as a new venture, it’s vital that you focus on branding. The fact is that it’s branding – a well-designed logo, a certain color scheme, a style of text, a content style, etc. that gives a company its uniqueness. So when it comes to designing an app, it’s vital that you focus on branding, to ensure that your app is not only unique, but also that it has that professional look and feel to it. To get some ideas about effective branding, resources like https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/276520 are useful.

Want to design an app that has the wow factor? Then take note of the tips above.

How Technology Is Changing the Face of Education

There is very often some concern expressed about the nature of technology and the impact it’s having on younger generations. Some people see it as a waste of time, with too many youngsters existing almost exclusively with their head in their devices. This, however, is not true. Technology is good for a lot of things, most notably when it comes to education. Though it didn’t get as much airtime as, say, smartphones, technology in the classroom continues to make learning better and more enjoyable than ever.

New Kinds of Learning

In the olden days, there was only really two ways of learning: you either read things in a textbook, or you got outside and learned with hands-on experience. Today, you can still do both those things, but there are also many other types of learning available, thanks to technology. For example, students are now able to learn through videos, audio books, online interactive systems, and much more. Now and in the future, students will be able to use VR headsets and other types of technology to take themselves to the far corners of the world, right in the classroom. Whichever way you look at it, that’s going to throw up some exciting new ways of learning.

Better Collaboration

Again, in the olden days, it used to be that you could collaborate with, well, whoever was sat next to you. Not so anymore. With the internet, cloud storage, and personal devices just about everywhere, students can work together on their schedule, even if they happen to be many miles away from each other. This also helps bridge the gap between students who might otherwise not interact with one another. Making the education system more democratic!

More Agile Response

Some older generations bemoan the amount of time those people below 25 spend on their devices, but there’s definitely an upside. For one, young people today are much faster learners than older people. They’re capable of holding differing opinions in their head at the same time and have become much better at multitasking than previous generations. When they’re presented with a problem, they can switch gears in their mind and find a solution. And this is because of technology use.

More Engaged

Technology has allowed students to become more engaged with their education. With tools like PeopleSoft and HighPoint Technology, they’re able to have greater control over their education. Rather than just turning up and waiting for the university to do the work, they’re able to direct their experience, communicate with staff, and arrange their own schedules. All this fosters a closer relationship between the student and their education.

Instant Access

A fact that is often overlooked by the general public, but not so by students, is that on any of their devices, they have access to more or less every piece of information that’s recorded in the world. They no longer have to spend hours in the library looking up a fact. It’s all right there, in the palm of their hand.

Getting Technophobes Into Tech: How It Can Enhance Your Life

Unfortunately, not everyone thinks that technology is a good thing. If there’s someone in your life who thinks that the world’s moving a bit too fast for their liking and who won’t stop complaining about it, here are a few things to point out…

Health

There’s very little that’s helping the world more than the huge advances in medicine that technology is enabling scientists to make. Aside from crucial breakthroughs in drugs that treat diseases ranging from cancer to HIV, technology is also helping the daily runnings of the medical services, from the ways that doctors can check for patients’ vital signs to the ways that doctors’ surgeries are being run. Being able to make an appointment and order your prescriptions online can be a serious help for anyone who might find it hard to use phones and who need to access medicine and healthcare. There are also huge strides being made in the way that people can be treated for conditions like brain injuries and strokes – new treatments and therapies are being developed all the time that make huge differences to people’s lives. Finally, surgeries are being done by machines more and moreso these days – keyhole surgeries can help to dramatically cut down the amount of time that people need to recover from having surgery and can also cut down on human errors that are made.

Transport

Pretty much every major city’s transport hub relies on technology, whether that’s passing messages from station to station about track closures on metros and undergrounds, putting out announcements about lost children over loudspeakers, or much more futuristic ideas that are being developed with high speed railways and self-driving cars. Not only does technology used in the world of travel make it a whole lot more convenient for people in their everyday lives with it comes to high speed travel and commuting, but self driving cars are also extremely safe and will mean that car crashes because of driver error will be at an absolute minimum – the future looks bright and a whole lot more safe.

Careers

The future of industry is a lot more exciting because of the progress that’s being made in the world of technology. This generation have jobs that their parents could never have dreamed would exist – and they’re forging excellent and important careers out of them as well. Knowing how to code is one of the best things that any young person can learn, so it’s important that their parents, even if they don’t totally understand the tech industry, supports the young people in their family to learn about and to understand computers and tech. It’s much easier to start a business than it ever has been before, thanks to the internet – you can work remotely easily which means that you can work flexibly. This is great not only for young people but also for those with families – and for people trying to break into their chosen industries who aren’t able to afford to live near a big city. Being able to work with just a laptop and a steady internet connection means that the world of work is starting to open up and become a lot more accessible.

Education

Advances in technology are enabling teachers to deliver lessons that are interesting and fun, which in turn motivates students and encourages them to learn. Devices like interactive whiteboards mean that you can show movies in class, which is extremely helpful in subjects like English and History, and they also mean that students can come up and interact with what a teacher has drawn on the board – although this could also happen with chalk boards and white boards, interactive whiteboards mean that large shapes can be moved around and students are much more interested in what’s happening. Technology can also enable schools to run more smoothly – registration systems that run throughout an entire school mean that teachers can see whether their students should be in their classes or not, meaning that if there’s an emergency it’s easier to account for all the students.

Entertainment

The world of entertainment has been dramatically changed by the advent of technology. Youtubers and vloggers have become some of the most popular and famous people around – they’re the ones who are influencing young people as well as actors and pop stars. One of the best thing about vloggers is that they’re able to create their own platforms, meaning that really great content can get its voice heard when it otherwise might not be able to. It can be very difficult for people to break into the mainstream media these days, but YouTube as a platform is getting bigger and bigger – a lot of people watch less TV and fewer movies, choosing to watch content that has been created by people online instead. This means that brands are starting to think about completely new and exciting ways of advertising. Other forms of entertainment have also been revolutionised with transformative tech – we have better speakers, we have better screens, and it’s also possible to immerse ourselves in the virtual reality systems that everyone will be using to game in the future.

Fundraising

When something terrible happens, the world goes into mourning, and technology can help us connect to people on social media sites who feel the same way that we do – who are mourning for Bowie, who are afraid for loved ones after terrorist attacks, who want to get more and more involved in politics as so many people are doing these days. Not only can technology provide emotional support for us but it can also be a valuable source of information – a lot of the time, traditional news sources are behind Twitter and social media with what they’re saying. Finally, social media makes it easier for us to donate for charity with sites like JustGiving – it’s a lot easier to put money towards a disaster relief fund with your credit card online than it was in the old days when you had to send money off to charity instead.

What Year Does Your Home Exist In?

Take a walk through your home and look around. If you had no idea what year it was, would you be able to tell that it was 2017? You might not, or at least you wouldn’t if you haven’t got the latest home electronics and technology powering your home. Some people are averse to living too interlinked with technology, but we say: hey, it’s fun! You’ll be more a part of the world, will be able to have more fun, and will be able to impress visitors if you give your home a tech update. Here’s how.

More Sockets, More Control

Funnily enough, one of the main reasons people don’t have more technology in their home is for one simple reason: they don’t have enough power sockets to power all the devices they want. Of course, you can power multiple devices from one outlet if you attach a multiplug to it, but that only creates one super tech corner. You want technology throughout the home! Attach more plugs to the walls around your home around your home, and you’ll be able to do this. Oh, and as it’s 2017, make sure the sockets have a USB charger too. Life-changing!

Connectivity

Your home probably already has a Wi-Fi connection, but that only doesn’t mean much: everyone has Wi-Fi. The true test of your home tech’s credentials is in how well it performs. If your internet connection is struggling to reach all corners of the home, then buy data products that’ll help improve the range and boost the speed at the same time. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a Wi-Fi dead zone in the home, especially when it’s in one of it’s most relaxing rooms.

Entertainment

We’ve come a long way when it comes to entertainment. If you’re still relying on that old, seasoned television, now’s the time to upgrade to a smart television. You’ll have the whole selection of internet entertainment right in your living room. Oh, and they’re usually a decent size, too, so you’ll be able to watch the Superbowl and other grand events in style. And talking of entertainment, let’s not forget the music! There is a selection of superb sound systems that are designed to be used with smartphones. Have your phone in your pocket and your favorite tunes streaming throughout the house. Perfect!

Internet of Things

You better get ready for the internet of things, because it’s well and truly on its way. The most forward-thinking homeowners have already got the first devices installed in their home. Just to demonstrate the power the internet of things has: there is a device that you place on your bin. When you throw something away, it scans the barcode and makes a note of it, so you can rebuy when you’re out shopping. The future is a wonderful thing.

Going Further

There are new devices coming out all the time. Keep abreast of the latest home technology improvements, and you’ll have a home that will look more suited to 2117 rather than 2017!

How To Keep Your Kids away From Drugs

Most parents can feel rather fearful of facing the dreaded teenage stage. As this stage is saddled with hormonal behaviour, erratic mood swings and a real tendency for rebellion there really is no wonder this stage of bringing up children is often riddled with anxiety. Your children getting mixed up with drugs and alcohol is obviously one of the biggest worries about this stage of adolescence so if you are heading towards this chapter with your children then read on for our essential tips on how to keep your kids away from the temptation of dangerous experimentation.

Be There

Just making yourself available, at what can be an extremely difficult and confusing time in a child’s life, is absolutely the most important thing that you can do. This transitionary period that teenage children are going through can be an isolating time for kids, with all the changing hormones so it is really important that as parents you are making yourselves a safe and consistent support network.

Teenagers usually react much better to advise and are much more open to parental guidance, when they look for it themselves. Teenagers can be overwhelmed by being constantly bombarded with advice, guidelines and restrictions, endless rules and of course, as they see it, continual nagging.

Therefore many parents, dealing with teenagers have found that a calmer approach to teenage behaviour can be rewarded by teenagers being more open and honest as a result. Because parents are acting calmers, teenagers feel safer to confide in them so make sure you give them their time to discuss the issues that are on their mind.

Giving your teenage children time and space to learn from their own mistakes will allow them to feel that they are making their own rules and establishing their own routines (within reason). This will then let them feel that they are entering into an adult relationship with you, which works to motivate and encourage them to act more responsibly and maturely.

Alcohol & Drugs

We all need to face facts that most teenagers are going to experiment with alcohol at some point in their adolescent. Therefore it is less about complete prevention and more about educating them. Teaching your children how to approach alcohol in a responsible way can help to prevent problems, dangerous situations and even, the worst case scenario the need for a quality team of defense lawyers if your child ever ends up in a drink or drug related situation or accident..

A tried and tested way to try and prevent children from going down the wrong avenue when it comes to drugs and alchohol is to encourage them to spend their time doing other things. Children will always want to do the things that they are told they can’t do, so instead of telling them what they can’t do, distract them with other more interesting things they can do to stay active and interested in other hobbies and interests. Be active with your kids and offer ideas of fantastic things they can do with their friends and even offer to be their taxi service to make it even easier for them to stay on track and enjoy the right things.