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The Internet has changed the way we get our news, watch movies, and pay our bills. It’s little wonder, then, that it has also changed the way we listen to music. Today, the web is home to several top music-streaming services – online services that permit users to listen to their favorite music on their laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.

So we thought we would share with you some information about some of the more common streaming services:

Pandora: Pandora is hardly a surprise choice, but there’s a reason this music-streaming service remains well-liked: It is not difficult to use and it can quickly introduce users to new music that they may not experience otherwise. The idea behind Pandora is simple: After logging onto the service, type in the name of a favorite artist, say “David Bowie.” Pandora will then play songs by Bowie and will also play songs from similar artists. Thus giving you a taste of other tunes that you might also like.

Grooveshark: This streaming service is very similar to Pandora, in that it creates a customized “radio” station according to your musical tastes. You do not have to create an account to enjoy Grooveshark, or to make your own playlists. However, if you wish to save your information, you need to create one. One benefit of Grooveshark is that you are able to enjoy whole albums instead of a station you made. One of the most intriguing features of Grooveshark is that users can add their own music if the Grooveshark database doesn’t have what they are hunting for.

Rhapsody: Rhapsody’s appeal is based on its huge database of music: more the 14 million songs. Unfortunately, this service is not free, it is $10 a month for unlimited music.

Spotify: Spotify is one of the most widely known music-streaming services out there. After its introduction in 2008, it expanded rapidly. Spotify has a simple to use interface. You can listen to entire albums, decide to create a “radio” station based on your tastes, or create playlists that you can share with other Spotify users. This is appealing to those who enjoy the nostalgia of making mix tapes. Many people love Spotify’s integration with Facebook. By using the Facebook app, Spotify creates a running list of what you are playing day by day. You can also see what your Facebook friends are listening too, in real-time.

It’s been some time since Windows was regarded as cool but the Kinect may change all that. The Kinect is a voice and motion-sensing device that was initially designed as a feature for the Xbox gaming system.

A version of the device also works with Windows-operated PCs, and almost immediately after its launch in February, people started coming up with innovative ways to use it.

Innovative Uses for the Kinect

At the Chicago Auto Show the Chief Marketing Manager for Nissan North America used the Kinect in an interesting way, by creating a virtual tour of the enhanced interior of the Pathfinder. This worked out well as they only had the outer shell of the Pathfinder to physically display. Using the Kinect, participants could actually “see” what the interior looked liked.

Microsoft is encouraging companies to find different uses for the Kinect and even cooperating with them to develop applications for it. This is a great move on their part, as it not only promotes ingenuity but it also puts a Microsoft product at the center of the creative development. One company that has worked with Microsoft in this way is Boeing. They have used the Kinect to build virtual tours of their jets. Another unique use of the Kinect was discovered by a medical facility in Canada. They are using the Kinect’s gesture-recognition to swipe through CT scans. This greatly reduces, if not eradicates, the possibility of spreading germs since you don’t have to touch the computer.

Kinect: A Solid Hit

The Kinect is a hit for Microsoft. Last year the device helped turn the Xbox 360 into the year’s best-selling gaming console. In fact, Microsoft has sold over 18 million Kinect devices since November of 2010. It makes sense then, that a version developed specifically for Windows would be a hit, too.

The Kinect has many uses outside of what it was initially developed for. Microsoft actually developed something which is not only useful, but thought to be cool. This transformation in attitude toward Microsoft could help the company in lots of ways.

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There are lots of people seeking jobs today. However, as an employer, you’re not looking for just anyone. You want to hire the best, most creative employees to work at your business. You recognize that your company is only as strong as your workers. How do you hire the most suitable people? It all starts with the job interview.

It’s important to create a job interview strategy that pin points what you are in search of in an employee. If you ask the same cookie cutter questions that everyone else does, you are likely to get cookie cutter answers.

Ask the Right Questions

A common approach to the job interview is to inquire about past positions the person held. What their obligations were, etc. These are not the most beneficial questions as you only end up receiving information that could be easily read from their resume. This doesn’t help you much if you’re looking for specific qualities. Think about asking them how they improved their positions, were there any processes that they changed, or ways that they saved their company money.

One of the most common questions to ask a candidate concerns their strengths and weaknesses. Avoid asking them to list these; most of us have predetermined answers. Instead ask them what they bring to the culture of a company, or ask them what they do to make their job more satisfying. The responses you get to these types of questions will assist you to gauge the actual inventiveness of the person you are evaluating.

Another method you could use to determine creativity is to give them a task to execute. Something simple, for instance have them write their ideas about what their ideal work environment would be like. Or they could brainstorm services and products for a company of your choosing. You could keep it light and fun; the goal is to get a snapshot of their brainstorming abilities, and creativity.

Employers have an edge in today’s job market. They can select from among some of the top job seekers available, but to get the best people, employers have to first change the way they carry out their job interviews.

There aren’t many people who look forward to going on business trips. They’re an inconvenience and expensive for the organization. Business travelers often feel rushed, which results in lack of sleep and poor eating habits, which exacerbates stress. Not to mention dealing with Airports and long-term parking. As a result, many businesses decide to use videoconferencing as much as possible. But do you think that business travel is on its way out? Will Videoconferencing replace it completely?

The End of Business Travel?

Do we want to strive for the termination of business travel? Perhaps not, think about the differences between in-person meeting and videoconferencing.

When people across the globe sign on to a videoconference, they generally introduce themselves quickly, if required, and then dive into the goal at hand. Brainstorming does not often play a big role in videoconferencing; this is partially due to the worry that their connection may fail. Also, there are many distractions within the individual’s office that can make fluid conversationdifficult.

The Benefits of Face-to-Face Time

Conversation evolves a lot more easily with in-person interactions. This is healthy, and as far as business is concerned, can be quite advantageous. Having an impromptu brainstorming session can result in ideas that can lead the business down a path that wasn’t previously anticipated. This is not to say that every face-to-face meeting turns into a game-changing brainstorming session. But if a meeting degenerates into story telling, this is an chance for co-workers to strengthen their interpersonal relationships and improve moral.

Business Travel is Here to Stay

While many businesses turn toward videoconferencing because of the cost and ease of it, it is unlikely that business travel will disappear totally. When we develop business relationships, just like any relationships, we want to meet face-to-face because we are a social species. The benefits of face-to-face meetingsare enough that savvy business owners will not eliminate business travel completely.

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How many kids grew up anticipating the day when humans would travel the planet with individual jet packs strapped to their backs? How many dreamt of full meals that come in capsule form or teleporters? Those technologies haven’t happened. However, in the last twenty years alone, we’ve seen enough new tech to fill an early 1990s science-fiction flick. With tablet computers we can carry all the computing power of a bulky desktop computer in our hands. With smartphones we can instantly send text messages to our friends and thanks to GPS, we never have to get lost while driving again.

So, why don’t we have teleporters and hovercrafts? What exactly is preventing us from taking these leaps in technology?

Building a Better Battery

As we move into a more mobile world, batteries grow in importance. They are a building block of our technological world these days. Therefore, if we are limited by their power, and capability to hold a charge, the technology that utilizes them is also limited. For example, you wouldn’t want your jet pack to loose its charge in flight. Recently, researchers at Chicago’s Northwestern University found a way to make a much more powerful lithium-ion battery than the ones we have today. We explained this more thoroughly in a blog post last week. When these batteries eventually hit the market, we will likely see a boom in technological advancements.

Improving Internet Access

The second limiting factor is related to access. Basically, not enough of the world’s population can access high-speed Internet access. It may well seem like every public library, bookstore, and cafe’ provides its customers with access to high-speed wireless Internet, but this is largely a mirage. The vast majority of humans don’t have quick access to the web. Until this occurs, we’ll be unnecessarily limiting the growth of technology. The more minds that are linked on the Web, the greater the odds are of reaching the next tech breakthrough.

The Business of New Tech

Last but not least there is the bureaucracy. Business matters, like patent laws, can slow down technological progress. Individuals and companies that come up with revolutionary things have to first navigate these waters. But if government regulations are clear and easy to understand, it could prevent some of this.

Even though there are several things that are holding technology back, it is still developing at a rapid pace. Maybe we’ll finally get hover boards when battery technology catches up to our imaginations.

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Adobe Photoshop is an amazing tool. It lets business owners edit the images they need to produce professional-looking brochures, pamphlets, and marketing materials. However, Photoshop is far from inexpensive. A quick online scan will show that newer versions of this image-editing program can run higher then $600. For small business owners on a budget, this program isn’t practical. This doesn’t mean, however, that these small business owners do not have photo-editing options. In fact, businesses can pick from a number of alternatives that are not only cheaper but are actually free.

These programs might not contain all the elements that Photoshop boasts, but they have more than enough photo-editing features for most small business owners. Here are three of the highest quality free photo-editing programs now available:

GIMP

GIMP, which stands for GNU image manipulation program, is the choice of many a cost-conscious designer. That’s because this free program contains many of the most important attributes of Photoshop. The GIMP website even offers a version of the program—cleverly named GIMPShop—that features a screen layout that is a virtual twin of Photoshop’s.

Paint.NET

Remember that old MSPaint program that came with your Windows program? Paint.NET is the successor to this, and it’s a remarkably powerful—and free—photo editor. Paint.NET comes with its own special effects, an unlimited undo (a nice feature for those designers who are far from perfect), and an online forum packed with users who aren’t shy about sharing their favorite tips and strategies for using this program. The only negative of Paint.NET? It only works with Windows-based systems.

Picnik

Picnik is a free program that works on Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems. This program has some really fun effects such as blurring, darkening, and lightening images. It’s one of the most popular free editing programs, as you don’t have to download files to use it.

There is no need to purchase the expensive Photoshop program to produce professional looking pamphlets. For the small business owner on a budget, any of these programs will do the trick while keeping standards high.

Have you ever needed your smartphone only to find that the battery has died and you’re nowhere near an outlet? It’s aggravating, but in a couple of years, it could be a thing of the past.

A Better Battery on the Way?

A team of engineers at Chicago’s Northwestern University may have found a way to make a battery that lasts longer and charges itself in a few minutes, instead of overnight. This story reports on these research efforts. This is fantastic news for smartphone users worldwide.

According to the article, Northwestern’s researchers have found a way to extend the charge-life of a new lithium-ion battery by a factor of 10. Even after 150 charges—which researchers say represents a year or more of operation—this new battery would still be five times more efficient than the today’s lithium-ion batteries.

A Charged Battery for a Week

This may be hard to believe, particularly with all the apps we run on our devices, but this new battery may stay charged for a full week. And the charging time might be less then 15 minutes. Which will obviously make life easier but this technology could have a much more significant impact then that. It can be applied to the batteries utilized in electric cars, making them far more efficient, and radically decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels.

Batteries Powering Technological Change

Advancements in battery technology are not something we normally pay attention to. But this one may have a massive positive affect our lives, and not just where convenience is concerned. This new lithium-ion battery may provide the key to a greater technological shift.

When looking at online search engines, Google remains king. Microsoft isn’t happy with this. That is why the company launched Bing in 2009, its own search engine and a direct competitor with Google. Ever since then, Bing has gone the way of most Google-search competitors: It’s mostly an afterthought when computer users want to search the web. Most searchers still rely on Google for this task. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that Bing offers nothing for computer users. The truth is, Microsoft did a lot right with Bing, and the search engine provides plenty of appealing features that users shouldn’t ignore.

Taking Another Look at Bing

When searching on Bing, you get more information about your search results then you do with Google. Bing has a navigation panel on the left that allows users to focus their search easily. It also organizes search results into logical categories, making it easier to find quick answers.

Bing Goes Beyond Search Results

Bing also brings more than just search results. Say users search for websites about pop star Lady Gaga. Bing will also bring up Lady Gaga’s most current videos. For users hunting for a flight out of town, Bing beats Google easily. The search engine incorporates something it calls Farecast Technology in its Bing Travel site. This allows users quickly locate the most affordable airfare to specific destinations.

Bing Video Search Shines

Bing stands apart from Google when it comes to searching for videos as well. Bing allows users to specify how long they would like videos to be, what resolution they would like, and what screen size they would prefer. Moreover, to get a preview of the video, users only need to hover their cursor over the video to play a portion of it without clicking on it.

These are a few reasons why computer users should not overlook Bing. While Google is a household name, it’s not the only search engine available.

Cloud computing is becoming increasingly more common. A very basic definition of the cloud is: a group of remote servers where people can store and access their data. One advantage of utilizing the cloud is that powerful programs and files can be stored at a distant location so they don’t burn up memory on personal computers and bog down operating systems.

Not All Clouds are the Same

However, that isn’t all that you should understand about the cloud. There is the public cloud, which is the one most of us use, the private cloud, and the hybrid cloud. The hybrid cloud, as the name suggests, is a combination of using the public and private cloud.

The hybrid cloud typically works like this: A business provides some resources in-house. For example, it might store current consumer data on its private in-house cloud. It might also store employee information, new marketing campaigns, and current proposals to new clients on its in-house storage. That same business, though, might store older, archived data on a public cloud service. This frees up space on the business’ servers, and permits its in-house computers to perform more efficiently.

The Hybrid Cloud Approach Makes Sense

Taking a hybrid cloud approach to data storage enables businesses to take advantage of the space-saving benefits of the public cloud without also exposing their sensitive current data to third-party providers. In other words, the hybrid cloud provides businesses with security, cost-savings, and efficiency.

It’s not surprising that lots of businesses use the hybrid cloud. There’s too much data storage needed today for a business to store it all and not slow down their systems. Furthermore, in this competitive climate, businesses need to ensure their sensitive information is safeguarded. The hybrid cloud is often the best way businesses can accomplish both of these things.

A growing number of employees nowadays work remotely. This is possible as a result of advancements in technology. The benefits are many for both employee and employer. Employers can spend less money as they have less people that need space in the workplace. Employees that work remotely are often more productive; they spend less time commuting, and they have the flexibility to adjust their work around their life instead of working 9 hours straight, which can cause burnout.

Remote Worker Challenges

One worry that many employers have when deciding to hire remote workers is, how can they monitor the amount of work they do? How do they know they are really working and not simply playing games on their computer all day?

By setting reasonable deadlines employers can monitor their remote workers successfully. This is a change in managerial strategy; it puts the focus on the goal instead of the hours that the employee works. Ultimately, employees are the only ones who know when they work most effectively, even if it is from midnight to 4am.

Setting Remote Worker Deadlines

Setting deadlines is the easiest way to monitor the work being carried out by remote workers. Supervisors can set short-term and long-term goals or make something due every Friday. In addition, a manger could have a weekly or biweekly meeting via cellphone or video chat to catch up on the progress of projects. This can put the supervisor and employee at ease.

Off-Site Not a Permanent Condition

Employers must remember, too, that remote workers do not have to stay that way. If employers see that their off-site employees are not meeting deadlines or are delivering sub-par work, they can require that these workers return to the office on a full-time basis. Trust continues to be the key component of a remote working relationship. Employers must place some trust in their workers that they will finish their jobs on time. Workers must demonstrate that they are worthy of this trust by hitting their deadlines, delivering quality work, and responding quickly to phone calls or email messages.