Many of us get our entertainment, news, and pay our bills via the Internet. So, it’s not a surprise that we access our music over the Internet as well. Many individuals subscribe to on-line music-streaming services that are either free or cost money. The advantages are many. People don’t have to copy their music files onto different devices plus they can listen to it anywhere they have access to the Internet.

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

Pandora: Pandora is very widely used because of its simple interface. After navigating to the website, you are able to input a song or artist you wish to hear and Pandora will create a “radio” station based on that information. This is a wonderful way to learn about new artists with similar sounds. The stations that Pandora creates are easily customizable as well. If Pandora chooses an artist that you don’t like, you can click the thumbs down symbol on the song. Pandora provides further customization by allowing you to “seed” your station with different artists. While you can listen to Pandora without creating an account, it is necessary if you want to save your individualized stations.

Grooveshark: Grooveshark is similar to Pandora. But you can also create your own playlists manually, all without creating an account. However, people who want to save their play lists will have to sign up for a free account. Like Pandora, Grooveshark also provides suggestions for songs that you might like based upon your past musical choices. Grooveshark also has an intriguing feature: You can improve the service’s database of music by adding your own favorite songs and artists if you cannot find them in Grooveshark’s existing collection.

Rhapsody: Rhapsody has quickly made a name for itself as a result of its huge database of more than 14 million songs. Users must pay for the service – $10 a month – but by doing this, they’ll be able to stream any song from the service’s massive collection.

Spotify: Spotify was launched in 2008, and since then it has exploded into one of the most widely known and used music-streaming services. Spotify is very easy to use and, like Grooveshark, users can listen to entire albums or decide to use the radio function.  One of the things that people love about Spotify is its integration with Facebook. If you use the Spotify app, it keeps a running list of the songs you have listened to on Facebook. Furthermore, users can see what their Facebook friends are currently listening to on a real-time feed. This is great for people who are in search of new music if one of their friends has similar tastes.

When was the last time we saw a Windows product which captured the essence of “cool”? Before recently it had been a while, but when Microsoft came up with Kinect for Windows that all changed. The Kinect is a motion and voice-sensing device that was originally developed for the Xbox gaming console.

Microsoft in February unveiled Kinect for Windows. This version of the device works with, not surprisingly, Windows-operated personal computers. Now a number of users are putting the device to work in surprising ways.

Innovative Uses for the Kinect

For instance, at the Chicago Auto Show a few months ago, the chief marketing manager for Nissan North America used Kinect for Windows to create a virtual tour of the Pathfinder’s upgraded interior. This turned out to be especially beneficial since the marketing manager only had the Pathfinder’s empty shell to exhibit at the Auto Show. A large screen powered by Kinect showed visitors just what they’d be seeing if they were actually sitting inside the finished body of the new Pathfinder. The screen, for example, displayed the car’s dual moon roofs and many other features.

Microsoft is also encouraging companies to utilize the Kinect creatively by working with them to create custom Kinect applications. Nearly 350 companies today are working with Microsoft in this manner. For example, Boeing uses the device to create virtual tours of its 737 jets. Medical providers at a hospital in Canada are also using the device’s gesture-recognition to swipe through CT scans, reducing the danger of touching germs on a keyboard or mouse.

Kinect: A Solid Hit

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

The excitement around the Kinect and its many uses can only help improve Microsoft’s reputation. They may be on their way to stepping into the “cool” tech company category.

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When you sift through the possible candidates for the position you are hiring for, you wish to find the super stars. You want to find the most imaginative, passionate, and motivated people you can. But you can only find out who fits the bill through an interview. And if you don’t ask the right questions you may misjudge your applicants.

If you hold the traditional job interview, asking the same dull questions, the odds are you won’t be able to tell the top candidates from the so-so ones. That’s why it is critical to craft a unique job interview strategy.

Ask the Right Questions

Start by asking the right questions. Don’t ask candidates what their job titles were at past positions. Don’t ask them what their duties were. Instead, ask them to list any innovative ideas that they developed for their previous employers. Ask them if these ideas helped their employers earn more money, run more effectively, or cut back on expenses.

Don’t ask candidates about their strengths and weaknesses. A lot of people have memorized stock answers to these questions. Rather, ask them how they bring their unique personalities to their jobs. Ask them the things they do to make their jobs more interesting and rewarding. Truly creative workers can tell you of new innovations they developed and new programs that they created, all in the effort of adding that creative spark to their positions.

Another simple way to evaluate a prospective employee’s creativity is to ask them to carry out a task. For example, you could ask them to brainstorm ideas for an ad campaign, or write a brief essay about their ideal workplace. Whatever it is, it is something your interviewee will not expect and it will give you a snapshot of their creativity.

In today’s marketplace, employers have the advantage of choosing amongst many talented people. So to be able to pick the very best, they need to change the types of questions they ask in job interviews.

Traveling for business is not fun. We’re typically rushed, we don’t eat well, and we have to deal with the hassle of airports and long-term parking. It is not surprising that numerous companies opt toward videoconferencing rather then traveling. As videoconferencing technology improves, many people wonder if business traveling may become a thing of the past.

The End of Business Travel?

But is this a thing that we ought to strive for in business? Is it a good thing if videoconferencing replaces face-to-face meetings completely? Possibly not, think about the differences between meetings that are face-to-face versus videoconferencing.

During a videoconference, people from across the globe sign on, say their hellos, and get to the business at hand. The level of brainstorming is usually limited because people worry about the stability of their connections or succumb to the interruptions of the offices in which they sit.

The Benefits of Face-to-Face Time

At in-person meetings, however, agendas have a way of falling by the wayside, and that’s a good thing. Meetings may start only after a couple of minutes of personal chatter and they may end with attendees swapping office stories. Again, this can be good. Often, the most effective business ideas arise from these moments of off-topic conversation.

Business Travel is Here to Stay

Humans are a social species. Due to this, it’s improbable that business travel will disappear altogether. However, in today’s economy, many business owners just can’t afford to send their sales people away each and every time the need to meet a client. For this reason, developments in videoconferencing are necessary but the advantages of in-person meetings are so great that the savvy business owner will not abandon them for videoconferencing all together.

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How many kids grew up awaiting the day when humans would travel the globe with individual jet packs strapped to their backs? How many dreamt of full meals that come in pill form or teleporters? Those technologies haven’t happened. Yet, in the last 2 decades alone, we have seen enough new tech to fill an early 1990s science-fiction flick. With tablet computers we can transport all the computing power of a bulky desktop computer in our hands. With smartphones we are able to instantly send text messages to our friends and due to GPS, we never have to get lost while driving again.

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

Building a Better Battery

First, there is battery power. Simply put, the batteries running our smartphones and tablets must be recharged too frequently. A more powerful battery would allow us to run our gadgets for weeks at a time and then charge them again within minutes. This battery doesn’t exist yet. However, it may be coming: researchers at Chicago’s Northwestern University are creating a far more powerful lithium-ion battery. If their prototype becomes commercially viable, it will likely be a game-changer.

Improving Internet Access

It may seem like everyone is connected to the Internet, but this is a fallacy. The majority of the world doesn’t have access to the Internet. While this may not seem like it could hold back technological advancements, it does. The reasoning is that by limiting the amount of people who can contribute to the interconnectedness the Internet provides, we are reducing the amount of individuals who can collaborate. Until the vast majority of individuals are connected, technological advancements will not happen as quickly as they could.

The Business of New Tech

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

While these are some of the things that prevent technology from advancing, it still is advancing at a rapid pace. So who knows what is waiting for us in the next year or two.

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Adobe Photoshop is an amazing tool. It lets businesses edit the images they need to build 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 with limited funds, this program just is not practical. This doesn’t mean, though, that these small business owners do not have photo-editing options. In fact, businesses can choose from quite a few alternatives that are not only cheaper but are actually free.

Of course, these programs are not as powerful as Photoshop. But they have adequate photo-editing features for small business owners to effortlessly create professional looking material. Below is a list of the best free photo-manipulation programs now available.

GIMP

GIMP is very easy to use and possesses most of the features from Photoshop that a business owner might need to create marketing material. The beauty of GIMP is that it’s completely free!

Paint.NET

Did you ever use MSPiant? It came with your Windows operating system and was very basic. Paint.NET is its successor and is far more powerful then its forerunner. One fantastic aspect for designers is an unlimited undo button. Paint.NET is a free program; the only negative about it is that it only works on Windows machines.

Picnik

Picnik is fast, free, and easy to use. It works on the Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems and you don’t have to download files to use it. It has some exciting special effects as well, making it a well liked photo-editing program.

In the end, if you are looking for a program that lets you create professional marketing material, it is not necessary to spend a lot. These programs will let you accomplish this task at no cost.

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

A Better Battery on the Way?

Thankfully, a better battery might soon be on the way, thanks to the efforts of a team of engineers at Chicago’s Northwestern University. A recent story reports that researchers at this Big 10 university are attempting to develop a battery that lasts longer and can recharge itself in mere minutes. Smartphone users across the country should be grateful.

Northwestern’s researchers have found a method to lengthen the charge of lithium-ion batteries by more then 10 times the current lithium-ion battery life. They’re even boasting that after 150 charges, which they believe represents about a year of operation, the new lithium-ion battery will be 5 times more effective than batteries at present.

A Charged Battery for a Week

This might be hard to believe, particularly with all the apps we run on our devices, but this new battery may stay charged for a whole week. And the charging time could be less then 15 minutes. Which will obviously make life easier but this technology could have a even more significant impact then that. It could 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

While this new battery technology will have a massive impact on many aspects of our life, it will not be offered to the general public for three to five years, says Northwestern researchers. Batteries tend to be over looked when we think of innovative technologies, but the more we rely on mobile devices the more imperative they become.  Advancements in battery technology may in reality hold the key to an even greater technological revolution.

When looking at online search engines, Google remains king. Microsoft isn’t happy with this. That is why the company introduced 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 use Google for this task. However, 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 offers plenty of appealing features that users shouldn’t disregard.

Taking Another Look at Bing

When searching on Bing, you get more information about your search results then you do with Google. Bing includes a navigation panel on the left that enables users to focus their search easily. Additionally, it 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 newest videos. For users looking 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 cheapest airfare to particular destinations.

Bing Video Search Shines

Bing shines, too, when it comes to searching for videos. Before searching, users can tell Bing how long they’d like their videos to be, what screen size they’d like them to be, and what resolution they’d prefer. Users can start their videos by simply hovering their cursors over a screen capture.

These are a few reasons why Bing should not be overlooked. Google may be the current king of search engines, but Bing has a lot to offer surfers of the Web.

Cloud computing is quite common these days. The cloud is essentially a group of remote servers where people can store and access their data. People can store music, powerful programs, and important files in the cloud. As information stored in the cloud isn’t stored on personal computers this saves lots of computer memory. The result of this is that people have access to more data without having to use up space on their computer, which often can slow it down.

Not All Clouds are the Same

However, that isn’t all you need to know about the cloud. You have the public cloud, the one most of us use, the private cloud, and the hybrid cloud. The hybrid cloud, as the name implies, is a combination of using the public and private cloud.

For a business to provide a hybrid cloud, they store a client’s most confidential data on their in-house private cloud, and data that needs less protection on a public cloud. For instance, archived files and large programs.

The Hybrid Cloud Approach Makes Sense

The hybrid cloud is a great way for businesses to both save money and save space. It takes advantage of the less costly public cloud while insuring that highly sensitive information is safeguarded.

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

A growing number of employees today work remotely. This is possible due to 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 rather than working 9 hours straight, which can lead to burnout.

Remote Worker Challenges

A major concern for most managers when choosing to have remote workers is, how do you monitor their work? How do you know that they’re actually working and not just watching movies all day?

By setting sensible 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 amount of time that the employee works. In the end, employees are the only ones who know when they perform most optimally, even if it is from midnight to 4am.

Setting Remote Worker Deadlines

Employers might tell their remote workers that they have to turn in a specified amount of work every Wednesday and Friday. This will make sure that remote employees are doing their work. Employers might also schedule regular updates by phone, video chat, or through instant messaging, during which workers can explain how far along they are with certain tasks. Some employers may choose to require that their remote workers spend a minimum of one day a week, or two days a month, on site. This gives these workers face time with their managers, something that helps everyone stay focused on upcoming deadlines and goals.

Off-Site Not a Permanent Condition

While many people may have the personal discipline and time management skills to successfully work remotely, some don’t. So, if an employee doesn’t work well remotely, and that has become clear, remote working doesn’t have to stay permanent, it can easily be revoked. Ultimately, trust within the employee/employer relationship is one of the key elements of a effective remote working relationship. The employee needs to preserve that trust by hitting deadlines and delivering top quality work.