Tech Archives - My Freelance Academy

Top 7 Exciting Computer Science Jobs

From business models to biological simulations, computer science has its applications in most, if not all, fields. There is a huge, ever-growing demand in the market for computer science professionals, and with so many options available to explore, it can get confusing when deciding which option suits your career needs best. This article details everything you need to know about some of the top computer science jobs with high demand in the market.

1. Software Developer

Ever wondered who came up with your favorite photo-editing app? Or, the video game you played after school? Or, the music player on your phone? Or, the software that keeps track of your tasks? All of these tools that have been making your life easier were designed and brought to you by software developers.

Mobile applications — Photo by cottonbro on Pexels

So, What is the Job of a Software Developer?

Software developers talk through with their clients in order to understand what they need from their software. They, then, are responsible for designing, developing, coding, and shaping the required tasks into software programs. Once the software is ready, they must test it and make sure that it meets their clients’ needs. Maintaining the software, coming up with updates, fixing bugs, and training its users is also the role of a software developer.

Skills Required to Be a Software Developer

Software developers typically require a bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent computer science fields. Good command of multiple coding languages is a must and sound mathematical knowledge helps in coming up with efficient algorithms for a program.

Besides technical skills, this job also demands strong communication skills in order to communicate with and understand the demands of the client, and also to communicate within the team of other software engineers.

How Much Do Software Developers Make?

The median salary of software developers is $110,140 per year.

2. Information Security Analyst

Security analysis is one of those computer science jobs that would keep you under a lot of pressure.

The basic job of an information security analyst is to carry out safety measures to keep an organization’s computer systems and networks safe from potential security breaches.

What Does the Job of Information Security Analysts Involve?

Information security analysts design the security system of an organization, install firewalls, keep antiviruses updated, and more. They ensure the encryption of the company’s sensitive information and implement, conduct tests and analyze the security measures of an organization. During a security breach, it is their duty to investigate and resolve problems within the existing security system.

Skills Required to Be a Security Analyst

Usually, for entry-level jobs, a computer science degree is required. In-depth knowledge of operating systems, firewalls, antiviruses, IDPS concepts, and computer components — both software and hardware — is a must. Ethical hacking is a very useful skill that helps in conducting effective penetration tests and identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities in computer networks.

A security analyst should be able to anticipate complex problems and also have excellent problem-solving skills to resolve the same. In addition to that, they should also be a team worker and should be able to work under pressure.

How Much Do Security Analysts Make?

The median salary of security analysts is around $103,590 per year.

3. Data Scientist

Of all the computer science jobs, one of the most mathematically-inclined jobs is that of a Data Scientist. So, if you have a knack for mathematics and are fascinated by computer science, this is the job for you.

Basic Job Description of a Data Scientist

Data scientists are responsible for data acquiring, data storage, and data processing. The processing is done by creating algorithms and data science models with the help of data science techniques, like Machine learning, AI, statistical modeling, and more.

To put it in simple words, data scientists utilize their mathematical and computational skills to analyze big data to identify trends, and based on it, they come up with solutions to challenges — usually business challenges.

Skills Required to Be a Data Scientist

For entry-level jobs, typically a master’s degree in computer science is needed.

As you must have figured, Data Science is an amalgamation of both mathematical and computational methods. Therefore, employers look for a strong grip of mathematics and statistics for this job.

To implement these mathematical methods, a deep knowledge of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and programming tools, such as Python, SAS, or SQL, and their application in data science, is required.

How Much Do Data Scientists Make?

The median salary of data scientists is $126,830 per year.

4. Web Developer

Web development is one of the most time-wise flexible computer science jobs. One can choose to either freelance or work with a team or under a company.

This job is ideal for someone who has some interest in graphic designing and has a knowledge of coding computer languages.

What is the Job of a Web Developer?

Web developers design and develop the basic layout — from graphics to user interface — of a website according to their client’s/company’s needs and code for the same. Upon successful creation of a website, its maintenance, bug fixing, and updating also falls under the responsibility of the web developer. information research scientists

Skills Required to Be a Web Developer

A computer science degree is usually required for entry-level jobs. A standard knowledge of coding languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript is a must and should be familiar with database systems, like Oracle/SQL.

Employers may also look for basic knowledge of search engine optimization and a little bit of graphic designing. Some understanding of mathematics can also help produce more efficient codes and algorithms.

This job also demands strong communication skills to communicate well with clients and collaborate with the organization’s computer systems administrators and other team members.

How Much Do Web Developers Make?

The median salary of web developers is $77,200 per year.

5. Database Developer

A database is a collection of structured data which can be stored and manipulated. An organization’s massive collection of data is organized into a database by a database developer, who develops and manages it.

What Are the Roles of a Database Developer?

Database developers are responsible for developing, managing, and troubleshooting a company’s database. They also develop database codes for the extraction or modification of data from the database.

Skills Required to Be a Database Developer

A bachelor’s degree in computer science or IT is required. Database developers should be well trained with both relational as well as non-relational database management systems, like SQL, T-SQL, PL / SQL, DB2, NoSQL, and Oracle databases. They should also possess strong analytical skills and should be able to perform cost calculations to come up with efficient, low-cost solutions to a company’s database management problems.

How Much Do Database Developers Make?

The median salary of database developers is $98,860 per year.

6. Computer Systems Analyst

These analysts analyze the hardware, software, and existing systems of an organization and diagnose problems. Based on these analyses, they incorporate new technology which is cost-beneficial and then oversee its successful installation.

Skills Required to Become a Computer Systems Analyst

Employers usually look for computer science graduates for the job. Besides that, a systems analyst should have sound knowledge of computer hardware and software and should be up to date with the latest technology. Often, experience in business and management is also required.

How Much Do Computer Systems Analysts Make?

The median salary of computer systems analysts is $93,730 per year.

7. Cloud Architect

Out of all the computer science jobs listed, this one is based on one of the newest technologies. To understand this job, let us first understand what cloud is.

Some would say that cloud practically is the internet. Cloud basically refers to the servers accessed by the internet. These servers are located in data centers all around the globe and can be accessed by users from any device. A lot of businesses are switching to this technology as this way they do not have to manage, update, or maintain physical servers on their own, and this way the servers are more easily accessible.

What Are the Responsibilities of Cloud Architects?

Since cloud technologies are relatively new, the job of shifting the company’s current servers to adopt cloud servers, is that of a cloud architect. They must design and assist this change and ensure a smooth adoption by using their cloud computing skills. Once live, they are responsible for maintaining and updating the cloud infrastructure.

Skills Required to Be a Cloud Architect

A major in computer science or a bachelor’s degree in information technology or electronics and communication is usually necessary. A decent understanding of various operating systems, networking, and basic programming knowledge is required for this job. Concepts of TCP/IP, HTTP, IP addresses, and DNS must be known.

Since cloud architecture enables easy access to company data from any location and device, it is also important to have a strong knowledge of security in order to make this infrastructure safe and prevent unauthorized access.

How Much Do Cloud Architects Make?

The median salary of cloud architects is $112,690 per year.

You may also check out this video for more information on computer science jobs:

Top Companies That Hire Computer Science Professionals

Some of the companies which offer the best, highest paying computer science jobs are:

Google (I mean, obviously!)
Microsoft
Apple
Cognizant
Infosys
TCS
Facebook

and many, many more.

So, these were some of the best computer science jobs for computer science graduates. Let us know in the comments section which computer science jobs are you most interested in?

Mobile Office: 11 Ways To Make Them Productive

If you have ever worked at a construction site or disaster scenes, you probably have heard of mobile offices. A mobile office is a portable office built in a trailer, motor vehicle, or small storage. Portable offices can be conveniently packed up and moved. These modular offices have electric service from a nearby source of power, and it is utilized for wifi services, air conditioning, and electronics. They are a great catch at a low cost. You can buy, rent or lease modular offices for the needed period.

Why Are Mobile Offices Useful?

Mobile office trailers provide a professional atmosphere when you are working on temporary projects or construction sites. Unique office mobile functions include storing electronics, paperwork, holding meetings, and even allow employees to take a break from all that hard work.

In the current times, startups seem to be the most common up-and-coming businesses. Portable office trailers will also gain hype. To start your own business is not easy, then add the burden of needing an office to house your few employees. Makes for a very stressful and poor financial situation. An easy solution is to lease out a mobile office trailer until you can move to more permanent places.

Well, you might be wondering if it is comfortable working in such tight spaces. It can be straining. However, you can design a functional and productive workspace for your mobile office trailer with the correct adjustments.

To have a mobile office trailer, let’s first answer a few questions that will determine your exact needs.

Where do you work?
How much do you work?
How many people will be working with you?
What are you working on?
For how long will you be working?

Once you have answers to all the questions, you can buy your portable office trailer and begin renovating to fulfill your temporary office needs. Here, we will discuss 11 basic ways you can design a productive workspace in the mobile office.

1. Environment

Working in an unpleasant environment can be distorting. It can cause eyestrain, headache, fatigue, stress and can also lead to accidents. One way to create a comfortable workspace is good lighting. Dull lighting, as well as way too bright lights, can be damaging. Invest in some good quality lights for your space, especially white lights and not yellow ones. Moreover, make sure you get plenty of natural light into your office.

To make your office refreshing add some greens. And by that, I mean, bring some plants into your space. It will provide a fresh feeling. The next thing to keep in mind, nobody wants to work in a hot and humid environment. So, have good portable air conditioning for your ground-level offices. Additionally, make sure the walls of your mobile office are of a light color.

People working in mobile office — Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

2. Storage

The organization is key to working in small ground-level offices. If you have a clutter of things lying around, it will make your workday very difficult. Situations like misplacing important papers, not being able to find your pen drive will become common. Always organize your things in boxes and label the boxes. You can use a label maker or just use sticky notes. There are a variety of foldable boxes available in different sizes, shapes, and colors. You can fold them up went not in use and save some space. You can also buy small storage cupboards for storing things that remain more permanent in your temporary office.

3. Paperless Filing

Storing and organizing all that paperwork is not easy in a mobile office. It becomes even more difficult once you have to move from the mobile office. Important files can be lost during moving, and that will be a disaster. Opt for paperless filing and shift to a digital filing system for your office.

If you are worried about storing such large files, you can use USB drives, hard drives, intelligent cloud services. Cloud-based storage can quickly share information between devices or even share it with people in offices in other countries. You can store all your scan pdf files in cloud services.

This method of storing will have save space and save time and produce less waste. We save time because you won’t have to spend time searching through hundreds of papers; all you have to do is log in to your system and conduct a search. Buy Laptops, Tablets, Bluetooth keyboards to save space and time rather than installing computers. You should also invest in portable speakers, usb drives, hard drives, etc., for your temporary space.

4. Apps For Office

Microsoft Office is probably the go-to app that people think of when it comes to apps for offices. You can excess it remotely anytime by accessing integrated office features. Microsoft corporation is the leading provider of office apps. Widely used tools are Ms word documents, excel files, PowerPoint files, etc., to note down things. You can use Microsoft tools like PowerPoint presentations, create spreadsheets for a seamless experience. Access it using a personal Microsoft account or school account.

You can unlock premium features in-app with Adobe scanner to open and sign pdfs and gives you editing capabilities for all those online meetings in your office trailer.

You can use a third-party app publisher for storing and organizing documents anytime. You can use one app and its features from your mobile device apps to scan QR codes, pdf scanning, using digital images from camera roll to create pdf files. Many templates available make it easier to access word docs, files, usable excel spreadsheets and share with your contact, and so on.

A picture depicting work space. — Photo by Daniel Fazio on Unsplash

5. Snack Bar

To boost better work ethics in the office, we need to have positive reinforcements in place. A good snack bar for employees is necessary. It will allow them to take a break when work gets hectic, refresh and come back with a more positive mindset to work. It will also allow you to not mess on your desk if you think of eating on it. As there is not much space in mobile office trailers, a small snack trolley can do wonders.

6. Different Space For Modular Offices

Now we understand it’s a small space and giving everything its own space in your temporary office is impossible. However, you can decide on certain things being in certain places. Have all desks at one side, place a few bean bags or a small cushion chair on the other. You can have printers and scanners in one corner and the snack bar near the bean bags. This will create a layout and will give you a feeling of being in a traditional office. It will give a more professional look to your office and look good to your customers.

7. Desk For Mobile Office Trailer

A desk can be a tricky thing. They take up a lot of space and are usually the place where there is a lot of clutter. On the other hand, working without a desk is impossible. A simple solution is investing in a desk that utilizes minimum space and is super functional.

Portable desk — Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels

The edge: It’s a two in one chair and desk system. It does not have a single application but two. It takes 10 seconds and can be folded up and stored when not in use. It’s the best thing for mobile offices.
Office in a case: It is literally an office in a case. In this case are desk and chair. The case itself is part of the desk. When you fold the desk and put the chair in it, and fold it up, it becomes a case for you to carry and store it.
Stork stand: This is a standing desk that attaches to the back of your office chair. You can work sitting, and when you get tired you can stand and work, it’s amazing and good for your health.

8. Comfortable Chairs For Office

Working for long hours in an office can be tiring. But working for long hours in an uncomfortable chair in a small office is just painful. Invest in some comfortable chairs that help your posture. Another simple solution is to buy chair pillows to make them more comfortable. You can also opt to work standing or use bean bags for your office.

9. Functional But Fun Knick-Knack For Mobile Office Trailers

ChatBox is a throwable microphone. This will help make your meeting fun, engaging and encourage more participation. Another fun thing to add to your office is The Everlast notebook. It was created for the people who still crave that pen and paper experience in the digital age. Write in it with any Pilot Frixion line pens, then use the Rocketbook app to scan your notes, transfer them to any cloud service, and share it with your contact. Why is it considered everlasting? Because you can just wipe pages clean with a wet piece of cloth. And then reuse it.

10. Portable Scanner

Invest in portable scanners for your office. A good portable scanner is Doxi Go. This device helps you scan your paper documents and send them to your laptop, phone, or cloud storage in a couple of seconds with a good network connection. You can then store them as scan pdf files.

11. Portable Printers

Portable printers are small and don’t take up much space in your office. You don’t want to bring a traditional printer to your small temporary office and make it congested. A portable printer you can invest in is the Canon Pixma TR150 Wireless Portable Printer; it will give you a seamless experience for your small office. It is a color printer and prints legal-sized papers. You can connect it to your laptop or phone.

With a few changes to your mobile office trailers, you can create an effective, comfortable and functional portable office for yourself. In these changing times, this might be just the thing you need. Don’t be stressed about it being a small work office. You can do wonders with it once you set your mind to it.

Squarespace Templates: 15 Popular Themes To Build An Attractive Website

Make Your Website Look Alluring With Squarespace Templates!

Designing websites without knwing coding is possible. — Photo by CyberRabbit from Pixabay

First impressions do not always leave a lasting effect on our minds. But sadly, that is not the case with designing websites. If you build a website with a dull and dreary appearance, chances are you won’t attract many visitors. So, it would be best if you made it really attractive. Squarespace site will let you create your own site seamlessly. Besides, you can choose from myriads of visually appealing Squarespace templates to make people flock to your site.

Why Choose Squarespace?

Designing a website isn’t always an effortless job. It entails careful planning. But Squarespace does away with a lot of hassles. Following are some reasons why you should choose Squarespace:

Squarespace is very simple to use.
It has a reputation of being friendly towards its users. Squarespace is the savior of every beginner.
Do you know what’s more interesting? You don’t have to know anything about coding if you use Squarespace to create and design your website.
If Squarespace is your choice, you need not get all worked up over things like web hosting, coming up with domain names, and so on.
Do you want to make your online presence felt within a short span of time? You may consider choosing Squarespace if that is the case.
You will not have to think too much about figuring out the security needs of your site.

I hope you have understood now why Squarespace has so many admirers, haven’t you?

Well, Squarespace Isn’t All That Perfect!

Squarespace has some flaws too. In the following section, you will find what the limitations are:

What Squarespace lacks is flexibility.
Those who have an idea about coding may not be happy with Squarespace. They might feel somewhat restricted. After all, Squarespace is meant especially for people with zero knowledge about coding.

Squarespace 7.0 And 7.1: The Two Versions Of Squarespace

For those who are unaware, there are two different versions of Squarespace. They are Squarespace 7.0 and Squarespace 7.1. Squarespace 7.1 is the enhanced version, while the Squarespace 7.0 version is the old one. Squarespace 7.0 is still actively used by many people.

Now, the templates found in the 7.1 version function like those found in the 7.0 version. However, their features are somewhat different. The difference in features is, however, not that great.

You may watch this video to know more about the templates available on Squarespace 7.0.

Firstly, in some templates found in Squarespace 7.1, features like parallax scrolling and single-page landing pages are absent.

Secondly, you won’t be able to change your website template if you’re using Squarespace 7.1. However, users of Squarespace 7.0 will be able to change their templates.

But, Squarespace 7.1 beats Squarespace 7.0 in terms of one aspect. If you design your website using a Squarespace 7.1 template, your website will have a better loading speed than a website designed using a Squarespace 7.0 template.

To know more about Squarespace 7.1 templates, do watch this video!

Why You Should Be Careful While Choosing A Template On The Squarespace Site

Choosing the right template may be hard. — Photo by Tranmautritam from Pexels

I have mentioned before why templates are so important when it comes to designing websites. There are a few things that you must know before you quickly set out to choose a template. You have to put in some thought before you select a template of your choice. That’s because the template you choose will affect the entire look and performance of your website.

Here’s a quick bit of wisdom for you. While looking for a template on the Squarespace website, try to answer all the questions they pose before you. Skipping them would be unwise. That’s because these questions will help you choose the right template based on your goals, tastes, and preferences.

Things To Remember Before Choosing A Squarespace Template

It would help if you also were meticulous about choosing a design for your website. Make a choice based on what your website aims to do or achieve. Be very careful about the responsiveness of your chosen design. Also, always take a look at the preview before making a choice.

Free Squarespace Templates vs. Premium Squarespace Templates

Now, you can choose either a free template or a paid template for your website. Both varieties have merits and demerits of their own. Let me give you some idea about free templates and paid templates in the following sections.

Free Templates

As the name suggests, the free templates are free of cost. Squarespace completely supports these templates. The best thing about these templates is that they load seamlessly and swiftly. This is the reason why these templates have the edge over premium Squarespace templates.

Premium Templates

Premium Squarespace templates, on the other hand, lend a touch of uniqueness to your website. I’m trying to imply that, since many people tend to use free templates, their websites may end up looking somewhat similar to one another. That’s because the templates that come for free aren’t significantly different from each other in terms of looks.

But, the Help and Support Team of Squarespace will not assist you if you choose to use them. These premium templates, especially if they are coded badly, may tamper with the security of your website. Besides, the premium Squarespace templates may affect the loading speed of your website. That is, your website would take a lot of time to load. This would affect your website’s performance. Few people would be drawn to your website because who likes a slow website?

So, be clever with your choice!

Buy Blogging Templates, Social Media Templates, And More From These Popular Premium Squarespace Template Shops

You can buy templates from an external template shop. Most premium Squarespace templates are accompanied by tutorials, step-by-step guides, design kits, video tutorials, and so on. These allow users to build their own websites effortlessly.

If you go for premium Squarespace templates to build your website, you may purchase them from the premium Squarespace template shops that I have listed below:

Squaremuse

If you choose to buy templates from Squaremuse, you will gain access to step-by-step instructions that will help you set up and customize your site. You will get a design kit as well, and it will help you build your site.

Kate Scott

Kate Scott is another premium Squarespace template shop. The templates found in this shop come with layouts consisting of 12 pages.

23 & 9 Creative

Templates sold by 23 & 9 Creative come with video tutorials, a host of images, a launch plan, and so on. The templates found here can be used by creative entrepreneurs.

GoLive

GoLive is another shop where templates come with a step-by-step guide meant to help you build your own website smoothly. It is not a new shop selling Squarespace templates. Bloggers, E-Commerce service providers, influencers, and a host of other professionals can flock to this shop searching for well-designed templates.

Big Cat Creative

If you want no-code template kits and easily understandable tutorials, consider buying Big Cat Creative templates. Social media templates can be found in this shop. Plus, the support that they offer is phenomenal. To avail of this support, you will have to submit one support ticket.

PixelHaze

PixelHaze should be your choice if you want to buy templates that are cost-effective and budget-friendly. Business owners may buy templates from here and build their websites with them.

Choose A Template Based On The Purpose Of Your Website

There are a lot of Squarespace templates to choose from. — Illustration by 200degrees from Pixabay

The number of Squarespace templates is only a little above 100. But you may be baffled by each one of them. Well, how can you not when each of them is designed so exquisitely?

Let me remind you of something that I’ve already talked about in this article. It would be best to have a very clear and crisp idea of what you wish to achieve with your website. Are you a blogger willing to start your own blog? Or, do you wish to build a fine portfolio? Or, do you aim to start a quaint, little online store? That is, you need to figure out the purpose of your website.

Now, templates like Skye and Haute Culture are ideal for would-be bloggers. In contrast, those who wish to build their portfolios should go for Wexley or Carson. Apart from these, there are many other templates that you can use to design your site.

So, it’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed while choosing one template from 100+ Squarespace templates. But fear not! I will help you choose a template that’s suitable for your beautiful website.

15 Squarespace Templates To Make Your Website Look Stunning

Here’s a list of some of the most popular Squarespace templates that you can use to create your website.

Templates For E-Commerce Sites

A lot of us know how E-Commerce has received a boost in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study claims that the rates of E-Commerce penetration are likely to increase. They might rise as high as 25% in 2025! So, you may consider building your own E-Commerce website to earn your living. It looks like it would be a viable career option, right?

Galapagos

You may opt for the Galapagos template if you wish to have your own E-Commerce platform. It’s a simple template. It comes with a clean interface. If you choose this Squarespace template, you won’t have to devote much time to design your website.

It supports several other features, including picture galleries in slideshows, calendars, list-style blog formats, and so on. It comes with a single sidebar. With a template like this, you can effortlessly attract potential customers to your site.

Hester

Hester is another Squarespace template that is ideal for E-Commerce sites. It will let you showcase all your products in a very minimalistic way. Using it to build your site, your visitors will be greeted with a Shop Now button.

Templates To Build A Portfolio

Searching for the perfect template to build your portfolio? Squarespace offers a lot of them. Let us take a look at these templates and their features.

Wexley

Wexley is perhaps the most popular among those looking for a Squarespace template to flaunt their portfolios. This simple template has a beauty of its own. For those who don’t know, it’s one of the older Squarespace templates. If Wexley is your choice, your visitors will get a glimpse of the best of your artworks or photos on the landing page itself. It comes with a grid layout.

Carson

Carson is another template that you can use to create a good-looking portfolio page. It comes with so many cool features like overlay effects, full-bleed imagery, and so on. Your visitors will find your website quite adventurous if Carson is your choice.

York

If you want to showcase more than one portfolio in just one place, you should choose York. It is equipped with a grid index page. However, you cannot add sidebars if you choose this one.

Templates For Blogging

Squarespace has quite a few templates in store for bloggers as well. Some of these templates are:

Five

Five is a template that bloggers will love. Did you know it’s the only Squarespace template that will let you add two sidebars on your website? This versatile template is one among the old templates. It’s quite flexible. If you design your website with the help of Five, you’ll be able to incorporate elements like videos, full-width banner images, and so on. What it lacks is an index page.

Skye

If you want to provide your readers with a seamless and smooth experience while reading your blog posts, then you should consider using Skye. Its full-screen design that users can customize lets you arrange all your posts in grid-based blocks. Choose it if you want your site to look neat and organized.

Farro

For those who love simplicity as well as elegance, Farro is the ideal Squarespace template. It offers a remarkable blog layout. Your site will look great on mobile browsers if you choose this one. It offers plenty of layout options that you can customize. However, it doesn’t let you add sidebars. Nor does it come with an index page.

Haute Culture

Haute Culture is another Squarespace template meant for bloggers. This template lets you organize your posts in a mosaic-style layout. This template doesn’t use thumbnails. Rather, it uses full-size pictures.

Tudor

Another template that bloggers may use is Tudor. It offers a three-column layout like those found in magazines. The social media icons that come with it are somewhat minimal.

Templates For Business Purposes

Business owners can choose from the many templates that Squarespace has to offer. They can successfully build their new websites to promote their products and/or services with those templates.

Brine

If you are a business owner looking for a Squarespace template to build your dream website, Brine should be your choice. This versatile template offers many customization packages. This one is probably the most popular template available on the Squarespace website.

It’s extremely flexible and is one of those templates that offer customization packages. With this template comes a host of features. These are- attractive blog layouts, full-width banner images, numerous navigation areas, and so on. It has one major drawback. You can’t add sidebars if you use this template.

Templates For Miscellaneous Purposes

Squarespace users can also use the other templates available on the Squarespace platform for miscellaneous purposes. There are so many freely available and premium Squarespace templates that people can put to use for various purposes. I will give you a brief idea about some of these templates in the following section.

Charlotte: To Showcase Memories Of Your Wedding

There’s a template known as Charlotte. You can use it to organize all your wedding photos and memories by yourself. Wedding planners will look dull in front of your website with its beautiful design! So why not build your own wedding site?

Wav: For Music And Podcasts

Looking forward to publishing your own music or starting a podcast? Do consider using this fresh and new Squarespace template known as Wav. It comes with a grid layout, and it also allows Soundcloud integration.

Horizon: To Publish Your Videos

If you want to build a website where you can publish your videos, Horizon is the Squarespace template that you can use. Equipped with a carefully designed index page, this template lets you build stacks of full-bleed banner photos and videos.

Pursuit: To Create Your Customized CV

Did you know that you can use templates offered by Squarespace to create your resume? Pursuit is one such template that lets you make an eye-catching CV. This template has a professional look, and its colorful call-to-action buttons add to its charm.

So, I guess I have given you a fair idea about the variety of Squarespace templates that you can use to build an exquisite website of your own. Squarespace gives you a lot of options to choose from. Moreover, you can use templates that are free of cost or those for which you have to pay. Now, try and figure out your purpose and embark on your website designing journey!

11 Interesting Legit Online Jobs You Can Find on Internet – bit copied

Are you looking for legit online jobs? Also, the one that will be a full-time income job, working from home rather than something that’s only going to help you make money for a short period?

It is necessary while considering today’s Coronavirus situation because businesses all across the globe have shut down their offices and adapted the remote mode of work. As per Time Magazine, COVID led the “world’s largest work from the home experiment.

Earlier, most people didn’t encourage the work-from-home concept because it wasn’t profitable at all. According to the time, there are many opportunities for people to earn money from home as various legit online jobs are available.

In 2020, the improvement in technology and the emergence of large-scale social media usage ushered in a new wave of legitimate online jobs.

11 best legit online jobs you can find on the internet

The top 11 legit online jobs have the ideal mix of large-scale demand, a low supply of talented individuals,s and the potential to start earning fast.

1) Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is a person who offers support services to a business from a remote mode or location. Administrative tasks are generally common for virtual assistants, but they can also be related to any other elements required by the business.

Virtual assistants are in demand by Traders and Online businesses that need help but don’t want to spend money on office space for staff.

This is a good option if you are looking for legit online jobs. However, many small businesses use virtual support, especially for specific tasks such as social media management. These people work as remote executive assistants doing some particular tasks.

Following are the common tasks carried out by Virtual assistants, including answering emails, scheduling appointments, or booking travel.

Some assistants take on multiple agents simultaneously, allowing them to earn over five figures a year from home.
Average pay: $15 to $40 per hour approx

Benefit: The more systematic and efficient you become, the more clients or customers you can add.

Disadvantage: Mostly business people would want you to work only for certain hours of the day.

2) Photography

If you are looking for legit online jobs and your photography skills are amazing, you have plenty of online jobs for photographers and image buffs. You can take awesome photos of anything, and there are good chances that you can sell them to online image sellers and create a niche side income online.

It is an easy task with smartphones and digital photography technology today, and anyone can take and sell photos. Many websites, blogs, and even social media need images and photographs to engage and attract their audience, so they are willing to pay for great shots.

It doesn’t matter whether you are taking pictures of natural attractions in your area or focusing on staged shots. There is supposed to be a buyer out there who wants to use your photograph and is willing to pay for it. Therefore, it can prove to be one of the best legit online jobs.

Average pay: 10 to 40 cents per image approx

Benefit: Many of us have it as a hobby, which can be turned into a profession.

Disadvantage: It takes time to build up your stock of photos for sale.

3) Freelance Writing

If you are good at writing and looking for a legit online job, you can earn a high income as a freelance writer. You can work in a niche that you enjoy and understand while making (from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars per article.)

A freelancer can be described as a self-employed person who provides services, usually to multiple clients at a time.

As a freelance writer, if you want to increase your earning capacity, you should try working directly with businesses and finding online clients. Regarding freelance writing, you write online content for blogs, magazines, and online businesses, etc.

There are a variety of legit online jobs available in the field of freelance writing. To search for customers, try engaging with online businesses to inquire if they need any content.

Talk and engage with their social media contacts online, and reach out to site editors to look if they have any vacancies.

Apart from that, you can try having your website post your written content in the niche because this is a great way to find new customers. They can see your writing’s standard or quality, which leads you to the top paying online jobs.

Average pay: $10 to $35 per hour approx

Benefit: In the contemporary world, the growth of online publishing is increasing, and because of this, there is a huge demand for freelance writers.

Disadvantage: One should have some experience

4) Bookkeeping

Are you looking for legit online jobs to work from home? If you have a head for figures and especially if you know accounts or have financial planning experience, you can earn money by helping individuals or other businesses with bookkeeping. Bookkeeping is a major task for ensuring that a company runs smoothly and will survive in the future.

Market your services to entrepreneurs to help them manage their finances. Find customers by searching local works in your locality or joining social media such as Facebook groups to promote your services.

One can make a lot of money if they are interested in numbers and do legit online jobs. There are a lot of opportunities available in this field. It doesn’t require any certification.

Average pay: $20 to $50 per hour approx

Benefits: You will work with customers on an attendant or retainer basis, which offers you a steady income base.

Disadvantage: Atleast need basic training for the first customer.

5) Translator

If you are looking for suitable legit online jobs, then becoming a translator is the best option. A translator converts the written word from one language to another without losing the literal meaning.

It doesn’t matter which country you are in. Being a translator is always fruitful. So, one can use translation online earning sites to make more money from home.

The best thing is that one doesn’t require a degree (although having a bachelor’s degree helps), but the most important requirement is fluency in at least 2 languages.

One can easily look for hundreds of projects related to transcriptions to make money online. Not only that, the approx national wage in this field was around $46,000 in 2016, although the top 10% of workers earned an average of $83,000.

There are sites available like LinkedIn and Freelancer, which can help you find legit online jobs. Everything depends on the languages you are an expert in and how effectively you can translate from one language to another.

Average pay:$5 to$50 per page approx

Benefits: It is very convenient and easy if you are fluent in any two languages.

Disadvantage: It can be very time-consuming, and at the same time, is a slow process to make money.

6) Online Tutoring

In India, during this pandemic, the high-growth business industry right now is online education. Apart from that, one of the fastest-growing niches within online education is online tutoring jobs.

There are a lot of legit online jobs available in the field of education. If you enjoy helping others learn, your knowledge can be put to good use through online tutoring.

You don’t require any qualifications if you are good at that particular subject. Platforms such as Udemy are a great place to sell your course.

Average pay: $20 per hour approx

Benefits: There is a chance to start earning in as little as a few weeks.

Disadvantage: Limited upside.

7) Medical Transcription

If you are looking for legit online jobs, being a Medical transcription is one of the best options. Even though many medical transcriptionists work at hospitals or physician’s offices, most can work from home or at a time or place according to their wish.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report: Medical transcriptionists earned a national median wage of $34,770 in May of 2018 or $16.72 an hour even after being self-employed.

They usually edit medical transcriptions for local healthcare providers. The most important thing regarding this is that medical transcription requires a certification. With the medical transcription certification approved by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, you can prepare yourself to land an online job as a transcriptionist in an industry that’s hungry for qualified talent.

Average pay:$10 to $25 per hour approx

Benefits: It is a steady source of income

Disadvantages: One needs a high startup cost to earn a credential.

8) Travel agent

One should believe that travel agents are still in demand, and there are many opportunities present in this field if you are looking for legit online jobs. It just depends on finding the right niche. This is a good business for you if you have personal or professional travel experience because you can offer your clients insights they can’t get from a website.

Travel agents are in charge of helping individuals, groups, and business travelers plan and organize their travel schedules, purchase tour packages, and book flights and hotels. A travel agent also plans trips and offers advice on destinations.

We all know that job prospects can be best for travel agents who offer expertise in certain areas of the world, have experience in planning tours, or focus on group travel. So, if you have experience in traveling, there are various legit online jobs available in that field.

Average pay: It depends on the cost

Benefits: It is a way to earn more money for those who love to travel.

Disadvantage: Income can vary, as travel tends to rise at certain times of the year.

9) Social media marketing

Use social media platforms to connect with your audience to build your brand or increase sales and drive website traffic. This involves publishing great content on your social media profiles, engaging your followers, evaluating results, and running social media advertisements. This is an excellent option when you are finding legit online jobs.

The prime social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat.
Generally, what happens is that many company owners don’t have the time to make consistent updates to their social media platforms or to respond to customer requests and answers made through social media.
That is why companies nowadays hire social media managers for media marketing.

As long as you can post accurately and manage content on social media channels, you can take on customers and begin your job. So, what are you waiting for? Search for legit online jobs in the field of social media marketing.

Average pay: $20 to $100 per hour approx

Benefits: They work on a retainer basis.

Disadvantages: Limited upside

10) Data entry

Data entry may not be one of the exciting legit online jobs, but it can offer you to earn $15 to $20 per hour. Data entry is a legit online job that does pay less than some of the others we’ve listed, but it can provide you to make a decent side income.

These jobs tend to be highly flexible, which provides you to work in your spare time. You can opt to work as much as you can or as little as you need according to your schedule.
There are various platforms like Capital typing, which allow you to find online data entry jobs. Most of these generally require setting up a basic profile and confirming a few details before you start earning. This is one of the best legit online jobs.

Benefits: It is a very convenient task to do.

Disadvantage: Less earning.

11) Graphic Design

If you are an artist, graphic design is a great way to monetize your hobby to turn your passion into money. This is one of the most creative legit online jobs available. The web is becoming more and more visual, especially as mobile devices have become the supreme browsing method.

The highest-paid graphic designers compile multiple skills into their designs. Knowledge in branding or sales can help – graphic designers to charge over $150 per hour. Choose this among all the legit online jobs if you want something creative.

Average pay: $150 per hour approx

Benefits: One can work in flexible hours

Disadvantage: It needs certain kinds of certifications.

Overall, we can say that the internet has made it much easier to make money from home nowadays. Many people are just looking for legit online jobs and opportunities to make a little money here and there by taking online surveys. Whether your goal is to work full-time, part-time, or run your own business, there’s no shortage of work-at-home jobs. So, it is time to get ready and get started today. Take at least one action and give a fresh start to your career.

Photoshop Online Free: 7 Free Photoshop Alternatives

Want to do photoshop online free of cost?

Adobe Photoshop has been its standard for decades when it comes to photo editing. It is unquestionably the most popular photo editing software among people (be it amateurs or professionals) to create and edit powerful and proficient images and for basic editing.

Whether you are a professional or not, you must have tried using Photoshop once in your life for sure. Everyone was fascinated when it first came into our knowledge as it indeed seemed interesting. But, the fact is that you cannot use Adobe photoshop online free of cost.

Why there’s a need for alternatives?

Though Adobe Photoshop is a comprehensive software for visual artists, graphic designers, and photo editors, it takes a lot of space and slows down the computer. It can be tough to use for beginners as it has many tools.

Moreover, it can prove to be quite expensive for people who want to go into photo editing, as you cannot use photoshop online free and have to get Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription.

So, are you looking for free Photoshop alternatives that can help you do photoshop online free of cost and are easier to use as well?

There’s nothing wrong with using free photo editing software. When we talk about beginners, freelancers, and new photographers in the industry, it doesn’t make sense to pay for an expensive Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. It is best to begin your career by doing photoshop online for free.

Photoshop Online Free: 7 Free Photoshop Alternatives

1) Krita

Krita is a free tool that is helpful for illustrators and graphic designers. It is rich in features, which is similar to Adobe Photoshop. It won TechRadar’s #1 best free painting software in 2019.

Experts recommend it for photo editing and creative editing, so it is an excellent option for free photoshop online.

Am amazing thing about Krita is that it looks very similar to Photoshop as the toolbars there are arranged in a way similar to Photoshop. By default, it also has a dark theme (which we can configure if we want a different colour scheme in the app). All these resemblances even make you feel like you are using Photoshop online for free.

Krita can be considered one of the best alternatives to Photoshop online free of cost when it comes to brushing performance. It also supports tools like the Slice Tool that many users ask for, and we can open multiple images in tabs like Photoshop.

Krita is completely free, though a paid version is available for those who want to support the developers.

Pros

1) Krita supports drawing tablets and pens, ideal for digital painting and sketching.

2) Templates for different types of projects are available.

3) You can work on multiple projects at once

4) A lot of effects to choose from.

5) Supports Rulers and Guides.

Cons

1) It doesn’t support RAW files.

2) No history tool.

3) Text tool is not as rich in features as Photoshop’s.

4) Patch tool lags on larger images.

5) It doesn’t have all Photoshop’s photo editing features.

Works on platforms: Windows, Linux, and macOS

File support: PNG, TGA, JPEG, WEBP, GIMP, BMP, TIF, and more.

Price: Free (but an optional paid version is also available.)

2) GIMP

GIMP or GNU image manipulation program is one of the topmost recommended applications if you are looking for something similar to Photoshop. This is also a good alternative for doing photoshop online for free.

It is notable among the designers because of its ample high-quality features, i.e., colour adjustment tools, customizable brushes, gradients and auto image enhancement tools, etc.

It is a top-notch photo editing and creative tool. Its photo editing tool kit contains layers, curves, masks, and levels and has more customization options.

Being an alternative to photoshop, it is also competent to work with PSD files that are photoshop specific. It also renders code support for developers to use their designs across websites. To better utilize this tool, one must install GIMP plugins that provide extensions. It is widespread and trendy among Linux users.

Pros

1)Provides tutorial videos

2)Supports Rulers and Guides

3)No ad interruption

4)Advanced editing tools

Cons

1)It may require downloading other in-app features like Inkscape

2)Steep learning curve

3)Among the varieties, finding a specific tool can be tricky

File support: PNG, TIF, JPEG, BMP, etc.

Price: Free

Work on platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, and more operating systems.

3) Fotor

Fotor is another free photo editor that can make you feel like you are using Photoshop online and give your pictures a quick boost with various effects. It describes itself as “fundamentally Photoshop online.”

Whether you are a beginner, professional, or social media influencer, Fotor can fulfill all your needs as an online Photoshop alternative.

It has a simple user interface that saves you from struggle and ensures good image editing quality.

With various filters and effects available, Fotor can give intense competition to Adobe Photoshop as it gives us the desired flexibility to improve the whole appearance of images. We can even use some features like the GoArt Al photo effect that makes photos look like classic pieces of art.

One standout feature that Fotor has is its batch processing tool, which can filter a lot of pics at one go.

Pros

1) It has superior level filters.

2) Can Handle RAW files

3) Batch image processing

4) Simple user-interface

5) Good at collage making

Cons

1) No plugin support

2) Lacks art features

3) The support document could be more accomplished.

Available on the platform: Online

File support: TIFF, JPEG, RAW, and PNG

Price: Free

4) Pixlr x

Pixlr x has emerged as an excellent alternative for photoshop. It is a good photoshop online free tool. It is the latest version of pixlr editor, which came back with more advanced features than the previous one.

Being an online photo editor, it can be used on any operating system that makes it more convenient for the users. This program will also work well with any modern browser, as it is based on HTML5, which expands its usability.

It has excellent and powerful features like a history tool, healing tool, extensive layer support with multiple blending modes, etc. It has an auto-fix mechanism that prevents over-editing. There are a lot many filters and effects available for the edition purpose.

Pros

1) Based on HTML5

2) Works on every platform

3) History tool

4) Supports layers

5) New and stylish designs

Cons

1) Needs a good internet connection

2) No rules and guides

3) Some features are available in the pro version

Working platform: Online

Price: Free; Pro version can be purchased

File support: JPG, BMP, PXD, PNG etc.

5) Photopea

It is one of the best free and online web-based alternatives for Adobe Photoshop to do photoshop online free nowadays. It was created by a single developer – Ivan Kutsir, and has achieved heights with more than 7 million users worldwide.

It offers premium photo editing tools to its users as it lets us add text, blur, crop images, change colours, and much more. Moreover, you can export the final products in most of your favourite formats.

Photopea’s UI is similar to Adobe Photoshop and has most of the features that Photoshop offers, so you will feel at home if you have used Photoshop. Not only this, Photopea has clear online documentation that helps beginners get started with the software without any difficulty.

Pros

1) Offers all the tools, including selection, effects, masks, layers and many more.

2) It supports almost all major files.

3) User interface, similar to Adobe Photoshop.

4) It doesn’t need a particular browser plugin to work.

5) It’s online, so it works on every platform.

Cons

1) The free version display ads, which can be distracting.

2) Slows down when working with large files.

Available on the platform: Web

File support: PSD, JPG, XD, BMP, PNG, RAW, Sketch, and more.

Price: Free

6) Photo Pos Pro

Photo Pos Pro is another good alternative to Photoshop; to do photoshop online free, create impressive artworks, collages, and graphics, and edit existing images. This software comes with many easy-to-use tools that help you create, edit, and manipulate images without getting you entangled in any complexity.

Like Photoshop, it has layers and layer masks and healing and clone brushes. The interface is organized in a simple way and is easy to understand, unlike Adobe Photoshop.

Whether it’s removing unwanted objects from an image or replacing the background, Photo Pos Pro offers you enough enhancement tools to edit your pics. Moreover, you can even enable the ‘novice’ layout to help you revise what’s essential when things get difficult.

Photo Pos Pro offers the ‘expert’ layout for professionals to access editing tools for fine-tuning works.

Pros

1) It has customizable interfaces for novices and experts.

2) Solid collection of extension packs and plugins.

3) Offers lots of helpful tutorials.

4) Impressive photo and text effects.

5) Intuitive feature selection.

6) Has easy-to-use tools.

Cons

1) Some effects may not work as expected.

2) Software acts strangely sometimes.

3) Exported file size is limited.

4) The user interface doesn’t look appealing.

Available on the platform: Windows (Mac with Windows Apps emulator installed)

File support: All major file formats, including RAW.

Price: Free, in-app purchases to unlock premium features.

7) Photoscape X

Photoscape might look like a simple photo editor as a Photoshop alternative, but it offers a wide range of effects, filters, and enhancements. It features a library of over 1000 filters, frames, products and editing tools that give you many options while editing images. So, it is also an excellent alternative to do photoshop online for free.

It includes the feature of batch editing and batch resizes, batch format change, and many more. Not only this, Photoscape offers raw conversation, photo splitting and merging, animated GIF creation, and collage creation as well. Its interface is pretty good and powerful for photo editing.

Pros

1) Easy to use as it features handy tools.

2) Raw file conversion

3) Efficient batch editing

4) Excellent at creating colleges and GIFs

5) Great selection of filters.

Cons

1) Bundled with Google Drive app

2) Some users find the interface confusing to navigate in the beginning.

3) The basic version is quite limited.

Available on platforms: macOS and Windows

File support: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PNG, and many more.

Price: Free, the pro version available for purchase.

So, is it that you are interested in Photoshop? Are you one of those people who could not use photoshop because it costs money? If yes, then this guide will help you.

Now you know many Adobe Photoshop alternatives that can help you do photoshop online free, with various features to choose from. What are you waiting for? Get started and show your photoshop skills to everyone.

Nintendo Switch: 10 Things You Need To Know

In olden times, when wishing still did some good, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, who, indeed, has seen so much, marveled every time it shone upon her face. In the vicinity of the king’s castle there was a large, dark forest, and in this forest, beneath an old linden tree, there was a well. In the heat of the day the princess would go out into the forest and sit on the edge of the cool well. To pass the time she would take a golden ball, throw it into the air, and then catch it. It was her favorite plaything.

Now one day it happened that the princess’s golden ball did not fall into her hands, that she held up high, but instead it fell to the ground and rolled right into the water. The princess followed it with her eyes, but the ball disappeared, and the well was so deep that she could not see its bottom. Then she began to cry. She cried louder and louder, and she could not console herself.

So until next time, try to enjoy the daylight

Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality. But, there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit… a darkside. The darkside is always there, waiting for us to enter, waiting to enter us. So until next time, try to enjoy the daylight. But when he fell down, he was not a frog, but a prince with beautiful friendly eyes. And he was now, according to her father’s will, her dear companion and husband. He told her how he had been enchanted by a wicked witch, and that she alone could have rescued him from the well, and that tomorrow they would go together to his kingdom. Then they fell asleep.

Moore’s law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore’s law is an observation and projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empirical relationship linked to gains from experience in production.
Wikipedia

“Be still and stop crying,” answered the frog. I can help you, but what will you give me if I bring back your plaything?” Whatever you want, dear frog,” she said, “my clothes, my pearls and precious stones, and even the golden crown that I am wearing.

Billy has been granted the power by the Immortals to summon awesome forces at

As she was thus lamenting, someone called out to her, “What is the matter with you, princess? Your crying would turn a stone to pity.” She looked around to see where the voice was coming from and saw a frog, who had stuck his thick, ugly head out of the water. “Oh, it’s you, old water-splasher,” she said. “I am crying because my golden ball has fallen into the well.”

The next morning, just as the sun was waking them, a carriage pulled up, drawn by eight horses. They had white ostrich feathers on their heads and were outfitted with chains of gold. At the rear stood the young king’s servant, faithful Heinrich. Faithful Heinrich had been so saddened by his master’s transformation into a frog that he had had to place three iron bands around his heart to keep it from bursting in grief and sorrow. The carriage was to take the king back to his kingdom. Faithful Heinrich lifted them both inside and took his place at the rear. He was filled with joy over the redemption. After they had gone a short distance, the prince heard a crack from behind, as though something had broken.

Steve Austin: Astronaut. A man barely alive. Gentlemen… we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky. They’re all together ooky, the Addams Family. Their house is a museum where people come to see ’em. They really are a scream, the Addams Family. Neat. Sweet. Petite. So get a witches shawl on, a broomstick you can crawl on. We’re gonna pay a call on the Addams Family.

Amazon Echo or Google Home Hub – Which One Should You Buy?

The Internet of Things has made it possible to do things that would earlier only be a part of science fiction movies – turn on music with a command of your voice, turn on your lights, program thermostat to turn on or off or get an answer to any question you want. This practical implosion of home connecting technology was started with the Amazon Echo, and followed up by many products who have tried to replicate the magic; but the one competitor that stands out is Google Home.

Amazon Echo or Google Home Hub – The Answer

Worried which of the two is better? Here is a round up of what both has to offer first.

Amazon Echo

If you still haven’t quite understood what Amazon Echo does, think of it as a small black cylinder, equipped with Bluetooth and far field, connected to the Internet and a microphone that is always on. There is a personal assistant called Alexa. You can use it to control smart home products, to order yourself a pizza, track a package or to play some music. The best thing is that there are hundreds of Alexa ‘skills’, and more are added regularly which makes the whole list grow considerably. Alexa is capable of doing around a thousand ‘skills’.

Google Home

Among the more popular alternatives to the Amazon Echo is Google Home. Google Home too integrates with your smart home products, answers questions, and helps you with various skills like checking a flight status or making a to-do list. All you have to do is say ‘Okay, Google’ and you can command whichever task you need. The voice commands and the comprehension on the Google Home system are outstanding, and it performs tasks smoothly. It also offers the ease of familiarity for those already using Android products.

The presence of these two behemoths in the market may make it hard to decide which one to choose if you want to feel the future a little early. Here are the pros of each product over the other, which will help make the decision.

Amazon Echo – Advantages over Google Home

So, in the race between Amazon Echo or Google Home Hub, what works for the former?

The biggest advantage that Amazon Echo provides is how much like an actual personal assistant Alexa feels. For activating Google home, you need an ‘Okay, Google’ command, which is kind of robotic. Alexa responds to Alexa, Amazon and Echo; and the Echo lights up around the edges when it is listening, creating for a much more fulfilling experience than the Google Assistant. Apart from this, Alexa is attuned to human sensibilities – for example, if you ask Alexa how kids are born, it replies in an awkward tone to ask Mommy or Daddy. This is wonderful for parents with younger children. If a child asks Alexa about Santa Claus, the assistant will play along.
The constant number of skills that Alexa is able to do is upgraded very frequently. You can even play tic tac toe or bingo with Alexa, call an Uber, get Alexa to entertain you telling jokes, or hold an actual conversation – Alexa even gets movie and TV series references, and replies in the same fashion.
Amazon Echo has a bigger list of smart home partnerships, making it easy for a wider variety of people to use it without modifications to their entire house. Google Home has notably partnered with Nest and certain other third party products; but Echo has a [partnership with Nest, Ecobee, SmartThings, Wink, Insteon, Belkin WeMo, Philips Hue, Lifx, Big Ass Fans, IFTTT, and with other devices via “Skills”.
Finally, Alexa is the future – Alexa will be present not only in Amazon devices, but all around you in 2019 itself. Alexa is available in the Samsung Family Hub Bridge, and the Ford Sync. The latter has even garnered rave reviews – here Alexa has adapted itself to an automobile and combines its usual skills with some driving skills. Third party devices too are getting integrated with Alexa. The first of these is the Invoxia Triby – it helps you make your refrigerator smarter without spending a small fortune on one, and it comes integrated with Alexa.

Google Home – Advantages over Amazon Echo

When it comes to Amazon Echo or Google Home Hub, how does the latter fare?

The Amazon Echo devices can’t be synced with each other. For example, if you have more than one Echo, you can’t get one song to play simultaneously on all your devices throughout the house. Google Home provides a benefit here, as all a speaker needs is to be enabled with Google Cast and you will be able to use it for music, either individually or simultaneously.
Another edge Google Home has over Amazon Echo is that it is customizable. You can make it your own with different choices of colors and materials. This might make a difference to a particular sect of shoppers.

Conclusion – which one to buy?

So. Amazon Echo or Google Home Hub – what’s the answer? For a truly smart, integrated home, keeping in mind the human touch, the Amazon Echo emerges as the clear choice. Google has a lot of catching up to do. However if you are big on large parties or need an amazing sound system throughout your house, you might consider the Google Home; but as an overall product, the Amazon Echo wins because of its versatility and realness. Plus the regular updates make it more exciting as well as useful. The way Alexa’s reach is spreading clearly shows that it is the personal assistant of the future.

Amazon Echo Dot Review: A Sound System You Definitely Need to Invest In

Amazon appears to be pretty serious about making couch potatoes out of us all. With innovative gadgets like Amazon Echo, the company is farther ahead in voice controlled systems than any of its competitors. Today, we will take a look at the Amazon Echo Dot Review and why many people go so far so as to call it the best thing Amazon has ever produced.

In case you haven’t yet happened to cross paths with the Amazon Dot, it is a Bluetooth/Wi-fi enabled speaker capable of doing everything Echo can do, and with significant less stress on your pockets. It looks like Amazon used a big knife to cut a slice off Amazon Echo, and it reflects in the gadgets price as well. Small, compact and Alexa enabled, if the dot was any smarter, it would probably write a poem. From listening to music to ordering up some quick Pizza, the dot has it all.

Features of the Amazon Echo Dot

How can the Echo Dot be the one thing you need? The Dot, for one, promises some stellar voice recognition capabilities, that makes listening to the music a whole lot more fun.

Just like the Echo, Amazon’s premium offering, Dot also uses the Alexa Voice Service to do stuff like play music, provide information, read the news, set alarms, control smart home devices and so on.
Play music from a variety of portals like Prime Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn.
Check out the headlines of the day from sources you choose curated into a “flash briefing”
Has built-in speaker so it can work on its own, but if you need some extra power for a party, just connect it with external speakers through Bluetooth or a cable.
Hears you from across the room with far-field voice recognition, even while music is playing. Nice, right?
Users can control all kinds of smart electronic gadgets including lights, switches, thermostats, from a range of providers including WeMo, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Nest, ecobee, and others.
If you think Dot is good today, well Amazon keeps updating it. So it is probably going to be even better a few days later.

The Good for the Amazon Echo Dot

Okay. So the dot is definitely good. There are reasons why people call it as better than Echo, despite its smaller size and lesser sound output and those reasons combine to make a pretty cool device. Let’s take a look.

The Echo Dot is basically the Echo with a significant portion of its noise output removed. So basically, the smarts are all there but the speakers are just less powerful. However, the Dot’s price tag — which is almost half the Eco’s — gives you plenty of left over to buy a dedicated pair of speakers to hook with the Dot using bluetooth or cables, whenever you need to party.

This also takes care of the audio issues we had with Echo, since you can use your own speakers, there are no issues associated with quality. But any quality you want and plug them up with the Amazon Dot for the best possible experience. Or if you would prefer, you can use the in-built speakers that come with Amazon Dot.

The Echo Dot is always on and is always listening out for your commands. So you can shout out for Alexa to do something from across the room, such as order a Pizza,Play some music or even book you a cab. This also highlights a significant advantage the Amazon Echo Dot has over Amazon Tap, since you don’t have to press any button to use Alexa. Within the Alexa app, you can activate the device by either shouting out to Alexa, Echo, or Amazon.

And The Bad for the Amazon Echo Dot

There simply is not much bad to be said for the Amazon Echo Dot. Perhaps you could ask the bass to be a little bit more than it is. But you don’t buy the Dot for its sound quality alone – you buy it for the complete package it offers, and there simply is no competition to that.

The device is pretty cool, packs all of the best stuff from Amazon Echo. The device is pretty cool and at $90 is relatively inexpensive as compared to the Echo, which comes in at a hefty sum in the neighbourhood of $150. The only major shortcomings we could find would be the fact that its speakers are rather less powerful and you would probably need to bring your own if looking to party.

Also, you can’t synchronize multiple units to play together, although that is one shortcoming that may be corrected by Amazon through a simple software update.

The Final Verdict:

Overall, the dot is a good way to spend $90 that you have just sitting somewhere. It manages to combine the best of both worlds and takes away some of the biggest shortcomings associated with some of the less popular, Alexa-totting Amazon speakers — for example, the Amazon Tap.

A word needs to be said for Amazon’s marketing strategy here though. The company, for some strange reason, is not laying as much stress on the dot as it did on the Echo. However, don’t let it fool you. The Dot is one of the best things in smart audio since sliced bread and if you are thinking of buying a pair of smart speakers, we seriously recommend you to give Amazon Dot a look.

The Echo Dot also has everything the Echo offers including long range, far-field voice capabilities, a microphone off button, an action button, volume ring control and so on. All these features bundled up at a $90 price tag are certainly pretty awesome.

Good sound on its own and the potential for even better by pairing it up with speakers, a moderately high price tag, Alexa’s powers and extreme levels of portability. There is really very little to complain about with the Amazon Dot. Go get a slice of some hot, audio technology!

Artificial Intelligence: Using Chatbots to Connect with Customers and Employees

As a freelancer, you’ve to be a jack of all trades, and that invovles knowing the latest technological developments. Chatbots have disrupted the customer service industry and HR processes opening new possibilities for enterprises. They are increasingly used for serving customers and helping employees get more productive.

The global chatbot industry is expected to amount to $1.23 billion by 2025 coupled with a yearly growth rate of 24.3% (CAGR)! Today we are going to explore the different ways AI-driven chatbots to help you to connect with your employees and customers.

The Simplicity of Chatbots

You can integrate chatbots easily, and don’t need separate applications. In a recent survey, for instance, 87% CEOs stated they planned to expand their AI driven workforce with the help of AI bots!

Chatbots takes the help of natural language processing and use machine learning to develop an improved understanding about its user. Then it trains and adapts itself accordingly so that it can answer and help out effectively.

The Increasing Popularity of Chatbots

Enterprises have started using chatbots for connecting with customers and even employees on a large scale. Forrester predicts that around 85% of enterprise interactions with customers will be carried out by AI robots in coming 5 years.

Chatbots can help increase the efficiency and productivity of employees and increase customer satisfaction significantly. All of these can be achieved at less cost without even employing a human agent.

Let’s find out how enterprises can use chatbots to leverage their workforce.

Chatbots for Employees

Recruitment

Chatbots can be a great help when your company is conducting a recruitment drive. It can screen the potential employees and you can program it to ask questions. Chatbots can also go a bit further and even carry out background checks automatically.

As chatbots can deliver personalized content and answers, it can also be used for employee on boarding. The same technology is also capable of answering and resolving common queries of potential employees.

Chatbots can be the perfect mobile HR assistant and produce answer to all FAQs and queries on company policies.

Employee Training and Development

Chatbots are ideal for use in employee training without the need of any human mentors. The bots can be used for onboard training, software training, process training, sales training, soft skills training, business training and so on.

You can program the chatbots to produce educational content on need basis. It can also carry out quizzes and other assessment techniques and makes the whole process more interactive. The employees are engaged and learn better than sitting through a class of boring lectures.

Chatbots are also available throughout the clock and doesn’t need to eat or sleep. So you end up saving your costs and time while increasing availability. You can also use a chatbot for practice and anything that involves repetition.

The bots can even present real life simulations to test the skills and understanding of employees.

Resolving Employee Queries

Employees can lose a lot of time and productivity looking for answers to common queries while performing their duties. Chatbots can be programmed to answer such queries and save the time of your employees.

It can be especially beneficial for some process such as benefits enrollment which becomes a headache for both the employees and the HR. Chatbots can simplify the whole process and help employees navigate the enrollment process.

Ultimately the whole thing adds up and increases employee productivity and engagement.

Instant Employee Feedback and Self Assessment

The traditional review of employees is not fit for the modern time. Using chatbots the HR can gain instant feedback from the employees and help them track their goals and objectives.

It can also be used for the exchange of performance insights to keep the employees at their best. AI bots can also pick up the emotional quotient of the employee by asking effective questions programmed in it.

Chatbots driven by AI are revolutionizing the whole employee learning, engagement and assessment process in day to day operations. It helps you save time, reduce costs and increase efficiency and productivity of your employees.

Now let’s check out how the chatbots are changing the customer experience.

Chatbots Redefining the Customer Experience

Instant Customer Assistance

You already know that chatbots don’t need to sleep or eat. Today, the customers comprising of millennials want 24/7 customer support without any interruption.

Chatbots can help deliver instant answers to customer queries and provide any help required round the clock. You also don’t have to pay the salary of a human representative and can leave the initial work to bots.

Bots can also transfer the call or chat to human agents when it’s not able to resolve the case. Your human representatives are only left for the heavy work and stay free to focus on important tasks.

Improved Customer Service

Chatbots excel human assistance on several grounds.

They don’t make errors like humans do and always provide accurate information. The can also be connected with contextual reference of each customer and deliver a more personalized response.

Chatbots don’t need time like humans to search through database or information. It can process the query and provide the relevant information within seconds. The technology can also process huge scale of customer requests unlike a human agent in a given moment. This makes them ideal to employ for resolving frequently asked questions by customers and the like.

Friendly Assistant

Chatbots can significantly drive up your customer engagement and satisfaction rate. They are ideal to start off a conversation while a customer lingers on your page. Using AI and machine learning they can develop a friendly conversation with any customer.

Also, customers don’t need to wait for an awfully long time and go through the endless loop that telecommunication customer service brought with it.

Drive Self help Service

91% customers prefer self-help options or online knowledge base personalized to their individual needs. The chatbots can be a great way to direct your customers to such self-help options.

Chatbots can be connected to a different knowledge base and it can deliver personalized responses based on its cognitive features. In the process, they resolve your customer queries and help you drive up the engagement rate. If your customers are able to meet their preferences, then their satisfaction levels will also shoot higher!

Perform Simple Transactions

You can program your chatbot to carry out a wide range of simple transactions. It can be used to make bookings, transfer money, make hotel reservations, order products and more. You don’t need to employ a human employee and can help customers with numerous tasks.

Driving Sales

The AI technology has progressed significantly since the days it was introduced. Now companies can use technology to predict customer preferences by analyzing their past purchases and behavior tracked from several verticals.

AI-powered chatbots can leverage this process and recommend products to the customers which they are more likely to buy. Apart from resolving queries, it can make the process more personalized and lead to an increase in sales and revenue.

You can also use chatbots for upselling and cross-selling. They can direct the customers to tutorials, blog posts, videos, and product pages by initiating conversation. For example, if a customer purchased or showed his interest on a mobile phone on your website, you can use the chatbot to recommend the customer with a back cover automatically.

Chatbots are the Future of Employee and Customer Experience

Chatbots are being introduced by leading companies to cash in on the customers and provide them a wonderful experience.

Starbucks uses chatbots in its mobile app to help customers place their orders through text or voice commands. It also notifies you about the total cost and the expected delivery time.
The cab booking service Lyft enables its customers to hail a ride using chatbot. The bot notifies the passenger about the location of their cab and even displays the license plate.
The Facebook messenger app of Spotify uses the same technology to help users search, share and listen to music.
The leading FMCG brand Wholefoods uses the chatbot to direct the customers to its nearest branch.

The possibilities of chatbots are endless, to begin with! You can also enjoy the diverse benefits of AI-powered chatbots by introducing it to your employees and customers. Developing a chatbot is easy and cheap and can be implemented quickly within your system. Get in touch with us today for a professional AI chatbot solution.