Technology

Many companies are going virtual nowadays, with more and more automated options available for many industries. Have you ever considered whether that might include Santa? Considering the fact that Santa has to deliver presents to most of the children across the world, Santa is definitely prime real estate for a virtual makeover. Here’s what would probably happen if Santa decided to go virtual.

Communicating With Kids

The first change that would have to happen is a change in the way that Santa communicates with kids. It’s unlikely that Santa would want to personally communicate with each individual child, which means he would probably want to set up a “customer service” hub where elves could handle these letters.

On average, customer service agents handle around 50 calls per day. To call every child once per year, around 28,822 elves would have to work for Santa every year, making them nearly six times larger than the largest call center in the United States. Plus, they’d have to speak almost every language on Earth.

Manufacturing Toys

The toy manufacturing process is another place where Santa may be able to utilize automation. If he’s still using elves to make every toy by hand, he should instead consider moving toward automated toy manufacturing processes. That’s because automated toy manufacturing could be incredibly beneficial for his toy manufacturing.

The ToyMaker 3000 at the Museum of Science + Industry in Chicago can produce up to 300 toys per hour. If Santa is able to get his hands on some of these products, he could easily produce one toy per child for his delivery process. He would need about 200 manufacturing lines running 24/7 to produce this number of toys.

However, while 200 machines may seem excessive, it’s a significant labor savings over using elves. For every nine robots, a company can typically automate 140 full-time workers’ jobs. That means the automated toy manufacturing would replace 112,085 eight-hour elf shifts. Plus, automation tends to save 16-22% on labor costs.

Making Deliveries

If Santa insists on delivering all of his presents on Christmas Eve, that means he has to deliver 22 million presents per hour, breaking down to a staggering 6,100 presents per second. This is more than 24 times as many packages as UPS delivers every day. He might be able to alleviate some of the tension by using drones.

Much of the population likely doesn’t live in an effective drone delivery service, but around 55% of the children Santa would deliver to likely do. Santa will need around 12 million drones to deliver presents to the 289 million children around the world who live in an area that he could potentially deliver to with drones.

Coal for Naughty Children

The widespread belief is that Santa gives naughty children coal. The coal manufacturing process, however, might be the easiest one for Santa to tap into, given the fact that coal is already a huge business in the United States and beyond.

If every single child was bad this year and Santa needed to give every child a lump of coal, he would need 19,000 short tons of coal. The thing is, however, the United States produces a billion tons per day. This means Santa would only need 13 minutes of coal production to manifest enough coal to give every single child a bit.

Conclusion

The process of going virtual is one of the things that is plaguing many companies nowadays. Santa isn’t the only one who needs to think about ways that he can automate his business; 73% of CEOs from Fortune 500 companies have indicated that rapidly changing technology is the biggest challenge they face in their company. When you manage your company in a more technologically-minded way, you’re following in these footsteps and moving with the world.

Photo by Dan Nelson on Unsplash

Living in a digital age where you have different online accounts which you access with different passwords, it has become increasingly challenging to keep your private information secure. Whether you’re making use of a newly purchased device or making use of the laptop hire facility offered by your local tech rental agency, password protection remains crucial.

Let’s help you get it right.

7 Point to Consider Regarding Your Password Security

Does it seem like a mission to keep changing your password for your different accounts or devices? Do you often use the same password for multiple accounts?

Cyber experts agree that one of the ways to keep information as secure as possible is to continuously change your passwords. Here are a few points to consider regarding password security.

The 90 Day Rule

Experts suggest that changing your passwords every 90 days will put you less at rest of hackers compromising your information. As tedious as it may seem if you have many accounts, it still needs to be done.

Multiple Accounts

You probably have multiple accounts across various platforms, each with its own password. You may be tempted to use the same password for each account because it’s easier to remember. However, by doing this you’re putting yourself at greater risk of total compromise.

Avoid Easy or Common Passwords

It’s tempting to use your newborn’s name or birth date as your password. Unfortunately, if your information is compromised, it won’t take a hacker very long to crack your passwords. With the pictures and information we post so readily on social media, it’s easier for cyber criminals to have access to or basic information.

Avoid System Generated Passwords

One of the most common passwords in the world is PASSWORD1. Often we select a system generated option to create an account. If this is the case, change the password immediately once your app or account is activated.

Old, Lost or Sold Devices

Always remember to deactivate accounts on old or sold devices. If your deice is lost or stolen, change all your passwords immediately. This includes accounts that you may not have used on that particular device. As a safety precaution, rather be safe than sorry.

Creation Tips

When creating your various passwords, use long, nonsense phrases that would be impossible for someone else to guess. Include symbols, numbers and a variation of lower and uppercase letters. Avoid reusing passwords. Switch it up using different variations of your password, but again, in a manner that is not easy to guess.

Utmost Privacy

The golden rule of password protection is to never share your password with anyone, for any reason. If for whatever reason you do give your password to a relative or friend, to help you out with something for instance, it’s vital to change it afterwards, as soon as possible.

In Conclusion

Password security is one of our strongest defences against cyber criminals obtaining our information for illicit purposes. By following a few guidelines and precautions, you’ll keep hackers away from your personal data. And you’ll sleep soundly at night.

There are over 3 billion SmartPhone users in the world and according to The Guardian, people spend an average of 3.5 hours & 15 minutes on their phones. This is because SmartPhone technology has advanced over the years and there are many activities & controls you can manage using your device.

If you’ve simply been using your SmartPhone to make phone calls or send emails then you might want to keep reading today’s article. We’re going to give you the top four controls and activities you can do with your SmartPhone.

1. Remote Game Playing

In the past, people would drive out to a venue to play games at an arcade or even a casino. With your SmartPhone you can play myriads of games remotely. If you want to win rewards then perhaps search for the best online casinos Canada, America and Australia have to offer.

The advantage of online gambling is first-time winners get rewards and you can earn these bonuses from anywhere in the world. So when you’re on holiday and there are no casinos around, use your phone to play poker or Roulette online.

2. Check Your Home Surveillance Remotely

Most surveillance installation companies offer apps that you can connect your CCTV cameras to. The app allows you to monitor your home no matter where you are.

What’s more, some cameras have motion sensors. So if the cameras detect movement in your home a push notification will be sent directly to your SmartPhone. Check the cameras to see whether it’s criminal activity or a family member who arrived home early.

3. Keep Safe When You Go Out

If you’re going on a blind date or you often walk home alone from school or work you may want to consider downloading a tracker app. Add contacts to the app so loved ones can track your whereabouts at all times.

Additionally, you can set up a timer that will trigger a distress call to your contacts if you didn’t make it home in the set time frame. You’ll have more peace of mind if you take extra precautionary measures when you go out.

4. Screen Mirror with Your TV

If you want to show a group of people a video, pictures or a document from your SmartPhone consider getting Chromecast. This device plugs into the back of your TV and allows you to connect your SmartPhone to the screen.

You can also use your phone as a remote control to change videos or search for something on the web. It’s a convenient device that allows you to share the content on your phone without people having to huddle around a tiny screen.

Final Thoughts

There are many other handy activities you can do on your SmartPhone such as measuring your heart rate or using it as a thermal camera. Some people even use their SmartPhones to unlock their houses or turn on HV/AC systems before they get home.

So don’t simply use your device to make phone calls. You have a pocket-sized remote control and computer in your hands. Use it to its full advantage.

Online livestreams are becoming more common as technology becomes more accessible for everyone. Just about anyone can livestream now, and even more importantly, just about anyone can access livestreams as well. If you’re currently enrolled in college, you might not see the benefits of online livestreams. In fact, attending an online livestream can actually give you plenty of benefits. Here are just a few of the benefits you might be able to access through online livestreams.

Help You Become More Invested

When you gain access to an educational livestream, you’ll find that those livestreams often utilize teachers who are truly invested in their topics. After all, it won’t be a very interesting or useful livestream if the person livestreaming doesn’t seem to care about what they’re talking about. Excitement can be contagious. That means if you’re willing to attend an educational livestream from someone who seems really invested in their craft, you may become more invested in your college course.

Grant Insight Into Your Chosen Subject

Your major is an important part of your college experience. Many people choose subjects they’re already interested in for their major. However, there are some people who choose subjects that they’re good at, but may not have a lot of starting knowledge about. When you attend an educational livestream, you’re getting more information about the subject this person has a lot of knowledge in. That can really boost your insight as well.

Give You More Options for Education

An educational livestream gives you more options when you’re trying to decide how to invest in your education. Many people think only of traditional education options when thinking of ways to invest in education. This can be limiting because in the modern world, there are nearly unlimited ways to learn about your specific topic. When you expand into educational livestreams, you’re more likely to be able to learn in ways that suit you specifically.

Allow You to Learn in Between Your Classes

It’s common for college students to have some time off in between classes. Even if you work through all four years of college without any pauses in between semesters, there are still typically a few weeks in between each semester. It’s a good idea to invest in additional education between semesters so you don’t “lose your edge,” so to speak. Educational livestreams tend to run regularly, even when school’s off, giving you the ability to learn at any time.

Offer Homework Help

Some educational livestreams may be able to help you with homework. Typically, they won’t be able to take requests for individual homework questions, but they may be able to take requests for types of homework questions, like working on finding the area of a shape or understanding quadratic equations. You can then transpose that knowledge to your own homework questions, asking for additional clarification along the way.

Conclusion

There are many benefits to educational livestreams for college students. As a college student, you should absolutely seek out educational livestreams to maximize your personal growth and understanding in college. Remember that it’s not enough to just find a livestream; you need to make sure you’re getting the best livestream available. Livestream options like OneClass offer the best possible opportunity for your education, which is why it’s a good idea to invest in these top-tier options.

A business’s online presence plays a significant role in portraying brand image and therefore directly impacts success. Today, every company spends an overwhelming amount of resources to market online. But not every effort pays off. Hence, it is essential to ensure that you adopt the right strategies not only to maximise resources but most importantly guarantee results.

In this article, we aim to discuss effective strategies that will boost your brand’s online presence, while at the same time paying attention to the current trends affecting digital marketing in general.

Optimise websites for mobile use

It has been emphasised many times that a good digital marketing strategy should focus on optimising the website for mobile devices. This year, mobile users will grow to approximately 2.8 billion. Imagine not being able to tap into this massive market.

If you hire a web design Oxford agency, one of the first things they should pay attention to is how to design or improve an existing site and make it mobile-friendly. In addition to increasing engagement from visitors, Google also ranks websites based on how optimised they are for mobile use.

Do not be afraid to link personal social media accounts with professional business pages

The key here is to relate to your target market on a more personal level. Many businesses have begun allowing employees to use their accounts and promote business interests. This method allows your brand to be represented by the people who work for you. You may also link your social media accounts to your business accounts and engage with customers. The more relatable your brand is, the more comfortable it will be for your customers to engage with your company online.

Improve the user interface

The competition is only going to get stiffer in the coming years. And, the more options your customers have, the easier it is for them to switch from one website to another. A bad user interface can easily turn away site visitors. Most companies today use a heat map to gauge user activity and improve pain points. Other websites owners are also paying attention to design trends to make their site more eye-catching.

What is most important here is that your target demographic should be considered when you design the website. For example, if you want to appeal to a younger generation, your site needs to be hip. On the other hand, if you want to attract more senior customers, your site needs to be easy to navigate.

Make customer privacy a priority

As online businesses become the norm, cyber threats are also becoming more sophisticated by the day. Customer privacy and security should be a priority if you want to uphold customer trust and confidence. Even the biggest companies fall victim to cybercrime. As such, it is essential to step up in adopting the latest cyber security methods. If necessary, you can outsource services and tools to reinforce site encryption. It is also vital to have clear security protocols especially when it comes to employee network activity.

These suggestions are only a few of the strategies you can use to increase online presence. With the help of a digital marketing agency, you can identify other opportunities for improvement and come up with an excellent campaign for your brand.