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Anxiety, amongst other mental health disorders, is on the rise in today’s world, especially with the ongoing pandemic. Too often people suffer from stress, anxiety, panic attacks, etc. while trying to ignore or brush off the symptoms. For some reason or another it seems taboo to speak of mental health concerns. Mental health, like physical health, is just as important for one’s well-being; it’s never too late to acknowledge and address mental disorders. With the pandemic still on the rise today, anxiety can quite possibly increase due to a range of factors. Focusing on reducing anxiety during these trying times could be beneficial to many.

Dealing with anxiety can affect a person whether at home, in public, work, or especially crowds. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety can cause fatigue, unstable emotions, excess energy, and even difficulties developing a healthy bedtime routine. These symptoms can present themselves as physical ones leading to even larger health complications. Anxiety should not be ignored or put on the back burner, but rather discussed preferably with a medical professional. The symptoms manifested from anxiety could also be caused from stress or worsen over time. Anxiety is not something the public should fear; this should be faced and treated like any other illness.

Admitting to having anxiety is stressful enough, making an appointment with a medical provider shouldn’t have to be. Whether someone struggles with social stress or generalized, making a phone call, or speaking in person can seem very intimidating. Many medical providers have the option to call ahead and make an appointment; others have a walk-in clinic where anxiety can increase further while in the waiting room. Sitting in a room full of strangers that may or may not be sick is enough to make most people concerned about what they may catch from breathing in the air. What if there was an option to avoid both scenarios by scheduling appointments for mental health concerns online? This could eliminate an enormous amount of fear and anxiety prior to the actual doctor’s visit.

Thankfully with technology, there are ways to make booking online appointments available. With the ease of smartphones and computers, an online booking app can be used by providers for patients everywhere. This takes the fear and work out of calling, and in-office scheduling. Anxiety just came down a few notches when applying oneself to getting treatment. Any form of making life easier is great—why not make anxiety less of a worry? There are so many tools and tips for people to use in the world for health concerns that it’s great to hear of new ideas. Whether a person is struggling alone or in the workplace, being able to reach out to someone shouldn’t be difficult. Fear and stress seem to be a vicious cycle that keeps anxiety circling round and round. To have a starting point of where to begin or focus on relaxing can be comforting to many.

While waiting to see a doctor or trying to reduce anxiety with self-control, there can be ways to practice during the pandemic from home. Oftentimes writing in a notebook or a specialized diary can get feelings out onto paper. Once emotions are written down, it can be good to close the book and leave them there. For those tech savvy people, online journals are just as great! According to Mayo Clinic, activities such as physical exertion, adequate sleep, reducing alcoholic beverages, and a healthy diet can all improve symptoms of anxiety. From walking to running, it doesn’t matter; physical exercise can release chemical hormones that balance and boost the mood. Perhaps someone does most of this anyway, but there are other options as well. Anything from a favorite hobby to achieving more sleep can improve overall stress and anxiety. Bringing the mind to a happier place during this pandemic can be helpful to everyone with or without anxiety; let’s be honest, most people have some extent of stress and deserve to feel happy.

With the stress of COVID-19, mental health disorders have increased due to the fear, illness, and deaths this pandemic has induced. According to statistics, at least 40.9% of Americans have admitted to having increased mental health concerns since the pandemic began. That’s an alarming amount considering most people don’t know how to begin coping with such worries. With medical providers and counselors available, anyone suffering should seek help to overcome this painful battle. Mental health disorders can seem discouraging; there is no shame in seeking help. With the ease of online appointment scheduling, let some of that fear dissipate as the first step is made. Schedule that appointment, let technology help reduce social anxiety.

Regardless of the fear, there are options to help people, and taking the first step is the most fulfilling. The COVID-19 pandemic is real and terrifying, but so is not speaking up about anxiety. The pandemic has been ongoing, meaning people need help getting through this tough time; the same is true for anxiety—stay strong and keep going.

We are living in the digital age. Whether you like it or not, technology and the internet are slowly taking over the world, with the digital replacing the physical. Like banking, blogs, and even money (crypto), many shops have also built their online presence. However, it’s not just physical stores that can go digital—you can start an online store without a physical address as well.

According to a study done by Oberlo, there’s an estimated 2.14 billion digital buyers in 2021, which is more than a quarter of the people in the world. Since there is such a huge number of online shoppers, there is a huge potential to make it big with your very own online store. If you’re unsure of where to begin, here are 5 tips to get you started.

Figure out your niche

The first step is, more often than not, the most important one. Firstly, you’ll need to find out which market you’ll want to enter. This could be tech, fashion, or any industry that has buyers and sellers. The next step will be to find your niche, which is to go in-depth into a specific market. Before choosing a niche, you should consider your passion, budget, and opportunity. Most entrepreneurs strive to pick a market with high demand, but low supply.

Take, for example, health and wellness – one of the most popular markets. This would be too broad a category, so you can consider niching down into more specific markets, like vitamins or essential oils. You can then use Keyword Research tools to search for trending products. Through my keyword research, I found that CBD oils were in high demand, with many shoppers looking to buy CBD oil online. You can find your niche using this technique as well.

Choose your business model

The next step will be to choose your business model. There are 2 main business models – Making and selling your own products, or dropshipping. If you want to start a mini arts-and-craft business, the former would be your choice. However, if you’re more of a business person and don’t have a product to make, you can try dropshipping. Very briefly, dropshipping is being the middleman; buying a product, marking up the price, and selling it to customers.

Source for products

After selecting the right business model, you should start looking for products. Many newbie entrepreneurs try to build up and beautify their online store before finding products, and to be honest, I made the same mistake. Sometimes, you just can’t find the right product for you, so no matter how much you’d like to sell something, you won’t get any sales in the end.

Sourcing for products will differ with regard to your business model. Taking the example mentioned above, if you’re selling your artworks, you can source for wholesale suppliers to get cheaper materials in bulk, lowering your overall cost. If you’re dropshipping, finding a retail supplier on e-commerce platforms like AliExpress would be better. On such sites, they provide cheaper goods that can be bought individually, unlike wholesale suppliers.

Find an e-commerce platform

To start your online store, you’ll need to find an e-commerce platform or start your own website. For veterans with an existing clientele, starting your website should be the way to go. But for most of us, e-commerce platforms provide extensive exposure to millions of potential buyers around the globe. Some online stores have even started on online marketplaces, generated huge revenue, and subsequently shifted to their personal website!

Like any other service, there are free and paid online marketplaces. Some free options include eBay and Facebook Marketplace, but are all limited in some way or another. On the other hand, marketplace giants like Shopify can offer a range of benefits that will come in handy if you’re new to starting an online store.

Add the details

Last but not least, build your store. You’ve picked a niche, found a business model, sourced products, and chosen an e-commerce platform, now all you need to do is customize your store. This includes crafting your store name, designing the right logo, and even exporting the products to your online store. You’ll also have to add your payment details, contact information, and any necessary legal documents.

If you’re starting your own website, you’ll have to build it from scratch, hopefully with the help of a few templates. However, configuring your website into an online store may be more challenging, as you’ll need to integrate extra shopping plugins like Woocommerce into your site. Anyway, that’s a story for another day.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, starting an online store isn’t just for professionals, with the power of technology, anyone can do so. As long as you follow the 5 steps we’ve gone through, and persevere despite any setbacks, who knows? Maybe someday, your online store will be the next big thing.

Ready to raise money for your startup? You’re going to need a pitch coach and perhaps a good pitch deck template to go with it.

Whether you are an introvert creative type who has never been able to stand public speaking, or you just love talking on stage and may have even raised some money in the past, you will benefit from a pitch coach. In fact, in today’s startup and financial environment, you cannot afford to go without one.

Here are just some of the reasons you’ll benefit from it, or will be kicking yourself for years for not getting the help now.

Pitching For Startups

Pitching is vital for startup founders. It is an inseparable skill from successful entrepreneurs and companies. Fortunately, it can be learned, and it can always be improved on.

Even if you never ever raise any money for your startup company, you will need to become a master at pitching your venture.

It will make all of the difference in being able to recruit the talent you need, sell your product and secure customers, unlock its real value, manage your company over time, and eventually achieve some type of positive exit, other than just closing the doors.

There are two main parts to the pitch for startups.

1. The Pitch Deck

Even to be able to get the chance to possibly present verbally you will almost always need to lead in with a pitch deck. You might squeeze out your tagline or elevator pitch before being shut down, but before people consider giving you any more of their valuable time than that, for any purpose, you can expect them to ask to see your pitch deck first.

You’ll often be sending this via email, or a link to it via text message or through social channels like LinkedIn.

If you nail it with the slide presentation, you have a much better chance of being able to win the opportunity to deliver your actual presentation and verbal pitch.

Still, even then, unless the tech completely melts down, your pitch is going to be greatly judged and evaluated on your slides. Perhaps even more so.

So, make sure you have a winning pitch deck that follows the formula for success before anything else.

2. The Verbal Pitch

If your slide presentation is a hit, then you may get the privilege of giving your verbal pitch and full presentation.

Note that you cannot just wing this and hide behind your slides. You can’t count on your tech and slides working all of the time. In fact, you need to expect problems, and be able to cover that verbally and with your presence instead.

Often you’ll need several varying lengths of verbal pitch. This can range from your one sentence elevator pitch, to short two to five minute overview, as well as your full 20 minute investor presentation.

Why You Need A Pitch Coach

No matter how confident you are, you need a pitch coach. Here are just some of the reasons you shouldn’t even consider skimping by without one.

It’s Crazy Competitive Out There

The data really doesn’t do it justice. You may have heard that venture capital investors may only invest in 1% of the startups they evaluate. Yet, there are thousands more that don’t even make it into that pile. They are filtered out by assistants before that, or messages never get through or seen in the first place.

The most desirable investors can receive thousands of pitches and decks each week. They can’t possibly even make it through all of the ones they’d really like to.

You can also bet that those that do get funded are really nailing it on every factor, from the slides to verbal pitch, and the introductions they get to those investors. Not to mention all of the fundamentals and boxes to check on the investor’s list of criteria.

The bottom line is that it is crazy competitive out there. If you want to stand a chance of getting funded you need every tool and edge that you can get, including a pitch deck.

Limited Opportunities

There are only so many startup investors out there. When you funnel that down to the number of investors who fund startups at your stage and round it is even fewer. Then narrow that down to those who invest in your type of venture and industry. Then to those actively looking to fund and can provide the capital right now. As well as those you’d actually want on your board. You probably aren’t left with that many.

This isn’t like blasting out online ads to billions of potential customers, and knowing that most probably won’t remember that you blew it the next time they see your brand.

Odds are you will be hit with a lot of ‘no’s for a wide variety of reasons. Even from this tight target group. So, you really can’t afford to burn your chances. Don’t expect to get another shot with an investor. Unless you are 200% sure you are going to walk out with a check, then it just makes sense to see what extra benefit you can get from a pitch coach.

It’s Probably Not Your Area Of Mastery

Given what it takes to get through all of the hoops, then the presentation and to close a round, pitching for fundraising requires a certain degree of mastery.

You may be the person in the room with the highest IQ, the master of your industry, talented with designing slides in Google and Powerpoint, and comfortable with public speaking. Yet, do you have mastery of fundraising pitching? Not just in general, but with these types of investors, in this type of setting, at this round and amount of money? If this is your third time raising a Series C round, with two exits under your belt, and you’ve put in those 10,000 pitching in this format, then you can probably get away without a pitch coach. Otherwise, it just pays to get that elite level of expertise on your side.

Your Pitch Needs To Be Natural

A successful verbal pitch isn’t just about remembering your lines and not choking up in the process. It needs to come out naturally. Just like you are delivering a sales pitch or having a conversation about a subject you’ve talked about 10,000 times before. You want to get to the point where you can adlib depending on the response you are getting, and no longer need a script, index cards or a teleprompter. Practice, practice, practice.

Practice In A Real Environment

Practicing with yourself in the mirror, to your dog, or with your best friends or grandmother is not the same. They will take it easy on you. You need to be prepared to handle pitching to strangers, who will test you and ask hard questions.

For decades, the United States has been the hegemonic world power both politically and technologically. But how long can this last? Recent advances by other countries are increasingly beginning to threaten this position. On the geopolitical front, the Trump era and recent Covid pandemic has exposed fractures in the US political system that countries like China and Russia have seized upon, and the democratic West is no longer seen as the bastion of stability and prosperity it once was. Meanwhile, technologically, China is making huge strides in areas like AI, while Russia has become a leader in the cyber-warfare space. Can the US hold onto its position as the world’s leading power, or will the future belong to a new superpower?

The Rise of the United States

In many ways, the United States has become the world’s hegemonic power by accident. During the 1700s and 1800s, the US was mostly famous for its agricultural and industrial output. It was not until the second half of the twentieth century that the US became a true superpower. To understand how this happened, we need to look at the geopolitical situation in the world at the time.

As the industrial revolution took hold, Europe was in the midst of a number of political rivalries that took the form of two world wars. At the same time, the rest of the world was beginning to decolonize. This included the dissolution of the UK’s empire and the creation of new countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. In this new world order, the US saw an opportunity to rise to a position of power in the world. This was exemplified by the Marshall Plan, which provided economic and military support to Europe so that it could continue to be America’s economic and political partner. By doing so, the US ensured that the rest of the world would depend on it for trade and protection.

The US also saw an opportunity to expand its sphere of influence in the Pacific. As Japan, China, and the Soviet Union all struggled to rebuild after the Second World War, the US used its new military and economic might to take control of the region. This was done under the auspices of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, but it had the effect of driving the Soviets and Chinese into each other’s arms. The Sino-Soviet split soon followed, and the US was able to contain both countries by threatening to support each against the other.

The US also worked to ensure that it would have a source of cheap raw materials, which also came with political advantages. It did this by intervening in the Middle East in support of Israel and backing the Shah of Iran. It also established a strong alliance with Saudi Arabia and ensured that the country would remain a source of oil for American industries. These policies would later be known as the Nixon Doctrine and would eventually lead to the creation of the petrodollar, allowing the US to maintain economic control over the world.

With its economic and military might, the US was able to make sure that it would have the advantage over any country that opposed it. Its military was strong enough to intimidate countries into cooperating with the US and its economic influence was such that countries could not ignore it. For example, the US is still the world’s largest producer of corn, soybeans, wheat, and rice. Its manufacturing base is strong. It is also the world’s largest exporter of arms and accounts for 34% of all military spending globally. In terms of economic power, the US has the world’s largest economy, and its currency is used as the de facto world currency.

For all of these reasons, the US has been able to rise to the position of world’s hegemonic power. But how long can it maintain its position as the world’s leading power?

The Rise of Russia and China

In recent years, Russia has made huge strides in its technological and military capabilities. This is especially true in the cyber-warfare space, where the country has been developing weapons systems that are far more advanced than any in the West. Russia has also been making strides in AI, especially in areas such as deep learning. This has made it possible for Russia to retain its military might and maintain its status as a superpower. It has also made it more capable of controlling a large swath of territory in the Middle East. As a result, the US has had to deal with a resurgent Russia that is able to challenge its position as the world’s leading superpower.

Meanwhile, China has also been making strides in technology and military development. In the field of AI, China has made huge strides in areas like image recognition and autonomous vehicles. The country has also been working on a hypersonic aircraft and a new class of missile that can evade US defenses. This has enabled China to become a formidable military power. It has also made it a leader in other areas including digital payments, AI, and mobile devices. As a result, it is beginning to challenge the US for economic supremacy.

The Rise of the Rest

In addition to these two countries, there are a number of smaller powers rising in the world, and they are beginning to pose a challenge to the US. These include countries like India, South Africa, Iran, and Brazil. While these countries are not currently able to threaten the US, they could potentially grow in power to a point where they could rival the US. The US is also faced with the threat of terrorism, which has made it harder for the country to continue to exert its influence in the Middle East. In addition, the US has seen its image tarnished by the Trump administration, and this has enabled other countries to challenge it more effectively.

The US, for its part, does not lack talent nor technology. We are still world leaders in many high-tech scientific disciplines. What we lack, as the pandemic has made uncomfortably clear, is the ability to coordinate nation-wide action on a large scale. The Japanese response to Covid, for example, is worth closer inspection. Mask-wearing is still mandatory. In many places, shops remain closed and social gatherings are severely limited. Despite this, Japanese society still functions smoothly. There are no widespread protests. Food and drink can be safely purchased from vending machines all over the country. The US has some of the best custom vending machines in the world – so why don’t we see more of them? We should look to countries like Japan for the answer. Having the technology is only part of the equation – we also need well-coordinated social programmes and a culture of social cohesion.

What Does the Future Hold?

It is difficult to make predictions about the future of US power. But it is evident that the country’s global influence is on the decline, and it may well continue to decline. It is also likely that China will become the world’s preeminent power at some point. The issue is when this will occur. Some believe that it will happen in the next few years, but it is more likely that it will happen in the next two to five decades. The US could also experience a resurgence in power, but this will take hard work. For now, it is clear that the US is going to have to deal with a much more competitive geopolitical landscape.

Only thirty years ago, humans had to navigate life on their own without the help of the internet or any personal computing device. Today, almost every action we take is somehow linked to the internet. From simple everyday tasks like personal time management to more complex ones like online learning and working, the internet continues to play a massive role in our basic functioning. It can be said that life in the 20th century has simply become unimaginable without it, but as we grow increasingly dependent on technology, we also become lazier and less self-sufficient. It is therefore important to find balance in just how much we rely on the internet for the sake of our productivity and mental well-being.

Online Learning

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic that has circled the globe, schools and colleges around the world have begun operating online as a safety precaution. Classes are now being given on live video conferencing services rather than in physical classrooms, with some schools even using specialized software to run online examinations for their students. As a result, the need for students and professors to physically be on campus is eliminated, reducing the time and energy previously wasted on transportation. This has a positive impact not only on the classroom’s overall productivity but also on the environment. It is therefore unsurprising to see previously smog-ridden cities enjoying clear air after the 2020 lockdown.

In addition to that, the switch to online learning has also changed a lot in the way students are managing their academic responsibilities. The increased flexibility gives them more freedom to work at their own pace when compared to traditional learning, encouraging better self-reliance and time management. This can be especially helpful in cases of teamwork where students are required to collaborate, as working virtually with others can help in becoming a better leader. On top of that, the increased amount of time being spent on computers develops essential technical skills that are indispensable in the current era of digitization and personal computing.

Internet-Integrated Lifestyle

It is undeniable that our current social life has a lot to thank the internet for. Social media and other online communication services have revolutionized the way we interact and build relationships and have also played a great role in spreading a more accepting and laid-back mentality worldwide. Some of the impact of social media can even be seen in real-life situations, like with the increasingly prevalent use of internet abbreviations in face-to-face conversations. The general absence of a filter in online social communications has also led to the normalization of using profane language, most prominently between teenagers and young adults.

Technology and the internet also contribute to numerous aspects of our lives besides socialization. Today, most companies and individuals run their workflows entirely on computers as opposed to using traditional physical documents. It has become impossible to imagine doing some of the most basic activities without having to involve our personal devices. We can now order takeout, book flights, schedule appointments, and even transfer money in seconds right from our phone. Online shopping is also rapidly replacing conventional shopping due to its convenience and ease of use, so whether you’re a parts geek or an antique item collector, you will always be able to find a suitable online marketplace to fulfill your desires.

The Impact of Modern Technology on the Environment

Nowadays, the environment must be considered with every step taken. Although the development of technology has provided us with a wide range of life facilitations, it has also negatively impacted the environment in many ways. For example, the widespread use of cars has obviously tremendously transformed our lives for the better but has also resulted in an increased amount of air pollution due to vehicle emissions. Many rare Earth elements that require a lot of energy to obtain are also essential in the manufacturing of electronic devices including tungsten, cobalt, and lithium. The increased demand for these materials consequently results in greater energy expenditure and hence more pollution.

On the bright side, many international companies have begun developing new strategies to mitigate environmental damage without having to reduce their output. Companies like Apple and others have already gone carbon-neutral and are switching to the use of recycled materials in their factories. Some are even researching the use of alternative renewable materials as it is cheaper and less toxic. In addition to that, new innovative inventions like electric cars and self-sufficient buildings are showing promising potential for the future of the environment. In fact, it is expected that electric cars constitute a quarter of car sales by 2025. As they begin to replace gasoline-fueled cars, the fumes emitted into the atmosphere are reduced, and so is the demand for fossil fuels.

Conclusion

It is difficult finding someone who doesn’t own a phone these days. From teenagers to adults, our personal devices constitute a lot of our daily lives. It can sometimes be scary to think about what might happen if certain technologies were to be put to nefarious use. Therefore, it is our ultimate responsibility to practice healthy online habits and take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves and the environment. As we advance forward and as technology becomes increasingly capable, maybe someday machine intelligence will be able to fully replace human intelligence.

Using the same password across several services isn’t advisable, from a security standpoint. If one website is compromised, anyone can use the same password to gain access to (for example) your email address and other login credentials, and from there, access your accounts. Hackers know that people are lazy and don’t bother to come up with different passwords for different accounts. They’ll stop at nothing to break into your account and steal your identity. Ideally, you should have a unique password for each separate account. If you find it impossible to remember all the account details, you could use a password manager.

Some question the necessity of using a password manager. Considering that doing so can help to protect your accounts and your device, it may be worth pursuing. A password manager is essentially a software application that generates secure passwords that are unlikely to be hacked, for use with local applications and web-based services. The software stores the generated passwords in an encrypted database. With a mobile application, you can access them at any time; you can retrieve whichever password you need. Some password managers even allow users to sync the password database across all of their devices. Following these suggestions will go a long way towards securing the login process.

Applicability

In the case of a data breach, if you use a password like “123456”, it will be most likely decrypted in a matter of seconds. Basically, you’re voluntarily giving away your credentials in plaintext. For better security, you need a strong, unique password for each account, to ensure greater protection against decryption. The question now is: How are you supposed to remember all those unique login credentials when you have a large number of accounts? The answer is to use a password manager, which will take the heavy load off your mind. Then, you don’t have to worry that you’ll suffer during a data breach, because your passwords were weak enough to be decrypted.

If you place all your passwords in one single repository, you need to be careful. To be more precise, set a master password so that you can access all the other login credentials. Since that password will be used to encrypt the contents of your password vault, it must be a strong password. Think about using spaces or hyphens between words to make your master password easier to type. Let’s summarize some of the benefits of using a password manager.

• Not having to memorize all your passwords ever again – If you’re like everyone else, you do your best to memorize one or two passwords and use them across various services. This is a huge mistake from a security standpoint. Cybercriminals are able to guess what login credentials you use and break into your accounts.
• Generating highly secure passwords – Recent and past researchers have demonstrated that people generally don’t use secure passwords, meaning that they’re vulnerable when it comes to data breaches. Don’t assume that using uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers or special characters alone, will make your password more secure.
• Being alerted to phishing scams – Con artists and fraudulent criminals are looking for account identifiers and passwords, which can be used to commit identity theft. They send emails that look like they’re coming from a legitimate sender, such as a friend, coworker or known organization. If you use a password manager, if you are to visit the phishing site, you’re protected because the software won’t auto-complete the field for your username or password, because it (correctly) doesn’t recognize the website.

Falling victim to opportunistic cybercriminals is avoidable, as is protecting yourself from the risks of data breaches. The right tools will ensure that sensitive data isn’t exposed. The features discussed above make a password management solution effective and easy to use.

Safer than the alternative

If you don’t use a password manager to safely handle your login credentials, you’ll find it extremely difficult to remember all the unique, strong passwords you’ve created. You’ll most likely end up in the situation of reusing passwords. As you use your mobile device more often, and as more websites offer an optimized mobile experience, using a password manager is increasingly important. You’ll find numerous password manager apps with Android and iOS compatibility. There are many password managers on the market, including the free BitWarden software, which is popular among the open source community, as well as other commercial alternatives like 1password, Dashlane, LastPass and others. One of the most popular password managers right now is LastPass. Researchers have found that it has serious flaws, so it’s not the best choice.

Over the years, there have been several issues with LastPass, which could have allowed malicious actors to steal users’ login credentials. Penetration tester Mike Kukets discovered seven trackers in the LastPass Android app, covering user profiling and advertisements. Many cybersecurity resources strongly recommend that LastPass users switch to alternatives. Let’s assess one alternative, 1Password; it offers additional security features, such as Watchtower, 2FA, and Travel Mode, with the ability to share an all-access vault.

Undoubtedly, password managers can have flaws and vulnerabilities. At the end of the day, it’s not only the password manager that protects sensitive information. You should deploy anti-virus software so that that malware won’t infect your device. This way, you won’t experience an identity breach or suffer financial losses. Relying on less secure methods of password management isn’t recommended.

For further and final recommendations; add multiple layers to your security practices, so that you have multiple vaults. Additionally, use a smartphone-only vault. Many phones now have fingerprint readers and facial recognition access controls, so it’s a lot easier to secure your device. In summary, there are several things you can do to make your password manager more secure. You may find that doing so makes your online experience safe and stress-free.

If you have worked in the tech industry, you may have heard of the “mythical man-month“. The term comes from a famous book first published in 1975 by Frederick P. Brooks. The book was written about managing software projects, but the term “mythical man-month” has also become a catchphrase for the challenges of managing projects in general. Brooks’ central thesis is that adding more people to software projects is often the wrong thing to do, because productivity doesn’t scale the way you think it should.

In the book, Brooks points out that as soon as you hire your first employee, you have to start thinking about managing him or her. That’s easy when it’s just one person. But as your team grows, it quickly becomes more and more difficult to manage. It’s easy to overlook details. You have to start planning for meetings and writing reports, which take time away from actually doing work.

Brooks also notes that software development is a complex process that requires a lot of thinking. He gives an example where each person on the team can be expected to produce about 10 lines of code per day. If you need to produce a 1,000-line program, it may take 10 people a month. But if you add a single person to the team, the cost of managing that person will probably more than offset the amount of work the extra person can do. So the total productivity of the project will go down.

Managing Software Projects

Software, and by extension the tools for managing large projects, has come a long way since Brooks wrote this book. It’s still true that you can’t simply add more people to a project to get it done faster. But it is possible to manage software projects more effectively.

In particular, there are tools that help you keep track of project progress and plan future work that didn’t exist in the past. Powerful project management software lets you track the time that your team members spend on different tasks, helps you manage complex projects, and lets you keep track of the resources available for different projects.

A good project management solution can also help you make better decisions about how to use your team’s time. If you’re trying to decide which features to add to your product, you can run a simulation of how different features will affect your company’s growth.

The 1% Rule

Another piece of conventional wisdom that is often thrown around is the so-called 1% rule: 1% of programmers on a given project account for 99% of the productive output. Sometimes it’s 10% or 0.1%, but the idea is the same. A small number of the best programmers assigned to a project produce all of the useful work, and the remainder mostly get in the way.

The 1% rule is usually applied to software development, but it has been cited in other contexts as well. For example, the same principle supposedly applies to investments, where a fraction of top companies account for almost all of the returns in a portfolio.

The top 1% of programmers are often referred to as “rockstars”, a term borrowed from the music industry. It’s meant to convey that these programmers are exceptionally talented, both in terms of their raw programming skills and their ability to provide value to customers.

The 1% rule is an attractive idea for managers because it means that it’s possible to get a lot of value from comparatively few people – you just have to find these people and get them on your team. But is the 1% rule true?

There is some research that suggests it is. For example, a study of the Linux community found that 1% of developers accounted for 20% of the code written. This is not 99%, but the idea is the same. Another study of Wikipedia contributors found that 1% of editors accounted for 50% of the edits. There is also anecdotal evidence from tech companies, who often recruit a small number of top programmers and give them the freedom to work on whatever they deem to be most important. Google is a notable example of this – they are highly selective in their hiring processes, but the rockstars who work there are often very free.

If the 1% rule is correct, it means that there is a very small number of programmers who can do a disproportionate amount of good work. If you want to build a successful tech company, it’s probably a good idea to hire those people.

Rockstars Are People, Too

No matter who you have on your tech team, you still can’t escape the fact that programmer productivity, like that of any group of employees, is maximized when developers are happy, relaxed, and well looked after. Stress is particularly counterproductive to coding work, because without complete focus on the task at hand, productivity goes out the window (whether your team are rockstars or not). So do everything you can to reduce it in your team!

I have seen mindfulness programs for corporations used to great effect in this regard. Mindfulness is a great stress reducer for anyone, but seems to work particularly well for technologists. Perhaps this is because it becomes an intellectual pursuit, and is well suited to the analytical mind. At any rate, before you conduct a mass fire-and-rehire exercise, I would urge you to take a good look at corporate meditation programs, especially those that know how to work with high performers. You may be surprised at the difference it makes.

Other things you can do to reduce stress and improve productivity include providing ample coffee, relaxing deadlines and giving as much freedom as possible, and providing paid time off. You may find you’re sitting on a team of rockstars that aren’t performing because of simple things that you can fix.

Conclusion

Managing developers is still a challenge. The best way to manage your tech company is still to have a good team, but it’s good to know what tools are available to help you manage your team effectively. The industry is notorious for employee mobility, so if you have a good team, make sure you look after them.

A lot of other college students are trying to start a business on the side, during their study. I’ve sat back and watched the fireworks fly, and I have a few lessons to share from my anonymous friends. They’ve had some successes, and some failures, and I’d like to pass on the knowledge.

Study

The first thing to note is that a lot of my friends who started businesses, imagine themselves to be like Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard, who is so successful that he has to drop out of college. “Classes? Exams? Boring! That’s not the life for me, I’m an entrepreneur. I get all the ladies and don’t even have to study.”. Reality is of course different, but here is a much needed reminder: even if your side business were to succeed, you probably won’t drop out of college in victory. It’s much more likely that your grades will dip and that you’ll have to correct course. And, that’s under the big assumption that your business succeeds! So let’s not lose sight of the goal here: It’s to study and graduate from college. You can go full time on your business after that.

Startup or side business

Another mistake that I saw unfold is thinking that you’re a startup. What even is a startup? That’s a topic for another blog post, but for our purposes, it just means that you have investors and employees. Unless you’re really rich already (are you?) then you can’t afford to hire someone. Even if you can afford it, will someone who is good want to work for a kid who is still at college? I’m not sure that they would. And even if you get over that hurdle, I will argue that it’s not really your business, since the other person is spending more time on it than you are! You’re really outsourcing the majority of your business leadership to someone else. Another ingredient to call your business a startup is that you have investors. I am obviously not an investor, but I don’t think that you will find someone who is willing to give you a million dollars so that you can work part time on a business idea in between classes. So I think you have to be honest with yourself, you’re not starting a startup with an army of employees, with an office, with investors, and you’re not the CEO. You are a student who is doing a side business, and that is perfectly okay. In fact, I think it’s something to be proud of. In some ways, it’s even harder than starting a startup, because of the time and money constraints. If you succeed at making your side business profitable, that’s an amazing thing. Please reach out to me and I may write about you here!

Product or service

At the moment, everyone wants to make the next cool product. We all want to design the next Airpods, the next laptop, or the next yeezys. It’s natural to want to make a physical product and have it in your hands. But actually, most businesses are services. Think of the biggest businesses you know, Apple, Google, Microsoft. They all make services, and they make money by being better at running those services than anyone else. If you want to be like them, you need to make a service. If you want to make a physical product, you need to make a million sales, because that’s the only way to make any money. That’s very hard, especially when you’re starting out. You will be much better off if you can sell a service, because you can sell it once and then sell it again and again. Look at me, I sell a service online, I started it once, and am now able to make money from it again and again.

Please note that this doesn’t mean you should give up on your dream of making a physical product. After all, you have many years ahead of you after graduating. I’m just saying that it’s harder when you’re first starting, and probably impossible if you’re first starting, have very little money,and are part time. So do yourself a favor: start a small service business and try to repeat it, rather than trying to make a product. You can even use a freelancing site like Upwork.

Common thread

I’m not going to write about how to start a business, that’s a topic for another blog post, but I will tell you something that is common between all of my friends who have made money and didn’t fail or give up. Basically, you have to provide a service that people are happy to pay for. One friend is an illustrator, an other is a writer, and there are two other friends who do programming/IT work. That’s the common secret thread. It’s easy to keep going and not give up if you have a client who is urgently emailing you asking for the next job to be completed so they can pay you more. That kind of motivation keeps you going, even when you have papers due.

 

Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI for short, is a term often thrown around without a clearly defined meaning. When AGI arrives, we are told, robots will suddenly be smarter than humans. But what does this actually mean – how do we define smarter? The answer is more complex than you might imagine.

The AI field has been around for decades, with the first AGI milestone achieved in 1956 when Arthur Samuel programmed a computer to play checkers. Samuel’s program was not the first AI, however, as several computer scientists were well on their way to developing machines that could “think” before he was even born.

What makes AGI different from other programs that illustrate “thinking” is that it can successfully perform a broad range of cognitive tasks. We are not talking about simple responses to stimuli, but complex ones. In order to reach this level of sophistication, AGI must be able to learn and adapt, to reason and understand, and to communicate. In other words, AGI must be able to perform all of the tasks we define as being distinctly human.

The term AGI was coined in 1956 by John McCarthy, a computer scientist and artificial intelligence pioneer. It was initially used to describe a human-level intelligence that is able to perform any intellectual task that a human can. At that time, the term was used in a narrow sense, defining AGI as being an advanced version of the technology of the time. It was not until the 1980s that the term was used to refer to a hypothetical artificial intelligence with the same capabilities as a human mind.

AGI researchers have recently turned to neurobiology and cognitive psychology to try to better understand how the human brain works. It is believed that by studying the mechanisms of cognition, AGI researchers will eventually figure out how to build a computer that can think like a human. This focus on cognition is particularly important because the AGI field lacks a solid foundation in mathematics or computer science.

The complexity of building an AGI is so great that some researchers have turned to evolutionary algorithms to give them a head start. An evolutionary algorithm uses the principles of evolution to come up with solutions to problems. Instead of hand-coding instructions to perform a task, the algorithm instead starts with a large population of possible solutions and allows them to compete with each other. Over time, the most successful solutions will win out over the failures, and the population of possible solutions will continue to grow and evolve. The results vary, but are sometimes better than the results from traditional programming.

How close are we?

The short answer is no one knows. If you ask any two AI researchers you will get two answers and at least one passionate argument. There are some who say we are at an inflection point. Others say we are closer to the start than the finish, and most will tell you there is still a long way to go.

The problem with predictions is that they are not always correct. We thought we were very close to having an AGI in the 1960s, and then we started to focus on a different problem that seemed easier to solve. So, if you are a fan of artificial intelligence, and would love to see an AGI built in your lifetime, you may be in luck – or you may not.

While the goal of artificial general intelligence is an end in itself, most researchers are not focused on developing a machine that can pass the Turing test. Instead, most researchers hope to use AGI technology to solve real-world problems. In order to develop a machine that can think like a human, you must first understand how a human thinks. It’s a tall order.

Most AGI programs are limited to text-based communication. Some programs do have the ability to communicate using speech, but they still struggle with syntax and other complex language issues. In order to communicate like a human, an AGI must be able to recognize speech and to respond in a way that makes sense to the listener.

Finally, AGI researchers are still trying to figure out how to teach an AGI to reason and to problem-solve. The best AGI programs are currently able to perform only a very limited set of cognitive tasks. If an AGI wants to learn to do something new, it must be programmed to do so – despite recent advances in deep learning techniques.

Conclusion

Artificial general intelligence, if we’re being realistic, is still in its infancy. While the technology is still several decades away, it is an incredibly exciting field that promises to solve problems that have plagued humanity for decades. Optimistic experts predict that AGI will be a reality within the next 20 years – other say it will be longer. In reality, nobody knows.

 

As all IT students know, the languages that you learn in your main, compulsory classes are often not the most interesting, most fun, or even the most employable ones. They’re often close to the lowest common denominator, so that everyone from the reluctant engineering student, to the most hardcore system administrator, can learn and complete the exercises. So, the question is then, how do you get to learn the more interesting ones? Or the most job-friendly ones? I go through my thoughts in this post below. As with all highly opinionated pieces of writing, feel free to disagree, but don’t hate!

Studying on the side

So, if your lectures are too easy, and you’re helping your friends struggle through their programming assignments, then why put take that time, and instead put it towards learning the languages that you really want to learn? Get your class timetable, and wall off some time between two classes, and treat it just like a real class. Even make up a class code for it. Then you are more likely to follow through with it. At the end of the semester, you will thank yourself!

Let’s look at the various programming languages that you might wish to learn, each for their own motivating reasons. First up, the best motivator of all, money!

The most job-friendly

I think that a lot of people go to college mainly because it increases your job prospects, and increases your starting and average salary after graduating. So, catering to that, I will discuss here the kinds of programming languages that are most able to get you paid. Languages from the Microsoft stack, such as C# and VB.NET, are some of the most widely used programming languages in professional (employed) software development. I know that they’re not used much in open source, but that’s okay, this paragraph is only about making money! Not giving back to open source communities. So, as I was saying, Microsoft’s languages are used in a lot of different places, from enterprise development to game development to mobile development. I know that a lot of people reading this will roll their eyes, but I would argue that they are good to learn, even if you don’t end up staying in the Microsoft stack.

They are even good to learn if you want to get a good programming foundation. They will teach you about object-oriented programming, and how to handle data and logic in a structured way. I’ve seen too many people throw up their hands and say “I’m never going to learn C++ in this course!!” and then I see those same people struggle with even basic programming concepts when they try to learn other languages that aren’t as close to the same style. I’ve also seen a lot of people struggle with things like pointers and memory management in C/C++, and while that may be a bit easier in C#, it’s still there, and you should learn how to handle it. But none of that matters if you don’t have food on the table! So, I suggest (purely for employ-ability reasons) that you start with Microsoft stack languages. Once you’re living the easy life, you can venture out into more popular or fun languages and stacks.

Popular

As a student, I used to think that you learn a programming language like C, and then afterwards, you are a “C programmer”. As if it’s a skill that you need to do a course for. That’s totally incorrect. The truth is, even after doing the course, you still aren’t a C programmer! You only really know a language once you’ve used it a few times and understand how to use it properly, rather than just getting things finished quickly. So, this all being said, you can’t just learn a few tricks and then rest. You need to constantly be updating your knowledge, and learning the new languages, the new frameworks, and the new libraries and trends, as they come out. At the moment of course, Javascript frameworks are wildly popular, and everyone is hiring for JavaScript framework jobs. It’s certainly fun to code them, I’ve done a bit of coding on several frameworks, I really liked it!

After all, Javascript, the language of the web browser. It is widely used in both client-side development, and server-side development (with Node.js and others). While it is easy to dismiss JavaScript as “not a real language”, it is actually very powerful, and allows you to work in a single language. Because it’s so non-strict, the versatility and power makes it a very valuable language to learn.

Fun

If you are into things that are fun to program, nothing is more fun than getting really low level down into the low level details of device drivers and hardware programming, learning assembly and writing efficient 3D game engines. I admit, it’s very unlikely that anyone will use any game engine that I write, but hey, this part of the post is purely for fun! So no money or popularity is needed, ha. When it’s done, I’ll probably publish it as open source.

Wrapping up

Okay, well this has been fun, I hope you’ve taken in some good tips for studying programming languages outside of your class work, and again, feel free to disagree gently! What programming languages are you learning now? And why? I can’t wait to hear from you.