Friday, October 28, 2016

5 REASONS..!! WHY YOUR LAPTOP WORKS SLOW

If your old laptop is starting to show its age, there can be any number of issues affecting its performance. Here are five likely culprits for why your laptop is running so frustratingly slow and five solutions to return it to its former glory.

1. Spinning hard drive

I speak from experience when I say moving from a traditional spinning hard drive to a solid-state drive (SSD) is the best thing you can do to revive an old laptop. Without needing locate data on a spinning platter, an SSD is inherently faster than a mechanical hard drive.

If your laptop has lost a step and uses a spinning hard drive, the first thing I would do is upgrade to an SSD. I replaced my MacBook Pro's hard drive a few years ago with a Samsung 850 EVO SSD and my MacBook Pro felt like a brand-new machine. It's a fairly easy procedure (see how to replace a MacBook Pro's hard drive), and SSDs have come down in price and up in capacity over the years. You can get a 256GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD for less than $100, and Samsung now offers the 850 EVO SSD as big as 2TB. Your laptop could conceivably get both better performance and bigger capacity with the addition of an SSD.

2. Crowded hard drive

The more files and applications you collect, the more cluttered your hard drive becomes. The more cluttered your hard drive becomes, the harder it becomes for your laptop to locate the data you request. The harder it becomes for your laptop to locate the data you request, the slower your laptop runs. The slower your laptop runs, the more frustrated you get. The more frustrated you get, you more you turn to Google for answers. The more you turn to Google for answers, the more likely you land on this article to help you speed up your slow laptop. Hi, there!

If your laptop already has an SSD or you don't want to replace its spinning drive, you can still speed up your laptop by cleaning up its hard drive, removing files and applications you no longer need.

On a Windows laptop, open Control Panel and click Uninstall a program. You can simply select apps from the list and click Uninstall to remove them and all of their associated files.

Macs lack an uninstaller program, so you'll need to turn to third-party apps such as AppCleaner or AppZapper to uninstall apps and all the installation files that came with them. Dragging an app from the Applications folder to the trash leaves behind these associated files.

After culling your applications, it's a good idea on both Windows and Mac laptops to go through your Downloads folder and delete the installer packages and files sitting there you no longer need.

3. Short on RAM

Another cheap and easy upgrade to make to a sluggish laptop is the addition of more RAM. Your laptop's CPU can access data faster from its RAM than its hard drive or SSD, so the more more RAM it has, the more data it can store there for quick access.

Adding more RAM is straightforward for both Macs and Windows laptops. In fact, it'll probably take you longer to find the type and amount of RAM that's right for your laptop than it will to open your laptop and physically add the RAM and close your laptop back up.

In MacOS, go to Apple menu > About This Mac and click the Memory tab to see information about the type of memory your Mac is using and if there are any free memory slots. See how to add RAM to a MacBook Pro.

In Windows 10, open the Task Manager, click the Performance tab and then click Memory. Here, you'll see the speed of your laptop's memory and how many memory slots are in use.

4. Too much multitasking

You can speed up your laptop without opening it up and adding new hardware simply by asking it to do less. If by lunchtime you have multiple apps running and dozens of browser tabs open, then you might be asking your laptop to do more than it can handle. Your laptop's performance will improve (and its cooling fans might stop spinning) if you cut back on multitasking. Quit apps you aren't using and close the tabs you don't need open.

To take out the guesswork about which apps are using the most system resources, both MacOS and Windows offer utilities that show you the amount of strain each app is currently placing your CPU, memory, disk and network. In Windows, open the Task Manager. In MacOS, open the Activity Monitor. Both utilities show the percentage of system resources currently being consumed and offer buttons to quit apps so that your laptop can reallocate those resources.

5. Not staying current

Updates to MacOS and Windows can include new features along with enhancements to improves security and performance. It's a good idea to keep your laptop current by downloading and installing updates as Apple and Microsoft release them.

Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs updates, though you can set active hours so that an update doesn't begin in the middle of your work day. You can also manually check for updates by going to Settings > Windows Update.

You can enable automatic updates on MacOS by going to System Preferences > App Store and checking the box for Automatically check for updates. There is also a check box to automatically install MacOS updates; if you don't check it, you'll be notified when an update has been downloaded and is ready to install. There is also a Check Now button on this App Store panel to manually check for updates.

Courtesy: Cnet

Sunday, October 23, 2016

NOW MAKE CALL VIA FACEBOOK MESSENGER FROM YOUR WINDOWS DEVICE

Facebook has quietly upgraded its Messenger app for Windows 10 with the ability to make voice and video calls, VentureBeat has discovered. No more leaving the app to ring up a friend through a browser. If that new-but-familiar phone or camera icon that you're probably used to seeing on iOS and Android has that green bubble up, your friend's online -- just tap either to start a call.

In case you don't have the feature yet, you'll likely get it soon: a Facebook spokesperson told the publication that it only started rolling out last week. When the feature does go live for you, you'll get call notifications if someone rings you up and be able to leave voicemails in your friends' inboxes. VentureBeat says you'll also be able to choose which camera to use, record your video calls and do group voice -- not video, unfortunately -- calls if the whole squad wants to chat.

Facebook has also updated WhatsApp for Windows Phone with video calling capability, a Spanish website has reported. However, it's an experimental release exclusively for select beta users, so you'll have to be really lucky to be able to test it out before everyone else.

Friday, October 21, 2016

TOP 5 BEST SPY GAMES OF ALL TIMES

What did you want to be when you grew up? A pilot? An astronaut? An international spy? If you were anything like me, it was probably the last suggestion.

Though, suffice to say, games journalism is a far cry from tactical espionage, video games still provide a great form of wish fulfillment nonetheless. And there have been loads of spy-related titles released throughout the history of the medium that allow you to live out your fantasies as a secret agent.

Gathering intel from my many agents in the field, I’ve assembled a list of some of favourite examples below:

Device 6

If you’ve ever watched the cult British TV show The Prisoner, the central plot of Device 6 should be familiar to you. Waking up alone on a mysterious island with little to no recollection of how you got there, the player must solve multi-sensory puzzles to learn more about their whereabouts.

Stylish, intelligent, and packed with plenty of intrigue – Device 6 is an experience that’s one in a million, proving the mobile platform has more to offer than just shallow, freemium games and inferior ports of successful PC titles.

Metal Gear Solid 3

Cigarette gas spray? Check. A lipstick firearm? Check. Night vision goggles? Check. Metal Gear Solid 3 contains tons of nods to the spy genre, something that’s appropriate considering the game takes place in the 1960s during the height of the Cold War.

Acting as the CIA agent “Naked Snake”, you’re unleashed into a jungle playground and given the choice of how you proceed. Use disguises and camouflage to infiltrate military outposts or knock out guards with your various devices. Just be on the lookout for gropey lightning men. They’ll see straight through your outfit.

Hitman: Blood Money

There’s more to spying than simply obtaining information and interrogating individuals. There’s also the unsavoury business of assassinations.

Hitman: Blood Money is one of many games on this list that issues you a license to kill, offering you a pass to take out drug dealers, white supremacists, and corrupt CIA agents, to name but a few.

It separates itself from the rest by the manner in which you get to carry out these hits: you can stage little “accidents” to occur, or execute your mark in point blank fashion. But if you’re the type of player that wants to be rewarded with the more elusive and distinguished ratings, discretion is advised.

Goldeneye 007

In Rare’s classic 1997 first-person shooter, players are given the golden opportunity to assume the identity of the third best 007 (behind George Lazenby and Daniel Craig obviously), as he attempts to foil a crime syndicate’s evil plan to cause a global financial meltdown.

Presenting players with an impressive arsenal of weapons and gadgets, Goldeneye 007 is the most accurate and enjoyable portrayal of the famous agent in a video game to date, a fact that earns it a definite spot on this list.

It also scores bonus points for its exceptional multiplayer mode, featuring other iconic characters from the film series. Life’s a riot with spy vs spy

Deus Ex

Shunning Aston Martins and martinis, Deus Ex draws influence instead from the cyberpunk genre, pitting its central protagonist JC Denton against a group of secretive organisations, namely the Illuminati and Majestic 12.

You’ll collect intel and interrogate targets, tackling situations with either stealth or guns blazing like a cold-blooded killer. And that’s not the only choice you make.

Allegiances are also dependent on your actions in game, with different decisions massively altering your ending. Full of paranoia and tough decisions - Deus Ex is a fitting spy tale for the online generation.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Facebook Messenger wants to help you strike up a conversation

Facebook Messenger may have already hit the billion-user club this past summer, but the company is always looking for new ways to increase app usage. The latest attempt is the introduction of “conversation topics” on Messenger – a feature offering suggestions about what to talk about with friends. These conversation starters appear to rely on Messenger’s connection to Facebook’s larger social network, as they reference things your friends have done lately – like where they’ve been, or events they plan to attend, for example.

The feature was spotted this weekend on the iOS app by Chris Messina, who posted to Twitter about the new conversation starters.

We understand that this is currently only a small test Facebook is conducting, which is why not that many people are currently seeing this new section in their own Messenger application at this time.

The suggested topics have their own dedicated section on the homescreen.

The conversation topic suggestion appears underneath a friend’s name in the new section. To the right is Messenger’s activity indicator, which shows you when the person was last online.

In the example above, Messenger displays places the friend in question had recently visited, like the Grand Canyon.

In other cases, the suggested topics might include things like the songs the friend just listened to on a music streaming service, or an event they’ve indicated they’ve said they’re interested via Facebook Events.

The idea behind Conversation Topics is simple: if you’re looking for a way to break the ice with a new Facebook friend or catch up with an old one, these conversation prompts can help you figure out what to talk about.

In addition, the feature would have the added benefit of being a more basic News Feed of sorts, as it lets you catch up on friends’ recent activity, without having to scroll through News Feed and its clutter of shared links, posts from Facebook Pages, ads, and other content.

It’s also worth noting that this Conversation Topics feature isn’t the only thing Facebook is working on in order to better connect Messenger users with those who share similar interests. In September, Messina had also spotted code buried in the Messenger app which pointed to a feature called “Rooms.”

This appears to be an attempt to build public chat rooms on Messenger’s platform around shared topics and interests, and likely has ties to Facebook’s earlier “Rooms” project, now shuttered, which was an experiment in anonymized social networking on Facebook’s part.

It’s unclear for the time being if the Conversation Topics are in any way tied to Messenger’s plans to debut public chat rooms, however. (Techcrunch)

Thursday, October 13, 2016

WEBSITE TRAFIIC TIPS: TO INCREASE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE

Traffic is the lifeblood for any blog. If you don’t get enough traffic, it eventually die and all your efforts that have put into blogging will go in vain. Most bloggers think that by creating more blog posts they can get more traffic to their blogs. It was true 10 years back when there was no competition.

Now, in this crowded online community where Google has evolved so much so that even if you write quality stuff you won’t be getting quality traffic unless you have a proper strategy. Then how new bloggers can survive and how can they get more website traffic to make more money online.Once our website gets live, we implement Google Analytics or any other traffic tracking software on our website with the intention that we will start seeing 100’s of visitors to our website from day one. But that does not happen except you are starting a website around big brand or advertising a lot about your new website. So we need to work really hard to increase our website daily traffic from zero to 100 and then from 100 to 1000.

How to improve your search engine rankings on GOOGLE (SEO Tips)

There are many ways you can increase traffic on your website, and in today’s post, we’re going to look at most helpful tips ti increase a website trafic, including several ways to boost site traffic.

1. Advertise

This one is so obvious, we’re going to look at it first. Paid search, social media advertising and display advertising are all excellent ways of attracting visitors, building your brand and getting your site in front of people. Adjust your paid strategies to suit your goals – do you just want more traffic, or are you looking to increase conversions, too? Each paid channel has its pros and cons, so think carefully about your objectives before you reach for your credit card.

If you’re hoping that more traffic to your site will also result in more sales, you’ll need to target highcommercial intent keywords as part of your paid search strategies. Yes, competition for these search terms can be fierce (and expensive), but the payoffs can be worth it.

2. Get Social

It’s not enough to produce great content and hope that people find it – you have to be proactive. One of the best ways to increase traffic to your website is to use social media channels to promote your content. Twitter is ideal for short, snappy (and tempting) links, whereas Google+ promotion can help your site show up in personalized search results and seems especially effective in B2B niches. If you’re a B2C product company, you might find great traction with image-heavy social sites like Pinterest and Instagram.

Increase traffic to your website social media icons

3. Mix It Up

There is no magic formula for content marketing success, despite what some would have you believe. For this reason, vary the length and format of your content to make it as appealing as possible to different kinds of readers. Intersperse shorter, news-based blog posts with long-form content as well as video, infographics and data-driven pieces for maximum impact.

4. Write Irresistible Headlines

Headlines are one of the most important parts of your content. Without a compelling headline, even the most comprehensive blog post will go unread. Master the art of headline writing. For example, the writers at BuzzFeed and Upworthy often write upward of twenty different headlines before finally settling on the one that will drive the most traffic, so think carefully about your headline before you hit “publish.”

5. Pay Attention to On-Page SEO

Think SEO is dead? Think again. Optimizing your content for search engines is still a valuable and worthwhile practice. Are you making the most of image alt text? Are you creating internal links to new content? What about meta descriptions? Optimizing for on-page SEO doesn’t have to take ages, and it could help boost your organic traffic.

6. Target Long-Tail Keywords

Got your high commercial intent keyword bases covered? Then it’s time to target long-tail keywords, too. Long-tail keywords account for a majority of web searches, meaning that if you’re not targeting them as part of your paid search or SEO efforts, you’re missing out.

Increase traffic to your website reptile with long tail

7. Start Guest Blogging

Before you say it – no, true guest blogging isn’t dead, despite what you may have heard. Securing a guest post on a reputable site can increase blog traffic to your website and help build your brand into the bargain. Be warned, though – standards for guest blogging have changed radically during the past eighteen months, and spammy tactics could result in stiff penalties. Proceed with caution.

8. Invite Others to Guest Blog on Your Site

Guest blogging is a two-way street. In addition to posting content to other blogs, invite people in your niche to blog on your own site. They’re likely to share and link to their guest article, which could bring new readers to your site. Just be sure that you only post high-quality, original content without spammy links, because Google is cracking way down on low-quality guest blogging.

9. Go After Referral Traffic

Rather than trying to persuade other sites to link back to you (a tedious and time-intensive process), create content that just begs to be linked to.

When Larry wrote about the kick in the proverbial teeth that eBay took from Google’s Panda update, we managed to secure a link from Ars Technica in the Editor’s Pick section alongside links to The New York Times and National Geographic. Not too shabby – and neither was the resulting spike in referral traffic. Learn what types of links send lots of referral traffic, and how to get them, in this post.

Increase traffic to your website referral link analytics data

10. Post Content to LinkedIn

LinkedIn has become much more than a means of finding another job. The world’s largest professional social network is now a valuable publishing platform in its own right, which means you should be posting content to LinkedIn on a regular basis. Doing so can boost traffic to your site, as well as increase your profile within your industry – especially if you have a moderate to large following.

11. Implement Schema Microdata

Implementing schema (or another microdata format) won’t necessarily increase traffic to your website on its own, but it will make it easier for search engine bots to find and index your pages. Another benefit of using schema for SEO is that it can result in better rich site snippets, which can improve click-through rates.

12. Link Internally

The strength of your link profile isn’t solely determined by how many sites link back to you – it can also be affected by your internal linking structure. When creating and publishing content, be sure to keep an eye out for opportunities for internal links. This not only helps with SEO, but also results in a better, more useful experience for the user – the cornerstone of increasing traffic to your website.

13. Interview Industry Thought Leaders

Think interviews are only for the big leaguers? You’d be amazed how many people will be willing to talk to you if you just ask them. Send out emails requesting an interview to thought leaders in your industry, and publish the interviews on your blog. Not only will the name recognition boost your credibility and increase traffic to your website, the interviewee will probably share the content too, further expanding its reach.

Increase traffic to your website thought leadership concept

14. Don’t Neglect Email Marketing

So many businesses are focused on attracting new customers through content marketing that they forget about more traditional methods. Email marketing can be a powerful tool, and even a moderately successful email blast can result in a significant uptick in traffic. Just be careful not to bombard people with relentless emails about every single update in your business. Also, don’t overlook the power ofword-of-mouth marketing, especially from people who are already enjoying your products or services. A friendly email reminder about a new service or product can help you boost your traffic, too.

15. Make Sure Your Site is Responsive

The days when internet browsing was done exclusively on desktop PCs are long gone. Today, more people than ever before are using mobile devices to access the web, and if you force your visitors to pinch and scroll their way around your site, you’re basically telling them to go elsewhere. Ensure that your website is accessible and comfortably viewable across a range of devices, including smaller smartphones.

16. Make Sure Your Site is Fast

Ever found yourself waiting thirty seconds for a webpage to load? Me neither. If your site takes forever to load, your bounce rate will be sky high. Make sure that your pages are as technically optimized as possible, including image file sizes, page structure and the functionality of third-party plugins. The faster your site loads, the better.

Increase traffic to your website 8-bit loading bar icon

17. Foster a Sense of Community

People want to speak their minds and weigh in on subjects they feel passionately about, so building a community into your site is a great way to START A conversation and increase traffic to your website. Implement a robust commenting system through third-party solutions such as Facebook comments or Disqus, or create a dedicated forum where visitors can ask questions. Don’t forget tomanage your community to ensure that minimum standards of decorum are met, however.

18. Make Yourself Heard in Comment Sections

You probably visit at least a few sites that are relevant to your business on a regular basis, so why not join the conversation? Commenting doesn’t necessarily provide an immediate boost to referral traffic right away, but making a name for yourself by providing insightful, thought-provoking comments on industry blogs and sites is a great way to get your name out there – which can subsequently result in driving more traffic to your own site. Just remember that, as with guest posting, quality and relevance are key – you should be engaging with other people in your niche, not dropping spam links on unrelated websites.

Increase traffic to your website comments section

19. Examine Your Analytics Data

Google Analytics is an invaluable source of data on just about every conceivable aspect of your site, from your most popular pages to visitor demographics. Keep a close eye on your Analytics data, and use this information to inform your promotional and content strategies. Pay attention to what posts and pages are proving the most popular. Inspect visitor data to see how, where and when your site traffic is coming from.

20. Get Active on Social Media

It’s not enough to just share content through social channels – you need to actively participate in the community, too. Got a Twitter account? Then join in group discussions with relevant hashtags. Is your audience leaving comments on your Facebook posts? Answer questions and engage with your readers. Nothing turns people off quicker than using social media as a broadcast channel – use social media as it was intended and actually interact with your fans.

21. Submit Your Content to Aggregator Sites

Firstly, a disclaimer – don’t spam Reddit and other similar sites hoping to “hit the jackpot” of referral traffic, because it’s not going to happen. Members of communities like Reddit are extraordinarily savvy to spam disguised as legitimate links, but every now and again, it doesn’t hurt to submit links that these audiences will find genuinely useful. Choose a relevant subreddit, submit your content, then watch the traffic pour in.

Increase traffic to your website news aggregator sites

22. Incorporate Video into Your Content Strategy

Text-based content is all well and good, but video can be a valuable asset in both attracting new visitors and making your site more engaging. Data shows that information retention is significantly higher for visual material than it is for text, meaning that video is an excellent way to grab – and hold – your audience’s attention, and boost traffic to your website at the same time.

23. Research the Competition

If you haven’t used software like BuzzSumo to check out what your competitors are up to, you’re at a huge disadvantage. These services aggregate the social performance of specific sites and content to provide you with an at-a-glance view of what topics are resonating with readers and, most importantly, making the rounds on social media. Find out what people are reading (and talking about), and emulate that kind of content to bring traffic to your website.

Increase traffic to your website buzzsumo results page

24. Host Webinars

People love to learn, and webinars are an excellent way to impart your wisdom to your eagerly waiting audience. Combined with an effective social promotion campaign, webinars are a great way to increase traffic to your website. Send out an email a week or so ahead of time, as well as a “last chance to register” reminder the day before the webinar. Make sure to archive the presentation for later viewing, and promote your webinars widely through social media.

25. Attend Conferences

Whatever industry you’re in, chances are there are at least one or two major conventions and conferences that are relevant to your business. Attending these events is a good idea – speaking at them is even better. Even a halfway decent speaking engagement is an excellent way to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and gain significant exposure for your site.

Well, that just about does it for today’s post. If you’ve got your own tips for increasing traffic to your website, I’d love to hear them.

Releted:

How to improve your search engine rankings on GOOGLE (SEO Tips)

COMMENT ME for more instructioons.....!!

courtesy:wordstream

GOOGLE IS REPORTEDLY MAKING TWO ANDROID WEAR SMARTWATCHES INTEGRATED WITH ASSISTANT

Google may release its smartwatches alongside Android Wear 2.0 in Q1 2017

It’s going to be a busy fall this year for Google. In addition to releasing two Nexus devices and the latest version of Android, now known as Nougat — not to mention the developer kit of the first Project Ara modular phone, Google Home, and another Google-built phone.The search giant may also be working on two Android Wear smartwatches.

The latest rumors about the devices give us an idea of when they’ll finally be released. According to well-known leaker Evan Blass, the two devices will be released at some point in the first quarter of 2017, and will feature the new Android Wear 2.0, which has coincidentally also been pushed to 2017.

Previously we received reports from Android Police, but this time it was a rendered image of what the smartwatches may look like. The Android news site attributed the leaked information to a “reliable source” which it did not identify. You know what that means — take this information with a salty dose of skepticism, as nothing can be confirmed until Google’s official announcement. Here’s a look:

Again, the image is a recreation of what Android Police believes the smartwatches will look like, based on the actual primary source material. It’s highly likely that the devices will look different when they’re finally released.

The two smartwatches are code-named Angelfish, left, and Swordfish, right. This does follow the theme of Google devices being code-named after species of fish. The upcoming Nexus devices, for example, are code-named Marlin and Sailfish. The names are surrounded with ambiguity, according to Android Police, which means Google could be using a completely different name altogether. Either way, we’ll stick with the information available so as not to be confusing.

Both smartwatches will have full-circular displays, which likely means that they will not feature the prominent “flat tire” found in circular watches like the Moto 360 and the Casio WSD-F10.

One of the key points about both smartwatches is that they will tout Google Assistant integration with contextual alerts. Google Assistant is the company’s new artificially intelligent assistant, which is set to debut first in Google Home and Allo, a messaging app scheduled for release this summer. We don’t know if this is a feature specific to these watches, or if it will be bundled into Android Wear 2.0.

It’s also unclear if these watches will be branded under the Nexus line, but if Google is manufacturing them, that is unlikely because Nexus devices always feature a collaboration between the search giant and a specific partnered manufacturer. CEO Sundar Pichai did mention that this year’s Nexus devices would feature more proprietary software from Google, and the company would have more input on the design. That could mean the company wants to turn the Nexus line into its own Google brand, and the smartwatches could be the first step.

Angelfish will not support Google’s interchangeable Mode watch bands due to its design and lugs, but Swordfish will be compatible. The Mountain View, California, company is also reportedly working on a “brand-new style of watch faces” for both of these smartwatches that will allow them to gain quicker access to notifications, media controls, and other functions for commonly used apps. This part sounds awfully similar to what Google unveiled in Android Wear 2.0, and its streamlined navigation pattern, so it could be what Android Police is referencing.

Google tells Digital Trends it does not comment on rumors and speculation.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

TOP 5 BIGGEST TECH FAILS OF ALL TIME

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 debacle has quickly become one of the biggest tech fails in recent history, resulting in a $17bn blow the company will be recovering from for years. So serious and so dire has the situation become that Samsung has announced it is discontinuing the Note 7, putting the future of the highly popular smartphone range on the ropes.

While Samsung's might be the most high-profile product recall in recent memory, it is by no means the only company to have sold products unfit for human use. Here are a few more embarrassing tech fails that companies would rather you forget.

1. Red Ring of Death

PlayStation fans landed the first blow in the 7 Gen console wars when the infamous 'Red Ring of Death' hit Xbox 360 gamers. The problem saw consoles suddenly dying for no apparent reason, with the three flashing red lights indicating a "general hardware failure". Microsoft was forced to issue replacement units to hundreds of customers as well as extend all Xbox 360 warranties to three years, costing it millions.

2. Antennagate

At its most fundamental level, a phone could be able to make calls. Yet when Apple launched the iPhone 4 in 2010, users reported that the device struggled at this most basic task. The problem, as it turned out, was the placement of the antenna on the phone, which had been moved for the phone's redesign. Incredulously, Apple's first response was to suggest that customers were holding the phone the wrong way, before admitting it was at fault and resolved to look into the problem properly. Even then, the eventual "fix" came in the form of a free bumper case that Apple said would alleviate the problem

3. False alarm

Nest left customers heated after pulling some 440,000 of its 'smart' smoke detectors from sale after it became apparent that the device could be inadvertently disabled during a fire. This was thanks to its Wave feature, which allowed customers to disable the alarm with a gesture if triggered accidentally – say, by burning toast. Unfortunately, the device struggled to differentiate between this and people simply moving around beneath it, making it quite useless in emergencies.

4. Amazon's Hoverboard Hell

Not only are these two wheeled monstrosities not even real hoverboards, but they're also prone to burning down homes. The problem was traced to faulty batteries and charging components that were not compliant with normal safety standards, and as such, Amazon completely banned sales of the devices pending further investigation. Since then we've seen fewer of them menacing the high street, which can only be a good thing.

5. Unhappy Meal

A McDonald's fitness tracker – what could possibly go wrong? As well as being a front runner for the most ironic gadget of the year award, McDonald's' Step-iT health monitor turned out to be good at burning more than just calories. The fast food chain recalled millions of the devices after dishing them out in Happy Meals in the US, after customers complained of being left with skin irritation and blisters.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Self-Driving Car Successfully Drives Itself 1200 Miles Across China In Six Days

Chinese automaker and Ford's partner Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. announced the successful road trip of its self-driving car. The vehicle traveled from Chongqing in Southwest China to Beijing, which is in the northeast.

The journey covered more than 1,200 miles (almost 2,000 kilometers) and lasted for six days - that's an average of 200 miles (321.8 kilometers) a day. At least two of the company's self-driving cars accomplished the journey where they took routes in a live environment.

In a statement given to the Shenzhen stock exchange, the Chinese automaker said that its self-driving cars have used cameras and radar that allowed the pair to test a number of varying functions. According to the company, the driverless cars were able to assess automatic cruising, assisted driving when there's traffic congestion, lane keeping or changing and speed reduction by way of voice control and traffic sign recognition.

Li Yusheng, the project's chief engineer, said that one car had even reached up to 75 mph on the nation's open highway and managed to adapt to the changing road surface.

"The cars ran up to 120 km per hour on the highway, and adapted to the changing road surface," said Li.

Kong Zhouwei, a car tester, said that when the self-driving cars passed through small tunnels that have dim or zero lighting, their response time was slower. Kong attributed the cars' slow response rate to the difficulty in recognizing the road markings when the cars used their in-vehicle cameras after the external lights changed.

Kong said that the company plans to employ laser radar techniques in order to address this difficulty that the two cars encountered.

Other challenges that were seen during the road test included trucks that seemed wider than the lane and a couple of road sections and gas stations that required the cars to be under assisted driving.

Chongqing joins other Chinese companies such as Baidu, BYD, SAIC Motor, GAC Group and BAIC group in a global race to create self-driving cars with occasional or zero human intervention. The automaker plans to produce self-driving cars designed exclusively for traveling on highways and make them commercially available by 2018. It also plans to mass produce self-driving cars capable enough to navigate the nation's complicated urban roads by 2025.

Around the globe, there are at least 18 companies that are developing autonomous cars. These include Toyota, Audi and BMW to name a few.

Best of luck..!!

How to improve your search engine rankings on GOOGLE (SEO Tips)

This is the largest collection of SEO tips on the planet.
I spent a lot of time studying the factors that contribute highly towards ranking within the Featured Snippet. What I found was as follows:

No SEO means no visitors from search engines. If you don’t do it then search engines can’t categorise and rank your site for keywords relevant to your business.

Both on-site SEO and off-site SEO are required. You can’t achieve good results doing one without the other.

Start doing SEO now. The longer you leave it to start, the further ahead your competitors will be, and the harder it becomes to rank higher than them.

Know your competition. Find out what the sites ranking on the 1st page for the keywords that you want to rank for have done, on-site and off-site, to get there.

No two websites are the same. An SEO strategy that worked for someone else’s site isn’t guaranteed to work for yours because there are so many variables.

SEO doesn’t have to be expensive. You can get big results on a small budget if you invest time in creating good content and building online relationships.

SEO results aren’t instant. The results of SEO work done today might not become apparent, and might not be credited by search engines, for weeks, or even months.

The newer your website is, the more patient you will need to be. It takes time to build authority and trust, and until you’ve developed both, you shouldn’t expect to outrank older, more established sites.

Never consider your website to be finished. If you want your site to continue to rank higher, attract more visitors and make more sales, then you should always be adding to and improving it.

Adapt to algorithm updates. To attain and retain good rankings you need to adapt your SEO strategy as search engines evolve over time.

You don’t need to submit your website to search engines. They have evolved beyond the point of needing to be directly notified when a new website, or page on a website, is created.

Get advice directly from Google. Via their Webmaster Guidelines and Webmaster Help Videos.

Don’t risk Google penalties. As they have a significant share of the search market, a penalty from them results in a significant, and often long-term, loss of visitors to your site.

You’re ultimately responsible for all of SEO work done on your website. Search engines won’t remove a penalty on the basis that you didn’t do, and didn’t know the specifics of, the SEO work on your site.

Set-up and use Google Search Console. To find out, among other things, what keywords your site is ranking for and which other sites are linking to yours.

Set-up and use Google Analytics. To find out, among other things, how many visitors your site gets, the keywords they use to find it, and what pages they visit.

Set-up a Google+ page for your business. Doing so builds trust with Google and improves rankings for localised keywords.

Diversify your traffic sources. Google is a great source of traffic but being 100% reliant on them for visitors puts you in a vulnerable position.

Use Pay Per Click in addition to SEO. If you can afford to do both, then do both, as although PPC can be costly, you can get visitors to your site straight away for any keywords that you want.

Low quality equals high risk. Low quality backlinks and/or low quality on-site content can easily result in your site being penalised by search engines.

Create content primarily for people, not search engines. There’s no point creating content that ranks well if it doesn’t help people, interest them, or persuade them to buy from you.

Remove duplicate content. You can be penalised for having the same, or very similar, content on multiple pages of your site.

Remove, merge or add to pages with little content on them. Having lots of content-light pages, with short page view times, can result in search engines downgrading all of your site’s keyword rankings.

Don’t copy content from other websites. If search engines find that content on your site has been taken from elsewhere they may downgrade rankings for some, or even all, of your webpages.

Claim authorship of your content. Linking your Google+ account to your content improves both rankings and click-through-rate.

Ensure your content is good enough to be on the 1st page. If your content isn’t better than the content already on the 1st page for a keyword then your site doesn’t deserve to rank there.

Make your content engaging for visitors. The more engaging it is, the longer people will stay on your site, and high viewing times signal to search engines that your site deserves good rankings.

Create videos. They increase the amount of time that people spend on your site and also allow you to get links from video sharing sites.

Create stats/charts/graphs/infographics. People are more likely to share and link to these types of content than plain written content.

More content equals more rankings, more visitors and more sales. Search engines reward, and visitors trust more, sites that are filled with lots of pages of good quality content.

Add a blog to your website. Doing so makes it quick and simple to add new pages of content to your site.

Create content to post on other websites and blogs. People are much more likely to link to you if you provide them with content to use on their site.

Balance creating content with marketing content. If you create content without marketing it then people will struggle to find it, and if they can’t find it they can’t link to it or share it.

Write a unique, descriptive title for every page. Within 55 characters you need to make the topic of a page clear to both humans and search engines.

Write a unique, descriptive meta description for every page. Within 160 characters you need to describe the topic of a page in a way that persuades people to click on your site instead of the other sites listed in the search results.

Research keywords before optimising for them. If you choose the wrong keywords, regardless of what you do for on-site and off-site SEO, you’ll get very few visitors and/or visitors who don’t convert into sales.

Use Google’s Keyword Tool. It provides a good list of words and phrases related to the keyword ideas that you enter into it.

Get keyword ideas from other people. They (customers, suppliers, partners, friends, etc.) see your business differently to you and may associate different words and phrases with it.

Target relevant keywords. The more relevant your keywords are, the easier and quicker it is to rank for them, and the higher the percentage of visitors who will become buyers.

Target keywords with commercial intent. You want visitors who are ready to spend money rather than those who are just looking for information.

Long-tail keywords are a great source of traffic. It’s quicker and cheaper to rank for longer, specific keyword phrases, and more than 40% of searches are comprised of four or more words.

Dedicate 1 page of your website to each keyword that you’re targeting. Doing so makes it simpler for search engines to categorise and rank your pages.

Add keywords in the right places. They’re less important than they used to be, but you should still include them in urls, page titles, meta descriptions, header tags and image alt tags.

Avoid keyword stuffing. You’re much more likely to be penalised than credited if you use a keyword phrase repeatedly on a page.

Backlinks affect rankings more than anything else. The number and quality of links pointing to your site will largely determine in what position your site ranks.

Don’t set backlink targets. Link building should be a steady, consistent, on-going process, that doesn’t stop when you reach a certain number.

Get backlinks from relevant sources. Search engines want to display relevant results for each keyword, and links from relevant pages/sites are a strong signal to them that your site is relevant.

Get backlinks from trusted sources. Links from trustworthy sites signal to search engines that your site is trustworthy too.

Be prepared to work for high quality backlinks. Generally, the more easily you can acquire a link, the less value it will likely have.

Be wary of paying people to link to your website. Buying backlinks can, and does work, however, there’s a definite risk involved if you buy cheap ones and/or from people who openly sell them.

Don’t get involved in link networks. The benefit of getting links from networks is low, whereas the risk of being penalised and losing rankings is high.

Diversify your backlink profile. Get different types of links from a wide range of IP addresses.

Build backlinks to every page of your website that you want to rank. Get people to link to the inner-pages of your site – the ones you want to rank for specific keywords – as well as to the homepage.

Existing relationships are an instant source of backlinks. Some of your suppliers, partners and customers will link to your site if you ask them to do so.

Get the good backlinks that your competition already has. If someone has already linked to one of your competitors then there’s a reasonable chance that they’ll link to you also if you give them a good reason to.

Get some backlinks with your target keywords as the link text. This type of link is important, but should make up less than 25% of your backlink profile.

The majority of your backlinks should be branded. A backlink profile without lots of branded links (like ‘Company Name’ and ‘www.companyname.co.uk’) signals to search engines that you’ve been using manipulative link building tactics.

Know who’s linking to you. Within Google Search Console, go to ‘Traffic’ and then ‘Links’ to check how many sites are linking to yours and which sites they are.

Sign up for Ahrefs or Open Site Explorer. Doing so gives you access to extensive backlink data for your site and also your competitors’ sites.

Every page of your website should be linked to from at least one other page. Search engines don’t include pages in their results that aren’t linked to either internally (from another page of the same site) or externally (from another site).

Have direct links from your homepage to your most important pages. Doing so passes authority from the homepage to your important pages and improves the rankings of those pages.

Add in-content links to other relevant pages on your website. Whilst not as valuable as external links, internal links do still pass authority and signal to search engines what pages to rank for which keywords.

Remove unnecessary outbound links. Only link to pages on other sites that you think visitors to your site would find helpful and/or interesting.

Link out to relevant websites and blogs. People generally notice if you link to them, and if you link to them, there’s a reasonable chance that they’ll link back to you if you have good site.

Leave comments on relevant websites and blogs. Doing so builds trust and relationships with people – both the site owners and visitors to those sites.

Interact with bloggers in your industry. The better people with relevant blogs know you (through social sites, forums, email, etc.) the more likely they’ll be to link to your site and to share your content.

Contact small businesses with relevant websites. A good relationship, in which you help promote each others’ sites, makes SEO simpler and cheaper for you and for them.

Write press releases to share news and opinions. This is a good way to get content on, and links from, sites outside of your industry and circle of connections.

Phone people to develop online relationships. Emails can easily be ignored or forgotten, but phone calls not so much.

Use your website to build trust and relationships. The more relationships you have, and the more people trust you, the more people will talk about you, link to you, and, ultimately, buy from you.

Add your address and phone number to every page of your website. This builds trust and improves rankings if you’re targeting keyword phrases that contain your town/city name.

Get listed in industry and local directories. Most directories are worthless, however, there should be at least 10 that are relevant to your area or industry.

Ask customers to leave reviews on Google+ and local directories. Positive reviews improve your rankings in Google’s local listings and can be accessed directly from the search results.

Be personal in a way that big businesses can’t be. Putting your individuality and personality across throughout the off-site SEO process (outreach emails, guest posts, Tweets, etc.) makes others more likely to engage with you.

Use social websites to promote other people’s content as well as your own. People generally know if you’ve taken action on social sites to help them, and if they see that you’ve helped them, the chances of them helping you out in return are much higher.

Add social sharing buttons to your website. The easier you make it for people to share your content, the more likely they will be to do so.

Social media isn’t a replacement for SEO. Your social strategy should be part of, or should run alongside, your SEO strategy.

Search engines ranks webpages, not websites. Whether or not a page ranks for a particular keyword depends largely on the quality of that individual page, and not the quality of your site as a whole.

Small businesses can rank higher than big businesses. It’s not uncommon for a page on a small business’s site to rank higher than a page on the site of a big, national company.

Know where you’re ranking. Within Google Search Console, go to ‘Traffic’ and then ‘Search Queries’ to check where your site is ranking for keywords.

Aim to be in the top 3, not just the top 10. If your site isn’t ranked in the top 3 positions for a keyword then you’ll only get a small percentage (less than 10%) of the traffic from searches for that keyword.

Rankings can be misleading. The number of 1st page rankings you have is irrelevant if those rankings don’t convert to visitor numbers and, ultimately, sales.

Don’t worry about PageRank. Sites with a low PR can, and often do, outrank sites with a high PR.

Choose between using www or not using www. Ensure that your site is set to load at either www.domainname.co.uk or domainname.co.uk – not both.

Adopt a flat website architecture. Any page of your site should be accessible within 3 clicks from your homepage.

Use a simple, clear URL structure. People should be able to guess the topic of a page by looking only at its URL.

Use header tags. Include variations of your target keyword phrases in a page’s H1 and H2 tags.

Use rich snippets. They provide additional data about your site to search engines and can improve the appearance of your site’s listing in search results.

Use 301 redirects. If you change the url of a page on your site, but don’t redirect the old url to the new one, any links pointing to the old one will be wasted.

Set-up a useful 404 error page. Linking to your best content from your 404 page means that visitors who see it are less likely to leave your site.

Optimise your images. Include a page’s target keyword phrase, or variations of it, in the file names and img alt tags of the images on that page.

Optimise your website for mobile users. Your site needs to be clear and simple to use for people accessing it using smartphones and tablets.

Check browser and screen resolution compatibility. Your site needs to render correctly in every web browser (Chrome, IE, Safari, etc.) and screen resolution (1366×768, 1024×768, 800×600, etc.).

Maximise your website’s loading speed. Use Google’s site speed tool and implement the recommendations that they give you.

Use a reliable web hosting company. Your site’s keyword rankings will be downgraded if your site is regularly inaccessible.

Regularly backup your website. If you lose your site data then you lose your rankings too, as search engines quickly remove sites that won’t load from their results.

Keep up-to-date with SEO news and trends. Read sites such as Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Land and SEOmoz.

If you don’t know, ask someone. If you have a question, ask it in an online SEO forum or contact an SEO consultant.

Ask SEO consultants lots of questions. If you’re going to hire someone, you’ll be taking less of a risk if you know a lot about them and their strategies.

Engage with your SEO consultant. The more you know about SEO, and the more a consultant knows about your business, the better the results will be.

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2. Get Social

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