Be Likable: Anyone Can Do It

Everyone wants to be positively connected with other people because we are social creatures. Even the ones that are introverts, still want to be liked. Of course you do not need to aim to be liked by everyone possible. You are not a jar of Nutella. There are a couple tricks that you can try to get more people to see you in a favorable light. First off, call people by their name because everyone likes to hear their own name and it shows them that you are interested in them as a person. Another great way to put yourself in a good light is to be more positive. Being negative will not get you any friends. We're evolutionarily programmed to recognize and feel better about the people who help us as well as the people we help. As a result, the more you help other people--and the more they help you--the stronger your bonds will become and the more likable you'll be. Another characteristic of likable people is that they are reliable and consistent. People like to know what they can expect. When you say that you are going to have the web development project done, then have it done by that deadline. Otherwise, you will not be taken seriously. That skill will also help you in the long run in your career.

Distractions by Technology

Are you constantly distracted by the technology in your life? We all have good intentions when we sit down in front of YouTube to look up to do something and then three hours later, we are looking at giraffes hopping around. What about the phone in your pocket that somehow ends up on the desk? There is a constant flood of information that comes in through all different channels such as mobile and web applications. It takes a lot of energy to be able to filter all of it and decide which of the information is relevant. It also takes a lot of time. If you are business professional or someone that relies on technological tools, do yourself a favor and take the time to find the tools that work for you so you do not end up wasting time and energy. As great as these tools can be, make sure to make time to completely unplug and stop looking at a screen. This means that no communication devices at the dinner table or in the bedroom.

The Science of Being Happy

Well it is a good thing that researchers do these types of studies because we would just be milling about anyways. They have found that emotions can be transferred by means of smell, both negative and positive emotions. This would suggest that you are better off hanging out with the happy people. Besides, they can teach you a couple things and just fun to be around. Money can also make you happier, but only if spent right. You should collect experiences not stuff. The experiences will vary from person to person but it is the stories that we live with. A plethora of studies have shown a correlation between happiness and exercise, adequate sleep, and a healthy diet. Throw in 25 pushups a day, and you're doing vastly better than just sitting around. To get better sleep, avoid using electronic devices, mobile applications or television in the bedroom just prior to hitting the sheets. You should also try investing more time in friendships. There is a strong correlation between happiness and social ties.

Leave a Dent in This World

Does it ever feel like you are floating along in this world? We have all had days when it was just going through the motion of living, and sometimes it ended up being weeks or months. Your mind has probably been fried with mobile applications and websites full of cats. I got together several ideas of how you can make a dent and impact on the world and give yourself purpose in the meantime. When someone is talking with you, give your undivided attention and put away your phone. It will really show that you respect them. If you remember people's names, it will make them feel valued and leaves a pretty good impression. Always offer to help because just the offer itself will speak volumes about you. Another great way to make an impression is to give more than you get. The high standards that you set for yourself will reflect in your work and could also inspire other people around you. Something as simple as a smile and eye contact can really go a long way when you are connecting with another person.

Making the Most Out of the Phone Call

The younger generation seems to have a hard time with communicating with people face to face or even on the phone. This is interesting considering that there are so many different communication services out there. Before you even make that phone call, make sure to have a positive mindset. Get those worries out of your mind and know that you can nail it. It is just as important to be clear about why you are calling the other person. If you ramble on, the other person will get bored and not pay attention. Once you have their attention, don't forget to smile. It will make you sound more appealing and pleasant. People also tend to have a hard time saying no when they are smiling. If you feel the flow of the conversation waning, try standing up to add more energy into it and it might help you transition to your next point that you want to talk about. When you finish up the conversation, wrap it up by summarizing the point that were covered to ensure that everything was talked about. You should also make sure that you take notes during the conversation so that you can send a confirmatory email and also have a record for yourself.

Language Learning With Technology

Technology has made leaps and bounds as far as bringing people from different countries together. With internet phone services and Skype having the translation software, the language walls are being broken down. What about actually learning the language? Just because we have technology to translate what someone is saying as they are saying it, it doesn't mean that it excuses us from learning the language. There are certain things that cannot be translated by a program and need to be understood in the native tongue. I think we should be using the technology is learn the languages in all the communication areas. Technology can also help in improvement of writing skills. Word processing software promotes not only composition but also editing and revising in ways that streamline the task of writing. Desktop publishing and web-based publishing allow the work to be taken beyond the classroom into a virtual world that allows more constructive interactions.

Save Some Money This Summer

Next week it is going to be June and the summer months will be in full swing, at least for the northern hemisphere. This is the time for vacations and enjoying all the hard earned relaxation. But you should not spend money that you could save easily. If you are traveling, it is important to be flexible with your days so that you can get the best deal. Some of the travel sites have great mobile applications that will alert you when there is a great price. You could also try cheaper forms of commuting such as buses, carpools, or even ride-sharing options. One way to save up ahead of Labor Day is to set concrete, financial goals for yourself. Make a monthly, step-by-step plan for reducing your credit card debt, or focus on building up your credit score to take out a subsequent business loan. You can never be too prepared.

Next Gen Touch Screens

It has been less than a year since the new iPhone came out and we are already thinking about the next one and what sort of revolutionary mobile applications or hardware changes will happen. One of the predictions is that the screen will respond to different pressure of touching. The best part about that feature is that it will decrease the buttons that create clutter and the user will only pull up certain menus when they need them. Other than that perk, the force touch display would not be all that useful unless maybe we get into gaming applications where the developers utilize that function. The new smartphone might also have another microphone and improved camera as well as well as more storage space which will be up to 2 GB. As far as size goes, it might be that Apple found the sweet spot with iPhone 6 and 6 plus. What do you think about the new features?

Threat of Robots in Our Jobs

Should we feel threatened by robots and fear them them taking over our jobs? Some experts say that it may still be a long time before certain jobs are seriously threatened but others swear that software development has come so far that there are a few jobs that will be gone within the next several years. One of them being toll booth operators and cashiers. When was the last time you went through a checkout with an actually person? Apple pay is making it easier to make payments and is paving the way for this type of technology. Get ready for robots to steal more manufacturing jobs from humans -- at a cheaper price and without taking breaks to text their friends. The Internet wiped out countless newspapers, and new technology could kill even more journalism positions. There will be algorithms that will allow for the automation of putting news stories online with minimal human interactions. Lastly, more and more people are getting rid of landlines. This means that there will be less job in that field because of the advances in digital communication services.

Technology and Pain

Pain relief without the help of medication may sound too good to be true, but a new startup says it has created a wearable that does just that. Medication can cause so many different and horrible side effects. A new device called Cur — created by a San Francisco-based startup of the same name — aims to provide an alternative to pain medication for people with chronic pain, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and fibromyalgia. The device is a version of the TENS unit which works by sending electrical currents to the brain which will minimize the pain signals and in turn the amount of pain that you feel. One of the best things about this device is that it does not have wires so it will be more convenient on the go. Central to the wireless functionality is the device's sensors, which measure individual muscle vibrations. These vibrations inform how much current the device delivers at any give time, though users can manually adjust the output if they wish. It could even be later programmed to be controlled by mobile applications.

Too Much Screen Time

When you go outside these days, does it seems like kids are more into their electronic devices than the actual playground they are at? They have that glazed look about them. According to a recent study, kids under the age of ten spend an average of a little over two hours a day on screen media such as mobile applications and shows. We have yet to know the long term effects of all this exposure but so far there are no indications that it will affect eyesight later in life. Some of the best things that you can do for your child is get them screened for eye diseases and limit screen time. I realize that limiting screen time might be easier said than done but there are a couple things that you could do. For starters, kids learn by example. How much time do you spend on the phone? Make an effort to limit your screen time and show the kids that there are other things to be done. Also, get them out of the house and onto a playground or in some sort of sport if they are old enough. This will help with development and make sure that they are healthy later in life. Any other suggestions?

Car Technology

There are self driving cars already that are street legal but would you ever get in one and let it drive you around? The software development might be incredible here but there still needs to be human input. The problem is that the input might be flawed because we have a tendency to go in that direction. A solution to this problem comes from the labs of Cornell and Stanford. Subtle movements of the head and body can indicate that a driver is about to turn or change lanes in the next few seconds. With that information, combined with data from sensors outside the car, computers can predict that a driver is going to make a dangerous move. Computers learned to correlate certain head and body movements with impending driving maneuvers. When tested later with a different set of drivers, the technology correctly predicted driving maneuvers 77.4% of the time. On average, a turn or lane change was anticipated more than 3.5 seconds before it happened. Obviously the technology is still in the early stages but it has some major potential in decreasing accidents.

Less Screen Time

We are becoming increasingly addicted to our phone services and other communication services. So much so that it is intruding on our lives and connections with other people. March 7th was the National Day of Unplugging. A time when we can reconnect with the world around us and take a break from the mobile applications and candy crushing. One of the things that you can do is turn off notifications. Does checking a single notification turn into a half-hour of phone browsing? There are various mobile applications, such as QualityTime for Android and Moment for iOS, that monitor your phone usage and inform you just how many hours a day you're spending looking at a screen. Try to set up phone-free periods during the day. Schedule them when you're busy doing something else, in order to make the break a bit easier. I mean do you really need your phone at the dinner table, in the bathroom or while you are watching a movie. Just something to think about.

Virtual Reality: Coming Soon

That is, if you are one of the lucky people that do not get nauseous when using one of the headsets. The public’s wait for virtual reality is nearing an end. In recent days, several of the most prominent companies making headsets offered rough timetables for consumer versions of their products, ending the guessing game about when virtual reality would get its first real test. Software development professionals are also getting very anxious about it coming out because it can open up a whole new area of development and creating content. The most closely watched of those companies, Oculus VR, which is owned by Facebook, said it expected to begin widely selling a product before the end of the year. Oculus has teamed up with Samsung on the product, a headset that uses a mobile phone as a screen. Either way, I am really excited about the virtual reality sets coming out and what they will entail. What are your thoughts?

Increasing Human Intelligence

To conduct the study, published in the March-April 2015 issue of the journal Intelligence, the researchers looked at 64 years of IQ score data for more than 200,000 people living in 48 countries. Overall, they found that global IQ scores have risen by an average of 20 points since 1950. Of course, this data does not show the whole picture. First of all, it is important to note that the IQ tests cannot be standardized because of the differences in cultural backgrounds. Things might be misunderstood and therefore considered wrong because the translation might be inaccurate. Some researchers connect it to the fact that the developing countries are providing better health and education and that is improving living standards. It is thought that the higher IQ is due to the increased living standards. There has been evidence to support the effect but no clear underlying cause. One of the way to approach it differently is to use cloud services and big data. The data then could be analyzed for trends that might not have been apparent before. So are we getting smarter? The answer lies somewhere in the grey area where all the important answers are.

Changes to Office Space

Over the past decade, the idea of an office has undergone significant changes. With the mobile revolution in full swing, people can work from anywhere they want and still be in touch with the team using communication services such as internet phones and video conferencing. Since the employees are not physically in the office, many businesses will need to rethink the idea of an office and how it is laid out. It might be a good idea to have desks that are shared for people that come in at different times of the day or different days. The entire rooms themselves are changing to include standing desks, treadmill desks, and even recliners and sofas to allow the employees to be as comfortable as they can so that they can be as productive as they can. Since there is also a lack of need for a lot of space, businesses could share office space. So the costs of having a conference room, lobbies and break rooms. There are any number of arrangements that the two businesses can come to. The office as we know it is being reshaped and it will continue to change with the changing technological landscape and the fact that the internet will be available anywhere.

Things We Can Learn From "Let It Go"

It is one of those songs that no one can really escape. You hear it everywhere and even sometimes more than once a day. And most of the time, you hear little kids singing it. Have you actually listened to the words though? It is like a 300 page self help book or a motivational mobile application rolled into a three minute song. It has everything that you could need. First of all, it starts out with her saying that she tried keeping it in and pretending to be someone that she is not. It came out anyway and everyone knows. Moral of the story is that you should be who you are and you will save yourself a lot of time. Once you are able to do that, you will see just how far you are able to go to be the best that you can be. Leave the constraints in the past because that it where they belong. And the others rage and judge because that it their problem and not yours. Just let it go.

Avoiding Professional Burnout

One of the best ways to avoid burnout is to do more of what you like and less of what you dislike. It sounds a bit too easy and you may be asking can you really do that? I mean we all have things that we have to do that we do not like which takes us away from the things that we enjoy doing. The question here becomes how to do we do less of the things that we do not enjoy? The answer is to find way to delegate, outsource, or hire for the responsibilities you repeatedly find yourself resenting each week. Another way is to plan a vacation many months in advance and do not cancel it. This will enable you to plan for it and give you something exciting to look forward to. It might also motivate you to procrastinate less in order to get things done before the time off. You should also take a moment for peace and quiet every day. You can use mobile applications for meditation or take a walk without any of the communication services that are constantly at your fingertips all day. You should also try to read something that is not related to your business at least once a week, it could spark some creativity that might help with the current problems at hand.

Great First Impressions

A first impression is something that you cannot take back. Now you have to think about impressions when you are meeting people in person and online. Fortunately there are somethings that you can do to improve the perception that people have of you. You can ask your current friends what they thought of you before getting to know your little quirks that were probably misinterpreted but they persisted in getting your friendship. You should also smile, even if it looks fake. It will still look better than a stoic expression. You can even practice it on the streets. Once you got that opening, it is even more important to actively listen and this means doing more than just nodding along. You should be able to read the body language, tone, and eye contact in order to listen between the words that the other person is saying. This can even be achieved over video conferencing and internet phones. Make sure that you also ask the right follow up questions. You should also find common ground with the other person. It can be something as simple as liking the same restaurant or disliking how the content management system is run.

Be More Energized

I think we have been showering wrong all this time. Yes, apparently there is a right and wrong way to shower depending on what your end goal is. A hot shower or bath is what doctors recommend for people who have trouble falling asleep, which is a great alternative to mobile applications. This is because getting from a hot shower into colder temperatures leads to a more tranquil state of mind. There is a great way to reverse the effect. Once you finished doing your normal ritual, turn the nozzle to as cold as it gets and stand there for thirty seconds. Feel free to scream. Then turn it up to as hot as you can for another thirty seconds. Then turn it back to cold for thirty seconds more and then get out. Putting yourself through all that discomfort can actually reduce stress, improve your immune system and blood circulation and aid in the fight against depression. Just try it.

The Art of Conversation and the Phone Checking

The irresistible urge to look at a smartphone screen also can stem from a fear of missing out and compulsive and addictive behaviors. A great way to help correct this is to make a list of things you want to accomplish and keep that piece of paper on you. When you feel the urge to check creeping in, take out the paper instead of your phone. Instead of automatically Instagraming or tweeting about a good experience, try something more tangible and that will make you remember the experience better such as writing about it. It will give it a whole new dimension. Do not try to tell me that you have never went into the can and did not whip out your phone to play that mobile application. We are all guilty of it...it could be the reason that our phones are dirtier than bathrooms. We have a hard time being with ourselves and it needs to be addressed. Instead of disappearing in a device, force yourself to spend time in the messy, mind-numbingly dull, or unpleasant real-world situations around you. It might give you something good to tweet about.

Cheering Up

Sometimes, it is just so hard to have a positive outlook amidst all that goes on in life. The days when the clouds roll in and turns into a thunderstorm are better than that hanging mist that seems to keep on drizzling with gloom. It is one of those days that get you off kilter. There are some things that you can do to warm yourself up and find that sunshine behind those nasty clouds. First of all, sit down and spend five minutes writing down the things that you are grateful for. Next, call up your best friend. They always seem to know just what to say whether it is a congratulations or a kick in the butt. You could also try picking up a new project such as web development. It doesn't have to be huge, just take the initial step to get started and learn something new. You could also surf YouTube and watch some funny videos. Lastly, clean up your desk and get things organized because clutter can be so distracting and frustrating when you are looking for something important.