When talking about stress, there?s one important detail that cannot be overlooked: stress created for the sole purpose of being stressed is not a good motivator. Inc states that ?stress that comes from not having enough information or that?s based on an irrational fear is a poor motivator.? In other words, it?s important to keep stress to a minimum whenever possible, as there?s quite literally no reason to be stressed about everything and everyone around you. You need to retain control if you want to harness the power of stress. That being said, there are some benefits to be gained from the occasional bout of stress. Here are four of them. Stress Provides an Energy BoostStress is often draining and is known to sap energy from you, but if something urgent comes up, this stress can become a motivating factor that provides energy. With this kind of stress, you?ll become more aware of your surroundings and find that you?ll have the energy needed to get your work done. Stress Proves That You Care About Your WorkIf you?ve been stressed out about a project, you might go through a couple of stages where you initially hate yourself for it. Eventually, you might claim that you just don?t care and that you want it to be over with as soon as possible. However, the stress is a signal that you do actually care about how the project turns out. If you?re stressing about a project, take solace in the understanding that you do actually care. Stress Can Teach You to Enjoy the Little ThingsThere?s something to be said about a hard day?s work. Imagine if you had a job where you had to be exposed to sweltering weather all day, under incredible physical duress on an empty stomach. Now imagine going home after the day?s work to an air-conditioned home with a delicious meal sitting on the dinner table. It?s the little things that make working with stress bearable. If you understand this concept, you?ll have a greater appreciation for the time that you?re not stressed. Stress Can Inspire Quick ActionStress is something that nobody wants to deal with, so it?s only natural that they move toward the solution: eliminating the stress. This means that people will work swiftly and efficiently toward removing the stress factor from their lives, regardless of what that entails. This doesn?t mean that you should go out of your way to stress yourself out; instead, it means that you?ll work with urgency when it?s required. While there are advantages to stress, it?s still something that needs to be managed and mitigated whenever possible. While you might not be able to do much for stress caused by problems outside the office, you can assist them with managing their workplace issues. One of the ways that you can make your employees? lives easier is by providing functional, working technology that helps them perform their jobs to the best of their ability. Our managed IT services are just what the busy business owner needs to eliminate frustrations caused by dysfunctional technology solutions. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
A survey from BetterCloud and reported on by ITProPortal, shows that over half of users believe that instant messaging will become the new email in the office. When you think of how useful email has been for the business environment, this is an impressive statement. The problem, just like email, lies in showing users how to leverage best practices for their instant messaging solution, and managing perhaps the biggest downside of all: how distracting it can be. If you want to improve your business?s instant messaging practices, try these tips. Accurately Represent Your Current Online StatusYour team can?t reach out to you if they don?t know that you?re online, and the opposite is also true. If you say you?re online, and you?re not, you could be wasting their time, which wastes the company money. Be sure to change your status to indicate when you?re away from your computer or logged off for the night. This way, your team will know if it?s more efficient to contact someone else with their problems. If It?s Going to Be a Long Conversation, Try a Different Communication MediumInstant messaging conversations can often be confusing and misleading thanks to the difficulty of expressing context. It?s often better to just pick up the phone and call someone than it is to have long, drawn-out IM discussions. Or, even better, you can meet up and have a face-to-face discussion. This eliminates the need for IMs at all, and you can express yourself in earnest. If You Have a Short, Specific Request, Try to Put It at the Beginning of the ConversationIf all you need to do is ask a question, then just ask the question. All you would be doing otherwise is wasting time. You need to be courteous and respectful of your colleagues? time, as they?re likely just as busy as you are. Take Full Advantage of Your IM System?s FeaturesMany instant messaging systems allow for several other additional functions. Therefore, you?ll miss out by not leveraging them all to your business?s advantage. For example, voice chat can be a great way to clear up confusion surrounding something, and you can add other people to the conversation as needed. Basically, you want to find out which features work for your business, and what its limitations are. Doing so lets you better help your team capitalize on the features and benefits of your IM solution. By following instant-messaging best practices, your business will see greater productivity and enhanced efficiency. For more information about communications technology, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.
Does the U.S. Constitution allow the American government to access the electronic devices of its citizens? According to FBI Director James Comey?s statements at Symantec?s Annual Government Symposium, it certainly does. This situation was birthed from the tussle between Apple and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after Apple refused to grant the FBI the information necessary to unlock an encrypted iPhone linked to a terror case. In the end, the FBI managed to unlock the device without assistance from Apple after threats of lawsuits and other unpleasantries were thrown around. Reacting to this issue, as well as the trend towards more encryption in mobile devices causing complications during investigations, Comey clarified the bureau’s stance on the privacy of the American citizen. Conceding that there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in houses, vehicles, and mobile devices, Comey asserts that there are other considerations to take into account to justify revoking that expectation, going on to say: ?With good reason, the people of the United States–through judges and law enforcement–can invade our public spaces.” This statement, however, begs the question: how does a personal device really qualify as a public space? Again, according to Comey, it does in the U.S. ?Even our memories are not absolutely private in the United States,? Comey said. ?Even our memories are not absolutely private in the United States. Even our communications with our spouses, with our lawyers, with our clergy, with our medical professionals are not absolutely private. A judge in certain circumstances can order all of us to testify about what we saw or remembered or heard. There are really important constraints on that, but the general principle is one we?ve always accepted in the United States, and it?s been at the core of our country. There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America. There is no place outside of judicial authority.? Comey also made a point of saying that, while the FBI has no business telling American citizens how to live and govern themselves, the tech companies have no business doing so either. This came as a direct response to the open letter many tech company higher-ups signed last April that demanded the US government end the mandates that would require access to encryption keys for the interests of law enforcement and national security. Naturally, these Silicon Valley leaders don?t agree with Comey, and neither do all of his peers. Nuala O?Connor, who holds the titles of president and CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology as well as the first Federal Chief Privacy Officer for Homeland Security, had little good to say about the ideas of her respected peer. According to O?Connor, ?He could not be more wrong on encryption.? What are your thoughts on Director Comey?s views? Do you think any government has the inherent right to access a digital device–arguably invading the privacy of the citizen–even if it’s ultimately for the greater good? Share your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to keep checking back to White Mountain IT Services?s blog.
The project, titled the Walk Again Project, was first introduced in 2013. Scientists came together from all over the world with the goal of giving paraplegics the ability to walk again using the power of technology. The study examined eight patients who had been diagnosed as being entirely paraplegic (they can?t move or feel their legs). There were several simulations performed, but they required the use of a haptic feedback device, which issued sensory feedback when their thoughts translated to movement. The first experiment used brain-machine interface therapy combined with virtual reality. The patient would wear a device that sent brain signals to an Oculus Rift (a recently launched commercial VR headset). The patient would then see themselves walking. In the other type of therapy, the patient would use a robotic walker to help with walking therapy. The patient was suspended over a treadmill, with their legs being controlled by a robot. This activity was then sent to a computer, where the data could be analyzed. However, the most interesting type of therapy involved using the robotic legs to send brain signals back to the patient. The legs used electronic sensors, which were placed at key locations along the leg, to send signals to the patient. The idea was to offer some sort of stimulation to the patient, so that they knew when their legs were supposed to be moving. Thanks to ongoing long-term brain machine interface therapy, these patients found that they could sometimes feel–or move–their paralyzed limbs again. In particular, the treatment improved bladder and bowel function, and the treatments were so overwhelmingly successful that in many cases doctors changed the diagnoses to only partial paralysis. Scientists still aren?t sure what has caused this magnificent development, but it?s anticipated that when they do, they might be able to restore mobility to those who have been long-paralyzed. To the unfortunate victims of paraplegia, this moonshot was once impossible, but technology has provided them with a sense of hope for the future. What do you think about this development? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog.
To give you a better idea of the problem we?re referring to, let?s shine a light on an all-too-common example; website search features that don?t support quotation marks. With a more robust search tool like Google Search, users have the ability to search for exact phrases by adding quotation marks before and after the phrase. Without this quotation mark feature, a search tool will provide results pertaining to every word in the phrase, making the results potentially worthless. Make Use of Ctrl+FFor websites lacking this search feature, you can combine the in-site search with your browser?s search tool to narrow down what you?re looking for. To do this, simply enter your query into the website’s search form like you normally would, then hit Enter to display the results. If the results provided aren?t to your liking, you can narrow the results down by selecting Ctrl+F. This will cause a drop down menu to appear where you can enter a second word relating to what you?re looking for. Upon doing this, every corresponding word that?s specifically displayed on the web page will be highlighted. You can then cycle through these highlighted words to better find what you need. Use Google to Specifically Search a Website Another way to accurately search the content of a website is to bypass the website?s search feature altogether by using Google Search. With the website selected that you want to search, enter its URL into Google Search, minus the ?http://? and ?www.? Before the URL, you will add ?site😕 to end up with an entry looking like this: site:website.com. Next, enter whatever it is you want to search for, following the site:website.com. You will then select Enter to display search results pulled only from the website with the matching URL. Add Quotation Marks to Google?s In-Site SearchWhereas some websites? search features don?t utilize quotation marks, Google Search does and you can add a phrase in quotation marks following site:website.com to make use of quotes this way. This will essentially achieve what we were showing you with the first tip, but you?ll still want to remember how to combine an in-site search with Ctrl+F because not every website allows Google to crawl all of its content, like websites containing scholarly research, for example. Using these tips correctly can open up a whole new world of online searching. Did you find these tips to be helpful? Do you have any additional tips to add that will help narrow down online searches even further? Let us know in the comments.
