Gary The Geek Blog

The Gadgets Every Geek Needs at Home

March 13, 2020 by Gary

One of the best things about owning your own home is being able to plan how you want everything laid out. From furniture to décor, there are so many choices to be made. However, what will always take precedence is the technology. Here are some of the best gadgets every geek should think about including in their home.

The Right TV Set-Up

Everyone loves watching TV. Whether you are a movie buff or you want to sit back and see whatever is on Netflix, there are so things to watch nowadays. You need to make sure that you always have the best possible set-up so you can enjoy your TV perfectly.

Rather than muck about with a satellite outside your home, why not invest in an indoor TV antenna like the FLATenna instead? This could be a fantastic option for anyone who has a small living room or who can’t put their own antenna up outside. An indoor TV antenna like this can easily be hidden inside a cupboard or somewhere else discrete without ever compromising your picture display or the channels you have access to.

A Home Assistant

Smart home assistants are all the rage nowadays and you should definitely think about investing in one for the ultimate tech-filled home. Whether you choose to invest in an Alexa or a Google Home Hub, there are lots of options for you.

These are brilliant as they can make your life’s organisation all that bit easier. Compile a shopping list, message your partner or friends, set a timer, and so much more! These little devices are packed with capabilities. Combine it with smart lightbulbs and other add-ons to transform your home into a smart house. Colour change lightbulbs in your children’s rooms could be an easy way to transform their bedrooms into somewhere far away in their imaginations or add dimmer switches to the family areas to help create a little ambience.

Smart Fridges

Though they might be a little more pricy, smart fridges could be one of the next big innovations in a smart family home. These are fully equipped and spacious fridges that have a screen set into one of the doors.

The uses of these fridges are endless when it comes to trying to plan a busy family life. Use the messaging or calendar apps to keep track of where everyone is supposed to be. Never buy two of the same items again by viewing the inside of your fridge from your phone while at the supermarket. If you are thinking about undertaking a complete overhaul of your kitchen, this might be a luxury worth splurging for if you have the budget.

These are three items you should consider installing if you want to have the best tech for your home. The home tech market is bursting at the moment and you can find so many amazing products here. If you are on the hunt for something new and fun for your home, consider investing in one of the gadgets above.

Top 4 Essential Marketing Tips For Small Businesses

March 11, 2020 by Gary

When it comes to marketing a business, it is one of the most important things that any business owner could possibly do for their business these days. However, there is so much more to marketing your business than just talking to your family and friends about it, or even writing an article about it online. You see, marketing can be a pretty expensive thing sometimes, but you just cannot ignore the fact that it is one of the most important building blocks for your small business.

When it comes to finding customers for your small business, knowing how to reach out to all the right people with your marketing efforts is very important. With this in mind, if you would like to market your small business but are not really sure how to do it properly, some websites like OmdömesStalle might be able to provide you with some valuable information. Now, while it is true that marketing can be a pretty expensive thing sometimes, it is important to note that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to start marketing your small business. That being said, here are four essential marketing tips that you can adopt to start growing your small business!

Establish Your Identity

When it comes to starting a small business, establishing your unique identity in the market should be one of your top priorities. If you successfully manage to get your branding strategy right, you will begin to see the results in no time, but if you get it wrong at the beginning, it might end up being a very expensive mistake for you as a business owner.

Have a Good Business Website

A good business website is one of the most important things that any small business owner could possibly have these days. There are many easy-to-use tools that you can use to build an attractive website for your small business. Keep in mind that first impressions are the most important, and an attractive business website can only add credibility to your small business.

Experiment With Social Media

Creating a social media page for your small business is an extremely smart thing to do. However, one of the most common mistakes that many small businesses make is that they create a business page on pretty much every social media platform on the market. But what you really need to do is prioritize the most important social media platforms for your business marketing strategy.

Take Full Advantage of Free Online Courses

There are many small business owners out there who are willing to educate themselves about the idea of marketing a small business. That being said, there are many free online courses that you can use to learn more about what it takes to successfully market a small business. One of the main advantages of these courses is that they can be taken at your own pace, and most of them (if not all of them) are easily accessible from all sorts of devices. Try to take as many of these courses as possible and stay in charge of your small business.

Social Media Audit with Netbase

February 27, 2020 by Gary

Social media is for your business today what word-of-mouth was prior to the appearance of these online networking platforms. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other widely used services are the battlegrounds where market players gather to compete for their audiences. Conversations regarding your brand are constantly happening on social media and you need to be able to monitor what people are saying. This is done by conducting a social media audit.

What Does a Social Media Audit Entail?

An audit of your social media, for all intents and purposes, is an exercise in reputation management. It is a list of actions that help you make the most of your social media accounts. What is the state of your social media presence? Are your profiles set up optimally for achieving your goals?

Businesses need to audit their social media presence so as to implement best practices regarding data collection, user interaction and branding. A social media audit can prove useful for service providers, content-driven enterprises and e-commerce businesses alike.

Benefits of a Social Media Audit

If you own a restaurant and someone is spreading a rumor that your food is contaminated, you want to find the source of that rumor. Especially if what is being said is untrue, ill-intentioned comments will hurt your brand.

When bad comments spread from person to person offline, it’s difficult to isolate the negativity without the ability to engage people in conversation. The spreading of negative communication regarding your brand is almost impossible to track when it occurs verbally. With social media, however, it is possible to monitor the conversations people have about your business.

It’s Not Always About the Bad

Checking for positive feedback on social media is just as useful as isolating detrimental comments. Being able to gain insights from the data you collect from your accounts will allow you to better understand what users enjoy about your brand.

Finding the Right Consultant for the Job

Working on your core business tasks is important for sustaining a viable enterprise. Conducting a social media audit is an involved process. Maintaining your accounts on several platforms requires a significant time commitment and the appropriate tools for the job.

If you decide to do your own social media work, you need to use software that allows you to aggregate data and post to multiple platforms at once. Running a useful audit also requires programs that can expedite the process and provide valuable conclusions.

Hiring a competent agency is an ideal arrangement for saving time and maximizing results. Top-level social media consultants use artificial intelligence to provide insightful audits. A competent social media analytics provider has advanced tools and a large clientele that reinforces their worth.

Netbase Offers Results

Netbase is a leader in the space of social media analytics. Their result-driven social media analytics tools produce razor-sharp, actionable insights that will help your business solidify its place in the market as an authority. Netbase offers case studies for you to look through and actual video testimonials from real companies.

Depending on how extensive a presence you have on social media, an audit can take from a few minutes to an hour. href=”https://pages.netbase.com/ContactUsRequest.html”>Contact Netbase today to find out how you can take advantage of their advanced tools to grow your business and boost your results online.

Why do people trust reviews?

February 22, 2020 by Gary

Nowadays, when we want to buy products either from online stores or even local stores, we often find ourselves running to the Internet to search for the company we are hoping to patronize. In some cases, it could be to find their website and check if they sell the product we are interested in and if the product meets the specifications you are looking for. In other cases, it is to look at the reviews that people have left for the company to see if it is good enough for you to patronize the company. There are also other times when we need a particular product or service but we don’t know which company we can buy them from. Thus, in this case, we do not have any online store in mind. So we could search for something like where can I get this item or service. A lot of links would come up that could include review sites. We would want to check and compare a few of the companies that were listed in the search results and we might also check out for reviews of the few companies during the process of comparing them. If you have been wondering why people trust reviews or why you should trust reviews, then you should continue reading these reviews.

Neutral comments
The reviews about a company are mostly given by or are supposed to be given by a neutral person who knows the importance of reviews. This is an individual who does not have any stake or interest with the online store, except that they have patronized the store. Thus, they are only going to be speaking of their knowledge of that company, which would be their experience when they visited the store. Considering that it is not compulsory or even mandatory to leave reviews, they would only be talking if they want to and based on the mood the company left them. If the services of the company made them happy, they would comment happily and in a positive manner. If, on the other hand, the company made them angry, they would comment angrily and in a negative manner. Nobody would lose money to a company and review the company the best in the world.

Trust in the reviews platform
Another reason why people trust reviews enough to base their decision of patronizing an online store or not highly on reviews is because they trust the reviews platform. They are aware that the review company is a trustworthy one where you cannot pay to rig reviews, where all the positive and negative reviews they have ever left have not suddenly disappear and probably, they had tried putting in multiple reviews for a company under different names and both reviews got deleted immediately. Thus, they believe the company is trustworthy and has effective mechanisms in weeding out spam comments.

Knowing that people would talk when they are wronged
Another reason why people trust reviews, especially companies with no negative reviews or just a few is that they know that the probability a customer will complain when a company wrongs them is like 80 percent. This is compared to just like 20 percent that would comment if the company gave them satisfactory service.

5 Best Super Hero-Themed Slot Games

February 10, 2020 by Gary

5 Best Super Hero-Themed Slot GamesYou’ll find online slot games themed around everything these days, from TV shows to ancient mythology. But if the popularity of the DC Super Hero Jackpot series is anything to go by, nothing beats slots themed around super heroes.

Thanks to a clever partnership between Warner Bros. and Playtech, thousands of online gamblers now spin reels alongside their favourite stars from the DC Universe. The branded series includes slots inspired by legendary crime fighters like Superman and Wonder Woman, as well as infamous villains like Harley Quinn and The Joker.

Want to find out the best to play? Lucky for you, we’ve called in the guys from the online casino bgo.com. They’ve listed the top 5 super hero slots currently available in the series. Check them all out in the infographic below and find them ready to spin on your desktop or mobile at bgo today. Have fun and we wish you the best of luck!

How Wazdan’s New Technology Is Revolutionising Online Gaming

February 4, 2020 by Gary

Wazdan is a company that develops and releases casino games. Since the firm was first founded around ten years ago, it has released a slew of popular casino games. However, it’s also been working on revolutionising the online gambling industry thanks to its unique gambling features found nowhere else. But what are these features and how do they work?

Wazdan’s Features

Game Customisation

Several of Wazdan’s game features allow you to customise your game. One of the features, known as Volatility Levels, allows you to change your win size and frequency whenever you want; high volatility equates to big but rare wins while a low volatility results in frequent but small wins.

There’s also the Ultra Fast Mode which boosts gameplay, forcing the reels in a slot to speed faster than normal. The option doesn’t affect gameplay in any way, other than making it faster. This is great for anyone who is in a rush to play or someone who has limited time. Most people just use it to speed up gameplay though to enjoy a fast and fun experience.

Improved Performance

Wazdan has also developed a series of features that improve a game’s performance. For example, the Ultra Lite Mode was developed specifically for people who suffer from slow internet connections. With this beautiful feature, players with lacklustre internet speeds can launch and play Wazdan games much faster! Unfortunately, this will cause the Wazdan games to remove some of their animations which can make the slot a little more boring, but at least you can play it, right?

The Energy Saving Mode, meanwhile, was designed for people playing on smartphones, laptops or tablets. Many casino games are resource-intensive and can drain your battery quickly. With this feature, however, Wazdan’s games will help extend your battery rather than drain it. This is specifically great for mobile users whose battery is dying and they want to play slots but aren’t close to a charger.

Exciting Gameplay

Playing casino games can be unpredictable and exciting, and to make things even more fun for you, Wazdan has launched its Big Screen Mode. This special feature allows you to zoom directly into the action onto the game’s reels so you can see exactly what’s happening. Big Screen Mode also allows you to change how the reel is displayed on their device, whether that’s a zoomed-in experience or you just want the reels to engulf your screen. When enabled, the game’s logo and side animations are cropped.

Wazdan has also launched its Unique Gamble Feature which gives you a chance to win more. This exciting feature can be activated after every win to trigger a second game where you have a 50% chance to double your original win. The gamble feature can be triggered up to seven times in each game and the extra game benefits from fun visuals and animations, just like Wazdan’s main games.

Lastly, Wazdan has its Double Screen Mode which allows you to view and access a game’s paytable while playing the slot at the same time. This means you can keep track of symbols and win values while playing.

Where To Find Wazdan’s Features?

The downside of this is that not all online casinos offer games by Wazdan and so don’t have the provider’s special features. However, some online casinos such as Energy Casino, Slots Million, Mr Green, and more all offer Wazdan content and the firm’s special features. If you’re looking for more online casinos and sister sites, there are several well-written guides available on the Internet.

How Have These Features Changed Gambling?

Wazdan’s features have been praised by gamblers for helping change how they play. In fact, due to their success, other providers and casino operators have worked to launch similar features. Videoslots and LeoVegas last year both announced their own Double Screen features, allowing registered customers to play two slots at the same time or play one slot while browsing the site’s game catalogue or making a deposit.

We’ve seen many other game providers incorporate a boost mode into their slots to make gameplay faster, and we believe it won’t be long before more providers and casino operators take inspiration from Wazdan to develop features for a better player experience.

4 Tips For Finding Customers For Your Startup Business

January 20, 2020 by Gary

Congratulations, you’ve got a great idea that you’ve decided to transform into a business. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of success for your business. You may have thought the hardest part was over, but that’s the farthest thing from the truth.

Even if you’re convinced that you’ve got the best product or service in the world, it won’t do you much good if you don’t have anyone to buy it. You’ll need to find customers to pay money for what you’re selling. Take a look at some of the best ways to find them.

Increase Your Online Visibility

The internet is a place where you can market yourself on the highest level. Don’t be one of those old dinosaur companies that refuses to evolve and use new marketing techniques. There are other creative ways to build links beyond traditional networking, and that’s through SEO link building!

Increase your visibility online by making friends with search engines so that your name comes up any time someone searches for keywords within your line of business. If you don’t think you have the time to do it yourself, then consider outsourcing.

Start A Blog

Beyond the fun of starting a blog, there’s also a tactic behind it. Starting a blog is a great way to grow your startup by gathering attention. If your blog is successful enough, it will generate potential customers. However, make no mistake: blogging isn’t an instant results tactic. Blogging requires a lot of work and dedication before you’ll see it pay off. However, if you’re willing to put in the work, you’ll find that your efforts will be well worth it.

Find a Mentor

As with anything in life, a little guidance never hurt anyone. If you know someone who has successfully achieved what you hope to, then, by all means, make use of that contact. Use their knowledge to your advantage and learn everything that you possibly can from them about how they acquired customer leads.

Any time that you have a tough question or a pressing matter, don’t be afraid to look to them for guidance. Hopefully, if they’re compassionate enough, they’ll be willing to guide you when you need direction.

Keep an Eye On Your Competitors

You can learn a lot from your competition! Never get too comfortable and always keep your eye on the people around you who are doing the same thing. Know what the others are doing that you’re not, and make sure that you start doing it!

By following this advice, planning as far in advance as possible, and remaining dedicated to success, you can expect to grow your startup over time. Believe in what you’re selling, and your customers will too!

5 Penny Stocks to Keep Your Eye On in 2020

January 14, 2020 by Gary

If you are looking for ways to invest, here are five penny stocks you should keep an eye on for 2020. Penny stocks are any stock that trades for less than five dollars. They can be a great way to invest, as penny stocks can bring a significant return on your investment. All penny stocks come with some substantial risk, but with the right research, you can find the stocks that hold potential. We made this small list to show you some penny stocks we feel have great potential for 2020.

Western New England Bancorp Inc. (WNEB)

image via Flickr by slgckgc

With a 2% dividend yield and the scare that occurred after a yield curve inversion during 2019 has faded away. Bond markets are showing good things ahead as well. What this can mean is banking stocks have the chance to bring substantial returns in 2020. As a result, Western New England Bancorp Inc. is looking like it’s on its way up.

Veru Inc. (VERU)

Veru Inc. has performed well throughout 2019. Their stock has jumped up from $1.39 to aftermarket highs on December 11 of $3. Veru Inc. has some additional earnings coming in, and their 4th quarter and full-year financial reports will be out soon. CEO Dr. Mitchell Steiner has some big plans for the next year in terms of progress, making Veru Inc. another great stock to keep an eye on.

Nio Inc. (NIO)

Nio Inc. is a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer. Earlier in the year, Nio stock fell pretty hard. However, over the past few months, the company has created some impressive sales figures. The stock continued to climb for the 4th quarter of 2019, closing at a little less than $1, because of this change, we think this stock is worth following during 2020.

Chesapeake Energy (CHK)

After hitting an all-time low just a few weeks ago, This week, the stock recouped by over 50%. The company just released reports sharing information about a $1.5 billion term loan facility. This deal the CEO has in place stands to make the company’s shares continue to grow substantially. Because of recent moves by Chesapeake Energy, we recommend them as a good penny stock to follow in 2020.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI)

Sirius XM Holdings is a pretty solid penny stock to follow in 2020. As a well-known company that holds a monopoly over the satellite radio service, this is one of the less risky penny stock investments. They carry some significant pricing power, and as a result, they tend to be a safe bet to place, and worth following.

If you want to learn all there is to know about penny stocks, look at this article by Raging Bull. These stocks are worth following, but it’s essential to understand what you’re doing before investing your hard-earned money. Raging Bull has experts ready to teach you the market, with a great blog, and up to date information.

Filling in the Skills Gap on the Production Floor with Machine Tending

December 29, 2019 by Gary

One way to improve your current automated production line is through robotic machine tending. This ensures that your automation works better. More importantly, it helps to keep your business in good shape.

Machine tending simply refers to the robot loading raw material for the machine to implement its procedure. The robot then extracts the finished part and then loads again. This process is repeated for as long as you need it to be.

Benefits of Robotic Machine Tending

This collaborative robot application comes with benefits such as the following:

It facilitates extreme improvement of uptimes
Considerably boosts accuracy
Enhances repeatability

Repetitive Tasks

A worker is likely to get distracted or bored when they have to perform a task repeatedly for a long time. The possibility of errors is very high in this instance. In addition, they run the risk of injury. Robots are not encumbered with such limitations.

Hence, robotic machine tending enhances repeatability. Moreover, it repeats the same process with precision; a feat that would be impossible for a human to achieve. Robots are also a lot more accurate as their margin of error is less.

Chances of the final product having imperfections are greatly reduced. Correspondingly, there are fewer callbacks and repairs which results in more money for the business. Robots are also able to exchange parts faster and more precisely than a human operator.

Enhancing Safety in the Workplace

Robotic machine tending enhances safety in the workplace. There are tasks that pose threats to workers’ physical wellbeing. Pick-and-place tasks, for instance, may sound simple enough. However, wrong posturing can cause muscular-skeletal disorders that could land a worker in the ER.

In addition, the repeated motions, especially over a long period of time, can cause muscle-related injuries. Muscle pulls and other painful conditions can hinder as well as slow down production. Machine tending provides much-needed solutions to these problems.

More Work Gets Done

While your robot will need to stop occasionally for maintenance, it still covers a lot more ground than a human would. This is because it continues to boost throughput. Workers would need to take breaks every few workers but robots work nonstop without making errors.

Lowers Operation Costs

Automation also helps to lower operating costs as well as saving space. Robots allow workers to focus on more meaningful and fulfilling tasks.

Solves the Problem of High Employee Turnover

Factories are sometimes faced with high employee turnover especially when they need workers for certain tasks. Many workers eventually find better positions and move on leaving you to begin searching all over again.

Robots will not be sending out applications or demanding raises and promotions. They are used to fill in the gaps left by workers. Moreover, they provide a permanent solution. All they require is constant maintenance to keep them running at their best and your turnover problem is permanently solved.

Flexibility

Whatever you can conjure up for the production floor, there is a robotic solution that can be provided. Machine tending collaborative robots are designed and programmed to perform multiple tasks. In addition, they come equipped with flexible grippers.

Robots can, therefore, be adapted for many tasks on the production floor. In addition, grippers can be installed above in order to serve two machines simultaneously. Machine tending is applicable for applications such as the following:

Injection molds
Grinding
Milling and turning
Trimming and forging
Punching
Welding
Compression molds

Conclusion

Applications in a large number of factories and manufacturing plants lack skilled labour. Machine tending is well-positioned to fill in this gap. Collaborative robots that perform machine tending applications can be programmed to perform certain tasks without operators.

This is one of the skill gaps that are being addressed in industries such as manufacturing and material handling companies. If skilled labour is not available, robotic machine tending fills in and gets the job done.

How a Digital Transformation Can Improve Communications

December 18, 2019 by Gary

Modern business has changed. If you want to survive in an increasingly competitive market, it is essential you adapt your internal services to meet external demand. While your company might be cautious of a digital transformation, it is essential to move a business into the future, otherwise your company will be left behind. [Read more…]