Why The Future Of Learning Is Self-Education

There is probably no other American as revered as Benjamin Franklin. This inventor, scientist, statesmen and founding father of our country still influences modern life every time we vote, flick on a light or visit a library. What’s more amazing is that Ben Franklin was almost entirely self taught.

Although he received some formal schooling, from the age of ten on up, Franklin’s accomplishments were almost entirely as a result of his own desire to learn. And this was in a day and age when books were rare and expensive, and knowledge a rare and valuable commodity.

As we move further into the 21st century, the idea of self-education is going to continue to broaden and expand, making the life-long learner the most valuable person in the workplace, not the person with the fancy (and outdated) degree. That’s not to say that formal education is going to go away. There will always be a need for excellent universities and inspiring teachers. But the person who takes it upon himself to learn and explore topics—to broaden their own horizons—will always enjoy an edge, whether it be in business or as a citizen.

And what an amazing time to desire self-education! Never before has so much knowledge been so readily available. What would Ben have thought of Google, Wikipedia or TED Talks? It’s said that the sum of all human knowledge—everything we know about everything—is doubling every 18 months. New discoveries in science, technology and astronomy are happening almost every minute of every day. The most remarkable thing is that these discoveries are almost instantaneously available to anyone with an Internet connection.

Even more amazing are all of the systems, tools and resources that are popping up everywhere that offers people the chance to learn about any topic they desire. Want to learn how to design a web page? There are lots of free resources to learn HTML and CSS coding online. Struggling with math, science or physics? The Khan Academy offers anyone the change to learn or (re-learn) anything from basic addition to advanced Calculus through a library of over 3,400 video based lessons, again for free.

Beyond cost lies the fact that so many people learn differently. Some are auditory learners, others visual. One student might thrive in a classroom where the teacher simply talks while another slowly slips further and further behind. With all of these new interactive learning systems comes the potential of true differentiated learning. Now more than ever, anyone can learn anything in a style that is tailored to their specific learning style.

This means that the person who struggled in school–the person with ADHD, or Autism or simply anyone who hated sitting in a classroom all day when they wanted to be exploring the real world outside—anyone now has access to the knowledge they want or need.

And what’s most amazing is that no one really knows where this will lead us. It has only been within the last one hundred and fifty years that any type of education, even rudimentary learning, was available to anyone but the most privileged. Now, a villager in Africa can take classes at MIT, Stanford or Princeton. What types of new discoveries are going to be made? And more importantly what kinds of people will we see taking up the challenge to better themselves and the rest of the human race through education.

One thing is for certain, never again will lack of education be an excuse for anyone on Planet Earth to learn what they need to learn to survive, learn a trade or get ahead in life. Right this second, there lies at your fingertips the entire Library of Congress, the writings of every great thinker and the combined knowledge of 2,000 years of civilization. All that’s required is a thirst to learn and a burning question that needs to be answered.

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The Best Firefox Extensions For Focus and Productivity

Of all the major web browser, Firefox takes privacy and security the most seriously. Unlike Google’s Chrome, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Apple’s Safari, Firefox is an open source project run by the non-profit foundation Mozilla, which means they don’t have a vested interested in tracking your every move online.

If you’re like me and you’re often working remotely from all different kinds of distracting environments, you’re going to want to customize Firefox to help you focus and get things done faster. Fortunately, there are productivity enhancing Firefox extnsions that can help you ensure your time spent web browsing doesn’t disappear down a black hole of distraction.

Firefox Productivity Extensions:

Here are the Firefox extensions I recommend to improve your focus, block out distractions and optimize your workday:

1. StartHQ

StartHQ replaces your new tab page and makes it easier to launch your favourite websites quickly. It also allows you to search across all your cloud services like Gmail, Google Apps and Dropbox from the StartHQ Firefox dashboard. 

2. OneTab

If you find yourself always opening a load of tabs, then this OneTab can reduce tab clutter consolidate your tabs into a single tab. Not only is having lots of tabs open distracting, it also drains your battery much faster. If you want more advanced tab management, I also highly recommend Tab Mix Plus. 

3. RescueTime For Firefox

See where all your time spent browsing goes. RescueTime provides beautiful charts and graphics to illustrate how you spend your time using Firefox. By providing different rating for productive and distracting websites, you can see how optimally you are spending your time. 

4. Adblock Plus

Adblock Plus blocks the scripts that power nearly all online advertisements. Remove those pesky sidebar ads on Facebook, banner ads on websites and ads on Google. 

4. Pocket

Save any article or video with a single click to your cloud-based Pocket. Pocket allows you to then read them later from any web browsing or in their apps for iOS and Android. It even downloads them to your device so you can read them offline if you’re going on a long flight or not going to have Internet for awhile.

6. FoxyProxy

FoxyProxy is a Firefox extension which automatically switches an internet connection across one or more proxy servers based on URL patterns. This improves your security, allows you to access geographically restricted content and generally increases the speed at which webpages load.

7. Disconnect

This extension enhances your privacy by encrypting your Firefox data and it disables tracking by over 2,000 popular websites. It also claims to improve page load speed by an average of 27%.

8. Hootsuite Hootlet

Share any web page or video with a single click to social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ and track the analytics in Hootsuite’s social media dashboard.

9. LeechBlock

A tool to keep you off distracting websites when you really need to get something done. It offers a lot of flexibility to help you become more productive. You can block websites between fixed time periods (i.e. from 9 to 5), or after a time limit (i.e. after 10 minutes of browsing every hour or for the entire day).

10. LastPass

Protect your security by using unique passwords generated by LastPass and instantly accessing your passwords for any website in Firefox. The service is free but if you want to also sync all your passwords with iOS and Android, it’s worth the $1 a month.

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Things You Must Know About Domain Names

A domain name locates an organization or other entity on the Internet. For example, the domain name

www.undocopy.com

locates an Internet address for "totalbaseball.com" at Internet point 199.0.0.2 and a particular host server named "www." The "com" part of the domain name reflects the purpose of the organization or entity (in this example, "commercial") and is called thetop-level domain name. The "totalbaseball" part of the domain name defines the organization or entity and together with the top-level is called the second-level domainname. The second-level domain name maps to and can be thought of as the "readable" version of the Internet address.

A third level can be defined to identify a particular host server at the Internet address. In our example, "www" is the name of the server that handles Internet requests. (A second server might be called "www2.") A third level of domain name is not required. For example, the fully-qualified domain name could have been "totalbaseball.com" and the server assumed.

Subdomain levels can be used. For example, you could have "www.nyyankees.totalbaseball.com." Together, "www.totalbaseball.com" constitutes a fully-qualified domain name.

Second-level domain names must be unique on the Internet and registered with one of theICANN-accredited registrars for the COM, NET, and ORG top-level domains. Where appropriate, a top-level domain name can be geographic. (Currently, most non-U.S. domain names use a top-level domain name based on the country the server is in.) To register a U. S. geographic domain name or a domain name under a country code, see an appropriate registrar.

On the Web, the domain name is that part of the Uniform Resource Locator(URL) that tells a domain name server using the domain name system (DNS) whether and where to forward a request for a Web page. The domain name is mapped to an IP address (which represents a physical point on the Internet).

More than one domain name can be mapped to the same Internet address. This allows multiple individuals, businesses, and organizations to have separate Internet identities while sharing the same Internet server.

The World’s First Network

The practice of using domain names began in 1969 when the US government set out to find a means to share and access information throughout the country even if one of its main computers (which used to be as large as rooms) get damaged in the event of a catastrophe. The ARPA or Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded the bid to create the first computer network in history to BBN Technologies, and the resulting network was then known as ARPANET.

It worked this way: telephone networks and IMPs or Interface Message Processors connected four main computers situated in different locations in the United States. By hooking up to the IMP, each of the four computers could then begin exchanging information within days. 

By 1985, the network had grown bigger and the number of computers connected to ARPANET multiplied. It then became difficult to use the centralized numerical system that was implemented to identify each computer host (the numeric addresses were basically the IP addresses of the computers connected to the network). In that same year, to simplify the naming of computers connected to any network, the DNS or Domain Name System—which had been already created in 1983—was implemented. “.Arpa” became the first top level domain (TLD) listed in the DNS. Host names belonging to ARPANET were then given labels plus the “.arpa” domain name.

Thanks to the progression from numeric labelling to using simple words, people today are able to easily recall URLs and access websites with far less—even zero—hassle thanks to domain names.

Top Facts You Must Know About Domain Names

Along with “.arpa,” there were other TLDs that were also registered in the DNS. These are still widely used today, and are truncated versions of the entities for which they were originally created.

.com Truncated from the word “commercial,” this TLD was initially controlled by the US Department of Defense. At present, it is being managed by VeriSign. It was intended for commercial entities and in 1995, the NSF or National Science Foundation, which is responsible for its maintenance, started selling the domain for an annual fee ranging from $50-$100. The commercial distinction quickly became irrelevant though ever since registration for .com (and also .org and .net) soon became unrestricted. 

The very first registered .com domain was Symbolics.com (on March 15, 1985).

.org – This is known as the first generic TLD and was truncated from “organization.” Like .com it was created to distinguish non-defense interests, except that .org was intended for non-profit entities, such as Greenpeace.org. Nevertheless, the PIR or Public Interest Registry—which manages the domain—currently charges $7.70 per domain name registered.

Mitre.org of the MITRE Corporation was the first to be registered under the .org domain on July 10, 1985.

.mil – This is the domain reserved for the United States Department of Defense. It is short for “military.” The Department still makes use of .com and .edu for its recruitment, general information, and service academies websites, though.

.net – This is another generic TLD. “.Net” was intended for organizations involved in networking technologies. Many believe that a .net is not "brandable" and should not be used to build an online business. But take the example of Oversee.net, one of the most successful domain buying/selling company, founded by a very young entrepreneur, Lawrence Ng. 

Interesting facts:

• .net is also currently managed by VeriSign.
• The oldest and still existing .net domain is Nordu.net.

.edu– .edu is a sponsored TLD. It was—and still is—designated for four-year, post-secondary educational institutions (colleges and universities). It used to be available to educational institutions from anywhere in the world, but since the majority are using country-level domains, .edu became exclusive for US-accredited post-secondary schools since 2001.

.gov – This is another sponsored TLD, but is restricted for US government use only. Other countries include country code TLDs or second-level domains (SLDs) to their government URLs for easy distinction.

Speaking of country code TLDs (ccTLDs), assigning two-letter characters to signify the country source started 1985 with .uk, .us and .il. Eight more were added in 1986. However, it wasn’t until 2010 when the IANA or Internet Assigned Numbers Authority widely implemented the ccTLDs. Obviously they are exclusive to the country of origin, and the characters or alphabets used are native to the country of origin as well.

Today, these domains are widely used along with a simple, memorable, and often personalized domain name. Anyone interested in creating a website with a personalized domain simply need to contact domain services and purchase the rights to a unique—and preferably monetizable—domain name.

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How to play Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go mania has players armed with smartphones hunting streets, parks, rivers, landmarks and other sites to capture monsters and gather supplies.

The free app, based on a Nintendo title that debuted 20 years ago, has been adapted to the mobile internet age by Niantic Labs, a company spun out of Google last year.

Pokemon Go uses smartphone satellite location, graphics and camera capabilities to overlay cartoon monsters on real world settings, challenging players to capture and train the creatures for battles.

UNDERSTANDING POKÉ-TERMS

Here's a quick rundown of some of the names and phrases you'll come across when playing the game:

Pokéstops – All the items you need to play the game are stored in these blue supply stores, dotted around the map.

Pokéballs – Used to catch Pokémon and build your team.

Incense and Lure Modules – You can use these items to attract more Pokémon to your location. At the start, this is vital to build a large team that you can then use to battle or trade for goodies further into the game.

Gyms – Available from level five, controlling gyms is what the game is all about. Located at points of interest and landmarks, these are where the battles between players and their Pokémon take place.

Factions – These are the teams you're asked to join after reaching level five. They will determine which colour a gym turns when you claim it. Simply pick your favourite colour.

Potions, Super Potions and Revives – After a hard battle, you’ll need these to help your Pokémon recover before the next challenge.

Candy and Stardust – Think of these as supplements to make your Pokémon stronger and more evolved — absolutely vital for taking over more gyms.

Eggs – Go is big on XP, and you’ll need Lucky Eggs if you want to earn double XP. Regular eggs allow you to hatch more Pokémon to add to your team.

Razzberries – Harder to catch Pokémon can be tamed by feeding them these and winning their trust.

Footprints – Use the footprint guides in the 'Nearby' menu to navigate to rarer Pokémon. Three footprints means the creature is further away. No footprints means you're very close.

Here are monster-hunting basics for those interested in trying Pokemon Go.

GOAL

Capture and train monsters to battle for control of virtual "gyms" displayed on smartphone maps of real-world settings.

Players win by controlling gyms and collecting Pokemon.

HOW TO GET STARTED

- Download a free Android or Apple smartphone Pokemon Go app.

- Choose an avatar.

- Walk to a "PokeStop" icon pictured on the map and tap on it to reveal photos of the real-world location you are standing in front of.

- Spin image to obtain supplies such as balls for capturing monsters.

- Progress to the next level by visiting PokeStops and capturing Pokemon.

CATCHING MONSTERS

- While walking, watch smartphone map for what appear to be bursts of leaves or grass.

- Go closer.

- When a Pokemon image appears on a screen tap it.

- Switch to camera mode.

- Scan surroundings through smartphone camera to see Pokemon.

- Hold finger on Pokeball at bottom of smartphone screen.

- Swipe finger to toss Pokeball at Pokemon.

- Hit target to capture Pokemon.

TRAINING MONSTERS

- Increase a Pokemon's power using stardust and creature-specific candy found in the game.

- Reach Level 5.

- Walk to a gym, represented on a map as a tower.

- Once close enough, tap on the icon to enter the gym.

- Chose to join the red, blue or yellow team.

- If a gym is controlled by a rival team, challenge the ruling Pokemon for dominance.

- After defeating a rival Pokemon, leave your own Pokemon to rule the gym.

- If a gym is controlled by your team, challenge the incumbent Pokemon for status.

WHERE TO PLAY

- Essentially everywhere in places the app is available.

- Pokemon Go has been released in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

TIPS

- Carry backup power.

- Use teamwork to keep control of gyms.

- Don't venture where it is not safe or you are not wanted.

- Remember your location is being tracked so others might find you.

- At the start, refrain from selecting a Pokemon to get coveted Pikachu later.

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Which is Better for Mobile Blogger ? Netbooks vs. Laptops

As a busy freelancer, your life constantly involves darting from place to place at break-neck speed, whilst trying to juggle your various streams of freelance work.

To accompany this mad mobile lifestyle (that only the bravest of people choose) you need a tool that can keep up the pace and never drag you down.

So, you go to the computer section of your favorite electronics outlet and you begin to wonder what equipment to purchase. What will best meet your needs?

You wonder, should I get a netbook, should I get a laptop, or something else?

In this post, we’ll discuss the pros and cons for selecting a laptop and a netbook.

About Netbooks

Netbooks–also known as ‘mini-laptops’–are small, lightweight and ultra-portable computers which have been growing in popularity. However, these useful modifications to the laptop do come at a cost. Let’s look at the pros and cons of selecting a netbook.

Netbook Pros

Here are some benefits to selecting a netbook:

They are small and lightweight. This is brilliant for those on the move constantly. Being able to whip it out anywhen and anywhere to type up those final notes or jot out a life plan, is essential for a freelancer of any type. Also, with the ability to shove it into a bag without anyone knowing it is there, you are protected from potential computer-thieves.

Long battery life. The average netbook has a longer battery life, ranging from anywhere between four to over ten hours. When constantly moving in an ever increasingly hectic freelancing lifestyle, knowing that you have the battery life to sustain you on the longest of train journeys, lectures and meetings gives you peace of mind. The irritating beep-beep of a dying battery will seldom be heard.

Money, money, money. Netbooks are noticeably cheaper than regular laptops. So, whilst you are out freelancing your backside off, you can be safe in the knowledge that you still have a chunk of change leftover, compared to your mate who bought a £2500, bright-light, whizz-machine.

Now that we’ve examined the benefits of selecting a netbook, it’s time to look at some of the disadvantages.

Netbook Cons

Here are some disadvantages to selecting a netbook:

Power. With a netbook you do not have a bright-light, whizz-machine. Netbooks are not as powerful as laptops. They can only handle so much information before their little internal processor screams bye-bye. Sure they cope with MS Office and browse the web pretty effectively, but if you’re a freelancer gamer, a netbook will not cope with this kind of information and should be avoided.

Small keyboard buttons. It is a known fact that people have been getting taller throughout the ages. With great height comes great big hands. Due to their size, netbooks have tiny little buttons that big fingered guys and gals just won’t be able to type on. There would be a fair few documents written with a ‘dfdshjcvmbvl vkjdfds’ nature. However, major netbook companies are countering this by trying to incorporate full size keys into their newer machines.

No Disk Drive. There is no disk drive in netbooks. If someone at a freelance networking event has something to show you on CD/DVD and you all confess to owning netbooks, the colleague’s little video or song will have to remain un-witnessed. Also, the ability to be in a meeting whilst watching a Buster Keaton film on DVD, is taken away.

Now that we’ve discussed the pros and cons of netbooks it’s time to look at laptops.

About Laptops

And now we come to the laptop; the bigger brother of the little netbook. These machines have been around for near on 30 years with its ancestor rooted in the IBM 5100 – arguably the first commercial portable computer. Is there still a place for these machines in this day and age?

Laptop Pros

Here are some of the advantages of choosing a laptop:

Larger screen. For those of you with small eyes who need those extra few million pixels to read articles and watch YouTube videos, a laptop is a must-have. With a larger screen you can have multiple files opened up simultaneously, and spread out across the screen, without the need to squint at what you are doing. Also, when people inevitably look over your shoulder to see what you’re up to, they don’t have to lean in so close and freak you out.

Power. Laptops are far more powerful and can work with extremely complex programming that netbooks would whimper in a corner at. If you’re a freelancer in the field of multi-media, film, music etcetera, having that extra processing power allows you to work on projects that would be impossible on a netbook. There are also some office programs that are far too complex for netbooks to carry out.

Larger hard-drives. Netbooks do have pretty decent hard-drive sizes, ranging from 60-160GB. However, laptops have huge mammoths containing more information than your own brain. Once more, a larger hard-drive will be dependent on the type of work you are conducting. If you edit HD music videos for a living whilst out and about, get a laptop: if you write little articles on Microsoft Works for a living, consider going elsewhere.

Now that we’ve examined the advantages of laptops, it’s time to look at some of the disadvantages.

Laptop Cons

Here are some of the disadvantages of choosing a laptop:

Size. Obvious one first: they are huge. Dragging a laptop around with you for hours on end, causes severe sores to the shoulders and back. If you are a constant mover-and-shaker in your line of work, then having the small netbook would be ideal. Then again if you are trying to get a work-out whilst darting from place to place, consider the laptop.

Battery Life. The battery life is dire compared to a netbook. Imagine a Fiat 500 and a GT 40 heading towards London from Edinburgh; sure the GT 40 is the massive all powerful force cruising along, but it’ll be stopping every half hour for a fill up, whilst the little Fiat put-puts along happily. Another concern is that if you are in a meeting/lecture etcetera and your battery goes down to 3%, who’s the clown trying to find a power source whilst their laptop is screaming beep…beep…beep: you are.

Money, Money, Money (again). Laptops are generally more expensive that netbooks. All the power comes at a price – like a GT 40 – and if you do not genuinely need the power, then a laptop just isn’t necessary. In this age of austerity in governments and individuals alike, aiming for that pricier option just sometimes isn’t the way.

Conclusion

The laptop versus netbook debate is completely dependent on the line of work you are engaging in. If you are a freelance writer, constantly out and about, picking up stories, writing articles and sending them out on the web, then get the Net.

But, if you are freelance rocket scientist (they might exist) then you might want a machine that can handle programs with greater magnitude. 

In an ideal world, the best recommendation would be a netbook for the bulk of your work and a laptop for your super-happy fun-times. Then again, in an ideal world, you’d be a millionaire without the need to run round like a crazy person, picking up work left right and centre.  

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Innovative Uses for Your Smartphone Camera

Did you know that your smartphone camera is so much more than a gadget for taking selfies? From filing insurance claims to helping you choose your next beer, your phone’s camera is a versatile device.

If like me you are guilty of never putting down your phone, at least make sure you are maximizing your built-in camera capabilities!

Also Read: Smartphones will soon be able to share power by touching other devices

1. Use it as a mirror

While it doesn’t seem overly innovative, using that front-facing camera as a mirror is one of my favorite uses. So simple and yet so practical. You won’t always have friends around to tell you when you have spinach in your teeth so thank goodness you have your phone to check your pearly whites after dinner!

2. Use it as a pair of glasses

It wouldn’t be very practical to use this life hack for an extended period of time but if you are stuck without your glasses, or even just looking for your glasses, it can be very helpful. Hold the smartphone camera up to your face and it will magnify everything for you!

3. Use it to file insurance claims

Filing an insurance claim can be a painful experience that involves far more paperwork and waiting than feels necessary. That’s why companies are taking advantage of smartphones to streamline the process.

Esurance, for example, has rolled out real-time video appraisals. Sign in to the app to video chat with an appraiser using the camera on your phone. Allstate on the other hand uses a QuickFoto Claim Guide as part of their app to speed up the claims process.

4. Use it as an extension of your eyes

Your smartphone camera can quite literally be an extra set of eyes for those tough to reach spots you want to see. This can be especially true if you have an extension like a selfie stick to help you reach around corners or above big pieces of furniture. Can’t remember what’s hiding above your tallest cabinet? No worries! Hold your arm up, snap a pic and voila, mystery solved.

5. Use it to scan documents

Don’t have a scanner at home? Now you do. Camscanner is a smartphone app that uses the phone’s camera to digitize paper documents with cutting-edge image processing technology.

6. Use it to remember your license plate

Snap a picture of your license plate so that you never have to run back out to the car to check when someone asks you. Let’s be real, after spending hours at the DMV you don’t want to be that person that holds up the line because you have to go outside to double check your license plate.

7. Use it to order prescriptions

Walgreens and CVS’s apps now allow you to scan your medicine bottle’s barcode with your phone’s camera and pick up the refill within an hour. Gone are the days of walking down to the pharmacy, physically dropping your prescription and killing thirty minutes wandering the aisles while they prepare it.

8. Use it to deposit a check

When is the last time you walked to a bank to deposit a check? In the digital ages, many of us bank with companies that don’t have brick and mortar locations anywhere near us, so getting to a bank to do anything can be incredibly disruptive. The solution? All major bank apps now allow you to take a picture of your check and deposit it directly through the app.

9. Use it to pinpoint nearby locations

Yelp is one of the many companies taking advantage of the augmented reality movement with its Monocle app feature. Point your smartphone camera down a commercial street and Yelp will point out nearly businesses.

10. Use it to remember your coat check

Next time you coat check your jacket, take a picture of the ticket. It is so easy to lose it and if the venue is of a certain size you might be waiting for hours while they try to find your coat. It won’t happen every time but the one time that it does you will be relieved you planned ahead.

11. Use it to turn your recipe into a grocery list

Apps like BigOven’s Recipe Scan let users scan photos of recipes with their smartphones and transform them into a typed up version. This automation comes at a small fee but it is safe to say that the days of manually copying out recipes and shopping lists from cookbooks are on their way out.

12. Use it to journal your food

Whether you are trying to lose weight, stay healthy or just want to remember what you ate, there is a food journaling app for you. If you enjoy photographing your food, you might consider the Eatery, a community-based app in which users upload pictures of their food and the community comments, likes and rates the food from fat to fit. Smartphone cameras can also double as barcode readers for a number of apps like Lose it! or Weight Watchers that track the nutritional value of your meals.

13. Use it to log expenses

Tracking expenses on the go is easy when you have your phone with you. Most major credit cards companies now have apps that let you snap pictures of the receipts to track them as you go. This can be especially helpful if you have work expenses you will need to file at a later date. Want to log them now? Services like Expensify have an app that allows you to photograph receipts and file expense reports on the go.

14. Use it to remember your passport number

Do you know your passport number off the top of your head? How long would it take you to find it? Save a picture of it to your phone and be ready for the next time you might want to be spontaneous and book an international flight.

15. Use it to translate foreign text

Now that you’ve booked your spontaneous trip abroad and are exploring new countries, you might want help deciphering all of those road signs you can’t read. Google Translate’s phone app has an image feature that will translate the text in an image you snap with the in-app camera.

16. Use it to track your favorite wines

When you try a new wine while out to dinner you can now log it into your phone using apps like Vivino that have a label recognition system. Simply scan a photo of the front of the bottle and log notes and ratings for later. If like me you know enough about wine to recognize what you like and don’t like, but not enough to be able to describe your tastes to a sommelier, this is the perfect way to up your wine game!

17. Use it to find beer suggestions

Overwhelmed by the beer menu? SipSnapp has you covered. Use your phone camera to take a picture of the beer menu and the app will spit out a series of ratings, reviews and recommendations written by fellow beer drinkers.

18. Use it to import business cards

Business cards are a cumbersome but critical part of networking. Apps like ABBYY Business Card Reader are making your life easier by storing all of your business cards in your phone. Scan the card using the in-app camera and it will import all of the data. Bonus? You can hook it up to your Salesforce account making it that much easier to follow up post-conference.

19. Use it to connect with friends and family around the world

With apps like Skype and FaceTime, your phone can become a portal to another location and talking face-to-face with people on the other side of the world is a reality. My immediate family lives in three countries on two different continents so it’s nice to be able to pretend like we are sharing a meal even though we are thousands of miles apart.

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Best Antivirus Programs for Mac Computers

Macs are more secure - or less insecure at least - than their Windows brethren for two reasons. On the technical side, OS X is a Unix-based operating system. As a Unix-based operating system OS X is sandboxed. It's like having a series of fire doors - even if malware gains access to your Mac, it is unable to spread to the heart of the machine. Macs are not unhackable, but they are more difficult to exploit than Windows PCs.

Which is the second reason. Not only are there far fewer Macs than there are Windows PCs, but they are harder to hack. Is it any wonder, then, that cybercriminals focus on the Windows world? All malware these days exists to make money, and the criminals who create and share such filth are not doing so because they want to work hard. They pick off the lowest hanging fruit, and that is unprotected Windows PCs.

There are active malware in the Mac world, however. And one of the biggest threats is your own behaviour. So it is definitely worth investing in Mac antivirus.

Best Antivirus for Mac Computers

iAntivirus for MAC

If you are a Mac user, then you would be aware of the name iAntivirus. It is one of the popular antivirus programs for Mac OS. And yes, this is also a free antivirus program. iAntivirus has been designed such that it does not allow malicious programs to attack your Mac OS.

Its real-time protection and solid detection system enhances all the security parameters of Mac OS for free. You can also keep updating this antivirus program to keep your computer safe from all the latest cyber threats.

McAfee Virus Scan

McAfee is not at all an unknown name for Windows users. And this popularity inspired them to design antivirus programs compatible on Mac OS. Like a typical McAfee computer security program, it allows you to keep your Mac OS free from old and new viruses, Trojans and other malicious programs.

This McAfee antivirus program for Mac features McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator which allows you to keep an eye on all the computers connected on the network. Its user friendly interface and availability of updates makes it a rough and tough antivirus program for Macintosh OS.

Norton Antivirus

Norton (Symantec) is a huge name in the arena of computer security experts. Even big companies trust their products capability. This undoubted fact makes it a popular and a favorite antivirus program for Macintosh operating system.

Its conventional detection and deletion feature with updated database makes it an ideal computer protection system. Regardless you are on Internet or not, its features will always make you feel safer from cyber threats like viruses, Trojans, and Rootkits.

Although Apple’s Mac OS provides some of the best security features like sandboxing, Library Randomization and Execute Disable, adding an extra layer of protection will never harm you. Choose your favorite antivirus program and get ready for a safer ride on Apple Macintosh OS.

Agax Antivirus

(Not for Mac OS X) Antivirus program by Agax is popular for its powerful and robust protection on a Mac computer. Apart from conventional features like detection and deletion of viral threats, it integrates your Mac OS with potent background protection which makes way for hassle free experience on computer.

Agax antivirus program features a shielding force namely, “Defender”. This adds to the overall protective features of this sound antivirus program. Agax antivirus program is also a free program.

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ClamCour Antivirus

(Not for Mac OS X) Since Internet is the primary source of most of the cyber attacks on your computer, ClamCour provides a robust protection while you are on Internet. This antivirus program mainly concentrates on the protection from cyber threats.

ClamCour offers an amazing feature called “Courier Filter” which scans all the mails coming into your inbox and does not allow you to download them, incase they are infected. It enhances your Internet browsing experience. Moreover, this antivirus program will not hurt your wallet as it a freeware.

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