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  • The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Home Before Vacation

    The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Home Before Vacation

    Before you leave for spring vacation, do not forget to give your home some love and attention. Have a checklist of what needs to be done to prepare your home for your absence and your smooth return. That way, you can enjoy your family vacation fully and worry-free.

    Whether you’re going out of town for days or weeks, make sure to complete this home preparation checklist before leaving.

    Tidy the house

    The last thing you want is to come home to a messy apartment after a nice, relaxing vacation. So, make sure to clean and declutter your space before you leave. Run a quick vacuum around your living areas to remove dirt and food residues that could attract pests and insects into your home. You may also want to check your fridge and throw or give away supplies that might go bad. Lastly, do not forget to take out the trash. This is important to prevent the spread of foul odor in your home due to rotten food.

    Turn off your water supply

    A plumbing emergency can happen at any time. To prevent leaks and flooding in your home while you’re away, consider turning off your main water supply. According to HomeGuide, most homeowners spend between $400 and $1,500 total to repair burst pipes. That does not include the costs to clean and repair water damage in your home, which range from $1,000 to $2,000 depending on the extent. Save water and money by making the trip to your basement to shut off your water supply.

    Check all your doors and windows

    Forgetting to check all doors and windows is one of the biggest mistakes homeowners make when leaving for vacation. Leaving just one window or door unsecured can put your home at risk of burglary. Double-check your locks before you set off for a trip. If you have spare keys you’ve been hiding outside, make sure to remove them as professional burglars exactly know where to find them.

    Arrange a pet sitter

    If you have pets that you’ll be leaving alone at home, it would be ideal to hire a pet sitter. This will give you peace of mind, knowing your beloved pets are well fed and taken care of while you’re on vacation. It’s not advisable to ask your family or friends to look after your pets as it could take a lot of their precious time. Best to leave the job to the pros.

    Adjust your thermostat

    Leaving your air conditioner on full blast when there’s no one to enjoy it is a huge waste of energy and money. Thus, make sure to adjust your thermostat before leaving home. The Department of Energy recommends setting your thermostat to 85 to 90 degrees F during the warm season when going out of town for more than three days.

    Schedule a professional AC repair before leaving for vacation

    Quality air conditioning is key to preventing humidity-related problems in your home. Prevent dangerous AC breakdowns while you’re away by calling for a professional Air Conditioning Repair Port St. Lucie. There are a lot of reputable HVAC companies you can partner with in the area. What are you waiting for? Have a professional contractor service your AC now!

  • 5 Unmistakable Signs Your Customer is not Happy

    5 Unmistakable Signs Your Customer is not Happy

    You get a customer on board! Congratulations! Now, it is your turn to fulfil the commitments you made at the time of sale. Because if you don’t, he will soon feel dissatisfied and might switch to your competitors. It is important to learn how to read your customers and check whether they are happy or not with your services. It will reduce churn and maintain your revenue.

    How will you know your customer is unhappy and about to leave your business? Well, some warning signs can indicate that a customer is on their way out the door. Being able to spot those signs can help you act fast and retain your customers before they leave you.

    Here are 5 unmistakable signs your customer is not happy

    Your customer complains frequently-

    Are complaints a sign of customer engagement? Yes! You read it right! But when your customer complains frequently, it is a warning sign that he is unhappy with your service! The complaining gets too frequent when their problems are not being appropriately addressed. If you notice any such customer, then it’s time to pay attention to their complaints. Try to address their issues as soon as possible because they are more likely to go to your competitors now.

    Remember: You are better off having a customer complain, than silently go off to a competitor.

    Your customer stops engaging with you-

    Who is worse than a customer who is frequently complaining? A customer who doesn’t complain! He doesn’t respond to your emails. He might have stopped reading them! When you notice the customers stop engaging with you, it signals their dissatisfaction with your services. They might be doing this because they lose hope in your services. Probably, they are exploring products offered by your competitors and about to switch.

    Your customer decreases his spending on your products and services-

    Before leaving your business, your customer will slowly decrease his spending on your services and test out offerings from your competitors. How can you detect this behaviour? By keeping an eye on his spending among your products or services. What can you do now? First, identify the customers who are spending less. Then, you may focus on promoting the ways in which your products and services can benefit them. Perhaps, offering discounts or taking feedback from them can work!

    Your customer is not responding to discounts and special offers-

    Everyone likes discounts and freebies. It has been observed that promotional emails containing discount offers get the highest open rate. What if your customer is ignoring your promotional emails as well! There is something seriously wrong! He might have lost interest in your services. He might be thinking that your services are not worth using even at a discounted price. It usually happens because of poor product performance or a bad service experience.

    Your customer starts referring to your contract terms-

    A good relationship is about mutual understanding, trust and care. Customer relationships are also like that. So, everything was going well. But suddenly, your customer is asking many questions about the terms and conditions written on your contracts. It’s a warning sign that he may not feel satisfied with your service. When your customer reaches this stage, you can think that the trust is no longer there and he may look for any other company.

    We have discussed 5 warning signs that can indicate your customer is not happy. Now it is your turn to keep an eye out for the above-mentioned behavior of your customer and do the needful to retain him. Remember, it is more expensive to get new customers on board than to retain old customers. So, always try to retain your existing customers to increase your profits.

    For business owners in the Field Service Industry, here is a piece of advice!  Look for software that not only enhances your business processes but also keeps your customers happy.  Look for the best field service management software that helps you treat your customers like a king.

    After all, a customer is a king! There is no known business till now that can do without customers. So, treat your customer as a king and try your best to deliver the best service to him.

  • A Guide to The Certification of The Amazon AWS

    A Guide to The Certification of The Amazon AWS

    Due to the requirements of the company and personal career development, I recently chose to participate in the AWS Exam of the Certified Solutions Architect – Professional. The whole process is still relatively difficult, and there are a lot of experience and tips to share with you in the following passage. I hope to be helpful to you.

    There are five people gaining the certificate in my company (FIT2CLOUD) (including 2 Certified Solutions Architects – Professional and 3 Certified Solutions Architects – Associate), so relatively speaking, I have accumulated some experience in preparing for AWS certification.

    1. Why do you want to get the Amazon AWS certification[click it]?

    Let’s start with two numbers. The first information shows that AWS remains at the top of the Leaders, and its revenue is five times more than the sum of that including four followers from the second to the fifth according to the report of the Magic Quadrant by Gartner 2015 IaaS.

    The second information is that the financial report of the Amazon which was first reported publicly in April showed that revenue is USD1.56 billion and year-over-year increase in revenue of approximately 49%.

    The information indicates that more and more enterprises are adopting AWS. As a result, there is a growing demand for people with the AWS expertise. Amazon AWS certification is now one of the most valuable certificates and a frequently searched keyword on LinkedIn.

    2. AWS Certification System

    AWS certification systems include Solutions Architect, Developer, and Sysops Administrator for different positions that require different AWS skills. Each of types has two levels: Associate Level and Professional Level.

    The personnel who participates in taking the certification only obtain the Associate Level certification first. Then they would be eligible for obtaining the corresponding category of the Professional Level certification examination. On the whole, the Associate Level is relatively easy, while the Professional Level is quite difficult. (The  number of the author only ranked approximately 1200. In the company, the number of a colleague who has passed the examination ranked approximately 500 in June last year, which means that there are only approximately 600 members had passed the examination. And all the passing members include a significant number of AWS’s own employees). Because it is a little bit difficult, and it is said that there are training classes. But fortunately, I have used AWS in my previous and present companies, so I still have a lot of practice and experience. I finally passed the Certified Solutions Architect – Professional through intensive self-study before the exam. Through this process, it can be said that on the one hand, getting the official recognition from Amazon AWS will help me get more opportunities in my career. On the other hand, more importantly, this process can greatly improve our understanding of architecture design, understanding of AWS services, and understanding of cloud computing, so the preparation and effort in this process is definitely worth it. The above paragraphs is the introduction of AWS certification and personal views, and the following paragraphs will take the Certified Solutions Architect – Professional as an example to introduce the content, difficulties, and preparation experience.

    3. The content of the examination

    It can be said that the whole exam revolves around one question, that is, how to use AWS cloud computing technology to better solve the problems encountered by the enterprises in various application scenarios. From the view of the content, there are the following characteristics, and these characteristics also decide the value and the requirement of the certification.

    • The content is very close to the actual situation. The content of the exam comes from the actual problems to be solved, which can be said to be closely to the actual life. Following the trend of the times, rather than testing some rote knowledge is also an evidence to show the high level of the question and the testing direction.
    • The depth and breadth of the testing contents investigate the ability and experience accumulated in many aspects, involving the aspects from computing, networking, storage, load balance, safety, big data, CDN, DNS, deployment, middleware of the candidates. It is not only about the related services of the AWS, also involves the comprehensive architectural designing experience and understanding. It needs a lot of the accumulation at ordinary times.

    4. The tests you need to pass

    This exam can be said to be very difficult, and its difficulties and requirements mainly include the following aspects.

    English reading level: Currently, the only languages supported by the test are English and Japanese, so we can only choose English. This difficulty need us to solve the most basic problem, that is, to quickly understand the questions and basically finish the problem. The total time of the exam is 170 minutes, and the number of questions is 80. The average time of each question is 2 minutes. Considering the content of the options, the length of each question is between 150 and 350, and most of the questions in the computer test are longer than half a screen, which requires a high speed of reading comprehension and the ability to quickly and accurately obtain information. It can be said that the entire process of nearly three hours is highly stressful.

    On the other hand, many scenarios involved in the exam question are really inaccessible to us at ordinary times, and the content is unfamiliar. So we need to make decisions on the spot, and you are experiencing a highly tense process, which tests our accumulation ability and psychological quality at ordinary times. So this is the requirement of English, and it is likely for you to fail here. For this level, short-term improvement can be achieved by reading more AWS English documents and blog articles, and getting more familiar with sample questions and SPOTO Practice Exam to improve your ability. Exercise the ability to refine the designing needs quickly from the topic, and be familiar with the various sayings.

    Understanding of the AWS Service: The AWS services tested in the exam have both depth and breadth. Key services that take us time to master include IAM, STS, VPC, EC2, EBS, ELB, S3,Storage Gateway, RDS, DynamoDB, CloudFront, Route53, CloudFormation, OpsWorks, Kinesis. You also need to know about Glacier, CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Direct Connect, Elastic Beanstalk, Elasticache, EMR, Redshift, Data Pipeline, SWF, SNS, SES. It usually takes at least a day to read through the documentation for each service carefully, so this is a long preparation process. For the understanding of the key content, IAM and VPC are the most important. Other aspects can’t be talked about here as a result of the signing of the examination confidentiality agreement. So I can only talk about few points here, please forgive me. You can get a better understanding of the exam outline and simulation exam provided by AWS, and accordingly adjust the input in various aspects and make up for the deficiency according to the exam results.

    Architectural designing experience: From the point of the IT enterprise system requirements and the basic principles of architecture designing, it usually finish the work about ensuring the quality of products and services on the basis of ensuring product functions. Namely, high availability, high performance, security, reliability, flexibility, scalability, easy deployment and management, low cost are the core points. The difference is that AWS provides a flexible and programmable base platform according to its demand, which is a giant success. We need to combine AWS to provide and manage enterprise IT and business systems in a more efficient way, with lower cost, faster speed and more reliable architecture. The most intuitive thing is that there will be a lot of questions in the examination, which will appear in a kind of practical problem scenario. We need to use these general architectural designing experience and AWS services knowledge to solve problems and make quick judgments. So to some extent, we are examining the accumulation and consciousness of everyday life.

    5. Advice on the spot

    Due to the large number of questions in the examination process and the wide scope of the content, so the process is too long, hard and tense. Therefore, I will give you the following suggestions.

    Prepare the Red Bull. It is an energy consuming process because of 80 questions one by one in three hours. And each question is longer than the former one.

    • Choose the right examination venue. AWS provides multiple examination venues in China, so you need to know the testing environment in advance. Try to choose the good network condition, and a relatively quiet examination venue. And get your own pair of earplugs just in case.
    • Examination rhythm need to be controlled well. For easy question, you must be determined to immediately choose to do without redundant consideration. It is a good way to save time to finish some difficult questions and the whole examination. It is basically an ideal if you plan to spend the equal time to each question.
    • According to personal psychological quality, appropriately give up some questions. If some questions are too long and difficult to understand, do not consider and choose the topic of the question to record on the paper. Look back when there is time (it is difficult to look back with abundant time).
    • The examination process had better be able to keep ahead of the other candidates at least two or three questions at the aspect of the time, especially for the general psychological quality of candidates. When you finish the last 10 questions, you should first scan the easy ones before the difficult ones, and then write down the easy ones.  And then come back to scan the ones that didn’t be scanned. If there is a hope that you can get it right, you should spend more time finishing the questions, and if there is no hope, you must choose one decisively.

    6. Study materials

    It is suggested that before the examination, you should use the SPOTO Practice Exam to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the questions, content, length, process, rhythm, question quantity and time of the test, all of which are the half of the real standard of the examination. It means 40 questions in one and a half hours. USD 40 payed for a test, this investment is better worth it. However, the frustrating thing is that after the end of the simulation exam you can only know the overall score and the scores of each part. So, for the uncertain answers, it’s best to prepare together and discuss with each other.

    Also see this aws solutions architect associate practice exam

  • How Does Premium Packaging Help to Elevate The Appeal of a Product?

    How Does Premium Packaging Help to Elevate The Appeal of a Product?

    Contrary to the popular metaphor “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, most shoppers do judge which items to buy based on its packaging.

    According to a survey conducted in 2019, the average shopper spends approximately half a minute making a decision on what to buy in a particular aisle or section based on the item’s visual appeal. In order for business to be successful it is extremely important to catch the attention of the potential customers. Brands that give importance to the quality and design of the packaging focus on “premium packaging” that offers a bold, customer-facing ad right on the shelves.

    Between offering an appealing appearance and practicality, premium packaging can influence the choice of a customer. A potential customer looks for items that can be better alternatives, and even worth buying despite a higher price – which may be critical to a brand’s efforts to increase sales of their products in an extremely competitive market.

    How Does Premium Packaging Add to Product Appeal Through Its Usefulness And Convenience? 

    Packaging serves two main roles: to hold and protect the product from damage and to catch the customer’s eye on the aisles. When the manufacturers provide additional features – specifically in terms of convenience – to their item packaging, the final product appears special or “premium”.

    Customers prefer packaging with designs that has convenience and other features like the functionality, size, shape, weight and colour scheme that adds to the appeal of a product. The premium look to the customer is the first step to make customer stop and look at your product.

    In recent years, many food brands have introduced convenience innovation to their product packaging such as reseal able containers to keep the food/drink fresh and pocket-size packets which make carrying snacks around easier.

    Such means of premium packaging adds value to the products’ appeal by showing customers how they make daily life easier and more convenient, especially with the fast-paced lives we live today.

    How Does Premium Packaging Add to Product Appeal Through Attractive Package Design? 

    While convenience and functionality ARE important, for most customers the most appealing aspect of premium packaging is the visual appearance.

    The design of an item’s outer cover plays an important role in increasing product appeal, probably even more important than the role of advertising.

    There are 4 Primary Cues Associated With the Visual Aspect of Premium Packaging:

    • A unique container/package to communicate brand identity and make the product stand out from the rest.
    • Appealing to other senses apart from sight, like touch, sound, and scent, thereby connecting on a sensory level. Packages that successfully stimulate the majority of the senses will be more appealing to the customer.
    • Specialty completes the connection between tactile sensation and importance.
    • The ability of the packaging to be minimalistic and still evoke a sense of refinement and elegance, implying with premium packaging.

    Today’s customers are ready to pay more for certain products, so long as it has the right packaging attributes i.e. it is convenient, customizable, and innovative. Premium packaging, if done carefully and strategically, allows manufacturers to charge a higher price for the item and increase product sales.

    Conclusion

    Simply put, it can enable a product to be valued more and customers will be willing to pay for it as long as the qualities of the products are adhered to. Remember that a product’s packaging aims to express what a brand stands for, both to its customers and its competitors. Brands can leave a lasting and appealing impression on the shelves of stores and in the minds of their customers by employing premium packaging.

  • A Step-by-Step Guide for Making Your Basement Airbnb-Ready

    A Step-by-Step Guide for Making Your Basement Airbnb-Ready

    If you have a basement, especially one that has its own exit to the outdoors, you might think about renting that basement out on Airbnb. If your basement is currently completely unfinished, this may seem like a monumental task, but it’s not as difficult as it might sound at first.

    Follow this guide and get a great professional and your basement can look just as good as the coolest basements on Airbnb.

    1. Waterproof the Basement

    First and foremost, it’s mandatory that you waterproof your basement. Because the basement is largely underground, even if it’s not completely underground, it’s dealing with a lot of hydrostatic pressure. This is pressure from the water that’s in the earth, even when it hasn’t rained. When it does rain, that pressure can get even more tremendous. Waterproofing ensures that your guests don’t deal with sopping wet floors.

    2. Design the Basement

    Before you proceed, it’s a good idea to design the basement. What do you want it to look like? Do you want there to be intentionally unfinished elements, or would you rather it look exactly like an aboveground room? Do you want to add extra walls, or do you want the basement to just be an open area? Planning this first can help you in the finishing process.

    3. Finish the Basement

    The next step is “finishing” the basement. For most basements, this means installing drywall, adding a ceiling of some kind, and possibly adding flooring. This doesn’t mean that the basement is completely finished, but it does mean that the basement looks like a passable room. If you’re intentionally leaving some elements unfinished or you’re adding extra walls, you’ll do it in this step.

    4. Lay Down the Basics

    Next, you’ll lay down the most basic parts of the design. This includes things like painting the walls, setting up furniture, and ensuring the doors look good, including doors you’ve added inside the basement. By focusing on the basics first, you’ll make sure that the foundation of the basement is strong before you add on extra accessories and designs.

    5. Add Extras

    This is the last step, and it’s probably the most important for Airbnb basements. What are the special extras that your basement can offer Airbnb clients? Do you plan to have a TV with game consoles hooked up to it? Do you want to stock a bar with everything but the alcohol, so your visitors can bring their own and make themselves mixed drinks? These extras will make your basement really shine and make it more likely for people to book your basement.

    Conclusion

    Taking your basement from fully unfinished to Airbnb-ready isn’t as difficult as it might seem. However, it is important to have a competent contractor with you to complete many of these steps. Some of the steps are crucial and will keep people safe when they stay in your Airbnb. With the help of a basement repair expert, you can make your basement picture-perfect more quickly than you would have ever imagined.

  • 5 Tips For Getting Pulled Over

    5 Tips For Getting Pulled Over

    If you get pulled over, here are 5 tips for getting pulled over. Getting pulled over is never an enjoyable experience, and sometimes it leads to even more significant troubles for a person depending on why they are getting pulled over. However, just use your common sense when it comes to things, and you should do just fine when it comes to this.

    Tip #1: Look Where You Are Pulling Over Before Doing So

    Before you pull over for the police officer, check out the current area where you are getting pulled over in. A large number of police officers die each year from traffic accidents, many of which are caused by people pulling over in unsafe areas for them. Do not cause another traffic accident by failing to find a good place to pull over in.

    Put on your blinker or your traffic hazard lights to let the police officer know that you are finding a place to pull over and are not trying to escape them. You do not want to take too long to find a safe place to pull over, but the police officer will appreciate that more than being run over by a car after pulling you over.

    Tip #2: Make Sure That You Are Fully Visible

    When you get pulled over, make sure that you are making yourself fully visible inside your car to the officer who is pulling you over. Police officers know the dangers of pulling people over, and if you make yourself visible to them, you will be able to make them feel more at ease, making the entire situation go more smoothly.

    Tip #3: Roll Down Your Windows Before The Police Officer Arrives

    You will have to roll your window down for the police officer regardless, so it is smarter to roll it down before they even reach your car. This makes communication between you and the officer easier and will help prevent unnecessary communication issues. If you can not roll down the window, do not open the door but let the police officer know about this issue when they arrive.

    Tip #4: Never Reach For Anything Unless Told To

    One of the most important tips that can be stressed enough when it comes to getting pulled over is not reaching for anything in your vehicle. An officer has no way of knowing what you are reaching for, and this is a good way to escalate things quickly for no reason. Keeps your hands on the steering wheel unless you are asked to grab something, and make sure you keep all your movements slow and calm.

    PRO TIP: If you are pulled over for DWI, you’ll want to learn about what type of lawyer to hire.  The Barkemeyer Law Firm blog has a great article you can read on this subject.

    Tip #5: Use Common Decency Towards The Officers

    The officer pulling you over is just doing their job, so there is no need not to be polite to them. Just comply with what they ask of you, and you will be on your merry way before too long as long as you are polite and do not do anything stupid with them.

    Conclusion:

    Remember to be smart about getting pulled over and try to obey the law in the first place. Then you will not have to worry about what to do if you get pulled over. However, in case you need them, you now know 5 tips for getting pulled over.

  • Paving the Road to Electrification – are we there yet?

    Paving the Road to Electrification – are we there yet?

    If you are like many automotive consumers, you have probably wondered when electric vehicles (EVs) will garner widespread adoption and finally replace their petroleum-powered counterparts once and for all. We know the technology is there – check. We see the interest is there – check. Realistically though, we still have many miles to go before the infrastructure to power them is viable. Automotive public relations expert Michael Szudarek from Marx Layne & Company offers some perspective on the matter.

    EV demand

    According to IHS Markit, a world leader in information, analytics and solutions, EV sales reached nearly 2.5 million globally in 2020 and are predicted to rise by 70 percent in 2021, with China and Europe leading market share, followed by the United States. EV sales are forecasted to exceed 3.5 million annually, with about 18.7 million available by 2030. BloombergNEF predicts that by 2040, nearly 60 percent of passenger vehicles sold worldwide will be electric. As EVs – both battery-electric (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) grow in popularity, so must the infrastructure that supports them.

    Infrastructure EVolution

    Last year, public charging stations surpassed the one million mark globally, while General Motors announced plans to build a nationwide EV charging network to align with their BEV market strategy. Then there is Electrify America, a Volkswagen subsidiary, which recently completed an ultra-fast, cross-country charging network for all brands and EVgo, the nation’s largest public EV fast-charging network powered by 100% renewable energy. More recently, Szudarek discussed the EV outlook under the new Biden Administration, noting the president’s ambitious pledge to deploy charging stations at scale by the end of 2030. Even though we see an upsurge in charging ports, there are still enormous challenges facing electrical infrastructure development across the country.

    The power grid paradigm

    With the upcoming wave of EVs expected to skyrocket, more people will depend on electricity to power their vehicles, which could challenge grid capacity. Utility companies will be a significant player in supporting the future growth of charging networks and safeguarding their potential strain on the electrical grid.

    Will the increased demand for electricity tax the system? The short answer is no. Over time, the power grid has evolved and can handle the added load. Believe it or not, there is enough spare capacity to accommodate the influx of EVs. According to fueleconomy.gov, an average EV requires only 30 kWh per 100 miles traveled – similar to the daily average electricity consumption for an American home (877 kWh / 30 days.) By 2040, EVs are expected to increase electricity demand by just 5.2 percent or 1,964 TWh globally.

    Smart solutions

    Of course, energy consumption fluctuates throughout the day, especially during peak charging hours. Suppose every EV owner decides to plug in at the same time. In that case, there is a possibility – albeit small – that the grid could crash or force utility companies to deliver more electricity than they can produce. To mitigate this risk, utility companies are exploring many options like smart charging programs, time of use rates, and vehicle-to-grid technology, supporting renewable energy goals.

    Rural area networks

    EV infrastructure is not just for sprawling metropolises. Utility companies, policymakers, charging station developers, and other stakeholders need to invest network dollars in more rural areas. Electrify America has already invested $2 million in solar EV chargers in rural California – further supporting renewable energy initiatives as these charging stations will not depend on the electrical grid. These solar chargers not only address the lack of existing electrical infrastructure typical in many remote locations, but they are mobile. They do not require the same construction that other charging infrastructures require, hence reducing costs.

    Yet, as rural areas gear up for more charging station deployment, there are other concerns, though.

    Many would-be consumers still have trepidations over EV range and the lack of available charging stations in general, especially drivers who travel longer distances indicative of rural area living.  While increasing the number of rural EV charging stations could help alleviate these fears, finding locations where drivers can wait for their vehicles to charge, e.g., shopping centers and restaurants, could pose additional adoption barriers.

    EVs overseas

    Now cross the ocean to Africa, whose economy is predominantly agricultural and subsistence farming. As the leading continent in terms of global urbanization, there is a massive opportunity and dire need for Sub-Saharan African countries to invest in alternative transportation solutions, like EVs, to combat petroleum dependency and help curb the impact vehicle emissions have on air pollution, health and climate. Many African countries also need a power solution to help leverage their abundant renewable resources, and EVs could be the answer.

    EV infrastructure viability in Sub-Saharan African countries needs more research. A reliable power supply and low electricity prices are paramount and could pose issues since blackouts are commonplace and electricity prices are twice that of the US and China. There are also environmental concerns around battery production and disposal.

    The truth is: the internal combustion engine (ICE) is not disappearing any time soon. So, when will ICEs phase-out, and EVs become the new norm?  No one knows as the global pandemic keeps the industry in suspense.

    Source: https://marxlayne.com/the-road-to-electrification/

  • StradVision Delivering Cutting-Edge Vision Technology for Autonomous Vehicles in 2021

    StradVision Delivering Cutting-Edge Vision Technology for Autonomous Vehicles in 2021

    The Future of Autonomous Driving Remains Promising

    In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic impacted many industries based on traditional business structures and infrastructure, including the automotive industry. According to a market study published in November by ‘Strategy Analytics,’ the global automobile production volume in 2020 was estimated at 74.1 million units, a significant decrease of 16.7% compared to 89 million units in 2019.

    However, despite the overall downturn of the automotive market, the potential of ADAS and autonomous driving vehicle markets remains high. In particular, the production of vehicles equipped with Level 2 and Level 3 autonomous driving technology is expected to increase sharply to about 30 million units by 2025.

    New Innovative Features for SVNet

    StradVision’s 2020 was a year of significant achievements that further increased the maturity of technology, product and business capability. Since last year, StradVision focused on improving the performance of SVNet, its object recognition software, with implementation of more innovative features leveraging higher resolution videos and more cameras.

    At the NVIDIA GTC 2020 and AutoSens 2020 events held in October and November 2020, we unveiled our solution for Surround View Monitoring (SVM), which has begun to attract a lot of attention in the automotive industry. This technology combines wide-angle images collected by multiple cameras, mounted along the side of the vehicle, to recognize objects and situations in all directions, 360 degrees.

    StradVision also introduced a unique technology called Animal Detection in 2020. This new feature of SVNet was developed to prepare for the road environment in some countries where wild animals and livestock frequently appear, and reflects StradVision’s corporate value for the safety of not only humans, but also all living things.

    StradVision’s Expansion of Global Business Network

    In terms of business, Stradvision invested in closer support of our customers in different countries. One significant move was the opening of a new office in Munich, Germany, where many of our automotive Tier 1 and OEM customers are located. We also appointed Dr. Andreas Vom Felde — who has extensive industry experience in the field of automotive technologies — as general manager for our operations in the European Union. StradVision’s global reach includes local branches in Germany, Japan, China, and the United States.

    We also extended collaborative relationships with partners in the autonomous driving fields. In August 2020, StradVision signed a collaboration agreement with Socionext Inc., a major system-on-chip (SoC) solution company, to increase the supply of SVNet to the Japanese market. And we signed another agreement with BlackBerry to utilize its QNX software development platform for SVNet to create more business opportunity in the Korean automotive market.

    In addition, StradVision was selected for the Proactive Partner Program of the R-Car Consortium of Renesas, and as the Premier Partner of the NVIDIA Inception program, in recognition of its competitiveness in ADAS and autonomous driving technology.

    Through active new technology development and rapid business expansion in multiple countries, Stradvision has signed cumulative software supply contracts of 8.8 million units, and brought in a total of $41 million, including series B funding.

    Implementing Improved Performance and Cutting-edge Features to SVNet

    Stradvision aims to achieve two goals, in terms of business and technology, in 2021.

    Stradvision’s top priority is advancement of the Front-facing Camera (FFC) recognition performance, adding innovative improvements to our existing object recognition technology. By enabling the same level of object recognition capability as dual front cameras while using only a single camera, StradVision will maximize the unique advantages of SVNet, which delivers high-efficiency for both hardware utilization and costs.

    Along with the Front-facing Camera (FFC) solutions, StradVision is also activating new business areas based on emerging technologies including Surround View Monitoring (SVM) and AR-HUD (Augmented Reality Head-Up Display). As Surround View Monitoring (SVM) continues to earn a significant amount of attention in the automotive industry, SVNet provides cutting-edge features such as Advanced Parking Assistance (APA), to assist in parking with or without driver’s intervention, and Automatic Valet Parking (AVP), which provides complete valet parking service and a vehicle driving itself to the parking space and coming back when summoned.

    StradVision plans to collaborate with various OEMs in Europe, US, Japan, China and Korea, automotive parts suppliers and system-on-chip manufacturers to bring Surround View Monitoring (SVM) and AR-HUD technologies into day-to-day driving lives for everyone, leading the latest industry trends.

    About StradVision

    Founded in 2014, StradVision is an automotive industry pioneer in AI-based vision processing technology for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The company is accelerating the advent of fully autonomous vehicles by making ADAS features available at a fraction of the market cost compared with competitors. StradVision’s software is being deployed in 8.8 million vehicles worldwide and is serviced by their over 140 employees in Seoul, San Jose, Tokyo, and Munich. The company received the 2020 Autonomous Vehicle Technology ACES Award in Autonomy (Software Category). StradVision’s software is certified to the ISO 9001:2015 international standard.

  • 4 Ways to Improve Your Local SEO

    4 Ways to Improve Your Local SEO

    Although the goal to make a large global company is worthwhile, you have to build up from something.  People want to support local businesses, and their proximity to you will help push them to visit your physical store or your website.  Although using search engine optimization for gaming the system is a time-honored tradition; many don’t know how to handle it when aiming closer to home.

    Here are the top ways to use local SEO services to get more people into your shop and buy your product!

    Optimize for Voice Search

    As of 2020, around a quarter of households have a smart speaker to talk to and connect to Google or Bing.  These assistants, Google Home and Amazon Alexa, can answer simple questions by reading articles or pinpointing where the best local shop for gnome figurines is based on your answer.  You should optimize your site for voice search so that when they ask a pertinent question, their speaker will read the top article and have it be yours.  Ensure to say your brand by name since the speaker won’t read out links.

    Figure Out Local Keywords

    What buzzwords are prevalent in your area?  Do you live in a city with a famous nickname like H-Town for Houston or Actionville for Jacksonville?  Think about a way you can tie in local keywords with your content advertisements so that it’ll come up quickly in the searches.  This option can also work if you mention local areas in passing as a famous gazebo people visit or a church that strikes as a local landmark that people care about and want to read about.  Ensure that you mention your city by name, so it gets noticed.

    Content Advertising Through Local News

    If you like content advertising, use local events as your topics to make locals want to come and read.  Once someone starts reading up on the hot local drama, they won’t notice what site they go on or what links they end up clicking.  Keep their attention by offering articles that are similarly close together on your website or by linking to other items that contain information about your company while still offering that entertainment factor.  Although you shouldn’t take part in any lowbrow drama and beware of slander accusations, you should know that most local news that gets a lot of attention is the dramatic type.

    Ask For Reviews From Local Customers

    Ask your local customers to review your product!  Whether they type up something quick for Facebook, or they tweet about it to their friends- ask that they tag your business and possibly the location as well.  You don’t generate these reviews, but you can push them into happening by offering discounts for future orders for any customers who tag you and leave a review.  This plan will give them an incentive to come back and buy again and hopefully use their connection to the surrounding area to gather more locals into knowing about your brand.

  • 3 Ways Traveling Can Help You Relax

    3 Ways Traveling Can Help You Relax

    Everyday life can be stressful. Between juggling all of your bills, going to work every day, keeping track of your family, and trying to stay in touch with your friends, it can be a difficult thing to do. Plus, getting into every person’s specific circumstances can be a lot more complicated than anyone else may think.

    It is essential to take time to yourself every once in a while. This way, you give your mind a break from all of the stress and pressure from your day to day activities. Below is a list of ways that traveling is a great way to take time off to relax.

    It Is a Reset Button

    Leaving your hometown and job for a little bit and exploring new places is a reset button within itself. It allows you to reinvent yourself for some time and find new things that you love about yourself. It can also help uncover areas where you think you could be better. Traveling helps with soul searching.

    It also is a reset button because when you return, you feel like a brand new person. You feel calmer, more relaxed, and overall happier. This will help you find more happiness in your day to day life.

    Builds Mental Resilience

    Travel can be intimidating. Several factors and things could go wrong, plus you are picking up your life and moving it around. It takes hard work, and you have to be mentally tough to put yourself through all of that movement and chaos.

    But, it will only make you a better person when returning or settling back down. Because now you are calmer, more relaxed, happier, and have more mental strength than you did before you had ever traveled.

    Cultural Awareness

    One thing that everyone benefits from in terms of traveling is cultural awareness. Being able to identify what is appropriate or inappropriate in different cultures is something that can be important when communicating with other people from different places. Plus, you get to learn about different cultures and different people, which can be very interesting.

    Learning about culture is very important when it comes to travel. Understanding the place you are going to is only a part of the travel experience. You have to understand the people who live there as well; then you are fully immersing yourself in that place.

    Overall, traveling is a fantastic way to open up your mind to new experiences and get away from your everyday life stressors. Being caught up in running around and trying to function in a work environment can take a toll on your mental health, and being able to get out of the house and explore new things is a great way to decompress.

    Plus, who knows, you may even travel to a place you love and might want to start a new life there. There are plenty of houses for sale all over the world. There are even Banff homes for sale if you’re going to get to know a new place.