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Top Gadgets Every Techie Should Have

For most people, the information age boils down to gadget overload. However, for the techie who loves gadgets, there's not enough time in the world to try every gadget out there is. Below are some of the gadgets that every techie must have. 

HTC One S Smartphone

The HTC One S Smartphone is one of those gadgets you can do anything with. Comparable to the iPhone and some of the other Android devices, the HTC One S Smartphone plays the role of a GPS, a laptop and a digital camera. From staying connected with anyone in the world at anytime to thousands of apps, this Smartphone is one of those one-man shows. This is a gadget that most would never go without. 

Third Generation iPad

For the techie who loves being entertained for hours, nothing beats the new third generation iPad. One of the best things about the iPad is mobility. The iPad can go anywhere you go, and you never have to run to your desktop or laptop computer. The iPad, and all other tablets, are the way of the future.  This is especially useful for those techies who are in education, whether as a student or educator, and I for one write more about my experiences in both at http://www.thebestcolleges.org

The Slingbox HD

The Slingbox HD is a great way to transfer your cable programming to your laptop, tablet or smartphone. If you travel a lot, it's great to know that you can take your television with you. You never have to worry about missing one of your favorite television shows or televised sporting events. With the Slingbox HDE, you can stream games and shows directly to your smartphone or iPad from any location you get wireless service. 

Yurbuds Ironman Headphones

For the techie who indulges in lots of gadgets and media, investing in a great pair or two of Yurbuds Ironman Earbuds is a must. These headphones are great for workouts because they are sweat-proof and will never fall out of your ears. They have a classic look and offer great sound quality. 

PlayStation 3

Everyone knows that life isn't just fun and games, but computing can sure be great! Computer lovers everywhere owe a lot to the gamers who created wonderful graphics and updated technologies in processing. The PlayStation 3 is one gadget that most techies use every single day. When it comes to consoles today, content is king. The PS3 can bring you game rentals, Amazon and Netflix. PlayStation 3 is truly a household entertainment hub that many techies appreciate. 

Kindle Fire

One of the major competitors of the iPad is the Kindle. The exciting thing about the Kindle Fire is that it comes with a nice color screen, e-mail support, plenty of apps and an e-reader. The Kindle Fire runs on the Android operating system and has held its own against the iPad mini. For anyone who loves reading, the Kindle Fire is a must! 

New gadgets continue to come out every single day. For the average techie lover, building an arsenal of gadgets that complement your lifestyle and come highly recommended for durability and reliability is the way to go!

Joseph Rodriguez writes about technology and lives in Iowa.

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MyArtPlot - Art Community, Art Platform, Art Market, Art World.

What is MyArtPlot?

Based in Boston, MyArtPlot.com (MAP) is a global empowerment platform for artists and the arts & crafts community. It offers tools to redefine the way artists, crafters, and supporters work, socialize and interact. With social, professional and commercial tools all on one platform, MAP allows individuals in the arts community to connect socially while interacting professionally and commercially. Participants, also known as "Mappers", can showcase, rate, review, add favorite, buy and sell original artwork across the world and across all experience levels.

  What's MyArtPlot's Mission?

MAP attempts to address the lack of equal information distribution about artists and buyers, and the lack of a centralized channel for global connections in the art community. The inaccessibility on both the artists' and buyers' sides results in the artists' receiving low income, and original work available only to the elitist groups while the majority of buyers purchase reprints. MAP is the solution to this problem. With its social, professional, and commercial tools, MAP enables artists, crafters, and buyers to interact and communicate efficiently.

  But That's Not All!

There was a discussion among the team on whether, moving forward, MAP should focus on its original goal - solving the problem of disconnection among creators and buyers - or also broaden the use of its service platform. In fact, MyArtPlot.com is also a competent service platform that can be easily applied to various themes and purposes, not just arts and crafts. The website is designed to provide social, professional, and commercial functions for all kinds of goals, and contains a strong security back-end. Individuals and companies have expressed interests in their technology infrastructure. The team is very happy about the recognition, and eventually decided to both adhere to their original goal and strengthen the Intranet service for art institutes and universities. At this stage, "we want to serve the arts and crafts community to the fullest, and then make the next move".

  Who Created MyArtPlot?

Ming Nguyen, the founder and CEO, had the idea for MyArtPlot.com at an art show. He saw the problem between artists and buyers - the lack of equal information exchange that resulted in unfair income for artists and unreasonable purchase price for most shoppers. He then started building the website and the security system, which is currently spreading across 20 different countries. Prior to MAP, Ming founded several online products and servicing platforms. He also worked for non-profits and had experience in proprietary trading.

  MyArtPlot's Next Step

As mentioned earlier, MAP's service platform that provides functional tools has been very successful in connecting creators and buyers socially, professionally, and commercially. At the moment, they are building the private Intranet for art institutes, universities, and relevant organizations. To give a teaser, for art universities, they focus on the social network, classroom facilitation, academic support, external publications, and career development. It will, of course, "be customized and deployed as an enterprise solution". With all the original and new project at hand, as natural, they are expanding and hiring more developers to further strengthen the team.

  Something More to Look Forward To

MyArtPlot.com is a wonderful way to spread your arts and crafts footprint and establish social and professional relations with the global community. Soon, they will expand to various social media sites and give Mappers even more media exposure. Their Facebook and Twitter pages will soon be back in the game again!

#myartplot #my art #my artwork #artplatform

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Winning at Their Own Game: the Business Benefits of Gamification

#gamification #onlinebusinessdegree

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When I try and explain what I do, I'm like

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Zadaqa - Corporate Social Responsibility, Redefined

The name Zadaqa comes from the Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi and Turkish word "Sadaqah", which refers to the amount of charity voluntarily given to the poor, or for a noble cause, after one has already given "Zakat" (mandatory amount of money given to the poor).

Through the explanation of this ancient and cleverly used word we can already understand what this promising startup does: it's modernising the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). What it does is allow companies and corporations to create "social" CSR initiatives; for example, Efani will plant a tree every 10 new Likes it receives on its Facebook page, Club Parker will donate $3 for each person who subscribe to their service, Kiva Microlending will donate $1 to a social entrepreneur for every new Like on its Facebook page, and so on.

Zadaqa's headquarters at the recently inaugurated entrepreneurship incubator at INSEAD Business School

This represents a great opportunity for companies to start CSR programs that customers and people in general are actually interested in, as through Zadaqa companies are able to monitor their CSR campaigns' success and determine whether it's something the customers value and want to participate in. Also, it makes CSR campaigns more "social", so it improves consumers' engagement with companies, and such campaigns might even translate into more customers for them.

Finally, Zadaqa gives people the power to back CSR campaigns with a click and to really make a difference, also exploiting the virality factor.

When it comes to CSR, it's often tricky business, because of the many implications of different nature involved, but serial entrepreneur  and Zadaqa's CEO Jonathan Levi seems to have found the right formula to modernize CSR.

To see more, visit Zadaqa's profile at AboutYourStartup

#Zadaqa #aboutyourstartup #startup #keepstartupping #socialcsr #csr #corporate social responsibility #insead #incubator