What Does It ‘Tech’ To Become A Modern Gamer?

Gaming, like so many other pastimes, has evolved over the years. In the past, old school games dominated the landscape along with basic TVs and 2D graphics. Nowadays, that is no longer the scene when you or I sit down to play. The gaming scene has changed so much, in fact, that it is hard for some us to keep up with the trends. So, this begs the question: what does it take to step into the twenty-first century? The answer is a lot, but these are the main components for all you wannabe contemporary gaming geeks.

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Modern Console

It is no longer acceptable to have a regular game console in 2017. Indeed, even the manufacturers at the forefront of the industry are struggling to keep up with current advancements. The reason is VR or virtual reality. Companies like Sony and Microsoft may have the best consoles now, yet that is bound to change in the future. At the minute, Oculus is the king of VR, but Tesla and other rival firms are challenging their superiority. If you don’t want to be behind the times, it’s probably best to get on the bandwagon sooner rather than later.

Awareness

However, owning the latest tech isn’t the be all and end all if you have zero knowledge of how the console works. Quite simply, your skills will atrophy to the level of a beginner, and that isn’t a sign of a modern gamer. To avoid embarrassment, you must have a certain degree of awareness of how the modern games work. Yes, practice is also a factor, but there are only so many hours in a day. To take gaming to the next level, it’s vital that you understand the dynamics. Otherwise, you will be a sitting duck.

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Mod Cons

Having a Xbox One or PC isn’t enough. To be a contemporary player in the game, you need the extras, too. To start with, a high-resolution television doesn’t go amiss, and that isn’t to show off your wealth. New games focus on graphics much more than in the past, so a TV adds to the user experience. Speakers are the same as the sound effects are as much a part of modern gaming as the visuals. Also, an internet connection is vital because most games are based online. Plus, a headset is necessary to converse. After all, gaming isn’t a solitary hobby anymore – it’s social.

Time & Patience

Finally, time and patience are requirements if you don’t want to fall at the first hurdle. Adapting to new games is never easy, especially if you’re a retro type of person. However, you have to try if you want to transform into a quintessential modern gamer. To do that, you require the time to practice and the patience to keep your cool when it goes wrong. And, it will go wrong at some point in time.

These aren’t the only factors, but they are four of the most important. If you can implement these into your gaming experience, you should evolve with the times.

3 Great Online Time Wasting Options

There are moments in life when there just isn’t anything to do. You’re stuck waiting at a bus station; your friends are taking longer than normal to come over; you’re supposed to be working or studying but you’ve embraced procrastination into your life. Hey, we all do it. Don’t feel bad.

You find yourself with - for whatever reason - a spare slice of time. The internet is in front of you. The entire knowledge that humanity has ever amassed is at your fingertips; think of what the science and arts masters of old would have done with such a portal! And then think: yeah, but… I just want to do something fun instead.

Again: we all do it. Sometimes you don’t want to learn; you don’t want to use the time productively to catch up on your emails; you just want to waste some time and clear your head for awhile. If that sounds familiar, then here are a few ideas to keep you busy without you actually being very busy at all.

Online Games

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Flash as a whole might have died out in popularity (coming across a website built entirely from Flash is an immediate “back” button dealbreaker, for most of us) but it does still have a use: games.

They’re free - well, if you ignore the many ads that might be flashing across the screen. They’re not complicated and in-depth like your normal gaming choices might be. You can start, stop, forget they exist, or spend many hours going through the same repetitive motions. Or you can chance your hand if you’re feeling lucky, by tracking down the best online casino and seeing if your luck is going to bear out. Or if you just want something simple, it’s pretty hard to turn down a classic like Bubble Shooter when you just want something to distract you.

Help Solve Cold Cases

Think you might be a detective in the making? Then you could help solve cold cases, thanks to the Murder Accountability Project. For the moment it just features US crimes, but given that some of the most famous crimes of all time have happened in the States, that shouldn’t deter you. You can hunt for clues, read old files, and see if you can come up with a theory no one else has.

Citizen Science

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Citizen science seeks to harness the power of the internet for good. All sorts of scientific fields are involved, outsourcing the bulk work that would otherwise be done by overqualified researchers who are best turning their brains elsewhere. There are plenty of studies online; there’s a good overview here at the BBC for some ideas. Some of the most popular projects have helped identify galaxies in deep space images, understand the way we perceive age for psychology, or helped to map the neural connections in the human brain.

If that all sounds like you need a lot of time - you really don’t. This is the kind of activity you can pick up, do for awhile, then put down. And for once, your procrastination will have actually been useful - it’s hard to say fairer than that!

Understanding the Theory: The Games You Just Can't Quit

Whether it’s a console game or just an app, every once in awhile, you find yourself immersed in a game that you just can’t let go of. No matter how much you play it, it sticks in your mind, keeping you coming back for more even when there are other games out there demanding your attention. Sometimes it happens on a national level - remember the crazes for Candy Crush or Flappy Bird? - or it can just be a gem of a game that only a few people dedicated to gaming innovations play, but those that do are devotees.

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Have you ever wondered how games manage to do this; turn normal people into those on the verge of a game addiction? If you fancy finding out how things work behind the curtain, then read on…

#1 - Games Aren’t Designed To Be Fun

Sound difficult to believe? It might, but think about it: fun is transitory. What we have a tendency to enjoy at one point might not be the same thing that makes us happy another day. We can get tired of fun; we can want to move on to something more exciting, something different.

If, however, a game developer can tap into something deeper in our psyche, then their game has the potential to be a fixture for years to come. It’s interesting to note that the driving purpose of a game is not for users to enjoy it, but for users to want to keep coming back to it. These might sound like the same thing, but they are actually activating different parts of our brains.

Some of the most popular games of all time aren’t particularly fun, but they are rewarding. Understanding how rewards work in game creation is essential to understanding the behavioral psychology that they manipulate.

#2 - At First, Games Are Highly Rewarding

The first, and perhaps most important, attraction factor to a game is that it rewards new players quickly and often. That’s why when you first begin to play a game, leveling up and obtaining rewards is incredibly simple. Perform one basic task? You level up and get a ton of XP points!

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Every time we level up or receive some form of reward from the game, our brains get a shot of dopamine - the happy hormone. Even if we don’t fully understand the game or haven’t decided to play it for long, we’re still delighted by this evidence we’re apparently good at it. As the game progresses, achieving the same rewards becomes harder and harder. With Facebook games, for example, it might only take 10 XP to get to level two, but it’ll take 7,000 XP to move from level 58 to level 59. Yet we still do it, because when we reach that level up number, we get the same shot of dopamine. If anything, it’s even sweeter when we have to wait and work towards something.

#3 - When You’re Hooked, You’re A Consumer

Many games like to ease you into them gently, especially those that don’t have a purchase cost like some app games. They get you in, leveling up, training you to enjoy that dopamine rush every time something goes right.

Then comes the next stage; transforming you from a gamer into a consumer. As you progress, learn the game, and what it takes to be good at it, you’ll then be offered some dangling temptations. An example would be something along the lines of: you could keep working to improve your armor, which will take time, effort, and skill… or you could just throw a couple of dollars at the problem and have your armor be perfect in an instant.

At first, going with the paid approach often seems valid. In many ways, that’s because it is. There’s no harm in spending money on virtual goods if they help us to enjoy the game more. It’s no different to spending on a cinema ticket or paying to download a movie; it’s all about enjoyment, so there’s no harm.

Of course, the problem comes when you are deeply immersed in a game and have been playing it for so long, it throws your judgment off. Then, the in-game purchases switch from being about enhancing your experience, to being necessary. There are many games where, effectively, you have to pay to win. Developers don’t throw this at you to begin with, of course! They ease you in with the leveling up rewards, the improvements for low cost, and then hit you with bigger and bigger requests for money.

This might sound like a harmless progression. It can be, if you manage it in moderation. However, the problem comes when people find themselves buying more and more because they’re trapped in a cycle of doing so, and feel they need it to continue enjoying the game. That’s when there’s risks of game addiction, people stretching their finances as they look for online payday loans and similar products that can allow them to keep buying.

 Again, there’s nothing wrong with this in theory if you genuinely enjoy a game! You’re paying for a form of entertainment; that’s legitimate. But it’s always worth asking if you truly enjoy the game, or if you’re just used to playing it now and want to continue.

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#4 - More Rewards

We’ve touched above on the importance of rewards to keeping you coming back to a game. This truly can’t be overstated.

Have you ever heard of the rat experiment, where a rat had to press a level in exchange for a morsel of food? This is a popular experiment on which game developers rely. We humans will keep pressing the lever (i.e. playing the game) if we think there’s a reward for it.

That’s why games give us trophies, buttons, badges - they’re rewards for pressing the lever over and over. Even basic games like Words With Friends will give you badges for starting a set number of games or playing a certain number of opponents.

Of course, when you press the lever enough to get your reward, you’re delighted by it. It’s this, perhaps more than anything, that keeps us going back to a game. If we have to work for something, we enjoy the rewards of it all the more. It makes us feel good; like we have achieved something… even if all we’ve done is level up, win a trophy, or suchlike on a game we enjoy.

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Book Review: Real Artists Have Day Jobs

"The biggest myth we are fed as artists is that we need to sustain ourselves solely on our art."

I finished reading Real Artists Have Day Jobs recently, and it was a fun romp through various short essays on art, love, and life written by comedian Sara Benincasa.

Sara has a unique outlook on the world, which I appreciated. It's empathetic, social justice oriented, but also funny, relevant, and her writing easy to read. She writes in a conversational tone and explores a lot of her own story through the book. Everything from her struggles with her body, issues with anxiety, and journey with her career. All delivered in bite sized morsels. I really enjoyed that I could pick up the book and read a chapter or two then put it down. I tend to only have brief periods of time or so much attention to give so it worked out well that way.

The stories shared in this book are very genuine and aren't done in a way of sharing expertise on any topic; just one's person's experiences and what they think about them. It's a great way to go in the world that leaves room for growth, acknowledges shortcomings, and is more relatable. Someone who is so sure of themselves to ignore any new information is going to limit themselves to many possibilities to learn and do the best they can with whatever they're working on. Being open to a good, new story change create positive change in anyone. This book achieves just that.

As the title implies, the book emphasizes the idea that we can create and be artists without going headlong into trying to be an "artist" who lives off their creations. We can live in the world, work a "day job" and pursue our creative endeavors just the same as anyone else. It may even work better than way. This sentiment makes me think of another great book I've read, Steal Like an Artist.

I've seen a lot of people talk about this book online and I'm glad I finally got around to checking it out. I recommend you do too. 

Thanks for stopping by!

First Year At College? "Tech" This Advice

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For any person approaching their first year of college, it’s an eye-opening experience in every way you can imagine, and even more! From the people to the nights out, from the culture explosion to the new things you’ll learn about yourself, and the money, or lack thereof. Much as it’s a cliché to say that being a student means you're just gonna have no money ever, it’s the truth. And as part of being a student, you’ve got to find ways to make your money stretch further, and a direct result of that is having plenty of nights in. Tech plays an important part in being a student, from the obligatory Netflix watching to the studies, but what tech do you need to survive that first important year?

Your Computer

It’s a big debate whether to go for Macs or PCs, but you’ll need to get one that is as multi-purposed as possible. If you enjoy gaming, you’ll need something with a lot of memory and speed, and there are AVADirect PCs for any gaming enthusiast, but it will also depend on your course what computer to use. If you're doing something like video production, then maybe you'd be better off with a laptop rather than a tower, and something with a screen larger than the standard 13”. If you're doing an English major, tech doesn’t have to be at the forefront of your mind as much. But your computer will be your lifeline when you have no money, so get a good one!

Money Management Software

It’s not really something that crosses your mind, but if you managed your money better, you would be out of the dorms more! Software like Mint is useful because they provide mobile apps too. But it is a slower approach to money managing because you'll have to enter transactions into the app. There are apps like Money Manager or Money you can get that is a handy techier alternative.

Note-Taking Software

Everyone has their own idea of how best to take notes, and there are apps like Evernote which do a generally good job, but it doesn’t cover every base. You may need to get Microsoft OneNote instead. But if your note style taking is much more in-depth than a few words here and there, you should invest in speech to text software. While there are some great apps that do the job when you're dictating your notes after class in your dorm, like Google Docs, you may need something a bit savvier in terms of software that can instantly turn a professor’s ramblings into text. Try Dragon Dictation, but be warned, with any software it takes time for it to learn vocal inflections, so don’t expect it to work right off the bat.

Free Software

The magic word, free! There are loads of sites like JourneyEd that offer software (and sometimes hardware) discounts, but there are also software packs you can find online that are specifically for student use that cost nothing.

Take Your Gaming To The Next Level

We all love to get a new game for our console or computer. After all, we can then spend hours trying to complete the new game to keep up with our buddies. However, it can feel like we are getting nowhere fast when it comes to our gaming experience. And it can feel like we are falling behind while others are progressing through the levels. However, there are some ways you can ensure you become a whiz at the game. In fact, here is how to take your gaming to the next level.

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Watch a stream online

It’s always good to get some tips if you want to get further ahead with your game. After all, you might get the knowledge you need to enable you to whiz past the levels and keep up with your mates. And rather than heading to get an old school manual, a lot of people are watching people playing online now instead. After all, following their gameplay can help give you the tips you need to get through difficult levels. And it can give you a heads up of what you can expect as the game progresses. There are a lot of streams for specific games that you can watch. Just search for the game and you should be able to find ones to follow. In fact, you will find a lot on Twitch which can help you get through the game. And you never know, you might become so good that you become a streamer yourself!

Find some cheats

It can feel like failure if you do hunt down some cheats for games. After all, you can feel a real sense of achievement if you get through the game yourself. But if you want to take your gaming to the next level, you might need a few tricks to get past those challenging levels. And thankfully, there are lots of sites like I Want Cheats which have some great cheats which can get you further ahead in the game. And it can help you reach the finishing line sooner rather than later. You can find reviews for certain cheats online to make sure it’s a legitimate way to move forward with the game. And once you have completed, you might want to go back and try it without the cheat!

Team up with a buddy

You might be trying to compete with your buddies to finish the game first. But there are some games which can be more rewarding if you play alongside someone else. In fact, you are more likely to proceed and get to the next level quicker with a helping hand. And there are some easy ways to play together. For one thing, you could get them over to your house to play the games. Or you might want to play an online game together. After all, you can both play the game at the same time and communicate via your headset. You might make some new friends if you do chat in the game too which is always a bonus!

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And Youtube can be a godsend if you want to get further ahead with your game. After all, they put on gameplay of specific levels if you are stuck. Therefore, it could help you to finish that level and move on with the game by watching the video!

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Get Your Summer Reading Sorted

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As we approach summer, it’s the perfect time to find some good books to read during the hot months. After all, with vacation season approaching, it gives us plenty of time to do some reading. In fact, there is nothing better than relaxing on your sunbed in the hot sun with a good book in your hand. But what books should make the pile for your holiday reads? I’ve compiled a few which you will love to read this summer. Therefore, here are some good novels which will get your summer reading sorted!

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

It appears that all everyone seems to be talking about at the moment is the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. In fact, you will find online a wealth of articles with people giving their opinion on the series. After all, it’s definitely brought a tough subject to people’s minds as the series focuses on character Hannah Baker’s reasons for committing suicide. And the controversial series has been a surprising success. In fact, it’s been one of the most tweeted about programs of the year so far. And it might not come to anybody’s surprise that producer Selena Gomez revealed that there will definitely be a second series! However, if you are missing the series, and want to go back to where it all began, you should look at reading the original 13 Reasons Why novel by Jay Asher. After all, books are often a lot more thought provoking than TV shows. And if you are in the mood for a cry fest, it’s one book that should be on your radar. Of course, the book is hard going and intense. But it will definitely get you hooked from the start as it goes through the 13 reasons why she felt it was her only option and the people who let her down. If you haven’t seen the series, you still might want to consider reading the book which goes through tough topics. Just make sure you have plenty of tissues on the sunbed next to you while you read the book!

The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick

Author Amanda Quick came to the forefront after releasing best seller ‘Till Death Do Us Part. And now she’s back with a great summer read which is rising high on the charts for the summer. In fact, you will find her new novel The Girl Who Knew Too Much on the bestseller chart in a lot of the major stores. You can even get an online copy by getting some Barnes and Noble coupons which will make it a cheaper purchase. And if historical romance is your thing, it’s definitely a book which should be on your radar this summer! The new novel is set in the 1930’s and is full of glamor and scandal. In fact, it focuses on the Burning Cove Hotel where a famous actress is killed. And reporter Irene tries to find out the truth of what happened, alongside the owner of the hotel Oliver. The story progresses with the two revealing some very dark secrets which bring them closer together. It’s definitely a book which will have you hooked till the very end. And will transport you back to the 30’s while you are lying on your sunbed!

My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella

Known for her Shopaholic series (and film which starred Isla Fisher), British author Sophie Kinsella has been coming back with best seller after best seller ever since. And the author doesn’t seem to be slowing down with another great book which should be added to your summer pile. My Not So Perfect Life is a great chick lit novel which will keep you occupied in the summer sun. The story focuses on Katie Brenner who is living in London and working for an advertising company. To keep pretenses up, she pretends to have the perfect life on Instagram (don’t we all). But in reality, she is stuck in a small flat and having to endure a long commute every day to a job with an awful boss. The story takes a twist when she has to return home and starts to help her family set up a glamping business. It’s a great story with many twists and turns along the way. And there is a nice romance side of the story too that will keep you hooked to the very end! There are also parts of the book which will see you laughing out loud, so be prepared for the funny looks from other beach goers!

And remember to get a good pair of sunnies. That way, you can keep reading even when the weather is scorching!

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Awesome Buddy Nights In for the Financially Impaired Student

The friends you make at college are such an important part of the experience. But for a lot of people, the high-life of hitting the town and spending cash at all sorts of fancy establishments just isn’t a reality. It costs too much! But that doesn’t mean you can’t find the time and opportunity to just chillax and enjoy some company. Instead, let’s look at some of the three relatively inexpensive options to kick it with your buds.

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An old school multiplayer session

More and more people are getting into video games. There’s a good chance that some of your housemates and your inner circle are going to share that passion if you have it. We tend to gravitate towards people who have similar quirks to us, after all. One way to make those competitive and cooperative gaming sessions a lot more fun is to use it as an opportunity to take a good old fashioned nostalgia trip. Old school games tend to get people bonding over memories that they might already hold dear. To be completely honest, there’s a bit of ironic enjoyment to be found in the blocky characters of Tekken 2 and other little flaws of those much-treasured games, too.

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Netflix party

The chances are that you’re already going to be sharing some kind of TV streaming service with whoever you share a room or an apartment with. If you have a friend or two who spend a lot more time at yours than at their own place, it might be worth getting them to pitch in, too. With Secure Thoughts, you can get access to an even wider library of shows, as well. That way, you got plenty of fuel to keep these sessions going long into the future. Netflix parties (or Amazon TV parties or Popcorn Time parties) are a lot of fun, whether it’s binge-watching a series together or intentionally picking out a movie that looks awful to replicate the Mystery Science Theater 3000 experience.  

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Ye olde adventure

It might take a bit of cajoling to get those who aren’t quite as nerdy into this. However, if you overpower them, then they’ll buckle eventually. Dungeons and Dragons is becoming much more popular than ever before, thanks to Youtube series like Critical Role bring them somewhat into the spotlight. The simple fact is that the same is a lot of fun when you get a party on the same page. You can enjoy serious, epic adventure together or you can all play a much more comedic scenario where you loot, burn, kill, and wise-crack at everything in sight. One of the largest demographics for D&D players is college-goers as well. Meaning you won’t have much trouble finding winning players. It takes a little investment to get the books and the figures, but those are one-off costs that pay for hours and hours of entertainment after.

These kinds of nights in are going to become the bread and butter of your college friendship experiences. The best thing about most of them is that they prioritize actually spending time with people and developing or sharing interests. Otherwise, most options tend to become about drinking or social posturing, which gets in the way more than anything.

An Epic Guide to Business Tech Fails

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When people imagine modern businesses, they think about offices replete with cool tech. In reality, a lot of businesses are making some pretty severe mistakes with their IT infrastructure that can harm their business in ways they perhaps hadn’t considered. This is a quick but detailed look at many of the fails such businesses make with their tech. Don’t make the same mistakes with your business!

Being too parsimonious

The performance of your business technology is extremely important. If things don’t run quickly and smoothly, then general business performance will suffer. A lot of business owners, in an attempt to save on startup costs, will place a premium on savings over performance. While it is possible to spend way more than you need to on, say, office computers, not spending enough is actually a fairly common business mistake. You don’t want to be stuck with computers that grind to a halt whenever the employee tries to open new programs. Productivity will suffer. Don’t be tempted to cut corners, and make sure you’re also investing in a good Internet service.

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Ignoring life cycles

Even when you get some very good tech, the fact remains that these things tend to have a life cycle. Some will say that you need to replace computers every three or four years; while good maintenance can extend that lifespan by quite a good measure, there’s no denying that the vast majority of computers (unless you really spend a lot on some real beasts) will start to show signs of slowdown around this time.

Companies who have the means to do so should consider replacing tech around this time; otherwise, start investing in maintenance to bring them up to speed. Beware that maintenance costs can, over time, exceed the cost of simply purchasing new computers.

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Improperly getting rid of old tech

So if you’re in a position where you need to replace tech, then you need to work out what to do with the old tech. It could be worth keeping some around for backup purposes, or finding less performance-heavy tasks that can be assigned to them. But, in general, it’s best to get rid of them responsibly. Otherwise you’re just cluttering the office with tech you’re not going to use anymore!

Throwing them away isn’t the answer, as tempting as it is to do away with the problem as quick as possible. You can resell that old tech to make a few extra bucks for your company, or even look into professional recycling. Simply throwing this stuff away isn’t just a waste of opportunity and cash; it’s also dangerous for the garbage collectors, as they often contain hazardous materials.

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Not getting specialized help

If you’re really stuck when it comes to your business IT needs, then you should probably consider hiring specialized assistance. This is a popular option for startups, as it saves on a lot of costs. After all, even hiring a part-time, in-house IT professional will far exceed the costs of getting another business to assist you.

Take care to consider your options, because wherever your business is located, there’s bound to be a plethora of IT services. One thing you should keep in mind is the specific work you do. Some companies will be better equipped and trained to deal with one type of business over another. So let’s say, for example, your business is a financial one. In which case, you would want to consider looking into IT support for financial services.

Relying on the cloud too much

People talk about the cloud as though it were some newfound omniscient being to which we must always pay homage and appease in whatever way it demands. That is to say, people seem to think that every business should be using the cloud almost exclusively, lest they fall behind and become completely irrelevant in a few years (or even in a few months, as some particularly zealous cloud fans may claim). And yes, there’s no denying that the cloud is tremendously useful for businesses. This is especially true for startups that need to save on IT costs, as it provides you with a lot of the benefits of having your own flexible and accessible server without the upfront costs of building one yourself.

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But if you’re only relying on the cloud, you’re putting a lot of your data and services at risk. If anything goes wrong at the end of the provider, then you’re going to run into some big business problems. Have other solutions, and remember to back things up outside of the cloud regularly. Speaking of which...

No backup strategies

Back when computers were a little less reliable and more prone to sudden crashing or even death, people become pretty used to hearing advice regarding backing up data. Just because computers are much more reliable these days (unless you’ve ignored the advice in the first paragraph and bought a bunch of duds!), it doesn’t mean you don’t need to place a premium on regularly backing up. Not only should you have a specific strategy for backing up data, but you should also, y’know, implement that strategy. (A lot of businesses have a backup strategy that they routinely fail to actually put into action.)

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You can look into automated backup programs that will help back things up to both the cloud and to physical storage devices. An outsourced IT service can also assist you with the backup process if you're working with the right one.

Insufficient power protection

No, we still haven’t progressed past the point where we no longer have to worry about power surges, thunderstorms, outages, and spikes. Businesses that are using tech heavily - i.e. pretty much every office-based business that is using more than, say, three computers at any given time - need to invest carefully in power protection. A lot of businesses use very cheap and simple power strips that simply don’t offer enough protection for their hardware. This isn’t just something that’s prevalent in startups - even established businesses tend to use surge protectors and the like that are at least five years old.

When electrical disaster strikes, it’s not just that computers will suddenly turn off - data may become corrupted, or, worse, the hardware itself may become so. Install proper power protection methods to ensure you don’t lose too much when the electrical infrastructure of your office fails you.

Being too relaxed about cybersecurity

Do you think that your business is too small, too unassuming and off-the-radar, to suffer some form of cyber attack? You may, in fact, be at even more risk, precisely because a lot of cybercriminals prey specifically on smaller businesses that they suspect may be a bit lax when it comes to cybersecurity. Don’t assume you can’t be a target. There are fiends out there who want to get their dirty paws on your customer and client data, as well as your trade secrets. You need to ensure your company has strong cybersecurity measures and that all your employees are properly informed of the risks and security procedures.

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Not enough training

Speaking of employees, don’t just assume that the age we live in means that every employee will be completely expert when it comes to using computers. The fact is that a lot of business tech is actually underutilized. The sheer amount of work you can get done on these things is incredible, but the most time-saving and useful methods are usually not the obvious methods. If your employees become more learned about the software and hardware they’re using, then their output can increase by mind-boggling amounts. Perhaps you should think about getting more IT training to ensure your employees can really harness the true power of the tech you’ve invested so much in.

Turn These Geek Skills Into Job Opportunities

Just a few years ago, no one wanted to be labeled a ‘geek’. However, these days lots of people are proud to be called a geek. And you shouldn’t just be a geek in your personal time either. In fact, all of those geeky skills and talents that you have could translate very nicely into your full-time job. Want to know which skills it’s a good idea to try and cultivate in your geeky hobbies? Here are some of the best.

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Tinkering With Hard Drives

Lots of geeks are very good with their hands. They use them to play around with hard drives and other hardware. But you shouldn’t leave this as just a hobby. In fact, there are now lots of companies who are desperately searching for IT workers who have practical skills in building computers and other machinery. To take this skill further, sign up for a college or night school course in computers and hardware.

Exceptional Knowledge

Lots of geeks are highly knowledgeable and have an incredible amount of information stored away in their brains! And, more often than not, all of this knowledge can be very much focused on one very unique subject. Why not use this to your advantage? It can certainly help you get some well-paid, niche work. For instance, if you know a whole lot about biology and the human body, you might want to start the Ultimate Medical Academy's Health and Human Services Program. Or, for example, if you are well-versed in the economy and finances, then you might want to join an economics program and become a financial advisor.

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Computer Data Whizz

Geeks often know about common computer data and software. As a result of this knowledge, they are often highly skilled in wiping computer data and protecting it from potential hackers and virus attacks. This is another skill that many companies now want their employees to have. As hackers and other online security threats are becoming a lot more sophisticated, businesses want to hire people who are always one step ahead and can help to protect their computer networks. You might be surprised to see just how much this knowledge can raise your salary by!

Developing Apps

Quite a few people have now taught themselves the skills that they need to develop their own apps. For many people, this is just a hobby that they do in their spare time. If this sounds like something you do in your free time, have you ever thought about making more of a go of it and carving out your very own career in software development? You could start off as a freelancer first and then, once you have gained some experience, could start to apply for full-time work with a company.

As you can see, your geeky skills and talents don’t have to be something that you keep to your spare time. There are plenty of chances you can turn them into a very lucrative career! Got any more ideas? Let us know!