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3 Free Image Editing Tools for Chromebook

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A big reason why Chromebooks have become so popular is because almost every modern-day application is now available via your web browser.

However, when it comes to image editing, this still hasn’t changed yet. Tools such as Paint.NET and GIMP still continue to dominate Windows PCs.

Of course, Google Docs can help with spreadsheets and documents but this isn’t possible to do with images.

Also, while the Chrome OS editor is available for its user, it still is pretty barebones with the usual features such as cropping, rotating, adjusting the brightness and color of the image and so on and so forth.

It’s recommended that for more complex tasks, you will need third-party apps and that are free of costs.

Keeping this in mind, here are 3 free image editing tools that you can avail of:

#1: Pixlr Editor

For some reason, this has been the popular choice for those people who have to work with images. Although Autodesk has added advertisements, it’s still an excellent tool to use. Not only is it easy to use but it also contains features that it simple to edit a document while also offering layer support.

#2: Sumo Paint

Not very different from the Pixlr Editor but it avoids the annoying ads that Autodesk serves up to its users from time to time. It is for this reason that Sumo Paint is fast becoming the best choice for editing pictures on Chromebook. That said, Pixlr is still more powerful than Sumo as an editor but Sumo offers just as much without the ads.

#3: Polarr

This photo editor is perfect for photographers who want to apply filters and adjust color settings to their photographs for a better finish. Likened to Adobe Lightroom, the tool is so powerful that it can open RAW images from digital cameras too. Best part: this helps you work with the highest-detail image files.

4 Steps to Take Notes Using Google Drive

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While Evernote and OneDrive are excellent options for you to take notes, Google Drive is also a powerful option that must not be ignored.

The reason for this is because there are a number of advantages that come with this option unlike the others mentioned above.

One huge advantage that comes with note-taking with Google is that you can use a number of their productivity tools that come as one package.

That said, here are a few steps that can help you with note-taking using Google:

#1: Create a Folder

In order to make use of the advantage mentioned above, it is a good idea to create a folder to keep all your notes. You can sub-divide them into more folders as Google Drive gives you that ability to get your stuff organized.

#2: Collaborate with others as you take notes in real-time

Google Drive is probably the best tool that one can use so as to collaborate with others and this can take place in real-time too. All you have to do is add them to a list of people by using the Share button. You can discuss other matters while also adding comments in any given file.

#3: Use Tables

For some notes, you might not want to type but also use tables as well. For this, all you have to do is Add Insert>Table while being able to pick the number of columns and rows you want.

#4: Search smarter using Google Drive

Google Search options is usually the best but additional tools are required so as to check for what you are looking for. Drive itself has a number of search parameters that you can avail of. Not only can you look by file name but also the type of file and by owner too.

Improving Productivity In The Workplace Through Software

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Written by Allied Time

Technology when used at work, contributes to boosting the efficiency of organizations and allow their employees to remain focused on value adding activities. Several productivity software target businesses particularly and provide these organizations with the adequate tool to perform their day-to-day tasks effectively. Through the automation of certain processes, communication is also enhanced.

Virtual Team Connections

Teams now perform well even at a distance. This is because they are connected via web portals, apps and software. These allow teams to share feedbacks and projects across different functions and branches. The quick sharing and access of information facilitates problem-solving and team working. People are able to show collaboration and partake their experiences and knowledge while being comfortably seated at their desks, and sometimes without even having to speak through the phone. All this is achieved through remote desktop sharing and email software.

Open and Communicative Environment

Software that are specifically designed to be used in the workplace aim mainly to break communication barriers. Even though email is a powerful tool, they tend to be more private and rarely constitute of a sharing tool. Collaborative tools are more appropriate for knowledge-sharing across multiple cross-functional teams, departments and branches.

Motivate Employees

Online time clock systems are used to monitor the attendance and working hours of employees. This data serves in the construction of effective reward systems. Some fingerprint time clocks allow people to consult their data online. This would help employees in knowing how they could improve performance and attendance rates.

Allied Time has operated since 1967. The company’s main line of products include employee time clocks and biometric systems.

4 Annoying Skype Issues That You Can Fix

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Without a doubt, Skype is an important business tool for communication yet there are certain glitches that make it really annoying. However, it’s good that there are a number of solutions available.

Having said that, here are 4 Skype fixes that can help you:

#1: Webcam, Speakers or Microphone cannot be found

In some cases, Skype cannot find the webcam, speakers or the microphone and for this, navigate through Tool>Options>Audio Settings>Show advanced options. You’ll find all the audio devices that you’ve used appear here. This also applies to Video devices that you can find under Video Settings too.

#2: Terrible Call Quality

There are a number of reasons why this can happen without it being Skype’s fault. Maybe you are too far from your router, Wi-Fi is too slow or even that your bandwidth is being used by other people too. It’s a good idea to work through each of these possibilities before blaming it on Skype.

#3: Replaces Phone Numbers with “Click to Call” buttons

Quite admittedly, this occurs regularly but it can be fixed in a few steps. For this, you have to uninstall Skype Click to Call located in the Windows Control Panel. Also, check your browser addons so as to disable any items that might have to do with Click to Call. Finally, within Skype, visit Tools, Options and Advanced so as to uncheck the top two boxes.

#4: Unused Credits Disappear If they Aren’t Being Used

If you’ve used Skype to make calls to a landline, you’re bound to have a few credits around. If you don’t use it for 180 days or more, then these credits disappear. But they aren’t deleted, as you might assume but are hidden. To activate them, look for a ‘Reactivate credit’ button where you credit balance was displayed.

3 Power Tools for Bookmarking

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The web is changing gradually, where a number of sites are being converted into apps. Still, there is one thing that isn’t changing – bookmarks, in particular.

That said, if you want to organize all your stuff into folders, then the standard bookmarks manager located in your browser should do. But if you want something more, here are 3 power tools for bookmarking:

#1: Evernote

The popular note-taking service Evernote might not be the best tool to use when it comes to storing bookmarks. However, there’s an option where you can use Evernote for research-based bookmarks and where you will have to install the web clipper add-on. This service will help save an entire webpage or parts of it to Evernote. Once you do this, you can also use other features such as voice memos, tagging, search, annotations and even sharing.

#2: Dewey Bookmarks

This Chrome extension will help you browse your bookmarks far more easily than usual as they are displayed in the grid format where each bookmark is displayed as a card with the title of the site or webpage, the folder it is located in and as an image.

You can even sort it by date, address or title and pencil icon should appear that will help edit the title or URL apart from being able to add or delete a tag.

#3: Chrome Bookmarks Manager

Google added its own Bookmarks Manager to the Chrome Web Store where its design aesthetic and interface should be easy to navigate through if you use a number of Chrome web apps. These bookmarks are displayed as cards and which is very similar to the Dewey Bookmarks discussed earlier.

Once the extension has been installed, go to chrome://bookmarks so as to manage them.

Explaining Real-Time Bidding

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Buy-side platforms offer marketers wider reach, and a space to buy inventory programmatically. The costs for that inventory differ greatly, even as you target, because the network is driven by real-time bidding. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with some best practices for real-time bidding before you launch your first campaign.

Bidding Basics

When we look at bidding in real time, the effects are somewhat hard to grasp because so much happens so quickly. To break things down, let’s say two people bid for an ad placement. There is also a visitor factored into this equation, and let’s say she will visit five pages before ending her session. Whichever advertiser holds the highest bid will serve his ad to that visitor for all five views, assuming he has not capped the frequency of his ads.

If he has capped his ad frequency at three, for example, the visitor viewing five pages would see advertiser A’s ad three times, and advertiser B’s ad for the other two. This is because the winning advertiser stops bidding on auctions for that visitor after the frequency cap has been reached.

Frequency and Brand Integrity

Frequency plays an important role in your auction. You want the best chances of securing a conversion, but you dilute your brand a little bit each time you show one ad too many. The magic number is not easy to gauge. Some ads will follow you all around the Web while others will appear only a few times per day. Testing is the best method you have for learning which frequency is right for you.

Bio: As the CEO and co-founder, Ted Dhanik is responsible overseeing all business affairs for engage:BDR. Ted Dhanik began in the early 2000s, where he sold engaging advertising for Myspace.com, and he understands the power of direct marketing. To launch your first campaign with engage:BDR, contact Ted Dhanik.

Newly-restored version of “The Wizard of Oz” hits theaters, shelves

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For most people, a slide and negative scanner can be used to preserve family memories. But in Hollywood, they are using tools more advanced than the average 35mm slide scanners to save memories of a different kind: film classics.

In late September, a newly-restored version of “The Wizard of Oz” debuted on DVD on Blu-Ray. In addition, movie theaters around the country screened the new version of the 1939 family classic to packed houses. The new version was done to commemorate the film’s 70th anniversary.

According to the Los Angeles Times, restoration work involved a pin-registered digital film scanner scanning three separate film negatives at 8k, a much higher resolution than was previously possible.

“In finding the 1939 nitrate Technicolor print, we got a different look for the film than we previously had,” says Ned Price, vice president of mastering at Warner Bros. Technicolor Operations. “The information allowed us to get not only finer picture detail but much better grain capture.”

Improving Medical Device Coatings

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One of the greatest benefits that advanced manufacturing techniques have brought to the field of medicine is in the form of medical device coatings. Patients that must wear devices are susceptible to a variety of problems, the least of which is discomfort. Infection is a huge issue for these patients, so coatings are an important part in stopping the spread of disease. Here are some medical device coatings, and some thoughts on how they have changed the world of medicine.

Lubricants

A sputter deposition system can be used to apply a lubricant to medical devices to slip into a patient’s body with ease. A catheter is the most obvious example for the type of device that might benefit from this kind of coating. The lubricant is designed to reduce the kinetic friction that comes from wearing a device for long periods, which means the patient barely feels anything.

Antimicrobial Coatings

When devices come into contact with bodily fluids, patients run the risk of infection. Antimicrobial coatings help to fight the bacteria that can invade a patient’s body through the insertion of a device. Without this coating, external bacteria would invade the body and cause harm to the patient.

Hydrophillic Coatings

Some devices function best when they get wetter, so hydrophilic coatings are useful when a device needs to conduct fluids. These coatings are also subject to FDA standards governing how they can be used.

Conclusions

Device coatings help shorten recovery times and improve the outlook of patients with serious medical conditions. As this technology becomes cheaper to produce, it will help a wider variety of parients world wide.

Bio: Denton Vacuum, LLC is a manufacturer of devices for vacuum metallization, which is used to apply a diamond like carbon coating to many kinds of devices.

2 Simple Ways to Save a Webpage

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There are two simple ways by which you can save webpages as a single files. One of them is to save it as a PDF or a .mth/.mhtml file.

Before we proceed, it must be pointed out that while they will not look exactly as the webpage, they do come pretty close. Also, what must be kept in mind is that you’ll have lesser reading options when it comes to latter type of file as opposed to the PDF format.

Now, both these techniques will work in all popular browsers such as Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer.

In particular, Chrome makes this task very simple where you have to hit Ctrl+P with the particular page loaded. Also, click ‘Change’ in the Destination section where you will find the Save as PDF option along with a list of printers.

As for Internet Explorer and Firefox, you can still pull the print menu but the only problem is that you don’t have a Save to PDF option. However, this can solved by getting a print-to-PDF program that will interface with Windows as a print driver. While there are a few options available, the Bullzip PDF Printer is free and quick to download.

Now for the MIME HTML (mhtml) format, Internet Explorer allows you to save it in this format with a simple Ctrl+S where you select .mht from the Save-as-Type pulldown menu.

Since Firefox and Chrome does not support this format, Firefox users can install the Mozilla Archive Format along with Faithful Save and MHT.

For Chrome, type “chrome://flags/” and hit Enter in the browser address field. Look for the option “Save as MHTML”. Now, hit Ctrl+S and select the .mht or mhtml format from the “Save as type” menu.

What You Need to Know About Taking Precautions When Using Public Networks

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Even though Windows hides your device from others if it recognizes that you are using a public network, this protection sometimes isn’t enough.

Of course, there are other situations when it doesn’t recognize the WiFi network, and it will ask you how it should handle security. In some cases, it won’t even ask you the question and which means that you will have to manually adjust the settings.

For this question to be answered appropriately, one has to check their version of Windows first.

#1: Windows 7

For this version, Windows will throw up a dialog box asking whether it is a Home, Work or Public network. If this dialog box doesn’t open up, that means Windows knows that it is a public network.

To make sure of this, go to the Start Menu’s Search field and type “network” and then select “Network and Sharing Center”. Now you can look for the network as well as its type. When you click that link, the very same dialog box opens up

#2: Windows 8

For Windows 8, when you log into a new network, you’ll find that a panel opens up on the right side of the screen which will ask you whether it should find PCs, devices and content on this network. If it’s a public network, make sure you select “No”.

To make sure that you’ve picked the right setting, then go to the Search Charm and type network as well as select Network Connection Settings. If the “Find devices and content” switch is off, then Windows recognizes it to be a public network. If it is on, make sure you turn it on.