How Technology Is Increasing Car Parking Capacity in Cities

October 8, 2021

With an ever increasing number of cars on the roads, mobility has become a major issue of concern for city planners and policy makers. As vehicular pressure on the roads increases, new lanes need to be included into the city road network but that is not all. More cars need more parking spaces which also takes up a lot of city land.

All of this takes up a lot of prime real estate for tackling the increased vehicular load and leaves less for other important projects like affordable housing. Not only that, when the city road network and parking spaces tend to reach their limits, it leads to more traffic congestion, more vehicular emissions and stressed drivers. In fact, a British Parking Association study of 2,000 drivers found 44% consider parking a stressful experience.

Research shows that searching for a parking space burns about one million barrels of the world’s oil every day. This is in spite of the pretty wasteful allocation of space for the purpose of parking. As the global population continues to urbanise, without well-planned and convenience-driven parking policies, these problems will worsen.

Technology as the solution

Thankfully several emerging technologies like parking apps, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) are promising to solve the problem of parking scarcity and enhance urban mobility.

Various technology driven solutions for smart mobility and better traffic and parking management are being employed around the world:

1. Automated parking

An automated parking system is a mechanical system designed to minimise the area and/or volume required for parking cars. Like a typical multi-story car park, it provides parking for cars on multiple levels stacked vertically to maximise the number of parking spaces while minimising land usage. The automated parking system, however, utilises a mechanical system to transport cars to and from parking spaces (rather than the driver) in order to eliminate much of the space wasted in a multi-story car park.

Due to minimum human interaction, this system is gaining popularity in these pandemic times.

2. Peer-to-peer parking platforms

Private parking spaces owned by individuals remain vacant for most of the time, since the owner is mostly away, either to the office or for a holiday. Peer to peer parking apps like YourParkingSpace allow such parking owners to rent out their parking space while it is vacant and make decent money from it. Such spaces are now available to be pre-booked by those who need them most. YourParkingSpace offers the best price for a variety of parking spaces in a collection of prime locations.

3. Smart Parking

Various municipal regions have started experimenting with the idea of smart parking, whereby public parking spaces are made a part of the Internet of Things (IoT). Parking spaces are fitted with sensors, which sense if the parking space is vacant or occupied and send this information to the nearest receptor node.

This information from all the parking spaces of the region, collected from the receptor nodes, is then accumulated in centralised system and made public on a digital platform on a real time basis. Smart parking is expected not only to make parking space usage more efficient but will also allow users to pay exactly for the time they use the space.

It will also generate a lot of long-term data which can be used to redesign parking spaces in a better way. The Spanish city of Huesca some time back successfully experimented with the idea of smart parking to monitor parking spaces for disabled citizens.

4. Self driving cars

A study by two British engineering firms, Farrells and WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, looked at how London’s streets might be entirely redesigned if self-driving cars ever became a reality.

That study imagined a world in which the autonomous vehicles of the future are shared rather than owned. The autonomous vehicles themselves are either always on the road, picking up and dropping off passengers, or charging in a few centralised locations. As such, there is simply less need for street parking.

What’s more, if all the cars on the road were autonomous, they could take up far less space on the road. Vehicles navigated by robots could nestle closer together without fear of rear-ending each other. If collisions become more rare, the cars themselves could be smaller and thinner, taking up less space.

Technology has already significantly changed urban mobility, the new technologies which are near the horizon are further going to transform it.

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Royal Mint Megaways Slots Review

October 7, 2021

Slots games are, to say the least, more than readily available online today. There are so many of them that choosing one can be a real pain in the neck. Today, we’re going to look at Big Time Gaming’s Royal Mint Slots, a new exciting addition to the Megaways series. If you enjoy slots games with no fluff, Royal Mint could be the one for you.

If you’re looking for a simple, to the point and straightforward slots game, look no further, Royal Mint got you covered. They offer huge winnings with potential prizes of up to 41,300x your initial stake. There is plenty to be won for anyone who wants to try it. The Royal Mint is incredibly multi-faceted, with almost 120,000 different ways to win.

Royal mint Slot strikes for its simplicity but that doesn’t mean it skimps on luxurious design. Based on the royal treasury mint in England, the aesthetics embody the most decadent wealth and luxury. Set in a grand, ornate mansion with towering columns of marble and ornate design, it’s really a treat to look at.

Royal Mint Megaways sets a tone and scene wonderfully, and the attention to detail in the aesthetics goes a long way to show their overall acuity. You are probably more interested in the game than the design, but it certainly makes a bigger impact when it looks as good as this does.

To play, you just set your stake, tap the play button and watch the reels move in all directions, landing eventually on a pattern of symbols. Combinations of matching symbols on the correct line get you a win—we love how easy it is to get started with Royal Mint slots. There are six reels to play on each spin, and though there’s tons of winning combinations, you aren’t overloaded with features and bonuses—they’re more than forthcoming with great bonuses and promotions as I’ll get into, but the key thing is Royal Mint Megaways keeps things simple and basic.

Royal Mint doesn’t leave out the great new player bonuses, either. For your first deposit, you can expect a nice £50 bonus plus an additional 35 free spins. Those free features and bonus spins are one of the things that can set these games apart, and Royal Mint slots certainly has a great welcome offer. There are countless ongoing bonuses, too, all of which are full of potential winnings. For getting 3 or more scatter symbols on your grid, you’ll trigger a free spin round; you will have a multiplier that begins at 1x but there’s no limit to how high it can go up.

You can Enhance those spins, too, and when you trigger this feature, your multiplier will start at x2.

Finally, there’s the Heartstopper Enhanced Free Spins, triggered for four or more scatters in any position, then granting you three chances to earn a gold bar. When you hit 40 gold bars, you’ll get additional scatters on every spin! These kinds of progressive slots make winnings potentially huge, and seeing them build up is such an exciting part of the game.

The money to be won with Royal Mint slots is potentially huge, even as small as the betting range is with the slots game. Your minimum bet is £0.20, which is quite high compared to a lot of others with no minimum bets, and your maximum bet is £20. That said, the biggest win on the game to date is a whopping £35,339—truly a staggering prize whatever the initial stake was.

The biggest potential win, in a very rare but entirely possible scenario, would be almost £2.5 million. For a stake of only £20, you really can’t shake a stick at potential winnings like that. This means that this game catches up with some of the best jackpot slots on the internet.

Royal Mint also is among the highest RTP of any slots game, at 96.48%. This is a huge return rate, and again it’s clear to see when you play that the Royal Mint is an online slots game ready to return to the players.

Big Time Gaming have been one of the most popular slots games producers for a while now, and they’ve certainly done it again with Royal Mint slots. They’ve crafted a beautiful user interface that doesn’t interrupt the gaming experience, and they’ve implemented just enough fun, extra features and bonuses that the game doesn’t get lost in it all. It keeps the game simple and doesn’t lose what people love about the game.

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What Happens When Someone is Injured in Your Store

October 7, 2021

No one can deny that getting customers in the door is key to a successful business, and business owners always want more customers. Due to the increasing number of customers, it is possible that accidents will happen like a customer tripping and falling, which can lead to an injury.

A customer getting injured within the premises of your store can be a very big issue for you to handle. You should always ensure that the safety of your customers is your number one priority, but you should think about a potential fallout as well. If a customer is injured in your store, here are some of the steps you need to take

Ensure They Are Okay

The first thing you need to do is make sure the customer is okay. Get a first aid trained member staff to help ensure the customer is stable and in proper condition.

You can then put a call through if you think the customer needs proper medical attention. If they don’t need medical attention, help the customer get back on his feet and ensure he leaves the premises safely.

Make Certain Investigations

When you’re sure the customer is doing fine, you should find out the cause of the accident so that you can prevent a recurrence. You also need to know who exactly was at fault in case of a lawsuit, so you know how to properly defend yourself.

You can also ask for any eyewitness to give an account or have security footage saved if there is one.

Contact Your Insurance Company

If an accident does happen inside your business premises, it’s important to contact your insurance company. If you have public liability insurance, then you’ll be in the best position possible in this case. This type of protection will stop you from being out of pocket if the customer makes a claim.

Take Steps to Restore the Image of Your Brand

When an accident happens in your store, it can have a negative effect on your business, especially if the accident is due to your negligence. If you are not careful, it will lead to a reduction in sales, and it can be very difficult to bounce back from it.

The best thing to do is take special measures to rebuild your reputation. This will help limit the damage done and avoid any potential loss in revenue.

Wrapping Up

When a customer is injured in your store, the outcome can have a lasting impact on your business. Injury can cause major damage to your public image, and you may even become a target of litigation, so it is important you know how to handle the situation the right way. In the event of an accident, follow the steps listed above, and you will protect your business from any potential repercussions.

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You Will Love These Gorgeous Sectionals

October 7, 2021

Buying new furniture is a big decision—and it can be a difficult one. From figuring out your style and finding ways to come to an agreement with your partner… Making sure that you shop quality and durability, why also finding a piece that will be comfortable. You may also be wondering how to balance your seating needs with what your space will allow—sectionals can make a great choice for snugger spaces because of their ability to split and cover corners, but the last thing you want is to spend an arm and a leg on your next purchase. If space is your biggest concern, you can buy wide sectional sofas with free delivery at 1StopBedrooms.

Sectional sofas have a lot of benefits over traditional living room suits. They can bring a modern look and feel to a room, while also making more out of the space by allowing for more seating. They can also allow you to use your living room as an extra bedroom for guests because their comfort and size are perfect for napping! When shopping for a sectional, it’s important to find one that meets the needs of your space, family, and social life.

Asking yourself a few key questions and taking measurements is a great place to start—but it can also help to consult with some experts. The commission-free designers at 1StopBedroom are here to help. Unlike traditional interior designers, who cost a fortune just for a consultation, and salesmen at in-person furniture stores who are looking to earn a commission, the designers at 1Stop are exclusively here to satisfy your requirements and help you find the perfect sectional for your space.

You can also use the filtering and search tools available on the site to help narrow your choices. With hundreds of selections on sectional sofas to choose from, it’s important to narrow your search to keep yourself from getting overwhelmed. As you browse the results, one thing may pop off the page as much as the beautiful product photos—the prices.

When you shop from 1StopBedrooms, you are purchasing directly from the manufacturer. Traditional furniture stores charge you a premium to help cover their overhead costs and corporate expenses. At 1Stop, you get to cut out the middleman and enjoy a low-price guarantee. With financing available, there’s no need to window shop anymore—you can buy the sectional you love today without breaking the bank.

When it comes to quality, you shouldn’t have to compromise. Buying new furniture is an investment—you want to experience the returns over the years. Affordable furniture shouldn’t have to be cheap in terms of quality—when you shop 1Stop, you get the best sectionals from the best brands for prices that can’t be beaten. You can typically find the same products you’ve seen in store for a fraction of the cost.

There’s no reason to hold off—you don’t have to suffer through worn-out, tattered living room furniture another day. Get started transforming your living room with a brand-new sectional by shopping 1Sb today!

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13 Tips for Finding Success in the Music Industry

October 7, 2021

Finding success in the music industry is a difficult task. The way artists distribute their music and communicate with fans has changed drastically over the last 20 years, and the global pandemic has only exacerbated issues. Social media platforms have given artists a chance to find success no matter what their background, with the TikTok community being responsible for many breakthroughs. Despite all the changes in the world, there are still a set of fundamental strategies you can adopt to make it in the business of music. And if you enjoy music and are seeking the ideal record to add to your collection, hop over to this website and discover the best of the music business. They provide a wide range of genres, from jazz to hip-hop to classic rock, and even have some rare collector items. They also provide a vinyl subscription service that enables clients to get new music delivered to their door each month.

Master Your Craft

Your musical journey will be influenced by the music you listen to, so make sure you listen to plenty and fully understand the area you want to break. Further, no matter what your preferences in music, listen to other genres. After all, every genre has mingled roots within other areas of the musical spectrum.

To master your craft, you should study current trends and find ways of pleasing listeners. For example, in the alternative music space, artists are releasing music that hits the nostalgia of the “emo” music boom of the 2000s.

Naturally, you need to be able to play your instruments professionally. To do this, you should use an NY rehearsal space and invest in high quality equipment, like from Gospel Pianos. Practicing makes perfect, whether you’re doing this alone or as part of a band. You can find an NY rehearsal space via Pirate.com. With locations in Brooklyn and Queens, they offer 24/7 rehearsal time that puts you inside a fully equipped studio.

Never the Pessimist

Breaking into the music industry is difficult. Many choices will be out of your control and you will face criticism and setbacks at every turn. With this in mind, you need to make sure that your mindset is consistently optimistic. To do well, there is no space to be a pessimist.

Be Mindful of Advice

There’s an enormous network of people out there who will give you advice, but you need to be careful. Seeking advice from family and friends won’t be the most productive because they’ll just tell you you’re doing great. Asking successful people seems like a great idea, but they already have it together. Those that have failed and are fighting back are the best people to gain insights because they truly understand what not to do.

Prepare for a Long Road

Unfortunately, we can’t get up in the morning, write a song, and be famous in the morning. You need to appreciate the journey that will push you towards mainstream success. By the time you become successful, you will have a long story to tell with plenty of twists and turns. You need to embrace the process and don’t let it put you off keeping with it.

In the Business of Music

To be a successful artist, you need to understand the business of music. Typically, there are three main sources of income for artists:

Touring. Playing shows is an enormous revenue source. The problem is appeasing promoters and encouraging fans to come to your shows.

Branding. You need to have a clear brand that tells people what your ethos is. Any products on your line have to represent you.
Publishing. You should write and record your music if you can. Doing both will ensure all rights belong to you. Too many artists have had disputes with their labels and had to buy their work back.

Get Incorporated

The journey to musical success can be an expensive road, with your outgoings outweighing your income. Therefore, you should incorporate your band to get tax breaks and organize your cash flow. Turning your band into a business will help protect yourself while benefiting your financial growth. You can start your LLC for as little as $500 through LegalZoom.

Practice Producing

Producing your music may take some learning, but it’s way worth the time and effort. When you have control of your music, you have a greater chance of being successful. Also, creating and producing your music sets you up as an authentic craft master. Even if you need to produce out of your parent’s house before making it big, you will have more control.

Song Registration

The way music is distributed has changed drastically over the past decade, with the majority of people moving away from physical media to streaming. Therefore, you should ensure that your songs are registered with either BMI or ASCAP in America. These organizations will monitor and pay you based on how well your music does, including when you feature on the radio. To retrieve the entire payment, you need to publish your music and register yourself accordingly.

Be Copyright Conscious

Copyrighting will protect you from having your work stolen. The US Copyright Office can supply you with an official verification. However, in the age we live in, you can prove ownership through timestamps made by computers. For best practices, always send music to yourself before you start putting it out there.

Effective Distribution

The distribution of music has changed considerably. You no longer need to be signed to a record label to have your music released to the world. Many businesses work with artists of any size to bring their music to streaming services like Spotify. To ensure accessibility, you should try and get your music placed on as many platforms as you can.

Dominate Social Media

Social media is important in any business, and your brand is no different. You should communicate to fans through various platforms. You don’t always need to post musical content; you can take time to give people a glimpse of life behind the scenes.

Finding success in the music industry is difficult. You need to have the correct mindset and accept that the journey will be long. Make sure that you constantly push your expertise and take time to understand the business side of the music industry. Engaging with fans, exciting promoters, and never giving up will take you a long way.

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How to Keep Your PDF Files Secure

October 7, 2021

The PDF file is so commonly used today that it can be easy to overlook just how much the invention revolutionized documents and file sharing.

The PDF file format was developed by Adobe in 1992 in order to present documents that include things like text and images in the same way regardless of the application software, hardware, or operating system being used to open and view the PDF file. You can also convert word to pdf.

Today, PDF files can be customized in many ways. That includes customizing them to ensure they are protected. If you use PDF files that contain sensitive information, it is imperative those documents cannot be accessed or copied by unauthorized users.

So, check out the following ways of making your PDF files secure.

Use Passwords and Permissions

PDFs are often preferred by individuals, businesses, and organizations because the files cannot generally be edited.

That means it is easy to share the documents because they can be opened by anyone but cannot be edited by anyone. However, while the non-editable nature of PDFs goes some way to protecting them, there will be occasions when users need to edit PDF files

Thankfully, making a PDF editable is easy when you use a platform like PDFSimpli. Using simple tools, you can edit your PDF file online quickly for free.

Whether you want your PDF files to be editable or not, there will be times when you want to ensure the documents are secure. Protecting PDF files with passwords is one of the easiest ways of ensuring your files are not copied, changed, or printed by unauthorized users.

When you encrypt a PDF file with a password and apply permissions, you limit who can access that file. You have various options as to the level of restriction you place on an encrypted PDF file.

The exact permissions and restrictions you add to a particular PDF will depend on what you want the users to do with it. So, you could require a user to enter a password to access the file or restrict the user’s ability to copy or print the document.

You also have the option to designate some elements of the PDF file as protected and others as unprotected, depending on your needs. You can control security measures like passwords and permissions through the Document Properties option when you first create a PDF file.

Use Certificate Protection

Password protection is ideal for internal documents, but if your PDF files contain sensitive information and you intend to share those files with users outside of your organization, you will want to take additional security precautions.

After all, passwords can potentially be stolen. So, use certificate security to protect your PDF files. The method involves using public-key encryption, which guarantees the document is by the original creator and only specific recipients can access the document. You can get third-party security certificates from trusted sources like Verisign or create your own certificate.

How to Secure Your PDF File with Acrobat DC

With Acrobat DC, it is easy to add the above security measures to your PDF files. First, open your PDF file with Acrobat and go to “Tools” and then “Protect.” Next, choose whether you want to restrict editing with a password or encrypt the document with a certificate or password. Once you have chosen your desired method, click “OK” and then “Save.”

In addition to preventing unauthorized users from accessing your PDF files by encrypting them with passwords or certificates, Acrobat DC enables you to restrict editing of a PDF in Office applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. There are also various customizations you can implement to the PDF’s security. For instance, you can create customized security policies to help everyone apply passwords and permissions the same way every time.

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Covid-19: Could Surface Contamination Become a thing of the Past?

October 7, 2021

Even during a viral pandemic, contaminated surfaces need not be scary. A host of companies now offer innovative solutions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 on everyday objects.

As the health experts have made clear, the predominant infection pathway for coronavirus is through person-to-person contact. This occurs mainly via aerosol droplets released when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. Social distancing, wearing face masks, and the ventilation of indoor spaces are vital mitigation policies.

But the next most prevalent route for infection is through surface contamination. And here technology companies have made some solid advances.

The first step is to touch surfaces less

The Indian technology company Techmax Solution has developed a touchless, plug-and-play control panel for elevators.

High-touch surfaces are of particular concern, but this novel solution uses motion sensors to interact with the elevator’s original controls, completely removing any need to make physical contact. The device can be installed in virtually any model of elevator, and comes in a range of sizes, depending on the number of controls needed.

The company says that its “Sparshless” panel means that not only are people at reduced risk of spreading or contracting the virus, but there is also less need to disinfect elevators. For large hotels, apartment buildings, and office complexes, this greatly reduces the amount of work that cleaning staff are required to do.

Bioguard, the durable virucidal and anti-bacterial treatment fending off coronavirus

There are certain kinds of objects, however, with which contact cannot be avoided. Banknotes are one example.

Despite the often-heard digital payments narrative, cash is still readily used around the world. In fact, cash demand has risen during the pandemic. Of course, so too did concern about cash as a transmitter of coronavirus.

Scientists have subsequently refuted claims that cash was a strong contamination risk, encouraging the public to think more about other everyday surfaces. And yet, confidence in cash was temporarily shaken as a result of the unfounded concerns.

Fortunately, an answer to this problem has existed since well before the less-than-novel coronavirus emerged. Bioguard is a virucide developed 15 years ago by French security printer Oberthur Fiduciaire that is now updated jointly with its subsidiary Bioguard & Co.

“Well before the H5N1 crisis [bird flu], our teams developed a treatment that was constantly tested and improved in order to make the surface of banknotes ‘hostile’ to bacteria, viruses and other microscopic fungi – without having any negative impact on humans,” explains the company’s general manager, Etienne Couëlle.

An independent laboratory tested Bioguard treatment when the pandemic emerged and found that it was particularly effective against coronaviruses. The tested samples showed that the concentration of the human coronavirus OC43 was reduced by a factor 100 via Bioguard.

The solution is applied to banknotes during printing or afterwards as a post-print varnish.

Most promisingly of all, Bioguard is versatile enough that it can be applied to many other everyday objects and surfaces, rendering them durably inhospitable to coronavirus too.

In public transport, Bioguard could soon be protecting handrails and seating, reducing the available space for viruses to survive on trains and buses. There are also possibilities for applications in offices, restaurants and bars, protecting printer paper, menus, tables, and bar tops. Even in schools, habitable surfaces for coronavirus could be reduced if Bioguard were applied to classrooms, to teaching tools, and to playground equipment.

As it is already in use as a verified and safe product, the shift of this ready-to-use solution towards other applications could happen quickly. This gives Bioguard genuine potential to protect people from surface contamination globally.

Virus-killing robots

Another proven tool in the fight against coronavirus is the autonomous LightStrike6 sanitation robot. The company responsible for the Germ-Zapping Robot is Xenex. It has been operating for more than a decade, but during the pandemic these patented ultra-violet emitting disinfection machines proved their strength.

“Being able to help healthcare facilities and other organizations safely and effectively destroy viruses and bacteria that can lurk in their facilities is important and not something we take lightly,” says Irene Hahn, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Xenex.

LightStrike robots were used in hundreds of healthcare facilities prior to the health crisis, but as a result of the robot’s speed and efficacy against coronavirus, they are now deployed in office buildings, airports, schools, hotels, sports facilities, events spaces, and other places where contamination and transmission are a concern.

Decontaminating face masks with heat

The pandemic has also created opportunities for companies to develop previously unimaginable products. In Israel, researchers have developed reusable face masks that not only sanitise themselves, they do so with heat generated by connecting a simple USB port to a phone charger.

The power source heats an inner layer of carbon fibres to 70°C. It then takes about 30 minutes for the disinfection process to take place. The researchers hope the invention can alleviate the mask shortage during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

While innovation might not always offer a silver bullet to humanity’s problems, clearly it has massive capacity to remove roadblocks. With solutions available to solve the conundrum of surface contamination, the path is now cleared for tackling other Covid-19 challenges.

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A Zero-Trust Future for Hybrid Working World

October 7, 2021

By Michele Mabilia

Why a holistic approach to security is the best way forward

As employees return to offices, what was a largely successful period of remote working for many businesses is now giving way to a hybrid working future. Flexibility for employees is now the norm rather than the exception, which promises to make for happier workforces in the long term. That said, there are still challenges to address. One of these is the need to protect company data and devices from the impact of ransomware attacks, which have become the modus operandi for millions of hackers in the last couple of years.

As businesses plan for hybrid working, connected devices such as mobile phones, laptops, desktop computers and printers are often earmarked for close scrutiny in the bid to shore up cybersecurity capabilities. To achieve this, organisations need to take a cautious approach to security, and ensure this is replicated across the entire IT estate. This is where a holistic zero-trust approach has merit.

The Challenge

The hybrid working model brings several key challenges for employers, including the need to properly manage BYOD policies and staff using the same devices for work and personal activities, as well as encouraging responsible cyber practices without regular face-to-face interaction. Alongside all of this is the responsibility to ensure that all endpoints – whether remote or office-based – have the right security software in place to prevent attacks. Finally, this has to be done while minimising the impact on productivity.

Mobile phones, laptops and printers are often among the first devices mentioned when discussing security risks. There are legitimate reasons for this: these are highly recognisable pieces of home or office equipment, so it is easy to consider these devices as a likely route through which opportunistic hackers could try to gain access to sensitive data. Alongside these, the ubiquity of software such as email or cloud storage means cybercriminals have a huge attack surface to conduct their operations.

With so many areas to keep an eye on, a zero-trust approach to IT security makes sense.

The Risk

To highlight the current cybersecurity state of play, recent research has found that 92 per cent of UK businesses suffered a cyberattack in the last 12 months, and 78% feel unprepared to deal with current threats. Despite the upsurge in cyberattacks, more than a quarter of UK companies do not consider IT to be ranked within their top three priorities as they plan for the next 12 months. This is concerning when considering the finding that cyberattacks cost nearly one in ten (8%) UK businesses over £1 million.

Plenty of work needs to be done across the entire IT estate, as not enough is being done to actively address these issues. Organisations need tools to cover all the bases, including multi-factor authentication to govern access to sensitive data, secure document management systems to ensure information is shared in a safe and compliant manner, and encryption capabilities that reduce the chances of stored data – whether on-premise or in the cloud – being compromised.

The Reward

Adopting a zero-trust framework and applying it across all elements of the IT estate offers a variety of security benefits. Zero-trust presumes all applications and services are malicious and are denied access from connecting until they can be positively verified by their identity attributes. Therefore, this model reduces risk because it closely scrutinises what is on the network and how those assets are communicating. Further, as baselines are created, a zero-trust model reduces risk by eliminating overprovisioned software and services and continuously checking the “credentials” of all devices – whether they are printers, laptops, desktop computers, mobile phones or any other internet-enabled technology.

The Future

Functioning efficiently and safely in a hybrid work environment all boils down to risk management. This means getting better visibility and understanding of the way people work, and by association, the way they interact with business systems and sensitive data. Zero-trust doesn’t have to be a complete change in the business working model or mean that existing security architectures need to be replaced. It simply provides a solution to gain more control within the network, creating an even stronger shield and barrier. It is the way forward for organisations that want to be confident that they have the necessary tools and support to combat evolving threats.

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About the Author

Michele Mabilia is the Head of Product Marketing at Kyocera Document Solutions UK

From Zero to Hero: Illinois Local Builds His Own Tech Marketing Empire

October 7, 2021

Picture this: it’s early 2015, you just graduated fresh off of high school, and you are now in charge of steering the direction of your life how you want it. Most youngsters at this age opt for going the traditional route: applying for college, putting the hours in, and getting that diploma after four years. There are those who would say that completing your education is one of the foundations of adulthood, and is a milestone everyone should be privy to if resources and socioeconomic factors allow them to.

But that’s not the case for a certain Chicago-born individual.

Meet Malik Kurdi, who, safe to say deviated from the norm in terms of traditional career paths. When the then 24-year-old Tinley Park local graduated from Andrew High School, he instinctively knew that college wasn’t going to be for him. Kurdi reasons that his initial dreams were much more grounded in nature, as in being of service to the country through law enforcement.

“I tested to become a cop,” Kurdi explains. “I wanted to be a policeman in Chicago so bad, I applied 10 or 12 times. I got turned down every single time. I guess God had a better route for me.”

Following his graduation and the innate path of ‘finding himself’ while working for a riding service company, it is then Kurdi reveals he had an epiphany of some sort.

“My first two years, I had zero sales. I was driving Uber, then one day, I finally got a large sale, and said ‘OK, this is legit,'” Kurdi says.

It’s that premature foresight into what he wanted his life to look like that led him to enrol on a two-year software development program and completing it after the time period ended. He wanted to become his own boss and took great lengths to achieve it. When it came to trying to make something out of what he learned in life, Kurdi argued that “he was absolutely not a computer geek” and “never even liked tech”. But what he did believe in was himself, against all odds. He reasoned that his “vision and personality” was all he was going to need to make it in the world if he honed in on it.

“Being an entrepreneur you want to find a niche,” Kurdi says. “What’s going to be growing in the future? I know that technology is. So I got into it. I knew were going to need coders like crazy in the future. So I said ‘let me start an app development company.’ It’s exploding. It’s going through the roof.”

Kurdi emphasises that his strength relies heavily on being a people person.

“I know how to manage really well, and I know how to talk to people,” he explains. “I love talking. I’m a social guy and a likeable guy. People want to talk to me right away.”

He’s also said that the end game was never really about the money, contrary to what most people say of businessmen and entrepreneurs and the ‘suits’.

“That’s what it’s all about, memories,” he said. “Not the materialistic things.”

It was this singular moment of epiphany, where he took that grand leap of faith and gambled on his future by investing in himself, that led him to become the founder of an award-winning tech marketing company today.

About Exemplary Marketing LLC Company

Founded in 2015, Exemplary Marketing is Malik Kurdi’s then passion project that grew into becoming one of the most credible tech marketing brands on the market. The company is a social media marketing agency that delivers not only worldwide outstanding marketing solution, but also outstanding Application Designs & Development services. They specialize in social media marketing, application design, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, chatbots and blockchain, to name a few.

The company has a wide variety of comprehensive solutions to cater to the various needs of businesses around the globe, no matter their proprietary marketing concerns. They have skilled technical experts that provide their knowledge on solutions security, reliability, and efficiency. They act as an all-around troubleshooting agent for just about every tech problem under the sun.

Since its foundation, Exemplary Marketing houses 75 employees and is juggling roughly 100 projects. There are also offices in the United Kingdom, Pakistan and India.

What they offer

Exemplary Marketing LLC provides world-class solutions aimed at business growth. Their staff work tirelessly to assure the execution of these innovative ideas are handled with care and precision to turn them into reality. They value work quality, scalability, and security, along with proactive management.

In terms of creating value for businesses, the company takes pride in their expansive team composed of only the best-skilled software developers, UX architects, designers and QA engineers. These highly talented people don’t fail to deliver thousands of creative and innovative solutions for your brand that’s not limited to social media strategies.

They are also fluent in the inner workings of just about every digital space there is. They have custom solutions in place to optimise performances on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Aside from the social channels, they also believe in the power of a well-crafted website to really drive growth in the business.

Through their talented website development team, help entrepreneurs navigate this new yet increasingly vital area of business and save them time and effort by doing all the work, from day-to-day social media management to advertising campaigns and even all development processes of a website.

Conclusion

The road to success can look like many different things to many different people. It’s not always finishing that degree and standing on that podium while the audience applauses. That may be true for a majority of the world, but it doesn’t have to mean that’s the standard of success we should all aim towards.

Sometimes it’s taking yourself out of your comfort zone and believing in your own skills to get you through life that can be someone else’s measure of success. Who would have thought that a simple boy from a simple town in Cook County, who once bought thousands of yard lights and placed them near the red lights in Orland Park, would grow to become a successful businessman who would have his own billboard off the road of Interstate 294?

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5 Best Forex Brokers in Africa

October 6, 2021

Forex has been an extremely fast-growing market for more than the last 20 years. Trading Forex offers great flexibility to both: people that want to use it as a part-time source of income and those who seek to be self-employed full-time traders. Due to the absence of market opening or market closing hours Forex traders all around the world have the opportunity to trade 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday. Forex trading in Africa is no different in this regard. The scope of trading naturally may vary substantially with regards the number simultaneous overlapping sessions, and, as such, is often subject to fluctuations during bank holidays tied to major market players such as Wall Street. 2016 Triennial Central Bank Survey of FX and over-the-counter (OTC) Derivatives Markets research has revealed that Forex markets had an average turnover of $5.1 trillion a day as of April 2016. And it has been increasing since then. Such high volume of trading naturally increases the liquidity of the market, which in turn makes it easy and quick for a potential trader to enter the market as well as lowers the risks involved, particularly the risk of price manipulation by the third parties. Forex market also has a notion of leverage which has a potential to multiply your profits (but do bear in mind that it can multiply your losses as well) in an incredibly short span of time. Leverage lets you “operate” more money than you possess in your trading account at the moment giving you a chance of getting higher profits. One of the most important decisions you will have to make at the start is choosing a broker. In order to help you out we’ve put together a list of the best forex brokers in Africa.

Is Forex the Same as Gambling?

Forex trading and gambling are often compared because of their risk-based nature and potential for significant rewards.

However, the distinction lies in strategy. While the latter is largely based on chance, the former involves careful analysis, economic forecasting, and calculated decision-making. It’s simple, unlike most games of chance, traders can leverage tools and data to inform their moves.

However, both options appeal to individuals with a high-risk appetite. In fact, many traders often engage with gambling platforms and are likely to look for the best online casinos with high return options as alternative avenues for entertainment and risk-based play. A gambling industry expert Miloš Marković claims such casino sites have plenty to offer, including generous bonuses, a huge variety of games, and a large selection of payment options, making them a popular choice among regular players and forex enthusiasts.

All in all, they both require discipline, knowledge, and a clear understanding of limits to be approached responsibly.

1. JustForex.com

Accepts MY residents – Yes

Average Spread EUR/USD Standard – 0.3

Minimum Deposit – $1

Overall rating – 9.7/10

JustForex has been around since the early 2000-s. It is licensed with and authorized by the FSA of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. JustForex is an international broker and as such it realizes the importance of approach while dealing with clients from all around the world and understands the necessity of various tools and services needed for those people to achieve success on the trading market. JustForex has a number of trading account types to offer with a considerable variety of trading instruments among which anyone can find something that suits their personal needs and preferences. Multiple servers support unfailing work of the system and low latency around the globe. Data backup protocols eliminate the possibility of the clients’ information, such as personal data or history of commercial transactions.

JustForex hosts a team of professionals with a relevant financial background and lots of experience in trading various assets. The support team available to help customers and provide the best working experience possible. Data transfer through an SSL security connection with encryption of information ensures prevention of the user data interception by unauthorized entities.

JustForex works with the biggest banks in the world. All of the clients’ personal and financial data is safe from the third parties. The broker also has a negative account balance protection system in place. JustForex offers various bonuses and compensations in case the losses exceed the funds on their trading account. In practical terms this means that when an account reaches a negative balance due to a sharp and unforeseen movement of the market, the balance will be set to zero to protect the client from possible losses.

2. TD Markets

Accepts MY residents – Yes

Average Spread EUR/USD Standard – 0.00004

Minimum Deposit – $50

Overall rating – 9.5/10

One of the most trusted Forex brokers in Africa, TD Markets’ approach is to offer its clients custom-made solutions catering to traders not only in Africa but also all around the world. They work with small retail and large corporate businesses and put great emphasis on smooth execution and experience. The site also offers dedicated customer support around the clock. The company prides itself on constant innovation and rapid adapting to the ever changing circumstances of the Forex market often resulting into life long partnerships with clients deciding to side with the broker.

TD Markets work with the Metatrader 4, an industry standard platform. It is accessible from mobile devices and PCs and offers a variety of tools, such as different indicators, experts’ advice alongside with custom algorithmic trading scripts.

This trusted Forex broker is licensed through Authorised Financial Services Provider with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority FSP49128. Clients’ funds are kept separately from the company funds in order to assure transparency and safety. TD Markets also protects their clients from the market volatility by providing a negative balance safety for trading accounts. Because of it, in the event of the market’s rapid volatile movement the customer’s negative balance will not be required to be paid back in full immediately. Also this broker employs an anti money laundering programme through working with major reputable banks. TD Markets offers great spreads for all instruments, fast command execution, a large number of trading types, supports a great number of locations you can trade from and devices you can use to do so,generally low server latency and white label functionality.

3. SaxoBank

Accepts MY residents – Yes

Minimum Deposit – $10,000.00

Average Spread EUR/USD Standard – 0.6

Overall rating – 9.3/10

All you might need for conducting trade on the global markets is at your disposal with the Saxo platforms. This licensed forex broker in Africa offers a wide variety of financial products and numerous ways of trading and investing.
SaxoBank sources only the best products currently present on the market. Being an independent provider of said services the platform offers constant support with issues you might encounter during your trading experience. SaxoBank understands that you require the right and timely information in order to make the right choice when it matters. Specifically for this it offers curated investment themes, market commentary from the experts, smart alerts, different charting tools, and, last but not least, in-depth webinars.

If you choose SaxoBank you can be sure that you are trusting your money to a company that takes safety seriously.Saxo Bank is a licensed European bank under the supervision of the Danish FSA working in numerous locations including various African countries. It complies with strict requirements on reporting and EU client management regulations so you can be assured that you are working with a secure broker. Saxo Bank’s company registration number is 15731249 and is and also runs a bank and is regulated by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) – Finanstilsynet, Århusgade 110, 2100, København Ø.

The broker sports a proprietary platform – SaxoTraderGO. It has such features as enhanced trade tickets, charting package, fundamental and technical analysis tools, performance analysis tools and a comprehensive account overview option. Saxo Bank works with stocks, ETFs, bonds, mutual funds, options, futures and many other trading options. The platform is accessible from both mobile devices and desktop and supports one-screen setup with the option to drag charts to a second screen.

4. Interactive Brokers

Accepts MY residents – Yes

Minimum Deposit – $0

Average Spread EUR/USD Standard – N/A

Overall rating – 9.2/10

Interactive Brokers was founded in 1977 and it has been providing its services to traders and investors for more than 40 years. In all those years it has proven to be one of the most reliable brokers in the field. Interactive Brokers is considered to be a low-risk broker. Company’s assets are publicly traded and it is authorised by six tier-1 regulators: , Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Securities Futures Commission (SFC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA).

Despite Interactive Brokers’ long history in the business it is no stranger to innovation. The company provides a proprietary Trader Workstation (TWS) desktop platform. This platform offers a number of tools that can and will make your trading experience easier. However, the aforementioned utility may pose difficulties for beginners and is clearly targeted at somewhat experienced traders that are sure to appreciate due to its numerous quality of life improvements and tools. The company also provides the IBKR Mobile application that comes with lots of useful features. We have to mention the fact that it is also somewhat complex and is not really beginner friendly. This broker does not support MetaTrader that is widely regarded as an industry standard at the moment. Interactive Brokers also has a rather unusual monthly minimum activity fee so keep in mind that you will be charged if you are not trading constantly, even though the intervals for its activation are rather generous. If you believe you know what you are doing be sure to check this Forex broker in Africa.

5. eToro

Accepts MY residents – Yes

Average Spread EUR/USD Standard – 1.0

Minimum Deposit – $50

Overall rating – 9/10

eToro concludes our list of the best trading platforms in Africa. The company, just like our previous entry, is considered to be a low-risk broker. However, it is not traded publicly and doesn’t operate its own bank if that might concern you. eToro is authorised by the Australian Securities & Exchange Commission (ASIC) alongside the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It offers services in more than 2000 tradable articles. Due to such a wide range of tradable items, the platform creators make sure to provide its clients with the best possible experience. To give an example of this attention to detail: CFDs and underlying asset trading can be toggled directly in the trade-ticket window. Such quality of life improvements are barely noticeable after getting used to them. However they are invaluable in a while and you wish more brokers adopted them. Cryptocurrency trading is only allowed via CFDs and underlying assets. eToro, being a major player in the field, offers a spread of 1 pip on the EUR/USD. The company provides a proprietary social copy-trading platform as well combining self-directed trading and copy trading. There are various account types available on the platform, including VIP accounts. These accounts fall in brackets of $5000 – $250000. Higher tier accounts bring such benefits as a dedicated account manager and discounts on deposits and withdrawal.

The decision whether to trade or not on the Forex market is yours to make alone, but it is worth knowing that even being in the category of the smallest players on the market, you still can make significant profit. It is wise to take your time deciding why and how you want to trade. If you put your heart and mind into it you are more than likely to succeed. Another thing you might want to consider is that if you want to dip your toe into Forex trading, it might be a worthwhile idea to start a demo account before you put your real money savings on the line. And also remember that there is a slim chance of you making a lot of money if you don’t stick with a reliable broker to see your deals through.

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