Thanks to the Internet, lots of people pay their bills, seek out entertainment, and get their news on-line. So it is not surprising that music streaming is as popular as it is. Many people stream their music and there are many music-streaming services to pick from. This is very advantageous as people always have access to their music, as long as they have access to the Internet.

If you are curious as to the differences in these services, we have highlighted a handful below.

Pandora: Pandora has been around awhile, and it is very popular. It’s clear to see why: it’s easy. After navigating to the website, type in the name of a song or artist you enjoy and Pandora will create a radio station based upon that information. It chooses songs by artists with a comparable sound. As you tune in to your station you can click the thumbs up or thumbs down symbol on the songs and Pandora will customize your station based on this new information. In addition, you can “seed” you station with different artists to even further customize it. You can listen to Pandora without creating an account but in order to save your stations, you need to create an account.

Grooveshark: This streaming service is much like Pandora, in that it creates a personalized “radio” station based on your musical tastes. You don’t need to create an account to listen to Grooveshark, or to build your own playlists. However, should you wish to save your information, you will need to create one. One benefit to Grooveshark is that you are able to listen to whole albums rather than a station you made. One of the more intriguing features of Grooveshark is that users can add their own music if the Grooveshark database doesn’t have what they are seeking.

Rhapsody: Rhapsody’s appeal is based on its huge database of music: more the 14 million songs. Sadly, this service is not free, it is $10 a month for unlimited music.

Spotify: Spotify was introduced in 2008, and since then it has exploded into one of the most widely known and used music-streaming services. Spotify is very user friendly and, like Grooveshark, users can listen to entire albums or choose to use the radio function.  One thing that people love about Spotify is its integration with Facebook. By using the Spotify app, it keeps a running list of the songs you have listened to on Facebook. Furthermore, users can see what their Facebook friends are presently listening to on a real-time feed. This is great for individuals who are in search of new music if one of their friends has similar tastes.

Remember when Windows was thought to be cool? It’s been a long time. However, the Kinect – a motion and voice-sensing device originally meant as a nifty feature for the Xbox gaming console – could help Windows recapture its long-lost coolness quotient.

Not surprisingly, a version of the Kinect works with Windows-operated PCs. So almost immediately after this new version was released in February, companies started devising creative, out-of-the-box uses for it.

Innovative Uses for the Kinect

For instance, at the Chicago Auto Show a few months ago, the chief marketing manager for Nissan North America used Kinect for Windows to create a virtual tour of the Pathfinder’s upgraded interior. This proved especially beneficial because the marketing manager only had the Pathfinder’s empty shell to show off at the Auto Show. A large screen powered by Kinect showed visitors just what they’d be viewing if they were actually sitting inside the finished body of the new Pathfinder. The screen, for example, displayed the car’s dual moon roofs and several other features.

Microsoft is also encouraging companies to make use of the Kinect creatively by working with them to create custom Kinect applications. Nearly 350 companies today are working with Microsoft in this way. For instance, Boeing uses the device to build virtual tours of its 737 jets. Medical providers at a hospital in Canada are also using the device’s gesture-recognition to swipe through CT scans, eliminating the danger of touching germs on a keyboard or mouse.

Kinect: A Solid Hit

Microsoft hit a home run when they developed the Kinect. The Xbox 360 was last year’s best-selling gaming console, and they have the Kinect to thank for that. Since November of 2010 Microsoft has sold over 18 million Kinect devices.

The Kinect has numerous uses outside of what it was originally developed for. Microsoft actually developed something that is not only useful, but considered cool. This transformation in attitude toward Microsoft could help the company in many ways.

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When you sift through the potential candidates for the job you’re hiring for, you want to find the super stars. You would like to find the most creative, passionate, and inspired people you can. But you are only able to find out who fits the bill through an interview. And if you don’t ask the right questions you may misjudge your candidates.

Make sure that your interview questions solicit the data that will help you find the individual with the characteristics you want. If you use a cookie cutter approach to the interview, you are likely to get uninspired, cookie cutter answers.

Ask the Right Questions

Start by asking the right questions. Don’t ask applicants what their job titles were at past positions. Don’t ask them what their responsibilities were. Rather, ask them to list any revolutionary ideas that they came up with for their previous employers. Ask them if these ideas helped their employers earn more money, run more efficiently, or cut back on expenses.

Don’t ask candidates about their strengths and weaknesses. Too many people have memorized stock answers to these questions. Rather, ask them how they bring their unique individuality to their jobs. Ask them what they do to make their jobs more interesting and satisfying. Truly creative workers should be able to tell you of new innovations they developed and new programs that they created, all in the effort of adding that creative spark to their positions.

If you truly want to see which of your candidates are the most creative, give them a simple task to perform. It doesn’t have to be complex; you can ask them to write an essay detailing how they would approach their job if hired. You could ask them to jot down their ideas on what their ideal workspace would look like. Ask them to think of new names for company services or products. Basically, ask them anything that will get their creative juices flowing.

In today’s job market, employers have the benefit of choosing amongst many accomplished people. So in order to find the very best, they need to change the types of questions they ask in job interviews.

No one likes traveling for business. Airports are a hassle, with all that business of removing your shoes, having to pay extra to stow bags, and the frequent delays and cancellations. We are likely to overeat on bad fast food or at hotel buffets, as well, when we’re traveling for business. Plus there is the lack of sleep. It’s no surprise that so many business people are longing for advancements in videoconferencing technology. After all, if this technology improves sufficiently – the logic goes – maybe off-site business meetings, and the business travel that goes with this, might be a thing of the past.

The End of Business Travel?

But is this something that we should strive for in business? Is it a good thing if videoconferencing replaces face-to-face meetings altogether? Perhaps not, think about the differences between meetings that are face-to-face versus videoconferencing.

When people across the globe sign on to a videoconference, they generally introduce themselves quickly, if needed, and then dive into the goal at hand. Brainstorming does not often play a big role in videoconferencing; this is partially due to the worry that their connection may fail. Also, there are many distractions within the individual’s office that can make fluid conversation difficult.

The Benefits of Face-to-Face Time

At in-person meetings, though, agendas have a way of falling by the wayside, and that’s a good thing. Meetings may start only after a few minutes of personal chit chat and they may end with attendees swapping office stories. Again, this can be good. Often, the best business ideas arise from these moments of off-topic conversation.

Business Travel is Here to Stay

Yes, business travel is a hassle and videoconferencing is convenient. However, there are occassions when meeting face-to-face is the best option for generating the most innovative business solutions. Due to this, don’t expect savvy business executives to ever completely replace business travel with videoconferencing.

Doesn’t it feel like we should already have jetpacks? Teleporters? Or meals in capsule form? We already have some impressive technology, like tablets, which are small computers that people can carry around. We can use the GPS in our cars to get around around town. We can post an update to our social media sites and reach thousands of people at once.

So, with all of this technology, why don’t we have jet packs yet? What factors are keeping us from making these technological leaps?

Building a Better Battery

Batteries power most of our technology, particularly as we move into a more mobile world. For that reason, the more limited our batteries are, the greater limitations we have technologically. They are a fundamental part of our technology, so we need to focus on improving them before we can really make jumps in technology. Thankfully, researchers at Chicago’s Northwestern University are creating a more efficient lithium-ion battery, which we discussed in a blog post last week. This may solve this constraint in the coming years.

Improving Internet Access

Another hurdle to conquer is that not enough individuals have access to the Internet. The truth is, most of the globe doesn’t have access to it. This is naturally restricting breakthroughs in technology. It goes back to the essential notion of the more minds we have working on a problem, the faster we’ll solve it.

The Business of New Tech

This may not come as a surprise, but business matters impede technological advancements as well. For example, patent laws, and government regulations. If these things are not clear, creations can sit in red tape limbo for a long time. To prevent this last step bottleneck of the creation process, laws need to be clear and easy to grasp.

While these are a few of the issues that prevent technology from advancing, it still is progressing at a rapid pace. So who knows what is waiting for us in the next year or two.

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Adobe Photoshop is an amazing tool. It lets business owners edit the images they need to make professional-looking brochures, pamphlets, and marketing materials. However, Photoshop is far from inexpensive. A simple online scan will show that newer versions of this image-editing program can run higher then $600. For small business owners on a budget, this program simply isn’t practical. This doesn’t mean, however, that these small business owners don’t have photo-editing options. In fact, businesses can pick from a host of alternatives that are not only cheaper but are actually free.

These alternatives are not quite as robust as Photoshop but they offer enough of the elements to be beneficial to the small business owner. This is a list of three that make photo-manipulation easy, without straining the wallet.

GIMP

GIMP, which stands for GNU image manipulation program, is the choice of many a cost-conscious designer. That’s because this free program contains the most important attributes of Photoshop. The GIMP website even offers a version of the program—cleverly named GIMPShop—that features a screen layout that’s a virtual twin of Photoshop’s.

Paint.NET

Remember that old MSPaint program that came with your Windows program? Paint.NET is the successor to this, and it’s a remarkably powerful—and free—photo editor. Paint.NET comes with its own special effects, a limitless undo (a nice feature for those designers who are far from perfect), and an online forum packed with users who aren’t shy about sharing their favorite tips and methods for using this program. The only negative of Paint.NET? It only works with Windows-based systems.

Picnik

Picnik has become a popular free photo editor for many reasons. First, it works on the Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems. Secondly, users don’t need to download any files to their computers to use the program. The program is also recognized for its speed. It’s simple and easy to learn the fundamentals of cropping, resizing, and rotating photos. It’s easy, too, to add special effects and turn blurry, dark images into clear, light ones.

In the end, if you are looking for a program that allows you to create professional marketing material, there’s no need to spend a lot. These programs will let you accomplish this task at no cost.

Have you ever needed your smartphone only to find that the battery has died and you are nowhere near an outlet? It’s irritating, but in a few years, it could be a thing of the past.

A Better Battery on the Way?

Engineers at Chicago’s Northwestern University have been working on advancements in battery technology and may have found a way to make batteries charge in minutes and last considerably longer.

Northwestern’s researchers have found a method to increase the charge of lithium-ion batteries by more then 10 times the current lithium-ion battery life. They’re even boasting that after 150 charges, which they believe represents about a year of operation, the new lithium-ion battery will be 5 times more effective than batteries currently.

A Charged Battery for a Week

This might be hard to believe, especially with all the apps we run on our devices, but this new battery may stay charged for an entire week. And the charging time might be less then 15 minutes. Which will definitely make life easier but this technology might have a much more significant impact then that. It can be applied to the batteries used in electric cars, making them a lot more efficient, and radically decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels.

Batteries Powering Technological Change

The new battery technology isn’t available yet for consumers, but the Northwestern researchers claim that it could hit the market in 3 to 5 years. This is a big step. When we look at developments in technology, we tend to forget about the batteries that power our latest gadgets. Battery limitations are one of the factors holding back an even greater technology revolution. The hope is that the research done at Northwestern University changes this.

When it comes to online search engines, Google remains king. Microsoft isn’t pleased with this. That is why the company launched Bing in 2009, its own search engine and a direct competitor with Google. Since then, Bing has gone the way of most Google-search competitors: It’s mostly an afterthought when computer users need to search the web. Most searchers still rely on Google for this task. However, that doesn’t mean that Bing offers nothing for computer users. The fact is, Microsoft did a lot right with Bing, and the search engine delivers plenty of interesting features that users shouldn’t disregard.

Taking Another Look at Bing

When searching on Bing you may get more information about your search results then you do from Google. There’s a navigation panel on the left that features related searches; this can help you refine your search if you didn’t get the information you were in need of. There’s also a “search history” navigation panel so that you can easily navigate to past pages if needed. This feature can be toggled on and off.

Bing Goes Beyond Search Results

Another great thing about Bing is that it doesn’t just bring up search results. It also brings up relevant videos, music, and images. While this is a feature of Google as well, Bing makes it easier to use, as the categories are right beneath the search bar. Bing beats Google for travel searches as well. They use something called Farecast Technology in the Bing Travel site; it lets users find the least expensive flights quickly and easily.

Bing Video Search Shines

Bing stands apart from Google when it comes to searching for videos as well. Bing allows users to specify how long they would like videos to be, what resolution they want, and what screen size they would prefer. Moreover, to get a preview of the video, users only need to hover their cursor over the video to play a portion of it without clicking on it.

These are some reasons why computer users should not ignore Bing. While Google is a household name, it’s not the only search engine available.

Cloud computing is very common these days. The cloud is essentially a group of remote servers where people can store and access their data. People can store music, powerful programs, and important files in the cloud. As information kept in the cloud isn’t stored on personal computers this saves tons of computer memory. The result of this is that people gain access to more data without having to waste space on their computer, which often can slow it down.

Not All Clouds are the Same

However, that isn’t all you need to know about the cloud. You have the public cloud, the one most of us use, the private cloud, and the hybrid cloud. The hybrid cloud, as the name implies, is a combination of using both the public and private cloud.

The hybrid cloud usually works like this: A business provides some resources in-house. For example, it might store current consumer data on its private in-house cloud. It may also store employee information, new marketing campaigns, and current proposals to new clients on its in-house storage. That same business, however, might store older, archived data on a public cloud service. This frees up space on the business’ servers, and permits its in-house computers to operate more efficiently.

The Hybrid Cloud Approach Makes Sense

This frees up space on the in-house servers while ensuring that certain information is highly safeguarded. The hybrid cloud is a fantastic method to provide businesses with high security cloud services while decreasing costs and saving space.

It’s not surprising that lots of businesses use the hybrid cloud. There is too much data storage needed today for a company to store it all and not slow down their systems. Furthermore, in this competitive climate, organizations must ensure their sensitive data is protected. The hybrid cloud is often the best way businesses can accomplish these two things.

Thanks to improved technology, an increasing number of employees be capable of carry out most or all of their work from home. Smartphones, tablet computers, teleconferencing, and WiFi-equipped bookstores and coffee shops have made this achievable. This presents a huge advantage for employers: the more employees that work from home, the less money companies have to spend. Many companies, for instance, don’t have assigned computers and desks for all of their workers as so much of their workforce is working remotely. In addition, employees working remotely are frequently more productive; they’re not wasting time and energy driving to work every day. And they’re not exchanging office gossip in front of the water cooler when in the office.

Remote Worker Challenges

Remote workers and contractors do present at least one significant challenge to employers: It can be hard for employers to effectively monitor the hours that their workers are putting in. How do employers know, after all, if their remote workers are pounding away at their keyboards or playing Angry Birds on their smartphones all day?

By setting sensible deadlines employers can monitor their remote workers successfully. This is a change in managerial strategy; it puts the focus on the goal rather then the amount of time that the employee works. Ultimately, employees are the only ones who know when they work most effectively, even if it is from midnight to 4am.

Setting Remote Worker Deadlines

This could be the simplest way to monitor your remote workers. Employers may decide that a certain amount of work needs to be turned in by Friday. One other way would be to set up weekly or bi-weekly meetings via phone or video chat. To resolve any feelings of detachment some employers may ask that a remote worker spend one day a week at the office. This can help keep everyone on course and informed.

Off-Site Not a Permanent Condition

Working remotely requires personal discipline and good time-management skills. People who are chronic procrastinators may not perform best remotely. If employees aren’t hitting deadlines, or are delivering sub-par work then off-site working doesn’t have to be a permanent privilege. For remote working to be successful there has to be trust between the employee and the employer. To maintain this trust the employee needs to hit their deadlines and the employer needs to be focused on the results.