Best Apps To Make Christmas Easier

Christmas is approaching and as many of you rush around, preparing the food and buying/wrapping the presents things can get pretty hectic. Fortunately there a number of great apps to help take some of the stress away. There are many apps to be taken advantage of which can really ensure this time of the year becomes less stressful. For those wishing to ease into the festive season, consider some of these useful apps:

The Christmas List
You'll be able to control your Christmas shopping with this app, keeping track of everything you've purchased as well as everything you still need to buy. The app keeps track of prices, provides you with ideas and adds contacts from your own contact book. It's an ideal app for those that require clarity and precision at this time of year as well as those looking to keep to a budget. Christmas shopping no longer needs to be the overwhelming mission it can be anymore.

Gift Wrapping Instant Expert
Many people will actively love buying and receiving presents but this time of year always tests one's patience with sellotape. Wrapping gifts can be a chore but this creative app is designed to reduce that stress with hints, tips and great techniques. For those who feel like they're ready to take the next step, you can learn how to create bows, produce personalised gift tags and even set up gift baskets for a specified recipient, adding some spice to the usually mundane procedure.

Christmas Cookies - Heavenly Recipes
Christmas is a time of indulgence and the time of year when people forget the diet and embrace the season. Christmas cookies are always a classic, easy to bake and enjoyed by everyone. This app makes it even easier with its sophisticated interface and easy-to-understand recipes, perfect for all budding chefs. For the required ingredients, the app even includes a shopping list feature allowing you to add the ingredients, making it easier once you hit the supermarket as opposed to writing everything down.

Cards
Providing you have a good fibre optic broadband connection, Cards is a great app that changes the way you send off your Christmas cards this year. You can choose from a large array of cards, themes, backgrounds and messages, and then log in with your ID to send them out, eliminating the need for envelopes and stamps and post-office queues entirely. It's something different and special and those that are printed are done so with high-quality paper, ensuring a unique twist on a Christmas tradition.

Christmas Countdown
Finally, the Christmas Countdown app is a minimal app that records the days left until the big day. Not only does it count down the days, hours, minutes and seconds to Christmas, it also allows the user to play a selection of their favourite Christmas songs and carols, fully immersing them into the festive season. For those looking for an extra whimsical touch, the app features a range of different, festive backgrounds whilst some may wish to use photos from their own personal library.

Related Article : Top Technology Gifts For Her

Lindsey is a stay at home mum and blogger. She understands how stresful the holiday period can be and is always keen to find ways to make it a little easier! 

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Developing Online Courses That Encourages Student Participation

Online courses provide learning institutions with a way to broaden their educational reach and teach more individuals. Nearly every type of learning can be taught in an online environment, giving instructors and course designers the freedom and flexibility to go beyond the limit of the classroom and teach in ways that would have been unimaginable before the commercialization of the internet. As the world of online courses continues to evolve and expand, not only in a K-12 and higher education setting but also in corporate training systems and other adult education environments, the challenge of ensuring participation by everyone is a constant concern.

Some of the bias against online courses is the inability of the instructor to physically engage learners in the same way as in the classroom. Some suggest that learners in an online environment simply turn their computer screen on are engaged in a monocratic process with no interaction with the learner. Whether that is actually true is an eye of the beholder opinion; however, the way in which an online course is designed has more to do with the level of interaction and participation an instructor will receive.

A Critique of Early Online Learning Environments
One of the problems with the earlier designs of online learning was the belief that the limits that are intrinsic to teaching learners in the classroom (i.e. size of the room, available supplies and equipment, time, etc.) do not exist outside of the classroom. The instructor's role, based on some technically designed course, was to provide their content in a static format, handout out a login and sit back and watch the learners learn. What took place unfortunately was with the lack of a human presence, such as a moderator or facilitator for the learning, learners were less apt to fully participate and as a result found the online experience dissatisfying. Much of the online learning that was created in the early days focused on the tools used in delivering the learning as oppose to a focus on the learner's needs. The missing element in this type of tool-centered learning was the social presence or process of socialization needed to sustain a learner's attention and motivation to participate in the course.

The Reason for Student Participation in Online Courses
Learning institutions are moving toward the development of learner centered courses that appeal to the different perceptions of learning (i.e. modalities of learning). The absence of an instructor's physical presence needs to be simulated in a way that gives online students the full sense of the classroom and classroom participation. Utilizing techniques that incorporate live discussion, multimedia webcasts, polling and other forms of interaction give students the opportunity to share their personal experiences with other learners. The institution of a pedagogical approach to online learning is important because of the demographics of the online learner. Undergraduates make up the vast majority of people who attempt at least one course online (82.4 percent). Those individuals who are of Generation X (born 1965-1980) are the majority of online distance learners (many using online courses as a way to learn new skills or finish previous degree requirements) with those in Generation Next (1981-2000) in line to become the largest population of online learning consumers. The age range for these two groups is 18 (those born in 1995) to 48, meaning that adult pedagogical learning models must be developed to produce greater student participation.

A Social Constructivist Approach to Encourage Student Participation
The word "constructivism" and social constructivism is being used more and more to describe the types of successful learning environments that yield effective student participation. A constructivist approach involves the construction of knowledge in a learning setting by including the importance of the learner's culture in relationship to the learning. Creating small groups and collaborations among online learners helps the learner discusses and debate learning in order to build on or reinforce existing knowledge. Changing the way online courses are developed to account for the needs of the learner will help make courses stronger, impactful and more able to deliver their desired outcome.

Sameer Bhatia is founder & CEO of ProProfs.com which is a leading provider of online training plateform  for building, Online testing, and applying knowledge. Sameer has a background in technology with a Masters in Computer Science from USC (University Of Southern California) and is an ed-tech industry veteran. You can find Sameer on Google+.

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Top Technology Gifts For Her

Are you looking to surprise your girlfriend by giving her an unexpected gift? Would you like to buy something special for your wife? Whether you are planning on buying a video game console or a brand-new mobile phone, this post will help you select the best technology present for your loved ones.

Enjoy the New Nexus 5
If you are interested in purchasing one of the most powerful and innovative mobile phones on the market, the Nexus 5 is a great gift for every occasion. This smartphone has been designed by Google, making it one of the lightest and more refined devices ever manufactured, and while the Nexus 5 offers a wide variety of features, it is a much more affordable mobile phone than the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or the Apple iPhone 5S. The Nexus 5 features a 5-inch display capable of offering a great image quality, but also an 8-megapixel rear camera that will allow your significant other to capture some of her most special moments. Last, but not least, thanks to Android 4.4, Nexus 5’s new operating system, she will also be able to download some of the most popular applications on her smartphone, such as Twitter or Instagram.

Discover the New Xbox One
There is always an occasion for buying a new gift, and what better present than one of the latest and most exciting devices on the market? While just some years ago consoles were only able to play video games, the brand-new Xbox One is capable of much more, including the ability to stream music or movies from the Internet. Thanks to its innovative user interface and its new operating system, you and your girlfriend will be able to use the Xbox One as a multimedia device, giving you the opportunity of using popular applications such as Skype or Internet Explorer from the comfort of your couch. Whether she would like to follow her favourite TV series or download the latest films, this video game console is compatible with some the most widely used streaming services, including Hulu or Netflix, something that will allow both of you to benefit from your hyperfast fibre optic internet connection. 

Give Her the New Amazon Kindle
If you are looking for a convenient and light reading device, the Amazon Kindle is one of the best options available on the market. This gadget is able to provide hours and hours of reading with just a single charge thanks to its improved battery life. On top of that, she won’t have to worry about reading in bright sunlight thanks to the Kindle’s high-quality electronic ink screen, a unique technology that avoids glare while using your device. Additionally, Amazon offers a wide selection of books in its online store for her to download on the Amazon Kindle, allowing her to easily purchase books from her favourite authors. Moreover, it is also possible to download books in the public domain from the Amazon store, a very interesting option if she wants to enjoy classic books without having to spend any money.

Take a look at this :  Best Apps To Make Christmas Easier

Sarah is a writer and blogger with a special interest in technology. She has little patience for things which are slow and so is constantly on the search for the latest technological developments. 

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Reasons Why The Internet Is Essential For Freelancers

If you are a freelancer then you have probably heard more than once that you need to establish yourself online if you want to succeed. If you haven’t ever thought about what the internet can really provide you with then here are some of the biggest reasons why you need to go online as a freelancer.

Increase Your Customer Base

Of course the internet will open up many new doors to attract more clients. You can be instantly connected to people across the world and thus you can think about growing your business a lot quicker online. Many freelancers don’t need to be in the same physical location as their customers and thus you can really benefit from being on the internet.

Market In More Affordable Ways

The internet is also great in providing freelancers with the same opportunities to market their business as the big companies have. For example, with the proper use of SEO on your website and social media platforms you will be able to increase the exposure you get without spending a fortune. If you only had to market through the conventional means like TV ads and newspaper ads you could probably not afford it. But on the internet even running video ads and promotional videos on platforms like Youtube is possible and really affordable.

Improve Your Skills

In order to attract more customers you need to be constantly developing your skills and the internet is an amazing place for making sure you have the knowledge you need. There are so many more opportunities to learn about your industry online and it is important to take advantage of these opportunities. Odesk provides a comprehensive list of the best websites that freelancers can use to improve their skillset and make the most out of the internet. You may notice that many of the options available are either free or very affordable and you would often end up paying a lot of money if you had to take these courses offline. You can also attend seminars online and thus don’t need to travel around the world in order to get the right skills. Make sure you stay on top of your field by going online and making use of the opportunities available.

Get Help To Run Your Business

Being a freelancer isn’t easy and there are a lot of things that you need to learn to juggle at once on your own. But the great benefit of the current technology is that you have many more opportunities to ease your workload.

For example, companies providing online accountancy are really affordable and can give freelancers a lot more time to focus on the more essential parts of the business. Friendly Accountants suggests that getting help with your finances can be a really cost effective way of improving your business prospects. There are also many great tools that make the above points of marketing and attracting customers online a lot easier. It is a good idea to browse through these tools and find out what are the ones that work the best with you.

Marlene is enthusiastic in making sure freelancers are making the most of the internet and the technology available for them and she is constantly reading about new developments in the business field. She is a big ice-cream fan and could eat mint ice-cream all day long if her husband would allow it.

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Freelancing: An Online Profession

Working for yourself is something so many people dream about and perhaps the best way to do this is by being a freelancer. Freelancers make money from doing something they love, in essence they make money from a hobby. Sound good to you? It sure sounds good to me (hence why I do this job). There is nothing better than waking up on a new day and making the money you need to live by doing something that you enjoy.

We live in the internet age and the internet is starting to dominate the freelancing profession, there are so many different platforms online and they are the best place for any freelancer to get noticed. If you are a freelancer or a budding freelancer it is so important to have an online presence, so many potential employers look to the internet to find the experts they need. If you are any good and you can present your profile in an engaging way then there is a really good chance you will get the client base you need for long term success.

Platforms

There are so many different online platforms available now for freelancers to showcase what they can do. We live in the internet age as I have mentioned previously and it is therefore essential that freelancers make use of the World Wide Web. It is by far and away the simplest way for an online expert to get what they can offer across to potential employers in the quickest time possible.

Take a look at Enthuse, they are a company that offer freelancers a blank canvas online from which they can upload their portfolio. The greatest benefit of this is the freedom to upload whatever you like, whether you are going to upload everything you have ever done or just a small selection (something I think is best) the option is there. Just do a little bit of research and ensure that you are willing to spend some time checking out what they best companies are.

Efficient

They are extremely efficient, like anything to do with the internet. You can upload your documents and files online with the greatest of ease, make sure that there are no problems with spelling and grammar and ensure also that if there is any video it is editing in a professional manner.

Cheap

Going about your freelancing career in this manner is extremely cheap, these platforms cost very little or nothing to set up and thus any money you make can be yours. If you are a credible freelance worker then uploading a strong portfolio on these websites really can help you get noticed. Building a strong client base is essential and if you can do that then the chance of building up further is there. We live in a world that is dominated with poor freelance workers, it is an unreliable industry and if you can showcase yourself as the opposite to that then you can be in for a potentially lucrative career.

Tom is a writer who loves to write about the technological developments that have occurred in recent years. He initially began working as a journalist for a local newspaper however soon started working freelance.

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Get a custom URL for your Google+ profile

Today I got a email from Google+ as given in the email I am eligible to get a custom URL for my Google+ profile. I'm not sure if you're eligible! if you're eligible you will get a email from them Like I got., It's like facebook and twitter username but it has the + sign which makes the URL look great also we all have a long ID that has numbers so getting a custom URL would be really helpful for everyone.

There's link given in the email that takes you to get a custom URL you will get a the email with a username suggested automatically that depends on your Google+ name. Mine was +MohamedShimran I think It would suit me well :D.

Look here, you can change the custom URL they have suggested or else just go ahead with the suggested one:

 

In order to change the URL you must verify your phone number by entering the code sent by message:

 After confirming the verification code, you will get the custom URL replaced with your older one.

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How To : Check Internet Connection In C#

Amm, i think i wrote something about connecting and disconnecting the internet in vb.net that's actually a simple matter(process commands) . We are going to use wininet.dll in this tutorial so first of all add this namespace using System.Runtime.InteropServices; after that add this codes after InitializeComponent();  }  

 [DllImport("wininet.dll")]
        private extern static bool InternetGetConnectedState(out int Description, int ReservedValue);
        bool IsConnectedToInternet()
        {
            bool a;
            int xs;
            a = InternetGetConnectedState(out xs, 0);
            return a;
        }

What those lines of codes does is , it first adds the dll and then creates a function to use the API,So now to check the state of your internet connection let's use a if condition(;).

            if (IsConnectedToInternet() == true) MessageBox.Show("Internet Is Working");
            if (IsConnectedToInternet() == false) MessageBox.Show("Internet Is Not Working");

Just add those lines for a event to check the internet . Thanks For Reading , Peace.

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How To Make An Internet Radio Player In VB.NET

Creating a simple internet radio player

1. Open Visual Studio or Visual Basic.
2. Create a new windows form project and name it whatever you want.

Now to the controls.
1. Add 1 windows media player control.
2. Add 2 buttons, put button1 text to "Play", and put button2 text to "Stop".

Now to the code.

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