‘Job fairs can be an eye-opener’

Campus placements can be challenging. Your college may get top organisations for campus placements. However, at the end of the day, top organisations may end up picking just the toppers! And what’s worse? You’re not one of them! This leaves you worried that organisations outside may also misjudge you that if you haven’t been placed by organisations on campus then why would they hire you? You may then choose to just take up a support job rather than being unemployed. But a job is not always a matter of chance. You can actively decide where you want to be and make it happen. Here’s how:
Look for an internship: You can look for an internship paid or unpaid in the area of your liking. This not only gets you a professional experience but you progress and perform you stand a chance of becoming a permanent employee there!
Earn additional certifications: So if you want your CV to be noticed and picked up amongst the thousands available online, you need to acquire relevant certifications in your field. For example, you could take up a certification in ethical hacking in order to get a job as a security analyst or a course in network analyst.
Job fairs and walk-ins: Job fairs can be an eye-opener because it helps you explore the various jobs and employers who can apply too. Walk-ins also help you to connect with different people. What if the job wasn’t right for you? Just going for the walk-in may redirect you to the right person or even the right job. So it counts to be patient. However, doing the right thing while you’re patient is also what matters. Peer pressure may want you to take a job just for the sake of being ‘employed’. Because ‘work’ brings pressure while ‘passion’ brings pleasure.
Building an online presence: While the market demands for the latest products, even recruiters demand for the latest CVs. In other words, keep it updated. Consistently updating your CV, makes it come in the top CVs which are recently updated leaving you a better chance of receiving a call. Also, choosing credible websites and highlighting your skill set is a must. Because job titles change, skills required don’t. If you don’t have the flair for writing, you can get someone to build a resume for you.
Buddy referrals and networking: You can ask your friends who are already employed to refer your profile for a job at their organisation. If you get selected, you keep the job and they get a referral bonus too. Also, alumni meetings, conferences, workshops or exhibitions can be good places to exchange your coordinates with people who can help you get your foot in the door.

Need more integrated partnership

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced several proposals in the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The creation of a Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) with Rs 1,000 crore for the improvement of infrastructure in higher education institutions is a decision in the right direction. Whereas in the case of skill development, the government has announced 1,500 multiskill training institutes across the country with a recognized board for certification purposes. Hopefully, this will enhance the recognition of formally skilled alumni and youth will be more widely accepted for employment in public and private sector. Also, to incentivize the employers to recruit unemployed persons and bring into the books the informal employees to ensure new jobs are created in the formal sector. The Centre’s decision to pay the Employee Pension Scheme contribution of 8.33 per cent for all new employees enrolling in EPFO for the first three years of their employment is also commendable.
‘Make in India’ is a workable solution for employment and economic growth in the long term. The government needs to work on the 2-R framework, i.e., Rigour and Relevance while training students: Rigour would address the hands-on training, imparting students with 21st century skills and a more correlated system between the industry and academia so that education is end to end. While relevance, would ensure that everything that our students are learning and the curriculum the academics is imposing is relevant. The manpower imparting the education is equipped with relevant tools, i.e., SMAC enabled technology and/or digitized learning platforms that can provide a holistic learning environment.
The industry would also need a Knowledge Attitude Skill Habits (KASH) to cash mapping, i.e., KASH of the younger generation need to be aligned to the jobs coming from the Make in India initiatives. For these job to be exciting, the ‘cash’ needs to be mapped to the employability assessment of the students thereby making it important to keep the ‘Make in India’ initiative aspiring for the younger job seekers.
Skill development
Initiatives that are targeted towards setting up of model career centers and activities aimed to increase job creation are needed. However, attracting foreign investment to address the lack of quality education infrastructure for everyone and also promoting online and virtual education for wide-spread coverage and removing service tax incidence on input services have not been addressed.
According to the United Nations Human Development Report, 2015 has ranked India on 130th position among 188 nations listed in the UN’s Human Development Index. Even among the BRICS countries, India trails behind Russia, Brazil, China and South Africa. To ensure we can leverage the massive demographics advantage we possess, we need to revisit the state of education, health and social welfare currently prevalent. There has also been talk of setting up 62 more Navodaya Vidyalaya and a digital literacy scheme for rural India. However, at present there are no clear indications as to how the thousands of government schools will be improved to provide quality school education for all. Massive online courses (MOOC) could easily address these concerns and are the need of the hour.

Indispensable Engineers

Virtual engineers, automation engineers or robotic engineers design, programme, simulate and test automated machinery and processes in order to complete exact tasks. Automation engineers are responsible for design specifications and other detailed documentation of their creations.
Automation is a field that involves creating and applying technologies that control or monitor production and delivery. There are automation opportunities in both product and service oriented industries.
Two professional associations, the International Society of Automation and the Automation Federation, are involved in promoting and supporting the field of automation.
The duties of an automation engineer include designing, programming, simulating and testing automated machinery or processes that are intended to complete precise tasks — for example, robots used in packaging, food processing or vehicle manufacturing. Automation engineers work with automated machinery from concept to prototype and are responsible for providing detailed documentation including design specifications that enable the production or application of their products.
Roadmap for them
There are few degree programmes in the US available in automation engineering but not many in India. Therefore, most automation engineers earn their bachelors degrees in mechanical or electrical engineering and then learn the intricacies of automation engineering on the job. Mechanical or electrical engineering courses may include robotics, statistics, fluid dynamics and databases. Some automation engineers pursue masters degrees in related fields.
Because automation engineering requires hands-on instruction, especially in the use of high-tech equipment, online programmes in this field are rare. In a campus-based automation engineering programme, students learn to repair, troubleshoot and maintain automated equipment used in areas such as industrial electronics, process control and electromechanical systems. These programmes can lead to an associate, a bachelors or masters degrees. The skills that increase pay in this job are Selenium Automated Test Tool, Java, Automation Scripting, Distributed Control Systems (DCS) and Quick Test Professional (QTP).
Career prospects
There are lots of job opportunities available in automation and robotics engineering fields. Engineers can work as researchers, robotics system engineers, senior robotics specialists, analysts, trainers, robotics technicians, supervisors and assistance engineers in the design and application of robot systems.
Manufacturing is moving increasingly toward automation and the demand for qualified automation engineers is rising as more manufacturers turn to automation for efficiency, cost savings and increased output.
An automation engineer earns an average salary of Rs3.5 lakh per year. People in this job generally don’t have more than 10 years’ experience.
Experience strongly influences income for this job. The skills that increase pay for this job the most are Java, SCADA, Programmable Logic Controls (PLC), Automation Scripting, Distributed Control Systems (DCS), and Quality testing.
The work spans across building intuitive matchmaking algorithm, information retrieval, large scale system design, mobile apps, messaging platform, machine learning, automation testing and more. As a mobile automation test engineer, one can work independently to design and build automation frameworks and test suites for Android and iOS mobile apps using tools such as Appium, Cucumber or Calabash.
To meet the demand of managing data efficiently due to data deluge, massive storage capability and virtualised services is the need of the hour. Professionals who can build robust automated tests on the web platform are in great demand.
Being well-versed with automation testing technologies, frameworks and best practices and having a deep rooted knowledge of developing robust automated test frameworks and working with manual testing are key skills required for such roles.
Industry demand
From car manufacturing to food processing plants, wherever robots or machines can be used to perform specific functions are open as options. Automation engineers are responsible for design specifications and other detailed documentation of their creations.
According to a survey by Centrum Broking, big five software exporters — TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL and Cognizant together added net 24 per cent fewer employees in 2015 at 77,265, thanks to virtual engineers. Even though each of these companies have their own automation platforms, their focus on this line of business has seen emergence of many independent players offering automation services or virtual engineers. Hence, the outlook for this field is promising.

Digital Skilling for the Digitally Disrupted Age

From the past, the most desired skill listed by the employers was fluency in English. And with changing times, digital fluency has become one of the top requirements across industries.
IoT, machine learning and zillions of apps introduced each day are leading the digital disruption in our age. Also, the impact of such a digital disruption is felt not only in the IT department, but across the entire organization, creating a huge demand for digital skills. Hence,
A recent research by Accenture found that in India, men use digital tools to prepare for and find work more frequently than women (81% and 74%, respectively). Yet, the research found that when women and men have the same level of digital proficiency, women are better at leveraging it to find work. While women still lag behind men in digital fluency in all but a handful of countries, improving their digital skills can help bridge gender gap at the workplace.

Some of the key skills that men and women need to acquire in order to become digitally fluent and make the workplace a level playing ground are:

Mobile skills: Mobile skills to look out for encompass design skills, e.g. platform design, user-interface and gamification. Also, from e-commerce firms to the banking industry, all organizations are hiring app developers to gain a competitive advantage using apps as a platform to connect with their target audience. Hence technical skills such as app development, cloud services and mobile device management are in huge demand.
Basics of security: The age of invention and improvement is of the past. At present, organizations are more concerned about hiring security experts who can tighten the security gaps on web and on mobiles to decrease the vulnerability of cyber-attacks. The demand for candidates with good domain knowledge in this field is huge and there is a large imbalance in the supply and demand. Companies have become wary of these threats especially since many now have an online presence and are vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Networking Certifications: With the advancement in technology, organizations need certified network engineers and systems managers to ensure seamless operations across the various platforms that they engage their customers on. Given the amount of investments companies are making in India to enhance their Internet of Things and Cloud infrastructure, candidates with a good understanding of networking will be in much demand.
Data Analytics: What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t improve. Far from being just a buzz word, analyzing data to track trends and strategize has become more main stream and the potential for landing a job in this profile is exponentially growing. Consumers have never been more open about sharing their consumption habits and this has led to a substantially voluminous amount of data (pictures, texts, videos, etc.) being churned out for companies to analyze and make sense of. The industry is coming of age, with firms who hire professionals with analytical skills.
In a digitally disrupted age, digital transformation is the only way ahead to remain competitive. Hence, bridging the existing digital skills gap is a must. Organizations need to invest in imparting these digital skills to their employees. Government and skilling institutes also need to identify these gaps and bridge them with relevant courses for the working professionals as well for the students. For employees, just acquiring digital skills is not enough. They constantly need to keep updating themselves to stay rust free and recession proof in the ever evolving industries.

Hardware with software

India has recently surpassed US as the largest consumer market of smartphones. With the rising number of the digital native generation consumers this demand is only poised to grow further. Hardware plays a major role for us to stay connected with one another. High end laptops, HD cable and iPhones are found even in the most unsuspected parts of India.
The fact that market researchers do not check mobile phones while collecting information about SEC data due to their ubiquitous presence bears testament to this. We go to the fanciest malls to purchase these gadgets, but if anything goes wrong we visit the local handyman.
But on hearing the price of repair, very often one is often confused between repairing and simply buying a new device. A similar thought has been reflected in the career choices students are make when it comes to IT. There is an increase in the number of students wanting to learn app development and a drop in the number of students wanting to learn hardware, which is essentially the backbone of IT.
At present, our education system is heavily tilted in favour of software courses especially at the higher levels of education. This can be attributed to a large demand of entry level executives in the booming IT and ITes sector and as a result hardware has been largely neglected. System administration, animation and graphics, python, DBA, computing languages, SAS and cloud computing are some of the popular courses. Network security, desktop engineering and CCNA are popular courses that directly deal with hardware and networking.
Hardware and software have a stronger symbiotic relationship now than ever before. From old mobile phones to even cars, performance of hardware can be significantly improved with a simple software update to their computer control unit. For one to be successful IT, it is vital to have a thorough understanding of what we one is ‘programming’ for it to actually be effective.
With the government initiatives in motion to set up smart cities and firms warming up to digitisation, experts are bullish on the market hiring. However, considering the statistics, a massive crunch in the number of skilled hardware professionals required is expected.
With automation sweeping in changes in the industry, a candidate having holistic and in depth knowledge in both Hardware and Software domains will be an invaluable asset for organizations to invest in and create revolutionary products and services for the next generation.

5 Questions To Ask Before Joining A Startup

India has paved its way to secure the third position in the world in terms of the number of startups – 4200 and counting – with almost three to four new start-ups popping up every day. Interestingly, 72% of the start-up founders are less than 35 years old; making India home to the youngest entrepreneurs in the world.
These statistics may sound promising as start-ups will create employment for many. However, in 2015 we saw a global slowdown which resulted in the crunch for funding for many start-ups which resulted in many shutting shop and mass lay-offs. Hence, it is very important for students to seriously consider various parameters before joining a startup.
Here are a few questions students should ask for utmost clarity to ensure they’re not signing up for a raw deal.
What’s the product idea? Joining a company with a completely new idea can be risky. Many startups have failed just because they intended to deliver a product or service which had no market demand. You need to ask yourself whether the product really has the potential to go beyond fancy presentations and sell. For this, you may consider looking at its competitors and substitutes as well.
How about a background check? There is nothing inappropriate to ask where the funding is coming from in order to take a peek into how well the company will be able to sustain itself. If the company is funded by venture capitalist, you will be able to know who the investors are. A background check on websites like Glassdoor and Payscale will also help you understand the internal issues faced by employees as well as the maximum pay that you can expect over a period of time.

Do I fit in? There are a lot of startups which have been cloned from the Western business models. Play, parties, perks and promotions to sum it all. New age startups prefer to hire young people who may or may not have experience. While millennials have their own style of working, would you be able to catch up or would it lead to a clash is something you need to ask.
People v/s profits? Getting to know who the founders are and what their visions are helps as many a time companies close down because the founders parted ways with different opinions. While some founders value the man behind the machine others treat the man like a machine! Startups have a close knit team and long working hours too. While profits are important to breakeven for a startup, people are equally important to make as well as sustain profits. So working with a startup and finishing heaps of work but having the flexibility to do it in your comfort zone on a bean bag or at home surely helps.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Just as an organization’s vision is important to fulfill organizational goals, your vision on where you see yourself in the future is important to fulfill your personal goals. So ask yourself if working with a startup is going to help you to achieve your financial goals, help you grow in the industry, give you job satisfaction and most importantly give you a “nowhere else found learning experience”.
While the industry is changing rapidly, doing a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) with the aid of these questions will surely help you make the right decision. Yes, mistakes do happen. But at the end, it’s all about being able to join the dots and maybe joining a startup could be one such bold dot in your career graph leading to greater opportunities.

ERP match-making tips for your organisation

Daily plans. Weekly plans.Monthly plans. Annual plans! For any growing firm, keeping track of all the plans and integrating them can be really challenging. As also, failing to plan can be planning to fail! Hence adopting an Enterprise Resource Planning system can serve just like a stepping stone towards success.
Enterprise Resource Planning is a business process management software which helps in automating many back office functions related to technology, services and human resources. It helps firms maximize the utilization of their assets by allowing a panoramic view to make informed decisions. It also enables businesses to realize their vision by implementing new strategies and bringing in increased transparency within the organisation.
However, choosing the right ERP system from the zillions available in the market can be confusing. Here are five important things that you should consider to find the perfect match of ERP system for your organisation.
Selecting the right ERP system for your firm
Determine the needs of your business: You understand your business better than any other external matchmaker. Hence you need to first analyse your organization’s strengths, weaknesses and needs. Thereafter, one ERP solution should be able to address the organization’s needs across all parts of the business like marketing, finance and HR- whether it is reaching out to the target audience, big data and analytics and end-to-end employee intranet for employee communication. Integration of multiple software that helps drive Business Intelligence becomes integral.
Evaluate various ERP solutions: While many companies choose a solution based on brand name it is always advisable to choose a solution on the basis of your organization’s needs and technical capabilities. Also, evaluate the cost of changing to a new ERP software from the previous method in place.While selecting the ERP, the technology requirement must be looked at in a 60/30/10 format – 60% of what is the requirement today, 30% of what is required in the near future and 10% being focus on long-term objectives.
Evaluate the total cost: While investing in the right ERP software can reduce the future costs of human error, it is essential to evaluate the total costs and risks involved in purchasing the ERP software. Beware of the hidden costs which the sales representatives may sneak into your pocket!
Develop a realistic implementation plan: It is important to develop a realistic implementation plan to include all the activities from installing the software to ensuring that it is functional, tested and accepted by the users.
Track the potential business benefits of the new system: Adopting a new ERP software is a way to reduce costs, increase revenue, or scale for growth and hence you should estimate and measure benefits against these metrics to realize the potential benefits.It should also be relevant to the latest trends in technology as well as the organization’s short-term and long-term strategy.
So go ahead, make the right pick, read, write, research and seek advice from your employees because it is they who need to be trained and be comfortable working on the software. They are best suited to advise on where the operational gaps exist and how you can fill them by having your firm adopting the right software.

Needed: Up skilled IT talent for the India Inc. landscape

The demand for technology and automation is rising across all sectors in India. India is one amongst the first five largest startup communities and has witnessed a growth of 40 per cent, by the end of 2015. This has led to a more than ever increased demand for skilled IT professionals. According to NASSCOM, three lakh trained professionals are required in the data science field alone by 2020. Each year over 3 million graduates and post-graduates are added to the Indian workforce. However, of these only 25 percent of technical graduates and 10-15 percent of other graduates are considered employable by the rapidly growing IT and ITES segments. Hence it is becoming increasingly important to encourage young boys and girls to join the IT field.
The government has played a major role in this respect by launching various initiatives like National Skill Development Mission, National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) scheme and the Skill Loan scheme. These initiatives aim at incentivizing skill training, financing higher education and recognizing the skills by way of certifications or awards; thus increasing employability.
This has further led to the growth of innumerable training institutes to skill the unskilled. While these training institutes are increasing every day, their credibility and the kind of training they offer still remains a question. This has previously led to many a qualified unemployable youth. In the IT industry, just knowing concepts is not enough and the talent needs to be able to apply this knowledge in their work. Experiential learning is facilitated by performing practical in a supervised environment. The future of education is hybrid – a mix of online and classroom learning which is not restricted to online or offline itself. Hence it is important to skill in the right manner keeping abreast the technological advancements. Skills like mobile app development, ethical hacking, data analytics and networking have become quintessential in this scenario. Hence framing a curriculum to enhance these skills is a must.
Currently there are very few women in the top rung of IT companies but given that with imagination possibilities can become limitless, it is essential to encourage more women to join the IT field. It is essential to break the myth that it is impossible for women to make a career in IT. The late Steve Jobs once said, “Everybody in the country should learn how to program a computer. Because it teaches you how to think.” Believing this, it wouldn’t be wrong to introduce high school students to the basic of coding to inculcate an interest for it right at the very beginning.
While selecting a training program, individuals need to assess the technology requirement in a 60/30/10 format .60% of what is the technology requirement today, 30% of what is its requirement in the near future and 10% being focus on long-term aspirational career objectives. An exponential growth in demand has been observed for data scientists, analytics engineer, social media architects, cloud architects and fraud analysts. Following is the approximate cost to train these professionals:
Data scientist is 15-25k (Online), 60-75k (Classroom based, full time)
Analytics Engineer – Rs 20 to 28k (Online), Rs 6L (Classroom based, full time)
Social media architect – Rs 21k (Online)
Cloud Architect – Rs 18 to 36k
Fraud Analyst – Rs 21k
Currently, there aren’t many institutes offering these courses currently in India. Hence students are considering studying abroad or self- learning online to gain knowledge about these emerging fields. Hence, what we have today is a growing skills gap given the fact that there a few institutes offering quality education in relevant courses. For a country which is growing at a galloping pace with IT as its backbone, it has become increasingly important to plan and prepare to create competent talent to stay ahead on the technology front in the global market place.

Education Industry Trends 2015 and the Outlook for 2016

As India tries to move towards becoming a developed country each year, increasing the literacy rate becomes the topmost priority. As every sector saw a digital shift in its operation, so did the education industry. Here are the innovative education technologies that the Indian education industry witnessed in its ongoing effort to make education accessible to all.
E-learning: 2015 saw a tremendous increase in the number of individuals, corporations and institutions turning towards e-learning. According to a report by Docebo, India has witnessed a 55% growth in self-paced e-learning. Many educational and vocational institutes have introduced a plethora of e-learning computer hardware and networking courses to further increase the reach of e-learning amongst the socially and economically weak sections of the society. There has also been an increase in mobile learning and corporate training for e-learning professionals. Students can access all the classroom content from home or any other part of the world. It is an interactive medium where students can collaborate with each other or the faculty and undertake practice tests.
Hybrid Learning: Hybrid/Blended learning has surpassed the e-learning limitations of a fully online instruction in India. It has become a great learning aid in the Indian slums with space constraints and where retaining certified teachers is a challenge. Blended learning has also been adopted by many universities which have received a great response especially by working professionals.
However, experiential learning is facilitated by performing practicals in a supervised environment. Hence we cannot disregard the brick and mortar model yet as in industries such as IT, just knowing concepts is not enough and the talent needs to be able to apply this knowledge in their work.
Education Apps: Besides the everyday apps, many students are now installing a lot of education apps which enable them to study and give tests online as well as get certified! There are currently over 75,000 educational apps on the Apple app store alone. These apps are a blessing for students with disabilities. Besides these education apps, parents and teachers are using simple apps to share updates as well as track the progress of the students.
Simulation Labs: Simulation labs are yet another innovative approach towards imparting education. Engineering colleges and nursing institutes are giving increasing importance of having simulation labs for a practical learning sessions. Institutions are now providing simulations for students to perform practicals under controlled environment to test their skills.
Outlook for 2016:
Machine Learning: With the market for these platforms growing substantially year on year, it is only a matter of time till machine learning gets utilized more ominously to allow students to avail more personalized and richer content. Service providers who adopt this technology will definitely gain a competitive advantage over their peers.
Edutainment: We have always heard, laughter is the best medicine. Educators are looking up to laughter in the coming year as a solution to the saturation resulting from the continuous bombarding of only theories and concepts. Edutainment typically seeks to instruct or facilitate social interaction in its audience by embedding lessons in some familiar form of entertainment like television programs, games, films, music, websites, multimedia software, and so on. This will effectively reduce the anxiety of the learner as well as motivate them to focus. Learning with laughter and games is expected to be effective as it will make learning more interesting and the information which is to be retained more memorable. This will also keep the learners engaged and hopefully reduce the dropout rate of these courses.
Moving towards perfect competition: With more service providers entering into the Indian market, the competition is constantly on the rise between education giants and start-ups to adopt innovative ways to impart knowledge. As we move towards more development in the education space, parents are not just concerned about educating their wards but they are more concerned towards them receiving the best quality education. This has led to the rise in the total fee spent on education. The increasing demand for e-learning courses, learning apps and softwares is making the education industry look promising for the year 2016.

Mentors, Not Teachers, Can Help IT Talent Grow

There is no doubt, that youth has been the backbone of the successful IT industry in the country. The industry has been growing immensely over the past few years. However, the situation is changing now as these ‘pillars’ of the industry are now facing a threat from the very technologies the once invented. Automation, Machine-to-Machine communication, Artificial Intelligence, Analytics etc, have not only impacted the IT talent but also the associated jobs.
One of the major causes the IT talent is increasingly finding itself in this tight spot could be attributed to the shortcomings in the current education system. We tend to train our students from a young age that “Getting Good Grades” is all that matters and that a paper degree is the highest aspiration. The current system focuses on bookish knowledge and not enough stress is laid on practical approach to learning.
Such a restricted approach to learning, impacts the individual upbringing and their ability to pick up new skills in their life and carve a successful career path for themselves.

Impact on IT & IMS Industry

Various industry reports indicate that, more than 50 per cent of the jobs would be in the high skilled segment while the demand for semi-skilled or minimally skilled jobs would be less. Further they also indicated that highly skill oriented domains like data, communication and mobile would be the next drivers of the industry.
While, mobile computing is proving to be the next growth driver for the IT industry, the present curriculum does not reflect it. Hence there is a need for innovative teaching methods, advanced courses and exceptional faculty to create globally competent IT professionals.
IT & IMS industry which is currently seeing the need of an inflow of nearly 3,00,000 professionals every year, will form a backbone of initiatives such Digital India and Smart Cities launched by the Govt of India. In order to be successful, the industry will require a highly skilled workforce that will not only address the challenges of today but also of the future.

Opportunity for Growth

Just like with every challenge, comes an opportunity. The country now has the opportunity to take necessary action. India is today at a turning point and has the capacity to become a source bank for human resource in the future, however it will require a skilled workforce for it take it to a global stage. India’s youth which forms a majority of the population is the advantage the country needs to be able to leverage in an effective manner in to order to leverage this opportunity

The Solution

The vast diversity in India, does not allow “One strategy fits all approach” and nor is the problem restricted to one particular stakeholder. It will require all stakeholders to work collectively in order to address the problem.
A CII report on the skill gap in India revealed that, when it comes to understanding technology concepts states such as Rajasthan, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Haryana are further ahead as compared to other states. At a city level Pondicherry, Agra, New Delhi, Coimbatore, Madurai, Chennai, Salem, Bangalore, Ghaziabad etc. are seen as promising hubs as compared to other cities. Such insights should be used in planning strategies that will have a meaningful impact on the industry and be beneficial to all.
Furthermore, academia, training institutes and corporate should work together, to ensure that skills imparted are not just restricted to address a particular job requirement but should also help in the overall development of an individual. This would not only help them to get employed but also enable them to work towards their employability.

Strive for Excellence

At the same time, students and employees should recognize the changing scenario and re-skill themselves on a regular basis not only to stay relevant in the job market but also be able to build a career path for themselves. Thus, developing an approach that will provide benefits of both learning and teaching in an effective manner will be crucial to growth of IT Industry in the future
Remembering the lesson given by Baba Ranchordass, (Movie- 3 Idiots) to “ Strive for excellence and success will follow” will go a long way our in helping us to achieve the goal of building a “ Highly skilled and future ready IT industry.”

Why online education is the cure for raising the bar for education in India

India boasts of being the youngest nation but it is also among the top five nations with 1.4 million kids aged six to 11 out of school. Due to poor infrastructure and amenities at government schools, teacher absenteeism, low teacher-student ratio, socio-economic hurdles and accessibility, the Indian education system seems to be ailing gradually. We follow the cramming culture in our education system, wherein the best crammers are rewarded, while skill based education is completely ignored.
Quite consistently, Indian universities have failed to make to the list of the top level institutions in the world. While Chinese and U.S. universities are enquiry centric, Indian colleges are more theory centric. Rather than practical implementation of knowledge and concepts, accumulation of theoretical knowledge through cramming is given priority.
The hurdles, inconsistencies and impediments can be significantly curtailed if the education system finds some space for “Hybrid Learning”. Not a relatively new concept, its implementation and development has been a slow and prolonged affair. Hybrid Learning involves a model of course design that combines traditional learning with online and out-of-class course work. The ratio is fixed taking into consideration the type of courses offered by the institutes and the way it can viable for integration. Institutes in India can opt for different blended modes of delivery which are based on accomplishing learning objectives for particular individual courses. Though, there is no divine formula for selecting the modes of delivery, through revising and testing the courses can be developed. Fully-online learning systems are somewhat different to hybrid learning due to the use of a Learning Management System (LMS) in hybrid learning which lets you customize your modes of delivery.
Teachers can use discussion boards and chat rooms to follow-up on in-class discussions and assignments to provide feedback and prepare students for future classes. Through group tools, instructors and teachers can assign long-term group projects and activities. It can also help in intra-team discussions and sharing documents. It will also provide assistance to teachers and instructors to store documents and class materials that are quite cumbersome to duplicate or file like power points, class notes, artwork slides, math formulas and research work.
In India, education consistently underperforms in comparison to the economy and to urgently improve the quality and scope of education, there is a dire need to leverage hybrid learning and its allied technologies. Releasing schools from their physical limitations is one effective way to scale up the education system by providing alternatives to traditional forms of education. In a country like India, where getting a concept like hybrid learning is quite arduous and complex due to economic limitations, an experimental phase can be started by getting educators and institutions to collaborate and work together in order to re-vamp traditional education in clusters. On successful implementation of these phases, the initiative can be tagged along with other education initiatives and programmes to have a snowball effect.
Though easier said than done, there are negative pre-conceived notions of online education which revolve around their perceived quality, delivery and accessibility. These perceptions need to change in order to recognize the immense potential through customized education and appreciation of skills acquired through hybrid learning and other customized education models. Leaders in technological space need to provide their resources and expertise in order to help evolve the education system.
For schools and universities, hybrid courses can be a great way to compensate for limited classroom space and lack of availability of specialized instructors and educators. Hybrid learning also encourages time management, problem-solving, self-directed learning and critical-thinking skills in those who participate in the programs. It encourages active learning which results in better learning performance and subject grasp or mastery. Students in hybrid programs are far more likely to participate in group discussions and collaborate with each other on assignments and research work. They may also seem to be more outgoing and responsive because they don’t physically interact in front of the group.
Though, hybrid learning cannot completely replace traditional form of classroom mode of teaching and education, it can be supplemented with other forms or modes of education system to provide a powerful tool to develop and enhance the delivery of education in India.

7 handy tips to keep your smartphone secure

Today, smartphones have no doubt become a crucial part of life- something that we cannot live without. But, they often contain more information about your personal and professional lives than you realize and that data could get compromised anytime, if it is left open and unsecured.
Below are some tips that can keep you smartphone and information safe:
Set up a security lock
Privacy is always important to us and it is advised use either a pattern, pin or password lock to prevent unwanted access to your phone. There are various apps which claim to provide Finger print-based security locks or face locks sound fancy, but they are not fool-proof and can be easily cracked. On your phone, go to Settings> Security> select Screen Lock. Choose from Pattern, Pin or Password to setup a lock of your choice.One can also try installing a screen guard/protector to keep prying eyes from looking at information. Above all, never share your password, security key lock for your smartphone with anyone.
Encrypt your phone
If your phone has sensitive data, encryption will help protect it from being copied physically when it’s misplaced or stolen. Go to Settings>Security and select Encrypt Phone. Ensure your phone’s battery is fully charged and is connected to the charger during the encryption as it may require some time .
Keep anti virus updated at all times
We are always visiting new websites, clicking on links shared by friends, accessing various websites in search for information. Further we are constantly downloading and sharing photos and videos. While we all take utmost care, but one can never be completely sure. Ensure your anti-virus software are always updated in a timely manner, so that your smartphone remain protected.
Turn off installations from unknown sources
An ideal way to stay safe from malware and spyware apps is to use apps only from the Google Play Store. However, disable app installations from third-party app stores and unknown sources to be safe unless you trust the app installer. Some Android phones come with App Manager, for others there are multiple such apps available to download from Google Play Store
Stop activity recording
Google, tracks your search activity on apps and in browsers to offer fast and customized experiences across Google products. This can also be termed as one form of invasion of privacy. This can be easily be stopped by changing the preference setting in your Google app.
Perform routine back-up:
Remember the scene in Chennai Express, where Shahrukh Khan struggles to remember his friends’ contact nos. That’s what phones/ smartphones have done to us- we no longer tend to remember things. Hence, back-up your phone either on a secure cloud or on your personal computer – it will help in case your phone gets lost or damaged. You don’t know when a long lost contact may come handy.
Smartphone Insurance
Smartphones are something that we cannot live without. Hence it makes us think that if we need to insure our phones just as our life. If you are buying a new phone, be sure to ask for your retailer, to provide an insurance your phone. Insurance for your phone are for being currently offered for Rs 500 for a year.

Five emerging career paths for future IT aspirants

With the rapid pace of Internet and smart phones becoming available to the masses, IT has been steadily becoming an essential ingredient in almost every part of our daily lives, redefining how we live and work. With automation, Big Data, Cloud computing, 3D Printing, Artificial Intelligence, etc.
moving from just being talked about in science fiction movies to constantly chimed buzz words and the swift adoption of these technologies, the IT industry is beginning to introduce new career paths that were not a mere decade ago. The IT job market was entirely different then, as it will be a decade from now.
Below is a list of five emerging career paths that would be most after for future IT aspirants:
1. Big Data Analysts: As it becomes more and more easy to track consumer behaviour, their purchases and preferences, the availability of all this massive data promises great potential for organizations to extract insightful information to use as a competitive advantage against their counterparts in the industry.
Data analysts and data scientists will continue to be in great demand since they possess unique skills in areas such as mathematics, statistics and management science, combined
with associated IT skills which make them highly sought after individuals.
2. Tech experts for AI/robotics: Artificial intelligence and robotics have already moved from science fiction movies to reality, and soon they’ll be coming to a business near you. These technologies are expected to infiltrate wide segments of daily life by 2025, with huge implications for a range of industries such as healthcare, transportation and logistics.
Not surprisingly, technologists skilled in this area will be in high demand. IT professionals will have roles to play in programming, integrating and setting up the infrastructure for organizational applications of AI and robotics.
3. Digital artisans: As marketing becomes education-based and less sales-based, demand for business writers who specialize in blogs, newsletters, website articles, whitepapers, and special reports will also increase. Individuals in this field must have good communication and writing skills, and be highly creative and original. They must also be self-motivated and self-
disciplined in order to meet deadlines.
Run of the mill products, services and solutions aren’t enough to sustain companies in an increasingly competitive landscape. To thrive in the next five to 10 years, organizations need to seek out talent that can think outside of the box but execute within the system. To deliver that kind of strategic value, IT pros need to be authentic, relevant, intelligent, speedy, artistic and non-conformist.
4. App Developers: A recent survey found that Indians would rather spend a night away from their partners than without their phone. This only emphasizes the demand and potential for app development in India. The proliferation of mobile technology is driving demand for
development of new applications. And it’s not just consumers.
Even organizations are implementing some kind of mobile strategy, and they all need tech professionals who can
get the job done. Systems software developers, who create the operating systems for computers, are also poised for prosperity.
5. Information Security Analysts: Due to the growing number of cybercrime incidences across the country, there has been a propelling demand for information security analysts and has one of fastest projected growth rate of all the jobs on this list. Increasing digital dangers are pushing the state and local governments, and companies of all stripes to hire more white hats to beef up their information security.
They are also highly desirable in hospitals and doctors’ offices, where the move to keep more digital records pushes the need to protect patients’ privacy. Those qualified can investigate and uncover evidence of illegal activities and cybercrime, from credit card fraud and hacking to paedophilia and terrorism.

What are the skill development challenges in India?

We had recently just held TechSparks, our annual flagship conference that saw global thought leaders, investors and the entrepreneurial community converge to discuss ideas, challenges and share their success and failure stories under one roof. This year’s conference theme ‘Tech for a Billion’, explored entrepreneurial ventures and initiatives that impacted the lives of a billion – also the kind of stories we come across at YourStory all year long.
One such story I came across recently was that of Meraj Shaikh. Meraj, like many in our country, comes from a modest background, but decided to pursue a hardware technology business against all odds. Today, Miraj runs a successful business and credits his development and growth to skill development endeavours, like those of Jetking.
As its tagline suggests, Jetking aims to create a ‘Better Life’ for those with limited access to resources with its training programmes. So far, it has trained six lakh students, several of them from Tier-II and Tier-III towns and cities. I recently caught up with Siddarth Bharwani, Director of Jetking, to get his insights on the skill development space in India. Some of his shares may strike an uneasy chord with most of us:

Over 20 different government bodies in India run skill development programmes but with little symbiosis. Hence, there’s an extensive duplication of work.

There’s a mismatch of education and skills that young people acquire and what corporates actually require them to possess. Most of our curriculum is obsolete and lacks scope.

Accessibility for the disadvantaged and rural section of the society is difficult due to high costs involved and other social impediments.

There’s a high drop rate at the age of 15 and above in many parts of India, and few skill development companies venture into those areas.

There’s a dearth of engagement platforms where government organisations and industries can collaborate to make meaningful progress to curriculum and skill development.

Since most companies prefer to hire candidates who already possess the right skillsets required for particular roles, more channels to propagate in-demand skills aligned with employability helps.

Experiential learning courses, i.e. a mix of classroom and practical training, can help increase retention of students. Presently, only a few institutions offer such courses in India.

Skill development is not the responsibility of governments, corporates and training institutes alone; students too are equally responsible and need to recognise the changing scenario of employment.

Better training and learning opportunities with the approach to holistic development (soft + technical) can help India become a truly skilled nation.

India adds 12 million people to its workforce annually, but very few have any formal skill training. Today, only four per cent of the Indian workforce is skilled, in contrast to the 42 per cent in US, 76 per cent in Germany, 80 per cent in Japan and 96 per cent in South Korea. However, this could change if we reach out to more people with quality learning opportunities, revamp our existing infrastructure and execute plans more efficiently by making better use of monetary and resource support available.
Stories such as that of Miraj Shaikh and Jetking’s Siddarth Bharwani can go a long way to inspire many others to take to skill development. Let us know your thoughts.

Staying abreast of new cyber threats

Cyber-security is one of the professions which is gaining popularity of late. To know the scope of the sector for professionals and the packages that it offers, Siddarth Bharwani, Director, Jetking tells Bhawna Satsangi of Elets News Network (ENN) about the increasing requirement of the cyber security professionals by 2020
How can cyber-security courses benefit the students?
A course in cyber-security would enable students to learn more about the challenges facing computer system infrastructure and how best to safeguard against cyber-attacks. They would become familiarised with Cyber-security fundamentals and can then apply it to their education or careers. They gain an insight by knowing where to look up the information and what kinds of tools they can actually use to deal with such instances.
Along with this, many well planned hands-on activities are done through what is called a virtual machine, which has the ability to simulate separate operating systems to give them a taste of how to deal with cyber-offence instances in real time.
What is the percentage of placement is there in these courses?
At present India has only 50,000 cyber security professionals. Whereas according to NASSCOM, the actual requirement is pegged at 5 million cyber security professionals by 2020 to meet local and export market demand.
Ideally, we should be training 77,000 ethical hackers per year. But the current supply is only of a mere 15,000 professionals mainly due to the lack of specialised courses.
Many industry personnel have been vocal about this pressing need and would be willing to hire such professionals for their valuable skill sets.
What is the duration of the course and what are the future prospects?
The duration of the courses are determined as per the level of specialisation the student wishes to pursue. A basic course can last for an intense one month of training, while a more holistic expert level course can last up to an entire year.
Cyber-security professionals are quickly being recognised for their contribution to organisations and the position of a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is becoming more alluring for senior IT professionals as companies look to move their businesses online.
Does the course offer best of package in the industry?
On the compensation side, a fresher may work as an intern for a couple of months and can start with a minimum of Rs. 3.5 lakh per annum. With one year of experience, one can expect up to Rs. 5.7 lakh per annum. Those with work experience five years or more can rake in anything between 10-12 lakh per annum.

Firms based out of Delhi and Bengaluru offer the best packages for these cyber security experts. But given the number of such professionals that will be soon sought after, these figures are bound to get bumped higher.
With the increasing cyber-crimes, frauds, etc. How are the current cyber security professionals gearing up to save companies from cyber threats?
Every 18 months in accordance with Moore’s law, there is a considerable change in hardware and software technology. Cyber security aspirants need to constantly update themselves and upgrade their skill sets to stay abreast of the new threats that malicious attackers may craft to exploit any vulnerabilities. To ensure a company’s network and infrastructure is safe, white hat professionals regularly test the effectiveness of their preventive measures to ensure the network is secure and keep a look out for any irregularities.
How one should safeguard one-self in the light of cyber threats?
The most important thing to keep in mind is to use strong passwords. Most hacks occur due to the simplicity of passwords the masses use. Do not share your password with anyone and change them frequently. One should be mindful of the information they share online and who it is visible to. Don’t accept invites from strangers and check your privacy settings often.
To ensure the site you’re visiting is genuine always look for the green lock sign in the address bar. If it is green, it means it is a verified site. The same goes for your applications. Make sure the apps you install are verified by Google play. Do not open attachments from unknown people and scan the files before opening them. Get your phone repaired only by authentic vendors and keep your guarantee upto date. Hardware too is one way for hackers to corrupt your devices.
Despite all of these measures, if you are still hacked, then immediately file a report with the concerned authorities.

Customer experience is paramount

For online food aggregator platforms to be successful in India there has to be an algorithm to interpret customer feedback, monitor trends and make predictions, minimising risk and allowing for experimentation. By adopting technology, you’re embracing the idea of being able to try things and gather data. Customer autonomy and choice is paramount in today’s food tech scene.
Food tech is here to stay. The double digit growth year on year is a testament to that. But due to overlapping of similar models, it will boil down to the survival of only the profitable. At present the cash strapped players have decided to outdo competition by offering heavy discounts. But pricing by itself may not be a deciding factor. It will play a crucial role, especially for those who tend to use these platforms more often than others, but in the long run it is not a sustainable business model. It’s the customer experience that will be the concluding parameter – right from simplicity of placing an order to a quick turnaround time and the quality of the food. Brands that get these basics right creatively will emerge winners. For the industry, a customisable model, maintaining popularity among consumers who enjoy creating their own choices and combinations will be a key task. Thanks to production technology and customer feedback algorithms, firms can remain responsive to customer demands.
On the lines of e-commerce and hyperlocal sectors, food-tech will witness several prominent angels and VCs funding on prioritized scale and growth over basic business fundamentals. This euphoria from investors will largely be driven by fear of missing out. Overcrowding in the sector and squeeze in capital due to the lack of funding is going to lead to consolidation. Surviving players will focus on carving a brand with a loyal customer base while remaining profitable. Packaging, logistics, delivery and taste are going to be the factors that will allow brands build a distinct proposition. In the long run, to attain a competitive advantage, a strong supply chain and the use of analytics to understand and predict consumer behavior in high intensity zones will be key.
Siddarth Bharwani
Director, Jetking

How context aware technologies will influence our day-to-day lives?

Imagine you are passing by your favorite clothing store and you receive a notification about the latest collection and trends at the store. You also get information on the outfits that will be suitable for an important office meeting, a friend’s wedding or a vacation you have planned.
Then, you pass by a market and are greeted by another notification about re-filling the stock in your refrigerator. You also get detailed information about the calorie count, essential vitamins and nutrients in the food stock.
All these scenarios are powered by future-ready context-driven technology, which blend information from mobile, social, digital and physical world, thereby constructing new experiences for consumers.
According to me major disruption by context aware technology is expected by the use of model-driven security in fraud detection and prevention, convergence in Web and mobile advertising, television and new styles of application programming. The advance use of personal and external information for customizing user experiences will be of interest to governments in regulating and managing contextual information access and control.
Context-based devices will also leverage technologies like machine-learning, AI, predictive analytics and cloud computing. Though all the context aware technologies are in early adaptation stages, they will provide a solid framework for the adoption of context-based devices.

Let us take a look at some real life instances.

From 24-hour-a-day records of our life experiences to friend-lists that signal our presence and tagging applications that provide a way for groups to describe shared space to complex car systems that re-route us at the first hint of a traffic snarl; real-world applications are already heralding us into the future.
But context-based devices or technologies are also about being meaningful. For instance, stores are the first place we interact with context-based environments. In this case, tags and visual cues will provide relevant details about products. Personalized holographic advertisements directed at shoppers will provide a powerful shopping experience. Independent reviews, comparative pricing, safety and nutritional information of products relayed real-time can add further value.
Based on the inputs, organizations can customize and tailor their products and services according to the needs of their customers through context-enriched services that will change their stores, e-commerce and mobile-user experience.
Contextually, the technologies arm shoppers with relevant details about a product. The tools can estimate how much exercise is needed to burn the calories in a serving, based on the user’s body mass index, which can easily fit-in in their personal health and fitness programs.
Since, payment card issuers and retailers hold important transactional information about their customers and possess vast amounts of information about the digital habits, which will allow context providers to redefine how customers search for and pay for customized services and products.
Secondly, location-aware travel guidance devices will combine orientation, navigation, and contextual information retrieval; these devices will combine the sensing functionality with the knowledge and clarity of a great guidebook. An important venue for context-aware devices would be residential neighborhoods.
The technology will dominate our passage on roads, rails and airways. Transportation planners will find it easy to deploy systems that would integrate surveillance cameras and sensors to monitor traffic flow with traffic information systems (TIS). With these systems providing contextual information, driver behavior can be influenced and managed in order to provide control freak accidents.
A context-aware home will track the occupants and objects in the house and simultaneously respond to changing situation. For example, the smart homes will turn lights and appliances on and off, alert us to dangers or give us a heads up about certain situations.
One more compelling application could be towards elder care. Context-enabled devices can be used as a way to sense the activities the elders are engaged in and assist them in those activities through remote caretakers who are updated on a regular basis.
Surveillance is yet another important aspect of context-based technology. Intelligent equipment capture and match faces with photographic databases and help numerous corporations, hospitals, universities, campuses, buildings and residences.
While human users are at the core of many emerging forms of context-aware computing, future scenarios will involve machines that exchange contextual information, independently, without human intervention. We can imagine independent robotic devices will negotiate contextual exchanges with other familiar or unfamiliar robots in what might be described as robot ecology.

Automation: Reskill or be replaced

IF WE DON’T PULL UP OUR SOCKS,WE MIGHT BE COMPETING WITH MACHINES FOR THE NEXT PROMOTION!

With the advent of technologies over the last couple of years and slow growth, IT giants who used to hire in droves from campuses have become selective pickers while attrition rates continue to surge year-on-year. One must ask why? It’s the problem of skill management. Earlier, a person didn’t need multiple skills. However, today, with rapid adoption of technologies, any skill may be obsolete in a few years.As automation and AI (Artificial Intelligence) gain momentum and become more dependable and error free, IT firms have decided that these evolving avenues are better than investing in large workforces. With robotics, intelligent platforms, tools, and technologies providing a significant bump in the operational efficiency, firms have now realigned themselves to compete in this arena for an enviable cost advantage due to better productivity and savings, which is going to tip the scales in their favour and disturb the balance of the playing field.
Another alarming trend seen is that existing employees are being relieved while new recruits are being trained in emerging technologies to fill the new job roles. The shockwaves are going to travel upwards since the middle management will have to reskill themselves to manage employees possessing relevant skills required at multiple levels of the hierarchy.
Those still aspiring to be a part of India’s IT story will have to be open to explore and embrace newer arenas and quickly become proficient in skills that will be vital to leverage the automation paradox. Fresh graduates approaching the end of their course would do well to focus on emerging technologies and groom themselves to match the profiles. Although most automation programmes require on-the-job training, a candidate who is aware of the current trends and is familiar with these technologies, would positively pique the interest of recruiters.
We are on the verge of an economic revolution.Technology is getting better, cheaper and faster at a rate with which biology cannot keep up. Most basic roles and those performing repetitive work will be amongst the first to go as automation spreads. But as cloud computing and Internet of Things (IoT) become household terms with access to fast Internet and expanding number of new users every year, more avenues for employment are going to emerge. Aspirants could aspire for profiles such as cloud engineers, big data analytics, virtual reality programmers, 3D printing designers, and artificial intelligence experts.
In India itself, there have been significant investments by many companies to set up data centres. This is bound to spur a demand for professionals who are familiar with cloud technology . The ‘Digital India’ initiative alone is expected to generate 1.7 crore jobs.
Even as India has turned into a hot bed for start-ups, there have been lapses in cyber security . 3D printing has also grown over time and it is only a matter of time by which designers and manufacturers will also face a disruptive revolution in their own sector. As it becomes easier to track consumer behaviour, purchases and preferences, the availability of all this data promises great potential for organisations to extract insightful information to use as a competitive advantage. Data analytics and data scientists will be in demand.
Therefore, it is important to digest that automation is inevitable. How one prepares to reskill oneself to remain relevant on the job market, will define one’s career.

The business OF SKILLS

A STRATEGIC REALIGNMENT IS IN ORDER FOR STAKEHOLDERS IN THE `SKILLING INDUSTRY’

India produces more engineers than the USA and China combined. But there is a huge question mark when it comes to the quality of these candidates and their expertise in these domains. This has led to recruiters saying that almost 80 per cent of the graduates who pass through our deemed universities are unemployable. That’s a staggering number and one that indicates discord between the industry and our education system.Despite their shortcomings, Indians are among the most sought-after talent in the world for their work ethics. Arming more aspi rants with the right skills to meet the global demand is the need of the hour.
Following a slew of initiatives taken by the government, the `skilling’ industry offers ample opportunities for growth profitably. Many start-ups have recognised this and have been pushing the envelope to rewrite India’s education story. Even the older giants in the industry have had to sit up and take notice of the rapid changes in policies and sops offered.
Continuously performing well and delivering results in terms of outputs and profits is what sets a business apart and catches the fancy of investors and potential business partners.Once you have quality under control, you have to invest in the business and focus on scaling it up. The government has recognised the challenges that the industry faces today and is doling out sops worth crores to help them succeed. MOOCs, online courses and educational apps are attracting customers in large flocks. Start-ups who are offering such services should aim to generate economies of scale.
Where many existing brick and mortar education skilling institutes fail is to truly impart the care and attention each candidate passing through their halls, deserves. Customisation down to individuals is possible via machine learning and must be leveraged to create true value for the students. India is going to be the youngest nation by 2020 and by 2025, a majority of the young population will enter the workforce. To empower them to contribute meaningfully, the industry will have to make certain changes to their approach as well.
The two main reasons why most students drop out are that they cannot afford higher education and most institutions lack adequate infrastructure. The industry has to help in arresting these drop-out rates and seal the flow of candidates by hiring from a social angle instead of a profit angle.

Talent is the lifeline of IT Giants – Siddarth Bharwani, Director, Jetking

India boasts of being the youngest nation but it is also among the top five nations with 1.4 million kids aged six to 11 out of school. Due to poor infrastructure and amenities at government schools, teacher absenteeism,low teacher-student ratio, socio-economic hurdles and accessibility, the Indian education system seems to be ailing gradually. We follow the cramming culture in our education system, wherein the best crammers are rewarded, while skill based education is completely ignored.Quite consistently, Indian universities have failed to make to the list of the top level institutions in the world. While Chinese and US universities are enquiry centric, Indian colleges are more theory centric.Rather than practical implementation of knowledge and concepts, accumulation of theoretical knowledge through cramming is given priority.
The hurdles, inconsistencies and impediments can be significantly curtailed if the education system finds some space for “Hybrid Learning”.Not a relatively new concept, its implementation and development has been a slow and prolonged affair. Hybrid Learning involves amodel of course design that combines traditional learning with online and out-of-class course work. The ratio is fixed taking into consideration the type of courses offered by the institutes and the way it can viable for integration.
Institutes in India can opt for different blended modes of delivery which are based on accomplishing learning objectives for particular individual courses. Though, there is no divine formula for selecting the modes of delivery, through revising and testing the courses can be developed. Fully-online learning systems are somewhat different to hybrid learning due to the use of a Learning Management System (LMS) in hybrid learning which lets you customize your modes of delivery. Teachers can use discussion boards and chat rooms to follow-up on in-class discussions and assignments to provide feedback and prepare students for future classes. Through group tools, instructors and teachers can assign long-term group projects and activities. It can also help in intra-team discussions and sharing documents. It will also provide assistance to teachers and instructors to store documents and class materials that are quite cumbersome to duplicate or file like power points, class notes, artwork slides, math formulas and research work.
In India, education consistently underperforms the economy and to urgently improve the quality and scope of education, there is a dire need to leverage hybrid learning and its allied technologies. Releasing schools from their physical limitations is one effective way to scale up the education system by providing alternatives to traditional forms of education. In a country like India, where getting a concept like hybrid learning is quite arduous and complex due to economic limitations, an experimental phase can be started by getting educators and institutions to collaborate and work together in order to re-vamp traditional education in clusters. On successful implementation of these phases, the initiative can be tagged along with other education initiatives and programmes to have a snowball effect.
Though easier said than done, there are negative pre-conceived notions of online education which revolve around their perceived quality, delivery and accessibility. These perceptions need to change in order to recognize the immense potential through customized education and appreciation of skills acquired through hybrid learning and other customized education models. Leaders in technological space need to provide their resources and expertise in order to help evolve the education system. For schools and universities, hybrid courses can be a great way to compensate for limited classroom space and lack of availability of specialized instructors and educators. Hybrid learning also encourages time management, problem-solving, self-directed learning and critical-thinking skills in those who participate in the programs. It encourages active learning which results in better learning performance and subject grasp or mastery. Students in hybrid programs are far more likely to participate in group discussions and collaborate with each other on assignments and research work. They may also seem to be more outgoing and responsive because they don’t physically interact in front of the group.
Though, hybrid learning cannot completely replace traditional form of classroom mode of teaching and education, it can be supplemented with other forms or modes of education system to provide a powerful tool to develop and enhance the delivery of education in India.

Hiring trends for a techie

Intro: For a techie who wish to kick start his career either with an IT firm or a start-up, Bhawna Satsangi of Elets News Network talks to Siddarth Bharwani, Director, Jetking to know more about the hiring trends in the domain. The excerpts from interview will guide the techies on how to choose their career path to be successful in their respective field of work.

What are the criteria of hiring a techie for a start-up or IT firm?

For most startups, each hire is an important one. They are looking for talent that is smart, intelligent and battle ready. They seek talent that’s willing to go that extra mile and quick get on board with the rest of the team. Most startups expect their hires to be willing to go through the grind to get ahead and they even reward these hires accordingly with added performance incentives.
While IT firms tend to handpick the talent that makes it through their carefully crafted selection procedures to ensure only the brightest that would make a great cultural fit get through. The candidate is expected to have holistic skills, not only of the domain he is operating in but also in the allied domains of his functions. The will to go beyond and add extra value to his organisation and knowledge by keep abreast with latest technology in the industry is what companies are looking for.

Before hiring a techie, what all points are kept in mind?

The recruiters must ensure that the skill sets they are hiring the techie for are relevant to their long term goals. The firms must have a clear vision about the role and responsibility that the techie they are hiring will perform and must aim for a long term relationship which is mutually beneficial.

What are the latest trends you see in hiring a techie for start-ups and IT firms?

At present, there is a talent war raging between the startups and IT firms as each one is willing to pay good money to get the best talent. However, startups seem to have the upper hand, thanks to easy availability of funds. They are willing to offer packages as high as 5-10 Lakhs, well above their older counterparts who pay between 3-4 Lakhs.
To ensure they do not miss out on hiring the cream candidates, IT firms too have bumped up their salaries to remain lucrative employers for aspiring professionals. The promise of stability is not enough as the next wave of graduates seem to have bigger risk appetites than their predecessors.

What do techies look out in a job profile while applying for start-ups or IT firms?

Techies who join startups expect a chance to jump on board a growing company and seek bigger packages and faster career growth alongside the firm. The firm’s growth story excites them and they are lured by the high incentives that these companies offer.
But even during the explosive growth of the startup boom, there are those who still prefer to join the older IT firms. These candidates are risk averse. A well-defined career path and long term security are the main motivators for them.

Do you also run some training programmes to make the hiring lot suitable to the job offered?

Jetking deliver the complete package. We do emphasise on delivering quality talent to the industry. We not only ensure the talent is technically skilled but also ensure the talent is in tune with the industry expectations with great soft skills. We are committed to creating globally competent IT professionals through our innovative teaching methods, advanced courses, exceptional faculty and thought leadership in IT education. Our unique and award-winning training methodology of SmartLab Plus lays emphasis on hands-on learning and collaborative sessions through experiential learning. Our Arjun and Drona labs facilitate effective theoretical learning along with best in class practical training to students.

Urgently needed, ethical hackers

Frenzied activity in the Indian internet space, especially the mushrooming of start-ups, has brought the shortage of ethical hackers once again to the fore.

The industry estimates the availability of ethical hackers at a meagre 15,000-17,000, much in contrast against the 50,000-70,000 cyber security professionals needed per year.

An ethical hacker is a computer expert who hacks into a network to test or evaluate the vulnerabilities, but without malicious intentions.

“At this point, the security aspect is not taken seriously and many companies outsource their security needs. This brings in even more security issues,” said Siddharth Bharwani, Director at Jetking Infotrain, an IT training institute.

Rising cyber crimes
“There is a rise in cyber crimes, with the number of instances projected to be about 3 lakhs in India this year and Mumbai alone expected to record 12,000-14,000 fraudulent online payment transactions a month,” Bharwani added.

According to independent industry estimates, there are about 5 lakh ethical hackers now working across various firms in the country. A Nasscom estimate puts the requirement of cyber security professionals at one million by 2020.

IT training firms such as Jetking, Aptech and certain universities offer courses in Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), a qualification required to assess security of computer systems. In the US, Certified Network Defence Architect (CNDA) is the base requirement for working in security roles in government agencies, which is equivalent to CEH.

However, Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), a global certification, is the most preferred one by the industry.

“In the current age, cyber security is much more than protecting the information, as it now means protecting the business and its reputation too. With cyber criminals using high-end technologies and breaches occurring at many levels, cyber security experts also need to have complex skill sets,” said Sanjoy Sen, a doctoral research scholar in corporate governance at UK-based Aston Business School.

Skill sets
Generally, the skill sets needed are expertise in .Net, C, C++ and high-end programming, he added.

“The shortage of cyber security professionals is despite the fact that salaries range between ₹2.5-3 lakh per year for a fresher and scales up fast to ₹5 lakh within a year or so. A professional with about 5 years of experience earns about ₹12-15 lakh,” said Anuj Kacker, Executive Director at Aptech.

What ails the industry now is the lack of right set of training institutions and general awareness of the need of these professionals, Kacker added.

India is a “strategic target” for cyber-criminals with an estimated 38 per cent of organisations exposed to targeted attacks in the first half of 2015, a report by security solutions firm FireEye said.

Experts opine that training and increase in awareness are the way ahead for the industry.

Mix of online, classroom learning is the future of education

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Skill India mission keeping in mind the increasing demand for technologically sound and skilled workforce. The Economic Survey 2014-15 stated that as per the Labour Bureau Report 2014, the present skilled workforce in India is only 2 per cent. Siddarth Bharwani, Director, Jetking, talks about skill gap in IT industry, smart cities and more in interaction with Akash Sinha. Edited excerpts:

What’s the main hurdles in Skill India mission?

Before we get up into the specifics of the skill gap it is important to understand the shortcomings in the current education system in the country and how they are impacting skill development.
We tend to train our students from a young age that “Getting Good Grades” is all that matters. The current system focuses on bookish knowledge and not enough stress is laid on practical approach to learning. Further the study material lacks engaging content and in some cases is even outdated.
India’s youth which forms a majority of the population is the advantage country needs to leverage. One of the main challenges that we see with such initiatives is that training provides help to ensure that an individual lands a job. However it does not factor in overall development of an individual. For e.g: Today, IT industry is increasingly adopting automation, hence just being technically sound is not enough, individuals need to upgrade their skills so that they remain relevant in the job market. Hence, a holistic approach to training is essential so that individuals are able to create a career path for themselves in the challenging corporate environment.

Can you elaborate on the skill gap specifically in the IT industry?

A report by Nasscom and Zinnov Management Consulting states that India is the fourth largest base for young businesses in the world and home to 3,000 tech start-ups, which is set to increase its base to 11,500 tech by 2020. The industry employs about 10 million Indians and continues to contribute significantly to the social and economic transformation in the country.
Further, emerging technologies present an entire new gamut of opportunities for IT firms in India. Social, mobility, analytics and cloud (SMAC) collectively provide a US$ 1 trillion opportunity for IT firms. However, the rapid changes in technology over the years have unfortunately not been reflected in the curriculum, which has contributed to the rising skill gap. The lack of in-depth understanding of concepts and client-handling skills are the major skill gaps in this area. With adoption of automation by IT companies rising, we are already seeing an increase in job cuts, hence the talent needs to re-skill/upgrade to ensure they continue to remain employable.

What is your current business plan?

We are currently an $11 mn company and growing at a rate of 25% on an YoY basis and net profit has grown 3 times (as on June 30, 2015) over the last quarter. We look forward to growing faster in the next few years. We currently offer 2 career courses and multiple short term courses. We plan to expand this to 20 courses in the forthcoming years. The IT industry is growing rapidly in the country and we plan to open 300 centers in the country through owned and franchisee model (90% franchisee and 10% owned) in the next 5 years. These centers will be opened in Tier I and II cities, metros and mini-metros in states like Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu amongst others.

How come the idea of setting Jetking online school of technology (JOST) evolved?

Jetking online school of technology (JOST) is our e- learning platform that enables responsive learning. It provides a robust environment to deploy and manage e-learning courses as well as to create and deliver tests and assessments. A student can login, collaborate and take an online course while faculty can conduct classes, record attendance and conduct exams. This learning management system has created seamless integration for delivery of up-to-date content along with simulation based learning. The entire platform is cloud-enabled and mobile-enabled and we will shortly launch courses in self learning environment as well as mobile interfaces through JOST.

Is Jetking planning to go completely online abolishing its brick and mortar presence?

In the IT industry, just knowing concepts is not enough and the talent needs to be able to apply this knowledge in their work. Hence we cannot disregard the brick and mortar model yet as experiential learning is facilitated by performing practicals in a supervised environment.
Online learning standard has not gained steam, further free MOOC and content currently lacks depth. Hence we believe that the future of education is hybrid, entails a mix of online and classroom learning and not restricted to online or offline itself. At Jetking, we are leading this change through innovation in training practices, keeping in line with the changing demand.

Has Jetking been able penetrate the overseas market? Will it go solo or in any joint venture?

Jetking already has presence in international markets such as Vietnam and Nepal. We are planning to enter the African market. We are a franchisee driven model and will continue to work with local partners in new markets also. Insights from our local partner on needs and challenges in their areas/countries helps us design and offer a customized approach for each market.

What made Jetking collaborate with TestOut?

TestOut is a renowned e-learning company based out of Utah, USA and has been a key player in the online learning space in the US. We are pleased that TestOut has launched their first partnership in India with Jetking. Our collaboration with TestOut has further strengthened our leadership position by venturing into the online training space. With more than 300 licenses already sold, the Jetking-TestOut collaboration will be a key part of our training portfolio in the near future.

How do you view the concept of smart cities?

According to research by McKinsey, the ‘Digital India Initiative’ could help boost India’s gross domestic product (GDP) by $550 billion to US$ 1 trillion by 2025. However a Digital India to be a reality will require a seamless network across various touch points in the country. The IT & IMS space will form a backbone of initiatives such Digital India and Smart Cities and needs to keep pace with newer technologies such as SMAC. There is also a need for innovative teaching methods, advanced courses, exceptional faculty to create globally competent IT professionals who will not only be able to address the challenges of today but also of tomorrow.

10 careers that will die in next 10 years due to IT

Anything that you can do, there’s always someone who can do it better. But what if your competition wasn’t another person, but a machine instead? A bot capable of doing what you do much faster, cheaper and better? Without getting tired, asking for a vacation or even a fixed monthly salary. A second industrial revolution is on the horizon. Free of human effort and manual labour. The only thing holding it back is the initial cost of investment.
Horses served as the best mode of transport for hundreds of years. And yet they are no longer used anymore. This is not because horses are lazy, but because their housing and care takes more effort than the bare minimum maintenance for a car. Not to mention the far superior performance.
Just as Henry Ford initiated a breakthrough in the transportation industry by changing the game completely rendering all other forms of transportation impractical when he introduced cars which could be assembled at minimum cost and time invested. Similarly technology is catching up with a few professions which can completely be replaced by technology in the next decade.
Below is a list of jobs which are soon going to stop existing:
1. Bank clerks: With the growing number of people getting comfortable with using apps and websites due to the ease and time saved, foot traffic is shrinking in banks. Some banks who have recognized this are already sending their employees to undergo training for specialized functions so they still have something to do.
2. General Doctors/Pharmacists: Majority of the diagnosis done by Humans is based upon guesswork and prior experience which only gets better with time. While bots are able to learn about and test a thousand drugs at the same time. They are also more capable of being able to stay up to date and make useful correlations. Understanding and remembering about every drug and disease is beyond the scope of any human, but easily achievable for a bot.
3. Travel Agents: With a plethora of travel websites available to pick the best deals on flights, hotels and travel packages, travel agents are fast losing relevance. In fact, the only people who continue to remain their customers are those who are unfamiliar with using the internet themselves.
4. Coffee makers & fast food counter employees: The manual jobs such cooking, reheating, grinding etc. are all being done by mechanized robots which are faster, cheaper and more efficient compared to human employees.
5. Delivery boys: In America, Amazon already uses drones to transport deliveries. In India drones are still relatively new. Hence, there has been a boom in the hiring of delivery boys. But in the future they will soon be replaced by drones.
6. Transport: Chauffeurs, locomotor operators and pilots face the biggest threat of losing out on their jobs soon. This can be accredited to self-driving cars, especially being headed by Google, and auto pilot systems in planes. On an average, pilots are only required to manually control the aircraft for 8 minutes of the entire flight time now.
7. Newspaper delivery boys: With the exodus of media from print to digital is inevitable and is only seeing a rise year on year. Soon, there would be only a small percentage of readers left to deliver newspapers to.
8. Reporters, analysts & journalists: Bots writing analysts, reports and stories will become the norm since they are capable of writing millions of articles in a day, customizing for individual users which is impossible to ask for from a human employee.
9. IT Techies and Coders: Self-learning bots who are programmed to learn as they execute will get smarter as they function and will become better than the original coders who coded them eventually leaving them redundant.
10. Lawyers: Contrary to popular perception, the major task of working in law profession consists of drafting paperwork and discovery (which means finding that one lead or wrong entry that would help with the case) by pouring over a pile of documents. Software to do is much faster and can accomplish such tasks in mere hours which would normally require weeks, for minimum cost and effort.

Demand for IT security professionals is expected to rise to 6 million globally by 2019, with a projected shortfall of 1.5 million*

In his address to the nation during the inauguration of ‘Digital India Week’ Our Honorable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, stressed the threat to Cyber security globally and urged the nation to play a leading role in dealing with it.
With the recent attacks and leaks of user information of the apps and websites like Ola, Zomato and Gaana.com, it has come to light that companies and startups operating in India are vulnerable and need stronger security safety measures.
The root cause is the severe talent crunch in the number of skilled and trained professionals in the field. Ideally, a firm must have a dedicated team of ‘white hat’ hackers working to continuously test and improve the organization’s network.
Dedicated must be emphasized because have been incidents where hired consultants have gone rogue and elope with money bags due to sheer amount of money involved. This leaves no other option for the firms but to look into developing and training such professionals and encouraging it as a mainstream line of profession.
The age of inventing followed by networking is in the past. The current age is of protection and security. However, it must be understood that Cyber Security is a process and not a product. There is no website that is hack proof. Given enough time and effort anything and anyone can be hacked. Ethical hackers work with government and private firms to test their networks for vulnerabilities, loopholes and bugs to prevent an actual criminal from encroaching upon the network.

So how does one become an Ethical Hacker?

To begin with, it is a must to be well versed with writing programs in various programming languages like C++, C#, Perl, Ruby and Python. Familiarity with web applications like .NET and PHP is also essential. Furthermore, knowledge of assembly language is also a plus. One must also be knowledgeable about the different operating systems as well. Apart from this one should also have a basic understanding of TCP/IP protocols such as HTTP, SMTP and ICMP. On the hardware side, one must be familiar with network devices such as switches, routers, firewalls as well. Besides the technical side, a hacker needs to have good soft skills as well.
It is recommended that one undergo a brief certification course to cover all the important aspects of Ethical Hacking from code analyzing to know cyber laws. Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and EC-Council Certified Secure Programmer (ECSP), Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP) are some of the courses that students can pursue. There are plenty of options available to choose from. However, one must research the quality and return expected before investing his time and money into it.

Why should one opt to be a hacker?

There has never been a better time enter into the Cyber Security field since the current demand is booming and is expected to surge as more startups and business go online. According to the recent data, India needs 4.7 lakh cyber security professionals by 2015* for protection of IT infrastructure in the country as well as to serve the export market. The industry of Ethical hacking is growing at a tremendous pace and offers a plethora of lucrative job opportunities due to the burgeoning demand of such professionals.

What are the career prospects?

Internet security and Networking are the two fastest-growing industries where ethical hackers can find employment. Ethical hackers are hired to find out any vulnerability that might exist in their network and to find out how to fix them. They can join the government as well as private organisations as cyber security experts. IT firms are the main recruiters of ethical hackers.
However, it is not limited only to IT companies but such experts are also required by financial service providers, airlines, retail chains, hotels and several government agencies. Government agencies such as military and law enforcement agencies, defence organisations, forensic laboratories, detective companies, investigative services offers challenging roles for ethical hackers. Some skilled hackers work for investigation agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation, the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Information. Some large organisations employ security testers and others use contractors to audit their systems.
Graduates can set up their own companies offering ethical hacking services. Companies such as Wipro, Infosys, IBM, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL, Airtel, Reliance and many more are also looking for good ethical hackers. The designations one can be employed as are those of Network Security Systems Manager, Network Security Administrator, Systems/Applications, Security Executive, Web Security Administrator, Web Security Manager etc.

What sort of salary can one expect?

A fresher may work as an intern for a couple of months and can start with a minimum of Rs. 2.5 lakh per annum. With one year of experience, one can expect up to Rs. 4.5 lakh per annum. Those with work experience five years or more can rake in anything between 10-12 lakh per annum.
Sources: NASSCOM*

Skill-Gap Wake Up Call

Before we get up into the specifics of the skill gap in the IT industry, it is important to understand the shortcomings in the current education system in the country and how they are impacting skill development.
We tend to train our students from a young age that “Getting Good Grades” is all that matters. The current system focuses on bookish knowledge and not enough stress is laid on practical approach to learning. This impacts the upbringing of individuals in the long run and their ability to pick up new skills themselves to carve a successful career path for themselves.
The IT industry, which is set to see creation of more than four lakh jobs in the next 10 years, has now been hit by a severe crunch of manpower. The forecast says between 2012 and 2022 – 4,41,655 jobs would be created in the sector. As a part of the industry, we can point out that the gap is particularly acute in the skilled section.
Rapid changes in technology over the years have unfortunately not been reflected in the curriculum, which has now given rise to a skill gap. More than 50 per cent of the jobs would be in the skilled segment while demand for semi-skilled or minimally skilled jobs would be less. The industry would in fact be the second highest employment generator in the district after organized retail. Industry reports have indicated that highly skill oriented domains like data, communication and mobile would be the next drivers of the industry and the skill gap can result in the industry missing the next growth trajectory.
One of the major problems facing the fresh graduates is their insufficient understanding of basic concepts. The lack of in-depth understanding of hardware-related information, lack of client-handling skills and insufficient knowledge across domains are the major skill gaps in the area. While mobile computing is proving to be the next growth driver for the industry, the curriculum does not reflect it. Industry insiders say that in a strained economic condition, companies do not want to spend much on training and would prefer candidates with some skill sets who can be made billable soon. My concern is that curriculum should give idea to the students of basics of communication and other domain which will be the growth verticals of the industry. Hence we need to move in that direction which is our desired goal.
One of the approaches to tackle the problem of lacking job readiness in the Indian IT sector is partnerships between the industry and academia. Many IT companies are partnering with engineering colleges and universities. Many multinationals have also established alliances with academic institutions on specific initiatives covering faculty upgradation, internships, curriculum revision workshops, research incubation, etc. aggregating the architects of the new global economy.
IT & IMS space will form a backbone of initiatives such Digital India and Smart Cities and needs to keep pace with newer technologies with SMAC. There is also a need for innovative teaching methods, advanced courses and exceptional faculty to create globally competent IT professionals who will not only address the challenges of today but also of tomorrow.
India is today at a turning point and has the capability to become a World source bank for Human Resource in the future. But the country will require a skilled workforce for it take it to a global stage. India’s youth which forms a majority of the population is the advantage the country needs to leverage.
The vast diversity in India, does not allow “One strategy fits all approach” when it comes to leveraging talent. A CII report on the Skill gap in India revealed that states such as Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Harayana as compared to other states. At a city level Pondicherry, Agra, New Delhi, Coimbatore, Madurai, Chennai, Salem, Bangalore, Ghaziabad etc. fared better as compared to other cities. Hence there is also need to factor in such information while planning activities so that they are effective.
It is equally important to ensure that skills imparted are not just restricted to address a particular job requirement but should also help in the overall development of an individual. This would not only help them to get employed but also enable them to work towards their employability.

For A Secure Digital Age

How relevant is the issue of cyber security in contemporary times?

Even though we tend to only hear about the high profile attacks in the news, Cyber-attacks have become increasingly common and more sophisticated.
The U.S. government is still reeling from the attacks in the span of less than a month by hackers from China and Russia who managed to steal classified information. Attacks and leaks by some the nation’s most popular apps and websites earlier this year too have brought the threat to India Inc.’s attention. A report recently found that India ranks among the top 10 ransom attacks in the world. Cyber-security is no longer a luxury for firms to have on board. It is a given.
All the IT giants are setting up Data centers across India to scale up their capacity and with initiatives like “Digital India” gathering strength, a lot of important information is going to be available online. It is all the more vital to keep this information safe. It is estimated that nearly 1.7 crore jobs will be created due to this initiative of which a large chunk will be for Security professionals.

What are the most common types of vulnerabilities that computer systems are prone to?

Hackers use all sorts of tricks to sneak in. They can hack, con employees over the phone or email, use impersonation to walk in, the list is endless.
The most common attacks are Trojan viruses responsible for multiple threats such as data theft, money theft or even installing ransomware.
Remote Access Tool (RAT), although it was introduced for remote administration, they have become a favourite for malicious activity. Hackers can gain access to the user’s screen, use their webcam, control the hardware and even keep a log of all that is typed.
Denial of Service (DoS) is the most common form of attack. Hackers usually use bots to overload a site’s servers and cause disruption in the service.
SQL Injections are very popular and often implemented by tampering with the source code of the website. This can be used to get information stored on the backend or deface a website.
Basically, no one with an online presence is 100% immune to attacks.

What are the different areas of study one can specialize in under Cyber Security?

There are many roles dealing with its different aspects. And these roles usually overlap with each other and hence it is likely that a specialist working in one area will have to be familiar with the work in other areas as well.
The major areas which one can specialize in include:

Information Security/Risk Analysts – They are the front line of defence for organizations, protecting information from attacks and trespassers. They analyse and assess potential security risks, put in safety measures such as firewalls and encryption and audit systems for abnormal activity, and if required carry out corrective actions.
Ethical hackers or Penetration testers – They carry out tests on a system to find weaknesses in security. They do everything a hacker would do, but they do it on behalf of the organisation itself. They try to access information without usernames and passwords, and will try to break through whatever security applications have been set up.
Computer forensics analysts or investigators – With the rising crimes these have become essential for studying the attacks to track and nab the culprits and also to understand the attack and prevent it from recurring in the future. From recovery of deleted files to analysing and interpreting data linked to crime they often will often provide evidence used in proving cyber-crimes.

Are there courses for training in Cyber Security? What are the qualifications necessary to apply for the same?

Yes, Coursera offers an online course. In general, there is no minimum certification required to be an ethical hacker. However, it is advisable to attain these since a certified qualification ensures that the candidate has a sweeping knowledge of all the potential threats and is up to date with all the necessary trends he needs to know.
Having a strong understanding of coding, networks, operating systems and hardware is fundamental because these are often manipulated by hackers to carry out an attack. There is a thin line distinguishing ethical hacking from illegal hacking. It is doubtful that basement hackers would ever be equipped or take the trouble to go through cyber laws governing the internet. Additionally, a qualification also adds weight to one’s resume and makes it easier to land a job.

Could you give us a brief explanation on the concept of Ethical Hacking?

Ethical hackers are hired to carry out tests on a system to find weaknesses in security. They do everything a hacker would do, but they do it on behalf of the organisation itself. They try to access information without usernames and passwords, and will try to break through whatever security applications have been set up.
They then report their findings to the organization and suggest preventive measures that must be put in place to keep the organization’s information and network safe. The major difference is, between an ethical hacker and a malicious hacker is that the latter would try and take advantage of the vulnerability instead of reporting it.

What advice would you give to the youth of today who aspire to build a career in Cyber Security?

According to NASSCOM, the cyber security industry has been growing by leaps and bounds year on year, and the lack of a steady supply of such trained professionals is going to push the global demand higher.
Computer science roles have been in high demand in India as it is. Adding the element of security makes these professionals even more sought after. So if you have a passion for computers, enjoy solving puzzles, breaking things, fixing things, learning new skills and are eager to work at a thrilling job, then Ethical Hacking is the perfect career path for you.

IoT trends and job opportunities

The ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) is relatively an uncharted territory in India. All the emerging technology revolving around the buzz word ‘Smart’ such as Smart cars, Smart homes, Smart offices, Smart shopping, Smart healthcare are all concepts associated with “Internet of Things” and it is already on its way of becoming the next big tech trend.
IoT is the inter-networking or interaction between devices, appliances, equipment of varying forms and sizes to connect, communicate and manage complex set of tasks with little or no interference. IoT is not a recent phenomenon; it has been envisaged in Hollywood sci-fi movies and tv-shows of since the 80s. Surprisingly, even after three decades it is still in a nascent stage of adoption. Recently, major advancements and friendly policies have been undertaken by the government to integrate it and form a cohesive eco-system that has long-term benefits.
The Indian government expects the IoT industry is on course to cross $15 billion by 2020. As per market research firm Gartner, the total revenue generated from the IoT industry would be $300 billion and the number of connected devices would be 27 billion by 2020 globally, with India having a share of 5-6 per cent of global IoT industry. The Government of India’s IoT policy aims at building an entire ecosystem around IoT and to incentivise the players in the ecosystem.
Be it retail, logistics, healthcare, agriculture or manufacturing, players in every industry are investing heavily in IoT as a means to reduce energy consumption and costs to improve efficiency, output and provide real time monitoring of complex systems.
Though, there is a lot of advancement in the commercial space, IoT has a long way to get integrated in the consumer space. Some of the skepticism the phenomenon has received in scaling up is evident due to the products at the consumer end being restricted to prototypes and academic debates. In India, IoT implementation faces numerous hurdles like security issues, lack of standardization, internet availability, low internet bandwidth issues, low awareness and negligible vendor activity.
To elaborate more on the security issues, scalability will be analogous with IoT. The type and the scale of devices that will face cyber-attacks will be much higher. The existing security infrastructure has been built with specific trends and needs, which would need to be upgraded and expanded. There will be ownership issues related to data, devices and networks, which would entail the government to devise an IoT policy and standards, which would take care to what extent the data on the devices in the network would belong to the user or the organization.
With the rise in social media consumption, internet penetration, cloud computing solutions and big data analytics, data centers will play a pivotal role in storing and dispersing data with efficiency and reliability. Data centers also provide backup solutions to retain and secure data. Services like superior bandwidth, ubiquity of location and remote monitoring also minimizes the costs and risks that enterprises incur.
Server Management encapsulates maintenance, restoration, protection and configuration of a server which hosts websites and sensitive data of organizations. Resources critical for the smooth working of an organization are stored on servers, provide an edge over industry competitors. This space too would receive a major push as more users move online.
The growth of IoT will also spur growth in data centers, server management applications, cyber security and analytics spheres. Huge Investments in infrastructure by major IT giants in India are helping create job opportunities and also in aiding the IoT industry in the future. Job opportunities would range from IoT hardware/software maintenance personnel, software security solutions that would cater to the large and varied number of devices, protocols and endpoints. Jobs related to design, configuration, customization and implementation of IoT devices would also mushroom over the years.
A recent report by International Data Corporation (IDC) states that an annual growth of 20% can be expected in this industry which is a clear indication of the immense scope for growth and a plethora of job opportunities. It is safe to say that IoT is well poised to cause the next intelligent wave in the IT industry in the coming years.

JETKING wins the Computer Education Institute of the Year Award at the 5th National Awards on Excellence in Education

Jetking Infotrain Limited, India’s premier Hardware and Networking Institute, has been felicitated as the Computer Education Institute of the Year at the 5^th National Awards on Excellence in Education.

Mr. Siddarth Bharwani, Head – Brand and Marketing, Jetking Infotrain Ltd said, “We are delighted to be bestowed with this honour at the Indian Education Awards 2015. Jetking’s industry-endorsed curriculum, innovative training methodology and best-in-class facilities have made us synonymous with Hardware & Networking training in the country. We are thankful to the lakhs of students as well as leading recruiters for putting their faith in us time and again over the last 25 years.”

“The Indian Education Awards recognizes Achievers and Innovators for excellence in the education sector. Jetking has constantly pioneered innovative teaching practices in India which are benchmarked along international lines. Their commitment to industry training and employability enables a holistic learning environment for students. We are extremely pleased to felicitate Jetking with the Computer Education Institute of the Year Award. ” said Mr. Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Franchise India Holdings Ltd.

Jetking has also famously been recognized by the Limca Book of Records for the highest job placements in a year by a vocational institute. More recently, the institute has been felicitated as the Best Vocational training Institute by ASSOCHAM (2015), India’s No. 1 Brand in Computer Hardware training by the Brand Trust Report (2014) and Corporate Excellence Award (2014) for IT Job Training and Placement by the Lokmat Group.

About Jetking Infotrain Ltd.:

Jetking Infotrain Limited, an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, is India’s foremost Computer Hardware and Networking Institute. Established in 1947 as a do-it-yourself radio kit company, Jetking ventured into Computer IT vocational training in 1990 and has since trained more than 6,50,000 students in Hardware and Networking courses. Jetking has been conferred with several awards and accolades for its quality training and placement practices, including recognition in the Limca Book of Records for the highest job placements in a year.

Everything you need to know about the PhotoFast i-Flash Drive EVO

i-Flash Drive EVO is a revolutionary storage device, which is ideal for iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone memory expansion. It is a must-have device for all the technology enthusiasts. i-Flash Drive EVO is the first flash drive with USB 3.0, which is compatible with USB based computers and Apple devices. It has a storage space expandable up to 128 GB for iPhone and iPad. It allows you to copy files between iOS devices, MAC or PC and has a user-friendly interface. You can just transfer the files, and there is no need to organize them.

Why is i-Flash Drive EVO unique?

Direct file transfer: The EVO app in the i-Flash Drive EVO allows easy transfer of files. All you need to do is copy the files to the i-Flash Drive EVO, remove it and plug into the device you wish to copy the files.
No network needed: The EVO app and i-Flash Drive EVO do not require any network. You can transfer or access the files anytime, anywhere.
A Free app for iPhone and iPad: i-Flash Drive EVO app is a must-have accessory for iPhone and iPad owners. This free app allows you to store all your important files like music, videos, pictures, and documents in a single place for easy access. It has excellent iPhone memory expansion. All your files can be transferred without any hassle and you do not have to worry about converting it to the required format for iOS devices, MACS or PCs. It provides up to 128 GB iPhone memory expansion.

Features of i-Flash Drive EVO

i-Flash Drive EVO has a USB 3.0 drive and lightning connector, which makes it compatible with multiple devices like iPhone, iPad, and all iOS devices.
This accessory delivers excellent writing and reading speeds for files.
Sports a smooth, compact design for easy portability. One can transfer files from any location.
i-Flash Drive EVO has a user-friendly interface and it can be operated by anyone, even if they do not have an in-depth knowledge of it.
Easy to find, search or transfer the music, picture, video files, and other important documents.
A file encryption feature is available for one or more files.
Lock and unlock feature available for both app and accessory, which ensures better safety for the documents.
Available in many storage capacities: 8 GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128 GB. The excellent iPhone memory expansion makes it unique.

Specifications of i-Flash Drive EVO

External iPad and iPhone memory expansion: Your files and documents can be permanently stored on the device, and they will remain safe with the iPad and iPhone memory expansion feature offered in this accessory.
File encryption feature for great privacy: The secure file encryption feature protects all the personal files from unauthorized access.
App lock and accessory lock for extra privacy: You can lock both the app and accessory for added security.
Manage all the data directly on the iOS device: You can create, open, copy, move, or delete, or rename the files as you wish.
Listen to music or watch videos directly from the external storage device when you are on the go.
Excellent backup and safety for the data saved: This accessory allows you to keep a backup rather than relying on a third party app like the cloud or drive for storing the data.

Add-on features of i-Flash Drive

Free access to iTunes: Now you can listen to your favorite songs by connecting i-Flash Drive on MAC and PC.
Document viewer for important document formats: You do not have to download apps separately for reading documents.

i-Flash Drive EVO is the new age accessory for all techies. It stands out from all the other storage devices as it is one of the few devices, which is compatible with almost all platforms like iPad, iPhone, and iPod. The compact design allows you to take your favorite files wherever you wish to go.

The benefits of enrolling in a computer hardware course

In a world, where technology is leading to innovations, networking is nowhere behind. People are taking up computer hardware and networking courses because they offer a wide range of opportunities. If you want to excel in networking, then just having the knowledge is not enough. You need to know how to implement it in your daily life. People who are passionate about this field are currently working in multinational corporations and earning a whopping remuneration. Read further to learn how you can enroll in an IT computer hardware course and be the best in your field.

Scope of networking

Most people claim that networking is one of the best career fields that is available today. But in order to gain success, you would require the right guidance. To get practical and theoretical knowledge, it is recommended that you should take up a computer hardware course from leading networking institutes such as Jetking Infotrain Limited.

Completing a computer hardware course ensures a promising career ahead. It is because there is immense scope in the future with the growth of e-commerce and mobile technology. Enrolling in a computer hardware course is beneficial for networking professionals, system administrators, engineering graduates, installers and end users. The various network-related positions that one can gain are:

o Network Administrator

o Network Programmer/Analyst

o Network (Systems) Engineer

o Network (Service) Technician

o Network/Information Systems Manager

In computer hardware and networking, there many fields that you can choose.

o Design – It is meant for professionals who design networks in which LAN and WAN routers and switches are included.

o Network Security – Those who design and implement secure networks can choose a career in network security.

o Service Provider – All professionals who are working with infrastructure or access solutions in an end-to-end environment, primarily within the telecommunications arena, can opt for this field.

o Voice – It is for those who install and maintain voice solutions over IP networks.

o Storage Networking – Those professionals who are interested in implementing storage solutions over extended network infrastructure using multiple transport options.

Advantages of taking up a computer hardware course

Beyond general certifications, you can opt for a specialized computer hardware course in any technology such as IP, security, wireless, and telephony. Based on your needs and requirements to upgrade a certification course, you can do a specialized one. Apart from the regular engineering courses, you can also take up these computer hardware networking courses. Top-notch and leading computer learning centers such as Jetking assure job placements as they tie up with leading IT Companies on a national and international level. In case of international opportunities, the remuneration goes higher if you have diverse experience and significant knowledge and skills.

Passing out from a reputed institute

It is always an advantage if you have completed your IT computer hardware course from a leading institute such as Jetking. The networking certifications are an indicator that you have the necessary hands-on experience on networking gear and computer hardware as a professional. It is quite apparent that networking has emerged as a lucrative career option for professionals and students driven by a growing economy as well as increased ICT (Information and Communication Technology) adoption among enterprises.

I started my career from Jetking Vikaspuri. Initially, I was confused which field of Information Technology is better. Then I joined Jetking, which is a good institute for computer hardware and networking. They have brilliant lab facilities, which enhance my knowledge over networking devices. The faculty also plays an important role.
After I had completed my networking certification from Jetking, I got placement assistance and was offered the opportunity to join an excellent organization. I joined as an analyst in my first organization. After a year, I moved to some other firm (Dell India) as a senior analyst with a high salary package, and I was at a higher level than my previous organization. After few years of experience, I switched my job and now I have joined HCL Infosystems as a senior specialist.
At last, I would like to thank Jetking, the only institute responsible for assisting me in achieving my goal.
– Deepak Rawat (CCNA in 2009)

Undertaking a computer and hardware networking course from Jetking has changed the lives of many and shaped their careers. Now, even you can transform your career by choosing Jetking.

The scope of jobs after completing the CCNA course

When you talk about building a career in IT, the first thing that pops up in your mind is software. But the truth is that today hardware and networking jobs are among the topmost career fields that young professionals are looking at. And when the word ‘networking’ is on your mind, then it is none other than Cisco networks. Taking up the CCNA certification and training course assures a high level of knowledge in computer systems. More importantly, a CCNA course proves that you are well-skilled and trained under Cisco Systems, which is a worldwide leader in the IT domain. Read further to learn why you should do CCNA, which is one of the renowned and best IT courses in the world.

• What is CCNA?

Cisco offers several computer hardware networking courses that provide in-depth training in routers and networking. Among the various courses, the CCNA course (Cisco Certified Network Associate) is a certification program for entry-level network engineers. Through the course, you can get to learn all about routers and switches. It aims at enhancing your networking knowledge and increases the knowledge of your employer’s network. As it is one of the best IT courses, students are trained to install, configure and operate the routers and switches. They are given competent training so that they are able to tackle any complex problems with respect to networks. The focus of CCNA lies in fields such as service providers, security, voice, collaboration, data centers, video, and wireless. Offering numerous training methods, the students can expect books by Cisco Press as well as classroom and online courses. To attain the certification number, you need to get a passing score in the Cisco exam. Some of the modules under the CCNA course comprise of basic router configuration, IP routing, NAT/PAT, virtual LAN, catalyst switch operation, IP traffic management with ACL, etc.

• Why should you do a CCNA course?

Doing a CCNA course not only provides knowledge and skills but also offers a ticket to success. It means that the moment your resume has a CCNA certification course by an authorized Cisco learning center such as Jetking, the best multinational companies would be glad to have you onboard. As a CCNA candidate, you would get a job faster than any other individual. Those who specialize in the various courses offered by CCNA have better job opportunities.
The industry requirement for CCNA certified people has increased. Today, recruiters are looking for competent individuals who have an edge over others. They seek those certified networking professionals who have an advanced knowledge of protocols. Once you receive this high-grade recognition, you will get the confidence to opt for better career prospects. In fact, you will observe that with the right efforts and dedication, you would be able to excel in your field.

• Testimonial of a Jetking student

Check out what a Jetking student has to say about the information he got with respect to the CCNA course while doing the JCHNE course:

I have done JCHNE from Laxmi Nagar, RO, batch number- 368, and roll number- 348. I had a great experience studying the curriculum and we started learning basic electronics at Jetking. After that, we learned about computer hardware, network essentials, operating systems (network operating system like server 2K8 and client operating system like Windows 7), and the concept of CCNA. It helped me get a better understanding of the network and computers that run on these networks.
After I completed my course at Jetking, the company assisted me in getting an excellent job in an MNC like iYogi Technical Services as a technical support specialist. Also, I got a handsome package of 2.5 lakh PA. The Jetking placement department and their faculties were very helpful in providing full-fledged training and guidance every time I needed it. It also helped me brush up my technical skills and trained me with personality development. I am indeed thankful to Jetking as they helped me change the third job and get a package of 4 lakh PA. Currently, I am working as a technical support officer with Innovation Research Pvt Ltd.

– Indu Bhushan Saxena

Enrolling in a CCNA course under Jetking Infotrain Limited does have its own merits. Now, you can improve your resume credentials by doing the CCNA course, which will take your career prospects a notch higher.

Computer hardware learning: Diagnose problems yourself

Learning computer hardware may not be something that interests you, but what if your computer faces a major problem someday? What if you realize there is no one to help you at that very moment? How are you going to fix it yourself? It is secondary that you may not be a tech-enthusiast or must not have taken up the best IT courses. However, it is always beneficial to have advanced knowledge and invest time in learning computer hardware. Read further to know the best ways to diagnose a computer problem.

1. Check the POST

The first rule is to conduct a POST (Power on Self Test). Check for the first or second thing that appears on the computer after you turn on the power before the operating system loads. If there are any issues with respect to the hardware, the computer would be unable to boot. And as a part of computer hardware learning, you should also know that even if it allows the computer to boot, it won’t operate at its optimum capacity.

2. Keep a track of the load time

Your boot system should not take much time to load. In case, if it does take longer than usual, this indicates that there are errors on the hard drive.

3. Watch out for graphic problems

Learning computer hardware also means that you need to check the quality of graphics. Reduced quality of graphics and lag in cursor movement indicates driver or hardware failures with graphic cards.

4. Perform an auditory test

One of the best computer hardware learning tricks lies in performing an auditory test. In this, you can judge the efficiency of your PC. Play any decent length audio file that is above 30 seconds. If you observe that the sound is slow or there is a lag, it means that the computer is running on less RAM and is incapable of running the other programs that are running. In order to apply this test, try changing the startup sound of the audio. Make sure to check the status of PIO Programmed Input/output) Mode, which affects the process of how the drive reads and writes data from a drive. If you switch to DMA, it allows faster reads, writes and can repair slow audio.

5. Check newly installed hardware

Sometimes, operating systems can conflict with new drivers. Your operating system will immediately notify you about the devices that are having a problem. On the Control Panel, go to the Systems icon, click on the Hardware tab and then click on Device Manager. Use this to control and organize the properties of hardware.

6. Install new software and diagnose it

Here, your computer hardware learning gets easier. If your computer is facing any problem, the software may require more resources than the system can provide. If an error occurs on startup, it means that the software that starts automatically on boot is causing a problem.

7. Take a look at the RAM and CPU consumption

It is one such computer hardware learning trick that the best IT courses in India would surely teach you. If your computer system is sluggish, it means that a program is consuming more resources than required. An effortless way to check this is to use the task manager and select processes. The CPU column indicates the percentage of CPU being used and memory usage determines how much RAM is being utilized.

8. Diagnose the hard drive for loud noises and scratches

If you can hear a loud noise from the CPU fan, it tells that the CPU is working at its optimum level. From the noise, you would be able to understand if the CPU has crossed its capacity.

9. Try to run a malware or virus scan

When your computer is facing trouble, one of the most common reasons that come to your mind is a virus! It is true that performance problems can be caused by malware that is infected in your computer. Running a regularly updated virus and malware scanner can keep computer problems at bay.

10. Check the issue in safe mode

The final computer hardware learning method is to examine the problem in safe mode. To enter safe mode, you can tap F8 repeatedly during the POST test. If you find that the error is persisting in safe mode, you can be assured that the operating system is to be blamed for it.

Now that you are aware of the topmost computer hardware learning solutions, you can be assured of diagnosing and fixing minor to major computer problems yourself. Use the tips mentioned above and ensure that your computer always runs smoothly.

Skilling India

Dharavi boy, Anthony Selva Nadar (19), is all set to represent India at World Skills 2015 in São Paulo, Brazil, where he’ll compete against young skilled professionals from around the globe. Naressa Coutinho delves into global skill development and its need in India, especially for talented young people like Anthony

Backpedal to a year and it’s only been a few months since Anthony Selva Nadar started training at Jetking, a Computer IT vocational training institute in Mumbai. All of 19 years and raised in the slums of Dharavi, Anthony is as drawn to the programmable world of computers as any kid his age. All too soon, he finds himself slapjacking through rigorous rounds of a competition that seeks to find a purist in IT Network Administration. Fast forward one year and he has emerged as a clear victor amongst 200 plus contenders from Jetking to represent India at World Skills 2015 in São Paulo, Brazil where he will compete against young professionals from all over the world in the month of August.

The World Skills competition is considered to be the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world, held every two years to test technical abilities in specific tasks and fields and to promote socio-economic transformation through the promotion of vocational training. Winners selected from national level competitions held in member countries are all under the age of 25 years. In India, Jetking Infotrain Limited, in partnership with the National Skill Development Corporation(NSDC), launched the World Skills competition 2015 at Pragati Maidan in Delhi where Anthony won his seat in the international competition.

This is an important part of skill development initiatives undertaken by the government as India progressively moves towards becoming a knowledgeable economy. The continuous shift to urbanization has its drawbacks in terms of the increasing gap between the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Thus, the ‘Skilling India’ movement is a national and concentrated effort to train and directly absorb skilled professionals into every sector of the economy; be it primary, secondary, or tertiary. It is an effective distribution of labor towards the overall productive capacity of the economy.

Calling it his first national achievement, 19-year-old Anthony is all set to make his mark at this year’s World Skill event. “I feel confident and proud to be representing India,” he says “and I will definitely give it my best. My family is elated and I have their blessings.” Speaking about his preparation in this last year and the challenges he faced with each level of the competition, he said, “Each round had a different set of questions and problems to solve on the spot by the students. You could never be prepared for what would be asked in that round. Often, I wouldn’t get the answer in the first go and with the clock ticking one has to think quickly.” While most people are often interested in the software aspect, Anthony’s interest lies in the hardware or the physical product. A major area of focus for the competition was ‘Network security and Managing servers’, something he wishes to pursue in depth in the future. Anthony has also been a champion chess player in his school and time with the chessboard is one of his favourite hobbies.

How will World Skills benefit students like Anthony? In response to this, Mr. Siddarth Bharwani, Head of Brand and Marketing, Jetking Infotrain Ltd says, “World Skills provides unparalleled international exposure to students like Anthony where ideas and best practices from all over the world are exchanged. It is a platform to showcase your expertise on all levels and compete against arguably the best talents across the globe. Also, being internationally certified in a skill provides young students like Anthony the boost they need to start off in their careers and to be successful for a life-time.”

As part of the 12th Five Year Plan, the government of India has launched ‘Co-ordinated Action on Skill development’ through which it plans activities and programs across the country. In fact, in the previous year, the government allocated a sizeable amount of funding for skill development under the National Skill Development Fund (NSDF). Private institutions and companies like Jetking have collaborated with associations and the government to work towards a common vision for greater development of vocation skills. The government is also laying a large emphasis on entrepreneurship. This will automatically create jobs based on the existing talent pool. A trained professional like Anthony now owns a skill which will get him a job of choice in the field he is trained. Skilling of this kind may even open windows for global placements.

To be part of a major confluence of skill and talent is definitely an experience in itself for young Anthony and we hope he makes India proud.

Courtsey: Afternoon 8th April, 2015

A Second Look at AAP’s Free WiFi Plans for Delhi

As promised by the AAP government in its election manifesto, it has started to work on the Wifi project to connect the 20 million Delhi’ites, which would facilitate more and more people to connect with the government and its schemes through their mobile or any Wifi enable device. This endeavor of the AAP government will create more job opportunities for the people in Hardware and Networking sector.

After a landslide victory in the Delhi elections, the Aam Aadmi Party has a lot of people eagerly waiting for the ‘free WiFi’ to make an appearance. However, it is likely to take the Government a long time to set up the basic hardware networking required to make this possible. The plan also comes with a large amount of fine print that hasn’t been widely discussed or understood. Let’s take a look at the details of AAP’s plan for a ‘WiFi City’.

First of all, the media may have misinterpreted the party’s plan to mean ‘free WiFi’, but the manifesto only speaks about ‘making WiFi freely accessible’ across the Delhi. Citizens can only use the WiFi for free if they are using it to access government websites and public services online. Even that will only be free for a limited period, considering that the project is cost-intensive and involves large-scale hardware networking. Charges are likely to be applicable after the stipulated amount of free time or data is consumed.

Secondly, and to the possible dismay of many, the whole city of Delhi isn’t going to be covered with one huge free WiFi network to provide free internet access on-the-go. The plan only means that a host of WiFi hotspots will be created in the public zones of Delhi using complex hardware networking techniques.

Conclusion:

Providing WiFi connectivity across a city as vast as Delhi is not cheap or easy. The task becomes even more complicated because the WiFi is meant to be free for all in terms of accessibility. Complications arise because Delhi has some pockets with very dense populations, where the WiFi system will have to have a massive bandwidth to accommodate all the users at once. Of the 20 million wireless devices estimated to be in Delhi, at least 5 million devices are expected to be connected to the proposed WiFi system. Our take on this, A lot of hardware and networking personnel will be required to setup the whole network and also for its maintenance to experience an uninterrupted service.

The importance of the best networking courses and hardware courses

The significant advancements in the field of information technology are paving a way for fresh graduates towards a promising career. By choosing some of the best networking courses, students can gain a profound insight of their particular field. Enrolling in recognized institutes that offer the best networking courses can help them reach closer to their dreams. These computer networking courses prepare them with essential skills so that whenever a perfect job comes, they can quickly pick it up. It is crucial to research more about the promotion hierarchy and opportunities available in the hardware and networking industry.

Understanding the promotion hierarchy

Though the computer industry consists of numerous fields, the hierarchy of computer-related jobs is usually simple. The promotion regime in hardware and networking industry depends on several factors like job profile, duties, responsibilities, and decision-making capability of a person in the company. There are three levels of promotion hierarchy like lower, middle and senior management. Nowadays, there are numerous institutes that offer some of the best networking courses, which prepare the students for becoming a part of this hierarchy. There are excellent career opportunities for fresh graduates in different fields associated with computers and information technology. They can choose from a multitude of computer networking courses that fit their requirement. Apart from new graduates, computer professionals can also enroll themselves in some of the best networking courses for better career prospects. These courses open the doors to more senior roles, widening the career path and making life more secure.

Levels of promotions

Employees who belong to the senior level are always involved in the company’s decision-making processes. Some senior level roles profiles are Chief Technical Officer, Chief Information Officer, Information Technology Director, and MIS Director. The officials at middle management level are associated with individual technical departments. They manage such departments by utilizing their technical and managerial skills. Few profiles, which are a part of the middle level management, are hardware and information systems manager, information technology Manager, telecommunications manager, senior engineer, project leader, etc. The professionals in the lower level of hierarchy are those who have specialized in one of the technologies related to computers and IT. Some of the profiles that come under the lower level are analyst, application engineer, programmer, technical content writer, and network engineer. Engineering graduates can enroll for computer networking courses to prepare themselves for becoming a part of any company. Join the best networking courses and get your life transformed.

Career options for network professionals

Always look out for the promotion options available in a company as it is better to acquire the essential skills accordingly. Vendor analysis and procurement, security, team management are some of the skills, which can get you a promotion. Look out for ways by which you can bring business value to your organization. Security, database management, enterprise resource planning for software and hardware and network analysis are skills that can help make a
lateral move. Think seriously about other areas, which you are related to and get a broader perspective on it. For instance, there are several computer networking courses, which can make you an expert on your fields of interest. These computer networking courses are a great add-on skill to your resume as well. Certifications like MCSE or CCNA can make the resume promising to prospective employers. Team management, network management, WAN, SAN, Ethernet, and mobile are other skills, which can get you better opportunities in the networking field.
If you are determined and motivated, then you can reach wherever you want to be. So, what are you waiting for? Take up one of the best networking courses in town and grab your dream job.

Dharavi Boy from Jetking to Represent India at World Skills in Brazil This Year

Anthony Selva Nadar, a 19-year old Jetking student from Dharavi in Mumbai, has emerged as the winner to represent India at the international stage of World Skills in Brazil this year. Jetking Infotrain Limited, in partnership with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), launched the World Skills competition 2015 at Pragati Maidan in Delhi. Jetking, India’s premier Hardware and Networking Institute with a legacy of 25 years of training, is representing the IT Network Administration domain at the World Skills competition to be held in São Paulo, Brazil in the month of August, 2015.

In the 2^nd year of its partnership with World Skills India, Jetking ran a national competition to select one winner who would go on to represent India at World Skills in Brazil later this year. Anthony, who is all of 19 and hails from the Dharavi slum in Mumbai, fought his way to the top after proving his mettle in several grueling rounds of the competition.

Mr. Siddarth Bharwani, Head – Brand and Marketing, Jetking Infotrain Ltd., said, “After a mammoth talent search through Jetking centers across the country, we found the right talent to represent India at the World Skills event to be held in Brazil.” Further, Mr. Bharwani felicitated Anthony on winning the World Skills India competition in the category of IT Network Systems Administration.

Mr. Dilip Chenoy, MD & CEO, National Skill Development Corporation said, “We are pleased to partner with Jetking for the second year in a row. With a strong national presence in the IT Network Administration domain across the country, Jetking contributes significantly in identifying right talent and expertise under this category for the WorldSkills competition. We congratulate Mr. Anthony Silva and wish him the very best for the final competition in São Paulo, Brazil.”

About Jetking Infotrain Ltd.:

Jetking Infotrain Limited, an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, is India’s foremost Computer Hardware and Networking Institute. Established in 1947 as a do-it-yourself radio kit company, Jetking ventured into Computer IT vocational training in 1990 and has since trained more than 6,00,000 students in Hardware and Networking courses. Jetking has been conferred with several awards and accolades for its quality training and placement practices, including recognition in the Limca Book of Records for the highest job placements in a year.

Seven latest technologies that the gadget world is awaiting

Developing the latest technologies have become essential in order to make people’s lives convenient. It cannot possibly remain stagnant because with the leap of time, the demands of people have increased. In order to meet their needs and comfort, the latest technology has to be adopted in every walk of life. As per research, 2015 will see new artificial intelligence, robotics, 3-D printing spaces, internet of things, and augmented reality. These will be integrated into society very soon with the assistance of hardware networking. Read further to know the seven innovations

1. Automated homes

Do you wish to live in a house where all the consumer durables, right from the television set to the air conditioner, are automated? This could be the next big latest technology! Home automation is all set to attract new attention. All the major players will continue to pour money into changing everyday items.

2. Automotive electronics and driverless prototypes

According to industry experts, there are multiple areas that show signs of human interface improvement. Replacing dashboards with advanced touch solutions is a latest technology that is being contemplated.

3. Robots and drones

You may have spotted drones in Hollywood movies. This is because the US Federal Aviation Administration permitted them. Today, computer hardware networking plays a vital role in making it possible for humans to create robots and drones. It is said that robots will continue to become more humanlike.

4. Wearables

High-tech fitness brands continue to win over consumers who wish to track their calories. The modern-day market for wearables has been fast catching up with the audience. There is a battle that has emerged between the top brands eyeing to capture maximum market share.

5. Augmented reality

Advertisers are using this platform to bring about engaging ad campaigns that attract their target audience. Augmented reality is a latest technology that enhances the regular world around your eyes with visuals. This continues to attract the interest of developers.

6. Virtual reality

Can you imagine a future where people can escape the physical world and get completely immersed in a digital dimension? Imagine a doctor checking patients through virtual meeting places with the help of complex sensors. Tech companies are currently in the process of launching virtual reality headsets, which will be the latest technologies for communication and entertainment.

7. 3D printing

2015 will witness the real-world in-demand objects with the help of 3D printing technology and hardware networking. Scientists are inventing unique ways that will enable such printing. It would be affordable as well as less time-consuming.

Get hired in MNCs via hardware networking courses

Working in a huge multinational company, minting big bucks, and most importantly doing a job that you love! If you are not, then it is time you make the right choice by recognizing your career path. Hardware networking is considered as one of the best career options in the field of IT. But it is important to take up the right hardware networking course from a renowned institute in order to get excellent jobs. Read further to find out reasons why you should choose hardware networking over a software field.

Big ticket to MNCs

Ultimately, everyone wants to grow and climb the ladder of success. After all, it is about putting food on the table. Enrolling yourself in a hardware networking course at a top-notch institute ensures skill training, personality development, and most importantly provides placements. It may not always be convenient for you to reach out to an employer because they may not be able to pay attention to every budding candidate. But via coaching institute placements, they are assured that since you come from the particular institute, you are already trained with the desired skills. So, in this way, it is easier to get hardware networking jobs in major companies.

Hardware career scope

People believe that the knowledge matters more than the job. What is the use of learning a particular course just for the sake of getting a job? If you wish to be a leader in your field, then it is important to gain the knowledge with the right set of mind and utilize it to the optimum.Some hardware networking institutes provide efficient training in terms of academics and personality development so that their students can crack challenging interviews in large MNCs.

Gone are the days when people chose software careers with a mindset that hardware is a laborjob. That is not the scenario anymore! Today, every single stream is in the need of hardware networking experts and thus the demand for hardware networking administrator jobs arises.Young professionals are seeking advanced courses in hardware networking and are being readily absorbed into IT companies with a fabulous remuneration.

The value of a certificate course in hardware networking

It may sound shocking, but it is true that these days people are making fake certificate courses just to impress recruiters. But they lack the knowledge and hence are not successful in molding their careers. A recognized institute would, no doubt, provide the certificate at the end of the course. More importantly, the practical and theoretical training that you will receive will stay with you for the rest of your life. It will be profitable to not only get hardware networking jobs but also help you put your skills to use and grow in your organization. Hardware networking is a field that offers job satisfaction, career growth, and high remuneration. Apply for a hardware networking course and make a difference in your life!

Five reasons to enroll in a computer hardware institute

Why should you be technically challenged when you have the power to educate yourself? Learning about hardware networking is not only restricted to skill enhancement but also career growth. It is essential to learn and develop the right
skills by taking up a course at a computer hardware institute. According to a survey, it was found that men and women are not afraid to take a hands-on approach to troubleshooting. This is because computer hardware institutes such as Jetking have opened up new career opportunities in this field. Here are five reasons for choosing hardware networking as your career path.

• Stay in demand

If you think that hardware networking professionals are not earning big bucks as compared to software engineers, then you are wrong. Today, they don’t just pull in a wage above the national median but are also play a vital role in a company’s IT department. Despite the global recession, their hiring rate is on an upward curve. Every organization demands professionals from an acclaimed computer hardware institute. That is the reason they tie up with learning centers to hire fresh talent.

• Learn as you walk along

Remember that no two corporate networks are alike. Most of the company’ system procedures and job specifications will be covered during an individual’s on-site training. For example, if you are working in one company, the requirements of hardware networking may not overlap with another company. A network administrator should have expertise in problem-solving and the passion for digging into details. This is another diverse subject that a good computer hardware institute will add to their curriculum.

• Career prospects

Once you have entered the hardware networking zone, you will start realizing that there are plenty of diverse subfields from which you could choose the best ones. Right from becoming a freelance field technician to a system analyst or even a network engineer, your career could be soaring, and you can be successful within months. If you plan to choose entrepreneurship, you could consider working from home, choosing flexible work hours, and charge consultations fees. But for this, you require the right technological expertise by studying at an excellent computer hardware institute.

• Market yourself

Right from food service to manufacturing, hardware networking is the need of the hour. You should never wait for people to recognize your talent and hire you. People may not even know that you exist! Due to cut-throat competition in the job world, it has become crucial to market yourself. Once everyone knows that you are a reliable administrator, they would want you to be an asset to their company.

• Challenge your skills

Frankly, hardware networking is not everyone’s cup of tea. It may not be the most glamorous job on earth but once you have practically proven yourself, the world would want you. Challenge your skills and find newer ways of accomplishing a task. Provide every reason for people to choose you and not anyone else. Make the most of your technical skills as big-buck companies are on the lookout for people who can provide innovative and smart networking ways.
Join an excellent computer hardware institute to learn the best technical tricks. Keep in mind that such knowledge is desired to execute hardware networking tasks. So, go ahead, polish your skills and mint more money.

Also check out Interview Questions for Hardware and Networking

A Guide to Hardware Networking and Computer Security

The age of the internet has provided access to a wide range of products and services at the click of a button. The internet can leave you open to scammers, hackers, and identity thieves. It is important to incorporate proper hardware networking and computer security to protect your information. Hardware networking and computer security can have its pros and cons. Follow these simple tips to keep your computer secure.

Recover Deleted Files and Photos

Even after you delete a certain file, you can still recover it. Proper hardware networking and computer security optimization can help you with this process. There are many free utility programs available online that can help you with this cause. Recuva is one of the most preferred ones in the market. The process is easy and involves simple steps. After installing the utility, just select the drive you want to scan for deleted files. This will help you initiate a quick scan. Once completed, the result pane will show the recovered files in green and overwritten ones in red. Next step is to recover the files by selecting the location and checking the boxes for restore and recover. It is one of the most widely used processes for computer security and hardware networking. You can also run a scan to check the actual sectors on the storage device for file remains.

Set up Sharing on a Windows Computer

Sharing files and folders among computers on a network can prove to be a very tough task if you have never tried it before. The process consists of some technical steps. Proper and effective hardware networking can help you set up sharing and ensure computer security. The basic process of setting up sharing options can be simple enough most of the times. Just go to the Control Panel, Network, and Sharing, and then select Change Advanced Sharing Settings. Once the Advanced Sharing Settings dialog box opens, just tick the box to enable Network Discovery to make sure that other computers on the network can see your computer. This process is similar to the Bluetooth connection process. You can enable File and Print Sharing to make folders and files shareable. Once these basic settings are sorted out, just navigate to the concerned folder, right click and then go to the properties. Look for the sharing tab and click on the share button.

Never Compromise on the Antivirus Updates

It is extremely pivotal that you have antivirus software running on your machine. It is one of the foremost components of computer security. The antivirus programs help files and emails to be scanned while you use, download, or open them. If the program feels that the item you are browsing may contain a virus, it prohibits it from running and infects your system. At times, people do install reputed antivirus programs but fail to follow the regular updates. It is important to keep an eye on the latest updates as they can help in identifying the new viruses and worms that hit the digital ecosystem. Always make sure that you update your antivirus software to keep your computer security at par.

These simple hardware networking and computer security tips will enhance the efficiency of your computer systems along with providing a safe experience.

Also Read: How to fix DLL errors

Hardware Networking interview Q&A’s

Hardware networking professionals are in demand across various sectors in India. From our records, hardware networking courses are finding an increasing number of takers from the student community. The number of hardware networking job opportunities for freshers is expected to grow extensively in the coming years.

For freshers, we understand interviews are always stressful. So in this article we have
covered interview questions with their answers. We have covered very importantly and common questions along with answers that were asked by our recruitment partners interviews.

Hardware & Networking Basic Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers

Q. What is a node and links?

A. In a network the devices at different endpoint located at a different location are called nodes
and the physical communication medium they using is called links.

Q. What are the layers of the OSI reference model?

A. There are 7 OSI layers:
1. Physical Layer
2. Data Link Layer
3. Network Layer
4. Transport Layer
5. Session Layer
6. Presentation Layer
7. Application Layer

Q. Describe Domain Name System

A. There are two types of client/server programs:
● First is used directly by the user, such as email
● Second supports other application programs
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a supporting program that is used by other programs
such as to find the IP address of an email recipient.

Q. What are the difference between Domain and Workgroup?

A. Find the difference between domain and workgroup:
Domain:
● Server is responsible for data safety
● Centralize administration
● Main aim is to secure data
● Best suite in company environments
Workgroup
● Every PC is responsible for its own security
● No centralize administration
● Main aim to save hardware resource
● Best suite in the school, training institute, cyber cafe

Q. Define Fully Qualified Domain Name and Partially Qualified Domain Name

A. In hierarchical namespace, names are defined in an invertedtree structure with the root at
the top. The tree can have only 128 levels: level 0 (root) to level 127. Each node in the tree
has a label, which is a string with a maximum of 63 characters. The root label is a null string
(empty string). In this tree, all the labels have a different name, which guarantee the uniqueness
of the domain names. A full domain name is a sequence of labels separated by dots (.). The
domain names are always read from the node up to the root.
● Fully Qualified Domain Name
If a label is terminated by a null string or empty string, it is called a fully qualified domain name
(FQDN).
● Partially Qualified Domain Name
If a label is not terminated by a null string, it is called a partially qualified domain name
(PQDN). A PQDN starts from a node, but it does not end with the root.

Q. Describe attenuation, distortion, and noise in brief

A. Attenuation: When a signal travels through a medium, it loses some of its energy due to
resistance of the medium. This loss of energy is called the Attenuation. This is the reason why a
wire carrying electric signals gets warm. Some of the electrical energy in the signal is
converted to heat. To overcome this problem, amplifiers are used to amplify the signal.
Unit of the decibel is used to find out if a signal has lost or gained strength. The decibel (dB)
measures the relative strengths of two signals or one signal at two different points. If decibel
is negative then a signal is attenuated and if the positive signal is amplified.
Formula:
Where PI and P2 are the variable and the powers of a signal at points 1 and 2, respectively.
● Distortion
When the signal travels through the medium from one point to another it may chance to
change the form or shape of the signal. It is called distortion. Distortion can occur in a composite
signal made up of different frequencies. Each signal component has its own propagation
speed through a traveling medium and, therefore, its own delay in reaching the final
destination. Means signal components at the receiver have phases different from what they
had at the sender.
● Noise
The third cause of impairment is Noise. Following types of noise are possible.
➢ Thermal noise.
➢ Induced noise.
➢ Crosstalk noise.
➢ Impulse noise.
This noise may corrupt the signal.
Thermal noise is produced due to the random motion of electrons in a wire which creates an
extra signal not originally sent by the transmitter.
Induced noise comes from sources such as motors and other electronic appliances. These
devices act as a sending antenna, and the transmission medium acts as the receiving
antenna.
Crosstalk is the effect of one wire on the other.
Impulse noise comes from power lines, lightning etc.

Q. What is IP?

A. An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device
(e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for
communication.

Q. What are the difference between hub and switch?

A. Hub is a layer 1 device. It will out the signal from all of its port except the one from where
It’s insert. It is unable to detect the collision. It works on single collision and a single broadcast
domain. Switch is layer 2 device. It maintains a CAM table that store the MAC address of
devices attached to its port. CAM table is used to make the forwarding decision. It works on
per port collision and single broadcast domain.

Q. What is a layer?

A. Layer is a completely logical partition of PDU (protocol data unit) process. That define how
the information travels from one computer to another over the network.

Q. What is TCP/IP?

A. It is commonly known as TCP/IP, because its most important protocols, the Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP), were the first networking protocols
defined in this standard.
We believe you must have got a gist on types of interview questions you may be asked.

Best Applications for Windows 7 Operating System 2015

You’ve upgraded your windows operating system or purchased a new system with Windows 7 pre-installed. So now you must be searching for the list of best applications for Windows 7 system that may consummate your requisites. Well, if you find the one then the worry would be hardware and networking requisites of your system to run the application. In this article we’ve covered the best apps for any windows 7 system from three most important categories listed below with the fundamental configuration requisites.

1. Web Browsers
2. Security Software
3. Utilities

1. Top 3 browsers for Windows 7

All browsers have the ability to access your favorite sites, email-accounts and bookmarks, but not all are created equal. According to us the three top internet browsers predicated on speed and simplicity are Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Most people used Internet Explorer, which is the built-in web browser on Windows OS. However, in last few years the stats have changes and Google Chrome has taken the lead. From the infographic you may know the rise in the usage of Chrome in comparison with Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

2. Best security software for Windows 7

To help protect your PC against malware threats we’ve listed some of the top security and privacy programs available from four different categories that will keep your windows 7 system safer.

i. Antivirus

Even though Microsoft Windows 7 includes a version of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) that offers ant-virus and malware aegis to Windows 7 users, it’s hard to parse the hype for antivirus apps, so we’ve tested few of them and based on the results we recommend Avast , Mcafee and AVG are the top three in the list of best applications for windows 7 system.

ii. In-Browser Security

We recommend the below software’s to make sure your browser is as secure as possible and up-to-date:

• AVG LinkScanner

When you use Search Engine, with AVG LinkScanner you understand which site to trust and which to avoid based on the
color-coded rating assigned by the software.

• LastPass Password Manager

LastPass recollects your passwords to automatically authenticate in to any site you’ve entered the information once, so that you can focus on the more important things in life.

iii. Firewall

A firewall is your first line of defence and the Microsoft firewall doesn’t provide outbound protection preinstalled on your Windows 7. We recommend to install ZoneAlarm. ZoneAlarm blocks hackers and averts viruses & spyware from glomming your personal data and sending it out to the Internet.

iv. Encryption

The Encryption Software directory includes programs that ascertain data privacy by encrypting files, directories, and drives in a virtual invisibility cloak. We recommend:

Bitliocker for whole disk encryption
AES Crypt for file encryption on Windows 7 operating system
7-Zip for compressing files and encrypt files using AES-256

3. Best Utility apps for Windows 7

Windows provides all sorts of internal apps to run your system and keep your files in check, but it’s far from comprehensive. We would recommend the below-listed apps which will fill in the gaps of Windows’ coverage.

• CCleaner

CCleaner is a free registry and junk-clearing utility for keeping your system clean and optimized.

Process Explorer

Process Explorer is an auxiliary utility program that details your computer’s running processes in a more visual representation than the standard Windows Task Manager.

Know of any other essential Windows 7 apps we missed? Don’t hesitate to spread the word about the best Windows 7 apps you know by commenting on this article. Also, feel free to share this article with your loved ones.
You love computing then subscribe to our newsletters and have happy computing!

How to Fix DLL Errors?

A DLL file, abbreviation for Dynamic Link Library, is a file that contains instructions that other programs can request to do certain things. This way, various programs can share the abilities programmed into a distinct file. DLL files, as a result of how many there are and how often they’re used, tend to be the reason of a large percentage of the errors seen when opening, using, and shutting down Windows.

While it might be simple to just download that missing or not found DLL file, that’s hardly ever the best way to go.

If you get a DLL error, its best to find troubleshooting information specific to that DLL problem so you are sure to solve it the right way.

A DLL error is any error with a DLL file – a kind of file ending in the DLL file extension. DLL errors can emerge in any of Microsoft’s operating systems including Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.

DLL errors are particularly upsetting for the reason that there are so many of these types of files in existence, all with the potential to cause problem. Luckily, there are numerous troubleshooting steps you can take that have a great chance of fixing any DLL error you might have rather than going for reinstalling the whole application or windows.

Important:Do NOT download DLL files from DLL download sites in order to replace your missing or corrupt DLL files. There are numerous reasons why downloading a DLL file to solve a DLL error is a very bad idea, least of which is that it may not solve your problem rather it might increase your problem.
Restart your computer. It’s possible that the problem that’s causing the DLL error is just temporary and a simple restart is all you need to fix the issue. Remember that this is only an option if the DLL error isn’t stopping your computer before Windows fully starts. If you have one of those more serious DLL issues, you’ll need to forcefully restart your computer, probably unplugging and them plugging the power cable back.
Restore the deleted DLL file from the Recycle Bin. You may have accidentally deleted the DLL file. Most DLL errors come in the “DLL Not Found” and “Missing DLL” form. The easiest possible cause of a DLL error like this is that you’ve deleted the DLL file without realizing it. Enter Safe Modeto do this or any of the following steps if you’re unable to access Windows usually due to this DLL error.
Recover the deleted DLL file with a free file recovery program. If you suspect that you’ve accidentally deleted the DLL file but you’ve since emptied the Recycle Bin, a file recovery program can help. Recovering a DLL file with a file recovery program is a smart idea only if you’re confident you’ve deleted the file yourself and that it was working properly before you did that.
Run a virus/malware scan of your entire system. Some “DLL is Missing” and “DLL Not Found” DLL errors are related to hostile programs that pretense as DLL files. Running a virus scan with the antivirus program you have installed on your computer might fix the issue.
Use System Restore to undo recent system changes.If you suspect that the DLL error was caused by a change you or someone else using your computer made to your registry or other system configuration then a System Restore could fix the DLL error issue.
Reinstall the program that uses the DLL file. If a DLL error occurs when you open or use a particular program, then uninstalling and reinstalling the program should properly install and register the DLL file again. Don’t skip this step if you can help it. Reinstalling the program that provides the DLL file is a very likely solution to any program specific DLL error.
Update drivers for any hardware that might be related to the DLL error. For instance, if you’re receiving a “Missing DLL” error when you use your printer, try updating your printer drivers. This might really help you fix the DLL error issue.
Run the sfc /scannow commandto replace any missing or incorrect operating system related DLL files. System File Checker (the proper name of the sfc command) will replace any damaged or missing Microsoft supplied DLL files.
Apply any available Windows Updates. Many operating systemservice packsand other patches can replace or update some of the hundreds of Microsoft distributed DLL files on your computer. Keeping your windows up to date is always a good practice.
Perform a repair installation of Windows. If the individual DLL troubleshooting advice above is unsuccessful, a repair installation of the operating system should restore all Windows DLL files to their original working versions. And you will also have all your data safe on your hard drive.
Perform a clean installation of Windows. A clean install of Windows will erase everything from thehard driveand install a fresh copy of Windows. If a repair install doesn’t correct the DLL error, this should be the next best thing you can do. All the information on your hard drive will be erased during a clean install.

Make sure you’ve made the best attempt possible to fix the DLL error using a troubleshooting step prior to this one.

People Who Changed The World Through Internet

The world has become closely connected since the advent of internet. The web itself has replaced the practice of reading newspaper, magazines and even the books. Most of us now communicate through e-mails instead of paper and pen. We now watch movies online, it has even become a wide business venture, so much so we can now make purchase and pay our bills through the internet. The web has also transformed friendships through various social media. It also provides us the possibility to reconnect with people from our childhood and it can be a life changing event.

Having a great idea is one thing. Turning that idea into a booming company through innovation and execution is what that matters most. Here, these are the people who have the biggest impact on the direction of the web: past, present, and future. They changed the internet and revolutionized the way we lead our lives today. Just imagine the world without internet. You can’t because it has become our daily life.

Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn

Father of the Internet.

Vinton Gray “Vint” Cerf is an American internet pioneer, who is recognized as one of “the fathers of the Internet”, sharing this title with American engineer Bob Kahn. They together created the TCP/IP suite of communication protocols., a language used by computers to talk to each other in a network. Vint Cerf once said that the internet is just a mirror of the population and spam is a side effect of a free service. His contributions have been acknowledged and lauded, repeatedly, with honorary degrees and awards that include the National Medal of Technology, the Turing Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Marconi Prize and membership in the National Academy of Engineering.

Tim Berners-Lee

Inventor of WWW.

A graduate of Oxford University, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, an internet-based hypermedia initiative for global information sharing while at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory, in 1989. He wrote the first web client and server in 1990. His specifications of URIs, HTTP and HTML were refined as Web technology spread.

He is the 3Com Founders Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering with a joint appointment in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence ( CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he also heads the Decentralized Information Group (DIG). He is also a Professor in the Electronics and Computer Science Department at the University of Southampton, UK.

He is the Director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a Web standards organization founded in 1994 which develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. He was a Director of the Web Science Trust (WST) launched in 2009 to promote research and education in Web Science, the multidisciplinary study of humanity connected by technology. Tim is a Director of the World Wide Web Foundation, launched in 2009 to coordinate efforts to further the potential of the Web to benefit humanity.

Ray Tomlinson

Father of Email.

Computer engineer, Ray Tomlinson invented internet based email in late 1971. Under ARPAnet several major innovations occurred: email (or electronic mail), the ability to send simple messages to another person across the network (1971). Ray Tomlinson worked as a computer engineer for Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), the company hired by the United States Defense Department to build the first Internet in 1968. Ray Tomlinson was experimenting with a popular program he wrote called SNDMSG that the ARPANET programmers and researchers were using on the network computers (Digital PDP-10s) to leave messages for each other. SNDMSG was a “local” electronic message program. You could only leave messages on the computer that you were using for other persons using that computer to read. Tomlinson used a file transfer protocol that he was working on called CYPNET to adapt the SNDMSG program so it could send electronic messages to any computer on the ARPANET network.

Ray Tomlinson chose the @ symbol to tell which user was “at” what computer. The @ goes inbetween the user’s login name and the name of his/her host computer. The first email was sent between two computers that were actually sitting besides each other. However, the ARPANET network was used as the connection between the two. The first email message was “QWERTYUIOP”. Ray Tomlinson is quoted as saying he invented email,”Mostly because it seemed like a neat idea.” No one was asking for email.

Michael Hart

The birth of eBooks

Michael Hart started the birth of eBooks and breaks down the bars of ignorance and illiteracy. He created the Project Gutenberg and was considered world’s first electronic library that changed the way we read. The collection includes public domain works and copyrighted works with express permission. Most of the early postings were typed in by Hart himself. Hart was an author and his works are available free of charge on the Project Gutenberg server. He was also a member of the RepRap Project, which aims at creating a self-replicating machine. Hart was involved in an early effort (circa 1993) to develop a free and openly accessible “Internet Encyclopedia”, called “Interpedia.”

Gary Thuerk

The first Email spam.

Spamming is an old marketing technique. Gary Thuerk, sent his first mass e-mailing to customers over the Arpanet for Digital’s new T-series of VAX systems. What he didn’t realize at the time was that he had sent the world’s first spam. Not only did Gary discover SPAM, but he also discovered the first denial of service attack via email, AKA the “mail bomb.” Its hard to believe that a text file with 400 email addresses would fill up an ancient disk drive, but I guess those things happened. Its also unbelievable that he was able to sell millions in upgrades. I guess each computer back then cost several or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Scott Fahlman

The first emoticon.

Scott Fahlman is a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University. he is credited with originating the first ASCII-based smiley emoticon, which he thought would help to distinguish between posts that should be taken humorously and those of a more serious nature. Now, everybody uses them in messenger programs, chat rooms, and e-mail. He is notable for early work on automated planning in a blocks world, on semantic networks, on neural networks, on the Dylan programming language, and on Common Lisp.

Marc Andreessen

Netscape Navigator

Marc Andreessen revolutionized Internet navigation. He came up with first widely used Web browser called Mosaic which was later commercialised as the Netscape Navigator. Marc Andreessen is also co-founder and chairman of Ning and an investor in several startups including Digg, Plazes, and Twitter. He is the Board Director of Hewlett-Packard and also a Director of eBay, Facebook, and several private companies.

Jarkko Oikarinen

Internet Relay Chat, IRC.

Jarkko Oikarinen developed the first real-time online chat tool in Finland known as Internet Relay Chat. IRC’s fame took off in 1991. When Iraq invaded Kuwait and radio and TV signals were shut down, thanks to IRC though up-to-date information was able to be distribute. In 1997, his development of IRC earned Oikarinen a Dvorak Award for Personal Achievement—Outstanding Global Interactive Personal Communications System; in 2005, the Millennium Technology Prize Foundation, a Finnish public-private partnership, honored him with one of three Special Recognition Awards.

Robert Tappan Morris

First Worm Virus.

The concept of a worm virus is unique compare to the conventional hacking. Instead of getting into a network themselves, they send a small program they have coded to do the job. From this concept, Robert Tappan Morris created the Morris Worm. It’s one of the very first worm viruses to be sent out over the internet that inadvertently caused many thousands of dollars worth of damage and “loss of productivity” when it was released in the late 80s.

David Bohnett

Geocities.

David Bohnett founded GeoCities in 1994, together with John Rezner. It grew to become the largest community on the Internet. He pioneered and championed the concept of providing free home pages to everyone on the web. The company shut down the service on October 27, 2009.

Ward Cunningham

The first Wiki.

American programmer Ward Cunningham developed the first wiki as a way to let people collaborate, create and edit online pages together. Cunningham named the wiki after the Hawaiian word for “quick.”

Sabeer Bhatia

Hotmail.

Sabeer Bhatia founded Hotmail in which the uppercase letters spelling out HTML-the language used to write the base of a webpage. He got in the news when he sold the free e-mailing service , Hotmail to Microsoft for $400 million. He was awarded the “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Draper Fisher Jurvertson in 1998 and was noted by TIME as one of the “People to Watch” in international business in 2002. His most exciting acquisition of 2009 was Jaxtyr which he believes is set to overtake Skype in terms of free global calling.

Matt Drudge

The Drudge Report.

Matt Drudge started the news aggregation website The Drudge Report. It gained popularity when he was the first outlet to break the news that later became the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Larry Page And Sergey Brin

Google.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin changed the way we search and use the Internet. They worked as a seamless team at the top of the search giant. Their company grew rapidly every year since it began. Page and Brin started with their own funds, but the site quickly outgrew their own existing resources. They later obtain private investments through Stanford. Larry Page, Sergey Brin and their company Google, continue to favor engineering over business.

Bill Gates

Microsoft.

Bill Gates founded the software company called “Micro-Soft”. a combination of “microcomputer software.” Later on, Bill Gates developed a new GUI (Graphical User Interface) for a disk operating system. He called this new style Windows. He has all but accomplished his famous mission statement, to put “a computer on every desk and in every home” at least in developed countries.

Steve Jobs

Apple.

Steve Jobs innovative idea of a personal computer led him into revolutionizing the computer hardware and software industry. The Apple founder changed the way we work, play and communicate. He made simple and uncluttered web design stylish. The story of Apple and Steve Jobs is about determination, creative genius, pursuit of innovation with passion and purpose.

David Filo And Jerry Yang

Yahoo.

David Filo and Jerry Yang started Yahoo! as a pastime and evolved into a universal brand that has changed the way people communicate with each other, find and access information and purchase things. The name Yahoo! is an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle,” but Filo and Yang insist they selected the name because they liked the general definition of a yahoo: “rude, unsophisticated, uncouth.”

Brad Fitzpatrick

LiveJournal.

Brad Fitzpatrick created LiveJournal, one of the earliest blogging platforms. He is seen on the Internet under the nickname bradfitz. He is also the author of a variety of free software projects such as memcached, used on LiveJournal, Facebook and YouTube. LiveJournal continues today as an online community where people can share updates on their lives via diaries and blogs. Members connect by creating a “friends list” that links to their pals’ recent entries.

Shawn Fanning

Napster.

Shawn Fanning developed Napster, a peer-to-peer file-sharing program designed to let music fans find and trade music. Users put whatever files they were willing to share with others into special directories on their hard drives. The service had more than 25 million users at its peak in 2001, and was shut down after a series of high-profile lawsuits, not before helping to spark the digital music revolution now dominated by Apple. Napster has since been rebranded and acquired by Roxio.

Peter Thiel

Paypal.

Peter Thiel is one of many Web luminaries associated with PayPal. PayPal had enabled people to transfer money to each other instantly. PayPal began giving a small group of developers access to its code, allowing them to work with its super-sophisticated transaction framework. Peter Thiel cofounded PayPal at age 31 and sold it to eBay four years later for $1.5 billion.

Pierre Morad Omidyar

Ebay.

Pierre Omidyar set up an online marketplace that brought buyers and sellers together as never before, and pioneered the concept of quantifying the trustworthiness of an anonymous user. In building his auction empire, Omidyar counted on the power of the individual. Omidyar’s greatest strength is his insight into human nature. He understood that people would buy just about anything. One man’s junk is, in fact, another’s treasure.

Jimmy Wales

Wikipedia.

Jimmy Wales founded the world’s largest encyclopaedia which carries articles that can easily be edited by anyone who can access the website. It was launched in 2001 and is currently the most popular general reference work on the Internet.

Stewart Butterfield And Caterina Fake

Flickr.

Photosharing website has become a part of everyday online life for millions of people.Stewart Butterfield, who with his wife Caterina Fake created Flickr that was born out of an online multi-player game that seemed to sum up everything the Web 2.0 people were trying to do. Flickr came along with an idea that you no longer had an album. Instead, you had a photo stream. Yahoo later on acquired Flickr in 2005.

Jonathan Abrams

Friendster.

Jonathan Abrams built Friendster, together with Cris Emmanuel, offering many tools to help members find dates. He took the idea from Match.com. It’s the first social network to hit the big time and go mainstream. Members create profiles listing favorite movies and books (and dating status) and link up to friends, who linked to their friends, and so on.

Niklas Zennstrom

Skype.

Niklas Zennstrom co-founded the fastest growing communications trend in history called Skype. It offered consumers worldwide a free software for making superior-quality calls using their computer and expanded its offering for Linux, MAC & PC and mobile/ handheld devices.

Bram Cohen

Bit Torrent.

If Napster started the first generation of file sharing, Bram Cohen changed the face of file sharing by developing BitTorrent which has a massive following of users almost instantly. It uses the Golden Rule principle: the faster you upload, the faster you are allowed to download. BitTorrent breaks up files into many little portions, and as soon as a user has a piece, they instantly start uploading that part to other users. So almost everybody who is sharing a given file is simultaneously uploading and downloading pieces of the same file.

Reid Hoffman

LinkedIn.

Reid Hoffman, a former executive vice president at PayPal, created LinkedIn as a professional social network allowing registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. Members can search for jobs, trade resumes, find new hires and keep up with the competition.

Matt Mullenweg

WordPress.

Matt Mullenweg founded the world’s most used open source blogging and the greatest boon to freedom of expression known as WordPress. Some of the most popular websites run on WordPress are Techcrunch, Huffingtonpost, Mashable and more.

Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, And Jawed Karim

Youtube.

Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim met as early employees at PayPal. They later started the internet’s most popular video-sharing site YouTube which is broadcasting more than 100 million short videos daily on myriad subjects. When creating YouTube, the three divided work based on skills: Chad Hurley designed the site’s interface and logo. Steve Chen and Jawed Karim divide technical duties making the site work. They later split management tasks, based on strengths and interests: Chad Hurley became CEO; Steve Chen, Chief Technology Officer. A year and a half later, Google acquired YouTube for a deal worth $1.65 billion in stock.

Craig Newmark

Craigslist

Craig Newmark started a site that dramatically altered the classified advertising universe called Craiglist. It was an object of fear for newspapers who felt threatened by the free-for-all classified advertising site. It began as an e-mail list for Newmark’s friends in the Bay Area. Since then, it has grown into an online database for classified ads for those seeking everything from housing to romance.

Julian Assange

WikiLeaks

Julian Assange founded a website dedicated to publishing classified documents stolen from around the world. He designed an advanced software for the Wikileaks shielding the identities of the thieves who steal these documents by completely erasing their identities before spreading the stolen documents to servers ‘all over the world’. As a result, no one can trace who’s given him what or when. The site depicts itself as the “uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis” and has developed to be regarded as the most extensive and safest stage for whistleblowers to leak to.

Dick Costolo

FeedBurner

People generally check their preferred sites every now and then to see if there’s anything new. FeedBurner founder Dick Costolo created a news aggregator that automatically downloads an update that is visible in the places that interest you. An RSS feed, short for Really Simple Syndication, delivers those latest bits of media from their creator’s website to your computer. FeedBurner was later acquired by Google in 2007. Currently, Dick Costolo is Twitter’s Chief Operating Officer making twitter the next generation RSS.

Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook to help students in universities keep in touch with friends. The “status update” started its rebirth in Facebook, where user after user tell their extended network of trusted friends what they’re doing. They also show off photos, upload videos, chat, make friends, meet old ones, join causes, groups, have fun and throw virtual sheep at one another. The site, which is believed to have 500 million registered users worldwide, has only four remaining countries left to conquer: Russia, Japan, China and Korea, according to Zuckerberg. Facebook is now twice as huge as Rupert Murdoch’s MySpace.

Jack Dorsey

Twitter

Jack Dorsey created Twitter to allow friends and family know what he was doing. The world’s fastest-growing communications medium let users broadcast their thoughts in 140 characters or less and repost someone else’s informative or amusing message to their own Twitter followers by Retweeting. No one thought people would want to follow strangers, or that celebrities would use Twitter to tell fans of their activities, or that businesses would use Twitter to announce discounts or launch new products.

Christopher Poole

4chan message board

Christopher Poole, known online as “Moot,” started a message board called 4chan where people are free to be wrong. Unlike most web forums, 4chan does not have a registration system, allowing users to post anonymously. Moot believes in the value of multiple identities, including anonymity, in contrast to the merge of online and real-world identities occurring on Facebook and many other social networking sites.

Joshua Schachter

Delicious

Del.icio.us is a more sophisticated multiuser version of Muxway, wherein his first implementation of tags. Joshua Schachter began del.icio.us as a way for people to store and share their favorite Web-browsing bookmarks online. Instead of organizing them himself, or even creating a standard taxonomy of categories, Schachter used something called user tagging-people simply labeled the bookmarks by any name they wanted, and eventually the group as a whole effectively voted on them by either adopting those tags themselves or rejecting them. And now del.icio.us has been gobbled up by Yahoo, which hopes to extend the tagging principle to all sorts of its services.

Jeff Bezos

Amazon

Jeff Bezos founded the world’s biggest online store known as Amazon, which was originally named Cadabra Inc. He made online shopping faster and more personal than a trip to the local store. The company now introduced Kindle allowing readers to download books and other written materials and read them on this handheld device.

Most Promising Jobs for the Next 10 Years

Are you the one who is looking for a good paying job? Well, then you must be looking for a promising career. But, the problem is how do you determine the most promising jobs for the next decade? You follow the clearest trends. The fast growing web economy means more jobs for the Web-savvy (computer literate) people.

But if you’re looking for one trend to follow, follow the boomers. The best paying, fastest growing jobs will grow up around one of the richest and fastest growing segments of the population: the retiring Baby Boom generation.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Employment Matrix, which projects job growth between 2008 and 2018 among 750 categories. We then identified the jobs expected to add the largest number of new positions and selected those with the highest median annual income — at least $60,000. These reflect the best-paying jobs with the highest demand for new workers in the future.

COMPUTER SYSTEMS ANALYSTS

Total new jobs (2008-2018): 108,100% increase: +20.3% Median income: $77,740 States with most jobs per capita: Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey Computer systems analysts build and manage computer networks for companies for use in file sharing and inter-office communication. This position, only 30-years-old, is expected to grow by 20%, adding nearly 110,000 jobs before the end of this decade. While an increasing number of businesses are requiring bachelor’s degrees, it is still very possible to get a job as a systems analyst with just a high school diploma and some computer hardware and networking certification. (reuters)

— Courtesy TheAtlantic.com

Do’s & Don’ts for Your Interview

Job interviews can be nerve-racking, a lot of job seekers spend a huge amount of time worrying about what they will say during their interview. To solve your problem and save your time, here are the keys to successful job interviewing. Job-seekers who follow these simple rules and guidelines should achieve success in this significant phase of job-hunting.

Interview DO’s

Dress properly for the industry; slip up on the side of being conservative to show you take the interview seriously. Your personal grooming and cleanliness should be perfect.
Know the correct time and location of your interview; know how long it takes to get there, park your vehicle, find a rest room to freshen up, etc.
Always try to reach early at the venue; 10 minutes prior to the interview start time or earlier if the event or employer instructs you to do so.
Treat other people you meet with courtesy and respect. Greet them well. Their opinions of you might be solicited during hiring decisions.
Offer a firm handshake, make eye contact with your interviewer, and have a friendly expression when you are greeted by your interviewer.
Listen carefully to understand your interviewer’s name and the correct pronunciation of his name, as you might need to address him/her with his/her name while replying to his/her questions.
Even when your interviewer gives you a first and last name, address your interviewer by title (Ms., Mr., Dr.) and last name, until invited to do otherwise.
Maintain good eye contact with your interviewer during the interview, but do not stare into his/her eyes.
Sit still in your seat; avoid fidgeting and slouching as it will leave a bad impression about you on your interviewer.
Reply to questions and back up your statements about yourself with particular examples whenever possible.
Ask for clarification if you don’t understand a question asked by your interviewer in a polite manner.
Be thorough in your answers, while being brief in your wording.
Be honest and be your best self — be your best professional self. Dishonesty gets discovered and is ground for withdrawing job offers and for firing of people in most of the companies. If you want a good match between yourself and your employer be honest in your interview.
Treat the interview seriously and as though you are truly interested in the employer and the opportunity presented even if you end up not taking the job offered.
Show a positive attitude. The interviewer is assessing you as a prospective co-worker. Behave like someone you would want to work with, this way you will make your comfortable in making his decision to hire you for the position.
Do a thorough research about the company prior to going for your interview. Have intelligent questions prepared to ask the interviewer which you did not find answered in your research.
Evaluate the interviewer and the organization she/he represents. An interview is a two-way street, conduct yourself heartily and respectfully, while thinking gravely about the way you are treated and the values and priorities of the organization.
Do expect to be treated properly. If you believe you were treated improperly or asked questions that were inapt or made you bumpy, discuss this with a Career Services advisor or the director.
Make sure you understand the employer’s next step in the hiring process; know when and from whom you should expect to hear next. Know what action you are expected to take next, if any and be prepared for that.
When the interviewer concludes the interview, offer a firm handshake and make eye contact. Leave graciously.
After the interview, make notes instantaneously so you don’t forget critical details.
Write a thank-you letter/email to your interviewer without delay.

Interview Don’ts

Don’t make excuses. Take responsibility for your decisions and your actions in the past or in your previous job.
Don’t make negative comments about previous employers or professors (or others).
Don’t falsify application materials or answers to interview questions.
Don’t treat the interview heedlessly as this is an insult to the interviewer and to the organization and you might lose the job even being you fully qualified for the position.
Don’t give the impression to your interviewer that you are only interested in an organization because of its geographic location.
Don’t give your interviewer impression that you are only interested in salary; don’t ask about salary and benefits issues until the subject is brought up by your interviewer.
Don’t act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment otherwise your interviewer might put you in hard terms.
Don’t make the interviewer guess what type of work you are interested in; it is not the interviewer’s job to act as a career advisor to you, or the chances are that you might end up in taking a wrong job.
Don’t go unprepared for your interview with the typical interview questions. You may not be asked all of them in every interview, but being unprepared will not help you.
A job search can be hard work and involve frustrations; don’t show frustrations or a negative attitude in an interview.
Don’t go to extremes with your posture; don’t slouch, and don’t sit rigidly on the edge of your chair.
Don’t assume that a female interviewer is “Mrs.” or “Miss.” Address her as “Ms.” unless told otherwise. (If she has a Ph.D. or other doctoral degree or medical degree, use “Dr. [last name]” just as you would with a male interviewer.
Don’t chew gum or smell like smoke when you go for interview.
Don’t allow your cell phone to sound during the interview. (If it does, apologize quickly and ignore it.) Don’t take a cell phone call. Don’t look at a text message.

The above rules apply for most jobs. Nevertheless, employers in some industries can use more relaxed and informal interviewing methods. In some creative and marketing fields it may be expected that you turn up for the interview in casual clothes, as that is the dress code in the office. Nevertheless, smart casual is better than very casual. If you’re in any doubt, do some research on typical interview techniques in the domain you want to go for work.

Above all, preparation is the key to doing well in interviews. Research the role and organization, and prepare evidence and examples of your skills and competencies related to the job.

Success Stories – 001

These were few of the students from Jetking who had pretty successful career paths. They shared their views and insights with us which we have published below.

DILIP KUMAR MOHANTY

Assistant IT Manager, Tally Solutions

“Yesterday, networking was the career of the future. Today the future is already here. And thanks to Jetking, those who start early have a distinct advantage over the rest. The opportunities are endless. For me and for you”.

RUZBEH PARBHOO

Associate Vice President of a leading IT company

“Everybody loves to read others’ success stories. I wrote my own. From the very first day at Jetking, I wanted to have a networking career in a great multinational company. My success story started at Jetking.”

Pushpendra Yadav

Trimax – Technical Service Engr.

“Pursuing a career is not just a choice, but a decision that shapes your life. And which institute you decide to do it from, is just as important. I’m glad I chose Hardware & Networking as my career, and Jetking as my mentor.”

Manish Dogra

IBN7 – Desktop Support Engineer

“Jetking offers advanced skills training, personality development, mental conditioning, and 100% job guarantee. But my favorite part is that all of it is true. Today, I am what I am, because of Jetking.”

Praveen Soni

Senior Manager of a leading company Sydney, Australia

“Hardware and networking were just names of subjects when I joined Jetking. But with great faculty, state-of-the-art facilities and highly effective coaching methods at Jetking, it became a great career for me.”

Ashok Kumar

Vedams Software Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.

“I had no choice. I had to get a job quickly to help my family. But how I did it, was a choice. I chose networking. Because my goal was not to get a job, but to build a career. Now that I am working for one of the best, I still follow that goal.”

Shashi Chandan

NIT

“Jetking has been an experience of a lifetime. My life has changed and there is no looking back now. Jetking helped me become a successful engineer, the dedicated faculty, competitive delivery method and the curriculum transformed me into a confident individual.”

Rigved Mhapankar

Serco

“A team of professionals at Jetking helped me decide which study course to undertake according to my aspirations. The learning at Jetking gave me the opportunity to expand my knowledge and gain industry relevant skills”

If you feel that you also want to share your story with us do write us a mail at [email protected] and we will share your story here which will inspire the future students of Jetking.

How to Understand the BIOS Beep Codes?

Following tables explain the BIOS beep codes that can help you identify what is wrong with a computer when you turn it on and it just begins beeping. Beeping is a code that has a error attached to it. Below are some of the codes and their meanings from different manufacturers which tell you what exactly or probably is the problem with your computer.

Thanks to Postcode from BIOS Central for these codes

AMI BIOS Beep Codes

Beeps	Error Message	Description
1 short	DRAM refresh failure	The programmable interrupt timer or programmable interrupt controller has probably failed
2 short	Memory parity error	A memory parity error has occurred in the first 64K of RAM. The RAM IC is probably bad
3 short	Base 64K memory failure	A memory failure has occurred in the first 64K of RAM. The RAM IC is probably bad
4 short	System timer failure	The system clock/timer IC has failed or there is a memory error in the first bank of memory
5 short	Processor error	The system CPU has failed
6 short	Gate A20 failure	The keyboard controller IC has failed, which is not allowing Gate A20 to switch the processor to protected mode. Replace the keyboard controller
7 short	Virtual mode processor exception error	The CPU has generated an exception error because of a fault in the CPU or motherboard circuitry
8 short	Display memory read/write error	The system video adapter is missing or defective
9 short	ROM checksum error	The contents of the system BIOS ROM does not match the expected checksum value. The BIOS ROM is probably defective and should be replaced
10 short	CMOS shutdown register read/write error	The shutdown for the CMOS has failed
11 short	Cache error	The L2 cache is faulty
1 long, 2 short	Failure in video system	An error was encountered in the video BIOS ROM, or a horizontal retrace failure has been encountered
1 long, 3 short	Memory test failure	A fault has been detected in memory above 64KB
1 long, 8 short	Display test failure	The video adapter is either missing or defective
2 short	POST Failure	One of the hardware testa have failed
1 long	POST has passed all tests

AST BIOS Beep Codes:

Beeps	Error Message	Description
1 short	CPU register test failure	The CPU has failed
2 short	Keyboard controller buffer failure	The keyboard controller has failed
3 short	Keyboard controller reset failure	The keyboard controller has failed or the motherboard circuitry is faulty
4 short	Keyboard communication failure	Either the keyboard controller IC or the associated circuitry has failed. replace the keyboard first, then is still faulty, replace the keyboard controller IC
5 short	Keyboard input failure	The keyboard controller IC has failed. Replace the IC
6 short	System board chipset failure	The chipset on the motherboard has failed. Replace the motherboard
9 short	BIOS ROM checksum error	The BIOS ROM has failed. If possible, replace the BIOS on the motherboard
10 short	System timer test failure	The system clock IC has failed
11 short	ASIC failure	Motherboard circuitry has failed. Replace the motherboard
12 short	CMOS RAM shutdown register failure	THE real time clock/CMOS IC failed. Replace the CMOS or motherboard
1 long	DMA controller 0 failure	The DMA controller IC for channel 0 has failed. If possible, replace the IC
1 long, 1 short	DMA controller 1 failure	The DMA controller IC for channel 1 has failed. If possible, replace the IC
1 long, 2 short	Video vertical retrace failure	The video adapter has probably failed. Replace the video adapter
1 long, 3 short	Video memory test failure	The video adapter’s memory has failed. Replace the video adapter
1 long, 4 short	Video adapter failure	The video adapter has failed. Replace the video adapter
1 long, 5 short	64KB memory failure	A failure has occurred in the base 64KB of memory. If possible, replace the RAM IC
1 long, 6 short	Unable to load interrupt vectors	The BIOS was unable to load the interrupt vectors into memory
1 long, 7 short	Unable to initialize video	This a video problem. Replace the video adapter first. If problem is still present, replace the motherboard
1 long, 8 short	Video memory failure	The is a failure in the video memory. Replace the video adapter first. If problem is still present, replace the motherboard

Award BIOS Beep Codes:

Beeps	Error Message	Description
1long, 2 short	Video adapter error	Either video adapter is bad or is not seated properly. Also, check to ensure the monitor cable is connected properly.
Repeating (endless loop)	Memory error	Check for improperly seated or missing memory.
1long, 3short	No video card or bad video RAM	Reseat or replace the video card.
High frequency beeeps while running	Overheated CPU	Check the CPU fan for proper operation. Check the case for proper air flow.
Repeating High/Low	CPU	Either the CPU is not seated properly or the CPU is damaged. May also be due to excess heat. Check the CPU fan or BIOS settings for proper fan speed.

Compaq BIOS Beep Codes:

Beeps	Error Message	Description
1 short	No error	System is booting properly
1 long, 1 short	BIOS ROM checksum error	The contents of the BIOS ROM to not match the expected contents. If possible, reload the BIOS from the PAQ
2 short	General error	Unknown
1 long, 2 short	Video error	Check the video adapter and ensure it’s seated properly. If possible, replace the video adapter
7 beeps (1 long, 1s, 1l, 1 short, pause, 1 long, 1 short, 1 short	AGP video	The AGP video card is faulty. Reseat the card or replace it outright. This beep pertains to Compaq Deskpro systems
1 long neverending beep		Memory error. Bad RAM. Replace and test
1 short, 2 long	Bad RAM	Reseat RAM then retest; replace RAM if failure continues

IBM Desktop BIOS Beep Codes:

Beeps	Error Message	Description
1 short	Normal POST	System is booting properly
2 short	Initialization error	Error code is displayed
1 long, 1 short	System board error
1 long, 2 short	Video adapter error
1 long, 3 short	EGA/VGA adapter error
3 long	3270 keyboard adapter error
Continuous	Power supply error	Replace the power supply
999s	Power supply error	Replace the power supply
No beep	Power supply	Replace the power supply

Mylex BIOS Beep Codes:

Beeps	Error Message	Description
1	Normal boot	System is booting normally
2	Video adapter error	The video adapter is either faulty or not seated properly. Check the adapter
3	Keyboard controller error	The keyboard controller IC is faulty. Replace the IC if possible
4	Keyboard error	The keyboard controller IC is faulty or the keyboard is faulty. Replace the keyboard, if problem still persists, replace the keyboard controller IC
5	PIC 0 error	The programmable interrupt controller is faulty. Replace the IC if possible
6	PIC 1 error	The programmable interrupt controller is faulty. replace the IC if possible
7	DMA page register error	The DMA controller IC is faulty. Replace the IC if possible
8	RAM refresh error
9	RAM data error
10	RAM parity error
11	DMA controller 0 error

If you want to add some information to the above please feel free to write us in the comment box below.

How to Increase the Phone's Battery Life?

Now mobile phones are not only instruments for making calls and sending texts. In fact, the smart phones have evolved to be more smarter than ever before, they have taken care of most of the things from our daily lives, whether it be making a video call, sending videos, pictures, locating a place on Google map, looking for some information over the internet, sending an email to somebody you can do that all on the go with the device in your pocket.

Though it is a boon of the technology to the human kind but we all want more out of everything, and especially from the battery of our smartphone even more than anything else. But the problem with the smartphone’s battery is that they do drain very fast and you need to travel with a portable powerbank or keep plugging your phone’s charger to keep it charged. And this is really a very irritating thing to do to keep the phone always plugged into charger, isn’t that?

So are there any realistic things you can do to improve your phone’s battery life, other than just switching it off, and hoping no one ever wants to call you?

Of course you can do that, however, it’s not possible to suddenly double your Android phone’s uptime, but by tweaking a few settings on your phone, you can surely squeeze out a few more hours of life from the batteries without compromising on performance of your phone too much.

Here are some easy, not-too-compromising methods of boosting your Android phone’s battery life.

Set a rigid bedtime

Some of latest phones come with automation tools, which let you automatically turn off the mobile signal and Wi-Fi after a certain time. Putting your phone idle when it is not struggling to find a Wifi signal and keep looking for the strongest signal strength broadcasted by your mobile data service provider will save a lot of power. If your phone doesn’t support scheduled activities, install a management app which you can easily download from Google play store for free and turn off all unnecessary stuff over night. This way not only you will save a lot of your phone’s battery and data if you are on data plan but also you will get a better sleep when you are not fiddling around with your phone in the night.

Deactivate Wi-Fi when not needed

If your phone’s constantly sniffing out and trying to connect to every Wi-Fi signal in the area, your phone’s battery is consumed a faster rate in this process and you are wasting power. Switch off Wi-Fi when you are out of the WiFi range and when you know you don’t need it. Think of it as something boring but essential you have to do, like always putting your seat belt on when you are driving a car and wearing a helmet when you ride on a bike.

Upload and sync only on Wi-Fi

If you’re a keen Dropbox user or bank heavily on music syncing services, you’ll benefit greatly from only doing your uploading through Wi-Fi. It’s faster, which means less connectivity time for your phone and less straining on the battery.

Uninstall unnecessary apps

If you haven’t manually set your phone to ask you about the automatic updates, then it’s a mistake. You can never be too sure what’s running itself in the background, what with all the self-uploading, multi-tasking, auto-replicating features in Android apps, so at least reduce the chances of something accidentally draining up all your battery by constantly trying to connect to some non-existent server, by deleting or deactivating any unused or old apps. This way you will save more hours on your battery’s life and also your valuable data.

Use push notifications if possible

Use the push notifications of your Android’s built-in email application, which is really great and stylish and comprises almost everything, but having it poll for messages every 15 minutes isn’t the good for your phone’s battery. If your mail provider offers push notification support use it as it will reduce the power drain on your phone’s battery.

Check yourself

Install an app which shows you your battery consumption app wise. Apps like Battery Doctor will give you a much better indication of what’s literally eating away at your phone’s battery over. Then you can decide which applications you want to shutdown priority wise to save your battery.

Keep your Phone’s Screen brightness low

Set your phone to its minimum possible brightness by default, as it’s your display that’s by far the biggest user of power. Then stick a big brightness high/low toggle widget on the home screen, in a place you can find it without being able to see it (like when using your now ultra-gloomy phone outside). Then only increase the brightness when you need to.

Dump the widgets

Yes, widgets are a key part of Android, think that do you really need a constantly updating Facebook widget on a home screen? It keeps disturbing you whole day and most of the updates you see are boring and useless. But, to keep this feature running on your phone your phone’s battery gets strained a lot for whole day. So, best option is to uninstall the widget and do log into your Facebook account to see the updates from friends when you have time.

Remove haptic feedback

Indeed your brain’s had adequate practise using touch devices that it knows if you’ve pressed something or not by now? If so, turn off all the haptic feedback options. These little vibrations use power each time you press a key, so try to get used to life without physical feedback and save your battery.

Switch Off GPS

When you have the GPS activated on your phone it keeps looking for the places you move, and it takes a lot of battery’s power, if you don’t want to use your GPS to locate you everywhere you go and save battery turn it off. Turn it on when you need it, and use the option to have your phone detect your location through the wi-fi connection. Wi-fi location is generally close enough an approximation for most apps. And if they do need GPS, they’re clever enough to tell you anyway, then you can turn on your GPS to use that app.

Put your phone in a place it gets strong signal

A strong connection to your phone network requires less power to maintain, otherwise your phone keeps searching for the strongest network and keeps trying to connect to it, and it consumes a lot of your phone’s battery. So instead of keeping it in your pocket, stick it somewhere and point it in the right direction so you see the maximum number of connection strength bars.

Keep it Cool

Batteries work best in cooler temperatures, with stretched warm periods increasingly lowering their efficiency over time. Putting your phone in a looser pocket might help, or perhaps just keeping it in air while it charges.

How to Fix a RAM Problem?

What is RAM?

Random Access Memory (RAM) is a way for your computer to store temporary data or information that it is likely to need quickly and very frequently. Other ways that computers store data are through a cache or storage. Storage, often wrongly referred to as memory, is permanent data stored on a hard drive or solid state drive. A CPU cache is a small amount of memory that is stored right on the CPU chip. The cache is for data that is used very frequently. Both the RAM and CPU cache are temporary data stores that are cleared when your computer is turned off.

However, the Memory problems are very less common than a lot of other computer problems for the reason that memory sticks have no moving parts so have less points of failure. However, due to this a lot of RAM problems are misdiagnosed. Memory generally is more retentive than other computer components so manufacturers offer warranties longer on the RAM than most other computer parts.

Symptoms of a RAM problem

When your programs, websites, and other usual work you do on your computer becomes usually slower than normal it is a symptom of weakening RAM.
When computer restart randomly when you are in the middle of something or if it freezes up intermittently, this could be a sign of defective RAM.
When your computer screen flashes a blue screen with white text before restarting it might be a sign of damaged RAM, however, many other things can also cause this problem.
When you face the problem of files getting randomly corrupted or the file structure of your hard drive go downhill and become unbootable this situation is caused by a defective RAM.
When you attempt to install and new program and repeatedly get a failure message on your screen this might be due to a damaged RAM.
When you try to reinstall the operating system, but keep getting odd error messages it is almost a sure sign of defective memory.

There are surely numerous problems that could cause the issues listed above, but defective RAM is often ignored. If you have one or few of the above listed problems it is likely your computer has a defective RAM.

What sort of problem could have caused damage to your RAM?

Power Surge: Power surges of course can cause all types of problems to computer components including RAM. The best way to protect your computer is to plug your computer into a surge protector.
Improper Earthing: Electrostatic discharge can cause damage to many computer components including RAM.
Heat: Excessive heat can cause RAM and many other computer parts to wear out over time. If your CPU is kept in such a place where it can’t get cool by air it is more likely that your computer components might get heated and stops working. Not just heat from each individual part, but heat from one component can cause damage to adjacent parts in a computer.
Misconfiguration: If you have overclocked (Overclocking is the process of making a computer or component work more rapidly than the clock rate specified by the manufacturer by changing system parameters) any part of your computer improperly, it may cause damage to your RAM in the form of excess heat as noted above.
Manufacturing Defects: Your RAM may have some fault that did not become evident instantaneously or worsened over time, may cause damage to your RAM.

It is also possible that the RAM is not the problem at all. One or more memory slots on your motherboard could have a flaw that made the RAM to not execute on the whole. The defect may even be so bad that it damaged the memory stick in some manner.

Diagnosing the Problem

If you have recently added more RAM to your computer and facing problems then it may be your new RAM. This appears apparent, but any time a problem starts taking place after making any change to your computer, first check to see if the change induced the problem.

If your computer produces multiple beeps or a constant beep when you start it, these beeps can be a sign of different problems as well as possibly being a symptom of bad RAM. Beep codes differ by the manufacturer of your BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). You should first look up for the beep codes for your computer, this can help you eradicate other potential troubles.

RAM Slot Levers: The levers for the memory slot are white in this example.

There are various diagnostic programs that can help you figure out if you have a RAM problem. Your computer may have one pre-installed or you can download a third party program such as memtest86. Microsoft also has a program to help you diagnose RAM problems. The Windows Memory Diagnostic is a very good program to use if you suspect RAM problems on your computer.

If the programs listed above shows that your RAMs are properly functioning, but you still suspect a RAM problem or if you need to find which RAM is the problem you can try removing and exchanging their position in different slots. Memory modules are small circuit boards that will be perpendicular to your motherboard. If your computer has more than one module you need to remove all of them except one and then run the diagnostic tests discussed above or perform the task that usually causes the problem, keep changing the RAMs until you find out which RAM is malfunctioned.

Untitled — RAM Slot Levers: What installed memory modules look like.

Fixing the Problem

To take out a RAM you will need to press the tiny levers on each end to release it. When you press the levers on the both sides of the Memory slot your RAM will pop up. When replacing a RAM, make sure the indention on the bottom is lined up properly with the slot and then press it in until you hear the levers snap and get fixed in the place they intend to.

If you find that your RAM sticks are working properly, then it might be the memory slot, in that case you would need to replace your motherboard. Due to a power surge it is possible that all the memory modules are damaged and you need to buy a new motherboard.

What is Side Loading?

Sideloading simply means installing applications on your android phone without using the official Android Market. Now the reason why you are reading this post is “how it’s done and why you would do it.” Let’s explain it.

Go to the Application settings on your Android phone, find a check box “Allow installation of non-Market applications,” usually it’s unchecked but when it’s checked, you can sideload. When you check this box you will see a pop-up warning letting you know that your phone is now more exposed to attacks from applications, and that you accept all the responsibility for any malfunctioning of your device doing this. It makes sense — you can’t blame Google for applications you didn’t install through Google PlayStore using their security methods.

Sideloading apps in your android phone is quite easy. You can easily download them to your android phone, and can easily install and use them using the app installer program, and it will install your app just as if it had came from the trusted Android Market. It won’t be linked with your Android Market account, but it will be visible in your app drawer just like all the rest of your apps installed on your phone. It didn’t used to be this easy for everyone. Under the guise of security, many companies manufacturing android phones earlier used to block users from sideloading. Still if you are using an old android phone you might face the problem when manually installing an app on your android device, it would be blocked because it doesn’t allow you to do so. This could be fudged by using a program like the Sideload Wonder Machine.

There are various reasons people go for sideloading apps on their android devices. Probably you want to use a different appstore or if you are a developer or a coding ninja and want to test your apps on beta. There are numerous legitimate reasons for sideloading but it is true that there is a piracy aspect associated with it. So, our best advice is to go legal way !

Introduce Yourself with Your Full Name to Make People Remember You

We meet a lot of people every day and the first thing we do is to introduce ourselves. We often introduce ourselves with just our first name when we meet people. Instead, try using your full name so people can remember it easier. We know how hard it is to remember people’s names, but introducing yourself with your full name really makes it easier for others. Unbelievable, huh?

Well, there are reasons to do so, your parents gave you a first and last name for a reason; don’t hesitate to use them both. The first couple of times you might feel it kind of ridiculous. You might think, who cares about my full name? But you’d be surprised to know that how differently people treat you when you say your first and last name. It’s memorable, it’s powerful, and it’s the differentiation between making a lackluster connection and a surprisingly great one.

You might think it’s too formal to use your full name, but the objective here is to make it easier for others to remember you. After all they probably know people with your first name, but no one with both your first and last name. And you know you will feel really good when people call you with your full name or your last name i.e., surname.

We would love to hear back from you on your experiences when you introduced yourself with your full name. Please send in your suggestions and comments in the comment box below.

How to Use Wifi Direct?

Few years back we were all entangled into the network created by cables, whether it was your TV, telephone, internet connection, computer, or the gaming device. But, there came the Wifi and there was a paradigm shift in the field of connectivity and that too without the web of cables. It gave us option to sever our ties with cables and roam free while still keeping us connected with your devices and the world all around.

But there came the devil of free riders, who intentionally breach and enter into your network, but it was sorted by creating access points and passwords, which were hard to crack. But, still we needed to free ourselves from remembering those lengthy passphrases and enjoy the privacy while getting connected over the web and in between our network. So, then there came the Wifi Direct, it promises you to keep your private network completely secure and freedom to connect you with any device of your choice and that too without cables. Isn’t that exciting?

Of course, but the problem here is how to use the Wifi Direct, probably you don’t know that. Okay, let’s see how you can enjoy the boon of Wifi Direct without compromising your online security.

Now you might have question about the security of this method, so let us tell you that, this is because Wi-Fi Direct devices establish their own ad-hoc networks as and when necessary, permitting you see which devices are available and choose which one you require to connect with.

With Wif Direct you can print documents, share data, sync files, and display information from notebooks and netbooks, as well as from devices like smart phones and tablets. Products certified Wi-Fi Direct can connect to other wireless devices without joining a traditional wireless network or Wi-Fi® hotspot.

WiFi Direct Setup

From the Home screen, tap Applications > Settings > More.
Tap the slider next to Wi-Fi Direct to turn the feature On or Off. You may see a prompt to turn off Wi-Fi client/hotspot operation. Tap OK to continue.
Tap Wi-Fi Direct to connect to other Wi-Fi Direct devices.
Your device will automatically scan for other Wi-Fi Direct devices. If the device you want to connect with is not listed, ensure Wi-Fi Direct is turned on in both device and tap Scan again.
Tap on the name of the device you would like to connect with from within the list shown on the screen after the scan on your device.
The other device will receive an Invitation to connect prompt and will have two minutes to Accept, in order to make the connection among those two devices.
Once connected, the other device will be displayed as Connected (often highlighted or in some cases an indication of ON at the right side of the device name) in your list of Wi-Fi Direct devices, and the Wifi icon will be visible at the top of your screen.

Sharing Information with Connected Device

To share any data viz., videos, pictures, or other information with the connected device, follow these steps:

Look at the information you want to share. For instance, if you want to share a photo, find the photo in your Gallery, or My Files, then tap the Share icon or tap the Menu key and look for Share, Share page, Share via, or Send via option, and select Wi-Fi Direct.
Select the device from the list you desire to send the file to.
You will see the Outbound transfers screen on your device. When the transfer is finish, the receiving device will see a prompt in the status bar displaying a Wi-Fi Direct file has been received.
When you receive a file via Wi-Fi Direct, you can find the received file in My Files > sd card (if available) > ShareViaWifi.

Note: The prompts and shared folder information may differ depending on your device model.

How to Upload Your Books on Google Play ?

Are you a bibliophile and love to read on the go? We have a good news for you ! You can just upload your own books on Google Play Books and can read them anywhere anytime on your mobile or tablet. You just have to keep in mind that the files should be of the PDF and/or EPUB varieties and should be be DRM-free. DRM is Digital Rights Management that allows sellers to control what you do with their product to some extent. Nevertheless, you can get DRM-free files from different sources, like Project Gutenberg and their Affiliates.
Google Play Books in fact makes a fairly good eReader. The best part is that it automatically syncs notes, highlights, the place you leave off and you can start off from right where you left reading on any of the devices you use. The syncing goes on with your Google account.
Let’s talk about how to upload these files.
Enable book uploads on the app
PDF and EPUB files can be uploaded from the app and from its desktop counterpart.
Before you could upload your book via the app, you need to go in and manually enable file uploads. You can do this only through the App version of Play Books.
When you open up the app, hit those three lines next to the book in the upper left-hand corner of the screen to see the menu. Select “Settings.”
In the settings menu, you’ll see several options. Go ahead and check “Enable PDF uploading” to be able to proceed and upload your books.
Uploading Books Using the App
Great! Now you are ready to upload your books on Google Play Books.
To upload a file on Google Play Books, you first have to save the book on your phone or tablet. Access the file from your tablet or phone in the location or folder you have saved it, now tap the book and you will see option to upload your book on the Google Play Books. Your upload is dependent upon the size of the book you are uploading and the internet connection you are using.
Uploading Books on the Web
Now, the books can also be downloaded from your PC if you are logged into you Google account, just go to Play Book’s Website and you’ll see an “Upload files” icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Select that, choose the file you want to upload and go ahead. In few minutes your book will appear in the “Uploads” section of your library of Google Play Books.

Bingo ! Let’s Go Digital and save paper !
Please send in your Comments and suggestions in the box below.

How to Boost Your Wireless Signal Strength?

Troubleshooting your network’s wireless performance can appear like an arcane exercise, until you think that there are actually just two most important factors to mull over, those are, range and speed. Yes, and in fact, you can have one without the other. For instance, it’s fantastic to have a super-fast wireless network, but if you only get enough speed when your laptop or the WiFi device is right next to the router, the speed isn’t something which you should think about. In such a situation, you need to boost the range of signals. If you can hardly open friends’ Facebook pictures when you’re in the same room as the router, then we’re speaking about problems with internet speed.

In this article we will find out what could go wrong when you start to think about troubleshooting to that and how you can actually get over the problem you are facing.

Generally, speed and range issues can both be the reasons for the performance issues. In any case, you want both your speed and range to be as robust as possible without paying any extra bucks. There are various factors that can hamper both aspects of performance.

Distance can undoubtedly hamper performance. You may be working in a room which is too far from your wireless router or your home or office is structure could be a factor in poor wireless performance. You can have the performance issue with your wifi device if the signals have to bounce around too many corners to reach your wireless devices (however, new routers come with beamforming technology which helps direct a router’s signal to the wireless clients).

Obstruction with the signal can be a big factor in slow performance, too. If you live in an apartment, your home might be inundated with signals from routers of your neighbors. Maybe structural interference is the reason for slower performance of your router. Electrical gadgets like microwaves, refrigerators, washing machines, dryers etc., if they lie between your wifi router and your Wifi device then they can cause obstruction to the signal’s strength and consequently slower speed on your device.

May be you are using the same channel as your neighbors are using so your router becomes slow to compete with them and gives you poor signal strength. Or maybe it’s the software you’re using, because just like everything else routers also need software updates—and sometimes the firmware they initially ship with is updated in a latest-release version of the router.

These are just a few of the possible reasons your internet connection might be poor (or nonexistent). But, luckily there are many ways to boost your wifi signal, and most of them simply involve a bit of modification to your wireless network. Few involve buying reasonably affordable components and few are absolutely free. We’ll discuss in detail about most useful fixes for your internet connectivity woes.

Change the Channel

Wi-Fi routers operate on specific channels, when you set up a router, it generally chooses a certain channel by default, whereas the latest routers choose the least-crowded channel, but yours may not have that technology built-in. Check for yourself which Wi-Fi channel is the least crowded to boost your router’s performance. A good, free tool to use is inSSIDer. Just see the column “Channel.” See how many routers in this area are on channel 6 in the picture below? If your router is on the same channel, you need to switch it to a less-crowded one (routers generally operate on channels 1, 6, and 11 at the 2.4GHz band), so that you can get a better performance from your router. You can easily change the channel of your router by going into its interface. All routers have different ways to access the interface, so check with your router’s manufacturer.

Update Router Firmware

Updating router firmware is often ignored by home users, however, business networking devices generally show some sort of notification when newer software for the device is available for download. Consumer wireless routers, particularly older routers, don’t always show this notification. So, it is advisable to check often for firmware updates for your router. There is usually a section in the router’s interface for upgrading the firmware. Nonetheless, you often have to visit router manufacturer’s website and search for the firmware (most manufacturer’s make searching for firmware quite handy) and then upload it through the router’s interface. There are often associated release notes from you which can understand what the firmware helps to fix. These fixes mostly help solve connectivity and poor performance issues on your router.

Update Adapter Firmware

Just like routers, network adapters on PCs and laptops also need firmware updates to stay as good as new. Keep in mind, good wireless range and performance is dictated not just by the router but also by the network adapter on your device. Most laptops have on-board adapters, go into your Network settings to locate the name of the adapter (via the Control Panel in Windows OS) and then to that subsequent manufacturer’s website to make sure you have the latest firmware installed on your device.

Change the Router’s Position

If your router is somewhere in the basement or a place where your device is separated by a wall or anything like a steel cupboard you might face the performance issues. Ideally, a Wi-Fi router should be in a central location. If you need more flexibility in centrally positioning the router, you can purchase custom-length Ethernet Cat 5 cable and position your router in such a place where it can give you maximum signal and connectivity. If you do that, however, this is technically no longer a free option, of course you will get a better performance from your router.

Set Up a Second Router as an Access Point or Repeater

You can easily set up any router as a wireless access point (WAP). You need to connect the second router’s LAN port to the primary router’s LAN port, to do so. If your primary router’s IP address is 192.168.2.1 and its netmask is 255.255.255.0, you could make the second router’s IP 192.168.2.2 and use the same netmask. It’s also significant to keep in mind that you assign the same SSID and security on the second router and turn DHCP off on the second one as well.

Newer routers make this progression pretty easier. If you have a spare router that’s only a few years old, it can perhaps be set to work in “access point” or repeater mode to amplify your router’s signal strength and give you a better performance. Configuring is often as easy as clicking a button. You can also go for buying a dedicated access point. This is a more expensive option, but will save you some network-configuration complexities.

Antennas

Newer 802.11n Wi-Fi routers are progressively more coming with internal antennas, but some still have external ones, and these antennas can often be upgraded. Consider a high-gain antenna, which you can position so that the Wi-Fi signal goes in the direction you want.

Repeaters and Extenders

Most key wireless networking device manufacturing companies offer devices that act as repeaters or wireless extenders. While they can boost a Wi-Fi signal, they can be complicated to set up, can cause obstruction with the signal, and can be costly. A good repeater or extender can cost you almost Rs. 10,000.

New Router & Adapters

Upgrading your home or business place’s Wi-Fi network to 802.11n and using the 5GHz band should give evident performance enhancement. 2.4GHz is said to in fact have larger range than the 5GHz band, but that only becomes perceptible when supplying wireless coverage to large areas, for example, college campuses or societies having few flats or apartments. In our router testing, for smaller areas, which are used in a typical home network, 802.11n and the 5GHz band usually delivered better throughout than 2.4GHz, at larger distances. It’s obviously a more costly option, but if wireless connectivity is important for you, it’s a reasonable one. If you go with an 802.11n router, you will of course, require to replace client adapters that don’t support “N” as well. USB-based 802.11n adapters are handy ways to revise a laptop that may have an older on-board adapter.

Single-Vendor Solution

Manufacturers say that their products will work with other products very well. But it just makes sense that a manufacturer’s own products will be most compatible with other products produced by the same company. If possible, try to buy all your network devices from one manufacturer. That means not only your router or adapter, but also your antennas, repeaters, and access points, this way you will be more at ease for getting better performance from your Wi-Fi network.

How to Save Data when Using Google Chrome?

Most of us use the limited data plan which is provided to us by our respective service providers, and it’s wise to save your data and cut your expenses on data plans, on limited data plans, data saved is data earned. Earlier, a lot of popular music streaming apps have made it possible to save your data consumption by storing music on our devices, so that you don’t have to use your data again and again to enjoy your favorite music. Now Google also makes it possible for us to save data using its Chrome web browser. Data savings are made possible by condensation from Google’s servers. So how can you save your data, let’s find that out.

Step 1: Open the Overflow Menu When you open Chrome browser in your phone, you should see something like this at the top of the screen. Select those three dots you see in the upper right-hand corner of the screen (also called “overflow menu”).

Step 2: Select Settings By tapping on these dots you will have an overflow menu opened up, you’ll see a new menu come up on your device’s screen. Scroll down and find “Settings” and tap on the settings. You may have to scroll almost down to the bottom of the new menu and you will find a screen something like the following picture.

Step 3: Select “Bandwidth Management” Tap on “Bandwidth management.” It will take you to the Bandwidth Management tab.

Step 4: Select “Reduce data usage” Select “Reduce data usage.”

Step 5: Toggle Switch from Off to On After selecting “Reduce data usage,” you’ll see a screen explicating that pages loaded with this feature turned on will be constricted through Google’s servers. You’ll also find a “Learn more” option at the bottom, which gives you a more elaborated account of the data saving process. Turn on the on/off toggle in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Step 6: Observe Effects on Data Usage Once data compression is toggled to on, you’ll be taken to a screen where you can monitor how much data you have saved using this feature on Google Chrome browser. You can always return to monitor data usage by going back to bandwidth management and selecting “reduce data usage” again. Now you can enjoy using your save data for other things you love to do on your android phone! Happy Saving !

How to Reduce Stress at Work?

In today’s world some workplace stress is very normal, extreme stress can hamper with your productivity and affect your physical and emotional health. And your capability to put up with it can mean the difference between success and failure.

It’s true that you can’t control everything in your work environment which leads to stress, but that don’t mean you are helpless. Finding ways to manage workplace stress isn’t about making vast changes or rethinking professional dreams, but slightly about focusing on the one thing that’s always within your control and that is “YOU.”

Coping with Work Stress in Today’s Uncertain Climate

For people universally, the distressed economy may feel like an emotional roller coaster. “Layoffs” and “budget cuts” have become bywords in all the corporate offices, and the effect is bigger apprehension, indecision, and higher levels of tension. Since job stress augment in times of economic crisis, it’s significant to learn new and better ways of handling the pressure.

Your emotions are transmissible, and stress has an affect on the quality of your communications with others. The better you are at managing your own anxiety, the more you’ll positively bear upon those around you, and the less other people’s stress will negatively influence you.

You Can Learn How to Manage Job Stress

There are a number of steps you can take to decrease both your overall stress levels and especially the job related stress. These include:

Taking responsibility it will help you to improve your physical and emotional well-being.
Avoid pitfalls by identifying imprudent habits and negative attitudes that increase the stress for you in your workplace.
Learn better communication skills and it will improve your relationships with management and colleagues.

Time Management Tips for Reducing Job Stress

Create a balanced schedule: Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. All work and no play is a recipe for burnout. Try to find a balance between work and family life, social activities and solitary pursuits, daily responsibilities and downtime.
Don’t over-commit yourself:Avoid scheduling things back-to-back or trying to fit too much into one day. All too often, we underestimate how long things will take. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the “shoulds” and the “musts.” Drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.
Try to leave earlier in the morning:Even 10-15 minutes can make the difference between frantically rushing to your desk and having time to ease into your day. Don’t add to your stress levels by running late.
Plan regular breaks:Make sure to take short breaks throughout the day to take a walk or sit back and clear your mind. Also try to get away from your desk or work station for lunch. Stepping away from work to briefly relax and recharge will help you be more, not less, productive.

Task Management Tips for Reducing Job Stress

Prioritize tasks:Make a list of tasks you have to do, and tackle them in order of importance. Do the high-priority items first. If you have something particularly unpleasant to do, get it over with early. The rest of your day will be more pleasant as a result.
Break projects into small steps:If a large project seems overwhelming, make a step-by-step plan. Focus on one manageable step at a time, rather than taking on everything at once.
Delegate responsibility:You don’t have to do it all yourself. If other people can take care of the task, why not let them? Let go of the desire to control or oversee every little step. You’ll be letting go of unnecessary stress in the process.
Be willing to compromise:When you ask someone to contribute differently to a task, revise a deadline, or change their behavior at work, be willing to do the same. Sometimes, if you can both bend a little, you’ll be able to find a happy middle ground that reduces the stress levels for everyone.

How to Negotiate Your Starting Salary?

Being a good negotiator is a critical success factor for climbing the career ladder. But, unfortunately a lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of negotiating.

Now ask a question to yourself, based on your experience, industry norms and the qualification you have what salary do you deserve then compare the salary with your monthly or yearly expenses along with any savings plan if you have. Now, what if you have been offered a lower salary than you expect? How would you meet your expenses and save for your dream car, or dream house?

I am sure, you don’t have answer to that. Don’t be shy to ask for what you deserve. Although few people have more natural ability when it comes to negotiating, anyone can learn the skill – all it takes is a little research, confidence and some practice.

Let’s see how you can get the salary you deserve:

Understand the Job Completely: Ensure you understand the responsibilities you would be bearing, requirements you have to fulfill, and expectations of the company from you in the position you are being offered.
School Yourself about the Company: Ensure you’ve asked and understand how the company reviews employee performance as well as the process for appraisals and promotions (which is a good discussion to have with the HR person).
Arm Yourself with Salary Information: Spend time to conduct research on average salaries and salary ranges for analogous jobs in your area, industry, and country. There are many websites that provide salary information.
Know Your Strengths and Differentiators: Why are you unique and special from everyone else? Do a SWOT analysis about yourself to understand your differentiators and the special skills or experiences that could make you a more valuable employee. Write down the differentiators as this information can be used as leverage to negotiate a higher opening salary with the hiring manager.
Determine How Much You’d Like to Make: Now compare both your past experiences, qualification you have, the results of your online research about the salary, and the outcomes of your SWOT analysis to determine the salary range you would like to make.
Decide on an Appropriate Salary Range: Based on your research of similar jobs in your country, state and industry, get a hold of what you think would be a suitable salary range for the job. Your target salary should plunge within this range.
Define Your “Walk-away” Point: Now that you’ve decided your target salary and a fitting salary range, think about the least salary you’re ready to accept and why you’d admit that amount. Then, think about the reasons why you’d be reluctant to take a lower amount. Write down the reasons, keep all those reasons in your mind while you talk about the salary with your hiring manager.
Practice Your Negotiation Skills: Request a friend or family member to conduct a mock interview with you in the role play of a hiring manager who has offered you a lower salary than what you want. Then practice what you will say and how you will say to him in order to persuade him to increase their offer.

Remember that it’s in the hiring manager’s best interest to cautiously decide the salary offers they make to new employees. This is for the reason that he or she needs to ensure that their compensation offers are internally and externally viable and that they don’t offer too high or too low a salary, given the education, experience levels, and productivity of the employees presently working in the same or similar positions. In most of the companies, a lot of research and analysis goes into every salary offer, prior to the job offer is ever made.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t negotiate for a higher salary – by all means, go for it if you believe you have good reasons for the negotiation. This is particularly correct if you have specific skills or training that are in short supply or worth more to the company you are going to join.

Most hiring managers don’t involuntarily try to low-ball salary offers, but they will more often than not begin with an amount that is lower than what they are willing to pay, for the reason that they believe the candidate will try to negotiate upward. So keep in mind, negotiation is a skill you can sharpen up. But, it’s up to you to get what you want and what you be worthy of.

How to Manage Your Time for More Productive Day ?

Before we begin to manage time, we must understand what time is. A dictionary defines time as “the point or period at which things occur.” In simple words, time is when stuff happens.

In the real world there are two types of time: “clock time” and “real time.” In clock time, there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year. And what’s interesting to note here is that all time passes in the same way. When somebody turns 60, they are accurately 60 years old, no more or no less. In real time, all time is proportional. Now, your real time flies or drags entirely depend on what you’re doing. Two hours waiting for a Bus at the bus station feel like 10 years, you see your watch hundred times in between, fiddle around with your phone, read a book, listen to music on your music player and a lot of things you do, just to pass your two hours of waiting time. And yet you meet your cousin after 5 years and you feel that he has grown up in only two hours.

Which time describes the world in which you really live, real time or clock time?

The basic reason why time management gadgets and systems don’t work is that these systems are contrived to manage clock time. Clock time is beside the point. You don’t live in clock time. You live in real time, a world in which all time flies when you are having fun or drags when you are doing something which you don’t like.

But, you know the best thing is that real time is psychological. It exists in your mind. You create it. And, anything you create, you can manage. It’s time to remove any self-limitation you have around like, “not having enough time,” or today not being “the right time” to start a business or manage your existing business appropriately.

There are only three ways to spend time productively and the simple rule is “ACT”: A – Actions, C–Conversations, T – Thoughts. But, it is comprehended in the reverse order, and this is where the success lies. You first need to think, then conversation means discussing your thoughts, and finally Act means carrying out your thoughts into actions. Irrespective of the business type you own, your work will be comprised of those three items.

As an entrepreneur, you may be repeatedly disturbed or pulled in different directions. While it’s not possible for you to eliminate the interruptions, but you have to ask yourself how much time you will spend on them and how much time you will spend on the thoughts, conversations and actions that will lead you and your business to success.

Practice the following techniques to become master of your own time:

Carry a notepad or any electronic device you are comfortable with and record all your thoughts, conversations and activities for a week. This will help you analyze how much work you can get done during the course of a day and where your precious time is going waste. After doing this regularly for a couple of week, you’ll see how much time is really spent producing results and how much time is consumed on fruitless thoughts, conversations and actions.
Any thought, activity or conversation that’s really significant to your success should have a time assigned to it. To-do lists becomes longer and longer to the point where they’re impracticable, but, Appointment books work! Schedule appointments with yourself and make time slots for high-priority thoughts, conversations, and actions. Schedule when they will start out and finish. Have the discipline to keep these appointments.
Plan to spend at least half of your time engrossed in the thoughts, activities and conversations that generate most of your results.
Schedule time for interruptions, you know that it will happen, so ask your colleagues to interrupt you in a certain time, let’s say one hour after the lunch, this is a slow time generally to do productive work. So this, way you would have proper and planned time for the interruptions.
Take the first half hour of every day to plan your whole day. Do not start your workday until you complete your time plan for the rest of the day. And, the most significant time of your day is the time you assign to schedule time.
Sit relax for five minutes before every task and decide what result you want to achieve. This will help you know what success looks like prior to you begin your task. Take five minutes after each activity you do to determine whether your desired result was attained. If not, what was missing? How do you arrange what’s missing in your next activity?
Put up a “Do not disturb” sign on your door when you absolutely have to get your work done.
Do not answer the phone just because it’s ringing and e-mails just because they are popping up on your computer screen. Disconnect instant messaging for the time when you are working. Don’t give people your instant attention unless it’s utterly essential in your business to offer an instantaneous human response. In its place, schedule a time to return phone calls and answer emails.
Block out Facebook, twitter and other forms of social media except you use these to generate business.
Keep in mind that it’s not possible to get everything finished. Also remember that that 20% of your thoughts, conversations and activities produce 80% of your results. Gradually, you will get 100% result from your thoughts, conversations and activities.

How to Make Your Workday More Productive?

All of us want to be more and more productive, but our usual work day spews a lot of barriers on our path to productivity and being us productive. You have many distractions at your workplace, like a phone buzzing every now and then, a chatty coworker talking about the last day’s cricket match, or anything which is disturbing and you cannot focus on your work and you have a deadline to meet and your work is still half done.

To get back to work and be more productive, you need to take a stand against all the distractions you have, and for that first of all you need to prioritize your priorities.

How to Prioritize?

Picking out the correct priorities isn’t always as simple as it might appear. Except you’re the one calling the shots, you’re much at the mercy of teams, coworkers, and managers. The most significant thing is to consider where you add value to the organization and which of your attempts contributes the most.

Go to your supervisor or manager and ask for a short meeting. In the meeting, ask how your boss is evaluating your success. Ask for simply a few metrics, as those will be the most vital aspects of your job. Listen cautiously, and then use these metrics to align your work at your workplace priority wise. Anything on your task list which doesn’t closely align with your value proposition can probably hit the bottom of your priority list.

Recognizing your true value can help you prioritize your tasks without passing over something imperative. It will also help you play to your strengths, meaning you’ll be delivering enormous value and impressing your bosses through your work.

Cut Up Your To-Do List

Are you a to-do list junkie? Don’t feel appalling, for the reason that you are not alone, a large number of professionals are also obsessed with checking items off their to-do lists. A study found that 63% of working professionals use to-do lists in their daily work life and on any given day, though, only 11% of people report in fact carrying out all the tasks they set out for themselves or been assigned by their bosses.

Now the question is, why is the success rate or the productivity at the workplaces is so low when so many working professionals with years of experience are to-do list believers? It’s perhaps because we’re all at fault of overstuffing our to-do lists with every little task, rather than focusing on the most significant. The more tasks you put on your list, the less apt you’ll be able to make it to the bottom prior to the clock strikes five.

If you want to systematize your priorities, begin with your to-do list. Take your list and cut it into three parts. The last part you can put directly in the trash, as the items in this part aren’t on top of your list for a reason.

Now, start with the top of the list, and put the middle one in a drawer for if you have time left. By focusing on only the tasks listed in the top of your list, you’ll be more likely to devote a lion’s share of your time and energy to your most essential tasks, as opposed to wasting time trying to sprint through a haphazard list of tasks.

When to Prioritize?

Working out how to prioritize your work doesn’t happen overnight, and every worker and company is entirely different. Rather than becoming demoralized when your prioritization scheme doesn’t work out, consider finding the right priorities like a science experiment.

At the starting of every week (Monday), take a few moments in the morning to cut your to-do list into three parts and spend the week working your way down the tasks listed in your priority list. Then, at the starting of the next week, review and see what went right, what went wrong, and how you can get better to do the tasks off your priority list. Do this every week. Soon you won’t have to measure the results, as you’ll become better at substantiating which tasks needs to be done instantly, what adds the most value to your work performance, and what can wait.

Examine the outcomes of your efforts just as you would analyze the ROI of any business venture, and tweak as you go along. As we stated at the beginning of this article that every human being is different, so for everyone prioritization is also different. Prioritization isn’t a set-in-stone process, and you should find out what works best for you as a professional.

How to Guard Your Time?

The most precious thing you have is your time, so why waste your time at work on actions that don’t get results? Take a time in your work day and dedicate it as a working “power hour.” During this hour, take a deep breath, mute your phone, close your email, and turn down any meeting invitations.

Prior to enforcing your power hour method in your work day schedule, talk to your manager and explain what you want to do and why. Let your manager or boss know how much work you’ll be able to complete effectively by taking just an hour out of your day away from chaos and distractions. By skipping meetings and putting off the time-sucking aspects of your work life for just one hour, you’ll be astonished at how much of your to-do list you’ll be able to accomplish.

We don’t deny that fact that learning how to organize your priorities and utilize your time optimally isn’t easy, but it can be the best way to improve your productivity at your work place. If you’ve ever felt your precious time going waste at work, organizing your priorities and sticking to your to-do list might be the key to taking back control of your time and workplace productivity.

What do you think? How do you set your work place priorities? Share in the comments!

How to Increase the Battery Life of Laptop?

It happens many a time that when you need your laptop very dearly and you find to your horror, that your laptop is nearly dead. You look for a power source nearby and couldn’t find anything to get your laptop powered up and you still have plenty of urgent work to do on your laptop, probably an important email or an important PowerPoint presentation which you have to send to your boss or a client.

There are a few surefire things which you can do to buy more time on that almost-dead battery so that you can at least meet a deadline or respond to an important email before it’s too late.

Some of these techniques are for when you need to stretch your battery at that very moment, while others are preventative measures, best implemented before your battery life comes up short.

Short-Term Battery-Stretching Strategies

If you’re in a place where you can’t find a power socket to plug in your laptop charger, there are a few things you can do to enlarge the battery life instantly. None of these methods will in fact increase the amount of power left in the battery, but as a substitute will decrease the amount of power the laptop is using, letting you clutch in a few more valuable minutes before the battery goes defunct.

Activate Your Laptop’s Battery Saver Mode or Eco Mode: Designed with these types of situations in mind, most Battery-Saver or Eco modes will employ a number of automatic changes to extend usable battery life—numerous of the same changes we’ll be making here. This saved profile will fine-tune your laptop’s settings and shift gears into low-power states to help you consume your remaining battery power a little longer. Once you’ve turned on the automatic battery-saver tool, there is still plethora of steps to take to economize on even better competence. This is done by turning off needless devices, correcting settings to decrease power consumption, closing unwanted apps and processes, and aligning your activities to use less power.
Disable Unused Devices and Ports: The most convenient way to minimize power consumption is to plainly turn stuff off. Every constituent in your laptop requires power to function, but that doesn’t mean you need to power all of those components all the time. Begin by disconnecting any not required peripherals (like a USB mouse or external drive) and switching off the greatest power hogs, like graphics processors, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, and unused optical drives.

WARNING: Prior to crippling any constituent or device, quit and ensure that this device is not in use, and that it is not necessary to ongoing operation of the laptop. For instance, you do not want to disable the hard drive that houses the operating system, or the processor that runs the whole laptop. Only put out of action those devices you are at ease switching off.

To put out of action idle devices on a Windows system, open up your system’s Control Panel and find the Device Manager. In the Device Manager, individual constituents are grouped by category. For instance, Network Adapters will often comprise both the LAN adapter, which provides Ethernet connectivity, and Wi-Fi, for wireless networking.

The four typical prospects for saving power on your laptop battery are the graphics card (found under Display Adapters), the Ethernet, Wi-Fi adapters (under Network Adapters) and the optical drive (found under DVD/CD-ROM Drives). Locate the device you want to close within the pertinent category. Right click on the device name, and choose “Disable” from the drop down menu.

You can also switch off any idle ports through the Device Manager. Just like an extension cord left connected to a power outlet, these idle plugs still have power going through them, and wasting some in the process. The real affect on battery life will be negligible, but if you want to stretch another minute or two of life, this will definitely help. Take a swift look at your ports, and switch off anything that’s not being used, like USB ports with not anything attached to them.

Adjust Your Settings: While you’ll still have to use the video display and the keyboard, you can correct the settings for each to minimize power consumption. One often ignored power exhaust is keyboard backlighting. Except you’re in the dark, and require the backlight just to distinguish each key, turn the backlight off completely. You can usually allocate a hotkey for this purpose.

The next big vent of your laptop’s battery power drain is your laptop’s screen. While you need to keep the screen up and running to use the laptop, you don’t actually require it running at 100% brightness or full resolution. A number of laptops have hotkeys for increasing and lessening the screen brightness, but if not, it can be corrected in the control panel. Adjusting the display to 50% when you’re running on battery power can add a noteworthy amount of time to your laptop battery.

In addition, if you’re merely typing up a document, you don’t require all of the detail offered by a 1080p or higher display. Adjusting the screen resolution to a basic 1,366×768 resolution or lower decreases the amount of power used in graphics processing devoid of negatively affecting your ability to work, letting your laptop work a little longer than at full resolution.

Lastly, switch off or turn down the sound on your laptop. If you still want to hear, decrease the volume as low as you can, and switch laptop’s larger speakers to a set of tiny earbuds to get the audio right to your ears. On every occasion possible, just mute the laptop on the whole. That way, the speakers won’t be receiving any power, and you’ll have some more precious time from your same battery.

Turn Off Apps and Processes: It’s not just the hardware that’s squeezing your battery juice, various apps and processes running on your laptop will also drain your battery quickly. In terms of hardware the advice is to turn off anything that isn’t being used.

In Windows, begin by taking a look in your System Tray, the assemblage of icons in the lower right corner of the desktop, in the task bar, next to the clock. On the left end of the System Tray in the task bar, select the icon to show hidden icons. See which apps are running in the background, open up the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc, or Ctrl+Alt+Del and select Task Manager from the menu. Once in the Task Manager, take a look at the open apps — you may discover that a program or two have been left running just as you forgot to close a window.

Next, go to the Processes tab. This shows you what processes are presently running on your machine. While some of these are required, some, like those linked with music and video players or cloud storage services (like Dropbox or Google Drive) can be disabled as they are not required at the time.

Simplify: You can also extend your laptop’s battery life by changing your own activities on your laptop. Multitasking is good when you have full power, but running a number of programs at once puts a larger load on the processor and your laptop consumes more battery. So, close those programs which are not required at the time and use only those programs which you need immediately.

Instigate by single-tasking—if you need to type up a document, close any extra programs running on your laptop. Turn off the Spotify still, if you want to keep some tunes going, immediately switch from streaming media to the songs on your laptop’s hard drive — your laptop will still be using some extra power to play them, but streaming media over Wi-Fi uses the laptop’s wireless radio which consequently consumes more battery power.

You can also save your power for a longer use on your laptop battery by switching to simpler tools for the same tasks, like opting for a simple text file (notepad) instead of a Microsoft Word document with lesser features and none of Word’s automatic actions (such as Autosave and Spell Check), you can do all the typing work you need without using quite so much power of your laptop’s battery.

In the situations where you need to keep your laptop’s battery alive for a longer time you should avoid a few activities entirely, like photo and video editing tools, which place a substantial load on the processor and graphics card, and resultantly consume more battery and are the real power hogs.

By doing away with avoidable power uses, you should be able to lengthen the life of your battery in those minutes that you find yourself high and dry.

Long-Term Strategies

These fine-tunes will help turning your system into a mean energy-efficient machine, adding to both the useful time you get the complete value and performance out of a single charge, and stretching the overall lifespan of the battery.

Care and Feeding of Batteries: It starts with taking care of the battery itself. If your laptop has a removable battery, make sure not to injure the battery contacts—they attach the laptop to the battery the power source for your laptop, and if the contacts get grubby or broken, it can decrease and interrupt the flow of power. You can clean the contacts off with a cotton swab, but damaged contacts should be repaired professionally.

Let your battery get drained completely occasionally through normal use so that all the cells in your laptop’s battery remain active, however, the modern laptop’s are designed in a way where your laptop goes on power saving mode and reserves a percentage of your battery power to let you start your laptop again and save the work you were doing when it switched off.

Other important thing is to, keep things cool. Heat can cut down the long-term life of the battery, so take measures to provide optimal airflow and cooling to your laptop while you work on it. The main problems come from physical obstruction of the ventilation ports, dust accumulating on the ventilation ports is another problem which you can remove by periodically cleaning the laptop’s vents and fan.

Always try to use your laptop on surfaces like table or desk or use a lapdesk if you want to use your laptop on bed because the pillows and blankets obstruct the ventilation fan and retain the heat coming out of the laptop which ends up in heating your laptop battery and processor, which is detrimental to the lifespan of the battery.

Tune-Up: The next step is keep your laptop tuned up for more effective consumption of power. A few easy maintenance errands and upgrades will not only help your battery work for you for a longer time, but they will also result in a faster performance of your laptop.

So, the first thing is to regularly defragment your hard drive to make data retrieval more resourceful and also clear the space on your hard drive. An active drive consumes more energy that an idle one, and defragging your hard drive minimizes the time to access data through an active drive. Eventually, as you add and delete files from your system, data is randomly recorded to the hard drive, dissipated in various places of the drive, this disorderly data, necessitates more time and power consumption to access that information. Windows 7 and Windows 8 both come with automatic tools that regularly defragment your drive, but you should make sure that this is enabled and running properly on your laptop.

Defragmenting your drive will also make it more effective. Practice good computer hygiene and remove the unwanted programs and cobwebbed files on a regular basis. Also, don’t forget to clean out the cache on your web browser and delete the old files from the downloads folder.

Upgrade Components: Another alternative is to dump the hard drive altogether, and upgrade to a solid-state drive (SSD). Solid-state drives use flash memory instead of a revolving disk, so there are no moving parts, and these offer more energy efficiency automatically. It also takes out the problems related with fragmentation, which is a more prominent problem with hard drives. Upgrading to an SSD will both increase your battery life, and put some energy in your system, as SSDs offer faster performance and start up times than their traditional counterparts.

Add some additional RAM to your laptop if possible. RAM stores data for frequent use in flash modules, much like an SSD. The more data that the RAM can store, the less dependent the system will be on perpetrating that data afresh from the hard drive every time. Again, plummeting hard drive activity cuts down the power consumption, like an SSD upgrade and adding RAM also has functioning advantages that you will discover instantly.

Battery Backup: At last, the simplest way to make sure that you always have adequate battery power is to carry along an extra; either a spare battery or an external battery packs (power bank). For laptops with a removable battery, the easiest alternative to ensure the constant power supply is a second battery. These can either be bought directly from the manufacturer, or from a third-party company. Simply exchange the old battery for the new once after a while when charging, and carry the charged-up spare battery on every occasion you expect to be away from a power outlet.

Another, best way is to buy an external power pack. While it is also in principle a battery, these external power sources plug into your laptop similarly as your charger does. These power packs come with adapters for use with various laptop models, and can be used even for other devices, like your phone or tablet.

Now, we hope that next time you will never get troubled in such a situation. Any suggestions or comments are welcome. Please feel free to do so in the comment box below.

How to Fix a Non-working Key on Your Laptop’s Keyboard?

You are working on your laptop and all of a sudden one of the keys on your laptop stops responding. Or worse, the entire keyboard is not working now. This can be annoying, particularly when you have some very important work due. But, keep calm and follow one of the steps discussed below.

Check for Crumbs

Hold your laptop upside down and give it a good shake. Sometimes crumbs from your working lunches or snacks can get stuck under the keys and with this you will have it removed from your laptop and your problem will be quickly fixed.

If your problem is still not solved, try cleaning every nook and cranny of your keyboard with a keyboard vacuum or can of compressed air. If one or two keys are stuck due to soda spillage, then you can try cleaning those keys with a cloth soaked in alcohol. But, make sure you are applying the liquid to the cloth first and not directly to the keyboard, it might worse your problem rather than solving it. If you still can’t fix the problem with your stuck key, then pop the faulty key cap off the keyboard and try to clean as much as possible from the key switch, remember that don’t disassemble the key switch unless you know how to put it back. If most of the keys are not working due to coffee spillage, then the best recourse is to have the whole keyboard assembly replaced.

Reboot Your Laptop

There might be problem that your laptop just got hanged and that’s why your keys are not working. In this case you should reboot your laptop, if you can’t use the trackpad or mouse for rebooting, just hold down the power button for about 10-15 seconds to turn the laptop off. Restart after two minutes and see if the problem still exists. If the problem is still not solved, try one the following solutions.

Fix the Driver Issues

The problems associated with your laptop’s keyboard and drivers crops up when you install third-party software or turn your laptop off all the time without using the shut down command.

Open and check the Device Manager on your laptop. If the keyboard line item has a yellow exclamation mark next to it or if the keyboard icon doesn’t show up at all, then you should try to contact your laptop manufacturer’s driver download page, then download and install the latest drivers for your keyboard. Probably, you need to hook up a USB keyboard to do so, but after you have downloaded and installed you will resolve your issue in no time.

Go USB

If you really don’t have time to fix the problem and you need to complete a task quickly on your laptop when your laptop keyboard became unresponsive, just plug in a USB keyboard and finish your task.

Bad Connections

Sometimes the keyboard loses connection with the motherboard and works intermittently or not at all. If you know how to open your laptop’s case and reconnect the ribbon cable at the bottom of your keyboard then you can do that, but if you are not sure about it, do not try to disassemble your laptop rather take your laptop to a professional repair shop.

Defective Keyboard

Sometimes laptop does have a defective keyboard, and if your laptop is in warranty period contact your laptop manufacturer’s tech support. If you are going to submit your laptop for repair it is always better to back up your hard drive’s data in an external hard drive, because they don’t guarantee you the safety of your data.

How to Fix a Computer That Turns On But Displays Nothing?

If you see lights on the computer case (CPU Box), hear fans running from inside, and even hear sounds, but nothing at all shows up on your screen, then you need to check what’s the problem.

There are various possible reasons for your computer’s monitor not turning up. We have tried to list all the possible causes which make your computer’s screen go blank even when your CPU is functioning. Let’s see all those in detail here:

Before you start on more difficult and lengthy troubleshooting with the rest of your computer, make sure your monitor is working properly. Check the power cable of your monitor whether it’s properly plugged in or not.
Double check that your PC has fully power cycled. Put differently, ensure your computer has entirely reset – ensure that it’s coming on from an entirely powered-off state. Many a time a computer will seem to be not working when really it’s just having problems restarting from either the Standby/Sleep or Hibernate power saving mode in Windows.

Note: You can shut down your computer completely while in a power saving mode by pressing and holding the power button for 3 to 5 seconds. After the power is entirely off, turn on your PC and test to see if it will boot without any trouble.

Try to listen the beep sound on your PC and probably if you understand the beep codes, you can find the exact problem in minutes. A beep codewill give you a very clear idea of exactly where to look for the cause of your computer turning off. If you don’t resolve the problem by troubleshooting to the particular beep code, you can always look further to find out and resolve the problem.
Clear the CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, or CMOS, characteristically refers to a battery-powered memory chip in your computer that stores startup information). Clearing theBIOS memory on your computer’s motherboard will reverse the BIOS settings to their factory default levels. A BIOS misconfiguration can stop your PC from being starting up the way it should be.
Make sure that the power supply voltage switch is set properly. If the input voltage for thepower supply is not proper then your computer may not turn on fully. There’s a good chance that your PC wouldn’t turn up at all if this switch is incorrect but an wrong power supply voltage might also stop your computer from starting correctly in this way too.
Resetthe whole lot possible inside your PC. Resetting will reinstate the various connections within your computer and is very often a “magic” fix to troubles like this one. Try resetting the following and then see if your computer starts to show something on screen:
- Reset all internal data and power cables.
- Reset the memory modules.
- Reset any expansion cards.

Note: Remove and plug in your keyboard and mouse as well.

Reset the CPU only if you believe that it might have come slack or might not have been set up appropriately.
Check for reasons of electrical shortsinside your computer. This can be a cause of the problem when the computer powers off by itself or couldn’t start at all.
Check your power supply properly. Just because your computer’s fans and lights are working does not mean that the power supply on your CPU is functioning properly. The PSU (Power Supply Unit) inclines to cause more troubles than any other hardware inside the CPU and is often the cause of a computer not starting properly or getting restart intermittently. The best advice is to replace your power supplywithout delay if it couldn’t pass any test you perform. If you replace your power supply keep your PC plugged in for 5 to 10 minutes before turning it on, this gives time for some recharging of the CMOS battery, which may have been drained due to inactivity of the power supply earlier.

How to Fix a Broken Laptop Charger?

Usually when you plug in your laptop’s charger you find yourself greeted with a joyful sound from your laptop, a glowing LED indicator light, and a display that gains vigor and shines a bit more brilliantly. In general, this is what your laptop is supposed to do when you plug in your charger in its charging jack. But, sometimes, though, what happens instead you plug in your charger and get nothing. And you see that something is wrong. But, what is that?

Between the wall outlet and your battery are quite a few components that can all fail. Few of them are really very easy to fix yourself with a software tweak or you need to purchase an entirely new battery, but some problems may need a visit to a repair shop or even a complete system replacement. But knowing a bit about the problem can save a lot of frustration, money and your valuable time.

So, get ready let’s see what could possibly go wrong with your laptop charger when it stops getting charged.

Are You Plugged In?

It sounds stupid, but you should surely ensure that your laptop is really plugged in. Prior to checking anything else, you need to ensure that both the AC outlet and laptop plugs are resolutely seated. Check the AC adapter brick and validate that any detachable cords are completely inserted. Next, ensure that the battery is correctly seated in its slot, and that there is nothing incorrect with either the battery or laptop contact points. Lastly, discover whether the trouble doesn’t lie with the laptop at all: Try plugging the power cord into another outlet to see if you’ve got a short or a blown fuse.

At this moment, we’ve dogged that it’s not just user mistake inducing the trouble. There is a real problem with powering the laptop; now it’s just a matter of working out where the difficulty may be. That starts with ruling out where it isn’t. We’ll begin with the most frequent and easy-to-solve issues.

Lose the Battery

A simple way to check the integrity of the battery is to remove it entirely and try plugging in the laptop again. If the laptop powers on correctly, the problem was in all probability a bum battery.

Breaks, Burnout, and Shorts

Check the power cord all through by bending and flexing and find out the kinks or breaks if any. Check the ends for any wrecked connections, such as plugs drawing loose or points that your pet might have chewed. Look over the AC brick. Is it tarnished? Are any parts distorted or stretched out? Give it a sniff—if it smells like burnt plastic, that’s prone where the problem lies.

Check the Connector

When you plug in the laptop’s power connector, the connection should be reasonably firm. If it’s swiftly unsteady or slack, or if the receiving socket gives when it should remain firm, the power jack may have cracked within the chassis. Are there stains or any sort of burning smell? If there appears to be any impairment to the power connector, maintenance will be required.

Beat the Heat

Overheating laptop can result in a non-charging battery. This problem is two-fold; with the system closing down to stop overheating a battery and inducing a fire. Also, as the heat rises, the battery sensor may backfire, telling the system that the battery is either completely charged or lacking totally, inducing the charging problems. These problems are more frequent in the old laptops as they don’t have latest technologies of cooling. When you finish your work let the laptop cool down and take the time to ensure that the air vents are clean and open.

Check Your Settings

Open up the Power Options in the Control Panel. Open the plan settings and check that everything is properly set. Check out the wrong settings for the battery, display, and sleep options. For instance, your battery settings may cause problem if you have set the computer to shut down when the battery level sinks too low and set the low battery level at a high percentage. You can also use the settings to allocate actions like sleep and shut down when your cover is closed or the power button is pressed. If these settings have been changed, it’s simple to guess a power break down even though there’s no physical difficulty with the battery or charging cable. The best and most comfortable way to ensure that your settings aren’t inducing problems is to fix the power profile to default settings.

Update Your Drivers

Open the Device Manager in the Control Panel. Under “Batteries” you see three items, one for the battery, another for the charger, and a third as “Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery”. Open each item, which will introduce a Properties window. Under the “Driver” tab, you’ll see a button named “Update Driver.” Go through the driver update process for all of three above. Once the drivers are all up to date, reboot your laptop and plug it in again. If this doesn’t solve the issue, uninstall “Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery” reboot your laptop completely.

Call in Outside Assistance

If you are unable to detect and solve the problem with your broken charger from the above methods, then probably this is a time to contact tech support. Your particular make and model of laptop will likely have its own unique issues, and a seasoned tech support operator will have handled all of them. The tech support operator will probably walk you through several of the steps discussed above, but will also have complete knowledge of software and hardware issues specific to your laptop, such as what bits of hardware usually fail in your model of laptop.

Problems Inside

When you are done with every possible thing to fix the problem on your laptop charger then problem is inside your laptop. A number of internal parts can cause problems when they malfunction or fail. Generally the cause of the non charging battery on your laptop can root from a motherboard, cockeyed logic boards, smashed charging circuits, and faulty battery sensors. In this case you need to contact your manufacturer about what repair options are covered under your warranty, or call up a computer repair shop.

Hopefully, this article helped you discover your exact charging problems. If you have any suggestions or questions, please free to write us back in the comment box below.

Thank You !

How to Clear CMOS?

The computer stores low-level settings like the system time and hardware setting in its CMOS. These settings are configured in the BIOS setup menu. Clearing the CMOS resets your BIOS back to their factory settings default state. In most of the cases, you can clear the CMOS from within the BIOS menu. In some cases you need to open your CPU’s cabinet and do it manually on your motherboard. Let’s discuss both the ways in detail, so that you can properly troubleshoot the problem of your computer yourself.

Use the BIOS Menu

The most convenient way to clear the CMOS is from your computer’s BIOS setup menu. To access the setup menu, you need to restart your computer and press the key that appears on your screen to let you go into the BIOS settings of your computer, mostly it’s the F2 key which allows you to enter into the BIOS settings of your computer. But, you need to see if its different for your computer.

Within the BIOS you need to find the Reset Option. It may be named Reset to Default, Load Factory Defaults, Clear BIOS settings, Load Setup Defaults, or something similar to this.

Select it with your arrow keys (←→), press Enter, and confirm the operation. Your BIOS will now use its default settings — if you have changed any BIOS settings in the past, you will have to change them again.

USE the CLEAR CMOS Motherboard Jumper

A lot of motherboards contain a jumper that can be used to clear the CMOS settings if your BIOS is not accessible. This is especially useful if the BIOS is password protected and you don’t have access to the password.

The exact location of the jumper can be found in the motherboard or your computer’s instruction manual. You should consult the manual for more detailed information if you want to use the motherboard jumper to clear CMOS.

Nevertheless, the fundamental procedure is quite similar on all computers. Flip the computer’s power switch to off to ensure it’s not receiving any power. Open the computer’s case and locate the jumper named something like CLR CMOS, CLEAR CMOS, CLEAR, PASSWORD, or CLR PWD – it will often be near the CMOS battery mentioned below. Before doing so make double sure you’re grounded so you don’t damage your motherboard with static electricity before touching it. Set the jumper to “clear” position, turn on your computer, turn it off again, set the jumper to its original position i.e., ON – and you are done.

Reseat the CMOS Battery

If your motherboard does not have a CLEAR CMOS jumper, you can often clear the CMOS settings by taking out the CMOS battery and replacing it in its slot. The CMOS battery provides power used to save the BIOS settings – this is how your computer keeps record of the time and date you see in the right hand side of the task bar in your window, it keeps working even when your computer has been powered off for a while – so removing the battery will remove the source of power and clear the settings. You need to reset the time and date of your computer once you replace the CMOS battery.

First of all, make sure that the computer is powered off and you are properly grounded so you won’t damage the motherboard with static electricity. Locate the round, flat, silver battery on the motherboard and carefully remove it. Wait for five minutes before reseating the battery.

Clearing the CMOS should always be done for a reason – such as troubleshooting a computer problem or sorting out a forgotten BIOS password. There’s no other reason to clear you CMOS if everything is working perfectly in order.

How Fix the Wi-Fi Connection Problem on Your Android Phone

Everyone with a smartphone knows about Wifi. If nothing else, you know it’s what happens when you get your phone connected with a Wifi network you see a substantial change in the speed of your internet, the reason is the Wifi connection you got connected with is faster than the connection you have on your sim card.

Do you know what does it take to connect your phone with a Wifi network and give you substantial browsing speed? There is a lot going on to make that connection go on. While we’re not going to discuss everything in detail and technical like the software stack or the radio interface hardware, but we are going to talk about the things as users we should know.

Don’t worry, this’ll be fun, and of course a little more familiar with the android device you are using !

What is Wifi?

Wifi refers to any local access wireless network that is based on the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 standards. Devices on a Wifi network transfer data through the airwaves using either a 2.4 GHz Ultra high frequency or 5 GHz Super high frequency.

A Wifi setup comprises an Internet gateway (generally a modem) and an access point (router). The modem is connected to the Internet (a LAN connection), and the access point has a devoted connection to the modem. What the access point does is, filter the things you send and receive from the Internet and dispense them wirelessly to the android device or any other device connected with the Wifi and made the request.

Why do I see so many available Wifi connections on my phone?

When you start the Wifi on your phone, you see a list of every access point you’ve ever connected to, as well as every access point in range that broadcasts its presence. This can be a bit confusing for the reason that the an open network you connected to in Delhi in a Café Coffee Day will be listed, but you’re not likely going to be able to connect if you’re in hyderabad. It gets even more confusing when access points are named MGMT512 instead of “Mumbai Management Institute.”

If you tap the scan button on your phone it will show you which access points are in range (and how strong the signal is based on the little icon) and which ones you have saved but are out of range. You can also delete old connections that you never want to use again just with a long tap on the connection name and then tapping on “Forget”.

When you setup a Wifi network you have option to decide if the name of your Wi-Fi is broadcast and visible or not. If the SSID is not broadcast, it won’t be visible in your list and you’ll have to setup a connection yourself.

Basic Wifi terminology (what do all those letters and numbers mean?)

Like anything that can get a little technical, when you’re talking about Wi-fi networks you’re going to run into a lot of letters that stand for something in terms of Wi-Fi, for example:

11 a/b/g/n/ac:802.11 denotes to the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 specifications for wireless networking on the 2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, 5 GHz and 60 GHz frequencies. Any gadget that’s Wi-fi certified will follow these standards. The letter you see after 802.11 stands for a particular protocol that defines things like range and speed. Normally speaking, the “higher” the letter, the better is the potential range and speed of that connection. If you’ve bought a newer phone, it probably supports at least 802.11 n, and possible 802.11 ac. Most of the modern access points support them, too.
Wi-fi: A trademarked term for a piece of wireless LAN instrument that supports the IEEE 802.11 arrangement. It’s a play on Hi-Fi, a term that stands for high fidelity and was popular for audio systems used years ago. If you see the word Wifi or WiFi or Wi-Fi on anything, that means it meets the standards and will work with other device that contains the Wi-fi trademarked name. Believe it or not, there are fakes out there that don’t meet things like transmission power necessities.
Access point: An access point (when in terms of Wi-fi) is a device that allows other Wi-fi devices to connect to a wireless network. It can be an outside device, or it can be compacted into one piece of machine with a router, or even have a modem added to it.
SSID: The service set identifier. It’s a human-readable string that can be up to 32 bytes long, and used as the network name you see in the list of Wi-fi access points on your phone when you search for the available wi-fi spots.
MAC address: Short for Media Access Control address, is a unique identifier allotted to any networking gear by the manufacturer. While a MAC address is assigned to the hardware and is permanent by nature.
WPS: Wi-fi Protected Setup is a security standard designed to help individual users having a secure wireless network without actually poking their nose into more technical things to adjust everything manually.
Wifi Direct: A way of getting one Android device to talk to another using Wi-fi, but avoiding having to go through an Access Point.

Secured Wi-fi vs. unsecured Wi-fi

Secured Wi-Fi are those networks which require you to enter a password to access through, on the other hand unsecured Wi-fi are those open networks which any one can connect and use while in the range. Open or unsecured Wi-Fi networks are more vulnerable in terms of security and anybody can use it illegally.

You probably want to secure your Wifi network at home. That means you set up an encrypted password on your access point, and any and every device that wants to connect has to enter the same password for access. The security algorithm used for these connections may be WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), WPA (Wifi Protected Access) or WPA2 (a second generation and more secure version of WPA). Like everything else in the IEEE 802.11 specifications, security algorithms get revamped and improved. When security vulnerabilities were found in the WEP protocol, WPA was designed as a quick patch that all devices able to use WEP could also use. WPA2 came later, and is more secure, but some very old equipment may not support it.

Andorid phones supports WPA2 and 802.1xEAP, and that’s the suggested way to secure any Wi-fi network. If you’re setting up a Wifi network yourself, you’ll want to get into a little more detail of the different security protocols and algorithms available, using WPA2 with a strong AES encrypted key is considered as safe until a professional hacker is after getting into your network.

What is WPS?

WPS stands for Wifi Protected Setup. The WPS allows users who don’t know a lot about wireless security to let their hardware set up automatically. When it works, it’s very easy and as secure as setup by a professional networking professional. The only problem with getting through it is that different manufacturers have different ways of starting WPS, and it’s a little clunky.

There are four main methods to use WPS to add a device to a network — the PIN method, the push-button method, the NFC method and the USB method. NFC and USB are optional ways to set things up, however, Android devices generally use the Push Button or PIN method techniques, but in theory could support NFC and USB as well.

To use WPS, it should be enabled on the router you want to connect to. Most Android users will then push a button on their router, then tap the WPS Push Button from the menu in the Wifi settings of their phones. Otherwise, you can connect to your routers control panel interface and use the PIN method.

The Advanced Wifi Setup Menu on Android

If you want connect to a wireless network that doesn’t broadcast it’s SSID or needs special settings you will have to manually add a connection. There’s nothing complicated in here, but in order to connect to a SSID that’s hidden, you just enter the name of the network and choose the type of security it’s using. The rest goes the same way as connecting to a network that’s not hidden.

Under the advanced options setting you will find two new options: Proxy settings and IP settings. On Android, you should know the Proxy Hostname and port to setup a connection that uses one. It might also happen that the router you’re connecting to may have a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server that assigns all the needed network info automatically when you are trying to connect to the this network, but, if it doesn’t, you’ll have to enter the information manually.

While you’ll hardly ever need to set your IP address settings manually, there’s nothing wrong with knowing a few more things beforehand. Let’s discuss it further.

IP address: This is the IP (Internet Protocol) address you want your Android to use. It has to be in the right network range (private IPv4 networks in general use 10.0.0.X, 172.16.0.X, or 192.168.X.X) and use an available number.
Gateway: This is the IP address of a network node that acts can act as a router or proxy server both on the internal portion of the network as well as connecting it to the Internet in general. When you type http://www.jetking.cominto your browser, by default the request goes to the gateway which then directs the IP traffic so that the jetking website appears in your browser window.
Network prefix length: This is the same thing as the subnet mask — a way to ensure that all devices on the network have the same network prefix.
DNS: These are labeled 1 and 2. DNS is the Internet’s phone book. DNS servers translate a URL that we can read, into an IP address that computers can read more effortlessly. There are various options you can use here if you like.

Once you have everything filled in right into the advanced settings menu of your phone’s wifi settings, press the connect button and you’ll be able to sign in and be using that Wifi network.

The advanced Wifi settings menu

This is one of those things that is very different from device to device. We’ll take a look at the settings and options you’re most likely to see here, and discuss them one by one so we all know what they mean.

Wi-fi notifications: If you want to see a notification telling you there is a Wi-fi network available, you need this to be enabled.
Internet availability: A setting using these words as a rule means that the Wi-fi network must have access to the Internet before your Android phone will connect to it. If this is disabled, you can connect to Wi-fi networks that do not have an active Internet connection.
List sorting: Here you can choose to see your Wi-fi network list by availability and signal strength or alphabetically.
Keep Wi-fi on when screen is off: This does unerringly what it says it does, but the significant part is knowing why you would want it enabled or disabled. If you set Wi-fi to shut off when the screen goes off, your phone have to use the cellular connection for any syncing or push messages. This incurs data charges of course. This uses more battery than Wi-fi. Normally, you want to keep Wi-fi on here.
Allow Wi-fi scanning: This lets location services scan for active wireless access points to determine your phone’s location. Doing so can get your position quicker and draws less power than using GPS alone, but for the sake of privacy you can disable it here.
Avoid poor connections: This switches you off of a Wi-fi network once the signal gets very feeble. It will either connect you to another Wi-fi network or back to 3G/4G network your data provider provides you when it stops the connection.
Battery saving while on Wi-fi: This setting actually works! What it does is decelerate or stop your wireless radio’s network scanning. When your phone vigorously scans for available connections, it uses more power and your phone’s battery drains faster. The ability to change this setting is something that custom ROM builders have done since the G1, but now most vendors include it right in the advanced menu settings. If you disabled Wi-fi scanning for location, you might as well enable this and maximize every milliampere from your Android phone’s battery.

Keep in mind, this isn’t meant to be course material for the TCP/IP portion of the MCSE exam, for that you need to read course books and probably some practical of live networks and servers. This is just a basic explanation to make you aware of everything you’re likely to come across at one time or another while using Wifi on your Android.

While most of the time you can just enter a password and start using internet on your android phone, but, it’s always a good idea to have a little knowledge about everything you’re seeing and especially the technology you are using.

Knowledge is power !

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10 Ways to Reduce Your Stress

Due to the fast-paced lives we lead, stress has become an inseparable part of our existence. But, too much stress can have a bad effect on our physical and mental health. Stress is a natural reaction of our body that makes our body to react according to the situation and decide whether to fight or flight. It prepares the body for potential threats and new atmosphere by either motivating or slowing down the activity of various body systems. Minimizing stress often starts by altering our mind-set and point of view towards life. This is the very basic rule of stress management. These 10 efficient ways which we are going to discuss in this article will surely help you get rid of the stress and develop a vigorous attitude towards life’s problems which lead to stress.

Avoid Making Decisions when You are Angry

Many of us tend to make impulsive decisions when we are annoyed. Arguing with someone when we are annoyed or angry in turn leads to more stress that could lead to a swarm of unwanted problems. Only make decisions when you are calm, cool and ostensibly balanced. When your mind has had the chance to reduce your stress, you will find it much convenient to take the correct decisions.

Try Not to Worry All the Time

Obsessing persistently about something isn’t going to help it give you a good result for sure. Worrying neither helps you gain control over a fussy condition nor does help you handle them, and worse is that it further adds to your stress. It is very natural and true that when you worry about a situation, you start to imagine the worst, and begin thinking more negatively. This course of worrying turns into a consistent habit and the next thing you know, you are dealing with chronic stress. Your mind is in fact the real key where you can get rid of the stress find the solution to all your problems.

Cut Yourself Some Slack

Try not to be too hard and pressing on yourself. Many of tend to hold ourselves up to a much higher standard, this ends up causing a lot of stress because they develop a feeling that they need to live up to that standard, and when they couldn’t meet up with that standard they begin to get stressed. So, the best practice to keep yourself away from this type of stress is to, trying not to judge yourself for things which are out of your control, and keeping a close watch on your emotions. If you feel that something is wrong and you are getting stressed, take a step back and assess the situation, try to divert your mind towards the best thing you have or something you love the most. Next, try and find the positive side in every condition that you are in. Finally, be more considerate towards yourself and you will find that you are a more self-confident, successful, relieved and happy person.

Practice Meditation

One of the best and efficient ways to minimize stress is to practice meditation or diaphragmatic breathing (Anulom-Vilom). It also helps to rid your body of strain and twinge. Meditation helps to calm your mind and focus your brain on better things and divert your thoughts on positive aspects of life. Breathing exercises stimulate your nervous system, and advance the flow of lymph, which is rich in immune cells. Sit in a comfortable place in your home, place your hands on your stomach and chest and focus on your breathing. Take deep breaths and release them with force, experience your stomach rising and falling with each breath. This relaxing breathing exercise will certainly help ease your stress, it’s a tried and test technique.

Understand Your Feelings

Try listening to what your emotions are trying to tell you, when you are more receptive to your own feelings, you will extensively be able to perk up your life. Not only will this help you ease your nervousness and stress, but will also help balance your physical and emotional health and keep it in sync with your mind. You should never suppress your feelings as it might have negative effects on your mind and body and it could also wreck your social life.

Process Your Feelings

Knowing how to process your feelings is one of the most essential areas of mental development. Do not let your feelings stay back in your head, take out some time every day to process your feelings. If you’re not sure how to do this, take a notepad and a pen and jot down everything you are feeling and all the fuming thoughts you are having, this exercise will help you to figure out ideas on how you can combat them. This way, you will yourself find out a way to relieve yourself from the anxiety and stress.

Laugh More Often

You might have heard people saying “Laughter is the best medicine,” and this is fairly true! Laughing induces positive physical changes in your body and provides considerable muscle relaxation which releases stress from your mind, improves your blood circulation, and provides a good exercise to your whole abdomen. Humor helps you cheer up your mood and fight anxiety, depression and stress.

Accept things You Can’t Control

“What can’t be cured, must be endured.” When you learn to accept that a few things just can’t be controlled or changed, you will be a happier and carefree man. It can be difficult to feel helpless, but there is no point getting obsessed on things that are out of your control. In contrast, you should always focus on changing the things that you can change, and believe that this approach will help you develop a positive attitude towards life and reduce your stress significantly.

Be Thankful for all you Have

Another great way to reduce stress is to improve your health with a dose of appreciation. However, it is complicated to have a positive attitude when life seems to be getting you down, but it isn’t impossible. Try finding the things that you are grateful for, doesn’t matter if they are small or seem insignificant, they should be able to offer you on the whole life satisfaction. When you nurture gratitude as part of your life, you can not only perk up your emotional sense of happiness, but also experience a superior sense of contentment.

Do things that Make You Happy

Take out time to do those things that make you really happy. Grab some dinner with a friend, watch a movie, play with your kids, read a book, go cycling, take a long walk with your loved ones or go shopping, do whatever you want to do to make yourself happy. When you are happy, your mood is always good and stress, anxiety, anger all these things seems like a million miles away.

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