Spruce Up Your Garden This Spring

Winter has gone and spring has come. Every living creature on the planet is rejoicing. We can not wait to explore the beauty outside as signs of life can be seen blossoming everywhere. The thought of climate change and global warming, aside from having sheer delight in being able to give life to something, is a great excuse to find out whether you have a green thumb.

Whether you have or don’t yet have a garden at home, making one isn’t as hard as you think it is. Look for a clear spot somewhere in your yard that is exposed to the sun and is likewise close to a water source. The first thing in your agenda is to make sure that the area is clear of anything and the soil is fertile or risk wasting all your time and effort trying to make a garden where plants won’t actually grow. Today, there are different ideas for the budding gardener depending on your preference and what usual plants grow in your region. If you want to start your own garden at home this spring, here are a few tips you need to remember:

1. Plan, plan, plan

Before you start digging any dirt, figure out what areas of the yard get full sun, part sun and no sun. Use that information to figure out where you want to plant new shrubs, bushes, perennial flowers and annuals. If you aren't sure what plants will thrive in certain lighting conditions, your local gardening store has employees who are ready to help.

2. Thriller, filler and spiller

When designing the pot, consider using the "thriller, filler and spiller" technique on each pot. Apply one of the following:

Thriller: a beautiful, larger plant

Filler: grass to fill the space-give height

Spiller: vines hanging over the pot

3. Use egg cartons

Growing vegetable and herbs from seeds may seem intimidating, but Chris can walk you throw it. He uses old egg cartons as inexpensive starters and keeps them indoors until they are ready to be transferred outdoors.

(Via: http://www.today.com/home/gardening-tips-3-things-know-when-planting-t109980)

Just follow these three easy steps and you can definitely grow something in your yard even if it’s you are new to gardening. Trees are a great start. But if you feel that these tips are too vague and want more specifics, then you won’t be disappointed because here are some more:

Prepare your yard:

Clear the yard of any debris, downed limbs, etc. Look for areas that may need to be reseeded. When you mow, don’t cut the grass too short the first few times.

Prune trees and shrubs:

Cut dead or diseased branches from trees and shrubs. Trim summer-blooming shrubs such as butterfly bushes, hydrangea, and roses. Prune early blooming shrubs after they bloom. 

Test your soil:

You can find a home soil-test kit at most home improvement stores. Follow recommendations according to your results to prep your soil.

Prepare a space:

Clear the area you will be planting of weeds and debris. Cultivate to a depth of 10 to 12 inches. Create a map of your yard and design a layout of flower beds and/or a vegetable garden on paper first. 

Start planting:

Plant bare-root trees, shrubs, and perennials by early spring. You can transplant container plants anytime in the season except for the middle of summer. 

Fertilize:

Apply balanced fertilizer according to your soil test results around shrubs and mulch beds when new growth starts to appear. 

Don’t forget the water:

New plants need water. Be sure to check the appropriate amount of watering needed for each type of plant. 

Bring on the sun:

Check the instructions for each of your plants to determine their tolerance to sunlight.

(Via: http://www.wral.com/spring-into-your-garden-tips-for-success/16644433/)

The most important thing to know is the type of plants you can grow your new garden. Since not all of us are experts when it comes to plants, here are the different plant types to choose from:

Native plants

Native plants, in general, require less maintenance. They also benefit the environment by attracting native insects.

Limit variety

Instead of having a few of many types of plants with different needs, focus on multiples of superhero plants. This will drastically cut the amount of time spent on maintenance.

Plant superheroes

Perennials: Geranium Rozanne is a hardy, long-blooming plant with bright blue flowers.

Flowering shrubs: Summersweet (clethra) is deer-resistant and has spikes of aromatic flowers.

Annuals: Supertunia petunias are vigorous plants that will fill in a space in a garden or trail in a container or hanging basket. 

Needy plants

Plants are not your children or pets. Swap needy plants for higher-performing plants.

Plants to swap

Bigleaf hydrangeas bloom inconsistently and require a lot of water. 

Goldsturm black-eyed Susan is prone to fungal disease on leaves.

Drought-tolerant plants

Choosing plants that don’t mind dry conditions means watering less. 

Flowering shrubs

Shrubs will fill a large space with blooms and are low-maintenance. 

(Via: http://lancasteronline.com/features/home_garden/tips-for-a-simplified-garden/article_370c65f2-1ad9-11e7-8245-bf511d98b9b1.html)

For any garden to grow, you need to plan, plan, and plan before doing anything else. Whatever plant you decide to grow won’t thrive if you have not prepared the space and made sure the soil is rich. These are vital information that all aspiring gardeners need to remember. Nothing can be as satisfying as seeing plants grow and blossom from the seeds you have planted. While spring is the perfect time to plant blooms, in particular, you can also plant fruits and vegetables in your yard. That way, you not only put food on the table but organic ones as well.

One can find so much joy in planting, be it a floral or fruit/ veggie garden. The planet needs more of these carbon-eating, oxygen producing plants to make the world more livable for us human and animals alike. So, what are you waiting for? Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty and transform your yard into a garden to behold. For sure, you’d be the envy of your neighbors if you can transform a blank space into an eye candy with nothing but just your bare hands and gardening passion.

Spruce Up Your Garden This Spring Read more on: https://www.newinfluencers.com/

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The Evolution Of Computing

Technology keeps on progressing as the years go by. Back then we were still watching black and white films through Betamax and VHS tapes but now we can live stream our own videos using just our phone in all colors of the color spectrum – a smartphone that can do all sorts of things you don’t need individual gadgets to do the job anymore. And no other better example of seeing these advancements in action than seeing how computers have evolved through the years.

Computers of yesteryears were bulky and used floppy disk drives you’ll never see used anymore in modern computers. Computer hardware is essentially the backbone of any computing device. What use is sophisticated software if there’s no sturdy and functional hard drive to house and protect it. Hard drives can have issues, however. But overall, they still somehow look the same and contain the same parts, albeit just smaller. Experts nowadays wish for more innovation in computer hardware because not much has changed over the decades.

Dumping Moore’s Law is perhaps the best thing that could happen to computers, as it’ll hasten the move away from an aging computer architecture holding back hardware innovation.

That's the view of prominent scientist R. Stanley Williams, a senior fellow in the Hewlett Packard Labs. Williams played a key role in the creation of the memristor by HP in 2008.

Moore's Law is an observation made by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965 that has helped make devices smaller and faster. It predicts that the density of transistors would double every 18 to 24 months, while the cost of making chips goes down.

Every year, computers and mobile devices that are significantly faster can be bought with the same amount of money thanks in part to guidance from Moore's Law. The observation has helped drive up device performance on a predictable basis while keeping costs down.

But the predictions tied to Moore's Law are reaching their limits as it becomes harder to make chips at smaller geometries. That's a challenge facing all top chip makers including Intel, which is changing the way it interprets Moore's Law as it tries to cling on to it for dear life.

(Via: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3189054/hardware/its-time-to-dump-moores-law-to-advance-computing-researcher-says.html)

Over the years, Moore’s Law influenced technological advancements around us, even the smartphones and other smart gadgets you are now holding. However, as we seem to have reached very advanced and sophisticated technology, making things even smaller does not guarantee that they will also be better and faster. Moore’s Law stated that the power of any device doubles about every two years but in a way, it has restricted innovation. But today, experts in the field realizes that for computing to progress, they will have to change the way things are done without sacrificing all the progress we have made so far.

The end of Moore's Law will bring creativity to chip and computer design and help engineers and researchers think outside the box, Williams said. Moore's Law has bottled up innovation in computer design, he hinted.

So what's next? Williams predicted there would be computers with a series of chips and accelerators patched together, much like the early forms of superfast computers. Computing could also be memory driven, with a much faster bus driving speedier computing and throughput.

The idea of a memory-driven computer plays to the strength of HPE, which has built The Machine along those lines. The initial version of The Machine has persistent memory that can be used as both DRAM and flash storage but could eventually be based on memristor, an intelligent form of memory and storage that can track data patterns. 

Memory-driven computing could also break down the current architecture-based and processor-centric domination of the computer market. In the longer term, neuromorphic chips designed around the way the brain works could drive computing.

(Via: http://www.computerworld.in/news/its-time-dump-moores-law-advance-computing)

We have witnessed computers getting better, more powerful and faster every two years. But considering how small we have made these transistors powering most modern computers, experts are now looking into other ways to continue our progress in the field of computing. If we let things happen as it is now, experts predict the occurrence of the event known as “singularity,” when machines are now capable of near-human intelligence. While others are quite sure that such an event is looming on the horizon, skeptics are countering it saying that Moore’s Law is no longer the authority in the computing field we used to look up to.

But all these things don’t really matter for the average Joe. What people notice is that computers now are getting better at parallelization (similar to how the brain works) through multi-core processors sold in the market today. Then, there’s also the future of quantum computing, which may be decades from now before the public can access but still a possibility that looms on the horizon. We can only wait and see what the future in computing holds for all of us.

The Evolution Of Computing was first published to TNI

source https://www.newinfluencers.com/the-evolution-of-computing/

How Powerful Social Media Has Become

Social media is no longer just for sheer entertainment. It has evolved to become a powerful platform where people connect with the world, share their experiences, and voice out their opinions on all issues affecting mankind. What started out as a convenient way to get in touch with family and a close circle of friends are now being used as a business tool to promote and grow brands, big or small, and even a medium where people learn about the latest news from all corners of the globe that mostly contain raw and unedited videos.

Social media platforms like Facebook is a hub for just about everything you can think of, from status updates, photo, and video sharing, messaging support, business advertising, live streaming feature, and so much more. There is so much going on that you can get lost in it for hours without realizing the clock ticking by. Meanwhile, Instagram provides gorgeous and captivating visuals and has become a major trendsetter as well in recent years. Twitter – despite its limitations, there are apps to smooth the experience– is a favorite of those who always have something to say and even an excellent source for current events and news. People can even work from home because of work opportunities from these platforms and if you have a business nowadays, never underestimate the power of social media to take your business to new heights.

If your business hasn’t considered the potential benefits of social media, think again. People are spending more time on social media than ever before, whether it’s to connect with other folks, gather and share information, find engaging news content, or to just be entertained.

With the variety of social media sites competing for time and attention today, it’s important to know which ones are best for your business, target audience and stakeholders. LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter may be great for one business, while Snapchat, Pinterest and Instagram are better for another.

In addition, you should have an established social media policy and determine how much money and time you can afford to spend, what type of content or selected advertising you will be posting, and who will be responsible for the posts and ads.

(Via: http://businessinsavannah.com/bis/2017-04-12/robertson-understand-benefits-unique-factors-social-media)

Everyone right now is into a certain form of social media, so you know you’ll never get wrong if you invest your time, money and attention in setting up social media accounts for your business if you want to tap to a wider audience at a fraction of the cost of conventional advertising. Others even coined the term e-word of mouth, because, in a way, that’s how social media works.

Customer Research And Relationship Building

In a world where people are constantly being overwhelmed with advertisements and sales pitches, building a warm relationship with your clients is one good way to increase sales and earn customers’ loyalty.

Channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram allow you to engage with customers in conversations, offer technical support or even give inspiration and tips for their daily life struggles.

Reviews And Customer Feedback

A lot of people nowadays feel comfortable sharing their opinions about the products they purchase on social media.

Use User Generated Content

An even more valuable form of customer feedback are the user generated photos and videos. These can be used not only to differentiate your brands content on social media, but also to increase the trust and decrease the concerns of prospective buyers.

Use The Right Hashtags

If you would like to increase your products’ visibility online, don’t hesitate to use popular hashtags related to it or complimentary products. The use of hashtags increases the chance of people who do not currently follow you to see your posts and convert into followers or clients.

Social Games

A proven way to increase the visibility of your brand or products on social media are social games. If you would like to reach to new people and advertise your products or e-Commerce website at the same time, you can try running a giveaway with product prizes.

Lead Generation

In our article last week, we talked about Email marketing and how it is one of the best converting online marketing channels to increase sales. And gaining subscribers from social media is actually easier than you think.

(Via: http://www.business2community.com/ecommerce/7-ways-get-benefits-social-media-e-commerce-01698910#y2CAvGSQEEe0fU6Y.97)

Nothing is stopping social media. It has become a powerful influence in just about every aspect of our lives. It has even turned to an obsession for some. While social media is helpful in building contacts, connecting with people, and getting updated on all the recent events happening in the world today, it has a lot of drawbacks too, something you should keep in mind if you want to keep your security and sanity intact.

While we like the fact that using social media is for free, we ignore the fact that maybe because we are actually the product in these platforms and not just mere users like we want ourselves to believe in. Although it is hard to resist to check your social media accounts now and then, moderation is actually the key to finding balance in social media use and even businesses should be wary of the dangers of social media or any other form of advanced computing technology, so they can reap the most benefits from it without losing a lot in the process.

The following blog article How Powerful Social Media Has Become was initially seen on The New Influencers

source https://www.newinfluencers.com/how-powerful-social-media-has-become/

Understanding Computer Programming

While we are all surrounded by technology, it does not mean that we have mastered them all. Some people have - they are experts and authority figures in the computing field. The rest of us are mere users who know just enough to navigate sophisticated technology without really fully understanding the technology and logic behind them.

We may think of computers as advanced pieces of technology that can do almost everything we ask them, the truth is, not. Computers can look up websites when you are browsing or store files we save on them because they have been programmed to do that. But if you ask them to, say, clean the house for you or cook food, then nothing will definitely happen because they weren’t programmed to do that at all. So see, they aren’t the supreme machines we used to think of. And what better way to understand the wonders of computer programming than to start them young.

 After a successful Hour of Code day last year, students from School 16 were able to participate in the global movement for a second time on Tuesday.

Throughout the day Tuesday, students from different classes at the elementary school learned the basics of computer programming as part of a program that reaches tens of millions of students in more than 180 countries, Hour of Code activities are designed to help students learn new skills that can lead them to pursue careers in computer programming.

(Via: http://www.troyrecord.com/article/TR/20170207/NEWS/170209839)

If you are still clueless about it, writing computer programs is at the core of computer programming. It involves the writing of an instruction sequence with the use of computer programming language so that a computer performs a particular task you ask of it or for it to solve a specific problem.

It may have been the right decision, but when it was ultimately decided that these advantages were outweighed by Latin being a dead language we arguably lost that intellectual training in the process. This is why we want to make the case for moving another discipline to the centre of the curriculum that offers analogous benefits – computer programming. And unlike Latin, it is anything but dead.

There are many computer languages for different purposes. C and C++ remain the fastest to execute and are used by the gaming industry, for instance. In the internet era, much of the page design is done with the likes of JavaScript or PHP. Meanwhile Python has been rapidly gaining a reputation as a general purpose code that is easy to learn.

There are many parallels between natural languages and programming languages like these. You must learn to express yourself within the rules of the language. There is a grammar to comprehend. And what you write must be interpretable by another human being. (Yes, it must be interpretable by a computer. But just as Noam Chomsky’s example of “colourless green ideas sleep furiously” is grammatically correct nonsense, you can write obfuscated computer code that no one else can decipher.)

People who program can communicate with computers, which is becoming more and more important now that computers have a hand in almost everything. In today’s IT-literate world, we are all expected to be fluent in word processing and spreadsheets. The next logical step is to be able to program.

The younger generation are already exposed to computers almost from the day they are born, which explains for example Barclays bank’s recent launch of Code Playground, an initiative to engage young children in the basics of programming via a colourful website.

(Via: https://theconversation.com/why-everyone-should-have-to-learn-computer-programming-62328)

Almost everyone now uses a computer or a smart gadget whether at home, work or at school. And everywhere you look, you can see that machines and computers are all around us. Not only will you become handy and skilled in using computers if you learn the basics of computing but you’ll also be able to find a related job anywhere in the world. With the number of people using computers, it is obvious that computer programming will remain to be an in-demand profession for years to come. Rather than take a course in college that is no longer relevant in our modern world, why not take up computer programming instead and no longer have a hard time keeping up with all the technological advancements in the world today.

Understanding Computer Programming is available on Newinfluencers.com

source https://www.newinfluencers.com/understanding-computer-programming/