These platforms offer a variety of content, from scripts and voice actors to insider details and behind-the-scenes scoops. Whether you’re curious about the future of your favorite sitcoms, dramas, or animated series, this list has got you covered. Note that these are not celebrity gossip sites; they focus on the characters, casting decisions, and development of films and shows.

Here are 10 go-to websites for all your movie trivia needs, listed in no particular order.

NotStarring.com

Specializes In: Revealing which actors declined specific roles and why.

Have you ever questioned the casting decisions in certain films? NotStarring.com provides insights into which actors passed on roles in successful movies. It’s a fascinating look into what might have been.

For example, actors who declined the James Bond role (played by Daniel Craig) include Colin Farrell, Orlando Bloom, Hugh Jackman, Clive Owen, and Sam Worthington.

Movie Mistakes

Specializes In: Highlighting errors, bloopers, and scenes that made it past the editing room.

Film production is a complex process involving various crew members, and mistakes can happen. Movie Mistakes is a community-driven platform that showcases these errors, some glaring and some subtle, that make it into the final cut.

Explore some of the most memorable mistakes in films here.

IsMyShowCancelled.com?

Specializes In: Providing updates on the status of your favorite TV shows.

Ever felt that a TV series ended abruptly, leaving you with unanswered questions? This usually signals a show’s cancellation. IsMyShowCancelled.com helps you understand what’s going on with your favorite series.

The site also offers information on the last episodes of concluded series, any revivals, and how your favorite show fares in ratings compared to others.

Behind the Voice Actor

Specializes In: Discovering the voices behind your favorite animated characters.

Ever wondered who voices iconic characters like Bart Simpson, Jimmy Neutron, and Timmy Turner? Surprisingly, they’re all voiced by women! Voice actors often go unnoticed, but their skill in bringing animated characters to life is truly remarkable.

Most of the time, we only see the voice actor’s name in the credits, making it challenging to connect the voice to the character. This anonymity allows talents like Frank Welker and Hank Azaria to voice multiple characters without drawing attention.

Trailer Addict

Specializes In: Offering a collection of movie trailers, teasers, and featurettes.

Movie trailers have evolved into captivating mini-stories that give us a taste of the film’s magic. Whether you’re waiting for a movie’s release or just browsing, Trailer Addict provides a wide range of trailers you can watch right from your laptop.

Trailers often showcase the best parts of a movie, setting your expectations high. The site also features red band trailers, which are too explicit for mainstream media.

Movie Insider

Specializes In: Providing updates on upcoming and pre-released movies and TV shows.

If you’re eager to stay ahead of the curve, Movie Insider is your go-to source for news on upcoming films in any production stage. The site also offers trailers, behind-the-scenes photos, and an interactive map of active filming locations.

Similar Site: ComingSoon.Net also provides the latest news, reviews, and previews of upcoming movies and TV shows, along with exclusive interviews and box office statistics.

The Movie Spoiler

Specializes In: Revealing movie endings and plot details.

If you’re not satisfied with Wikipedia’s plot summaries or missed a crucial detail in a movie, The Movie Spoiler is the place to go. The site offers detailed summaries for over 1000 mainstream movies.

Similar Site: MoviePooper! offers a similar service, and you can even request summaries for specific movies.

Soundtrack-Movie.com

Specializes In: Identifying and offering movie scores and soundtracks.

If you’ve ever been moved by a film’s musical score, Soundtrack-Movie.com allows you to identify the composer, songwriter, and other details. You can even listen to music clips for free.

Simply Scripts

Specializes In: Offering full movie and TV show scripts.

If you’re interested in reading the full script of a movie or TV show, Simply Scripts is your destination. The site offers various versions of scripts, some of which are raw drafts, all for free.

Similar Site: Daily Script offers scripts in plain text or PDF format, although their collection hasn’t been updated since 2010. However, they provide links to other script repositories.

Explore More Movie Fun

Enjoyed the list above? Here are a few more sites that you’re likely to find just as entertaining.

How It Should Have Ended

While this site offers comics and movie reviews, it’s most famous for its alternate endings. These endings often provide a more satisfying conclusion than the original ones.

The Editing Room

This site humorously highlights the plot holes in popular movies, offering shorter and often more logical versions of the original scripts.

Even More Options…

If you’re still on the hunt for more movie-related content, these additional sites are worth checking out:

• Sidereel
• Screen Rant – Unfiltered TV and Movie News
• Total Film – Your Modern Guide to Movies
• Slashfilm (/film) – Blogging the Cinematic World
• Den Of Geek

The post Top 10 Websites for Movie Trivia Enthusiasts appeared first on Hongkiat.

Rest assured, it’s unlikely that your job will require you to survive on a deserted island. So, why do interviewers ask such perplexing questions? The truth is, these questions serve a purpose, and it’s not necessarily to hear your answer.

What recruiters are really interested in is what your responses reveal about your character and problem-solving abilities.

Categories of Unconventional Questions

Before we delve deeper, let’s explore the range of these unconventional questions. Glassdoor is an excellent resource for discovering some of the most peculiar questions ever asked by companies. For example:

1. “How many cows are in Canada?” – Google
2. “How many quarters would it take to reach the height of the Empire State Building?” – Jet Blue
3. “In an ideal world, how would people communicate?” – Novell
4. “Can you estimate the number of windows in New York?” – Bain & Company
5. “What is the angle between the hands of a clock at 11:50?” – Bank of America

Looks like we’re in a tight spot, aren’t we?

What’s the Objective?

Contrary to popular belief, the answer isn’t the most crucial part. If interviewers are skilled at their job (more on that later), they’re generally interested in three key aspects:

1. Assessing your confidence level and how you handle unexpected situations
2. Understanding your ability to think creatively and bring more than just academic qualifications to the table
3. Evaluating your problem-solving skills, especially for new challenges that may not have textbook solutions

Be Prepared for Anything

Keep in mind that these questions are designed to catch you off guard. Therefore, it’s highly unlikely that there’s a ‘correct’ answer. Your goal should be to come up with a response better than “I don’t know, what’s the answer?”

If your reply is along the lines of seeking someone else’s opinion or simply saying “I don’t know” (or “I don’t really care”), don’t expect a callback anytime soon.

Quick Thought Exercise! How many penguins would it take to encircle the North Pole? Also, provide two standard deviations from your answer (Goldman Sachs).

Understanding Concepts

If you’re the type who likes a challenge, remember that your approach to the question often matters more than the answer itself. While academic settings focus on the right answer, real-world problems emphasize the importance of the underlying concepts.

Think Creatively

Consider the question: How would you fit an elephant into a fridge in three steps? Take a moment to ponder if this is new to you. Done? Simply open the fridge, place the elephant inside, and close the door. It’s a straightforward answer to an unconventional question, meeting the three-step criteria.

The only obstacle to this answer is the common assumption that an elephant is too large for a fridge. Discard that notion, and you have an elegantly simple solution that even Einstein would appreciate.

Here’s another variation involving a miniaturized you and a blender, along with one author’s suggested answer.

Guidelines and Suggestions

These puzzling questions often go viral due to their ambiguous nature. By the time you’re in the interview, the questions have likely changed. So, can you really prepare for them?

Here are three tips that might help:

1. Remember that the questions are related to the job role or the company’s operations. Keep this in mind throughout the interview.
2. Recruiters may use these questions as tie-breakers. So, make a lasting impression.
3. Lastly, don’t take it too seriously. Sometimes, even the interviewers are unsure about what they’re doing.

Inexperienced Interviewers

Indeed, not all interviewers are experts. In smaller firms, the boss or managers, rather than HR professionals trained in recruitment, conduct interviews. Some companies use unconventional questions simply because they’re trendy.

Research suggests that questions designed to intimidate should be eliminated from the interview process. A company could miss out on an excellent candidate who excels in all other areas but stumbles on one puzzling question.

The Optimal Strategy

So, what’s the best course of action when faced with such questions? Engage with them creatively, but aim to leave a memorable impression on the interviewers. For instance, consider the question about using penguins to measure the North Pole.

If asked, I’d likely respond that while I don’t know the exact answer, it’s worth noting that penguins don’t inhabit the North Pole. Moreover, the North Pole isn’t a physical location with defined boundaries; it’s just ice, everywhere. Then, I’d hope they don’t follow up with a question about using unicorns to measure rainbows.

The post How to Handle Unusual Questions Asked During a Job Interview appeared first on Hongkiat.

Although many multi-author platforms depend on and even appreciate guest bloggers for their valuable insights, there are some behaviors that are simply not acceptable. This post elaborates on how to differentiate between good and bad guest posts, enriched by real-world examples.

Let’s just say, truth is often more bizarre than fiction. (Note: Names have been omitted as they are not remembered.)

1. Paying Attention to the Little Things Matters

Getting off on the wrong foot during a pitch can have severe consequences. Even if you believe you have an 80% chance of winning over your audience, certain blunders can quickly reduce those odds. In this section, we’ll discuss these common errors and how to sidestep them.

Don’t Underestimate the Impact of Spelling Mistakes

One common error is misspelling crucial details, like the name of your contact, the site owner, or even the blog you’re pitching to. For instance, our blog’s name is often misspelled, which may seem trivial but can be the tipping point in a sensitive situation.

Treat Your Readers with Respect

Another frequent mistake is using patronizing language towards your readers. Phrases like “WRONG!”, “That’s a foolish approach,” or “Are you uninformed?” have no place in a post meant to impress. Always be courteous and considerate in your language.

2. The Pitfalls of Being Unnecessarily Rude

Discourtesy has no place in guest blogging – much like a child fussing over the color of their new gadget, it’s not acceptable. You can’t just submit a lengthy article on an unrelated topic and expect it to be published. No. Trust me, if we publish just anything, you wouldn’t want your work featured.

If your article is rejected, don’t pester the editor for the “magic” title that will ensure publication. Blogs are not required to feature your content.

Keys to Successful Guest Blogging

If you submit a top-notch guest post, like this example, or this one, we will reach out to discuss publishing your work. The authors of these exemplary posts were cooperative, patient, and professional, making the guest blogging process a mutual endeavor.

3. The Importance of a Relevant Pitch

Some of the submissions I’ve received would astonish you. Topics have ranged from trekking in Nepal to hotel reservations in Mumbai, and even peculiar subjects like “why controversial figures deserve your affection.” Clearly, these are not suitable for our blog.

Before submitting, ensure your article aligns with the blog’s focus. If it doesn’t, it’s best not to submit it. Sending an irrelevant article will likely result in silence, as blog owners are not obliged to engage with off-topic submissions.

4. The Art of Patience in Guest Blogging

Being a guest, whether in someone’s home or on their blog, requires a certain level of patience and understanding. Just like you wouldn’t expect immediate attention from your Aunt Ellen, you shouldn’t expect instant responses from blog owners.

Guest blogging operates on a set schedule, and your contribution, no matter how important to you, is still a “guest” in this system. Being overly demanding can make the blog owner reconsider your submission.

Remember, the blog can function perfectly well without your article. So, avoid being high-maintenance. If you’re truly exceptional, some leniency may be granted, but remember, there’s only room for one diva.

5. The True Objective of Guest Blogging

The main reason blogs accept guest contributors is to obtain high-quality content. In return, you gain valuable exposure. However, if you come with demands like link swaps or sponsored posts, don’t expect a warm welcome.

If you’re considering a financial investment, look into the blog’s advertising options. If you have a team capable of writing diverse topics, perhaps starting your own blog is a better route. Guest blogging is a win-win situation when everyone brings the right elements to the table.

6. The Unacceptable Act of Plagiarism

It happens more often than you’d think. Far too often, actually. I’ve even received a guest post that was a direct copy of an article from another site – which had originally taken the content from our site.

Related: Check out these plagiarism tools to detech bot generated content.

Imagine the absurdity of being shown your own stolen car at a dealership. It’s unacceptable on multiple levels.

The Wasteful Use of Skill

Some individuals attempt to dilute their work by merging multiple authors’ pieces into one. Others spin their articles, changing tenses or sentence structures. Sometimes, it’s so well-done that it’s hard to catch unless you’re particularly observant.

It raises the question: Why not produce an original piece to begin with?

All successful relationships start with trust and understanding. No blog owner wants to feel deceived by accepting a fraudulent guest post.

7. The Dangers of Identity Deception

Just as you wouldn’t want to go on a blind date with someone hiding their true identity, you wouldn’t want to accept a guest post from an impersonator. If a submission comes with a suspiciously attractive photo, perform an image search. You might find it’s just a stock image.

Be wary of submissions featuring two first names. It could be a sign that the individual hastily chose two common names to create a fake identity.

The most egregious case I’ve encountered involved an author claiming to have “multiple personalities.” After initially accepting the post, I found that the author had copied content directly from product descriptions.

When confronted and officially rejected, the author reacted poorly. He insisted that I honor the initial approval and accused me of using “an unjust reason” to withdraw the post. Ironically, he signed the email with another contributor’s name, revealing that he had lost track of his own impersonation.

Conclusion

Despite the hurdles, we continue to welcome guest submissions as they offer a meaningful platform for skilled writers genuinely interested in delivering quality content.

Many guest bloggers have even transitioned into becoming regular contributors on our platform. Implementing a stringent screening process for submissions has proven more effective than completely eliminating guest blogging opportunities.

By adhering to this approach, we maintain high content quality without sacrificing the fresh perspectives and diversity brought by guest bloggers. This strategy has been successful in achieving our objectives.

The post The Seven Sins of Guest Blogging: Real Stories appeared first on Hongkiat.

Now, think about what you do when you’re not connected to the Internet. I hope your answer isn’t a spur-of-the-moment, socially acceptable response. Many of us who earn our living online also use the Internet for our leisure activities. These might include playing games, socializing from the comfort of our armchairs, and perhaps even keeping tabs on our exes. As you might guess, these aren’t the healthiest of pastimes.

Our preference for gadgets, text, and images over real-life interactions could be a sign of bigger issues on the horizon. In this article, we’ll briefly discuss some of the ways our Internet addiction is causing problems for us. We’ll also explore why it’s increasingly important to disconnect from the digital world in order to reconnect with humanity.

Our Well-being

Recently, I found myself grappling with a brief episode of ‘computer fatigue.’ It’s a genuine set of symptoms, although not severe enough to warrant a sick day. You might have encountered it too: a persistent strain across your nose bridge, between your eyes; blurred vision, a metallic taste, headaches, and mild dizziness. These symptoms aren’t severe enough to necessitate a doctor’s visit, but they can hinder productivity to a noticeable extent.

After clocking in an average of 13 hours daily on the computer, I yearned to return to traditional paper-based work, at least until my health improved. A grueling week later, I discovered the remedy: a much-needed 12-hour sleep marathon.

The following morning, all my symptoms had vanished. One of the perks of having an understanding boss, particularly in the freelancing world, is their tolerance for such minor setbacks. However, I think it’s essential to advocate for better self-care, especially considering how relatable this scenario might be for many of us.

Family and Friends

The old adage cautions against mixing business with pleasure, but it’s unclear where ‘family’ fits into this equation. In the traditional 9-to-5 work environment, many of us find our time with loved ones dwindling. This issue is exacerbated when we become engrossed in the digital world.

Our increasing reliance on the Internet, whether it’s for responding to emails, reading blogs, browsing social media, or pursuing hobbies on our PCs, mobiles, or tablets, inversely affects the time we spend with those around us.

Despite boasting hundreds or even thousands of friends on Facebook, how many do we actually meet for a casual drink? And when we do, how much quality time do we truly spend with them? More often than not, upon settling down and placing your order, both of you might immediately reach for your smartphones, scrolling through daily updates, news, tweets, and messages before finding a topic to discuss.

Ironically, we tend to spend more time interacting with friends on our phones than with those sitting right in front of us. In essence, the quicker we connect to a nearby Wi-Fi network, the faster we disconnect from the real world.

Creativity

“Undoubtedly, creativity is the most valuable resource humans possess. Without it, progress would be impossible, and we would be stuck in an endless loop of repetition.” – Edward de Bono.

Consider this: Advancements and innovations are born from ideas. These technological leaps forward propel our society’s progress.

Therefore, it’s vital to ensure a continuous flow of ideas, which is where creativity comes into play. Creative ideas are unique – sometimes they are a new twist on an existing concept, while at other times, they are entirely revolutionary. Examples include quantum physics, the ability to fly, electricity, and more recently, the tablet.

The potential of the human mind is astounding when we allow an idea to mature over time.

The Dilemma of Originality and Sharing

In today’s digital age, the ease of sharing content has seemingly diminished the need or motivation to create original ideas. The question arises: why fix what isn’t broken?

We see this trend in various aspects of our lives. Students and academics heavily rely on Wikipedia for research, while blogs often recycle content from other sources. Memes and rage comics rehash old jokes that have been circulating since the internet’s inception, and YouTube is brimming with covers of popular songs by talented young artists.

The impact of this ‘sharing is caring’ mentality extends beyond just these examples. Consider the film industry: 2012 was dubbed the ‘year of the sequel,’ with over 95 movie sequels in production and at least 50 films slated for remakes. This pattern is also evident in the music industry with its abundance of covers and mash-ups, and in literature, where originality can sometimes be questioned (as seen with the Hunger Games series).

This trend, coupled with the fact that credit is often overlooked on the web, prompts us to consider whether we are indeed running out of new ideas. If this is the case, it may lend credence to Edward de Bono’s assertion about the state of originality in our society.

Disconnecting from the Digital World

Technology, with its captivating allure, effortlessly provides us with what we desire, when we desire it. In today’s world, it may seem challenging to spend a day without our smartphones, constantly checking for notifications, engaging in online games, or sharing our latest meal on social media.

However, when the weekend rolls around, it’s essential to take a break from the digital realm. This is a time to reconnect with our physical selves, the people around us, and our surroundings.

Engage in activities that don’t require immediate feedback or comments from others. You could try writing for your own pleasure, learning to play a new musical instrument, or picking up a book from your shelf without reading a review first.

Consider embarking on a road trip with your partner, children, or even your mother. Alternatively, you could invite your college friends for a camping, fishing, or abseiling adventure. Be bold and try something new that doesn’t involve signing up or logging into a website.

If possible, leave your electronic devices behind. If you can’t leave your home for a trip, consider turning off your Wi-Fi. Reconnect with yourself through meditation, a relaxing bubble bath, or by preparing a delicious salad just for you.

Conclusion

As humans, we are inherently social creatures. Even though social networks have become a significant part of our lives, they can’t replace the unique joy of sharing a cup of coffee with a friend in a cozy café, sheltered from the rain, while enjoying good music. This simple experience can often be more rewarding than we ever imagined.

Moreover, one thing that people can provide, which technology cannot, is emotional and moral support, along with the motivation to keep striving. This is a realm where technology falls short.

The post Get Off The Internet: A Challenge to Reconnect With Yourself appeared first on Hongkiat.

I frequently get asked if I know of more jobs like this. Internally, I respond, “No, and thank goodness for that.” Before you navigate away, let me assure you that this isn’t your typical ‘work from home‘ advice article. In fact, it leans more towards a horror story – less gothic, more gruesome. When you’ve been in my position for a while (which isn’t very long by web standards), you begin to notice the stranger aspects of working online as a web editor, such as the following:

1. Time Flies Differently Here

You know those moments when parents gather and exclaim, “Oh, how time flies!” as they discuss their kids now in college and the impending stage of retirement? Well, time on the Internet is a different beast altogether. Unlike the traditional 9-to-5, unless you establish a routine, a blink could mean it’s already Wednesday, and two blinks later, you’re at Sunday. Ironically, the reverse also holds true: spend a year on the Web, and it feels like four have passed.

Information that was fresh just two days ago is now considered ‘old’. The digital world demands a constant awareness of new trends, news stories, and product releases. In the time it takes for a letter to reach its destination via post, you could have witnessed six different revolutions, uprisings, or scandals online.

The Internet operates on a different time scale, and when you finally disconnect and glance at the calendar, you might be shocked at how far into the year you’ve traveled.

Navigating the Web: What to Expect and Do

Establish a routine. Regular reality checks are essential. Step out of the house, go for a run, catch up with friends, or read a physical newspaper (the kind that doesn’t update itself and can be lent to someone else without the fear of it being stolen). These activities can help ground you in the real world amidst the fast-paced digital landscape.

2. Everyone Seems to Dislike You

This is a harsh reality. If you’ve spent enough time on the Web, you’ll notice that animosity is one of the most prevalent emotions you’ll encounter. It seems that for many keyboard warriors, there’s no shortage of things to despise: an artist who arrives late for a concert, open letters advocating for a cause, even minor errors (did you catch that?) in blog posts can elicit strongly worded emails.

The reason behind this isn’t always clear. Some people just seem to enjoy expressing their dislike. It’s a twisted interpretation of the quote by Oscar Wilde:

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

In today’s world, both men and women are often filled with unchecked animosity and a desire to confront others, albeit virtually. Everyone has an opinion they would ‘virtually die for’, and there’s little you can do to sway their viewpoint, even though they may be eager to change yours.

What to Expect and How to Respond

Be ready to accept criticism even when you’re not seeking it. If you can’t handle criticism from people on the Internet, then you might be better off working away from it. Honestly, it’s not worth the stress. You can’t afford to be upset all the time.

3. You Are Your Own Manager

If you’re drawn to working from home because of the perceived freedom, brace yourself for a challenging first few months. Freedom, in this context, is a misnomer. What you’ll actually need are self-control, discipline, and a willingness to make significant sacrifices.

The necessity of these traits will become evident when you find yourself explaining to clients or your boss why tasks aren’t being completed: “I got distracted”; “The deadline is still a week away, I didn’t realize the client wanted an early draft”; “I had to assist with my daughter’s recital costume,” and so on.

If you found your previous job’s strict supervisor irksome, you might find yourself missing the structured environment they created, which allowed you to focus and achieve your goals. That kind of setting was optimized for you to concentrate on the task at hand.

No distractions, no calls from home, no interruptions within that 9-to-5 zone. Your hands were tied, but you got work done. At the end of the day, that’s what clients and bosses value: accomplishments.

What to Expect/Do

Stay disciplined, deliver results, or return to an environment that enables you to do both. How will you know it’s time? When nothing gets done.

4. Scammers Are Everywhere

In the process of receiving guest contributions (many of which are from incredibly talented writers), I’ve encountered a relatively small group of individuals who will go to great lengths to have their post featured on our site. However, their efforts seldom include providing good, original content.

Make a Stand

As an editor, it’s crucial to acknowledge and appreciate the effort that writers invest in their work. Equally, it’s essential to demand this effort. Having collaborated with numerous talented and diligent individuals, I find it difficult to respect writers who plagiarize content from one site and attempt to present it as their own on another.

We, as writers, should extend professional courtesy to our peers in the industry. This could include crediting the original author, providing a backlink to their site, or even mentioning them by name occasionally. Creativity is a rare commodity; let’s strive to preserve it rather than extinguishing it prematurely.

However, it’s possible that these individuals have their reasons for resorting to such actions. Perhaps they struggle to generate original content, or they believe that rewording is acceptable. Alternatively, they might be adhering to the adage, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

5. Trust Your Instincts

Regardless of the underlying reasons, the unfortunate reality is that some individuals will continue their actions until they are caught. Sometimes you’ll catch them, sometimes you won’t. However, the consequences are real and they can damage your reputation and your brand more than they harm the individuals themselves.

Working from behind a computer screen, it’s challenging to pick up on subtle cues. In face-to-face interactions, you can study body language, notice changes in tone, hesitations, and overly long responses. But when all you have is text, these cues are absent. So, what’s an editor to do? The best approach is to roll with the punches and trust that your instincts will guide you when necessary.

Guidelines and Expectations

Exercise caution. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what the best course of action is. I typically rely on my instincts or a moment of frustration to guide my decisions. Perhaps you have a better idea or strategy.

6. It’s the People

In my experience, working in the digital realm is truly exhilarating. It provides an opportunity to interact and collaborate with a diverse group of passionate individuals, all striving to make a significant impact in their respective fields. The web is a unique platform where age, language, and educational background do not serve as barriers but rather as enriching elements of one’s journey.

This dynamic environment is a testament to the survival of the fittest, where perseverance and determination outshine prejudice and discrimination. It’s a space that values action and ‘making things happen’ above all else. If you harbor a dream and are committed to making it a reality, the web is undoubtedly the place to be.

The post Confessions of a Web Editor – An Inside Look appeared first on Hongkiat.

For starters, if you were to choose to work from home, most bosses would ask that you take a pay cut (in lieu of not having to turn up at the office). Plus, you can absolutely expect your friends and family to take advantage of your newfound ‘freedom’.

The working hours will become a blur, and sometimes if you are not careful, you’ll find yourself working 7 days a week just to catch up with all the time you’ve lost! But if you have decided that working from home is your only option, here are a few tips that may help you make the best of it.

1. An understanding family

One of the hardest thing about working from home is setting boundaries with the people you share ‘home’ with. It’s definitely easier to understand that you are not to be disturbed when you are at the office than when you are in the back room.

Start setting boundaries from the first day you start work. Granted it will get some getting used to (about 66 days, in fact, ) but your children, flatmates, siblings or parents must learn to give you your 8 hours (or more) a day so you can get things done.

2. Get help

If you have very young children, you will need to get help. A 3-year-old would consider having to go poo an emergency, and they expect you to treat it like one (drop everything and get me to the loo quick!).

In this case, it would be helpful to have another adult in the house, or to drop your children off at daycare, or a babysitter to get a few uninterrupted hours to yourself.

During busy periods, you can always get a cleaning lady to help straighten up the mess you call home. Give yourself the peace of mind required to get your work done.

3. Get your own no-fly Zone

It will help to have a room, a workstation or at the very least a desk in a quiet area in your home. Here is where you keep your laptop or PC, fax machine or phone, work documents like reports and invoices, your stationery etc. And it would be good to ensure that no one but you are to use your equipment.

In case this is not possible, stock up on your essentials (e.g. always keep some ink stored away for emergencies).

4. I’m working, honey!

Within these four invisible walls, you are working and you are to treat it like how you would treat your old office. Coming to work is merely a hop into your ‘cubicle’ and going home is ‘hopping out’.

Everything else should remain as it was – keep problems, issues, and matters that have to do with a home outside of your no-fly zone. If you can convince yourself to compartmentalize like this, it will be easier to convince everyone else.

5. Have a routine (and breaks)

Apart from the reason that we are just tired of commuting, another reason to work from home is because of other responsibilities you have that require you to be home.

It could be because of your children, your old nana or your spouse who had suffered a broken leg from an accident. In this case, you will need to set a routine that will ensure that you can be there for them and for your company.

For the rest of us, the routine will help with keeping up with house chores – and the breaks you schedule in will help you keep your sanity. It’s also great to help you recharge for the next project or refuel your inspiration.

If you get breaks while you’re in the office, there is no reason you can’t take breaks when you are at home.

6. Deliver the hours

Depending on what has been ironed out in the clauses of your contract (or discussed over two cups of coffee) you will be expected to deliver certain working hours for your work-from-home job.

The good news with working from home is that nobody is keeping track; the bad news is nobody is keeping track (let that sink in for a bit).

Don’t think that you can prop up your feet and catch a whole season of your sitcoms in one afternoon and try to work it back during the weekends. Do it often enough and it will turn into a habit in the long run. Have some self-restraint and keep the entertainment to after hours or the weekends.

7. Open up, be reachable

The problem most managers have with their employees working from home is that they can’t keep an eye on them. Make it easier for your boss by being reachable whenever possible. Let them know when you are not around like when you are heading out to the bank or post office, and when you will be back.

Keep yourself in check at all times so your boss doesn’t have to. After a while once a routine is set in, the reins will loosen and you will have the freedom to roam about freely… which could lead to another problem.

8. Deliver the goods

One thing that should always be at the back of your head is that your productivity should not diminish when you work from home. If it is counterproductive for you to be working from home, what’s to stop them from making you brave traffic and parking wardens to turn up at the office again?

Set quotas for yourself and discuss roadblocks or problems that you have with your colleagues or managers while working on a project. Consider joining in brainstorming sessions via conferencing tools, but stay away from the office politics or gossip.

9. Get out of the house

Moderation is key. Working in solitude has its disadvantages but only because humans are social creatures. Hence, getting out of the house is very important.

If you don’t have to go back to the office to have meetings or deliver progress reports, you can bring your laptop and work at a coffee shop or meet a friend during lunch.

The idea is to break the monotony of working with your shadow and your reflection.

10. Stay healthy

Get plenty of fluids and eat healthily, and if you aren’t a fan of exercise, just try to move around whenever you can. This gets oxygen into your blood circulation which can be the cure to that dullness you’ve been feeling after looking at the same project day in, day out for months! Relax with music, do some light reading, or make lunch for yourself.

Also you should pamper yourself for being able to keep away from online distractions and for getting the job done with minimal (or no) supervision. Not everyone can do it, so when you do, reward yourself for it!

The post 10 Tips to Make WFH (Working From Home) Work appeared first on Hongkiat.

At least, that’s what the common notion of Christmas is to most of us. But in some parts of the world, you may find strange and bizarre traditions and customs that would raise an eyebrow or two.

Here are some of the strange things people around the world do for Christmas in the name of celebration.

1. Go Bananas With Christmas (India)

In India, only about 2.3% of the population are Christians, but because of the large population they have, we are talking about 25 million people here! Christians here celebrate Christmas with midnight mass and gift-giving like the rest of the world, but with the absence of fir trees or pine trees to decorate, they usually made do with banana trees and mango trees instead.

(Image Source: Tom Elliot)

That means instead of Christmas pine trees lining up celebrating households, you’ll find brightly lit, well-decorated Christmas banana or mango trees on the streets. They even use the leaves of those trees to decorate their houses.

2. Toss Your Shoes and Get Hitched (Czech Republic)

If you don’t want to celebrate another Christmas single, then try this: stand with your back to the door and throw a shoe over your shoulders on Christmas day! If the shoe lands with the toe pointing to the door, congratulations, you’re going to get married soon! There’s no clue as to how long before you meet your prince charming, though.

3. Kentucky Fried Christmas (Japan)

No kidding – just like how Christmas turkey is a must on Christmas, for the Japanese, it’s the Colonel’s Chicken. Since the beginning of this marketing campaign four decades ago, KFC has been associated with Christmas in the minds of the Japanese for generations, a tradition passed on from parent to child in spite of its commercialized beginnings.

(Image Source: katjamueller)

More than 240,000 barrels of chicken will be sold during Christmas, five to ten times its normal monthly sales. "In Japan, Christmas equals KFC."

4. Christmas Cakes (Japan)

Another Christmas food associated with Japan is the Christmas cake. These sponge cakes with whipped cream, chocolate and strawberries on top are ordered months in advance and are eaten on Christmas Eve. Any cake that is not sold after the 25th is unwanted.

(Image Source: Make Do & Mend)

For the same reason, single Japanese women over the age of 25 used to be called Christmas Cakes (yikes!).

5. A Christmas of Remembrance (Finland)

Families in Finland usually visit the graves of their ancestors and relatives on Christmas Eve to light candles in memory of the deceased. Even those who don’t have their kin’s graves nearby visit cemeteries to place candles in honor of their family members buried elsewhere. Hence, on Christmas eve, cemeteries would be lit up with candles presenting a beautiful sight.

(Image Source: Huffington Post)

Food will also be left on tables and family members leave their beds to sleep on the floor to give the dead a nice meal and a place to rest when they visit.

6. Skating your Way to Christmas (Venezuela)

In the capital city, Caracas, before young children go to bed on Christmas Eve, they tie one end of a string to their big toe, leaving the other end outside their bedroom window. The fun part of the Christmas celebration is on the day of the "Early Morning Mass".

(Image Source: Mike Hartz)

Streets were closed off to cars until 8 a.m. for people to roller-skate to the service, and they customarily proceeded to tug on any of the strings they saw hanging.

7. Let the Goat Live Until Christmas (Sweden)

In 1966, a 13-meter tall goat figure made of straw was erected in the town square of Gavle. At the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, the goat went up in flames.

But the town never stopped building it year after year, and vandals never stopped trying to burn the goat down! By 2011, the goat had already been burned down 25 times. The burning of the Gavle goat happened so often that bookmakers began taking bets for the survival of the goat in 1988.

(Image Source: Nicole)

Just to be clear, the town doesn’t want the goat to be burned down; in fact, In 2001, an American tourist served time in jail and was fined for successfully doing so.

8. A Spidey Christmas (Ukraine)

Instead of glittering ornaments and tinsel, Ukrainian Christmas trees are covered with an artificial spiders and cobwebs. Why the eccentric taste in spiders? According to the local folklore, there was a poor woman who could not afford to decorate their Christmas tree.

But the next morning, her children woke up to see the tree covered with webs and when the first light of Christmas morning touched the web threads, they turned into gold and silver, and the family was never left for wanting again. Hence, it is believed that seeing a spider web on Christmas morning brings luck.

(Image Source: Robin L. D. Rees)

9. The Christmas Sauna (Finland)

Most Finnish families have their own sauna because it’s believed that a sauna ‘elf’ lives in there to protect it and to make sure people behave themselves. And every Christmas Eve, people would head to their sauna, strip to their toes, and enjoy a nice, good soak naked. After sunset, though, the place is for the spirits of dead ancestors.

(Image Source: Destination 360)

10. Don’t Stuff It in My Socks (Philippines)

Christmas is huge in the Philippines since 80% of the population are Christians. Celebrations last all the way to January. Children will leave their brightly polished shoes and freshly washed socks on the window sills for the Three Kings to leave gifts in when they pass through their houses at night. The "Feast of the Three Kings" marks the end of the Christmas celebrations.

11. Pudding & Wishes (Britain)

The Christmas pudding is served on Christmas Day, but the traditions we’re looking at have to do with how it is made. Every member of the family (especially the kids) is to stir the mix clockwise while making a wish.

(Image Source: 99holidays)

Earlier traditions include putting a coin in the mix, which brings wealth to whoever finds it in their serving. Other additions include a ring for luck in marriage and a thimble for good luck in life.

12. Santa’s own Postal Code – H0H 0H0

Where do you send your letters to Santa to? The North Pole? Santa’s workshop? Actually Santa has his own postal code, H0H 0H0 (with zeros instead of the letter ‘o’) and it’s in Canada where postal codes are alphanumeric. Letters – the kind that bypasses parents – used to end up undelivered because there was no centralized address for Kris Kringle.

(Image source: The Big Red Box)

But for the past 30 years, Canada Post volunteers (in the thousands) had been helping Santa reply to a million letters (every year!) from children around the world in different languages, including Braille.

The post 12 Strange Christmas Customs You Probably Don’t Know appeared first on Hongkiat.

But like all kinds of advice, not all of them is good advice. As time goes on, some of the ‘experiences’ that well-meaning friends share with you are not even applicable to the current job-seeking atmosphere anymore. Here are the top 10 misconceptions about job interviews that you might want to keep an eye out for.

Your Resume Must Be One Page Long Only

Your resume must only have one page because it was believed that interviewers wouldn’t read your resume if it’s more than that. This is not true. It isn’t easy to summarize your whole list of achievements, contact info, objectives, or relevant qualifications on a single page.

Reducing the font size or cramping too much of everything in just to fit this one-page rule not only sounds ridiculous, but it may also ruin the good impression the recruiter may have of you. You can expand this to two pages, but it is best to keep the maximum length at that.

More related posts:

• 45 Creative Resumes to Seize Attention
• 7 Great Ways To Get Your Resume Noticed

No Call? No Job

So you have submitted your application and have waited days for the interviewer to call you but… no luck. Does that mean that you should move on since “someone else must have gotten the job”? Well, not quite.

Recruiters are a busy lot and usually only begin calling the selected candidates after the closing date of the job notice or a couple of weeks after your submission.

If you don’t get a call after applying, you can always send an inquiry email or give them a call to ask if they have hired someone for the spot, and you would probably find that they are still processing the applications.

They Called, I’m Still In The Running

So you got the call, congratulations! Not trying to be a wet blanket here, but sometimes you are called to interview for jobs that don’t even exist. Often enough, companies invite applicants for interviews for company studies or research to minimize expenses on recruitment research.

Instead of asking questions about you, they might ask questions how the working environment in your current or last workplace, how much is your salary scale, what benefits you are enjoying, etc. Even if you are caught in one of these ‘traps’, keep your chin up; you don’t know what it can lead to.

The Interviewer Is Well-Prepared

While being well-prepared is suitable for an interview, this rule will probably only apply to the candidates. Most interviewers have other more pressing matters to deal with and will only take a little of their time to prepare for your first meet-up with them.

Don’t expect them to have read your resume through and through. If they did, there wouldn’t have been a need for you to tell them “about yourself” at the start of the interview.

Take the opportunity to pitch yourself or your skills and make “you” stand out from the crowd. Highlight your strengths and other discerning factors, and be prepared to be asked questions that clearly show that they have never even looked at your application.

Interviewers Will Ask All The Same Questions

Although you know what to say when they ask you about your strengths and weaknesses, the skills you can bring to the company, and how you can help improve the company brand, sometimes they will throw you a curveball and ask you an odd question.

Trick questions like “How many balloons fit inside of San Francisco?” are popular with larger companies where the competition is high. These questions can help them tell apart those who are creative from those who are book smart.

How will you approach a seemingly overwhelming question like that? How will you react? That’s what they are looking for. Either that or they like to see sweat through the rest of the interview.

Looks Don’t Matter, Heart Does

Fairy tales may end with the lesson that no matter how you look on the outside, it’s the inside that counts. But when it comes to reality, the human instinct is to stick to the winner or anyone who looks like one.

Recruiters want candidates who look fresh, confident, energetic, and enthusiastic. You don’t have to be Prince Charming, but proper personal grooming and how you present yourself will definitely influence how much recruiters want you to join them. While we’re on the subject…

The Most Qualified Person Gets The Job

While being qualified gives the applicants a headstart, the job interview is more like a date. You might not be the most qualified, but if there’s chemistry between you and the interviewer, you most likely still stand a chance to be the winning candidate for the job.

Also, academic qualifications may have gotten you through the door, but that’s not the only thing interviewers are looking at. They need you to convince them that you are the man (or woman) for the job, that you can be a great addition to the company instead of just being dead weight.

Accept When Offered a Beverage

Interviewers may try to be accommodating and ask you if you would like tea, coffee or any other beverage. While the polite thing to do is accept the offer, unless the mentioned drink is right in front of your eyes, decline it.

You may be making the interviewer go out of their way to get you a drink when all they are there to do is decide just how good you are as a new addition to the family. And imagine if you’re in a lengthy interview, you sure won’t want your bladder to be full halfway through it. You’re already nervous enough as it is.

Keep Your Answers Short

How would you feel if you ask someone a lengthy question, expecting a similarly lengthy answer only to get, “Yes, I think so” and “No, I don’t think that.” as your answers? It’s okay to open up and talk about the company or to explain yourself when you are asked a question, particularly if you have done your homework.

If keeping your answers short will not help you get the job, why would you do it just because someone tells you to?

List Out All Your References

In some places, checking up with the references is only a practice used by human resources to confirm that you have previously worked where you said you did.

Most of the time, these references may never be contacted at all. However, you can use this in your strategy. After the interview, you would have gotten a sense of what the recruiters think of you or seek from you.

There is still time to pick the reference who can give you a leg up in the right sense, provided that you have contacted them beforehand and explained your situation to them.

The post 10 Common Misconceptions About Job Interviews appeared first on Hongkiat.

This is probably the reason why one-hour interviews fail to unearth the real person within; and only after the employee has joined your company that you realize they have lied in their resume; they are just all talk, no walk; they cannot work under minimal supervision or with any other team members, or they have the tendency to make the company adapt to their likes and preferences (true story).

The Existing Problem

When advice-mongering sites give candidates sample answers to give, and the candidates take those sample answers to their interviews, everyone becomes the same faceless drone. That’s when recruiters may have to resort to unorthodox interview methods to separate the sheep from those who know what they are doing.

And let’s face it, half an hour is real easy to fake through and does little to nothing to help you decide. Plus, most resumes are spell-checked (any interview guide will suggest doing that) and hyped up, so if you base you base the recruitment on just their CV, the candidate in real-life may come up short of your expectations.

Hiring talent

Unless you are searching for someone who will only be doing one thing over and over again, chances are you need them to be great problem-solvers. But don’t just ask them how they would solve a problem, introduce these problems into the interview (not during the probation period, or after they are confirmed).

If you want your employees to have certain ‘talent’ criteria, there should be an effort to make them display their talent in the interview room itself. Heineken did exactly this to sort through candidates for their internship program. It’s a classic case of " don’t tell me, show me" and it’s just brilliant.

But the best video to really illustrate this is the test scene in Men In Black. I know it’s just a movie but the principle’s the same. Put them in an uncomfortable position (see: make things ridiculously uncomfortable) and see how they react.

Put Ants In Their Pants

Textbook methods are only going to get you average, mediocre candidates to join your company. Short of putting ants in their pants, there are a lot of things you can do to spruce up the atmosphere in the interview room, for instance, :

Asking off-track questions

Simple questions like "How did you get here this morning? Was the traffic bad?" can ease them into putting their guard down, and revealing more about their true self.

Plus, you get an inside look into their lifestyle: does he take public transport, does he live far from here, does he drive, does he still lives with his mother, and if he has an opinion on how to solve problems, or if he is the wait-and-see kind.

Distract them

Put up special items in the room, items that are designed to distract. One of the things that will work pretty well is a mirror or a reflective surface. You’d be surprised at how many candidates think looking good during the interview trumps paying attention to the questions.

The best place for it, right above your head, behind you. Even when they steal peeks, you’d notice.

Test Their Drive

Some jobs require you to be non-tolerant of certain situations. A chef should be picky about the quality of his raw materials, a restaurant manager about cleanliness, or a sales rep about sale quotas.

Apply this to the interview process, and you can give an editor an IQ test that is riddled with mistakes, a biodata form in Comic Sans to a designer to fill in, or put a hideous vase near the corner of the interview room when interviewing an interior designer.

When their natural instincts get the best of them and they voice out about these ‘atrocities’, you know you got the right person for the job.

Catch Them Off Guard

Rather than resort to oddball questions, there are many other ways to catch a candidate off guard and see how well they approach problems. For instance:

• in your expected salary section in the company form, but only 3 boxes and see the answers that candidates give
• turn up late for the interview and say, "Oh, you’re early" and watch how they tackle with the situation
• bring in the resume for another (non-existing) candidate, explain the mistake and watch how the candidate try to sell him/herself and trump the ‘other’ candidate.

Conclusion

Sometimes, though, it boils down to how you click with the candidate. You might even consider trying to simulate an actual working environment or to explain how things are going to work if the candidate gets the job.

Understanding where candidates are coming from — after peeling all the surface layers — may help find you a candidate that will be a great addition to your company.

Recruiting is a costly endeavor but it is not worth getting a bad apple to join in the growing orchard. Rather than choosing to extend the lengths of probation periods, you can always just throw them into the heat of the battle and see how they escape the zone or better yet, win the battle.

What interview methods have you tried out which helped you catch a great addition to your company?

The post Why You Should Shake Up The Interview Process (And How) appeared first on Hongkiat.

At the root of it all, it points to that strong emotion you have inside of you, for someone, or some thing. And anyone who has ever succeeded in making a name for themselves would probably state their passion for the work / craft / industry as a reason for their success, but do you know yours?

I asked around, compiled some questions, got some answers, had a few headaches trying to decipher why everyone is telling me different things about what passion is to them.

For example, some equate a passion (for something) to a hobby or a dream, but just because you love to sing (in the shower), that doesn’t necessarily mean that your passion is the act of singing.

Here are 10 things you should know about passion, which can perhaps help you find what your real passion is.

1. It’s not a bobby nor a dream

There should be a purposeful word choice in what you use in a sentence. With this logic in mind, ‘Passion’ is as far from a ‘hobby’ as a ‘hobby’ is to a ‘dream’. One special ingredient separates passion from the two.

In the 2004 movie, National Treasure, treasure hunter Benjamin Gates asks his sidekick, Riley, this simple question: "We don’t need someone crazy. But one step short of crazy, what do you get?"

His sidekick says "Obsessed" but he corrects him with "Passionate."

When you do what you love to do at a moderate level, you can call it a hobby. It could be cooking, gardening, singing in the shower, disassembling gadgets, playing with action figures; the mix. But when you go all out with it, to the point that someone deems you a step short from crazy, that’s passion for you.

2. Being happy with your passion

And you do it for a few reasons, one of which is because of how it makes you feel. Passion is engrained in your body and soul. For me, when you are really happy doing something, there’s a hint of what you are passionate about right there.

From that, add a level of obsession to it, a lot of man-hours, a devotion second only to a dog’s love for its master, and that’s just about as close as you can get to pinpointing what your passion is.

One of the reasons defining passion is so different from one man to another, is because sometimes it is hard to pin down what your real passion is.

3. You might not see it

It’s not true that passion has to be something that you can feel (as in touch, in physical form). Sometimes it is an effect of what you do.

Believe it or not, some people really like to help other people, and that is really important in some professions e.g. a nurse in a child’s hospital, a social welfare worker, a flight attendent, a special needs teacher etc.

That effect not only pushes them to get out of bed and face all kinds of things that would cause you and me to break down on a daily basis (see #4) but they also do it because their passion is to make a difference in someone’s life.

4. Rough it out

To be passionate about something is to weather the storm no matter how hard it is. If practising for hours on the guitar makes the skin of your fingers break, or dancing the ballet to the tune of the nutcracker gives you ugly toes, passion says ‘so be it’.

You cease to care because at the end of the day you just want to be known as the person who can play Stairway to Heaven in your sleep or still dance even without all your limbs attached (go ahead, click it. It’s beautiful).

5. Childhood crush

A probable source for what we are passionate about may come from what we were exposed to during our childhood. Many simple things such as sketching, music, collecting action figures or airplane models that we did when we were young evolve to become what we are passionate about when we are adults.

Have you seen what they can do with LEGO bricks? With just pen and paper? With wooden blocks? With trash and light? They may have the talent to do those things but passion is what brings those things from thought to reality, even when they are well into adulthood. For them, growing up doesn’t mean the same thing as letting go of what you love doing.

6. Being passionate is being invested

Invested here refers to how much of you, you put inside your passion. The time, the effort, the costs, the blood and sweat – it’s not always positive energy or good news all the way (see #4).

Passionate people may be angry almost all the time – passion is a combination of love and hatred – because along with the obsession, comes a need for perfection.

"Good enough" is never good enough because the passion does not allow it. And it has to do with #7.

7. You don’t mind going full nerd

No one can describe passion better than geeks and nerds. It probably began as a hobby, then it became a favorite pastime, then a partime unpaid job (because of the hours you spend on it), then you start collecting and learning the jargon, and joining communities of fellow fans.

This is where you shut out almost everything else and fully devote yourself into pursuing and elevating what you love so that it is out in the limelight, looked at by the rest of the world. And the irony of it is, the world probably don’t and won’t ‘get it’. But you do and you don’t care.

8. You can’t stop it

Say you don’t want to go full nerd on it; well, here’s the bad news, you can’t stop it or refrain from doing it. It’s always there in your heart and up there at the back of your mind.

You can’t switch it off or tone it down. And you won’t stop until you have let it all out or satisfy your craving – be it to draw your next masterpiece, or to write your breakthrough novel, or to redefine an industry. Follow it far enough in your career and your life and something big may come of it.

9. Raw passion, ambitions & limits

At least the one thing that everyone could agree on about passion is that it is closely associated with drive, enthusiasm, limitless energy, motivation, the push, etc. Passion can be transformed into raw enthusiasm which is then processed into an internal drive that keeps you going.

Passionate people are almost always ambitious. They want to have a say in the field that they love. They read about it, study it, embrace it and never really escape from it. It is a gift and a curse. And I don’t think everyone has it.

10. Embracing passion

"It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion to a person who has never experienced it than we can explain light to the blind." – T.S. Elliot

I think about passion the same way that I think about talent. Not everyone is gifted with it. Even if they are, not everyone has the bravery or the opportunity to embrace their passion. In order to survive, most of us prefer to be practical rather than passionate.

"Get a steady job, buy a car, pay your bills, sign checks, manage accounts." Don’t get me wrong, it is necessary to have a steady income to pursue your dreams but I don’t believe it when people say, "I am passionate about my work". Are you working for the money or for what you love? It’s a fine line between the two, but to be technical about it, it’s still a line.

Conclusion

When it comes to passion – a strong emotion of desire – there is a need to be brave enough to both acknowledge and embrace it. Some let their passion take over the wheel and do things that challenge the status quo, push boundaries, wreck tradition and ultimately reshape the world as we knew it.

To strive for your passion is to be different from the rest. Take it from astronaut Chris Hadfield who has some pretty good advice to share with youngsters who want to one day go to space like how he did.

Do you have the same level of bravery to embrace your passion?

The post 10 Things You Should Know About Passion (And How To Find Yours) appeared first on Hongkiat.

I’m not a professional recruiter, although I’m not sure if they will be able to help you with your questions either. They are, after all, obligated to their clients, the companies. But bear with me as we look at common dilemmas faced by individuals new to the working environment.

To be honest, you may not find answers here because every one of us has our own set of problems. However, you may be able to take away something from this post, the leverage you need to make the right decision, or at least the kind you are less likely to regret later on.

Here are five dilemmas you’d probably face as a first-time employee.

1. Negotiating Your Salary

Let’s start with before you get your first job: at the interview table. One of the more challenging things to talk about during the interview for your first job is the salary range. Despite what you believe about what you are worth, the company has another set of beliefs about how much they are willing to pay you. This usually coincides with the budget they have at hand.

Find The Range

Some companies offer more than others, and some prefer to take advantage of the new kid in the block. With a bit of digging, you will be able to find out that ideal range.

Next, find a sum that you are willing to rough things out for. Then, ask for that sum (or higher) while still keeping within the range. How? By asking politely. To clear the air, you should also look at the benefits they have to offer as well.

While the pay may be meager, you might be reimbursed with a reasonable overtime rate, a good health package, and other forms of monetary incentives. The keyword here is ‘might’.

If you have done your research well, you would know when they are shortchanging you, usually by offering you whatever they can get away with. But if you can’t bring yourself to take the final figure, reject the offer and move on. Don’t beat yourself up about it.

The Deal-Breaker

In any case, if you won’t starve from the ‘paltry sum’ they are offering you, take into account the value of the experience you will get from taking the job. In the right circumstances, what you will learn will probably be more valuable than what you will earn.

2. Settling for a Secondhand Offer

Some of you may have come across a job offer that isn’t what you are looking for or offered a role that you had not applied for, and worst of all, the offer comes right at the interview table. Should you take the job or not? For this one, it depends.

The two-bird Killer

There are two reasons a company would offer a candidate a job adjacent to what he or she is asking for: they need someone urgently, and you are qualified (sometimes, over-qualified) for the job.

Any recruitment done to bring you or any other candidate to that table costs money, usually a high sum for a lousy return (think sifting through hundreds of candidates to find two who will finally get the job). HR managers are reluctant to go through the process again if they can find one who fits the bill – even if it is the wrong bill.

The Deal-Breaker

On your end, the offer may not be what you want in for, but as you are starting from zero (experience-wise), it boils down to whether or not you are desperate enough to settle with the second-best. And settling with second best happens far more often than having a career where you get to do what you love. Ask anyone.

3. Nobody Is Perfect

So you’re at your first job, and you want to make a good impression and do everything right, prim and proper. Screwing up is probably the last time you’d expect yourself to be doing.

But trust me, you will. Everyone screws up, but the good thing is, people usually tend to screw up from trying something new; people who don’t try anything new never screw up.

The Lesser of Two Evils

As a rookie, your task is to do everything and anything, and you should because you can get away with messing up. Yup, being new on the job is the only time you are allowed to screw up (and still escape unscathed).

And it’s all alright. Organizations know that if they want to have experienced employees, they have to train them and to do that, they aren’t as hard on new screw-ups. In short, they let them mess up. And nothing teaches you how to do things right faster than when you do it absolutely wrong the first time.

Plus, you want to screw up when you have a supervisor watching over your every move, not when you are making decisions on behalf of your company two decades into your career.

The Deal-Breaker

Plus, it’s easier for you to recover from your failures and mistakes when you are in the lower hierarchy, and what you learn from those mistakes is what is going to help you keep your job and advance your career.

4. In the Battling Arena

Office politics is an ugly thing (very much like the non-office type), but it is probably due to human nature: the need to be the alpha dog, the leader of the pack, or just to survive in a dog-eat-dog world out there. There is a reason why I’m using all these doggy preferences.

Pick A Pack

So what happens is, there are a few packs in the same office, and these packs are made up of individuals with the same likes and dislikes. These individuals help their own kind and gang up on weaker prey. Every group has a leader, the one who dictates who does what and promotes them accordingly when the opportunity arises.

You will be thrust into this arena and be expected to take sides, and for the love of bacon, pick a side(!)… if only to get them out of your hair. Keep the gossip at a minimal level and try to focus on getting the job done and advancing your career.

The Deal-Breaker

If you ever find that politics is taking center stage more than the actual work itself, maybe it’s time to pack up and leave – or be a freelancer.

5. Pack Up And Leave

There may come a time when you think that you should move on. You might think that you don’t belong in this line, or it’s torturous to do something you don’t like, repeatedly, day in, day out with no progress in sight. Then, it happens.

Say Your Goodbyes

You get approached by a rival company or a headhunter who sings praises of you and offers you a higher wage – the answer to all your debts. Or maybe your manager pushed you one time too far, making you sit out yet another weekend, staying at the office because he has kids and you don’t.

Regardless of what encourages you to leave – and it will come eventually – only consider leaving if you know for sure that you are better off.

If you can’t be sure, however, but still yearn to leave, leave in the best of terms. Make your apologies and get things off your chest before you go. And if the damage isn’t too bad, stay in contact with the company and the people within, because no matter how many jobs you will move on to, you will never forget your first.

The Deal-Breaker

The people in your first job watched you grow, so there will always be that bond there and you never know if you may want to reconnect with them later on in your career. Leaving in good terms leaves that door open for future opportunities, even if it means going back.

Conclusion

I may not be able to give you an inside scoop of how organizations work when it comes to picking or retaining their candidates, but one thing is for sure, any company that is bent on expanding is always looking for good people who are willing to learn, who are patient and who are not shy to ask questions to things they do not know.

You aren’t expected to know anything about your first job, and to be honest, not every company out there is willing to teach you the ropes. But take that as a challenge to better yourself on your own terms, and who knows, one day you might be able to head your own company based on the rules you make.

What dilemmas did you face in your first job? Share them with us and let us know how you dealt with them.

The post The Five Dilemmas You’d Face As a First-time Employee appeared first on Hongkiat.

In this short inspirational post, we have grouped together 5 great ideas that you can try to make your very own creative group photos.

1. One Leg Kick!

Here’s a gem of a shot. Get a few friends to stand some distance in front of you in the same line. Get them to figure out how badly they would look if they get a kick in the stomach for real.

Have them ready to jump, have the hero ready to give his ultra-powerful kick, get the camera ready in burst mode and Click Away!

2. The Beach Super Punch!

An extension of One Leg Kick!, this punch has a radial effect on the victims. For the best effect, take the time to carve out the rings of destruction in the sand, like what you see around the kung fu master who delivers the super punch.

You might want to coordinate who ‘badly’ you are hit (victim right in the middle seems to be bearing the brunt of the force), less smiles more pain on the faces, and some flying shoes may improve on this pretty perfect photograph.

3. Super Grandma!

Grandma has a temper! Looks like all her tai-chi lessons are finally paying off. If you don’t eat your vegetables or always talk back to your na-na, one day she may unleash upon you her tai-chi of doom like this awesome grandma here.

The lady in red (third from the left) may need some attention later on, particularly since she is straight in the line of fire.

4. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fuuuh

You definitely need someone behind the camera for this one since it is a play on perspective and angles. While the first six people gave the impression that they are actually on a giant’s hand, the last two fellas on the far right deliver the home run by breathing life into the illusion. Someone grab on to the last guy before he gets blown away!

5. Perfect Formation

Here’s a cheeky group trying to hold back their cheeky grins as they levitate several feet off the ground. Note that the guys hold one type of pose while the girls try another type.

I’m not sure which of the two is harder but their ability to coordinate the formation while in mid-flight is commendable. Friendly reminder, tuck in their shirts before you start posing for photos where you jump in the air.

One More: Watery Poetry in Motion!

Part of the power of photography is capturing something while it is happening, even when we don’t see it with our own eyes in real life. How often can you capture water droplets marking out a path in mid-air?

This might take some practice to get it right and hence willing participants to fling their hair a lot more than once. But in the end, you’ll know when you have a winning photo.

The post 5 Clever Ideas For Great Group Photos appeared first on Hongkiat.

There are researchers who like to dig into human behavior and their interaction with technology and social media. Some of the outcomes of the research tells us what we already know, while others have weird findings that wil definitely raise an eyebrow or two. But trust us, none of these researchers are aiming for the Ig Nobel prize.

Let’s take a look at what science is saying about you and your social networks.

Photo-taking = eating Disorder

If you haven’t already heard, dwelling in food photography has been deemed a sign of mental illness. I’m not really sure about that but they sure look funny.

Dr Valerie Taylor who published a study about food fetish spoke about this phenomenon in the Canadian Obesity Summit in Vancouver earlier this year saying that it could be a sign of eating or weight disorders.

To be fair, she also said that not everyone who does it has a problem with food, which is a good thing because the phenomenon is so widespread that some restaurants have started banning photography of their food in their establishments.

Why? Well, because some photographers are coming in with gorillapods and flashes and disturbing everyone else who is just there to eat the food, not make a documentary out of it.

Online-Offline Connections

A study from Brigham Young University was based on the responses of 491 respondents and concluded that teenagers who connect with their parents in social media networks like Facebook and Twitter have a better connection with them offline. They are also less likely to be depressed or behave aggressively.

However the same cannot be said of marital relationships. Among the culprit that could lead to a breakup or divorce among excessive Facebook users are "partner surveillance" and jealousy stemming from a partner keeping in touch with their ex.

A finding that will offer some reprieve is that relationships that are less than 3 years long more easily affected by these influences while those in a longer relationship have higher immunity against these influences. When faced with a possibility of drama in your love life, the researcher’s advice is: cut back on usage.

Love Yourself, Love Your Social Network

We’re quite sure that there is a healthy dose of narcissism (the art of loving yourself quite a bit) required to be active users of social media but did you know that there is a study which can put that down to a science?

"Facebook is a mirror and Twitter is a megaphone," says this University of Michigan study that explores how these tools encourage narcissism at rather personal levels.

Among their findings, in young adults in college, if you love yourself more, you’d prefer Twitter. "Young people may overealuate the importance of their own opinions," said Elliot Panek, one of the researchers. Basically, if you have an opinion you want to find an audience for, Twitter is the tool for you.

Middle-aged adults are found to prefer posting on Facebook instead as it is a matter of forming and presenting an portfolio of their life choices – and molding it to a version their social circles would approve of.

The study however could not find if you are narcissistic first before using social media, or if you only become narcissistic after using social media.

The Harmful Side Of Facebook

Larry Rosen, PhD, Professor of Psychology at California State University an expert on the link between psychology and technology opines that teenagers who are on Facebook more show “narcissistic tendencies”.

Such people are also more prone to depression, lower grades, psychological disorders and future health problems if they are on Facebook too much. On the flip side, teens also learn how to show "virtual empathy" to online friends and (somewhat) how to socialize from behind the screen.

Rosen also emphasized on direct communciation between parent and child rather than stalking them online or leaving it to apps and software to watch over them online. Here’s Rosen talking more on how you need to set limits and boundaries instead of having a digital detox.

Of Self-Esteem, Facebook and Photos

Using the Implicit Association Test, Catalina Toma of University of Wisconsin, Madison found that a quick 5-minute check of Facebook profiles can significantly boost the self-esteem of users.

The test asks respondents to associate positive and negative adjectives with the words me, my, I and myself. The more positive associations, the higher the respondent’s self esteem. Users are found to have more self-esteem after a quick check of their own profiles.

To add to that, photos are the biggest drive for one’s self esteem. "A photo can very powerfully provoke immediate social comparison, and that can trigger feelings of inferiority.

You don’t envy a news story," says Hanna Krasnova of Humboldt University Berlin. In other words, your self-esteem is more easily affected by what you see on Instagram. Check out the post for what more the team has to say.

Conclusion

Social media definitely has an impact on how we view ourselves and the people around us. It is a tool that we associate with at a personal level, so personal that the things you do on social networks like Facebook could get you mixed up with individuals with criminal intent.

Perhaps this is why researchers and psychologists are so eager to study how we interact with other human beings behind the anonymity of a screen.

Let us know if you agree with what some of these scientists are saying. Are they on to something or are they overthinking our harmless connection with social media?

The post 5 Effects Social Networks Have On You appeared first on Hongkiat.

And why not? You get easy access to it regardless of where you go, and where you are, and let’s not forget the convenience of not having to queue up to settle your banking and official matters (that electricity bill isn’t going to pay itself).

These days, even shopping can be done online. You can even order anything from fashion items to fast food, and luxury items to everyday groceries over the Internet. We know how to use these tools and services, but do we actually know how to keep our online accounts and information safe?

If you secretly answered yes to that, then you’re in luck. Skip ahead to ‘Check the Strength of Your Password’ to give your password a try. See if it is actually strong enough to withstand hacking.

Hacking and Passwords

First of all, let’s make this clear: there is a difference between leaving your Facebook account logged on and getting your account hacked. There are skills involved when it comes to hacking (and sometimes it’s just pure, yet smart, and brutal guesswork).

Now, you probably already know through movies and pop culture that the individuals who hack are called hackers. What you may not know is that they may come in several forms – designated by the color of hats, defined by their intent. Here’s a brief round-up:

• ‘White hat’ hackers: Security experts
• ‘Black hat’ hackers: computer criminals
• ‘Grey hat’ hackers: undecided
• Script kiddie: A hacker in progress

Site-Wide breach

Recently, two online security breaches occurred, which prompted the writing of this topic. One, a hacker broke into 6.5 million LinkedIn accounts in June 2012 obtained their emails and passwords and listed half of them online.

Here’s an infographic by rapid7 about the top 30 LinkedIn passwords that were cracked by the hacker, which were then posted on a Russian hacker forum. See any of the passwords in there that you are using right now? If you do, you really need to change your password.

The second incident of concern was the Dropbox password leak in which users had used the same username and passwords for their Dropbox account as they have with other third-party accounts they own. It’s like having the same key for all the doors in your house. Open one, and you can open them all. Why tempt them by making your fort so easy to break in?

Creating a Strong password

So passwords are important, but do you know what makes for a strong password? The general consensus, which is available everywhere on the Net, and I mean everywhere, is that it should NOT

• contain words that can be found in the dictionary,
• be in sequence or in repeated characters.
• contain particulars about your name, birth date, social security, passport, driver’s license or any identifying documents. The same goes for details of your close family members.

It’s best to use a complex, varied and long-enough password to secure your accounts. The password should carry at least 8 characters and be a combination of numbers, symbols and letters in both lower and upper case. Change your passwords regularly to keep them effective.

Check the Strength of your Password

Not convinced that you should change your password(s)? Here are three websites that can help you check the strength of your passwords.

The Password Meter

Another password strength checker that tells you where your password stands with instant visual feedback. Just for the fun of it, try to make a password that will give you the BEST reading, like what you see below. A long password does not automatically ensures you get the BEST reading.

Microsoft Password Strength Checker

Length factors into this password strength checker, unlike the previous website. The site also carries some information on how to make strong passwords.

Forgot your password?

Experts say that you should generate unique passwords for every account you have online. This would ensure that even if one account has been compromised, the same password will not work on the other accounts that you have, even if you use the same username for each account.

If you do, however take this advice to heart, then you might face another problem: remembering all your unique passwords.

The Workaround

Here is a workaround to help you conquer and manage your passwords, and no, it doesn’t involve taping your password to your screen. Have a generic personalized bit of the password, one that you can add to each unique password just to make it harder to crack. Let’s use g33k as a (flimsy at best) example.

Then, fall back on something about the site that will occur easily to you to complete the password, for instance:

• Logo: for Twitter you can use g33kBluBi*d
• A variation of the name: g33k@fasbUK
• Service: g33kMYemelz

Feel free to jazz up the spelling so that it doesn’t reflect a word in the dictionary in any language. Spruce it up with a mix and match of lower and upper case letters, and sprinkle some symbols in between to add flavor to your passwords.

This way, even if you forget your exact password, you can easily regenerate it based on your personal inclinations and try until you can regain access to your account. When all else is lost, retrieve your password by following the site’s instructions.

Wrap Up

I’m no expert in creating and managing passwords, in fact, I get locked out a lot which can be a pain. But why go through all the trouble when there are plenty of tools found online that can help us manage these invaluable passwords. Some tools can even generate, manage, and store your passwords for you. But tools are just tools, they still need someone to find and use them.

So before you become a victim of a hack, or lose control of your personal accounts online, do some spring cleaning and change those keys to your gates. You never know which of your accounts could be the next target of a hacking exercise.

The post Golden Rule to Internet Security: Change Your Passwords appeared first on Hongkiat.

Love them or hate them, life hacks have become so ingrained in our online lives that there are sites and videos dedicated to sharing these hacks (or debunking them).

In this compilation, we want to share with you 99 of our favorite tech life hacks. You might have heard of some of them, especially when it comes to keyboard shortcuts and handy online tools and websites, but it doesn’t hurt to know more about them.

#1

To quickly change the case (upper vs. lower) of text in Microsoft Word, highlight the phrase, then hit Shift + F3. Changes cycle through all lowercase, first letter capitalized, and all in uppercase.

#2

To get quick summaries of articles online, get and use the Chrome extension TLDR. The plugin shows you the gist of the article so you can figure out if you want to read the whole thing. (Here are more Chrome extensions)

#3

To re-open an accidentally closed browser tab, use Ctrl / Cmd + Shift + T.

#4

To get a tough-to-crack password, use non-English characters on your keyboard.

#5

To proofread a long essay, paste your article in Google Translate and listen to it. This makes it easier to pick up mistakes, and the tool itself can help you pick up minor typos.

#6

Run your writing or document past AfterTheDeadline to clear typos, grammar mistakes and get help with writing styles.

#7

If you save your Powerpoint presentation in .PPS instead of .PPT, your file goes into slideshow mode when you open it.

#8

Want to charge your phone faster? Put it in Airplane Mode. (Editor’s note: We did a small experiment on this and found the difference to be only 3 minutes, but technically, it’s still “faster”.)

#9

Search for a domain name across multiple TLDs and how much they cost via iwantmyname.com.

#10

Hanging a picture but don’t have a level? Well, your iPhone can help. Open the Measure app, tap Level, and lay your phone flat against the surface to achieve a well-balanced hang.

#11

Want a quick way to unfreeze a frozen phone? Plug it into its charger.

#12

Hitting the Spacebar scrolls down a web page; hitting the Spacebar + Shift lets you scroll back up.

#13

Attach bread clips to each cable or power cord, then label the clips with a pen or marker to reflect which cable is which.

#14

Keep a list of numbers of your credit card companies or hotlines to cancel your cards quickly, in case you lose your wallet or phone. You can do this on paper on in an email.

#15

Store some emergency cash in between the small space of your phone and its phone case, just in case.

#16

Someone needs to use your iPhone to make a call? Use Siri from the lock screen to make the call. The person has no access to any other app on your phone this way.

#17

Got yet another call from a telemarketer? Press the volume down button to quickly mute the ringer.

#18

Your best search mate for college assignments is not google.com. Use scholar.google.com instead. Try adding “PDF” to find downloadable copies.

#19

Laptop batteries can last longer if you charge them up to only 80% instead of the full 100%.

#20

If you can’t remember the title of a song but you know the melody or lyrics to it, hum/sing it on Midomi to get the title.

#21

When booking flights or hotels online, clear cookies before you start looking, or shop in Incognito mode, for lower prices.

#22

The best background music to work to with minimal disruption is video game soundtracks.

#23

Want to play Tetris on Mac? On Terminal, type Emacs then press Enter. Press Esc + X, type tetris and Enter. Use the arrow keys to move and rotate your Tetris blocks.

#24

To find the solution to one of your many computer troubleshooting issues, add “Solved” to sift through the results.

#25

Use SelfControl to block social network sites for a period of time. Cool app, ironic name.

#26

For an equal split of sound of your tunes when sharing your headphones with a friend, turn on the Mono audio option on your phone.

#27

Shave a few bucks off your groceries, by using Lozo to find discount coupons for the stuff you need.

#28

Saving an Excel file as an .XLSB will shrink the size by half or 75%.

#29

Someone’s incessant morning alarm is going off but the owner is refusing to get up and turn it off? Call the phone to turn it off for them.

#30

If you buy a product on Amazon, and there is a price drop within 7 days, you can get a refund on the price difference.

#31

To prevent sending emails to the wrong person, write your email first, and write your recipient last.

#32

If your printer is out of black ink, change the font color to #010101 for 99% grey.

#33

The best type of music to work to is a video game soundtrack because they are designed to not mess with your focus.

#34

Find yourself in a hotel without your charger? Check the TV for a USB plugin.

#35

The Bohemian Rhapsody is the perfect music piece to test headphones and speakers to because of the range of highs and lows.

#36

Have an old cassette case lying around? Don’t chuck it out, use it as a holder or stand for your mobile phone.

#37

Want a quick way to turn part of a YouTube video into a GIF? Add “GIF” after “www.” and before “youtube” in the URL of the video .

#38

To paste copied text without the formatting, use Cmd / Ctrl + Shift + V.

#39

In Chrome, click Cmd / Ctrl + Shift + Del to quickly access the “Clear Browsing Data” Window.

#40

To find sample tests for a looming exam, search “site:edu [subject] exam”.

(More Google Search tips).

#41

Can’t watch YouTube videos that have been age restricted but don’t want to sign in to do so? In the URL, delete the “watch?v=” and replace it with “v/”.

#42

To bypass a website block by your school or office, use Google Translate as a proxy by pasting the url of the site into it.

#43

Make a small knot at either side of the earphone to identify left or right side of the earphones.

#44

In the iPhone Calculator app, swipe left or right to delete the last number.

#45

If you live near a stadium or a hall that hosts public venues, set Google Alerts for the location to avoid being “surprised” by sudden traffic congestion.

#46

Take pictures of important notices, receipts, invitations, business cards, shopping lists for easy access. Never lose your paper trail again.

#47

If you need to remember the time for something, make a miss call to any number to get a (very precise) timestamp.

#48

Want to surprise someone at the airport but don’t know their arrival time or flight number? Google where they’re flying from and to, and the airline they are on e.g. Singapore Airlines Singapore to London. You’ll get all the info you need.

#49

Set important lists e.g. schedule, events, shopping list, errands, as the wallpaper for your phone.

#50

If you hit Shift + Volume up / down on Mac, a sound is emitted indicating the intensity of the volume.

#51

The easiest way to crank up your smartphone’s speaker volume is using an empty cup.

#52

Take a picture of business cards people hand you, just in case you lose it.

#53

Bounce batteries to see if their are good or bad. The higher they bounce, the lower the charge they have in them. Here’s a cool video illustrating that.

#54

This one’s for developers who wonder what technologies and services are running under the hood in websites. Dissect a site with BuiltWith.com.

#55

Send notes that will self-destruct after it is read or after a specific number of days, via privnote.com.

#56

Need sound clips? Check out freesound.org for very specific sound bits.

#57

To delete files or folders quickly without dragging it to the trash bin, just use Shift + Del .

#58

Smallpdf is a fun place where PDFs go to be converted to and from other formats such as JPG, PPT, Word and Excel. They also unlock, split and merge PDFs.

#59

Have a lot of tabs open on Chrome? Use Cmd + 1, 2, 3 to go to specific tabs based on their position, or use Cmd + Tab to just cycle through the tabs.

#60

Tap on K to pause a Youtube video, no matter where you click last in the same page.

#61

To scroll sideways or horizontally on a web page, press down on Shift then scroll on your mouse.

#62

Pressing down on Cmd then scrolling on your mouse, zooms in or out of the web page you’re on.

#63

Click on a link with your mouse’s scroll button to open it in another browser tab.

#64

Have a lot of tabs open? Click on a browser tab with your mouse’s scroll button to quickly close tabs you don’t need.

#65

Install multiple applications at once with the help of Ninite. It’s the ultimate time-saver.

#66

On Mac, Ctrl + Click works the same way as a right-click on the mouse.

#67

Don’t want your searches on Google to be location-based? Then go to google.com/ncr. NCR stands for “no country redirect”.

#68

Turn your handwriting into a font with MyScriptFont.

#69

In Excel, to highlight the whole row (horizontal) use Shift + Spacebar, and to highlight the whole column (vertical), use Control + Spacebar.

#70

Many tech companies have a status page that lets you know of their services are down. For instance, here are the links to go to for the status pages for Apple and Facebook.

#71

The Youtube Audio Library has music you can download and put into any of your YouTube videos.

#72

Stay ahead of important dates like game, movie and album releases, major events and more with the help of Forekast.

#73

Need a mirror fast? Turn on your smartphone’s front-facing camera, like you would when you take a selfie.

#74

Don’t know which smartphone to buy? Use this ProductChart to help you narrow down your choices based on your preferences.

#75

Shop with Honey to get the best coupons collected and applied to every online purchase you make.

#76

Want to insert a new key into your keyring? Use a coin to keep the ring apart and slot in your new key.

#77

Don’t throw away the box your smartphone came in. They are great, sturdy storage spaces to store charging cables and earphones you want to keep with you while travelling.

#78

To make sure someone isn’t giving you a fake number, read the number back to them incorrectly and see if they correct you. If they do correct you, then it’s the right number.

#79

Stumped by a math problem? Get the PhotoMath app and scan the math problem with your phone and the app will solve it for you.

#80

Put an emergency contact number and a name on your lock screen, in case you lose your phone.

#81

Use crocodile clips to organize, separate and keep your cables within reach.

#82

For quick dictionary meanings, google “define: [your search term]”.

#83

Learned a new word but not sure how to use it? Google the word then refine the search results to “News” to see the word in practical use.

#84

If you see an attire on TV and want to own the same attire, this site WornOnTV.net helps you to easily find the clothes they were wearing.

#85

To download a Youtube video, insert “ss”, after www. and before youtube.com.

#86

When playing a mobile game, the easiest way to stop ads is to play it in Airplane Mode.

#87

For smarter search results, use WolframAlpha.com.

#88

View, Edit or annotate PDF documents online via PDFEscape.com..

#89

With Marker.to you can highlight parts of a webpage with “yellow marker”, then share the annotated page with friends with a link.

#90

Write, edit, print and share complete music sheets with Noteflight. It’s also a great collaborative tool used in music classes.

#91

Darker wallpaper or themes can help save 6%-8% of battery life for smartphones with AMOLED screens.

#92

To runs searches in Gmail more accurately, use quote marks “” with your keyword for example “invoice“.

#93

Use has:attachment in Gmail search to list all emails that have attachments.

#94

To get the time and weather of a city, just google “[location] time” or “[location] weather”. Example “LA time” or “LA Weather“.

#95

Do Nothing for 2 Minutes is a website that wants you to do nothing except stay calm, and listen to their wave music for 2 minutes.

#96

With TextExpander’s bit.ly script, you can shorten any URL in practically less than 1 second.

#97

By using Dropbox’s Carousel media gallery, you will be rewarded with 3GB additional storage space in Dropbox. (Note: This has been discontinued March 31, 2016).

#98

To shoot Panorama photos on iOS in a different direction, simply tap on the arrow to switch from left to right, or right to left.

#99

You can take a snapshot of video you are watching via VLC Media Player. Hit Shift + S on Windows, or Cmd + Alt + S on macOS.

Know of more tech life hacks you want to share with us? Tell us in the comments section.

The post 99 Tech Life Hacks You Should Know appeared first on Hongkiat.