Author: Rashik Mohsin

I am a grad student. Pursuing B.A(h) German from Amity University, Haryana. I tend to finish every work by perfection.

Amazon Prime Day sale is here!!!

Are you planning to buy a smartphone or an Appliance or a TV? And you’re an Amazon Prime member then you should wait for a little. Amazon Prime Day sale is all set to go live this month on the 26th of July and it’ll conclude on the 27th of July.  

Every year Amazon comes up with the Prime Day sale for its existing Prime members and attracts new subscribers. You’ll get great deals and offers on the categories including; Smartphones, Consumer Electronics, TVs, Appliances, Amazon devices, Furniture, Home & Kitchen. The good news is that Amazon is also offering discounts on Flagship devices like iPhone 12 and Oneplus 9. 

Aside from discounts on smartphones, Amazon will also provide a 10% instant discount for HDFC cardholders. Buyers can also exchange their old phones for new phones. Amazon also disclosed that the Echo devices will be sold at discounts up to 50%. Amazon also has teased the smartphones that are getting discounts namely; iPhone 12 Pro, OnePlus Nord CE 5G, Redmi Note 10 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy M51, iPhone 11,iQOO 7 legend, Redmi Note 10, and others.

Prime day sale is not the only perk of being a Prime member, you also get to enjoy free-fast delivery, Prime Video, ad-free music. exclusive deals and more. If you are not a Prime member of Amazon, you can be one today just by buying Prime membership according to monthly/yearly plans provided by Amazon.  

Well if you are so impatient and want to buy an iPhone before the Prime day sale, then you should go for the Apple Days sale. Amazon has announced the Apple Days sale before the Prime Day sale. Apple Days sale will be live until the 17th of July. You can get various deals and discounts on the iPhone 12 series and iPhone 11, and more. You can get iPhone 12 for Rs 70,900 with a discount of Rs 9,000 and HDFC cardholders will get additional Rs 6,000 discount on HDFC credit card transactions. 

Soft Skills.

Soft skills… Every one of us has heard this phrase. Also, you might have heard from employees, grad students, millennials, school students, or young people complaining that they lack certain soft skills. 

There is a wide range of skills that falls under the term “Soft Skills”. These skills are also known as “transferable skills”. 

A definition of Soft Skills:-

Soft skills are certain sets of traits and interpersonal skills that don’t depend on the acquired knowledge. Soft skills include common sense, the ability to deal with people, a positive flexible attitude, or how you approach life and work.

The good news is one can learn and enhance their soft skills over some time. Though it is often hard to do so. Like Hard skills, one can work on their Soft skills and can make themselves capable of using them. One can’t measure Soft skills by any exam, the only way to measure the development of one’s Soft skills is by knowing how one manages relationships around them. 

What are the most important Soft Skills?

Well, there are a lot of Soft skills. But, mentioned below are five skills that you need to learn/enhance:-

★ Communication Skills

The most essential skills include Communication skills. People with good communication skills can maintain/build good relationships around them. Also, they are likely to avoid misunderstandings and can make any workplace better. 

★ Decision Making

Being able to make decisions is a crucial part of life. Everyone one of us has to make decisions in our day-to-day life from what we want to eat to what we should wear.  But sometimes the actual decision doesn’t seem to matter; what matters is that you have made one and moved on.

★ Time management

Time management can help you finish any work within the deadline. Time management is sometimes described as having a ‘good work ethic’. Also, it is very useful for organizing family or team.

★ Leadership skills

These skills are needed to take the lead when necessary. These skills include the ability to manage and motivate others, and to commissioner work. One can learn leadership skills by enrolling in many leadership training courses. 

★ Creativity and problem-solving skills

These skills are as highly valued as leadership skills because they are hard to develop. Although it is being believed that creative thinkers are born not made. But like any other skill, these skills can also be developed. 

The skills mentioned above along with other Soft skills are required in every field whether you are a student, an employee/employer, a business owner, etc. You can reach to various programs to develop and enhance your soft skills. 

Everything We Know About 2021 iPhones!

Apple launches new series of smartphones every year and in a couple of months, Apple is going to launch a brand-new series of iPhones that by far known as the iPhone 13. But we can’t trust the naming process as after iPhone 8 we directly got the iPhone X series. Also, there are rumors that they will launch the new series as iPhone 12s but more chances are for the name iPhone 13. Well, this we’ll get to know at the time of the launch event.

Coming back to the point, like previous year this year also Apple will launch four iPhones; the budget ones namely iPhone 13mini and iPhone 13, and the pro models namely iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Although Apple didn’t get much profit from the iPhone 12mini the previous year, they are willing to launch the iPhone 13mini anyway. Talking about the launch date, if everything goes well Apple will launch the new series of iPhones by the 14th of September.

What changes Apple is going to make in its upcoming iPhone series?

Any major design changes are not expected as Apple has done a major design change the previous year. According to Analysts, rumors, and leaks, we can expect camera improvements, a smaller notch, a faster processor (A15), an improved 5G chip, and increased battery life. Apple is also expected to introduce 120Hz rates for the Pro models. This year also, Apple will not replace the lightning port with a USB-C port. 

According to the Japanese site Mac Otakara, iPhone 13 models will be the same size as the iPhone 12 models, but the thickness will increase by 0.26mm. The iPhone 13 models will be slightly heavy than the iPhone 12 models because of the battery improvement.  Also, we’ll see a diagonal camera set up in the 2021 iPhones.

Although there are rumors that Apple will introduce completely portless models, in-display fingerprint scanners, and an always-on display, these updates are likely to be introduced in future models.

Till now, this is all we know about the 2021 iPhones. Disclaimer; all the details mentioned above are according to the leaks, rumors, and analysts. Though I’m happy to say that the wait very soon is going to be over for Apple fans and technology geeks. And the launch of the new iPhones will be a great opportunity for those who have a slightly low budget and want to buy an iPhone and experience iOS because after the launch prices will decrease for the previous models.

Apple products are known for their quality, reliability, performance, and customer satisfaction. Let’s see if the 2021 iPhones will be up to the mark.

Stress and Stress Management.

Everyone goes through stress in their day-to-day life. Also, everyone goes through different types of stress and has different ways to manage it. But, do we know our stress? How to manage our stress? And do we know stress can be positive also? Well, some of us do and some of us don’t. So, let’s find about Stress and how to manage it. 

What is Stress? 

Stress is the psychological, physiological, and behavioral response by an individual when they perceive a lack of equilibrium between the demands placed upon them and their ability to meet those demands, which, over some time, leads to ill-health.                                                        (Palmer, 1989)

What are types of stress? 

There are three commonly known stresses and they are:-

I) Acute Stress:- 

The most common stress we encounter in day-to-day life is Acute stress. It is short-term stress that can either be positive or negative. 

II) Chronic Stress:-

It is the opposite of Acute stress. Chronic stress feels never-ending and has serious impacts on life. For example, the stress of bad marriage, traumatic experiences.

III) Episodic Acute Stress:-

When a person experiences Acute stress more frequently then that stress is known as Episodic Acute stress. Episodic Acute stress can be very exhausting both physically and mentally. 

How do you know if you’re going through stress?

As mentioned above, everyone goes through different types of stress. Mentioned below are some of the common symptoms of stress:-

★ Difficulty sleeping;

★ Weight gain or weight loss;

★ Stomach pain;

★ Heartburn;

★ Excessive sleeping;

★ Social isolation;

★ Fatigue;

★ Nausea;

★ Irritability;

★ Teeth grinding;

★ Panic attacks;

★ Headaches;

★ Difficulty concentrating;

★ Sweaty hands or feet;

★ Feeling overwhelmed;

★ and obsessive or compulsive behaviors.

Now that you know enough about stress, its types, and its symptoms, let’s know about stress management and some stress management techniques. 

What is Stress management?

Stress management is what it sounds like, it is a set of techniques and programs planned to help people with stress. 

Mentioned below are some different Stress management techniques and strategies:-

I) Take a break from technology. 

II) Manage your time. 

III) Stop overthinking. 

IV) Create healthy boundaries.

V) Make changes in your diet and exercise regularly.

VI) Start Meditating.

VII) Get enough sleep.

VIII) Talk to your family and friends.

IX) Build resilience.

X) Practice Mindfulness.

Stress can affect you and your surrounding. So be aware of what kind of stress you are going through. And start practicing the techniques mentioned above for your well-being. Take time to time breaks from your work. And always remember not every stress has a negative impact, some of the stress pushes you to make the best out of it. 

Live your life, live your dreams, live it with more positive stress than negative. 

    

Oneplus 9 series has been banned from Geekbench.

OnePlus latest series i.e., Oneplus 9 and Oneplus 9 Pro were found to be manipulating the benchmark results. And now has been delisted from Geekbench. Oneplus has a name in the market, and right now many of you must be questioning it. So, let’s have a look into the case. 

Both the devices run on the latest Qualcomm chipset 888 and it makes it obvious for the devices to give you top-notch performance. But it turns out the devices are not performing as their benchmark results demonstrated. It is found that both the devices tend to run at full speed only while using benchmark apps such as Geekbench and Antutu. In this way, Oneplus was manipulating benchmark scores that were not applicable in real-world usage. Since this news was out Geekbench has banned Oneplus 9 and Oneplus 9 Pro from its platform.  

But, how Oneplus was able to manipulate?

It seems Oneplus was blacklisting popular apps for their faster cores, which resulted in slowing down the workloads such as web and social media browsing. It is also been found that Geekbench and Antutu were getting full performance while the other apps were not getting it.  

After it has been found that Oneplus is manipulating benchmark scores. Geekbench stated on Twitter, “It’s disappointing to see OnePlus handsets making performance decisions based on application identifiers rather than application behavior. We view this as a form of benchmark manipulation. We’ve delisted the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro from our Android Benchmark chart. We will also test the other OnePlus handsets in our performance lab to see if these handsets also manipulate performance in the same way.  If they do, we will delist them from the Android Benchmark chart,” it seems from the statement that other Oneplus devices are also at risk of being delisted. 

Oneplus also passed a statement saying, “Our top priority is always delivering a great user experience with our products, based in part on acting quickly on important user feedback. Following the launch of the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro in March, some users told us about some areas where we could improve the devices’ battery life and heat management. As a result of this feedback, our R&D team has been working over the past few months to optimize the devices’ performance when using many of the most popular apps, including Chrome, by matching the app’s processor requirements with the most appropriate power. This has helped to provide a smooth experience while reducing power consumption. While this may impact the devices’ performance in some benchmarking apps, our focus as always is to do what we can to improve the performance of the device for our users.”

Although all this has created doubts regarding Oneplus among tech geeks and some buyers. Let’s see if Geekbench and Oneplus come together to resolve this issue or like the Oneplus 9 or Oneplus 9 Pro other Oneplus devices will be delisted too


Water Pollution: A threat to humans and the environment!

Talking about our most crucial resource “Water”, our rivers, lakes, seas are flooding with chemicals, waste, plastic, and other pollutants. Every living being’s life has become nothing but a threat. Yet we trash water anyway. A British poet named W.H Auden once said “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” Polluted water takes away more life than any war/form of violence. With access to less than 1℅ of freshwater resources, it is estimated that by 2050 demand for freshwater will increase by 1/3 than it is today.

In this article, you’ll know:-

★What is water pollution?

★What are the causes?

★What are the ways to prevent water pollution?

What is water pollution?

Water pollution is caused when water bodies are contaminated with chemicals, wastes, or microorganisms, that end up turning water bodies toxic to humans and the environment.

Causes of Water Pollution:-

Water is a Universal Solvent, and it can dissolve more substances than any other liquid on earth. That’s why water is easily polluted. Toxic Substances from factories, farms, and towns mix with it and make it polluted. 

I) Groundwater Pollution- Groundwater gets polluted when pollutants like pesticides, fertilizer runoff, waste are leached from the trash yard and septic systems.

II) Surface Water Pollution- Surface water gets polluted by fertilizer runoff, farm waste, municipal and industrial waste, dumping garbage directly, etc.

III) Ocean water Pollution- Chemicals, nutrients, and many toxic substances from farms, industries, cities are carried by streams and rivers to the sea. Hence, ocean water gets polluted. It is also polluted because of oil spills and leaks.

IV) Radioactive Pollution- Radio Active wastes are generated by uranium mining, nuclear power plants, and by universities and hospitals using radioactive material for research. Unknowingly released or improper disposal of these pollutants can threaten groundwater, surface water, and marine resources. 

What are the ways to prevent water pollution?

The ways by which one can prevent water pollution are:-

I)  Reduce, reuse and recycle plastic.

II) Maintenance of vehicles(especially checking oil leakage or coolant leakage. 

III) Proper disposal of chemicals, factory waste, oils, and non-biodegradable substance. 

IV) By avoiding the usage of pesticides and herbicides.

V) By considering landscaping to reduce runoff.

VI) By spreading awareness. 

Benefits of learning any foreign language.

In this cutting-edge World, who would mind having an extra set of skills. Having proficiency in more than one language is one of the skills needed in today’s era. Being bilingual/multilingual doesn’t mean one can only connect with the world in a more meaningful way but being bilingual/multilingual one can also stand out from the crowd, and advance their career. These are not the only benefits, let’s have a look at some of the benefits in brief. Mentioned below are some of the many benefits a bilingual/multilingual can have:–

Advance your career

Learning a second language can set you apart from your monolingual colleagues and provide you with opportunities for better employment. Companies with overseas clients and foreign customers are looking for fluent professionals in a second language, who can deal with various communities.

Improves decision-making skills 

It is found in a study by the University of Chicago that a multilingual person is better at decision making than a monolingual.

When you learn a foreign language, you try to learn native expressions and their hidden meaning, which enhances your decision-making process. It is also proved that the decision you make in a foreign language is more reasonable than the decision you make in your native language. 

Connect with people

One of the most incredible advantages of learning a foreign language is opening new windows of opportunities and meeting new people of different communities. When you learn a foreign language, you also generate a sense of better understanding and appreciation towards people from different communities. And you might end up having a lifelong connection with people from different parts of the world. Isn’t it magical?

Sharpens memory

When you learn a new language, your mind is been introduced to various rules, different grammar, and an entirely new set of vocabulary, which exercises your memory. It has also been claimed that people who are into learning a new language find it easier to remember names, facts, directions, and figures. 

Makes traveling easy

When you have fluency in more than one language, it is easier to travel to different parts of the world, as it makes it easier to connect with different cultures and native speakers. When you can talk to a native person you can get more information about the place, even the information that is not on the web. Hence, being bilingual/multilingual can make your traveling so much easier. 

Be it learning a foreign from a university or online classes. If you are planning to learn one, it will for sure provide you several benefits and will boost your career to new heights.

The Importance of Good Hygiene!!!

 Maintaining good personal hygiene is very important for your health and social reasons. Also, the presence of the COVID-19 virus makes it much necessary to maintain good personal hygiene. Well, it’s a poor choice if you don’t maintain good hygiene. And if you do maintain it, it’ll benefit your health and also it impacts the people around you. It necessitates keeping your hand, head, body, and the place around you clean, to stop the spread of germs and illness. 

We also must see the social benefits as it is associated with cleaning your body on a day-to-day basis, it reduces the chances of body odor and thus preventing any chances of embarrassment at school or work.

Why does a good personal hygiene routine look like?

As of now, we know the necessity and importance of maintaining a good personal hygiene routine – but what does it contain?

Given below are steps one can follow to keep themselves and their families clean and free of germs that could cause future illness.

Hand washing 

Our hands are the biggest carriers of germs. We use our hands to interact with different surfaces like shaking hands with people, eating our meals, while playing, using a keyboard, using a common telephone, etc.

Maintaining good hand hygiene can protect you from illness caused by germs and bacteria such as cold, cough, flu, etc. You can protect yourself from illnesses caused by germs and bacteria by washing your hands frequently with soap and water, sanitizer, or any liquid soap. You should wash your hands:-

★Before and after eating.

★Before cooking fold.

★After using the toilet.

★After being in contact with an animal.

★After coughing, sneezing, or being in contact with someone who is ill.

Dental Care

Maintaining oral hygiene is as important as maintaining hand hygiene. Maintaining it can prevent gum disease, bad breath, tooth decay, and many other infections. Always remember to:-

★Floss your teeth daily.

★Make sure you brush your teeth twice a day.

★Store your toothbrush in a clean, dry place and replace it regularly.

Bathing

Do take baths on a day-to-day basis to maintain good personal hygiene. Daily bathing is an essential part of good personal hygiene because:-

★Taking bath with soap and warm water can kill odor-causing bacteria.

★Skin infections can be reduced by washing and drying the infected area.

★ Shampooing and conditioning your hair at least once a week can keep the scalp clean and free from head lice.

Hygienic Clothes

Germs and bacteria also can stick to your clothes. It is very important to wash your clothes after each use, especially after being contacted by an ill person. You can add antiseptic liquids to your laundry load to remove germs.

Maintaining a personal hygiene routine is not that difficult. Once you get used to it, it becomes a habit. And also it is important to give a message to your family members, and especially children, to make their own hygiene routines.

Germany lifts a ban on travelers from India, Uk, Portugal.

On Monday, Germany’s Health agency said they will lift the ban on travelers from some countries which are hit by the delta variant of Covid-19 namely; U.K, India, Russia, Portugal, and Nepal. Also, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said these nations would be reclassified from so-called virus variant countries to high incidence areas, by Wednesday.

This change will allow travelers to visit Germany as long as they follow quarantine and testing protocols.

Germany has introduced the ‘virus variant country’ travel category to put a stop to the new virus variant of coronavirus as it was not spread widely on the land. But, Health Minister (Jens Spanh) said last week that the Delta variant is becoming dominant in Germany, indicating that bans on countries affected by this variant of the virus may be lifted. As the research suggesting vaccines are effective against it, “we’ll look into the situation in few days”, said Spanh.

Last month, Chancellor Angela Merkel had taken a tough call and had put restrictions and longer quarantines for people traveling from Britain, where the Delta Variant has caused an explosion in cases. Last Friday on her visit to London, she indicated that the restrictions might be on ease for the travelers from Britain. She said, “We think that in the foreseeable future, those who have received double jabs will… be able to travel again, without having to go into quarantine”.

Anyone can visit Germany from high incidence areas as long as they provide a negative test on the arrival. Visitors must follow the 10 days quarantine protocol, although they can end it after five days with another negative report. Travelers from high incidence areas are also spared if they have been fully vaccinated. 

Although the countries with other variants apart from the Delta variant such as Brazil and South Africa will remain in the variant category. 

RKI has reported that the conditions are getting better for Germany with a decline in the overall prevalence in recent weeks. On Monday, it has reported 212 new cases in the past 24hrs and a prevalence rate of 5 new infections per 100,000 people over the last seven days.

Understanding Luminous Pollution.

 

Many of us are taking steps to reduce carbon footprints. We responsibly recycle glass, metal, paper, plastic waste each week. However, unknowingly we are contributing to carbon emissions through light pollution which intrudes the delicate ecosystem. Light pollution in many countries is neglected and not regulated. 

The excessive, misdirected, or unnecessary use of artificial outdoor lighting is known as Light pollution a.k.a Luminous pollution, or Photopollution. Light pollution alters the color and contrast of the nighttime sky, natural starlight, and disrupts the circadian rhythms, which affects the environment, inhabitants, and astronomy research.

As countries are developing, the need for artificial outdoor lighting has also increased and light pollution has spread into suburban and rural areas. 

Types of light pollution:-

1) Light Trespass

2) Glare

3) Sky Glow

4) Light Clutter

What are the causes of light pollution?

Poorly designed residential, commercial and industrial lights contribute significantly to luminous pollution. Also, the use of unnecessary outdoor artificial lights contributes to luminous pollution. Approximately about 30℅ of light is wasted due to poorly designed artificial outdoor lights. 

Let’s have a look at the effects of light pollution.

As mentioned above, light pollution has effects on our environment and its inhabitants, and also on astrology. Mentioned below are some of the known effects of light pollution:-

Effect on the environment:                Excessive nighttime lighting releases more than 12 million tons of carbon dioxide every year into the atmosphere, which would take around 702 million trees to absorb. 

Luminous pollution also increases air pollution by resisting a natural occurring radical that cleans the air at night, called Nitrate radical. 

Effect on wildlife:                                    Light pollution can alter the feeding, mating, sleeping, and migration cycles of the entire wildlife. Wildlife can also feel the disorientation of time due to excessive light pollution.

Effect on energy:                            According to a study by IDA( International Dark-Sky Association) in 2007,  it is estimated that about 30% of the light emitted by public outdoor light fixtures is wasted, which equals 22 TWh/year of energy wastage. That is equivalent to the following:

★About 3.6 million tons of coal per year.

★ About 12.9 million barrels of oil per year.

Effect on Astronomy:            Astronomers are most affected by luminous pollution. As it makes it harder to view and find extraterrestrial bodies for the astronomers even with the aid of a telescope.

Effect on Humans:                                  Like plants and animals, humans are also regulated by circadian rhythms. The rhythms respond to the light and darkness around any organism, which when altered can result in various health hazards like sleeping disorders, depression, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, etc.

How to prevent light pollution?

Given below are some ways to prevent light pollution:-

I) By using warm white lightning as it scatters less.

II) By using shielded outdoor light fixtures.

III) By picking the right exterior light fixtures with the right cutoff angle, which prevents light from escaping above the horizontal plane.

IV) By using motion sensor outdoor fixtures.

V) By using IDA-certified light fixtures. 

Pros and cons of learning online

Online mode of learning was always there in the market but it has been acquired by almost every institution, college, and school during the pandemic. Login…join a lecture…logout, presently this is what a student’s life sounds like.

So, is the online learning mode efficient enough? 

Well, be it online or offline it always depends upon the pupil. As everyone has a different pace of learning and acquiring things. The online mode may be suitable for someone or maybe not. But in this pandemic, the only option left to us is to learn online. 

So, it brings us to the next question. 

What are the pros and cons of online learning?

There are many pros as there are cons. So, let’s go through them very quickly.

Pro: Flexibility increased

One of the biggest advantages of online learning is the increase in flexibility. You can study at your own pace, you can choose where you want to study, and how you want to study. But this doesn’t mean that the workload is decreased, it will be the same. 

Con: No labs/experiments

Courses like engineering, applied sciences, MBBS need to be understood by experiments and lab practices, which is a major missing when it comes to the online mode of learning.

Pro: More Affordable

Transportation, books, eating at the cafeteria can cost thousands of bugs per semester. Which can be saved while learning online. You just need to pay the annual fee.

Con: Lack of social interaction

One of the biggest disadvantages of learning online is the lack of social interaction. Especially applicable for young undergraduates who should be interacting with people and making friends. 

Pro: Ease of access

In the online mode of learning, all you need is a computer/smartphone with internet access. All the study materials, assignments, and lectures are available either via email or a particular platform like Microsoft Teams, Google Meets, etc.

At the rate by which technology is developing, online learning may become the only option. Well, this you never know. Until the pandemic is over, one should practice discipline in regards to the timetable to learn in a better way. 

World Photography Day

What’s a photograph?


It’s a memory, an idea, an experience, a feeling, an expression. In simple words, photographs are the medium that allows us to see the world from another person’s point of view. Isn’t it magical, I believe photography is one of the greatest inventions of mankind. That’s why it has been said; a photograph is worth a thousand words.

Every year World Photography Day is celebrated on the 19th of August to inspire all the shutterbugs to share a single photo and share their world with the world. Let’s have a look at photography over the years.

It originates from the invention of the photographic process called Daguerreotype developed by Frenchmen Louis Daguerre and Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1837. Later, on the 9th of January 1839, the Daguerrotype process has been announced by the French Academy of Sciences. And on the 19th of August, the French government purchased the patent and declared the invention as a gift “free to the world”. 

But Daguerrotype was not the first photographic process. In 1826, Nicéphore Niépce invented a process called heliography, which he used to create the earliest known surviving photograph from nature; View from the Window at Le Gras.

On the 19th of August 2010, World Photography day hosted its first online gallery globally. In which approximately 300 shutterbugs shared their pictures and people from more than 100 countries visited the website. This marked the first official, globally reaching World Photography Day.

Some interesting photography facts:

★ In 1861, the first durable colored photograph was taken by Thomas Sutton. It was a combination of three black and white pictures taken through red, blue, and green filters.

★ The first selfie was taken in 1839 by an amateur chemist and photography enthusiast from Philadelphia named Robert Cornelius.

★ The first digital photograph was taken in 1957, almost 20 years before Kodak invented the first digital camera.

Don’t forget to share your world with the world on the coming World Photography Day.

“For me, the camera is a sketchbook, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity.”
– Henri Cartier-Bresson

Can Youtube be a career option?

As we all know Youtube is the biggest video-sharing platform in the world. YouTube has over 50 million creators and billions of content consumers. And it is also not hidden that one can earn a good amount of money by uploading content-loaded videos. Many of the youngsters nowadays are somewhere thinking about starting a youtube channel or they already are making videos on the platform.

But the real question is, can YouTube be a career option?

Well, seeing the growth of the platform, YouTube does have potential as a career. And there are lots of categories under which one can create content and earn. But, is it that easy? No, it’s surely not because the most required thing to earn money from Youtube is by getting views on your videos. And in every minute around 300 hours of videos are being uploaded to Youtube. So, you can now imagine how difficult it’ll be for viewers to find yours. And if you are aiming for the stars you would require decent gear. And a decent gear itself will cost you a fortune. And in need to produce top-quality content, you need costly gear. Moreover, you need to hire scriptwriters, video editors, a manager, etc. But, if you have financial support. And if you are passionate about it and can maintain consistency of good/original content with a consistent uploading streak then in no time you’ll gain viewers as well as you can earn money.

Then comes another question.
Should I choose Youtube over my studies?

Well, Youtube is a two-sided coin and the choice depends on you if you’re prepared for the hard work with a lot of patience or would like a steady paycheck.

Conclusion

Of course, it takes money to make impressive high-quality videos and also comes with no shortage of haters and trolls. But what you really need is; belief and vision. Are you sure you have that talent that will attract viewers?  How much confidence do you have in your content? Will it set a bar above standards?  Do you enjoy not having a regular pack check, editing, and writing scripts? If yes, then Youtube is your game.

Mindfulness and its benefits.

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. (Definition given by Mindful.org)

According to me, it is a practice of maintaining a complete non-judgmental state of awareness of one’s thought and emotions.

Also, many of us confuse mindfulness and meditation. In simple words, meditation is one of the ways to achieve mindfulness, or we can say; mindfulness is a quality whereas meditation is a practice.

So here the question comes, what are the benefits of practicing mindfulness?

Well, to be honest, there are numerous. And seeing the popularity of the topic in positive psychology, we’ll probably be seeing a lot more to come. Have look at the graph below for example.

Mentioned below are just a few examples of what researchers have found.

1) Reduced emotional ‘reactivity’

In an emotional interference task conducted by Ortner and colleagues in 2007, participants with wide-ranging experience in mindfulness meditation were asked to categorize tones that were given either 1 or 4 seconds after a neutral or emotionally upsetting picture was presented.

The ones with more experience of practicing mindfulness-based mediation showed greater focus on the task even when emotionally upsetting pictures were shown.

2)  Enhanced visual attention processing

A study by Hodgins and Adair in 2010 has confirmed that those who practiced mindfulness-based mediation have shown better performance on tests of concentration, selective attention, and more.
      
3) Managing physical pain

Some research has also shown that mindfulness may have a role in helping with the management of physical pain.

4) Improved working memory

According to a study by Jha and colleagues in 2010, mindfulness is practically linked to enhanced working memory capacity.
    
According to the study, participants who practiced mindfulness-based meditation for 8 weeks have shown improvement in their working memory capacity.

5) Reduced stress

Bränström et al.(2010), found cancer patients who took part in mindfulness-based training have shown remarkably reduced self-reported stress than those who didn’t.

So these were a few of the many examples. Individuals who want to practice mindfulness can find many mindfulness-based training online and practice it on their own. Practicing mindfulness on a day-to-day basis is a great way to improve one’s well-being.
   

The success story of OYO Rooms and India’s youngest entrepreneur- Ritesh Agarwal.

So we all know about OYO Rooms, also known as OYO Hotels and Homes, which is an Indian multinational chain of hospitality leased and franchised hotels, homes, and living spaces. But what many of us don’t know about OYO is; the man behind the idea- Ritesh Agarwal.

Ritesh Agarwal was born in Bisham Cuttak, Rayagada(district), Odisha. Ritesh Agarwal is the Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms. In 2020, he is known as the 2nd youngest billionaire in the world. Also, he received awards such as the Business World Young Entrepreneur award and Thiel Fellowship.

From where did he got this idea?
For the answer let us look into his past life.

Ritesh always has a keen interest in software. He started coding when he was just 8yrs old. After 10th grade, in 2009, he decided to go to Kota for IIT. In no time he figured out that Kota was anything but a place where one could learn coding. So he puts his dream of coding in the backseat and started attending classes at Bansal tutorials. In his free time, he used to chill and travel around a lot.

Ritesh also has written a book called India. Engineering Colleges: A Complete Encyclopedia of Top 100 Engineering Colleges. That book was a great success on Flipkart and sold out in a while.

At the age of 16, he was selected to be a part of the Asian Science Camp held at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai.

During that time; Ritesh used to travel a lot and stayed in budget hotels and PG. He also used to travel to Dehli so often to attend events and conferences to meet entrepreneurs because at that time he couldn’t afford the registration cost.

In 2011, he moved to Delhi to start up something of his own and also to prepare for SAT for further studies in the U.S.

Sat never happened. And that time, he used to meet and read about entrepreneurs, start-ups, business ideas, and especially AirBnB.

When he used to travel, he had seen that the budget hotels in India didn’t meet the basics of budget travelers. So in 2012, he started his first venture- Oravel Stays. It was an aggregator of beds and breakfast stays all over India. He secured his funding of 30 lakhs from VentureNursey.

He also presented his idea at Thiel Fellowship. He was listed among the top ten winners who received a sum of $100,000 and as well as guidance and other resources.

Unfortunately, due to hard luck, the company was not able to pick the pace in the market.

This is when Ritesh thought that the biggest problem of traveling is to find good, affordable, and most importantly available rooms. This idea motivated him to create an online platform where one can find all the information available about good, and budget places.

In 2013, after tweaking his business model, he relaunched Oravel Stays as OYO Rooms. In which OYO stands for On Your Own.

At present OYO has over 13,000 franchised and leased hotels, and over 450,000 rooms, adding 64,000 rooms every month, globally.

OYO App has been downloaded over 50 million-plus times and rated amongst the best-rated apps on the Google play store.

In 2020, the market valuation of OYO was 8 billion dollars.