Category: Computer

Computer

You can leverage technology in your business, whether a one-person band or at the helm of a multi-location chain. Point Sale systems level the playing field between David and Goliath by making technology more accessible — it was previously only an option for larger companies.

POS System

Many options areavailable to you, but you must first identify what you need from your Point of Sale system. A Point of Sale system isn’t just somewhere to keep your money. It would help if you were clear on what you want your Point of Sale system to do and find hardware solutions that fit your needs.

A Point Sale system can’t change your business, but it can certainly add to it. The data that a Point of Sale system collects will give you increased business visibility, unlocking actionable insights. It’s important that you’re clear on what you want from your POS system and that you communicate those needs to the vendors when you’re buying — that way, you can be sure that you’re getting the right hardware for your business.

A POS system can enable you to find what you’re selling the most when you’re selling it, and to who you’re selling it — data that can be used to make fact-driven decisions to boost your business. The hardware you choose will impact what your Point of Sale system can and how you use it.

iPad-based Point of Sale systems

The system that you choose needs to be easy for employees to use. iPad-based Point of Sale systems are the go-to solution – Apple is so successful because its software is designed to be easily graspable and reliable.

One major benefit of an iPad-based Point of Sale system is that your staff will need virtually no training: they’re already conversant with the iPad interface. This is a marked contrast to old proprietary systems, for which your team will likely need training even if they’ve used a similar procedure before.

They’re also far easier to service. If your touchscreen breaks down, you will have to pay for a repairer to come out and service it — or even replace the whole system. By contrast, if the iPad you’re using as a Point of Sale stops working, you can download your Point of Sale app to another iPad and use that instead.

You can find iPads for sale in pretty much any town center or get one delivered to your door with just a few clicks. If cash flow is an issue, many second-hand models are available for significantly less than they cost new.

iPads are easily portable — or, if security is a concern, you can opt for a secure iPad stand that screws into your countertop, making it as close to theft-proof as possible.

Receipt printers

Your business’s premises dictate the type of Point of Sale hardware you go for — and receipt printers, which connect to your iPad in various ways, are no exception. Receipt printers tend to connect to your iPad using Wi-Fi, LAN, Bluetooth, or USB; each type of connection has its advantages and drawbacks.

Wi-Fi printers are flexible, and you can connect several to a single iPad, but they’re harder to set up and rely on you having a stable Wi-Fi network. USB printers, by contrast, connect directly to your iPad using a Lightning cable, so you’ll never lose connectivity. This drawback is that you can only connect one printer to your iPad.

You also need to consider the number of transactions the hardware will likely have to cope with. A Bluetooth printer is a great option for many businesses. Still, if you experience a high volume of transactions, a LAN receipt printer could better serve your business for fast, long-distance, reliable communication.

Card readers

Taking advantage of the latest payment technology is a key reason to upgrade from a cash register to a Sale system. Payment processors supply their card terminals — normally on a lease — so the specific airport you get will depend on your chosen payment processor. But all card terminals do the same thing, more or less: they allow you to take card payments.

After that, form tends to follow function — some are a PIN pad and a screen powered by a rechargeable battery. Other card terminals have larger screens on which you can display your branding, and others have built-in receipt printers for customer card receipts.

Every modern card terminal comes with NFC capabilities, meaning they can accept payment using contactless cards and phone-based payment systems like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Another thing to remember is whether your card terminal is integrated with your Point of Sale system. If it is, you can send payment details directly from your iPad to your card reader — if not, you’ll have to type in each transaction manually. Integrated payments are a real help if you’re in a fast-paced environment with lots of manyto process.

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Tips

One would imagine that if not for the headline, the conceit of its message would have been obvious enough.
Unfortunately, for most keyboard-warriors inhabiting the comments section of numerous news media websites, it’s not. Or it doesn’t appear to be.

In fact, a certain section of social media has taken to conflating the Narendra Modi wave of 2014 with the unprecedented tsunami of support Donald Trump has been receiving ever since he announced his intention to enter the race for the White House back in 2015. Worse yet, they are confusing the Indian definition of the Right with the American one.

That seems as a good a starting point as any, so let’s go from there.

As Jaideep Prabhu has written in the past, there is no clear ‘Indian Right,’ to the extent that the conventional Right-Left binary does not apply very accurately to India’s political parties. That is because very few of India’s political parties, the mainstream ones at least, subscribe to the dichotomy of Right-Left in at least two major areas: Culture and economics. In terms of culture, political parties are painted in various hues of majoritarianism and majoritarianism, while in economics, free-market policies and social welfare aren’t mutually exclusive.

File images of Narendra Modi and Donald Trump. PTI and AP
So the idea that what falls under the umbrella of the Indian Right in any way resembles the American Right is flawed in any case.

Moving on to the perceived Modi-Trump links (among the latter’s supporters at least) that marked this weekend’s Republican Hindu Coalition event, we find another incorrect — rather glaringly so — comparison. And here, let’s get down to brass tacks: Trump is not Modi.

A lazily-drawn similarity is that both men are nationalistic. So are Marine Le Pen and Xi Jinping, but we’re yet to see French-Indians and Chinese-Indians organizing gala events to mark these similarities. Further, while both Modi and Trump are indeed nationalistic, their form of nationalism varies greatly: While one espouses a more inclusive form that seeks to carry everyone along, the other pushes an exclusionary brand (which type links to which name is self-evident). In a sense, Modi’s approach has more closely resembled Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s message of ‘Stronger Together, than Trump’s.

It’s worth pointing out here that a major difference between the two is that with Trump’s blunt, ill-informed rhetoric, he has gained followers through his divisive views. Modi has benefitted from the fact that members of his own party make fairly outrageous remarks and emerged as a unifying force when he does take to his Mann ki Baat or public rallies to opine on issues.

Another lazy ‘similarity’ dragged out by the likes of the Republican Hindu Coalition is that Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ is in the same ballpark as Modi’s mantra of ‘Acche Din.’ And while Modi, in the buildup to the 2014 General Election, spoke about a Congress-must India, Trump also seeks to wipe away all the ills apparently inflicted on the US by eight years of Democrat rule. This is another strange comparison to draw. It’s quite obvious that any Opposition party would cite the ruling dispensation’s unsuitability to win an election. In fact, if an Opposition party were to express satisfaction with the way the ruling regime has been doing things, one would wonder why it is even bothering with the election.

This brings us to the ugly truth.

What actually brought out the Hindu fundamentalist backing for Trump was his threat of a ban on Muslim immigrants — something he failed to completely back or dismiss over the course of the first two presidential debates. What this fundamentalist fringe fails to note, however, is the fact that this sort of discrimination in policy — presently on the grounds of religion — could easily be transmuted to nationality over a period of time.

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Trump has made ‘jobs for Americans’ and tightening immigration controls his presidential campaign’s major plank. To think he would abandon it based on one little interaction with a section of Indian-Americans and start handing out H1-B visas is beyond naive. And before comparisons are drawn to ‘Make in India,’ it’s worth noting that Modi’s pet project — as it has been called in some quarters — was launched to increase manufacturing across the country, not to exclude other nationalities.

We could go into the differences between Modi and Trump as people: One, a self-made — that is to say, he worked his way through the cadres — career politician and the other, a man who has pretty much been handed everything in life. One who is respectful of women to the other who is-… well, you know. The dissimilarities are endless.

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Tips

MUMBAI: Around 96 percent of Indian travelers give tips at a hotel, more so because of the room service and good housekeeping, a recent survey has found.

“About 96 percent Indians usually tip at a hotel, 79 percent tip because of the room service and 51 percent tip after being impressed by the housekeeping,” according to ‘2016 Hotel Etiquette Report’ by full-service online travel company Expedia.

Tip at hotel

About 39 percent of Indians tip the porter at the hotel, whereas 24 percent tip the valet, it found.
The survey, which analyzes the behavior and preferences of Indians while booking hotels, was conducted online in August by GFK Custom Research, North America, among 1,014 randomly selected adults, both men, and women, who have stayed overnight in a hotel in the past two years.

When it comes to facilities, 75 percent of Indians want in-room features like Jacuzzi, tub, or balcony, it said.
Location and price are the most critical for 96 percent of Indians, and for 95 percent of family friends, food, beverages, room size is a major consideration.

Things like complimentary Wi-Fi (93 percent), reviews (89 percent), and hotel brands (86 percent) are also major attracting factors for Indians, it added.

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“The survey highlights some interesting facts about preferences of Indian travelers while booking a hotel. According to the survey, the most preferred medium of booking a hotel amongst 35 percent is a desktop or laptop, followed by the smartphone’s mobile app. In comparison, 14 percent of travelers book through the mobile web using the smartphone,” Expedia Marketing Head, in India, Manmeet Ahluwalia, said.

“It is interesting to note that 89 percent of Indians consider hotel reviews as very important while choosing a hotel,” Ahluwalia added.

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Tips

Both teams are outstanding in the One-Day International (ODI) format, especially when India is stronger whenever it is played at home. It doesn’t matter who the opposition is. This is why New Zealand feels tough in this tour and still does not win a single game in the previous 3 test matches and the last ODI match at Dharamsala. In the previous ODI match, India played very well and win the easy match against New Zealand. India created a lot of trouble for New Zealand very early on in the match when young seamers of the Indian bowl really well and took 7 wickets on just 65 runs. Still, New Zealand manages to score 190 runs in 43.5 overs.

 

But in India, it is not a good target. In reply to 191 runs target 50 over the team, India starts the innings nicely builds a good partnership. India lost the first wicket on 49 runs. Rohit Sharma was out on 14 runs. Virat Kohli, star Indian batsmen,n scored not out 85 runs, and the home side wins the match by 4 wickets in 33.1 overs. Home side India lead the 5 ODI match series by 1-0 after the easy win at Dharamsala by 6 wickets. The 2nd game is crucial for both teams, especially for New Zealand (NZ) team, who could not manage to win the single-game here on this tour.

Best economical pick – Hardik Pandya received his ODI cap from one of the greatest all-rounders in the game’s history – Kapil Dev. Incidentally, it was the same day Kapil made his debut in India 38 years ago. A man of the match on a special day made it a perfect debut for the Baroda man. In Dharamsala, India might have witnessed the emergence of Pandya, the bowler.

Top captains & vice captains – In the first ODI, Kohli hit the winning six, coming down the track and smashing Sodhi for a straight six! India takes the 1-0 lead in style, with Kohli continuing his golden form by hitting an unbeaten 85. All the kiwi batsmen struggled to get runs except Tom Latham and Southee. Latham (79*) remained unbeaten until the end, and Southee scored a quick fifty after Umesh Yadav’s life. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs. New Zealand, 2nd ODI at Feroz Shah Kotla

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Smart pick – Amit Mishra (3/49) has recorded his best bowling figures in ODIs on Indian soil, surpassing the 2 for 40 vs. West Indies at Delhi on October 11, 2014. Mishra has completed his 50 wickets in ODIs – his tally being 52 (ave.25.86) in 32 matches – the quickest by an Indian spinner in ODIs, obliterating Ravichandran Ashwin’s feat of reaching the landmark in 34 ODIs.

Cautions Pick – Ross Taylor scored his second in between 4 innings in this tour. In India, Taylor’s batting record in ODIs is just mediocre – his tally being 252 in nine innings at an average of 28.00, including two fifties. Four times, he has registered single-digit scores in India.

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Software

New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) IT system integrator firm Hitachi Systems Micro Clinic (HSMC) Monday launched TonerSaver, Windows-based software that can help organizations reduce toner consumption by up to 75 percent, thereby slashing printing costs.

“TonerSaver is the ideal product for organizations as it helps generate substantial cost savings, which, in turn, make a direct difference to the bottom line,” said Tarun Seth, Managing Director, Hitachi Systems Micro Clinic, in a statement.

Hitachi Systems Micro Clinic

TonerSaver uses patented printer driver algorithms that control toner and ink usage on all Windows-based printers and reduce toner and ink consumption at an incremental rate of one percent.

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The software auto-detects laser and inkjet printers and applies optimized saving technology for each type of printer. The company will provide free customer support, maintenance release (bugfix), and version-up support to all customers.

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Software

BENGALURU: Karnataka, which grapples with a garbage glut, has mooted 3R Environmental Parks for the 219 urban local bodies, including Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Based on the three principles of reducing, reuse, and recycle, these 3R Environmental Parks will be developed and operated on the lines of the software parks that dot Bengaluru and other parts of the state. This effect was issued last week by the forest, environment, and ecology department, and the government is expected to make a formal announcement soon.

Govt to tackle muck using software park template

“These parks will offer integrated solutions for all municipal solid waste (garbage) disposal problems,” a senior IAS officer told TOI. At present, around 8,700 tons of garbage are generated in the state every day: while BBMP generates 3,500 tons per day, the remaining 218 urban local bodies churn out about 5,200 tons daily. The situation will only worsen in the coming years as population growth projections for 2032 predict a three-fold increase in waste generation from the present level.

In fact, the urban local bodies are already finding it difficult to handle garbage because of insufficient infrastructure and obsolete technology. “Moreover, resistance has been mounting from locals against setting up of solid waste processing units in their areas. Against this backdrop, the 3R parks were mooted; these will house all private and public waste processing units with all environmental safeguards. These parks will be in tune with the Solid Waste Management Rules 2011, notified by the Centre,” the officer added.

To start with, 10 such parks will be set up on 100-acre plots each. While three such parks will be developed around Bengaluru (beyond a 10km radius), the remaining seven will be established in other city municipal councils. The waste-to-energy plant proposed by Karnataka Power Corporation Limited at Bidadi will be converted into a 3R Environmental Park by acquiring an additional 25 acres of land.

These parks will be developed by the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) and maintained by Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB). Wherever government land isn’t available, the authorities are entitled to acquire private land for these projects. The government will extend financial concessions to waste processing units as per the Swachh Bharat Mission. This apart, 4(g) exemption under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTTP) Act 1999 will be given to waste-to-energy units with handling the capacity of 100 tons per day and established under a PPP model.

ALL IN ONE PLACE

Every 3R park will come upon a 100-acre plot beyond a radius of 10km from the municipal boundary. These parks shall have a buffer area that’s at least 100 meters wide. They’ll have compound walls of sufficient height, and the buffer zone will be earmarked for the forest department to plant trees having dense green foliage. The small-scale recycling, segregating, and reuse units functioning in the city will be relocated to these parks. Segregation, waste-to-energy plants, composting units, bio mechanization plants, incinerators, briquette plants, e-waste processing units, paper, plastic, glass, rubber, metal recycling units, effluent treatment plants will be set up in these parks.

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For years now, Bengaluru has been struggling with its garbage, with no solution in sight. The growing muck piles are defacing the city and repeatedly highlighting the government and BBMP’s inability to address the issue. If implemented in earnest, these environmental parks could wipe Bengaluru clean of its murky image. The startup city’s software parks are its defining structures. Similarly, these 3R Environmental Parks could redefine the image of a city that has, sadly, turned from a Garden City to a Garbage City. What’s needed is a concerted effort, timely implementation, and a commitment to see the project through.

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Software

a former software engineer from India claimed he was paid less than Americans, working for Accenture’s Indian technology services company. He had settled a class-action suit before it went to trial. The company agreed to pay up to $500,000.

According to documents filed in New York state court, details were yet to come in of the case that Accenture settled out of court. However, the case has wider ramifications about the 85,000 H-1B visas given out every year, including 20,000 for students who graduate from US universities.

India over discrimination

The Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has given ample hints in his campaign speeches that he wants to shut down the H-1B visa program for foreign workers or modify it so that it does not allow American workers to be replaced by cheaper foreign labor.

By settling the case with India’s software engineer, Accenture seems to have given some basis to Trump’s allegations. If it had gone forward, a class-action suit would likely have brought up more such cases to light.
Accenture has been in the legal spotlight over the past few years.

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Last year, H. B. Fuller Co. won a $12.8 million arbitration case against Accenture after a fallout over contract obligations to implement new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. An arbitrator in Minneapolis also ruled that H.B. Fuller did not owe another $1.4 million in fees, bringing total damages to more than $14 million. In 2001, Accenture paid the United States government $63.675 million to resolve a lawsuit regarding fraud, illegal commissions (kickbacks), and rigged bids.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit alleged that Accenture submitted or caused to be submitted false claims for payment under numerous contracts with agencies of the United States for information technology services.

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Software

Amina 2.4 Drives Business Outcomes by Addressing Core Business Issues Uniphore Software Systems, a Chennai-based speech recognition solutions company, announced the availability of the next version of their popular speech analytics solution, alumina. Alumina version 2.4 introduces the first-of-its-kind innovation of business packs, specifically designed to drive a set of business outcomes by providing predictive and prescriptive insights from data. The latest version enables quicker value realization through faster and standardized deployments by leveraging intelligence gained from multiple deployments. This release introduces 2 new business packs: the voice of customer analytics pack and a banking industry pack.

The customer analytics pack’s voice will drive richer customer engagement by predicting a customer’s call intent.
The banking industry pack will address business outcomes of reducing the risk of non-collection, increase cross-sell and upsell effectiveness, enhance customer experience, and increase contact center efficiency through workforce optimization.

Speech Analytics Software

Business packs include pre-built industry-aligned KPIs and metrics that will help enterprises realize their business outcomes faster without a lengthy discovery phase.

Speaking of the launch, Umesh Sachdev, Co-founder, and CEO said, “We are excited to roll out this new version of our speech analytics software, alumina. This version will drive enhanced customer experience and offer a range of solutions that will help enterprises realize their business objectives at a much faster rate. With ever-growing consumer needs, enterprises must deploy solutions that rapidly address key business issues. alumina 2.4 is specifically designed to drive key business outcomes for our banking industry clients.”

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Additional features of this new release include an enhanced ability to perform root cause analysis on data and a refined emotion detection capability.

About Uniphore:

Uniphore Software Systems is headquartered in IIT Madras Research Park, Chennai. Uniphore was incubated in IIT Chennai, India, in 2008 and currently has offices in India, the Philippines, and U.A.E with about 100 employees spread across all locations. Uniphore’s investors include Kris Gopalakrishnan, IDG Ventures India, India Angel Network, Your nest Fund, Stata Ventures. Uniphore has worked with over 70 enterprise customers and served over 4 million end-users. Uniphore was recognized by Deloitte as a Technology Fast 500 company in the Asia Pacific in 2014 and was also ranked as the 10th fastest growing technology company in India by Deloitte Fast 50 in 2015. Uniphore’s Co-Founder and CEO, Umesh Sachdev, was recognized by the TIME Magazine list of 2016 amongst ’10 Millennials Changing The World’ and India’s edition of MIT Technology Review’s ‘Innovators Under 35’ for the year 2016.

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Software

Bhubaneswar: Software engineer Rakesh Pattnaik, who went missing in the Mahendra Taneya river at Paralakhemundi while taking a selfie on Wednesday, was found dead a day later. The rescue teams of police and fire brigade fished out his body from the water in the morning.

This is perhaps the first official selfie death in the state. On September 26, engineering student Subhendu Nayak was seriously injured after coming in contact with an overhead live wire near the Mancheswar railway station while posing for a selfie atop a goods train.

Software engineer found dead

Babul Nayak, inspector-in-charge of Paralakhemundi police station, said: “Pattnaik and his friend was taking selfies after climbing onto the branch of a tree which was jutting over the river. Accidentally he slipped and fell into the river. We tried a lot to trace him, but to no avail.”

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The mishap took place close to BN Palace, a popular tourist hangout in town. Police said Pattnaik, who was working in a top IT company in Bangalore and had come to his native in Gajapati district for Dussehra, had first taken some selfies with his friend palace trying a different shot and thereby plunging to his death.

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Software

A 36-year-old inmate at Bhondsi jail — serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife in 2007 — proved to be an asset for employees at the facility after he managed to tweak software, sanctioned by the government for use at the prison so that it gave them all the information they needed “in a single click.”

Rohit Pagare, a Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) alumni and a chartered accountant by qualification, has been lodged at the prison for the last “eight or nine years.”

Harinder Singh, Superintendent of the Prison, describes him as an “outstanding” inmate and says Pagare tweaked the software at the recommendation of staff at the facility. The software, which was earlier only used to mark attendance, now also provides information about an employee’s career history, such as his earlier postings, awards appreciating his work, charge sheets against him, as well as the terms of his current posting, including the number of leaves he has taken and his attendance.

Bhondsi jail, life term imprisonment, life sentence, wife murder, online jail, jail information, jail software, online jail software, Shri Ram College of Commerce, indian express news, india news, punjab news

“He has modified the software so that it is like an electronic service book for us, where we can get all the information we need in a single click. It has reduced our workload and also helped to fix accountability,” said Singh.

According to Singh, the original version of the software, made by the National Information Centre (NIC), is currently used in all departments to mark biometric attendance. “We had also started the same at our facility, but there were some issues with it. A normal office works in a 9 to 5 shift, but in our case, there are no such fixed hours,” said Singh.

In 2013, Pagare had assisted another inmate, Amit Mishra, a software engineer who was later acquitted, in making a prison management software called Phoenix. This was later among the four approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs for use in the prison department.

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“Since Pagare already had some experience with that kind of work, we suggested he modify this software as per our requirements,” said Singh.

Page started working on the software in December, and by February, it had been implemented on a trial basis at Bhondsi jail. Authorities intend to extend its use and implement it within the prison department across the state within the next six months, said Singh. Minor kills schoolmate

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