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Should IT Support Always Be Handled In-House? Are There Other Options?

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While we may think of IT support as someone solving a simple login problem, or the internet going down, that’s just one part of the whole. For SMEs, they often have issues with their information technology that baffles their in-house team, costs considerable time attempting to fix it, and ultimately requires help from outside the business.

In this article, we consider whether it’s sensible to provide IT support within the business or if essential IT services should be handled by someone else.

In-House is Familiar

It’s fair to say that having a computer department in-house is something that’s at once familiar and accessible. It’s possible to speak to them often, check how things are going, and demystify information technology a little bit along the way.

It may work well for companies with larger workforces that can hire the best and build out a substantial, diversified team of IT professionals. This means supporting a variety of different requirements within the department including network security, mobile security, software, and hardware provisioning, onboard and offboarding staff, and many other responsibilities.

However, for smaller businesses, this poses a problem. Unlike with other departments, should the IT department be understaffed or have too few resources available to it, then their performance will notably suffer. This is where it’s worth considering whether there are other options available to them.

Outside IT Contractors

To bridge a short-term gap from within the computer department, it’s possible to pull in a part-time IT contractor. Usually, they will be a specialist, able to get stuck into whatever the issue is. Depending on how serious the problem is and how reoccurring it may be, they might be back and forth a few times to bridge the considerable gap in the capabilities of a small IT team.

Staff may find the lack of consistency with different contractors coming in and out to be disruptive to their workflow. The same person won’t be available all the time when help is needed, and often a different person will be required depending on the IT issue that has arisen. So, there’s no consistency, and IT systems needed to explain the issue to new contractors, which delays any resolution.

IT Consultants

IT consultants are another breed altogether. Some people purely provide advice under the “Consultant” job title, but do little more. Others provide a far more expansive service but will come up against limitations in one area or another because no one can know everything in IT and stay current with recent changes too. That’s just impossible to do.

The level of quality from IT consultants is all over the shop. You don’t know what you’ll be getting unless the same person is requested, which isn’t always possible or useful for all circumstances. Often, they operate more in an advisory capacity and aren’t always hands-on in the manner that companies expect either. Also, they may make recommendations that are difficult to implement successfully.

IT Support Through Managed IT Services

Fortunately, finding an IT support London area provider isn’t difficult. There are plenty of them, but it’s important to look at what they provide. For instance, they may offer helpdesk support, Office 365 support, or a provision for infrastructure or network support should it fail during a workday. There is a gulf of difference between someone available to answer problematic login issues and remotely connect to the company’s server to resolve that, versus a team with complete oversight.

IT companies in London that can provide IT maintenance of the infrastructure and cloud management of internet-based software solutions, as well as ensure all staff can access the services, are entirely different. It provides a comprehensive, reliable solution whenever a business or an employee hits an IT snag and then needs help.

How Do Managed IT Services Companies Differ?

With London IT support services, they may aim to cover companies within London or further afield. Alternatively, they could offer remote IT support, which enables them to provide IT services far and wide. Companies that are worth looking at provide a broader range of services than boutique providers that have limited services available. The difficulty when opting for a smaller provider is that eventually the business will need something that they don’t yet provide and aren’t capable of doing so either. And then your business has hit another snag.

Totality Services is an IT Support London based provider that, as the name suggests, has a wealth of experience within their team. Their list of services is considerable and serve companies well – both large and small. With Totality Services, it’s highly unlikely that another provider will be required due to their immense capability, and that’s reassuring to business leaders.

Do Managed IT Services Use Outside Service Providers?

In terms of essential services, not all of them are provided directly through the provider; it depends on what the service is. For instance, companies may run their website on a shared, dedicated, or cloud server through a commercial web host. It’s not necessarily the case that hosting needs be transferred to be under the control of the managed IT services provider.

Nevertheless, with access to the webserver remotely through FTP, SSH, and other communication protocols, they can troubleshoot (or work with the web host’s support team) to resolve any issues that arise with the website. This avoids your company having to deal with confusing web hosting jargon when discussing an issue with the host’s technical team. The managed services team can then translate what has happened into plain English and work to get the site back online again.

Other providers may be used when they offer a unique or superior service to customers. If it’s a service worth using, then a high-quality managed provider will likely recommend it to their clients. They know when something goes wrong – they’re the first to hear about it. So, what they’re most interested in is reliability and keeping their clients happy.

Is There a Point Where IT Services Should Be Outsourced?

While it’s tempting to have someone perform IT-related duties in addition to their regular role, this is less than ideal. A mini computing department can be created, but it will immediately run into difficulties because of a lack of knowledge. It’s impossible for one or two people to know everything that’s required to run servers, configure staff computers, install software, and handle all security aspects on their own. That isn’t their fault; it just comes down to the nature of how complex information technology has become over the years.

Therefore, unless the company plans to considerably expand its investment in a computing department, then it’s best to accept that and find a third-party partner at this stage. Also, it’s worth pointing out that even larger IT departments will often use managed IT providers to double-check their work or to fill in for existing knowledge gaps within their team. No one should feel bad about needing to do that either.

Information Technology is now such an essential part of what most companies rely upon that it’s not a good idea to compromise. Often, when you try to do everything in-house, that’s what ends up happening. It’s only when there has been a recent hack or an infrastructure failure that company leadership becomes convinced that another way should be found. Obviously, it’s best not to wait that long.

Unbelievable advances in gaming technology: Which have been most amazing?

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One sector which makes great use of technology to innovate is gaming. Since the early days of gaming in the 1980s, a constant flow of new tech and ideas has allowed it to appeal to more people. This has seen it become more and more popular over time and a mainstream form of entertainment. Whether it is hyper-casual games on your mobile phone or playing on the latest console, a lot of people love to relax in their spare time with games. Without the biggest and best tech advances to power it though, this way of staying amused would not be as attractive to many.

The way tech has pushed this sector forward is obvious when you look back at the impact it has made over the years. But which advances have been most fabulous for gaming fans?

Online casinos

When it comes to looking at the biggest and best advances in gaming tech, online casinos have to be mentioned. In the dark days of the past, you had to physically get ready, go out of your house and find the nearest land-based casinos to visit. That was not always convenient, and a lot of people did not actually like the atmosphere at land-based casinos.

The internet boom helped solve this issue by enabling online casino sites to be created. These sites offer more games, more promotions and all from the comfort of your own home. Mobile play is also something that is very popular now in this sector. As shown on the Gambling Metropolis site, big bonuses at mobile casinos make them great places to play games.

Virtual reality

VR is one awesome gaming advance. It was first spoken about in the early 1990s and has been on a long road since then to the present day. The last few years have seen VR in gaming really take off though. This has been down to the technology which powers it giving a better gaming experience and top names like Sony getting more involved with it and the price of VR kit coming down for gamers.

Hardware like the Oculus Quest 2 headset offers a gaming experience like no other and all at an affordable price point. VR takes players into a totally digital world where they can interact with their virtual environment and be totally immersed in the game world. Due to this next-level gaming experience, the future for VR tech looks bright.

Facial recognition

Many games now allow you to create your likeness in the game world. Consoles will also allow you to do this when you set up an account. A major advance in gaming technology has been facial recognition, which enables your likeness to be accurately recreated when doing this. 3D scanning in gaming systems uses face recognition software to make this happen.

There is also the Intel RealSense 3D camera which could be the next big breakthrough in this area for gaming. Already developed, it looks likely to be included in next-gen consoles and constantly scans over 70 points on your face as you play. This will allow the computer or console to tweak game settings, depending on how you are reacting to what is going on.

Cloud and on-demand gaming

Gaming is a sector where tech plays a hugely important role. This is very true when it comes to our next unbelievable advance – Cloud-based gameplay. Instead of having to constantly buy systems with more memory and power, Cloud gaming opens up the whole online world to play on instead. This gives players the chance to head online (via their console, PC or smartphone) to play huge multi-player titles. These titles would be too large in many cases for standard game systems to cope with.

On-demand gaming is a recent offshoot of this which is impressive. This basically allows players to stream games direct from the internet, when they fancy playing them. It is like Netflix for gamers! Streaming games on-demand eliminates the need to buy physical copies and means you always have a huge range of games to play at your fingertips. Google Stadia is a great example of this idea in action.

Gaming tech has come a long way

Looking at the above advances in technology, one thing is clear – how far gaming has come. From playing disk-based games offline on something like a Commodore Amiga, to what modern consoles offer is a different world. Of course, the great thing is that new advances are always on the horizon – gamers only have to sit back and enjoy what comes next.

Jackpot Games for Newbies

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With millions of players choosing to play at online casinos, it can be a little overwhelming as a beginner to just select a game and start playing. Most people just play for fun, whilst others have their eyes set on bagging the best bonuses – for example, Betfair Casino Sign Up bonus – or aiming for those big jackpot wins.

We have selected the most popular games for newbies wanting to hit the ground running with their gaming, that include the potential for massive jackpots to be won. Continue reading to find out how you could be in with a chance of claiming potential winnings of over £100,000!

Age of Gods: Ruler of the Seas

Take to the seas and test your mettle against ancient Gods in this action-packed Slot. This game features 30 paylines, with gameplay starting from as little as £0.10. There are a number of symbols to look out for when playing, but to put it simply – the lowest value symbols are playing cards, and the higher value symbols include Poseidon, Medusa and a Cyclops. If you manage to spin in a five yellow Poseidon symbols onto the same payline, you will be rewarded with a payout of a 100x win multiplier.

The game’s wild symbol is text-based and can substitute for any other symbols except the trident, which is the scatter symbol, to enhance your winnings. If you spin in the scatter symbol you will trigger bonus features such as respin rounds and free games.

The respin features and free games are activated automatically when the corresponding symbols are landed on, so you don’t need to worry about anything other than watching your winnings increase. Age of Gods: Ruler of the Seas features a four-tier progressive jackpot that can be activated at any time, so players of all levels will have the chance to win the massive jackpot of over £180,000. The game has a Return to player (RTP) of 95.38% – 96.37%.

AP McCoy: Sporting Legends

Few riders have had the same success as Sir AP in the world of horse racing. It is now possible to sit at the winners table with this dynamic Slots game, that keeps gameplay simple and the potential winnings robust. The game features standard symbols when playing, with the exception of the wild symbols that appear as the written word ‘wild’, which can be used to substitute all symbols other than the scatter.

The scatter symbol is a multi-coloured wheel that can appear in over reels one, three and five only. Landing on the scatter symbol will trigger the Bonus Wheel feature, when spun, you are able to win a variety of rewards, including wild multipliers, win multipliers, free spins and cash prizes.

The opportunities to win in this game are seemingly endless, and the game also featuring a progressive jackpot of over £750,000 to be won. AP McCoy: Sporting Legends has a 93.03% – 97.17% RTP.

With massive jackpots to be won by players of all levels, what could you possibly be waiting for? Get started and be in for a chance to win big with these games now!

Improve Your Strategy at The Blackjack Table with These Top Tips

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When it comes to playing Blackjack, there’s a combination of skill, strategy, timing and luck that can help you not only enjoy this fantastic game but also play to your strengths in order to win more. Because of the way in which this unique casino game works, there are several ways that you can improve your potential when playing. We’ve put together the top tips, tricks and strategies that can improve how you play online Blackjack and reduce the house edge.

  • There is Always an Element of Luck

The first thing to remember when preparing a strategy for Blackjack is that luck is a big factor. The majority of the time, it is luck that determines whether you win or lose. So, with any technique applied, it won’t be a dead cert that you will win every time. The outcome of a round will always be random, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t give yourself a bit of an edge with certain strategies that are proven statistically to be highly effective. 

  • A Blackjack Chart is a Basic Strategy to Start With

A Blackjack chart will tell you which move to take depending on the given situation of the table. This a logical strategy comprising of a sheet of rows and columns that outline your hand compared to the dealer’s up card, and the best move to take accordingly – also taking into account the number of decks in play. It is a basic way to tell you when to hit, stand, split or double down. As a player you can either memorise the chart or have one on hand when playing. A Blackjack chart will always give you the best option to take, but can’t always guarantee a win as there will always be an unknown variable – the cards in the deck yet to be dealt.

  • You Don’t Have to Get 21 To Win

As the game of Blackjack is also sometimes known as 21, plenty of beginners believe that they have to get a score of 21 each time in order to win. Although 21 is the best score and the number to aim for, it is not always the winning hand. There are other ways to win including having a hand that’s total is closer to 21 than that of the dealer’s – or if the dealer goes bust before you. It’s worth knowing the different ways you can win to improve your Blackjack strategy, and influence the moves you make to achieve the best outcome.

  • You Can Never Count Cards with Online Blackjack

Although possibly one of the most famous strategies for Blackjack, and portrayed countless times in TV and Film, the counting cards technique cannot be used when playing online Blackjack. A land-based casino relies on a dealer and a shoe to shuffle the single or multiple decks, and the cards are continuously dealt until the deck is re-shuffled, allowing the playing to have a running count on the game. However, online Blackjack games shuffle multiple decks using a random number generator (RNG), so the outcome is always completely random. This means that you cannot keep track of the card deck and count cards in any shape or form.

  • The Toughest Hand in Blackjack Is 16

16 is possibly the hardest hand to have in Blackjack due to its value being both potentially low or high. 16 is quite close to 21 – the score being aimed for – so could be a winning total, but it is also likely that another card dealt would cause you to go bust. So, do you hit or stand? Both moves could work depending on the situation and what the dealer’s hand is, so at this point it is worth consulting a Blackjack chart, where you can cross consult the hands at play and see which move is best and hopefully lead to a win.

These are just some of the top tips to help improve your strategy when playing online Blackjack, but it’s all about finding a playing style that suits you. As always, the luck of the deal is in play, but it’s also handy to have some guidance for how you move along the way.

What the Financial Industry Really Wants From You to Succeed by Alexey Khobot

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For the financial industry, the dream of making money out of just a two hours of work every single week is completely unrealistic. A lot of people might assume and start out thinking like this, thinking that they can get rich quick because they know the industry that they are in already. The truth is there are a lot more ideas and plans out there to make a fortune in any industry than you think. If you’ve never heard of any of them, then make sure that you become informed and careful. As I, Alexey Khobot, tell my clients, all it takes is a little education, a plan of action and some focused action on the tasks that you need to do to achieve big results. For those who actually know something that they think could be a future six-figure income earner, the key is to break the cycle by having a mindset of a true entrepreneur.

I’m going to therefore try to develop some of the good ideas you will need to get you if you are really serious about starting your own business.

Educate you on the area you want to work in. If you choose to sell online, you have to understand the ins and outs of the business. Will you be targeting people in the US or international and what does that mean. Also, understanding the competition you are going up against is also vital information. You need to know if you are going to be able to survive the competition or not. A major piece of the puzzle is educating yourself about the industry in which you want to work in. Know the difference and how it can affect the way that you operate and market. Understand that the amount of money you make is directly related to the quality of work you put in.

One of the first tasks that you will need to be able to do is the basics explains Alexey Khobot: The basics are the very easy things to do in which you must do. You want to educate yourself about the 6Ps in which you want to be educating yourself in. These are to be interesting, the product is far more important than the way you go about explaining it. You need to know how to entice your audience as well as attract the ones that want to buy what you are offering. The rest of the program will come along after you’ve spent some time inundating yourself with the basics. So start out with the basics and then when you want to spend money or learn more advanced pieces of the puzzle.

Anyway, the basics are so feel free to do as you please. You are just concentrating on the part where you want to go out and write it down in a notebook. You will find that this becomes a fundamental process. After you have written down your general picture of your business, you now start to become more familiar with what you will ultimately be doing.

Now is the time to participate in your new business enthuses Alexey Khobot. Even if it seems that there is no plan or document, it is important to develop a vision for your future. How it’s going to look, how much it’s going to cost you and how you’re going to go about achieving that goal. Some people do all of this a natural way while others take it to another level and map out exactly how they’re going to achieve each goal. Regardless, it is important to have some kind of plan or document in place.

So you see, it really does started out with educating yourself and as you go along, you will learn a lot whether it’s simply going down the simple route of educating yourself on what is available. Right now we have outlined some of the important parts that you need to be able to convey to people who are interested in what you have to say. You won’t know what to tell the people that will be answering your questions. It might be okay if you get an email or two from them but eventually they will start to throw you the information that you need. Today it’s the “yes tomorrow” scenario. You won’t work out what you will say in future. Now, it’s up to you because we’ve still got the education that you need. Remember though that if you want to succeed and be a small business person, you will have to work plan a business and not a way of life. You have to spend with discipline, take risks and captivate the customers to achieve the type of lifestyle that you desire.

7 Best Ways to Protect your Fleet Business Against Financial Risks

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Your business is your lifeline, so you want to ensure your fleet is protected against any financial risks. When choosing your HGV fleet insurance provider, you want a policy that covers you for breakdowns, legal issues, public liability, goods in transit insurance and employer’s liability. You may be thinking that this sounds like a lot to manage, but there are ways to easily manage your insurance policies and keep the price down at the same time.

Implementing a protective maintenance plan is a smart way to drive down your insurance premiums whilst also minimising the financial risk to your business should the worst happen. To form your protection plan, there are a number of steps you can take.

Install Telematics

Telematics technology allows you to monitor information relating to your business fleet vehicles all from a remote central portal. You can access a manager web dashboard to give you a broad overview of any erratic driving, speeding, harsh braking or other dangerous road activity that could cause accident or injury.

This information can be used to improve driver training for best practice so that risk is minimised within your business fleet. This data can also be shared with insurance providers to demonstrate safety measures your business is taking which could lead to a reduction in your HGV fleet insurance premiums.

Introduce driver training courses

By establishing regular driver training courses, you can help reduce the risk of damage to your business vehicles whilst simultaneously lowering your insurance premiums. Drivers who feel confident and skilled-up on their driving ability will be much safer on the roads.

This will not only benefit your business efficiency but reduce potential risk of accidents and claims against your insurance policy. Prioritising driver training will also encourage a company culture of good driver behaviour and encourage high-calibre employees to remain loyal to your business.

Improve security measures

To protect your business from the financial implications of having a vehicle stolen or vandalised, you can make sure they are parked overnight in a secure location. The cost to you would be severe if one or several of your vehicles were stolen, so having a CCTV monitored car park or locked garages will lower the financial risk to you considerably.

You can also install immobilisers inside your vehicles to further reduce the risk of them being broken into and stolen. These security measures will lower your insurance premiums as well as giving you peace of mind.

Make use of dash cams

Dash cams can be fitted to the front and rear of fleet vehicles to record footage from all angles in the event of a road collision. This provides invaluable evidence in the event of claiming against your policy or any possible legal disputes. Not only this, but installing dash cams across your fleet can lower insurance premiums right from the offset.

Using dash cams won’t just keep your business financially secure in the event of an accident, but will also save you pennies in the long run.

Take on more experienced drivers

Employing experienced drivers with clean driving records over the age of 25 can reduce the cost of haulier’s liability insurance for businesses in the UK. Drivers in the over 25 age bracket are considered to be more experienced on the road and therefore safer behind the wheel. Although, this doesn’t mean that hiring younger drivers is out of the question. You can implement measures such as, limiting their mileage or allowing them to only drive accompanied or during day light hours.

All of these things will not only lower the risk of potential costly accidents, but can also lower your fleet insurance premiums.

Maintain regular vehicle maintenance

Keep your vehicles in tip-top condition to reduce the risk of a blown-out tyre or engine fault which could impact your business activity. Having a vehicle stuck in the garage for several days awaiting a major repair is less than ideal, especially when regular maintenance could prevent this from happening altogether. Having a full MOT and service history for your fleet can evidence that you are taking the proper measures to lower risks for insurance providers as well. This can lower the cost of your premiums, whilst also protecting your business from an unexpected mechanics bill.

Getting adequate cover

Another way to protect your business finances is to make sure you are adequately insured. Getting fleet insurance will enable cover on multiple business vehicles under one policy to keep things simple as well as secure. There are multiple layers of cover that you can add on to your policy to make sure you are covered for every scenario. Employer’s liability is compulsory in the UK in the event of an employee becoming injured as a result of their work. This will cover any legal fees, compensations costs including loss of income as well as any medical fees. Skipping out on this would not only leave your business finances vulnerable should the worst happen, but could also land you with some hefty fines so it is essential to make sure this is sorted.

Public liability is an important add on to minimise risk to your business, especially for those working with heavy machinery in the event of causing injury to a member of the public or their property. It will cover medical costs, legal fees and any damage repair costs which would quickly mount up without appropriate cover.

Another add on is goods in transit cover, especially for those business transporting goods for other companies such as, courier service fleets. Should a roadside accident occur and goods become damaged or broken, this will cover the cost of replacing goods. Without goods in transit insurance, replacing a truck-load of goods could be very costly and leave you out of pocket, so it may be worthwhile adding to your policy.

There are many measures you can put in place to minimise financial risks to your fleet business within a protective maintenance plan. Insurance providers reward businesses that use risk management strategies, so don’t miss out on potential savings for your business.

These 7 measures are key to keeping your business fleet financially secure.

Questions Have Raised About The Astrazeneca Vaccine

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The news reached Sarah Gilbert on Saturday night that the COVID-19 vaccine she developed with AstraZeneca seemed to work, but the Oxford University professor hoped for a key number: Was it more than 90 percent effective, as have been others, or less?

Instead, when his colleague Andrew Pollard called with the results, he wanted to show him slides instead of simple figures . “I really didn’t understand why we had to go through slides,” he recalled. “But then it became clear: because it is much more complicated in our test.”

That complexity has led to uncertainty surrounding one of the pioneers along with Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna in the ‘race’ for a dose to end the pandemic. Questions about the most effective dose of the vaccine, its safety record, and partners’ approach to testing it have cast doubt on whether the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will endorse it.

AstraZeneca and Oxford reported the results early Monday after 131 trial participants in the UK and Brazil contracted COVID-19. The average prevention efficacy of 70 percent sounded good , within analyst expectations, and above the 50 percent standard the FDA had set for COVID vaccines.

The study also found 16 serious cases, all among people who received vaccine from AstraZeneca , according to Moncef Slaoui, the exinvestigador of GlaxoSmithKline who runs the program Operation Warp Speed US. It was good news for Astra’s vaccine program that had been on hold for six weeks in that country while regulators reviewed a serious adverse event that the company never gave details about. Oxford will report the details of these adverse events in its efficacy study which it will present for review in the coming weeks.

Shares of AstraZeneca rose as much as 2.4 percent early Tuesday morning in London after falling 3.8 percent on Monday.

The puzzling part of Astra’s results was that the larger doses were less effective. The vaccine was only 62 percent effective in a group that received two full doses about a month apart, but among about 2,700 people who received a half dose followed by a full one , the effectiveness rose to 90 percent.

Positive data from another vaccine of substantial efficacy with potential advantages in storage, transportation and affordability will be welcome , said Jesse Goodman, a former chief of the FDA’s office of vaccines who later became the agency’s chief scientist.

“What is not yet clear is whether this effect is a chance observation or reflects that the higher dose can negatively affect the immune response ,” he said in an interview. “We need more details to begin to understand it.”

Geoffrey Porges, an analyst at SVB Leerink, was among the most critical voices, calling the data “premature and insufficient” in a note to clients and predicting that the vaccine would “never be licensed in the US.”

Arm yourself with patience
AstraZeneca and Oxford are conducting trials of the vaccine in different parts of the world , and are currently only studying two full doses of the dose in their US study, which is expected to include 30,000 volunteers. But the company is still recruiting participants and could add another analysis for further studies of the half-dose regimen, explained Ruud Dobber, executive vice president and president of biopharmaceuticals at AstraZeneca.

“Let’s be a little more patient and see how the FDA reacts before making such harsh statements,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV .

The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has already started its analysis based on the data it has received in ongoing review, Chief Executive June Raine said in a statement.

It may interest you: Why the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will be packaged in Mexico, may be the best option?

Low- and middle-income nations are looking to the injection, priced much lower than Pfizer and Moderna, as a way out of the pandemic. The lower efficacy number of the two full-dose regimens reached the World Health Organization benchmark, according to chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan.

Still, Swaminathan warned in an interview Tuesday with Bloomberg Television that more comprehensive data is needed to understand possible discrepancies between doses.

“We really need to wait for bigger numbers, longer follow-up, to see if these differences really continue into the future,” he said.

That a lower dose produced a better result left even Gilbert scratching his head . The researchers tested a starting half-dose regimen to find the smallest amount that could still elicit a strong immune response , Gilbert said, not to increase effectiveness.

“I was surprised,” he said in an interview. “I really didn’t expect that.”

Its superiority over two full doses could be good news, as it would allow the company to perform more inoculations with the same total volume of vaccine . That could be important with the need to vaccinate billions of people around the world.

The vaccine uses a harmless chimpanzee adenovirus , the cause of some common colds, as a vector that is then inserted with the coronavirus spike protein to elicit an immune response.

What could have caused these results?
In theory, it is possible that a full initial dose raised antibodies against the adenovirus vector itself, which could have limited the immune response to the peak protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Gilbert said, but his team measured antibodies against it. adenovirus in previous studies and found only a small effect.

“I’m not really sure if that’s the complete answer. We’ll look into it a bit more, but it may be a bit more subtle in terms of inducing a high-quality immune response by giving just the right amount of vaccine antigen in the first dose and then expanding it with the second dose, “he added.

One possible explanation for the variable results is that the lower starting dose does a better job of breaking through the body’s defenses , allowing the vaccine to infect cells and create the immune response, said Michael Kinch, an expert in drug development and Associate Vice Chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis.

Another theoretical reason is more complex: the immune system can become immune to the initial high dose of vaccine and then ignore the subsequent dose, a phenomenon known as immune tolerance or desensitization. Either one would have the potential to mitigate the effects of the vaccine.

“The 90 percent number may ultimately prove correct,” Kinch said, “but the dose-response reversal could be a sign of concern.”

The Oxford team is still analyzing their data to better understand how the vaccine works. Gilbert noted that he is confident that the higher efficiency number will stick around as more data arrives.

“It could go up or down a bit,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to change massively, but it may differ from that initial 90 percent in either direction when we get to a little bigger analysis.”

What is Ad Fraud and How Proxies Can Detect It?

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The success of any business, no matter how big or small it may be, depends mainly on marketing. Today, most marketing is done online using various methods to spread the word about a brand, product, or service. One of the most effective methods is using ads to generate leads.

However, if you’re not careful when placing ads and don’t verify them once they are live, hackers can track your location and steal traffic generated by the ads you placed. Using proxies for ad verification can help you improve security features and ensure each click leads to your website’s landing page.

Keep reading, and we’ll tell you how ad verification works and why you need a good proxy.

What Are Ad Frauds?

Ad fraud is a severe problem for many business owners all over the globe. It’s a method used by hackers who steal the original traffic from an ad and replace it with fake traffic made by bots. The practice is very counterproductive for the ad owner.

Not only are they not getting the traffic they paid for, but their brand is also in danger as all the people who did click it land far from where they were expecting.

Once the damage is done, it can be really hard, sometimes impossible, to rebuild your brand identity and make people trust your offers once again. If that’s not bad enough, you might be forced to pay larger amounts for the ads you place in the future. That’s why ad verification is a must.

Ad Verification

Ad verification is a process that blocks hackers from stealing traffic. By using proxies, you can navigate to the ads you placed as a regular user. Instead of leaving your original IP address hackers can identify, you will view the ad as a random user from another location.

Proxies will switch your address with another one, making it much harder for hackers to track you down. This process is crucial if you want to make sure that your ads are behaving as expected.

Benefits of Ad Verification

Naturally, ad verification provides a few critical benefits that will protect your brand’s identity and ensure you get the clicks you paid for. First and foremost, ad verification can help you identify fraudulent ads, and eliminate auto-redirections, phishing, inappropriate ads, and so on.

It will also help you understand your audience better by knowing where every click comes from. That will provide you with useful information you can use to target the audience better in the future. However, the most significant benefit of using proxies to verify ads is the ability to see if anyone else is meddling with your posts without being seen.

Since you will appear as a regular user from another state or country, hackers won’t know that you know what they are doing. If your ads turn out to work normally, you’re in the clear, but if you do see some suspicious activities, you can remove the ads and eliminate the threat.

Proxies for Ad Verification

There are many different types of proxies, each with a specific use, but they all share the same goal – protecting your privacy every time you go online. They can also help you improve security features for every ad you place and make it much harder for hackers to steal your traffic and impression shares. Be aware that this process is not a one-time deal.

You’ll have to go back to your ads and check them regularly to make sure that no one is stealing your data. One thing is for sure, proxies for ad verification are a must if you want to survive in the unforgiving world of online marketing.

Benefits of Using Proxies

Proxies act as a filter between your device and the internet. Every time you send a request to connect online, the proxy will identify your IP address and replace it with another one located far away from your original location. In other words, it will make your connections anonymous, making it impossible for hackers to track you down and steal your data.

Apart from browsing the internet safely, proxies can also help you work around geo-restrictions, improve your connection speed, and block all suspicious websites before you can even open them. They provide multiple layers of protection, completely minimising the chances for cybercrime.

Residential Proxies Are the Best Option

When it comes to ad verification, residential proxies are the best option. They are specially designed proxies that can help you detect ad fraud, improve the performance of each campaign, and see what your competitors are doing without being seen. Residential proxies offer a massive database of real IP addresses, making it impossible for hackers or anyone else to track your online activities. While there are many service providers, make sure to do proper research and choose a reliable one (like Oxylabs). They will help you to select the right proxies for your business needs.

Conclusion

Even though internet security features keep improving every year, the number of cybercrimes is growing steadily. Criminals keep finding new methods of stealing information, so you must use everything you can to protect your assets and sensitive information.

Proxies present one of the most effective ways to do that, and you need one if you plan on posting ads and protecting your business identity.

The 3 Most Important Questions to Ask Before If and When You Stop and Ask for the Business by Sofiya Machulskaya

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There are many times when I speak to students or clients about establishing business relationships, especially financial ventures and I have their attention of them constantly. At one point, I want them to ask the question, “If you had your entire business going today and no-one bankruptity or losing the ability to work because of an illness, how would your business be?” asks Sofiya Machulskaya.

Sometimes they estimate that they will be unable to get paid for their life insurance, leanings or supplements and this keeps them trapped in financial traps that are not attractive to most customers. At other times, they tell me about a family member and/or friend who was fired for poor work performance and now they are also trapped as they can pay their own premium or personal event insurance with the person’s personal insurance policy. No wonder business relationships aren’t what they need to be.

I mention this question because I have seen many small business owners and executives in this position I refer to as trapped. Although I never actually asked them if this term describes them, as I believe my students and clients could look at their business like I do for them.

Typically, in an established business relationship business owner and employee have a personal relationship, one that is strictly professional, one that adds value and is relatively good at solving my problems. Initially, the person represents a huge value; they overcome all my benchmarks and specifications and meets some objective of a successful business relationship. During the time, however, I constantly have to spend more time and effort NOT to let the person slip away. There is often a great deal of frustration, anxiety and worry because it is clear that my relationship is NOT as good as it used to be.

Before anyone wants to say “That’s not the way life is”, stop and ask yourself if you have chosen a good business partner. Have you put into practice the following three simple questions that will aid you in deciding if a person has the skills to keep your business relationship in the “good driver” range.

After answering all these questions:

If you arrive at the conclusion your relationship is ONLY at the “good driver” or “great driver” stage how do you proceed to either mitigate or remove the uncertainty and begins to move towards your goal of a mutually beneficial business relationship explains Sofiya Machulskaya.

If I have chosen the best partner…is there a remote possibility that they will actually want to close a deal with me? If the answer is no, ask yourself what you can do to make this relationship mutually beneficial and take the necessary steps to reduce the anxiety and intensity of the situation.

Have I asked for a 60% reduction in my business insurance rate during the next sixty days that I will stick to? If the answer is no I must ask myself why? What needs to be done to achieve improved or at least efficient business relationship?

If any of these questions are answered with a resounding “No of course” please ask yourself another one. If you have answeredallof these questions with agreement, operate in a business partnership and stick with it! There is nothing worse than someone developing an expectation that you will NEVER budge when it seems like a relationship is going nowhere. Once the relationship is going down the road you can now move on to the other two main reasons why business partnerships don’t or don’t work out.

The first is that you have chosen a “self partner” and not a “partner owner”.

I have been most successful in business when I have found a John Assum who is willing to give 100% to the John Assum’s idea and not take anything for himself for years, years! I would have eventually developed an expectation that it will take me way too long to ever be able to do anything. It was great in the beginning because I could proudly tell the world I had created a relationship that was the envy of the industry much to my surprise I never even had to tell my family and my friends. That death-defying feeling of success has now been replaced by feelings of feelings of negligent partners, dishonest partners and picked dominoes!

I must be realistic and admit the risk is a little high having partners who are “self-extended” but in my opinion I have found if I have a John Assum or John Assum Big Fish who don’t care, who refuse to grow and change, who are out to hurt anyone, which consists of your John Assum and your John Assum Big Fish of course I must look out for myself. On the other extreme, I have found that many seemingly “self-improvement” gurus/teachers, despite the best of intentions are actually someone who is most likely a perpetually poor or a “self-improvement” guru/teacher and who operates out of spite and destruction of the self vs personal growth of the person/team.

Can Playing Games Improve Your Business Acumen?

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Games can be a great credit to your business acumen.

Whether it’s new skills or a fresh perspective on any dilemmas in your personal or professional life, there’s a lot to learn from the pixels onscreen.

Today, the consensus around games is becoming more positive with every passing day. It’s now an industry making billions upon billions, and it’s undoubtedly a permanent part of cultures around the globe. At this point, any businessperson worth their salt would sit up and take notice.

How has this been done?

Consequently, it’s worth thinking about games in a new light, and how they can flesh out your business acumen.

Learn To Make Quick Decisions About How To Spend Your Time

There’s a multitude of games to play out there, but time is money if you’re leading your own venture.

As such, you need a quick way to sift your way through the range of choices available to you. There’s only one way to do this; through business reviews. There’s a lesson behind every impression.

For example, if you want a comprehensive list of all the best online casinos to dabble in, visit onlinecasinos.co.uk. They list all the best of their kind out there, prioritising the safety of their readers while keeping fun factors in mind also. If people look out for each other here, then everyone can gamble with safe and responsible peers and friends without any trepidations. These reviews are not about gloating or boasting – they’re referrals are tailored with fairness and ethics in mind. 

The reviews of games can not only save you time but teach you the importance of your own reputation. People’s assessment of your business can boost customer interaction, enhance your credibility, build trust, and legitimise you in whatever market or industry you’re working. They also put customers at ease and give them peace of mind.

What do you look for as a reader of a review, and how can you feed those desires into your own business? If a quick review can help you enjoy the best games out there in a flash, imagine the power they could have over your company.

Get Transferable Skills

Running a business requires no end of problem-solving skills, and a whole host of others too.

Of course, most games make similar demands for the player to succeed. This is where the endless series of transferable skills come into effect between work and play, improving things like reaction times, teamworking, and how you assimilate information. In many corporate circles, such talents are invaluable, and carry many companies into a prosperous future.

In 2017, a University of Glasgow trial also found that video games improved communication, resourcefulness, and adaptability skills, which further illustrates just how impactful these types of mediums can be. Even online casinos encourage strategic thinking, analytical skills, and smart risk-taking. A CEO and a gamer largely have the same mindset, all that changes is what these skills are focused upon. 

If you’re in the position of hiring any young graduates, it is a good idea to ask them about the types of games they enjoy. It will put many of them at ease and increase the likelihood of them warming to the interview process, while also giving you the chance to discern their interests and what abilities they like to fine tune through these mediums. It’s a perfect question that will make a candidate lower their guard, which is the perfect time to gauge who they really are once their front is peeled back.   

Looking beneath the surface of any person or situation can be incredibly rewarding for your firm Anything that keeps wits sharp is to be commended, so keep that in mind and think outside the box when moving forward. You might tap into something other employers have missed, and bag key talent the ignorant would snub.

Cool Narratives and Imagery

There are transferable skills between the game and the worker, but there are also similarities at play between games and business in general.

After all, games are derived from businesses, so many of the same thought processes are applied to their creation too. They’re not silly little things – they’re products.

For example, there are many virtues in video game storytelling that are also present in marketing and advertising. Writing styles, setting a tone, selling experiences, articulating a journey – these are all things that are ever-present in both spheres. After all, games are an art form and a creative medium, and the absolute best of them have no problems drawing players into different worlds and ways of thinking. That too, is what marketing and advertising should achieve, to a point!

How does the game use graphics and imagery to develop an atmosphere? What do the fonts and colours communicate? How do iconic game characters serve as effective mascots for a brand? There’s a lot for you to analyse here that can be applied to your own business. What seems like fun and funky designs made on a whim are precisely contrived, so don’t underestimate their power!

Relax and Reset

It might seem redundant to say that games are fun, but it’s a point that cannot be overlooked.

The world of work is incredibly stressful for all, regardless of whether you’re a CEO or a shelf stacker. Most people put 100% into the job they have, and work tirelessly to appease their ambition or to make ends meet.

Anything that helps people unwind and get through the hard times will, inevitably, improve their work performance moving forward. Under lockdown the use of video games has skyrocketed, with more players than ever flocking to their machines to put the real world on pause briefly. You can only be productive in work after you’ve used your breaks well, and games will help your mind and soul reset in times of need.

Tapping into this with your workforce shows that you understand them on a personal level also. Consoles in break rooms, sharing poker anecdotes, or having quick discussions about Fantasy Football leagues with colleagues – it all unites and relaxes people and helps them find common ground. Positive working relationships will follow soon after.

Conclusion

There’s a lot to be learnt and enjoyed from games of all kinds. Tapping into all their benefits, and the skills they can help players develop, will no doubt be a savvy business decision. After all, their industry must be doing something right if they’re earning jaw dropping amounts of money. Give them a try; at best you’ll garner a fresh perspective on business, and at worst you’ll have fun and unwind. What is there to lose?

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