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Canon Maxify 6070-The real DOER

Canon’s latest super tank printers have been a favourite amongst small & medium-sized business users. Keeping this demography as the main focus point, Canon has introduced its MAXIFY GX6070 series with a lot of ink, enough for around 6000 mono and 14000 colouring pages. 

Moreover, this printer can print on various textures and print surfaces and ensures businesses do not need to buy different printers when there is a need to switch between envelopes, labels, glossy paper, and banner paper. Equipped with an ADF (Automatic Document Feeder), it can easily hold up to 100 documents at a time to process. Also, the convenience of not just printing but even scanning, copying and faxing makes it a versatile all-rounder printer to have. 

How are the overall Design and Build quality? 

Weighing close to 11.6kgs, it definitely isn’t a small device which restricts its portability, knowing that a printer’s placement is hardly changed in a corporate environment. The white boxy look is pretty contemporary with room for 250 sheets in the main paper tray, 100 sheets in the tray at the rear and another 100 sheets in the ADF. 

It is sturdy and well-built with a tiltable touchscreen to control all its functions. The translucent ink tanks are large enough to hold a substantial amount of ink, which eliminates downtime as compared to its cartridge alternative. Even the paper output tray is comparatively larger than usual and is capable of holding 100 sheets of paper.

 

How well is the Connectivity?

A USB Host port has been given for walk-up printing from a flash memory drive, which is a convenient option, but this printer has built-in Wi-Fi, broadening its connectivity horizons. It misses out on an NFC module but is compatible with all of the popular wireless protocols such as Apple AirPrint, Wireless Direct, Mopria and of course Canon’s own PIXMA Cloud Link. It also works with Google Assistance and Amazon Alexa, but the most I enjoyed most was by printing directly using my smartphone and being connected via wi-fi to the printer. What makes the Canon Maxify, even more, user-friendly is the tilting touchscreen which offers quick and easy access to the printer’s host of features. 

What’s the Performance like?

The Canon MAXIFY GX6070 surpassed our expectations without any paper jams or misprints. It’s printing speed is quite quick when printing just in black and white. It functions quietly too at just 49dB. Printing monochrome pages like that of a textbook, look consistently sharp and crisp. 

Colour documents and photos on photo paper also appear clean and unblemished by horizontal lines or any other disturbances. However, higher resolution images with too much detail, colour and shadows can look grainy, even at the highest print quality. 

Should you consider it?

There’s not much to pin-point about the Canon MAXIFY GX6070. It is well built, user-friendly, comprehensively feature packed and has an all-rounded performance which packs enough for domestic or business purposes. The icing on the cake is those big refillable ink tanks which can store a generous amount of ink, which eliminates the need for you to buy more for a long time. And when you do happen to excruciate every drop of it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the cost of the bottled ink and the price you pay per print. For its price, yes, it’s high for an inkjet printer in today’s scenario, but you’ll end up saving money in the long term. 

Reasonable: Cost of printing and connectivity

Bad: Form factor is obsolete

Ugly: High price for an ink tank printer

Rating: 3.5 star

Price: Rs.48,000 /- ( Approx as online )

Specifications :

  • Print, Scan, Copy
  • ISO standard print speed (A4): up to 24.0 images per minute black / 15.5 images per minute colour
  • Wireless, Wired LAN, Mopria, AirPrint, Direct Wireless
  • Recommended monthly print volume: 300 to 2 500 pages (A4 (21.0 x 29.7cm))

WhatsApp New Feature: Group Admin Will Be Able To Delete Members’ Messages

WhatsApp occasionally comes up with new features that engage its users and keep the platform safe. A recent update suggests that the social media app is getting a new feature that is exclusively for group administrators.  The admin of any group will now be able to remove any message sent by the members of his group. 

The feature will be rolled out to users all around the world, but the company has not yet officially revealed the feature and that it is only available to beta testers. The members will be able to see that the administrator deleted the message, and you will be able to see the ‘You deleted this message as admin’ note after removing the sent text. 

This feature is expected to allow group admins to moderate their group more effectively. WABetaInfo reports that the ‘admin delete’ feature is now rolling out with the WhatsApp beta for the Android 2.22.1.7 update.

Besides this, WhatsApp is reportedly working on a feature called ‘Kept Messages’, which will allow you to keep the disappearing message by converting it to a standard message.

Music in Numbers: Facts and Figures

  1. A study on 12,665 pop musicians who passed away between 1950 and 2014 found that they tend to die at younger ages than the average American. They also have higher rates of death by homicide and accidents. 
  2. The most watched music video on YouTube is Despacito which has more than 7 billion views.  
  3. According to the New York Times, each Grammy Award trophies take 15 hours to make and is made of a special metal called grammium. 
  4. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in 2019 that users add around 40,000 new songs to the streaming music platform every day.  
  5. A Goldman Sachs report from May 2020 estimated that the global music industry suffered a 25% drop in revenue during the pandemic. 
  6. Americans spend more than 4 hours a day listening to music. 
  7. It takes an average of 220 streams for an independent artist to make $1 on major streaming platforms. 
  8. Lil Pump’s “Gucci Gang” is the shortest song to crack the Billboard Top 10 in 40+ years. 
  9. Three major labels make up more than 80% of music industry revenue. 
  10. Only 9.3% of people nominated in the last six Grammy ceremonies were women.

 

Music Therapy : Singing your way to sanity

What does music mean to you? For me, it works as an escape from the tiring outside world and takes me to a more sane and quiet place. Often music takes me through nostalgia, and other times, it makes me dream of things that ‘could have been. It could mean the same to you or something else on these lines, but what we could all agree upon is the fact that music is therapeutic. 

Music as therapy does not just restrict itself to a phrase but actually holds a literal meaning. Music therapy is an evidence-based treatment that helps with a variety of disorders, including cardiac conditions, depression, substance abuse, and autism, and can help with memory, lower blood pressure, reduces stress, improves self-esteem, and much more. 

What is Music Therapy?

Music therapy experiences include listening, singing, playing instruments, or composing music but do not need any prior skills or talent to participate. It is a therapeutic approach that uses the natural mood-lifting properties of music to help people improve their overall well-being. Music therapy may help you physically, emotionally, spiritually, cognitively, and socially. 

Formal music therapy was first used by the United States War Department in 1945 to help military service members with occupational therapy, education, recreation, and physical reconditioning.

A list of benefits includes:

  • Lowering blood pressure
  • Improved memory
  • Enhanced communication and social skills
  • Self-reflection by observing your thoughts and emotions
  • Reducing muscle tension
  • Developing healthy skills
  • Managing pain
  • Increasing motivation and joy

Types of Music Therapy

Some therapists use a combined approach of active and passive music interactions for their clients. The variety of approaches include:

Analytical Music Therapy

This type of music therapy encourages you to express your thoughts through musical dialogues such as singing or playing an instrument which you can reflect on and discuss with your therapist afterwards.

Benenzon Music Therapy

This format combines some concepts of psychoanalysis, which includes the search for your musical sound identity, something that most closely matches your internal psychological state.

Cognitive Behavioral Music Therapy

CBT approach is structured, not improvisational, and may include listening to music, dancing, singing, or playing an instrument.

Community Music Therapy

 It focuses on using music as a way to facilitate change on the community level. It’s done in a group setting and requires a high level of engagement from each member.

The Bonny Method

The Bonny method of guided imagery and music (GIM) uses classical music as a way to stimulate the imagination. You explain the feelings, sensations, memories, and imagery you experience while listening to the music to your therapist. 

Vocal Psychotherapy

Vocal therapy makes use of various exercises, natural sounds, and breathing techniques to connect with your emotions and impulses. This practice is meant to create a deeper sense of connection with yourself.

Who Should Visit Music Therapists?

Anybody,, regardless of their background, gender, age, and culture, can respond to music therapy and music therapy. Some of the individuals or groups that therapists help are: 

  • Military service members and veterans often take music therapy to deal with trauma.
  • Music therapy may help with memory loss and stimulate your mind so it helps people with Alzheimer’s. 
  • Music therapy may help people with communication skills, relaxation and decreasing impulsivity, so it’s good for people or groups in mental health facilities.
  • If you have experienced trauma and crisis, music therapy can help you eliminate those experiences and improve your mood. 
  • Music therapy helps decrease your pain, anxiety, fatigue and depression, so it is for people suffering from chronic pain.
  • If you have a history of substance abuse, music therapy will help you big time. 

What happens during Music Therapy?

There are a lot of exercises that go on during a music therapy session.

  • Create music. You might compose music, write lyrics, or makeup music together
  • Sing music. Use your voice to share a piece of music.
  • Listen to music. Enjoy the sound and lyrics.
  • Move to the music. It can be as simple as tapping your toes together or as complicated as a coordinated dance.
  • Discuss lyrics. Read or listen to the lyrics of a song and talk about their meaning.
  • Play an instrument. Use an instrument like a piano, guitar, drums, etc. to share music.

Before your first session, you may want to talk things over with your music therapist, so you know what to expect and can check in with your primary care physician if needed.

Apps That Can Get You Started With Investments

After you get out of college, you enter a world which forces you make rational decisions and reconsider your life choices. It is never too late to invest your hard-earned money somewhere you will get fruitful returns in the future.

Why should you be investing in the first place? A proper investment allows you to grow your wealth and at the same time generate inflation-beating returns, often benefitting from the power of compounding. Investments also help you in meeting your financial goals, such as purchasing a house or building an emergency fund or accumulating it for post-retirement plans. 

What I have learned and observed personally from investing is that it instils a sense of discipline over time. You develop a habit of saving a particular amount every month from your salary or business and putting it together for useful purposes. 

How much should you be saving and investing?

You can always invest for short-term goals or make a plan for your retirement. Most of us retire at the age of 60 which means that for the remainder of our lifetime, we will need a proper investment to fund our lifestyle. 

Experts have suggested that you should be saving 20% of your income. You can automate 20% of your paycheck to go directly into the investment account. This might not be viable for everyone but is still the most favourable of all. 

What are the different types of investments?

You have several investment options available based on your financial goals, risk tolerance, and investment horizon. Some of the popular investment options include:

Direct Equity: 

It is commonly referred to as stock investment and is one of the most preferred investments for investors. You buy shares of the company depending on how the company is performing in the market. Stock trading can earn you possible attractive returns but also involves a lot of risks. 

Mutual Funds

A pool of money is collected from many investors who share a common investment objective. That money is invested in various instruments such as stocks, bonds, money market etc. Mutual funds are way more flexible as you can start or stop investing as per your wish with much lower risks than equity. 

Public Provident Fund

PPF is a government-backed saving scheme that aims to mobilise small savings and provide secure post-retirement life. It has a lock-in period of 15 years and that time frame itself makes you save a lot of money. 

Fixed Deposits

Fixed Deposits are regarded as an ideal investment for conservative investors as they provide a fixed and guaranteed rate of returns.

Apps that help you in investments

Zerodha Kite

Kite is one of the best and the biggest trading apps in India. It offers you a wide range of stocks to trade in and has over 5 million downloads. 

Android Ratings: 4.2/5 stars

Android Downloads: 50 Lakh +

iOS Ratings: 3.3/5 stars

Top Features:

  • The app helps you evaluate the market condition. 
  • Advanced options for placing orders such as Brackets and covers, IMO, and much more.
  • Easy-to-use app.

Pros

  • Can be used in 10 regional languages.
  • Extensive charts to view market conditions.
  • Place limit to orders.

Cons

  • No trading in mutual funds.
  • No price alerts.

Angel Broking

Founded in 1987, it is one of the oldest stock market apps that is used by 1.4 million people in India. You can either get a ready-made portfolio or get it done by experts.

Android Ratings: 4.2/5 stars

Android Downloads: 1 Crore +

iOS Ratings: 3.5/5 stars

Top Features

  • Analyze the market with the help of experts.
  • Maintains your portfolio.
  • Build a classified, low-cost portfolio.
  • International stocks are available for investment.

Pros

  • No brokerage charges.
  • Portfolio management
  • By investing in small cases, you can build a low-cost portfolio.
  • Fractional investment.

Cons:

  • Trading through calling is charged at Rupees 20 per executed order.

Groww

Groww is one of the best trading apps in India that gives you the option to trade in gold, stocks, fixed deposits, and much more and this is the reason why it has become so popular with time.

Android Ratings: 4.3/5 stars

Android Downloads: 1 Crore +

iOS Ratings: 4.5/5 stars

Top Features

  • Invest in gold, field deposit, domestic and international stocks, mutual funds, etc.
  • Withdraw Rs 50,000 or 90% of the total amount invested(whichever is lower) per day.
  • Self-directed trading.
  • Helps you study the market trends with the help of charts.

Pros

  • No account opening charges.
  • No account maintaining charges.
  • ISO certification to ensure that your data is safe.

Cons

  • Advanced order types are not available.

Sherkhan App

Even before I started training I knew of Sherkhan as a trading app. Sherkhan has been running successfully for 21 years now and has over 2 million clients in India. The platform provides a wide range of products for buying and selling and build a diversified portfolio. 

Android Ratings: 3.8/5 stars

Android Downloads: 10 Lakh +

iOS Ratings: 2.8/5 stars

Top Features:

  • Advanced charts to help you do the market research.
  • Research reports help you make better investment decisions.
  • Relationship managers monitor your portfolio and give you guidance.
  • Wide range of products to trade with.

Pros:

  • You can trade anytime and anywhere.
  • Updates you about the market news.
  • Free learning resources.
  • No minimum deposit is required.

Cons:

  • No global stocks to trade with.

5paisa Online Trading App

5paisa Online Trading app has a user-friendly interface with advanced charts, learning resources and auto-investing features. 

Android Ratings: 4.2/5 stars

Android Downloads: 50 Lakh +

iOS Ratings: 4/5 stars

Top Features

  • Trade-in stocks, mutual funds, currencies, commodities, and more.
  • Auto-investing feature works based on your specific goals.
  • Easy to use interface.
  • Single click for buying and selling.
  • Research on the market conditions with the help of advanced charts.

Pros:

  • Research tools.
  • Easy to use.
  • Auto investing.
  • Learning resources.
  • 0 commission on mutual funds trading.

Cons:

  • 100 per call charges for ‘Trade on Call’.

Fashion- Seasons Explained

The air is getting colder, and the leaves have started to change. Hence, the discussion around the fashion industry shifting away from its seasonal collection is getting stronger. 

This article will discuss what fashion seasons represent and why there is a strong need for seasonless fashion.

What are Fashion Seasons?

Fashion is divided into four seasons; spring/summer, autumn/winter, and resort and pre-fall. The name Resort arose because the wealthiest fashion house clientele would purchase these designs on vacations. 

Some fashion businesses currently produce more than 50 micro-seasons every year to produce constant emerging trends so that consumers rapidly purchase as much clothing as possible. 

But why do we need fashion seasons in the first place? Previously, fashion seasons were just periods when the weather changed and the things you wore in response to the changing climate:

  • Warmer garments in cold weather
  • Bright clothes in the sunny weather
  • More practical clothing during the rainy season 

The fashion seasons have become more complicated and serve as a metronome for the worldwide fashion business, defining the speed and time for manufacturing, marketing, and selling new collections. 

When do fashion seasons run? This is where it gets a little confusing. Spring starts in January and runs until June, while the winter collection runs from July to December. Resort collections are offered from October to December. Summer and Resort collections are sold in January when it’s cold! And winter collection is sold in July when it’s still warm out there. 

This is done because fashion brands and retailers like to offer their designs early so that they can understand the consumers’ needs better and market them accordingly. In 2016, Burberry started a ‘See now. Buy now’ approach, pushing their pieces on sale as soon as they are shown on the runway.

With four collections a year and a cycle of design, perpetual production and distribution, brands are forced to create new products throughout the year. This results in the overproduction of clothes that retailers are forced to dispose of through significant discounts implied only a few months after the product arrives in the store. It leads to a situation where the consumer who paid a high price for the merchandise finds it depreciating a few months later. 

Designers and buyers are now demanding to curb the rhythms of the current production cycle and return to a slower fashion and long-lasting products- both materially and aesthetically. 

Fashion Week

Apparel manufacturers need a platform to promote their products to the target audience, and fashion week plays a vital role in communicating the idea and marketing the trend. Nothing is constant in fashion, and fashion shows help to draw public attention to new arrivals in design and style. 

The collection buyers and journalists see on the catwalk are not the same as it arrives in the shops. Of all the clothes, buyers select the ones with the highest consumer potential that will enter production and finally arrive in retail. The period that follows the fashion week is when the sales campaign takes place, which somewhat decides the fate of the brand or the product.

For example, The Ritual campaign was chosen by Gucci for its new FW 20-21 campaign, which was made entirely of selfies made by the same models. All the images were made without regular support, including the stylist, hair, and makeup artist. 

Seasonless Fashion

Seasonless Dressing represents the trend of wearing the same fashion year-round. People spend more time in climate-controlled environments since ACs, and heated cars and workspaces have eventually diminished their time in natural temperatures. This leads to less demand for heavy-winter clothing and increases the need for neutral clothing. 

Due to the surge in seasonless fashion, designers can now focus more on the creativity and storytelling of design instead of a multitude of seasons in the fashion calendar. Instead of producing extensive collections every month, brands have a core selection of garments that occasionally add styles or offer different colours/fabrics in the existing style.  

This pandemic has highlighted the environmental and societal effects of fast fashion as many workers were left unpaid or working in difficult and dangerous environmental conditions. We need to encourage more sustainable fashion and bring a positive change to society. 

Asus confirms IPX4 Splash Resistance for its new and upcoming ROG Phone 6

Asus’s ROG Global Account on Twitter recently tweeted a teaser for the upcoming ROG Phone 6, revealing that it would be the first gaming-oriented smartphone with a splash resistance rating. Furthermore, in the same tweet, they confirmed that there will be an announcement on the 5th of July. 

Some further confirmed information for the upcoming excitement includes the confirmed Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 platform for some of the fastest graphics in any phone today. It is also confirmed from press images by Asus that the phone will come with a record-breaking 165hz AMOLED display on the 6.78-inch display. The phone with the new chip will feature an improved passive cooling system with better materials to dissipate heat more effectively.

The upcoming iteration of the ROG phone line has been certified by TENAA, a product certification website, and as such the Design and Specs of the phone have been published. The phone is said to feature up to 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM, as well as 512GB of storage with a 64MP Main camera unit as it was last year, but likely to be a bigger and better quality sensor.

On the front, the smartphone will be shipping with a 12MP Selfie shooter and continues to feature the massive 6000mAh battery. There has been no confirmation on the charging yet, however, we can expect the bypass charging feature and fast charging to carry forward, as well as some form of the iconic Anime Matrix display on the back of the phone.

With the recent rise in quality mobile gaming, motivated by the increasing number of players and rapid evolution of technology, the ROG phone has more people excited than ever before. The long chain of rumours and leaks will be put to rest a little over a week from now for the official reveal by Asus.

The Biggest Upcoming Technologies of 2022

The beginning of every New Year is no doubt exciting for a variety of reasons. However, among these reasons, is the unveiling of new technologies. This unique opportunity creates a unique platform for companies far and wide to introduce what they will be working to launch in the upcoming year. It also provides each company a unique look into what their competitors are trying to get out there.

Whether you use this platform just as an observer or a competitor, it is hard not to be left oohed and awed by some of these technological adventures. Here is just a shortlist of some of the most exciting things tech companies are working toward this New Year.

3D Home Printing

Could the old methods of home-building be about to change forever? What if you could do away with your hardhat and toolbelt and wear a suit and tie while carrying a briefcase to work every day? This might not be a sacrifice everyone is willing to make, but 3D home printing technology could forever change the world of homebuilding. You’d be surprised at just how applicable it is to feed concrete, sand, and plastics into massive 3D printers.

You might be surprised by this, but you likely be even more surprised at how cost affordable this solution is. It might end up even being less costly than the older, traditional ways of building homes. There is, however, one thing still holding the industry back. That is the lack of infrastructure to transport printing materials to parts of the world where they would be most impactful.

Self-Fertilizing Crops

When you look at all the wealth in the world, it is almost hard to believe that there are still suffering and struggling out there. Indeed, there are entire countries and regions of the world lacking, but it just seems like some people have so much. Not only this, but you combine all this excess with the waste that goes on today, and the fact that there is one starving person in the world seems kind of ludicrous. That might be about to change. And it won’t have anything to do with less spending or less wasting.

It will be thanks to self-fertilizing crops. Most people just don’t realize how harmful current farming practices are. With the use of massive commercial fertilizers, nitrogen and other harmful chemicals are just eating away at the earth daily. Nitrogen is a highly used crop production chemical that accounts for 1 to 2 percent of yearly, global carbon dioxide emissions.

While nitrogen has proven to be an effective fertilizer, it is also doing untold harm to the world.

A world that is in limited supply. Soy plants and members of the legume family like peas and lentils might be about to transform the entire industry. Scientists are already immediately working on getting corn and other cereals to self-fertilize.

Advancement Of Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies have been a slowly trudging technology that’s for the most part stayed on the fringes of mainstream finances. Consumers have seen this shift a bit in the online sports betting market. So, it is possible to play สล็อตแตกง่าย ฝากถอน ไม่มีขั้นต่ำ with specific digital currencies.

There are now a few online platforms willing to accept and payout in cryptocurrencies. Some e-commerce sites also accept digital currencies.

El Salvador has just recently become the first country in Central America to make Bitcoin the most popular cryptocurrency in the world.

Sweden, Canada, The European Union, and The United Kingdom are already a few of the global leading giants that are considering implementing financial changes. Unfortunately, there are some still not embracing this digital currency and all the potential it offers, but that could possibly change in 2022. It is the concerns and potential risks for digital fraud in countries like China, Bangladesh, Qatar, Egypt, and Morocco that have been deterring many.

Anti-Aging Drugs

Who doesn’t want to stay looking and feeling like a teenager? It seems these hopes and dreams might come to fruition in the upcoming years. At least the part about looking like a teenager.

While there are plenty of exciting and ground-breaking things going on in modern medicine, it seems that anti-aging medications are the exclusive talk of the town.

The first wave of new class anti-ageing drugs has already been shipped out and implemented in controlled testing environments. While these medications are not yet designed to make one live longer, they remove certain cells that accumulate during the aging process.

WhatsApp to now allow Android users to transfer chat history to iOS Devices (Beta Testing)

Last year, WhatsApp began allowing users to transfer their conversation history from iOS to Android, first with Samsung in August and later expanding to all Android 12 devices in October that year. Because of popular demand from WhatsApp users, the app has now started beta testing for transferring chat history from Android to iOS.

This feature will be available for everyone using WhatsApp on both iOS and Android devices. Although if you are using WhatsApp Beta, here are some requirements for you – 

  • Need Android 5 (Lollipop) or higher, WhatsApp (Android) 2.22.7.74 or later.
  • Need iOS 15.5, WhatsApp (iOS) 2.22.10.70 or later.
  • Need the same phone number as on the old transfer phone.
  • Only possible during the initial setup of the iPhone.

The transfer is carried out locally using Apple’s Move to iOS software and requires both the old and new phones to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network and a charger.

Through this procedure, you can transfer personal messages but cannot transmit peer-to-peer payment messages to your destination smartphone.

You Can Now Virtually Try on Shoes With Amazon’s New AR Feature

Amazon has recently announced a new way for people to have the best shopping experience for shoes by trying them out virtually before purchasing them. This new feature is called virtual try-on and will be released only for iPhone users in the US and Canada. 

Virtual Try-On for Shoes use augmented reality technology to put virtual footwear onto your feet in real-time, allowing you to view your possible purchase from various angles, much like you would in an actual shoe store. Open the official Amazon mobile app on any iOS device and browse the web catalogue for a pair of shoes. Virtual Try-On for Shoes Suitable products will have a “Virtual Try-On” button on their product page.

The camera on your mobile device gets activated when you tap this. Now, you have to point the camera at your feet, and a pair of virtual sneakers will materialise on your feet immediately. You can even adjust the colour of your digital kicks and take a snapshot of them to share with friends and family in case you need a second view. 

This feature will be compatible with multiple brands like Adidas, Asics, Lacoste, New Balance, Puma, Reebok, Superga, and Saucony, with plans to introduce other brands and styles. Virtual Try-On for Shoes is now only accessible to iOS users in the United States and Canada, but the company has stated that an Android version will be released soon.

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