Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Friday, November 10, 2017
Our code of ethics needs to grow as new technologies change our definition of ‘life’
BY: DUSTIN BATTY
What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be alive? These are questions that may seem silly or redundant right now, but will need answers in the near future. As technology continues to advance, our conceptions of life and humanity are set to be dramatically changed. Because of this inevitability, official discussions about ethics and regulations must begin so we are not unprepared when they come into existence.
There are three major categories of technological development that will require much ethical consideration before their corresponding entities come into being. They are the creation of the artificial entity (AE), human augmentation and the cyborg, and human cloning.
I am using the term “artificial entity” rather than “artificial intelligence” to distinguish between the AI of today, which is a tool, and the much more technologically advanced AE of the future. An AE is a conscious, sentient, and sapient entity artificially created by humans via computer programming. The pivotal question that must be addressed is, Can the AE be considered alive? Let’s say it is self-aware, has emotions and independent thought, but was created by a programmer and has no set physical body. Is it alive?
If the answer is yes, then we need to determine what rights it has as a living entity, what kinds of laws it must follow, etc. If the answer is no, then we may not need to consider problems of laws or rights, but this decision may create difficulties when considering the next group of future entities: cyborgs.
The word ‘cyborg’—an abbreviation of the term ‘cybernetic organism’—is generally used to describe humans who have been augmented with technology to a point beyond natural human capabilities. In A Cyborg Manifesto, Donna Haraway—a respected technology and feminist scholar—explains that even now, many people can technically be considered cyborgs. For decades some people have depended upon glasses, which drastically improve their eyesight. A more recent example would be our current dependence on smartphones and the need to constantly be connected. Though not everyone has bought into this lifestyle, the trend is constantly growing.
As of now, cyborgism hasn’t developed to the point where we really need to consider a new system of ethics. However, that time may come soon. Already, brain-computer interfaces are being developed that allow people to interact with external objects just by thinking about it. It is likely that mental augmentation will be a possibility in the near future.
The ethical concerns that arise from these technologies mostly relate to personhood and individual identity. At what point in mental augmentation does someone stop being the same person? And if someone’s augmentations reach the point where they are no longer the same person, then we reach the same issue as with the AEs: Are they still technically alive? Are they still human? If not, then do they require specific rights and laws?
The final technological entity yet to address is the human clone. Cloning technology has already been developed, and it is improving every year. Dolly, the first cloned sheep, was born more than twenty years ago. The religious order Raëlism claimed that they successfully cloned a human who was born in 2002, though this claim was never confirmed. Nonetheless, the technology for human cloning either already exists, or will soon.
The ethical controversy that surrounds human cloning centres on their status as humans. Some believe that clones ought to be considered no different from any other human, though others believe that clones are inherently subhuman and would be missing some essential element of humanity. The UN has made a declaration about human cloning ethics, stating that human clones will have the same rights as natural humans, as describedin the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Law and technology scholar Kerry Lynn MacIntosh points out that the human cloning declaration is dangerously inconsistent, though. She argues that “human clones will lose their parents to prison and be stigmatized as subhuman duplicates who are unworthy of existence,” if the UN’s stance remains unchanged.
At the moment, most laws and regulations focus on preventing human clones from ever being born. As MacIntosh notes, though, an infertile couple with a great enough desire for children will go to any lengths to have them, whether or not they are legal. Once the technology exists, clones will be born, and we need to be prepared for that inevitability. In fact, MacIntosh argues that the laws prohibiting human cloning will be the main reason for clones’ subhuman status, and that we need to embrace clones as legal entities in order for them to have equal status in society.
As with the AEs and cyborgs, I do not know what laws or regulations will need to be implemented to address the existence of human clones. I am not writing to provide answers, but rather to pose questions and encourage dialogue. The future is closer than we think, and the first generations of these entities deserve the rights, dignity, and respect that we expect for ourselves.
[Source Site: http://www.theplaidzebra.com/code-ethics-needs-grow-new-technologies-change-definition-life/]
Thursday, November 2, 2017
6 Unforgettable Mistakes in Content Distribution
David Gutierrez
Oct 25, 2017
Content distribution is a crucial step in any marketing strategy. Content marketing can be highly effective, however, without clear goals, quality content, and a distribution plan, you are investing in the activity with a very low payoff.
According to the survey conducted by Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, 88% of businesses use content marketing. But only 55% of them say that the distribution methods they use are effective. This is a big issue.
Fortunately, there are certain reasons why your content marketing strategy does not work. In this article, we diagnose some of the biggest mistakes marketers make when implementing their distribution plan, and advise how to avoid them.
Mistake #1 - You are not Diversifying Distribution
A classic content marketing funnel focuses on leads and works this way:
The content is published on a website
The content is distributed through various channels including social media, ads, landing pages, infographics, etc.
The published link leads potential customers back to your website.
According to this scheme, everything should work perfectly. But what if it does not? This traditional model is missing one important factor: people who read content on Twitter or Facebook prefer not to leave these platforms.
The Fix: Stop focusing on attracting people to your website. Instead of this, publish meaningful content on those platforms and engage users right there. Modify your content into the full-length posts, or video graphics (in case of Twitter) and adapt to the new model to get more views and engagement outside your website.
Mistake #2 - You are Using the Wrong Platforms
According to the Marketing Institute, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube remain the top social media platforms. Instagram use increased from 24% to 29%, whereas Google+ has decreased slightly.
Having this information in mind, it’s imperative that you find your audience. Who are your potential customers and where do they spend most of their time?
The Fix: Look at your competitors and identify the platforms where they have social media pages. If you have a busy audience, explore Twitter and get the most out of it by tweeting at least twice a day.
Consider these numbers from HubSpot:
25% of all internet users, the majority of them aged 30-49 use LinkedIn. Therefore, this platform is best for B2B businesses and those targeting qualified professionals, especially freelancers.
72% of all internet users have a Facebook account and 70% of Facebook users check their accounts at least once a day. Therefore, this platform is a must-have channel for any business.
71% of all Pinterest users are women of varied ages and they usually spend about 50% more when making online purchases. Therefore, this is the perfect platform for e-commerce promotion.
500 million people log into their Instagram accounts daily. It’s a great platform for keeping your customers informed on any news and general brand promotion.
Mistake #3 - You Don’t Reoptimize Content
If you only create new content and forget about the old stuff, you are throwing your time and money away. Re-using or re-optimizing your content is an important part of content distribution as you not only givie it a new life but also save money.
The Fix: Add images, videos, and infographics to your old content; re-optimize it to improve your ranking in search and optimize it for mobile phones to reach out to more readers. Take note that 1 in 10 blog posts is compounding, and it’s those posts that generate up to 38% of the website’s traffic. Analyzing your website visitors’ behaviors will allow you to identify those most successful posts that you need to boost.
Mistake #4 - Incorrect Timing
Making posts or sending emails at the wrong time can ruin your entire content marketing campaign. According to one study, 23.63% of all email opens occur within the first hour after delivery. Within the second hour after delivery, the results drop by half.
The Fix: Start researching the best time to post on social media and time when your audience is most active. If you are located in Europe but target Americans, take this into account when planning your distribution campaign. In addition, consider your audience’s occupation and their daily schedule by researching work hours in the targeted regions.
Mistake #5 - You’re not Using in Paid Campaigns
Although the use of paid methods has increased over the last year, only 52% of marketers use them to promote and distribute content. However, it can be difficult to achieve high results by relying only on organic traffic.
The Mistake: Start using paid distribution platforms, place your articles and advertise on high authority websites. Don’t worry about the extra money you should spend on ads; it will cost you only cents per click and give you more predictable results.
Mistake #6 - You’re not Using Guest Posting
Guest posting has become one of the most efficient content distribution techniques in 2017. However, many people still disregard it in the wake of Matt Cutts, who was on the Google’s spam-fighting team, declaring the “decay and fall of guest posting.” It might be interesting for those concerned to consider that Mr. Cutts published his piece on guest posting in 2014 and went on to take leave from Google the same year. Meanwhile, guest posting lives and thrives. In fact, over 62% of people consider blogs with multiple authors to be more credible. Therefore, inviting guest posts from experts is widely encouraged.
The Fix: To make good use of the marketing opportunities offered by guest posting you should not only distribute your content this way. You should encourage other niche-relevant experts and influencers to post on your own blog. Work out mutually-beneficial agreements with the most authoritative blogs in your niche. Note that guest posting will be effective only if:
You post your content on relevant blogs.
The quality of your content is high.
Your content is not spammy but actually valuable to the readers.
Keep in mind that articles with more than 1,500 words generate 68.1% more Tweets and 22.6% more Facebook likes.
Final Thoughts
A successful content distribution strategy requires investments of your time and money. In the age of top-notch branded content, it has become harder to break through the noise and reach your customer. If you are not delivering quality content on time and through the right channels, then your readers may eventually leave you. That’s why you must think about your current content marketing strategy and examine the list above. If you make the same mistakes, ask yourself, if they are costing you money.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Top Marketing Tools to Know by Jennifer E. Burke
No matter the size of your library, you likely have a shoestring budget and limited resources. So make the best use of the tools that are available.
I wish I could share all 25-plus tools I showed in 45 minutes at the event, but, alas, that’s not possible. Here are my top must-have tools and then a roundup of as many tools as the editors let me fit in.
IMAGE-EDITING TOOLS
Having good-looking images or graphics in your marketing is not optional. We process images a lot faster and with greater focus than we do text. Use this to your advantage, and draw people in with attractive visual content.
As a serious amateur photographer all my life, I admit that my go-to photo tool is Adobe’s Lightroom via a Creative Cloud license. But I still use other fast, simple tools for various projects.
Pixlr Express (pixlr.com) is a free, user-friendly, basic photo-editing tool with filters and some effects. There are more advanced features in Editor, such as layers and color replacement. It offers desktop and mobile versions.
Gimp (gimp.org) is a free, open source image editor that’s very similar to Photoshop, with nearly the same learning curve. If you can use Photoshop, you can use Gimp for the same actions. It won’t hurt to try it, since it’s free and you are always going to need graphics.
Canva (canva.com) has photo-editing capabilities, along with the wonders of its graphic design simplicity. To begin, select Filter, and then go to Advanced (adjust brightness, contrast, and saturation; add a touch of blur; or use the built-in filters). I can’t say enough about how life-changing Canva is for making good design accessible and affordable—go sign up.
Coolors (coolors.co) is easy to use to create color palettes or to find complementary colors for existing brand colors. You can find inspiration in pre-made palettes.
STOCK MEDIA SOURCES
We aren’t all photographers or videographers, and sometimes, we can’t take or use pictures of our own patrons or community in our marketing—but we still need good-looking images. However, I find that most of the big stock photo sites are so generic. Ugh. Don’t use boring, unrepresentative, unimaginative photos in projects anymore. Try these sources instead, which offer photos freely, mostly under Creative Commons licenses (CC0; creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0).
Unsplash (CC0; unsplash.com) is a side project started by artists, designers, and photographers years ago that has grown to be one of largest free photo sites (with some of the most gorgeous photos). The tagging and metadata here is still a little lacking, but the quality makes up for it.
Pexels (pexels.com) curates CC0 photos from other places on the web and has about 30,000 right now. Photographers can also contribute directly to the site.
#WoCinTech (wocintechchat.com/blog/wocintechphotos) offers a set of photos to show the full representation of women in all aspects of technology work. It is available under a CC (Attribution) license.
Pond5 (pond5.com) is very affordable. It’s easy to search and filter (including faceted searching) HD royalty-free video stock (e.g., more than 2,000 video clips for $30 or less for the term “library”). It also sells photos, sound effects, and music. You can subscribe to an email list and get tips, tutorials, and a free HD video clip each week.
AudioJungle (audiojungle.com) offers higher-quality, royalty-free stock music and sound effects in a range of genres and styles. Users can search or browse offerings from Envato Market (the company also has brands that sell web themes, graphics, photos, etc.). Audio clips range from $1 to $39 each, but are $19 on average.
VIDEO TOOLS
It’s hot and getting hotter. You don’t need fancy gear or expensive editing software to create share-worthy videos to highlight and promote your library. The following are cloud-based tools or apps that you can use anywhere—so no more excuses.
WeVideo (wevideo.com) lets you upload and edit video that you took with any device or camera. You can add an extra audio track or music, make cuts and shorten clips, add transitions and simple effects, and even collaborate with videos from friends or colleagues. Why waste time learning more powerful and complicated software when you can have a tool that’s available anywhere? There’s a free account (5 minutes of video per month, watermarked), a paid account that’s $5 per month (up to 30 minutes of video per month, 720p HD), and an unlimited account that’s $8 a month and has unlimited videos, 1080p and 4K HD, and premium editing.
Biteable (biteable.com) is online software for creating attention-grabbing animations to add to other videos or use on social media. There are templates, customizable colors, and text. You can also add your own images or logo. It takes a little time to learn to use. The free version has a watermark, and the HD non-watermarked version is $99 per year.
Audacity (audacity.sourceforge.net) is not a video tool, but it complements one. It is free, open source audio-recording software that you can use for editing sound, recording, and podcasting. It works exceptionally across OSs.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT TOOLS
We know that social media is an important piece of our marketing plans, and we need to manage it well. Since each social media management tool has its own quirks and perks, including different results (yes, really), I recommend trying more than one. I use a combination of Hootsuite, Buffer, Social Jukebox, and a paid tool called MissingLttr. There is no perfect social media tool.
Hootsuite (hootsuite.com) helps keep your social media better organized, and it measures the results of your efforts from one dashboard. You can manage multiple profiles, auto-schedule future posts, monitor lists and library mentions, and save searches. The browser extension automatically populates text for sharing. Hootsuite is one of a few schedulers that has official access to Instagram. The free plan includes three social profiles, basic analytics, and scheduling (long range, but individually). The professional plan starts at $10 per month for up to 10 profiles, and it has enhanced analytics and bulk message scheduling.
Buffer (buffer.com) is helpful in addition to Hootsuite because it handles inline image posting better, often leading to higher engagement. It’s easy to see which items shared via Buffer had better results and to reshare them with a minor tweak. The free plan allows only one social profile per platform and 10 scheduled posts. You can pay $10 a month for up to 10 social profiles and 100 planned posts per profile.
Tagboard (tagboard.com) allows you to search hashtags from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and more. See what else others are saying via the hashtags you are using or interested in. It is smart to double-check before you use that tag in your post to make sure it means what you think it does. You can filter the results by network, and you can save them.
Audiense (audiense.com/free-resources) is a social metrics and analytics tool with robust data, even with the free account. Use it to analyze your social followers and find more like them, especially on Twitter. You can discover when is the best time for you to tweet, how much influence your followers have, what your followers have in common, and more.
LikeAlzyer (likealyzer.com) is a simple, free Facebook metrics tool that allows you to check any Facebook page metrics (no need for authorization—just link to the page). It grades out of 100 and compares a page to what it believes are likely competitor pages. Its reports include suggestions for improvement.
BETTER WRITING
Clarity in communication is key to marketing success. But we aren’t all natural-born writers or editors. Here are tools to help beat distraction while writing and to help clean up our work afterward.
CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer (coschedule.com/headline-analyzer) checks and grades blog posts, emails, fliers, and newsletters to determine if they have good, concise, attention-grabbing headlines.
Grammarly (grammarly.com) finds and fixes errors that Word misses, improves clarity, offers synonyms, and gives feedback on the errors you make. This free, all-in-one tool has a nifty browser extension, so you can check your work in your email, on Facebook, or anywhere you write online.
PROJECTS/PLANNING
Trello (trello.com) is a visual organizer and a great way to remember ideas, collect supplies, create checklists, manage a project, and get your thought process in order. It makes it easy to organize anything you want to do. You can track all your to-dos in one place. It has a mobile version, and I frequently hop between the web and iPad versions.
Asana (asana.com) is another visual-based project management and team collaboration tool. I’m exploring it further because I’m a visual person and like the progress tracker. It has a clean dashboard and movable cards and lists. You can give team members assignments and see a clear visual tracking of project progress. It’s free for up to 15 team members, with unlimited projects and tasks and a basic dashboard.
Typeform (typeform.com) is an online survey app that is better designed than SurveyMonkey or Google Forms. It has a cleaner interface, more interactivity, and (it claims) higher completion rates because it is more engaging. Use it to create contact forms, polls, surveys, quizzes, tests, registration forms, and more. It integrates with other apps via Zapier (e.g., you can automatically download results to Google Sheets). The free, basic plan lets you create as many typeforms as you want. Pro accounts include logic jumping.
Zoom (zoom.us) is a tool for webinars, web conferencing, and videoconferencing. The free plan allows for unlimited 1:1 web calls and 40 minutes for groups of up to 50 people. You can schedule and record meetings. Any meeting participant has screen sharing and chatting abilities, and participants can join by phone. Paid plans start at $15 a month and include unlimited time meetings for up to 50 people and cloud storage.
As you can see, there is a wide variety of free software, apps, and tools that can help with so many aspects of marketing—all without breaking the budget. No matter the size of your library, you likely have a shoestring budget and limited resources. So make the best use of the tools that are available. What are you waiting for?
[Source Site: http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/sep17/Burke--Top-Marketing-Tools-to-Know.shtml
]
Monday, April 17, 2017
Google Repository of Open Source Projects
Google has launched a new website -- opensource.
google.com -- that serves as a central repository for all of
their open source programs and initiatives, with
information on various Google open source products as
well as useful resources that coders and companies can use
on their open source journey, says a report in
www.dnaindia website. One of the key areas of this website
is the Projects section, which is a visual directory of all
Google open source projects the company is actively
supporting. Implemented in the form of a tag cloud, you
simply click or tap the icons of a particular open source
product you're interested in, which takes you directly to a
page from where you can download its source code from
Google's own Git code hosting service.
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