Mobile Apps to Help with Your New Year’s Resolution

Posted on February 27, 2018 by in Self Improvement

You greeted 2018 with a slew of resolutions and a fresh resolve that it’ll be the year that you accomplish your lofty goals. There’s a major hang-up though: New Year’s resolutions are always easier said than done. While we can’t guarantee that this will be the year you accomplish all your goals, we’ll give some tools that’ll make sticking with your resolutions as easy and simple as possible.

For Health- or Fitness-Related Resolutions

• Strava. If performing cardio exercises is your plan for 2018, then this app is perfect for you. Aside from being an exercise app, Strava is also a GPS tracker that provides you with biking and running routes and lets you share them with your fellow app users. Not will you find better routes, you’ll also stay motivated by seeing how far other people have gone.

• Nike+ Training Club. Want to start a strength training exercise but don’t know where to start? If so, then keep Nike+ Training Club app in your phone. Depending on your goal, you can use the app to sign up in a four-week workout program designed by Nike trainers and share your progress with your fellow app users.

For Diet-Related Resolutions

• Fooducate. Unlike other diet-related apps that only focus in counting calories, Fooducate helps in determining if you’re eating a balanced meal and getting you the fuel you need for your workout routines. With this app, you can scan barcodes, choose recipes, and monitor what you eat sans that stress of counting calories.

• How to Cook Everything. If your goal this 2017 is to cook more at home, then look no further than this app. Think of it as an interactive cookbook, complete with links and other resources if you’re unsure about how a particular technique is performed. It’s even loaded with healthy recipes to choose from, and it’s quite easy to make healthy substitutions using the app.

For Self-Improvement Resolutions

• DuoLingo. 2017 could be the year that you learn a new language using an app like DuoLingo. The app’s simple, but highly visual lessons use techniques that make learning a new language easy. Becoming fluent with a particular language is almost impossible if you haven’t spent any time in its native country, but DuoLingo will certainly help bring you up to a functioning level right before your next trip.

• GiveGab. In search for volunteer opportunities near your area? Then GiveGab is for you. Whether you want to give back during your trip or want to commit to something long-term, this app will sort volunteer locations and categories for you.

Standing by your New Year’s resolution can be quite difficult but by keeping these apps in your phone, sticking with your resolutions will certainly be easier and simpler.

Things to Keep in Mind when Choosing a Copier-Printer for Your Needs

Posted on February 23, 2018 by in Business Guide

Selecting the right office equipment for your business needs doesn’t just revolve around the brand and the expensive price tag. In fact, these machines have varying features and abilities. Choosing the best copier-printer for your own needs requires you to first take into consideration the usage you’re intending to use the machine for – in order to choose the equipment which can best cater to your personalized needs in the end.

Small and Home Office

In Singapore, it’s not uncommon to see copier and colour printer designed specifically for home and home office usage. The equipment is usually in desktop size in order to conserve space. Compared to commercial/business copier-printer, they also come in a much cheaper price tag.

These cheap and convenient home office equipment are best for occasional individual use (such as printing and making copies of a few important documents), and they’re not ideal for professional or small business use.

Commercial/Office Use

Almost every commercial business owns an office printer. This office equipment is considered a necessity in every professional business meeting, with lots of documents to scan and make copies of and reports to print.

There are various types of printer in Singapore you may find in an office setting; there’s the laser printer for convenient document printing, and there’s also the graphic art printer for more advanced and colored commercial prints.

Aside from the colour printer, another most popular and needed office equipment is the copier machine. These are often in a large size and free-standing – designed for maximum work productivity. They are expected to meet the increasing needs and demands of multi-person offices.

Commercial machines like these are equipped with various scanning, printing, copying, and even faxing abilities. Generally, they also have the option to print and make copies on various paper sizes. High-end office equipment like Singapore’s oki data office printer can be considered an investment for your business, since they do not usually come cheap.

Production

Before you buy printer or a copier machine for your business needs, it is important to consider the production options of these equipment. In businesses which require high-volume quality printing, you might want to buy a production printer with features that can cater to high quality printing and advanced document-finishing.

There are also printers in Singapore which can offer you high resolutions. Some ranging from colored 2400 x 1200 dots per inch (dpi) to 9600 x 600 dpi for normal black-and-white prints.

Printers and copiers designed for high-quality printing vary immensely in price, especially when some models possess advanced and specific features. No need to fret though, as these machines (office printer and copier) are the lifeblood of every office and are therefore considerably worthwhile investments.

Comparing equipment features

In comparing different office equipment models, you must look beyond the price tag and the brand of the said machines. Consider the equipment’s features to determine which are the ones that matter most to your business needs.

a. Print speed and volume

Some offices can’t function without their copier, especially when they have documents to make duplicates of almost every other minute. The same goes for office laser printer in printing out important reports and meeting hand-outs. If you want to improve your team’s overall work productivity, it is then important to consider the copier machine/printer’s print speed before you buy printer/copier.

The machine’s print speed is often revealed on the user manual or spec sheets with the abbreviation “ppm” for pages per minute. This indicates the number of pages each equipment can cater to within a span of a minute. Small businesses must ideally go for office equipment with 27 ppm, while larger, corporate businesses must have machines with around 52 ppm.

b. Paper capacity

Often referred to as the “tray” or “cassette”, your equipment’s paper capacity is also listed on the user manual or spec sheets. This also includes the different sizes of paper the machine may make copies or print on. More advanced machines, like the graphic art printer, may be sensitive when it comes to types of paper. They might have a limited range of paper they can cater to.

Ensure that the copier machine/laser printer’s capacity and available paper sizes effectively meets the needs of your business before you make a purchase.

c. Scanning features
It’s not uncommon to see commercial printers and copiers in Singapore with built-in scanners, but not every office equipment comes along with inherent scanning features. Choosing a copier-printer with a scanner is a must if your business needs to scan a large volume of important documents from time to time. This adds convenience among your team, and it also reduces additional costs for buying a separate scanner.

If your business needs to scan both images and word documents, always check the optical resolution of your copier-printer’s scanner. 600 pixels is good enough for simple and basic document scans, but you might need around 4800 pixels when scanning graphics.

d. Ink and toner

Buying a new machine isn’t enough. You must also consider your operation costs (such as supplies) over the lifespan of your new office equipment. Consider how much ink or toner you’ll be spending on over the envisioned lifespan of your copier-printer. These fees might add up in the long run, so you need to plan ahead and calculate. You wouldn’t want your business to fall short on budget when it comes to office supplies.

Also, ask about the number of pages you can roughly expect out of each batch or ink cartridge. This is important to consider since some cartridges might offer you more pages than others. If you want to cut back on costs, figure out if using third-party/alternative ink refills is possible for your chosen equipment.

The Importance of CRM Software

Posted on January 3, 2018 by in Business Guide

All businesses would like to make sure that they are doing the best they can for their customers, a lot of them seem to ignore customer relationship management. Thankfully, there are various software that are available to help you out. There are many different CRM software available in Singapore, and it would be good for business owners to understand their importance.

1. See everything in one place
Using a CRM software allows you to see everything that is vital for the growth of your company using a simple dashboard. At a single glance, you could see a customer’s history, their complaints, order status, and sales reports.

It also allows you to keep track of all the feedback that your customers give you. Feedback is vital for the growth of any company and a CRM system can help you keep track of all of them. This is especially vital considering that customers nowadays prefer to be contacted on multiple channels. For example, a customer may voice a complaint on Twitter, and your company may use other avenues of communication (like email or chat) in order to resolve the issue. Using a CRM software can allow you to keep track of all of these complaints, and make sure that they are resolved completely.

2. Know your customer
CRM software allows you to get the bigger picture of your customer base, and at the same time can let you take a closer look at individual customers. A good CRM system can allow you to look at the statistics of your customer base so that you could tailor your practices better for their needs. For example, you could gather data about the age group, gender, and income of your customer base in order to guide your sales management.

Some CRM software gives you access to geolocation services which will give you a good idea about where your customers are based. Using this data, you could better market to them based on location. For example, the data could tell you where in Singapore it would be best to build your next branch in order to maximize your sales.

3. Grow your potential customer base
Knowing the details about your customers allows you to understand the type of people attracted to your product or service. This will give you a good idea of the kind of people you should target your marketing to.

A good CRM software also allows you to cross-reference data with data from other industries so that you could make informed and measured projections for the future of your company. This in turn also allows you to manage risks better, should you choose to launch a new product, or provide a new aspect of your service.

Customer relationship management also lets you keep track of potential customers that have shown interest in your product but have yet to buy from you. CRM software can help you remind them that your product is available should they choose to decide that they need it now.

4. Grow your business
Customer relationship management can also help you grow your business. A good CRM system can help you understand how best to grow your customer base using the data that it has collected and organized.

This data can also help you understand why your marketing strategy isn’t working. Perhaps you aren’t marketing in platforms that they could see, or your services aren’t relevant to them. Using these insights, you could adjust your sales management in order to become more efficient and raise more revenues per customer.

5. Replicate what works
CRM systems can also help you with sales management. All the data that CRM systems make available to you also allows you to see what practices are working and what aren’t working so that you can fine-tune your marketing approach. For example, you may notice that there is much more engagement with your marketing strategies on one social media platform than the others. Using this data, you could choose to market more on that platform in order to raise revenue.

6. Easier data transfer
Another advantage of having all your data in one place also lets you transfer your data seamlessly. It’s not uncommon to hear about an employee transfer wherein data was lost, and a loss of data also means a loss of revenue. You could mitigate this cost using cloud CRM. Data that lives in the cloud is much easier to handle because it minimizes the need for physical data transfers.

7. Keep your data safe
CRM software can make sure that your data is secure. Data stored locally can be subject to a lot of problems. For example, it may be accidentally deleted, or an employee may bring the only copy with them when leaving the company. A good CRM system can include using cloud CRM to make sure that all your data, including customer details, sales reports, and market projections stay safe and secure.

8. Easier for your customers
Using CRM software is also much easier for your customers. Some software allows you to automate customer contact, which means that customers would have a much easier time dealing with their issues, or getting the information they want from your company. CRM software may use AIs or pre-recorded answers to get back to your customers. Only when the customer’s problem is too complex will the system hand over the customer to an employee. In this way, you can save time and resources for when it matters the most.

Most Common Types of Cancer in Singapore

Posted on October 16, 2017 by in Health and Wellness

According to a report by the Singapore Cancer Registry from 2010 to 2014, cancer is the number one cause of death in Singapore followed by heart diseases and pneumonia. Knowing the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the country could help prevention, early detection and possible treatment.

Breast Cancer
Breast cancer accounts for 29% of diagnosed cases among women. Early detection can save a life and you can start by looking for changes in the appearance of the breasts such as color, size and shape. If there is swelling, changes in the nipples, and dimpling or puckering you should go to the doctor for additional tests. You can also try to feel for lumps with your fingers.

To learn what stage your cancer is at, the TNM standard is used. T means tumor size; N is for the number and location of cancerous lymph nodes; and M is for metastases or if cancer has spread in the body. Mammography and examination of lymph nodes and tumor tissues are used to determine the stage of the cancer. There are 5 stages of breast cancer, the first (0) is called ductal carcinoma in situ and the fourth (4) is metastatic breast cancer.

Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer primarily affects the colon or rectum, both of which are part of the large intestine. The colon absorbs the nutrients and water and separate the waste matter. The waste moves to the rectum and leaves the body through the anus. Problems begin when the polyps that form in the wall of the rectum or colon become cancerous.

If you have polyps called adenomas and inflammatory bowel disease, you are at risk of colon or rectal cancer. Those who drink alcohol, smoke, and/or are obese at also at risk. There are screening tests for colorectal cancer such as fecal occult blood tests, stool DNA test, sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy.

Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer for both males and females in the country. There are two types of cancer determined by the appearance of the tumors. Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment for lung cancer.

Smokers are at high risk as well as those exposed to secondhand smoke. Other possible cause is prolonged exposure to some chemicals and radiation. The patient has a cough that worsens and never goes away, blood in sputum, chest pain, trouble breathing, hoarseness and swollen neck or face. It can be diagnosed through physical exams, laboratory tests, X-ray, bronchoscopy, and tissue biopsy.

Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer can be treated, but usually it shows no symptoms at an early stage. Later however, the person may experience problems in urinating, erectile dysfunction, blood in urine, back and hip pain, and loss of bladder and bowel control. Tests like digital rectal exam, biopsy and examining the prostate-specific antigen are done.

Various options such as surgery, cryotherapy, hormone therapy, vaccine treatment, radiation, chemotherapy and bone-directed treatment are used, some in combination.

Common Questions About Arthritis

Posted on October 11, 2017 by in Health and Wellness

It’s a misconception that arthritis can only be experienced by old people. Some as young as babies suffer from it. It’s no laughing matter either. It’s a debilitating condition and can even lead to disability.

Do you have arthritis?
Arthritis is a compound of words meaning inflammation of the joint. The common indicator of arthritis is musculoskeletal and joint pain because of swollen joint lining. The person will also notice that the painful spot is inflamed, stiff and slightly warm. Because it primarily affects the joints, the pain can be felt in the knees, hip, fingers, spine and others. The patient might also have fever and rash and even lose weight and have difficulty breathing. Physical exam, imaging scans, and blood tests will help determine what type of arthritis you have.

What are the types of arthritis?
There are at least a hundred types of arthritis. The symptoms range from mild to crippling. Some even affect the organs like the heart and kidneys.

Osteoarthritis: The most common is osteoarthritis or the deterioration of the cartilage. When the ends of bones create friction, there is no cushioning and that causes the pain.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: Inflammatory arthritis on the other hand is caused by an over-reactive immune system. It inflames the joints mistaking it for infection. Inflammation is supposed to be a form of protection for the body. Rheumatoid arthritis is one type of this autoimmune disease.

JIA: Arthritis in children is called juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It’s a form of an autoimmune disease that causes damages in the joints and might lead to permanent disability.

Who are at risk?
There are many factors that can contribute to developing arthritis. Age is just one, but genes and lifestyle can also increase the risk. Injuries and the nature of work can also increase the risk.

Anyone can have arthritis.

How can I feel better?
If not managed properly, it can cause damage to the joints, ligaments and tendons and bone erosion. That is why some people who have been suffering for years have knobby joints. A rheumatologist can assist you during treatments. Some cases need joint orthopedic surgery. For more complicated cases that affect other organs or parts of the body, other specialists may be called in.

Lifestyle Changes: Patients are often advised to maintain a healthy weight to keep the pressure off the joints. Hot and cold therapy can temporarily ease the pain. Painkillers, NSAIDS and steroids can also reduce the pain. Inflammatory arthritis can be treated with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs or DMARD.

Therapy and Surgery: Physical therapies include occupational therapy, hydrotherapy and physiotherapy. Joint replacement is done through surgery. It’s an option for those who are suffering from severe damage in the knees, shoulders, hips and elbows and can no longer perform everyday routine.

Where can I get help?
In Singapore, hospitals and organizations have created support groups for those suffering from the disease. The National Arthritis Foundation has resources in their website if you need more information about patient support, arthritis research and treatments.