Tag Archives: Software

General, Technology

The Power of Periscope in the Information Age

*This article has been in draft since the time Periscope became popular. I’ve decided to post it anyway. It’s in conjunction with Best Affiliate Marketing Business Opportunities. 

In this day and age instant gratification is highly expected. The technological age allows us to not only keep up with our favorite celebrities, but it allows us to follow the lives of everyday people who we admire.

Social media is ever-changing and the drive behind instantaneous information is coming to the point where we can, literally, see what people are doing in their homes, jobs, schools, etc. right at this very moment.

This new innovation is called Periscope- an app that allows you to broadcast live videos about what you’re doing and/or what’s going on around you for the world to see.

Periscope
What Attracts Followers

Periscope, unlike YouTube, Vine or Twitter, allows followers to see what you’re doing at that exact moment in time.

As mentioned before, people love that instant knowledge of what’s going on in their favorite person’s day, and to be able to see, hear and experience what someone you admire is doing is exciting.

Just imagine being able to watch Beyonce get ready for a concert, or Naptural85 and her family during one of their bonfires.

You’re able to comment, ask questions, talk with other followers and view their instant reactions to all the love they’re being shown right at that moment. Periscope also allows the broadcast to stay active for 24 hours, kind of like Snapchat, just in case followers missed the live streaming.

Periscope in the Natural Hair Community

If you’re someone who wants to contribute to the natural community but you just don’t have the time to edit, and upload videos, Periscope could be a great platform for you.

The main benefit from this is the fact that you can show how you go about your day without having to waste any of your time.

Doing get-ready-with-me broadcasts, hair tutorials before you go to bed, or just chatting about life and giving advice while you’re making dinner are a few of the many things you could do on Periscope.

You can basically broadcast about anything that you want to, but you should also try to do topics that will set your broadcasts apart from the rest.

Making topics like “The Traveling Natural,” or “Corporate-friendly hairstyles,” would be helpful when trying to establish a good following because people will associate you with that specific type of broadcast.

Another great thing about Periscope is the fact that you can get live feedback, and that is something that could potentially bring the natural community closer together.

For example, if you’re not sure about a certain style or look that you want to try, all you have to do is ask your followers on Periscope what they think and you’ll receive instant feedback.

Additionally, this method can also become useful for singers, musicians, bloggers and everyday people who have something to share in any particular online community.

Misconceptions and Things To Ponder…

While some are wondering what’s the best way to get paid using Periscope, others have simply used this app as a platform for information and ideas.

In this case, “Scoping” should not be viewed as an easy way to make money, but rather a means to offer the best asset for social networking: Yourself.

In real time, on any given day or night, what value could one give to the virtual world? About to upload a blog post?

Why not share half of the content live, encouraging the audience to visit the site for further information.

It should also be noted that Periscope offers a replay function to capture a residual crowd, and by adding relevant hashtags in the title section of each Scope one could potentially gain followers.

Some people think of Periscope as intrusive, but it honestly isn’t.

You only have to show your followers what you want them to see and if you don’t want anyone to watch you doing personal things like spending time with family, you don’t have to show it.

What you broadcast is totally up to you and entirely in your control which is one of the greatest things about it.

Do you think Periscope is for you?

Technology, Websites

InterServer VPS Get More, Pay Less

InterServer VPS : Get More, Pay Less

 

InterServer VPS

Do you need a web hosting service for your online businesses or personal blog? Well, if you search Google for hosting services you will receive tons of suggestions, literally! Many of them offer a money back guarantees and offer you 100% uptime, and charge you a premium in exchange. But do they come close to the value of InterServer VPS offered on their site?

If you have taken some of their services you might already know that all that glitters is not gold. In fact, most of them provide customers with sub par web-hosting services and claim to be the best in the business.

So, how does one sort out the real ones among those thousand providers? It’s best to say, check their customer reviews, market history, and product plans. If the company ticks all the right boxes, whoa! You have just found your dream VPS provider. Or, if you ask my personal opinion, I would suggest  checking out InterServer VPS and their offerings.

 

Company Overview

InterServer started out as a small scale web hosting solution provider in 1999. But quickly the company rose to prominence and became a household name largely due to their excellent services, customer oriented business model, and innovative packages.

During the next 18 years, the company solidified its position as one of the industry leaders and started providing various other services including quick servers, shared hosting, cloud hosting and colocation services.  InterServer VPS Also offers a Bread Basket.

The company boasts a wide range of clients including Fortune-500 companies. They also have multiple offices around the US and provides 24/7 customer services to its honorable clients.

Why VPS (virtual private servers)?

InterServer VPS provides all the hosting solution namely; shared, dedicated servers, VPS and managed hosting. While shared hosting is best suited for small scale businesses or personal blogs, serious businesses should seek other options.

InterServerVPS2
Typical ad banner. Offer may or may not reflect current plans. Click to view for accuracy.

 

But choosing between a VPS and a dedicated server might prove to be a stretch at times since there is only a thin line separating both web-hosting solutions.

While the dedicated servers might be the most powerful and efficient one, top level VPS hosting might give them a run for their money. Furthermore, VPS solutions are far cheaper than dedicated web-hosting and, rather deservedly, an attractive proposition. Like most other companies, InterServer also provides VPS solutions to its customers at a juicy rate. While some might differ on choices, VPS solutions should be the preferred choice for most users.

 

InterServer VPS Offerings and Pros

  • Multiple operating systems – InterServer VPS provides solution for multiple operating systems including Linux and Windows. So, basically you can choose from any Linux based VPS such as Centos VPS, Ubuntu VPS, or if you want windows based one, you can have it too. There are really a lot of options to choose from.
  • Instant setup – Unlike many other web-hosting solution providers, InterServer provides instant setup for clients. Once you have paid the required amounts, you can setup your VPS with just a click from your keyboard. Literally, it takes only 15 minutes to prepare your server, and get it up and running. Most others would take several hours or even days.
  • Monthly pricing – The company employs an attractive pricing policy. While many other would trick clients by offering a money back guarantee while selling their over valued products, InterServer stays loyal to its customer base. They will not offer your ridiculous offers, but you can expect world class services from them at an affordable price. Moreover, the prices are charged per month. Hence, if you are not satisfied with their services, you can always choose to cancel your subscription anytime and you will not be charged a single dollar after that.
  • Full control – You will have full access and control over every single thing. Many web-hosting solutions do not provide customers with full admin or root control support, but with InterServer, you can expect to have control over your server, and you can patch up things on your own if you deem it necessary.
  • Cost effective – If you are price conscious then InterServer VPS might be your go to guy. Just compare the listed prices with other reputed hosting solution providers. You will notice the difference. InterServer charges a ridiculously low fee compared to other companies, with Linux based VPS starting from $6/month and Windows based VPS at  $10/month. You will also be showered with a variety of packages to choose from based on your financial capabilities and requirements. There is an option for everyone including that online blogger and large scale businesses.
  • The easy control panel – InterServer control panel allows users to easily add multiple servers to it and manage from there. Suppose you started out with the most basic plan but, as times wore on, your business grew proportionally. Now you require more storage and more RAM options. No worries. From within your control panel, you can scale your virtual server any way you like.
  • Fully customizable software options – From within the control panel you can install or delete software packages in order to modify your web-hosting experiences. The company also allows users to install more than 381 software with just a single click. I guess it is more than what most people would need.
  • High-performance storage – How about receiving a hard drive with 20 times more speed than normal SATA disk drivers. I know it is hard to resist. You will receive an SSD hard drive with a capacity ranging from 30 GB to 240 GB. No matter what your requirements are, with such capacities on offer, InterServer has you covered.
  • Unrivaled uptime – You would not like it if your site remains down for most of the day. In fact, this is the commonest problem faced by web-hosting solutions customers. No matter how big the providers are, you will face uptime difficulties from time to time. But InterServer assures you of a 99.9% uptime guarantee. They went beyond that and offered a money back to customers experiencing uptime difficulties. Glowing reviews from thousands of satisfied customers are a testament to such bold claims from the company hierarchies.
  • Multiple language support – You might think, what about customers who would like to experience software other than PHP, Perl or Python? Does InterServer provide support for multiple languages? In fact, they do. Besides this common software, you will have the luxury to install any Linux based software or server component.
  • Free migration services – Need to migrate your website from another service provider to InterServer? Well, they do it for free. You just need to make sure your InterServer account does not contain any data. They will take care of the rest.
  • 24/7 customer service – It is normal for any user to face issues with their server or account from time to time. InterServer has a dedicated team of customer care service providers under its belt who strive hard to make sure you receive the best service from them, even at midnight.
    InterServer VPS Cons
    • No one is perfect. Not even InterServer VPS. Despite all these positive aspects and wonderful customer reviews, the company should not rest on its laurels. They must improve their uptime even further, and try to reach that magical 100% mark.
    • Besides, currently, the company does not provide a control panel option for Windows VPS, which might be a thing of concern for some people. The company should look to add a control panel for Windows VPS customers as soon as possible
Conclusion  

To sum up things – InterServer is one of the most reputed and well-adorned web-hosting solution providers around the world. They offer a variety of other products in addition to standard web-hosting and VPS services.

The purpose of this little piece was to introduce enthusiasts and potential customers with their services along with pros and cons. Hope readers might have gotten a glimpse of the services to receive when they sign up with the provider.

If you are still undecided or if you want to sign up with them, just visit their website, see their offer details, compare with other service providers, and make an informed decision.

Moreover, prior to sign-up you can go through reviews posted on numerous online reviewing sites or talk to their customer service providers. They will offer you further insight on the company and you will surely find your reasons to sign-up with them. No matter what your purposes and expectations are, InterServer will probably meet them and will even beyond that.

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Finance, General, Technology, The World, Websites

The Emergence of the Social Trader

The Emergence of the Social Trader

Social Trader

 

A lot of the previous blog posts have dealt with investing and how technology and the internet have made things easier for the common woman and man. So it’s no surprise to introduce another concept: The Social Trader.

Social trading is a practice online investors employ to make financial decisions, in which they utilize user-generated financial content from sites such as Profit.ly and Etoro.com. Sites like these help the social trader to analyze financial data by supplying a common ground for copying and comparing trades, strategies, and techniques. Before social trading was possible, copy traders and investors had to rely solely on technical analysis to make investment decisions.  Today’s social trading investors are able to trade data-feeds of social indicators online with other traders.

[7 Best Swap Free Forex Halal Sites]

Social or copy trading allows online trading with the assistance of others. Many social traders claim that this ability greatly shortens the time necessary to move from being a novice to becoming an experienced Forex (Foreign Exchange Market) trader. All foreign currencies are traded in this over-the-counter market, which is the most liquid and biggest world market today. Social traders can watch others take trades, interact with other traders, and then copy, or duplicate, the most successful trades, and in the process learn why top performers choose the trades they do. By using copy trades, a new trader can learn what strategies work or what strategies don’t work.

 

What are some of the key features of social trading?

Transparency – By using trading platforms like InvestFeed or eToro, a social trader can find out the performance statistics of other traders, past and present positions, plus current market sentiment, which allows members all the information they need in order to appraise the site contributor’s credibility

Monetization -The ability to convert an object or asset into legal tender or money. It is possible for copy traders to learn a great variety of data about other users which will benefit them in the long run.

Cooperative trading – Through these online sites newer traders have the chance to work cooperatively in trading teams, pool funds, share information, and divide research up collaboratively.

Information flow – Social traders can benefit greatly by studying information exchanges that flow freely between financial investors. Freely exchanged information is valuable to individual investors.

How does copy trading compare to social trading?

Copy trading capabilities are available with assorted financial trading operators as one part of a bigger social trading platform. Copy trading permits financial market traders to automatically copy any positions that are managed or opened by a particular investor inside the social trading network. A portion of the funds of a copy trader is linked to a copied investor’s account. This means that all trades initiated by the investor being copied, like opening or closing positions, or assigning Take Profit and Stop Loss orders, will then be executed in the account of the copying trader, depending upon the allotted trading funds of the copier and the proportion of the investor’s account that is being copied. Copy traders usually have the right to disconnect from any copied trades and begin to manage these trades themselves.

 

A study of copy trades in 2012 demonstrated that traders who did copy trades on eToro with a “suggested investor” were 6 to 10% more successful than manual traders, and four percent more successful than copy traders of random investors. Research is on-going to fine tune a trader’s capacity to benefit sustainably from copy trading.

Social trading has become increasingly popular. Here is a listing of the most popular social trading networks available today:

  • eToro – This site is a social trading network as well as a broker and focuses on novice investors. New investors like this site’s simple mobile friendly interface A review of eToro can be found toward the end of this article
  • ZuluTrade – This site currently has the greatest number of investors and traders online. They provide complete trade copying plus social interaction capabilities
  • Ayondo – This German based site was the first to offer auto trading to UK customers in order to “spreadbet” Forex accounts. They offer stocks, indices, fx, bonds, interest rates, and commodities
  • Copyop – This is the most advanced and leading trading network for social binary options
  • CM Trading CopyKat – On this site you can copy and follow traders through a special “CopyKat” SIRIX trading platform. Members can mirror trades from everybody on SIRIX
  • Profit.ly – This huge website deals specifically with instructing people on penny trading ins and outs. This site offers email stock-pick alerts, SMS, plus a private chat-room where users can find help. A review of this copy trading site can be found immediately below.

InstaForex Review

Because they’ve become slightly more popular compared to the rest, we shall examine Profit.ly and eToro further:

Social Trading With Profit.ly

Profit.ly was created to introduce accountability, data-driven optimization, transparency and measurement into the world of online trading. Copy trades exist in abundance. However, concerns about stock manipulation as well as industry regulations sometimes prevent affiliates and members from being able to share information openly all the time. For this reason Profit.ly allows investors and traders to make private profiles where they can enjoy total account privacy.

Check the interview below:

This online site has advanced analytic tools which allow social traders to measure their performance, and at the same time make a knowledgeable analysis of which trade setups work the best for them. Traders can choose from various different products that include the capability to track profits, verify trades, get on leaderboards, message and follow other traders, plus view the stats of other traders for $29.95 a month. $49.95 a month allows a copy trader to make a private profile (but you won’t have access to other traders’ stats). The Pro level costs $74.95 a month and includes a private profile, as well as access to the statistics of other traders.

Profit.ly founder Timothy Sykes has made a career of exposing misinformation and fraud in the online guru and penny stock industries. A new feature of Profit.ly is called the “Bernie Madoff“, which allows community members to weed out and expose those traders that are possible liars.

profit.ly
Click image to visit Profit.ly, the Social Trading Platform

Social Trading With eToro

Founded by Jonathan Assia, eToro.com, “the Facebook of trading”, is currently the leading social trade network in the world (excluding the US). More than 5 million investors are using this social investment network. Opening an account with eToro gives you immediate access to CopyTrader, which advertises that members can choose to copy from more than 3 million traders. Once you open an account you can utilize their OpenBook platform for searching top social investors. When a potential trader to be copied is spotted, a user can allocate a part of their funds and begin copy trading. Any information that the copy trader submits is immediately protected by state-of-the-art encryption technology to ensure that your information won’t be shared with any third parties. A new account can be funded with PayPal, Moneygram, or credit card.

etoro forex
Click image to visit eToro, the world’s leading social trading network

One interesting feature of eToro is that if “popular traders” are copied, they’ll be rewarded. Depending on how many copiers a Popular Trader has, they’ll receive monthly fixed commission payments. The topmost “Elite” traders will receive annually 2% of all funds that are under their management, as well as totally commission free trading. In July of 2016 eToro updated their “Popular Investor Dashboard” to include a CRM (Customer Relationship Management System) which enables more interactions between copiers and Popular Investors. There’s currently more than 5 million users on eToro, which appeals to professional traders that are interested in making some extra cash for their trading skills.

To discover more details on the popular Social Trading platform, consider reading the full blog post review on eToro.

India, Technology, The World

On Mobile Usage in India – All the Facts

On Mobile Usage in India – All the Facts

Mobile Usage in India

What is not so well known about the long running war between iPhone and Android is that India is where the battle between Apple, Google and Samsung is being played out, with frantic intensity. India is the world’s fastest growing smartphone market, according to Gartner, with smartphone sales growing by 166.8% this year and accounting for 53.6% of the new mobile devices sold this year.

Mobile Usage Challenges

India may have been slow at providing basic amenities for its people – still a large number of households in India, especially in rural Indian and in urban slums, do not have access to drinking water or proper toilets. Still, a significant percentage of Indian children suffer from malnutrition and in many ways, the country is still technologically backward, suffering from a creaking infrastructure. But if there is one area in which India shines, and shines really brightly, it is in the national mobile device usage.

There are 1.25 billion people in India and according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India’s premier telecom regulator, there are as many as 933 million mobile phone connections in the country. Which means that the mobile device usage in India is particularly high for what is still a very poor country.

Udemy- Online Courses

But that is not the full picture about the mobile device usage in India. The caveat here is that the number of unique mobile phone subscribers in India is actually less than half of the estimated number of 933 million total subscriptions. This is because Indian mobile phone users have an average of 2.5 sims registered in their names. While the sim penetration in India has reached almost 75% of the population, the mobile penetration has only reached 35%. There are more mobile phone subscriptions than mobile phone devices.

Promising Outlook For Mobile Usage

The anomaly is because the telecom market is highly competitive in the country, with half a dozen well established telecom companies battling it out for the attention of a vast population that grows richer and less poorer every year, and has more disposable income to spend, year after year. There is no question that many Indians are poor, but things are changing fast, and there is now no doubt that the country is on the right track. The fast growing mobile device usage in India is one of the biggest signs of a new wave of prosperity.

So to cater to the growing demands of a vast market, the big telecom companies in India, such as Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance and Tata DoCoMo and to survive the tough competition try trick in the trade to attract new customers, offering freebies and great deals for subscribing to their connections. This, coupled with the really cheap smartphones available in the country has spurred the mobile phone usage in India like nowhere else in the world.

The smartphone market in India is another huge success story. While there were 113 smartphones sold in the country by 2013, and proceeding year – in 2014 – the smartphone sales have been estimated to have increased by 166.8% – a truly remarkable growth. While iPhones are getting increasingly popular in India, the real battle for the attention of the Indian consumer is being played out by the various makers of Android phones. While Samsung still lords over the smartphone sales in India, it is facing great competition – not from Apple, Nokia or Lenovo – but from Indian manufacturers such as Micromax, Lava and Karbonn. Micromax has been a great local success story and its great success against Samsung has been widely covered in business publications in the country.

Also interesting is the fact that more people in India use internet on their mobile phones than on their desktop. The internet penetration in the country (for desktop usage) is still quite low, which is being made up by increasing smartphone sales.

Mobile Usage For Social Media

Facebook and YouTube are hugely popular in India and account for bulk of the internet usage on mobile devices. Facebook claims to have 100 million users in the country, of which 84 million are said to use it only through their mobile phones.

Another interesting fact which suggests just why mobile phone usage in India is so critical is that over 90% of Indian mobile phone users claim to do research on a particular product on their mobile devices before placing an order for it online.

Lastly, an overwhelming majority of mobile phone subscriptions in the country are pre-paid connections (93%). Not just poor or middle class Indians, even the rich prefer to have pre-paid connections because of the mistrust associated with postpaid subscriptions, where the telecom companies are known to make frequent mistakes with the billing.

Finance, Technology, The World, Websites

eToro Review The Social Trading Giant

eToro Review: The Social Trading Giant etoro review

 

Here, we’ll get into an eToro review of the largest social trading website in the world. But first, for the unaware, let’s start with the basics.

Social Trading Platform

Social trading is the process via which investors use online data and financial content sourced from a multitude of web applications as the main source to drive financial decisions. Etoro introduced a new way to trade on the internet. In 2010, the company launched OpenBook, which is a crowdsourced investment platform. Using this platform, it is possible for first-time or inexperienced traders to copy the transactions of top investors in the foreign exchange marketplace.

 

Comprehensive eToro Review Video

 

EToro Revolution

EToro is widely considered the first and most advanced social trading platform. Subscribers have an immediate in with a community of experienced traders, as well as a social network within the investment world. EToro provides all the tools needed to trade in the modern marketplace. The platform enables you to:

  • Perform retail trading on the open market
  • Observe the other traders and copy their transactions
  • Use Copy Trading feature on the platform to automatically duplicate all trades made by your selected traders you choose

How it Works

EToro compiles the activity of all users and shares it with the entire community. This works like a financial transaction social network. Users can even like, comment and share on a user-generated feed.

Every trader gets assigned a public profile, which is open for consultations. Your performance is public and everyone can follow everyone else and replicate them.

EToro’s Performance Data

Once you’ve found a Professional Investor you want to copy, just click on their name. This brings up their profile, portfolio, stats, open trades, even their history and investment friends. This screen displays live trading feed of the trader. You have access to each live trade and any comments from other social traders, some of whom openly discuss their own trades. This is a tremendous opportunity for newcomers to learn the lay of the land.

EToro is second to none when it comes to the ability to quickly share information. Every investor can follow selected traders without copying trades automatically.

Video Example of Copying Top Traders

 

Markets Section

EToro Markets displays all products, such as currency pairs and stocks, that can be traded via CFDs (contract for difference, a contract between a buyer and seller that pays the current value minus the value at contract time).

Copy Trading

Generally, CopyTrader is an eToro tool that allows subscribers to choose a trader to copy and select an amount to copy for investments. You can watch how your account performs using this strategy. Here is additional information to consider before trying out this feature:

  •  Minimum investment is $100. Maximum investment is $500,000.
  • You can follow a maximum of 100 traders.
  • Minimum amount for copying is $1.

EToro Search Feature

This functionality lets you search for people or stock symbols and returns information on trades pertaining to the search criteria. The Top 100 traders, holding the most profits realized in the current week, are displayed. Here, you can review 10 instruments (indices, currency pairs and commodities) that they are trading at the moment.

EToro Advanced Search

Advanced Search filters on eToro help you figure out your favorite traders. The feature includes a risk level filter. You can search profiles by Average Position, Weekly Drawdown, Gain, Leverage, Winning Weeks, Win Ratio, Exposure and Min. # Trades.

social trading platform
Click image to browse eToro’s Social Trading Platform

Tips for Investing on eToro

  • Don’t always pick traders with the highest returns. Opt for frequent investors over “one hit wonders.”
  • Look for consistent, long-term returns, say 10-20% over the past six months.
  • To start, be conservative. Take advantage of the filtering tools to find traders with low-medium average risk
  • Diversify your investments over a bunch of traders; you can follow up to 100.
  • Etoro has real-time stock trading, and many investors who hedge and invest in forex and stocks simultaneously have more reliable long-term performance.

EToro Pros and Cons

Here are some great things about EToro:

  • Has tight fixed spreads
  • Guarantees stop losses and limit orders
  • Does not charge trade commissions
  • Available in four languages
  • Trade in Bitcoin currency
  • Price alerts
  • One click trades
  • Automated trading
  • Islamic and Arabic friendly

These are the cons:

  • Inactivity fee if not active in one year
  • Currently not available for United States citizens
  • No direct market access
  • No scalping
  • No VPS services
  • Charges fees to deposit and withdraw funds

Basically, eToro simplifies the amount of analysis that you have to do as an investor. This is a tool that lets you invest without siphoning through endless graphical performance data.

Some Attributes of Worthy Traders You Should Copy

  1. Their profile feed includes posts that demonstrate market knowledge
  2. Have low drawdowns (how much they’ve been down this week or month) under 10 percent.
  3. Consistent investment won’t have ridiculous returns in a short period of time. Look for long-term consistency, because these are sustainable without being reckless.

Islamic Trading Account

Islamic law forbids usurious interest rates in lending or borrowing money. This includes stock exchanges. The requirements to prevent Riba (usurious lending) include:

  • Stocks must be bought and sold without delay
  • Monies for each trade must be paid for upon the time of the transaction
  • Currencies should be directly moved from the seller’s account to the buyer’s
  • There can be no interest on any trades.
  • If any indication of usurious interest is detected, the contract is void as forbidden (Haram).
islamic forex account
Etoro – Available for opening an Islamic Forex Account. Click image to view site in Arabic

To resolve this issue, a trader can buy as much as his current balance allows or borrow from a broker, who cannot receive any usurious interest rates on the transaction. Also, no interest can be obtained from contracts ongoing for 24 hours or more, which means that the daily rollover of interest has to be zero on a consistent basis.

[A List Of Other Forex Halal Sites Here]

Conclusions

The eToro website is dynamic and easier to use. Looking back through old reviews, it is easy to see how much they evolved and are still evolving. As the first and still premium social trading platform, they have set the bar high and rising. With easy to understand interfaces and constantly advancing tools, this site is an easy “Yes, please.” Starting risks are very low; you can join for $100 and, as long as you make one investment a year, there are no transaction fees.

It is great that they have an Islamic account that respects the Islamic culture in a very straight-forward way. That kind of forethought attracts diversity, which can only improve the social investing gene pool, in my opinion.

One thing I did not see anywhere was the risk of heavy investors manipulating trade. It seems to me that it would be easy enough to band together a with few super investors and create some real chaos. It apparently hasn’t happened yet, so, for now, I am going to enjoy my relatively new eToro count and see how well my performance tracks against my advice.

social trading
Click image to visit eToro, the largest social trading platform
Business, Technology, Websites

Discover How to Make Money with Udemy

Discover How to Make Money with Udemy

How to Make Money with Udemy

 

One cool way of earning extra income is through learning how to make money with Udemy.

Udemy is perhaps one of the best opportunities out there for earning a decent online income. You can make money by teaching almost anything on Udemy. It’s an online community that makes it possible for people to post training programs on their website, for the benefit of learners all over the world.
The learning programs on Udemy are a mix of serious, educational, fun and entertaining. There’s a potential for a lot of money to be made for those posting in the educational segments.

Udemy was only introduced in 2010, which is not so long ago, but already, it has become the most well known names in online education. You will not only be able to pick up new skills on Udemy, you will also be able to make money by teaching other people the new skills that you’re good at. In this post, we discuss how to make money with Udemy.

 What are the popular courses for how to make money with Udemy?

 

You can teach just about anything on Udemy, but the most popular categories are Technology, Sports and Games, Crafts and Hobbies, Business, Health & Fitness, Design, Arts & Photography, Math & Science, Lifestyle, Music, Humanities, Social Sciences, Languages and Education.

Technology is by far the most popular category. There’s a lot of demand for programming languages such as C, C++, Python, Java, etc. There’s a lot of demand for algebra and calculus courses as well. There are also courses that teach you how to start a small business. In all, there are over 21,000 courses that students can choose from.

How to Make Money with Udemy

How to get started making money on Udemy

Anybody can start a course on Udemy. You don’t need any special training or degree as such, but you will need to be an authority in your chosen field. Otherwise, nobody would buy your course. Teachers generally do well here, as they have a lot of experience.
Udemy provides plenty of tools and resources to help you get going, such as:

  • A free online training program
  • Course design and development support
  • A round-the-clock support
  • Mobile App
  • Course Management Tools such as Course Tracking
  • An unlimited number of video uploads
  • Special discount coupons

How to create a course on Udemy

Creating a course on Udemy is quite easy. You will need to plan the course first, then create the content for it. Next step is to follow the instructions to publish the course online at Udemy.

Following that, you will need to invest time and effort on marketing the course. You can promote the course on the social media, on online forums, on authority blogs, video channels and by using pay-per-click advertising.

So, how much money can a trainer make on Udemy?

Udemy allows trainers to keep 70 percent of the revenue generated by them. The best way to make money on Udemy is to teach others what you’re really good at. You are allowed to set your own fees for your courses. You can set the course fees as high as you like, this is entirely up to you.

Most Udemy trainers make $7,000 per year on an average. This represents a continuous stream of income as students join the course at any time. There’s a lot of potential for big money to be made. Some of the popular trainers even make a six-figure or seven-figure income.

You can expect to make anything from $10 to $30 per hour on your courses.

India, Technology, The World

List of IT Companies in India

List of IT Companies in India

List of IT Companies in India

The IT industry is huge in India, accounting for 7 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) according to NASSCOM. This is up from 1.2 percent in 1998. The Indian IT industry is a massive job creator and employs 10 million people in the country, either directly or indirectly. It is one of the engines that drive the Indian economy.

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Here, we have a made a list of IT companies in India for you. For want of space, this list of IT companies in India has only the 10 biggest companies – as measured by their market capitalization or the number of IT personnel on their payrolls. You are probably very familiar with most of the names on this list.

TCS

TCS or the Tata Consultancy Services is not just the biggest IT company in India, but one of the top 5 IT and outsourcing companies in the world. TCS is a part of India’s largest conglomerate, the Tata Group of Companies, and was actually established way back in 1968. It has its headquarters in Mumbai and has its offices in over 40 countries around the world. TCS has a record 325,000 employees on its payroll and offers software services to the Banking, Healthcare, Travel, Telecom, Hospitality and Insurance sectors.

INFOSYS

Infosys is India’s second biggest IT company and has over 195,000 employees on its payroll. Infosys had been on a decline for many years till the appointment of industry veteran, Vishal Sikka, as the CEO changed things around for the company. Infosys grew faster than any other IT company in India in 2015. Infosys offers the following services -Management Consulting, Software Testing, Business Process Outsourcing, Engineering Services, Business Applications and more.

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WIPRO

Wipro is the third biggest IT company in India, which was started by Azim Premji, who is today one of the richest men in the world. Wipro offers services across the breadth of the IT sector including Cloud Management Service, Data Integration, Human Resource Outsourcing, Testing Service and more. Wipro clients include some of the biggest names in Manufacturing, Automotive, Banking, Transportation and Retail in the world.

HCL TECHNOLOGIES

HCL Technologies is India’s fourth biggest IT company and the #1 challenger to the hegemony of the top three IT companies. HCL is headquartered in Noida and has offices in over 25 countries around the world. HCL offers services such as Network Services, Cloud Computing, Business Process Outsourcing, Testing Services etc. HCL serves some of the biggest names in the public sector, Telecom, Electronics, Retail, Manufacturing and more.

TECH MAHINDRA

Tech Mahindra is India’s fastest growing IT company that was founded in 1986 and serves more than 50 countries around the world. Tech Mahindra offers services such as Software Testing, Web Content Management, Network Services, Business Applications, and more. Tech Mahindra serves some of the biggest names in Hospitality, Banking, Telecom, Insurance and Retail.

IBM INDIA

IBM needs no introduction – it is the biggest IT company in the world by far. IBM also has a huge operation in India, its biggest outside the United States. IBM hires 150,000 IT personnel across the country.

ACCENTURE

Accenture is an American IT company which has major operations in India, with a headcount of over 200,000 IT personnel in its offices across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. Accenture is an ambitious company and plans to hire more than 95,000 IT personnel in India in 2016.

COGNIZANT

Cognizant Technology Solutions is another major American multinational corporation which offers custom IT, consulting, and business process outsourcing services and has a major operation in India. In fact, 66% of Cognizant’s 217,000 employees are based in India, which makes it one of the biggest employers in the country.

MINDTREE

Mindtree is a young Indian company that makes the list of the top IT companies in India as well. Mindtree has its headquarters in Bangalore and has operations in more than 10 countries across the world. It serves the Banking, Retail, Manufacturing, Finance, Hospitality, Travel sectors.

ORACLE FINANCIAL SERVICES

Oracle Financial Services is a fast growing IT company owned by Oracle, one of the biggest software companies in the world. With a headcount of 15,000 engineers in India, Oracle Financial Services offers top-rated ERP solutions to businesses in emerging countries.

Finally, while nobody can doubt the contribution of IT and outsourcing to the Indian economy, it does seem that the growth of IT companies in India has stagnated a bit because of their failure to respond actively to the new business models in the industry. The future of Indian IT companies depends and their ability to provide more end to end technological solutions to customers across the business spectrum.

Business, India, Technology, The World, Websites

Top 5 Startup Automation and Robotics In India

Top 5 Startup Automation and Robotics In India

Robotics In India

The start-up scene is heating up in India with a lot of new companies doing exciting new things, including in robotics and automation. Robotics and industrial automation are used by companies around the world as they make manufacturing more efficient, reduce costs all-round and save time on almost every process.

The Importance Of Robotics In India

In India, some highly educated and talented engineers have caught the startup bug and are helping the country catch up with the developed world at robotics and industrial automation. India has a distinct advantage here as there’s no shortage of brilliant engineers in the country, looking to profit from their innovations by starting their own companies.

Here are the top 5 Indian startups in robotics and industrial automation to watch out for in 2017

High-Tech Robotics – Hi-Tech Robotics is a part of the Hi-Tech Group, which has been an important player in India’s tech industry for over 20 years. Hi-Tech Robotics specialized in artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and control technologies. It has over 15 patents to its credit and does everything from system integration to requirement analysis to concept development. The company aims to bring robotics to the masses. The automation solutions delivered by Hi-Tech Robotics help manufacturers boost productivity and efficiency in the factory. Hi-Tech Robotics has been working closely with the Indian Army to develop unmanned systems that minimize the risks faced by defense personnel.

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Grey Orange Robotics – Grey Orange Robotics is creates robots for warehousing and delivers advanced automation solutions.

The company focuses on creating disruptive technologies and delivers sophisticated solutions for logistics and distribution in warehouses. One of the most important products created by Grey Orange Robotics is the Butler System, which makes it easier for manufacturers to handle high-tech materials.

The Butler System improves speed, accuracy, flexibility and productivity at warehouses. Grey Orange Robotics operates from two innovation centers, one on Gurgaon in the Indian state of Haryana and one in Singapore.

Systemantics – Systemantics is a promising Bangalore based startup delivers highly sophisticated automation solutions that replace human labor and handle any tasks that are repetitive, boring and tiring, or even dangerous.  Systemantics has already done a great deal of original research and development on technologies related to the robotic arm, such as servo motion controllers, speed reducers, AC servomotors, joint angle encoders, etc. The company has received financing from top private equity companies such as Accel Partners as well as from many high net worth individuals. Systematics’ most important product is a pick and place robot called Scara, which is capable of performing tasks such as feeding, stamping and stacking – which makes it so useful to the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and the pharmaceutical industry.

Sastra Robotics – Sastra Robotics is a Kochi based start-up that develops some highly sophisticated robotic technologies and industrial automation systems targeted at the industry as well as for the purposes of academic research and entertainment.

Sastra Robotics’ best products include…

  • Genibo – Genibo is a robot dog with four legs which can walk on its own. Genibo is capable of recognizing its owner with its “eyes”, it can respond to your words and touch. It even has its own bag of cute little tricks and cuddle up to the owner.
  • Hovis – Hovis is a humanoid robot hit that can be used in 20 different forms, depending on the purpose for which you need it for.

Sastra Robotics offers advanced solutions in circuit design, simulation and verification. Bosch is one of the biggest industrial automation companies in the world and it is one of the biggest buyers of the products and technological solutions made by Sastra Robotics.

GridBots – Gridbots is an Ahmedabad based robotics company that develops products that are used in the nuclear and space industries. The robots and automation systems developed by Gridbots are used to perform inspection, welding and cutting operations in hard to reach spots. Gridbots robots are used by the Indian Army as well, for advanced battlefield tactics and smart reconnaissance missions. Gridbots is one of the most promising new players in the Indian robotics and automation industry.

 

Business, General, The World, Websites

7 Best Swap Free Forex Halal Sites

Best Swap Free Forex Halal Sites

 

forex halal

Traditionally, Muslims were not allowed to participate in Forex trading. Because they charge overnight swaps, the standard Forex trading sites tend not to be compliant with the Sharia Law. For this reason, and more, Islamic (or Halal) accounts are provided by some specific brokerage sites.

These accounts are specially designed for those unwilling to either pay or receive interest fees resulting from their trading activities on a daily basis. Aside from this, Halal accounts do not pay interest on their deposits into the Forex brokers. This is because some brokers offer bonuses and balance top-ups to their members whenever they make a deposit. Simply phrased, Halal accounts are the same as your standard Forex trading account, the only difference being that the Islamic accounts do not offer interest payments or interest fees. Detailed below is a list of Forex sites that offer the option of Halal accounts to their customers with no rollover charges.

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7 Websites For Forex Halal Islamic Accounts

Grand Capital – With allowed hedging, a minimum deposit of $100 and a leverage of up to 500:1, Grand Capital guarantees no losses to its traders when they transfer their positions through to midnight. This broker has more than 350 trading instruments for you to choose from. Grand Capital offers security for your funds by implementing a two-factor authentication after you open your account with them.

They have convenient and ranging deposit options for you to use. Once this is done, you can start making a profit which is available for withdrawal at any time. They are flexible, efficient, fast, and offer multicurrency accounts to their traders.

IQ Option – With a minimum deposit of $10, a 91 percent payout rate, and availability of a demo account; IQ option is a good choice, especially for binary options traders. In the past, this broker has been thought to be a scam, but this is far from the truth. They have a wonderful trading platform, but what makes them stand out is their robot builder feature. This broker, although great, offers fewer trading commodities and not for United States residents. They, however, have a full range of stocks including gold and oil.

XM – The XM forex account is considerably different from other accounts provided by other Forex brokers. As mentioned, most brokers look for alternative sources of revenue by widening the spread on Halal accounts (the XM spreads are at 1.9 pips). This is not the case with XM; this forex broker requires no additional charges on the part of their customers.

The logic behind this is that Muslim traders are forbidden by their religion to pay interest. This is swap-free trading. However, if the interest charge is simply transferred to another type of fee, then it is essentially still there and was never taken away at all. This is swap-free trading in disguise. XM is one of the few forex brokers that is fair and ethical in its ways.

In just three steps, you can open your account at XM and start trading. You will be able to hold your position with no time limit, no up-front commissions, and certainly no swap charges on your overnight positions. XM will offer you real-time market execution, a leverage ratio of up to 888:1, no hidden costs, a minimum deposit of $5, and no re-quotes. You will have access to multiple trading platforms and a dedicated customer support teams to help you in all your trades. The good news is, you will be able to do this within the bounds of Islam.

FX Primus – This broker requires that you deposit at least $100 to start trading with them. The leverage offered here goes up to 500:1. The broker allows hedging on its trades. They offer fast deposits and withdrawals with 0 percent fees, 24/5 live chat customer support, and spreads as low as 0 pips. This broker offers a safe and regulated place to trade. Here, you can be sure of deep liquidity, great trading conditions for you, and no requotes. There are also numerous options for depositing and withdrawing funds from your account.

Etoro –This site has been rated among the top 50 brokers and was found to be one of the best by TheFXView.com. The minimum deposit of $1000 is a bit high, but Etoro is 100 percent compliant with Sharia law. There are no swap fees, and the thousands of Muslim clients can attest to the rest of its advantages. The broker trades in a wide selection of markets including but not limited to stocks, commodities, Indices, Currencies and cryptocurrencies.

With it, great spreads- 2 pips- Etoro has an even greater social trading platform dominated by thousands of successful traders. They even offer the site in Arabic for those traders that prefer it. You can open a demo account to try out the site before you decide to open a real one.

Ava Trade – The minimum deposit at Ava Trade is $1. With markets in FX & Commodity, bitcoin, stocks, and indices and bond CFDs, this Forex broker will offer you a leverage of up to 400:1 with a typical EUR/ USD spread of 3 pips. On request, you will get an Islamic account that permits scalping, hedging, trailing stops, and integrates expert advisors to help you make investment decisions.

Forex Islamic Account

The conditions here are decent with only a few limitations being imposed on the traders. So far, the wider spreads here is the only thing making this site lag behind; otherwise, Ava Trade deals in the most profitable instruments and gives all its customers a fair chance to make profits. If you wish to trade in a wider range of instruments from one place, then this is the broker for you. Their customer support is always alert and always helpful. You can start by opening a demo account to try out the site. With its solid license, the broker will ensure your trading is secure, but not easier.

InstaForex – On this site, you can convert a regular account into a Sharia compliant one as soon as you place a request. Even after switching from the standard account to a swap-free account, the trading terms remain. The least amount one can deposit is $1. The broker, aside from allowing hedging, also allows its traders unlimited time to carry their positions. The leverage here is up to 1000:1.

You get to trade on any currency pair without losing or gaining any amount of money despite the position volume you hold. InstaForex also offers you a chance to extend your swap-free account and open a live trading account. All you have to do is contact their customer care department. The trading instruments offered by this broker are wide- 107 currency pairs, 200 CFDs on U.S. shares and ECN broker services. The broker does not require its traders to have spread so as to trade in the money market. This more than doubles your opportunities to be a successful trader.

Things To Consider In Conclusion About Forex Halal…

Halal accounts have a lot of benefits, but this does not mean that they put you at an advantage over their traders. Additionally, it’s always important to note trading comes with its fair share of risks. Some brokers look for other ways to make revenue aside from charging interest. You may find that some accounts have marginally wider spreads, while others require their customers to make higher minimum deposits. Therefore, choose your broker carefully and ensure you select one that suits you perfectly.

See Also:  Swing Trading Stocks for A Living: Jason Bond Picks Review

Business, General, Technology, Websites

Selling Domain Names For a Living

Selling Domain Names For a Living

 

Selling Domain Names For a Living

 

Selling domain names for a living, or domain flipping, as it is called, is a surprisingly lucrative thing to do. But it’s not as easy as you might think. For sure, domain flipping is much easier than building a website from the scratch.

The idea is to buy domains and sell them at a higher price to make quick money. How much money, you ask? Well, luck plays a big role here, so there’s no way to tell.

Domain selling with Jamie Lewis of Domainer Elite

You can, for example, buy a domain name for $250 and later find out that there’s a company that wants it real bad, and are willing to pay you $30,000 for it. This is known to happen, so the possibilities are limitless.

Selling Domain Names For A Living Isn’t A Get Rich Quick Scheme

But you could also end up buying a domain name worth $500 and have no buyers at all. So it’s not as easy as you think – domain selling requires a fair bit of research and experience. It’s so easy for a newbie to get sucked into buying a domain that nobody wants.
As long as you stick to the principle of buying low and selling high, you should be okay. You should aim to make a 100 percent profit with every domain name you buy. So, if you buy a domain name for $500, you shouldn’t rest till you’re able to sell it for $1000, at least.
So where do you buy domain names? You can buy unregistered domain names on sites such as GoDaddy, NameCheap, Google Domains or Gandi.net.

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You can buy domain names on many online forums as well, where you will find a number of domain name sellers like yourself. But be careful here, there’s always a chance of getting sold a lemon here – the domain names available here could be really useless or it could be priced too high.

Online auctions at domain clearing houses such as Flippa are the best way to buy domain names. Here, you will find a lot of unwanted domains which people fail to renew for some reason. So they offer such domains to Flippa, which auctions them off for a reasonable price to the public.

Sell Your Domain

 

The best domain name flippers can be found here, and there’s always a chance that you could land your hands on a real multibagger. The bids start at $69 and can go up from there, depending on the level of competition.

You can also find the latest information on upcoming domain name auctions at http://www.tld.org.

Of course, the key to earning a hefty income from flipping domains is to find domains that are in demand. How do you do that? Once you identify a domain name, do your research on individuals or businesses that have similar domains and might be interested in that domain.

You will need to make educated guesses here, and if everything goes right, you will find a buyer almost immediately and will be able to flip the domain fast.

This is something that comes from experience. Every time you buy and sell a domain, you will develop a feel for it and will get better at it. There will be plenty of occasions when you will fail to make any money from a domain. In that case, don’t get disheartened, just move on to the next domain.

There are many domain name sellers who make a healthy six-figure income from this business, working their way up the food chain, having started from absolutely nothing. There’s no reason why you can’t make a decent living from selling domains as well. Go for it!