Working from home: The future of business is remote.
Leadership styles have had to change radically this year. Instead of managing colleagues face-to-face, business leaders have had to lead from afar, supervising disparate teams over Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
It's not a leadership style that many managers would have picked; socially-distanced working has been a necessity rather than a choice. And many leaders are still uncomfortable both managing at a distance and trusting their staff to get on with their work without direction.
Harvard Business Review (HBR) reports that 40% of managers have low self-confidence in their ability to manage workers remotely. More than a third (38%), meanwhile, still believe remote workers usually perform worse than those in an office.
Sketch Alternatives: Tools That Can Replace Sketch For Your Design Needs
Sketch once dominated the world of UI design tools. But these days, we have an array of Sketch alternatives that are on par with Sketch and even outmatch it in certain areas. This detailed guide will cover the best Sketch alternatives in 2020.
A few years ago, a UXTools survey revealed that Sketch was the most used tool for designing UI, wireframing, brainstorming, and creating user flow.
But over the last few years, the landscape of design tools changed dramatically.
As competitors grew in size and quality, the field of /UIUX tools became much more diverse, and the latest survey reflects just that: product designers are using various tools — each with their strengths.
We have Sketch alternatives that are lightning-fast, cross-platform, highly collaborative, and asset-rich.
So how do you choose which UI/UX designing app to use?
Let’s go through the best alternatives to Sketch.
Figma:
Figma currently holds the top spot as the most popular tool for design and prototyping: 66% of designers use Figma for UI design, double what was just a year ago.
One of the reasons for such vast success is the tool’s accessibility: you can use Figma on almost any platform (Mac, Win, Linus) as long as you have an active Internet connection. Figma works within your browser, so you don’t need to install desktop apps and bother updating them (although Figma has apps for both Mac and Windows).
Big Sur Icons: The Most Controversial Icon Pack Released So Far?
On November 12, 2020, Apple released its newest operating system, Big Sur. The new system sparked many discussions and debates concerning the major user interface overhaul it delivered. But one of the most controversial and heated debates rose around Big Sur icons. Let’s find out why.
Apple's update that enables RAW camera capture and makes your photos more editable is now available.
Apple's latest version of iOS adds a new camera feature to the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max called ProRAW. Shutterbug or not, it's a perk you'll want to check out.
What Is ProRAW?
You're probably familiar with JPEG, the file format most phones and even professional cameras use for photos. It's the most common format due to its ability to compress image data and reduce a picture's file size without dramatically affecting quality. There are similar advantages to HEIC, a newer format Apple uses that creates even tinier file sizes while still maintaining good image quality.
But when it comes to editing JPEG photos, on Instagram or your default photo-editing app, the amount of tweaking you can do is limited. You might not be able to fix that over-exposed sky, for example. That's because JPEGs/HEICs don't have as much image data to work with, since a great amount of that data gets discarded when the file is compressed. That's why most professional photographers shoot in RAW. The RAW format is lossless, meaning it contains unprocessed image data straight from the camera's sensor. That richer data set can make all the difference in fixing a blown-out sky, correcting white balance, or tuning the colors of plants and humans to look more natural. The tradeoff is the file size; a RAW image is several times the size of a JPEG or a HEIC.
If you need a new website or want to give your current site a modern update, our collection of 50 free responsive web and HTML templates is an excellent place to start.
These templates are easy to use and fully customizable, making it simple to create a professional-looking website without breaking the bank. With a responsive design, your website will look great on any device, from desktop computers to mobile phones.
By utilizing templates, you can impress your visitors with your design expertise without needing to be an expert in web design. These templates offer a wide range of features and customization options, allowing you to create a website that stands out from the competition.
Using templates can save you both time and effort when building web pages online. They come pre-built with various design elements, including typography, color schemes, and layouts. This means you don’t have to spend hours creating each page from scratch, freeing up time for other important tasks.
Whether you’re a small business owner, blogger, or designer, you’ll find a free template that meets your needs in this collection. There are templates available for various industries, including business, e-commerce, portfolio, and more.
Chromebooks will now let you sign in to websites with your fingerprint
Google brings Web Authentication aka 'WebAuthn' to Chrome OS version 88.
Google has finally brought Web Authentication (WebAuthn) passwordless authentication to Chrome OS to allow users to sign in to websites with a PIN or fingerprint used to unlock a Chromebook.
WebAuthn allows people to register and authenticate on websites or apps using an "authenticator" – such as a fingerprint or PIN – instead of a password. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) made WebAuthn an official web standard in 2019.
Of course, to take advantage of the Chrome OS version 88 update, people need to have a Chromebook with a fingerprint reader. But the feature also supports a device PIN, which is still easier to remember than passwords for every website.
Websites that support WebAuthn will let you use your Chromebook PIN or fingerprint ID – if your Chromebook has a fingerprint reader – instead of the password you've set for the website," says Alexander Kuscher, director of Chrome OS.
Additionally, people who use Google's two-step verification to sign in to a Google account don't need to use a security key or phone to authenticate since the Chromebook PIN or fingerprint ID can be used as the second factor.
Firefox was created in 2002 under the code name "Phoenix" by members of the Mozilla community who desired a standalone browser rather than the Mozilla Application Suite bundle. During its beta phase, it proved to be popular with its testers and was praised for its speed, security, and add-ons compared to Microsoft's then-dominant Internet Explorer 6. It was released on November 9, 2004, and challenged Internet Explorer's dominance with 60 million downloads within nine months. It is the spiritual successor of Netscape Navigator, as the Mozilla community was created by Netscape in 1998, before its acquisition by AOL.
Windows 11’s latest preview release appears to be causing a whole host of serious problems for several users, including unresponsive Start Menu, Taskbar, Explorer.exe, Windows Settings, and other critical bits of the operating system seemingly disappearing or broken.
This is happening to those who have installed Windows 11 Build 22000.176 or Build 22449, which are the latest round of preview updates for the Beta and Dev channels respectively. There is a range of different issues reported by testers on the Feedback Hub and our forum, but it appears that the tech giant has rolled out a server-side fix.
At the moment, it’s not clear how widespread these Start Menu and taskbar gremlins in the operating system might be. In some cases, users are reporting that the Taskbar and Start menu are totally blank, and an hourglass is displayed when users move the cursor closer to the taskbar.
“In the new version, after startup, the taskbar disappears. After restart, the machine runs slowly and the taskbar is stuck. Repeated restarts are still invalid, any software can not be operated, and some shortcut keys are invalid,” a user noted in the Feedback Hub and there are similar complaints on our forum.
Empowering the next generation to succeed in the digital economy.
We work to transform the lives of kids and young adults by expanding access to technology and information, and teaching them 21st century skills.
10 YEARS WORKING ON GLOBAL SCALE
We are a global network of companies, foundations, non-profits, technologists, and advocates who want to unlock human potential through technology.
Kids are our future. Today, they are growing up in a world where interacting with technology should be an integral part of their life, a path to becoming a successful adult and making a contribution. Yet many families lack access to this vital resource. We have identified three main barriers that limit kids’ access to technology and we are committed to overcoming these obstacles by thinking differently.
