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adhdstudybitch · 6 years ago

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Practical Tips for ADHD College Students

I know a few posts like this already exist, but I wanted to add my own experiences to the mix in case it would be helpful to someone else. Some of these will look familiar, some not so much.

Disclaimers: 1) What works for me may not work for you, take everything with a grain of salt and experiment, 2) These are what I’m using for a 4-year school but I imagine it would be applicable for any college? I wish I’d known to do some of these things when I was at CC, 3) I won’t pretend that I am an ADHD success story, not yet. I’m still finding my way, learning to cope, learning to thrive. It’s a process.

NOTE: This post is kinda long; if it’s too long I recommend just reading the bolded/italicized headings and only reading the ones that pique your interest :)

Sensory Issues:

Wear comfortable clothing: Screw the mentality that you always have to look your best in college. At the end of the day, feeling hot but ridiculously uncomfortable will trigger sensory issues (especially if you’re someone who is sensitive to certain materials/styles of clothing) and it will impact concentration and can cause a lot of distress. Are you comfortable in those sweatpants, pajama bottoms, baggy shirts? Cool, wear them.

Stim toys: Love yourself, buy (or make!) stim toys and bring them to school. Can’t speak for CC because I didn’t use stim toys when I went, but at my 4-year school everyone is too busy drowning in deadlines to notice you squishing thinking putty or using a fidget cube under the table.

Try different stim toys: I used to get caught up on trying to make the more popular stim toys work for me when they didn’t, so I had to experiment a bit to see what worked. It’s not always as simple as cubes, spinners, squishy toys, etc. If you have issues with texture you’ll want to really experiment, especially with things like putty, squishibles, etc. to see what is comfortable and what isn’t. But there’s a big ol’ market out there!

Headphones/Earplugs: The single most helpful sensory detail for me was always bringing my headphones to campus. I get easily overstimulated in uncontrolled situations with lots of different sounds. I make sure my volume is enough to block the noise out, but the songs I choose in these instances are usually familiar, so they don’t provide too much new stimulation when I can’t handle it. I also keep earplugs in my backpack for exams.

Studying/School Related:

If possible, leave your house: This has been one of the hardest changes I’ve had to make because I’m an introvert and genuinely prefer being home. But I’m starting to learn that my ass will not do work 9/10 times when I’m home. Too much to do, too many other things to get done, lots of fun distractions, and cats! So many cats! Unfortunately cats won’t take my exams. I’ve found that the library is okay, but for me small cafes worked much better. Armed with my headphones, some coffee, and an atmosphere that caters to silently getting work done, I’m able to focus longer, and to focus on what I really need to.

Note-taker: Admittedly I’m talking out of my ass on this one, because I haven’t yet done this. But that’s exactly why I want to stress getting a note-taker. My college life would be infinitely better if I’d done this when the semester started; instead, my notes have gaps where I couldn’t concentrate, or couldn’t process what was being discussed, etc.

Other accommodations: Accommodations for ADHD differ depending on the college, but some of the common ones are: note-takers, silent exam spaces, assignment extensions, and use of tech such as recorders, speech-to-text software... If you’re like I was and are worried that you’re asking too much asking for accommodations, remember two important things: 1) Accommodations exist to level the playing field, not to give us an edge, and 2) YOU PAY FOR THIS SERVICES. That huge, overwhelming tuition bill with all those “extra fees”? You’re paying for these services already, might as well take advantage of them!

Talk to your professors: This part is truly terrifying for me, but I’ve started opening up this semester to my professors and it has made a difference. The professor for my hardest class actually has a son with adhd so she understood and was even able to provide me with some resources that would help. At the very least, it made my professors aware of my struggles and aware that I wasn’t just being lazy, which calmed my RSD a bit.

Organization: Staying organized is important for any college student, but especially for those with adhd. We lose things a lot, and if things aren’t in obvious, constant places it becomes so much easier to lose or forget where we put things. That being said, your ‘organized’ will probably not be other peoples ‘organized’. For example, I use my Ipsy bags for organization. One holds any writing utensils, flashcards, and post-its, another holds anything medical-related, etc. It seems a bit cluttered and disorganized to other people but it works for me. So try keeping things in the same spot if possible, but remember that finding what organizational structures work for you might take time and effort. If your school has success coaching, I highly recommend it for this purpose! Which brings me to the next point.

Success Coaching: Most colleges offer some kind of program like this, though names may differ. Success Coaching is designed for students of any academic level in order to help them get and stay on track. My college offers study skills, schedule planning, test prep, time management, help navigating campus resources, and a whole host of others. And the people doing the coaching are usually grad students who’ve been through the process. They’re typically trained in working with students with adhd, because that tends to be a significant portion of their students. They’re also just really nice to talk to. Almost like a therapist, but not quite.

Really forgetful? The best thing you can do is change your environment, not try to change yourself. You probably won’t be able to stop your brain from forgetting your notebook at home, but you can get a five subject and keep it in your backpack at all times. Same with folders. Keep losing pens/pencils? Just get a fuckton and shove them in a pouch in your backpack in the beginning of the semester. I’m not kidding when I say I have at least 20 pens and pencils in mine, not including the glitter pens and highlighters.

Planners: Many people have said that it will take time to find just the right planner for you, and they’re correct. The planner I use right now is 8x11 with wide boxes. Some prefer smaller planners, others will use planner apps or just the calendar in their phone. You’ll have to mess around a bit to see what works for you, but you do have options!

Printables: Oh man I love printables so much, but a lot of the time I find that they’re more trouble maintaining than my adhd can handle. You can find a ton on tumblr, free to download and print, and some very beautiful packs for sale on etsy. Right now I use a monthly budget printable and one for studying terms/definitions. Sometimes the adhd mind needs something pretty and different to cling to, so I try to switch things up every so often.

Color-coding: This absolutely will not work for everyone (I’ve seen people say color-coding notes gets the hung up on the coding and not the notes, and I can definitely see that happening). For me, I use color-coding in my planner. Each class gets its own color. This keeps me from seeing a page covered in the same color of ink or pencil and mentally blocking it out. Gelly roll has the most amazing glitter pens!

Test prep: Will vary depending on the person and how they learn best, but for me I’ve found that no one method will work on its own. I have class notes, typed notes, hand-written flashcards, flashcards on quizlet. I won’t pretend that it’s easy; it’s fuck-all time consuming and sometimes I don’t have energy for it, but depending on the class I usually need a combination of at least two different methods to work. This is definitely something success coaching can work with you to figure out!

General Life Advice (that will impact college):

Get on a sleep schedule: I don’t even care what your particular schedule is (because it’ll vary person to person) but just get on one. Much easier said than done, because our brains never want to shut up at night, but lack of a consistent sleep schedule will mess with your concentration, focus, hypersensitivity, etc.

I’ll just do this later...: is the adhd monster talking. What even is later? Does it exist? Sometimes I have to tell myself “nope, we’re doing this right now!” Doesn’t always work, but I try my hardest to do things in the moment if executive dysfunction isn’t at my door.

Develop a support system: This can be difficult because sometimes making and maintaining friendships with adhd can be hard, and sometimes family members aren’t very receptive or supportive. But a strong support system can make all the difference in the world! If your current friends don’t understand the extent of what you’re dealing with, send some resources their way and you might be surprised how fast they get in your corner. But sometimes people without adhd just don’t get it. If your college has a meet-up for students with adhd like mine does, this is a great place to meet like-minded students who understand what you’re going through and can provide support and advice!

I’m going to stop this here because it’s already too long, but I hope this is helpful to someone and I’d love it if you could add your own tips as well!

#adhd #actually adhd #studying with adhd #adhd tips

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magzoso-tech · 5 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/new-year-2020-our-gadgets-wishlist-from-iphone-9-to-mi-tv-4x/

New Year 2020: Our Gadgets Wishlist, From iPhone 9 to Mi TV 4X

There’s nothing like having a shiny new gadget to play with. Well, until the second week anyway — when you start looking forward to the next one, eh? That would be funny except materialism is no funny topic in a world that’s facing a climate emergency. Thanks, unchecked capitalism. But that’s not going to automatically make you not want things, but the least that you can do when the planet is burning is be responsible. More so for tech stuff that use rare-earth elements. Don’t discard something that still works, and if you’ve to buy a new one, read about its environmental impact.

Depressed yet? Anyway, here’s what the Gadgets 360 staff will be keeping its eye on in 2020. It includes TVs, laptops, smartwatches, (wireless) headphones, gaming consoles and services, and naturally, phones. And… shoes? Yes, shoes.

Aditya Shenoy: Samsung Galaxy Buds, but better

Last year, I had put the Sena 30K on my wishlist. I didn’t buy it because I found it to be super expensive for what it offered. Cardo does make similar communicators that are better and well-priced but that’ll have to wait since this Chinese V6 Communicator I bought this year is working as expected.

I don’t need a tech product, but I am open to buying a pair of good truly wireless earphones. Currently the Samsung Galaxy Buds are on the list. I hope Samsung launches a successor soon with active noise cancelling. That would be something I’ll be interested to buy.

Buy: Samsung Galaxy Buds, if you can’t wait

Akhil Arora: a new console, maybe?

Someone ought to hold and shake me by the shoulders, just for saying that. A bit of necessary backgrounder: I own more consoles than new games I’ve finished this year, and more controllers than free hours I’ve in the day. And yet, I can’t seem to resist the temptation of the next generation, if only for the better graphics fidelity it will no doubt promise.

But I haven’t named one side because I’m genuinely caught: PlayStation has more exclusives, and Xbox has… Forza Horizon? Contain your astonishment, that’s my life. What Microsoft needs to do then essentially is announce Forza Horizon 5, exclusive to the Xbox Series X. That last bit is very important. Hope you’re (not) listening, Phil. Otherwise, Sony seems the safer bet.

Or maybe I’ll grow some brains and save the money for an upcoming holiday.

Buy: some sensibility

Akshay Jadhav: Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless ANC Headphones

In 2019, I assembled my new PC, primarily for editing and gaming at home. However, I couldn’t stretch my budget to accommodate a decent pair of headphones. So, in 2020 I am looking out for a killer pair of headphones to complete my setup and I have my eye on the legendary Sony WH-1000XM3 due to its insane active noise cancellation capabilities and superb sound quality. This headphone is still on the pricier side however when it comes to ANC with overall features, it is still slightly better than the Bose QC 35. In 2020, I am hoping that after Sony releases their new XM4 model, the XM3 will go down in price or I can find it on a discounted price during any sale.

Buy: Sony WH-1000XM3 Active Noise Cancellation Headphones

Ali Pardiwala: Apple Arcade

There are a few non-tech products I absolute NEED to buy — a new mattress and shoes — so I’m a bit short on funds for a big tech purchase. However, I do love playing games on my iPad mini (2019), and I think it’s finally time to set aside an extra Rs. 99 per month for Apple Arcade. It may not sound like much, but when I’m already paying for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Spotify, and YouTube Music, even Rs. 99 per month sounds like a lot.

Apple’s gaming service comes with a one-month free trial, and gives you access you a variety of quality games through a unique monthly subscription model. It’s a great way to access new games and might be worth it for me if I can play games that actually put the iPad mini’s power to good use.

Buy: Apple Arcade

Aman Rashid: Nike Air Jordan 1

In 2018, I remember wanting to buy the iPhone XS Max in Gold, but I just couldn’t because I had recently purchased the Galaxy Note 9 at that time, and admittedly my budget was also a bit tight. But yes, I do remember mentioning in my wishlist for 2019 that I would buy the next iPhone. So, iPhone season came, and I got the iPhone 11 Pro in Gold. And with that, I fulfilled the promise to myself of getting the next big thing from Apple.

So now what? Well, now I am having a good time with my iPhone 11 Pro. And looking at my habit of changing phones every year: do I want to upgrade to the iPhone 12 Pro or whatever its name is going to be? Um, I am not so sure right now. I think for me, the iPhone 11 Pro is a very good smartphone that ticks all the correct boxes. So as much as I love my current device, I am not very sure whether I will be upgrading to the iPhone 12 Pro or not.

But this is a question for September 2020. If the new iPhone does look enticing to me, then maybe I might just buy it. In the meantime, what else do I want? Well apart from phones sneakers are something that I am absolutely crazy for and believe me I have got a lot of them. So, iPhone 12 Pro in 2020? Not so sure. More Air Jordan 1s? Yes sir, please!

Buy: Nike Air Jordan 1

Gaurav Shukla: Apple MacBook Air (2020)

It has been a while since I upgraded my laptop and if I remember correctly both my existing laptops are now touching the five-year mark. So, I am thinking of going for the upgraded MacBook Air model that is expected to arrive sometime in 2020. As the latest MacBook Air model available in the market packs the eight-gen Intel core chips, I want to wait until Apple releases the refreshed version with at least the 10th gen Intel core processor options.

It will be my first personal MacBook as even though I currently use an NDTV-provided MacBook Air for official work, I have stuck to Windows for personal computers. I am hoping that not only does Apple upgrade the CPU in the next-generation MacBook Air but also switches the keyboard from butterfly to scissor-switch-based design that it has included in the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Harpreet Singh: AirPods Pro, Kindle Paperwhite

Last year, I wished to buy Apple’s HomePod in 2019. I waited for a large part of the year, hoping Apple will launch it in India. It didn’t. And then a very wise person I know suggested I wait until Black Friday, which is exactly what I did. I ended up with a generous deal on the HomePod eventually (yes, I had to buy one from the US).

For 2020, I don’t have any solid plans yet. I wish to save some dough, but then you never know. AirPods Pro, a new MacBook Pro 13-inch (ideally one with the new keyboard), and the all-new Kindle Paperwhite are still on my wishlist. Depending on the budget, I might strike at least one of these off by the end of next year.

Buy: AirPods Pro, Kindle Paperwhite

Jagmeet Singh: Apple Watch Series 5

It’s been more than a year since I have the Apple Watch Series 3. Although I’m still getting what I need from the 2017 model, I feel that 2020 would be the year when I would switch to a newer Apple Watch. I generally don’t consider it wise to spend plenty of your hard-earned money on a new Apple device that becomes cheaper in a few months of its launch. Thus, I hope that the latest Apple Watch would get some price drops in the future that would make it a better deal.

What makes the Apple Watch Series 5 a significant upgrade over the Series 3 is its new Always-On Retina display and the ability to record electrocardiogram (ECG). Both features have attracted me since the launch of the new Apple Watch model in September. However, its price tag of nearly Rs. 44,000 for the 44mm case is something that has restricted me to take the buying decision so far.

Apple is likely to bring some notable changes to its smartwatch family in 2020. Nevertheless, I don’t want to spend much on the next-generation Apple Watch and would go with the existing option next year.

Buy: Apple Watch Series 5

Jamshed Avari: nothing, hopefully

It’s highly unlikely that I’ll splash out on anything huge in 2020, or at least unlikely that I’ll plan to. At the moment, everything I have works well enough and isn’t too old. That doesn’t mean I’m immune to the temptations of flash sales or crazy discounts, so who knows how I’ll feel six months from now, and who knows what I’ll end up with! I’ve also developed a bad habit of buying SSDs and RAM because prices keep falling so it’s probably a fair bet that my various devices will end up getting a few minor upgrades.

Nadeem Sarwar: Pixel 4a

The Google Pixel 4a is at the top of my tech wish list for the year 2020 for many reasons, with one of them being the need to upgrade to a new phone. And now that the first major Pixel 4a leak has given us a look at its design, I am more now more inclined to buy it. The Pixel 4a will ditch its predecessor’s thick bezels and will opt for a more modern hole-punch design.

Prabhakar Thakur: iPhone 9, or SE 2

I am thinking of buying Apple iPhone 9 (also called iPhone SE 2) which is rumoured to launch in April 2020. According to reports, the phone may feature A13 Bionic chip and the same chassis as that of the iPhone 8. I hope Apple keeps the bezels thin and provides a bigger battery. I also wish the phone supports fast charging, but I guess I am asking for a bit too much from the company given its past record. A decent camera can be expected as well.

My decision to buy the iPhone 9 will also depend on its price. As per speculations, the smartphone may start selling at $399 in the US. My guess is that it might sell in India for $600 (roughly Rs. 43,000). Waiting for some great deals for the phone also seems like a good idea. iPhone 11 could also become cheaper later in the year. Eventually, it will depend on the best deal that I get both in terms of phone’s capabilities and price. For now, the iPhone 9 is on my mind.

Pranay Parab: AirPods Pro

I was fortunate enough to pick up the AirPods at a big discount a couple of years ago, and I hope 2020 will bring a similar discount on the AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro has active noise cancellation and excellent sound quality, as we’ve mentioned in our review and podcast, and that makes this a must have for me. While this is the product I want to buy, I will not be picking it up at its current price (Rs. 24,900). I’m prepared to wait till 2021 or till whenever there’s a big discount before buying it. Until then, I’ll continue using my AirPods even though the battery life is down to around 90 minutes at this point.

Buy: AirPods Pro

Roydon Cerejo: games, wireless earphones and chargers

Last year, I said I wanted to buy the Apple Watch Series 4 and, in all honesty,, I almost did. But then, better sense prevailed, and I ended up picking up a used, Series 1 instead. It just didn’t make sense spending the same amount as a mid-range Android flagship, for an accessory. My main need for the Apple Watch was notifications alerts and controlling media volume when using AirPods — all of which the Series 1 handles beautifully.

For 2020, I don’t have an immediate wishlist since I’ve already made pretty big purchases this year, the PS4 Pro being the most recent one. I’ll definitely looking to get more games for the PS4, as and when newer titles drop in price and hit CeX. I’ll probably look at picking up a new pair of truly wireless earphones too. I love my AirPods, but the Samsung Galaxy Buds have spoiled me with its superior audio quality. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the Bose Earbuds 500 or 700, which were teased this year for a 2020 launch.

I wouldn’t mind more wireless chargers at home too. It’s super convenient and now that most people at my place have phones capable of wireless charging, it makes sense to have more of them around the house.

Buy: Samsung Galaxy Buds

Sumit Garg: Mi TV 4X Pro

In 2019, I have got quite a bunch of things for myself. And if we are talking about tech, then my biggest purchase must be the Apple iMac. Yes, I finally got it for myself and I also remember putting it as my wishlist for 2019. And, in 2020 I can finally shift my focus to other things. You know, I just can’t ignore my love for big screens. So, after the iMac, the next purchase I want to make for myself is a TV, and I am pretty sure about the one that I want.

The Xiaomi Mi TV, which is a 4K 55-inch LED TV, is the one I have been keeping an eye on for quite some time. I really like the way it looks, I like its picture and sound quality as well, and on top of everything, the price tag it carries is also that won’t burn a hole in my pocket. I mean come on, for 40k, where will I find such an amazing TV. So, the Mi LED TV 4X Pro it is.

Buy: Mi LED TV 4X Pro

Tasneem Akolawala: Learning apps

There’s no big tech purchase that I’ve planned for 2020, mainly because I’ve got a little toddler in the house that is going through a phase of extreme curiosity. I might invest in a few paid learning apps for my kid, but no big bucks will be spent on tech till he grows up a little more. I also kept my 2019 new flagship phone purchase on hold, even though my iPhone 6s went kaput this year, as predicted. I’m making do with a budget Android phone for now that helps fulfil my texting and calling needs.

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gothrapxxx · 6 years ago

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An amazing variety of pop artists now use backing tracks, with applications ranging from total playback with a miming band (as on the majority of TELEVISION shows) to a complete band playing live, augmented by a few pre-recorded sounds and backing vocals. The latter approach is pretty much the norm for live pop reveals nowadays. Nevertheless, regardless of the universality of blues guitar backing tracks, assembling backing tracks and activating them on-stage isn't necessarily a walk in the park, as I've discovered through long experience as a live drummer. So in this article, I'm going to reveal you how to get the very best outcomes with live backing tracks, as well as providing pointers for avoiding typical risks. Basic Two-track Playback I'll begin by dealing with simple two-track playback from CD, DAT or Minidisc. In a two-track blues guitar backing tracks, track one (or the left channel of a stereo recorder) should be designated the 'click channel' (heard just by the artists on phase), while track two carries the pre-recorded audio you want the audience to hear. The click channel is exclusively for the band's (and particularly, the drummer's) advantage, and requires to be thoroughly assembled. I detailed how to develop ideal click tracks back in SOS August 2003, so I will not cover that ground once again here, however it deserves discussing that, in a live context, the click channel can also double as a cue track. In the heat of a gig, you wouldn't think how easy it is to dial up the incorrect index number on a DAT machine or CD player, so it's good practice to precede each song in the set with a taped announcement of its name on the click/cue channel. To prevent uncomfortably long spaces between tunes, this should be kept short-- if the song is called 'My Bananas Are Covered In Fluorescent Green Sump Oil', restrict yourself to saying 'Bananas', and begin the two-bar count-in click a 2nd or 2 later on. In this manner, you can be positive that you're about to play the correct song! One pitfall with CD-Rs is that their indexes in some cases start fractionally after the very first click of a count-in, cutting off beat one and leaving the drummer in balanced limbo. Beginning each tune with a recorded spoken ID prior to the count-in will avoid this taking place; if the CD index cuts off part of the ID, then it will not be completion of the world. The end of a tune is as essential as its start-- remember to program the click so it stops when the track surfaces, otherwise the drummer will be tempted to use, thinking there must be another round before the ending. As soon as the last pre-recorded noise has died away, leave at least 2 minutes of area on the playback machine to provide the drummer time to down sticks, pull a 'thank you' face at the audience, halt the playback, take a look at the set list and work out what index number needs to be selected next. (If you're working with a tape-based medium like DAT and later choose to extend a song, this area could be utilized to accommodate a longer arrangement.). If you utilize shorter inter-song spaces, there's always a risk that the next tune will start prior to you've ended up playing the last chord of the previous one. Better to offer yourself a generous margin, even if the additional recording time suggests needing to use more than one playback disc or tape. In fact, if your show features two sets, it's a good idea to utilize a different disc or tape for each set anyhow, as, if one gets harmed or lost, at least half the program will still be ready to roll!

I believe it's quite essential that a band member (typically the drummer) should be in control of the backing-track device, instead of an off-stage tech. A specialist is much less likely to know when there has been a cock-up in the arrangement (such as the singer being available in 4 bars early), therefore understand when to abandon ship and shut off the playback. Utilizing a two-channel playback system means that all the 'audience mix' audio on track 2 (the right channel of a stereo recorder) needs to be pre-mixed in mono. If the original elements of your playback audio are stored in a multitrack hard drive format, you can use the system's built-in blending facilities to constantly upgrade the mono mix during rehearsals, production wedding rehearsals, and even during soundchecks while you're out on trip. However at some phase you'll need to commit to a mix and record it, so here's how best to do that. Begin by reducing any stereo sound sources (keyboards, samplers, stereo backing-vocal submixes and so forth) to mono. The best method is just to pan the left and right channels into the centre-- centralising sounds frequently makes them appear louder, so do this before you start blending. Keep an ear open for stage problems; if the left and right channels of a stereo product were mistakenly taped out of stage, they will phase-cancel when combined in mono, triggering the signal to get quieter or perhaps disappear entirely! Such an issue can quickly be treated by reversing the phase of one side of the stereo signal, but if your mixer does not have channel 'phase' buttons, you'll need to resort to rewiring an audio lead to reverse the phase. If you're dealing with your computer, you may have the ability to invert one side of the stereo file utilizing your software application's sample editor if there is no real-time phase-inversion center. If your playback uses loops, inspect that they are looping appropriately, quantised if musically essential, and not speaking late because of bad sample cutting. Extreme MIDI traffic can trigger timing wobbles, so constantly listen to loops against the click before recording them. Do not try to cram a lot of elements into your mono mix: a blend of loops, sequenced percussion and support vocals is OK, however if you begin piling on too many additional elements like church choirs and glockenspiels, it's going to start sounding a bit obvious to the audience. As a rule of thumb, opt for a reasonable balance which sounds musical, and don't overdo it with EQ or results. I often mix some of the rhythm components from the backing tracks youtube (loops, percussion, quantised keyboards and so on) into the click track also, due to the fact that this makes the click a bit simpler to groove to. (It's likewise much better to have these elements in your headphone mix rather than coming out of speakers, which might be some range away and therefore sounding very postponed in relation to the click. Remember, every metre presents around 3ms delay!) If musical aspects are to be added to the click in track one, it's most likely best that the drummer supervises the mix, as the balance of the click versus the music is definitely vital. It can be very difficult to evaluate the playback mix while you frequent your studio, particularly if your studio uses small speakers. Large PA systems give an extremely different bass reaction, and rehearsal-room screen speakers will introduce their own 'distinctive' tonal qualities! When it concerns devoting to a mix, an useful solution could be to take your initial multitrack device (be it ADAT, Tascam eight-track, computer or whatever) to the wedding rehearsal space along with a little blending desk. Then you can establish each tune and have the band play along to it, while a band member stands in front of the PA speakers and makes a judgement about the mix of the mono playback material. The two-track mix you're creating is truly 2 simultaneous mono blends, so you'll require to send it from 2 independent outputs of your mixing desk (not the main stereo outputs) into your recorder. As soon as you feel you have actually reached an optimal balance, devote your click/cue track to the left channel of your CD-R/DAT/Minidisc while recording the playback 'music mix' to the right channel. Take care to jot down the record level settings, as you will need to repeat these levels with all the other songs you blend. When taping, silence all the channels on the desk (except the click track and announcement) till a fraction of a second before the music starts. This will prevent a huge, disruptive hiss burping out of the PA on the front of every tune. Additionally, you could import all the blended two-track files into a computer or DAW and clean them up by 'topping and tailing' before making the final digital master.

When you have actually ended up recording the whole set, make back-ups of whatever and provide the back-ups to a responsible band member or tech, for safekeeping in a various place from the masters. Unless you're extremely unlucky, flood, fire or other acts of God should then only destroy one set at a time! The problem with mono playback is that, once you've set your mix, you're persevered. This inflexibility is not perfect, and when out on tour playing in various venues and acoustic circumstances, you might discover that some things no longer sound right-- some nights the tambourine in the pre-recorded mix might sound fine, other nights it might appear exceptionally emphasized. BVs can unexpectedly appear too loud, and reverbs that you embed in a dry rehearsal room turn out to be extreme when played in a place with lively acoustics. The only way to deal with these variables is to utilize multitrack playback. If you record a number of the different musical aspects to various tracks of a digital multitracker, such as the Roland VS2480 or Yamaha AW2816, this permits you the flexibility to adjust the blends of your backing tracks online at rehearsals and soundchecks.

Multitrack playback provides the sound mixer a far better chance of doing his task well. Having the playback sounds on separate tracks suggests that their channel EQ can be differed to suit each place's acoustics, that makes it simpler to mix the pre-recorded and live audio. Practical, consistent track laying will greatly help the sound mixer, so make sure the same sounds appear on the very same tracks throughout the set: for example, sequenced percussion and loops could go on tracks one and 2, bass lines on track 3, BVs on track 4, stereo keyboards on tracks 5 and six, and so on. Any pair of tracks designated as stereo needs to remain stereo throughout the set, to save the sound engineer having to alter desk pan positions-- however, if needed you can use a designated stereo set to play a mono signal by tape-recording the mono sound on both tracks. The highest-numbered track must usually be scheduled for the click/cue track; in ADAT playback, for instance, the click must be tape-recorded on the recorder's track eight. As with a mono mix, ensure that your levels correspond throughout the set. The click level ought to never differ, and the levels of other noises require to be musically suitable from song to tune-- if the sequenced percussion all of a sudden doubles in volume throughout your fourth song, the sound mixer won't be best pleased. Recording multiple tracks concurrently certainly requires a mixer with multiple busses, however at a pinch you can squeeze additional outputs out of any desk by utilizing its echo and foldback sends out, set to pre-fade to keep independence from the channel's fader level. By way of an example, have a look at the track design and output assignments shown in the grey box. It's for a song I've been playing just recently with a live band, utilizing the Yamaha AW2816 hard disk recorder for playback. All the audio was moved from a 24-bit Pro Tools system through an ADAT bridge into an ADAT user interface card installed in the back of the AW2816. No maker synchronisation was included, however the AW2816 was toiled to the Pro Tools word clock. The AW2816 has six outputs. The click track 8 and the vocal hints on track 16 go to output 3, which is linked directly to the drummer's earphone amp; I also like to mix in a small amount of the other tracks, so whatever appears in my earphones and the percussive stuff feels comfy with the click. Output 4 is utilized to send out the click to the rest of the band's in-ear screens. In my earphones, the click plays throughout the tune, but the band only hear it when I'm not playing (for instance, during a song intro used bass just). This sounds complicated, however is easy to do utilizing the AW2816's automated blending facilities-- you simply unmute the click in output four only for the areas on which the drums aren't playing. We mixed the very first 7 tracks to outputs one and two (the primary stereo outputs) for the front-of-house engineer. Throughout production practice sessions (and even soundchecks) he makes demands about each tune's mix, and I adjust the levels to his taste as the tour goes on-- sometimes it's merely a concern of tweaking the relative general level from one song to another. I have actually found that it generally takes 3 gigs or so till the engineer ends up being delighted with all the mixes, after which we seldom change them. Perhaps you're a teacher that wants to make your students' practice more fun and interesting by offering them with backing tracks. Or perhaps you're a trainee that wishes to rapidly make a track to play in addition to. This post will go show you quick ways to make backing tracks for any tune you hear. You will need to know some fundamental theory (reading music and chord recognition), however other than that, it's not so tough - particularly with the help of apps that can make the tracks for you (which is what I explain below). I originally planned to make a guide simply for the 'making a backing track' part, however thought to consist of some basic chord identification techniques for trainees or those who have not discovered this theory yet! After all, you can't make backing tracks without understanding what chords to put underneath. Without more ado ... Step 1: Recognize Chords If you already have a lead sheet/chord chart or currently understand the chords, you're all set to relocate to Step 2. You can also utilize this wonderful thing called the internet to discover the chord developments for nearly any tune. A fast look for" [song name] chords" must raise something, usually guitar tabs which work fine. Some of these normally require some tweaking but offer a good enough base.

If you can't find chords for your song (for example, if you're attempting to make some blues backing tracks in e minor for classical pieces), you're going to need to either 1. utilize your ear or 2. grab the sheet music and use your theory understanding. Honestly, chord analysis need to and could be an entire book by itself. But we won't get into that here. Most of the time, we can utilize a few choose techniques to quickly find out the chord development and get to jamming! Disclaimer: this isn't meant to be a proper theory lesson. Rather, we're going to reveal you 3 really, very fast and dirty pointers that work most of the time in identifying chords: 1. Bassline (by ear). Listen to the bassline. This is always my initial step in attempting to figure out chords because the bass player/bassline is usually the key to all of it. This is due to the fact that it's up to the bassist what chord I, the pianist, am playing. What I indicate by that is: for example, Cmaj7 and Amin7( 9) are the same notes (C E G B). Throw in inversions, and with no context (like a bass note), it might actually be either one. So - listen to the bassist initially. It's simple due to the fact that they normally play 1 note at a time, not 7 notes at a time like the chords you're attempting to figure out. You can currently hear a bassline detailing the chords (placed on your headphones if you can't hear it!) - but if it's a bit hard to make out, find a part of the tune where the bass is more prominent! Precise exact same notes as the start, however more balanced and noticable. By figuring out the bassline, now you know the first chord is some sort of A chord, then a G # chord, then C#. Then F#, G #, A. And then, I suggest, this tune is a pop tune. There aren't going to be any insane alternatives or extensions. Simply try out the basic chords (significant triad/seventh, minor triad/seventh, dominant seventh, etc.) and you probably got it! (This one ends up being Amaj7, G #min 7, C# min7. F# min7, G #min 7, Amaj7. That's the entire song.). Another fast method to find out chords in piano sheet music - take a look at the left hand of a song/piece. Usually, it's either already playing the chord or the chord is just separated and arpeggiated (or it's playing the bass note!). Here's Fur Elise. There's just As, Es, and a C. Rearrange it into a 1-3-5 and it's an A minor triad (A-C-E). Ta-da! The procedure after that would be an E major triad (E-G #- B). Super simple things. You can do that with almost anything you see these patterns for.

Keep in mind to also look vertically too. Here's the following area of Fur Elise: The first arpeggiation has C and G on the left hand and an E on the right. C major triad (C-E-G). The next has G and B on the left, a D on the right. G major triad (G-B-D). And so on. Now you can take a look at 'complicated' sounding tunes like Fantaisie Impromptu and instantly find the chord progressions and make your own plans. (That circled around step is a C# minor triad). 3. Patterns/chord movement. Much like how you understand patterns for words, there are expectable patterns in most music. For example, you understand that if someone says "and", the following word will not be "however". If you meet up with somebody and you hear them say, "How are ...", you anticipate it to end with "... you?". Like this, there are patterns that can help you quickly browse through chords and chord analysis. If you do a search on it, you'll discover a great deal of great sources. There are lists of common chord progressions for pop tunes, rock songs, jazz etc. and also rules for what chords can follow each other in classical music. I do not want to note them all here, however here's the absolute most standard one you'll see typically:. V - I. For example, in the key of C: G - C. (Or ii - V - I (d - G - C)). If you know what secret you remain in and you struck a V chord, you can expect a I chord to follow. If you look back at Fur Elise, that first passage is simply i - V - i - V - i. This is because a if you hear a V chord - particularly a V7 chord - it just pleads to resolve to the I. Attempt playing a V7 - I (G7 - C). Now, if you return to the G7 - it doesn't sound like you can end on it. It requires to solve. Stress and resolution. Step 2: Make your backing track. Now for the fun part: making the actual backing track! Here are a couple of ways available:. Easy. Record yourself playing the chords on a chordal instrument (piano, guitar, and so on). Just play back the recording on a loop and have fun noodling over it! This is best for targeted practice over particular chord developments you're having trouble improvising over. You can also use this for entire songs if you're okay without the drums/bass. Medium. For something with a complete rhythm section that takes extremely little effort on your end to make, attempt backing track apps! All you need to do is go into the chords/chord signs and the program will produce blues guitar backing tracks for you. For teachers making tracks for their trainees, you must try to find apps that permit you to export the audio file so you can connect it to your students' projects in Better Practice. Difficult. If you wish to make your own customized tracks from scratch and you have a mutual understanding of chords, basslines, and percussion, you can use some sort of DAW (digital audio workstation) like Garageband. There are many tutorials on this online if you browse "make your own backing tracks". This has a much greater finding out curve than the other 2 choices, however likewise have the potential to be the most gorgeous and creative. Ideally you now have some chord recognition tricks up your belt to make starting the procedure a little simpler. Transcribing things isn't supposed to be easy right off the bat! You'll need to repeat things over and over, hum along, and often simply guess 'til you get it right. A few of you are blessed with much better ears than the rest people and can choose stuff quickly. Most others just require to transcribe typically and get a feel of what chords seem like, and it becomes much easier ultimately. You'll begin to notice that lots of songs have comparable pieces of chord progressions that you hear and think, "Aha! I already know what he's doing there." In fact, teachers, making guitar backing tracks em would be a terrific task for your trainees! Obviously, learning correct theory is the greatest help - specifically jazz theory. But for those of you who don't have time for all that or are just getting started, I hope these suggestions could assist!

#min

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stepphase · 4 years ago

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Nokia phones, buffalo battery, startling cheap price

HMD Global recently officially launched a super cheap product - the Nokia C20 Plus phone.

Nokia phones: two new Nokia products name Nokia C20 Plus and Nokia C30. With valuable upgrades, Nokia C20 Plus attracts customers thanks to its low price but impressive configuration.

Design of the Nokia C20 Plus phone

Nokia C20 Plus has an exterior design quite similar to Nokia C20. Nokia C20 Plus is completely machine from plastic material with a texture bac. That helps reduce fingerprints on the product while increasing friction for a firmer grip.

The back of the device has a fairly simple design with the typical circular camera cluster of Nokia smartphones. And the familiar Nokia logo in the middle. In addition, I also do not see the appearance of a fingerprint sensor on the back of the Nokia C20 Plus.

The camera cluster is enough to use in Nokia phones

Nokia C20 Plus has a fairly modest number of cameras at the moment with two rear cameras including an 8 MP main camera and a 2 MP macro camera. With such camera parameters, the ability to take photos will certainly not be the strong point of this phone.

Good configuration

In terms of configuration, Nokia C20 Plus is use the Unisoc SC9863A octa-core processor of China's Spreadtrum semiconductor company. This is also the chip equip on the predecessor Nokia C20.

Comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. With running the light version of Android 11 Go Edition, the device works smoothly when multitasking.

Big screen with huge battery - Nokia phones

On the front, Nokia C20 Plus has a large screen with a size of up to 6.5 inches with a 20: 9 ratio and a waterdrop design to accommodate a 5 MP selfie camera. The surrounding edges of the product are still relatively thick with the top and bottom bezels being quite different.

The most impressive thing about the Nokia C20 Plus is perhaps its super-huge battery of up to 4,950 mAh. With such a large battery, the Nokia C20 Plus does not have to bear the burden of a huge chip or a high-resolution screen that helps the device have an impressive usage time, providing a long time experience for users.

Super attractive price - Nokia phones

Nokia C20 Plus is on sale in the Chinese market for 799 yuan (about 2.9 million VND). This is considered an attractive price compared to other models in the same segment.

Nokia C20 Plus launched: 6.5-inch screen, 4,950mAh battery, priced at only 2.5 million - Nokia phones

The Nokia C20 Plus runs on Android 11 Go and it comes with a large battery, As well as more cameras than the C20. Nokia C20 Plus equipped with a 6.5-inch screen with HD + resolution. Processing power is provided by the Unisoc SC9863A octa-core chip, which comes with 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory.

In terms of photography, this smartphone has a 5MP selfie camera on the front and an 8MP + 2MP dual-camera system (depth sensor) on the rear. It has a 4,950mAh battery, supports 10W charging, supports connections such as dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, micro USB, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Nokia C20 Plus is selling for 699 yuan (about 2.5 million) in China and has 2 color options: Ocean Blue, Graphite Black.

On hand Nokia C20 Plus: Simple design, enough performance, and cheap price - Nokia phones

After launching the Nokia C20 in March, HMD Global has officially launched an improved version of this smartphone, called the Nokia C20 Plus. The product impresses with its well-finished body, stable performance, and very attractive price. Let's find out more about Nokia's new low-cost phone model in the article below!

Nokia phones can see the Nokia C20 Plus's box design with the dominant white tone. Its front has a fairly large product image, while the side has the phone name and Android logo.

In terms of design, the Nokia C20 Plus looks quite similar to the standard Nokia C20 variant. This phone has a body finished from rough plastic material and is slightly curved on both sides. And the four corners are softly rounded, providing an extremely comfortable and comfortable grip in the hand. . Although the plastic material of the device is not as high-end as glass, it is less prone to fingerprints, as well as less likely to be damaged when dropped.

On the front, Nokia C20 Plus uses a waterdrop notch design to house the selfie camera. Because it belongs to the low-cost segment, the bezels on the screen edges are quite thick, especially the chin is thick enough to contain the Nokia logo. The Nokia C20 Plus screen has a size of 6.5 inches, supports HD + resolution and a 20: 9 aspect ratio, so the display space is quite spacious.

The right edge of the Nokia C20 Plus is where the power button and volume up / down.

The left side is where the SIM + memory card tray is located.

The is a home device to the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The bottom edge of the Nokia C20 Plus is where the micro-USB and microphone charging ports are located.

Of course, the speakerphone is locate on the back.

Nokia C20 Plus is the latest low-cost smartphone of HMD Global, with an eye-catching design, sufficient performance, and good capacity - Nokia phones

Also, The device will be pre-install with the Android 11 Go version. The performance of this smartphone can still meet the needs of daily users.

After all, another upgrade of the Nokia C20 Plus compared to the Nokia C20 variant is a battery with a capacity of 4,950 mAh. Promising to meet 2 long days of use by users. Unfortunately, this phone only supports 10W charging and still uses the MicroUSB port for charging and data transfer. In terms of connectivity, it supports dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

In terms of photography, this smartphone has a dual-camera system at the back instead of a single sensor like the Nokia C20. These two cameras are placed in an eye-catching circular cluster on the back and it includes an 8MP main sensor. A 2MP camera that measures depth when taking portraits. On the front, Nokia C20 Plus has a 5MP selfie camera for users to take "selfies" and video calls.

Nokia is sold for 699 yuan (about 2.5 million) in China and has 2 color options: Ocean Blue, Graphite Black.

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mrhotmaster · 5 years ago

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1More Triple Driver Wireless Bluetooth Earphones Review

1More Triple Driver Wireless Bluetooth Earphones Detailed Review

Each side of these wireless earphones is operated by a dynamic and two balanced armature drivers.

Genuine remote headphones may be the present and eventual fate of individual sound, yet there are still takers for the more conventional necklace style plan. Aside from the cost bit of leeway to this structure, there's additionally the way that you can show signs of improvement equipment and details because of the bigger type of the headset itself. A genuine case of this is what we're looking into today: the 1More Triple Driver Wireless Bluetooth headphones.

As of now evaluated at Rs. 8,599, the 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth is the remote rendition of the 1More Triple Driver in-ear earphones. While the genuine headphones are the equivalent, with a commonplace triple-driver arrangement, the more current headset highlights a remote network and jewelry to keep the headset secure. Can the 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth satisfy the elevated expectations set by the wired form? Discover in our survey.

1More Triple Driver Wireless Bluetooth Earphones Plan And Details

As the remote form of the phenomenal 1More Triple Driver headphones, there are normally a ton of similitudes between the two models. The earbuds are indistinguishable, with similar metal housing and shape, alongside the calculated ear tips that let them sit easily in your ears. As in the past, we very like the way the earbuds look, and they were agreeable also. A short elastic link runs from each earbud to the accessory, and a little clasp lets you keep them appended when not being used.

In the same way as other different headphones from 1More, the Triple Driver Bluetooth headphones accompany nine sets of ear tips; six of these are silicone, while three are froth. Even though we regularly favor froth tips for their unrivaled fit and clamor detachment, we saw the silicone tips as better for these headphones similar to more adaptable and offer a superior seal. The business bundle additionally contains a USB Type-C charging link and a convey pocket for the headset.

The jewelry is made of a blend of plastic and elastic, and holds the battery, gadgets, and controls of the 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth headphones. The elastic piece of the accessory is very adaptable and can be loosened up however you see fit. It can even securely be wound into circles for simple stockpiling too.

The left neckline of the accessory holds the controls, and the USB Type-C port for charging sits under a fold toward the end. You can control force, playback, and volume from the necklace. There's additionally a pointer light and the amplifier for the headset. It's a basic, attempted and-tried plan that functions admirably enough even today.

Inside every earpiece is the recognizable triple-driver arrangement we saw on the wired variant - one unique driver to deal with the low-end, and two adjusted armature drivers for the mids and highs. The 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth headset is Hi-Res Audio ensured, with a recurrence reaction scope of 20-40,000Hz. Bluetooth 4.2 is utilized for availability, with help for the SBC, AAC, and LDAC Bluetooth codecs. There's no aptX support, yet the nearness of LDAC implies this isn't generally an issue since Android gadgets broadly support the codec.

Battery life on the 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth headphones was conventional, best case scenario; we had the option to utilize the headphones for around six hours for each charge, with blended utilization that comprised of tuning in to music, accepting calls, and a touch of reserve time. Charging the headphones took around three hours, which we thought was a piece too long thinking about how little the battery is.

1More Triple Driver Wireless Bluetooth Earphones Execution

We adored the 1More Triple Driver wired headphones, so we had huge desires for the remote adaptation. The headphones didn't frustrate us, with a reasonable audiophile-accommodating sonic signature, itemized sound, and nearly a similar degree of value that the wired variation was able to do. We tried the headphones with an OnePlus 7T Pro (Review) and Apple MacBook Air as the source gadgets, utilizing Spotify, YouTube Music, and our assortment of high-goals soundtracks to play music.

Beginning with Summer Dem by Basement Jaxx, we were quickly intrigued with how point by point and adjusted the sound was. Like a lot of Basement Jaxx's music, the track joins a lot of noticeable components with fainter ones ringing in increasingly far off sounding pieces of the soundstage, which the 1More headphones figured out how to repeat delightfully. Portions of the track which had two vocalists singing together sounded great, with both particularly isolated, further demonstrating the degree of detail on offer with these headphones. The center advantage of utilizing a multi-driver arrangement is unmistakably discernible, and 1More benefits as much as possible from the specialized abilities of the drivers.

Moving to Hold Back Love by Kraak and Smaak, the early bass sounded tight and determined, however, avoided being as punchy and quick as we'd have gotten a kick out of the chance to hear right now track. The sonic mark remained dependably adjusted, giving each component of the track its opportunity to sparkle. While this is considered in its own specific manner, we despite everything wish that these headphones were adaptable enough to let various components of the track become the dominant focal point.

Likewise with the wired variant of the 1More Triple Driver headphones, tuning in to high-goals soundtracks on the 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth headphones would in the general draw out more in the sound. In addition to the fact that we heard more detail, yet the sonic mark appeared to be more versatile and obliging also. Near You by The Avalanches in FLAC group sounded excellent, drawing out the faintest of subtleties right now track and giving the bass only an insight more pound than with a gushed adaptation of a similar account.

The drivers themselves are all around tuned, and this can be heard in the snugness in the bass and the freshness of the mids and highs. Three drivers splitting the work likewise implied that even the busiest and most itemized tracks weren't eased back somewhere around the 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth headphones. Tuning in to a high-goals rendition of Life On The Nickel by Foster The People demonstrated how even this beat-filled occupied track didn't make the headphones vacillate.

We found the execution to be fundamentally better when utilizing our Android cell phone with the LDAC Bluetooth codec. Execution with the AAC codec was good also, however the LDAC codec's higher data transfer capacity made for a considerably more healthy and definite sonic execution from the 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth headphones.

We utilized the 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth headphones for voice calls also, and execution was tolerable enough in both indoor and outside conditions. There was some link commotion to be heard, yet their short length implied that they didn't regularly rub against our garments, making this an unimportant issue.

Decision

Necklace style remote headphones aren't exactly as mainstream in the mid-range and premium value fragments as they used to be. While we despite everything see a lot of these headphones in the spending section, purchasers who can manage the cost of genuine remote or completely prepared over-ear earphones justifiably will in general incline toward them. A little fragment of the crowd - especially audiophiles - may in any case observe the incentive in the 1More Triple Driver Bluetooth in view of the sound quality it conveys alongside the comfort of remote availability.

The headphones look great, sound incredible, and are agreeable enough for ordinary use. Battery life is the main huge downside; at under six hours for every charge, it probably won't last you an entire day of sensible use. That aside, this is a decent pair of headphones for purchasers who need excellent sound in a hurry.

Value: Rs. 8,599

Pros

Adjusted, itemized sound

Loads of ear tips in the crate

LDAC, AAC Bluetooth codec support

Adaptable necklace with simple to-utilize controls

Cons

Beneath normal battery life

Evaluation (out of 5)

Configuration/comfort: 4

Sound quality: 4

Battery life: 3

An incentive for cash: 4

In general: 4

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#1more #1more review #1more triple driver #1more triple driver bluetooth #1more triple driver bt #1m

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travelguy4444 · 6 years ago

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The Ultimate 2018 Holiday Gift Guide for Travelers

Posted: 12/3/18 | December 3rd, 2018

Travelers can be a fickle group of people to buy gifts for as we’re constantly coming and going. We usually don’t carry a lot of stuff with us, and no two travelers are alike so finding the perfect gift for the traveler in your life can be tricky.

While a plane ticket is never a bad idea (I’m a window seat in case anyone is thinking of getting me one), I’ve put together this ultimate (and our first ever) holiday gift guide for travelers as there’s a lot of great travel gear out there these days that helps people travel cheaper and better.

Even me, the gear adverse traveler, likes a lot of this stuff!

This is stuff I actually think is super useful. No nonsense. No fluff.

Just the best gifts for intrepid travelers and globetrotting nomads.

Traveler Gift Guide Table of Contents

Travel Gear

Travel Tech

Travel Inspiration

Best Holiday Gifts for Travelers!

Travel Gear

1. My Favorite Travel Backpack

If you’ve got a budget traveler on your holiday list, a travel backpack is the gift that keeps on giving. A well-made bag will last for years and through dozens of adventures. Having a reliable travel backpack is one of the most important items for a traveler. My favorite bag is the Flash 45 from REI but other great companies worth checking out are Osprey, Nomatic, and MEC (for Canadians).

—> Buy it now from REI!

(For a different backpack, check out my guide finding the right backpack for more options!)

2. Packing Cubes

Packing cubes are an awesome tool to help you stay organized while you travel. Whether you’re a budget backpacker or traveling with half a dozen suitcases, packing cubes will keep you organized as you travel the world. They come in a variety of sizes, allowing you to store items big and small. If you know a traveler who needs a hand staying organized, this is the gift for them!

—> Buy them now on Amazon!

3. Travel Padlock

This simple item is one of the most important for the budget traveler. Since many hostels have lockers, backpackers need to have their own lock when they’re on the road. While you can usually rent them at hostels, those prices add up after a while. I never leave home without a lock because I never know when it will come in handy. —> Buy it now on Amazon!

4. Travel Clothing from Unbound Merino

These travel clothes are some of the most versatile on the market. Made from merino wool, Unbound’s clothing can be worn daily for weeks (and months!) without getting smelly. They are perfect for the traveler who wants to pack lighter. I really love the material, they feel great, they hardly ever need a wash, and they last forever!

—> Buy them now on Unbound!

5. Suavs shoes

These shoes are super versatile and durable, making them great for traveling. Whether you’re just exploring the city or in need something that looks a bit fancier, these shoes can do it all so you don’t have to pack multiple shoes. They are flexible, light, washable, and breathable. I love them! (They look great too!)

—> Buy a pair now on Amazon!

6. Eco-friendly Luggage from Samsonite

If you’re in need of proper luggage, Samsonite has been a go-to brand for durable, reliable luggage for ages. Now, I’m a backpack guy but I love this new luggage set. It’s made from 100% recycled plastic! Every little part of it! I can get behind something that environmentally friendly. It also comes with a limited 10 year warranty too in case something goes wrong.

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

7. Earplugs

Anyone who has ever stayed in a hostel knows that a good pair of earplugs is a necessity. From chronic snorers to late-night drinkers to copulating couples in creaking bunks, hostels are known for their less-than-quiet accommodation. Add some earplugs to your shopping list. Because the gift of a good sleep is priceless!

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

8. Sea to Summit Quick Dry Travel Towel

Having a lightweight, quick-drying towel makes a huge difference when you’re on the road. Big, bulky towels take up a lot of space in your backpack and they take a long time to dry. If you’re on the road, you don’t want a towel to delay your plans or stink up your bag. Enter the travel towel. It’s the compact, quick-drying solution that every backpacker needs.

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

9. Travel Headlamp

This is a great tool for both backpackers and anyone looking to do any hiking or camping. In a hostel, they’re helpful if you need to check in or out but don’t want to disturb your fellow travelers. For outdoorsy folks, they’re useful for hiking, setting up camp in the dark, and for emergencies.

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

10. LifeStraw

Environmentally, pollution from single-use plastics is something every traveler has witnessed. And, monetarily, when you’re traveling, continuiously buying water gets expensive. Do your part to help the planet by traveling with a reusable filter. LifeStraw is an awesome brand with a built in water filter. The filters last 5 years so you save money on changing them too.

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

11. Travel Neck Pillow

Travel pillows are perfect for those long-haul flights, delayed buses, and airport naps. Every traveler needs to have a travel pillow on hand to maxamize that downtime and time in transit. They’re great for helping prevent jetlag and make even the longest, most uncomfortable trip a little more bearable.

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

Travel Tech

12. MacBook Air

This is my favorite travel computer. It’s light, it’s powerful enough for regular use, and the battery life is great. While an iPad might be another potential travel choice, I find the Air much more versatile. You can do a lot more with it. When I’m on the road, this is the laptop I travel with.

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

13. iPhone

While not a cheap phone, the iPhone X has such a good camera that you don’t need to take a traditonal camera with you when you travel. It has a solid battery life, a grat lens, beautiful screen, and, is overall, just awesome. True, I’m an Apple fanboy so I might be biased but hey, it’s my list!

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

14. Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones

These are great for those long flights or bus trips as they block out background noise so you can read, work, or sleep without being distrubed. The wireless Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones are fan favorites and my go-to brand. They are comfortable, rechargable, and do an amazing job at removing background noise. If you’re on a budget, consider the QuietComfort 25 instead.

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

15. Mophie External Battery

These days, we all travel with numerous electronic devices like phones and tablets. It can be hard to keep them all charged. This solves that problem. Two high-output USB ports make this external battery incredibly convenient, and it can charge up to 100 hours of battery in one go.

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

16. Kindle

While I personally prefer to read physical books, I can’t argue against the convenience and simplicity of the Kindle. Hauling around physical books is a pain if you’re traveling often. With a Kindle, you can pack hundreds of books into a single device, and many versions can also use apps and access the internet. It’s a great gift for the avid reader.

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

17. Travel Adapter

Nothing is more tedious than arrving to a new destination only to realize you can’t charge your devices because the electrical outlets are different. Enter the travel adapter. They’re a simple accessory. There’s a million out there but this is one I use. I like that is also has USB outlets on it too.

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

18. GoPro Hero 7 Black

Every traveler needs a camera, and few are as versatile and durable as the GoPro. They’re great for photos and video no matter the climate. They’re waterproof and are perfect for both everyday city exploring as well as more extreme and adventurous activities. They’re just awesome.

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

Travel Inspiration

19. Scratch Travel Maps from Landmass

These maps are a fun way to keep track of your past travels while helping you stay inspired as you plan your future trips. You simply scratch off the parts of the world you’ve been. Simple. Easy. Landmass is my favorite company that makes these, though there are plenty of other companies that make them now, so you can also find them in all sorts of sizes and colors.

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

20. Hand-drawn Food Maps

These are unique, hand-drawn typographic maps of food from Legal Nomads and artist Ella Frances Sanders. They make a great gift for anyone who loves to eat and travel (and who doesn’t!). They come in a variety of sizes too! Jodi’s maps are the best!

—> Buy it now! (Use the code SEALUP for 15% off!)

21. The Fearless Guide to Solo Female Travel

Kristin Addis created this detailed guide to solo feamle travel, addressing all the concerns women have about traveling. The book includes tons of tips and advice, as well as interviews with other female travelers and writers. It gives you the specific, actionable information you need to conquer the world on any trip!

—> Buy it now!

22. Moleskine Notebook

I never leave home without one of these. They are the perfect notebook for journaling during your trip as well as for writing down travel notes such as directions, contact information, and language tips. I think everyone needs to write more during their travels so they have something to look back on (other than photos).

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

23. Travel Books

Few things can inspire you to travel like a great book. They can transport you to new places and keep your wanderlust stoked while you work towards making your own travel dreams a reality. If you’ve got an avid reader who loves to travel on your holiday list (or if you’re just looking for something to read over the holidays) one of my favorite travel books might be a great holiday choice!

—> Here’s a list of great books to get!

24. Celiac Travel Cards

My friend Jodi from Legal Nomads created these helpful travel cards for anyone traveling with Celiac disease. They are in-depth resources that communicate your concerns to restaurant staff in a way that allows anyone traveling with the disease to have a worry-free meal. If you or someone you love has Celiac disease, these travel cards are a great resource!

—> Buy them now! (Use the code SEALUP for 15% off!)

25. How to Travel the World on $50 a Day

While I might be biased, I think this is a travel resource that every traveler needs in their arsenal! It will show you how I travel the world on a budget, illuminating all my best tips in one easy to follow format that you can take with you when you travel. It will show you how to become a master traveler and navigate the world — no matter where in the world you want to go!

—> Buy it now on Amazon

26. Donate to Charity!

For the traveler in your life who has everything, why not make a donation to charity on their behalf! FLYTE is an awesome charity that I started back in 2015 to help high school students in underserved communities experience the transformational power of travel. Every year we send a new group of students abroad, but we can’t do it without your help!

—> Donate and some kids learn the gift of travel today!

***

Whether you’re searching for the perfect holiday gift for a traveler in your life or just looking for some holiday inspiration for yourself, this list will help you find an awesome gift for the holidays. No matter your budget, there is something here for you that will help you level up your travels or the travels of a loved one.

The post The Ultimate 2018 Holiday Gift Guide for Travelers appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

source https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/best-travel-gifts/

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tamboradventure · 6 years ago

Text

The Ultimate 2018 Holiday Gift Guide for Travelers

Posted: 12/3/18 | December 3rd, 2018

Even me, the gear adverse traveler, likes a lot of this stuff!

This is stuff I actually think is super useful. No nonsense. No fluff.

Just the best gifts for intrepid travelers and globetrotting nomads.

Traveler Gift Guide Table of Contents

Travel Gear

Travel Tech

Travel Inspiration

Best Holiday Gifts for Travelers!

Travel Gear

1. My Favorite Travel Backpack

—> Buy it now from REI!

(For a different backpack, check out my guide finding the right backpack for more options!)

2. Packing Cubes

—> Buy them now on Amazon!

3. Travel Padlock

4. Travel Clothing from Unbound Merino

—> Buy them now on Unbound!

5. Suavs shoes

—> Buy a pair now on Amazon!

6. Eco-friendly Luggage from Samsonite

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

7. Earplugs

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

8. Sea to Summit Quick Dry Travel Towel

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

9. Travel Headlamp

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

10. LifeStraw

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

11. Travel Neck Pillow

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

Travel Tech

12. MacBook Air

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

13. iPhone

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

14. Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

15. Mophie External Battery

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

16. Kindle

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

17. Travel Adapter

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

18. GoPro Hero 7 Black

—> Buy it now on Amazon!

Travel Inspiration

19. Scratch Travel Maps from Landmass

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

20. Hand-drawn Food Maps

—> Buy it now! (Use the code SEALUP for 15% off!)

21. The Fearless Guide to Solo Female Travel

—> Buy it now!

22. Moleskine Notebook

—> Buy one now on Amazon!

23. Travel Books

—> Here’s a list of great books to get!

24. Celiac Travel Cards

—> Buy them now! (Use the code SEALUP for 15% off!)

25. How to Travel the World on $50 a Day

—> Buy it now on Amazon

26. Donate to Charity!

—> Donate and some kids learn the gift of travel today!

***

The post The Ultimate 2018 Holiday Gift Guide for Travelers appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Nomadic Matt's Travel Site https://ift.tt/2BOqH4P via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Nomadic Matt's Travel Site

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tortuga-aak · 7 years ago

Text

I tried out the iPhone 8 Plus — and it made me love my iPhone 6s even more (AAPL)

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

A few weeks ago, one of my worst tech fears was realized: I cracked my iPhone screen.

In three years of owning iPhones, I've never cracked my screen or significantly damaged my phone in any way. So when my iPhone 6s broke my fall on the subway steps recently — an embarrassing and slightly painful way to crack my screen — I was bummed to say the least.

As I contemplated the future of my phone (to repair or not to repair?) I figured it was as good a time as any to test out the new iPhone 8 Plus.

I ended up using the phone for about a week, swapping in my own SIM card and using the phone as my full-time device. When the week was up and it was time to switch back to my own phone, I figured I'd feel a bit sad giving up a gorgeous, flawless device and going back to my older, damaged one. Instead, I felt the opposite.

Here's why:

The iPhone 8 Plus is still just too big for me.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

The 8 Plus was a big change for a lot of reasons, the main one being the size of it compared to my standard-sized 6s.

The phone felt gigantic to me. I couldn't get used to the size, even after several days of using it. I felt myself having to change almost every habit I had to accommodate the huge phone, and constantly felt nervous I was going to drop it. I have relatively small hands, and I had a lot of trouble using the device, even with Apple's Reachability feature that lets you better reach content towards the top of the screen by double-tapping the home button.

I can't live without a headphone jack (yet).

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Apple removed the headphone jack from its phones more than a year ago, and I'm still not used to it. I understand why they did it — it's where technology is headed, and I'm OK with that. My qualm is that it still feels premature.

There were countless moments when I forgot I didn't have a headphone jack on the 8 Plus. When traveling home for Thanksgiving, I brought along my on-ear Sony headphones to use on the plane, since they're the best, comfiest headphones I have — and of course, they couldn't plug into the phone.

When trying to make a phone call, I grabbed the Apple EarPods that came with my 6s only to remember I couldn't use those, either.

I know what you're thinking: Bluetooth headphones are the solution here. That's not the issue; I love Bluetooth headphones. I have a pair of Powerbeats, which are great for working out and listening to music, but they sound terrible when using them to make phone calls, so they can't be my full-time headphones.

For now, I prefer having a headphone jack too much to let go of my 6s.

The iPhone 8 Plus is too heavy.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

The iPhone 8 Plus has a glass back, which makes it heavier than its predecessors — it weighs 7.12 ounces.

That doesn't sound like a lot, but compared to the iPhone 6s, it feels like a brick. The 6s, with its aluminum body, weighs only 5.04 ounces. When I eventually switched back to the 6s, I laughed out loud at how light it felt in comparison. I never thought the weight of a phone would bother me, but I now realize I prefer a more lightweight device to something heavier like the iPhone 8 Plus.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider from Feedburner http://ift.tt/2AqFgLU

#Feedburner

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topicprinter · 7 years ago

Link

The blog post was originally posted on our blog.Startups need to get their products to the market faster than ever in an increasingly competitive world. The minimum viable product a.k.a. MVP is the way to achieve this, but you must be able to provide the right key features that differentiate and give value to customers to attract clients and investors before the market moves on.We’ve gathered these 15+ examples of successful MVPs to show what you should focus on when it comes to developing that key MVP feature set.Facebook** All Facebook's (or Thefacebook as it was called when they launched) MVP did was connect students together via their college or class and let them post messages to their boards. The idea already existed in Friends Reunited and other social platforms, but the simplicity of Facebook’s approach and the traction it gained in the virulent world of college graduates proved unstoppable. This allowed almost all of the features that came after to build on that success.Groupon Vouchers and discounts are old concepts, but Groupon took the idea of sharing and socializing them to new heights. It launched with a simple WordPress site and regular PDFs emailed to early subscribers. The test proved successful, and the company then built its voucher system and backend, driving it to a great success.Airbnb Cutting out the middleman and providing short-term renting is the key mission statement behind Airbnb. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia lived in a loft apartment in San Francisco and had difficulties with paying their rent. That's when they decided to give it a try and fulfill one of their dreams to start a business. To test the idea they provided accommodation for those who came to town to attend a design conference. Brian and Joe took a few pictures of their loft, created a simple web page and soon enough had 3 paying guests. Airbnb expanded organically, with founder Paul Chesky living exclusively in Airbnbs to dog food the product.Zynga Games and social media sit easily together now, but were once two very different streams. Zynga’s original product was a poker game that almost anyone could have made. Going live on Facebook made the difference and helped the team raise venture capital to fund titles like Farmville, which would drive it to a huge success. This is a proof that sometimes your MVP isn’t about the product, but the platform it ends up on.Pebble The smartwatch market is slowly gaining traction, but Pebble proved that cramming massive amounts of tech into a coin-sized space isn’t a prerequisite for success. Its e-paper-based original design raised $10 million on Kickstarter, with backers proving the concept was something people really wanted. The company demonstrated repeatability with the Pebble Time raising over $20 million in 2015. Yes, Pebble retired from the market last year, but it proved with millions of sales that not everyone needs the fastest and latest tech.Amazon Amazon started off selling books online, challenging the Barnes and Nobles of this world who were largely stuck in the bricks-and-mortar age. Focusing on the books at a low prices angle in 1994 with a simplistic web design was all it took for the company to grow and branch out to become the retail leviathan it is today.Zappos What if you can’t get inventory for your site? Zappos's founder Nick Swinmurn went into shoe retailing with no stock. He took photos of shoes he wanted to sell in stores and if customers ordered them, he then physically purchased the product and sold them on. That’s a great way to test a market if you don’t have access to the product, but have an MVP model you think will succeed.If you need some help with building your MVP, just drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll be happy to share with you an experience we gathered while working with many other startups!Etsy This craft-focused site let eBay do the proof of concept and then found an audience that needed their own MVP to resonate with. Craft sales have boomed since, as Etsy focused on small bespoke crafters and their products. All based on seeing where eBay succeeded and where it let sellers down.Dropbox Dropbox decided to go even further and didn’t make any product at all. Instead, they pretended they had it ready by creating an explainer video. They wanted to check if their file-syncing idea is anywhere close to being interesting to people. They could've built a whole hardware infrastructure, develop apps and so on, but that was a risk they weren't willing to take. If the idea would have failed, Dropbox founders Arash Ferdowsi and Drew Houston would lose priceless time, a lot of effort and money. Overnight they attracted over 70k of people who left their emails and wanted to get the products as soon as possible. I don’t need to tell you how it ended, do I? ;)Buffer For those who might not be familiar with Buffer - it’s a social media tool that lets you schedule posts on different social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+ or Instagram. The CEO of Buffer, Joel Gascoigne, decided that he doesn’t want to build a product that no one's going to use. So they did something similar to what Dropbox did, just instead of a video, they created a landing page that would present the idea of Buffer product to visitors, show them different pricing and features. If someone was convinced enough to proceed with purchasing the product and picked one of the available plans - they’d get a screen informing them that Buffer was not fully ready yet, but they could subscribe to the waiting list. Later, Buffer used emails they received to talk to those people and ask them about their expectations etc. This approach helped them to build a product the market actually wanted.Twitter Twitter, a widely popular social media platform, is a matter of completely different approach. After Apple released iTunes, a podcasting platform Odeo was going through tough times that forced them to organize hackathons in order to decide what to do next. During one of the hackathons, they came up with an idea to create an SMS-based messaging platform. It was initially called “twttr” and was supposed to be an internal-use-only product, but employees were spending hundreds of dollars on SMS to post to the platform. That showed to the founders of Odeo that the idea of “twttr” might be exactly what they were looking for.Foursquare One of the great examples of a single-featured MVP is a location-based social platform - Foursquare. Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai weren’t new to the business world. Before they founded Foursquare they had developed another similar platform - Dodgeball, which was eventually sold to Google. So when they moved to a new project they knew exactly what they should be doing. Dennis and Naveen started building an MVP with limited functionalities. It allowed you to check-in into different locations and would award you with different badges as a part of their gamification process. Only after the MVP became successful they added more features, transforming it into a sophisticated city guide.Spotify Spotify is another great example of how implementing only one core feature, instead of getting distracted by different cool features it would be nice to have in your MVP, can help you to succeed. They wanted to build the best music streaming service and for their MVP they concentrated on a single most important feature - music streaming. Spotify developed a desktop app and run a closed beta to test the market. While the MVP product and a freemium price model was proving to be exactly what people wanted, Spotify team spent time on signing even more artists, simultaneously developing mobile apps and going overseas to conquer the US market.Uber You might be surprised, but if you didn’t follow Uber’s history since the very beginning, you might not know that back in 2010 Uber wasn’t what you’d expect it to be. Uber’s MVP did one simple thing: connected drivers with iPhone owners in San Francisco who weren't scared to have credit card payments enabled in an unknown app. It was enough to fulfill their main goal: offer taxi services as cheap as possible. The Uber we know now is a result of a right approach to business scaling and a successful MVP test.iPhone Surprised to see iPhone on the list? Well, you shouldn’t be. When Apple released their first version of the iPhone, it was lacking many basic functionalities. Copy-paste, for example. And I’m not talking about copying an image or a photo, you couldn’t even copy text. Next, search. Searching for your colleague's email address shouldn’t be that difficult, right? Just put their name in the search field and… wait… there’s no search field? Yes, that was a reality for iPhone users. More than that, if you’d like to send an email and would start typing your friend's address you’d expect some suggestions to pop up. Well… Not in your iPhone, tho. And I’m not done yet.Do you like to be able to send a nice picture of a squirrel you met in a park on your way home to your partner? That would, of course, be really nice, but your iPhone doesn’t handle MMS… And iPhone 2G wouldn’t be able to help you either. Still no MMS... Okay, fine, since I’m not able to send an MMS, I’m gonna enjoy my walk home with some music on. And I really hate wires, so it’s time for my amazing Bluetooth headphones. Let’s rock it! Hm, how do I connect tho? What do you mean there’s no Bluetooth? Every smartphone has Bluetooth! Every, except your iPhone.And please don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on Apple’s products. I love them, I really do. I just want to show you that you don’t have to build every single feature in your product’s MVP. Build the core, test if the market really needs it. If such titans as Apple are not willing to gamble, you definitely shouldn’t.AngelList AngelList - a platform developed to help startups raise money and connect with investors, now also an employee recruiting platform. When Babak Nivi and Naval Ravikant founded AngelList in January 2010, they tested their service idea by doing simple email intros to investors using their broad network of contacts. After they saw there was a potential in their solution they were able to come up with a plan to scale it.Summary There are many ways to achieve success in business, but MVP, in my opinion, is a go-to solution, especially for startups, due to a lack of huge funds behind their back. Small companies are also on the frontier of innovation because they don't have as much procedural or formal limitations as huge corporations.That's why you shouldn't be scared of testing your ideas. Even the craziest one may be not that crazy after all.If you know other examples you think we should add to our list, feel free to post them in the comments below.

#/r/startups #reddit

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