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MIT announces an innovation hub for students in Hong Kong

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Title: MIT announces an innovation hub for students in Hong Kong
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For many startups, seeing their ideas come to fruition in the market can be a long, challenging process. MIT wants to help students exp...

<img alt="Hong-kong-victoria-harbor-skyline" height="359" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzExLzA5LzA3L2hvbmdrb25ndmljLjNmNGFjLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTk1MHg1MzQjCmUJanBn/61b9349c/746/hong-kong-victoria-harbor-skyline.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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For many startups, seeing their ideas come to fruition in the market can be a long, challenging process. <a href="http://mashable.com/category/mit/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;">MIT</a> wants to help students expedite that process with an "Innovation Node" in Hong Kong.</div>
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MIT announced the collaborative space on Monday, in an effort to give students and faculty resources to move ideas from lab to market more quickly. The MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node is slated to open next summer, according to an article from the <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2015/innovation-node-hong-kong-1109" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">MIT News Office</a>.</div>
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SEE ALSO: <a data-crackerjax="#post-slider" href="http://mashable.com/2015/08/22/3d-glass-printing/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none;">MIT unveils 3D printing with glass breakthrough</a></div>
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MIT's decision makes sense, since a crop of coworking spaces where startups can grow have been popping up in Hong Kong over the past few years. <a href="http://www.cyberport.hk/en" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Cyberport</a> is an information and communications technology (ICT) hub that serves startups and entrepreneurs. In May 2014, the company <a href="https://www.cyberport.hk/files/53635ff6e8cb5930202102/20140502_Cyberport%20MSFT%20Partnership_Eng.pdf" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">partnered with Microsoft Ventures</a> to help with funding support, technical training, business mentorship and joint marketing promotion. Past Cyberport internship programs have also linked students to Shanghai ICT companies such as IBM, Microsoft and Cisco.</div>
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Other Hong Kong coworking spaces include <a href="http://www.hkcocoon.org/en/index.aspx" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CoCoon</a>, which companies have to apply to in order to access its resources and incubation program, and <a href="http://www.hkstp.org/en-US/Homepage.aspx" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation</a>, which has laboratories and technical centers with professional support services.</div>
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At the Node, students, faculty and researchers will have access to various opportunities and will be able to work with Hong Kong-based students and faculty, MIT alumni, entrepreneurs and businesses.</div>
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The Node will facilitate internships for students at companies based in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and along the Pearl River Delta, through China's MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives program. There will also be educational programs, workshops and innovation-focused events. Students can also take part in "action-learning" activities through the MIT China Lab, which pairs MIT's business students with students from China's top business schools.</div>
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Future plans for the Node include creating a "makerspace," a facility with advanced tools and materials for invention and prototyping. MIT's Cambridge campus is currently in the process of building a new makerspace, which the university says will be linked to the Node's planned makerspace.</div>
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<em>Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.</em><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17.7272720336914px; text-transform: uppercase;"> </span></div>
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MIT announces an innovation hub for students in Hong Kong

For many startups, seeing their ideas come to fruition in the market can be a long, challenging process. MIT wants to help students exp...

4 books every aspiring startup founder should read

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Title: 4 books every aspiring startup founder should read
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To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be able to juggle several hats at the same time. Identifying a problem and developing a scal...

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To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be able to juggle several hats at the same time. Identifying a problem and developing a scalable solution is the easy bit. Your initial days as a founder may be spent coding and refining the technical architecture, but then comes a concerted effort on streamlining operations, drumming up sales, and executing a marketing strategy.</div>
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In an ideal scenario, founders already have experience in what it takes to build a company. They might have worked different jobs in the past or have a fancy college degree which will, at the very least, point them in the right direction. But startups are tricky; be prepared to dig deep and get your hands dirty. Fortunately there's a wealth of advice out there from people who've achieved brilliant things and want to give their knowledge to others like them. In no particular order, here are four books every aspiring tech founder should read.</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. <em>Zero to One</em> — Peter Thiel</span></h3>
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Peter Thiel needs no introduction. As the co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, the American entrepreneur has done and seen it all. In his book, which Forbes says "makes you feel superhuman", Peter outlines how great companies are born out of nothing. <em>Zero to One</em> urges founders to look at areas which are underserved and where they can carve out a niche — building a loyal base of customers which you can use as a foundation to scale.</div>
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Peter knows what he's talking about — after all his net worth is approximately US$2.2 billion. Other chapters in his book talk about the nature of competition, the essence of building products investors will be interested in, and how it's essential to have a great team.</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2. <em>The Hard Thing About Hard Things</em> — Ben Horowitz</span></h3>
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Ben Horowitz is the co-founder of one of the most recognized names in venture capital —<a href="http://a16z.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Andreessen Horowitz</a>. Prior to his role as a VC, Ben worked at Netscape, eventually going on to build an enterprise software company — Opsware — which was sold to HP for US$1.6 billion in cash. He's been there and done that.</div>
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<em>The Hard Thing About Hard Things</em> outlines Ben's journey in refreshing honesty. It takes you through the highs and lows — an inevitable course for any founder trying to make it big. The book is written more in a personal narrative style but that's a good thing. It goes to show no founder can ever dream of making an impact without having to go through trials and tribulations. There's advice on almost everything you need to do to build a world-class company — acting and thinking like a leader, measuring performance, and focusing on product.</div>
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<img alt="ben-horowitz-tech-in-asia-tokyo-2015-05" data-fragment="m!6471" data-image="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzExLzA2LzJhL2Jlbmhvcm93aXR6LjQwZTZmLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/14671b05/b21/ben-horowitz-tech-in-asia-tokyo-2015-05-720x480.jpg" data-micro="1" data-url="http://mashable.com/2015/11/08/books-startup-founder/" data-width="720" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzExLzA2LzJhL2Jlbmhvcm93aXR6LjQwZTZmLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/14671b05/b21/ben-horowitz-tech-in-asia-tokyo-2015-05-720x480.jpg" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">3. <em>The Lean Startup</em> — Eric Ries</span></h3>
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Rated as a <em>New York Times</em> best-seller, <em>The Lean Startup</em> teaches founders how to hustle, stretch budgets, and scale operations without burning too much cash. Eric wants you to learn how to be successful without wasting too many resources. The book counts on five basic principles as the cornerstone for success, allowing you to make better, faster business decisions in a landscape where speed and execution is everything. It cites Dropbox as one of the companies which successfully incorporated advice to scale quickly.</div>
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<strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.techinasia.com/ben-horowitz-tech-in-asia-tokyo-2015/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none;" target="_blank">Ben Horowitz on tough decisions, Asia, and why he's not friends with Marc Andreessen</a></strong><div class="inline-ad-seealso" style="margin: 0px 18.75px 0px auto; max-width: 625px;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">4. <em>Startup Playbook</em> — Sam Altman</span></h3>
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Sam Altman is the president of <a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Y Combinator</a> — a Silicon Valley-based accelerator and one of the most prestigious names in the startup world today. The accelerator counts Dropbox, Airbnb, and Reddit as some of the companies that have graduated from its program. It is known for its unnerving focus on urging founders to "build something people want."</div>
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More than a hundred Y Combinator graduates are worth at least US$100 million or more, with a combined market capitalization of above US$65 billion. Clearly it's doing something right when it comes to mentorship and advice.</div>
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<em><a href="http://playbook.samaltman.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Startup Playbook</a></em> is an effort by Sam Altman to collate all the advice Y Combinator gives its resident companies. The book deals with how to start a company — one that users love and are eager to spread the word about. However, Sam clearly outlines that this is probably the first in a two-book series, talking exclusively about the initial stages of a startup. Scaling, which is also important, will be addressed in the second part — yet unreleased.</div>
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This article originally published at Tech in Asia <a href="https://www.techinasia.com/4-books-aspiring-startup-founder-read/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;">here</a></div>
</section>

4 books every aspiring startup founder should read

To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be able to juggle several hats at the same time. Identifying a problem and developing a scal...

Why every tech company needs to integrate empathy

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Title: Why every tech company needs to integrate empathy
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Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Humans have been building solutions that make us better, faster and stronger since we discovered that we could fashion tools out of rocks...

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Humans have been building solutions that make us better, faster and stronger since we discovered that we could fashion tools out of rocks and twigs. Our earliest technological innovations focused on amplifying our physical skills, but once Alan Turing created an early example of the modern computer with his code-breaking machine, our attention increasingly turned towards processing information as quickly as possible to mimic human cognition. Today, everything from our watches to our thermostats are ready and able to process information far faster than our brains can.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px;">Yet, with every new technological update touting faster speeds, more storage and exciting new features, consumers have grown to want and expect even more. Devices are expected to grow and learn to fit into the fiber of who their owner is, creating a partnership between technology and human that is as fruitful as possible. In order to do this well, we need to take things back to high school biology.</span></div>
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When we think of evolution, we think about our physical development from apes to Homo sapiens, adapting to our changing world. What we often forget is that one of the most critical parts of human evolution was the development of empathy. The ability to put oneself in another's shoes and to understand them on an emotional level has allowed us to form stronger connections that have bolstered our success as a species.</div>
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Humans evolved to have empathy to benefit our survival — and so too can technology through artificial intelligence. Empathetic functionality is the next phase in the evolution of technology. Here are the three main AI processes that are fueling this evolution.</div>
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1. Natural language processing</h2>
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<a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-facebook facebook" href="http://mashable.com/2015/09/16/artificial-intelligence-empathy/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #3b579d; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; transition: color 0.3s ease; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-twitter twitter" href="http://mashable.com/2015/09/16/artificial-intelligence-empathy/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #2daae1; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; transition: color 0.3s ease; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-google_plus google_plus" href="http://mashable.com/2015/09/16/artificial-intelligence-empathy/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #f02f16; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; transition: color 0.3s ease; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-pinterest pinterest" href="http://mashable.com/2015/09/16/artificial-intelligence-empathy/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #bf1e25; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; transition: color 0.3s ease; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a></div>
<img alt="Tweetdeck-Language-Translation-thumb" class="" data-caption="" data-credit-label="" data-credit-link="" data-credit-name="Mashable composite, Twitter" data-credit-provider="Custom type" data-fragment="m!632f" data-image="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI0LzIxL1R3ZWV0ZGVja0xhLmE5NGFkLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/ff1edfd3/22d/Tweetdeck-Language-Translation-thumb.jpg" data-micro="1" data-width="1920" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI0LzIxL1R3ZWV0ZGVja0xhLmE5NGFkLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/ff1edfd3/22d/Tweetdeck-Language-Translation-thumb.jpg" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Tweetdeck-Language-Translation-thumb" /><span style="font-size: 15px;">At its core, empathy is about actively listening in order to understand the subtleties of the speaker, an action that can be mimicked with natural language processing (NLP). NLP is already widely used to benefit our lives in a number of ways. For example, the</span><a href="http://www.dkfz.de/en/nct/" style="color: #00aeef; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> National Center of Tumor Disease</a><span style="font-size: 15px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">uses NLP technology to better sift through free text to retrieve data, and everyone's favorite digital personal assistant, Siri, has brought NLP to the mainstream.</span></div>
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But as anyone who's ever ended up with a list of Mexican restaurants after asking Siri to exclude Mexican restaurants can attest to, she's not the best listener. Voice recognition has yet to evolve to the level of understanding it needs to. Many products on the market are not able to understand differing accents, thus requiring the user to change their natural speech patterns in order for the technology to understand them, which isn't exactly conducive to fostering empathetic interactions.</div>
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The next generation of NLP and voice recognition technology will need to fix this problem, creating software that better understands the implicit — as well as the explicit parts — of human communication.</div>
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Luckily, we’re already well on our way to this goal. Companies like <a href="http://www.soundhound.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Soundhound</a> and <a href="https://www.metamind.io/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">MetaMind</a>are building on first-generation audio assistants like Siri and making a serious investment in more empathetic NLP, identifying complexities in speech and creating technologies that identify conversational nuances like exclusions and negations. These innovations will be used more broadly in the future, offering the consumer more poignant, thoughtful responses that truly address a problem they're looking to solve.</div>
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2. Computer vision</h2>
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Body language can tell you more about how a person is feeling than what the words that come out of their mouth. This is where computer vision comes in, a technology capable of interpreting our silent language of movements and expressions. Computer vision is already relatively popular — Facebook's Moments app uses powerful facial recognition technology to identify users from their faces and other body parts even when they’re looking away. Additionally, Xbox Kinect'smotion sensing abilities allow users to seamlessly interact with their games using gestures.</div>
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Computer vision can be used even more strategically to build more empathetic functionalities into our devices, allowing them to interpret the more implicit, physical parts of human interaction. What if your smartphone’s selfie camera used facial recognition technology to analyze your expressions, allowing the device to identify feelings from happiness to anger? Of if the camera on your smart TV could detect when you've fallen asleep on the couch, using that discovery to pause your show and turned itself off? Incorporating this powerful machine perception technology into our devices will make them more intuitive, allowing them to recommend actions or provide information based on how the user is really feeling, not just what they're saying.</div>
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3. Machine learning</h2>
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<span class="lightbox-expand"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="m!5e86" style="color: #00aeef;"></a></span></div>
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<div class="microcontent-shares" data-description="" data-fragment="m!5e86" data-image="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzE2LzMyLzQyNjkwMTQzMDguM2QxMzQuanBnCnAJdGh1bWIJMTIwMHg5NjAwPg/c7cb95b7/5bf/42-69014308.jpg" data-url="" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.25s ease; background: rgb(246, 245, 241); height: 0px; left: -47px; opacity: 0; padding: 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: opacity 0.25s ease; width: 30px;">
<a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-facebook facebook" href="http://mashable.com/2015/09/16/artificial-intelligence-empathy/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #3b579d; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; transition: color 0.3s ease; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-twitter twitter" href="http://mashable.com/2015/09/16/artificial-intelligence-empathy/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #2daae1; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; transition: color 0.3s ease; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-google_plus google_plus" href="http://mashable.com/2015/09/16/artificial-intelligence-empathy/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #f02f16; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; transition: color 0.3s ease; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-pinterest pinterest" href="http://mashable.com/2015/09/16/artificial-intelligence-empathy/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #bf1e25; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; transition: color 0.3s ease; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a></div>
<img alt="Contrast between convenience of using computer technology and social networking and inconvenience when offline" class="for-lightbox" data-caption="" data-credit-label="Corbis" data-credit-link="" data-credit-name="Sally Elford/Ikon Images" data-credit-provider="Custom type" data-fragment="m!5e86" data-image="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzE2LzMyLzQyNjkwMTQzMDguM2QxMzQuanBnCnAJdGh1bWIJMTIwMHg5NjAwPg/c7cb95b7/5bf/42-69014308.jpg" data-micro="1" data-width="1920" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzE2LzMyLzQyNjkwMTQzMDguM2QxMzQuanBnCnAJdGh1bWIJMTIwMHg5NjAwPg/c7cb95b7/5bf/42-69014308.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; max-width: 100%; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 625px;" title="Contrast between convenience of using computer technology and social networking and inconvenience when offline" /><span style="font-size: 15px;">One of the key characteristics of having empathy is the ability to respond in a way that acknowledges another person's desires, rather than solely your own. To do this, you have to take your past experiences with a person into account and predict the best course of action. In technology, this is accomplished with machine learning.</span><span style="font-size: 15px;"> </span><a href="https://www.airbnb.com/" style="color: #00aeef; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Airbnb</a><span style="font-size: 15px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">is a good example of a company putting this to use, prioritizing machine learning as one of the key components of its search engine. It predicts the behaviors of renters to deliver more helpful search results, creating a better overall user experience.</span></div>
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Now imagine taking that functionality and applying it to your devices. What if your smartphone used weather data to determine that it would be cold and rainy and predicted that you'd be interested in something warm for lunch, recommending you order hot soup via <a href="http://www.seamless.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Seamless</a>?</div>
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What if it noticed that you typically call your grandma on Sundays, and started sending you weekly reminders to reach out? When incorporated into our daily devices, machine learning will help our products retain more relevant information about us and, in turn, respond and predict our needs more accurately.</div>
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I'll admit that AI has gotten a bit of a bad rap in the past. We've experienced a healthy dose of fear about it in our lives — worrying ever since Mary Shelley's <em>Frankenstein</em> that our creations will take over and turn on us.</div>
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With technological innovations outpacing legal policymaking, there are real ethical and privacy concerns to be taken into account when dealing with AI, particularly when it's harnessed by big businesses or government agencies. It's understandable that we fear our devices may one day not need us to survive, but creating technology that understands us doesn't mean we're all going to end up in <em>The Matrix</em> or even like Joaquin Phoenix in <em>Her</em>.</div>
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The somewhat scary truth is that most of us have already taken the plunge with our devices, relying on them for almost all our most basic needs. Many argue that we spend too much time plugged in, but I'm willing to bet that one of the reasons we do so is because most of the heavy lifting is still on the end user.</div>
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AI technologies are the secret to creating products that work with us proactively, not just for us, in a reactive manner. If implemented correctly, these technologies will work in the background to deliver the services that truly make our lives better, allowing us to spend less time on our devices and more time together. When you think of it that way, AI becomes a much easier pill to swallow.</div>

Why every tech company needs to integrate empathy

Humans have been building solutions that make us better, faster and stronger since we discovered that we could fashion tools out of rocks...

12 reasons your business should have a native app before 2016

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Title: 12 reasons your business should have a native app before 2016
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There's no denying that millennials are relying on their mobile devices to help accomplish their daily needs — whether it be picking ...

<img alt="Apps" height="359" src="http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA5LzlhL2FwcHMuMzRiMTEuanBnCnAJdGh1bWIJOTUweDUzNCMKZQlqcGc/c5812538/a76/apps.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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There's no denying that millennials are relying on their mobile devices to help accomplish their daily needs — whether it be picking up dry cleaning or ordering dinner. But if you already have a mobile site, is developing a native app really necessary?</div>
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To find out, I asked 12 entrepreneurs from <a href="http://yec.co/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)</a> why or why not they think native is non-negotiable.</div>
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1. Gain control over user experience</h3>
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<img alt="Andrew Thomas" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4L2I0L0FuZHJld1Rob21hLmM1M2QyLnBuZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/8532a35b/9ce/Andrew-Thomas.png" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Andrew Thomas" /></div>
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A native app allows you to deliberately design your user experience around mobile and to create a stickier relationship with your user. By using your native app, you can better code an experience with gestures, features and behaviors that may lead to better experience or conversion. For example, swipes and pinching can make navigating much more efficient and effective. Beyond the user interface, a native app allows you to make more use of APIs designed specifically for the experience you're trying to accomplish. When done correctly, a user understands the value of using your app and adopts the use of your native app as a central part of the experience.</div>
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— <a href="https://twitter.com/apthomas" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Thomas</a>, <a href="http://www.skybell.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">SkyBell Video Doorbell</a></div>
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2. Access customer data</h3>
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<img alt="Trevor Sumner" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4L2RmL1RyZXZvclN1bW1lLmNiM2NkLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/b2498794/76e/Trevor-Summers.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Trevor Sumner" /></div>
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Mobile apps provide a treasure trove of valuable data that you can leverage and monetize, from phone numbers, location data, demographic info, contacts, social profiles, etc. You might be surprised what it tells you and what it is worth.</div>
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— <a href="http://twitter.com/trevorsumner" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Trevor Sumner</a>, <a href="http://localvox.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LocalVox</a></div>
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3. Increase your Google rankings (SEO)</h3>
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<img alt="Nicolas Gremion" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4LzU2L05pY29sYXNHcmVtLmE5NzUxLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/7affc7a3/ba6/Nicolas-Gremion.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Nicolas Gremion" /></div>
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Google often displays apps among its first results when search is conducted via a mobile device. Being ranked highly has become extremely important as mobile users rarely get past the first few results (whereas computer users will venture deeper). As such, an app could be a very powerful SEO weapon to add to your arsenal.</div>
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— <a href="http://www.twitter.com/FreeEbooksNet" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nicolas Gremion</a>, <a href="http://www.free-ebooks.net/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Free-eBooks.net</a></div>
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4. Access phone features</h3>
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<img alt="Andrew Kucheriavy" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4LzA5L0FuZHJld0t1Y2hlLjhkZjU2LnBuZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/d0ee8203/5b5/Andrew-Kucheriavy.png" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Andrew Kucheriavy" /></div>
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A mobile application is typically faster, more interactive and can work with a number of phone features such as the camera, alerts, push notifications and phonebook that a website might not be able to access. Also, you can use a mobile application without an Internet connection.</div>
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— <a href="https://twitter.com/intechnic" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Kucheriavy</a>, <a href="http://www.intechnic.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Intechnic</a></div>
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5. Increase conversion rates</h3>
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<img alt="David Tomas" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4LzNkL0RhdmlkVG9tYXMuYjdlOTEuanBnCnAJdGh1bWIJMTIwMHg5NjAwPg/85a7e998/d30/David-Tomas.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="David Tomas" /></div>
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Our experience says that with a native app you are able to obtain a much higher conversion rate. This higher conversion rate is crucial to any type of business and can make the difference between falling behind the competition or staying above it. Technology is continually advancing along with consumers expectations and if met and exceeded, you will realize how quickly your conversation rate will increase.</div>
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— <a href="https://twitter.com/davidtomas" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">David Tomas</a>, <a href="http://www.cyberclick.es/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Cyberclick</a></div>
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6. Increase customer reach</h3>
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<img alt="Jayna Cooke" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4LzRjL0pheW5hQ29va2UuOWQ5ZGMucG5nCnAJdGh1bWIJMTIwMHg5NjAwPg/8febd1cd/f9c/Jayna-Cooke.png" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Jayna Cooke" /></div>
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Smartphones are used to search the Internet much of the time, so it is important to expose your business right at their fingertips. With an app, you will be providing the convenience value to your customers by making your product even easier to use. In the upcoming future, most all businesses will have an app, so it is important to stay ahead of the curve and start now.</div>
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— <a href="https://twitter.com/jaynacooke" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Jayna Cooke</a>, <a href="https://eventup.com/press/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">EVENTup</a></div>
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7. Better customer engagement</h3>
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<img alt="Nick Genty" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4L2E2L05pY2tHZW50eS40ZTJkNC5qcGcKcAl0aHVtYgkxMjAweDk2MDA-/bc4e40c5/a53/Nick-Genty.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Nick Genty" /></div>
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Mobile websites are great for serving basic static content, but they struggle to offer any further interaction with your customers. Mobile apps can politely interrupt your customers to create an engaging two-way communication channel that's extremely laser-focused on the specific customer. Mobile websites require the customer to make the first step in initiating contact. With a mobile app, the company can proactively reach out to a customer or group of customers and begin a dialogue. Further, mobile apps can leverage geo-based triggers to offer even more of a custom experience for your customer — something mobile apps cannot.</div>
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— <a href="http://www.twitter.com/@IconicSolutions" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nick Genty</a>, <a href="http://www.iconic-solutions.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Iconic Solutions</a></div>
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8. Improve value and functionality</h3>
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<img alt="Dan Golden" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4LzJkL0RhbkdvbGRlbi5iOTkxNy5wbmcKcAl0aHVtYgkxMjAweDk2MDA-/dc44f486/189/Dan-Golden.png" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Dan Golden" /></div>
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Unless an app can add value or functionality beyond your mobile website, it's a myth that all brands need to have native apps. Start first with your customer experience and a deep analysis of your mobile site visitors to make sure you've clearly defined the need and market opportunity before investing in building an app. Given the high rates of app abandonment, it can be more damaging to launch an unnecessary app or apps without incremental utility for your customers.</div>
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— <a href="http://twitter.com/thegoldendan" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Dan Golden</a>, <a href="http://befoundonline.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Be Found Online</a></div>
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9. Become more efficient</h3>
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<img alt="Bryan Delayne" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4L2M3L0JyeWFuRGVsYXluLmFlNzMyLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/83715eb2/81e/Bryan-Delayne.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Bryan Delayne" /></div>
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If your mobile website is ill-equipped to solve a specific business problem, you should consider native. For example, if your hotel guests frequently forget their room keys, you can improve their stay by enabling room access via smartphones and/or wearables. When evaluating native, align your investment to the following business drivers: revenue, productivity and quality of life. Ask yourself, "How will native functionality significantly impact one (or several) of these value categories?" If you can quantify the business opportunity, it may be time to pull the trigger. Always start with the business problem and then seek out the most effective technology for the job.</div>
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— <a href="http://www.twitter.com/@bryandelaney" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bryan Delaney</a>, <a href="http://skookum.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Skookum Digital Works</a></div>
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10. Become more convenient</h3>
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<img alt="Mark Salamon" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4L2EwL01hcmtTYWxhbW9uLjZjNWNjLnBuZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/28aa16c9/22c/Mark-Salamon.png" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Mark Salamon" /></div>
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As technology advances, the way people interact and shop changes as well. In today's day and age, the general population spends a great deal of time on their smartphones. Furthermore, the amount of information presented to consumers on a daily basis is astronomical. That being said, having a native app for your business is a smart move for two reasons:</div>
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User convenience: People don't like to have to work for their information. An app will allow your customer base to easily find information on your company or products.</div>
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Staying top of mind: Having your company's app on a users smartphone will serve as a constant reminder of your brand. Even if the consumer may not be using the app frequently, they are still seeing the icon and thinking about your company. Staying top of mind is key.</div>
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— <a href="https://twitter.com/GoldCrestCare" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Mark Salamon</a>, <a href="http://www.goldcrestcc.com/#!media/c50f" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gold Crest Care Center</a></div>
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11. Integrate with Apple Watch</h3>
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<img alt="Pratham Mittal" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4LzM2L1ByYXRoYW1NaXR0LjEwMDg2LnBuZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/92154c24/ffc/Pratham-Mittal.png" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Pratham Mittal" /></div>
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If Apple Watch becomes big in 2016, then you better have a mobile app to work in tandem with your Apple Watch app. Most Watch apps rely on their iPhone counterparts for support, so in case the Apple Watch is important for your business (especially if you're in fitness), then it makes sense for you to start investing in an app.</div>
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— <a href="https://twitter.com/VenturePact" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Pratham Mittal</a>, <a href="http://venturepact.com/" style="color: #00aeef; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">VenturePact</a></div>
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12. Consider the value for customers first</h3>
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<img alt="Reuben Yonatan" class="alignright" data-width="140" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA5LzA4LzBiL1JldWJlbllvbmF0LmJhYzI4LnBuZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/01960794/d9f/Reuben-Yonatan.png" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title="Reuben Yonatan" /></div>
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It depends on your business model and traffic flow. If you're an active marketplace (offering products or services), then you need to have an app readily available for all your customers. If you're a professional, resource/informational (one-time) use guide, having an app will be pointless for you. The bottom line is, consider the value your app will bring to your target audience and actually ask them if they would use it on a regular basis.</div>

12 reasons your business should have a native app before 2016

There's no denying that millennials are relying on their mobile devices to help accomplish their daily needs — whether it be picking ...

Now With 4 Million Users, Design Platform Canva Launches To Businesses

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Title: Now With 4 Million Users, Design Platform Canva Launches To Businesses
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For the past couple of years , Sydney-based Canva has been working to make graphic design more accessible through its online platform o...

<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="" src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/c4w-editor2.jpg?w=738" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); box-sizing: content-box; color: #3e433e; font-family: 'Open Sans', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; line-height: 26px; max-width: 100%;" /><span style="color: #3e433e; font-family: 'Open Sans', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">For the <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/26/backed-by-3-million-in-funding-canva-launches-a-graphic-design-platform-anyone-can-use/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">past couple of years</a>, Sydney-based <a href="https://www.canva.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Canva</a> has been working to make graphic design more accessible through its online platform offering over a million photographs, graphics and fonts that can be easily dragged-and-dropped into a variety of templates. Today, the company is taking its next big step in making its service one of the standard tools in the corporate world, too.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">With the introduction of Canva for Work, organizations of any size will be able to use Canva’s core feature set along with special features aimed at businesses, such as the ability to save and share a brand kit with the company’s logo and color palette, the “Team Stream” for sharing designs with others in the company to comment on or remix, and much more.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">According to Canva founder and CEO <a href="http://au.linkedin.com/in/melanieperkins" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Melanie Perkins</a>, the company had fielded thousands of requests from businesses both small and large since its debut. While the platform itself had simplified graphic design for the mainstream, business users still faced a number of pain points in their organizations. For starters, their in-house graphic designers were often over-stretched, having to make minor text edits for marketing teams, executives, social media teams and others.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">With Canva for Work, however, designers can instead now set up a variety of pre-made templates across varying file formats – presentations, posters, ads, letterheads, social media posts, and more. Then, others in the organization can customize these items with their own text and graphics. These materials can also be shared in a folder on Canva for easy access.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" id="fitvid498593" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MAB7RyAThxA?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 425.78125px; left: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 698.734375px;" type="text/html"></iframe></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Another feature that particularly appeals to social media marketers is Canva’s “Magic Resize” option, which lets a user automatically update a design they’ve created for any of the top social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest, for example. With a click of a button, marketers can save themselves what would have otherwise been hours of work – something that has made this feature one of the more popular options.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Canva’s ease-of-use and its business-focused feature set, developed over the past year while the product has been in testing, has prompted a surge in user growth for the freemium platform. In April, Canva had 2 million users, but as of Friday, it had reached 4 million. To date, these users have created 30 million designs on the platform. Over 4 million designs were created just last month.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Today, there are over 5,800 layouts available in Canva, almost 1 million of which have been purchased.</span></div>
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<a class="enter" href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/10/now-with-4-million-users-design-platform-canva-launches-to-businesses/#" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;"> </a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a class="thumbnail active" data-index="0" href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/10/now-with-4-million-users-design-platform-canva-launches-to-businesses/#" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/c4w-team-members.jpg?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="1" href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/10/now-with-4-million-users-design-platform-canva-launches-to-businesses/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/c4w-editor2.jpg?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="2" href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/10/now-with-4-million-users-design-platform-canva-launches-to-businesses/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/c4w-brand-kit.jpg?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="3" href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/10/now-with-4-million-users-design-platform-canva-launches-to-businesses/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/c4w-brand-templates.jpg?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a><a class="thumbnail" data-index="4" href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/10/now-with-4-million-users-design-platform-canva-launches-to-businesses/#" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; display: inline-block; height: 74px; min-width: 50px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/c4w-editor.jpg?w=80&h=60&crop=1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: 60px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; width: 80px;" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The growth is not only due to the product’s feature set or user experience, but also because it’s arriving at a time when there’s growing demand for more visual content, the CEO believes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">“We’re really seeing this trend toward visuals across every single industry and every profession,” says Perkins. “Previously, a sales letter could be plain text…but now, all of sudden, someone in sales is expected to create a beautiful visually based, custom pitch deck. That trend is absolutely universal. We think documents that, in days gone by, were text-based, are becoming increasingly visual,” Perkins adds.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">To date, the business has monetized by working with external designers and photographers who seed its network with images that users can purchase for a small fee – as low as a dollar, for instance. The reason it’s able to undercut some traditional stock photography sites is because it introduced a new licensing type – a one-time license that lets you use an image in a single document. This brings the cost of the license down. Despite the lower price, Perkins says that some of its designers and photographers are making several thousand dollars per month by sharing their images on Canva.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The company isn’t sharing how much revenue it’s generating at this point, however.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">But now, Canva for Work introduces another aspect to Canva’s business model. At a price point of $9.95 per user per month (on an annual subscription) or $12.95 per user if paying monthly, the service is affordable enough to be used by one-person shops or small startups, as well as larger teams.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The business platform has been in testing for several months with a number of organizations, including Huffington Post, Upworthy, Lonely Planet, Hubspot, Yelp and others. Teams here at TechCrunch have tested it, too, and are fairly pleased with the results. Businesses using the platform are being offered free, two-month trials before having to pay – an offer that’s now rolling out to Canva’s wider user base starting today and continuing over the next couple of weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Also arriving in the near future is an “experts” program, which will connect Canva users with design professionals and agencies who will work with Canva platform users on their projects.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Canva is backed by $12.6 million in seed through Series A funding, with<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/04/design-platform-canva-raises-6-million-expands-to-businesses-with-canva-for-work/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #089e00; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;"> its most recent round of $6 million</a> having closed earlier this spring.</span></div>

Now With 4 Million Users, Design Platform Canva Launches To Businesses

For the past couple of years , Sydney-based Canva has been working to make graphic design more accessible through its online platform o...

15 simple things you can do to stay happy at work

Ani Dauti

Link Author

Title: 15 simple things you can do to stay happy at work
Author: Ani Dauti
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

The key to happiness at your job isn’t about the big stuff — it’s all in the details. Whether it’s finding the perfect desk plant, ea...

<figure class="post-thumbnail" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><img alt="happy-at-work-long-hours" class="attachment-larg wp-post-image disappear appear" height="673" src="http://goldenzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/happy-at-work-long-hours.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" width="1000" /></figure><div class="entry-content-data " style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; float: left; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-right: 20px; position: relative; width: 164px; z-index: 10;">
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
The key to happiness at your <a href="http://mashable.com/category/work/" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #d8bc31; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out;">job</a> isn’t about the big stuff — it’s all in the details.</div>
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Whether it’s finding the perfect desk plant, eating a delicious snack or doling out a few well-deserved compliments, you’d be surprised how fast the little things can turn your day around. And who doesn’t want a Monday that feels like a Friday?</div>
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SEE ALSO: <a data-crackerjax="#post-slider" href="http://mashable.com/2013/10/21/random-acts-of-kindness/" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #d8bc31; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out;">14 Random Acts of Kindness to Brighten Your Day</a></div>
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These 15 simple day-brighteners are sure to do the trick.</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="1.beautifyyourworkspace" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzM5LzEuQkVhdXRpZnlZLjRhZDRkLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/4b42d820/e1b/1.BEautifyYourWorkspace.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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You personalize your home; why not personalize your desk? Make your cube or office a pleasant place to work with a few framed <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat !important; background-size: initial !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;">photos</span>, a decorative pen holder or a tiny cactus.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="2.take-a-walk" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzZjLzIudGFrZWF3YWxrLjIzM2RmLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/c7ba4080/7e5/2.take-a-walk.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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Get some fresh air and increase cerebral blood flow by taking a brisk walk during the workday. It doesn’t have to be long — ten minutes will do the trick.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="3.stayhydrated" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3L2U5LzMuU3RheUh5ZHJhLmUwNDI3LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/b24e186d/c08/3.StayHydrated.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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<a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #d8bc31; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out;">The Mayo Clinic</a> recommends drinking between two and three liters of water per day. If plain H2O is getting boring, try <a href="http://mashable.com/2015/06/29/hydration-tips" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #d8bc31; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out;">these hydrating foods</a>.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="4.compliments" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzA4LzQuQ29tcGxpbWVuLjMzNzQ5LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/76b9f0ab/794/4.Compliments.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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Yes, receiving compliments feels good. But giving compliments allows you to facilitate a positive, giving environment yourself, which feels even better. More importantly, it might make someone’s day.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="5.plants" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzAwLzUuUGxhbnRzLjAyZjIxLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/7af870b5/819/5.Plants.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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Having plants around contributes to a healthy, vital environment, which can keep you energized. For an easy-care option, try a cactus. For added usefulness, consider an aloe plant, which can be used to soothe sunburn.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="6.pep-talk" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzgyLzYuUGVwVGFsay43N2RiNi5qcGcKcAl0aHVtYgk4NTB4ODUwPgplCWpwZw/ffa77a92/bee/6.Pep-Talk.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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You might feel silly talking to yourself in the <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat !important; background-size: initial !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;">mirror</span>, but it could actually improve your workday. According to the <a href="http://digest.bps.org.uk/2014/07/you-can-do-it-self-talk-is-more.html" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #d8bc31; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out;">British Psychological Association</a>, addressing yourself as “you” may be an effective happiness booster. Why? It may trigger positive <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD5" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat !important; background-size: initial !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;">core</span> memories of being encouraged as a child.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="7.realdishes" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzQ4LzcuUmVhbGRpc2hlLjM2NjlkLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/6e151350/bc1/7.Realdishes.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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Real mugs and plates cut down on paper and plastic waste. They also make your office space feel more homey and comfortable.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="8.pugphotos" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzFhLzguUHVnUGhvdG9zLmI0MDM2LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/3e96498c/1ab/8.PugPhotos.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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…or whatever makes you laugh. Laughter isn’t just a mood booster, either. It actually stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the amount of endorphins released by the brain.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="9.swivel-chair" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzY3Lzkuc3dpdmVsY2hhLjlkMDVlLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/41c3a368/ec6/9.swivel-chair.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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…it’s fun.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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According to the <a href="http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/volunteering-may-be-good-for-body-and-mind-201306266428" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #d8bc31; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out;">Harvard Health Blog</a>, volunteering is beneficial for both mental and physical health. Helping others helps you feel more connected and useful, and continued volunteerism could help bring down high blood pressure.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="11.essentialoils" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzY2LzExLkVzc2VudGlhLmMxNTkxLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/812693c6/a06/11.EssentialOils.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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They don’t just smell pretty. Each <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD12" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat !important; background-size: initial !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;">essential oil</span> has a unique function, from aiding digestion (peppermint) to soothing nerves (lavender, chamomile). A little packs a lot of punch, so you can keep a tiny vial at your desk.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="12.pep-talks" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzZlLzEyLnBlcHRhbGtzLjEyYTE2LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/5be2ad52/213/12.pep-talks.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
When you get to work in the morning, make a mini-list of your two or three most important tasks for the day. Dividing your week into smaller projects will make it seem a lot less daunting.</div>
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<div class="credit">
IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="13.snack-at-desk" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzRiLzEzLnNuYWNrYXRkLjNmZGQ5LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/19c66e93/c41/13.snack-at-desk.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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Step away from the vending machine and pack a gourmet snack from home, like apples with almond butter, pomegranate seeds or homemade hummus and pita. You’ll be eating real, intentional food, and you’ll save a few laundry quarters.</div>
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<div class="credit">
IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="14.break" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzBmLzE0LkJyZWFrLjM0NTE4LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/6c23cc2a/098/14.Break.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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Were you ever pleasantly surprised by how much you remembered in the morning after a night of studying? The same principle <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD9" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat !important; background-size: initial !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;">applies</span> at work. If you feel unfocused or zoned out, it’s probably time to take a break — you’ll retain information better.</div>
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IMAGE: MASHABLE/VICKY LETA</div>
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<figure style="margin: 0px;"><img alt="15.worksomewhereelse" class="disappear appear" src="http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzA3LzI3LzQ1LzE1LldvcmtTb21lLjdjOTdiLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTg1MHg4NTA-CmUJanBn/77521323/44e/15.WorkSomewhereElse.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" /></figure><div class="meta">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
If, despite your best efforts, you’re simply not happy with your job, it may be time to start hunting for a new one. It’s difficult to take that first step, but who knows — a change of scenery might be the mood booster you really need.</div>
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</section>

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