Book Review: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
Moderation and minimalism are the art of realizing what amount is barely enough. Digital moderation applies this plan to our own innovation. It’s the way to carrying on with an engaged life in an inexorably noisy world. A few days ago I was wondering to deactivate my social media accounts and leave for a cleanse trip. It’s a radical step that might have walked through your life once or maybe more than once. Somehow I realized how closely I am tied to the vicious social cycle since my work life revolves around it. So I ended up dropping the idea. However, during this process of decluttering, I realized how hard it is to cut ties off and shift towards digital minimalism. And today with this topic we feature Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University who authored Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World.
Cal Newport
Calvin C. Newport is an American non-fiction author and a professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. He authored eight books including Digital Minimalism. The list includes How to Win at College (2015), How to Become a Straight-A Student (2006), How to Become a High-School Superstar (2010), So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion In The Quest For Work You Love (2012), Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (2016), The Time-Block Planner (2020), and, A World Without Email (2021).
Review: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
In this profound book, Newport recognizes the battles that countless individuals have with accomplishing balance in their social media use. He brings up that people are unfit to retaliate the urge to not use social media. Cal Newport divides his book into two parts Foundations and Practices, which further divides into focusing on the problems and their solutions.
Foundation and Practices
As Newport clarified, technology or innovation can be an exceptionally valuable and powerful asset. Be that as it may, it can likewise be dangerous whenever utilized for manipulative purposes. We are in a period where web-based media is being utilized to control our consideration at the hindrance of different exercises.
Newport focuses on how the attention garnering social media sites is created. One of the key innovations is the ‘cell phone. ‘ As a result of cell phones, individuals have progressively gotten dependent on the gadget and its distractive nature. With basically every other execution of a program like Facebook, it was not difficult to not utilize it. The distractions are still a part of it.
Digital declutter
Newport draws examples from Amish ranchers to Silicon Valley’s software engineers. He furthermore identifies the common practices of digital minimalists and the ideas that underpin them. Additionally, he shows how they are rethinking their relationship to social media, rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world, and reconnecting with their inner selves through regular periods of solitude.
Newport then shares strategies for integrating these practices into your life, starting with a thirty-day “digital declutter” process that has already helped thousands feel less overwhelmed and more in control.
Final thoughts
So with this book, you can rethink your relationship with social media and prioritize high bandwidth conversations over low-quality text chains, and last but not least rediscover the pleasured of the offline world. So if your phone usage, Netflix binging and Twitter addiction are getting excessively engaging for you. Give this book a read. You might hit the deactivate button quicker!
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FAQ
Cal Newport was born on June 23, 1982, in Los Angeles, California. He earned a PhD after completing his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College in 2004. From 2009 to 2011, he worked as a postdoctoral associate at the MIT computer science department.
Sketch a Study Schedule
Work in Hermit Mode
Never (ever) use Rote Review
- Manage your time in 5 minutes each day.
- Always have a plan.
- Be organized.
- Take care of your physical health.
- Don’t cram.
- Set up a distraction-free study area.
According to Cal Newport, “Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.”
Zoom goes down worldwide creating chaos for locked-down school children and remote workers!
Zoom goes down worldwide!
Online learning was thrown into a state of chaos as on Monday morning the technology giant Zoom suffers a widespread outage.
Reports to outage website Down Detector spiked from almost zero on Sunday evening to almost 1200 by 9 am only on Monday.
The outage caused chaos and problems for online school learning worldwide reporting a widespread outage across its systems.
Also Read: Major applications down including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp
Down Detector reports problems of Zoom outage
Down Detector reports that most problems were reported during joining the conferences. 52% of people reported the problem while joining a meeting. Whereas 26% of people are having problems with the website crashing and the other 22% of individuals face problems in login.
The live outage and reported problems map on the site Down Detector shows Sydney and Melbourne appear to be the worst affected by the outage.
Also Read: Global websites down including Cloudflare and Pinterest after an outage at Cloud company ‘Fastly’
A user took to Twitter after the outage and reports,
Moreover, another user tweets,
Furthermore, users are also reporting bad gateway and error messages when trying to access the platform. The outage follows a crash earlier this month, when both Zoom and TikTok were down, with thousands of users reporting problems creating videos and joining virtual conferences.
Read More: YouTube and Google Search Engine Down Including Gmail and Drive
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Everything to know about Huawei being accused of stealing tech and spying on Pakistan
Is Huawei stealing and spying on Pakistani data?
Buena Park: California-based software company Business Efficiency Solutions LLC has sued Huawei in California federal court for allegedly stealing its trade secrets following their work together on a project for the Pakistani government.
The allegations from Business Efficiency Solutions
BES LLC also accused the Chinese tech giant in the Wednesday complaint of using its technology to create a “backdoor” that allowed it to collect sensitive data “important to Pakistan’s national security.”
The request for proposal had described the designing of eight software systems which are as follows:
- Data Exchange System (DES), for storing data from national identity cards, excise and customs, cellular providers, land and tax records, immigration and passport records, and the like.
- Building Management System (BMS), for managing building security, environmental systems, and access.
- Resource Management System (RMS), for managing police resources, like vehicles and equipment.
- Digital Media Forensics Center (DFC), for managing captured video and still imagery from the police network.
- Learning Management System (LMS), for workforce training and support.
- Media Monitoring Center (MMC), for monitoring the internet (social media), print, and broadcast.
- Field Assets, including Mobile Emergency Command and Control Vehicles (ECV), for keeping track of command vehicles, handheld and laptops for field use, body cameras, and covert miniature cameras.
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), for managing industrial-level drones for real-time surveillance.
Moreover, BES’s Huawei was alleged to obtain low-level designs for their systems without actually paying them.
Also Read: UK Bans Huawei 5G Network
What does the complaint say?
The actual allegation reads, “After Huawei had BES’s valuable trade secrets and other intellectual property in its possession, Huawei used its knowledge of BES’s technology to begin secretly procuring certain portions of BES’s software systems from other sources – including from vendors BES identified to Huawei.”
Huawei denies the claim of spying on Pakistani data
However, Huawei on Tuesday released a statement denying allegations that it spied on Pakistan and stole trade secrets, saying there is no evidence of any “backdoor” in its products.
The arbitration process is still ongoing, the company furthermore said, adding that it would not comment on ongoing legal cases. “Huawei respects the intellectual property of others, and there is no evidence Huawei ever implanted any backdoor in our products,” the statement said.
Moreover, the allegations in the suit stem from a long-running legal dispute between the companies, it said.
Also Read: Xiaomi pushes Apple down to become the second-largest smartphone maker
Is your data safe with Huawei?
According to the allegations and statement, looks like the situation is settled. However, self-safety is paramount.
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Tech Tuesday Start up of the Week: Trukkr
Pakistan is revolutionizing the tech sector. And the marketplace is filled with people introducing their start-ups. Not just digitally, but logistically as well. Introducing high potential and widespread transportation as it connects millions of customers and carriers through easy-to-use technology. Trukkr is on rescue taking Pakistani logistics in a new direction!
Trukkr
Founded in 2020 by Sheryar Bawany, Waqas Khatri, Ali Haji, Mishal Adamjee, and Kasra Zunnaiyer. Trucker is a Karachi-based start-up that helps businesses transport their goods across Pakistan using its network of transporters which is helping people providing countrywide accessibility of logistics. With their cutting-edge technology, complete transparency, country-wide accessibility, and more opportunities, both shippers and carriers win – Pakistan wins! With Trukkr you need a Suzuki pick-up, Shehzore or a Mazda, a 20-foot container truck, or a water tanker, they make it easier and cheaper than ever before just through a click of a button on our App or our website.
Solving commercial cargo problems
This start-up makes the process of booking commercial cargo fast by linking a shipper directly with a driver over a secure, intuitive, and powerful platform. Furthermore, they ensure that shippers have complete transparency in price discovery; visibility, flexibility, and choice while at the same time give drivers easy access to more jobs whenever they want them.
Water tanker services
Moreover, Trukkr offers a digitized solution to your water problems. Along with moving your goods, Trukkr provides premium water tanker service. Choose from the multiple quantities available. Tap and let Trukkr handle your water problems. The platform is completely free-to-use for Trukkr’s customers.
Features
If you’re a large corporate, small business, or transporter, it gives you flexible and powerful tools that help you save time and money. These tools and features include,
- Fleet Management
- Access Management
- Trucking Marketplace
- Transporter Management
- Reporting & Analytics
- E-documentation
- Client Management
- User Access Management
- SMS/Email Alerts
Trukkr raises $600,000 seed for trucking marketplace
Karachi-headquartered trucking marketplace Trukkr has raised $600,000 in seed funding led by Peter Findley. The investor is a General Partner at Anchorless, a New York-headquartered VC focused on Bangladesh. Furthermore, the deal also included participation from Pakistan-focused investor Kinnow VC, Kargo Technologies’ founder and CEO Tiger Fang, and an executive from Cue Health. Moreover, in addition to the equity investment, the startup has also raised an undisclosed amount of money in debt financing.
Trukkr has constructed a far-reaching transportation management ecosystem for transporters, everything being equal, to approach the right truck, at the ideal opportunity, at the right cost, and for transporters, all things considered, to book a load effectively and move their vehicles at full capacity.
Last but not the least, if you like this article, find out more startups in our segment Tech Tuesday. If you want your startup to get featured, contact us.
NCOC launches covid-19 vaccine app that allows people to carry digital certificate
NCOC and Nadra launched the Vaccination pass app
National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) along with National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) launches Pak Covid-19 Vaccination Pass App in collaboration.
The portable application will permit the users to download the certificate proof of Covid-19 immunization. This will be proceeded through NADRA and save on their cell phones.
Covid-19 vaccine certification
The assistance of an advanced digital certificate gives confirmation that an individual got the two dosages of Covid-19 immunization. The residents will not need to carry the actual paper of the authentication with them. This also applies to the people who wish to fly domestically and internationally. Using the QR Code, the digital certificate can be verified instantly.
The application was launched after an earlier announcement from NCOC in which it said that vaccination certificates would be mandatory for air travel after September 10th, 2021.
Also Read: Covid-19 Delta Variant: All you should know about this strain
Furthermore, the forum declared that the partial inoculation process vaccination certificate would become invalid after September 10, “while every one of the areas had been educated with respect to this choice.”
Moreover, the span between the first and second dosages of a wide range of antibodies is decreased from 42 days to 28 days, the discussion added.
Earlier, NCOC also announced that only vaccinated individuals would be allowed to travel by train from October 1st, 2021.
Also Read: Should you be wearing a mask if you’re vaccinated against covid?
NCOC Vaccination process in Pakistan
Currently according to the Covid government website around 34,343,317 people got their first dose of vaccination.
Furthermore, 12,104,373 people are fully vaccinated. Moreover, 42,688,545 people got their vaccinations administered.
You can download the app here.
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Instagram launches ‘limits’ to hide abusive messages
Instagram launches ‘limits’ feature
Instagram has finally launched its new “limits” feature. This will automatically hide comments and messages from people who do not follow users who switch the feature on. It also works for the followers who just started following.
Instagram introduced this feature off the back of spikes in mass abusive messages. They specifically mentioned the racial abuse that occurred following the Euro 2020 final.
According to Instagram, “It was designed to stop abuse from large numbers of people “who simply pile on at the moment.”
Also Read: WhatsApp might give you the option to transfer chat history from iOS to Android soon
The company specifically referenced the racist abuse following the men’s Euro 2020 football final as one example.
In the wake of England’s defeat in a penalty shootout, black players found themselves subjected to racist abuse.
The degree of online abuse in this specific example provoked calls from the UK PM for social media organizations to set up better tools to forestall. However, much abuse could reasonably be expected. Along these lines, numerous arrests occurred after the Euro final as a feature of an examination concerning hate crimes.
Sudden spikes
The level of abuse prompted calls from the prime minister and others for social networks to do more to prevent it.
Earlier in July, Facebook-owned Instagram told in a statement that it had made “mistakes” ” in moderating the abuse, and later promised to take a closer look at its software system.
Instagram also said its new features were designed to protect people from “a sudden rush” of negative attention.
“Creators and public figures sometimes experience sudden spikes of comments and DM [direct message] requests from people they don’t know,” it said in its announcement.
Also Read: Instagram will now filter out abusive language in DMs from strangers
Furthermore, “In many cases, this is an outpouring of support – like if they go viral after winning an Olympic medal. But sometimes, it can also mean an influx of unwanted comments or messages.”
Instagram conciliatory expressed that it might have indeed been doing more to moderate comments and messages on the application, and the presentation of ‘limits’ shows that positive action has been made.
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Tech Tuesday Start up of the Week: Marham
In Pakistan, a huge number of patients pass on every year because of misrepresentation, unreliable health specialists, and the absence of innovation and medical technology. Patients spend nearly $3 billion consistently on private medical services. Nonetheless, the experience of tracking down an appropriate and expert specialist is agonizing, unpleasant, and regularly winds up without an answer or a proper solution. A ray of hope emerged when a Lahore –based private Pakistani healthcare startup Marham launched around 2015.
Marham
Marham is a health-tech startup by Ehsan Imam, Asma Omer, and Farwa Ali. The startup began as a doctor booking platform, enabling patients to book meetings with health specialists at various emergency clinics across Pakistan. It has since advanced into a medical care platform that additionally permits clients to book online conferences (with specialists) and lab tests and request meds, through its site or mobile applications.
Also Read: Tech Tuesday Start up of the week: Sehat Kahani
Furthermore, Marham developed as the leading telemedicine platform giving web video meetings to patients. Marham has enrolled 20,000 doctors from 67 cities in Pakistan and aided 10 Million+ patients through its organization. 100,000+ surveys/reviews and wellbeing stories on Marham’s website engages patients to settle on the right choice in minutes.
Interestingly, Marham achieved all these milestones while bootstrapping the company. It has been profitable almost from the beginning which has allowed them to grow without raising any money.
Marham raises $1 million seed
The health-based startup has also recently raised $1 million in a seed round led by Pakistan-focused Indus Valley Capital. The round also includes the participation of Weihan Liew, an angel investor from Southeast Asia.
On the occasion, the co-founder and CEO said, “There is much work to be done to ensure that patients receive faster care and have a better experience. We are aware that our solution is a long-term investment for the industry.”
Also Read: Tech Tuesday Startup of the Week: MedznMore
Furthermore, he said, “Given its direct impact on human lives, the health tech industry’s sensitive nature makes scaling significantly more difficult than in other tech sectors. We’ve taken great care in developing our team, product, and processes in order to provide a higher level of service.”
Moreover, Marham’s vision is to build a healthcare ecosystem. The ecosystem is sustainable for patients, doctors, and hospitals. This all can happen through technology, processes, and telemedicine-enabled micro-clinics across Pakistan.
The startup also believes that they are all set to do this because of the 1st mover advantage, well-equipped team, and the ability to sustain through bootstrapping.
Last but not the least, if you like this article, find out more startups in our segment Tech Tuesday. If you want your startup to get featured, contact us.
TikTok tests vanishing video stories feature similar to Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram
TikTok tests vanishing video stories
For a long time, every social media application patterns to adding stories, and presently it’s obviously the move by TikTok. The famous video application is trying different things with another account include.
The 24-hour story option on TikTok!
And now TikTok stories will allow users to see content posted by accounts they follow for 24 hours before they are deleted. It comes as WhatsApp rolls out a feature for users to post photos or videos that vanish after they are seen. This week rival social media platform Twitter shut down its Fleets disappearing stories feature.
The feature was highlighted by Matt Navarra. Navarra is a social media consultant who shared screenshots of TikTok Stories on Twitter.
According to the Chinese application they said, “We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the experience.”
Furthermore, it said, “Currently we’re experimenting with ways to give creators additional formats to bring their creative ideas to life for the TikTok community,” the spokesperson added.
How will stories work?
The new element, just called “TikTok Stories,” seems to work comparably to other stories that works on applications like Instagram or Snapchat.
Stories live in a recently added slide-over sidebar, where you’ll have the option to see stories posted by accounts that you follow on TikTok for 24 hours before they’re automatically deleted. Different clients will actually want to respond and comment on your story, as well.
Also Read: WhatsApp might give you the option to transfer chat history from iOS to Android soon
Furthermore, very much like on Instagram and different stages, you’ll likewise have the option to tap on a user’s profile picture to load a story.
How TikTok describes the 24-hour story feature
Moreover, the application describes it as “a new way to interact with your fans.”
Users can create a new story by tapping a “create” button that’s been added to the sidebar. And they can add the usual captions, music, and text. True to TikTok’s video-first nature, it seems stories have to be videos, not still images.
Last but not least, the company didn’t provide any details on how extensively it’s testing TikTok Stories, nor when (or even if) it’ll see a wider release. However, a quick search on Twitter reveals a number of TikTok users who got their access to the feature.
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Tech Tuesday Start up of the Week: Abhi
In Pakistan, numerous workers live paycheck to paycheck. And before the month is over, most have depleted their pay rates on billings, installments, family costs, and crises. But one tech startup is helping to establish plans to transform how you manage your money. Furthermore, the way people spend it. The Startup Abhi, by Omair Ansari and Ali Ladhubhai, plans to change the cash roll. Moreover, aiming to turn into the first and biggest monetary wellbeing stage in Pakistan.
Tech startup Abhi
Situated in Karachi, Abhi is a financial wellness platform catering to the necessities of workers between pay cycles. Abhi coordinates with corporates to offer their representatives salary advance items to reduce their monetary pressure and avoid costly payday debt. The product adds no additional expenses for the employer while profiting with higher employee fulfillment and lower churn.
Abhi is currently partners with 20 companies to enable employees to withdraw their accrued wages any time they want. This is managed through the webpage or mobile app.
Also Read: Tech Tuesday Startup of the week: CreditBook
Before launching publicly, Abhi signed MOUs with 20 companies and is currently conducting a three-month pilot. The companies taking part in the pilot come from sectors are insurance, steel manufacturing, pharmaceutical, textile, and retail. That allows Abhi to validate the product as well as gather information for future growth metrics. The exercise is centered around gaining insights on the pain points of employees, their lending needs, and what situations triggered that need.
Believing in financial wellness
Fellow benefactor and co-founder Ansari, who recently put resources and invested into fintech in arising, emerging, and frontier markets, states that, “Abhi believes financial wellness and access to credit are basic human rights, which we aim to bring to all our customers. Our goal is to digitize consumer credit, address pain points in the manual payments process and be there when consumers need us most. Your wage is your right, and we want you to have access to it.
Read More: Tech Tuesday Start up of the Week: DigiKhata
It is also aimed at showing employers that Abhi does not disrupt the cash flow or business process and adds no cost to HR or Accounts. Instead, the companies benefit from a more motivated workforce leading to increased productivity, satisfaction, and retention.
Abhi raises $2 million seed
Salary advance platform Abhi has raised $2 million in a seed round led by Vostok Emerging Finance, it announced in a statement today. The equity-only round also included the participation of Village Global, Sarmayacar, i2i Ventures, Zayn Capital, and Portman Wills, the co-founder and CTO of Wagestream, a UK-based financial wellness platform for corporate employees. The startup has also been accepted to join Y Combinator’s upcoming batch, it states in a statement. It is the second Pakistani fintech to have been accepted for YC’s next batch.
Moreover, the startup plans to use the investment to continue developing its product, expand the team, and fund advances. Abhi currently has a team of over 10 employees in Karachi and Lahore.
Last but not the least, if you like this article, find out more startups in our segment Tech Tuesday. If you want your startup to get featured, contact us.
WhatsApp might give you the option to transfer chat history from iOS to Android soon
WhatsApp may give you an option to shift your chats from iOS to Android
According to the recent report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is working on an option that will allow users to transfer their chat histories from iOS to Android. This is an alternative that was not accessible formally and was somewhat disturbing for all clients universally.
At present, users can just exchange conversations between mobile phones that are running on similar operating systems. So the new feature will make it simple for clients to switch between iOS and Android.
Move iOS chats to Android
This news has been circulating since April. However, as per the latest screenshots shared by the WABetaInfo, there will be an option named “Move chats to Android” in the WhatsApp iOS app, allowing users to transfer their entire conversation from one operating system to another easily.
Other platforms shared by the online stage uncover a screen inciting the user to keep their iPhone opened with WhatsApp while the application finishes the chat transfer process.
Every screenshot propose that the organization is setting up a possibility for iOS to Android move; notwithstanding, reports additionally guarantee that the contrary choice, is likewise conceivable.
Like the “Move to iOS” application that Apple offers to assist users with moving Android to iOS, Switch to Android could make it simpler to move to Google’s operating system’s framework. It is as yet still unclear with respect to when this new exchange alternative will be made accessible for users around the world.
WhatsApp also introduced the update that you will connect WhatsApp web without connecting your phone regardless of whether your phone is with or without an active internet connection.
Read More: You can now use WhatsApp web without connecting your phone
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