Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

When looking for an Internet connection solution, there are several types of connections available. The most common are DSL, Cable and Fiber Optics.

DSL(Digital Subscriber Line) uses telephone cable to transmit data. When using DSL you have a dedicated connection that is not shared with others within your area.  The speed is, however, affected by the distance between your location and the location of your Internet Service Provider(ISP).  There are two types of DSL connections, asymmetric and symmetric.  Asymmetric uses the phone line to connect to the internet and still allows you to use the same phone line to make phone calls.  Because of this design, the upload speeds are slower than the download speeds.  Symmetric also uses the phone line for the connection but uses both parts of the phone line for its connection.  This allows for increased upload speeds, but the line cannot be used for incoming or outgoing phone communication.

Cable uses coax cable to transfer data. Cable is generally faster than DSL, but it is not dedicated so you are sharing bandwidth with others in your area.  So there may be peak times during the day when the connection is slower because of the amount of usage within your area.  Since most of the internet usage is used for downloading, cable is designed to give priority to downloading and upload speeds are much slower.  If you are planning to upload a lot of data then you may want to consider DSL or Fiber for your solution.

Fiber Optics, which is the future for transmitting data, uses optical fibers to transfer data. Instead of using electricity and metal cables it uses light and glass to transmit the data.  Because of this, it offers faster speeds because of its ability to move large amounts of data over great distances.  Along with DSL, Fiber is a dedicated connection and not shared with others in your area so your speed will not be affected by other users.  One downside to this technology is that is new and expensive to install so it may not be available in your area.

If you would like some help finding the right Internet solution, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which one will meet your needs.  If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

Today’s post is by Steven Belvin, Account Manager at SafeSourcing

The Best Market Value is always right around the corner right? Wrong. In fact, it can be quite challenging for a business to find the Best Market Value for their goods. Before finding Best Market Value, we must first understand what Best Market Value mean; and in order to do that, we must break the term down into two separate terms, Best Value and Market Value.

Best Value is defined as the best service or product for the cheapest price that can be acquired by a company. The Business Dictionary defines Market Value as, “The highest estimated price that a buyer would pay and a seller would accept for an item in an open and competitive market.” Now that we understand both terms we can see the Best Market Value is not always the lowest price. There are actually many things that are taken into consideration when determining the Best Market Value. There is the price, the quality of product or service, the quantity, and even experience.

To truly find the Best Market Value, you would have to go through multiple steps. A few of these steps would be to call multiple companies, gather correct contact and pricing, compare pricing amongst the separate companies, and many other steps. As one can see, this might take a little time to find the Best Market Value and it’s not like you have a workshop full of elves at your disposal. This is where SafeSourcing comes into play. Let us be your “workshop full of elves” and take care of all your sourcing needs. We take pride in being able to provide you with the Best Market Value and provide you with a great ROI. I encourage you to put us to the test this upcoming year and see how much we could save your company.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can assist your team with this process or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

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market value. BusinessDictionary.com. WebFinance, Inc. December 12, 2016 <http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/market-value.html>.

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing. Troy asks

If you travel and like to work on the road, you probably have run into the issue of battery life with your laptop. Although batteries are getting more efficient, this is still one big complaint for laptop users.  There are settings that can be changed on the laptop to help reduce the drain.

One of the biggest drains on the laptop is the display. Reducing the screen brightness in low light situations can have a big effect.  This can be done on most laptops by holding down the Function Key (FN) and pressing the brightness buttons located on the laptop’s keyboard.  This can also be done by using Windows Mobility Center within the operating system.  For example on Windows 7 this can be done by holding down the Windows Key and pressing the X key.  Other options for controlling the display are to have your display dim automatically or turn off automatically.  This is good practice if you step away from your laptop periodically throughout the day.  This can be done by adjusting your settings within the Power Options Screen.  To access Power Options click start, click Control Panel and then click Power Options.  From here you can adjust the times for dimming the display, turning off the display or putting the computer to sleep.

Another way save battery life is to disable or unplug any devices that are not being used. For example, if you are not using your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth then disable it.  These devices use power when they are enabled.  So, if you are in situations where Wi-Fi is unavailable then simply disable it by holding down the Function Key (FN) and pressing the Wi-Fi button located on the Laptop’s keyboard.

Below are some other tips for extending battery life.

• Reduce the number of open programs
• Turn off unused Ports
• Add more RAM
• Keep out of extreme hot or cold
• Upgrade Hard Drive with a Solid-State Drive
• Replace old battery

If you frequently use your laptop where there is no power available you may consider purchasing a second battery.   If you would like some help finding the right solutions, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide what will meet your needs.  If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

A Bitcoin is an online digital currency that is used to send payments from one to another. Think of Bitcoin as a type of payment such a credit card or Paypal.  The currencies price is very volatile and has had an upward trend since its creation.  It has increased from around $6 in 2012 to over $600 to date.

Bitcoins are created by computers that are connected to the internet. These computers, called miners, work together to process mathematical equations called mining.   Miners use software to complete these equations and are paid with Bitcoins for the processing.  The Bitcoins are rewarded based on computing power so fast computing will equal more Bitcoins rewarded.  The mining software is free to download and there are multiple programs to choose from.

Bitcoins are stored in what is called a Bitcoins wallet. A wallet is like a bank account and without one you cannot send or receive any Bitcoin payments.  There a several types of wallets including software, that can be installed on your computer or mobile device and a web wallet that is hosted online.

Below are some companies that accept Bitcoins:

• Amazon
• CVS
• Dell
• Home Depot
• Kmart
• Microsoft
• Target
• WordPress

Interested in learning how SafeSourcing can help your company run more efficiently? Like to try a risk free trial? Please don’t hesitate to contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. Our team is ready and available to assist you!

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Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Executive Assistant at SafeSourcing.

The coveted award has been around since 1901, with such famous winners as Jean-Paul Sartre, William Faulkner, and Ernest Hemingway. However, this year’s award has been cited as “redefining boundaries of Literature” because this year’s win marks the first time the honor has been bestowed to a musician. Bob Dylan, a folk-rock singer and songwriter, released his first album over fifty years ago, continues to make music today, and was awarded the prize “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”

It’s been said, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” and this recent Nobel Prize winner demonstrates that. The appearance of Dylan and his music in the 1960s, during a time of great cultural changes, had a resonating effect on many people at the time. Not only did he poetically echo the feelings of many people going through such things as war, drugs, and civil rights movements, but he also was able to eloquently summarize cultural happenings in a way people understood, highlighting the wrongdoings of a society undergoing drastic change.

Today, once again, Bob Dylan is front and center during a time of change, from global to political to cultural. This honor should show that even if we do not fit into a traditional category of award, we can still make a widespread and lasting positive impact, and that each of us has the ability to change our world through any means, be it personal or through business. While many of us have goals a bit less ambitious, we can still use what Dylan has taught us, “There is nothing so stable as change,” and we at SafeSourcing can help your business through change.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help your business, or are interested in our Risk Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

References:

https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2016/

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~zimmerman/students/BobDylan.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/arts/music/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature.html?_r=0

Today’s post is by Gayl Southard, Administrative Consultant for SafeSourcing.

Ever hear that BEEP at 2 a.m.? Ever end up taking a smoke detector down to make it quiet?  Ever lose a good night’s sleep?  Ever stare up at the high ceiling wondering how you are going to replace the battery in that smoke detector without falling off a teetering ladder?  That’s exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago.  Because my husband was out of town and I was completely on my own, I decided I needed to be fully awake in order to get up on a ladder in the middle of the night.  I made a cup of coffee, drank it, and then got out my 8-foot ladder out of the garage.  I got up on the ladder, and removed the battery.  (Luckily, I had replacement batteries in the house…at lease I thought I was lucky).  It turns out my replacement batteries were old and the BEEPING continued. Because my smoke alarms are hard-wired into the electrical system, once the battery is removed, the BEEPING continues.  My poor dog was a wreck with the constant BEEPING and I was losing my mind!  I had to wait until 8 am for the drug store to open in order to buy new batteries.  Now armed with new batteries, I changed the battery and finally the house was silent.  I thought I was in luck when that whole scenario repeated the next night at midnight.  It sounded like the same alarm, but it turned out it was a guest room smoke detector that was BEEPING this time.   Do they talk to each other?  Who knows.  The following week I had a handyman at the house doing some odd jobs, so I had him change every smoke detector battery in the house.

Smoke detectors are a key part of a home fire escape plan. When a fire begins, smoke spreads quickly.  Working smoke detectors give you an early warning so you can get out quickly.  The following are some safety tips:

1. A closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat, and fire. Put a smoke detector in every bedroom, as well as outside the sleeping areas. Install a smoke detector on every level of your house, as well as the basement. Smoke detectors should be interconnected. When one sounds, they all sound.
2. Larger homes need more smoke detectors.
3. Test detectors monthly.
4. There are two kinds of alarms, ionization smoke alarms are quicker to warn about flaming fires. Photoelectric alarms are quicker to warn about smoldering fires. It is best to use both types in the home.
5. Alarms should be on the ceiling or high on the wall. Keep alarms away from the kitchen in order to reduce false alarms.
6. Replace alarms after 10 years.
7. Plan your escape route.

Safesourcing can help you with all of your personal and business related fire, safety and inspection needs, whether it is for equipment, services or both. For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

Today’s post was written by Christine McConnell, Account Manager at SafeSourcing.

A UPC, or Universal Product Code, is a unique 12-digit identification number that appears on most retail products for sale in the United States and Canada. UPC numbers are made up of two components: company prefix and product number. While the companies or their brands normally determine the product number, the company prefix is determined and assigned by GS1 US. GS1 US – formerly the Uniform Code Council (UCC) – is a nonprofit group responsible for regulating international commerce. They introduced the first barcode in 1974. As a business owner interested in establishing your own barcodes, you must first join GS1 US. Once a member, the organization will assign you your own unique identification number which will become the first part of your UPC.  GS1 US’s membership fees are based on your production capacity and start around $250 with annual renewal fees starting at $50. The fees vary depending on the number of unique products your company sells. Here are three simple steps to set you on your way to obtaining UPC barcodes for your company’s products:

1. Join GS1 US and apply for company prefix – company prefix codes can be anywhere from 6 to 10 digits long depending on the number of products you’ll need identified. Smaller companies are typically assigned a higher number of digits.
2. Create Your Unique Product Number – you’ll probably need a different UPC code for each type of product you sell. And depending on how many colors and sizes of each style you offer, the number of unique products can quickly add up.  Now simply add your product number to your company prefix and voila you have your UPC.
3. Decide on print or digital barcodes – each UPC can be used to produce a specific barcode that is then either printed out and attached to products or incorporated into their design so that they can be easily scanned at the register.

Would you like to learn how SafeSourcing could help your company communicate more effectively? Interested in a risk free trial? Please don’t hesitate to contact SafeSourcing. Our team is ready and available to assist you!

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

This week is the release of the new Apple iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. With this version they announced they are removing the standard mini-phone jack that is widely used by portable devices.  When I first heard this I was worried that I may have to buy new headphones or buy some sort of Apple adapter.  The good news is that the phone comes with a lightning to mini-phone adapter that will allow users to connect their iPhone to their current wired headphones.  The Phone also comes with lightning EarPods that connect using the lightning port.  Standard Bluetooth headphones will work with the iPhone 7 and will connect using the Bluetooth pairing functionality as before.

Along with the launch of the new phone apple released its new wireless headphones called AirPods that contain a new W1 wireless chip designed by Apple. This wireless chip allows the headphones to connect seamlessly to the phone without pairing and uses less power than standard wireless chips.  This will allow the wireless headphones to run for up to 5 hours of listening time before needing recharged.  The case has a built in charger that will allow for more than 24 hours of charging.  When the battery is low the case and headphones can be charged by connecting the case to the lighting cable.  A fifteen minute charge is equal to 3 hours of battery life.  If you are not a fan of the new Apple EarPods, there will also be 3 pairs of wireless Beats by Dre headphones containing the new W1 chip as well.

Below are some of the new features for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

iPhone 7

• 12MP camera
• 4.7” Retinal HD display with wide color gamut

iPhone 7 Plus

• 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras
• 5.5” Retina HD display with wide color gamut

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus

• Optical image stabilization
• 7MP FaceTime HD Camera
• New Home Button
• Water and dust resistant ip67
• Stereo speakers
• A10 Fusion chip
• LTE Advanced up to 450 Mbps
• Longest battery life ever in an iPhone
• iOS 10

Interested in learning how SafeSourcing can help your company run more efficiently? Like to try a risk free trial?  Please don’t hesitate to contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. Our team is ready and available to assist you!

Today’s post is written by Heather Powell, Director of Customer Service & Project Manager at SafeSourcing Inc.

This is the eighth blog within the author’s series of Emotional Intelligence in Business explaining social skills and how it will affect and help your business. Despite a bevy of research and best-selling books on the topic, many managers still downplay emotional intelligence as a “touchy-feely” soft skill₁. The importance of characteristics like empathy and self-awareness is understood, sure, but intelligence and technical capability are seen as the real drivers of professional success₁. Evidence suggests quite the opposite: that high emotional intelligence (EI) is a stronger predictor of a success₁. In fact, high EI bolsters the hard skills, helping us think more creatively about how best to leverage our technical chops. ₁.

5). Social Skills. Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks, and an ability to find common ground and build rapport.

a.) Hallmarks of social skills include effectiveness in leading change, persuasiveness, and expertise building and leading teams _3.

Social competence takes many forms – it’s more than just being chatty. These abilities range from being able to tune into another person’s feelings and understand how they think about things, to being a great collaborator and team player, to expertise at negotiation. All these skills are learned in life. We can improve on any of them we care about, but it takes time, effort, and perseverance. It helps to have a model, someone who embodies the skill we want to improve. But we also need to practice whenever a naturally occurring opportunity arises – and it may be listening to a teenager, not just a moment at work ₄.

Identify and deal with your emotions: Whenever you have an argument with someone else, things can get heated. If someone involved is emotionally worked up, deal with that problem first. Take time apart to vent, blow off steam on your own, then return to the problem. In a work environment, this may just mean complaining to a friend before you email your boss back. In a romantic relationship, remind your partner that you care about them before criticizing. ₆

Address legitimate problems once you’re both calm: Once you’re in your right headspace, identify what the conflict is. Before you jump to solutions, make sure you and the other person agree on what the problems really are. Propose solutions that are mutually beneficial and be sympathetic to any concessions the other person may be unwilling to make (but be sure to stand firm on your own).₆

End on a cooperative note: Whether in business or pleasure, relationships work best when everyone involved knows that they’re on the same page. Even if you can’t end on a positive note, make sure that the last intention you communicate is a cooperative one. Let your boss/coworker/significant other know that you want to work towards the same goal, even if you have different views.₆

Social skills are where good emotional intelligence is perhaps most obvious.

However, emotional intelligence does not start or end with social skills. Instead, it is a cycle, with its core lying with and in the individual. Only those who understand and regulate themselves and their emotions are able to work well and effectively with others. Understanding this is crucial to developing your emotional intelligence.₅.

We enjoy bringing this blog to you and hope you find value in it. For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

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_References:

_{1.http://www.dce.harvard.edu/professional/blog/emotional-intelligence-no-soft-skill}

_{2.http://cultureofempathy.com/references/Experts/Daniel-Goleman.htm}

_{3.https://www.sonoma.edu/users/s/swijtink/teaching/philosophy_101/paper1/goleman.htm}

_{4. http://www.danielgoleman.info/social-skills-and-eq/}

_{5. http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/social-skills-emotional-intelligence.html#ixzz4HQ2pLRR6}

_{6. http://lifehacker.com/emotional-intelligence-the-social-skills-you-werent-ta-1697704987}