20% of Americans Have Cluttered Desktops, Here’s Why That’s a Problem

The desktop of your personal computer can say a lot about who you are as a person. If you have a very neat desktop with everything tidily, that suggests that you are a generally well put together individual. However, digital hoarding can be something that anyone might be guilty of without even realizing it. The massive increases in storage capacity as lead to many keeping files and programs around for far longer than they need to, and this is leading to increasingly cluttered desktops.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that a survey from HighSpeedInternet revealed that around 20% of Americans have cluttered desktops. That means that they have over 100 items on their desktop that have yet to get properly organized and sorted out.

This should come as no surprise given how easy it is to share files and data through the internet. We tend to receive countless memes, documents and other types of files on a daily basis, and most of us tend to put off sorting through them and deleting older items for a later date which often never comes.

7 tabs turned out to be the average number of opened tabs on a web browser, and that goes for mobile as well as PC users. Additionally, 42% of the people that responded to this survey stated that they have documents on their system that they know they don’t need but in spite of the fact that this is the case they haven’t yet gotten around to deleting them.

App updates are also something that users tend to procrastinate about in numerous ways. 45% of survey respondents stated that they haven’t updated their apps regularly, and that might lead to the apps getting obsolete over time.

Cached data in browsers is also a point of concern because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up slowing down their systems. 25% of users stated that they don’t regularly empty out their cached data, and that means that cookies will continue to track them even if they don’t visit those websites anymore.

Another area where people seem to procrastinate is when it comes to deleting emails. 48% of people said that they never do this, and while 12% say that they need to keep them around for work, it seems unlikely that emails older than a year would be at all useful in that respect.

A major cause for this procrastination might be stress. Cleaning out your inbox may give you some relief, but it won’t be long before the emails and other files start flooding in thereby making it cluttered all over again. In light of this, it is perfectly understandable that users may hesitate to get the job done. The thing is, procrastinating with this task only makes it more stressful as time goes by.

The faster you get it done the better, and making it a regular feature of your routine will ensure that your desktop or email inbox never gets cluttered to begin with! Try to start by putting your disparate files into the proper folders.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa, And Bixby - The List For The World’s Best And Worst Voice Assistants Is Out

The tech world has really revolutionized the way we see and do things in our daily lives and voice assistants are an invention that deserves all the praise in the world. But it wouldn’t be wrong to mention that such gadgets may not be as popular as we once perceived them to be in the past.

Nevertheless, it’s always interesting to see how well they paired against one another as the options to choose from are plenty.

To nobody’s surprise, it was the famous Google assistant that took the top spot for being the best, thanks to a new analysis by Marques Brownlee that showcased this recent comparison. But what we did get to know is how one Google Assistant had a massive gap between the other usual options. This entails Alexa, Siri, Bixby, and more.

Google’s venture is deemed to be the best when it comes down to the likes of accuracy and general functionality. And it would not be wrong to say that this is a huge shock for obvious reasons. We've jotted down other interesting tidbits through this list and report for you below. And it’s safe to say that they do go above and beyond the usual basics.

Most of these voice assistants are quite good at producing general facts like the usual weather updates and tasks for setting out the best timer out there. Let’s not forget to mention how Siri really can’t go past just one-timer.

As far as providing great control is concerned, well, it’s Google Assistant and Bixby that proved to be the best in this regard. You can really interact so well with other kinds of apps like clicking images and beginning to record voice too.

Bixby is great at integrations that are deep, which is a niche that leading tech giant Samsung worked hard to achieve in terms of an assistant. But Google was definitely not too behind in this manner. It did provide great support in terms of going through your images and actually being able to begin to play one of your favorite shows from Netflix.

Unfortunately, there is one loser and in this case, it happens to be Amazon which displayed mega-colossal failure across the board with its Alexa.

One major reason or justification for this is linked to Alexa not being an integral part of a user’s smartphone device. Other than that, it really struggles in terms of finding facts and interacting with different platforms, and providing poor models for conversation. Hence, when you’ve got so many better options in the industry, why would anyone go for this? Did we mention how it produces some random ads for different products on Amazon?

The new list also has experts discussing something rather interesting. Your smartphone device can influence your decision of who is the best. It affects who you wish to use as an assistant and if you really did invest big time in the likes of either Alexa or HomeKit, you may want to pick another option. The rest is your call!



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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

What Will the Jobs of Tomorrow Look Like?

Long gone are the days when you could get a job and stick with it for life. The workers of today need to keep their skills well honed so that they can hop from job to job, and chances are that this will get kicked into overdrive for the workers of tomorrow. Previous generations used to change their jobs about two to three times, but in spite of the fact that this is the case workers these days change their jobs almost twice as often with an average of 5.7.

That raises a lot of questions about how the jobs of the future might cater to such employment needs. For one thing, 32% of knowledge workers stated that the ability to work remotely was a deal breaker for them. These workers have already quit their jobs due to the lack of work from home options that were provided to them.

61% of all employees indicated that they would switch jobs if they got the chance to start working remotely. If we only factor in workers between the ages of 18 and 24, this proportion jumps to 100% Considering that 91% of employees are happier when they can work from home, this is not a huge surprise.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 66% of workers stated that remote work gave them more time to spend with their families. 61% reported being able to save more money, and 62% stated that it resulted in a boost in their overall morale.

The future of work seems to involve a devolution of current bureaucracies. Workers will be more likely to go for jobs that involve less complex hierarchies, and smaller organizations will be better equipped to provide such an experience.

Workspaces that are designed to optimize employee comfort and wellness may be able to hold on to more employees than might have been the case otherwise. The use of digital assistants is also likely going to rise dramatically, and there will be an increased culture of collaboration between workers regardless of their main role.

This will likely precipitate the rise of a new form of executive employee, namely Chief of Work. Such Chiefs of Work might be useful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up streamlining the new type of work that people are going to dedicate themselves to.

Home health support workers are going to see an influx of new roles by 2031, with an estimated 924,000 new jobs being available within the span of a decade. Restaurant cooks will also be in high demand, with around 460,000 new jobs coming about before 2031. The restaurant industry will be a huge boon for most people looking for gainful employment, with fast food workers and waiters also likely seeing increased demand.

A lot of the newer jobs will be low paying, but there will also be an estimated 370,000 new jobs for software developers by 2031. Their median salary is over $120,000, so this can be an excellent field for new workers to aspire to if they want to earn a good living and maintain their quality of life.

H/T: ExecutivePlacements

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Who Was The Lousiest Boss In 2022 Of The Tech World? This New Report Reveals The Answer

As we wrap up the year 2022, it’s time to take a moment and soak things in. We’ve come across plenty of hiccups in the world of silicon valley. This coupled with the ongoing economic turmoil never made things easy. But who really had it the worst? Well, it’s time to take a look.

After a few decades of great progress in America, tech giants and their respective bosses saw what it really feels like to function in an era of unpredictability. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that these billionaires really had their work cut out for them and one after another, they were faced with so many challenges.

From Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the list of big names who struggled to make a way out of the unpredictable turmoil was endless. And then there are the likes of Elon Musk who still continues to make many wonder, what’s next.

Then we had the likes of Elizabeth Holmes receive a decade-long jail sentence and Sam Bankman-Fried getting fame for all the wrong reasons.

It was a nightmare year and one that many people would want to put behind them for obvious reasons. But who really had it the worst, we’re counting down the answer for you below.

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg - A man facing many challenges

This one-time genius truly had his work cut out for him. Not only was Facebook coming under the banner of Meta, but the name change also had two other of the world’s top apps, Instagram and WhatsApp to deal with.

Zuckerberg seemed to have gotten lost in his bubble of VR technology and there was only one thing on his mind- the Metaverse. Did we mention how avatars not having legs was another major issue he had to deal with?

The fortunes of Meta have really gone down. The prices of shares hit rock bottom and Meta’s CEO made a lot realize that he might have bitten off way more than he could ever chew. Did we mention the countless lawsuits being thrown in his direction?

He recently had to fire a chunk of the workforce and pause hiring as well- a lot of criticism for his decision but he did what he had to do, according to his experts. He tried but could have done better and that’s why he gets a terrible score of 6/10.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos - A year full of donations and gratitude

Jeff Bezos really had an interesting year. Many were pleasantly shocked to see the Amazon CEO announce how he was donating a huge chunk of his wealth. Did we mention his firm laying off a lot of the workforce, seeing at least 10,000 people cut?

Then we saw his former wife getting more fame than him for her huge donations to charity. But before we knew it, he was seen making the most generous donations of them all. This was an astounding $100 million. Many referred to it as the most selfless act and we couldn’t agree more.

He gained the title of being adored even more with his actions but one that deserves a mention is landing in space with Captain Kirk. He didn’t have it as bad as the others so his terrible score is 4/10.

Tesla & Twitter’s Elon Musk - Nearly zero understanding between words and actions

It’s the year of Elon Musk and whether you loved him or hated him, one thing is fur sure. He was definitely on your mind for obvious reasons. His acquisition of Twitter and then making radical decisions really had the world in a whirlwind.

On many occasions, we couldn’t help but understand what was going on. But it really didn’t work out too well for Twitter which is still struggling with Musk’s indecisiveness.

Advertisers have taken a step back and while Musk is now being forced to step down as CEO, thanks to his own poll, he claims that there’s no one out there to really replace him.

The problems are plenty and Musk himself seems to be lost in a world of his own created problems.

The billionaire also lost a lot of revenue and his net worth hit a real low. Today, he’s no longer the world’s richest person but we bet that’s far from his problems. Hence, the new Twitter chief gets a terrible score of 7/10.

Twitter’s former CEO Parag Agrawal - The future isn’t so bright

At the start of 2022, things were definitely flowing in Parag Agrawal’s direction. He was leading Twitter as the CEO and things were definitely doing pretty much ok. But that’s when Musk came into the picture and things went downhill.

The duo clashed in many ways and it was Musk who had the power to eliminate the CEO from his position, alongside his leading team of executives. Agrawal tried but it was in vain and getting fired from the platform was definitely a major low. So he lost his job but we’re not sure if he’s still complaining because today, he has exited with a lot more fortune than what he may have made while sitting in the firm itself.

That’s the list and Musk might have won the race for being the lousiest boss, as per trends.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

American Government Officials Want TikTok’s US Unit Sold To Combat Privacy And Security Issues

A number of leading officials from the US Government are calling for the sale of TikTok’s American division. The officials claim this is the only and best way out to solve the matter as the app has really been struggling to justify its claims linked to not providing data of users to others.

A number of security officials that are a part of the Committee linked to the US Foreign Investment feel the app’s parent firm which is located in China really needs to get its act together because it can’t continue to work like this.

Those officials who happen to be in leading positions feel this decision was a long time coming and it really does need to be addressed before it’s too late. The report on the crucial matter was recently published by The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, when asked to comment on the news, a rep from TikTok mentioned on Monday that the firm was seen cooperating with the country’s government for a while now. They’ve done a great job in terms of providing the necessary reassurance that’s required to give the American people a sense of understanding of what’s going on and how hard TikTok is working to provide them with the best services in the most transparent way.

But many US critics would best disagree. According to them, the platform really needs to do more and it’s true that they are cooperating well but perhaps not enough to the liking of officials. They also mentioned how the security concerns being put forward are all legitimate and those concerns may be resolved on a full scale with time.

Some of the major issues are linked to the way the algorithms are run, major data concerns, issues linked to governance, recommendations of content, and so on and so forth. And while TikTok did make quite some progress in tweaking these matters to better satisfy its critics, some American Government officials feel there is a lot more that needs to be done regarding the data security of its citizens.

They also feel there’s an element of political propaganda attached that has to be highlighted and is better addressed by the app’s sale of the US unit, as reported by the WSJ today, citing those familiar with the matter.

The matter is only in discussion right now and we’re not sure if an actual sale can occur or is on the cards. For that, we’re just going to have to wait and watch to see what’s next.

Read next: TikTok Accused Of Tracking Journalists To Investigate Internal Leaks In The Company
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

66% of Americans Got Hacked While Playing Video Games According to This Report

There’s nothing quite like a fun video game to help you blow off some steam at the end of a long, hard day. In spite of the fact that this is the case, there are some cybersecurity risks associated with gaming that many consumers may not be aware of. BeyondIdentity conducted a survey of around 1,000 Americans, and the findings from this report revealed that such games pose a serious risk to cybersecurity with all things having been considered and taken into account.

One of the major revelations from this survey is that two thirds of respondents got hacked while playing their favorite video games. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Xbox gamers may have a higher likelihood for getting hacked than might have been the case otherwise.

86% of them are at risk of hacking, and 76% have already become victims of phishing scams that have resulted in them losing access to their gaming accounts. That might make seem Xbox seem like an unsafe gaming device, but this has more to do with unsafe practices from Xbox gamers rather than any inherent flaws in the product itself.

Meanwhile, PlayStation gamers seem to be having an easier time of it. 37% of them reported that they never got hacked, with 9% saying they got hacked once, 22% reporting two to three hacks, 18% reporting four to five, and 13% stating that they have been hacked six or more times.

Nintendo is an even safer gaming console by this metric. 40% of Nintendo gamers have not been hacked a single time. It turns out that PC is the safest gaming console of all, with as many as 46% of PC gamers never having been hacked while playing a video game.

53% of gamers who were hacked during their gaming session lost their email data. 48% ended up having their phone numbers leaked, 45% lost extremely sensitive payment data that could cause financial losses, and 43% lost access to their financial accounts entirely. Social media accounts were lost in 36% of cases, and 30% of users reported that their passwords ended up in the wrong hands.

There is also a more concrete financial aspect to these hacks that is worth keeping in mind. The average amount lost during a midgame hack was around $330. One interesting thing to mention here is that PC gamers lose the highest amounts of cash on average, hovering at around the $374 mark. Mobile gamers, 34% of whom never get hacked, lose $359 on average. This is followed by PlayStation with $321, Nintendo with $310 and Xbox with $298.

That indicates a pattern wherein platforms that are more susceptible to hacks have a lower average financial loss. This may be due to the larger number of cyber attacks that are conducted. If a hacker manages to break through PC defenses, they are likely going to go for a larger payout. Xbox hacks are so commonplace that hackers are fine with smaller amounts, although the total amount will still be staggeringly large if viewed in aggregate so the high risk is still something to consider.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Instagram Ad Revenues Grow, but Meta Still Relies on Facebook for 58.5%

Meta has been having a very tough time of late, and that is mostly associated with the controversies that its flagship social media platform Facebook has been mired in. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has also seen his fair share of controversies, and the launch of the metaverse has been met with widespread ridicule as well as confusion with all things having been considered and taken into account.

All of this might make it seem like Meta would be relying less on Facebook for its revenue, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it is estimated that around 58.5% of the corporations ad revenue will come from Facebook in 2023.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Instagram is becoming an increasingly important revenue stream for the tech juggernaut. Currently, about 41.5% of Meta’s ad revenue comes from Instagram. That alone is impressive considering that Instagram was meant to be an add on with Facebook ostensibly being the premier social media product.

What’s more, Instagram is going acquire an increasingly large portion of Meta’s ad revenues over the next few years. Facebook’s ad revenue for 2022 sits at $69.41 billion, which is down 5% from the $72.72 billion it earned in 2021.

Meanwhile, Instagram has seen a massive 50% increase in ad revenues between 2020 and 2022. It has gone from representing just a third of Meta’s ad revenues to over 41%. Facebook’s ad revenues are expecting to start growing again from next year, but the rate of growth will be so slow that Meta will increasingly start relying on Instagram to bridge the revenue gap.

Most estimates predict that Meta will be getting 44% of its ad revenue from Instagram by 2024, with a 38% increase in revenue predicted for the social media platform from 2022. Facebook’s own ad revenue growth rate is expected to be a meager 8% in the same timeframe, and that will be a key aspect of Facebook’s fall from grace as Instagram continues to rise.

H/T: eMarketer

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World