Printable & bendable batteries

Long-lasting, flexible and rechargeable batteries developed by Imprint Energy could be used in "weird parts of your body like your eye"

A California-based start-up has developed a flexible, long-lasting and rechargeable battery that could have wide-reaching applications within medical devices, wearable sensors and even on-body electronics.

Imprint Energy aims to overcome what it sees as the longstanding limitations of currently available battery technologies which hamper the advancement of portable electronics.

The company intends to achieve this through its zinc-polymer batteries, which offer numerous size, cost and safety benefits to traditional lithium-based batteries.

"Imprint Energy will address these shortcomings with its breakthrough zinc-based rechargeable battery technology, ZincPoly," the firm says in its mission statement.

"(ZincPoly) enables the production of ultrathin, flexible, high energy density rechargeable batteries for significantly lower cost and without the design limitations of safety concerns of other battery technologies."

The batteries can be printed on sheets by widely-used industrial screen printers, allowing for customisable product designs.

6 Vital Tips for Hiring a Great Programmer

1. Programmers hire great programmers

If you have experience coding or are a developer yourself, then you have a huge advantage when hiring other programmers. You know what to look for, you know how to structure tests, and you know the right questions to ask. Trust me, not everyone is so lucky.

For those who are not great programmers, consult a friend who is one. This can be tricky depending on how busy your friends are, but sometimes you can get lucky. Offer to pay them for their consulting service, but do not expect them to do the whole process for you. Friends might be able to sit down with you and explain the process they use themselves. This can be a great way to learn what questions to ask and how to judge responses. It can also help you get a sense of the structure the interview process.

If you cannot find help from someone you know personally, you can consult websites that help you hire freelance developers. Some of these sites, like Toptal, will take the screening process, including coding tests, out of your hands. This can be extremely helpful if you are not a programmer, and it provides you with a nice pool of the top 3% of developers, which can help you to hire top people quickly, even if you are a programmer and know what to look for.

2. Take your time

To find the best programmers, you want to have an extremely thorough interview process. Just sifting through resumes can seem endless, but it is much easier to interview ten people and hire one than it is to hire ten people and have to end up firing nine. If you put in the time at the beginning, things will be a lot easier down the line.

Many programming interviews can be divided into four stages:

1. Resume screening

2. Phone interviews

3. Code tests

4. In person interviews

To get through all of these stages, you will need to be patient. Remember that you are working with multiple schedules for different people, but it is always worth it to have a longer interview process. You do not want to hire anyone until you are 100% sure they will be a good fit for your team. After hundreds of irrelevant resumes, it might seem easiest to hire the first person you see that actually knows how to code, but this is a mistake. Hold out for the best.

3. Weed out bad candidates early

This might surprise you, but a lot of candidates who call themselves programmers can barely program at all. It’s unfortunate and surprising, but it’s something you need to watch out for when hiring.

To avoid wasting too much of your valuable time, give candidates a few simple online tests early on. And I mean simple. Think “Hello World” level. The goal here is not to prove that the candidate is a great programmer but that they know what they are doing at all.

This may seem unnecessary but it will save you time as well as your sanity. Nothing is worse than putting time and effort into a candidate’s interview process only to discover that they do not even know basic coding techniques.

4. Standardize your interview process

Every stage of the interview process should be streamlined in a way that makes it easy for other team members to understand and execute. When looking through resumes, for example, you can create four or five specific qualities to look for, so whoever is looking at a resume is looking for the same thing that you yourself would be looking for.

Along these lines, you want to turn everything into a system that is easily replicated. If you are working with a hiring team, break down exactly what you want to look for in each stage of the process. Give plenty of examples of good questions, as well as bad questions.

In general, resume screening should be used to look for qualities outside of coding ability, like passion, creativity, and experience. Phone interviews should be used to look for communication skills and the ability to speak about more technical topics. Code tests should be used to look for problem-solving ability and actual coding skills. Finally, in-person interviews should be used as a final gauge of skills, problem-solving ability, and general fit. You should look for raw intelligence in each stage of the process.

Another note: It is helpful if each interviewer sticks with the same question or questions for each stage of the interview process. If you ask the same question of each candidate in the in-person interview, for example, you begin to know what you are looking for, and it is easier to compare candidates.

5. Look for general intelligence

As with many high skilled jobs, the key to hiring a good programmer is to look for smart people.

Every single line of code written requires split-second decision-making. In writing just one line of code, the programmer has to make multiple decisions. When you are hiring a programmer, you need to look for someone that you can trust with these decisions.

Decisions are judgment calls and smart people are more likely to make the right call.

You will find that having smart programmers on your team will attract other smart people to work with you too. Most top programmers do not actually want to be the single rockstar on a team of other programmers who cannot keep up. They want to work with other intelligent people who will help them build a great product.

If you make sure to hire smart programmers in your interview process they will get the job done right, and they will make other smart programmers want to join your team.

6. Don’t hire maybes

Committing to hire someone is a huge decision, and you want to be as confident as possible that this person will work out. As I said before, it is much easier to interview ten people and hire one than it is to hire ten people and have to end up firing nine.

Hiring someone who is a bad fit or who is not qualified enough can lead to major headaches. Not only will you have to end up fixing their sloppy work, but it is also possible that liability issues will come up if things do not work out down the line.

When you are making your final decisions, you should consider two options: Hire or No Hire. If any candidate is a “maybe” then they are automatically a No Hire. You want to bring people onto your team that you are excited about working with, and you want to be confident that they will do a good job.

If you really want to be careful, hire candidates on a consulting basis or put a probation period in their employee agreement. This way, you can see how they work with your team before taking the plunge to hire full-time.

Hiring interns is another great way to see how candidates work with your team. If you’re interested in offering internships, however, you will have to start searching for younger candidates. The best time to offer an internship with potential to turn into a full-time hire is after the candidate’s junior year of college.

Conclusion

Hiring a new programmer for your team is a big commitment, and you want to be as sure as possible that whomever you hire will work. Know what you are looking for, and do not rush into anything unless it feels right on both sides. Consulting jobs and audition projects are your friends--use them.

As a final note, do not forget about resources that are out there to help you. There are plenty of hiring sites for freelance developers, as well as books and articles by people who have done this before. You are not alone!

Guide to Studying in College

Quick Tips

• Avoid distractions at all costs. It will interrupt your ability to retain information.
• Approach each effort with a willingness to study and do the work.
• Use highlighters to emphasize certain points for easier reference later on.
• Take notes as you read new material. This will help you retain what you read.
• Don't write down everything your professor says. Only make note of the most important points.
• Always review your notes after a lecture. You will be more likely to remember everything you've learned.
• Prioritize what you need to study, and get the most important work out of the way first.
• Take breaks every now and then while you study. A five to ten minute refresher every hour will help you work better.

Come to Terms with Studying

When you are in college, there is always something better to do than study. This is why you need to come to terms with the fact that you are in college and need to study. If you choose fun over study time every chance you get, you will be lucky to pass your required classes. If it makes things easier, think about college as a full time job. You need to put in at least 40 hours into classes, labs, meetings, study groups, and homework. If you attend a school based on a foundation of rigorous coursework and competition, you might need to bump that number up a little higher.

Create a Study Schedule

Once you get a syllabus from each professor, you should probably start planning your quarter or semester. Planning early may help you stay on track. There is nothing worse than being forced to chug caffeine so you can stay up past 3 o'clock preparing for the next morning's class. Scheduling can also allow you to spread out the work, thus helping you to feel less overwhelmed. When writing down your schedule, try to make it realistic as well as challenging. Make note of important days like when papers and projects are due and when you have midterms and finals.

Stick to Your Study Schedule

It's great to make a study schedule, but the next step is sticking to it. Staying committed to your plan will probably help you to be more successful as well as reduce your stress level. When planning your schedule, you should allow a little wiggle room for unexpected life events. You never know when a party or a date might come up. If you need to put something off, it shouldn't dramatically interfere with your plan. Flaking out too often will leave you behind and overwhelmed.

Find a Good Place to Study

Finding a good study haven is as essential as making a study schedule. Some students prefer reading out on the lawns where they can sunbathe as well as study. Others prefer the library because they have access to a variety of materials, not to mention silence. Many libraries offer group study rooms, tons of desks, and common rooms. Still, other students simply prefer studying in the comfort of their own rooms. Regardless of what place you choose, make sure you feel comfortable and can concentrate.

Use the SQ3R Method

If you want to study smarter, not harder, consider using a proven study method, such as SQ3R. The SQ3R method is based on simple principles:

Before you read, Survey the chapter:

§  the title, headings, and subheadings

§  captions under pictures, charts, graphs or maps

§  review questions or teacher-made study guides

§  introductory and concluding paragraphs

§  summary

Question while you are surveying:

§  Turn the title, headings, and/or subheadings into questions

§  Read questions at the end of the chapters or after each subheading

§  Ask yourself, 
"What did my instructor say about this chapter or subject 
when it was assigned?"

§  Ask yourself, 
"What do I already know about this subject?"
 Note: If it is helpful to you, write out these questions for consideration. 
This variation is called SQW3R

When you begin to Read:

§  Look for answers to the questions you first raised

§  Answer questions at the beginning or end of chapters or study guides

§  Reread captions under pictures, graphs, etc.

§  Note all the underlined, italicized, bold printed words or phrases

§  Study graphic aids

§  Reduce your speed for difficult passages

§  Stop and reread parts which are not clear

§  Read only a section at a time and recite after each section

Recite after you've read a section:

§  Orally ask yourself questions about what you have just read, or summarize, in your own words, what you read

§  Take notes from the text but write the information in your own words

§  Underline or highlight important points you've just read

§  Reciting: 
The more senses you use the more likely you are to remember what you read Triple strength learning: Seeing, saying, hearing
Quadruple strength learning: Seeing , saying , hearing, writing!!!

Review: an ongoing process

Day One

§  After you have read and recited the entire chapter, 
write questions in the margins for those points 
you have highlighted or underlined.

§  If you took notes while reciting, 
write questions for the notes you have taken 
in the left hand margins of your notebook.

§  Complete the form for a critical reading review

Day Two

§  Page through the text and/or your notebook to re-acquaint yourself 
with the important points.

§  Cover the right hand column of your text/note-book 
and orally ask yourself the questions in the left hand margins.

§  Orally recite or write the answers from memory.

§  Develop mnemonic devices for material which need to be memorized.
Make flash cards for those questions which give you difficulty.

Days Three, Four and Five

§  Alternate between your flash cards and notes and test yourself 
(orally or in writing) on the questions you formulated.

§  Make additional flash cards if necessary.

Weekend

§  Using the text and notebook, make a Table of Contents - list all the topics and sub-topics you need to know from the chapter.

§  From the Table of Contents, make a Study Sheet/ Spatial Map.

§  Recite the information orally and in your own words as you put the Study Sheet/Map together.

§  As you have consolidated all the information you need for this chapter, periodically review the Sheet/Map so that at test time 
you will not have to cram.

15 things you should do in the 15 minutes before a job interview

Use the time before your interview to get into the right frame of mind.

The 15 minutes before a job interview can be harrowing, especially for job seekers who aren't sure what to do with that time. "Those 15 minutes are your opportunity to get yourself into the right frame of mind, and set your energy and focus on who you'll be meeting with, what you want them to remember about you, and what you want to ask them," says Deborah Shane, a professional branding strategist and author of "Career Transition."

Here are 15 things you should do in the 15 minutes before a job interview:

1. Stay calm

When you become stressed, your body releases stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine. Depending on the level of your stress, these can slightly or greatly inhibit your ability to think clearly, says David Parnell, a legal consultant, communication coach, and author of "The Failing Law Firm: Symptoms and Remedies."

"Ensuring that you remain calm, collected, and cool in the minutes leading up to the interview is necessary to avoid this hormonal elixir, and keep your mind clear," he says.

Career coach Anita Attridge agrees. She says staying calm before and during an interview allows you to listen better and to stay focused on how to best respond to questions.

"In addition, you are better able to think how you can best present your accomplishments in alignment with what is important to the interviewer - and being calm also demonstrates your ability to deal with stressful situations."

2. Breathe

This will help you remain calm. "Counting your breath is one of the most immediate and impactful techniques for calming your nerves," Parnell says. "Simply focus on your breaths, counting each until you reach 10, and repeat."

3. Arrive early, but don't go inside

Few things can shake you more than running late to an interview, so always arrive early. But be sure to wait in your car or a nearby cafe, as being too early can place unnecessary pressure on your interviewer and start the meeting off on the wrong foot, Parnell explains.

Rita Friedman, a Philadelphia-based career coach, says you shouldn't walk into the office building more than 10 minutes early. "It can come across as an imposition, as if you are expecting the interviewer to drop whatever he or she is doing to attend to you."

4. Be friendly to all receptionists and security guards

When you do walk into the office's waiting room (which should be about 10 minutes before your scheduled interview time), remember to be nice to the receptionist, security guards, or whoever greets you. "It's very likely that he or she will be reporting back to the hiring manager about how you behaved," Friedman says. It's always good to be nice.

5. Decide on one or two things you want to be remembered for

Is it your communications skills? Project management skills? Knowledge? "Keying in on a few things that will impact your memorability and likeability is a smart way to approach the interview," Shane says.

6. Stop rehearsing

You don't want to use this time to over-prepare or rehearse responses, which can make your conversation seem scripted and inauthentic. "You want to know your stuff, but remember your interview is a conversation. Trust that you know what you know, and that the interview will take on a flow of its own," Shane says.

7. Focus on your posture.

Sit in a power pose while waiting to go in for your job interview. "You'll come across as looking more confident and poised," Friedman says.

8. Don't check your voicemail or email

You may hear or read something that will get you all worked up, Shane says. It will distract you and throw you off your game, which is one of the worst things that can happen. Skip the email and head straight to the company's Twitter page.

9. But do check Twitter

"Take a glance at the company's Twitter feed just to make sure no major game changers or hot topics have popped up since you did your research," Friedman says. "If something relevant has started trending in the last couple of hours, you don't necessarily have to be the one to bring it up, but you'll want to appear in-the-know in case it's what everyone is focused on."

10. Briefly review your notes

Before the interview you should write on a few note cards some key information like your interviewers' names, titles, and relationships to the position, Attridge suggests. Also include answers to questions you hope you won't be asked so you can worry less about them, as well as your pitch for when someone says, "Tell me about yourself."

Take the 15 minutes before the interview to review these notes. "You don't want to walk in asking for 'Jim' when you really mean 'John,'" Friedman says.

11. But don't do any additional research

You should be done researching, preparing, and rehearsing. "This is not the time to be using your phone to look up the company's recent achievements or earnings report. Giving big numbers of projects a glance at the last second is a good way to misinterpret key information," Friedman says.

12. Look in a mirror

Duck into a nearby restroom or clothing store to check yourself out in the mirror, Friedman suggests. "You may have left the house looking like a million dollars, but you could still arrive looking like a vagabond." This is also a great time to wash your hands and make sure your fingernails are clean and your palms are dry. If you wore comfortable shoes and plan on changing into dress shoes, be sure not to do this in the office. No one needs to see this.

13. Organize your bag

"Make sure you can easily pull the copies of your resume out of your bag without rummaging through it or exposing any personal items," Friedman suggests. "You don't want to look disorganized while you're presenting your qualifications."

14. Notice what is happening around you.

Observe what the office environment feels like, what's on the walls, and what mementos are in the reception area. “These indicate what is important to the company," Attridge says.

15. Think happy thoughts

This may sound cliche - but thinking of pleasant things that make you smile and feel good will help put you in the right state of mind going in to the interview.