Author: abubakar
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League release date, trailers, and gameplay
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will launch later this year. Here’s what we know about Task Force X’s mission so far.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is the next game from Rocksteady, the studio behind the mainline Batman Arkham games, and it’s set to release in May 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Suicide Squad looks to be a decidedly different beast than Rocksteady’s previous Arkham games, with a focus on four-player co-op across an action-packed open world. You’ll be able to pick between the four members of Task Force X: King Shark, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang, who all have different abilities and play styles. With this cast of characters, you’ll be tasked to do something none of us would think possible: kill the justice league.
Excited to jump head-first into this comic book adventure? Here’s everything we know so far about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League so far.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League: cut to the chase
What is it? A Suicide Squad game from Rocksteady
When can I play it? May 26, 2023
What can I play it on? PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League release date and platforms
(Image credit: Warner Bros. / DC)
Suicide Squad releases on May 26, 2023, for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC, following a delay from its initial 2022 release window.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League trailers
Latest trailer
Rocksteady revealed a behind-the-scenes trailer of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League during PlayStation’s February 2023 State of Play live stream. In this trailer, we get to see a more extensive showcase of the individual skills that each character has during the midst of battle, including how this crew will work together and what kind of enemies they will have to face up against.
There are other Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League trailers scattered through this article, but if you want to take a closer look at everything Rocksteady has to offer, check out its official YouTube channel.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League story and setting
Suicide Squad picks up sometime after the events of Batman: Arkham Knight and sees Amanda Waller (AKA “The Wall”) putting together a task force of Arkham inmates, known as the Suicide Squad. Their goal is to undertake a covert mission in Metropolis.
When the ragtag team arrives, they quickly realize that the supervillain Brainiac is attempting to invade the planet and has brainwashed the Justice League (including the Flash, Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern). To save the planet, the Suicide Squad needs to hunt down each brainwashed Justice League member and eliminate them – oh, and takedown Brainiac.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League gameplay
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set in an open-world depiction of Metropolis, which will be like a larger-scale version of Rocksteady’s Arkham City. This open-world approach should mean there’s plenty to explore.
We also know that you’ll have the option to play the game solo or multiplayer. Players who opt for solo play can switch between members of the squad as they please, with the uncontrolled team members being handled by AI to play alongside you. However, you will need an internet connection for this.
If you want friends to join you in multiplayer, they can jump into the shoes of the squad members you don’t want, with up to four players able at once. According to Rocksteady, this is going to be a seamless gameplay experience, and the co-op will be drop-in and drop-out. So, you can have friends playing with you one minute and go solo the next without it impacting your game.
The four playable characters (Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang) each have their own “unique moveset” and “enhanced traversal abilities”. While these exact abilities and moves haven’t been specified, we did get a look at each of the anti-heroes’ unique playstyles in the gameplay trailer released at The Game Awards 2021.
From what we saw, Harley is pretty agile, can land powerful melee attacks, and has a grappling hook in her arsenal; King Shark is all about brute force but can whip out a gatling gun when he needs it; Deadshot lends firepower to the group (capable of both sniping and aerial assaults). Finally, Captain Boomerang is extremely fast on his feet, with his boomerang taking out ranged enemies with ease.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League news
(Image credit: Warner Bros)
Battle Pass progression system
It was briefly mentioned in the February 2023 State of Play trailer that Suicide Squad will have a Battle Pass for solely cosmetic items.
Kevin Conroy is Batman
The late Kevin Conroy has been confirmed as the voice of Batman in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Conroy voiced Batman in all of the Arkham games, as well as in Batman: The Animated Series and various movies, so it’s poignant to see he was able to lend his voice to Rocksteady’s latest.
Voice actors
So far, two out of the four Suicide Squad members have been confirmed, with long-time Harley Quinn veteran voice actor Tara Strong resuming the role once more. King Shark, on the other hand, will be voiced by WWE wrestler Nuufolau Joel Seanoa a.k.a. Samoa Joe.
While no official word on the voice of Captain Boomerang, it’s heavily rumored that Chris Parson has been given the role. He previously voiced Junkrat in Overwatch, and there is a huge resemblance when listening to the two.
Deadshot is a little harder to pin down. Chris Cox previously voiced the one-shot wonder in Arkham City and Arkham Origins, both of which are set in the same universe. This Deadshot has been confirmed to be the Floyd Lawton interpretation of the character too.
Outside of the Suicide Squad itself, Debra Wilson is confirmed to voice Amanda Waller. Wilson previously voiced Waller in 2017’s Batman: The Enemy Within.
A year on from Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian startups show astounding resilience
Today marks exactly one year since Russia’s illegal, unprovoked, and brutal of Ukraine. This week, a majority of the members of the United Nations reiterated its demand that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine and called for a cessation of hostilities”. It would be fair
A year on from Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian startups show astounding resilience by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch
Today marks exactly one year since Russia’s illegal, unprovoked, and brutal of Ukraine. This week, a majority of the members of the United Nations reiterated its demand that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine and called for a cessation of hostilities”.
It would be fair to say that TechCrunch can only concur with this sentiment. So, in keeping with our mission, we present to you today a list of Ukrainian tech companies and initiatives you can support, the products you can use, and the startups which you – if you’re an investor – can look at funding.
Ukraine’s startup ecosystem was thriving before the war and making great progress, with Ukrainian startups raising $832 Million in VC funding in 2021. VC Funding was steadily growing before the war and there are more than 50 VC firms continuing to operating in the country.
According to research by the Ukrainian tech industry itself, there are about 228,000 members of the tech industry in Ukraine today, with the main tech hubs being located in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odesa. During the last year, as many as 57,000 were forced to relocate abroad, while around 7,000 joined the ranks of the Armed Forces or Territorial Defense, and today fight on the front lines against the aggressor.
As a mark of the Ukrainian’s astounding resilience both on and off the battlefield, in the first 10 months of 2022, Ukraine’s export of IT services grew by 9.9% from a year earlier, and brought in more than $6 billion in revenue, more than $542 million the revenue generated in 2021.
TechUkraine and Emerging Europe also published the results of a survey looking at the country’s start-up ecosystem. It found that despite the ongoing war, Ukrainian start-ups had demonstrated enormous fortitude. While some Ukrainian start-ups have relocated, the vast majority have kept at least a part of their operations or team in Ukraine. And more than half continue their operations exclusively from Ukraine.
But over 90% of Ukrainian startups say they need financial support to survive the war.
Thankfully, the wider tech industry has rallied around Ukraine in the last year.
Google presented 25 startups with a grant to help them continue operating and growing.
For the first time, as part of the Horizon Europe, the EU will include targeted support for Ukraine out of the €13.5 billion in research and innovation it has to spend this year.
Around 7,000 tech workers have joined the ranks of the Armed Forces or Territorial Defense
Only last month, OneUkraine sprang up from a host of major European tech founders and investors, who plan to provide sustainable humanitarian relief for the Ukrainian people.
The Ukrainian government also has a range of non-repayable grants and other support for its tech sector, despite also having to fund the war.
And two new unicorns with Ukrainian roots were born in the last year. Ukraine can now lay claim to at least 6 startups with more then $1 billion valuation: GitLab, Grammarly, Genesis, Bitfury, People.ai and Firefly Aerospace.
Below, we present a list of Ukrainian startups and tech companies (roughly in A-Z order) that you can check out.
Obviously, this list is not exhaustive. But the list attempts to highly organizations which retain staff inside Ukraine or remain domiciled there, supporting the war effort. If you have a tech company or initiative you think we should include, you can apply to be listed on this post here. Any questions about this listing can be directed to mike@techcrunch.com
Slava Ukraini!
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3DLOOK
A retail tech start-up behind the virtual fitting room YourFit. As the war began, the company relocated the team of 70 to safer regions in western Ukraine and EU. It has now moved to Poland and set up the office there. Despite such conditions, they rolled out a new product in March. It has raised $14.7 million, with the latest Series A round closed in November 2021. Main investors include TMT Investments, TLF Ventures, Flyer One and others.
Ajax
Ajax Systems makes professional security systems in Europe. Employees: 877 new people (2,620 in total). Markets: 39 new countries (169 in total).
Ahrefs
“Ahrefs is an SEO software company that helps optimize websites of any scale — from giants like Netflix, Facebook, Uber, and Forbes to small businesses looking to build their presence on Google’s top page.” The company continued hiring developers and marketers and raised the team by around 10%. Ahrefs claims to have become a $100 million company in annual revenue without venture capital.
Adwisely
An online tool for digital advertising campaigns to help increase clients’ revenue
Aspichi
Aspichi is working on audio/visual teleportation platform allowing people to capture experiences and let others be immersed into it. After 2 months in an underground shelter they have also used their technology to register evidence of war crimes and provide the ability to immerse oneself into Ukraine to experience it, it’s now developing applications for psychological trauma treatment, VR medical trainin, combat surveillance systems and making the de-mining process safer. Incorporated in Delaware, USA. Secured seed finding from SMRK VC.
Blocksport
Blocksport builds Web3-ready platform solutions for the professional sports and entertainment industry to enable tokenization use cases for their fan community. Developed a SaaS-based white-label web3 platform that opens revenue streams and strengthens community engagement.
Birb
An apartment rental app to search for the best offers in a user’s favorite neighborhoods
Book Box
A library service for corporations to provide employees access to books and reading material
Corner
“The modern, frictionless way to set up a renovation with a pre-designed kitchen entirely online.”
Deus Robotics
Ukrainian Startup Deus Robotics secured a $1.5M seed round funding for its warehouse robotics solutions, led by SMRK VC, a Ukrainian venture fund. Deus Robotics specializes in full-cycle projects, including hardware engineering, software development, and integration, focusing on automating warehouse and logistics operations. Its robots are capable of sorting by direction and moving shelves, which are used in pre-sorting tasks, consolidation, and order picking. Deus Robots returned to Kyiv in May last year after the military defeated the Russians near the capital. Despite the ongoing war, increased the peak speed of parcel processing by 200%, compared to manual warehouse operations.
DjookyX
A platform enabling musicians to sell songs’ royalty rights to generate funds for their career
Drug Cards
A cost-effective software for automated medical literature monitoring
ELEKS
Provides full-cycle software engineering outsourcing services, from ideation to finished products. Its 2,000 staff work on software and product design for corporate giants including BNY Mellon and Havas, and moved its offices in the Western part of Ukraine.
ELVTR
Is an online learning company offering professional courses in the US. As the war began, part of the team decided to relocate to the EU, while the rest kept hustling from bomb shelters. Despite not having electricity or internet access half of the time, the company keeps working and growing, saying it has sustainable 50% quarter-over-quarter growth.
Finmap
A cash flow management service for businesses. Recently closed a new funding round of €1M from SMOK Ventures, a US-Polish venture capital fund. In April 2022, Ivan Kaunov, the company’s co-founder and Head of Growth, was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a reserve officer.
Fuelfinance
Their pitch: “We do your spreadsheets, graphs, and automation. You get P&L, CF, Financial Projections, Plan/Actual , Unit Economics, and finally, peace of mind”. It raised $1M in Seed Funding and investors include Bolt’s Markus Villig, and SendBird’s John S. Kim, as well as San Francisco-based Stratmind and Eastern Europe-focused Bad Ideas funds. FuelFinance has created a “first aid” resource kit for Ukrainian entrepreneurs with information on how to reorganize and keep working during the war. The company has created a platform to aggregate donations for small businesses that are fighting back.
Gradual
An online platform for sales specialists to build their professional skills
Folderly
An AI-based platform to improve clients’ email performance
Esper Bionics
Listed as one of Time Magazine’s best inventions of 2022, this makes a prosthesis that “improves
and gains abilities over time.”
Еfarm.pro
“The IOT navigation field assistant for agricultural work that allows you to save resources and work more accurately.”
G-Mak
“The innovative security device equipped with a number of unique technological solutions that can physically stop or disorient an intruder.”
Happy Monday
Matches employees with purpose-driven organizations
Hacken
Hacken, the blockchain cybersecurity firm, has also been working on tools to help Ukraine cyber warfare efforts and combat Russian propaganda. The company says it donated around $350,000 in aid and Budorin, its CEO, said he gave his own Tesla to a local Territorial Defense unit.
Howly
“You choose a category where you need professional advice and type your question in the chat form. On Howly, you gain 24/7 access to thousands of experts in various areas – from finance to household appliances repair.”
Headway
Headway is a Ukrainian EdTech startup which claims 15+ mln users from 140+ countries and 170 employees.
i3 Engineering
“The complete solution for Smart Home projects and business’s automation, which consists of controllers mounted on a DIN-rail, software and mobile application.”
Jooble
Jooble is a job search site that operates in 69 countries and says it is one of the top 10 most popular employment resources in terms of traffic in the Jobs and Employment segment, according to SimilarWeb. Jooble Venture Lab has also invested in JayJay, a startup in the field of online education.
Knopka
“The advanced nurse call system for patient care automation on hospital beds.”
The company’s co-founder was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a reserve officer.
Jiffsy
A mobile commerce platform for “slow” fashion brands to help them boost sales
Kycaid
An online identity verification and compliance management system
MacPaw
MacPaw is a software company with headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine, that develops and distributes software for macOS and iOS. MacPaw is the maker behind CleanMyMac X, Setapp, ClearVPN, and other products. In 2017, MacPaw acquired The Unarchiver. MacPaw claims its products have more than 30 million users worldwide.
Musemio
Musemio uses immersive technology and has partnerships with paid customers, such as the Crisis Charity and the Royal Museums of Greenwich. Educators (cultural institutions) and IP owners (publishers and broadcasters) can use it to create immersive games with a drag-and-drop interface that can be deployed in VR and on mobile.
Melt Water Club
“The technical solution for obtaining premium drinking water, thanks to the innovative Freezing Process technology.“
Mama Plant a Tree
A digital service that allows users to plant a tree in one click
Mate Academy
Tailor-made computer science courses for people who want to start a job in tech
Mathema
An online math school for students from kindergarten to high school
Nanit Robot
“The STEM Robotics education solution with a high engineering perspective and a creative learning process for kids and adults.”
Numo.so
Is an app for adults with ADHD that helps gamify daily tasks and get support. They launched in the midst of the war in Ukraine and claim to be growing 2-3x MoM in revenue and active users. Numo provides a social to-do list that people with ADHD use to complete daily tasks. Other ADHDers can endorse them for added or completed tasks.
NetHunt
A customer relations management system designed for sales teams and integrated with Gmail and LinkedIn
OptySun filters
“The technology of water purification and disinfection in any conditions.”
Orderry
Taking local businesses from offline to online to improve their competitiveness
PeopleForce
HR software for companies to manage employee performance
Pricer24
A platform providing brands, distributors and online stores with market analytics
RECEPTOR.AI
An AI platform enabling pharma and biotech companies to design new drugs more easily
ReLeaf Paper
Turns fallen tree leaves into paper and sustainable packaging. It claims it can reduce CO2 emissions of shipping bag oproduction by 78%, using 15 times less water and 3 times more energy efficient than wood papermaking. It raised €2.5 million from the European commission. They started during the COVID pandemic and made a move to export sustainable packaging in Europe during the war in Ukraine in 2022. Its main production site is located in Lutsk (Ukraine).
Reply.io
Reply.io is a B2B platform that automates cold messaging by creating sequences that are delivered directly to the recipient’s inbox.
Rekava
“The Ukrainian brand of biodegradable products made from reused coffee grounds. The startup’s products include rekava cups, rekava pots, and rekava candles.“
Respeecher
Respeecher, AI voice generation startup used to create the Darth Vader AI voice in the Star War’s TV series – Obi-Wan Kenobi – and during the war! This generative AI voice cloning startup claims to have grown 2.5 times and doubled projects from 65 in 2021 to 98 projects in 2022 despite the war.
Reface
Reface applies AI/ML technologies for personalized content creation. The Reface app hit #1 in the App Store soon after release and was listed among the best apps of 2020 by Google Play. Celebrities including Elon Musk, Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, and Miley Cyrus have shared refaced videos. Claims 250M downloads (+70M / 38% growth). TQ Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz are the most recent investors
Solar Plex
“The service for upgrading new and already installed conventional solar (PV) panels into hybrid (PVT) ones.”
Softjourn
A full-cycle consulting and software development company. 17+ years in Finance and Media & Entertainment, with a special emphasis on Ticketing.
Sorbsys
Sustainable, low-cost and environmentally friendly carbon battery producer
Stape
A tool helping website owners and marketers to track customer behavior
Signal My Oligarch
“Do you want to help in the war for Ukraine but are frustrated and don’t know how? SMO is a non-profit, community-driven mobile app to signal the assets of Oligarchs in the world. All you need to do is to snap a picture, geolocate the asset, and boom the asset will be sent anonymously to the local authority to be frozen!”
Sigma Software
Sigma Software Group includes a VC fund, business incubator, University, and R&D centers. It managed to relocate 2,800 employees to safer places and became fully operational in just 2 weeks, after the outbreak of war. In 2022 they say they opened 17 new offices in Europe and LATAM and 40+ new clients.
The Breakfast
The Breakfast is a social app for modern humans that introduces two people to meet and talk over breakfast. It has closed its first round of $300k from investors in the US and Ukraine to fully launch The Breakfast in New York and Los Angeles.
UnderDefense
A bootstrapped cybersecurity company from Ukraine recognized by Gartner, Clutch and Splunk. Before the war, UnderDefenese had a team of 60 in Ukraine, opened offices in Malta and Poland, and increased its presence in the USA to guarantee the continuity of its operations. Since the war began, UnderDefense team has grown x2 and donated $500k directly to artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
UA Drone School
UA Drone School offers a 4-day training drone courses in Kyiv and the region. Free for the military. You can support the school by purchasing its course for civilians or by donating. It now plans to use Ukrainian military drone veterans on an EdTech platform and is fundraising from investors now to develop its own UAV systems, development of software and OSINT intelligence in connection with drone intelligence data.
Wantent
An AI-powered platform to measure audience engagement and test video content at all stages of production and distribution
Workee
A simple personal website builder designed for private tutors and freelancers
WEEDAR
WEEDAR created a loyalty and distribution platform for cannabis brands. They relocated the team to Europe as the war began, though some have chosen to come back to Ukraine already. Despite the war, WEEDAR recently closed its Seed Round of $1.5 mln, rolled out its new product, partnered with the leaders in the cannabis industry, including The Cure Company and Kushstock Festival, and says it shows sustainable month-over-month growth of 30%.
WheelKeep
“The invisible security system that helps cycling enthusiasts to protect their bikes from thefts and enjoy the freedom of everyday cycling. It includes a smart hardware device and a mobile application.”
YouControl
Online service for compliance, market analysis, business intelligence and investigation of legal entities
HARDWARE
WeDoSolar
WeDoSolar, launched in February 2022 (the month Russia invaded Ukraine) says it has so far received “thousand of orders” for its “vertical solar power” panels, which are specifically designed to be mounted, with weatherproof straps, onto to balconies by non-tech-savvy users.
Delfast
Delfast is an Electric Bikes manufacturing company with app integration and security.
nect WORLD Inc.
The ultimate 4g lte modem for fast internet anywhere in the world.
Caretech Human
Empowering people with an innovative, fully automated, painless, and affordable toilet-integrated solution for daily health checks and early disease detection
Meredot
A solution for wireless charging of EV and LEV electrical transport machines.
FeeLo
An easy way to tell someone about the feelings you are having about them.
Manna
Co-creating fantastic lifelike avatar media like games, quests, cinema, shows, webcasts, social and business events in a 3D/AR/VR ecosystem.
Other support initiatives:
Invest In Ukrainian Founders
Eamonn Carey, a partner at Tera Ventures is matching investors with Ukrainian founders.
Spend with Ukraine
The Spend with Ukraine campaign aims to support Ukrainian made products and services in the time of war. For instance, get pet cameras by Petcube, use Grammarly, increase work productivity with Readdle apps, protect your homes with the professional Ajax smart alarm, etc.
Ukrainian Tech Ventures
This is a nonprofit venture fund that will invest in tech startups founded by Ukrainian immigrants in Europe and the US. The fund is listed on AngelList:
Free Ukraine Foundation
This NGO was created by Ukrainian and Belgian tech founders
EASE Work
The European Association of Software Engineering has launched a service for helping Ukrainian tech people get jobs. It lists tech professional CVs.
1k Project
Send $1k to directly sponsor a family from ukraine
United Delivery Mission
United Delivery Mission is a non profit initiative that supports Ukrainian Military Forces with various supplies.
Vranishna Kava
“Order a UAV to deliver “morning coffee” to the enemy in the trench. Made according to a special recipe of the Ukraine Armed Forces, it will cheer up the occupiers and give them the strength to flee from Ukrainian land as soon as possible. $5.44 to send an “Espresso” (4 Drones).
MEDIA:
Kyiv Independent
This iconic Ukrainian online news outlet reporting from Kyiv. It has launched the Tech section where you can track Ukrainian tech industry news. You can support it on Patreon here.
‘Voices of Ukraine’
‘Voices of Ukraine’ presents multilingual readings of Ukrainian poetry and drama by artists and performers affected by the Russian invasion.
A year on from Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian startups show astounding resilience by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch
How to Create an Effective Work Calendar
Our calendars are essential tools for staying on task, being productive, and prioritizing our time. Moreover, they play an important role when collaborating with others, meeting deadlines, and reminding us of upcoming events. And in addition to helping us reach our short-term goals, calendars are essential in achieving the long-term goals we’re set. However, how can a
The post How to Create an Effective Work Calendar appeared first on ReadWrite.
Our calendars are essential tools for staying on task, being productive, and prioritizing our time. Moreover, they play an important role when collaborating with others, meeting deadlines, and reminding us of upcoming events. And in addition to helping us reach our short-term goals, calendars are essential in achieving the long-term goals we’re set.
However, how can a schedule be effective? Ideally, it facilitates a satisfying and productive relationship between you and your calendar. With that said, here are fifteen helpful tips for using it efficiently and effectively.
1. Select the correct calendar.
Before you can create a successful work calendar, you first have to decide what type of calendar you want to use. Generally, there are two types of calendars: paper and electronic. Unlike traditional pen and paper calendars, electronic digital calendars allow you to keep track of multiple tasks at once, set reminders, and create task dependency lists.
For my money, I suggest you download a calendar app. Why? It’s designed to help you schedule your time. By creating blocks in a calendar, you can plan out your day and stay organized. The ability to share information is another crucial aspect of a calendar tool.
What’s more, calendar apps can be accessed from anywhere, and they have artificial intelligence capabilities. The AI is capable of predicting recurring events, understanding your scheduling habits, and managing cloud networks.
2. Determine the priority of your tasks.
I want to emphasize that scheduling is only effective if you’re crystal clear on your priorities. The reason? If you don’t schedule important tasks, even the best schedule won’t deliver the desired results.
Having chosen your calendar, you should analyze your tasks. When it comes to setting up a work schedule — this is absolutely crucial. After all, randomly scheduling tasks can exacerbate a bad scheduling situation. As a result, you will waste time on some projects, while important ones will be neglected.
During your task analysis process, here are the keys to creating a schedule:
Each task’s importance. When you create a schedule, give the highest priority to your most important tasks. In order to accomplish that, you must first understand how each task fits into your overall work plan. When creating a schedule for time management, prioritize them according to their importance.
The duration of each task. When you create a schedule, you are working within a limited timeframe. As such, to determine how large the calendar block should be, consider how long each task takes.
Various interdependent tasks. In your schedule, consider how each task connects to the others. In the end, a report can’t be sent until the data that feeds it has been prepared. You can schedule by thinking forward (what matters in the future) and backward (what has to happen before you can do what you need to do).
Each person approaches task analysis in a different way. You could, for instance, group tasks by how much time they require. You might consider scheduling several ten-minute calls back to back if you have several to schedule. It is necessary to pay separate attention to events that last all day.
The scheduling process should also take priority of completion into account. Suppose it’s June 22. A smart calendar does not make New Year’s business goals a priority in your marketing strategy. In other words, it takes a careful balance to take care of the present while keeping an eye on future projects.
3. Assess your availability.
As soon as you’ve analyzed the events that need to be scheduled, you can begin to concentrate on time itself. Essentially, this means finding out how much time you need to spend on the identified tasks. There are many kinds of tasks, such as projects, meetings, trips, and networking events. In general, they can be categorized into work, personal, and travel.
There’s a good chance that you schedule certain events around certain times. You can divide your time effectively by following these suggestions:
During weekday business hours, you may prefer to schedule work tasks. Consider scheduling those tasks only Monday through Friday if you are seeking work-life balance.
During the morning or evening, you may prefer to book your travel time. On other days, this avoids scheduling conflicts during the middle of the day.
Blocking off time for focused work is highly recommended for effective scheduling. If your calendar is filled with collaborative time, you won’t be able to do the deep thinking that leads to great results.
As you schedule tasks, you should also consider your total time. Depending on the task, you may have months to complete it. It is also possible to build a schedule for only a single day. Here, being reasonable is key.
You should plan to work within a reasonable amount of time. Also, overcommitting will set you up for failure. Make sure your schedule is realistic so that you can stick to it regularly. Make sure your schedule is realistic so that you can stick to it regularly.
4. Tasks should be matched to time.
Making an effective work calendar involves matching tasks with time. Following your ranking of the items you’re scheduling, you evaluated your available time. As soon as the tasks are matched to the available time, the next step is to secure the resources.
All of this comes back to how you prioritize your tasks. Adding events to your calendar based on due dates will help you stay on top of your priorities. You should plan long-duration or short-duration tasks first if you’re scheduling by time. Whenever you’re planning, take it one day at a time.
A realistic schedule that’s easy to stick to can be built by adhering to the planning rules that are most effective for you. Make sure you keep them in mind when scheduling tasks and events. The result will be a clear schedule that’s easy to follow.
5. Block out times or “core hours” on your calendar for specific tasks.
You can block out specific portions of your day to complete mundane tasks or simply to avoid interruptions for a specified period of time.
For example, it’s becoming increasingly common for companies to implement a schedule of “core hours” during which employees are expected to be online for project collaboration between 10 am and 2 pm or 1 pm and 4 pm. In other words, any time after these hours is a meeting-free zone, boosting productivity and preventing burnout caused by constant online interaction.
“One of my productivity tips is quite obvious, but it’s helped me so much. It’s just calendar blocking, but to be really specific,” says Zara Easton, UK-based head of brand marketing at LinkedIn. “Sometimes I’ve got these five quite monotonous tasks, but I need to get them done. I bundle those together and block that out of my calendar and make sure I turn off everything else, so I focus on getting that done.”
6. Make your days themed.
Take a couple of minutes and check out your calendar. Almost everything you listed takes place at different locations and requires different skills and resources. The result? You waste a lot of time.
Having an afternoon meeting, for example, means stopping what you are doing to attend. Furthermore, you’ll need time to prepare and potentially commute. Additionally, refocusing on your next task requires time after the meeting.
With theme days, you avoid shifting gears mentally since you know what you’re working on and when. On Mondays for example, you might spend time writing blog posts, on Tuesdays you might schedule all your meetings, and on Wednesdays, you would do marketing.
7. Follow the rule of 52/17.
Those who are most productive work for 52 minutes and then break for 17 minutes.
Some of the reasons why this management tool is so effective are as follows:
The first advantage of working shorter periods is that you work more purposefully. It is similar to sprinting at the end of a race. Your only focus during those 52 minutes is on completing tasks.
The second reason is that you need time to catch your breath after working in sprints. In order to function properly, our brains can’t work constantly. Our bodies become fatigued and bored after a while. Our brains need a break every hour or so to recharge and rest.
8. Schedule detailed tasks.
An explicitly descriptive task will be much more effective on your calendar than a generalized one. For example, let’s say that the project you are creating involves getting a specific product, service, or event mentioned in the media. You can’t just enter in your calendar “get media mentions” and leave it at that. In addition to being vague, that type of entry is obvious, since it only tells you what you already know.
In an appropriate entry, this task might have been written as, “Reach out to five media publications”, or “Contact Mrs. Waters, the publicist at the local media association.”
With descriptive tasks, you get ready-to-use tasks that are just waiting for you to complete them. As a result, even if he or she wasn’t originally assigned this task, anyone on the team will be able to fully understand what needs to be done.
9. Add buffer times.
Add time buffers to your calendar instead of jumping from one item to the next immediately. In these periods, you can grab a snack, commute, prepare, or just rest. Putting an hour between two meetings, for instance, will accommodate travel time, reflection, and preparation time.
10. Put controllable tasks on your calendar.
In life, there are some things that are beyond our control. Although we cannot control everything, there are some things we can control, like scheduling. Creating a calendar as a project manager will be most effective when you schedule tasks you can control, either directly or indirectly. When scheduling tasks that are interdependent and time-sensitive, this is especially true.
When you control tasks in your calendar, you eliminate instances in which someone who controls the task decides to change its progress. Such instances will do nothing short of disrupting your entire calendar.
11. Color-code your calendar.
Due to the large number of items on your calendar, it may be difficult to differentiate them quickly. To make your calendar easier to understand, color code it. For work-related tasks, you can use red, for meetings, and for social obligations, you can use blue.
Additionally, you can use bold fonts and all caps to emphasize important dates and deadlines. Using your calendar, you can see what your priorities are for the day, week, or month ahead.
12. High-risk tasks should be scheduled early in the project.
Almost every project involves a risk that may cause delays when you least expect them. As a result, it is recommended to plan for any contingencies in advance. The earlier they are scheduled, the better the chances are for a successful project outcome.
Overall, risky tasks should be scheduled early rather than letting nature run its course. As a result, you will have adequate time to resolve any problems that may arise throughout the project.
13. Share your calendar with others.
It is important to make sure that your calendar can be shared with others, whether it is with your spouse, business partner, or virtual assistant. By doing so, everyone will know when you are in a meeting, traveling, or available for a quick call.
Another reason to share your calendar? Imagine that you and your business partner have been invited to meet with a potential investor. You only need to add the event to the shared calendar. It’s now unnecessary to call, text, or email them. In addition to receiving the details of the meeting, they will receive a calendar notification that gives them the option to accept or decline.
14. Only add new events and tasks if they serve a purpose.
Consider the purpose of any new event or task before scheduling it. This way, you won’t have time-wasting activities on your calendar. Consider your goals before agreeing to a meeting, for instance. It is also important to have an agenda that outlines the meeting’s purpose, duration, and location. It is also important to have an agenda that outlines the meeting’s purpose, duration, and location.
15. Schedule nothing.
Generally speaking, during the day, you should schedule everything that needs to be done on your calendar. However, you should also block out times when nothing is planned.
LinkedIn’s CEO, Jeff Weiner, schedules between 90 minutes and two hours of these buffers every day. Weiner usually records them in blocks of 30 or 60 minutes. He schedules a time to do nothing instead of only booking appointments. He uses these blocks of time to think about the future, catch up on industry news, walk, or catch his breath.
A similar method is used by Richard Branson. “Open your calendar and schedule time — just to dream. Put it in your diary like you would a meeting,” Branson wrote in a 2017 blog post. “Far too many people get weighed down in doing, and never take the time to think and feel. Take five minutes, an hour, a day, or even a holiday. If you free up some time to think freely, you’ll be able to see the bigger picture much easier.”
Warren Buffett is another successful person who leaves their calendar blank. The idea was so effective that Bill Gates adopted it. “You know, I had every minute packed, and I thought that was the only way you could do things,” Gates said during a 2017 conversation with Buffett. In response to Buffett, Gates realized his calendar needed more blank space.
“You control your time,” says Gates. “Sitting and thinking may be a much higher priority than a normal CEO, where’s there all these demands and you feel like you need to go and see all these people. It’s not a proxy of your seriousness that you fill every minute in your schedule.”
There is even evidence that when your mind is relaxed and unfocused, you can be more creative. You might have those “aha” moments in the shower or while walking if your mind is free. By doing so, you can come up with fresh ideas.
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Rocket Report: SpaceX may see revenue spike in 2023; Terran 1 gets a date
“Each Artemis mission will be properly characterized as a test mission.”
Enlarge / Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket may be less than two weeks away from its debut launch. (credit: Relativity Space)
Welcome to Edition 5.27 of the Rocket Report! The big news this week is that Relativity Space got its launch license for a debut flight from Cape Canaveral in Florida. In less than two weeks, I’m excited to see how far this methalox rocket makes it on its first foray off the planet.
As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Terran 1 gets a launch date. On Wednesday Relativity Space announced that it had secured a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration for the debut launch of its Terran 1 rocket. The mission, called GLHF (good luck, have fun), will take flight from Launch Complex 16 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch window opens at 1 pm ET (18:00 UTC) on March 8. Because this is a test flight, the mission will not include a customer payload. It will be streamed live.
The Return of ‘Party Down’ Proves the Power of Cult Love
Like many resurrected shows, it has a lot of fan expectation to live up to.
Like many resurrected shows, it has a lot of fan expectation to live up to.
How Should Fans Feel About Newcastle United?
Smart signings and Saudi millions have revived a moribund Premier League soccer team. Those cheering say they shouldn’t have to answer for the source of its success.
Smart signings and Saudi millions have revived a moribund Premier League soccer team. Those cheering say they shouldn’t have to answer for the source of its success.
Kuo: Apple to Launch High-End and Low-End Versions of Second-Generation Headset in 2025
Apple’s cheaper second-generation AR/VR headset will come in two high-end and low-end models, according to Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Concept render based on purported leaked information by Ian Zelbo
Writing in a new Medium post summarizing his latest survey findings and predictions, Kuo says both models will likely arrive in 2025.
Apple’s second-generation AR/MR headset has two high-end and low-end models. The high-end and low-end will be developed and produced by Luxcaseict and Foxconn, respectively. The current launch schedule for both models will likely be in 2025.Apple’s long-rumored AR/VR headset has yet to be announced, but a report earlier this week claimed that the company’s manufacturing partner Foxconn is already developing a cheaper second-generation version of the headset.
That report said Apple’s first headset will be “extremely expensive,” with industry estimates ranging from $3,000 to $5,000, while Apple’s second-generation headset will have a more affordable price within the territory of “a high-end Mac computer.” Now it seems Apple is planning a two-tiered series of the second-generation device to appeal to a wider customer base, similar to the way it offers both standard and more premium Pro-branded iPhones each year.
In his latest report, Kuo says that Pegatron is gradually withdrawing from Apple’s headset business, and will likely transfer its AR/MR development team and production resources to Luxcaseict (a joint venture between Luxshare ICT and Pegatron), led by Luxshare ICT, in the first half of 2023.
This will see Luxshare ICT taking over the subsequent design and production of the high-end version of the second-generation headset. Such changes will lead to “the subsequent acceleration of reducing the cost of the headset, which is what Apple expects,” adds Kuo.
Apple’s plans to release a cheaper version of its AR/VR headset were first reported last month by The Information’s Wayne Ma and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The headset would supposedly use more affordable components, such as lower-resolution lenses.
According to The Information, “significant” work on the second-generation device started last year, and at the time, the goal was to launch the cheap headset in 2024. Bloomberg previously reported that Apple’s budget mixed reality headset could arrive in either 2024 or 2025.
Apple’s first headset is expected to be announced at WWDC in June and will reportedly have over a dozen cameras, dual 4K lenses, advanced eye and hand tracking, and many other advanced features. As for software, the device is said to have an iOS-like interface with a grid of apps.
In a follow-up tweet to his latest Medium blog, Kuo said his prediction for the mass shipment schedule of the first-generation headset is unchanged, but the likelihood of it being released at a spring event this year is decreasing. However, Kuo also said that the probability of the headset’s launch alongside the iPhone 15 in the third quarter of this year “is rising.”Related Roundup: AR/VR Headset
Tag: Ming-Chi Kuo
Related Forum: Apple Glasses, AR and VR
This article, “Kuo: Apple to Launch High-End and Low-End Versions of Second-Generation Headset in 2025” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Apple’s cheaper second-generation AR/VR headset will come in two high-end and low-end models, according to Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Writing in a new Medium post summarizing his latest survey findings and predictions, Kuo says both models will likely arrive in 2025.
Apple’s second-generation AR/MR headset has two high-end and low-end models. The high-end and low-end will be developed and produced by Luxcaseict and Foxconn, respectively. The current launch schedule for both models will likely be in 2025.Apple’s long-rumored AR/VR headset has yet to be announced, but a report earlier this week claimed that the company’s manufacturing partner Foxconn is already developing a cheaper second-generation version of the headset.
That report said Apple’s first headset will be “extremely expensive,” with industry estimates ranging from $3,000 to $5,000, while Apple’s second-generation headset will have a more affordable price within the territory of “a high-end Mac computer.” Now it seems Apple is planning a two-tiered series of the second-generation device to appeal to a wider customer base, similar to the way it offers both standard and more premium Pro-branded iPhones each year.
In his latest report, Kuo says that Pegatron is gradually withdrawing from Apple’s headset business, and will likely transfer its AR/MR development team and production resources to Luxcaseict (a joint venture between Luxshare ICT and Pegatron), led by Luxshare ICT, in the first half of 2023.
This will see Luxshare ICT taking over the subsequent design and production of the high-end version of the second-generation headset. Such changes will lead to “the subsequent acceleration of reducing the cost of the headset, which is what Apple expects,” adds Kuo.
Apple’s plans to release a cheaper version of its AR/VR headset were first reported last month by The Information‘s Wayne Ma and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman. The headset would supposedly use more affordable components, such as lower-resolution lenses.
According to The Information, “significant” work on the second-generation device started last year, and at the time, the goal was to launch the cheap headset in 2024. Bloomberg previously reported that Apple’s budget mixed reality headset could arrive in either 2024 or 2025.
Apple’s first headset is expected to be announced at WWDC in June and will reportedly have over a dozen cameras, dual 4K lenses, advanced eye and hand tracking, and many other advanced features. As for software, the device is said to have an iOS-like interface with a grid of apps.
In a follow-up tweet to his latest Medium blog, Kuo said his prediction for the mass shipment schedule of the first-generation headset is unchanged, but the likelihood of it being released at a spring event this year is decreasing. However, Kuo also said that the probability of the headset’s launch alongside the iPhone 15 in the third quarter of this year “is rising.”
This article, “Kuo: Apple to Launch High-End and Low-End Versions of Second-Generation Headset in 2025” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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