PSPINC Official Company Blog

What is Machine Learning?

Aug

30

People commonly use the terms machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) interchangeably. But they aren’t technically the same. Machine learning (ML) is just a subset of AI that refers to computers learning and adapting to new data without humans assisting them. Over the last ten years, ML has become one of the most critical parts of how AI works. And it’s only become more popular as Deloitte predicts the cloud ML market will reach $13 billion by 2025

Simply put, ML uses gathered and prepared data, be it numbers, photos, or text, and finds patterns and/or makes predictions. The more data human programmers provide, the better the program will be. After programmers supply the data, they then choose which ML model they want to use, and the computer trains itself. Then, programmers can also encourage more accurate results by altering the model and changing its parameters if needed.

There are three types of ML:

1. Supervised ML

Supervised ML uses past data to make predictions. As the most common type of ML, it uses labeled data sets and will become more accurate as the model learns over time. A widely used example is an email spam filter. It uses algorithms to predict which emails are spam and which aren’t after looking at data like past received emails. Email services that use ML for their spam filters include Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.

2. Unsupervised ML

Unsupervised ML finds hidden patterns in unlabeled data. An example of this would be Facebook’s facial recognition. When users post a new image, Facebook will predict who’s in this photo by looking at their friends’ profile pages, available images, and other available data. Then, users can tag those people in the image, if they want to.

3. Reinforcement ML

a man watching a youtube video on a tablet

Reinforcement ML goes through trial and error to make the best decision by training machines. This type of ML is generally used to increase overall efficiency. An example of reinforcement ML in practice is the recommendations a user gets after finishing a video on YouTube. Just like other ML types, the more data it receives, the more accurate it is. If users click on the recommended video but don’t finish it until the end, the machine understands that it wasn’t a great match.

While the benefits vary across industries, businesses can gain an overall increase in efficiency when investing in ML. And many ML tools are relatively inexpensive as well as easy to use. For businesses, both big and small, investing in ML can help save valuable time and money. So, it’s no wonder why so many businesses are already taking advantage of everything ML has to offer.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#ai #artificialintelligence #benefits #business #businessideas #businesstips #data #email #facebook #labeleddata #machinelearning #ml #programming #smallbusiness #spam #spamfilters #tech #technology #unlabeleddata #youtube #youtuberecommendations

3 Ways Businesses Can Protect Themselves Online

Aug

23

Cybercrime has only increased over the past few years. And the average cost of cybersecurity for businesses has also climbed. Cybersecurity, according to IBM, is the practice of protecting critical systems and sensitive information from digital attacks. For businesses, it’s important to have a sound strategy in place to keep your company and employees safe.

The pandemic has intensified our reliance on technology, making it easy for hackers to gain access to sensitive information like client and customer information. So, it only makes it that much more important for businesses to protect themselves. And that goes for all businesses, regardless of size or type. With the added challenge of new technology, businesses must adapt to keep themselves safe. Here are three ways you can keep your business safe online:

1. Keep Your Software Up to Date

The simplest way for businesses, as well as individuals, to protect themselves online is by updating their software regularly. Not updating leaves users vulnerable to attacks and compromises their account information. Even though it’s easy, many people still choose not to do it. While devices already have built-in security features, it’s not enough. Cybercrime is constantly evolving and the only way for devices to keep up with them is through updates.

2. Use a Password Manager

woman wearing a hijab on a laptop with a phone on the desk nxt to her

To keep your account information safe, use a password manager. Many on the market have free accounts available, including ours. Pass Wizard makes it easy to not only store passwords securely but also to generate strong and unique passwords. Plus, managers can use Pass Wizard Pro to better manage shared passwords among employees securely.

3. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication (2FA) confirms your identity through two different methods and keeps your accounts secure. It’s especially helpful when password managers give the option of 2FA, which is why Pass Wizard does. While there are many forms of 2FA, the most common are by email, mobile device, or both.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#2fa #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #cloudcomputing #cloudservices #cyber #cyberattacks #cybersecurity #data #databreaches #hacking #passwizard #security #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webtools

Announcement: DENREI 4th App Release Out Now!

Aug

22

Today, we’ve updated our mobile app for our online community platform, DENREI! For users in both the U.S. and Japan, the app's available for download in the App Store.

In this new fourth app release, we’ve made the following updates:

Improved the UI/UX of DENREI’s “Compose” feature

Users will get a complete look at who they’re following and who their followers are when they click the + button in the “To” field.

As for our newer direct message feature, members can now send them to single or multiple recipients, including members they’re following and their followers.

The “Require approval for members to follow your emails” feature will now be a default setting for new users.

The privacy notice will now display below images when members attach them to their broadcasts.

To learn more about DENREI's amazing features, head over to our blog announcement blog post. To sign up, download the free DENREI app today! Only available for iOS users.

#announcement #app #blog #community #denrei #follow #followers #ios #iphone #japan #messaging #mobile #mobileapp #pspinc #social #socialmedia #tech #ui #update #us #userexperience #userinterface #ux

The Difference Between Sales and Marketing

Aug

16

Sales and marketing are commonly used interchangeably in business, but they don’t mean the same thing. Sales and marketing work in tandem to increase revenue. When both strike a perfect balance, businesses benefit in the long run. So, it’s an understatement to say that those in sales and marketing can learn from each other.

Although they are different, it’s not surprising that many people think they’re the same. Mostly because they have the same end goal, and that is to generate revenue. What makes them different is how they go about it and what parts of the customer journey they affect.

Marketing Professionals and Salespeople

In short, marketing is how potential customers become aware of the company and what it’s selling. Those efforts, when done effectively, encourages customers to engage with the company to purchase or at least show interest in the product. Sales, however, pushes them across the finish line. Neither can work without the other.

Marketing efforts target much larger groups of people who may be or become interested in what the company’s trying to sell. Therefore, marketing professionals focus on long-term strategies, and they aim to meet customers’ demands. Those efforts are all done through indirect methods like advertising, social media marketing, email marketing, etc. Then, it creates a trigger that will lead customers toward sales.

Salespeople, however, are more often working directly with customers after they’ve already made contact with the company. Sales aims at understanding and meeting customers’ demands and desires. While their goals are generally more short-term, arming the company with more information about what customers are looking for only helps with future sales efforts.

Sales and Marketing Working Together

To remember the difference between marketing, think of them as the internet and email. They both use the same technologies, but one can’t exist without the other. Bringing awareness to products and driving interest through marketing efforts lead potential customers closer to the purchase stage. Sales comes in at the end to meet customers’ needs. Therefore, facilitating both to work well together will allow businesses to reach prospects no matter where they are in the customer journey.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #blog #branding #business #businesstips #customersupport #digitalmarketing #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingprofessionals #marketingtips #sales #salespeople #smallbusiness #tech #technology

How Voice Assistants Are Changing Marketing

Aug

9

Are you one of the many people who use a voice assistant like Siri, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant? Insider Intelligence predicts that 123.5 million adults will use a voice assistant at least once a month in the U.S. this year. While this technology isn’t particularly new anymore, it is still rife with opportunities from a marketing perspective that many are unaware of as well as not taking advantage of.

For example, people largely use voice assistants to get quick answers to their questions. Voice assistants, as a result, emphasize what’s called featured snippets. If you type a question into a search engine, you’ll get an immediate answer. And that’s because, at the top, there will be some bolded text that should answer your question. But that text is pulled from a specific website. That whole section is the featured snippet. And for voice assistants, that’s where they pull their answers from. And website owners, in turn, will get a bump in website traffic.

How It Affects Marketing

From a marketing standpoint, this only enforces the need for great search engine optimization (SEO) for your site. If your site is well optimized, it’s more likely it’ll pop up as the first search result, making it the most relevant to Google’s algorithm. If you’ve optimized your site well enough, it’ll show at the top when users search certain queries and you’ll receive better results. And luckily, we here at PSPINC have a lot of experience helping customers with their website SEO.

But voice assistants have more marketing potential for business as well. For example, did you know you can order a pizza from Domino’s using Amazon’s Alexa? Well, you can. And with it being an Amazon product, you can also order products off of Amazon with just your voice. The biggest benefit that voice assistants offer is convenience. And it's a convenience that’s just unmatched when compared to other platforms.

So, while voice assistants have gained popularity over the years, it still isn’t used as a marketing tool on a wide scale just yet. But those who are, reap the benefits they provide. And advertisers predict this will change in the next few years. While it doesn’t exist yet, voice assistants could integrate sponsored ads by having advertisers pay to be mentioned first when users ask a question like, “what Italian restaurants are near me?”. With Spotify already personalizing its ads based on what users listen to, it’s not too big of a stretch.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #amazon #amazonalexa #blog #business #businesstips #cortana #digitalmarketing #google #googlehome #marketing #searchengineoptimization #seo #siri #smallbusiness #tech #technology #voice #voiceassistants #web #website #websites #webtools

How to Create a Brand

Aug

2

A brand and a company, while used interchangeably, are not the same. A company is the name of an organization that engages in business activities, like producing and selling products. A brand, however, is about how people perceive your company through identifying brand attributes like your logo, name, and products. To remember the difference, think of it this way: a business owner, founder, and/or CEO owns a company whereas the people own a brand. While there’s significant influence coming from whoever’s in charge, the people are the ones who derive meaning from what you have to offer.

Starting a company can be as easy as setting up a great e-commerce website and selling products. However, creating a great brand isn’t quite as easy to do. Setting up your company website is a great first step because it forces you to figure out the essentials needed to run a business. If you’re just creating a business, it’s easy to go on from there by designing your website, adding your products, and advertising said products. A brand, however, also requires a vision and mission statement. A mission statement tells people where your company currently stands and what it does. A vision statement is more aspirational and tells people where you want to see the company go in the future.

After creating your mission and vision statements, it’s time to determine your brand’s values. This is what you want your business to stand for. More importantly, this is what you want your business to be known for. Truly successful brands keep all of those in mind in every experience a customer has with them. Look at Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most successful brands. But it isn’t based on the product alone. Coca-Cola’s brand is about refreshing the world in a way that makes a difference. While their drink is known to be refreshing worldwide, Coca-Cola also actively works toward its commitment to making the world a better place. And this can be seen through multiple sustainability efforts by the brand.

Lastly, with so many other small businesses out there, it’s important to consider who your competitors are and what makes your business different. To succeed, your business needs to be different in a way that’s attractive to your target market. And creating customer persona to figure that out will help immensely. After figuring all that out, then come all the recognizable elements of a brand like designing a logo and determining a color palette. While developing a brand can be a lengthy process, it’s not impossible. And great brands tend to change and evolve, so just remember that when trying to create your own.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #blog #brand #brandidentity #branding #brands #business #businesstips #businesstools #cocacola #digitalmarketing #logo #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingonline #marketingstrategy #marketingtips #smallbusiness #success #tech #technology

Social Media Security Concerns

Jul

26

With the influx of data over the past few years, it’s only become more widely available. With it, security concerns online have only amplified. While social media and the internet have been greatly beneficial in numerous ways, it’s also opened the door for hacking opportunities. Most internet users today know to take precautions like setting up a firewall, but it doesn’t prevent cyberattacks. The intimate atmosphere of social media makes it even easier for hacks to occur. Users are less likely to proceed with caution because people feel they’re among friends on social media.

Over-Sharing Information

a man taing a selfie of himself standing on a balcony that overlooks the ocean

Among friends, it can be very easy to share personal details. But many users are unaware they’re opening themselves up to online scams. But sometimes, users share their private information entirely by accident. For example, users sharing pictures of their home renovations may not realize they might be inadvertently sharing their home address. The general rule of thumb when posting on social media is not to publicize your email, phone number, or location.

Phishing Scams

two hands coding on a laptop with green text on the black laptop screen

Even though phishing scams are more associated with email, it's gotten big on social media too. And targeting people on social platforms is even easier for hackers. All they have to do is create a post tailored to users' interests and include a link. With so much personal information readily available, users will most likely click on it. This type of phishing scam is called spear phishing and can be very effective. Spear phishing can also happen after creating fake accounts. Social media users frequently accept friend requests from people they don’t know, making it easier for hackers. After the user accepts the friend request, scammers can send a link via a direct message and because you’re friends, many users will click on the link.

Staying Safe Online

a girl taking a selfie with a boy while they both holding up peace signs

However, it's one thing to be aware of these potential hacks but even better to take precautionary measures to prevent them. Apart from being wary of what you post online, you can also enable 2-factor authentication (2FA), a feature available on almost every mainstream social platform. 2FA requires you to answer a question or enter a code after entering your password. This extra signup step makes it harder for cybercriminals to access your account. And it’s why many password managers use it to secure your passwords, Pass Wizard included.

But even if you take all the necessary precautions, hacks can still happen on social media. Not just from individual hackers but also from big corporations as everything you share is public. And advertisers can sell, buy, and use your data, whether you realize it or not. So, while the friendly nature of social media is attractive, it invites plenty of security risks. However, we created our new social platform, DENREI, with cyber security in mind. Unlike traditional social platforms, your data is never sold or shared, making all the information you share private.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#2fa #advertisers #cyber #cybersecurity #data #denrei #hacking #hacks #online #onlinesafety #passwizard #phishing #privacy #safetyonline #security #sellingdata #socialmedia #spearphishing #tech #technology

Announcement: Spoof Filtering Update

Jul

21

As we announced earlier this week, we have been working hard to fix the issue of email spoofing*. We are happy to announce that we have updated our spoof filtering within our email hosting service, Dreamersi. To enable this new spoof filtering update:

screenshot of spam filtering in Dreamersi

1. Login to your Dreamersi account
2. Click "Spam Filter"
3. Click "Sender Filter"
4. Check "Spoof Filtering"
5. Click "Save" at the bottom

Once enabled, spoofed emails (which appear as emails sent from you but are actually sent by others) will go to your spam folders. You will then see them in you Spam Summary as shown below:
screenshot of spam summary with spoof filter enabled

screenshot of spam summary with spoof filter enabled

Thank you for choosing Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. and Dreamersi for your hosting needs.

*Email spoofing is a form of cyber attack in which a hacker sends an email that has been manipulated to seem as if it originated from a trusted source. Email spoofing is a popular tactic used in phishing and spam campaigns because people are more likely to open an email when they think it has been sent by a known sender. The goal of email spoofing is to trick recipients into opening or responding to the message. (source: techtarget.com)

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#announcement #blog #dreamersi #email #emailhosting #emailspoofing #pacificsoftwarepublishinginc #pspinc #spam #spamfilter #spamsummary #spoofing #tech #technology #tutorial #update #webhosting

PSPINC What's New Newsletter Vol. 125 "Starting a Business"

Jul

21

Starting and building a business isn’t always the easiest thing to do. But it’s easier if you start with one thing first. For example, Pacific Software Publishing Inc. (PSPINC) got its start introducing already-established U.S. software to Japan. Since then, we’ve expanded to create our own proprietary software. And now, PSPINC sells products and services all to help small businesses grow online. And that initial focus has also given us a specialty in localizing software for our customers in Japan. And we’re not the only company that’s done this.

Take Amazon for example. Customers can find almost anything on Amazon nowadays. But did you know it actually started as a small bookstore? Slowly, over time, Amazon started selling other products until it became what it is today. Focusing on one thing allows your business to build up a loyal audience, which will make your future marketing efforts easier in the long run.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #branding #business #businesstips #digitalmarketing #dreamersi #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #products #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #services #smallbusiness #tech #technology

Announcement: Spoofed email filtering fix in progress

Jul

19

Recently we have seen an increase in email spoofing* occurring with spam emails being delivered to inboxes.

Within the Dreamersi admin panel in the Spam Filter > Sender Filter settings we have a feature called "Spoof Filtering" to prevent this issue. However, we have noticed that spoofed email messages are bypassing this filter. We are actively working on a fix to ensure the filter is catching these emails before they reach your inbox.

In the meantime, if you receive any suspicious emails that appear to be from a trusted source, please take caution and avoid opening or interacting with them.

If you have any questions, or are experiencing issues with email spoofing within your email account please contact us at 1-800-232-3989 or by email at support@pspinc.com.

We are standing by to help you via phone and email.

Once issues with the spoof filtering feature are resolved we will make another announcement, as well as include steps on how you can enable this feature if you are not currently using it.

Thank you for choosing Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. and Dreamersi for your hosting needs.

*Email spoofing is a form of cyber attack in which a hacker sends an email that has been manipulated to seem as if it originated from a trusted source. Email spoofing is a popular tactic used in phishing and spam campaigns because people are more likely to open an email when they think it has been sent by a known sender. The goal of email spoofing is to trick recipients into opening or responding to the message. (source: techtarget.com)

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#business #email #emailhosting #emailspoofing #pspinc #spam #tech

PSPINC Official Company Blog

freespace

What is Machine Learning?

1. Supervised ML

2. Unsupervised ML

3. Reinforcement ML

3 Ways Businesses Can Protect Themselves Online

1. Keep Your Software Up to Date

2. Use a Password Manager

3. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Announcement: DENREI 4th App Release Out Now!

The Difference Between Sales and Marketing

Marketing Professionals and Salespeople

Sales and Marketing Working Together

How Voice Assistants Are Changing Marketing

How It Affects Marketing

How to Create a Brand

Social Media Security Concerns

Over-Sharing Information

Phishing Scams

Staying Safe Online

Announcement: Spoof Filtering Update

PSPINC What's New Newsletter Vol. 125 "Starting a Business"

Announcement: Spoofed email filtering fix in progress

introduction

bloguru friends

calendar

latest comments

hashtags

history

freespace

Sign up for our newsletter

1. Supervised ML

2. Unsupervised ML

3. Reinforcement ML

People Who Wowed This Post

1. Keep Your Software Up to Date

2. Use a Password Manager

3. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

People Who Wowed This Post

People Who Wowed This Post

Marketing Professionals and Salespeople

Sales and Marketing Working Together

People Who Wowed This Post

How It Affects Marketing

People Who Wowed This Post

People Who Wowed This Post

Over-Sharing Information

Phishing Scams

Staying Safe Online

People Who Wowed This Post

People Who Wowed This Post

People Who Wowed This Post

People Who Wowed This Post

introduction

bloguru friends

calendar

latest comments

hashtags

history