How many times have you experienced internet downtime and have rebooted your router to fix it? It’s now second nature to us to unplug the router, wait ten seconds, and then switch it on again and miraculously see the internet working again.

Although the routers can seem very mysterious, you can use them to solve the problem if you know what’s wrong.

How Exactly Do Routers Work?

You can think of your router as a computer. Inside the modem are a CPU, local storage, and memory. Sometimes, like a computer, your router may experience a bug. This can be due to the CPU overheating or a memory leak or anything else. However, just like a computer, a router can be rebooted to make it run smoothly again. Although this doesn’t exactly solve the issue causing the downtime, it does fix it temporarily.

There are multiple reasons why your router needs to be rebooted. This can solve some minor issues. Sometimes, however, your internet does not suffer from any downtime at all for months. Even in such times, it is a good idea to reset your router periodically.

How Many Times Should We Reboot Our Router?

There is no exact answer to this question, although experts recommend resetting your router every couple of months, even if you experience no internet downtime. A reboot can fix internet connectivity issues, fix slow connections, and is one of the major troubleshooting options available to you at home.

Faster Connection

Periodically rebooting your router can give you a few major benefits. One of these benefits is that you’ll get a much quicker internet connection. That’s because your internet service provider assigns you a unique temporary IP address to each of your devices, which they can change at any time. If your router does not recognize the change, your connection can become very slow or drop altogether.

The same thing can happen if you have multiple devices connected to a single router. Therefore, resetting your router once in every two months can give you a speedier connection.

Prevent Hacking

Restarting your router, however, gives you even more benefits than getting a faster connection. It can actually prevent you from being hacked.

Last year, the FBI advised all homes and businesses to reset their routers after a threat from foreign hackers that impacted thousands of networks around the world. By using a malware called VPNFilter, these hackers were able to misuse the device, hack into private information, block network traffic and make some internet routes inaccessible.

The FBI recommended restarting your routers so that it could disrupt the malware. Cybersecurity experts also recommended users keep their firmware, like antiviruses, firewalls and administrative control up-to-date to prevent other hacking threats and to restart their router after every update.

Can Routers Really Prevent Cyber Attacks?

It certainly doesn’t hurt to try. Rebooting your router is very easy to do, and is perfectly harmless. It is also one of the very first troubleshooting options when you are experiencing internet or network issues.

However, according to security experts, a simple rebooting won’t effectively protect you from a cyber attack. Part of the code of the malware can still survive until the router is given a factory reset. That is the only surefire way to completely eliminate the VPNFilter from your router.

You can do a factory reset by holding down the reset button on your router for a few seconds. However, after that you will have to reconfigure all your settings. You may need to call your internet provider to help you do that.

Experts say rebooting your router is a simple and safe thing to do when you are facing connectivity woes and cyber threats. If you are especially concerned about the security of your router, a factory reset is the way to go.

5 Effective Ways to Inspire & Motivate Your Employees

It is easy to assemble a dream team. However, it is not as easy to keep it.
Most managers these days face a conundrum when their previously happy, enthusiastic, and inspired employees are not so anymore. When your employees lose their luster, is there any way to get it back?

Here are five things that have worked:

Give Credit Where Credit’s Due

A lot of managers come with the attitude that they don’t need to recognize or thank their employees because they are only doing a job that they are being paid for.

Unsurprisingly, this attitude is one of the biggest let down for employees. But being recognized, appreciated, and feeling that they provide value to the company is what forges a connection between employees and their managers.

The beauty of recognition and appreciation is that it is virtually free. Sometimes, all a manager needs to do is send a thoughtful email or handwritten note letting a person know how valuable he/she is to the company, or announcing their accomplishments to the team.

Provide Incentives

Going a step further, there is no reason not to reward a job well done with a prize. Doing this will help the employee become motivated for a repeat performance. It will also inspire other team members to give their utmost to be the next in line to get said prize.

Incentivizing does not just mean monetary compensation. It can just be positive reinforcements like giving your employees a free lunch, an early time out, gift cards, movie tickets, or dinner reservations. Not only does this kick in the reward centers in our brain, but it also inspires some healthy competition which has been proven to improve performance.

Create a Lively Workplace

Nobody wants to spend over eight hours at a dull and dreary office; such a place is enough to kill anyone’s mood and sap their energy. Your mood also affects your creativity, performance, concentration, and sense of well-being.

Studies show that offices with noisy air conditioners and low ceilings have the most stressed employees than offices that are open and filled with natural lighting. Modern offices are places where employees actually want to spend time. These offices are starting to resemble homes, and their kitchen and gyms are becoming centers of activity. Some great ideas to brighten up your office include adding bean bags, eclectic furniture, and plants to your workplace. Break-away spaces, where employees can just hang out and relax, are also becoming very popular.

Give Some Time Off

What is the point of devising a complicated vacation and holiday plan if your employees are not being given the opportunity to take them? A lot of managers do not give their employees sufficient time off from work, even during the holiday seasons or when their kids are on vacation from school. What these employers don’t know is that a few days off from the office’s hectic schedule can do wonders for an employee’s performance. If they knew this, they would certainly give their team ample opportunities to take a well-deserved vacation.

Give Employees Autonomy

“I really love my boss breathing down my neck and micro-managing all aspects of my job,” said no employee ever! Human beings like autonomy; it makes them feel that they are in control and gives them ownership of their work.

Granting your employees some measure of autonomy, letting them work at their own pace within the deadline or letting them contribute to the goals and plans of the company can increase engagement, motivation, and productivity. It also makes employees know that their boss trusts them to do the right thing.

Although there is no one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to inspiring your employees, all of the ideas mentioned above have been proven to work well in office environments. In fact, there are plenty more ideas that you can explore to make your employees happy. After all, satisfied and inspired employees are the secret to any workplace’s success.

Do you know that someone in the world develops dementia every 3 seconds? Over 44 million people in the world suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or other memory-related disorder. In the United States alone, 5.8 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. No one knows the true cause of these neurodegenerative diseases and there is no cure.

Seeing this gap in knowledge, scientists decided to investigate if there is an association between our aging digestive system and development of memory problems and whether garlic could prevent the decline.

Here’s what they found!

Role of Garlic in Reducing Risks of Memory Loss Disorders

According to a research study presented at the 2019 Experimental Biology meeting in Florida, scientists who experimented on mice believe garlic provides health benefits to our brains via our guts. The team fed oral supplements of allyl sulfide, an organic compound in garlic, to 24-month old mice and observed that those who were fed the micronutrient maintained healthy gut bacteria which reduce intestinal inflammation and improve short and long-term memories.

Here’s How Garlic Changes Our Gut

Garlic has long been known as a prebiotic and feeds the beneficial bacteria in our guts. Our gut contains trillions of microorganisms and research shows that healthy gut microbiomes have a positive effect on our mental health. In fact, some studies suggest that patients who had low gut bacteria suffered from depression.

Research shows that the number of gut microbiota diminishes with age and that is when memory-related disorders, like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, develop. This is because the resident bacteria in our gut regulate immunity, inflammation, production of vitamins, carbohydrate metabolism, detoxification, production of essential neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, and levels of neuronal-derived natriuretic factor (NDNF) gene expression, a gene which affects our memories.

Health Benefits of Garlic

Whether it’s sliced, baked, or beaten to a pulp, garlic tastes wonderful in all our food (even though it may not smell that great). Now, you have got another reason to add this delicious superfood to all your favorite recipes. Aside from preventing memory loss, garlic offers a whole host of benefits.

Fighting Common Cold

Now we know why our mothers gave us garlic mixed in honey when we had a cold. A daily supplement of garlic can reduce chances of cold by 63% and cold symptoms by 70%.

Lowering Blood Pressure

Heightened levels of blood pressure and hypertension can result in a stroke or heart attack. Garlic can help reduce blood pressure in just 24 weeks.

Reducing Heart Disease Risk

Daily intake of garlic can reduce cholesterol level by 10 to 15%. It can also reduce the risks of heart attack, atherosclerosis, and coronary artery disease by increasing the flexibility of our blood vessels and decreasing blood vessel damage due to inflammation.

Increases Bone Density

Garlic minimizes bone loss, particularly, in aging females, who have low estrogen levels. It also decreased the risk of bone-related disorders like osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

Decreases Cancer Risk

Garlic consumption has been shown to reduce risks of cancer in the mouth, larynx, pharynx, and the esophagus as well as the stomach.

Suggested Daily Intake of Garlic to Maximize Benefits

Research suggests that approximately 20 grams of garlic in food form should be taken 1 to 3 times a week for best health results. Most experts advice eating raw garlic, which has been crushed or chopped.

Let it sit for 15 minutes to trigger the formation of beneficial compounds like allicin. If you cannot tolerate eating raw garlic, add it in your food towards the end of the cooking time so that the high temperatures do not break down the essential nutrients in it.

There is no reason not to eat garlic; not only is this vegetable crispy and delicious, but it also comes with life-saving benefits and promises longevity. Browse the internet and you will find tons of mouthwatering recipes in which garlic is the star ingredient!