Social Networking
Riding the social media wave
Sunday 27 July 2008, 11:56 PM
De-Motivation: Blame The Sun
We’re all whinging Poms. According to the clipboard brigade, over half of us in the UK suffer from ‘Summer Seasonal Affective Disorder’, which leaves us de-motivated, unhappy and even close to quitting our jobs. To be fair, I would feel like this if I worked for the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA).
The research examined how the UK workforce feels about working over the summer. The findings showed that 39% of office workers believe Summer Seasonal Affective Disorder, or ‘Summer SAD’, detracts from their motivation to work, while 8% said they are more likely to call in sick during the summer months. Almost 20% said they spend their summer daydreaming out of the window while 7% look for another job.
What is wrong with you people? Would you rather freeze your booty off on the way to work to get you motivated? It’s all wrong. Now is the best time of the year and you need to get a grip. If the weather really does affect your job, it’s time you moved on because you’re not happy and life is too short. SAD is a type of winter depression which affects people mostly during December, January and February. It has no place in summer. The only biochemical imbalance in your hypothalamus should be caused by alcohol and burnt barbecue food.
Who’s ever heard of ‘Summer blues?’
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Christian Harris
Founder & Editor, BIOS
http://twitter.com/christianharris
The research examined how the UK workforce feels about working over the summer. The findings showed that 39% of office workers believe Summer Seasonal Affective Disorder, or ‘Summer SAD’, detracts from their motivation to work, while 8% said they are more likely to call in sick during the summer months. Almost 20% said they spend their summer daydreaming out of the window while 7% look for another job.
What is wrong with you people? Would you rather freeze your booty off on the way to work to get you motivated? It’s all wrong. Now is the best time of the year and you need to get a grip. If the weather really does affect your job, it’s time you moved on because you’re not happy and life is too short. SAD is a type of winter depression which affects people mostly during December, January and February. It has no place in summer. The only biochemical imbalance in your hypothalamus should be caused by alcohol and burnt barbecue food.
Who’s ever heard of ‘Summer blues?’
--------------------
Christian Harris
Founder & Editor, BIOS
http://twitter.com/christianharris
Sunday 20 July 2008, 6:18 PM
Makesureyouget.me
Apple has secured the very personal domain ‘me.com’. Put that next to its trademark applications for apple.me and itunes.me and it’s pretty obvious it has got a ‘me’ strategy!
So, is the new .me domain name going to be the one to have? Quite possibly. More importantly, it’s probably going to be the biggest country code domain launch ever, putting its owners, the country of Montenegro, firmly on the map!
Registering a .me domain provides the opportunity to have a personal online presence with an easily recognisable and catchy Web site address.
Perfectly suited for Web sites that centre around the owner, .me domains give you more creativity to make memorable domains such as online CVs, blogs, photo albums and family Web sites. The domain is expected to achieve high demand because of its appeal as both a personalised Web address and as an extension for businesses using microsites for marketing purposes.
.me is a very user-centric, versatile domain to have. It’s great for personalising a Web site’s identity making it memorable, which helps create the right formula for a successful Web site. And unlike some other TLDs, there are no restrictions for this domain at all - it’s open to everyone! I would thoroughly recommend getting your orders in early to avoid the rush.
--------------------
Christian Harris
Founder & Editor, BIOS
http://twitter.com/christianharris
So, is the new .me domain name going to be the one to have? Quite possibly. More importantly, it’s probably going to be the biggest country code domain launch ever, putting its owners, the country of Montenegro, firmly on the map!
Registering a .me domain provides the opportunity to have a personal online presence with an easily recognisable and catchy Web site address.
Perfectly suited for Web sites that centre around the owner, .me domains give you more creativity to make memorable domains such as online CVs, blogs, photo albums and family Web sites. The domain is expected to achieve high demand because of its appeal as both a personalised Web address and as an extension for businesses using microsites for marketing purposes.
.me is a very user-centric, versatile domain to have. It’s great for personalising a Web site’s identity making it memorable, which helps create the right formula for a successful Web site. And unlike some other TLDs, there are no restrictions for this domain at all - it’s open to everyone! I would thoroughly recommend getting your orders in early to avoid the rush.
--------------------
Christian Harris
Founder & Editor, BIOS
http://twitter.com/christianharris
Friday 18 July 2008, 7:31 PM
Don’t Ride The ‘Doom & Gloom’ Bandwagon
Forget all the doom mongering about the credit crunch and turn these troubled times to your advantage, making this crisis your opportunity.
Though worry and uncertainty is normal at this time, it is important to remember that even if things do go wrong in the short-term, such crises can also mean massive opportunities for positive change. It could be the chance to finally take control of the future, plan a career change, or fulfil that dream of setting up a business and being top dog. And remember, redundancy can actually be the springboard to your success - I should know!
Online trading is an area of the economy that continues to rise. According to recent figures published by Verdict, online spending on retail purchases rose by 35% to 14.7 billion last year and with Internet shopping growing at its fastest rate in six years and more and more UK households getting broadband, the only way to go is up for online retailers.
Getting online is the only way to go now. Some retailers will even tell you that they wouldn’t have been able to afford to keep their shops open had they not set up a Web site for trading online in tandem. Some have even closed their shops after setting up their Web site and now sell purely online. The spirit of entrepreneurialism has never been stronger than it is now in the UK with programs such as The Apprentice and Dragons Den.
So all in all, let’s try to stay positive. Most things at the moment suck - like the price of food and petrol - but let’s not jump on the ‘doom and gloom’ bandwagon of despair, for all that will do will drag us down. We can create new businesses, we can weather the temporary economic storm and we can do better than just survive, we can grow our economy once again like we did over the last two decades. But more importantly, we can grow as people and come out the other side more experienced and rewarded.
--------------------
Christian Harris
Founder & Editor, BIOS
http://twitter.com/christianharris
Though worry and uncertainty is normal at this time, it is important to remember that even if things do go wrong in the short-term, such crises can also mean massive opportunities for positive change. It could be the chance to finally take control of the future, plan a career change, or fulfil that dream of setting up a business and being top dog. And remember, redundancy can actually be the springboard to your success - I should know!
Online trading is an area of the economy that continues to rise. According to recent figures published by Verdict, online spending on retail purchases rose by 35% to 14.7 billion last year and with Internet shopping growing at its fastest rate in six years and more and more UK households getting broadband, the only way to go is up for online retailers.
Getting online is the only way to go now. Some retailers will even tell you that they wouldn’t have been able to afford to keep their shops open had they not set up a Web site for trading online in tandem. Some have even closed their shops after setting up their Web site and now sell purely online. The spirit of entrepreneurialism has never been stronger than it is now in the UK with programs such as The Apprentice and Dragons Den.
So all in all, let’s try to stay positive. Most things at the moment suck - like the price of food and petrol - but let’s not jump on the ‘doom and gloom’ bandwagon of despair, for all that will do will drag us down. We can create new businesses, we can weather the temporary economic storm and we can do better than just survive, we can grow our economy once again like we did over the last two decades. But more importantly, we can grow as people and come out the other side more experienced and rewarded.
--------------------
Christian Harris
Founder & Editor, BIOS
http://twitter.com/christianharris
Sunday 13 July 2008, 6:06 PM
Net Helps You Work Till You Drop
If you’re thinking of taking early retirement because you’ve been sensible and put away your money in ISAs, saving accounts and property, think again. You can forget about living off an adequate pension, too. Life may be too short to sit at the some desk day after day, but the way things are heading in this country you may be working through the night to make ends meet.
The credit crunch and the rising cost of living in the UK are forcing increasing numbers of retirees to supplement their income by sourcing ad-hoc jobs on online service marketplaces. A recent report said that many pensioners are drawing on their experience and expertise in a wide range of professions to bid for projects posted online by businesses.
Pensioner poverty increased by 300,000 in 2006 to 2007 to a total of 2.5 million, a Government report recently found. Research conducted by Scottish Widows this week found that one in three Britons cannot afford to put aside any savings for their retirement, which suggests the pensioner poverty problem is only likely to get worse.
Small-biz employers can look on the bright side: retirees make excellent freelancers and you can pay them in Aspirin tablets and Co-op vouchers. They also tend to be highly-experienced and reliable - which is rare these days - and you can save some cash on corporate gym memberships. But bathroom breaks can take two days and you don’t ever want to discuss employee health insurance.
--------------------
Christian Harris
Founder & Editor, BIOS
http://twitter.com/christianharris
The credit crunch and the rising cost of living in the UK are forcing increasing numbers of retirees to supplement their income by sourcing ad-hoc jobs on online service marketplaces. A recent report said that many pensioners are drawing on their experience and expertise in a wide range of professions to bid for projects posted online by businesses.
Pensioner poverty increased by 300,000 in 2006 to 2007 to a total of 2.5 million, a Government report recently found. Research conducted by Scottish Widows this week found that one in three Britons cannot afford to put aside any savings for their retirement, which suggests the pensioner poverty problem is only likely to get worse.
Small-biz employers can look on the bright side: retirees make excellent freelancers and you can pay them in Aspirin tablets and Co-op vouchers. They also tend to be highly-experienced and reliable - which is rare these days - and you can save some cash on corporate gym memberships. But bathroom breaks can take two days and you don’t ever want to discuss employee health insurance.
--------------------
Christian Harris
Founder & Editor, BIOS
http://twitter.com/christianharris
Monday 7 July 2008, 8:42 AM
Slow Broadband Dampens Business Edge
On September 18th, 2007, the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP (the then Minister of State for Competitiveness), said: ‘Before too long, the wider economy is going to need high speed broadband. The high speed broadband networks being deployed elsewhere for multi-channel TV will increasingly be used in other commercial applications.
‘The growing number of people working at home will require high speed connections to support them….all these trends are pushing up the bandwidths which are going to be required across the economy….services and applications coming onto the market will only be properly exploited and enjoyed if the bandwidth exists to deliver them to the end user….the infrastructure must be capable of delivering high speed broadband to all.’
Where did it all go wrong?
Britain’s comparatively slow broadband speeds are said to be threatening business efficiency, warns the Communications Management Association (CMA). This is because lack of provision to meet predicted demands will frustrate companies’ e-commerce operations.
Apparently, over a third of UK businesses predict they will need speeds of 100Mbps to be able to meet future demand for next generation Internet technology. Yet around a third say they currently do not receive satisfactory access to Internet technology - such as infrastructure, services and applications.
So what can be done? As businesses we should be banging on the door of Government to create a national broadband strategy that anticipates the massive rise in demand for next generation access (NGA) to the Internet over the next 12 to 24 months. Otherwise, the gap between Government spin and formulation of policy will grow wider than ever.
From Timms’ crowd-rousing speech to now there has been little sign of either a concerted or innovative approach to regulation and policy-making, which the Government acknowledged as recently as last September as being necessary.
Why can’t this Government get anything right?
‘The growing number of people working at home will require high speed connections to support them….all these trends are pushing up the bandwidths which are going to be required across the economy….services and applications coming onto the market will only be properly exploited and enjoyed if the bandwidth exists to deliver them to the end user….the infrastructure must be capable of delivering high speed broadband to all.’
Where did it all go wrong?
Britain’s comparatively slow broadband speeds are said to be threatening business efficiency, warns the Communications Management Association (CMA). This is because lack of provision to meet predicted demands will frustrate companies’ e-commerce operations.
Apparently, over a third of UK businesses predict they will need speeds of 100Mbps to be able to meet future demand for next generation Internet technology. Yet around a third say they currently do not receive satisfactory access to Internet technology - such as infrastructure, services and applications.
So what can be done? As businesses we should be banging on the door of Government to create a national broadband strategy that anticipates the massive rise in demand for next generation access (NGA) to the Internet over the next 12 to 24 months. Otherwise, the gap between Government spin and formulation of policy will grow wider than ever.
From Timms’ crowd-rousing speech to now there has been little sign of either a concerted or innovative approach to regulation and policy-making, which the Government acknowledged as recently as last September as being necessary.
Why can’t this Government get anything right?
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