Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Bringing Employers and Job Seekers updates on Singapore Employment News. Productivity related Tech Toys & Web 2.0 Sites will also be covered. Singapore's 1st freelance / casual / part time / contract job blog. Visit http://www.jorbb.com to join today!
Singapore - OCBC employees will now be able to telecommute more easily with access their corporate emails through the iPhone 3G, all paid for on the company's dime. This is the first of such corporate plans in Singapore's banking industry that revolve around the iPhone 3G.
Having access to real-time information on the go is becoming increasingly important, says Peter Koh who is head of technology infrastructure, group operations & technology of OCBC Bank. And with the iPhone's rising popularity, Koh says the bank thought it would be a good idea to leverage it as an office email device as well.
Doing so would also allow employees who already own other web mobile devices to merge into one singular device for their voice calling, web browsing and corporate email use.
Under the initiative, employees in the bank's Singapore, Malaysia, China and overseas branches will have to pay for the device and cost of the voice plan. However, the company will pick up the cost of the data plan, which is directly routed to the bank. Through this, employees will be able access their office email and sync their contacts, notes and calendar and carry out online banking transactions while on the move.
"Our employees can continue to enjoy the features and contents available on their iPhone without the need to carry another device in order to access office email," says Koh.
Furthermore, Koh says this is a win-win initiative for the bank and employees, as "the iPhone's subscription charges are lower than that for the BlackBerrry (by more than 50%)".
While Koh says the idea of using the iPhone for office emails was first brought up before the device was launched in Singapore, the company had to check its feasibility and compatibility with the office email systems to ensure data security. So far, Koh says the bank has received positive interest from employees and has received three application submissions within the first week of its launch.
SINGAPOREANS have long been suspected to be a dissatisfied bunch - and now there are numbers to add to that view.
In Robert Half's latest survey of finance professionals, Singapore ranks second-lowest worldwide for job satisfaction, with only 53 per cent of local respondents claiming to be satisfied with their job.
Ironically though, their dissatisfaction may stem largely from their uncertainty over being able to keep their job.
Ranked third-lowest worldwide for satisfaction with job security, only 54 per cent of local respondents said they were satisfied with job security in their current position.
'As job losses continue to mount, concerns about job security, career prospects and the ability to maintain a work-family balance as workload increases are heightened,' said Tim Hird, managing director of Robert Half Singapore.
'During these tough times, managers must demonstrate strong leadership in managing their staff, to not just allay their concerns but also to motivate and encourage them and keep overall employee morale high.'
Other Asians are not much happier in their jobs than Singaporeans, forming a regional theme of dissatisfaction. Bringing up the rear on the job satisfaction front, Japan ranked the lowest globally at 47 per cent, while Hong Kong was third-lowest at 54 per cent.
Worldwide, finance professionals in Dubai were the happiest job-wise, with 85 per cent claiming to be satisfied.
Singapore's finance professionals also scored low on company loyalty, with 59 per cent of them saying they felt 'very loyal' or 'rather loyal' to their firm.
The only other countries in the survey that ranked lower than Singapore on this count were Hong Kong and Japan with 42 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.
Not surprisingly, only 11 per cent of local respondents said they plan to stay in their current job for the next 12 months, the smallest proportion worldwide.
Forty per cent are either actively looking for another job or plan to do so in the next 12 months. In Hong Kong - the only country to outrank Singapore in this area - 45 per cent of respondents plan a job change.
In Singapore, the main reason cited for a job switch was an increase in pay, for which 35 per cent indicated they would walk. A better work-life balance came in a distant second, with 21 per cent of respondents citing it is the reason for a job change.
'Especially in these uncertain times, we are advising both our clients and candidates to focus less on monetary compensation packages but more on the content and scalability of jobs,' said Mr Hird.
The survey was conducted by the consulting firm in October last year. It involved 3,556 finance professionals globally, 200 of whom were in Singapore.
IF YOU take good care of your associates, they will take good care of your customers, and the customers will keep coming back - such is the philosophy of Singapore Marriott, as spoken by its founder J W Marriott Snr.
'This is the bedrock of our success thus far,' says Greg Allan, the hotel's general manager. 'It identifies our main assets as our associates, setting us apart as an employer with a heart and an employer of choice.'
This belief has served Singapore Marriott well, for it has been deemed one of the country's Best Employers this year. It also won the award back in 2007.
Since it first opened back in 1995, Singapore Marriott continues to be steadfast in its commitment to training and developing its associates. With a staff strength of approximately 460, the hotel has a strong focus on staff welfare and career advancement.
'The working environment at Singapore Marriott is fair and dynamic,' says Mr Allan. 'We believe in providing equal employment opportunities and thereafter, development and training to all existing and potential associates.'
OFFERING employees the freedom to work fewer and more flexible hours could help companies trim costs and lift productivity amid the downturn.
Fewer hours - meaning lower pay - could help rein in salary costs. And offering more flexible hours to employees can also improve the bottom line, studies overseas have shown.
But perhaps what's best about flexi-work is that unlike retrenchment, it is likely to be embraced by young and old alike - with benefits that could well outlast the downturn.
At least three recent studies here have shown that flexi-work is a tempting carrot that would entice older folk from retirement and wean new mothers from baby bottles back to their Blackberries.
The latest, reported by The Straits Times last month, showed that 72 per cent of 1,000 workers polled would be encouraged to remain in the workforce for as long as possible in their senior years - if given fewer and more flexible work hours. Data for this survey was culled from a global study on the future of retirement by Oxford University.
Another recently released survey of 3,000 baby-boomers here, commissioned by the Government, yielded similar findings.
In yet another Government survey made public last July, more than 60 per cent of 25,000 unemployed older folk who planned to look for work said they preferred part-time work.
Same for mothers of young children. In a survey of 1,000 mothers who were either working or looking for jobs here last year, 85 per cent said flexible hours and results-based performance evaluation would best help them cope with the dual demands of children and career. The survey was commissioned by baby food company, Friesland.
But this groundswell of opinion has so far had little effect among employers.
Indeed, the Oxford survey, which interviewed 300 employers here as well, found that only 43 per cent of employers were willing to offer flexible work to older workers. The remaining 57 per cent, presumably, are against such arrangements - or at least undecided. Contrast that with Britain, where studies have shown that fewer than a tenth of all requests for flexi-work are turned down.
The Singapore working mothers survey, for its part, found that nearly two-thirds of the mothers were unable to re-enter the workforce after childbirth as they failed to find jobs that offered 'family-friendly' hours.
Figures from the Ministry of Manpower made public last December show that only 7.4 per cent of private sector employees here are on flexible work schedules, up from about 5 per cent in 2006.
If you include the public sector, the proportion of employees on flexible work arrangements in 2008 was 9.4 per cent.
While the numbers here are inching up, Singapore is still a far cry from countries like the United States and Britain, where nearly 30 per cent of employees work on flexible schedules.
So why the lag here?
The biggest hitch is that many employers still view 'face-time' at the workplace as an important criterion in evaluating staff performance and productivity, says Mr Josh Goh, senior manager for corporate services at recruitment firm GMP. They fail to recognise that there is little correlation between productivity and the number of hours worked, he says.
Chief executive officer of HR firm LifeWorkz, Ms Cheryl Liew, points out that many firms here have the misconception that the nature of their businesses is simply not conducive to flexi-hours.
Many small companies, for instance, equate telecommuting - that is, working from a computer at home - with flexi-work. They think that if they don't have sophisticated IT infrastructure, they cannot afford to be more flexible.
But telecommuting - ideal for desk-bound executives hooked up to office computer systems - is not the only type of flexi-work. There can be flexibility in both the scheduling and number of hours worked.
These include a 'compressed work week', where an employee works an extra few hours every work day, to be on a three- or four-day week. This is ideal for those in manufacturing.
Job-sharing - where two employees share one full-time position - has also proved to be useful to those in administrative or shift-based jobs.
Finally, there is the 'annualised hours' scheme where, instead of say 40-hours a week, employees are given an annual quota of the number of hours they need to work. Such a scheme is useful especially for organisations that have round-the-clock operations.
But companies here remain apprehensive about heavier administrative loads on managers in terms of communicating, supervising and scheduling the working time of employees.
This needs to change, say some experts on productivity. There is increasing evidence that flexible hours are not just a boon for employees, but for the company's bottom line too.
A 2006 study by Georgetown University in the US, for instance, cited several cases of companies that raked in more revenue even as they gave their employees more freedom in how and where they did their work.
Chubb, a Fortune 500 insurance company which implemented various forms of flexi-work in its claim services department, found a 40 per cent jump in claims processed, and a dramatic reduction in overtime costs.
Global IT giant IBM, for its part, saved US$20 million (S$30.6 million) in operating costs annually and over 500,000 sq ft of real estate by allowing employees to telecommute.
While Singapore companies watch and wait, the US and Britain are both beefing up their flexi-work mechanisms.
On Jan 30, days after being sworn into office, US President Barack Obama announced the formation of a task force to find ways for overloaded parents to better balance their work and family lives.
And from next month, a new British law will make it a right for all working parents with children under 16 to ask for flexible working conditions.
There is no need for legislation here yet, but clearly it's time to delve deeper into flexi options.
As work slows and morale dips, giving employees a choice on when and where they work could be the cheerful upside of this depressing downturn.
The timing of this first-of-its-kind product in Singapore is perfect given rising instances of early terminations as global economic conditions worsen.
'This is something you can find in Australia. We talked about offering it here a year ago and it is now ready,' said Institute of Estate Agents (IEA) president Jeff Foo. 'From feedback gathered from our members, there are more people breaking their leases early this downturn compared with the previous downturn. Landlords are not really protected.'
Landlords can buy the insurance, endorsed by the IEA, from their agents.
Details are a bit hazy at the moment as feedback on the product is still being gathered and tweaks may be made.
Basically, the insurance - for a lease of at least 12 months - protects against a loss of rent under certain circumstances, such as rental default and the tenant absconding.
The premium will be fixed at a certain percentage of a month's rent, for instance at 15per cent. And there will be a deductible period, which means the insurance kicks in only after a certain period of zero rental income for the landlord.
With the gloom in the economy, the office could be a place where people are working like dogs. You can bring energy and charm to your office environment to help with building morale.
A fun filled office environment will encourage your employees to do their work in a contented state of mind. You could also be relieving stress on your employees by letting them enjoy what they do. This does not mean that the employees are free to do whatever they wish but rather they can work in a place that encourages them to do what they wish.
1. Install a music kiosk at an upper department and employees moving to their department can hear the music for a few minutes for relaxing themselves. Music has the ability to calm and soothe the minds of your staff. They would thus be very energetic through out the day.
2. Casuals on Fridays are boring, you can encourage your employees to work in casuals on weekdays too, and you can fix the timings for that too. Your staff can change their clothes in the middle of the day and continue working in their casual dress.
3. Official victory celebrations have also become traditional and more formal. You could take your team for a movie after the lunch for celebrating the success of the project. If your staff is spending more time with you at the office then there is nothing wrong in celebrating your success with them within the office premises itself.
4. Apart from spreading professional emails, you can pass humor and jokes to your employee’s personal mailbox. In the middle of their work, they will open the mails, burst into laughter, and then resume the work with joy.
5. You can arrange for theme days asking your team to dress themselves based on a theme. During lunch, you can compare yourself with the other teams and have fun filled dress competition based on themes. You can also encourage your team members to bring a theme lunch and have a party time during the short break.
6. Above all, be open to appreciate the work of your employees. Gift them with gift certificates and other inexpensive gifts and motivate them to work more.
Here's a cheat sheet to help you search on Google more effectively.
When you enter:
holiday jobs - search the words holiday and jobs parttime OR part-time - either the word parttime or the word part-time "holiday job" - the exact phrase holiday job job –fulltime - the word job but NOT the word fulltime +freelance - Only the word freelance, and not the plural or any tenses or synonyms ~study loan - loan info for both the word study and its synonyms: education, course, etc. define:freelance - definitions of the word freelance from around the Web. get * job - the words get and job separated by one or more words. I'm Feeling Lucky - Takes you directly to first web page returned for your query.
site: - search keywords in specific site e.g. freelance site:jorbb.com
Mashable.com has gather a list of 85+ tools covering time / expenses, invoicing, stock image libaries, freelance sites and more...
"Deciding to become a freelance worker can be a scary proposition. Sure there is an allure to picking what projects you work on, but it can also be stressful not knowing where your next paycheck will come from. Luckily there are numerous resources out there that not only help you find more work, but also loads of tools to help you do your job more efficiently with a professional edge.
We’ve gathered over 85 tools and job sites for a variety of freelancers and web workers. While a lot of these items are focused on web design elements such as photography, programming and writing, we made sure to include something for everyone."
Despite the challenges in a tough economic situation, CEO of MSIG Holdings (Asia), Alan Wilson, says it is now a "perfect opportunity" to pick up talent for the future.
According to Wilson, 2008 profits for MSIG remain in the "comfortable" margins. However, the recession will throw up several new challenges for the organisation which include an increase in the number of cashflow problems and bad debts from clients, a spike in the number of dubious claims and a smaller return on investments during the next two years.
But there are opportunities to be tapped into during this downturn, Wilson adds, as MSIG is using this downturn to pick up talent that have been laid off from their struggling competitors and from regions such as North America and Europe.
Despite the industry's technicalities, insurance is still a people-based business where the capacity and capability to move ahead depend on the "quality and quantity of people that you have", Wilson says.
"Although times may be tough, it is a time for us to say, 'Are there areas of business which we are not in or strong at the moment where we can retool or tool up on?' And we can acquire talent which is available right now, and it is a perfect opportunity to do so."
For an insurance provider where labour and rent are the two biggest costs, will there be any cost-cutting action taken? While the company is "looking to be sensible about its costs", the focus is how employees can work smarter and more efficiently. Some of the initiatives now revolve around looking at conducting business in a more cost-efficient way, and introducing a standardization of best practices across the various 11 operations in the region.
"Although it is an expense, we are also looking at how we can invest in the future. It is not just running today's business, but also investing in tomorrow's business. We are investing in various areas such as new IT systems, new ways of doing business, and building the brand to make sure that we are well-positioned for the future."
In almost all firms there is a need to measure recruitment to find out if the way Human Resources handles manpower is fit for the needs of the organization. It is a sad fact of reality that not all people who are hired will succeed in the job. This has something to do with profiling the right kind of people that will fit the role of job.
To begin with, one must look at the minimum skills requirement of the employees that need to get hired. The issue with many recruiting teams is that they never really bother to filter applicants. They think that as long as the applicant has a similar experience with the job he needs to fill in, he is qualified. This is a mistake that needs to be addressed as it will always turn out that employees who do not pass the minimum skills requirement will not be productive.
How should recruitment effectiveness be measured?
There are a lot of ways to do this - three types of yield, so to speak.
The first type of yield is the first pass yield. The way this is calculated is simple. Divide the number of people who for hired by the number of people who were interviewed. Example: if there are two hundred people who got interviewed and only 50 were hired, the first pass yield is equivalent to 25%.
The second pass yield is calculated by the number of people who passed a second test by the number of the people who passed the first test.
And the last kind of yield is the RTY or roll through put yield. This is equivalent to the first pass yield percentage multiplied by the second pass yield percentage multiplied by the third process. This is part of measuring process capability.
The Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) was implemented on 1 December 2008. Riding on the encouraging response from employers and workers, and taking on board feedback from companies and unions, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) have expanded the list of courses under SPUR to enhance its relevance to employers and workers, with effect from 1 January 2009. The new SPUR-approved courses include:
a. More Workforce Skills Qualifications' (WSQ) courses by quality training providers in addition to the original SPUR WSQ courses by CET Centres, e.g. in Human Resource, Healthcare Support, Precision Engineering, Aerospace, Information and Communications Technology. With this, all WSQ courses will be covered under SPUR.
b. Nitec and Higher Nitec courses for adults under the Institute of Technical Education, e.g. Nitec in Information Technology and Higher Nitec in Electronics Engineering; and
c. Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Specialist Diploma courses for adults provided by the Polytechnics, e.g. Diploma in Technology, Specialist Diploma in Arts & Events Management, Advanced Diploma in Process Control & Instrumentation.
The courses included under SPUR are those that are recognised at the national or industry level, and which enhance the employability of workers.
So it's that time of the year again and blogs / forums are posting their most plausible product launch at this year's Macworld, also known as Apple's last Macworld, also known as, No Steve Jobs Keynote Macworld.
So here's our list:
1. New Mac Mini (highly likely) 2. New Mighty Mouse (with multi touch) (unlikely) 3. iPhone Nano (likely - someone posted a case making site taking orders for Nano casing) 4. iPhone Pro (unlikely) 5. iPod Touch (up size - 7") - this we like! We reckon that this would be Apple's foray into the netbook market. (likely)
We thank you for your support over the past 4 months, since our launch in Sept 2008.
Jorbb.com has grown to almost 450 registered Jorbbees and 125 Jorbbers in this short period of time.
To build on our mantra, "Jorbb gets Jobs for you!", we will be launcing new tools in early 2009, including integration of Jorbb's job search engine with our friends at Widgeo.us so that you can search for jobs via email / msn / widgeo.us device and eventually sms. (What is Widgeo.us? Daniel from YoungUpstarts did a post on them a while back and in the words of Ridzuan, the CEO - Widgeo.us is a web-based universal cross-channel communications platform that allows application developers to create applications that work seamlessly across multiple channels such as email, instant messaging, microblogging, text messaging etc. Of course this also means that end users can have applications that “follow” them wherever they go. No more being tied down to a single software client and all.)
We will also provide widgets for you to embed your profile onto your website / blog, and in return, earn credits for doing so, to exchange for great gifts (movie tickets, food vouchers etc).
We, at Jorbb.com, wish all members a Happy and Safe New Year.
Building a wining team requires a mastermind and it is a tough process. If you are successful in this step, you can find success in every project you undertake. A team consists of a group of working persons and each of the team members may have a different perspective. Just because they are in a team, you cannot expect them to have the same opinion and views. A team is always successful when it has an efficient leader with skilled members.
1.Start constructing the winning team. You have to spend time in forming a proper team to taste success. Bring together people with different skills and assemble them into a team.
2.For any team, purpose and goals are necessary. Discuss with your team about the purpose of the team and formulate long term and short-term goals that are to be achieved within the time frame.
3.Talk to your team members and understand their strengths and weakness. All your members will have some weakness and it is your responsibility as a leader to boost their strengths and decrease the weakness of your team members. If you are able to allot the right job for a right person, your team will be successful but for that you need to know about the members personally.
4.For a winning team, communication is very essential. During the team formation phase, you have to talk a lot and solve the disputes among the members. After the team is formed, you need to arrange for frequent meetings to share views and fine-tune the performance.
5.The communication between the team members should not be in a single direction. Two-way communication is highly essential. You have to talk and listen to others when they talk. A decision should be taken collectively by the team and not by the leader alone.
6.Celebration is what brings liveliness to the team. You can take the team for an outing for a long lunch and the reason can be nothing more than just thanking the team. You can also arrange for a themed lunch and encourage your team members to bring food from their homes and you could all eat together.
At least 20 establishments - from big-name supermarkets and foodcourts to retail shops - have been singled out by members who have come forward to share frustrating experiences at these outlets.
Started in August by undergraduate Kavita Devi Thamilselvam, 22, the group has drawn many non-Chinese as well as Chinese who are not fluent in Mandarin.
'It's as though non-Mandarin speaking customers are not valued. It makes us feel like foreigners in our own country,' Ms Kavita told The Sunday Times.
Another member of the group, Ms Nor Hafiza, 28, said she once had to approach four different sales assistants at a supermarket before a Singaporean employee was able to answer her queries.
The early childhood educator was surprised one of them even asked if she could speak Mandarin.
'When you are serving a multiracial community, it's important to have employees who can speak English,' she said.
Most members in the group said they are not against hiring foreigners, but are frustrated at the lack of English training given to them.
Ms Kavita said she had initially set up the group so that like-minded customers would have an outlet to vent their frustration.
But she now wants to take the group's feedback to the establishments. Industry watchers empathised with such sentiments.
'This sends a clear signal to the operators that it is important to ensure the competency of their service staff,' said the president of the Consumers Association of Singapore, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang.
Singapore Retailers Association executive director Lau Chuen Wei felt that English tests may be a good idea to ensure a minimum level of English proficiency.
'If such tests can be implemented for domestic helpers whose contacts are largely confined to the families that they work with, what more for those whose contacts are with the larger community?'
First-time maids have to sit for an English entry test to ensure that they have basic numeracy and literacy skills to do household tasks and adapt to life here.
When The Sunday Times did its own tests on five big businesses listed on the Facebook group, three - Giant, Kopitiam and Food Republic - did not fare well, while two - Haagen-Dazs and Takashimaya - passed with flying colours.
When contacted, all except Takashimaya said they have already been conducting some form of English classes for staff.
Companies explained that recruiting English-speaking service staff in both F&B and retail industries is already challenging enough, as many people shun such jobs.
Most added that employees from China form barely 10 per cent of their total staff strength. Service-sector companies are allowed to employ foreign workers on work permits - up to 50 per cent of the company's total workforce.
Said a spokesman from supermarket chain Giant: 'It will take some time for them to learn a new language...We hope the Facebook group can give our staff a bit more learning time.'
88 per cent of companies in Singapore are open to the idea of hiring senior contract finance professionals, according to a survey by global human resource consultancy, Robert Half International.
With manpower costs accounting for about 40 per cent of a company's total expenses, the firms see this as a viable alternative to optimise human resource costs amid the current economic downturn.
In comparison, only 29 per cent of companies in Japan, 64 per cent in Australia and 68 per cent in Britain will consider hiring such specialists.
The survey also showed that 48 per cent of the Singapore companies polled said hiring contract finance professionals would allow the firms to gain access to specialised skills.
Six in 10 local companies said they would hire these contract staff for their expertise in strategic projects, while 34 per cent of the companies needed them for support on core business activities.
52 per cent of local companies considered short-term hire as a staffing solution to the slowing economy.
Nearly half of those polled said they expected the trend of hiring contract professionals to increase going forward.
Businesses which provide outstanding service will now get a special mark of accreditation from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
The Singapore Service Star was launched by Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang on Thursday. The scheme rewards businesses with good service, in order to inspire the industry towards service excellence.
Mr Lim said Singapore now ranks 10th out of 134 countries in the Global Competitiveness Index's "Degree of Customer Orientation", which measures a company's responsiveness to customers' needs.
This is an improvement from the 17th position three years ago.
A Singapore Service Star decal will be given to nightspots, F&B joints and retail outlets that have achieved better-than-average scores in mystery shopping assessments.
Surveys conducted by the Tourism Board showed that 90 per cent of tourists feel confident in patronising stores recognised by a quality scheme. Service quality is also ranked as a key factor in gauging customer satisfaction.
Neeta Lachmandas, director, Service Quality Division, STB, said: "It's very, very important for businesses to remember that service quality is really linked to a business' bottomline. Service quality can be the differentiator and it can breed a very loyal set of customers as well."
Currently, more than 300 establishments have joined the scheme – a number which the Tourism Board hopes will grow to 2,500 by end-2013.
Members under the scheme include Larry Jewelry, Haagen Dazs, Marks & Spencer and 211 Roof Terrace Cafe.
STB will provide updated information on customers' expectations and perceptions, based on regular surveys and mystery shopping results, to help Singapore grow as a premier tourist destination.
Andrew Carlson has an good guide on how to write that Classified Ad.
1. It must invoke in your readers that they indeed need the thing you are trying to sell. Design it in such a way that it arouse their interest and act accordingly.
2. Keep it short and sweet. A long ad is tiring for the eyes and do not exceed the word limit for you would risk your ad being cut off.
3. Your ad should have plenty of empty spaces, clear fonts and pictures to avoid appearing cluttered.
4. It must have a powerful heading to attract attention. It must be visually appealing and professional looking to your viewers.
5. Tell your readers what is exactly in your ad and avoid words like cash, save or money that is used all the time.
6. When possible, quote from a well known source such as newspaper, persons etc
7. Use words to pull in people such as Amazing, Fantastic, Now etc
8. Look at what your competitors are offering. If their ads is boring and non colourful, you can make your ads colourful and full of fun words. If their ads are too informative and wordy, you can try to make yours short and to the point.
9. Offer some freebies or trials to your customers.
10. Look at successful ads by others. Reflect on what is it that makes them interesting and apply it to your ads. Of course, remember that people have different tastes and try not to enforce your will too strongly.
11. Do not use all caps words. This appears that you are shouting and is very annoying and distracting to viewers who have to sieve through all the capital letters to understand your message.
12. Before you launch your ad, do some surveys with friends or relatives and ask for feedback. This avoids you getting to a situation where you have to pay for something that is ineffective.
Thanks to this great service by Odiogo, we have now incorporated audio feeds for our blog posts so that you can listen, in the background, to the relevant employment, entrepreneur, tech and web 2.0 news in audio!
Just click on the audio icon at the beginning of each post (see top of this post) or subscribe to the podcast on the right side.
DesignSingapore Council, SPRING Singapore, and International Enterprise Singapore have launched a S$12 million programme that will help local companies enhance their competitiveness through the use of design.
The Design for Enterprises (DFE) programme will have three main thrusts - Design Touch, Design Engage and Design Excel.
These aim to help local firms progress through the different levels of design capabilities, from learning about the value of design to skilful integration of design into their business strategies.
Under the Design Touch programme, a centre will be set up for companies who are taking their first steps at understanding the importance of design as a strategic tool.
Companies can learn about design and seek professional advice on relevant resources and programmes by visiting the centre or calling its hotline.
The Design Engage Programme is a three-year programme targeted to help companies understand the value of design and to build up their design capabilities.
Some 200 local companies are expected to benefit from adding design elements to their business strategy under the programme.
Design Excel is meant for companies who have successfully transformed and redefined their businesses by using design as their central strategy. It provides further mentorship and leadership programmes for them to continue to achieve design excellence.
These programmes will help companies to groom a new breed of creative leaders in their organisations.
Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts said design is an important tool for enterprises to create unique value and sharpen their competitiveness.
I would say that since Adobe acquired Macromedia (sob and then yay), one of the objectives has been to try and seamlessly integrate the work flow between the 2 companies offerings. The latest version of Creative Suite 4 really lives up to the slogan "Shortcut to Brilliant" and the apps work REALLY well together.
I attended Adobe's CS4 Launch Event today at The Rock at Suntec and got a cool water bottle as the door gift. So glad I don't have another notebook / sticky pad / post it / useless key chain / squeeze ball / not-ANOTHER-fat-plastic-pen to throw into the Abyss-Box.
There's really too many improvements CS4 has over CS3, but from the presentations / demos, I would say that the 4 software with major workflow / productivity improvements would be Flash, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Fireworks.
Here's my list of top 3 most AMAZING features of CS4.
1. Flash has animation macros to speed up / easily create animations. Effects which took 10-20 steps to do, now only needed 2-3 steps. And there's Inverse Kinematics (Bones) function to help animate your objects. IK used to be only found in expensive 3D software like 3D Studio Max / Maya etc.
2. Fireworks is CRAZY, with the slice, auto CSS generator and tab views of javascript etc in the same window. Edits to preview updates all related files on the fly. There's even a browser built INTO Fireworks so you no longer have to SAVE, Preview in IE / FF / Safari.
3. The most AMAZING feature is the interpolability between the apps, like from InDesign, to Flash. Or Photoshop to Fireworks to HTML (with CSS). Photoshop to Dreamweaver, and when you resize the image in Dreamweaver, it goes back to the PSD, saves a copy and updates the image in Dreamweaver AUTOMATICALLY! Same with making an image edit in PSD which has a referenced image in Dreamweaver, it updates dynamically. No more SAVE AS JPG, DELETE IMAGE, INSERT IMAGE. WOW!
Is it worth the upgrade price of $1000 ish (CS3 to CS4).
Rapid prototyping is the most common name given to a host of related technologies that are used to fabricate physical objects directly from CAD data sources.
Our subsidary service RPWorkshop.com provides Rapid Prototyping service in Singapore. Just email us your 3D CAD file and we will advise accordingly. You can easily / quickly convert digital files into physical models, for product testing, research, or presentation purposes.
These methods are unique in that they add and bond materials in layers to form objects. Such systems are also known by the names additive fabrication, three dimensional printing, solid freeform fabrication (SFF) and layered manufacturing. Today's additive technologies offer advantages in many applications compared to classical subtractive fabrication methods such as milling or turning:
Objects can be formed with any geometric complexity or intricacy without the need for elaborate machine setup or final assembly;
Rapid prototyping systems reduce the construction of complex objects to a manageable, straightforward, and relatively fast process.
This has resulted in their wide use by engineers as a way to reduce time to market in manufacturing, to better understand and communicate product designs, and to make rapid tooling to manufacture those products. Surgeons, architects, artists and individuals from many other disciplines also routinely use the technology.
Rapid prototyping isn't a solution to every part fabrication problem. After all, CNC technology is economical, widely understood and available, offers wide material selection and excellent accuracy. However, if the requirement involves producing a part or object of even moderately complex geometry, and doing so quickly - RP has the advantage. It's very easy to look at extreme cases and make a determination of which technology route to pursue, CNC or RP. For many other less extreme cases the selection crossover line is hazy, moves all the time, and depends on a number of variably-weighted, case-dependent factors. While the accuracy of rapid prototyping isn't generally as good as CNC, it's adequate today for a wide range of exacting applications.
The materials used in rapid prototyping are limited and dependent on the method chosen. However, the range and properties available are growing quickly. Numerous plastics, ceramics, metals ranging from stainless steel to titanium, and wood-like paper are available. At any rate, numerous secondary processes are available to convert patterns made in a rapid prototyping process to final materials or tools.
Meetings are always important in all types of businesses and companies. You might have participated in many meetings and sometimes, you may be obliged to conduct meetings. As a top performer, you have to know how to conduct meetings effectively. There are a lot of aspects that you have to consider while conducting meetings. The first thing you should consider is the necessity of the meeting. If the task can be accomplished without meetings, then you need not waste the resources. However, if meeting becomes very important, try to organize effective meetings.
Decide the start and end time of the meeting. Depending on the persons you are going to invite, you have to make this decision. You have to decide the duration of the meeting based on its purpose. If you have participants from other timezones, use World Clock Meeting planner to find a common time. Video conferencing is made easy with new web2.0 sites such as Orgoo, Vyew, Snapyap, TokBox.
Invite all the people for the meeting and communicate the timings to them. Ensure that the invitees will be present during the meeting. Try Vyew as it includes scheduling / ad hoc invites.
Use Google Docs to prepare an agenda for the meeting so that everyone can edit 1 single document online. You can also create an open agenda and stick to whiteboard. The participants can add their agenda but they should take the lead during that agenda. After getting suggestions, you decide on what is to be discussed during the meeting.
You have to take the lead during the meeting. Know about your audience and talk in their language.
Decide who is going to speak what during the meeting. This will help you in taking up the lead position and you can let the non speakers speak up during their turn.
For 1-2 hours meetings, do a time check at fixed intervals e.g. 15mins. If meeting is behind time, cover important matters first, and leave the rest to be discussed via email / next meeting. If you are arranging for longer meetings, make sure that you break the schedule for 15 minutes after 2 hours of meeting. The participants can refresh themselves during the break.
When you conduct formal meetings, the decisions should be made in the meeting with the opinions of the majority of the people. You can use online editors such as FineTuna and Skitch to allow participants to comment live on images / proposals etc. Vyew allows you to prepare and save slides for commenting before a meeting.
You must be ready for inclusions during the meeting. The participants may come up with certain new things that can be added to the discussion. You can add the program if it can be completed within the scheduled time. Otherwise, postpone it until the next discussion.
Use Google Docs or Business-in-a-Box to mantain the Minutes of Meeting live, during the meeting itself so that no additional time is needed to distribute / edit / proof the minutes.
Salary experts have put the pay increment forecast for end-2008 at anything between zero and 3 per cent, on the back of a weakening economy. However, bonuses should still be on the cards for most companies.
Human resource consultants said companies may slash their year-end pay increments or even cut salaries.
Paul Heng, managing director, Next Career Consulting Group Asia, said: "The companies are at liberty to either freeze the monthly variable component (MVC) or they can actually reduce the quantum that is put in the MVC to keep the company afloat."
But even at an optimistic 3 per cent pay hike, real wages are expected to shrink, with inflation coming in at between 6 and 7 per cent this year.
"I think a budget has already been set for 2008, so companies may still go ahead with the 13th month. Many companies peg their variable components to performance targets.
"If performance targets are met, I think it's difficult for companies not to pay off bonuses. But for any kind of bonuses in terms of profitability, I think companies may be wise to actually hold back to see how things may pan out in 2009," said Heng.
But experts have warned that if the global economy slides further south, then 2009 is going to look much worse.
The current situation is very different from the SARS period in 2003 and the 97/98 Asian financial crisis. This time round, analysts said it is a global challenge and both businesses and governments are not quite sure how to react.
The government is expected to implement the third phase of salary adjustment for civil servants, including ministers, at year's end to close the gap between public and private sector pay.
The target, for example, is to move the pay of staff under the MR4 grade to 88 per cent of the benchmark by the end this year. MR4 grade officers include permanent secretaries and ministers.
The Staff Grade 1 (MR4) benchmark is pegged to two-thirds of the income of the 24th highest earner, among a group comprising the top eight earners from six professions – bankers, lawyers, engineers, accountants, local manufacturers and MNCs. The benchmark is currently S$2.2 million.
But given the current economic climate, human resource experts said the government may just hold off any pay revision for now.
Derek Berry, business leader, Human Capital (ASEAN), said: "The need to adjust salaries comes in attracting and retaining talent, and how much competition there is to do that. If there's a softening in the economy, that will go down and therefore, there will be less need.
"I think the Singapore government... would likely, from a messaging point of view, either reduce it or defer it. And given that we've got a very bumpy economy at the moment, I'd probably want to see it more stable before I'd want to push through with something like that."
The Public Service Division has said it would need some time to study the private sector data and salary trends before coming to a decision on any pay increment.
How many of you are reading this at a cafe or fast food chain?
Offering free WIFI costs a cafe very little, and can attract some good business. It’s a good deal for everyone, if users are conscientious about setting up shop in the coffee house.
If you really want to be a welcome worker in the cafe scene, here are some common sense tips to try:
• Take the smallest cafe table you can fit at. It’s not fair to grab a table for four.
• Don’t Bogart the chairs.
• Don’t steal the bandwidth. If you have large downloads to make, try to do that at home.
• Don’t hog the electrical outlet, either. Use your battery if it's fully charged or use a multi-plug.
• Mute the sound on your computer. This may sound obvious, but sometimes people forget.
• Keep buying things at the coffeeshop. A purchase each hour shows good faith.
A PERENNIAL challenge faced by senior managers is to keep employees motivated at work. What drives someone to put in 100 per cent of his or her energy at work? What makes an employee consider a company a great employer?
Ask any leader and he or she will tell you that there is no simple answer. However, there is an appreciation of the need to stop the second-guessing and create a clear solution to keep employees motivated and inspired.
Perhaps there are many interesting insights senior managers can gain from the rapid proliferation of social networking websites and other similar platforms in the Web 2.0 space. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and individual blog sites have given a new voice to the individual. These platforms allow individual voices to be expressed, to be heard: Who am I? What do I like? What are my aspirations? What are my fears?
Just as any company developing its sales and marketing campaign has to consider complementing its traditional media buys with an online strategy of having to move away from media monopolies to the fragmented Internet landscape of individual voices, senior managers would similarly have to get up to speed with the new profile of employees which is centred on the notion of 'I'.
Employees will increasingly not be faceless members of a team, but ones that demand recognition of their individual needs. They are individuals within a team as opposed to simply being a part of a team. Hence, a company that offers a 'one size fits all' approach, be it in job scoping, remuneration, benefits or career advancement opportunities, will not address the issue of employee motivation adequately. The company has to offer employees choice for the individual as opposed to making decisions on behalf of the collective whole.
Incorporating the 'I' component
The idea of tailoring human resources (HR) policies and even work-life practices around individuals may be considered a far stretch for many organisations. Companies will tend to presume that it is too expensive, too complex, or not in their role to adapt motivation and retention tools to individual needs.
However, working in an element of flexibility into HR policies so that the employees' function, age, gender and other unique factors in their and their family's lives are considered need not be a monumental task. It does not require a full revamp of the company's benefits system or a change in organisational structure. Companies simply have to give due consideration to evolving their HR practices such as work-life policies or compensation so that employees have a say and are engaged in the decision that impacts themselves.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) applied the individual perspective in modernising its compensation policies which are now differentiated across several factors. An example of this is the points-based system for rewards and recognition. This allows an employee, after being nominated for recognition by managers and peers, to tailor his or her rewards from a menu that includes cash, gifts and services that are relevant to their individual wants. The company gets to keep a certain structure and predictability within its rewards system, yet the employee gets to choose an incentive he thinks is most rewarding.
We also recognise that interaction and collaboration are important in fostering a sense of belonging for our employees. So HP has made use of the different Web 2.0 avenues to encourage that. There are many online communities that employees can join in, and this gives them the opportunity to form personalised, valuable connections with those who share the same work or personal interests - and these are no longer confined to a single country. In addition, webcasts and podcasts are used widely in HP to allow employees to keep abreast of company developments at their own time.
These complement the regular face-to-face sessions I have with the employees, whether they are formal planning or business review meetings or informal fun, bonding activities to, for example, celebrate a company milestone or a great year-end performance. The combination of the digital media and face-to-face approaches ensures that we keep our employees engaged on a broader level while satisfying their need for deeper connections with certain groups of colleagues.
Another clear trend emerging from the Web 2.0 era is the blurring of lines between work and personal life. In the baby-boomers' generation, staying in the office later than the boss was considered noble. Work and personal life were clearly separated and loyalty was measured by the number of years spent with the company.
But as the workplace evolves, the notion of 'going to work' has become less relevant as work is no longer about the location but the results delivered. Hence, trying to balance the number of hours one spends in the office versus the home is no longer as critical. The notion of work-life balance will increasingly be passe as what is truly needed will be workplace policies that propagate work-life integration.
The key to capitalising on this transformation is, again, in capturing the 'I' component. This is possible by structuring workplace policies that are underlined by trust and respect of the individual. Concepts such as flexi-time, condensed working hours, part time or job share have been practised for many years now, but there is still need for a more progressive mindset in management to recognise and reward the benefits that these practices bring to the company.
Achieving fulfilment
For example, at HP two employees share a single responsibility of managing the supply of personal computers from manufacture to sales departments. They are accustomed to using the same contact details, business notes and team members, each working on different days to the other. Their combined productivity exceeds every expectation, while colleagues and business associates benefit from diverse qualities that would be difficult to find in a single employee.
These two individual employees are able to achieve fulfilment in their careers, offer their employers increased productivity yet achieve their personal-life goals all at the same time. Their managers facilitate this process, not just by allowing job share to happen, but also to set appropriate performance objectives that are specific, measurable, realistic and timely.
How do we get managers to buy into such a work concept? The company IT, HR and support infrastructure will first have to make this feasible. Managers must then be able to keep an open mind and be willing to try it out to see the benefits it can reap, subsequently tweaking and refining the approach according to the results and feedback. Care will also have to be taken to ensure fairness in rewarding both employees in a work-share arrangement. It is of course an approach that will take time to yield the best benefits but senior managers should take the first step to champion it.
In view of the macro trends happening around us today, senior management, together with their HR teams, are truly in a unique position to impact workforce engagement more than ever before. Employees today are sophisticated but are also dealing with more demands in their work and personal lives. Let us lead the way in creating workplace environments that encourage creativity and entrepreneurship by celebrating the individual employee.
The writer is vice-president and managing director, Hewlett-Packard Singapore. She is also chairman of SiTF (Singapore infocomm Technology Federation).
A Practical guide to Google Docs: Learn how to do anything and everything with your online Google Office by Amit Agarwal.
Q: How do I upload all my Microsoft Office documents from the desktop on to Google Docs?
A: List Uploader is a Windows utility that enables you to bulk upload files to Google Docs via drag-n-drop or through the right click menu.
Mac OS X users can upload documents through GDocsUploader - simply drag-n-drop the document onto the uploader icon. Another option is GDocsBar – just drag your files in the Firefox sidebar and they’ll automatically get uploaded to Google Docs.
Q: How do I associate the common Office file extensions like doc/xls/ppt with Google Docs so that desktop documents open directly in the web browser?
A: Get the Google Toolbar for Firefox and select the ‘Google Docs’ checkbox from Toolbar options. This will let you open Office documents directly in the browser bypassing Microsoft Office.
Q: I am worried that someone may hack into my Google Account and delete the important files. To play safe, I want to download all documents from Google Docs locally and burn them on to a CD. Is it possible?
A: To download a copy of all your Google Docs documents on to the hard drive, get this Grease Monkey script. It will create a list of all your online documents that you can download in one step using the DownloadThemAll add-on.
Q: How can I add watermarks (like PRIVATE, CONFIDENTIAL, etc.) to my Google Documents?
A: You simply need to edit the CSS of your document – add an image with non-repeating background.
Q: Can I open Word 2007 (docx) documents in Google Docs?
A: Unlike Zoho Office, Google Docs do not support the new Office 2007 format but you may convert these docx files to the older doc format using Zamzar and them upload them to Google Docs.
Q: I was checking mails on a mobile phone and a client sent me this PowerPoint presentation as an email attachment. My phone has no Office viewer so san I still view this presentation?
A: Sure. Just forward this email (with the attachment) to your Google Docs address. You’ll soon get an email back containing the link of your uploaded presentation that can be viewed in the mobile phone browser without requiring any Office viewer.
Q: I wrote a long document in Google Docs in English but my client is insisting for a French version. Can we translate Google Docs documents online?
A: Publish your Google Docs document as a public web page (read steps) and then use the online Google Translate tool to translate this page into any other language. You may copy-paste the translated text in a new document and then turn off public sharing for the original document.
Q: I am sending a Google Docs document to a large mailing list. Is is possible to track who read the document and when?
A: Go to your Google Docs Settings page (link) and turn on the option that says "Track visits to my documents using Google Analytics".
Q: Forget the mailing list, I am just sending a document to my immediate boss so how do I if he really opened my document?
A: Just embed a secret 1×1 tracking image in the document to know when people open your Google Documents.
Q: I want to create new documents in Google Docs in one click without having to go to File –> New Document.
A: Simple, either add a bookmarklet to your browser or install desktop shortcuts – see instructions.
Q: I want to turn Google Docs into a distraction free writing tool just like Writeroom.
A: Go to Edit –> Document Styles and turn the background color to either black. Then change the font foreground color to white or green and press Ctrl+Shift+F to enter Full Screen mode. See a similar hack for Word.
Q: OK, I know you can write documents or create spreadsheets in Google Docs but what else? Tell me some more creative uses of Google Docs.
Q: Tell me about some desktop applications that work with Google Docs.
GMDesk – AIR app that makes Google Docs behave like a desktop program. Thanks Ryan.
GDocsBar – The perfect Google Docs extension for Firefox.
Send to Google Docs – Upload web documents (including PDF) directly to Google Docs.
OO Add-on – Export or import documents from OpenOffice.org or StarOffice to Google Docs.
Q: Like other Google tools, can I access my Google Docs library from the Firefox Sidebar?
A: Create a bookmark for http://docs.google.com/m and set this to open in Firefox sidebar. You can browse all documents though the sidebar but can’t create new stuff.
Q. Can I use Google Docs like Microsoft OneNote for taking notes and saving web clippings?
A: Open a new Google Document in a separate browser tab and drag the clipping from another brower tab / window into this document. That’s it. Not sure if this works with Google Chrome.
Despite competition from 210 nominiations in 14 Asia-Pacific countries, the Ministry of Manpower's Employment Pass Online (EPOL), a one-stop, self-service Internet portal, bagged an award in the "Business Process" category of The Government Technology Awards 2008 on Oct 17.
The Government Technology Awards, organised by FutureGov, an Asian magazine that focuses on building innovative capabilities and technological solutions for the public service, recognises the best practices in business processes with technology application and awards organisations for its excellence in aligning such operations.
The ministry also won a Merit Award in the National Infocomm Awards 2008.
Its EPOL bagged the award in the "Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology (Public Sector)" category at the National Infocomm Awards (NIA) 2008, a biennial event organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF).
This event is the highest accolade given to organisations which have effectively harnessed infocomm technology to enhance their business operations.
The Director of the Work Pass Division, Mr Then Yee Thong, said: "The EPOL represents a fundamental change in the way we process work passes. It is a creative piece of re-engineering that has allowed us to do what no other country has yet managed to do.
"Having a world-class processing system is an important strategy in the global competition for talent."
EPOL provides employers easy and convenient access to a comprehensive suite of related services. Transactions previously done at MOM's counters, such as printing of approval letters or tracking of application status, can now be carried out in EPOL.
The Packagetrackr website is one of these tools that sooner or later will come in more than just handy. As you might have guessed from its name, this solution is nothing but a package tracking service – and a universal one at that.
In order to learn about the status of a package, you simply key in its tracking number and choose one of the featured carriers from the provided drop down box. These include UPS, USPS and DHL. FedEx and FedEx SmartPost are also taken into account alongside Aramex and UK City Link.
Upon submitting this information and hitting the “Track it!” button, you are presented with a comprehensive package summary which provides information such as the status of the package as regards its intended destination along with other considerations such as its weight and the pickup date. The package progress is likewise detailed, and you can inform yourself about the departure scan and arrival scan dates.
10:51AM Some video of someone using the new trackpad. This looks like it's going to take a lot of getting used to.
10:51AM Some video of someone using the new trackpad. This looks like it's going to take a lot of getting used to.
10:48AM Oooh, some nice close-up shots of the new MacBook Pro. Here's what we're bummed about -- no matte finish for the display? You know, we use these outdoors, this is going to make it kind of a pain. Apple, consider an alternate version.
10:44AM "So we think this will be a huge success. So two new notebook families, we're building both in a whole new way, from a slab of aluminum..." So the Brick rumors were just the Air process applied to these new MacBooks / MacBook Pros. Makes a lot of sense.
10:43AM "Second model, $1599, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD... and a backlit keyboard. Shipping today, should hit stores tomorrow."
10:42AM "It's going to come in two models -- $1299 for the new MacBook 13.3-inch display, 2GHz Core 2 Duo... that's $700 more affordable for these Pro features."
10:41AM "Again we're using the 9400M. Here's our system architecture, very clean. And of course, we've got that glass trackpad, and we've got 5 hours of battery life." Now he's back on the environmental soundness of this thing. This is the most eco friendly MacBook ever in the history of human existence.
10:40AM It has the same casing, LED backlit display, glass trackpad... the whole nines. Just smaller. Looks like those leaks we saw were right on this too.
10:39AM "We're introing a new generation of MacBook on top of the white plastic model." It's just like the Pro... yet smaller.
10:39AM "But we've heard that people want a metal enclosure, faster graphics, and a lot of them want LED backlit displays... so, we figured out a way to bring these to the MacBook line."
10:38AM "It is the best selling Mac... ever. We sell a ton of these, and people love the. They sell for $1099, and we're gonna keep right on selling these, but we're going to reduce the entry price to $999." Ooh, so close Steve, but not low enough!
10:37AM "Of course that one more thing is the MacBook."
10:37AM "One more thing."
10:37AM "So 24-inch LED backlit display, 1920 x 1200 resolution, stereo speakers... everything you need for $899, available in November."
10:36AM "We're introuducing a new Cinema Display -- our first with LED backlighting. It's got a cable with three connectors: a MagSafe, you can power your notebook, 2nd is a USB port, and third is Display port."
10:35AM "So again at $1799." "We have a second model at $2499, gives you a 1.86GHz CPU and SSD -- available in early November."
10:35AM "We're putting the 9400M in the Air, adding a 120GB hard drive, and we've got a 128GB SSD as an option -- in addition we're putting in a mini display port."
10:34AM "Now, we have another cool product we'd like to talk about today. The Air. We'd like to update it with some of these technologies."
10:34AM "There's a lot of new tech in these products, but we're proud of the things we left out..." Now he's going to talk about how eco these guys are. "We think we're leading the industry with this... arsenic free glass, BFR free, mercury free, PVC free, 37% smaller packaging." "And for the first time, the MacBook Pro has earned an Epeat gold rating."
10:32AM "And these MacBook Pros are shipping today, in stores tomorrow." 10:32AM "And of course, 802.11n, Bluetooth... .95 inches, our thinnest MBP ever. It's going to come in two models. The first, US$1999 (S$1899), 15.4 inch display, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA 9400 and 9600. We have a second config at US$2499 (S$3620), you get a faster CPU with double cache, 4GB RAM, double graphics memory, 320GB hard drive."
10:30AM "So let's get back to this mini display port -- we can drive any display we could before, but at a fraction of the size -- we're building this into everything we make. This will also be the first MBP that we offer SSD on, and you can access the drives from underneath the battery." Nice! That's a nice touch. 10:30AM "Slot load super drive, magsafe connector, Ethernet, firewire 800, dual USB, mini display port, we're going to that on all our products, expresscard 34, and the battery indicator is now on the side."
10:29AM "We've added a new chip from NVIDIA -- the 9600M GT, 32 graphics cores, we're including both the 9400 as integrated graphics, or choose the 9600M for big graphic performance. 5 hours of batter on the 9400, 4 on the 9600."
10:27AM Well it is incredibly light and thin. Really quite impressive.
10:27AM No hang on, we got a shot from behind... nice.
10:26AM Oh wait, it's us!
10:26AM Someone in our row is holding it to take pictures! What gives?
10:25AM The casing is moving quickly... should be here any second.
10:25AM "Mini display port connector... let's take a look at each of these ports. We're not going to talk about the old stuff we've built in, magnetic latch, backlit keyboard, built in isight... we don't have time to talk about that." "Precision unibody enclosure... exceptionally beautiful... much more rigid construction. We're really happy about this." Wow, Steve is going to pass around the shell to everyone. That's kind of awesome. "We need them back." Big laughs.
10:23AM "Today we're replacing the old model with this..." Well, it's EXACTLY like the leak we saw last night. "Glass display, all connectors on one side..."
10:22AM "So a new trackpad for notebooks. So let's take this tech and make some new notebooks. We're introducing the new MacBook Pro."
10:22AM New gestures... Steve is showing off one and two finger gestures... now three... uh huh, where could this be going? "And we've added some four finger gestures. "A new way to open expose, and a great way to app switch..."
10:21AM "39% larger tracking area, multitouch, glass -- and we've optimized the friction on the glass... but where's the button? It's the entire pad -- gives you more area, keeps you from hunting... multi buttons via software, just turn on in preferences."
10:20AM "We've got a new trackpad -- a large multitouch glass trackpad."
10:20AM "We've been shipping the 8600M, we're at 55% for heavy graphics performance compared to that chip." "We've got some great new graphics."
10:19AM "This delivers up to 5x faster graphics than the chips we've been using. So what's it look like when we take it into the real world? up to 6x performance."
10:18AM "They've dubbed it the NVIDIA GeForce 9400 M -- it's an amazing chip. Chipset and GPU on one die -- 70% is the GPU, 16 parallel graphic cores, 54gflops of graphics performance. It's a sunner."
10:18AM "We also have some new graphics for notebooks... NVIDIA talked to us about an amazing graphics part they wanted to use." "We said this is fantastic, but can we use it in a notebook?"
10:17AM "So this new way has a relevance beyond the Air -- we've been working super hard on designing new uni-body enclosures. Thank you." And Steve is back!
10:16AM "Through each stage we're cleaning, collecting, and recycling the material. We started with a 2.5lbs piece of metal and end up with a piece that weighs a quarter of a pound."
10:16AM He's going through the very detailed way this piece of metal is machined. "We go through a noisy stage called rough cutting -- we create the holes for the key caps, towards the end we anodize it..."
10:15AM "We discovered if we started with a thick piece of aluminum we could make a lighter and stronger part." "So we make it from a solid piece of aluminum." Uh huh... Brickish.
10:14AM "This new process culminated in the design of this product: the MacBook Air. You couldn't build something this strong and thin in the older way."
10:14AM Very dry stuff... he's building here: "We've been looking for a better way -- and we think we've found it."
10:13AM "The palm rest requires the same sort of internal structure. A series of stiffening plates..." "Finally, we had this plastic gasket -- it helps us control the juntion."
10:12AM "One of the problems is designing something as thin and light as the Pro, but making it strong." "The structure is primarily derived from this..." Shows the internal frame. "It's made of multiple parts, then assembled into the bottom case... a very thin aluminum pressing."
10:11AM "I'd like to take a couple of moments to tell you about a real breakthrough we've had about how we can design and build our notebooks." "I'd like to start by giving you a sense of context." "I'd like to show you how we build our current MacBook Pro."
10:11AM "Let's talk about notebooks. Before we get into the actual notebooks, we want to talk about discoveries we've made. I'd like to talk about some new ways to build notebooks." Jony Ive is out!
10:10AM "In Q1 to Q3 2008, we've equaled all sales of 2007... that's the state of the mac!" Steve's back out!
10:09AM "Macs at major universities -- from 15% to almost 50%" "Many universities requires students have a laptop, we've worked hard to get Mac to be a choice." Shot of a school room... every laptop is a Mac! Ha!
10:08AM "One out of every 3 dollars is spent on the Macintosh. What a difference a few years makes."
10:07AM "If you look at the history, the Mac has outgrown the market for almost 4 years. There's been some key milestones along the way, like our transition to Intel, the Vista announcement and Leopard." "Since we're growing faster than the market, in US retail marketshare we've gone from single digits to 17.6%."
10:06AM "So these are the six reasons we've been successful."
10:06AM Tim: "Retail stores -- 400,000 visitors a day. 50% of the Macs they sell are people that are new to Mac." Now he's busting out a slideshow of new stores around the world: Sydney, Bejing... "Both stores are off to a great start."
10:05AM Now Tim is talking about the PC vs. Mac ads. Playing one now. PC is on a king's throne... good stuff. The gist is switching is easy. PC: "I banish you."
10:04AM Vista -- the 4th reason Macs are doing well. Nasty, nasty burn to Microsoft.
10:04AM Ouch -- "The next up is something we didn't do -- Vista." Big laughs. "I think it's fair to say Vista hasn't lived up to everything Microsoft hoped it would -- and this has given us a door in."
10:03AM "Third reason: compatibility. When people looked at macs in the past, they were concerned about switching -- we fixed that with Boot Camp. We also work with third parties on productions like Fusion and Parallels." Windows on an iMac "Frankly this sends a shiver up my spine." Big laughs.
10:02AM "Why? Superior computers -- they're far superior to anything on the market." Now he's going through the line, iMacs, Air... "And with those better computers comes better software... like Leopard, like iLife, and products like iWork."
10:01AM Tim Cook: "Good morning -- our last reported quarter we sold 2.5m Macs. In several quarters in a row we've been growing 2/3x the market growth."
10:00AM "Before that I want to cover the state of the Mac -- Tim Cook will take us through it."
10:00AM "Good morning -- we appreciate you coming down this morning... I think everyone knows today is about notebooks. And we've got some exciting new notebooks."
9:59AM People are scurrying to grab their seats. And... Steve's out!
9:59AM Looks like we're getting ready to start -- the lights are dimming...
9:57AM "Ladies and gentlemen -- silence your cell phones."
9:54AM And we're in our seats! Some nice classical music playing -- just the thing the quiet before the storm we're expecting.
9:08AM PT -- We've got a little less than an hour to go, so we'll just kind of be loitering outside Apple Town Hall, waiting to spot Steve and the unicorn that is his new MacBook Pro.
We're at Apple HQ! There's going to be a bit of a wait before we get going, but stick close by!
In the last few years we’ve seen an explosion in new awesome tools for freelancers including project management apps, invoicing apps, time management apps and to-do lists. One type of app that I think is particularly awesome is the collaboration app. These services allow you to upload images, documents and in some cases videos and flash, and then you, your client and anyone else working on the project can discuss and annotate the work.
When it comes to sharing concepts, particularly for freelancers working over the web, this is literally a revolution in feedback. There are 9 apps listed below, half are extremely feature packed with a few slimmer (cheaper) options and one coming soon app.
Get feedback on documents (Word, Excel), Powerpoint, images (including Photoshop PSD files), webpages and free-form text. Backboard also features multiple versions of a project, email integration - just send an email with the file for review attached, desktop upload and SSL encryption.
Plans ranging from Free for one non-commercial account (unlimited "backboards") to $49 p/month
Feedback for images (including PSD files), vector files like EPS and PDF, video files, a raft of document types from Powerpoint to Word, and of course live web pages.
Add notes and discussion to points on the item being shared, a feature to print a summary - including the notes, a desktop uploader, custom branding for freelancers who care about their image and a customizeable interface.
There are free trials, otherwise it’s $24 - $99 p/month.
Like ConceptShare and Backboard, ProofHQ has the ability to annotate a variety of document types - PDFs, PSDs, JPGs, Word, Powerpoint - and webpages. It also includes email integration, version control and the ability to create workspaces. And like ConceptShare you can customize the look and feel to give it some branding.
Free trials are available, otherwise it’s $29 - $99 p/month
Proof-It-Online has some good features - annotate not just static files but video, flash and animation. But it’s way more expensive that the previous three options ($39 p/month up to a whopping $750 p/month) and looking a lot older and less up to date.
Cozimo is another solid looking solution with the ability to do not just the static docs but like ConceptShare to add notes to video as well. Also features SSL Security, custom branding on all but the cheapest plan, unlimited folders and a healthy dose of storage (provided you pay - otherwise it’s 10mb not really enough to do more than documents).
Priced from $29 p/month to $149 p/month with a free trial option
Review Basics processes all the usual suspects - documents, powerpoint, images - and does video as well. Notably however you can’t provide feedback on PSD files - though I suppose you can just make a JPG out of them pretty easily.
Currently the system seems to be in pretty early stage because it’s completely free with a paid plan coming later. I couldn’t find many other limitation details, so you’d have to try signing up to find out about number of projects etc.
Fine Tuna is a MUCH simpler product than those listed above and is only for adding notes to a single image. You then send it off to an email address and can go back and forth.
There’s a firefox extension and it’s quite a usable product from my brief play with it, but obviously it’s like a matchbox car compared to a real car when stacked up against the products above. You can’t do webpages, documents, videos, animations, there’s no security etc.
Fleck is similar to Fine Tuna in that it’s not really in the same category as the top apps. Unlike Fine Tuna, Fleck is for webpages. You grab a web page and add notes, then share. You can create accounts, though it appears to be totally free.
Vyoopoint is actually not available yet, but looks like it’s going to be promising. It includes the ability to annotate Flash files, integration with Basecamp and a few other interesting features. You can sign up to be notified on launch.
Whatever may be the size of the company, the employee morale is important for running a successful business. Without happy employees, you will not be able to run your company. In the earlier days, the owners were treated like special persons for whom first priorities were given. Time is changing these days and you need to respect your employees as human beings if you want to be a successful entrepreneur.
1. Respect is what all people expect and you need to respect your staff even though you are the boss paying them. They are working with you for the money you pay, but they have their own personal issues and they are also human beings. Do not treat your employees as commodities treat them as human beings. Care for them and provide them with necessary furniture and tools.
2. Never lose your temper very easily in front of the employees. To boost the employee morale you can involve them in the decision-making process and listen to what they say. You may get good inputs from them and you may be surprised to see that they are looking at the same problem with a different perspective.
3. Be well mannered with your employees. Simple words like please and thank you are very powerful and your staff will be happy that you are respecting them. This will make them work much harder to make you happy. Create a pleasant working environment that will motivate your staff to work happily.
4. Success or failure of the project should be shared with your employees. If you succeed, celebrate together offering them an outing. If there is a failure, do not blame your staff but work with them to identify the problem. By sharing the responsibilities with your employees, your staff will be more committed to the job rather than just working for a salary.
5. Your employees are looking for job security and you have to assure this to them. If there is a cutoff or layback, you have to communicate properly about the reason. You should also reveal the plans you have for securing the job of remaining employees. Image Source. Jorbb gets Jobs for You! Job Seekers join Free / Employers Post 1st Ad Free. Earn credits to exchange great gifts. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook Group and Mobiles/iPhones!
Roaming fees for mobile phone users in Southeast Asia making calls outside their own country may be cut by half early 2009, according to report Sunday citing a Malaysian minister.
Energy, Water and Communications Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor said a reduction was necessary as charges were exceptionally high.
"We plan to reduce roaming charges with Singapore first," he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star newspaper.
Shaziman said his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had agreed to the plan during a meeting on Indonesia's resort island of Bali last month.
"Reducing the roaming rates will also reduce the burden on the tens of thousands of Malaysians who commute to Singapore daily," he said.
"We do not want them to be paying exceptionally high roaming charges when their workplace (Singapore) is only a few kilometres (miles) away from their homes in (neighbouring) Johor," he added.
Shaziman said his Singaporean counterpart Lee Boon Yang had hailed the proposal.
Malaysia's top mobile operator Maxis charges 1.50 ringgit per minute for a local registered cell phone user when he uses his phone in Singapore and as high as 9.00 ringgit per minute in Cambodia.
From October 1, employers will contribute the Skills Development Levy (SDL) on all workers they employ, up to the first $4,500 of gross monthly pay.
Currently, the salary ceiling for SDL contributions is $2,000.
The levy rate will also be lowered from 1% to 0.25% from October 1, subject to a minimum contribution of $2 per employee.
The SDL underlines employers' key role in contributing to workers' training and institutionalise employer's dedication to the Continuing Education and Training (CET).
The expansion of the levy base is to better reflect the outreach of CET, which will increasingly cover professionals, executives and managers.
IT IS known as the gap year for grown-ups - a breather from the rat race. And the best part is, you get to keep your job.
This is the time-out from work called a sabbatical - the holy grail of usually long-serving executives who crave a little perspective and a radically different life - for a while.
And no, it is not a religious holiday. But in many ways, a sabbatical can recharge your spiritual and physical batteries, break up the routine nature of your life, and empower you with more energy and motivation when you do return to your career.
Chances are, you've heard of it before, but have not seen it widely practised. The good news is, human resources (HR) consultancies in Singapore say there is a growing trend of employees seeking such sabbaticals, and firms granting them.
A sabbatical, essentially, is a mutual agreement between you and your employer, in which you are granted extended leave.
It could range from a couple of months to as long as a year, either paid or unpaid - and is outside of your normal annual leave entitlements.
Some common reasons for wanting the time off are a desire to travel, rest, pursue further education, spend time with the family, or just simply to re-evaluate life priorities, said Ms Joanne Chua, manager of Robert Walters' HR recruitment division.
While she notes that people who seek such time-outs are usually in their 30s, other consultants say it can be taken by someone of any age. What is more important is their years of service.
HR consultancy Robert Half's Singapore managing director Tim Hird points out that employees who have a good track record in performance and quantum of service tend to fare better in getting sabbaticals, where their job is kept for them while they are away.
'If someone has worked in a firm for say, 10 years, the sabbatical is generally approved. It's a good staff retention tool. It's a bit like getting a bonus - but you have to earn it,' he said.
Unpaid leave is the most common. Paid sabbaticals are rare but they do exist, he said. For example, US technology firms like Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk, do give executives paid leave of up to eight weeks, he added.
The benefits of taking a sabbatical are well-documented. Companies which have sabbatical policies - and they are usually multi-national companies (MNCs) - claim it is a great way to retain staff, boost productivity and provide opportunities for new challenges and growth for their employees.
Hewitt Singapore's compensation and benefits leader Samir Bedi said employees tend to come back to work with more well-rounded personalities, renewed enthusiasm and energy.
But taking unpaid leave is not all a bed of roses.
Some drawbacks that consultants highlight are: Missing out on developments in the industry, potential loss of business deals and revenue, and also, competition from rivals who will take the opportunity to build relationships with clients during your absence.
In addition, while some firms may be open-minded about sabbaticals, this is not true across all industries.
Robert Walters' Ms Chua says: 'I wouldn't say this is frowned upon in Singapore but neither is it generally accepted. It is more common in Europe and the States.'
Taking sabbatical leave is something fairly new in Asia, and challenging for employers as they have to find a replacement to take over someone's duties.
'Taking unpaid leave is particularly challenging in sales jobs,' she added. Also, the company may have evolved while you are away and the role may no longer exist.
Sabbaticals tend to be more common for certain professions, for example, in the academic field.
Lecturers, for example, are usually granted sabbaticals to further their own goals after a number of years in tenure.
One teacher, Ms Ng Yilan, 26, said she is already contemplating a sabbatical in a couple of years.
'Many of my colleagues have requested and got them. It's a way to prevent us teachers from burning out,' she said.
In other sectors, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), there is more of a stigma attached to extended time-outs.
Senior HR manager Ko Lay Tin told The Straits Times that her firm - a mainboard- listed SME - does not approve unpaid leave unless there is a very strong reason, such as further education, to learn relevant skills, or for health reasons.
'For smaller firms, it's a challenge to find someone to take over certain duties. Even if we engage temporary staff, they face a steep learning curve,' she said.
Mr Darren Ellis, 34, who has worked in Singapore the last four years, also agrees that it is easier to take unpaid leave if you work in an MNC, which is more likely to have the resources to manage the absence of one member of staff.
'I do think sabbaticals are a great idea - provided they're not abused. They must be taken for the right reasons,' he added.
Some questions that consultants say employees should consider when thinking about sabbaticals are:
Can you afford to take unpaid leave? For how long?
Can your work be covered during your absence?
Will your long-term absence affect clients or suppliers?
Can you commit to coming back to the same job?
Then there is also the matter of what you should do on your sabbatical.
Travelling is a popular option, and many professionals may even experience life-changing encounters that equip them with a broader perspective on life and the business world when they return to work.
There are some websites, such as www.realgap.co.uk, which offer paid work abroad, or volunteer programmes where individuals can go to a foreign destination to do something radically different.
Of course, there is also the option of furthering the skills in your field, for example, by applying for a professional fellowship abroad related to your job.
The possibilities are endless and the world is your oyster. And the good news is, companies in today's world face a serious shortage of specialised talent, said Mr Hird.
'HR and employment policies can, and have to be, creative to suit the demands of the individuals,' he said.
People seeking sabbaticals are prepared to make sacrifices professionally, or take risks, to provide for their own long-term well-being, he added.
It is no wonder that many companies now realise that one way of keeping the brightest in their employ is to let go of them for a while.
Singtel recently launched a new plan specially catered for the needs of foreigners working in Singapore. They call it the SIMple plan. It’s a postpaid SIM only plan with a 1-year contract.
The plan is rather straight forward. It offers the lowest price for all the services commonly required by any foreigner staying in Singapore. Such as:
Free Global SMS
Unlimited IDD Calls (Value Added Service)
Free Incoming Calls
Free Oversea Missed Call Alert
These new plans will allow them to manage their overseas cost while granting the convenience of mobile communications locally and connectivity to their home abroad.
Who Can Apply
3G iOne Plus (SIMple), 3G iTwo Value (SIMple),3G iTwo Plus (SIMple) are open to all foreigners in Singapore with a valid Employment Pass, S Pass or Dependent Pass (minimum of 6 months validity).
SIMple Student Plan is available for foreigners with a valid Student Pass only.
SingTel SIMple Price Plans are open to new line connections only and not applicable to recontracting customers.
The price plans are not applicable with handset bundle promotions.
Documents & Deposit
Customers will need to present their valid work pass at point of sign-up.
$300 deposit is required for Dependant Pass and Foreigner with a valid Student Pass.
Dependant Pass and Student Pass holders below the age of 21 years are not eligible for IDD calls.
Contractual Commitments
Early termination or downgrade penalty charge of $160.50 applies.
Monthly subscription will revert to national promotion rate after 12 months from sign-up.
The plan is not applicable to mio plan, mio supplementary plan, Corporate Individual Scheme, BRN customers and any other promotions/schemes.
More Info On Charges
Excess local airtime is charged at 16.05¢/minute.
Excess SMS is charged at 5.35¢ per local SMS and 16.05¢ per global SMS
Free Incoming calls until 31 December 2010.
Free unlimited v019 calls are only applicable for voice calls made to any residential and mobile line in the listed destinations.
Monthly charges of $5.35/month are required to enjoy free unlimited v019 calls to 15 listed destinations of Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Puerto Rico,Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and USA. Another monthly charge of $5.35/month is required to enjoy Free unlimited v019 calls to either Indonesia or to only fixed line termination in Philippines. Local voice call rate applies to all v019 calls made and the calls are deductible from the free local outgoing voice bundle.
Most managers, if asked, would probably say they still prefer to be able to see the team they are managing. But, in an increasingly wired and global environment, the days of insisting workers are physically present in the office do look numbered, according to new research.
The number of people “teleworking” from home has risen dramatically over the past few years, the survey by the UK Confederation of British Industry and recruiter Pertemps has concluded.
Almost half of the more than 500 employers polled said they now offered teleworking to staff, a dramatic increase from the 14 per cent reported two years ago and 11 per cent in 2004.
The snapshot echoes the experience of employers in the U.S and Canada, where a survey of 2,700 employers earlier this month by World at Work found that teleworking had soared in popularity over the past 12 months.
More than four out of 10 U.S firms and a similar percentage in Canada now offered teleworking, though how many workers actually took the offer up remained a moot point.
Here's a great productivity tip. Add mtbot@hotmail.com to your MSN IM and you can translate to/from Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Translation Bot or mtbot is powered by Windows Live Translator - "Please know that I am only a robot and do not have human translation skills. However, I might be able to just help you understand what your international buddies are saying. You can also help get better translation results by using simple sentence structures and by avoiding typos."
Here's a sample screenshot. It may not be 100% accurate, but I guess it gets the message across somehow.
Gothere.sg has just integrated a "before / after" fare price into their interface.
"...you can check and find out if you are one of the lucky 43% of commuters who will see no change or a reduction in your weekly public transport expenditure, or one of the 21% who will see an average increase of 18 cents per week, or worse still, one of the unfortunate 36% who will see an average increase of 23 cents per week."
I've yet to work in an organization where you could actually field an entire company softball team with all the Gen Xers on staff. At best, we could field a team of 5 players, with no one covering 3rd base, left field and catcher.
As Boomers start retiring, employers shouldn't count on Gen Xers to enthuastically step up to the plate. We may be able to take on leadership roles but are we willing?
1. X'ers' corporate careers got off to a slow start and many are still feeling the pain. You graduated when the economy was slow and the huge bulge of Boomers had already grabbed most of the key jobs.
2. When you were teens, X'ers witnessed adults in your lives being laid off from large corporations, as re-engineering swept through the business lexicon. This engendered in most X'ers a lack of trust in large institutions and a strong desire for a life filled with back-up plans, just in case.
3. Most corporate career paths "narrow" at the top —the perceived range of options diminishes as individuals become increasingly specialized in specific functions or roles. X'ers crave options, which assuage your concerns about being backed into a corner, laid off from one path. The sense of narrowing career paths and increased vulnerability is often most palpable at the transition from middle to upper management—just where many of you are today. This step also often brings demands for relocation and separation from established social networks—an additional assault on your sense of self-reliance.
4. Just your luck—the economy was slow when you entered the workforce and now its slowing once again—just as you are standing at the threshold of senior management. Stepping into leadership roles right now looks more difficult and the roles themselves, more vulnerable than they have at any point in the past decade.
5. And then there are those pesky Gen Y's. Many X'ers are charged with "managing" Y's which—let's face it—is an impossible task, at least if you define "manage" as controlling their channels of communication. While vying for promotions and trying to look good, many of you feel that Y's are doing an end run around.
6. X'ers are, in fact, surrounded by a love fest—and not feeling the love. As I wrote in last week's post, Boomers and Y's are learning from each other—and enjoying their interactions. It's easy to feel left out.
7. X'ers are the most conservative cohort in today's workforce—and you're surrounded by "shake ‘em up" types on both sides. In your personal lives, X'ers are not particularly keen on rules, but you had to follow them in the workplace—and you resent it when others now don't. It seems unfair to be rewriting corporate etiquette when you've had to toe the line for so long.
8. Many X'ers' are guarding a closely held secret: you're not all as comfortable with the technology that is changing the way things are done as everyone seems to think you are. While it's perfectly acceptable for Boomers to feign ignorance and ask for help, it's embarrassing for X'ers to do so.
9. And if Boomer colleagues are annoying, the Boomer parents of your Y reports are down-right over-the-top. X'ers can't believe the frequency of Y-parent interactions and are deeply turned off by parents who make their presence felt in the workplace.
10. Finally, your own parenting pressures are at a peak. You're deeply committed to spending more time with your kids than your parents did or were able to spend with you, but juggling is getting more and more difficult.
While many MNCs are known for having a strong work-life culture, more homegrown companies too are coming up with novel ideas to champion this cause.
Take the Cherie Hearts childcare chain, for instance. Yesterday marked the start of a pilot project that saw 50 staff from its headquarters go on a four-day work week, with each getting an alternate Friday off.
After this three-month trial, group president and founder Gurchran Singh wants to extend this initiative to let his 350 childcare teachers and staff in all 42 branches enjoy a shorter work week too.
'What we want to show them is that such a system can be achieved. I ask them to schedule meetings from Monday to Thursday. They can do as they like on Fridays, provided they are able to meet their targets and remain contactable via phone,' the 34-year-old told BT.
Mr Singh, who recently received the inaugural Work Life Leadership Award from the Ministry of Manpower, shared his experiences yesterday at a leadership roundtable on work-life harmony, organised by MOM and the Employer Alliance.
The half-day session at the Sheraton Hotel, titled The Economics of Work-Life Harmony, was attended by 45 CEOs and senior management from MNCs and SMEs.
On how he plans to let his teachers have a Friday off, Mr Singh said that all it takes is some simple reshuffling of the timetable to fit all enrichment programmes on Fridays, which can be handled by part-time educators. The full-time teachers can then take the day off, he explained. Investing in a good work-life programme has its pluses, said Mr Singh. Cherie Heart's turnover rate has hovered at or below one per cent for the last three years, lower than the industry's 7 per cent.
One issue that was raised frequently was that of trust, and whether employees would be tempted to abuse these and other benefits.
Helen Lim-Yang, CEO of HR firm OTi Consulting, said: 'There's no need to micro-manage, or check on your staff all the time to make sure they are doing their job. There should be an unsuspecting culture, and only if productivity levels fall, should the manager step in and find out what the problems are and how to address them. Balance flexibility with accountability, and instil a culture of trust and respect.'
The tangible benefits extend beyond just a happy employee. Ms Lim-Yang said that her company saves as much as $74,000 a year on average on recruitment costs by maintaining its lower turnover rate.
Over at German engineering group Siemens, also a winner at this year's Work-Life Excellence Awards, a survey that it conducted recently found that 83 per cent of its 2,500-strong staff were proud to work there, while 94 per cent said that they could adequately balance the demands of work and personal life.
The company's managing director, Hans-Dieter Bott, said that staff turnover is currently 12 per cent, which is lower than the industry average.
Besides common schemes such as staggered hours and telecommuting, all employees also get up to $572 a year to spend on their health, such as for insurance and sports goods. Still, it seems that sometimes, even a good thing can take some getting used to.
Cherie Hearts' Mr Singh, who was also taking his Friday off yesterday, checked on the office and found that half of the 50 eligible staff came back to work. 'They told me that they have some reports to finish up. Later, I'm going to go back to the office and chase them out,' he joked.
Effective use of infocomm technology (ICT) can help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) protect their bottom lines, according to industry watchers.
The comment came as the Singapore Polytechnic (SP) and the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) signed a memorandum of cooperation on Thursday to help address the ICT concerns of new SMEs.
The current economic environment can hardly be said to be great for business and some SMEs are feeling the heat. But industry watchers said it is not the time to cut down on ICT spending.
Lo Yoong Khong, cluster director, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, said: "Infocomm (technology) can also bring many other benefits to the SMEs. Some of the things would include traceability.
"With infocomm, they would be able to look at their sales revenue very quickly because at the click of a button, whatever sales have been transacted through the day or through the week can be generated very quickly."
This can help save time and cash, which is vital to the operations of a budding firm. A tighter budget is even more of an issue these days, given the current global credit squeeze, and industry watchers said it is important for SMEs to keep their eye on the ball.
Vijay Iyengar, chairman of SICCI, said: "The main thing is that they will have to look at the plans that they have made and to keep re-examining them as they go along. Three months down the road, go back to the drawing board, see if they have achieved what they set out to achieve and go on from there.
"Often, an SME always has this issue of too many distractions or trying to go in many different directions, and (it ends up) not achieving what it sets out to achieve."
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a series of training programmes to prepare service personnel for the Formula One race period.
Organised by the STB with the support of the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), up to 2,000 key service personnel from industries such as retail and F&B will each undergo four-hour training.
'We hope to provide key service personnel with a refresher on core service quality skills and essential information on the various festivities so that they can help enhance the experience of all visitors,' said Neeta Lachmandas, director of Service Quality at STB. The sessions are aimed at service supervisors from Singapore attractions as well as the nightspot, retail and F&B industries.
Some 80,000 guidebooks will also be distributed to taxi drivers and service personnel providing information on festivities and events, in addition to service quality tips. STB will also deploy 100 student volunteers as race ambassadors at high-frequency areas like Clarke Quay and the airport.
Several employers associations have jointly called on companies to grant the enhanced leave benefits to eligible employees on a voluntary basis before the relevant legislations are enacted in October.
The associations, which include the Singapore Business Federation, Singapore National Employers Federation, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Employer Alliance for Work-Life, said the move will be good for morale and will help to retain talent.
They added that the companies will also be able to claim the relevant salary costs from the government later.
It is hoped that employers will work with their staff to ensure that business operations are not affected.
Come September 3, the associations will hold a briefing for 1,500 employers on how to implement the new measures. - CNA/ms
Bosses, the next time one of your fresh out-of-school employees asks for travel leave or a couple of hours off from a regular work day, think twice before saying no.
Employees between the ages of 19 and 30 - otherwise known as the 'Generation Y' demographic - are likely to demand more flexibility, have unrealistic goals in work and life, and would normally job-hop.
These are some of the findings from a recent survey conducted by the Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI). The study, titled 'Harnessing the Potential of Generation Y Workforce in Singapore', was designed to uncover the general characteristics of Generation Y in Singapore.
Based on the results of this survey, SHRI has put forward suggestions for keeping the fickle pool of Gen Y talent happy in the workforce.
'Remuneration packages may not be the best option to attract and retain Gen Y talents,' said SHRI's executive director David Ang. 'HR practitioners will need to explore and adopt differentiated HR practices and solutions to help them fit in with the employment landscape.'
Some of those practices include allowing travel leave and a flexi-time system.
A total of 245 respondents were involved in the month-long survey which started in May. About 42 per cent of them are Gen Y workers, and the remaining, their non-Gen Y parents, bosses and colleagues.
Currently, Gen Y-ers make up 20 per cent of the population and those economically active.
A summary of the study's key findings: Gen Y-ers are confident, tech-savvy, innovative and ambitious, but are also individualistic, proud and disloyal.
However, Mr Alvin Lim, 28, an online marketing executive, disagreed with the last description.
His current job is his fifth in three years, having entered the workforce as a graphic designer, then switching to become a freelance art director- cum-videographer, corporate communications executive and a portal manager.
He said: 'I like challenges, so if there are jobs that involve new targets and learning experiences, I will leave my old job.'
SHRI hopes that Singapore employers can accept change and not shy away from creative solutions that could accelerate young workers' performance.
But it may take some time before changes take root.
Mr Leslie Wa, 37, group chief executive officer and executive director of homegrown precision engineering company HLN Technologies, believes in rewarding older and younger workers alike.
He said: 'We believe in meritocracy. We have the same key performance indicators for all our key employees.'
This might be useful for those who don't use the Windows key much on their keybord.
Below are the shortcuts that you can use by combining the with Windows key:
Windows Key to Open the Start Menu Windows Key + D to Show Desktop Windows Key + E to Open My Computer Windows Key + F to Open Search Windows Key + F + Control Key to Open Search For Computers program Windows Key + F1 to Open Help Windows Key + L to Switch Between Users, or Lock desktop while unattended Windows Key + M to Minimize All Windows Windows Key + M + Shift Key to restore after Minimizing All Windows Windows Key + R to Open Run Dialog Windows Key + U to open Utility Manager Windows Key + Y to Open Yahoo Messenger (if loaded) Windows Key + Pause Key To Open System Properties Windows Key + Tab Key To Switch Between Active Programs Windows Key + X to enter Windows Mobility Center (Windows Vista+ only)
Child care centres are available at 37 workplaces across Singapore, with 21 located in government office premises.
In a written reply to questions from MP for Tampines GRC, Irene Ng, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Vivian Balakrishnan, said the 37 centres provide 4,300 childcare places, or about seven per cent of the total child care places in Singapore.
Ms Ng also asked about the availability of infant care centres.
Dr Balakrishnan said the number of child care centres providing infant care has risen from 38 centres in 2004 to 115 child care centres now. They provide more than 1,600 infant care places, and currently 933 babies are enrolled.
Dr Balakrishnan said there is no centre providing only infant care services because operators said it is not viable.
To promote a family-friendly working environment, the government encourages organisations to set up workplace child care centres by providing funding and tax incentives.
For example, for non-commercial and government organisations, the government provides funding for up to 20 per cent of the cost of converting part of the work-premises for childcare use. This is capped at 500 square metres.
Such commercial organisations also receive a grant to help pay the cost of furnishings and equipment for the workplace child care centres. They also receive funding for maintenance of the child care centre after every five years.
For commercial companies, the employer may be able to claim industrial building allowance on the capital expenditure for conversion of space to a child care centre. They are also eligible for the grant for furnishings and equipment.
Fewer people quit from organisations which implement work-life balance practices, such as flexible work arrangements. That's the experience of many companies with work-life strategies in place.
At Tampines Primary, school starts at 8am and teachers are encouraged to leave by 1.30pm every Wednesday and Friday. This allows them to spend more time with their families.
Mrs Wong-Tan Bin Eng, Principal, Tampines Primary School, said: "I don't see the teachers rushing so much from meeting to meeting. I don't see them rushing to complete their work. I see that they look happier and in a sense, they are also able to contribute well.
The school's flexible arrangement can apply to any of the over 70 staff and the principal said the trust in her teachers prevents any abuse.
Having shorter teaching hours is actually a direct feedback from the staff themselves. This allows the teachers more free time to plan their lessons or attend meetings. And when they go to class, they will not feel stressed and can teach well.
For one catering company, it forces workers to stay out of the office as one of its work-life balance practices. And for those who have been with the company for three years, they are given a 10-day break as a reward.
Tony Seow, managing director, Purple Sage, said: "I used to work very long hours and I realise that's not a good balance and it's taking a toll on my health. And I realised that I think it's best to work with your team and let them have enough balance. Because when you're not at your best, you're not really focusing or giving the best to your customers."
The company's pro-family policies have helped increase its retention rate by four per cent, to 85 per cent last year. - CNA/vm
Have you ever used Youtube videos for a presentation and wish there was a way to annotate the videos. Youtube has an annotate feature but only for owners of the videos, which means you cannot annotate someone else's video.
Summarised from Mashable - TubePopper is also limited to the videos available on YouTubejust enter the URL for the YouTube video you’d like to annotate, or perform a YouTube video search directly on TubePopper’s site.
Beyond this, TubePopper has the expected networking features: embedding options, commenting, related clips, and one-click sharing across various social networks and bookmarking sites, which is a feature powered by Gigya.
Here's a sample, does remind me of Mei Mei Watches MTV on Chinese MTV Channel.
As more Singaporeans start to shop online, SMEs have to better equip themselves with IT innovation in order to get a slice of the market. This according to Senior Minister of State for Education and Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew, who was speaking at the annual Infocomm Commerce Conference on Thursday.
According to a survey by the Infocomm Development Authority, the proportion of users who shop online has more than doubled from 17 per cent in 2003 to 35 per cent last year.
So, to help SMEs, a second infocomm resource centre (SIRC) is being set up to help SMEs learn more about IT and its applications to specific businesses.
Also in the pipeline is an i-directory which will be a one-stop portal housing an extensive list of infocomm products and services offered by SMEs in Singapore.
And with cyberspace, companies must always take into account online safety.
So, in addition to the new initiatives, a Cyber Security Awareness Alliance will help raise awareness and adoption of cyber security measures among businesses and even individuals.
Thanks to Jems, I decided to sign up mobile broadband, with Singtel.
I spend 60% of my work hours using Wireless@SG and although the national initiative is commendable, the service is not reliable. I'm sure you have experienced network problems although connected into a full bar SSID. I also noted that sometimes POP / SMTP / MSN is blocked.
So far I've tested Orange's service and I couldn't even get it running consistently (Orange staff said it was something about Vista and my HP notebook not compatible with the Huawei modem). As for Green, well, go on... keep up the throttling and you'll see more customers leave.
The plan I got was the 1mbps plan, since you can upgrade (not downgrade) without penalty.
So being the Geek, here's the unboxing and also the speedtest (which was a little disappointing). By the way, installation was a breeze, plug in, install software, click connect and w00t!
So based on the website, I should be getting up to 1mbps downloads and 384mbps uploads right.... let's see how it goes (end of blog post).
The unboxing begins...
The results... Hmmm, not exactly as advertised huh. Around 1/4 of the maximum download speed. As usual, I'm sure the standard "depends on current location and surrounding conditions blah blah blah" disclaimer applies. I will test again and post an update when I'm at a public location - I shall hunt for a cellular tower! (Updated - new test at a public location yielded surprising results)
14 August 12pm - I've just tested at a public location. Nice!
Nonetheless, IMHO, the convenience it offers does surpass the download speeds it is capable of. After all I don't download torrents, mp3s, nor animes.
Mashable has come up with a list of 5 books that can help improve your thinking about the value of social media to the enterprise.
Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
Corporate executives are struggling with a new trend: people using online social technologies (blogs, social networking sites, YouTube, podcasts) to discuss products and companies, write their own news, and find their own deals. This groundswell is global, it s unstoppable, it affects every industry and it s utterly foreign to the powerful companies running things now.
When consumers you ve never met are rating your company s products in public forums with which you have no experience or influence, your company is vulnerable. In Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester, Inc. explain how to turn this threat into an opportunity.
Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
"How do trends emerge and opinions form? The answer used to be something vague about word of mouth, but now it's a highly measurable science, and nobody understands it better than Clay Shirky. In this delightfully readable book, practically every page has an insight that will change the way you think about the new era of social media. Highly recommended." -Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail
Web Analytics: An Hour a Day
Written by an in-the-trenches practitioner, this step-by-step guide shows you how to implement a successful Web analytics strategy. Web analytics expert Avinash Kaushik, in his thought-provoking style, debunks leading myths and leads you on a path to gaining actionable insights from your analytics efforts. Discover how to move beyond clickstream analysis, why qualitative data should be your focus, and more insights and techniques that will help you develop a customer-centric mindset without sacrificing your company’s bottom line.
The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media
"As word of mouth loses opinion-forming power to word of blog, companies are faced with a revolution in how their brands and corporate image will be shaped in the future. Paul Gillin provides a very insightful and well-written guide on how to effectively benefit from these dramatic changes. A must read!" --Patrick J. McGovern, founder and chairman, International Data Group (IDG)
The Art of Strategic Listening
Listening To Your Customers’ Conversations Can Provide Big Dividends
Do you know what your customers or bloggers are saying about your company and your products? Marketers used to be able to assess the perception of their company or their products by simply monitoring the media and reading any letters of complaint that came by mail, but that was pre-internet and social networking.
Now there are more than 80 million blogs, as well as social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, video aggregators like YouTube and EveryZing and thousands of other social media sites on the web where customers talk with each other and make all kinds of comments, good and bad about your firm, your competitors, and your industry.
Come January 1 next year, businesses in Singapore will have a Unique Entity Number (UEN) to identify themselves when dealing with all government agencies.
This single identification number will be issued by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) to all entities registered in Singapore in a move that is aimed at streamlining processes.
Under the new system, a UEN will be issued by ACRA to all entities that have multiple interactions with government agencies by October this year.
About 330,000 or 85 per cent of companies and businesses here will use their current ACRA company registration number as their UEN, while 55,000 entities or 15 per cent of all companies in Singapore will be issued a new number.
These entities include Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), foreign companies, societies and management corporations.
Businesses have welcomed the move saying that this would simplify and reduce possible errors caused by the use of multiple numbers. Other government agencies have also echoed the same view.
Jim Stroud has a 2 parts article on how to "mine" resumes from Scribd.com, the User Generated Content - Online document repository site.
Scribd is like a YouTube for documents. on any given month, 17 million people research Scribd for documents of all types. Since Scribd launched in March 2007, it has become one of the top 300 websites on the Internet, receiving over 20 million monthly visitors. It has also accumulated over 17 billion words in its library, making it five times the size of Wikipedia!!!
CurdBee is a safe and secure web-based billing application from Vesess. Use it to send clients invoices and then collect payments via PayPal or Google Checkout, billing them easily in the currency you choose.
Cuil has just been unleashed and it has been getting so much attention that their servers crashed on the first day. NY Times reported that Cuil is a search engine that the founders promise will be more comprehensive than Google’s and that they hope will give its users more relevant results.
Ms. Patterson left Google in 2006 to found Cuil. The new company has other prominent ex-Google employees, including Russell Power, who worked with Ms. Patterson on the large Google index, and Louis Monier, a former chief technology officer at AltaVista, a pioneering search engine. Cuil, which has about 30 employees and is in Menlo Park, Calif., has raised $33 million from venture investors.
Mr. Costello, a former researcher at Stanford, said that with 120 billion Web pages, Cuil’s search index is larger than any other. The company uses a form of data mining to group Web pages by content, which makes the search engine more efficient, he said. Instead of showing results as short snippets of text and images with links, it displays longer entries and uses more pictures. It also provides tools to help users further refine their queries.
David Allen, author of "Getting Things Done," one of the best-selling productivity books of all times joins Robert Scoble to talk about the future of work and how to make the most of productivity while minimizing stress.
A breakthrough book on productivity written by a dynamic author with national recognition, GETTING THINGS DONE has changed thousands of people's lives since it was originally published in hardcover in January 2001.
Now five years later this book is a national best seller. This shows how valuable and effective this book has proved to anyone looking to achieve their goals in life and work with the minimum amount of stress and the maximum degree of efficiency and flexibility. Whether you are an executive, student, or run a business and/or household, GETTING THINGS DONE will teach you the tips and tricks of how to get--and stay--on top of it all.
There have been hints in the government that S'pore may expand its national child leave policy to mirror that in European nations like Sweden. While S'pore currently offers mothers 3 months of paid maternity leave...and fathers three days, Sweden offers 13 months for both parents. Not surprisingly Singaporeans of child-rearing age who were asked like the idea, but employers are balking. The Electric New Paper says that some workers expressed concern that if they policy was changed that generously, they would be discriminated against if they or their spouse became pregnant. S'pore does not allow dismissal of women during their pregnancy or their leaves.
Employers are understandably concerned that the 400% increase in time off (from 3-13 months for 2 parents) would hurt them in both productivity and financially. They would have to continue to pay salary AND find someone to replace the lost worker. Swedes, and other Europeans with extremely long maternity pay have much higher taxes than Singapore to help cover costs. Image Source CT government Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook Group. Now on Mobile!
"Nicely sums up the explosion of digital-technology advances during the past 15 years and places the phenomenon in its global context...[Friedman] never shrinks from the biggest problems and the thorniest issues...Ambitious."–Paul Mangnusson, BusinessWeek
Listeners will receive the audiobook in three easy-to-download sections, and soon after that, as an added bonus, will also receive an exclusive prepublication audio excerpt of Friedman's HOT, FLAT, AND CROWDED: WHY WE NEED A GREEN REVOLUTION AND HOW IT CAN RENEW AMERICA.
AsiaOne Business has an interview with Mr Gan Kim Yong (Acting Minister for Manpower and Senior Minister of State), discussing his role and present and future trends in S'pore employment. Yong addresses concerns about inflation and income noting that incomes will likely never keep up with prices but that the government has programs in place (like Workfare Income Supplement) to help offset this discrepancy.
Regarding foreign workers in Singapore, he says that many foreign workers take jobs that native Singaporeans don't want and they add to the "vibrancy and diversity" of the country. He notes that the only way to eliminate foreign workers is to somehow force Singaporeans to work in less popular sectors or to slow down development, and neither option is appealing.
He also states, regarding foreign workers in low-wage positions, that they are not pushing wages down overall and that, if they left, wages for S'pore workers would not be likely to increase.
Booking a taxi will be a breeze from next Monday (July 21, 2008). Taxi commuters will just need to call one common number - 6342 5222 - or 6-DIAL CAB. The number will be routed to 3 companies, in a relay, if one does not pickup, it will try the next one, and then the next.
There are many theories in the art of persuasion, particularly when it comes to sales. Consulative selling involves persuasive sales and there are some easy techniques to persuade someone to say "yes" to what it being offered.
1. Make sure you are exploring their real needs or desires. Don't just list features of a product or service. Find out what your customer is looking for so you can tailor the discussion around that.
2. Use the right questions. Build the discussion asking "what" or "how" questions (i.e. "what are you looking for in a new refrigerator" or "how do you think sales coaching will help you?")
3. Use stories or analogies to make the experience personal.
4. Use real testimonials. Tell them about the neighbor down the block who had a similar issue with insects, used your pest control service and had great (be specific) results. If you have a celebrity testimonial, even better!
5. Be sincere. Really try to help the customer find a solution. Don't just make the sale...build a relationship. Even if you lose this particular sale, if you are sincere and really attempt to help, the likelihood that the customer will seek out you, or at minimum, your company when they do have a genuine need (or pass the info on elsewhere) will improve dramatically.
So as part of a blog entry competition (good of Samsung to step onto the social media advertising bandwagon), here are my thoughts on the SamsungOmnia.
I visited CommunicAsia last month, and it was just after the iPhone 3G was announced by Jobs. Obviously, any new phones launched during CommunicAsia would be compared to the iPhone 3G.
Samsung, HTC and LG all displayed their latest phones in a big way. Having tested 3 phones, I would say the Omnia SH-i900 is getting very close to the iPhone BUT with its own character.
What stood out for me are: 1. Haptic Feedback - most iPhone users complain that it felt un-natural to press the touchscreen without any feedback. The Omnia slightly vibrates when a button is pressed. 2. Samsung Today screen which looks so much better than the default Windows Mobile Today screen. 3. Auto-rotate feature (I believe it uses the camera instead of an accelerometer), which auto-rotates your images etc when you rotate the phone. 4. It has every connectivity option you would need - 3G, HSDPA, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, GSM, EDGE. 5. Battery Life - Cnet Asia reviewed that their Omnia phone lasted 3 days under normal usage. Wow! 6. Suite of applications which make "working on the go" seamless - MS Office Compatibility, Push Email.
Being a "PDA" phone, it will easily integrate with your desktop/notebook multimedia files (videos, mp3 etc) and since it's running on Windows Mobile, syncing your existing Outlook contacts / emails / calendar / notes etc will be "one touch" and a breeze.
The Launch event video covers what the phone has to offer, as an alternative to the iPhone 3G.
Despite 82% of companies having policies prohibiting personal Internet usage, a recent study shows that everyone, from executives to entry-level employees, is doing it. There is speculation that this is an attempt at work/life balance and many personal issues that employees don't have time to manage at home are being managed at work, though no specific studies have been done to this effect.
A study by Websense shows that 60% of companies have reprimanded employees for surfing the 'net at work, and more than 30% have fired employees for it. However, many of today's workers, accustomed to the Internet being a tool in their daily lives, consider access an employee perk and would risk employee engagement and satisfaction. Image Source Business Opportunities Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook Group.
SimplyNoise's website is so easy to use yet does wonders if you are trying to work / sleep / study / read in an environment that is noisy. Block out surrounding sounds like construction sites, kids playing, busy road just by adjusting the dial until you cannot hear them.
It may sound distracting at first, but your brain will soon adjust the white noise and you'll not notice it at all.
For a variety of reasons, workers are postponing retirement. The realities of increased health care costs, longer life spans and fewer retirement plans like pensions have caused the majority of current workers to mentally postpone retirement...by about 5 years since 1995. Quality of life issues factor in as well, including wanting to stay productive and continue to make a contribution, but older workers expect shorter hours and more flexibility. Many take on contract or consulting positions instead of full or part-time work.
There were already 500,000 more workers aged 75-90 in 2007 than 2006 in the United States (U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Statistics). But the US lags behind Singapore in recruiting these older candidates and significantly behind in the retention of current older workers. Older workers bring a variety of life experiences and attributes to businesses that are harder to find in younger people: loyalty, patience, and a broader sense of the bigger business picture. Additionally, they may have well-established social networks that younger employees have yet to develop.
A local blogger has started an online survey using Google Docs Forms function, to gather Singapore ISPsubscribers.
Jorbb recently cancelled a 3 year long broadband account and moved to another ISP. Although the advertised speed was the same, the actual surfing (browsing / download / youtubing) experience was a huge improvement, at a lower price (promotion).
It will be interesting to see the results of this survey so submit your speed test results at the jump.
An Australian-based social networking site for business owners and professionals has just been launched.
"Our aim is empower businesses, employees and self-employed to reach their full potential through a business network which is Australian based", said Michael Brecht, the founder, "whether you are looking for a job, an investment opportunity, a business partner or a new employee."
ZaaBiz is free to sign up, but they also have a membership scheme. TechNation Australia has a summary of features:
- Skype Integration - can show Skype status in your profile
- Shows connections from many degrees away (LinkedIn limits to 3 degrees by default)
- You list your "Haves" and "Wants" in your profile - could a matching engine be added for connecting businesses in a barter-like ecosystem?
- Business Groups (like Facebook / LinkedIn) - where like-minded members can connect and create and post to forums. Michael noted a lot of offline/online activity happening in the Groups.
"The focus on business owners and developing presence where LinkedIn and Xing haven't yet developed strong footprints is great. Could they become one of the "big three" professional social networks? LinkedIn - North America, Xing - Europe, ZaaBiz - Asia? With Xing and LinkedIn battling each other head-to-head, they may just have a shot.
PCWorld reports that a survey conducted by Cyber-Ark reveals that nearly half of IT workers have admitted to snooping around networks to look at confidential information.
"It's easy -- all you need is access to the right passwords or privileged accounts and you're privy to everything that's going on within your company," said Mark Fullbrook, U.K. director of Cyber-Ark.
1. Notify the recipient of trade secrets, preferably in writing, that the information is proprietary and that the information is not to be disclosed or used by the recipient for the recipient's benefit or the benefit of others without the express consent of the trade secret owner.
2. Enter confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with employees and third-parties.
3. Establish and maintain written confidentiality policies to be distributed to all employees.
4. Establish and maintain oversight policies and procedures to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of trade secrets in written publications, seminars, speaking engagements, or at trade shows, by employees.
5. Institute overall plant physical security precautions, such as fencing the perimeter of the Company premises, limiting the number of entrances and exists, using alarmed or self-locking doors, hiring after-hours security personnel.
6. Install visitor control systems.
7. Maintain access to trade secrets on a "need-to know" basis only.
8. Establish secretly coded ingredients or data.
9. Separate departments of the Company.
10. Separate components of a trade secret between or among departments and/or company personnel so that each has only "a piece of the puzzle."
11. Keep drawers or areas for secret documents and drawings separated and locked.
12. Stamp documents and drawings "CONFIDENTIAL" or "PROPRIETARY."
13. Enter vendor secrecy agreements.
14. Establish physical barriers to prevent unauthorized viewing of proprietary process technology.
15. Install "KEEP OUT" or "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" signs at the access points to sensitive areas of the plant, and have a policy of enforcement.
16. Establish and maintain written rules and regulations prohibiting employees from remaining in the plant after hours without express permission from properly authorized personnel.
17. Establish and maintain rules and regulations requiring employees to stay in controlled areas about their work stations.
18. Require employees to wear identification badges or carry identification cards.
19. Require sign out/sign in procedures for access to and return of sensitive materials.
20. Reproduce only a limited number of sensitive documents and maintain procedures for collecting all copies after use.
21. Require authorized codes or passwords for access to copying machines and computers. Use key and encrypted computer data access to control theft of secret computer-stored information.
22. Establish and maintain policies and procedures for destruction of documents (shredders).
23. Establish and maintain a policy and practice for advising company employees, on a regular basis, regarding the Company's trade secrets and confidential business information.
24. Hold "exit interviews" to obtain return of company documents and to remind ex-employees of their obligation not to use confidential information of the Company for their own benefit or the benefit of others.
It's faster, safer and comes with more than 15,000 improvements. Create history by downloading Firefox 3 today and help break the record for the most downloaded software in one day. At time of posting, 2.6 million people have downloaded already.
Living the 80/20 Way: Work Less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More by Richard Koch was published in 2005 following the success of The 80/20 Principle in 1999. The 80/20 principle is based on an economic theory by Vilfredo Pareto which states, essentially that 20 per cent of action (stuff) produces 80 per cent of results. The flip side is that 80 per cent of what we work on or do doesn't result in much. However, this is a serious simplification and Koch helps readers understand how to use this rule to improve their lives in his more simple follow-up.
In Living the 80/20 way, Koch helps us "cut the fat" and define the efforts that are yielding the results so we can focus our energies there. This takes continual reexamination of you, your relationships (to people, to work), your life. Some of the questions to ask are "what am I passionate about and, of those things, what comes easiest to me?", "who do I want to be?", "what things am I doing that I struggle with or don't bring me joy?".
Koch rightfully insists that you cannot just think about your 80/20 plan, you must continually review and revise it, carry it with you, asking continually "Can I find easier, more pleasant, richer ways to achieve my goals?". Once you start identifying some of these things, the author encourages you to slow down and enjoy your "happiness islands", those areas that you really enjoy, and to start expanding them so you are spending more and more time on them.
Twenty Amazon.com reviewers give the book 4+ out of 5. Reviews include "the material in this book can be much more valuable than an MBA", "practical and easy to implement", "finally a book that offers solutions that are achievable and take pressure off."
Dice Holdings, which operates the largest technical recruiting site on the Internet, surveyed 1500 technology workers and more than a third said they'd take a ten per cent pay cut if allowed to work from home and not commute. A greater per cent chose the pay cut than those that refused a pay cut altogether.
The results substanstiate a similar study from 2002 by the Winston Group where workers would ask if they would forego a pay raise to work from home. One third said they would. But, as importantly, 54% felt their quality of life would improve significantly and was even higher for those that commute an hour or more daily. They also felt it would improve their relationships. Additionally, Marketing and Communications Strategies called telecommuting a trend to watch in 2004.
If you are interested in telecommuting, Telecommute Connecticut! from the US has a great site with questions to ask yourself when considering switching from working at the office site to home. These include "do you have the right job?", "do you have a good performance record?" and "do you have the right manager and organizational culture?".
Stephen Covey stands as one of the industry leaders in personal and professional development training. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People was published in 1990 and has since sold more than 10 million copies. The 8th Habit (From Effectiveness to Greatness) is the follow up, published in 2006, meant to acknowledge and explore how the 7 Habits have been affected by the advent of the Internet.
The 8th Habit is "find your voice and inspire others to find theirs", a mantra repeated in many current business books (Marcus Buckingham's Now Discover Your Strengths and Tim Sanders' Love is the Killer App). Covey believes management is still operating under old Industrial Age thinking instead of moving into the Knowledge age. Employees are treated more as objects than people and for organizations to excel, they have to move towards seeing their employees holistically.
Covey believes that most extraordinarily accomplished people have four traits: vision, discipline, passion and moral conscience and that the best way to find your own "voice" is to help someone else find theirs. Most of the book is spent in discussing how you can help others find their own voices and how you can keep people engaged at work.
Amazon readers give the book 3.5 stars out of 5 with most negative reviews pointing towards the writing and not the message. The book can be a bit "business-y", loaded with jargon and at times hard to understand. However, the message is still relevant.
Compliments of Mahalo.com, we have Steve Jobs' keynote on the upcoming iPhone 3G in 60 seconds. Why go through the 107 mins version when you can get all the highlights in a minute.
Quoted from their website - "Mahalo is a human-powered search engine that creates organized, comprehensive, and spam free search results for the most popular search terms. Our search results only include great links."
Google "how to look busy at work" (without really working) and the number and variety of hits will surprise you, or maybe not. It's no secret to a lot of corporate employees that they really don't have enough to keep them truly busy and engaged during the work day.
Visit the site Read At Work, you'll find a faux Microsoft desktop and books, short stories, articles, presented in PowerPoint presentations so you can read on the job. Funny? Funnier still is that it's presented by the New Zealand Book Council, not some work hack who is spreading the word to other slackers.
Parkinson's Law states that the "work expands to fill the time available for its completion", meaning that if you have a project and you are given five days to complete it, it will take those five days. But if you are given only 24 hours, you will likely get it done in that time frame. Thus, we probably are working at our cubicle jobs, but not as effectively as possible.
In step Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, HR consultants and the authors of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix it. Former Best Buy consultants, they've developed an organizational style called ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) which is used successfully at Best Buy's corporate offices. Cali and Jody contend that the workplace is broken, that we are wasting much of our time (and, thus, our lives) sitting in an office place for a predetermined 8+ hours daily.
Instead they propose, like Daniel H. Pink (Free Agent Nation), that you don't owe your employer your time, you owe them results. At Best Buy, ROWE employees have no fixed schedules, are only in the office when they have to be or want to be and are reviewed based on work results and not how busy they look or late they stay. Essentially, you are a corporate "free-agent" with full benefits and predictable pay.
Best Buy reports that productivity has risen approximately 35 per cent and voluntary turnover has dropped by as much as 90 per cent in certain divisions. They are poised to try ROWE at the retail level next. In a recent teleseminar, Cali and Jody acknowledge that this is Phase 1 of ROWE and Phase 2 will investigate how ALL workers including front-desk receptionists, human resources generalists and other direct service positions can benefit from ROWE. In the meantime, the concept has taken the business world by storm.
With fuel costs prodding businesses to consider more work place flexibility, this could be a prime moment for ROWE type thinking to infiltrate the old school way of thinking about work. Jody Thompson sums it up this way: "Basically, we're rewiring people's brains, getting rid of an old belief system from the 1950s that is no longer relevant to the technologically advanced business world we have now. We want people to stop thinking of work as someplace you go to, five days a week from 8 to 5, and start thinking of work as something you do."
In the introduction to Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business can Become a Leader of the Pack, author Donna Fenn (Inc. magazine) recounts her first time meeting entrepreneur Chris Zane in 1995. Zane owned a bike shop, Fenn was not excited about the interview. But what she found was, despite the size of the business and Zane's age (30), he had an instinct for great business development: "stellar customer service, one-to-one marketing, continuous learning, employee development, and cause-related marketing".
Zane now has 65% of his market share, 4 competitors vs. the 16 he started with, and $6.1 million in sales. Zane is just one example of many in this realistic read of the successful small business experience.
Focusing on very small, mostly unknown businesses that serve niche markets and utilize creative, passionate marketing strategies, the book succeeds in inspiring and providing a road map for both those with a new idea and the CEO of well established companies. One Amazon reader says it will "energize your entrepreneurial spirit" and 29 reviewers give it 5 out of 5 stars.
In 2007's The Dip, Godin challenges the notion of "winners never quit" by saying it is untrue, they are just more selective about what they do quit, making sure it is things that are detracting from their success. He advocates pursuing your one main goal versus being distracted by side projects. "The dip" is that point of giving up, when you realize how much energy must be invested to master your craft, your skill, your niche. Godin says most people don't push past this point-due to lack of funds, time, people. It's what makes the difference between success and failure...pushing past the dip.
To avoid this point in your journey, Godin insists you have to be clear on your goals from the start and have a way to measure success and progress, no matter how small. Defining that end goal requires examining the payoff of many options. What's your payoff? More time, more money, more fame. Define which goals will provide which payoffs and continue to measure your progress, says Godin in this slim book of less than 100 pages. Amazon readers say things like: "this was exactly what I needed to hear", "this is one of the best quick to read business books ever!", "definitely worth it if you have fallen from the path...". Many readers suggest reading it through, putting it away and reading it again. The message is simple but doesn't always stick easily. 111Amazon readers give The Dip 4 out of 5 stars.
8GB iPhone started at $599, went to $399, and now is going to sell at $199. (Steve makes a BOOM sound not with his mouth, but with the video). The 8GB model is going to be $199, 16GB will be $299. There’s also going to be a white model.
In my own opinion, this is a great move. Sell the iPhones cheap so that more people (56% said cost was a factor in not buying) can buy (sold 6 million sets so far in 7 countries officially- to reach 70 countries this year), and rake in profits from iTunes and Apps Store.
On the productivity front - MobileMe at Me.com will be "Exchange" for the rest of us. Everything stays in sync between iPhone, Mac, and PC. Data gets synced automatically both ways. A web 2.0 site will synchronise Mail, iCal, and Address Book on Mac and with Outlook on Windows. Email received on your iPhone will also appear in your Mac / Desktop. A photo taken on iPhone will be synced to your Me.com account immediately. A meeting added to your desktop, will be updated to your iPhone. All for US$99 a year with 20GB of space.
With iPhone SDK released, Apps store will allow developers to put their apps for sale. They set their own price and take 70%, with 30% going to Apple. No other extra charges.
TVC Screenshots:
More details / pics after the jump - Macrumours Images - Macrumours and Gizmodo
Want to broadcast your event / meeting / discussion live? With a webcam / pc / good internet connection, Ustream lets you broadcast LIVE to anyone with an internet connection for FREE!
Apple products do change the way we do things, from home entertainment to office productivity. Every time Steve Jobs launches new products, the public often does not know until the minute he stands on the stage and unveils the product/s. In this day and age of emails / sms / blogging, it is an industry mystery how Apple keep things under wrap.
World Wide Developers Conference 2008 in San Francisco, will kick off in less than 12 hours so if you want to be one of the millions tuning in to Steve Jobs' keynote (and new product announcements) bookmark these blog sites with live updates: (direct WWDC links) Engadget, Gizmodo, Macworld, TechCrunch. Engadget has an RSS and Twitter feed as well (I wouldn't recommend Twitter since it has been having performance issues lately).
For those with FireFox, download RELOAD EVERY add-on, and auto-refresh your pages at preset intervals. Saves you having to click REFRESH every few seconds.Follow Jorbb on Twitter and Facebook.
If you're a small business owner and haven't yet thought about hiring a virtual assistant, you're missing the boat?not to mention a chance to earn significantly more than you are now. That's because working with a top virtual assistant could easily free up 10 hours or more every week for you to focus on what's really important - growing your business.
What is a virtual assistant? In the simplest terms, a virtual assistant is a professional who's an expert in any of a wide variety of tasks - from simple administrative work to more specialized fields such as copywriting or graphic design. A virtual assistant makes sense if you feel that you're "wasting time" doing tasks that would better be left to someone else.
Virtual assistants have many advantages over hiring full- or part-time staff, including not dealing with the headaches of maintaining a payroll, not having to provide office space, and more. But working with a virtual assistant isn't foolproof.
Here are three ways to find and recruit the best virtual assistant for your small business:
* Use virtual assistants that have been pre-screened. Companies that know the virtual assistance industry inside and out can help you pre-qualify virtual assistant candidates by assessing their skills and abilities ahead of time. And this means more than just getting a read on their "hard" skills. It also means assessing "soft" skills such as communication style and rapport, which are critical in matching small business owners with the right virtual assistant. This can take a lot of the work out of hiring the right person. Check out www.Top100VirtualAssistants.com for an example of a service that pre-screens virtual assistants.
* Decide on your specific needs. Where do you need the most help? What are the tasks that need to get done, but that you can't or don't want to do yourself? Knowing exactly what you want before you start interviewing potential virtual assistants is crucial. You don't want to hire someone with a set of skills that, while they may be impressive, aren't right for your particular job.
* Budget wisely. Do a self-assessment and determine how much money you might typically make for an hour's worth of work. Then decide how much a virtual assistant is worth to you. For example, if you make $100 an hour, and you hire a virtual assistant for $40 an hour, by outsourcing just 10 hours worth of work a week, you would give yourself the ability to earn an extra $2,400 per month (or about $30,000 per year). It's also important to remember that a skilled virtual assistant can often do the same task in about half the time it takes the average small business owner (simply because they are a master of the technology, systems or other expertise that makes the task hard for someone not familiar with it). When this is the case, the right virtual assistant could wind up saving you more than $3,000 every month.A successful small business owner, Rebecca Trelfa runs a network of websites dedicated to the virtual assistance industry, including http://www.VirtualDynamos.com, http://www.Work-the-Web.com and http://www.Top100VirtualAssistants.com.
Hot on the heels of the HP launch, MSI has revealed their 10" screen mini notebook series - U100 Wind Notebook. CPU is Intel latest Atom N270 processor with 1.6Ghz core frequency, 512KB L2 Cache, 533Mhz FSB, and support Hyper Threading technology. Chipset used is Intel G945GSE north bridge with ICH7 south bridge, built in with Intel GMA950 display.
As you can see, it's slightly larger compared to the HP 2133 and the Asus EEE PC.
Battery-wise, MSI Wind Notebook uses 3 Cells 11.1v 2200mAh battery which will last for 3 hours. The Wind comes preloaded with Windows XP Home, on an 80GB HDD. Available in angel white, empire black and romantic pink for estimated US$610.
Watch a side-by-side comparison between the Wind and the EEE.
It'll be a lot easier to explain if you clicked on the video below (it has to popup to Youtube's site) and try it yourself. It's an interactive video "guessing game".
Playing an embedded video won't work (Beta version for now).
From Youtube's site - Video Annotations are a new way for you to add interactive commentary to your videos! Use them to:
* Add background information about the video. * Create stories with multiple possibilities (viewers click to choose the next scene) * Link to related YouTube videos, channels, or search results from within a video * All of the above!
You control what the annotations say, where they appear on the video, and when they appear and disappear.
This will be a cool feature for adding subtitles / tips to your videos, or doing product placement with Youtube videos.
So has anyone asked you what's the point of Twitter and why does he/she need to know what you are doing every 5 mins (I'm heading to the office. Watching IRON MAN. Thanks for the invite @Jorbb).
Here's a superb video by Common Craft. Their "product is explanation". Common Craft uses video and paper to make complex ideas easy to understand.
With hand drawn cartoon paper cut-outs (which they coin Paperworks), they present subjects "in plain English" using short, unique and understandable videos.
We are great fans of Firefox and if you still have not heard, Firefox 3 will be released very very soon and the folks at Mozilla are banking that Firefox 3 will clock the most number of downloads in a single day - hence DOWNLOAD DAY 2008.
Firefox 3 will have a "snazzy design update and stability improvements to smart folders and bookmark tagging, you won't be disappointed with what you're getting. The most notable updates to Firefox in version 3 include the snazzy new Places Organizer, where you can do traditional bookmark organization as well as create saved searches. Beyond that, the idea of bookmarks as starred favorites works its way into your address bar and tagging has found its way to your traditional bookmarking. Sounds interesting?" - Lifehacker.
There are about 2900 submissions from Singapore so pledge your download, and be part of the Guinness Record, by submitting your email at the jump.
Ah. A tool for those of us who are a bit of everywhere in the social networking world. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, various IM sites and more can be managed with a new Firefox add-on called Yoono. Similar to Flock, but requiring less hard drive space, Yoono allows you to manage your relationships in a left-hand widget on your browser. It's free, with drag and drop capabilities and offers suggestions of your friends' photos, music and sites...plus it has a very slick design.
Sadly, Yoono is in private beta mode but you can sign up for the announcement of when it is available for everyone. Follow Jorbb on Twitter and Facebook.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reports that South Korea is the hardest working nation in the world, a country where 12+ hours, 6 or more days per work are common and management level employees get 3 days of annual vacation! South Korean log an estimated 2357 hours per year, Greece is the second hardest working country at about 2052. The country working the least hours with the most leisure time are the Netherlands with nearly 1000 more hours of free time than South Koreans.
One of the key factors in the disparity between countries and their number of hours worked is cultural. Koreans are proud to be seen working as hard as they do, are discouraged from speaking up against authority and identify themselves strongly with the work they do (often being referred to as "office worker Kim" or "accountant Park" even when not at work). It takes time to change societal norms, but the good news is that current economic conditions and the exploding Asian economies are affecting those harder working countries positively and work hours are gradually being reduced.
A Singaporean named Kien has developed a new Facebook application, "MySingapore", with features that include discussion boards, quizzes, movie ratings, videos, various tools (like maps and slideshows), and the group shout feature. Checking the MySingapore community of 595 members today turns up Singapore Grand Prix event information, Singapore campaign videos, the ability to rate current features like Sex and the City and Kung Fu Panda (both currently receiving 8 out of 10 points) and various service offerings.
The application is fun and friendly. Check it out!
Channel NewsAsia is reporting that, to help attract and retain housekeeping staff in the competitive Singapore market, the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport has implemented new technology to assist it's housekeepers in bed making. An electronic device lifts beds and reduces changing time by half as well as reducing risk of injury and fatigue.
Housekeeping staff at the Crowne Plaza average 15 bed changes per day at 15-20 minutes per change. The new apparatus costs S$500 per bed (Ezi-Maid solution from Australia) but will allow for a wider pool of candidates (who might be physically challenged by age or disability) to recruit from for the industry.
Due to the increase in hotel construction and tourism in Singapore, attracting and retaining housekeeping staff is extremely challenging. Mr. Lim, NTUC's Secretary General and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, believes most hotels will be compelled to retrofit their existing beds with the mechanism. 80% of the local workers in the industry are mature workers, 40 years and older.
Mikogo.com is a free screen sharing site that allows your invitees to see your screen. You simply set up a meeting, invite up to 10 attendees, they log in with a unique meeting number and instantly they can see your computer screen, allowing you to make free presentations to visitors globally on any topic. You can pass on to another presenter (show someone else's screen), you can pause (cease allowing others to see your screen as you browse through confidential or non-relevant files), and you can allow someone else to take control of YOUR screen, perhaps pointing out a particular item that they have a question about or are an expert on.
The site is fun and easy to use, the download software is free, the interface is intuitive. Mikogo is a great new free business tool site! Follow Jorbb on Twitter and Facebook.
Are you on a budget and cannot afford customised services? BrandDoozie has launched a Flash-based tool for SMEs / Startups that want to create marketing materials without hiring a designer. The tool’s 3-step process leads to branded sales sheets, postcards, business cards, and letterheads that can be downloaded in PDF format, and there are heaps of templates to choose from.
What a big day for low cost ultra portable notebooks. First Michael Dell showed off his "sssh - no one has seen this yet" mini notebook to Gizmodo, and then Engadget got wind of Acer's Aspire One.
So we have OLPC, Asus, MSI, Intel, Packard Bell, HP and now Dell, Acer. Sweet!
Backboard is a new Web 2.0 utility that allows a user to get feedback on whatever project they might be working on. Managers can get input on product plans, Web designers can get input on their proposal, students can get feedback on their class projects...
Backboard is a free online tool that allows feedback solicitation on the most common office documents, images, web pages, URL's and free-form text. Once you've loaded your project, a form pops up to invite users to review and provide input, or you can invite them through your own email to your Backboard URL.
At this time, you cannot edit the project in Backboard. If edits are required, you simply upload the newest draft and resolicit input.
A great time saver for reviewing documents, reports etc but I feel that it could do some with markup tools which allow WYSIWYG editing.
Several studies are improving the reputation of the much maligned "nap" especially when it comes to boosting workplace productivity. Entrepeneur Daily quotes a 25 year study from the University of Haifi in Israel that indicates naps taken in the workplace can enhance performance while reducing "crabbiness". Another study from Harvard Medical School points to a 45 minute nap as a means to improve tasks that rely on memory.
An article on Associated Content by Peggy Adamik also quotes a joint study by Harvard University and the University of Athens Medical School that followed participants over six years. Those that took regular naps-30 minutes at least 3 times per week- reduced their risk of dying from heart disease by 37%.
To reap the benefits of these two great findings, some employers are now allowing employees to take short naps at work, providing napping rooms, and in New York City sleep salons like Yelo are providing workers a napping sanctuary.
