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.
In early 2009, H1Studio, Singapore, started research and innovation in Augmented Reality via Flash platform utilising the Flartoolkit SDK. At the same time, it is conducting R&I for AR via Mobile phones (Symbian and Windows Mobile). This is done via licensing of SDK from R&D centres in Europe and USA.
With the recent popularity of Augmented Reality applications such as Tonchidot’s Sekai Camera, GE’s SmartGrid and Mini Cooper’s Print Ad for Augmented Reality , we are now expanding our suite of services to include this, for Brands / Products / Services,
From Wikipedia - Augmented reality (AR) is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data (virtual reality), where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time.
AR can be used in Advertising and Promotions / Marketing of a new product offering, allowing users to interact with the product replicated in 3D, in real-time, overlaid on the real video capture. It is a natural progression for the studio to offer such services due to experiences in 3D, interactive and mobile applications.
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.
Train and retrain -- that is what the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) hopes the new Media Continuing Education and Training Centre will do for 3,000 professionals in the industry over the next five years.
It has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Singapore Media Academy (SMA) and Ngee Ann Polytechnic on Saturday to set up the centre.
This is the first such partnership between private and public education and government sectors.
The WDA hopes the centre will provide a training environment to meet the changing needs of Singapore's media workforce.
"It's my passion to be able to help the sick and also it has always been my passion to want to take part in different roles and being an actor, if I ever have the chance to be," said a trainee of the Performing for TV course, Deric Sim, who is also a doctor by day.
After completing each course, participants will get a nationally issued certificate known as a statement of attainment.
They can accumulate relevant certificates in exchange for a qualification like a diploma.
Trainees can also get subsidies from the WDA of up to 80 per cent of the course fees.
"Beyond the classroom setting, we also have hands-on, practical experience of what we call on-the-job training. And after the trainees have completed their training, there will be opportunities for internships, apprenticeships and even a permanent position in the media industry," said the assistant vice-president of SMA, Janet Patt.
The SMA, which has been appointed the long-term Media Continuing Education and Training Centre, has been running a gamut of courses.
SMA says it will tap on its network of local and international partners to bring in renowned trainers and training resources. It will also gather feedback from media professionals to ensure its courses meet the industry's demands.
In the first half of next year, new courses to be rolled out include New Media Business Management, Media Sales and Marketing, as well as TV, Film and Radio Production.
The academy, which is currently at Caldecott Broadcast Centre, will move to an interim location in the middle of next year before settling at a permanent site by 2011.
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.
Demand for IT workers in Hong Kong and Singapore was strong in the third quarter of 2008, even as companies posted fewer recruitment ads in the two markets, a new study revealed.
The Robert Walters Asia Job Index Q3 2008 released Thursday showed a decline in job advertisements over the previous quarter.
Announcing the index, the professional recruitment agency noted in a press release that while July and August are traditionally quieter months since key decision makers are usually away during this period, this year's third quarter was also impacted by the global financial crunch. The crisis reached its peak in September, when financial organizations put recruitment lower down their priority list.
However, employers are still on the lookout for IT workers.
In Hong Kong, IT projects continue to be rolled out and this is keeping the recruitment of tech professionals in the country strong.
According to Robert Walters: "There are a large number of projects with long lead times to implement systems that underpin companies' profitability and efficiency. There will always be a need to fill vacant positions."
In Singapore, third-quarter advertising figures reflect a budget that's tightening in terms of hiring flexibility. However, an increase in demand has been experienced for all types of roles that boost revenues.
"Companies are tending to choose more aggressive, sales-oriented personnel," noted the international recruitment consultancy.
In IT, demand for candidates has actually increased in Singapore. As the nation has become the regional center in Asia for multinational banks, an increasing number of sophisticated IT functions are being outsourced to those offices.
"Consequently, Singapore is continuing to grow as a major hub for the IT industry," said Robert Walters.
Mark Ellwood, managing director at the consultancy in Singapore, noted that the island-state's economy has so far held up relatively well.
"However, it's the first Asian country to announce that it is in a technical recession, so it was no surprise to see a reduction in the number of jobs advertised in the third quarter," Ellwood said in the press release.
"Despite this, there is still demand for high-quality candidates as good talent is always hard to find," he added.
The index tracks advertisements by number in the executive appointment sections of leading newspapers in Hong Kong and Singapore. Job advertisement numbers are counted as of the last working day of each month.
In a time of economic crisis, web developers and freelancers everywhere have started chewing their fingernails. However, no matter how bad the economy worsens, there will always be work in certain booming fields of web development.
As the moderator of the Freelance Switch job board, there are certain types of jobs that are constantly in demand. Here are the 10 skills that are or will be in highest demand for developers. If you are proficient in these skills, you’ll be in a great position to find work and weather any economic downturn.
1. Framework knowledge
It seems that frameworks are one of the next big things. With the meteoric rise to fame of Rails, Django, and other MVC frameworks, developers have learned that they can build websites much faster with the help of these tools. Frameworks help you cut out much of the repetitive tasks that normal custom programming would require. Having knowledge of the top frameworks (Rails, Django, CakePHP, Symfony, and a few others), can give you a whole other dimension to your skill set.
2. Widget development
Widgets have changed how web development has been done in the past couple of years. With the advent of widgets, data has become more portable, interactive and most importantly, viral. It’s in almost every web startup’s business plan to include a widget or two at some point, mainly because it helps increase their audience and puts more eyeballs on their content.
Widget development requires knowing Javascript and/or flash, not to mention knowledge of the regular language that the parent site is built in.
3. Custom CMS themes
Designers and developers can always find work creating or customizing a CMS theme. As the popularity of CMS like Wordpress and Drupal have risen over the past years, so has the demand for creating themes for the software.
Many people use CMS to power their personal or business websites, so this work is always going to be around. A decent website needs a unique and usable design that reflects well on the brand behind it.
4. CMS Customizations and plugin development
CMS are great because it gives site owners with little technical know-how the ability to change aspects of their site on the fly with the help of modules. While most CMS platforms have a long list of modules to offer, many businesses and personal sites need more, and custom modules or plugins are the perfect solution.
Developers can have thriving businesses in CMS development and customization alone. Here are a few (and by no means all) of the top CMS platforms that could use plugin development and other customizations:
Another one of the more popular skills needed is converting Photoshop files (PSD) to XHTML files for template use. Because designers don’t always know how to convert Photoshop layouts into template files, a CSS and XHTML ninja can always find work. Because of the array of browsers now in common use and the niggling differences in how they render sites, you want to be a web developer who can build-out sites that display the same in any browser. This kind of design to code service is the most sought after of them all.
6. Javascript Plugin creation
Much like the rise of CMS and MVC frameworks, Javascript frameworks are just as popular. These Javascript frameworks are built with the ability to add custom functionality in the form of modules. If you’re a developer who knows how to build custom Javascript modules for frameworks like jQuery or Dojo, you’ll have plenty of work available. Here are some of the most popular Javascript frameworks you might need to get a handle on.
Facebook and MySpace have both opened up their platform to allow developers API access, and the demand for social network apps has been huge since then. A whole new industry for web development sprang up overnight, and hundreds of applications are now added on a daily basis. The social media application platform has been found to be very viral and potentially very lucrative.
Some of these applications are built to make money or drive brand awareness, but ultimately the applications can be very successful and viral if they’re done properly. A solid developer can make a decent living creating Facebook and MySpace applications.
Social networks like Facebook require that you learn their own language of syntax, like the FBML (Facebook Markup Language), so there is a small learning curve to this skill.
8. iPhone applications
Yet another platform-specific skill set, building iPhone applications can be very profitable, and much like the social media applications, a great skill for any developer to know. Making an iPhone app that is accepted into Apple’s platform has an excellent chance at making great money or receiving tons of downloads.
This is a great thing for web developers because companies are starting to see the value in developing iPhone and other mobile technologies, and consequently will be wanting more and more applications developed in the future.
9. Ecommerce integration
Business web sites are always going to need ecommerce integration. Essentially, if you can take a language or framework (PHP or Rails) and fuse it with a payment gateway (like Paypal or Authorize.net), you’ll do well for yourself. I’m predicting that we’re going to see more paid services than free, ad-supported services being developed in the near future, as less money is being doled out to startups.
As the economy turns sour and the ad industry starts to get a little tighter, websites that use a subscription-based revenue model will start to become more common. Having the knowledge to piece together integration with online banking services like Paypal and Google Checkout will be great skills to have.
Flash animation can do a lot for a website. Flash can be used to create videos, interesting navigation, fun animated sequences, widgets, and many other useful things on the Internet. The flash technology can add a very professional dimension to any website, and large websites and corporations always pay to have their sites look professional, and often commission Flash animated interfaces to showcase their products. With search engines working on ways to have Flash communicated better with them, this is a skill that’s sure to boom as the search technology advances.
Conclusions
Learning frameworks is one of the best way to increase your skill set and potential work as a freelancer. Whether it’s a Javascript framework, CMS, or MVC framework, taking the time to learn a new skill can be a huge advantage to finding work. Also, website owners pay big bucks for development that allows them to make money, because they see it not as a regrettable expense, but as an investment in future profit. Services like ecommerce integration, creating iPhone apps and flash knowledge will also be much-needed skills, and people will always pay for those skills.
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Glen Stansberry is a web developer and blogger who’s struggled more times than he’d wish to admit with CSS. You can read more tips on web development at his blog Web Jackalope.
We are pleased to announce that we now have access to a 6.9m x 4.0m LCD screen at Queensway Shopping Centre, at the major cross junction leading to Orchard / Alexandra. Do look out for Jorbb.com's 15 second TVC when you are there.
Daily Air time is from 12pm to 10pm around 1800 spots / month.
We currently serve 15 and 30 seconds stills / animations (video / flash).
If you / your clients are keen in advertising in this channel, do drop us an email and our sales consultant will provide more information.
Location:
Across the Road:
Street Level:
Overhead Bridge:
The screen is at major cross junctions leading into Orchard and Alexandra; heart of the central urbanites.
Where YOUTH gather for the latest fashion and cool kicks; FAMILIES - for their lifestyle/ car / furniture buying needs.
Hiring activity in the digital media and marketing space here is expected to continue at a rapid pace, even though sharp drops in pay increments can be expected next year, according to human resource firm Aquent.
Speaking at the launch of its latest survey Aquent Orange Book, its director James Koh said there was still a critical shortage of talent in the segment, and this was expected to continue for some time.
In particular, areas like search engine marketing and digital advertising should see strong hiring well into next year, even if the economic conditions worsen, he added. The Aquent Orange Book is an annual study on salary and hiring trends in the marketing, communications & creative space for some key Asia-Pacific and European markets.
Aquent, which polled over 5,000 firms, said last year's turnover in the digital segment here was also the highest compared with other segments, as some 90 per cent of those in digital media reported an average employment of less than two years.
In contrast, the equivalent figures for public relations agencies and advertising account management firms came in at 74 per cent and 69 per cent respectively.
On salary increments, regional director Steven Pang told reporters there could be a sharp moderation owing to the cautious sentiment prevailing in the market.
He said that most firms now adopt a wait-and-see attitude in view of the economic uncertainty. This means that pay rises could drop to 2-5 per cent next year - down from the 7-12 per cent range polled at the start of the year.
The report also found that the top retention tools commonly used in Singapore include discretionary bonus (65 per cent), internal company training (58 per cent) and career development (54 per cent). Flexible work practices (54 per cent), travel (45 per cent) and external training (44 per cent) are also some of the other retention tools.
Of note is the growing importance which workers attribute to company training, since it was only ranked the fifth most popular option previously. 'These results suggest that employers need to focus on employees' professional de\velopment so that they can see a long-term future with the company,' Aquent said.
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!
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.
Social Networking sites can be much more than fun distractions and a way to keep track of your friends. Used correctly they can be very powerful List building tools.
Websites like Twitter, Stumbleupon, Hubpages, Squidoo and Facebook are excellent tools for networking with and marketing to others in your niche. They are also great ways to drive traffic to your websites. If you want to build a niche list they are an invaluable resource.
The Micro-blogging site Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to follow one another through posts of 140 characters or less. It is a great place for posting small bits of information and for directing people to blogs or squeeze pages.
Stumbleupon is a social bookmarking site that works from a tool bar downloaded to your browser. It allows users to discover and rate web pages and ultimately functions to give social validity to some sites over others. The more your site is liked the higher value it is given by search engines. Stumbleupon is also a great tool for finding others in your niche.
Social Networking sites are extremely valuable tools for building niche lists. You don’t want to send spam or blatant advertising through these sites, but you can drive prospects to your squeeze page or your website where you can give them an incentive to share their contact information with you through an opt-in box.
The goal with using any of these sites is to build up your list. If you can attract people in your niche market, drive them to your site and have them sign up for your mailings, suddenly you have a growing list of people who are interested in the products you are offering.
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.
Dell expects "further softening" in global demand of its computers and other information technology products, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
In late August, when Dell reported a 17 per cent drop in second quarter earnings, it said the "continued conservatism" for IT products in the US had spread to Western Europe and several Asian countries.
Dell financial director Brian Gladden, in a conference call with analysts Tuesday, explained "the places where things have slowed down the most have not snapped back in September."
But despite the lull in overall demand, the company says it gained market shares in all product lines and in all regions of the world in the first half of the year.
"We still intend to gain shares, and that will depend on what the underlying market growth," said Gladden.
While sales in the US have generally been good, European sales are weak, especially those in Britain and southern Europe, Gladden said. He added the company will work on returning European business to profitability over the next two quarters.
Gladden confirmed Dell's intentions, announced last month, to try to rein in manufacturing costs by selling some plants, without going into details.
Sean (Mashable) consolidated this list of 18 sites to look for Startup jobs. Although a majority are based in US, there are opportunities for work from home / off-site / freelance work.
AsiaWired.com - Looking for startups in Asia? This may be the solution for you.
CoNotes.com - Focusing on nothing but jobs at startups, CoNotes has been around since 2007.
Dice.com - Browse jobs by city or pull up the category that applies to your skill set.
ejob.com - ejob focuses on staffing needs in and around Silicon Valley.
GoBigNetwork.com - A one-stop-shop for startups to form business plans, find funding and locate employees that can fulfill their needs.
HotStartupJobs.com - Aggregates startup listings from a multitude of sites. You can read a lengthier write up of HotStartupJobs by our own Paul Glazowski here on Mashable.
Jobs.Mashable.com - Our very own marketplace features categories for listing jobs and looking for them also.
NeoHire.com - Lets you look up jobs by category, add them to your basket as you find ones that interest you and then apply to all of the ones you’ve saved.
nPost.com - Besides offering numerous job listings at startups, they have 225+ interviews with people from some of the companies explaining what they are about and what they are looking for in an employee.
StartupAgents.com - Both startups and potential employees can set up profiles to try to find the perfect match for each other. The service is completely free to potential employees, but will cost employers to contact potential hires.
StartupJobs.biz - A small jobs board with unique listings that you can search by type of job or occupation.
Startuply.com - Covers various industries related to Web 2.0 and startups, lets you also browse by job type.
StartupZone.com - Allows you to search jobs by occupation, location or even what stage of funding they are in.
VentureLoop.com - Provides internship listings for students at certain schools and has job listings you can search by country or occupation.
If you are having trouble following all the updates at Techcrunch50, check out this site developed by Sean Percival to collect all the Twitters, FreindFeed comments, blog posts, news stories, photos, videos, Diggs,and Techmeme headlines that are tagged “techcrunch50″or “tc50.”
TechCrunch50 is an annual conference that features startups competing for the US$50,000 grand prize.
Researchers in the new media industry got an S$18 million funding boost from the government on Thursday.
Thirteen out of 85 proposals to blend real and virtual worlds, through the use of sensors and haptic devices, were selected by an international review panel to receive the funding from the Interactive Digital Media Research and Development Programme Office (IDMPO), hosted by the Media Development Authority (MDA).
Into its second year now, the initiative is part of an overall S$500 million push by the government to develop the interactive and digital media as one of the economy's three key pillars.
Dr John Seely Brown, co-chairman of the international review panel, scholar and advisory to the Provost at University of Southern California, said: "I spend my life dealing with entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley (who have) the fire in the belly, the willingness to be radical and think out-of-the-box... For the first time, I am beginning to get that sense here."
The 13 projects are expected to involve 120 local researchers with international collaborators from six countries such as the United States and China.
These projects, which focus on the research theme of Co-space, are also expected to deliver some 25 patents and 200 research papers.
One of last year's winners, who found a way to cut production costs for the popular but time-consuming Japanese anime by 40 per cent, is already winning new projects. But this year's programme wants to go beyond numbers.
MDA is rallying schools, research institutions and start-ups in the digital media industry to maintain an innovative spirit.
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)
Asia remains a popular destination for c-level technology executives looking to relocate from Europe and the United States, according to HR recruiters.
CTPartners Chairman and CEO Brian Sullivan, said in a press statement: "Asia's growing economic power is attracting executives from all over the world as the United States and Europe face continuing uncertainty. At the same time, parts of the Middle East show signs of political stabilization and Latin America is an ongoing bright spot."
Employment visas are easy to obtain for c-level executives and their families [moving to] Hong Kong and Singapore. Salaries in Asia for c-level executives are higher than pay packages offered in Europe and the United States by at least 15 percent. However, the same does not apply for middle managers because there is more local talent in this segment to choose from in Asia, she said. As such, that could mean more competition and fewer attractive jobs for foreigners wanting to relocate to the region.
Additional data usage charged at 1cent for each 2KB extra. These plans also come with 3 value added services free (Voicemail, roaming and Caller ID)
Handset Price
iFlexi Value
8GB: SGD$348
16GB: SGD$508
iFlexi Plus
8GB: SGD$49
8GB: SGD$208
iFlexi Premium
8GB: Free
16GB: Free
Existing Singtel Plan With Broadband Mobile
You may use your existing voice only plan and add the mobile on broadband plans, then the handset price will be more expensive and you will have to sign either a 24 month or 30 month contract.
Handset Price
8GB: SGD$568
16GB: SGD$728
Note
You cannot get the handset without any contract from Singtel.
(Unofficial - Jorbb.com accepts no responsibility for this information) Article source theyoungbusinessman.blogspot.com and Image Source Unwired. Follow Jorbb on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook Group. Now on Mobile/iPhone!
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.
During WWDC when Jobs launched the new iPhone 3G and everyone gasped at the "low" price, I was more interested in the Apps Store. At 5am, when I was listening to the keynote on a Qik stream, I had the "Eureka!" moment.
I used to work at a Research and Innovation Centre which did research work in Experience Design (XD) - an area of study popularised by Shedroff / Pines & Gilmore. In a nutshell, XD speaks about how every brand / product / service can be commoditized and there's a limit to profits you make from any brand / product / service.
There is more money to be made by selling the "experience cloud" around your brand / product / service especially AFTER consumers have purchased your product / service. You do this by introducing moments of engagement or touch points, so that the consumer will continually be reminded of your brand / product / service throughout their daily activities. The more "moments of truth" you can embed between your offerings and the consumer, the more successful your offering will be.
Apple are masters at doing this. Think iPod, iPhone, Macbook, iMac, iTunes Music Store, Apple TV, Apple accessories to complement your Apple products, and now Apps and MobileMe. They do this with heavy engagement between Ethnographers and Users of their products.
When I was at P&G, "Moments of Truth" are firmly etched in their brand philosophy. HP is another company to lookout for (reaching out to bloggers, marketing their PCs as a lifestyle necessity instead of a PC). Locally, I might also add that Singtel is slowly and steadily adopting this strategy.
The new iPhone 3G / iPhone 2.0 software really hit the nail. At a micro-level, how much profit can Apple make from selling an iPhone, after sharing with AT&T and overseas cellular providers?
Now fast forward to the Apps store and MobileMe. Sure, they have made a profit off you buying the device / call plan etc, but in order to generate continuous income, tadah! Apple presented the Apps store / MobileMe.
Either way, Apple earns. Selling the phones (Friggin' 1 million sold in 74 days) and selling the apps (10 million downloads) / pushing the convenience of the cloud.
Before I do the summary of TechCrunch's post, here's something you / your business should keep in mind.
Do not just sell products / services. Because products / services can be replicated, cheaper, faster, better than what you provide. There has to be an "sticky" factor for people to want to keep using your offering and more importantly, willing to pay more to enhance the initial investment they've made in the first place because they want to, not because they need to.
Back to the main reason for this post:
Development house taptaptap has just publish sale figures of their iPhone app. WhereTo retails for US$2.99 in the store and 24,094 copies were sold in the first month - netting the company just over US$50,000 in revenue after Apple took their cut (it currently ranks #69 on the top paid application list). Tipulator retails for US$0.99, and sold 3,168 copies which resulted in just over US$2,200 of revenue (it is currently unranked).
So question - If their products are ranked #69 and Unranked, how much are the top paid apps developers making? The current list can be found here.
NETS together with SingTel and United Overseas Bank announced the launch of a six-month trial which will enable Singaporeans to make payments using their mobile phones. The trial using Near Field Communications (NFC) commences immediately.
This public trial, involving 250 specially invited SingTel-UOB credit cardholders, aims to provide customers with smart, savvy and innovative solutions, allowing NETS and SingTel to be at the forefront of the mobile payment technology revolution. The aim of the trial is to allow NETS and SingTel to assess how consumers will use and adapt to this technology.
This public trial is a follow up of the September 2007 staff trial by SingTel and NETS that introduced the mNETS payment application (mNETS Wallet) and the mNETS Coupon application on NFC-enabled mobile handsets.
Participants of the public trial will also be able to make payments at more than 500 participating merchants island-wide who accept mNETS for payments. Users pay for goods and services easily by flashing their mobile phones at the NETS FlashPay readers at participating shops.
Participation in the NFC public trial is free-of-charge. SingTel and NETS will loan customers an NFC-enabled Nokia 6131 phone that functions as an mNETS Wallet. The SingTel-UOB credit card will be the default mode for topping up the stored value in the trial phone. There are no transaction fees or surcharges for purchases, and for top-ups using the SingTel-UOB credit card.
The key highlight of this trial is the innovative and convenient way for the participants to redeem coupons. Users simply open the coupon on their phones and flash it on a NETS FlashPay reader for the coupon to be automatically redeemed. NETS is the first in Asia to offer such an intuitive way of redeeming a coupon. The patent for this real-time coupon redemption feature by NETS is pending.
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.
Teens are getting more wired these days, and it seems that gossip, as a hallmark of teen social life, has also made its way online.
A Straits Times survey of 100 teens here revealed that almost all, or 94 per cent of respondents said they had a profile on at least one social networking site. Some teens have their profiles on as many as seven of these sites.
More than half the respondents said they visited Friendster or Facebook at least once a day. Some said they check their online profiles more than 10 times a day.
These teens spend hours online finding out the latest about their friends, chatting, sharing photos and updating their profiles with details of their lives - where they hang out, what they eat and whom they are dating.
"It's an addictive habit," Secondary 3 student Sofia Akram told The Straits Times. She also told the English daily that users on such social neteworking sites can add people they don't know, and that others can add them likewise. "As long as they look interesting, I want to find out more about them."
The Straits Times reported that studies confirm that this rapid and widespread adoption of profiles on social networking sites is a worldwide trend.
Experts say teens who use such social networking sites usually fall into two groups, according to The Straits Times.
The first group are the "deep" users whose lives exist largely online through chat applications, forums and blogs. They usually create well-designed profiles that prominently showcase their "friends", who can number in the hundreds or thousands.
Their profiles are also heavy on content, with details such as the user's preference for flowers and so on.
On the other hand, "shallow" users have profiles that are light on content. They only spend a few minutes updating their profiles and do so only two or three times a week.
In Singapore, teens usually fall into the first category, The Straits Times reported.
Mr Alan Rambam, a senior vice-president at Fleishman-Hillard, told The Straits Times, "In Singapore, both parents tend to be working. These kids may be the loneliest generation ever. Naturally, they will reach out for friends at every opportunity."
Dr Chung Wai Kung, a professor of sociology at the Singapore Management University also told the English daily that popularity of social networking sites may be because of the accessibility of technology here.
Parents have a right to be worried, as social networking sites can invite unwanted attention, The Straits Times reported. Drawing data from its survey, the newspaper said that 84 per cent of respondents said they received messages from strangers, of which 34 per cent wanted to meet in person.
Techcrunch posted a posting from Jason's mailing list (CEO Mahalo.com) who has sat through 200 company demos in 10 days. Great advice / tips on how to deliver a killer pitch / demo. Thanks Jason.
"For the past 10 days I’ve sat through 200 company demos for the TechCrunch50 conference. These demos are mostly done over the phone for 10 minutes using the phone and web conferencing software like WebEx or Adobe’s wonderful new “Connect” service.
After doing 2,500 minutes of demos (40 hours) this year and many more last year for the conference, I’ve learned a lot about what makes for a great demo and what makes for a horrible demo. Since demoing your idea is a key to your success as an entrepreneur, I thought I would share everything I know in a few simple bullet points.
These tips are applicable to presenting in front of an investor, a partner as well as a demo style conference. Of course, every situation is different so consider these loose guidelines.
Background: The TechCrunch50 conference is taking places on September 8-10th in San Francisco and you can find more information here: www.techcrunch50.com. Mike Arrington of TechCrunch.com and I started the event last year as a place where fifty startup companies could launch their products without having to pay a fee (i.e. the incumbent conference called DEMO charges $18,500 to launch a startup company–that’s really low/abusive in my book). Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Sequoia Capital and a bunch of other fine partners have joined us in hosting the event.
1. Show your product within the first 60 seconds ——————————————- Most folks start their presentations with information like the size of the market they are tackling (tens of billions, we only need 1%!), their inflated corporate bios, the philosophical approach they’re taking, and boring Powerpoint graphics explaining some convoluted workflow of their product.
The longer it takes for you to show your product, the worse your product is. Folks who have a kick-ass product don’t spend five or ten minutes “setting the stage” or “giving the background.” Folks with killer products CAN’T WAIT to show you their product. Their demos start with their homepage and quickly jump into the users experience. If a picture tells a thousand stories, then a product demo tells a million.
Show your product immediately, and if you don’t have a product to show don’t take the meeting.
2. The best products take less than five minutes to demo ——————————————- The greatest tech products over the past 10 years would take no more than five minutes each to demo. For example:
a) Larry and Sergey could demo Google search in less than five minutes. Here’s a box, type something in and you get a huge reward.
b) Steve Jobs could demo the iPod in less than five minutes. Plug it in, put in your CDs and it syncs your music. Turn it on and use the wheel to select what songs you want to listen to.
c) Chris DeWolfe could demo MySpace in less than five minutes. Sign up, fill out your profile, and add your friends. For bonus points add some widgets to your page.
I think you get the idea: the better the product the LESS time it takes to demo. If your product demo takes more than five minutes to demo, it probably sucks. All the tiny little features that matter to you are of course important–God is in the details–however, when presenting your company, you don’t have to show them. Larry and Sergey wouldn’t open up the advanced search tab and the list of operators you can use in Google during a demo.
Steve Jobs does take the demo details to a fairly detailed level, but you and I are not Steve Jobs. There is only one Steve Jobs and there is only one Apple. You’re never going to build something as cool as Steve, and as such there is no need for you to talk about your product for five or ten minutes.
3. Leave people wanting more. ——————————————- If you take my advice in point two, then folks should be either blown away or intrigued by your core product. If they are not somewhere in that spectrum, you need to rebuild your core product.
When I pitched Mahalo to investors, I had five sheets of paper with different search results on each. I put them on a table and said which one is the best. Obviously I knew my result was the best, and that simple demonstration lead to MASSIVE discussion: how was the page built? how long did it take to build? what would it cost to make that page? how often do you need to update it? how can you scale that business? how many pages can you create before it breaks even?
It’s best for folks to discover the merits of your product for themselves, and it’s up to you to make such a compelling core product that they are intrigued enough to explore it.
4. Talk about what you’ve done, not what you’re going to do. ——————————————- Weak startups and their leaders seem to immediately start talk about “what’s next,” as opposed to focusing on the core product. Anyone can say we’re going to add: a mobile version, collaborative filtering, an advertising network, visualizations, a marketplace, a browser plugin, a browser and a social network to their product. In fact, given the amount of open source and off the shelf software out there, combined with the large number of developers in the world, anyone can bolt these things on to their service in a week or three.
Who cares what you’re going to bolt on to your startup? What really matters is the core functionality of your startup.
Steve Jobs has become at once the world’s greatest salesman and product developer because he only announces Apple’s achievements. He doesn’t waste time on what Apple’s going to do: he talks about the here and now. Microsoft’s old strategy was to talk about products that were coming and that put them in the horrible position of having to backpedal when they changed their mind about a product.
5. Understand your competitive landscape–current and historical. ——————————————- This year I’ve had three companies show me group SMS messaging products, and most of them did not know what UPOC.com was (Gordon Gould’s group SMS messaging service that was five years ahead of its time). I’ve had three or four companies over the past two years of TechCrunch50 conferences pitch me on Third Voice–the controversial “web annotation” service from Web 1.0. [Side note: I loved the concept of Third Voice so much I considered starting a company like it and even bought the domain name annotated.com.]
When I pitched the idea for Weblogs, Inc. to Mark Cuban, Yossi Vardi and Jeff Bezos, I understood all the niche email marketing and newsletter companies from the early and mid-nineties cold. I researched why they worked and why they failed, and I knew which ones were sold and bought and by whom. When I pitched Mahalo to Sequoia Capital, I knew the history of human-powered search and directories from DMOZ to Yahoo Directory to LookSmart.
If you don’t know the competitive landscape, and the shoulder’s you’re standing on, folks are not going to be comfortable giving you their money, time or attention.
6. Short answers are best. ——————————————- When taking questions about your product answer questions shortly. This is a very challenging thing for many people–including myself–to do. If you’re like me, you’ve probably thought out your startup’s issues a thousand different ways. When I sit at the poker table I play a game where I think out every possible scenario for not only my hands, but the hands of my opponents (this is fairly standard among advanced poker players from what I understand).
Say I have Ace King and I raised out of position and the button called my raise pre-flop. Then they re-raised me on the flop, which had an Ace. What does that tell me? They could have an ace, they could have two aces and have slow played me, they could have a medium pocket pair and they want to see if I have an ace, maybe they are on a flush or straight draw or maybe they suck at poker. Who the hell knows?!?! You can go insane trying to figure all these things out–that’s why poker becomes very addictive.
The point is all that inner thinking is chaos when you try to explain it to another person. It’s pure madness after 60 seconds of talking. The best thing to do is answer the question with the most concise answer. For example, when asked “what happens if Google enters your market?” answer quickly and with confidence:
a) Google has entered many markets, but they are only #1 in search and search advertising. They trail in social networking to MySpace and Facebook, in classifieds to Craigslist, in news to Yahoo and AOL, in email to Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo, and in instant messaging to Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo.
b) We’re not sure if Google will enter our market, but hopefully we’ll have developed our product enough that it will be a real sustainable business by that time.
c) We think Google might enter our market at some point, and if they do they and their competitors will certainly consider buying us–creating a bidding war for our entrenched position.
d) Google is a very big company right now with a very big cash machine that they have to focus on and protect–they will never do our business with our level of focus. We will out execute them on all fronts.
These are all amazing answers (I did, after all, come up with them), and you can say them in around a minute. However, if you cram all four of these sentences together you’ve spoken for five minutes.
7. PowerPoint bullet slides are death ——————————————- Do not make slide after slide explaining your business in bullet points, because it’s really, really boring. Powerpoint/Keynote slides that are not boring include charts, product shots, feature set tables and the like. Things that explain big concepts with ease and grace are great, but bullet points of obvious facts show that:
a) you don’t have the ability to create a compelling story with data
b) you don’t think that much of the person being presented the information
I’m not a huge fan of “funny slides” or lots of graphics for graphics sake. You’re not pitching your company to get laughs–unless you’re on stage–you’re doing it to raise capital, close a partnership or get on stage at a conference. Keep it focused and to the point.
8. How to use this new device called the phone. ——————————————- When presenting over the phone use a handset and a land-line… only!
It’s amazing to me that any person doing a business call would conduct it on their mobile phone. Mobile phones sound horrible 95% of the time, and they frequently cut out. If you are presenting your company take it seriously and get yourself to a landline. You have limited time and don’t want folks to miss a single word.
Speakerphones are horrible, and putting the person receiving the demo on speaker phone during a demo is just disrespectful. You can hear all the rustling, side conversations and horrible echos when you’re on speaker phone. When doing a demo pick up the handset and speak. If you go to a Q&A session then use speaker phone. That’s why it exists.
Only use a headset if it is very, very high-fidelity and you have the microphone right up to your mouth. Also, don’t eat, drink or breath heavy into the microphone or you run the risk of sounding like an animal. I use an amazing Plantronics headset, and I like me some Green Matcha tea, but I hit the mute key when I sip!
I know it sounds crazy to have a discussion about how to use the phone, but the majority of these young people actually think it’s acceptable to have two or three drop offs in a call–it’s not. Grow up and get a land line.
9. How to handle questions you don’t know the answer to ——————————————- After you do your concise presentation you’re hopefully going to get a lot of questions. Here are some important tips to consider when you don’t know the answer cold:
a) take a moment to think about the question. You can even say “Hmmm… that’s a good question. Let me think about that for a second.” Folks appreciate a little consideration when someone takes a question.
b) if you don’t have an answer be honest and say you don’t. There are many ways to say this including: “I’m not really sure, I’m going to have to think about that for a bit and get back to you,” or “I’m not sure to be honest. What do you think?”
c) feel free to think out loud and brainstorm with the person. You can do this by saying “I’ve never really considered that. Perhaps you can expand the question a little and we can explore it right now.”
d) if you’re not sure of the answer you can always say you’ll cross that bridge when you come to it. “I’m not sure how we would deal with a sudden spike in the cost of bandwidth, we would have to collect more information and answer that question down the road. It is a manageable risk factor I suppose. ”
The worst thing to do when you don’t have an answer is b.s. the person. No one has an answer for everything, except a b.s. artists. So, feel free to say you don’t know–folks find it refreshingly humble and honest.
10. Always confirm the time of your meeting/call, and always be 15 minutes early. ——————————————- People are really busy and meetings get mixed up. Every meeting or phone call I do is confirmed twice: once by email, and once on the day before the meeting. Reconfirming meetings makes you look like a true player and it costs you nothing. You do this by sending a simple email saying “Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at your offices at 123 Main Street at 3pm. If anything changes you can reach me on my mobile at 310-555-1212.”
Also, be early. Come on. If you’re doing a meeting with someone who might invest in your company, do a business deal with you, etc., you can show a lot of respect by being in their lobby or on hold on the conference call five to 15 minutes ahead of time. Don’t show up more than 15 minutes ahead of time or you’ll look like a stalker. If you get to your meeting 45 minutes ahead of time go to the Starbucks and buy yourself a treat for being so on top of things.
What are your best tips for giving a proper demo of your company on the phone or in person?
In your mind, what are the worst things folks have done during a presentation?"
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.
It's no longer just real estate, even virtual estate can be undervalued. NYTimes article reported that Dave Hermansen did not own a bird or a cage when he bought bird-cage.com, an online store, for $1,800 three years ago. He simply saw a Web site that was “very, very poorly done,” and begged the owners to sell it to him. He then redesigned the site, added advertising and drove up traffic. Last December, he sold it for $173,000.
Mr. Hermansen, 30, is among the latest wave of entrepreneurs who, like the day traders and real estate investors before them, are looking to make a lot of money without much effort.
They use little more than home computers and free software to buy Web sites that appeal to a small and specific niche. Then they fix up the sites with hopes of reselling them for far more than they paid.
The changing economics of the Web have made it easier to find and exploit niche communities on the Internet. The Internet boom of the 1990s spawned companies like Pets.com that were Web versions of brick-and-mortar stores. They required stockpiling products and shipping them to customers. But that model came crashing down with the Web bust of 2000.
Since then, building niche Web sites and small-scale online stores has become cheap and easy. Free software, advertising systems like Google’s, and “drop shipping” services that allow Web site owners to handle products through a third-party supplier, have lowered the cost of doing business.
Instead of selling goods and services, analysts said most flippers are looking into the easiest way to make a quick buck, by tapping into specialized advertising.
The National Research Foundation will be awarding six new venture funds with S$10 million each under the Early Stage Venture Funding scheme.
These selected venture funds will in turn have to raise a matching sum of at least S$10 million from third party investors.
They will then invest the money in locally-based high-tech start-ups.
The Early Stage Venture Funding scheme was first announced earlier this year.
It is aimed at helping young high-tech start-up companies in Singapore get funding during the early stages of their development.
The six selected fund managers are: BioVeda Capital II, Nanostart Asia, Raffles Venture Partners, Tamarix Capital, Upstream-Expara and Walden International.
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.
Barclays, a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services, is cutting 1800 UK IT jobs, many of which will be relocated to S'pore. The plan is to reorganize their infrastructure and service delivery by setting up hubs in Singapore, Hungary and Italy. 700 jobs will be reduced in the UK location this year, with the remaining 1100 being moved by 2010.
These new locations will be considered technology "centres of excellence". Barclays does not indicate specifically how many jobs will come to Singapore, but a Barclays' spokeswoman says this: "We need to transform to a global organisation, able to serve the needs of our customers and clients who have operations around the world."
FastCompany has a slideshow about 10 things you can do with Twitter.
We feel that one power feature of Twitter is the "track" command which is used in this way - "track singapore", "track jorbb", "track grand prix".
Anytime someone twitters about "singapore", "grand prix" or "jorbb", you will be notified via IM / SMS.
This helps you with environmental scanning of what's being said about your brand, or to keep up to date with latest news e.g. who just won the Grand Prix.
CNA reports that Singapore's Interactive Digital Media sector has just been given a S$70 million boost. The money will be set aside to attract more international research centres to partner local institutes of higher learning and set up research centres in Singapore.
The first to kick off the initiative is Keio University - one of Japan's top universities. It is jointly setting up an interactive digital media research centre with NUS called Keio-NUS CUTE (Connective Ubiquitous Technology for Embodiments) Centre.
The centre, which will have a presence both in Singapore and Japan, will focus on connected lifestyle media and embodied interactive technologies.
The CUTE Centre is KEIO University's first full-scale international research centre located outside of Japan. It is expected to be operational soon and will involve some of Japan's top researchers who are also world-leading experts in their fields.
Among the top researchers expected are Prof Masa Inakage, an internationally-renowned digital artist and creative director & producer for digital entertainment such as Hollywood blockbuster Spawn, and Prof Keiko Okawa, best known for the School on the Internet, which connects Southeast Asian Universities for research and education.
From the Singapore side is Associate Professor Adrian Cheok, who is known for his work in mixed reality and embodied media.
Some 50 researchers from Japan and Singapore will be involved in the CUTE Centre. - CNA /ls
As part of being an E-biz Exhibition sponsor, which is happening at SMU today / tomorrow, 100for100 Web Hosting will offer its $100/yr for 100mb plan (Free .com .net .org) at only$50 for 1st year (subsequent years at $100/yr), that's a 50% discount! The account will have unlimited features such as unlimited email addresses, unlimited databases etc.
Visit this link for more information on the package and http://quiz.100for100.com to redeem the promo (500 new accounts available only).
100for100 Web Hosting, a TrustSg certified web hosting provider, is proud to be a sponsor for the event. We have been providing hosting services for online shops, start-ups, blogs, hobbyists with the popular $100/yr for 100mb package which comes with FREE domain name (.com .net .org). This Linux based package also comes with 1 FREE professional Flash template from a choice of 10 and unlimited email accounts, MySQL databases, and much more. With one-click installation, scripts such as shopping carts, blog scripts can be easily added to your website.
Come down to The E-biz Exhibition (TEE) - the FIRST exclusive e-commerce bazaar that will allow online entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their products! Grab amazing bargains from nearly 40 different booths - we'll have gorgeous accessories, handpainted shoes, global fashion imports, personalized gifts, perfumes and more. At the same time, you'll get to learn all about online shopping, selling and entrepreneurship through a series of talks from our invited guest speakers!
Date/Time: 25 and 26 July 2008, 12pm - 10pm Venue: SMU School of Economics and Social Sciences Ground Floor
With the US economy in upheaval and its effects slowly influencing hiring strategies in Asia, here are some areas where you may want to polish your job skills.
If you want to stay employed in IT amid the economic uncertainty, look for jobs in software design and development, networking and systems administration, software implementation analysis, testing and quality assurance, database administration and general IT management with cutting-edge mobile IT and Web 2.0 skills.
ComputerWorld article noted that in the top 20 recession proof jobs list, 4 are IT related. They are:
Software design/development (No. 4)
Networking/systems administration (No. 10)
Database administration (No. 18)
Software implementation analyst (No. 19)
Testing/quality assurance (No. 20).
"That general category of IT popped through as the biggest winner" at this time, said Barry Lawrence, a JobFox.com spokesman. "We know our recruiters are dying to get people with those skills. Everybody is trying to improve the ways they do business, to streamline in a tough economy," so companies are seeking workers with these qualifications.
IT staff jobs are at increasing risk -- both for contractors and in-house workers -- according to a survey of top CIOs by Goldman Sachs & Co. released last week. Global services companies will also feel the pinch because of the slowing economy.
ComputerWorld article reports that the Goldman Sachs & Co. regards the survey as "an early warning flag" for service providers' 2009 bookings of new projects.
These intended cutbacks are a change from last fall. When the managers were asked in October which area of IT service delivery resources they would cut for application-related development or maintenance work, the answer was 0% for in-house employees.
However, with a declining economy, 8% of respondents in a February survey said in-house IT programming staffers would be cut. In April, 15% of respondents said in-house staffers would be cut. That dropped to 11% in the June survey (the most recent).
But contract employees fare much worse. In the survey, 48% of the respondents said that those staffers would be cut. And 30% of the responders said on-site third-party service provider staffers would also be cut for application-related development or maintenance work. 12% of the managers said they would cut employees from offshore third-party service providers.
You And Me Online or Youmeo is the newest solid social networking website. The founder Calum Brannan started it all at his bedroom when he was 15 years old. The website was named pplparty.com before and just recently changed into Youmeo. Since pplparty.com launched in 2005, they currently now have 400,000 members.
Now at 19, with his 10 man team in his London office, Calum has achieved many in such a short period of time. But what’s the difference between Youmeo and other social networking site? They actually encourage you to import, update and organize all of your social networks and photo gallery websites into just one site.
Update: MoFuse has stopped charging for Pro account so all accounts now get these features - Use a custom domain name for your mobile site Use your logo in your SMS widget Create up to 5 mobile sites (increased from 3) Receive 50 free SMS messages a month to promote your mobile site (increased from 10) - HOORAY!
Point your phone browser to http://m.jorbb.com and you can see that we've just enabled a mobile / iPhone version of Jorbb.com/blog.
This was done with a superb service MoFuse. As Mashable described, moFuse is an interface that’s designed rapidly deploy existing web apps as mobile applications. It will take your RSS feeds and compose it into a mobile / iPhone friendly layout.
It only took us 5 mins to get our mobile version up and running, try it on your own blog. They also have methods to monetize your mobile blog and they'll take 50% cut from your revenue.
Give our mobile blog and try and let us know what you think.
If you have an iPhone, send us a photo on how our site turned up on it.
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.
In case you still have not registered, Unconference Singapore 2008 is on this Saturday at Biopolis, 1130am to 6pm. "Look out for cool new start-ups at the expo area, pitching sessions, an awesome keynote by Microsoft, break-out sessions and of course excessive networking!".
Here's the cool part - "A common event Tee unites the attendees; shows that you been to the event, with the coolness factor of the event tagged to the shirt itself.
This time we decided to take it up a notch, throw in that special personalized factor to the Tee, something that is “Un”common, probably done before but not during a Conference-styled event. We wanted to insert the “user generated” factor into every aspect of the unconference - from the breakout sessions all the way down to the freebie Tee-shirt you get! The post it you see on the back is basically your canvas. Feel free to vandalise. :)
It will be a blast seeing people actually using the Tee the way they should, and even more fascinating to see people doing it the way they shouldn’t! So come early, the Amazing Unconference Tee is not stocked in Amazing numbers!"
See you there. I'll be marking Jorbb.com on my Tshirt :p
App Store has just launched at around 6pm SG Time.
Steve Jobs told USA Today that the Apple App Store will launch with "more than 500" applications Thursday night for the iPhone and iPod touch. Of these, 25% will be free and 90% (of those for sale) will cost $9.99 or less. "This is the biggest launch of my career," said Jobs.
Analyst Tim Bajarin at Creative Strategies said, "When IBM introduced the PC, it was good, but it didn't take off until people started discovering the software." It's these apps then, he adds, that will "dramatically differentiates the iPhone" from Treos and BlackBerrys.
Indeed, while consumers are focused on the launch of the iPhone 3G device, it's the App Store which has analysts in such a tizzy.
@BrainOpera summarises - More than 500 iPhone applications at launch. 34% games (~160), 25% applications (~125) will be free, while 90% apps at $9.99 or less.
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.
Microsoft, the world's largest multinational computer technology corporation, announced that they already bought Powerset, a search engine that allows people to use phrases, questions rather than keywords in order to get the best result for their web search. How did they do that? It’s because Powerset uses a "natural language processing" or NLP technology in a software platform to better match what the user is really looking for. Basically, it's better than other search engines that find and matches every word you type in the search box.
Powerset recently used their NLP technology in today’s leading website encyclopedia, Wikipedia. By using Powerset's technology; it can essentially enhance the free Live Search service of Microsoft, which is in 3rd place behind Google and Yahoo’s.
Microsoft keeps the acquisition price of Powerset confidential and was not disclosed. We just all hope that they will continue to provide users better search results and eventually beat the reigning Internet search and advertising engine, Google.
AsiaoneBusiness has an interesting online article about the options open to businesses when an employee breaches the IT security policies it has set forth. Most companies have IT confidentiality policies, but this doesn't prevent negligent or unethical employee breaking of the rules.
Most confidential information including pay records, financial transactions, HR information is stored electronically and a saavy employee may be able to utilize this for their own gain. Clearly, once the culprit is identified the first step is termination, but there are more options. Even if there is no confidentiality agreement in place, the company can sue the employee under certain stipulations.
The information used must be, in fact, confidential and there must be an inherent understanding of this by the company and employee. Most importantly, the information must be used by a third party without the companies consent. Often this situations fall under the Computer Misuse Act. Offenses under this act can be punishable by fines or imprisonment.
If a breach is suspected, particularly which could hamper business or make a business's employees or customers vulnerable, a police report should be filed immediately. Charges can include theft, fraud or even trespassing. Companies can also sue for copyright infringement. It's always important to have the strongest IT security systems in place to make such actions as difficult as possible.
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.
If you (and your friends, family and colleagues) are all over the Internet on social networking sites like Facebook and twitter, photo sites like flickr or SmugMug, music sites like LastFM, or they blog on Blogger, or have their favorite books listed on GoodReads...how the heck do you keep up with them?
Enter FriendFeed: nearly a perfect solution. In 5 easy minutes you can register, link all of your own stuff together (the above PLUS Amazon.com wish lists, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, digg, LibraryThing, Linkedin, YouTube and much more) and invite friends from Facebook and your email accounts. Now, when someone signs in to your profile on FriendFeed they see all of your updates on one page: new photos, new songs, new twitter posts. It's fantastic!
There's a lot of muscle behind FriendFeed: folks who helped develop Google Maps and Gmail. Co-founder Bret Taylor, in an interview on Fast Company magazine's site, says they developed FriendFeed to be something other than a social networking site. "We come at it from the approach of solving an information problem, as opposed to creating a social network and solving people’s social problems." And, they seem to have succeeded.
If you've longed for a way to combine your friends' social sites into one easy to read, entertaining feed, it appears you've found it.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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!
Finally got to try out the HP 2133 Mini-note at the roadshow at The Cathay. It definately feels a lot more robust than the EEE but at around S$1199, it's not "cheap". A HP user myself, the 2133 has the same feel to the full fledge notebooks - good quality finish with nicely moulded edges. Definately not plasticky like the Asus EEE PC. However it does cost $300-400 more than the EEE.
The HP 2133 Mini-Note is a full-function mini-notebook, starting at less than US$500, and according to HP is designed for the education market. However, its different models have us thinking twice about this system being strictly for the kiddies. Feels more like something for the "on-the-go" executive.
Tech65 did a video podcast at the launch party few weeks back and a HP Product Marketing Manager did a decent sell of the notebook.
