Archive for May, 2009
Is the sky really falling on our heads?
The media would certainly have you believe this. Just pick up any paper or listen to the 6 ‘o’ clock news – you’re guaranteed to be bombarded with terms like “Countries in recession” and “a global financial crisis.” But are such strong words really relevant to the current Australian economy?
Without a doubt, the property and finance sectors are hurting. But the majority of this pain is created by the media – showering Australians with pictures of doom and gloom. So what is the result of this? Of course it undermines consumer confidence and everyone stops spending. And when nobody buys, business stops! It’s that simple. No wonder we’re all feeling the impact of an economic downturn.
Consumer technology is one sector which certainly takes a blow when the economy puts on its brakes. Spending slows completely. And it is mostly business owners who cut expenditure on technology.
But they shouldn’t – because technology is an amazing enabler. When used properly, it allows businesses to work more productively at much lower costs. And isn’t this exactly what we are looking for right now?
How technology can cut your costs in a recession
Let’s take a look at how this emerging technological way of thinking can save you thousands -
Where it was once okay to spend a few hundred dollars on an interstate flight and take one or two days away for a conference, it is now considered prudent to substitute this with a free Skype conference online.
Similarly why spend more on phone calls when it’s so simple to switch to VoIP – which will cost you much less but give you so much more flexibility.
And do you really need to rent an office when you can be tapping into technology wonders, working much more cost-effectively from the comfort of your own home?
Have you considered that mobile broadband might suit you better than a fixed broadband connection? Imagine being able to work absolutely anywhere at any given time!
Then there are laptops which replace desk computers in most ways. So you can be more flexible – taking a laptop offsite to other locations. Where once you may have needed two computers, you can now save time and effort with just one brilliant laptop. Maybe your work consists exclusively of going online, in which case you should consider getting a Netbook or a UMPC.
If you need to cut on staff costs, why not outsource? Outsourcing allows you to tap into outside expertise only when you need it – so you are not paying any permanent employee running costs. Everything from reception duties and sales to stacking boxes can all be outsourced to specialists. This leaves more time for you to focus on your core business needs.
So thinking ‘technologically smart’ is vital to growing your business, especially in the event of an economic recession.
However, it is unfortunate that many business owners are too short sighted to make these upfront investments (so they certainly don’t reap the long-term benefits). Then there are owners who simply refuse to adapt and keep abreast of a changing world. Sadly, it is these businesses that go by the way of the dinosaurs, becoming another number in our economy’s statistics.
Now is the time to be at the forefront of new technological strategies. Think cost-saving, think smart. Avoid becoming another statistic and start cutting your costs today!
Alex Kain is the owner of Gizmosis which markets a car computer that allows users to be connected . . . anytime, anywhere.
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3 Ways In Which You Can Play Party Poker for Mac
by MacPokerOnline.com
Very few people are aware that Party Poker can be played on a Mac. Those who are aware will probably tell you that you will need to spend hundreds of dollars on special software for your Mac, but that is not the case.
There are three different options for Mac users who want to play Party Poker for Mac. The first option is my favorite because it doesn’t cost anything and you don’t have to download any software either. The other two options require a small investment in special software.
1. No Download Poker Software
Party Poker has a secret Mac compatible file that can be found on their site. Very few people are aware of this, but playing Party Poker for Mac can be accomplished without spending any extra money on new software. Those who want to find this software can find it featured at the following Mac Poker site: http://www.macpokeronline.com/mac/online/poker/party-poker/ or http://www.imaconlinepoker.com/mac/online/poker/party-poker/
2. Apple’s New Boot Camp Software
This is a great option for those Mac poker players who own a Mac with an intel based processor. Mac users simply need to install a new software program named Boot Camp, which is made by Apple. This software enables Mac poker players to install Microsoft Windows on their Apple computer, allowing them to install any online poker program that they want to, even those that are not Mac compatible. You can learn more about Apple Boot Camp at http://www.macpokeronline.com/mac/online/poker/software/apple-boot-camp/
3. Install a PC Emulator
For those users who prefer to use the Windows version of Party Poker, or any other online poker software, they can install a software program known as a PC Emulator. The most popular PC emulator is called VirtualPC and is made by Microsoft. However, there is a downside to this option. Mac poker players who want to play Party Poker for Mac will have to pay a hefty fee for the PC emulator software, sometimes as much as $170.
So as you can see, Mac poker players are actually able to play Party Poker for Mac. Although very few people know this, you can play Party Poker for Mac via their no download client. The other two ways require a small investment, but some people may already have the software.
As the primary writer of several authority online poker sites, the author has been working on solving the Mac poker problem since 2004. His expert opinions have been published on the BBC news, America Public Radio, and on many authority poker websites.
We suggest that you check out his websites if you are interested in learning more about playing online poker for Mac: http://www.macpokeronline.com/ and http://www.imaconlinepoker.com/
Have we hit upon the right idea of Fashion? The process which has been going on ever since the world began seems to have a defect in it. When you have got a woman thoroughly civilized and well fashioned you cannot do anything more with her. And it is worth reflection what we should do, what could we spend our energies on.
We do not like to admit that fashion process has its cycles, that fashion and women, like trees and fruit, grow, ripen, and then decay. The world has always had a conceit that the globe could be made entirely fashionable, and all over the home of a society constantly growing better. In order to accomplish this we have striven to eliminate bad taste in women and in nature:
Is there anything more unsatisfactory than a perfect color, perfect fabric, perfect texture, design and print brought into the most absolute harmony of taste and culture? What more can a woman do with it? What satisfaction has a woman in it if she really gets to the end of her power to improve it? There have been such nearly ideal situations, and how strong nature, always working against woman and in the interest of untamed wildness, likes to riot in them and reduce them to picturesque destruction! And what sweet sadness, pathos, romantic suggestion, the human mind finds in such a ruin! And a fashion that has attained its end in all possible culture, entire refinement in style, in tastes, in the art of elegant intellectual and luxurious living–is there nothing pathetic in that?
London is probably the most civilized centre the world has ever seen; there are gathered more of the elements of that which we reckon the best. Where in history, unless someone puts in a claim for the French Lady, shall we find a woman so nearly approaching the standard we have set up of civilization as the English Lady, refined by inheritance and tradition, educated almost beyond the disturbance of enthusiasm, and cultivated beyond the chance of surprise? We are speaking of the highest type in manner, information, training, fashion, in the acquisition of what the world has to give. Could these women have conquered the world? Is it possible that our highest civilization has lost something of the rough and admirable element that we admire in the heroes of Homer and of Elizabeth? What is this London, the most civilized city ever known? Why, a considerable part of its population is more unfashionable, more hopelessly unstylish, than any wild race we know, because they are the refuse and slag of the civilization, if we dare say that. We can do something with a degraded race of bad fashion, if it has any stamina in it. What can be done with those who are described as East-Londoners?
Every great city has enough of the same element. Is this an accident, or is it a necessity of the refinement that we insist on calling fashion? We are always sending out designers, models to savage or perverted nations, we are always sending out emigrants to occupy and reduce to order neglected territory. This is our main business. How would it be if this business were really accomplished, and there were no more peoples to teach our way of life to, and no more territory to bring under productive cultivation? Without the necessity of putting forth this energy, a survival of the original force in man, how long would our fashion last? In a word, if the world were actually all civilized, would not it be too weak even to ripen? We have a gay confidence that we can do something for Africa. Can we reform London and Paris and New York, which our own hands have made?
If we cannot, where is the difficulty? Is this a hopeless world? Must it always go on by spurts and relapses, alternate fashion and bad fashion, and the bad fashion being necessary to keep us employed and growing? Or is there some mistake about our ideal of fashion? Does our process too much eliminate the rough vigor, courage, stamina of the race? After a time do we just live, or try to live?
These questions are too deep for these pages. Let us make the world pleasant, and throw a cover over the refuse. We are doing very well, on the whole, considering what we are and the materials we have to work on. And we must not leave the world so perfectly civilized that the inhabitants, two or three centuries ahead, will have nothing to do.