Technology Simplifies Life

Technology is often blamed for complicating our lives instead of simplifying them. But there are ways to harness the power of technology to achieve your dream of an ordered, less chaotic life.

Go grocery shopping online
Instead of wandering the supermarket aisles, have food, wine and other household goods delivered to your doorstep.
Many retailers including Woolworths and Pick ‘n Pay, have online shopping facilities which can save you money, petrol and travel time.

Transfer money, pay bills and bank online
If you haven’t already, set yourself up with Internet banking.
You can move money from one account to another, do direct deposits and pay your accounts online so you don’t have to go into a store to settle your accounts.

Use the Internet for school projects and homework

Instead of a shelf full of outdated encyclopaedias, get your kids to use the Internet for school project research and even exam revision.
It will save you money and trips to the library.

Upgrade your Internet connection
If you are still using a dial-up connection, save yourself time and frustration by upgrading to a broadband connection like ADSL. Faster connection speeds and a fixed monthly fee means you won’t have to wait ages for e-mails to download and you’ll be able to budget more effectively.
You’ll also avoid tying up your phone line for hours at a time.

Thayer said, “The Internet is not only a source of information but also a great way to get your daily tasks done, saving you time and petrol money.
The careful use of technology can help simplify life – you just need to choose the technology you really need to achieve your goals”.

The Ten Commandments of Cell Phones

Failure to obey these commandments can result in your being ridiculed by strangers and disassociated by your family and even your closest friends.

1. Thou shalt not subject defenseless bystanders to cell phone conversations. When people cannot escape the banality of your conversation—on a plane, train, bus, cab, or at a restaurant—spare them. We are just not interested, you boorish twit.

2. Thou shalt not set thy ringer to play "La Cucaracha" every time thy phone rings. Or Beethoven's Fifth, or the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive," or any other annoying melody. Is it not enough that your phone goes off every other second? In addition, any phone that announces "INCOMING CALL" should be tossed in a toilet.

3. Thou shalt turn thy cell phone off during public performances, in theaters, during speeches and meetings, family dinners, at weddings and funerals and on first dates.

4. Thou shalt not wear more than two wireless devices on thy belt. Techno-jockeys attempting to look like they are carrying Batman utility belts are not cool.

5. Thou shalt not dial while driving. This madness must stop. Put the phone down and just drive. There are enough people in the world who have problems mastering driving a vehicle by itself.

6. Thou shalt not wear thy earpiece in the presence of thy friends and coworkers. This is similar to wearing headphones connected to a CD player—it's just rude.

7. Thou shalt not speak louder on thy cell phone than thou would on any other phone. Phones have sensitive microphones, and it's gotten to the point where you can tell if someone is calling from a mobile phone simply by their volume of speaking, not how it sounds. If your signal cuts out, speaking louder won't help.

8. Thou shalt not grow too attached to thy cell phone. For obvious reasons, an addictive dependency on being constantly "in touch" is not healthy. At work, go nuts. Away from work, give it (and the rest of us) a rest.

9. Thou shalt not display thy cell phone on a restaurant table just in case it may ring. This is not the Old West, and you are not a gunslinger sitting down to a game of five-card stud in a Dodge City saloon. Be a little less conspicuous. If it rings, you'll hear it just as easily if it's in your pocket, purse or "holster."

10. Thou shalt not attempt to impress with thy mobile phone. Not only is using a cell phone no longer impressive (unless, of course, it's one of those really cool new phones with the space-age "Matrix" design, interchangeable multi-colored face with a laser-linked heads-up viewer and solar battery charger), but when it is used to impress, said user shall be immediately identified as a neophyte impost or a poseur and an outright a......

Google word power

Number-crunchers can rejoice as Google Inc offers deeper access to the underlying figures for users' web searches, giving some insight into trends based on the relative popularity of various words.

The Internet search leader is expanding its existing Google Trends service to allow users to see underlying numerical data on the popularity of any particular search in Google's vast database of search terms, relative to others.

Google Trends was begun two years ago as an entertaining but limited way to indicate what the world is thinking about over time, at least in terms of web searches.

Now Google is giving users the ability to search across terms in its database, instantly chart how they compare to other search terms, then export the underlying numerical data into a common spreadsheet format to compare with other data.

Google Trends (trends.google.com/) lets users compare demand for various search terms and see how popularity differs across geographic regions, cities or languages.

A year ago, the company introduced Hot Trends, which gave users insight into fast-rising web search trends with data refreshed several times daily. The tool's power only grows as people conduct more and more of their everyday activities online, with web search often their primary starting point.

The data in Google Trends stretches back to 2004. While the service is based on the many billions of individual searches performed each year, Google Trends only reveals data on the aggregate numbers of searches, not the searches themselves.

National differences in the endless human search for sex or love can vary widely, according to a Google Trends chart.

Google Trends users can also chart the explosion of interest in the term "backdating" since 2006, reflecting the scandal over how hundreds of companies backdated options for executives.

Searches for the word "Microsoft" had a more than two-to-one-lead in searches over "Apple" three years ago, but Apple had virtually closed the gap by the end of 2007.

Then news reports of its takeover bid for Yahoo appears to have stoked a recovery in Microsoft this year. Searches for Microsoft have outnumbered those for Apple by about 7 to 5 in recent weeks, according to Google Trends data.

Users must be registered and signed into a Google account to use the service. One can then see the evolution of new terms or concepts through Google searches, including the rise of "Google Trends" itself.

Self-knowledge

Getting to know yourself really is good for business. In fact, it's essential if you want to realise your full business potential.

Before you start your business, you need to search within yourself to make sure that this is the road you're meant to take. This is your foundation, and it needs to be solid. You need to understand why you are getting into this – is it because you are good at it or passionate about it? Too many people are driven by money and by greed when setting up a business, but you will find that this might not be enough to sustain you through the difficult times. And yes, there are always difficult times.'

'Know yourself – it is critical to identify your strengths and be masterful of the things you like and can do. Know your weaknesses so that you can compensate for them.'

'Money buys the wrapping paper, but your happiness is the real gift waiting to be unwrapped. As you reveal your talents, learn more about yourself and make your impact.'

Blogging Etiquette

Blog etiquette is important. So make sure you don't offend a fellow blogger by following a few of these simple rules.

1. Be respectful. If you don't agree with someone's post, feel free to comment and convey your thoughts, but do not insult the blogger or get vulgar. Name-calling is not cool and should be left on the playground. Personal attacks are never fun to watch.

2. When you comment on someone else's blog, do not post a link to your own blog. If we want to find you, we'll know who you are and where to go. Also, leaving a comment like "read my blog" is not a real comment and is irritating. Stop it!

3. Don't force your opinion on people. A few bloggers have been bombarded with bible excerpts posted as comments which made no sense. If my blog isn't about religion, don't force it.

4. Never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, post someone else's words on your own blog. Pulling a quote and linking to the blog is great, and will be welcomed, but it is never ok to copy and paste an entire post without the original blogger's consent. It's just not cricket.

5. Take responsibility for your posts and comments left on your blog. You need to be your own moderator.

6. Do not type in caps! Typing in caps is considered as shouting. In fact, when I read a post in caps, I flinch away from the screen. It's just not fun to read then. And remember, punctuation is your friend, use it!

7. Please resize your images. Not everybody has a super-fast internet connection and downloading images can cripple a few bloggers. Be kind and keep your images small.

8. Respect other people's privacy. There's no need to publish a difficult neighbour's name all over the web. You never know who's reading and could get yourself into a lot of trouble.

If you follow these rules, you'll be a happy blogger.