Time to REBOOT

Jul 26 2008

I'm sure you've come across this period in your office life where you need to just stand up and walk away. Don't worry, it's normal! What's abnormal is if you keep working and slaving away on your desk EVEN when the shoulders hurt, EVEN when the eyes are strained, EVEN when that deadline is staring at you squarely. YOU HAVE to stand up, so PLEASE do. Office stress takes the most from all of us. If we fail to prevent the symptoms, the weight on your health can be very devastating. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Kidney problems, Bowel ...

10 multi-tasking tips

Jul 12 2008

Posted by Jim as General Management

OK, I've heard about great on-the-road multi-tasking tips but isn't this a little over-the-top EVEN to think about! Just wanted to make you start the week with a smile (i hope). Don't worry, those aren't operational "thrones" they got there. Just something I'd say this little town or telephone company would like to get known for. They treat their customers like royalty... complete with thrones to boot! Now it's off to our brief run-through of multi-tasking tips I think will help you a lot. In today's "wired" world, there's just too many things one ...

The Law of Reciprocity

Sep 14 2007

Posted by Jen as Business Features, Company Formation Tips, General Management, Lifestyle Features, Strategies

An assignment recently got me interested in something called the Law of Reciprocity. No—this is not Physics class or any other Science-related course. The Law of Reciprocity actually goes by many names. Others call it an emotional bank account. One of my favorite writers of all time, Paulo Coelho, describes it as the favor bank. But what exactly is this Law of Reciprocity, you ask? This law goes far back as early as kindergarten for most people. It’s the “I’ll be your friend if you’ll be mine” strategy (How crafty kids can be…!). And for others, it transcends into ...

52 million pounds funding for business-focused universities

Jun 04 2006

Posted by Gordon as Business Concepts, Business Enhancements, Business News, General Management, UK Companies

This piece of news will be welcomed by students all over the country. The DTI has recently awarded ï¿½52 million to a number of universities under the third round of the Higher Education Innovation Fund or HEIF. The goal of the awards is to aid in building closer ties between business and institutions that offer higher education. One of the projects that will share in the 52 million pounds funding handout are initiatives whose goal is to boost the number of entrepreneurs, establish a UK creative industry in China and to target the early signs of disease. The DTI has awarded ...

Small businesses to be hit hardest by new compulsory pension

Jun 03 2006

Posted by Gordon as Business Concepts, Business Enhancements, Business News, General Management, UK Companies

Small businesses seem to be taking a lot of unnecessary hits of late, and they are already feeling the effects of this “injustice.” It seems the government is not yet content with just hitting businesses with an endless list of legislation and then tying them up with red tape. Now it looks like small business employers will be forced to make contributions to a new National Pensions Savings Scheme or NPSS. An employee can decide not to participate in the NPSS but with the sheer apathy of most employees it is believed that most will choose to remain ...

System reforms can solve the problem of tax avoidance

Jun 02 2006

Posted by Gordon as Accounting and Finance, Business Concepts, General Management, Tricks of the Trade

Based on what a group of business leaders have discussed in a recent gathering, a comprehensive reform in the tax system is the most effective solution to the problem of tax avoidance. According to a recently conducted comprehensive study on tax avoidance, the Institute of Directors (IoD) has signified its advocacy for the redesign of the entire tax system in order to remove the current artificial boundaries between things that are considered as close commercial substitutes. The employers’ organisation has been insisting that a swift action on the problem is absolutely needed what with taxpayers getting more and ...

Blair cabinet re-shuffle hit by interest group

Jun 01 2006

Posted by Gordon as Business Enhancements, Business News, General Management, UK Companies

The recent decision of Prime Minister Tony Blair to reshuffle his cabinet has been hit by an interest group, saying that the move has once again ignored the welfare of small businesses. The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has maintained that the decision has been detrimental for businessmen and business owners who own small businesses. They particularly cite the reshuffling of the Department of Trade and Industry but overlooking the fact that the position for Small Firms Minister has remained vacant. FPB Chief Executive Nick Goulding said that he thinks what has happened is another case illustrating the ...

Make small business tax less taxing says pressure group

May 30 2006

Posted by Gordon as Business Concepts, Business Enhancements, Business News, General Management, UK Companies

A pressure group is strongly urging the government to finally remove the big headache posed by confusing and time consuming tax returns. According to the Forum of Private Business (FPB), through its Chief Executive Nick Goulding, “It’s time to make tax returns less taxing. Our research shows that small business is left spending valuable time completing forms that they find confusing and over-complicated.” Goulding asserts that it is clear that not enough effort is being done in order to give assistance to small businesses in trying to understand what their role and responsibilities are when it comes to filing ...

Business confidence rises for second half of 2006

May 29 2006

Posted by Gordon as Business News, General Management, UK Companies

According to the accountants and business advisers at BDO Stoy Hayward, UK economic growth is expected to grow stronger in the second half of 2006. The report, which was included in the most recent BDO Business Trends report, shows that a there is an increase in business confidence both in the short-term and the long-term. There is an expected growth of 3.4 per cent for the third quarter of 2006. This is compared to the 2.4 per cent posted in the last quarter of 2005. These positive numbers are likely to give tremendous benefit to the UK economy especially later this ...

Unions in favor of mobility

May 02 2006

Posted by Gordon as General Management, Virtual Office

A survey by the Department of Trade and Industry has determined that majority of labour unions across the United Kingdom are in favor of some form of mobility arrangements in the workplace. Such arrangements include work-at-home, field-work, or other telecommuting set-ups. Companies’ uptake of telecommuting arrangements with employees has been up the past few years because of better availability and lower prices of laptop computers, and dropping prices of Internet connectivity. Residential broadband connections, and even free wireless Internet in public places enable employees to work on their inputs and outputs from outside of the office, and then submit these ...

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Daryl of Dunder Mifflin

This news is a little sad for me because I am a huge fan of the TV sitcom “The Office”. I’ve been following this show for the past two years and have really admired all the characters. One of my personal favorites was Daryl, the Dunder Mifflin warehouseman whom Michael (the boss) always always try [...]

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Business and Money

Who Moved My Cheese: The Cliff’s Notes! (Part 2)

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Lifestyle and Leisure

Your Carbon Footprint

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A carbon footprint is a “measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide“.
Here’s a nifty tool from ivillage.com, an online calculator to measure carbon footprints. I think this is [...]

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Entertainment

Virtual Tennis

I just got myself a PSP slim today. What fun! I already have one PSP and the reason for this purchase was to try out the player vs. player mode of Sega’s Virtual Tennis. I could tell you we played for hours! While walking in the mall, at home in the living room, and [...]

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Biking through Amsterdam

It’s not only China that’s going bike crazy, Amsterdam is following the craze with bike rentals by the thousands. If you’re heading the windmill country you may want to consider breezing through the many wonders this city has to offer by riding one of them bicycles.
CNN travel correspondent Rick Steves has written a good [...]

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Family Life

Hit your molars, please!

We all remember how good ‘ol mom would always remind us to “brush your teeth before going to bed, dear”, or “use toothpaste for heaven’s sake” or “would you please brush your molars too?”. It was good for mom to do that, if they didn’t I think half the world (or even more) would be [...]

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From the Editor

One win over the paparazzi

Actress Sienna Miller has won a case against a paparazzi photo published in the Daily Star. This photo was taken when she was waiting for an elevator in an LA building. The court ruled that Ms. Miller was clearly harassed and so therefore has decided in favor of Ms. Miller, this decision after viewing a [...]

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