College Textbooks Outrageous fees

Instructors could stop requiring students to purchase textbooks for their courses. Instructors could rely on information readily available for free.

clipped from www.eschoolnews.com Copyright fight looms over college textbooks Soaring costs have led to rampant sharing of textbooks online According to the College Board, the average college student spent between $805 and $1,229 on books and supplies alone during the 2007-08 school year. In the National Association of College Stores' 2008 Student Watch Survey of Student Attitudes & Buying Habits, students surveyed estimated they spent $702 on required course materials annually. Required Course Materials include: printed texts (both new and used), electronic textbooks, and course packs and customized materials. But if the campaign to curb textbook file-sharing follows the same arc as that of the music industry's efforts, it's possible this movement could shift its focus onto the students themselves who download or make available copyrighted texts online--especially as publishers realize how hard it is to keep up with an ever-changing lineup of textbook-sharing web sites.

User feedback drives sales

clipped from home.nestor.minsk.by Comodo Usertrust Provides Emerchants With A Powerful And Free Social Networking Platform Proven To Drive Revenue Through User Feedback This kind of transparency is proven to increase trust and conversion, since according to Social Shopping Study (2007), over 70% of end users cite user feedback as one of the main reasons they choose to buy from one eMerchant versus another. Current online marketing programs often rely heavily on targeting consumers via online advertising, hoping the ads reach the best demographic possible to influence their buying decisions. This approach has limited success and value because it is both costly and hard to manage, as recently reported by BusinessWeek.

Malware comes from legitimate sites that have been hacked

"The URL is no longer an accurate representation of the source content from the Web page"

clipped from blog.washingtonpost.com Three Quarters of Malicious Web Sites Are Hacked Three-quarters of all Web sites that try to foist malicious software on visitors are legitimate sites that have been hacked, a report released today found. Even worse, most of these compromised sites are social networking communities and some of the Internet's most popular destinations. Websense found that 60 percent of the Top 100 most popular sites this year have either hosted malware or forwarded visitors to malicious sites. The company also says that nine out of 10 of those compromised sites were social networking or Web search sites. Browser add-ons like Site Advisor and Web of Trust (WOT) can help people searching the Web determine whether the sites they are searching for have a nasty reputation. But such services do little to aid in flagging legitimate sites that were recently hacked and seeded with malicious software.

Can you choose?

I moseyed over to Simple.ology blog because there was an interesting post

"What to Do When "Picking One" Is Too Much for You"

Bean Jones offers a clear description of what it is like to be overwhelmed with choices and then includes an action plan for dissipating the feeling.

I have one more item to add to the action plan:

Hire me!

My clients are relieved of the "maximizer" syndrome. They have a professional reader sifting through all that data and delivering the information most relevant to them.

If you are the type of person who needs to know "all options were considered" and is mentally stalled because of the insurmountable task then hire me!


Technorati Tags: simpleology, professional reader, the data digger, decision

Paycheck Fairness Act

clipped from www.capwiz.com Stop the Economic Crisis for Women Workers House Could Vote on Paycheck Fairness Act THIS Wednesday! Women on average continue to be paid only 77 cents to the dollar paid to their male counterparts. With a record 69 million women in the workforce, wage discrimination hurts almost all of our nation's families and disadvantages women in nearly every occupational categories. In addition, wage discrimination lowers total lifetime earnings, reducing women's benefits from Social Security and pension plans and inhibiting their ability to save not only for retirement but for other lifetime goals such as buying a home and paying for a college education. A vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act is a critical step forward in our goal to close the persistent and sizable wage gap between men and women working full-time year round, even those in the same or similar jobs.

Resource: Appropriate ways to interact with Social Media community

clipped from blogcouncil.org Member Login Disclosure Best Practices Toolkit This document is a draft series of checklists to help companies, their employees, and their agencies learn the appropriate and transparent ways to interact with blogs, bloggers, and the people who interact with them. We believe in the principles of transparency and openness, and this document is a way of making this real on the inside. Our goal is not to create or propose new industry standards or rules. These checklists are open source training tools designed to help educate the hundreds or thousands of employees in any large corporation the appropriate ways to interact with the social media community. Disclosure of Identity Personal/Unofficial Blogging and Outreach Blogger Relations Compensation and Incentives Agency and Contractor Disclosure Creative Flexibility This is an Open Source Document Share and change this document as much as you like. Please attribute the Blog Council and link to www.blogcouncil.org/disclosure.

"The One Piece of Advice You Can't Generate Leads Without"

A fellow Virtual Assistant, Denise Aday of Aday VA Solutions recommended the Rain Today site to me. While I was there, I downloaded this report. If you are looking for quality information to help you market your business, then this free report is worth the read.

"The One Piece Of Advice You Can't Generate Leads Without"

http://www.raintoday.com/pages/2749_advice_you_can_t_generate_leads_without.cfm

Thank you for the link Denise!

Slydial - How would you use it?

clipped from www.cnn.com New service helps callers avoid awkward cell-phone moments Slydial lets you connect directly with another person's cell phone voice mail, bypassing the traditional ringing process that often results -- sometimes disastrously -- with someone picking up on the other end. Users call (267) SLY-DIAL from either a cell phone or a landline, and are prompted to enter another person's cell phone number. Indeed, Nora Rubinoff, 45, who runs an administrative support company, At Your Service Cincinnati Ltd., has found Slydial helpful both for business and personal situations. She has left reminder messages for people one of her clients intends to interview. The ability to call straight into someone's voice mail is not new. Most major cell phone carriers offer subscribers the option of sending voice messages to other people, but usually only to customers of the same wireless company. What's different here is that Slydial makes it possible to do it with any major wireless carrier's customer.

Interactive blogging necessary?

clipped from www.louisgray.com Bloggers' Interactions With Readers Decrease With Prominence I had an interesting discussion with Robert Seidman on FriendFeed about whether bloggers need to actually interact with their readers. Robert is right about this. Interactions really aren't a requirement for bloggers. Think about the core essence of blogging: things that you care about. Whether you get anyone else caring is secondary.

Is WebFlock worth it?

$100,000!!!! That is a serious investment for a technology that has yet to yield a ROI.

clipped from www.businesswire.com The Electric Sheep Company Announces Flash-Based Application for Private-Labeled Virtual Spaces "We have spent years creating virtual experiences for media companies and brands, and have struggled to match available technology with the needs of our clients," says Sibley Verbeck, CEO of ESC. "That struggle led us to create WebFlock, and we are thrilled to work with SHOWTIME again as one of our first customers for the product." enables the creation of private-labeled virtual spaces for social interaction, media consumption and game play. It was built on ESC’s proprietary virtual world technology and the company’s extensive experience working with major brands. It is designed to be affordable, extendable, and customizable for the brand, and fun, accessible, and extremely easy to use for the consumer. A basic implementation, which includes the out-of-the-box feature set, custom 3D avatars and 3D space, and 12 months of the application services fees, is available for under $100,000.

Chained to your desk?

Now this is productivity!!!

clipped from webworkerdaily.com Steelcase Wants to Sell you a Walkstation Looking for a way to get more exercise, despite being a deskbound web worker? Steelcase (makers of high-end office furniture) have an idea for you: the Walkstation. Based on the idea that you can burn enough calories to make a difference, even if you don’t work up a sweat, the Walkstation marries an adjustable-height desk and monitor arm with a low-speed treadmill There are plenty of other bells and whistles here, including a magnetic sensor that automatically stops the treadmill should you be carried away from your desk, and an optional convertible model that lets you switch from office chair to treadmill at the touch of a button. The drawback? Cost, mainly: buying one of these will set you back $4300 or more. If that’s too rich for your blood, check out how one of our writers made her own.

Improve Social Skills?

I think there is a time and a place for virtual worlds. Could this be one of them?

clipped from regulus2.azstarnet.com Autism and virtual reality There are several “islands” specifically for people with ASDs and their families and friends. These havens are meant to be a safe environment where they can interact with others and be themselves without the real-life pressures they encounter when the go out in the real world. There are meetings, parties, and support groups scheduled just like in the real world, except the people attending them may be sitting at computers in different countries, yet attend the same party. Brigadoon is designed for those with Asperger’s Syndrome, who are generally higher functioning than many with autism. Autistic Liberation Front is run by a group that supports neurodiversity. Then there’s Naughty Auties, run by a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome. practicing social skills with SIMmersion or interacting with people in Second Life from the safety of homemay be better than no interaction at all. They could lead to improved social skills.

Another Second Life Resource

"TBD has broadened its scope to include development of full learning environments in the virtual world of Second Life. This new offering includes consulting on land selection and purchase, security configuration, marketing plan development in-world, terra-forming, landscaping, facility builds, avatar customization, team onboarding and training, and development of custom learning curriculum."

TBD Consulting Launches New Offering in Second Life

Has TBD Consulting done a market analysis? Is there an interest in hiring a consulting firm to establish a presence in Second Life?

In my experience with Second Life, those interested dive in and do it themselves. I found more consultants for Second Life than actual clients interested in hiring a consultant. Knowledge is free in Second Life. Residents are very willing to share with one another.

I have also witnessed people claiming to be potential clients receive a price quote and back away. The price quote is given in "real life" dollars. They were expecting virtual currency. It is more cost effective, easier and simply more fun to do it yourself.

Technorati Tags: Second Life, Consulting services, virtual worlds, business

Just remember...

ultimately you do not own anything online.

clipped from virtuallyblind.com Coming Soon to a 3D Printer Near You: Mixed Reality Intellectual Property Infringement 2) In most games, you agree — via a clickthrough screen — that you have no ownership over the cool stuff you create. Even if you aren’t ripping off Lost or Nike (see links above) and are only doing original creations, you have to be careful about intellectual property issues. Sometimes (like in Second Life) the Terms of Service allow you to retain ownership of the intellectual property in your in-world creations. For most games, though, the Terms of Service and End User License Agreements say you own absolutely nothing. 3) We’re getting close to consumer-level 3D fabrication technology, which will let you make plastic 3D models (a.k.a. professional-grade home-made toys) based on that cool stuff you create on your computer. The technology is already reasonably priced for small businesses, and in fact, one company, Fabjectory is already selling plastic versions of Second Life avatars.

Are looking for passion?

This is a motivational post. It is worth your read.

clipped from thinksimplenow.com How to Find Passion in Your Job Exercise: How to Find Passion in Your Job Take a notebook with you at all times. Systematically noting down things that are pretty darn good about your job. Things you enjoy. Things you are grateful for. Co-workers you like. Take one thing from this list that is important to you and significant to the company. Come up with a simple one month project where you will be increasing that component in your daily life. Example, if you work with a few pleasant customers, then the project could be: how to get more customers like that? Or, how to get our current customers to be like that? Or, how to get more work with those pleasant customers? Do something every day to help you accomplish your projects goal. It’s best to do this in the morning as a priority item, but anytime during the day will give you a boost. Evaluate your progress at the end of the month. Give yourself more time if you need.

T.E.A.C.H.

It is too easy online to act, feel and then think. My advice-feel it, think about it, then act.

clipped from pos-psych.com I know what I was feeling, but what was I thinking? Recently, Sherri Fisher, John Yeager, and I have been working with TEACH(tm), especially as we work in the education field.  This acronym stands for Thoughts - Emotions - Actions - Consequences - Here we go again!  Thoughts lead to Emotions which power Actions which cause Consequences which start either an upward or downward spiral.  The insight of cognitive behavioral therapy that’s captured and put to work in resilience training is that by working with out thoughts about a situation, we can also change our emotions.  Changing our emotions helps change our actions, thus consequences, and makes upward spirals more likely!

Stop Taking Short Cuts

the best investment in your success is you.

clipped from www.positivityblog.com 5 Healthy Reasons to Stop Looking for Magic Pills Well, basically looking at something – a book or a just a tip – as a complete and quick solution for your problem. Thinking that that thing will “fix you”, just like a pill from the doctor could. Desperately looking for the “next big thing” and when disappointed with that one going looking for the next one could take up a lot of energy. And a lot of time. Perhaps even years. There is a lot of value in a lot of products and in what a lot of people say. But if you expect them to be able to just fix your problem then of course you’ll always be disappointed. Totally unrealistic expectations will bring you down and can transform a great, helpful product into a disappointment in your eyes. Maybe you are overcomplicating things by reading 25 books about your problem and thereby - in your mind - making your challenge into a bigger and more complicated deal than it may actually be?

Notes about Copyright

People think the copyright law is more complicated than it is.

clipped from www.wikihow.com How to Understand Copyright Basics Understand that nearly everything on the Internet, and everywhere else, is copyrighted, by default. "I found it on the Internet" is not a defense against copyright infringement; works on the Internet are as copyrightable as any other kind of work. Nor is "it didn't say it was copyrighted". In nearly all jurisdictions (including the United States, and all other Berne Convention signatories), it is not necessary for a work to have an explicit copyright notice for it to be copyrighted.[1] It is also not necessary for copyright in a work to be registered; this simply makes it easier to be compensated in court. Without an explicit dedication to the public domain, assume that it is still under copyright. It doesn't need one of these to be copyrighted.