Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tips For Google+ Hangouts
I have been using Google+ hangouts ever since it came out and in the past couple of months, I have used it to effectively run online panel discussions on various topics of interest. In fact, I see Google+ Hangouts and Youtube broadcasting as a killer of Podcasts (if it is not dead already). It can be effectively leveraged by analysts like me to run online panels and vendors for their marketing purposes including webinars. I have learned a few valuable lessons from running these panels and thought I will share them here.
- Having a good camera and lighting is a must
- Having a good microphone is a must for all. If you are having more than one person sharing the same computer, make sure the microphone is positioned in such a way to get the audio from both people
- Make sure the audio from the speaker is not fed back into the microphone
- Advise the participants to not type (or create any other noise) while others are talking. If they use the keyboard, their face will be shown instead of the person who is talking
- Do not have more than one panelists in the same room with their own computer to log into hangout. I am telling you from my recent experience, it's gonna mess up who is shown in the video
- Last, but not the least, don't check your mobile phone while on the panel. Well, this is a note for myself
If you really want to understand how the video will end up when you do all the above said mistakes, watch this recent hangout. In spite of all the above said gaffes, this is a pretty good discussion on various topics including CloudFoundry, OpenStack and APIs. We spoke with Jeff Hobbs, CTO and VP of engineering, ActiveState and Yoram Heller, VP of Corporate Development, MorphLabs.
If Google can clearly market Google Hangouts, it will be a great success over many of the other video communication and webinar tools in the market. Many people record their webinars and host it on Youtube while Google Hangouts on Air does the same automatically. I have great confidence in the potential of this product but I am not sure how far Google will go in pushing this hard. I will be very upset if this goes in the Google Wave way.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Changes to Payroll , Payroll changes , New tax thresholds 2013
http://alwaysonbooks.com/Changes%20to%20Payroll%20Payroll%20changes%20New%20tax%20thresholds
Changes to Payroll , Payroll changes , New tax thresholds 2013
Changes to Payroll , Payroll changes , New tax thresholds 2013
changes to capital purchases
http://alwaysonbooks.com/changes%20to%20capital%20purchases
changes to capital purchases
see my blog for more details
changes to capital purchases
see my blog for more details
Can an iPad Really Replace your PC? Kevin Says Yes.
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Can an iPad Really Replace your PC? Kevin Says Yes.
By Michelle SwanThere is no hiding from them – iPads are everywhere. They are everyone's favorite conference giveaway, we see our colleagues breaking them out with glee in meetings, and companies ranging from SAP to General Mills are rolling out thousands of tablets to employees around the world.
Gartner estimates that by the end of 2016 there will be 665 million tablets in use worldwide - growing at almost 100 percent annually. Compare that to the average 4 percent growth that analysts expect for PCs. Many of our own customers are investing heavily in mobile initiatives as a way to improve business processes from executive reporting to closed loop marketing, and they're already seeing dramatic results.
It's no wonder that it seems like tablets are taking over the enterprise. But can an iPad really replace a computer as you go about your day-to-day job? The debate rages online, but some mobile warriors like Appirio's own Kevin Dodson say it is possible.
Kevin leads Appirio's mobile services practice and spends the majority of his time working with customers like BMC, DexOne and Kindred to guide and implement their own mobile initiatives. He rarely carries a laptop these days and says he can be just as productive with an iPad and a few key accessories.
Hear from Kevin directly in this video he created for Appirio's own employees.
While tablets might not be a laptop replacement for the majority of enterprise workers, it might happen sooner than we think. The proliferation of new productivity apps for tablets, the rate at which enterprise applications are moving to the cloud, and the growing awareness of mobile and user-centric design are creating a perfect storm that's driving the tablet adoption even deeper into the enterprise.
And Kevin for one is excited.
Minimum wage rises, employers warned to comply
Minimum wage rises, employers warned to comply
The national minimum wage rose yesterday, following on from a Fair Work decision last month to boost the pay packets of the country's lowest paid workers.
The 2.9 percent rise is due to impact the lives of 1.3 million Australians, with wages to rise $17 a week, to just above $606 per week.
This equates to almost $900 a year extra for a full-time employed minimum wage worker.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry had been calling for a $9.40 per week rise, and the ACTU a $26 rise.
The wage rise will affect businesses in all industries, after the Minimum Wage Panel rejected deferral and exemption requests from some sectors.
"In this review we have decided that the relevant statutory considerations favour a moderate increase, which will improve the real value of award wages and assist the living standards of the low paid," Fair Work president Justice Iain Ross said.
ACTU secretary Dave Oliver is warning all employees to check they're being paid according to the minimum wage.
"Now that the minimum wage has gone up, all workplace agreements and contracts need to be checked to make sure that the rates of pay stay above the legal minimum," Oliver said.
"Workers should check their wages against the legal minimum rates to ensure they are not being underpaid thanks to the increase in the minimum wages."
For more information on what you should now be paying your employees, click here.
Sunday, July 01, 2012
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