Free Headsets!
Still reaching for your phone while driving?
Break the habit with a free headset at FreeHeadset.org. This site offers headsets for all cell phone makes and models absolutely free. Sound too good to be true? Well, they have given away 260,000 free headsets already. Get yours today!
Business Etiquette
The next time someone shares constructive criticism, or just plain criticism, don’t respond with an automatic “I’m sorry.” Instead, use one of the following responses: “Thank you for your comment,” “Thank you for the feedback,” or “Thank you—you’ve given me something to think about.” These are much more professional, as well as appropriate and optimistic.
Source: Business Etiquette by Ann Marie Sabath
Baby Boomers to Redefine Retirement
On October 15, 2007, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling filed for early retirement and became the first baby boomer to start collecting Social Security. Fueled by this generational influx, adults nearing retirement have become one of the fastest growing demographics in the country, a group which will change the landscape of retirement forever.
Here are some current figures about retired adults in the U.S.:
- 14% have income over $75,000
- 83% own their own home
- 30% have liquid assets over $100K
- 19% have a four-year college degree
- 24% are active investors
- 19% take international trips
- 14% have homes valued over $500K.
Source: The Media Audit
Make it Yourself
Ever find yourself going from store to store looking for a certain product, only to settle for something that doesn’t resemble what you had in mind at all? Do you long for a more customized approach?
One New Zealand-based company may have an answer. Part of the burgeoning “Make-it-Yourself” (MIY) movement, Ponoko bills itself as “the first online shop for individualized goods—things designed and made just for you.” Upload your own product design on ponoko.com, and the company will cut the pattern into metal, plastic or wood using a laser and computer-based prototyping.
Since September 2007, more than 10,000 people have opened accounts with the company, creating their own custom tables, lamps, jewelry and more. Users can buy, sell and swap their designs or finished products through the Ponoko site.
The company’s business model represents a potential sea change in the manufacturing process. “Products will be shipped not in solid state, but as design files—meaning manufacture can happen as close to the point of consumption as possible,” co-founder Derek Elley told The New York Times last year. “The future is one where people will be buying and selling product design files—and consumers will be able to control the manufacturing process direct from their PC.”
Join the MIY movement and make your own creative designs come to life!
Sound Asleep
Those who have problems
sleeping and those who sleep like a baby can both benefit from a little noise at bedtime. Thanks to a group of panelists who reported that sound machines helped them fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer, researchers have developed a better handle on “the noise that helps us sleep.”
Twelve panelists volunteered to test the results of three different
sound machines. Volunteers discovered that, over a period of ten days, white noise—which sounds like a fan or a soft waterfall—reduced the time it took for them to fall asleep as well as the number of times they were awakened during the night. Over the next three days, panelists fell asleep—and stayed asleep—to sounds such as steady rainfall or a flowing stream. All three machines successfully block out unwanted sounds.
Although the Brookstone Tranquil Moments Sound Therapy System
sells for a steep $129, it proved a favorite among panelists lulled to sleep by its white noise setting and intrigued by the machine’s ability
to run on batteries. The Homedics SoundSpa SS-2000 also runs on batteries with six sounds, including rainforest and heartbeat options. The high and low volume settings of the $60 Marpac Sleepmate 980A create a variety of tone and volume selections that help sleepers stay unconscious longer. Listen to these machines and hear for yourself by visiting ConsumerReportsHealth.org.
Germ-Free Keyboards
Companies are coming up with new products to help sanitize your home and office keyboards.
Just as you wouldn’t install any computer program without a comprehensive antivirus solution, you shouldn’t use any computer program without a protective shield for your keyboard against viruses and other germs. After watching folks young and old migrate in and out of coffeehouses and workplaces sneezing, blowing their noses, and wiping their hands on the wireless, it’s no wonder that an office desk may harbor 400 times more germs than the average toilet seat, according to a survey conducted by the University of Arizona.
That’s why various companies are innovating savvy ways to keep your hands germ-free when typing that research paper, value proposition or long email. One line of products, introduced by Seal Shields, is a brand of waterproof keyboards which can be easily scrubbed down with soap and warm water. The keyboards are even dishwasher-safe and are used by medical offices where bacteria can be life-threatening.
Another product is the anti-germ wireless keyboard and mouse combo introduced in December 2006 by IOGear. With this product, the black keyboard is covered with a nanotechnology particle coating of titanium oxide and silver nanoparticles that kills large numbers of bacteria, viruses and fungi with 99 percent efficiency.
SpillSeal, one of the newest products on the market, was introduced by Unotron, Inc. The company makes keyboards, mice and smartcard readers with SpillSeal technology that allows keyboards and mice to be disinfected with hospital-strength cleaning products.
With flu season approaching, it’s good to know there are safety precautions to protect against an ever-increasing threat of germs.
In Recession: American Men
Economic downturns may discriminate after all, hitting men much harder than women.
Separate genders, separate economies? Recent statistics suggest the answer is “yes.” With the economy teetering on recession, jobs for women employed in health and social services
and education are outlasting positions in finance, manufacturing
and construction—jobs where men have typically made themselves at home.
According to a survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), from November 2007 through April of this year, women over the age of 20 gained nearly 300,000 jobs, while men lost nearly 700,000.
The explanation? Male employment resides heavily in manufacturing
(70% male) and construction (88% male)—two major fields currently shaken in a rickety economy. The BLS reports the high-paying securities business, with more than 60 percent male employment, is likely the next sector to plummet.
Simultaneously, education and health services (77 percent female), and the government sector (57 percent female) are stronger than ever. What’s more, women are graduating from college at higher rates than men and entering an economy which more and more rewards sensitivity, intuition and a willingness
to collaborate—traits which are largely feminine.
Aside from the numbers, ego is also a major contributing factor
to male unemployment, as many men find it difficult to shift from a $30-per-hour job to one that pays lower wages. Men battling
the economic downturn without college degrees have an even worse time trying to survive. When the economy boomed in the 1990s many men with high school degrees found jobs; when the economy weakened, they were the first laid off. iBi
