Industrial

Social media and its effects on the intellect

The advance of social media discourse could be harshly described as a continual distraction, containing noisy encumbrances of rapidly-sampled psychotic diatribes from multiple silos. This, it is said, is one of the profound questions about the narcissism of the modern psyche. In Nick Carr’s recent book, “The Shallows”, he explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, “promoting deep and creative thought”, while the ethic of the internet is a post-industrialist mentality of “speed and efficiency” and “optimised production and consumption”. He argues we have become ever more adept at “scanning and skimming, but what we are losing is our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection”. The cultural criticism of this book sparkles with vignettes about how Friedrich Nietzsche wrestled with a typewriter and how Sigmund Freud dissected the brains of sea creatures. But in “The Stuff of Thought”, Steven Pinker, a Harvard professor of psychology, believes human beings are more than capable of adapting to the current flow of constant digital information and stimulus, just as they adapted to other forms of media

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Social media and its effects on the intellect

Online Brand Management – Follow the Tweeter

No one with any degree of sanity can safely dismiss the impact of Twitter. Everyone of note is using it, as are about half the people who aren’t of note. Most of the latter category are either watching the people who are of note, or doing their best to become one of them. Other social media services may have equal popularity, but none has changed the fundamental way people communicate as much as this little service that forces them to compress their thoughts into 140 characters or less. Follow Me! One of the most useful features of Twitter is the ‘follow’ function. Following someone on Twitter means his or her posts automatically go to your homepage. You can further customize this by creating lists, which will affect which time-line various users will appear in.

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Online Brand Management – Follow the Tweeter

Behind the Times: Murdoch’s Paywall?

A recent article in The Guardian newspaper claims that Rupert Murdoch’s online version of the Times is losing “almost 90% of [its] online readership”. Transposing business models of print media into online deserves an unrighteous kick in the pants In general, websites are support mechanisms for bricks-and-mortar companies and the attempt to elevate and transpose these business models to online, as many have argued in the past, is ignorant and bordering on the insane. Does Murdoch not realise that the newsstand of the new media model is Google; and why has he thought it wise to remove all his publications from it? In addition, the media industry has not seen fit to take account of a report by Peter Horrocks of the BBC that news corporations need to specialise. What is the point of putting your news behind a paywall when your competition is reporting the same news that doesn’t

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Behind the Times: Murdoch’s Paywall?

Behind the Times: Murdoch’s Paywall?

A recent article in The Guardian newspaper claims that Rupert Murdoch’s online version of the Times is losing “almost 90% of [its] online readership”. Transposing business models of print media into online deserves an unrighteous kick in the pants In general, websites are support mechanisms for bricks-and-mortar companies and the attempt to elevate and transpose these business models to online, as many have argued in the past, is ignorant and bordering on the insane. Does Murdoch not realise that the newsstand of the new media model is Google; and why has he thought it wise to remove all his publications from it? In addition, the media industry has not seen fit to take account of a report by Peter Horrocks of the BBC that news corporations need to specialise. What is the point of putting your news behind a paywall when your competition is reporting the same news that doesn’t? Google, Twitter and Facebook demand that online dissemination is open and searchable

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Behind the Times: Murdoch’s Paywall?

Behind the Times: Murdoch’s Paywall?

A recent article in The Guardian newspaper claims that Rupert Murdoch’s online version of the Times is losing “almost 90% of [its] online readership”. Transposing business models of print media into online deserves an unrighteous kick in the pants In general, websites are support mechanisms for bricks-and-mortar companies and the attempt to elevate and transpose these business models to online, as many have argued in the past, is ignorant and bordering on the insane. Does Murdoch not realise that the newsstand of the new media model is Google; and why has he thought it wise to remove all his publications from it? In addition, the media industry has not seen fit to take account of a report by Peter Horrocks of the BBC that news corporations need to specialise. What is the point of putting your news behind a paywall when your competition is reporting the same news that doesn’t? Google, Twitter and Facebook demand that online dissemination is open and searchable.

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Behind the Times: Murdoch’s Paywall?

Avoiding Outsourcing Mistakes

Internet marketing can start off as a one-man-job, but you will soon find yourself swamped with a million things to do. If you do find yourself in this situation, a good solution can be outsourcing.

Outsourcing can be anything from website design to ghostwriting to customer service. In short, anything you don’t have time for and someone else does, can be termed outsourcing. However, you cannot blindly outsource your work. To ensure that you receive quality work there are some things you must keep in mind.

Review your supplier/agency as well as you can. More often than not they will not be in the same state or country. This means a lot of online research as well as inspecting samples of their work. Contacting their referrals and talking to them will also help.

Work out a budget and stick to it. Do not be tempted to go for bundle offers which contain services you do not require. Also keep in mind that expensive suppliers are not necessarily the best.

Weigh the pros and cons of a onetime fee versus a monthly retainer. This usually depends on the volume of work.

Always specify deadlines. In addition to this, be very specific on deliverables and payment based on those deliverables.

Have a clear outline of what you expect as an end product. This will avoid a bad end product/ service which will hurt your online reputation.

Have clear communication lines. You need to build up a relationship, convey your requirements and receive feedback.

Make some smart decisions and you will soon find yourself with a lot more free time to devote towards developing other aspects of your business.

Research Report on China’s Machine Tool Market

A new market research report from ReportLinker says that China’s demand for machine tools will increase by 13% annually through 2012. According to the report, rapid growth in the production of durable goods, particularly for transportation equipment, industrial machinery, primary and fabricated metals, and electrical and electronic goods, as well as expansion and modernization of China’s infrastructure, are key drivers for the increased demand in machine tools. The report also notes that computer numerical control (CNC) machine shop demand for higher-value CNC tools will help the market value.

The fastest-growing category in the next few years will be metal-cutting machine tools, with sales of metal-forming machine tools and machine tool accessories also posting above average gains. Largely, increased investments and output by the manufacturing sector and technological improvements in CNC machining technology have benefitted this category of tools.

Industrial machinery manufacturing, including CNC machining companies, represents the largest source of machine tool demand. As Chinese companies that provide CNC machining services must meet a wide range of applications in different industries, particularly electronics and transportation, they often have significant machine tool requirements.

Demand for imported machine tools such as CNC milling tools is expected to rise 12.2% annually through 2012, with imported tools accounting for nearly 30% of total product demand by 2012, the report says. The call for imports rather than domestically made tools is due to the fact that domestic manufacturers are lagging behind requirements in high-end product categories, despite advances in manufacturing technologies. However, the report also predicts increased exports to countries such as India and some Southeast Asian countries due to improved production standards for machine tools such as CNC turning tools.