Clouds Over the Capitol
“The budget deficit” and “cloud computing” are two buzzwords that we hear all the time, but could they possibly be connected? We all know about the growing budget deficit; it blows through America’s economy like a dark wind. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it topped 1.3 trillion for the 2011 fiscal year. Yes, that’s...
Social Media Engagement Strategy
There’s no question that social media has transformed how businesses try to engage and connect with consumers. While this presents numerous advantages, such as the ability to directly advertise products or services on the cheap, perhaps no benefit is as unique as the trove of consumer data that can be harvested from social networking platforms....
How LinkedIn Can Aid in Your Job Search
When you finish your education and begin searching for a job, an important tool you have at your disposal is professional networking. Making connections with other professionals in your field can generate job leads and help you impress potential employers. The more professional connections you forge, the easier it will be for you to land...
Bringing a Face to Your Company: How Video Helps
While the web is dominated by new marketing technologies, the basic art of storytelling is still alive and well. Nothing accomplishes the two-fold goal of effective communication and customer engagement like the medium of video. Any type of business benefits from a more audiovisual approach to web marketing. Not only because video is an attractive...
Small Business Growth in the Cloud
I’ve spent the better part of twenty years owning and running small business in New Zealand and, while I’d never consider myself an “IT person”, I still had to have significant involvement in maintaining all the varied IT systems that small businesses need. From telephone systems to software, from servers to data backup, the range...
What’s Coming in 2012?
People are meeting even now in convention centers in Manhattan, in downtown Chicago hotels and in far-off meeting rooms in Hong Kong and Japan to discuss the emerging tech trends of 2012. I happened to be staying in Chicago this weekend to talk to some people that I know who are putting together a start-up...
Taking Another Look At Google Fresh
Google's early November algorithm update, commonly called Google Fresh, is another step towards Google's goal of providing the most helpful, relevant search results to users. By focusing on the timeliness of search items, Google is hoping to clear its search results pages of the cobwebs and dust bunnies of years-old content that constantly plagues searchers...
Google Encrypts User Keywords
In today’s Internet marketing world, companies must implement a broad portfolio of strategies to succeed online. Social media is rapidly accelerating in importance, while email marketing is still a reliable strategy. The huge industry that has developed around the online coupon craze –contenders like Groupon, Facebook Deals, and Google Offers–represents an increasingly effective way for...
Death Match: Verizon vs. Net Neutrality
The net neutrality debate has been raging for some time now, but the FCC's adoption of official net neutrality rules in December 2010 have fanned the flames, prompting action from both sides. The rules, created to protect consumers, will not allow communications companies to block traffic on the Internet, whether the company runs a wired...
“Yelp is just jealous”: reflections on the Anti-Trust Case against Google
There’s been a lot of controversy lately around the issue of Google’s supposed monopoly over the Search Engines and thus--by a deductive extension that I’m not sure is warranted--of all internet traffic and thus a large portion of the American economy (a deduction which is statistically warranted). To investigate this matter...
Facebook’s New Platform: “They Know Everything Now”
Spotify users are angry about the new requirement to register their Facebook profiles, especially since Rdio and MOG have not added this requirement (yet). It seems mystifying at first: why would Spotify risk alienating their users in this way? Until we take a 30,000 foot view of the situation. Rhapsody, the music streaming service that...
Creating a Portfolio Website
Portfolio websites can be a great way to show your work off to potential employers. Some are just a resumé, but others include a variety of things. People with IT degrees can include photos of websites they’ve built and lists of systems they’ve worked on. They may even include an example of a problem they...