Archive for March, 2010

UK Budget 2010 – top 10 highlights

Mr Darling’s finished going through his budget now and there weren’t any huge surprises in there.

What are the key announcements?

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Free CD writing software for Windows 7

Thanks to the Crispy Tech web site HERE, for their concise summary of the free CD writing software available for Windows 7. Now that I have the 64 bit version installed, it’s not always easy to select the right software for the job and ensure it is fully compatible too. I read through their reviews and selected the CD Burner XP application which, despite its name, is fully functional for Windows 7 in 32 and 64 bit versions. I’ve downloaded it and used it burn a fault free data CD, and am thoroughly impressed with it. You can download it HERE directly.

Money Saving Expert – top tips

I’m a big fan of the Money Saving Expert web site and think Martin Lewis has done some excellent work in promoting consumer rights and delivering valuable information regarding finances, shopping and saving money in every way possible. One of the articles in today’s newsletter caught my eye – about cheap Hay Fever medication options. I know a few people who’d certainly benefit from this info, so I’ll be sending the link on to them shortly… In the meantime though, a quick summary is as follows:

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Pension boost ideas from Love Money

It’s not so much a hot topic these days, but it’s certainly something everybody should be thinking about… pensions! I saw this article on Love Money (HERE) about how to boost your pension by 27%. It sounds too good to be true – and, for most of us, it is… but for many mothers or other parents out there who haven’t made their full complement of NI contributions due to taking time out to look after the little ones, this simple tip could prove very worthwhile.

For the full weekly pension payment, the current requirement is for men to accrue 44 years and women 39 years of NIC’s by the time they retire, but from this year (6th April to be precise), it’ll be cut to 30 years for men and women. Anyway, follow the link to find out in more detail about this.

 

Can the Free Web Site model work?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now… and I’m wondering whether the Free Web Site model can really work. It was an advert in today’s Crain’s Manchester that got me thinking. It was an all-inclusive single price package for web site design, logo design and SEO work – all for the bargain price of £999. In my opinion, that seems a little steep…

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My Page Order WordPress plugin

What a great little plugin I’ve just found and used. It never ceases to amaze me how there are so many different plugins available to tweak and develop your site; they can do pretty much anything you want and the community involved with WordPress are fantastic at making these available too. My Page Order does exactly what it says on the tin. WordPress, by default, orders pages according to those that were most recently added. I prefer to have things in alphabetical order – and can see that in the future, as my site gets bigger, or I start implementing some of these systems for corporate sites, there’ll be a bigger demand for more static pages. To be able to have such flexible control over the order in which these display is invaluable. Thanks to the author for this one! Link: My Page Order

My WordPress links collection

Yes, there are many sites out there with lists of the ‘ultimate collection of WordPress themes’ or something similar, but there are quite a few of these – so knowing which ones to go to requires some coordination itself. So, that’s what I’ve done – again, it’s as much for my own reference as anyone else’s, because I’m constantly checking through the plugins, themes and tutorials needed to tweak this and the other blogs and sites that I manage. Anyway, the links are:

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Doctor’s room joke

They always ask at the doctor’s reception why you are there and you have to answer in front of others what’s wrong. Sometimes it is embarrassing. There’s nothing worse than a receptionist who insists you tell her what is wrong with you in a room full of other patients. I know most of us have experienced this, and I love the way this old guy handled it.

An 86-year-old man walked into a crowded waiting room and approached the desk…. The receptionist said, ‘Yes sir, what are you seeing the doctor for today?’

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What’s the difference between slander and libel?

It’s one of those terms that are often used interchangeably, but really, they mean different things.

It’s therefore important to understand the difference between the two.

The key difference relates to the form in which the defamatory matter is published.

Libel relates to a written or otherwise published, public defamation of someone or something.

Slander, on the other hand, relates to the spoken false defamation of a person or entity, and can also include gestures or sign language.

The main difference is that the publication of the offending material is fleeting in nature.

The UK Recruitment Industry – info sources & magazines

Working within the UK Recruitment Industry it’s important to stay abreast of developments that are going to affect you. It goes without saying that recruiters need to remain informed of the news that affects them within the sectors that they trade in, so there will be countless sector-specific news sources that will provide information such as this. However, it is also important to remain informed of developments that specifically affect the UK recruitment industry – whether it is government legislation, recruitment trends, market sentiment, new HMRC guidelines, or even just monitoring the competition. The following set of links are all useful sources of information for the UK recruitment industry; there are more, but these are the primary ones that I use.

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