The UK’s ICT infrastructure is better than much of the rest of the world’s, but connectivity is badly distributed throughout the country. Whilst London and the southeast generally have fast internet access, some of the outlying regions and rural areas are still stuck with the old telephone network’s copper cables for their infrastructure. Consequently speeds can be down to the ‘dial up’ rates of a decade or more back. Next generation access involves enhancing these phone networks – which were never intended to support high-bandwidth internet traffic – to fibre-optic cables which are capable of transmitting enormous volumes of data very quickly. The problem is that such upgrades are costly, and companies are not always able to make the investment. However, this means that whole areas can be stuck with slow internet access. Given the significance of the web for business, personal communication and life in general today, this is problematic. One solution is community broadband.

Community broadband is a way of drawing groups of people together and sharing connections between them. These are locally-organised movements aimed at addressing ‘not spots’ – those areas that today have little or no connectivity. They are often administrated by social enterprises or not-for-profit groups and are therefore cost-effective. There have already been some exceptional success stories, with tens or hundreds of thousands of people in some places connected to the high-speed web. This obviously comes with many benefits, not least that e-commerce now accounts for a non-trivial amount of GDP; good internet access is viewed as a prerequisite for the economic recovery which is currently elusive.

Communications technology is fast-moving. Only a few years ago it was almost inconceivable to browse the internet on a smartphone – the mobile phone revolution is itself less than 20 years old. Whilst this makes some organisations (and individuals) wary about upgrading – the new technology may fast become obsolete itself – it also means that those without next generation access are being left behind, reliant on phone wiring that were never intended to handle the load that is currently demanded of them. The UK’s ICT infrastructure is patchy, and large areas – particularly remote places – have very slow access. Community broadband is a way of addressing this and bringing equality of speed to the country. This will be fundamental both to economic recovery and addressing the north/south divide in terms of web access.

Please visit http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/ for further info

Graduate jobs are difficult to come by in today’s economic climate, with NEETs (those not in education, employment or training) taking the brunt of unemployment. Employers have cut back on posts as well as the scope of any graduate scheme they might have, reflecting the harsh realities of the savings they are having to make to stay solvent. Many companies are still running an internship programme, which can be a brilliant way to move into a job. However, internships must be considered with care, since they differ hugely in quality and purpose.

In the worst case, an internship is just an employer’s way of securing cheap labour. Under the pretence of teaching you about your chosen industry, they can essentially exploit their interns. The change in the law that requires companies to pay interns at least the minimum wage has reduced this problem slightly, since they still have to get value for money out of those who come to work for them. However, there is still the problem of widely differing expectations. Lots of interns arrive in their new place of work, only to find that their employer has taken the idea far less seriously than they have. In these cases, an internship is little more than a way of marking time.

In the best cases, though, internships can be outstanding learning experiences. They will often lead to a permanent position in the relevant industry or the company itself, and it is worth ensuring at the beginning if this is a possibility. This fact alone will often enable you to find those who want to prepare you for working in the sector, and those who are just looking for cheap workers. Larger employers with well-organised schemes are usually reasonable bets. However, smaller employers can be goldmines, since they offer great opportunities for getting to know the whole of an organisation. If you are uncertain, read any reviews you can find or ask previous interns. Feedback is often kept on university careers sites.

An internship is one way into graduate jobs, and may be an option in a climate where the graduate scheme market is more restricted than it was a few years ago. Nevertheless, you should not give up on these. Start early, and cast your net wide to maximise your opportunities. You can always turn down offers you get if you later think you don’t really want them. What you don’t want is to find yourself in the position of so many other NEETs: finishing university, with no job or internship lined up, and no immediate hope of finding something you really want to do.

Please visit http://www.careerplayer.com/

Document processing is the conversion of physical documents – whether already typed and printed, or hand-written – into electronic ones. This is carried out by a variety of means, including simple scanning and conversion to pdf, optical character recognition and intelligent character recognition, amongst others. The benefit of this is that the files created as a result can be uploaded to a document management system, allowing for far greater flexibility in their subsequent use, sharing and so on. It can also be used to transform invoice processing, so that instead of manual copies being made the whole system can be automated – with benefits in terms of efficiency, time scales and budgeting.

Document processing has come a long way in the last decade or so. Previously, there was no realistic way for physical letters and memos to be converted to Word documents; instead the best that could be achieved was a scanned image. These took up a lot of disk space (at a time when storage was more expensive and far more limited) and, of course, could not be edited. Now, optical character recognition (OCR) has come of age. Intelligent character recognition (ICR) is a development of this, and can even be used to decipher handwriting and turn it into an electronic file. This typically uses a neural network and ‘learns’ to understand handwriting as it goes along. This means that initial results may be quite poor, although when the system is properly ‘taught’ it can result in 97 percent accuracy – with obvious efficiencies available, especially if such documents would usually be transcribed by staff.

The type and sophistication of document processing that you opt for will depend on your budget and needs of your organisation – obviously a smaller outfit with fewer documents will probably not benefit from the most expensive and extensive form of ICR. However, document management is an important step in bridging the gap between current practices and truly paperless offices. Although emails are easily the most popular form of written communication, plenty of people still use notes and letters, and many documents are sent through the post. These can all-too-easily be lost or mislaid if they are not carefully tracked. The same is true of invoices, but invoice processing can bring your procedures for physical invoices in line with those submitted by bacs and other electronic means. This makes for far greater efficiency and fewer mistakes.

Please visit http://www.bottomline.co.uk/

The United Arab Emirates is an amazing destination to visit these days. For many, in fact, a one-off visit is not sufficient and after spending a couple of weeks here some people get the itch to return for a longer period of time. Evidently, making several return trips would be an expensive undertaking requiring extra leave to be granted from jobs back home. If you’re set to leave your job, however, or are currently unemployed, why not combine work with travel and settle into one of many hotel jobs Dubai? Meanwhile, the Persian Gulf represents an area that remains unexplored by the majority of Western citizens. So why not tread new ground and try your luck with one of the hotel jobs gulf also on offer? And for anyone with a greater yearning for Far Eastern experiences, hospitality jobs Singapore could be just up your street. (Your chewing gum free street no less, since Singapore is well known for being one of the cleanest cities in the world.)

For those not yet up to speed, Dubai is a burgeoning focal point of artistic activity. It is the capital city of the MENASA (Middle East/North Africa/South Asia) in fact, because Art Dubai art fair has become a dominant power in the art market of this region. Every March for the past five years, gallerists, artists, programmers and amateurs have been flocking to Dubai in their droves. So, if you work in one of the nearby hotels, it is highly likely that the week of the art fair will be a busy time. More tips will be coming your way and during your time off you can go and see the latest contemporary art projects and exhibitions. Abu Dhabi has been similarly gaining from a newly thriving artistic scene, with plans well underway for a Guggenheim and a Louvre museum to open, so hotel jobs Gulf offer just as many advantages.

For the less art-oriented sorts hospitality jobs Singapore could be just as fantastic as hotel jobs Dubai and hotel jobs gulf. For one thing, you have the impressive array of new foods to sample here. The cuisine differs greatly from the offerings found in the Eastern eateries of the UK where the diversity of particular countries often goes ignored. Singapore, for example, has an amazing cuisine based on the idea of hybridization, or blending of influences from Chinese and Malay cultures in what is known as the Peranakan style.

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The brise soleil, first created by Le Corbusier in first part of the last century, is a relatively simple sun-shading structure that is added to buildings (or else integrated in the initial design and construction). Its purpose is to adjust the amount of sunlight reaching a surface, often a large glass façade, thereby ensuring that temperatures stay within a comfortable range inside. They take various forms and levels of complexity, with some of the more intricate versions providing visual appeal to a building as well as a useful function. The commonest simple forms are horizontal constructions that are attached to the vertical face of a building and prevent some sunlight from hitting the surface. Other similar approaches are glass louvres – with various types of finish and in different formats – or other kinds of external louvres.

The huge variety of designs and materials used in the manufacture of louvres can make for some truly interesting approaches. For example, glass louvres can be coated with reflective material or tinted to refract light and reduce glare within the building. However, these can also be combined with photovoltaic (PV) cells, a type of solar panel. This means that not only are you not impacted by the unpleasantly high levels of sunlight in the building, but that sunlight is converted into a useful form of energy. This makes the office space more comfortable, and reduces bills – as well as being more environmentally sound. There are therefore a range of reasons to opt for louvres as a climate-control choice. An increasing number of buildings are being designed with these in mind from the start.

The brise soleil is the most basic of the choices you can take for controlling the amount of passive heating a room or face of a building receives. It is generally also the cheapest option as a result. It can be retro-fitted, although in many cases will be part of the design – some of the most well-known buildings in the world incorporate a brise soleil in their make-up. Glass louvres and other variations of external louvres (such as aluminium) offer greater flexibility and some truly imaginative design features. They also offer the opportunity to incorporate solar cells into them, allowing you to generate power as well as keep the building cooler. The one you go for will depend on a number of things, including your budget and the size and nature of the space you need to cover. Some firms specialise in fitting louvres to existing buildings, whereas if you are starting from scratch there is more scope for integrating them into the building’s appearance.

Please visit http://www.maplesunscreening.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

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Using bacs software for all your business’s financial transactions conveys greater reliability to your operations, a more even cashflow and makes instant cost savings on paraphernalia such as cheque stationary and postage costs. Bacs can be used to pay wages and salaries, for supplier payments, refunds, pensions, dividends, employee expenses and insurance settlements, covering every expenditure needs of any size of organisation. What is more, bacs payments profit both payer and payee.
For the payer, bacs cuts down on administration costs and time spent banking. Sorting, preparing and collating cheques is a time-consuming task, not to mention meeting relevant remittance advice – whereas using bacs to create and authorise a payment is simple and inexpensive. Bacs payments also give the payer greater command over cashflow management, so that the payer always knows exactly when the payment leaves their account. Thanks to this constantly up-to-date information, you can make your money work for you right up until the moment it leaves your account.

By generating only a single debit from your account on a specified date, the need to track individual payments is eliminated. As well as cutting down on reconciliation, bacs payments augment efficiency and put you, the payer, in the position of being able to agree more favourable payment terms.
As a payee, bacs software makes your life much less complicated. Organisations that pay using this system tend to pay earlier than those who do not use bacs. They also tend to be more dependable, as they rely less on more fallible human handling of payments. On top of being reliable, its is more secure than cheques and cash, which are more liable to go missing.

Like the payer, as a bacs payee you will save time handling and banking cheques and cash – with bacs, the money goes directly into your account electronically. Cashflow is smoother, as payments immediately appear as cleared funds, ready to be withdrawn directly. And all this efficiency means you’ll earn interest earlier, too.

In conclusion, bacs software can really provide you with dependable solutions to sluggish financial transactions, greatly narrowing the margin for error, easing cashflow and saving time. For both payer and payee, bacs payments are faster and smoother, which leads to other benefits, such as negotiating potential and early interest. To make the most effective use of your finance resources, bacs provides a solution and more.

Please visit http://www.bottomline.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

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Job hunting on the computer can seem like a mammoth task.  There are so many vacancies advertised every day on thousands of different sites, so to find the right job, it is necessary to do some careful thinking before getting started.  Whether you are looking for sales ledger manager jobs in London or accounts clerk jobs in Bedfordshire, the internet can be a job hunter’s best friend, as long as you know what to look for.  The typical internet jobseeker will be targeted by adverts delivering them all the top security jobs jobs london, or sales jobs jobs London.  These advertising companies place advertisements on your screen according to your previous activity, so every click could be leading you to the job of your dreams or further down the wrong path.

The most sensible way to start your job search is to begin with the location.  There is no point browsing through fantastic opportunities in Newcastle when what you are looking for is accounts clerk jobs in Bedforshire.  If you can locate recruitment websites specific to the area you are interested in, you will be much more likely to come across suitable vacancies.  Registering with these sites is advisable, as once the site has your details they are likely to send you frequent updates when vacancies that match your criteria are advertised.  This makes job hunting easier for even the laziest characters, as appropriate opportunities are delivered to your inbox on a regular basis.

If local recruitment agencies are not providing suitable opportunities, searching for jobs by sector may be a good idea.  Depending on whether you are interested in sales, security or accounts, there will be an agency or a website that specialises in jobs in your field of interest.  If you are not sure which one is the most reputable, it might be worth telephoning an organisation that you would like to work for, and enquiring as to where they tend to advertise vacancies.  They might be so impressed with your keenness that they call you in for an interview straight away.

Looking for work on the internet, then, need not be too stressful, as long as you avoid information overload.  Ensure you are not confused by the adverts that pop up offering you ‘security jobs jobs london’ or ‘sales jobs jobs London’, unless that is what you are actually looking for.  The world wide web enables you to define your search to precisely the sort of job you want, whether it be sales ledger manager jobs in London or accounts clerk jobs in Bedfordshire.

Please visit http://www.jobsfromblue.com/

Many articles communicating the demise of the UK high street have been surfacing of late. As rents in city centres seem expensive in comparison with larger spaces on the periphery it is little wonder that former business hubs have been emptying. This state of affairs is far from desirable of course and, now that the government have caught on, many an initiative is being launched to try and attract traders back to where they belong. One result of this is that shops for let in north London are being offered at competitive prices. The same goes for shop for sale in London and overall commercial property London.

For the young entrepreneur, renting could be an ideal option because the leasehold tends to be manageable; it’s possible to take for a short period of time until the business is confident of longer-lived success. More experienced retailers may on the other hand look at current incentives to return to local hubs and decide it is the ideal moment to think about lasting projects and buy their property. Web-based competition is obviously fierce: many people are sensibly tightening their purse strings and looking up the cheapest options from the comfort of their homes. However, recent news suggests that people greatly miss the social aspect of a thriving high street where they are not merely targets of advertising campaigns but valued customers and friends. At a time like this commercial property London is more valuable – and more valued – than perhaps ever before.

It is certainly worth noting that the internet cannot offer all experiences available on the high street. City centres are not only designed for shopping for material goods but also as places where friends and family can come together and enjoy each other’s company. Cafés, tea rooms, restaurants and bars can be the best sites for such meetings to take place. And these sites will never be recreated in the online realm. North London, in particular, is a perfect place for these kind of social eateries and drinking holes to set up. At a decent remove from the busiest shopping streets and theatres, some areas can even boast a village-like atmosphere with a truly calming influence. Coffee shops to rent in north london and a tea shop for sale in North London will thus gain real popularity among Londoners looking for relaxed and intimate environments. Indeed, with Hampstead Heath being one of the very calmest natural havens in this area, commercial property London in the North is really worth seizing now.

Please visit http://www.claridges-commercial.co.uk for further information about this topic.

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Although some regions of the country have a workable ICT infrastructure, in others the technology is years behind – which might as well be decades in such an important and fast-moving area. Next generation access might be an aspiration for the government, but it is far from the reality across Britain. Some rural areas have little or no broadband access, or rely on ancient copper cables capable of carrying only a fraction of the information demanded for the high-bandwidth use of a modern business, for example. Community broadband is one way that groups of people have been able to fix this reality, sometimes referred to as the ‘digital divide’.

The places where the ICT infrastructure is patchy are often called ‘notspots’ – the opposite of the ‘hotspots’ that are home to a concentration of wifi networks or broadband coverage. If you live in one of these then you are likely to struggle to get online. Although there are some solutions, these can be costly. Plus, some notspots are uncovered areas for mobile networks as well as broadband. This means that connecting via a smartphone is a problem, too.

That can be a real difficulty. Whereas some fifteen years ago internet access was considered unusual, or at least a luxury, now most people could not do without it – not without big changes to their lifestyles and company practices. We need email for quick, easy communication. We access information about goods and services on the web. Work often heavily depends on it. Businesses operate online, orders are placed and bills paid. Broadband access is a utility, like electricity or water. Not having it is a major disadvantage and represents a form of inequality.

Community broadband involves getting together with a group of other people in the same situation as you and gaining the next generation access that much of the rest of the country uses without thinking about it. The group may be a collection of local residents, who require faster internet access. Or it could be a cluster of businesses on the same site, who know that their operations would receive a real boost from a 21st century ICT infrastructure. There are firms who can take account of these needs and address them by installing the architecture needed to bring you up to speed. These initiatives may be subsidised or organised by the government, who recognise the importance of UK-wide coverage.

Please visit http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/

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