Virtual living offers escapism – but where to?

The shift to online has not only meant efficiency and faster communication, but an array of options that seem to have begun to offer online users the option to withdraw from their realities and escape into an online world. Newsclip’s Analysis team thinks that we might be on the verge of losing the human touch. [...]

What’s your opinion on private web surfing during company time?

In an article titled, ‘The internet conundrum at work’, which appeared on the front page of last week’s Sunday Times Careers section, Margaret Harris explored the idea that employers are ‘enraged by private mailing and web surfing’, adding that drawing the line is not easy.
She states that while there’s no doubt the internet has revolutionised the office, [...]

Tips to stop procrastinating (from an editor)

If you’re like me, you often find yourself procrastinating, or jumping from task to task without getting anything done. In an attempt to fix this, I usually write a list of tasks to get done by a certain time frame – but my lists often become too complicated, that I end up with lists about [...]

“No speak-a da Engrish!”

As a lover of the English language, I must say that ‘Engrish’ mistakes – usually found in foreign hotels/ touristy areas – completely crack me up.
Ranging from misplaced ‘R’s and ‘L’s to completely nonsensical sentences, there is so much out there that it’s now becoming quite a hot topic, with a multitude of ‘Engrish’ emails [...]

Exposing the downside of email…

Is your work productivity affected by the constant need to check for new emails? If so, you`re probably increasing your own distraction by ‘just checking my email before starting the next task’ – especially if you do so between each and every minor activity that makes up your day. Merlin Mann of 43folders, a website dedicated [...]

Mind your networking manners

 It takes society longer to fully adapt to new technologies  than it takes to introduce them on a mass scale. It takes  time for norms for the use of new technologies to be  established, and until they become ‘unwritten rules’ or  etiquette, people generally apply habits formed using  older technologies to new technologies.
  This creates problems [...]

Know how with eHow

I stumbled across a fantastic site while browsing 5FM online. Called www.ehow.com (it’s not a South African site – the ‘e’ in ‘eHow’ stands for electronic!), it offers varied topics and interesting ‘how to’ tips. Whether you’d like to learn how to avoid insomnia; how to treat heat rash naturally; or how to behave at a wedding; eHow is the place to [...]

Before you forward that email…

Lately my inbox has been inundated with heavily-forwarded messages, filled with promises of new laptops and cellphones if I forward on to my bunch of unsuspecting friends; heart-wrenching pleas to donate money to children wasting away in hospital; and warnings of ATM fraud. Nothing grates my gherkin more, as many of these smack of hoax [...]