I was given this Sony Vaio laptop from our local LUG, it has Ubuntu on but I needed it for my accounts so dual booted Windows XP with the license stuck on the bottom. It's been a while since I've had a Windows laptop as I'm used to OS X on my iMac.
Most my friends chat on MSN messenger/Windows messenger/MSN/Windows Live Messenger (or whatever it is branded now) so I installed the Windows version. A few years ago the program was just an instant messenger for chatting to people, now it's so bloated I had to write this blog to highlight its problems.
As you can see almost 50% of the application interface is taken up by elements that have nothing to do with instant messaging! (Tabs can be hidden in the options but this is not default).
Compared to the Mac version there is so much bloat that detract from the original idea of the program.
Even though there are no search boxes, tabs or adverts the Mac version of the program remains highly usable and easy to use and look at.
I did a quick redesign in Fireworks of the Windows version to make it look better.
I've basically cut out all the crap - the program is back to its roots - for chatting to people online. All it needs now is some brushed aluminium.......
This article is going to look at how you can make money on the Internet using a cash back website and online gambling. The site Quidco.com is not affiliated with ImAFish in any way and your personal experiences may not reflect that of mine.
Gambling is one of Britain’s favourite pass times as well as being a lucrative business. It’s not uncommon to hear in the news how gambling has ruined peoples lives or is a sin. The truth is that if done carefully gambling on the Internet can make you some cash as well as being a lot of fun. Don’t expect millions but a few hundred £££ or thousand isn’t too hard to achieve.
The website Quidco.com is a cash back website; basically you buy your goods or services by clicking a link to their site through Quidco. For example I want to buy a DVD, I find the DVD on play.com, go to Quidco, click the play.com link, buy my DVD then earn 2% back. This may not sound much but I recently brought a laptop off Dell through Quidco earning me almost £20 back, if you do it for everything you buy it will soon mount up. 
Quidco has thousands of affiliates including insurance, supermarkets, holidays and mobile services. The reason companies make cash back available to Quidco is because it comes from their marketing budget. Companies know that they have to spend a certain amount per customer to attract them in, so one way to attract new customers is to offer incentives through sites like Quidco.The real money making through Quidco is done through online gambling sites.
A lot of the Gambling offers will give you between £10 - £70 in cash back if you spend and gamble a certain amount (normally between £5 - £20), so instantly you have made the difference in profit. They can do this because getting you signed up on their website is much more important than your initial spend, they have the idea that once you are signed up (and maybe win) that you will go back again and spend more money.
The trick here is to have the discipline not too! Sign up to the website, wager the required amount (hopefully make some money) then withdraw it into your account. The cash back might not sound much for signing up but once you have done a few of these offers they soon mount up. (The offers change all the time the best I got was £70 for signing up and spending £10). Also if you wager your money on simple games such as roulette the chances are that you will be able to win some money back.So to recap, you click a link through Quidco, wager the required amount (say £10) then get cash back (say £20) instantly making a profit (£10 in this example). While you wager that required amount (our £10) you have a chance of making more money (as you are gambling it on games like roulette or bingo).A good site to start off with is Cyberslotz.
1. Sign up to Quidco.
2. Search for Cyberslotz (£20 cash back) in Quidco.
3. Sign up then deposit £5.
4. Immediately withdraw that £5 as you are given a £5 bonus. So you have got your £20 in cash back then have got £5 to play with (you can’t withdraw this bonus).
5. Now play any game you fancy, I recommend roulette as it’s easy to learn and quite easy to win on.
6. Hopefully you will win and will be able to withdraw more money.It will probably have taken you 20-30mins to do this but hopefully you have had some fun and made a bit of money in cash back. Now go back to Quidco and look under sports and leisure for other online gambling sites to sign up and make some money with. The more you sign up to and gamble with the more you are likely to win higher amounts on.
Cash back will often take 2-3 months to come through as Quidco has to get this money off the website and put it into your account. Payments are then made monthly into a PayPal account (so you need to sign up with PayPal too).From my personal experience I have made a couple hundred £££ in cash back then a further few hundred £££ from winning on online gambling sites. I seem to be especially lucky with bingo and it’s always good fun.
Remember if you win a bit of money just withdraw it, these sites are designed so that the chances of you making any real money are really low. It’s like playing the lottery, the actual chances of you getting the jackpot is so small yet still millions of people play it every week.With most of these sites once you deposit £5 or £10 you are making this back in cash back so you’re not actually playing with your own money. It’s a very easy way to make money online and have a bit of fun in the process.Post below any questions or how much you have made (pls dontate me a propotion of the winnings!)
If you like this article you can also make good money through Adsense.Read part 2 of this article >>
I almost had a heart attack when I got a message through about my phone bill this month - a huge £683.78!
Fortunately after a quick phone call to T-Mobile it was sorted to more suitable figure - it turns out my Web and Walk (unlimited data) hadn't been added to my account. So what should have cost £7.50 instead cost about £650.
It's lucky I had the bill before it was direct debited from my account!
Managing a healthcare facility is not that easy. As a hospital manager, you must ensure that everything runs swiftly and that each worker is at the right place at the right time. Ensuring that everything works seamlessly and efficiently can be a bit challenging if the hospital lacks a proper workforce scheduling system.
You are likely to record low labour utilization without proper hospital scheduling software in place. In this post, we let you know the significance of having a reliable workforce scheduling system for your hospital.
Why every hospital should have a workforce scheduling system
Staffing in a hospital is a big problem because sometimes it is not easy to predict how much time the doctor will take attending to a patient. An operation may last longer than you expect, thereby affecting other appointments in line for a doctor.
In short, it is necessary that managers in every healthcare facility to use scheduling software to assign their workers tasks so that they can make adjustments if any may emerge during their workers’ service delivery.
Automated scheduling is faster
With a computerized workforce scheduling software, staff scheduling only takes minutes with just a click of a button. Workers do not have to call human resources to know their shifts and working hours.
The software sends push-notification on the employee’s phone immediately. Once the employee completes a shift, the application can notify them of available patients they should attend to. It makes it faster for employees to cover more shifts.
Reduced worker absenteeism
The demand for healthcare services is unpredictable. That means a hospital should always have enough workers anytime. When staff members show up at the right time, there is an increase in patient satisfaction.
With reliable workforce schedule software, workers can easily request day-offs, and the scheduling department will assign other workers overtime to replace them. The process is automatic and ensures the hospital has the required staff number to for any patient emergencies.
Easy retrieval of employee information
Workforce scheduling software makes it easier for the work scheduling department in the hospital to retrieve employee information. For instance, when there is an emergency, and the hospital needs workers off duty to report to work, the scheduling software can send messages to all employees faster. Calling every employee will take a lot of time.
Reduced labour cost
A hospital is likely to spend a lot of money to set up a reliable work scheduling system. However, the benefits of having the system in place outweigh the cost. The system quickly forecasts the demand for hospital staffing through real-time analytics.
It automates everything and gives the hospital manager more time to concentrate on other essential duties. The hospital gains a competitive advantage with more time allocated to creating a better patient experience and improving worker’s productivity.
Need for compliance
With reliable work scheduling software, the hospital can easily adjust to all the changing labour regulations. It is easy for the scheduling department to meet all the compliances for working hours and overtime. The hospital saves on the cost of hiring a compliance manager.
Final thought
Scheduling software is a must-have for any healthcare facility because of the complex nature of their services. Staffing a hospital takes time that every manager should look forward to saving to improve patient satisfaction. With a convenient workforce scheduling system in place, the hospital can ensure it is more flexible to the unpredictable healthcare service demand.
The traditional pen and paper scheduling cannot cope with the complexities of hospital worker scheduling. Therefore, every hospital should look forward to having a superior hospital scheduling software to ensure their patients quality healthcare.
Many people dream of winning the lottery even though it seems impossible for them. What they don’t understand is that winning the lottery can be a lot of work. While some people are lucky, others have to work hard to get everything they need, and you have come across people who put in so much time to analyze the lottery. Other than analyzing the lottery, there are different simple ways to win the lottery, and they include;
1. Knowing Your Lucky Numbers
Believe it or not, lucky numbers are real, and if they were not, then the word could not have existed. Knowing your lucky numbers is important because you will always remember to play them. This will make it quick for you to follow up on the draw.
Using quick pick numbers is also not a bad idea. The only problem is, many people forget these numbers because they are computer-generated. If you had played the lotto and misplaced your tickets somewhere when you used quick pick numbers, you will never know if you won or not.
2. Keep Playing
The more you play the lottery, the more conversant you become with the game. Serious lottery players never get rid of their tickets. Instead, they refer to them while taking note of the winning numbers for the particular draw.
By playing regularly, your subconscious mind also gets deeply involved in picking lottery numbers, and this goes a long way to increase your winning chances. The more times you participate in the lottery, the higher your winning chances, which bring us to the next point.
3. Get Extra Tickets
When buying lotto tickets, you might want to consider getting more than one entry to a draw. Many people believe that if your first ticket does not win, then the second one might and so on. This explains why some people spend so much money on lottery tickets.
More tickets mean more chances of playing the lottery even though some people don’t see the need. However, getting extra tickets can increase your chances of winning the lottery, especially if it is backed up with other tips.
4. Don’t Play Every Week
Playing the lotto can be addictive, and the fact that there is so much money at stake, some people are addicted to this game. The problem with getting addicted to playing the lotto is that it can become costly and frustrating if you never get lucky. You don’t want to get frustrated when playing lotto because you will end up struggling to win when the game is meant to be fun.
5. There is More to Playing the Lottery than the Mega Jackpot
Many people participate in lotto because of the jackpot involved. What many of them have not realized is that it takes so long to win the mega prize. People who are serious about making money from playing lotto focus on low jackpots and only play on specific draws. Don’t forget that with lotto, it is easier to win the small money compared to the mega jackpot.
6. Avoid Playing in a Particular Pattern
Unless you have realized a pattern in your lotto draws, never attempt to play using a specific number selection pattern. Some people shade they lottery ticket numbers in a particular pattern like X or circle. The problem with this idea is, there are high chances of someone else doing the same thing, and in case you win, it is most likely that you will split your rewards with one or more people.
7. Don’t Select Consecutive Numbers
This is common sense, but you never know what the winning number can be even though there are minimal chances that they could be consecutive numbers. According to experts, if your lotto draw has five numbers, for example, and only go to 55, then the total value of your five numbers should lie somewhere between 104 and 175.
Conclusion
Many people say it takes luck to win the lottery, but the same cannot be said for people who have an impressive winning history. While luck plays a significant role in winning the lottery, you can always minimize the chances of coming out of a lotto draw empty-handed even if you don’t get to walk away with the jackpot.