The Specter of Employees Past

Courtesy of  pixy.org

By Carl Weiss

Everyone has heard of the ghost in the machine, right? You know the one about the person who use to work at your company who did something that had a major impact on the way things work? Now everyone has to follow some rule or methodology just to make sure things go as planned. Their legacy, good or bad permanently changed things forever.  Well, today’s blog is a twist on that theme. We explore the problems that occur as the result of employees being fired or put out to pasture.  Like it or not, having to deal with the digital footprints left by former staffers can be problematic to say the least.  In the best case scenario, someone needs to be assigned to pick up where they left off in areas such as social networking, file management and even online security.  In the worst case, former employees have been known to rifle their employer’s server, plant malware or even lock their former bosses out of their own systems.  Before you start experiencing digital things that go bump in the night, let’s take a hard look at a number of cases involving the ghosts of employees past.

The Robots Are Coming - Are You Ready?

Will our New Bot's be our Buddies or cause us Robot Rage?

Courtesy of  en.wikipedia.org

By Carl Weiss

Is there a robot or android in your future? More importantly, what will the ultimate effect on society be once robots start taking over. How will what has until now, been a unique human experience change? Until recently, robots, (aka androids for star Trek fans or droids for Star Wars fans)  have for the most part been relegated to factories and the living room rug. But all that is about to change. A number of firms are currently making robots that are designed to work alongside us in warehouses, retail establishments and offices. More importantly, as these droids become more autonomous, will they slowly but surely push their human counterparts out of the picture altogether? Will their growing intelligence become a threat to the human species itself, as a number of scientists believe? Whether human beings embrace these automated assistants as a boon, or people begin to rage against the machines that were meant to help them, is still too soon to tell. Love them or hate them, join me today as I take a look at the rise of the robots in the 21st century.

The Basics of Biohacking

Hand with planned insertion point for
Verichip device (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Carl Weiss

Is your body letting you down?  How much time out of your daily schedule do you relinquish for exercise?  Are you tired of moving heaven and earth to support that bag of chemicals and water we call our bodies?  Do you wish you could enhance your senses or even add new capabilities to your existing body?  While this used to be the realm of science fiction only a few years ago, current and rapidly emerging technologies allow you to repair, replace or enhance that old bag of bones here and now.  In this week's Working the Web to Win blog, I will take you into the lab to explore bio-tech that is being used to repair, replace or enhance human beings.  I will also introduce you to a new cult of devotees who are ready, willing and able to undergo painful medical procedures to take the cyborg plunge and bio-hack their way to a better life. 

The Perils Inherent with Getting Away From it All

Courtesy of  morguefile.com

By Carl Weiss

It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to going on vacation for a week or so in order to get away from it all.  In years gone by, most people wouldn’t give it a second thought while packing their bags about being extra vigilant before and during their trip.  Sure, they might tell a friend or neighbor to pick up the mail.  Perhaps they would suspend delivery of the newspaper.  But that’s about all the thought that they’d give it.

Now that we life in the digital era, a little extra effort needs to be taken before heading for the airport, unless we want our trip to be ruined before it even begins.  In fact, savvy travelers not only use the Internet to shop for the best travel deals, they also use it to check out their intended destination from the comfort of their homes. 

How to Create Your Unique Selling Proposition (AKA USP)

By Hector Cisneros

We live in a very competitive world. The business environment has undergone a sea change that has ushered in worldwide communications, international sales, instant access to unlimited product research and global reviews of anything that is sold. So how are businesses going to compete in this environment? The way I see it, all businesses have only a few choices. From a regional perspective, they can either compete globally or locally.  They also have to compete by either try to sell a product or service as a commodity, or they can move to a less competitive niche environment.