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Can any news be bad news?If a company is analysing market headlines about themselves is it easier to react to positive or negative comment? Whilst good reviews are always encouraging sometimes it's adversity which forces greater solutions, deeper insight and constructive change. The ongoing expense saga is one of many examples which will see an out of date system restructured for the better, due to bad publicity (surely they can't make it any worse?!). So is tracking opinion important? The answer is a resounding yes. Working a lot with financial sector news I see an abundance of new offers, rate changes and updated personal finance products. Whilst it's important to keep up with this sort of activity one of the most fascinating parts of breaking news is to witness how different outlets break the story. Stories form news, news forms opinion. An increase in mortgage rates might be necessary, it might be fitting with the current market, it might even still be the cheapest mortgage rate around, but if a journalist describes it as a 'shocking hike' or similar, the consumer's hackles will instantly be raised. As frustrating as this situation maybe, it is still a situation that needs addressing and being knowledgeable on exactly what's been said gives a distinct advantage to those dealing with the negativity. It provides a chance to fight back without being caught off guard. Whilst facts are facts news items can provide many more valuable layers, layers which can not afford to be missed. To learn more about tracking markets go www.artesiansolutions.com
The More the Merrier The future of Internet search has come into debate this week after both Google and Professor Wolfram announced semantic driven developments that seek to understand queries and respond to them more precisely. Despite Google's commendable dominance in the search engine world to this point, let's be honest, customer loyalty and search engines do not go hand in hand because at the end of the day, it's about finding an answer, not the route you took to get it. If someone asks round the office for the time they'll listen to whoever answers the quickest. Monday saw 'Wolfram Alpha' step into the ring and strap up their gloves with the intention of changing 'the search'. It claims to cut out the middle man. Rather than direct you to answers, it attempts to provide them, using a variety of related subjects. The example they give is a search for 'Manchester weather' returning a graph of average temperatures, rainfall and other data for the area. Put simply, if you pulled over the car looking for directions, Google would point you in the path of a local information centre whilst Wolfram Alpha, like a helpful villager, would offer their best stab at the right route ('oh, I know where you mean, that's up by Bill's house I think.').Will it change the search? Absolutely, but it will take time. Companies such as Artesian are already proving it is possible to *find without search* and semantic technologies are fast becoming more and more intelligent. Though it may be a while before Wolfram Alpha are serious contenders for the world title, they’re certainly in the right training for the fight. To see how the semantic web can be your online business Sat Nav visit www.artesiansolutions.com
A costly expense In a week which has exposed MP's claiming for cleaners, swimming pool repairs and moat upkeep (....moat upkeep, come on!) it is understandable to be a little bit peeved off with all things government. Now it is out in the open, words will be said, accusations thrown, and slowly but surely action will be taken on that oh so horrible system that forced politicians to exploit it for years. But what I found interesting about this story is simply the length of time it has gone unnoticed. Let's not forget, pending investigations and inquires, nothing illegal took place here. No one cheekily tried to sneak a claim under the radar. Douglas Hogg, MP, didn't hurdle security on the day he strolled into parliament and waited politely for someone to give his moat expense form the green stamp. The fact is, it was right there for everyone to see, but no one took notice. In a world where information is so easy to come by, where news outlets continue to throw 'pandemics', 'terror' and 'crisis' our way, it is very easy to miss stories simply from weight of volume. Yes, now it's out in the open the system will change and government will be forced to take action, but talk about shutting a gate after the horse has bolted. This could have been stopped a long time ago, before it became common practise, before the claims were leaked and before a complete loss in public confidence. If someone was keeping score, this week's news may have been far less damaging. For more information on why tracking you're industry can be a vital tool visit www.artesiansolutions.com
The hunter becomes the hunted
This morning I was confronted by one of the many horrors of waking up. Having just about recovered the ability to stumble in a straight line I opened the fridge door to discover an empty bottle of milk. Now to some this could sound like making a mountain out of a mole hill, but discovering empty milk is always the first sign of a horrendous day.Marching to the shops, with dressing gown disguised under a large rain jacket (not my proudest moment) the time was passed thinking of things that annoy me as much as the milk march. There was a clear pattern. Everything on my list involved searching for or retrieving something. Some of the contenders included:- Shopping- The hunt for lost items such as keys/phone/generally anything smaller than me- Trying to remember where the car is parked - Queuing- Knowing an answer to a question but not knowing where it's filed in the brain- Being completely lost in the middle of nowhere (or worse still London)- Being told to 'Google it'As I paid for the only milk bottle left on the shelves (worryingly titled 'sort of skimmed') I concluded to myself, why search for something when you don't need to? Why retrieve something when it will come to you? How much happier would I be sitting in warmth, eating cereal and getting on with more important things safe in the knowledge I never need to do this walk again? The answer, for anyone who hasn't been out at 7am sporting a dressing gown/rain jacket combo, is a lot.
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Be prepared
Whilst this long weekend will be the perfect opportunity for most to relax and put their feet up it also incorporates the last day of the football season, which for sad cases such as myself, will result in pain, agony and unbearable tension for a ninety minute period of Saturday afternoon. I will never understand why I pay for this experience but the simple fact is that I do and therefore I just have to get through it as smoothly as possible. The scenario is not a pleasant one. Win and we're promoted, lose and we're not. It is a strange feeling to spend 45 painstaking Saturdays of a year trying to achieve a goal only to be left with such a winner takes all situation on the final day but alas that is the situation we find ourselves in and therefore we must deal with it. It can obviously go two ways. If we're winners we'll turn up thoroughly prepared for the game, tactically aware of absolutely everything the other team can throw at us. We'll know whose quick, whose slow, which centre half is already thinking about their summer holidays and who left their lucky boots at home. If we're losers we'll turn up thinking the hard work is done and the job in hand is simply a case of going through motions. The second I see our full back staring quizzically at their right winger as if to say 'so what do you do?' is the second I head for the pie van and prepare for next season. To be completely and utterly prepared in such a pressurised situation is the only way to come out on top. All I can hope, is that my team know this, otherwise Saturday could be somewhat of a write off. For more information on researching please grab a free download of 'The seven behaviours of high performing sales people
