NEWS FOR EVERY1.COM

How to start a freelance career

2012-11-16T02:52:00.000-08:00

As a freelancer I often have to dispel the myth that I spend my days in pyjamas, flitting between daytime TV and writing the odd article.

The reality of most freelance careers is a multi-discipline role involving a wide range of skills, from client management and accounting to strategic planning and marketing. So how do you prepare for the plunge into life as a freelancer?
There are currently around 1.6 million freelancers working in the UK, according to data from freelance association,PCG, with a 12% increase since 2008.

It leads to a far happier workforce, according to a survey by accountancy firm SJD, in which over two thirds (77%) of people said they found being a contractor or freelancer more satisfying than being an employee, with less than 10% saying they would go back to permanent employment if they were offered the chance.

The benefits are clear with 84% of respondents enjoying higher rates of pay, 70% the flexibility contracting offers, 65% greater freedom and just over a third citing the kudos of being viewed as an industry expert as important. So if you are serious about adjusting the work-life balance and being your own boss, what steps do you need to take?

Make a plan
Starting a freelance career is not something to do on a whim. It requires careful planning to ensure you are ready to make the change, both professionally and financially.

Draw up a household budget to work out how much income you need to sustain your lifestyle and talk it through with your partner if you are likely to need their financial support in the beginning. Be aware that you will be giving up a secure monthly salary for what may be an irregular income from potentially short contracts or sporadic jobs.

If possible, make a gradual transition from full-time employment, advises Jon Norris, editor ofFreelance Advisor and Crunch Accounting: "It may mean a few months of hard work as you work your 9-to-5 during the day and freelance in the evening, but it will allow you to build up a client base and steady income before you cut the employment cord."

Build a financial buffer
Make the most of your current full-time position to build up savings before you make the leap. A fund equal to around six months salary is the ideal size buffer, but aim to save as much as you can.

"Freelancing can be a fickle game, and clients can come and go with surprising frequency," says Norris. "If you run into financial trouble in the first few months of freelancing, an emergency stash of money can be the difference between life and death for your new enterprise. "

Start networking
Building strong contacts is vital to a successful freelance career and should be a top priority both during full-time employment and once you leave. An industry friend helped PR & social media consultant Clare Homer make the decision to go freelance in July.

"After eight years in the industry I had grown bored of my in-house PR role and wanted a new challenge. At the time, my friend, who is a business coach, was launching a new app and said he could offer me regular work and advice. This was just the boost I needed to set off and start my own business, CfHMedia."

A proactive approach to networking is key, explains Clare. "I researched potential clients, contacted them about my services and asked for a call or meeting. If I just waited for clients to knock on the door, then I'd still be in the same job. I make a conscious effort to network online and at events and it's invaluable."

It is also worth speaking to the specialist agencies in your industry, advises Matthew Huddleston, chief financial officer of FPS Group. "Find out what kind of contracts might be available, whether you are suitable for them, and how much you can earn."

Get organised
If your freelance career sees you working from home, it can be tempting to lie-in and knock-off early. However the novelty will likely wear off after week or two, when you may find yourself working longer hours in order to meet client deadlines and earn the income you need to live on.

Creating a routine and structured working day from the outset is key. The bonus is that you can pick your own hours. Cake maker Marian Shaw, works around her children, by starting her day at 5.30am and dropping off orders after the school run. "I then have a second 'shift' and drop off the next batch of orders before I pick the kids up," explains Marian. "I have been doing this three days a week for the past year and it is working really well. I have to be strict with my time but it is worth it to be there for my children."

When the work is done, arranging payment requires rigorous organisation. "An unexpected shortfall in cashflow is the number one killer of new businesses, so do everything you can to get paid and get paid on time," says Norris. "Set strict 30-day payment terms on your invoices and include late payment penalties in your contracts and enforce them where necessary."

Know your worth
Being able to set your own rate of pay and keeping the money for yourself is one of the major perks of working freelance. However, setting this rate is one of the hardest things to do. You will be charging for your time and services – so it is crucial not to undersell yourself and work for less than you deserve, as well as not set your rate too high and price yourself out of work.

Industry research is vital to determine the right rate for you and your clients. Large corporate companies are likely to have bigger budgets for example, while small businesses and fellow freelance clients are probably working on tight budgets – so it makes sense to set your rates accordingly.

Experience should play a part in determining your rate too. So newbies for example, should consider dropping your rate a little to attract work, with the knowledge that you can increase it once you have built up a portfolio.

The state of the economy is also a major factor at the moment. In a survey of contractors byThe Pulse Umbrella Group, almost three-quarters (73%) are confident about the demand for their skills in 2012, yet only 16% expect to see their fees increasing this year, and over half (53%) would consider reducing their rates to get work if they had to.

Could you make £60k a year from pub quiz machines?

2012-11-13T06:43:00.000-08:00

Christian Drummond, a 40-year-old from Brighton, is in the headlines today after claiming to make up to £60,000 a year playing pub quiz machines. His incredible knowledge of trivia means that as he trawls over 10,000 pubs and nightclubs he can make up to £60 an hour.

So can we follow his example?

Good money

Drummond told his story in the Daily Mail today. It's an enviable income. He has made a small fortune from the machines, which put him through an English Literature degree at Sussex University, paid for his wedding, and sent him on holidays. It is currently his full-time job.

Over the months he has developed techniques. He has a favourite game: The Colour of Money, and he goes from pub to pub - moving on after a pay-out. He travels to a new city once a fortnight and plays until he has exhausted all the pubs in that location.

So far he has stayed out of trouble, although he has been escorted from one pub, and had another landlord turn the machines off.

Downside

However, he admits there are downsides. He has to keep on the move, and he plays the games for ten hours a day. After staring at a screen for that long - and using your brain - the whole things starts to feel like work.

He said: "It was very exciting at first, but now it has become work, but not just that it has become drudge work. It is not what I studied for, so now enough is enough and I want to get a normal job."

Can you win?

Of course, for the rest of us, the real stumbling block is that this only worked for Drummond because of his exhaustive capacity to retain trivia. He told the newspaper, for example, that he can name all 500 Dickens characters, the number of sets in every Wimbledon final, and the populations of every African city.

Without this kind of brain, its a recipe to feed a small fortune into quiz machines around the country: to gamble and lose.

Tips

Gambling is never a sure thing - and for most of us it's a sure way to lose. However, for those who are happy losing their money this way, he revealed his top tips for playing the machines to the Mail.

1) If the question has a numerical answer, 80% of the time it's the middle one of the three given. On dates, it's almost always the earliest.
2) If you want to gauge how generous the game is, play one which gives you a numerical target before it pays out. That way you can see fairly quickly how many answers you need to get right in order to be paid.
3) Always play the same game, and get to know the common answers. There are also bizarre questions the machine will use if it is set not to let you win. Once you get asked something truly odd it's time to move on.
4) Don't gamble if you are given the option.
5) Aim for lots of small payouts rather than one big win.

Warnings

For many people, giving these tips a whirl is a harmless bit of fun. However, GamCare says that there are a number of warning signs you need to watch for - which indicate it's time to stop.
1) Spending more time and money on gambling than you can afford
2) Finding it hard to stop
3) Having arguments about gambling - or lying to avoid them
4) Losing interest in other things
5) Gambling until your money is gone - and chasing losses

M&S cuts loan rate to 5.5%

2012-11-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

Interest rates are on personal loans are now at a six-year low.

If you want to borrow between £7,500 and £15,000, M&S Bank may be willing to lend to you at 5.5%. That's a cracking rate, especially when you remember that back in January, the cheapest loan on the market was 6% a year.

Here's how the M&S Personal Loan compares with other leading loans on the market:

Best personal loans - £10,000 over five years

Loan	Representative APR	Total amount repayable	Monthly repayment
M&S Personal Loan	5.5%	£11,423.91	£190.40
Derbyshire BS Personal Loan	5.6%	£11,449.80	£190.83
Tesco Bank Personal Loan	5.7%	£11,476.20	£191.27
Sainsbury's Bank Standard Nectar Cardholder Loan	5.7%	£11,476.20	£191.27
Clydesdale Bank Online Personal Loan	5.8%	£11,502.60	£191.71
Yorkshire Bank Online Personal Loan	5.8%	£11,502.60	£191.71
AA Existing Member Personal Loan	5.9%	£11,529.00	£192.15
Barclays Bank Existing Customer Barclayloan	5.9%	£11,529.00	£192.15

So the M&S Loan is the clear market leader, but don't assume that everyone will be offered a loan at 5.5%. M&S Bank is only obliged to offer loans at 5.5% to 51% of successful applicants – plenty of folk could be turned down or offered a loan at a higher interest rate.

That said, if you have a good credit rating, there's a good chance you will be offered a 5.5% loan. That's as long as you're looking to borrow between £7,500 and £15,000 for a period between one and five years.

And even better, a recent law change means you'll probably be able to repay your loan early if you wish, and not have to pay any penalty fee.

Read more in Overpay your loan without penalty.

A new bank

This week's rate cut comes after M&S launched its first ever current account last month. It's a premium account where you have to pay a monthly fee, but I suspect that M&S Bank will still win a fair number of customers thanks to its much-loved, trustworthy brand.

What's more M&S isn't just making a push in personal loans and current accounts. The M&S Credit Card is also a very attractive product as it comes with a 15-month 0% period for new purchases.

Let's imagine that you got a new M&S card and then used it to buy some new furniture for £2,000. You wouldn't have to pay any interest on the resulting debt for 15 months!

You can also earn M&S reward points as you spend on the card. You'll get one point for every pound you spend at M&S and a point for every £2 you spend elsewhere. Every 100 points gives you a £1 M&S voucher.

Read about rival reward cards in The best reward cards.

You do need to be careful though. The 0% deal will probably end if you don't make the minimum monthly payment on every card bill. It's also worth noting that the 15-month period begins when you take out the card not when you buy the furniture.

Still, the M&S Card is a great bit of plastic and it's effectively an even cheaper way to borrow than the M&S Loan.

Should you borrow?

Before you rush out to get a new credit card or loan, do ask yourself if you really need to borrow. Debt can become a massive millstone if your circumstances change, and, of course, you'll have to pay interest if you take out a personal loan.

Even though the rate on the M&S Loan is low, you'll still be giving money to M&S which you could be spending on yourself.

So if you're able to hold back from borrowing, you may do yourself a favour in the long-term.

Foods for hair and beauty

2012-11-07T11:12:00.004-08:00

It's a well-known fact that a good balanced diet can help keep your body healthy, and that goes for your skin and hair too. Here's how to harness nature's finest ingredients in your beauty regime...

Top related searches:

Foods for beautiful skin
Dry skin cures
Seaweed soaps
Honey moisturiser
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Honey face mask
Coconut oil
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Good skin diet

Honey
Known as Mother Nature's antiseptic, honey has been shown to help heal wounds quickly as well as killing bacteria. It's a natural antioxidant and works to kill bacteria, making it an excellent ingredient for naturally getting rid of spots, but it's a great moisturiser too. Try Madeleine Ritchie's Silk Face Gel, containing Royal Jelly, Manuka honey and jojoba oil, for a moisture boost that will leave your skin soft, and help to repair and protect it.

Pumpkin
Containing hydrating essential fatty acids and antixoidant vitamins A and C, pumpkin isn't just for Halloween. Within this golden ball of goodness hides an enzyme that effectively peels away dead skin and speeds up the production of new cells, making it a fabulous anti-ageing ingredient. Zia Natural's Pumpkin Exfoliating Mask will leave your skin refreshed, repaired and glowing for a more youthful appearance.

Seaweed
Seaweed has been used for centuries in the Far East, not just as a healthy food but a natural skin care wonder plant too, thanks to a host of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. It is thought to reduce inflammation and irritation, cleanse and soften but firm the skin too, which is why it is often used in products aimed at reducing the appearance of cellulite.

The Body Shop sells an excellent range of seaweed skincare products, from clay masks to clarifying toners and day creams. For a really indulgent treatment, head to the Dorchester Spa in London and try the Thalgo Micronised Algae Seaweed Body Wrap, that will have you detoxed and relaxed in no time.

Salmon
We should all be well aware of the health benefits associated with oily fish these days, but did you know it can help rejuvenate your skin too? Salmon contains a compound called dimethylaminoethanel, or DMAE, is thought to help firm skin and smooth away those fine lines and wrinkles. Swanson's Cosmetic Science Wrinkle Cream contains DMAE to give your skin a soft, supple appearance, without a greasy feel.

Olive oil
It's hardly surprising that olive oil acts as a natural moisturiser, and because it helps to protect against dry skin, people who suffer from psoriasis or eczema may find they benefit from this natural hydration, even when applied directly after a shower like baby oil.

Better still, it makes for an excellent homemade treatment for those dry, winter split ends. If you're not keen on using the bottle from your kitchen, try Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil, which contains not only olive oil but a range of seed and nut oils - the result is soft, smooth, frizz-free hair that will strengthen your locks and reduce breakage and tangles.

Boris Johnson: Living Wage To Rise By 25p An Hour

2012-11-05T04:55:00.000-08:00

Boris Johnson - launching the increase in the Living Wage

London's Living Wage must increase by 25p an hour, to £8.55, Mayor Boris Johnson has announced, worth an extra £4.5m to workers on low wages.

The Living Wage outside London will also rise by 25p to £7.45, compared to the national minimum wage of £6.19.

The Living Wage Foundation will, from Monday, be awarding a "kitemark" to employers who pay the Living Wage - and said it hoped the mark would become as recognisable as the Fair Trade logo.

The Greater London Authority, Barclays Bank, Lloyds of London and KPMG are some of the largest companies who pay their employees and contractors the Living Wage. Lord Coe pledged in 2010 that all those working on the London 2012 Olympics would be paid the Living Wage too.

But most government departments, including the Department for Work and Pensions, still pay their cleaners lower than the London Living Wage.

High-profile campaigns have also called for the Living Wage to be paid by the Tower Of London and John Lewis, where striking cleaners from contractor ICM won a 10 per cent pay rise, back-dated to March this year.

Buckingham Palace also agreed last year to give workers a pay rise, after it emerged many were earning well below a Living Wage, according to the Daily Mirror.

Johnson said during a briefing to local authorities, charities and employers, who already pay their employees the Living Wage, that the standard helped to build "motivated, dedicated workforces".

He added: "The Living Wage helps businesses to boost the bottom line and ensures that hard-working people who contribute to London's success can enjoy a decent standard of living."

"Despite very challenging economic times, it's clear that more employers are waking up to the huge benefits that paying the Living Wage delivers.

"We have a great range of household names on board and I want to see more coming forward."

Since the Living Wage was introduced in 2005, an estimated 11,500 workers have benefited.

Why I Choose Not To Wear a Poppy

2012-11-02T11:16:00.001-07:00

It is that time of the year again when it seems like everyone is wearing a poppy; on the tube, on the bus, in the park. You cannot get away from them. Yet, like every year, I refuse to wear one. It is not because I am opposed to remembering those who died in WWI. In fact my great uncle Muhammad Shaban, of the 30th Punjabis, was killed in the First World War fighting for the British in Tanzania but I still cannot pin a poppy to my clothes.

It feels as though everyone that appears on TV has to wear a poppy. Asians, Muslims and black people wear extra big ones just to show their additional loyalty to, what has become, a nationalistic and a patriotic symbol.

Rather than wearing a poppy, if we really want to remember the dead, then why don't we stop engaging in new wars? Why don't we stop occupying other countries? Why don't we stop bombing and killing children? It seems, however, the politicians are committed to repeating the mistakes of the past and sending other people's children to fight their wars over resources, power and status.

I recently received a letter from the Royal British Legion, with images of soldiers that have suffered injuries. The images were accompanied with captions reading; "They are just boys. But they are our boys". They are not my boys or 'our' boys. This may sound harsh to some, but they knew what they were signing up for, they went to fight in an occupation of a foreign land. If they get injured in the process it is the government's responsibility to take care of them, not for them to rely on the charity of the public who are already paying for a war that has been going on longer than the second and first World Wars combined. I feel for the families who have lost their loved ones in politicians' wars. A life is a life, British, Afghan or Iraqi; I wish our media saw it that way - but instead we get disproportionate coverage of some victims which means that we end up only caring about 'our' dead.

The poppy is used as a tool to promote current wars. It is not used to say 'never again' as it should be. Politicians use it to beat down opposition to war whilst questioning people's loyalties and patriotism. The symbol of the poppy was never intended for peace or to stop war, it was a cry for others to take up arms and take revenge in a poem by John McCrae. The gentleman whose idea it was to start the poppy, General Earl Haig, was responsible for gross incompetence on the battlefield in which thousands perished.

Yet, we are blinded by this cry of 'our boys' and the fallacy that British troops are in Afghanistan defending Britain. On the back of the envelope there is a 'send a message of support to an injured hero' plastered next to a British flag. Hero? Really? Since when did we start calling paid soldiers, with Kevlar protection, air support, heavy machine guns, armoured vehicles and tanks heroes? In this narrative the farmer who is defending his country from the occupier is the bad guy. Who are the real heroes?

We have whole-heartedly bought into this premise that soldiers are sacred and their role should never be questioned. I for one cannot accept it and must see the world in a much wider context. Rich versus poor, ruling elites versus the proletariat, the politicians versus the people, big business versus the indigenous people, the well-armed Western soldiers versus the rag tag resistance of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Who will remember the children killed? Who will remember the victims of occupation? Who will remember the contribution of Muslim soldiers to the World Wars? Will they be remembered in the minute silences? Will their images be brandished on the news; will anyone even think of Ali Shan who fought in Burma for the British and now lives in Birmingham? Ali Shan does not wear a poppy and neither do his children or grandchildren. Then there is the case of my great uncle, who will remember him? We will, we do not need to wear a poppy to remember him.

I do not hold these opinions because I am a Muslim, although it helps. I can see the suffering of fellow Muslims at the hands of soldiers acting on orders of my government. What are my thoughts on the extreme minority of Muslims in the UK that burned poppies? They were idiots. Burning something that others hold sacred and dear is never right.

My act of not wearing a poppy when everyone else is, is in remembrance of all those men that were sent to their deaths, forced to go over the trenches to face machine guns. I remember all those that were sacrificed for the sake of power using disastrous tactics. I remember men like my great uncle, who were seen as cannon fodder because they were not white. I remember all those families that lost their loved ones and prayed for no more wars. Most of all, I don't wear a poppy, hoping that people will move away from jingoism and realise that it is not a symbol of respect and honour for the dead, but by wearing it and accepting the current narrative, it does the opposite - it glorifies and promotes war.

Multivitamins - Don't Believe the Hype

2012-10-30T13:28:00.005-07:00

A major study published last week found that taking a standard multivitamin pill lowered the risk of developing cancer. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, this large-scale, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 14,641 male physicians in the US aged 50 years or older, found that taking a daily multivitamin supplement reduced the risk of developing cancer. Inevitably, this has been accompanied by triumphant headlines, lauding the benefits of multivitamins (and you can just imagine the supplement industry rubbing its hands in glee). So, it begs the big question, should we all be popping a daily multivitamin to protect against cancer?

The first thing to point out is that the size of the benefit in this study was modest, amounting to an 8% reduced risk in cancer incidence in those taking the daily multivitamin supplement (and we should note that there was actually no significant difference in the risk of cancer mortality). But still, 8% is 8%, and in the war against cancer, most of us would welcome nudging the odds in our favour.

But don't get too swept away with the idea that multivitamins are some sort of panacea. Relying on multivitamins to quell our cancer risk is misguided for three reasons:

1. Multivitamins are a poor relation to real food. Unlike their synthetic counterparts, real food contains a mind-boggling diversity of not just vitamins and minerals, but hundreds, indeed thousands, of bio-active plant compounds, known as phytonutrients. Prize candidates include lycopene (cooked/processed tomatoes), catechins (green tea), glucosinolates (cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli), quercetin (onions), sulphur compounds (onions and garlic), anthocyanins (berries), luteolin (celery), chlorogenic acid (coffee), flavanols (cocoa), lupeol (mango), resistant starch (legumes), isoflavones (soya), and the list could go on and on.... In essence, what we find is a complexity and synergism of bio-active nutrients that mere multivitamin pills can't come close to replicating.

2. Multivitamins are an unintelligent scatter gun approach to supplementing nutrients, conceived on the premise of providing 'a bit of everything'. The trouble with this approach is that whilst we get some nutrients we really do need, we also get some we don't. Surely, a more sophisticated strategy is to just supplement with the nutrients that are genuinely missing from our diet, at just the right dose? We strongly argue the case for a more informed and intelligent use of nutritional supplements in The Health Delusion, highlighting in particular the two nutrients that Brits simply don't get enough of: vitamin D (especially in the winter) and selenium. Your multivitamin will contain these nutrients, but the chances of them being present in optimal amounts (especially vitamin D) is slim, and a disappointment when we consider that both of these nutrients are likely to be powerful allies for cancer protection (you can find my recommendations for winter supplementation of vitamin D and selenium here).

3. Being lulled into the belief that multivitamins are the answer may divert attention from the really important dietary factors more conclusively proven to lower cancer risk. For that, look no further than the profoundly helpful report on diet and cancer compiled jointly by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research. Representing the scientific consensus from a small army of leading experts, it synthesizes research from across the globe into a set of clear recommendations. Examples of these recommendations include maintaining a healthy weight throughout life (perhaps one of the most important ways to protect against cancer), being physically active as part of everyday life, eating mostly foods of plant origin (such as fruits, vegetables, minimally processed cereals, pulses), limiting intake of red meat and avoiding processed meat, and limiting alcoholic drinks. For anyone motivated to reduce their cancer risk through diet (and physical activity), this is the stuff we should really be taking notice of.

The message here is not to throw away your daily multivitamin. It goes almost without saying that dietary and lifestyle changes are notoriously difficult to make, whilst taking a pill is easy. So if you do take one, stick with a relatively modest dose product (as was used in this study, which incidentally was 'Centrum Silver'), and avoid unnecessarily high doses, especially of antioxidants (such as vitamins A, C, E and beta carotene), which as we spell out in The Health Delusion are likely to do more harm than good. But for those serious about slashing their cancer risk, I'd recommend you focus your efforts elsewhere first, before rushing for the pill pot.

How do you stop online students cheating

2012-10-29T11:44:00.002-07:00

Imagine taking a university exam in your own home, under the watchful eye of a webcam or with software profiling your keystrokes or your syntax to see whether it really is you answering the questions.

Online university courses have become the Next Big Thing for higher education, particularly in the United States, where millions of students have signed up for courses from some of the most upmarket universities.

With spiralling costs and student loan debts crossing the trillion dollar barrier this year, the online university has been seen as a way of reaching many more people for much less money.

But a major stumbling block has been how such digital courses are assessed.

When students are at home how do you know whether they are cheating? How you do know the identity of the person answering the questions?

For the online courses to gain value, they need a credible way of assessing students and an important part of that is preventing fraud.

Home exams

The Open University in the UK has been a pioneer of distance learning.

"It's a common problem across the sector - how do you know that the individual taking the exam is the right person?" says Peter Taylor, chair of the Open University's academic conduct group.

An important attraction of online courses is that students can study where and when they want - and he says the university is looking at ways of letting people take exams at home.

Anant Agarwal, head of edX, is offering real exam centres for online students

"We're looking at whether we can do online examinations, so the student doesn't have to come in to a hall, they just need to be sitting in front of their computer at a particular time when the exam is released to their computer," says Prof Taylor.

"Their computer would be locked down so that it can't use other materials. If you've got an appropriate webcam - that can provide you with effective invigilation."

"I've not yet seen systems which I'm confident about at the moment - but I don't think it will be too long before these problems are resolved."

Online identity

This still raises the question about how you know who is sitting the exam.

"There are various ways you can identify a person," says Prof Taylor.

"One system we looked at meant that you had to type in a particular phrase - and the rate and the particular way you type is effectively a signature of the individual."

These are not distant-horizon ideas - Prof Taylor says he would expect such technology to be in place within the next five years.

He also says that there is no reason to think more people would necessarily cheat online.

"Let's face it, in a large examination hall, each individual student isn't going to be closely watched. The idea of people bringing notes up their sleeves remains a problem."

EdX, an online university project set up earlier this year by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, wants to make more use of the exam hall rather than less.

Students taking edX online courses will be able to sit their final exams in an international network of test centres, run by Pearson Vue.

These will be formally supervised on-screen exams, using the edX website, and those who pass will receive a "proctored certificate", showing it has been achieved in an invigilated setting.

Bricks and mortar boards

"This is a very important step," says edX's first president, Anant Agarwal. "Because people have been concerned that learners had no way of showing that they had done the work themselves, if they were applying for a job or for higher education."

With enough randomly generated questions, he says, it would be possible to grade the work of tens of thousands of students at different times around the world.

Harvard is among the new wave of top universities offering courses online

Such online testing techniques are going to have an impact on the traditional university course too, he says.

"Online education is like a rising tide, it's going to lift all boats," says Prof Agarwal.

Students really like the instant feedback of online testing, he says. And interactive, multimedia online lectures make the old-style lectures look less effective.

But this volume of testing depends on automated marking - and will mean a limit on the range of subjects and type of questions that can be examined.

A computer is going to struggle to mark an essay on irony.

Industrial scale marking

That's the challenge for another of the most significant online course providers, Coursera, set up by Stanford academics and backed by Silicon Valley investors.

It has attracted students remarkably quickly - 1.6 million have signed up in the first year, taking courses from more than 30 top universities.

When the University of London's international section joined last month, 9,000 students signed up in the first 24 hours.

But how can such large numbers of candidates be reliably marked?

Coursera's co-founder Daphne Koller says trying to find a way to assess so many students is "part of the learning process".

She says automatic marking can generate a score or a grade, but students want human feedback. And there isn't any technology that can judge whether an essay has really connected with a question.

The Open University's Prof Taylor says their own experiments have shown that any software for assessing free-text answers requires a large amount of human intervention.

"Decisions about the quality of work are made by academics. There has to be a human brain in there somewhere," he says.

Coursera has been experimenting with peer assessment, where students grade each others' work, following guidelines set by the teacher.

This allows for the marking capacity to grow with the class size - but it also depends on the reliability of fellow students.

These online courses are also being discussed online - and blogs from students refer to disagreements over marking.

For instance, there are disputes among this global student body over British or American spellings.

Honour code

This brings the debate back to an old fashioned and low-tech form of preventing cheating.

The "honour code" - or should that be "honor code" - is an ethical approach, based on a promise to maintain academic honesty.

And there is research suggesting it really works and institutions with such a code have a lower level of cheating.

Keystroke measurements and iris recognition could verify a student's identity

The need to establish a reliable system to stop online cheating is fast becoming a mainstream concern.

The latest recruit to edX, the University of Texas, says it wants to charge tuition fees for online courses that will count towards degrees - which will mean the same level of rigour in testing as traditional courses.

Martin Bean, vice chancellor of the Open University, said: "There is no doubt that this is the 'web moment' for higher education and a battle is shaping up for growing student numbers on global courses online, with some able to grow large numbers of students very quickly.

"However this is a battle which will be about brands and the market ability of the providers but also, crucially, about quality of teaching and credibility."

Will online universities become an important way to study? Will online courses have the same value as traditional degrees? A few of your comments are published here.

The distinction between Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences on the one hand and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths on the other will become starker because of online assessment. Although the distinction isn't absolute, it's broadly true that in the former subjects there are few questions to which the answers can easily be categorized as right or wrong (and allocated to these categories by a computer) and in the latter there are many such questions. For this reason, the two domains of intellectual work will pull away from one another regarding teaching and learning just as they already have done in other areas, such as research and the dissemination of knowledge. Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences still rely primarily on the printed monograph for dissemination of research outcomes, while Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths use the journal article (commonly circulated digitally). In the former subjects, the academics care about ideas from long ago, while in the latter the academics care little for anything written more than a few years ago. This has considerable impact on institutions such as libraries, which in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences are places where research is undertaken, while in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths libraries are places where learning takes place. This all amounts to a fundamental rift in the idea of what a university is for, and it's part of an even wider rift in our culture's capacity to record the results of human thinking. The latest technologies are exceptionally good at enabling instant communication of the latest thinking--such as what someone on the ground in Aleppo thinks of the war there--and exceptionally poor at enabling long-term preservation of old thinking. (As the British Museum curators are apt to point out, it's much easier to preserve an Egyptian papyrus from 3,000 years ago than to preserve a floppy disk from 30 years ago.)

Prof Gabriel Egan, De Montfort University

There is no way to be absolutely certain without seeing the person face to face. Many international students work hard to find ways to beat the system - we see it all the time. The more enterprising then sell their skills. No wonder the sign up was so high for London. Just because someone is sitting in front of a computer with iris recognition technology doesn't stop them reading from a piece of paper stuck on the wall or another person dictating from afar. Both institutions and students are heading for a fall because theses courses will soon become discredited, (some distance qualifications are not accepted in the Gulf for example) and students will end up with a worthless certificate.....

Jill Cook, Swansea

I teach commencing humanities students at one of Australia's new universities. There is a good story to tell here. The majority of these students apply to study with comparatively low tertiary admission scores and commence their degree courses quite unprepared for higher level learning. Many of these students are immigrants or the children of immigrants and come from homes where languages other than English are spoken most of the time. Around 22 per cent of these students come from the bottom SES quartile (compared to 16 per cent across all Australian universities). This is the changing face of higher education in Australia. Federal government policy is supporting a rapid increase in participation by students from low-SES backgrounds who are typically the 'first in the family' to attempt higher education. While attrition rates are quite high at the first year level (around 25 per cent of this humanities cohort don't continue on to the second year although many return later to try again) the majority do persist and go on to complete their degree studies. Most report high levels of satisfaction with their course and with their academic performance. The commencing humanities students are supported with foundation subjects to build academic literacy and other pedagogical strategies designed to build confidence and 'learner identity'. While some use is made of 'e-learning' or 'blended learning' approaches - welcomed by digitally literate younger students in particular - the most crucial and intensive learning in those early weeks and months on campus occurs in small face-to-face tutorials rather than in large lecture rooms or virtual forums. Students report that challenging classroom conversations - about difficult scholarly texts and controversial social issues - extend their thinking and their confidence. While Coursera and other online offerings might be playing an increasingly useful role in fueling students' passion to learn, and providing authoritative course content, I doubt that such offerin gs will easily replace the intensity and effectiveness of those Socratic situations where students and their teachers have difficult embodied conversations.

Dr Andrew Funston, Melbourne, Australia

I am currently studying the online course on edX. My take on the subject is simple, I am doing this course to increase my knowledge and go up the professional ladder. If i was to cheat around the tests, my knowledge would be incomplete and I will be found wanting during the interviews and hence cant get the job I want. This could be the sucess of hounour-code. These courses will enable people to learn new skills and bring them into the workplace.

Sukh Bhullar, London

As a mother of a toddler with a full-time job, it is almost impossible for me to study any other way than online. I am halfway through a three-year online MSc, and the academic standards are as rigorous as those for on-site learners, but with the added complexity of limited interaction with other students and lecturers. I'm sure there are students who will cheat online, just as there are in-person learners who plagarise. Generally though, most of us studying online are more committed because we'd made the choice of this learning method because we have to.

Carolyn Bowick, Edinburgh

I am currently studying on two Harvard/MIT edX computer science/programming courses and they are very good. I have completed a number of traditional degree courses during my life and I find this course delivery system to be less stressful and more productive than typical lecture hall/seminar/tutorial teaching. It is a style of learning which is particularly well adapted to older people as it can be done at home in one's own time and at zero cost. It is, however, a solitary experience and, as such, may not be right for younger people who are looking for a more fun/social experience at university. I have signed up to the 'honor code' and if you are only interested in learning, this works fine. I can see, however, that if your sole purpose is to obtain a diploma, then it would be very easy to cheat. On a technical degree course, I can't really see how just having the diploma would help you, as you would soon be found out in the work place if you didn't know your stuff ... This is the future of education in my opinion and I think it's wonderful.

Michael O'Sullivan, Maidstone

Before worrying about online students, first schools and universities round the world need to stop offline students buying their assignments and handing them in as their own work. "TurnItIn" software may stop plagiarism but it doesn't stop uniquely written essays and assignments being bought and submitted. Schools and universities currently have no mechanism to stop it, meaning most qualifications are not believable.

Anon,

We are seeing the start of the education/learning revolution. The internet and access to technology can mean that anyone can learn anything, anywhere. We are a generation away from the end of the formal 'testing' of knowledge and understanding and moving towards a true 'learning portfolio' that will record your capabilities. This transition will reduce the possibility of cheating. You can cheat a high stakes final exam, but who could maintain this for smaller, focused events that record your grasp of something specific? A 2:1 in a subject is only of value to an Employer if the parts of that subject applicable to the job are the parts you did well in.

Paul Campbell, Liverpool

Is there an absolute guarantee that the person sitting an exam in a campus university is who they claim to be? The problem is not confined to distance learning institutions. There have been stories of students paid [or otherwise encouraged] to sit exams under another's name for as long as there have been universities. Likewise the allegations of teachers in "certain schools" completing examinable coursework [notably in fine art] for their pupils.

Tony Seaton, Nuneaton

I've just started studying for my BA in English Language and Literature with The Open University. I would think that anyone that signs up to do a course online wouldn't cheat as it means you're spending thousands of pounds to not learn. I think to throw yourself into a course you need to be quite dedicated. I'm a mother with a full-time job and this degree is going to take me six years to complete. I have no intention of cheating as I WANT to learn. Seems a waste of time and money to the individual if they cheat as all they will gain is some letters, which will prove useless if they go into a job claiming to be an expert when they are not, not the actual knowledge.

Kasi Brewer, Fareham

I'm doing a Coursera Humanities course, simply because I want to learn more about our world. I don't sit for the exams. There must be millions like me, and the cost of supplying the videos of actual undergrad lectures must be minimal compared with the publicity that Princeton gets.

Keith, Morecambe

I work at a small public library. We regularly have to proctor exams for students taking online couses. The exams are mailed directly to the library and an exam time is set. The student uses our program room to take the test. Then we seal up and mail it back to the university. A photo ID check is required by most schools so that we know the person is who he/she says they are. I believe on-line degrees with the proper checks are a valid way of gaining an eduction. But I do also believe that the student can miss out on the valuable interaction with other students and faculty in a traditional education setting.

Marguerite, Boyceville, WI USA

I am halfway through my first Coursera course and have signed up for 3 more. The course delivery, in the form of video lectures in this case, is excellent. I do find though, with 50,000 on the course, the discussion forums difficult to find and follow a sustainable 'thread' though that could be down to pratice. The biggest cat amongst these virtual pigeons is however the peer evaluation. More discussion has been generated about this than anything else, from the spelling issue to word counts and grammar. What there isn't much of in the forum is a analysis of the rubric itself, that is, the expected content. (Interestingly, Penn State, who provide this course, have lowered the grade for a certificate to 50%, presumably to counter wide interpretation of the peer grading system.) I have little interest in some of the frankly petty issues raised by participants because I am doing the course for fun - it's challenging enough and free, unlike other providers like Oxford's continuing education courses (which do carry CATs points). I don't need aanother qualfication and I think the certificate will be sufficient to support my cv in terms of professional development inasmuch as it demonstrates willingness and commitment to learning and a level of engagement in academic discussion. Although I do see this learning environment as having a future for those wanting access to higher education, it cannot in its current form replace traditionaldegrees. The culture of the participants has to evolve as much as the systems for assessment and the attitudes towards recognition.

Alison Griffin, Stratford upon Avon

I am Adjunct Professor of English at SUNY/Old Westbury in New York and have taught traditional lecture courses as well as World Literature On-line courses. The bottom line is that someone (though, not everyone) is going to cheat, to try to beat the system and to forge ahead on the latest path of dishonesty digital or otherwise. If academics stays true to its procedures and penalties - students MUST in online situations receive before the first on-line test is taken, a code of conduct firmly in place with the penalties for cheating outlined. Sussing out the how and what's of this problem are large and workable. Which is why you have all those smart professors walking around universities in the first place whose job it is is (on some level) to try to outwit students in the first place in order to teach them effectively. I agree that it is tough for a computer to grade a paper on irony. But I still contend that human ingenuity, creativity and a classroom filled with other people is not necessarily going to disappear-is now an alternative/transition form. The online cheating issue is a problem of keeping people on their toes while navigating a sedentary, less active, less community centered learning model. People are less likely to cheat if they feel like they are going to be caught - in online situation I don't think people take that as seriously and that issue is at the heart of crafting a solution. The profession needs to take up its lamps and start on a familiar task in a world no less filled with hypocrites, liars , thieves and cheaters than it was in Diogenes time

Professor Jennifer C. Person, SUNY/Old Westbury

I've just completed the second week of an edX course on biostatistics offered by Harvard University (and thus branded HarvardX). I'd like to stress upon the word "completed" because enrolling in any of these courses is ridiculously simple. I believe only 5% of the students who enrolled in the first edX course actually completed it. If you enroll in one of these MOOCs (massive open online courses) and find the material difficult, there's little help you can seek, unless you can find something useful in the hundreds of messages (often chaotic) posted by thousands of students. If you fall behind or drop out, no one's going to care. It's all up to you. The course material, no doubt, is world class, and so is the way the courses have been produced - the intuitive learning interface, videos, etc. It's incredible that these courses are being offered free of cost, but the commitment and effort needed to complete them may probably be more than that needed for classroom courses, where one's voice might be heard

Ravi Murugesan, Mumbai, India

I am an English teacher at the King Saud university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here online courses are not acceptable by my employer, due to the reasons mentioned in the article. And, having seen how easy it is to cheat, I can clearly understand why. During 4 years as a teacher in China I witnessed several people undertake online degrees with prominent UK universities. All of whom openly cheated and enjoyed an easy passage to a Masters degree. It's so easy in places like China where cheating is part of educational culture. The people I'm talking about enjoyed the full support from the Dean and faculty of the university they worked at. Essays and research were freely exchanged enabling the students to progress with the minimum of effort. In conclusion, I deem that online degrees are worth no more than a forged degree certificate

Paul, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

I agree with Michael O'Sullivan. It isn't big news yet, but at some point soon the fact that top quality dissertations are being bought and handed in for totally undeserved high marks will hit the media. The number of essay writing services in the UK is escalating all the time. Basically, if you and your kids are honest they are likely to lose out to these legally protected cheats. The internet exams are just another nail in the coffin

Five reasons you should never buy leasehold

2012-10-25T11:17:00.001-07:00

If you're buying a flat, it pays to make sure you know what you're getting into. Buying a leasehold property can cost you thousands in extra charges over the years so read this before signing your life away.

I learnt the hard way about the perils of leasehold property.

I bought my first flat 12 years ago when I was young and naïve. Little did I know I was unwittingly entering the murky unregulated world of freeholders and managing agents.

For the uninitiated, leasehold ownership of a property basically means a long tenancy and the right to own, occupy and use it for a long period.

The lease is the contract between the flat owner and landlord or freeholder who owns the land and building. Technically, if you buy a leasehold flat, you become a leaseholder rather than an "owner".

Leaseholders normally pay a ground rent to the landlord and service charges for the upkeep of the communal parts of the building. Normally the freeholder will employ a managing agent to do this work for them.

In theory, this all sounds fine. But there are numerous ways leasehold is a massive rip-off. Here are five:

1. Inflated service charges
Service charges are levied by the freeholder for the upkeep of the communal parts of the building such as the garden, staircase, roof and lift.

The freeholder/managing agent decides what work should be done and who by - it might be another company within the same group, their friend, or anyone else they fancy. But it's the leaseholders or flat owners who have to pay for it.

The managing agent will also charge a percentage fee on top so they have no interest in keeping costs down. Some even take kickbacks from insurance brokers for buying overpriced buildings insurance and passing the cost back to the leaseholders.

It's a completely unregulated sector; anyone can be a freeholder or managing agent and charge what they like.

2. Leasehold valuation tribunals
Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, leaseholders can take a freeholder or managing agent to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to challenge unfair service charges or other fees. The freeholder will have to prove their fees are reasonable and both sides will need legal representation.

Sounds fair enough? Or does it?

Some leases contain clauses that mean if you take your freeholder or managing agent to a tribunal and you win, the freeholder is allowed to add their legal costs on to future service charges bills.

So even if you win, you lose, as you'll be paying your own legal costs and the freeholder's too.

3. Poor service
As well as suffering unreasonably high service charges, many leaseholders receive a poor service in return for their money.

Obviously calling the managing agent and asking for an improved service should be your first move. However, sometimes they still don't fix things adequately or quickly enough.

Over 12 years of owning a leasehold flat I experienced some pretty shoddy service from the managing agents. The lease stated that certain work had to be done every seven years such as the roof fixed and internal areas redecorated. But the work wasn't always done on time or particularly well.

4. Breach of lease
As a group of leaseholders we considered taking the managing agents to a tribunal with a case of "historic neglect" which means their poor upkeep of the building was breaking the terms of the lease and, when the work was finally contracted out, a bigger bill for us.

However, at a meeting with the managing agents it became clear that if we took them to a tribunal for breaching the lease, they'd find a reason to come after us too.

The lease puts certain obligations on leaseholders such as redecorating regularly, stopping the windows from rotting and having carpets not wooden floors (terms may vary from lease to lease but these terms were in my lease). The agents let us know in no uncertain terms that if took them to tribunal they'd lay claims against us too.

5. Sale fees
As I said I've just sold my leasehold flat and couldn't wait to be free of the managing agents. But, inevitably, there was a price to pay during the sale process.

Firstly, I had to pay £264 for the agent to answer questions from my buyer's solicitor. They were all pretty straightforward and I reckon it took an hour at most. Next, I had to pay £198 to transfer the lease to the buyer and £198 to transfer a deed of covenant (alteration to the lease) to the buyer, plus a random £60 admin fee for what amounted to a signature on a side-and-half of A4.

What if I didn't pay up? Well then they didn't sign the necessary paperwork and I couldn't sell my flat. So they had me over a barrel. In total I paid the managing agent/freeholder more than I paid my solicitor to sell the flat and the solicitor did 10 times more work than they did.

Miracle Weight-Loss Product 'Zero Noodles' Put To The Test (PICTURES)

2012-10-24T10:38:00.001-07:00

Following its success across the world, the most recent diet craze product, Zero Noodles, is expected to take the UK by storm.

Containing just 10 calories, zero sugar and zero fat, the noodles are pitched as a viable alternative to pasta that can greatly help weight loss.

Laura Lamont of Glow Nutrition, makers of the revolutionary diet food, explains: “Replace your usual carbs with ZERO NOODLES on a regular basis and you will dramatically reduce your calorie intake - while still enjoying a tasty and satisfying meal.”

Naturally, HuffPost UK Lifestyle were ~~suspicious~~ intrigued and so we called on a expert dietician and our trusty taste buds to put Zero Noodles to the test.

Taste Test Verdict:
Guinea Pig Number 1: "To me noodles are comfort food, but these taste like a rubbery health snack and refuse to soak up flavour, however much you douse them in soy sauce."

Guinea Pig Number 2: "Zero fat, zero sugar, zero taste. I couldn't chew them and they didn't fill me up at all. There was nothing else in the fridge but a roll leftover from yesterday's lunch, so I had that. It was a sad day."

Glow Nutrition claim that the product's key ingredient, Glucomanan, helps prevent hunger pangs and over-eating.

However, Alison Hornby, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, told HuffPost UK Lifestyle: "Glucomanan might help you feel full for longer after your meal. But it is only present in very small quantities in these noodles, which are mostly water."

She added: "It would be inadvisable to replace the carbohydrates at every meal with these noodles as this food group is a key source of energy and nutrients in a balanced diet."

Other foods, such as fruit and vegetables, contain similar ratios of water and soluble fibre, as well as many useful micronutrients, and are a cheaper food choice for those wanting to reduce their calorie intake."

"The common sense rule generally applies to all extreme diet foods: if it sounds too good to be true it generally is."

"The fail safe recipe for healthy weight loss is reducing the number of calories you eat by choosing lower fat and lower sugar foods, eating modest portions and including plenty of fruit and vegetables in your diet. Eating fewer calories combined with burning off more calories through exercise will reliably deliver weight loss," she continues.

Alison also warns that it's tempting to load 'neutral' tasting food, such Zero Noodles, with calorific sauces.

"Ensuring that the foods eaten with these noodles are also low calorie is significant if weight loss is to be achieved.

"Loading a 10 calorie plate of noodles with a 300-calorie sweet and sour sauce would defeat the purpose of making this food choice."

High Tuition Fees Deter Postgraduates From Study, Threatening Number Of Highly Skilled Workers

2012-10-23T11:23:00.001-07:00

Higher tuition fees and lack of money are likely to put more UK graduates off continuing their studies, contributing to a shortage of highly skilled workers, a major report warns.

Universities are increasingly geared towards attracting international postgraduate students, who are likely to return home after completing their studies, it says.

The major study by the Higher Education Commission says that urgent reform of postgraduate education is needed to ensure the UK has the skills it needs for the future.

Postgraduate education is facing a "credit crisis", with rising numbers of people prevented from studying due to lack of access to finance.

The report raises concerns about lack of finance for students, saying "there is a credit crisis in postgraduate education."

"We are concerned that an increasing number of people who wish to enter postgraduate education are prevented from doing so due to lack of access to finance," it adds.

It argues that the government-supported professional and career development loan system is "uncompetitive and unattractive" and the number of loans granted has fallen.

"Fees for postgraduate taught courses are likely to increase - which will exacerbate this situation," the report says.

"Many contributors to this inquiry were concerned about changes in attitudes to debt among those beginning undergraduate study this autumn under the new fees regime.

"Universities, employers and students repeatedly expressed concern that demand for postgraduate study will fall as students become more reluctant to add to their student debt."

The impact of these factors could lead to a decline in UK postgraduates, which would have "long-term implications for British competitiveness and leave UK universities even more reliant on international students to maintain the viability of provision," the report says.

It warns that would-be postgraduate students are facing a "perfect storm" of higher fees and a reluctance by banks to lend money. At the same time, postgraduate degrees are becoming increasingly important.

The report says that recent increases in postgraduate students are almost entirely down to foreign students.

Since 1999, the numbers of international students have risen by 200%, while home and EU student numbers have only gone up by 18% in the same period.

The Commission said it is concerned that this increase "masks stagnation in the qualification and skill level" of the UK's population.

The study also notes that recent data published by the European Commission found that England and Wales, alongside Andorra and Kazakhstan, were the only countries in the European education area to have less than 10% of their own, home undergraduates enter postgraduate study within two years.

"We need an emphasis on up-skilling the UK population, ensuring that British students are able to compete in the global labour market," it says.

"High numbers of international students cannot compensate for poor take-up of postgraduate education among home domiciled students."

The report adds: "We are relying on international students to plug gaps in the skills and expertise of the British population."

But this is not an "efficient or sustainable strategy" as most foreign students return home after their studies. "This carries an economic cost - we have become the education outsourcing capital of the world."

The report says it is in the nation's interest to encourage these student to stay and work after graduation.

And it also says the UK needs to ensure that more home students go on to postgraduate study.

In many industries, availability of well-qualified postgraduates is a reason for firms to operate in the UK, and unless action is taken, British companies will be forced to recruit international workers, or move offices overseas.

A Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokeswoman said: "We recognise that there are some concerns in the sector about postgraduate provision. We have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England to monitor and review participation in postgraduate study as part of a longer term assessment of the impact of the funding changes."

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: "We must make the most of all our talents, and that is no less important in postgraduate studies which are now dominated by overseas students.

"The commission's proposal for a targeted, state-backed loan scheme should be pursued alongside other measures to support non-privileged postgraduate students.

"It is vital that our brightest graduates are not priced out of postgraduate study. This is why the Sutton Trust has commissioned a new study on social mobility, which includes looking at access to postgraduate courses."

'Terror Plotters, Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid And Ashik Ali, Planned Suicide Bombs Bigger Than 7/7'

2012-10-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

Three terrorist plotters led a plan to set off eight suicide bombs which could have been bigger than the July 7 London attacks, a court heard today.

Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali, both 27, are accused of being "central figures" in the extremist plot, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court were told.

Prosecutor Brian Altman QC said: "The police successfully disrupted a plan to commit an act or acts of terrorism on a scale potentially greater than the London bombings in July 2005 had it been allowed to run its course.

(L-R) Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali

"The defendants were proposing to detonate up to eight rucksack bombs in a suicide attack and/or to detonate bombs on timers in crowded areas in order to cause mass deaths and casualties."

All the men are accused of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, which they deny.
Naseer is accused of five counts of the offence, Khalid four and Ali three, all between Christmas Day 2010 and September 19 2011.

For Nasser, from Sparkhill, Khalid, from Sparkbrook, and Ali, from Balsall Heath, all in Birmingham, this is alleged to have included planning a bombing campaign, collecting money for terrorism and recruiting others for terrorism.

Nasser and Khalid are also accused of travelling to Pakistan for training in terrorism, and it is alleged that Naseer also helped others to travel to the country for the same purpose.

It is alleged that, while in Pakistan, Naseer and Khalid received training in how to use weapons and how to make bombs and poisons, and made suicide videos while they were there.

They returned to the UK in July 2011, and it is claimed the group then began trying to make home-made bombs, using a flat in Sparkbrook as their base.

In total, 11 men of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin were arrested over the alleged plot, and one woman.

Mr Altman told the jury that the three defendants were "central figures" in the plan, and that they are "jihadists".

He called the trio "senior members of a home-grown terror cell".

Naseer has a degree in pharmacy and it is alleged that this knowledge helped the plotters to try to make explosives.

Mr Altman said: "It was Naseer's knowledge of chemistry, together with his training as a terrorist in Pakistan, that allowed the defendants to experiment in preparing an explosive mixture with a view to constructing a home-made explosive device."

The group are also accused of making bogus charity collections in Birmingham for Muslim Aid as well as a local Muslim centre. But the two causes received only a fraction of the money they had collected, prosecutors say, while the rest was intended to fund the attack plan.

Mr Altman said they were "despicably stealing money from their own community donated to charity".

It is alleged that the group sent four other local men to Pakistan to receive terrorist training - Naweed Ali, 25, and Ishaaq Hussain, Khobaib Hussain and Shahid Khan, all 20.

They are also accused of persuading another two to take part in their plot rather than fighting abroad - Mohammed Rizwan, 33, and Bahader Ali, 29.

Prosecutors claim that Rahin Ahmed, 26, was used as their financier but made a series of bad investments and lost a chunk of their money, and added that Mujahid Hussain, 21, was involved in fundraising.

The court heard that Naseer was recorded saying the July 7 attackers did not do a good enough job because they did not use nail bombs.

Mr Altman said: "Naseer was recorded agreeing with Mohammed Rizwan that July 7 had gone a bit wrong, really that the London bombers had not done more damage because they had failed to put nails on or in their bombs.

"They hadn't done it well enough by not attaching shrapnel to the bombs that they exploded in London on that fatal day in 2005."

The richest people of all time - Bill Gates in12th place

2012-10-18T12:01:00.001-07:00

We think we know what it means to be wealthy. We have Bill Gates and Paris Hilton showing us the broad spectrum of what happens to humanity when faced with a fortune. However, we haven't seen the half of it. A new study has adjusted wealth to take account for inflation - and revealed the 25 richest people who ever lived

So why were they so rich, how did they make it - and how did they spend it?

The list, published by www.celebritynetworth.com, adjusted the figures to take account of inflation. The difference it makes is dramatic. So, for example, $100 million in 1913 is equal to around $2.3 billion today. It means only 3 of the top 25 are alive today.

1. Mansa Musa I of Mali emerged as the richest man of all time. He ruled West Africa in the 14th century, and had almost three times the wealth of Bill Gates - at $400 billion.

He was born in 1280 and his empire covered Ghana, Timbuktu and Mali. His huge wealth was partially founded on production of valuable resources: namely salt and gold. However, shortly after his reign, it all fell apart with civil war and invasions breaking up the empire.

2. The Rothschild Family, worth $350 billion, are better-known, as their influence has pushed into almost every sphere of American life - making them the wealthiest family alive today. Their interests cover everything from mining to banking, farming and charities.

It all started with canny Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who set up a banking house in the 18th century, and sent his five sons to each of the five major European banking centres to build a dynasty.

3. John D. Rockefeller, is best-known as the richest-ever American - worth $340 billion in today's money. At the time he was known for being the world's first billionaire.

His vast wealth was built on an oil empire, which netted him an astonishing fortune. He then did what every self-respecting billionaire should consider - he spent the last 40 years of his life in retirement, establishing charitable foundations across medicine, science and education.

4. Andrew Carnegie, worth $310 billion, made his money in American steel. He was another 19th century industrialist who devoted his latter years to philanthropy - and gave away every penny he had made.

5 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, a 19th century Tsar, worth $300 billion. His vast wealth, unfortunately, spelled the end of him and his family. They were murdered by Bolsheviks shortly after his abdication in 1917, and their empire was taken apart.

6. Mir Osman Ali Khan, worth $236 billion. The ruler of Hyderabad in the 19th and early 20th century - until the area became part of India. Much of his vast wealth was held in gold, and he owned over $400 million of jewels.

7. William the Conqueror, Norman knight, turned ruler of England after the invasion of 1066.

He was worth $229.5 billion. The riches that came with ruling were clear. However, so were the challenges at that time, and he died in battle.

8. Muammar Gaddafi, worth $200 billion. The website claims that the true extent of his enormous wealth surfaced after his capture and death last year. Much of this was in cash in overseas bank accounts, as well as extraordinary wealth in the trappings of supreme power.

9. Henry Ford, worth $199 billion. This 19th century industrialist and pioneer of the production line revolutionised travel, and left an astonishing sum to the Ford Foundation - still controlled by his family.

10. Cornelius Vanderbilt, worth $185 billion. Much of his vast wealth was built on the American railroads.

11. Alan Rufus, worth $178.65 billion. Companion of William the Conqueror. He was rewarded for his support with vast swathes of England.

12. Bill Gates, worth $136 billion, and the second richest man alive today. He remains the largest shareholder of Microsoft, but now devotes much of his energies to extraordinary philanthropy through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His current goal is to eradicate Polio worldwide.

13. Wiliam De Warenne, worth $146.13. The first Earl of Surrey was worth a small fortune in the time just after the Norman Invasion, where his enormous landowning formed the basis of his wealth.

14. John Jacob Astor, worth $121 billion. Fur trader turned New York real estate mogul, who used part of his vast wealth to develop the beginnings of the New York Public Library.

15. Richard Fitzalan, worth $118.6 billion, another landowning British Nobleman, this time born in 1306.

16. John of Gaunt, $110 billion. The third son of Edward III, who relied on enormous land grants for his fortune.

17. Stehen Girard, worth $105 billion. Born in France, he made his fortune in shipping and banking in the US. He left most of his money to charity.

18. Alexander Turney Stewart, worth $90 billion. Irishman who settled in the US in the early 19th century and made his fortune by starting the largest department store in New York, and running the first mail order business.

19. Henry Duke of Lancaster, worth $85.1 billion, another 14th century landed English nobleman.

20. Friedrich Weyerhauser, worth $80 billion. After making a fortune in timber, he built an enormous fortune by buying land in the US.

21. Jay Gould, worth $71 billion. He made his fortune on the railroad, as Vanderbilt's big rival. He was also known for speculation and cut-throat business practices.

22. Carlos Slim Helu, worth $68 billion, and the chairman and chief executive of Mexican telecoms firms Telmex and América Móvil. He is currently the richest man in the world.
He built an empire from very humble beginnings, building construction, mining and retail companies to form a vast conglomerate.

22. Stephen van Rensselaer, worth $68 billion, was an 18th century landowner, who benefited from owning the land on which Manhattan is now built.

23 Marshall Field, worth $66 billion. Retail and real estate mogul in Chigaco, and founder of University of Chicago with John D Rockefeller.

24 Sam Walton, worth $65 billion. The founder of Walmart.

25. Warren Buffett, worth $64 billion. Legendary long-term value investor. He has now begun giving away much of his incredible fortune to charity - and has pledged to give away half of his fortune in his lifetime.

How to write a business plan

2012-10-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

Any successful entrepreneur will tell you that a good, solid business plan is essential for any new enterprise. It serves not only as a way to secure external funding, but enables you to set objectives, track your progress, measure success and spot potential pitfalls.

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If you are about to embark on your own new venture, here are a few tips on how to put together a realistic start-up plan.

What should it include?
Your business plan should provide all the details of your planned enterprise, from sales and marketing to personnel and finances. It should begin with an executive summary, an overview of the whole business, a brief description of what, how and to whom you plan to sell, your sales and marketing strategy, personnel and operational details such as how many people you plan to recruit and information on production, premises and IT requirements, and, perhaps most importantly, your financial forecasts.

Getting each section right requires a good deal of thought but the process of writing your plan will help you to focus on exactly how you plan to make a success of the business.

The executive summary and business description
The executive summary is more important than you might think, particularly for anyone hoping to secure funding. Many investors or lenders will make an initial decision based solely on this first section so getting it right is essential.

It is basically a synopsis of the key points contained within your plan, and should include key features from each section, written in a clear and concise manner. The reader should understand what your business is about and want to read on.

The business description should be brief but include a little more detail. Provide an overview, ie. type of business and sector, your relevant business history, legal structure and your vision for the business. It should also reveal exactly what products or services you plan to offer, and must reveal why and how you believe there is a market for your idea as well as how you plan to develop and progress the business.

Sales and marketing
Defining your market and your position within it is a must for any entrepreneurial venture. Full awareness of the marketplace is essential so any market research that you have carried out should be included here. This is also the place to show that you recognise and understand your target audience and the competition.

With this in mind, you should describe exactly how you plan to position and market your product with a full marketing strategy. Information on pricing, marketing and advertising, including costs, and your proposed method of selling are the key factors to include.

Personnel and operations
It may be that you will be flying solo when you first start the business, but if not, it is important to show any potential investors who, where and how your team fits into the business, including advisers such as accountants or lawyers. Those setting up a business as part of a team should include a brief paragraph detailing each person's background, experience, qualifications and skills, as well as showing their commitment to the business.

Details of your operations, meanwhile, should focus on elements such as premises - the what, where and how much or your planned location - production facilities, whether outsourced or not, with details of capacity, equipment required or external suppliers, and details of IT systems and procedures for stock control, management of the accounts and so on.

Financial forecasts
One of the most important elements of your business plan is the financial forecast section, and any information you give will be scrutinised so it's essential that the figures stack up.

Start-up costs, overheads and working capital should all be estimated, as well as projected sales income, an realistic estimation of the profits and loss you expect to make, and a cashflow projection for at least the first year's business. Running costs and your personal living costs should be taken into account, as well as repayments made for any business borrowing. Always include a contingency fund (25 per cent is a good starting point) in case the business is slow to take off. Once you have worked out your expenses, compare them against your sales forecast. If the figures don't match up, you will need to find ways to reduce costs or boost sales.

Other tips for a top-notch business plan
Remember that your business plan can be tailored to a specific audience. For instance, if you are hoping to secure external funding, you may want to focus on detailing the return they can expect on their investment and the timeframe for those proposed returns.

Lastly, do ask an independent source to review your plan and offer constructive criticism. Business Link, which also provides an online template for business plans, in your local area should be able to help and offer excellent advice on how you can improve and perfect your plan.

Being selfish makes us happy - so long as we avoid the guilt

2012-10-16T10:59:00.003-07:00

Being selfish really does make us happier - so long as we can avoid feeling guilty, according to a new scientific study.

Although we are taught the benefits of kindness and altruism, it seems we are happiest when simply told to pursue our own self-interest.

Researchers found the key to contentment is feeling we have no choice but to be selfish.

In contrast, the study, carried out by psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania, found that those who actively choose a selfish path usually have to battle with guilt.

They speculated that because we're taught as children that 'sharing means caring', if we make a decision out of self-interest, we often feel bad for prioritising ourselves over others.

But that frequently means we forego the things we know will make us happy.

Psychological scientists Jonathan Berman and Deborah Small of the University of Pennsylvania carried out tests to see when people feel happiest.

In one they recruited 216 undergraduates and gave them each 3 dollars.

Some were told to donate it to the charity UNICEF, some were told to keep the money and some participants were told that they could choose what to do with it.

Those students told to keep the money for themselves reported being far happier with the outcome than those who were told to donate the money and those who were free to choose.

Mr Berman said: "Often what people really want to do is act in a selfish manner.

"But they don't do that, because they know they would feel selfish if they did."

The research is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Study finds interesting facts about teenage sex

2012-10-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

A government survey on the sexual behavior of Americans has been released Friday with some surprising findings about what young men and women in this country prefer sexually, reports theHuffington Post . One of the most shocking findings was that fewer teens and young adults are having sex, according to the latest statistics published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Another big trend found in the study was the prevalence of oral sex. Most teens reported having oral sex before having intercourse. While this might be positive information in regards to unplanned pregnancy, there is still risk of getting an STD if teens engage in oral sex.

"They may think they're doing something safer because they're having oral sex," says Anjani Chandra, a health scientist with the National Center for Health Statistics, which contributed to the study according to CNN . In reality, Chandra said, while such behavior certainly avoids the risk of pregnancy, it still puts young people at risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease.

The survey also examined same-sex relationships in America. The results showed that women were much more likely to have a same-sex experience, and that the more sexual partners a woman has, the more likely she is to have a same-sex encounter.

Read below to find out the seven most surprising facts from this study.

1. Abstinence is up. Researchers found that in 2002, about 22 percent of males and females between 15 and 24 reported that they had never engaged in sexual contact. But in 2006 and 2008, about 27 percent of men and 29 percent of young females reported that they never had a sexual encounter.

2. Most teens lose their virginity before the age of 17. Of the more than 24,000 15 to 24-year-olds tracked between 2007 and 2008, the majority (approximately 18,000) reported losing their virginity at age 17 or younger. Approximately 4,000 reported they had intercourse for the first time between 18 and 19, while approximately 1,600 reported losing their virginity between 20 and 24.

3. Most teens try oral sex before intercourse. The CDC said that just over 27,000 15 to 24-year-olds reported having oral sex at least once between 2007 and 2008. Of that number, 51 percent reported they had oral sex before their first vaginal intercourse experience.

4. Same-sex activity is up in women, down in men. The number of females between the age of 15 and 24 who reported some same-sex sexual behavior is up. In 2002, 12.4 percent of females said they had engaged in some form of same sex behavior; in 2006 to 2008, that figure was up to 13.4 percent. For men in the same group, however, the percentage fell. In 2002, 5 percent reported some same sex activity; between 2006 and 2008, only 4 percent did.

5. Women are more likely to have a same-sex experience. When researchers opened that same question (of same sex behavior) up to all study participants -- age 15 to 44 -- the differences were even more pronounced. Women were twice as likely to report a same-sex experience than men (about 12.5 percent versus 5.2).

6. Women with more partners are more likely to have a same-sex encounter. Women who reported having four or more sexual partners were more likely to have had a female sexual partner, when compared with women who had one (or no) male partners. In men, however, the number of female partners did not vary the likelihood of a same-sex encounter.

7. Bisexuality up in women, down in men. The number of women who reported being bisexual was up from 2002, from 2.8 percent to 3.5. In men, however, it was down -- from 1.8 percent to 1.1. Also interesting: In 2006 to 2008, women were approximately three times more likely report that they were bisexual than men.

The scientists explained why do men fall asleep after sex

2012-10-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

Scientists have figured out why men quickly fall asleep after sex. According to specialists from the French Medical Center Inserm, after a brain scan before and after orgasm, it became clear that his thinking part, namely the cortex, shut off after intercourse.

Next the brains cortex and amygdala give click Disable sexual desires. All this is accompanied by the release of oxytocin and serotonin, which provide powerful hypnotic effect. «These experiments gave us the first hints of what happens in the brain during orgasm. After the men usually suffer from nevozbudimosti when you can't wake up,» - said neurosurgeon Serge Stoleru.

As a result the man turns and fast asleep, while the female partner wants to talk and continue. «Women seem to be, everything is different. They do not have such a strong phase of nevozbudimosti, and they want to continue when the man just needs to rest», - added the scientist, noting that the human brain involved in all subsequent steps to sexual behaviour.

Women to men are such reaction was extremely negative. According to recent research from the University of Michigan in the United States, many of the fairer sex feel aggrieved and unwelcome when a man falls asleep right after sex.

Skype users targeted in security threat

2012-10-14T03:05:00.000-07:00

Skype is being used by hackers to spread a malicious 'worm' that infects Windows PCs and can lock users out of their machines.

Skype users are warned not to click on any messages or links that they do not recognise.

The security threat comes in the form of a seemingly innocent instant message on Skype saying "lol is this your new profile pic?" When users click on the message they unwittingly download a file containing a Trojan horse malware file.

This Trojan horse opens a backdoor, allowing a remote hacker to take control of the infected PCs.
"Before you know it, your computer has been recruited into a botnet [security threats that spread via Facebook, Twitter and instant messengers] and could fall victim to a ransomware attack," explains a spokesperson for internet security specialist, Sophos.

Security threat
Skype has not disclosed how many users are affected by the threat. It said in a statement: "Skype takes the user experience very seriously, particularly when it comes to security. We are aware of this malicious activity and are working quickly to mitigate its impact.

"We strongly recommend upgrading to the newest Skype version and applying updated security features on your computer.

"Additionally, following links - even when from your contacts - that look strange or are unexpected is not advisable."

Suspicious links
Sophos warns that Skype users may be less in the habit of being suspicious about links sent to them than, say, Facebook users.

"Always remember to be suspicious of unsolicited out-of-character messages sent to you by your online friends," said a spokesperson.

"You don't know that it was a friend who sent you the message, all you know is that it was their account which posted it to you... and who knows if it was compromised or not?"

Why It’s Important to Feel Valued At Your Job

2012-10-10T05:33:00.001-07:00

Why is it that sometimes at work, you go that extra mile, while at other times, you may take off early or do only the bare minimum? Sure, stress plays a role, as do family obligations and your physical health.

But when you consider primarily just work factors, which ones have an impact on your job performance? Certainly pay rate, benefits and time off are linked to job performance.

However, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), feeling valued is a key indicator of job performance. Employees who feel valued are more likely to be engaged in their work and feel satisfied and motivated.

What can you — and companies — do to help improve your feeling valued at your job?

Work Stress

This same APA survey found that three-quarters of Americans list work as a significant source of stress, with over half of those surveyed indicating that their work productivity suffered due to stress. Nearly half of those who say they do not feel valued report they intend to look for a new job in the next year.

Work stress and unhealthy work environments intensify workers sense of being undervalued and can contribute to absenteeism and lack of productivity when employees are at work.

What Can Companies Do?

It is essential for employers to recognize the connection between employee well-being and organizational performance. The results of this survey indicate that organizational culture has an impact on employee performance.

Organizational culture is the ‘personality’ of an organization. It includes company norms, values and behaviors towards the members of the organization. According to a report put out by the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services, a healthy organization promotes personal and professional growth, fairness, open communication and shared values.

To improve retention and employee’s feeling valued, companies can assess the organizations current degree of wellness, determine important company values and norms and lead by example and through communications with employees.

What Can You Do?

What you can do when you’re feeling undervalued depends on your position in the organization and your relationship to your co-workers and supervisors. If you are a manager and in a position to make changes to the organizational culture, for example, your course of action will be different than if you have little control over the culture.

Talk to your supervisor. Your supervisor can make some changes to your work environment. Speaking to your supervisor about your feelings and discussing small changes that would make you feel more valued can help. Before you have this conversation, it’s important to consider your relationship with your supervisor, to reflect on what types of changes your supervisor is capable of making and to consider your history and performance and whether you have given as much as you are asking for.

Get support from co-workers. Positive relationships with co-workers can help you maintain motivation and can provide reinforcement for quality work.

Assess your long-term vs. short-term needs. All companies fluctuate in their responsiveness to employees. It is important to determine whether sticking it out in the short-term is in your best interest for the long-term or whether you would regret taking not action now.

If you find yourself checking out mentally at work, making mistakes that you wouldn’t have in the past or simply not caring about your performance, consider whether you are feeling appreciated. Knowing what contributes to your dissatisfaction can help you make decisions about how to handle it.

Benefit cuts will squeeze vulnerable out of London, say housing associations

2012-10-08T11:56:00.002-07:00

George Osborne's benefit cap will leave 250,000 people at risk of losing their homes, says National Housing Federation

A housing estate in the City of London. More than 250,000 people are at risk of losing their residences, according to the National Housing Federation. Illustration: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Almost 300,000 people are at risk of being squeezed out of their properties in London because of the government's plan to reduce housing benefits paid to some of the most vulnerable people in the country, campaigners warn today.

The exodus, says the National Housing Federation, the main voice for the country's housing associations, would follow George Osborne's plan to peg housing allowances next year to the bottom third of private sector rents. At present claimants get allowances calculated on the bottom half of private rents.

The federation calculates that, if enacted, the changes would see the rent charged on 114,000 homes occupied by benefit claimants in London become unaffordable – leaving more than 250,000 people "at risk of losing their residences". Osborne's move would not just affect wealthy areas such as Westminster but also poorer parts of the capital such as Lambeth and Southwark.

The research, which is based on official government figures, backs the claim that poor and vulnerable people will no longer be able to live in the capital – forced instead to go to London's fringes or pushed into "overcrowded conditions". Labour MPs accuse the government of attempting to "socially cleanse" the capital of poor people.

David Orr, the federation's chief executive, said: "London is one of the most vibrant and socially mixed cities in the world – and yet the diversity, for which it is so famous, is under threat from the government's proposal to bring all housing benefit allowances into line with the bottom third of rents.

He said: "The changes push 160,000 vulnerable households into competing for just 46,000 homes [which] is extremely worrying and morally wrong."

While some landlords could reduce rents in line with the new upper limit, the federation says that the housing market in London is so strong that most would simply decide to keep their charges at the same level and let properties out to private tenants.

The government remains undeterred, saying the housing benefits bill is "out of control". A spokesperson for the department of work and pensions said: "It's not right that some families on benefits were able to live in homes that hard-working families could not afford."

The shadow secretary of state for work and pensions, Yvette Cooper, described the data as "shocking" and called for ministers to discard the proposals. "From this April huge numbers of families will be forced to move far from their children's schools or parents' jobs; thousands of the poorest pensioners will be forced to move far from their GP, neighbours or support services."

Game director Quinn Duffy on balancing historical accuracy with gameplay

2012-10-06T09:32:00.002-07:00

In his 14 years at game studio Relic Entertainment, game director Quinn Duffy has worked on a stream of strategy titles that have shaped the direction of the genre. From Homeworld through the original WW2 set Company of Heroes and the Warhammer-basedDawn of War games, each has revelled in both technical presentation and the faithful and nuanced representation of the worlds they are set in.

But the role of game director is still a relatively unknown and new one. In the movie industry, it's the title that everyone is familiar with and often a selling point for the end product. It's also a position that plays a pivotal role in the creation of the end product but can be approached with an enormous range of attitudes.

Wired.co.uk caught up with him to understand more about the role of the game director, his priorities when it comes to historical context or gameplay and how technology could bring more gamers into contact with titles like Company of Heroes 2.

Wired.co.uk: What's the role of the game director today?
Duffy:It's a role that's relatively new -- what you realise is that the teams are big, it's important to have an established creative vision and have someone who has gone through the process before and understands the impact of each discipline. Someone who can help with production and drive things forward -- that's my day to day role.

What's your key priority when it comes to the vision for the game -- fun? gameplay? Story?It should be really holistic. Part of that will be driven by passions -- in my case, military history -- and I want to try and do that justice. That means I'm doing to be dabbling in areas of making sure people are looking at the right references.

A lot of that is about tone and my personal feeling is that the authenticity and the history provide the context that is a value-add for gameplay. I love it when the gameplay has a background context that immerses me more in what I'm doing. Some games do it really well, some movies do it really well and I think that's an important part of the role.

Are there aspects that you think are particularly key for that, for example sound?Sound is vital -- it's 50 percent of the experience to have good audio and you see some companies do it so well, Battlefield for example. Company of Heroeshad amazing audio, this game has even better audio.

We did live weapon records -- you spend a lot of money to do that but boy did it pay off. It sounds so much more authentic. I love the expressions of kinetic energy. Audio and effects that make it so the shells feel like they're travelling 2000ft/ second. Impact, consequences -- delivering that requires amazing effects and audio.

How do you know when you've nailed the story?I'm not sure you do until it's in the hands of the consumer. When we started, we were really inspired by real Soviet combat journalists who were writing amazing stories from the front line and talking about the heroism of soldiers. And they talked about experiencing the "ruthless truth of war" and part of that is that you need to be unflinching.

We want to tell as much of the truth of the experience and give players our perspective on what we researched and our sense of the narrative on the Eastern front and hopefully they'll enjoy that experience. If it makes them look up things or become a little more interested in history, that's awesome.

Have you considered including some of those encyclopaedic elements that you see in games like the Total War series?It's very experiential. A lot of what we're interested in is just the tonality. It's not a Wikipedia entry, it's "what did that feel like?" What does it feel like when you have to make a decision and the consequences aren't pleasant? We put in a few mechanics like the "cold weather" mechanic where your troops can freeze to death. And sometimes you need to make that sacrifice. You need to capture a piece of territory that's far away and some of those guys are going to die on the way there. What do you do about that? Or there's one where casualties can still crawl around the battlefield and they'll be able to see your troops. So do you execute them? Those are little decisions and consequences that deliver a bit of that tone and that brutality. Hopefully players will think about those actions.

You can deliver narrative with those things in any aspect of the game -- even multiplayer. Every game in Company of Heroes had a narrative, first thing you do after playing is "did you see that?" It's less about winning or losing and more about the experience. That's something we want to continue with the new one.

Were there any examples in that area where you experimented but it didn't work out?It's amazing how much stuff you iterate one, how much you forget about and how much you go back and try again. There are moments of features likeOrder 227 where Stalin issued his famous "not one step back" and we tried to put it in multiplayer and not make it feel punitive but the balance wasn't right.

We might be able to in the future but we found it worked really well in the campaign but not in that new context. We have intensity, we have brutal combat and that felt like something we didn't need.

Do you think your context of that real historical attention to detail could help attract more of the mainstream audience?There's a lot of people who are tangentially interested in history -- they watched Saving Private Ryan but not much more -- but if we can give them a gameplay experience, maybe they become more interested. And that concept of it providing context, whatever we do is almost setting-agnostic but it really does need to be contextually supported.

It's interesting that you have a game out there sitting alongside theCall of Duty and Battlefields but with a slightly different tone -- but what's your audience? How do you reach that more mainstream audience who may not be finding your game in the same way?You're seeing a reconvergence of technology at the moment and the distribution of games on the console, PC, phone, tablet, I think those are going to start to reconverge.

Fewer devices with more shared functionality - something like a Call of Dutymight not work well on a touchscreen tablet but strategy games feel like they might. That might be somewhere that we can start to see the blurring of that PC/console schism. And if you're building a good game, you hope people will find it. It's a really confusing time for the industry, to be a developer or publisher because nobody knows what's next.

A lot of the divide between consoles and PC feels like it comes down to the interface - especially with strategy genre -- Do you think that's an area that really needs to evolve?I'd be really excited to play a strategy game on a tablet. The new ones are certainly powerful enough to run the previous generation of games and maybe in the near future able to handle titles like Company of Heroes 2. They're quite incredible and it's a very tactile experience.

Maybe you can't fully simulate a mouse driven interface, there's a lot of thinking to do on the design side about how you power a game to do that but it feels entirely possible. With Relic strategy games, wherever our audience goes, we should go -- we should be prepared for that. So I'd expect our future games will be on more than one platform.

Are you tempted to go and try those little app-based smaller games?
I'm not personally -- mostly because I love the kind of games we build, I love the challenges and the big teams. I've worked with small teams but I'm still in love with the surroundings, the presentation.

A lot of people say "it's really just about the gameplay" but I'm not one of those people. I love gameplay systems but I love the way we support them with these amazing visuals and that takes time and effort -- and money.

All developers have teams to trial gameplay and refine it but do you find data is playing a bigger role here too?We generate more data than we can effectively use and that's a challenge. Every game at work generates large numbers of data files, excel files etc. We've used all kinds of different visualisation software too.

Gathering and analysing metrics is a full time job for a couple of people. And so that's always the risk when we do something like a beta --if we're going to generate useful info, how quickly can we actually analyse it, turn it around and put it to use. But it can be incredibly valuable for future planning, for understanding what's actually happening. On forums you may get the pulse of something but what people say is happening and what's actually happening are two different things. You need the data.

In the past, we've collected terabytes and terabytes of data but companies like Google have shown metrics can be used to drive success here. And Google wouldn't be Google without the metrics so we need to emulate some of that.

Are you exploring bringing on people in some of these new areas and roles within the company? How is that evolving?We've worked with some of the local universities in Vancouver and they've done presentations working with some of our data. It does take a different mindset and skillset and you try to learn these things in my position. I've got experience but in the future perhaps we'll increasingly need to justify our decisions using analytics.

We'll see -- these are big investments and it might become a case of understanding more and more what we're building, more about the market and data supports that.

What kinds of things influence you externally in your role?Lately I do a lot of book-reading. My reading list for this game is massively extensive. A lot of times you read a whole book and there's actually a one or two sentence anecdote where you put a sticky on it and say that's inspiration for a whole mission, a whole encounter, a whole gameplay system. But I love that kind of research.

For a game like Company of Heroes 2, the passion and the interest is vital. If you have a team without that, it will reflect and the consumer will see it. There's a direct connection there.

In that vein, with Kickstarter, you see some people even from really big studios just launching something because they love it -- would you have a dream project you'd want to launch or see on there?It's a really interesting approach and it proves in some cases there really is room for a niche and perhaps publishers will look at that and see there's still demand and maybe they can take chances on some of them.

Talking about analytics and data, if a million people have invested a couple of dollars into one of these projects, that can say there's an actual market out there, PC gaming isn't dead, it never was and these massive games show there are still a lot of gamers out there.

Publishers are risk averse -- if you can prove to a publisher you've got a lot of investment, a prototype, maybe we'll see some more interesting games.

Facebook hits a billion users - but second billion will be harder

2012-10-05T10:34:00.002-07:00

Mark Zuckerberg faces challenge of growing in emerging markets and making as much money out of users as Google

FACEBOOK has become the first social network with one billion members who access their account at least once a month – but analysts are warning the second billion will be harder to come by.

Mark Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook at Harvard University in 2004 and is now its chief executive, thanked members yesterday on his own Facebook page.

"If you're reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you," he said. But he added that his aim was to connect everyone in the world via the social network. "I am committed to working every day to make Facebook better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able to connect the rest of the world too," he said.

As the world population is thought to be around seven billion, he has now reached 14 per cent of his target market.

Facebook is the first social network to reach the one billion milestone. Twitter, its nearest competitor, has more than 500 million.

But the achievement comes with a warning: Facebook's rate of growth has begun to slow, from 55m new users a month to 45m.

The website is now growing fastest in new markets, having reached saturation point in the countries where it first became popular, such as the United States and Britain.

The company will need to develop in emerging markets such as Asia, Russia and Africa if it is to continue to grow, says the Financial Times . Sustained growth is crucial for the company, which has seen its share price fall from $38 when it listed earlier this year to around $22, adds the FT.

"In the lucrative western markets, where the big advertising spends lie, Facebook can no longer rely on an increase in user numbers to increase revenue," said Gregory Lyons at the digital marketer iCrossing. "It must start making more money per user and monetising alternative channels such as mobile."

The Wall Street Journal asks if Facebook can ever profit from its giant user base. Last year, Facebook produced nearly $4 billion in revenue, mostly from advertising - far less than the nearly $38 billion that Google makes from a similar number of users.

According to the Journal, search engines such as Google and Yahoo make about $88 per person who uses its search engines in the US, while Facebook makes about $15.

Other social media businesses are also running into difficulties. On Thursday, social-games maker Zynga lowered its earnings outlook for the year, in part because consumers appear to be losing interest in some of its games.

Furthermore, the next billion might be more of a challenge. Many potential subscribers are in countries like China and Russia where growth has been hard to come by.

But the real question is whether Facebook can translate its service financially to mobile devices.

Last month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted the company's previous mobile strategy was wrong and announced an application that displays ads on mobile devices.

With 600 million mobile users accessing Facebook (from a total of 5 billion mobile devices in use worldwide) Zuckerberg believes the company will eventually make more money per user on mobile phones than on computer desktops.

Tony Blair: Reaction To Anti-Islam Film Innocence Of Muslims Is 'Absurd'

2012-10-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

The violent reaction to an anti-Islamic film has been "absurd", Tony Blair has said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday morning, the former prime minister said no one should take the film, Innocence of Muslims, seriously. "It's a laughable piece of film work," he said.

"The good news there is plenty of people who agree this reaction is absurd," Blair, who serves as a Middle East peace envoy, said.

Demonstrations have been held outside Western embassies across the Middle East and North Africa in reaction to the film.

“I think what we shouldn’t do is lose sight of what the real issue is, and the real issue is how do people actually think it is justified to react in a way that ends up in innocent people being killed," Blair said.

“So no, this is a profound problem; it’s a problem, as I say, which is about the struggle of modernisation. The good news is, in the end, the modernisers will win incidentally, but it will take a long time to do."

He added: "The good news, by the way is that there are plenty of people within these countries, and within these societies who agree entirely that this reaction is absurd and that they need to change and allow their countries to develop in a proper way.”

In the most violent of incidents the US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other American staff were killed after demonstrators stormed the embassy.

On Monday Sheikh Nasralla, the leader of Hezbollah, called for fresh protests in Lebanon against the film, branding it one of the worst insults against Islam ever.

"Those who should be held accountable, punished, prosecuted and boycotted are those directly responsible for this film and those who stand behind them and those who support and protect them, primarily the United States of America," he said.

Blair also told the BBC that the West should start to "ratchet up the pressure" on the regime of Bashar al-Assad as the civil war in Syria raged on.

"I know people say inevitably he will go; I don’t think it is inevitable," he said. "Actually, unless we are prepared to make it clear that our support and solidarity for those people who are struggling against what is a very, very brutal repression now, that that support will continue."

Boost your health at work

2012-10-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

Most of our waking hours are spent at work, which means the working environment can play a big part in our health and wellbeing.
From 2010 to 2011, about 26.4 million working days were lost due to workplace injury and ill-health. Stress and back pain are the two biggest causes of absence from work.
There are many things that workers can do not only to reduce their risk of work-related ill-health but also to use their time at work to boost their health.

Stress
About 10.8 million days were lost because of work-related stress, depression and anxiety from 2010 to 2011. While not all stress is work-related, knowing how to deal with a lot of pressure at work is important.
Learn to identify the symptoms of stress. Don’t wait for it to make you ill before you do something about it. One of the best ways of dealing with stress is knowing how to prioritise your workload and not taking on more than you can handle. Read more in Beat stress at work.
Back pain
About 7.6 million working days were lost due to work-related back pain and other musculoskeletal disorders from 2010 to 2011. The main causes are poor posture or an awkward twisting movement (bending or reaching), or a combination of the two.
In most cases, the best treatment is to stay active and, if necessary, use over-the-counter painkillers. You may feel like going to bed, but this won’t help and could make things worse. The longer you stay immobile, the weaker your back muscles will become and the more they'll hurt in the long term. For tips on keeping a healthy back, read more in Back pain at work.
RSI
Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is more likely to occur if you spend long periods of work without a break, or if you sit on an uncomfortable chair or at a poorly arranged workstation. Incorrect technique when using a computer keyboard and mouse, mobile phone or hand-held device can all cause RSI.
Modern technology isn't solely responsible. Anyone who uses certain muscles repeatedly can get RSI. This includes factory assembly-line workers, musicians, tailors and cleaners. Read more in Prevent RSI.
Sitting
If you spend a lot of your time at work sitting at a desk, make sure you're sitting in the right position in relation to your computer. If you're unsure about correct posture, ask your line manager for a workplace assessment.
If you work on a computer a lot, it's important to take regular breaks. That means for every hour at your keyboard you should rest for at least five to 10 minutes. Read more in How to sit correctly.
Exercise
Many of us spend long hours at work and may have a long and tiring commute. But getting active at work is easier than you may think. Here are some tips for building exercise into your working day:

Cycle or walk part, if not all, of your journey to work. Get off one bus or tube stop before your final destination.
Walk over to someone's desk at work rather than speaking to them by phone.
Take the stairs instead of the lift. Or get out of the lift a few floors early, then use the stairs.
Use your lunch break to exercise. Your office may have a gym, or you may have access to a nearby swimming pool or squash courts.

Improving your general fitness and losing weight if you need to will also benefit your posture and help to prevent injury. For more ideas on working exercise into your working day, check out our Fitness articles.
Lifting
One of the biggest causes of back injury, especially at work, is lifting or handling objects incorrectly. Learning and following the correct method for lifting and handling objects can help prevent back pain.
Here are some key points to lifting safely:

Think before you lift.
Start in a good position.
Keep the load close to your waist.
Avoid twisting your back or leaning sideways.
Keep your head up.
Know your limits.
Push, don't pull.
Distribute the weight evenly.

For more information on correct lifting techniques and safe manual handling, read our guide to lifting safely.
Eating
We consume at least a third of our daily calorie intake while at work. What we eat and drink affects not just our health but our work performance too. If we don't eat regular well-balanced meals or drink enough water, we may get headaches, feel sluggish or have difficulty concentrating.
Whether you buy your lunch from a sandwich shop, café, supermarket or work canteen, there are usually plenty of healthy lunch options available. Bringing in your own lunch is also a good idea because you know exactly what's in your lunchbox and it'll save you money. You could either prepare sandwiches or a salad, or bring leftovers from your evening meal. For healthy eating ideas, check out the healthy eating section.
Go to the Health for Work website for more information about staying healthy at work or how to support employees or colleagues with health issues. You can also call their advice line on 0800 077 8844.