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Source: http://s126149767.websitehome.co.uk/2012/07/11/research-on-marketing-strategies-in-facebook/
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I'm not going lie -- blogging is one of the best jobs in the world, and blogging about Apple is one of the best jobs in blogging. You get to dive deeply into all the technology, apps, and accessories you love, and you get paid to do it. But here's the thing -- it's not easy. Almost anyone can write a post. Very few can write creatively, quickly and consistently day in, day out. If you're one of those few, we'd love for you to join the iMore and Mobile Nations team and write for our millions of readers.
We're looking for people who can work with iMore's editors to find and craft absolutely the best stuff to post about, and post about it in absolutely the best looking, most readable and relatable way possible. We don't want to cover everything, we want to cover what matters the most.
News writer: You love everything that's interesting about Apple and know how to sort the real stories from the rubbish rumors. You don't just regurgitate but you have a knack for context and a talent for finding fresh, creative angles. You can explain what a story is, what it means, and why it matters in a way that's compelling for fellow geeks yet accessible for mainstream readers. You're a machine, but one with a ton of heart.
App writer: Whether it's the latest To-Do software or the sequel to the hottest game ever, you can quickly digest it, figure out what's great, what's not so great, and write it up powerfully and succinctly. You're comfortable approaching and talking to developers, and are able to sort through the deluge of new and update apps that hit the store, ditch the duds, and find the gems that'll make our readers lives better, or just more fun. You understand embargoes, NDAs, and deadlines, but most of all, you love apps and love helping others get the most out of them. (Massive bonus points if you're also adept at music, productivity, business software, and/or hardcore gaming.)
Accessory writer: You always have the latest iPhone and iPad and are constantly on the lookout for the best cases, chargers, stands, keyboards, stylus pens, and everything in-between and above and beyond. You have a great eye for detail and can rapidly assess fine points and flaws alike. You understand the difference between cost and value, and can determine not just whether something is good or not, but for what kind of user. You're happy talking to manufacturers and their PR reps, and are capable of producing high quality, hands-on videos and photography.
How-to writer: You're the person friends and family ask "how do I--" and you're the person who invariably has the answer. You're a teacher, trainer, tester, and tinkerer all rolled into one, and you're able to break down complex tasks into easy to follow steps. You're not just there to provide directions, but to help people get more our of their devices and apps. You're excellent at finding hidden features and creative workarounds alike, and even better at sharing what you find. You know how to leverage a community for help, and how to help a community right back.
No experience is necessary, but the more experience you have, the better. Blogging is awesome, but it's an incredible amount of work. You need to want to be great, to take enormous pride in your work, to never settle for second best, and to never, not ever miss a deadline.
If we've just described you, and you just know you'd be a perfect fit, here's what to do:
Please do follow directions exactly, it's vitally important in blogging. We won't be able to get back to everyone, but if you look like a good fit, we'll get back to you asap.
iMore is looking for a few great writers. Are you one of them?
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Pzhcb6EfP5c/story01.htm
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Six years into Massachusetts' version of health-care reform, most residents are complying with the individual mandate. But for some, the cost of a premium is almost prohibitive.
There was a moment some 5-1/2 years ago when Peter Kastner looked at his monthly health-insurance bills and wondered whether breaking the law might make more sense.
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He and his wife were using a high-deductible plan with a $400 monthly premium, but it didn?t comply with the landmark 2006 law that transformed health insurance in Massachusetts. Paying the tax penalty for not complying was almost more economical than the policies he found through the state-run insurance exchange program.?
After three months, the Kastners decided that the risks associated with catastrophic insurance were too much, and they opted for coverage through his former employer at $800 a month. When that coverage ran out, monthly premiums under a new, state-approved policy jumped: By December 2009, their Blue Cross Blue Shield premiums were $1,125, then leapt to $1,425 in 2010. They now stand at $1,806.
?It?s unaffordable, it?s ridiculous, and it?s absurd,? says Mr. Kastner, a technology consultant in his mid-60s who lives in Westport, Mass. ?I can?t wait for us to get on Medicare.?
Kastner?s complaint illustrates the enormous uncertainty over the Affordable Care Act now that the US Supreme Court has cleared the way for its 2014 start date. For many, the linchpin of the law ? the mandate that individuals obtain health insurance ? is also the focus of the greatest doubt: What if getting health insurance just isn?t economical?
In Massachusetts, the rough idea behind the individual mandate is that having more healthy people paying for insurance will help defray costs for unhealthier people to have insurance. It should also pay for other insurance requirements such as covering preexisting conditions.
State data show that since Republican Gov. Mitt Romney signed the law, 439,000 more people, out of a state population of 6.6 million, have signed up for insurance. Having the highest rate of insured individuals in the country is now touted by state political leaders as having clear economic benefits.
?Massachusetts health-care reform has become a competitive advantage, attracting young people and entrepreneurs who know they can come here and take a chance on a new company and still have access to the best care in the world,? Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat who succeeded Mr. Romney, said after the Supreme Court issued its decision on June 28.
Even before the law took effect, more than 90 percent of Massachusetts? eligible population had some coverage. And polls show a solid majority of residents consistently supporting the law over the years.
In Texas, by contrast, about 27 percent of residents do not have insurance, the highest share in the country. Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) announced this week he would refuse to expand Medicaid or set up an insurance exchange to help consumers shop for policies.
The Affordable Care Act ?is a really, really good deal for places like Texas that have historically not provided good access for its women, children,? says Robert Greenwald, director of Harvard Law School?s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation in Boston. ?When they move away from the political aspects and they look at the needs of their citizens, they will see that this is an incredibly good deal.?
To push people to get insurance, the federal law imposes a tax on those who refuse to get it (the Obama administration has argued it is a penalty, not a tax). In Massachusetts, people must show they have ?minimum creditable coverage?? or face a monthly penalty equal to 50 percent of the least costly insurance premium, depending also on age and income.
For 2012, the highest penalty works out to be $105 a month, or $1,260 a year, according to state data, which is up from $93 a month, or $1,116 a year in 2010. The penalties have reaped $87 million for state coffers since the law?s inception ? $20.6 million of that coming in 2012, the most of any year to date.
For tax year 2010, the most recent available data, about 44,000 people were hit with the penalty, according to the state Department of Revenue. That?s down from 67,000 people in 2007, the first year it was assessed. Of those who paid the penalty, more than half were uninsured for the full year, and most were under the age of 40.
Nationally, most observers expect adoption of the individual mandate and related provisions to be more problematic, given that few other states have anywhere close to Massachusetts? levels of insured individuals. The federal penalty, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2015, is larger than Massachusetts?: an annual levy of $95 or up to 1 percent of a person?s income ? whichever is greater. That rises by 2016 to a minimum of $695 or 2.5 percent of income, or $2,085 for families.
About 4 million uninsured people could end up paying the federal penalty in 2016, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated. There will be hardship exemptions and limited religious exemptions. In Massachusetts, which has somewhat similar provisions, officials have granted penalty waivers to 65 percent of the people who asked for them.
For lower-income people, tax subsidies are expected to help defray costs, and for the lowest brackets, the law pushes for expanded Medicaid access. But for people who don?t fall in those categories, like the Kastners, getting insurance deemed adequate could be complicated and, at least initially, costly.
?It?s just that in this country, ?try to do the right thing? has just gotten too ... expensive. It?s not economically feasible anymore,? Kastner says. ?Not only is it hugely expensive, but you have difficult choices with large economic consequences, and there isn?t always a ?Health Care for Dummies? book right in front of you.?
The larger question, says Joshua Archambault, health-care policy director for the Pioneer Institute, a think tank in Boston, is not about health care at all, but about the proper role of government in people?s lives.
?It?s a symptom of a wider problem ? that is, of the government?s role, intervention in our lives,? he says. ?And [opponents] see this as the first of possibly many things the government is making us do that we don?t want to do.?
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Here are my Science Seeker Editor?s Selections for the past two weeks:
?Can You Learn To Be Synaesthetic?? asks the Neuroskeptic. Errr, maybe? In a way.
All scientific fields rest upon a set of more-or-less mutually agreed-upon assumptions. Sometimes, those assumptions can be wrong, though. Musing about his own field, Micah Allen at Neuroconscience wonders, What are the critical assumptions of neuroscience?
?Marriage is like a sweater. A yellow sweater you bought, and couldn?t return.? This, according to Dan Gilbert, via Thomas Hayden, at the excellent group blog Last Word on Nothing: You?re Not as Happy as You Think You Are, Behavioral Scientists Report.
At Psych Your Mind, blogger Maya notes that ?we may have ideas of what typical French or German or British people are like relative to typical Americans.? She asks, ?are these ideas just oversimplified stereotypes, or are they rooted in actual country-level differences in personality characteristics?? As you might expect, opinions are varied. National Personality Types: Fact or Figment?
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1411e91ae521c89f51d4a930b75bd7ef
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For years, yoga instructor Alice Van Ness has started her classes with a simple request - that students turn their cell phones off.
She brought that policy with her to Facebook, where she began teaching a weekly class at the company's Menlo Park campus in March. But it proved to be a hard policy to follow for at least one employee, who began tapping away on her phone in the middle of class. And after Van Ness shot her a disapproving look, the instructor found herself out of a job.
The 35-year-old San Carlos resident was fired last month after managers at the fitness contractor she worked for explained that saying "no" to Facebook employees is a no-no.
"We are in the business of providing great customer service," said her termination notice from Plus One Health Management. "Unless a client requires us to specifically say no to something, we prefer to say yes whenever possible."
But when it came to the Facebook employee using her cell phone - at the front of the room, in the middle of class - Van Ness refused to bend over backward.
"Hello - this is only Facebook," said Van Ness, whose firing cost her a teaching gig at Cisco too. "We're not talking about the U.S. government here. We're not talking about Russia is about to bomb us. We're talking about Facebook. Something can't wait half an hour?"
Facebook declined to comment. Representatives for Plus One Health Management did not respond to requests for comment. In its termination notice, the company suggested the Facebook incident was part of a pattern of strict behavior on Van Ness' part; she had previously asked a Cisco employee not to take photographs of the class while it was in session.
The incident highlights a growing tension in health studios, where students come to leave the world behind but often find themselves incapable of not checking their text messages, e-mails and - of course - Facebook. As smart-phone usage has grown, many studios have posted prominent notices asking students to leave them outside the studio.
But at a yoga class on a corporate campus, setting aside job responsibilities entirely, even for a few minutes during the work day, can be a stretch.
"Sometimes if you're in the tech industry, or have a serious attachment to your phone, you can't let Facebook go for an hour," said Michelle Michael, who owns Balance Yoga Studio in Woodinville, Wash., near Microsoft and other tech companies.
When Michael opened her studio last year, she posted prominent notices there and on her website banning cell phones from classes.
"It's anti-yoga, if you ask me," Michael said. "We realize the news feed's going to keep going. But it's nothing you can't go back and look at. Class is only an hour."
At the same time, Michael said, instructors shouldn't embarrass their students, even if they're out of line.
Van Ness said her class at Facebook was just beginning when she noticed a student in the front row using a cell phone. She asked the entire class to shut the devices off. Halfway into their routine, just as they began the pose known as ardha chandrasna, the same student picked up her phone again.
Van Ness said nothing, but shot the student a look.
"I'm sure my face said it all," she later said in a blog post. "Really? Your e-mail is more important than understanding your body? It's more important than taking time for you? It's more important than everyone else here?"
The student left class for a few minutes to complete her phone business. She later complained to the fitness center's managers, and two weeks later, Van Ness' boss called her into the office and fired her.
Van Ness protested at first, but later decided she would be happier elsewhere. Working at tech companies, she routinely found herself dealing with students who came in late, left early, and fidgeted during short meditations.
"The culture of these places is to let them do whatever they want," she said. "And I'm just not really OK with anarchy."
She crumpled up her termination notice and discarded it. In an apparent show of support, her roommate's cat, Veronica, tore it up.
Van Ness continues to teach at studios in Los Altos, Palo Alto and Milpitas. She likes using a smart phone as much as the next person, she said. The compulsion to check for new messages is understandable. But - particularly in a yoga class - students ought to be flexible.
"I understand the world still happens and there might be emergencies," Van Ness said. "But it's like, can we have some sort of boundary, a line of what we're not going to accept bringing into this class?"
Source: http://feeds.sfgate.com/click.phdo?i=6127c26c9d23ba8191db2fc17854981b
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