I seem to be getting an awful lot of spam mail these days. Examples include:

• SEO sales pitches – a lot of these!!!
• Insurance – these have even managed to creep in to my LinkedIn inbox!
• Web promotions
• Order/quote requests – haven;t had one of those in quite a while
• Welcome to IT community - a sneaky one this one -I thought I might actually have signed up to this and forgotten about it

and even one that I think was in Mandarin?!

They all seem to be business related – I always delete these without even opening but am just curious as to why they all seem to have started out of the blue?

Apparently, rather than make their lives easier, a large proportion of office workers blame ‘faulty’ IT devices for many of their woes.

• 25% blame basic office technology if they are unable to meet deadlines
• 28% become so frustrated with equipment that they place a call with their IT department up to 3 times a week
• 52% get irate if their computers crash (I think the other 48% must have skipped this question!!)
• 25% are frustrated by slow internet

However many of these causes of frustration are often caused by easily fixed faults, some of which are down to human error.

But it’s not all bad – although IT seems to be causing some degree of stress in the workplace:

• 42% of office workers find it easier to broach sensitive issues with colleagues via IT
• 39% feel better about cancelling meetings via email than on the phone or face to face
• 34% prefer to book leave via email
• 26% are happier reporting a sick-day via email

Now as an IT professional, I would say I am pretty IT savvy. However I fit into quite a few of these categories!

I tend not to blame IT if I miss a deadline, however I believe my laptop and printer can sense the panic in the air when I am cutting it fine, and promptly decide that is the ideal time to throw a wobbly! Anyone else with me on this one?

The 2nd category doesn’t apply as I AM the IT department

Irate when my computer crashes, and frustrated by slow internet - I thought that was a normal human reaction?!

What about you? Is IT the bane of your life? Can’t live with it, can’t live without it? Please comment with your experiences of the good and bad in IT – or simply reply to my multi-choice question on Facebook – www.facebook.com/desktopgenie

Ofgem sais the margin had risen to £125 per customer per year, from just £15 in June

This follows a series of double digit increases in bills in recent months. The average annual enegry bill has risen 21% this year to £1293 according to Uswitch.

Ofgem is investigating the sharp rise in household energy costs and also plans to force suppliers to simplify their bills. It said it wanted to encourage more competition in the market to break the stranglehold of the “big 6″ providers

Under its reform, energy companies will have to simplify their billing structures, making it easier for consumers to compare prices

In the meantime, I am wearing multiple layers of clothes!!

I used to have a touchscreen phone and hated it so much I gave it to my 10-year old son – he loves it – is that the target market for iphones?

So whats going to happen if Blackberry disappears? Is my only alternative the Android? All I want is a phone that can handle email too – no need for all these distracting apps – I’m to busy trying to keep my business going!

Someone (Paul) says that Blackberrys are “so last year” – he’s such a dedicated follower of fashion! Personally I tend not to follow the herd – no Hollister wearing, iphone tapping for me!!

Any other Blackberry lovers out there? Or anyone want to try to persuade me to switch?

As such, I have recommended these features to workshop participants. I refer of course to the notorious Invite Friends and Tell your fans.

Lets start with Invite Friends – once you logon to your business account but before you click on the right hand link “Use Facebook as <your business name>”, below this link you will see an option Invite Friends – clicking this will allow you to cherry pick the friends in your personal account to invite to become fans

Tell your Fans, on the other hand, is located within the Edit Page section, under Resources. When you click on Tell your Fans you can upload a csv file (which you previously created from an external list of contacts, eg Outlook) and choose to tell each one in an email about your page.

Feedback from Facebook users implies that these features do not work – they allow you to go through the motions however they do not deliver! You are left with the impression that your friends and contacts have received your message recommending that they visit and Like your new page, but have chosen, for some reason, to simply ignore you!!

The more sensitive of us may find this a little bit hurtful!

So whats really going on?

Apparently Facebook have disabled these feature (why? they seem like really useful features to me) but have not removed the code on the front-end so we are all busy inviting, telling & suggesting, but getting nowhere!

So what can we do? There are 2 main options (undoubtedly many more, please feel free to add an appropriate comment)

1. Share – once you logon to your business page – but before you click on the right hand link “Use Facebook as <your business name>” – have a look at the options below your list of Likes in the left hand panel. One option is Share

Click on this and you have an option to post a message on either your own wall, a friends wall, to a group, on your own page or in a private message – lets focus on On a friends wall/in a private message.

In the resulting box, in the field Enter a friend’s name, enter a letter – all friends who start with that letter appear – you can then cherry-pick all the friends you want to post a message to

Write something – here you can say something like “The logo below leads to my new business page – click on it to go to the page – then click Like to become a Fan!”

Then click Share – the message will land on their wall/inbox for them to read and take the appropriate action

2. Use an App – you will have to search for an appropriate app for your requirements so I’ll just mention one here – “Invite Your Friends” adds a button to your business Facebook page – when you click on it you can then access a list of your personal friends, and can choose which ones you want to ask to Like your page – pretty much what the Invite Friends feature SHOULD do – its pretty nifty

So what’s your experience of expanding your Fan base & sharing your Facebook page with friends??!! All useful suggestions passed on to future workshop attendees, and credit given where due!!

Most cookies are harmless, and are simply used to deliver targeted advertising.

Some people object to cookies, as they find them intrusive, so the EU have recently updated the regulations on them.

Previously websites had to inform visitors of how they intended to use the information stored in a cookie, and give the visitor the option to opt-out of cookie use, ie cookies are switched on by default.

Changes to regulations now state that websites must provide visitors with an option to opt-in, ie cookies are switched off by default.

An exception to the rule exists where cookie permission is not required if a cookie is “strictly necessary” for a service requested by the user. An example that the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) quote as “strictly necessary” is where a user chooses to buy goods and adds these items to their shopping trolley – the act of choosing the products and so requesting the purchasing service acts, in itself, as consent to cookies.

ICO are now advising website owners to take heed of the new rules. The legislation came in on 25th May 2011 however as the implications of implementing the necessary changes are quite large, businesses have been granted a few months to get sorted. Non-compliance can lead to financial penalties, ranging from £1000 to £50000 deoending on the perceived severity of the breach.

It is the Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) responsibility for implementing the regulations, and, in an attempt to make the regulations “business friendly”, are not specifying the technical means by which websites obtain consent. There is a current debate on the fact that the law calls for consent and not “prior” consent, which implies that consent may be given before, during or even after the cookie process.

So the question that is now on web owners lips is “are my cookies strictly necessary?” And if not “what is the most user-friendly, cost effective means of gaining cookie consent on my website?”

What about your website? Are you cookie compliant?

But you’ve been so busy on your Social Media presence that your website has been neglected – every time you look at it you flinch, wondering how you ever thought it was the best thing since sliced bread!

OK – I can’t be the only one who feels like that?? Or am I?

Or have we all been swept along by the tidal wave of social media options to stop and think about what they should really be used for.

A website was traditionally a bit like a magazine or newspaper – all one-way communication. Social Media allows our “readers” to interact directly with us, telling us their needs, feelings and thoughts. People like to communicate, feel they are part of a community, contribute to whats going on out there, and Facebook allows them to do it, with words, images, photos, videos etc

Websites definitely have the edge when it comes to image, brand and standing out from the crowd. However Facebook’s ever-increasing bank of apps allows all sorts of customisation, personalization and branding of Facebook pages,

Facebook Insights now provides all sorts of statistics on Facebook page visitors that historically could never compete with website analytics

And finally, websites require effort from the visitor – they have to GO to your website, while Facebook goes to the customer. Facebook users simply logon and let their Fans etc parade in front of them, displaying their wares! Its like sitting back, sipping champagne, while your personal shopper has models model the latest fashions to you, rather than you have to hunt through the rails yourselves. 

It really sounds as though Facebook has killed the website!

BUT ……

maybe I’m old-fashioned but if I want to get a feel for a prospective client, partner or business, I go to their website! I find Facebook all a bit too much “same old, same old”

Websites give a feel for the type of organisation you are interested in – they are unique (Facebook pages will never be unique in my eyes)

HOWEVER, as a final word, I feel that both Facebook and Websites have a place to play in every businesses marketing – consider them together and make them work hand in hand to get the best of both worlds!

Welcome to Desktop Genie’s first blog post!

Once I get the blog integrated with my new “coming soon” website, I’ll get busy blogging on all things IT