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Newsletter – October 8, 2009 – Boilers, Readers and 80,000 Jobs
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This newsletter is published by Kevin Ramsey for Jack's Guides and The IT Jobs
Genie.
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Hi,
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The Winter of our Discontent
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I am typing this newsletter wearing much heavier clothing than I have recently
been used to.
It would seem that autumn has finally arrived in Southern England. “Mustn’t
Grumble” as people here tend to say. We have had a long warm summer.
That’s one of the good effects of global warming. Anything that makes the UK
climate a bit warmer and drier can’t be all bad.
Anyhow this week it finally turned a bit colder. Two days ago our central
heating and hot water boiler, barely 6 months old, right on cue, decided it
wasn’t going to work any more.
Luckily it’s under warranty still, so we eagerly await our service call
tomorrow. Meanwhile it’s like stepping back in time. All the things you take for
granted:
It’s been interesting to see how the energy efficiency of our property has
panned out. We live in a town house in a small block of 8, built in the early
1960s.
We bought it at the beginning of the year and are slowly modernising it – hence
the new boiler. It has had hardly any attention in 30 years, so there’s a lot to
do.
Anyway, we are quite impressed. Despite not yet having double glazed windows
(that’s the next major expense on our list), in two full days of no heating at
all, the inside temperature has slowly dropped from the 23 degrees Celsius it
has maintained through most of the summer to a still reasonable 19.5 degrees,
despite outside temperatures being around minimum 9 and maximum 17.
I think those builders of 50 years ago knew what they were doing!
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E-Book Readers
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I don’t know how many of you have an e-book reader. They are still a bit rare in
the UK, even though the USA has had them for some time.
Since I have been publishing e-books I have developed an interest in them. I saw
my first one in late 2007 on vacation in Mexico.
It was owned by an American tourist who was reading by the pool. I was impressed
with it then.
Earlier this year we invested in a Sony e-book reader, and it’s been in constant
use ever since, even having been on a couple of beach vacations.
I admit I am very impressed with it. Reading e-books on a PC screen is not to
everyone’s taste. Printing them out to read them is a bit tiresome and expensive
on ink – and still not as good as a real book.
The Sony gets over all these problems. It’s as pleasant as a real book to read,
even in bright sunlight. The battery lasts a week or more between charges and
you can carry around many books in a device that is no bigger or heavier than a
single paper back.
My wife uses it daily, reading on the train going to work and won’t be separated
from it. We might have to get another.
Some of these thoughts were prompted by an article in today’s newspaper, which
said that Amazon are about to release their Kindle e-book reader in the UK.
Up to now it’s only been available in the USA. It will be interesting to see
what a bit of competition does. The Sony has had the market more or less to
itself till now.
With any luck it will bring the prices down a bit. I still think they are a wee
bit expensive for what they are – and a price drop of about 40% is needed, I
think, to make them a mass market device.
Still, we are getting great value out of ours and wouldn’t be without it. If I
can get my hands on a Kindle, when they are released, I’ll do a product
comparison test.
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80,000 new jobs in The UK in the next 4 years
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This was a headline in one of the UK newspapers this week. The prediction was by
Microsoft chief, Steve Ballmer, addressing the Confederation of British Industry
in London.
Basically Steve was saying that the IT industry in the UK would create 80,000
new jobs here in the next four years. He added “There will be three times as
many jobs created in the information technology sector as in the economy at
large”.
I will review his entire speech and its international implications in more
detail in next week’s newsletter.
For now it’s certainly good news, particularly to those IT staff who are
suffering high levels of employment in the current recession.
Now is the time to lay the groundwork. As we start to come out of the recession
there will be a MASSIVE demand for IT staff. Those who have been preparing
themselves will suddenly find their dreams coming true.
Find out how to get your piece of the action by reading our e-book “Success with
the IT Jobs Genie” available at
www.ITjobsGenie.com
See our other publications at
www.JacksGuides.com
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Previous newsletters.
In response to several requests, we have published many of our older
newsletters. You can find them at
http://www.ITjobsGenie.com/news.html
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I hope you've enjoyed this issue of our newsletter.
Please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or requests.
Enjoy and prosper in your chosen career.
Till the next issue.
Kevin Ramsey
Founder of Jack's Guides