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The Workplace of the Future Might Not Exist

In the future, the American workplace is going to change a whole lot, according to this article on the ABC News website.  Most notably…it might not exist anymore. 

More and more, employers are allowing their workers to work from home, the park, a hotel room, the local coffeehouse…anywhere they want, really.  As internet connectivity continues to grow, along with the increase in teleconferencing and the continued growth of the online marketplace, offices are not as necessary as they once were. 

Around 42% of IBM’s employees are already working from home.  According to the article:

“We don’t care where and how you get your work done,” said Dan Pelino, general manager of IBM’s global health care and life sciences business. “We care that you get your work done.” 

There are, of course, many benefits in this scenario for the employer.  Less office space is needed, so companies save on rent and utilities.  Employees (who get to save gas money) also aren’t wasting precious time making the commute to and from work, and are therefore able to get more work done. 

Who knows…maybe you’re already working from home right now… as you read this.  Of course, if you’re reading this, you’re not really working, now are you?

Posted by Jeremy Scott | 0 Comments

A List of Lists

I honestly don’t think the standard “Top 10 List” is ever going to go away–thank you David Letterman.  But part of the reason it’s here to stay is that people just seem to love lists, especially on the web.  Every day I see a dozen or so new lists.  Top 10 New Search Engine Strategies, Top 100 Movie Catchphrases, and so on and so forth.

Well, we here at Keystone are not ashamed to jump on the bandwagon, since lists are clearly not going away.  Thus we present our List of the Top 7 Lists of the Week:

• The Top 100 Undiscovered Websites
• The 8 Most Successful Movie Franchises of All Time
• 18 Overlooked Things Every College Student Should Have
• 20 Fall Movies to Look Forward to
• The 25 Biggest Celebrity Scandals Since 1982
• The 15 Characters or Creatures Fans Most Want to Hang Out With (Entertainment Weekly Readers Poll)
• Top 10 Myths & Misconceptions About Search Engine Optimization

Enjoy!

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University Students Really Trust Google

A new study shows that college students have an inherent trust in the search results returned by search-giant Google.  Participants in the study clicked most often on the links that Google had ranked near or at the top of the results, regardless of how relevant those links actually were to what the students were looking for.  (Click here to read the actual study findings, but it’s definitely written with an academic tone).

The author of the study suggests that search engines need to do more to explain how search works, stating that more education on search algorithms is needed to help users get the maximum benefit from the services offered by the engines. 

Of course, Google doesn’t really hide how search works.  It’s not a big secret.  It’s just that the average web surfer doesn’t care to do the research themselves.  Sure, the actual algorithm that Google uses is kept from the public eye, because it is proprietary–it’s how they make their money.  But Google has long been quite open with those in the search marketing industry on what steps can be taken to help websites communicate better with the engines. 

Oh, I should also mention that if you have some interest in learning more about how search engines work, or how you can help get your site ranked better, just shoot us an e-mail.  Keystone has a variety of search-related services for your business, and we’re here to help.   

Posted by Jeremy Scott | 0 Comments

Find All the Sex Offenders in your Neighborhood

A new “mashup” called Vision 20/20 offers you the chance to see how many sex offenders live near you. 

A “mashup” is a combination of two softwares, systems, tools, or websites.  This particular one mashes up Windows Live Maps with publicly-available sex offender registry data.  So you enter your address and click the “Find the Sex Offenders Now” button, and you’ll get a map page that looks a lot like this:

Each of those little orange & green people on the map represents a sex offender, and their position on the map is tied to that offenders registered address. 

Go here if you’d like to run your own address through the system.   

Posted by Jeremy Scott | 1 Comment

If A Tree Falls in the Forest…

There’s is a very interesting and growing debate in the technology world over the free use of someone else’s WiFi connection. 

On one side, the freeloaders, who say there’s nothing wrong with it.  After all, if the WiFi owner wanted to keep others off their connection, they could simply make it password-protected. 

On the other side, the WiFi-owners, who say that they’re the only ones paying the bill on their connection…that those wishing to get for free something that most of us pay for should go elsewhere.  Or be arrested.  There have now been three known arrests of people “stealing” someone else’s WiFi, pushing the issue into the general public’s view.  Is it illegal?  Is it immoral?  This excellent BBC Online article examines the issue from all sides, giving a great snapshot of the current state of the debate. 

If a WiFi connection is stolen in the forest, and no one’s there to see it…is it really wrong?