Careers in IT - the hottest academic areas

Did you know Microsoft looks to hire those with unique backgrounds. The blog post on the Microsoft Careers blog at http://microsoftjobblogs.com lists the three of the hottest academic areas that are expected to be in demand in the future


1. Data mining

2. Business intelligence / competitive intelligence

3. Analytics / Statistics such as web analytics and A/B testing

Read the full post at http://microsoftjobsblog.com/blog/top-three-new-tech-majors

Facebook Dislike Button

There is an app available called the dislike button. This does not work as a 'dislike button' and is not an official button from Facebook. We recommend that you do not download this app.

According to a news article on the BBC the app encourages people to complete a survey and then posts as a status update "I just got the dislike button, so now I can dislike all your dumb posts lol!!!"

As Mashable points out, if Facebook introduced a dislike button it would automatically add it for you and you would not be required to download it!

Graduates expect flexible working hours

A study by Orange shows that 53% of the 1,000 graduates interviewed expected to be offered the option to work flexibly either from their own chosen location or outside of traditional office working hours. Nearly half also expect to access emails outside of work and on the move.


69% of respondents said learning experiences were important in a first job. Followed by happiness 58%, flexible working 53%, a good salary 51% and great colleagues 43%.

http://newsroom.orange.co.uk/2010/07/28/orange-finds-2010-s-graduate-expect-a-flexible-working-life-from-future-employers

Social Networking costs £14 billion

According to the results of a poll by myjobgroup.co.uk social networking is costing the UK £14 billion in lost working hours.

It shows that almost 2m people spend over an hour on Facebook each day at work.

MyJobGroup polled 1,000 workers and 10% claimed that social media made them more productive with 14% saying it made them less productive.

http://myjobgroup.co.uk/media-centre/press-releases/social-media-costing-uk-economy-up-to.shtml

Gartner's IT Spend Forecast

Gartner's latest forecast of IT spend shows it predicts a growth of 2.9% this year to reach £1.5 trillion in 2010.

The forecast is down from its original forecast of a 4.1% growth.

Spoof Amazon emails

I've received an email from Amazon confirming an order - I haven't ordered anything, what should I do?


There are a number of spoof emails around at the moment and many are the best advice that we give is. If it looks suspicious, never enter in your login details or credit card details. Contact Amazon to report the email.

You can always go to the official Amazon website and login to your account from there and view your order history.

For further advice see the Amazon website http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=15340571

Free iPhone 4 case

Are you experiencing signal drop-off issues with your iPhone 4?


If so, Apple are offering a free iPhone 4 'bumper' case to help.

To get the case you need to download the App http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/iphone-4-case-program/id383941000?mt=8 on your iPhone 4 before 30th September 2010 and you should receive your case within 6 weeks.