HR's Worst Nightmare - Back Pain

It may come as no surprise to some of you that back pain is a killer in the office environment. Okay not exactly a killer, but its a pretty big obstacle for those in HR. When I was reading an article on back pain and ergonomic seating it was interesting to know that nearly 80% of all office workers will suffer from back pain at some time during their career.

I was a bit shocked by this figure so I done a little research myself. I started looking around health care statistics and office absence statistics but they are all at least 3 years old. Then it struck me to start looking at different ergonomic chair manufacturer websites, they sell the remedy so they should know the problem! I actually contacted one back support manufacturer directly and they were nice enough to tell me about their latest statistics (from last year). It turns out that the 80% figure has decreased slightly over the last few years, but it is still well within the 70% range. Thats still around 3 in 4 people which will be affected.
So if you are in HR then you should think about buying your staff some ergonomic chairs, standing desks or even back massagers, you wouldn't want them going sick for extended periods of time!

Baby Shoes themed Website Design

We just found the wonderful Hippychick website while searching for some baby shoes for our youngest, and I was a bit surprised by the level of detail in the website design.
Hippychick are a fairly new company who have revolutionised baby shoes and baby products, with award winning products and business practices they are on the road to success.

We actually got turned onto their category while looking for Shoo Shoos soft baby slippers. Their chosen layout for the page is very simple and elegant, it also draws the eye to the images and the price...which are the most important factors for many parents. Go check it out!

iPhone Apps To Help With Shopping

Like you need help with shopping?

Shopping, an occasional or a weekly ritual, can be the activity your family spends a lot of time and money on. Most people make the biggest mistake of rushing to supermarkets or shops without any idea of what to buy. As a result, they end up spending lots of money. Having an effective shopping list is a must to avoid financial and time-related problems.
iPhones are great to be with while shopping on a busy day. Here are two great FREE iPhone applications that’ll definitely make your trip to the local businesses and retailers a lot easier.

Scandit

You can take a photo of a product’s barcode and this application will provide price comparisons and product reviews. It’s great to have in your iPhone for a more convenient way of shopping things with a tight budget.

Fastmall

Shopping malls are really big to contain all the necessary things that people might buy. It allows yourself do navigate the crowded place effectively as it downloads the shopping mall’s map. Locate the nearest shop for the things you want to buy with just a single shake or push of a button.

Has IKEA Changed Furniture Shopping?

IKEA has become one of the most notorious home furniture shops in the world, and this is obvious through the predominance of their furniture.

Targeting a common market, they offer home wares and furniture for nearly all applications. Because of this you will be hard pushed to find someone who has not purchased IKEA furniture some time in their life.

However IKEA furniture tends to lack any individualism to it, and this is commonly reported by the IKEA opposition. You will find that the majority of IKEA furniture has a distinct nordic style, and is built to a budget. Because of this you will find that the majority of the furniture is flat pack, and it has become synonymous that flat pack furniture is of low quality.

This has sparked a debate over flat pack furniture and hand made furniture, and which is the better bang for your buck?

It is typically argued that the extra spending is fully justified when comparing hand made furniture to flat pack furniture, however The Logical Directory have published an excellent article on flat pack vs hand made furniture.

Facebook In Decline?

It seems that the Facebook boom is now starting to see a decline in their growth-rate, with recent posted figures showing that the growth rate has dropped over the last 2 months.

Speculation has suggested that the user base would have hit 1 billion people by the end of the year (2011). However with current figures it is a lot more likely that the user base will only just hit the plus side of 800 million. With current standings the user following is just shy of 700 million, however the active user statistics has gone un-published.

Many would suggest this growth is only rivalled by alternative social media platform; Twitter. Since 2006 Twitter has seen many ups and downs in growth and has really seen an upsurge in 2011. Website Monitoring has actually produced an info-graphic to depict their growth over the last few years - Infographic

One of the contributing factors for the decline in growth of Facebook has been attributed to the rise of alternative social networking and blogging platforms. Many people are using these as a developed method of publishing their writing, keeping in contact with friends and distributing news. Recent trends and statistics release could indicate that the whole social networking and blogging may be in general decline. Some example stats are -
Rate It All - Traffic down 9% over last month
Tweako - Traffic up 9% over last month
Faves - Traffic down 28% over last month
Diigo - Traffic down 1% over last month
MyLinkVault - Traffic down 8% over last month
A1 Webmarks - Traffic down 2% over last month
Google Bookmarks - No stats available

Utilising a mixture of these sites many people are able to advance their online writing and networking to many other states and even nationwide. People are also exploiting these methods for business and other advertising matters. This has recently wained in popularity and is a lot more evident within Facebook advertising, and this obtrusive advertising has deterred many users from frequent or returning visits.