SnatchIt!

Ok, not really.  But if you are in the mood for a cheesy shirt, try these on for size.

We figured that if people are educating themselves in Information Technology, they might want to know why it’s not such a good idea to get involved in an IT position for a small business or in a small office environment.  Here is a list of 5 reasons you should never work  IT in a small company:

1. You will likely be completely on your own (no team) and be responsible for everything IT-related (hardware, software, networking, EDI, datasynchronization, email, internet… you name it).

2. Not only will you handle all IT, you will be given responsibilities dealing with the operations of the company, usually for the departmnet that shares the same manager as you (as if you don’t already have plenty to concentrate on).

3. No one will use a form or email to notify you of their issue or request (no matter how many times you ask), they’ll call or come over or just catch you in the hall or department – of course, when you are already busy working on something else.

4. Since your job is usually “as needed” (which translates to all of the time), managers tend to come to you to handle special tasks (un-related to your job) because you have the most “flexible” schedule.  Nevermind the many projects you are constantly behind on from having to set aside your time for everything, as you have become the “catch-all”.

5. You just shouldn’t.  The only way it would ever be worth it, is to work as a consultant, setting your own hours and rate.  Unless you go native, you would never have to worry about being used as a catch-all and you wouldn’t have to trouble yourself with handling any of the operations of the company.

There you have it.  No working in IT for a small business, period.

Um… yeah.  If you are really bored and want a no-brainer, this addicting online game is just the thing.  In TANKOPTER, available at OnlineGames.Net, all you need to worry about is holding the left mouse button to go up, letting go to go down, and space bar to shoot.  The goal is to stay in the air, without crashing, as long as you can.  If you’ve been working your brain to mush all day, just sit down and veg on this game for a while.  It might help you work out some of the stress from work.

Fishdom!  This addicting and free puzzle game is found on MSN Games.  It’s a swapping items puzzle that earns you dollars.  With your money, you purchase fish, decorations and other items for your fish aquarium.  As you succeed in making the ultimate aquarium, you will earn trophies. It’s actually two addicting games in one.

Keeping employees productive is easy if you do it right.  It basically requires two things: Keeping them driven and keeping them happy.

Keep them challenged, don’t let them get bored.  They will take pride in their accomplishments.  This doesn’t mean overload them with difficult tasks that cause them to be stressed.  It means make work exciting for them.  Drive them to do a good job by giving them reasonable goals.  Encouragement is key.

Not only do employees need to be driven, but they also need positive morale.  There are several ways to do this.  Let’s name a few:

1.  Offer Schedule Options:  Everyone is different.  Some people have children (or others that they need to take care of ) and would prefer a steady eight hour a day schedule.  Others would rather work longer hours and have a three-day weekend.  For some, a 10 hour day might be too long, but they’ll work nine, allowing themselves to leave a half a day early, once a week.  Some way want to start early and leave early.  Others may prefer to have a later start. Offering employees modified schedules to chose from is usually easy, free to the employer, and lets the employee pick the best one to fit their wants or needs. Not to mention, it saves the employee transportation costs.

2.  Allow Employees to Work From Home:  Who doesn’t want to work from home?  Letting an employee work from home, one day a week, once every other week, or just once a month will definitely boost morale.  It shows them that you trust them to work under minimal supervision and lets them spend less money on gas and less time away from home due to driving time.  That extra hour or two a day of personal time is valuable!  They can start as early or late as they want and even split their shift if they need to run special errands.  If their job can’t be done off site, give them something they can do.  Allowing them to spend a day working from home once in a while will help employees appreciate their job more and they’ll be more productive for the company.

3.  Reward Them:  When employees get little extras, they’ll definitely be happier and more productive.  Most likely, money will always be the number one desired reward, but if a company can’t afford it for their employees, there is always extra paid time off.  Yes, PTO is the next best thing to cash and it’s virtually free to the employer.  A day, an hour or two, or even 15 minutes of extra PTO every so often will work wonders in improving employee morale.  Employers aren’t sacrificing much to give it, because the employee either finishes their work before they leave, or they are covered while they are away.  If these extras are earned, employees will be more motivated to work harder to acheive their goal.  Don’t make the reward impossible to earn, or it will become more of a discouragement.

4.  Hang the Code:  Employees don’t like to be uncomfortable when they work and they don’t like to waste their money on work attire. Enforcing a dress code that is above what is sensible is counter-productive to keeping morale up.  Don’t force women to wear nylons (they’re a waste of money, and bad for the environment anyway).  Offer lots of opportunity for casual days.  They don’t have to be on Fridays alone.  Technically, tennis shoes are safer that dress shoes and healthier to spend all day in.  If there is no real need to dress up, don’t force it.  Jeans and a T-shirt are way more comfortable and more affordable.  Employees will cover more territory when their feet don’t hurt.  If they really care about looks, they’ll pay the price.

Employers, we would like you to share your methods of boosting employee morale. Tell us about what works, and what doesn’t.  Employees, let us know what would make you want to get up and go to work every day.  Maybe we can all learn a thing or two.

A really funny arcade game, to play online for free, is “Doodle Defender“.  Available at Yahoo! Games, this game lets you draw your own spaceship. Then you fight off alien invaders on notebook paper.  You level up and are able to upgrade your ship.  Try it out!  We’d love to see your high scores, so let us know!

Don’t  forget to get your dad something great for Father’s Day! If you are out of ideas, a Father’s Day shirt, hat or coffee mug will do the trick.  At SnatchIt!, there are a lot of ideas.  If your dad is a gamer, you might want to consider some of our Gaming designs. Or is he more into fishing?  Whatever the case, we’re sure there is something for him.  Don’t forget about the generic Fathers Day gifts.  So give a BIG “Happy Father’s Day” to your dad.  He’ll appreciate it.

While we sit at our computers, day after day eating junk food, our muscles turn to mush and the insulation for our bodies becomes more abundant.

 Is this really what we want?  Obviously not, however, who wants to give up their computer?  Well, then we need to find some ways stay healthy

while still being able to work and play on our pc’s.  There are lots of places online that give you tips and hints on exercizing at your desk.  There is an interesting article on Gearfire.net that focuses on good posture and stretching, as well as one on HowToDoThings.com .

To tell you the truth, there are lots of things you can really do to help control your weight when you spend so much time on the computer.  Here are some other ideas:

1.  Take breaks frequently.  Stop every 45 minutes and take a break from your keyboard. Preferably, do something to get your heart rate going, as this will continue to help you as you are seated as well.
      a. Get up and walk around picking up things that are out of place and putting them away.
      b. Jog in place for a few minutes, lifting your knees high with each joggin step to really get your heart pumping.
     c. Put a load of laundry on or fold a load, the arm and body motion will help get your heart going.
     d. Try sit-ups and push-ups, these things will help strengthen your muscles, which in turn, will help you keep your posture.
The key is, don’t just sit there, get up and move around.  Finding something productive to do will help you find the time to get things done, since the computer takes up so much time.  Don’t do anything that hurts or strains you body.  Just do what you can to get your body moving in some fashion, and it will help.

2. Eat right.  Don’t devour the candy and junk food.  Stop with the softdrinks or other drinks high in sugar.  Water is obviously a better choice to keep your body hydrated.  You can also consider flavored waters if you need something a little more interesting some healthy snacks to consider:
      a. carrot and  celery sticks.
      b. apple slices and cheese cubes.
      c. tomato, cucumber and bell pepper slices.

3.  If you have a laptop, take it to different areas of the house or office so that you are not always sitting in the same position.  When you move, get up and stretch.  Also, the change of scenery is nice and probably better for your eyes.

Keeping ourselves active will keep us healthier.  If you can’t remember to take your breaks, then set an alarm or timer. Pretty soon, it will become habit.

I think I’m crazy.    A little Obnoxious Groundhog calls for Alan and Steve and everyone laughs!  Every day, I see videos that get a lot of hits and it astounds me.  Something so simple and it gets so much attention.  What’s worse, it pulls me in!  I find myself watching these crazy videos.  It’s such a time-waster, spending life on the net, watching funny videos or trailers… Charlie Bit Me, Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus…  Why do I do it?  It can be addicting, but I’m not the worst of the bunch.  There are people out there spending 10 times as much as I do. 

What about video games online?  So much of my time is spent playing online fps and mmo games.  My favorites are Halo 3 and WOW, and they are already considered old. But I just can’t bring myself to purchase more games when I haven’t gotten bored with the ones I have!  I don’t even get to play my favorite RPG, Oblivion anymore.  Where’s the time? 

Every once in a while, my family gets together and plays a little Rock Band.  That one is addicting, but at least you get tired of doing so much work, or you just get blisters and lose your voice.  You can’t keep that one up forever.

Oh yes, and my son has me playing Lego Star Wars every time I turn around.   Yes, I’ve gotten him addicted too.  But most of the time we keep it in moderation.  He’s four and he loves to read books with us and do his “homework” which is simply completed worksheets in the activity books we buy him.  We read the Bible to him, too.  We also have a children’s book that has accurate versions of the Bible’s stories (he actually understands and follows along way better with this one right now).

 Speaking of the Bible, do they have any Bible RPG’s (for computer or console)?  It would be interesting to have an interactive visual of the way people lived in those times.  The problem I have is that it can’t be too much of an RPG, or  you would be changing history.  I suppose, you can be a character that doesn’t exist in the Bible, that way you can keep all of the events accurate.  If there was an accurate Bible RPG, I would buy it.  I am a very visual and interactive learner.  The Bible is obviously tough to understand through just reading, but to read and also put yourself inside of it, you could get more out of your studies.  Not to mention, you’d probably get more studying in.