Articles by Roger Walker

Roger is the founder of this Website. He specializes in writing about all things the latest trends. He has a love for the automotive and technology lifestyle. Also, He is a researcher and businessman who specializes in different types of services. He has a business where He provides services to people on a daily basis. He loves to learn and loves to share what he has learned.

How Tim Berners-Lee plans to ‘fix the web’

The man behind the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee, recently revealed his plan to address the problems he feels are negatively affecting his creation. In this article, we take a look at Berners-Lee’s ideas on how such issues as fake news and cyber threats can be tackled.

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The state of the web

Berners-Lee has been in the news quite a lot recently discussing his views on how his invention has developed. In particular, he has noted the inability of large numbers of people to access the web, the concentration of power in the hands of a few tech giants, such as Facebook and Google, and also the lack of individual empowerment. Key issues he feels need to be addressed include the rise of so-called ‘fake news’, hate speech and also the threats posed by cyber criminals.

Berners-Lee’s ‘contract for the web’

At a recent web summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Berners-Lee debuted his idea for a contract to fix the problems he has identified with the web. The planned contract will contain principles relating to web design, individual responsibility and government measures, which are collectively aimed at improving the online experience for everyone. One of the main tenets of the contract is the idea of holding those in power to account for the information on the internet. Additionally, Berners-Lee wants to improve accessibility of the web for those who are currently offline and to stem negativity on social media.

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Going forward, Berners-Lee, through his Web Foundation charity, plans to develop his initial ideas and principles into a text, with the input of online experts and interested stakeholders. He hopes that it will become a contract to which companies and governments will sign up and implement. The online community, businesses and agencies, such as Reading web design company, www.starwebinnovations.co.uk, will no doubt wait in anticipation of Berners-Lee’s contract.

Much has changed in the world since Berners-Lee created the world wide web in 1989. When it was first launched, few people could have anticipated how big it would grow and how extensively it would impact our lives. It now seems as if the time has come to take stock of the world wide web, and it is certainly fitting that its creator is the one taking steps to influence its future.

How to combat the January blues at work

In the New Year you might notice your employees are somewhat lacking in enthusiasm and productivity. This is not an unusual phenomenon and is known as the January Blues. With depleted bank balances, weeks to go before pay day, weight gain after the excesses of Christmas and a feeling of not much to look forward to, staff can feel a slump during this winter month. No need to worry though, here’s how you can create a more positive atmosphere and bump up those productivity levels again:

Address Overspending Worries

January is often a stressful time for many people as they dread the arrival of their latest credit card bill. Thankfully, there are lots of ways you can ease that burden for your staff by sharing information about access of advisory services, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau. Perhaps invite a speaker and run a workshop on how to improve organising your finances. You don’t need to single anyone out but offer the advice to all. Just this acknowledgement that many people are in the same boat can help ease people’s worries.

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Help Improve Employee Wellbeing

There is usually a big surge in January for healthy living and getting fit. Capitalise on this trend by encouraging staff to move more. Give them reasons to regularly get up from their desks, encourage them to partake in exercise and this will improve their mood and sense of well-being. Perhaps it’s a chance to organise a group challenge, such as dry January or a lunchtime walking club.

Investing in keeping the workplace a hygienic, clean and attractive place to be will also help to improve mood, productivity and health. For Gloucester Office Cleaning, Find out more here.

Something to Look Forward To

With a little advanced planning, you can turn January into a month of fun activities to keep your staff from getting the blues. There are many reasons to feel gloomy in cold, dark January, so organise some events like bowling, charity fun days, a bake sale or anything that might motivate staff and give them something to plan and look forward to. It’s also the ideal opportunity to thank your employees for all their hard work.

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Social Conscious

If you have a corporate social responsibility programme, great. If not, why not consider organising one. Most employers are hot on social responsibility these days and want their employees to get involved too. Get them fired up about an issue, encourage them to volunteer, organise fundraising events and generally get everyone involved.

Remind Staff How Great You Are

Most recruitment experts agree that the cost of hiring new staff is greater than retaining the ones you already have. Therefore, January is the perfect time to remind staff what a wonderful place they work in. January can often be a time people think about change, so if you want to keep your staff, now might be a good time for feedback surveys, promotions, launching employee schemes and any other plans to help retention.

 

 

 

5 ways to use activated charcoal to be more beautiful

It is called charcoal, or even activated charcoal, a name that perhaps best expresses the idea of the multiplicity of functions that it can exert on our intestine. These are tablets that are bought in herbal medicine, pharmacy or drugstore but derive from a powder. A long process of combustion without flame transforms in fact powder of various types of wood (poplar, willow and birch are among the most popular) in a very thin coal dust.

To take care of your skin, your teeth and even your hair you can use activated charcoal, a natural substance that respects sensitive skin and its many properties.

The charcoal is used by more and for the care of the body, especially the gut. In recent years it has turned out to be a super food, it is no coincidence that they are depopulating the black dough, for bread, pizza and cakes, based on coal. If you are a lover of natural treatments you could also use it to take care of your beauty. Such as?

Here are 5 ways to use activated charcoal

1) Face mask: You can create a DIY peel-off treatment, exceptional. You have to make a soft dough using just a tablespoon of charcoal powder, two tablespoons of clay, a teaspoon of apple cider and a teaspoon of water. This mask will clean the pores in depth, giving shine to the skin.

2) Whiten your teeth: It may seem strange that such a dark substance may actually have a whitening effect. Buy some coal and powder it and add it to your toothpaste. Brush your teeth for 3 minutes and then rinse with plenty of water, then reread your teeth normally.

3) Coal for the scrub: Also in this case you have to pulverize the coal and add it to a shower-bath. It is a great exfoliate, it extracts the excess oils from the skin and cleans the pores in depth.

4) Detoxifying shampoo: Add some charcoal to the shampoo and you can remove impurities from the scalp and reduce grease if you have fatty skin problems. You have light hair, you should wash them once or twice after treatment.

5) Treat acne: If you suffer from oily skin and acne, wash your face with a charcoal soap (you can also do it yourself). This plant substance does not cause allergies and is very respectful of sensitive skin, it also fights inflammation.

What is event branding?

Event branding might sound complex but is as simple as organising the right event for the right people and for the right reasons. It’s a great strategy to follow to achieve the above objective and to ensure you have the most successful event you possibly can.

So, what exactly does it entail?

Event branding is essentially the very essence of your event concept. It’s the reason why and the thing that holds all the elements of your event together to create one clear identity. It is the first idea that comes into people’s heads when they think of your business or event. It is the essence of what energises your event and what exists through the experiences your attendees have.

That all sounds great, but what is an event concept?

This is the creative idea that sparked your event and shapes your whole planning of it. It influences the people who attend, the content of the event, the connections people make from it, the experiences and knowledge learned.

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To make this easier, it’s a good idea to summarise the event concept in one sentence or a strong image that defines what you want this event to be or achieve. You could create a mood board that contains images of your ideal attendee, an ideal venue, colour palettes, speaker ideas, mottos or quotes and anything else you imagine as part of your perfect event. For help with this, contact an Events Agency Dublin like davisevents.ie

You have the concept, how do you create the buzz?

You have a new concept that your audience haven’t experienced yet, it’s purely based on the expectations you are creating for them. It might be the best concept ever created but if you’re not aiming your message at the right people, your event will not be a success. Your concept won’t be meaningful to everyone, but if you have a strong concept and you communicate it clearly and consistently, you will attract a strong core of followers.

These people will naturally be drawn to your cause, share the same interests and will want to connect with others of the same thinking. As those people share information about your event, others will be attracted to attending due to a FOMO and as word continues to spread, you’ll grow a good-sized and healthy community of like-minded people.

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More on creating hype:

We all know that to keep an event in the forefront of people’s minds, it’s important to remind them often in a digital environment of short-attention-spans. However, it’s essential you don’t overhype your event and make promises you can’t keep. If you don’t think you can deliver on a large-scale event, opt for smaller, more frequent community events to strengthen your brand. It’s important you keep it real and don’t overpromise.

Remember that an event brand won’t be built in a day

So, you had an amazing concept and pulled off a great event. There’s no time to sit back and feel satisfied. You now have to find out how your audience has reacted to their interaction with your brand. You still need to keep the conversation going, attract more like-minded members and keep your brand in their minds so you can get them excited for your next event!

Eliminates acne, blackheads and pimples with activated charcoal soap

The activated charcoal usually is produced by burning pieces of activated at temperatures above 800 degrees. Activated charcoal has several benefits including that of absorbing odors, is able to purify water, and also has many healthy properties for the skin.

Most of the products dedicated to health and beauty on the market today have, among the ingredients, just the activated charcoal. So, let’s discover together how and why this precious element can be used to keep the skin fresh and healthy.

Fight acne, blackheads and pimples – Try to have a nice shower and wash with activated charcoal soap. This will be absorbed by the skin, causing dirt and excess sebum to come out of the pores. Regular use of an activated charcoal soap can reduce or even eliminate acne, blackheads and pimples.

Restores freshness and brightness to the face – Try applying a mask containing activated charcoal. This allows you to improve the appearance of your face by absorbing excess sebum in the skin and penetrating it to clean it deeply. Activated charcoal masks can be heated before applying them, so as to facilitate the opening of the pores and activate the charcoal.

Rejuvenate your hands – You can also use activated charcoal soap to wash your hands regularly, and these will look younger. Activated charcoal soap does not dry the skin and helps to fight unpleasant odors, so it is also recommended in the kitchen, for example to wash your hands after cleaning the fish.

Cosmetics – If you wear makeup often, better choose tricks that contain activated charcoal. Coal is an antioxidant that can improve the skin through absorption, avoiding clogging the pores.

Activated charcoal – It is also possible to mix activated charcoal directly into the products you already own. Activated charcoal is easily mixed in body lotions, hand creams and liquid soap.

Activated charcoal is often used in the formulas of homemade and therapeutic soaps. After all, as we found out above, coal draws out all toxins and pollution. Soap with charcoal is often advised for those who suffer from acne. And many who tried, confirm that the pimples disappear.

Soap with activated charcoal does not harm the skin, it can be used without fear, although some are confused by the black color of the detergent. Coal soap can be bought from those who cook soap on their own, or make themselves.

The recipe is simple: Powder of activated charcoal is added to the usual base composition. You can melt the usual baby soap and add the powder there, forming a new briquette of soap.

Do not use charcoal for the face, if there is an open wound, purulent skin lesions and with individual intolerance.

 

Always leave room for dessert

Eating out in an Italian Restaurant in Dublin like https://www.forno500.ie/ is always a treat. With some many different pasta, risotto and pizza dishes to choose from you could almost eat out every day for a month and never taste the same dish twice. Many people are aware of the delicious main course that this cuisine has to offer, although fewer have tried some of the delights that are available for dessert. Here are some ideas for when you next visit that Italian restaurant.

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Ice cream or Gelato is incredibly popular in Italian cuisine and with some many different varieties to try a visit to Italy can see you in ice cream heaven. If you prefer a fruiter flavour then sorbets are also incredibly popular.

Struffoli – this is almost a snack style treat and is dough balls that are deep fried. They are usually covered in a honey and cinnamon glaze with orange rind and sometime even a few hundreds and thousands on top.

Granita – is another frozen light and is a halfway house between a sorbet, gelato and ice. It is usually flavoured with berries, mint and sometime lemon or citrus fruits. It is a crunchy ice style dessert that packs a punch of flavour.

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Tiramisu is a quintessential Italian dessert and probably one of the most well-known with many supermarkets offering both fresh and frozen options for you to enjoy whenever the urge to taste the delights of coffee-soaked sponge fingers layered between mascarpone cheese and chocolate arises. Tiramisu is one of the easier desserts to make and is a popular choice for dinner parties and as celebration desserts. It was particularly popular here during the 1970s and 1980s.

Cannoli are a delicious pastry that is rolled into a tube and deep fried, when it has cooled, they are usually filled with ricotta cheese with cherries and pistachios added for decoration.

Crostata – is a bit like a treacle tart or a fruit tart that you might find here in the UK. In Italy these are usually filled with a variety of fruit options or even ricotta cheese.

Biscotti – is a biscuit that anyone who frequents a classic coffee shop or makes the occasional trip to costa or starbucks will have heard of. These baked biscuits are best enjoyed with a nice warm cup of coffee or perhaps even a hot chocolate. They come in a variety of flavours from all kinds of buts through to chocolate.

For the love of the Sun.

When we talk about Sun worshippers nowadays we are generally referring to those of us who like to lounge around on a beach or by a pool getting a tan on holiday. However, if you go back to Neolithic times it seems that Sun Worshippers is quite a literal thing as opposed to the figurative now. Whatever your views are on the Sun its much better to view it though Windows Dublin or Cardiff or London or Torremolinos wherever you are as there provide some protection from its rays. A quick visit to https://www.keanewindows.ie/windows-dublin/ can help you if you need some new ones.

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Our ancestors were very keen on praising the Sun. They held it in high regard. Its easy to understand why this was. With very little understanding of science and nature its quite natural to want to thank the big hot shiny thing that turns up every morning without fail making the dark go away and the plants grow. They liked it so much in UK that they built several stone circles to track its progress the biggest one being Stonehenge an incredible achievement considering the technology at the time which was basically humans, rope and wood logs.

This praising of the Sun carries on into some of the first ancient civilisation such as the Egyptians who saw a lot of Sun where they lived and needed to be respectful of it. Amun was thought to be the God that lived in the Sun providing it’s light but as mentioned it was very important to them and they also had Bast, Nut and Menhit as well.

Greeks noticed that the Sun moved across the sky which led them to have a Helios. The Sun was his Chariot that he drove through the day. It does show some beginnings of understanding astronomy, but they made up for that by deducing that Helios was the son of Hyperion God of light and Theia the Goddess of Light and blue sky also something they get a lot of in Greece.

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The Roman Empire was never one to not steal other peoples Gods and the Greeks were one they did it from quite regularly. They had Sol and he was the main source of their religion for decades until a small Jewish sect started to make some big waves throughout the Empire. The biggest celebration was Saturnalia in the middle of winter as it was a big call for Sol to return in the Spring and heat up the world again. It’s the reason why we have Christmas, the birth of Jesus, in December. The Christian religion and the Sol religion were going to cause a major civil war, so the Emperor Constantine chose one but kept some traditions in place.

But that’s never entered you head when the factor 50 is being applied.

Let the gift buyer take the strain.

If you’re like me then you might have a bit of problem when it comes to buying presents for people. It’s a horrible task to some as you um and ah in the shop over what to get people. Most embarrassingly if you turn up with a rubbish gift it makes it look like you don’t care about them and they will think that you don’t understand them. So, no pressure then to make sure you pic out that totally perfect gift that will make them squeal with delight and give you a massive hug and a thank you. Or not some people are just born to be underwhelmed with what you give them or, so it seems. It does work both ways. I’d rather like a nice pair of Farah Shirts, but I feel that I’m probably going to get socks and a book about the War again. All they need to do is look on www.ejmenswear.com/men/farah/ they’ll see loads of options that I might like.

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Still I think that I might have found the answer to our prayers. It’s come in the shape of a personal shopper. Now not only do you have some else to blame when it all crashed and burns and they say they really don’t like it or you just get a silent response or even worse “meh” you can swear blind that the personal shopper swore it was the in thing and that everybody was going to have one at Christmas, for their birthday or whatever the occasion might be.

Its quite a nice little day out. You get a drink and pleasant room to sit in and the Personal Shopper introduces themselves to you and you begin. In some ways it’s a bit like trying to build up a psychological profile of the person so that the personal shopper can get an idea as to what they are dealing with. When they have enough to go on they will then take you out on to the shop floor and your quest begins. Well, I say quest its more the personal shopper’s quest really as they have elected themselves as the fall guys in this little adventure. Using the profile, they have gained from you they can then start to compile a load of options that the prospective person receiving the gift might like.

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There is one little thing that I think I mentioned there they are getting a list and building a profile from you. If you don’t give them much to work on, then they won’t come up with the goods. Might be better to buy a session with the personal shopper for the person that’s getting the gift. Might be quicker and easier.

Interesting facts about the metal Bronze

Bronze is a metal that is used for a variety of different uses including piping and even Bronze Wildlife Sculptures like the ones you can see at www.gillparker.com In the past items of jewellery would have been made from Bronze especially during the Roman era. You can still see many Bronze artefacts if you visit any of the larger Roman sites including places like Chedworth Roman Villa in the Cotswolds.

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Here is some information about Bronze that you may not have heard of before.

Bronze is amongst one of the first alloy metals that was developed and is a mixture of copper and tin with copper being the predominant metal. Combining the two metals makes Bronze stronger than either of copper of tin on their own. Other metals can also be added to the mix and include aluminium, nickel, zinc and various other materials.

Bronze is thought to have been used as far back as Egyptian times and some of the earliest Bronze artefacts have been found in the areas of China and the Middle East. The metal’s name was attributed to the Bronze Age era due to the wide spread use of the metal in items that were used throughout all of society. This was then replaced by iron as a metal and thus we entered into the Iron Age.

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As a metal is has many different characteristics:

  • It has a low friction level when moved alongside other metals which means that it does not produce heat and the potential for sparks.
  • Bronze expands slightly when it converts from a liquid to a solid which is why it is a metal that is preferred by sculptors. It is thought that the first instance of Bronze being used in a sculpture in 706 BC by the Assyrian King Sennacherib
  • Bronze oxidises when it comes into contact with oxygen, but this tends to only impact the outer layers of the metal.
  • Bronze is often used for items that may come into contact with flammable or even explosive materials as when it you strike it against other metals it does not create sparks.

Bronze is still used in many items today including architectural structures, bearings, musical instruments, ships propellers and even in electrical items. Bronze is also used to make coins – even thought they appear to look like they have been made from a copper type metal.

Is it better to let a furnished or unfurnished property?

If you own a rental property, it is up to you whether you let it furnished or unfurnished. Some landlords like to fill their properties with beds, sofas, tables and even ornaments, while others choose to leave them completely empty. Which option is better when renting out a property? Let’s look at this question in more detail.

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In reality, both options come with their own benefits. Here is more information to help you decide.

The benefits of letting an unfurnished property

One of the main benefits of letting an unfurnished property is that tenants are more likely to stay for longer, as moving is more expensive and complex.

It is also likely that your tenants will be happier with their own furniture, as they can choose the style and the colours. It means you are not responsible for looking after the furniture – if anything gets broken, it doesn’t affect you and you don’t have to worry about general wear and tear.

The benefits of letting a furnished property

One benefit of letting a furnished property is that it saves money for the tenants, as they don’t have to worry about buying furniture. It also means it is easier to let the property, as there are lots of tenants who are looking for a furnished home.

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You will still own the furniture when the tenants leave, so you will be able to offer it to potential future tenants.

The benefits of letting a partially-furnished property

Many landlords partially furnish their homes with essential items, such as beds and sofas. This means that tenants can move in right away, even if they don’t have furniture of their own, and can add extra furnishings to make the home more personal and unique.

If you decide to let a furnished or partially-furnished house, property inventory software could be beneficial. This makes it much easier for you to keep track of your items and is available from providers such as inventorybase.co.uk.

Think about insurance

It can also be useful to think about home contents insurance. You don’t need to do this legally, but it will benefit both you and your tenants.

This will protect your assets in case of damage, so you don’t need to worry about forking out for new furniture if there is a disaster.