Redundant workers have “six month window” to find work

via NewBusiness.co.uk
Redundant workers have a six-month window to find work before the stigma of unemployment affects them, according to a new report by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM). With unemployment figures reaching a 12-year high those currently out of work will be alarmed by the findings of the survey, which revealed that 28% of employers are unlikely to hire someone that they consider to be long-term unemployed. “The research shows that it is important for job seekers to try and get back to work as quickly as possible. They should use their time not only job hunting but finding ways to put themselves in front of the competition,” said Penny de Valk, chief executive of ILM.

Read the full report (Bouncing Back: attitudes to unemployment) (PDF 14pp)

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Now it's personal

Also this week an ippr report (Now It’s Personal: Personal advisers and the new public service workforce) revealed that frontline services provided by Jobcentre Plus, much trumpeted by government as new tailored services to get people back to work quickly, are badly stretched. ippr found that Jobcentre Plus Personal Advisers providing one-to-one support for jobseekers are doing almost twice as many interviews with benefit claimants since the beginning of the recession and almost half of advisers surveyed do not feel they have enough time to help people.

Following the publication of the report, ippr is holding a seminar this coming Tuesday June 23rd looking at the relationships between welfare to work providers and skills and training providers. To confirm your attendance, please email events@ippr.org or telephone 020 7470 6100.

Read about the event and read the report at the ippr website.

Hazel’s comment:
I’m sorry that I shan’t be able to get to London for the event but my quick glance at the report (6pp in the Exec Summary, 91pp full) shows that Jobcentre Plus staff are experiencing very similar problems as those of us in Jobcentres in the 70s experienced – too many people chasing too few jobs.

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Just stunning!!

via Unshelved on 8 June

Understanding happiness: the distinction between living - and thinking about it

Latest articles from CentrePiece – The Magazine for Economic Performance – produced by the CEP by Daniel Kahneman on 9 June

CEPCP273. March 2009.
Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman discusses happiness as an indicator of social progress.

Full article:

Very interesting. Nothing else to say.

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Coming Soon: Free Access to Over 3,000 e-Books for UK College Students

via ResourceShelf on 10 June

JISC has funded an e-books for Further Education (FE) project to make over 3,000 e-books freely available to every college and sixth form in the UK.
Over the next five years, the project, which also received funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), will enable all students in FE in the UK to access online course texts to support their studies.
E-books will be made available from the start of the next academic year via the ebrary e-books platform. Subjects will range from Fashion Design to Software Engineering, Health and Social Care to Automobile Electronics, and Beauty Therapy to Practical Lambing. Access will be available whether students are studying in the college, at home or in an Internet café.

See Also: UK National e-Book Survey (May 2008) (14 pages; PDF)

Source: JISC

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Friday Fun from the How-To Geek

As you may be aware I would normally add fun or trivia, and even serious but not work-related, items to the occasional emails which cover ten such items. Ten apparently being the optimal number for lists on blogs. Why I do not know but there it is.

However, this issue of Friday Fun (which I've been holding back from you for absolutely ages) contains a wealth of “time-wasting online games designed to keep you from getting anything useful done”. So, here in all it’s glory I present

GemCraft is a Totally Addictive Tower Defense Game
This is similar to Desktop Tower Defense but also has some very slight role playing elements to it.

Show Me the Game!
Once you start playing a game, you'll be presented a map with a path and a couple of towers. In each tower you can place a Gem, which will fire bolts of energy (or something) at the little creatures trying to get past. The goal, naturally, is to keep them from reaching the end.

Each one of the gems has a “grade” associated with it, and different gems have different powers, for instance the cyan gems will shock the enemies and make them pause in their tracks.

You can create new towers and new gems based on the Mana that you have available, but where this game gets really interesting is that you can combine the gems together to make new gems.

I've wasted at least 6 hours this week playing this game… and now I pass the productivity killer on to you.

Play GemCraft at Kongregate.com (Flash required)
Copyright © HowToGeek.com. All Rights Reserved.

For more fun games and office time killers check out Mysticgeek's archive of fun stuff, or try playing the geekiest game ever.

Related Posts:
Friday Fun: Five More Time Wasting Online Games
The Best Waste of Time Ever!
Friday Fun: Do You Remember Oregon Trail?
Weekend Fun: Easter Egg in Spybot Search & Destroy

Hazel’s comment:
I haven't dared to start this as I have quite enough time-wasters in my repertoire as it is! However, Mr E tries all of these and … “When is the washing-up going to get done, dear?”

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Easier word processing for someone with aphasia

Jack Schofield, the technology expert at The Guardian was asked about alternatives to using Open Office's predictive text for someone who has acquired asphasia after having a stroke.

There are several programs that are designed for people with physical impairments or severe dyslexia that should be more useful than Open Office's predictive text or Microsoft Office's AutoComplete.

Two that are often used in British schools are Don Johnston's Co:Writer, £149 and Penfriend Ltd's Penfriend, £90. Penfriend will predict the next word and offer a menu selection without the user typing even one letter.

Another option is VK TypeHelp, described as an “adaptive predictive typing assistant”. I would look at Co:Writer first as it is the one listed on the Aphasia Now website.

Otherwise, I would suggest contacting a local aphasia self-help group and finding out what they recommend. Speakability may be able to put you in touch with one (email speakability@speakability.org.uk or you can call free on 080 8808 9572).

Hazel’s comment
Very useful, and not just for asphasia but for anyone who has difficulty with words.

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