My Team monitor

My Team monitor is an Employee Monitoring Software system that allows a manager to monitor remote team members. This is a really interesting idea for those planning to set up an online business with remote employees.
Many remote employees are paid on a 'piece-work' basis, ie. paid for every tangible piece of work that is produced, but what can you do if you are paying for work-time rather than actual tangible output?
This is where an Employee Monitoring Software system comes in.. The manager set up an account (no software needed at this point), and invites the team members to join the system and download software onto their PC. The system works by acting firstly as a logging-in system, ie. records to 'log-in' and 'log-out' times. It is a little more advanced than that though because periodically, the system takes a snapshot of the PC screen to show that the team member is still working.
As far as the employee is concerned, they only have to remember to 'clock' in and out of the system. Naturally, there could be initial resistance to installing a system that 'spies' on activity, but if it's activity that you are being paid for, I don't see that it should be too much of a problem. I would say however, that, as an employee, if you are in the habit of browsing the web or 'face-booking' during work hours, then I would recommend that you log out of the system before doing so..
For the employer or manager, once they sign in to the Employee Monitoring Software system (done from the web, so could presumably could be monitored from a tablet or smart-phone), the team appears with a time-line of activity including assessment of mouse-clicks and keystrokes. There is also a display of the last few screen shots as thumbnails which presumably can be clicked on to display in larger format.
As an online earner, this software strikes me as something that could quickly move you up from a lone-operator to being at the centre of a larger-scale operation.

Pajamas for women

It was our anniversary last weekend and although I don't usually buy a gift for our anniversary, I did see these lovely pajamas for women on which you can have a nick-name printed.

I was too late to get them delivered in time for the weekend, but would still consider them for a birthday or Christmas present a little later on in the year.

Of course, you would have to make sure that the intended recipient actually likes their nick-name before you submit it to the printers or you could be making an expensive mistake!

Rolling along

I am getting really busy now... just been away for the weekend, and got stuck into the painting of my home office as soon as we got back - first coat pretty much done - looks like it's gonna need a few more coats yet!
I have been buying broken laptops again...! Just put one together, but if I account for all the parts I used at 'eBay prices', I need to get at least £60 back to make it worthwhile - as it happens most of the parts I used to get this one going don't really owe me anything (they are mostly leftovers from other repairs), so maybe I would still make a bit of profit if I sold this one... Anyway, I guess I HAVE to sell it so I will just have to get whatever I can for it.
I reiterate that unles you can renovate laptops on a wholesale scale, it is probably not worth the effort...
There are more blogging opps coming in from all sorts of different directions at the moment, so it looks like there will be a bit of an revival in blogging earnings this month and/or maybe next month. I have had one more cassette to do, and have had a few other enquiries which is healthy - you can't guarantee to get a result from every enquiry, but at least if you get the enquiry, you know people are finding you...
I need to get my earinings for the tax year 2011-2012 sorted so that I can submit them to the tax-man, also I will do a post about my annual earnings fairly soon.. I will also post a few mosre pictures of the 'office' as it emerges from the dust and grime of the renovation project - particulalry excited about getting a new work-desk and shelving in there!

DBX

I have been on the lookout for a new speaker management system for a reasonable-sized PA set up. We had a relatively cheap one which was not very intuitive for the inexperienced user such as myself. I had heard about the dbx DriveRack PA, and was very interested to learn that there is now a DriveRack PA plus.

This featured packed beast offers easy set-up using in built 'wizards' which sounds (excuse the pun) like great idea to me. Not only that, but the kit looks really great too...

Office Progress

I have never taken photo's of my home 'office' before the restoration project because frankly it would not have made a very pretty picture. However with the work well and truly under way, I will be posting up a few pictures to mark the transformation to dingy hole into bright new office.

Here we can see the floor after sanding along with a freshly painted radiator and the new skirting board... Today I have put the first coat of varnish onto the floor with another coat planned for tomorrow. My plan for the next stages is to rub down the walls and paint them before fixing the new skirting board permanently into place (I have already cut each board to fit). I will then be finally able to plumb the radiator back in properly. I also need to cover the old loft opening in the ceiling and find a new light fitting (which will be fixed onto the aforementioned covering...). I have already moved the light switch because the door now opens the other way, so I am going to need some narrow trunking for the lighting cable and will need to fix the switch to the plaster wall. All that remains then is the door and window surrounds... Oh yes, and all the new office furniture (trip to Ikea this weekend was supposed to be a fact-finding mission, but became a bit of a battle-ground...).

The upshot will hopefully be a swish new office from which I can further my plans for creating more online earnings.

Bean Bag Chairs

I have been looking for furniture and fittings for my soon-to-be newly decorated home office when I came across these bean bag chairs. I was briefly tempted before accepting that there was not really enough room for 'chilling out' in the limited space that we have.

However I am sure it will not be long before I need to redecorate the bedroom of my young daughter - Now if these are available in pink, I think we have found the perfect piece of furniture...

Year End

After I posted last months update, I realised that I need to post my earnings for the year as the new financial year begins in April and I need to finish off the accounts for the year just gone. I think my profit has been about the same as last year, but as I spent less, my turnover must have been quite a bit lower.
I will need to look at which areas have been less profitable and do a proper report, but my gut feeling is that there have been less paid posting opportunities this year for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the general economic downturn has affected advertising budgets, and secondly Google continues to seek out paid posts and punish them.
I have half-formed plans for other revenue streams, but with the emphasis on my 'day-job' and the home renovation plans, there has been even less chance than normal to flesh out these plans. No doubt once I have a shiny new office, I will be suitably inspired to begin the quest for domination of the internet in earnest...

ECG

For those who are suffering from heart problems or suspected heart problems it is now quite possible to buy your own ecg system to monitor your progress in the comfort of your own home. Of course, this sort of equipment should be used only if advised by a doctor as self-diagnosis of heart-problems is really not a good idea.
There are a range of different products available for self-monitoring, these can be particulalry useful for monitoring the effectiveness of medication as properly prescribed by a medical professional.