Acting Up

Booksellers and distributors Novelty trading have teamed up with Rotary Cllubs to launch a Book/Reading Drive called Race for Literacy.

in support of the Drive NOVTRACO will be offering up to 50% off selected books to patrons at the upcoming "Market @ the Lawn on W Kings House Road.

The Barbican Community is to benefit from a new chess programme launched at the Grants Pen Police Station in Kingston on Tuesday March 16. Member of Parliament Delroy Chuck spearheaded the programme in partnership with Magnificent Chess Foundation (MCF) heralding the start of the "Big Up Yuh Chess" Chess-in-Communities initiative.

30 individuals from the community will learn to play Chess, as well as teach others to play in the initial stages of the series. Participants will meet twice per week for two hours each session. Chess sets and all necessary instructional material will be provided for all participants.

A designated chess coach has also been assigned to guide the learning process. "Our chess coaches are from similar backgrounds to the participants that were chosen from the National Youth Service (NYS) and trained extensively in playing and teaching the game of chess. We anticipate that, the interaction between instructor and participants will be effortless," claims MCF General Manager, Sash-Nicole Noble. This first phase ends on June 3, 2010 and will immediately be followed by a tournament for all the participants.

Miss Noble notes that community based chess programmes of this nature are rampant in the United States, and are credited for saving many youth in urban centre from the hazards of the streets. The first Black Chess grandmaster, Maurice Ashley, was born and raised in Jamaica. In his book "Chess for Success" he chronicles how his involvement with chess saved him from becoming involved in gangs when he first arrived in Brooklyn, New York at the age of 12.


The programme was launched on Tuesday March 16, in the Grants Pen Police Station Community Room. The launch was immediately followed by the first chess lesson in the series. In expressing her pleasure Ms. Noble said, "It is encouraging to see how eager the participants were to begin their first lesson. I grow more excited when I think about the wide range of benefits to be received from playing this game. The launch of this event in Kingston truly sets us on our way towards a more rational, disciplined and intellectual society"


ABOUT MAGNIFICENT CHESS

Magnificent Chess Limited (MCL) is a new and innovative Jamaican company that has embarked on a mission to challenge and revolutionize the mindset of the people of Jamaica, and neighboring Caribbean territories, through the democratization of the art of learning, teaching and playing chess. Focus placed on the implementation of programmes involving the teaching of chess in schools at all levels in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean . Magnificent Chess LImited is lobbying for the teaching of chess to be a core subject in schools and will pursue the introduction of the game to children beginning at the primary through to the secondary and tertiary levels of education.
- Carlette DeLeon, Breakthrough Communications

Tricks to Keep Your Device's Battery Going and Going
by Eric A. Taub
Sunday, March 14, 2010
provided by


If you're a recent convert to smartphones, you're probably still discovering all the amazing things that your new BlackBerry, Android phone or iPhone can do. But one thing you most likely found out right away: the more you do, the shorter your phone's battery lasts.

While a standard cellphone's charge can easily go three days or more, many smartphone owners are dismayed to learn that their new mobile toy requires charging every 24 hours, or even more often. It was great that I could use one device — my iPhone — to check my calendar and respond to multiple incoming calls during January's Consumer Electronics Show, but I paid the price when its battery died at 2 p.m.

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The answer was not to desperately search for an electrical outlet to recharge the phone (though I've done that) or to consider giving up the phone (done that, too), but rather to figure out a strategy to reduce energy consumption while still having it available for essential tasks. Whether you're using a laptop or a smartphone, the devices can be tweaked to get the most out of its lithium–ion batteries.

Reconsider Your Network

All things being equal, the C.D.M.A. mobile standard used by Verizon uses more power than a G.S.M. network, principally used by AT&T and T–Mobile. If battery life is critical, you might want to consider G.S.M. as long as its coverage meets your needs.

Dim It

The brighter your screen, the more juice you're using. If you're in a dimly lit room, turn down your LCD screen's brightness. If your device has an autodimming feature that detects the light in a room, use it. Similarly, if you use your smartphone or laptop to play music, lower the volume.

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If you have a BlackBerry, the company's holster will automatically turn off the screen when you insert the phone.

Stop Searching

It is great that you can use Bluetooth technology to connect your smartphone to a headset, or use Wi–Fi to speed up the downloading of e–mail messages. But when you're not using that headset or not near a Wi–Fi hot spot, turn off those features on the phone or laptop.

The reason is that portable devices will continue to look for Wi–Fi or a Bluetooth headset, using power.

Similarly, put your phone to sleep when it is in standby. On an iPhone, you do so through the "Settings" icon. On a BlackBerry, use the "Manage Connections" icon.

Skip a Generation

Your smartphone is also continually looking for a cellphone signal. If you're in a weak signal area, your phone must work even harder to find one, decreasing battery life. If you know that there is no coverage in your area, turn off your portable device's mobile capabilities.

If your G.S.M. 3G network is not available or the signal is weak, the battery will drain faster looking for one. Consider turning off the phone's 3G network or using the slower EDGE network instead. It will make Web access slower but won't affect phone call quality.

Check Mail Manually

Mobile smartphones can check for e–mail messages and instant messages automatically. Or they can be set to "push" notifications as soon as they arrive in your server's mailbox.

Both strategies can be power hogs. To increase your battery life, turn off push and increase the interval between when the phone checks for new messages. Or better, set up your phone to check for messages manually.

Turn Off Everything

The simplest way to cut power to a minimum is to put your smartphone into "airplane mode." You turn your BlackBerry or iPhone into a music player and personal organizer, and you won't be able to receive e–mail messages or make or receive phone calls, but you will stretch your battery.

"In airplane mode and running just the alarm clock, your iPhone battery will last up to a week," said Kyle Wiens, co–founder of ifixit.com, an online iPhone and Mac laptop repair company.

Disable the Animations

The hotter your laptop feels, the more battery power it is using. And one of the biggest users of power is Flash animation, the technology behind many online videos and animated ads. To improve battery life, disable Flash when not using wall power. BashFlash and ClicktoFlash for Macs and Flashblock for PC are programs that will automatically restrict Flash.

Get an App to Aid You

There are a number of applications that can help monitor battery life and shut off various functions that cut down on a mobile device's effective power.

Battery Go and myBatteryLife tell iPhone owners how much charge they have left and how that power translates into minutes of talk time, music, video and Web surfing.

NB BattStat alerts BlackBerry owners to the amount of battery charge remaining, as well as the battery's temperature. (Hot batteries lose power more quickly.) The device can be set to vibrate or sound when a predetermined low battery level is reached.

Radio Saver will monitor your BlackBerry's mobile coverage and shut off the device's mobile circuitry when you are out of range of a cellular signal.

Best BatterySaver allows owners of mobile phones using the Symbian operating system (including models from Nokia and Sony Ericsson) to create battery–saving profiles. For example, certain features can be automatically turned on when the phone is connected to a wall plug, or Bluetooth can be automatically disconnected when the battery charge drops below a certain level.

For laptops, programs like Battery Health Monitor (Mac) and Laptop Battery Power Monitor (PC) keep track of battery charge and estimate how many more times you'll be able to recharge your battery.

Realize the End Will Come

The older generation of nickel cadmium batteries suffered from memory issues; if you didn't fully charge and discharge one, it would hold a progressively smaller amount of juice.

Today's lithium–ion batteries don't suffer from memory loss, so it is safe to top off a battery.

Lithium–ion batteries cannot be overcharged; a device's circuitry cuts off the power when they are full. However, manufacturers still recommend that a laptop not be continually connected to power once the battery is at its capacity. If a laptop won't be used for several months, it should be stored with the battery in a 50 percent charge state.

All batteries can be fully charged and discharged for a fixed number of cycles; lithium–ion batteries typically last between 300 and 500 cycles. Information on the number of cycles can be obtained at manufacturers' Web sites, or at batteryuniversity.com.

No matter how well you husband your battery's resources, there comes a time when you'll need to send your battery to its final resting place.

Like most things nearing the end of their life, your battery will stay awake less and sleep more. "If your battery lasts only an hour after you've charged it," said Anthony Magnabosco, owner of Milliamp.com, a battery replacement company, "you know its time is up."

Return on Twitter
The ROI on social media is at retail.
One of the great debates in social media is, “Where’s the ROI?” Some say ROI is irrelevant because social media is about being part of the conversation — and if you’re not part of the conversation, you are not part of the marketplace. Therefore, the argument goes, social media is a cost of entry, and not necessarily a profit center.
But others insist — and rightly so — that every dollar spent in marketing should be accountable for a tangible result. And, to many, the cool factor of Twitter and Facebook, while appealing, is anything but measurable.
A recent Reveries.com survey confirms this (see page 12). The survey’s respondents, regardless of whether they love or hate Facebook or Twitter, tend to see them truly as social — and not marketing — media.
While some are resigned to the idea that there must be ads to subsidize free services like Twitter and Facebook, others are openly hostile to the idea that any kind of marketing should interfere with their online party-time.
Such attitudes may be in the minority, but an aversion to commercial messaging has been part of the DNA of the internet from the beginning, and that is not likely to change soon. However, careful observers have long noted that the internet is not so much a marketing medium as it is a transactional medium.
The infamous inadequacies of banner ads versus the wild successes of Amazon, eBay and Google’s search ads, tell the story: The potential to mix digital media with the shopping experience is huge. However, it is also underdeveloped.
In other words, it may well be that social media’s ROI riddle can be solved at retail. The extent to which brands integrate services like Twitter and Facebook with their retail strategies is probably the best indicator of social media’s true ROI potential.
Zappos is a good model of how this can work because its online community so seamlessly integrates social media with retail transactions. Shoppers commune by exchanging advice and the level of customer service rivals that of the finest department store.
Of course, Zappos exists online only — for now. Just imagine the force multiplier if Zappos built a brick-and-mortar strategy based on its online success. That is completely within the realm of possibility and would no doubt serve as a model for how social media — the power of a community — can drive growth at retail.
At the moment, few brands — or retailers — are thinking this way. They lead great conversations on Twitter, Facebook and other sites. Sometimes they create fantastically creative promotions that make good use of the technology.
Too much of that activity begins and ends online, unfortunately, with no big payoff where it can really make a difference — where the cash register rings.
Dell is a notable exception, with its use of Twitter to inform its followers of special deals on used computer gear. They’ve generated millions of dollars in incremental sales as a result.
Target and Toys R Us have used Facebook to promote their Black Friday and Cyber Monday specials. Whole Foods responds to Twitter-follower questions and comments and offers giveaways.
On a local level, restaurants have done a particularly good job using Twitter, Facebook as well as smartphone apps to stay in touch with patrons and keep them engaged with news and special offers. In fact, a number of Reveries.com survey respondents mentioned that restaurants, so far, are doing the best job with social media.
It would be easy to dismiss such successes as isolated, but smarter to view them as leading indicators. Clearly, at least some shoppers already view these media as part of their shopping excursions. So it’s not a question of orchestrating a massive shift in shopping behavior; it’s a relatively simple matter of connecting the dots.
The Smartphone Linchpin
The connecting point is plain to see: It’s the mobile phone. Growing numbers of people — and not just young people — are using them both for social media and shopping. In fact, the Reveries.com survey found that 78.5 percent have used a mobile phone while shopping. Anyone who has made a recent trip to a grocery store cannot deny that mobile phones have changed the lives of shoppers.
The only thing more ubiquitous than shoppers unconsciously humming and moving their lips along with the Muzak soundtrack are the countless numbers of them chatting away on their mobile phones. “Do we need eggs?” “Did you mean Light, Low-Fat or Non-Fat?” “Apple Jacks or Froot Loops?”
However, beyond the old-school use of mobile phones as devices for talking when shopping, the potential for their usefulness as a tool to improve the shopping experience remains, as yet, unrealized.
Where are the downloaded coupons and loyalty cards that can be scanned right from my mobile phone? Where is the social media engagement that helps me choose the right HD widescreen to purchase? Where are the GPS-synched offers that motivate me to enter a store when I am in the neighborhood?
The answer is: They’re coming. In fact, many of these applications are available and already in use to some extent, but consumer adoption is far from widespread. It’s a good bet that once more shoppers have smartphones designed for use as shopping tools, mobile phones will become a linchpin of shopping behavior.
In the meantime, forward-thinking marketers are already developing technologies — both online and in-store — designed to capitalize on the powerful draw of social media in particular and digital media in general.
Flit.com aggregates retailer websites into a search engine, turning the online navigation experience into a virtual shopping mall. So, shoppers can shop by retailer, like they do in real life, instead of by product, which they do only on the web.
Chronodrive.com, in France, enables shoppers to place their grocery orders either online or via in-store kiosks, and then pick them up via drive-through. Alice.com helps shoppers make sure they never run out of household staples. This means keeping track of what people buy and sending them reminders when it’s time to re-order.
On the social media side of things, Keds lets its customers design their own shoes online, and then makes some of the best designs available for sale both online and in-store. Designers are encouraged to promote their creations via Facebook and Twitter.
Avon is reinventing its famous “doorbell” distribution network with a digitized version for younger shoppers, in which Twitter and Facebook replace the traditional door-to-door approach.
Without a doubt, the opportunities are much larger than simply figuring out how to use these new channels to deliver coupons.
In fact, the digital-media challenge is compounded by the fact that consumers have been trained to purchase based on price. This will only accelerate with the advent of tools that enable real-time price comparisons between retailers. The struggle to maintain the value of a brand while enticing a price sensitive shopper will need to be skillfully managed to mitigate the impact of this real-time tool.
As the adoption of mobile applications and social media tools grows among consumers, the opportunity to reach and interact with a brand’s desired target audience will be greater than ever before.
The ability to maneuver will be determined by the commitment to resources dedicated to managing the mobile and social spectrum.
Those brands that make an investment now will be poised to positively impact the shopper experience by providing greater incremental value through real- time responses and customized offers as well as shopping tools developed to provide easier transactions.
The ROI measurement of this investment will not only be sales at the moment of engagement, but also an increase in customer loyalty in the future. •
--
CATHERINE BOERA is vp and director of integrated media communication at Active International, where she leads integrated communication planning with expertise in touchpoint communications. She can be reached at cboera-at-activeinternational.com

Digicel and Dancehall Artiste Issued School Supplies to Children of Majesty Gardens

Kingston, Jamaica – Wednesday, March 18, 2009: Digicel, Jamaica’s Bigger, Better Network in collaboration with one of Jamaica’s top dancehall artistes, Bounty Killa, distributed school supplies to the children in Majesty Gardens, the community where he was born. The day’s event also included a video shoot for two of his current singles in rotation, ‘They Don’t Know’ produced by Shane Brown and ‘Corruption’, produced by Esco and the video was directed by Ras Tingle.

Shelly Ann Curran, Senior Sponsorship Manager at Digicel Jamaica commented; “We were approached by Bounty’s agent, Sharon Burke from Solid Agency about this initiative and we had to jump on board to lend our support to this worthy cause. This idea ties closely with the Y Files campaign which Digicel supports as a Jamaican corporate citizen, sending out messages in partnership with the media condemning violence against our youth. Our nation’s children need guidance and we want to be involved in any positive project that will help to steer them in the right direction and ultimately secure a better future for them. We were happy to have been a part of this initiative with Bounty”.

Digicel representatives joined Bounty Killa on location in Majesty Gardens to distribute school bags, exercise books, water bottles and footballs to the children who came out to watch the staging of his videos which condemns corruption and violence in the inner-city communities.

“Bounty has changed his direction in music as he has realized that he has a great level of influence on our nation’s youth and today proved as one of the many different things he has planned to help make a difference in the lives of his young fans. There are plans to remix and re-launch his very popular Book Book Book song of the early 90s along with a video. This song will be used as a medium of change as we take it on tour in schools island wide”, commented Sharon Burke, Bounty’s Management.

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SPRAWL TEES: MY FACEBOOK SUCCESS STORY:SALES UP 80%
Posted by Ingrid Riley on Monday, September 17, 2007 at 11:28 pm.



Kingston, Jamaica-My cousin who is 25, hip and in the know had been harassing me for months to go on facebook, I was already on myspace and hi5, and had my own blog, so it seemed a bit useless to be on yet another networking site.

One day I decided to try it and have been hooked ever since. It has allowed me to reach a market that I would not normally reach. I am in my late 20s and don’t party as much as I used to, especially now that I have my own business.

With facebook, I have gotten to people in the target demographic ages 15-25, people who are in school, and most who don’t yet drive. I have a delivery service so I take the goods to them rather than they come to me.

WHAT I DID:

For the summer, I had a summer special, dropping the price of the t-shirts from JA$1500/US$21 to JA$1000/US$14.
Created a facebook group
Joined a lot of groups, now 173 to get involved, observe, and interact.
Then I invited who I thought might be interested in my product, mostly males in the 15-24 age group. Primarily U.W.I, Utech and high school students, male. They would then contact me either by phone or email if they wanted to purchase my t-shirts.
As a part of my strategy for my brand, we have a thing called Sprawl love, where people take photos of themselves in their sprawl shirts and send them to me.
I also used the market place function temporarily for my summer special but I wouldn’t say it increased sales.
My stuff isn’t in any stores for many reasons (a) I didn’t get a welcome response from store owners and (b) I didn’t like alot of the retail methods - my brand is unique in that it speaks to a specific audience: young people and facebook as well as the internet is filled with that age group. Many of my target market don’t go out, they are either too young or don’t drive so getting around is difficult. They are also enthralled by the idea that is sort of collectors item, not something mass produced that can be found in every t-shirt store in Kingston.

I do most of my marketing online because it is easier , I also work a 9-5 and don’t have the time to go out and promote my product, as I am also a single mother so when I get home its all about my family. My sales as a result of facebook have gone up 80%. Marketing on facebook has also opened up another market for me - Jamaicans that live in the US.

I am launching my online store very soon and I am trying to continue to keep the brand very exclusive and not in any major stores.

Kesi Gardnerwww.sprawltees.com
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Filed under Caribbean Startups, Make Money Online, News & Trends.

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5 Comments on “SPRAWL TEES: MY FACEBOOK SUCCESS STORY:SALES UP 80%”
You can track this conversation through its atom feed.

Afifa says:

I love this story. Thanks for sharing it. I know lots of young entrepreneurs who could benefit from this information. Congrats on the success. The future is definitely the internet

September 21st, 2007 at 2:53 pm

kesi gardner says:

just want to update.my tees are now in a store. the heel bar 96 hope rd. as well as i am no longer doing the delivery service, but the internet still gives people an idea of the brand, it as if i have given them a presentation that they wouldnt get in the store. also before they buy the brand they can get a sense of what its all about. poeple like to feel associated to the product.
facebook has also given me a warning that i am spammin..so i have to slow down. i now have 1300 friend and 980 memebers of my facebook group to date.

December 7th, 2007 at 12:16 am

The 29th Annual National Leadership Prayer Brekafast will take place Thursdau January 15 at its customeary home of the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

Longtome sponsor Victoria Mutual Building Society, will again underwrite the Breakfast, to the tune of over $2m. The Prayer Breakfast has this year identified the Mutard Seed Communities and the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) as the beneficiaries of the proceeds and offering that will be taken at he breakfast.

The guest speaker is Rev Dr Roderick Hewitt, of the hope United Church. Last year's keynote, Rev Dr Roy Notice, created a stir when in his address he referred to the negative effects of casino gaming and urged tohe Govt to reconsider its position on introducing casino gmaing as partof the tourism mix.


Leading up the event, an islandwide Prayer Blitz has been inaugurated, which will cover several areas of national interest.
Inaugurated in 1981, in the wake of the bloodbath of internecine strife that dogged the October 1980 general elections, the Prayer Breakfast hasweathered controversy and changing circumstances to become aomng the most anticipated events of each new year.