Today at the F8 Facebook conference Facebook will announce their plans for Facebook music sharing, and how they will aggregate users activity across multiple streaming music services.

Adam Kidron CEO of Boinc, a new device based social music service launching in the coming months discusses his views on the F8 Facebook sharing announcement with industry analyst Mark Mulligan. See the views in the video below:

College life signifies financial freedom and if your finances go haywire during this stage of life, this will have a detrimental impact on your personal financial life in the long run. While you’re in the college, you just start off with building your credit score and this is the reason it is so important to manage your finances while in college. Misusing your credit cards and not saving money will directly alleviate your credit score and you may be deemed to be a risky borrower in the future. Keeping this in mind, let’s have a look at some money saving tips for students.

1- Make a budget and follow it: While most students know that a budget is only applicable when you run a family, this is far from being true. You have to save money for your college tuition fees and other costs that are involved in the life of a student. To keep a track on all of this, you have to craft a frugal budget and follow it strictly throughout the month.

2- Visit the colleges before applying: You must visit the campus of the college you’re applying at least once so that you get to know the environment there. It often happens that the college charges high fees but does not provide service in accordance with the fees. You may find yourself at a loss after enrolling yourself. Avoid all such possibilities by getting informed about the college as much as possible before taking the plunge.

3- Apply online: Application fees for all the schools and colleges can become a financial burden. There are some colleges that waive off a part of the fees if you apply online. Once you’re in college, there are no more ways to cut your costs. The average cost of attending a 4-year college is $140,540. Therefore, save as much as possible before you get enrolled in a particular college.

4- Live like a student: While you’re a student, you must not be earning a huge amount as you’re unemployed. A part-time job wouldn’t support you with a lump sum. You need to stick to the reality and live the life of a student. Stop using credit cards; it is even better if you don’t own a card. Don’t roam around with the wealthy brats as this may force you into resorting to some bad financial habits.

5- Graduate earlier: There are options for students in a college to graduate earlier by taking the maximum course load that he can in each semester. Taking community college or online classes will transfer into credit and if you score 3 or higher in Advanced Placement (AP) tests, this too results in college credit. 8 AP classes may add up to a year’s college credit and this fee could save you a year in college tuition.

If both the parents and the students follow this advice, the students will certainly be able to enjoy their wages when they become employed. Otherwise, leading a life that is beyond your means while you’re studying may make you lead the life of a student years after your graduation. Follow the money tips given above so that you need not run to professional debt relief companies for financial help.

Climate Control

If only we could control our climate – or have this island of ours relocated at least for the summer. Last year was great actually, plenty of long hot days to make the most of with the kids. This year is not panning out so good and I’m already beginning to think of ways to stave off cabin fever in the household during the next six weeks or so. If you are staying at home for most or all of the summer, one way to ensure that you make the most of days out is to get together with friends and hire a mini-bus to take your assorted hordes of youngsters to some local attractions. Zoos, safari parks, theme parks, a day trip to the seaside are all good ways to stave off boredom – and if you get together with a couple of other families mini-bus hire can be seriously cost effective – and none of you has to do the driving! If you decided to go away for a couple of weeks, pooling resources works well again. Forget hotels or B&Bs and consider joining forces with family or friends to rent a cottage. This has to be one of the most cost effective ways to get away from it all. Sharing the cost of a cottage between two or three families makes it possibly the cheapest option and while self-catering can take some of the ‘holiday’ out of holiday – a group of you can share the chores and cooking when you dine in.

Shopping nightmares

It’s easy to overlook the basics sometimes. Most children seem to be able to empty the kitchen cupboards at an alarming rate during the summer months – well most months. Any parent will tell you that you cannot be everywhere all of the time and while setting strategically located mouse traps on important supplies is one way to stop the sticky fingered little devils it’s not generally approved of by the authorities! Keeping the cupboards stocked over the summer is a constant battle – and the weekly food shopping with the kids is a battle enough for me, never mind additional trips. Stocking up before the start of the summer holidays – or using the services of a grocery and fruit delivery outfit – makes a lot of sense when it comes to trying to retain some control in the kitchen. The latter approach has been something of a life-saver over the last couple of years. Besides dairy products the local milk man delivers all kinds of groceries these days – delivery is free and usually turns up before anybody is up and at the kitchen cupboards, well apart from the cat who is the only one in the house who actually sees the milkman on a regular basis.

Variety and stealth education

Variety is the spice of life – and the more activities you can fit in for the kids over the summer, the happier they’ll be. For long weeks at home, as the rain falls merrily, try to plan a few activities. A spot of decorating won’t go amiss and getting the kids involved doesn’t need to be a trauma – especially if you get them to use their imaginations and help to redo their own rooms. Gardening too can be an activity that’s worth trying on them. In an effort to be greener and healthier we established a veg patch a few years ago and it’s proved surprisingly popular with the youngest members of the household, whose imaginations have been caught by the idea of growing food. It’s not a massive plot by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems to have held their attention for longer than most things and is also a great form of ‘stealth education’.

Stocking up on supplies, disguising some house and garden chores can be simple and effective ways to make the summer holidays pass more smoothly. For holidays and day trips consider pooling resources and spending days out or breaks with friends and family – sharing the costs and the chores!

Companies on the hunt for business property at which to base themselves have been advised of the benefits of buildings in London.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has revealed that the economy in the English capital is currently heading in the right direction, with firms said to be hiring as normal and feeling positive about the future.

As such, it could be time to take the advice of Sara Parker, London regional director at the CBI, who said the city has plenty to offer those looking for commercial premises.

“London is a great place to buy a business. Companies view the city’s talent pool, ease of access to global markets and proximity to clients as the capital’s biggest strengths,” she stated.

On the other hand, perhaps the only major negative is the fragile transport infrastructure, which many organisations would like the mayor to prioritise, particularly in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

Ms Parker’s positive outlook on business property in London came after the CBI released figures showing the destination is seemingly overcoming the impact of the recession.

It found that, at the halfway point of 2011, some 57 per cent of companies are taking on staff as normal once again, up from 45 per cent six months ago.

Meanwhile, 51 per cent are positive about the future of business in London, with that figure rising to 57 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises.

As a result of this, 65 per cent of firms are plotting an expansion, with 43 per cent saying they hope to grow in London – perhaps by taking on more business property.

One firm that looks set to take advantage of the positive outlook in London is banking giant UBS, which is planning to build a new European headquarters in the city.

The bank’s proposals were recently given a boost when culture secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected the idea of protecting the site in question with listed status.

Buy Property

Daily dilemmas

In the past that particular dilemma would lead to yet another trip to the corner shop.  Not that I didn’t make at least one the day before – either during lunch or on the way home.  But now, with a pint sized super-hero to hand that is all a forgotten nightmare of the past.  But surely milkman and woman only deliver milk?  Not anymore, they’ve been busy while we sleep and have started to stock a really amazing little range of daily essentials.  Basically faced with extinction thanks to the supermarkets some local dairies have decided to fight back.  These days they offer seriously competitive delivery services for just about anything you could possibly run out of- and even some things you probably didn’t even think of in the first place, from your usual milk and dairy products to bin bags and even the option to order your pet food online.

Small orders and big savings

When it comes to saving time and money on the household shopping I am constantly on the lookout for a good deal.  I was dubious about online shopping from the supermarkets – quality being the main concern – but have found it makes a lot of sense and saves a lot of time.  It’s certainly a good way to deal with the ‘Big Shop’.  The fraught Saturday trip to the heaving and disorientating aisles of the out of town shopping centre is now a thing of the past (and of the occasional nightmare).  Online shopping for the big stuff is great.  However, it doesn’t really solve the small shop dilemma.  Most women have an in-built stock control feature in the back of their brains.  They just know when something is running out, so work those little shopping trips into lunch hours and pre or post work trips.  After all, it’s hardly worth ordering a packet of tea from the supermarket; even the new people’s princess knows that.

Suburban Superhero

This is where my super-hero comes in.  Not only can I order late in the day – nine pm at the moment – but the goods are delivered before I’m technically awake.  The really nice bit is there’s no delivery charge.  Being on an established round means that the milkman doesn’t have to charge – so even if I’ve ordered a couple of tins of cat food and a bag of spuds, they’re waiting for me first thing and I only pay the same as if I’d nipped to the shops.  There’s even a feel good factor to this type of grocery shopping.  Somehow I like the fact that I can have a chat with my suburban super-hero, that I’m helping a local business – none of which was true when I shopped in supermarkets.  It may be unromantic of me, but I can quite honestly say that given a choice between the man from milk tray abseiling in through the window in the middle of the night and my trusty milkman trundling up the road in the early hours I’ll take ‘Milk Man’ every time!

Our purpose isn’t hard. We’re going to make a campaign which will make Bombardier beer famous all over the nation.

So, load the kegs and set the tills. Bombardier is going to be this year’s must stock bitter.

Bang On!

It’s not impossible for you to build a business that has the potential to turn into a stable, large enterprise that can bring you lots of profits in the long run. You can actually start a business with nothing more than a couple hundred dollars, a brilliant selling point, a laptop and stable Internet connection. Web-based businesses are among the most effective and the most lucrative ways for you to earn extra income or to completely remake yourself as an entrepreneur.
So how do you start an online business today, even with your purse strings tied tight? Check out these simple steps:

1. Formulate your company name and register your business. Even in the online world, you need certain legal and commercial requirements you have to comply with before you can start offering your products and services. Registering with your county or state will also help you find out if someone else is operating under the same firm name or logo, saving you the trouble of paying for new calling cards, official memo and product packages.
2. Purchase and register your domain name. Stay away from free websites because you can end up with an unimaginative, long, ugly or generic domain name that will not reel your readers in and let them know you mean business. This will adversely affect the traffic to your site and prevent you from getting your return on investment in the soonest time possible. Your own domain name will probably cost you $10 tops, so there’s no reason for you not to afford it.
3. Pay for a decent web hosting service. Just as a free domain is a no-no, a free hosting service is also something that you should avoid because it tells your readers that you’re too cheap not to invest in your own website. Taken together, your domain name and web hosting service is the brand that powers your company and helps your readers remember you. Some hosting services also come with built-in design templates and add-ons that can help you put together the best look and feel for your website. If you can handle the web design on your own, you can delay calling in a professional until you’re ready to introduce complex technical tricks and layout techniques. And of course, getting a professional to do the job for you means spending money, so if you can take care of this aspect of your website for a while, do it.
4. Use SEO to help you drive site traffic. If you want a successful online business, you need to work with the right keywords that will help your website rank higher in search engines and bring more people in. It’s all about making sure that when your site turns up first when a user makes a keyword search for a particular product or item. Then again, search engine optimization will never be a good substitute for quality content, so you have to make sure that your posts are really relevant and informative for your readers. Upload fresh content regularly so search engines will keep pointing people to your site for specific keyword phrases.
5. Engage in aggressive online marketing. What’s the use of having a website if people are not reading it? Your website will not advertise itself—you have to do it. Post in different forums, blogs, social media accounts and article directories to create back-links to your site and open more doors for people to come and see what you have to offer.

As you plan for your home-based business, you have to remember that cutting corners can only do so much for you. You can be frugal and you can bootstrap all you want, but not at the cost of sacrificing quality. There may come a point in time when you will need to shell out a sizable sum if you don’t want your business to look cheap and shoddy. For instance, at some point you may need a web designer to fix up your site and make it look even more professional.
Don’t fall into the trap of get-quick-rich schemes because they rarely ever give you the results they promise. Succeeding in an online business requires time and a lot of hard work so you have to be ready to put in long hours of planning and effort as you build your business.

Sources:
http://frugalentrepreneur.com/2011/02/starting-an-online-business-on-a-shoe-string-budget-avoid-these-5-pitfalls/
http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog/entrepreneur-university/starting-an-online-business-on-a-shoestring-budget-entrepreneur-university/
http://www.striveguide.com/starting-an-online-business-on-a-tight-budget/

About the Author:
Sarah Grace V. Villaflor is part of the team that manages and maintains Australian Credit Cards, a personal finance blog with complimentary small business credit cards comparison service based in Sydney, Australia. Before she joined ACC, she was an assistant editor-in-chief of Sandigan.

People who think they have seen more budget retail investment properties cropping up in shopping centres have not been mistaken, as the cheaper shops are proving popular in this economic climate.

There has been a spurt in the number of pound stores opening up in the UK in response to consumers’ demand for bargains at a time when most families are feeling the pinch.

Retail consultant TrevorWood Associates has released data that shows the value shops are moving away from the high street and into malls.

Poundland, Peacocks and Greggs were found to be the fastest growing cheaper shops, with the three brands opening up many more property developments in malls since 2008.

It is thought that the collapse of Woolworths has helped encourage this growth, with consumers choosing Poundland as an alternative to the everyday homeware, clothes and gifts store. After woolworths disappeared there was an increase of 23% of budget stores looking to buy business premises in London.

Senior partner at TrevorWood Associates Trevor Wood, said: “Retailers and shopping centre owners are simply providing what the public wants.”

Fashion followers will also have noticed that there are more Peacocks and H&M stores in shopping centres now too.

These two are both among the top ten fastest rising shops, but New Look – also known for its inexpensive clothing line – achieved the best results, having the most number of stores in UK shopping centres compared with any other chain.

This research suggests that there could be more businesses for sale in the pipeline for value stores, as the country continues to face tight financial conditions.

For despite the threat of redundancy and pay freezes, people are still reaping the benefits of shopping.

And researchers from the National Health Research Institute in Taiwan have suggested that retail therapy can actually improve the wellbeing of shoppers.

This is likely to encourage more people to go shopping in cheaper outlets so that they can maintain the “social and mental benefits” without breaking the bank.

Google app inventor is still at its infancy stage, but its implications are massive for the android phone market for developers

Why

-          It’s a free to use developer platform

-          Can be used by basic users

-          Suitable as a development platform

Smartphone’s hit the market a couple of years ago, as a alternative to apples more expensive I phone range. Smart phones actually started life at micro soft using its first Windows Mobile operating system. Google got into the game with its first android phone. It was Google’s weight behind the phone, but the operating systems technology “open source” meant just that and android was quickly picked up and used as a standard platform for the smart phone manufacturers.

The App Explosion

Ask any smart phone or I phone user and the best thing they will tell you about their phone are applications, mostly because they are free, but not only this they offer a niche handy set of gadgets for the user. Socialites can use apps to stay in touch with friends, the organised of us can use apps to keep list and household budgets and cooks can use recipe apps. This is just a snapshot of what’s out there are, literally thousands of apps out there and growing at a daily rate.

How Can I Profit From This

The applications at the moment are quite general there is a market demand for business specific applications.

Why business specific applications?

-          An app provides a business brand opportunity

-          Adds value to a business, (example a appointment app for a spa)

-          Aids customer loyalty

-          Improves business image

-          Advertising opportunities

Google’s app inventor is here to stay and looking back as to what Google did with the android operating system, then app inventor will surely grow. One of Google’s main advantages when providing its services is taking a listening closely to its communities around its technologies. Then ploughing back in this feedback to improve its products this will see the growth of applications for the future.

For more Information on Google’s app inventor is available here, for a brand new hair invention called the o see this link