Saskatchewan a jobs 'hot spot' in Canada

Normally, "hot spot" isn't the first phrase that comes to mind when talking about Saskatchewan, or even Canada for that matter.

But with most of Canada suffering from devastating job losses, this cold province is becoming exactly that.

It's an asterisk to the entire country when it comes to the economic climate, and Premier Brad Wall is shouting it as loud as he can.

"It's a great time to come to Saskatchewan," says Wall, who even called the Toronto Star newspaper to tout his province's economic success and let Ontarians know there were jobs for the taking.

"For those who are losing their jobs, we need them to know we have thousands of jobs open right now in both the private and public sector," Wall said. "We have a powerful story to tell, a story of success and that's something we want to share with those who are struggling."

Wall's province is one of the exceptions to the unemployment increases battering provinces across Canada. Saskatchewan's unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent in January from 4.2 percent in December, making it the only province recording a decline. In Ontario and the city of Toronto, unemployment rates rose to 7.2 percent and 8.5 percent respectively. To the west, British Columbia shed 68,000 full-time jobs in January.

More Saskatchewan jobs should be on the way. To stave off any possible recession, Wall announced a $500 million infrastructure "booster shot" to help keep the economy strong. Learn more about different towns in Saskatchewan

"All across the country, industries are getting quite ill," Wall said. "We aren't immune to it. We see some impacts in terms of layoffs and new vehicle purchases slowing off, and so we want to be proactive in staying ahead of the curve."

On Tuesday, the Conference Board of Canada released a report that said Saskatchewan will likely continue to lead the nation in economic growth in 2009 because of the infrastructure investment and tax reductions.

The province has also been reaping the benefits of an influx from nearby Alberta. When the government in Alberta decided to raise the oil royalty rates, oil exploration and expedition companies decided to move their operations to Saskatchewan in hopes of making more money.

With the province's growing opportunities, David Montgomery, president of Calgary's Qwest Haven Relocation Services, said he is moving more people to Saskatchewan each day.

"Alberta has always been the gravy train of oil," said Montgomery, who is also a former resident of Regina, the capitol and second-largest city in Saskatchewan. "But with the new royalties, oil companies are saying 'Why stay here and make less when the opportunities right next door are even better?' Many other companies may start to follow suit."

Montgomery said people looking to move have said that cheaper land and insurance prices are among the other reasons they are headed to Saskatchewan.

"There, government insurance is cheaper than anywhere else in the country and it comes with your license plates," he said. "With the amount of jobs, cheaper opportunities and great way of life, the government there has made it very attractive to move there."

That means more business for Wall's province and more jobs coming to the area.

Not that there's a shortage of jobs. On Tuesday night there were nearly 6,000 private- and public-sector jobs on the Web site Saskjobs.com.

A constant stream of revenue from oil production and exports also buoys the economy in the province.

Saskatchewan is the largest producer of oil in Canada and exports more oil to the United States than Kuwait. It is the leader in uranium production and produces a third of the world's potash.

The province continues to keep ahead of the curve, Wall said, finding ways to diversify its resources and embark on ambitious green projects and new oil projects. The province is working with Montana on a $212 million climate change initiative that would create the first major greenhouse gas storage project in North America. The carbon dioxide from coal-fueled power plants would be stored in the ground in Montana and later be withdrawn for use in oil production.

Wall also said what may be the largest discovery of sweet, light crude oil in the southeast part of the province means it could have even more oil to work with. The Bakken Formation could potentially have 413 billion barrels of oil, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That would be another huge untapped revenue gold mine.

Despite the growth of nearly all sectors across the board, Wall cautioned that it is possible his province may see economic stress, just later in the game than other places.

"We need to be circumspect and prudent about promoting our province," he said. "We are not immune; we do see the impacts. It isn't some sort of panacea or answer to economic questions that don't exist elsewhere. We are a bit of an asterisk that says there is some stress, but it's relatively calm here."


Wall encouraged people not to count out a move to the province based on stereotypes that it is "only winter here," and "all of the land is just rolling hills."

"'It's a beautiful, big place where life is great and right now there's also opportunity," he said. "I'm very, very biased, but I can't imagine a place I'd rather be, especially with what's going on economically around the world."

Teen cop impersonator drove squad car, worked full shift

A teenager impersonating a Chicago police officer played a minor role in an arrest on January 24, according to Police Superintendent Jody Weis.



On Tuesday, Supt. Weis called on the U.S. Secret Service for a review of the security breach, which he called "outrageous, angering, disturbing and unforgettable."

"In my mind it's almost incomprehensible it could have happened. Unfortunately it did. It's very disturbing, and that's why we want to send a message that this can't happen again," said Supt. Jody Weis, Chicago Police Dept.

Weis said an internal investigation shows seven Chicago police officers broke department rules during the incident. All districts will be re-trained, according to Weis.

The 14-year-old boy- a former police cadet and apparent aspiring police officer- entered the back door at the Grand Crossing District Station on the city's South Side on January 24. He was dressed in regulation clothing and police say it's not clear where he got the uniform. He had no gun or CPD star, but was issued a radio and was sent out with a traffic officer. He worked an entire 5 1/2 hour shift.

"During that time the subject drove the squad car for approximately two hours, interacted with the public while responding to at least five assignments, operated the portable data terminal and participated in the detention of a suspect," said Supt. Weis.

The impersonator played a minor role in the arrest of a violation of order of protection, Weis said. The boy briefly held the suspect's arm behind his back.

After the shift, the teenager and the relatively new female officer he was riding with returned to the station, where a supervisor, unidentified, realized the teen was not an officer and had him arrested.

"I don't know. They weren't paying attention - perhaps- maybe they were lax. That's why we did the investigation. Those answers we have to hold tight until we go through the adjudication stage," said Supt. Weis.

For that reason, Weis said, the names of the 7 officers facing discipline, and the nature of the recommended sanctions cannot now be disclosed.

"Based on contract agreements we can't identify the officers and in these situation if we gave out the ranks it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to realize who they actually were," said Supt. Weis.


How is it so many others missed the fact the teen was not a cop - and unable to legally drive? or the fact that it was a teenager for that matter??

The boy's name has not been released. He pleaded not guilty in juvenile court.

He is no longer in custody, but is wearing an electronic monitoring device.

The Real Chris Brown Stands Up

In his first statement since facing assault allegations, the singer's sorry, sad and certainly not venting on Facebook.

Chris Brown didn't update his Facebook status to ominously warn his friends about recently smacked around singer Rihanna. In his first statement on the "super scandal", he denies any of the comments attributed to him on the always accurate internet were his.

"Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired. I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God's help, to emerging a better person."

"Much of what has been speculated or reported on blogs and/or reported in the media is wrong. While I would like to be able to talk about this more, until the legal issues are resolved, this is all I can say except that I have not written any messages or made any posts to Facebook, on blogs or any place else. Those posts or writings under my name are frauds."

Media Takeout had posted a screenshot of Christopher Maurice Brown's Facebook with a status line "you'll begin to see her true colors. Believe me." It was then picked up by the New York Post and other suckas (like, um, me) before Chris denied it was his account.

Recent reports have claimed both Chris and Rihanna are in Los Angeles; Rihanna with her longtime assistant Melissa Forde and Chris with his mother Joyce Hawkins. A source tells Radar Online that Chris says he and Rihanna have broken up and he doesn't think she'll press charges.

Ya, good luck with that Chris. Her dad, Ronald Fenty, thinks Rihanna wants to set a good example for women in abusive relationships. "She has support from both sides of the family, and I think she'll come out and represent women and be a heroine," Ronald Fenty told People. "In the end, she'll speak out." That's where I'm hanging my hopes and dreams: that Rihanna's over at Tina Turner's house right now picking up that torch she's been meaning to pass on.

Whewwwwww

Ran into a problem yesterday evening, somehow, during a "scheduled server outage" at Blogger, Something messed up my page, you'll notice the widgets and things on the right , are no longer the same, I lost all of them!! I've tried putting back as many of them as I could... For some reason, Some of them are also repeating on the page (on this pc anyways, any of you not seeing it that way?).

At least the content in the main body area of the page is left (relatively, had to do some small re-alignments) unharmed.

Office holiday party etiquette

Tis the season...For Holiday office parties!! A time when eager employees get the perfect opportunity to cozy up to their bosses - or ruin their reputations.

Offering up a toxic mix of free booze, pent-up frustration and awkward interactions, these festive soirees have been providing the grist for office gossip mills for decades.

They also have left careers in tatters.

Holiday parties are very dangerous; a person can ruin his or her career in just one cocktail party overload.

You need to remember that the office holiday party is more "office" than "party". Your career needs you to act accordingly.

We've all heard about the person who got so drunk at the office party that they groped a co-worker, told off the boss, and passed out under the buffet table. Monday morning they couldn't remember what happened, but they still had to try to work with those people.

You may have seen it happen. You may even have been the unfortunate who did it. Either way, you probably know what happened to that person. They were either fired outright or shut out until they resigned.

Very few companies tolerate that kind of behavior. Your attempt at being the "life of the party" may cost you your job.
It may also cost you your life, or at least your freedom. If you drive drunk, you may kill yourself or someone else. While some companies arrange for taxis or hotel rooms for employees who over indulge, and the Web is full of resources to help you avoid the problem, the final responsibility ultimately rests with you.

In order to help you avoid committing an office party disaster, follow my advice - don’t do any of the following:

1. Don’t get wasted. Pounding back a few brews and shooting tequila may have made you the king of your college frat parties, but ending an office party with your underwear on your head will get you few plaudits at work. Drink slowly and have just one or two drinks. Better yet, plain club soda or soft drinks are ALWAYS safe.

2. No kissy face with colleagues. Even if you’ve been salivating for months over the guy or girl two cubicles away, now is not the time to make your move. Whether you get to first base or get rejected, the result will be the same: you’ll become the butt of jokes for weeks, maybe even months.

3. Curb your inner stripper. A little dirty dancing will certainly get your boss’ attention. But you’re much better off impressing everyone with your mind rather than a bump and grind - even a silly one.

4. Invite the right date. Who you "roll" with reflects who you are. That guy or girl who doesn’t bathe regularly is a no-no. So is anyone who is covered in facial tattoos or piercings or includes the words “like”, “dude”, “yo” or “son” in every sentence.

5. Dress appropriately. This is the time to relax with your co-workers, not show off that new hip-hugging skirt, groin hugging trousers, any new Victoria's Secret purchase, Calvin's or C-IN2 Sling Support Lo No Show Profile Briefs. Keep your flesh covered.

Remember that the annual office holiday party is still a business function. It's wrapped in a social context, but it's still a business function. Many other business events have a social context, such as taking the client to lunch or attending the charity dinner to receive the award for the company. Those who observe your behavior at the office holiday party will remember it when they consider you for other business social events. The good news is it works both ways.

I'm not suggesting that your bosses are specifically watching your every move at an event like this. Obviously they can't watch everyone all the time. Besides, they are trying to enjoy the party and to use it for their own purposes. However, rest assured your behavior will be observed by someone whose opinion can impact your job and future.

Using it to your advantage

The good news is that you can just as easily use the annual office holiday party to advance your career as you can to cripple it. It's an opportunity for you to demonstrate your ability to handle business situations of a social nature, something that is required of senior level executives.

It's an opportunity for you to meet the CEO and other senior executives of your company that you might not have met before, or have seldom had the opportunity to speak with.
Finally, it is an opportunity for you to let your coworkers know how much you appreciate their support and assistance during the year.

You don't have to spend all night at the event, but you do have to attend. Plan to arrive soon after the event is scheduled to start. Everyone will still be "fresh". They won't have repeated the same greeting, and small talk several dozen or hundreds of times yet.

Find your host, the boss.
Thank him or her and take advantage of the opportunity to chat, but don't monopolize your host. Others will want to make their greetings too. Don't try too hard to make a good impression and end up making the wrong impression.

Mingle. Introduce yourself to someone you don't know. It may turn out to be someone who can help you on that next project. Or just someone who turns out to be an interesting person.
Not the mingling type? Then find someone who looks as miserable as you feel and speak to them. You'll both enjoy the evening more.

If you haven't eaten yet (came straight from the office huh?) go ahead and sample a few items from the buffet. Be sure to select things you can eat neatly, with one hand, while standing up. Stay away from salty or greasy foods that make you want to drink more. Choose foods high in starch and protein that will help slow the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream.

Watch what you drink. Keep reminding yourself that this is a business event first and a party second.
A good idea, is to keep the drink glass in your left hand so when you shake hands with someone, your hand isn't wet or cold.

Take advantage of the party atmosphere. Seek out the individuals who can influence your career. Do your homework ahead of time so you can speak with them about their division's newest release, or their favorite sports team, or the play you saw last week. You can talk business, but don't "talk shop". After an appropriate interval, excuse yourself and move on.

When you have spoken to all or most of the bosses, coworkers, and new people you planned to, gracefully make your exit. As you leave, thank your host for the enjoyable evening.

One last thing. If you made any verbal commitments to any of the people at the holiday party, make sure to follow up on them. Try to write them down as soon as you get home so you don't forget.

Happy Holidays

Win money playing Free games!!

Playing games for free on your pc, and winning cash prizes (grand prize is over $1,000,000.00!!!!)

Sounds way too good to be true right? I thought so too, until I joined Moola and started making my moola! (that was lame, I know)



Moola brings together the risk and excitement of gambling, with the fun of playing traditional 2-player games. The tier based website starts every single player with 1 penny. Players go head to head in simple strategy and chance games to double their money. Each time a player wins, he doubles his moola, but if you lose, you go back to the beginning. That’s right; you get another penny to start with! Win 30 times in a row and you win over 10.7 million dollars…FOR FREE!

But whats the catch? There is none. The website uses companies like Dell, Orbitz, Chi-Chis, and Bengay pain reliever to receive its funding from advertisements. And from there it goes straight to you. Simply, before each match up the player must watch a 10-20 second advertisement and answer an easy question on the content of what they watched. After that it’s straight to the game. Currently Moola offers two games: Ro Sham Bo Fu also known as rock, paper, scissors, and a game called Gold Rush where opponents try to tilt the scale of a balance beam and try to collect as many pounds of Gold…pretend gold that is. The more you play the better you get. Each game takes around 2-3 minutes to play, and is fun and exciting. As the stakes go up, the games get more intense, and the feeling is incredible. And if you lose, it’s not so bad. It was free in the first place anyways. Just think of yourself as a penny (or more) richer every time you lose. That’s because Moola offers bonuses ranging from 1 extra penny in addition to your free penny to as much as 65 cents or more. Since the computer system works on a randomized level it is virtually impossible to tell when the bonus will come. From personal experience, I have found to receive bonuses 25% of the time. And most of the time their more than I lost in the first place.

To play Moola you must have an invite. (Please do not use more the one email address, the invites are not easy to get.)

http://www.moola.com:80/moopubs/b2b/exc/join.jsp?sid=4d544d744e7a63774f44553d-2

If you join Moola

If you get a Moola Invite and want to start out. You will begin with one penny, you can spin the wheel and play games to attempt to double your money. You need to verify your account using a cell phone eventually to get all your bonus money. I was worried about cell phone spam after the verification but there was none. A lot of people that join get frustrated early on, its hard to get above a dollar at first, it can take a few weeks even. Once you get past that hump, then money trickles in each day you log on. For those with a little extra time on the computer at work, at home or anywhere else I suggest signing up and giving moola a shot.

Find old friends on Facebook

Facebook is a great way to meet up with friends you haven't spoken to in years. Reunite with your old home town friends online or take your old group offline for a reunion. Either way, you can talk about the old days together.
Get started by opening up a Facebook account online. Facebook requires your email address so they can confirm your identity and start you off with a new account. Either use your own name so your old friends can find you or choose an alias ID if you are skeptical about being online.

Next, Fill in your profile as best as you can with some details about yourself. You will want your old friends to be able to find you easily and by putting down details about you, they will! Write down some of your old and present hobbies, old schools, jobs etc. Facebook gives the user the opportunity to search for old friends by keywords.

Uploads some photos of yourself so people can recognize you. You do not have to include photos of yourself or your face, but it is helpful if you want old friends to identify you. Include photos of your travels, favorite places, or of anything you like as long as they remain within the Facebook guidelines.

Write a thorough description about yourself and tell your old friends what you have been up to over the years. Let old friends see your hometown, your present location and what you are doing now. Be personable and friendly with your description. A friendly approach to the Facebook online community is the way to start and rekindle some good friendships.

Finally, Perform a search for old friends by putting in keywords to the search. Put in your old high school, sports teams, clubs or your university class. Put in your home town if you are looking for old friends that were raised in the same town. You can search for any old friend you wish.

Facebook has really helped people in reconnecting with there past. It's been a GREAT help! people that haven't seen each other in years, sometimes decades have found each other on Facebook.

I personally have benefited from Facebook's huge membership base, having searched for a an old friend from my junior high for over 14 years, back when I was younger, the internet wasn't really around, the early years of my search was pretty much searching through phone books, along with hoping to meet a mutual friend somewhere, anywhere (the subway, the street..anywhere) so I could ask them if they knew of her whereabouts.
As the internet grew in popularity, (it didn't really take off until I was around 23-24) not having had any luck with my old phone book search, and not having really met anyone with any good information they could give me, I then used Yahoo, then Altavista, then Google, entering her name into searches multiple times over the years in the hopes that i'd be able to locate her, nothing really ever came up.

Then finally, along came Facebook, and although it didn't hit me right away to search for her on there, I finally got it (hey, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer..but things eventually do come to me!) I entered her name into the search hit search...waited for my slow wireless connection (that never seems to want to work properly right when I want it to) to load the results page.. Sucess!! it found one...but was it her? I mean, several people can have the same name right? it looked like her, but its also been 14 years (aged a heck of a lot better then I did!!!) I sent a message...and waited... and waited...and waited.... a good 2 and a half weeks went by before I got a reply (women really do love to make guys wait, don't they?) the email confirmed that it was in fact her, and my search was over (finally).

Thankfully, she remembered who I was... we got re-acquainted somewhat over the next little while, I was in the best of moods that I had been in, in several years.

We met up for a coffee, I have to tell you, my heart was beating 1000x a minute when I first heard her voice and saw her again...
She was now a mother of 2 adorably beautiful little girls (they took after there mother for sure).... and was engaged to be married.

We would continue talking for a few weeks more before she and her husband to be decided that it was best that she and I no longer continue our friendship.

Maybe not the ending I was forseeing all those years I searched for her, but I was glad that I had at least found her again and my search had come to an end after all that time and I was happy to see that she found happiness, I wouldn't have to wonder what happened to her and if she was happy any longer.

To close off this posting, You know who you are, I don't know if you'll ever read this... But I want you to know that even though we no longer converse, I still do think of you.. Congratulations on the wedding.

Until next time....

See Spottt fetch more visitors

To bring more visitors to my blog, I looked for a service to help give my page more exposure. I wanted something that could be both easy to use, and affordable. I found Spottt! Spottt is the latest invention of Phil Kaplan, the founder of Adbrite and earlier of F***edcompany.com.

What I really love is that it's wonderfully straight-forward: It lets sites exchange ads, to boost each other’s traffic (you help me, I help you, what could be better?). Publishers provide an ad for another site, in return for accepting an ad from the other site. Spottt does this for free, but later on will presumably take a cut. Spottt is promising because most sites have ad space that can go empty for periods of time, after an advertising campaign ends, for example.

The idea first arose in 1996, when Tony Hsieh launched a company called Link Exchange, which i'm sure most of you have heard of by now. By its first year, 30,000 Web sites were using it. A million were using it in 1998, when Microsoft bought it for $250 million. However, Microsoft shut it down this year, Hsieh tells us. This is consternating, given the tens of millions of blogs that could use this service. Kaplan has recruited Hsieh as an advisor for the new effort.

The ads are of 125×125 pixel size, and must run “above the fold.” Sites apply for admission to Spottt, and choose a category. Then one shoe retail site can exchange ads with a shoe repair site, for example. Right from the moment you submit your site, Spottt is easy to use. Free...easy to use....and brings visitors to your webpage... really can't get much better then that!

Pregnant Woman Given Speeding Ticket When She Asks For Help

In news that's DEFINITELY strange, and absolutely TRUE:

Boston has some of the most congested roads that I have ever seen. Once I was driving from Logan Airport and trying to enter the tunnel. Traffic was backed up and tempers overheated. I actually witnessed a man exit his car and bend the antenna of another car and beat on the hood with his hands, denting the car.

In another incident, I was driving in Quincy and I admit that I turned on a yellow light that became red as I went through it. I was hailed down by Quincy’s finest who began to verbally berate me, shined a light into my rented XC90 and told me to wait. He also told me that “all you New Yorkers are alike with your fancy Volvos.” It was a rental car and I told him that I am not from New York, but he was such an anger ball, that did not extinguish those flames.

90 minutes later, I was still in the New York-plated Volvo rental car waiting for the anger ball to give me my ticket. Since I was already way late to where I was going, I got out of the car to simply ask him how much longer it would be since there was no reason to detain me for that long except sheer nastiness. I asked him nicely how much longer it would be and he threatened to arrest me. OK. There ought be a law!

In another crazy traffic incident in Boston, a pregnant woman in labor was stuck in traffic. Her husband started driving in the breakdown lane and they actually pulled up behind a state trooper to see if they could continue to use the breakdown lane to reach the next exit. According to the Boston Globe,

Jennifer Davis holding her "evidence" - Charlotte

Not only did the trooper say no, he gave them a $100 citation for driving in the breakdown lane, made them wait for their citation while he finished writing someone else’s ticket, and even seemed to ask for proof of pregnancy, Jennifer Davis said.

“He said, ‘What’s under your jacket?’ I said, ‘My belly,’ ” Davis said. “He waited and gestured with his head like, ‘OK, let’s see it.’ He waited for me to unzip my jacket. I mean, it was so clear that I was pregnant.”

The Davis's say the contretemps occurred after two other troopers they encountered had waved them along in the highway breakdown lane, allowing them to evade gridlock while advising them to be cautious and keep their hazard lights on.

You can't make stuff like this up...There is something wrong with some of the cops in Boston, seriously!

Getting your website on Googles 1st page

It's a dream come true for a webmasters site to appear at the top of Google's search results, especially if the website is actually selling a product or service. In a competitive industry this would mean that the orders would start rolling in with such a force that the business would grow incredibly quickly.

Is it all just a dream? NO! Hundreds of businesses do it with regularity, and you can do it for yourself too.

The first and foremost task when trying to get your site to the top of Google is to start link building, not just any old link building but having your keywords included in your "anchor". Anchor links are when the links are actually clickable, if for example you were selling green buttons the link would not be a www link. It would actually say "green buttons".

The next step is choosing the correct keyword phrases for your site. Now most people want to be on the first page of Google for a one word phrase like "Buttons". However, if you only sold buttons made of silver, it would be bringing you the wrong type of customer. It would be best to choose keyword phrases like "Silver Buttons" or "Buttons made of Silver". This would bring you the right type of customer and it your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) efforts would show results a lot quicker.

Integrate the keyword phrases throughout your site with your best ones on your homepage. Without the keywords on your site, your site will not perform at all.

The next step is to actually go out and get some back links to your site, be smart about whom you get links from, as websites that are relevant to your industry will have far more weight when it comes to giving you good results. Getting a few powerful links with a page rank of 6 or 7 will give you almost immediate results (It's even possible to see your results within just a couple of days!)

Time to unplug landlines?

Wireless. Take away someone’s wireless capabilities and you instill panic and fear into their ever rapidly beating hearts. Today, very few of us do anything in an average day that doesn’t involve at least a few wireless operations and the first thing you think of when this comes to mind is your wireless extension of ourselves, otherwise known as your cell phone. Most if not all of us would be lost without it, it contains EVERYTHING we need to function and communicate in this world.
It's true though we can make calls, send texts, browse the Internet, and for some, even send emails, It’s not necessarily the specific functions of the wireless that makes it so convenient and today’s MUST HAVE. No, it is the portability.

The very thought that we can do all of these things, including talk on the phone of all things, anywhere, any time. That is why the cell phone was invented. What was normally a gadget for emergency use only has become an everyday essential in today’s world. So the question begs then, what is going to happen to the land line? Are you the type that gabs on your home phone endlessly when you get home from work, or do you find that you spend more time on your cell, even when you are at home, than you do on a "wired" telephone line. There is no question that today’s business still needs the land line, without it the corporate world as we know it would crumble.

Or would it? Let’s revisit that in a few years and see if that’s the case, but when it comes to personal use, the land line is all but obsolete.

A recent study by Harris Interactive and the CTIA Wireless organization found that 40% of teenagers, today’s biggest talk time users, don’t even want a landline anymore. Gone are the arguments about getting your own phone in your room, instead they are replaced with arguments about whether a cell is even necessary. Most parents today would say yes, they want communication access to their kids, ALL the time which is why it is not surprising when these same researchers found that 84% of teens today have their own mobile device, with 15% of those users having their own smartphones even.

Times have changed, More and more people are losing their ‘home number’ because it is simply not a practical use of funds in today’s economy. The cell phone, once a luxury, has replaced the land line as a necessity, and the land line well….why force another monthly bill on yourself if you don’t need to? Do you need land lines anymore? Do you even have one?

Are you addicted to Facebook?

Facebook has become an indispensable way to find new and old friends, schedule events, play games and even send virtual gifts.

But if you’re doing more living online than off, it might be time to reassess things. Many students are now seeing Facebook more as an addiction than a useful networking tool, and some psychologists agree.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Are personal relationships taking a backseat to Facebook?
Do you think about Facebook even when you’re offline?
Do you use Facebook to escape problems or homework?
Do you stay on Facebook longer than a couple of minutes?
Have you ever concealed Facebook use?

If you answered yes to any, you may have an addiction.

Frequently logging onto Facebook actually cause something that psychologists refer to as "intermittent reinforcement".

Notifications, messages and invites reward you with an unpredictable high, much like gambling does. That anticipation can get dangerously addictive.

Rob Bedi, a registered psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Victoria, said that Internet addictions are common on university campuses, often helped by free high speed internet access, web-based assignments and unstructured blocks of time.

Rob Bedi said there’s a difference between procrastination and addiction. If you’re losing assignment time to Facebook, though, that’s a problem.

The key may be as simple as diagnosing your triggers and changing your habits.

“Find out what’s missing from your life,” said Bedi. “Whether it’s having too much free time, not knowing anyone or just "escaping reality", think about what made you resort to Facebook, and what you could be doing instead.”

Rob Bedi suggests keeping a log to track your Facebook usage time. If you’re shocked by what you see, try the following: List your Facebook goals. Why did you originally sign up? Record what you actually do on Facebook. Make a Facebook schedule. Limit time to maintaining your original goals. Update your account e-mail addresses to avoid relying on your Facebook messages.

Rob Bedi also suggested changing your password to something unfamiliar, including numbers, writing it on a piece of paper and placing it out of reach to make checking Facebook a chore. Repeat if necessary to curb your behaviour.

“This is not something you can quit cold turkey,” said Bedi. “While a cocaine addict can put down his drug and an alcoholic his drink, you can’t preach abstinence to a student society that functions on Internet usage. What you can do is practice control.”
For some people, talking with someone might be the answer. Many universities offer addiction counselling through student services.

If you’re not quite ready for that, you could join one of the 155 Facebook Addicts Anonymous groups on Facebook itself – but that might defeat the purpose.


Are you an Facebook addict? 5 signs to look out for are:

1. You are late for meetings because you are on Facebook

If you ever late for a meeting or an appointment because you were checking your updates on your Facebook wall or watching a related video on Youtube then you know you are addicted. This is classic addict behavior. It's time to get help.

2. You think about it when you are offline
You're at work, shopping, out having a meal, and you find yourself wondering if you have any messages in your Facebook inbox, your wall posts have gotten any replies, or if anyone has posted to your wall... You have an addiction

3. Your friends and family comment on your excessive internet use
When other people around you start to notice that you have a problem it is generally a pretty accurate indicator that you are losing it. If your mate, coworkers or family members have made comments about how much you use the net then you need to continue to read the rest of this post.

4. You check your accounts from your Blackberry
A Blackberry is designed as a business tool. It is supposed to allow you to check your important emails and work materials without having to be in the office. It is not for checking Facebook updates while you are waiting in a store shopping line as your purchases are being scanned. If you use your Blackberry for monitoring your social media accounts then you need to help.

5. You get stressed when a Facebook “friend” doesn’t add you
Have you ever noticed yourself getting stressed over something that has happened on Facebook? Do you ever feel like your online life is more real than your offline life? If you have been stressed about what how many drinks you've been sent or how many "pokes" you've gotten or the magic egg someone sent you then it is time to open your eyes.

Now that you have established that you have a problem you need to get yourself some recovery tools. The strategies and tools that are presented here are some simple ways you can beat the Facebook Syndrome.

1. Admit that you have a problem
Take a deep breath and then repeat after me. Seriously, repeat this out a loud - even if you are in your office or an internet cafe.

"I have a Facebook problem"

2. Write down exactly how much time you spend on each site
This task is a littl more difficult than you might think. Usually we have a work window open, a Facebook window open and then maybe some windows with our favorite blogs waiting for them to update. (doubledoublethoughts.blogspot.com perhaps) What you need to do is close the windows and only open them once you have written down the time. Then when you close the window you need to write the time down again. At the end of the day add up how much time you have been on your chosen site and record it in a little book.

The reason it is important to know how long you have been on the sites is because it gives you a solid measure of how bad your addiction is. Recovering gamblers do the same thing. They write down how much money they spend in a day. We need to write down our Facebook hours!

After a few days, weeks and months this number should decrease.

3. Give yourself a set time of the day to visit
We need to realize that spending time on these sites is not entirely a bad thing. Done in the right amounts it can be a lot of fun and even quite healthy. However, if you start to notice that your school assignment is still not done because you have been watching Tom Cruise’s infamous "jumping on Oprah's sofa" video on Youtube all night then it has gone beyond a joke.

Instead of banning the site altogether why not give yourself a set period of time to visit? For example, you might give yourself the first 20 minutes of the work day you check all your updates and then not log on for the rest of the day. Or you might decide that the last 30 minutes of work is Facebook and email time as a reward for a long day of very productive work.

Banning your addiction outright often leads to a Facebook relapse. We definitely don’t want this. Give yourself some set times to visit and don’t break the limits.

4. Turn off email notifications
Email notifications are like little red devils coming to sit on your shoulder and begging you to come back and visit Facebook. Turn them off. You don’t need to be notified every time someone sends you a message. If it was that important they should email you or, *GASP* use the telephone. You also don’t need to be notified every time someone rates your sexiness, adds a fish to your aquarium or sends you a new bumper sticker!

Turn off email reminders so you can get on with your work.

5. Meditate as soon as the thought arises
One of the most powerful ways to beat Facebook Syndrome is to look directly at the tempting thought as soon as it arises in your mind. You do not need to judge it or try to push it out - just look at it. The thought might arise as a worrying thought that begs you to check your updates so you don’t offend anyone. Or it might appear as a carefree thought saying that one quick look won’t hurt. Whatever it arises as the meditation is to just look at it. When you can do that the power of the thought will be drained well and truly.

6. Get off the computer
Do you need to be spending that much time on the computer? Honestly ask yourself that. Instead of getting home, making a hot mug of coffee and sitting in front of the computer to check your updates you could go for a refreshing walk, hit the gym or go and see a movie. There is so much more to do in life than watch your hatching egg grow. Really there is... just try it, you'll see!

7. Write down what you used to do before Facebook
Something that can be really useful to do is write down a list of things that you used to do BEFORE you got addicted to Facebook. For example, some people might write, “I used to meet new people”.

Try and reconnect with what you used to do before Facebook became such a big part of your life. Some of you will be quite surprised at how much you now do not do because you are spending so much time on the internet (so THAT'S where that larger waistline came from!!)

8. Block sites the REAL way
Your computer allows you to block certain sites. Sure, you can unblock them straight away if you wanted to but the more barriers you put in your way the better. However, if you want to seriously block these sites from your computer you can do it the REAL way:

Click START and then select RUN. In that box type notepad c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. A neat little Notepad will appear with a bunch of computer jargon on it. Scroll down to the last line of that code and type 127.0.0.1 facebook.com. After that Facebook will never show up on your PC again. You can substitute the domain for any other domain that you do not want to view.

(another thing you might want to do now, is NOT print this part of this page, so you can't get back in here to change it again!!)

The above techniques are just some techniques to cut back on the time wasted online. I am sure they will work for you but if you know of any other then i'd love to hear your thoughts, as always, using the link below, you can be paid for your comments,critiques and reviews of my blog!

Until next time........