Now I am not just talking about the little ‘fake’ stores in Myers. Apple have started hiring for all major staff positions on Seek.com.au for stores in Brisbane, Melbourne, and on the Gold Coast. While these could be for an expanded Myer store experience, it appears that these would be in their normal retail stores. These are positions such as the Apple Genius which you don’t see in the little areas in Myer. The Melbourne positions are at a new Doncaster Store, and the Gold Coast store will be at Robina, however there is no word on where the Brisbane store will be.

The possibly new stores would be in addition to Apple’s two Sydney stores which were opened earlier in the year.

If you want to check out the jobs on offer head HERE.

UPDATE: It appears that Apple has listed a Brisbane position on Seek but there is no Brisbane position on their website…. strange…

So you haven’t seen a post for a week and I bet your wondering where’s Kristofor gotten to??

While I have been trying to keep up the posting rate over the past few months, this past week it seems that we have exceeded our internet usage for the month. In fact I wont really be able to post much until Friday! Generally that does not happen, in fact I am not sure why we have gone over the limit. We are on the biggest hosting plan Telstra offers. Bigpond Broadband Hi Speed Cable with 60GB download.

So far it’s been great, however when you exceed 60GB Telstra charges 15cents per extra MB!

Now call me crazy but that just can’t be fair! When purchasing the top plan I expect some sort of service without these added costs if I go over my limit. Why does Telstra not just shape their internet plans when you exceed the limit on the top account? They really should just shape the plans down to 64k speed so we don’t receive extra charges in excess of $100 for overuse. It is a complete money grabbing scheme which fails to look after Telstra’s serious clients.

Just because you have the biggest network in Australia doesn’t mean you should have this disregard for your customers.

What should Telstra do about it?

Telstra needs to start offering some really competitive internet plans. They need to get over their positon as the Giant in the pond, and start listening to their customers! Start being competitive already!!

If they want to prevent overusage, then they need to start shaping the usage when you exceed your limit. I would be more then happy for them to do this. At least then I could get online and do some blogging!

While your at it Telstra, perhaps you could start offering decent prices, and downloads for your Next G Wireless coverage! You might also want to stop offering some of the worst iPhone plans in the world!

Twitter is becoming an ever popular site of late. Barack Obama used it to aide his presidential campaign with great success. I have been using Twitter actively for the past few weeks (@kristoforlawson). It is a great site filled with many active users. However this popularity may well be Twitter’s big downfall.

What is the problem?

Suffering under huge strain from the number of people using it, Twitter often displays images of a ‘fail whale’ telling Twitterers that it is over capacity. Now for many people this might not seem like a huge issue, after all the site is back live generally within seconds, but for the success of a site like Twitter this creates a potentially massive problem.

For those who don’t yet know, Twitter is a site based around short messages of 140 characters or less which tell the world what your doing. It is designed to be used on a constant basis as you live your life, and can also be used as a powerful tool to communicate between people. Where the overloading of Twitter’s site becomes increasingly a problem is for both new users, and highly frequent users.

When people sign up to Twitter they initially want to start using the site and getting to know the site. If they are constantly receiving overloading messages there is a chance they wont continue to use the service. They will most likely become annoyed of the constant errors and leave the site for others which can support them without issues.

Frequent users will not necessarily leave the site, but it was only towards the start of 2008 that Twitter was suffering from crippling overloads. Many users know about the errors and are happy to deal with them, but there is a point where it becomes far too difficult to use the site. For instance as I write this post Twitter has been suffering from overloading and technical errors which have made the site unusable for at least 30 minutes. It has also stopped all other Twitter applications from working as they can’t access the feeds from Twitter. This may have something to do with Twitter passing 1 Billion Tweets.

What does Twitter need to do?

Twitter needs to grow up. Now I don’t mean they are immature, but I mean they need to drastically improve their server capacity and ability to deliver their service. At the moment their still playing with the little children. They have proved their service is popular. They have a large audience. They are growing at a fast rate, but it’s time Twitter needs to start moving to upgrade their service to match the big boys like Facebook.

Currently Twitter doesn’t have a way to make money. They don’t have advertising on their site. There has been no formal indication of how they will make money. They are entirely funded by venture capitalists. But herein lies the problem.

If Twitter is to really grow they must find a way to make some serious money. Once they do that then they can start spending serious money on their service. Until that time Twitter has a need to conserve their funds to help insure they stay afloat. While they can and have been increasing their service already, they are doing so measurably. Unlike Google which is constantly upgrading, Twitter is limited in what it can do because of their lack of income.

In reality Twitter needs to really boost their capacity straight away. Now this may be physically beyond them at this stage, however they need to do something immediately.

What really should happen to Twitter?

Twitter needs to sell up to someone else. Facebook would be a good option but they still have their own issues with growing and making money. My choice would actually be for Google to buy them.

Google loves products which are free for consumers, and they have the server power to give Twitter the service quality they desperately need. There is also not a huge rush for Google to make money, they already have plenty in the bank. Twitter would be a perfect addition to Google’s current range of services and products.

Twitter has to do something straight away. They either need to make money or they need to sell up to someone else who can support the service in the long term. If they don’t do something Twitter may be at risk of losing users and halting their increased growth, which would eventually mark the end of such a great service.

So here is my appeal…. Twitter please do something now!

Also If you loved the post please Stumble It or Digg It, and don’t forget to stay up to date with Enspri by signing up to our RSS feed, you can also follow me on Twitter.

I was listening to the radio yesterday as they were running through some questions that people wanted to ask Andrew Denton (if you don’t know who he is, he is Australia’s answer to Sir Michael Parkinson). Now there were some very cool and interesting questions, however one which Denton mentioned specifically was “If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?”. In fact Denton said that it just blew his mind.

Now on first thought I figured, sure, as if that was a question that would be mind blowing. It’s such a simple question. However upon reflection it is not actually one which is so easy to answer.

My initial thought was I would be Red because that’s my favourite colour…. but there is so many more dimensions to the question.

Is choosing your favourite colour really the best choice?

It would be easy for me to answer the question with Orange as being my favourite colour.. however is that the right choice? Is the question much deeper than that?

Maybe I would like to be Blue because I love the feeling of calm and peacefulness. However I could also be Green because I want to change the world.

I also love to be happy… so maybe yellow would be a good choice?? but maybe I should go with Red because I like to be different… or pink because I like to support charity.

What you first see as a simple question could be answered in so many ways. It is not just about choosing your favourite colour. It is diving much further into our emotions then we may even know how to go.

In fact I agree with Denton. This question is simply mind blowing… I just don’t know where to begin to answer it. There are more dimension and angles then my brain can handle all at once. It is a question that takes a lot of time to answer.

Why can such a simple question be so hard?

It’s all about how you think about the question. Simple questions can show the type of person you are. They show how deep your thinking is, and can touch on many aspects of your inner emotions.

Now I don’t proclaim to be any sort of expert, in fact I am far from that. However I believe that these questions are hard because we are forced to weigh up our life into one simple answer.

It is not just asking ‘what is your favourite colour?’ but it is really asking ‘If you could sum your entire life up into one single colour, what colour would you chose, and more importantly why would you choose that colour over all the other ones you might have chosen?’.

We are forced to think deep by a question which is on the surface very simple. I would go as far as to say that simple questions are in fact the hardest questions to answer. They are the most open questions you can ask. They have a multitude of answers, and no person can be wrong in their answer. The question is entirely what you make of it.

So what colour would I be?

I am really at odds to decide which answer to give for this, but I think that if I was a crayon I would be Green. The reason for this is because Green is associated with change and more importantly it is a symbol for life and I would love to know that I brought a bit of life to the world.

So my question to you is this….

What colour crayon would you be?

[Photo credits, laffy4k, pierre pouliquin, LunaDiRimmel]

Make the time to watch this video, it will be well worth it! 

Let’s face it, we all love top 5 lists. They help us decide what we want to purchase, where we want to go, who we want to support, what we want to watch, and just about everything else you can think of. They are part of our framework. We all love to know what other peoples favourite things, and interests are. That’s where MakeFive comes in.

What is MakeFive?

MakeFive is a social networking website based around the things we like. It enables you to make top 5 lists on any topic, and then share them with the world.

MakeFive is built by the team at smashLAB in Canada, and has been around since 2007. It has drawn a small crowd, with some very active members. I signed up to the site myself and after playing around a little I really like the ideas behind the site. There is a lot of merit in the creation of a site which actually serves a purpose. 

However things are about to change a little. 

The New MakeFive

MakeFive is about to get a facelift, along with some great new features.

Firstly the addition of a user notification system. This has been a much needed feature of the site. Currently users have had no way of being notified if people responded to their top 5 lists. Therefore a user would need to log into the site to look at the lists they had created. If your anything like me finding the time to log into a site can be really difficult, especially if there has not been any updates to your posts. The feature should add great benefit to the site and will help keep users interacting with the site on a more regular basis. 

Secondly people will now be able to post videos in their top 5 lists. I think this is a great feature. Sometimes a photo doesn’t really cut it. What if I want to rate something which just can’t be described by an image and text. e.g the top 5 film clips, top 5 dance moves. How can you do these things effectively without video? 

There is no doubt that the changes will improve the site. There is also a new design to go along with the changes. The design appears to be a move towards making the user experience less confusing and easier to use.

The team is also working on improving other features of the site including the points system. 

Users can accrue points for adding top 5 lists and responding to other peoples lists. The top 5 points holders for the month are then sent a t-shirt, and can win other prizes. However the system has not been perfect. People have been able to score points by submitting lists which hold little value or purpose in the community. Those users then go on to receive prizes which other users may deserve more.

I have however been told by the team that the issues are being addressed in the future and with the possibility of a community voting system to let users decide which people are being more relevant to the community.

Personally I am not sure if this is the best solution to the problem, however it will be great to see how it unfolds. Either way it’s good to see the team addressing this issue.

What about the technology?

Now for all those tech users. MakeFive is built with PHP using the Qcodo framework. Qcodo is an object orientated open-source framework which allows for ‘rapid application development’. It looks very flexible and a great framework for developing Web 2.0 style sites in shorter timeframes. The team at smashLAB have done a great job of integrating it into the MakeFive site.

What’s the future hold for MakeFive?

I had the chance to ask Eric Karjaluoto from smashLAB about MakeFive and it’s future, and this is what he had to say about the features to come.  

“We’re eager to get some mobile functions working on this so that people can have good access to localized data. (For example, finding the top-rated pizzerias in an area on their iPhone.) We’ll also be introducing browser-based chat functions, which should fit nicely here, as it will allow people to mingle with others easily. Additionally, there are a lot of tools in the works to allow users to find people who share their interests and better connect with them.”

Personally these features sound great. I can see a lot of potential use for mobile features especially. Sometimes you just want to know where to go in the area where you currently are. If the guys at smashLAB get these mobile features happening I think the might be onto a huge winner.

Imagine being out and about, searching the top 5 restaurants, and then being able to select one of the top 5 restaurants which would plot to your map on your iPhone. You could quickly and easily find the best place to eat in your area. This could be a huge and exciting feature!

Final words

When social networking is gaining massive traction with sites like Facebook it is hard to see how a relative newcomer will make an impact. However the great thing about MakeFive is it serves a specific purpose which many of the other sites do not. If the new design works like I think it should, MakeFive might gain enough popularity to sustain it for the long haul. It has many possible uses, and the future mobile features are especially exciting. 

If you want to check out MakeFive visit makefive.com and remember to watch out for the new layout in the next few days.

Also If you loved the post please Stumble It, and don’t forget to stay up to date with Enspri by signing up to our RSS feed, you can also follow me on Twitter. 

A team of youth from Australia recently travelled to Botswana to build an Orphanage. They are regular people doing something extraordinary for people who need it. It is fantastic to see people going out and actively changing the world! They are all truly inspirational people!

Check out the video below of their efforts, it might just bring a smile to your day.

Lexicon evaluates all the terms being used on Facebook and then measures the positive or negative nature of the responses. So far it appears that Obama is well in the lead. More people are talking about him, and talking about him positively. 

Check out the Facebook Lexicon page HERE.

[Via John Battelle via AMR]

BeatBots,created by Hideki Kozima and Marek Michalowski, are robots designed to replicated human movement in a simplistic form. They have many applications, however one of the main ones will be teaching Autistic children simple emotions, in an easy to understand form. Keepon is the name of the Robot and I must say it looks really very cool.

Keepon is reasonably small, all up, including the base station it is probably less than the size of a foot ball. It has cameras for eyes, and a microphone in its nose and can interact with people or objects which is sees. 

Not only is Keepon great for children’s therapy, but it is a great source of entertainment. Keepon is capable of busting a move with the rest of you, and definitely moves better than John McCain and Barack Obama combined. 

Prices for the robot will start at around $30,000 US, and will initially be aimed at research. However I think these robots could see a future in the living rooms of many homes. If the creators could get this down to a few thousand dollars I would love to own one myself. If not, I will settle for hopefully seeing one in the future.

Check out this video demonstrating Keepon - You Will fall in Love!

Also If you loved the post don’t forget to  stay up to date with Enspri by signing up to our RSS feed, you can also keep up to date on Twitter. 

Photo credit, JanneM

Here’s a short list…  Firstly I am studying for my second degree in Journalism…. I work as a Web Master for 3 days a week… I am trying to run this blog successfully…. I am in the process of designing a second blog (more on that next week)…. I help out with a student organisation doing PR and Web Support…. I have about 12 books from Amazon to read….. I have plenty of ideas for new website applications… I am getting into cycling quite regularly and am purchasing my 2nd bike since June….. (pause for breath)… and to top it all off I am learning to play Alto Saxophone and trying to teach myself guitar…. pretty full on huh?…. oh and I should probably mention I hang out with my friends and family as well.

My life at the moment is like a massive bowl of punch. There are plenty of things going into it, plenty of effort and determination… but in the end it’s still punch… it’s still all mixed together. It doesn’t feel like I am becoming an expert at any particular thing I am doing.

Obviously if I am ever to turn anything into a real success I need to learn how to focus enough time and energy on my goals. But how do I go about doing that?

I have had a few ideas. The first being to cut a few things out. I can quickly point to a few things which are easier to cut out, but there are a lot of things in that list which I need to spend time on. So maybe the real issue is how do I become more organised. 

So that’s the question I would like to ask everyone, I would love to know your opinion.

How do you decide what to spend time on, and how much time to allocate to it??

Photo credit, tymesynk