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Hurricane Katrina brought a real disaster to New Orleans and surrounding areas. People who survived it found themselves in the situation of not having anymore house to sleep in, no more clothes to wear, and so many times, no more family, or even no more life.

But as the human brain is set to forget, after a while people came back to New Orleans and tried to re-build their lives on the ruins of their old ones. Some of those people are bloggers. Maybe you’ve read their blogs many times without knowing that they were running away from the hurricane as they were writing those posts.

I was thinking the other day at a friend of mine, who’s working with me on an internet project, and who excused himself to be late with some things because he had to prepare for the hurricane. I’m fortunate to live in a blessed area, with moderate climate. The biggest wind I’ve ever seen was barely able to put down a dead tree. I think that if I had to face such a disaster, survival would have taken the first spot in my priorities (and the next ten spots on my priorities list would have been empty).

Today I discovered that there are people like PB, who after surviving Katrina, is now running away from Gustav, and meanwhile he still finds time to make a video post. Unbelievable, while being away, he’ll have to pay some $300 a night (or $100 a night) for the hotel room, as far as I’ve understood from his video. Again, I don’t get this democracy which cannot find a solution for lodging these people who were terribly hit by Katrina and who are in danger to be devastated again, this time by Gustav. Why do they give names to those storms? Only to have somebody to blame it on for so many deaths?

I’ve never read PB’s former blog (which he recently sold), but I cannot stop myself from thinking that maybe other bloggers I read are in the same situation. What I know, is that there are bloggers who pray for PB and for all other people in distress.

I surely hope Gustav dies young. Do you?

Ensuring that an individual or organisation has enough bandwidth to carry out their tasks at work is an issue facing many modern businesses. The problem even extends to official government agencies. Indeed, a recent report from Reuters gives details about the base where famous US whistle blower Edward Snowden used to work. Plans to install an ‘anti-leak’ software system were delayed when officials at the facility believed that they did not have enough bandwidth to ensure that the installation would be successful. This is quite ironic seeing as one of the biggest revelations from the Snowden case so far has been the fact that the US intelligence agencies intercept 1.7 billion internet communications a day. It goes without saying that this would require a tremendous amount of bandwidth.

The NSA’s Remote Operations Centre in Hawaii is where Snowden worked and gathered most of his information. It is believed that he amassed a treasure trove of files within a few weeks of starting work at the facility. Whilst he managed to escape the USA and is currently granted a temporary asylum in Russia, the secrets that he discovered have shocked the world. However, the leaks may not have happened at all had a report by one of his bosses been taken seriously. In 2009 his boss at the CIA wrote a negative report on the man which identified a change in Snowden’s demeanour and an eagerness to gain access to files which didn’t concern his work interests. Who knows what would have happened if that report didn’t fall through the cracks?

Besides from the intelligence agencies, there are many other types of organisations that require access to large amounts of bandwidth. Any company that has to process a lot of information over the internet does not want to be slowed down by insufficient speed times. There are also many organisations which require a significant amount of WAN acceleration in order to conduct voice communications. Fortunately there are satellite WAN optimisation devices which can solve such problems. VOIP optimisation techniques have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, meaning that the right types of technologies are now available to deal with important tasks.

If one thing has emerged from the Edward Snowden affair, it is the fact that it is imperative to invest in the best technology possible in order for an organisation to run smoothly and minimise the risk of mistakes. Privacy is a valuable commodity in today’s world where it seems that everyone is trying to hack into other people’s conversations. Expert professional help is available for anyone who would like to invest further in their communication technologies but are unsure of where to start. Whilst there is no point in ringing up the CIA, it is relatively simple to find trustworthy suppliers online.

Never feel forced into buying products which you don’t fully understand. Any decent supplier will be willing to answer all of your queries and concerns before you have to commit to buying an item.

About the Author – Sarah Makinson is a regular contributor to a variety of consumer blogs, including Vocality.

Many people are interested in starting their own online businesses, but these same people often cannot find the time to do it amidst all of their other responsibilities and commitments. Entrepreneurial ventures are not only an opportunity to work on projects and business ideas you are passionate about, they are also a good way to earn a living or to supplement current income to create a little more of a cushion. This certainly does not mean it’s easy.
This is a list of five ways to get motivated to start your own online business. I wrote this list with web businesses in mind because this is the kind of business I am pursuing and if you are hanging out your own shingle, chances are you are thinking about creating an internet business. In reality, to get started all you really need is web hosting.
Three Reasons an Online Business is a Good Idea
If you haven’t considered doing business online, I would highly recommend doing so even if it is just an offshoot of your idea or an extension of your brick and mortar business. Here are three reasons why.
1. Scalability and Reach
Internet business are highly scalable, meaning you can get your message or product out to thousands of people without the added cost of paying rent for a physical store. All you really need to get started is a web hosting plan and a website. Even if you just maintain a blog that you update twice a month (or less) you are still widening your footprint considerably and my be able to build leads or gain attention you otherwise would not have gained, like from people out of state–or on the other side of the world! Awesome website content is one of the things that will bring people to your website in droves.
2. Ease of Access and Affordability
You can operate a web business out of your living room–or a coffee shop (with internet access). Most coffee shops have free wifi connections so all you need is a laptop. Libraries usually have computers you can use for free.
3. Growing Opportunities and More Customers
Business is becoming more dependent on the internet and more and more people now go to the internet to find items or services they need. Many people believe that they can find the best deals online and some shop online exclusively. Consumer confidence and comfort shopping on the Internet is growing exponentially year over year. This holiday season I plan to buy most of my gifts for family and friends online. I am hearing the same sentiments from a lot of people. Why not when it is so easy and when gas is so expensive?
Five Ways to Motivate Yourself to Start Your Online Business
Now let’s get into how to motivate yourself to work on your own online business–here are a few tips.
1. Set ridiculously short times to work on your project
This is nothing groundbreaking, but I think you should start out by making the times you work on your project very short. Say, 20 minutes every day.
By making the times your work on your business extremely short, you will never dread starting because you will always know that after working hard for 20 minutes, you will be done and can relax and do something else for a few minutes. You get a reward for the time you put in. Look at it as the light at the end of the tunnel–or is that too morbid?
The truth is that if your personal business project involved something you are passionate about, you will want to work longer and will probably realize soon that hours have passed. But if you set an easy goal, you will achieve it and feel good. Anything is progress, even 20 minutes at a time.
2. Reward Yourself
You probably know the image of dangling a carrot from a stick in front of a horse’s mouth. The horse may continue to follow the carrot even after hours or days of not even getting a bite. This may work for animals, but humans are different. After ten minutes of this game, humans would give up. We’re too smart–we know we’re not going to get the carrot.
But if you set certain goals that are very achievable, you should reward yourself for a job well done. For instance, say you set a goal to work 20 minutes every other day. If you stick to this, you should reward yourself and give yourself that positive reinforcement. It’s all about creating a pattern so that the project progresses and you have certain goals to achieve and rewards to earn. Make this process fun. Don’t only reward yourself after you make your first sale or get a link from a well known website or something like this–keep it internal and reward yourself for simply finishing difficult tasks that need to be done.
3. Accomplish Something Small
Too often we ignore the small picture details because we are focused on the ultimate goal. This is important, but you don’t want to forget that it takes a lot of little steps to get to the final prize, and every step is important. Keep the end goal in mind at all times, like the launch of your new website, but really keep your eyes on the next few steps. It’s too easy to feel that the goal is too far away and unattainable. The next step forward is a whole lot closer.
4. Make a Friend or a Colleague in the Same Business
Everyone talks about networking in business and in life. It’s incredibly important–we’re social creatures. If you can find someone who is in a similar or related business to the one you are starting, it will help you immensely to talk to them about it. You will gain valuable insight as well as some pleasure from the interaction. This will make the solitary process of starting your own business more social.
5. Keep it Fun
Abandon projects that feel too much like work. Since you are starting your own business, you make the rules. The buck stops with you (whatever that means!). Why not keep it fun? Keeping it fun doesn’t mean you don’t work hard–in fact, keeping it fun will most likely make you work harder because it will be more enjoyable. Sure, every project has grunt work and difficult tasks that need to be handled, but if your project starts to become boring or you just don’t want to move forward with it, just move on to another one.
The truth is it is better to move on sooner than later. Why waste the time on something you are not passionate about anymore? You probably won’t do that good of a job anyway. It won’t be a total loss because you’ll learn something. Call it research.
Starting an online business can be a very worthwhile and profitable experience. Just remember it makes it a whole lot easier if you are passionate about your business idea. This will give you the added incentive to work hard at it.
It is easy to say that we are in very bad economic times at the moment and the job market is pretty terrible, but this poor market also opens the door to the opportunity to do something you love to do. I know it’s not easy, but it is a whole heck of a lot easier than it ever has been before.
I mean that the internet has cut out certain costs and other barriers to entry that have existed before in business. There is a lot of opportunity out there for entrepreneurs to fill the needs of consumers.
Small Businesses That Thrive
Owning a small business that thrives can be a very difficult venture. In fact, being a business owner is a lifestyle choice more than it is just a career choice.
You are not sheltered from economic change, i.e., you don’t have a steady paycheck if people stop buying your product or service. Small businesses that thrive are the ones that are light on their feet and can adapt to changing circumstances quickly and efficiently.
Good luck!