Monday, January 30, 2006

How About the Usability Week for the SIP Group in Toronto?

The Nielsen Norman Group made an announcement about Usability In Practice:
Three-Day Intensive Camp: Usability Week 2006 Conference

Usability Week 2006 Conference

New York, March 26-31
London, May 21-26
San Francisco, June 19-24
Sydney, July 16-21

In-depth training:

3-day Intensive Camp: Usability in Practice
3-day Immersion: Tog on Interaction Design

New research on
Eyetracking
B2B websites

Full-day tutorials on Web usability guidelines, intranet usability, corporate websites, email newsletters, wish lists, and writing for the Web.
How about the Usability Week for the SIP Group in Toronto?

links:

Nielsen Norman Group: usability consulting, training & user research reports
http://www.nngroup.com/index.html

useit.com: Jakob Nielsen on Usability and Web Design
http://www.useit.com/

Don Norman's jnd.org / user advocacy and human-centered design
http://www.jnd.org/

AskTog Home Page: Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini
http://www.asktog.com/

Friday, January 20, 2006

Pursuit Of Employment: ProjectWorld Toronto May 8-12: Early Bird Registration

Event: ProjectWorld - BusinessAnalystWorld - Toronto 2006
When: May 8-12, 2006
Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre


Register OnLine NOW and SAVE$

GROUPS OF 5 OR MORE - call Diverisified Business Communications Canada at 888-443-6786 or 905-948-0470 ext 228 and SAVE even more!


It is a great opportunity for SIPers and new Society of Internet Professionals' members!

Monday, January 16, 2006

Toronto + Delicious = Winterlicious

It's a rare opportunity to go to the finest restaurants on Toronto.
At the Winterlicious site check prix fixe menus at 126 of Toronto's top restaurants, take advantage of the incredible value & make your choice.

At the Volunteers' Meeting we decided to make a reservation at the Oliver & Bonacini café•grill.

The
Winterlicious SIP Lunch at the Oliver & Bonacini café•grill

When: Friday, January 27, 2006
Where: the Oliver & Bonacini café•grill
Location: Bayview Village Shopping Centre 2901 Bayview Avenue
Google Map search: 2901 Bayview Avenue, Toronto
Located at the corner of Bayview and Sheppard in Toronto, Bayview Village Shopping Centre sets the standard for an exceptional shopping experience at an impeccable taste level.
Phone: 416-590-1300
Price: $15 per person, plus taxes and gratuity


President's Message:

Few friends of SIP (we call them SIPers) are going for a lunch at a posh restaurant, Oliver & Bonacini, for lunch on Friday, January 27, (meeting at 11:30 am, to arrive early as they are not taking reservations).
Some elite restaurants of Toronto are taking part in winter festival called Winterlicious, and have reduced their tariff to $15 (plus tax, gratuity and drinks) for a three course lunch.
Location:
Bayview Village Shopping Centre
2901 Bayview Avenue
(Bayview & Sheppard)
Accessible by Bayview subway station (Sheppard line).
T. 416.590.1300
Please rsvp@sipgroup.org (phone 416-891-4937) if you want to join us.
We want to limit SIPers to ten.
See you at 11:30 am.
While waiting to go in at 12 noon, we will conduct "special stand-up meeting" and continue it at a Second Cup Coffee shop after the lunch.


articles:
foof network: MICHAEL BONACINI: Recipe Collection Show Descriptions
by foodtv.ca

A taste for success, with a side order of risk
Oliver and Bonacini stomach inhospitabilities of the hospitality industry
William Hanley, Financial Post
Published: Saturday, October 29, 2005

images:
Yahoo! Image Search Results for oliver bonacini
Oliver Bonacini - Google Image Search

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Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The Significance of Links for Your Website Ranking


More
Links Better Google's PageRank

Part 1

If you have just visited a new web site, then the chances are, you clicked on a link directing you to this newly discovered website. A website without anyone linking to it is like a business without any coordinates – no one knows about you.

Links not only direct a person to a website but they also direct a spider (a search engine’s information gathering program) to the website.

Links help your site to get noticed and indexed by search engines. The number of linkages to your website demonstrates the popularity of your website to search engines. The more the better.

There are three ways that people can find your website:

1. The Internet surfer types the entire URL (website address) into the command line of their browser. This option requires that your URL is pre-selected or known.

2. The Internet surfer clicks on an advertisement or sponsored links that sends him to your website. This is a huge form of paid internet advertising.

3. The Internet surfer locates you by typing certain keywords (let us call it a key-phrase) or your company name into a search engine. Eighty five percent of all traffic to websites is directed by search engines.

Therefore it is very important that your website is listed in the results provided by search engines, when you type a key-phrase in your favourite search engine.

Not all websites are listed in the results, and the top page is restricted to only ten websites. If your website is not listed on the top page of a search engine, then the probability of people clicking on your website is next to zero.

This series of articles will focus on methods of ranking your web site high with search engines, starting with Linkages.>>>

There's more. Read the whole article.

Happy linking!

Max Haroon
Search Engine Marketing Specialist

© Max Haroon 2006

Support the SIP's blog: Nominate it for the Weblog Awards™

Sixth Annual Weblog Awards: The 2006 Bloggies

The 2006 Bloggies are now in progress! Visit the site to vote for your favorites.

Millions of blogs.
Thousands of nominees.
151 finalists.
Thirty winners

At the start of each year, Nikolai Nolan runs the Weblog Awards™, where the public votes on the best weblogs in thirty categories.

From now until 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5) on Tuesday, January 10, 2005, anyone can nominate their favorite weblogs.

The Bloggies are open for their 6th year of awards for the Best Blogs, and you, our readers and fans, determine who the winners will be by nominating your favorite blogs.

1. Best Web Application for Weblogs
2. Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog
3. Best Asian Weblog
4. Best African or Middle Eastern Weblog
5. Best European Weblog
6. Best British or Irish Weblog
7. Best Latin American Weblog
8. Best Canadian Weblog
9. Best American Weblog
10.Best Tagline of a Weblog
11.Best Podcast of a Weblog
12.Best Photography of a Weblog
13.Best Craft Weblog
14. Best Food Weblog
15.Best Entertainment Weblog
16.Best Weblog About Politics
17.Best Web Development Weblog
18.Best Computers or Technology Weblog
19.Best Topical Weblog
20.Best GLBT Weblog
21.Best Teen Weblog
22.Most Humorous Weblog
23.Best Writing of a Weblog
24.Best Group Weblog
25.Best Community Weblog
26.Best-Designed Weblog
27.Best-Kept-Secret Weblog
28.Best New Weblog
29.Lifetime Achievement
30.Weblog of the Year

Nominations fall into the following categories, and according to their rules - you can nominate a blog for more than one category (and each category has up to three or four slots, so you can nominate more than one per category as well)!

You can support the SIP's blog by nominating it in the 2006 Bloggies. Your vote is important.

To do so, go to 2006.bloggies.com and enter us in “Best New Webblog” or/and “Best Canadian Webblog” or/and "Best Community Weblog" or/and whatever...

Please check this interesting initiative, meet Nikolai Nolan and nominate your favourite blogs!

Nominee
The Society of Internet Professionals' Blog
URL
http://sipgroup.blogspot.com

Nominee
The Arts Junction
URL
http://artjunction.blogspot.com

Nominee
The Third World
URL
http://itceremony.blogspot.com

It just takes 60 seconds: highlight, copy, paste, and ... click the button
"Submit your nominations!"

Thanks a lot for your support!

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Tuesday, December 20, 2005

SIP Can Be Involved: MIT Media Lab's Initiative One Laptop per Child (OLPC)

This MIT Media Lab's Laptop Is Not for Sale but for Progress

If we are talking about the Internet and its influence on our every-day life we can not forget one of the pioneers of the human-computer interface's development Nicholas Negroponte.
At the early stage of the Internet-era in 1995 he published his futuristic hit "Being Digital" , and now we celebrate with him the end of this analog decade demonstrating his new endeavor "One Laptop per Child" and the first prototype of this "digital being".

This is, I think, the only working $100 laptop prototype in existance.
Witness the handcrank.
Copyright © 2005 David E.Weekly
Uploaded on Flickr.com November 17, 2005
By dweekly


Just a rhetorical question: how the Society of Internet Professionals can participate in this outstanding social enterprise?



ARTICLES:

One Laptop per Child
StarTech
Vol. 5 Num 526
November 19, 2005
The Daily Star: Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW

"One Laptop per Child" Vision Almost a Reality
Posted by Lucy Layman at July 02, 2005
The Laptops Weblog: Laptopical - Informative laptop news, portable computer reviews, and opinions about laptops

One laptop per child for the developing world
Posted by Cory Doctorow at November 17, 2005
Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

Third World doesn't need the Internet
It's wrong to push the internet into Africa and elsewhere. The people (by that I mean citizens) need Western knowledge ...
Do you agree the internet is not the best way to educate, to democratize or to lift from poverty the mass of people in the developing countries?
... more »
Posted by Sarunas at October 23, 2005
sarunas :: Knowledge technologies for the Third World

BROADCAST:

Video of Negroponte's talk re the $100 laptop

As doubts about the feasability of Nicholas Negroponte's $100 laptop are being raised, he gives a speech (video) at MIT. from Slashdot.
By Mister Snitch in Mister Snitch!
Saturday, December 31, 2005

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Thursday, December 15, 2005

Calendar of SIP's Symposiums 2006

Mark Your Calendar:
With SIP's Upcoming Events for 2006


10-Jan-06
[V] Volunteers Meeting
28-Feb-06
[V] Protection from Identity Theft
14-Mar-06
[V] Internet Security
11-Apr-06
[V] e-Marketing
25-Apr-06
[V] SIP's session at the LinuxWorld Show
9-May-06
[V] e-Commerce
7-8-Jun-06
[V] SIP's session at the WowGao Mobile Show
13-Jun-06
[V] e-Publishing
19-21-Jun-06
[V] SIP's session at the Infosecurity Canada Show
12-Sep-06
[V] VOIP

Please, check SIP's Calendar of Events 2006

In general, symposiums are planned for 2nd Tuesday of every month except July and August.
Executive Committee meetings are held on 1st Tuesday of every month.

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Energized by Bright Pearl

Front Row: Olga Goubar, Anna Rabin, Max Haroon, A.J. Parl, Martina Ernst
Back Row: Jonathan Kean, Bob Skakie, Duke Duyck and Frank Edwards

Energizing by New Ideas


Members and friends of the Society of Internet Professionals had a lovely dinner and a good time at Bright Pearl Seafood Restaurant on December 5.

Our thanks to Laura Tyson for organizing this wonderful event.

It was nice to see some new, some old and some faded faces.


See the photos at: http://www.sipgroup.org/Photogrid/05dec8dinner/

Do not forget to look at photos of the grand event we had on November 21


http://www.sipgroup.org/symposiums/members_forum/photos/

Credits: Max Haroon


Let Us Network is a network of contacts
which may open necessary doors for you.

And it is just to help you with finding friends
- people from all over the world
who share your interests and your goals.

TAGS:






Wednesday, December 07, 2005

SIP Can Win > Training for [CAN>WIN 2005]

IT Art Training
SIP
Can Win IT Training


As you know the SIP's mission is to enhance educational and professional standards for the Internet professionals. This latest news can help IT professionals to participate in future MS training.

Media Advisory: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to join prominent Canadian and international experts in Ottawa for CAN>WIN 05 summit on innovation and economic prosperity
(December 1, 2005)

Welcome to CAN>WIN 2005!
Be a virtual guest of Microsoft and The Conference Board of Canada at CAN>WIN 2005 Summit

CAN>WIN 2005 Conference Overview
The Conference Board of Canada

Latest NEWS:

Ballsy take on technology
Ottawa Sun, Canada - 11 hours ago
... co-presented by the Ottawa Centre for ... Information Technology Association of Canada, Ballmer reminded the ... more positive transformations between 2005 and 2015 ...

Microsoft's Ballmer jumps on productivity bandwagon

Toronto Star, Canada - 12 hours ago
... Meanwhile, to help improve education and life-long learning, Ballmer announced that Microsoft Canada will offer $4.5 million over the next three years to ...

Microsoft to spend $4.5M to fund educational tech training ...
Ottawa Sun, Canada - 21 hours ago
The Canada's Partners in Learning and Unlimited Potential programs fund grants ... workforce and driving economic prosperity," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in ...

Advanced education crucial to improved innovation in economy ...

Winnipeg Sun, Canada - 21 hours ago
... Meanwhile, to help improve education and lifelong learning, Ballmer announced that Microsoft Canada will offer $4.5 million over the next three years to ...

Microsoft CEO touts technology
Ottawa Business Journal, Canada - 6 Dec 2005
... That was the message Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer tried to convey Tuesday ... and Innovation (OCRI) and the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC). ...


PS:

Microsoft to invest US$1.7B, add 3,000 jobs in India over four years

NEW DELHI (AP) - Microsoft Corp. plans to invest $1.7 billion US in India and add 3,000 jobs in the country over the next four years...
By RAJESH MAHAPATRA



Quick Link:

Get FREE online training for MS OFFICE 2003
Microsoft Office Training Home Page


Friday, December 02, 2005

SIP Welcomes Volunteers

Are you ready to take part in the International Volunteer Day?

SIP Volunteers' Meeting


When: Monday, December 5, 2005
Time: 4:30 pm to 6 pm

Location: Room 305, Metro Hall, 55 John Street, Toronto
Google Maps: Direction
Using TTC: St. Andrews subway station.


Join our volunteers’ meeting of education and networking:

[v] Outcomes of year 2005 - it was such a busy year

[v] Marketing & strategies for future SIP’s events

[v] Planning for year 2006

These meetings are great for building your profile, network with others, and support SIP mandate.


Not a member of SIP? Check out the benefits of joining SIP at:
http://www.sipgroup.org/membership/benefits.html

New members will be provided with a gold plated SIP lapel PIN at this event.

Please email events@sipgroup.org call 416-891-4937


SIP Welcomes Volunteers. Volunteers Promise to Make a Difference.
This post is my humble contribution into the IVD.

5 December - International Volunteer Day
Celebrate IVD – Become a SIP Volunteer

The International Volunteer Day (IVD) campaign website!

Volunteer Canada's site for information on volunteering

About December 5th: IVD and Volunteer Canada
"International Volunteer Day takes place on December 5th each year and is officially recognized by the United Nations as a day on which volunteers around the world are recognized and celebrated for their contributions and dedication.
Volunteer Canada’s goal for the 2005 International Volunteer Day campaign is to collect story leads about inspiring and exceptional volunteers from every part of Canada. Our intention is for this website to become a “hub” for media looking for exciting and unique human interest stories relevant to their geographical area..."


Plan your own IVD event
Here are ideas, examples and tools for planning your own event or activity for the International Volunteer Day. The resources – available in English, French and Spanish – cover a wide range of issues...

Get Involved

Planning Your International Volunteer Day Campaign

Story Template


BLOGS:

World Volunteer Web: IVD2005 Blog


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