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Monday 26 April 2010
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A reader wonders if there is a tactful way to stop a colleague spraying her foul-smelling perfume near him Continue reading...
Scent off: A pungent aroma at work can lead to desperate measures. Photograph: Getty Images
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Saturday 24 April 2010
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Don't assume your travel disruption will be sweetened with a nice cheque from your insurer, says Patrick Collinson Continue reading...
Is your travel insurance worth the paper it's printed on? Photograph: Wolfgang Kumm/EPA
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Friday 23 April 2010
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My parents helped my brother through university – should I ask for cash? Photograph: Mango Productions/Corbis
A reader whose parents financially supported a brother through university wonders whether to ask for a lump sum to match
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Eating during an office meeting. Penny for the thoughts of the pair on the right ... Photograph: Image Source/Getty Images
There was time when a meeting was a fairly simple business. A bunch of us went into a room, sat down, pretended to have opinions while the boss pretended to listen; around five minutes before the end, we were told what to do and sent back to our desks. It was great. Everyone knew where they sat, what was going on and it was pretty much the same system that had carried us through symposia, folkmoots, parliaments, Star Chambers, pow-wows, conferences and summits. Sit, exchange bullshit and leave.
Then something new entered the picture. Amidst the notepads, OHPs, talking sticks and maces somebody shoved a tray of food and suddenly meeting meant eating. Continue reading...
Posted by Word of Mouth
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Tuesday 20 April 2010
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Eurostar should be doing nicely from the thousands of extra passengers. Photograph: qaphotos.com/Alamy
One person's disaster is another's business opportunity. While thousands of travellers have been stranded abroad and airlines have seen profits tumble as layers of volcanic ash stubbornly refuse to leave our skies, plenty of others have been thanking the Act of God that has sent free money blowing in from Iceland.
Unsurprisingly, the travel operators have been the first to cash in. Eurostar responded to allegations of excessive profiteering by announcing a fixed one-way price between Paris and London of £89 until this Sunday (previously, passengers had been hit for the walk-on price of £179). But with 30,000 passengers and 33 extra services, it should still be doing nicely. Continue reading...
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Sunday 18 April 2010
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Photograph: Getty
Imagine a world where you can "call up documents from files on the screen, or by pressing a button", or get "mail or any messages" from a "TV-display terminal with keyboard".
These were the thoughts – in 1975 – of George E Pake, the head of Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto Research Center, when quizzed by BusinessWeek on what the office of the future would look like. Predicting "a revolution in the office over the next 20 years", he pretty much nailed it – except for one detail. "I don't know how much hard copy [printed paper] I'll want in this world." Continue reading...
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Saturday 17 April 2010
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Nationwide has a £100 minimum counter withdrawal to force people to use its ATMs. Photograph: Times Newspapers/Rex Features
There's been a storm of criticism as Nationwide imposes a £100 minimum cash withdrawal over the counter. So why should there be a problem with using an ATM instead? Don't ask!
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Friday 16 April 2010
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I've offered my 12-year-old a weekly allowance, but she would prefer cash on demand Continue reading...
How much pocket money is acceptable for a 12-year-old? Photograph: Alamy
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Outnet's homepage, promoting the store's first birthday. Photograph: Public Domain
Huge demand for Outnet's £1 sale causes the website to crash, disappointing legions of online fashion fans, reports Kate Carter
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Thursday 15 April 2010
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It's a hit: Softball clubs can offer very good value for money
Has a club or society you belong to been hit by the recession? Investec Bank claims the economic downturn could mean groups around the country lose a total of £362m this year as members cancel and reduce subscriptions in a bid to save money. Continue reading...
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Wednesday 14 April 2010
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Witney, Oxfordshire: house prices have risen by 193% since 1997. Photograph: Greg Balfour Evans/Alamy
Conservative voters have the most expensive houses, but Gordon Brown is the party leader who has seen the biggest price rises in his own constituency, according to research published today by property website Zoopla!.
The average house price in a constituency with a Conservative MP is £257,518 compared to £168,112 in the average Labour constituency. Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat voters live in houses worth an average of £228,880. Continue reading...
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Tuesday 13 April 2010
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Cookie monsters: M&S; confronted a grandmother over a foreign biscuit. Photograph: Getty Images/StockFood
"Cookies and crime"; "Grandmother 'treated like shoplifter' for eating biscuit in M&S"; Grandmother caught in cookie crackdown. Newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic have managed to get pretty excited about the case of Thelma Williams, an 86-year-old who was chastised by staff in a Marks & Spencer's cafe for eating a biscuit bought in the same store. Continue reading...
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Monday 12 April 2010
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Easy does it: What can be done about a lazy colleague who gets unfair treatment? Photograph: David Sillitoe
A reader wonders what to do about a work colleague who gets unmerited preferential treatment
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Saturday 10 April 2010
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FSA principles for treating customers fairly are wise, but staff need attention too. Photograph: Chris Batson/Alamy
We've all been kept on hold by call centre staff, but isn't it time we addressed their pressures as well as our own?
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Friday 9 April 2010
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Men on a stag night dressed as a French maid and a bunny Photograph: Simon Rawles/Rex Features
A reader has to organise his brother's stag do, but keep it within budget and without strippers
Continue reading...
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