How Jamaican Writers from UWI with Tablets can crowdsource ePub Books

“We are hoping for at least 75 per cent penetration of tablets and e-books by September 2014, and that's the target that we are working towards”

Ronald Anderson, representing the Office of the Deputy Principal at the University of The West Indies in the Sunday Gleaner March 16^th 2013

If you’ve read my blog article entitled “Data Outsourcing comes to Jamaica via MobileWorks and Freelancer.com - Flexi-Work propelled by Crowdsourcing and MicroWorking Anaconda” you by now realize that you have no excuse to not be working. You can now sign up for a Freelancer Account or a MobileWorks Account and start making money as a freelancer doing various tasks:

1.      Website scripting or design

2.      Article rewriting or writing

3.      Graphic Design

4.      Programming

5.      Social Media Marketing

6.      SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

However, all is not a bed of roses as to even bid for jobs on Freelancer, one has to pay, a contradiction of its very name. The screenshot provides evidence of this anomaly.

MobileWorks is just as bad, being geared mainly towards persons seeking to hire Freelance workers or Virtual Workers. Thus this would seem like a dead end. But dear reader, don’t give up on the idea of Work-at-home or Telecommuting, as many a lucrative career is built on this model.  

Telecommuting Jobs – Work for unemployed in Jamaica is via Flexi-work

Some 9-to-5 Jobs have aspects of them that are Telecommuting jobs, where workers stay connected to the Office via Smartphone and the use of Webcam and microphone via Broadband Internet. Here’s a decent list for Americans compiled by Forbes Magazine as listed in the article “Top 10 Best-Paying Work-At-Home Jobs”, viewed by Lindsworth Deer on August 3 2013, Forbes:

1.      Physicians and Radiologists

2.      Computer Software Engineers

3.      Financial Managers

4.      Postsecondary Teachers

5.      Market and Survey Researchers

6.      Registered Nurses

7.      Public Relations Specialists

8.      Writers and Authors

9.      Tax Preparers

10.  Graphic Designers

In fact, if you are inclined to COMPLETELY work from home, there are options for you as well, albeit mostly restricted to Americans as compiled in “10 Great Work-at-Home Jobs”, published February 2012, viewed by Lindsworth Deer on August 3 2013, Kiplinger and “10 Online Jobs That Really Pay”, viewed by Lindsworth Deer on August 3 2013, AllYou:

1.      Affliliate Blogger

2.      Answering-Service Employee

3.      Beauty Product Seller

4.      Call-Center Employee

5.      Content Writer

6.      Culinary Consultant

7.      Data-Entry Worker

8.      Document Translator

9.      Expert

10.  Interview Transcriber

11.  Online Reseller

12.  Virtual Assistant

13.  Web Search Evaluator

Why Telecommuting is so desired – Advantages to both Employers and Employees

The above infographic should assure you’re not alone with regards to realizing the obvious benefits of Teleworking:

1.      More time with Family

2.      Save on Fuel Bill

3.      More Productive work in your own space, depending on your focus level

4.      Less Stressful as you are not under the Boss’s Watchful eye

5.      Lower Wages a benefit to the company your boss is employed

6.      Contract based work, a benefit to both Employer and Worker

The world of Crowdsourcing, Flex-Work, Telecommuting and thus Work-at-Home jobs is just beginning to open up to us Jamaicans thanks to the coming of Broadband Internet as stated in my Geezam blog article entitled “Jamaica’s 100MBps Internet Silver Lining – Tele-commuting Workplace is coming”.

If you still want to work in Jamaica, there is still the Call Center World which is some 14,000 workers strong and set to experience rapid expansion with the coming of Legislation later this year that’ll make Flex-Work Legal as stated in my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - Church opposed to Modernizing Jamaica via Flexi-Work and 4G LTE to introduce Tele-commuting is really Much Ado About Nothing”.

My blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - Job Agencies, Applications with Proposals and Reading the Sunday Gleaner for Fast and the Furious 6 Tips and Tricks” indicates how you can go about finding work in the Call Center World.

Networking vs Nepotism – Going abroad is the ultimate answer

Not everyone in Jamaica has access to family that owns a business or “links” in order to get employment, often referred to as nepotism as stated in the article “Pulling Strings! Job Hunting In Jamaica”, published Wednesday May 22, 2013 by Glenford Smith, career writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Networking still remains the best and most reliable way for the unconnected to get employed in Jamaica, albeit joining more Social Groups i.e. Church, Lions Club, Key Club, can allow you to build your own links to get that job you desire. But as employment opportunities dwindle, many seek employment abroad via various agencies in US of A and Canada such as the ICP (International Career Partners).

Especially as it dawns on many that even when you do get that coveted job, working abroad doing even menial household work at the Minimum wage in the US of A or Canada pays far more than even working as a Manager in any company in Jamaica. So be not afraid to take the plunge and get your US, Canadian or British Visa today!

UWI Tablet and E-Book Renaissance coming in September – EPub Writers needed by 2014

So if you are really someone that wants a promising at-home job, why not become a Writer? With Tablets coming to Jamaican Students by September 2013 as stated in my blog article entitled “Minister Paulwell gives Parliamentarians and 20,000 Students in 30 Schools Tablets- Future in Science and Technology now rescued Indiana Jones and the Palace of Doom” there’s a ready audience for content among children and adults that’s coming.

E-book readership has been on the rise ever since the Amazon Kindle made in debut back in Monday November 19^th 2007, e-book Piracy has arisen, driven by the popularity of this cheaper publishing format as argued in my Geezam blog article “Piracy and E-Books in a Tale of Two Cities”.  Thus as Tablet usage in Jamaica rises, e-books are on the cusp of a renaissance in Jamaica.

UWI (University of the West Indies) is catching this wave, with plans being voiced by Ronald Anderson, representing the Office of the Deputy Principal at the University of The West Indies as stated in the article “E-Books To Change Jamaican Landscape”, Published Saturday March 16, 2013, Curtis Campbell, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

His plans calls for e-books to spread to the rest of the Campus to lower the cost of books for students as Tablet usage on Mona Campus is on the rise, quote: “We are hoping for at least 75 per cent penetration of tablets and e-books by September 2014, and that's the target that we are working towards”.

Looks like UWI does indeed have a heart! It is true that most students do lean heavily on lecturer’s notes as the books as too expensive. Worse is borrowing books, many of which in the Library are just out-of-Date.

Cheaper publication via e-books would be the way to go, as appears to be the Principal of UWI’s stance, to quote Ronald Anderson: “The principal was very concerned about the cost of textbooks, because students were not purchasing textbooks and relied heavily on lecture notes. We consulted with the faculty and provided for the students 18 of the courses that would be needed. We intended for the cost of these e-books to be so ridiculously low that it would be almost impossible for them to avoid using them”.

e-Readers and Tablet needing content - How to make money as an ePub Publisher and Writer

Still, this won’t stop e-book Piracy, especially as I’ve made it so easy to do via my article on Torrenting and downloading entitled “UWI'splanning to increase all Tuition by 5.5% come the new Academic Year 2013-2014 -How to Download ANY Video, including Facebook Videos, Convert and Free VideoHosting Online” which works very well for downloading e-books.

So with that ready market in mind, here’s my DIY on how to publish a Book condensed from the articles “How To Convert Files To EPUB And Publish To Apple IBookStore”, published August 30 2012, ChrisData. First watch this Video; it’ll make it easier:

The instructions on how to publish in ePub are as follows:

1.      Write the book, preferably in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher (Like Duh-Uh), a creative process all your own which I cannot help you with.

2.      Download Calibre, an Open Source ePub Converter along with Calibre’s Online Manual.

3.      Install the Calibre software on your computer.

4.      Refer to the Calibre Video and Calibre’s Online Manual to assist you in using it to adjust and eventually convert your written work into ePub

5.      Convert your book into ePub, the format use by all Tablets and e-Readers

Calibre’s Gentle Learning Curve – Helpful Software Assistance

This software may take some tinkering, so for further help check this article “How to Convert a Word Document to EPub”, read by Lindsworth Deer on August 3 2013, Edited by Nweinham, Trunchbull, Teresa, Madison Finn, WikiHow if the Calibre Video and Calibre’s Online Manual aren’t clear enough for you.

Other types of Desktop Publishing Software can be used in my Geezam blog article entitled “Laptop makers go Chromebooks as Google Chrome’s Office Extension makes it easy to View and Edit Office Documents”. These Desktop Publishing alternatives to torrenting Microsoft Office are reproduced here for ease of access:

Installable Software Office Editors

1.      Apache OpenOffice

2.      LibreOffice

3.      NeoOffice

4.      KOffice

5.      Softmaker’s FreeOffice

6.      Kingsoft Office

Web Based Office Editors

1.      Zoho Docs

2.      Google Docs

Alternatives to Calibre – ePub Self-Publishing to get early jump on Marketing

Alternatives to Calibre are self-Publishing Websites and software as noted in “Easiest 3 ways to self-publish an ePub ebook”, published August 30, 2010 9:07 am, TeleRead, which do most of the work for you, including market the book:

1.      Smashwords, a Cloud based converter that will upload your written work to as many platforms as possible to market you book including Amazon, Apple's iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo and the Diesel eBook Store

2.      Pages ePub export via iWork, which is a plugin for Apple iWork that converts to ePub format as well as publish your work on Apple's iBookStore and Amazon. This one for the Mac users, folks!

3.      Anthologize is a cloud-based plugin for Wordpress Bloggers that converts your Blog page into an ePub

Promoting your ePub Book – Social Media give Turbo to your Fame

In a few seconds, Calibre gives you your book in the ePub format. You can then use my article on how to upload your ePub Book onto either Dropbox or Google Drive as stated in my blog article entitled “How to use Dropbox, Google Drive and Sound File Sharing Websites to Share and Promote your Content online - Sharing is Caring” to do as the title says - share and promote your content (in this case your book!) online.

The Internet, after all, is the fastest way to promote your published work. Thus, once uploaded to either Dropbox or Google Drive, promote your ePub Publication via:

1.      Social Media i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube

2.      Email

3.      Newsletters

4.      Personal Blog or Website

5.      Business Cards and Flyers

6.      Traditional Media i.e. Radio, Television Newspaper

That’s it! See how easy ePub Publishing was? So take the plunge and do the article, Blog or Book  and then “Work. Finish. Publish” as Michael Faraday would say!

Here’s the Link:

Calibre

DIY Alternative Energy - How to make a portable Refrigerator and How to reduce your house's Electricity Bill

If you live in Jamaica, then you know how hot it gets. Thus the fan or the air conditioner in your house will be running continuously driving up your Electricity Bill. Seriously run up your Electricity Bill.

With few options other than going to the Beach to cool down, sitting in a plastic Swimming Pool or designing a Solar and Sound Powered Fan as per my blog article entitled “Global Warming and the Quest for Efficient Cooling – From Bladeless Fans to Blade Runner”, this expense can quickly overwhelm you to the point of having to choose between paying said Bill or buying Textbooks and clothes for the kids come September.

So is there any way you can make your Appliances use less Power, aside from spending on a costly Alternative Energy Gear from either ATL (Appliance Traders Limited) or JPS Co’s (Jamaica Power Service Company) ePower Store as described in my blog article entitled “ATL goes into Alternative Energy at the same time JPSCo goes into Retail of Energy Saving Gear - ATL Elite The Gransmaster in a burgeoning Alternative Energy Field in Jamaica”?

A simple alternative may be to build your own Alternative Energy Gear from Scratch or modify Appliances to use less Power. My article will reveal how to do this in a series I’d like to call DIY Alternative Energy and this article will be the first in the series.

Air Conditioners and fans - Cooling is the thing to save on Power Usage

The main thing in most houses that sinks your power Bill is Cooling, contributing to a whopping 65% of your house’s Electricity Bill as revealed by Dr. Michael Taylor, Climatologist and Head of the Department of Physics, Pure and Applied Sciences, University of the West Indies at the Energy Conference 2011 on Monday September 19th 2011AD in my blog article entitled “Dr. Taylor's states Global Warming increasing Jamaica's Energy Bill - Vybz Kartel's Summertime Soylent Green”.

So that’s the first thing you can attack. Not lighting, as realistically, they are only turned on at night. Lighting’s only important if the majority of your electricity usage is based around Incandescent Bulbs.

Thus talk of replacing Incandescent Bulbs with Fluorescent or LED (Light Emitting Diode) under the newly rebranded Cuba-Jamaica Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) Project as stated in my blog article entitled “Minister Paulwell revives Cuban Light Bulb Program - How to Ban Incandescent Bulbs and focus on production of LED Bulbs in Jamaica” really benefits the environment, not your Wallet!

Here are a few Tips to reduce the need to use a Fan or Air Conditioning Unit in the First Place:

1.      Have the Air Conditioning Units mounted closer to the ground. This allows the room to cool faster as it’s not cooling the entire room

2.      Install an Intelligent Thermostat that shuts off the Air conditioning Unit once it reaches the required Temperature such as the Nest Thermostat as described in my blog article entitled “Nest Labs and Honeywell locked in battle over Self-Learning Thermostat - War of the Worlds over My Science Project that Apple loves”

3.      Have the Air Conditioning Unit Properly serviced so as to make sure it’s not leaking Coolant Gas and its Filters are clean

4.      Painting the Roof White and installing Black Felt under the Roof is also a good idea, if it’s your house.

The DIY Refrigerator - Refrigerators that cools when it’s hot

The Refrigerator is the hardest part though. Here are a few Tips:

1.      Anti-sweat and automatic ice making features of refrigerators are incredibly inefficient, increasing electricity consumption by 5-10% or 14-20% respectively. Disable them permanently

2.      Before going away on vacations, empty and clean fridges and leave them open

3.      Clean your Refrigerator regularly and plan for meals to avoid excess wastage.

4.      Cool hot foods before putting them in the fridge.

5.      Defrost freezers regularly as it's less efficient if thick, insulating ice coatings exist.

6.      Do not leave fridge doors open for extended periods of time. Try to conserve energy by getting all of the ingredients out at once.

7.      Ensure that there is space at the back, sides and top of fridges to allow excess heat to escape. Restricting aeration adds 15% to Fridge energy usage

8.      Get a smaller Fridge and use less power overall

9.      If a fridge has a lot of free space, try putting some bottles of water in it to use the space

10.  Keeping a fridge full is best as it means there is less space to cool. However, don't overpack as it'll work harder and air circulation can be obstructed.

11.  Keeping foods and liquids covered will reduce moisture which can cause the refrigerator compressor to work harder.

12.  Place refrigerators in cool places i.e. avoid direct sunlight or other heat sources e.g. oven or dishwasher

13.  Regularly check that fridge seals are clean and close properly. Test Seal effectiveness by placing a piece of paper over a seal and closing the door. If the paper slides easily then seals need to be replaced.

14.  Uses a thermos or insulated Ice Cooler to keep cool drinks outside on hand instead of opening the Refrigerator all the time

15.  When thawing frozen foods, place it in the fridge section. Cools the rest of the fridge and reduces electricity consumption.

Here’s a diagram for a Portable Refrigerator design. I can’t tell you how to make it, as its design requires the hands of a skilled metalworker.

It parts are obvious though:

1.      Inner Cylinder made of Stainless Steel

2.      Outer Cylinder made of Wood or Steel with 1 cm holes spaced on 1cm apart

3.      Sieve for sifting Sand

4.      Ultrafine Sand

5.      Wooden Dowel 

6.      Fine Cloth Mesh

7.      Distilled Water, which you should have tons of from the improved Solar Desalinator with the Fresnel Lens as described in my blog article entitled “How to upgrade your Solar Desalinator to a Solar Cooker and make a Solar Foundry for Vacuum Pyrolysis”

The construction’s also fairly straightforward:

1.      Have a metalworker construct the Inner Cylinder made of Stainless Steel

2.      Have the same metalworker construct the Outer Cylinder made of Wood or Steel with 1 cm holes spaced on 1cm apart so that it fits with 2cm spacing

3.      Use the Sieve for sifting Sand and sieve until there are no pebbles and the sand is very fine

4.      Assemble the Inner Cylinder made of Stainless Steel and the Outer Cylinder made of Wood or Steel with 1 cm holes spaced on 1cm apart, making sure they fit ok

5.      Wrap the inside of the Inner Cylinder made of Stainless Steel and the Outer Cylinder made of Wood or Steel with 1 cm holes spaced on 1cm apart with Fine Cloth Mesh

6.      Assemble the Inner Cylinder made of Stainless Steel and the Outer Cylinder made of Wood or Steel with 1 cm holes spaced on 1cm apart and fill the 2cm spacing with the sand.

7.      Make sure to use the Wooden Dowel to pack the Ultrafine Sand until its evenly packed with no air pockets

8.      Wet the Ultrafine Sand in the 2cm spacing with Distilled water, making sure it fully saturated

9.      The portable Refrigerator is ready and as the Distilled Water evaporates, it cools the Fridge to a cool 6 Degrees Celcius, perfect for keeping Ice Cream

The Final Word - Keeping Cool is Best done Outdoors

Even better advice that that dispensed above is to not stay in the house during the summer months and dress in light coloured clothing, keeping Cool by keeping properly hydrated as advised in my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - Drink Bottled Water as Dehydration and Salty Foods makes you lose concentration” Keeping cool need not drain your Electricity Budget. Simple tips to reduce your houses Electricity Bill are the 2 Guns (2013) you need!

Hewlett Packard debuts US$479 HP Slatebook x2 in August 2013 - HP has stopped living in The Spectacular Now and accepts Tablets have killed Printers

HP (Hewlett Packard) has finally launched an update to their first stab at making an Android Tablet, the HP Slate 7 as stated in my blog article entitled “HP's Slate 7 Tablet debuts at MWC 2013, set to launch April 2013 - LiMo Open Source is RedBull as it Gives HP Wings Beyond the Hills”.

Introducing the HP Slatebook x2 as announce in the article “HP launches Android-based SlateBook 'PC'”, published July 31, 2013 12:14 AM PDT by Brooke Crothers, CNET News and “ HP’s Slatebook X2, its second Android tablet, actually looks decent”, published July 31, 2013 by Kevin C. Tofel, GigaOM. Check the HP’s Slatebook x2’s Official Webpage for more details.

HP’s Slatebook X2 – Falling into Google Embrace

This product update, dubbed the HP Slatebook x2, is truly an indication that HP “gets it”; either go Android with a Tablet or continue to watch their Printing business get eroded by Tablets.

After all, they are getting cheaper every day and are far less hassling to use than HP’s own Printers. 

And that’s just Google Android products; Google Chrome is their next worry, for which HP’s already made a product.

That product is their Chromebook, the 14” HP Pavilion Chromebook 14-c010us, which like other Chromebooks from other PC makers since January 2013 is a hot seller on Amazon driven by demand by High School and College Students as noted in my blog article entitled “Lenovo and HP now making Chromebooks - Google Chrome OS is being Built from the Cloud Up as Microsoft experiences the Side Effects”.

So HP can’t get out of the PC game anytime soon as it’s saving them from totally collapse of their core business, which was printing. And with this new Android Tablet-Ultrabook Hybrid, it cements a Computing trend; PC makers are abandoning the sinking Microsoft Windows 8 ship and going with Google Android OS or Google Chrome OS.

The analyst Gartner puts out some interesting stats in the article “PC sales see 'longest decline' in history”, published 11 July 2013 Last updated at 03:18 GMT, BBC News that chronicle their decline as Tablets rise. The graphs below do a better job to explain this, I’d imagine.

Hence making a hybrid Tablet-Ultrabook akin to the Asus Transformer as described in my blog article entitled “Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime to debut on November 9 2011AD - Nvidia Kal-El invites Apple iPad to Game On” is the best strategy to use to make up for losses in the Printing world due to the proliferation of Google Android Tablets and smartphones. And at US$479, it’s the expected price for a Tablet with Ultrabook stylings.

The specs Sheet for the US$479 HP Slatebook x2, which goes on sale in August 2013, is very impressive, albeit a tad sparse on details. Here what I summarized from what I read:

Software

1.      Operating System: Google Android 4.2

2.      Kingsoft Office Software

Hardware

1.      Processor: 1.8Ghz Nvidia’s Tegra 4 Quad-Core

2.      Memory: 2 GB of memory

3.      Storage: 16GB Sata Harddrive

4.      Screen: 10.1-inch, 1920 x 1200, basically HD 1080p (High Definition) Resolution

Accessories and Features

1.      Front and Rear Facing Cameras

2.      Wi-Fi

3.      Bluetooth

4.      Extra Battery in the Keyboard, doubling usage time

This US$479 HP Slatebook x2 is coming this August 2013 in Snow White and Smoke Colours. So there you have it. Hopefully too, HP will also develop an Android based smartphone and a Cloud-based Printer also based on Google Android……assuming people still want to print in 2014. Regardless of price, this is a good second effort by HP in the very crowded by very hot Tablet Arena.

HP has stopped living in The Spectacular Now (2013) and accepts Tablets have killed Printers

Here’s the Links:

HP’s Slatebook x2’s Official Webpage

Specs Sheet for the US$479 HP Slatebook x2

Kingsoft Office Software