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Wahey, long time sir  Spooky, we were talking about you today, still owe us a dinner 

Hope life is treating you well, shall have to have a catch up soon.

After all these year, Google is finally shutting down it's social media platform, Google+.

In official jargon, Google is sunsetting the platform after a major security flaw potentially exposed 500,000 personal profiles. In English, it's getting scrapped.

It was always a late contender to the social media party, which was dominated by Facebook, Twitter and even LinkedIn. But because it was a Google product, you felt like you had to make an effort in case it affected you search rankings in some shape or form. There were years of confusion as Google moved Google maps listings, and shoved them in to the Google plus zone, causing duplicates, missing reviews and lots of frustrated page owners.

It seemed to become popular with more technical groups, but even those in recent years seemed to be quieter than they were. I tend to update our pages sporadically, concentrating instead on the new posts features in  your Google My Business entry (see below image).

Google says it will be winding down the network over the next 10 months before switching it off.

So you have time to collect any worthwhile content, shove it on your own site instead of Googles, and start removing those G+ like and sharing buttons and links you might have on your website.

Here is the official Google news release from yesterday: Project Strobe: Protecting your data

So did you use G+ or will you lament it's demise?

I duuno if anything has really changed , we had (old) Encyclopedia in the house growing up, due to their age there were out of date references and inaccuracies. No doubt the same was true for some school textbooks. Google just makes it more efficient  to access larger quantities of information.

The skill is learning to research and curate information, rather take the first bit of information found and treat it as gospel.

Unlike millions of people that only read a particular newspaper and blindly accept editorial and political bias, and have been doing so for centuries!

Interesting thread Bob. Often thought if we should have an extinguisher in the house. Always had one in our caravan and have 2 in the car. But it's always thought of a home electrical fire that worries me, so would foam be a safer bet as a general extinguisher rather than water? 

Ok just saw your other post about types of extinguishers, so foam and electrical is a no good, didn't realise that

Guessing CO2 is the way forward as an allrounder?

Have been tinkering with the forum and changing a few things. 

If you go in to your forum profile (if logged in, select My Profile tab at top of the screen), you can now add some information about yourself and your business.

When you are in your profile, select "edit" and scroll down to where your signature is. 

You should see a text box, just add in whatever you want to say and select save.

This bio will show when anyone goes into your profile and will also show at the bottom of any of our blog posts, if you have written one.

Any probs, let me know.

Originally Posted by Rebecca (PayforPrecision)

“If you have two iPhones you clearly have more money than sense Steve.   ”

If only!! They are on a business contract and for some reason we were sent a double order! Have flagged it 3 times, tried sending them back, but no one seems bothered and we haven't been billed for them. So they are sat in a drawer acting as spares for the inevitable time Clive drops his again 

Depending you bank with, there are some easy solutions like freeagent. We looked at it but we're sticking with Sage although will have to upgrade our software... again....

Not updated for a while, but always reading business books. Reread the Entrepreneur Revolution by Daniel Priestley, definitely one of those books you get more from when you reread them.

Biggest take away for me was "consumption and production". If you spend your life "consuming" ie watching TV, eating, staring at your iPad, web surfing or boxset binging, then you will achieve little and plod along. Where as if you become a "producer" ie you generate content, explore opportunities, actively push your business, networking or make the effort to keep fit, then you will become more successful. Lean in not lean back on life. All very stirring stuff!

One I'm reading at the moment is a take on the Scrum/Agile philosophy (which I now swear by for all day to day tasks and projects ) and explores the concepts of short bursts of productivity. It's written by some Google engineers and investors so they know what they are talking about and is a good read.

If you're familiar with Scrum, then this isn't that dissimilar. Some good ideas worth exploring but I'm still in the scrum camp

If you are interested, you can find more about the Sprint ideas here: www.thesprintbook.com

I subscribe to the Harvard Business Review mail list, which fires over all sorts of titbits, some good, some odd and some controversial 

So this came through and have pasted below. With a business owner or manager head on, what do you think?

Don’t Apologise for Crying at Work

People are often told they shouldn’t cry at work. For women especially, shedding tears can be seen as a sign of weakness. But crying is a normal biological response to stress, frustration, or sadness. So if you break down at work, don’t apologise or allow others to accuse you (explicitly or implicitly) of being unprofessional. 

If you’re not embarrassed about crying, others won’t be either. Own your tears. Take a breath, and then say something like, “As you can see, I really care about this topic.” Let yourself laugh about it, if you can — often that will relieve the tension and make you and everyone else feel more comfortable.

On the other hand, if you begin sobbing, excuse yourself and leave the room until you calm down. But when you come back, or the next time you’re with that group, bring up what happened and talk about it transparently.

Source taken from: Harvard Business Review - Why Is Crying at Work Such a Big Deal?

As an older male and programmed in the 1970's, I would certainly struggle with crying employees. I like to think I'd be sympathetic and have had to deal with employee issues over the years, but to date, never had someone breakdown in tears.

Be interesting to hear some thoughts on this, both male and female. 

I have to be honest, I think something needs to be done to readdress the balance. I genuinely feel for bricks and mortar small businesses. Take a small traditional toy shop, it's so much nicer taking the kids in there than letting them look online.

But that small shop has to employ staff and is burdened with huge overheads such as high town centre rents.  Then (if our town is anything to go by) shoppers get fleeced with parking prices or daft 30 minute only zones (£1.50). So footfall decreases.

Then human nature kicks in as we all want a bargain. So we browse, touch and feel in the shop, make a note, then buy it £5 cheaper online.

Conversely you can set up an online store for a few quid, drop ship and just spend money on marketing to get the sales going. (ok very over simplified, but that's the reality).

I don't really want a town centre full of coffee shops and charity shops,  but with the collapse or imminent collapse of most of the old school department stores and brands, something needs to drastically change. Both in town planning and management, as well as our buying habits and expectations.