Web Worker Daily

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• Write for WebWorkerDaily
• No-Fuss Video Conferencing Using Tinychat
• Opera 10 Beta Sports New Design, Improved Performance
• Protect Your Income Before It’s Too Late
• 4 Borrowed Ideas That Have Made the Biggest Difference in My Work

Write for WebWorkerDaily Posted: 04 Jun 2009 04:00 PM PDT Written by Simon Mackie. I'm looking to add to the great team of writers that we have here at WebWorkerDaily. If you think you have what it takes to write for WWD, I'd love to hear from you. I'm looking for writers with a good, clear writing style, a unique voice, extensive experience with web working, and time to contribute regularly to the site. It doesn't matter what type of web work you do. Email me at tips@webworkerdaily.com with writing samples or links to existing work.

No-Fuss Video Conferencing Using Tinychat Posted: 04 Jun 2009 03:00 PM PDT Written by Simon Mackie. Where do you turn if you want to set up a video conference with your team at the drop of a hat? Tinychat is a simple, no-download, no-login chatroom that includes audio/video support and desktop sharing. Getting started is simple — just browse the Tinychat web site and click the “Create your room” button. Tinychat will create a room that you can share with your team. Once in the room, just give yourself a nickname, hit the “Start broadcasting” button, and you’re set. Tinychat is dead simple to use, with a nice, clean interface. It’s Flash-based, so it should work in most browsers. Up to 12 people can join a video chat simultaneously. There are some nice additional options, too, like a Facebook application and the ability to embed a Tinychat widget in your own web site, but it’s because the core product — videoconferencing — is so quick to set up and use that I’ll be returning to Tinychat. With no download required, setting up  impromptu teleconferences should be a breeze, even with fairly non-technical users. Basic Tinychat is free. If you’d like private chatrooms, a Pro account provides up to five named rooms with password protection, higher quality video, and the ability to save your chats, at a cost of $14.95 per month. (via O’Reilly Radar)

Opera 10 Beta Sports New Design, Improved Performance Posted: 04 Jun 2009 12:00 PM PDT Written by Simon Mackie. Browser development from the major vendors continues apace. Yesterday saw the release of the Opera 10 beta. This new version of Opera is interesting for a few reasons, not least of which is a brand-new (and much improved) interface designed by the talented Jon Hicks. Opera Software prides itself on the standards-compliance of its browser, so you’d expect the new version to be good in this department. Indeed, the new version gets a perfect 100 on the Acid3 tests (compared with 93 for Firefox 3.5 beta 4, and a paltry12 for IE 8). The beta supports goodies like web fonts (check out Aliza’s interview with Opera CTO Håkon Wium Lie for a demo), has integrated email and chat, visual tabs, and a new “Opera Turbo” mode with compression technology that should improve performance when stuck on slow and laggy connections. Opera passes Acid3 compliance test Opera claims that the new browser is much faster on resource-intensive pages. Performance is a vital attribute in modern browsers as we become increasingly reliant on JavaScript-heavy web apps like Gmail. Running it through Webkit’s Sunspider JavaScript benchmark test on my machine — which measures a browser’s performance by testing it with a series of real-world, resource-intensive tasks — Opera 10 beta scores a time of 5800 ms. This isn’t a bad score, and beats IE8’s score of 8500 ms, but it is still greatly lagging behind speed demons Firefox 3.5 beta 4 at 2500ms and Google Chrome 2 with a blistering 1500ms, both of which boast massively improved JavaScript engines. In real-world use, the Opera 10 beta certainly feels fast, definitely faster than the previous version of the browser, although not as zippy as Chrome. Time to complete Sunspider JavaScript tests in ms (lower is better) Opera has many fans, but it’s still very much a niche browser. Just 1.5 percent of the readers of this blog use it, according to Google Analytics. For comparison, even though it’s still fairly new, Chrome is used by 7.5 percent of WWD readers. Even with improved performance, a new design and some interesting features, I’m not sure that this new version will change that usage statistic very much. While it’s great to see Opera championing standards compliance and introducing novel features to keep the other vendors on their toes, this new version of the browser won’t tempt me away from my current favorites: Chrome 2 and Firefox 3.5 beta 4. Opera 10 beta is free to download, and available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Let us know your thoughts on Opera 10 beta in the comments. 3123.6ms

Protect Your Income Before It’s Too Late Posted: 04 Jun 2009 09:00 AM PDT Written by Georgina Laidlaw. What would you do if, as soon as you finished reading this blog post, something happened that stopped you from working? How would you manage? Recently, a friend of mine who runs his own business from home found himself faced with this very question. Out of the blue, he was hit by a medical emergency that stopped him from working. His partner didn’t earn enough to pay their mortgage on her own, let alone support them both and pay his mounting medical bills. Things were looking grim, and the financial questions only added to the stress of an already extremely stressful and emotional situation. This really made me think about what I would do if I had some kind of health issue that stopped me from earning. In many countries, if you become unemployed, you can register for benefits that ease the financial strain. But if you get sick or have some kind of accident, you can’t claim unemployment. The good news is that safety nets are available. Yes, I’m talking about insurance –  income protection or IP insurance (known as disability insurance in the U.S.) — but don’t hit the back button just yet. After seeing what happened to my freelancing friend with the medical emergency, I started asking my contacts if they had any IP cover, and most of them didn’t even know what it was. I thought it might be worthwhile to talk about it here, at least so you can make an informed decision as to whether you want to look into it or not. Most think IP insurance is for old people, or sick people, but if you: support yourself financially support others financially have a loan of some sort …you might want to consider protecting your income. If you think it’ll cost a lot, you’ll be pleased to hear that it can be affordable — the insurance I have costs me less than a dollar a week. How it Works The idea of income protection insurance is that you receive a regular “benefit” (a payment) if you suffer an injury or illness that prevents you from working. Obviously the payout time frames, features, waiting periods and so on vary among IP insurance policies. IP insurance doesn’t cover you for redundancy, being fired, or if your employer goes broke. It’s all about your personal physical and mental capacity to earn an income. The Objections There are plenty of knee-jerk objections to IP cover, but most of them don’t really stack up… “I’m too young for IP cover.” My friend was in his 30s when he suffered his medical emergency — fate doesn’t discriminate when it comes to age. Another contact, who’s in in her mid-20s, has been claiming on her IP insurance for the last few months as she’s suffering from depression and can’t work. “That’d never happen to me…” That’s what my friend thought, but life is unpredictable. “I’m fit and healthy so I don’t need it.” Many insurers will give you a cheaper policy if you’re healthy; once you start suffering some kind of condition, it can be more expensive, and much harder, to get cover for that condition. So it’s best to set up the safety net when you’re in the proverbial pink. “I’m too busy to worry about that stuff.” If you have time to search the web for a new geeky gadget/vacation deal/DVD box set, you have time to review a few IP cover offers. “I lead a boring life — it’s not like I bungy jump or sky dive or something!” Accidents are just one aspect of most IP policies — most also cover you for illness, including physical and mental conditions. My friends who got sick didn’t do anything special. They were just unfortunate. “I’d get sick leave from work, so I don’t need extra insurance.” If you work in a paid role that includes sick leave, it’s likely limited to a certain number of days each year. Income protection cover can last for anything from months to decades, depending on the type of cover you choose. OK, so maybe you’re entertaining the idea of looking into this IP cover thing. Here’s a list of the “features” you might consider if you’re looking for some good cover. What should you look for? Provider A search engine might turn up a few IP cover providers in your country, but personal recommendations should carry more weight — ask colleagues or contacts you trust if they know of a good supplier. If you have some other kind of insurance already, that company may offer IP cover, as do many banks and financial institutions. If you’re tossing up between a few good providers, ask them for their claim acceptance rates — this will tell you what percentage of their customers who made IP claims were paid out, and might help you make a decision about which provider you’ll choose. Benefit duration My cover lasts for the duration of my working life, so if I got sick and couldn’t work from tomorrow on and remained that way for my entire life, I’d get a regular payment from my insurance company until I was 65. Some policies only cover you for two years — check out the duration, and the effect that increasing your coverage period will have on the insurance premiums. Waiting period If I get sick, I have to wait for three months until my insurance will start to pay out, but I can reduce this waiting time for a slightly higher premium. Make sure the waiting period you choose is manageable. Benefit level The “benefit” is how much money you’d receive if you made a claim on your IP insurance. It’s important to make sure the payout would cover your everyday expenses, because if you get sick, you’ll have not just these costs but potentially medical expenses as well. Existing or new conditions Some policies will only cover you for new conditions (not pre-existing conditions); others may charge you extra to provide cover for existing conditions. Make sure you know what you’re covered for, and that you’re happy with that cover. Occupation definition This is likely to be hidden in the fine print, but some policies won’t cover you if you can still work in any occupation. So if I suffered some kind of injury that stopped me from holding down a job as writer, but I could still work as a kitchen hand, cleaner, taxi driver or some other paid capacity, the insurance wouldn’t pay out my claim. You might want to seek out a policy that covers you for your own occupation — in that case, if you’re stopped from working in your current role by illness or injury, you’re covered. Cost Of course, policy costs vary, so be sure to shop around. In my country, Australia,, income protection insurance comes as an option on superannuation (or pension) accounts, though few of my fellow workers realize it. I took this option, so I pay for my insurance out of my pension fund, not my weekly budget. This kind of setup may not be available where you are, but it might worth looking into. So, what do you think? Do you think IP cover’s a waste of money or worth looking into? Would you consider it? Or are you already covered?

4 Borrowed Ideas That Have Made the Biggest Difference in My Work Posted: 04 Jun 2009 07:00 AM PDT Written by Celine Roque. If it takes a village to raise a child, it’s possible that it takes a vast digital village to raise a teleworker. Whether we’re conscious of it or not, our work habits, tools and business perspective are at least partly influenced by the people and ideas we encounter online. Take a moment to think about the blogs you regularly visit, the high-profile professionals that you consider your mentors, and the groups you interact with online. How have they shaped your work? What extraordinary ideas have you learned from them? As I pondered this myself, I identified the most important ideas that have helped me as a web worker. Inbox Zero. Email processing is an important skill for us to learn. Most of us deal with dozens, if not hundreds, of incoming email messages each day. This makes email processing a tedious task for most of us. But for me, what made this task simpler was the concept of Inbox Zero from Merlin Mann of 43 Folders. The main idea is that you need to process your email inbox until there’s nothing in it. There are only five things you can do with each email you receive: Delete, Delegate, Respond, Defer or Do. If you know that each email is actionable, tackling a hyperactive inbox won’t feel as overwhelming. The E-myth. Just as I was starting my online freelancing career, I was lucky enough to read “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber. Basically, the E-myth refers to the “entrepreneurial myth” that if you’re good at a certain skill, you can automatically run a business around that skill. If you’re a talented and original graphic designer, for example, it doesn’t always follow that you’ll be good at running your own design studio or practice. From budgeting business costs to marketing, entrepreneurs deal with several responsibilities that they have to learn on their own. Although this might not be relevant to telecommuting employees, it’s essential for freelancers to understand. We may be very skilled in our line of work, but we also need to be smart business people if we want to succeed. Stop when you’re going good. Two months ago, I came across a post by Nadia-Ballas Ruta for Write to Done. Included in the article was a quote from Ernest Hemingway about how to beat writer’s block: “The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day…you will never be stuck.” I still take advantage of bursts of creativity, but I follow Hemingway’s advice and always end a writing session mid-sentence. This means that I can avoid being stuck during the following session. The Purple Cow. Seth Godin wrote a book called “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable.” The gist of this book is that whatever it is you’re offering — whether it’s a product or a service — should be remarkable and original. For example, it’s not enough to just be a web designer. There must be a compelling reason why clients want to work with you and not the hundreds of thousands of other designers out there. At this point in my career, I may not be a remarkable purple cow. But the idea gives me something to aspire to. At the very least, I no longer fear my own attempts at being remarkable. In his book, Seth Godin wrote something that I take comfort in when I’m in doubt: “Another reason the Purple Cow is so rare is because people are so afraid. If you’re remarkable, then it’s likely that some people won’t like you. That’s part of the definition of remarkable. Nobody gets unanimous praise — ever.” From my day-to-day habits to the big picture, it’s likely that I’ve overlooked dozens of other borrowed ideas that have helped me become a better online worker. Ten years from now, if I look back and feel proud of my career accomplishments, I know that I’ll have a vast digital village to thank for that. What borrowed concepts have you followed and applied to your own work? Have you tried any of the ideas listed above? Image by brokenarts from sxc.hu

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