The top sites

The most popular online products were books, CDs, and videos (77 %), followed by software and computers (56 %). Travel came third, with a 47 % vote. Grocery sales were at the bottom, with a 20 % vote, probably because supermarkets don’t offer a very good delivery service at the moment.

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I am the inventor of Screenblock, a device which designed to stop children watching too much television. I can’t say that I had a carefully conceived business plan for my device – I invented it because I was a desperate man! I noticed that my two children aged 9 and 11 watched too much TV when they were not at school and we had huge arguments if I tried to switch it off. I had the idea that it would be better if the TV switched off automatically rather than when a parent pressed the button.

It is a very simple design. It stops power flowing from the electricity supply to the TV at pre-set times. In this way you can limit the number of hours children watch for. It is a rectangular box about 20 cm long. You lift the lid on the box, plug the TV in, close the lid and lock it. You then plug the Screenblock in.

I had two prototypes before we found the perfect design. I tested the product a lot at home and with friends and little by little we developed Screenblock as it is today. Towards the end of 2001 we decided to launch it. I costed the device at just under $ 150, which is not too expensive. We advertised on the Internet and I created a website to explain the product. I also did some interviews on the radio and in newspapers and we soon started to take orders. Users talked to friends and the word soon spread.

Zurich’s Hotel for Women Only

Business travel can be difficult for everyone, but especially for women. Traveling alone in a strange city, women often don’t want to go out at night and visit local attractions themselves. Dining alone at a restaurant can be depressing. Many women spend the evening in their hotel rooms – using room service, watching television and eating snacks from the mini-bar. Life is not always so exciting for a traveling businesswoman.

That’s why a new hotel in Zurich Switzerland, offers an interesting alternative for women business travelers – a ‘women-only’ hotel. The Lady’s First Hotel and Wellness Center opened in January, 2001. Men aren’t allowed in, and all the staff are female.

The hotel was designed by architect Pia Schmid, with women business travelers in mind. It is a small hotel with 28 rooms. Guests can meet in the lounge in the lobby, and sit around a fireplace. Light refreshments are available in the hotel bar and mini-bar snacks include healthy food, not only chocolate and alcohol. Bathrooms are well-lit and have extra amenities. Meeting and conference rooms are available.

The best aspect of Lady’s First is the Wellness Center. The facilities are located on the top floor of the hotel and offer a wide variety of health and beauty treatments including massages and jet-lag treatments. The Wellness Center has a steam room, saunas and a terrace overlooking the lake and mountains.

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The idea of having one job, and that for life, has gone. In its place is the idea shared by over one million people in Britain that you need to have several jobs simultaneously. Why has this happened?

The first reason is purely financial. Many people find that with the high cost of living, particularly in terms of rent or buying property, one salary is simply not enough. That is why you find teachers, nurses and policemen stocking the shelves in supermarkets at the weekend or during the night.

The second reason is often because a hobby becomes as important as the main job and people have to make a decision. Hugh Montgomerie is a bone specialist at one of London’s leading hospitals. Ten years ago he started writing, initially a story for his godchildren for Christmas. It soon became his first novel. It won an award in 2000 and he is now busy at work on his second. He continues to work at the hospital.

Sacha Taylor-Cox works for a commercial radio station as Head of Press. In her spare time she is in charge of PR for a number of rock bands. She also runs a business organizing yoga holidays abroad. Sacha says, ‘In two years’ time I may not want to be in the music business. It’s good to have back-up plan.’

The other reason people choose to do several things at the same time is the feeling that you only have one life and it is very short. Hugh Montgomerie sees this regularly in his main job: ‘You only get one chance in this life. I intend to use that chance the best I can.’