Yahoo founder Jerry Yang attends the "Chinese Americans in the World" Leadership Forum at Tsinghua University in Beijing September 23, 2005. Yahoo agreed last month to pay US$1 billion and give its China business unit to Alibaba in exchange for a 40 per cent stake in the Chinese Internet commerce specialist. - REUTERS
SANDOR PANTON of Top5Jamaica.Com, in association with the Gleaner Online, guides you through what's new, cool and interesting on the Internet. From Jamaica to the wider Caribbean and the rest of the world, this is the 'Week on the Web'.
Globally, employment in Internet-related fields has been a growing trend for several years now. Here in Jamaica, from as far back as the mid to late 90s, there have been a sprinkling of jobs in this industry, but it was definitely not the norm. Things are changing however, and with a new generation of Jamaicans 'growing up' on the Web, the Internet will eventually become one of the normal and expected facets of everyday life.
With that said, young people who may be at a 'career cross-roads' should seriously consider the Internet as a career option. It's inevitable that there will be increased hiring demands for individuals with certain Internet-specific skills. Most importantly, these skills are typically easy to transfer, whether to a traditional 'offline' job, or even globally, to another country (for those who may be planning to migrate).
Below we offer an overview of just a few Internet-related careers for consideration:
INTERNET-RELATED CAREERS
Copy Writer / Content Developer - Websites need content. Thus, there is always a need for individuals with excellent writing skills who will review or gather data and present it to the site's readers in a meaningful way.
Graphics Designer / Artist - Eye-catching designs and art for websites and web-related multimedia items are always in demand.
Marketer / Advertising Pro-fessional - Increasingly, there has been a global shift of ad spending to the Web from more traditional offline media. Along with this is a growing demand for individuals with a good understanding of the Web, but from a marketer's or adver-tiser's perspective.
Programmers / Developers - A variety of programming languages (PERL, PHP, ASP, Java, and XML to name a few) can be used to create interactive websites (for e.g., storing and retrieving information from database) or manage hidden features (for e.g., creating an encrypted Internet connection).
Systems Administrators - Websites are stored and operate via a variety of hardware devices. The configuration, security and maintenance of these devices are the main focus of a systems administrator.
Webmaster - Simply put, a webmaster is responsible for managing the website(s). This may include (a) designing and creating the site itself (b) updating it when required (c) monitoring traffic to the site (d) making sure everything on the site (both hardware and software) is functioning properly.
Web Designer - This job is basically a hybrid of the graphics designer, programmer and webmaster positions. The requirements for this position will often vary, but typically the web designer will be required to create the look and feel of a website and, where necessary, to do some programming and site maintenance as well.
Gas prices online
For the last few weeks, from Kingston to London, the price of gas has been on the minds of just about everyone, everywhere. For those in Jamaica as well as for our overseas readers, we've featured a few online resources that allow you to compare gas prices in your area.
JAMAICA -
http://www.jamaicagasprices.
com.jm
U.S.A -
http://www.gaspricewatch.com, http://www.gasbuddy.com
U.K. -
http://www.whatprice.co.uk
/car/petrol.html
CANADA -
http://www.gastips.com. http://www.ontariogasprices.
com
Websites of the week
http://francismove.blogspot.com - Francis Wade is a Jamaican who lived outside Jamaica for over 20 years, and recently moved back home. Through this, his personal blog, he documents his experiences as a returning resident.
http://www.theonion.com - The Onion allows readers to take a humorous departure from the usual doom and gloom of American media. If the mind can conceive it, you'll probably find it somewhere on The Onion's website.
Top 5 views on Jamaica Gleaner week ending September 24, 2005
1. JPS contractor murdered
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050918/lead/lead1.html 6,959 views.
2. Simpson jumps ship - Quarter-miler won't run for Jamaica again
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050920/sports/sports1.
html 6,901 views.
3. PJ's Westmoreland successor dies
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050919/lead/lead3.html 5,095 views.
4. JPS shocker! Light bill hike rolled back; case heads to Appeal Court
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050921/lead/lead1.html 4,685 views.
5. More foreign cops - Two British officers appointed Ass't Commissioners of Police
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050922/lead/lead1.html 4,443 views.
Top views on Jamaica Star week ending September 24, 2005
1. Star Poster Girl
http://jamaica-star.com/poster_girl/pg_87.html 13,831 views.
2. Hottie Hottie Girl
http://jamaica-star.com/hottie-girls/659.html 11,845 views.
3. Star Poster Girl
http://www.jamaica - star.com/poster_girl/pg_77.html 5,844 views.
