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This New Year has brought many hopeful and dire business predictions for all industries. One of the businesses that many have given perspectives for is the online retail business. All sorts of folks have weighed in on what they expect for online retailers in 2012. If you listen to the various analysts, economists, business people, journalists and other experts as well as everyday people, you will know that there are many viewpoints on what can be expected for this area of online business this year.

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The success – and subsequent bursting – of the dotcom bubble is well-documented. A business bubble such as that is created when speculative investors believe in an over-hyped product that simply cannot deliver what its proponents say it will. Rather than steady, sustainable commercial growth which supports the long term, it can lead to business failure and bankruptcy. That is then followed by a market shake-down in which only the strongest survive: hence the domination of the big dotcom players post-bubble, such as Google and Amazon.

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Laptops have become a very important part of our lives. Without a computer, we would not be able to do our work, students will not be able to do homework, and others will lose access to their social networking. Taking good care of your computer will give many years of use. Prolong the life of your laptop by avoiding the following issues.

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Lego's New Social Network

Have you ever resigned yourself to sitting on your own in your bedroom building Lego because your friends didn’t share your passion? Or holding in the urge to post an amazing model on Facebook because you know it will be ignored or your hobby ridiculed?

We've all heard of privacy issues with Facebook - from college admissions boards and potential employers judging our Facebook profiles to our friends accounts getting hacked and/or spammed. But how many of us actively make sure that our data (and our identities) are secure on the web?

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When you are developing a website or generating a presentation on the web, it is important that you incorporate illustrations to help get your message across. Not only does a perfectly selected photo add value to your content, but it also increases visual appeal and makes it more likely that visitors will read what you have to offer. As you may know, there are tons of images available on the Internet today. However, the ones which will add the most value to your website are royalty-free images.

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Since the evolution of the internet, it has provided a useful tool for a lot of applications. In an election year, there are plenty of tools and benefits that come from the world of technology. In fact, many viral and social media campaigns are what give candidates the chance to reach out to their supporters in a whole new way. The internet has come a long way in terms of helping candidates get the word out, and citizens have a lot of different things to think about when they decide to utilize technology to figure out exactly what they're dealing with.

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Whether you’re unemployed and struggling to find work or looking for new opportunities, many women could benefit from looking beyond traditionally “female” jobs and learning a trade.

UK unemployment levels are high, and set to get higher as we move through 2012. Many of the standard jobs for women – nurse, teacher – are being hit by public sector job cuts and no longer seem like a safe option. Where then should unemployed women – or those looking for a change of pace – look for work? Many may actually benefit from looking beyond traditionally “female” jobs and learning a trade.

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Even with the passing of Steve Jobs, his company is doing better than it ever has. With $97.6 billion in the bank closing the first quarter results, recent announcements have profits exceeding $100 billion. The sale of 37 million iPhones and impressive amounts of Macs and iPads dominated the Christmas season. But, Apple wants to do better than that.

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He is one of the top businessmen in the world, without even having a job. American entrepreneur Reid Hoffman has multiple success stories under his belt that the general public know well. If you’ve ever sent money through PayPal from America to Europe or even for payments on eBay, you’ve been part of the entrepreneur’s legacy. His other major achievement that has come to great fruition in the last few years is the business networking site, LinkedIn, which has connected entrepreneurs from offices in Waterloo through to tycoons in Tokyo. Reid Hoffman was successfully changed the way that people recommend business persons and created a internet portal for freelancers and corporate professionals.