This Radical iPhone 6 Concept Completely Reimagines The World's Favorite Smartphone

Apple is set to release its next version of the iPhone, the iPhone 5S this fall. We don't expect to see drastic changes to the physical look of the phone.

But next year, Apple could very well release a redesigned "iPhone 6." If it wanted to.

Graphic designer and artist Johnny Plaid has envisioned a drastic update for the iPhone 6 which takes advantage of an edge-to-edge display, multi-touch sensors in the bottom of the device that get rid of the home button, and a brand new charger that integrates MagSafe technology.

While it's highly unlikely that this is what the iPhone 6 will look like it's still fun to dream.

We know that the next iPhone Apple releases will be the 5S and the rumored iPhone 5C. Graphic designer an artist Johnny Plaid has imagined what the iPhone 6 could look like. Here it is:

  

6 Ways to Put the Good (Bad and Ugly) in Goodbye

The post last week seemed to hit a chord. So many of you gave passionate comments that I thought I should highlight a few of the stories—the good, the bad and the ugly.

Let’s start with the good. It seems that when a work goodbye is positive it impacts everyone—not only the employee, but their family and certainly the co-workers they leave behind.

From Gary Warner: A Sendoff That Brought a Veteran Newspaper Reporter to Tears

“Two months ago I was handed the dreaded ‘voluntary redundancy’ letter at the newspaper I had been employed for 11 years. The decision was made by the ‘bean counters’ but it could not have been handled better by management.

"Three senior managers flew to attend a farewell party in my honor and made it clear how sorry they were to see me go. After another touching speech by the general manager, I was ushered out of the building in a unique way. Previously I had reminisced with a colleague how it was once traditional in the newspaper business for a departing employee to be ‘rattled out’ by colleagues shaking tins of metal type. Type technology had vanished decades ago, but my final exit was made to the sound of colleagues shaking tins containing any small items they could find. A completely unexpected gesture, and one that brought an unbidden tear to the eyes of this 60-year-old journalist who was suddenly reassured that he was valued.

"I can look back on that memorable event with pleasure. Well done the management of Geraldton Newspapers and the parent company West Australian Newspapers. You showed how it really can—and should—be done.”

From Ken Fisher: Flashing Lights, and Much More, For a Retiring Police Officer

“A friend of mine retired from the local police department that held a walk of honor on his final day on the job. Past and present co-workers, family, and friends were invited to this emotional event. All guests lined the driveway that leads from the police department to the public street entrance.

"When all guests were in place a garage door opened and the retiree was let out of the garage with an honor guard carrying the American and Wisconsin flags. The honor guard continued through the line of guests and positioned themselves at the street entrance where a squad car with lights flashing blocked the street entrance. The retiree took his time to make his way through the line where he received words of congratulations, well wishes and support!

"The event came to an end as the retiring police officer stood with his family and signed off on the car two-way radio for the last time. The chief of police presented the retiree with a special plaque in recognition of his years of service. What a wonderful event!”

From Randy McKnight: The Goodbye That Created a Lifetime of Loyalty

“Left my former company and was treated like royalty the final two weeks, even though we worked hard to close out my projects. I have subsequently been a valued customer of theirs for almost two decades.”

Aren’t those just terrific? Okay, I warned you, now for the bad and the ugly:

From José Zulmar Lopes: The Indignity of Being Fired Over Voicemail

“Once I was fired via voicemail without any warning or reason given; and then they told all the employees that I quit. The worst thing you can do as a boss is fire an employee using any electronic method—no emails, IMs, voice mails, or phone calls. Even a letter is inappropriate. When you fire an employee give them the courtesy you would extend to any human being. They deserve a face-to-face meeting; nothing else works. The fired employee will remember and your other employees have even longer memories.”

From Susan Brady: An Employee's Nightmare -- Getting Canned 4,000 Miles From Home

“I was in Sweden on business. We had just successfully done a deal and were going to a celebration dinner. One of my colleagues was delayed on a conference call, so we were waiting for him in the lobby of our hotel. He came down looking green and told us he'd been fired—4,000 miles from home! It was part of a general downsizing for the company (the kind where everyone was escorted out of the building by a security guard). Several of us intervened and the firing was rescinded, but what a nightmare for this colleague and his family. He helped complete the deal then resigned a few months later. Up to that point, I had paid lip service to ‘you are only as good as your last deal,’ but after that day, I knew it was true.”

Hopefully we’ve all seen departures that were handled well, but perhaps some that were bad or ugly like these last two. I spoke with a friend recently who had just retired from his company after decades of service. He was disgusted and said, “Once I announced my retirement they couldn’t get me out fast enough. There’s no leaving there with honor.” Do you think he’s spreading the word? You bet.

Remember, goodbyes say a lot about us as leaders.

Keep the stories coming. They are inspiring.

URBANIZATION

                                 

 “Urbanization can be defined as the…”

I suppose that is not a proper way to start an interesting article. When a person of today’s society hears this 12-letter word, does it strike a bell?? The answer might be a big NO in most cases, and occasionally a yes too. If we think back a couple of years or in our school days, we would still remember this word in our history or economics text books. When Gandhi ji tried to bring urbanization to rural villages or when the Indian economy was urbanized which resulted in several TATAs and Birla’s? The word fitted its context. But if we spend a little more time spending thinking if it is a boon or a bane, we will be rather confused.

These days, urbanization means eating out in KFC’s and Amb’s, shopping in high end malls, using luxurious smart phones and so on. But I seriously don’t think that Gandhi wanted the rural peasants to eat out in restaurants or own a smart phone so that they too can be urbanized.

Now its time for you to answer the million dollar question,’ what is Urbanization?’ This time, it demands a formal explanation. Urbanization can be defined as the transformation of life of people who live in extremely devastated state to lead a happy life.

We may find this meaning when we look up in a dictionary. But in real life, this is not practical. Practically speaking, urbanization is referred as the never ending greed of humans. The most recurring problems are the increasing range of basic necessities.

 Let me make it more clearly by giving you the basic necessities of different people in different social statuses.

1. An indebted farmer – At least a couple of meals per day for the whole family.

The farmers debts are paid by the government and it gave him some money for a steady life and it made him a normal farmer.

2. Normal Farmer – Full meal and even snack refreshments between every hour of work in the field.

He gets a small profit and opens up an average income farm product shop making him a shop owner.

3. Shop owner – Television set, a mobile and air conditioner in at least a single room in his house.

He makes rather bigger profit which compels him to take few bank loans and opens up a new farm mill company. He aims to become a business tycoon in the country. Hallucinates the number of BMW’s he can own. Now he has become a business man.

4. Businessman – Latest model vehicles, a Smartphone for the whole family including his 12 year old son, at least a 42’ LED TV set, and all other luxuries he can ever dream of.

That was when lady luck struck hard on his face. Business collapsed!! Gone are those BMW’s, LED’s, smart phones, and all those goodies. And here he is, back where he started. The same old indebted farmer.

I hope you understood what I meant by increasing range of necessities.

Urbanization has sometimes given a blow in the face and sometimes it had been a boon too. It has some adverse clutches on our society.

New variety racing bikes, corner – to – corner café shops, girlfriend – boyfriend dramas and chicks exposing themselves in low necks and low waists were not common sights in a street in the early 90’s.

So, as the clock ticks, as time rolls by, in the long road of life, you either become part of the road or part of the steamroller.

I suppose that is what urbanization has done to us. If we think twice, we can still get to know that our good old pakodas and samosas are no match for pizzas and burgers. Same as in the case of desi ammas to high flying moms and so goes the list of disastrous variations that has occurred in a hell lot of twisted turn of events.

Thus, as we wake up from this illusion or a dream that took us to pinnacle, there still remains our life to live. And none of the experiences while inside the castle of glasses may help you survive in the outer world. At this situation, I’d like to quote the exact words of the good lord that “The road to success is filled with stones and thorns” and not AC restrooms and home theatres.

So please don’t become an urbanization freak.

        ADIOS READERS..!!!

-ARJUN SANTOSH

Wait, what? Yahoo tops Google in US traffic

Yahoo bumps Google from the top spot on ComScore's list of 50 most-visited Internet properties, a position held by Google since 2008.

For the first time in five years, Google is no longer No. 1 in US Internet traffic, and its top spot was taken by a surprising competitor -- the once lackluster Yahoo.

ComScore released its monthly report on the top 50 US Internet properties Wednesday, and it listed Yahoo as the top dog in July with 196,564,000 unique visitors. Google, lagging behind slightly, had 192,251,000.

Marketing Land noted that Google has been No. 1 since April 2008. While Yahoo's numbers fluctuated, reaching the No. 2 or No. 3 position occasionally, but never making it to the top

The boost comes shortly after Yahoo's May purchase of the popular blogging site Tumblr. While ComScore still ranks Tumblr as its own entity, there's a footnote indicating that the site has "assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities." Tumblr came in at No. 38 with 38,367,000 visitors.

Whether it's some clever number crunching or a real renewed interest from consumers, these latest figures have got to give Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and the company's loyal employees, a good morale boost.

When Your Boss is Afraid of You

I was talking about branding (business branding, personal branding and their not-always-comfortable intersection) at a Marketing conference. When I came down the steps from the stage after my talk, a young woman was waiting for me.

"I loved your speech!" she said. "You gave me hope."

"Why do you need hope?" I asked her. "What's going on that seems hopeless?"

"My job," she said. "It's a mess. Do you have a minute to talk, by chance?"

"I have thirteen minutes," I said. "I have to moderate a panel on the other side of this hotel eighteen minutes from now, and it takes five minutes to get there."

"We could walk and talk, if that's okay," she said.

"What's your name?" I asked her as we started walking. We'll call her Annie.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"I'm in a terrible spot," said Annie. "I started a new job sixteen months ago, and for the first year it was a dream job. About four months ago things started to get really bad. I can't do anything right, in my VP's eyes. He's the person who hired me! He was so encouraging at first, and now it seems like I'm always in the doghouse with him."

"Is the company doing well?" I asked.

"Really well," she said. "Last year was our second-best year ever, and this year is on track to hit that or beat it. But my boss is so critical, I almost can't stand it."

"But -- his Marketing programs are working, right?" I asked.

"Well -- it's not really his programs that are working," said Annie. "It's the new stuff we're doing, the social media and outreach stuff that the company never did before last year.

My title is Social Media Coordinator. Everything I came to do, I've been able to do, and the results have been really encouraging. But now I feel like the biggest loser on the planet."

"Run it down," I said.

"At first it was a perfect match. He's an old-school statesman type, and I'm twenty-eight and in need of a lot of mentoring.

But lately I can't do anything right. He picks and picks at me about tiny things. I've lost pretty much all my mojo. Sometimes I cry on the way home from work, I hate my job so much."

"What's happened since you started working there?" I asked her. "Has your job description changed?"

"He hired me to look after our social media programs," said Annie, "but I do a lot more than that, now. Most of the marketing team is really nice, but they know about things like trade shows and conferences. For instance, we have a booth at this conference, but I'm the only person in the department who's come to any of the sessions.

We could all go to the sessions for free! There aren't any customers coming to our booth when the sessions are running, but the Marketing people sit in the booth and talk to each other. It's not like any Marketing team I've ever seen before."

"Where's your boss, the VP?" I asked. "Is he here, too?"

"No," she said. "He stayed back in the office. He says he's too old to deal with crowds. He doesn't like networking. When I first took the job, I asked my boss why we didn't have any kind of client newsletter. Liz, our company is 45 years old and they've never had a newsletter. My boss said 'CAN-SPAM.'"

"The law against spam?" I asked her. "That seems like a pretty trivial obstacle."

"It is," she said. "If you keep a good list, you have no problems with CAN-SPAM. But my boss didn't know that. He comes from a different generation. He wasn't curious about it. It's like he stopped trying new things many years ago, and is just going through the motions now.""He's an older guy - older that me?" I asked her.

"He's way older than you, and his viewpoint is even way older than he is," said Annie. "I told him to come with me and hear you speak, and he said 'I'm supposed to listen to an HR person tell me about Marketing?'"

"Ha!" I laughed. "That's pretty good."

"It's really good he didn't come see you," she said. "You have purple cowboy boots on. His head would have exploded. Also, you sang opera during your talk."

"That was 'La Traviata,' I said. "Opera is traditional! You can't get more traditional than that."

"My boss wouldn't think so," she said.

"Annie," I said, "one more thing. Tell me about the CEO."

"We have a fairly new CEO who started three years ago with the company," she said. "The Board brought him in when our old CEO retired. I never met the old CEO, but the new one is amazing. I love his passion and his vision, and he's making it happen."

"How old is he?" I asked her.

"About forty, I guess," she said. "He loves our online business, like I do. He loves social media and he loves building community. He speaks at a lot of conferences, too."

"Does your VP go see your CEO when he speaks in public?" I asked.

"No, I don't think so," said Annie. "There's one other VP who's awesome, and that's our Sales VP. He's in his sixties I would say, but he's as out-of-the-box as you can get. He asked me to speak to the sales team at his upcoming sales retreat. I'm so excited! I've never made a big presentation before."

We were halfway through the hotel lobby. I stopped in my tracks. "Annie," I said, "you were in the company a year ago, when the last sales retreat happened. Did your boss, the VP of Marketing, speak to the sales team there?"

"No, I'm sure he didn't," said Annie. "When the Sales VP asked me to come and speak at the retreat, he said 'It's so terrific to finally have a Marketing person who can speak Sales.'"

"Well that's it, then!" I said. "There's your problem right there. You've got a go-go new CEO who loves social media. Your VP hires a young, seemingly harmless social media coordinator - that's you -- and you grow outside your little box too quickly. He's freaking out. Your boss is afraid of you!"

"Oh, that's silly," said Annie, blushing like a tomato. "My boss is the VP of Marketing. I'm six years out of college."

"I'm not saying your VP thinks you'll take his job, although stranger things have happened," I explained. "Apart from launching that html newsletter, what else have you done?"

"I started an online forum that is super-popular," said Annie. "Not too much else - I updated our prospect database and created a set of tools for our salespeople to teach our customers about our online support."

"Were you part of that online support project, too?" I asked her. "I was the Marketing liaison for that project, but I didn't do a ton. I just kept people posted on what was happening."

"So you have friends all over the company," I offered.

"I do," she said. "Once in a while, the CEO calls me to ask my advice. I never tell my boss about that, but I think the CEO tells him. I kind of see what you mean, now. My boss doesn't like the attention I'm getting."

"The man heard the term CAN-SPAM and used it as an excuse not to launch an email newsletter, probably for years!" I said. "He had the rest of the leaders snowed. He brought you in to solve a problem -- his boss was on his back about being so behind the times with the Marketing programs. You've got a Marketing team that doesn't talk to Sales and doesn't network. You come in, shake everything up and have the VP of Sales as your biggest fan. Your manager is a fearful guy, and right now you look to him like his biggest problem."

"What can I do?" she asked me. "I don't want to quit. I don't want to have enemies. My boss was so nice to me at first - you should have seen him. Now I can't do anything right. He's on my case every minute."

"I would start a stealth job search, just to see what's out there," I said. "Things can change fast. Your fearful VP isn't reacting to his paranoia by changing anything he's doing, but by trying to squash your creativity and tamp down your flame. He could get fired any time. My suggestion is to start a stealth job search so that no matter what happens, you'll be ready for action."

"I feel like I'm walking on eggshells all day long," said Annie.

She looked like she was about to cry.

"Look, my little sister," I said, "what you're going through is hard, but it's great training. Everyone you run into or work with in your career will not love your brand of music. Some will, and some won't."

"That's my favorite part of your speech!" she said. "You said 'If they don't get you, they don't deserve you.' I love that! I want to put the poster on my cubicle wall."

"You can download that badge at our site," I said. "Annie, don't walk on eggshells anymore. Remember what your mom used to tell you about those Daddy Long Legs bugs when you were little? They're more scared of you than you are of them."

"But when my manager picks at me...." Annie continued, "what do I do?"

"You smile and say 'Oh wow, thanks Frank, I'll take a look at that," I said. "Smile, keep your chin up, and stop pretending that Frank is your mentor. He's not. Maybe he was for a very short time, but right now, he could be learning from you if he weren't so fearful and hostile."

"Liz," said Annie, "my boss's name is actually Frank. That's really weird."

"I want you to stop trying so hard to please Frank," I said. We had reached my conference hall. "Please yourself, Annie. Find your voice. Get your resume together, get it out there and see what happens. You might get a killer offer at another great place. The whole Frank impasse may clear up. When you get some altitude on your situation and take control of it, amazing things happen."

"I'm still turning it over in my head," said Annie. "Frank scared of me - a twenty-eight-year-old bumbling her way along?"

"Bumbling and trying new stuff all the time and making things happen," I said. "Speaking to the Sales team as the first Marketing person ever to have that honor. Getting calls from the CEO when he needs advice. Yeah, you're a real bumbler, Annie."

"You're the best!" said Annie, and gave me a little hug.

"Keep me posted!" I called over my shoulder as I stepped into the next conference room for my panel.

"And here's our moderator," said the session emcee as he walked over.

"Liz," he said, "a lot of people want to hear about fear in the workplace. Do you think we can insert a question into the panel to touch on that?"

"I think that's a brilliant idea," I said.

Our company is called Human Workplace. Our mission is to reinvent work for people.

Our 12-week virtual coaching groups teach people how to brand themselves, how to choose a career direction and build a job-search strategy, and how to avoid the Black Hole and get great jobs with people who deserve you.

8 Great Hidden Features in iOS 7

If you've upgraded to iOS 7 on your iPhone or iPad, you're probably familiar with a whole collection of new features. But some of the best additions in the software update are hiding beneath the surface and take a little time to uncover.

We've been digging deep into Apple's new mobile operating system, discovering some surprises along the way. From night mode in Apple Maps to a faster way to close apps, here's a few useful features that you can find — as long as you know where to look:

1. Clock Icon

Go ahead and look at your clock app icon. Take a closer look. It's an actual clock with a working second hand. A nice little touch from Apple.

2. Text Timestamps

If you slide text messages to the left, you can see the timestamp for all of them — not just the most recent.

3. The Level

By opening up the Compass app and swiping your finger across it, a new digital "level" feature is revealed. You'll never have a crooked painting on the wall again.

4. Night Mode for Maps

If you're driving late at night, the glow of your iPhone screen can be nearly blinding as you try to use the Apple Maps app. Now, the platform displays a darker interface at certain times. This is less distracting and easier on the eyes when navigating at night.

5. Closing Multiple Apps

You can close multiple apps at once! Here's how: double click the home button to reveal open webpages and platforms. You can then swipe up to three apps at the same time by using three fingers and dragging them upwards.

6. Siri Control Settings

You can use Siri to set alarms and reminders on previous iOS versions, but now you can lean on her to navigate settings too. For example, by saying "Open Settings," Siri will open the Settings folder. By asking Siri to "Turn Off Wi-Fi," she'll gladly oblige without you having to lift a finger. You can also tell her to make calls and play voicemail messages too.

7. Block Calls

If you're getting harassing calls, you can now put a stop to it. Visit Settings > Phone > Blocked to add numbers you want to restrict.

8. Apps Near Me

The Apple App Store has a new "Near Me" feature, which shows apps that are popular near your current location. So if you live in New York City, it will highlight handy apps such as NYC Subway KICKMap and Way2ride taxi, which lets you pay for cab rides via the app.

Metallica -/ The Day That Never Comes /Live Nimes 2009