In yesterday’s Manchester Evening News paper, there was a letter to the Editor that called for financial education for teenagers in school. Ioannis and I had a discussion about this just the other day.

One way of tackling the institutions that are prepared to give credit to almost anybody nowadays is to bring in stricter regulations and bring the deals under more scrutiny from independant consumer bodies as well as financial authorities.  

However, approaching this from another angle seems even more fruitful. The preparedness of young adults to make financial decisions, myself included, is seriously under question. And this in a society where loans are expected to be taken out in order to do any number of things, for example finance higher education or get on the property ladder.

What is required then is a sort of Home Science class for teenagers at school that incorporates elements of financial understanding and planning that growing up in a family used to provide. It seems that society can no longer depend on the family unit to provide such an education, as often the financial decisions of the parents themselves do not stand up to scrutiny.

The personal debt that this nation has got itself into is astounding, and countering this will require structured education so that future generations do not end up living on credit like us.

On a related note: People who have been hit by unfair bank charges now can fight back. The websites to check are Bank Charges Hell and Consumer Action Group.

There is a good article on the financial magazine This Is Money. It gives you ten steps to reclaim money you have unfairly been charged by the banks.

Take the time NOW to sort out your finances and be one of the Financially Responsible.

Now I’ve heard it all!! Apparently a guy in Japan was arrested because he played a virtual game with software bots instead of real human beings, which therefore made him unbeatable. He used his bots to mug other players of their virtual possessions, which he then sold to other players for real money!! A lot of games allow you to make real money if you play well, opening up the way for crime, because where there is money, there are people looking for an easy buck. More info on New Scientist here.

Our esteemed university’s Career Service has sent me another e-mail with jobs. One of them calls for a “natural-born salesperson” to work in a “Vibrant call centre”. Despite rumours to the contrary, my mother insists that I was natural-born. But as for a vibrant call centre, I’ll believe that one when I see it!

But is that just the info-centric view of us Information Specialists? (I’m using the term loosely here to include my humble self). Surely an accountant will differ. And I came across an article titled “What do IT specialists know about managing change” (Parc & Jutras) which is also related to the question of whether IS experts are in a position to advise managers.

The following article has been borrowed from New Scientist, 14/05/05. “Advertising has a new gimmick. Kodak in Rochester, New York, wants to encourage people to take pictures of adverts in return for free photo prints. The idea is that Kodak sells more film, customers get a freebie, and the advertiser gets the exposure they crave. The company proposes running the slogan “Shoot me with Kodak film, and get a free extra set of prints” on billboards or giant screens at sports events, famous landmarks and theme parks. The ads contain a digital pattern that is recognised by an optical sensor in the photo lab when you get the film developed. The lab then automatically prints the free copies (US 2005/0084259).”
Ok, here’s the question: Will it work?