Social networking critical to employee satisfaction

Eight out of 10 employees claim that being trusted to manage their own time and the Internet as they wish is more important than pay, reveals Computing.co.uk.

Additionally, a fifth of employees would turn down a job if it did not allow them access to social networking sites or personal e-mail during work time, according to a survey carried out by software firm Clearswift.

“This is quite shocking, especially when you consider the recent financial meltdown and the fact that unemployment is still so high,” commented Clearswift COO Andrew Wyatt.

Former prime minister Tony Blair is joining US venture capital firm Khosla Ventures as an adviser on green energy, reports the BBC.

The business, started in 2004 by Vinod Khosla, a co-founder of technology giant Sun Microsystems, specialises in environment-friendly technologies.

These include solar, wind and nuclear energy projects.

Operators have recently scored some key points in the battle to control the mobile apps experience, but T-Mobile USA is letting the side down, closing down its two-year-old developer programme, Partner Network, says The Register.

Many large carriers are trying to create their own applications platforms and stores, hoping to remain the primary point of contact for users.

However, T-Mobile has given up the fight and rather than competing for developers' favours, it will now direct them to the individual systems of its handset partners, notably Android Market, BlackBerry App World and Microsoft's Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

Yankee Stadium has just added the Apple iPad to its prohibited device list, which already included all laptops, writes After Dawn.

Team officials say it is nothing personal to the iPad, but bunches the tablet in with all laptops.

The ban is a "security-and-safety" issue, they add.