Talcott Mountain Media

What’s This Silicon Doing In My Multivitamin?

Looking at the label of a multivitamin, you may notice some unfamiliar nutrients that have very small amounts and no listed Recommended Daily Intake.  These micronutrients or ultratrace elements are found in the human body in very, very low  quantities.  The Department of Agriculture has not established recommended amounts for most ultratrace elements, and the biological activity of many is still unclear. 

In most multivitamins, the amounts of these ultratrace elements is measured in micrograms.  The average grain of table salt is 50-60 micrograms, meaning the amount of ultratrace elements is very tiny. 

Vitamin companies seem to be including them mostly on the basis that they must have some benefit. Until more research comes out, though, we won’t know what those benefits are.

Old Domains And SEO Value

For an online business a high ranking in a search engine such as MSN, Yahoo, or, most especially, Google is gold.  Most web traffic uses a search engine to find sites, so high rankings mean more traffic, which can then be translated into more revenue. 

With so much at stake, ways of trying to increase search engine rankings have been around since the earliest days of the World Wide Web.  At first, these were crude measures, like stuffing a page with hidden text containing frequently-searched keywords.  Search engine companies responded to these attempts by changing search algorithms, which in turn provoked different ways to inflate a page’s rank.  As search engines have gotten more sophisticated, so have techniques used to increase a web site ranking.  Today, a field known as Search Engine Optimization brings a number of tools to web page design that improve ranking. 

With Google having almost a 50% share of the search market, much SEO effort is focused on the peculiarities of Goggle’s processes.  One target of SEO experts has been the “aging delay” or “sandbox” that Google imposes on new sites.  Google’s published explanations make clear that their page rankings depend in part on the number of links other sites have to the page in question.  To take advantage of this, some operators created link farms – brand new sites that were created with links from other sites owned by the same operator.  The aging delay is supposed to make this tactic less-rewarding, but it unfortunately also limits legitimate sites.

What if, however, there was a way to create a new site that didn’t look new?  What about using a domain that has been registered (and therefore probably indexed) before?  Tens of thousands of domains expire daily and become available for reuse, so snapping up one of these domains logically might give a new site an advantage by avoiding the sandbox.

Some SEO experts are recommending just this strategy, and it seems that MSN and Yahoo, at least, do not filter against it.  Unfortunately, those are the two major search engines that do not use an aging delay, so it gains little for the prospective web site operator.  Google has not released an official policy on expired domains, so much of the information available about aging of expired domains is conjecture.  That said, professional experts seem to agree that once Google drops an expired domain’s page ranking from its database, it takes approximately six months for a new site using that domain to get indexed.  That means an expired domain gets you no closer to a coveted top page ranking than standard SEO tools like building content, gathering links from other sites, submitting a sitemap to Google, etc. 

Using an expired domain for a new site is not, however, without value.  In the first flush of the Web, many good domain names were registered that were never used, or used only briefly.  Buying an expired domain may allow a new site to use a shorter or more appropriate domain name, particularly in the .com top-level domain. 

Career Prospects: Receptionist

Introduction

Receptionists greet visitors, answer and route telephone calls, and provide information about their employer to inquiries from the public.  They are charged with being the public face of their employer, and their success in making a good first impression can affect the success of their organization.  Receptionists generally work in stations designed to make a good first impression, and as such are clean, well-lighted, climate-controlled spaces.  Most employers require a high school diploma, and the demand for receptionists is expected to grow.

Nature of Work

Specific responsibilities of a receptionist vary by the organization that employs them.  Generally, these responsibilities involve being the first link between the organization and members of the general public.  Examples of duties a receptionist usually performs are: Greeting walk-in visitors, answering telephone calls to a general organization number, routing incoming calls to the correct person, co-ordination of incoming and outgoing mail, and receiving and sending courier or delivery service packages.  Receptionists are increasingly expected to monitor visitor access to the organization’s facilities, and this responsibility has become more important with increasing emphasis on security in the workplace.  In specific environments, a receptionist may have additional duties.  For example, receptionists in a doctor’s office may gather patient insurance and personal information, and manage the order in which patients are seen.

Work stations are almost always indoors, in clean, well-lighted spaces.  These are highly visible well- furnished locations.  Most receptionist stations are isolated from the general organization’s work areas to reduce noise and control traffic flow.

The work performed by receptionists may be tiring, repetitious, and stressful.  Receptionists may also need to deal with dissatisfied or irate callers, increasing stress.

Training, Education, and Advancement

Hiring requirement for receptionists vary by industry and company, but high-school diploma or equivalent is usually considered a minimum qualification.  In some industries, additional qualifications, such as medical receptionist education, may be required.

Employers place a premium on good interpersonal skills in hiring receptionists.  Technological proficiency is also becoming increasingly important to employers.  Training in use of common computer and telephone systems is helpful, although most employers expect a new receptionist to require some on-the-job training of the particular system in use.

Advancement for receptionist is usually either by transfer to another position with more responsibilities or by promotion to a supervisory position.  Receptionists with strong computer and organization skills often become administrative assistants to advance their careers.

Job Outlook

In 2006, 1,173,000 receptionists were employed in various settings.  Almost no receptionists are self-employed, but a large number work in temporary or contracted arrangements. 

Job growth for receptionists is expected to be faster than the average for all other occupations.  The number of receptionists is expected to climb by 17 percent between 2006 and 2016.

Earnings

Median hourly earnings for receptionists in 2006 was $11.01.  Wages vary by setting.  Hourly medians for receptionists in dental offices was $12.89, for receptionists in general hospitals $11.74,  for receptionists in doctor’s offices $11.44, for those in employment services $10.72, and for those in personal care services $8.57.

These articles have been guest-written to answer questions sent to Cecil Adams's "The Straight Dope" question-and-answer column.  The column appears in The Chicago Reader and in syndication around the country, and also at a dedicated website. Guest columns called "Staff Reports" usually concern topics that Adams does not have time or space to answer.

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