FINANCE

Finance Expert Khorshid Sees Bright Future

Did you know that Islamic banking is younger than the ATM? Aly Khorshid (below) has been involved with the sector through its faltering start, promising developments and partial successes.

Dr Khorshid: Controversial

However, he's frustrated that with a billion potential customers, it still represents a mere 1% of the world's finance industry – even after the crippling events that have blighted secular banking and left its Islamic counterpart untouched. He believes it's all down to a lack of modernisation and some entrenched values among the powers that be which are harming progress.

So now he's on the march to take on the administrators. And he's taken his message to Harvard, where he delivered a speech to an eclectic audience on how to fix the bank. He believes Islamic banking can learn much from Western banking about governance, but that Western banking should be lapping up Islamic risk management techniques. His goal is nothing less than the betterment of humankind by introducing fairness, consistency and stability to banking and investment.

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DO YOU COPY?

Stop it! Stop writing your own copy! We know what you’re thinking: “Everyone can write; we were taught in school.” That is a myth. We were taught to read in school. Writing takes a bit more mastery. And as language is ever-changing and new subjects emerge daily, it takes commitment.

Think of all the opportunities the modern world gives you to talk to your audience. Websites. Blogs. Social media. Print. Now think how your competition uses it. Train and Penny give you edge. We're experienced copywriters working for the national press, web developers, private companies and the public sector. We know how to wring the neck of copy so it squeals for attention.

ARTS

The Man Who Sees Like a Fly

Andrew Brooks, Photographer

While much art photography is groping for direction, purity and meaning, Andrew Brooks has invented a style that's as bold and uncompromising as it is full of beauty, colour and meaning. He's not shy of digital manipulation; in fact he revels in it. Some of his most notable works have been multiple (and we mean multiple) images fired off and stitched together in a way that would not be possible with even the most drool-inspiring Leica.

Andrew P Brooks knows
some really weird colours

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MUSIC

“HOLLYWOOD WILL GIVE A DAMN,” SAYS SINCLAIR

Rie Sinclair: CalifornUKtion

California and Manchester have more in common than their weather. They're the places Rie Sinclair calls home. And listening to her music you'll see how she's drawn inspiration from both mindsets: melodic cynicism in gee minor, ethereal earthiness, and guitar/synth moments aplenty. One day she's strumming in a Manchester ale house; a week later she's recording a song to be played on a Hollywood TV show like Californication, Ghost Whisperer, Law & Order or General Hospital, for which she has been Emmy nominated. [more>>>

COMMENT

Welcome to the SIXTH AGE of web copy

Web copy has evolved in five distinct steps from naive beginnings to what we see today. Let us show you why you need to enter the sixth age. ● full article ●

1. Information superhighway

Bristling along at 28.8 Kbps, information was the word, and with academia and scientific outlets being early adopters, it was good.

2. Came, Saw, Spidered

Then came the search and the crawling spiders gathering information like roadkill from the superhighway. Business website owners took note.

3. Spam, spam, spam

Mentions of Britney Spears on plumbers' websites. Tiny text, hidden text, keyword stuffing. All designed to fool search engines.

4. Common sense strikes back

When users get duff results, they switch search providers. The providers hit back by punishing spammy content and encouraging 'proper' content, leading to ...

5. Indefinite articles

The content industry: website owners commissioning or producing article on article and putting us where we are now, awash with 300-word articles that are beginning to resemble spam.

The Sixth Age

The internet is still the top resource for getting information, because there is still fantastic work being posted. Having quality copy is how to distinguish yourself from the keyword-obsessed crowd. Yes, keyword research is essential; but so are imagination and integrity.
● full article ●