Our Blog

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Happiest Cities According To Tweets


Happiest cities according to tweets

Are you one of those that tweets what you are doing every single minute? Well, your tweets might have been used to measure the happiness of your state and your city.

The Vermont Complex Systems Center at the University of Vermont did a research and studied more than 10 million geotagged tweets from 2011 to rank the happiest cities and states in the US. A “hedonometer” measured the frequency and amount of positive and negative words appearing in tweets and ranked the cities based on that.

Given the difficulty of measuring the happiness of the people, the study warns this research made no difference between tourists or locals, the study also ignores the context in which the words measured where used. All type of swearing was included as a negative word, and although swearing could be used together with many words, changing the meaning of a message, researchers said it only accounted for 30% of the study.

Ready for the results?

Hawaii appeared as the happiest state while Louisiana ranked as the saddest.
As for the cities, Napa California was the happiest while Beaumont, Texas was the saddest.
But if you are wondering what you might have said that helped researchers tag your city as happy or sad, here we have a few examples

Positive words: give, know, act, okay, better, wish, money, make.
Negative words: Stupid, bored, lie, ill, don’t, tired, hate.

Although it’s a very limited study and gives us the view of a small percentage of people (only 15% of American adults use Twitter), you should review it before deciding where your next vacations will be and most important, where is the best place to work and live.

Below are the top 5 states and cities:

Happiest Cities: Unhappiest Cities:
1. Napa, Calif.
1. Beaumont, Texas
2. Idaho Falls, Idaho 2. Albany, Ga.
3. Longmont, Colo. 3. Texas City, Texas
4. San Clemente, Calif. 4. Shreveport, La.
5. Simi Valley, Calif. 5. Monroe, La.
Happiest States:
  Unhappiest States:
1. Hawaii 1. Louisiana
2. Maine 2. Mississippi
3. Nevada 3. Maryland
4. Utah 4. Delaware
5. Vermont  5. Georgia


Labels: ,

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Are You Safe From Hackers? List Of Suggestions



None of us are safe from hackers, and the best proof is the most recent hack to the Burger King’s and Jeep’s twitter account; even Facebook reported being victim of a sophisticated attack.

Many of us have seen our social media accounts compromised. And you don’t have to be a large company or a famous celebrity to be hacked. We’ve seen many of our friends and followers send spam messages and we were once attacked and the OfficeList account was also sending messages we had not written.
But then what should we do to try and be as safe as possible?

We’re sure that big companies like Burger King take plenty of precautions but small companies or less recognized companies tend to ignore this and provide a great bate for robots looking an account to hack and send malicious messages or for hackers who do this to grow their online reputation and have fun while business owners suffer.

Here are some of the tips to make your accounts safer:
·         Change your password periodically, at least every three months.
·         Use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols.
·         Avoid “password” as a password itself, it’s the most common.
·         Don’t think about 123456, it’s just as used as “password”
·         Try changing letters with numbers, for example 3 instead of E, i instead of 1, 2 instead of z and so on.
·         8 character passwords or longer are suggested.  
·         Avoid using the same password in multiple accounts.

If you are thinking: “I have nothing interesting to hide or I’m not so famous, why would anyone hack my account”   Think again! Be careful.

Hackers don’t always access accounts looking for confidential information. Most of the times they do it for fun or to spread malicious software. Have you ever received a message from a friend saying “someone is saying bad things about you” followed by a link? If you clicked at the link, then your account or computer might be at risk.

And if you have a bad memory, try using “incorrect” as a password. That way if you forget it, the system will remind you the password is incorrect!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Regus Signs a New Lease in Manhattan


Source: World Financial Center

Just last week, Jones Lang LaSalle confirmed that Regus had signed a 16 year lease at 200 Vesey Street in Manhattan. This new business center will have 54,991 square feet and will occupy the entire 24th floor of the property.

The building has a total of 2.1 million square feet and Regus will have as a neighbor American Express among other prestigious companies. The building was previously known as 3 World Financial Center now the Brookfield Place, it’s currently under renovation but is expected to open fall 2013. It will have numerous retail stores and nearly 28 restaurants to choose from.

An interesting fact about the WFC and its copper tops is they were designed by Argentine architect Cesar Pelli, who also designed the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


Being close to all major transportation is a benefit for future tenants, as they will be within walking distance to the PATH, a few blocks from Fulton Street Station and a few blocks from the Ferry Station.
Enjoying the Winter Garden atrium will only be a few steps away as the building is right beside and a wonderful view of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty will also be available to those that decide to take an office here.

With this new center, Regus will join other 13 office spaces Downtown Manhattan, 6 of those are owned by them, consolidating their presence in New York’s financial district.

It will be an interesting twist to the area, usually used to mainly financial companies, but due to the area renovation and the new buildings that will open soon, new trendy companies and industries are starting to come to the area, giving it a new, more modern and fresher look. 

If you'd like more information about this space or an office rental in Manhattan, give us a call at (866) 354-5478 or visit us at OfficeList.

Labels: , ,

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Everybody Wants To Be In NY’s Fifth Avenue



Two firms have signed a long term lease at 521 Firth Avenue building in New York. These 2 leases helped the building reach 98% of occupation. Chinatrust Commercial Bank Ltd. and Major Lindsey and Africa, a legal recruiter.

While the bank has taken almost 21,000 sq ft for 15 years, occupying the entire 11th floor, the legal recruiter ha
s signed a 10 year lease occupying the entire 5th floor and taking a similar amount of space, nearly 21,000 sq ft.

Being in 5th Avenue is not only means being in one of the most expensive streets in the world, major transportation hubs and international companies. It’s also having a prestigious and international address that your clients will identify worldwide. You will also be close to a Trump Tower, Sacks Fifth Avenue, the Plaza Hotel and  the famous Apple store building.  

But if you want to be the neighbor of Lebenthal Holdings, Starz Media, McGraw Communications or Royal Healthcare, then give cross your fingers and give us a call to try and grab one of the offices that make that 2% which is still available in the building. We can help you find an office in the 521 5th Avenue in floor 17th with nice views and very close to the action.

Oh!, but of course, the building is at 98%, so it might not be easy to find a good space, but don’t worry, we have plenty of offices for rent near Grand Central or in Midtown. Don’t miss any more time, give us a call or visit OfficeList and we’ll help you find your dream office in New York. 

Labels: , ,

Friday, February 8, 2013

Cities With Most Expensive Business Costs


Have you ever wondered how much it would cost to run your business in another city?

We tend to have a general idea of which are the most expensive cities to live in the US, but when running a business, it’s important to know which are those cities in which its more economical to produce whether it´s because of tax benefits, lower prices, better conditions, geographical locations, leases, etc.

KPMG, a company known worldwide for providing audit, tax and advisory services just released a study ranking the cities with the higher business costs in the US and the world. The index gave the whole US an assigned baseline of 100, and it included an analysis of 19 industries in 110 cities from 14 countries.

Not surprisingly, New York City is the most expensive one with an index of 103.4, while Lexington, KY is one of the most economical cities to do business with 94.7.

Below is the graph with the ranking per city for the North East US and Canada area:

Source: KPMG

Although the difference seems small, the real cost for a company located in Lexington vs a company located in New York may be of 1 million.  

Below, the graph with a comparison of costs between cities:

Source: KPMG

Of course we´re not asking you to relocate your business, but instead take this opportunity to review the services, products and supplies you are buying for your company and do a cost evaluation in case it would be more cost effective to bring them from another city.

And regardless what city you choose to work from, give us a call at (866) 354-5478 or visit OfficeList and we will help you find the best office in town. 

Labels: ,

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Is Your Business Using Google Maps?

Google Places



When was the last time you checked your cell phone to find a nearby café or restaurant?
And did you also check the reviews left by other users?

A few days ago, Facebook announced its mobile users had surpassed its PC users.  Today’s users are using their mobile phones more and more. If you think that having a website is enough for a virtual presence, think again.

While a few years ago, having a website was considered enough, nowadays companies need to consider having their site in a mobile version for user to see information more clearly and browse more easily. Remember it’s not the same looking at the screen from a monitor where you can easily read all details, than reading small letter or choosing small buttons in your cell phone.

And not only is a mobile version more useful, listing your business in Google places can increase the amount of traffic you receive as people may search not from the browser but from the map function. That means that if I´m in need of an office for an hour, and I happen to be near Downtown Atlanta, I will type in Google Maps “hourly office downtownAtlanta” and bam! Your business will show up in the search!

With little time to research, the user will probably read the reviews and if they are positive, they will be in your doorstep in a few minutes of the search. If your reviews are negative, don´t miss another minute, start improving your service and ask happy customers to post a review in your social profiles including Google. You can upload pictures for user to know what they can find and grab their attention with attractive pictures.
Make sure to create social profiles in Facebook or Foursquare so your users can check in and let their friends know they are visiting your company. Let them spread the word for you and don´t forget that an unforgettable experience may be posted anywhere online, so every client needs to be treated as if they were the ones that would write an online review.

And while you´re creating your social profiles, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter or visit OfficeList for additional information about renting office spaces.