Back in the 80s Esso started giving people Tiger Tokens every time they bought petrol. These tokens could be redeemed against a number of exciting items, and one of the most popular was a very desirable set of china mugs. Far from being viewed as a tacky free gift I remember seeing many sets of these mugs proudly displayed in the houses of my parents' friends. These mugs were a literal embodiment of your smart shopping, advertising that you managed your money wisely through the medium of pottery. This was one of the first successful loyalty schemes, but how *did* Esso's china mugs make your friends nicer?

I don't think anyone would argue against the need for standards regarding payment methods, and the PCI Data Security Standards (DSS) introduced over the last few years are well intentioned. In essence they say that in order to handle sensitive customer data a strict set of security criteria must be met. The introduction of these standards has taken that sensitive information out of the hands of some parties who may not have taken keeping it a secret as seriously as you do, and this is a good thing.

Duncan Corps joins neoworks as a Software Developer.

If you're a Linux user then you can't have failed to notice that both Gnome 3 and the Ubuntu Unity interface are trying to invent a better way of working than the old "windows like" way. They're introducing this change using the Apple technique of assuming they know better and simply telling you what you're getting. One of the key foundations of this is that both Gnome 3 and Unity have got rid of the trusty old "Applications" menu.

Well, that was fun. I've spent a few more days getting up to speed with Linux, and working out how to replace things I used to be able to do on Windows.

I've been both a Windows and OS X user for 5 or 6 years now. OS X on my laptop, and Windows on my dev machine. Previously, reliance on Photoshop and Microsoft dev tools have meant that was how it stayed. However, as virtual machines are now pretty much standard, I decided it was high time I move those dependencies into a Windows VM and ditch Windows for Ubuntu as my desktop OS.

Welcome to Conrad Koppitz, the newest member of the neoworks team.

Michael Allen joins neoworks from RetailJ, where he has worked for over 4 years. Mike brings a great deal of experience in retail software in general and EPOS integration in particular. He also brings his cheery disposition and considerable bbq skills to the neoworks team!