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Fact Friday – The Cost of Technology

By Jemma | Posted in Fact Friday | September 3, 2010 – 3:31 pm

Mobile phone evolutionThe cost of technology – how digital cameras once cost consumers more than £16,000

Most people own a gadget of some kind whether it is a games console, camera or mobile phone.
In fact, statistics releases yesterday revealed that Britons spent a staggering £50.5m on gadgets during our current recession.

Purchasing items such as iPads, laptops and a Blackberry is not cheap as modern day technology prices continue to rise; especially if you want an item the moment it hits the shelf.

But has it always been this costly?

The answer is yes.

Can you believe that back in 2003 a Sony DVD player would set back the average buyer around £2,438! Just seven years on, you can pick one up in your local Argos for around just £50.

And if you think that’s bad, in 1973 when the first ever mobile came out (also known as ‘the brick’) cost a whopping £2,563!

For the avid music fan, when the MP3 player first came out in 1998 they were priced at around £250 and nowadays MP3 players are everywhere and can be had for less than a tenner.

But the biggest reduction has to be when it comes to photography.

Nearly everyone now has a digital camera and you can get a good one for a hundred pound or less. But back in 1990 the first ever digital camera was…wait for it…valued at £16,039!!!

It’s fair to say technology has moved on a lot since then and it is continuing to change and progress every day. There is always a new advert popping up on the television or at your nearest bus stop that is promoting the latest Xbox, Blackberry, mp3 player, etc.

Despite a recession, people still have money for a gadget and those working in technology always have new ideas.

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3D Movies

By Jemma | Posted in Twitter at 12 | September 2, 2010 – 11:58 am

CinemaThe first big Hollywood 3D movie was back in 1953 when ‘The Man in the Dark’ was released.

It was apparently an underwhelming experience and wasn’t a great movie, but that 57 years ago so just how have things changed?

When Avatar hit our screens in December 2009 it had amazing reviews and for some it was the beginning of an epic genre of film making. Since then it seems as though every film coming out is in 3D but is the craze losing the interest of people?

Research shows signs that the 3D is struggling to keep up the numbers and after the Box Office breaker Avatar hit revenue high of 71% in 2009, films like Piranha featuring a certain Miss Kelly Brook have failed to generate the same hype and have recently struggled to pass production budgets.

Of course it’s unfair to compare these movies and the next ‘big thing’ could be just round the corner while turning the fortunes of 3D movie makers around.

There are also issues about 3D movies not having enough content or enough of a storyline, some people are scared that the younger generation will be losing out on amazing story lines and will not want to watch anything but 3D.

Is 3D just a reoccurring theme that will eventually fade away and come back again in 10 – 20 years and try again? Who knows, only time will tell…

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MySpace comeback?

By Jemma | Posted in Social networking, Twitter at 12 | September 1, 2010 – 11:47 am

MySpace logoMySpace introduced a new sync button yesterday which can be used to connect with popular social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter. The feature will allow users to sync status updates between each site and is one of many steps MySpace are trying to boost their popularity within the social networking world.

The fall of MySpace
Myspace was first launched in July 2003 and was extremely popular, but by 2008 is was overtaken by Facebook and the popularity continued to dwindle. We are now seven years on from the introduction of the music based site, so can it turn round it’s luck?

‘This is particularly exciting for artists who can now use this tool as a complement to their MySpace Music presence and share their vast library of content, including full album catalogs, to people who’ve liked their Facebook page.’ explained MySpace in a press release.

Comeback?
As well as the introduction of the sync button, MySpace launched a new colour scheme this year, resembling the look and feel of Facebook; an obvious attempt to attract more users back to the site.

This looks like a great opportunity for new music artists of today and it is an all round better and faster way of updating your status.

So MySpace is coming back on the map, but when did you last update your MySpace status?

The phrase ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ comes to mind, and this is certainly the case when it comes to Facebook.

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Flock – The social browser

By Cheryl | Posted in Social networking, Twitter at 12, website | August 31, 2010 – 12:01 pm

Flock BrowserIs it a bird, is it a plane, no it’s a…flock?

Flock is a Mozilla based web browser that integrates the sharing of photos, news and blogging into the browser interface.

The browser lets you easily drag and drop to share videos, text or links and is equipped to keep you up to date with your contacts from Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, etc; while also allowing easy subscriptions and management of RSS feeds. From the browser you are able to track information from friends including status updates.

Other features include a powerful web search toolbar that provides a quick results and a quick glance at the most relevant results.

The web browser doesn’t have many extensions, but users are able to use the add-ons from Firefox as this is a Mozilla development.

What makes it different to other browsers?
Flock is an ideal browser for keeping you up to date with your online social contacts. It currently supports Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal, Flickr, Photobucket, del.icio.us, WordPress, Movable Type, Blogger and other online services, as well as any RSS feed.

Will Flock overtake other browsers?
It’s unlikely. Flock is better as a secondary browser to keep in touch with friends rather than a main web browser. That’s not to say it’s a bad browser, it may just be a bit too much for general internet browsing.

Stay Connected
Facebook
MySpace
Twitter

Find
YouTube
Flickr
Truveo

Webmail
Gmail
Yahoo
AOL Mail

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Facebook Places

By Cheryl | Posted in Social networking, Twitter at 12 | August 27, 2010 – 12:01 pm

facebook placesLast week Facebook released their new application, Facebook Places.

Taken from the idea of Foursquare, which Facebook had originally tried to acquire, the application allows people to share their location with friends. As part of the concept, you can:

  • Tag your friends in places you regularly visit
  • Leave comments about your favourite place for everyone to view
  • Tag friends that are with you
  • See other users that are at the same place
  • View other users in the same location



    • Tag me!
    When you ‘check in’, you can tag your friends like you would do with a photo or status update. If your ‘place’ doesn’t appear, you can manually add it in to the application.


    Protect me!
    Data privacy on Facebook has been a huge talking point in recent times so how are you protected with such a public application?

    There has been some friction over having to “opt-out” of the service rather than “opt-in” to use it but Facebook seems to have covered most security worries. These include:

  • When a user is tagged at a place, they are notified immediately, and are given the option to opt-out of ‘places’ tags.
  • Users under 18 are only able to share their location with their immediate friends, and their real-time location can only seen by friends at the same location.
  • De-tag notifications, remove yourself from locations that you have been tagged or disable Places altogether.



    • Currently, Facebook Places is only available within the US, with a roll-out to the UK expected in the near future.

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    Fact Friday – How many visits does it take?

    By Jemma | Posted in Fact Friday, Internet, website | August 20, 2010 – 2:27 pm

    globeEver wondered how your favourite websites fare in the world wide web, and what it takes for a website to reach the top ranking?

    The amount of visitors that popular websites receive each month is enormous, let’s take a look at how big the numbers are…

    1. Facebook – 540,000,000
    2. Youtube – 490,000,000
    3. Yahoo – 450,000,000
    4. Live.com – 370,000,000
    5. Wikipedia – 310,000,000
    6. Msn.com – 280,000,000
    7. Microsoft.com – 210,000,000
    8. Baidu.com – 170,000,000
    9. qq.com – 130,000,000
    10. Mozilla.com – 130,000,000

    To see the difference between 10 and 100 just look at Dell.com, which is the 100th site on the list with 21,000,000 visitors.

    How do you get there?
    To get into the Top 1000 sites you would need at least 4.1 million visits per month, with 7.4million for the Top 500 websites visits.

    To reach the Top 100 you would have to achieve 22 million visits a month, and to be number 1 (the tip top of the list), you would need a massive 540 million visits. Should be easy, right?

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    Online Scams

    By Jemma | Posted in Internet, website | August 20, 2010 – 11:32 am

    scamcardOnline scams are not an irregular occurrence and they are vastly becoming a more serious issue. Most people are aware when they are trying to be scammed, but what about people that aren’t?

    Facebook dislike button
    A recent scam included the infamous Facebook ‘dislike button’, which tricked users into allowing an application to access their profile and post spam messages on their account.

    I’ve won!
    There is always an amazing prize to be given away and guess what, YOU’VE won it. Don’t be fooled. If you haven’t entered anything, you definitely haven’t won anything.

    Lottery wins are one of the most common email scams and if you respond to these mails it asks you to pay a fee to cover expenses for the ‘winnings’ to be delivered. You could also become a victim of identity theft.

    Spam attack
    Most people agree that getting ‘spam’ is annoying and a lot of people have lost money to bogus emails that have arrived in there inbox. A few ways to protect yourself are:

  • Don’t give out personal details e.g. credit card details to companies you don’t know and trust
  • Read the small print – don’t sign anything without reading it thoroughly.
  • Resist the urge to ‘act now’ despite the offer, it’s important to take your time.
  • Basically if it sounds too good to be true it probably is….
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    World’s most expensive websites

    By Jemma | Posted in Internet, website | August 19, 2010 – 11:34 am

    websiteThe world’s most expensive website is Google.com (as if you didn’t know) and is valued at a huge $29,474,299,422.

    The Google search engine receives about a billion search requests per day and the name ‘Google’ was actually an accident, a spelling mistake made by the original founders who thought they were going for ‘Googol’.

    In second place is Yahoo.com which estimated value is $18,551,630,085. Yahoo first appeared in the Internet in 1994 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

    David Filo and Jerry Yang found Yahoo in a campus trailer in February as a way to keep track of their personal interests on the internet. The site started out as “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web.”

    Amazon.com is next and valued at $11,501,285,068. Unlike Google and Yahoo, Amazon is a shopping site that sells anything from clothes to electronics. It is America’s largest online retailer with nearly three times the internet sales revenue of the runner up, Staples Inc, as of January 2010.

    Fourth is Myspace.com, valued at $7,122,577,773; Google paid $900 million to be MySpace’s search provider. The company currently employs around 1,000 employees, after laying off 30 percent of its workforce in June 2009.

    Ebay.com, valued at $5,622,551,932, comes in fifth. The online auction and shopping website was founded in 1995 and now has over 14 million active users. The first ever item listed on Ebay was a broken laser pen and the most expensive purchase is a Jet.

    The facts…

    1. Google – $29,474,299,422
    2. Yahoo – $18,551,630,085
    3. Amazon – $11,501,285,068
    4. Myspace – $7,122,577,773
    5. Ebay – $5,622,551,932

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    Search Engine Optimisation

    By Cheryl | Posted in SEO, website | August 18, 2010 – 11:46 am

    SEOWant to be noticed? Tired of being left at the bottom of the pile? No, this isn’t an advert for a dating agency; this is about getting your website to the top of the list.

    What is Search Engine Optimisation?
    SEO is the process of using keywords to improve the visibility of your website on search engines, such as Google, which use ‘web crawlers’ that browse through the web to provide up-to-date information. Using the keywords contained in meta tags, websites are put in order of relevance and website placements are defined.

    The use of SEO is a lot more strict than it used to be, it was common for people to “abuse” the system by adding random keywords all over their website so they would be picked up by a search engine.

    Some people used the invisibility trick; this is when keywords are made the same colour as the background or are changed to a small font

    How does it work?

    Meta tags
    You can use the meta tags within your HTML to add the keywords which are relevant to your business.

    Cross Linking
    Links can have an effect on your ranking and having links to other websites can push you up and may improve your visibility.

    Keywords within text
    Using relevant keywords within your website text will tend to increase traffic.

    Do we offer this service? Of course we do! Many companies charge extra for this, but we believe it should be included in the work we do. So when we build your website, we SEO it up!

    http://www.quadronation.com/pr/content.php

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    Internet addiction – Like a drug?

    By Jemma | Posted in Internet, website | August 17, 2010 – 11:44 am

    internetAlthough internet addiction is not an official disorder, it is a growing problem in today’s society which is effecting more and more people.

    18.3 million households in the UK (70 per cent) had internet access in 2009, an increase of 4 million households (28 per cent) since 2006.

    According to research, 6-11% of people are addicted to the internet and find it hard to disconnect at the end of the day. Many suffer from depression and social isolation as they spend hours in their own ‘virtual world’.

    The internet is an amazing tool; over one billion people in the world have access to it and it is understandable how someone can rely heavily on it and eventually become addicted.

    In some cases the addiction can have a devastating outcome.

    A South Korean couple were convicted earlier in the year of abandoning their newborn daughter, who starved to death while they addictively played an online game raising a virtual child. They spent on average 10 hours a day on the web; and although this is an extreme case, it shows how harmful this illness can be.

    There is also a growing concern for our current society; some research suggests that internet addiction is linked to depression in teens.

    A recent study in China has shown that teens spending at least five to ten hours a day on the web, are one and a half times more likely to develop depression than moderate users. They additionally found that some teens show signs of anxiety while away from the computer.

    Teenagers are now more likely talk to their friend’s on Facebook than they are to speak to that same friend face-to-face or on the phone. People can sit on the computer and the next thing they know, hours after past in what felt like minutes; the internet is a amazing tool but the key to stop overuse is balance.

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