April 2008 Archives

I have just read an interesting article on vnunet.com which reports on a new study which has found that UK broadband users are now officially addicted to speed. When I say speed I obviously mean our broadband speed.  Yep it seems we can't get enough of quick download speeds as our interest in Internet TV, movies, online gaming and music increases.

The study used figures which were based on more than 90,000 tests which were captured in March by a monitoring site. The site has said that download speeds are now the 'primary factor' in deciding customer satisfaction.

"This report sends an indisputable message to broadband providers to speed up or face the wrath of disappointed customers," said Jessica McArdle from Top 10 Broadband.

"BT's planned infrastructure upgrade, which will provide super-fast ADSL2+ download speeds across the UK starting at the end of the month, cannot come soon enough."

If you are addicted to broadband speed and want to start downloading regularly and quickly check out EFH Broadband's fastest and unlimited option.

I have to admit, I love watching funny videos on YouTube. It’s my guilty pleasure when I’m stuck for something to do on a night in. Whether it’s the evil eye baby or watching some kick ass cheerleading routines, there’s always something I can find to amuse myself. So I was overjoyed when during an ad break in Friends, I saw an advert for a programme on tonight called Rude Tube on E4. Alex Zane is to present a countdown of the 50 funniest, rudest and most bizarre video clips to take the internet by storm. Finally, us addicts can watch all the best bits in one sitting and feed our need for people doing weird things on camera! E4, 10.30pm, check it out.

And to keep your appetites wet in the mean time, here’s my favourites:

Mondays can be hard after a long weekend, so here is a quick video doing the rounds on the Internet which should help to cheer you up. Special thanks go to David Brain for sharing this little gem with us. To be honest I knew Beaker had a hidden talent locked in there somewhere. Britain's Got Talent look out.

Since December 2006, I have been enjoying the tech world a lot more than I thought I ever would. What's not to love? Social networking, speedy instant messaging, Vista, the Wii, RSS feeds, building blogs....

The thing that has continued to impress me over the past six months is Ajax.

Wikipedia: "Ajax (Asynchronous Javascript and XML), is a group of inter-related web development techniques used for creating interactive web applications."

I'm pretty sure that most people who use popular sites like Facebook aren't aware they're using an Ajax system, or for that matter, really care... and then there's the awesome new BBC site; allowing you to customise your own homepage with whatever BBC content you're most interested in.

I really like the fact Ajax encourages you to move content, style the design and create a site to make it feel like your own. In today's fast paced society the key to success has to personalisation and accessibility.

As you can see from the screen grab to the right, I've gone for news, sport, radio, and music for my main page, with business, the weather and BBC blogs sitting right underneath.   

Here's a short video from somebody who's even more enthused by Ajax:

I know we recently posted on the huge comeback of Mario Kart and as we all expected it has flown to the top of the gaming charts as people everywhere take each other on in duals across the Internet. However, Nintendo has launched a new game which it's hoping to become the latest gaming and fitness craze.

It's called Wii Fit and as the name implies it combines gaming with a certain degree of fitness. I know what you're thinking, is this really a game? More importantly is it really fitness? Intrigued? Yes well I was too!

Nintendo's active style gaming started with the Wii and it's now spreading to the whole body due to its new pressure-sensitive Wii Balance Board, which comes included in the package. The white board (see left) is used for a variety of different "fun and dynamic" activities which include: aerobics, yoga, muscle stretches and games.

The theory Nintendo uses, is that you are actually working your "core" during these type of workouts. For more details check out this amusing video review which has been provided by Susi from Tech Digest - I have also attached the official Nintendo's demo video for more info. I would watch Susi's though as she takes you through the different games available from Ski-jumping to hula-hooping and she seems to genuinely enjoy it.

To be honest, I don't think this one is for me. I will stick to my shoot-em ups, football and driving games and just make that long horrible journey to the gym instead. Don't get me wrong, I do think it's a good idea to do fitness at home and building on the recent dance mat craze is very clever. However, whether I believe this is actually a good substitute for normal exercise remains to be seen.

It's out on Monday priced at £70 and I am sure by the end of next month we will all know if this really is going to be the next big thing...

Do you know Xenomorph's from your Martian's? Well dust off your pulse rifles, grab your grenade launcher and make sure all your air locks are shut tightly. Yes, Aliens is back. The best of the many Alien movies has a new follow-up in the form of a shoot-em-up game which is due out in early 2009.

Aliens: Colonial Marines follows the second movie and involves a search and rescue team investigating the lost space ship U.S.S. Sulaco, searching for Ripley, Corporal Dwayne Hicks, Private William Hudson, Private Jenette Vasquez, and the rest of the unlucky marines.

The plot sounds very exciting with Wikipedia describing the gameplay like so:

"The player controls four colonial marines, each with their own unique personality. Each marine is represented by a different class; one marine, for instance, mans the M56 smart gun as Pvt. Vasquez did in Aliens; the other primary weapons include the M240 flamethrower and the M41A pulse rifle. Each marine carries four weapons: their primary weapon, which they are defined by, their secondary weapon, grenades, and a sidearm. The player may brandish the sidearm while using the motion tracker. The player controls one marine at a time, and issues orders to the others using context-sensitive commands; the player may control any marine at any given time."

The game includes a mission to the lost space ship and I think you can be assured that it's likely to have more bugs than your average bed. Even better for those of you that enjoy gaming together you will be pleased to know that there will be a four man operation option too.

For more details check out the page on Wikipedia or get further details from the official Aliens Website.

Let's hope it's better than the rubbish Alien Vs Predator movies, but if you are like me and you loved James Cameron's second Aliens movie - it looks like this is could be the game for

you.

Now that the 'big three' have been covered in my top ten social networks, I thought I would move on to some of the lesser known and more specialised networks that have made my top 10.

‘CafeMom’ is a less renowned social media site compared to the likes of Facebook and Myspace, however in October last year, the site was actually voted number one site for women on the net.

The American made website for mothers, follows the same sort of style as other social media sites: you can make yourself a profile, add friends, join groups, add photos and send each other messages. The great thing about this site is the focus on forums. Mothers from all over the world unite and join in with debates-some scheduled and some not- about anything and everything from weight loss to cookery.

There is so much advice and help about everything a mother, old or new could possibly need to know and the best thing about it is that it comes from the experts, other mothers.

Serious issues such as abortion and still born births are discussed, and it’s pleasantly moving to see the support members genuinely give to others who they have never met before, but have a bond in the fact that they both share in the blessing of having children.

The visuals on the site are quite basic but the layout is simple and easy to use. As the name suggests, the site is very American orientated: a lot of links and references are from America which some UK members might find a bit uncomfortable and unfamiliar with. However, learning about others mothering guidance from different nations should be a good thing, whether you choose to take it or not.

After browsing through the 1000s of groups available, I was amazed at the vast amount of topics and issues which mothers need to deal with. The site really is a great place for real Mums to ‘hang out’ and there is so much to learn from the other members, this is an essential must for all mums!

Part three of my lovely list of social networks. Again I must give credit to Beth Jones, for helping me with this one.

The next social networking site on the list has to be Bebo. In March it was bought by AOL for $850 million! It is described as the ‘next generation high school and college social network’. Similar to Myspace and Facebook, it allows users to upload videos, photos, write blogs, read blogs, add applications and discover new interests. With 40 million users (or so the company claims) and 11 billion page views it isn’t hard to see why AOL would want to snap up this reasonably new company, (it was originally launched in 2005).

AOL plans to marry ICQ and AIM with a proper social network, hence layering in Bebo. They say it “lets people communicate both synchronously and asynchronously. The goal is to allow people to both express themselves and extend existing relationships.” AOL is clearly putting a massive effort into transforming the company from a dial up broadband provider into a company that has the competitive fire. The opening of AIM, mentioned above, is just one indication.

As a new user of Bebo here’s my take on the good points and bad points…

· Very easy to navigate around the site – all the areas are very clearly labelled so no need to be a technical genius.

· Extra information on home page such as new movie releases with link to trailer and comments by users.

· Music section is clear and easy to navigate, similar to MySpace (better than Facebook as it can be tricky to search for solely music related pages), has sample tracks, can preview all songs on album and link to download whole album at a cost.

· It’s a great way for new artists to get their music heard. However, for users wanting to listen to their favourite artists MySpace is more comprehensive as there appears to be a limited number of artists signed up to Bebo. For example, as Beth Jones is an avid fan of drum and bass the relevant section under the Music heading, only listed 20 artists/groups are registered, none of which she recognised, mainly because they are up and coming artists from overseas.

· Hundreds of applications which can offer fun for a range of interests from football teams to charities. Some good applications such as design your own greeting card which allows you to upload photos and decide the layout, etc.

· Good links to mobile phones – text alerts about new comments, mail and friends sayings. Uploads to profile from mobile could be very useful – able to send photos via MMS directly to your mobile and able to post comments and blogs via SMS. The ‘how to use’ demo makes it very simple for new users.

The best thing about Bebo is the very easy to use application to upload straight from your mobile. I think this could be a really useful tool, particularly when travelling so your mobile phone memory space is not an issue, and the guide explains exactly how to use each application so even technophobes need not be afraid.

The only thing I came across on Bebo that struck me as pointless is the Bebo nation feature. It’s a giant map covered in users photos which they have to pay to upload (albeit only $0.10, but still…) just seems a little unnecessary to me. It leads me to think there is yet another tool for fatuous self promotion, but then again this is a site for kids and students so each to their own. This brings me onto my last point of the videos. They are all well and good in many respects, many made me laugh out loud, yet I came across a few that worried me slightly.

As I used to live in London, I know that travelling to and from work can be a nightmare in rush hour, as it can be for commuters anywhere in the UK. It can also be particularly difficult to determine how long a journey might take to a new place of work although the Transport for London site is pretty useful for a guideline.

However, a new site called www.commutefrom.com, has been created by a 26-year-old commuter Ian Jones to try and help with this problem. Ian has combined information from more than 2,800 different routes to help users calculate how far a property is from the user's place of work. The good thing about this site is everything is free - for now. It also provides the user with the average property prices for that area, which could be really useful if you know nothing about London and you are considering moving there.

Jones explains his reasoning for creating the site: "My wife had just changed jobs, so we were both working in London. It made sense to move closer as we were spending over 2.5 hours a day on public transport. I ended up customising a train map, jotting down times for various journeys between work and around where we wanted to live. As cost was an important consideration, I then added house prices. It then struck me how it could be turned into an online resource that would be useful to a huge number of people."

To be honest there are a few flaws to this site, one of which Web User points out "underground routes are not included outside of Zone 1, only overland train lines" - OK this isn't great but it's still a free service. I put the site to the test today and unfortunately it does still appear quite basic. However, I think the idea is good and it could be a really useful research tool if you have friends or family who are considering moving to London.

So the second site I have wondered into the world of during my investigation into the top 10 social networks is MySpace. Our wonderful work experience student Rosalind was kind enough to help me with this post.

MySpace is another of what I like to call the ‘big three’. One of the most successful and popular social networking sites out there (I class Facebook, MySpace and Bebo as the big three). Although it has lost favour to Facebook with UK audiences, it is still one of the top three sites according to an independent survey carried out by Computer Which? Bebo came up as most popular with Facebook then MySpace coming closely behind after being tested on the ease of setting up and using the site, the range of features, and the way the sites protected privacy and security, including how easy it is to remove personal details.

As with all social networks, MySpace is an online community. Similarly to both Facebook and Bebo, once you've joined you can start creating your own personalised homepage. You can choose from their selected backgrounds or you can get your creative juices flowing and make your own. Users can add songs and videos, and upload photos to make their own personal space.

MySpace can be used to make new friends, connect your friends to other friends, for single people to find other single people, map family trees, socially network with co-workers, and even to find long lost friends or classmates. As you build your network you can share photos, journals and interests with your friends.

Video sharing application, MySpace TV has become a rival to YouTube, but there is a bit more of an emphasis on professional and studio produced material. They have recently clubbed together with BBC Worldwide and now selected BBC shows (including The Mighty Boosh, Doctor Who and Top Gear) are available to subscribers of the BBC Worldwide channel on MySpace TV for viewing and virtually sharing across your online community.

There is a huge music emphasis on MySpace and the site has become almost essential for new acts that want to promote themselves and also major artists as a way of connecting to their fans. Bands can make their own profiles containing their music and videos and start their own blogs and forums. Kate Nash found herself a manager after uploading some of her songs to MySpace where she was noticed by Lily Allen, who then added her to her favourites' and helped direct a lot of attention to her.

The classified section on MySpace allows members to post free ads and search millions of free ads for used cars, jobs, apartments, real estate, pets, tickets, dates and more.

The thing I have struggled with the most when using MySpace is the code writing. You have to edit your page’s code in order to add new applications, whereas you just have to press ‘add’ on some of the other social networks. So that is why I personally prefer Facebook.

The average age of MySpace users is 31. More than 85% of MySpace members are over 18.

There are many similar features to Facebook on MySpace- you can create your own groups and events and there are many of those annoying little applications like 'adopt a virtual pet' and other 'games' that clutter up the pages.

With the help of my colleague Beth Jones, we decided to explore the current situation of social networking within the travel industry. The number of travel networking sites has increased dramatically over the past few years. One of the first of its kind, couchsurfing.com, is a site dedicated solely to connecting travellers to local people, so countries can be explored beyond the guidebook. To find out how it works check out Vicky Baker’s post on using CouchSurfing or have a gander at hospitalityclub.org to discover the real South America.

But this isn’t the only way the internet has proved to enhance the standard of our travel. Statistics show that consumers want to hear from people like themselves, 72% of young UK professionals said that their online travel choices had been influenced by other consumer reviews in a survey conducted by EyeforTravel. The article  goes on to report that the statistic is backed by a recent boo.com survey, which found that one in every six Brits will post a review following a holiday.

Now that more than half of us are involved in social computing activities, ranging from Facebook to YouTube, will there really be a need for travel agent advice anymore? After all, we are all wise (most of the time) to the advertiser's spin, and it’s becoming ever more apparent as people speak out in pursuit of justice. Consequently we should try to use these comments written by fellow travellers so we can learn from their experiences. Let’s all say goodbye to crumbling hotels and dirty beaches and hello to happy surfing!

In this video Cheapflights' general manager, Francesca Ecsery discusses the impact of technology and the social networking world of Facebook on the travel market place:

So… I gave you a quick overview of my top ten social networking sites last week but now is the time to look a little closer into each one. Like I mentioned before I am at heart a Facebook girl so had to start with this one.

Facebook - Last month, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg made Forbes list of the World’s Richest Men. Facebook saw rapid growth in 2007 and many wait with baited breath to see how it performs in 2008. My personal favourite, Facebook offers users the chance to network, share photos and other content with their chosen friends (so no weirdo’s can see your profile unless you want them to). The security features are pretty hot too. They allow you to add people on a ‘limited’ basis, where you can pick and choose which features they can see (i.e. if you don’t want your mum, dad, boss or significant other seeing what you have been up to).

As a regular user and slight addict, I have become pretty familiar with its functions and applications. The wall function and private messaging facility have saved me many a penny when I would have previously been texting my friends. This works for me because most of my friends have a Facebook profile and check it (very) regularly. I really like the events application, which allows Facebook users to create invitations to any soirées you may be throwing, and easily RSVP.

Facebook groups have been making waves across the world and have even been influential in the decisions of large multinational companies, for example Cadbury’s brought back their Wispa chocolate bars after demands were voiced through Facebook groups. Groups can be made about almost anything and other users can join and share their opinions.

If you have feeds from other sites, such as a blog or Twitter feed, Facebook allows you to share this feed on your site. I’m taking part in Cancer Research’s Race for Life in May, and have been able to share my fundraising progress with my Facebook friends.

Facebook has allowed me personally, to get in contact with people that I would have never been able to previously. This was highlighted when last week a distant relative from the other side of the world contacted me by ‘poking’ me.

I do however get annoyed with all the newer, silly applications that have been developed like ‘I’m a ninja’ or ‘Am I a hottie?’ They seem to be getting more stupid by the day and I hate having to scroll down through a million other applications before I get to someone’s wall to write them a message.

As an avid Star Wars fan, I had to highlight this new game which I think might be about to eat into my disposable income. It looks amazing and is going to be accessible across most gaming platforms. I will leave it up to you to argue whether your system will run it better than your mates.

Our friends at Joystiq describe this game in their post as: "Developed internally for the Xbox 360 and PS3, The Force Unleashed has players becoming Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and, as the title vaguely alludes to, unleashing the force. Other "equally enthralling" versions of the game releasing on the same date include the Krome Studios-developed Wii, PS2 and PSP titles, as well as a DS game from n-Space."

If your mouth isn't watering at the prospect of that, check out the official demo below - this looks like it's going to be special. Roll on September...

Social networks and social media are the talk of the town at the moment. Personally I am a bit of a Facebook girl and have found myself using the site to talk and socialise with my friends more often than my mobile phone (plus it’s free). But I decided it was time to spread my wings and see what else was out there in terms of social networking sites and I have come up with a list of my favourite ones. For now here is the list, but over my next few posts I will be investigating each one and giving you an insight into the world within each network:

1. Facebook

2. MySpace

3. bebo

4. LinkedIn

5. CafeMom

6. imeem

7. Ning

8. Twitter

9. Wetpaint

10. FriendFeed