Top 4 Reasons Not To Restrict Your Kids From Using Technology

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We live in an age where technology is developing at a more rapid pace than ever. In ten years, there may be things that are taken for granted that we never dreamed about.

1) It can save their lives.

The number one thing to know about modern technology is that it saves lives. A child with a cell phone, for instance, can alert his parents or the police when he finds himself in danger. The cell is, therefore, one of the first things that children should be taught how to use. If you install the appropriate controls on it, then they will not be able to abuse the phone, or even discover areas that they were not meant to see.

Read The Small Print In Your Broadband Deals

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When we come to choose broadband, we have to make sure that we understand what we are purchasing. If we're doing it for the first time, or even if we have delved into the market before, it can be a confusing activity. This is because there is so much choice and, quite frankly, so little transparency.

This article will look at broadband advertising, so that if you're looking for Post Office home phone broadband, Sky broadband, BT broadband or any other type of broadband, you'll have a better understanding of what you are actually going to get, and a better strategy to find the best offering for your particular circumstances.

Four Signs You Need a Graphic Designer

Four Ways You'll Know if You Need a Professional Designer

Photo by: University of Salford

We all like to think we're multitalented, good at many different things in life, but in most cases all of us have personal strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes it can be difficult to know when you need a professional graphic designer. To help you make this crucial decision, we've put together a list of the top five signs you need some help! Designing effectively is an art form as well as a science.

8 Highly Recommended Free Video-Editing Apps for IOS and Android

Magisto 

 

If you’re not a savvy video editor yet wanna a good try, this magisto is probably your choice. It is capable of editing your videos and photos automatically and especially for who wanna make some interesting things on home videos or phone videos. So if you have not enough time, expeciences and patiences in editing videos, just take this one and you’ll get lot fun. The APP both support IOS and Android devices.

iMovie

what iMovie flaunts is the HD movies that you can make with it. This app developed by Apple can make the videos you shoot by your iPhone into the gorgeous home videos and edit some video clips with a selections of built-in themes to beautiful HD movies and then along with sharing fuction too. While a special feature of iMove is support picture animation which indicates that you can have a transition from one photograph to the other. That’s really cool to make it look animated. But apparently it is exclusive for IOS devices.

What Types Of Broadband Are In My Area?

Consumers throughout the UK are accessing the Internet at record rates, and are downloading new songs, movies, and accessing social networks in numbers. They are viewing YouTube videos, updating their Facebook statuses, and playing games that require steady and constant Internet connections. In past years, the ability to have an always-on connection to the Internet was something of luxury, but in recent years the ability and necessity to have this type of connection is almost mandatory and is useful for almost every family in the UK. In the UK, customers often ask their providers and neighbours a simple question: What kind of Broadband Is In My Area?

Phone Apps To Listen To Popular Music

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Smart phones are becoming a way of society now and listening to music on them is very convenient. Nothing like this was ever around 20 years ago. A person can stream music through their cell phones via satellite. Today I am going to talk about the best phone applications to use on your smart phone to listen to music for free. I listen to music every day at work for 10 hours a day so I have personally gone through all of the phone applications and chosen the best of them based on variables.

3. IHeartRadio

This phone application is one of the best and unique features of the rest of them out there. They have a section of their application where you can listen to radio stations that are actually on FM and AM local. For example, if you grew up in California but you happen to live in Minnesota you could still listen to that station locally in California through the phone application. This is a very valuable feature say if there is a morning show you absolutely love or something along those lines. I have yet to find another application with the same feature and if you desire something like this, this is the only source you are going to use that.

2. YouTube Video

Even though YouTube has a specialty of only using videos, the music industry has become a huge community there. You can basically stream any song that you want to listen to through video and it is completely free of charge. How often do you want to hear a certain song that you remember from the past or just anything you want to hear? Within 20 seconds you can search for that song on YouTube and click on the video and you are going to be listening to that song for free. There are some many other music sources out there but YouTube is such a huge presence because it is free and it is so large. It is the second largest social network in the world.

1. Pandora

If you have not yet used Pandora I advise that you get on the network very soon. How it works is it takes either your favorite music group or a song that you like and it fetches results of what other people like to listen to in the same style. There is a button for you to dislike the song or if you like it. Then based on all of these results you put in a song, it's going to give you other results in which all their data has been approved of.

You will understand how this works once you get going and start using it. Basically you get to enter a music group or band that you like and is going to find other music that you like based on past results and data that they have saved. If you're not believing that this works very well, I advise that you try it because it blows the mind's of people that use it. That's why it is the best music source and phone application to use for listening to music on this list today.

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Man of the hour goes to Chris W. or also known as "skinny white kid!" This author loves writing about music related topics and building education on new technology out there.

YouTube Capture App for iOS Updated with New Options

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The latest report from the world of technology is that Google has updated its YouTube Capture iOS app. This has brought cheer to many users who will find that thanks to this new application, 1080p High Definition uploads are now possible as against an earlier 720p HD. Besides this fact there are other advantages and upgrades seen in this new application. Due to updated YouTube Capture, audio synchronization has also been greatly enhanced along with upload speeds which are now greater than ever experienced before.

This new application is backed by full High Definition support, enabling not only faster upload speeds but also more superior files to be transferred in double quick time thanks to Google’s highly efficient and well organized servers. Sharing of photos and videos with friends and family is now possible with no waste of time either.

This new YouTube Capture iOS is being offered on iPhone5 besides the iPad and iPod Touch. Customers wishing to avail of this, can get a free update from the App Store. It also enables sharing of videos through social network sites of Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Where music is concerned, the app offers the facility to add music to videos, edit them with the use of shade modification and picture stabilization prior to sharing. 

YouTube Capture update ensures the following:

• Quick record – YouTube Capture has been designed with only one objective in mind and that is ‘speed’. It is this enhanced speed that has ensured it has received instantaneous recognition. It enables the strategic capture of photos and videos in lesser number of clicks and with use of reduced lag time.

• Automatic enhancement – Videos can be uploaded with automatic color modifications, enhanced stabilization, quicker speed and with assistance of music tracks which can be added for extra effect, if so desired. 

• Easy sharing facilities –YouTube Capture enables upload to YouTube, Google+, Facebook and Twitter all at the same time while enabling private sharing with associates and close contacts. 

YouTube Capture is available at the App Store and it is entirely compatible with the following:

• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 5
• iPod touch – third generation and later
• iPad

The application is optimized for display of iPhone 5 and needs the iOS 5.0 or later to be compatible.

Best part of YouTube Capture update is the fact that users can now shoot photos or videos in landscape mode by default. YouTube Capture also enables iPhone users to share these photos and videos to a host of social network sites through the use of Instagram.

Though YouTube Capture update has been introduced and the record and upload option in 1080p video is now available, there may be a problem in case you are not situated in a Wi-Fi enabled area or have a stringent date plan. In this case you can still choose 360p or 720p in the settings.

If you have an iOS gadget, what are you waiting for? The update is waiting for you to take advantage off at your nearest App Store.

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Author bio: 

Patrick Hudson likes writing articles related to Technology News, Gadget Reviews and How To. He also does guest posting for buycharter.com - a site that offers savings and current information on charter cable.

Evaluating 'SnagIt 11' Features-Rich Screen Capture Software

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There are no two ways about it. SnagIt 11 is the most complete screen capture program there has ever been made. It is crammed with features, it is flexible and combines the traditional image capture that we’re used to with screen capture with video capture functions as well. The new version has all the easy use tools of the previous functions and it adds a nifty feature where even as you record a screen video you can also catch audio output. 

SnagIt opens with a dialog that has a hard-to-miss red button that takes the screen shot and smaller buttons that are settings options. We’ve already established that it comes with tons of features and here’s some of what you can do- you can choose to have or not include a mouse pointer in the captured image, you can create a timed countdown before you capture an image and you can decide if you want to open the captured image immediately in the SnagIt editor. 

SnagIt lets you do a traditional image capture, record a screen cam video or scrape text from documents and web pages. Do remember that you need actual documents for the scrape method and scanned images from printed pages will not work. Apart from the red button, you can also use the PrtSc key or a key that you might like to use to capture a screen image. 

One you’ve captured an image, SnagIt’s editor lets you make changes. You can add text call outs, borders and arrows. Save the image in Adobe.SWF format and you can add hotspots that work as hyperlinks too. We especially like the Blur tool. While making screenshots of Internet applications, this tool lets me cover the email ids and other information you’d like to keep private in a screenshot. While you can preview video in the editor, you can’t make modifications per se so special effects and so on are out of the question. 

If you don’t want to take a screen shot of the entire screen, you’ll be happy to know that SnagIt comes with a few ‘profile’ capture options. A pair of cross-hairs will let you maneuver your mouse to select those portions of the screen you need captured. The cross hairs include a menu, toolbar, window and any screen element you need as you pass over it. Double-click or enter for your selection to get captured. 

Other profiles include those where you can record video that can then be sent to ScreenCast or insert screen capture into Word neatly tied in with a border. If you need more border options, you can download them from the app. This will let you send a screen capture to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter or post a video capture on YouTube. Video format has been updates from AVI to MPEG-4. You can even save a video or image to an FTP site. But this doesn’t apply to Secure FTP so we don’t recommend that you try this one out. 

You can use keystrokes for some of the functions on SnagIt. For instance Shift F9 starts video capture and Shift F10 stops the same. Please remember to go to the Tools menu and disable or change the keystrokes in the Program Preferences tab of the application to avoid any confusion with MS Word that shares similar commands. 

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We just have one issue with SnagIt 11. That it continues to have a feature that lets us reverse the changes make to a saved image in one shot. Right now we need to press Control Z over and over again to do this and it’s a pain. If the creators could work on it, that would be great. 

But this is a minor issue. SnagIt is a beautifully created, dependable and well executed and executable app that delivers every time. 

This is a guest post by Nathan Brown of buyatt.com, a site that offers savings and current information on what is uverse as well as att.com services. 

LG Optimus L9: Is this a success for LG?

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Design

The LG Optimus L9 is a thin and light phone. Its dimensions are 5.03 inches tall by 2.63 inches wide, 0.36 inches thick, and weighs just 4.16 ounces. The design features a power button, volume rocker, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Mirco-USB charging port. The display features a 4.5 inch qHD screen. It has good sharpness and colors and responds well to the touch of a human finger.


Hardware, Software, & Performance

The LG Optimus L9 runs on Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. The user interface, LG’s Optimus 3.0, has great functionality and works well with the operating system. The Optimus L9 has a 1GHz dual-core Central processing unit for decent speed and performance. It supports Wi-Fi and 4G networks, adding to its potential speed. The 2,150mAh battery is removable and has average life. The call quality is also just average, and the speakerphone is subpar.


Features and Apps

The LG Optimus L9 comes preloaded with lots of features and apps. Google preloads the L9 with apps like Gmail, Chrome, Google+, Search, YouTube, Maps and Navigation, and Play Store for downloading movies, music, and more. T-Mobile added apps like hotline, 411 & more, Game Base, and More for Me which finds local deals based on the users interests.

Third party and other apps and features include mobile hot spot capabilities, visual voicemail, Lookout Security, Smartshare, FileShare, Amazon Kindle, Slacker Radio, Polaris Office 4.0, calculator, clock, address book, and QuickMemo which allows the user to take notes or draw sketches with their fingers or using a stylus.

The Optimus L9 has a 5MP rear facing camera. The camera has features like autofocus, flash, touch focus, 15x digital zoom, face tracking, geotagging, timer, continuous shot, panorama, scene modes, balances, effects, and a voice shutter function that allows the user to command the phone to take a picture using only their voice.

The user can also change background or distort faces using live modes, and can take a picture while recording video.  The Optimus L9 also has a VGA front facing camera. The front facing camera and 1080p HD video recording function have a lot of the same features as the 5MP camera does. Overall, the photo and video quality are very good.


Pros

The LG Optimus L9 runs on Android 4.0, supports 4G networks, has a fast dual-core CPU, and the camera and 1080p HD video have decent quality images with lots of features.


Cons

The Optimus L9 comes with lots of bloatware, the battery life is short, and the speakerphone quality is below average.

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It is a good idea to check out up-to-date reviews on the latest mobile phones.  Compare the Optimus L9 with other LG products to figure out which mobile phone best suits your needs.

Reed Waters - writer interested in mobile and PC technology; committed to providing the reader with unbiased and up-to-date information on various products

Top 10 Free Apps to Download from the Nokia Ovi Store

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Ovi Store – Nokia’s services for its users to provide some cool applications has been categorized into Games, Music, maps, media and much more. Let’s look at some of the best apps that you can download from the store for free:

Adaffix Caller ID:

First of all, let me tell you that this is an award winning app for business. The application has the ability to display the caller information such as name, address and other details even if the number is not from your contacts list or is an unknown number. Furthermore, this app even suggests alternative ways to reach the person whom you are trying to call, in case if the person is unavailable. Nice app to simplify your productivity tasks.

Music Web:

For those of you who consider music as your best friend, this app might prove helpful. The app gives you all the information on the latest album releases, news about music and musicians, celeb-gossips and speculations on singers and albums and much more. Spice up your ears and your heart with this cool app.

Road To Hell 3D:

A gaming app! Choose and compete in over 13 different racing levels as you cruise down the track and find the right way. Work out on your driving skill because you will need them to win this game. Select your favorite terrain ranging from snow clad mountains to sand covered desserts as you beat your opponents to the finish line. A great app!

LockOnGallery:

Our phones are the easiest things on earth to get stolen or misplaced. The vulnerability they have towards inappropriate data usage is very high, so it is our primary duty to keep a check and secure the data present in our memory card. That’s where this app comes in handy. LockOnGalelry app helps secure all your personal data like photos, videos, music and other confidential files from abusers. The app locks your memory card to avoid intrusion and can only be opened after specifying a valid password. It also keeps a constant check on your phone usage and locks it if found idle.

Facebook Chat:

One of the widely used social networking site chat is now available on your Nokia handset. Use this app and get connected to your friends and family instantly.

Easy Effects:

Now give cool and attractive effects to your images using this simple and easy to use app. Once done, save them and share it with your friends and families, all for free!

Talking Dictionary:

It is an app that not only offers you with the meaning of the word but even speaks it up for you, so that you get a glimpse of the pronunciation. Apart from offering thesaurus facility, this app also helps in translation. The languages to which the app can translate include German, Spanish, French, Italian and Arabic.

YouTube downloader:

Perhaps this is one of the most convenient apps for your phone. We often look up to YouTube and watch some videos whenever we are bored or on the go. And, sometimes we come across certain interesting videos that we feel like retaining them for future views and shares. So, now you can use this app, browse for your favorite videos and download them any time. It supports a video quality of up to 720p HD.

Tube Map:

Now, Ovi store is known for its offering on maps and routes, so how can we miss that? The Tube Map offers you a complete map and route coverage of the London Underground, constant updates about stations and lines and a planner that tells you the best and shortest route to reach a particular destination.

AroundMe:

I’m sure you would have guessed what the app is used for by now. This app offers you information on any services that are requested by you and that are available in areas surrounding you. It requires a GPS though.

This is a guest post by Jena Branch of Buycox.com, a site that offers savings and current information on cox communications.

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iPad app transforms boring into entertaining

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The iPad comes with several applications, including Safari, Mail, Photos, Video, YouTube, iPod, iTunes, App Store, iBooks, Maps, Notes, Calendar, and Contacts. Several are improved versions of applications developed for the iPhone or Mac. 

The iPad syncs with iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC. Apple ported its iWork suite from the Mac to the iPad, and sells pared down versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps in the App Store. Although the iPad is not designed to replace a mobile phone, a user can use a wired headset or the built-in speaker and microphone and place phone calls over Wi-Fi or 3G using a VoIP application. As of June, 2011, there were about 90,000 iPad specific apps on the App Store. The iPad cannot run the Xcode development suite since it uses iOS.

by MartaSoCoMo. Browse more data visualizations.

How to Cat-Proof Your Computer

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Protecting your computer is just one way of keeping your information safe from hackers. Also protect your computer from the things around it like your pet cat or dog. Your pet cat especially like to sleep over on things and one of them is your computer. By properly providing enough protection to your computer you are also protecting you pet cat from electrical shock.

Browse more infographics.

Benefits of Unlocking Your iPhone

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It's a terrible misery to feel unable of downloading user-friendly applications on your beloved iPhone due to restrict business model of Apple that's bound completely whereas you love living and enjoying your freedom. If you own an iPhone, and urge to use it with your preference and independence, you can have it unlocked to make it to accept and work with third-party applications, software(s), and games. 

iPhone, iPhone 3G and 3GS (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 Here are some noticeable benefits of unlocking your iPhone: 

You become your own boss holding the complete control of your device in your hand; you are not liable to ask Apple every time you need a software installed to be used for personal or business purpose. You can do anything at any given time without taking written permission from the company. However, unlocking your phone will make you ineligible from acquiring the company's music library, services, and protocol. If this does not matter to you; there are literally thousand of benefits that you can avail by unlocking your iPhone. If you are a geek, bored of ordinary trim-down version of MAC OSX (Unix Core), you can install any sort of server on your iPhone including HTTP, and SSH daemon to connect it for transferring the files and data. If you are afraid that you can't use iTunes anymore after unlocking the phone, you'd not be, because with SSH you can transfer unlimited ringtones from the internet within matter of minutes.

With your jail-broken Apple iPhone you are free to do anything you want; you can install third party applications and software(s) and have full time fun with the device. You can synchronize your iPhone calendar with Google Calendar and mark up special dates and days. Connect your phone with the laptop to use internet facility using your iPhone as the modem, and download videos from the YouTube. In addition to it, you can play arcade games without any restrictions and boundaries.

iPhone 4 redefines what a mobile phone can do, with fast 3G wireless technology, GPS mapping, support features like Multitasking, Video conference, Voice Control, iBooks and the App Store, iPhone 4 puts even more features at your fingertips. And like the original iPhone, the new generation of iPhone it combines three products in one - a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Unlocking your iPhone means getting rid of the current phone carrier: Three UK, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile. You might be tired of paying thousand dollar bill to the company every month you can go for pay as go phone services and insert a prepaid simcard in the phone to save money on the communication. Good news is that you can still continue taking services from AT&T since unlocking doesn't disturb your network and the way your device actually works. It enables your iPhone to accept any simcard that you enter inside, and for getting the most of it, you can use several local simcard to avail cheap roaming services. Once unlocked, your device can be used internationally; when you travel outside, international roaming gets activated itself on the device, and handset features dual, tri, and even quad band functionality.  To add more, you can take advantage of Cydia services after Jail-breaking, and satisfy your quest on enjoying the best features of your device. So you must enjoy latest technology with smart gadgets in your hand and by applying the ways to maximize their performance and efficiency.

Related articles

• How To Unlock An iPhone
• iPhone Unlock Screen Business Cards
• Tips to unlock iPhone with AT&T

An Overview of Motion Sensor Gaming – So Far

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The ‘console wars’ have this generation been arguably the most fierce and interesting yet. In the past there were always clear winners and losers as each of the big console manufacturers ended up on a podium at the end of the race. The PSOne for instance thrashed the poor Sega Saturn and beat N64 by a long shot too. The Genesis largely fended off the SNES, and the PS2 was victorious over the Xbox and Dreamcast. This time however things have not been nearly as clean cut. 

The Xbox 360 arguably has been the more popular of the two ‘core’ gaming consoles, but that’s a very close call with the PS3 also shifting a lot of units and having some very big hits – particularly most recently. But then there was this third ‘lose canon’ of a console in the form of the Wii. It was nothing like the other two home consoles – eschewing HD graphics and heavy realism for fun motion controlled gameplay and a family-friendly vibe. This proved to be a masterstroke for Nintendo which quickly saw it technically outsell the other two in many territories despite note really posing a threat to either of them. Nintendo had (once again) tapped an entirely new market and brought gaming to a mainstream audience.

Of course it wasn’t long before Sony and Microsoft cottoned on to this major success story and started rolling out their own motion sensor hardware in the form of Playstation Move and Xbox Kinect. But how would these fare? And did they come to the party a bit late?

Italiano: Xbox 360 Slim with Kinect (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Technology

Of the three motion sensor gaming devices, the Kinect is by far the most technologically advanced. While the Move was very accurate it ultimately relied on a wand which limited what it was capable of achieving. Meanwhile the Wii was of course a great piece of kit in its day, but is starting to look a little limited compared to the new kids on the block.

The Microsoft Kinect peripheral for the Xbox 360. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Kinect however was unique in that it required no extra peripherals to control. This allows gamers to literally ‘be the controller’ as the ad campaigns promised, and this meant kicking footballs, punching bad guys, and pulling off dance moves. The technology is so good that many organizations are looking at how it could be implemented in other devices – you could ‘be’ your TV remote for instance, or be your mouse on the PC. At the same time the implementation of voice control makes it that bit more flexible.

Allegedly the Kinect could actually have been even more powerful and sensitive – and early versions included the ability to recognise finger positions and hand gestures. The problem however was in the costs of the required CPU – maybe something for the next console generation?

Value and Gameplay

Of course this technology is largely moot, and a console is really defined by its library of games. In this regard Nintendo still has the upper hand with a huge back catalogue of games like Skyward Sword, Wii Fit and Epic Mickey to play with its motion controls. At the same time the more serious developers that are used to producing games for Xbox and PS3 seem somewhat baffled as to how to approach and integrate motion controls into their gameplay. Somehow COD3 just doesn’t work with a wand… At the time of writing then there is something of a dearth of games for these other two consoles.

A slide from Microsoft's E3 Conference showing a diagram of the technologies in Kinect (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However there is good news on the horizon and this is all looking to come to an end soon for Kinect owners. While third party publishers might be struggling to make a splash on the Kinect, Microsoft has very smartly decided to open up its library of code for hobbyists and the community at large, which has seen some extraordinary things being done on YouTube (a combination of 3D glasses and Kinect control has made for an incredible Minority Report style web browser in one video). And now Microsoft are poised to go one step further by opening up the Xbox marketplace to indie developers. If we start to see anywhere near the innovation and great design for Kinect that we have witnessed on Steam, and in the mobile app stores, then we can expect to see incredible things heading to Kinect soon.

Sarah Branigan is gadget lover and owner at Zwee.com. A online portal to buy gadgets at cheap rates. Check more about macbook on zwee.

Related articles

• Warren Spector: "Next-gen consoles 'aren't the answer"
• Taking a look at those pesky PlayStation Orbis rumors
• Microsoft Preparing Next Xbox For Release Next Year?
• Xbox Kinect

Infographics: Streamlining your Digital Life.

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Technology convergence or simply means using a single device to merge all your digital usage into one. The new ipad has just been introduce to the market. This device can be used to function as a video player, music player, camera, video recorder and to some extent a laptop or a phone.

Related articles

• Infographic: The new Ipad3
• Infographics:The Percentage between Ipad and Textbook
• So, Is That New iPad For You? [Infographic]
• Who Will Buy The iPad 3? [Infographic]

Infographics: Are You Addicted To the Internet?

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The Internet has enabled entirely new forms of social interaction, activities, and organizing, thanks to its basic features such as widespread usability and access. Social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have created new ways to socialize and interact. Users of these sites are able to add a wide variety of information to pages, to pursue common interests, and to connect with others. It is also possible to find existing acquaintances, to allow communication among existing groups of people. Sites like LinkedIn foster commercial and business connections. YouTube and Flickr specialize in users' videos and photographs.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the first generation is raised with widespread availability of Internet connectivity, bringing consequences and concerns in areas such as personal privacy and identity, and distribution of copyrighted materials. These "digital natives" face a variety of challenges that were not present for prior generations.

Many people use the World Wide Web to access news, weather and sports reports, to plan and book vacations and to find out more about their interests. People use chat, messaging and email to make and stay in touch with friends worldwide, sometimes in the same way as some previously had pen pals. The Internet has seen a growing number of Web desktops, where users can access their files and settings via the Internet.

With that said the internet also has a bad effect on people. As the infographics below will ask you, Are you Addicted to the Internet?

Infographics by Visual.ly

Top 8 Points On Google’s New Privacy Policy

March 1 has finally come, which means Google’s long talked-about new privacy policy is now in place. The rumors about the changes have been flying wildly since Google first announced them back in January, but the truth is that very few people have actually taken the time to learn what the new policy really means.  But since Google is now operating under the new policy, it’s more important than ever to understand how it will affect you.  

Below are the top eight points you should know about Google’s new privacy policy.

1. Google is not selling your personal data

When Google first announced these changes, there was a popular belief that the cloud service provider would begin selling user’s personal data.  However, this is simply a myth.  Google is not selling your information, or even sharing it, with anyone.

2. Google has simply consolidated its many privacy policies into one

The big change for the new privacy policy is actually quite simple.  Previously, Google had a distinct privacy policy for each of its many services.  Now, Google has one, giant policy for the majority of its services.  This change means a simpler, easier-to-understand privacy policy that applies to most of the Google platforms you use regularly.

3. Google now has a complete snapshot of your web presence

Since Google now has one all-encompassing privacy policy, it now has a complete snapshot of your internet activity.  Basically, this means Google can track your activity as one user across its many platforms, which enables it to put together a complete picture of you as a Google user.  Why is this important?  Google plans to use this information to improve its services.  To get a better idea of exactly what this means, you can use the Google Dashboard to see your activity across all Google platforms just like Google does.

4. You will soon see more personalization

A major component of the improved services is more personalization.  With its complete user picture, Google will soon get a better idea of who you are online - how and where you spend your time on the web, what you tend to look for, and what you usually find the most beneficial.  Google will use this information to give you more of what you like and less of what you don’t, therefore personalizing its services to suit your individual needs.  Examples of this personalization include automatic spelling corrections, suggested contact lists, better search results, and advertisements geared toward your interests.  You can even contribute to the personalization with tools like the Ads Preference Manager, which allows you to designate what kinds of ads you want to see.

5. Google’s platforms are now working together

Because most of Google’s platforms now share the same privacy policy, they are working together more than ever before.  This close integration allows for a smoother connection when working across multiple Google platforms, such as Gmail and Google Docs.  How will this connection actually affect you?  There are many ways, one of which is notifications.  With the changes in place, if you use Google Calendar to mark appointments and Google Maps to get to these appointments, you may now receive a notification indicating whether or not you’ll make it to the appointment on time.  This is because the two platforms can now share information with one another like you’re destination, the time you need to be there, you’re current location, and traffic conditions.

6. To experience more personalization and collaboration, you need to use more Google services

Google is able to offer this more personalized service because of the way it can now see your complete user data across all of its platforms.  To receive the most personalized services, as well as to get the most benefits from the increased collaboration between platforms, you need to use a variety of Google services on a regular basis.  This is because the more services you use, and the more often you use them, the more information about you Google will have to draw on when it comes to personalization.  Given this, Google Apps users, who tend to use the most Google platforms regularly, are likely to see the most changes in the shortest amount of time.

7. You can still use Google without having information tracked

These changes may be a lot for some people to take in, which is why there are ways you can still use Google services without having your information tracked.  Examples of tools that allow this are the “incognito window” in the Google Chrome web browser, which allows you to slip off Google’s radar, and “off the record” chat in Gmail.  Additionally, if you want to conduct a simple search or watch YouTube videos without Google noticing, you can easily sign out of your Google account.

8. Google will now be meeting your needs better and faster

Now that all of these changes are in place, you can expect Google to meet your needs better and faster.  From more personalized services to increased collaboration across platforms, the changes resulting from Google’s new privacy policy are all poised to improve your user experience.

Cloud Sherpas is a leading cloud service provider and was named the “Google Enterprise 2011 Partner of the Year.” As one of the first Google Enterprise partners, Cloud Sherpas has migrated over one million users across a variety of industries from legacy, on-premise messaging systems to Google Apps, helping organizations adopt cloud computing to innovate and dramatically reduce their IT expenses. Headquartered in Atlanta, Cloud Sherpas has regional offices in locations including San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Austin and Sydney, and has more Google Apps Certified Deployment Specialists than any other partner in the world.

Infographics: The Social Nieghbors

Social media includes web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content." Social media is media for social interaction as a super-set beyond social communication. Enabled by ubiquitously accessible and scalable communication techniques, social media has substantially changed the way organizations, communities, and individuals communicate.

Kietzmann et al. (2011) present a honeycomb framework that defines how social media services focus on some or all of seven functional building blocks (identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups). These building blocks help understand the engagement needs of the social media audience. For instance, LinkedIn users care mostly about identity, reputation and relationships, whereas YouTube’s primary building blocks are sharing, conversations, groups and reputation. Many companies build their own social containers that attempt to link the seven functional building blocks around their brands. These are private communities that engage people around a more narrow theme, as in around a particular brand, vocation or hobby, than social media containers such as Facebook or Google+.

Infographic by: Column Five Media

YouTube to mp3 converter

If you enjoy listening to music on YouTube, you probably find yourself wishing there was an easy way to turn these songs into mp3's.  There is, with YouTube to mp3 conversion programs found on the internet.  With these types of free services you can convert your favorite music to mp3's from YouTube quickly and easily.  Not only is it a great converter, it's free to use and easily integrated into your favorite browser with plugins and extensions available.

Converting Your Music

  

A easy way to convert your music from YouTube to an mp3 is to copy the YouTube URL from your favorite video, Find a YouTube to mp3 conversion website using Google, and paste the URL into the text box and click on the "Convert Video" button.  Then just wait while the site converts it into an mp3 for you.  Once the video is converted into an mp3, click the "download" link. Then it can be downloaded and stored on your computer, tablet, phone or mp3 player.  Unlike some converters, YouTube to mp3 offers quicker conversion and faster download speed. Conversion takes only 1 to 5 minutes, and broadband users can download their mp3 in 1 to 2 minutes. The best thing is its done all online which means you don't have to download and install any software.

Image by tarop via Flickr

The converter tool works right on the main website page, so there is no time wasted trying to figure out where to paste the URL.  And it offers unlimited use: you can convert as many YouTube videos as you want with it.  Now you can turn your favorite remixes, mash-ups and live concert songs into mp3's.  Whether you want a new song by a band you just heard about or are trying to complete a collection by your favorite artist, this converter will do the job.  There is no program to download and install no need to worry about hidden spyware or viruses.  Everything works right from the website to give you smooth, quality mp3's with no worries. Don’t trust your favorite songs to a converter that doesn't deliver.  Go to www.youtube-to-mp3.com.au and try out this excellent converter today.

Putting Music onto Your Apple Device

Once you have converted and downloaded your music simply drag and drop your music into iTunes. This will add the newly downloaded music into your iTunes library. Connect your device to the computer. If you manually manage your music you will have to drag and drop from your iTunes library or you can drag and drop straight to your Apple device.

For those who have syncing enabled automatically you don’t have to do a thing as your device will automatically update its music library when you attach your apple device with iTunes running.

Shon Siemonek owner of YouTube to mp3 Australia.

IPad Accessories Getting it Right

The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and weight fall between those of contemporary smartphones and laptop computers. The iPad runs the same operating system as the iPod Touch and iPhone and can run its own applications as well as iPhone applications. Without modification, the iPad will only run programs approved by Apple and distributed via the Apple App Store

The iPad is one of the most successful launches in recent history and there are many apps and accessories for it. Depending on your interests, you can probably find a few good accessories that will protect your iPad or allow you to perform more tasks with it. The following iPad accessories are worth considering.

Image via Wikipedia

For those who enjoy taking pictures the ipad camera connection kit, which enables you to synch photos and videos back and forth between your camera and ipad is a necessity. This kit also works with other iPhone, iPod touch and iPod Nanos too. The connector uses USB port connection to interact with your camera. You’ll also get an SD card reader with the kit. If sharp photos are something you enjoy this is definitely not an accessory you want to bypass. An Apple Composite AV cable is a must if you want to watch video via your home theater system or large format TV. When you have an iPad, you have access to the iTunes library, where you can download movies as well as music (for a price, of course). You can also get a free YouTube app that allows you to watch any YouTube video on your iPad and, if you have the AV Cable, on a larger screen. This is one of the most versatile accessories for your iPad.

Image via Wikipedia

Some iPad accessories like screen protectors are practical but others are just for fun or to add color. You can find skins or removable decals for your iPad that come in various patterns and colors. Smirkabout is one of the companies that offers these skins.

iPad cases can also be as decorative as they are practical. The Incipio Feather Ultra Light Case is one example; it is a very soft cover offered in bright neon colors but still protects your iPad. And there are other options; these are just two examples of how you can dress up your iPad.

Image via Wikipedia

More accessories will become available as the iPad grows in popularity. Lower prices will be available on items when this happens. However, there are some accessories, such as a screen protector and an iPad case that you should really get right away to make sure your unit is protected. The accessories we’ve discussed above allow you to do more with your iPad, though you may want to research this topic further and see what other accessories are being sold.

The above information was put together with great care because we know the value of accurate and timely material. There are so many who have been helped with information just like this, and we also know that on our own end. You can easily find tremendous amounts of information on touchpad driver, and there are relevant sites that are very helpful. Take care that your efforts are not hindered by your zeal to learn and then put into use. We never have any problems at all in disclosing that what I offer in my material may or may not be comprehensive. What some do, and we have also done this, is to pick one particular aspect and really go deep into it.