Facebook Launches New Look for its 6th Year

by:Sharon Gaudin, Computerworld

The redesign is the latest of several home page changes launched by the company in recent years — many times to the consernation of its users. The latest makeover, according to Jing Chen, a Facebook engineer, is focused improving navigation to the many features on the site.

“We think sharing information about the applications you use enriches the shared experience between you and your friends,” said Chen in a Facebook blog post . “We hope the simplified design of the home page will make it easy for you to stay connected with the people, applications and activities that matter the most to you.”

For example, the updated home page provides alerts about messages, notifications and requests. And the menu on the left-hand side of the page has added links to messages, events, photos and applications. If you click on “friends”, a list of friend suggestions pops up, along with friend search options. Click on “applications” and you can see what Facebook apps your friends have been using.

Comments about the redesign posted beneath Chen’s blog entry show that many users aren’t so happy with the changes.

“New look is AWFUL!!!!! Please change back to old look and leave it alone,” wrote one user. “Once more Facebook makes changes that don’t work without doing proper testing,” posted another.

While most of the comments on the site were negative, some users were happy about the changes. Wrote one user: “I love the new home page! It’s great and I love the ease of access for the inbox etc.”

With this makeover, Facebook also is trying to deal with complaints uttered after the last redesign about about privacy controls. Some Facebook users had complained loudly last fall that the redesign made it harder for them to maintain their own privacy settings.

The latest redesign looks to rectify that issue, Chen said.

“We feel strongly that control is an important element of any information sharing on Facebook,” wrote Chen. “That’s why these features are launching with an entirely new privacy setting. If you would rather not have your recent application activity visible in the dashboards to your friends, you can change this through your Privacy settings. We’re also working on a more granular set of controls for specific applications, so that you can turn off activity for certain applications while leaving it on for others. We’ll have more information to share on this soon.”

Not every small business needs a Web site.

The very busy owner of a handyman business — he’s fully booked for the next three months — tells me he’s not interested in hiring employees and growing into a multi-person company. He just wants enough work to earn a good living, and he has plenty of work. His business grows by word-of-mouth. Customers don’t need to find his office; he works at their homes. If ever there was a business that did not need a Web site, this was it.

Maybe “no” . . .

I’ve heard many small-business owners say they think they “should” get a Web site. They’re not quite sure what they will do with it, but they’ve been told they should have one.

In most cases, they’re right. A Web site can be an important marketing tool for almost every small business, but there are a few exceptions.

If you have as many customers as your business can handle and you have no desire to grow larger (as with our handyman), then there’s no point in marketing on the Web.

Alternately, if you are really certain that potential customers won’t use the Internet to find your product or service, then you can safely skip the Web. One example might be a convenience store, where drive-by awareness literally drives all customer traffic. For most businesses, that assumption is getting tougher to make, at least in the United States, where over 158 million people have Internet access.

Usually, a big “yes”

There’s no question that a Web site is more mission-critical for some businesses than others. Companies trying to reach customers in different locations (think hotels or tourist attractions) or who have products that can be shipped to customers far away (think flowers, handmade dolls, telephones, etc.) obviously need to have an online presence.

But local businesses (dry cleaners or shoe repair shops, for example) also can benefit from a Web site that shows their location, lists their services or offers special promotions.

And woe to those who think they don’t need a compelling Web site because they serve other businesses rather than retail consumers. Many businesses search for new suppliers online, then order from them that way, too.

In short, if you want more customers, you should be online, regardless of your industry.

Your online marketing tool

For most small businesses, a Web site is rapidly becoming a basic requirement of a marketing plan. A site can help you reach one or more of the following goals:

·        Help customers find you in the offline world – your office, your storefront, your phone number.

·        Help persuade customers that you have the right service or product for them

·        Help sell products online, even across different marketplaces, to retail customers or other businesses.

A simple site helps customers find you

The simplest possible Web presence is a one-page site that tells people how to find your business in the “real” world. It should include:

·        A good Web Address that relates to your company name and business.

·        Your business address, complete with directions and a good map.

·        Your business phone number, along with fax numbers if relevant.

·        Your hours of operation.

·        A clear and enticing description of what your business offers to customers.
This simple Web presence is most appropriate for businesses that serve local customers (a dry cleaner, doctor’s office or plumber, for example) and that aren’t actively looking to expand their customer base (as with a fully booked dental practice).

For better marketing, create an expansive site

If you’re interested in active marketing for your business, you can expand your Web site to make it a more robust online marketing tool.

In this scenario, the Web site’s job is to convince customers to take that next step: Buy the product online, call you to place an order or set up an appointment, or drive to your office or storefront. Your site is essentially your online marketing brochure, one that’s more effective than a printed marketing piece. Web sites enable customers to dig deep into the information they care about, without overwhelming them with the stuff they don’t want or need to know. That’s hard to pull off in a paper brochure.

You can approach crafting the Web site as you would any other marketing brochure. Use color, graphics, photos and words to get across four key things about your business:

·        What you provide for customers.

·        What kind of customers you focus on and can serve best..

·        How your business is unique from others who provide the same product or service, so customers can decide if your solution is the right on for them

·        The personality or brand essence of your business – what your company stands for.

So yes, for good reasons

Unless you have all the customers you can handle, a Website can be a good marketing investment. Find a domain name that’s appropriate for your business and beef up your marketing arsenal with a compelling Website. Are you ready to started being successful online? The best way for you is to have a professionally build website.

We have entered a new millennium, a new century and now a new decade.  I have been living in this country for a little over 20 years, and I have seen the Internet bloom, blow up and settle.  In the last 10 years New Media has been moving steady over the Internet, and in the last 4 years many companies started to catch up and realized the opportunity the Internet is offering with this new way of marketing.   And believe me when I say is a going get better and bigger than what you think.  My older son is only 12 years old, and he saves his allowance to buy ITunes cards, order his skateboards online, has uploaded his skateboard tricks videos over youtube and when he is hungry orders Chipotle with an Itouch app.  My younger son only 7 is a Lego fanatic, knows every product about Lego because he plays Lego online and gets tips on designing cars, creatures and many other creative things from the Lego website.   The Internet in a way has become a new babysitter at times without being aware. 

 New Media has created a consumer driven marketing nation, in order for companies to sell products offer services they need to engage with people and learn about their clients.  Apple just launched the Ipad, a new computer similar to the Iphone or Itouch but bigger.   If you ask Apple you will not get the same respond, but after all the reviews, the jokes, and the videos that have been popping online about the Ipad my impression about it is what I have heard from my peers consumers, is a Big Version of the Itouch.  The Ipad will not get the same praise as the Iphone, the Ipod or the Itouch and with that it will not sell the same way.   What I am trying to say is that consumers control the market and they can make your product the best or they can trash it.  And this is how New Media is changing the way companies are doing business, and if your company is looking to succeed and excel in this new economy you must do the proper research and look into New Media Marketing and figure out how the Internet can benefit your company.   But you must know what you are doing because the same way it can make you money it can bring you down.  

Ricardo Villalba

Founder of WebPlugin.biz

One of the trickier things about social skills is to get your message across.

One reason why people have difficulty with this is because they use more words than needed.

I know. I have done so too many times to count. I keep babbling on and on about something for far too long and fill the air with too many words.

RareOpinion will be going on a short hiatus. Personal issues and difficulties have arisen including Nathan’s internet being disconnected. We hope you will still check back for updates occasionally.

Robyn Siddons

Facebook is a Social Networking website, a kin to Myspace, Friendster, Multiply and other similar networks. It allows you to communicate with others, and gives you space to post personal information to make your facebook more “personal.” Facebook – As a tool to communicate is very useful.

Information is good when used in the right way… Watch this and you decide…

For detailed information visit: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread291893/pg1

Be discrete in what you post…

Anything you put online anyone can see… Think before you post…

From pictures you post, may it be with your friends or family…

To any information on the web, from video, pictures, anything… Know your online friends…

Terminology first…

Website

A document on the World Wide Web.  A collection of more that one Web page, Documents that you view on a Web Browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc…

Domain Name

A name that identifies one or more IP addresses. For example, the domain name microsoft.com represents about a dozen IP addresses. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages. For example, in the URL http://www.pcwebopedia.com/index.html, the domain name is pcwebopedia.com.

Every domain name has a suffix that indicates which top level domain (TLD) it belongs to. There are only a limited number of such domains. For example:

Because the Internet is based on IP addresses, not domain names, every Web server requires a Domain Name System (DNS) server to translate domain names into IP addresses.

A Web host

is in the business of providing web server space, Web services and file maintenance for Web sites controlled by individuals or companies that do not have their own Web servers. Many ISPs, such as America Online, will allow subscribers a small amount of server space to host a personal Web page. Other commercial ISPs will charge the user a fee depending on the complexity of the site being hosted.

IP Address

An identifier for a computer or device on a TCP/IP network. Networks using the TCP/IP protocol route messages based on the IP address of the destination. The format of an IP address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an IP address.

Within an isolated network, you can assign IP addresses at random as long as each one is unique. However, connecting a private network to the Internet requires using registered IP addresses (called Internet addresses) to avoid duplicates.

The four numbers in an IP address are used in different ways to identify a particular network and a host on that network. Four regional Internet registries – ARIN, RIPE NCC, LACNIC and APNIC — assign Internet addresses from the following three classes.

Class A – supports 16 million hosts on each of 126 networks

Class B – supports 65,000 hosts on each of 16,000 networks

Class C – supports 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks

The number of unassigned Internet addresses is running out, so a new classless scheme called CIDR is gradually replacing the system based on classes A, B, and C and is tied to adoption of IPv6.

Here are list of what you need:

- Webpage

- Domain name visit: www.dot.ph

- Web server or a Web host visit: www.dot.ph

Now for the instructions:

1. First you need to learn the basics. You can visit http://www.make-a-web-site.com/ or buy software that creates a web page such as Microsoft Frontpage, Adobe Dreamweaver, etc…

2. After creating a web page, you can now purchase a Domain name, Make sure to find a catchy one that can be easily remembered, and short as possible.

just an estimate a Domain name will cost around $70.00 for 2 years.

3. Next you will need a web host to serve your website, most companies that sells web Domain name can host a website or you can host it by having your own web server visit. This is what you need to do… reference site http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/resources/guides/g8/s2.htm.

If you want to run your own server

If you want your own server for your website you will need a reliable Macintosh, PC or Unix-based machine. It doesn’t have to be particularly fast – but of course, as with most Internet technology, the faster the better!

Servers can range in price from around $AU2,500 to $AU150,000 – depending on what you need them to do, or will need them to do in the future.

You can buy servers secondhand, but if you do, buy from a reputable supplier and get as long a warranty as you can. Servers are just computers and most computers can do the job as long as they are set up with server software.

You will need server software

On your server you need to run different sorts of software. The main type of software you will need is Web server software to enable you to run the website on the server.

You will also need:

• Email server software to enable you to define and maintain email addresses for your organisation.
• FTP software to allow you and your clients to transfer files to and from the server from anywhere on the Internet.
• Mailing list software to allow you to maintain mail-based discussion lists with your customers or clients.

Most of the software you need for a server(2) can be downloaded from the Internet. You will need this software and you will need someone who knows how to use it – either in-house, or hired on a contract or casual basis for the job.

You will need a router if you have a network

If your server is part of a network, you will need a router to connect your local network to the Internet. Routers cost up to $AU5,000.

Numerous companies supply routers and they can be found under the ‘Data Communications’ heading in the Yellow Pages telephone directory(3). Computers attached to the Internet and which are not part of a local network do not need a router.

Incidentally, if you are a publicly-funded organisation, you should be guided by any mandatory purchasing policies that apply to you.

The cost of managing your own server

If you want to buy and manage your own server expect to pay around $AU5,000 or more for equipment if you don’t already have it.

Server software could cost you any amount – from very little, up to tens of thousands of dollars.

A reliable link to the Internet (such as an ISDN connection) can cost you upwards of $AU1,000 for the connection and monthly charges from $AU250 plus traffic.

An indicative starting price to create a good, fast connection with everything you need would be $AU10,000.

If you have a very popular site which needs a high-speed connection you can spend more on connection costs.

Connection hardware and connection options

The cheapest (and slowest) way to connect your server to the Internet is with a modem(4) over a regular telephone line.

The modem should be at least as fast as 33.6 Kbps, and will cost between $AU150 – $AU300. Newer modems should support the V.90 standard which enables communication at up to 56 kbps. Ensure that your ISP supports this standard at their end.

Make sure that if the connection drops out it will be re-established automatically by the server. This will require a permanent connection to an ISP, with typical charges of $AU150 or more each month for a very modest site.

You can have a permanent connection just using a modem through a Telstra(5) BigPond Direct connection. Other ISPs offer similar services. An ISDN connection(6) is another option and this type of connection is substantially faster.

If you expect a lot of traffic, you could consider a leased line into the Internet. The costs are higher again. Talk to your ISP about this.

Costs change continually and ISPs often have good sign-up deals, so shop around.

Whatever decision you make should be appropriate to the use your website will receive. There are many, many options available and it’s probably best to seek the advice of someone who understands your situation and who knows what options are available in your area.

4. Upload your website using a FTP software, such as Cuteftp, SmartFtp, download them for free at www.download.com.

Thats it…

The Twitter Craze

I only just recently started using Twitter, properly anyway. I signed up quite a few weeks ago and started tweeting a few days ago. It’s quite a popular site now, with over 18 million users in 2009 which is a rise from 6 million users in 2008. It is estimated a further 8 million people with join Twitter within the coming year – so all in all, an extremely popular networking site.

A huge reason for this may be because of the large amount of famous figures that have joined Twitter in hopes of feelings closer to their fans (or in Twitter’s words, followers) and updating people on what they’re doing.

The likes of Barack Obama, Jared Leto, Hayley Williams, Chris Daughtry and Simon Pegg all use Twitter and update regularly and have thousands of fans who follow them religiously. Of course, the retention rate of Twitter is only 40 percent compared to the other social networking sites Facebook and Myspace.

Personally, I enjoy using Twitter. It might just be a phase but I like seeing what famous celebrities of this day and age are doing. It’s not stalking – I swear

Follow;
Simon Pegg:
http://twitter.com/simonpegg

Jared Leto:
http://twitter.com/jaredleto

Nick Frost:
http://twitter.com/nickjfrost

Chris Daughtry
http://twitter.com/CHRIS_Daughtry

Zachary Quinto
http://twitter.com/ZacharyQuinto

Pink (singer)
http://twitter.com/Pink

Stan Lee (Marvel Comics)
http://twitter.com/smilinStanLee

Katy Perry
http://twitter.com/KatyPerry

Barack Obama
http://twitter.com/BarackObama

PS: Be warned. Twitter can be prone to being over it’s capacitate.

Robyn Siddons
http://twitter.com/RobynSiddons

By now, you should be aware of sites like Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, Sonico, Twitter, MeetUp and of course YouTube.   And if you don’t is ok, don’t feel bad, I still have friends that work with computers that haven’t sign up to any of these sites.  After living in NYC for many years I moved back to my home town Washington, DC.   When I first arrived back in DC I try contacting some of my old friends but it took me a while until someone told me to go to MySpace.  I heard of MySpace but to be honest I didn’t really pay much attention to it.   But since I wanted to start doing comedy in DC and I needed to get in touch with all friends, I checked out MySpace and to my surprise I found many of my old friends having their own page.   I got super exited and starting searching for people and for the next couple of months MySpace was my everyday life.   In December 2007, I organized the first Latino Comedy Showcase in DC and I did all my promotion via the internet, sending emails and using MySpace.   Over 300 people attended my first show.   Soon people got to know about my comedy shows and Rice and Beans Entertainment, my own production company.  

2 years has passed since then and I am proud to say that I can organize any event and do the whole promotion online and get excellent results.   I have over 5 MySpace accounts, including one with a sexy girl showing her beautiful figure, you may ask why?  On my personal account it took me about 6 months to get over 400 friends, with the “Latinqts” account, I got over 1000 friend request within 2 weeks after its creation.   I have 2 Facebook accounts my personal with my real name and another one with my Stage name Ricky-Ricardo.   Just for fun I created 110% Latino Americano fan page, and within a week I have over 80 fans and most of them are young Latina women.   According to Facebook my 110% Latino Americano fan page, gets 4 stars out of 5 on content and respond for the information I post.  

I have been using the Internet for many years; I have used sites like craigslist.org to find jobs, to sell things and buy staff and even to get a date.   I am very familiar with Ebay, and YouTube.  I recently started blogging, mostly to promote my Social Networking Services.   But I have to admit, social media can change the way we do business, take for example Groupon.com a site that sells discount coupons, but it only works when many people buy the coupons, amazing idea based on thePoint.com, both very new companies.  Groupon started on November 2008, a year ago and so far they have save over 37 millions to consumers.  

But I started talking about Latinos and the internet, and let me tell you something, we are online, here in Washington DC, every club has a Latin Night, and most of them are promoting their events online.  Fliers and radio promotions help but some promoters have realized that they don’t need to spend money on radio or print ads.  They just pay a sexy girl to collect emails at their events and blast them with emails, they hired photographers to take pictures on post them online.  Everything is being done online and Latinos are on Facebook, MySpace, Meetup.com, Twitters and if you want to see the latest video about your favorite Bachata artist just go to YouTube and you will find it.  

What I don’t understand is how companies keep on using old methods to advertise when the internet can produce better and faster result for less.   The problem is that people don’t know how to do it.  

By now you should also realized that English is not my first language and I am not the best writer, I write the way I think and the way I talk, and I am sure my grammar is not good.  But one thing I know for sure is how to make money without money, how to use the Internet to put money on my pocket and I can help your company do the same.  

I have use the Internet to reach Latinos since I am one, and since I produce events to service the Latino Community, I am bilingual and I can post in both languages just check out 110% Latino Americano, and you will see.   So if you are looking to reach the Latino Market in DC or any other city, just let me know and I am sure I can come out with a plan, a goal and an Internet Marketing Solution for your company.     

Call me for a free consultation!! 202-367-5544

Ricardo O Villalba

Google this and you will find out more about me

DC Latino Comedy Show – Rice and Beans Ent. AKA RaBE

“The New Opportunities of the Internet”

Hello everyone and thank you for checking out my blog.  My name is Ricardo Villalba and I am the founder of Webplugin.biz.  A company I created to help small businesses take full advantage of the Internet.  I am not a rich person, and I mean that financially, I do consider myself a millionaire because of my wonderful family, but that’s another story.

I have been using the internet on and on for the last 7 years and I have seen the changes.  I am very thankful to craigslist.org, one of the best sites ever created.  I have made money using it and it didn’t cost me a penny, just time.

After 9/11, I relocated to New York City from Washington DC, and started working in Real Estate. And craigslist.org was the only site I used to post properties, for rent and sale.  Later on I started a small moving company and once again craigslist.org was the site to promote my services.  Since I am a graphic and web designer it was easy for me to post colorful ads with images, that would help me get ahead any competition.   But I was always looking for new methods to reach out to more audiences and expand my company and bring more revenues.   But with the economy slowing down, in 2005 I decided to go back to work for someone and moved back to the DC area.  But I never lost my entrepreneurial spirit.

Since 2006 I have been working as an Internet consultant, and a family and youth counselor. Presently I work at a substance abuse rehabilitation facility.  I share this, because I want you to understand that my true passion is to help people and see them succeed.   In 2006 I started Rice and Beans Entertainment, a company created to produce creative entertainment for the fast growing Latino market in Washington, DC.  Since I love comedy so much I started the DC Latino Comedy Showcase, in addition promoted music concerts, and other events.

To promote my events I always turned to the Internet and instead of using craigslist.org I started looking for other sites, since I had a different kind of product that I was trying to sell.  So I turned to sites like myspace.com, facebook.com, hi5.com and other social network sites.    Before Dell realized that they could make money in twitter I was already taking advantage of these sites.   Once again I was profiting from the Internet without spending a penny.  Eventually I did start spending some money, with per click ads on those social networking sites.  But the true and most important thing about these sites is the fact that you need to invest time.

Many business owners don’t have the time to spend online writing about their products or services or just to learn on how to take advantage of the Internet.  That is why I created WebPlugin.biz.  I have the experience and I have done my research, and I can still do some more research if necessary.  The internet once again is offering companies new opportunities to profit and grow.  Just having a site is not enough, is about driving traffic to your site but this time the internet can also offer you the opportunity to do this.  Before companies will promote their sites, on TV, and print ads.   Now you can do everything online.  Amazing hum?.   Just like this blog….  So if you are looking to expand your business, increase revenue, brand awareness, promote an event, sell a product, reach out to new clients, please feel free to contact me for a FREE CONSULTATION at 202-367-5544 or write me at webplugin.biz@gmail.com and or visit WebPlugin.biz.

Before I finish let me give credit to Lisa Irby from 2createawebsite.com, for her wonderful advices.  I learned about wordpress.com from her and she does have excellent advice if you are looking to do things yourself.

Thank you wordpress.com and thank you for reading my blog….

Sincerely,

Ricardo O Villalba

202-367-5544

Webplugin.biz

“Your Internet Consultant and Social Networking Specialist”

Pentru cei ce se întreabă care este starea actuală a comerţului electronic românesc, review-ul de la începutul galei a scos în evidenţă faptul că acest fenomen înregistrează o creştere anuală de 45% şi de ceva timp antrenează dezvoltarea de business-uri şi vânzarea lor sau infuziile de capital în acestea.

Conform Romcard, 75% din tranzacţiile efectuate online au fost făcute în sistem 3D Secure, concept cu care mulţi nu sunt familiarizaţi.

Comerţul electronic românesc este undeva sub ce bulgăresc sau unguresc, conform unui studiu Gemius Research, 1 din 5 români făcând cumpărături pe internet.

Nu o să mă lungesc cu prezentarea seminariilor sau a premiilor ci voi enumera doar câteva aspecte pe care le-am discutat cu un alt invitat, aspecte pe care vă invit să le dezbateţi în comentarii:

• Promovarea prin newsletter către adrese publice de e-mail văzută ca spam de la a doua tentativă încolo; platforme dedicate de promovare online (vezi nospam.ro – iniţiativa ar fi lăudabilă dacă platforma ar fi extrem de populară ca un site de ştiri sau ca o reţea socială);

• Fidelizarea cumpărătorilor în cadrul unui magazin virtual este una din problemele cu care se confruntă, în special, magazinele mici, foarte nişate;

• ID-ul unic de logare pe orice site de comerţ electronic poate părea o utopie, dar ar putea atrage mai mulţi cumpărători, aceştia nemaifiind nevoiţi să-şi creeze profile multiple la comercianţi diferiţi;

• Mare parte din e-suport-ul site-urilor de comerţ electronic din .ro lasă de dorit, problemă acoperită şi de dl. Liviu Taloi în prezentarea sa (vezi problemele cele mai frecvente cu care se pot confrunta site-urile de comerţ electronic). O soluţie ce poate reduce neplăcerile cauzate clienţilor este implementarea unor platforme de e-suport prin intermediul agenţilor virtuali, idee pe care am mai amintit-o cu varii ocazii;

• Web-ul semantic (concept menţionat şi în prezentarea lui Cristian Manafu) şi impactul acestuia asupra comerţului electronic: de la  Wolfram Alpha la cititorul de gânduri;

• Plata prin mobil (subiect acoperit de Antonio Eram în cadrul sesiunii de seminarii): avantaj pentru cumpărător, dezavantaj pentru comerciant (datorită duratei mari de procesare a tranzacţiei);

• Plăţi online cu carduri prepaid (ex. paysafecard).

Acestea fiind spuse, vă invit la dezbateri.

Mulţumesc d-lui Andrei Radu pentru invitaţia la Gala Premiilor în eCommerce.

• Jurnal de călătorie: castelele de pe Valea Rinului (2008)
• Info-chioşcuri: informaţii de interes administrativ şi turistic la dispoziţia cetăţeanului
• Unde găsim informaţii despre programele şi rutele operatorilor de transport persoane
• Ghid introductiv în turismul electronic: e-Rezervare
• StartUp-uri româneşti pe zona travel pentru piaţa internaţională
• Ghid introductiv în turismul electronic: plăţi electronice
• Jurnal de călătorie: Kuşadası, Turcia (2009)

Cu siguranţă! Din păcate, dacă într-adevăr pe aia o căutaţi, vă anunţ că n-aţi ajuns pe un site de bancuri, ci la un post de blog ce tratează cu totul alt subiect.

De ceva timp mă obsedează ideea de a avea un smart phone şi chiar eram la un pas de a mă arunca la un terminal ce conectează lumea, dar m-am răzgândit când am aflat cam cât ţine bateria.

Cu ceva timp în urmă, aparatul foto (un Canon Digital Ixus V3, la 3.2 megapixeli) a cedat şi nu mai vrea nici în ruptul capului să scoată imagini decente; le dă o tentă de roz, de parcă ar fi scanate de pe film. 3.2 megapixeli sunt mai mult decât suficienţi pentru un smart phone ca HTC Magic, ce ar putea înlocui vechiul aparat foto digital.

De multe ori aş fi vrut să fac filmuleţe prin locurile pe care le vizitez , dar cum nu întotdeauna luam aparatul foto după mine, rămâneam cu buza umflată şi mă ofticam mai rău ca Mircea Badea când era întrecut la trafic de Zoso . Ca să nu mai spun că de urcat imediat pe YT nici nu se mai punea problema.

Mai obişnuiesc să îmi dau cu părerea despre aplicaţii mobile ce îşi găsesc rostul în aria turismului electronic, mai mult bazându-mă pe review-urile altora decât pe experienţa mea, având în vedere faptul că telefoanele pe care le folosesc sunt de generaţie veche şi nu suportă astfel de aplicaţii. InfoCelula e frecţie la picior de lemn pe lângă facilităţile de localizare pe hartă a HTC Maps prin funcţia GPS şi Google Maps. Aplicaţia Travel, ce se găseşte pe Android Market, m-ar mai lumina în ceea ce priveşte aplicaţiile mobile pentru zona travel şi, probabil, aş găsi subiecte noi pentru www.gtd20.ro. Plus de asta, am la păstrare o grămadă de versiuni mobile ale unor site-uri pe care aş dori să navighez când mă plictisesc sau când am nevoie.

La fel ca mulţi alţi utilizatori ai serviciilor Google care au aflat de concursul organizat de Gadgeteer împreună cu Vodafone, îmi doresc un HTC Magic, îmi doresc o schimbare la nivel de tehnologie mobilă, îmi doresc să testez personal Android, sistemul de operare pentru zona mobile.

Şi când mă gândesc că e posibil să îmi schimb suportul de mobil …

Post scris pentru concursul “Imi doresc un HTC Magic”, organizat de Gadgeteer.ro si Vodafone Romania.

Want to watch a .wmv file in your browser? Need to know how your blog feels in Internet Explorer? Or what about those pesky ActiveX controls? Don’t worry, this post just may have solved all of your Firefox problems:

Continuing my series of “must needed Firefox add-ons,” today’s add-on is IE Tab, a powerful tool that allows users to open links in an embedded Internet Explorer tab right in Firefox. Yes, this means ActiveX controls as well as IE’s smooth scrolling will now be directly available on Firefox. You can even run a Windows Update via this add-on.

Douglass gives us the 411 about information on the Internet:

“So what happens is that because he’s talking to the American people so much, there are people out there with a computer and a lot of free time, and they take a phrase here and there — they simply cherry-pick and put it together, and make it sound like he’s saying something that he didn’t really say.”

SOURCE.

I find it fascinating how the Obama administration has time and time again elevated the amount of exposure to issues he should just disregard, like Limbaugh and Gates. He’s also called out the FNC on multiple occasions, and now that more and more people are voicing their opinions against Obamacare, apparently he’s going to send his administration to fight evil-doers on the Internet.

Today’s add-on is SiteLauncher:

A simple Firefox add-on that gives a highly convenient and clutter-free method to quickly open websites that you need often. One keyboard hotkey makes the “Launcher” panel instantly appear, followed by a single key press to jump to the site you wish to open

Meaning instead of re-typing websites like Google, Youtube, Gmail, or Twitter, you can simply create a keyboard shortcut to that URL (ALT + Shift + the shortcut’s assigned letter is default). You can also assign a hotkey (CTRL + Space Bar is default) to open a menu that appears over your browser. To the right is a screenshot of SiteLauncher in action.

Things are starting to get heated in what seems to be the wake of some heavy competition in the smartphone industry:

“Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board.”

SOURCE.

This just after the FCC’s investigation of Apple and AT&T after Google Voice Apps were rejected. GigaOM’s Om Malik raises a good point: Google is a growing company, and with lobbying power in Washington, Google could have silently initiated the FCC’s investigation. Is Jobs merely responding by dropping Google CEO Eric Shmidt off the board?

One can only assume.

To celebrate Firefox’s one billion download landmark, I’m going to write a series of posts for the next week dealing with “must needed” Firefox add-ons. Being a FF user who never really explored too many FF add-ons, the add-ons I post I will actually start using on a day-to-day basis. Hopefully by the end of the week I can manage to make browsing the internet a much more enjoyable experience.

Today I came across a neat little Twitter add-on called Power Twitter. This add-on works inside the Twitter website. Some features include: link shrinking; inlines of Youtube, Google Maps, Flickr, and more; Facebook status updates; and photo uploading. As you can see from the screen shot of Power Twitter in action at the right, each individual tweet is much more engaging and informative to the end user. You can check out all the features and download the add-on at Power Twitter’s add-on page.

One drawback is that some Twitter pages may load slower than others because the add-on will retrieve information from links posted in each tweet. For me, the load times weren’t too bad, but I’m running on a 25mb down /3 mb up connection (and I just noticed that I’m even downloading torrents at the moment).

Stay tuned throughout the week for more add-ons that I’m going to be using.

The Associated Press signed a deal in April with iCopyright, provider of the intelligent copyright system. Their plans include for anyone planning on reprinting an article or even 5 words of an article, the AP expects you to cough up $2.50 per word. That’s $12.50 per five words, and $100 for 251 words or more, meaning just about any reprint of an article will cost $100. But I guess educational and non-profit organizations get a discount. How gracious.

It’s understandable that the AP is uptight given the fact that social media is making ad revenue off of their content, however much said social media websites credit the AP. Still, not only will this idea not be popular, in my opinion this can only hurt the AP; in the end, they’re directly attacking sources of traffic for a system that will not work.

This feat has somehow stayed under the radar for me as I’ve just caught wind of this today. Apparently a few days ago (the night of July 30th), Firefox hit one billion downloads. While obviously this doesn’t constitute as one billion users actively using the program, the Digital Daily explains it best:

As Mozilla CEO John Lilly told me this morning, “It’s a billion votes–a billion intentional decisions–for people to take control of how they interact with the Web. We–the whole Mozilla community, really–are really proud to have been part of building a product that’s been downloaded so many times, but more importantly, we’re all proud to have helped people take more control over their online lives by making intentional decisions.”

SOURCE

Also check out Firefox’s nifty One Billion + You website.

Lately I’ve been enjoying some of my favorite TV programs through Justin.tv, a live stream community. Anyone on the site is able to stream whatever video they want straight from their desktop to hundreds if not thousands of viewers. So, I’m sure you’re wondering – how is this legal?

According to Wikipedia, “Justin.tv argues that it is similar to a person walking around with a camera on his head but facing your television screen.” And so under current laws, Justin.tv’s existance is legal. Regardless, if someone reports streams broadcasting content owned by another individual or corporation, Justin.tv is obligated to shut down the stream and suspend or ban the account.

Thankfully most people aren’t a-holes and, I don’t know, actually like coming together from all over the world to enjoy the same experiences. I would surmise that at least 75% of the channels on Justin.tv stream content is “bootlegged” to hundreds if not thousands of viewers.

I’ll start to worry when Youtube users start getting prosecuted in droves.

… în primul rând job-ul. În al doilea rând, printre picături, noul blog nişat pe turism electronic şi arii conexe, că tot se vorbeşte acum de bloguri nişate.

Iată ce puteţi citi pe noul blog …

Cum să faci fotografii de călătorie mai reuşite

Addons şi aplicaţii mobile pentru organizarea vacanţelor

Planificator de rută de la RATB

Google City Tours

O tură de aventură, varianta autostopul

… mai mult …

Îl puteţi accesa la adresa www.gtd20.ro şi vă puteţia abona la noul feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/gtd20

Acesta este şi motivul pentru care n-am mai scris nimic pe blogul aici de faţă.

Drept urmare, profit de ocazie să recomand câteva articole de pe noul blog:

• metropedia.ro
• Video ghid turistic
• Jurnal de călătorie: Frankfurt (2008)
• GIS, tururi virtuale şi alte resurse
• Staţiunea Mamaia: promovare interactivă la 360°

Orice sugestii sunt binevenite. Folisiţi pagina Despre blog pentru sugestii