Monday, July 30, 2007
Youtube will add anti piracy facilities to protect it from showing commercial material.
It could mean no more Stephen Colbert and John Stewart clips after the landmark Viacom V Google case will see the internet search engine giant introduce a commercial content filter Google says the new filter will be up and running the end of the year of the year.
Unfortunately, unless you have Pay TV the only way here in Australian you would have seen Stephen Colbert is on youtube so Viacom could be cutting their nose of a little bit.
Unfortunately, unless you have Pay TV the only way here in Australian you would have seen Stephen Colbert is on youtube so Viacom could be cutting their nose of a little bit.
Myspace takes a few pointers from FaceBook
Myspace has become polluted by spammers and in attempt to stop bulletins about almost anything being posted. Myspace removed their entire bulletin database recently and then set up additional security protocols. To post a bulletin now you have to type in a special code displayed on the screen hidden in a graphic, if it matches the graphic your allowed to publish your post. However, FACEBOOK has additional security features that myspace is still lacking FACEBOOK makes the go through this same security procedure to post on walls and request friends to join your friend list. It also keeps all details private users until the user becomes friends with someone or joins a special network of people who have something in common.
The most watched piece of video on the internet
What is it , well your going to love this it’s a segment called the Dramatic Chipmunk which you can see on youtube, in one month it has been viewed by the massive number of 2,153,889 internet users. People can see the Dramatic Chipmunk at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw or just by searching Dramatic Chipmunk at youtube.com you can also see the creativity of some other people that have put the chipmunk into other scenes such as James Bond, The Thing and a 1935 Western
People still cranky Telstra for selling non compatible Vista Hardware – NextG Modem
People wanting to use the Telstra Next G network for broadband who are using the Microsoft Operating System Vista have been extremely frustrated as the modem and the software just simply won’t work together. That is up until now.
Whilst the actual Telstra software still is incompatible with Vista and won’t allow you to connect to the Next G network, the new modem drivers that the manufacturer has made allows the user to connect via a manual connection so there is some light at the end of the broadband tunnel. Due to customer demand the manufacturer, a company called maxom created a work around for customers to use the Next G Network with windows Vista. You can download instructions and the new drivers for the Telstra Next G Turbo Modem at http://www.maxon.com.au/udocuments/minimax-guide-for-vista.pdf
Whilst the actual Telstra software still is incompatible with Vista and won’t allow you to connect to the Next G network, the new modem drivers that the manufacturer has made allows the user to connect via a manual connection so there is some light at the end of the broadband tunnel. Due to customer demand the manufacturer, a company called maxom created a work around for customers to use the Next G Network with windows Vista. You can download instructions and the new drivers for the Telstra Next G Turbo Modem at http://www.maxon.com.au/udocuments/minimax-guide-for-vista.pdf
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Instant messaging invades the office
Many businesses are starting to embrace the instant messaging technologies to hopefully speed up inter office communications. However, by introducing IM into office there are probably several draw backs.
The biggest concern is that it will reduce the number of times people get up and walk around the office as they can instantly communicate with co-workers via the computer. Its more effective than email as with email you often do not get an instant response and with IM you can see if the person you need to talk to is at their desk as the program shows the persons status. But one of the biggest business issues is that often what is sent around on an instant messaging program is not committed to company records. So a an operational command should not be given over instant messaging. Companies are creating their own versions of instant messaging software. The good thing about instant messaging is it allows companies with interspersed staff across many geographical locations to work in a virtual office or indeed work from home and still be instant contact with others in the office via IM and the features it brings like VIOP and Video conferencing.
The biggest concern is that it will reduce the number of times people get up and walk around the office as they can instantly communicate with co-workers via the computer. Its more effective than email as with email you often do not get an instant response and with IM you can see if the person you need to talk to is at their desk as the program shows the persons status. But one of the biggest business issues is that often what is sent around on an instant messaging program is not committed to company records. So a an operational command should not be given over instant messaging. Companies are creating their own versions of instant messaging software. The good thing about instant messaging is it allows companies with interspersed staff across many geographical locations to work in a virtual office or indeed work from home and still be instant contact with others in the office via IM and the features it brings like VIOP and Video conferencing.
Sim cards and the ease of buying them
Recently since the current the latest terrorism attack in the UK, Australian Law enforcements authorites are expressing concern on how easy it to purchase a prepaid sim card. The concerns are that Pre-paid sim cards tend to involved in numerous crimes, from cyber bullying, harassment, right through to communication for the organization of felonies and of course terrorism. The problem is that a mobile phone prepaid simcard cannot be tracked as easily as someone on a plan can be.
So What is a SIM Card, well it stands for Subscriber Identity Module. It is a portable memory chip used in some models of cellular telephones. The SIM card makes it easy to switch to a new phone by simply sliding the SIM out of the old phone and into the new one. The SIM holds personal identity information, cell phone number, phone book, text messages and other data. It can be thought of as a mini hard disk that automatically activates the phone into which it is inserted.
In NSW when purchasing a mobile phone simcard you already have to present a photo ID and that information is recorded, however, a ramp up of the amount of ID you need to provide is coming. Under the new arrangements, Mobile phone SIM card buyers would have to a passport or birth certificate - the same "100-point" identity check required to open a bank account. State and territory police have proposed the move following discussions at the federal inquiry into the future impact of serious organized crime on Australian society.
My View: With cyber harassment and via sms and phone calls coming from these prepaid phones most of the time, I think perhaps we should have a reverse telephone directory that members of the public can look up so if they receive a phone call they can find out exactly who it is. If people don’t want to be on the directory then they should go onto a plan.
So What is a SIM Card, well it stands for Subscriber Identity Module. It is a portable memory chip used in some models of cellular telephones. The SIM card makes it easy to switch to a new phone by simply sliding the SIM out of the old phone and into the new one. The SIM holds personal identity information, cell phone number, phone book, text messages and other data. It can be thought of as a mini hard disk that automatically activates the phone into which it is inserted.
In NSW when purchasing a mobile phone simcard you already have to present a photo ID and that information is recorded, however, a ramp up of the amount of ID you need to provide is coming. Under the new arrangements, Mobile phone SIM card buyers would have to a passport or birth certificate - the same "100-point" identity check required to open a bank account. State and territory police have proposed the move following discussions at the federal inquiry into the future impact of serious organized crime on Australian society.
My View: With cyber harassment and via sms and phone calls coming from these prepaid phones most of the time, I think perhaps we should have a reverse telephone directory that members of the public can look up so if they receive a phone call they can find out exactly who it is. If people don’t want to be on the directory then they should go onto a plan.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Our politicians are courting the myspace and facebook generation
Both the current commonwealth government and opposition have myspace websites to encourage the younger or the more net switched on generation to join the voting revolution. Whilst in Australia voting is compulsory in America its not and politicians have to push the proverbial leaky barrel up a hill to get voters inspired enough to come out and vote on polling day so staying connected to a new batch of voters is very important and web based campaigning is becoming important for all politicians around the world.
In Australia, just like the USA the web is used as tool for political announcements, speech replays and the biggest use of websites now is attracting political donations.
In Australia, just like the USA the web is used as tool for political announcements, speech replays and the biggest use of websites now is attracting political donations.
Pop goes the laptop as Toshiba recalls 10,000 alptop batteries made by Sony.
Pop goes the laptop as Toshiba recalls 10,000 alptop batteries made by Sony.
Sony is again recalling laptop batteries as after one of its customers, Toshiba, recalled 10,000 laptop battery packs. Toshiba says that the batteries are a fire risk after three of its laptops made on December 3, 2005 caught fire in the last 10 months.
According to the company its thought only 5,100 units of the 10,000 packs are potentially thought to be a danger but the laptop manufacturer Toshiba has decided it is better to be safe side. Toshiba has a good name in the IT community and appears to be making this step to protect such in the future, this type of action is always appreciated by consumers.
During the last 12 months Sony recalled 9.6 million suspect PC batteries as their was a suspected risk that they could catch fire from overheating. It is said to have cost Sony $418 million but this latest recall should not make a financial dent.
Sony is again recalling laptop batteries as after one of its customers, Toshiba, recalled 10,000 laptop battery packs. Toshiba says that the batteries are a fire risk after three of its laptops made on December 3, 2005 caught fire in the last 10 months.
According to the company its thought only 5,100 units of the 10,000 packs are potentially thought to be a danger but the laptop manufacturer Toshiba has decided it is better to be safe side. Toshiba has a good name in the IT community and appears to be making this step to protect such in the future, this type of action is always appreciated by consumers.
During the last 12 months Sony recalled 9.6 million suspect PC batteries as their was a suspected risk that they could catch fire from overheating. It is said to have cost Sony $418 million but this latest recall should not make a financial dent.
Outlook express woes
A listener Karen emailed me with an outlook express problem, her problem would seem to be a very simple one where her antivirus program is possibly attaching a text file report. But email seems to be one of the biggest complaints of problems with any internet user. These days its so vital and we need to make sure it works.
Outlook express is the mostly used internet email reader in the world, mainly because its preinstalled along with Windows XP. It successor Windows Mail will of course carry on the tradition.
One of the biggest frustrations for users of both these programs is the failure of the program to download big emails at times, these are emails with attachments of large sizes. This usually occurs with customers on dial up or broadband speeds of less than 1.5mb or wireless internet customers where packet loss can occur.
The problem: outlook express downloads all emails and then sends the command to server to delete the directory of emails on the server once they are all collected. However, a lot of other email programs actually delete the emails of the server 1 at a time, these are slower but fail to suffer from the same problem as outlook express.
The cure or remedy: Primarily the best solution to research a better email client, I always recommend thunderbird or any of the open source products like Eudora. However, senders of email need to understand that if they send emails of over about 1 megabyte they could cause serious grief to the receiver.
Outlook express is the mostly used internet email reader in the world, mainly because its preinstalled along with Windows XP. It successor Windows Mail will of course carry on the tradition.
One of the biggest frustrations for users of both these programs is the failure of the program to download big emails at times, these are emails with attachments of large sizes. This usually occurs with customers on dial up or broadband speeds of less than 1.5mb or wireless internet customers where packet loss can occur.
The problem: outlook express downloads all emails and then sends the command to server to delete the directory of emails on the server once they are all collected. However, a lot of other email programs actually delete the emails of the server 1 at a time, these are slower but fail to suffer from the same problem as outlook express.
The cure or remedy: Primarily the best solution to research a better email client, I always recommend thunderbird or any of the open source products like Eudora. However, senders of email need to understand that if they send emails of over about 1 megabyte they could cause serious grief to the receiver.
