Archive for July, 2009

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Bring Your Own Inflight Entertainment

Friday, July 31st, 2009

In some of our earlier posts, we mentioned the growing availability of Wi-Fi while on a flight, and even using Skype from the air. Now Reuters is suggesting it may be more economical for airlines to cancel their in-flight entertainment systems and just let people bring their own and connect to whatever they like. As one blogger for Yahoo’s Tech Blog  puts it, “Putting a video screen into every seat on a plane costs millions and requires a lot of maintenance. And if no one’s going to use it, well, what’s the point?”

The same blog mentions that, “Virgin America’s system, which offers live TV, tons of on-demand movies, and the ability to order food, is second to none among domestic carriers. On Virgin flights, these systems are regularly and widely used by virtually everyone on the plane.”  Having just enjoyed a flight on Virgin America, I can attest to my joy at being able to sample new music with the touch of a touch screen. Wi-Fi was available, but there was a fee, so I opted for what they offered for free.  I was disappointed when the plane landed and they expected me to leave.

If high-speed internet was available on all planes, and there were power outlets and USB ports to keep our devices powered, many of us may be quite happy to travel the world with internet speed. But I don’t think it should be a choice between the two, rather airlines need to streamline their offerings to offer an array of free entertainment and pay options to meet the demands of all different types of travelers.

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Twittering Away at the White House

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Last week, cyberspace was all a-Twitter about the idea that Twitter, the real-time short messaging service, was banned at the White House.  Read Write Web said that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs casually mentioned on CNN that Twitter was blocked on official White House computers and that “[s]ome cynics will say this is great news, that taxpayer money isn’t being wasted on using Twitter on White House time.” But they also argued for the  importance of social networking in this day and age of internet speed, especially to the Obama administration, whose presence in the White House can be largely attributed to their shrewd use of new media. 

But a few days later, TechCrunch explained that there isn’t actually a blanket ban on Twitter from the White House. Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told the press that for reasons of security and record keeping, Twitter is blocked from some computers, but posts can be made via HootSuite and staff members are allowed to tweet from their own devices. Official White House tweets are handled by the new media team, while President Obama’s account is apparently handled by the Democratic National Committee.

Then TechCrunch divulged that the White House wants us to know that it likes Twitter, and that the Deputy Press Secretary has a good sense of humor and seems to have a good grasp on the medium, having said “I have an account that I follow on my personal blackberry but I don’t actually twitter myself. It’s more to keep track of what Diddy and Perez Hilton are up to all day.”

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YouTube and Ukeleles

Monday, July 27th, 2009

We all know that YouTube can have a big impact with the instantaneous nature of internet speed, but who knew it could revive the sales of the tiny Hawaiian guitars known as ukeleles? (Pronounced “you-kuh-lay-lays”). It’s not just YouTube that’s causing the sudden popularity, but the internet in general, including websites and applications for smart phones. 

The L.A. Times tech blog ran a story called “Ukeleles Have Gone Viral” which was such a strange combination of words we had to check it out. They explain that while ukuleles were hot in the 1920s and again in the 1950s, it was only after the passing of Beatle George Harrison in 2001 that the instrument became popular once again. It seems Harrison was well-known in the uke world, but when Paul McCartney played the ukelele in George’s 2002 tribute concert, the world reawakened to the small stringed instrument.

On YouTube, Jake Shimabukuro became a huge hit with more than 3 million hits, playing Harrison’s “My Guitar Gently Weeps” which has been on YouTube since 2006. It’s earned him tours with Jimmy Buffett, a recording session with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and various television appearances. Then over the last two years, singer-songwriter Julia Nunes has performed many of her own uke compositions on YouTube videos, and her online stardom got her invited to last month’s Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee. And you don’t want to miss the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain–eight men in tuxedos performing hits like Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “Killing Me Softly With His Song”, “Hotel California”, or “I Will Survive”. Only in cyberspace can the popularity of a relatively obscure instrument spread with viral internet speed.

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Internet Addiction Need Not Be Shocking

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Following up on our earlier post about internet usage in China, we have this story, passed our way by The Internet Innovation Alliance.  It seems that internet addiction is also growing in China, with many of their 300 million internet users being adolescents who spend several hours each day playing computer games.

It seems it’s a problem in Japan and Korea too. In fact, the Mainchi Daily News reports that “in South Korea — an Internet gaming powerhouse, where one gamer died after playing online for 86 hours straight — the growing gaming problem is being addressed nationally.”

In the US, Lavasoft says as of December 2008 online gaming site usage had grown to 86 million visitors. But like any addicts, they can join a 12 Step Program or get therapy.

In contrast, the reaction in China may be a bit extreme. They turned to electric shock treatments to cure youngsters of their internet addiction. They’ve stopped now though, after the media alerted the Health Ministry. China Daily reported last month that more than 3,000 young people were tricked or forced into a four-month long course, in which parents or guardians signed a contract giving permission to use electric shocks of up to 200 milliamperes. A website on electrical safety says that ventricular fibrillation occurs at 200 mA, and can cause a person severe burns, and severe muscular contractions that cause chest muscles to clamp down on the heart and stop it for the duration of the shock.

The shocks weren’t given as therapy as much as punishment if patients broke any of the center’s 86 rules, which included prohibitions on eating chocolate, and locking the bathroom door. These details first became public when former patients wrote about their experiences…online…and the news spread with internet speed.

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Hackers, Bloggers and YOU

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

It’s a bit of corporate espionage mixed with questions of  journalistic ethics, maybe a great way for a few companies to gain free publicity, and it holds a good lesson about security for us all. 

According to the New York Times BITS blog, Twitter has kept fairly quiet about their business plans as the world watched them become increasingly more popular. But recently, a hacker got access to confidential contracts, employee information and credit card numbers (eek!), office floor plans and security codes, and then sent at least some of the info to the industry blog TechCrunch, and another in France.  Twitter users information wasn’t compromised though, which is good for business.

Hackers used to be just thieves, but now they’ve branched out to become the tabloid reporters of cyberspace, violating privacy and common decency for a juicy story with internet speed.  These days, public figures whose personal info is fairly well known are targets. Like last September, when a hacker got into  Sarah Palin’s Yahoo e-mail account when she was running for vice president, by using her birthday and ZIP code and correctly answering the security question about where she met her spouse. Her personal e-mail messages were then published by the gossip site Gawker.

Blogs, because they generally aren’t governed by the same financial considerations as mainstream publications, aren’t held to their advertisers code of ethics. Journalists used to have a code, but it seems to have seriously degraded since the time when reporters didn’t mention President Roosevelt was in a wheelchair. 

What does this mean for you?  It means to take your personal security seriously. Because these hackers didn’t get past any high-tech security measures, they just correctly guessed the answers the personal questions that some sites use. And once they’re in, they can use your personal info with internet speed.

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Internet Speed is SO not Just for Computers Anymore

Monday, July 20th, 2009

First the internet was available on your cell phone, then, not long ago we talked about how Amazon’s Kindle lets you download books and read them without a computer. Now internet speed works for us again, this time for sending photos directly to a digital picture frame. 

This is especially great for people who aren’t very computer or internet savvy and might not be able to easily view or enjoy e-mailed photos. With the Ceiva digital picture frame, we tech-savvy types can send our pics through cyberspace and right into their picture frame. Only a little bit of setup is required–connecting the phone cord, plugging in the power cord, and pushing a button.

Once that’s done, the frame automatically checks for new pictures each night, and then retrieves them so that in the morning, new pictures are visible. CEIVA frames can receive up to 50 new photos daily over a traditional phone line, or deliver 50 new photos every hour over a broadband or wireless connection—that is, if someone is sending that many.

And although there is a website, ceiva.com, that does require a computer to upload and organize photos into albums, that’s not necessary either, if you use the CEIVAMobile feature with a camera phone.  Or if you use the built-in memory card reader, which supports the most popular memory cards in use today.   

The frame also includes an adapter to connect to a home network via a Wi-Fi connection, if you want to place the frame someplace away from a phone jack.

We don’t want to encourage people to work longer hours in the hopes that their spouse will send pictures of their child’s events that they missed, but it could be a great way to send a guilt-trip with internet speed!

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U.S. May Lag Behind China in Internet Usage

Friday, July 17th, 2009

PC World magazine reported today that China has more internet users than the U.S. has people. They also say that more Chinese than ever before are embracing e-commerce, and accessing the web via mobile phones.  Let’s look at the stats:

China reportedly had 338 million Internet users at the end of last month. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the United States, projected to 07/17/09 at 10:20 GMT (EST+5) was 306,934,130.  So that part seems correct.

China’s population is currently 1,334,780,084, or 1.3 billion, according to the China Population Information and Research Center. So that means that their internet users are only about 25% of their population.

But according to Nielsen, the U.S. has 234,275,000 Internet users as of June 2009, which is about 76% of the population, so maybe the U.S. isn’t lagging behind after all.

Where they have us, as many nations do, is in broadband penetration. PC World reports that nearly all Chinese Internet users have broadband. But as you probably know, the United States, the country where the Internet was invented, is ranked 15th (or below, as we reported in an earlier post) in the world in high-speed Internet penetration.

Of course, we shouldn’t feel too bad. The Chinese also are ahead of the U.S. in the number of malware and other security problems. PC World reports that over 100 million Chinese people had their passwords or account numbers stolen this year, and almost twice as many experienced virus or trojan attacks, it said.

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Good Versus Evil Wi-Fi

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Yahoo’s Tech Blog has a good reminder for those who are traveling over the summer, “Beware the phony Wi-Fi hotspot”. 

You might want to wait until you’re at home to do things like give credit card numbers online or other personal information, because it’s quite possible you’re using a Wi-Fi hotspot set up by a hacker, who can steal your information with internet speed. 

According to Yahoo and Fox News these networks called “Evil Twins” have already become rather commonplace, causing the creation of the term “vacation hacking”, which is apparently the newest trend in the world of cyber fraud.

Here are some more cool terms: “white hat” and “black hat” hackers. We’re sure you can tell which are the good guys.  In 2008, a Silicon Valley company called AirTight Networks went to airports around the world with white hats to see how big the problem was and foil unsuspecting black hatters.

After checking  27 airports, (20 in the U.S., five in Asia and two in Europe),  AirTight found it was a pervasive problem, with people using insecure Wi-Fi to check their e-mail, do their banking, or even buy stock. These are generally not the type of thing you ought to be doing on public Wi-Fi,  unless of course, you don’t care if you’re sharing your personal information with those who might use it for evil.

So, to align yourself on the side of good, be sure to:

• save important documents for secure and private networks,
• use official access keys provided by the hotel, airport or other location,
• keep your security software current and active,
• always assume Wi-Fi connections are being eavesdropped upon and never enter Social Security numbers, bank account information, etc. when using an unknown Wi-Fi network.

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Being MySpace in a Facebook World

Monday, July 13th, 2009

It was reported last week that social networking site MySpace would be shifting its focus more toward entertainment. Once the dominate social network, Facebook now outdoes MySpace in almost every important way. Though advertising via social networking sites has declined overall, it has increased at Facebook, making them money when MySpace had to cut its staff by 30 percent last month.

So MySpace is reshaping itself, and will soon offer their users entertainment and related information, though no details have yet been given about what this new entertainment focus would include. Luckily, MySpace is already heavily geared towards entertainment since their owner, News Corp, helped create MySpace Music in a joint venture with the four largest record labels. The service is not quite a year old and is still searching to find its footing, but it’s certainly well stocked with music. And since they’ve allowed users to upload their own video clips, the user-generated video angle is covered. If they want to offer movies and/or TV shows, MySpace could conceivably do more with Hulu, the successful video portal that News Corp. started with NBC Universal.

The New York Times BITS Blog recently looked at the ways in which Hulu has succeeded where others have failed. MySpace could certainly benefit from a greater connection with it’s more successful sibling. But it seems like Hulu might have a better handle on how people use high-speed internet, and what they want from it. If MySpace could give people what they want the way Hulu does, there might be hope for its future in entertainment.

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Read Books Anywhere with Internet Speed

Friday, July 10th, 2009

You may have heard of Kindle, Amazon.com’s digital device that allows you to download and read books. It may not exactly be with internet speed, since it utilizes Sprint’s 3G network to download the files. But as phones and computers become more alike, it’s not much of a difference as far as downloading files goes.

Amazon promises that their 3G wireless connection lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; with no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots. You can get entire books delivered in less than 60 seconds, straight to the device–no computer required. It probably takes longer than that to plunk down a book on a bookstore sales counter, have it rung up and pay for it. That’s even faster than real-time! 

Kindle’s memory can hold over 1,500 books, so you can carry your entire library with you and access them on a whim. They even have a new text-to-speech feature, allowing Kindle to read out loud to you, (unless the book’s rights holder made the feature unavailable). Because it’s lighter than most paperback books at 10.2 ounces, these features make it easy to enjoy a book anywhere, even if your hand is injured somehow, your eyesight is bad, or you’re sick in bed. That’s for the 6” model. There’s a 9-1/2” model too, the Kindle DX, geared for larger periodicals and textbooks.

Yahoo’s Tech Blog tells us, “Amazon has not disclosed Kindle sales figures, and the publishing industry has said e-books account for less than 1 percent of book sales. But it is a fast-growing, competitive segment. Customers can wirelessly download books to the Kindle, with new releases often as inexpensive as $10.”

Other perks include the option to download and read a book’s first chapters for free before you decide to buy, and a choice of over 300,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available.

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