How To Use The Internet

If you came across a book with that title, would you read it? In May of 1994, computer-book publisher Ziff-Davis Press released Mark Butler’s How to Use the Internet. Have you ever heard of it or seen it in the stores? This was way before the time of website development and apps. Here are some of the things that you can find in the book. We have certainly come a long way:

Joining mailing lists: “Although it is polite to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to a human, do not include these words in the messages you send to a listserv. They may confuse the machine.”

Newsgroups: “Remember, a news reader is a program that enables you to read your news.”

Online etiquette: “Flaming is generally frowned upon because it generates lots of articles that very few people want to read and wastes Usenet resources.”

“Surfing” the Internet: “Surfing the Internet is a lot like channel surfing on your cable television. You have no idea what is on or even what you want to watch.”

Searching the Internet: “If a particular search yields a null result set, check carefully for typing errors in your search text. The computer will not correct your spelling, and transposed letters can be difficult to spot.”

Apple Store Brawls

How bad do you want that new iPhone? The Los Angeles Times is reporting that arrests have been made after two men began fighting while in line outside an Apple store in Pasadena. Police also told the paper about a second fight breaking out between a man and some people the man had paid to stand in line for him. Those people claimed the man didn’t pay them enough to stand in line for the phones. Would you pay someone to stand in line for you for a phone? The new iPhone was not all it was cracked up to be to be honest. As far as the different phone services go, it was about a big a let down as when the 4S came out. I do have to admit that the operating system is by far one of the best to use but it still comes down to what exactly you are going to use it for. In short, hope that phone was worth the scuffle.

Tech Companies and Big Issues

It seems to me that tech companies are not really out to solve the big problems in the world, they just want to get the smaller ones out of the way and move on. This is with the exception of internet phone services because it has reaches that have yet to be seen. When communication services become that much more affordable, it is easy to see it as a solution to one of the biggest problems. This idea was highlighted by how the CEO of Facebook and other large companies have been pushing for internet access in remote places. Anyone who does not live under a rock has heard the quote, "With great power comes great responsibility." There is an imbalance in tech companies and therein lies the problem. Power without responsibility corrupts. The leaders of tomorrow are the young college graduates that need to not just learn how to create the innovative technology but the extent of their responsibilities with that type of power.

Bring Back Those Days

"Those were the days." A common phase among people that are out in the real world. Being a kid meant having summer vacations where you had about 90 days of freedom to invent and create without getting smack for coloring outside the lines, and suddenly losing summer feels like losing an arm in a battle you don't remember having. Until the day you die, you're going to have phantom twinges of hope for a three-month holiday that is never ever coming. We can bring it back; in fact summer vacation happens every night. The fun of summer was that you were free from the routine that someone else invented for you. So one of the things that you can do is learn a new skill or take up a new hobby such as application development or learning a new language. Fun fact: doing new things releases dopamine in the brain which can dramatically increase your mood and your overall outlook on life. Get out there and have summer vacation every night.

Coffee: In the News Again

Doesn't it seem like every month there is a different article touting the benefits of coffee and then directly followed by one that says it is bad? Compounds native to the coffee bean include antioxidants that have been linked to a lower risk of skin cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and diabetes. The latest, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, studied health records of 45,000 people who reported their coffee-drinking habits and concluded that younger people under age 55 who drank more than 28 cups a week were 21% more likely to die prematurely during the 17 year study than those who drank less. So is that morning cup of coffee a health-booster or a health hazard? That answer depends on how the studies that examine this question are designed, and by extension, the type of coffee in question — as well as who is doing the drinking. Unlike the latest analysis above, some studies in the past did not adjust for factors other than coffee that could affect outcomes like mortality, cancer rates or cognitive measures. To complicate matters even more, these effects can greatly vary from person to person. Plus, our bodies tend to adapt to the various components in coffee, including caffeine, so each individual’s response to it may even change over time.

Cloud Telephony

We have all heard that IP telephony can really improve a business but do you the actual benefits? One of the main advantages of internet phones is the simplicity that they offer which can be a huge relief when you consider just how many different ways we have to communicate. Cloud telephony requires no on-site equipment. That means you don’t have a PBX box taking up space in a closet, or thousands of feet of copper wiring in your walls or cable ducts. In addition to being simple, it is also more mobile. In a world where work never really stays at work, it is good to be able to use any device to access your documents. Cloud telephony products’ simple, flexible design greatly streamline phone system management. And the less time spent managing your phones, the more time you have to do value-adding work. Cloud phone service enables you to focus on what really matters

Smartphone Plans

How much do you pay a month for your cell phone service plan that includes a smartphone? Even though that phone is wonderful when it comes to using the different VoIP systems, you are still probably shelling out a good bit on the bill. But good news: Facing stiff competition from budget carriers, all of the major networks recently began offering cheaper “prepaid” plans – which could save you a ton of money. Instead of entering a two-year contract, a “prepaid plan” enables you to pay monthly, without a commitment to stay with a particular service provider. These no-contract, prepaid phone plans used to be just for dumb-phones, the ones that did not really do anything. So here are the amazing deals:

• If you’re a heavy talk and data user, the best plan is on Sprint’s network through Boost Mobile: $50/month for 2.5 GB of data. (Compare this to Verizon and AT&T’s plans – $60/month for 2 GB.) Better yet, if you make six, monthly, on-time payments in a row, Boost will knock $5 off your monthly bill every month thereafter. They’ll reduce your bill again at 12 months, and again at 18 months, so that after a year and a half you could be paying as little as $35/month – if you haven’t switched plans by then.

• If you don’t talk much but use a lot of web access (say, you’re a teenager), Virgin Mobile has a $35/month for 300 minutes of talk – and unlimited text and data.

• If you use a moderate amount of data but want unlimited talk and text, T-Mobile offers unlimited talk and text, plus 500 MB of data for $50/month.

• The cheapest deal I’ve recently seen form the big carriers: If you dig down deep on T-Mobile’s prepaid plan page, you’ll find a plan with only 100 minutes of talk, but unlimited text and data for – get this – $30 a month.