Internet searching has grown from a modest free service to an extremely profitable industry. Designated as the very first web search engine, W3Catalog started in late 1993 and retired in 1996. It was a simple collection of indexes copied from a few dozen web sites. By comparison, Google Search currently performs 100 billion searches each month (88% of all searches done) on over 30 trillion web pages written in 123 languages. This dominance was the leading factor providing Google more than $66,000,000,000 in revenues last year – over 95% of said revenues are from search and web page advertising.
Too Much of Anything…
We all anticipated that technology would make our lives easier. Computers are modern marvels that have increased the pace and productivity of work, but the human body is not designed to be sedentary. Prolonged hours of sitting and working in front of a computer screen can increase eye strain, stiffness in joints and muscles, indigestion and weight gain. Older computer users are even more susceptible to computer associated difficulties.
Online Storage – Bane or Blessing?
A number of celebrities were recently embarrassed by the unauthorized sharing of personal and private photographs. Information they thought had been securely saved in an online storage account became front page news. Initial reports suggest a sustained, targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions for iCloud accounts were the root cause.
What’s Hot?
Christmas shoppers have seemingly endless choices in personal electronics gadgets this year.
Smartphones are the hottest products of all, outselling all other computer forms combined by a substantial margin. Credit Suisse estimates that annual global smartphones sales will surpass 1 billion units in 2014. While the iPhone is a consistent media darling, Android phone sales command 84% of the market – and still continue to rise. Samsung alone outsells Apple by a better than 2:1 rate. Android smartphones generally offer lower prices and fewer features, but the soon to be introduced Samsung Galaxy Alpha is expected to provide serious competition with the iPhone 6 at the high end of the market.
IoT: The Internet of Things
A tech oriented vision of the future is rapidly becoming reality. Alarm clocks can turn on your coffee pot and adjust the thermostat. Your doorbell can notify you at work via your cellphone and send you an image of the plumber ready to work on your plugged drains so that you can remotely open the door for him. Production line factory machines can order more materials or request maintenance automatically. Tiny devices monitor medical conditions and remotely report to medical practitioners. The notion of a network of smart devices has been discussed since at least 1991. Kevin Ashton, working in a MIT research consortium, proposed the term “Internet of Things” in 1999 to describe a system “where the Internet is connected to the physical world via ubiquitous sensors.”
Net Neutrality
Since the earliest days of the Internet, when just a few universities exchanged data at a leisurely pace, nearly all network transmission has been treated equally, no matter what it was, who sent it, or where it was going (other than spam and malware). That’s the nutshell version of net neutrality. “Network neutrality” is sometimes called “Internet freedom” or “Internet openness” and has been a gentleman’s agreement that would prevent cable and phone companies from slowing or blocking some websites while providing special priority to others. As the Internet has expanded, now encompassing email, the World Wide Web, social networking and voice and video services, it has honored that modus operandi. All the content on the Internet was treated equally… until this year.
Laissez les bons temps rouler! Computer Curmudgeon 2/2010
Mardi Gras, where the good times roll freely, is February 16 this year. Experienced New Orleans visitors quickly become familiar with the Cajun version of Carnival and the custom of lagniappe – the “little something extra” like the trinkets tossed to the crowds attending the parades or the extra beignet tucked in your bag at the bakery.
A little internet searching will provide you with a bounty of lagniappe in the form of abundant free, useful software from a wide variety of sources. A simple Google search for “free software” yields 265,000,000 matches. The sources below are ones I regard as reliable and which I use and recommend frequently. Continue reading
New Year’s Computer Resolutions!Computer Curmudgeon 1/2010
It’s Not Too Late for New Year’s Computer Resolutions!
Each year about 45% of adults set one or more personal goals; a quarter of those pledges are broken within the first week. Here are a few important computer related goals to ponder. Continue reading
Retiring an Old Computer? Computer Curmudgeon 12/2009
If you find a new computer under your Christmas tree, just what do you do with the former occupant of your desk?
Many households find that one computer per person effectively provides convenience and avoids conflicts over usage. A surprising number of families have both a desktop and a laptop computer. You may simply continue to use your old computer – as a standby system, as a test platform, as a “loaner” for guests, as a dedicated workstation for record keeping or a multitude of other purposes. This may be a prime time to speed up that old PC by cleaning out old or unnecessary programs, cleaning up and defragmenting the hard drive as a thorough tune up can often restore a satisfying level of improvement to an aging system. For some basic information see “Optimize Your PC” at www.microsoft.com/athome/setup/optimize.aspx Continue reading
Are You a Mac or a PC ? Computer Curmudgeon 11/09
In some circles, this question will launch a spirited discussion which may occasionally progress to fisticuffs. In other settings, observers may wonder just what sort of mental derangement makes people think they are electronic devices. This question is regularly posed as part of a long series of attention seeking advertisements painstakingly crafted by TBWA Chiat Day of Los Angeles for Apple. Continue reading