Guest Post: Choosing Home Broadband

Getting home broadband can be relatively easy to achieve just as long as you know what sort of deal or package you’re going to need in order to match it to what you like to do online. While there are seemingly a million and one different deals and offers out there in broadband-land, it’s not always that obvious which one is going to be right for your requirements. So, in order to simplify things, all you need to do is remember the following three pointers:


1. Before you sign up to any kind of high-speed internet deal it’s a great idea to do your research. The easiest way to do this is get online and compare and contrast the many different packages that are on the market. Don’t sign up for a deal that is bigger than what you need. So, for example, if you’re happy to do a bit of surfing, check emails and so on, then a smaller ‘lite’ style deal will be more than adequate. People who need to download lots of content, such as movies, meanwhile, should look for the beefier deals out there.

2. Read the small print associated with any of the deals or offers that you like the look of. You may find that the advertising blurb sells the package to you easily, but it’s not until you check the hidden details that you might spot stuff that will ruin the enjoyment of your new home broadband package. Limitations on the amount of data that you can download (and upload) is a common issue with some of the less powerful packages. If you’re going to be online and downloading a lot then this is a key issue to look out for.

3. Finally, explore what is involved in the package that you like the look of. Find out if all of the hardware and software comes included as part of the deal and if anyone will need to come to your house to set things up. If they do, ask if this is included in the price. Also keep an eye out for the sort of technology that is being used in your area, as some internet service providers  have a better infrastructure than others. Asking around your neighborhood, reading real consumer reviews and doing that homework before you sign on the dotted line can pay real dividends in the long run.

So, just as long as you pick through these three suggestions as you explore theavailable home broadband options in your area, then you will soon be on theright track to getting a high-speed broadband internet supply in your house.Remember that, at the end of the day, you are the customer, and any internetservice provider that’s worth signing a contract for should, ideally, do everythingthey can to help you get set up as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.

Author Bio: Rob Clymo writes for www.broadbandgenie.co.uk and www.mobilephonegenie.co.uk, the online consumer advice portals for broadband, mobile broadband and mobile phones.

Mobile Tagging

You may have recently noticed colorful, two-dimensional boxes appearing on the pages of your favorite magazines like Entertainment Weekly and Woman's Day. These graphics are used for mobile tagging. Mobile tagging is the process of providing data on mobile devices, through the use of information encoded in a two-dimensional barcode, meant to be read and inputted using a camera phone.

Microsoft Tags are an example of mobile tagging. Microsoft Tags are a machine readable web link. Users can download the free Microsoft Tag reader application to their Internet-capable mobile device with camera, launch the reader and read a tag using their phone's camera. The Tag reader then directs the user's mobile browser to the appropriate website. The Tags included in the issues of Woman's Day allow readers to gain instant access to sweepstakes, recipes, and coupons. The Tags in Entertainment Weekly allow readers to view movie trailers and music videos on their mobile devices.

Another mobile tagging option are QR codes. QR codes are two-dimensional codes also readable by mobile phones with cameras. The QR code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. QR codes were initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, but are now used for mobile tagging. Try scanning the QR at the left to see where it takes you.

There are currently about a dozen different types of two-dimensional barcodes worldwide. It is necessary to install the specific software for the reader on the mobile device.

For more on Microsoft Tags, visit their website here. For more about QR codes, go here.

The Future of Web Browsers: Why You Should Be Excited Pt. 2

One of the most exciting new features of upcoming web browsers is the ability to utilize your computer's hardware for viewing the web. This promising new technology is called hardware acceleration and it is part of the revolution slowly taking place in web browsers.

Hardware acceleration allows your browser to take advantage of your computer's graphics processing unit (GPU), also known as your video card. By making use of the video card while web browsing, your browser will be capable of handling otherwise sluggish graphics with ease. For example, let's say you are watching a 1080p video in your browser on your computer. As opposed to slowing the browser down to a crawl and leaving you with a choppy video, the hardware acceleration will kick in and use your video card to help out. Ultimately, this will leave you with a much smoother browsing experience and will help with video and graphical issues that would otherwise be problematic.

In addition to the benefits gained from watching videos, web-based applications will also have improvements in overall usability. For example, there is increasing potential for web based video and photo editing applications such as Aviary's suite of products (which are all web-based).

If you are interested in trying out hardware acceleration I would recommend checking out Internet Explorer's recently released Platform Preview of IE9. The IE9 browser has hardware acceleration turned on by default and it is certainly noticeable. If you want to compare IE9 to your current web browser, here is the IE9 testing page, which is set to the default homepage in the IE9 Preview, that you can try to run on whatever browser you choose.

Here is a video comparing IE9 (with hardware acceleration) vs. other browsers, courtesy of Downloadsquad:


Finally, I would like to mention that because of the way hardware acceleration works, you will need to have a decent video card to fully take advantage of these benefits. While you will see improvements with regards to smoothness and choppiness no matter what GPU you have, owning a nicer GPUwill give you greater performance gains.

Faster, cleaner, improved graphics. The future of the web browser is looking brighter everyday in part due to the potential of hardware acceleration.

Be sure to check out the next part of my the "The Future of Web Browsers: Why You Should Be Excited" blog series throughout the upcoming weeks. Part three will discuss the changing user interfaces of future web browsers.

First Round of Broadband Stimulus Grants Announced

The Federal government has announced the first recipients of some of the $7.2 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband stimulus grants. The money is to increase broadband access across the United States, especially in underserved areas.

Depending on which survey you read, the U.S. is somewhere between 15th and 20th on the list of broadband penetration, behind such countries as South Korea, Singapore, Estonia, and Canada.

Three libraries are among the earliest grantees.

The Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records received a $1.3 million grant to enhance existing facilities in more than 80 public libraries throughout the state. More than 1,000 computers will be added.

The Boston Public Library will receive $455,000 (of $1.9 million granted to the City of Boston) to expand public computing capacity at its 25 locations. The Library expects to install 282 new computers in dedicated training rooms and mobile tech classrooms, and to offer technology training in English and Spanish.

The New Mexico State Library will receive a $1.5 million grant to increase broadband adoption and promote computer literacy and Internet use among vulnerable populations, including Latino and Native American users, small businesses, and entrepreneurs through training and outreach.

In addition, ION Hold Co., LLC, received a $39.7 million grant to build 10 new segments of fiber-optic, middle mile broadband infrastructure, serving more than 70 rural communities in New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. The 1,308-mile network will offer broadband speeds of one to 10 gigabytes per second, and connect more than 100 institutions, including libraries, state and community colleges, state and county agencies, and health clinics.

More broadband grants will be announced in the coming weeks, with more libraries likely to be named.

[via LibraryJounal.com]

FCC to Propose Internet Neutrality Rules

On September 21, Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, plans to propose Internet neutrality rules. The goal of these rules is to prevent Internet Service Providers from blocking or interfering with the transmission of free content that may compete with any of their paid services.

Proponents of the net neutrality rules argue that this will ensure consumers have uninhibited access to free legal content on the Internet. Service providers contend that the net neutrality rules would negatively impact their quality of service because some applications require a large amount of bandwidth, and this could slow down Internet access to its other users.

New Search Engine Geared toward Muslim Web Users

A new search engine called ImHalal.com aims to "create a safe and clean environment for Muslims who search the Web" by filtering out content that is haraam or forbidden by faith. The site will warn people if they enter a search query which might result in explicit content. There is a three layer filter. Words like porn and rape are given a rating of three and are blocked completely. Terms such as beer and pork are given a rating of one so that the user can continue their search if they feel that the results will be appropriate.

Mainstream search engines have come in for criticism in many parts of the world for displaying content that is offensive to local culture, or even against local laws. This site, launched earlier in September, has received over 400,000 unique visitors so far, according the the creators.

Read the complete story from ABC News here.

Key Milestones in the Development of the Internet

Many of us may think that the concept of the Internet is relatively new, but actually its beginnings go as far back as 1969. Check out some fun and interesting facts about the origins and growth of the Internet in Key Milestones in the Development of the Internet. Some facts you may have already known, but some may surprise you.

The Whole World is Watching the Failure of Old Media

A brief and highly interesting article about the failure of old media and the rise of the Internet as a political/media tool, The Whole World is Watching aka #oldmediafail #iranelection.

The author, Johnee99 writes:

"The revolution is not being televised in Iran, nor is it being covered very well in any “old media” format. Old media in the West has failed. The Internet is now accelerating change in geopolitics, and has officially eclipsed old media as the first source for immediate and actionable information. As our Clinical Director, Dr. Jeff Rohde emailed me yesterday about Twitter: “It's more than a fancy microblog. It's the foundation of free speech in a country that normally denies it.” Powerful."

Fun Friday: "It's Something Called the Internet"

Watch a 1994 television news story where Tom Brokaw discuss the Internet with Google's Eric Schmidt (then at Sun) and Microsoft's Bill Gates. My favorite part is right at the end when Gates says, "It's a long ways away before you have a flat screen that's as small and light as that book is today." No wonder Amazon beat Microsoft to the Kindle. Interesting



[via BoingBoing]

Library Use Has Skyrocketed with Recession

According to the Today Show, libraries are in more demand than ever. Sixty-eight percent of people in the United States have a library cards. That is the highest number in two decades. Not only do the libraries have computer and Internet resources for job seekers, but they also offer entertainment for the whole family.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Down for Everyone, Or Just You?

Having a problem accessing your favorite website? Wonder if the site is down for everyone, or if it is having a problem just on your computer?

Now you can find out by going to Downforeveryoneorjustme, and typing in the website you are trying to access. Downforeveryoneorjustme will tell you if the site is down for everyone -- or just you.

Interested in Options to Internet Explorer? Here Is a Start

As Technology Librarian John Robertson and I were finishing up a Google Reader class for Library staff recently, we began to talk about different browsers. While we at The Tech Desk use mostly the open-source browser, Firefox, the majority of librarians at Troy use Internet Explorer. We taught the class using IE, but answered some questions about Firefox.

John mentioned that he uses Google Chrome as his browser. Many staff members were curious about it, never having heard of Chrome.

This made me wonder which browsers are being used by our readers. Since we use Google Analytics to track our readership, I was able to answer that question fairly easily.

First, let us look at the big picture. Worldwide, Internet Explorer’s share of the browser market is declining. Now, about 66% of surfers use IE. At the same time, Firefox has increased its market share to around 21%. Apple’s Safari browser makes up 8% of the market, and Google’s Chrome about 1%.

Our readers look a lot like those worldwide. About 57% use Internet Explorer, down about 5% since September 2008, when we started keeping statistics. Firefox use has remained fairly constant at 36%. Apple users are starting to find us in greater numbers, as Safari use is up almost 38%, to 3% of our users. Google’s Chrome, the newest entry in the field, is up 25% since September, to 2% of users.

However you look at these numbers, it is clear that a large percentage of Internet users – somewhere between 33% and 40% -- use a browser other than Internet Explorer.

If you are interested in looking at browser options for your surfing, compare Internet browsers of today and tomorrow.

And to learn more about Google Chrome, check out these short videos from the Official Google Blog. Some of them are pretty good.

Online Shopping Rebates

Recession curbing your online buying habits? How would you like to get a rebate on all the products you buy online? Now you can by joining Ebates. Ebates is an online shopping center and they get a commission from online stores when you make a purchase through their site. But instead of keeping that money, Ebates shares the commission with you. For instance, send flowers to your mom from teleflora and get a 15% rebate. Mom is happy and you get 15% back in your wallet!

Joining Ebates is free and four times a year or more, they'll mail you a check, or transfer the money to your PayPal account. They can even send the money to your favorite charity. Check it out here.

Traffic to Newspaper Websites Up 10.5%

While more and more print editions of newspapers fold, newspaper websites attracted an average of 73.3 million unique visitors per month in the first three months of 2009, a 10.5% jump from the same period last year, according to Nielsen Online.

The average number of pages views climbed nearly 13 percent to 3.5 billion. Both figures were the highest since 2004, according to the Newspaper Association of America, which commissioned the analysis.

The Nielsen figures are the latest to show a growing audience for newspapers on the web, even as publishers continue to struggle in their search for a viable online business model to replace falling print revenue.

[via Yahoo Tech]

Men and Women Use the Internet Differently

Men make up a minority of the overall Internet population – those who access the Internet at least once a month from any location. There are 95.9 million men online (48.2%) and 103.2 million women online (51.8%).

However, according to eMarketer, men go online more often; are more active on social networking sites; read and write more blogs; listen to more podcasts; stay on for longer; and are not as bothered by "websites cluttered with ads" as women are.

The U.S. male Internet population is evenly split between those under and over the age of 35, with the largest group falling between 35 and 44. "Marketers may be overlooking a valuable demographic if they target only 18-to-34-year-old males. Advertising messages steeped in college humor and sex do not resonate with the millions of male Internet users who are researching products and services — and jobs — while shopping and connecting with friends and family," writes eMarketer.

This report confirms earlier reports on how men and women use the Internet differently. In 2008, four reports compared the behaviors of men and women online:

• Nielsen Online found that men prefer user-generated video sites (like YouTube) while women take more of a liking to video streams of TV shows (such as those offered from Hulu);
• social web search company Rapleaf put out a report saying that men are more likely to use social networks for business while women use them to build personal relationships;
• men are also more likely than women to share their writings, photos, videos, and other creations online, according to Northwestern University; and
• men think they're the kings of Internet security, even though they're equally affected by security threats as women.

[via ars technica]

55% of U.S. Adults Used the Internet to Participate in the 2008 Presidential Election

More than half of U.S. adults used the Internet to participate in the 2008 election – the first time that threshold has been crossed – according to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Some 55% searched for political news online, researched candidate positions, debated issues or otherwise participated in the election over the Internet. Among the findings:

• 45% of Internet users watched online videos related to politics or the election;
• 33% of Internet users shared political content with others;
• 52% of those on a social network used it for political purposes.

The Internet has grown steadily as a source of political news since 2000, when 11% of voters went online to keep up with political developments. That figure now stands at 26%. Among young voters and those with broadband connections the Internet has eclipsed traditional media like television, radio and newspapers, the survey found.

Read the full report.

[via Yahoo!Tech]

Google Leads U.S. Search Engines with 9.1 Billion Searches

comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released its latest analysis of the U.S. Internet search marketplace.

In March 2009, Americans conducted 14.3 billion searches, 9% more than in February. Over 9.1 billion searches were conducted on Google, increasing the site's share of U.S. search market from 63.3% in February to 63.7% in March. Google was followed by Yahoo! (20.5%), Microsoft (8.3%), Ask Network (3.8%) and AOL (3.7%).

More Computer Videos in Plain English

Here are three more Common Craft In Plain English videos. They are short and funny and a great way to introduce people to current computer topics.

The World Wide Web in Plain English

Computer Hardware in Plain English

And Twitter in Plain English below.



[See Computer Videos in Plain English]

FCC Begins Development of National Broadband Plan

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has begun developing a national broadband plan, with the goal of improving access to high-speed Internet in the United States. The plan, required under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will be delivered to Congress by February 17, 2010. The Reinvestment Act contains $7.2 billion for broadband projects.

Part of this plan will include a public comment process, which will request input on how to ensure all Americans have access to affordable broadband, and suggestions for broadband applications for health care, public safety, energy independence, and other areas. The public comment process is scheduled to begin shortly.

[via MuniWireless]

Sixth Sense Wearable Device Expands the Way You Interact with the World

Here is a pretty interesting eight minute video about Sixth Sense – a wearable device with a projector that allows you to interact with your environment and the Internet in some new and profound ways.



The device was created by Pattie Maes, who works at the Media Lab's Fluid Interfaces Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with her student, Pranav Mistry.

This product was unveiled at the 2009 TED – Technology, Entertainment, Design – annual conference. This conference brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.