tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41131963849498387022024-02-07T21:07:45.667+02:00TechNOBLEgyBlog about technology and other interesting articles from across the world and locally at homeBryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-52794143914396766082019-09-30T12:05:00.000+02:002019-09-30T12:05:18.101+02:00Lost your Edge to Arabic?There seems to have been a Windows update to the built-in browser, Microsoft Edge. When you launch Edge for the first time you get a screen saying Welcome to the new Microsoft Edge with a splash screen that is in arabic?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1m13kpeMYHouSWzqizxqgumisQ44PSgxQwGuiaRIrrmuNz1HpI0jRTHCUMMipnfc4wzQC1tNk4PRP_fHAs3UC6a5wxcXBV_sZE33HpsaGUizSSD4GQUiHu9ztIHq1ILZ_hSu37EwTv4Yg/s1600/Edgestartup.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="634" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1m13kpeMYHouSWzqizxqgumisQ44PSgxQwGuiaRIrrmuNz1HpI0jRTHCUMMipnfc4wzQC1tNk4PRP_fHAs3UC6a5wxcXBV_sZE33HpsaGUizSSD4GQUiHu9ztIHq1ILZ_hSu37EwTv4Yg/s320/Edgestartup.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
If you haven't already closed Edge in panic thinking your PC has been compromised or you have just clicked the button you can save yourself some anxiety by clicking on the down arrow and selecting your preferred language. Click on the blue button (Ok). This will reset your language to your chosen language.<br />
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If you were not able to change the language at the start don't fear. The solution is quite simple. Open Edge if not already open. Click the gear icon now on the left side of the page.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vG1mE8eQ4MS7gOywrTJRE7ZglbYAqBxOwY0bM2M-mtEnHD_k5LcRNrNQL_H_a6SbfrwkrRdDzBBDzQMF-JeJQR4Vg3BKqDcPdMphJ5FO0bymdmZhTz5XJZ84_wadjx9NPgUQuq-4WpsN/s1600/gear_left.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="334" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vG1mE8eQ4MS7gOywrTJRE7ZglbYAqBxOwY0bM2M-mtEnHD_k5LcRNrNQL_H_a6SbfrwkrRdDzBBDzQMF-JeJQR4Vg3BKqDcPdMphJ5FO0bymdmZhTz5XJZ84_wadjx9NPgUQuq-4WpsN/s320/gear_left.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then select your preferred language. Click the blue button (Ok)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafRhGlpdtktaJAkqGOKEzd_PEZIbQfU2OILQoAHtAdBE0u2SFyO7s_K-3LTcDKDin37yWZi_-Zb4Y_O3jwv4j11Ee-_2l6e_cmCw0TDf3M6zk4AIUxRBFwGMwpR_LEEDcX-USL52Xn0m7/s1600/langselect.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafRhGlpdtktaJAkqGOKEzd_PEZIbQfU2OILQoAHtAdBE0u2SFyO7s_K-3LTcDKDin37yWZi_-Zb4Y_O3jwv4j11Ee-_2l6e_cmCw0TDf3M6zk4AIUxRBFwGMwpR_LEEDcX-USL52Xn0m7/s1600/langselect.PNG" /></a></div>
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Edge is set back to your normal language choice.</div>
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Did this work for you?</div>
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<br />Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-26642263731983972432019-05-22T13:00:00.000+02:002019-05-22T13:00:07.239+02:00Windows 1903 is coming<h2>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Windows 1903 is coming</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The May 2019 release of Windows update 1903 includes some new features. It promises to have more control of how and when updates will be installed on Home editions of Windows 10 unlike before. You will be able to pause updates for up to 35 days and you will no longer automatically be pushed into a feature update just because one exists.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The update includes a neat function that "reserves storage" to help improve the installation success rate, especially on machines with limited storage by allocating 7 GB of storage specifically for updates.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is a new light desktop theme theme, this allows the user interface to appear white. The default Windows 10 wallpaper has even been tweaked to aid the light theme. There are updates to a number of default apps such as snipping tool, paint.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1mdJ7I6JYYYPqBSn1J6hu4PGR8dGZGjtN3W6dyFlkzdOL_Lid_QiitsL7BCNdDB1uw11KE0zlVPuubofDpadJxhYcAxgBGkaUGO_p5OX2FeU_WrSPdHai5kXAjWJjVTCOe3UgnLjxd2n/s1600/windows-10-light-theme-hero-screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1mdJ7I6JYYYPqBSn1J6hu4PGR8dGZGjtN3W6dyFlkzdOL_Lid_QiitsL7BCNdDB1uw11KE0zlVPuubofDpadJxhYcAxgBGkaUGO_p5OX2FeU_WrSPdHai5kXAjWJjVTCOe3UgnLjxd2n/s320/windows-10-light-theme-hero-screenshot.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Past feature updates have not rolled out as smoothly as Microsoft have wanted. This time round they have tested the update for longer and even opened up a online dashboard so we can see the issues that arise from any possible update failures.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you want the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, get it directly from Windows Update by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and checking for updates. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let us know if you experience any issues with the new update.</span><br />
<br />Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-57965059973306919812019-05-20T10:28:00.002+02:002019-05-20T10:28:41.401+02:00Whatsapp flaw and how to fix it<h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>WhatsApp Security flaw discovered</b></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A security flaw in the popular messaging app, WhatsApp, has been discovered. The flaw has been used to target numerous people and groups already. It is believed that the vulnerability was discovered and exploited by an Israeli company that designs such "spyware" with the supposed intention of assisting governments and their law agencies.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How it works</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Attackers would place a WhatsApp call to the intended target. Even if the target did not answer the call, the malicious code would be sent to the phone and the vulnerability exploited. Once the phone has been infected intimate data could be retrieved from the device, even access to the microphone and camera is possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WhatsApp engineers have already released an update that fixes the flaw and are urging all users to update their app as soon as possible. It is recommended that you update your mobile operating system as an added precaution.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The flaw exists on all these versions of WhatsApp:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Android prior to v2.19.134, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WhatsApp Business for Android prior to v2.19.44, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WhatsApp for iOS prior to v2.19.51. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WhatsApp for Windows Phone and Tizen is also affected.</span></li>
</ul>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">How to update</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To update your version of WhatsApp you need to do the following:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">iOS (Apple)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Open the App Store,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tap the "updates" icon, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You can either select "Update All" or select WhatsApp on its own and update. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Note if there is no update for WhatsApp shown, you may already have the latest version automatically</span></li>
</ul>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Android</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Open the Google Play Store</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hit the menu icon, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Select "My Apps & Games" then tap update.</span></li>
</ul>
Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-54678503437155721302018-08-06T16:00:00.000+02:002018-08-06T16:00:06.813+02:00Sextortion Scam on the rise<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I received a phone call from a client of mine the other day, I could hear in the voice that something was not right, there was almost a whisper to the voice and I struggled to hear what was being said. I heard bits and pieces of the conversation but what I heard did not sound good. "Hacked..., extortion..., wants money..." thankfully in the end it turned out all ok.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A relatively new variant of an email scam is doing the rounds this year, it is called sextortion. Sextortion is when someone threatens to distribute your private and sensitive material if you don’t provide them with images of a sexual nature, sexual favors, or money.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The way the scam works is basically you receive an email claiming that your computer has been comprised and that your webcam was used to record you viewing porn sites.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The email further goes on to say that you must pay the "hacker" an amount of BitCoin or else they will release the "footage" of your browsing session to all your contacts. What makes this scam scary is that it actually has your password! Well not exactly, but a password you most likely used some time ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks to all the data breaches over the last few years, your email address and certain passwords are easily available on the web for those that wish to find them. What these scammers have done is link your password from some time ago that was breached with your e-mail address. When you read the email for the first time you see your password and really think this may be possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The emails I have seen from my clients are very similar to the copy below,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I’m aware that <substitute password formerly used by recipient here> is your password,” reads the salutation.</span></i></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14.4px;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You don’t know me and you’re thinking why you received this e mail, right?</span></i></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Well, I actually placed a malware on the </span><span class="il" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">porn</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"> website and guess what, you visited this web site to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching the video, your web browser acted as a RDP (Remote Desktop) and a keylogger which provided me access to your display screen and webcam. Right after that, my software gathered all your contacts from your Messenger, Facebook account, and email account.</span></span></i></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14.4px;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What exactly did I do?</span></i></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14.4px;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I made a split-screen video. First part recorded the video you were viewing (you’ve got a fine taste haha), and next part recorded your webcam (Yep! It’s you doing nasty things!).</span></i></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14.4px;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What should you do?</span></i></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14.4px;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, I believe, $1400 is a fair price for our little secret. You’ll make the payment via Bitcoin to the below address (if you don’t know this, search “how to buy bitcoin” in Google).</span></i></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">BTC Address: 1Dvd7Wb72JBTbAcfTrxSJCZZuf4tsT</span><wbr style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></wbr><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">8V726</span></span></i></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14.4px;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(It is cAsE sensitive, so copy and paste it)</span></i></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); color: #555555; font-size: 14.4px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Important:</span><span style="font-size: 14.4px;">You have 24 hours in order to make the payment. (I have an unique pixel within this email message, and right now I know that you have read this email). If I don’t get the payment, I will send your video to all of your contacts including relatives, coworkers, and so forth. Nonetheless, if I do get paid, I will erase the video immidiately. If you want evidence, reply with “Yes!” and I will send your video recording to your 5 friends. This is a non-negotiable offer, so don’t waste my time and yours by replying to this email.</span></span></i></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This scam is unfortunately likely to evolve and as more personal details get leaked / breached the scammers will probably add more data into the mails to make it sound even more believable, we may even see other scams using this method to try and con you. Think of those fake Microsoft tech support calls, now they have a "password" you could be easily fooled into giving them access to your computer.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are some things you can do so as to not become a victim of sextortion:</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border: 0px none rgb(85, 85, 85); font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Keep your browsing to "safe" sites;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do not send revealing pictures of yourself to anyone (you never know who is actually getting them);</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Turn off or block any webcams when not in use;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Think before opening that unexpected email with the attachment;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you have not changed your passwords recently, I would suggest you do soon. <span style="color: #555555;"> </span></span></li>
</ol>
Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-25137060262631617182013-04-30T09:00:00.000+02:002013-04-30T09:00:24.794+02:00Nokia Lumia 820 - 2 week review<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/19994833@N00/8495550358" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:left;"><img alt="Lumia Resurrected" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="180" src="http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8509/8495550358_e07d095fd9_m.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 240px;">Lumia Resurrected (Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/19994833@N00/8495550358" target="_blank">Irish Typepad</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It took some time to decide on a new Smartphone. There are so many leading
phones out there and each one has their own pros and con's. My decision was
ultimately made for me by the availability of my shortlisted phones from the
service provider. I had narrowed my choice down to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxys3" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Samsung Galaxy S III">Samsung Galaxy S3</a>, Nokia
Lumia range and on the day I went to the store the new Sony Xperia J.<br />
<br />
Yes, the Apple <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="IPhone">iPhone</a> was not on my shortlist. There are many reasons for
this but let’s just leave it there. As it turned out my Blackberry 9800 started
to give me issues and eventually stopped working so I was forced to go with
what was available at the time. What was available was a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.nokia.com/global/products/phone/lumia820/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Nokia Lumia 820">Nokia Lumia 820</a>.<br />
<br />
I had been a fan of Nokia for many years and it was a big move away from
Nokia to Blackberry for me. However moving from Blackberry back to Nokia was
not that difficult. I have now had my Lumia 820 for a little over two weeks and
have gotten to know it quite well.<br />
<br />
The first thing that I noticed is the weight of the phone, due to the
wireless charging cover the phone is slightly heavier than you would expect for
a modern day Smartphone. It actually feels comfortable though, like you are
holding something of substance. It is also good to note that Nokia's build
quality is still as good as it always was. Wireless charging is very impressive
and the Lumia charges quickly wirelessly. Just place the phone the wireless
<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_charging" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Inductive charging">charge pad</a> and it starts charging, no more looking for cables and ensuring the
connection is made.<br />
<br />
The Nokia-<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.microsoft.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a> partnership is starting to pay off; the biggest draw
card for me was the integration with my Microsoft account. Once the details
were put in the phone was setup and all my contacts were synced. Likewise with
other accounts such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn etc...<br />
<br />
It is unfortunately quite a surprise at the lack of integration with a
Windows computer and the software available. The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_Suite" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Nokia Suite">Nokia Ovi suite</a> was a powerful
piece of software that allowed to you basically control your phone from your
pc. Now there is no such thing.<br />
<br />
If you are not using an Exchange server it seems like Microsoft don't care
about you. Calendar integration with your non-Exchange mailbox is non-existent.
There is always a work-around of course but surely being a Microsoft to
Microsoft device you would expect better.<br />
<br />
Using the phone is very easy and the home screen is extremely customisable.
Although there are only two screens to flick through, at first I thought this
was very limiting. Now two weeks in I find it very useful. If the app I need is
used often I just pin it to my home-screen. Else I flick one screen over and
find it there, no need to scroll through five, six screens. What you need is
there at your fingertips, and what you don't need at your tips is a flick away.<br />
<br />
Sure the home screen can be boring with the colour blocking (one colour) for
most apps, but the live tiled apps have constantly changing images and
notifications popping up. Again when you have used the phone these minor things
don't bother you that much.<br />
<br />
A minor bug bear that I do have is that to make a call you have to perform
at least three actions. It doesn't sound like much but when you need to phone a
lot of people this does waste time. Messaging people is also as cumbersome to
text someone. The redeeming feature though is the predictive text is really
good and often selects the next word in your sentence before you have even
typed the first letter. Something I would like to see though is if you hold
down the letter, it should make it a capital letter, it is a nuisance holding
shift and the letter.<br />
<br />
Internet Explorer on the phone is slick and you can view the original
websites almost as easily as mobile websites. You can't configure much
though and as such your Internet always opens to the last page browsed and
there is no setting for a homepage. Again though you can pin a page to the home
screen and use that.<br />
<br />
The features that made Nokia phones of old really well have been carried
over to the Lumia range. Nokia Maps, Navigation which is free for life are
really great tools to have and so far have been 100% accurate. The camera is
good and with the now default Carl Zeiss optics you almost expect the camera to
be decent for a happy snapper like me.<br />
<br />
The new <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_City_Lens" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Nokia City Lens">Nokia City Lens</a> is an awesome tool; it has wowed many friends and
family and will be of much use on travels to cities that you are not familiar
with. The ability to hold the phone and turn around and select where you want
to go makes life easier when you need to find the closest Italian restaurant or
grocery store.<br />
<br />
<a class="zem_slink" href="http://nokia.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Nokia">Nokia Music</a> is really impressive and although I have not upgraded my account
to the plus account I still get a lot of music out of this default app. The
ability to play a song, purchase it or even take it offline for later listening
pleasure is decent. Mix Radio is a great feature if you can’t make your mind up
and wish to listen to specific genre of music. Select your genre and hit play.<br />
<br />
The benefit of Nokia partnering with Microsoft is seen and felt with Skydive
- with 7GB off cloud storage made available for free you can store your Office
documents and access them on the phone or pc. Using <a class="zem_slink" href="http://office.microsoft.com/onenote/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Microsoft OneNote">OneNote</a> helps you make
those quick notes that was once reserved for those pesky yellow sticky notes.
These features have come in very handy over the last few weeks.<br />
<br />
The other integrations that I like is the Xbox integration and games. My
Xbox is linked to my phone and with extra apps installed I can basically
control my Xbox from my phone. The games available are awesome and the quality
of the games that run on the phone is incredible.<br />
<br />
The main drawback so far is that you cannot attach documents to e-mails sent
from your phone. Maybe Microsoft are trying to drive people to use SkyDrive and
share a link to the file from there? Either way it is very limiting and painful
that you can only e-mail pictures.<br />
<br />
If there was a feature I wish the phone had, which it presently doesn't is
the ability to have profiles. To quickly change between silent and other
settings would be nice. You are only limited to vibrate and vibrate + ring. If
on vibrate other sounds still play which when you have just got your six month
old to sleep is not good.<br />
<br />
The much debated <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store_%28iOS%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="App Store (iOS)">App store</a> is not that bad. I think Nokia and Microsoft have
gone for a quality over quantity approach on this front. There are some really
brilliant apps and the apps that have made a name of themselves on other phone
systems like Android and iPhone can be found on the Windows Store. Granted not
all the apps but then again Windows 8 phone is the relative new comer to the
market and the app store will get bigger over time.<br />
<br />
Overall the phone is good. It does have a number of shortcoming that's I
hope will be addressed in later updates and with Nokia taking a progressive
step in setting up a site dedicated solely to suggestions to make the phones
better I think they may well be on the way back, albeit against very tough competition.<br />
<br />
I would give the phone a 7.5 out of 10 rating. It is still early days though
so I look forward to playing with it more and will let you all know in about
six months time if things have gotten better or worse.<br />
<br />
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Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-26756882243302820602012-08-28T15:46:00.001+02:002012-08-28T15:46:17.645+02:005 Tips to prolong your notebook battery lifeNotebooks these days have battery's that claim to last for hours and hours. The Macbooks are generally really good with their long life and the latest <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.microsoft.com/WINDOWS" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Windows">Windows pc</a>'s are also getting better. A colleague recently replaced is default factory fitted battery with a long life battery in his <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.413579,-122.14508&spn=0.01,0.01&q=37.413579,-122.14508 (Hewlett-Packard)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Hewlett-Packard">HP</a> notebook. The battery is giving him a couple of hours now. This brought on a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google Search">Google search</a> for tips to prolong <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_%28electricity%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Battery (electricity)">battery life</a> without buying a new battery.<br />
<br />
I came across this article from the guys at DailyFive. DailyFive is in their own words "...the simplest way to read and share breaking tech news, reviews and features on your <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_device" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Mobile device">mobile device</a>. Whether it has buttons or batteries, it's in our backyard." You can get their app from here <a href="http://dailyfive.tv/" target="_blank">DailyFive</a>.<br />
<br />
They suggest five different ways to prolong your battery life.<br />
<ol>
<li>Dim your screen - most of the notebooks these days have power-efficient <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Light-emitting diode">LED displays</a> but if you are using a slightly older model, dim your display. This simple step could save you a couple of extra minutes.</li>
<li>Change your drive - conventional <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Hard disk drive">hard drives</a> uses more power spinning those platters than a solid state disk, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Solid-state drive">SSD</a>, does. By changing your disk you could see a saving of up to 30 minutes.</li>
<li><a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Wi-Fi">Wi-Fi</a> switch - if you not using your wi-fi then switch it off, either with the physical switch or by using the software. It doesn't make sense to have it on if you are not using it. The same goes for <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.bluetooth.org/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Bluetooth">Bluetooth</a>. You can switch your Bluetooth off independently of your wi-fi.</li>
<li>Upgrade your software - the newer operating systems are far more power efficient and are getting better with each release so consider upgrading to the latest software.</li>
<li>Modern day circuitry and chargers mean in it is fine to leave the computer connected to the charger. It is recommended to try and prevent the battery from discharging unnecessarily but once every 4 weeks let the battery discharge fully and leave it for a couple of hours and then follow it up with a full recharge.</li>
</ol>
There are many other ways to prolong the life of your battery and most of them are inexpensive and easy to do. Windows has a power options function that you can customise what the computer does when on battery and this will also go a long way in increasing the life of your battery.<br />
<br />
Thanks again to the guys at DailyFive for the short and concise articles. Go get the app for yourself.<br />
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Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-81266398449908065012012-08-22T12:45:00.000+02:002012-08-22T12:45:50.615+02:00What's your Klout?
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/klout" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Image representing Klout as depicted in CrunchBase" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="63" src="http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/resized/0003/2657/32657v4-max-450x450.png" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/" target="_blank">CrunchBase</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://klout.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Klout">Klout</a>.com, the website that claims to measure ones “klout” or
influence on the web. They manage to do this through some fancy algorithm or
other magic means. There are the critics of the site and the site has often
being controversial in some of its Klout weightings. Just recently <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Justin Bieber">Justin
Bieber</a> – he of teenage pop fame – was recently surpassed by President <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.biography.com/people/barack-obama-12782369" rel="biographycom" target="_blank" title="Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.">Barak
Obama</a> of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667 (United%20States)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="United States">Untied States of America</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It would seem odd that the man behind the most powerful
country in the world has only recently been rated the most influential. Why
only now? Klout is all about <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_footprint" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Digital footprint">web presence</a> and not your real-life day-to-day
influential people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So this is why
people like <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.tmz.com/person/kim-kardashian/" rel="tmzcom" target="_blank" title="Kim Kardashian">Kim Kardashian</a> and Justin Bieber can be rated influential, because
they have a very high web presence.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I signed up for my Klout account within two days I had
a score of 47. This is apparently pretty good. How I got that score I have no
idea. I have a number of friends that are professional writers and bloggers,
they get paid to be on the web. My score was considerably higher than theirs. Klout.com
have just recently changed their algorithm and this seems to be working better
now.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I like the concept behind Klout.com and it feels great to
brag to people already using Klout if your score is higher but you do feel like
an idiot when discussing your Klout score with someone that has no inkling of
what you are talking about. You just get a blank stare and can almost hear the
persons mind going “Klout score? He needs a clout against his head!”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are a number of features to Klout such as being able
to nominate who influences you and you can earn more influence in different
categories as you get more “Klout” but I am not sure how it all benefits
someone? I get that it is a nice metric to view a person’s influence on the web
but why? Is it going to help a student get a job if he says his “Klout” score
is 56, maybe if he is applying for an online product review blogger position but
does it make a difference for an engineer?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some other nice features are the “Perks” you can earn –
mainly US based though – but nonetheless maybe one day the perks will be
available outside of the US. Another nice display is where you fit in with your
influence, your Klout Style, you can be a conversationalist to celebrity to
thought leader. My style has changed three times in the last week though.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Overall, I think it is yet another nice website to play
around on. Out of curiosity it is fun to build your score for bragging rights
but from a business point of view I do not see the value until it starts to
measure brand value then it may have some marketing spin-offs. It seems to be
another form of social networking that you will need to deal with on your
day-to-day social chore list. Check <a class="zem_slink" href="http://facebook.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Twitter">Twitter</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.linkedin.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="LinkedIn">LinkedIN</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://pinterest.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Pinterest">Pinterest</a> and
now your daily check of the Klout Score.</span></div>
<br />
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Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-4291651095059443142012-08-21T15:28:00.000+02:002012-08-21T15:28:49.591+02:009 ways to kill time on the webSitting at the office, bored? Wish you could do something other than stare at the desk or eagerly await some random e-mail being sent to you? How do you kill the time between 9-5 every day. Well on those boring days here are nine potential <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boredom" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Boredom">boredom</a> relieving things to do.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Lunchtimers - an interactive space where you can try make up words using <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_magnet" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Refrigerator magnet">fridge magnets</a> or just annoy people trying to write their own words by moving the letters around each time they place a letter. When you are bored its the little things that count. Play <a href="http://lunchtimers.com/" target="_blank">here.</a></li>
<li>Fractal fun - this oddly addictive, mind numbing site helps for a couple of minutes. Click on a box and see it divide into four black or red box and repeat and repeat. <a href="http://www.dhteumeuleu.com/dhtml/fractal-F.html" target="_blank">Check it out</a>.</li>
<li>Kittens - for some unknown reason looking at cute pictures of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitten" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Kitten">kittens</a> seems to lighten up most peoples days. Check out the <a href="http://www.randomkittengenerator.com/" target="_blank">random kitten generator</a></li>
<li>Probably the most addictive form of boredom relief is falling sand. You can divert four streams of sand and add fire, water, earth to your creation and go wild without getting your hands covered in sand. Play <a href="http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/" target="_blank">here</a>.</li>
<li>Sticking with games why not try the vintage styled Stackopolis. The aim of the game is to stack, stack and stack some more. <a href="http://www.stackopolis.com/play/" target="_blank">Let me stack</a>.</li>
<li>A website I personally enjoying visiting is Kongregate, game designers get to upload the games and you get to play new games just about every day. It's a win win situation. <a href="http://www.kongregate.com/" target="_blank">Play now</a>.</li>
<li>You are bound to be <a class="zem_slink" href="http://facebook.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a> anyway so why not play some <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angry_Birds" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Angry Birds">Angry Birds</a>. On Facebook you can directly challenge your mates and even brag if you bet their score. <a href="https://apps.facebook.com/angrybirds/" target="_blank">Let me hurl some birds</a>.</li>
<li>For those that are not into gaming, how about some <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_floss" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Mental floss">mental floss</a>? This site offers a random collection of stories from the around the web.<a href="http://mentalfloss.com/" target="_blank"> Get lost on the web</a>.</li>
<li>Ever StumbledUpon something? Check out this <a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/" target="_blank">site</a> for other sites that fellow web surfers have stumbled across.</li>
</ol>
There are boundless items on the web to starve the boredom beast but the above should get you through a boring day at least.<br />
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Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-61971392224961749352012-08-16T12:11:00.003+02:002012-08-16T12:11:49.924+02:00Blackberry Torch 9800 long term review
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlackBerry_Torch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="English: BlackBerry Torch opened" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="225" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/BlackBerry_Torch.jpg/300px-BlackBerry_Torch.jpg" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">English: BlackBerry Torch opened (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlackBerry_Torch.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It has been a year of owning a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry_Torch_9800" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="BlackBerry Torch 9800">Blackberry torch 9800</a>, so I thought I would do a long term review of my thoughts about it. I
have not been overly in awe of Blackberry, I was expecting something more from
it but it just hasn’t delivered that knockout punch that would sell me as a
brand ambassador for Blackberry.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As much as I am not overly impressed by Blackberry neither
am I disappointed. The phone has done its job without any incident or faults in
the last year. The much debated battery is actually very good, surprisingly, I
can go about three days with lots of use out of it on a single charge. Typical
usage for me includes phone calls, e-mails, browsing, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Bluetooth">Bluetooth</a> wireless
car-kit when driving, making occasional use of wi-fi networking in offices, so
I use my phone for almost all of its capabilities.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The outage experienced last year by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://rim.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Research In Motion">RIM</a> did affect me,
<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry_Messenger" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="BlackBerry Messenger">Blackberry messenger</a> messages didn’t go through and browsing was painfully slow
but for the 2-3 days it affected me, I could still phone people and just used
my laptop for everything else, yes laptops still are useful.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Phone wise, I am content to bordering on happy with it. A
good friend is still clinging to his <a class="zem_slink" href="http://nokia.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Nokia">Nokia</a> and often his phone gives him some
minor issues and freezes up on him, mine I think has frozen on me maybe four
times. Where the Nokia is better and far superior is not so much the phone but
in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.ovi.com/suite" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Nokia Ovi Suite">Ovi suite</a>. Blackberry Desktop Manager is dismal at best.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t know why Blackberry even made such a useless piece
of software. It looks and feels very much an afterthought almost like “...well
Nokia and Apple have <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_software" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Application software">desktop software</a> I guess we should do as well.” I wrote a <a href="http://technoblegy.blogspot.com/2011/08/7-things-to-make-blackberry-better.html" target="_blank">blog post</a> about a couple things to make Blackberry better and from almost a year
ago to today and a couple of versions of desktop software later, it is still
pathetic. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With Ovi suite you almost have full access to your phone.
With Blackberry you can back it up and browse some files. I want to be able to
use BBM through my pc, send sms’s, update my contacts and more but this is just
not possible. Don’t even get me started on the maps, this also seems to be a
case of our competitors have it so let us put a map system on as well.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Where the phone is great and is well beyond the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/iphone" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="iPhone">iPhones</a>,
Nokia and Androids of this world is its e-mail support and BBM. Yes iPhones,
Nokia and Android have good clients and their own chat applications but on this
front Blackberry still comes out tops.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Appworld is not vast and although I have not paid for an
app and only downloaded the odd free one it is adequate for your average user.
Apart from missing <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rovio.com/index.php?page=angry-birds" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Angry Birds">Angry Birds</a> there are similar apps available to Blackberry
as there are on other devices. It is also good to note that Blackberry was
originally designed for the corporate market and was focused there for a long
time before becoming consumer focused.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another point I have to add is the fact that whilst
Blackberry is certainly not indestructible they can endure a fall to the ground
and even a kick, unlike certain Apple products that will crack and shatter and
leave you with tiny glass shards in your hands if it takes a fall of anything
higher than 5cm. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Something that does bother me often and this is not directly
a Blackberry fault but more a fault on my service provider. The phone
continuously operates on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution">EDGE</a>, there are random spots where I can get 3G signal
but these areas feel like they are microscopic as moving the phone a few
centimetres away results to reverting back to EDGE again.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In a nutshell, I am happy with the Blackberry a year down
the line. I am still not 100% sold on it and will certainly look at other
phones when I am due to upgrade but that does not mean I am not get another
Blackberry.</span></div>
<br />
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Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-88304889375994780592012-06-05T08:00:00.000+02:002012-06-05T08:00:02.345+02:00The day I almost fell in love with an AppleThe day I almost fell in love with an <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Apple">Apple computer</a> was a strange day. A client had recently purchased a new <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="MacBook Pro">Macbook Pro</a> from me and I had just delivered the Mac to her. Now to say I am anti-Apple is not correct, I am just neither for it or against it. Given that this Macbook was to be first time setting up a Macbook I was a little apprehensive about what to expect.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/apple" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Image representing Apple as depicted in CrunchBase" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="250" src="http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/resized/0005/4061/54061v1-max-250x250.jpg" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="206" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 206px;">Image via <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/" target="_blank">CrunchBase</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Opening the boring brown box only to reveal the beautiful packaging of the Mac box immediately got me going into the positive mindset about Apple. Opening the box feels like a sense of occassion, it makes you want to open the box and see the mystery that awaits inside.<br />
<br />
Opening the box does not dull the occassion, there it was the brand new shiny silver Macbook Pro glistening in the late winter sun, the Apple sign looking polished and ready to snapped up. Even unwrapping the plastic coating is an experience, effortless, simplicity at best.<br />
<br />
Switching the machine on and hearing the familiar 'gong' the screen comes alive, the setup is so easy and then the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Migration Assistant (Apple)">migration assistant</a> prompt appears. This is an awesome tool, selecting the old Mac and transferring the data to the new could not have been easier. It even moved all the applications, everything! Coming from a strictly <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.microsoft.com/WINDOWS" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Windows">Windows</a> background I will admit I was in awe of this machine.<br />
<br />
The design, the simplicity of use, the way it basically set itself up, it felt like some real IT voodoo magic was happening before my very eyes. After all the stardust in my eyes had settled and I started to use the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/macbook/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="MacBook">MacBook</a> and check the settings the magical effects began to wear off.<br />
<br />
Setting up the scanner was not as easy you would think, although the scanner was installed, when trying to scan the documents were being cut-off and other random things were happening. Thankfully it was enough to fix.<br />
<br />
Then the confusion over the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_%28interface%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Thunderbolt (interface)">Thunderbolt</a> adapter, having to have an adaptor to connect to an external screen is stupid. The Macbook easily has the space for this why make something easy into a money making thing and force people to buy an adapter.<br />
<br />
Adapter in hand, setting up the projector was ok, it didn't just work. I did have to go into system prefernces and fiddle with the display settings but it now works. While I am going on about adapters, only having two <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="USB">USB ports</a>? Seriously? I would really have thought a company has design and customer focused would realise that two USB ports just doesn't cut it.<br />
<br />
I do like the magic touchpad with all its gesture controls, but sometimes you can end up flipping screens and scrolling through the wrong document but that is more <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_error" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="User error">user error</a> than anything and not the fault of Apple.<br />
<br />
Whilst I am thoroughly impressed with the Macbook's packaging and easy setup making you feel like you have not bought a computer but something more something unique something wonderful, that all starts to fade as you realise it is just a computer. Considering that it still costs more than an equivalent spec Windows computer, I do wonder what the fuss is all about.<br />
<br />
Is <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/safari/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Safari">Safari</a> really better than IE9. Is <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/mail-ical-address-book.html" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Mail (application)">Mac Mail</a> with its limitations better than Windows mail? Can a new user take to a Mac quicker than Windows. I do not know, but since I love my right click being on the mouse and not a keyboard and mouse click combo. I will stick to Windows for a little longer.<br />
<br />
Maybe when Apple release their next model, I will take a look at again, that won't be to far away either as there constanly seems to be a newer model launched every month, we are already up to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/iphone" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="IPhone 4S">iPhone 4S</a> already, I think the 4T comes out soon. I joke of course, but the day I almost fell in love with an Apple certainly changed my admittedly limited perception of what it is all about.<br />
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=6eeef2df-a96b-4d4a-beb1-193b43541e8d" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-13666398875691362072012-04-25T09:29:00.000+02:002012-04-25T09:29:38.763+02:00Santam vs Nando's an unlikely duelWe have all come to expect something from the people behind <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.nandos.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Nando's">Nando's</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Advertising">advertising</a>. They always seem to be able to produce something that brings a smile to one's face. Sometimes the adverts are deemed a little to risque like their <a href="http://technoblegy.blogspot.com/2011/11/last-dictator-standing.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">'Last dictator standing'</a> advert which was ultimately banned from airing.<br />
<br />
This time they have responded to an <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.wikinvest.com/industry/Insurance" rel="wikinvest" target="_blank" title="Insurance">insurance company</a> advert. The insurance company advert is clever in that gets you to start noticing things that you don't normally notice, as in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_print" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Fine print">fine print</a>, of for example your insurance contract. Watch the advert <a href="http://youtu.be/zZxn7uGhQuE" rel="me nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zZxn7uGhQuE" width="420"></iframe>
<br />
Nando's, the popular fast food chicken chain, created this advert as a bit of a tongue-in-chick (cheek) response. Instead of the fine print of the contract they talk about the menu but in the same style and manner as the Santam advert. See it <a href="http://youtu.be/Y03wspg2DcA" rel="me nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y03wspg2DcA" width="420"></iframe>
<br />
This is normally where it ends as most companies that get spoofed by an Nando's advert normally object and go the boring legal route and get the advert banned. Thankfully for a company that is 94 years old they too have a sense of humour and responded brilliantly with this <a href="http://youtu.be/eUAKjzEzeq8" rel="me nofollow" target="_blank">advert</a>.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eUAKjzEzeq8" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
If only companies could be this way more often and avoid the courts and embrace the challenge, unlike some very standard bank.<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=dc0bf8a8-d79c-4829-a3f3-548178f96651" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-15475723407948567902012-04-24T11:50:00.002+02:002012-04-24T11:50:34.150+02:00Google Doodle all zipped upThe <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_Doodles" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="List of Google Doodles">Google doodles</a> are always interesting and the most recent one for today, 24 April 2012, is one of the many interesting doodles. It is about <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_Sundback" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Gideon Sundback">Gideon Sundback</a> who would be celebrating his 132nd birthday today. He is largely credited with the invention of the modern day zipper. Something we all take for granted everyday.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9f1WBX4f7-buOEV2B2DWmYvYgolZ7hVo3g8zy2TO3DS1ZOaQv7VCQGKRH6lL74Non8iEwRis_9GBjIQgQG4BYd8D-dEY_alHE4U1zsshajSq7wH4hV95OfivV1swZlp_mLua7U7hAKjS/s1600/home.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9f1WBX4f7-buOEV2B2DWmYvYgolZ7hVo3g8zy2TO3DS1ZOaQv7VCQGKRH6lL74Non8iEwRis_9GBjIQgQG4BYd8D-dEY_alHE4U1zsshajSq7wH4hV95OfivV1swZlp_mLua7U7hAKjS/s320/home.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_logo" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Google logo">Google Doodle</a> that greeted us today</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
More about the Google Doodle, Doodles are known as the decorative changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. The doodle team has created over 300 doodles for <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.zdnet.com/topics/google+inc.?tag=header;header-sec" rel="zdnet" target="_blank" title="Google">Google.com</a> in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667 (United%20States)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="United States">United States</a> and over 700 have been designed internationally. For those wanting to see all the Doodles created head on over to <a href="http://www.google.com/logos">www.google.com/logos</a><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIasG6AxK-QKmU3gY09quRsIkQbeoaz1JO7CvvUU4CXgmgpo6IyEbJ4WM5Nq-FhQMFxuMjtPFXeL837xny-e03F3_3U67KMniGCPZwa6HsrS9o9LJBk0GfMA-sTwzTdmcF17kKEvM6RKtS/s1600/zip_pull.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIasG6AxK-QKmU3gY09quRsIkQbeoaz1JO7CvvUU4CXgmgpo6IyEbJ4WM5Nq-FhQMFxuMjtPFXeL837xny-e03F3_3U67KMniGCPZwa6HsrS9o9LJBk0GfMA-sTwzTdmcF17kKEvM6RKtS/s320/zip_pull.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What happens when you pull the zipper down</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=823ec152-0c5a-4042-a8b1-b2d7baf65ee7" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-15389792198551651272012-03-17T13:00:00.000+02:002012-03-17T13:00:04.064+02:00Majority Rules, should it?"<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majority_rule" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Majority rule">Majority rules</a>" is oftened heard in group discussions on plans of action whether in the business environment or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_relation" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Social relation">social interactions</a> with friends and family. Unfortunately for the person in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_group" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Minority group">minority</a> they will normally hear something like "sorry for you.." and life goes on. <br />
<br />
Now in most cases "majority rules" works simply due to the majority of the group generally wanting the same thing. What if however you are the sole person that knows what you are saying or trying to convince others to do is 100% undeniably correct yet the majority do not see it.<br />
<br />
Should the majority really rule in all situations? If you had two experts that had a solution to a unique problem yet the majority want to do something else that may work out in the short term but not for the long term why would people go with the majority and not the sure fix. Surely in some instances it makes more sense to give those in the minority more leverage to change a situation.<br />
<br />
Obviously this makes sense if those in the minority are providing sensible solutions and are not in fact part of the problem. If things are also being done properly those in minority should also have had their say in swaying the groups opinion to becoming the majority. But there-in the cycle starts again.<br />
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Just something to think about.<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=f188f8e2-3c60-42c6-9117-f20dff996136" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-89625204678174600672012-03-07T10:48:00.001+02:002012-03-16T10:09:42.095+02:00How the Media changes a storyIn <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-30.0,25.0&spn=10.0,10.0&q=-30.0,25.0 (South%20Africa)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> there has been furious discussion over the roll of media in the country and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Appeals_Tribunal" target="_blank">Media Tribunal</a> is just one of many aspects being discussed. The media has and always be a powerful force in the world. Especially has more and more media houses embrace the full potential of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Social media">social media</a> their power will only get more powerful.<br />
<br />
People everywhere in the world are able to sway discussion in any direction and unfortunately the court of public opinion is where you need to win and for media houses winning means more money. It must be a difficult task to present accurate factual news but what I want to discuss is the brilliant <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Advertising">advert</a> below. It is by <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> a UK based media company.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vDGrfhJH1P4" width="560"></iframe>
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As brilliant as the advert is, it proves how the media can turn a story into something so far removed from the core story. A case in point is the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strike_action" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Strike action">strike</a> that is happening all over South Africa. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_South_African_Trade_Unions" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Congress of South African Trade Unions">Cosatu</a>, the largest <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Trade union">trade union</a> in the country has called a strike to protest the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauteng" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Gauteng">Gauteng</a> e-Toll project and the use of labour brokers.<br />
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Both points, that the union is striking against are hot topics of discussion and the e-Tolling is one that has earned the fury of just about all Gauteng residents. So you would think that the media would be focussing on the strike and what the strike is about. The e-Toll project has been covered extensively and continues to be.<br />
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The media are covering the strike and doing their bit, but like in the above advert, the story they are covering most is the fact that teachers are striking which obviously impacts on the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Education">education</a> of children. The education system is now getting a lot of focus and teacher unions are getting involved in radio talks yet the point of the strike has nothing to do with education?<br />
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Do not get me wrong education is a massive priority in this country and deserves all the attention it gets but the point is media can and do twist the initial news story into something completely different. Right or wrong or I do not know but I guess that is how news rooms continue to produce news every day, even on slow news days.<br />
<br />
What do you think about media and their power to manipulate a story?<br />
<br />
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=d8796852-2ae3-4d10-a53f-6883f25efa4c" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-56017136904142967922012-03-05T07:00:00.000+02:002012-03-05T07:00:03.960+02:00Facebook's Timeline<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/facebook" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="100" src="http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/resized/0000/4561/4561v1-max-450x450.png" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 245px;">Image via <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/" target="_blank">CrunchBase</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://facebook.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a></b> has
launched their new <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">timeline</b> visual
approach to their user profiles. Initially I was not taken with the new lay-out
but I have since begun to like it. It is certainly a big change from the
existing profile lay-out. The lay-out of old seems to be so bland and boring
now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A nice feature on the timeline is the cover. This graphic is
like the book <strong>cover</strong> to your profile and is a nice big space to show a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Image">picture</a>
of whatever you want compared to the small profile picture we have had for so
long. It is still good to see the profile picture has remained but does take on
a slightly less important role now.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The rest of the page is divided into two main columns by a dividing
line, representing the passing of time, hence the timeline look and feel. This allows
to include <strong>milestones</strong> or life events and you can record your life’s history
easier than ever before.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All those links you used to have on the left hand side of
the page have not disappeared they are just displayed elsewhere. There are now
a couple of tabs displayed just under the cover picture. These tabs can be
expanded by clicking on the little down arrow on the right hand side. What this
means is that only three tabs will be displayed at any given time. This gives a
bit more life to your profile as the tabs rotate through.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you have a post that you wish to make more prominent you
can select the post and highlight it. This will make your post appear across
the entire page and give it more presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also posts that have more comments / shares get a bigger portion of the
page. It is a nice way of seeing at a glance which post got the most action.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The timeline is now available to those who have Facebook
pages for their <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Business">businesses</a> or other reasons. The mandatory cutover date is 30
March 2012 to the timeline for pages. The timeline for pages will affect
businesses in a big way.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Business will be able to place more branding images on the
page now, think of a big <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Coca-Cola">Coca-Cola</a> image on the cover picture and the bottle of
Coke as the profile picture. Businesses will be able to make use of the
milestones feature by way of promotions, specials, product launches. The will
be able to build the brand better and engage with customers.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The ability for a page admin to take a message and turn it
into a private messaging session with a customer will allow far deeper
communication than ever before. Marketers will need to re-think their strategy
on which tabs display above the ‘fold’ as this will be the first thing
customers will see when landing on the business page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It should all make for some interesting changes in the way
we see people’s lives and businesses unfold in real time. Let me know what you
think of the new <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Facebook" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Timeline of Facebook">Facebook timeline</a> on my <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_features" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Facebook features">facebook page</a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/TechNOBLEgyIT" target="_blank">TechNOBLEgyIT</a>.</span></div>
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<div class="zemanta-related">
<h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">
Related articles</h6>
<ul class="zemanta-article-ul">
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://sujithselvan.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/facebook-launches-timeline-for-pages/" target="_blank">Facebook launches timeline for pages</a> (sujithselvan.wordpress.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://socialfresh.com/facebook-page-timelines/" target="_blank">New Facebook Page Timelines Are Here</a> (socialfresh.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.technologytell.com/gadgets/91755/facebook-brings-timeline-to-brand-pages/" target="_blank">Facebook brings Timeline to brand pages</a> (technologytell.com)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=80305282-6134-4256-b73e-5613e89eefff" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-65836116177292394962012-01-27T14:35:00.000+02:002012-01-27T14:35:29.947+02:00Cracks appear in the era of the A380Having <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Flight">flown</a> in this beautiful mammoth double-decker aeroplane of the sky before it was quite a shock to read about the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Airbus A380">Airbus A380</a> developing cracks in its wings. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.airbus.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Airbus">Airbus</a> have blamed a combination of both design and manufacturing flaws.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Airbus_A380_blue_sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Airbus A380" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="169" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Airbus_A380_blue_sky.jpg/300px-Airbus_A380_blue_sky.jpg" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Airbus_A380_blue_sky.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Europe">European</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Aircraft">aircraft</a> manufacturer have managed to establish a way to repair the cracks found on a small number of parts within the wings. This led to European safety authorities ordering safety <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspection" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Inspection">inspections</a>. The safety inspections are set to be carried out on almost a third of the A380 fleet.<br />
<br />
The one-off inspections have not resulted in the grounding of aircraft pending checks but does involve the aircraft being out of service for 24 hours. The more heavily used aircraft which have already been through at least 1800 flight cycles are to be checked first. A flight cycle is one take-off and landing.<br />
<br />
"The A380 is safe to fly," Tom Williams, executive vice president of programmes at <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.toulouse.fr/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Toulouse">Toulouse</a>-based Airbus, said. He said engineers had ruled out <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_%28material%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Fatigue (material)">metal fatigue</a> on the youthful aircraft which first entered service in 2007.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ILA_2008_Airbus_A380_body.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="English: ILA 2008: body of an Airbus A380 whic..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/ILA_2008_Airbus_A380_body.jpg/300px-ILA_2008_Airbus_A380_body.jpg" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ILA_2008_Airbus_A380_body.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Airbus has blamed the cracks on three errors - designers' choice of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_alloy" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Aluminium alloy">aluminium alloy</a> for some of the 4 000 brackets inside the wings, the use of a type of bolt that strained the metal and a way of closing tiny gaps that put more stress on a handful of parts.<br />
The A380 has had a troubled entry to the market. There were a number of production delays which requires the A380 to be manufactured in various countries across Europe. In fact EADS only managed to achieve its delviery target for the first time in 2011. In November 2010 a Qantas A380 suffered an engine blow-out.<br />
<br />
Just about all the operators of the A380 including the likes of Air France, Singapore airlines have declined to comment and have not mentioned grounding the planes. There are 68 A380's in service.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-related">
<h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">
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<ul class="zemanta-article-ul">
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/01/airbus-finds-fix-for-cracks-in-super-jumbo-wings/" target="_blank">Airbus Finds Fix For Cracks In Super Jumbo Wings</a> (wired.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www10.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/business/global/european-air-safety-regulators-order-checks-on-a380s.html?_r=5" target="_blank">European Agency Orders Inspections of 20 Airbus Jets</a> (nytimes.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/20/a380-superjumbos-checks-cracks-wings" target="_blank">A380 superjumbos to undergo checks after regulator finds cracks in wings</a> (guardian.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2012/01/09/airbus-a380-jets-should-be-grounded-say-engineers-115875-23692200/" target="_blank">Airbus A380 jets should be grounded, say engineers</a> (mirror.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://direcmood.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/a380-wings-to-be-checked-for-cracks-easa-says/" target="_blank">A380 wings to be checked for cracks, EASA says</a> (direcmood.wordpress.com)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=0f9ac99a-5cc6-4430-af9b-a65b863eba70" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-60383964462427466462012-01-27T10:41:00.000+02:002012-01-27T10:44:47.228+02:00South Africa tweets the most in Africa<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/twitter" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="61" src="http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/resized/0000/2755/2755v30-max-450x450.png" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="220" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 220px;">Image via <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/">CrunchBase</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Research released on Thursday into <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/" rel="homepage" title="Twitter">Tweeting</a> found that <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-30.0,25.0&spn=10.0,10.0&q=-30.0,25.0 (South%20Africa)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> tweeted the most on the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa" rel="wikipedia" title="Africa">African continent</a> in the last three months of 2011. The study was performed by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.portland-communications.com/" rel="homepage" title="Portland Communications">Portland Communications</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.tweetminster.co.uk/" rel="homepage" title="Tweetminster">Tweetminster</a>. <br />
<br />
According to the study South Africans tweeted over five million messages. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-1.26666666667,36.8&spn=10.0,10.0&q=-1.26666666667,36.8 (Kenya)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Kenya">Kenya</a> was the next closest with 2 476 800 tweets. The next three countries to round off the top five were <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=9.06666666667,7.48333333333&spn=10.0,10.0&q=9.06666666667,7.48333333333 (Nigeria)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Nigeria">Nigeria</a> (1 646 212), Egypt (1 214 062) and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.0333333333,-6.85&spn=10.0,10.0&q=34.0333333333,-6.85 (Morocco)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Morocco">Morocco</a> (745 620).<br />
<br />
The study analysed over 11.5 million geo-located tweets originating on the continent and a survey of the 500 most active African tweeters. South Africa's result as the number one tweeting nation in Africa is a bit of surprise if you look at the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet" rel="wikipedia" title="Internet">Internet</a> penetration in South Africa compared to other African countries.<br />
<br />
South Africa surprisingly has a very low Internet penetration due to a number of reasons from its geographic location all the way to down to poor planning but thankfully it is slowly changing and the African powerhouse is getting back on track. So why is South Africa tops when Internet access is limited?<br />
<br />
The answer presumably lies in the fact that 57% of the tweets were sent from mobile devices. South Africa has cellular coverage of something like 99% of the country. This means anyone with a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_device" rel="wikipedia" title="Mobile device">mobile device</a> capable of tweeting is accessible to the almost 43 million cellular enabled market in South Africa.<br />
<br />
"One of the more surprising findings of this research is that more public figures have not joined Africa's burgeoning Twittersphere," said Mark Flanagan, Portland's partner for digital communications.<br />
<br />
"With some notable exceptions, we found that business and political leaders were largely absent from the debates playing out on Twitter across the continent."<br />
<br />
The seemingly large absence of political leaders on Twitter in Africa is interesting as most 60% of the users are aged between 20-29 years old. We have seen the world over how the correct use of Twitter can make a leaders campaign a success or failure.<br />
<br />
"We saw the pivotal role of Twitter in the events in North Africa last year, but
it is clear that Africa's Twitter revolution is really just beginning," said
Beatrice Karanja, associate director and head of Portland Nairobi in
Kenya.<br />
<br />
"Twitter is helping Africa and Africans to connect in new ways and
swap information and views. And for Africa, as for the rest of the world, that
can only be good."<br />
<br />
Why not have your say about the findings on twitter with hashtag #Africatweets<br />
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=0f9ac99a-5cc6-4430-af9b-a65b863eba70" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-19607974886747710152011-11-29T13:09:00.001+02:002011-11-29T15:47:07.655+02:00Last dictator standing<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">In an earlier article I talked
about the <a href="http://technoblegy.blogspot.com/2011/09/advertisements-are-they-getting-better.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">standard of advertisements</span></a>
in <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-29.046,25.063&spn=10.0,10.0&q=-29.046,25.063%20(South%20Africa)&t=h" title="South Africa"><span style="color: blue;">South Africa</span></a> and how
they seemed to be getting better. One of the main reasons for South Africa
having good advertising is the Loerie Awards. The awards were designed to
inspire advertising agencies to continuously push the limits of advertisements
and create new and innovative ideas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">One of
the best advertising campaigns has got to be the <a href="http://www.menuism.com/restaurants/nandos-calgary-145373" title="Nando's"><span style="color: blue;">Nando's</span></a> adverts. The fast food chain has had so
many brilliant adverts over the last few years across all forms of media. Their
ads have ranged from rogue blind dogs to issues of illegal immigration and more
often than not they capture the political climate in the country and more
recently worldly events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">In their
latest advert, they have created a viral hit of epidemic proportions.
"Last Dictator Standing" is the newest advert and we see look alike
dictators r</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">eminiscing about </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">the old days. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mugabe" title="Robert Mugabe"><span style="color: blue;">Robert Mugabe</span></a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_al-Gaddafi" title="Muammar al-Gaddafi"><span style="color: blue;">Gaddafi</span></a> are seen
playing with water guns in the form of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvrG4T2K4sE" title="TOP 10:Combat Rifles - AK 47 (NO.1)"><span style="color: blue;">AK-47</span></a>'s
and karaoke with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong" title="Mao Zedong"><span style="color: blue;">Chairman Mao</span></a>, making
sand angels with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein" title="Saddam Hussein"><span style="color: blue;">Saddam Hussein</span></a> and
even swinging with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._W._Botha" title="P. W. Botha"><span style="color: blue;">P.W. Botha</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Although
the reaction to the ad has been brilliant, it even earned a spot on <a href="http://www.time.com/" title="Time (magazine)"><span style="color: blue;">TIME's</span></a>
Newsfeed. The majority of people surveyed all enjoyed the ad as pure
entertainment but were unsure of the actual product offering, Nando's 6 Pack
meal, which includes 1 ½ flame-grilled chickens, two large portions of fries, a
pile of bread and some Liqui-Fruit for R170)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">You can
see the <a href="http://youtu.be/u1EX--vdxh4" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Ad here</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u1EX--vdxh4" width="420"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="zemanta-related">
<h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">
Related articles</h6>
<ul class="zemanta-article-ul">
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/11/25/colonel-gaddafi-and-robert-mugabe-shown-in-water-gun-fight-in-new-nando-s-ad-115875-23587718/">Colonel Gaddafi and Robert Mugabe shown in water-gun fight in new Nando's ad</a> (mirror.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://great-ads.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-nandos-last-dictator-standing.html">New Nando's Last Dictator Standing Commercial</a> (great-ads.blogspot.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/last_dictator_standing_robert_mugabe_has_no_friends">Last dictator standing: Robert Mugabe has no friends!</a> (dangerousminds.net)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=83f0d117-4063-40be-b43f-4dff289feedd" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-67140980046936958832011-11-20T14:09:00.001+02:002011-11-21T11:46:08.701+02:00Nokia N9 - Nokia is back in the game<div class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/41118175@N05/5856102418" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Stack of Nokia N9 device images" height="240" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5320/5856102418_c7a4379cfe_m.jpg" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="240" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 240px;">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/41118175@N05/5856102418">Nokia RSA</a> via Flickr</span></div><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Work of Art Smartphone</span></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The new <a class="zem_slink" href="http://nokia.com/" rel="homepage" title="Nokia">Nokia</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone" rel="wikipedia" title="Smartphone">Smartphone</a>, the N9, is a beautiful piece of electronic wizardry coming together to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> become a sure competitor to the much loved <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/iphone" rel="homepage" title="iPhone">iPhone</a>. The new N9 is really an impressive Smartphone; the interface is slick and so easy to use. After many years of falling behind in the Smartphone market Nokia have hit back.</span></div><br />
<strong>Striking All-screen design</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The phone is a perfect fit in your hand, the materials used in the manufacturing of the phone add to its appeal. Technically it is a single piece polycarbonate with a curved glass all-screen front. In reality the plastic used is made from the same material as ice-hockey helmets so that ensures the phone can take some serious damage without breaking. The glass on the front panel is the glass used on helicopters, giving you confidence the phone won't shatter or spider web on the smallest of falls like other smart phones would.</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another plus to the materials used is that the plastic does not block signal, so even with dodgy cellular service you can only blame the carriers and not your phone. The 3.9" <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active-matrix_OLED" rel="wikipedia" title="Active-matrix OLED">AMOLED</a> display makes the display great and gives the effect of everything appearing to float.</span></div><br />
<div class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged" style="clear: both; float: none; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/41118175@N05/6150263947" style="display: block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nokia N9 Smartphone" height="240" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6066/6150263947_2917afaff9_m.jpg" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="240" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/41118175@N05/6150263947">Nokia RSA</a> via Flickr</span></div><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Effortless - just a swipe away</span></strong><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The best part for me about the phone is the way the phone actually works. In short it just does. You just slide your finger over the screen to move onto one of 100 apps permissible on the device. For example you are watching a video clip and decide you want to send a sms, just slide your finger up and select sms, the video clip will pause and resume again when you select the video clip again. Amazing!</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next big thing is NFC, near field communication. Imagine having a funky wireless speaker and you want to play your music through it. Easily enough just touch the top of the phone with the top of the speaker, the two devices will sync and the phone is now playing through the speaker. </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The phone has so many other incredible features that you expect with smart phones these days but the thing makes Nokia better than others in this field is the Nokia Maps and navigation. The camera quality is brilliant, with a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Zeiss" rel="wikipedia" title="Carl Zeiss">Carl Zeiss</a> 8MP auto-focus, wide angle lens, allowing for HD quality video capture with stereo audio recording.</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Having played with the phone, there is so much more to this phone than one can possible write about in this format. I really suggest you go and see this device for yourself; maybe some lucky people will find it in their <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_stocking" rel="wikipedia" title="Christmas stocking">Christmas stocking</a> this year...</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way I am glad that Nokia have eventually brought a phone to the market that competes head to head with the iPhone and will most likely trump it in every way. However Apple's marketing and the popular belief that Apple is best will make Nokia's comeback very difficult but certainly not impossible.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Visit <a href="http://www.nokian9.co.za/">www.nokian9.co.za</a> for more.</span></div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://myjournal4all.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/nokia-n9-review-and-nokia-n9-price/">Nokia N9 Review and Nokia N9 Price</a> (myjournal4all.wordpress.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/sep/28/nokia-n9-last-of-line&a=56566530&rid=abcccabf-420f-43fe-bbe4-6bf9442f2a62&e=5afe6b064d591a8d70c8ff855e58a3c7">Nokia N9: last of the line</a> (guardian.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://technologizer.com/2011/09/27/nokia-ships-the-n9-a-phone-without-apps/">Nokia Ships the N9, a Phone Without Apps</a> (technologizer.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20090127-17/report-nokia-n9-not-coming-to-the-u.s/?part=rss&subj=news">Report: Nokia N9 not coming to the U.S.</a> (news.cnet.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/07/07/meego.based.phone.will.be.around.for.a.while/">Nokia promises several N9 updates, years of support</a> (electronista.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.appscout.com/2011/06/nokia_n9_will_run_android_apps.php">Nokia N9 Will Run Android Apps</a> (appscout.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=abcccabf-420f-43fe-bbe4-6bf9442f2a62" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-64967991645758562032011-11-09T14:01:00.000+02:002011-11-09T14:01:15.148+02:00Droning on about UAV's<div class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ObserverSUAS.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Observer South African UAV in flight" height="245" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/ObserverSUAS.jpg/300px-ObserverSUAS.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ObserverSUAS.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle" rel="wikipedia" title="Unmanned aerial vehicle">Unmanned Aerial Vehicle</a>, UAV, or more commonly known as Drones are becoming ever more present in today’s world. Mainly used in the military for all types of purposes the UAV is starting to find itself being used in more civilian uses like <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.break.com/topics/dumb-cops" rel="break" title="Dumb Cops">policing</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Using UAV's for police work is not necessarily new as some cities have trialled the use of them before. Most of the trial periods though failed either due to funding or the fact that the drone crashed! There is hope though for UAV to be used for policing and for other uses. </span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-29.046,25.063&spn=10.0,10.0&q=-29.046,25.063%20%28South%20Africa%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="South Africa">South African</a> context with our high <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_statistics" rel="wikipedia" title="Crime statistics">crime rate</a> and porous borders the use of drones could well be part of the solution. Funding is always going to be a problem but the cost of UAV's is slowly coming down. For most part the cost of operating a drone was only slightly cheaper than crewed aircraft. As the technology improves so does the cost come down.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.denel.co.za/" target="_blank">Denel</a>, the South African arms manufacturers, have developed a UAV called the <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/technology/news/sky-s-limit-for-made-in-sa-drone-1.1119064" target="_blank">Seeker 400</a>. This UAV is capable of flying for 16 hours without re-fuelling in any weather and be controlled from a computer hundreds of kilometres away. Granted this has been developed for military purpose but it could easily be adapted for civilian purposes.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Uses<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We could have these UAV’s patrolling crime hotspots with camera’s and when something happens it can track the criminals until either a helicopter is chasing or ground crew are in pursuit. It would be able to monitor protests from above giving <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_control" rel="wikipedia" title="Riot control">riot police</a> information on where to be deployed. Being able to monitor troublesome spots for up to 16 hours would be a huge tactical advantage to police.</span><br />
<div class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%B3tm%C3%A6li_v%C3%B6rub%C3%ADlstj%C3%B3ra_1.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mótmæli vörubílstjóra 23. apríl 2008" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/M%C3%B3tm%C3%A6li_v%C3%B6rub%C3%ADlstj%C3%B3ra_1.jpg/300px-M%C3%B3tm%C3%A6li_v%C3%B6rub%C3%ADlstj%C3%B3ra_1.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%B3tm%C3%A6li_v%C3%B6rub%C3%ADlstj%C3%B3ra_1.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Other uses would be in the fight against poachers who are killing rhino’s for their horns. These drones could be placed above nature reserves and monitor both rhino and detect poachers allowing ground and air teams to move in on them.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In a recent article SARS, South Africa Revenue Service, complained that the borders of the country are <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Land-air-or-sea-SAs-borders-vulnerable-20111108" target="_blank">vulnerable</a>. Apparently the 4800km land border is not under surveillance and allows people to just walk across and even fly due to inadequate radar coverage. Our shoreline also suffers the same fate. Surely a couple of well placed drones would go a long way to tighten border security.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Granted some people will probably say that their rights are being infringed by these drones circling above them and being under surveillance but in the end I would believe it would not be a big issue if used for the purposes it is intended for.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Failure<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Of course the use of UAV’s could always <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8859806/13000-police-drone-lost-after-crashing-into-River-Mersey.html" target="_blank">fail</a> like the pilot drone used in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.5,-0.116666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=51.5,-0.116666666667%20%28United%20Kingdom%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="United Kingdom">UK</a>. It assisted in only one arrest before it crashed. You can read the full story here. Having looked at the pictures of this drone it looked more like a toy controlled with an <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/iphone" rel="homepage" title="iPhone">iPhone</a> than a police issue UAV.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is the opposite extreme though. Police in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=31.0,-100.0&spn=10.0,10.0&q=31.0,-100.0%20%28Texas%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Texas">Texas</a> are now putting weapons onto their drones? I personally do not think this a wise move especially if the drone crashes then the weapons will be easy pickings? Rather stick to camera’s and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermography" rel="wikipedia" title="Thermography">thermal imaging</a> and whatever else can be crammed into these awesome flying vehicles.</span> <br />
<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;"> Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/new-police-drone-near-houston-could-carry-weapons/">New Police Drone Near Houston Could Carry Weapons.....</a> (gunnyg.wordpress.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2011/11/weaponized_uav.html">Weaponized UAV Drones in the Hands of Local Police</a> (schneier.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/09/us-navy-uavs-and-israeli-uavs.html">US Navy UAVs and Israeli UAVs</a> (nextbigfuture.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=db1841c0-dc9a-4c34-964b-d94bb4ee4cbe" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-32615512474287509842011-11-01T15:27:00.000+02:002011-11-01T15:27:52.913+02:00Building towards a supersonic Electric AeroplaneThe <a href="http://technoblegy.blogspot.com/2011/07/egenius-electric-airplane-takes-flight.html" target="_blank">eGenius electric aircraft</a> recently participated in the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_building" rel="wikipedia" title="Green building">Green</a> Flight Challenge. It was sponsored by Google, at the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.5088888889,-122.812777778&spn=0.03,0.03&q=38.5088888889,-122.812777778%20%28Charles%20M.%20Schulz%20%E2%80%93%20Sonoma%20County%20Airport%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport">Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport</a> in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.4486111111,-122.704722222&spn=0.1,0.1&q=38.4486111111,-122.704722222%20%28Santa%20Rosa%2C%20California%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Santa Rosa, California">Santa Rosa</a>, Calif. on Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html" rel="homepage" title="NASA">NASA</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAFE_Foundation" rel="wikipedia" title="CAFE Foundation">CAFE Foundation</a> have the goal to advance technologies in fuel efficiency and reduced emissions with cleaner renewable fuels and electric aircraft.<br />
<br />
The Green Flight Challenge had 13 teams competing for the $1.65 million prize provided by NASA. This is the largest purse for any aviation event in history. In order to win the prize teams needed their aircraft must fly 200 miles in less than two hours and use less than one gallon of fuel per occupant, or the equivalent in electricity.<br />
<br />
In the end only three teams successfully completed the aircraft and flight qualification requirements. The winner was team Pipistrel-USA.com, a four seater electric aircraft called the Taurus 4, with an almost unbelievable 403.5 passenger miles per gallon efficiency over a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_zone" rel="wikipedia" title="Flight zone">flight distance</a> of 200miles. Twice that of the already efficient piston powered aircraft in the same competition.<br />
<br />
The e-Genius team won the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP) for the quietest aircraft with a peak take off noise of just 59.5 dBA (A normal conversation ranges between 80-85 dBA). This brings the potential capability of having aircraft quiet enough to land near houses and businesses without the noise aggravation. Good news for those living and working near airports.<br />
<br />
Some other interesting facts from the Green Flight Challenge:<br />
<ul><li>There were 20 exhibitors showing off their visions of the greener aviation future</li>
<li> Pipistrel G-4 achieved 403.5 <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_miles_per_gallon" rel="wikipedia" title="Passenger miles per gallon">PMPG</a> over its 200 mile flight</li>
<li>The eGenius achieved 375.8 PMPG</li>
<li>The winning check for $1.3 million is the equivalent to a Nobel prize winner (1 million Euros)</li>
<li>The G-4 could be charged for a two-hour flight at a cost of $7. (based on 8c for a KW)</li>
<li>Receiving their electricity from geo-thermal powered generators on nearby peaks in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.7077777778,-122.9025&spn=0.1,0.1&q=38.7077777778,-122.9025%20%28Geyserville%2C%20California%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Geyserville, California">Geyserville</a> area, CAFE’s fliers flew “green” </li>
<li>A future challenge is now to create a supersonic Electric aircraft.</li>
</ul>The Green Flight challenge 2011 has heralded a new change in aviation history. The future technology of aviation was most likely born at this event. <br />
<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/03/8126877-electric-plane-wins-135-million">Electric plane wins $1.35 million</a> (cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.space.com/13178-electric-plane-wins-nasa-challenge.html">Electric Plane Wins $1.35 Million in NASA Challenge</a> (space.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/10/green-airplanes-fly-200-miles-at-over.html">Green Airplanes fly 200 miles at over 100 mph and use half of one gallon of fuel per passenger</a> (nextbigfuture.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/07/google-and-nasa-team-up-for-a-green-flight-challenge-with-165m-prize.php?campaign=th_rss">Google and NASA Team Up for a Green Flight Challenge with $1.65M Prize</a> (treehugger.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/electric-powered-egenius-maiden-fligt/18759/">eGenius electric aircraft makes successful maiden flight</a> (gizmag.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://technoblegy.blogspot.com/2011/07/egenius-electric-airplane-takes-flight.html">eGenius - Electric airplane takes flight</a> (technoblegy.blogspot.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=005777bd-4739-4231-9b1a-68ef41b5d755" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-70680006486440128252011-10-28T13:29:00.001+02:002011-10-28T13:37:20.157+02:00Currie Cup 2011 Final - And the winner will be...<div class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7973930@N02/3729270678" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ellis Park Stadium" height="159" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2554/3729270678_1bec7f86c3_m.jpg" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="240" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 240px;">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7973930@N02/3729270678">Charles Heiman - iMedi8 Photographic</a> via Flickr</span></div>Following my article about the winners of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.irb.com/" rel="homepage" title="International Rugby Board">IRB</a> World Cup 2011 by applying the principle outlined in the popular <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Gladwell" rel="wikipedia" title="Malcolm Gladwell">Malcolm Gladwell</a> book, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017922%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dzemanta-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0316017922" rel="amazon" title="Outliers: The Story of Success">Outliers</a>. I thought I would apply the same process to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currie_Cup" rel="wikipedia" title="Currie Cup">Currie Cup</a> final taking place at the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.ellispark.co.za/" rel="homepage" title="Ellis Park Stadium">Ellis Park Stadium</a>, in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-26.2044444444,28.0455555556&spn=0.1,0.1&q=-26.2044444444,28.0455555556 (Johannesburg)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Johannesburg">Johannesburg, South Africa</a> between <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_%28Super_rugby_franchise%29" rel="wikipedia" title="Lions (Super rugby franchise)">the Lions</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharks_%28Super_rugby_franchise%29" rel="wikipedia" title="Sharks (Super rugby franchise)">the Sharks</a> from <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-29.8833333333,31.05&spn=0.1,0.1&q=-29.8833333333,31.05 (Durban)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Durban">Durban</a>.<br />
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In the <a href="http://technoblegy.blogspot.com/2011/09/who-will-win-irb-rugby-world-cup-2011.html">article</a> about the world cup the principle suggested that the finals would have been played out between Australia and France. Although New Zealand did when <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-26.2347972222,27.9823527778&spn=0.01,0.01&q=-26.2347972222,27.9823527778 (2010%20FIFA%20World%20Cup)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="2010 FIFA World Cup">the World Cup</a>, the principle did get three out of the top four teams correct. It also predicted the winner of the Cricket World Cup held in India. You can read my post about that <a href="http://technoblegy.blogspot.com/2011/06/outliers-applied-to-cricket-world-cup.html">here</a>.<br />
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Having mixed results, I have applied the same principle to the teams in the Currie Cup final. If it holds true the Lions should win. The Lions have 40% of their starting line-up players born between January and April against the 27% of the Sharks line-up.<br />
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Although there are many other factors influencing the result of the final, the Outlier's principle has certainly thrown a unique perspective to the way I look at the results of a match these days. From my side I hope the Lions win not only to prove the principle works but so I can once again be a proud Lions fan. <br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=08818905-4b28-4e2f-8bd0-3282764ec936" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-37465596789500964122011-10-24T10:13:00.000+02:002011-10-24T10:13:18.118+02:00IRB Rugby World Cup 2011 - Did Outliers get it wrong?In a <a href="http://technoblegy.blogspot.com/2011/09/who-will-win-irb-rugby-world-cup-2011.html">previous post</a>, I applied a principle from the successful <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017922%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dzemanta-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0316017922" rel="amazon" title="Outliers: The Story of Success">Outliers</a> book to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Rugby_World_Cup" rel="wikipedia" title="2011 Rugby World Cup">Rugby World Cup 2011</a> held recently in New Zealand. New Zealand were ultimately crowned champions of the world after a very close match against unlucky third time finalists <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=48.8566666667,2.35083333333&spn=10.0,10.0&q=48.8566666667,2.35083333333 (France)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="France">France</a>.<br />
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In the post it was concluded that the team that would win the RWC 2011 would have been <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-35.3,149.133333333&spn=1.0,1.0&q=-35.3,149.133333333 (Australia)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Australia">Australia</a> against France with Australia being victorius. Third and fourth place would have been played between New Zealand and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.0,-7.0&spn=10.0,10.0&q=53.0,-7.0 (Ireland)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Ireland">Ireland</a>. In the end though it was not as clear cut and scientific. But the Outliers principle did 'predict' three out of the top four finalists.<br />
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Looking back at the RWC 2011 there were a number of instances whereby the results could have been radically different. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.4833333333,-3.18333333333&spn=10.0,10.0&q=51.4833333333,-3.18333333333 (Wales)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Wales">Wales</a> played exceptionally well to have beaten Ireland in the quarters. Ireland themselves having caused a mini upset with their victory over Australia in the group stages. Wales were meant to come fifth according to Outliers.<br />
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Australia managed to get through to the semi's after a tough match against the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_national_rugby_union_team" rel="wikipedia" title="South Africa national rugby union team">Springboks</a> from South Africa. Although the argument could be said with the assistance of a sixtenth player in the form of the referee, it was just not to be for South Africa in 2011.<br />
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I think the raw emotion and determination to ensure they went to the final was the driving force behind New Zealand's convincing win over Australia in the semi-finals. The New Zealand team has been the best in the world for so many years and probably if you looked into it the players in the New Zealand side have probably all played over 10,000 hours of rugby another Outliers point.<br />
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Coming into the final match, at home New Zealand were always going to be the favourites. Applying the formula though France should have been the victors. In the French starting line-up 66% of the team were born in the first few months of the playing season. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-41.2833333333,174.45&spn=10.0,10.0&q=-41.2833333333,174.45 (New%20Zealand)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="New Zealand">New Zealnd</a> had 40% of the team born in the first few months.<br />
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New Zealand managed to overcome a theoretical principle and become Outliers for the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.irb.com/" rel="homepage" title="International Rugby Board">IRB</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-26.2347972222,27.9823527778&spn=0.01,0.01&q=-26.2347972222,27.9823527778 (2010%20FIFA%20World%20Cup)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="2010 FIFA World Cup">World Cup</a> 2011. Well done New Zealand!<br />
<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;"> Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/rugby-world-cup/8841157/Rugby-World-Cup-2011-France-v-New-Zealand-preview.html&a=59294977&rid=e8c4e389-102d-4a9d-8b61-de7aa4797753&e=2e4a8d30ef1dfbc9ea4ae634e1cc5586">Rugby World Cup 2011: France v New Zealand preview</a> (telegraph.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/Lochore-reflects-on-1987-win-ahead-of-2011-RWC-final/tabid/1534/articleID/230487/Default.aspx">Lochore reflects on 1987 win ahead of 2011 RWC final</a> (3news.co.nz)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/zealand-wins-rugby-world-cup-14795543&a=59489403&rid=e8c4e389-102d-4a9d-8b61-de7aa4797753&e=072a68dd87835aed2729c3a79e554289">New Zealand Wins Rugby World Cup</a> (abcnews.go.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/Rugby-World-Cup-Finals---a-complete-history-1987-2007/tabid/1534/articleID/230427/Default.aspx">Rugby World Cup Finals - a complete history 1987-2007</a> (3news.co.nz)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=e8c4e389-102d-4a9d-8b61-de7aa4797753" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-79186465269999306382011-09-27T14:57:00.000+02:002011-09-27T14:57:49.627+02:00A dream-liner of the sky<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.boeing.com/" rel="homepage" title="Boeing">Boeing</a> have officially handed over the first <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787" rel="wikipedia" title="Boeing 787">787 Dreamliner</a> to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=35.6833333333,139.766666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=35.6833333333,139.766666667 (Japan)&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Japan">Japan</a>'s <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.ana.co.jp/" rel="homepage" title="All Nippon Airways">All Nippon Airways</a>. The 787 programme began back in 2003 and will compete with their European rivals <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A350" rel="wikipedia" title="Airbus A350">Airbus A350</a>. The Dreamliner is "The most technologically advanced commercial airplane in history" according to Boeing 787 Chief Project Engineer Mike Sinnett.<br />
<div class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dreamliner_render_787-9.JPG" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Artist impression of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner." height="156" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Dreamliner_render_787-9.JPG/300px-Dreamliner_render_787-9.JPG" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dreamliner_render_787-9.JPG">Wikipedia</a></span></div><br />
The Dreamliner is a twin-engine, bendy winged, widebody craft that has raised the bar for <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_efficiency" rel="wikipedia" title="Fuel efficiency">fuel efficiency</a>. Some 50 percent of the weight of the 787 airframe is lightweight <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fiber-reinforced_polymer" rel="wikipedia" title="Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer">carbon-fibre composites</a> that could, Boeing says, help reduce fuel costs by 20 percent. Whether travellers will benefit from the lower fuel consumption will depend on how greedy the airlines are.<br />
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The Dreamliner was in part designed to be a panacea to passenger discomfort. Numerous new technologies and design effects have allowed the Dreamliner to become more passenger friendly. Boeing spent years researching their customer's customer, us. Their research resulted in a number of design tweaks and improvements.<br />
<div class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_787_interior_mockup_view.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="787 mockup" height="216" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Boeing_787_interior_mockup_view.jpg/300px-Boeing_787_interior_mockup_view.jpg" style="border: currentColor; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_787_interior_mockup_view.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></div><br />
The initial boarding was found to be of utmost importance so Boeing worked with artists and architects to create arched entranceways which provide a relaxing contrast to the "stress of pre-flight security." Not only this but you can expect roomier seats, more storage and larger, manually dimmable windows. Even economy class will see some luxury additions, with a bar, female-only lavatories and Panasonic entertainment on demand for every passenger. <br />
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Older technology has also been re-purposed such as <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode" rel="wikipedia" title="Light-emitting diode">LED lights</a> installed in the 787 cabin, allowing the ceiling to appear higher, lighting can be controlled to make the transition between day and night easier.<br />
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One of the biggest technological advancements is the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin_pressurization" rel="wikipedia" title="Cabin pressurization">cabin pressure</a> within the Dreamliner. The Dreamliner allows for a more comfortable cabin pressure. The pressure inside the cabin is the equivalent of 6,000 feet and not the normal 8,000 feet. The air can be recycled more frequently due to the composite body of the plane. There is also more humidty in the air reducing symptoms related to dryness.<br />
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The single aisled Dreamliner, seats between 210-290 passengers and has an asking price of $202m. Boeing estimate the potential market to be about 3300 units. Boeing already has 821 orders worth $150bn for the plane in the pipeline. Although it has endured many delays from its start to now, Boeing hope to build up to 10, 787 Dreamliners per month by the end of 2013.<br />
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For those that are interested Boeing shares, were up 3.3 percent at $61.49 on Monday morning on the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.nyse.com/" rel="homepage" title="New York Stock Exchange">New York Stock Exchange</a>.<br />
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<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-15040244">Boeing delivers first Dreamliner</a> (bbc.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10009551.html?part=rss&subj=news">At long last, Boeing hands over 787 Dreamliner (photos)</a> (news.cnet.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-15069608">VIDEO: Boeing delivers first 787 Dreamliner</a> (bbc.co.uk)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=ac4a8cf1-51de-4549-a420-67550ea6d477" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4113196384949838702.post-34394966465119167742011-09-26T08:15:00.001+02:002011-09-26T08:15:00.333+02:00Advertisements - are they getting better?We are most probably all annoyed when watching our favourite <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_program" rel="wikipedia" title="Television program">TV programmes</a> and those infernal television advertisements come on. Generally if you are watching a tv channel like our <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Broadcasting_Corporation" rel="wikipedia" title="South African Broadcasting Corporation">SABC</a> then the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_advertisement" rel="wikipedia" title="Television advertisement">ad break</a> would happen at the most inopportune time and the volume of the advertisement always seems louder than the programme you are watching.<br />
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The ad break often leads to channel surfing, where most likely you are going to find adverts on the other channels on at the exact same time. Annoying as the break is, what is more annoying is the often pathethic advert that seem to be stuck on a loop. These are the advert's played after every other ad at every ad break at the exact same time. Thank goodness for PVR's.<br />
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For those people that do not have PVR's and are forced to put up with adverts ruining our tv viewing pleasure there is not much to be done except to sit back and grit your teeth. However, over the last few months the adverts on tv do seem to be of better quality?<br />
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There are some adverts in my opinion that are quite bereable to watch. There is the brilliant <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPiXc2IztWg">Tracker advert</a> that goes backwards from an old lady right back to when the lady was a baby. This is an excellent example of looking at a service or product out-of-the-box so to speak. The focus here is not on the 'what' as in recovering stolen vehicles but rather on the 'why'. Why does Tracker recover vehicles - to save lives?<br />
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There are many other great adverts that have graced the smaller screens, such as the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nYhixp7bXI">Berocca advert</a> with two lumberjacks dancing on a log in the water with the payoff line being 'You, but on a good day.' OMO also have a decent ad running with their 'Just one small cap is enough' where the domestic helper smacks the hand of the 'madam' and says the pay off line.<br />
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Some other good adverts is the launch of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeS7Moyi4jc">Heita cellphone network</a> ealier this year - not my personal favourite but the ad was well done. Other popular adverts are for liquor brands like Johnny Walker, Hennessy and the Hansa ads with 'Vuyo'.<br />
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Then again there are still the horrible ones like 'Dettol', especially the one where the little boy sneezes all over his lunch and then hands one of his sandwiches to the girl next to him. Not to forget the pathetic 'Mr Muscle' cleaning product adverts with the supposed superhero himself 'Mr Muscle'.<br />
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The Loerie awards, held in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.capetown.gov.za/" rel="homepage" title="Cape Town">Cape Town</a> recently, recognises the best of television advertising and other communication mediums the Oscar's of television advertising in Africa and the Middle East. The finalists for 2011 are listed here. <a href="http://www.theloerieawards.co.za/">http://www.theloerieawards.co.za/</a> Some of them, I cannot understand but then again I am no expert - I just like what I like.<br />
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What are your favourite or best adverts presently on tv?<br />
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<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0px 0px;"> Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/24/uk-advertising-authority-smacks-motorola-for-misleading-atrix-ad/">UK Advertising Authority smacks Motorola for misleading Atrix advert (video)</a> (engadget.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/09/25/ba-used-virgin-plane-in-20m-advertising-campaign-115875-23443836/">BA used Virgin plane in £20m advertising campaign</a> (mirror.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://teamredjhb.com/2011/09/16/a-bird-in-the-hand/">A bird in the hand</a> (teamredjhb.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=06a1ee76-12bb-4729-a3be-4f58ff8ebda8" style="border: currentColor; float: right;" /></a></div>Bryan Noblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01476871209896127821noreply@blogger.com0