Tech Time: Social Networking

Social Networking has been a hot topic for years. It has moved from an obscure concept to a revolution in Internet usage for both private individuals and major companies across the globe.

At it’s most basic, social networking is interacting with people over the Internet; but it’s more than use email. Social networking sites integrate the user experience with the lifestyle experience. Users share thoughts, images, video, games, contacts and much more. Hi5, Bebo, MySpace and Facebook started and/or sustained major social networking trends. Even dedicated image and video sharing sites have contributed to the social networking juggernaut, sites like Flickr, Photo Bucket, YouTube and Vimeo gave the world a window into our lives. Twitter, FourSquare, Ning and others have since emerged to push the social networking wave even further.

Through social networking, we have been able to connect with old friends and long lost relatives, find a job, build a business and if not used appropriately exposed our vulnerabilities to anyone who cares to see.

Fulfilling the maxim, too much of a good thing is bad, social networking is both good and bad. So let’s take a moment to look and the bad and protect ourselves.

Three simple words – private is public. By posting information to the Internet, we are in effect giving that information away. Various privacy and security protocols and controls simply limit the possibility of persons getting access. So, simple rule of thumb, do NOT post anything that you would not want to get into the wrong hands.

Hackers aside, there are other persons who could, intentionally or unintentionally, cause you harm. Even your “friends” may download, re-post or share images, video and information you intended just for them with third parties you wished never existed. There are very few controls in place that can prevent persons, to which you have given access, from doing you harm.

Then, there are the applications. Often we don’t think twice about allowing third party applications and other programmes to access our social networking accounts. If you wouldn’t just let anyone in your house, why would you let all sorts of apps access your account. Malicious third party applications can seize control of our contact list, send out spam messages, capture our private information and generally ruin our lives. OK, maybe that is a little over the top. But the message remains, be aware and take care as you build your social networks.

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Tech Time: Online Gaming

Whether you are a casual gamer stealing a few precious minutes at work, or a serious gamer locked to your computer for hours, the online gaming phenomenon has probably touched your life.

Online games, games played over a computer network usually associated with the Internet, are available in a number of formats and over a number of platforms.

Using nothing more than a Flash or JAVA enhanced browser and an Internet connection, players can access a wide variety of games including arcade, card, board, puzzle and word games. Gamers can play against the system or get interactive with other gamers across the room, the island or the world.

Taking it up a notch, sophisticated strategy and first person games are also widely available online, though many such games charge a fee for access. They may also require you to download software to truly access the game experience.

For many hard core gamers, taking their gaming console online enhances their game play experience. All the major consoles have built in Internet access, customised software and elaborate portals to complete the multi-player experience. At this level, game play is rarely free.

Ready to take the plunge? Start of simple, start local, with PlayJamaica.com. Dabble with online gaming by playing adapted versions of Pong, Tetris, Gem Swap, Solitaire and Space Invaders. Make your idle time more productive and profitable with tournament gaming for a chance to win cool prizes (or more credit to play more games).

Got a game console and ready to pit your skills against like-minded games half a world away? Power up and log on to Xbox Live, Playstation Network or Wii Online.

The Xbox Live experience will set you back a few bucks a month while its competitors PSN and Wii allow games to access the online enhancements for free.

Gaming has blossomed beyond being just a pastime for young boys into a world-wide phenomenon for all.

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Tech Time: Online Shopping

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Tech Time: Internet Banking

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Tech Time: VoIP Me

In this economy, everyone is looking for ways to save money.  One answer is VoIP technology.  Voice over Internet Protocol allows us to bypass the traditional PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) in favour of using the Internet for our voice calls.  In simple terms, VoIP converts our analogue voice signals into digital data, compresses it and reverses the process on the other end.


I know you have heard of Internet calling before.  You may have even tried it and been turned off by the ridiculously long delays and poor quality connections.  Discard that impression and welcome to yourself to 2010.  Blazing (every pun intended) fast Internet makes VoIP calling practical.  Depending on your service provider, today’s VoIP calls are clean and clear.


Living on an island with as many nationals off the rock as on it means that as a nation we make lots of international calls. For us, VoIP calling is especially practical.  In addition to the cost savings and clarity, VoIP calls can offer many of the customary phone features we have gotten used to – caller ID, call waiting, call transfer, repeat dialling and conference calling are all available on VoIP calls.  Your VoIP provider may even offer online access to voice mail messages and the ability to attach the voice mail messages as an audio file to your email messages.


We can dial in or log on to VoIP in three different ways.  We can hook up a hardwire-dedicated device to our Internet connection and plug our phone into that device which is called an ATA (Analogue Telephone Adapter).  This is reliable, but generally, it is fixed.  You will be locked into a provider and the account you established with them.


Alternately, you can purchase and install an IP phone.  This special phone plugs directly into the Internet and can be configured to make calls online.  You’ll have to have an internet connection everywhere you want a phone extension, as these phones generally won’t work on the PSTN lines.


Skip the specialised equipment by using a ‘soft phone’.  Using software installed on your PC/Mac, your can ‘convert’ your computer into a phone using the built-in sound card and modem and with a headset as the only peripheral.  


Now, here comes the really exciting part.  VoIP is now available on select mobile phones.  Imaging, using a cell phone to make calls on the Internet!  So far, VoIP is only available for select smart phones like iPhone and Blackberry.  And even then, only in some markets … and Jamaica is not one of them sadly.  When we get access to the service, callers with 3G, WiMax or Wifi access will be able to route their calls through either the mobile network or the internet for the clearest, cheapest calls imaginable.


Of course, nothing is perfect.  VoIP does require a high-speed connection and electricity to even be considered.  With our frequent power outages, you may be left without any calling capability if you rely solely on VoIP phones.  Faxing is possible, but not yet practical and calls are hackable.  Oh well.


Disadvantages aside, VoIP is an exciting and cost effective option to keep us talking.
  

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Tech Time: Favourite iPhone Apps

I am not afraid to say it … even though I have a Blackberry for everyday use, I think the iPhone is the “coolest” smart phone on the market. Yes, there are other smart phones out there, like the Palm Pre (I used to love my Palm Tungsten), the Droid and the ever-reliable Nokia. But the productive Research In Motion (RIM) Blackberry and playful Apple iPhone continue to rule as the smartest of the smart phones.

The iPhone leads the Blackberry in several respects, most notably apps (small applications designed to run on computers with limited powers, i.e. smart phones). Before you hurl your criticism – yes, the Apple Apps Store is not perfect, but it puts the Blackberry App World to shame with the shear number and range of apps it can boast. With absolutely no scientific backing, I offer my personal list of favourite apps starting with recreational apps.

I am a simple girl, with simple tastes. So my game list includes Brain Challenge, Simon Classic, Tetris and my personal favourite, Monopoly. Sure I’ve got SIMS installed on my iPhone, but real life is hard enough, I haven’t got time to lead two lives at once.

I love music and books, so my iPhone has single handedly replaced my CD player and my bookshelf. The ability to search, browse, chose, download and experience tones and text in real time while moving is nothing short of remarkable. The iPhone makes this happen with iTunes, iPod and Kindle. Mad!

I can share my excitement with my friends using IM+, Facebook and Tweetdeck, or I can get serious and catch up on news with USA Today. And it’s all FREE! With all these apps, 4,000 songs and pictures of my nieces and nephews, I barely have space for more. So cool apps like Virtuoso Piano, DrumKit Lite and My Guitar (so I can have my own personal band), CNN, WebMD and the official Delly Ranks App will have to wait.

For me, this is one of the biggest drawbacks of the iPhone, form over function. The iPhone doesn’t have expandable memory, a replaceable battery or a “relatively” durable screen. The first time you drop your iPhone, and the screen breaks, so too does your heart.

Try as I might, I have not gotten the hang of email on my iPhone. To me, Blackberry is a superior mail reader. But BB forces me to think ahead … to add a password to my phone from now, in case I lose it later. iPhone allows me to remotely find, or wipe, the information from my phone if it's lost or stolen. Yet another reason why the iPhone is “cool”.

My iPhone replaced my CD player, my books, my handheld game console, my electronic organiser, my photo album and my newspaper. But in truth, it hasn’t replaced my Blackberry. It might as well be a Touch iPod, because when I need to actually make a call, I reach for my Blackberry.

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Tech Time: Blackberry Tips

There are a lot of smart phones out there, but in Jamaica, Blackberry reigns supreme as the most popular smart phone. Here are some quick, general tips to help you get the most from your BB.

General Tips

1. Insert an @ sign or period in the email field simply be pressing space. Pressing space twice in most other fields inserts a period

2. Insert a special character by holding down the corresponding letter key and scrolling with the trackpad/trackball

3. Capitalise a letter by holding the corresponding letter key down, this is often easier that than simultaneously hold down the ‘shirt’ key and letter key

4. Move to an item in the menu by pressing the corresponding first letter

5. Select a line of text by holding the ‘Shift’ key and rolling the trackpad/trackball

6. Move up or down a screen by pressing ‘Space’ or ‘Shift’ and ‘Space’

7. Dial a number with letters (such as 876.878.FAME) by holding the ‘ALT’ key and corresponding letter

8. Send your PIN easily my typing ‘MYPIN’ in an email or text field, your PIN will automatically appear

Crackberry addicts can bear the thought of having their smart phone battery die. Consider the following tips for preserving battery life.

1. Charge your phone with a wall charger as much as possible until fully charged

2. Reduce the speaker volume on the phone, use headsets where possible and disable EQ settings

3. Close your browser and applications completely when not being used, not just running in the background

4. Reduce the backlight timeout and brightness settings

5. Set audible roll and keytones to mute

6. Turn off unused connections such as WiFi and Bluetooth ® when not in use

7. Disable your camera flash

All the above tips work on all Blackberry models, but if you are inclined to upgrade, consider the new Blackberry Bold 9700. The new Bold is sleeker, sexier and more durable than previous BBs. The handset features all now traditional features like the high resolution screen that displays 65,000 colours, but “one-ups” old BBs by adding a light sensing display. The once revolutionary trackball has been replaced by the innovative trackpad. Expandable memory and easy to navigate multimedia options take full advantage of the long battery life. Forget pictures; shoot video with the on board 3.2 MP camera with auto focus, digital zoom and image stabilization. Then, upload your footage instantly to the internet using 3G or WiFi.

Interface with us:

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On email: famefm@rjrgroup.com

On SMS: 876-878-FAME (18768783263)