Traditional media thrived on a one-way conversation with its audience. Viewers would tune in to their favorite radio or television shows, enjoy the content, and move on with their daily lives. Today, media just doesn’t work that way. It isn’t uncommon to see hashtags overlaid …continue reading
How Does Data Get Hacked?
Many of my clients worry about getting various types of infections on their computers. More than simply having their performance degrade, they are concerned about the dangers of ID theft and compromising their passwords. These are certainly valid concerns, but how real are the risks …continue reading
Amazon Did Not Build Its Kindle Fire Tablet to Be an iPad Killer
Amazon didn’t disappoint anyone when it introduced its new tablet computer for two reasons:
It is priced right. It is not an iPad clone.
As soon as Amazon released the information about its new tablet computer it calls the Kindle Fire, writers everywhere wanted to …continue reading
Five Ways Linux Impacts Our Daily Lives
Linux is more than a family of operating systems that has limited popularity in the consumer market. It’s a lot more than that, actually. Did you know this very Web page is likely hosted on a machine that is running off Linux? Your television, phone, …continue reading
Professional Podcasting: Maintain Attention from Start to Finish
The big secret of online media is that most viewers only tune in to the first 7-14 seconds of any given video before making the decision to move on. Encouraging your viewers to watch your content in its entirety is an important way to engage …continue reading
How to Make Music Using Floppy Drives
One of the more popular projects circulating the DIY community right now is related to the idea of turning old hardware including floppy drives and hard disk drives into musical instruments thanks to the moving parts associated with each device. The sound of a floppy …continue reading
How to Stay Productive While Working from Home
Working from home is the ideal situation for many Americans. A recent study by Skype revealed that 34% of Americans work from home at least part time. While working from home offers more flexibility in your daily schedule, extra comfort, and the ability to …continue reading
Five Reasons to Use Twitter
Whether you’re finally fed up with Facebook, can’t get a grasp on the functionality of Google+, or want to follow the latest in news and gossip without bookmarking dozens of Web sites, Twitter is the best social network you aren’t using yet. With Twitter, you …continue reading
Plan Your Next Vacation with Plan My Next Trip
I’m huge proponent of mental vacations, jetsetting off to another city for a weekend to clear my mind, seeing some friends, and checking out a different part of the country. Sometimes I spend part of this time alone, resigned to recommendations from friends and Yelp …continue reading
Google Bookmarks is a Free Alternative to Delicious
Earlier this year, Yahoo! made the shocking decision to shut down Delicious, the popular bookmarking site that also helped users discover other content as well. Delicious was then bought by AVOS, which has now completely revamped Delicious and changed the entire concept of the service. …continue reading
Track Your Twitter Growth with Twitter Counter
If you’re running a social media campaign for a brand or business, you know how critical it is to be able to prove that your presence on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter is increasing. There are several apps that can display data like growth …continue reading
Now You Can Hide Songs You Play on Spotify from Facebook Friends
One of my favorite new features that Facebook has recently rolled out is the ability for Spotify users to automatically share music they are listening to with their friends on Facebook. These updates appear both in the ticker and the news feed. Unless you’re listening …continue reading
Earth Networks Climate Intelligence Services and Technologies
Recently Earth Networks, owner of the WeatherBug brand, partnered up with Borrasca Iniciativas Atmosféricas S.L. (BIA). The goal behind this new business partnership is to provide the best climate data available to Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. By combining the resources of …continue reading
How to Build and Maintain Your Life Savings
Saving money can be done in many different ways. You can clip coupons, search for better deals between different retailers, and simply avoid buying excessively. Your life savings should represent the money you put aside for a time when you really need it. Building this …continue reading
How Much Influence Does Technology Have Over the World?
Gnomie Jordan asks:
“How will the future of technology change the world as we know it?“
It would be hard to deny that technology has a strong influence on how people communicate, travel, and go about their daily lives. Social media …continue reading
How to Unfollow People on Twitter
There are dozens of reasons to unfollow someone on Twitter. Perhaps they only post inane updates about their shopping habits, or spam their followers with all the gossip fit for both celebrity and tech blogs. Perhaps you’re concerned about your Klout score, and need to …continue reading
Use Twitter to Poll Your Friends and Followers with Wedgies
Crowdsourcing is so hot right now. Facebook users love the “Ask Question” feature to poll their friends to impact a decision they have to make, decide which movie to watch, or collect a series of answers, and Facebook pages can now embed a survey from SurveyMonkey …continue reading
How to Use Splitwise to Split Bills with Roommates
After living by myself for over five years, I now have not only one roommate again, but two. While they are (thankfully) tech savvy and are open to making split payments — like rent — via PayPal, it’s become obvious that at some point we …continue reading
Apple iPad vs. Amazon Kindle Fire
Will consumers ever be delivered anything truly worthy of the (admittedly overused) title “iPad killer?” Only a handful of search terms surprise me more than the ones surrounding the most popular device in its market paired with the word “killer.” While pundits and industry leaders …continue reading
The Four People You Should Follow on Twitter
Twitter is one of the best sources to get real-time news and updates about almost anything happening in the world. Tech bloggers discuss new apps and gadgets before publishing on their respective blogs, and traditional media and journalists detail developing stories before they air on …continue reading
Three New Facebook Features I Actually Like
Facebook has rolled out dozens of new features in the last few weeks, many of which I have declared creepy and an invasion of privacy. Among these new changes are actually a few features that I think could make our use of Facebook more enjoyable …continue reading
Manage Your Google+ Circles with Uncircle+
If you’re a minimalist or one of those social media types concerned about their following/follower ratio, a new app is available if you’re a user of Google+ to help clean up inactive users in your Google+ circles. Not only will these benefit your ratio, but …continue reading
Thoughts on Amazon’s Kindle Fire: You Get What You Pay For
The tablet market looks like it finally has some competition — or so it seems. With the announcement of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, due out sometime before the holiday shopping seasons starts, it appears that the iPad and Barnes & Noble’s NOOK are both going …continue reading
How to Update Your HTC Thunderbolt to Gingerbread
Better late than never, right? It waited until as late as possible to meet its September release date, but HTC Thunderbolt owners, who up until this point had to download a custom ROM for their phone to run the latest and greatest Android version, can …continue reading
Three Facebook Privacy Settings to Change Right Now
Facebook is on a roll of releasing new features. Most users will see the most changes when Facebook rolls out the new Timeline to all users on September 30, but even users who haven’t upgraded to Timeline should be concerned with other changes that have …continue reading
Video Conference and Livestream for Free with Spreecast
One of the most highly regarded features of Google+ is the Hangout, which allows Google+ users to hold a video conference with up to 10 other Google+ users. The ability to easily and freely video chat with several of your friends was a concept with …continue reading
Use Facebook’s New People, Pages, and Places Directory to Find (or Spam) Almost Anyone
Have I said that Facebook is creepy yet? Have I mentioned the complete and total lack of privacy users can (not) expect on Facebook? I should have held my breath, as today Facebook has released a complete directory of every Facebook user, as well …continue reading
Facebook Changes Fan and Brand Page Privacy Settings
On the heels of the major changes to Facebook personal profile pages, which included an entirely new format for profiles and new privacy settings, Facebook has now made a major change to fan and brand pages. Previously, people need to “like” a fan or brand …continue reading
Is Social Media the Future of Search Ranking and SEO?
Tom Maxwell, a member of the LockerGnome community, asks:
“Does SEO help search ranking?“
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a series of methods used by content creators to help improve their ranking on various search engines including Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Having a …continue reading
Is Cell Phone Radiation Dangerous?
There are a wide range of theories surrounding the long-term effects of radiation associated with wireless communication devices. Everything from cell phones to Wi-Fi enabled devices are transmitting and receiving signals all around us. The question currently facing scientists is whether or not there is …continue reading
