Image taken from Forrester Blog
Ok I admit it; I’m turning into a techie. I used to hate technology; go back ten years I didn’t even have a mobile phone and I refused to use email. Now I’ve converted and the first thing I do in the morning is check my phone, closely followed by facebook. When my friend showed me her new IPad, I thought developers had made my dreams come true – a proper sized screen I can use anywhere without having to plug it in or wait a lifetime for it to boot up!

My main issue with the IPhone, or any web-enabled mobile phone for that matter, is screen size. The combination of poor eyesight and staring at a screen all day isn’t a good one, so the screen has to be large enough to avoid squinting. Also, I find the touch screen a bit fiddly on the IPhone, so with a larger screen and therefore more space for the keys, the IPad definitely seems in the lead to me. But what about business users?

Rise and shine…with your email

I suppose because everyone has mobile phones these days, and with people needing so many different gadgets it makes sense to combine as many of them as possible into one device, and with luck that’ll serve both as a business and a personal function.

The IPhone seems quite good for business purposes, in the sense that it makes you start work earlier. For a start my phone is always on. This works well for business, assuming most of the population is like me, they will always have their phone turned on and with them. With the IPhone it then alerts you when you get an email, so you can constantly receive them. And with many people checking their email before they even get out of bed, you start work much earlier than you actually get into the office.

The choice is yours

That seems to not be true of the IPad. Yes you can switch it on anywhere and check your email before you get up in a morning, if you choose to. And that’s the point, if you choose to. The IPhone is right there, probably your alarm clock, therefore it’s turned on in your hand with your email just a click away. Personally, I prefer not to do that, but you can’t argue against the fact that for businesses it’s a great thing.

I feel the screen size of the IPad beats that of the IPhone. It’s big enough for me to read without squinting, easy to navigate around and simple to use. The IPhone seems a bit fiddly for my liking. However, I’m not a fan of the touch screen in general. Apple have brought out a wireless keyboard for people like me, who can’t quite handle the idea of using a computer-type device without one. But then you’d have to carry both the Ipad and a plug in keyboard around with you all the time. This seems to be getting quite bulky.

Good business sense?

And therein lies another problem with the IPad. It’s a little on the bulky and heavy side to hold up for long stretches of time. Not that people do all their daily work on the IPhone either, but at least that is designed to be used on the go, and not billed as something that could replace laptops or computers in the office.

And how exactly would that work? Natasha Lomez for one reviewed how the IPad and Laptop compare for journalism on silicon.com. Evidently, the IPad can’t multi-task, its office options aren’t as useful for the average office worker, and typing on the touch screen is a hassle. I quite agree with her conclusion – that the IPad is a consumerist device, not a business one.

Fun and games

You’re also quite limited as to what angles you can keep the IPad on as it has a reflective screen that you need to keep away from the light. Apple’s case does keep it at a 45 degrees angle, and you can even buy an IPad dock to give it more of an angle, but with the IPad starting at £429 it can get rather costly.

For me personally, the IPad seems to be more of a toy for people to play around on at home, check emails and watch films, which is great. I love doing that, but it doesn’t quite stack up as a business tool for me. I say keep the phone for when you’re on the go so you’re immediately alerted of any important emails, but once you’re working in the office or at home, I’d hold onto the computer if I were you.

One thing I do love about technology is that it’s so innovative. Seems developers are coming up with new ideas every day, some more credible than others. One I read about last week made me feel like a child in a sweet shop and I can describe it in one word; Wolverine.

Yes, you heard me, Wolverine. Apparently scientists have developed titanium foam implants that can be used to patch up bone injuries, allowing the bone to grow around then to further strengthen the healed wound. Obviously that has fantastic implications for medical science in helping to heal previously unfixable wounds.

Happy days

However it seems to have got most of us thinking about Wolverine, the possibility to have blade-like claws suddenly grow out of your hand in a face-to-face battle with Magnito. I loved X-men, and although this speculation is really just for fun, it did get me to thinking what would we do if we had that ability?

Personally, I’m not much of a fighter, so I’d probably use the claws as hooks to grab things from the high shelves that I can’t reach. I’m also incredibly nosy so I’d probably use them to open locked doors and cases, just to see what’s inside. But that’s just me, what would you do?

Reading today’s story about the most recent Twitter hacker brought a little smile to my face. Not that I condone his actions of course, but the fact that he did it as a prank entertains me because it seems so easy to do. Pearce Delphin is 17 years old, and yet he noticed a flaw in the security and tweeted a ‘mouseover’ JavaScript code bringing up a pop up box when users moved the cursor over the message. Impressive that he knew how to do it, I spy a future Java Developer in the making.

There have been several hacks into Twitter in recent years, some more malicious than others, with effects varying from celebrities losing followers, people being able to force others to follow them without their permission and in the case of Francois Cousteix, hacking into President Obama’s account. This leads me to question the safety of the internet – can anything we put on there remain private? Can we really expect to control who we share our information with?

The simple answer would appear to be no. Cousteix managed to deduce the passwords of Twitter administrators and therefore access the accounts of the rich and famous (presumably as well as everyone else too.) In Delphin’s case, he simply spotted a flaw in the design and wondered if it could be manipulated. Wrong as these actions are, they do highlight an important issue: you need to protect yourself.

Big Brother is watching you

Obviously computer security software programmes and firewalls go a long way to protecting us, but do be careful about what you publish. Remember earlier in the week we read about 14 year old Rebecca Javeleau who mistakenly advertised her party on Facebook and received 21000 RSVPs to attend? Seems to me that once something is on the net, whether protected or not, someone somewhere can read it.

And it’s not only written information that we need to watch. Google Street View is massively controversial with countries such as Spain and Czechoslovakia trying to block it, and yet in the UK we are supposedly aiming to have every single road in Britain available on there. Personally, I have no real problem with this, in fact there have been cases of criminals being caught mid-act by the Street View camera. However, from reviewing some of the pictures brought up by searching Google the images are in a lot of detail and although the faces are blanked out, if you knew the person you would probably recognise them.

Therefore it does come down to a matter of personal privacy. How much should we allow to be public property or ‘fair game’ and how much should be protected and kept secret? This seems a difficult question to answer.

Whose property is it anyway?

My feeling is that anything published on the web is no longer private. People can access and track whatever they want to. This does not stop me using the net mind you; I use Google and Facebook on a daily basis, and happily give some details and enjoy having an online presence. But I am careful to never have personal details on there. I don’t want someone else hacking into my account and pretending to be me!

As far as Google Street View goes, outside is public really isn’t it? It’s a fantastic example of how innovative and advanced technology is now, and a really helpful device too. How many times do you go somewhere you don’t know? I do it all the time and Google Street View is incredible helpful as I know what it looks likes – so for anyone as bad with directions as me, knowing that the place looks right or that there’s a great big tower to head for is a very useful tool! But it should black out windows on houses – I wouldn’t want someone peering in at me while I eat my dinner in front of the TV!

So it seems there are various issues to consider in order to keep information safe on the internet, and I’m sure any IT security professionals will be able to explain more hazards than me. As I said before, none of this stops me from using the social networking sites or posting things on the internet, but do be careful with your personal details. If the Twitter administrator passwords can be so easily deduced, assume yours can too and always have a randomised mixture of letters and numbers, rather than recognisable words, which programmes can easily work out.

Please share any of your own tips here.

Stereotypes die hard. When people think about an IT professional on TV or in films, they think about a puny nerd wearing thick glasses trying to break into a secret organisation’s IT systems. However Hollywood has changed the rules and these are my top 5 favourite IT pros on the silver screen:

5. Anthony Anderson aka Glen Whitmann in Transformers (2007)
Most of you may remember Transformers for Megan Fox (so do I), but Anthony Davidson is a good laugh in this movie. He plays Glen Whitmann, an expert hacker and computer hardware technician…. He spends his days playing Dance Dance Revolution with his cousin, living under the shouty regime of his mother and grandmother. Unsurprisingly, he’s a virgin. My favourite scene is; whilst in an FBI holding room, Glen eats a plate of donuts and breaks down under the pressure of the interrogation agents. He is also one of the rare black actors to have played an IT nerd.

4. Hugh Jackman aka Stanley Jobson in Swordfish (2001)
Swordfish did not have an original story line but it definitely had a great cast: John Travolta, Halle Berry, Vinnie Jones and our IT pro Hugh Jackman, who is now arguably more famous for his character in Wolverine than his computer hacker role in Swordfish. He plays Stanley Jobson, an elite hacker who was arrested for having infected the FBI’s Carnivore program with a potent computer virus. As he needs money to get custody of his kid’s, he helps Gabriel (John Travolta) to rob a bank. As far as I can remember, this guy was the coolest IT pro I have ever seen: he was super fit (thanks to jail maybe), enjoyed clubbing, can work simultaneously on 6 screens, and last but certainly not least… he pulled Halle Berry. Legend!

3. Ilan Mitchell-Smith aka Wyatt Donnelly in Weird Science (1994-1998)
This series remains firmly in my childhood memories thanks to the main character, Vanessa Angel who plays Lisa, a virtual, sexy genius created by a nerdy teenager who can fulfil all his wishes as well as those of his best mate, Gary. The point is that they are always hoping to see her naked but unfortunately she never strips off, teasing the adolescents but preserving their innocence.

2. Troy Slaten aka Jerry Steiner in Parker Lewis Can’t Lose (1990-1993)
Definitely my favourite childhood series. No sexy characters involved this time, but a crew of smart guys who always synchronise their watches before kick starting their action plans. A kind of “A Team” at school, with a bunch of freaky characters who appear regularly throughout the series; such as Grace Musso, the school director, a 50 year old sadomasochistic who loves treating her male assistant Frank Lemmer like a slave and who slams the door smashing the pane of glass within it every single episode. Larry Kubiac is a giant beast who can eat fish alive whilst most of the other students will have a mars bar. He regularly bullies Jerry Steiner; the archetypal nerd: skinny, glasses, trench coat (made by NASA), shy with girls but he always come up with some amazing gadgets

1. Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin in Superbad (2007)
Superbad is arguably the comedy of the year of 2007, starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who began working on the script when they were both thirteen years old. Mc Lovin is the smart ass of the gang who manages to make a fake ID to buy alcohol, the only way him and his friends can go to a party. Unfortunately while purchasing the alcohol he is assaulted by a hooded robber, and the police soon arrive. He spends the entire film with the two officers, Michaels (Seth Rogen) and Slater (Bill Hader), who make numerous displays of inappropriate use of police powers, including stealing beers, drinking on the job, unnecessary use of police lights and sirens, and improper use of their firearms.
Interesting fact: his mother was required by law to be on set while filming his sex scene in Superbad because he was only 17 years old at the time of filming…

Maybe it’s time for you to rethink your career and give up IT jobs for the Hollywood spotlight?

Facebook officially exceeded it’s 500,000,000 user milestone last night and there are some great stats flying around the press and the web about it.

Here are just a few:

If facebook were a country, it would be third largest in the world – Metro
Over a third of the UK’s population is on it – The Telegraph
More than 150 million sign in on the go – The Guardian

What does this tell us about our society today and us as individuals?

Facing the Truth

On the one hand, I find Facebook fantastic for keeping in touch with people, especially friends that live abroad. One of my colleagues recently moved to London and met up with a long lost friend who she had not seen in 20 years, and they are now inseparable – all thanks to good old book of face!

On the other hand, I know that many recruiters ‘Facebook’ candidates as soon as they receive their CV in order to see people’s true colours – and it’s amazing how revealing it can be, despite the security settings. The incriminating evidence of that wild night out can have a massive impact on your job prospects.

And just look at that – Facebook has become a verb in its own right. So how else has it changed our society and the world we live in? To what extent is our life real and how much of it is virtual? Does virtual life constitute real life? And how is this affecting our real relationships?

Is spending an approximate 700 billion minutes a month on Facebook a good use of time and and is this really healthy? I find that figure quite frightening.

While it’s great to have a platform to share information, to voice your opinion and to engage in debate, some of the content is somewhat worrying. Just look at Raoul Moat’s fan page and now I’ve heard he also has a hate page. Facebook refused to remove this as the site is a menas to debate and is being debated in the rest of the media. But where do you draw the line?

Facing Criticism

In addition, the amount of people I know that have had arguments with friends, family and loved ones due to a post on Facebook is unreal. And how many of those friends are real anyway? I would think maybe two thirds of mine. I even deleted a so-called friend in the run up to the election because of how they were mouthing off with their opinions. Yet it seems bizarre that these arguments occur online when you could actually go and talk to the person in question. What happened to sitting down and having a conversation with someone face to face? Are we losing our ability to do this?

I suppose most disputes are caused by information getting out that you don’t want certain individuals to discover. But when you publish it on a global, public site, what do you expect?

This leads onto the issue of how much information is available about you to others, and not just your connections but also companies. Advertising on Facebook – personally I don’t take notice of the ads most of the time yet how do I know that a portion of my consumer habits are not formed subliminally through these mediums. Storing cookies so it can display another relevant page is of course not a coincidence. I dread to think!

Facing the Future

But am I going to delete my profile? No.

I can’t blame all this on Facebook. The world wide web in general has made it all too easy to leak information about yourself and one o the problems seems to be the instantness in which this information is delivered. A silly commented posted on a whim can change everything, and even if you regret it, there’s no going back.

But let’s face it, the benefits far outweigh the negatives and that’s why we’re all spending so much time on the site.

The phenomenon of Facebook truly is phenomenal.

I say well done Facebook! Just think twice before you post next time…

Turns out Spiderman is available in 4d. I can’t believe I missed this, I didn’t even know 4D existed!

It sounds really cool… in theory.

I mentioned this in passing to a colleague of mine, which sparked a huge debate around the office about 3D films. Personally, I love them and assumed everyone else did too. Yet this was my colleague’s reaction:

“I don’t like it. Feels like it’s invading my space, get out of my face, gives me a headache. Don’t you get dizzy?”

So what is 4D? Apparently this involves additional sensory effects such as squirting out water or smells.

But do you really want to go to the cinema to watch a ‘Day after Tomorrow’ type film only to get soaking wet during the initial disaster scene then sit shivering through the rest of it?

It’s just another gimmick, just something new to rake in the cash. Until the novelty wears off and everyone gets sick of it and the next fad comes along. I wonder what that will be…!

Yet imagine if they invent virtual reality films, so that you actually feel like you’re in the film. Or if the characters popped out into the room like holograms?!

Following on from the dream gadgets topic, perhaps this is a not too distant reality?