INTERNET
The internet has come a long way from dial-up, but recent news indicates we might be close to a leap to the future. Wi-fi as we know it right now means dropped connections every few hours and even spottier connections for anyone who’s using the internet on a college campus or public location. Whether it’s a daily internet fix or some important work, we’ve all looked a little ridiculous flailing our device around to catch a signal. 3G coverage is great, it’s more internet access than we’ve ever seen, and 4G is on its way, but for now there are a lot of people mourning over their tiny Wi-Fi icons, interrupted in the middle of some work or avoidance thereof.
"Sh*t" people say has taken the internet by storm. While there have been a zillion "Sh*t" spinoffs of every stereotype and nationality, our favorite is “Sh*t Fashion Girls Say." We've all been on the social scene with fashion cliques and heard the same lines, “What season is that dress she's wearing?” "Where did you buy that?” and so on. Kyle Humphrey and Graydon Sheppard have definitely spent some time in the social scene of fashionistas. Not only were their statements beyond hilarious, they're also 100% true. “I'm into statement jewelry and color blocking,” is one of our favorites quotes said by the impersonating fashionista.
Protesting is so 2011, but that doesn't stop Wikipedia from blacking out their entire English-language site today to protest two pieces of proposed US legislation. Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director posted an open letter to the public on Monday claiming that these laws "would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia."
The first is circulating around the House of Representatives and is called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Basically, the goal of this bill is to restrict access to sites hosting pirated content and therefore decrease copyright infringement on the web. It's hard for US companies to target our favorite foreign sites that host illegal movies, tv shows and music. So, SOPA aims to discourage advertisers from placing ads on the sites as well as flag certain links so they don't appear in search engine results on sites like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Opponents of the bill say it's essentially promoting censorship and becomes a slippery slope if we free-speech-loving Americans are denied access to even a single site on the web.
Strangers took to the interweb yesterday to confess the worst deeds they've ever committed. As of today, the page is going strong and has received thousands of replies with confessions of the guilt-ridden. Some of them are laughable while others are horrendous. We have no idea if the stories are true or not, but either way it's an interesting read. You'll either feel worse or better about yourself after reading these.
Admit it. You've done this before. You're doing some simple research on the internet -- in this case, you're wondering, "why is there such a thing as a spork, but no such thing as a knork?" -- but you can't figure out what search terms to enter. Rather than futz around with quotation marks, minus signs and "advanced search" methods, you just type your question, in its barest form, into Google.
As AutoComplete works its magic, you get a rare glimpse into the soul of the internet -- Google's most popular searches. All you have to hit is "w," and the search engine will give you the weather. "Why" yields answers to well-intentioned parents, desperately trying to find answers to "why is the sky blue?" Then, this happens.
For the past three years New York has been host to an entire week’s worth of events centered on the wide world of the internet. Next week, starting June 6th, Internet Week New York would like to invite everyone to their fourth annual event! Whether you’re trying to break into an internet based business, check out what’s in store for the internet’s future, or eat, drink, and dance with the internet crowd, Internet Week has something for you.
Although a few found a leaked version last night, Firefox 4’s official release is today! For those of you looking for a change of pace, it may be time to update your browser. The new version boasts a really nice increase in speed, three to six times as fast as its previous incarnation, in fact.
The tabs are now moved to the top of the window, which may or may not be a nice improvement depending on your preferences. Netbook users will definitely be happy as it saves a lot of screen space just moving them up there. For everyone else it’s just a matter of aesthetics. The tabs can be moved back to their original position at any time. Sites users tend to have opened all the time can also be placed in a tiny tab so that the site is always there, but takes up minimal space in the browser.
With less than two weeks until Valentine’s Day, time is running out for would-be gift givers and those hoping to make a romantic move. Suppose that sweetheart is a little less Donna Karen and a little more Dr. Who, and things might not be as simple as candy or perfume. Well, we decided to spread a little love ourselves by providing some Valentine’s Day options worth looking into.
For the Music Meisters: Tunes for Two
There’s no better romantic gesture for the music lover than wanting to share their passion. Both practical and cute, the Tunes for Two really gets the message across in a sweet way. It’s a heart-shaped headphone splitter that’s compatible with any device that uses a 3.5 mm headphone socket. That means it’s safe to use with most MP3 players, computers, and audio devices. At $11.95 and coming in both pink and red, it’s a thoughtful little gift that goes a long way.
Don't think about de-friending Facebook quite yet users. Even though your obsessive ways with checking on the site every hour wouldn't allow you to do such a thing anyway.
The Wall Street Journal has been researching how companies use databases in order to track potential employees online and found on the way that Facebook user's aren't hard to find. Applications on the site can be used as a gateway to send the user's name to dozens of Internet and advertising tracking companies. In other words, un-tag that photo immediately!
It looks like the throngs of people without anything better to do with their time will have to find somewhere else to do it. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that coffee shops and cafés all around NYC are ‘pulling the plug’ on laptop users who sit around in their shops for hours at a time and mooch off of their free internet supply.
WSJ’s Erica Alini writes, “Amid the economic downturn there are fewer places in New York to plug in computers. As idle workers fill coffee-shop tables, nursing a single cup, if that, and surfing the Web for hours, and as shop owners struggle to stay in business, a decade-old love affair between coffee shops and lap-top wielding customers is fading.”
The coffee shops are using a wide array of weapons in their fight against space-consuming, self-entitled laptop users: bans on laptops during busy lunchtime hours when web surfers take up much-needed space, signs that discourage laptop use, and even all-out bans. The most effective of these seems to be covering or locking the dataports and electric outlets that the greediest of the mooches need to ensure that they can go about their energy-draining, freeloading hobby all day long, uninterrupted.
To me, there’s nothing wrong with going to the coffee shop, buying a coffee, and enjoying it on the premises while you browse the world wide web for a half hour or so, maybe even forty five minutes, max. But many New Yorkers abuse the privilege; Massoud Soltani, owner and operator of Cocoa Bar, reports, “Some patrons show up with a tea bag for a free hot-water refill or quietly unwrap homemade sandwiches.” Something has to be done about these special types of leeches, and these new measures seem to be a great first step.
Aside from running up the electric bill and taking up space without contributing anything to the business, laptop campers can also literally single handedly ruin a coffee shop’s ambience. Massoud’s brother, Bahman, explained that at night they seek to create a quiet, romantic environment for their clientele, which is often wrecked by laptop users: “We lower the light, and it’s chocolate, wine, and couples holding hands. What’s the guy with the laptop doing here?” Indeed, it’s hardly the ideal setting for a date when some creepy loser lingers in the background, watching videos on Hulu as he slowly sips a cup of coffee that he bought two hours ago.
Coffee shops are small businesses trying to scrape by in the recession just like many New Yorkers are, not libraries that are obligated to accommodate everyone that walks in wanting free internet access. If more places adapt these harsh measures, maybe more people that spend their entire Saturday afternoon surfing the web at Starbucks will be forced to take up more constructive hobbies.
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