Digitivity

Google Homepage Christmas Doodle Sings Jingle Bells

Digitivity — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:34:00 +0000

Google wishes you ~~Merry Christmas~~ Happy Holidays with an interactive Christmas Eve homepage doodle. You click on the lights, and notes play. Once you complete the “puzzle”, the Google letters animate, and you get to listen to the tunes of Jingle Bells:

Then you get sent to a Google search for “Happy Holidays”.

Find People and Old Acquaintances on Zopeo

Digitivity — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:04:44 +0000

Terry Brown from Zopeo.com wrote in to talk about Zopeo, a new startup whose goal is to allow you to find anyone, anywhere. Read on for more.

Here’s what he says:

This website will help you to find people from anytime in your life, no matter where they are – all in one place.

In Short, you can find almost anyone in the world. Find old girlfriends, boyfriends, or lost relatives. Get their public profile , current address and other details. Zopeo is a free & cool web 2.0 application without any kind of advertisements and I can assure you that your readers would love to use this cool application.

A new people search service, Zopeo is here to let us find individuals from anytime in your life, no matter where they are – all in one place. Zopeo enables users to search for people in any part of the world using nothing but their web browsers. The main selling point of this site is that it’s capable of finding deep web pages that can’t be found by any other regular search engine, or that can be found only by applying lots and lots of different filters.

Searches on the site are executed by supplying the name of the person to be found, and the place where he is actually located. Searches take just a couple of seconds to be carried out. Everything is very easy and to-the-point here.

Zopeo specializes in finding people. Using this site you can find almost anyone in the world. Find old girlfriends, boyfriends, or lost relatives. Get their current address and phone number. Do a background check on a potential babysitter or a suspicious neighbor, which includes aliases / maiden names, relatives, current and past roommates, property ownership, nationwide criminal records, bankruptcies, tax liens, civil judgments, assets, website ownership, and a lot more.

If required, more information can be found at http://zopeo.com/page/about

Have a look at Zopeo.com and give your review below.

Mobile Productivity: Being Productive On-the-Go Thanks to Mobile Devices

Digitivity — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:44:06 +0000

As technology has advanced over the past decade, many people are turning to digital solutions for enhancing productivity. Modern smart phones offer a variety of productivity software, with an emphasis on cloud based storage. With the release of Android 4.0, many smart phones are as powerful as a personal assistant.

Google recently released Ice Cream Sandwich, commonly known as Android 4.0. Android is an operating system that powers many mobile phones. It provides a central platform for developers, allowing cross-compatibility for a wide variety of smart phones.

Android 2.0 was originally created for smartphones with smaller screens, while Android 3.0 catered to tablets with 7-10 inch screens. Ice Cream Sandwich combines features of both these operating systems, allowing users to run a single operating system across multiple devices.

(Courtesy of IvanWalsh.com)

This can be an extremely valuable tool for many businesses and individuals. The Android operating system is tightly integrated with Google’s online services, such as Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Maps. All data is automatically stored on a central server, where it is safe from potential loss. If a user loses an Android device, they can automatically download all their information to a new device instantly.

There are many productivity boosters available for the Android operating system. Email access is available across a wide variety of devices, with automatic syncing between accounts. Google Calendar includes advanced syncing tools. Updating a reminder on an Android device will make it available on all devices a user owns, including their online Google account.

New voice recognition technology in Android 4.0 allows users to transcribe voice in real-time. As a user speaks into their phone, translated words will appear on Android’s screen. All processing takes place on a central server, which can provide more accurate and responsive transcription results. This service does require cell phone plans with a data connection.

(Courtesy of Neil Boyd)

Google Docs on Android can be a great way to stay productive while traveling. Google Docs is an online application that provides tools similar to Microsoft Office. It’s possible to create and share presentations, spreadsheets, documents, and other data with ease. Using Google Docs, a user can create a presentation on a computer, and have it instantly delivered to an Android tablet. Through the use of cloud technology, all of a user’s data is instantly available on any device.

Google Docs on Android also allows for collaboration between groups. In the past, it was challenging for more than one person to create and edit a single document. Copies of a file were passed around several groups, with each individual adding information to a document.

By using Google Docs, it’s possible for many people to collaborate on a document in real-time. Several people can work on creating a presentation together, while discussing their work in a shared chat window. Updates are provided to each user in real-time, preventing overlap in work. In addition, all data is automatically backed up to a central Google server, preventing any potential loss of data.

iPad

(Courtesy of Tsubaki Kaworu)

It’s possible to keep track of a group project while on the go. By installing Google Docs on an Android device, it’s possible to see collaboration between a group in real time. Cell phone plans with high-bandwidth service can allow users to communicate via webcam while editing, allowing an unrivaled level of collaboration.

For users interested in improving their productivity, an Android tablet or cell phone can be a valuable tool. There are several essential apps for anyone using an Android device: Gmail, Calendar, Voice, and Docs. These will allow anyone to create a mobile office anywhere in the world.

This is a guest article by Ruben Corbo, a writer for the website Cell Phone Expert where you can compare cell phone plans. When Ruben is not writing he’s producing or composing music for short films or other visual arts.

ClimateGate II Emails Dumped

Digitivity — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:03:00 +0000

Remember the original release of (depending on your perspective) emails hacked or released by a whistleblower regarding global warming research alleged to have been tampered with? Well, now the same folks have released another 5000 emails. The new emails also contain quotes which are likely to prove embarrassing for the scientists involved.

4.74 Degrees of Separation Between You and the Rest of Humanity

Digitivity — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:10:00 +0000

You know how it’s commonly said there are six degrees of separation between you and anyone else on the planet? Meaning you know a guy who knows a guy … who knows the guy (six times). It’s based on a 1967 study by psychologist Stanley Milgram.

Now the NY Times says scientists at Facebook (they have scientists at Facebook?) determined there are an average of 4.74 acquaintances between any two people.

That’s based on a dataset of 700 million Facebook users.

That’s really quite interesting if you think about it. I think it adds perspective to the people you hear about in the news, either the notorious (Osama bin Laden, Conrad Black) to the rich and famous (Bill Gates, Barrack Obama).

Crowdsourced Occupy Wall St Ad on TV

Digitivity — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:13:03 +0000

Perhaps unhappy with media coverage of late, Occupy Wall St. has come out with an ad being shown on national networks (ESPN, Bloomberg, CBS Sports, Fox News and others). It seems to be either make or break time for the movement after being evicted from Zucotti Park in New York City.

The interesting thing is that the ad was paid for not by George Soros, but by people across the country through a new ad crowdsourcing initiative, LoudSauce. It’s sort of like ChipIn, but for ads:

Is this the future of political advertising? And is it only meant for “progressive audiences” or will conservatives and libertarians take advantage of this approach, too? Will this turn the tide of public opinion?

Head of ChronoPay Arrested in Russia?

Digitivity — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:37:09 +0000

DigitalCashNews tweeted that the head of ChronoPay, an alternative payment system, was arrested in Russia, being accused of orchestrating a DDoS attack on a competitor. The tweet links to threatpost.com, but I can’t access the site at the moment. Nevertheless, it seems doubtful for people trying to establish PayPal alternatives.

Is Bitcoin Flawed? Microsoft Research Says Maybe

Digitivity — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:59:00 +0000

Microsoft Research has identified what it thinks may be a flaw in the system: Namely, there’s an incentive for miners not to forward Bitcoin transactions. See here for the MS paper and here for basic info on the Bitcoin protocol. Can Bitcoin survive the death of a thousand cuts? Via

Nginx: A Faster Alternative to Apache

Digitivity — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:40:12 +0000

Posted in Web/Software Development

Most websites use a combination of the Apache webserver and PHP. But Nginx (pronounce "engine-x") can be a lot faster than Apache, especially for serving static files. Combine that with using PHP-PFM, and you have a speed demon. Here's a tutorial on how to replace your current setup with Nginx and PHP-PFM. Related posts:

11:11 on 11/11/11: What Were You Doing?

Digitivity — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:11:05 +0000

Eleven minutes past eleven o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year only rolls around once in a 100 years.

So what were you doing at that time?

Do you know anyone who was born on a “special” date?

If you missed the special moment this year, you can try for 12:12 on 12/12/12 next year.