The Top 5 Worst Internet Annoyances

Oh the Internet. Has there ever been an invention so useful and beautiful as it? Obviously, we all use the Internet for more reasons than one. It has everything one needs! Shopping, ratings, information, time-killers, the Internet has it all! Despite these wonderful things, there are still some aspects of the Internet that make us gnash our teeth out of rage. You all know what I'm talking about, those tiny little things that drive you insane.

5. Youtube speech bubbles

remember when Youtube videos were exactly what they are broadcast as; videos? Yea, me neither. For some reason, one of the CEOs of Youtube decided it would be a bright idea to allow its users to upload speech bubbles into otherwise good videos. Now, I find it impossible to watch a video without getting spammed with these little boxes asking me to subscribe to the uploader or to visit his site! It wouldn't be so bad if these bubbles weren't blocking the video I'm trying to enjoy...

4. Websites without back and forward arrows

Do you ever get on a site and see something really interesting on the side of the screen? When you do, go ahead and click it, why not, you can always just click the back arrow to return to the previous screen right? Right?! Not the case in those bear traps of websites that don't allow you to return to the previous screen. Its made even worse if it was a diamond in the rough, a website that was truly fascinating, yet unknown. And now, due to the lack of the back arrow, your little treasure is lost forever.

3. CAPTCHAS

For those of you who don't know what CAPTCHAS are, I'm sure you have encountered them. They are the squiggly and indecipherable words you must enter so that the computer knows you are not a machine. Although they do serve a purpose, why must they be so difficult to read? Also, as if CAPTCHAS of real words wasn't enough, I started encountering random jumbles of letters that left me screaming out of frustration after my 14th attempt at deciphering them.

2. Pop-up adds

I think we can all agree that these things are the spawn of Satan. If you have never seen a pop-up add, you have probably never used the Internet. Well, if you haven't seen over a hundred pop-up adds you have probably never used the Internet. I understand that some sites need these things to produce revenue so that they don't have to be shut down, but why must pop-up adds be some terrible to deal with? I'm pretty sure my hatred of these things doesn't need to be explained. I especially hate those ninja pop-up adds. You know, the ones that show up out of nowhere when you try to click on something, and then all of a sudden you are finding out how you can claim your free Ipad. You add a loud, annoying voice, some blaring music, and some flashing lights, and you are truly in for a hellacious experience.

Now for the most annoying part of the Internet, I'm sure the suspense is killing you. But don't worry, because I'm never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down.

1. Rickrolling

Dear God. I honestly don't think that anything in this world has ever driven me crazier than the voice of Rick Astley. I'm sure at one point in time I might had been able to enjoy "Never Gonna Give You Up," but ever since the phenomena that erupted in 2008, I can't stand to even hear the words stranger and love in the same sentence. Granted, rickrolling has definitely slowed down in more recent years, but catching that one random video that still pulls of this torture brings back flashbacks from the dark years.

THE V1 PRO GOLF SWING ANALYSIS SYSTEM

Ever since I was a young kid I’ve been hanging around our country club playing golf with my dad. The sport grew on me very quickly and I soon found myself on the course everyday. I practiced and practiced to get my game in good enough shape to get a golf scholarship. When I was fourteen I started taking swinging lessons at an indoor studio that had a video analysis system, called V1 Pro. This video analysis system ultimately changed the way I have practiced and played golf ever since.

The V1 is a motion-analysis system that is arguably the top product in its field, used by some of the world’s top golf instructors, including the PGA Learning Center and the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. The V1 Pro system records a real time video of your golf swing from up five different views depending on where you place your recording cameras. The video is then shown on a computer screen and can be played in full speed, slow motion, or you can move it at any rate you chose with the cursor. This allows the instructor to play it back in slow motion, which allows you to compare new video to old video in order to see what progress has been made. The instructor is also able to make the video play in split screen, which allows you to compare new video to old video and be able to tell what progress has been made. It also comes with hundreds of video recordings of almost every PGA tour player in order for the user to compare their swings to the pros. The V1 Pro is sold with a one, two, four, or eight camera set up and the price rages from $1,295 to $6,995.

If you are an aspiring golf instructor this is the ultimate teaching system to buy due to it’s success at all levels of playing ability. As soon I started working with the V1 Pro system I immediately noticed a complete improvement not only in swing mechanics but my results during amateur tournaments.

The Evolution of Miltary Technology: MV-22 Osprey

The US military is renowned for being at the forefront of technology. Many things have come into fruition because of military research, such as flat-screen TVS. During the past 3.5 years I serviced US Marine Corps aircraft's avionics (aircraft electronics) systems and I can vouch that we are not always using the most cutting edge technology.

The Ch-46 Sea Knight (aka phrogs, or 46s) aircraft is a perfect example. It has been around since the Vietnam War and even though it has received several upgrades over the years, the airframe is still more than 40 years old. Aircraft this old require a great deal of upkeep and maintenance, which means more tax payer money. The Marine Corps realized that they were spending more money on maintaining the 46s than they would spending on replacing them. Even though it did very well in amphibious operations the 46 was having problems climbing over the mountainous landscapes found in various regions in Afghanistan.

The Marine Corps began looking at different options for replacement and found the 46's successor in the MV-22 Osprey. Development of the Osprey program originally started back in the 1980s but was not put into full production until the early 21st century. The Osprey is a combination of VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) and STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft. It provides the functionality of a helicopter with the speed of a turboprop plane (wikipedia.org). The main advantage is that the Osprey can climb over the mountains in Afghanistan with relative ease. It can also, after modifications to the flight deck, take off and land on the amphibious warships just like the 46 did.

During its development, the Osprey had to overcome various challenges that are associated with trying to rotate an engine on a fixed wing. Things such as pinched fuel lines which cause engine failures. There were a great deal of crashes during testing and the future of the Osprey seemed to grow dimmer and dimmer. Fortunately though, a brave Marine Col. Glenn Waters and his wife volunteered to personally test what seemed to be flying death traps. Due to their efforts, the Osprey did it's job in Iraq and now in Afghanistan.











For more info check out wikipedia.org or search marines.mil

Facebook Security Alert

Attention Facebook Securtiy Alert

Tip for New Facebook Settings

Why Are they Doing it?

So with all of the facebook security and privacy issues, you would wonder why would they just now be making these crucial privacy changes? The answer is that it took Zuckerbergs own facebook account to be hacked into by someone. It is funny that it takes a facebooks staff account to be hacked into to finally wake someone up. This post is served as a little reminder to reset your account settings in the privacy section. I personally love to check facebook a lot and have lots of times where I am I just check it out of pure boredom. I want to know that when I am getting on my computer to check facebook, hackers cannot interupt. Keeping a virus free computer is so crucial in maintaining a "healthy" computer. After you make these final and most needed changes...Happy Facebooking.

It turns out that facebook has reset their account settings. They just announced last wednesday that Facebook will be making changes to their server for the better. The facebook staff will be making changes that allow the user to more customize privacy settings and allow for more control over information. Although they are making these changes, it resets peoples privacy settings meaning you need to back in there and reset your settings. It explains that if you are on facebook to look up at the address bar. if you see http:// and not https/ that means that you operating with unsecure settings and need to change it immediately. Continuing to operate with the unsecure settings is opening yourself up for hackers and viral damage to your pc. It astonnishes me how many people go through the timelife of their computers with no security or firewalls or anythings. They are not realizing that the machine they are using has lots of

It will also allow for you to click the "recommended" tab that switches the privacy settings to the ones that facebook suggests

Whats the Point?

The point is that we need to protect ourselves as soon as possible.The point is that you need to go ahead and make a change to your facebook settings now. You heard it here first on The Rebel Report Blog

Look up and check to see if you are secure.

This post was lurking around facebook and I would highly suggest it :......

ATTENTION! FB has automatically set itself to the Non-Secure browsing! While on FB, look at your URL address (the very top box on your screen.) If you see "http:" instead of "https:" then you DO NOT have a secure session & can be hacked. Go to Account - Account Settings - Account Security - click Change. Check the box labeled "......Secure Browsing" - Click Save. Copy & Re-post!!

Keeping a virus free computer is crucial for top performance

get on it and be safe out there kids....

susceptibilities and all it takes to protect is a few simple programs and procedures to avoid. These computers we are using are for sure not cheap and we need to protect our expensive machines.

YouTube: the social media god

The other day in my dorm I was hanging out on my Facebook and I came across a movie preview that I had been waiting for on someone’s wall. The movie had just released its first trailer only minutes before and I was no watching it on a friend’s wall, who does not go to school here, and a dozen other people had already “liked” it on her wall. So what did I do? I copy and pasted it to my wall and I got some views and credits for having good taste in movies. It’s not so much the movie that struck me, it was the fact that this video was literally on YouTube for about an hour and it was already on the movie’s fan page, and all over people’s walls.
Which leads me to my topic. Why is YouTube so mainstream (and by mainstream I mean why on earth is it A) so addictive, B) so widely used, and C) so full of useless and useful information)? Upon finding the movie trailer I craved my latest music obsession: Skinny Love by Bon Iver. It was found in less than thirty seconds, which is a plus and leads to YouTube addictions, and after about five times of listening to it I walked up to my friends room and we began watching “Drinking Out of Cups” (if you are not sure what that is, I am not going to explain it due to naughty language). The phenomenon of this video still has my friends saying to each other “Yeah Right Mr. Sea Horse” and “Not my chair, not my problem” so if you want something hilarious to watch, go watch that. The YouTube fascination gives kids our age something to look up to, because let’s be honest, the face that people are putting up videos of them dancing to Single Ladies in a leotard deserves some serious confidence points along with in-depth psycho-analysis.
Why do people use YouTube so much? Could it be to show all of their viewers how cool, funny, rhythmic, beautiful, or any other self-absorbing trait any human being posses? Yes, there are a few celebrities that made their way to stardom through YouTube but there are also those people who make their way to YouTube and are widely criticized (i.e. Rebecca Black’s “Friday”..I listened to it once and it gave me a migraine..and it was Friday. ) But bless that poor girls heart for standing up and deciding she wanted to be the next Justin Bieber, she shoots..she misses! Go back to school honey. I have seen videos of gangs, girl fights, drunken stammers..actually, anything relating to alcohol in general, dance routines, football plays, you name it, it exists on YouTube. Why is YouTube used so much? Well I have come to decide that the idiotic, beautiful, and thrilling videos people post all around the world give the people around ourselves something to relate with. My friend showed me a video of two old lovers, separated for 64 years and they reunite after their spouses die. We could not stop crying. My friend and I shared that moment of watching that man talk to the camera woman about how she “don’t know love” and we could not stop talking about it. So, in a nutshell, YouTube seems to help people relate to each other.
Finally, why is there so much stuff on YouTube? Well, it’s really simple. Because they can and because people want to watch inmates in another country dance to Thriller (perfectly, if I might add). People love to see people succeed and sadly, people love to watch people fail or embarrass themselves. People use YouTube to promote a cause, their fame, their company, anything. It’s the idea of promotion worldwide. They have different sections for entertainment, news and media, sports, sciences, and most viewed. YouTube is here to help people know more about our social world and it is helping us realize what else there is to expect in the years to come.

YouTube: Such a Common Word These Day

Justin Bieber and Leona Lewis, does these names sound familiar? Without their many videos posted on YouTube, these stars would not be where they are today. In the last five years, YouTube has taken a huge plunge and has become one of the most used websites. For many stars and singers, YouTube is what started their career. For example, Justin Bieber was an ordinary boy that had this hidden singing talent, and he had posted videos online. Before you knew it, he was this young pop star all because of his YouTube videos.

Since YouTube was established in 2005, YouTube has been one of the most well-known and popular websites everyone uses to search and watch videos. People all over the world use this website to post videos of anything and everything, such as music videos, how to videos, and even videos of violence. One of the biggest issues YouTube has had to deal with is teenagers and even adults posting violent videos. People post fights and profanity that can be and are offensive. This has put many effects on society and caused a huge stir in society. One story that made the news was a group a teen girls that planned to beat up a girl just so they could post it on YouTube and see all the views they could get. Incidents like these are not the reason YouTube was established, but a fun and a convenient site to watch your favorite videos.

While checking your email or even when your on Facebook, you usually will see a link to a YouTube video or a friend that has sent you a link to a video. YouTube has become such a common source and most people use it so casually. They get sent a link, so they go and watch the video.

One of the main reasons I think YouTube has become so popular is the convenience and how easy it is to post a video. You are able to sign up for a free account, then anyone can download a video. Singers have taken huge advantage of this site to post videos. If you have ever looked, some music videos have over a million views and thousands of comments. YouTube is a fascinating website that everyone uses and is the new medium of video entertainment.

Endless Capabilities of Cellular/Smart Phones

The cellular phone has been evolving for many years now. First the only function of the cellular phone was the ability to talk to others. Then text messaging came along. Everyone was excited when text messaging came along because it was another way of communication without actually talking on the phone or seeing that person. Text messaging was a sure way to run up the phone bill. This was before they created unlimited text messaging plans. I bet everyone had the first Nokia phone that had the world famous game “snake”.  Then the next new feature on cell phones was internet capabilities. Everyone I knew would go on the internet on their phone and use all of their “pre-paid minutes” to purchase ringtones.                 

Even after cell phones started to gain internet capabilities, cell phones have tremendously evolved. Now most phones are referred to as “smartphones”. Some people rely heavily on their cell phones. There is so much you can do with your phone now. Phones have so many functions now. They act as computers, MP3 players, cameras, storage devices, alarms, etc. When I had my HTC Tilt 2 from ATT, my phone had a lot of software such as PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, and Adobe. Even now there are numerous applications and softwares that can be added to smart phones. Smart phones now allow us to be updated with our social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Smart phones even replace simple things such as alarm clocks and radios, things that probably don’t even matter to us anymore since we can access what we need through our phones. Cell phones have become the all-in-one device for most of our media devices (MP3s, alarm clocks, radios, computers, etc.). The functions of cell phones are still becoming more extensive. Now you can control you television with your phone. I don’t how many and which phones have this application but I know that it is available for the iPhone 4. Now you can tweet and change the channel at the same time. Some phones now can be programmed to start your car (again I don’t know which phones and cars support this function. I also saw that on a previous blog on The Rebel Report that there is even a Playstation Phone! Most phones are used for gaming now.  According to one commercial, you don’t not have to be anywhere around the car to start because on the commercial the women was on a plane and her husband was in their driveway. I find this very interesting. You can even register your phone on the computer and track it if it is lost or stolen.

Phone technology has come a long way. From land lines to wireless, the phone will continue to become “smarter” and faster. New features are created everyday to be enjoyed by us users. Who knows what smart phones will be able to do next? Maybe control the lights or set the alarm in your house? Or you may be able to turn on other appliances, such as the fireplace or the shower, with just one touch on your phone.  There are numerous things that we could think to do with our phones.  Starting off only as a device we could only talk and possibly text on, smartphones have become a major part of our society today.

 

                                 

Embebbed Computers

When I was a child growing up my family had a typewriter that my father had bought for us to learn how to type. While I was growing up I learned how to type on it and put the paper in it so i come send off letters.Since I been a child technology has improved over time. I use to mess up a lot of paper while I use the the typewriter. With the typewriters we didn’t have the options to save or backspace.

Desktops
Over time technology advanced then it became desktop. Desktop was a new inventions. The desktop had many more advantages and tools over typewriters. To me a desktop computer is a computer that people can have at home or in offices. Desktop computer are very cheap.They might take up space,but they are very useful. They were first produced in the late 70s in the 20th century. On a desktop computer for storage was first a floppy disk. As time have past the storage have updated that the computer users can use in today time is a flash drive on both desktops and laptops. While I was in was in middle and high school my mother bought me a desktop. I loved my desktop, but the only thing I hated was that I couldn't take it around with me. I used my computer for doing papers, getting research, and social websites. The only thing that I hated about the desktop was all them cords I had to hook up from the computer to the outlet.

Types of Desktops
· E-Machines
· Dell
· Gateway
· Mac
· HP



Laptop
There are two types of laptops. Recently there have been made a laptop called “Mac.” With most laptops and computer they are easily to catch viruses. With the Mac computer they are very hard to catch a virus. Laptops are very portable. As a college student, I am able to take my laptop to class, the Union, library, and etc. to get done with work. I don’t have to wait to go to my room to continue doing my work.
Types of Laptops
· Dells
· Mac
· E-machines
· Compaq
· Samsung

Laptops aren't very good with battery life. Now that technology has improved over the generations there are now touch screen laptops and desktop. During the pass years there was a way that we have to connect to the internet by connecting our computers to an enternet cord. Now the laptops have wireless internet.



On the different types of laptops especially the Mac computers they don’t have the same programs as the other types of laptops have. When I first started school I seen a lot of my classmates with their Mac computers. I start telling my mother how much I wanted one. They are expensive but I would love to have one. I'm kind of glad that I didn't get one my freshman year of college. For instance if a student have a specific class to take like Pre-Calculus they won’t be able to download the software because the software isn’t available on those types of computer.

With computer we have changed with technology that computer users are able to messaging other.With both desktops and laptops we can instant message friends, Skye or OoVoo friends that are across the country, and email teachers and friends.

As of now I love my laptop because I need it since I'm in college. I just want a new one as of now.

VS

In recent years, touch less devices have really become popular throughout the world. Germs can easily spread from one individual to another simply by physically touching objects such as door knobs or hand rails. Touch free paper towel dispensers reduce the transmission of germs and has many other benefits. Automatic paper towel dispensers have a motion sensor installed on them which automatically dispenses paper towels whenever motion is detected in range. This can really help to encourage a sanitary environment in the kitchen or bathroom simply because it eliminates the use of touching and spreading germs. In fact, this is one of the biggest problems with most towel dispensers that require you to pull a lever. You have no idea how many people have touched the same lever, which means that those germs can transfer on to your hands. GROSS!

Another added benefit is that these can also help to reduce waste which is so common with regular folded towels. The dispensers are designed to give out just the right amount of paper towels needed in order to dry your hands. I know what you're thinking "hand dryers are touch free too!" This is correct however, hand dryers have been known to leave bacteria on your hands. Automatic paper towel dispensers are becoming much more available these days. Anyone can purchase them and they are very affordable.

Now that i have explained the benefits of the automatic paper towel dispenser let me explain how it works.

• A motion sensor uses a wavelength such as infrared to detect movement. This movement disrupts the beam. The notion is sent back to the device, signaling an "on" switch to dispense the towels.

• In the front of the paper towel dispenser, the motion sensor picks up the movement of a hand within only a few inches from the paper towel dispenser. The paper towel then automatically rolls out. The energy source that moves the motor in the paper towel dispenser comes from plugins or batteries.

• The automatice paper towel dispenser can be set to issue out specific lengths of paper towel every time its sensor is set off. These settings stop dispensing after a few sheets to help reduce wasted paper and allow the user to wave their hand once to switch the machine on.

A paper towel dispenser is a great gadget to have in your kitchen or bathroom. It's infrared light beam detects motion which makes grabbing a towel to clean your hands an easy task. It conserves paper towels and makes it easier to get one when you need it. You'll save plenty of counter space, too, if you mount them on the wall or underneath the counter.

Facebook Creepers Are Weird!!

Facebook creepers are so much more common than people think. They are everywhere you turn. People send you friend request just because they know someone you know and 99% of the time everyone accepts them. What they don't know is a lot of the people they add are creepers. A creeper on Facebook will start out by sending you a message in your inbox or they will send you an instant message. They start off asking you your name and how old you are, or they ask you where you live and are you in high school or college. That's a no-no and should throw up a huge stop sign in your head, you should go and block them, but most people don't because they like to have all the friends they have. Then most creepers proceed to go and comment on your pictures and tell you how gorgeous or hot you are, and they will sometimes ask you for your number. Most FB creepers are the weird guys or girls you wouldn't ever talk too. Facebook creepers can be guys or girls, but most of the people I have talked with have had a guy FB creeper. I also know a few who have had girls creep on their page. From experience girls usually become creepers when they get out of a relationship with a guy, and they will creep on his page to see if he is with other girls or talking to another person. Girls are really jealous and even though they arent with that guy they don't want other girls to be with them either. Guys who creep on girls pages usually don't know the girl they are stalking. Most guys I have asked say they met the girl at a party or on the square and they want to check her out and see if she is single or in a relationship. I think that is harmless creeping just to check on a person, but some people take creeping to far. That's when you should delete them and block them from your friends. That is also why you don't put your number on FB. Creepers can be cut off, you just have to know what to do and nip it in the bud.

The Top Three Worst Twitter App for an Iphone user

Hello, I 'm back once again. Today I'm going to tell you about the Twitter applications that are absolutely horrible. I have tried many applications for Twit

ter over the past few months. As I have before, I am addicted to Twitter. Therefore, I am pretty knowledgeable about the applications for Twitter.There we

re many applications as well as many applications that were horrible. As I mentioned in my previous blog, Echofon, Twitbird, and Hootsuite are the best applications for an Iphone for users. They simply have more to offer than many of these other applications. In this blog, I am going to list the Top Three Worst twitter applications for iPhones. Twitterrific tops the list as the number one WORST twitter application.

1) twitterrifficWhen I first began using this application, Immeaditely loved it. It was easy to navigate and it keep my tweets coming in on time. My impression of this application would shortly change. After about a week of using the application, I started noticing errors. The first thing that stood out to me was the fact that it would often forceclose whenever

I tried to tweet or mention someone. For those you who are not knowledgeable about Twitter, mentioning is when you reply or write another user. At first, it only did it occassionally but later, it started doing it often. Another problem with this application was that it used to completely kick me off of twitter. This was the ONLY application that has ever blocked me from using twitter. Not only could I not use that application but it blocked me from using other applications as well. I had to constantly uninstall and re-install this application just to get it to

function properly. I eventually got tired of it. That's when someone told me about Echonfon. The second Worst Twitter apllication would be Ubertwitter.

2) Ubertwitter

This application was horrible from the beginning. It was not easy to navigate at all. Uber

Twitter had the worst format ever. I could barely read down my timeline because of how horrible it looked. The font and the font color just was very helpful at all. I was constanly missing mentions and my followers tweets. There was only one this I like about this application : the mute feature. The mute feature just allows me to temporary silence someone. It was quite handy. However, Ubertwitter did not show all of my followers' tweets. It seemed like it only showed certain followers. That really bothered me. So, I did not keep this application very long. I think I uninstall it after two days of using it. I was absolutely not impressed with this a

pplication by any means. The 3rd WORST Twitter application would be the Twitter for Iphone application.

3)Twitter for Iphone Application.

This application is sponsored by Twitter. This application is okay but it has a few problems as well. When I first downloaded this application, I was pretty excited since it had the push notifications feature as well. However, I never received my notifications until hours after it had been posted. That made the whole push notification feature pretty pointless. Not only was this a problem but the application was constantly crashing. When I was using this application, I crashed at least 12 times. I was completely annoyed and to removed this application. This application was definitely one of the worst applications ever created for Twitter.

Thank you all for reading my blog, I hope it was very helpful to those of you how have Twitter and an Iphone.

XOOM VS. iPAD 2

The Apple iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom are very similar. At first glance they look almost exactly the same but there are some differences to think about before buying either.

Each features a unique operating software but similar in many ways. The Motorola Xoom runs it's business through Androids 3.0 software compaired to iPad's iOS 4.3. Each software has customizable pages but the Xoom is limited to only five while the iPad does not have a number limit but the iPad does not support widget support. With Apple's A5 processor the iPad moves at a walking pace compaired to Motorola's 1Ghz of pure processing power. Each is available with 32 Gbs of internal memory while the iPad is also available with a 16 Gb internal memory. While many users will say 32 Gb of internal memory is plenty but others also say its no where near enough, which was covered by the Xoom's SD card reader slot. While both units are available WiFi compatible, the Xoom is also available on Verizon's mobile network and the iPad is available on AT&T's mobile network. The Xoom is available 3G and 4G compatible but the iPad is only available as a 3G version.

The Motorola Xoom has a stunning 10.1" touchscreen. The iPad has a slightly smaller 9.7" touchscreen. In the right corner weighing in at a sturdy 1.6lbs is the Motorola Xoom, and in the left at a featherweight 1.2lbs is the Apple iPad. Both have a 5.1 surround sound stereo but with the iPad's speakers projecting down instead of the Xoom's rearward facing speakers make for an easier listening experience. Which brings me to the main thought behind the design of each tablet. The iPad was created, like all Apple designs, with a music base where as the Xoom was created as a user friendly mobile version of a computer.

The Xoom's release date was 2/11 and the iPad's release date was 3/11 but the iPad is in the second generation version which gives a more informative learning curve. The Xoom is linked to the Android market which has over 100,000 apps already but is still growing rapidly as many designers find endless opportunities to express their design skills. The iPad is connected to Apple's iTunes which has 200,000 plus apps.

Pricing can be a definite deciding factor when attempting to expand your technological inquiries. Best Buy lists various versions of each device. The iPad does have a introductory rate of $499 for a bare minimal WiFi only 16Gb but you get what you pay for, very little space and limited World Wide Web connection. iPad also has its meat and potatoes version of a 32Gb hard drive with WiFi and AT&T's mobile 3G network for a heafty $799 price tag only the diehard tablet users will appreciate. The Xoom has a little more expensive introductory model at $599 for the WiFi only 32Gb and a much more evenly weighted $799 version WiFi, 32Gb internal memory, Verizon mobile empowered network.

There are many things to consider when debating on which device to buy. "To each his own" is a popular statement many people use when thinking about dropping at least $499 on a new piece of technology. There are many connections to find out information about each device to help in the decision making process.

Difference Between the Ipod Touch and the Ipad

I had always thought the ipad was just a bigger ipod touch. but now since i have experience having the ipad for myself , i realize they have some difference. But what they do have in command is you can read magazines, websites, newspapers, eBook, calendar, contacts, notes, maps, video, youtube, itunes, App Store, safari, mail, photos and ipod. The ipod has the same and more, stock, weather, voice memos, clock and calculator. Reading with the ipad is better than having a laptop, because its more lighter and you don't have to worry about a keyboard.

The ipad has more setting than the ipod. Ipad, you can lock the wallpaper, there is also a battery remaining that lets you know how much batter you have left. The ipod touch holds 6 hours the ipad holds 10 hours(www.woowoomac.com). The ipad doesn't have Nike but the ipod do, don't know why but it doesn't.The ipod does not have usb, but the both don't have GPS or camera.The biggest problem with the ipad is the price which runs around $519 to $850 depending on the memory, and the ipod is run about $100 to $200. One of the easiest portable computers to travel with and is visually arresting for conducting presentation or product demos. Support for more than 350,000 apps also gives it unmatched versatility, allow the ipad 2 to double as a mobile invoice tracker, inventory replenishment solution or even foreign language translator on command, just to name a few uses.(www.theglobeandmail.com)

Why Netflix Has Outlasted Blockbuster!

For years Blockbuster has been the movie rental icon, and everyone would go there to find a movie to watch. After years of being on top they have recently started going out of business because of Netflix. My family has been using Blockbuster for as long as I can remember, but for the past year in a half we have started using Netflix. I live in Olive Branch, Ms and there were three Blockbusters and they have all been recently shut down. I had a membership card for Blockbuster and loved to go there when I had time too. Blockbuster was a great store to go too, but Netflix is so much more convenient. When I would check out a movie at Blockbuster I would have to go to the actual store and find my movie and pay each time, and that would add up to alot of money. New rentals would cost more than other older movies. Also I would only have a certain amount of days to keep my movie. Whereas, when you use Netflix you pay one flat rate, 9.99, a month. Also, you can keep your movie for as long as you need it, and you can watch it as many times as you want. Netflix always has the latest and the newest movies for you to watch and you don't have to pay extra fees for them. You don't need a membership card for Netflix, all you need is an E-mail and a password, and that's how you log in every time after you give your billing information. You can order movies from your house computer and have the movies delivered to you by the next morning. Now with Netflix you can also get movies from your Wii and Xbox live. This means you don't have to leave your house to rent a movie anymore. I love using Netflix being in college because I can watch any movie from my laptop and not have to move or worry about late fees. Blockbuster was great at the time, but with gas prices and the prices of the new movie rentals going up, Netflix is a safer bet and they have a better variety. These are some of the many reasons of how Netflix has outlasted Blockbuster, and Blockbuster has taken its recent losses.

What does Facebook (and Twitter) have that Xanga didn't?

As technology and social networking mature and adapt to various societies today, we almost always forget about the old networks immediately as the newest one comes along. Popularity of one social network is usually overshadowed by a newer more visually pleasing social network. As I was sitting on my computer one day looking at my facebook and tweeting on my iPhone, I thought to myself what ever happened to Xanga? Ahh yes, Xanga, the poetically written blog accompanied by the latest indie song you have playing as your background music, and the website where one blogger could visit random blogger's blogs for hours and hours. The personality of your xanga directly represented you, the blogger, or so one would think. Can you personalize your Facebook? Maybe. But I don't know how quite yet. On a Xanga page, you would have your list of viewers where you could tally up how many times this person had viewed your page. The majority of the time you had to accept the person to FOLLOW you (hence the reference to Twitter). You would seem like a cool blogger if people you kind of knew where following you. By kind of knowing someone I'll use the example..Timmy, the boy that you went to the same church with and lived 25 minutes away from. Although this FRIEND REQUEST (Facebook reference, you're welcome) seems to sound like Facebook in a way, Xanga just told you that the person was following your blog and they did not have any safety precautions to it. But safety a few years ago wasn't really the issue to young budding teens who were as obsessed with Xanga as they were with Instant Messaging. Once you think about it you do realize that yes, it was that long ago. So why was Xanga so hot and then suddenly so not? Well, to back up my hypothesis on Facebook being far better than Xanga, I set up my own Xanga account (again) to see why no one really uses Xanga anymore. First off, registering for your Xanga is-to say the least- a complicated order. When your favorite book, food, tv show, movie, place, color, where you attend school, and your religion are all optional on Facebook, Xanga made me feel like I was applying for an eHarmony subscription. Secondly, uploading pictures onto Facebook is idiot-proof. I can even upload them from my smart phone. It is just user friendly. Xanga on the other hand requires the use of PhotoBucket. I wasn't sure how to use it before when I was 13 and, sure enough I still am clueless when it comes to uploading pictures onto Xanga. Thirdly (and the most important) is that I really find the most important thing about having a social networking profile (or two) is the safelty of the network you are working with. Xanga was about as vulnerable to the internet as MySpace, which freaked me out the whopping one month I had a MySpace and I deleted it. You can have tons of random people from all over the world commenting on your posts- some of which are just weird. Facebook lets it's users ask and send requests for everything, even if it's a virus floating around Facebook. And as for Twitter, its a Xanga that allows 250 words and icons, pictures, and no one cares about what is on your profile. From my personal experiences a good quote will usually work. To top it off you can follow celebrities and see what they are up to. So, overall...what happened to Xanga is that people found better ways to blog, keep up and in touch with friends, and protect themselves better than Xanga allowed them to.

Top Three Twitter Apps for an Iphone user

Twitter is rapidly becoming one of the most popular social networking sites out there. I absolutely love Twitter. Twitter is my comic relief on a daily basis. I'm probably addicted. I tweet everywhere:while walking to class, sitting in the union, in class, in long meetings, and wherever else I deem necessary. I even tweet in the shower. #DontJudgeMe That's just a little Twitter humor for you all. I am able to effectively tweet and update my account on Twitter by using applications. Well, today I wanted to share with you some great twitter apps for the iPhone. I wanted to share with you the applications that have worked best for me.

1) EchoFon

Echofon is by far my favorite application. I have tried many apps before but this one is perhaps the best. It a

llows you to do so much. My favorite feature is the mute option. In case you don't know what the mute option is, it allows you to temporary silence one of your followers. You might ask "why would you want to mute someone?" Well, there are certain followers that annoy me but I do not want to "unfollow" them, instead I just mute them until I feel like being bothered with them again. EchoFon also includes the push notification feature. The ap

p will send me a notification whenever I receive a direct message, a mention, or a retweet. It helps me to keep up with everything. It is a wonderful app for an afforable cost: FREE!

2) Twitbird

I really really like Twitbird. It's also another free application for Twitter. I especially like Twitbird because it allows you to be creative and change the layout of your timeline as well as your profile. Twitbird also allows your to change your profile picture without making it appear small unlike other apps. It is much easier to edit and transform your profile than it is on the internet or any other app. I am able to alter my background with this app. As you can see in my picture on the right, I can upload my own picture and save them as a background.Twitbird is one of the few applications that read your tweets aloud for you. This can come quite in handy if you are driving or preoccupied. It is a great feature for someone who is blind or have poor vision. This app does not have push notifications but itorganizes my Retweets, Direct Messages, and Mentions into separate folders. I never miss a tweet with twitbird.

3) Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a pretty nice app as well. As you can tell, I have many applications for Twitter installed on my phone. I use Hootsuite as my backup app in case my other applications start to crash. Sometimes, there is an error in an application which may cause it to fail. That doesn't happen often though. I like Hootsuite because it is very easy to navigate. Hootsuite places everything in to separate folders. Not only does it use organize my Twitter account but it organizes my Facebook account. I really like that feature of Hootsuite. It allows me to easily navigate between Twitter and Facebook without a problem.

These applications that I listed above are my personal favorites. These apps should be most helpful to any iPhone user.

-Brittany Dukes

Yet Another Way to Procrastinate

Last year, I was introduced to an amazing website called Stumbleupon.com. This site has saved me from boredom, homework, essays, and responsibilities... to say the least. Stumbleupon is a search engine that is meant for discovery rather than finding. It enables the users to stumble upon different websites that tend to their specific taste. Once a user becomes a part of the community, they can pick topics that represent their likes and interests. Once everything is set up, it is time to STUMBLE! All they do is press the button stumble, and it takes them to a web site, photo, or video that caters to their topics. If the user fancies the page they have stumbled upon then they like the page and the engine brings up more and more things that are closer to their interests. If the page isn't to up to their standards then they unlike it and the engine makes sure to leave out pages that the user would most likely not enjoy. Plus, after the user likes the page it is considered a favorite and it's on a list in their account so they can always revisit the site if wanted. Users can also find their friends on Stumbleupon to see what kind of things that like as well and to share sites founded.

The website was founded in Canada by Garret Camp, Geoff Smith, Justin LaFrance, and Eric Boyd. It was an investor-backed company when first starting off in San Fransisco, and at one point the company was sold to eBay. Though, in 2009 it was bought back by the original founders, and is today an investor-backed company in New York and San Fransisco.

I love this website with all of my heart. I am a sort of artist, and I have found a cornucopia of arts and crafts to do while stumbling. I also love humor, and some of the most hilarious things I've found were the ones I stumbled upon. A person can literally spend hours and hours on this site. Beneath I'll give examples of sites that can be stumbled upon by getting on my account and as I stumble I'll put up fun sites I find.

1. The first site, that I usually always stumbleupon is a site called Craftgawker. The link is here. This site is a compilation of people's blogs that are chosen to be put up where someone can either by arts and crafts or learn how to make certain things. It has really quirky, cute crafts that are perfect for many of people.

2. The next thing I've come across is this video from Collegehumor. It is entirely too awesome. It's titled Human Jumbotron. You just need to watch the video to see how intense it is. Human Jumbotron

3. Do you love Harry Potter? Confession time!! I do! Well, if you said yes to loving Harry Potter, then I've just stumbled upon something you may just enjoy. A really cool site called 8tracks.com allows it's users to put up playlists online for other people to search and find. The playlist I just found is (Literally) Magical Harry Potter Film Scores.

4. Mmmm, recipes! I love to cook, and these cookies look scrumptious. Baked Perfection: S'mores Cookies.

5. Perfection. Have any of you out there heard of being... Rick Rolled? This is when you are on Youtube and you expect a certain video but instead it's Rick Astley's song Never Gonna Give You Up. This humorous paper I stumbled upon is a student Rick Rolling his computer teacher. The link is here.

There it is! The awesomeness of Stumbleupon.com. I highly recommend you join the community.

Evolution of the iPod

Because there was only one iPod available at the beginning of this very successful and long lasting “iPod phase,” it was obviously very easy for the buyer to choose which iPod to buy. Since the time that the 1st generation iPod was released in 2001, Apple has successfully come out with new iPods each year through 2010. The iPods differ in many ways from storage and battery life to mobile Wi-Fi and camera capability. Looking at each year, it is very interesting to see the evolution of the 1st generation 2001 iPod into the most recent 2010 iPod.

2001: This 1st generation iPod was Apple's first MP3 with 10 hours of battery life. It was appealing to buyers because of the design and storage. Although there were other MP3s available at the time, the iPod stood out because of its new design with a scroll wheel and storage capacity of up to 10 GB. Its catchy slogan was, “1,000 songs in your pocket.” This iPod was only Mac compatible.

2002 and 2003: The 2nd generation iPod was released with a few upgrades. It now had 20 GB capacities, and was Windows compatible. The appearance of the iPods was the same except for replacement of the mechanical scroll wheel with a touch-sensitive scroll wheel. 2003 marked the release of the 3rd generation iPod, which had a sleeker design and storage up to 40 GB.

2004: Apple’s creativity was seen through their 2004 releases. Along with upgrading to the 4th generation iPod, which now had 12 hours of battery life, Apple introduced iPod Mini an iPodPhoto. Mini had different model colors instead of the standard white, and was very small. Photo could store up to 60 GB of music and photos, 15-hour battery life, and it now had a color screen.

2005: iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano were introduced. Shuffle was such a hit because of the inexpensive price. It did not have a screen, but still had the USB drive and control buttons. The Nano took the place of the Mini because it was small, but also because it had a color screen that the Mini did not have. Color and 5th generation were also improved with more memory and longer battery life. 5th generation now supported video, and took on a much slimmer design.

2006: Apple produced upgraded versions of iPod, Shuffle, and Nano. Each had software updates and extended battery life. Nano was given color options other than black and white, while Shuffle decreased its size and also added colors.

2007: The introduction of the iPod Touch, new Nanos, and Classic. The best way to explain the Touch is an iPhone without the phone. Touch lost the touch-wheel that the other iPods had, and instead gained a touch screen that was the entire front of the iPod. The Classic was the 6th generation iPod, which now was made with aluminum. The battery life of each new iPod was increased to at least 20 hours.

2008 and 2009: Classic, Nano, and Touch were all upgraded in 2008 and 2009. Classic v2 now had 160 GB of storage and 36 hours of battery life. Nano evolved by now having a larger screen, FM radio capability, and the ability to record video. Touch was not modified much, but it did have some software upgrades and went up to 30 hours of b

attery life.

2010: Shuffle, Nano, and Touch each upgraded during 2010. Shuffle 4th generation now had 2 GB of storage and 15 hours of battery life. It went back to its small square shape. Nano 6th generation took on a completely new design: square shape with screen covering the face of it. Touch 4th generation obtained a front and back facing camera, 40 audio hours of battery life, and 64 GB.

iPods from 2001 to 2010 went from having storage of 5 GB to 160 GB, battery life of 10 hours to 40 hours, and the ability of only playing music to now having the ability to video chat over Wi-Fi. The evolution of the iPod is an ongoing process, and it will be interesting to see what Apple will introduce to us next with iPods!

Some of this information came from:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2037089,00.asp

http://gear.ign.com/articles/107/1078271p1.html