What's your poison?

There are literally thousands of different programs.  They range from little apps or widgets you might use on a phone - something like Angry Birds. perhaps - to full blown monster application suites. Microsoft Office. is one example.

Each of us probably have their own favourite programs which we love and use as often as we can.  For many, these are probably games.  For others it might be software that help us communicate or internet apps such web based e-mail or for social networking sites like Facebook.  But for a few, they include programs that can be used for more creative purposes.  It might be Photoshop for creating unusual images,  Auto-cad for design or Adobe After Effects for adding in special effects or title sequences to films. 

Christopher Douglas shows us how this can be done in an appeal for the Water Aid Charity during our Focus on Business course.  Good work Christopher, though I'm not sure about the sound track.

What are your favourite programs? What can you not bear to be without?  What do use them for? We want to know.

Are there any programs that you would like to be available in school?  Come on here's you chance to have a  say.

Social Networks: Saint or Sinner

Social Networks.  Everybody has some idea of what they are.   Well dear reader, you do, or more than likely, you wouldn't be here.  Social networking is all about being a member of a group that shares some common interest and believes in sharing information.  In the past this has meant belonging to an extended group of friends or people in clubs that you personally know and talk to.  Nowadays this means using computing technology hosted by companies like Facebook, Twitter or Google to maintain contact with your social group.  Because you don't have to meet face to face, you can have a much larger social group, where one post can be read by thousands and your friends can be spread around the world.  Something that just couldn't be done before Social Networks arrived on the scene.

As they say, its good to share and keep up to date with your mates.  And we can all think of positive benefits to social networking.  But is there a dark side?

We've all heard of stories along the lines of "Facebook lost me my job", mostly because people have included pictures of themselves doing something inappropriate or because they've said things about their work mates or their boss.  In which case, don't blame Facebook, Twitter or any other site, its down to being an IDIOT!  Plain and simple.  What is said on Facebook, stays on Facebook ...  and there will be consequences, perhaps not to day, not tomorrow, but when you least expect it.  Like when applying for a job and increasingly colleges, employers are scanning social network sites for what job applicants have said or done.  No!  We can't blame technology or social networking sites for allowing us to be idiots. Being able to use a computer is no protection against stupidity.

Some experts believe social networking is evil because of the way it allows companies to track and record so called private data like where we go, what we we see and what we read.  To an extent they have a point, but perhaps the real danger of social networking is its main strength:  the ability to recruit others to a common cause.  While this is can be a benefit, it can as the video above shows, be a force for bad where people can join together to oppress others in what's become known as cyber-bullying.

Some liken this to a virus spreading desiese between groups.  It starts slowly through a marginally offensive remarks.  These slowly becomes worse, as friends try and outdo each other in being rude about another and these as the video below shows, generally tend to be girls.

Then there are the 'Trolls'.  These tend to be individuals who 'troll about' the internet to make hate filled comments, such as taking delight in someone's else misfortune.  Why? Know one really knows.  Perhaps its because they are sad and insecure loners who want everyone else to be as miserable as they are.  Or perhaps its because, with technology available, they can.

So what do you think are social networks good or bad?  Have you been bullied in this way?  What do you think about 'trolls'?  Why do they do it?  Do you think social networking should be allowed in school?  Come on let us  know?

Computers. Huh! What are they good for? Absolutely nothin'!

Has Santa been kind to you this Christmas? Did you get the gadgets that you wished for?

Nowadays, thanks to scientists, computer engineers and programmers, you can get truly amazing mind 'fizz-boggling' tech. From robotic pets with artificial intelligence, through cameras with inbuilt GPS that can tag your pictures with the exact position you took them from, to tiny phones with the same processing power of 5 year old desktop computers. But the question has to be asked what is all this tech used for?

Surely, given the heavy duty expense of developing all this tech and the real cleverness of the people involved in making it all work - they are a cut above the usual Big Brother, reality game show fodder desperate for their 15 minutes of fame. - it has to be used for more than watching yet another 'You Tube' vid of tipsy Granny's attempting to POGO to Firestarter by The Prodigy

And while its sometimes good to play games and blow up stuff.  There has to be more to making use of this life changing technology than using it to blow up even more stuff.  Skype, incidentally developed in Estonia by Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn showing that the web isn't all about the Americans and the British (although Skype is now owned by Microsoft.) is great for keeping in touch with friends and the 'rellies' over long distances.  But really, do you need to 'skype' your friends who you've been talking to and text messaging all day and are seeing later the same evening.

Everyone knows that 'it's good to share'.  It's this principal that's made social networking popular.  People like sharing: sharing their knowledge, helping others, showing off and keeping in touch. Sometimes though you can 'overshare' as the recent program "Don't Blame it on Facebook" demonstrated.  People can be arrested and loose their jobs as a result of comments made through social networking.  And there is such thing as 'too much information'.  Believe it or not, not everyone cares about your latest bowel movements or that your chances of getting a girl friend is listed as 'mission impossible' unless you want everyone's pity or your status is listed as the 'original wild child' - no you're not.

So what do you use your computer for?  Are there any creative's out there?

Does anyone use their computer or tablets for photo-shopping pictures, composing music, creating 'mash ups', building websites, writing essays, books or poetry, solving maths problems, analysing data, research or finding out how to do things.

Come on: tell us what you do with all this tech!

What's Yours Called?

Browsers! Love them or loath them.  All computers have them.  Without them we couldn't do even half of what makes computers useful; from watching catch up TV, films or ‘dogs do the silliest things’ on you tube; from internet shopping to catching up on gossip; from mixing with friends on social networks to researching for projects.  All of these need internet browsers.

Fortunately these programs are free and easily available.  Unfortunately not all browsers have been created the same and opinions vary as to which are ‘good’ and which are ‘bad’.  Luckily there are lots of people out there on the 'inter web' with many, many hours of experience keen to share their thoughts and save us a lot of pain and grief discovering all the problems they've worked out for us.

They are also very creative people and try to get across their experience by using info-graphics comparing programs with common familiar things.  Like the one that compares browsers to guns.  And yep! You might as well shoot yourself, if you use Internet Explorer, or repeatedly slam a car door on your hand.  Both cause extreme pain and achieve nothing

The other graphic compares browsers to celebrities.  You may not know who all the people are, but you can get a general impression. FireFox good, Chrome better, Internet Explorer very bad, everything else in-between.

Anyway which browser do you use and why?  What’s it good at, that the others aren't   Can you achieve world wide fame by creating a info-graphic comparing browsers to something, perhaps to cars or tv programs?  Ask yourself, which Browser would Sheldon Cooper use?