Benefits
• It potentially keeps you safer.
• It will encourage teenagers to drive carefully.
• If you have an accident the GPS tracker will give your location.
• It will reassure your parents and make them more likely to agree with your use of a car.
Drawbacks
• Its basically spying
• It reduces freedom and independence.
• Its another chance for over protective parents to reinforce there hold and authority.
Friday, 24 October 2008
RFID Passports
The dangers of RFID passports are they are yet another breach of our basic human rights. Once again governments are taking more steps to create a system where our every move and transaction is recorded and monitored. RFID pushes the boundry even further, in that authorities dont even have to approach you to learn your most intimate details and how do we know this technology is going to stay within the confines of airports and in the right hands.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
ID Cards
ID cards will become compulsory for all foreign nationals, working immigrants and marriage visa holders as of November 2008. The new scheme is basically a pilot scheme to soften the blow when the Government inevitable introduce the cards as a compulsory item. The ICT involved in the scheme is quite extensive:
• Each card will have a chip holding all your personal data. Including you face, fingerprints and iris patterns.
• There will be a massive database with everyone’s data stored upon it so anomity will become a thing of the past.
The scheme that will be put in place in November is just a dupe to soften the blow when the cards a made compulsory for all citizens. The amount of Immigrants the scheme is been tested on will have no impact on the amount of immigration and illegal work going on in Britain.
I believe Id cards are a complete breach of our privacy, Id cards are just another step on the road to Britain becoming a real life manifestation of George Orwels 1984.
• Each card will have a chip holding all your personal data. Including you face, fingerprints and iris patterns.
• There will be a massive database with everyone’s data stored upon it so anomity will become a thing of the past.
The scheme that will be put in place in November is just a dupe to soften the blow when the cards a made compulsory for all citizens. The amount of Immigrants the scheme is been tested on will have no impact on the amount of immigration and illegal work going on in Britain.
I believe Id cards are a complete breach of our privacy, Id cards are just another step on the road to Britain becoming a real life manifestation of George Orwels 1984.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Friday, 17 October 2008
Ericsson T28
Ultra-thin Ultra-light flip phone
This is a great, phone. When first released in 1999 it was one of the thinnest, lightest and smallest phones available.
It was THE phone to have.
It is still a marvel. The phone weighs a tiny 81 grams
(as compared to 139 grams for the Nokia 8800)
It also has a super-cool automatic opening flip. Just press the tiny button on the side and the flip mouthpiece opens instantly.
Here are a few good reasons why these phones are better:
No colour screen = longer battery life
Modern colour screen camera phones need recharging every day
Battery Life
(when new)
Talk: 4.50 hours (270 minutes)
Standby: 200 hours (8.2 days)
No blurry low-resolution camera
No awful ringtones
No internet browsing - no expensive data charges
Simple, perfect for calls and texts.
These phones still look very cool today.
The phone IS NOT supplied with a charger, you may already have one of the very common early Ericsson chargers - if not we can advise where you can get cheapy chargers
We will also email you a copy of the USER MANUAL in Acrobat reader .pdf format after your purchase and payment.
The battery life/survival is generally very good and your phone will be sent to you with a tested working battery. Replacements are still also widely available at low prices online.
We have three versions available for sale:
The Ericsson T28s which operates on the GSM 900/1800 and works with Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, Virgin and Orange in the UK and other European networks - £24.99
The Ericsson T28 World which operates on the GSM 900/1900 bands which will work with Vodafone and O2 in the UK, PLUS it will work with GSM digital networks in NORTH AMERICA and CANADA - £24.99
The Ericsson T28s locked to the UK Orange network - £19.99
Ultra-thin Ultra-light flip phone
This is a great, phone. When first released in 1999 it was one of the thinnest, lightest and smallest phones available.
It was THE phone to have.
It is still a marvel. The phone weighs a tiny 81 grams
(as compared to 139 grams for the Nokia 8800)
It also has a super-cool automatic opening flip. Just press the tiny button on the side and the flip mouthpiece opens instantly.
Here are a few good reasons why these phones are better:
No colour screen = longer battery life
Modern colour screen camera phones need recharging every day
Battery Life
(when new)
Talk: 4.50 hours (270 minutes)
Standby: 200 hours (8.2 days)
No blurry low-resolution camera
No awful ringtones
No internet browsing - no expensive data charges
Simple, perfect for calls and texts.
These phones still look very cool today.
The phone IS NOT supplied with a charger, you may already have one of the very common early Ericsson chargers - if not we can advise where you can get cheapy chargers
We will also email you a copy of the USER MANUAL in Acrobat reader .pdf format after your purchase and payment.
The battery life/survival is generally very good and your phone will be sent to you with a tested working battery. Replacements are still also widely available at low prices online.
We have three versions available for sale:
The Ericsson T28s which operates on the GSM 900/1800 and works with Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, Virgin and Orange in the UK and other European networks - £24.99
The Ericsson T28 World which operates on the GSM 900/1900 bands which will work with Vodafone and O2 in the UK, PLUS it will work with GSM digital networks in NORTH AMERICA and CANADA - £24.99
The Ericsson T28s locked to the UK Orange network - £19.99
Grandmas Phone
I have decoded the best value phoe to buy grandma would be the Erricson T28. This phone is almost ten years old now so you can pick a brand new one up for 20 pounds with 300 minutes of talk time already payed for. The downside is the phone is locked to the uk orange network so it doesnt work abroad. But grandma is unlikely to go abroad anfd if she does it will probably not be alone so someone will be able to make a call for her.
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
1) Computer games have become so popular in the last few years mainly because people of any age, gender, ability, race….etc can enjoy and play them. They are also relatively cheap and extremely available.
2) No, I believe compute games don’t make us any more violent. People have always been violent, people always look for a something to blame there problems on and computer games are a perfect scapegoat.
3) Computer games don’t make you any more or less isolated. If someone wants to be isolated from the world then they would still be able to do that without computer games, its just people who may want to be isolated may play on computer games frequently therefore people assume it’s the computer game making people isolated not he person.
4) Network games are not particularly social in then traditional sense. You do speak to people online but you don’t actually come face to face with them meaning your social skills are not particularly developing.
2) No, I believe compute games don’t make us any more violent. People have always been violent, people always look for a something to blame there problems on and computer games are a perfect scapegoat.
3) Computer games don’t make you any more or less isolated. If someone wants to be isolated from the world then they would still be able to do that without computer games, its just people who may want to be isolated may play on computer games frequently therefore people assume it’s the computer game making people isolated not he person.
4) Network games are not particularly social in then traditional sense. You do speak to people online but you don’t actually come face to face with them meaning your social skills are not particularly developing.
Monday, 13 October 2008
1) The advantage of paying a legal music provider such as Apple for a music download are the following; its guaranteed to be the song you want, the quality is guaranteed to be good and you avoid getting into trouble with the authorities as it is 100% legal.
2) The disadvantage of buying a pirate DVD from a market stall are the following, the quality is not going to be good, if it’s a completely the wrong movie or it doesn’t work you cant return it to the market stall expecting your money back and its illegal so you risk having a run in with the authorities.
3) The disadvantage of downloading the latest Hollywood blockbuster before its UK release date are the following; your not supporting the film industry, the quality is very likely to be poor, you could get into trouble, if the movie comes in a file with other things you run the risk of viruses and other malicious software infecting your computer.
4) The disadvantage of you visiting an illegal music downloading site are the that first of all its illegal so you run the risk of being recorded and been punished by the authorities, the music can sometimes be poor, you don’t always know what your downloading, if you have to give your details the company or person that runs the site can record them and sell them or use them in an unlawful way.
5) Widespread illicit downloading of music damages the recognition of new talent in that music companies are not getting all the funds they need from the sale of CDs and legal downloads so they are unlikely to take the risk of funding a new band or artist.
2) The disadvantage of buying a pirate DVD from a market stall are the following, the quality is not going to be good, if it’s a completely the wrong movie or it doesn’t work you cant return it to the market stall expecting your money back and its illegal so you risk having a run in with the authorities.
3) The disadvantage of downloading the latest Hollywood blockbuster before its UK release date are the following; your not supporting the film industry, the quality is very likely to be poor, you could get into trouble, if the movie comes in a file with other things you run the risk of viruses and other malicious software infecting your computer.
4) The disadvantage of you visiting an illegal music downloading site are the that first of all its illegal so you run the risk of being recorded and been punished by the authorities, the music can sometimes be poor, you don’t always know what your downloading, if you have to give your details the company or person that runs the site can record them and sell them or use them in an unlawful way.
5) Widespread illicit downloading of music damages the recognition of new talent in that music companies are not getting all the funds they need from the sale of CDs and legal downloads so they are unlikely to take the risk of funding a new band or artist.
Friday, 10 October 2008
Hoaxes and Misinformation
The ways you can asses weather or not a sight is kosher or real is mainly by what site it is, if the infromation you are reading or researching is from the BBC or Wikipedia the chances are its 90% reliable and genuine.
The ways in which you can spot dodgy websites is by the following observations:
does it look amatuer
does it make about to be absolutely mind blowing and huge, but the only place the story is posted is on the website in question.
is it completely implausible or to good to be true, beacuse the chances are it is.
The ways in which you can spot dodgy websites is by the following observations:
does it look amatuer
does it make about to be absolutely mind blowing and huge, but the only place the story is posted is on the website in question.
is it completely implausible or to good to be true, beacuse the chances are it is.
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Mobile Phones: When and what for?
I use my mobile phone predominantly for sending SMSs and listening to music. I use my mobile phone to perform these tasks wherever I am (provided there is signal). I use the music player on my phone mostly when I am out and about, especially when I am in transit from one location to another.
The problems and disadvantages I sometimes have with using my phone are there isn’t always signal and if I play music through any other headphones other than the ones that came with the phone it tends to run its battery down at a fair rate.
On a whole my phone fulfils its purpose; it keeps me in touch with friends and family when I am out and about and entertains me when I am bored.
I use my mobile phone predominantly for sending SMSs and listening to music. I use my mobile phone to perform these tasks wherever I am (provided there is signal). I use the music player on my phone mostly when I am out and about, especially when I am in transit from one location to another.
The problems and disadvantages I sometimes have with using my phone are there isn’t always signal and if I play music through any other headphones other than the ones that came with the phone it tends to run its battery down at a fair rate.
On a whole my phone fulfils its purpose; it keeps me in touch with friends and family when I am out and about and entertains me when I am bored.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
When do I use E-Mail?
The main way in which I use E-Mail is to communicate over long distances quickly and cheaply. I use it regularly to email my dad in Afghanistan because it doesn’t cost anything and I don’t have to go through the hassle of working out a time to phone. Another major benefit of using email in this way is that the email can stay unread in mine or his inbox; we don’t have to both be online to send and receive messages.
The disadvantages of using email is that it takes quite along time to type out a message and sometimes if you delete your sent messages and clear out your inbox then you receive message referring to the previous message you can forget what it was about and become confused.
Email makes you more productive in that if you send a message to someone asking for a link or help you usually get it pretty quickly. It makes you less productive in that sometimes you can use the excuse I didn’t get the email when really you did you just couldn’t be bothered to reply or perform the task.
The main way in which I use E-Mail is to communicate over long distances quickly and cheaply. I use it regularly to email my dad in Afghanistan because it doesn’t cost anything and I don’t have to go through the hassle of working out a time to phone. Another major benefit of using email in this way is that the email can stay unread in mine or his inbox; we don’t have to both be online to send and receive messages.
The disadvantages of using email is that it takes quite along time to type out a message and sometimes if you delete your sent messages and clear out your inbox then you receive message referring to the previous message you can forget what it was about and become confused.
Email makes you more productive in that if you send a message to someone asking for a link or help you usually get it pretty quickly. It makes you less productive in that sometimes you can use the excuse I didn’t get the email when really you did you just couldn’t be bothered to reply or perform the task.
E-Mail
The disadvantages of E-Mail rather than face to face communication are much the same as SMS:
It is difficult to understand sarcasm and what mood your recipient is in.
It’s impersonal and can make your recipient feel as if you can’t be bothered with them.
If your giving instruction or asking your recipient to perform a task they could read the message incorrectly or misinterpret it and you will not know this is the case as without facial expression or body language you cannot tell if someone is confused or at a loss.
The disadvantages of E-Mail rather than face to face communication are much the same as SMS:
It is difficult to understand sarcasm and what mood your recipient is in.
It’s impersonal and can make your recipient feel as if you can’t be bothered with them.
If your giving instruction or asking your recipient to perform a task they could read the message incorrectly or misinterpret it and you will not know this is the case as without facial expression or body language you cannot tell if someone is confused or at a loss.
Digital Communication Vs Voice Communication
SMS
The social disadvantages to communicating via SMS in text language are as following:
It can be difficult to gauge sarcasm and emotion without the aid of body language
It takes longer to communicate; it can take you minutes to type a text message that could take only seconds if communicated verbally.
It could actually cost you more to have a conversation via a series of texts then make a quick phone call.
Its impersonal especially if you want to ask a question or tell the person something important.
SMS
The social disadvantages to communicating via SMS in text language are as following:
It can be difficult to gauge sarcasm and emotion without the aid of body language
It takes longer to communicate; it can take you minutes to type a text message that could take only seconds if communicated verbally.
It could actually cost you more to have a conversation via a series of texts then make a quick phone call.
Its impersonal especially if you want to ask a question or tell the person something important.
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Toolman
PDA
A PDA could help John by organising all his existing paperwork into one hand held device. The PDA would hold everything from his contacts to his schedule and contact information. The advantage of John sticking to his old paper system is that he is less likely to lose a big stack of paper than a small PDA.
GPS
A GPS could help John because it would mean he wouldn’t have to carry around road atlases and it would be easier fro him to locate new clients. The disadvantage of GPS is that sometimes it can become confused with road layouts especially when followed without the aid of prior knowledge or a roadmap.
Laptop
A laptop could be used much the same as a PDA in that it could be used to store all the paperwork John already has. The disadvantage is a laptop is more likely to be stolen or damaged than a stack of paper.
Mobile
The advantages of John having a mobile phone are pretty great, the main been in the long run it will probably cost him less to have mobile rather than making calls from public phones. It will also mean John would travel lighter because he doesn’t have to carry all the looses change.
A PDA could help John by organising all his existing paperwork into one hand held device. The PDA would hold everything from his contacts to his schedule and contact information. The advantage of John sticking to his old paper system is that he is less likely to lose a big stack of paper than a small PDA.
GPS
A GPS could help John because it would mean he wouldn’t have to carry around road atlases and it would be easier fro him to locate new clients. The disadvantage of GPS is that sometimes it can become confused with road layouts especially when followed without the aid of prior knowledge or a roadmap.
Laptop
A laptop could be used much the same as a PDA in that it could be used to store all the paperwork John already has. The disadvantage is a laptop is more likely to be stolen or damaged than a stack of paper.
Mobile
The advantages of John having a mobile phone are pretty great, the main been in the long run it will probably cost him less to have mobile rather than making calls from public phones. It will also mean John would travel lighter because he doesn’t have to carry all the looses change.
Friday, 3 October 2008
Entertainment services I have used in the past three months
Youtube.com
LiveLeak.com
More4
Sky Player
BBC iplayer
Online Radio
The purpose of this technology is for people to be able to access sources of information and entertainment through the internet. This enable people to share and make there views heard on a particular piece of entertainment or news. The technology is targeted at anyone with a computer and internet connection. This technology is enhanced by being online because it enables people to see and share things they may not previously have had access to. The current limitations of this technology is that sometimes the quality isn’t that great and it can take time to buffer or download some videos.
Youtube.com
LiveLeak.com
More4
Sky Player
BBC iplayer
Online Radio
The purpose of this technology is for people to be able to access sources of information and entertainment through the internet. This enable people to share and make there views heard on a particular piece of entertainment or news. The technology is targeted at anyone with a computer and internet connection. This technology is enhanced by being online because it enables people to see and share things they may not previously have had access to. The current limitations of this technology is that sometimes the quality isn’t that great and it can take time to buffer or download some videos.
Download services
Things I have downloaded from the internet
Software: VLC media player, Norton anti virus updates and WinZip
Music: albums and individual songs from iTunes and other sites
Movies: From sky player
Information PDFs
Download sevices are so widely used beacuse of their simolicity. All you need is a computer and a credit card and if its avalible you can have it instantaneously. The downside tom downloading is if the place you are downloading the file from is illegally redistrubiting it you can get into quite a bit of trouble. Another danger is if you dont be careful with what your downloading you could download trojans or other malicious codes onto your computer.
Software: VLC media player, Norton anti virus updates and WinZip
Music: albums and individual songs from iTunes and other sites
Movies: From sky player
Information PDFs
Download sevices are so widely used beacuse of their simolicity. All you need is a computer and a credit card and if its avalible you can have it instantaneously. The downside tom downloading is if the place you are downloading the file from is illegally redistrubiting it you can get into quite a bit of trouble. Another danger is if you dont be careful with what your downloading you could download trojans or other malicious codes onto your computer.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Government Online Services
Information services
Recycle now: All recycling centers are listed and there are printable documents advising on how to recycle effectively. I believe this is extremely useful to the general public as it means they don’t have to call there council they can just get the information free online.
Online reporting and advice
The home office has a feature where you can report fly tipping. This is useful in that you do not have to make a call. The disadvantages are that it may take time to process your request.
Online Booking
On the London transport agencies website you can book pay your congestion charge. The advantage of this is that you don’t have traipse around trying to pay it at a shop you can just pay it in advance.
Online Payments
On the online section of the DVLA you can pay road tax for your vehicle. The advantage of this is that it means you can do it from the comfort of your own home instead of going to the post office.
Recycle now: All recycling centers are listed and there are printable documents advising on how to recycle effectively. I believe this is extremely useful to the general public as it means they don’t have to call there council they can just get the information free online.
Online reporting and advice
The home office has a feature where you can report fly tipping. This is useful in that you do not have to make a call. The disadvantages are that it may take time to process your request.
Online Booking
On the London transport agencies website you can book pay your congestion charge. The advantage of this is that you don’t have traipse around trying to pay it at a shop you can just pay it in advance.
Online Payments
On the online section of the DVLA you can pay road tax for your vehicle. The advantage of this is that it means you can do it from the comfort of your own home instead of going to the post office.
Government Online Services
The advice i found on direct.gov.com was concerning recycling. All recycling centres are listed and there are printable documents advising on how to recycle effectivly. I believe this is extremely useful to the general public as it means they dont have to call there council they can just get the infroamtion free online.
Government Online Services
The advice i found on direct.gov.com was concerning recycling. All recycling centres are listed and there are printable documents advising on how to recycle effectivly. I believe this is extremely useful to the general public as it means they dont have to call there council they can just get the infroamtion free online.
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