Just over the bridge in Bath, a team of researchers have been combining Facebook and communication technology to track 'real life' encounters . Users register with Cityware (a Facebook tool) which tracks and links users in the real world via Bluetooth - in short, it lets users find out if any of the people they bump into regularly is a Cityware user and has a profile of Facebook.
To get it to work, you need a Facebook account, a Bluetooth device and the Cityware application (at present, the system only works in a number of cities in the UK (where Cityware has setup their nodes/infrastructure)). The users must have a Facebook account, install the Cityware application and register the Bluetooth ID of their mobile phone or laptop with the software. These Cityware nodes are computers which constantly scan for Bluetooth-enabled devices in a given area, and send that information back to servers (which compare the IDs of the gadgets with any enabled Facebook profiles).
When you go back to your Facebook account, you can then see a list of all the devices you were near and the link to profiles of people who have tagged themselves on Cityware. Outside of the Web2.0 site, connecting with users in the 'real' world, the project has another aim - to see how cities operate, what the links are with the movement of people and how as a result, how viruses (both digital and biological) spread in the urban environment.
However, before this research is completed, the researchers are looking for a way for users mobile phones to alert each other when they near another Facebook user who shares common interests or common friends. Nice :-)
Thursday 16 August 2007
Monday 13 August 2007
Firefox not converting 75% of users
An interesting piece of news on the FireFox wiki - "Currently, approximately 50% of the people who download FireFox actually try it and about 50% of those people continue to use it actively." Which means that 75% of those of us who download it don't become active users.
In a related note (as reported over at the Guardian) it looks like Steve Jobs of Apple is hinting at taking on FireFox with the aim of leaving Safari and Internet Explorer the only major players left standing (though the credibility of Apple's Safari browser has been severely dented by the host of problems present in it's initial beta release for Windows).
So, the browser wars are hotting up again and, for me, that can only be a good thing as rival developers seek to take control of the browser it pushes innovation and features which benefit us all.
In a related note (as reported over at the Guardian) it looks like Steve Jobs of Apple is hinting at taking on FireFox with the aim of leaving Safari and Internet Explorer the only major players left standing (though the credibility of Apple's Safari browser has been severely dented by the host of problems present in it's initial beta release for Windows).
So, the browser wars are hotting up again and, for me, that can only be a good thing as rival developers seek to take control of the browser it pushes innovation and features which benefit us all.
Monday 6 August 2007
Pulic Wi-Fi even less secure that previously thought
Are you sat in a coffee shop sipping a skinny latte and browsing the web right now? If you are then you might need to be a bit more careful about how you use the the web when you're out and about.
According to this article from The Register it looks like public wi-fi is even less secure than already thought and you're particularly vulnerable to attack if you use services such as G-mail or Yahoo mail and anything else that uses a session cookie.
It's not all bad news and you can protect yourself by using permanent encryption while using these types of online services and if you're serious about protecting your net connection when you're out & about check out the Defcon Survival Guide to find out what you can do to stay secure.
According to this article from The Register it looks like public wi-fi is even less secure than already thought and you're particularly vulnerable to attack if you use services such as G-mail or Yahoo mail and anything else that uses a session cookie.
It's not all bad news and you can protect yourself by using permanent encryption while using these types of online services and if you're serious about protecting your net connection when you're out & about check out the Defcon Survival Guide to find out what you can do to stay secure.
Go-fast stripes
According to Which? magazine it seems that many of are not getting the broadband speeds that we signed up for.
In one of the test carried out Which? found that broadband packages that promised speeds of 8Mbps were actually only achieving and average of 2.7Mbps on tests of 300 customers net connections.
With ever increasing competition over broadband costs it's worth knowing how much bandwidth you're really getting and who you should switch to if you're not.
To test your broadband connection click here to do the Broadband Speed Test and if you're thinking of switching suppliers then try out the broadband supplier comparison over at Think-Broadband.
In one of the test carried out Which? found that broadband packages that promised speeds of 8Mbps were actually only achieving and average of 2.7Mbps on tests of 300 customers net connections.
With ever increasing competition over broadband costs it's worth knowing how much bandwidth you're really getting and who you should switch to if you're not.
To test your broadband connection click here to do the Broadband Speed Test and if you're thinking of switching suppliers then try out the broadband supplier comparison over at Think-Broadband.
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