The Apple iPad – a new category of device for the semantic age
On Wednesday Apple introduced the iPad – a 9.7 inch multi-touch device that bridges the gap between computers and smart phones. They have priced it very aggressively with the basic 16gb Wi-Fi model starting at $499 and the 64GB 3G model topping out at $829.
As technology becomes increasingly pervasive in all our lives we need to be able to interact with it more efficiently. Computers are okay when you’re at your desk, but there’s so many times when you need to access the web where turning on your computer is too time consuming and your smart phone interface is too fiddly to use (yes even on the iPhone).
What is the semantic web?
The web we know today is designed for humans. We can efficiently navigate between 1000s of databases and accomplish tasks that would have been really time consuming only a few years ago, but these databases are not designed for machines so we often find ourselves have to struggle to interact with many systems to achieve what are, in principle, simple tasks.
Let’s look at an example. more…
Posted by Brad, 29 January 2010 , 9:09 am
Social Media Leads The Way Again – Haiti Earthquake
The worst earthquake to hit the Caribbean in 200 years struck Haiti on Tuesday 12th January 2010. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the Haitian Capital of Port-au-Prince, where it devastated the tiny nation, causing an unknown number of deaths and widespread destruction.
Social Media was the first to tell the story
Despite being the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti’s Internet connected devices were key implements in telling the rest of the globe about the emerging crisis.
Posted by Aimee, 27 January 2010 , 12:58 pm
The Danger of Ignoring Web Standards (1)
After the reports last week that Chinese hackers exploited the vulnerabilities of Internet Explorer; we have been reminded again of the importance of developing according to web standards rather than to support a single, specific web browser.
The hackers were able to exploit security vulnerabilities in the 10-year-old browser and operating system combination of IE6 on Windows XP.
This was a zero-day exploit, which means it was a new-found vulnerability that the vendor (in this case Microsoft) and antivirus / security companies were unaware of. Meaning there was no security fix for this issue.
Posted by sarah, 26 January 2010 , 9:33 am
Greg Hands right or wrong…is it that simple?
The recent comments made by Tory MP Greg Hands surrounding the new NHS 60th anniversary logo, which cost £12,000 to create, has resulted in uproar in the design industry and has raised issues within the public sector (PS).
The original comments by Hands, were originally published by the Times on the 26th December 2009 (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6968036.ece)
I understand the design industries reaction to the comments made by Hands, his comment of; more…
Posted by Sam, 19 January 2010 , 11:52 am
White, Black, Pink, Green Purple … Why are people putting colours as their Facebook statuses??
Picture this;
Whilst I am watching some week night TV with a glass of red wine after a hard day at work, I browse at my Facebook status update feed on my Blackberry. The topic choice seems to be inundated with one word statements of colour. Yes, a substantial amount of my Facebook friends are quoting different colours as their status updates. The majority are partial to ‘white’ at least that is what I noticed.
I assumed these bizarre actions were symbolic of the British nation’s fascination with the snow we have been receiving in the last few days… white being the colour of snow etc….
more…
