Linked in.. Business Sociability

I signed up for a LinkedIn account and went through the steps to add more information to my profile. The look of the environment was alright, nothing to call home about. There was a lot of interactivity which is always nice and lots of automatised functions. I don't really have any interest in anything to do with business but I am sure many out there do.  I would not ever use this website group because I see no merit with it, in my current situation. I did notice that it offers two options, a free one and a paid one for 24 dollars which offered a lot more features and linkage. The free one only consisted of three features.

It was pretty easy to sign, up but I did have to take a close look to find where the option to edit information was. All in all, this site is for people who are really into networking for business purposes and not really for the public at large, who just want to socialize for pleasure.

Paola:o)

Skype! It rocks

Another discussion topic for this week is that of the Voip technologies. VOIP stands for voice over internet protocol and it is a way to utilize the internet to talk on the phone rather than the traditional PSTN connections. Skype is a tool that has been developed thanks to the VOIP technologies. Skype is an internet based program that allows users to connect to others who are also signed up with Skype. The calls are free and of very good quality. Not only can one call another, but one has a chat feature and ability to see the other person on live video. There are now also features offered by Skype to buy a number and a phone and purchase a membership to use Skype as your primary home phone. The cost is super affordable and there are also options for international calling at a great price. The cheapest option is just like 20 bucks a year and allows one to call landlines and cell phones of individuals who are not members of Skype.  The advantages are obvious but also the option of having group party calls allows for business practices and advantages due to the ease of conducting meetings and business calls throughout the globe, thus removing the borders and allowing for commerce to expand to all countries and all people. The disadvantages are very few, but one could say that having to have a viable internet connection to function and that it all depends on electricity of some form are two downsides. No power no VOIP, one could say and that goes for mobile devices too because once an iphone dies, one has to charge it, if one wants to keep talking. Occational software issues are also a disadvantage over land lines, but I have been using skype to communicate with my family and it has been awesome. Very few problems ever and usually they are more hardware related or due to peripheral issues.  Voip has allowed families to stay in touch who could not afford to call each other more than one a year to talk on a daily basis, thanks to this technology.
Paola.

More on Podcasts

There are many podcasts out there to be enjoyed. One thing that makes them so popular is that they are what you want; when you want it. One can choose to listen to what one wants and there is no time window as to when they have to be watched. One thing I found out about podcast.com that I find very dangerous is that it is very easy to do simple search and there open to anyone is highly innappropriate content. Not only do I not want to see that, but my small child could easily look on there and see, read, and listen too "XXX" stuff without anything to stop him! So the freedom that makes Podcasts great, is also what causes them to be quite a bit dangerous. 

On another note, I found another podcast that I was able to feed into my blog and that is the Daily Audio Bible.

Friendster, not so friendly to look at...

Last in  my social networking experience is "Friendster". This site was more functional. It functions as it should, the signing in process is smooth and the features and tools are very user friendly. However, I have to say that the background and look of the environment are teeniebopperish and for the populace. I wish there was (maybe there is, but I couldn't find it) an option to change the background, so that one could look at something a little more mature and tasteful while socializing. I wont be keeping that account, but the site is well made.

Paola :o)

MySpace??? Is it really?

Alright folks after visiting and joining MySpace (which I never had an interest to join), I have to say that the signing process is totally cumbersome and I had to reload my browser page several times and re-enter my information. I thought the environment was "ok" . It seemed plain, ugly, and still a bit confusing while lacking user friendly tools.

Paola

Facebook

So, I want to talk a little bit about Facebook. In my opinion, Facebook is the best online social network. I think the environment encourages creativity. It is clean and simple, but attractive. It has plenty of security options and good linkage throughout the web site. The notifications are very handy and make it not only a social network, but a mode of communication for so many. The new timeline format is very good and attractive and the mobile environment, although not all inclusive of the features, still good and functional. I pick Facebook as my social network of choice.

Paola:o)

Podcast experience

Hello, today I want to discuss podcasts. In my class this week, we learned about podcasts. How to create one, how to subscribe to one, and where to go choose one. I have to say that I had never listened to a podcast and did not even know where to start.  To compare the two podcast dictionaries, I preferred www.podcast.com to www.podcastalley.com. Podcast.com has a nice layout, good picks, and I found the BEST podcast on there. The Nutrition Diva! I will paste the link to the podcast here. 

http://www.podcast.com/S-1167.htm

Paola:o)

Here is an updated version! "Did You Know?/Shift Happens" (Version 6, 2012)

I want to share with you another perspective of what the video "Did you know?" Meant to a poster on the Wiki, ShiftHappens. This fellow poster was livid about how the information was presented and about the entire tone of presentation. He seemed to think it felt very sensationalized and that it seemed to want to put fear in the hearts of Americans of the USA being overtaken by China and India. I kind of agree with him, but what I think is more scary is not so much the lack of technological advancement in schools, but more the lack of character building education and discipline in our schools.

Schools seem to have lost site of the key role "RESPECT" and "RESPONSIBILITY" play in the daily lives and educational success of our kids. Without respect for adults and responsibility for their actions, American kids are left running amok, out of control and feeling unsafe, hopeless, and incapable. By demanding so little of them and having such low standards in performance and behavior, it leaves the children thinking they are worthless and they cannot do any better. Instead of looking at IT education as the key difference in the education and success of countries like China and India and look at what else is it that they are requiring of students? Respect, Morals, humbleness, work ethic? Lets think about this......

Did You Know 2.0

Did you know?

I visited the Wiki site Shifthappens and read this Article having to do with the video "Did you know?".  The article I read is "THE end of the WORLD" and in summary, the writer Keethmoon, makes a really good point that the video is not worth considering, because greater priorities are at stake such global warming and the extinction of precious animals.  He insists that war is imminent, due to growing pressures and fuel disputes. I'll attach the video here so you can all watch it.  I agree that the video lacks one side of the coin and ignores the fact that although what is presented there is important, it is not as imperative as the video makes it seem. Educating the children to care for their planet and their bodies is much more important in my mind too.

Paola:o)

NoMoreTv

NoMoreTv, a photo by Mahaa72 on Flickr.

Mahaa72's photostream

Mahaa72's photostream on Flickr.

Please check out the images I edited and created. I uploaded them to Flikr, so I now have an account.

GIMP review last and for some least!

Part III of Open Source Sofware review...

Gimp is a graphics software and I downloaded it to my computer. The downloading, although not glitch-less, was acceptably problem-less. I, however, have a little more technosaviness than your average Joe, so I venture out to say that for a typical user, it might be a little complicated to download this software. Furthermore, this is where the trouble just begins. In the same confusing fashion, once downloaded and installed, the GIMP drawing and graphics software was not at all user friendly or intuitive to regular or even pretty knowledgeable folks.

As soon as you open it, a little user interface box pops up, not functional at all and a bit disconcerting. I do not know why it is set up that way, after fiddling with it a bit, one can get the full screen. Once welcomed by the full screen, there are a very few basic tools one can use right away, but within minutes you run into a solid wall. Nothing is where one would assume it to be, after much searching I still could not do with the image what I wanted to do. I had to read the help menu to look for several features and even then could not make heads or tails of it.

In conclusion, my impression with this software is, that it is definitely not for your average or even a bit above average Joe. I assume then, that if a person is an expert in other graphic processing and creation tools such as Photo Shop or CorelDraw, maybe this software would be functional for them, as they are very familiar with the format and layout of graphic creation software.

I would much rather use the Ms software I am accustomed to, such as Ms Publisher, Adobe Creative Suite, Paint, or even Word for that matter. I could do very little with GIMP and found it extremely convoluted and no one to call for support, I don't see this as an option for the regular consumer just to save some dough.

Paola:o)

Open Source Software Review

The next sofware to review is;

Open Office. It took a very long time to download, but there were no problems with instalation. I really liked the user interface and found it very functional. It
offers many of the features of Office and I was able to open all of the documents I have in my computer. All of the pages rendered very well and I was able to create files with the Writer word processor, the Impress (Power Point look alike), and the draw app. All worked without a glitch, offered many tools, and I found it intuitive and well created. It was very comparable to Ms. Office. I created a file and sent it to my iPad and was happily surprised to be able to open it without any problems. This I find very advantageous and I could not find any reason why someone would not opt for Open Office, rather than spend 100 plus dollars, on Ms Office, if not for a specific reason. I found the entire experience functional and with little to no issues. I recomend this product to anyone on a budget or just anyone who is frugal and wise.

Paola :o)

Open Source Software....

Today's discussion is about open source software. I downloaded three open source products and I will make comments as to how the software performed in comparison to the commonly purchased and licensed competitors.

First, I would like to discuss the open source browser, Firefox. I downloaded and used Firefox for a few days and here is my report.

The dowloading process was very smooth and I experienced no glitches. I really liked the look and feel of the Mozilla Firefox open source browswer. What I liked best were the tools and the layout. In my opinion, it is very intuitive and I did not need to go chasing for where to find the options I needed. I also like that it is fast and responsinve and even when there is a problem, the software is set up to be interactive, which makes the user feel involved. Immediately, there is an error message (with some funny comment) and the browser offers to recover the page and apologises. I really like that and have often been able to recover the pages I was visiting when things crashed.

What I did not like, and perhaps will find a fix for or will find out if it is related to my computer or Firefox, is that YouTube and Firefox are not playing well together. I do not know if there are behind the scenes conflicts with the companies or if there are some plugins missing, or what? But, every time I open youTube and try to watch something the script crashes and my system freezes for a bit. I am having the same problem with HuluPlus as the screen keeps on freezing while watching one of my favorite "Novelas".

So in summary, Firefox is excellent for most things, however, I am not able to completely do away with Internet explorer, as IE as a browser is out performing Firefox, in those few areas. Furthermore, not only does HuluPlus and YouTube run on my same computer without a glitch when processed through IE, but also my work-related websites such as scheduling, PowerSchools, and payroll do not operate on Firefox at all.  So, the result is having to use both browsers to do unique functions. I would love it if Firefox could do it all, as I like the look and feel of Firefox, ten times more than that of Internet Explorer.

Paola :o)

Hi, I'm back!

Hello everyone, sorry have not posted in a while, but with the holidays upon us, my already taxed schedule becomes more overwhelming. I want to let you know that I have added a few more usefull features to my blog and I hope you find them useful. Please notice there now is an adorable or three adorable new puppies a day to brighten your day, everytime you visit. Secondly find a useful search box where you can search my site or the entire web. I will be adding more features as time permits.

Anyone have funny or amazing black friday stories? Please share..


Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Is Cyber Moday all it's hyped up to be?

So tonight my friend Colleen asked me if Cyber Monday was worth her time and money. I told her I had seen something about it, but was not really aware of what it all entailed.  Thus, I set out to investigate.... 

I checked out Mashable and sure enough that is where I had been introduced to the concept. Instead of me botching up the story, I'll just give you the link and you can read about it yourselves.. Have a Happy Turkey Day!


http://mashable.com/2012/11/22/cyber-monday/

Paola:o)

Voting rights discontinued by Facebook..

Facebook has announced that it will no longer include its members in the voting process to adopt new policies and procedures. According to, "Mashable"one of the top 10 blogs out there in cyber world, Facebook experienced very low participation in the last voting round and most of the participation was not, in their opinion, quality content. It will continue to accept feedback and commenting in regards to new policies and practices but it will keep the ultimate decision making process an internal one.  One wonders if this new change will make Facebook better, or if it will only mean that Facebook admins can do whatever they want, or is more convenient for them as a business, and not take any consideration to the feedback given by the users. We'll just have to wait and see.. 

Find this article on Mashable at:

http://mashable.com/2012/11/21/facebook-no-democracy/

Paola:o)

Interesting Story about New York

I know this is a bit off topic, but it is for my WEB Design class. However, this was a very interesting story found at one of the top popular blogs out there. 

New York has again ventured ahead of other states in technologies implemented for the use of the public at large. These touch screens are in fact a replacement to the common, but outdated "phone booth". This giant iPad like apparatus, not only serves as a public phone, but as a public safety communications device and an advertisement tool. Currently, it is offered free of charge, but of course it has plenty of advertisements to catch the public eye, and it offers coupons to entice the user to visit and spend their cash at nearby retail establishments and restaurants.

The best feature of this "phone", is that it becomes a communication device during disasters to assist individuals in asking for help when communication lines fail. 

Lastly, one can imagine that in New York this device would not last undamaged, but according to this article it has been built and field tested to be extremely tough and durable. According to the blog article, during a pilot run, the touch screens had not been damaged in any way.  

Information and photo found on:
http://gigaom.com/2012/11/20/new-york-city-launches-250-touch-screen-phone-booths/

Meet Mateo Suki

Ok, I'm back... After a wonderful walk through my cozy and quaint little town. The weather is surprisingly warm for this time of year, so my hubs and I, decided to go for a stroll; just the two of us. Hooray! Alone at last, even if just for 30 minutes. Still, even walking, I miss my dogs! I think I must suffer from Peke over- dependence or something, if that is even a term I can concoct. I now want to introduce you all to our other Pekingese;

Meet MATEO SUKI:

Isn't he handsome? He is royal, strong, brave, intelligent, trustworthy, intense, and protective. He was our very first peke and we've never looked back since. We bought his fiance Bella Jïa, and he couldn't be happier. Of course, little did he know that Bella was going to become the alpha dog and he was going to have to succumb to her powers!

Welcome to my Blog!

Hi everyone, welcome to my blog! My name is Paola and first of all, in this blog I would like to share all of the comical and endearing  moments shared with our wonderful friends, our Pekes! 

First things first.. 

Meet BELLA JÏA..

Bella is our female Pekingese and she is 1 and half yrs old. She is by far the smartest, sweetest, most unique dog we've ever had; and we've had a LOT of dogs throughout the 21 years we have been married. 

Paola:o)