Confused?...You will be!

Extract from Times Online Technology and Web News section

People are scared of technology. Not all, but many. People feel they don't know what's going on, they don't know what they can and can't do and they don't know where it is all leading. We're always being told that things are getting simpler to use and easier to work with, but alongside that is that it is the feeling that it is getting easier to break the law, or that maybe the law doesn't apply online or.... It is little wonder people are confused when they go to a webpage such as the Times Online Technology and Web News section. Copyright is dead, but illegal downloaders will be banned and anyway you're using obsolete new technology so you might as well not bother! All part of the fun I guess!

Comments

Social Media and Open Education - getting started...

So, I signed up for a Social Media and Open Education course (EC&I 831) as a non-credit student. The course is being run by Alec Couros from the University of Regina in Saskatchewan (which always makes me think of the Proclaimers song "Cap in Hand"), but that was a several weeks ago. Since then, I have, for various reasons, done nothing... Now, I'm catching up! Easy stuff: Follow all the people from the course who are following me, and follow a few extras. I didn't opt to follow everyone - not sure why not, but I imagine it's because I just felt slightly intimidated by the sheer numbers of them. I'm sure I'll add a few more over the duration of the course as I get to see who's doing what and who has interesting things to say. Mind you, if others use the same criteria, I'm not sure I'll generate many new followers! Sort out Twitterdeck - new Twitter column for course related activity. This should help me to keep track of what people are...

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I last blogged and it's also been a while since I last played cricket. These items are not linked. Cricket season started, for me, on Saturday. We lost, and it was a fairly miserable experience on a ropey ground with even ropier weather. Sign of things to come? Let's hope not. More blogging in the offing? Who knows?

Bing v Google

On the face of it, this battle is still no-contest, however... I came across an interesting item on the RIA Journal blog pointing out that Facebook now uses Bing to power their extended search results and not Google. This possibly goes some way to explain the apparent optimism detected by Rory Cellan-Jones when he recently met with some Microsoft executives . As Rory points out however, Bing has only 3.3% of the market, with Google retaining an impressive 84%. Rory makes the point that he, like many, tried out Bing when it first came out but then reverted back to Google and that Bing’s biggest challenge would be to break down that user inertia. Basically, why bother going to Bing? If Bing can get itself “institutionalised” by becoming embedded in major tools like Facebook then it stands a chance. If it can’t, it will remain insignificant. The big question I have is why did Facebook choose Bing?

Shifting Expectations

Search This Blog