Elizabeth's Blog

Questions? Google Answers

hagedoel — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:16:19 +0000

I seriously think that Google adds a feature everyday that makes it more efficient. I read this article about how Google added two new features that help speed up searching.

Now, as you type into the search box, instead of just seeing what Google thinks you are going to type (which is called Google Auto-Suggest), you also get suggested answers to your question (that you haven’t even finished typing). This helps if you are searching for the weather, times, or area codes etc.

The second feature is for Chrome and it is called Quick Scroll. Quick Scroll displays bits of text at the bottom right-hand side of the page that are relevant to your search.

I think these two new features sound great and will help speed up searching. I don’t think that these features were absolutely necessary, but I’m sure they will help a lot of lazy and impatient people out there to search quicker. This article of course goes with what we have been talking about all semester; the internet is always changing and adapting to fit our needs.

Impatient? Try This!

hagedoel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:52:27 +0000

Impatient? Try This!

Hate waiting like 5 minutes for something to download? Well, Google wants to help you. To help your pages, Google has announced a new Labs feature in Google Webmaster Tools designed to trace page load speed. You do have to download this item to your page, but I guess in the end, it will save you time.

For those you want to make their wordpress blogs all wild and crazy with a lot of images, they might want to consider this. This article says that it is easy to install and gives directions on how to install it. They say that even if you have YSlow (which is a similar tool) you should download this because it has more features.

So for all those serious webpage designers in our class, look into this. I’m think it sounds like a pretty good idea. And it makes our lives, those searching the web, easier. Isn’t that what Web 2.0 is all about? We complain about having to wait for downloads and they do something about it!

YouTube Lite

hagedoel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:43:01 +0000

YouTube Lite: Same great results, Less time.

Actually, that is not it’s real name. I just thought it was cute. YouTube is testing out this new version that is called “feather.” Feather pages help speed up the dowloading process by defaulting to standard quality video, and removing other features on the page that might slow it down. So, there would be less distractions on the page. I like that idea!

Some other qualities of this “feather” version include; only allowing 10 comment, and cutting video responses, real-time sharing, and auto suggest from the YouTube search bar. They will only be offereing 5 videos that are related to yours instead of 21.

Check out this article to see a side by side comparion of the Regular and the Feather. They look the same, just minus all the unnecessary items that slow us down.

I think this sounds like a great idea! I hate waiting for YouTube videos to download. And I don’t like all that other stuff clouding my page when all I wanna see is the video. Thank you YouTube, and I hope this works out.

What’s Happening Twitter?

hagedoel — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:43:17 +0000

So there has been a slight change for those devoted twitter fans. This message explains how instead of posting a tweet in response to the question, “What are you doing?” It now says, “What’s happening?”

This may seem like a minor change, but apparently it symbolizes the different uses of Twitter and how consumers have changed their behavior. It’s supposed to help people from refraining about telling useless details about their life, and instead post something about what you feel is important or something going on in the world.

I think this is interesting even though I really don’t think it is going to change how people Tweet. This is just another example of how the Internet is always changing and the purpose for the internet is always changing. The Internet can be used to collect and share useful information as well as personal information.

Move Over Search Engines…

hagedoel — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:26:29 +0000

Move over search engines because there is a new kid in town. Clicker is an online video directory that launched today at the NewTeeVeeLive conference. It is for all those TV lovers out there (cough cough me cough cough).

Unlike Bing or Google or even Hulu that will give you millions of results, Clicker takes the extra step for its costumer and limits the search results. The search engine will give the episode you are looking for along with a “related” sidebar showing other videos that have the same themes. Also Clickers crawlers are always going out there and looking for new sources to add and content to remove since websites update their episodes all the time.

For someone who is always searching for episodes online, this new search engine sounds great! Of course, we will see if all those Google lovers will be able to switch over. This relates to what we talked about in class about how technology is always changing and making it easier for the consumer. This search engine seems pretty usable and is a great idea!

Contest for Mobile App

hagedoel — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:36:21 +0000

We have talked about this a lot in class; companies letting people on the Internet do their work for them. Now Mashable is partnering with Under the Radar and making a competition called Fast Pitch. This is a mobile app competition where people can post their ideas for apps in a comment on this article and then link to their Twitter or their app’s website so that people can download the app. In the comment, they post a once sentence pitch for the app and then the Under the Radar and Mashable will choose 6 apps to present at this gathering.

This sounds like a pretty cool contest and it is just another example of user generated content. Yay for Web 2.0 and people getting involved in the Internet!

Music Searching On Google

hagedoel — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:34:42 +0000

This article is about how Google is making it easier to search music on its website. Google is teaming up MySpace. As far as I understand, when you search on Google, you can press play and the song will play through MySpace or send you links to other places to play the song. Music videos will also pop up when you enter a song title. Google is responding to the fact that music searching is increasing and of course they want to capitalize on this trend. Just after Google made this announcement, Yahoo released a blog post that said they have been working on offering a music search for a while now. This just shows how competitive Internet groups are.

This relates to our class because we learn about all the changes on the Internet. Also, groups are responding to what the costumers’ want which shows the consumers have power. We do have a say in what is offered and how things should change. Pretty much, they just keep making the Internet easier and easier to use.

Social vs. Informational

hagedoel — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:52:25 +0000

This article talks about Sean Parker, a managing partner at Founder’s Fund, who gave a talk at the Web 2.0 Summit saying that Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and eBay will take over the web instead of Google! Woah! Slow down! What? Parker backs up his statement by saying that the first phase of the Internet was dominated by informational services like Google and Yahoo. He believes that we have entered a new phase of the internet that is dominated by “network services” like Facebook and Twitter. He still believes that Google will still play an important role in the internet, but it’s dominance will go down because collecting date is less valuable than connecting to people. He believes that sites like MySpace and Friendstar failed because they were poorly designed or executed. Facebook on the other hand appealed to college students who were an untapped resource.

I liked this article because I thought it had some great things to say. I think that socializing on the internet is very popular and sometimes outweighs informational uses. I know that I spend more time socializing on the internet than I do researching. We have learning in class about all the changes in the internet and forms of communication over the years and this is just another change.

Balloon Boy All Over the Internet

hagedoel — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:00:29 +0000

I was driving home today and heard about this 6-year old boy who went up in a homemade weather balloon in Colorado. But the catch was, when the balloon came down, the boy was not in there. Finally they found the boy in the attic. I wasn’t able to be online during this incident, but this article talks about how this story was all over Twitter! People were posting videos and tweeting all day with half truthful and half speculated comments. This is just another example of ugc and how often times stories break on the internet before they are on the air. Also this shows just how quickly information on the web can spread!

Learning on the Internet

hagedoel — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:52:27 +0000

I found this article/video on Chronicle about a man who never completed high school, but because professors at Yale University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology put lectures online he has started learning again. This man is a father and has a job at a restaurant-equipment company, but he continues to learn online.

I think it is amazing that the internet can be used for fun and recreational purposes but also for educational purposes. We have learned in class how to utilize the web in order to research and to learn. This is just a great example of how the internet can really change lives!