Category: Websites
The Queen visits Google
Visiting Google.co.uk today, you’ll see a particular celebrity adorning the logo – Queen Elizabeth II. Her Royal Highness is visiting Google UK today and, along with Prince Phillip, will be meeting staff, competition winners, and selected YouTube users. She’ll be shown demonstrations of Google’s technology, as well as meeting local schoolchildren who’ve been designing new Google logos.
BLOG ACTION DAY 2008: Mobile Phone use in developing countries
To coincide with Blog Action Day 2008, which is themed around poverty, I thought it’d be interesting to example the use of mobile phones in the developing world. To us in the western world a computer is something that sits on your lap or desk with a 14″ display, but many people in less economically developed countries interact with the internet in a very different way – through a mobile phone…
TD Tips: Where do I go out in the evening? – Top reviews, guides & listings websites
It’s all been a bit cash heavy in the last few weeks with the TD Tips for best mobile phone deals and expensive, stylish laptops. So, this week we bring you some blissfully wonga-free websites to tell you what’s worth doing in, around and nowhere near town at all. I can’t guarantee you won’t spend money when you get wherever you choose to go, but I can promise you five good ways of searching for what to do with your spare time.
So without any further ado, here are our tips for the top reviews, guides & listings websites…
Higher definition YouTube collage: Rickrolling to new extremes
While YouTube might be taking its time upgrading the resolution of uploaded videos, one enterprising developer has coded up a web page to display a synchronised YouTube video wall, allowing four videos to be played almost seamlessly.
It all feels a bit hit and miss, and relies on someone creating four videos, one for each quarter of a much larger original video.
Given that the highest non-widescreen YouTube videos currently play at 480 x 360 resolution, creating a 2×2 wall offers up a 960 x 720 video. It’s not quite high definition, and there’s definitely some judder, not to mention the YouTube watermark plastered all over the screen, but it’s an interesting experiment…
EMI launches download store of its very own
I’ve long been puzzled why each major label didn’t set up some sort of digital music store of its own on its own website, where people could get the latest songs, but that wonderment is a topic for another day. Major label EMI, home of Queen, the Beatles and Coldplay, are launching their own download store…
Google goes mega-high-resolution on Google Maps with the GeoEye-1 satellite
Above you can see the first image taken by the GeoEye-1, Google’s very own satellite. They don’t own it outright – they share it with the American National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which collects and analyses geographical data for national security purposes…
Google still trying to monetise YouTube, adds "click to buy" links on videos
Google has long admitted that it’s having trouble making any money from its purchase of YouTube. The latest wheeze is to add clickable “Buy this now!” links on videos of buyable stuff. I’d love to show you you a less-grainy picture, but it only works in the USA so far. Check out the Amazon and iTunes links below the video.
The Goog is promising to expand the program internationally, as well as expanding the range of things it advertises next to. This scheme might also placate content owners, who will be happier to learn that there are now “Buy this” links next to the content that they own, but didn’t upload themselves…
Mail Goggles for Gmail – preventing email disasters since 2008
Gmail’s “Labs” functionality has been underutilized a little, of late. Since the big fanfare when it was released, there haven’t been too many new plugins released. That’s why I’m delighted to reveal that Google has enabled a “Mail Googles” feature, designed to stop you sending emails when drunk…
FortuneMaps – online treasure hunting with Google Maps
Here’s an odd one to puzzle over for the evening. I’ve just come across a get-not-quite-rich enough web game called FortuneMaps which is rather interesting use of a Google Maps overlay.
Before I begin, let’s not make any bones about this. This is not a mash-up of use. This is not something to benefit the public. It’s a game. It’s a game where you can win some cash…
AbundaTrade.com – recycle your CDs into wonderful techno-gadgetry
If you’re having a bit of a Spring clean, then I should remind you that you’re running on Southern hemisphere time. Now that I’ve done that, I should point you in the direction of AbundaTrade.com where you can recycle your old CDs into gadgets.
It’s all quite simple and actually rather complicated. Every CD is worth one credit assuming it plays and has some sort of current market value…
