The Digital Divide - 25/10/2012

The digital divide has changed the we live. It has introduced new lifestyles and has widely affected the whole world. It drastically changed our educational, economical and social systems and has provided us with many benefits. However not every country has benefitited from this and are simply far behind the rest of the world. In this post I'm going to talk about the reasons why that is and why they are on the wrong side of the digital divide.


Detailed map of Africa - Google Images

The least digitally developed countries in the world according to the ITU are: Guinea Biseau, Chad, Mali, Burkino Fasso and Niger. They're located next to each other which suggests that the living standards in that part of Africa are quite bad compared to the rest of the world.




Statistics - www.wrsc.org

As you can see on the graph above, the gap between developing countries like the ones I mentioned and countries in Europe or America, is massive and it's not getting any smaller. This is because people living in Europe are a lot wealthier and therefore can afford to buy new technologies. On the other hand, people in Africa are considered to be one poorest people in the world, and therefore they can't afford luxuries like internet and really any sort of technology. To put this into perspective, an average annual salary in the UK (one of the richest countries in the world) is around £26,500, however the average annual salary in Mali (one of the poorest countries in the world) is just under £1000. This gives you an idea of just how big a difference there is and makes you realise that those people simply can't afford all those luxuries that others take for granted.
On of the biggest reasons for this is the economical state of those countries. They have to face other, much bigger problems like war and survival rather than introducing new technologies.
However economy isn't the only problem. The state of the technological infrastructure is also a big issue because if there isn't a stable electricity supply, then it's very difficult to actually

Entertainment Timeline - 24/10/2012

1877 - Phonograph invented - Edison was trying to improve the telegraph transmitter when he noticed that the movement of the paper tape through the machine produced a noise resembling spoken words when played at a high speed. Experimenting with a stylus (hard-pointed instrument like a large needle) on a tinfoil cylinder, Edison spoke into the machine.
1892 - First phonograph records sold
1895 - Movies and movie theaters
1897 - Radio first sent over long distance
1919 - Shortwave radio
1920 - Technicolor invented for movies
1929 - FM radio introduced in U.S.
1930 - Jukebox marketed in U.S.

1931 - Pinball machine marketed in U.S. - Pinball machines appeared in mass, during the early 1930s as countertop machines (without legs) and they featured the characteristics created by Montegue Redgrave. In 1932, manufacturers began adding legs to their games. The term "pinball" itself as a name for the arcade game was not seen until 1936.
1931 - Electronic TV demonstrated in Britain
1941 - TV broadcast begins in U.S.
1948 - LP (long-playing) records sold in U.S.
1949 - 45 rpm (revolutions per minute) records sold in U.S.
1952 - Transistor radio invented -  three USA research scientists of Bell Laboratories, Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain managed, in December 1947, to invent a solid state device that they called the transistor. They succeeded in creating a completely new amplifying device just by adding a second contact point to the already popular crystal diode based on a piece of germanium crystal with a pointed "cat's whisker" touching its surfaceBy 1953 a firm called Texas Instruments was already producing its own line of transistors under Bell Laboratories licence.
1954 - Color TV broadcast in U.S.
1957 - Stereo phonograph introduced
1962 - Telstar satellite broadcasts TV worldwide
1962 - Video games created - In 1952, A.S. Douglas wrote his PhD degree at the University of Cambridge on Human-Computer interraction. Douglas created the first graphical computer game - a version of Tic-Tac-Toe. The game was programmed on a EDSAC vaccuum-tube computer, which had a cathode ray tube display.
1970 - VCR (videocassette recorder) marketed
1970 - CDs (compact discs) marketed
1976 - The Apple I is introduced - it was Steven Wozniak's first contribution to the personal computer field. It was designed over a period of years, and was only built in printed circuit-board form when Steve Jobs insisted it could be sold. It debuted in April 1976 at the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, but few took it seriously. The Apple I was based on the MOStek 6502 chip, whereas most other "kit" computers were built from the Intel 8080. The Apple I was sold through several small retailers, and included only the circuit board. A tape-interface was sold separately, but you had to build the case. The Apple I's initial cost was $666.66
1979 - Sony Walkman sold - In 1979, Sony began selling the popular Walkman in Japan.
1980s - Cable TV networks aired in U.S.
1981 - MTV broadcast in U.S.
1982 - Wristwatch TV introduced in Japan.
2005 - First iPod introduced

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0768876.html

E-Learning - 24/10/2012

Online education has become quite big thing over the last couple of years. It is a helpful device which can help students with their work, without having to seek out teachers. It is also useful for older people who want to educate themselves better, possibly get some more qualifications. Internet is a great source of education because on the web you can find out about almost anything. Below are some educational websites that I have analysed:

Net Frog 2002: http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu/Frog2/

The website is pretty straight forward, in a sense that it does exactly what its suppose to; show you how to dissect a frog. This can be very helpful to some people, as dissecting a frog is not as easy as you might think. This website provides pictures of every step of the process, with detailed explenations and definitions. It gives you so much information that you don't actually need to dissect a frog if you don't want to; all you need can be found within this website. As it says on the website, "Dissecting a frog helps you learn human anatomy", and thats what makes this website very useful.

On the other side it doesn't look very appealing, it looks like a website maybe in an hour and it's not actually a simulation as much as an instruction guide showing you all the steps. Animated simulations look a lot more interesting and fun to play with therefore they would attract more people.

Science Museum Website: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/

This website is a bit more complex however it does contain lots of potentially useful information. There isn't much writing so it's easy to read but at the same time gives you a lot of information on the subject.
The website does exactly what it's suppose to, it's clear to read, easy to navigate yourself around it and it looks user friendly. On top of that it also has some games make online education more fun. It shows us that online education can be entertaining.


Macromedia Tutorial Website: http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Flash/1

This is a very informative website giving you a lot of pictures and videos explaining every step of the process very carefully. It uses visual learning in order to teach which is kind of like the Net Frog website however this has a lot more info on it and includes videos, not just pictures which for some people is easier to learn from. The videos are very specific and everything is always explained very carefully to make the process as easy as possible which makes this website very useful to people with less or no previous experience.

Lynda.com: http://www.lynda.com/

Lynda.com is a very similar website to Macromedia Tutorial website however it's much more professional and it's not free; you can use a free trial but afterwards you'll have to pay to see their material. It's very organised making it easy to find exactly what you want and also has a lot of material so you can choose from a variety of videos if you're struggling with something. The Lynda website also offers videos on a much higher number of subjects than Macromedia website, but then you do have to pay for it so it's not exactly the best option for everyone.

E-Government - 10/10/2012

The E-Government is a very useful device because it allows you to post your opinions online which means they'll be looked at sooner. It's also a lot more convenient because you can visit those websites from home. They also give you a lot of information and some of them give you the option to make payments online.

Home page - Number10.gov.uk

http://www.number10.gov.uk/
Number 10 is the government website where people can post their views and opinions. The matters are then look at by the Government and if it has been brought up multiple times then it might even get to the Prime minister.

Online Banking - 03/10/2012

Online Banking

Banks have been operating for hundreds of years. In the recent years the development of technology has allowed people to use internet to manage their own bank accounts. This is called online banking, and it has been around since the 1980s, however only in the recent decade it had seen a significant growth in online transactions.
Originally online banking was made for business people to make business transactions faster, easier and more efficient. However over time other people and mostly younger generations have started to use online banking as well because it's much more convenient and can be done from home.

"Online Banking forecasts indicate Generation Y will drive this aspect of technology as it goes forward. This group will become 40% of all households using online banking by 2014. Until recently, online banking saw annual spurts of 25-27%, which slowed to 8% and it would slow further, according to the forecasters. From 2009 until 2014, growth should be approximately 4% per year as 66 million households enter the fold."
- taken from http://www.wwwmetrics.com/banking.htm

HSBC
Registering with HSBC online banking is very easy. All you need is a current account with HSBC. You then need to go on their website and go through an easy, four step process. When you're done, you can start to enjoy all the benefits that HSBC offers. The access to your account is quick and secure which is one of the main reasons why people choose to open an online account. As well as security, HSBC offers a lot more perks like Interest free overdraft, No extra fees and lots more. On top of that they will also help you switch to HSBC if you already have an account with another bank. Their website is also friendly and easy to use. This is good especially for older people who don't have as much knowledge about computers as the younger generation has.

current accounts - hsbc.co.uk

Lloyds
Online banking at Lloyds doesn't stand out too much. They were actually one of the last banks to introduce this option and to be honest it's not as good. Their security system is safe but time-taking and not as secure as Barclays or HSBC. It also receives a lot of negative reviews from their customers, “DO NOT BANK WITH LLOYDS TSB”, “Appauling”. On the upsite, once you've managed to make an account, it's actually quite easy to use and operate.



online banking - Lloydstsb.com

Weather Information - 02/10/2012

Weather Information

In this post I will be writing about the BBC's weather forecast and how accurate it actually is.

Weather for Tuesday 02/10/2012 - BBC Weather 

The weather for Tuesday was surprisingly quite accurate with almost every change happening at the right time. The temperature at 14:00 to 17:00 varried between 15 and 16 degrees so this was good. Also it did start to rain at around 20:00 which was reasonably accurate too. I couldn't exactly measure the wind speed but did seem to be quite strong so they were right about that too.

Weather for Wednesday 03/10/2012 - BBC Weather

The weather on Wednesday was also quite accurate with sunny spells coming and going throughout the day however the rain actually started started earlier and lasted a bit longer. The wind again was still pretty strong, just as BBC foreshadowed it.

Weather for Thursday 04/10/2012 - BBC Weather

Thursday was a little less accurate. It was pretty much raining all day long with only a little sun in the morning. The rain was quite strong at times and the wind was also quite strong. It was also a bit colder than BBC predicted.

Weather for Friday 05/10/2012 - BBC Weather

Friday's weather was a lot less accurate. The was much nicer than BBC predicted. Although it did rain a little in the morning, the rest of the day got a lot sunnier and hotter with the temperature also going up. The wind calmed down a little bit however you could still feel it.

Weather for Saturday 06/10/2012 - BBC Weather

Saturday was a sunny day without any rain what so ever. The wind had almost completely gone. Temperature had gone up too, higher than BBC said it would be. You can clearly see how the accuracy goes down as the prediction is further in future. However the first day or two is a lot more accurate with only a few smaller mistakes.