NegaTech

Get the Scoop on the Best Web Hosting Plans

Getting the best value for the dollars we spend is a natural for any person in business, but this is especially true when we run a web site and we need to make sure that it can turn a profit consistently over time. If we are serious about making a living this way then it will be obvious why we would want to have a lot of options when it comes to getting a solid value, but without the right information, it is going to be tough to make a decision we can feel confident about. Most of us already know that we have to work hard to find an iPage review because for the lower cost web hosting platforms there are just not that many sources of quality reviews on the web right now. However, if we know where to look it is worth finding one of these reviews since they can save us a great deal of expense, as well as our time and a whole lot of hassles we could flat out avoid if we really wanted to. This is why making a commitment to inform ourselves before we finalize a purchase is going to end up being a very smart thing to do. This is what makes the difference between the web savvy and those who simply have a bit of knowledge and can actually endanger their own site with their lack of info.

When we are looking for the best web hosting reviews, what we want to find is those who are able to give us a good idea of what the costs are going to be. There are places where getting info on cheap web hosting is possible and for those who might be running a business this is great, but it can also work for those who simply need a reliable and low cost place to host their personal site. All in all, quality review services are a great bargain since they never cost a nickel.

Anti Facebook Site Set to Do Battle

Facebook is now the reigning king of the social networking sites on the web at present after dethroning rival MySpace, but there are many other social networking sites still with plenty of popularity. A new project called Diaspora has emerged and is billing itself as an open source social networking platform that will be what many consider to be ‘anti Facebook’. The software is set to be released in mid September 2010 and was invented by a group of software programming students at the New York University. The group managed to raise $200,000 in micro financing by getting small chunks of money from a large amount of people. Even though it was considered to be essentially vapor ware, a term used for software that is essentially an idea rather than even in the beta testing phases, it managed to get a huge amount of press thanks to the problems Facebook has had recently in regards to privacy concerns. Experts believe that while it will take time to prove the viability of Diaspora, if the team is as good at programming as they are at marketing, this could be huge for the social networking world.

While the software may or may not change the way that users interface with the web, it is definitely a strong showing for micro financing and public interest in software projects designed to meet social needs, say experts. If Diaspora enjoys even limited success, considering the vast number of rivals it has from BuddyPress to Ning, it would be a good sign for those developing future open source social networks.

Record Music from Any Video to MP3 Easily

Many people do not realize that they can actually record the audio from a video that they like. There are ways to take the videos right off the video sharing sites that will convert them into raw data, but the problem is that unless a person has a free download of Switch MP3 conversion software they will not be able to make an MP3 that they can actually play on a normal device. The solution is to use the web since there are a lot of great resources in terms of how this can be done that teach the whole process step by step. Once one has the conversion software, it is really a breeze to convert the video’s audio file to MP3 format. A lot of great songs can be gotten this way because on sites like YouTube there are plenty of amateur performers who do not want to take the time to record their songs into the MP3 format, but their fans wish they could listen to those songs without having to watch the video. Switch from NCH Software makes that a lot easier to do. It also works for those who want to be able to beef up their collection of songs by using what is freely available to them over the web. The process is very simple. All one needs to do is use a program to grab the raw data from the video and this is then output into a FLV, WAV, WMA, OGG or other type of file. Once the user has this, they run that file through the Switch audio software and they can instantly create their very own MP3 of that song. It’s so easy that it really does not take a deep understanding of software thanks to how easy the conversion software is to use these days. This is a great way to get more songs without a lot of hassle.

Digital Camera Supremacy Has Arrived with the Fuji JZ300

Some people have been holding out on upgrading to the next generation of digital camera technology because they wanted to see exactly how far the improvements would go and if the prices might get better over time. For those among us who have been waiting for a value that would really take their breath away, Fuji has delivered in a big way with their feature packed JZ300 model that totally annihilates the competition in the consumer level digital cameras market today. This little silver wonder can capture 12 mega pixel images, but that is only the beginning. Yes, it does have the blink detection, face and smile recognition that consumers today favor, but it goes much further than that with scene recognition that allows it to balance a set of photos to have the right color saturation and lighting levels that its owner would like. In addition to this, the JZ300 allows a user to take 3 photos in a row of any scene and it will meld all of them together in a flawless panoramic digital photo in wide screen to create an awe inspiring image any pro photographer would be proud of with just the press of a button. Still, the features don’t stop there, as the Tracking Auto Focus is able to capture rapid motion shots with tremendous ease and translate them directly to crystal clear HD stills or movies.

That’s right, the Fuji JZ300 also takes digital video in 720p with sound, as well. Since it has a 10x optical zoom and ISO 3200 combined with Fujinon CCD shift technology, it is able to give video great quality without having a blurring effect. The 2.7 inch LCD display screen allows the users to see precisely what they are in the process of shooting. In the end, a www.very.co.uk digital camera is always going to be the best option for those shopping on the web today because the price is great and so is the service. For those who want to make the Fuji JZ300 their own, the extended warranty option is a smart choice that insures this little treasure gets the best possible protection since it is an investment any photographer can be proud of.

IBM Now Investing in Medical Tech

As a major pioneer in the typewriter and then later business and personal computer markets, International Business Machines (IBM) has said that it is taking a step in a new direction now, putting over $100 million into medical research – a surprise move that has caught some analysts and market observers off guard. While it is no surprise that the health tech market is a rapidly growing one, it turns out that the money is going to be spent over the next 3 years to allow IBM to hire doctors and a range of medical field experts to help them create brand new tech advances which they want to take to the medical market. By using its own brain trust of over 100 experts in fields like analytics, cloud computing and research, the company hopes to be able to improve the quality of health care in the US and do more than simply convert medical data into digital formats. They want to step forward, according to the lead of global health care research for IBM Research, Chalapathy Neti, and help clinical decisions to be made with a higher level of intelligence and clarity to not only lower costs, but give patients far better results in the care that they must have in order to heal. This means that treatments could improve and the whole process of receiving such medical care would be streamlined.

IBM labs are also already set to work on various medical related research fields to try and get into the field by signing with low cost genome reader maker Roche, for example.

Naspers Invests in Russian Tech Firm DST

A media company from South Africa, known as Naspers Ltd, has now done a deal to take up a nearly 30% stake in DST – Digital Sky Technologies Ltd. – an internet firm from the country of Russia. More than $380 million is being given to DST in an investment that will be used to help get greater interest in the internet providers and also to give Naspers an inroad to Facebook, Inc. which DST recently paid $200 million to obtain a 3.5% stock share in. Not only this, but DST has also invested extremely heavily in the social media game making sector by acquiring ICQ, an instant messaging and gaming platform formerly owned by AOL Inc. and getting a heavy share of the Zynga Game Network, Inc., as well.  In addition, DST is being given a nearly 40% stake in a Russian email, social networking and game service that Naspers currently runs. More than 50 million unique visitors hit the mail site each month.

This new venture has shown that there are a lot of new players in the tech market that come from nations which are somewhat new to the world of web based business. Another example is a Chinese web giant called Tencent Holdings Ltd that put in $300 million to be able to get a 10% stake in DST. According to the word of DST’s CEO Yuri Milner, the company aims to make a Russian language gaming and social networking platform to rival the one that Tencent has now. This is proof, say global tech experts, that the so-called Beast of the East is certainly entering the web market with a fury.

Obama Proves to Be Big Believer in Battery Tech

The current President of the United States, Barack Obama, has come forth lately as a big proponent of battery improvements, putting a great deal of stock into the future of the technology as a means for unbridled change and improvements in the future – a step away from natural resource based energy needs that the US is currently shifting from reliance on at this time. In a 4th visit to a battery maker since he took office, Obama greeted workers at the Compact Power inc. site in Holland, Michigan. Political analysts have noted that not only is Obama pouring a great deal of federal money into the industry in any way he can, the President is also trying to focus political attention on the industry because he believes that in terms of the auto and health industries, batteries are going to play a very crucial role in moving the world forward. Once the factory that Obama visited is completed, it will give jobs to more than 300 workers by producing batters for not only the Focus electric car model from Ford Motor Co., but also the Chevy Volt from General Motors Co., both companies having recently benefited from a federal bail out of the overall automotive industry in the US.

Batteries are a core part of the president’s message that green tech changes will play a huge role in helping the American economy recover by offering better jobs and a more fruitful economy. In all, since elected Obama has had a hand in pouring more than $2.4 billion into the advanced battery making markets to help the US catch up with Asia.

Craigslist Gets Criticism and Profits with Mature Themed Ads

The San Francsico, California based Craigslist website has long been at the forefront of current tech media coverage due to its immense popularity, but it appears that the darker side of its services may be bringing in not only profits, but a fair amount of criticism lately, as well. This is due to the fact that the site has been tied to various crimes around the United States and raised the suspicions of both federal and state level authorities who accuse it of catering to a criminal element. While Craigslist defense includes calling upon the US Communications Decency Act, some authorities and social groups have maintained that the site is allowing ads that might draw in a great deal of traffic, but which also lead to the furthering of illicit activities in the communities that Craigslist services. In its defense, Craigslist states that they have gone to great ends to protect minors and avoid any and all posting of ads that would break any state, local or federal laws.

An organization called Advanced Interactive Media Group (AIM) has said that the nearly $40 million in revenue Craigslist is expected to bring in this year alone has experienced a 22 per cent jump based primarily on its mature content ads which cost $10 for initial posting and $5 for each additional post. This leaves many to wonder if the site might be profiting from activities that are less than savory, but privacy experts warn against censoring public use of websites such as Craigslist could lead to restriction of freedoms across the web.

New Desk Offers Alternative to Sitting for Long Stretches

Many of those working in office environments have come to have physical health issues from the long hours of sitting and this could impact their work according to ergonomics experts who study worker productivity in tech industry settings. In an effort to combat work related stresses that are induced by long stretches of sitting, a new desk has been designed that will attempt to provide a different means by which workers and consumers alike can approach their computers. This desk takes on the notion that the perfect chair is the solution to a desk based work environment by providing an adjustable desk that users will be able to raise or lower as they see fit. The products have come from a subculture of web enthusiasts online who swear by the benefits of being able to stand while they use their computers and this appears to be headed in a more main stream direction as word of the desks has begun to spread.

Medical researchers have conducted studies that confirm those who stand while using their computers for long stretches of time are able to maintain their health more easily due to the ability to shift around and use more of their bodies at once. This, combined with the increased productivity in the work place for frequent computer users has put these desks at the forefront of future office and home users who want to maintain a more active and health focused life style. A variety of these desks have hit the market and more are expected in the coming years if the trend catches on.

Musicians Using Wii Remotes to Perform Music

While the electric guitar certainly changed pop music over half a century ago and the synthesizer, along with samplers, have changed music in more recent times, few could have seen the latest use of digital devices for musicians. In a scene that appears like something from the cult classic film Revenge of the Nerds, modern musicians are putting to use the Wii remotes from Nintendo to create some astonishingly unique tunes that could never have before been possible. The pairing of hi tech devices and music may not be a new one, but at the 3rd annual City Skies Electronic Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, there was a range of music being shown that brings together such stylings as avant garde space music, IDM and Berlin school techno beats. Out of the bands and musicians that will be show casing their talents, one group that has been raising eyebrows both on and offline call themselves The Wiitles, in homage to the rock group from the United Kingdom that changed the face of pop music back in the 1960’s: The Beatles.

The band bills itself as the first and only Wii using rock group on Earth and will be bringing what many are describing as ‘geek rock’ to the festival. Collaborating with an electric violinist will bring together a new sound that the band feels has not yet been offered to the world. The Wii remotes have been altered so that buttons can be pressed to call up samples, loops and other effects in order to give the band the power to bring a whole new, more physical, dimension to their electronic performance which might otherwise be more stationary.