Author: Connor Livingston

Not much needs to be said, here. We’re all on the internet. There are definitely people who are not, but for the most part it is a tool that affects nearly everyone worldwide even if they aren’t users themselves. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone in western society who is not on the internet in one way or another. The effectiveness of the internet breaks down into two categories: availability and speed. When it comes to availability, the combined efforts of mobile carriers and the greater telecom industry in general has spread a generous blanket over most parts of the world that are part of the…

With so much money going into social media as a marketing and branding tool, it’s hard for businesses to discern the true value that their social media efforts are bringing. How much are they really getting when someone posts a tweet about them or mentions them on Facebook? Are they getting real value or is it all just another intangible to throw into the advertising budget like billboard signs and television ads? The folks over at backupify took their cloud data and applied it to the question, “What is social data worth?” The results help to quantify social by showing the average per-user value and…

This is what social media was designed to do in the first place. Heck, it’s what the internet promised to be able to do all those years ago. It has the right company building it, the right technology supporting, and is coming out at a time when it is not only desired but also needed. Why, then, has Google Hangouts not exploded into a tool that everyone from family members to international corporations use ever day? In a quick survey of friends and business relations, I discovered that only one person out of nearly a hundred acquaintances had used it more than once. Keep in mind that this is a tech-savvy,…

As Alfred put it in The Dark Knight, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.” Then, there are those who just want to build something over time just to watch them fall down again. That’s the feeling one gets when watching this tribute to Nintendo made from 30,000 dominoes meticulously placed in a way to pay homage to various popular titles. It was a bit sad to watch; that’s a lot of work put into eventual destruction. It takes a certain personality type. Related articles Over 30,000 Dominoes Were Harmed in the Making of this Nintendo Tribute Video [Video] (kotaku.com) 30,000 Dominoes Proves Fan’s…

Technology is amazing and we all know it. What we may forget or even take for granted is that there was a time around thirty years ago when we needed dozens of different devices to do the things that we do with our current smartphones. As they put it at Gather, “The smartphone that’s currently sitting in your pocket right now is hundreds of times more powerful than the massive computer components that once filled entire rooms.” Now we have to wonder what will fit in our pockets thirty years from today….

“It’s a ghost town.” “I’m used to Facebook.” “I already have all of my pictures and stuff on Facebook.” “The mobile apps are getting better. They promised they’d get better.” “It’s a ghost town.” There are always going to be reasons to avoid change. It’s human nature to stick within our comfort zone for certain things; it differs from person to person which “things” are relegated to comfort and which we’re willing to branch out. When it comes to social networking, most are at least partially-familiar with the Facebook interface and the people that we get to see on it every day. Google+ is, in many ways,…

There was a time not too long ago when the only employees who could be considered “mobile” were the high-powered executives with cellular phones in their Lincoln Continentals. The business world shifted with the rise of the Blackberry and suddenly a lot more people were able to do their standard business activities away from the office. Today, 73% of the global enterprise workforce is a mobile worker. That doesn’t mean they never come into the office (though some do not). It means that a portion of their job is handled offsite through the various devices we are given. Broadband is in most of the business…

Sensitive data has always been a challenge to deliver securely. Even in the days of the Spartans, military commanders would use ingenious encryption techniques to communicate with each other across distances. Today, we have an ongoing battle for data security that pits the brilliant minds of encryption experts with the equally-brilliant hackers trying to get into this database or capture that bit of data. A ton of resources are used on both sides to get the upper hand in the various virtual wars. As this infographic from Visual.ly details, even governments are involved. Special thanks for…

Facebook was started in a dorm room at Harvard, so it’s fitting to see that the social network is most popular there when compared to other Ivy League schools. What started off as a play for exclusivity has opened up to become one of the most prolific web companies of all time. With nearly a billion users and a multi-billion dollar IPO around the corner, the project can be considered a success. This infographic breaks down how Facebook stacks up at Ivy League schools. Compiled By: OnlineUniversities.com Related articles Facebook plans to raise up to $12 bln in mega IPO (firstpost.com) Facebook looking…

At some point, nearly every social media startup intends to make money. Tumblr has held off for quite some time, but now they are about to roll out their revenue model: ads. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="tumblr blog (Photo credit: Zadi Diaz)"][/caption] Their model will have a starting point of $25,000 to be included in their “Tumblr Radar” and “Tumble Spotlight” sections. The Radar is visible on every users’ dashboard on the right sidebar. The dashboard is the starting point (and most commonly browsed portion) for members when they are logged in and promises 120…