The Browser - August 2012 by Sola Akinfie

Casting the net

The planking

August 2012

craze continues

Random internet deals

Pinterest paradise

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e d i t o r ‘s Sola Akinfie

Managing Editor

The Olympics are in full swing and we thought we’d do our bit by pointing you in the direction of easy ways to watch the activities on the net. You shouldn’t miss the best bits as long as you’re connected. We also featured the Samsung Olympic game app, which is great fun and comes with The ‘Samsung Relay Hope’, where £1 is donated to various children’s charities for every mile you cover. It doesn’t matter how you cover the miles – jogging, cycling, or riding a milkfloat.... It’s a great idea. Enjoy the usual features on what’s new and cool in cyberspace, and do continue to send us suggestions for websites we should review.

Lou Akin

Nicola Johannson

Features Writer

Gary Hammond

Tincuta Moscaliuc

News Editor

Art Director

Graphic Designer

Joanna Nicholson

Natalie Chandler

Features Writer

Staff Writer

DG Mouriato

Zachary Saumanhalli

Dana Wades

Brandie Blackler

Video Reviews

Gaming Editor

Contributor

Commercial Services Writers/Contributors Daniel Waite James Ellmann Thomas Hanson Helen Souza

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august issue • • • • • • • • • •

Olympics Online Spoofbook Life Off-Line MadTV On YouTube Galaxy S3 Review Browser News Random Internet Deals Save Money Online Browser Likes eBookshop

Super Internet Savings

Browser News by Nicola Johanssen

Craigslist - For Bargains, Best Buys & Babydaddies The things you can find on Craigslist are mind-boggling. From date-my-wife coupons to free trial screaming therapy it just gets better. But this one tops the list for its sheer plain speaking – this leather-clad biker chick from Chicago got a bunny in her oven after fraternising with a red Mohawked Casanova at a Megadeth & Motorhead concert near her home. Being ever so responsible she proceeded to post a, shall we say, unique ad on the popular classifieds site, seeking the identity of the ‘dude’ who knocked her up in the bogs. In a rather blunt ending to the ad, the mum-to-be states ‘I’m pregnant, it’s yours. Contact me if you want to be a part of your child’s life.’ Nothing like cutting to the chase. Anyway, we wish her all the best with her search, and urge anyone visiting the wonderful US of A this summer to be on the lookout for Mr. BabyDaddy himself, sporting a red Mohawk and viper piercings. The woman describes herself as having ‘blue hair, silver tube top, fishnets and knee-high black biker boots’. Should be memorable then.

Olympic Spoilers While many Brits were delighting in the antics of the 3 hour long opening ceremony, our cousins across the pond were just getting back from their lunch breaks with a good three or four hours in front of them before they could get home and join in the action. With this in mind, the US TV network NBC (who have sole rights to broadcast the Olympics stateside) decided to delay the showing of the ceremony for 3 hours to let the great American workforce get home and put their feet up. Sadly the whole thing backfired, thanks to the wonders of the world of social networking. As the US was waiting to see the delights of the ceremony for themselves, the rest of the world was watching it live and spewing out all sorts of big spoilers via Twitter and the other social networks. Worst of all, one of the highlights of the show was the appearance of Tim Berners Lee, the granddaddy of the internet, who sent a live tweet ‘for everyone’… well, everyone except those living in the US of A, that is.

Spoilsport IOC If it wasn’t enough that America had to put up with the sloppy seconds of the opening ceremony, the IOC stuck another nail in the coffin of social networking by heavily copyrighting everything and stopping people from sharing their ‘best bits’. The Queen’s acting debut with Mr. Bond, and the legendary appearance of Mr. Bean (aka Rowan Atkinson) mid-ceremony, who appeared to play a hilarious synth solo with the orchestra, was set to go viral on YouTube, until the IOC instigated a blanket ban on any sharing of any Olympic shenanigans via this and all other social networks. Come on IOC… this is 2012, you know!

Google Maps to be Available Offline The highly popular Google Maps for Android has just received its latest update, with one big feature most of us have been waiting forever to get; the offline mode. The updated maps have detailed information of more than 150 countries worldwide, which can be fully accessed and used offline, subject to the twiddling of some settings. This is going to be great for anyone planning to go on holiday to Europe or beyond, as you are able to save the maps of up to 6 areas to the offline mode on your phone. This means you can make the most of the navigational capabilities of your phone whilst avoiding the steep data roaming charges often associated with being abroad. Not only that, but if you activate your GPS, you’ll still be able to view the little blue dot to see where you are, so you never need get lost again!

A weird wonderful

world on

Pintrest has become the world's biggest corkboard. There is so much visual pleasure to share. We took a peek at Pintrest-places and we decided to sort of pin here our favourite spots.

Bokod, Komárom-Esztergom, Hungary Waterworld redefined!

Amalfi Coast, Italy, or if you prefer – Camden moves to Cornwall.

Mont Saint-Michel, France A picture of purity at its finest hour.

Apocalypse now! Cambodia never looked more appealing.

The most beautiful oasis in the world just got pinned.

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam A far cry from the horrid jungle scenes from those ‘Nam movies of old.

Blistering barnacles! Who put that there? This natural wonder is called the Hermit’s Watch.

No traffic wardens, no congestion charge and no neighbours – Boldt Castle is property heaven

Looks like a place Brits would stubbornly go for that elusive weather. It’s certainly not Dover, it’s Preikestolen, Norway.

Artist Lori Nix’s prediction of what future libraries will look like.

“Urbix Chenobyl” Prypiat, Ukraine Come visit our wonderful city, with nothing but blissful silence and mysterious solitude.

Greenpeace proposed world headquarters in Taljin, Mexico. They obviously haven’t seen the movie Apolcalypto.

Pirates of the limestone city. The skulls have quite a few stories to tell.

Eiffel Tower becomes a victim of the French strike. This one went on for 20 years. Welcome to the French national park.

Internet killed the shopping centre. Lori Nix’s future impression of the urban way of life.

Hashima Island, Japan This one was a mystery.

Ever found Disneyland to be plastic and unreal? Then take a trip to Eastern Europe to get that realistic cold thrill.

Imagine a world where all humans disappeared. Vegetation reclaims its place real quick.

LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS ONLINE By Dana Wade

At last the Olympics is on the way. Yes we’ve moaned about Olympic lanes and disruption to travel, but the torch relay and opening ceremony have made us proud. The internet is perfect for staying abreast of what’s going on from every aspect. Here’s our guide to the London 2012 Olympics.

Learn More about This Year’s Games Online

There is an official website for this year’s games in London. Since the internet has only grown in capabilities since the last Olympics, this year’s website has some pretty cool features. You can visit the official website www.london2012.com. If you missed the opening ceremony you can see it in its full glory here.

You’ve also got the closing ceremony to be streamed here come Sunday 12th of August. This year there are 26 different sports (including football, of course) and they are taking place in 28 different venues. You can use the website to catch yourself up on any missed results to see which countries have won the most medals, and you can also check out the schedule of all of the upcoming events.

YouTube for the Olympics Boris spoof

Wenlock in action

There is of course an OIC Youtube channel, www.youtube.com/user/ olympic. Chances are the best stuff will be the videos that get uploaded and then taken down after the OIC or other regulatory bodies learn about them. The song Survival by the band Muse is the official song for the London Olympics. Decide for yourself if it was the right choice: http://bit.ly/MTZI86.

This short video has a modest 20k views, but due to a mention on G4 it may start picking up fast, but it seems a great deal of comments are devoted to ‘spoon’ posture. It seems like Breakfast Guy isn’t in the running for a medal.

There are undoubtedly going to be loads of Olympic YouTube videos before this is all over. Even before the games started we've seen quite a number of funny spoofs and homemade Olympic videos. See the Boris spoof Olympic introductory video, it’s why we love him. If you’re not falling down laughing after the first minute or so, keep watching; it just gets better.

Catch-up on TV for the Olympics

You have a lot of options for live streaming and recorded Olympic coverage via the internet. That is, if you don’t mind the random glitches here or there. The BBC is saying that they’ll have more than 2500 hours of recorded coverage that will be streaming via 24 different High Definition streams, which sounds great in theory but there is a decent chance you’ll be banging your head on your desk in frustration due to the scourge of the frozen clip, since iPlayer is still figuring it out, so to speak. ITV, Five, Channel 4, Sky and Virgin Media all have recorded shows that you can watch via the internet as well. The bottom line is that you really don’t have to go brave the crowds if you want to check out some of the contents, football, and opening and closing ceremonies. We watched the England vs Senegal match on BBC iPlayer and we give it 6 out of 10 for streaming quality; a few buffering and frozen clips here and there, but not bad. We know there must have been some pressure on the servers with a high demand of streaming to contend with. We’d like to see how they fare when Hussien Bolt gets going.

Social Media & the London Olympics

Social media has definitely come to new highs in recent years. This is the first year in which social media is covering the Olympics to such a large extent. The new Olympic Athletes Hub offers a new way you can connect with Olympians via the internet: www.hub.olympic.org. But that’s just the beginning. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare are all packed with fun ways you can get involved with the Olympics through the internet. They want your comments and your support, so do take a peek. Many of the most beloved and most talked about Olympians have Facebook Fan Pages you can join and like. You can send them comments while the games unfold. They’d be, er, happy to respond a couple of weeks after the busy Olympics. Usain Bolt: www.facebook.com/usainbolt Dame Kelly Holmes: www.facebook.com/damekellyholmes Michael Phelps: www.facebook.com/michaelphelps Daley Thompson: www.facebook.com/daleythompsonofficial If you’d like to connect with some Olympians on Twitter, here are a couple to consider following:

Jamaican Olympian Usain Bolt is pretty popular on Twitter, with over 633,222 followers. Find him at @usainbolt. American Swimmer Michael Phelps has around 286,000 followers. His Twitter username is @MichaelPhelps. You can even find great Olympians of the past online, like Daley Thompson, whom you can follow by searching for @Daley_Thompson.

If you’ve never heard of the Olympic mascot Wenlock, you might have seen him and wondered ‘What’s that alien in tinfoil?’. We’re still debating whether this rather bizarre looking Olympic mascot is memorable and edgy, or just plain creepy looking. See Wenlock trying out all of the different Olympic sports. Or if you are frankly sick of hearing about the Olympics altogether, you definitely need to watch this video called ‘Breakfast guy doesn’t give a s*** about the Olympics’: http://bit.ly/OGMPLc.

You can also follow @London2012 and @Olympics. If you want more, check out the Top 100 list of Olympians to Follow on Twitter published by Examiner.com: http://exm.nr/Oe2Rl0

Bad Birdie! Olympian Disqualified Due to Racist Tweets

One Olympian learned an important lesson about the power of social media when her unpopular and racially slanted Tweeting got her kicked out of the Olympics entirely. Paraskevi ‘Voula’ Papachristou Tweeted “With so many Africans in Greece… the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food.” When the dust cleared, Voula found herself out of a chance to participate in her sport for the Greek Team. At least her online pics in an article posted by www.dailymail.co.uk show that she is flexible enough to use those triple jumping legs to give herself a kick in the ass for her stupidity.

Check-In at the Olympics on Foursquare If you’re going to actually go to the games, or even just go check out the various complexes and facilities or the Olympic Village, you can use Foursquare to check in and let your pals know that you were there. By visiting the International Olympic Committee’s page on Foursquare you can learn tons about this year’s events and past year’s Olympics as well. If you’re lucky enough to check in at the Olympic Village and rub elbows with the best of the best from all across the globe, you’ll be one of very few people that will! Just know that you probably won’t get past the Village Plaza, which is designated for visitors like relatives and friends, and we hear that all of the ‘real’ fun goes on in other areas of the Olympic Village, if you know what we’re saying... On another note, you can check in to different venue pages like London 2012 Olympic Park, Olympic Stadium, and the London 2012 Aquatic Center too. It’s all on there at Foursquare.com.

BBC’s London Olympics Mobile App BBC Sport has a great App you can download for your smartphone or mobile device, aptly called the ‘BBC Olympics Smartphone App.’ You can use the app to read and download stories about the Olympics, keep tabs on the medal counts, learn more about specific Olympic events, or learn more about individual Olympic athletes or teams. You can also watch videos and check the schedules to see when specific events are happening. There is both an Android and iOS version of the App available.

Katie Priced Married to TV From Chavland, UK Works at The Sun

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July 20th, 2012

Katie dear, erm, we‘re getting quite a bit of stick having you as a columnist, we need to reconsider our biggest mistake. Like . Comment Katie Priced Wot you on about, you mean you want me to do

more pages?

July 20th at 2:29pm • Like

Kerry Katona

Jeremy Kyle

Max Clifford

Chantelle

Vicky Pollard

Hugh Hefner

Alex Reid

Berlusconi

The Sun Heaven forbid no! We thought we should postpone it till

another date.

July 20th at 2:35pm • Like

Katie Priced Oh, you mean somfink like next month? July 20th at 2:37pm • Like

The Sun No, the next ice age. July 20th at 2:40pm • Like

Katie Priced When is that then - you want me to write again in

winter?

July 20th at 2:42pm • Like

The Sun Hopeless. July 20th at 2:45pm • Like

Leandro Penna

Katie Priced

July 20th, 2012

Iz no right, you meet my mama in Argentina, take me for bad food and bad England weather, why u say we finish? I learn the English for u, take de stupid photo and u no marry for me. Iz ok, iz ok. I learn one good English - u iz chav mama no classes, too much makeup, u look like the lady crown and f*** like sick dog. We finish now! Max Clifford, Posh Spice and a million others like this

Katie Priced

Mark Hastings

July 21st, 2012

Jus wanted 2 say to my anonymous fan - thx for sending me this thingee here, but I don have any virus infection, this is some sort of thing for a virus right? But fanks again 4 thinkin of me mwuah! x0x0

Katie Priced

Ms Price, we’ve just come across the Land Rover you purchased, I have to tell you that our sales figures have dropped significantly since you took ownership of the Land Rover, you now have it in your own colours from the picture here. I’d be happy to compensate you with twice the price of the purchase if you would be willing to let us dispose of the vehicle quietly. Please let me know of your thoughts on this. Many thanks.

Peter Andrex and Alex Reid like this Kerry Katona Lol silly sausage, its suppose to b for when ur

using you’re computa so u dont get sick from all dat radiation luv July 21st at 1:09pm • Like

Kerry Katona and Melinda Messenger like this

Jeremy Kyle

Katie Priced

July 21st, 2012

Katie Priced Oh alright then, I’ll give it back and get twice the

money, then I’m going to buy that new Land Rover Evoke or somethin like that and its going to be pink baby! lol

Hi Katie, good news! I can squeeze you into the show, I know you’ve been eager to have a rant, sorry, I mean bear your soul on the show for a while. There is an open slot as result of the couple from Newcastle not being able to attend - I think they have a two-year sentence for looting. Leandro Penna likes this Alex Reid How about it Katie, can I come on the Jeremy Kyle

show? I still want you back and there’s lots I wanted to confirm too, you owe me publicity. Playing the happy family with your kids wasn’t great when the cameras were off you know. July 21st at 4:15pm • Like

Peter Andrex You trashy witch, I’m not having you parade my

July 21st at 6:17pm • Like

kids on the Jeremy Kyle s**t, haven’t they had enough of this fake publicity cr*p? I suppose that Argentine beef turkey and the daft wrestler are coming too! July 21st at 4:19pm • Like

Katie Priced Please Peter, park it ok? U didn tell me to cool it

when we woz doin Peter and Katie on tv. Now, coz ur out of the picture all u do is moan. U never had the balls anyway, oh and your last album was pants, better go find another celebrity to salvage ur career. July 21st at 4:19pm • Like

Vicky Pollard

Katie Priced

July 21st, 2012

Too much of a celebrity to hang out wiv us lot are ya? What happen to Friday nights outside the office near JD Sport? If I see you on dat silly pink scooter me and Gemma are gonna thump you one, you just wait. An whats dis foreginer u’ve been wiv den, I knew u was doin all that orse ridin bollocks to meet hunky polo players. BB me or we come lootin at your manor. Vicky Pollard likes this

Coleen Rooney

Katie Priced

July 21st, 2012

Hi babes - you like my picture on OK, I have my own column now! This girls done alright from a chipee shop to glossy magazines. Need your advice though. How did you manage to get so many bestseller books when you cant read, let alone write. Be a sweetie and let me know the people that did it for you. I’m going to need a lot of help writing for OK.

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Samsung Shakes the Apple Tree by Jo Nicholson

Before the launch of the SIII in May this year, the tech world was holding its breath in anticipation of what could possibly be the most advanced smartphone to hit the market. But the web, by then, was abuzz, not with Samsung’s device, but with that of its major and bitter rival, whose maker is headquartered in Cupertino, California. Yes, the big Apple. But lo and behold, when Samsung unveiled the third of its Galaxy series in London in early May, the world was nothing less than gobsmacked by the sheer number of smart features, some of which were revolutionary never-before-seen technological breakthroughs that set a new standard for smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy S III was simultaneously released on May 29 2012 in 28 countries across Europe and the Middle East - including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and the United Arab Emirates - prior to its global release in June to major markets around the world, including Japan, China, Australia, India, South Korea, and the United States.

The device has been dubbed Android's flag-bearer, because it incorporates many of the OS’s advanced features, a number of which are not found in other Android phones.

SIII Intelligence

Sharing Samsung

Prior to the phone’s initial release in May, the Samsung Galaxy S III made history when over 100 carriers worldwide reportedly placed orders totaling a whopping 9 million units. This is more than any other electronic gadget to date. The popularity of the phone sparked a worldwide demand by 300 carriers in more than 150 countries when it was finally released globally in June. The Samsung Galaxy S III is not your typical smartphone. In fact, it was dubbed the ‘iPhone killer’ thanks to the many features packed into its beautiful shell, many of which were the first to be seen on the market. True enough, the device is easily capable of dominating the smartphone market worldwide, either through eroding the market share of the erstwhile leader or cementing its dominance by sheer superiority. The appeal of the Samsung Galaxy S III to both Samsung’s loyal fans and to newly recruited converts is the fact that it is an Android phone. The device operates on Android’s latest release, version 4.0, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich, which is packed with smart features including the TouchWiz “Nature UX” GUI. This special feature offers an advanced improvement over the previous version, including the addition of the aptly named Water Lux effect that creates ripples when the user’s finger makes contact with the screen.

The Ice Cream Sandwich makes the Samsung Galaxy S III the world’s most advanced and most intelligent smartphone today, making its user interface more refined, expanding the capabilities of its camera, and offering a greatly improved security and connectivity features.

Shaking the Apple tree One possible reason why the Samsung Galaxy S III was touted as the iPhone killer is its own intelligent personal assistant called S Voice. It might sound somewhat generic, but it takes on its rival’s challenge quite seriously. For instance, it can recognize 8 major languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Korean in comparison to its rival’s English-only language recognition. In addition, it can also enable the user to activate 20 functions with the voice using any of the 8 languages featured.

As if trying to lure diehard iPhone users over to the bright side, the Samsung Galaxy S III comes pre-installed with Easy Phone Sync, a nifty little app that allows users to transfer files and data from their iPhone, including photos, songs, films, and podcasts directly onto their new Galaxy device. Apple have not been folding their arms, but have become regular visitors to the courts, bringing in lengthy legal battles with Samsung. The ongoing legal battle between Apple and Samsung took another turn in May with Apple’s attorneys filing a motion for permission to add the forthcoming Galaxy S3 phone to an existing lawsuit, which was launched against other Samsung devices with firm accusations of copy of the iPhone’s design and functions. Apple fans are beginning to wish the boys would stay out of the courts and spend more time in the labs.

It’s all about timing According to Examiner.com iPhone devotees may be swayed to the S3 since no release date has been announced. The cheeky release of the iPhone 4s last year instead of the iPhone 5 did not go down lightly with the Apple fans. Some felt slightly robbed, and others found the corporate chess a bit condescending; the iPhone user is one that enjoys detailed performance and not just brand association. Samsung’s credible and unique products have been steadily edging their way into the Apple fraternity. Galaxy Note and the S2 were risky cards to play, but the bold introduction to using your mobile seriously paid off; Samsung had definitely gotten our attention. For many users, the camera on their smartphone has all but replaced the need for a separate point-and-shoot camera, so the performance has to be good. Thankfully the Galaxy S III doesn’t disappoint. Equipped with a sturdy 8 megapixel primary camera, the pictures you can take are enhanced by the integration of advanced technology that makes it easy for anyone to become the next David Bailey. With the option to set the camera to zero shutter lag, as well as tools like the Burst Mode and Best Shot, this camera is capable of taking photos that you would never believe have been taken with a phone. With photo capabilities of up to 3,264 × 2,448 resolution and video resolution of 1,920 × 1,080-pixel (1080p), this phone could be your pocketfriendly ticket to photographic greatness. And of course there is also a 1.9 megapixel camera on the front for making video calls.The quad-core processor sets the bar higher on this phone’s processing capabilities and makes it one of the fastest phones available today. However, because of the number of super high tech features embedded in this worldclass phone, and the power they need to work effectively, this processing power is not just desirable - it is essential. If all that wasn’t enough, this phone also features a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED touchscreen display, something that we have come to expect from Samsung after the stunning display they gave us on the S II. Currently, it is available in two variants based on their internal storage capacity; 16 and 32 GB, and each boasts a microSD slot for a further 64 GB. The price is also good value, especially for a high-end phone; it’s available at Three for £34 a month, with a generous amount of minutes and data. As with most phones, the S3 may have its shortcomings, but right now we deliberately ignore these, as we’re more interested in why it’s probably the best production phone in the world. A serious preempted launch against the republic of Apple.

A Look Back at

slipping Up with the Kardashians The Kardasians are easy prey for myriad jibes and jokes of varying quality, but this bit of video is spot on. It questions Kim’s usefulness to society and begs the question of how on Earth she became famous.

DIS-HARMONY AT eharmony

The people at MADtv seem to love taking pokes at eHarmony; there’re more than 5 spoofs of it. They’ve done this one quite cleverly by making the adverts as close as possible to the real ones. This eHamony clip also takes a look at the hapless and unlikely couples that can have the misfortune of getting together.

Ellen DeGeneres Show spoof

This one takes a cheeky swipe at Ellen not being funny, and her terrible knowledge of her guests. In a funny way it shows her insensitivity to individuals of different races or backgrounds. A well put together bit of fun.

Oprah WINDSWEPT

Great spoof of the Oprah Winfrey show. The voice actor from MADtv simply nails this one. The parody shares a cheeky take on what Oprah’s show is really supposed to be; as far as this video is concerned, Oprah has become a little too powerful.

Mad magazine has been around since the hero days of the comic book in the 1950s and beyond, and have been kings of satire and parody for many decades. MADtv evolved since its 1995 inception until its finale in 2009. We picked some of our favourite clips from the cast of talented actors and scriptwriters. There’s lots more to see on YouTube when you're done with these.

United WE FALL

One of our favourites. This airline service is just an oversized view of the staff’s enthusiasm for customer service. The gate attendant gets the most votes for attitude and demotivation. She does, however, get a dose of her own medicine. Great stuff.

Someone Stole My Weed

Talk about out of your mind. This clip’s a funny one based on a man who insists on getting himself nicked. Even to the point of showing frustration at the police not catching up to his self-inflicting confession in the form of a report of his being a victim of theft.

OJ Simpson’s Blind Date

A really funny look at the life of OJ since the trials. It pokes fun at the supposed denials and defences of the obvious. Put one strange single woman together with a labelled ex-pro footballer with a murder case on his resume, and you get all sorts of opportunities to poke fun.

Obama & Sarah Palin This clip is a little bit unfair to Sarah Palin. It absolutely shreds her to bits by inflating the hockey mum label and turning it on its head. Both actors are frightfully similar to their spoof subjects, especially Jordan Peele voicing Obama.

The Winning Clips on YouTube Complaints Against YouTube Matrix Reloaded MTV Parody

Tom Crooze Mission Improbable

A product for the MTV movie awards, directed by Joel Gallen with Justin Timberlake, Will Farrel and Keanu Reeves mixing scenes from the blockbuster film, this clip is quite funny and well presented. The oracle flirting with Justin Timberlake, Will Farrell as the architect, and an ever-wooden Keanu Reeves make this a YouTube favourite.

This 8 minute clip from Barely Political is such a barrel full of laughs. It’s a representation of the strange and twisted users that have an issue with the upload and general services of YouTube. It’s a clever way to get an idea of the whackjobs that post videos and make comments on YouTube. For what it represents and the clever use of a simple script, it’s on our favourites list.

Uploaded in 2009, this clip actually works well for Tom Cruise, suggesting a rich sense of humour and a break from the overly serious tag he is known to carry. You can guarantee great parody when Ben Stiller is involved. This one includes Tom Cruise himself, and Director John Woo. Ben Stiller is the stunt double with a know-it-all attitude who takes his role a little to seriously. The end is creepy.

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g n i k lan

an internet fad

that won’t go by sola akinfie

Planking refuses to be a dying fad. We thought it had reached its peak two years ago, but as avid Plankers get more bold with their chosen positions and choices of locations all that has happened is a new form of Planking in a different position. Planking is a symptom of internet social networking, and it’s here to stay.

he act of Planking is actually so silly and pointless that it works. It’s a product of the internet and its community of sharers – a stunt to show off to all and sundry; the act of placing yourself in a horizontal plank-like position on top of, well, anything, preferably in a public place or where you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s a sort of viral competition to find out who has the most daring imagination or who is nuts enough to risk life and limb to get hits of appreciation. Without the internet, the act of Planking would simply not exist.

The debatable Origins of planking There are various debates about the origins of planking. Some say it heralds way back from the dark days of slavery, in which slaves where arranged in a straight horizontal position in tight spaces in the holds of the slave ships. Others argue it was a modern form of protesting by making your plank form a disruptive body of obstructing space. It seems the activity that has been around for a good ten years morphed from ‘The lying down game’ - a catchy name if ever there was one. Whatever the case, it made headline news again when an Australian Planker fell seven stories to his death. A few days later it became a political issue when another Australian man was arrested for planking on a police car. Hence the reason why Australia is the planking capital of the world. As far as Planking in the UK goes, the activity gained an interest in September 2009 when seven medical professionals in England were suspended for playing the ‘Lying Down Game’ on the job. A superior spotted the pictures after they had been posted to Facebook. In one of the popular planking fan pages, active membership has leaped from 180,000 four years ago to 984,000 and counting. Now that’s a worry. Typical of anything that gains popularity with the youth, the planking activity graph gets an upward trend when a Planker loses his or her life or gets arrested for Planking in an unauthorized location – or ‘hot zone’, as they are called. Avid Planker, university freshman Peter Forrester, says

that getting his Planking photo on the fan page and YouTube was like stepping up to the podium to recite his Oscar acceptance speech. His planking presence has graced 8 different locations, including the Grand Canyon, a questionable spot on the Statue of Liberty, and JFK airport. He claims to be addicted to Planking, and feels the notoriety and kudos is worse than a class A drug addiction.

The reason why planking is seen as more than antics from bored youths is that it has given birth to the idea of sharing something anyone can do across the globe. The thousands of Planking images posted are such a competitive activity that those who indulge in the activity feel they need to push the envelope even further. It’s about where you dare to perform your own Planking. The more likely you are to get arrested, the greater the credits to the plank prank.

The higher the risk of injury or death, the higher the number of hits on your posted image. As you can guess, there have been tragic deaths and ghoulish injury all in the name of sharing, or that enviable notoriety. Acton Beale of New York was one of many victims when his planking activity went wrong whilst planking on the 7th floor of a building’s balcony rail in Australia. Undergrad student Benjamin Lewis made a name for himself because he planked on the Great Wall of China. YouTube and search engine tags ‘great wall of china planking’ can do wonders for viral clicks.

Parkour is so last year

Chuck had a hard time explaining this to the coach

Efficient industrial Planking

Nigerian version

Redneck Planking – now that’s advertising

The new handsfree feature of public phones

Military precision Planking

‘We’ve been doing it for years’

‘So have we, mate!’

Planking may finally end when the influx of photoshopped images overtakes that of the real ones. This was always going to be the Achilles heel of the pastime.

People are not going to risk great injury or death to perform a brave and imaginative Plank when Josh the 15 year old can bang out a Photoshop masterpiece without leaving his bedroom. For now, whilst Planking is still a popular activity, it has certainly peaked. It’s morphed into another body-punishing activity called Owling. This one is based on the same concept of doing something in crazy locations and on different surfaces in an even more preposterous position.

Head Of Planking

Depository Planking

Aquatic Planking

Mass Planking

The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Finding the Spirit Within by Linda Williamson

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The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. This book begs the question; why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. Available on Adobe EPUB and Kindle.

This book is making waves in the literature fraternity. E L James’ critically acclaimed third instalment of the 50 Shades trilogy takes romance to a new level of excitement and intrigue. A literature student and an enigmatic young entrepreneur embark on a risky intimate adventure. Anastasia Steele finds Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires. It’s an erotic, amusing, and moving tale of nail-biting romance and adventure.

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Return In Time by Tricia Linden

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Radhika's Story by Joanna Lumley & Sharon Hendry

Tales from Facebook explores the ways in which people use Facebook in their everyday lives. This book demonstrates that it can be profound; the tales within reveal how Facebook can become the means by which people find and cultivate relationships, but can also be instrumental in breaking up those relationships.

What should be a relaxing vacation turns into a working time-travel adventure when Teressa Ellers - a pragmatic and gifted relationship coach - is swept back to 13th century. He’s a handsome rogue warrior; unrelentingly charming, naturally old-fashioned, and completely unaware of her origins. She’s an independent 21st century woman; witty, practical, thoroughly modern, and determined to return home. Available on Kindle for PC, Kindle reader, and Adobe PDF.

A seemingly innocent sip of Coca-Cola, drunk by a starving and desperately thirsty 16-year-old girl, led to the first of Radhika Phuyal’s human trafficking experiences. Drugged, Radhika woke up hours later, in great pain, only to discover that her kidney had been removed and sold to the highest bidder. Journalist Sharon Hendry tells Radhika’s horrifying but incredibly inspiring story. An incredible story of triumph over evil in the modern world.

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Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge

This carries a RITA award for best first book. It’s a turbulent story of office politics within the television newsroom; Natalie Daniels is a maturing anchor who has to beat off new unethical competition. It’s a battle to survive the betrayal and disloyalty that comes with the job. She may be forty, frightened, and alone, but Natalie is first and last a fighter. An engaging read.

In the tradition of truly fantastic storytelling, Verdigris Deep is darkly witty, utterly creepy, and clever. Ryan and his friends steal some coins from a well. Soon after, strange things begin to happen; the kids are held captive by the well witch, and must serve her ever strange demands.

Criminal by Karin Slaughter

Born to Run by Chris McDoughall

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At the heart of Born to Run lies a mysterious tribe of Mexican Indians, the Tarahumara, who live quietly in canyons and are reputed to be the best distance runners in the world; in 1993, one of them, aged 57, came first in a prestigious 100-mile race. This is The Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.

The Six-Figure Second Income explains how to start or grow a business even when you think you have plenty of strikes against you. In the course of building an eight-figure real estate information marketing business David Lindahl and Jonathan Rozek tested dozens of tools and techniques. They share these with readers in realistic proven methods for building an online income stream. Available on Kindle Fire, Apple or Android device, Nook, and other platforms.

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by Andy Hargreaves

Steampunk laptop This is the Datamancer Steampunk Laptop. Sitting pretty like a Victorian jukebox is Richard Nagy’s creation; a vintage-designed, fully-fledged laptop. It’s unbelievably slimmer and more portable than the average modern laptop. Users have the option of design add-ons; gold foil maps, photo etchings, and some brass components. The laptop includes a key-shaped USB flash drive that also unlocks parts of the laptop You also get a few vintage-inspired colour options. It’s very much available, priced at the princely sum of $5,500-$7,500. Buy here: www.datamancer.net/laptop-preorders

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Brionvega futuristic TV Italian TV manufacturer Brionvega has opted to enter the TV market as a manufacturer of premium products. The groundbreaking futuristic design of the Brionvega Alpha is inspired by big names in the design fraternity. It’s an LCD television with integrated DVD player. It’s got that classic minimalist style from the ‘30’s. The Brionvega Alpha packs a 19 inch screen in a chrome tube framing and alhough it’s not HD-ready, the contract ratio of 1200:1 is a solid statement. Available in orange, silver or black for €1,950 ($3,016) and higher....

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Keyboard jeans

Named Beauty & the Geek, these QWERTY keyboard jeans are the work of Dutch design duo Erik de Nijs and Tim Smit. We’re not sure about the idea being a practical one, but the concept certainly aims for portability and style. The orange stitching is supposed to blend as circuit boards, in the back pocket sits the mouse, and in the front thigh area you have the inbuilt speakers. You use a USB dongle to communicate with your computer. We suspect that this contraption may be a bit tricky in the washing machine department....

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Peregrine Power glove The stuff you saw in the film Minority Report isn’t just fantasy; it’s here. It’s a controller glove from Peregrine. Its use can be applied to other computer interaction, but it is first and foremost a gaming device. You have the option to set finger and thumb configurations to control your game. Gaming response speed is increased significantly. Three activation pads work seamlessly with 18 touch points. You can also configure the points to suit your hand size. You have 30 options in total. The Gold-plated connections provide maximum connection speed and reliability. It’s available at $149 /£130 Buy here: www.theperegrine.com/buy

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Mobile Script Phone This phone tops our list of favourite concepts. It houses the usual functions we are used to but delivers them in a more effective fashion. It has an elongated sexy frame much like your high-end remote control, utilizing touch screen technology to its fullest. The phone’s jewel in the crown is the internal screen, which seamlessly extends out from the phone body, and has a diagonal width of 9.5 inches. In effect you get a laptop in the real sense, with touch screen functionality. Watching movies is a brilliant experience. This phone has achieved the age old problem of multiple multimedia functions without compromising portability or screen size.

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Concept flip phone

This one’s a corker from India – it’s got three flexible AMOLED touch screens and a keyboard at the rear. The screens can be folded into a triangular shape, and are interconnected to allow for simultaneous use of all three. It’s run on Android and sports features close to an actual PC. It’s the work of designer Kristian Ulrich Larsen. The gorilla glass screen cover gives it that futuristic smooth finish. We may see this available to buy in 2-3 years.

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Ultimate Gaming chair

Never mind vibrating controllers or joysticks; what you get with this chair are massive vibrations and shakes as you engage in jolting scenarios in-game. You can imagine a racing crash or exploding grenades you come across. The experience is as close to the action as you can get. It also holds integrated speakers, as well as being able to connect to whatever sound-blasting gizmo you may have. The chair allows you to plug in external controllers, and is compatible with all the main gaming devices. Oh, and it’s so very comfortable! Yours for around $499. Buy here: www.ultimategamechair.com

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life off-line by Jo Nicholson

If your offline social excursions are starting to pale into insignificance when compared to your online activities, maybe itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to get a life. Luckily, in our 21st century age, we can also do this from the comfort of our own keyboards, so we had a look for ourselves to see whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s out there.

CitySocialising.com

Meetup.com

If you, like many others, start to realize that you have no life outside of work, Xbox and Second Life, maybe Citysocialising.com could be the answer to your prayers. If you desire to meet real people and converse without a keyboard at your fingertips, this social network promises the chance to meet real life people in a real life setting, right in your home city. Scary, huh?

Meet up.com can be described as a bit of a mash up between LinkedIn and Facebook, but with a bit more cohesion. As a member I could choose to use the website for business networking, forming my own group in an area or occupation, or join the variety of groups covering almost every leisure activity. There are groups for everything from hobbies to culture, and even dating. This social hub is huge.

You can browse around the user friendly interface for free and can do a bunch of stuff, from creating socials, to RSVP’ing to an already posted social without paying for membership. However, if you want to be able to message people on the site, or attend socials that are organized by the site itself, you will need to sign up to either the bronze or silver membership packages. Free trials are available, so you can check it out before committing too much.

I found the writer and the new media groups had a good many different segments to join. The number of events each month are, however, quite sparse compared to Citysocialising.com. What I did notice was that the level of interactivity was much lower than that of Citysocialising.com. Responses to messages are not as proactive and groups seemed to be a bit too idle to organize regular meetups. Maybe the site would benefit from meetup.com stepping in and organizing a general get together on a monthly basis or so.

Once you have signed up for your free trial or taken the plunge and gotten a membership package, a whole new world opens up. Based upon your profile you can find like-minded groups to engage with, such as squash partners, disillusioned voters, travel and adventure seekers, and many more. In fact there seemed to be a ton of groups to join, most of which are set up by paying members. Brilliant concept: the member does the hard work of setting the groups up, and hosting the meets, while the good folk at Citysocialisng.com smile all the way to the bank. Attending one of the group's meet ups was an experience I found a tad formal, but enjoyable. I met a couple of people I would like to see again, although most people seemed to be involved either because they were newcomers to the area or singletons looking for ‘The One’. It was hard to remember people’s names, so once back in the safety of my own living room, I had to wrack my brains to try and remember who I met that I liked. In summary, the organizers have done a decent job bringing like-minded people together, but it is up to each member to be proactive and make it work.

On the upside of things, they do a good job of extending opportunities to group hosts, who in turn integrate discounts and special offers into their meet up events. I attended a drinks and & social night in South West London, and enjoyed a great meal at the bargain price of £7 for the main course, along with discounted drinks. It may be the group I chose to meet up with, but I found it a lot more fun than my experience at Citysocialising.com It was more laid back and had less of a clinical feel as we bar-hopped around the South London nightlife. Unfortunately by the time I identified the people I really got on with I had indulged in a few too many sherbets to remember my own name let alone that of my new-found friends. So that didn’t help.Meetup.com have launched an iPhone app with map locations to your next event, where and you can even use the app to check in so that other members know you’ve arrived. They also have a fully integrated fan page on Facebook that is also great for clearer interactivity between members. The community interaction is effective if you want it to work for you[,] and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best out there for social fun and frolics.

Sportpartner.co.uk

Drinkingpartners.com

So you haven’t played sports since school. Maybe the idea of slipping into a pair of shorts and doing something physically competitive still fills you with dread. Or maybe that’s just me....

OK, so it’s not as wholesome as the last site we reviewed, but I thought after all that exertion, thinking about running and badminton and the like, we deserved a well earned rest. In the pub.

However you feel about it, everyone is telling us we need to be indulging in vigorous exercise at least three times a week (and, no - Wii Tennis doesn’t cut it), so if you are on the road to a new, healthier you, maybe you’d find it easier and more motivating if there were someone to help you through.

Yes, with DrinkingPartners.com there really is no excuse to stay in any more. If there is a pub, this site promises to put you in touch with an entertaining and thirsty drinking buddy for the night, so you can make the most of your Friday night on the town even if all your friends are washing their hair or you’re simply Billy –no-mates.

That’s where Sportspartner.co.uk comes in. With a few simple responses and a very straightforward sign up process, you can search local people who are also trying to get bitten by the fitness bug and are looking for a motivating partner to help them. No more post –it notes in the local sports centre. If you play a paired game it’s a perfect solution. You can Look for a tennis or squash partner very easily, or they can connect with you by via, through your profile which also suggests your playing standard.

I signed up for the site in two minutes flat. Unlike many of the other sites, drinkingpartners.com doesn’t need to know much more than your sex, rough age (put in between 1 and 99 if you like), and who you are looking for,and where. I put anyone and anywhere and was rewarded with no less than 14 pages of results in my target age of 28 – 45. There seems to be a good mix of men and women across the site, and although on the outside it does look a bit like a dating site, most of the people on the site seem to genuinely want friends to go to the pub with!

Although the site only lets you select from quite a discreet number of sports, – including walking, badminton and swimming, – you will find on peoples’ profiles they list a number of other sports they are looking for people to play with them, from netball to horse riding and even surfing. You can choose the results you get based on age and sex, and can select the distance from your home postcode you want to travel for your own little sports date. I have to be honest, I didn’t go on a sports date. It all looked a bit too much like hard work for me. Still, it was fun looking through the photos, and if I ever get a, the inkling hankering to go for a quick round of golf, I’ll know where to turn.

As far as membership goes, you can’t do much other than browse the profiles unless you are ready to sign up as a member. So that’s what I did. Once you are registered and sign in to the site, everything changes. Suddenly there are new alerts to sign up for, events to attend and organize, as well as numerous ways to interact with members from ‘hellos’ to ‘emails’. Although it’s worth mentioning there were no forthcoming events I could find, so either that’s a new thing that hasn’t taken off yet, or it’s an old thing that never worked in the first place. Having browsed the site and the friendship offers available, I did send a couple of messages to people not too far away from my home address. At the time of writing this I am still waiting on answers, so maybe the site is a little inactive right now, or maybe they are just too drunk to type?

Net Savings with Cashback ‘n’ Vouchers by Lou Akin

Save with TopCashBack.co.uk Who said nothing in life is free? Play your cards right and you could make up to £1000 a year by becoming a savvy online shopper and saver. TopCashBack is one of the better sites for online savings; the site has signed up over 2000 online and high street retailers who give percentage discounts when you access the site through the TopCashBack.co.uk portal. It’s quick, clear, and real. To get the maximum benefit it pays to understand how deals will suit you and when to go for them.

If you are a citizen of tight wad, just remember to cancel the trial either as soon as your registration has been confirmed or at least a few days before the trial date comes to an end. This will avoid you running over the trial date and being liable to paying the monthly fee. Though I have found with most of the free trials you’d only be required to pay for one month, and won’t be locked into a lengthy contract. The idea being that there will be a reasonable percentage of trialists that would keep using the service as a paid subscription. It also helps that most trialists are too lazy to close the account at the end of the trial offer.

Taking a look at some of the specific trials Each purchase is tracked, and the Merchant will confirm the deal. Percentage satisfaction currently on offer with Top CashBack: rates are recorded against each merchant on Netflix, the online film rental and streaming site, are offering £12.12 Cash back for trying their service for 1 month. This includes unlimited the speed and confirmation of cash back. streaming of films from their site, and receiving DVDs. Cash-back can be made direct to your bank account, in most but not all instances to PayPal accounts, and also converted into Amazon vouchers, where they attract double the cash value. You are also notified of the average time period it takes the participating merchant to confirm the online purchase, which could be any time from 1 month to 6 months, ‘though the average is 8 weeks. For disputes over tracking of online purchases that have not shown up on your account, TopCashBack will endeavour to investigate it with the merchant.

To kickstart your interest and online savings there are a number of free trials which, if you sign up for a month with these merchants, you will be entitled to a cash back sum.

Whilst their library of current films is not that extensive they have a large library of older films. When I signed up for the free trial some months ago they were offering £16.00. I made the mistake of taking too long to register and when I had signed up I found that the registration had not been tracked through Top CashBack so I got no cash-back. I did however get to watch some free streamed films.

LoveFilm.com is also offering £12.12 to

register for a free trial, and in my view their current catalogue of films is vastly more up to date. I stayed with Love Film for the duration of the trial period and enjoyed it immensely. Streaming was clear and uninterrupted on my Wi-Fi broadband.

Another group of useful free trials are credit scoring sites Equifax.co.uk, CheckMyFile.com, and CreditExpert.co.uk (Experian). Register for a free month’s trial and not only will you see why you’re always being refused that loan or overdraft, but Equifax will give you £10.10, CheckMyFile £5.30, and CreditExpert £5.05. Funnily enough I found CheckMyFile - the newest and least well known Credit reference agency - to be the most informative with regards to data held. Both Equifax and Experian, whilst allowing you to see your credit score, restrict you from accessing some of your data until you sign-up for the full service. The downside however, is if you have registered for a free trial previously - even if several years ago - your details will still be in their system and you will not be eligible for cash back through TopCashBack. GoCompare.com will give you £1.53 each time you make a ‘genuine’ car insurance quote online. This is however limited to three quotes annually. Confused.com offers a similar service which attracts £1.01 per quote. Audible Cashback, the digital entertainment service, offer £4.54 for a month’s trial membership, and if you purchase a title you receive 12% cash-back.

Ever heard the term 'gambling with other peoples' money'? Well Paddy Power allow you to do just that. They will give you £25 to bet with when you open a month’s trial registration and make your first bet. Doesn’t get better than that. But just remember, gambling can become an addictive and not always profitable pastime. These are the pick of the bunch of free trials currently on offer. The other ‘free trials’ require an actual purchase for any cash-back to be applied. For instance, Optical Express is offering a free eye test with $5.05 cash-back once you place an order for spectacles. You do however get 10% off the cost of the purchase. If you’re single then you can register with Match. com to get a 6 month subscription for £12.99 per month - a 56% saving on the standard monthly subscription price. True love, they say, is never cheap. New registration will give you cash-back of £1.01. A one month subscription will attract cash back of £20.20; three month’s, £32.20.

So by now we're on our way to making that £1000 savings target for nothing, and accessing some valuable information and freebies. If, like me, you are a smoker who’s trying to give up, then take notice that E-Lites electronic cigarettes are giving a whopping 20% discount on all of their product purchases. If you need to repeat-buy every month the equivalent of 200 cigarettes and spend approximately £40 per month, that equates to £96.00 cash-back per year and excludes the starter pack and accessories. For online grocery supermarket purchases, Tesco, Asda, and Ocado all offer one-off cash back. But no grocery purchases attract cash-back every time you make a purchase, ‘though the level of cash-back is subject to change regularly. But always remember to double your online savings by using your loyalty cards at the same time. I always stack up points on Tesco Club Card, Nectar Card, and Boots Advantage Card, with combined values up to £200, by Christmas. You are advised to take your money regularly when it becomes payable and not let it stack up until Christmas. You cannot tell when companies such as this, or their merchants, are likely to fold-up and go out of business, and the old adage ‘a bird in the hand...’ could never be truer. Oh, and one final thing: every time you get a friend to sign up to the site through your link and they make their first purchase through TopCashBack you will receive £10. So link your friends on Facebook and Twitter and you should be quids-in. Note however, you only get your introduction fee on their first purchase. So challenge yourself and see whether you can make between £500 and £1000 cash back within 12 months of registering on the site.

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App Reviews by Lou Akin

news apps

pulse - Courtesy: PulsePad

This is an iPhone and iPad app which is essentially an RSS reader. It takes those boring RSS content update lists and visualizes them as images with the aid of thumbnails in grids. This makes it extremely user friendly and versatile. That reason alone makes this app highly appealing. Tap the thumbnail and the story will open. You can synch this app with social media sites and Google Reader too. Some users may prefer news to be presented to them as-is, but with Pulse you can choose how to layout the news you’re interested in. Reviews indicate that the app is sometimes slow to load, but as an alternative to news prepared for you and set down at the dining table, why not go into the kitchen and prepare your own?

bbc news - Courtesy: BBC News

You can say what you like, but when it comes to news apps no one does it like the BBC. The BBC UK & World News widget – which comes as standard on a number of smartphones – is probably one of the best freebies known to man. The layout and presentation is crystal clear, crisp, and news is updated as it unfolds. It’s available on all smartphone IOS platforms, and with two million downloads the original and best BBC News widget by Android developer Jim Blackler has been #1 on the market since 2009. It’s the same app it has always been, just a new name. The app has a Home Screen widget and automatic marking of articles you’ve already read. Users in the USA and elsewhere will see the BBC’s world stories, and UK users will see the BBC’s UK headlines. This is a massive 5-star rating, and the only reason it’s not off the charts is because technically it’s not free; the British people pay for it through our license fee.

sky news - Courtesy: EyeOpeners

What Sky News does best is hanging around a breaking story and providing added depth as it unfolds. Stay updated. The app produces lots of image galleries, live blogs, graphs, and interactive pictures, all optimised for the Big Four smartphones. Key Features are a whole new level of depth on the main stories of the day, headlines, showbiz, and weather, plus a new technology news section. What it lacks in the blue-blooded pageantry of the BEEB it makes up for in visual glitz and glamour. It also harnesses its sport section from its extensive Sky Sports coverage to good effect. We loved the ‘be your own reporter’ feature where you can send in your own coverage of witnessed news events.

the guardian - Courtesy: The Guardian

This iPhone and iPad app is £2.99 for a six month subscription. Headlines are on the home screen with detailed reports further in. The app gets our vote with its clean format, which it replicates from its website pages. You can save your favourite stories to reproduce later, even when you are offline, to read at your leisure. You can cut out news headings you have no interest in, so will not be subjected to unwanted articles. The job vacancy section alone is worth the money and is still one of the most extensive for public sector and charitable jobs around. The app does not go for bells and whistles but an easy to follow and legible layout that concentrates on the content of its news. It’s an app that is more competent than amazing, but then the Guardian has always been like that.

mobile communication apps

whatsapp messenger - Courtesy: WhatsApp Messenger

This is one of our personal favourites. Get WhatsApp Messenger and say goodbye to SMS, which is so last decade. WhatsApp Messenger is a smartphone messenger available on all recognized smartphone operating systems. It uses your 3G or WiFi to message other installed users, but it’s far more versatile than your standard SMS; you send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes, and video messages. It has loads of smileys of every description, is super-fast, and is free for the first year! Downloads are currently in excess of 800,000. So save your measly texts on your phone contract and know ‘WhatsUp with WhatsApp’.

skype mobile - Courtesy: Skype

Skype is now the granddaddy of internet communication. Whilst having got out there early in the VOIP market, Skype’s ‘see me I see you’ vehicle is now so mainstream that corporations use it for teleconference calls. The mobile app, on the other hand, is not fairing so well. With Skype Mobile you get unlimited Skype-to-Skype calls and instant messaging without using your contract minutes. However, for calls to non-Skype users you pay lower cost Skype rates, as well as international calls for which you have to buy credit for. There are mixed reviews for this app; whilst half of the users love it, problems such as the latest updates resulting in crashes and taking an age to load on startup don’t endear it to others. It’s not a bad app, it’s just not sexy anymore and in internet parlance that’s what it’s all about.

viber - Courtesy: Viberapp

Make way for the new kid on the block. Okay, so we’re liking the great purple theme, but there’s more to this app than looks; Viber-to-Viber calls are absolutely free to anyone around the world; you can call, text, and send photos. It’s available anywhere, on Android and iPhone. Roaming on your contract whilst abroad and getting hit for making and receiving calls could be a thing of the past. The downside is that it is not available on Blackberry to make calls. Users find the voice clarity extremely clear, and it automatically updates you when one of your contacts downloads the Viber app. There’s also no irritating advertising, which is a good thing. Some users have reported experiencing crashes, but the majority of reviews are positive. Viber lets everyone in the world connect freely, and the developers claim there are 40million users worldwide. There is also a group chat feature. This app, in our opinion, has bags of sex appeal. Downloads on Google Play are at 135,000.

kakaotalk - Courtesy: KaKaoTalk Messenger

This is the big daddy, rated no1 best communication app on Android, and it’s an app available on iPhone and Blackberry as well. The app is a phone number based messenger service that allows users anywhere in the world to chat one-to-one or in a group. The app uses WIFI or your existing data plan (3G) to let you send and receive unlimited texts, photos, videos, and audio to other KakaoTalk users free of charge anywhere in the world. It sends multimedia messages at lightening speed, with immediate notification when your message is received and opened. It has a voice filter option which distorts the tone of your voice when talking, with hilarious consequences - it’s really a lot of fun for prank calls to mates. It will update your friends list automatically when one of your contacts installs KakaoTalk, so you don’t have to. No pesky advertising either. Reviews are good, and 1 million downloads can’t be wrong.

facebook messenger - Courtesy: TheOfficialFacebook

OK, this is purely an SMS-type messaging service which is linked to your Facebook. For those Facebookphiles who can’t bear being away from their Facebook page, friends list, and status updates then this is the messaging app aimed directly at you. The logic is simple; because everyone and their dog is on Facebook, all of your friends should be on already and you do not need to badger them to sign up. You can text groups of friends for free with Facebook Messenger. Users tend to prefer this app to the actual messaging system on Facebook, which is painfully slow to load. However, the app is sometimes at variance with those actually online. Facebook Messenger does nothing special and is just an extension of Facebook. I have had personal experiences where the notifications would not load and required force-closing on my HTC Desire. Ratings are in the main positive, but bear in mind that this is skewed by the majority - if not all - of app users being Facebook users. If you’re not on Facebook it’s a limited app. No point stopping here, jog along.

parenting apps android parental app - Courtesy: Kiddoware.com

Ever had sleepless nights wondering what websites your child was visiting on their internet smartphone? Well this is one useful app to have and install on your Android smartphone that you bought as a gift for your little loved ones.... The Kids Place Parental Control app is designed to restrict access to selected apps; you can select and filter installed apps that come as standard with the phone, then dodgy apps you know about or apps of unsavoury themes can be restricted also. Safe Sandbox only shows allowed apps. There is an app protector, secure lock, custom kids wallpaper, timer function, and sandbox, to prevent the clever kids from turning the app off. You won’t be flavor of the month to your kids, but you will be able to sleep a little more soundly.

kids numbers & math lite - Courtesy: Laignozzi

This is a great way for kids to learn numbers and build basic math skills. This app is now optimized for both phones and tablets, and operates on all IOS platforms. It is aimed at nursery and preschoolers, and makes learning numbers and basic math skills enjoyable and fun. Numbers are spoken in child-friendly English. It’s brilliant for long journeys, where your child is able to be entertained and stimulated at the same time. The paid version includes advanced exercises and enables the number ranges to be set, with numbers going up to 20. Your child will be learning whilst having fun. The game does not overload children or parents with too many audio and visual distractions. Its clear focus makes the game a delight for children and a winning choice for parents.

my pregnancy today - Courtesy: GetBabyWise.com

If you are an expectant mother then this app is designed for you. Get the must-have pregnancy app for any parent-to-be, brought to you by BabyCenter, a popular and trusted parenting resource, supporting 25 million mums worldwide. Simply enter your baby’s due-date and My Pregnancy Today turns your Android into an expert guide for your exact day of pregnancy. Feel more prepared for your baby’s birth, and get the answers you need, whenever you need them. It gives you an insight into how your body changes, what to expect, and how to prepare. You get fetal development images and a pregnancy checklist. The app also has access to birth clubs where you can connect with other pregnant mums due around the same date. It also has a nutrition guide, and will track the progress of your pregnancy and count you down to zero. You also receive localized content when you download the app, and it’s free.

ihomeopathy

iHomeopathy is an iPhone app that is a one-stop guide to all those kiddie ailments you come across when bringing up young children. No more looking it up in books; here’s an ‘at your fingertips’ guide to treating first-aid emergencies, childhood ailments, and minor illnesses. This is a very useful app for first-aid issues and symptoms for common illnesses that can arise from time to time in family settings. It provides the information in concise, easy to follow language. Learn about the different symptoms for particular illnesses, or what to do in cases of accidents.... But remember, it is not intended to replace a visit to your doctor, especially when the illness persists.

Olympic Gaming

by Dana Wade

Everyone’s

Olympic

Games

Event

Samsung's game dedicated to the Olympics seems to be a great idea for entertainment, as well as a campaign for a good cause. Download and engage with others or do a real life run for charity with the relay app.

This year you can use your phone’s mobile internet to ‘Take Part’ in the Olympics with Samsung’s ‘Take Part’ App. It’s available for free download, so you can try it without spending any cash! It’s the brainchild of Samsung, the official wireless partner of the London 2012 Olympics. The game allows you to participate in a worldwide contest, and represent your country as you play your favourite Olympic sports.

‘Take Part’ also gives you a 360 degree bird’s-eye view tour of some of the Olympic complexes so you can check them out without exciting your agoraphobia by visiting them in real life. That is definitely a good thing, considering a recent TechRepublic report which summarized Venafi’s projection that around 67,000 smartphones and cell phones will be lost during the games in London. If you need more than one Olympic App to scratch the

Even if you are the sort of person who doesn’t have the physical skill to be an entrant in the Olympic games, you can take part in Olympic sports with augmented reality games for Archery, the 100 Metre Sprint and even Penalty Kicks!

itch, you’re in luck because Samsung continues to over-saturate the market with its products and offers a virtual smorgasbord of Olympic Apps; there is a Samsung Hope Relay App that even involves David Beckham somehow, and will donate £1 to various children’s charities for every mile that you run, jog, cycle or walk.

Jump hurdles while firmly planted on the ground, swim without ever getting wet, shoot a gun without handling guns or ammo... The controls within the games are notably better than those in other sports Apps, so you can be sure that if you’re failing, it’s you and not the App who’s responsible. Leader boards within the App encourage friendly competition between you and your friends, and show you which country currently has the most medals overall in the Take Part 2012 Games. Link up with your Facebook friends and challenge them to see who the true champion is.

PlayUp is another Samsung Olympics App, except this one helps you to keep track of the standings, schedules, medal counts and Olympic news as it occurs. Another App called Around the Rings is available for Android phones, and will keep you up-to-date on Olympic news.

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Make money Micro-working

by Sola Akinfie

icro-working is becoming an interesting trend in cyberspace. It’s all about doing quick jobs for small amounts of extra cash for your trouble. It’s quite an interesting activity online as the quick jobs are diverse and open to the skilled and unskilled alike. It’s a case of selling an idea for a job to anyone anywhere in the world. In some cases, microjobs are broken up in several parts to deliver a larger project. Many tasks simply require internet connection and half a brain. The more skilled requirements are to be found on freelancer websites like PeoplePerHour. com and Elance.com. There has been an increase in websites that act as aggregators for micro-work. Amazon MechanicalTurk and ClickWorker are among the popular ones that hold several micro-jobs of great variety. Most of the jobs come from the US, so currency conversion is to be taken into account when choosing a job. Work Earn money Find an It all started from the interesting task successful trend of online freelancing. Micro-working requests differ in the sense that an ordinary individual, as opposed to a business, may need some help with nonskilled tasks that the everyday user requires. It’s just a way for companies to find people to help free their hands a little. If you’re keen to make this a more significant source of revenue, it’s best to sign up to the aggregators that offer cash rewards for tasks that don’t take too long, as the average payment is below a pound. It’s best to create a balance where the tasks are not too mundane, require some sense to complete and can offer higher rewards. With Amazon’s MechanicalTurk you can get your skills tested and verified so as to qualify for higher value HITS - it’s all about how fast you can finish the tasks you sign up for. Some jobs simply require your opinion or your impression of a product. You can be asked to give a review or product description in a few lines. That can get you anything from 30p to £1.50 and should take you about 4 minutes – not too bad if you can find these tasks quickly and know where to keep finding the better ones once you’re done.

We want your social network presence

You stand to earn more if you have strong community interaction. A good number of friends on Facebook, for instance, can be useful to you doing micro-work (never mind the fact that you can’t even remember how you got them as friends in the first place). From 600 friends and upwards your earning potential gets higher. Same goes for a Twitter account. The more followers you have, the more use to a website trying to flog its goods or services you become. Some websites are simply looking to boost their web traffic by getting you to endorse them through your social network connection. One popular post is “I will get you 100 likes for £20” or “I will post you on my Twitter and share with 20,000 followers for £50”.

The naughty aspect The bad side of the coin with this practice is that the essence of sharing worthwhile services or products by social networks gets eroded by untrue recommendations. It’s not uncommon to find a company’s 2000 likes to be questionable. There can be 1000 likes with only 130 genuine people actually liking the product or service on offer. Larger companies are now putting a greater priority in harvesting comments. This is also a neat way

Digg my page

to make money; connect with as many micro-work requests like this as possible and earn an average of 20p per comment on a post. It may not sound like much but making at least 15 paid comments a day beats sitting under an ATM waiting for someone to buy your sad story so as to relieve their wallet of loose change.

The info cheat There are tutoring websites that offer quick cash for help with academic questions or projects. Great for students that can spare between £2.00 and £5.00 to get results for tricky school work. Kevin Ingram of Leeds made the best use of his smart watch which makes phone calls and surfs the web. While taking his A-level exams, he came across two questions that demanded detailed answers. To make sure he scored top marks, he posted the question to one of the micro-worker websites where academic tasks and questions could be sent for a paid response. They were picked up by one of the signed-up tutors and the answers sent in knowledgeable detail. Kevin released the instant PayPal payment to the provider and copied the answers onto his answer sheets. This all happened within 25 minutes. He only got rumbled when a socalled friend shopped him when he refused to share.

Your comments please

You can actually get a quick job, or gig as they call it, for some positive comments to posted products on some websites of choice or a company’s fan page. Positive comments are more valuable in some cases than likes; a positive comment from you can highlight the selling point of a product or service and also indirectly offer details about certain aspects of it. With integrated social network plug-ins, this extends from the website onto your wall. There are small agencies that would find micro-workers to sign up to a number of websites where this practice is required. On average you can expect 20p per positive comment. Another growing request is web testimonials. The genuine ones would of course cost the companies more as it would require more time to test the product and give your conclusive positive testimonial. Others may simply be a product or a publication where you are expected to share positive feedback. It’s a growing trend even though most companies know your testimony comes from a minimal amount of interaction with their product.

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We want your ideas On a more positive note, you can offer a few minutes to contribute to ideas no matter your skills background. It’s true that the best ideas can be sourced from almost anyone. It’s quite possible to title a book or a film by choosing from a massive pool of suggestions. It can come from anyone, and this is valuable when a multitude of results can come flooding in. A web magazine may be looking for a great headline for an article, a small business looking for a catchy name for their new product or just your opinion. It’s a numbers game - the more you do, the more you earn.

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Your charges will be set at your own rates which should still have enough room for a great mark-up over the rate you’re being charged for a job from your list of micro-workers that have posted real service of commercial value. Web design broken up into $5 gigs; logo design, short video casting or reviews; they are all there for - yes - a fiver. You do end up paying about $20 a gig from the blocks of fiver slots you buy, but that is still ridiculously cheap. Recruit a graphic designer for $10 and resell that service else where for triple that price. Always remember to test their skills before you recruit them into your list.

Engage with us online While it’s all about adding pence to make pounds, one of the largest sources of microwork is web interaction - that is using surfers to find people to engage with widgets, plugins and integrated software. You can earn rewards or gather 15-30 pence per email sign-up or free subscription. Companies create a budget for this and usually start their campaign to sign up 500 emails at the cost of 20 pence. This comes to £100 per campaign, the idea being that there will be a certain percentage that may continue as real paying customers. In some cases it’s just a way to get favourable COMSCORE results for web traffic. It helps set advertising rates based on cost per impression. You may come across offers inviting you to tell your friends. The more visits you create the greater your cash reward. It can be a tad boring having to visit a number of websites before you hit the £5 mark but it does add up. It’s also possible to help one of these web portals with the marketing of their web widgets and tools. Some offer a small fee for downloading their toolbars and sharing the offer to others. You build your way up to a pound when someone you referred downloads and uses the toolbar. These are some we tried out ourselves: www.payperinstall.org www.inboxpounds.co.uk/cash_freebies www.microworkers.com www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome

The King Micro-worker There are quite a number of skilled and non-skilled individuals who would do hourlie jobs as micro-workers for very small sums just to keep busy or get work experience. You get this on Fiverr.com or Gigme5.com. On Tenrr. com you are allowed to exchange messages and there’s direct interaction between buyer and seller. But Fiverr.com seems to be leading the pack. On there a contractor can be an enthusiastic 17-year-old or a bored middle-aged person. As king micro-worker you are more or less a project manager that would build a list of tried and tested micro-workers. The deal is to advertise their services as your own re-packaged list of services and stick your ad on Gumtree.com or Craigslist or even on your own dedicated website.

The providers on hourlie websites must be hard and fast workers to make any significant cash. Unlike other micro-work web sources, the jobs on Fiverr.com would take you more time to complete. You’d probably have to be clever posting your work offers. Learn how to break your job offer into blocks of fivers to make up something substantial. In effect you will find yourself working in milestones. The fiver you make becomes $4 when the good folk at Fiverr. com take out their commission. Oh! - And to you and I in the UK, that means about £3. So you may want to consider your options. But at least on Fiverr.com it’s all about having fun getting offers for your quirky and funny job offers. Mad job offers such as doing a video wedding proposal for some sad sack abroad, or offering to display someone’s logo on your forehead in Times Ssquare or Piccadilly Circus are quite commonplace. It’s a real giggle just to go through the strange offers alone. Our favourite was the offer to write up 20 unique excuses for getting to work late. However you choose to make some money out of micro-working, remember that your earning potential increases the more skills you can develop. It’s up to you to make micro-work pay for your next holiday.