Wondering if the world is catching up to Google in one way but falling behind in other ways.  It seems that Google may be losing share of the Mom and Pop businesses that supplied Google with countless dollars and countless good press.  As the pay per click advertising model gets more and more competitive small business are losing interest quickly.  The ROI is just not what it was not so long ago.  Ten  years  ago a small company with a small advertising budget made out like a bandit with Goggles pay-per-click AdWords program.  Now the field is so crowded hardly anyone is profiting except Google and that may be  decreasing.  The income stream has been supplanted by larger companies like Procter and Gamble and Liberty Mutual who seem intent on dominating the the advertising space available. More and more traditional brand advertisers are embracing search and search advertising as a way to build their brand online.

Google has moved to position itself in the two key parts of the Internet market: Web-connected smartphones and social networking services. But the company is playing catch-up to Apple Inc and Facebook in each area.

Google is increasingly pitting itself against rivals beyond its usual competitors Yahoo Inc and Microsoft Corp, as it ventures into smartphone operating systems, mobile advertising and other areas in search of future growth.And while Google’s free Android smartphone software has made big gains — Google executives said on Thursday that 160,000 Android phones are activated every day, compared to 65,000 in the first quarter — investors are still not sure how the effort will benefit Google’s bottom line.

Google’s Android market share hit 13% in May, up from 9% in February, says tracker ComScore.

Google has  experienced continued solid growth in their core, but also very strong growth in their emerging businesses year over year.

Google is seeing a real trend in large advertisers focusing on highly measurable but also integrated campaigns across display, mobile and search.”

Americans conducted 16.4 billion searches in June, up 3 percent from May. Google Sites accounted for 10.3 billion searches (up 1 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 3.1 billion (up 7 percent), Microsoft Sites with 2.1 billion (up 8 percent), Ask Network with 584 million (up 1 percent), and AOL LLC with 368 million (up 2 percent).

Technology improves our lives?

      I was brought up by my grandma with my cousins in a small village. We spent our free time with our family members or our friends when we didn’t have a television. We went to bed earlier after we had a nice chat with others because there was limited electricity at night. And soon I moved to the town as I had to go to the kindergarten. Life used to be very simple at that time, but I can feel the changes. We even went to see movies on weekends. I think that was a wonderful time. However, the technology improves so fast with out a glance. Every family has television and telephone. We don’t go to visit friends instead we give them a call. I can feel the distances between people are longer although it is easier to contact each other. ‘Potato couch’ souds bitter because people are lying on the couch, chewing the chips and becoming lazy and unhealthy.

      There are both advantages and disadvantages of technology improvement. As I mentioned before, life becomes easier. We can talk to others through the internet even we are in different countries. The phone also develops from cell phone to smart phone. The smart phone provides multiplicity of functions. The functions such as push email, weather report, stocks report are really helpful. I downloaded some more apps such as Pandora, dictionary, Garmin, and sleep makers.  The new generation Iphone has a facetime which is very interesting. You can watch your friend when you are talking though the phone. The smart phones are become more humanity, more professional and more entertainment.

      Obviously, the disadvantages are serious. For example, I used to addict to the computer games and so as my cousins. I could not leave my chair as I was stick on the games. I dreamed about the games even I was sleeping. It was horrible I played games from 6 am, and I didn’t go to sleep until 12 pm. My cousin was even worse; he could not continue his courses. People rely on the hi-tech a lot in the daily life from cooking, laundering, gardening, farming and transporting. We spend more time on gym trying to keep fit but less time at home. People become bigger than those in the 1940s. Scientists claimed that people do less housework and eat more. Another example was the phone issue. It is weird people don’t talk to each other, instead they text to others, even they are close enough to have a nice talk. My experience was that my friend text to me every day, but she was living the next door to me.

      I am so glad that the gaming becomes a global issue and finally the game companies do something right. The industry is trying to change the way people used to play the games. You have to move your whole body-not only your fingers to play the game.  In some games you have stand up, leave the couch. And the games will be more entertainment. Technology will bring us better life.

Where do I even begin with this subject. Who has jurisdiction? Who needs to monitor the web, which country, where it comes from or where it ends up? How do parents deal with technology when most children know far more than their parents. What is yours and what belongs to others. What about civil liberties. What about freedom of choice, art freedom of expression? How does legislation catch up? These are just a small sampling of the logistical problems facing us today with regards to technology and the law.

I know of a situation in my town where 3 freshman girls in high school jumped and beat up another girl. One of the girls wrote on her my space that she had the other girls’s teeth marks on her hand from when she hit her in the mouth. The police where able to access her my space and see theses comments. What about Miranda rights? When is it no longer hers? When is it invading her privacy? Does she have a right to privacy if she was talking to one individual. This is not even touching the fact that this information is out there. Even if you cancel your facebook accout, where is all of the information. Where does it go? Who is responsible for it. Since this person was a minor, shouldn’t she be afforded more protection? Is there a way to make it all go away or is it out there somewhere in space for all of eternity? As a parent, I want certain controls with regards to the computer and the internet. The problem here is my child knows more about computers than I do. If I have problems with my computer he is the first person I talk to for help. Where do I go with this. How do I solve this problem? When children know how to navigate the computer and the web better than the parents. The roles are reversed, they can out smart us because they are so much more technologically advanced than we are.

We created ratings for movies. Then we created ratings for video games, what about websites? When you went to the movie theater you needed identification or an adult with you for certain movies, or not at all. Buying video games again same thing. Now you have websites, that have explicit material and it is visible in a small portion initially most of the time. These web sites ask you to not go into it if you are under eighteen. Lets be real, not much control. Parents can put parental controls, however I bet my son could circumvate that control or one of his friends knows how to do it. They know how to delete the history, what is a parent to do?

This is just the tip of the iceberg. How do you enforce laws that don’t even exist yet. How do write laws for technology, how do you enforce those laws. Technology is moving so fast, by the time we enact a law it will probably be obsolete because the technology has moved so far ahead of the legislation. Just like drug testing for atheletes, they have new ways to dope before you have figured out how test for the old stuff. I am afraid we will always be a day late and dollar short.

About a month ago, I was searching through my wallet when I came across a card that I forgot I even had. It was my Blockbuster card. It felt like years since I had seen, not to mention even use the card. There was a Blockbuster store in my hometown when I was younger; however, it went out of business around the time On-Demand and Netflix started to explode. Hollywood video opened a store, but they soon went out of business as well. I decided to go online and research Blockbuster to see if any stores actually existed anymore. I quickly learned that Blockbuster just recently announced that they soon will be delisted from the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). This pretty much summed up the status of the company and the direction they are heading.

When I was younger, I used to love walking into a Blockbuster store and seeing wall to wall stacked of videos and games. There would always be more movies that I would be able to choose from. As time went on, a Hollywood Video store opened in my town. Then the Netflix became the huge phenomenon.  I never became a Netflix user and still to this day have never used it. It is not necessarily that I am against Netflix; it is more of the fact that I am not an avid movie watcher to make it worth it. Eventually On-Demand came out and that is when I started to hear in the news that Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and all other video stores were starting to struggle. I noticed that Blockbuster was eventually gone from my hometown along with Hollywood Video.  The video stores were just no competition for Netflix and On-Demand that provided much better services for the public. On-Demand and eventually Netflix became a few clicks away on your remote to order a movie, where renting a movie from blockbuster consisted of driving to the actual store. When Blockbuster tried to improve its services by using the mailing system like Netflix, late fees and rate charges just seemed to increase year after year. It was a service that obviously just did not work out.

The NYSE informed Blockbuster last week that it would be delisted starting some point this week. As I read this in the news, I realized that it was just another sign of a near future end to the once dominant video rental chain. I learned that Movie Gallery, which operated the Hollywood Video brand, after many bankruptcy organizations, announced its closing earlier this year. I could only think that Blockbuster will not be far behind. I only see it as a matter of time considering Netflix is having the benefit of record-breaking sales. In 2009, the company generated $115 million in profit. With Netflix, adding services available through gaming systems like X-Box 360, its memberships are just constantly increasing. Although Blockbuster has been able to avoid bankruptcy at this point in time, it is quite clear that it’s delisting and continued decrease in profit, its future is just not looking too bright.

Many people today have used or at least heard of services such as Skype, GoogleTalk, Vonage, or Gizmo on their computers; these are all services which use VoIP (voice over Internet protocol, also known as “telephony”) technology to provide communication over the Internet. At first, one only needed a computer with Internet connection to be able to use the software, but with the ever-advancing technology of cell phones and other portable devices, we basically have a computer in our pockets. The Internet has changed many industries; newspaper, movie, TV….now the cell phone… Why not?

One of the first advantages (and its strongest) of VoIP is its cost. VoIP uses encrypted data packets sent between the callers during a phone call, so it charges by the amount of data sent through the connection, rather than the amount of time a person uses the phone. This allows people to place calls for a fraction of any powerhouse phone providers such as AT&T or Verizon.  With this reason alone many users are willing to change over to VoIP, especially due to recent economic pressure. The advancement of handheld devices (such as the iTouch) now have wireless Internet capabilities and can easily be hacked in order to use as a phone.

Although forms of VoIP have been developed since the 80’s, it still isn’t perfect. Some drawbacks include the necessity of a stable and fast Internet connection. If this is not met, the call will drop or add lag time between responses. Second, because WiFi is needed for many of these mobile devices, coverage might not be as good as current existing phone coverage. But it may only a matter of time. Every day cities and college campuses are striving to make their areas hotspots for wireless connections as a free public utility.

More serious drawbacks include emergency calling and Internet security. Emergency calls pose a threat to using VoIP in a time of need. A traditional fixed phone line has a connection with a physical location, so responders know where to go in case of an emergency. But because of VoIP’s reliance with the Internet, pinpointing an exact location of a caller is much more of a challenge during a time of need. Also due to this reliance on the Internet, hackers may pose a new threat to VoIP services and their users, whether it’s interrupting service or gaining user information.

How are phone companies responding? For one, companies are changing the uses of the cell phone. With downloadable applications people can use their smartphones for various other activities and services other than just calling alone. But if this is not enough, another effect would be for carriers to drop their rates to a profitless 2-cent per minute phone calls to compete with the VoIP technology, or convert their own services to VoIP altogether.  VoIP is still not yet a mainstream form of communication for many consumers, but has been gaining popularity and market share slowly over the years. At least 10% of US companies use VoIP services. Soon, consumers will have to ask themselves if they want to stay with their phone providers, or switch to VoIP. What do you think? Will cell’s maintain their dominance or will VoIP (which has been around for quite some time in fact) overcome the changing market?

The Droid Incredible Is the Next step in the droid saga from Verizon wireless. Verizon teamed up with HTC to create this magnificent phone (which I need to get my hands on being a verizon customer) and it literally is nothing short of its name. The phone itself is incredible, from the design, to the hardware, the software, the camera, and the storage space the phone has everything you could want and it also is able to multitask and it plays flash websites which the iphone does not have the capability of doing. It has a more essence of choice for the users.

The hardware on the DROID is unlike any other touch screen phone. Instead of going for a predictable smooth back, HTC has given the Incredible a ridged, weirdly angular soft-touch casing which the company says is meant to evoke the styling of a race car. It may seem like a weird idea at first thinking that this would only make the phone bulkier, but when it was compared side by side with other phones of its kind there was virtually no difference. These ridges are nice actually because it gives you something to hold on to which is good for me because I have big hands and am constantly dropping small objects so I would need something like that to hold on to.

The display on the Droid incredible is very good. It has an optical trackpad standing in for the typical trackball found on earlier phones. This makes the touch part of the phone much easier to use and less false readings by the phone. It has a big display that is very colorful with reds and oranges. The only problem with the display which HTC also has problems with on some of its other phones is that it is hard to see in the bright sunlight. Once the sun is out you have to shade the phone with your hand to easily see what you are doing because otherwise it will be a bit of a struggle.

The camera is one of the big selling points of the Incredible. At 8 megapixels, it’s obviously one of the highest resolution smartphone shooters on the market. It takes great pictures especially in the daylight and still does well when it is dark outside. Unlike other HTC cameras, there doesn’t seem to be any color spotting or weird splotches here, and also it has a pretty quick shutter speed which is nice. One annoying thing about it though is that the phone has no button on the side for the camera but instead it is on the display. That’s ok though not a big problem.

The droid also has an internal space of 8Gb of storage with an option for an additional 32Gb of storage. The sound quality on the phone is also I believe the best a phone could offer, very crisp and clear. the Incredible and all devices with that combo feel like complete, polished, modern smartphones, with none of the perks or features missing. In particular, the homescreens have been massively expanded here, giving you seven screens in which to store icons and widgets. The software on the Droid is fantastic. It is very clean and runs very smoothly thanks to the Sense UI. Verizon and HTC have collaborated on a few perks in the OS as well, cleaning up the Google Navigation, and also collapsing Visual Voice mail into the messaging application on the phone, making it easier to get at all your communications at once.

As far as the Network and the battery life on the droid, the Network is great. It is verizons network so it is very powerful. The battery life on the other hand is not as great. the battery life is like any other normal phone so it’s fine, it just doesn’t have any “wow” factor to it. All in all the Droid is a great smartphone. I could talk much more about the software and the OS but in short there aren’t any problems with it and it runs very smoothly and comfortably. I really just can’t wait until it is time for me to get a new phone because this will be the phone that I am getting.

If you are not yet familiar with the term, “Cloud Computing” is a trendy phrase that simply denotes services delivered across the Internet (a.k.a., “the Cloud.”) If you are a user of GMail, Google’s free email service, or subscribe to Apple’s MobileMe, a file storage service accessible from the Internet, or use Google Docs, a web-based answer to Microsoft Office, you are already reaping the benefits of Cloud computing.

Typically, Cloud computing encompasses three distinct types of services:

The first, known as Platform as a Service, or PaaS, provides individuals or companies an entire computing platform accessible from the Internet. By computing platform, I mean to say that such things as servers, storage devices, and application software are all a part of what PaaS seeks to deliver. Instead of having to buy all of the hardware and software necessary to run a certain application or development environment, it is now possible to purchase the use of such a platform from a PaaS provider. The availability of such services are a boon to the individual or small company for whom ownership of such platforms would otherwise prove economically infeasible.

The second distinct type of service delivered from the Cloud is known as Software as a Service, or SaaS. Google Docs is a perfect example of Software as a Service. Without needing to invest in expensive Office Productivity software, one can now purchase, for a nominal subscription fee, the use of such software via the Internet. One doesn’t “own” the software, but rather pays for the use of it. This is sort of like leasing a car instead of buying it, one pays for the use of the vehicle, but retains no ownership of it. For many reasons, the leasing of cars has become popular due to its cost effectiveness, and in the same way, for many of the same reasons, SaaS is also increasingly popular.

The third type of Cloud service is Infrastructure as a Service, or IaaS. Infrastructure as a Service provides users the use of the hardware they need to host their own web sites, web applications, or other web enabled services. Different from PaaS, which is focused on providing all the software and hardware necessary for a given platform, IaaS generally provides just the building blocks, so-to-speak, or the raw hardware which the user is free to use in whatever way they’d like. From network devices, to storage arrays and server processing time, IaaS providers generally deliver their services on a pay-as-you-go basis. Thus, the more storage space used, network bandwidth consumed, or CPU cycles utilized, the greater the cost. This model has the benefit of allowing individuals or companies to pay only for computing resources when and as they are needed, instead of having to spend huge sums of money to meet a demand they might only rarely experience.

As a person in IT, it is difficult for me to deny the obvious benefits that Cloud computing offers. The problems Cloud computing attempts to solve are problems long dealt with in the industry. The Cloud might ultimately be the panacea for most if not all of IT’s current ills. Yet, it may also be another over-hyped, hyperbolically marketed, disgustingly over-used (often incorrectly) buzzword that leads the industry toward a downward spiral.

Like so many hungry Pavlovian dogs, middle and upper-level IT managers salivate at the mere mention of “the Cloud.” Eager to prove to their superiors just how up-to-date and on-top-of technology they are, these managers are often diving headlong into a pool whose bottom they’ve never cared to assess. In many respects, the only Cloud these people truly understand is the vaporous space between their ears.

For with the Cloud comes many, many issues. The question of security is foremost among them. When one uploads data and files to the Cloud, where exactly do they go, and whose responsibility is it to ensure that they are maintained in the proper manner, free from risk of theft or misuse? Cloud companies tout the myriad methods they employ to protect the data within their care, but to what degree can we trust them? For example, if a firm in the financial industry subscribes to a Trading System from the Cloud, exactly who can say that their competitors will not be able to glean all of their trading information? Such lofty companies as Amazon, Facebook and Google have certainly had their share of privacy and security concerns, why should Cloud service providers be any different?

Apart from security, there is also the question of jobs. The IT industry has had to watch thousands of its jobs move from the States to overseas. I can only imagine what the rise of Cloud computing is going to mean to the availability of IT jobs in the U.S. No longer will companies need to hire their own IT staff to maintain and support their infrastructure. Thus, countless network engineers and support personnel may find it increasingly difficult to find work. If a firm can outsource its infrastructure needs anywhere in the world and obtain nearly the same level of support (assuming it is cheaper, of course) they will most certainly do so. It’s all about the bottom line, and what better way to help it along, than to cut jobs and save money on pay-as-you-go services via the Cloud, provided by cheap overseas companies.

Finally, it remains to be seen if the expected cost benefits of working in the Cloud will become a reality. The marketing hype heralding the Epoch of the Cloud promises the kind of unheard-of potential hitherto envisioned only by nineteenth-century snake oil salesmen. Let’s hope, this time around, we get what we’re bargaining for.

I had not really heard of what an e-reader was or why I might want one until recently.  Living under a rock you ask? Apparently, I have been as I’ve come to learn that these devices have been out for a few years now and have been growing in popularity.  In 2007 Amazon came out with The Kindle.  Kindle which – as an aside – means to “set fire” was the first of its kind. And perhaps correctly named – has set fire to this segment of the electronics industry. The Kindle is an electronic tablet that allows you to download books with a click of a button, in the comfort of your own home or at the beach or at an airport or while typing a blog… No more bookstores or running around last minute to find the latest summer read. Since unveiling their product in 2007, Amazon has made two more versions, each one better than the last one of course, of The Kindle. The Kindle 2 and Kindle DX.

At first I was a bit skeptical. Reading on a computer screen?  What about eye-strain?  What if I can’t get my favorite book via a download?  What if it just doesn’t work?  After reviewing the product I was 100% sold. Who wouldn’t want to carry a snazzy, high-tech book around? One of the things I hate most if bringing my book to the beach. It gets dirty, oily and just messy. And what happens if mid beach day you finish your book with no book store in sight…With the Kindle you can eliminate all of these issues. It’s light to carry, easy to use and best of all, you can buy pretty little cases for it so you do not ruin it with scratches or dings. Worried about eyes-strain?  Not any more, the Kindle has something called E-Ink aka Electronic Ink that has levels of gray and no backlight so you can read easy with no strain and even in bright lights. Finished that first book and want to start another?  Just download a new one and you’re off and reading again in no time.

The newest generation of Kindle’s is the Kindle DX. With a bigger screen and better E-Ink capability it makes using the Kindle even greater. It can hold up to 3,500 e-books, has a battery life up to two weeks offline and built in speakers. The only downside is that it does not have an SD memory slot like its predecessor, the Kindle 2.  The Kindle DX retailed for $489 – during a recession a hefty price to pay just to read a few books.  Amazon has since dropped its price by over 20% to $379. In my opinion I think it’s still a bit pricy – as with all technology over time I believe the price will go lower still.

It isn’t a matter of discussion that The Kindle has taken off.  Consumers are definitely interested in this device and is very useful when it comes to reading newspapers and books on it. But I think this technology will pave the way for a more substantial use.  There are some schools already testing out the device for their students. One high school in Indiana uses it as a hand-held library. Elimination of students carrying around backpacks full of heavy textbooks will be a thing of the past. Having this device available to students will allow them to have all of their school books in one place.

So will the Kindle survive along with its competitor the Nook? In my opinion-yes. I think this device will not  only be used by everyday people reading the latest best seller, but also students, doctors offices who will be able to provide them in their offices for waiting patient’s to read newspapers. Kindle “apps” may also be in the near future. I see the Kindle growing into something bigger than it already is and I think the e-reader technology will be here to stay.

Which is better: nook or Kindle?  A question most reader enthusiasts ask when its time to buy an e-reader.  The nook is an e-reader made by Barnes and Nobles.  There are two options you have when buying a nook; the nook with Wi-Fi or the nook plus 3G and Wi-Fi.   Of course the nook with 3G on average is about $50 more.  This e-reader comes with the industry standard known as e-ink, which allows you to read the nook in the bright sun and blocking the glare and runs on the Android operating system.  The internal memory holds 2GB.

As far as choosing which is better between the nook and Amazon’s Kindle, here are a couple of comparisons: the Kindle is thinner and has a larger reading screen but not by much, and the nook is thicker but more compact and may weigh an ounce more.  The nook also has a MicroSD card slot in order to allow for greater memory capacity up to 16GB.  The nook (like the Kindle) has a removable and replaceable battery.  Interestingly enough one of the better advantages that the nook has over the Kindle is its touch screen.  You can also browse book covers in color instead of the boring black and white screen available on the Kindle.  The Android operating system also supports applications to be downloaded onto the nook which allows it to be used for more than one thing.  Some cons about the nook include a shorter battery life than that of the Kindle.  The Kindle does support international wireless which is a plus if using it out of the country, something the nook cannot do.  Another capability of the Kindle is its text-to-speech feature, which again, the nook does not have.

An additional luxury of the nook is its capability to download and play MP3’s.  You can also personalize your nook by downloading custom screensavers to it.  Although you can download MP3’s and screensavers to it, you cannot do this wirelessly; you will have to connect the USB cable that comes with it to a computer to download them onto the device.  It also includes a built in dictionary which is a major plus while you are reading if you were ever to get tripped up on a word.  There are more options on the nook as far as font selection.  You are able to change fonts, and font sizes as well as styles.  Another plus about the nook is you can browse and buy books from the Barnes and Noble website.  The nook is also equipped with the program ePub.  ePub allows PDF’s to be readable on your device without any hiccups.  Nook owners can even venture into a Barnes and Noble store to read popular titles free for an hour. The good thing about Barnes and Noble is they allow you to “lend” e-books to friends so they don’t have to pay for it, of course there is one stipulation on this; you can lend that one specific title once to one friend per fourteen days . Google books will also allow you read books from their website, and you can even download e-books from your local library and it would be as if you checked that title out from the library for no cost at all.  Overall I believe the nook may have a slight advantage over the Kindle because of the firmware upgrades, and the extra goodies it packs.