A few more tech problems I'd love a fix for
You may have read my post the other day on 15 tech problems I'd love solved. I thought of a few more (and for the record, I still LOVE my iphone): 1. iPhone integration with Google and Exchange tasks. The iOS 5 "Reminders" are fine, but I use Google and Exchange, not iCloud
2. Better offline email support for gmail on my iPhone (I have it setup as an Exchange account)
3. For web sites, mostly news sites, to stop putting articles on multiple pages. Yes, I know you get more "page views" that way, but it's annoying. If you insist on doing multiple pages, put the "next" button in the same spot on each page so I can click through quickly (I'm looking at you Boston.com with your "top 20" lists consisting of a meaningless picture and a capture for each item in your list all on a separate page)
Top 15 Tech problems to solve in 2012 (according to Men's Health)
Men's Health magazine had an interesting list of common tech problems. I love technology, but there is definitely some room for improvement (which is a good thing, it will keep me employed). I can't say I agree with the full list (read here), but a few I strongly agree with. My favorites:
- #13- Move us past passwords
- #12- Downsize those set-top boxes (e.g., Comcast cable boxes) -- those things pull a lot of electricity 24x7 for absolutely NO reason
- #10 - fix the fussy self-checkout machines
- #7-- ALL TIME FAVORITE, APPLE -- Let us keep text messages as "new"
- #6 - settle on one AC Adapter plug - I'm glad slowly USB is starting to catch on
What would be on your list?
650k Facebook status updates every minute (and other interesting web stats)
Really interesting infographic about what happens every 60 seconds on the web these days. Check it out here Some of my favorites:
- 12,000 Craig's List postings
- 168 million emails sent
- 710 computers are sold (555 of them with an Intel CPU)
- 38 tons of e-waste is generated
- 103 blackberry sold vs. 925 iphone 4s's sold (I'm surprised that many blackberries are sold)
- 2.6 million CD's worth of data is created (1,820 TB)
Spam for blogs
I've had my blog now for over six months, and one ofthe things that has surprised me the most is the spam you get via the comments section. Here's a sample of a message I got recently:
"I simply want to tell you that I'm beginner to blogging and site-building and honestly enjoyed you're web page. Probably I’m likely to bookmark your site . You actually have beneficial stories. With thanks for sharing your blog."
You see a message like this and you think, "wow, some guy that is clearly not American has been reading my blog and enjoying what I write. Nice!". Then you google that message and realize he did the same on a million other sites, likely to boost the visibility of the sketchy site he runs. The other popular spam I get a lot is trying to sell pharmaceuticals.
As is true with all spam, the only reason people keep spamming is because a very small percentage of people actually fall for it and buy something (or fall victim by giving their credit card). It sometimes amazes me that people can be so gullable, but I guess I tend to underestimate the stupidity of many people.