Dropbox Beta 1.3.0.6 Available to Android users
Posted Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 6:57 am by Daniel Kipping
It goes without saying that Dropbox is highly regarded as a cloud storage solution. What’s more, when Dropbox is combined with everyone’s favourite open source Operating system, Android, keeping your treasured files with you on-the-go truly becomes a reality. Therefore, when new builds are thrown out onto the web, I simply can’t help but take a peek and get my hands on the latest offering from the team with the little, blue box.
Coincidentally, speaking of updates, the latest Dropbox Beta build, 1.3.0.6, is now available directly from the Dropbox website for Android users to behold. Let’s take a quick peek at what’s available in 1.3.0.6…
You know what, the internet kind of sucks right now
Posted Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 5:13 pm by Jason CartwrightWho knew that when the internet began that it would be the worldwide phenomenon that it is today.. not many right. Who thought we’d be using it in the way we use it today, same again, not many. Unfortunately the reality of the internet in 2011 is that it kind of sucks right now.
Traditionally developing websites was hard difficult and available only to a select few, but with the commoditisation of the web, businesses and platforms emerged to make it easy enough for average Joe to build his own site.
Shortly after creating a website, Joe wants to make a little cash, so he introduces some advertising to the site. Maybe he does or doesn’t have a success, but the opportunity and potential to make a lot of money takes Joe down a dangerous path. He then goes after every possible opportunity to throw advertising in front of his audience in the hope that they click on an ad and make him some money.
It makes sense right, with a couple of ads, you make a little bit of money, so add more ads and you’ll make more money, right? Maybe Joe is ‘successful’, but the reality is, he just turned his corner of the internet into a virtual dumping group.
Take the site wmpoweruser.com below, apologies for picking on you but this is simply a graphic example of what’s happening across the entire internet right now. The site is completely dominated by advertising leaving almost no room for actual content, you know, the reason a visitor went there in the first place.
- Red – Advertisements
- Orange – Website branding/social sharing
- Green – Actual content
This is like a TV show breaking for ads not every 9 minutes for 2 minutes of ads, but 9 minutes of ads and 2 minutes of content. So my question is, why do we put up with this and why as website creators do we think this is a good solution to financing our operations? It’s a terrible user experience.
Take a look at Apple’s use of retail space compared to most others. Many retail businesses are so packed with products you can barely turn around without knocking something off the shelf. Apple took the minimalist approach and focused on a better user experience in-store, it seems to be paying for them with Microsoft now following suit. Many luxury brands are also doing the same, so lets rethink the way we’re doing the web, because right now, we’re treating our customers like shit.
.XXX domains go live in 8 hours, malware free via McAfee
Posted Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 5:33 pm by Jason Cartwright
In around 8 hours from now, the land rush for .XXX begins. The new adult entertainment top-level domain (TLD) will be allocated in a first come, first served basis. While this TLD is receiving widespread attention due to its adult nature, any time a new TLD is introduced it’s an important milestone.
Anyone who has tried to register a domain name in the past few years knows that there’s very few short, memorable dictionary word domain names left. Only time will tell how successful the .xxx domain will be. In theory it allows ISPs to filter all .xxx domain names to prevent adult content from being seen by minors.
The problem with .xxx and filtering is that it’s optional. This means the valuable and highly trafficked .com domain names will remain and continue to serve adult content. So while .xxx is recognisable, it wont replace .com.
There is one incentive that could see demand grow for .XXX over more traditional and popular domains, that is security. .XXX domains will all receive daily malware scans via McAfee which is said to protect both site operators and consumers. This is the first domain type in the world to receive this treatment.
It’s clear demand, or interest in this release is high with the www.buy.xxx website is achieving almost 1 million visitors per day. The domain registrar linked to from the official website is GoDaddy, but should be sold through many others. Just in case you wanted to shout us a Christmas present, the domain techAU.xxx will set you back A$102.01.
Thanks to @Mr_Internet for the heads up (wait, that probably sounds bad).
For more information and to watch the count down, head to http://about.xxx or watch on twitter #dotxxx
TunnelBear, a free VPN even your mum could setup
Posted Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 9:53 pm by Jason Cartwright
Sometimes you may need to route your internet traffic through an internationally location like the US or UK. TunnelBear is a great, free Windows and Mac VPN app that is so easy to install and setup that your mum could do it. While it free there are limitations. Bandwidth transfers per month is set at just 500MB, but with a tweet promoting the app, it’s increased to 1.5GB.
Depending on your need for a VPN solution, this may or may not be adequate. If not, you may want to consider paying for additional bandwidth. At $4.99 per month for unlimited, it’s a great deal. There is even a TunnelBear beta for iPads and iPhone looking for a VPN connection, but you will need a paid subscription for that.
However you choose to use this is up to you, all I know is that it’s the most simple VPN solution to date. There’s no router configuration, it just works. Naturally when you run a VPN at the device level, you’ll need to set it up and enable it per device. This will also allow you to manage your bandwidth limit better.
Check it out at http://tunnelbear.com/
Spice up you feeds with Ideas from Design Buzz
Posted Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 9:50 pm by Jason Cartwright![Design Buzz[5]](http://techau.tv/blog/images/679fff20a6c9_1364C/Design-Buzz5.jpg "Design Buzz[5]")
Keeping on top of technology developments means reading through thousands of news items from over 100 feeds per month. According to Google Reader, I’ve read more than 300,000 items over the past few years. To keep things interesting, I break up the hard-core technology news, with some lighter, more thought provoking feeds.
One of my favourites is Design Buzz. Covering design ideas from Gadgets, Architecture, Technology, Arts, Transportation, Tourism, DIY and Green News.
If you want to know what’s coming in the future, then looking at these visionary concepts is a great place to start.
Check it out @ http://designbuzz.com or subscribe to the RSS feed here.
SquareSpace v6 delayed
Posted Sunday, September 25, 2011 at 5:08 pm by Jason Cartwright
‘The secret behind exceptional websites’ Squarespace has had a new version in the works for a long time now. Back in May SquareSpace teased us with the upcoming changes to the platform. A number popular internet celebrities Like Kevin Rose and Leo Laporte have made mention that they have seen v6, however we are now headed for October with no sign of it.
Back in May we reported the beta was rolling out to early testers in ‘weeks’ after SquareSpace’s own blog delivered screen shots of the refresh. In June SquareSpace posted that v6 had been in development for more than 6 months internally.
Our team has been hammering on it internally for 6 months ensuring that it has the inherent flexibility that developers want and need.
So the question remains.. where the hell is SquareSpace v6 ? Most blogging and CMS platforms received updates and improvements over time, however SquareSpace has remained the same. The theory is that by being hosted in the cloud, that updates become easier to distribute to users, however the reality of the SquareSpace update is that it has been delayed by many months.
To be honest, I’ve struggled with SquareSpace, it’s certainly easy to use and and fast to get a website online, but is limited in its functionality. Version 6 of SquareSpace was supposed to go a long way to address user feedback, but for that to occur, it needs to ship.
