The Camera MobileWritten by Ieuan Dolby
Since I wrote last article on mobile phones so much newness and advancement has been made that I just have to write another one. Of course there are thousands of lost souls still using their phones as a form of escape from outside world and many others talking to a dialing tone, but now they can take photographs of themselves as they do it.The mini-camera phobia has now reared its ugly head and although it has long been a futuristic novelty idea it is now with us for real – phones with cameras in them. The James Bond life style can be with us all! The cost of these phones is prohibitive to all but fashion conscious desperate, those with lots of money and Koreans. In Korea 4 million handsets have already been sold to gadget crazed population. Four million little mobile phones with a camera lens in them have been purchased by four million potential spies. Allot of bad publicity has followed development, introduction and us200200age of these cameras worldwide. Most of bad press has focused on possibility of spying on others in a simple and effective manner – as highlighted by woman who used her new acquisition to photograph a poor innocent bather in one of Koreas many public baths. The bathers were naked: young girls showing off their fine bodies and in corner was a crabby old lady talking on a mobile phone, ignored by crowd. Only she wasn’t talking on phone she was taking photographs of nudity surrounding her. A few days later this lady sold these photographs to Web Sites around world and made allot of money. It is not all bad though. Recently a phone was used to photograph a sex maniac on prowl. A young lad snapped shots of driver and license plate of a car and subsequently submitted them to police. The driver had followed boy making rude suggestions and innuendo but soon found himself arrested: with possibility of five years in prison. Although hype and media opinions have focused on negative side of these expensive gadgets it is not without cause. Happy ending stories like one above are far and few between and even in short lived history of these phones they have been used illegally or for illegal purposes on numerous occasions. It has been such a worry for thirds largest mobile phone manufacturer that they have banned them in their office buildings to prevent spies from having an easy time. Samsung very company that pioneered sticking of a lens into a phone have banned them on factory floors, office buildings and corridors and have even gone to extent of fitting X-ray machines that will sound warning if a person has one on their person. A Samsung Official was asked about this latest ruling and he stated that, “camera phones are handy and quality is so good it can be used for Industrial Espionage”. So whilst trying to justify ban from very place that they were invented he also got in a good bit of advertising.
| | The Pitfalls Of Using Technology For Technology's SakeWritten by Diane Hughes
Being a long-time Internet entrepreneur, I have made certain observations over time. Most people who start an online business seem to go through certain "phases." They make same mistakes, and they react same to different circumstances. All while, they never realize that much of this behavior sends a glaring red signal that they are undoubtedly newbies.There is nothing wrong with being a newbie (after all, I wasn't born this brilliant ). But ask any novice and they will tell you that they don't want to "appear" to be a beginner. That's why I recently felt need to bring attention to a typical newbie mistake that you'll want to avoid. That mistake is using every single piece of new Web technology you can find JUST because it is available.I understand appeal of new technology. However, before loading up yet another animated graphic or "phasing" Web page, ask yourself a few questions. 1. Will this technology add value to my site? By "value" I mean something that will enhance (and not clutter) your Web visitor's experience. Other than being "cool," will technology help in some way? 2. Will technology cause an inconvenience to my visitors? Will an all Flash home page force visitors (even repeat visitors) to sit and watch a two-minute long "movie" each and every time they come to your site? Will tons of animated or rotating graphics files make your home page load extremely slow? Web surfers are very impatient people, you know. I can tell you from experience, they won't wait.
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