Latest Articles
Why It Sucks Being The IT Guy [INFOGRAPHIC]
One of my favourite comedy shows has to be, without a doubt, The IT Crowd. Before, the IT department in a company had this image of being the fun killers that stopped you from browsing Facebook on the company computers during your lunch break. Post-IT Crowd, suddenly the IT departments were hip, cool and fun people to be around. What a difference a TV show makes (and it's set to return next year).
The Advertisers Guide To Mobile [INFOGRAPHIC]
We've had Web 1.0 and 2.0. Now we're into the era of the Smartphone Web, the time when every man and his dog has a smartphone in their pocket, playing Angry Birds on the bus, and doing price comparison shopping in the middle of a store. My wife and I are extremely guilty of that. We've been thrown out of many shops because we've stood there with our phones and compared prices with online stores to see who is cheaper.
7 Online Resources To Help Those Who Are Depressed & Suicidal
Even though I am the Managing Editor of MakeUseOf, I have a huge disability in my life which is clinical depression. It started back in 2002, as a depression related to stress in my job, and it exploded in 2003 resulting in a huge mental breakdown and full blown suicidal clinical depression. It was a very dark period in my life back then, and I wouldn't have wished those symptoms and feelings on my worst enemies.
The Idiot's Guide To Adding Website Bookmarks On Your Google Chrome New Tab Page
For the past couple of years now, I have more or less been exclusively using Google Chrome as my day-to-day work browser. It is simply one of the best products that Google has ever produced. But saying that, there are some irritating things about Chrome that really bother me. One of them was not being able to bookmark any site I wanted to on my New Tab page. But now I have found the solution and I want to share it with all of you.
Best iOS Apps For Mobile Learning [INFOGRAPHIC]
The "problem" with having a smartphone is that there are simply too many apps to try out. Just as you've found 10 good apps to try, another 20 come along, demanding your time and attention. Suddenly, everything else in your life is put on hold, as you try out the latest new iOS game or the latest Android productivity app (ironic, I know). But which ones are the best in their respective categories?
The Health Hazards Of Tablet Use [INFOGRAPHIC]
I've never really thought about this until now, but if you use a tablet extensively, you have to watch how you're seated when you're using it. Just like how you sit in front of a normal computer matters to your back and neck posture, the same rules equally apply to when you're using your iPad, Android tablet or Kindle Fire.
Paywall Trend On The Internet [INFOGRAPHIC]
Being a former newspaper journalist, I can sympathise to a very large extent with the plight of print media. With the relentless onslaught of the Internet, and peoples expectations that "information should be free", print media is caught between a rock and a very hard place. If they modernise and make their news sites open and free to all, they start to hemorrhage money right away, the quality of investigative journalism goes down and soon that same staff are laid off.
Facebook Psychology - Is Addiction Affecting Our Minds? [INFOGRAPHIC]
Internet Addiction Disorder (otherwise known as Facebookalitis) is set to become the big psychological disorder of the 21st century - and it seems we have mostly Facebook to thank for that. Thanks to the social media goliath, it seems that we are turning into a legion of junkies who salivate whenever we hear the sound of a new status notification arriving or a Friend Request being approved.
The High Cost Of Printing [INFOGRAPHIC]
Back when I worked in a government department in 2000, I tried to persuade the boss to switch to a paperless office. I was appalled at the amount of paper and ink that was being wasted and, being the filing clerk, I was getting the worst end of the deal. But back then, the idea of a paperless office was too radical. Fast forward 12 years later, and the idea of going paper-free is not as crazy as it sounded back then. But there are still companies who insist on printing.
How Safe Is Your PIN? [INFOGRAPHIC]
Ah, the trusty PIN number, the 4 digits that separates you from your money. We use our bank PIN number in a wide variety of situations, whether it's taking money out of the ATM machine or paying with our card in a shop. But you would be amazed (or perhaps not) at the stupidity of some people when it comes to the 4 digits they need to keep secret the most. For it seems that a lot of people seem to have this irresistible urge to tell everyone their number.
Dropbox - One Of The Must-Have Apps If You Own An iPhone
Ever since I went over to the Dark Side earlier this year to get my cookies and buy an iPhone, one app has been completely invaluable to me - Dropbox. In fact, I would go as far to say that if Apple dropped the Dropbox app from its iOS system, then I would be so angry that I would seriously consider going back to Android phones. That's how much I like Dropbox's iPhone app. Why do I like it so much? Let me show you the love.
One Laptop Per Child Project, 7 Years Later [INFOGRAPHIC]
People such as I in the western developed world tend to take the Internet for granted, but we often forget that there are a lot of people in the developing world who don't have access to the Internet at all, or even just basic access to a laptop. If more children were given access to a laptop, taught how to use it, and taught how to use the Internet, then not only would they grow up computer-literate, but they would also be given a glimpse, via the net, of the wider world around them.
The Social Media & College Admissions [INFOGRAPHIC]
This is the time of year when students are receiving their school grades and trying to get their places in university. But for many, those attempts will end in failure with a rejection letter coming in the mail. You may get a reason for the rejection or you may not. But there are certainly some things you can do to reduce the possibility of it happening next time you apply. In short, get your online search results in order.
Keeping Shop - A Look At Apple's In-Store Retail [INFOGRAPHIC]
When I was a boy, my mother always liked to tell me that money didn't grow on trees, but if I was a boy today, I would tell her she's wrong and point to Steve Jobs as the proof. That man knew how to literally grow money simply by sticking a logo of an apple onto a computer and then onto retail storefronts. Apple is today the most valuable public company in the world, worth over $400 billion. That's a lot of iPhones and iPads.
The Battle For Bandwidth [INFOGRAPHIC]
The desire to own more and more tech gadgets means that the demand for bandwidth is as strong as ever. And one of the places where people are demanding it the most is on college / university campuses. How many of you, when deciding where to study, factored in wireless Internet access? I know some people who did. They turned down excellent university places, simply because the wireless Internet speed on campus wasn't fast enough.
The Google Yourself Challenge [INFOGRAPHIC]
They call it "ego surfing" - when you sit down in front of the computer, go to Google (or whatever search engine you prefer), and find out what information there is about you online. I do it quite often - not out of a sense of egotism - but out of a desire to control my online presence and to make sure that I am presented in the best possible light if anyone searches for me. Along the way, I've discovered some interesting things.
Nintendo vs Sega: Video Game Logo Evolution [INFOGRAPHIC]
In the world of gaming, the two most recognisable icons in the world are Mario, and Sonic the Hedgehog. But they both come from separate companies, one of which has been around for 123 years, the other for 72 years. Who am I talking about? Nintendo and Sega of course. But in the days before the Italian Plumber and the Blue Hedgehog stormed onto the scene, what were Nintendo and Sega up to?
10 iPhone Fun Facts [INFOGRAPHIC]
After several months of owning an iPhone, I am still learning new things about it every day, things I never realised I could do with it. For example, did you know you can make phone calls with it? That is utterly amazing. Here I was thinking that an iPhone was only good for checking email and updating Instagram, and suddenly it rings and someone is talking to me at the other end! Absolutely amazing technology.
Are Your iPhone Photos Refusing To Rotate In Windows Explorer? Here Is The Solution
I love my iPhone but there are a couple of pet peeves that I have had with it from day one. One of them was something which I managed to miraculously solve this morning, which was the strange enigma of iPhone photos refusing to turn around the right way, when transferred to the PC and viewed with the default Photo Viewer in Windows Explorer.