internet

Back in the days when the Internet was first being developed, space for 4.3 billion addresses on IPv4 seemed like plenty to keep us all going indefinitely. This was when the Internet was first envisaged as an educational tool in sharing data and research. Now, as we all know, the Internet has capabilities far beyond these purposes. Users are sharing everything and anything you can imagine – and now the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has announced that they have issued their last five remaining blocks of IP, each containing around 16.8 million addresses.There are many contributing factors to this situation, a significant one being the widespread use of devices like smartphones, iPads and androids, where Internet can be used on the go, pretty much wherever you go. This and the

Access to the internet has caused a number of changes in the way that we manage our health and consume health-related services. We are becoming more proactive in accessing information ourselves about the symptoms or illnesses we develop through the help of the internet.

There are many illnesses that sufferers find embarrassing or can even feel stigmatised for, which can deter them from seeking help from their physician. Users are much more willing to learn about their symptoms or condition using the anonymity of the internet. Through this action, they can begin to understand their condition or symptoms within the comfort of their own home. Reduction in costs for the NHS In the UK, this change has taken some of the pressure off the NHS costs. NHS Direct's telephone and online services have

Last week I wrote about the steps NASA has made to keep their astronauts up to date with all thing social media. Much to my delight, there was news this weekend that announced Mount Everest is getting a 3G service. The connection means explorers can check the weather forecast online, check Facebook, or send their own high definition photos to Flickr – a huge step from existing as a place where communication with the outside world was severely restricted. In the 1950s, the ‘roof of the world’ was one of the most isolated places on earth; explorers had to send runners to carry messages to the nearest telegraph office. Even at the end of the last decade, in 2007, climbers had to put up with an erratic satellite voice only network set up by China mobile on the Chinese side of the

Welcome to the first of our weekly "Top 10 Social Media  stories" - something to start you off on a Monday morning!

1. Qwiki The ‘information experience’ is coming soon, with brand new search engine Qwiki to launch soon. The founders are looking to solve the problem of information overload by providing users with information in a more interactive, engaging and visually stimulating way. Join the Search revolution, and sign up to get invited to become one of the first people to try out their new search experience. 2. The BAFTAs are to add a new category for social media gaming in 2011 Browser-based games such as Farmville, Restaurant City and Mafia wars will be recognised. According to the BAFTAs, more than half of users on Facebook regularly play such games.

Is it just me that finds it amazing astronauts are able to use social media in outer space? I suppose I still have the image of an isolated and lonely astronaut staring at that little blue sphere in the distance wondering how their family are doing without them – perhaps I should stop thinking their experience is like something out of Apollo 13 and wake up to the reality. Astronauts are not only able to browse the web when they are out there on their own but they are making the most out of social media to keep themselves connected with life on Earth. At the end of January this year, astronaut Mike Massimino sent the first real-time tweet from space and the NASA account pings out regular tweets. This is all down to some amazing technology which NASA explained as the personal Web

Having read an article in Figaro Digital last week, ‘Can Cloud Services ad Value?’ by Phil Worms, which showed how marketers can benefit from an investment in cloud computing, I became intrigued with ‘the cloud’ and what it holds for us as consumers…. So, what is cloud computing? Here’s the definition from SearchCloudComputing.com : ‛Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)." What industries have benefited from it: Email The classic example is Gmail. At the moment I am only using 4% of my 7509MB storage space, and Google is expanding this all the time. I

Users have become accustomed to freely available, socialised and personalised news. But this free flow of information for users has had a debilitating effect on the newspaper industry. Printed newspaper sales are on a decline as users turn to the internet for free content online. The industry is helplessly watching their advertising, once about a third of an average newspaper’s revenue, follow readers online where advertising is cheaper. Microsoft predicts that newspapers will only exist as printed articles for 10 more years and, as the Times has noted, giving away articles for free is unsustainable if they are to rely solely on online advertising. Established news publishers have already introduced a subscription for users to access their content on their websites and are rolling out