Daily Bits

Twitter Statistics: Twitter vs. Facebook – Awareness, Popularity and Demographics

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The colleagues over at the Blog Herald sat down and gathered some interesting data about Twitter usage and demographics, putting these against Facebook statistics. The result is an amazing infographic with lots of interesting data.

Here at The Blog Herald we wondered How did Twitter grow that much? and Where do those Tweets come from?

The results are rather surprising and we learned that the top three tweeting cities in the US (Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco) averagely tweet less in one minute than when basketball fans and football/soccer fans go crazy and start updating the world in 140 characters maximum.

To see the complete infographic, you’ll have to head over to The Blog Herald: The Meteoric Rise of Twitter. Here’s a teaser already.

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VLC 1.1 Is Faster And Better

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Since its original release, VLC media player has gotten a lot of attention and has become one of the most used – if not the most used – media players today. This is due to many reasons, but for the most part it is due to ease of use and the functionalities that the software offers. I can’t say how many times seeing that striped cone icon has made me happy!

Last week, a new version of VLC was released – VLC 1.1.0 – and true to form, the software has received largely positive reviews. One big reason behind the enthusiasm of users for VLC 1.1.0 is the fact that it is ready for HD.

How so?

VLC 1.1.0’s hardware video acceleration makes it ready to process high resolution images and offers much smoother playback. With the trend pointing to the use of HD more and more, this is a welcome development for users. Another important update added to this version is the support for WebM, which is being touted as the new standard for video. Of course, there are countless other fixes and tweaks that have been made for this release.

On the flip side, SHOUTcast streaming has been removed – VLC 1.1.0 does not support this anymore. The reason behind this is that AOL was demanding that VLC bundle AOL software with the player. This included adware, mind you. It was either that or remove the SHOUTcast support. Guess what the guys behind VLC chose?

In any case, the removal of SHOUTcast, while it will be missed, is not that big of an issue. The software is still free and works perfectly. Download VLC 1.1.0 here.

Swype, Don’t Type

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One of the biggest drawbacks of touch screen phones is the fact that people have a difficult time adjusting to the virtual keyboard. While Apple has done a marvelous job with their on screen keyboard, there are still people out there who prefer to have a tactile keyboard to work with. And yet, if touch screen phones are what you want, you really have no choice.

Enter Swype, a piece of software that allows users to drag fingers from one letter to another instead of having to merely tap on each individual letter. It’s easy to see how much more convenient this technology is, and how much easier people can adjust to virtual keyboards.

Developed by a company based in Seattle, Swype was launched on a commercial phone in December. Now, the news is that the new Motorola Droid X is going to feature this technology. That spells good news for Swype, as Motorola is a huge player in the mobile phone industry.

Indeed, Swype says that they want to be in more mobile phones – not excluding the Apple iPhone! In fact, one of the engineers has already a version ready for the iPhone, even though there are no formal talks between them. Apple has not even seen the technology for themselves as of yet. I would think, though, that with the complaints people have about the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, Steve Jobs et al. would be interested in what Swype has to offer. For now, Droid users will have the advantage in this regard.

iPhone users: would you want something like this on your gadgets?

No More Windows XP SP 2 Updates After July 13

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Mark the date on your calendars, people! After July 13 of this year, Microsoft will stop rolling out updates for the stable operating system Windows XP Service Pack 2. News reports have not stopped sprouting left and right about the decision of the software giant to stop offering extended support for this particular operating system; and by no means are they rumors – the cessation of the support is confirmed.

Foremost of those who are worried are corporate clients who use Microsoft XP SP2 for many of their business computers. What is to happen if they stop getting those updates?

Experts say that while the news might initially be alarming, there really is nothing to worry about. The fact of the matter is that Microsoft XP SP2 will continue to be stable and secure in spite of updates not being offered in the future. More so, it really is only the 32-bit version of XP SP2 that will be affected. Those who are using the 64-bit version will still continue receiving automatic updates – way until April 8, 2014 in fact.

Here’s an added perk: for companies using the 32-bit version, there is the option to upgrade to Service Pack 3 for FREE. Believe it or not, it really is free. So there really is NO problem at all.

Then why is Microsoft stopping the updates for XP SP2? Windows 7 is out, and you know how it is. Pretty soon, XP will not be commonly used at all. In the meantime, hold your horses and don’t press the panic button. There is time enough to enjoy XP (whether it’s SP2 or SP3) and to transition to Windows 7.

Liquid Crystal Technology Offers Better Storage Option

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Storage is always a problem for us, isn’t it? Remember the days when all we had were hard disks with a few megabytes of storage? The days when we marveled at the floppy discs? It is amazing how technology has evolved in the past decades, really. Now, we have hard drives that can contain up to terabytes of data. How cool is that? Even flash disks can contain gigabytes of information!

Of course, it seems that in this area, we just can’t get enough – both in quality and quantity. And, if a group of researchers in Tokyo are fully successful, we just might see another generation of storage devices.

Eureka Alert just featured the work of Hideo Takezoe and his team of researchers. Apparently, they have been working on liquid crystal technology – the same technology being currently used in televisions and computer monitors. Who would have thought that they could have made progress in using this technology for data storage?

How does it work?

The group of researchers has taken advantage of a property of liquid crystals called anchoring transition. In simple terms, this property can be used to write, erase, and rewrite data by using laser beams. The liquid crystal molecules, which are rod-like in nature, are aligned by the application of these laser beams. The result? Rewritable data storage!

Even better, the liquid crystals are bi-stable, meaning that the orientation is retained in one of two directions. The practical implication is that the storage material does not need power to retain images. Imagine the potential of this technology!

Three Sensible Facebook Apps

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Facebook – you either love it or you hate it. No matter how much some people might hate this social networking site, though, there is no denying that it can be addictive. And, for those who are so into it, there’s no stopping them from being online practically all day.

Even those who are certified Facebook addicts have to admit that the social networking site has its downsides. Its applications, for one – they are so many and more often than not, useless and irritating. I have to say, though, that there are some Facebook apps that are useful and actually make sense. Let’s take a look at three apps – two I would recommend to any friend, and one that I need advice on.

Good Reads
As the name implies, it’s all about books. In this day and age where watching TV shows and movies (or listening to music) is considered more convenient than reading a good old book, it is refreshing to see an app about books. Good Reads helps you keep track of what you have been reading, together with your friends. As with other Facebook apps, the joy is in sharing. You get to rate your books and write your thoughts about them; and then you can share ideas with friends. Call it a virtual book club if you will. There’s a similar Facebook app called Visual Bookshelf, which I actually use more often. The idea is the same, although there are fewer users than Good Reads.

Travel Buddy
For people who like to travel, there is no better app than this. (If you find one, let me know!) Organize trips and share photos, experiences, and more using this app. You can tag your real life travel buddy; reminisce about your past trips; and plan your future adventures together!

Language Exchange
This last app, I am still thinking if I should use or not. The premise is very attractive – meet people who can teach you a foreign language, and share your own language as well. I am unsure about the privacy issues, though. Does anyone use this app?