 Twitter – for Twits?
There's another phenomenon happening online which seems similar to the Facebook explosion that occurred a couple of years ago – it's called Twitter (www.twitter.com), and you may have heard Stephen Fry talking about it lately on the news.
I decided to jump straight in and see what all the fuss was about. First, you create a Twitter account. Then you're asked to answer the question “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less. Typical answers or 'tweets' include “Eating my breakfast” or “Going to the gym”. Finally, you decide who you want to 'follow'. Following somebody means that each time that person creates a new tweet, it shows in your account so you can stalk them follow what they're up to. You can follow friends and family, or a host of celebs including Stephen Fry, Will Carling, Demi Moore, Chris Moyles, Philip Schofield, oh...and Britney.
Facebook users will be familiar with updating their status from time to time to tell their 'friends' what they're up to, and some of the security concerns I have with Facebook translate to Twitter too. By default, your profile and tweets are 'public', meaning anyone can follow you. You can block followers and also make your account private (meaning you authorise followers before they can view your tweets). But as with Facebook, who's to say that someone really is who they say they are?
One useful feature is that Twitter profiles don't need to be people. They can be groups, clubs, village associations, political parties, news broadcasters, sports bodies, anything really, and whoever decides to follow them will receive their updates.
In conclusion, apart from this last feature, I can't really see the point of Twitter. Am I right, or is it I who is the ...er...twit?!
Q: What are you doing?
A: I'm deleting my Twitter account.
 Untick the box!
When you're installing or updating programs, especially free ones, look out for add-ons which try to install themselves at the same time. They are usually for things like the Google Toolbar or Yahoo Toolbar, and you have the option not to install them, but in order to do this you usually need to UNTICK THE BOX.
Reminder: Microsoft Compatibility Pack
If you're having trouble opening Microsoft Office files you've received in an email the chances are they've been created using Microsoft Office 2007, and hence have been saved in one of the new Office 2007 formats which is incompatible with previous versions of Microsoft Office. Don't despair though - all you need to do is download the Microsoft Compatibility Pack, available from here (about 25MB - easy to install). Check out the 'System Requirements' before downloading, as it's not compatible with older systems (eg. MS Office 97).
Extended Tip: If you already have MS Office 2007 and wish to allow your documents to be opened by people with previous versions without the Compatibility Pack, then when you save each document, click 'Save as' and select 'Word 97-2003 Document'.
You can set each program to save in this format by default by going to the 'Office Button' in Word, Excel or PowerPoint 2007 (the round thing at the very top left), then click on 'Word Options' > 'Save' (or equivalent), then where it says 'Save files in this format:' use the drop-down menu to select the '97-2003 Document' format.
 Spotify - Listen to Music Tracks for FREE!
There's a new music-playing program in town, and it works a little different to your usual media players (iTunes, Media Player, etc). It's called Spotify, and you can play music tracks legally for free. What's the catch? Well, it's ad-supported, so every 15-20 minutes or so you'll hear an advert, usually about 30 seconds long, before your music continues. The record labels like it because it could bring about the end of illegal music file-sharing where they obviously receive no income. At least with Spotify they're making advertising revenue. The record labels also aren't too keen on Apple's dominance in the market with its hugely popular iTunes software.
If you don't want to hear ads, you can pay for ad-free listening, either per day or on a monthly subscription, and you can purchase the tracks for yourself too. Spotify's users have access to all major record labels and some smaller ones too. The playback quality is good as the music is not streamed from a website, but instead Spotify is installed on your PC and the music tracks are cached to your computer, so even if your internet connection is interrupted, your track can play on (for a while, at least). Just be careful if you're listening regularly and you have a download limit set by your broadband provider, or you might get additional charges from them.
 Personally, I'm a fan of iTunes, but i do find the 30-second previews for finding new tracks a little restrictive. I'd like to listen to a whole song before choosing whether I want to buy it, and Spotify gives me that ability. Dare I say, Spotify even looks quite like iTunes. You can add playlists to your account at home, then go to work, open Spotify, and have access to the same playlists. Neat. Watch this space...this could be the start of something big.
Spotify's website is www.spotify.com. For Spotify FAQs see here. |
