It’s the end of the year, and that means it’s time for us to dole out a few awards to the best assorted technological things that we’ve come across over the course of the last 12 months. As with last year, our own picks have already been made and shall be revealed on the stroke of 2013, but this year we’ve decided to create some Readers’ Choice prizes as well. There are ten categories (each with five nominees) which are as follows:
Best smartphone
Best tablet
Best mobile OS
Best desktop OS
Best computer
Best design
Best game
Best Android app
Best iOS app
Best Windows Phone app
To find out the nominees and cast your vote, click here to go to the voting form and let your voice be heard. You have until 00:00 GMT on Saturday 29th December to get your submissions in, and results will be posted very soon after that.
The majority of people I know on Facebook have way over 400 friends. This is ridiculous. I know that the average person will not care about half of his/her ‘friends’ posts, comments and statuses. So why have them? Does it seem cool to have a load of people you could possibly speak to if you ever might need them? Or do you just add people for the sake of adding them?
Facebook now lets you rate your friends too. By default you have groups for your work colleagues, local friends, acquaintances and school friends and you can make even more if you desire. If these people are really your friends, is it really fair to rate them? Do any fall into the acquaintance category, and if yes, then why are they labelled as a Facebook ‘friend’? Maybe it’s just me, but this whole thing seems really messed up.
Also I think accepting people you don’t properly know is actually quite dangerous. I’m not saying that they’re going to steal your identity and spend all your money, but the more ‘friends’ you have that aren’t your friends, the more you are open to different forms of cyberbullying and online threats. About a year ago I would have never have thought of this but on my old Facebook account I saw some pretty nasty comments that really upset people. Behind a screen people are brave.
I must say that I have so far been through two different Facebook accounts. On the first I had nearly 600 friends, but on my new one I have just 122. When browsing the old one, I used to get so much random crap appearing in my news feed that I did not care about at all. Now I only see what is relevant to me and the people that I care about. Of course I accept the fact that a few people will be the exception, and will actually speak properly to every 400th person they have as a friend, but do you?
I know I said things in previous posts and I really need to start writing more stuff but I need some help. Please take 10 seconds to vote for what you would like me to do in Minecraft!
Another week means another thing that should exist and this week we move onto the big topic of bins, and how improving them in certain ways could make no change in our lives whatsoever apart from the occasional moment of joy or entertainment at the expense of you putting an unwanted item in a bin.
We start with the obvious talking bin. I’ve heard that some talking bins already exist but I’m talking about a bin that powers itself either with solar power or recycling the items that the person places into the bin, such as biodegrading an apple. Yes, this is not something either productive or useful, but a bin that will pleasantly tell you a joke or give you a “fun fact” will send you merrily on your way for the rest of the day. As well as having them talk to you, they could look like some of your favourite cartoon characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants or your everyday talking dog.
As well as having bins talk to you every time you throw something away, another pretty pointless feature that could be adapted to bins is the option to spray the user in the face with some sort of water or energy drink. That way, every time you recycle or help the environment by throwing something away, you get a lovely refreshing spray of nice cold water to drink or wash your face with.
And think of the advertising potential!
To be honest, that is all I can think of for the huge amounts of fun you can have with bins, but if any of you people can think of anything else, let myself or someone important know.
Announced just over 1 week ago, Apple’s new iPad is now available. The ‘resolutionary’ tablet sports a 2048 x 1536 display that covers 9.7″, doubling the pixel density to Retina levels. The processor has received a 200MHz bump to become a 1GHz dual-core chip, while the GPU from the PlayStation Vita completes the A5X chip. 1GB RAM, a 5MP rear camera that borrows optics from the iPhone 4S and support for ‘4G’ LTE and HSPA+ networks round out the change list.
Microsoft today unveiled a new logo for Windows 8 to fit more with the Metro design language that has won much praise from media and consumers alike. The logo uses the Segoe typeface that is making its way into all Microsoft branding and products, but the traditional flag has been replaced with a strangely angled flag window. Unlike the actual design of Windows 8, I don’t like this at all. What do you think? Let us know in the poll below.
Nokia today confirmed that a white variant of the popular Lumia 800, our best gadget of 2011, will hit stores this month. The polycarbonate shell is glossy unlike the black, cyan and magenta versions and is internally identical to its pigmented siblings. The end result looks awesome, but I think I still prefer the cyan. What do you think? Have a look at all of the models below and give us your thoughts in the poll.
Digixav 