Tag / The Poll

by Hannah Marsh :)

I have 122 friends on Facebook and this is why

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?

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Nokia & AT&T unveil their Lumia 900 ad campaign

Nokia‘s Lumia 900 launches this weekend, with both Nokia and AT&T promising their largest ever ad campaign – even bigger than that for the first iPhone. The Smartphone Beta Test ads, starring Chris Parnell of Saturday Night Live fame, state how every smartphone in the last 5 years has been part of an elaborate beta test.

Do you think the campaign will work? Watch the ads and vote in our poll below.

Update: Here is another ad for the phone, but not with Chris Parnell or reference to the Smartphone Beta Test. This one is pure AT&T.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

New iPad out now, but not for £50

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.

Stores will be selling the new tablet from 8am on Friday in various locations, with the UK pricing starting at £399 for a 16GB WiFi model, before progressing up to £479 and £559 for 32 and 64GB respectively. To get LTE capability as well, expect to pay an additional £100, up to £659 for the 64GB WiFi and 4G model. Do not, however, expect to pay £49.99 for it. A technical blunder from Tesco, similar to that involving Argos and the Nokia Lumia 800, priced the high-end model at this bargain level, but orders were swiftly cancelled. A spokesman confirmed:

We like to offer our customers unbeatable value, but unfortunately this is an IT error that is currently being corrected.

Will you be getting one, or does the newly reduced iPad 2 still float your boat? Let us know in the poll and comments.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

The Poll: How do YOU pronounce GIF?

We all love a GIF, but how do you pronounce it? To find the most widespread pronunciation, here’s a poll.

Feel free to stick some of your favourite GIFs below. For inspiration, why not head over to The Verge, specifically here, here and here?

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Nokia confirm white variant of Lumia 800

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.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

The Poll: What should Facebook’s stock symbol be?

Facebook is expected to finally go public this week, with an expected IPO of up to $100,000,000,000. While this isn’t really news in itself, the imminence of the big day has led many people to ponder as to what the stock symbol of Zuckerberg’s baby will be. We have compiled a short list of likely candidates, but feel free to suggest your own in the poll below.

PS: FACE is already taken by Physicians Formula Holdings, Inc., but they are only valued at $40,818,000. If Zuckerberg wanted their symbol, he could just reach into his pocket and come out with a cosmetics company, so we aren’t ruling that out just yet.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

The Poll: What is your favourite thing from CES?

It’s been great, but what is your favourite new thing?