So last night Google announced that it is launching a new operating system to rival Microsoft. Google started life as a simple search engine focused on the quality of search results, with minimal advertising on its home page, and it grew its user base through good old word-of-mouth. Today it is a monster brand which has expanded into a plethora of web based areas which help most office based workers do their jobs. Google's statement reads: “Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start ...

Working in the magical world of social media, we are regularly looking to create accounts for clients across various social platforms and often - it is a well known client - we find that a particular account has been already taken by a cyber squatter. To ensure a client’s identities are easier and quicker to find you need to identify a common username across multiple social media sites. I have been using a tool which does this called namechk. Basically it’s a service which allows you to type a username and check for its availability. ...

I received an outreach approach this morning about a new search engine which has been launched to rival the likes of Google. Oparla, which pays users to search, claims to use social media technology to provide a more accurate search. Visitors can rank sites, comment on results and message other users asking for advice. The release states: “Oparla will reward one user every day with a cash bonus of up to £1000. The lottery like system will be based on account holders signing in and using the search ...

Ok I admit this is an unusual post for me, as it is off topic for once, but it is something I have found very useful so I wanted to share it. If you are looking to borrow some money at the moment you will be looking around at loans of between 8-10% at the cheapest. However, I have a route around that. All you need to do is enrol for a Virgin Credit Card. It looks like any normal credit card but it has the longest (at the moment) interest free period of 16 months – which isn’t bad for a start. However, the best bit is this, if you get one of ...

Have our inboxes grown too quickly? Is email passé? Are terms such as ‘Facebook me’ about to become the norm and kill email entirely? I read an interesting article by Erik Qualman this morning about Generation Z no longer using email and using social networks instead. Erik writes: “Just as people use Google as a verb -- Google it -- they're starting to use phrases like "Facebook Me." People are no longer exchanging e-mails; they're exchanging social media information. In many instances, they will never get this e-mail address. If they desire this type of communication, the social networks have inboxes of their own that replicate and replace e-mail.” ...

Now I will be honest I don’t get many perks in this job, so I thought this was worth a quick post as it brightened up my day. During the last few months we have been working hard on a number of new clients and projects – some which you may have heard about already. One of our new clients is Sony Ericsson which has hired us to advise on a variety of social media campaigns.  One of these new campaigns/projects has been to help ...

Today Sam Oakely and I were having a little chuckle in the office at Google's page ranking system. You can have it as part of your browser if you have the Google toolbar. It's a pretty useful tool which gives you a ranking out of 10 for each blog/web page. This can be a useful guideline as a starter and the criteria changes regularly resulting in the less important sites being down graded etc. Currently, this blog is 4/10 which isn't bad but isn't great - note to self must work harder! Wikipedia describes ...

OK it's gadget meets Facebook time again. Those of you who read my blog regularly will know that I am a regular Window's mobile user - I have been using the HTC TYTN 2 for quite a while despite having two different units which have both had their screens malfunction. The Download Squad are today reporting that FriendMobilizer is a new Facebook application for Windows Mobiles that gives us access to some of the most popular areas of Facebook. The new application allows you to: Update your status Receive ...

If you are a regular Twitter user, you may well be interested to hear that there is a new tool available which means you can check and update your Twitter status directly from Microsoft Outlook - so no more switching from one site to another. I have just tested it and it appears to work just fine and it's actually really useful. Interestingly, it singles out messages to just you too, which is a really useful function - I had spotted most of my personal messages but there were a few in there that I didn't know about. Thanks, to Tom Murphy for flagging this one up to me - very useful. ...

I haven't written about DJ gadgets yet because I was waiting for something worthwhile to come along. I am huge believer in big brand names in this industry as the good brands (Pioneer, Technics) usually make the best products. I have worked with most of the turntables and CD turntables available whilst working as a club/house DJ (moonlighting on the side) during my time in London and the quality levels of these can vary greatly. This can be difficult if you are used to mixing with a strong heavy plate on your turntable and then you go to play on a cheaper deck ...