The year 2011 was all about the tablet computer, we saw the first ever affordable (and good) Android options launch, and people went gaga over the idea of 4G and LTE and the BlackBerry PlayBook. This year, the atmosphere was a little different on the show floor. Yes, we did have a lot of new products coming out, but the main points seemed to be more about the long term trends than any particular product per se. I found this new way of assessing technology pretty interesting however as ways in which the average consumer could integrate some of the trends slowly started to emerge. Here’s my overview of the top five tech trends at CES 2012- let’s see if any of these make it into your home or work this year.
The year of the connected TV
We’ve heard mumblings about connected TVs for some time now (and you can read my article on future predictions here) but there generally have been two barriers to them going mainstream. One has been the pricepoint as most people simply aren’t ready to invest in a new LCD TV so soon, and the second barrier has been confusion over the services offered and the many complex buttons on the remote controls. This year is a little different, as not only were all the big names (SHARP, LG, and SAMSUNG) offering up web ready televisions but they’d also started integrating some pretty helpful features.
I’m talking about TVs that come with an integrated forward facing camera installed, TV’s that feature an upgradeable card slot so that you don’t need to replace the hardware and TV’s that offer remote assistance where the helpdesk can actually program your TV for you if you’re struggling (Sharp Aquos is offering this service). We’re also seeing super slim bezels on offer from a lot of brands, with some a mere 3mm thick- very gasp worthy. One of the new TV areas I’m intrigued by is the increase in peripheral devices, as these allow you to upgrade your TV without buying a new one- such as snap on cameras for Skypeing. Read more…
I have worked online for over seven years, and a lot of my time and effort goes into creating blogposts. The subject matter changes- one day I’m reviewing the latest mobile phone, next time it’s a beauty product, but the format is pretty similar and writing online has its own rules and regulations. I’m an online writer, a web journalist, an editor, a social media consultant, a presenter and a blogger. It’s the blogger part of this equation that often produces the most interest and there’s one question I get over and over again.
How do you make money from blogging?
I’ve been explaining the intricate answer to this question for a number of years now and thought it might help if I put it down in steps for you to follow. First of all, I’m going to address the money/blogging issue from the perspective of a home based NON journalist blogger. If you have writing experience, that’s great, that will definitely help, but if you’re asking this question it suggests you’re not being paid to blog- you’re not on the staff of Handbag/ Beauty and the Dirt/ Sugar etc (great blogging business companies) so you’re looking to find out for personal use.
First of all, you should never EVER start blogging as a way to make money. For one, the passion will be lacking in your writing and you won’t get the followers, and secondly only a few few people ever make serious cash from their blog. Blogging superstars like Sussanah Lau of Style Bubble have revealed that most of the money they make is from side projects off the back of their blog- the blog alone does not garner a full wage. If you’re going to blog do it because you like it, you love it- it’s fun. Got it? Ok, now lets see how we can go about helping you get back your hosting fee.
Step One: Choose your Blog Platform Wisely
The platform you choose to blog on will actually help or hinder you in terms of money making. I get that you might not want to invest cash if you’re starting out, but if you’re using a free WordPress.com site, when you look to put ads you’ll be restricted as they don’t allows this in their terms and conditions. So choose wisely if you’re serious. Blogger- which is free on Google, is commonly used because of the flexibility if offers, but it can look a bit clunky and is hard to customise completely. WordPress.com is free to use- but- as already mentioned, restricts you. WordPress.org is also free to use and doesn’t restrict what you can do, but you’ll need to pay to host it (from £5 a month as a guide) and it’s not as easy to set up. There’s also Typepad as another option, but this is lacking popularity nowadays. I love WordPress.org and strongly recommend you start here- don’t think, ‘oh, when I get big I’ll move platforms‘ as you can lose lots of pageviews that way, and it’s a risky strategy.
Step Two: Adverts and Affiliate Links on the blog
The simplest way to make cash from your blog is to place adverts on it. One of the most commonly used platforms for adverts is Google Adsense simply because of how simple it is to install. You choose the areas you want the adverts to run (leaderboard/sidebar/skyscraper etc), identify specify category exclusions and then voila, you’re good to go. Not all ads will be relevant as they often scan the text of the blog to pick a related one, so you may find yourself with gambling ads if you ever talk about the ‘competitive world’ (hence the excluding option). It’s easy to install, but a little clunky to play with at the back-end and the returns are pretty low money wise. You generally make money here via clicks per impression (amount can can vary) and unless you have high volume traffic you probably won’t make very much (Think around £1 a month if you have below 5000 unique visitors a month). Read more…
We all come in different shapes and sizes but this isn’t often very well represented by the mainstream media. Sure, we have ‘real life’ features where the women have been Photoshopped orange with a glossy veneer (a’la TOWIE) or we can read gritty down and out stories where everything looks tinged with canal water, but how about some variety in shop windows and magazine advertisements?
I’ve previously looked at the rise and insanity of vanity sizing, where you see how retailers pretty much create their own dress size guidelines, and I’d like to show people just what a size 12 actually looks like- and then we can see how much we all vary from the ‘guidelines’. Remember, clothes sizes are not life sentences and garments are cut in order to cater to mass markets- we are all individuals and let’s start looking at our bodies that way. OK, if we all wore custom made garments that would be horrifically expensive but we can share how we vary in size on a website called My Body Gallery
The website works on a easy to understand premise where user submissions make up the bulk of its content. You click a few buttons and share your weight, height, dress size and more and voila, your image has been added to their database. The fun really starts when you start sifting through the pictures they have on offer and start analyzing how women of the same basic specs can differ greatly in dimensions. Read more…
Technology is a fascinating arena as it’s constantly evolving with new and exciting products being released all the time. Many people think that high tech products don’t actually affect them on a day to day basis (unless they’re awaiting the iPhone 5) but there’s actually a lot of stuff that’s getting released that has a direct impact on your health and wellbeing. Many of the newest discoveries can actually enable an easier healthier lifestyle, so I’m eager to share some of the most exciting new ways that technology is moving into the field of health and beauty.
Laser Hair Removal using Sound Waves
Laser hair removal has gained popularity and affordability in the last few years, but it’s still a slightly uncomfortable procedure which involves lots of zapping and messy gels being used. Clinogen Laboratories has developed a new way of doing this using a product called the Epil Sonic which uses sound waves to identify and destroy the hair root.
It’s not a perfect treatment as to channel the sound energy down the hair shaft you do need to use a ‘probe’ which might be uncomfortable, but the sonic power of the soundwaves is able to disable the hair follicle and lead to a reduction of hair growth in the chosen areas. Sound energy coupled with static causes no trauma to the surrounding skin and over a period of 6-8 months can lead to a serious reduction in hair growth.
Due to the nature of this treatment you can treat all areas-even those considered particularly tender- without burning or pigmentation. Whats really exciting is that the Epil Sonic treatment doesn’t target melanin like normal laser treatments, so you can actually treat ALL hair colours including grey, white and red air as well as tanned skin (which would normally burn). FYI, shouting won’t work- you have to go and actually use the Epil Sonic machines for the right frequency. Check them out here.
Perfect Sizing in the fitting room with Fits.me
I love shopping online but I find it frustrating that I need to order an outfit in two or three sizes to make sure that it will fit perfectly. I can blame the fact that companies use different sizing, or I can use the FitBot to enable a perfect fit every time. The Fitbot is a robotic mannequin that comprises of a series of shifting mechanical muscles that adjust based on your measurements. How it works is that websites that are enabled with the Fits.me technology will accept your measurements and you can get an idea of how an item of clothing will hang on your exact physical shape. Read more…
I get very depressed each time winter rolls around, and not just because I have to put my shorts away for six months. I suffer from something called Seasonal Affective Disorder (also known as SAD) which means I have a strong reaction to the lack of light and heat in the day. Yes, I know most people prefer summer to winter, but my symptoms are significant enough for me to actually have this condition. I become incredibly lethargic, have problems sleeping and getting out of bed, and lack energy during the day and I’m snappy, irritable and tearful. People may all get these to varying degrees, but I get this so severely I have to take counter measures, so I don’t spend four months hibernating till I see sun again. The theory behind people getting SAD is that the lack of light causes an increase in Melatonin (the sleep hormone) and a reduction in Serotonin (the happy hormone*). When humans were less advanced and farmed the land, we’d all be getting enough light-even in Winter- but modern day means we’re cooped in offices or on the tube and miss out on vital sun time.
Here are five ways to help keep your SAD under control- they help, not heal, as there is no one stop cure, it’s more of an improved sense of well being due to managing lifestyle factors.
Botox for a better mood
It may sound odd, but having Botox just before winter could actively improve your SAD symptoms. Why is this the case? Some researchers believe that paralyzing the muscles between the eyebrows has a significant reduction on people diagnosed with depression.
Dr Eric Finzi started studying the effects of Botox injections on depressive disorder in 2006. He found that after 2 months all subjects had markedly improved in temperament. Her argues this wasn’t due to increased body image, it was because “if you inhibit the ability of this muscle to contract, you’re actually going to feel less sadness and anger. You’re actually going to have more difficulty feeling the emotion because feelings are not just something that’s happening in the brain.”
Richard Alleyne, science writer for the Telegraph says that, ‘The anti-wrinkle drug can make people feel better because it stops them frowning when they are unhappy which feeds back to the brain reducing the intensity of the feeling.’
Another study- this one by the US Association for Psychological Science found tested a group of 40 people with Botox. They were asked to read out a series of statements ranging in tone from positive to negative, before and after treatment. They discovered a small time delay on the negative statements occurring after treatment, which researcher David Havas finds significant because it suggests the brain takes longer to process the emotion behind the statements. Read more…
Every year thousands of students undertake Ph.D’s. They tend to create rather long and weighty tomes about particular topics, all very well explained, educationally pleasing and generally very VERY detailed. Now as much as it’s great to get recognition from your academic peers it might be nice if the general public (also known as Mum and Dad) had some idea about what you’ve actually spent your time doing, and this is where the ‘Dance Your Ph.D’ contest comes into play.
Essentially, it’s exactly how it sounds- you have a couple of minutes to display the whole of your thesis and forethought behind your PhD in dance. From choreographed balletic pieces to modern dance histrionics, how you perform is up to you, the only rules that exist are that your PhD is in a science related field and that you upload your video to Vimeo (they’re a sponsor).
I think this is a fantastic idea- it makes the fields of science so much more accessible, it allows students to evolve their creative side, and it gives the general public something to watch that entertains and educates. I have a friend who has entered this years contest and suddenly I actually feel attuned to her project, rather than it being something complicated and distant.
There are four categories in total; Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Social Sciences, and all dances are scored on 3 scales; scientific merit, artistic merit, and creative combination of the science and art. You’re also encouraged to fully explain the nature of your project in the description area below your video (in case it’s very off the wall and you need a guiding post). There will be a winner in each category and an overall winner that gets flown to Brussels for the TEDx conference and a nice wad of cash. Read more…
Amazon just announced news of its first ever tablet, the Kindle Fire which has a swish seven inch screen with a dedicated browser (called Silk) and looks to take on the iPad as a serious contender. OK, it’s like the iPad Lite, but with the weight of the Amazon inventory behind it might be the first tablet that makes it into the mainstream- did I mention it’s UK (estimated) retail price will be £125 compared to the most basic iPad at £399- you do the math.
However, I’m actually more intrigued and excited with the news that they’re selling a new Kindle eReader for $79 though (that’s the US price) as this might finally be the breakthrough device which puts eReaders firmly on the curriculum. Up till this point eReaders were a covetable piece of property, but one that many people felt were slightly unnecessary- or out of their pricepoint.
This lowered retail price puts buying a Kindle well into impulse buying territory and practically guarantees that every other household will be finding one under the tree this Christmas. With prices dropping in such a manner, I can imagine that Amazon will next turn its sights into making the Kindle a mandatory school accessory.
We’ve already seen the proliferation of iPad use in high end private schools, but a device like the Kindle- with the associated bulk buy discount and personalized profanity filters- would be Amazon’s way of consolidating the eReader hold, as if they make it into mainstream public education their dominance will be unrivalled for the next 20 years or so. Thee do exist fairly sturdy school eReaders already- the Ectaco educational eReader for example, but costs and compatibility issues often outweigh the fact that you can drop them and throw them around. Read more…
