Are you my online friend?

• · Online social networking involves building a community of people who share similar interests and activities
• · Popular social networking sites include MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Hi5, Tagged, Xing, Friendster, LinkedIn, Twitter
• · First steps:
• o Create profile and customize
• o Adjust privacy settings
• o Add friends
• o Post content (blogs, pictures, video)
• o Join a group or forum
• o Install and tweak gadgets and apps
• o Go mobile
• · Look out for dangers
• · Never post your phone number, address or personal info
• · Don’t post your birth date
• · Note, everything you post is permanently available
• · Verify your friends are your friends

Is it a phone or is it a camera?

• · Know the limitations of your cell phone's camera, and what it will and will not give you
• · Chose a single subject
• · Be sneaky, Capture the unexpected
• · Get close and personal
• · Look for light, it’s all about the light
• · Hold it steady, very steady
• · Plan for shutter delay
• · Capturing moving objects requires some practice
• · Use night mode
• · Keep the lens clean
• · Snap extra photos

What is 3G and why do I want it?

Every day we are bombarded with offers to switch to 3G

Here’s what we need to know

· 3G means Third Generation

· With 3G, you have greater capacity

· This makes live video streaming, video calls, broadband wireless not just possible, but practical

· Can be very expensive, relatively new technology

· Speeds up to 14.4 Mbits/s and 5.8 Mbits /s uplink

· Comparable to Wi-Fi

· 2G includes GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)

· GSM: Global; System for Mobile Communication 80% of world

· GSM introduced us to SMS: Short Text Messaging

· GSM is a cellular network, which means that mobile phones connect to it by searching for cells in the immediate vicinity; 9600 bit/s

· TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access

· CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access

· EDGE: Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution

· 4G: a comprehensive IP solution where voice, data and streamed multimedia can be given to users on an "Anytime, Anywhere" basis, and at higher data rates than previous generations. wireless broadband access, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), video chat, mobile TV, HDTV content, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), minimal service like voice and data, and other streaming services for "anytime-anywhere"

Analogue, TDMA/CDMA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, 4G

Hello Moto!

So, how come my phone can make music when it rings?

• It’s a sound to indicate an incoming call or text message

• Usually a customisable musical tone

• Name comes from traditional phones that has bell ring

• Currently there are three types of ringtones, monophonic, polyphonic and true tones

• Monophonic, original format. Play one tone at a time

• Polyphonic, progress! Multiple tones, sounds much more real, but no lyrics.

• True tones, current technology, sounds like the song

• Make your own or download your own

• Make it using software to play the notes, download first from service provider website, get via text message, blue tooth, IR or GPRS

• Cost between JMD$50 and $200

• Customise your phone, different tones for different callers or groups of callers, know when your phone is ringing in a group, and cause its fun!

• This is big business. Billions of dollars annually

Making the best of the bad

Olive struggled to hold back the tears as she shared her very personal and touching story of loss and pain. Her son, Ricardo, died a young man from a rare disease, vasculitis. In basic terms, vasculitis is an inflammation of the blood vessels in the body, in real terms it is easy to misdiagnose, hard to treat and even harder to live with.

She has founded the Ricardo Lee Foundation to promote her son’s the legacy and awareness of the disease its symptoms and treatments. With assistance and support of her family physician Dr. Michael Bandbury, who is also Chairman of the foundation, Olive has lobbied to stage an annual medical symposium through the University Hospital of the West Indies to educate local doctors, For more information call the Foundation at 876.846.4498. May God bless Ricardo.

In fine Smile style, it certainly was a twist when Harry Toddler clad from orange hair to clothes stepped in to encourage us to travel safely. He too was personally inspired by the tragic premature death of his friend and colleague, Craig Dennis. Doing what he does best, Toddler used his music to communicate the message that we all must take responsibility for our own road safety. It’s not always about the party but actually arriving at the party.

Looking at another serious issue, we received information, guidance and comfort from Leachim Semaj and Yvonne Wilks as they elaborated the features of the upcoming RJR Sports Foundation Symposium – Yes You Can. Leachim introduced us to the principle of social capital: GNG – grow t’ing fi nyam an’ gi weh. Interested? Me too! The symposium will be on Saturday, March 14 at the Police Officers Club.

So, enough of the heavy (but important) stuff. Time for fun, and we did have fun with brother/sister team Jana and Rupert Bent and their amazing BRAND JAMAICA product, Shaggy Parrot and the Reggae Band from their Reggae Pickney line of children’s product. A year of development by a large team of persons resulted in this full colour, hard cover story book and 15 track music CD. It’s available for sale … buy two; one for the deserving child in your life and one to sell on eBay 20 years from now; it will be well worth it.

Another set of Jamaicans doing us proud are the ladies in the synchronized swimming team … yes, synchronized swimming. Dianhann Campbell and Amanda Eyre will be staging a cocktail party to raise funds for our synchronized swimming team to represent the country at the Carifta Games in Aruba next month. They need a million Jamaican dollars and you can contribute by attending the Aquatic Art In Motion – An Evening of Water Dynamics on Friday, March 27 at the Stellar Marris Aquatic Complex.

We wrapped up the morning with an engaging discussion with Soca Queen Allison Hinds, Saltfish Culinary Challenge reps Debe-Ann Lange-Chen and Jean Lowrie-Chin and long time Linstead friend Dr. Audrey McNab for Pet Vibes.

Speaking of wrapping up, we wrap up Cross Country tomorrow in front of the Rodney Memorial … see you there.

Blackberry vs iPhone

So, it seems to me that almost everybody has a Blackberry. First, of interest only to workaholics who obsessively checked emails, now even François is on BB!

Why? Because they are SO cool! Seriously, the Blackberry platform is exceedingly stable and reliable. It seamlessly combines a well functioning phone with a mobile office built on ‘push’ technology. BB ‘pushes’ your email from multiple email accounts to your phone.

The Pearl, Curve, Bold and soon to be available locally Storm, all boast a bright, sharp colour display, QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi for super fast browsing and Bluetooth with Fort Knox type security.

But what makes it really cool is BB Messenger. Sure, most BB’s come preloaded with computer based instant messenger services like Yahoo!, MSN and Google Talk, but they all use data transfer which may be at a cost. BB Messenger is handset to handset from EVERYWHERE at no extra cost.

Cooler still, you can send voice notes and pictures through BB IM. Coolest of all! You can have multiple participants in one conversation or multiple conversations.

As for the iPhone, this is true touch technology, like we were introduced to on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Like the BB, the iPhone can make and receive calls, but iPhone is so the wrong name for this palm top computer. You can listen to music, watch recorded TV and movies, send and receive email and text messages, run all sorts of really cool aps, browse the internet, take pictures, view maps and satellite images (almost out of breath). But, Bluetooth is a problem, stability is a problem, cut and pasting is a problem.

My verdict, the iPhone is a great entertainment device; the BB is a great business tool. Good thing for me, I have both.

Challenge: Which is better?