Article by Web Design Express.

Internet Speeds
Internet speed is important to a lot of people. As technology helps to speed up the Internet, developers push the limits of the technology so that the user experience is maximized. Regardless of how fast the Internet gets, it will still not satisfy everyone.

Increasing Speeds
While not everyone can be content with web speeds, you can make an effort to pacify as many people as possible by speeding up your website. There are a few really easy ways you can do this. In this article I will show you how a CDN (Content Delivery Network) and Amazon’s S3 (Simple Storage Solution) can help make your site load significantly faster.

A Storage Solution
Let’s look at Amazon S3. On the surface, S3 seems to be nothing more than a hosting server. And that’s really all it is. But it is a really efficient and speedy hosting server. Fast enough, in fact, that Amazon runs its extremely high traffic site from it. So there is one way to speed your site up.

A Content Delivery Network
Another way you can speed up your site is by using a CDN, “So what is a CDN?” you may ask. A CDN, or Content Delivery Network, is a worldwide network of server that store a websites files in cache, so they can be accessed repeatedly in any region of the world without having to transfer from the origin server. This decreases the amount of traffic that goes through your server, which will improve its own performance, add additional performance and save you money.

Using Both Services Together
The great thing about using these two services is they can be used at the same time. Using A CDN with S3 will offer improvements in latency and load times, which will make the visitors of your site much happier.

 


It’s been about six months since Microsoft released Outlook.com, which is meant to replace its outdated Hotmail service, and with almost 60 million users that have switched over, the company is on the verge of launching the biggest marketing campaign ever for its new webmail service.

 

In an effort to get people to try something new, Microsoft, which lost out to Gmail nine years ago, adds perspective to the way technology has changed recently, in saying, “Things are different today than they were in 2004. We use new communication services, like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and we have a much greater appreciation for well-designed and well-connected systems.”

 

Bearing stark similarity to what Microsoft is doing with the transition from Windows Live Messenger to Skype, making the switch from Hotmail to Outlook is currently optional but will become mandatory by the summer.

 

Since getting people to switch email services is difficult and a “slow-moving category”, Outlook now gives users the option to switch from Gmail as well, thanks to the latter running into more and more complications.

 

What is apparent is that with the modern interface and features that Microsoft has to offer with Outlook, its plans to compete with Google in a space that it controlled only a decade ago, are clearly evident. In not shying away from comparisons with Gmail, the company is very clear about the fact that they are offering an excellent webmail service that is on par with the former.

 

What is also clear is that the new Outlook.com interface is an excellent upgrade from Hotmail, and despite the possibility of users being reluctant to switch to this new-and-improved service, it could well worth a shot.


Article submitted by Submit Express.

It’s unanimous that Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google dominate the online world yet according to panelists at the Techonomy Conference, Apple and Facebook are particularly vulnerable.

One of the panelists, known as Alec Ellison, the chairman of technology investment banking at Jefferies & Company, has criticized Apple, in saying that the company must continue to come up with cool new products if it wants to remain in the lead. Alternatively, the other three namely Facebook, Amazon and Google won’t lose much ground even if they don’t come up with innovative products.

He also said that the Apple Store, which is a key advantage now, might work against them in the near future and likened it to the example of IBM stores that only became a “big drain” when product momentum slowed down. Citing these reasons, he also went as far as to say that Apple has the least “stickiness” with customer compared to the other three.

As for Facebook, Mark Mahaney, a former analyst at Citi, Mark Zuckerberg remains a big question mark as he has only spent time with Techonomy’s David Kirkpatrick but very little with anyone else. Hence, the question mark as it doesn’t reveal how good executives really are for the next 5 to 10 years.

He also said that Facebook’s margins are very high and they should switch to ‘investment mode’ as soon as possible. Also, one area that Facebook hasn’t invested sufficiently enough has been mobile where, due to HTML5, their mobile apps have significant technical issues while it took them far too long to come out with an iPad app.

Also, the analyst, Mahaney also said that in the next few years another big online player will emerge, thanks to using a technology that isn’t economic yet.

Article submitted by Submit Express. If you need SEO services or online reputation management services, visit Submit Express.


Google strikes a new deal with European music publishing entities which now gives it access to 5.5 million tracks in 35 countries, and which includes artists such as Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

Considered to be one of the largest alliances of music publishers, Armonia will help Google to expand its music offerings in Europe will mean competition for both Amazon and Apple. In fact, the terms of this deal are exactly “in line with industry standards involving Google rivals like Amazon and Apple’s iTunes”.

Catherine Kerr-Vignale, SACEM representative, also considers this deal to be much broader than Apple and Amazon’s country-by-country licensing agreements, and which really boils down to more of its users being able to access more content in more places than before – 35 more countries to be precise.

Until now, Google Play has only had US-only content, and was not able to compete in countries where it lags behind competitors such as Apple and Amazon. With this type of deal, not only can it gain an upper hand on the competition but also offer more international content for its Google Play users.

Another reason why this deal can turn out to advantageous for Google is because it will not only compete with Apple but will prevent Amazon from using Android as their content delivery system for their own marketplace.

What this deal will also do is address the complaints made by international reviewers about the lack of content that the Nexus 7 is unable to offer its consumer outside the United States. This deal between Google and Armonia also offers content from the UK and American parts of the Universal Music Publishing library as well as Sony’s Latin Catalog.


Speaking from Ecuador’s Embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, spoke to the media and supporters expressing the need to put an end to the “witch-hunt” against his organization and its staff and supporters.

In facing extradition to Sweden, Assange spoke of the United States and its efforts against WikiLeaks, in saying, “As WikiLeaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression and the health of our societies. We must use this moment to articulate the choice that is before the government of the United States of America. Will it return to and reaffirm the values it was founded on? Or will it lurch off the precipice dragging us all into a dangerous and oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the fear of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark?”

Assange, while speaking from the embassy, also thanked the Latin American country for asylum and also mentioned that he would not like to give political statements or face a nullification of his status.

Under the watchful eyes of about 100 policemen who has surrounded the embassy just in case Assange attempted to make an escape, he also said that the United States must ‘dissolve its FBI investigation’ but also make a pledge so as to not act against journalists who are trying to shine a light on rich and powerful people. He also thanked the people of the UK, US, Australia and Sweden for their support even though their governments have done otherwise.

In granting Assange asylum, tension between Britain and Ecuador have also escalated, and the British government has clearly stated that it will not allow Assange safe passage out of the country.