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By Jon M. Cohen – New Media Specialist

By now you must have seen the changes that have taken place on your home page on Facebook. I  have heard the uproar from the community about how ugly it is and how hard it is to use. So let’s set aside all the complaints, sit back and look at why this change was needed and what will be the long term gain to the Facebook user lover.

It should be noted that every 6 to 9 months the good people at Facebook have felt the need to change the look and feel of this amazingly popular website. The last change we saw only affected the design and the look. This time  in addition to the look and feel, Facebook has cleverly changed some of the functionalities, including the change to the home landing page and to the user’s personal page. You may ask why they would make the change besides wanting to piss off more than two million users. Well my smart-ass answer can be summed up in one word, “Darwinism.”Yes that’s right, these changes are meant as a form of evolution. Remember only the strong survive and  when the owners of Facebook were not able to purchase their biggest competitor they needed to adjust the Facebook site to compete with and offer similar functions.

I assume you have heard  of Twitter  but just in case it is a social networking site that features “micro-blogging.” Twitter has really tipped in the last few months and with celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Jimmy Fallon, and Britney Spears it is no surprise that more and more of mainstream web users are really giving it a go. As a result, Facebook needed to make some major changes to its systems. Granted,  Twitter only has 300,000 users which is a small user base when compared to Facebook. The truth of the matter is that Twitter is a real threat to Facebook. Twitter’s 140 character “Tweets” can easily be compared to  Facebook’s status update section and so it was an easy choice for the Facebook team to change that status update to “what’s on your mind?” Now with these basic functionality changes and a redesigned home page (that looks a lot like the Twitter home page) Facebook can start to roll out some of the same functions that Twitter currently offers. Let’s face it, Twitter is where the web is going so if Facebook can grab the audience then it will insure a long life  as a social networking website. Therefore in the long run, users will actually gain functionality by these changes. We will still see some minor changes to Facebook in the months to come. One change  to look for is the removal of the “Friends” cap, which is currently sitting at a maximum of 5000 friends. Going forward users will be able to have over 100,000 friends on Facebook.

I leave you with this final thought, if printers and scanners can join to become an all-in-one printer, why not try to use the new Facebook and empower yourself to see all that social networking and “micro-blogging” have to offer. You may be surprised by the outcome. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, CLICK HERE

By Jon M. Cohen

Loving Twitter is not a crime! Not using it to it’s potential is not a crime either, but it is a shame if you don’t really see all that Twitter can offer you. Unlike other social media websites Twitter has an API that is open and allows for developers to create applications that can be independent of the web browser. One fairly new application is TweetDeck, based on the amazingly versatile Adobe Air language. TweetDeck, still in Beta has a great deal of useful components to it. Of course you can do all the basic features that one would expect from a Twitter application. Functions like: posting a tweet, seeing friend’s timeline, and seeing direct messages. The things that really stands out for me with TweetDeck is the added features that come built in to this application.

Since TweetDeck is an Adobe Air based application it is easily installable on all three major software platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux).

Some of the most useful features in my opinion are “TwitScoop”, “Twitter Search”, “Stock Twits”, and “Groups” 

    * TwitScoop is in my opinion the most useful feature that TweetDeck offers. What you get with this feature is the ability to see what are the most popular buzzwords being posted on Twitter. So if you want to know the trends or the topics that the whole Internet community is talking about? Then the answer can be easily found with this feature.

    * Twitter Search is a powerful and very useful tool that will allow you to type in a keyword and then TweetDeck will create a section for you to see all the tweets about that keyword.

    * Stock Twits is just as you assume a tracker for your favorite symbols from any of the major exchanges. It is fast and easily customizable to the users preferences. All that is needed is to signup at the website and configure your portfolio.

    * Groups, this may seem like an expected feature for any Twitter application, and frankly it is common in some. But what TweetDeck does differently with its configuration and the power behind this feature is what sets it apart from all other competitors. With the groups feature you can choose which tweets you want to see while not seeing all the other people you follow. 

A few other nice parts about this application is the ability to pick the color scheme you want, as well the settings allow you to tweak the Twitter API on refresh rates. 

TweetDeck still has some room to grow and it is apparent that it is still in Beta. With that being said I would still highly recommend it for all Twitter users. In my opinion it is a must have application for all Twittter users. Get your own copy of TweetDeck here.

TweetDeck Full screenshot

By Jon M. Cohen

As most consumers embrace new technologies like digital cameras, digital camcorders and MP3 players is can be assumed that  today’s average consumer will find them-self with more and more files that become highly important and can’t be lost.  As more content is created the more we realize that the internal hard drive in computers is not large enough to handle the information that we hold so precious. It comes to a point where we need to increase our hard drive to hold all that information. Below are some basic tips to ensure that you buy the best replacement hard drive for your needs.

My first tip is the most important; and thus I suggest that if you only read one part this is it! When you are ready to change your desktop computer hard drive it is key to know what kind of connector is needed from the desktop’s motherboard. The two most popular options are ATA (also know as PATA) or the newer SATA (Serial ATA). It sounds like a very simple tip, but 70% of people are unsure and are unable to answer this question when they walk in to their local computer retailer. For anyone who is not sure what I mean by this significant difference; the only reasonable comparison that one can make is the difference between gas engines and diesel engines. Therefore, when you go to refuel your car you can’t put diesel fuel in a regular gas tank.

Size does matter! Buy the hard drive for the future. When you get to the store you may have options between 250GB, 500Gb, 750GB, 1000GB (1TB) and maybe even 1500GB (1.5TB). The right size is going to vary depending on your use. My rule of thumb is to get three times larger capacity. So if you are using a 250, then get a 750GB; if you have a 500Gb then a 1.5TB is the right amount. The good thing with most desktop computers is that you can have multiple drives in the computer. Therefore to reach 1.5TB you can use 2 x 750Gb. As drive sizes get large and prices go down I would always encourage people to get everything in one drive. This option offers less failure rate and gives improved speeds and performance.

Lots of people will tell you that one brand is better then another brand. The truth of the matter is that some brands are in fact better. The failure rate for any brand is almost all equal over a 12-month period. The same way that if you buy a really good car (like Bentley or Ferrari) you will still need service and you will still need to get service done for it. The point I am making is this; all technology can breakdown. Just make sure you are prepared. You should have some kind of backup solution. I know I sound a bit pessimistic, but it is better to be safe then sorry.

Speed, Speed, Speed…my last tip is that when you have a chance to get a new hard drive you should take advantage of any speed boosts with the technology. Over the last number of years we have seen the change from 5200RPM to 7200RPM drives. This means a faster read and writes speed. As technology improves, we will see that 10,000RPM or faster drives will be more common. Therefore, when you have a chance to upgrade and get a new drive you should take the fastest speeds you can afford.

Since you are in a position to upgrade or change your desktop hard drive I hope you keep the above mentioned four points in your head.. Find the perfect drive that meets your needs… Look for the fastest speed for the biggest drives and don’t get hung up to much on brand and lastly make sure you get the right kind of connection for you computer’s mother board.

By Jon M. Cohen  - Technology Consultant

So everyone you know wants a Mac!  Macs are super hot and super popular. While at the same time when people look in to getting a new computer and start to consider the mac they all say the same phrases: “Why does it cost more then a Windows machine?” and “I don’t need a machine that high end”, or “I think it is to high for my budget”. So if you are like me, I’ve just been pointing people to the Mac Mini. I have been suggesting this solution for years, but I stopped in 2008. Due to the fact that I didn’t think it was great value for the money anymore. Now with Apple’s release of the new Mac Mini I am so happy to be able to start recommending the Mac Mini again.

The Mac Mini, in some peoples estimation the least popular of the whole Apple computer line. So why update it? Why not just let it die? In fact during the majority of 2008 many people just assumed it was going to go the way of the dinosaurs. No one wanted an underpowered Mac that had not been updated in over 18 months. The sheer fact that Apple didn’t update the specs or give it a speed bump of some sort made one believe that the writing on the wall, spelling out the end for this, the smallest of Apple’s Mac.

Just before the end of 2008 their was a buzz going around the tech community about the idea of a new Mac Mini. What a perfect time for an update to Apple’s lowest priced Mac. It is said by many that timing is everything, and with the economy in a downward turn, this would be the ideal time to offer the consumer electronic market a low priced mac that is also full featured. Therefore a sub $800 Mac Mini should be a big seller when money is tight. Their is no doubt that Apple is on a high in popularity right now and with this new Mac Mini it should really help grow even more market share. 

The smallest Mac ever

The new Mac Mini’s come with a standard Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at 2.0 Ghz, with 1 or 2GB RAM, 120GB Hard disk drive, it also features an nVidia graphics card witch supports both mini DVI and the new display port. Priced at a starting value of $599 (approx.), I assume this unit will sell very well. Besides all of these upgrades one of the nicest things is in some basic design changes. The addition of more USB ports and inclusion of a FireWire 800 Port really shows off the talents of the people that Apple has working for them, and proves they understand the consumers needs. These new Mac Mini’s will be available for purchasing in early March 2009.

All the ports of the 2009 Mac Mini