The Future of Online Anonymity

Stricter identity verification means greater advocacy for online user transparency 
The Perils of Online Anonymity: Real Person or Sham?
We can never be totally certain with whom we are interacting on the Web. Normally, we can't see others' faces, we can't see their IDs, and we don't even know if their name is real or a pseudonym. Social media sites and tools including Skype, Facebook, and economy sharing sites such as Ebay have presented an obstacle to online anonymity, an obstacle that seems to grow steadily stronger.

More Emphasis on Identity Verification
Identity verification is especially important to the success and proper functioning of economy sharing sites such as Amazon marketplace, Airbnb, Ebay, and so forth. Without the certainty of other users' identities, there is a greater possibility of scammers and a greater likelihood that users will not be too thrilled about engaging in any online transactions. Increased identity verification measures are critical to ensuring the success of economy sharing schemes. For example, Airbnb, an online service for booking and listing accommodations, has introduced offline identity verification. Users of Airbnb will now be required to upload identification documents and to verify their phone numbers. These offline measures are combined with online identity verification measures, including the analysis of users' LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, to confirm users' identities. Offline identity verification makes it harder for bad users or spammers to delete their accounts and create new ones (or new online identities). It is likely that if the combination of offline and online identity verification proves successful, it will be adopted by other economy sharing sites.

The Confusion over Online Anonymity
Is online anonymity a good or bad thing? It's hard to say, as it may prove beneficial in some cases and detrimental in others. If the idea of personal information about you being found on the Web makes you uncomfortable, you may be in favor of online anonymity. However, if you were to buy a product or service online, you would surely want to know the identity of the other party. Whether or not you support the notion of online anonymity or not, the growth of online transactions and interactions suggests identity verification will become an increasingly important factor.

Twitter News: What do music and Canada have in common?

No folks, “Twitter, The Musical” did NOT just open in Toronto. But a new office did!
Headed up by the newly appointed Kirstine Stewart, the newest Twitter branch is reportedly promising a little fun. Stewart, whose experience as a senior executive with the CBC earned her the top spot in the new office, is rumored to be bringing with her invaluable expertise in the world of creative media. 

Since 70% of Twitter users are living outside of the US, it makes sense that offices would be springing up in just those locations. But there is another factor at work here: Canadians are gaga over social media. According to Canada Business Review online, both Facebook and YouTube are showing a major percentage of use per population in – you guessed it – Canada. Twitter is not about to be outdone. Rumor has it that there have been some pretty nifty goings-on, such as the recent investment by Twitter in a company that is looking to pick up some clever tweets and reproduce them in dialogue to air on television. It sounds like a project that’s right up Kirstine Stewart’s alley.

But that’s not all that’s new at Twitter... We’ve got Twitter #music!!

A brand new app for music-loving tweeters, Twitter #music allows users to follow their favorite artists and pick up some of the favorites of their favorites. It offers four categories of suggestions for musical browsing: Popular, Emerging, Suggested or #NowPlaying. These charts can be accessed simply by logging on to Twitter. Unfortunately, the service is only available at this time in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. But at the rate that this social media favorite is growing, access to Twitter apps and services should soon become worldwide. So stay “tuned”...

The Better Bet, Bing or Google? New Study Published on Search Engine Safety

So, who gets the bragging rights, Google or Bing? The search engine that you use may have an impact on your safe surfing experience. A new study by AV-Test shows that Bing retrieves five times as many malicious websites as Google. So if Google is the clear winner, now what? Apparently, the answer is not all that much. We're talking about a tiny percentage of search returns. Sure, Bing can't claim Google's near immaculate rate of 0.00025 percent infected results. But search engines like Google and Bing typically process search requests on the order of billions per day. In other words, they are largely immune to your everyday malware virus - not that cautious surfing should throw common sense out the window!

Bing shouldn't sigh in relief just yet. They will need to close the gap with Google if they want the same customer loyalty and brand trustworthiness. Bing is moving in the right direction when it comes to making the user experience more fun and friendly. They just recently partnered with Pinterest to introduce a "pin it" feature to their image search. Smart move. Still, fun and friendly can't be at the expense of safety or the reputation of working to be the best in that department.

The next phase of Internet threats may not be so easy to detect. The proliferation of scams that target human error, not the code, is probably where the future of threat detection is heading. Security that can somehow guard against those annoying attempts to trick you into downloading trojans or accessing your password might be the next frontier. And here the bragging rights have yet to be decided.

How Often Do You Check Your Facebook?

Just when you thought you spent too much time on Facebook, a new report has found that unless you check your profile at least 14 times per day, you are actually BELOW average. Phew!

That is just one of the surprising facts found in a research report recently released by the market intelligence and advisory organization, IDC. The report looked at the habits of 7,446 Android and iPhone users in the United States between the ages of 18 and 44 – this age group accounts for almost 50% of all smartphone users – and asked them questions regarding their weekly usage.

Sleep. Wake up. Check Facebook.

Depending on your outlook, you’ll probably find the results either really depressing or they’ll only confirm what you probably already knew. For example, according to the report, it seems that 79% of smartphone users  grab their devices within a quarter of an hour of getting up!

A bigger majority (62%), don’t even wait that long, reaching for their smartphone almost immediately. Interestingly, among 18 to 24 year olds, these numbers increase again to 89% and 74% respectively. 

Facebook is the 3^rd Most Popular App

With the IDC report being funded by Facebook, it’s of little surprise that most of the questions are about the social networking site. Which is, incidentally, only the third most popular app on your smartphone behind email and its web browser.

That said, 70% of all smartphone users still visit Facebook regularly, with over 50% checking it daily.

The report went onto find that people spend about 30 minutes per day on Facebook in total, with most of that time spent checking their news feed, whilst the rest of the time is split between posting updates and messaging. Half of Facebook users spend time playing games on their smartphone a couple of times per day.

Say Hello to Google Chrome 25

Google has just released an updated version of the Chrome OS browser. Chrome 25 includes a whole host of new features and fixes which is certainly an improvement from Chrome 24.

As Google Chrome 24 was all but just a stability release to iron out a few minor bug fixes, Chrome 25 boasts super fast browsing and improved security for web extensions and apps.

Google Chrome 25 also includes voice recognition integration in the form of Web Speech API. This basically means that developers can ‘translate’ voice into text, which is useful as voice search and commands are now an integral part of many mobile devices.

This follows a similar strategy to what Google has been doing with Android, and Chrome 25 is the first indication that it intends to do the same thing with its web browser. Watch this space!

In fact, voice recognition, particularly in relation to a web browser searching is something that Google has been experimenting with for a while, and is a feature that is also included in Google Maps too.

Google obviously hopes that Web Speech API will be popular as it recently announced that its new Chromebook will also include the same technology.

Google Chrome 25 also includes a number of security updates, with user approval now required for all third part extension installations. Chrome 25’s omnibox search has also been encrypted using HTTPS, meaning that users can now benefit from much safer and secure web browsing.

Despite suffering some very occasional glitches in the form of site incompatibility, Chrome 25 offers users excellent hardware acceleration and security with instant site prediction and loading. The bottom line is that Google Chrome is now arguably the best web browser available with improvement in terms of speed, support and new features, in addition to app and widget integration. 

Snapdo makes using the web fun and fast. It develops tools that can be downloaded to multiple browsers and then used for quick access to all the important stuff on the web. The web is where it's at, and in order to find what they're looking for, users need specific tools created for the task. That is no simple job, because the demand for faster, quicker and better tools for the internet is growing day by day. Gone are the days where people are patient and willing to sit and wait for their news, articles or information. In today's world, people expect to be able to find everything they need quickly on the internet, because that's where the latest information is stored. Whether it's data, stories or Facebook friends, people want to be able to find them quickly. That's what Snapdo is all about. They are making the tools that fit the growing needs of the general public across the world. As leaders in the industry, it is the goal to continue developing tools that will simplify the way users access the web. They are well on their way to taking the leading place in providing easy and smart solutions to the web.

Smarter and Easier Online Tools

In its goal to design tools that make it easier to use the web, Snapdo created browser widgets that make online tasks simple. The tools are easy to download and use, and once they are on the user's browser, they stay there for immediate access. There is no charge for the tools, as they are 100% complimentary. The most popular browsers, including Chrome, Internet Explorer and Firefox, all support the widgets developed by Snapdo. By using the apps, users are able to gain access to the information they want on the internet in a snap.

Snapdo Online Apps

Snapdo developed its tools in order to meet the constant and growing demands to access as much information as quickly and easily as possible. By taking advantage of the tools, the process necessary to gather information is easier than ever. It has made tasks that were once considered to be complicated as easy as clicking the mouse. For instance, the Snap Capture! tool easily saves a screen image. The user can use it to select a portion of the screen and then click to save it. Once selected, the screen image can be resized to any shape or size that is needed. Another one of the more popular tools is for use in social networking. The Snap it Together! tool aids the user in posting and sharing on multiple social networking sites, which is an area of the internet that is expanding rapidly. The user can extend the browsing experience through another one of Snapdo's tools called Snap it On!

Company Details

Although Snapdo is only in its second year of business, it has gained a powerful market share for its tools and developments. The number of employees now stands at thirteen and is continuing to grow. Snapdo's headquarters are located in the Mediterranean seaside city of Herzilea, Israel.