Buying a PC or Laptop

Buying a PC or Laptop is still a major purchase for most students and as such it is important that adequate consideration be given to the type, specification, and price of the computer. For students generally and  psychology students in particular, most will choose a laptop over a PC for ease of transport and portability, although recently ‘notebooks’ have been gaining in popularity in this sector. Price is probably the most important factor in this market and the reducing cost and increasing power of the current models is a boon to students. It is not that long ago that a suitable laptop could have cost the student 2000e+, whereas today a quite adequate machine can be bought for 600e approximately.

Big Business is Watching You.

We are all aware of George Orwell's novel "1984", in which he foresees a future in which government, a.k.a. " Big Brother", broadcast propaganda while simultaneously watching every citizen through "telescreens" in every home.  Aldous Huxley in his 1932's Brave New World, government pushes the virtue of consumption as necessary for a strong economy. Citizens are also expected to take a hallucinogenic recreational drug as the universal form of amusement and escapism, but which also serves as a way to pacify and socialize everyone. Well according to an article in ComputerWorld by Mike Elgan we are on the verge of achieving such a world.

Is Email Old News?

An area of technology that interests me, and many others, is the relationship between email and social networks.  The main question being:  will social networks replace, compliment, or converge with, email?  An article entitled   ‘Is Email Old News?  Social Networks as the New Communications Channel’   sums up some of the main points surrounding this question.  Social networks, like Facebook, My Space, and Linkedin, are the new kids in town, and they have huge communities of people sharing information between them. The phenomenon of social networks has arrived at a time when people question emails effectiveness.