Recently I've had a number of site users who have not been able to play any of the videos when using Windows 7. There is a simple reason for this. If you have the new 64 bit operating system you'll find that it comes with two versions of Internet Explorer - a 64 bit version and a 32 bit version. At the moment there is no flash plugin for the 64 bit Internet Explorer. If you are using the 64 bit Windows 7 you'll have to use the 32 bit IE if you wish to see flash animations or video until a new plugin is available.
If you are looking at this page with a 64 bit version of IE click here to find out when a 64 bit version of Flash player is available.
This website uses dymaic web slicing on some pages that are updated on a daily (or sometimes an hourly) basis. A page contains a web slice if you see this icon in the toolbar. This feature was introduced with IE 8, which allows users to subscribe to content and receive notification of updates on the browser tool bar. This was implemented for the employment page in January, 2010 and the Article Alert service in March 2010. The video link is an introduction to the use of web slicing. Further details about web slicing and how it works can be found here.
RSS stands for 'Really Simple Syndication'. It has become the standard method to send news and information from websites directly to the user who wishes to keep up to date.
Extensive use is made of RSS feeds on this website. The most obvious is LT.info Bulletin, which you can subscribe to by clicking on the RSS symbol . Whenever I make a major addition or change to the site it will be announced on this feed. I sometimes also use it to notify subscribers of more general language testing news.
Many pages also contain information that is generated by RSS feeds, but filtered using software that selects content using keywords and strings, before aggregating the information on the page. Examples of this are the article aggregation, and article alert services, which scan journals for language testing content and updates this page whenever new articles are published. This makes keeping up to date extremely easy, especially in the latter case where it is combined with web slicing. Developing the filters for some pages has taken over a year, such as on the employment page. However, some 'rogue' jobs still get through, particularly from the fields of computing, health care, and engineering. I continually update the filters to reduce such instances, but cannot eradicate them completely.
If you would like to know more about how aggregation works, there is a useful Wikipedia entry that you can consult.
DigitalP: 15 May 12: Facebook 'addiction' study
Facebook 'addiction' study; the Art of Video Games; Apparition: Klaus Obermaier
Facebook shares valued at $100bn 17 May, 2012 Facebook prices its shares at $38 each ahead of one of the most eagerly anticipated share flotations in recent stock market history.
Facebook will officially begin trading at $38 per share on Friday morning in what will be the biggest IPO ever from an internet company.
After months of speculation, and a week of last minute adjustments from Facebook, Friday's listing on the NASDAQ index will raise $16 billion for Mark Zuckerberg's company.
The CEO himself, who founded the company in his Harvard dorm, is expected to become an instant billionaire, selling over 30m shares to net over $1.1bn.
The $38 shares, which will be available to buy to the public, will see the company valued at a staggering $104 billion overall, with $81 market capitalisation.
Dwarfing Google
The $16 billion-valued IPO dwarfs the previous mark achieved by an internet company.
Google hit the stock market in 2004 in the years following the dotcom bust, and raised $1.67bn.
Facebook's offering, however, is in a completely different stratosphere.
Related Stories
Scientists show off the future of Wi-Fi - smash through 3Gbps barrierNews In Brief: One More Thing: Rio Ferdinand for England, according to EA SportsYahoo in embarrassing Facebook lawsuit blunderGoogle unveils its semantic search plans - the Knowledge GraphGmail gets more Google+ with people-friendly makeover
Google has continued its quest make Google+ more visible across all of its services by further integrating it within Gmail.
The upgrade to Google's webmail client improves on the initial implementation of the social network back in December, which saw Circles appear within emails and on the sidebar.
Now, says Google on its company blog: "When you select a circle, you'll now see profile photos of people in that circle at the top right of the page.
"Plus, when you click on these images you'll be taken directly to search results with contact details."
Super search box
The company has also added a new feature which allows you to search for Circles conversations within the Gmail search bar.
Users can find messages by typing "circle:[circle name]" into the search box and you can find mails from anyone in your circles contacts by typing "has:circle".
Google has also added some useful functionality based around contacts. When you type a person's name into the search box all of their contact details will appear at the top of the page.
Related Stories
Scientists show off the future of Wi-Fi - smash through 3Gbps barrierNews In Brief: One More Thing: Rio Ferdinand for England, according to EA SportsYahoo in embarrassing Facebook lawsuit blunderGoogle unveils its semantic search plans - the Knowledge GraphOfficial: Facebook to sell shares at $38, values company at $104bn
Government may miss cloud targets 17 May, 2012 The Government may miss its cloud computing targets because of a lack of enthusiasm from public sector IT staff, a report suggests.
Met Police to extract phone data 17 May, 2012 Mobile phone data of suspects in police custody is to be extracted and retained, regardless of whether charges are brought, the BBC has learned.