2009: the Year of Twitter and Facebook

WASHINGTON (AFP) - – Twitter, fueled by smartphones and online bursts of 140 characters, soared to lofty heights over the past year while Facebook eclipsed MySpace to become the world's leading social network.

"Those are the big winners," said Jason Keath, a North Carolina-based social media consultant and founder of SocialFresh.com, an organizer of social media conferences. "Facebook more or less tripled their size this year."

"Twitter grew immensely," added Keath. "I think they were somewhere around maybe two to four million users at the beginning of the year. Now they're near 40 million."

With 350 million members, "if Facebook was a country it would be the fourth most populous nation," said Scott Stanzel, a former deputy press secretary to president George W. Bush who has also worked for software giant Microsoft.

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How to Use Amber to Help Your Teething Baby

Fever, rashes, diarrhea, sleepless nights and screaming fits are some signs that a baby is teething. Aside from teething rings and other baby products that are said to soothe your baby, homeopathic teething tablets that contain chamomile and teething gel massaged into the gums is an effective remedy but it has to be applied many times over.

There is an easier way to calm your baby and this product not only looks great but has a lasting calming effect on teething babies and toddlers. Letting babies and small children wear an amber necklace or any other accessory is a very old traditional custom in various parts of Europe and the Far East. Amber is known to reduce inflammation of the throat, stomach and ears. Traditionally used to fight inflammation, respiratory disease and infections, it is known to be healing, soothing and harmonizing.

Traditional amber necklaces imported from the Baltic region are a less intrusive remedy for pain and side effects of teething, such as lack of appetite, ear ache, upset tummies, fevers and colds. Amber is a natural analgesic that helps calm babies without resorting to drugs. When amber is work on the skin, the skin’s warmth releases healing oils from the amber which are absorbed via the skin into the bloodstream.

ASUS laptop with neat built-in projector

This new ASUS laptop hidden away quietly at a corner over at the Computex may not look to be equipped with very advanced technology on the outside, but when you look closely it’s actually projecting images onto the screen opposite to it. Projectors are getting smaller and smaller, which makes them very convenient to be handled wherever you need your presentation to take place, but never have they been incorporated into products such as laptops, this new laptop from ASUS is certainly a first. At this moment, there is limited information regarding its other internal hardware but I’m sure this will come in the near future.

Like many sites have already commented, the idea of this integration is great, it will definitely open up a new market for future laptops, maybe in the future, single piece projectors will become a thing from the past. Meanwhile though, much work still needs to be done as the quality of these projectors are not brilliant. As you can see, though it cleverly rotates and hides away as the lid of the laptop closes away, the projector itself does take up a massive chunk of space above the screen when you open up its lid, which cosmetically for some people is a no no!

Source:
http://www.gadgetlite.com/2008/06/08/latest-technology-asus-laptop-neat-built-in-projector/

For Laptop skins and notebook stickers please visit Lap-Rap.

One of Google Chrome OS's hardest tasks? Printing

Many challenges will have to be solved before Google is ready to release Chrome OS, it's browser-based operating system for Netbooks. One of the biggest ones could be something as far offline as it gets.

Driver support has derailed many an operating system release, perhaps most recently causing headaches for Microsoft and Windows Vista. As a result, Google is paying close attention to the thorny problem of making sure Chrome OS will work with the myriad devices consumers can be expected to connect to those Netbooks, said Linus Upson, engineering director for the Chrome browser and Chrome OS.

"The good news is that for most input devices today, there are basic standards that allow them to operate without needing a specific drive for each device," Upson said. For instance, manufacturers of USB storage drives and cameras have all pretty much settled on standards that make it easy to ensure those devices will work with your software.

But printers are another story. Printer drivers are generally unique to the device and pose problems for computer makers.

"We want to get out of the business of printer drivers. All the problems related to drivers we want to go away," Upson said.

That means Google is going to have to come up with a "wonderful printing solution" that it has yet to discuss in public, although talks are ongoing with printer manufacturers, Upson said. Expect to see something from Google along those lines prior to the expected launch of Chrome OS in late 2010.

As for the other driver problem--the so-called "long-tail" of USB devices--don't hold your breath waiting for Chrome OS support for your Wacom tablet. "If that's important, Chrome OS is not the OS for you in 2010," Upson said.

Google does want to figure out a solution to this problem, but it's not something that will be ready in time for launch. Google wants to "get to a model where (Chrome OS Netbooks) can communicate with the OS without a driver."

CNET's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.