Real time services

A real time service is a source of information where it is updated in real time via the internet to provide people with info such as news, GPS positions and live visuals from a webcam. This technology updates at a constant rate to allow a user to get the information as soon as it is sent out and it can be accessed by almost anyone as these services are usually free and easy to use.

 

News feeds
These and used by the average person on a daily basis and come into play on a lot of websites. One of the most used global news feeds is twitter, and with 645,750,000 active twitter users twitter has the largest mass of news updates with 9100 tweets being sent out every second. When someone writes and releases a tweet anyone can access is who has a twitter account, however people who are following that person will see it on their main screen news feed where if a person they follow tweets they will see it instantly amongst the rest.
Another mass used news feed is the one used by the social media site Facebook, here the user can see any updates made by friend’s family and pages they like and follow much like twitter.
Similarly to twitter and Facebook, News stations such as the BBC or newspapers like the daily mail have webpages and apps to display articles and reports instantly for readers to enjoy.

 I use all of these apps on a daily basis and find them very useful. I use twitter very regularly throughout the day to get updates on people that I like and follow, I also use it to get information from my school to know key dates and tasks that I need to complete.

Some limitations of news feeds are that it is very hard to navigate and you may not be able to find the information you are looking for. Furthermore twitter and Facebook and allowed people to voice their opinion to the world but the limit of 140 characters people can only give short and concise and very vague views which may end up coming across to some as offensive. However the use of twitter and Facebook allow people to connect and socialize such as to contact a family member that lives in another country.

Live webcams
Live webcams are used by people to get a real time updating view of an area, for example if someone is planning to go on a ski holiday to specific resort, they may use their live webcam to get a feel for the area to know whether it is for them. These webcams work by being mounted on a permanent spot and then the images a broadcast to an internet page, these images are usually updated around once every minute but some have live video available. Live webcams are also used by people to get a look at places of interest , these being images such as a live feed of a holiday location or even a feed of earth from the view of a satellite.

I personally do not use live webcams of holiday locations; this is because I don’t have a desire to travel in this point in my life so I don’t have a need to look at the place where I am going. However some of the other webcams available do appeal to me such as the live feed of earth from a satellite as images like that are not common and are a marvel to look at.

Live webcams are used by many people around the world and are mainly used by people over the age of 20, this is because they are at an age where travelling is financially an option for them so looking at a location before they visit is very useful to them, however before this age they simply aren’t needed. On the other hand we have webcams for purely entertainment purposes and these are used by all ages to look at views of earth to images of puppies at Disney (found here: http://disneylivecams.com/all-cams/wdw-pet-care-cams). These type of cams are used by a thousands of people and provide entertainment as opposed to useful information about an area. So although certain cams are used less by some, overall live webcams are a revolutionary system to give people a small window into another part of the world.

 GPS

Global positioning systems are
used by millions of people each day for a variety of reasons. It works by a GPS receiver measuring the travel time of radio signals to and from a satellite and then using that measurement to triangulate a position to then send back to the user, this information is then used for an array of services. Firstly GPS is used simply for directional purposes, companies like tom-tom use this information to work out where a user is and where they have to go, a system is them put into play to visually show them where to go to reach their chosen location. The information made by this system can also be collected and used by companies like Facebook, this happens when a user selects the option to give their location when they send a message. This information is then used by Facebook to find out your rough location and then advertise more accurately to you. For example if I send a message to my friend with locational messaging enabled whilst I am in my local shopping centre, I will them be given advertisement relevant to that area for me to use.

My personal use of GPS tracking has to do with a game called ingress. This is a game made by Google. The concept is that is uses GPS to generate a virtual world around you on your mobile device, the software the uses Google maps to find landmarks in your area and then on the map turn them into something called a portal, this portal can then be hacked by one of two factions that you join when you first start the app. These portals can then be linked to created fields. All of these processes gain you points to then then level yourself up this in turn makes this game a true example of a virtual reality game. This new use of GPS is an instance of ways people can use it not only for proper use but as a way to use the information of your location in a new less formal way.

GPS is being used by millions of people and the use of is give people directions is helping us all find our way, and what is more it created a new game in the process. But with this information comes loss of privacy as companies and governments are able to find your location to gain information about yourself to then be used or even sold. And this invasion of privacy may push some people away from using GPS as a result.

 

Sources:

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~kws23/research/summerMentorship/GPS.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System

http://disneylivecams.com/

 

http://www.wirelessdictionary.com/wireless_dictionary_GPS_Post_Processed_Kinematic_PPK_Definition.html

Communications

Communication has evolved  substantially since the invention of the world wide web. Before we used very physical types such a mail, and it has been improved upon many times such as with the invention of the telegram which allowed messages to be send through a physical wire in a binary fashion of long and short beeps. eventually this evolution led to the creation of our modern communication we see today, this mainly being in the form of email, text message and phone calls.

The mobile phone was first made available in japan in 1979 and later introduced to the rest of the world after 1981. it was revolutionary with it being the first portable wireless communication option. before then only land line phones were used, this worked using a huge network of wires spanning the entire country, a residence would have a wire coming from their house which would connect to an exchange point to then go through a different wire to the desired place. the modern mobile however uses radio masts to relay a signal from someone's phone to another's. This can also be done using satellites to be able to call and text internationally but both methods of phone calls let people connect instantly from anywhere in the world.
A huge 6 billion people have access to a mobile phone and this number has been made in recent years by newly developed country like some in south east Asia. the use however can sometimes be blocked by a bad signal, for example in the UK the extreme hilly environment means for more troubled connections, this backed up with the fact that i don't get phone signal from my own bedroom and have to go to the other side of the house to gain it. however in somewhere like Florida in the USA the terrain is very flat to allow the need for less but taller radio towers so much so that you can at least one from anywhere in the state.

With the introduction of the world wide web across the 1990's the invention of electronic mail meant people could quickly and formally send each other messages of the internet to anywhere in the world . this done using satellites, the email is converted into a signal which is then sent down a physical wire to a transmitter which then sends it to a satellite and back down to a receiver in a different country such as India and then to another receiver of another person. this coupled with the mountain of spam emails some people receive may encourage people to not use email and as of 2014 there are 2.5 billion active users of email which means more people up to no good while more people become active members of the online community.
I use email on a daily basis with school and leisure. i use it to send work to my teachers and i use it at home to have updates and posts sent to me all in one place which is one of the many advantages of email in that you can link all of your accounts to one specific feed.
Emails can be sent and received 24 hours a day 365 days a year from any computer that has an internet connection, and can be sent to more than one person. however emails can also hold viruses for your computer if the sender is unknown, other crime such as phishing allows people to view your bank details and other personal information.

But while phone,text and email let us stay connected, it also arises certain problem. such as with being able to communicate with anyone anywhere people begin to feel growing lack of need to go out and physically socialize with friends and family. This in turn making people less social and may lead to health problems due to a possible lack of sunlight if the person is in an office most days. However modern communication helps people around the world connect instantly using many platforms. Phone and text allow users to talk and socialize remotely to friends and family while email lets people send informative and formal text at the click of a button to anyone.


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones#Handheld_mobile_phone
http://education.illinois.edu/wp/commercialism/history-of-the-internet.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/datacomm/1emailrev1.shtml
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/03/25/more-people-have-cell-phones-than-toilets-u-n-study-shows/
http://email.about.com/od/emailtrivia/f/how_many_email.htm
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