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.
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.
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.
Global positioning systems areused 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment