How do those down under use the internet ??

Sydney, Australia - it seems so far away, but with the click of the button on your computer you could be there before you know it.

Because it is such a long flight to Australia, the country must provide us with reasons to make such a trip. Sydney, along with other major cities around the world, has taken to the Internet to try to entice us to visit.
Just visit the official Sydney website you there you can find a million and one reason to visit.
They use there website to list of their top attractions, restaurants, accommodations, upcoming events and maps for different areas.
The tabs include:
*Destinations
        additional links to different areas in the area.
* Things to Do
         Arts and Culture
         Food and Wine
         Nature and Parks
         Fashion & Shopping
         Beach Life
         Family Holidays
* Accommodations
* Events
* Special Deals
The site even directs you to download their latest ipad and iphone app. They provide a newsletter that you can sign up for and even have a link to the Sydney Facebook site.
Their facebook site displays photos, videos and status updates about what is happening around town. The city also has a twitter account and a youtube page.
The cite caters to all cultures as they have many different versions of the site. This includes UK, Singapore, Middle East, Japan, Italy, India and  France. When you click on a particular country site, all of the information is translated into their language. The site also has active links linking to the tourism Australia page, destination NSW and the NSW government homepage.
A very interesting aspect I found on the page is the "link to us " tab. The site provides way for you to easily share someting you see on the site with your facebook page or twitter account. You can also link a banner on your own website to information you find interesting.
Over the past few years the amount of American students studying and traveling in Australia has grown. The website also focuses on those looking to study abroad or visit the country by posting helpful links and different ideas on how to get around. They also have helpful information for those looking to get a job in Sydney.
The website is the cities way to show themselves off. Its a way to reach those who normally would not have access to a place so far away.
They may be across the globe but with the use of the Internet, Sydney has brought their city right into my living room.

The Internet has been around for how long ??

The Internet was invented in the late 1960's and of course many important events have happened along the Internet timeline. But if you had to choose one, one important date on that timeline which would you be most interested in?

July 2001: A federal judge rules Napster must remain offline until it can prevent copyrighted material from being shared by its users

We have all heard of Napster. Napster was created by Shawn Fanning and his uncle John Fanning in 1999 while Shawn attended Northeastern University. Its was originally set up as a peer- to - peer file sharing service where people could share music.....for free. After running into massive legal battles regarding copyright violations the site was forced to shut down.
The site made it easy to exchange MP3 files which musicians viewed as "stealing". The band Metallica ignited the legal battles when they discovered their song "I Disappear" was being downloaded on the site before it was even released. After being sued by musician such as Metallica, Dr. Dre and organizations as the RIAA the site officially shut down in July of 2001.
In 2002, Roxio acquired the company and in September of 2008 the site was purchased by Best Buy for $121 million who is the current parent company of the site. The site currently exists as an online music store which requires a paid online subscription.
Napster.com
Napster may have run into major difficulties over the past few years, but it opened the doors for music share and music purchase sites.

February 2007: Apple Surpasses one billion iTunes downloads

Today if you want to purchase music online, most people automatically think of the site iTunes. iTunes was established in  January of 2001. Of course with this site you pay for the files that you download but without the presence of Napster, do you think 1 billion songs would have been downloaded in 6 years !

One Billion Songs - now that is alot of music.......

New Semester, New Class, Same Internet

Today marks the beginning of the Fall 2011 Semester at Suffolk University. Its hard to believe that summer vacation is over. One of the courses i am taking this semester is New Media and New Markets which of course focuses on the Internet, marketing, web design and new media. Millions and Millions of people use the Internet. An estimate of 2,095,006,005 people are estimated to use the Internet as of March 2011. But how do you use the Internet ?

If i had to guess why people use the Internet i would have to guess... 1) Social Networking 2) Communication 3) Research 4) Entertainment 5) Marketing.

I know i personally use the Internet for social networking and for communication purposes at work.
I of course am a member of facebook and as sad as it is, i cant remember life before facebook ( i know i know - don't judge) I use facebook to keep in touch with friends, make plans, see what everyone is up to, etc.
My job 100% relys on the Internet. You learn the hard way when Internet goes down for a day and i cant get anything done - only left to play major catch up when the system is back up and running. I am constantly e-mailing, sending out reminders, logging ticket requests, setting reservation, making travel plans. Every aspect of my job relies om the world wide web. To be honest, i don't think my job could exist ( or at least function properly) without the web.
My friends and family do not rely on the Internet when it comes to work as much as i do. My mom uses it to play bejeweled, forward us those silly e-mails or check up on us on facebook ( there should be a rule that a mother cannot be friends with her daughters on any social networking sites) My father uses it to watch comedy videos before going to bed or catch an early new segment when he wakes up. My sister is always logged onto facebook catching up with friends.
There are quite a lot of people using the Internet right now -but each for a different purpose.
Why are you logging on ?