SPATS Limited – Sustainable Websites

Over the last couple of days I have enjoyed playing around with a popular operating system called Ubuntu. Unlike Windows OS, “Ubuntu is completely free to download, use and share”.

Based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as open source software, it has its own desktop environment that is similar to the Mac.

In saying that, anyone familiar with modern computers should quickly  pick it up and not have any real problems using it.  Many software applications having an almost identical interface and operation despite being installed on completely independent operating systems.

A good example is Libre Office, this is a great program for all your document production and data processing needs and offers: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math and Base.  These are just as good as their equivalent counterparts from other Office Software for the average user.

Ubuntu comes installed with a wide range of software that includes LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Empathy, Transmission, and several a few games such as Sudoku and chess.  Additional software can be downloaded and installed using the Ubuntu Software Center other software is available for just about every need including music, video, etc…

It just might be time to make a change 😉

Intellectual Property can become an issue when you start working with someone else, then decide to go your own way – for any number of reasons.

Adorian Deck created “OMG Facts” where he tweeted random bits of celebrity gossip and quirky trivia.  In less than a year, he had attracted more than 300,000 followers. This got the attention of Emerson Spartz who approached him about a joint project.

Spartz first caught the media’s attention as the founder of mugglenet.com, one of the world’s most popular Harry Potter fan sites, which he started when he was 12.  Spartz is no slug, he founded his own internet company and runs a number of websites.

Since Spartz  involvement, @OMGFacts grew to nearly 1.9 million followers, making the feed the 126th most followed account out of more than 200 million Twitter users, according to Twitter statistics website twittercounter.com.

After a dispute developed Deck is now taking legal action against Spartz over use of OMG Facts and the website Spartz has developed. The domain is registered in Spartz’s business name not Deck’s.

The problem will be that Deck was a minor when he entered into the agreement with Spartz and the case ‘while Deck lives in New Zealand’ will be heard in America.

Tweeting has become a popular way of letting anyone know what your doing.  In the business world it has great advantages, you can let customers know when products are available, run promotions or updates.  However, if also has a bad side… try explaining to a customer that you didn’t have time to ship his purchases today because you were too busy.  This excuse will not go down well if you were seen to be wasting time Tweeting or updating your Facebook page.

Courtney Love’s Tweet comments about fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir, resulted in the designer filing a defamation suit against Love, and  could very well go down as one of the most expensive tweets ever.  Love has agreed to pay the fashion designer $430,000.  Simorangkir’s legal team evidently wanted a higher sum, but had to settle for almost half a million dollars.

Ericsson have reported that mobile broadband subscriptions surpassed the half a billion mark globally in 2010 and are likely to double before the end of the year.

The strong growth of smartphones, connected laptops and tablets, supported by the introduction of high-performance networks means the number is likely to increase. Smartphones’ users are increasingly using applications and internet services on the go. Global mobile data traffic continues to grow rapidly, with Ericsson announcing in August 2010 that it had tripled in just one year.

What this means for web designers is that there will be a billion people who will be capable of reaching websites via their mobile device – iPhone etc… It is therefore time to consider how mobile devices will render websites.