The bottom line is that SOPA makes it possible to take down almost any website on copyright infringement grounds without even going through any proper due process; it’s a shoot first, talk later approach. Under SOPA, any website can potentially be taken down, or blocked, if just a small percentage of its pages host copyright material, or even if it links to such sites. If the previous DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) was at least quite workable in practice, SOPA can now be likened to using a shotgun approach to go after flying mosquitoes. Yes, mosquitoes are no doubt annoying, but you don’t deal with them using a shotgun!

The wording in SOPA is quite broad and vague, so its scope to cause a lot of collateral damage is huge indeed. It goes without saying that virtually all the large Web based companies that create content in one form or another, is opposed to SOPA, while many record labels and large businesses unfortunately, support it. Godaddy initially supported it, but after a boycott Godaddy campaign in which many people moved their domains out of Godaddy, they seemed to have done an about-turn.

I am sure at least 95% of web surfers all over the globe would disagree with it if only they were made aware about it. 2012 may well start off with such a damper if the US Congress moves closer to approving the bill when they convene sometime in Jan 2012.

One suggestion that seems workable would be for the top Internet companies to have a “mass blackout” day, but I think the will to do it seems to be lacking – for want of a better word. There isn’t much time before this law is passed, and those who oppose it really need to get their act together, and soon.

The important question now is, whether you are really getting the internet speed you paid for. Since there are various classifications of internet speed all over the world, this article will only be talking about speed when it comes to going for “super-fast broadband internet”. If you are an individual or business that needs better internet service, this article will be giving you insights into whether your broadband internet connection can be classified as super-fast, or not.

What is currently the Standard “Super-Fast Broadband” Speed?

Before going into the question of whether your broadband internet connection is super-fast or not, we need to first understand which internet connection speed can be classified as super-fast. Until recently, super-fast broadband internet used to be any internet connection that is faster than 20mbps in the UK but, based on recent changes and declaration by the UK government, super-fast broadband internet is any broadband internet connection that is faster than 24mbps.

In other words, if you are from the UK and you are paying your ISP for super-fast broadband you should be getting nothing less than 24mbps internet download speed – if you are not getting such speeds then you need to get in touch with your ISP.

If you don’t know what your real internet speed is, below are ways to find out what your internet speed is.

How to Know if You Are Getting the Right Speed

It isn’t always easy to guess how fast your super-fast broadband internet connection is, because in most cases, no matter how slow, the internet connection will still be fast enough to help you get a lot of basic things done. As a result, a lot of great tools have been developed to make it extremely easy for people to track their broadband internet speed. Below are 2 of my favorite internet speed test tools.

1. Bandwidth Place: My favorite tool for checking what my real internet speed is, at the moment, is the speed test tool by BandwithPlace.com. This tool helps analyze both your download and upload speed and then gives you suggestions based on the speed you get to let you know what kind of service you can classify your broadband internet as. It also has a fancy interface, if that’s what you want.

2. Speedtest.net: The next internet speed test tool I will recommend is the tool at Speedtest.net. It does a quality analysis of your internet connection by using servers closer to you to determine you real internet speed. It is also very flexible and has a speed test option for mobile internet users.

I’m Paul, a broadband internet expert guest writer from Broadband Expert.

If you work in the online marketing and SEO industry, you know what it is like to have a cluttered and ridiculously busy desktop. Apple continues to prove it is the best operating system for heavy users who have many windows open at the same time. If you love the way an iPad works, and you still want the functions of a laptop, the new Mac OS X Lion operating system is for you.

Here is a quick look at some of the new features that makes this system the best for anyone who is involved in heavy and daylong laptop use. The good news is the Mac OS X Lion will be released fairly soon, so we don’t have long to wait.

Sharing. If you work in an agency, you are probably sharing articles and other files all day long. With PC systems, we are forced to use complicated networks. Sharing has always been very easy with Apple, but it became easier now.

Apple’s new AirDrop makes it easy to instantly share with Apple users over a wireless network. Drop your files into AirDrop and you are done – no more connecting to networks or setting up new computers on your network. Use your office wireless system as an instant way to communicate.

Resume. Do you take too much time to get started in the morning? Do you have to open all those programs, webpages, and files from the previous day? With Resume, your laptop will start at the exactly same point it was when you shut it down. No more waiting to shut all those pages and programs down before you leave to go home, and no more waiting to get them open in the morning.

Trackpad Features. Everyone who uses an Apple laptop likes the way they can use extra features on the Trackpad. For anyone who uses an iPad, the extrapolation of how an iPhone works, swiping and tapping has become second nature (By the way, here is a good free guide for iPad users).

With Lion, your laptop Trackpad works in exactly the same way. There are all the functions of the iPad and iPhone on your Trackpad, and now you can use your laptop in the same way as you use your iPad. With a larger peripheral Trackpad, use becomes more intuitive and responsive.

Auto save and Versions. You will never have to remember to save your work, because it will always be done for you. Lion saves inside the working document and doesn’t create additional documents. Versions autosave your work as you move forward on your projects. You can slide back through your versions, if there is a change you want to make.

Launch pad and Mission Control. This new feature for your laptop will make it feel like your iPad instead. One hit of this button and all of your applications will appear on your desktop. When you have many files and programs open on your desktop, and you want to see everything at once, in a single click of the Mission Control button, you have a total overview of every program that is running and every file you are working on. This one is perfect for those of us working in PR and search engine optimization because we can have so many files, documents and pages open, at any given time.

If you are not using Apple now, it is about time you were. Why do those Apple fanboys love Apple so much?

Microsoft even understood this, and included a copy of their BASIC programming language interpreter on Windows versions up to 98. But, you can still start for free and it’s easier than you think!

1. Pick a language.

While we won’t start an argument over the best language, some ok suggestions are:

• Shell – on Windows this is Windows PowerShell. On Mac and Linux, this is Bash (the born-again shell). Programs in shell languages are known as ‘shell scripts.’
• Python – open source and free for every platform. It’s easy, fun, and used in some of the highest-level applications, like Blender 3D and bitTorrent clients.
• Javascript. It runs in your web browser. It’s everywhere on the web.
• Basic – still found in places like Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Frontpage, and Visio. It’s easy to learn; that’s why they named it “Basic.”

2. Gather some documentation. One of the most famous is the “Dummies” series which I’m sure some of you have seen before. There is a “For Dummies” book for probably every programming language out there. Search Google for name-of-language plus ‘tutorial’. A common name for your first program in any language is “Hello World!” which prints output to the screen. Search for that to find beginner’s level programs.

3. Be a quiet, self-starting learner. If you go into a programmer’s chat room hangout and interrupt their discussion of high-level computer science stuff to ask something like “How do I print?” the only answer they’ll give you is what you were told in step #2. Beginner’s level manuals are very easy to follow. Have some confidence in yourself!

4. Take your time. The best pace for the beginner is a few pages of the book per day. Don’t jump around in the book – it’s written with the easiest concepts presented first, with later concepts building on previous ones. One step at a time.

5. Take a read through a forum or message board devoted to your language. Simply typing the name of your language plus ‘forum’ into Google should produce tons of links. Look though some of the questions people ask and the answers given – almost every question a beginner can have has been answered dozens of times.

6. Don’t give up! It’s like learning a real language, except this is a computing language. It’s OK to put it aside if you get too busy, but try to pick it up again later. The more you keep your hand in, the better you’ll memorize it.

7. Have fun and don’t get too serious. Remember that this is a hobby, so it’s supposed to be fun. Any silly little thing you want to do, go ahead and do it. Much of what you’ll start out doing will be command-line things like inputting data to get output. Don’t let that stop you from making your own tic-tac-toe game or just a program that prints random characters on the screen really fast like a screensaver. Everybody needs to start somewhere.

8. Now you can join forums and chats and ask questions. And be sure to answer as many as you ask! By the time you’re out of the intermediate levels, you’re likely to become a valuable member of the programming community. There are plenty of websites out there devoted to hobbyist programmers – you don’t have to be the next Bill Gates or Linus Torvalds to enjoy programming as a hobby.

Search Commands is an Office 2007 add-in that enables you to quickly search for those commands. Let’s see how to add and use this feature in Office 2007.

One way to install Search Commands add-on is to join the Office Labs Analytics program when you install Office 2007. When you do this a new command called “Search Commands” is added to the Ribbon.

You can also choose to install the add-on later. For this, you first need to download Search Commands Add-on from OfficeLabs website and then install it on your computer.

After the installation is complete, you will see that a new tab with the name “Search Commands” added to your Office 2007 applications.

Now that the Search Command is added to the Office 2007 Ribbon, let’s see a few examples to work with it.

Example 1: Want to add lists in your Word 2007 document.

Type “list” in the “Search” box and all commands related to it will be displayed on the search bar.

Browse through and select the command you are looking for.

Example 2: Can Word 2007 really save documents as PDF file.

Yes, it can. Just type “save as pdf” in the Search box, and the command that will enable you to do it will be displayed for you.

Example 3: List the commands related to creating a master slide in PowerPoint 2007.

Type “master” and have all commands related to working with master slides displayed on the Ribbon.

Example 4: Don’t know how to go about working with slides in PowerPoint 2007.

Just type “slide” in the Search box on the Search Command tab and gain easy access to all 60 commands related to slides.

Example 5: Easily access commands related to using Formulas in Excel worksheets.

You can see that more 350 commands have been detected. You can use the “Previous and Next” buttons on the Search bar to scroll through all these commands and access the command that you want to use.

Search Commands is a nice Office 2007 add-on that significantly simplifies the task of using Office 2007 Ribbon. With this add-on in place, you don’t have to waste your time looking for commands anymore.

Google is definitely leading the charge, and with NexusOne, Buzz, Wave, Universal Translator, and Chrome OS, I think Google is still very much in the game, contrary to what detractors say of it being slowly left behind. Not to be outdone, Apple and Microsoft also came up with releases of their own. So let’s look at 5 of these:

Google Chrome Operating System

Google unveiled the Chrome Operating System in July 2009, a secure, easy, and faster operating system targeting people who use computers primarily for web browsing. The project was open-sourced for developers in November last year as “Chromium OS” for them to engage in the development of this new operating system. This essentially different model of computing is presently in its “Alpha” working state and not yet ready for consumers.

Like traditional operating systems, Google Chrome OS has no desktop applications, presenting a sleek and minimal interface. The Alpha release shows an interface merely comprising a launch button at the top corner of the screen that initiates an application page. Most of the user applications reside in the browser over the internet; as a consequence, users are set free from the hassle of managing, installing or updating programs. Moreover, as your desktop has no files or applications, this simply implies that no virus or malware can infect your computer making the user computing experience that much more secure.

The most distinguishing feature of Chrome OS is its speed. Chrome device connects users to the internet almost instantly as the device is booted, without loading unnecessary programs. Chrome OS is intended to run on 86x & ARM chips. Currently, an assiduous team of engineers are working on the OEMs to launch this lightweight operating system on netbooks in the second half of 2010.

Nexus One

Released in the US this January, Google’s smartphone is somewhat of a novelty with its sleek design, ultra-thinness of 11.5 mm and curved edges with a 480 x 800 OLED capacity latest multi-touch screen allowing users to be more virtuosic. With a 5 megapixel autofocus camera from 6cm to infinity, LED flash and 2X digital Zoom aided with low light feature, the new Nexus phone is as light as 130 grams, the equivalent of holding 10 ordinary pencils at a time.

Nexus features dual microphones for noise cancellation, a voice keyboard and the ability to transcribe voice to text in any text field on the phone. The phone also charges when it is connected to a computer’s USB port or when inserted in an optional desktop or car dock. Charging via the car charger makes Nexus One a navigation device that can provide users with directions for traveling.

The graphical features of Nexus are cool. The wallpapers are interactive, and respond to the user’s touch. Other features include 3D scrolling of apps, and a new way of checking out photographs utilizing Cooliris technology. This stunning Android handset is much better than any other Android handset so far. Moreover, as Android is open source, developers have freedom of apps creation ultimately benefiting the users. Users can also view pictures in their Picasa web album by automatic synchronization of Nexus with Picasa. Nexus One is sold in the unlocked GSM version, making it effortlessly accessible from any online store from Google. It’s being introduced throughout the world in stages; good thing is the price won’t blow a big hole in most my pocket….

Google Buzz

Announced on February 9th this year, Google Buzz presents the clever and handy way to share, at least from Google’s perspective. Since the past couple of years, Google have been profoundly voicing their idea of a “social web” to facilitate social networks and sharing, and Buzz is yet another social feature in a crowded field that allows users to connect more intimately, follow each other, and share things of mutual interest.

The most defining feature of Google Buzz is its integration with Gmail, this implies that users are set free from the intricacies of setting up a new contact book from scratch but it also provides the exposure Google wants out of Buzz.

Though Buzz is another milestone in socializing web users, many users have criticized its friendly nature towards strangers. The privacy concerns about this new application have been heavily debated. This meant Buzz has undergone revisions for as many as 3 times after its release, since the beginning of this year.

Apple iPhone 4G

Its design inspired by the MacBook Air, the iPhone 4G is anything but a rumor. The concept of Apple’s iPhone 4G is to house anything conceivable and imaginable for a phone (and more), and perhaps iPhone 4G aims at offering every feature that the current iPhone models are deprived of, like a simple copy-paste facility.

Initial pictures of the Apple’s 4G phone showed a OLED touch screen on a fashionable titanium and glass casing with a front camera for iChat. Other features include 3.2 Megapixel Camera Video, Removable Battery, 32 Gb memory, and a superior processor for intelligent multi-tasking. Ultimately, the iPhone 4G can be viewed as an all-in-one multimedia device, and no longer a phone.

This promising device is rumored to have a very high speed internet connection. The iPhone 4G is expected as early as May this year, but don’t hold your breath. Apple targeted May as they expected Google to launch Nexus One around the same time world-wide; however let us all just keep our hands in our pockets for the time being

By the way, check out this Unofficial Guide to the iPhone.

Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft planned to officially launch Microsoft office 2010 in May 2010, declaring that Office 2010 is all set for mass consumers and business community. On March 6th, (this year) Microsoft also announced a program offering free upgrade for licensed customers of Office 2007, who purchase this version between March and September this year.

We had a preview earlier when Microsoft publicly released a Microsoft Office 2010 beta in late 2009. The beta version had many added features, primarily focusing on increased usability. Among these features, the prominent one is a social networking connector. This connector will enable users to gather Windows Live and other social networking feeds into Outlook.

Microsoft Office seems to emphasize on collaboration technologies for co-authoring documents. Applications like MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and MS OneNote support co-authoring in one way or another. The beta version also has an in-built capability for businesses to test the browser-based Office Web Apps within their enterprises. The beta version includes editing in Word and OneNote Web app.

Other notable features include a smooth UI. The office beta version presents a backstage area which contains all the functions of the File menu showing a list of file based actions such as Save, Open, New, Print and Share. To add, Microsoft is also rumored to introduce IE9 by late this year. All in, MS Office 2010 makes it to the list of most anticipated releases of 2010…