Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category
What I missed most while in Mexico
April 5th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I’ve just returned from a wonderful two-week holiday in Mexico. I took my iPad and managed to access the Internet in each of the hotels where we stayed – but, oh, how intermittent and how slow it was. It was like being back on dial-up and I spent long minutes watching that thin blue line […]
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Does big data have to mean Big Brother?
March 17th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Over the past 13 years, I’ve written a regular column on Internet issues and I have just contributed my 90th piece. It’s on big data and the power of the algorithm – you can read it here. If you fancy dipping into any of the previous columns (you can see how far and fast things […]
Posted in Internet, Science & technology | Comments (0)
How the Internet is changing lives one person at a time
February 1st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
For four years now, I have been a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Tinder Foundation (previously the Online Centres Foundation), which co-ordinates the work of 3,800 online training centres in England. I think it is useful for me, from time to time, to visit an actual centre and see the work at the […]
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Is Wikipedia the best site on the web?
January 15th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
This was the title of a column that I wrote eight years ago. At the time, Wikipedia had 8 million articles in more than 250 languages. The amazing site is 15 years old this week and now has over 38 million articles, over 5 million articles in English alone. I use it all the time as […]
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Why we should support Wikipedia
November 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Dear Roger, A year ago, you gave £XX to keep Wikipedia online for hundreds of millions of readers. We are deeply grateful for your support, and we need your help again this year. Please renew your donation today. We are the small non-profit that runs one of the top websites in the world. The others […]
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Sooner or later, the Internet changes everything
November 9th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This is the title of my latest column on Internet matters. I look briefly at three sectors: one sector where the changes as a result of the Net have already been dramatic (mail); another where the changes are still in progress (e-commerce); and a third where the changes are not yet too significant (broadcasting). You can read […]
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Now I’m zooming down the information superhighway as my broadband speed is boosted by a factor of 10
October 2nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I’ve never worried too much about my broadband speed since all I do is e-mail and web browsing. So I was pretty content with my download speed of up to 2.74 Mbps and upload speed of up to 0.76 Mbps. But recently my son and his family relocated to Nairobi, so I’ve started to use […]
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Over half the world still offline
September 28th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
A report from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) suggests that 57% of the world’s population remain offline. The annual “State of Broadband” report from the UN agency suggests that the number of people online over the world has grown to 3.2 billion, up from 2.9 billion last year, but that some 4 billion still do […]
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Why we need a DOT EVERYONE (4)
March 31st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In my three previous postings, I have highlighted the Richard Dimbleby Lecture delivered this week by Martha Lane Fox which called for the creation of a new body to promote digital inclusion and debate Internet issues. Somebody who heard the speech live is Lord (Jim) Knight who chairs the Tinder Foundation on whose Board I […]
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Why we need a DOT EVERYONE (3)
March 31st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In my previous posting, I provided a link to the full text of the Richard Dimbleby Lecture given this week by Martha Lane Fox. If you don’t have time to read the speech. you can read a summary of her views in this column in today’s “Guardian” newspaper. She begins her piece: “Britain could be […]
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