The Most Popular Facebook Games in 2011

Social Media Giant Facebook has released the official list of the most popular games played on Facebook in 2011. According to a post on the Facebook blog, “the average game player on Facebook played more than three different gaming titles each month and played more than half the days they visited the site”.

Topping the list is the “Garden of Time” by Playdom, followed by “The Sims Social” by EA Inc. Its interesting to note that as many as 4 Zynga games have made it to the top ten list.

So here are the most popular Facebook games in 2011. The list is based on user recommendations

1. Gardens of Time (By Playdom)
2. The Sims Social (By EA)
3. Cityville  (By Zynga)
4. DoubleDown Casino (By DoubleDown Interactive)
5. Indiana Jones Adventure World  (By Zynga)
6. Words With Friends (By Zynga)
7. Bingo Blitz (By Buffalo Studios) 
8. Empires & Allies (By Zynga)
9. Slotomania-Slot Machines (By Playtika) 
10. Diamond Dash (By Wooga)

Read more »

Posted in: Web

Google's New Feature - 'Search, plus Your World'

Team Google are constantly working out on ways to improve the 'search experience' for their users. In the past, they did so with several additions like +1, social search, among other things. Doing all this, they tried to bring the function more closer to the user.

Now, through an official blog post, Google has introduced - Search, plus Your World feature to its users. With this, Google confirms that they are looking at integrating their primary function - Search, with their social site, Google+. Result? A more personalized, more relevant stream of search links. Simply put, the next time you try to make a search query on Google, you will notice that the search stream will include a lot of posts, content in general from the people you know, and have shared with on Google+, instead of public posts. The personalized content on the results page will be visible to the user alone, thus leaving no room for safety hazards.

In this latest update to its search function, Google has rolled out 3 features: Personal Results, Profiles in Search and People and Pages. Personal Results will see Google, like mentioned above deliver more personalized results, in the form of text, images, among others making it more meaningful to the user and not just any random collection of links. Via Profiles in Search, users will be able to locate their contacts, or those whom they would like to follow right from their search page. With introducing People and Pages feature, Google will throw in people profiles and Google+ pages during searches that match to the user's area of interest. 

Briefly describing the latest from Google, the post states, "We named our company after the mathematical number googol as an aspiration toward indexing the countless answers on webpages, but that’s only part of the picture. The other part is people, and that’s what Search plus Your World is all about."

Users can choose to view personalized content on their search pages, or continue to have their searches in the same way as they always did by managing their preferences on a prominent new toggle on the upper right hand side of the results. Google will begin rolling out Search, plus Your World in a few days from now, and it will be available to those who're signed in and are searching https://www.google.com in English.

From : Google Blog

Read more »

Posted in: Web

Why Your Industry Needs to Get More Social

It’s hard to miss the huge impact social media has had on our lives. People connect with their friends on Facebook, share their thoughts on Twitter and reach out to professionals on LinkedIn. And let’s not forget YouTube, where 75% of the internet populations watch online videos.

As individuals, social media plays a huge part in most of our lives – but it’s also becoming increasingly more important for businesses.  In fact, a recent article from CBS News highlighted 5 industry sectors that are using social media the most to keep their customers happy.

They include:

•  Retail

•  Telecoms

•  Travel and Hospitality

•  Cable

•  Banks

What about the rest? Well, the industry sectors that seem reluctant to adopt social media include:

•  Healthcare

•  Government Services

•  Financial Services

•  Manufacturing

•  Construction

•  Human Resources

Hate to break it to these industries, but you especially can benefit from being “social.” For example, HR professionals can use Twitter to get the word out to a larger audience during the hiring process. Construction manufacturers like Bobcat forklifts can learn what people are saying about their products if they create a Facebook page.

Perhaps one of the main reasons these sectors aren’t using social media is that they don’t see the benefit it could add to their businesses; it could seem like an additional investment of time and money, with little or no tangible return.

However, when used well, social media can benefit businesses in a number of ways:

•  It allows them to build their brand.

•  It lets them tell more people about their business.

•  It can get other people promoting their business for them.

•  It allows them to be seen as ‘thought leaders’ in their industry.

•  It lets them know what others are saying about their business – in real time.

•  It can tell them what their customers want, and how to give it to them.

•  It’s where more and more of their peers, contacts and clients are gathering.

All industries and businesses need to be more social. The industry your business is a part of, however, does change your social strategy – but not the fact that you need to be social. Businesses need to look at social media as a way to engage with their audience, build relationships and eventually earn their trust. If you want to gain more business you have to go where the people go – and now everyone is on social sites. 

Read more »

Posted in: Web

Facebook, One of the Major Causes of Divorce in UK

Facebook plays a big role in people’s lives nowadays including the lives of married couples. A recent survey conducted last December 2011 by a UK Divorce website, Divorce Online found that there is an alarming growth of Facebook related divorces. It has been said that 33% of the behavior petitions were related to Facebook.

Compared to their survey last 2009 wherein there are only 20% of Facebook related divorces were found; now it has already grown by 13%. The said website stated three major reasons:

1. Inappropriate messages to the members of the opposite sex
2. Separated spouses posting nasty comments about each other
3. Facebook friends reporting spouse’s behavior

According to the spokesman for Divorce Online, Mark Keenan, “If someone wants to have an affair or flirt with the opposite sex then Facebook is the easiest place to do it. Also the use of Facebook to make comments about ex partners to friends has become extremely common with both sides using Facebook to vent their grievances against each other.”

After the conducted survey above, do you think Facebook should add “Divorced” as a new relationship status?

Read more »

Posted in: Web

6 Steps to Increase your Google Page Rank.

Google Page rank is based on back links. Back links are Links pointing to your website from another website. The more back links you have the higher your PR will be.

1. Join forums, forums are a great way to achieve links to your website. In most forums you are allowed to have a signature and in your signature you can put a link to your website. But another important note to look on is making sure the forum is somewhat related to your website. You will still get credit if it’s not, but if it’s related to your website than you will be accomplishing two tasks at once.

You will be advertising for your website (bringing in targeted traffic) You will also be building your websites presence.

2. Submit to search engine directories. Search engine directories are a good way to get a free link to your website. They also increase your chances at being listed higher on popular search engines like Google, and overture.

Most search engine directories allow you to submit to their website for free. This will allow you to increase your web presence by being listed on another search engine, and it will also be a free link.

Remember the more links you have the higher your PR will be

3. Creating and publishing articles. Articles are an easy source of generating new traffic. You can include your signature in your article. This will bring in more traffic from article submission directories.

Your signature usually consists of 4 to 8 lines. Usually the first line would be the title of the website that you are trying to advertise. The last line would be the link to the website and the lines in between these would be a sales pitch to draw your viewers into your website.

4. Links from related websites. Gaining links from related websites can be one of the most frustrating tasks you can attempt.

They are very easy to find, but can be somewhat difficult to obtain links from.

To find related websites, all you have to do is go to a search engine… say Google… and type in your subject. Maybe your website is based on ford mustangs.

5. Start a Blog : This is kind of an obvious one, but I felt compelled to mention it anyway. A huge part of Improving Your Page Rank and SEO in general is content. The more pages of content you have on your website. The more authority you have with Google. A blog makes it much easier to constantly, add fresh content to your website, thus increasing the number of daily visits, subscribers and organic traffic.

6. Create An RSS Feed : RSS will help you Improve Your Page Rank by allowing Google to index your site faster and easier. RSS or XML feeds allow your content to get syndicated to RSS directories-thus increasing the speed at which your content spreads around the web.

Read more »

Posted in: Web

11 Reasons Why Galaxy Nexus Is Better Than iPhone 4S

The war between Samsung and Apple is not new. But with the entry of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, the war reached a new level altogether. Samsung changed it flagship device and brought something which was absolutely path-breaking in terms of technology. The device was launched at a time when iPhone 4S, Apple’s latest smartphone, was enjoying a great time. One could visibly notice the change in consumers' preferences from iPhone 4S to Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Apart from Samsung’s classy technology, Galaxy Nexus got Google’s new Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Ice Cream Sandwich, again, was something that the world needed. The new Android platform carved a niche for itself and the Galaxy Nexus too.

Comparisons between Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S are obvious but there are reasons why you should prefer Galaxy Nexus over iPhone 4S. We list here a few of those reasons for you...

1. Display:
Samsung Galaxy Nexus comes with a gigantic 11.8-cm (4.6-inch) capacity HD wide screen as compared to Apple iPhone 4S which adorns a 8.9-cm (3.5-inch) display with 640 x 960 pixels resolution. Galaxy Nexus comes with the Super AMOLED HD display and delivers superior colour, enhanced readability and reduces power consumption. Samsung has shared this capability with the recently launched Galaxy Note only. The 720P HD resolution enhances the experience of viewing HD videos, playing games, browsing the Web, reading e-mail and reading e-books. Users don't need to scroll constantly because they get higher resolution as unlike in Apple's iPhone 4S.


2. Screen:
When it comes to the screen sizes, layout and customisation, Android smartphones are a step ahead of iPhone. Samsung has given Galaxy Nexus a reconfigurable Widget Size which allows the users to put all the folders to the main toolbar. Apart from the built-in Gmail and Calendar widgets, users are allowed to customise the layout of most widgets simply by dragging and dropping to to fit them the way they want the home screen to look.


3. Size and weight:
Even with bigger dimensions and screen, Galaxy Nexus is 5gms lighter and 0.5mm thinner than iPhone 4S.


4. Free Navigation Software:
Galaxy Nexus offers its users free navigation software. This software comes along with free map data and updates, which is not the case with iPhone 4S. That's not all, the operating system of Galaxy Nexus, Android 4.0 also supports turn-by-turn voice navigation for driving directions. This feature can help users in replacing the in-car dash or GPS navigator and save money.


5. 4G LTE:
This is surely a major advantage of Galaxy Nexus. The 4G LTE support gives the device 10 times faster speed than that of iPhone 4S that supports 3G. This allows users to download huge files and apps with much ease. The personal hotspot feature of Galaxy Nexus enables users to work almost anywhere.


6. NFC Support:
The Near Field Communication (NFC) technology of Galaxy Nexus is a another boon which makes the device a futuristic one. NFC helps in facilitating monetary transactions and exchange of digital content. iPhone 4S does not have this feature.


7. Better Web browsing:
As far as Web browsing is concerned, both the handsets perform good in their class. But Samsung Galaxy Nexus scores in the way that it comes with Flash support and many of modern day's websites rely on flash.


8. Memory:
Galaxy Nexus is a winner in this one too. It comes with 1 GB RAM capacity which enables high level of multi-tasking while iPhone 4S offers 512 MB RAM.


9. Processor:
The processor of Galaxy Nexus has considerably faster CPU clock speed. It is estimated to be 1.5x faster than iPhone 4S.


10. Multi-tasking:
Both the smartphones are capable of multi-tasking in their own right but Galaxy Nexus gains because of the Android advantage. Android apps give a PC-like experience when it comes to multi-tasking. Apps in Android are allowed to do whatever they want to on Android platform. However, iOS force suspends all the apps currently not in use unless they use one of the specific background functions that Apple allows.


11. Open Source advantage:
Galaxy Nexus clearly has the advantage of Android being open source. Android is publicly available which means that anyone can copy, modify and redistribute the source code without paying royalties or fees. If at all any weakness is found in the platform, it is quickly fixed by the community. There is no cap on how much users can tweak their Android experience. Users can unlock Galaxy Nexus, root the device and customise it with a new ROM and the user experience completely. iPhone 4S does not provide such freedom to its users.

Read more »

Posted in: Gadgets