A utilização de sites bancários pelos portugueses

O número de cibernautas portugueses que utiliza sites bancários continua a aumentar - em Março, foram 566 mil (mais 5,4% do que há um ano).

O artigo
Sites bancários visitados por 566 mil em Março

Os sites bancários foram visitados por 566 mil portugueses a partir de suas casas no mês de Março, revela o estudo Netpanel da Marktest.
Segundo o estudo, no mês passado o número de portugueses com 15 ou mais anos de idade que acederam à banca online a partir de casa aumentou em 1,4% face a Fevereiro e 5,4% face a Março de 2005.
A média diária de utilizadores de sites bancários baixou para os 92 mil, menos 4,2% do que em Fevereiro, mas mais 10,8% do que no mês homólogo do ano anterior.
O total de páginas visitadas superou os 39 milhões, o que traduz um aumento mensal de 4,3% e uma redução homóloga de 7,2%.
Os sites do Grupo CGD mantêm-se na liderança em número de utilizadores únicos e em páginas visitadas na navegação realizada a partir de casa.

in Diário Digital

Skype e o número de utilizadores

Em menos de um ano, o serviço on-line Skype duplicou o número de utilizadores, atingindo mais de 100 milhões de pessoas registadas.

O artigo
Skype atinge 100 milhões de utilizadores

O servidor de telefone por Internet Skype anunciou ontem ter mais de 100 milhões de utilizadores de todo o mundo, estando a um passo de duplicar o número de pessoas registadas em Setembro de 2005 (54 milhões). Comprado no ano passado pela eBay Inc., empresa que faz leilões online, o Skype lançou um programa que permite às pessoas falar gratuitamente pela Internet.

in Público

O papel da Internet na vida dos americanos

No mais recente relatório do Pew Internet & American Life Project é estudada a importância da Internet na vida dos seus utilizadores americanos.

O artigo
The Internet’s Growing Role in Life’s Major Moments
By John Horrigan and Lee Rainie
April 19, 2006

The internet has become increasingly important to users in their everyday lives. The proportion of Americans online on a typical day grew from 36% of the entire adult population in January 2002 to 44% in December 2005. The number of adults who said they logged on at least once a day from home rose from 27% of American adults in January 2002 to 35% in late 2005. And for many of those users, the internet has become a crucial source of information-- Pew Internet & American Life Project show that fully 45% of internet users, or about 60 million Americans, say that the internet helped them make big decisions or negotiate their way through major episodes in their lives in the previous two years.
To explore this phenomenon, we fielded the Major Moments Survey in March 2005, that repeated elements of an earlier January 2002 survey. Comparison of the two surveys revealed striking increases in the number of Americans who report that the internet played a crucial or important role in various aspects of their lives.

in Pew Internet & American Life Project

Chorar os mortos nas redes de amigos da Internet

Na Internet, as redes de amigos manifestam um fenómeno curioso: quando o autor de uma página pessoal morre, os amigos "reúnem-se" nesse espaço para relembrá-lo e trocar expressões de consolo. Normalmente geridas por jovens, estas páginas tornam-se assim um meio para os pais conhecerem melhor os filhos que perderam, através dos seus amigos, de acordo com os testemunhos obtidos pelo New York Times.

O artigo
Web Sites Set Up to Celebrate Life Recall Lives Lost
By WARREN ST. JOHN
Published: April 27, 2006

Like many other 23-year-olds, Deborah Lee Walker loved the beach, discovering bands, making new friends and keeping up with old ones, often through the social networking site MySpace.com, where she listed her heroes as "my family, and anyone serving in the military — thank you!"
So only hours after she died in an automobile accident near Valdosta, Ga., early on the morning of Feb. 27, her father, John Walker, logged onto her MySpace page with the intention of alerting her many friends to the news. To his surprise, there were already 20 to 30 comments on the page lamenting his daughter's death. Eight weeks later, the comments are still coming.
"Hey Lee! It's been a LONG time," a friend named Stacey wrote recently. "I know that you will be able to read this from Heaven, where I'm sure you are in charge of the parties. Please rest in peace and know that it will never be the same here without you!"
Just as the Web has changed long-established rituals of romance and socializing, personal Web pages on social networking sites that include MySpace, Xanga.com and Facebook.com are altering the rituals of mourning. Such sites have enrolled millions of users in recent years, especially the young, who use them to expand their personal connections and to tell the wider world about their lives.

in New York Times - Technology

Aprender inglês com o motor de busca

A barra do motor de busca Accoona tem uma característica que a distingue de todas as outras: fala inglês. Segundo a empresa, o objectivo deste utilitário é ajudar os cibernautas a aprender a falar inglês e, com esta estratégia, a Accoona pretende afirmar-se no mercado competitivo dos motores de busca, enfrentando os gigantes Google, Yahoo! e MSN.

O artigo
Talking search bar helps teach English on Internet

(Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 21--Jersey City-based search engine company Accoona has introduced a talking search bar to help Internet users learn English, the company has announced.
Users can download the feature, which will enable a user to highlight any text on a Web page and listen to it with a male or female voice.
The Talking Search Bar is free for the first 60 days. For a one-time licensing fee of $25, you can have unlimited use of the feature, the company said.
According to Accoona, the Talking Search Bar technology is the first such application tied directly to an Internet search engine.
Accoona designed the feature for Internet users who want to learn and pronounce English or enhance their English-language skills. The application also can used by U.S. and United Kingdom preschoolers, elementary-school students and others learning to read English, such as English as a second language or adult literacy students, the company said.

in TMCnet - News

Os links
Motor de busca Accoona
Download the Talking Search Bar

Encontros familiares na Internet

Famílias americanas. A distância pode separá-las, mas jogos on-line voltam a reuni-las. Através desses mesmos jogos (que são antes de mais uma fonte de diversão), convivem e conversam, fortalencendo os laços familiares.

Far-Flung Families Unite in Cyberspace -- And Kill Monsters
By Mike Musgrove
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 20, 2006; Page A01

The Holman family gets together practically every weeknight and most weekends these days, even though Jean is in Dupont Circle, her father and sister Susan are in Pennsylvania, and her uncle and cousin are in Texas.
Together, they're also in Tyria, the virtual world of a fantasy computer game called Guild Wars, where they form the "Jelo" team, fighting the undead and other groups of players as a family unit. Along the way, they also might plan vacations or share family gossip.
Although computer games have often been thought of as a pastime for the antisocial, communal online worlds such as the one in Guild Wars are the hottest things in games these days. The most popular title in this genre, World of Warcraft, has more than 5 million subscribers -- all text-chatting with their fellow players or using microphones and headsets to collaborate on the latest monster-killing mission.

In Washington Post – TechNews