Five corporate social platforms to think beyond Facebook

When we talk about social networks, the first that comes to our mind is Facebook, right? Not a long time ago, for us Brazilians we were thinking about Orkut. This sounds like an era that often moves to another era and we change our opinion as a consequence. But do you think that social networks are only like that you already know as quoted above?

Well, if we look around we will find many others with different purposes, here are some of them:
This does not mean that you have to follow each of those, far less they are the most important ones to be part of. Also, the focus given to those ones are very differently from what you are used to navigate.

- Cisco Jabber
Aggregate the unified communications platform from Cisco, Jabber was designed to make employees more productive, regardless of location or device used. Result of an acquisition made by the manufacturer in 2008, the service allows users to access presence, instant messaging, voice, video, voice messaging, desktop sharing and conferencing capabilities.

- Socialcast
In May, VMware acquired Socialcast, a social networking platform that allows companies to integrate social tools and processes within enterprise applications. The free version offers features like activity stream, private message function, microblogging and profiles. The option premium brings analytics, directory integration and user tasks, among others.

- JiveSoftware
It is an extensive platform that allows third party developers to integrate social networking capabilities using an SDK based on OpenSocial.

- Chatter
The Salesforce.com supports from the beginning the question of social networking in the enterprise and supply Chatter was involved in a CRM application's own independent company for something that can be deployed even by non Salesforce customers. The free version allows users to create profiles, post updates, follow co-workers, group creation, file sharing and collaboration in a private and secure. Furthermore, access can be done anywhere from Chatter Chatter Mobile and Desktop. Since the Plus Edition provides all the capabilities of the free version as a more refined integration with CRM, and a more elaborate security and other controls.

- SAP StreamWork
The SAP StreamWork is a social networking tool based on the model software as a service (SaaS) designed for enterprise collaboration. The Enterprise Edition adds advanced security capabilities, automated provisioning and the ability to integrate legacy applications, including SAP and SharePoint, Microsoft.

Possibly you can never join to those social networks above, for some reasons like money to invest, companies not interested on this, or also not fun as we know.
At least, now you have an slight idea that social networks go beyond the popular ones.

Mobile Payments Show Dramatic Increase *

A new way to pay our bills is about to start — the mobile payment. The “m-payment” is already present in Brazil. It involves paying your bills through authentication via cell phone, similar to a credit card when we type the password in order to confirm the transaction. There are currently several methods being implemented around the world and some have been working for years, such as Premium SMS based, Mobile web payments, and Contactless NFC (Near Field Communication).

The methods being developed in Brazil are the Premium SMS based and the NFC. The first method involves the customer sending a payment request via SMS text message to short codes (special telephone numbers). Once the transaction is approved, the merchant is informed about the payment success and the transaction is concluded. The second method is used mostly for purchases made in actual stores (as opposed to Internet purchases) because it requires a special mobile phone equipped with a smart-card. The card concludes the transaction with a reader module, requiring authentication. One of the main reasons for using these two new technologies is to integrate and adapt credit card, debit card, transportation, and meal voucher payments to a mobile phone.

Although the Brazilian financial system is solid, modern and well-distributed, 49 percent of the population is still deprived of banking services, which means there is a great demand for mobile financial products by millions of people. A contributing factor is the huge presence of cell phones in Brazil – about 106.9 percent. This means there are currently more cell phones than people in Brazil! Thus, the stage is set for mass adoption of services offered by mobile devices.

Brazil is poised with the necessary banking knowledge that is essential to the success of mobile payments. However, some obstacles still need to be overcome. For example, the lack of coordination among the various companies that offer this service — telecom operators, banks, and large retail chains need to understand and respect the needs and operations of each other. They all must learn to work together. Also, since mobile payments are new, there is a large legal gap resulting from the absence of regulation. There is a lack of clarity in the banking laws, which do not define the legal parameters of non-financial institutions, such as a wireless carriers offering payment services in Brazil.

Judging from this scenario, experts agree that it is unlikely the Brazilian market will have a single universal system for payments via mobile devices in the near future. However, if we look back just a few years, how long did it once take for a merchant having one card terminal to process all the different “plastic” options? Payment services have improved dramatically in a short period of time. Nevertheless, the future expectation for mobile payments is enormous. There are currently 1.6 million mobile transactions performed annually, but this number is expected to reach almost 12 million by 2014.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

What most people do on the Internet

Do you spend hours on the internet, watching videos, checking e-mails, reading news or going shopping?

An infographic published by the website Flowtown do a research what most people do while connected virtually.

What users most do on the virtual world are: read or send e-mails, use search engines, search for medical or health information, check info about the weather and search for services or products.

At the other end, that is, the less things people do online, are creating or working on personal pages, buy or sell stocks, using dating sites, visiting universes like Second Life - and for surprise, access the Twitter!

Although this research does not show specific data with numbers such as online pornography, the information is very interesting to understand a bit more the internet's influence on people's life.

The data are divided in categories to make easy comprehension:

Entertainment and Social Networks

- 71% of people watch movies on YouTube or Vimeo;

- 65% are subscribed on relationship websites, such as Facebook or LinkedIn;

- 46% do photo upload to shared with other;

- 32% play games;

- 32% read newspaper or blogs informative ;

- 30% share something that created;

- 21% do podcast download;

- 13% use the Twitter;

- 14% use dating websites;

Finances

- 61% do operations on online banking;

- 37% search financial information, such as interest rates;

- 25% donate to a charity;

- 11% buy or sell stocks, bonds or mutual funds;

News

- 81% search for data about the weather;

- 76% receive news in general;

- 61% search for news about politics;

- 52% read news or any information about sports;

Personal Business

- 92% send or receive emails;

- 65% buy or make travel reservation;

- 37% evaluate products, services or persons;

- 24% do telephone calls;

- 15% create or work on web-pages or collaborative blogs;

- 14% create or work on blogs or personal websites;

- 14% have a personal website;

Shopping

- 78% search information about services and products;

- 71% buy some product;

- 53% put advertisements such as Craigslist;

- 26% participate on virtual auctions;

- 15% sell something

Web browsing and search

- 92% use search engines to find information;

- 83% search for medical or health information;

- 67% visit pages of cities, states or federal government;

- 56% search information about jobs;

- 53% read on Wikipedia;

- 32% post comments on groups, blogs or photos;

Social Network: Which One Are You On? *

As we search for a definition of social networks, we discover that it’s a form of representation of emotional or professional relationships between human beings. A social network is responsible for the sharing of ideas among people who share common goals and values. For example, a discussion group consists of individuals who have similar interests. Today, these social networks are occurring primarily on the Internet, lending to the accelerating of dissemination of common ideas.

Whenever we talk about social networks in Brazil, the first name that comes to  mind is Orkut. Launched in 2004, it was the first social network in Brazil and today has more than 60 million profiles. This social network is the most common one among Brazilians, who represent more than 50% of Orkut’s users, followed by Indians and Americans, respectively. Also, this networking tool has been a huge attraction of the Internet in Brazil, since more than 82% of those who access the Internet have an Orkut profile, according to research published by Ibope Nielsen.

However, it’s not only Orkut that has proven attractive to Brazilians. Recently, Twitter and Facebook are competing for second position in the total number of Brazilian users.

Moreover, not only are individuals making use of Orkut and Twitter, but also companies are now looking at social networks as an opportunity for marketing their products and getting closer to consumers by spreading news or launching campaigns in a more straightforward manner, such as using promotions and awards.

The newest social network to arrive is called Google Plus, and in just weeks, has exploded with such a huge number of users that it’s surprised even Google itself, its creator. Integrated with other Google services, the Google Plus network site goes beyond Orkut, with a different concept of interaction and new ways to get closer to friends. Before its launch, many media critics raised this question: Is there space in people’s lives for more social networks? Google Plus has answered that question with a resounding yes, by making clear enhancements and providing additional value to users.

The popularity of Google Plus and other social networking sites seems to suggest that changes don’t necessarily happen when society adopts a new tool, but certainly when it adopts a new behavior, and a new trend is created by seeing old ideas in a new way.

If we look around today we can see other kinds of social networks in use on the Internet. For example, there are popular ones for photo publications, for professional careers, content organization, and also ones providing integration among university students, teachers and classes.

Either way, the idea of social networks is not really so new at all. However, on the Internet, they work in a far more powerful and dynamic way. Thus, if you have some interests in common with others, perhaps it’s time to share. See you there!

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

How the SMS is changing the World

The smartphones are becoming more sophisticated and common, however the simple SMS (Short Message Service) sent by ordinary cellphone is still the main data service used in the world.

A research published by the website MBA shows how the text message is in our life and how we work with it. The research shows a significant growth particularly in developing countries. The numbers are impressive:

- Exists 4,2 billion users in the world, that means 3 in each 5 habitats of the planet. This represents five times the number of Facebook users, and four times of Google users. Also represents the population of the entire world in 1975.

- In 2010, were sent 6,1 trillion messages, 338% more than in 2007.

- 48 million people have cellphone but no electricity. They use car batteries to charge their phones.

- The beneficial use of SMS are present in poor countries, such as Ghana and Nigeria where it is common the counterfeit drugs. So HP has developed a system that allows consumer to check the expiration date of a product. It just need to send an SMS with the printed code on the package to the government service and soon they receive a confirmation of the authenticity of the product.

- The feature phone, aka "dumb phone" (the simple ones) is the number 1 selling electronic product in the world.

- 87% of Fillipinos prefer communicating to their government by text message. Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo set up texting lines for 54 government agencies. Residents can report crime, drug activity and general complaints by text message.

- 13 millions, or 1 in 3 Kenyans use the mobile banking service M-Pesa, which lets users transfer money, receive salaries and pay bills by text messages.

Short messages that increasingly form the bulk of human interaction. From banking to health-care, texting is reshaping every aspect of how humans live.

Things you possibly didn't know about the Internet

The internet is so part of our life, that even if you want to do the annual income tax return for the government, we have to have the computer and the Internet. In addition we have a bunch of many other public services in our hand 24 hours a day. But little by little this technology came up to our life that today we can say that "We Cant Live Without".

However if we rewind some points about the Internet, we have some interesting facts:

- As in Brazil the soup operas are very popular, the first time that was mentioned the term was at "Explode Coração" in 1995, at that time a few people (almost anyone) had connection to the network.

- The radio took 38 years to reach an audience of 50 million people; the TV took 13 years; and the internet only 4 little years.

- When we think about a research on the Internet, the Wikipedia is one of the first links of the result. But before Wikipedia there was the Nupedia, and it was created by the same people in March of 2000 and lasted until September of 2003. The main difference between Wikipedia and Nupedia was the rigorous selection  of articles, and all were done by specialists like PhD. Nowadays, Wikipedia has more than 17 million of articles, and more than 680 thousand of those are in Portuguese (data of March 30, 2011).

- The e-mail we know today was created by a guy called Gary Thuerk in 1971. Before that, it was only possible to send messages by e-mail using computers that were connected to each other. What did he write in that first e-mail?? ... Neither he remembers!!

- After having invented the first e-mail, of course someone invented the first spam. In 1978 a guy called Gary Thuerk, marketing manager of the Digital Equipment company, had an idea to send an advertising e-mail to the the masses.

- The first item sold at eBay was a broken laser pen by 14 dollars. Nowadays eBay is one of the biggest platform of sales in the World.

Well, there are a bunch of many other interesting histories about this fantastic tool of communication that changed the World forever and the way we see the World.

Main reasons why small companies don't have backup plan

Nowadays there are many ways to backup your data, and now there are one more option that is the Cloud. Even though, many small and medium companies still keep not having implemented a backup plan, and consequently put their data in risk.

There are some researches about this subject, as the one conducted by Symantec revealing that more than 57% of the small and median companies have no plan in case of data loss. Another research conducted by Carbonite pointed out that half of companies suffered unrecoverable data loss.

With so many ways to implement it, why do these companies still keep working without backup plan?
Small companies in general are very busy with many things at the same time, and backup plan is just one more thing, not giving the right importance.

A few reasons are giving in this concern when asked to entrepreneurs:

- It's too expensive: Costs are always the first excuse for small companies that need to take the most of each penny spent. But on the other hand, to have a data loss and not able to get back to work would be the worst. But its also true that with big amount of data, the cost of backup would be quite expensive.

- This will never happen to me: This means that not because you are not on the route of natural disasters like hurricane, floods, etc that will never happen. There are others that happen very often like robbery, fire, physical hardware problems and many others quite susceptible that might occur when you least expect it.

- I just forgot to look for it: Usually entrepreneurs are very busy doing many things simultaneously, and take care of this is just one more duty that can have low priority. But this is not anymore a good excuses since there are many tools that perform synchronized automatic backups.

- Keeps my computer slow: This is very linked with anti-virus programs and old backup programs that in the past used to keep the computers slow due to the high processor and memory consuming. However today there are good tools that work in background, with many options including the one to run only when the computer is idle, as well as the possibility to schedule to run at night.

- I don't want my information in the cloud: Many companies really dislike the idea of having information somewhere out of the company. They feel more comfortable keeping the data at home, but as part of the good backup plan, at least one copy of your data must be out of the office in order to be recoverable in case you can't reach the office.

- I don't have IT department: Some professional devices designed for big amount of data really need someone with skills to operate, but many other solutions are designed specifically for small companies to be simple and easy to use and requires very little knowledge to implement.

- It's in my pen-drive: Many people do that, but most commonly as a personal backup, and the dangerous point here is that not always you have a full daily backup stored in this cheap and portable device. Another weak point, usually people keep this device with the computer, or on the desk, and definitely makes the strategy a big point of failure.

There are still many other excuses why companies don't implement backup strategy. But a few questions are raised: How much value do you give to your information? How much time do you need to have a full restore of your information? Do you keep up-to-date your equipment? and lastly, how much money do you invest on Information Technology?

Technologies that will disappear in the next few years

Technology advances very quickly and things that were common ten years ago (CRT televisions, fax machines) are falling into disuse so scary. At this rate, we can predict some current products that possibly will disappear in the next years. The reason for this is because the features are being embedded in other devices, but also the business model has changed.

- GPS: Nowadays, portable navigation devices are shared visions on the panels and windshields of cars. And more, mobile phones are coming with this feature and does many other things, and why not to say better. The free and famous program, the Google Map Navigation is one of the best programs concerning to this area, and can justify the reason of drop in sales of navigation program in 2010 with more than 22%. But we are talking about the GPS for driving purposes, the ones very popular for end users.

- CD/DVD ROM: With the advent of Internet, we can download practically all we need, like programs, videos, games and many other things we have stored in CD/DVD. With the high speed that providers are offering, its much easier and cheaper downloading what we need instead of sending the package to your home and wait for the delivery service. In addition, we are not counting the risk of losing the package or even have the media scratched.

- Netbook: smaller, lighter and cheaper than notebooks, the netbooks were for a short period the best choice for the ones that were looking for something cheaper, portable and with internet access. With weaker processors and tiny screen the netbooks were kind in imperfect solution. Notebooks kept the evolution with faster processors and more than five hours of battery use, but some new gadgets came up, such as smartphones and now the tablets that are much more suitable and accessible to supply the need of internet navigation, entertaining and simple computing functions.

We can quote some more devices, such as e-readers, so popular for reading but now threatened by the tablets that also provide many other things. And why not to say the wireless internet routes, where service providers are offering cable TV, optical fiber, satellites, high speed internet on mobile phones and why not to have the wireless service too?!?!

Not only devices like these are being threatened, but many others in our daily use we don't realize they can be replaced by something more powerful or even the change of habit.
The subject is widely polemic, but in the next few years we'll see which of them still survived!!

Brazil falls three positions in the global ranking on the use of technology and telecom

Last week, the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) entity that studies the global telecommunication market, released the results of the study "Measuring the Information Society 2011".
This study analyzes how is the evolution of the use of information technology and telecommunications in countries around the world.

The result refering to 2010 puts Brazil in 67th position ranking. The country fell three positions from the same study conducted in 2008, when the Brazilian economy was in 64th position.

If we consider the other countries of South America, Brazil ranks behind Argentina (57th) and Chile (58th) but ahead of Mexico (81st), Colombia (83rd), Venezuela (86th), among others.
According to the survey, the most advanced economy in the use of information technology and telecom is Hong Kong (China), which remains in the first position in the ranking since 2008. The second, it appears to Iceland, which was in 4th position, and Luxembourg, which fell from second to third place. The United States is at 23rd losing three positions.

To analyze the development with IT resources, the ITU created an index based on 11 indicators that examine how economies have evolved in this concern, how they can compare with each other and also how governments use the technology to leveraging their markets.

Class C represents more than 46,5% of brazilian e-commerce

The participation of consumers belonging to the class C continues to grow in online trades. This people is responsible for almost half percent of the online transactions made in Brazil, according to the consultant e-Bit.

Also, according to e-Bit, 46,5% of the consumers that bought by the internet in the first three months of 2011 in Brazil had a family income equal or less than R$ 3.000,00.

Currently there are approximately 10.7 million Brazilians buying over the internet. The class C is about 5 million of this amount. General participation in class C e-commerce grew by 2 percentage points over the past two years.

Nanotechnology *

Recently we have been hearing the term “nanotechnology” a lot, but only a few people know what it really means. Actually, it’s been a part of people’s lives for a long time, mainly in electronic components, and it can include everything from computers to medical devices as well as numerous other hightech items. The term nanotechnology comes from a simple term referring to measurements, a measure like any other, such as a meter or centimeter. However, a “nanometer” is the smallest measurement imaginable -- it’s equivalent to one billionth of a meter.

The field of nanotechnology started with Richard P. Feynman, a 20th century American physicist, who first introduced the term in a lecture he gave in 1959. The term was translated into a concept in 1974, when it was used to describe technologies that would require the construction of materials on the scale of a nanometer. Nanotechnology is based on the potential ability to create things in the smallest possible size, using techniques and tools that try to put every atom and molecule in its desired place, which, if successful, results in technology components so small no humans can see them.

Currently, nanotechnology is being applied to hundreds of products and is a major element used in computer processors. There are applications of nanotechnology in medicine, chemistry, quantum physics, and the industries that create aerospace prototypes, oil refineries, etc. Some examples of nanotechnology products in use today are: automobile paint to reduce scratches and dirt; stain-resistant fabrics that don’t wrinkle; “nano-glue” that can stick any material to another; and products that clean toxic residue. In medicine, nanotechnology is now being used to make catheters, heart valves, pacemakers, orthopedic implants, etc.

It is believed nanotechnology will lead to further developments and perhaps even an unprecedented revolution in areas such as detection and treatment of diseases, production and transport of electricity, radiation emission detection, information technology, production, storage and energy consumption, and treatment of pollutants. It’s even possible the basic component of computer chips, called silicon, could be replaced by this new technology.

Much more remains to be discovered in nanotechnology. For example, more research is necessary into this promising new field to combat some of its potential problems such as nano-pollution from nano-materials or nano-particles, released during the formation process ,which can be very dangerous, as they float easily in the air due to their small size and lightness and can enter the cells of humans, animals, and plants. Since most of these nano-pollutants do not exist in nature, living tissue cells are unlikely to have the appropriate resistance, which might cause as yet unknown types of damage. Nevertheless, this is just the beginning of nanotechnology, and it holds great promise as one of the major discoveries of the modern world.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

Focus on Social Networks

The connection allows that people have voice and be heard. Tools like webinars, webcasts, galleries, podcasts, whitepaper  news, interviews and many others, all are connected. Share of information with friends and family is a universal wish, and goes much far from the physical limits imposed by the paper.

The people start to share their values, after the companies share their ideal, and this become accessible and change the relation among people and companies. You were a reader, now you are a publisher, and this changes the way the way we are used to.

So thinking this way, we see in the last few years a revolution the way we get novelties, look for something and and it all comes down to connection, be connected. Recently what we have heard more is about Social Networks, and thinking about this, Deloitte published a study showing more than 70% of companies in the research use or monitor these environments. More than this, the study points interaction more than only marketing that still domains the scenario.

These are the most initiatives explored by companies using social networks. Questions with multiple choices.

The main obstacles hindering the success of social media.










The tools more used by companies that use social medias.

Trend of investment in social media for the next 12 months.

Some weeks ago, it was launched by Google the new social network called Google Plus (or Google+). Below we can have the real visibility how fast are getting the adoption of new players.

Number of Internet users in Brazil reached almost 60 million

According to numbers from the Institute of research Ibope Nielsen Online, more than 55 million of Brazilians accessed the internet from home. But the total of people with access on the internet from at work or household reached the 58.6 million people in May 2011.

Of those with access at work or in households, were 45.7 million active users, an increase of 6.8% over the previous month and 23% compared with 37.3 million in May 2010. The growth of Internet use in households is even greater, of the 55.5 million people, the number of active users in May 2011 reached 37.2 million, or 30% more than the 28.5 million in May 2010. In two years, the total monthly active users grew 46% in residences.

The access to the internet in any environment (households, workplaces, schools, internet cafes or other places) reached 73.9 million people according to the research in the forth quarter of 2010.

Music on the Internet: Legal or illegal? *

The habit of downloading music on the Internet has been growing year-by-year for several reasons, mainly due to the rapid and easy methods for obtaining a song and listening to it in different formats anywhere. However, the music industry has suffered a "knockout" on its revenue, which is shrinking due to this spread of music piracy thanks to street vendors and the Internet, with websites of content exchange.

In fact, the typical Internet music customer has adapted much faster than the music industry to the various music formats and other digital media such as CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray, iPod, Digital TV and the Internet offerings such as Web Radio, Mobile Radio, iTunes and Video. The music industry has not adapted fast enough to the business model of the digital world, and it has paid the price for this lag by allowing room for a culture of “unofficial” downloads of their music. Unofficial downloading, which is basically illegal, has decreased the size of the official music industry to only 30 percent of its size ten years ago.

Recently, music companies have understood that customers are willing to pay a fair price for digital music, which can be recorded on all available devices without concern for formats, rights and usage permission. The reality of the music world today is that many people have stopped buying CDs and are making their purchases of music online, not because they don’t want to pay, but simply because their habits and desires have changed. Online music is easy, convenient, comfortable and portable. The iTunes Store and Amazon MP3 are great examples of the success of online music.

It is estimated that in 2012, the worldwide sales of music online will overtake CDs. Brazil is one of the countries where the legal music business suffers the most from piracy. This is happening for one simple reason - there is no easy, accessible service fitting the consumer’s needs that sells digital music. As a result, artists and entrepreneurs have begun investing in different online models to provide songs that may cost as little as 10 cents as a way of boosting sales and avoiding piracy. Some online service companies have also developed plans that allow users to listen to unlimited music via streaming, which is a way to distribute multimedia information over the Internet through packets. One such company is Sonora, from the portal Terra, the largest service selling digital music, with 40 percent of the market share to date.

Last year, sales of "mobile" music were identified as a big gamble for the Brazilian market. However, now it is being seen as an example of the digital music industry that has the potential to reverse the flood of pirated downloading. Another example of the digital music industry’s transformation is YouTube, which reigns supremely as the music source for consumers. In the past six years, YouTube has helped catapult the careers of such artists as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, whose fans clicked a million times on their videos. So, there is space for everybody in the digital music world; however, the key to success for artists and the music industry as a whole will be the creativity they can develop in reaching consumers.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Porto Alegre are more digital cities

The important cities like Rio de Janeiro or Brasília (the federal capital) are not necessarily the most digital cities in the country. This is what the research Brazil Index of Digital Cities released by CPqD (Center for Research and Development Telebrás) in partnership with Momento Editorial. According to the research, the target is to measure the level of digitalization of Brazilian municipalities, the most advanced and that occupy the first four positions of the ranking are Belo Horizonte (MG), Curitiba (PR), Porto Alegre (RS) and Vitoria (ES).

In a statement sent to media by CPqD, explains that "digital cities have different maturity stages, or levels of urbanization in relation to the availability and use of Information Technology, be the citizen, government, company or companies". To assess at what stage the municipalities are, the CPqD created a methodology that takes into account a series of criteria, divided into nine categories, related not only to the technological infrastructure (presence of primary equipment, bandwidth, coverage, etc.), but also the availability of digital services and resources to accessibility, for example, for people with physical disabilities or illiterate.

Based on this criteria, a questionnaire was generated with 15 questions which were answered by more than one hundred municipalities in all regions of Brazil. Of this total, 75 questionnaires were validated by the Momento Editorial staff and the contributing authors, after checking the data and its junction with information from the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) and IBGE (Institute Brazilian Geography and Statistics). The methodology also provides a scoring system for each category of criteria.

Here is the ten cities ranked in the top position of the Brazil Index for Digital Cities and their scores:

1º - Belo Horizonte (MG) - 360 points
2º - Curitiba (PR) - 352 points
3º - Porto Alegre (RS) - 349 points
4º - Vitória (ES) - 347 points
5º - Ibirapuitã (RS) - 340 points
5º - Jundiaí (SP) - 340 points
6º - Campinas (SP) - 339 points
7º - Santos (SP) - 338 points
7º - São Carlos (SP) - 338 points
8º - Tarumã (SP) - 335 points
9º - São Paulo (SP) - 334 points
10º - Tauá (CE) - 332 points

For more info, visit www.wirelessmundi.inf.br and www.cpqd.com.br.

Orkut: What are the directions of the social network most famous in Brazil?

Many users have already bet to say that Orkut has its days numbered. But we must not forget that Google's social network were largely responsible for this craze caught once here in Brazil! With rapid growth since its launch, Orkut needed only for four years, in 2008, surpass its main rival at the time, MySpace.

Today's most popular network among Brazilians still leads here: 43 million active users in the country. But now the "enemy"is another, and the threat is great. Facebook just arrived, and has nearly 600 million users worldwide compared to only 85 million of Orkut.

The point is that all these people who entered the network of Mark Zuckerberg, only about 2% are in Brazil. But this scenario is changing and draws attention. A while here, many fled Orkut and migrated to new services. So much so that a recent survey by Ibope Media shows that half of Orkut users used fewer social network in 2010. Since Facebook has its version in Portuguese, which made ​​it easier for people to use the site as a new social networking.

Other surveys show that the audience of Orkut is nearly parked for about one year in Brazil. Between September 2009 and May 2010, the increase in the number of unique visitors per month was 3.5%, and during the same period the rival Facebook has advanced 102%. Based on these data, its already expected that Facebook in Brazil will overtake Orkut still this year ... will be?

Just last year, Orkut has made more than 50 service changes. Recently they changed the first time the logo of social networking, and Google also promises plenty of novelty to the end of 2011.
Well, all we can do is wait to see what will really happen.

Home Sweet Office: a Trend? *

Some years ago, to turn a space at home into an office was nearly impossible for most people. This was merely a fond dream by professionals to have more time withtheir family or avoid traffic jams. However, in the past the technology systems were not mature enough to provide the requisites like the proper equipment. Additionally, corporate culture and labor laws weren’t prepared for such endeavors, and therefore home offices were restricted to a few professionals in very specific areas.

Recently a number of factors, mainly relating to cost, have put the home office back on the agenda. The recent rise in home offices has occurred thanks to the popularization of broadband Internet, programs to share documents, ease of VoIP telephony, reduction in equipment prices, increased auto traffic and violence, and global growth with limited physical space - all these have made the new home office model a solution and provided people with a new way to work. The home office system can now be justified by companies with the  implementation of different management goals. For example, an employee working at home may get paid for results, rather than the number of hours worked. Thus this new model can be profitable for companies by lowering costs and raising profits. Employees who work from home have a better quality of life and more time to enjoy their families. As a result, current research indicates a yield increase of between 20% and 30% in the work output from home offices. Additionally, this type of professional who is choosing to work from home is growing at an amazing 10% a year. Today, one in four Brazilians works from a home office at some time each month.

Nevertheless, for those who think a home office is the solution to avoiding a corporate hierarchy or a way to get rid of unwanted responsibilities, they will be disappointed. Working from home requires strict discipline and professional maturity, since the separation between work and personal life becomes more tenuous. Therefore, the professional needs to create mechanisms to manage and control tasks for himself. For example, spouses and children must be made aware that in the professional’s work, a schedule cannot be altered, even if the family are just a few feet away. But on the other hand, a home office offers the opportunity for professionals to see their children more often and to participate more in their lives, and so the family can become a motivating factor rather than hindering th progress of work.

Work outside the office is still a long way from changing the world. What has happened thus far is not a radical change; however, it does represent the corporate acceptance of another way of working. Following the success of this experimental phase, large companies are now adopting this system and finding it a productive model, full of benefits for the employees and companies, with many stories of successful people and all their productivity accomplished out of the office. It is just one more way to work, not for everybody or for all companies, but the choice is up to you! For more tips about how to manage your home office and be more productive, visit www.curitibaworld.com.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

Home Sweet Office: Tips

So here is listed some important tips given by specialists:

- Family and Business:
You chose the Home Office as a way to work? You have to teach to your family during the workday that place in the house is your office, be creative, use strategies to demonstrate this, a sign on the door, defined schedules

- Choose your place of work:
Choose a room, a cubicle - delimit your work corner and guide your family about it, of course if you have to share space with your family, create schedules and rules. Preferably, beware that your office is away from distractions.

- E-mails, e-mails and more e-mails:
Organize them! work at home, your contacts will be basically via email. If you dont organize, you will have difficult in communication - so separate by color, themes, no matter, select and prioritize and avoid spam.

- Technology - Best Friend
Broadband Internet, telephone network efficiently, a good pc, a laptop, netbook, external hd, IPAD, no matter, use the technology in your favor, have only one phone line for your professional use, scanner, cell phone, all that technology you can add to, learn about, because without this, home office does not work.

- Beware of Stress at home
As you will have free time increased, not needing to go to the office, enjoy exercise, reading newspaper, relationship with family. A good tip sometimes, 'move' your office to the restaurant in a mall, to aerate the head or give some 'holiday' for people in the house.

- Daily routine
The freedom of the home office is not always a good thing if you do not know how to manage yourself. Create a routine, create timetables for you, and learn to respect these hours with the "Brazilian way" in the home office, the only one that can lose is you. Just be careful not to become a workhoolic and start working from 7am to 10pm without pausing. Beware what you wear, sometimes sleepwear in home office can decrease your productivity, but wear something comfortable.

And finally, "Have an entrepreneurial spirit", because without it is impossible to work remotely, or at home!

Google Street View lands in Curitiba

From now one, Curitiba will be mapped for Google Street View - feature that displays maps at 360 degrees for multiple locations on the website launched in 2007 and finally reaches the state capital. The images started to be captured this month, but Google doesn't tell how long it will takes or how many cars are in town. Also the company doesn't confirm when the images will be available, but it might happen little by little, by region. The Street View in an additional service o Google Maps, which has a set of maps of all cities and streets in the world.

The project is also mapping other capitals, and the Google proposal is to offer the service by 2014 in all cities hosting World Cup games. Since October last year, 51 Brazilian cities are already mapped. In total, 82 cars in Brazil are doing the job of capturing the images, and each car has 15 cameras. In capturing images of busy streets, where many people appear, Google uses software that blurs faces and license plates automatically, to prevent them from being identified and, according to the company, ensuring the privacy of individuals. The cameras installed in cars capture images of the horizon and sky, providing an image of 360 degrees horizontally and 280 degrees vertically. When photographing the streets, a GPS marks images for the computer to identify where is the place.

To use the Google Street View is necessary to access the website maps.google.com. Once you find the street, just drag the yellow stick man Pegman, located in the upper left corner of the screen or give the maximum magnification on the map. To "walk the streets", just click the arrows in the image, making the user go to the next screen. To view an image, you must click and drag the mouse.

You are responsible for what you publish

By creating a website, blog or any other social media account, the user becomes not only visible but also vulnerable. Any content published on the World Wide Web is subject to be passed, sometimes so much wider than the author intended. A recent survey published by comScore in April, shows that 99% of more than 47 million of Brazilian Internet users accessed at least once, some social network during the month of March this year. Besides pictures, shared links and stories of everyday life, is also part of the content available on those networks many offenses, threats, and false information. And who publishes or passes need to know what can be, even unknowingly committing a crime.

According to specialists, the most common crimes related to the internet are:
- Calumny: it's when a person assigns to another person a crime without proof. The aggressor is arrested and fined for a period of one to three years;
- Defamation: happens when the individual ridicules another, damaging the reputation and image of this person before the society;
- Injury: is characterized by reference to the negative characteristics of a person - calling someone "ugly" or "dumb", for example.

In the last two cases, the author pays a fine or goes to detention for a period of one to six months. The same punishment applies to anyone who commits the crime of threat, when the author says it will kill a person, for example.

There is no specific law that treats crimes on the Internet (cyber crimes), however for specialists, this is not a problem once the crime is classified, the treatment is going to follow the same rules already existent, no matter if it is personal or virtual.
Besides that, depends on where it was done, it can have a great propagation causing a public embarrassment and hard to have the control. And more than this, it is easy to leave traces and the police come easily to the person who committed the wrongdoing.

Take a look at some other crimes on the Internet:
- Pedophilia and child pornography: characterized by the creation of Web sites or content (pictures and videos) related to child sexual abuse;
- Racism: written material, pictures or any other representation of ideas or theories that promote or incite anger, discrimination or violence against any individual or group based on race, color, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin.
- Calumny and Defamation: disclosure of information, often untrue that may harm the reputation of the victim.
- Cyber bullying: mobile messages, emails, messages on blogs or social networking sites containing swearing, insults or humiliations.

The nonprofit organization SaferNet works to guide the Internet users and the prevention of crimes, and also receives complaints - which can even be anonymous. The complaint may be made by the site www.safernet.org.br.
In Curitiba, the victim can look to Center to Combat Cybercrime (Nuciber) and with the evidence in hand; make a police report so that research can happen. Phone (41) 3323-9448. Rua José Loureiro, 376 - 1st Floor (attached to the Office of Identification).

Brazil is the 3rd that most uses Twitter

A research recently published by comScore showed that Brazil ranked third in the ranking of greater use of the microblogging service Twitter, with 23,7%.
The Netherlands is the first with expressive high among social network websites with 26,7%. More than one in each internet Hollanders visit the website in a month.

Japan is the second with 26,6% and after Brazil, is followed by Indonesia (22%), Venezuela (21%), Canada (18%), Argentina (18%), Turkey (16.6%), Philippines (16.1%) and Singapore (16 %).

The research was done in march with users over age 15 that go online from home or work.

The search engine Bing grows 250% in Brazil

According to the research published by Hitwise - digital marketing service of Serasa Experian says the Microsoft engine, the Bing, showed a growth of 250% in terms of market share in Brazil within a year, and it's a already the second most used.

The Google Brazil, in turn, remained at the top of this market, with 90.94% of all searches conducted in the first three months of 2011. However, represents a fall of 2.81% compared to the previous year.

The ranking of the top search engines used by Brazilian Internet, Google.com ranks third in the preference of users, with 2.07% followed by Google Portugal, 0.99%, and Yahoo! Brazil with 0.57%.

The Future of 3D Images *

Recently many people have fallen in love with the threedimensional images in theaters that feel as if you are actually in the movie. But do you know how the 3D image is produced and how we are able to see these images?

It begins with the way our brain interprets images. 3D imaging depends on optical illusions to create panoramic scenes proving depth for the objects. Humans have binocular vision, which means each eye sees a different picture and the brain combines the two pictures into a single image. The brain uses the slight difference in angle between the two images to aid in depth perception. Polarized lenses filter out only light waves that are aligned in the same direction. With a pair of 3D glasses, each lens is polarized differently and the screen is specially designed to maintain the correct polarization when the light is reflected from the projector. That is why the images are somewhat blurry when viewed without the 3D glasses.

To provide these effects, the recording of the images are more complicated because it requires two cameras for the same scene, one for the left eye and another for the right eye. Afterwards, complex techniques of image processing (called rendering) are applied, generating the final result. Now you know why 3D movies are more expensive to watch than the traditional ones – because they cost more to produce.

Like many other technologies that improve while becoming popular, 3D image technology today is experiencing what specialists call the third generation. The first generation of 3D appeared in 1950; the second in 1980; and recently, it gained media attention again in 2009. Now it has become popular under the acronym, 3D. The big difference in the current third generation is that now there is digital technology, which has much fewer limitations and more powerful resources.

The film industry’s current marketing strategy is not only for 3D cinema, but also in the entire set of products and applications that can take advantage of three-dimensional images. This chain of products includes video games, Blu-ray discs, home theaters, digital cameras, computers, mobile phones, iPods and tablets as well as 3D TV without glasses.

A contributing factor in the improvement and evolution of 3D is the fact that the film industry has now developed a 3D standard that can be adopted worldwide. So everything we are seeing today on 3D is just the beginning of a revolution. According to some university research, it is likely that the next generation of 3D technology will combine tactile sensations with a three-dimensional view, which would provide even greater realism to scenes from movies or video games.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

One in each two Brazilians will have computer in 2012

According to the research about Brazilian Market of Information Technology published by Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), one in each two Brazilians will have computer until 2012. Currently, the organization estimates there are 85 million PCs in use in the country, and this represents a ratio of four machines for every nine inhabitants.

In 2010, the FGV estimates that there were 78.2 million PCs in use in Brazil, and growth in the volume of equipment is due to three factors: the falling price of PCs, increasing the population's purchasing power and people's perception of the usefulness of computers.

According to the organization, the number of computers in Brazil has doubled over the past three years and the trend is that this proportion is repeated in the next three or four years. The profile of users, the biggest growth has been recorded among home users.

The number of computers in use in the Brazilian market is still low compared to developed countries like the United States, where there is an average of 106 machines for every 100 inhabitants. With a rate of 44% penetration of computers, Brazil is slightly above the world average of 36%.

The band is wide but the connection is slow

Only 6% of the Brazilian internet users have connection speed up to 8 Mbytes, according to the research published by Nielsen Institute taking in account nine countries.

To compare the results, this speed is found in 38% of access point in Switzerland - 29% of internet sites in the United States - 27% of German computers with web access. The country that comes closest to Brazil in this category is Italy - only 7% of internet access point keeps the ultra-fast connection.

This shows how much we have to improve, not only the speed, but the number of Brazilians with internet. Perhaps with the investment plan by the government called National Broadband Plan, a big effort to be done in several spheres including us as customers.

Brazil occupies 56th position in global IT rankings

The Global Report on Information Technology 2010/2011, released on April 4th by the World Economic Forum (WEF), shows that Brazil occupies the 56th position in the ranking, which analyzes the adoption rate of IT to sustain growth and development of the economy. The country has climbed five places from the last search.

The report cites that the main barriers to the development of IT initiatives in Brazil are the regulatory framework, the low quality of the market environment and the unpreparedness of the population to deal with technology.

To reach the global ranking, the World Economic Forum uses an evaluation baptized as Index of Information Technology (ITI). It analyzes the level of preparedness of countries to adopt the technology under three viewpoints: the regulatory environment, business and infrastructure; preparation of individuals, companies and governments to use and take advantage the resources of IT and telecom, and the implementation of available technologies.

The first five places in the ranking are occupied, in ascending order of: Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland and the United States. With the inclusion of a record 138 economies, the report is still the largest and most trusted international assessment of the impact of ICT in development and competitiveness of nations.

GPS is increasingly in the daily life of Brazilians

The use of navigation devices continues to grow among Brazilian consumers. According to research conducted by Navteq - the leading global provider of maps,traffic and location data, which included for the first time Brazil in the 13 countries evaluated - a third of consumers have experience with navigation, plus 90% show familiarity with the instruments. In total, 13 000 people were interviewed, and one thousand within the country.

Among the varied formats, navigation in vehicles leads to the choice. The use of cellular and / or smartphones ranked second. These items were identified as the main and which the public has shown more adaptation.

One of the criticisms leveled at the GPS, however, is in relation to the abbreviations of the names of streets, which has caused confusion at times. Not all devices have quick refresher. When there are streets with names that start with the words priest or colonel, for example, a problem occurs. For devices in cell phones, arise some other critical to agility, that takes a while to pick up satellite signals, compared to models that are in cars. Delay especially in days of heavy rain or when there are many clouds.

The continued use of GPS has led some car dealerships to put the unit among the optional items, in addition to having several models on store shelves. They are offered as optional and most people interested in a new vehicle chooses to purchase the unit.

However, the device is not unanimous - still for some drivers keep using the guide in paper for reasons like security, reliability and easy to use. But for you that have a GPS as your guide, here are some tips when using:
1 - Avoid blocking the antenna with your hand.
2 - It works best outdoors when the sky is clear. Rain and clouds can weaken the signal.
4 - Connect to the GPS system takes at least 40 seconds.
5 - The signal can be weakened by a windshield UV protected or heated.
6 - To avoid distractions and prevent accidents, drivers should not handle the unit when the vehicle is in motion.
7 - Do not follow the voice prompts of the device without making sure they are consistent with the existing signaling traffic.

The conscious use of credit cards on the Internet

The use of credit cards on e-commerce is still a taboo for many consumers. A research published by Cetelem-Ipsos shows that an amount of consumers still prefer the banking ticket and the deposit as payment methods on the Internet. The installment sales and credit card are chosen primarily by those who want to make installment payments.

One of the main reasons concern the security of its use, if the transaction is really safe and nobody can steal information. Truly it is important and the transaction with credit card is very safe if the user takes the necessary precaution, like keep the antivirus updated, check the merits of the company and see if the page shows the padlock in your corner with the "https" in the address bar. With these basic procedure guarantees the user that all information exchanged will be encrypted and no one else will be able to get sensitive information like credit card number for instance.

With the popularization of Internet, many people don't really understand the virtual world, the advantages and risks that offer and open up all emails that receives coupled with the fact of leaving the equipments unprotected.

An alternative is to use the Pay Pal, a company that takes advantage of this lack of consumer confidence with more than 2 millions of users in Brazil, and over 200 millions worldwide. The service creates a security layer between the customer and the seller, all you need to do is to have an account and associate your credit card to this service. When you go shopping on the Internet, instead of putting your credit card number, you choose to pay through the Pay Pal account typing your password, and the transaction will be managed and debited in your credit card in a very safe way. However, the internet store needs to accept payments using this method.

As the law of e-commerce obeys the same physical trade, consumers who feel harmed may use the Procon. Although the volume of complaints in relation to virtual commerce is still low, but the numbers show this trend awareness.

Tablets: What changes with this Gadget? *

It was only a short time ago that tablets came into people’s lives, yet it seems they’ve been in our lives for a long time. They emerged early in the year 2010 with the launch of the Apple iPad, which already today has great public acceptance. Increasingly tablets are gaining popularity, and it certainly marks a major technological trend for the coming years. The first tablet, the Apple iPad, sold more than 10 million units in 2010, and now competitors are investing huge sums on other tablet models in order to compete with the current sales leader, Apple.

So what exactly is a tablet? It’s nothing more than a clipboardshaped, ultra-light computer with a keyboard in the screen, which is sensitive to the touch and does mostly what computers do, such as connecting to the Internet, accessing emails, editing simple documents, watching videos, viewing photos and listening to music. All of these features in one device, ready-made for easy handling and transportation, has fallen into the hands of today’s users.

Tablets are not only about who boasts the best game sophistication or the greatest capacity for music or the finest screen resolution. They are also about developing a device that puts communication in the pockets of nearly everyone, and not just for talking and writing, but to enjoy ongoing participation in a universal chat, much as the 20th century envisaged communications in the 21st century.

In Brazil, tablets arrived shortly after they were introduced in the United States, and the reaction was the same, with hungry consumers running to the stores to  urchase this new trend in computing. It didn’t take long before tablets sparked active debate and controversy, especially when technology analysts said the tablets would replace traditional devices such as the computer, notebook and netbook. The tablets’ detractors posed questions like, Can we seriously expect someone to work on a computer without a mouse? While the tablets’ supports believed they were truly a magical revolution. Why would a person return to using a mouse and keyboard after having experienced the interface of Apple’s visionary iPad!

The debate on tablets will certainly continue, but there is one relevant point in the discussion worth noting: Tablet technology may be the best computer for people who hate technology.
What lies ahead for the future of tablets, we don’t know. Certainly, if their popularity continues to grow, their prices will become more affordable, and if that happens, tablets will probably become as popular as cell phones are today.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

Growth of Internet and Computer in Brazil

The number of people with Internet access in any environment (homes, workplaces, schools, Internet cafes or other places) reached 73.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to Ibope Nielsen Online. This represents an increase of 9.6% compared to 67.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, and the access to the Internet at work and at home has grown even more.

This confirms the excellent performance on sales of computers in Brazil where in 2010 grew 23.5 percent over the previous year to 13.7 million units, putting the country in fourth place globally behind the United States, China and Japan. The highlight of the sales went to the third quarter, with a different scenario than we saw in the past when most computers were sold on account of Christmas. With the anticipation of retail purchases in the year-end, the third quarter of 2010 was stronger.

Of the total number of PCs in 2010, desktops represent 55 percent of sales and notebooks to 45 percent for both business and home consumers. However, considering only the domestic segment, notebooks surpassed desktops for the fourth consecutive quarter, with 30 percent more sales. The trend could be observed earlier.

According to IDC, the transition from desktop to the background should be intensified with the growing popularity of computers tablets. According to another research firm, 100 000 tablets were marketed in the country during the past year.

Project to establish rules for personal data on websites

Where does the information go when you fell up a form with your information? Who knows when you liked on facebook? What your search on Google tells about you? Probably they say much more than you think. That is all there in some database, and until now there is no law or norm that defines how this information should be treated.

The main topic of this project which is under public consultation, the citizen needs to have control about his own information. He needs to know which information is being gathered, what will be used for and for how long the company or government will store this information. Today there is no control over this and it's common to see cases of sales database to third parties for example.

When we have a society in which any segment of the consumer works from the information of their consumers, the information becomes an input market. Today there are tools to monitor the users steps - like where he sails or his last purchases, locations and preferences. It's a great useful resource for advertisers to reach a specific audience.

As this segment is booming, a survey of Wall Street Journal revealed that exists more than 200 tools monitoring connections. The 50 most popular websites in the U.S. have some type of mechanism. In 2010, total investment in web ads was $ 8.9 billion. Of that, $ 1.1 billion were for targeted ads - and the figure should double by 2014.

In the same direction, advertising can not be seen as a villain: it pays for the services we use and also gives us more relevant ads. But we need to know that everything free, has a price somehow. The project tries to establish a minimum standard of protection, something that is in the Constitution: the right to privacy.

Collective Purchases *

The business format of “collective purchases” is new to Brazilian consumers, but the first companies here who have started using this business model have already surpassed more than one million registered customers after only a few months in business. Recently, more than 20 new similar ventures have started operations in Brazil, and these companies are eyeing a market where investors expect to earn millions. As the public becomes acquainted with this new business model and it gains more adherents, new collective purchase competitors appear.

The collective purchase business model is simply this: In partnerships with businesses (especially food, entertainment and beauty supplies), websites provide daily offerings with discounts ranging from 50 percent to 90 percent. With low initial investment, the collective purchasing websites please consumers with their steep discounts, and they greatly benefit the companies who promote their products and services to the public with far greater exposure through the Internet.  In general, consumers are young and hungry for good prices. So the secret to collective purchase organizations is to know the behavior of customers and thus offer appealing deals. For the companies who provide the services and products, it is a great way to publicize their brand and make the companies better known to the public.

Obviously, to have this business model work smoothly, the customer must be satisfied. Thus, the companies considering entering the collective purchase partnerships using shopping websites to promote their brands need to have adequate structure and organization to meet a large, fast, and demanding audience. After all, it is the name of the company that is at stake.

Despite the success of this business model in recent months in Brazil, the model is not exactly new here. It was first proposed in the year 2000, with Mobshop website, for example. However, at that time it failed because the security environment of web shopping was extremely fragile. Also, the number of Internet users was much smaller in Brazil at that time. The format currently working so well here is based on the model of collective purchasing that arose in the U.S. in 2008.

However, with the idea of collective purchasing services becoming a big hit in Brazil, there are some things to keep in mind in order to avoid your “good deal” turning into another headache and more hassles. For those readers who are already enjoying collective purchasing, as well as those tempted by the steep discounts, here are few easy hints: 1) Pay attention to the coupon expiration dates; 2) Beware of exaggeration, whereby the temptation for discounts often leads buyers to purchase a product on impulse; 3) Make sure the price is really worth it; 4) Read the terms of use that establish rights and obligations of the customer. Now that you know a little more about collective purchasing services, be sure to check out the offerings in your city and enjoy the good shopping.


* Article published on Curitiba in English.

WikiLeaks: Freedom of Expression? *

Today WikiLeaks is one of the most controversial subjects in investigative journalism. It is a nonprofit organization that collects and makes available secret and confidential documents to the public, which have been previously verified and interpreted by a team of journalists. The goal, according to the website, is to disseminate and comment on documents that disclose sensitive data attesting to the misconduct of governments and large corporations, revealing injustice, and thereby advocating transparency and freedom of the press.

Officially launched in 2007 by Australian Julian Assange, WikiLeaks has among its most controversial cases the disclosure of documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. WikiLeaks is very well organized. It all begins when material that is restricted or censored is sent to WikiLeaks. This may occur over a network or physical environment, which provides several ways to ensure anonymity. Their website technology is designed to ensure that not even the organization is aware of who sent the material.

Next, the website goes beyond the traditional techniques of investigative journalism and subjects the material to specific procedures to identify counterfeits. An independent team evaluates the material and journalists publish stories based on other documents together with the document itself. Using a slightly different concept than the famous Wikipedia, anyone can submit material, but only the website owners can publish and disseminate new contents. Nowadays, to prevent attacks, the website is spread across multiple servers in the world.

Due to the international pressure WikiLeaks is facing, people are wondering about its future. At least one new competitor has already arrived, OpenLeaks. The concept of OpenLeaks is slightly different from WikiLeaks, in that the information will not be published directly, but it will allow the media and other organizations to access OpenLeaks to disclose internal documents provided by the website, and in this way it hopes to avoid the troubles WikiLeaks is facing.

The fact is that simple portable devices such as CDs, pen drives, cellphones and others will no longer be treated as harmless devices because of their ability to copy and spread information. Consequently, what we are seeing today will change freedom of expression and the limits of transparency. We are witnessing a new approach to journalism and even a new paradigm of information. No one knows yet what its impact on diplomacy and state secrets will be.


* Article published on Curitiba in English.