The internet is full! Not really, but it is running out of addresses, or more specifically, IPv4 addresses.

The next generation, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), couldn’t come soon enough; the Asia-Pacific region ran out of addresses towards the end of 2011, Europe will be bled dry by the end of the summer, and North America and Canada only has enough stockpiled to last until summer 2013.

But what does it actually all mean?

What is IPv6?

IPv6 in the next generation of internet protocol used to connect devices to the internet. The most distinguishing feature of IPv6 to its earlier counterpart IPv4 is its ability to connect to more devices.

Where IPv4 is limited to only 4.3 billion unique IP addresses; IPv6 is capable of 340 undecillion. That is an amount I’m not even going to try to explain!

Image by blacknight

Simply put, with new devices from smart phones to tablets continually being released, and more and more internet providers such as BT Business rolling out superfast broadband to businesses and homes alike, IPv4 is soon going to run out of IP addresses as more and more devices are connecting to the internet.

What are The Benefits?

There are other benefits to be gained from switching to IPv6 for example, with so many unique IP addresses available business networks or any other network for that matter no longer needs to share a public IP address, each device can have its own.

This improves efficiency by making internet connection and internal communications through networks more streamlined.

Another notable benefit is the improved security offered with IPv6. Security was not something that was considered in the development of IPv4.

However as more devices become connected internet security increasingly becomes an issue for many people. IPv6 has been developed with improved encrypting to ensure internet traffic is carried to the right destination without being interrupted.

Do you need to switch right now?

This all sounds good but you may be wondering if you need to make the switch right now? The simple answer is no, not yet. For a start not all devices are compatible with IPv6 and IPv4 devices will still work for the foreseeable future. But switching over is definitely something you want to keep in mind.

The best advice is to make a steady transition over to IPv6 as inevitably IPv4 will reach it capacity and IPv6 will become the only option.

When purchasing new devices or setting up new networks consider purchasing devices which are compatible with IPv6.

If your internet service provider is not yet providing IPv6 this will not be a problem as a process called dual stacking allows IPv6 devices to run IPv4.

Were you ever concerned about your internet security? Does the IPv6 encryption give you peace of mind? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Image by Fey Ilyas

Go on, admit it – a lot of you have tried to save a penny or two at some point by downloading illegal pirated music. However, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has hit out at search giant Google – by claiming they aren’t doing enough to curb illegal downloads.

But surely asking Google to omit results that are suspected pirate sites is censorship – and that is some very ugly territory we would be getting into there.

Google have tried to put some measures into place: they try to remove illegitimate sites within six hours of notification from the copyright holder, and have shut down some 150,000 accounts of those who were trying to use Google’s pay per click ads to sell counterfeit merchandise.

But it isn’t really Google’s responsibility to curb piracy. According to Google’s Katherine Oyama:

“The only long-term way to beat piracy online is to offer consumers more compelling legitimate alternative.”

And who will have to make that alternative? Well, Google probably will give it a go at some point, let’s face it, this is Google we’re talking about here, but they certainly don’t have any moral obligation.

The internet has brought about many changes in the world: some good, some challenging. However, most of industry and commerce have shifted and adapted their business model to fit and even take advantage of the internet. The music industry simply has to do the same –it can’t blame the search engines for its inability to adapt.

This debate isn’t just raging on here – anybody with a Reddit account will be well aware of the SOPA (Stop Internet Piracy Act) injunction in the US – where the senate is pushing for the power to force traffic away from sites suspected of pirating American copyrighted works.

The problem is that a lot of innocent websites could get swept as collateral damage – and it would also mean internet service providers would have to monitor customer’s traffic. And again, we’re stumbling into dangerous territory.

Hollywood and the American music industry, quite understandably, back the bill, but pretty much everyone in Silicon Valley is up in arms, as it would change the way the internet works forever.

But the problem with all of these laws, rules and regulations is that they won’t stop those who really want to get their films and music for free.  Those who are illegally downloading music know that what they’re doing is illegal – but do they care?

Probably not. They’re just chuffed they didn’t pay anything for the latest releases.

What do you think? Should Google censor pirate sites? Let us know what you think about this controversial topic in the comments section below!

Image by: {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester} via Flickr

Giftcardconverter.co.uk

Let’s face it, there are times when you receive a gift card as a present and while the thought was appreciated, the card is for a shop you never, ever visit. Fear not, giftcardconverter.co.uk is the answer. Instead of letting that card fester in your wallet, sell it on this gift card exchange website. The website will host the sale for you, taking a 10% commission from the card’s total once it sells (which is fine if you received the card as a gift). That puts cash in your pocket to pick up the item you truly had your eye on. Or, buy a discounted gift card from the website for the shop you prefer!

The discounts on the cards range in amount, so search the site for your best deal. For example, a Pizza Express card worth £104.55 is currently selling for £80, a saving of £24.99, while a Selfridges card worth £200 is selling for £190, saving you £10.

Tunechecker.com

If you are one to avoid illegal downloading, check out tunechecker.com. This music comparison website is easy to use and effective. Enter in the artist or album name and click to compare both CD and MP3 download prices from several websites.

For example, the latest Florence & The Machine album, Ceremonials, ranges in price from £5.00 on 7digital.com to £10.99 on amazon.co.uk. The CD version goes for about £8.99 all around.

It also often has free downloads of albums or songs. (Currently you can download a mix of Coldplay songs).

Freecycle.org

If you have junk/treasures lying around your house and are thinking of giving it away, consider first posting it on freecycle.org, where you can also pick up some quality items for F-R-E-E. Once you register (for free) with the give and get community, you will be placed in a locally focused group. People from your area will post items for giveaway and if it suits your fancy, arrange pick up or drop off and it’s yours! The online community, run by volunteers, works best if you contribute by both getting free items but also giving your unwanted stuff away. While it was developed in the US, there are UK communities on freecycle.org, or try the UK based version, Freegle.

These websites are handy tools when shopping online. Have a look and compare prices. You’re sure to find a deal that will save you cash.

Have you found any great money saving websites? Let us know in the comments below.

When Chinese authorities decided to block Twitter, there was a sudden opening for a widely-accessible micro-blogging platform, which lead to the creation of Sina Weibo. It was launched just two months after Twitter was blocked in June 2009, and has been running on the domain name Weibo.com since April this year.

Weibo.com logo Chinese with domain - Image by bfishadow

Pronounced as “way-boar”, Weibo functions exactly like Twitter but in the Chinese language. It is very important to know that it has already crossed the 140 million registered users mark within the 2 years of functioning, now over 160 million according to some sources. Twitter, on the other hand, may have a registered users mark of over 200 million, but some raw figures say that only 40% users are active. Weibo has not revealed much information in this regard, however it is believed that this figure is somewhere around 33%.

A major factor in its success is that despite the 140 character limit, the nature of the Chinese language is such that much can be said in that space. Sina - the owners of Sina Weibo - have set strict censorship controls in place. There are a number of restricted keywords and the use of URL shortening services, or even using the Tibetan language. Forbidden posts or writing on sensitive issues are all monitored manually and any posts violating the rules are deleted. The website supports simplified and traditional Chinese language interfaces and also hosts separate versions for users from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan.

While the website has had its fair market share, the only drawback is that it is available only in the Chinese language thus limiting the international non-chinese speaking market. Though we may not be sure if Weibo is trying to target international target market as well, it certainly been a runaway success and filled the gap that opened after Twitter was banned.

Do you think that the Chinese authorities decision to ban Twitter was justified? Lets us know what you think of it in the comments section below.

Image by sarabeephoto via flickr

Unless you have been pointedly inattentive lately you may have noticed the minor kerfuffle happening stateside on Wall Street. Initially given no attention at all by domestic media, and garnering more coverage from British institutions like The Guardian, it has since crossed the country and forced a response from political leaders of all stripes.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is difficult to summarise. But in an attempt to make this post neither completely redundant or vastly misinformed, we’ve assembled a potted tour of some of the stories surrounding the protests.

Firstly, a short article by John Cassidy in the New Yorker making some pretty decent sense out of the uncertain data that is available regarding the protests. For the tl;dr, he concludes: “Occupy Wall Street isn’t primarily an anti-Wall Street phenomenon. It is a generalized anti status-quo protest movement, for which Wall Street serves as the convenient focal point. [...] In this sense, the Occupy Wall Street movement is a left-wing version of the Tea Party: an inchoate and self-generated movement, which emerged from outside of, and in opposition to, the ossified political system. Wall Street provided it with its raison d’etre, but it is rapidly moving beyond its origins.”

In that article Cassidy talks about a nationwide movement being the next logical step, and probably the second-largest protest is just up the road in Occupy Boston, where two hundred police officers in riot gear instructed protesters to leave or be arrested. Much of the incident was captured on film and uploaded to youtube, such as the video featured by the Gawker blog. The footage might be upsetting.

After Kanye West’s visit to the protest (wearing a much-ballyhooed Givenchy flannel shirt, gold chain and grill), there were some reasonable concerns about celebrity hijackings. Danny Glover, who is very clearly not too old for this stuff, made his feelings clear.

Perhaps unsurprisingly there is no shortage of the artistically-leaning in New York, one of whom, a filmmaker named Alex Mallis, made this awesome short depicting life on the ground in the middle of a massive peaceful protest.

What happens next? The movement has not only crossed the USA but has popped up on this side of the Atlantic as well. Even mild-mannered Ireland has produced its own version in Occupy Dame Street, the home of Ireland’s central bank. Considering the scale of the protesters’ goals, the rhetoric on the Occupy Wall Street site is refreshingly free of proselytising and preaching and is an well-maintained repository for relevant news stories and videos. If anyone knows, it will likely appear there first.

Have you been keeping up with #OccupyWallStreet? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Image by: Bohman

We’ve all wondered at some point. How can I make some money, and how can I make it right now?

Until internet use, the answer normally came back as something practical with too much hard work and very little monetary yield for all those man hours.

Now there are a variety of platforms that only require a bit of mouse clicking and a little web searching before virtual money is flying across the web into our online banking accounts.

Whether its Google, Gumtree, ebay or Facebook, there is an online tool for you that can take the ‘work’ out of work and turn your unwanted items  into tangible moola, wonga, cash or dough. It’s just about how you you use them…

The ‘aha’ moment
You may be sitting in your bedroom or sitting room surrounded by a chaotic mountain of never ending rubbish. CDs, old mobile phones, recipe books or even bits of what you think may be a go kart that you once took apart.

If you are the ‘average’ person you probably own some or all of the above and some other ‘junk’ which you haven’t touched for ages. Look at your junk… now look at your computer. Now at your junk…now at your computer… are you seeing the connection?

Yes. There is someone in the realm of cyber space that thinks your ‘junk’ is actually something valuable. They will buy parts of that ever growing pile of bits and pieces and you’ll not only sell it but help you clear that patch of carpet once and for all. What a way to do two things at once.

This is the ‘aha’ moment. You gather up your rubbish, you filter it – what is actually rubbish, and what don’t you want anymore? Then you get searching for where  your, now valuable, items can go online to sell for cold hard cash.

Where to sell it
There are many websites where you can sell your items. It just depends on what it is and how new or functional it is. With these variables in mind, here are a few ideas:

• You can sell your old Nokia ‘ninety-ninety-something’ to a company like Envirofone that actually wants your ageing mobile. They evaluate the price of your mobile in mere minutes and before you know it you have a couple of quid in your pocket and it’s ojne more phone in the post to mobile heaven.
•  You can sell anything from bicycle tyres to high heels on Gumtree. It’s your garage sale that you don’t have to sit for hours in the elements at. It’s your second-hand shop that doesn’t involve a commission. It’s your access point to all things cheap. Look and you shall find. Advertise – for free - and you shall sell. Right now there is someone in Leicester selling their Lava Lamp for £10. If they can sell that, then you can sell pretty much anything!
• Facebook. Now this may seem very obvious but it is very straight forward. You can do one of two things:

1. Update your status: tell your friends what you want to sell. They’re the best group to start with since you probably have hobbies and interests in common and therefore ‘junk’ in common.
2. If you want to extend your ‘reach’ then pay a little to set up a Facebook advert. By paying for your advert, Facebook uses its limitless demographic knowledge by advertising your product to a specific group.

You’re selling a pair of trust Barbour Heels for example. Your advert will be strategically shown to Facebook users who have ‘liked’ Barbour on Facebook; have ‘liked’ fashion or shoes pages on Facebook or are just of an age and gender demographic that tends to buy women’s shoes.

The exact science behind Facebook’s gathering of knowledge could lead to screeds of analysis but let’s just say that they can reach the right people…”750 million potential customers” according to their website that is.

• You can set up a spot on Ebay if you would like to set up some friendly competition between buyers for the more valuable item.  Collection pieces like game cards or toys that have never been used are typical here but the list ranges from everything that is mildly valuable from barely used perfume to spare parts for wind up clocks. You may not sell your item straightaway and you may not even sell it at all but there is no harm in trying.

Watch it

Watch this useful ‘how to’ video to learn how to make money on ebay. This is a simple video and will teach you how to sell on ebay if you havent done so before.

Golden Rules
If you have something to sell, there are a variety of virtual points to do so from but there are also some important ‘golden rules’ to remember when you embark on your money making venture. Follow them and your selling experience could be a fairly pain free one…

1. Stay alert, stay alive: Never meet someone before you’re sure that they are legitimate and never give out your home address. You don’t want to be tricked into giving away any personal information, so be careful about what you tell your potential customers through your advert and further communications after they show interest in your item.
2. Plan ahead: Don’t just make an advert. Consider whether you want to sell it, when you want it sold, and which platform would be best to sell it on. This will ensure you approach your sale correctly and avoid any disappointment about not getting paid immediately or selling something that you may actually want to keep.
3. Research: Search for items that are similar to what you are trying to sell to see where they are being sold and for how much. Research like this could make for a very effective sale so make sure you learn by the example of others.
4. Make it ‘sellable’: Make sure that whatever you are selling has a good angle. Take at least one flattering picture of it to go along with your advert or submission and have a great 30-60 word description… something that tells potential buyers that your item has a function and looks pretty while it does so.
5. Don’t lie: a little flattery and promotion of your item is fine, even encouraged but stretching the truth is a fine skill that should be used responsibly. Make sure you never tell a fatal porky about the ‘working order’ of your item otherwise you may be held liable which can cost you more than the item is even worth in the first place.

With your ‘aha’ moment realised, your knowledge of online selling platforms updated, and your golden rules memorised, it’s now time to venture forth. It’s time to cash in…online.

A rentable house in Second Life, by Liz Gealach via flickr

Significant comments were made in the Wall Street Journal recently about the nature of online products and their effect on how we perceive “value” in economic terms. The post’s author, Holly Finn, raises the example of Second Life, which for the uninitiated (myself largely included) is an online community of around one million active members, where the user’s avatar explores a place known as ‘the grid’, socialising and interacting with other users. Kind of a fleshed-out chat client.

Much chatter has been made about the game’s seedier elements, but the more intriguing part of Second Life is in its self-contained economy running on an invented currency, Linden dollars (L$), named after Second Life‘s development house. The founder, Philip Rosedale, estimates that more than $75m in revenue is generated every year, spent entirely on goods (houses, shops, clothing, pets, artwork) that exist only within the game’s boundaries.

Finn makes the point that there is little de facto difference between paying $20 for a tractor in FarmVille or $5/month on renting a piece of land in Second Life, and paying $1,380 for a Bottega Veneta handbag. Neither cost nearly as much to manufacture and distribute, yet the price attached is still met by consumers. Both demonstrate how the value of many things is largely virtual - how much can be charged for the exclusivity of a brand name, an exclusivity partly generated by the amount charged?

Second Life is a logical extension of consumer trends inside a gaming environment. The noteworthy thing here is that the Journal hasn’t treated it as a fluff piece, that there isn’t any condescension involved. It’ll be fascinating to see how the marketplace at large and the computer game industry in particular, where charging for additional downloadable content is already commonplace, reacts to the gradual changing attitudes to virtual property.

Ever bought something that didn’t exist in reality? Let us know in the comments.

Image via ZyMos

@themotleyfooluk - An old standard with sites also based in the US and Australia; investments are their main game. If you do your own trading, or even if you have money in the stock market, you need to be following this.

@PensionsGuru - Steve Bee, former Head of Pensions at Prudential and pension strategist at Royal London, dishes out pension advice. He’s established himself as a bit of a go-to guy when it comes to the ins and outs of UK pensions, so this should be your first stop when it comes to sorting yours out.

@cashquestions - Daily Express commentator and BBC Radio 3 personality Annie Shaw deals out financial advice on the daily. She’s pretty good with interacting with followers, which is a bonus.

@bitterwallet - They call themselves “the best source for consumer hacks, tips & news from the trenches of the HotUKDeals community.” To sum it up: financial and consumer rights news for the rest of us with a bit of a sarcastic edge.

@hilaryosborne - The editor of guardian.co.uk/money brings a bit of humor to her financial commentary. Another good account to follow for UK issues, including housing. Also good at interacting with followers.

Image: Duane Brown

Group discount sites such as Groupon, Groupola and Living Social have become increasingly popular to many in recent months with thousands taking advantage of daily deals to try out something new or save money on luxuries such as spa days and holidays abroad.  However with increasing popularity comes an increase in bad press.  With many making claims of bad service, scam deals and lost money, the question is are these just an unlucky few or are daily discount deals too good to be true?

The basic model of Group Discount sites is simple, via the site Businesses can offer aggressive discount vouchers to customers, only available online for a limited time customers can purchase the vouchers from the website and then redeem them with the participating business within a given time scale.  These offers can only become available to the customer if enough people choose to take up the deal otherwise payment is not taken and the vouchers are not available for use.  Similarly problems arise if too many people purchase a voucher, with many of the businesses participating being small or start up there is often too much demand for an offer for the scale of the company to cope with.

The benefits and subsequently the draw of sites like these are that they allow people to indulge in luxuries that they may otherwise not be able to afford.  With many of the deals available slashing up to 50% and sometimes more from the cost of their services and products, who can resist for example a spa day for only £20 or a holiday in the sun for half price.  It is also a great way for people to try something new without having to spend a fortune doing so and if they don’t like what they’ve tried they can at least take comfort in knowing they haven’t paid full price.

The problems arise however when you have bought your voucher and try to redeem it.  In most cases it is as simple as phoning the company involved to book an appointment or going along to the restaurant or store with your voucher in hand.  However it is understandably disappointing when the situation arises that you are unable to redeem your voucher.  Reasons for this have ranged from there being no appointments available within the time scale of the voucher, there being no Steak left in the restaurant offering 2for1 steak dinners and in some cases the company offering the voucher just doesn’t exist.  In the majority of these cases people are offered a refund or credit for a further voucher.  So is it all worth it?  There are many who swear buy their chosen discount site but there seem to be an increasing number who vow never again to be taken in by a deal which is just too good to be true!

It seems to be the case that the benefit comes to those who use these sites with caution.  It’s all too easy to get caught up in the excitement of amazing deals and to snap up an offer without thinking it through because if you don’t buy it now it might be gone, but here in lies the problem.  My advice to anyone interested in using a group discount site would be to take the time to check out the company and the deal.  If you look up the business and it’s a small salon and on further inspection the deal has already been bought buy 500 hundred people, the chances are you won’t get an appointment.  Similarly those who have been caught out by non existent companies have often not taken the time to check out the company before clicking the BUY NOW button.  Essentially, a good rule of thumb for this sort of site is not to buy anything just for the sake of getting a good deal, if you wouldn’t normally buy something then don’t.  Impulse buying is what causes the high volume of demand for these deals, if people were to show more constraint, only buying vouchers for things the have a genuine need or interest in, when taking up these deals the chances are there wouldn’t be thousands of people all trying to grab the same deal.  There is also less chance you’ll be left disappointed and feeling stupid because you didn’t really want the item/service any way.

Do you have a Group Discount horror story? Tell us about it in the comments section below!

Mr Grieve told BBC Radio 4′s Law In Action programme that he would personally, albeit reluctantly, step in if he thought it necessary to uphold the rule of law, saying:

“I will take action if I think that my intervention is necessary in the public interest, to maintain the rule of law, proportionate and will achieve an end of upholding the rule of law.

“It is not something, however, I particularly want to do.”

It has been impossible to avoid the recent news coverage of super-injunctions. But why are they so controversial?

Well there are several reasons but the most important one, as far as the public is concerned, is that they are very exclusive to those can afford them. It costs around £20,000 to take one out, which is why Imogen Thomas’s name was all over the papers but her lover remained Mister Mystery – he could afford an injunction, she couldn’t.

This leaves us in a situation where privacy law is applicable to only those who can afford it. Even the Prime Minister, David Cameron, has expressed his concern that the courts are creating privacy laws – that’s Parliament’s job.

Of course, Imogen’s mystery man was outed, in spectacular fashion, as Ryan Giggs. Here’s how it went down:

First, his name was all over Twitter, which has ultimately led to the AG’s comments today. Giggs’ lawyers asked for the details of the users who had named him (which Twitter handed over without even blinking, by the way!) but it was deemed impractical to sue 75,000 people all at once.

Second, he was named in the House of Commons by John Hemming MP, who was protected by Parliamentary Privilege. This was a weird one, because the press then found themselves in the situation where they could not name Ryan Giggs as the man who slept with Imogen Thomas, but they could quite safely report that Mr Hemming had identified Mr Giggs, in the House of Commons, as the subject of an injunction!

The day before Mr Hemming named him, Ryan Giggs’ face was published on the front page of the Scottish newspaper, the Sunday Herald. You see, there is no such thing as an injunction under Scots law – the equivalent is called an Interim Interdict, and Giggs’ lawyers failed to apply for one at the Court of Session. That edition of the Sunday Herald was not distributed outside of Scotland and was not put online, therefore complying with the privacy order in the rest of the UK.

Whether Gigg’s lawyers just forgot that Scotland has a separate legal system, or they just didn’t know about injunctions vs interdicts, it was a spectacular failure. I hope he got a receipt…