As suggested in the title of this article – we believe technology if used correctly can in fact make us more social. There are plenty of clever people creating clever platforms that encourage interaction and get us out the door enjoying the company of others. Here are 5 ways in which tech can make you more social:

1) Find and Save on New Hobbies with OfferBook.

Always wanting to crawl under a rock when someone asks what your hobbies are, instead of telling them that you like reading webcomics and dressing up your cat? The things you do in your spare time give you ammunition for your social life, something to connect with those around you. So, we recommend utilizing that new-fangled smartphone to go beyond taking cat selfies.

OfferBook is a cool app that caters to every set of interests; it’s a specially designed search platform for daily deals so gives you access to all sorts of opportunities for new experiences and chances to figure out your new hobby. It means that you’ll have access to the cheapest way to try new things, in a super easy-to-navigate way. So go back to basics and learn something new and meet some likeminded people. Using OfferBook means you'll be able to try that aqua-jogging class without losing a bunch of money and you can figure out if you actually LIKE it before committing time and cash.

OfferBook is available on the iOS marketplace for free, so check it out here.

2. Schedule some Friend-time with Doodle

Doodle.com lets you check when everyone’s free in a simple, user friendly way. Just fill out session options and send the link to your elusive friends; they can simply click the options for when they’re free. No longer does the too-complicated-to-meet-up argument for groups of people a valid one! Now that it’s so easy to set up your hang-outs, you can improvise meetings to bump into new people. Try obligating your friends into expanding their friend groups too, by setting up an event where all those friends you're so used to hanging out with bring one new friend each to your next event. Make sure that it’s someone that at least half of the original group hasn't met. They can also bring their partners that have to do the same. Do something interactive like have a dinner party together or go to a pub quiz. It’s quite possible that you'll have a lot of fun with people you never knew existed!

3. Find a match with POF and Tinder

If you're looking for love or something similar; consider trying out a dating website, like POF.com or the infamous Tinder app for your smartphone to find some prospective matches. POF asserts its status as the most visited dating site of them all! With “chemistry test” to check your subliminal needs as well as an action plan for your next relationship with advice on what went wrong in the last one, this is a very serious site committed to find you love. Tinder is a bit shallower with a visual system where you can either swipe Yes or No on each person with the app in your specific vicinity. You can message those people who also swipe you with a Yes. Tinder is available on the iOS and Android marketplaces for free. Even if your matches don't work out, maybe you'll meet a few people and find some friendships or learn valuable things about what you're not looking for!

4. Stay Connected with Facebook

This is an obvious one, we know – but when you talk about connectivity and the internet, we can’t go without mentioning Facebook. There are always those few people at your work or school that you've never spoken to or simply assumed you had nothing in common with. Try chatting to them and give them a good chance to actually reveal themselves as a person, a little kindness and interest goes a long way (as long as you’re not being creepy). Facebook and other forms of connection that your school or college might have can be great to connect with people if chatting in real life is a bit difficult. You might connect with people you never expected. Perhaps you'll find yourself with homework help or just make their day if they were feeling a bit average; it’s a win-win!

5. Happy Snapping with VSCO

While the more obvious option when you think about photo-sharing is Instagram, we believe the VSCO app is a fantastic platform for those slightly more into their photography. Utilized mainly for shooting & adding filters to photos at the moment, VSCO have recently added a grid feature to their app which works in a similar way to Instagram. You take and share photos to your grid, follow other users, and explore the universal grid to see popular snaps. What differentiates VSCO is the exceptional design & UI on show, and the type of user currently occupying the app. You tend to see much higher quality photos, and a more interesting range of photo subjects (i.e. not just coffees, Bieber/1D pics and selfies).

Learn about VSCO Here.

So – there you have 5 bonafide ways to utilize technology in order to become more social and more active in your little community of friends. Take that, societal doom-mongers and technophobes.

What are your favorite apps for staying connected? Let us know in the comments.

With more and more people getting hip to the advances in technology, it makes sense for consumers to actively seek out information on how to make their current website a mobile website. There is no particular formula to going mobile online. Actually, many web hosting companies that also offer website templates have an active option to customers if they would like to make a mobile website. Having your website available to mobile users makes it easier to access from a cellular phone, tablet or iPad. There is an innate financial benefit from having a mobile website, and that is there is the potential to have more eyes accessing your product. If you are on the fence about going mobile, here are a few things to keep in mind prior to making your website active to mobile users. For more information, or to speak with a representative on how to optimize your mobile website, visit www.web312.com.

Perks

Believe it or not, sometimes you can create a mobile website for free. This all depends on who hosts your current website and whether or not you are willing to create a mobile one through a mobile website host. This aside, a mobile optimized website is guaranteed to increase the sales of your current products. This increase is due in part to the notion that 55% of all web searches are done on a mobile device. Additionally, it is important to understand that a mobile optimized website offers the end user a quicker and improved experience. The user can experience smooth and quick browsing sessions without dealing with unnecessary information. Furthermore, there is a greater chance that your target consumer will linger on your website.

Another perk includes a faster loading speed as compared to a regular website, a website that is optimized for mobile viewing has the capability of loading exceedingly fast. There is better SEO content on a mobile website as well due to the fact that people by nature can be impatient, so with your website catering to mobile device accessibility, the content is more apt to be SEO rich and written in a way that is logical to the user.

Competitive Advantage

When it comes to sales, competition is fierce. Regardless of what you may be selling, on the internet just about everyone is vying for a sale. One out of every three companies does not have a mobile optimized website. This statistic creates a marginal advantage in the marketplace regarding online sales. The best way to see if the competition within your niche is riding the mobile wave is to visit their websites from a mobile device. This will give you the information that you need in order to ensure that you create a mobile optimized website that has everything that your competition does not have. For example, you can add a blog to your mobile optimized website that links to one of your company’s social media accounts. This will enable you to keep your mobile customers aware of what is going on via a feed on a popular social media site. The sky is truly the limit.

When it comes to going mobile with regards to your website, you may have to do a bit of research. The good thing is that after you do this research, you just might find that you have an upper hand on your competitors within the mobile web access playing field.

Good news to all Facebook addicts! Globe is extending again their Free Facebook promo until April 25, 2014 - which means it will be available to over 38 million subscribers allowing access to this top social networking site with no data charges.

Amazing right?  This promo has been extended a lot of times already because of the overwhelming response from the subscribers. And it is just perfect for the summer season to allow users  to enjoy an innovative, seamless, and worry-free Facebook experience.

This  promo was even recently showcased at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his keynote.  Zuckerberg cited the partnership with Globe in connecting more Filipinos to the Internet, as he shared his vision of a connected world through his pioneering project Internet.org launched last year. The collaboration between Globe and Facebook paved the way for all Globe prepaid, postpaid, and TM customers to enjoy free access to the social networking site alongside customer experience innovations that address the fear of mobile browsing.

Among these customer experience innovations include accessibility on feature phones and smartphones* across all Facebook mobile platforms whether via the Facebook app or Facebook’s mobile site m.facebook.com.

Customers are also guaranteed of no billshock or “nakaw load” as you will be notified if you will incur data charges once a link that leads out of Facebook is clicked.

For a seamless experience, you can also enjoy a one-click registration to the data plan of choice to continue browsing sites or links outside Facebook without having to leave the site. In the spirit of customization, recommended data plans consider a subscriber’s available prepaid balance and/or megabytes (MB) balance of existing data plan.

Lastly, if you don't have enough prepaid load - you can “loan” a 10MB data plan for only P10 which will be deducted on your succeeding top-up so you can fully explore content outside Facebook.

So what are you waiting for? If you are still not connected just  dial *143# and select FREE FB or text FREEFB to 8888 to get more. You can also go to m.facebook.com/free on the phone's web browser or open the Facebook mobile app while on the Globe network to access Free Facebook.

# # #

*Except BlackBerry.  Free Facebook will soon be available to Nokia Xpress and Opera Mini users

Image via Flickr

BMW are known for being a rather innovative car manufacturer, and it is not uncommon for the German car company to spend vast sums of money researching and developing all sorts of cool and useful technologies in future generations of their cars.

You will have probably associated BMW as a company that produces luxurious cars; this is true, but they also incorporate a lot of brilliant technology in their vehicles! The BMW 5 Series is one such model; here are some reasons why the 5 Series is a great car for geeks!

Eight-Speed Automatic Transmission

Image via Flickr

It is a sad fact that customer service levels fall far short of “acceptable” in many countries around the world.

Granted that there are many reasons why some people don’t offer great customer service, such as low pay, poor working conditions and general job dissatisfaction, there are still some people that actually have really good and well-paying jobs yet feel that it is far beneath them to treat their customers with respect and dignity.

Photo via Flickr (credit: Alan Cleaver)

It seems that the general work ethic for a lot of people these days isn’t about making the customer happy or their lives easier, and, unfortunately, this means that customers will literally go and use a competitor service provider instead of you!

But aside from firing your less-than helpful employees, what else can you do to improve the customer service experience that your customers receive from your business? Well, there is a few ways that you can utilise, and they all revolve around one thing: technology. Here is how technology can help improve customer relations and stop your customers leaving you in droves!

When you own a car, one thing that you don’t like to think about but is a thought that sits at the back of your mind is whether your car will become a victim of car theft. Back when I was 18, I was pretty gutted when one of my first cars was broken into.

At the time, I had an aftermarket alarm system installed on it, and was lucky that when they smashed the window of my car and the alarm went off, it deterred them from stealing anything (it was quite a loud alarm in what was otherwise a sleepy street)!

Photo Source (Flickr: Tim Dorr)

If you want to know how to prevent your car from being attacked by the rogue elements of our society, take a look at these weird and wonderful ideas that can help you to do just that!

Photo Source (Flickr: Ryan McLean)

With the advent of online film streaming services that have become the standard in the last few years, hard copy film rentals from a brick and mortar store appear to be going the way of the dodo bird. But the good news is that this decline means that consumers can spend approximately what it would have cost to rent a few DVD films in order to get online database access to thousands and thousands of movies, new and old. Services like Netflix, by partnering with many film making companies in order to acquire the rights for distributing so much Hollywood, Bollywood, and independent cinema, are able to offer a huge array of selections to their subscribers at a tiny price.

If you haven't made the conversion over to an online based film streaming service, consider doing so to  shave a huge amount off what you are currently spending on film rentals. By foregoing the standard rental and subscribing to one of the popular online services, you will have more money left over in your entertainment budget to attend cinema showings, especially at matinee prices. Plus, you will save yourself not only cash but also the hassle of renting and returning films from your local shop.

If you are an old fashioned DVD renter and not entirely convinced of the perks of switching to online film streaming, you might want to consider one of the many free trials that are available before you dismiss the idea completely. You might not yet be ready to give up your weekly walk down to the film shop and the physical act of inserting the DVD movie into your telly at home, but once you find out how many more films you could have access to for a fairly low price, you may be ready to think again.

Signing up for a free trial through Netflix gives you the opportunity to test out how your internet connection fares while streaming films, as well as giving you a chance to see what the selection of movies that are available looks like. Many documentaries, old films, foreign films, and obscure titles will be available that you might not have expected to see. New films that are coming straight from the cinema screen to the streaming service, however, may take quite a while to become available through your subscription.

More Ways to Save with Online Film Streaming

Another perk of signing up for an internet based subscription service like Netflix is that you are able to share your account with your spouse or other family members if you choose to. Up to two family members can watch films through your subscription account, meaning that you and your family will be saving even more on rentals by sharing the costs of the streaming service.

In addition, keep an eye out for coupon codes, promotional discounts and special deals that are related to your service. At certain times of year, or when you are subscribed to their particular newsletter or SMS alert system, you may be eligible to get your first month free with your subscription or receive a cash discount when you sign up for so many months of service. Then, you will be able to enjoy a practically unlimited supply of films from the comfort of your own home, without having to worry about paying those annoying tardy fees.

Image Source

Also known as the Dualis in Australia and Japan, the Nissan Qashqai is a compact crossover that has been in production for over 7 years now and is the successor to the popular Terrano II SUV (sport utility vehicle). The idea for the interestingly-named model came from the Qashqai, a tribe of semi-nomadic people living in south-western Iran.

Produced at Nissan’s Sunderland plant in north-eastern England, this successful compact crossover is a familiar sight on the streets of Britain.

Since its inception, over half a million of these models have been built. If you are considering buying a car that is similar in size to this one, here are 5 reasons why you should forget about those other models and instead, buy a Nissan Qashqai!

Image Source

As I mentioned a moment ago, the Nissan Qashqai is a familiar sight on our roads, and you will have doubtless seen a few in your time. One of the main reasons for their popularity is that they look pretty good! It’s a perfect car for someone that wants to have a large and stylish vehicle without paying the luxury car prices for similarly-sized cars.

Alloy wheels look pretty awesome when they are brand new. I know this sounds a little sad, but some look so shiny and clean that you just want to eat your dinner off them! Of course, in reality I wouldn’t advise that you do such a thing, because alloy wheels are designed to help you propel your car forwards or backwards, and aren’t a particularly light or practical substitute for a plate.

Sadly, alloy wheels don’t always have that shiny, unblemished look about them and considering the amount of abuse they get (i.e. being driven over potholes, into kerbs and so forth), they end up looking pretty sorry for themselves.

Image Credit

When I was giving my car a wash the other day, I gave my alloy wheels a good scrub with a special brush which can fit through the spokes, and I even used an alloy wheel cleaning product (Meguiar’s Hot Rim Wheel & Tyre Cleaner, in case you wondered), but despite my best efforts the alloy wheels were still nowhere near as great a condition as they were brand new.

The lacquer (i.e. the clear coat of paint layer applied to all paint finishes on cars) on the outer surface of the wheels was peeling, and the front wheel on the passenger side is badly scuffed due to various kerb mountings in the past; some by me, some by the car’s previous keepers.

Considering there is nothing more I can do in terms of using cleaning products on the wheels, the only options left to me are to either buy brand new alloy wheels, or refurbish my existing ones.

Have you ever travelled on the road somewhere and spotted a car that doesn’t look as though it was produced by the car’s manufacturer that way from the factory? If so, you probably came across what is known as a “modified car”.

In a nutshell, these are cars that have been modified from the car’s original specification for the purposes of improving its aesthetics or increase the engine’s performance. For some people, they modify a car for a specific purpose, such as for track day events around racing circuits such as the Nurburgring in Germany.

Image via Flickr

But for most modders, they simply do it because they want to stand out from the crowd. The problem is, the latter reason is a completely pointless waste of time and money, and as a person that did just that in his younger days, I can explain to you why!

Some modifications look stupid

I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of examples in the past where people have modified their cars, and they look really tacky and stupid. There seems to be a rise in the number of people going for the “Euro” look, as per the mk1 Volkswagen Golf pictured above.

This includes having ridiculously wide and small alloy wheels with stretched tyres on them, lowered so much that any extra weight in the car will undoubtedly cause the tyres to scrape on the arches and fail any government-mandated car tests, such as the annual MOT test for cars that are more than three years old in the United Kingdom.

Everyone at some point will have seen a Jaguar XJS on the streets of Britain, Europe, North America and pretty much around the world. A total of 115,413 models were produced in the car’s 21-year history from 1975 to 1996.

Classed as a luxury grand tourer, the Jaguar XJS never quite had the same ‘sporting’ image as its predecessor, the iconic E-Type, but was still very popular nonetheless. If you are considering a purchase of this classic Jag, then you should firstly read this handy buyer’s guide so that you know what to expect, and what to check for.

Image Source

Engines

Between 1975 and 1980, the Jaguar XJS only had one choice of engine: the Jaguar 5.3-litre V12. From 1981, the following engines were used:

From 1991 to 1996, Jaguar offered these choice of engines in the XJS: