Radar and Speed Camera Apps

21 Replies Jonny Hankins

20 years ago I worked above a garage in Manchester. The owner was a young man who liked fast cars, but in Britain the roads are monitored with cameras and speed traps making it easy to lose your license through the points deduction system.

My boy racer friend had a solution however, on the rear view mirror he had a radar detection system. These systems were illegal to use, but not to own, so although visible to a passing police officer there was little they could do about it.

20 years on the technology has improved. Now for 6 euros you can download Radardroid, it sits in your smartphone and informs you when you are getting close to a speed camera or radar. This App sends a visual and sonic signal to warn you, so you can slow down and avoid fines and potentially losing your license.

To think it used to be like this!

Modern technology means less places to hide

There are many systems available. Some like Radardroid are openly helping you to avoid abiding by the law, but others market themselves as driver help tools. They let you know when there is a traffic jam ahead, bad weather or a radar by describing them all as ‘risk zones’. These systems have even been endorsed by some European governments and car manufacturing companies are starting to put the technology directly into their cars.

One problem remains however, in some countries the use of this technology is prohibited. Germany and Switzerland enforce bans on such technology, something that was easy with older systems that could be spotted from outside the car. But what about if it sits within your phone. How can a sovereign state stop people driving on their territory with an App in their phone? Will they stop cars that are factory fitted with the technology from crossing their borders?

I doubt that enforcement will be possible, and this highlights just one of the problems of the management of a single market across different sovereign countries. Technology transcends geographic boundaries, as the internet buying of banned products has proved.

And this leads me to my final question, does this mean that people only abide by the law because they think that they might get into trouble if they don’t? What are the ethical implications of the marketing and endorsing of such products? If this process continues many laws will become obsolete as technology finds ways to avoid being caught.

In Italy you have to pay to use the motorways, so you get a ticket when you enter, that you present when you leave and pay. On some motorways they have introduced what they call a tutor. It is old school technology, the ticket has the time you enter stamped on it. When you leave the time is registered again. If you cover more distance than is possible while remaining within the speed limit you get a fine. A simple A to B calculation that has dramatically cut deaths on my local motorway.

If you are interested in reading more about ethics in technological innovation take a look at my work blog.

SEO: certainly not DIY

10 Replies MattRawlings

While many of us fancy ourselves as DIY experts; sawing, hammering and nailing bits together to create a new set of shelves, or putting a picture on the wall, SEO is not something you can ‘blag’ your way through. There are just too many complicated and frequently changing factors involved that require expertise as opposed to an instruction book.

A lot of people in the IT industry, or working “in IT” for large businesses feel as though their limited knowledge of SEO is enough that the firm doesn’t have to bring in experts in the field, and that they can do it themselves. However, history and case studies show us that this is the start of a slippery slope. A lot of businesses who opt to do their own SEO soon find that they’re being penalized by Google for over-optimisation of their site, essentially ‘spamming’ the site with the terms that they want to be seen ranking highly for, and Google subsequently prevents them from doing so, knocking them down the rankings or not including them at all.

One of the main reasons that firms opt against bringing in so-called SEO experts is that they believe all of the best firms are based in the United States and that they charge overwhelming amounts. However, there are plenty of British and Irish SEO agencies who are gaining reputations for being among the very best in the industry, and, what’s more, they don’t charge the substantial American fees and – for those based in the UK and Ireland – they’re working at the same times as you, there’s no time zone changes, meaning that if you have any issues or need to contact them for an update, they should be on-hand whenever you need them.

An upwards arrowFor those still not convinced on the advantages of bringing in an SEO firm, you have to question how you want to get to the “next level” in your industry. You might be doing very well, but you always want to be doing better – ambition is only natural with any business. But sometimes, no matter how good your existing in-house IT team may be, they don’t have the expertise in SEO to find the strategies to take you from the top 20 search results for your key term to the first page, top 5, number one, wherever it is you want to be.

With so many strategies in an ever-evolving industry, there’s no way this is a DIY job. Reaching the next level is serious stuff and therefore needs the best in the business, not the amateurs.

Some ideas as to how you can write engaging articles

2 Replies Christopher Roberts

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Grabbing the attention of a reader – and keeping it – can make or break a blog. Usually, bloggers become successful and well known within a particular niche not by writing in essay style about a subject, but by approaching and executing a piece of content in a particular way.

Here’s how…

Decide on an interesting topic

The first job is arguably the most important and that’s picking about something interesting to write about. Engaging content can come in many different forms, with the most common being interviews, lists, news, opinion, research findings, infographics, cool images and graphics.

Have a catchy headline

Decide on a title that’ll immediately make somebody sit up and take notice as they scroll down a page. There’s no point crafting a brilliant blog post if you can’t get it under the noses of your target audience. Keep it short. Keep it snappy.

Develop your own writing style

Different bloggers have different writing styles – and it’s important to find what works best for you. Don’t just copy the style of blogs you read, develop your own style. Remember, blogs are very personal things – so personalise yours!

The text: different writing styles

Think about your target audience

Before you start writing a piece you should really take five minutes to decide who the target audience is. Ask yourself: who is going to read the article? Why will they want to read this? What’s the ‘hook’ that will ensure this article is seen?

Consider how the information is displayed

As well as being pleasing to read in terms of the content, it needs to be pleasing on the eye as well, so use images, subheadings and short paragraphs. A big chunk of text is likely to put readers off, so make your blog posts as easy to read as possible.

Show some link love

Link to relevant external sources within your blog posts if applicable because this adds value to your articles and acts as a way of recommending other pieces of content that may be useful to the reader. You never know, somebody could link back to your article one day.

At the end of the day these are principles that can be applied to your blogging whatever your niche.