Have you ever wondered who has the fastest Internet the in world? A new report by Akamai details the top countries with the fastest Internet connection speeds.

For the past 4 years, the Internet content delivery network service, Akamai Technologies, has been releasing its State of the Internet report.  The findings detail the various countries that have the highest broadband capabilities as well as those that offer the slowest connection speeds to the Internet.

South Korea came out on top with both the highest average connection bandwidth to Internet users at 17.5 Mbps as well as the highest average peak bandwidth delivered to users at a staggering 47.9 Mbps. At that type of speed, you could download a movie in full high-definition quality in little over 30 minutes and download a regular mp3 file in less than 3 seconds.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Niger, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Burundi and Cuba all came at the bottom with average connections speeds of under 300 kbps. At those speeds a high definition movie would take more than a full 24 hours to download.

Akamai places the United States at 13^th place in the world’s Internet connection speeds, with an average connection speed of 5.8 Mbps. The same movie in HD would take about 90 minutes to download.

According to the Akamai report, the top ten the countries with the highest average broadband connection speeds are:

1. South Korea
2. Japan
3. Hong Kong
4. The Netherlands
5. Latvia
6. Switzerland
7. Ireland
8. Czech Republic
9. Romania
10. Belgium

It’s interesting to note that there was an enormous difference between South Korea’s speeds as compared to the rest of the world. South Korea’s average broadband connection speed was 17.5 Mbps as noted before, but Japan’s speed comes in at 9.1 Mbps. That means that the average broadband Internet connection in South Korea is close to twice the bandwidth the second average connection. In percentages, South Korea is 92 percent faster than Japan and a whopping 201 percent faster than the United States.

This statistic doesn’t necessary mean that everyone has access to the country’s highest connection speeds.

The average connection speed of a few people misrepresents the actual experience of the majority. Here’s another list of the top ten countries sorted by the number of Internet users who have connections over 5Mbps.

1. South Korea
2. The Netherlands
3. Japan
4. Hong Kong
5. Belgium
6. Switzerland
7. Latvia
8. Romania
9. Czech Republic
10. Denmark

South Korea wins again with a staggering 83 percent of its Internet users connecting at speeds above 5 Mbps. This time however, the Netherlands (67 percent) beats Japan (60 percent). Hong Kong, Belgium, Switzerland, and Latvia each have more than 50 percent of their Internet users connecting at above 5 Mbps. The United States did better than 13^th place in this comparison. Akamai lists it at 12^th place, but it’s basically tied for tenth place with 44 percent of Internet users having connection speeds over 5 Mbps.

You typed in three hyphens (—) in Microsoft Word and pressed Enter, and then it automatically changes into a horizontal line. Now you’re having trouble removing what you think is the horizontal rule <hr> tag from Microsoft Word. You couldn’t delete it with the backspace key or the delete key, and you couldn’t select and highlight it with the cursor.

The Problem:

This is actually an auto-format feature in Microsoft Word that creates a border for a document whenever you type in three hyphens (-) and press enter. This seemingly irremovable, instant horizontal line will also show up it you type in three underscores (_), three pound signs (#), three equal signs (=), or three tildes (~) in a row and press Enter.

How to Fix:

Microsoft Word 2003 (or earlier):

1. Place your cursor above the horizontal line.
2. From your menu, choose Format >> Borders and Shading >> None >> Ok

Microsoft Word 2007 (or 2010) Screenshots

1. Place your cursor above the horizontal line.
2. From the menu, click Page Layout.
3. Once you’ve selected Page Layout, click on Page Borders.
4. Select the Borders Tab.
5. Select None, and then click Ok.

How to turn off the auto-format feature for borders:

You can fix it so that Microsoft Word won’t create the horizontal line borders. See screenshots below of how to shut off the auto-format feature.

Click on the auto-format lightning-bolt box near the newly created horizontal line:

Choose Control AutoFormat Options:

Uncheck the checkbox for Border Lines:

Click Ok and you’re finished!

Remove the horizontal line in Word 2007 (or 2010)

Step 1
Place your cursor above the horizontal line.

Step 2
From the menu, click Page Layout.

Step 3
Once you’ve selected Page Layout, click on Page Borders.

Step 4
Select the Borders Tab.

Step 5

Select None, and then click Ok.

 
Let me know in the comments below if this tutorial helped you out. I was so frustrated the first time this happened to me, but these steps helped me right through it.

A new Pingdom study has concluded that half of the top 100 blogging sites are now powered by WordPress.

WordPress, the free and open source blogging tool and a dynamic content management system based on PHP and MySQL has long been one of the most popular platforms for personal and professional blog sites (that’s what we use here at Talesofinterest.net as well).

After observing the top 100 blogging platforms in Technorati’s index, a leading blog search engine and directory, a new research study released by the website uptime monitoring company Pingdom discovered that 49 percent of the top 100 blogs now use WordPress.

That includes both its hosted sand self-hosted forms, and is up from the32 percent recorded in a study conducted back in 2009. No other blogging platform even came close.

Typepad, a blogging service from the company SAY Media originally released in the fall of 2003, was still the second most widely used platform in 2009, but now it has, for all practical purposes, disappeared from the rankings.

Movable Type, a web publishing system developed by the company Six Apart, was still being used by 12 of the top 100 blogs back in 2009, but now is down to 7.

Confidentiality and Custom Platforms

Apart from the total WordPress dominance on the blogging platform plane, what was most intriguing about this study was the steady increase of blogging platforms that allow customization.

In the Technorati Index top 10, for of the blogging sites now use their own form of custom blogging platform. This is a perfect example of how competitive and diversified the professional blogging market has now become.

After all, the majority of blog sites look very much alike and having a platform you can customize to fit a company’s needs lets these websites to distinguish themselves from the competition.

As a result, this opened the door to a whole new level of secrecy within blogging sites. Pingdom, for example, was unable to determine which platforms some of the top 100 sites use and was even told by one site administrator that they “were under non-disclosure agreement to not reveal anything about the site.”

Coca-Cola vending machines have been providing us with its caffeine spiked goodness for over half a century now, and ask very little money in return.

So don’t you think it’s high time we gave those big, red machines some love in return? Although the idea of hugging the Coke machine in the lunchroom during your break sounds rather absurd and perhaps embarrassing, maybe you should take a second and rethink it.

Thanks to a brand new marketing campaign by the Coca-Cola Company, several new vending machines will be scattered throughout the globe that will give its customers a free coke for nothing more than a nice, warm hug.

As one of the world’s most profitable, valuable companies, Coca-Cola has always been recognized for its memorable commercials and marketing campaigns.

Everyone remembers the highly successful “hey kid, catch,” advertisement released during the 1979 Super Bowl featuring Pittsburg Steelers defensive tackle, “Mean” Joe Green. And who could forget the Coke-Cola Santa Clause or the Polar Bear commercials that have remained in the hearts of its coke drinkers throughout the years. The Coke rewards program also stemmed a considerable jump in profits where customers could collect coke codes and use them for various prizes and partnered discounts.

It’s clear that Coca-Cola has created unforgettable ads that have brought great success to the company throughout its years.

The newest edition to the marketing roster at Coke is part of the company’s “Open Happiness” campaign. The soft drink giant has teamed up with the global marketing firm Oglivy & Mather and introduced coke vending machines entitled with the tag line “Hug Me”. The first machines have been released in Singapore and will soon spread throughout strategic locations in selected nations.

The campaign works as easily as it sounds.

Basic, ordinary Coke vending machines were placed throughout busy public venues in Singapore with a sign that read “Hug Me”. If you were curious enough to actually comply with the request the machine would dispense a Coke drink. Hug the vending machine, get a free coke. Not a bad deal.

According to the Oglivy & Mather, the campaign was an immense success, with “four to five people hugging the machine at the same time as well as each other.”

Plans to implement the marketing campaign and roll out similar machines across Asia are expected to take place, however, no word on whether the promotion will make it to western shores.

What do you think? Would you hug a Coke machine in public for a free drink? Leave your comments below.

Have you swapped out your old computer and became frustrated when you had to set up all of your bookmarks and favorites again on the new one? In Firefox 12.0 you can move your bookmarks quickly and easily. Learn how to Export bookmarks from Firefox 12.0 and then Import them onto a different Internet Browser. Follow these simple instructions to learn how.

Instructions

Exporting Firefox 12.0 Bookmarks

1. Open Mozilla Firefox 12.0 Internet browser.

2. Click the Bookmarks Menu Tab in the Menu Bar located on the top left of the browser. If you do not see the Bookmarks Menu Tab, press the ALT key on your keyboard and the menu will appear.

3. Click on “Show All Bookmarks” in the Bookmarks menu. You can also click “CTRL + Shift + B” on your keyboard. A new window will pop up on your desktop, titled “Library”.

4. Click on “Import and Backup”.

5. Select “Export Bookmarks to HTML…” A new window will open, titled “Export Bookmarks File”.

6. Save files onto custom flash drives or portable external hard drives. You can also save onto your folders if you’re transferring bookmarks between browsers on the same computer.

Importing Firefox 12.0 Bookmarks

If you are switching browsers or using a new computer, you will want to import your bookmarks. Follow these simple steps to learn how.

1. Repeat steps 1 – 4 from you new Internet browser from above.

2. Select “Import Bookmarks from HTML…” A new window will open, titled “Import Bookmarks File”.

3. Select from your computer your Imported Bookmarks File.

4. Click “Open”. The file will then automatically populate the new Internet browser.

Your bookmarks will now appear in your Firefox bookmarks menu. Reopen your Internet Browser and your ready to quick surf!

Now that you have learned how to import and export bookmarks in Firefox 12.0, check out our tutorial on importing & exporting favorites in Chrome and Internet Explorer.

26.) Subway chin rest

If you can’t find place to sit, here is solution.

25.) The Noodle Guard

Because putting noodles into your mouth is one of life’s biggest challenges.

24.) Umbrella Tube

Never touch rain water again. Never have any friends again either.

23.) Chopsticks fan

Because, you know, chopsticks weren’t nearly as complicated before.

22.) Subway Hat 

Sleeping on the subway is something of an epidemic in Japan. People regularly lean on complete strangers for a quick snooze on the way home from work. What’s a stylish alternative? Stick a plunger to the window behind you and put the attached hat on your head. As if this wasn’t enough, the hat comes with a message board attachment that warns your subway neighbors of your stop so they can wake you.

21.) Daddy nurser

This is just plain embarrassing. Nurse your child like a real mother with complete bottle breast attachments. This kid is going to all types of therapy sessions in the near future.

20.) Eyedrop funnels

There eye drop funnel glasses have to be one of the most ridiculous inventions to ever come out of a Japanese mind. Honestly if you can’t aim an eye dropper directly into your eyes then you probably don’t deserve to have eyes in the first place. Maybe a device that would keep you from blinking would be more useful. A Clockwork Orange anyone?

19.) 10 in 1 gardening tool

It’s like a giant size Swiss Army knife for all your gardening needs. While in Forest Gump’s world of logic this bad boy is the ultimate idea, it’s entirely impractical, unusable, and just plain dumb. But hey, “stupid is as stupid does” I suppose.

18.) Butter Stick

Somebody took the phrase “a stick of butter” a little bit literally I’m afraid. Why use a butter knife when you can just glue your wonder bread bologna sandwich together? Guess now I know what Joey was thinking when he downed those glue sticks in kindergarten…

17.) Personal Rain Saver

We recycle plastic, paper, metals, so why not water? Better yet, why not rain water? We spend half the time on a windy, rainy day flipping our umbrellas right side in, so let’s just leave it like that and get a little rain water in the process. I bet you’ll rethink it when you get next month’s water bill in the mail… possibly… maybe not.

16.) Duster Slippers

We all know you get a kick out of torturing your cat from time to time you little devil.  So why not get your house dusted clean in process?

15.) The Umbrella Tie

Never worry about forgetting your umbrella again! Rainy day? No problem! Just detach your trusty umbrella tie, open, use, and when you get to work just attach that soaked umbrella right back on your… oh.

14.) The Boyfriend and Girlfriend Pillow

Longing to cuddle with that boy or girl you’ve been Facebook stalking for the past 3 months? Just print out their profile picture, attach the boyfriend/girlfriend pillow and enjoy you crazy stalker you! For you practical jokers out there, this is the perfect way to respond to your girlfriend when she says she wants to cuddle. Just be prepared to start using it for yourself from then on…

13.) USB BBQ

So here we have a BBQ made with what looks like 40 USB cables and 10 adapter cards connected to a tiny palm sized BBQ. If you ask me, all that electricity drain and cost for such gross tasting meat, would be easier to whip out your camp propane/electric grill.

12.) The Urinal Elephant

That’s right, this elephant cleans urinals. All you have to do is push it this heavy bastard up against the urinal and it will get to work cleaning out all those stray pubic hairs, leaving your urinal sparkling and minty fresh. What? Too big and heavy you say? Nonsense! It’s not like it’s an elephant or anything.

11.) Sexual Chewing Gum

Shall we shag now or shall we shag after I chew this gum? This is a brand of chewing gum that will increase a man’s sexual performance. Puts a whole new spin on those Dentyne Ice commercials don’t it?

10.) Training Wheels for High Heels

Seems crazy but I’d be willing to bet there’s a couple of you gals out there that would be willing to try it. (Alone at home that is).

9.) Panoramic Head Camera

How many tourists does it take to capture a panoramic? Just one really, really dumb one.

8.) Camera Umbrella

I have to admit that this invention is actually kind of clever.  I could use one of these for my iPhone.

7.) Clean Air

Tired of breathing that nasty, polluted air in your town? Try taking a big whiff of this plant and enjoy the freshness. Don’t get any ideas you potheads.

6.) Grass Toilet Seat

It’s like taking a big, smelly dump on nature itself.

5.) Lipstick Application Helper

Paint me like one of your French girls.

4.) Dusting Onesie for Babies

As if your cat wasn’t enough, strap one of these dusters on your baby. Because having your children wallow in dusty filth all day is good for their immune system.

3.) Ear Cleaning Device with Video Camera

Yeah, because I really want to see that.

2.) Hair-Growth Shower Cap

So if you slip one on, the cap will basically steam the water that is captured in the shower to invigorate new hair growth, because they claim Japanese scientists have discovered that the root of all hair loss is the clogged hair pathways in your skin. I guess they figured it’s so stupid and simple, that it makes perfect sense.

1.) Ever-ready tissues

This is good. Ever needed a tissue but was way too inconvenienced by going through all the pain, sacrifice and trouble of sticking your hand in your pocket and pulling out a tissue? Then strap a roll of toilet paper to your head and call it a day.

Here’s how to change it so that it goes to your Home Page every time you open Firefox.

Instructions

1.) Go to “Tools”.

2.) Select “Options”. The options windows will pop up.

3.) On the top menu, click on “General”.

4.)  Locate “When Firefox starts:” Click on the drop down menu next to it.

5.) Select “Show my home page”.

6.) Press “OK” and you’re done! Try restarting Firefox and breath a huge sigh of relief when it opens to your home page.

The autocomplete feature is a very useful and efficient tool to use when browsing the web. As you type in the first few letters of a web address, Firefox will suggest one web address that matches. You can type in additional letters until you see the web address you want and press Enterto go there. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to set Firefox to fill in automatically while you’re typing a web address.

• Open Mozilla Firefox Internet Browser.
• In the Location bar, type about:config and press Enter. This will redirect you to a warning page that says This might void your warranty!
• Click the button that says I’ll be careful, I promise! to continue to the about:config page.
• Type the preference name, browser.urlbar.autoFill in the Search field located at the top of the page.
• Change the value of this preference to true. To do this, simply double-click where you see the preference name browser.urlbar.autoFill. To turn off, double-click the preference name to change its value to false.
• Close the browser.
• Reopen Firefox and type in a web address to try out. Once you see the address you’re looking for, stop typing and press Enter. This saves time and works great!

This is NOT to be confused with Internet Explorer Tab Groups. That… that would just be wrong.

Why you should use Tab Groups

If you have enough tabs that it’s borderline ridiculous, then Tab groups might just be for you. If you’re regularly ending up with more tabs than fit on the Tab Strip, then Tab groups could be right up your alley. If you’re constantly going a hundred miles a second on the internet to get through your crazy work day, then you’d better listen up.

How to Create a Tab Group / How to Navigate through Tab Groups

You should already have a number of tabs to work with but if you don’t, go ahead and open a few now.

1.) Enter the Tab Groups view by clicking the List All Tabs button at the far right of the Tab Strip. It doesn’t say ‘All Tabs’ so look for the button with an arrow in the middle pointing down. Press Ctrl + Shift + E for the shortcut.

2.) When you enter the Tab Groups view for the first time, you’ll see thumbnail previews of all of your tabs in one group. To make a new group, simply drag one tab out of the group and then drag a second one on top of it. A box will be drawn around them.

3.) When you are done, just click on a tab to exit the view. You will be returned to Firefox, the tab you clicked on will be active and only the tabs in that group will be visible.

4.) Click on a tab in the group you want to switch to and you’ll exit the view and be returned to Firefox. The tab you clicked on will be active and only the tabs in that group will be visible.

5.) Click the search button on the right side of the window to bring up the search box and then just begin typing the name of the tab you’re trying to find.

6.) As you type, the tabs that match your search will be highlighted. Just click on a tab to select it and be returned to Firefox.

11. The Karaoke

Meaning literally ‘empty orchestra’, the first Karaoke machine was invented by Daisuke Inoue in the early 1970s, but unfortunately was not patented. Instead, an almost identical invention and one which is earning massive revenue around the world was registered and patented by a Roberto del Rosario in the Philippines in 1983. Karaoke is a huge business and large part of Japanese culture. The largest seller of machines in Japan is Daiichi Kosho, with about fifty percent of a JPY100bn market.

10. The Quartz Wristwatch

Released in 1969, the Seiko Astron was the world’s first quartz wristwatch. Quartz technology was a considerable upgrade over its mechanical watch predecessors, because it eliminated the need for easily damaged moving parts, while keeping time much more accurately. It is powered by and electronic circuit that produces a repetitive electronic signal that is regulated by a small quartz crystal to keep time. To this day, Quartz remains the standard for wristwatches and clocks.

9. The Pocket Calculator

In January of 1971, portable calculators became widely available with the release of the Busicom LE-120A by the Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation, which subsequently later changed its name to Busicom. Although it was initially released at a cost of $395, (the cost of several weeks salary at the time), the technology improved over the years and mass production took over. As a result, the price of pocket calculators plummeted. Sharp’s EL-8086 released in 1978 was the first solar-powered calculator, and this further extended the popularity of the device around the world.

8. The Flat-Panel Display

The first consumer available flat-panel display of any kind was found on the Sony Watchman FD-210, a pocket television launched in 1982. The FD-210′s display was a measly five centimeters, but the technology involved in its production was impressive for the time and carved the way for the home television and computer flatscreens we see today. The first LCD and Plasma televisions were also created by Japanese companies – Sharp and Pioneer.

7. The Digital SLR Camera

The first digital camera with single-lens reflex elements was the Sony Mavica, released in 1981. Sony’s first full-fledged digital camera was the Mavica MVC-FD5 released in 1997. However it wasn’t until 1999 and the release of the Nikon D1, that Japanese-developed digital SLRs started to widely replace 35 mm film as the popular choice among professional photographers, thanks to their superior combination of speed, ease of use, and image quality.

6. The Video Cassette

The video cassette and VCR, both made by Sony, were first released in 1971. Thanks to the video cassette, consumers were finally able to watch films at home, and at a time of their choosing. You could stop, rewind, and fast forward through your favorite movies, and see them over and over again. The idea of capturing the movie-going experience and putting it in each home was a technological breakthrough – and not just for the audiences. Movie Studios benefited enormously too, as they were granted a new revenue stream in the form of the home video market, which eventually overtook the box office in value.

5. The Camcorder

The process of on-location video recording used to require at least two people, in other words, a film crew. Prior to the 1980s TV news crews used video cameras – that is, the devices that were actually used to shoot video – with separate recording units. The earliest portable video recorders still had to be connected to the camera through a cable, which limited their mobility and utility in the field. With the Sony Betacam, released in 1982, a video camera and video recorder were combined into a single device for the first time. The ‘camcorder’, as it came to be known, revolutionized journalism and filmmaking, and eventually brought video recording home.

4. The High-Speed Passenger Train

If you’ve ever ridden one of these, you’d instantly know why it made the list. The 12-car 0-Series Shinkansen bullet train, which ran from 1964 to 2008, was the world’s first high-volume, high-speed passenger train. Superior rail transport was one of the major factors that helped to power Japan’ economy to number two in the world, and the design of the early Shinkansen influenced overseas engineers as well. The technology is still relatively new overseas, but has seen a sudden surge in popularity from European regions, The United States is said to implement bullet trains into commercial use in the near future.

3. The Portable Music Player

Before the iPod, Zune, and mp3 player, the Sony Walkman was the leader of music on the go. While it’s technically not the world’s first portable music player, the Sony Walkman was hands down the most successful, bringing the concept of portable music to the mainstream. Everyone in the mid 80s either had one, or wanted one. Sony constantly introduced a number of new features along the line, including a recording function, and playback of other media, like compact discs and TV and video cassettes. Imagine what the world would be like without portable music players.

2. The Floppy Disk

The floppy disk is counted among the many inventions of the colorful Yoshiro Nakamatsu, AKA Dr. NakaMats. The details behind the invention, and how the technology wound up in IBM’s hands, are shrouded in mystery, but Nakamatsu was awarded a patent for the base technology behind the floppy disk in 1952, long before they went public. While floppy disks are now considered a relic, they were the primary portable storage medium for computer users everywhere for a good three decades. It basically introduced the idea of carrying and sharing information easily, and effectively. Something we now have implemented and integrated into what seems like every part of our society.

1. The Compact Disc

Created in collaboration by Sony and Philips in the late 1970s, the compact disc and the Sony-developed CD player is the most important technological inventions to have come out of Japan. Originally intended simply as a smaller, more mobile replacement for vinyl records, the CD proved incredibly useful as a general data storage medium in the form of the CD-ROM and then the CD-R. Its successor technologies, the DVD and Blu-ray disc, are both also Sony and Philips collaboration creations. The digital optical disc still remains one of the modern world’s most important inventions to date.