When is the last time anyone got a real letter in the mail?
It’s possible that some of us just received our annual Christmas cards with wishes of merriment and a newsletter with pictures of kids and tales of the past year. For the most part, the days of letters is gone.
Social Networking on the internet has changed the way we stay in touch. If you belong to Facebook, you essentially know what’s going on in the lives of your friends and family across the globe. Even the smallest of posts gives you some idea of what’s going on in other people’s lives.
Had a great day skiing today
Watched the Raiders game this afternoon
Cooked a family dinner today, the kids were crazy and grannie complained about the pie
All of these phrases are examples of posts that can be on Facebook. Within just a few moments, you know a few things about what’s going on with friends.
Skype is another social medium that people are using to stay connected. Not all families live in the same city, state or even country. For those that have struggles for years to stay connected through phone calls, skype allows people to verbally communicate while they see each other on the computer screen. This internet mechanism is especially effective for extended families who live in different countries and don’t get to see each other very often.
The internet allows us to use file sharing programs like Ares to share and send photos, sound recordings of babies first word or steps and even send emails without ever stepping foot into a post office.
Of course nothing beats the real thing when it comes to seeing friends and family. A Social medium like Facebook gives you glimpses of what’s going on, but only with face-to face contact can you really know what’s going on. Perhaps that’s the next technological advance for the internet.
Are Computers Taking Away our Ability to Think?
Computers have taken over our everyday lives. What’s the first thing most people do when they wake up in the morning? If they are not pressed for time, they probably brew a fresh pot of coffee and sit down at their computer for a few minutes of email, Facebook and perhaps to look at a bit of local or national news.
As Computers have taken over our everyday lives, it makes you wonder if common, everyday tasks like doing math are being lost along the way? Do we really sit down and compute math problems on a piece of paper like the good old days or do we turn to the computer or cell phone to do even the most common tasks of addition and subtraction?
There is little scientific research in this area however, scientists have determined that dealing with online information, email, cell phone calls and other types of daily information may be changing how we think.
All of this information scientists say tends to get us addicted to ‘bursts’ or information. In essence when we are inundated with computer information, our body releases a tiny amount of dopamine. When you shut off all the computer information, the body tends to become bored.
Seems we are all busier these days. Gotta check the email, have to check the minutes available on my phone, need to make sure the television is set to record our favorite shows. Many people think that being busy with these types of tasks make them more adept at multi-tasking. Scientists say otherwise.
People that multitask all the time have trouble focusing and shutting out useless information. Research shows that many of those studied are more stressed and are less productive.
Seems like it might be time to start doing math in the head again and shutting off all those electronic devices when possible.
Times Are Changing
Times sure are changing. Just think, a few years ago (and not that many either) we didn’t have iPads, smart phones, blogs or Facebook. Things have really advanced in the past few years. Now you can get a degree from home with onlineeducation.com or work from home more easily. Now we can do it all and with all of the advancements in technology, we can do it with ease.
Obviously, these luxuries come at a cost. Technology isn’t cheap but sometimes it’s worth it since it simplifies life. Think about how you have found friends online that you haven’t seen in years or how you can text a friend to find out if they’re coming over later. If you want to really consider the bare basics of advanced technology, if you’re old enough you can remember when there weren’t computers or cell phones at all. If you wanted to communicate with someone, you used the telephone or see them in person. People even wrote letters and had pen pals years ago. Now, you can talk to anyone in the world pretty much and all you have to do is turn on your computer.
This has also opened up a whole different type of job market. Now more people can work from home. The word “telecommute” wasn’t around much years ago and now it’s quite common. In fact, some people don’t even have to leave their homes because they can work at home, shop for groceries online, buy clothes, get a college degree and meet someone.
It certainly makes you wonder what the future holds. Will there be as just as many advancements as we have had in the past 20 years or so or will things slow down and it’ll be similar to how it is now?
Internet IPv4 Address Are Almost Gone
- Image by INHumanities via Flickr
Of the 4.3 billion Internet addresses available with the current technologies, about 95% are gone.
The Number Resource Organization (NRO) stated the addresses available with IPv4 technology will be used up by early 2011. According to the current usage rates, the last five blocks of IPv4 addresses will be distributed to nonprofit companies — called Regional Internet Registries – that administer and register the IP address space in early 2011.
Currently, the text-based Internet addresses are the front for the numeric addresses that do the real behind-the-scenes work of the Internet. With Internet Protocol version 4 or IPv4, the numeric addresses are running out. The leaders of the NRO and others have suggested that Internet stakeholders should work towards adaptation of Internet Protocol version 6 or IPv6 soon.
One IPv4 numeric address can be shared with multiple computers through network address administration. But even this technology has its limits which increases the number of IPv4 addresses being used. The next generation Internet protocol IPv6 will expand the frontier and get rid of the limitations of the IPv4 system.
The Regional Internet Registries will allocate over 2000 IPv6 address blocks in 2010 which shows some interest in moving to the new technology.
Some companies such as Comcast, Google, and Facebook are already moving towards an adoption of IPv6 but smaller companies have not started the process. There is concern that the adaptation to IPv6 is not moving fast enough which might lead to increased Internet costs and instability of the worldwide Internet network as companies rush to try to adapt IPv6 at the last minute. Companies that do not move to IPv6 technology and remain with IPv4 technology will not be able to expand into the IPv6 realm; however, IPv4 will continue to work.
Playing Games Online
- Image via CrunchBase
The Internet is a repository of hundreds upon hundreds of games. No wonder the current generation of youngsters spend hours on the Internet. Games are found everywhere; in dedicated websites dealing with one particular game, in websites offering multiple games, in online casinos offering online bingo technology and other similar games, as well as on social network sites like Facebook.
Of the dedicated websites offering single games, perhaps the most widely popular game of them all is chess. A game for the ages, chess remains a very popular, intellectual game. Its introduction, and sophistication, in the online field helps to explain its wide popularity online. Chess is also played live – that is, you pit yourself against real players, not the computer. This can have a very interesting dimension, because you get to widen your horizon and play with people from all over the world.
Websites with multiple games usually do not offer chess, a game that eats up a huge amount of a web site’s database. They offer simpler games like card games and board games. These games are usually easy to play, and even kids can enjoy a spate of card games online.
Online casinos are a big hit in the Internet world. Thousands of websites offer online casino games, some with real big stakes and healthy jackpots. Many of these casino websites have branched off from real world casinos, are are quickly making a name for themselves. They replicate casino shows and hold annual competitions with huge jackpots. Millions of people throng the web to play these games, hoping to win.
Lastly, some social networking sites like Facebook offer games too. Independent game developers can add their games to Facebook, and make money with licenses or advertising. Youngsters who throng Facebook spend a lot of time playing these online games.
Keeping away from social network muggers
- Image via Wikipedia
Social networking is a new age phenomenon. It has opened the doors to people from different cultures, and backgrounds to network positively. In an open social networking space, it is imperative that restrictions are cut-down to add more value to the social networking technology experience. You have so many groups, common interest forums and what not in social networking sites. You can create your own common interest group as well. Thanks to the internet, all these things are possible.
Examples of social networks on the Internet are MySpace, Orkut, LinkedIn, Facebook, Spoke, Ryze and so on. One may also use social networking technology to share multimedia content on YouTube, or add contents on Wikipedia pages, after a registration process.
When sites use self-publishing mechanisms, and also have a high-interactivity index courtesy the technology, it also opens up loopholes for hackers to get in. Given the enormous amount of content being circulated into personal mailboxes, it seems to be getting easier. RSS feeds, podcasts, are some of the ways that hackers can use to breach security.
When more online participation is invoked, more content needs to be circulated. Spyware is targeted to operate in these situations. There could be spyware that you could accidentally download from the Internet. Some spyware have technology to log your keystrokes; which means your passwords are out in the open.
There some good habits to follow when on social networks. Prevention is better than cure. Don’t just use discussion forums to type-in your personal information. Don’t give out banking info, passwords, and personal details and so on. Plenty of touts are present on the internet, flaying genuine addresses and a certain degree of credibility.
Spammers are now able to get through to inboxes. Spam filters are not able to control the spam mails, because it is recommended by your social networking site. Spam mails will have links that register your IP details, when you click on them. After accessing your IP location, all that the hackers need to do is some digging to get through to your bank accounts and other digital lockers.
Free Online Advertising
So let’s say you have a new business and it’s in the infancy stages. You want to see if succeed and you know that the best place to get your name and your company out to is on the net. It’s the only place to reach billions of people and you can do it right from your own home. You have everything you need. You have the great product. You have the top of the line website, and you have the workers to help you when your sales start exploding. There is just one thing you are missing. You don’t seem to have the money you need to put your business at the center of the online marketplace.
So how do you get your name out there if you lack the funds of your competitors? It won’t be as easy but there are ways to get your business up and running online. Starting by advertising on social media sites like Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter. These sites are great and reach millions of people. You can pay for advertising like “click to pay advertising” which means you only get charged if someone clicks on the ad and then you can set a limit. However you can forego that and just start a grass roots movement to get people to know your name. You can create business pages that can be sent to friends and family who can encourage their friends and family to add your page and this makes it a great way to get people buzzing about your business.
There are local and free marketplace sites like Craigslist that can be a smaller, but also effective, source of advertising. There you can place new ads first thing in the morning and attract those in a local area who may be in need of exactly what you have. You can even put the web address in the advertisement.
There are a millions ways to advertise online for cheap. These are just a few of them but they could help you see an sales increase in no time.
