Internet Brings Families Closer, Finds Pew Study
Businesses are not the only ones to benefit from the greater collaboration brought about by the Internet. A recent study has found that families come closer and collaborate better by the use of Internet and mobile technology.
The study commissioned by the Pew Internet and American Life Project included telephonic interviews with 2252 American adults aged 18 and older between December 13 and January 13. The study, conducted by the Princeton Survey Research Associates International focussed on the answers of 1267 respondents who were married – or in a similar relationship with a partner – and had children.
The results of the study, titled “Networked Families”, showed that the Internet and mobile phones help the members of a family to stay connected with each other and promote shared online experiences. The report also looks at how families use technology to negotiate changing social and family configurations. With dual income families on the rise and spouses spending increasingly more time away from each other in paid work, internet and mobile phones have emerged as important ways to keep in touch. The use of mobile technology as a device to connect and coordinate lives becomes particularly significant if the family includes children since larger families with more members have the most relationships to coordinate.
The e-life.
The internet, everyone knows how good it is, and how useful, and how… well… basically, its something of the next big thing after the wheel and fire, isn’t it?
I just realized how true that statement is. The internet has already become as integrated into our lives as the wheel and fire are.
Its odd, but I’m not someone who spends hours chatting to people. In fact, I rarely have conversation except to distract of absolute boredom, or chard plans of action, and its usually the latter. But these holidays, I found myself with access to the internet.
Not sure what to do with a connection, I went through the same paces of downloading music, movies, porn, etc. ran through my profiles on Orkut, Facebook, and the like. Then there was no more to do.
I mean I know the net can be used for a lot more, and I have in the past done so variously, to download articles for college, book tickets and the usual assortment of things, but this was different… I didn’t want to do more.
I just sat there, alternating between gmail, orkut and facebook, hoping someone would have something to say to me. I am not sure who, or about what, but I kept waiting. I’ve signed into gmail at least 6 times a day in the last week, and been disappointed that no one has had anything to say to me.
It is this that I find odd. That suddenly I want people to have things to say to me. I know, its always true, the ego boost of someone wanting to speak to you is pretty big, but now I was disappointed that no one did. I mean its okay to walk down a corridor and no one stop you to chat, but its not okay for no one to have written on my wall, mailed me or in some way tried to get in touch with me.
I thought maybe its because I have so few friends, then I thought, may be its because I have an attitude problem.. then I thought I should change myself, and become more amicable, so that people mail me more.
While I agree that being nicer would be better for anyone, but wanting to change just so people scrap me more? That is a little messed up… which is why I’m writing this.
I live in hostel, which means it’s a literal face book scenario, everyone meets everyone, everyday, but nothing in college has made me want to change myself… yet the net did. It’s the same group of people online that I socialize with offline too.
This sudden urge to be popular scares me, I’m not sure what’s causing it… I’ve never wanted popularity like this before, and I cant understand why its such a driving impulse. I wonder if others feel the same. Judging by the number of hours that people spend online these days, perhaps they do. And that is something else that scares me.
But perhaps when fire was first discovered it too must have been scary, as must have been the sudden need to keep warm. I mean, no one could have felt the need for warmth, until they found they could have it so easy. Or maybe the analogy is not fair, because on the one hand I’m talking about physical comfort, in being warm by a fire, and the other is a psychological one… then again isn’t cold felt, and processed by the brain… may be we could do without ACs too.
How to Keep Your Wireless Internet Hacker-Proof
Individuals and businesses across the world are increasingly going for wireless internet connection. However along with offering convenience and the aesthetic factor such wireless connections might also become a hazard if broken in by unauthorized people and then used for illegal purposes. Here are a few ways to keep your Wi-fi connection hacker-proof so that others cannot access your internet connection for mischievous purposes.
Follow the basics - switch off your wireless router when not in use. This is because it is easy for someone around you to access your internet if you are out or sleeping.
For more serious protection, change your name and password after you have already connected to the router interface which is generally done by opening the IP of the router. Most wireless routers get hacked because users are either too forgetful or lazy to change the default password.
Disable the services you do not require as these can leave gaps which may then be exploited by miscreants for hacking into your internet.
Enable a firewall as well as a logging feature if your wireless network has one. However don’t forget to monitor these at regular intervals.
Finally, use authentication which will provide the surest protection to your internet against hackers.
Get the Max Out of Your Google Search
If you happen to have a computer and Internet access, chances are that you cannot have escaped Google. While billions of net users go to Google for looking up anything under the sun, here are a few tips on maximising your Google search.
Start off by going to the right Google site – Google.com if you are from US, Google.ca if from Canada or Google.co.uk for those in the United Kingdoms. Similarly Google has extensions for many countries and to narrow your results further click on ‘Search: Pages from X Country.
Begin and end the topic of your search with quotation marks. This will vastly narrow down your search. If you are looking for the definition or meaning of some term, type “define” and then the word you want to know about.
By going for “Advance Search” you can ask Google to search for only certain words and not others. You can also specify the type of file you want to download like a PDF or PowerPoint file. Other than this, the advance search can also be used for looking for sites published on a certain date or particular language.
At the top left of the page, there different links to Images, News, Shopping and Maps – each of which can help you to further refine your search. Finally you may also find useful links from “Google Services and Tools” after entering “About Google”. For internet junkie Google Lab is a worth a visit as it gives a peek into the latest things the Google guys are working on.
Internet Explorer 8! Here! Well almost!
With days in hand till its self imposed deadline, Microsoft releases the second beta version of Internet Explorer 8. The company refused to set a date for the release of the final version.
The new IE8 is faster than the previous Internet Explorer and is apparently more stable. The Internet Explorer 8 also is equipped with several accelerators that help users search a street address, a definition or a translation. The visual search will also help find items on eBay, Wikipedia, Google or YouTube.
The InPrivate option is a new option saves none of the pages you visit and no cookies! Which received heavy criticism from the media, and was described as a ’porn-mode’, Microsoft replied swiftly and said it is a useful tool for moments like searching for a present without ruining the surprise.
After Firefox 3.0’s record breaking success the Internet Explorer 8 has to be beyond expectations to keep Microsoft’s name in the Internet Browser market.
Comcast Users Restricted!
Comcast, one of America’s largest Internet Providers, has announced that it will place limitations on users to prevent them from exploiting the service.
From the first of October this year comcast will place a limit of 250 GB per month per a resiential user. The limit should not really affect many since statistics show that only 1% of internet users exceed that amount every month. An average user is believed to use only 2-3 GB. Jennifer Khoury a Comcast spokesperson said 250 gigabytes was about 100 times the typical usage.
So whats the big fuss if it wont affect most of us! While it may be true that 250 GB is excessive at the time it may not be the case in a few years. As technologies advance over time, and internet entertainment continues to replace television the limit is going to affect a larger percentage of users. Cisco, a technology company, stated in a report “today’s ‘bandwidth hog’ is tomorrow’s average user.”
S. Derek Turner is the research director for the nonpartisan media policy group Free Press, he believes the limit is a method of restricting the increasing demand of online video. He said “As media companies put content online, consumers can bypass the cable companies and get their content directly from the Internet, a 250 gigabyte cap may seem very high — and it is for today’s Internet use. But it’s essentially the equivalent of four hours of HD television a day.”
This could be method used to restrict internet piracy, so lets hope for the best and prepare for the worst!
Faizan Zakir Cyberzest.com
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