Posted on: Feb 18, '08
Internet reality check!
My tryst with the internet began in 1999 when I was in the 9th standard. Since then I have been using the internet very often for various purposes like e-mail, googling, chatting, participating in discussion forums, games, social networking etc. In these 8 years I've learnt a lot about the internet. Here are my suggestions based on my experiences with some of these online services..
E-mail/webmail : I've forgotten the number of e-mail id's I've created till now :) No matter how many e-mail ids you create it's better to have different ids and passwords. I feel it's better to have atleast 3 mail ids on 3 different sites. One id to contact close friends another to contact family members, and the last but not the least for subscribing online stuff, letting new acquaintances contact you, and for registration purposes. The main advantage is that you have different address list on different sites. Easier to control spam as you normally know who is going to contact you. Never flaunt your e-mail ids on the internet because of bots that crawl web pages for e-mail address.
What's in an ID ?
If you didn't know how someone(your enemy) could take advantage of your e-mail id check this out.. This happened to me once!
http://www.cdt.org/speech/spam/ipspoof.html
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/email_headers.php#explanation
Google : What can I say ? It's the oracle! Search engine extraordinaire! The future of mankind!
ok lets get back to the topic.. I google a lot, frankly speaking..I google almost everything under the sun! It's simply amazing the way google captured the market. It's been growing and growing.. we now have.. google adsense, google analytics, google page rank, google gadgets, google maps, google earth, google mars, goo..wait! count out the last one for the moment..etc.. I've used these resources to great effect especially the spelling checker in the toolbar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Google_services
Wikipedia : The ultimate source of knowledge. If you think its not and you are..then you could share it with the world by becoming a wikipedian! To know more about viki watch I robot oops.. I meant to know more about Wiki click these links..Jimmy Wales interview is a classic!
http://www.goodexperience.com/blog/archives/000124.php
http://www.riehle.org/computer-science/research/2006/wikisym-2006-interview.html
Internet Forums/Websites : Be warned! Its a jungle out there! Before joining internet forums please read the policies, rules and regulations. You find all kinds of animals on internet forums. I like freedom of speech but not that borders to hate, racism, rabid nationalism etc..
Forum-la la :
1. You're involved in a debate, and after some time it gets heated and then the name calling begins but its all natural as everyone involved in the discussion are in a similar mindset. What pisses me off is when some one who has no idea about the discussion comes and attacks a debater for using harsh language.
2. Multiple accounts..phew only the insane do this..I've seen the same user create multiple accounts to create a majority who accept his views. Some who have no good work to do interact with self using multiple accounts. The best way to gain sympathy is by attacking yourself so that 'others' who have no idea come and show sympathy to you and your arguments. Gimme a break! I think MAD(multiple account disorder) users should be banned from internet forums!
3. Memes-yes a word coined by Richard Dawkins.. Internet is a great place to spread memes..there are always a bunch of people out there who believe everything they read!
Incidentally this is already a field of research..
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEMENET.html
http://www.oddee.com/item_63440.aspx
4. Hijacking usernames.. imagine if someone uses your name or a similar handle to that of yours to create a negative impression about you by posting something irrational..how stupid is that..and what about the people who believe--how stupid are they ?
5. Users who will go to any extent to prove that you're wrong! they defy all logical principles! The funny thing is that you cannot understand the tone of the words..your arguments can be easily twisted and turned. They take complete advantage of this! lol what a pack of losers me says!
Losers in real life tend to make more noise on forums. Those cowards don't even reveal their identity.
Chatting, Games, Social Networking : I haven't tried these services much although I made a good friend while chatting on yahoo. She was very sweet and much older to me ;) we exchanged e-mails and some photos. Now, I'm just too lazy and bored to continue this long distance relationship..I hope to meet her someday in person.
Games I play more on my PC than on the net. I've tried Zapak and its cool! Two thumbs up to them. I like playing chess on FICS.
Networking sites are booming at the rate when one day there will be more networking sites than users..kidding of course...I've tried Orkut and its cool. Fropper rocks big time, but I'm not a prem member so I really haven't experienced the thrills.. EZblogs is simply a brilliant concept! I tried blogspot.com which is pretty good. I believe wordpress is gaining popularity.
So there that's about it..I've penned down..er..keyed in my experiences. Hope that helps.
Internet is a huge leap in technology it has its pros and cons no doubt. But if you're careful enough and clever enough then you can reap maximum benefits.
Tags: internet, security, services, wiki, google, email, forums
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