Some of them have access to the internet.
A mobile phone is a little like an organizer because it has a calendar to remind me of important dates like a meeting or special occasion and tells time. It also has an alarm clock to wake me up in the morning. Sometimes when I am lost, my mobile phone can help me find my way because my phone has a navigation system in it or I can just picture message the area or text message the name of the road to my parents who will come and pick me up. All these things can fit into a mobile phone because of the large storage capacity it has.
The disadvantages of a mobile phone are that sometimes the network will not work properly and I will not be able to hear the caller on the other line, it also makes funny noises at times. Another problem is that the mobile phone may freeze or crash suddenly which is bad because if I am in a bad position and my phone crashes then I could be in great danger. Some times the phone does not have enough storage and will ask you to delete a few items.
Email
Email is actually known as electronic mail but is Email for short. With email you can send instant messages with access to the internet. If I want to send an email then I must have an email address, and with my email address I will be provided with an email account. There are many companies which provide email like Yahoo, Google, Dell, Cool toad, AOL, MSN and the most common which is Hotmail. Email has helped me communicate with others all over the world or with people who live in my area. It provides me with an address book which has all my personal email addresses. It contains things like the recipients name, age, home address, email address, nickname, birthday, anniversary and such. I can also put them in different categories like personal, friend, business, co-worker and family and everything is alphabetized.
Whenever I sign in to my email account it will tell me if I have any new messages as well as old ones. To read my messages I have to access my inbox (where I will find my new/old messages).When I open up my messages it will tell me who it is from. If I want to send someone an email message then I have to press compose message which is a button at the top of the screen. When I send messages I can also add attachments like picture animations, video’s and such. At the same time I can send 1 message to so many different people.
I can check on the previous messages by clicking on the sent folder which will show me the messages I sent to people in the past. There is also a trash folder which will show me all my deleted messages. I can block people if I don’t know them and there is parental control for safety. There is so much like bulk mail, spam filters, attachments, personal page and such.
The disadvantages of email are that people can hack into my account and invade my privacy. Sometimes sending emails can take some time because if I am a hotmail user and my friend is a Yahoo user then it will take time but if I and my friend am a Yahoo user then it will not take so much time. Also another problem is that email is only available if you have an internet connection, this does not give everyone a chance to use this software
My Personal Use
The Internet
As well as useful the internet is also very entertaining. To have fun I usually play games on the internet. I can also watch trailers and videos for upcoming movies or events.
MSN messenger is a programme which allows me to communicate and socialise with people online. This programme is very popular on the internet because many teens use it nowadays.
MSN messenger sometimes can be a problem because sometimes teens talk to strangers and those strangers fake their identity and lead teenagers astray by getting them involved in drugs, sex, murder and such.
The disadvantage of watching videos on the internet is that sometime teenagers may watch porn videos on the internet. Watching too many videos and trailers may slow my computer down and. This also occurs when I play too many games.
For more information of the internet please check my school use section on the internet on page 5.
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is software which allows me to listen to music with or without access of the internet. It allows me to burn, play, and rip CD’s and I can also play DVD’s, VCD’s. It also allows me to synchronize music or videos to a portable storage device like an Mp3 player, ipod, USB Flash disk.
If I want to synchronize a song to my Mp3 player that I can do so by clicking on my synchronize list and dragging the song (s) I want to synchronize, but in order to get the music on my device I must put my Mp3 player in one of the USB ports. When everything is connected the music will be synchronized to my device.
If I borrow a CD from a friend who wants it back urgently then I can just copy the song to my computer by clicking the rip button. The rip button allows me to copy music or videos to my computer from an USB device. Or if a friend wants a song or video I have then I can give it to her by burning the CD. Burning a CD is when you put music from the computer to a CD.
Windows media player provides me with library which has all my music or videos sorted out weather they are from the past or present. This software has a large amount of storage so lots of things can fit into it. It also allows me to rate my music.
Windows media player is available online and it can help me search for music on the internet, all I do is select the music and it will be downloaded for me. One of the most common programmes that download music is Lime wire. In Lime wire all I do is type the name of the song I want and it will search for it. When my music is downloaded the music will also be available on Windows media player.
The disadvantages of this software are that the new versions are hard to access because of the changes made. Sometimes it does not recognize my USB device and rejects it.
My School Use
Internet
The internet is a worldwide accessible network. It has been very helpful when it came to research on homework or class work. It has helped me look for information for my presentations and such. The internet has a web browser allowing us to access to any internet site. There are many web browsers to choose from like AOL, Yahoo, Tiscali internet and such but the one I use is Microsoft internet explorer .When I want to buy a book for school then I can order it online with just the click of a mouse. When I grow up I can apply for jobs by filling in application forms and sending them by email.
To search for information I need a search engine like Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeve’s and such. You don’t need to use a search engine because you can go straight to what you need by typing up the website in the address bar. If I want then I check my history which gives me access to my past searches.
The internet provides parental control so children are visiting suitable sites.
On the internet you can talk to people using MSN, discuss forums, play games, and watch videos. You have a pop up blocker to block advertising to suddenly pop up on your screen.
The disadvantages of the internet are that when someone is on the phone my connection breaks and I have to keep on re-connecting, the even worse thing about it is that the connection breaks when I am doing my homework. Sometimes speed can be a problem because if I am in a hurry for research then my computer slows down which can be really irritating.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint is software which allows me to make presentations using effects to text and images. It is very useful because adding effect to a presentation can give me more marks in my school work. In PowerPoint you display text or image on a slide and then add effect to it using custom animation.
To add text to my slide I need to insert a text box which will allow me to write in it, without a text box I cannot write anything. I can choose from more then 100 fonts and can add effect to my text. I can align my text like in Microsoft word processor, and can search for images using clipart.
I can add graphs to my presentation to make it more specific. At times if I want then I can see the presentation of one of my slides. If I use a word too many times then I can use another word that has the same meaning by making use of the thesaurus. To make my presentation look bold and bright I design and add colour to my background.
To give effect to my text or image I need to highlight it and click on custom animation. It will give you a list of different effects and sounds to choose from. I enjoy using Microsoft PowerPoint because I find that PowerPoint is putting fun in homework. As well as animation it has all the type or things you would find on Microsoft word, the only difference is that it makes a slide show.
The disadvantage of PowerPoint are that sometimes it will take long for the slide show to start and you sometimes have to click for the image or text to appear. Sometimes the software freezes because there is too much animation is taking place.
USB Flash Drives
USB Flash drives are memory storage devices integrated with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface (an electronic connector).They have the storage capacity of 8 megabytes to 64 gigabytes and are available in different shapes and sizes.
I find USB Flash drives to be more reliable than any other storage device because they don’t have moving components and are activated as soon as I connect it to the computer, also because they hold more data and are a lot faster. They also have a lid for the component which connects to the computer.
To access the information on the USB Flash rive I must connect it to computer directly by inserting it in the USB port or by connecting it through a USB hob. A USB Flash drive does not need a battery or charger because it lives on its storage capacity. If the storage capacity is full then I will need to by another Flash drive or I can just delete the unnecessary files.
I use my USB Flash drive to store school work, my personal files and mp3 songs. I also use it to store pictures, videos and scores from arcade games. I can even use my USB Flash drive to repair my pc by transferring antiviral software’s to damaged PC’S.
A disadvantage of my USB flash drive is that sometimes my data might get corrupted due to loose wiring by the slight hit of a blunt object. Also some USB Flash drives take up nearly half the storage capacity just for storing in I short file. Some USB Flash drive do not utilize a re-write compact mechanism, this allows me to protect it from viral contaminated computers without affecting my USB Flash drive.
Conclusion
ICT technology has spread all over the world and has made a big impact in my life because I use it every day whether it’s in the kitchen or in my room. Technology is widespread and has made life a lot easier than before; almost everything is the push of a button away. ICT technology is increasing day by day and people have become completely reliable on them. It has helped people all over the world as well as me with business, jobs, education and even romance. I think ICT technology will be the future of the world.
