Pros
People who post blogs are able to express their feelings.
They are also able to get jobs by companies, when the companies want to write their blogs they hire people.
People can limit the people who read their blogs.
Those who read your blogs are able to give their comments, so that you can improve your blog further.
Posting of any type of digital media is possible on blogs.
Cons
Blog readers are able to give any type of comment, so if they give a bad comment, it would be bad for the writer.
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Electronic mail (E-mail)
E-mail is an early online technology which was established in 1971. It has become one of the most common and effective method of communication in the modern world. E-mail can be used to send any message to anybody with an active e-mail address, in anywhere of the world. It takes only a few seconds for the e-mail to reach its destination.
It is possible for people to contact their family members, business prospects, government officials and many more at any time of the day. They may also receive e-mail from different groups that publish information in the form of mailing lists. There are more than 6500 mailing lists available to any user with full internet access. The topics range from political to social to professional.
Another importance of e-mail is that one can send any type of multimedia or any other file with e-mail. The files must be sent as an attachment of the e-mail.
There are some components which are essential to send an e-mail. They are listed as follows:
- Telephone line
- Dial-up or internet facility to connect with the server
- An e-mail account in the mail server
- An e-mail software
What are the components of an e-mail address?
- Username
- Server name
- Domain
E.g.: [email protected]
What is the mechanism behind sending and e-mail?
The e-mail software is used to write the e-mail. When the send button is pressed after composing the e-mail, the mail goes to the mail server of the sender. Thereafter the mail server contact the receiver’s mail server and it checks the validity of the e-mail address. If the e-mail address is valid, the mail is transferred to the receiver’s mail box in the receiver’s mail server. The receiver can see its mails by logging into the e-mail account.
2) Real time information
It is really important of staying updated with the latest happenings of the country and the world. This is the use of real time information. We are able to get updated with the latest news. Real time information is the up-to-date information we receive through the internet.
Time tables
An example of real time information is the timetables, of train, bus, flight and vessel’s shipping schedules. These timetables are available on the internet for most of the countries. Since the information in these online timetables is always updated, you don’t need to worry even if there is a sudden delay of the train or the bus or the flight you were planning to go.
Traffic reports
Traffic jams are wasting time and money of people. A huge amount of money is burned due to traffic. You can avoid traffic by the help of traffic reports. Traffic reports are another example of real time information. It provides us the information of the current traffic situation in a given city and route. Although we are not able to get traffic reports of all the roads in the world, we are able to get at least the traffic reports of busy cities and routes.
Traffic reports are not developed in some countries such as Sri Lanka and Uganda, since they are economically unable to afford these technologies.
You have to go to a traffic reporting site such as or and enter the details of the route you require, and then they will provide you with the details.
How are the traffic reports available?
The data about the traffic situation in a particular area is collected by satellite images, traffic reporters or even from people in that area. Then these data are processed and sent to the organizations who post this information on traffic reporting sites.
Pros
People can get the traffic reports from anywhere and anytime, provided, they have an active internet connection.
They can save their money.
Traffic reports are always new and up-to-date.
Cons
If there is a problem in the traffic report system, sometimes the people will need to stay for a long time to get the information.
Some companies charge a fee to give access to the information.
3) Education
E-education is a popular type of an online service where you are able to learn and study from the internet from an institute hosted online.
Online learning
These days it is possible to learn online about any subject you prefer or any course that you need to follow. All you have to do is to get registered in an institute where they offer online courses. In most cases, the institutes may charge an admission fee. Once you join such an institute, it would be similar to your normal school, but you will cooperate with your colleagues and the teachers via the computers connected to the internet.
Training
Online training is another type of e-education heavily used by people. It provides online instructions, methods to be followed and how to shoot troubles. Some software packages provide its training over the internet. People who require to get trained regarding these products, they can access training tutorials, manuals and other instructions via the relevant websites.
Interested parties can subscribe to online newsletters and information bulletins about selected themes. It will send latest information and updates automatically. Therefore the subscribers can always be updated.
Virtual learning environment (VLE)
VLE is a system which runs on the local network or the internet. The teachers are able to log in to this system and upload the day’s work so that the students can log on and download them.
Once after the students have completed their assignments, they have to upload it so that the teachers can correct them. The marked assignments are again uploaded.
But the VLE(s) which are present these days can do more than that. The teachers and students can get together and have video conferences and voice chat to clear any doubts and also the classmates can get together to study. Teachers use VLE to monitor their students progress, and also they use this as a support to create lesson plans. Since only authorized people can access this system, the teachers and students can save their work.
Advantages of online education
The students does not need to go to the institute physically, they can connect with the teachers from any place they want.
The students can get together with their classmates to study together.
A wide range of courses are available for the ones who are interested in following ICT.
The students can attend the classes whenever they wish to.
Disadvantages of online education
If there is a sudden failure of the system, all the work that has to be completed or the syllabuses that have to be covered will be delayed.
An active internet connection should be available to do online learning.
If the network of VLE is infected with a virus, the data or information in it will be lost.
4) Entertainment
Internet radio
Broadcasting of music over the internet is called as internet radio. Most of the radio stations are broadcasting their services over the internet. People can listen to music, news and other programs while engaged in their day-to-day work. It helps people to reduce their stress and keep fresh throughout the day.
Listening to internet radio has become a hobby to many people all over the world.
How to listen to internet radio?
First we need to find a site where they provide us with internet radio. Then we have to select a radio station and click play. After that we can listen live.
Pros
We can listen to live radio in any place provided that we have an active internet connection.
Most of the online radio stations are free.
We have the opportunity of choosing a radio station from a wide variety of radio stations.
Cons
If there is a connection error, we are not able to listen to the radio.
The quality of online radio is not as good as that of a traditional radio.
Some radio stations have good quality music, but they provide only a limited time for us to listen for free. We have to pay a fee to continue listening.
5) Download services
This is another important instance of online services where people are allowed to download music, videos, games and many other entertainment tools from the internet. Some of the websites provide the download facilities free of charge. People have to register with them prior to get the services. Free users get limited access rights with low speed of downloading. To get maximum services and full access rights, it maybe required to obtain the membership by paying some amount of cash.
What are the formats of music and video downloads?
Many types of files can be downloaded over the internet, but the most common files which are downloaded are music and video files.
How to download music or videos from an online store?
First we have to find an online store and get registered in there. There are many online stores such as ITunes, Mvlib.com, Movielink.com and etc. Therefore we have to select one and get registered.
After that we are capable of browsing through a series of music and videos. In most stores they allow us to listen to the songs for a time of 30 seconds per each song and also they have trailers for the movies. Therefore we are free to select the movies and songs we like, and then we have to add them to our “cart”.
Once after we purchase, the site give us a direct link, where we can download our movie audio file, we purchased.
