Do you consider your health as an important issue? It’s never too late to start doing so and there are many sites you can turn to for guidance, suggests Hafsa Ahsan
There are quite a few studies which have established that what women mostly search for on the internet, news and magazines, among other things, are ‘health issues’.
This should come as no surprise considering the fact that women are quite sensitive about this issue. The web offers anonymity as well as information from different sources. And, more often than not, individuals using their pseudonyms are usually willing to post their health concerns and experiences online and hence offer advice, relief and reassurance to other women who are going through a similar experience.
You may have come across websites dedicated to common daily life health-related issues and their remedies, as well as specific health concern like sinus, head and back aches. Women Health Questions is one such website that focuses on common health issues faced by women and carries many frequently asked questions.
The question of where to navigate first will be determined by what your chief health concern is. If you are concerned about weight, then you may find the section on exercising helpful, as there are loads of tummy exercises, along with their illustrations, to give people a clear picture of what is to be done and how.
Dieting is very much a part of almost every weight-related discussion or plan. And so is the case here. The section on diets will guide you through the different types of diets which are followed all over the world, along with a step-by-step guide as to how you can embark on a journey towards healthy eating without making yourself miserable.
Apart from weight concerns, most women are faced with some sort of skin problem — usually related to the face. There are different sections devoted to skin issues. Then two sections are dedicated to pregnancy-related issues. One section has detailed descriptions of the symptoms of pregnancy, while another section will guide you through the details and ‘how-to’ of the pregnancy week by week.
The layout of the website is quite uncluttered, as compared to other websites carrying a lot of information on their homepages. However, once you start digging on this website, you will see the layout does get a little monotonous, as only some sections are illustrated while others are mostly text-based.
However, even with all this information, the main precaution remains — never treat websites as an alternative to medical advice. The section on supplements must especially be treated with caution — never intake anything without consulting a doctor. Health-related websites such as this one are always helpful for advice — but your doctor is more credible at all levels.
To get an overview of some of the common health issues faced by women, log on to http://www.womens-health-questions.com/
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
What’s Your Extension?
Searching and downloading a file extension software may take your time but it can save you from a terrible headache over not knowing weird file extensions’ titles, advises Hafsa Ahsan
How often does it happen to you that you ask for a file to be sent to you via email? You must have made the request countless times and you might also have been struck with some weird file extensions that you may not be able to open.
For instance, you receive an email — you open it and try to download the simple MS Word document, but fail. Then you realise that the extension of the file is ‘name.docx’ instead of ‘name.doc’.
If you are an expert computer user, you will immediately realise that you have an older version of MS Word which will not let you open the file. However, if you are a novice, then you are mostly likely to be stumped than anything else. And this is where websites like ‘File Extensions’ come in. This website has a massive collection of various file extensions along with their definitions. You can look here for the name and description of any file extension which you want to use and know about.
There are three ways to hunt down a file extension. You can search for the extension, which, of course is the simplest; can browse through different file extensions alphabetically, or you can go through the different categories to locate your desired extension. All these file extensions are divided into different categories, e.g. audio files, binary files, database files, document files, system files, text files and many, many more.
This website not only tells you what the file extension stands for, it also lets you know what might be the best software to open any particular file. It also offers links to the homepage of the software which is needed to open that particular file extension, so you do not have to search for it separately.
If you are here mainly out of curiosity, then you should consider browsing the section on the most visited file extensions as well as the section detailing common file extensions.
The website also offers a free scan of your registry — once you do that, it can fix the file extension errors, if it finds any. However, you must remember that editing the registry has its own issues, so use this feature carefully, and it is better if you know how to make a backup of your registry, so that you can roll back any changes if they cause problems later.
As far as the layout of the website is concerned, the homepage can make your head spin. For instance, there is a main left hand menu pointing to the different types of the files extensions, the presence of search boxes, links to the top 10 file extensions and all their title names will add to your headache. However, the good part is, once you locate the search box, you can directly search for your desired extension the next time you visit the website.
Overall, this website definitely comes in very handy when you try to open a file and you get that ever-annoying dialogue box, asking you to specify the software needed to open the file. In that case, go onto this website, search for the file extension, download the required software and that is all. To find out more about different file extensions, log on to http://www.file-extensions.org
How often does it happen to you that you ask for a file to be sent to you via email? You must have made the request countless times and you might also have been struck with some weird file extensions that you may not be able to open.
For instance, you receive an email — you open it and try to download the simple MS Word document, but fail. Then you realise that the extension of the file is ‘name.docx’ instead of ‘name.doc’.
If you are an expert computer user, you will immediately realise that you have an older version of MS Word which will not let you open the file. However, if you are a novice, then you are mostly likely to be stumped than anything else. And this is where websites like ‘File Extensions’ come in. This website has a massive collection of various file extensions along with their definitions. You can look here for the name and description of any file extension which you want to use and know about.
There are three ways to hunt down a file extension. You can search for the extension, which, of course is the simplest; can browse through different file extensions alphabetically, or you can go through the different categories to locate your desired extension. All these file extensions are divided into different categories, e.g. audio files, binary files, database files, document files, system files, text files and many, many more.
This website not only tells you what the file extension stands for, it also lets you know what might be the best software to open any particular file. It also offers links to the homepage of the software which is needed to open that particular file extension, so you do not have to search for it separately.
If you are here mainly out of curiosity, then you should consider browsing the section on the most visited file extensions as well as the section detailing common file extensions.
The website also offers a free scan of your registry — once you do that, it can fix the file extension errors, if it finds any. However, you must remember that editing the registry has its own issues, so use this feature carefully, and it is better if you know how to make a backup of your registry, so that you can roll back any changes if they cause problems later.
As far as the layout of the website is concerned, the homepage can make your head spin. For instance, there is a main left hand menu pointing to the different types of the files extensions, the presence of search boxes, links to the top 10 file extensions and all their title names will add to your headache. However, the good part is, once you locate the search box, you can directly search for your desired extension the next time you visit the website.
Overall, this website definitely comes in very handy when you try to open a file and you get that ever-annoying dialogue box, asking you to specify the software needed to open the file. In that case, go onto this website, search for the file extension, download the required software and that is all. To find out more about different file extensions, log on to http://www.file-extensions.org
Saturday, October 11, 2008
No More Dieting
W eight loss is something many people are concerned about. For others, it is an absolute obsession. Whether or not these people actually need to lose weight is another story altogether.
But the fact of the matter is that attaining an hourglass figure is the dream of many a young woman, with few actually stopping to think about the health factor. However, one cannot deny that weight loss isn’t something to be taken lightly. Not taking meals on time or denying oneself the intake of the essential nutrients can easily lead to eating disorders.
There are now scores of different websites which can help you on your quest to lose weight — and ensure that you don’t harm yourself in any way while at it. Weight Watchers is one of those websites and is definitely worth a visit if you are concerned about your health in general and weight in particular.
The best thing about Weight Watchers is that it’s not a passive website at all. If you are just going through to read through it at leisure, it will do nothing to help you. On the other hand, if you are willing to jot down whatever you feel can be implemented in your daily routine and actually attempt to enforce some lifestyle changes, then this website will do wonders for you.
Also, it would be pertinent to remember that Weight Watchers is actually an “offline” group – you will have to pay to access most of the stuff on this website. But fortunately, there are many tips and resources here which are for free. For instance, the Health and Fitness section is a treat for anyone who wants to get into an exercise routine but is stuck for ideas. You can watch sample exercise videos here, read through articles on how to walk regularly and, most importantly, how to make exercise a daily habit.
The Food and Recipes section is also one of the most promising, and here, you can find out why you are not losing weight even if you have been “dieting” for ages. Also, you can get some ideas on how to avoid buying certain types of food at grocery stores, what healthy dishes to cook and more importantly, how to lose weight while eating out.
There is also a whole Community Section here where you can sign up and then login to interact with like-minded people from across the world. You can share your frustration, talk about your health goals, share with others what works for you and of course, get more tips and advice.
At the end of the day, it is all about healthy living. Your figure may not be as perfect as you want, but if your weight is within the normal range for your height, you have a lot to be thankful for. If it isn’t so, and you need to lose it, adopt a sensible approach which is conducive to your health. Starving yourself is definitely not the option.
And to find out how to stop yourself from dieting and STILL lose weight and much more, log onto http://www.weightwatchers.com.
But the fact of the matter is that attaining an hourglass figure is the dream of many a young woman, with few actually stopping to think about the health factor. However, one cannot deny that weight loss isn’t something to be taken lightly. Not taking meals on time or denying oneself the intake of the essential nutrients can easily lead to eating disorders.
There are now scores of different websites which can help you on your quest to lose weight — and ensure that you don’t harm yourself in any way while at it. Weight Watchers is one of those websites and is definitely worth a visit if you are concerned about your health in general and weight in particular.
The best thing about Weight Watchers is that it’s not a passive website at all. If you are just going through to read through it at leisure, it will do nothing to help you. On the other hand, if you are willing to jot down whatever you feel can be implemented in your daily routine and actually attempt to enforce some lifestyle changes, then this website will do wonders for you.
Also, it would be pertinent to remember that Weight Watchers is actually an “offline” group – you will have to pay to access most of the stuff on this website. But fortunately, there are many tips and resources here which are for free. For instance, the Health and Fitness section is a treat for anyone who wants to get into an exercise routine but is stuck for ideas. You can watch sample exercise videos here, read through articles on how to walk regularly and, most importantly, how to make exercise a daily habit.
The Food and Recipes section is also one of the most promising, and here, you can find out why you are not losing weight even if you have been “dieting” for ages. Also, you can get some ideas on how to avoid buying certain types of food at grocery stores, what healthy dishes to cook and more importantly, how to lose weight while eating out.
There is also a whole Community Section here where you can sign up and then login to interact with like-minded people from across the world. You can share your frustration, talk about your health goals, share with others what works for you and of course, get more tips and advice.
At the end of the day, it is all about healthy living. Your figure may not be as perfect as you want, but if your weight is within the normal range for your height, you have a lot to be thankful for. If it isn’t so, and you need to lose it, adopt a sensible approach which is conducive to your health. Starving yourself is definitely not the option.
And to find out how to stop yourself from dieting and STILL lose weight and much more, log onto http://www.weightwatchers.com.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
She Mailed, He Googled
Hira Ali, a homemaker, follows a set pattern of tasks whenever she goes online. She opens her email inbox and sifts through the unread emails. She sends detailed replies to most of the emails sent by her friends and relatives. She makes it a point to read even the forwarded emails. Once she has checked all the mails, she logs in to her Orkut and Facebook account. She replies to her messages, checks out the latest discussions in her favourite communities and posts some scraps on people’s walls. She also visits her friends’ profiles to see what they are up to. All this while, her instant messenger is switched on, and she is usually chatting with a couple of friends or cousins. She stays online for an hour or two. In the meantime, if something else needs her attention, she leaves her laptop switched on while she attends to the chore.
Her husband, on the other hand, has a completely different list of things to-do when he logs in to the internet. He checks his email alright; however, he ignores all forwarded emails. The replies he sends are usually short and to-the-point. He has stopped logging in to Orkut, but does check his Facebook account. After giving his homepage a cursory glance, he either plays a game or two, or goes through a personality quiz. He may reply to a scrap if someone has posted one son his wall. Once that is done, he lingers online only if he has something to search for, otherwise his time online is effectively over. And if, while he is online, he has to leave the PC for some work, he disconnects the internet and turns off the system.
The above scenario once again endorses what we have been hearing since childhood: that men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, and this holds true even in the virtual world. Studies have also proved that there are differences in the way men and women communicate with others, and there is a striking contrast in the way they use the internet. This contrast can be subtle in some cases, and quite glaring in others, although this usually depends on the personality of the individual in question.
Differences in the use of the internet by men and women have been an interesting subject of study. Independent researchers and university professors alike have studied these gender differences in great detail — usually seeking to establish the different things men and women do in cyberspace, along with their motivation to do those things. These studies have come up with very interesting, and sometimes, very apt findings.
One such noteworthy research in this regard was Gender and the internet: women communicating and men searching. Conducted by Linda A Jackson, Philip D Gardner and Neal Schmitt of Michigan State University, and Kelly S Ervin of Washington State University, this research was published in the Journal of Sex Roles in 2001.
The researchers sampled 630 Anglo-American undergraduates, and based on a survey, they discovered that women used email more than did men did since they had a stronger motive for interpersonal communication. Men, on the other hand, used the Web more than women since they had a stronger motive for information gathering.
However, there were some similarities between the two genders as well. Men and women reportedly used the internet equally often. Hence, there was no support for the oft-held notion that men use the internet more than women. Also, even though men used the internet to perform a greater number of searches than women, there was no evidence to suggest that these searches were more ‘successful’ than those done by women.
However, given that the lines between gender roles are fast blurring, it is difficult to believe that men and women stick to completely separate internet activities. And in this day and age, it is also hard to imagine either gender not logging into the inbox as soon as s/he goes online. With many email services on the house, and the fact that email is an inalienable part of any business environment, one just cannot imagine that men open a search engine the minute they go online, while women stick to their email inboxes for an hour.
Another study, titled How women and men use the internet takes this factor into account. Conducted by Pew internet and American life project, this study was based on telephonic interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates between March 2000 and September 2005. The study looks into how likely men and women are to go online in the first place, the demographics of the online population, and, finally, the section of current relevance: different online activities of men and women.
When formulating the results, the research analysed the different way men and women communicate online, which indicates that men are just as likely to check their email first and foremost when they log into the virtual world. The only difference lies in the amount of time they give to their email, along with how they use their email in the first place.The study also found that women like to discuss a number of issues with their friends and family members via email; they generally believe that email improves their relationship with them. Hence, a woman’s email is more likely to be enthusiastic, reflecting the time and effort she has put into writing it, and it is valued not just by the sender, but also by the receiver, especially if she happens to be a woman too. Men, on the other hand, are unlikely to share information about their problems and issues through email. This is actually reflective of in real life as well, where women share more problems with their friends than men.
Similar to email, it is hard to imagine men doing all the searching online. Studies have shown that even women seek out information on health, religion and personal problems. Some of them also look up information relating to their PC problems, so obviously, online searches are not exclusive to the male domain. However, while both the genders may be following the same activity, their styles differ widely.
The Pew report found that while women sift out the information they need from the massive search results that they get, men aggressively visit more websites to hunt down the specific information they are looking for. In a nutshell, women are more overwhelmed by the search results, while men are more confident that they will find the information that they need.
As the virtual world expands to no end, various studies on users’ internet habits are also coming up with special reference to gender differences. Perhaps, if one was to simulate such a research at a smaller scale, it will certainly bring out an interesting mix of results, endorsing the belief that while she likes to Gmail, he prefers to Google.
AND THEY SAY...
Given that there was no study closer to home which indicated the differences in the way men and women use the internet, Sci-Tech World approached certain individuals selected at random and asked them to compare their top three online activities with other male and female members of their families.
The responses were as follows.
“I check my email for the freelance work I do. Apart from that, I get newsletters from INETA — the Microsoft-based newsletter. Secondly, I use the net to stay connected with my friends, and for that I regularly check my Facebook and Orkut. Thirdly, I surf — my favourite website is Google. My sister uses the net for chatting and sometimes to surf on business websites. My brothers have different activities as well. One is a medical student, so he uses the net mostly to copy lectures from the net, while the second one uses it to keep in touch with family via Orkut and Yahoo!”
Kanizeh Mehdi
“I like to read news, especially related to global financials; check my email and log on to Facebook, and do research to find any required information.”
Madiha Javed
“I sign into messenger, check my mail and log into Facebook. If there’s some other project I need to work on (for example, a lecture or a blog-post) I do it after I’ve done the former. My brother does the same. However, instead of blog-posting like I do, he’s usually hunting for the latest software for his iPhone or downloading latest movies.”
Mahwash Ajaz
“My top three activities when I go online is checking my mail and reading and replying to mails, checking my Facebook account, and information gathering for assignments. My sister uses the net to check her mails, MSN messenger and for her office work.”
Naureen Aqueel
“Generally, when I use the internet, I either use it to check my mail, do networking on Facebook and Orkut and for research purposes. I also keep in touch with friends through chat on MSN and Google.There is not much difference between the online activities of men and women in my family. Perhaps, the male family members chat more and do networking on Facebook rather than using the net for research. Sometimes, we even consult the Webster dictionary online. But surfing the web is definitely something that we do more than chatting.”
Aelia Raza
“I check my email, read news and do a bit social networking with friends.”
Adnan Siddiqi
“I usually open multiple browsers and check and reply to my emails in this order: work (through webmail), personal (hotmail), rotary (via Gmail apps) and Facebook. I then browse through some of my favourite blogs, NY Times and Economist magazine.”
Arsalaan Haleem
“I spend most of my time on the internet to do research and downloading music. Blogs and email follow with social networks. I’m definitely logged on to messenger whenever I sit down at a PC. I guess most of my family uses internet around the same pattern, although my younger brothers, prefer to chat more and play games (scrabble on Facebook).”
Imtiaz Noor
“I go online to get my information fix — I follow a number of blogs, magazines and newspapers in my RSS reader. I check email - while I do this every day, I spend relatively little time on it, as I send quick answers to any pending emails. I write a weblog post on average once a month, so I spend some time looking up information on the internet regarding that. I hardly do any chatting or social networking.”
Khalid Omer
“I do research or general reading (wikipedia, editorials, news blogs, news sites, etc). Apart from that, I am in my mailbox and then on some social networking website. The largest difference I see in internet usage within my family is the amount of time spent on social networking sites. Everybody is on them, but they barely log in. For them it is purely a mail-Google-IM affair”.
Shyam Balasubramanian
The above responses, interestingly, show some interesting patterns. All women reported that one of their top internet activities was checking their Facebook, while men mentioned social networking as one of their top online activity rather than any specific website. Email was a universal top online activity as was searching for information, for whatever purpose. In a way, these random results definitely are in some consensus with the aforementioned research results. However, whether it is blogging or emailing, men and women are definitely engaging in inter-personal communication at some level whenever they visit cyberspace.Compiled by H.A.
Similarities in men and women users
Use a search engine,
Look for information on travel, jobs and/or places to live
Look for specific phone numbers and addresses
Find information from the government websites
Purchase products and groceries online,
Make travel plans or purchases;
Do online banking
Donate to charity
Pay bills
Do instant messaging
Listen to music
Watch videos
Go online for no particular reason
Play online games
Differences in men
Get news about the weather
Get news in general
Search for do-it-yourself information
Check out sports updates
Get political information/news
Get financial information/news
Do job-related research
Download software
Rate a product/person/service through an online reputation system
Download music files
Use a webcam
Differences in womens
Send and receive email
Look for maps and directions
Look for information on health and medical problems
Use web sites to get support for health or personal problems
Look for information on religion
The findings are available for a free at http://www.pewinternet.org
Her husband, on the other hand, has a completely different list of things to-do when he logs in to the internet. He checks his email alright; however, he ignores all forwarded emails. The replies he sends are usually short and to-the-point. He has stopped logging in to Orkut, but does check his Facebook account. After giving his homepage a cursory glance, he either plays a game or two, or goes through a personality quiz. He may reply to a scrap if someone has posted one son his wall. Once that is done, he lingers online only if he has something to search for, otherwise his time online is effectively over. And if, while he is online, he has to leave the PC for some work, he disconnects the internet and turns off the system.
The above scenario once again endorses what we have been hearing since childhood: that men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, and this holds true even in the virtual world. Studies have also proved that there are differences in the way men and women communicate with others, and there is a striking contrast in the way they use the internet. This contrast can be subtle in some cases, and quite glaring in others, although this usually depends on the personality of the individual in question.
Differences in the use of the internet by men and women have been an interesting subject of study. Independent researchers and university professors alike have studied these gender differences in great detail — usually seeking to establish the different things men and women do in cyberspace, along with their motivation to do those things. These studies have come up with very interesting, and sometimes, very apt findings.
One such noteworthy research in this regard was Gender and the internet: women communicating and men searching. Conducted by Linda A Jackson, Philip D Gardner and Neal Schmitt of Michigan State University, and Kelly S Ervin of Washington State University, this research was published in the Journal of Sex Roles in 2001.
The researchers sampled 630 Anglo-American undergraduates, and based on a survey, they discovered that women used email more than did men did since they had a stronger motive for interpersonal communication. Men, on the other hand, used the Web more than women since they had a stronger motive for information gathering.
However, there were some similarities between the two genders as well. Men and women reportedly used the internet equally often. Hence, there was no support for the oft-held notion that men use the internet more than women. Also, even though men used the internet to perform a greater number of searches than women, there was no evidence to suggest that these searches were more ‘successful’ than those done by women.
However, given that the lines between gender roles are fast blurring, it is difficult to believe that men and women stick to completely separate internet activities. And in this day and age, it is also hard to imagine either gender not logging into the inbox as soon as s/he goes online. With many email services on the house, and the fact that email is an inalienable part of any business environment, one just cannot imagine that men open a search engine the minute they go online, while women stick to their email inboxes for an hour.
Another study, titled How women and men use the internet takes this factor into account. Conducted by Pew internet and American life project, this study was based on telephonic interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates between March 2000 and September 2005. The study looks into how likely men and women are to go online in the first place, the demographics of the online population, and, finally, the section of current relevance: different online activities of men and women.
When formulating the results, the research analysed the different way men and women communicate online, which indicates that men are just as likely to check their email first and foremost when they log into the virtual world. The only difference lies in the amount of time they give to their email, along with how they use their email in the first place.The study also found that women like to discuss a number of issues with their friends and family members via email; they generally believe that email improves their relationship with them. Hence, a woman’s email is more likely to be enthusiastic, reflecting the time and effort she has put into writing it, and it is valued not just by the sender, but also by the receiver, especially if she happens to be a woman too. Men, on the other hand, are unlikely to share information about their problems and issues through email. This is actually reflective of in real life as well, where women share more problems with their friends than men.
Similar to email, it is hard to imagine men doing all the searching online. Studies have shown that even women seek out information on health, religion and personal problems. Some of them also look up information relating to their PC problems, so obviously, online searches are not exclusive to the male domain. However, while both the genders may be following the same activity, their styles differ widely.
The Pew report found that while women sift out the information they need from the massive search results that they get, men aggressively visit more websites to hunt down the specific information they are looking for. In a nutshell, women are more overwhelmed by the search results, while men are more confident that they will find the information that they need.
As the virtual world expands to no end, various studies on users’ internet habits are also coming up with special reference to gender differences. Perhaps, if one was to simulate such a research at a smaller scale, it will certainly bring out an interesting mix of results, endorsing the belief that while she likes to Gmail, he prefers to Google.
AND THEY SAY...
Given that there was no study closer to home which indicated the differences in the way men and women use the internet, Sci-Tech World approached certain individuals selected at random and asked them to compare their top three online activities with other male and female members of their families.
The responses were as follows.
“I check my email for the freelance work I do. Apart from that, I get newsletters from INETA — the Microsoft-based newsletter. Secondly, I use the net to stay connected with my friends, and for that I regularly check my Facebook and Orkut. Thirdly, I surf — my favourite website is Google. My sister uses the net for chatting and sometimes to surf on business websites. My brothers have different activities as well. One is a medical student, so he uses the net mostly to copy lectures from the net, while the second one uses it to keep in touch with family via Orkut and Yahoo!”
Kanizeh Mehdi
“I like to read news, especially related to global financials; check my email and log on to Facebook, and do research to find any required information.”
Madiha Javed
“I sign into messenger, check my mail and log into Facebook. If there’s some other project I need to work on (for example, a lecture or a blog-post) I do it after I’ve done the former. My brother does the same. However, instead of blog-posting like I do, he’s usually hunting for the latest software for his iPhone or downloading latest movies.”
Mahwash Ajaz
“My top three activities when I go online is checking my mail and reading and replying to mails, checking my Facebook account, and information gathering for assignments. My sister uses the net to check her mails, MSN messenger and for her office work.”
Naureen Aqueel
“Generally, when I use the internet, I either use it to check my mail, do networking on Facebook and Orkut and for research purposes. I also keep in touch with friends through chat on MSN and Google.There is not much difference between the online activities of men and women in my family. Perhaps, the male family members chat more and do networking on Facebook rather than using the net for research. Sometimes, we even consult the Webster dictionary online. But surfing the web is definitely something that we do more than chatting.”
Aelia Raza
“I check my email, read news and do a bit social networking with friends.”
Adnan Siddiqi
“I usually open multiple browsers and check and reply to my emails in this order: work (through webmail), personal (hotmail), rotary (via Gmail apps) and Facebook. I then browse through some of my favourite blogs, NY Times and Economist magazine.”
Arsalaan Haleem
“I spend most of my time on the internet to do research and downloading music. Blogs and email follow with social networks. I’m definitely logged on to messenger whenever I sit down at a PC. I guess most of my family uses internet around the same pattern, although my younger brothers, prefer to chat more and play games (scrabble on Facebook).”
Imtiaz Noor
“I go online to get my information fix — I follow a number of blogs, magazines and newspapers in my RSS reader. I check email - while I do this every day, I spend relatively little time on it, as I send quick answers to any pending emails. I write a weblog post on average once a month, so I spend some time looking up information on the internet regarding that. I hardly do any chatting or social networking.”
Khalid Omer
“I do research or general reading (wikipedia, editorials, news blogs, news sites, etc). Apart from that, I am in my mailbox and then on some social networking website. The largest difference I see in internet usage within my family is the amount of time spent on social networking sites. Everybody is on them, but they barely log in. For them it is purely a mail-Google-IM affair”.
Shyam Balasubramanian
The above responses, interestingly, show some interesting patterns. All women reported that one of their top internet activities was checking their Facebook, while men mentioned social networking as one of their top online activity rather than any specific website. Email was a universal top online activity as was searching for information, for whatever purpose. In a way, these random results definitely are in some consensus with the aforementioned research results. However, whether it is blogging or emailing, men and women are definitely engaging in inter-personal communication at some level whenever they visit cyberspace.Compiled by H.A.
Similarities in men and women users
Use a search engine,
Look for information on travel, jobs and/or places to live
Look for specific phone numbers and addresses
Find information from the government websites
Purchase products and groceries online,
Make travel plans or purchases;
Do online banking
Donate to charity
Pay bills
Do instant messaging
Listen to music
Watch videos
Go online for no particular reason
Play online games
Differences in men
Get news about the weather
Get news in general
Search for do-it-yourself information
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What's Cooking on Eid?
With the coming of Eid-ul-Fitr, our part of the world gets into action. There is spring cleaning to do, clothes to get stitched, shopping to finish, and of course, the very essence of Eid, mehendi to be applied.
But Eid is also about gorging on yummy culinary delights. It then comes as no surprise that a number of websites have devoted a special section to recipes on certain delicacies which can be prepared on Eid. These websites can be divided into two categories: websites with cooking recipes, and those that are exclusively dedicated to other celebrations on Eid-ul-Fitr.
For example, one interesting website has featured its recipe section at http://theeid.dgreetings.com/eid-ul-fitr-recipes/. This section is small, but carries a collection of some great recipes like biryani, sheer khurma and vermicelli. Along with the traditional delights, you will find some foreign dishes here as well.
The Culinary Digest (http://theculinarydigest.blogspot.com/2007/10/traditional-recipes-of-eid-ul-fitr.html) is more detailed when it comes to Eid recipes. Interestingly, instead of providing just a collection of recipes, this website also describes the diverse Eid cuisines with regards to which country they come from. For instance, did you know that in Egypt, cookies filled with nuts and covered with sugar powder are the equivalent of sheer khurma in this part of the world?
Probably the best feature about this website is the fact that the blogger has linked every dish associated with Eid-ul-Fitr to its specific country and, by clicking on the name, the recipe opens separately with its website. So, if you would like to try an Iraqi pastry dish, or Malaysian beef redang, this is the place to visit.
Another website which has an assortment of Eid recipes is http://www.ifood.tv/network/eid_ul_fitr/Recipes . What makes this website stand out from others is that the recipes here are submitted by the users of the website. Hence, it adds variety as well as a personal touch to all the recipes. Moreover, unlike other websites, the recipes here have been illustrated, showing you a visual of how the final product should look. Each recipe has three categories – summary, ingredients and directions. If you are stuck somewhere, you have an option to post a comment and clarify your problem.
If you Google for Eid recipes, you will get a staggering amount of results. But, if you delve deeper into those search results, you will discover that most of the websites claiming that they feature recipes for Eid-ul-Fitr only have one, or a couple of recipes. And the same recipe has been repeated word-for-word on many websites. So, at the end of the day, you do not gain much by ploughing through a gazillion websites.
But if you do like to cook Eid-specific recipes only, these three web-spots are a better finds from the lot. However, as you can see, Eid recipes do not have a specific, exclusive website as such. The recipes are scattered in different sections of various websites. Fortunately, given the huge number of recipe websites out there, all you need is to know what exactly you want to cook, and then hunt for that recipe.
But Eid is also about gorging on yummy culinary delights. It then comes as no surprise that a number of websites have devoted a special section to recipes on certain delicacies which can be prepared on Eid. These websites can be divided into two categories: websites with cooking recipes, and those that are exclusively dedicated to other celebrations on Eid-ul-Fitr.
For example, one interesting website has featured its recipe section at http://theeid.dgreetings.com/eid-ul-fitr-recipes/. This section is small, but carries a collection of some great recipes like biryani, sheer khurma and vermicelli. Along with the traditional delights, you will find some foreign dishes here as well.
The Culinary Digest (http://theculinarydigest.blogspot.com/2007/10/traditional-recipes-of-eid-ul-fitr.html) is more detailed when it comes to Eid recipes. Interestingly, instead of providing just a collection of recipes, this website also describes the diverse Eid cuisines with regards to which country they come from. For instance, did you know that in Egypt, cookies filled with nuts and covered with sugar powder are the equivalent of sheer khurma in this part of the world?
Probably the best feature about this website is the fact that the blogger has linked every dish associated with Eid-ul-Fitr to its specific country and, by clicking on the name, the recipe opens separately with its website. So, if you would like to try an Iraqi pastry dish, or Malaysian beef redang, this is the place to visit.
Another website which has an assortment of Eid recipes is http://www.ifood.tv/network/eid_ul_fitr/Recipes . What makes this website stand out from others is that the recipes here are submitted by the users of the website. Hence, it adds variety as well as a personal touch to all the recipes. Moreover, unlike other websites, the recipes here have been illustrated, showing you a visual of how the final product should look. Each recipe has three categories – summary, ingredients and directions. If you are stuck somewhere, you have an option to post a comment and clarify your problem.
If you Google for Eid recipes, you will get a staggering amount of results. But, if you delve deeper into those search results, you will discover that most of the websites claiming that they feature recipes for Eid-ul-Fitr only have one, or a couple of recipes. And the same recipe has been repeated word-for-word on many websites. So, at the end of the day, you do not gain much by ploughing through a gazillion websites.
But if you do like to cook Eid-specific recipes only, these three web-spots are a better finds from the lot. However, as you can see, Eid recipes do not have a specific, exclusive website as such. The recipes are scattered in different sections of various websites. Fortunately, given the huge number of recipe websites out there, all you need is to know what exactly you want to cook, and then hunt for that recipe.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Surfing Safe
With the boom in cyberspace, it has become even harder to keep your children away from accessing the malicious content on the internet. For parents, this is a double-edged sword: on the one hand is the easily available adult content on websites including social networking websites and chat rooms. And on the other hand, it is not practical to restrict children from accessing the internet since most of their educational needs are fulfilled through surfing on the web.
However, parents need to at least make their children aware of these issues. A good guide to this is Safe Kids, a website dedicated to safe surfing on the internet. It also provides information on the major security and privacy issues online that one needs to know before embarking on a journey through cyberspace.
The best place to start reading through the material on this website is the blog entries. The Safe Kids blog makes for a highly enlightening read since it focuses on the nitty gritty of issues like digital photography and appropriate use of cellphone cameras, social networking websites which are exclusively designed for kids, and most importantly, a little advice for parents as to what they should do and where they should set the limits.
Besides the blog, the website offers different sections that deal with online safety. Here, there are in-depth articles and recommendations for parents as well as children. These articles mainly deal with risks in cyberspace like molestation, bullying, harassment and exposure to adult/inappropriate material. You will also find articles on how to ensure that one does not give out private information on websites and in chat rooms. There is a pledge-of-sorts for the children as well, which can be printed out and pasted near the PC as a reminder. This pledge says, “I will tell my parents if...” and there are a number of things that come after it. The dos and don’ts are there for daily reminders along with tips on a safe blogging experience.
It is important to remember that websites like Safe Kids cater to parents more than to children. It is essential that parents know the issues, the risks and the precautions regarding their children surfing activities, so that they can guide them accordingly. Setting up an internet connection at home and letting children (especially tweens) access cyberspace without any chaperone and guidance can prove catastrophic in the long term.
To keep an eye on the crucial issues regarding safety of your child in cyberspace, log on to http://www.safekids.com
However, parents need to at least make their children aware of these issues. A good guide to this is Safe Kids, a website dedicated to safe surfing on the internet. It also provides information on the major security and privacy issues online that one needs to know before embarking on a journey through cyberspace.
The best place to start reading through the material on this website is the blog entries. The Safe Kids blog makes for a highly enlightening read since it focuses on the nitty gritty of issues like digital photography and appropriate use of cellphone cameras, social networking websites which are exclusively designed for kids, and most importantly, a little advice for parents as to what they should do and where they should set the limits.
Besides the blog, the website offers different sections that deal with online safety. Here, there are in-depth articles and recommendations for parents as well as children. These articles mainly deal with risks in cyberspace like molestation, bullying, harassment and exposure to adult/inappropriate material. You will also find articles on how to ensure that one does not give out private information on websites and in chat rooms. There is a pledge-of-sorts for the children as well, which can be printed out and pasted near the PC as a reminder. This pledge says, “I will tell my parents if...” and there are a number of things that come after it. The dos and don’ts are there for daily reminders along with tips on a safe blogging experience.
It is important to remember that websites like Safe Kids cater to parents more than to children. It is essential that parents know the issues, the risks and the precautions regarding their children surfing activities, so that they can guide them accordingly. Setting up an internet connection at home and letting children (especially tweens) access cyberspace without any chaperone and guidance can prove catastrophic in the long term.
To keep an eye on the crucial issues regarding safety of your child in cyberspace, log on to http://www.safekids.com
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Let's Talk Facts
So you have the ideas whirring in your head, and you just cannot wait to put them into words for your next debate. Alas, despite the speech being eloquence personified, the ‘wow’ factor is missing, right? What you need is a little twist, perhaps, that will jolt the audience wide awake and hanging on to every word. For that, welcome to Amusing Facts.
Amusing Facts features a number of facts and figures on a wide variety of topics. To be very honest, the facts are not exactly amusing in the hilarious sense of the word. They are just some very strange and not-so-well-known statements about different places and people. Therefore, while they are not guaranteed to make you laugh, the website does claim that they are strange, weird and, well, useless in many ways.
All the information on this website is categorised in a number of sections, so you can directly visit the one which appeals to you. There are facts related to categories as diverse as household products, business, health, science, technology, sports, animals, edibles, art, history and entertainment. There are sub-divisions within the categories as well. For instance, edibles are divided into candy, cereals, coffee, cookies, fruits, ice-cream, pizza, vegetables and water. And, in case you are wondering what kind of facts would make it to the section on ice-cream, here is an example: “Great Britain has the highest consumption of ice cream than any other European nation.”
There are some more interesting sections on this website as well. There is, for example, an entire section dedicated to people who once made headlines and have been long since forgotten. This section traces the current doings of these long-lost-and-forgotten celebrities like Paula Abdul and Richard Marx.
Another amusing collection that this website hosts is that of strange news stories. Collected from various sources, these stories make for a highly incredulous read. Yet another section deals with dumb things people have done and the stories they have to tell.
Much as this website is indeed a collection of facts, stories and reports, whether or not they are as useless as the webmasters claim, is entirely up to what use you put them to. If you are simply using this website to while away your time, then it can actually get boring and a little clichéd after a while. But if you are a student and hunting down some additional information to add some spice to your assignment or a speech/debate, then this website will be invaluable to the nth degree. Of course, as usual, the humour section should be used with extreme caution.
To read up on some of the most amusing and strange facts from around the internet, log on to http://www.amusingfacts.com
Amusing Facts features a number of facts and figures on a wide variety of topics. To be very honest, the facts are not exactly amusing in the hilarious sense of the word. They are just some very strange and not-so-well-known statements about different places and people. Therefore, while they are not guaranteed to make you laugh, the website does claim that they are strange, weird and, well, useless in many ways.
All the information on this website is categorised in a number of sections, so you can directly visit the one which appeals to you. There are facts related to categories as diverse as household products, business, health, science, technology, sports, animals, edibles, art, history and entertainment. There are sub-divisions within the categories as well. For instance, edibles are divided into candy, cereals, coffee, cookies, fruits, ice-cream, pizza, vegetables and water. And, in case you are wondering what kind of facts would make it to the section on ice-cream, here is an example: “Great Britain has the highest consumption of ice cream than any other European nation.”
There are some more interesting sections on this website as well. There is, for example, an entire section dedicated to people who once made headlines and have been long since forgotten. This section traces the current doings of these long-lost-and-forgotten celebrities like Paula Abdul and Richard Marx.
Another amusing collection that this website hosts is that of strange news stories. Collected from various sources, these stories make for a highly incredulous read. Yet another section deals with dumb things people have done and the stories they have to tell.
Much as this website is indeed a collection of facts, stories and reports, whether or not they are as useless as the webmasters claim, is entirely up to what use you put them to. If you are simply using this website to while away your time, then it can actually get boring and a little clichéd after a while. But if you are a student and hunting down some additional information to add some spice to your assignment or a speech/debate, then this website will be invaluable to the nth degree. Of course, as usual, the humour section should be used with extreme caution.
To read up on some of the most amusing and strange facts from around the internet, log on to http://www.amusingfacts.com
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