Five websites that changed everyday life

In today's world, we are run by technology and the flow of updates to already existing technology seems to be never-ending. With that said, it is really no surprise that the Internet has definitely become a true part of everyday life.

In the US alone there are 266,224,500 Internet users; in Asia there are 825,094,396. Throughout the entire world there is said to be 1,966,514,816 people who use the Internet and the number continues to grow each day.

Along with the Internet came the millions of websites that we all use. While some don't become as popular as others, many have become so common that they seem like an everyday must have.

Below are five websites that have clearly changed how we function both online as well as offline.

Even though the Internet has been available for public use since 1992, it's only been in the last few years that some websites really became giants. The websites below can easily be called a part of everyday life for many.

1. Google - Changed virtually everything

As extreme as it sounds, it's pretty safe to say that when it comes to the Internet, Google can be found anywhere and everywhere. No matter what kind of activity you do online, from watching videos, to blogging, to just reading the local news online, you're probably some way, somehow using a service provided by Google, and many times you don't even know it.

When you watch a YouTube video, you're using a Google service. If you've ever used Blogger, that's a Google service. Chrome: Google browser. If you've ever seen a Doubleclick ad; yep, that's Google too.

So in essence, Google is everywhere; ubiquitous. From watching videos to uploading pictures to show to friends and family, whether you know it or not, Google is a very well used service all over the world.

If you ever need to get somewhere, you probably go to Google.com. If you need to search for something, Google.com is probably the first place you go.

2. eBay - Changed how we buy and sell

While online shopping has become a great fad that it seems everyone has latched onto, eBay is one of many websites that should have credit for advancing this online phenomenon.

Even though most websites today offer users the ability to purchase what they want online, eBay not only offers online shopping it also allows users to bid on some of the hottest items each year.

eBay has most definitely made shopping something that anyone can do without having to get in the car, drive to a store or the mall, and then look around to find the right size or colour.

With online shopping with a few simple clicks your shopping is done. eBay allows users from all over the world to bid and buy items.

The good thing about the website is that many times you pay a lot less than you would in stores and even better is the fact that items are available that may not be sold in a store local to you.

eBay has made it easy to find some of the most popular items as well as items that aren't sold in stores anymore.

eBay is also well-known for its ability for users to sell various items, from perfume to clothing to shoes and anything and everything in between. eBay is one of the very few websites that offers live real time auctions for products.

3. YouTube - Changed daily entertainment

When it came time to looking or watching videos online, there wasn't a wide variety of options.

At times people would upload videos for people to watch, but many times due to bandwidth and other factors, those who owned websites just opted to stay away from the videos and other high bandwidth features.

However, an easy fix to this problem came about in February 2005. YouTube, which has been successfully running for five years now, solved any and all problems when it came to entertainment on the Internet. Not only can you watch videos but you can also listen to music and even blog through videos.

Millions of people from all over the world enjoy the features of YouTube each day. Because of YouTube there is one great place for everyone to look at videos and even comment and review them.

The website allows you to really watch anything you could ever think of. From music videos to bloggers, to tutorials and just outright random videos, you can surely find it on YouTube.

The website is ranked #3 on the Alexa scale and offers 29 different languages for users who live outside of the United States.

Though other video websites are available, such as Hulu, none have been as successful as YouTube has been.

4. Amazon - Changed the face of retail shopping

When you need food, you go to the grocery store. When you need clothes, you go to the mall or your favourite retail store. If you need pet supplies, you go to the pet store. If you want to listen to music, you go purchase a CD at a store.

All of this is common sense, and generally when people need things, they visit a brick and mortar store.

However, when Amazon was launched in 1995, the company, based out of Seattle, changed the entire face of retail shopping. Their name says it all; Amazon is the largest river in the world and Amazon.com is the largest online store on could imagine.

Where else can you buy jewelry, MP3s, clothing, vitamins, dog toys, and anything else from the same location?

Most recently Amazon even began selling food products that can be delivered to your door. With the creation of Amazon, it's safe to say that less and less people are visiting brick and mortar stores to purchase certain items.

The website offers free shipping with a $25 purchase as well as a Prime account which promises free 2-day shipping or $3.99 next day shipping. The point is that anyone can count on Amazon to have what they need. It's truly amazing how an e-shop can stock and supply such a wide array of items.

5. Wikipedia - Changed how we research/learn

Before Wikipedia came along, high school and college students had to do their own research the hard way.

In all seriousness, before Wikipedia became one big booming e-encyclopedia, many of those that were offered online either required a paid membership to have access to information or the encyclopedia altogether lacked a lot of information. It was either go to the library to find the research you needed or dish out some money to get it.

However, Wikipedia changed all of this and really made research a breeze. The website became the first of its kind: a free e-encyclopedia that has grown and will probably continue to do so as long as the Internet is available.

On April 16, 2010, the website had its 1 billionth edit and today it is ranked the #7 most visited website by Alexa. It is the 6th most visited website in the in the US.

The amazing thing about Wikipedia is that you can literally find anything and almost everything on Wikipedia.

With 3,410,052 articles and growing, there isn't much you can't find. If you can't, you can easily edit and add information yourself.

The website appeals to Internet users from all over the world, offering information in various languages such as Spanish, Russian, French, German, Italian, and many others. And yes, Wikipedia has a Wikipedia page.

10th National Cyber Olympiad

Our students participated in the 10th National Cyber Olympiad organised by Science Olympiad Foundation, New Delhi. The names of the meritorious students along with their ranks at the State and All India level are:

ROLL NO	STUDENT NAME	TOTAL	PERCENTILE	SCHOOL RANK	CITY RANK	STATE RANK	ALL INDIA RANK
HR0296-02-002	SURYA PARTAP SINGH	40	88.58	1	1	114	2116
HR0296-03-009	SHARAT SAPNA ANUJ	39	93.64	1	1	75	1616
HR0296-04-011	MRIDUL GUPTA	39	89.53	1	1	88	2534
HR0296-05-007	ROHIT AGARWAL	38	90.14	1	1	93	2386
HR0296-06-017	PRABHJOT SINGH	35	88.27	1	1	106	2624
HR0296-07-015	SHREYA	38	91.68	1	1	83	1790
HR0296-08-003	RAMIT MITTAL	38	92.92	1	1	68	1466
HR0296-09-011	AKANSHA KALRA	44	98.47	1	1	31	296
HR0296-10-009	SAHIL GOEL	45	99.64	1	1	8	53
HR0296-11-002	HIMANSHI TANEJA	42	98.36	1	1	3	104
HR0296-12-010	PARUL BHOGAL	38	93.69	1	1	20	311

Out of the excelling students, 12 students with All India Rank below 500 selected to appear in 2nd level of National Cyber Olympiad.


My heartiest congratulations to all the prize winners.

Amit Verma
HOD-Computer Deptt.

Social Networking Websites

You may have heard about Facebook, MySpace or Twitter on the television, internet or even from a friend; but what do these services have to offer that a conventional phone conversation cannot. Sometimes phone conversations can feel a bit awkward as if there is nothing to talk about. They may require you halting all further actions to concentrate on what is being said at that specific time. With a social networking site you are able to create topics and conversation pieces with just a few mouse clicks. You can add pictures and video to get your message across. You can talk about subjects beforehand with more time to think about what it is you are trying to convey. Plus there is a multiplayer gaming community that can be used to link one person to another.

With a social networking site such as Facebook you can post a visual image of a certain event in your life that basically describes itself. There is a chat option and a global messaging ability that allows your thoughts to be seen in all of your friends’ eyes. With a conventional phone call you can only leave what you are trying to communicate about to the listener’s imagination. With a social networking site you can show off your family’s barbecue night or child’s baseball game with one picture and not have to go on and on with description. Combined with a phone conversation a social networking site offers so much more to staying connected with friends and family. Keeping in touch with everyone you know has never been simpler than consolidating it all into one service that announces your thoughts and life events with ease.

Sure, nothing beats person to person communication – but why not have a simpler way to keep in touch with friends? While the technology may not be new, it offers constant innovation in the way it allows people to keep in touch.

Latest IT Technologies

The Apple iPad

Tablet computers have been around for quite a while. They are a very specific niche market. The Apple iPad did not exactly break ground with the concept. However, they did break ground by having a massive array of applications readymade to utilize a tablet computer. As well as this, it was also able to handle 3G connections for roaming Internet virtually anywhere you can get a 3G signal (in later models). While it may be cheaper for someone to just buy a notebook – and give you some greater functionality – it may not be as user friendly or accessible for some people.

The Apple iPad has a very specific niche market. You are not required to be technologically savvy in order to use it. In fact, if you have an Apple iPhone or use a similar touch screen enabled phone then the learning curve in learning to use the Apple iPhone will be non-existent. The Apple iPad is a device that is better suited to people who need or want to use mobile computing as well as have the opportunity to use the Internet anywhere without hassle. A good example of how the Apple iPad can be a great mobile computing device is for people who have limited space to carry a notebook while traveling and still want to be connected to their email, various entertainment options and a machine in which they can use to work.

I am in the habit of using having a notebook sitting on my coffee table as I am watching television. If I ever want more information (or want to keep an eye on my email, shares or just fill the advertisement breaks with something fun or interesting) on something I can see, I have an Internet connection right in front of me to do so. This can also be considered a niche that the Apple iPad fulfils.

Solid State Storage Devices

I dislike trusting my data with devices that utilize so many moving parts. They are easily damaged and have an extremely limited shelf life if used heavily. I notice that any mechanical hard drive I have does not last long and with the exception of the power supply it is normally the first thing to eventually die. Solid state storage is not exactly a new technological trend – however for the sake of the everyday consumer it is now accessible. Solid storage offers many advantages over traditional hard drive options such as speed and reliability. Because they are a solid device with a minimum of moving parts (most of the time none) they are less likely to suffer mechanical fault and are not reliant on the speed of the mechanical parts in order to transfer data.

Solid state storage relies on saving a charge that depicts the data. The charge can come from electricity or liquid crystal. Solid state hard drives can use the same interface as a regular hard drive and are normally a little more costly than a regular hard drive. This cost is quickly becoming cheaper however and it is assumed that eventually they will take over the market as the only hard drives available. They are generally not as ample in space as a regular hard drive, but you should be backing up your data regularly and really shouldn’t require a massive amount of storage for important files.

Currently, there are not many companies offering solid state hard drives. They are not hard to find however. The warranty that you get on a solid state hard drive is likely to be longer than that of a regular mechanical hard drive because they are much more reliable than a regular hard drive. Ensure you purchase your solid state hard drive from a trusted source.

Portable USB Chargers

These are essentially devices that you can carry with you to give any other devices you have that are able to be charged via a USB connection some extra power while you are on the go. The device itself is recharged via USB as well. This is excellent for long trips where you may not be able to get to a power supply easily. For instance, think of a long journey on an aircraft where your device only has around four hours worth of charge when using it full time. The journey itself may be a twelve hour flight. It is unlikely that you will be able to recharge that iPod while on the plane so having a device such as this can help ensure you don’t end up having to speak to the person next to you.

The chargers are quite small and do not weigh much so if you are required to stay under a weight limit then there is a good chance that the device will not impact on the limitations. They also work with a fairly wide variety of devices. If you can draw power and recharge the item you want to charge via your computer, then it will most likely work with the portable charger. The price charged for these devices is not exuberant either. If it can save you a few hours of boredom on a long trip it is well worth the price.

The technology to charge devices through the power drawn from a USB connection is something that is potentially game changing. No longer have we had to rely on purchasing batteries to supply our walkmans with power. MP3 players now offer us a massive range of music through high capacity storage that we never have to travel with a back pack full of CDs.

Inauguration of SHCS HI-TECH IT Labs

Gems of 6th Internation Informatics Olympiad 2009-10

"No arms, No legs, No worries!" -- Nick Vujicic