Real Time Information

Real Time Information is when data occurs immediately and is constantly being updated. It can be used for such tasks as navigation, booking, weather, social networking, online shopping and even checking travel times. It is important for these things to be instant as they are changing all the time and for them to be correct they would need to be instant changes made. Real Time Information is found on the internet and is constantly and unknowingly used.

RSS Feeds
RSS Feeds are a very popular way of using Real Time Information, it it mainly used to view the BBC News. This is constantly being updated which is very important as it is used to keep the public up to date with current affairs so it needs to be the latest information available. The advantage of having Real Time Information is so that we are constantly being updated with the latest news. The main things that people use this type of Real Time Information for is to get information about: sports, business, technology and also the latest news about the UK.

Weather
Another type of Real Time Information is Weather, which can also be found on the BBC Website. It is very important for this kind of Real Time Information to be undated on a regular basis because people use this to plan their day and plan around bad weather conditions so this needs to be correct information. The advantage of this is that you are able to know what the weather will be like and you are also able to see what it will be like in not just the country you are in but most other countries too.

Travel Times
This is a very useful way of using Real Time Information. It is important for travel times to be correct at all times as the world is slowly but surely becoming dependent on travel being on time. This is a very useful way of using Real Time Information as it makes it easy for you to plan your day as you know what times the trains run as well as how long they will take so you also know what time you will get there too. Advantages of this is how easy it is to know what times the type of travel you pick takes and you can also chose between the different options.

Online Shopping
This has become a very popular way of using Real Time Information and is mainly used for convenience and ease. When you are shopping online you are shown how many items are left in stock of that particular product and when there are none left you will be notified that there are none left in stock, this is a very big advantage as you will constantly be updated on the amount of stock that they have and so that there are no mix ups as there is a constant update of products when they have new stock in as well as when an item is sold.

Chat
Chat has also become a very popular way of using Real Time Information especially with social networking sites such as: Facebook. The homepage of Facebook is constantly being updated with the latest news feeds which enable the users to see the latest news straight away at the top of the page. The advantage of this is that you are automatically presented with the latest news.

Theatre/ Concert Booking
When booking theatre and concert tickets having Real Time Information is a basic necessity as it enables you to see how many seats there are left and also what position it is that they are in so you are able to select a seat that you would like, if it was available. The main advantage of this is that you have a visual diagram in front of you that shows you how many spaces there are, how much it is and the seats available.

Webcam
This is very similar as what Weather is used for as this type of Real Time Information is updated every second and what you see on the webcam is what is happening at that very second so you are able to see what the weather is like at that time. The main advantage of this is that instead of just relying on the weather to tell you what the weather is you can physically see what the weather is like as the weather may not always be accurate.

Online Communication

E-Mail
The first Electronic Mail (E-Mail) was sent in 1971. It is a digital message sent across the Internet. E-Mail is a simple yet essential way of communicating with someone that is not in the same county as you. When E-Mail was first available for the message to successfully sent both parties had to be online at the same time but as time has gone on E-Mail has improved drastically and now you can send a message to someone without them being online and it will be stored in their ask box and they can read it when they next go online.

The main advantages of E-Mails are: that it’s free, paper free. quick and super convenient. Because of all these points E-Mailing has become a world wide phenomenon. However there are huge disadvantages of using which is mostly spam which is where companies get hold of your e-mail address and send you a lot of unwanted messages but, you are able to block e-mail addresses so that you’ll never receive another message from them and you can also direct messages from that e-mail address into your junk box so that you don’t get notified about it and it doesn’t appear in your inbox. Another problem that can happen when you have an e-mail address is hackers; which is where people find out what your password is and can steal your identity.

I have had an e-mail address for 7 years but I have only used it on a regular base for about 3 years. I mostly only use my email to send work to my school address so that if I don’t have my memory stick to hand I can still do my work. I also find it useful so that I have a backup of all my work as you can save up to and over thousands of e-mails whereas you have limited space on a memory stick. The major way in which I use my e-mail address is for verification of who I am, for sites like facebook and I get notifications from the social network sites I’m on and I currently have over 4000 e-mails which are mainly from the social networking sites that I’m on.

Not many members of my family use or even have an e-mail address but my sister does and she uses it in the way that I do mainly. My dad however uses e-mail a great deal, mainly to keep in contact with his friends and he also uses it to talk to his college and get information that he needs.

Instant MessagingInstant messaging is a quick and easy way of communicating. This form of communication is mainly used by the younger generation as it provides immediate communication with the other person. To be able to chat to the people on your friends list you need to have an e-mail address, in order to do this you need to add their e-mail address and they have the choice of whether or not to accept you as a friend.

The advantages of instant messaging is mainly that it is instant and you can also talk to more than one person at a time which is very useful rather that telling everyone individually. The disadvantages of instant messaging are that you have a risk of being hacked and then having all your details stolen.

The instant messaging service I use is MSN not many people my age use it anymore as they'd rather use others but I find it a very useful way of keeping in contact with my friends that still use it. And I also like that you are able to send images, music and files through it although it can take a while. The main thing I use MSN for is webcam which is where I can see the person I am talking to and physically speak rather that typing what I want to say which I personally really like especially when I’m on holiday as I can still keep in close contact with my family.

Blogger

Blogger is a blogging site when you are able to write posts about a particular topic and people are able to follow your blog if they are interested in what it is that you are writing about. Blogger is hosted by Google and has been since 2003. With Blogger you are able to add labels to your posts and then when people search for the same thing that your label is they will be directed to your blog and they will then be able to read the post.

I have only recently started using blogger for school purposes and have got a separate blog for nearly all my lessons and I update them all weekly. Personally I like the idea of a blog as you are able to write about things that interest you, or in my case know what I learnt a week ago because I have it written down in my blog. The advantages of having a blog, like I’ve mentioned is that you can follow blog that write about things that you're interested in and also that you can look back at older posts you've made to remind yourself of what you've done so far. But their aren't many major disadvantages except for there not being any security settings so you can have literally anyone looking at your blog and you might have a few personal post.

Another blogging site I use is Tumblr, which was founded in 2007 so it is a relatively new blogging site and has in total 17.5 million bloggers. You are able to post text, images, video's, links, quotes and audio which will go directly on their tumblog. This site allows you to follow people that you know and also people that you don't know without your acceptance.

 

www.facebook.com/

Facebook
Facebook is a social networking site that was launched in February 2004, since then it has become one of the most popular social networking site with 750 million active users. The idea of facebook is to add people that you know and they go in your friends list and then they are able to view your profile and they are able to see yours, look at your pictures, read your status updates, find out your personal interests and they can send you messages or chat to you as well.

I have only been using facebook for about 3 years in total but I don't use it that much even though most of my friends use it. I mostly only use it to keep in contact with relatives that I don’t see that often but other than that I don't really go on it. I currently have 304 friends which consist of friends and family. Advantages of facebook are that it is a free way to keep in contact with your friends and family even if you're in a different country. Disadvantages again, would be hackers and I have recently had a couple friends who have been hacked and have had to make new accounts.

Online Services

Within this blog I will be posting about a various number of different ICT related topics that are used in everyday life such as:

Communication

The way we use communication has become very dependent on technology, the main ways that people use technology are for communication: Email because it’s free and easy to use. Instant messaging which is more popular for the younger generation. Blogs which are used to notify people about a particular topic and keep them updated. And social networking sites which are mainly used by the younger generation to keep in contact with their peers.

Commerce

Commence has also risen in the way that more people are using technology and there are many different ways that it used in today’s society which is mainly for shopping where they are able to buy items online rather than physically going into a store which is good for convenience. Banking has also become a very popular way of using technology for the same reasons as shopping and it is purely for the benefits of the individual as they can do it at their own leisure.

Education

The ways in which education uses technology has spiralled recently and schools are making it a priority to have online services mainly being VLEs such as frog which is a schools intranet that allows all of the staff and pupils have their own account to access the data that is online. School web sites which can be used to let the students see what events are happening and is updated on a regular bases. Online revision for their students so even if the pupil is off school they are still able to get revision so that they do not fall behind.

Entertainment

The ways in which technology is used for entertainment purposes are mainly for online games which are mostly used by the younger generation as they are free and they can also play with multi-user so it is very appealing as they would be able to play against their friends. Sports as you can now watch sports using technology and you can also read about it. You can also read books online so you can use a smartphone to access your book online instead of physically reading a book which would mostly be for ease.

Downloading services

The most popular way that technology is used in my opinion and also experience is for downloading purposes. I find that most of all music downloading is a very popular use of technology as you are now able to download music online rather than buying a CD and importing it onto your itunes, it is a very quick and easy way of downloading music. Another is for film as most people prefer to download their films rather than going to the cinema for cheapness as well as ease.

Many people use technology without knowing it, for the above reasons and others. The ways in which people have used technology has risen to a great extent in recent years without acknowledgement. And the world is becoming more and more dependent on technology in the way that we use technology for everyday usage.