Now can we live without these?

How many people use internet? Have you heard anyone got 'bored' with internet? Or, can we imagine today's life without internet?
Well, no prize for answering above questions. Well let us 'browse' how it changed our lives.

“Hooked on Internet?  Help is a just a click away.” – Unknown

The quote truly says it all. When it comes to the Internet, there is nothing that you can’t do. 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 U.S. 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.
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.

10. Craigslist– Changed classified ads

Before the Internet if you ever had interest in a classified ad, you’d probably go straight to the local newspaper and see what you can find. Of course then the Internet came along and while you could find classified ads online, most of the websites were filled with spam posts or people looking to set you up while others were just unorganized and most of the time classified ads for smaller locations were nonexistent. However, today, if you’re ever looking for anything, and I mean anything, all you need to do is go to Craigslist.

You can find plenty of things on the classified ads website; from cars, to pets, to jobs, homes, and even a place to discuss anything you have on your mind. Despite recently coming under fire for its “personals” section of the website, Craigslist continues to be extremely popular among people all around the world. You can find ads in your state and then narrow down to a city which makes finding what you need much easier.

But, just like older classified ads websites, you will find spam ads and you will run into ads that are created by people looking to get your money and run. The website offers a service to report spammers and often shows a warning page explaining how many scammers work and what to look out for when using the site.

9. Geocities – Changed internet accessibility

Even though nowadays anyone and everyone can access the Internet, from your 3^rd cousin to your great-grandmother, when the Internet was first created, those who used it were mainly those involved in the technology or scientific fields and many times these people were looking for bugs, fixes, and ways to improve the technology that existed. As crazy as it seems, at one point in time, the Internet was pretty boring and bare. However, as websites began to pop up, more and more everyday people started to use the Internet. To continue this growth, websites such as GeoCities were created, which opened a whole new world to those people who weren’t the most tech-savvy as others. GeoCities allowed people to easily create their own website.

The website was started in 1994 and was first known as BHI (Beverly Hills Internet), which at the time was a small web-hosting company based out of Southern California. The company offered free service to people within various locations in California and years later became a country-wide service and then world-wide.

Today the website is defunct in the U.S. and Canada, but is still offered as a service in Japan. When Yahoo purchased the service after 10 years of success during what is called the dot com bubble, it is said that almost 38 million GeoCities pages were shut down. Despite only being offered in Japan, it’s safe to say that GeoCities allowed for some of the earliest web designers.

8. Blogger– Changed the blogging scene

Blogging is the way of the world now. Who needs to scribble in a personal diary or to write random things on ripped pieces of notebook paper when you can hop on your computer, log in, and type all of your thoughts onto your computer screen, press upload, and have the opportunity to have the entire world read what you’ve got to say. Blogger was launched in 1999 and since then has allowed the blogging world to flourish.

While many want to credit LiveJournal or some other blogging site with raising the bar in the blogging world, Blogger most definitely came first and is often credited for setting the stage for the format of a common blog. The website has been designed and redesigned and most recently has begun to work closely with Google to include some of their most popular features.

The website on the Alexa scale is ranked #8 and each day over 388 million words are published on the website. Even though competitor websites such as WordPress, LiveJournal, and TypePad have come about, Blogger is easily credited with starting the blogging revolution.

7. Pandora – Changed how we listen to music

The way we listen to music has drastically changed over time. Today MP3s and MP4s are the way of the world, but let’s not forget records, music cassettes, and of course, the radio. However, even though MP3s and digital music seem to be the latest fad, Pandora has stepped up and offered a way to listen to music online while you surf.

Pandora is an online radio station that basically lets you create your own station based on the music like you like to listen to. Of course, listening to music on the Internet isn’t something new, but being able to create your own music station is. Anyone can tune into music that is played on Yahoo or listen to your favorite radio station online, but the fact is that most of those songs are played every hour (or so it seems) and sometimes the song playing isn’t one that you particularly care for.

But, when it comes to Pandora, website will play a song and based on whether you like the band or not, the website will play similar music. The great thing is that Pandora often throws in new bands that are on the rise. You can easily type in a band on the website, listen to a song, and then have the chance to listen to a new band that is similar to your tastes.

6. Facebook – Changed how we interact

First there was the telephone, then pagers, then cell phones, then along came the internet with instant messaging services and chatrooms, and before all of this when people wanted to communicate, there was conversational speaking and letters. Today, we have Facebook, and this one social networking site has seriously taken the world by storm. Though technically not the first social networking site created, many will argue that it is the most useful and is the one that has made the largest impact on our society.

It seems like everything we do is based on Facebook these days. Pictures, friends, relationships, gossip; it all ties into Facebook in some way of another, and wherever you go, you’ll usually find something Facebook-esque. Musicians are asking fans to add them on Facebook as are authors, political candidates, businesses, and anything and everything between.

The website was launched in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg six years later the website has exploded, attracting more than 500 million users, ranging from your average Joe, to celebrities, and even political world leaders.

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. In the U.S. it is the 6^th most visited website in the country.

The amazing thing about Wikipedia is that you can literally fin 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.

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 favorite 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, 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.

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 5 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.

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 color.

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.

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.

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Fathomless!

The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans, and the lowest elevation of the surface of the Earth's crust. It is currently estimated to be up to 10,971 m (35,994 ft) deep. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is about 2,550 kilometres (1,580 mi) long but has a mean width of only 69 kilometres (43 mi). It reaches a maximum-known depth of about 10.91 kilometres (6.78 mi) at the Challenger Deep, a small slot-shaped valley in its floor, at its southern end; although, some unrepeated measurements place the deepest portion at 11.03 kilometres (6.85 mi). If Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft), were set in the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, there would be 2,076 metres (6,811 ft) of water left above it.



The trench was first sounded during the Challenger expedition (December 1872 – May 1876), which recorded a depth of 4,475 fathoms, 8,184 m (26,850 feet). In 1877 a map was published called Tiefenkarte des Grossen Oceans by Petermann, which showed a Challenger Tief at the location of that sounding. In 1899 USS Nero, a converted collier, recorded a depth of 5269 fathoms (9,636 m, 31,614 ft). Challenger II surveyed the trench using echo sounding, a much more precise and vastly easier way to measure depth than the sounding equipment and drag lines used in the original expedition. During this survey, the deepest part of the trench was recorded when the Challenger II measured a depth of 5,960 fathoms (10,900 m, 35,760 ft) at 11°19′N 142°15′E / 11.317°N 142.25°E / 11.317; 142.25, known as the Challenger Deep.

In 1957, the Soviet vessel Vityaz reported a depth of 11,034 m (36,201 ft), dubbed the Mariana Hollow.
In 1962, the surface ship M.V. Spencer F. Baird recorded a maximum depth of 10,915 m (35,840 ft), using precision depth gauges.
In 1984, the Japanese survey vessel Takuyō (拓洋), collected data from the Mariana Trench using a narrow, multi-beam echo sounder; it reported a maximum depth of 10,924 m, also reported as 10,920 metres ± 10 metres.
In 2003, a spot was found along the Mariana Trench, the depth of which is around the same depth as the Challenger Deep, possibly even deeper. It was discovered while scientists from the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology were completing a survey around Guam; they used a sonar mapping system towed behind the research ship to conduct the survey. This new spot was named the HMRG (Hawaii Mapping Research Group) Deep, after the group of scientists who discovered it.
On 1 June 2009 sonar mapping of the Challenger Deep by the Simrad EM120 sonar multibeam bathymetry system for deep water (300 - 11,000 m) mapping aboard the RV Kilo Moana (mothership of the Nereus vehicle), has indicated a spot with a depth of 10,971 m (35,994 ft). The sonar system uses phase and amplitude bottom detection, with an accuracy of better than 0.2% of water depth across the entire swath (implying the depth figure is accurate to less than ± 11 metres).

The Swiss-designed, Italian-built, United States Navy bathyscaphe Trieste reached the bottom at 1:06 p.m. on January 23, 1960, with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard on board. Iron shot was used for ballast, with gasoline for buoyancy. The onboard systems indicated a depth of 11,521 m (37,799 ft), but this was later revised to 10,916 m (35,814 ft). At the bottom, Walsh and Piccard were surprised to discover sole or flounder about 30 cm (1 ft) long, as well as a shrimp. According to Piccard, "The bottom appeared light and clear, a waste of firm diatomaceous ooze".

Trieste, who first reached the bottom of Mariana Trench January 23,1960

Nereus in action

Only three descents have ever been achieved. The first was the manned descent by Trieste in 1960. This was followed by the unmanned ROVs Kaikō in 1996 and Nereus in 2009. These three expeditions directly measured very similar depths of 10,902 to 10,916 m.

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Get great photos

Say cheese! I remember lining up for school photos and thinking, "I have to look good this year! I just have to!" Digital photography has freed us from those cringe-worthy moments (and the desire to burn photos!) because we can always pose again, try better light, and edit without wasting film.
Of course, getting that perfect photo is critical in an age of social networking and dating sites. I was cruising the Canon website and I came across the company's suggestions for taking better online dating portraits. It says:

• Keep it Simple: Posing, Cropping, Framing, and Backgrounds —Your online dating portrait should be about you. That means no one else should be in the shot, and you should avoid distracting elements that will take attention away from the most important thing in the frame – YOU! Try turning the camera 90 degrees, and shoot a vertical picture. The longer vertical frame is better suited to capture a single person, without too much 'empty space' in the background.
• Photo Techniques: Lighting, Lenses, and Camera Settings — One of the biggest mistakes in online dating portraits is poor lighting. Again, the photo is all about letting others see what you look like. The goal is to make sure the image is well (brightly) lit, but with no harsh shadows.

• Say No to Mug and Lingerie Shots — Profile pics that look like mug shots are the worst! Don't take a picture specifically for the purpose of being your profile image (you know, like the ones where you can tell the subject held out her arm to take the shot?!). Pictures taken in the mirror (unless they are incredibly artistic), or pictures taken on a camera phone are also discouraged. Also, think twice before you use that sexy one of yourself on the beach in Hawaii with a barely-there bikini (especially for a dating profile!).

• Act Natural! — Whether you are looking for a dating profile picture, or a pic to use for your Facebook or Sugar account select a fun, natural picture. It doesn't have to be a glamor shot, just an image that shows your personality. Sure it's an ego boost to show off how cute you looked in that bridesmaid dress, but you don't look like that every day. Try a pic in your natural element. Or a casual photo from your last vacation.

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Explore Windows XP hidden commands

Delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP’s
secrets.

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous
versions of Windows were coy about how long they went
between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina.
Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from
the All Programs start button option, and then type
‘systeminfo’. The computer will produce a lot of
useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep
these, type ‘systeminfo > info.txt‘. This creates a
file called info.txt you can look at later with
Notepad. (Professional Edition only).
2. You can delete files immediately, without having
them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start
menu, select Run… and type ‘ gpedit.msc‘; then select
User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows
Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move
deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it.
Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many
interface and system options, but take care — some
may stop your computer behaving as you wish.
(Professional Edition only).
3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of
the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using
a right mouse click, and enter ‘rundll32.exe
user32.dll,LockWorkStation‘ in the location field.
Give the shortcut a name you like. That’s it — just
double click on it and your computer will be locked.
And if that’s not easy enough, Windows key + L will do
the same.
4. XP hides some system software you might want to
remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle
it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or
Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf,
search for the word ‘hide‘ and remove it. You can then
go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel,
select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be
your prey, exposed and vulnerable.
5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP
has a number of interesting new commands. These
include ‘eventcreate‘ and ‘eventtriggers‘ for creating
and watching system events, ‘typeperf’ for monitoring
performance of various subsystems, and ‘schtasks’ for
handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command
name followed by /? will give a list of options –
they’re all far too baroque to go into here.
6. XP has IP version 6 support — the next generation
of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has,
so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type
‘ipv6 install‘ into Run… (it’s OK, it won’t ruin
your existing network setup) and then ‘ipv6 /?‘ at the
command line to find out more. If you don’t know what
IPv6 is, don’t worry and don’t bother.
7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer
from the command line by using ‘taskkill /pid‘ and the
task number, or just ‘tskill’ and the process number.
Find that out by typing ‘tasklist’, which will also
tell you a lot about what’s going on in your system.
8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice
if you’ve got a fast machine. On slower machines, you
can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing
‘regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll‘ at the command line. If you
change your mind later, you can put things back as
they were by typing ‘regsvr32 zipfldr.dll‘.

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