Blog Posts

Cloud storage is something almost everyone has—even if we don’t know it. Both businesses and individuals use cloud storage for such a wide range of purposes that basic cloud storage is often included with free email accounts. But what is cloud storage, and how does it work? It’s great for businesses, but is it good for personal use too? What home uses does cloud storage have?

The capabilities of cloud storage in the home are often overlooked except by those who already have the latest gadgets. However, you don’t need to be on the cutting edge of the latest technology to get use out of your cloud. Chances are you’re already using it!

The onset of coronavirus in early 2020 made social distancing necessary. To keep business continuous, many companies had their employees work from home. All over the country, people upgraded their home Internet plans to accommodate services such as video conferencing and office devices connected to home networks. 

As office buildings reopen, employees who have been working from home may wonder if they should keep their work-from-home Internet service. How important is Internet speed? Will you need the same speed at home when you return to the office?

When online colleges first appeared, many people flocked to them as simpler ways to take classes and get a degree or GED while working around a job. Unfortunately, many of them were unaccredited, leaving students with useless degrees that cost a lot. However, these schools were only the beginning for online education. They ushered in a new era for students to go to any school from the comfort of their own living rooms.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to devices that streamline our lives by using wireless Internet to do simple tasks. These might include your phone scanning for your location, or it might include your home lighting system turning on and off at scheduled times using smart bulbs. Fast Internet has allowed a lot of interesting, useful, and even frivolous devices to become “smart” by making them Things on the IoT ecosystem.

2020 was intense and stressful for millions of people as the coronavirus pandemic swept through the country. March 2020 saw the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic response, with the entire country reducing commerce and ordering residents to stay at home. This meant no going to work, no visiting friends and relatives, and minimizing time on essential chores, such as grocery shopping. 

Today’s Internet is more sophisticated than ever before, and innovations in speed and throughput have only made the future look faster. Graphics take longer to load at slower speeds, and functions that require good latency, like video games and streaming movies or music, also have required Internet speeds to run efficiently.

Imagine the scenario: your computer is running slow, so you have your tech-savvy friend or relative come take a look at it before giving in and taking it into the shop. No problem, your techie says, you just need to do some routine maintenance, clear your cache and cookies! Once your techie is done with their techno-wizardry, your computer is running at great speeds.

Elderly people aren’t just knitting sweaters and baking cookies for the grandkids anymore. The window for what is elderly has widened in recent years as people have started living longer, and older people have stayed more active. Many people of retirement age continue working anyway, while others have availed themselves of retirement plans or Social Security Benefits that leave them on fixed incomes. 

What makes an athlete? Is it physical prowess, or brute strength? Is it the strategy of teamwork or the brilliance of solo sport? Is it still a sport if you ride a horse, a bike, a boat or a car?

Streaming video is best known in the context of online channels like YouTube, Netflix, or Hulu, or news channels from your local news station to CNN and C-SPAN. Content produced by professionals – journalists, television stations, or even well-funded acting troupes – ruled the Internet at first, so streaming was left to the pros.

During the spring of 2020, social distancing from COVID-19 forced a lot of people to have a lot of free time with nothing to do with it. Some people chose to use the time to learn something new, while others shared their knowledge online via videos, podcasts, and other media. Many coped by journaling the experience, and when this is done online in writing, it is called a blog.

In a world where cyberbullying, sexting, and predators lurk around every chatroom, it is understandable that parents want to protect their children online. Having a child get online without any supervision is like sending them to the middle of a large city alone at night, whether they are five or fifteen. The same hazards exist – scammers, exploiters, even kidnappers and pedophiles are just as present online as they are in real life.

History has been viewed over time by ever-widening audiences. Ancient historians like Herodotus got it all started by writing books describing historic events. Hundreds of years later, the printing press made those books more widely available, and more people became educated and learned to read them. In fact, fiction was considered a fanciful pastime until the 1800s, with history and politics being the preferred reading of the upper classes. Newspapers also began circulating current events, so more people got to experience history as it was happening.

Disasters, emergencies, pandemics, and catastrophic events all strike without notice and create chaos for those experiencing them. Earthquakes, floods, COVID, hurricanes and tornado strikes are only a few examples of disasters we hear about in the news regularly. It’s bad enough that they happen and that people suffer from them, but for as long as there have been disasters there have been people seeking to profit from them in nefarious ways.

In the 1980s, there was a series of books called Choose Your Own Adventure. Readers would begin on page 1, but after completing a section, they would be directed to another page based on choices they were offered relevant to the plot. These books were on every reader and adventure gamer’s shelf during the Reagan era. They were only set aside when video games brought the interaction of role-playing games and massive multiplayer online games.

Everyone was stuck indoors in 2020, and that included kids. Several schools were closed for the rest of the year and many parents found themselves with children and teenagers at home in need of something to do. Since many of the closures began in early to mid spring, a lot of kids didn’t even have the outlet of playing outside, instead being relegated to indoor activities and the exclusive company of parents and siblings. Sure, school continued online, but many schools simply mailed out weekly assignments.

With stories of hackers, identity theft, and stolen data using computers in the news a lot in recent years, more people are wondering what they need to do to secure their Internet connections from invaders. The introduction of Internet of Things devices makes this all the more imperative, since, while our smart devices make our lives easier, they also have vulnerabilities that can be exploited if homeowners are not careful. Malicious actors have used thermostats to rob casinos, or taken over hundreds of thousands of devices to direct their computing power toward nefarious endeavors.

Everything these days is reliant somehow on the Internet, even things that can’t be plugged in. That’s where WiFi comes in. WiFi is the delivery of an Internet signal using radio waves. WiFi networks usually come as part of standard Internet plans, and are activated alongside your IP address. Internet service often provides a wireless router built into your modem, and you can set up your WiFi network using your provider’s online portal.

Telemedicine technology isn’t new. Webcams, voice-over-Internet-protocol, and encrypted communication apps like Skype and Zoom have all been around for years. Some specialty practices, particularly psychotherapy, have used telemedicine as part of their practices since it became available, and these days almost every insurance policy offers telehealth services for free or so highly discounted that it’s close to free.

There are so many different types of Internet connections that it may seem confusing understanding which is which. What’s the difference between cable and DSL? Is fiber available in your area? Should you get dial-up or satellite?

Luckily for you, we are here to take some of the confusion out of choosing the right connection. We’ll go over each type of connection and its pros and cons, and then we’ll talk about how to determine which connection is right for you.

When you just want to get out of the house but can’t, there’s the Internet. When you are looking for a new place to live, the Internet can help. Virtual tourism on the Internet is such a common concept that many of us do it without realizing it. Different types of businesses that rely on visitors coming in person have found ways to bring their physical sites to websites.

You might not observe your religion on a Sunday. It might be Saturday night, or Friday, or special days of the year. Maybe you’re so involved you go several times a week. Your spiritual organization holds book clubs, prayer sessions, guided meditations, and other types of meetings. But what about people who can’t be there in person?

Sometimes, we’re just forced to stay at home. Maybe the car is broken down, or the kids are sick, or there’s a repairman coming. Maybe you’re too sick to work, but awake and restless. Working online is an option at some jobs, but even if yours allows it, being at home can sometimes be therapeutic if we do something to pass the time that’s simply relaxing or fun, especially if we’re stressed out or not feeling well.

It used to be that the only people an individual had more than a passing acquaintance with were other locals. Extended families lived together in the same dwelling, maintaining connections for a lifetime in the same village or town. Over time, this changed, and family members started moving to dwellings of their own. Prior to postal services, this meant cutting ties with everyone a person knew and making an entirely new set of acquaintances.

Online classes used to be a way to get college credits or finish a high school diploma or GED. They allow more flexibility than attending classes in person because often there are limited lectures, no commuting, and students are able to work at their own pace. In some cases, there might be a scheduled lecture, but students can participate remotely from the comfort of their own desks.

For some people, the coronavirus pandemic was their first experience working remotely, but remote workers are not a new phenomenon. As the Internet has become more sophisticated over the past few decades, more people are able to skip the office altogether and report in from wherever they happen to be, whether a hotel, coffee shop or home office. More jobs are taking employees on the road, necessitating tools like video conferencing, remote access, virtual assistants, and file sharing.