Exchanging Information

Exchanging Information

1. E-mail

   • Electronic mail and we use it communicate to others and share information
   • Advantages
     • Free, unlike letters which cost to post/send
     • Very quick, compared to letters which take a minimum of 24hours to reach the recipient
     • Can be sent to anyone in the world as long as they have internet access, this is good because you can communicate with people in different countries
   • Disadvantages
     • You can get viruses from e-mail attachments, these can ruin your whole computer
     • You often get lots if spam emails
     • The person you wish to send the e-mail to must have internet access, so you cannot communicate with everyone

2. Instant Messaging

   • Advantages
     • Allows you to send messages both quickly and in real time so the recipient can reply instantly
     • You can have group chats allowing you to more than one person collectively at the same time
     • You can send pictures and videos for free
   • Disadvanatges
     • Anyone can send you messages which means you may not know who they are and they could be dangerous

3. Fax

   • This is a system that normally uses telephone lines to send images of documents to others

4. How to stay safe

   • Anti-virus
   • Firewall
   • Hard Password
   • Don't share passwords
   • Dont use other peoples details
   • Dont give away your information especially to people you don't know

5. Web browsing

   • Collection of little pages
   • Software application that displays web pages

6. Navigation aids

   • Buttons used to help browse web pages
     • Refresh
     • Back
     • Home

7. Search Engines

   • Directory Based
     • Allows you to type something in and search for it
   • Hybrid Search
     • Uses different types of data to search for results
   • Boolean Search
     • Specific operators such as 'and' 'or' and 'not' to recognise your search

8. Using the internet for information

   • Advantages
     • A wide variety of information is available
     • Information is quickly and easily found compared to using books
     • Information is easily stored and used again as it is already in an electronic format
     • Doesn't cost much compared to other sources of information such as books
   • Disadvantages
     • Lots of information is provided and lots of it may not be useful to you
     • Some information may not be appropriate
     • Some information may be false

9. Video Confrencing

   • This is used to connect two or more persons over a network or the internet so that they can see and hear eachother. Its essential to have the appropriate hardware and software for it to work
   • Advantages
     • Easy to contact employees who are far from the office
     • You save money because you don't have to spend money on travelling to meetings
     • Time is saved as you do not have to travel to a conference because video confrences can be held anywhere at anytime
   • Disadvantages
     • Very expensive equipment is required for the cinfrence to work so does cost quite a substantial amount of money
     • Different time zones around the world make it hard to contact in normal working hours
     • A good connection is required aswell in order for the conference to be held otherwise the video will cut out

10. Social Networking Dangers

    • Cyber-Bullying
    • Some people have false identities and pretend to be someone they are not
    • Hackers can post personal information online

11. Weblogs

    • Some people like to write down their activities on a website for others to read giving a commentary on what they have been doing
    • Weblogs or ‘blogs’ can have pictures or video but most are text-based and written by individuals so that their friends can follow their lives

12. File Sharing & Document Sharing

    • Sharing of a document by e-mail and can be made available online to download
    • Whole documents can be shared online so that many users are able to check, edit and update

13. E-commerce

    • The internet allows individuals and companies to buy and sell items, goods and services online
    • Advantages
      • You are able to provide to more people. Having a physical store restricts some people from buying your goods, whereas an online store means you do not have to live in a particular area
      • Having an online store is more cost effective because you don't have to pay for electricity, rent, gas etc.
      • Many websites allow people to review products allowing customers to have more confidence before buying the product
    • Disadvantages
      • Customers may cautious of buying online as they might believe it is not reliable
      • Some people may not have access to the internet

14. Functions of an operating system

    • Deals with the transfer of programmes in and out of memory
    • Organises the use of memory between programs
    • Maintains security and access rights of users