Travelling to meet family members for the holidays almost always means if you happen to be the computer literate of the family, that a family member will ask you to look at their computer, laptop or mobile phone. Well, before you leave your home, for whatever activity you’ve got planned, I suggest you check out my list of things people like to do while online:
1. Research
On the internet you will find an infinite amount of information, where you can learn something new and anything that tickles your fancy. You will find literally anything on the internet.
- Wikipedia is one of the best examples of a community-driven website that contains a wealth of useful information generated by its visitors.
- On the internet, you will find thousands of books that have been scanned and made available online.
2. Install Security Software
The internet security software that you decide to install on your computer or the system of a family member is totally up to you, your only priority should be that there is some kind of security on the system, because you can never trust what lurks on the internet. Such software will also minimise any damage in the event that your system or the system is infected with a malicious file.
When you are certain your system is secure, with the appropriate software, your next job should be to ensure that it is working as it should. This can be done by ensuring it’s up-to-date with the latest virus definitions.
3. Webcam
With the advent of webcams, people can now take a peek into any and all parts of the world. You can find thousands of different online webcam sites that house millions of users.
- Earth Cam is amongst one of the most popular of its kind and a good place for you to start if you’re looking for webcams all over the world.
4. Update Browser
The vast majority of web browsers today, will update itself, and restart, whenever a later version has been made available. But if you’re using an outdated browser, one that is so old that it does not update by itself, then you may want to consider doing the needful today.
Maybe your browser has extensions that could be malicious in nature, or extensions that you have never bothered to update till today. Today is as good a time as any to fine-tune your browser, updating it, removing and upgrading your extensions etc.
5. Radio or Stream Audio
Another really great service on the internet is audio streaming and internet radios. Today you will find that most of the very best audio player programs, such as Winamp, Windows Media Player and iTunes player, come with their own radio feature. Through this feature, you will be able to listen to radio stations from around the world. There are tons of different options, depending on what you’d like to listen to.
6. Run a Speed Test
This may not be something you had in mind, but while everything is working as it should, you may want to visit SpeedTest.net to run a bandwidth test. You can go a step further and do full benchmark tests of your computer. It may not seem necessary at first glance, but the reality is that it will give you a better framework for which to work, when the topic of upgrading your system comes up.
If you know how fast your broadband speeds should normally be, then you’ll be able to better determine when your broadband isn’t running as fast as it should; you’ll also be able to determine whether your hardware or the ISP is to blame. If you know how hot your CPU actually runs at, you will be able to know when it is overheating. Jotting down notes of all the results you’ve received will help you later when attempting to fix a problem on your computer.
7. Find and Purchase Music
With MP3 files, downloadable music files have become one of the most popular things for people to do online. There are many different services that you can find that will allow you to LEGALLY download music to your computer.
8. Install a Remove Management Tool
When it comes to being the tech-savvy one in the family, one of the best things that you can do is install Team Viewer on your family member’s computers. My relatives don’t often require my help, but when they do, it’s much easier for me to remotely connect to their computers and see what’s happening on their computer, and then instruct them on how to fix it. This is especially helpful when attempting to guide them through the use of a program that I’ve never used before.
If Team Viewer is not your kind of program, then there are plenty of alternatives that you can use to carry out the same task. It works as a much better alternative to attempting to help them via the phone or some other inconvenient and uncomfortable way.
–AUTHOR INFO—
Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website where he writes extensively on computer related issues.
Author: Uchenna Ani Okoye
Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website where he writes extensively on computer related issues.
