Tag Archives: plus977

Smartphone killed the camera star

Posted on August 27, 2012 | 2 comments

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in July-Aug 2012 issue.

I own a smartphone, it is a Samsung Galaxy S2 and I have used its camera occasionally when I didn’t have my camera with me but I was so surprised to see many people use just their smartphones to take photos during my Europe tour. Most of the people on the tour had a Samsung, iPhone or HTC smartphone and they were using it to take the photos on entire trip. And don’t get me wrong, they were not young teenagers showing off their new toy but they all were 50+ mature people and they were making the best use of the phone. Most of them didn’t have any other camera with them.

I guess iPhone and Android phones have changed the electronics landscape and the point and shoot digital cameras are being replaced by smartphones. And it is easy to see why. For me the first and foremost reason would be the convenience of carrying only one device followed by an ever evolving technology market which is now able to provide higher resolution and quality photos using smartphones. Also, most people feel that they won’t need a separate camera if they have one already on the phone.

And to add the icing on the cake, there are thousands of apps available for both iPhones and Android phones which allowed photos to be manipulated and uploaded on social media websites and no one wants to be bothered with transferring images to a PC from a point-and-shoot and uploading them later.

I remember those days when there was a limitation on photos because buying films and developing them was so expensive. And the disappointment I used to feel when I realised that the expensive prints had half of my head chopped or were just blurry. Then the revolution came and digital cameras took over from the film cameras.

Digital cameras had a very interesting life cycle. Even though the first digital cameras was made in 1975 by Steven Sasson, it wasn’t widely used until the end of the twentieth century. First digital cameras used to be big but slowly with time, they became small and compact. I got my first digital camera only in 2004. It was a Sony slim version and I paid good AU $1200 (I know that sounds so expensive now) for that. Everyone who saw the camera was really impressed and I was so happy to have numerous photos taken without thinking about further cost. I still have that camera with me and it still works. The only fault with it now is, the battery life is too short and I am not very comfortable with its 2cm by 4 cm LCD screen.

Now things have changed so quickly that we can get a camera with a similar specification in less that AU$100. With AU$1200 today, I can buy nice SLR cameras. Just before our holiday, I went and bought another digital point and shoot camera and it was under AU$300. It has really great features and I am very happy with the photos.

Looks like a smartphone will be the only gadget we will need in a few years. It is already a music and video player, a GPS, a hand held computer, a camera, a camcorder and soon it is believed our phone will replace all the cards we carry around like driving licence and credit cards.

Personally, I am not looking forward to pack my point and shoot digital camera away yet. I still love to have a digital camera with me when I go away on a holiday. Smartphones are definitely very handy when you want to click something on the go but being a photo fanatic I definitely need my cameras on my holidays and smartphone cameras can’t replace it yet. I also realised that point and shoot cameras are much better than big SLR cameras when you need to get some random person to click photos of you and your partner but that can be a topic for discussion some other time.

2 Comments

Posted in Published, Technology

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Nepal doesn’t need to change, we do

Posted on August 25, 2012 | 12 comments

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in  July-Aug 2012 issue.   

Even though we are away from home, most of us are very passionate about our motherland NEPAL and we have a long list of things we think Nepal needs to change in order to make it better for the future.  We are very happy to jump into any conversation on what is wrong in Nepal and never far behind when voicing our opinion about how Nepali politicians are so wrong.  If I asked you to tell me one thing you would change in Nepal if you were in power for a day, I am sure, you would join the bandwagon of people who have dreamed to turn Nepal into Switzerland.

We all know that Nepal has failed to make a permanent constitution since 2007 and all the delay has not helped our pessimistic attitude towards Nepal. The decade long civil war, the bandhs, and the corruption in the government are not only making us disappointed but strengthening the idea in our head that Nepal definitely needs to change.

I am sure most of us remember Nepal as the only Hindu kingdom in the world and a country which could attract tourists from around the world with her natural beauty and peace. Then in a blink of the eyes, things changed dramatically. First, the Maoist civil war killed thousands of our brothers and sisters followed by the Royal massacre which killed our beloved King, Queen and princes along with many other royal family members and then the unstable governments that haven’t been able to agree upon a constitution even after 5 long years.

It is 2012 now and things seem to be going downhill in Nepal. The tourism industry is one of the main sources of foreign currency in Nepal and provides many people with employment. Once the world’s most sought-after destinations for tourism; Nepal has lost millions of dollars in income from the tourism industry due to the headlines around the world about its bandhs and the negative publicity. I have a few friends around me who have always wanted to visit Nepal but they fear to travel there due to the fear for their own safety.

Government websites like http://www.smartraveller.gov.au in Australia has a warning for Australian citizens who wish to visit Nepal. They state

  • We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in Nepal due to the uncertain political and security situation.
  • There have been violent incidents, including bomb attacks, at crowded locations and on public transport throughout the country.
  • Shortages of essential supplies (food, water, fuel, gas and kerosene for cooking) can occur with limited notice.
  • Black out (or load shedding) periods can have a significant impact on services, including in major tourist destinations. Crimes against foreigners, including tourists, such as assault and theft occur in Nepal due to the poor law and order situation.
  • Illegal roadblocks and enforced national or local strikes (bandhs) often occur without notice and may continue for lengthy periods resulting in the closure of businesses and vehicles not being allowed on the roads. At these times, access to the airport can be disrupted and taxis are not usually available.

If you are a tourist who is looking for a relaxing holiday away from home, would you choose a country which has so many problems? I definitely wouldn’t. I am not blaming smartraveller, as they have stated everything correctly in their website and are doing a great job of making the citizen of Australia aware about the real situation in Nepal.

This brings me to my point why there is still nothing wrong with Nepal. Nepal is still a very beautiful country and I still say this after I have seen a lot of countries around the world that attract tourist in the millions. The only problem right now is that we, the Nepali people, don’t appreciate her as much as we should.

Deforestation and land degradation is one of the biggest environmental problems in Nepal and people are responsible for that, not the country. There has been a loss of huge forest area which has resulted in floods, soil erosion, and stagnant agricultural output. At the same time population growth and improper use of agro-chemicals hasn’t help the environment either.

Political instability has become a huge problem for the country. The politicians need to realise that it is easy to say that they will make Nepal into Switzerland in a certain number of years but they have never paused to think how Switzerland became such great country. They fought so long and hard to established democracy in the country but they are fighting over power and money now when the country needs them most. While I was in Switzerland, I could imagine that if the infrastructure in Nepal, like better roads, could be developed then Nepal too could attract tourists like Switzerland. The thing we, the people, and also the politicians should understand is that there is no quick and easy way to success.

It is the country’s citizens who decide what the country will be like, for better or for worse and we as Nepalis seem to have followed the wrong path for a while now. Let me give you an example.  Most people heard that “If you spit in the streets of Singapore, you will be fined by the cops”. While on holiday in Singapore, I took a bus tour of the city and we had a Singaporean guide.  She was so passionate about her country that she made sure that the tourists in the bus followed all the rules while travelling with them; like not leaving the empty coffee or juice cups on the side of the road or no chewing gums as they are banned in Singapore. She was there enforcing all the rules that we normally expect cops to enforce. If every Singaporean has that attitude and love towards their country then definitely the country will prosper.

Now I ask you “Have you followed all the rules while you were in Nepal or enforced them on others?” If your answer is no then it is definitely time for us to change and take the responsibility of the country and guide it in the right direction. Many Nepalese who would never throw rubbish on the road or dare to break a traffic rule abroad will do it in Nepal without a second thought.

I just want to ask you a few simple questions:

Have you paid money to get your license?

Have you bribed government officials to expedite your work?

Have you bribed a traffic officer when he caught you doing an illegal U turn or speeding?

Have you bribed an airport official to take extra weight illegally or used someone with influence to make it happen? (Most of us going abroad are guilty of this one.)

There are many similar questions that I can ask but I’m sure you got my point. Be honest with yourself because your excuses are not good enough and you are contributing to the corruption in Nepal. You complain about the corruption and bad politicians of Nepal but when it comes to benefits for yourself, you don’t hesitate to bribe your way out. How can you be such a hypocrite? The worst part is that you would never do that in Australia, America or UK. You don’t hesitate in Nepal because you are confident that you can get away with it. I am not saying that I am a perfect citizen and I know most of are not but all of us need to change.

You might argue it is easy to maintain a country that is already in a good state but difficult to improve a country if it is in a bad state. I do agree with that but consider my previous example of Singapore. In the past Singapore had a big civil war between their Chinese, Indian and Malay citizens due to the difference in language, religion and culture but they rose above all those problems and came up with a solution to improve the country. Now they have four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. They celebrate every religion and have holidays for the Chinese New Year, Vesak Day, Deepavali, Hari Raya Haji (Eid) and Christmas as well. They are one of the most prosperous countries in the world now.

So there definitely is a solution to every problem and we, the Nepali people, have to see it and work towards it.

The next time you think Nepal needs to change, pause for a moment and think what you can do to make that change? Instead of gossiping about our politicians and their wrong doings, let’s start with something small around us that we can improve. As each brick added makes a house stronger, every improvement that we make, makes the country better. We need to make everyone around us aware that a country is made up of its citizens and they can make or break the country. Let’s take responsibility of our own actions and not blame others for the state of the country. If the government is doing something wrong, we need to understand that they too are Nepali citizens and we have the power to make or break the government too. I am sure we all have learnt that from our experience of democracy until now. We do not depend on people who govern the country, they depend on us.

Let’s all set realistic goals and contribute whatever we can for the betterment of Nepal.

12 Comments

Posted in Nepal, Published

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Published : Itchy feet

Posted on July 14, 2012 | 6 comments

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in  June-July 2012 issue.    

                                                                                   

I believe everyone in this world likes to travel. I know there are a few people who are scared of flying, like Whoopi Goldberg, but those people still love travelling. They just don’t want to fly so they may drive everywhere. If you ask me, I love travelling; actually I should say I have a passion for travelling. I have a long list of places I want to see before I die and the list keeps growing thanks to travel channels and the internet. My mum told me once that I have itchy feet and I totally agree with her. I will travel at any and every opportunity I can get and I am proud to say that I am living my dream.

If you are like me, you may also empathize with this, the most difficult part of having itchy feet is that every time you travel, it costs lots of time and money. Time, I can manage as I am lucky to have a job which has flexible time off options but money has always been a problem and I am sure it will be so in the future as well unless I win a multimillion dollar lotto. Come on, one can dream and who knows, it may come true.

So today I am going to share a few of my travel tips to allow your itchy feet to wander around the world a bit more.

Budget! Budget! Budget! If you want to go somewhere, start planning for it and start saving ahead of time. It might take months or years but if you plan ahead, one day you will get there. They say – Wish, Plan, and Proceed – and I believe that is what we need to do.

For all of us who call Nepal home, we make sure to visit our family and friends at least once every few years. We may go for few weeks or few months but we always make sure we go as often as possible. Normally we don’t consider that as a holiday but if you think about it you can plan and make it a holiday. Why? Because you are already spending so much time and money on travelling anyway that if you plan a bit , you can squeeze holiday in.

As there is no direct flight to Nepal (I wish there would be one soon, as I hate those long transits as much as you do), we are forced to change planes in either in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, India or Hong Kong. So if you are going to Nepal why don’t you use this opportunity to take a few days holiday in one of these countries where you have to transit anyway?

Singapore doesn’t require visas for Nepali nationals while other countries have easy visa process. They are quick and cheap. Just think about it when you travel to Nepal the next time. And if you have an Australian passport you probably won’t need a visa, making it easier to visit those countries. Just make sure you check about the visa requirements.

I am sure you will love each of these stopovers. Beaches in Thailand or Shopping in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC – the famous twin towers) in Malaysia or the Culture in India, you will definitely have some unique experience every time.

If you want to go one step further, take a hop from these stopover countries with Air Asia (or any other low cost carriers) and you can get to Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Maldives or Laos quite easily. The flights are not so expensive either. Just remember, if you are planning to do this, Air Asia has its counters outside the international terminal in most of the countries. It means that may need to pass immigration to reach these terminals and so you may require visa in your stopover country as well even though you do not leave the airport, so don’t forget to check that with your travel agent and also cross check with Air Asia.

One who plans well always saves money while travelling, so do your research. Don’t be bored about spending a few hours on the internet because this might save you heaps of dollars while on your holiday. My best friend has been Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.com.au) for a long time. There fellow travellers share their good and bad experience which has definitely helped me to make a better decision than I might have otherwise. Always look at more than one person’s opinion to make sure that you get a well-rounded picture of whatever you are researching.

If it is possible book your holiday at least 6 months or more in advance, especially air tickets. Most airlines have a number of different ticket types even in economy unless you are used to travelling business or first class. The cheaper seats are sold out first and they are limited. It might make hundreds of dollars of difference in your budget if you act early. This saving may allow you to extend your trip or put money towards other activities.

Sign up to get a newsletter/email from airlines and travel companies. I know it can be really annoying when you get heaps of emails when you are not planning for a holiday but if you are smart, you may get a great deal. Just make a folder in your inbox for all travel emails. Setup a rule in your email options to send this email directly to the travel folder so if you are not planning holidays, you don’t need to look at them but if you are then there may be some offers which you can use for your next trip.

Become a frequent flyer member with the airline you fly frequently. I am a member of Star Alliance as I fly Singapore and Thai a lot. The last time I went to Nepal, I had enough points to spend my 13 hours transit in their lounge with my husband. It was great with free internet, food, shower and a bed as well. Also you may be lucky and get priority for some service or even upgraded seats.

When you are on holiday keep a budget and try to stick to it but don’t count every penny. It may cost you $100 to go to the top of Burj Kalifa (the top of the tallest building in the world) but as you are in Dubai, you might as well do it (by the way if you buy it online beforehand it only costs around $25 so you save $75!). You will never be able to do these once in a lifetime things unless you go back to the same place again. Believe me; you will regret that in the future.

Travel domestically if you can’t go international. Australia has so many beautiful places that you can drive to. Just hop into the car and drive away. Also while in Nepal, just pick a place and have a family holiday. Your family will love it and you will get to spend more time with them as well and your pocket will love it too.

I think every traveller will tell you and I agree with it as well – There is no bad experience when you travel. Just keep an open mind and enjoy what that place/country has to offer. Don’t look for what you have every day. You are travelling because you want to experience something different. Enjoy new places, new people and new culture. Open your eyes and your heart to the world. You will be surprised what you discover around the next corner.

Bon Voyage!!!

Please click here to see my travel photos. 

6 Comments

Posted in Published, Travel

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Published : Let the Revolution begin!

Posted on June 18, 2012 | 2 comments

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in May- June 2012 issue.

If you were in Kathmandu in the mid 90’s, you must have fond memories of the time when FM (frequency modulation) radio was first introduced in Nepal. It was one of the best things that happened in that decade for people like me, who enjoyed a wide variety of music. Choosing between various music stations to listen to was a great treat and stations like Kantipur FM,HITS FM, Classic FM, and Image FM paved the path for all other FM stations to come.

At that time, two brothers who called themselves Rhythm Brothers also made their impact on the FM front with their captivating voice, witty sense of humour and good personalities. It was their playful shenanigans that saw them climb to the top of the ratings chart and claim recognition as the modern day voice of FM radio.

I used to love them as they were presenters who could make you listen, rather than just hear and their programs were largely unscripted and instead, consisted of real chitchat and impromptu humour unlike some other programs in which it felt like the RJs were just reading from a paper.  I still remember the evenings with load shedding, when I had used battery operated radio just to listen to them; and Music Jam used to brighten up my evening. It was one of the best programs of its time and the brothers were able to make their mark on everyone’s memory.

Then I finished high school and decided to come to Australia. The day I came to Sydney, I missed a lot of things from home like my family, Nepalese food but I also missed listening to the show. It made me wish that it would have been so much better if I had an opportunity to listen to the show from here as well but unfortunately it was not possible.

Not until now that is. Yes you heard me right, now Asish and Prasan Syangden along with Manoj KC and Cabinet Shrestha have started a new radio station in Nepal and they named it very aptly, calling it REVOLUTION RADIO. In short it is also know as RVL Radio.

Talking to Asish about how they came up with this new concept for radio in Nepal, he said “Me and Prasan, and Manoj (from 1974AD) hit on the idea of online radio in Manoj’s room. We were just talking about radios and how things have become monotonous in this area and that we wanted to do something new.” As great ideas are always appreciated, they were joined by Cabinet Shrestha when he heard the concept and they expanded form the home studio to Moksh complex in Jhamsikel.

They worked really hard to convert their concept into reality and recently launched the radio station with a grand party called “Revolution at Moksh”. It was a black carpet (yes, not red carpet) event attended by many influential people of Nepal. It was a magnificent event introducing Revolution Radio followed by musical performances of Hemant Rana, Albatross, Subani Moktan, 1974 AD and Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory.

Revolution Radio has music for every taste from dance numbers, blues, metal, Nepali adhunik, Nepali folk, pop and rock music. They have live broadcasting from 7 am-11 am (12.15 pm to 4.15 pm Sydney time) everyday in the morning and the same time in the evenings as well. They are focusing not only on the audience in Nepal but also on people around the globe especially Australia,USA,UK and the Middle East.

I have been listening to them during my lunch breaks for a few weeks now and I’m loving it. The sound quality is really good and they play a great range of songs. It is easy to interact with them via Facebook, twitter or Skype. You can even have a peek at the studio from their RevCam.

The voices behind the revolution radio are:

  • Asish Syangden
  • Prasan Syangden
  • Samriddhi Rai
  • Elisha Scarlet Shrestha
  • Yanik Shrestha
  • Bhadrayo Chari
  • Sumeet Sigdel,
  • Sumita Gurung  and
  • Dj PhuCHheY
  • Monica Jha
  • Pretty Limbu

So don’t forget to tune in to Revolution Radio, I bet you will love it. Please visit their website www.rvlradio.com for more information.

They are powered by SUBISU Cablenet and partner with The Himalayan Times Kathmandu Conservatory, AGNI Incorporated Pvt.LTD.

2 Comments

Posted in Published

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Published: Facebook Generation

Posted on June 15, 2012 | 6 comments

Please read the previous post if you haven’t don’t so already.

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in May- June 2012 issue.

We are the Facebook generation. If you are like me and millions of others then you have Facebook, Twitter, Skype and even a Blog. You can’t pass a single day without surfing the internet and LOL,XOXOand BRB are the most used words, if I may call them so, in your conversation. And you can’t imagine your life without your smart phone and definitely not without internet.

Facebook has changed the way we communicate with our friends and family. It has allowed us to be in touch with our friends and look at their lives in pictures or even videos. In my case, it has reunited me with my friends from my Kindergarten / preschool after 20 years and Facebook has helped me keep in touch with my cousins and relatives who live in different countries. I even became friends with my husband’s relatives in Facebook long before meeting then physically.

With its “What’s on your mind?” question (status update), it has allowed me to know how my friends were feeling and made it easy to wish someone a “Happy Birthday” which I would have never done otherwise and same goes with sharing photos. I used to email photos to multiple people before but now all I have to do is upload them in Facebook and tag the people I want to share the photos with. You know your friends have viewed the photos when you get likes and comments on them.

I have received the news that someone got engaged, married, had a baby, went on a holiday or even died (I am serious) via Facebook. These news would have never made it to my ears (or eyes in this case) if it was not for Facebook so I have to thank Facebook for all that. Also, I have used Facebook’s events function to invite people for birthdays. As everyone I needed to invite to the event was already in Facebook, it just made my planning a lot easier. It has an RSPV option which allowed me to keep track of the guests easily.

Twittering, Blogging and Skyping are a few other things apart from Facebooking that we think are an essential part of our life like the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. We feel we cannot live without them.

Twittering and following the tweets of celebrities and unknown people, writing a blog to an unknown audience and Skyping instead of talking on the phone has made our life super busy these days as it takes time to manage all our social networks.

So in this busy virtual life have you ever paused for a second and thought about the people in your life, the REAL people, yes I am not talking about your Facebook friends but the real flesh and blood people, friends, family, colleagues, neighbours, people you see every day, people you used to know and who had been an important part of your life. 

Do you have anyone in your life with whom you used to pick up a phone and talk that you stopped because you are so busy with your virtual life now? 

Do you have friends who live overseas and you used to write an email frequently but now stopped writing your emails since they are in your Facebook? 

Do you feel better when someone calls to ask you about your holiday or do you feel better if they comment on your photos on Facebook?

I am asking these questions because I used to be very active on Facebook. I went through a phase (which many of you may identify with) when I felt like I was judged on the number of friends I had in Facebook. It put a lot of pressure on me to accept requests from anyone just so that I could push the number of “friends” ever higher. I have never accepted a request from a total stranger but I have from people who I had just met once and may never meet again in my life. I felt good and popular to have so many “friends”.

I wanted comments and posts on my wall and thought I definitely needed to maintain my Facebook page to keep in touch with former classmates, and relatives who live far away from me. I tried to chat whenever I was online and post regular updates to let them know how my life was rolling. I used to like and comment on other’s posts and photos regularly. I spent lots of time doing this.

Then there was a game called Farmville I played on Facebook. There were many games and still are but this was the one I got hooked on. It was simply too addictive. I actually used to time my life around it and even put alarms to remind me that I have to login and play the game. I spent a lot of time ploughing, harvesting this virtual Farm for points and rewards.

The game started on the lowest level so you wanted to complete it to get to the next one and then the next after that and so on. The game showered you with all these virtual animals and gifts so you can keep going. You even got ribbons that made you feel special. I swear, one time, I spent 3 hours moving my animals and trees to make the farm bigger so I could have extra plots to plant more virtual crops. I was literally becoming a farmer spending so much time on the game. If I had a real farm I’m sure I would have made a lot of money from those produce I grew at the farm.

When I talked to people around me, it was not only me who had that craze. Many of my friends were guilty of this and I saw lots of Status on Facebook saying “Can someone please gift me a horse”, “Why is no one sending me any pigs?” Pigs and Horses were all you thought of all day long. And they weren’t even real! 

Can you believe there were people in this world even crazier than me about the game? They were making cheat sheets for the game and forums were flooded with the questions on how to make points easily so that you could climb up the levels and beat your friends. Also people were spending real money to buy virtual stables or pagodas. God, could we be any more unreal?

That’s the day when lightning struck me (metaphorically of course or I wouldn’t be writing this would I?) I asked myself – “What was I doing with my time on Facebook? Why did I have to be number one among my friends in this stupid game?” I also had no real desire for all of my Facebook friends to know that I went on a holiday or what I liked or who I was with. That day I went and cleaned up my Facebook. I organised my Facebook friends into groups according to their importance in my life. I made sure only a few people who really mattered to me could really see what I did.

Ideally, I should have deleted anyone who was not a part of my life anymore and kept only a few as my friends but I admit I was too chicken to delete them. I didn’t want to hurt their feelings. I was quite sure they wouldn’t notice but I kept thinking about the small percentage who would.

I realised that in real life I have only a handful of friends that I can count on, which means all 300+ friends that I had in my Facebook were not real friends, just people I know. They won’t be there when I need help or advice. They don’t feel sorry when I am down and won’t support me when I need a hand, so should I share my personal thoughts, feelings and my life with these strangers? My answer was definitely a big fat NO.

“I had the most wonderful meal today. :)”, “I went to a spa today.” and so on are just some examples of the Status updates that you can read every day on Facebook. Do you think anyone out there is really interested in that kind of information about your life? Do you care what time your friends wake up, where they go to, what they eat for breakfast, who they are hanging out with? If you don’t really care, do you think anyone else cares about your Status updates?

When I was doing a First Aid Training the other day, the trainer pointed out to us that in case of an emergency (touch wood it never happens) if you need to comfort anyone who is in distress, just go and hug them, as a hug works to calm a person. Real human touch always has magic that no words you type or any comments on Facebook can even compare to. I realised then that we are losing touch with real human bonding due to this virtual social networking.

Another thing that bothers me is the privacy on these social networking sites. I am an IT professional, so I use all my skills to take major precautions to avoid the privacy pitfalls that are ever present on the internet.  I feel sorry for people out there who post all their details on social networking sites without knowing the risks that they face. Putting personal information on Facebook or online in general is not safe and can make you a victim of identity theft and cyber crimes.

Many people will like to have strict control over their personal information which is difficult if you are on Facebook, unless you are very careful not to divulge them. We all like to make sure our personal information is only visible to our trusted friends, not the whole world but the constant updates and frequent changes made by Facebook has made it difficult to keep control of the privacy of our information on Facebook.

First and foremost always be aware of what you are sharing online and with whom. You can edit the privacy option in Facebook so if you have not done so already please go and edit it to make your personal information secure. Make sure your contact information is private and control who can access your information like photos, wall information and status updates. It is easy to stop sharing information with total strangers. If you don’t know how, just Google it and you should find tutorials on how to do it. Be aware and alert every moment.

Someone wise once said, “We realise the value of time only once we are old” so let’s balance our life and utilise our time from now so we don’t regret it in the future. There is no harm in being on Facebook but also make sure you have friends you can connect to outside of it. Call a friend instead of leaving a comment on their post, try to hug a friend instead of “poking” them on Facebook and definitely have a few real friends than just the hundreds of virtual friends online. We should always admire and appreciate what is innovative so there is nothing wrong in building your social networks on Facebook but don’t forget the real world while you are chasing the virtual one.

6 Comments

Posted in Published

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,