Is it possible to live without the internet? I know that the internet is everywhere these days, but I find so much of it to be a waste of time. It distracts me from the work I should be doing. I know this sounds crazy, but I am not sure the internet is all that useful to individual people. I know it helps big corporations and stuff, but what good is it for me?
We use the internet for almost everything these days: from ordering food to landing a date, our most basic personal and recreational needs now live online. But the internet is also full of noise and distractions. It wastes our time and fills our screens--and our minds--with frivolous things. In fact, the internet sometimes seems adept at hiding its own usefulness. There are impressive tools on the web that many of us don’t even know exist--which is why we’re here today to remind you of the websites and internet tools that you should be using.
The “information superhighway” has always been about, well, information--but the stuff that you need isn’t always available. The key to getting information on the internet is to stick with reliable sources. There are plenty of blogs and personal websites out there that purport to share valuable information--but which, in fact, provide misinformation, misleading “facts,” and outright lies.
Lucky for you, there are also some websites that provide a broad range of reliable information. You probably can think of a few online encyclopedias and directories that are worth using. And then there’s the aptly named Information.com: your source for--what else?--information online. Information.com’s sweeping selection of reliable info will satisfy even the most curious.
The internet brings plenty of dangers with it, but it also offers plenty of ways to stay secure. Investing in online services to protect your identity and financial security is a good idea: Lifelock and its competitors are easy to find online, and make a great place to start. You could also consider getting a VPN, which helps anonymize your internet traffic, making you less vulnerable to being followed by online ads (and making you less visible to the prying eyes of your own internet service provider).
The internet can help protect you in “real life,” too. Take Go Look Up, a service that you can use to perform an online background check. From hiring a new employee to going on a date with someone you met online, there are plenty of situations that might inspire you to grab an online background check. Knowing the internet tools that provide this service reliable can be invaluable.
The internet is home to a wealth of affordable e-retailers--just look at Amazon, the massive e-commerce company that is changing the way we shop. But saving money on the internet isn’t just about buying super-cheap stuff from big e-commerce sites. You can also use tools on the internet to ensure that you’re spending the right amount of cash at the right places.
Online review sites, for instance, are a great resource for intelligent shopping. You may not buy a washing machine every day, but online reviews can tell you which appliance stores are trustworthy and which brands of washing machine will last the longest. Check out both crowdsources review sites like Yelp and curated sites like Consumer Reports’ trusted page.
The internet can also tell you how much to spend on something. Price-tracking tools can help you recognize a good deal when you see one by showing you how much a purchase would cost you. Look for rhythms and patterns in price fluctuations, or just use a price-tracking tool to tell you when an Amazon listing has hit an all-time low price!
The internet is full of cat videos and dumb message boards, and it has created plenty of problems. But it is also full of solutions, both to the problems it has created and the problems that predated it. By using reliable internet resources, you can have ready access to information, protect yourself on the internet and in person, and become a more effective shopper.
“We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.” - Stephen Hawking