Http://me

Amit Gupta, from India, is an MSc student studying Management of Technology. (Photo: webcam)

“My joy knew no bounds when I received my first computer way back in 1997, running the 16-bit operating system, Windows 3.1. Preloaded games like
minesweeper and solitaire remained a favourite past time then. Simple things like the colour display, screensavers and logos, programmes like the calculator and paint, caught my attention as a kid, initially. I thought I couldn’t be more amazed with what the computer can offer, until ‘the internet’ happened.
My first internet connection was made through a dial-up internet modem. I still remember me and my younger brother waiting for someone to pick up the call when we dialed to connect for the first time. Internet did not draw my attention at all until I started to learn its various features. Now it is a daily part of my life. It’s quite tough for me to imagine how to put a computer or a phone to good use without internet. Communication, gaming, movie streaming, music and everything imaginable has now become so fast as well as easily accessible.
Nowadays my online activity has increased more than ever. For my thesis at hand, I use websites to find and read relevant articles. I also use ‘FastVoip’ to stay in touch with family and friends back in India. It offers very cheap calling rates. Besides the many social networking websites, news and music/video websites, I closely follow gadget news. Sites like cnet, tweakers and techcrunch are of course on the list as main tech news providers, but a probably less-known website like pocketnow, which provides the latest updates on phones, is also on my list.
While so many sites exist with all kinds of news, one can easily lose track as to what one wants to actually read. ‘StumbleUpon’ is very handy in this case, as it helps you find what you want and recommends web content based on choices you make. With web content one can think of videos, web pages, and photos all personalized and customized as per one’s own interest and taste. It’s true that sometimes the internet knows exactly what you would like, more than yourself.”

My favorites:

• www.stumbleupon.com
• pocketnow.com
• www.cnet.com
• watchseries.eu/letters