Tag: online

Online shopping or Offline shopping?

Who doesn’t love shopping? Shopping is therapeutic. Everytime we go for shopping, our mood changes. We get excited when we get our hands on the things we have wished for. The sense of happiness that we experience is something so different. Human wants are endless and so are the reasons to shop.

These days there has been a debate going on, whether online shopping is better or offline shopping. However, both modes of shopping has its own pros and cons. People have not taken over just one mode of shopping rather they prefer both based on their convenience. Of course, it cannot be denied that online shopping has quite a bit threatened the functioning of offline retail stores.

Online Shopping

With easy access to Internet, we are just a few clicks away to get what we want. Online shopping is undoubtedly a relaxing and convenient mode of shopping. Right from clothes to groceries, digital gadgets to crafted products, almost everything can be purchased online. Especially in the time of pandemic, online shopping has bloomed greatly. People prefer to use online shopping platforms to get their essentials delivered rather than going out and risking their lives. However, online shopping has its own pros and cons.

Pros of online shopping

∆ When shopping online we can get our hands on a variety of products at the same time. We can buy clothes, ornaments, shoes etc at once without having to hop here and there.

∆ We can easily find branded and imported products online without any difficulty.

∆ There is no particular time to shop online. We can place our order at any time of the day and at any day of the week.

∆ Sometimes, in different shopping applications the prices of the same product varies. In that case we can make a comparison and buy from the pocket friendly app.

∆ When shopping online, the ordered products gets delivered right at our doorstep which definitely is a great advantage of shopping online.

∆ We can filter our choices and preferences to narrow down the search so that we can view only those types of products we are looking for.

∆ In online shopping platforms, some or the other discounts goes on everyday that allows the buyers to shop at a lower price.

∆ A buyer can confirm the quality and authenticity of the products by looking at the reviews and ratings provided by other buyers of the same products.

Cons of online shopping

∆ The products takes a long time to get delivered. Sometimes, due to prolonged delivery the buyer might face certain problems.

∆ Because we cannot touch or see the product we are buying in real, there might be some issues with the quality or size of the product. Every brand has different size and quality and so it is difficult to identify the quality and the accurate size of the product we order.

∆ Sometimes, the picture of the product that we buy may be deceptive. We might receive something which not at all look like the one we have seen online. Getting what we didn’t order would be a disappointment. The disappointment would be worst if no ‘return’ facility is provided for that product. It would be a sheer waste of money.

∆ With increasing rates of cyber crimes online shoppers have become the soft targets of the criminals. The bank details of the online shoppers might get hacked which indeed creates a big problem.

Offline Shopping

Offline shopping is the traditional mode of shopping. This mode of shopping has its own unique charm. Despite the popularity of online shopping, offline shopping has still survived. People often roam around the streets with their friends and families adding life to the shops and social relationships are established between the customers and shopkeepers. Offline Shopping too has its own pros and cons.

Pros of offline shopping

∆ When we buy from a physical store, we can buy the products after closely inspecting the quality of it. We can take a trial of the things be it clothes, shoes etc that we wish to buy so that we don’t regret the purchase.

∆ If by any chance, after the purchase we do not like the product, we can easily return or exchange it.

∆ We need not wait for a long time to get the products we buy. We can immediately get it after we pay the price of the product to the shopkeeper.

∆ No offline shopper buys something without bargaining. The customers enjoy it.

∆ If we suddenly get an invitation to attend an event and we want to look presentable, the only option that strikes our mind is to shop from an offline retail store. We can immediately rush to the market and buy a dress, shoe, jewellery or any such things that we need without any delay.

Cons of offline shopping

∆ Offline shopping can be tiresome. Sometimes people spend their whole day hopping from one shop to another to buy the product they want and still not find it. In that case, it would be a waste of time and energy. To return home empty hand after spending hours in the market can be frustrating.

∆ Markets are a crowded area. Too many people getting into a shop can disrupt shopping fun. Waiting at a shop for a long time to get bills paid is not liked at all. People generally prefer to shop in a peaceful environment without much hassle.

∆ Limited branded clothes are accessible in offline stores.

∆ Buying from an offline store can be expensive most of the times. Customers find the same product online at a much lower price.

Inter – relation between online and offline shopping

Although both the modes of shopping has its own advantages and disadvantages yet there is an inter – relation between the two. Some offline retail store put up their products online for the customers to purchase. This way they earn a good amount of profit.

No mode of shopping can completely overpower the other. Both plays their unique role in providing services to people. People use both the modes as per their preferences and convenience. However, be it online or offline, it cannot be denied that shopping brings a smile on the face of the people. Yes, it is no less than a therapy.

The online exam option

The Government has announced that class 12 CBSE exams have been cancelled for the year 2021. The steps which follow is to create a “well-defined objective criterion” in a time-bound manner. It is safe to assume that many states will follow suit, and cancel their respective state exams for class XII based on the situation.  The media has stated that this is an appropriate and bold decision. But there are always two sides of the coin.

Cancellation of the exams can have several repercussions and severely impact the students, the educational authorities and the nation as a whole. Issues like college admissions and student results need to be discussed and decisions taken need to run parallel with not only the present, but also the future, since we do not know when the situation may get better.

Firstly, what could be this well defined objective criterion that is proposed by the authorities? Marks of the class X board examinations ? Evaluation of students by teachers? None of the above can test the actual knowledge the student possesses.

There are already notices issued by the Delhi High Court to the CBSE, Centre to re-approach their final decision to use marks attained in internal assessment of respective schools for class X board examination marks. Fact is that evaluations will always be subjective and educational authorities will try to reward their students with more marks, hence leading marks inflation across the state.

Instead, new educational norms can be created in the current situation which can be implemented even after Covid as a more effective way to help students. One example can be that students should be continuously monitored throughout the year. Technology provides, “Learning Management Systems” for such evaluations. Hence, the student can learn new things instead of studying for 8 hours a day during the last month before exams. If positive results are attained, final year examinations can be scrapped off completely, since it’s a burden to the students.

Truth is, we had ample time to look at the mistakes of the educational systems and the loopholes of effective management of examinations during the pandemic. JEE, NEET, CET and other such national and state level exams can be used as examples, to conduct offline exams in an appropriate fashion.

Cancellation of exams can have a serious impact on students mentally. Imagine you start preparing for your 10th board exams from 9th standard or the start of 10th standard. Your ultimate goal is to secure a good score in the final exams and get a seat in your dream college. Now, the exams get cancelled. Students will be judged on the internal exams conducted by the college or the school.

It’s very wrong to assume that internal exams in college test the skills and patience of the student the same way final exams do. A student may not score well in internals, but may be very prepared for boards. This does not give us a proper system to acknowledge the knowledge and skills of each student.

The fact that all this was not even explored and we instead went for the softer option of complete cancellation of exams is unfortunate. Official justification for the decision is that it is meant to safeguard student’s health. The government must seriously explore all the possible options so that we don’t find ourselves in the same situation in the coming years.

Cryptocurrency

What is this crytocurrency that everybody is talking about? In simple words, it is digital currency in encrypted form. Money transaction is processed and validated through data mining. As of now, using crypto currency is a very complex process. Still, it is becoming popular in recent times worldwide.

Here, money transaction is carried out between two parties only.Hence there is no third party involvement. After validation and processing through data mining,it is kept in public ledgers but the transactions are kept confidential.Once a transaction is validated, miners get this crypto currency as reward.

Litecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum ,Pipple are some examples of cryptocurrency. Out of this, Bit coin is the most popular crypto currency.

Cryptocurrency works on Block Chain Technology, which is a decentralised technology spread across many computers that manages and records transactions.

There are more than 4000 cryptos worldwide as of now. It’s users are called miners. This virtual currency is exchanged over the internet and uses cryptography as a means of security. There is no central authority to manage this system and it is immune to government interference.It is highly confidential and totally decentralised person to person payment method. All the transactions and accounts can be traced but the owner accounts are usually not easily traceable.

International money transfer can also be done through crypto. As it is becoming popular nowadays, it’s value is getting increased. Some people even use it for investment purposes. A large number of individuals and businesses have started using this. Many online websites also accept virtual currencies as payment.

Bitcoin is a premier crytocurrency created by Satoshi Nakatomo on 31 st October, 2008. It is pseudonomous and is controlled by users called bitcoin miners. These miners use different computer program and resources to solve highly complicated mathematics problems and get a number of bitcoins in exchange. They do this by verifying transactions and adding them to a public ledger called Blockchain. It holds the transaction history of all bitcoins in circulation. These miners keep the network secure and ensure that all systems are synchronized together. Those miners who help to accurately track the transactions and maintain network are rewarded with cryptos.

Ripple or XRP is an open source digital payment platform. Here money can be transferred in actual currency or cryptocurrency. XRP is used as a bridge currency to settle cross border payment in a faster and cheaper manner.

The cryptocurrency has neither been made legal nor banned. In India, they are not in use legally. Experts are advising on shutting down its trading. Likewise, other major countries are thinking of banning cryptocurrencies. So we have to wait and watch if the crypto will become the future of transactions or goes away for good.

Impact of Online Learning

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted all the sectors of society, most importantly, the educational institutions. Schools and colleges are closed in most parts of the country and the government has been encouraging online learning as a method to smoothly continue the education of all students. High-end schools and colleges have managed to conduct this transition from offline to online learning very efficiently. However, for many schools and colleges in our country, this still remains a herculean task.

The challenges of online learning are multifaceted. It’s time for the people to understand all the aspects of this new educational change; the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good

Online learning helps students go beyond the content taught in class, and help access content on all global platforms and learn the niche of the field they are pursuing. This helps students learn at their own pace, time and schedule. Students can learn from the comfort of their homes, and hence no travel issues are faced.

Students also gain access to recorded lectures, which helps them clear their doubts, as they can always re-watch the videos whenever they want. For some others, who find learning in a large classroom intimidating, this helps them to learn in a relaxed manner. However, when online learning goes from being optional to being the standard form all throughout the nation, which is when it becomes a problem.

The bad

For students reading this article, answer this question. How many of you all keep your videos on during the lectures? I am certain that the numbers will be really less. This is one of the major obstacles faced during online learning. No face to face interaction,

The teacher finds it very hard to conduct their lectures, if they are not able to interact and talk to the students. Sometimes, teachers struggle with the technical aspects of online teaching and are not able to teach as well as they could have, if lectures were taking place in the institution itself. The students’ attention span is limited, and they can’t focus for hours on the laptop/phone, listening to the teachers.

Also the fun aspect of education i.e. educational field trips, experiments, interaction with friends, canteen and lunch breaks and basically all school memories cannot be experienced with online learning. Hence, this inhibits the holistic and overall development of the child, and limits the creativity and imagination of the students.

The Ugly

Students have to connect with the teachers through electric devices i.e. phones and laptops. However, this poses as a problem in rural areas where many people don’t own any devices as such.

While India enjoys a wide geographic and cultural diversity, it also suffers from a huge socio-economic divide. Only a small part of the Indian population has access to online education right now. Interrupted power supply, weak or non-existent internet connectivity, and unaffordability to buy necessary devices are major concerns. ​

That is not all. With limitations of livelihood in a family, the first ones to receive a blow are often girls. In a recent survey of 733 students studying in government schools in Bihar, only 28% of the girls had smartphones in their homes, in contrast to 36% of the boys. These smartphones almost always belonged to male adults, often being lesser accessible to girls than boys, and half of these families could not afford internet data packages.

Hence, immediate measures should be taken to ensure that online learning can be accessed by every single student to ensure that the pandemic does not disrupt the education of the youth.

What Role Do Cookies and Privacy Policies Play in Data Breach? (Part-3)

GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION

According to the General Data Protection Regulation, there will be only one way for all businesses operating in Europe to comply with all data protection regulations starting in May 2018.

Stronger rules on data protection mean,

  • Individuals have more influence over their personal information.
  • A level playing field benefits companies.

The GDPR establishes seven guidelines for the lawful processing of personal data. The collection, arrangement, structuring, storage, modification, consultation, usage, contact, mixture, limitation, erasure, or destruction of personal data are all examples of processing. As a result, the seven values are as follows:

  1. Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency
  2. Purpose limitation
  3. Data minimization
  4. Accuracy
  5. Storage limitation
  6. Integrity and confidentiality(security)
  7. Accountability

Principles are the center of the GDPR; they guide regulations and compliant processing.

Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) suggested a realistic alternative that is similar to this (GDPR). It would only happen if a technical company creates software that does not monitor users by default and offers them the option to “opt-out.” Instead, the consumer could willingly “opt-in” to be monitored in order to receive targeted advertising. As a result, privacy is the default setting. A mishmash of mentioned methods with GDPR directives may also be a viable solution. Even if users “opt in” for surveillance, they should be given the name and contact information for the organisation that is tracking them, as well as the option to “opt out.” A price for the users’ personal data, if they ask for it, may be a design that protects the user’s privacy.

CONCLUSION

Cookies allow others to see your information. When people Google how to take data from cookies, they will learn how to do so. Several videos and websites will assist in the extraction of knowledge. People sometimes disregard privacy policies because they are lengthy. Many applications will take advantage of it because people embrace it without even looking at it. Normal people can protect themselves from hackers by using private servers like FreedomBox. In Europe, there are also rules that assist citizens in gaining control of their data and preventing it from being leaked. We should be protected from these dangers, and we should not allow strangers into our private lives without our permission.

The Modern Problem of Cyberbullying

 

In this technology-saturated era, communication and trade have moved online and with the pandemic, we will see an increase in the number of people who use online platforms for their everyday activities which hitherto relied on other physical materials. This has various advantages and has greatly accelerated the process of the entire world becoming a global village. However, it is also important to note that scammers, frauds, unethical hacking, and cybercrimes are on the rise. One of the major problems faced in virtual spaces is cyberbullying. It is not a new phenomenon but with more of our everyday interactions going to be virtual, it is important that we know what it is and how we are to handle it.

Cyberbullying refers to the practice of bullying over digital devices such as phones or laptops, and electronic means such as via text, SMS, or on social media and public forums. It is also known as cyber-harassment and is akin to the kind of bullying one might experience at school, only on a different platform and potentially much more dangerous. A cyberbully uses technology to threaten, harass, ridicule, or embarrass an individual or a corporation. This is done by sharing harmful or false content about them or posting things designed to hurt or demean someone else. Some cyberbullying behavior that goes off-limits is considered criminal and is taken as a serious offense liable to police action. Living in a society in which more than half of its members use social media platforms, sharing photos, videos, and other personal content online has become a very common thing. However, one should be cautious of this data being misused, particularly when not just our friends or followers but even strangers are able to access this information. Online forums and chat rooms were the spaces where cyberbullying was most rampant. But now it is social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and others that top the list for the greatest number of cyberbullying cases.

internet screen security protection
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

One of the challenges when dealing with cyberbullying is our lack of awareness about it. Very often, people tend to dismiss or sideline these issues when they first appear. However, it only aggravates with time and usually leaves a permanent mark on the reputation and image of the person once he starts engaging with it. Such harassment via electronic means will only increase with more of our time spent online and it is necessary that we take note of it. If left to itself as a problem that will go away in time, cyberbullying can have long term consequences, destroying a person’s mental health, making him feel helpless, information, photos, and details being sold for money, manipulating public opinion, and destroying careers. It is difficult to combat it since the bullies usually remain anonymous and it is difficult to ascertain what their range of activities have been.

If you become a prey to cyberbullies, one of the first things you can do is to draw attention to the issue, speak about it with others, and seek professional remedy if necessary. Report it to authorities. Also try to not keep engaging since that only leads to them having more bait to agitate us. Keep a record of everything that happens in that space so that you will have proof even if they take down whatever they had done or posted. Let others know what is happening and seek their support as well. This is a crime that can be fought together if we are vigilant and willing to be there for each other. Let us make sure that cyberbullies are held accountable and removed, and that the internet is a safer and more welcoming space for all people.