Violet Phua 3E2

INTERNET-

ADDICTION!

Honestly speaking, I was once an internet addict who spent hours and hours sitting in front of my personal computer. My highest record was 10 continuous hours of non-stop gaming but of course, it’s during one of the December Holidays. I think that it is sort like an irresistible temptation that’s stopping me from getting myself off the seats. Surely, I had gotten scolding after scolding by my parents but their scolding only make me feel guilty for a moment. The next day, I continued with my gaming and once again I got scolding by my parents. That did not stop me from gaming.

What exactly stopped me from gaming?

It was when the date to school reopen is only one week and I am still having tons of incomplete homework! Then, I realized that gaming won’t benefits but instead harming me. Not only I got to rush with my homework but also, I lost my perfect eye sight which I have regretted greatly. But the best thing for now is , I had fulfilled the promissory I made to my mum to only use the computer during weekends provided that I completed all my homework not to neglect my studies. Overall, I really hope that there will be lesser internet addicts or in fact no internet addicts where people will not forget the existence of our real life.  

Video on internet addiction.

Violet Phua 3E2

Scams, Spams

With rising net users, Internet scams and spams have been on the rise!

Scams

                     

However, I rarely receive scam emails and whenever I received an email from an unknown email address; I will not open the mail but instead delete it from my mail box to prevent myself to be another victim of those scams and spams online.

Internet makes it easier for legitimate pursuits; it also makes it easier for scammers, con artists, and other online miscreants to carry out their virtual crimes - impacting our real life finances, security, and peace of mind. These Internet scams are constantly evolving - here are the most common today.

1. Phishing scams

2. Nigerian 419 Scams3. Greeting Card Scams

4. Shopper Needed Check Fraud Scam

5. Reshipping and Payment Processing Fraud

6. Lottery Winning Scams

7. Pump and Dump Stock Scams

8. Fraudulent Link Scams

9. Killer Spam: Hitman Email Threatens Recipients

10. Scareware Scams                                          

Spams

I have received quite a number of spams emails before and they are usually from an unknown email address claiming that they are from a particular company or organization. However, their main purpose is to sell deals or getting us to sign up which I find those mails plain annoying.

We must remember that when we received spam mails they should be ignored and we can simply delete the e-mails or click "junk e-mail" in our e-mail client so the server knows these are coming from a spammer.

Another thing to note is that we should never reply to a spammer. Even if we reply with something like "stop e-mailing me", that e-mail won't be read and instead we will simply get more e-mail and don't even click on the link that says "click here to remove your e-mail from our e-mail list" as email address won't be removed from the e-mail list but instead will be added back into their database.

Overall, we should beware of online scammers and spammers and think twice before we give out any of our personal particulars. We should be alert at all times to prevent ourselves from being the next “target” or “victim” of the scams or spams. Readers please bear in mind that prevention is the best precaution. Video on facebook scams.

Koh Jun Sheng, 4A3

Personally I feel that Cyber bullying is the use of e-mail, instant messaging (E.g. Msn/Skype/Yahoo Messenger & other messengers), chat rooms, handphones, or other forms of information technology to deliberately harass, threaten, or intimidate us. Cyber bullying is often done by teenagers, who have increasing access to these technologies. It could also be sending of malicious codes, having text wars, impersonation, flaming & bad online polls.

I have encountered a lot of cyber bullies and usually they are called Keyboard Warriors. Keyboard warriors would only talk big in front of their computer screen which is the virtual world & they are usually timid in the actual world. I was once a cyber bully, I used to scold people online, make them scared of me & I even escorted money from them but I have changed for the better and now I would always help people as much as I could when they are bullied online.


I have always take cyber-bullies as cowards & they are egoistic. I would not comment on them but I personally advice them to change for the better. It is not worth your time being a cyber bully as you can get nothing at the end of the day. The most you can get is being proud in front of your online friends.


Thanks for reading. :)

Alex Tan 2E1

Privacy is a huge concern to many citizens, customers, patients, internet users and telephone subscribers especially as the lines are being blurred between professional and private lives. My online privacy had never been compromised before. If I am not wrong, most of the people in the world had their privacy compromised before. I will explain to you about how Information Privacy is compromised.

It is the right of individuals, groups and institutions to determine for themselves, when, how and to what extent information about them is communicated to others. Many people are unaware that when we go online, we leave an electronic record of our movements—and we can unwittingly provide personal information to people and organizations that track such data. To avoid the invasion of privacy, we should always clear up Internet cookies & we should not give information to websites that is not safe especially our credit card number. Many people are simply unaware of just how much of their personal data is being stored and processed, whether that is in the form of cookie trails that track their internet usage, video from surveillance systems, such as Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), or the purchases they make using credit cards and company loyalty cards.

Hence, Individuals must take control of their own online identities if they are to avoid becoming victims of online crime.

Lawrence 2E1

Everyone knows what bullying means. It can be being called horrible names or picked on because of things like how you look or act, your family or your race and religion. It can be people telling lies about you or being left out and ignored. It can be people threatening you to make you feel scared and they might make you give them things or make you do things you do not want to.



I had a friend who had encountered cyber bullies before, I advised him to talk to someone instead of letting it upset him. It is important to talk to parents, teachers, friends and other people around you. I always remember that it is not our fault if we are being bullied and cyber bullying is not allowed, and that there is always something we can do about it. If we are being bullied, we should always start by telling someone about it.


Cyber bullying can happen through email, chat rooms, instant messenger or websites and blog-spaces, as well as by text messages. Cyber bullying can happen even when you are at home or on your own when you use the internet or have you Mobile phone switched on. Sometimes, with cyber bullying you might not even know who is doing it because they can pretend to be someone else!


Cyber bullying can make us feel very bad. Being bullied can make us feel upset, embarrassed, sad or scared. It can even make us feel ill! And I personally feel that those who encountered cyber bullies might start avoiding classes or skipping school to avoid the bullies if they are people you already know. This can make it difficult to concentrate on our school work.

About Online Privacy, my online privacy had never been compromised because I seldom give out my private information freely online as I feel that it is not an ideal choice. It is very important to keep our passwords private as if we spread our passwords around, people might be able to hack into our accounts and they might be able to use our privacy to threaten us!