If you’re like most people online, your search engine of choice is Google. Surveys done in 2007 show that almost 70% of internet users prefer Google over Yahoo!, MSN, or any other search engine.

Don’t confine yourself to google.com’s simple one-line search box. Power up your search by using the Google Advanced Search page. It has a dynamic query builder that can help you refine and expand your query. Also, they recently introduced a feature that enables you to get a real-time view of what it looks like if you create a complex query using specific search parameters. Try it and see!

Have you heard of Facebook? It is a social networking site that was originally made exclusively for Harvard University students and just after a few months, it became open to the public.

For me, Facebook is the most addictive social networking site i’ve ever joined to. Only those who are on your friends list can see your full profile which means that you still have your privacy in this site. You can poke your friends, write on their walls, dedicate songs, share videos, give gifts, answer fun quizzes, upload photos and much more! The site currently holds the record of having the most photo uploads in the world with an average of 14 million uploads a day. The site ranking also increased from 70th place to 7th place.

For someone who’s highly dependent on the Internet, one of the most indispensable tools is a reliable email provider. And for this blogger, Gmail is the email to beat. The interface is easy on the eyes and very user-friendly. The real-time updates makes keeping tab of correspondences a real breeze. The practically limitless space allows for very flexible use and enables the inbox to double as an online office of sorts. The email threads make reviewing and counter-checking old mails absolutely hassle-free. And because it’s from Google, it works seamlessly with other online essentials like Google Calendar and Documents.

Thank you Gmail!

If sometimes you feel that looking at the internet through your regular mobile browser seems text-heavy, very little images, slow, and cumbersome, don’t feel too bad. This was more likely due to both your smartphone’s ageing hardware and likewise integrated web browser. With the introduction of better and more technologically capable smartphones, you may be expecting some enhancements with the browser as well. Well, here comes Skyfire to make your mobile web viewing so much better.

The new mobile browser brings the true internet (like you’d experience from your desktop or laptop computer) to Windows Mobile smartphones. Flash-advertisements, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook - any and all web-pages load in speedy fashion thanks to Skyfire’s behind-the-scenes server-magic. With integrated Flash support, animated/interactive advertisements come to life, embedded videos play in the browser, and Flash-based web-pages are finally viewable.

Available for Windows Mobile 5 and 6. It can be integrated whether your smartphone is touch or non-touchscreen. It is currently still under beta testing.
More info on this site.

Just as babies are born every minute, new websites are launched on a regular basis. Organizations - both new and old - put up their online portals. Bloggers start to chronicle their lives online. Companies are formed. Schools are established.And the list goes on and on.

What’s the best way to discover new sites on the web? Get a little help from online portals like Site Releases.com. The website lists links according to a variety of categories including Arts and Humanities, News and Media, and Sports among many others. It’s a good place to start browsing starts if you’re bored and have a lot of time in your hands.

Photo credits: Jenny Rollo

Mini battles occur online day after day. These range from petty misunderstandings between lovers or friends that end up in angry emails, to major quarrels between competitors that end up on their websites’ home pages.

Even young bloggers are not spared from the anger as spammers and flamers bombard comment boxes. The same sort of anger carries over to discussion threads, forums, and chat rooms. When you think about it, the web has become yet another outlet for many people to dispense their pent up emotions. In fact, some blog entries specifically fall under the rant category.

Where are all the angst coming from? Is the web turning to a whole new battlefield for many people all over the world?

Photo credits: Steve Woods

Do you have a myspace profile page? If yes, then good for you. If none, you’re so missing a lot!

Myspace is one of the most popular social networking sites today. It is currently the 6th most popular website in the world and is the 3rd most popular in the United States. Just imagine how many million users checks their account everyday!

The best thing about myspace is that it almost has everything you might possibly want and need like profile, pictures, comments, widgets, blingees, blogs, groups, networks and the newest one is the myspaceim where you can chat with your myspace buddies.

As with most things in life, the Internet has its positive and negative aspects. The web is one of the most promising phenomena ever, but that does not make it fool-proof. In fact, the same positive aspects that make it a wonder are often the very same things that have been abused.

For starters, there’s the issue between connectivity and privacy. The web is all about getting you connected and publishing your thoughts and ideas to the world. But this cannot happen without sacrificing your privacy and possibly foregoing your anonymity. Then there’s the debate about freedom of speech and censorship. Who dictates what one should and should not say online?

The list goes on and on. What do you think about the web? What are its pros and cons?

Photo credits: Marius Largu