Embracing Technology Get Tech-Savvy by Learning About Your Computer, Smartphone, Internet, and Social Media Applications… (Grover, Maniik R) (Z-Library)
Author: Grover, Maniik R
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Your All-in-One Guide to the Digital World Key Features ● Includes basic concepts about computer hardware and software, device connections, and the Internet. ● Solutions on how to get the most out of emails, office suites, photos, videos, and maps. ● Insights on social media, e-commerce, digital payments, and online booking. Description Technology touches our lives in many different ways. In this book, we will explore the common uses of technology in the world around you, demystify the concepts, and explain its usage. The book begins by making you comfortable with your Windows PC and Android Smartphone/Tablet. It discusses the Internet and common device connections. It also delves into popular productivity applications like emails, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, maps, photos, music, and videos. Usage of free apps from Google is demonstrated. The book also talks about social media and online tools which allow you to connect and communicate with people on the Internet, with examples from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The different facets of e-commerce are discussed as well, namely, payments, online shopping, tracking, reviews, and online travel booking, along with examples from popular shopping and travel websites. It explores newer trends like cloud computing, media players, and voice assistants. Security and privacy best practices are also covered for each topic. This book is an attempt to break down the barriers that stand between you and the digital world and enable you to embrace technology. By the end of this book, you’ll find yourself more tech-savvy than you were when you started. What you will learn ● Day-to-day tasks on your Windows PC, Android Smartphone, and the Internet. ● Usage of popular Google services, including Gmail, docs suite, and YouTube. ● Usage of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Hangouts, and WhatsApp. ● Learn how to shop, pay and book flights, hotels, buses, and trains online. ● Learn about Media Players and
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Embracing Technology Get Tech-Savvy by Learning About Your Computer, Smartphone, Internet, and Social Media Applications Maniik R Grover www.bpbonline.com
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FIRST EDITION 2021 Copyright © BPB Publications, India ISBN: 978-93-91030-001 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher with the exception to the program listings which may be entered, stored and executed in a computer system, but they can not be reproduced by the means of publication, photocopy, recording, or by any electronic and mechanical means. LIMITS OF LIABILITY AND DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY The information contained in this book is true to correct and the best of author’s and publisher’s knowledge. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of these publications, but publisher cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage arising from any information in this book. All trademarks referred to in the book are acknowledged as properties of their respective owners but BPB Publications cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
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www.bpbonline.com
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Dedicated to My dad Mr. Rajnish Kumar Grover and my son Ridhim, both of whom I consider to be tech savvy in their own right And The cause of digital literacy and inclusion
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About the Author Maniik R Grover is a technology entrepreneur from New Delhi, India, with 20 years of experience in Information Technology (Software). He is a B.E in Telecommunication Engineering from Bangalore University. He has held technology and management positions at Expedia, Yahoo!, Fidelity Investments among other MNCs and startups. Over these last two decades, he has worked on a wide variety of software products for the Internet in the domains of travel e-commerce, fraud prevention, digital marketing, VoIP, and equity trading. He started his software company Atishrri Technologiess in 2019, where he currently works as the founder and director. He cares for the cause of digital literacy and digital inclusion. Through his interactions with his friends, family, seniors, and other associates on day-to-day technology topics, he realized the need for guidance on this topic and decided to write this book to address that need. Apart from technology, he’s enthusiastic about options trading, perfumery, and singing karaoke. This is his first book. His home on the web is
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About the Reviewers Pooja Grover has over 12 years of experience in Software Development, in the areas of Internet Security, Telecommunication and e-Commerce. She has worked with several Startups and Services companies during this tenure, in India and abroad. Some of her core skills include Linux(Ubuntu, Cent OS), C/C++, Python, SIP/VOIP, TCP/IP, Clustering, Asterisk etc. She enjoys writing, and blogs about Technology and Life in general. She is blessed with two kids, and loves spending quality time with them. Currently, she is working with a well established Startup providing Contact Centre Software solutions over the Cloud. Ratnadeep Rakshit is an experienced, hands-on software architect involved in the architecture, design, and implementation of microservices architectures, service-oriented architectures, and distributed systems. He has been in the software industry since 2002. He is significantly experienced and has expertise in application, integration and enterprise architecture. He has worked in various capacities for multinational companies like IBM, Deutsche Telekom, Cognizant, etc. and has developed mission critical systems for the telecom industry. He is currently working on a news aggregator and smart magazine platform called Gopono. He is also actively involved with Ankur Trust, an NGO that provides free education to underprivileged children in the remote villages of Sundarbans, West Bengal.
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Acknowledgements To borrow the words of Alfred Adler, I am grateful for the idea that has used me. Additionally, I would like to thank many more people for their direct and indirect support. First of all, I would like to thank my darling daughter Shirin for a continuous supply of love and sunshine. Thanks to my wife Pooja for her support, advice, and critique of my work, as the first reader and one of the reviewers of this book. I would like to express my gratitude to the entire BPB Publications, especially Nrip Jain, for giving me the opportunity to write my first book, I am also grateful to my colleague and friend Ratnadeep Rakshit for his valuable contributions as a reviewer of this book. I would like to thank Sidharth Shah for his mentorship and guidance, and my co-participants at the TAGR Academy for their camaraderie. A shout-out to my friends Shraddha Kuhupriya and Dheeraj Grover; their music served as the perfect soundtrack for the writing of this book. And to Rhydhun, who I discovered during the same period.
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I would also like to thank my family, friends, and associates. It was through our numerous interactions on day-to-day tech topics that I came to realize the need for a book like this. Last but not the least, to the readers of this book who are embarking on this journey with me to embrace technology: Thank you! Good Luck, and let’s Go!
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Preface Our lives today are surrounded by technology; although very often, we don’t recognize this consciously. There are both positive and negative aspects of this. On one hand, technology touches our lives in such a natural manner that we quickly adapt to it and then start taking it for granted. Mass technology of current times is often so intuitive that we can use it without having to deal with the complexity behind it. This can be easily illustrated with the example of a telephone; we don’t need to understand telecommunication engineering to be able to use a phone. The downside to this is that we assume that everyone understands how to use these technological innovations. But this assumption often turns out to be a wrong one. Most technical innovations are built on top of one another, using previous innovations as building blocks and utilizing similar patterns. For example, if you are comfortable with one social media website, you can learn to use another one by exploring and drawing parallels between them. But learning to use the first social media website may require you to understand some basic concepts related to social networking first. Often, a lack of knowledge on these building blocks and patterns becomes a stumbling block in learning how to use newer innovations. The rate at which technology is evolving and gaining mass adoption today is much faster than it was a few decades ago. Hence, it has also become important to learn quickly to keep pace with technology.
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Over the last couple of years, I have had numerous interactions with my friends, family, and community members on day-to-day digital tasks. Many of these interactions have made me realize that there is a need for structured learning on technology and digital products, and technology can be made more inclusive. Getting more people using technology platforms is essential not only for people and society but also for the digital platforms themselves. A more diverse representation of users acts as a forcing function for companies to design simpler and more intuitive systems, thereby making digital products more inclusive. The hard reality is that our society is at a point where we cannot escape technology and the Internet. The easiest way to witness the impact of Internet is to turn off the Internet router of an urban family for a few hours. The discomfort and the outrage you witness will attest to the level of dependence we have on the Internet today. Technology has become so intertwined with our day-to-day lives that computers, smartphones, and Internet connectivity seem close to becoming basic necessities like water and electricity. Today, the Internet is the most convenient way to even pay for basic necessities like electricity and water. If you look around, you’ll notice that technology and the Internet have changed the way we consume information, connect, communicate with people, share information, make purchases, book movie tickets, travel, commute, capture moments, entertain ourselves, and even pay for purchases made in the real world. If we avoid learning these skills, it will keep us dependent on others and repeatedly distract us from the real tasks at hand.
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In this environment, being Tech-savvy is a skill we need not only to thrive but also to survive. Tech-savviness is often thought of as a talent that someone is born with, and we often look towards tech-savvy people to sort out our technology-related But being tech- savvy is not a talent at all, it a skill that can be systematically acquired just like any other skill. It’s like learning a new language. You can start by learning the alphabets, then form words, then learn the rules of grammar, which gets you to a level where you can get better at it with some practice. Digital skills can also be learned in the same manner and anyone can become tech-savvy if they have the curiosity and access to a guide or learning materials. As proof, I present you this all-in-one guide that will give you a structured learning path to get introduced to the most common applications of computers and Internet in the world around you. It does not require any prior knowledge; we will start with the basics and build up from there. As you read through the chapters and practice the exercises, you’ll acquire useful digital skills and find yourself becoming more independent on day-to-day digital tasks. It will also help you develop an awareness of the building which will position you favorably for self-learning new technical innovations that the future promises. Let us now look at how the content is structured and presented in this book, and the methodology we will be using. Throughout this book, I’ll be using some analogies to help explain key concepts. At the very outset, I want to mention that an analogy is something common between two unrelated concepts. Analogies are powerful as they help you leverage your knowledge
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of one concept for understanding another new concept. However, it’s important to note that while analogous things may be similar in some respects, we shouldn’t try to equate the two. This is something I want you to be aware of, as you think about these analogies. There are numerous books dedicated to each of the topics that we will discuss in this guide that can help you understand that topic in detail. You can refer to https://bpbonline.com for a great collection of technology books. My objective in this book is not to make you an expert on any of these topics. The objective is to introduce the key concepts related to each topic, explain how things are related, and to get you to a beginner/intermediate level of usage. To give an analogy, it’s like providing you with a 30,000 feet view of the ground; the kind you see when you’re on an airplane. You can see the different buildings and the roads that connect them and some basic features of the buildings. But you may not see every detail of the buildings like how many doors and windows they have or what each room in those houses looks like. To simplify some of the concepts and accommodate all these topics in a single guide, I will be making some compromises with respect to comprehensiveness. As we begin this book, we’ll learn about devices such as your computer, smartphone, and tablet. The next section discusses device connections and the Internet. We’ll then learn about the different types of productivity applications such as email, photos, music, videos, office apps, and maps. We’ll then switch gears and discuss the different ways in which you can connect with people
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on the Internet, We will learn about social media, online communication tools, and WhatsApp. Privacy will be discussed next to round out the sections on productivity and communication. In the next section, we’ll discuss the various nuances of online shopping, namely, online payments, reviews, e- commerce, tracking, event/movie booking, and booking travel online. Towards the end of this book, we’ll discuss some applications of computing and Internet that go beyond your computer, smartphone, and tablet before we summarize and conclude. It’s recommended that if you’re a beginner, you should read the book as per the chapter sequence. After reading the first four chapters, you may jump forward to a chapter of your interest if you feel a desire to do so, or are in a situation where you can’t wait to learn a particular topic. Alternatively, if you already possess a working knowledge of your computer, smartphone/tablet, the Internet and are aware of basic connections, you may skip the first four chapters and jump directly to the chapters of your interest. As you go through the chapters, I would strongly encourage you to practically try out the examples shared. This will help you make the most out of the content, get hands-on experience with the concepts discussed, and become more independent with practice. Most of the chapters show examples and screenshots from online systems and apps. You may find that some screens may have changed from what is shown in the book. Most of the theoretical concepts would still apply though, and I would encourage you to find your way around the updated system or app. You can also perform a web search to find something (we'll also learn about web searches in Chapter 3 of this book).
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Here’s a summary of what you’ll learn in each chapter: Chapter 1 elaborates on the hardware and software elements of your smartphone and tablet. It introduces the Android user interface and provides instructions to set up a new phone. It also shows how to do some common tasks on your phone/tablet and discusses about apps and permissions. Chapter 2 focuses on computers, their hardware and software, and the different types of computers. It introduces the Windows 10 user interface with instructions for personalizing your OS and carrying out some common tasks on it. It also discusses how to manage programs, computer security, and the different types of malicious programs that pose a security risk. Chapter 3 talks about the Internet and explains how it works. It also introduces you to a web browser and walks you through the basic features of the Chrome web browser on your PC and smartphone. It also discusses Internet-enabled apps, Internet security, content on the Internet, and the uses of Internet in the world around you. Chapter 4 covers device connections. It discusses some common connections like USB, and a few others. It also talks about connection speeds. Chapter 5 focuses on email and explains how it works. It introduces Gmail and explains the usage of its basic features. It
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also covers some special features of Gmail like conversation view, search and filters, and introduces Google partner apps like Calendar, and It also discusses email etiquette and security. Chapter 6 talks about photos. It begins with the attributes of digital photos and introduces the Google Photos service. It walks you through some common features of the Camera app on your smartphone and also demonstrates how you can manage, modify, and share photos using the Google Photos service. It also discusses copyrights, licensing, picture etiquette, and best practices for picture privacy. Chapter 7 explores music and videos and covers the basic concepts related to digital audio and video. It shows how to capture videos using the Camera app on your smartphone and covers some useful settings. It also discusses about streaming services, introduces YouTube and YouTube Music and shows commonly used features of these services. It also talks about piracy. Chapter 8 discusses productivity applications and common types of office files such as documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and PDF files. It introduces the Google Docs/Drive suite of apps consisting of and and shows how you can use these services to create and share productivity files. It also discusses some security and privacy considerations. Chapter 9 talks about maps and begins by discussing concepts related to paper and digital maps. It introduces Google Maps and
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shows how you can search for places, plan a trip, get travel directions, and share places using the Google Maps service. Chapter 10 focuses on social media, starting with its key concepts and terminology. It introduces three popular social networks: Instagram, and Twitter and covers the key features of each. It also discusses privacy and recommends privacy settings for these three networks. It also discusses social media etiquette. Chapter 11 describes online communication tools, discusses some of their key concepts and the user interface elements commonly found on these tools. It introduces Google Hangouts and demonstrates some of its features. It also discusses privacy aspects of online communication. Chapter 12 focuses on a popular online communication app. It demonstrates WhatsApp features related to contacts, groups, communication modes, data management, notifications, and privacy. It also discusses etiquette and responsible usage. Chapter 13 talks about online payments. It discusses the different payment mechanisms popular in India. Payment methods like NEFT, IMPS, RTGS, UPI, credit cards, and digital wallets are covered, and recommendations are provided to transact securely and protect you from payment frauds. Chapter 14 discusses privacy and ties together the different applications of privacy that you would’ve seen earlier in the book. It discusses information classification and the difference between
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security and privacy. It also discusses social engineering, how it relates with security, and how you can safeguard yourself against it. Chapter 15 talks about online reviews and discusses how you can leverage them to decide what to buy. It discusses the anatomy of an online review and shows some useful ways in which you may peruse reviews. It also lists some useful websites where you can read reviews and discusses ways in which you can derive insights from them. Chapter 16 talks about online shopping It introduces e-commerce terminology and walks you through the typical workflow of ordering a product on an e-commerce website, showing examples from a popular e-commerce website. It also discusses shopping and payments models which employ a combination of online and offline modes. It discusses post-ordering actions like returns, tracking, etc. It also discusses event/movie booking. Chapter 17 talks about booking travel online It walks you through a typical travel booking workflow and discusses the booking process for flights, hotels, buses, and trains, along with the specific nuances of each. It shows examples from popular travel booking websites such as RedBus, and It also discusses package bookings. Chapter 18 talks about some applications of computing and the Internet that go beyond your PC and smartphone/tablet. It introduces the concept of cloud computing and discusses some of its applications. It also discusses digital media players and smart
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TVs and looks at how the Internet is changing home entertainment. It also talks about digital voice assistants, introduces Google Assistant, and demonstrates its usage on your smartphone. Summing it up summarizes what we’ve learned in this book and offers some tips and recommendations for staying tech-savvy and continuing your learning journey further.
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Downloading the coloured images: Please follow the link to download the Coloured Images of the book: https://rebrand.ly/c74eae Errata We take immense pride in our work at BPB Publications and follow best practices to ensure the accuracy of our content to provide with an indulging reading experience to our subscribers. Our readers are our mirrors, and we use their inputs to reflect and improve upon human errors, if any, that may have occurred during the publishing processes involved. To let us maintain the quality and help us reach out to any readers who might be having difficulties due to any unforeseen errors, please write to us at : errata@bpbonline.com Your support, suggestions and feedbacks are highly appreciated by the BPB Publications’ Family.
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