My Science School

Thought Detox app is a private space to work through what’s on your mind and get something off your chest. The app aims to help you find peace by letting you write down your negative thoughts and then discard them. What you write is only for you, and as soon as the “Release This” button is tapped, the next you’re entered is erased – nothing you write is saved or sent anywhere. Mindfulness trends over the past seven days can be viewed. The app connects to Apple Health to track the time spent working through negative thoughts, and integrates with Wind Down on Iphone, to let you clear your head before bedtime.

Clear your head before bed. Jump into Thought Detox by adding a quick-access shortcut to your lock screen when your phone goes into Wind Down at night. See what your thought-detoxing trend is for the past seven days, right from your iPhone’s Home Screen, instead of having to launch the app.

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The tweet which said “just setting up my twttr”, was first published on 21 March 2006. Dorsey will donate the proceeds to Give Directly’s Africa Response fund. Malaysia-based buyer, Sina Estavi, compared the purchase to buying the Mona Lisa painting! The tweet will remain publicly available on Twitter ever after the sale. The tweet was bought using the ether cryptocurrency, a rival to bitcoin, and was sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) to Estavi, the chief executive of technology from Bridge Oracle. An NFT is a unique digital certificate that states who owns a photo, video or other form of online media. Each NFT is unique, because it has been signed and verified by the creator, and acts as a collector’s item that can’t be duplicated, making them rare by design. NFT popularity is on the rise with expensive digital artwork also being sold this way.

Dorsey receives 95% of the proceeds of the primary sale, while Cent receives 5%.

Cent CEO Cameron Hejazi said that his platform allows people to show support for a tweet that goes beyond the current options to like, comment and retweet.

“These assets might go up in value, they might go down in value, but what will stay is the ledger and the history of ‘I purchased this from you at this moment in time’ and that’s going to be in both the buyer, the seller and the public spectators’ memory,” Hejazi said, adding that this was “inherently valuable.”

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The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant school closure have affected students in a number of ways. Having been confined to their homes for over a year with no social interaction, reduced physical activity and attending online classes, many students have reported several health issues, from eye strain due to prolonged screen time to anxiety and depression. Keeping these in mind, the CBSE recently launched "CBSE Dost for life", a counselling app to improve the psycho-social well-being of students during the pandemic.

The CBSE began its annual counselling programme through this app on May 10. Earlier, the board was offering counselling to students through a toll-free number.

For older children

The counselling app has been designed to help students of Classes IX to XII of CBSE affiliated schools to deal with depression, anxiety, and more. The CBSE conducts live counselling sessions free of cost for students through the app. The app also provides expert advice, suggestive course guide, tips on mental well-being and information on COVID-19 protocols. The app also addresses issues such as Internet addiction disorder, exam anxiety, and specific learning disability.

Thrice a week

These sessions are held thrice a week - on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday by trained counsellors/principals. There are over 80 volunteers, most of whom are from India and the rest from the U.S., UAE, Nepal, Kuwait, and Japan.

The sessions can be accessed by students and parents of CBSE-affiliated schools around the world. They can choose any of the two slots - 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. or 1.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. - and connect through a chatbox.

Downloadable

The mobile app can be downloaded from Google Playstore on any Android phone. It is reported that the board will extend the facility to other phone users in due course of time.

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Have you ever created a picture collage for your friends or family member’s birthday? If yes, you know how it works - you take different photos of the person including some amusing ones from their childhood or with different sets of people-and paste them on a single piece of paper. The result is astounding– you have managed to capture the memorable moments of a person’s life on a sheet of paper.

Did you know that filmmakers to use this technique to tell long stories over a short span of time? Enter the world of montages, one of the most crucial tools of a film maker.

What is a montage?

Like a picture collage, a montage is a series of moving or still images that are edited together to create a scene. It is an artistic technique used in filmmaking to communicate a large amount of information in just a few seconds. It is done using various techniques such as juxtaposition of shots, quick cuts and voice overs.

The word “montage” has been derived from the French language. It is a term used to describe the connection of individual pieces into a cohesive whole.

Montages can create some of the most memorable scenes in a film. Here are some reasons why and how montages are used:

Time lapse

Unlike a book, films don’t have the luxury of time. They need to tell stories quick. This means condensing the plot, back stories of characters and character development into just a couple of hours. So how do filmmakers manage to do all that in such a short span of time? Well, the speed up time, literally!

Remember the opening sequence of Pixar’s heart-wrenching film “Up”? The entire love story – from their first meeting to their marriage and old-age – of the two main characters is brilliantly summed up in the sequence. Sequences created this can condense weeks, months, or even years into less than a minute on screen.

Training montage

Often the transformation of a character can be the most important part of a film. Sports films use something called ‘training montages’ to show a character preparing for a major event in the story. Sylvester Stallone‘s training montages from the “Rocky” films are classic examples. Scenes of Rocky exercising and climbing a flight of stairs capture his long stretches of training in just few seconds. You can find similar training montages in films such as “Chak De” and “Dangal”.

Combining multiple storylines

Montage can be used to drive home the central theme or plot point of the film through just one scene. It is done by combining different scenes of featuring multiple events or places into one using musical score or a narrative voice-over in the background. This increases the intensity of the film and also builds up pace. Shots are arranged next to each other.

For example, the famous scene in “The Godfather”, which shows the shots of assassinations of different mafia leaders with the baptism of Michael Corleone’s nephew. It conveys that Michael is the new don. If the scenes were separate, it would not have been this impactful.

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The Government of India recently launched a mobile app called MANAS to promote mental health. What is special about the app?

What does it stand for?

The name MANAS stands for Mental Health and Normalcy Augmentation System. The app, which is meant to act as a guide, has been developed to promote the mental well-being of people across different age groups in the country. In other words, its objective is to build a happier, healthier community.

A comprehensive, secure, national digital well-being platform, the pilot version of the app was launched by the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, K. Vijay Raghavan. Endorsed as a national programme, the app was initiated by the Office of the PSA, and jointly executed by NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) Bengaluru, AFMC (Armed Forces Medical College), Pune, and C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing), Bengaluru.

The MANAS app integrates the health and wellness efforts of various ministers, national bodies, and research centres. It is based on life skills and psychological processes, and delivers age-appropriate methods to promote positive outlook. It has gamified interfaces to enhance user engagement, supports teleconsultation, and will also be tracking the health of users.

The current version of the app focuses on promoting positive mental health in people aged between 15 and 35, although the ultimate aim is to cover all age groups. The app is not available for public use as yet. According to some reports, field trials will be carried out in the next few months to validate the app.

What is mental health?

If you’ve been wondering what mental health is, the WHO defines it as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. Our mental health influences how we think, feel, and act, how we handle stress, and how we relate to others. It is important at every stage of our life.

Impact of the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in people’s lives. There have been reports of people experiencing increased levels of stress, anxiety, fear, frustration, and depression, owing to loss of income, increased isolation, uncertainty, etc. With the country reeling under a second wave of coronavirus, people are once again forced not to step out of their homes except for essentials, to wear masks, and maintain social distancing. With the closure of schools and colleges, students have largely been confined to their homes. While online classes try to ensure continuity of education, not all can afford it due to a variety of reasons. The prolonged stay at home can mean different impacts and challenges for different sections of people. In these trying, uncertain times, it is hoped that the introduction of the MANAS app will go a long way in helping people and promoting mental well-being.

Cause for concern

• According to a report published in The Lancet Psychiatry last year, there were 197.3 million people (14.3% of the population) with mental disorders in India in 2017.
• Depression and anxiety disorder were found to be top mental illnesses.
• Also 28% of global suicides take place in India.

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If you sent a PDF on your computer/phone today, thank Chuck Geschke. Charles “Chuck” Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Inc., who helped develop Portable Document Format technology or PDFs, died in April 2021, aged 81. The company’s most influential creation was the PDF, which remains a vital way of sending and printing documents from almost any machine on the internet. His launch of Adobe Systems with John Warnock introduced Adobe Acrobat, InDesign, Photoshop and other products used the world over. Today, Adobe is one of the world’s largest software companies. Though he helped build one of the world’s richest companies, Geschke did not consider himself a businessman, rather, he saw himself as an engineer. “Engineers dream of building something that millions of people will use; that’s their ultimate goal. I don’t think many engineers are motivated by money. They’re motivated by having an impact.”

Charles Geschke, who studied Latin and liberal arts as an undergraduate and once considered the priesthood, discovered computer programming more or less by accident in the 1960s.

That led to a job at Xerox Corp.’s research arm in Silicon Valley, where he bonded with a colleague, John Warnock. They worked on software that eventually would translate words and images on a computer screen into printed documents.

His success brought some unwelcome attention. In May 1992, while arriving at an Adobe parking lot in his Mercedes sports coupe, Dr. Geschke faced a young man pointing a gun at him. Two kidnappers blindfolded the 6-foot-2 executive with duct tape and kept him tied up in a rented house for several days before Federal Bureau of Investigation agents rescued him.

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Researchers from the University of Konstanz and the University of Jena looked at photos posted by nine of the most-followed bird accounts on Instagram and analyzed 27,621 pictures that had been posted. The frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) – native to Australia and parts of Southeast Asia – was found to be the most Instagrammable bird. It’s not that the frogmouth appears in more Instagram photos than any other avian; it appeared in only 65 of them. However, it garnered far more likes than it should have – and more likes than any other bird species – based on the number of users who likely saw those photos. Prior research shows that colorful birds receive many likes, but birds that have some degree of relatability factor with birds usually comes down to the eyes – the eyes of the frogmouth are front-facing as are human eyes, and the plumage on its face gives the bird an angry expression, an emotion most humans can relate to.

To judge a bird's Instagrammability, the researchers calculated the expected number of likes each photo should get based on the time the photo was posted and the audience size of the account. Photos that got more likes than expected got a positive score, while photos that got fewer likes got a negative score.

A few aesthetic factors seemed to consistently bump photos higher in the rankings. For example, the researchers wrote, birds with blue and yellow plumage consistently scored higher than birds with yellow and green feathers. Unsurprisingly, the team also found that birds tended to perform better the more unique or unusual they looked.

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OTT streaming platforms and digital news providers operating in the country have now been brought under the jurisdiction of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. This means their content will be regulated by the I & B Ministry. But what are OTT platforms?

What does OTT stand for?

The acronym OTT stands for “Over the Top” service. OTT platforms are audio and video steaming services. They provide content on request over the Internet. Which means content of one’s choice can be watched by the individual consumer anytime anywhere, without the need for cable or DTH services. In order to view the content, the consumer needs a device (such as mobile, tablet, or laptop) that supports OTT and an internet connection. One major advantage with OTT is consumers pay for specific platforms they want access to. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, ALTBalaji, Zee5, VOOT, Jio Cinema, and Sony LIV are some of the OTT platforms available.

How do they work?

A relatively new form of entertainment, OTT platforms are classified as digital media, OTT platforms started out as content-hosting platforms but soon ventured into production, making films, serials, and documentaries. They buy the rights to the movies they wish to release or stream from the producers, or even produce them in collaboration with production houses. While most OTT platforms provide some content for free, they charge a monthly subscription for premium content. During the COVID-19 outbreak, many filmmakers turned to major OTT platforms to release their films instead of waiting for theaters to reopen. For instance, Jyotika’s “Ponmagal Vandhal” was the first Tamil film to release on an OTT platform, Amazon Prime Video, in May 2020 after theaters were shut due to the pandemic.

What are the new rules?

So far, OTT platforms have remained largely unregulated, providing diverse, versatile content to viewers. The Government tightened its grip on these streaming platforms following growing complaints of alleged objectionable content in some of the shows streamed. The new rules mandate these video streaming platforms to classify content into five age-specific categories, set up a grievance redressal mechanism, and appoint an officer to address grievances. The three-tier grievance resolution system begins with self-regulation by the content platform and ends at a government-appointed panel headed by a ministry official. The government-appointed committee will look at complaints that remain unresolved at the self-regulating level.

Quick Facts

• There are over 40 OTT service providers in India.
• India is currently the world’s fastest growing OTT market, and is all set to emerge as the world’s sixth-largest by 2024.
• Over 22 million viewers in the country watched subscription-based video-on-demand content in 2020. This figure is projected to touch 57 million by 2022.
• nexGTv was the first OTT mobile app to live-stream IPL cricket matches during the 2013 season.

 

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Tap the search bar in Telegram and enter # followed by a keyword to find messages that use that particular hashtag across all your chats. Narrow down search results by username and date range. Also, when you use a hashtag before any word in a message, that word becomes clickable, allowing you to see all the messages relating to that topic.

Like other messaging apps, Telegram's chat list is dynamically sorted by the date of last update, and they limit users to just 5 pinned chats.

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This is fine if you're just chatting with friends and family on Telegram. But if you're one of the many power users and professionals using Telegram for business, communities, and productivity, the 5 pinned chats limit isn't enough.

The chat list gets messy really quickly. We need more organization and sorting for our chats.

?

With Telefuel, you can create Workspace and Chat Folders to keep your Telegram organized and in place - and then you can pin unlimited chats into each Workspace and Chat Folder. No arbitrary limits.

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Telegram's chat list is great for normal users, but power users need more. We felt the pain, and built Telefuel to help.

 

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NFT stands for Non-fungible token. It is fuelled by blockchain technology, meaning it is a unit of digital data. What makes NFTS different from bitcoins is that they are non-fungible. An NFT is unique and cannot be replaced with something else. For example, a bitcoin could be traded for another bitcoin but you get the same thing - 10 bitcoins = 10 bitcoins or something worth 10 bitcoins. However, if you trade an NFT, you get something that is completely different - an NFT art piece = whatever rate is paid for it

NFTS can represent digital files such as audio, video, drawings/artwork, a piece of writing, items in a video game and any other forms of creative work. It can be used to commodify digital creations and fetch money for digital creators.

The first NFTs were based on the Ethereum open-source blockchain and appeared around 2015. More recently, NFTs have become hugely popular with collectors and speculators having spent over 200 million dollars on NFT-based artwork in February - March 2021. This, compared to 250 million dollars throughout 2020

How does it work?

Since NFTS are digital data, artists who wish to sell their works as NFTS need to register with an NFT marketplace and then mint digital tokens by uploading and validating their information on a blockchain. This can cost an artist anywhere between 40 and 200 dollars. After this, the artist can list his or her work for auction on an NFT marketplace, similar to Amazon or Ebay.

How is it different?

NFT artworks have been creating a lot of buzz recently, with many shelling out millions to buy pieces. This new trend has given hope to artists who have been uploading their works on sites such as Facebook and Instagram for free to gain exposure and visibility.

However, a piece of digital art can be uploaded or circulated by anyone on the Internet. So what is the benefit for a collector buying an NFT? While the artworks can be reproduced or circulated by anyone, NFT gives the buyer the ownership rights to the original artwork. Like physical art the artist can still retain the copyright and reproduction rights, but the person who has bought the NFT owns the original artwork.

In the limelight

NFT art has suddenly started to trend all over the world after a collector group purchased a digital artwork by artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple for a record-breaking price of 69 million dollars at an auction by Christie's on March 11, 2021.

The piece that fetched the price is titled "Everydays: The First 5000 Days". It is a collage of Winkelmann's sketches that he posted daily and traces the evolution of digital shapes and sceneries through till the beginning of this year.

Winkelmann's work fetched the third highest price ever by any currently living artist, after Jeff Koons and David Hockney

Al artwork

Remember the humanoid Sophia, developed by Hanson Robotics? She has created artworks in collaboration with 31-year-old Italian digital artist Andrea Bonaceto. Sophia's work, titled "Sophia Instantiation" is a 12-second MP4 file showing the evolution of Bonaceto's portrait into Sophia's digital painting. The MP4 file is accompanied by a physical artwork painted by Sophia on a printout of her self-portrait. Her work, which went for auction late last month, sold for nearly 700,000 dollars.

Beyond art

If you thought only NFT art was fetching money, you are mistaken. On Monday, March 22, Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, sold his first-ever tweet on the platform as an NFT for 2.9 million dollars! The tweet, which reads, "just setting up my twttr", was posted by Dorsey on March 21, 2006.

 

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With people preferring to stay indoors due to the coronavirus pandemic, many have tuned to e-commerce sites to shop for their needs.

E-commerce is short for electronic commerce. It is the activity of buying and selling goods online. Like you walk into a supermarket near your home, pay money and buy groceries, you can visit an online store, browse its contents, pay money and buy the product. The only major difference is that your product will be delivered to your doorstep in the case of an online store.

What can you buy online?

You can buy just about anything online. There are e-commerce sites such as Flipkart and Amazon that sell a variety of products from televisions and smartphones to books and stuffed toys. There are also specific grocery selling e-commerce sites and apps such as BigBasket. Grofers and Supr Daily, clothing and accessories apps such as Myntra and AJIO, and furniture e-stores such as Pepperfry and Urban Ladder.

Apart from dedicated e-commerce stores, a lot of physical stores have their own websites to reach and service more people.

Tips for shopping online

Here are a few handy tips that will help you make the best use of e commerce sites.

Compare prices: There are many e commerce sites online that sell the same product at different rates. So remember to compare prices. You can also make use of websites that do this comparison for you.

Check for shipping rates: While several products are delivered free of cost, there are some that have an additional shipping fee. Try to browse other e-commerce sites to see if they offer free shipping.

Return policy: Always check for the return policy of a product since you cannot physically assess the product you wish to buy.

Don't fall for sale: Most e-commerce sites offer big sale discounts at certain times of the year. While this would be the best time to buy products, remember to check the original price of the product on its official site or other sites and make an informed decision.

Look for coupons: There are many coupon sites online that give away coupons for free. Browse these sites once before you purchase your product. Never know when you might get lucky with a discount!

Tips to stay safe

It might be convenient to shop online, but the digital world is not free of crimes. Keep these tips in mind when shopping online to stay safe.

Credibility matters: Always shop from credible websites. Ask your friends and family for suggestions and look for reviews of sites online before you decide to buy a product from a site.

Opt for cash on delivery: As much as possible, opt for cash on delivery to ensure you do not have to reveal your card details. Cash-on-delivery will also let you assess the product before you make the payment.

Exercise caution when feeding card details: When using a card or net banking facility online, refrain from calling out the details. Also, remember to never save your card on a website, otherwise it might be misused.

Do not fall for scams: There might be times when an executive from an e-commerce site calls you and says you have won a car, or some other gift. Immediately disconnect the call and inform the customer care as these are scams and ways for scammers to get your card details.

 

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The Internet is filled with a plethora of content. Many of us as students, surf the Internet for reference for our project work. While referring to content online and curating it for ones project work is perfectly fine, many students copy paste the content as is. This amounts to plagiarism, which is considered a form of copyright infringement.

As students, we may be plagiarising content without realising it because not many are aware about the seriousness of it. You might be plagiarising content if you: -

• Copy-paste paragraphs from an article online and pass it off as your own.


• Copy-paste images from articles or Google Search for an image and use it in your project work.


• Use a song or music track in your personal work.


• Use a footage from someone's video for your video or download a random video from sites such as YouTube or Vimeo and use it in your work.

These are just a few common ways in which plagiarism of content takes place. Plagiarism is a strict violation of copyright and based on the seriousness of the infringement, the degree of punishment can vary from a hefty fine to imprisonment.

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a form of intellectual property. It is a legal right created by the law to protect original creations and creators. When a person creates original content, he or she is entitled to have copyright over it and any form of recreation or distribution of their work can be done only with permission.

Copyrights are usually given for books, paintings, music sculpture, computer programs, films, databases and advertisements among others. Copyright in India is governed by The Copyright Act, 1957 which has been amended six times, the most recent being in 2012.

Copyright lasts only for a period of time, and this varies according to the country and other rules laid down in the copyright law.

How to use online content?

So, can you use content from the Internet without plagiarising? Yes, you can. Here are a few ways you can use online content without copyright infringement

Text: You can refer to any article online, but when you want to use content from the article, paraphrase it and write. For example, if an article states "Scientists believe the Mount Everest to be the tallest mountain in the world", you can rephrase it as "Mount Everest is thought to be the tallest mountain in the world according to scientists."

Alternatively, if you are using a quote from an article, you can credit the person who has given the quote as well as credit the article or the source from which you have taken the quote. If it is an online submission, you can even hyperlink the source for the quote.

- Images: When using Google Images, key in your concept and hit enter. Next to the Images, Maps, News tab, you can see "Settings' and Tools Select Tools, click on Usage rights' and choose Creative Commons Licences. This will filter out images that are bound by copyright and display the ones you can use without any credit line or attribution.

There are also several sites online that stock images you can use for free. These include Pixabay and Freelmages.

- Music: Sites such as Bensound, YouTube and SoundCloud offer you royalty free music tracks that you can use in your projects. If you really have to use a track that is copyrighted, identify the owner, write to them and get their permission in writing

- Video: Same as images, sites such as Pixabay, Pexels and Coverr offer you free video footages that can be used in your personal work.

No matter what, try and give credit to original creators wherever possible to avoid any kind of serious copyright violation.

 

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Social media and online games are often the things that come to people's mind when someone mentions the Web. But there is more to it than just networking with people or passing time. You can use the Web to express yourself creatively, while also keeping in touch with your friends and fulfilling your academic responsibilities.

1. Make personalised greetings

COVID-19 might have forced you to stay indoors, but that doesn't have to stop you from celebrating your loved ones birthdays. There are several downloadable software such as Adobe Photoshop and GIMP, as well as online websites such as Canva and Adobe Spark, which let you personalise and design birthday cards. You can create your card, mail it to your loved ones and wish them virtually if you can't meet them in person. It will be sure to touch their hearts.

Meanwhile, you can also use these software and websites to explore your creativity when it comes to art and graphic design.

2. Host games and meetings

Are you the person who loves organising get-togethers and hosting events? Then, why not do it virtually? There are dozens of group video calling software available online for free. Most of these let you host a meet-up with at least 50 people. So, like you would do for a physical get-together, design an invite with all the details and mail it to your friends/family members. You can come up with your own games that can be played virtually, or you can take the help of online websites that let you play multiplayer games such as Tambola or Mystery Rooms. Don't let the pandemic stop you from catching up with your friends and putting on a show.

3. For the author in you

Have you ever been inspired to write novels after reading some of those chilling mystery books? Or perhaps you like flash fiction, where you can narrate a story in just a few sentences? Fiction or non-fiction, the Web is an amazing platform to explore your writing skills before you take the plunge and publish a book of your own. There are several blogging sites that let you publish content for free. You can start your own blog and share your stories in it. You can also share the blog with your friends and family and invite them to give you feedback that will help you improve as you progress.

4. Ready, set, action

If expressing yourself in front of the camera or from behind the camera is more your thing, get up, take that smartphone and explore your neighbourhood. Thousands of people from all over the world share their experiences through the camera lens every day. With sites and apps like YouTube, Vimeo and Instagram giving you the freedom to share your content, make the best use of your creativity and shoot and edit videos. You can put up any kind of content from singing, dancing, DIY crafts, or even presentations on topics that interest you.

5. Lend your voice

If you love voicing out characters or narrating stories, the Web can fulfil that wish too. There are several websites online that let you host your own podcast and share it with people. If you are more of a storyteller who loves narrating stories, you could also lend your voice to free audiobooks online. Some sites, such as Librivox, encourage you to narrate popular books so that people online can consume them.

This is a great way to learn more about voice modulation and expression, and will also be a great platform for you if you wish to be a voiceover artist or radio jockey in the future.

 

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Project Gutenberg

The first name that pops up in the minds of people looking for free e-books to read is Project Gutenberg. Offering books in formats such as PDF, ePub and Simple text, Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitise and archive books. It is one of the oldest and largest libraries in the web with a collection of over 50.000 books. It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart.

ManyBooks

As the name suggests, this site has many books for you to read. With over 50,000 books across genres on offer, you can register with ManyBooks and download the e-books of your choice or read online. The site also has the latest bestsellers apart from the classics. The books on the site are compatible with Kindle, iPad and most e-book readers.

Wikibooks

If you are looking for textbooks and reference books, this is the site to visit. Hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, from Science to Languages, Wikibooks has a wide range of free books. All are catalogued and the text can be edited, similar to the content on Wikipedia. The site also has a Featured Books section that suggests books worth reading.

Librivox

Librivox is not an e-book site, but a site for people who find it more fascinating to listen to a story than read one. Librivox offers free audiobooks for people to listen to. The content on the site is available through a volunteer effort where people who consume the books can also lend their voice to record audiobooks. All you need to do is register, and get set to be mesmerised.

Open Library

Open Library has more than a million free e-books available for consumption. It is an open online project of the Internet Archive, which is a non-profit digital library. Apart from consuming books, users can contribute books that others can read.

Free eBooks

This website has a large repository of e-books. One just needs to register on the site to access digital books on a wide range of genres. Once you register, you can access the books in HTML format. However, if you wish to read them in PDF or TXT format, only five books are available for you to download each month.

International Digital Children's Library

To take a break from all the heavy reading, you can visit this website to find a range of children's books in different genres and languages. The site has award winning books of different lengths and reading levels to suit all age groups. You can register on the site and start your journey into the world of children's books.

 

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Chrome comes with a built-in tool to check for enhanced protection. Head over to Chrome Settings, and click on the Safety Check button on the left sidebar. Alternatively, you can go to chrome://settings/safetyCheck to access the safety check page directly. The Safety Check tool will then verify that Chrome is up-to-date, cross-check whether all your stored passwords are complex and not leaked in any data breaches, and confirm that Safe Browsing is set up properly. It will even check if you are protected from any potentially malicious extensions. Run it once in a while.

With this check Chrome will check all your stored passwords are complex and not leaked in the previous data breaches. In order to do this check, you have to login with your Google account. It helps Google to send the passwords in encrypted manner and check the database to match if the password is in the previous data breaches.

The result of the safe browsing section depends on the level of protection you have enabled on your browser. By default, Chrome will use the standard protection and hence you will see a message like “Standard protection is on. For even more security, use enhanced protection.”

 

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