Life Skills

Anoop Verma

Are you in the right job? Have you often find yourself wondering if you could be better off in some other kind of job? You are not alone if you think like that. Researchers have found out that vast majority of the people in the world are dissatisfied with the work that they are doing. Considering the fact that most of us work for 8 to 9 hours everyday, we could be wasting more than 25 per cent of our working life if we are not doing something we love.

It  is not as if you have to stick to your unsatisfying job forever. There are steps you can, and should, take to move on if you hate your job and you are not happy at work. We spend too much of our time working to stay in a job or work environment we hate, or even dislike. Besides being happier, you will do a better job if you are working at a job you love, or at least like. If you have the courage to discover your true calling, you will be able to break out of the shell of 9 to 5 dissatisfying jobs and you will be happy.

If you hate your job, you should not resort to ranting in public forums about your frustrations. You never know who maybe reading. You only need to search Twitter or Facebook about “I hate my job,” and you will get a multitude of results. Employees aren’t the only ones using social networking sites. Employers are there, too, and if you say it someone will probably read it. If the wrong person sees it, you may have lesser chances of finding your dream job.

You don’t want to lose your job before you start looking for a new one. It makes more sense to strategically plan your exit from the company. It is easier to find a new job when you already have a job. So you should take time by building your network and connecting with everyone you know on LinkedIn and the other networking sites. Start a job search, quietly and discreetly; once you find a better position, you can resign gracefully after giving your employer a notice of two weeks or more.

Tech View

How to identify a phishing or spoofing attack?

Anoop Verma

Nowadays there have been increasing instances of phishers targeting the customers of banks and online payment services. Many users have lost all their savings due to such attacks. Emails supposedly set from banks or regulatory organisations have been used to glean sensitive data, including user IDs and Passwords, from unsuspecting users. With rise in popularity of the social networking sites, cyber criminals now have yet another way of stealing information and even money from the users.

Here are few tips to defend yourself from such malicious attacks:

Hover over the form

If you want to check the genuineness of a form that you have received by email, probably the best way is to hover your mouse arrow over the name in the form column. By doing so, you will be able to tell if the email is from a recognisable domain that is linked to the actual sender name. If the email is from XYZ bank then the you should be able to see XYZ.org, or XYZ.com  as the domain. If you see ZYX or something else in the name space, then the form can be fake.

Is the URL encrypted?

Every bank or financial institution uses an encrypted URL, which is indicated by – https://. Make sure that the URL you are visiting is encrypted. However, in order to be extra cautious, it is best practice to always open a new window and go to the site directly without using the email link provided in an email.

Use of incorrect language

Many hackers use misspelled words in their email on purpose. While it may seem that this would easily reveal an illegitimate email, it is actually a tactic used to find less savvy users. The cyber criminals have realised that if they get a response from a poorly written email, they are on to an easy target and will focus their efforts to bring that user down.

Request for personal information

The spammers often operate by telling you that your credit card or bank account has been compromised, and you should provide and/or update your personal information about an account for protecting your money. They will try to make it seem as if it is extremely urgent for you to update your personal information on a form available at a certain link. Never give in to such tactics. 

Language Skills

Be wise language wise

Globalisation an Impressive Influencer – IV

B Tejesh

In the previous part we have discussed about the new language skill of reading in order to face the challenge of globalisation, in the light of Information and Communications Technology [ICT]. You might have noticed that the widespread use of computers and the Internet dramatically raises the profile of writing and the need for effective written communication in the era of globalisation. Warschauer, M has precisely discussed the new writing skills, which are required to be successful in the globalised world, include the following:

* Integrating texts, graphics, and audio-visual material into a multimedia presentation.

* Writing effectively in hypertext genres.

* Using internal and external links to communicate a message well.

* Writing for a particular audience when the audience is  an unknown readers on the World Wide Web.

* Using effective pragmatic strategies in various circumstances of computer—mediated communication—including one-to-one e-mail, e-mail discussion lists, and various forms of synchronous real-time communication.

In short, the pragmatics of written interaction as well as the hypermedia authoring and publishing skills needed for effective presentation of material. You will agree that now there is a shift from an original emphasis on authenticity i.e., following native speaker norms, to a later emphasis on authorship creating texts within structured environments e.g. SMS language.

It is perceived that the Internet became omnipresent and its convergence with telephony and video allows a growing number of people to read, write, speak, and listen to English on a daily basis, to shop and to sell, to learn and to teach, to collaborate and to struggle too.

In the light of globalisation speakers of English will use the language less as an object of foreign study and more as an additional language of their own to influence and change the world. They will use English, together with technology, to express their identity and make their voice heard. Let us attempt to make our education highly localised and globalised as well to foster both local and global knowledge and wisdom for learning.  ‘Think globally and act locally’ might help us to adopt with the changing needs of the globalised world.  Let us accept the challenge of globalisation as a change. Please do place your comments on ‘what do you think about globalisation as impressive influencer?’

(The writer is Assistant Professor, Late BRD Arts and Com. Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Nashik Road.Email:beldartejesh@ gmail.com )