Are you making the most of your internet connection? Check out these 5 things you might not know you could do on the Internet and find out the answer.

Before the Internet explosion of the late 90's, the internet was mostly used for research and other business functions; however, with the continuous evolution of the World Wide Web, things that people would not have imagined being able to do on the internet before can now be readily done with the click of a mouse.

Below are some good examples.



Many parents have passed up some great career opportunities because they do not feel comfortable leaving their kids alone at home or in the company of babysitters they hardly know; but thanks to surveillance cameras and online streaming services, you can now conveniently check what your kids are doing at home while going about your usual tasks at the office.

There's no more need to worry if they are being treated well by their nannies or if you would be able to come to their aid should they ever get themselves in trouble, so you could work on whatever you need to do without any distractions

Using Your Computer as a Business Phone

People have been using the Internet to call loved ones or acquaintances for as long as we can remember, but using personal computers and other similar devices for business purposes has not really taken off until the availability of Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones became widespread.

With a VoIP phone, users can significantly reduce the cost of long-distance calls, not to mention the amount they would normally be  spending on additional phone features such as voicemail, call waiting, and call forwarding, which could all cost quite a bit of money if they were used regular phone services.

What's even better than that is that you don't even need to buy a special phone dedicated for this purpose. As long as you have a phone adaptor and access to the Internet, you can easily convert your regular telephone or personal computer into a VoIP phone. And, depending on the service provider, your VoIP phone may even come with faxing capabilities that you can use for no extra charge.

Taking Virtually Any Course for Free

Online classes have been around for a long time now, but they usually need to be paid for. Not only that, they were mostly offered by people or organizations that you or your friends have never heard of before – which kind of makes the prospect of enrolling such courses a bit discouraging.

That was before internationally-acclaimed educational institutions pushed for the development of OpenCourseware, which allows courses developed by universities to be published on the Internet for free.

Now, with hundreds of public and private universities and other educational institutions from all over the world continuously sharing their course content on the Internet, thousands of terabytes worth of information that you had no access to before are now sitting on your computer – waiting to be explored.

Hiring a Virtual Assistant from Halfway Across the Globe

Recent technologies have made multitasking a lot less complicated than it used to be; however, no matter how advanced technology can be, you just can't do everything on your own. That's where virtual assistants come into the picture.

Virtual assistants are just like regular secretaries. They can do everything from organizing your schedule, managing your records, getting in touch with your clients, purchasing things you need around the office, and even screening other potential employees on your behalf. The only difference is they can do all of those and more for you without either of you stepping a foot outside your preferred working spaces.

Making money by Sharing Your Talent Online

Everyone's probably familiar with the stories of singers who have found fame through popular video sharing sites by now; but did you know that musicians are not the only ones who are making a profit from sharing their talents online?

Writers, illustrators, game developers, stylists, polyglots, financial analysts – these are just some examples of people who have found a way to capitalize on their talents through the help of websites dedicated to particular hobbies and crafts, and these websites are not even difficult to find. With a simple online search, you can come up with a decent list of sites that offer these kinds of services and, if you're resourceful enough, you can find some that even offer their services for free.

What the Internet Has in Store for Us

The idea of being able to do these things would've probably been dismissed as ridiculous and impossible by casual Internet users from a couple of decades back; but they are quite feasible now, and the best thing about it is things are just getting started.

For now, let's just enjoy what the Internet has to offer. Then let's wait and see what's going to happen next.

Author Bio
Monique Jones is an Engineer who deals with telephone systems. Besides being an Engineer, she also works as a part time writer. She helps her colleagues and other people about their communication issues, giving effective solutions to address their needs.