Day 9
:: Day1 :: Day2 :: Day3 :: Day4 :: Day5 :: Day6 :: Day7 :: Day8:: Day9:: Day10 ::
Lesson 9
Well, we’re almost done. I thought today we would actually look at something more serious. Research! Or more correctly, how to reasearch stuff online. Now, there are always search engines like our friend Google. But sometimes you want to learn something specific that a more specialized website would help you zoom in on. Over time you will learn where your favorites are. As a matter of fact, I previously made a list and the list keeps growing as I type this. Here are some of my favorites (before I let the list get too long):
You Don’t Need A Library Card
Where to start, where to start. Let’s kick it off with a website that is more like a directory of where to find research sites. http://www.ipl.org is the “Internet Public Library”. It’s not a library in the “check a book out” kind of sense. It is more like a repository of links to online research websites. Many of the other websites I’m about to list are in this collection.
Look It Up
Dictionary.com is another must have. I wonder what they do? Hmmm. I’m thinking you go there to look up words. It has become THE online dictionary. Their actual address is http://dictionary.reference.com, but typing www.dictionary.com will redirect you to the official website.
Big Brother
Let’s go for the spooky one next. I always feel a little creepy going here, but http://www.cia.gov has something called the “World Factbook” that has an incredible amount of information about every country on the planet. Go to http://www.cia.gov and click on the link to the World Factbook under Quick Links. The official address is a little long, but you can go there by clicking here.
A Long Way From The Printing Press
Project Gutenberg, named after the printing fellow not the actor (his name has two T’s), is a long time favorite of mine. They have a huge volunteer staff dedicated to transcribing books into formats that can be read online. They have over 30,000 free eBooks that can be downloaded and read from your computer or other devices. Visit http://www.gutenberg.org to see what they have to offer.
How
The next two awesome websites are similar, yet different enough to list them both. eHow.com shows you how to do just about everything. HowStuffWorks.com does just that, it shows you how stuff works. These two websites are easy to get lost in for hours. They can be found at http://www.eHow.com and http://www.howstuffworks.com respectively.
The Greatest Encyclopedia You Never Had
Next up, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Wikipedia.com is an online encyclopedia unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. The articles are user generated content that is moderated. In other words, Joe off the street can go write or edit an article on Aardvarks in Wikipedia. It will then be flagged as well researched or not well researched. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but I think you get the idea. The good thing about Wikipedia is that the articles are kept current unlike the old dusty set of Collier’s I used to have. The bad thing about Wikipedia is that you really can’t stake your life on the content. It’s pretty good most of the time, but it’s not valid for academic research. And now the ugly. The site just ain’t pretty. It is efficient at using it’s space, but it’s got a face only a mother could love. Go visit http://www.wikipedia.com to get quick information on just about anything you can think of.
All Movies All The Time
Now, my favorite. IMDB.com is fan-tastic! IMDB stands for Internet Movie DataBase. It has tons of information on every movie ever made. Here’s why I absolutely adore it. When it’s 2 a.m. and I can’t remember the name of the guy that played in that movie with that guy who was in Streetcar Named Desire. You know the one where he was the son of the godfather of that crime family? Give me about 30 seconds on http://www.imdb.com and I’ll have the answer and a good night’s sleep.
Homework
Go learn something! Pick one of the websites listed above. Visit their website. Really dig in and see what it’s all about. Have fun with it. If you’re not having fun, come back and find another website. Once you find a website you enjoy, come back here and leave a comment below reviewing the website. Tell us what you like about it and what you don’t like about it.
For extra credit, go to http://www.ipl.org, the “Internet Public Library” and find a website that wasn’t mentioned above and give us a review of a completely different website in the comments.
Day 8
:: Day1 :: Day2 :: Day3 :: Day4 :: Day5 :: Day6 :: Day7 :: Day8:: Day9:: Day10 ::
Lesson 8
When I was a kid, I used to think it would be great if we could just watch any movie or TV show ever made at any moment. We’re not there yet, but we are close. Very close.
Cable television has come out with movies and television shows “On Demand” and “In Demand”. These are generally newer programs and movies, although they are starting to add older programming.
People are now using the internet to become creative in this area. As copyright laws are ironed out, more and more content is becoming available. Existing television networks are finding ways to broadcast content online for free, while still maintaining advertising revenue.
We have also experienced a flood of user created content. While some of this content is bland, thoughtless video of users sitting in front of their webcams doing something silly or stupid, other content is well thought out and entertaining. As video editing tools develop into more user friendly applications, some of the content is even becoming studio quality.
We’re going to look at two companies, YouTube and Hulu. You may have heard of both of these companies. YouTube allows users to upload their own content for everyone to see and even subscribe to. Hulu hosts old and new television and movie content and allows their users to view the content online. My favorite Hulu show right now is “Chuck”.
Here is some YouTube fun for you (click the “play button” triangle in the middle):
That was iJustine, or iJ. She’s publishes a video log or vlog, which is kind of like a blog, but with video. You might have noticed she’s a bit, well, crazy. But it’s an endearing, like a little sister, kind of crazy. She’s an example of good quality user content. While you may or may not relate to iJ, her content is well produced.
Next, let’s look at something from Hulu (click the “play button” triangle in the middle):
Since I didn’t think you really wanted to sit on my blog for two hours watching a full length feature film, I embeded a movie trailer for the Pixar movie “Up”. Hulu has been advertising quite a bit on television and their content is growing by leaps and bounds.
Homework
Yeah, I know. I should have paid more attention in scool because I really never figured out that homework contains the word “work”. But, while I’m trying to figure that out, go watch some videos online. Make sure you leave a comment below to let people know what you found. Here are some links to get you started:
The main YouTube website:
http://www.youtube.com
YouTube is branching out into television shows:
http://www.youtube.com/shows
But their strength is still user generated content:
http://www.youtube.com/members
And of course, our friend iJustine:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ijustine
The main Hulu website:
http://www.hulu.com
Hulu Movies:
http://www.hulu.com/movies
Hulu Television:
http://www.hulu.com/tv
My favorite show on Hulu:
http://www.hulu.com/chuck
Wrap Up
As you can see, the internet is full of ways for people to connect with one another. In the beginning, some were afraid that the internet would cause people to grow further apart as they spent time online. In the beginning, that might have been true. But, as the internet grows, people find new ways to connect with each other.
