Season's
greetings - and welcome to the latest issue of the SreeTips
newsletter. As always, I look forward to YOUR tips, feedback and
suggestions: sree@sreetips.com.
This
month's tipsters: Akash Alam, Pat Arnow, Mervin Block, Jon Dube,
Charles Pappas, Josef Schrabal, Jane Tabachnick, Al Tompkins.
This newsletter is an offshoot of the "Smarter Surfing: Better
Use of Your Web Time" workshops I teach around the U.S. and abroad.
If you are interested in having me do a session for your office,
organization, school or hamlet, please visit http://www.sree.net/web
Why
wait a month for the next newsletter? Visit the constantly updated
"Smarter Surfing" links at http://www.sree.net/tips/web.html
Also see new "Web Tips" published every Tuesday &
Friday on Poynter.org (co-written by Jon Dube of CyberJournalist.net):
http://www.poynter.org/web
New-ish
USEFUL SITES & TIPS (sites
I find useful in some way)
Yahoo!
Year in Review 2002 - unique look back http://yir.yahoo.com/2002
Tired of all the "year in review" magazine issues? This
Yahoo site looks back in a way only it can, with a compelling
combination of serious and fun elements. You will find lists of
the top news stories, photos, sporting events, movies, etc, and
even get a chance to compare the major financial markets.
While you're at it, check out the Google Zeitgeist Timeline 2002
- http://www.google.com/press/timeline2002.html
- a list of search trends.
BBC
Country Profiles -
guides to various countries
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/country_profiles/html This Beeb site is filled with basic information about dozens
of countries and has audio and video links to the BBC archives
(though I wish there were even more such multimedia items). Here's
how it works: go to the site and select the country you want to
learn about from the regional groupings (Europe, Africa, etc).
The resulting page will have enough information and links to get
you started. Take India, for instance. You'll find an overview,
historical timelines and links to the media. You can hear an excerpt
of the 1948 announcement by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of
Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.
EasyBib.com
- making bibliographies http://www.easybib.com This
free site set up last year by Illinois high school students is
very useful for anyone who needs to make a bibliography or source
list (scholars, students, writers, etc). Here's how it works:
Go to the site, enter the source you wish to cite, where you found
it (e.g., online or print), the author and other details. You
then get an instant bibliography entry that you can reuse as you
need. It works with the two major citation styles, the MLA (Modern
Language Association) and the APA (American Psychological Association).
If you do a lot of such citations, you should sign up for the
professional version, which costs just $5 a year.
New-ish
FUN SITES & TIPS
(proof "fun" is a subjective word)
Cooking with Google - who needs recipe books?
http://www.buzztoolbox.com/google/goocookin.shtml
The other day, my wife and I were in a cooking mood, but didn't
feel like hunting through our recipe books. Instead, we scouted
the fridge (where we found tomatoes, onion, spinach and eggs)
and did some "Google cooking." We went to this site
and typed in the ingredients we had on hand and got back a list
of recipes which had those items. We selected something called
an "omelette pakaki curry" and it came out pretty well.
The site allows you to pick from general, vegetarian and international
recipes. It's not 100 percent reliable, but is more fun than trying
to track down the esoteric ingredients that books often call for.
PUN
SITES - punny stuff here Bad Puns.com -http://www.badpuns.com Puns
Galore -http://www.punsgalore.com These sites will make you laugh - and groan. You'll find thousands
of puns, divided by topic or just displayed in random order. Great
way to pass the time. It's with great difficulty that I am stopping
at one bad pun in this review.
MY
DEFAULT ITEMS...
(my starting points for various things; may change monthly)
Search
Engine:
Google http://www.google.com/
The best search engine out there. 'Nuff said. But here's Walt
Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal on Google: "...simply the
best search site I've ever used." If you know Walt's work -- and
you should be following it religiously at http://ptech.wsj.com/
-- you know that he doesn't hand out such praise often. Be sure
to download the free Google toolbar; it will change the way you
search: http://toolbar.google.com/
(no Mac version right now)
Reference
Site:
Refdesk http://www.refdesk.com/
Excellent reference site. Don't just take my word for it. The
New York Times quoted U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell saying
this is his favorite Web site. Run by Bob Drudge, Matt's dad (though
Refdesk doesn't run rumors).
Encyclopedia:
Britannica.com http://www.britannica.com/
The Encyclopedia Britannica on the Web -- basic info free of charge
(the full-access version, which used to be free, now costs $7.95
a month, or $50 a year).
Dictionary:
Merriam-Webster http://www.m-w.com/
In offices, dictionaries grow legs and walk. Hence an online dictionary
is a must. This one addresses a major problem I have had with
traditional dictionaries: You need to know how to spell a word
before you look it up. Not here. Just punch in an approximation,
and it will give you a suggested list. And nice etymology. Also
see the new button for your browser; once you download it, you
don't need to go to the site itself in order to lookup a word.
You can do it right from whatever site you are in.
Atlas:
National Geographic's Map Machine http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
Leave it to National Geographic to make the best online atlas
with these dynamic maps that will take you to any spot you choose
and allow you to change what kind of map you see, on the fly.
I had no idea there are three towns named Santa Claus in the U.S.
or that my grandfather's village in India is an easy find.
Driving
Directions:
MapQuest http://www.mapquest.com/
For U.S. driving directions, MapQuest remains the best
site. But I also like the new "straight-line" maps from
MapBlast <http://www.mapblast.com>
World
Time:
TimeAndDate.com
http://www.timeanddate.com/
The best set of world clocks and calendars. I like the personal
world clock, which allows you to set and track time in up to 16
cities at one glance.
Software
Downloads:
Download.com http://www.download.com
No need to hit the store to buy software. Almost everything you
need is online and has free trials.
Media
Goings-on:
Jim Romenesko's Media News http://www.medianews.org/
Hosted by Poynter.org, this is news-junkie heaven. I read it more
often and more closely than any other site.
-
- - - -
SREE-DOT-NET
Must-Sree TV http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/technology/
My "Tech Guru" segments on WABC-7 in the New York City area run
Thursday mornings on channel 7 at 6:45 (yes, that's the a.m.).
This is a link to archived Web versions of my segments -- now
includes Real Video versions for the newer segments.
"Smarter
Surfing" Workshops http://www.sree.net/web
Smarter surfing for people of all skill levels. Interested in
scheduling a class for you and your colleagues? Learn more.
"Smarter
Surfing" Links: Better Use of Your Web Time http://www.sree.net/tips/web.html
Links for various categories of sites, annotated for your surfing
pleasure.
SreeTips
-- the new site http://www.sreetips.com
Links to my tips and thoughts on various items, including laptops,
digital cameras, freelance writing, Web production and more.
Poynter.org
Web Tips
http://www.poynter.org/web/Archive2001.htm
Every Tuesday, I write a short Web tip for Poynter.org; MSNBC
technology editor Jonathan Dube writes one every Friday.
If you're in the news biz, you may want to subscribe to Jon's
terrific Cyberjournalist.net monthly newsletter - "tips
& talk for the wired world." Drop an e-mail to cyberjournalist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
