I'm continually amazed at the stuff you can find on the web. Much of it is self-perpetuating, self-organizing and self-enhancing. Google.com, Yahoo!, and (self-serving tendencies aside) MSN.com all try to help us get a handle on this monstrosity called the Internet -- all with varying degrees of success.
This damned Internet-thing grows by mega-scads every day. That growth is caused by sites like this one, of no known redeeming value, by sites like Microsoft.com, Linux.org, Apple.com, NBC.com, NPR.org, NYTimes.com, NASA.org, Nature.com, DrWeil.com, SlashDot.org, Wikipedia, GrokLaw.net, Seth Godin's Blog and by millions of others that actually have something valuable to say, as well as by little-known sites that touch us, the visitors, in strange, enchanting and useful ways.
In the past couple of days, being the incurable nerd that I am, with a bit of time on my hands and no family gatherings to attend (the family is on the left coast, whilst I am on the right), I naturally turned my attention to the web. I've made some interesting discoveries.
Sadly, I'm not on the bleeding edge with these finds; I can't stick a flag in the ether and claim them for God and Country. Others got there long before I. Still, I found the sites in my own good time and, like those who went before me, I've adopted these sites as my own. Now I share them, kind visitor, with you.
In case you haven't noticed, Blogging is Big. Big, I tell you. Everyone seems to be doing it. Even me (obviously). Even Microsoft, Google, and others. Your Aunt Bessie might even have a blog to share her favorite recipes with her Bunko Buddies. You should ask her.
But how to do you find all the good Blogs? Depends what you're looking for. However, a great place to start is Technorati.com. I've known about this site for a couple of years, but haven't used it -- until recently. It's a site that indexes and displays information about the hottest blogs in the blogosphere. Interested in some topic? Search for it at Technorati.com and you'll likely find a blog or 100 that focus on that very topic. Your Aunt Bessie's blog may even be listed there.
If you're looking for technology-related news, you could also use Digg.com. Digg is a technology news site where the user community takes an active role in the editorial process, deciding what's hot and what's not. The community posts articles and the community votes for articles they deem Worthy. Articles that are successfully vetted by the community get promoted to the site's home page; articles that don't make the grade quietly and ignominiously fade away.
Digg has even spawned a blog and a podcast whose sole purpose is to watch what's hot on Digg.com: Diggnation. Caution is advised for the pure of ear -- the hosts are excitable and boistrous lads who tend to use colorful language now and again.
"Podcast," you ask? Sit tight; I'll get to that.
First, surely you've heard of this iPod thing. It's a little white (or black) bit of plastic and metal that records your music after you've "ripped" it (no, it doesn't hurt you or your music) from CDs to your computer's hard disk, allowing you to haul around 15,000 of your favorite tunes to listen to at your leisure and on your schedule. It's time-shifting for tunes. It's very cool. I have an iPod. I love it. But that's not really news anymore. Everyone loves their iPod. It's the current hot-story we tell each other.
So, have you also heard of this PodCast thing? iPods and Podcasting are related. Podcasts are web-based audio and video content that you download to your PC, copy to your iPod (or other portable listening device) and listen to at your leisure and on your schedule. More timeshifting. PodCast sites are also growing by mega-scads. Which, of course, leads one to the obvious question: how do you find the good ones? PodCasts, that is.
Well, if you have an iPod, you could use iTunes. The PodCasts there are submitted by users and the popularity ratings are based on user subscripton activity. You could also try Yahoo! Podcasts.
While I'm generally not a big proponent of much of anything Yahoo! does, in this case I like the way they've organized their podcast content. They group podcasts by popularity, subject area and with tags, and you can search by all of these. I like tags (more about tags later). It's the way they use tags that I like. Popular tags get big fonts, less popular tags get smaller fonts -- intutive and obvious. It works for me.
So, what are tags? Tags are all-the-rage on the Social Networking Sites, a category of web site that's also all-the-rage. Essentially, tags are descriptive words that the user communty assigns to things that are important to the community. Funny thing is, we all tend to think somewhat alike, so we tend to assign the same tags to similar things. As a result, by counting and grouping the tags, we can see what things are important and popular (they have lots of tags) and we can see what they're about (the tags are similar).
Take Flickr.com. Flickr may be one of the best-known tagging sites going. Essentially, Flickr is a place to store and share pictures. Once uploaded, you apply tags to your pictures so people can find them.
For instance, after you upload pictures of your Holiday-decorated ficus plant, you tag it with the words "ficus holiday decorated." Anyone who wants to compare their decorated ficus with yours need only search for "holiday decorated ficus" and all the pictures that share these tags are returned. You can then add comments to all the other pictures heaping praises on the other users for their creativity. Plus, you've just found a bunch of folks who share a passion similar to yours. Social networking in action.
Another site that uses tags is del.icio.us (yes, that's its complete web address. No www, nor .com or .org). This is a site where the user community uploads and tags their browser bookmarks. Like Flickr, if you're looking for a topic of interest, you'll find it by searching for tag words. Del.icio.us works like Flickr in this sense, but it also allows you to store your bookmarks in a central location for you to access from anywhere: home, work, or Starbucks. An additional benefit is that you can make all or part (or none) of your bookmarks public, sharing them with everyone, or just your close friends and family. Very cool. Very convenient.
The last tidbit I recently found is a site from a guy named Chris Hill. The site is called Ubergeek. Chris is a graphic artist by training, who has also picked up some of the programming skills often related to web sites, as well as some decent animation skills. He also has a slightly twisted sense of humor.
One item on his site really got to me. It's a recording of his mother, Jean, to which he's added animation. He calls it "Geeks In Love." it's part of an interview he did with his mom, initially to find a way to embarass her on the 'Net. After hearing this partcular story, however, he was moved to take a serious approach to the subject, and to treat it with the respect it deserves.
In this interview Jean (Chris' Mom) recounts how she met, and later lost, Walter (Chris' Dad). It's a great piece of work. Jean's narration is funny and earnest and the annimation suits it well. It's well worth the 25 cents Chris charges to see the second half. Yes, you read that correctly: $.25US. One quarter of one dollar. The first half is free, the second half will set you back 5 nickels.
Before I give you the address to the page with the animation, there are some things you should know.
First, dial-up users need not apply. It's Flash animation and it won't play well with your pokey download speed. Next, despite the fact that the animation will start immediately, I suggest that you click the link to pay the 25 cents. You'll be able to use either a credit card or PayPal (my choice). This will allow you to watch the piece uninterrupted and you'll enjoy it all the more. Finally, bring a hanky. You might need it.
Here's the URL to the animation page (it will start right away, but go ahead and pay the 25 cents): http://www.ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=48 . Please take a minute after you watch this to tell me what you think in the comments to this article, below.
Merry Day-After Christmas and all the best for the new year.
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