Searching for Something?

Do remember the time before Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista? How did we find anything on the web? Search engines have certainly made the Internet the way it is today, and without it the world wide web just wouldn't have been functional. Today there are all sorts of search engines, some that even search ethically! Below is a list of some of the most innovative ones.

GOOSHING
GOOSHING is a shopping site that allows you to search for items from ethical companies at the cheapest price. According to the website's about page, GOOSHING is brought to you by

The Ethical Company Organisation, who first published The Good Shopping Guide – which has become the world’s leading ethical shopping reference authority.

Multicolr Search Lab
The Multicolr Search Lab allows users to find various pictures of the same color. For example if I was looking for a pink picture I would click on the exact shade that I wanted and the search engine would display various pictures with pink as the dominate color:


Ecocho
According to the Ecocho website,

Ecocho is a new search engine trying to make a difference for climate change. For every 1000 searches users make on Ecocho they counter balance or "offset" a ton of greenhouse gases. They do this by sponsoring two trees via advertising on the site.

Basically Ecocho has partnered with Yahoo to provide users with an easy to use search engine. But the cool part is that while you search you can also help save the planet!

Searchme
Searchme allows users to conduct visual searches.

In the above picture I searched for Yoga and searchme automatically displayed the search results in a mini screenshot form. I think this search tool is especially useful for visual learners.

It's about time I posted a picture.

So I was looking back on my blog posts and realized that I have done what I absolutely hate about other blogs. I have created a blog full of text and hardly any pictures! I am a true believer that a picture is worth a thousand words and to think that I have not supplemented my posts with pictures is quite shameful. So, to make up for my neglect, here is a series of funny/interesting pictures! Enjoy!

Happy Clams
Source: Sticky Comics

Camouflage by Liu Bolin
Source: DesignBoom


Rat Shoe
Source: InventorSpot


KEWB Multi-Functional Living Room Set
Source: Web Urbanist


Lastly a cool video:
Reverse Graffiti : Ossario: Alexandre Orion
Source: Ossario.net

Online Class 5: Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalists play a critical role in truth and knowledge sharing. It seems that many people now a days are skeptical of the truth in conventional journalism and have turned to citizen journalists for the most up to date and "real" information. Though this information is highly biased, at least readers have the ability to survey a wide variety of opinions on a certain subject and come to a conclusion for themselves. I feel that in traditional media we are spoon fed a certain politically correct version of the truth and expected to accept that as reality. Citizen journalists offer us more freedom in how we view the world. I believe this has motivated a lot of people to turn to citizen journalism for their news.

Citizen journalism has also changed the way we make decisions. Just look at how Engadget and
Gizmodo impacts the technology industry. A positive review on these sites can really help a product boost credibility. Or how about the 2008 presidential election? Many of my peers completely ignored traditional media coverage. They turned to Daily Kos, the Huffington Post, and FiveThirtyEight for information and analysis. I think the appeal is in the equality between writer and reader. Because there is so much interaction the reader has some influence in content.

Citizen journalism has also provided us with the most up to date information on things we may not otherwise have access to. This is news in real time. In the most recent Israeli/Palestine conflict citizen journalists on the ground were able to provide a unique perspective on what was going on. One such blog is Life Must Go On in Gaza and Sderot. This blog is written by an Israeli man and a Palestinian man living on opposite sides of the divide. What they share daily simply cannot be reproduced by traditional media. They provide a certain type of insight that we all crave but cannot get by traditional means. Thus, we turn to these citizen journalists.

I think its amazing how much impact everyday people can have on the world now and its all thanks to the Internet!

Blogging is hard

Do you have to be opinionated to blog well?

I feel that because I don't have particularly strong opinions on many things it has been difficult for me to blog. I'm one of those people that can see both sides of the story and find it hard to take sides.

Do you have to write well to blog well?

Maybe I'm being a cop-out but I blame my inability to write on the fact that English is my second language. Because of this it has been hard to articulate my thoughts in writing form. I think I am articulate when speaking. How do I translate that onto paper?

I think I'm approaching blogging completely wrong. I'm blogging for others ie readers but I think most bloggers blog for themselves. They write what interests them and see it as an outlet. For me being an accomplished blogger means having lots of readers interested in what I have to say. Without readers I find no joy in blogging. Am I going about this all wrong?

I guess what I'm trying to say is blogging is HARD!

Blogging and other writings: a comparison

VS

How is blogging different from other forms of writing? In my opinion blogging is different because:

Blogging is Personal
In my last post I mentioned that I haven't ventured out into the blog world as much as I should have. To date, I still haven't. I realize this really limits my blogging experience as much of blogging is about making connections with the reader. For many writers this is a luxury. In non web forms of writing, the writer simply cannot get instantaneous feedback from their readers. But this is exactly what is preventing me from venturing out. There is much more personal involvement in blogging and sometimes I just want to share information without having to listen to input from others.

Blogging is Creative
Blogging is also different than other print writings in that it allows for more creativity. When I write for print my tools are words and pictures but blogging allows me to use video and links to create a more complete reading experience.

Blogging is social
Blogging is also more social than some of the traditional forms of writing. It seems that popular blogs always incite some sort of comment from readers and for some bloggers their main purpose is to engage readers in a dialogue.

Blogging is better communication
Blogging also forces me to be more aware of who my readers are. Since anyone could read my blog I often have to consider who these people may be and try to communicate in a way that is clear for people from a variety of backgrounds.

What do you think? What makes blogging different for you?

Thriller!

When I was in elementary school I was in LOVE with Michael Jackson. I wanted to marry him. This was during his human years:

I remember I used to sneak downstairs to watch MTV music specials on Michael Jackson. Of course my all time favorite Michael Jackson music video is Thriller. I used to think it was really scary but I couldn't help but watch it because of all the great dancing and of course Michael.

Apparently I'm not the only one who loves it! The website ThrilltheWorld is dedicated to Thriller! More importantly how to do the dance in Thriller! There are even videos that breakdown each movement! This is a dream come true. I'm going to go practice and then dance my pants off! You should try it too!

For those who need inspiration check out these Philippine prisoners doing the dance. If they can do it, you can too!

Online Class 4: What's it all about?

Since starting this blog I've tried to determine what kind of contribution I wanted to make to the Internet universe.

For me this blog is my way of sharing interesting, creative and unique ideas and occurrences whatever they may be. I always stumble on cool things on the Internet and it is enjoyable, even fulfilling for me to share these websites. But e-mailing seems so limiting because I can only reach my friends. So this blog was created to share my cool finds with the world! I guess its my way of democratizing information. But I must admit I haven't been connecting with other bloggers as much. I think it's because I'm afraid that readers won't find my posts interesting. But I can't hide forever. This is the Internet and people are bound to read what I'm writing.

So...this week I will attempt to step out of my comfort zone and connect with a blogger! Come back soon to hear about how it went!

Just a thought

There is a general notion that the Internet has allowed us to share more and be more open with the world but consider this. When we type an e-mail, send a text, post a blog we are writing our thoughts in a text editor. This gives us the ability to edit and manipulate what we say and how we say it. Combined with pictures and videos what we present on the world wide web is this censored version of ourselves. On the other hand when we engage in a conversation it is much harder to edit what we say. Is what we post electronically the truth or an overly managed portrayal of ourselves?
Are we really sharing that much with each other?

What do you think?

25 Questions

In order to help you get to know me a little bit better I've decided to post that 25 questions survey from Facebook on here. I know I know its soooo last week but I figure it would help us get to know each other! So...here goes 25 random things about me!

1. I feel guilty because I'm not much of an animal person. Is it wrong if I don't have feelings for animals?
2. When I was a baby my grandmother would insist that I sleep on my back so that I would develop a flat head. This was supposedly better for ponytails and therefore desirable. I kind of resent her for that.
3. I had my first piece of cheese when I was 8.
4. I hate watching dramas because I become too involved in the story. But some of the best movies of seen were ones that I was forced to see.
5. Generally speaking I prefer hanging out with guys. I think girls are too complicated.
6. I enjoy chopping vegetables. I think it's very soothing
7. I think pigeons are plotting to take over the world. Notice how they aren't afraid of people anymore. They don't even move when you walk towards them. That really scares me.
8. Birds creep me out. I hate pigeons especially because I try not to run them over on the road but they won't fly out of the way.
9. I've shot a machine gun in the jungles of Vietnam. Its the only gun I've touched.
10. I want a dancer's body and I think that if I danced I would get one.
11. Engrish always makes me happy.
12. After I watch foreign film with subttitles I always feel like I can speak the language.
13. My goal is to have traveled to all 7 continents by the age of 25. I still need to go to Australia, Europe, Latin America, and Antarctica.
14. My brother is nine years younger then me so sometimes I still feel like an only child.
15. I hate driving and am a big fan of public transportation.
16. Forest green is my favorite color.
17. It's been so long since I've read a book.
18. I love the way a library/book store smells.
19. I like going to yard sales because its always an adventure you never know what you are going to find.
20. Liechtenstein is my favorite country in the world because I did a report on it in Middle School.
21. I like standing on my head.
22. I've never had a pet.
23. I don't like to take medicines. I always give my body the opportunity to fight it first.
24. I've tried donating blood every year since high school (almost 6 years) but have never been successful because of travel restrictions.
25. I think airplane food is the best part of flying.

Online Class 3: The Evolution of Internet Use

I remember when I was in elementary school I hated typing up reports on the computer. I thought it was really tedious and that it took forever. That was before I knew how to type fast. And then came AIM and my relationship with the internet and computers completely changed. Next came Yahoo Mail, Shockwave games, Xanga, Livejournal, and Kazaa. Once I entered high school my internet usage evolved beyond entertainment. I began doing research on Google Scholar and online databases, and I shared documents via Google Docs. I found my way around town using Mapquest and started downloading through Mytunes.

Today theres a whole mess of programs and softwares I use on a daily basis: Pandora for music, Yelp for reviews, Constant Contact for work, Google groups for my thesis writing group, and the list goes on. I can't believe I once dreaded writing reports on a computer and now I couldn't imagine handwriting anything! What a change I have experienced in just ten years!

But having what seems like having the world at my finger tips does have its consequences. While I have been able to share all sorts of information with people all over the world, I still dont feel CONNECTED to people. It seems that the internet has brought us closer together also kept us apart. I think there is real value in having in person experiences where we can engage all of our senses. Perhaps thats where the internet is headed in the future. As users demand a more realistic human experience over the internet we may see the development widgets built to enhance our tactile senses. Wouldn't that be something?

But for now I would be happy with a more integrated internet. Lucky for me I'm not the only one! Check out this cool new tool from Mozilla.


Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Check out the Mozilla blog post about it here.

Revel in RIVES

I'm not terribly fond of poems. I just don't get most of them. I don't want to guess at what your saying I just want you to tell me.

Then along came RIVES. Here are some examples of his genius.





Oh how I wish I could make words work for me!

Speaking of Blogs

This blog post is about blogs. First a video: the essence of blogging explained in twenty minutes, a TED speech by Mena Trott.

Note: the speech drags after about five minutes.



For the beginner:
Problogger's Crawl before you walk: 6 Step-by-step Instructions for Starting your First Blog
Problogger's Starting Your First Blog? 29 Tips, Tutorials and Resources for New Bloggers

More blog resources to come. Do you have any favorite blog related resources?

Songsmith Rocks!

Microsoft Songsmith allows users to make their own music and write songs. Essentially the program generates musical accompaniment that matches a singer’s voice.

The real beauty of Songsmith however is that it has taken off as a viral hit, partially because of Johannes Kreidler, who used Songsmith to create melodies from stock charts. Check it out:



Gotta love the internet!