Cool Project: 2,000 Bloggers
While I was making my daily visit to 9rules I stumbled across a very interesting project a fellow blogger has undertaken. His name is Tino Buntic and he has started the global project to create a blogroll that consists of the faces of 2,000 bloggers from all walks of life. Any type of blog is acceptable and he doesn’t care what the blog is about or why the person blogs. He is including anyone that leaves a comment with their name and a link to their blog. The only requirements are that the blog must have been started before January 1st of this year and include a picture of the person somewhere in the blog. That’s pretty simple, although he has a lot of work to do making all those thumbnails for his listing. This is some pretty cool stuff!
The Basic Internet Necessities
Using the internet is an important part of what many people do each day. I became heavily dependent on it when I went to college a decade ago. That’s when I found out just how valuable a resource it could be to education. Since then, the amount of time I spend online has grown. Today, I spend about three to four hours each day online. It’s a hazard of my job, scientist and teacher, and one of my hobbies, web development. There are a few important tools that everyone should have to make life easier online: Firefox, Trillian, and a good webmail account.
The most popular web browser is Internet Explorer simply because it’s what comes with all Windows computers. According to the computer world though, the best web browser is Firefox. It can be fully customized to match how each person uses the internet. It even comes with a standard built-in search box that lets you choose which search engine to use. My favorite standard feature though, is the tabbed browsing. You can open multiple web pages in a single window and easily switch between them by clicking the tabs at the top of the window. Closing a tab closes the web page and you can close them all at once simply by exiting the browser. I don’t really have a favorite add-on feature because I use quite a few of them. Probably the two that I use the most are the Web Developer toolbar and ColorZilla color finder extensions. They’re both valuable tools for anyone that’s into building web sites. I could go on and on about why people should use Firefox but the simple truth of the matter is that it’s a better, faster, and safer web browser. Also, did I mention it’s free?
Instant messaging, or chatting as the kids say, has been around nearly as long as the internet but was made popular by AOL and it’s millions of users. Now, there are so many instant messenger services available that it’s hard to keep up. The most popular are AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and ICQ. I have accounts for each of them and it used to get crazy when I would have all of them running at the same time. It got to the point that I didn’t like using them anymore. Then, I was watching a show called The ScreenSavers and they were talking about a program they used that worked with all the popular instant messenger services. The program is Trillian from Cerulean Studios and it has made instant messaging fun again. Trillian allows me to access all my accounts at the same time, it’s loaded with features and easy to use. Also, did I mention it’s free?
Where would we be today without email? We can send someone a letter without paper, envelopes, stamps, or waiting. When you sign up with an internet service provider they usually give you one or more email accounts. It’s actually better to use on of the free webmail services like Yahoo! Mail and Google Mail. Web access allows you to check your email from any computer with access to the internet. They also have features that will automatically scan for viruses and filter spam mail, the two biggest worries with using email. The only problem with Google Mail is that you will need an invitation from someone with an account in order to sign up, but I do have plenty to give away. Also, did I mention they’re free?
That’s it in a nut shell. If you use the internet as much as I do these are the tools that you shouldn’t do without. They will make your online experience easier, and that also means more enjoyable. These are my basic internet necessities and by now you should know the best part, they’re free!
