Blinkx attempts to order visual material such as TV shows and movie trailers by being a search engine for all the various movie/tv/podcasts and commercial sites such as YouTube and Google. The extended list includes news sites, entertainment sites and internet search engines such as google.
It is a good site for assembling first generation Internet video sites. The searching is relatively basic but is a good start with which to build,
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Mp3s
Limewire:
Limewire is quite an amazing software in that it enables a person to have their own personal jukebox assuming they comply with copyright laws and share their own music.
Besides music, one can download comedy bits (such as Monty Python and the Goons) and movies.
The sharing aspect is what makes the community of the internet commendable. The ability for strangers to find and play music, movies, spoken word, comedy that may be out of print. Sure, it is file sharing, but in an indirect way, material is being digitally preserved.
ITunes, LimeWire and others have permanently changed the way we access music. The music industry's business model, after attempting to fight this innovation, has not recovered sufficiently. New methods of product delivery must be sought and implemented if the industry is to stay in business.
From a personal point of view, it is simply amazing. Again, your own jukebox at your computer and the ability to obtain material found and sought in a matter of minutes (with high speed internet).
Limewire is quite an amazing software in that it enables a person to have their own personal jukebox assuming they comply with copyright laws and share their own music.
Besides music, one can download comedy bits (such as Monty Python and the Goons) and movies.
The sharing aspect is what makes the community of the internet commendable. The ability for strangers to find and play music, movies, spoken word, comedy that may be out of print. Sure, it is file sharing, but in an indirect way, material is being digitally preserved.
ITunes, LimeWire and others have permanently changed the way we access music. The music industry's business model, after attempting to fight this innovation, has not recovered sufficiently. New methods of product delivery must be sought and implemented if the industry is to stay in business.
From a personal point of view, it is simply amazing. Again, your own jukebox at your computer and the ability to obtain material found and sought in a matter of minutes (with high speed internet).
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Google Maps
Google Maps is interesting in the respect that it takes a similar site such as Mapquest and adds to it.
I searched for my address on Google Maps and I was able to locate my town, although, my address showed on the map as being several miles away. When I specified my street, I was able to find my street to the key of 50 feet.
I do find that Google Maps and the accompanying "get directions" feature does not always find the best route for me. Turnpikes and highways are often chosen rather than roads that may be less traveled. However, I am sure that the roads are not listed for the native but for the ease of access.
I am sure with global tracking and satellites, the directions will get better. What I find amazing is that the many county and state maps are not needed, although I still prefer a printed road map to what can be printed out from the Internet.
What is important is that the choice is there and that is something that was not available just 15 years ago.
I searched for my address on Google Maps and I was able to locate my town, although, my address showed on the map as being several miles away. When I specified my street, I was able to find my street to the key of 50 feet.
I do find that Google Maps and the accompanying "get directions" feature does not always find the best route for me. Turnpikes and highways are often chosen rather than roads that may be less traveled. However, I am sure that the roads are not listed for the native but for the ease of access.
I am sure with global tracking and satellites, the directions will get better. What I find amazing is that the many county and state maps are not needed, although I still prefer a printed road map to what can be printed out from the Internet.
What is important is that the choice is there and that is something that was not available just 15 years ago.
Map of States That I Have Visited
I have visited 32 states which amounts to 62% of the states in the union. This is what I like to call intelligent idle behavior. At the very minimum, I am reminding myself of where I have been and where I am going.
I did not use the Map of Countries as I have never been outside of the United States.
I did attempt to paste the map, however I was unable to get this code to copy and reformat as an image.
I did not use the Map of Countries as I have never been outside of the United States.
I did attempt to paste the map, however I was unable to get this code to copy and reformat as an image.
Monday, July 9, 2007
iFilm/ Viral Video
Like a virtual flea market without leaving your home, ebay is able to clean out your closets or fill them up. With iFilm and other sites such as YouTube, you can find short films and commercials that you long forgot.
What is fascinating about these sites is that it is all digital so no searching on old VHS or beta tapes. Unlike VHS tapes, the material is extremely ephemeral. Material can be posted today, and gone later today. What is amazing about all this, is that it is free and quick to retrieve.
From a librarian's point of view, it is not the best access for searching however this will improve as the digital film sites improve and grow causing and necessitating the need for a better way to search and for a search engine.
I have enjoyed YouTube for a long while, and have found many things that I thought were long gone and remembered many commercials and short films from when I was a child. It is nice to see all this preserved, however an archive is about as difficult to obtain as a to dam the Atlantic Ocean!
That said, it is a wonderful concept and execution of the Internet.
Like a virtual flea market without leaving your home, ebay is able to clean out your closets or fill them up. With iFilm and other sites such as YouTube, you can find short films and commercials that you long forgot.
What is fascinating about these sites is that it is all digital so no searching on old VHS or beta tapes. Unlike VHS tapes, the material is extremely ephemeral. Material can be posted today, and gone later today. What is amazing about all this, is that it is free and quick to retrieve.
From a librarian's point of view, it is not the best access for searching however this will improve as the digital film sites improve and grow causing and necessitating the need for a better way to search and for a search engine.
I have enjoyed YouTube for a long while, and have found many things that I thought were long gone and remembered many commercials and short films from when I was a child. It is nice to see all this preserved, however an archive is about as difficult to obtain as a to dam the Atlantic Ocean!
That said, it is a wonderful concept and execution of the Internet.
Yahoo!
In 1996, I went online for the first time. Yahoo quickly became one of my favorite sites to go to before I narrowed my search. Yahoo enabled me to believe that I was viewing an orderly arrangement of the world wide web.
In 1997, I went to library school where I found other sites to go to in addition to Yahoo!. Since the advent of Web 2.0, Google has tried to take the web and appear to be the search engine by choice, and it has done well. Unfortunately, like Hotbot, and other search engines that do not list hierarchical arrangements, you are stuck narrowing and paging through. Sure, there are ways to narrow, but nothing beats hierarchical arrangements for quickness, and Yahoo still has that.
Today, Yahoo has borrowed a lot from Google, but it was one of the first and is still a major player. I use Google more for email and other free features such as Google maps, but Yahoo has adapted well to the times by incorporating rather than just ignoring the competition.
In 1996, I went online for the first time. Yahoo quickly became one of my favorite sites to go to before I narrowed my search. Yahoo enabled me to believe that I was viewing an orderly arrangement of the world wide web.
In 1997, I went to library school where I found other sites to go to in addition to Yahoo!. Since the advent of Web 2.0, Google has tried to take the web and appear to be the search engine by choice, and it has done well. Unfortunately, like Hotbot, and other search engines that do not list hierarchical arrangements, you are stuck narrowing and paging through. Sure, there are ways to narrow, but nothing beats hierarchical arrangements for quickness, and Yahoo still has that.
Today, Yahoo has borrowed a lot from Google, but it was one of the first and is still a major player. I use Google more for email and other free features such as Google maps, but Yahoo has adapted well to the times by incorporating rather than just ignoring the competition.
My Space:
Myspace is an interactive social networking site where people can meet and greet on the internet. Naturally, all aspects of social interaction are explored on Myspace. What I find interesting about Myspace is that people can find fansite to particular interests and people. They can be fansites of living people, deceased people, and even characters (from television, literature and theater).
What is also interesting to me about Myspace is the ability for someone to become popular from this site, thereby bypassing established methods of advertising and marketing. Comedians and musicians use Myspace to promote their work and their products. The market is targeted to a more select group where the audience is much more segmented to the people that will find the message and accept it. Unlike radio spots or television commercials, a message can be sent to ones list of "friends" and bypass any wasted efforts. It is not uncommon or difficuult to obtain thousands of friends in a relatively short period of time (a few weeks or a few months).
There are issues to consider with Myspace such as spamming and viruses that can be transmitted and phishing, but that is a fact of life for much of the rest of the internet when one gives one's personal information.
It is a useful site and one that can help to bring people together.
Myspace is an interactive social networking site where people can meet and greet on the internet. Naturally, all aspects of social interaction are explored on Myspace. What I find interesting about Myspace is that people can find fansite to particular interests and people. They can be fansites of living people, deceased people, and even characters (from television, literature and theater).
What is also interesting to me about Myspace is the ability for someone to become popular from this site, thereby bypassing established methods of advertising and marketing. Comedians and musicians use Myspace to promote their work and their products. The market is targeted to a more select group where the audience is much more segmented to the people that will find the message and accept it. Unlike radio spots or television commercials, a message can be sent to ones list of "friends" and bypass any wasted efforts. It is not uncommon or difficuult to obtain thousands of friends in a relatively short period of time (a few weeks or a few months).
There are issues to consider with Myspace such as spamming and viruses that can be transmitted and phishing, but that is a fact of life for much of the rest of the internet when one gives one's personal information.
It is a useful site and one that can help to bring people together.
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