Extremetech brings you 25 Great Geek Websites

The folks from Extremetech bring you 25 Great Geek Websites all in one hit....thank you Extremetech team :)

The sites are listed below - but be sure to go to the website at Extremetech to get the summary and direct links of each of the websites.

Blues News http://bluesnews.com/
The Inquirer http://www.theinquirer.net/
BetaNews http://www.betanews.com/
Ars Technica http://www.arstechnica.com/
OSNews http://www.osnews.com/
Beyond 3D http://www.beyond3d.com/
[H]ard|OCP http://www.hardocp.com/
The Tech Report http://www.techreport.com/
Anand Tech http://www.anandtech.com/
MVKtech.net http://www.mvktech.net/
Silent PCReview http://www.silentpcreview.com/
The Guru of 3D http://www.guru3d.com/
Hack n Mod http://www.hacknmod.com/
Tech Forums http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/
DriverHeaven.Net Forums http://www.driverheaven.net/forum.php
[H]ard Forum http://hardforum.com/
AV Science Forum http://www.avsforum.com/
Rock, Paper, Shotgun http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/
Joel on Software http://www.joelonsoftware.com/
GamePolitics.com http://www.gamepolitics.com/
Engadget http://www.engadget.com/
Coding Horror http://www.codinghorror.com/
ThinkGeek http://www.thinkgeek.com/ (my fav online geek "stuff" store)
Xkcd http://www.xkcd.com/
Mikes Hardware http://www.mikeshardware.co.uk/

Web 1.0 - Web 2.0 - are you ready for Web 3.0?

Some people laugh when you say Web 3.0 or semantic web....they don't believe there will be a "Web 3.0" but rather something completely different.

The folks at Project10X will argue that Web 3.0 is the next wave and it is starting now!

Project10X is a "research consultancy specializing in next wave semantic technologies and solutions. The firm’s clients include technology manufacturers, global 2000 corporations, and government agencies."

A quote from a report just released by Project10X looks at the 4 stages of Internet growth....

"The semantic wave embraces four stages of Internet growth.

1. The first stage, Web 1.0, was about connecting information and getting on the net.
2. Web 2.0 is about connecting people — putting the “I” in user interface, and the “we” into Webs of social participation.
   
3. The next stage, Web 3.0, is starting now. It is about representing meanings, connecting knowledge, and putting these to work in ways that make our experience of Internet more relevant, useful, and enjoyable.
   
4. Web 4.0 will come later.

It is about connecting intelligences in a ubiquitous Web where both people and things reason and communicate together."

The executive summary of this 400+ page report is free to download
[ .pdf ]

This report looks at emerging technologies and explores the market readiness. Project10X also "projects that public and private sector R&D relating to semantic technologies in the 2008-2010 period will exceed $8 billion and that global ICT markets for semantic technology infused products and services will grow from $2.1 B in 2006 to $52.4 B in 2010."

If this evolves as predicted, it means a lot of new/spin-off companies will be formed around this growth and development. One just has to scour the web now to see all of the new websites/companies that have been born during the Web 2.0 era.

School Chat....
This means that schools need to "wrap their head around" what impact all this will have on their students and their programs. What information and skills will need to get to the students in order for them to be "future-proofed".....ready to take on the semantic entrepreneurial spirit.

The future workforce may rarely be physically in a traditional office

"Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working at home (WAH), or working from home (WFH) is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy limited flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links. Many work from home, while others, occasionally also referred to as nomad workers utilize mobile telecommunications technology to work from coffee shops or myriad other locations." (Wikipedia)

Are we moving towards empty offices around the world? Will coffee shops become the new board room? Will gossip around the water cooler now happen in a virtual world instead of the lunch room?

Last year I blogged about preparing our students for working from that "third place." Students today are more comfortable working in an informal environment such as a coffee shop. My question is are we preparing students to manage time and foster engaging work relations from a third place?

Telecommuting seemed to become popular again after 9/11. I was reading an article this morning which was got me on this path called Telecommuting found to boost morale, cut stress wrote that "last year an estimated 45 million Americans telecommuted, an increase of 4 million from 2003, according to the magazine WorldatWork." The article goes on to further discuss how telecommuting can have a positive impact on ones carbon footprint.

Food for Thought.....
So where does this leave the 21st century learner? What skills will be required to successfully manage and work within a telecommute environment?

Managing and accessing data and knowledge is going to be a huge issue if telecommuting continues on this popular pathway. To be able to access your data from anywhere and be sure that this is being done securely will be very important.

Those businesses that foster telecommuting, how will the foster their working community? How will they build their corporate story when many of their employees will not be physically around to contribute?

What are the hottest web properties on the Internet?

comScore is a "global Internet information provider to which leading companies turn for consumer behavior insight that drives successful marketing, sales and trading strategies."

According to comScore....what is the hottest property for June 2007 on the Internet? Check out the table below and see how many of these sites you visited in the month of June.

Top Global Web Properties Ranked by Total Unique Visitors (000)* June 2007 Total Worldwide, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix
Property	Total Unique Visitors (000)	% Reach
Total Internet : Total Audience	778,310	100%
Google Sites (including such sites as YouTube)	544,783	70%
Microsoft Sites	529,155	68%
Yahoo! Sites	471,924	61%
Time Warner Network	266,367	34%
eBay	264,732	34%
Wikipedia Sites	208,120	27%
Fox Interactive Media	163,545	21%
Amazon Sites	145,947	19%
Apple Inc.	123,554	16%
Adobe Sites	121,966	16%
CNET Networks	116,579	15%
Ask Network	115,655	15%
Viacom Digital	88,654	11%
Lycos Sites	77,517	10%
The Mozilla Organization	70,850	9%
Gorilla Nation	67,788	9%
New York Times Digital	66,230	9%
Terra Networks	63,020	8%
TENCENT Inc.	61,969	8%
France Telecom	60,846	8%

* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes and access from mobile phones or PDAs

Classroom......
Great starting point for any economics or marketing lessons.

Discuss with the students why is it important to web companies to be in this top list? What does it mean in real dollars? What kind of marketing do these companies do online? Why would people/customers come to their websites? What kind of products/services do they offer? How could they 'expand' their products/services to increase their reach?

Yes or No? Does the new touch iPod have bluetooth...another 'oops' or.......

Once again in the "blogosphere" posts are popping up about Apple and the new products that have just been released.

The word is that the new touch iPod has bluetooth capabilities.....but wait that wasn't announced in the new specs released.

Engadget reported this possibility with an image of the touch iPod showing the bluetooth symbol up in the top right hand corner (see image below - from Engadget).


The question is...did they forget to announce this (likely not)......reports now say that the chip is there but not activated....isn't that a challenge set out for the next teenager to pull apart and get it activated.

Wonder if George Hotz is up for the challenge after his iPhone adventure?

Keeping up to date with Computer Security

Holiday time always seems to bring the "viruses" out in people. There always seems to be more activity on the internet around the holiday time. McAfee Avert Labs Blog is a live-update of what is going on in the world of Internet security.

Snopes.com (Rumour Has It), has been around for awhile. Snopes.com has a variety of topics but the computer virus hoaxes & viruses lists all those crazy emails that you may get into your inbox. Is it a virus? Is it a hoax?

Symantec has a daily forum called the Threat Explorer that uncovers email hoaxes on a regular basis. Best plan of attack against these....JUST DELETE THEM. The Threat Explorer is a one-stop-shop for threats to your computer system. From the latest viruses to the latest email hoaxes.

McAfee also has a security section listing recent security threats (viruses, worms, trojans, etc...)

About: Urban Legends and Folklore has a great site by David Emery that gives you updates on the latest email hoaxes.


Remember with the holiday season comes more time to download songs, websites, files, etc... while playing/working on the computer. Be safe on your Internet/computer holiday journey.

Acronym Finder

Ever have the need to figure out what WYSIWYG stands for?
Acronym Finder does just that....scours through its database to hopefully respond to your acronym queries.

With more than 500,000 human-edited entries, Acronym Finder is the world's largest and most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms.

Media Awareness Network

MNet's primary focus has been to help bring teachers and librarians up to speed on the issues emerging as young people go online.

MNet’s Web site hosts a wide variety of resources including:
- More than 300 lesson plans for educators to use in classrooms
- Professional development resources for librarians and teachers
- Tips, information and practical tools for parents
- An ever-expanding database of articles, research, reports and other reference materials on current and emerging media issues

CreativeCommons

Every educator should have this site booked marked! This site has grown beyond general information on copyright in the digital age. There are lesson plans, audio resources, images, video and information on publishing your book, essays, and blogs.

Creative Commons helps you publish your work online while letting others know exactly what they can and can't do with your work.

How Does Google Work?

PCMagazine goes into the mysteries of Google.