My Recommended Websites

Solvehub Gives Solutions to Users Tech Problems

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:14:00 +0000

Do you ever get frustrated when you get a new electronic device and you need help but don't know where to turn. You could perform a general online search and hope for the best, or you can go to Solvehub, a website that tries to alleviate consumer's frustration in getting gadgets and all types of electronics to work properly.

Solvehub is set up so that you can easily find the help and tips you need. Solvehub also has all product user manuals online, with the troubleshooting sections transcribed. You can search for the help you need by brand, category of electronic or type in a specific search question.

By signing up (Solvehub is completely free) you can follow products or questions and can stay up-to-date on any problems or tips that may be relevant to you. This could also be a good way to learn more about a product that you are considering buying.

For daily updates on interesting material being added to Solvehub, follow the Solvehub blog. Stories on the blog tend to be help articles that would be of interest to large groups of people. If you really want to stay on top of all tips, best thing to do is to follow Solvehub on Twitter.

LinkedIn Today - The Most Shared News On LinkedIn

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:11:00 +0000

In addition to all the fantastic networking tools it provides, LinkedIn has now added a daily newspaper, LinkedIn Today, to its website. It contains the articles being most talked about by the 100 million members of LinkedIn and Twitter.

LinkedIn Today is not curated by an editor. Articles chosen are those that are most shared or tweeted. You can even click to see who shared or tweeted a specific article.

The best part of LinkedIn Today is that it is fully customizable. You can choose the industries and/or sources that you want to follow. In addition to your chosen industries appearing on your front page, there is also a tab for each selected industry so that you can go into them individually to get more in depth news.

I've only been using LinkedIn Today for a few days now, and it has already become one of my favorite sources for news. It might even become my home page!

Digital Literacy Portal Offers Resources for Job Seekers

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:23:00 +0000

We have reached a point where it is getting more and more difficult to get by in this world without being digitally literate. On May 13, 2011, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke launched DigitalLiteracy.gov, a new online portal to help Americans find jobs and obtain the 21st century skills being sought by today's employers.

This is a fantastic website to go for digital literacy resources, not just to help adults find jobs, but for students and educators or anyone that needs to enhance their Internet skills. This digital literacy portal can be used by teachers or trainers as a resource for their lessons, or by individuals themselves. There are also areas for discussion and collaboration.

Under "Learn the Basics" you will find many tutorials in each of these sections:

Using a Computer or Mobile Device
Using Software and Applications
Using the Internet
Communicating on the Web
Child Online Protection

In the "Learn Job Skills" area, there are many tutorials on each of these topics:

Find a Job
Career Exploration
Create a Resume
Career Training
Businesses and Employers
Places to Help

From the press release: "The premise is simple: We live in an Internet economy where high-speed Internet access and online skills are necessary for seeking, applying for, and getting today’s jobs. DigitalLiteracy.gov will help Americans build the online skills needed to fully share in the benefits of broadband, including developing workforce skills, finding reliable healthcare information, or designing a website."

Newseum: Front Page News From All Over the World

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Mon, 02 May 2011 15:37:00 +0000

Neweum's Front Pages Gallery View Day after 2008 Election

I thought that today would be the perfect day to recommend the Newseum's Today's Front Pages Gallery, as you might want to see what newspapers all over the world are saying about Osama Bin Laden's death. However, what I didn't anticipate was that so many people that already knew of this website already had this idea, that they crashed the Newseum website.

As it should come back on line, hopefully soon, I will still describe the features that Newseum, an interactive news and journalism museum and website, include. The actual museum is located in Washington D.C. and includes 15 theaters and 14 galleries.

In addition to the Today's Front Pages Gallery from more than 80 international newspapers, Newseum has special galleries on topics such as the First Amendment, The Berlin Wall, 9/11, the history of the Internet and more. ABC's This Week is broadcast from the Newseum's television studio.

At last Checking, Newseum seems to be back online, and as expected, every newspaper worldwide has Osama Bin Laden's death on the cover.

1000 Baby Steps - Life Lessons and Cute Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:45:00 +0000

1,000 Baby Steps is an adorable blog inspired by the 1,000 Awesome Things website. Recently launched in January 2011, the blog is only up to Baby Step #23, so if you start following now, you'll be getting in at the beginning.

Written by a stay-at-home dad, 1,000 Baby Steps shows grown-ups steps towards a better life based on what the writer learns from his daughter. Each post has an adorable picture with a life lesson, such as "You don't need much to enjoy life". Similar to All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, I wouldn't be surprised to see a book eventually come out of this blog. If you like baby pictures and/or life lessons, check out 1,000 Baby Steps.

How To Videos in Less Than 5min

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:01:00 +0000

5min is a website where you can find short videos (all under 5 minutes) on a variety of topics. The full name and tag line of the site is 5min Videopedia: Your one-stop shop for instructional videos and DIY projects.

This video explains everything the 5min website and how it works:

What is 5min?

If you didn't have time to watch the video, to sum it up, you can use 5min to either watch videos or submit videos of short solutions to practical questions. 5min uses a video player that can be watched in slow motion, frame by frame, zoomed in or out and more, all of which aids in learning.

Check out the 5min website. There are topics and subtopics of interest to everyone. And since the videos are nice and short, you don't need a lot of time.

Best Website on Issues and Trends Shaping America

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:35:00 +0000

Until recently, I was only familiar with one facet of the Pew Research Center - the Internet & American Life Project. It turns out that is merely one of seven projects of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides numbers, facts, issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is probably most known, at least to people that spend time online, or those with kids, because the most popular topics it deals with are teens, broadband, health, social networking, mobile, technology user types and the digital divide. I've cited statistics from their studies often on my other blog, Connect with your Teens through Pop Culture and Technology.

The six other Pew research projects are:
1. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press - public opinion surveys that study attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues.
2. Project for Excellence in Journalism - uses empirical methods to evaluate and study the performance of the press.
3. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life - seeks to promote a deeper understanding of issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs.
4. Pew Hispanic Center - mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation.
5. Pew Global Attitudes Project - worldwide public opinion surveys.
6. Social & Demographic Trends - studies behaviors and attitudes of Americans in key realms of their lives.

There are excerpts of news and findings from all the projects on the Pew Research Center home page. It is a great place to go and browse. However, if you are looking for information on a particular topic, you can either go to the project above you think it will be in, or go to the Pew Research Center Topics Index or Publications Index.

Best Infographic Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:25:00 +0000

One of my favorite new trends on the Internet is the growing use of Infographics. Infographics are, simply put, the visual representation of information or data. But what sets them apart from all the charts and graphs that we've been using for years are the creativity with which they are made. They are nothing like the boring businessman's charts made up mostly of lines and numbers. Inforgraphics are fun!

Infographics are showing up everywhere, in news articles and blogs. Some blogs are all about showcasing infographics. My favorite of those is Cool Infographics. Their tag line says it so well - "Charts and graphs can communicate data; infographics turn data into information".

Cool Infographics has the two most important things needed to be a great infographics website, great looking infographics on highly relevant timely topics. Two recent posts were Infographic iPhone 5 Rumor Roundup and Japan: The Earthquake & The Tsunami. The blog also has information on infographic posters and books.

I have to thank the wonderful website, MakeUseOf, and their article, 10 Blogs For Stunning Infographic Collections, for helping me to find so many infographic blogs to look it. I agree with both their recommendation and Cool Infographic's that if you are interested in this topic you should visit Alltop's Infographic topic page.
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Rrrewind: Social Media Popularity Now and Past

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:36:00 +0000

Wouldn't it be nice to have one website where you could find out what was most popular each day on all the social media sites on the web? You'll be happy to find out that there is. Rrrewind allows you to check what is popular on each site for the current day, and for each and every day as far back as June 29, 2009.

Currently, when I open Rrrewind, it defaults to Flickr, the photo sharing website. The popular photos are displayed right on Rrrewind. The same is true of video sites, Hulu, YouTube and Yahoo Videos. The videos also appear on the Rrrewind. Other social sites on Rrrewind are Delicious, Digg, Hacker News, Pinboard, Reddit, Dribble, Ffffound, Imgur, Instagram, Picplz, iTunes, We are hunted, Twitter, Wordpress, Google Trends, Yahoo Buzz and Amazon.

Whether you are interested in what is currently trending or want to look back into the past, Rrrewind is a very useful website. It is similar to the Wayback Machine, but much more interesting. What do you think?

Hilarious iPhone Auto Correct Texting Fails!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:13:00 +0000

If you have a cell phone that has an Auto Correct feature, such as the iPhone, then you know how often the Auto Correct makes mistakes. With the default set to correct, unless you stop it, many a correction gets in without you even realizing it. The results can often be hilarious. An enterprising blogger has decided to share these funny texts with the world on the blog, Damn You, Auto Correct!

Damn You, Auto Correct! "is dedicated to all the embarrassing, questionable, hilarious, and just plain WTF auto correct moments." If you have a funny or crazy auto corrected text and want to submit it to the site, just take a screen shot and send it to the Damn You, Auto Correct! form or email.

If you just can't get enough of humorous mistakes, or want to give someone a fun gift, a book of the website has been made. Damn You, Autocorrect!: Awesomely Embarrassing Text Messages You Didn't Mean to Send by Jillian Madison goes on sale this Tuesday, Enjoy, and be careful texting!

Wattpad is YouTube for eBook Authors and Readers

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:55:00 +0000

What is Wattpad?
Wattpad is very popular ebook community. However, the books being discussed and shared on Wattpad are mostly books you've never heard of. Many are not published or even complete. The best description is from the website: Wattpad is the YouTube for ebooks.

How Does Wattpad work?
Authors download stories, either complete, or chapter by chapter. Authors can engage with readers through images, video clips, book trialers and book covers to enhance the experience. Readers can visit Wattpad.com or use the free Wattpad app (available for all mobile platforms) to read and discuss the books or stories being shared.

There is a huge social aspect to Wattpad. Readers can discuss the ebooks with the authors and with other readers. Viral fan bases are established and many authors have received recognition for an ebook that started out on Wattpad.

In addition to looking for books by category, Wattpad has a "What's Hot" and a What's New" section. There are also clubs, contests and the Watty Awards. Wattpad really has everything that a social website for authors and readers could want.

Contest
While there are a variety of contests hosted on Wattpad, I want to highlight a current contest for authors of Young Adult books. The Gatekeepers Post is hosting this contest which will reward the winner a $500 cash prize. The first part of the contest must be completed by March 30, so if interested, see the rules on the Wattpad contest page or at The Gatekeepers Post.
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Find the Best Search Engine for Every Need with NoodleTools

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 19:02:00 +0000

Admit it. When you are looking for something online, do you ever use anything other than Google, Bing or Yahoo to run your search? Okay, you might run a video search directly through YouTube but usually that is as advanced as most searchers get. If you would like to find a world of more refined search options, NoodleTools has a page of suggestions on choosing the best search for your information needs.

NoodleTools, Inc. is an educational company that has created the leading bibliography software on the Internet, NoobleBib. As a company that works with teachers and students, they also offer a great deal of free advice on their website. Most of this advice is strictly for teachers and students, however, the page on choosing the best search engines can be used by anyone looking to improve their searching techniques.

NoodleTools divides your search needs by:

I need to define my topic...
I need to find quality results...
I need to do research in a specific discipline...
The timeliness of the information that I need is...
I need facts on...
I need opinions and perspectives...
I need a specific type of media...
I have special search requirements...
I am...

Each need above has many subcategories, and you are given between two and four search suggestions for each subcategory. Even if you don't use this page regularly, I would definitely suggest looking through it and checking out the many search sites within it. I found a few very interesting websites along the way. Many of these are not traditional search engines.

One of the more interesting websites I found on the NoodleTools search suggestion page was 10x10, one of the recommended sites when you need news within the last hour. So go check out the rest of the recommended search tools and see what else you may find.
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Quora: Hot New Social Media Q&A Website

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:03:00 +0000

What makes Quora different from other question and answer sites that have been on the web for years? Quora is a social networking Q&A site with an amazing community. Because of the quality of the community, it is possible for each question page to become a great resource for anyone wanting to know about the question at hand.

When you join Quora, you will almost immediately begin getting followed by members from your other social networks. Your social network is very important on Quora because one of the ways to browse questions and answers is by seeing what the people that you follow are writing. You can also browse by topic, which Quora chooses for you based on what you talk about on your social networks.You can easily edit your list of topics.

Answers to questions can be voted up or down based on quality. And there is a great deal of quality answers on Quora. Very often an answer to a question will be given by the CEO of the company involved or a top journalist or blogger that writes about the topic.

To really get the feel of what Quora is like, you must check it out for yourself. It can be slightly confusing at first, but it doesn't take long to get the hang of it. Quora has been in existence for less than a year. Become part of it now, while it is still a relatively small community.
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Tech Advice For Real People at My Life Scoop

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:14:00 +0000

Do you ever find that you are looking for some practical technology advice, but on every website you find, the advice is too technical? If you use technology in your life, but are not a very technical person, check out My Life Scoop.

My Life Scoop helps people simplify technology and get things done. There are articles on:

Family Life - parenting, holidays, education, cooking and more
Personal Life - career, health and more
Tech Life - travel, music, videos and much more

You will find both original content and content brought it from other websites such as Wise Bread, The Awl, The Art of Manliness, Inhabit, the Design Sponge and other advice blogs. Some recent posts on My Life Scoop include:

I find it very relaxing to read a technology advice blog that is so easy to understand. Although I highly recommend Lifehacker to the real technology enthusiast, much of what is written on that blog is not at all for the average person. However, even a tech enthusiast can enjoy My Life Scoop as much as a beginner.
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Edvoices - Public Education in America

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:34:00 +0000

The Edvoices blog is a great website for anyone, including teachers, bloggers, parents, policy makers and media, to keep up with current issues in public education. "Edvoices was created by the National Education Association to be a communhity of bloggers committed to improving public education in America."

The "Around the Web" section of Edvoices offers a feed from some of the top education blogs. Original articles on the site are divided into the categories of:

Classroom Management
Education Policy
Education Technology
Lily's Blackboard - Editorials from Lily Eskelsen, NEA VP

I especially love the "Education Technology" section for a couple of reasons. I am a big proponent of educators keeping up with the best and must current ways to use technology in education. Also, this section can be used and enjoyed by anyone. Not everything in the technology section is specific to education.

If you work in any field dealing with education, are a parent or just want to keep up with what is happening in public education today, visit Edvoices and take a look around. And if you sign up for Edvoice's free e-letter, you could win a free T-shirt. So, what are you waiting for?
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The Gatekeepers Post - Book News For Publishers, Agents, Writers and Readers

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:00:00 +0000

The Gatekeepers Post is a brand new website for a new age of book publishing. The rules have changed, and publishers, literary agents, editors, publicists, published authors, aspiring writers and book lovers are just some of the people that must keep up.

The Gatekeepers Post is a blog with articles on any and every subject dealing with books. If you don't want to read it straight through, there are many topics or subjects that you can click into from the main page. Here are just some of them:

By profession - publishers, literary agents, editors, publicists, published authors, aspiring writers, librarians, teachers and book lovers.
Headlines
Book Reviews
Book Events & Signings
Press Releases
Book Clubs
Classified Ads
Children's Books

The founder and editor in chief of The Gatekeepers Post is Jeff Rivera, book publishing executive, media personality and author. What I love most about his website is that there is something for everyone. I also love that it has an "out with the old, in with the new" type of attitude. Not everybody in publishing wants to change, yet the industry is changing. If you want advice or stories on the new world of publishing, then visit The Gatekeeper's Post.
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ScienceDaily Website - Science for Everyone

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:30:00 +0000

ScienceDaily: Your Source for the latest research news, has revolutionized the way we learn about science. Before this website began in 1995, after new research was published in scientific or medical journals, you might find a few articles of interest in a major newspaper, another article on a medical website and that would probably be all that was available for free.

ScienceDaily publishes user-friendly articles on all the latest breaking scientific discoveries, with a link to the original story source. Finally lay people can keep up with scientific discoveries. Every type of science is covered:

Health & Medicine
Mind & Brain
Plants & Animals
Earth & Climate
Space & Time
Matter & Energy
Computers & Math
Fossils & Ruins

The ScienceDaily website is used regularly by educators, students, healthcare professionals, government agencies, researchers, and the general public. It is a completely free website that includes research articles, educational videos, book reviews, encyclopeida entries and images. Whether browsing or using the custom search function in ScienceDaily, you will always be able to find a story of interest. Better yet, subscribe by RSS or email, and every day you will be sent all the newest scientific findings. For free.
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Google Art Project - Explore Art Museums Online

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:39:00 +0000

The big news out of Google this past week had to do with museums and art. The recently released Google Art Project allows you to look inside of 17 of the world's finest art museums from the comfort of your home.

While in the Google Art Project website, you can view over 1,000 works of art. However, the most exciting feature of the project is that for 17 masterpieces, you are able to zoom in and explore the artwork in microscopic detail of 7 billion pixel scans. For these 17 works of art, you are getting a better view than the visitors to the museum.

You choose the museum you'd like to explore from the home page of the Google Art Project website. After that the navigation is intuitive and therefore very easy to use. After you click on any work of art, you can get information about it, create your own art collection and add the piece of art to it, and share it with friends to social networks or email.

For more on the website and how it works, you can visit the Google Art Project visitor guide and/or watch the video below:

Students of art will find the Google Art Project particularly useful. Have you seen it yet? If not, do you plan on checking it out?

Super Bowl Commercials - 3 Best Websites to Watch, Rate and Share

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 03:08:00 +0000

Another Super Bowl has come and gone. Now all that is left is the post-game buzz. However, chances are, the Super Bowl commercials will be discussed just as much as the game itself. If you want to catch up on any commercials that you missed or want to see them again, rate them or share them, here are the best websites to do so.

Sports on Facebook - This Facebook Page has a Facebook "Like" button under each Super Bowl 2011 video. Voting is simple. Either you "like" a video or you don't. The commercial with the most "likes" by February 10th is the winner.

YouTube AdBlitz Channel - Each commercial is added to YouTube the minute it airs live but voting is not allowed until the game is over. You can vote for your favorite Super Bowl commercials until February 14. The winning ad will receive homepage recognition on February 19. Videos can be shared on Facebook and Twitter.

AOL Fanhouse Super Bowl Commercials - Each quarter is given a separate page for its commercials. Under each video are 5 stars. To rate each ad, just click the number of stars you feel it deserves. Underneath each video are buttons to share the ad by email or on a variety of social networks. There is a top 10 list along the right side of the page.

What was your favorite commercial during Super Bowl 2011?

See also: Super Bowl Commercials - Do You Remember These?

Archive of American Television - Video Interviews with TV Legends

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:41:00 +0000

Do you love TV? I don't mean sitting down to watch some random television shows? Do you love the shows that you watch and like to know everything about the television industry. If so, you will positively love the Archive of American Television: Capturing Television History , One Voice at a Time. This website, part of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation (yes, the Emmys) houses nearly 700 long-form videotaped interview with pioneers of television.

The collection is very diversified. You can find interviews by:

Professions - Everybody that has anything to do with making a television show, including actors, directors, writers, producers, stuntmen, composers, historians, talk show hosts, puppeteers, editos, announcers, cameramen, publicists, network founders and more.
Genres - Individual interviewed come from all genres, including animation, children's programming, daytime serials, game shows, late night talk shows, comedy, drama, TV movies, westerns, sports, reality TV and more.
Topics - Interviewees have discussed a variety of topics including TV's Golden Age, Pop Culture, Award Shows, Oympics, TV and the Presidency, Censorship, The Hollywood Blacklist, Technological Innovation, Social Change and many more.

To find a video interview to watch, you can search or browse through the above categories, or you can look through an alphabetical list of all people interviewed. If you are uncertain what to view, the Archive of American Television offers Featured Playlists. One of the current Featured Playlists is Gone But Not forgotten: Interview segments featuring interviewees who passed away in 2010.

One of my favorite pages on the Achive of American Television website is the TV History page found under Resources. It is a fascinating article about television history from its inception until the end of the 20th century. And, like any good website, this one includes a blog. The Emmy TV Legend's Blog will keep you up to date with what has happened to the pioneers of television.

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U.S. National Park Service Website - Worth a Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:02:00 +0000

My family's visits to many of the U.S. National Parks are some of the best vacations we've ever taken. And the U.S. National Park Service website is one of the nicest and most picturesque government websites I've ever visited.

Whether you are planning a trip to one of the many U.S. National Parks, would like to learn more about them, or just want to see pictures of them, this is the website to use. The best part is, you are not inundated with ads as you are on commercial travel websites. And there are also many educational features to the National Parks Service website.

Before you even select a specific park to look into, there are general pages where you can learn about:

Discovering History
Exploring Nature
Working with Communities
Getting Involved
Teachers and Kids - Curriculum, fun and games and a guide to the Junior Park Ranger programs

Once you've chosen a National Park, which you can do by typing in the name, or selecting a state and clicking one from the map (I recommend Utah), you wil find find links to a wealth of information about the park. If you are planning a vacation, the "Quicklinks" will be very helpful. They consist of directions, hours, fees and reservations, hiking information, news releases, weather and a virtual tour.

The other links on each Park's page are much more interesting and are not necessarily for visitors, anyone will enjoy and learn from them:

Plan Your Visit - Includes some of the quick links plus Things to Do and Things to Know before you come
Photos and Multimedia (Bryce Canyon is my favorite, pictured above)
History and Culture
Nature and Science
For Teachers - Curriculum materials
For Kids
Park News
Frequently Asked Questions

My only complaint about the U.S. National Park Service website is that the navigation doesn't flow smoothly. You have to go through too many pages to get to your destination. However once you get there, it is well worth the wait.

See also: 5 Reasons National Parks are Perfect for Parent Teen Vacations

Google Tutor - Learn Everything About Using Google

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:05:00 +0000

Google is no longer just the simple search engine that it started out as years ago. In addition to its various types of search, Google also offers a tremendous number of useful products and services. How can we keep up and understand how to use all of Google's fabulous tools? We can turn to the popular blog, Google Tutor:Tutorials, Tips and Advice for Google Users.

While there are many other Google tutorials on the Internet, many are only related to Google search and they aren't updated. Google Tutor is a continuously updated blog which keeps readers informed of everything new coming out of Google and how to use it. While not affiliated with Google, Google Tutor is one of the oldest unofficial souces of Google information.

My only complaint about Google Tutor is it is difficult to navigate. There is no search box and there are only labels for "popular categories" not all. There is a handy list of links in the sidebar for "tools", which include some very helpful items, but no way of finding something specific on your own. As someone who knows a thing or two about Google myself, this is my suggestion. If you have the Google Toolbar (if you don't, I highly recommend it), add the "search site" button to it. Then you can perform a search in the Google toolbar that will only search the site you are on, so you can now search what you are looking for in Google Tutor.

If you use any of Google's products, whether just search, or any of the many others such as Chrome, the iGoogle homepage, Google trends, Docs, Blogger, Picassa, YouTube or Google Voice, to name just a few, then I highly recommend Google Tutor: Tutorials, Tips and Advice for Google Users. There is a reason that more than 11,000 readers subscribe to Google Tutor.

Scribd - Writers and Readers Come Together

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:13:00 +0000

Scribd is a large social website for both publishing and reading. Scribd has made it easy for anybody to upload any type of file (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) into a web document that can be read on computers, mobile devices and eReaders. Readers can then share, discuss and recommend Scribd publications to each other.

From Scribd:

"History has witnessed only a handful of major innovations in publishing and reading: cave drawings, the invention of written language, the printing press, the Internet. We're experiencing another pivotal moment in this history. Join us for the next revolution."

This novel approach to publish has many benefits to both content creators that want to find an audience, and readers that are looking for interesting material.

The benefits to the writers or content creators are:

They can easily get their content out in front of any audience in a matter of seconds.
The content is discoverable through search engines.
Writers can charge for their content and get to keep 80% of revenue.
Once the content is on Scribd, it can easily be embedded into social networks, blogs and websites.

The benefits to readers are:

They have access to over a billion pages of written works, which are in the form of web pages, so they can be read on computers or mobile devices.
There is an extremely large variety of topics and types of documents on Scribd, including books, brochures, government documents, how-to guides, presentations, comics, recipes, speeches, spreadsheets and much, much more.
Most of the materials are either free or available at low prices.
The social aspect. You can connect to your Facebook account or find friends on Scribd and then get and make recommendations on reading materials available.

There are approximately 60 million active monthly readers on Scribd who are uploading documents, following, Readcasting, commenting, embedding, rating or reading on the go. Check it out and become one of them.

SoulPancake - Creative Website Community from Rainn Wilson

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 18:05:00 +0000

SoulPancake is, by far, the most unique, creative, philosophical and engaging website I have ever seen. Created by Rainn Wilson (The Office) and his son Walter, "SoulPancake is a place to speak your mind, unload your questions, and figure out what it means to be human."

SoulPancake is a community. While you can visit and just read, it is meant to be a place of sharing. There are four major areas where thoughts are explored. In each area, somedbody begins with a post that kickstarts the discussion and then others reply:

1. Life's Big Questions - Questions include - Do Tourists kill culture?, When have you been happy to take second place? and What's the difference between charity and genuine service?

2. Creative Challenges - Examples include - Prove the (Non)Existence of God, What would your bumper sticker say about you? and Absolve yourself, write about the guiltiest moment of your life.

3. Life's Little Lists - All ask you to list 3 things, such as - List 3 rituals that set you apart from the rest, List 3 moments in history that fascinate you, and Single out 3 moments when you love solitude.

4. Explorations - A variety of ideas including - If evil was in your face, would you be ready to face it?, How has the Internet affected your view of modern poetry and When was the last time you ventured outside of your comfort zone? What happened?

If you are creative, love to write and think about issues, you will love SoulPancake. Even if that does not describe you, check it out. The best description of the website comes from Rainn Wilson himself on the What is SoulPancake web page. After you watch the short video, read what he says below. It is funny, entertaining and will describe why he created SoulPancake. And make sure you check out the SoulPancake blog, Agile Batter.

If you would like some SoulPancake to go, a book was recently spun off from the website. SoulPancake: Chew on Life's Big Questions which includes 180 of life's big questions, visual masterpieces from over 90 artists, activities, commentary and an introduction by Rainn Wilson.

Refdesk - Find Anything and Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wagner) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:28:00 +0000

Refdesk is possibly the most comprehensive, organized and interesting reference source online. There are links to everything you can possibly think of, and more. And it is setup so that you can find everything quickly and easily.

On the home page alone there are links to:

Search Resources - major search engines, YouTube, Wikipedia, dictionaries and encyclopedias, white pages and driving directions.
Featured Resources - Site of the Day, Fact of the Day, Thought of the Day, This Day in History, Article of the Day, Today's Birthday, Today's pictures, Word of the Day, Daily Diversions (which includes links to various puzzles, games, comedy and blogs) and Today's Potpourri (links to trivia, health, science, tech and misc.)
News - Headline News, Weather resources, news features, good news, news photos, news videos, news sources, current USA gas & oil prices, today in history, national debt, search news, stock quotes, features and columns & commentary.
Facts at a Glance - links to hundreds of fact-finding resources.
Facts Search Desk - Search specialized sources and search engines.
Help and Advice - Links to sites such as Free Legal Advice, Homework Helper and Information Please.
Current News/Weather/Business/Sports - Links to almost every newspaper, magazine and other news sources available online.
Top Reference Tools - Thinks to resources such as Almanacs, Style & Writing Guides, Quotations and much more.
Refdesk subject categories - search for what you need by subject rather than source.

As you can see, the home page has almost anything you can want. But it is also very crowded. That is why sometimes you might want to go directly to a specific page. Here is a list of the Top 15 Refdesk pages with links to each one. Some of the most popular are Newspapers, Crossword resources and Fast Facts.

Refdesk makes a great homepage. At the very least, it is a great website to bookmark and browse regularly, just to remind yourself of all that it contains.