facebook for pets!

http://pets-area.com/

I found another interesting Web 2.0 application. The tag line to this website is "Helping people and pets find each other." It has a couple of uses. You can make a profile for a pet you want to sell or give away. You can make a post about a specific pet you're looking for. And oddly enough, there was even an insect section. It's also possible to specify location and how far you're willing to travel.

I found the looking for mates section kind of weird though. People are so concerned with breeding their beautiful purebred with another purebred that they make these personalized facebook-like profiles. Seriously with so many unwanted animals, especially dogs and cats, in the world what is the point? To sell them?

My hero: Wikipedia

"Don't site Wikipedia as one of your sources for your paper." I do not know how many times I've heard that in a classroom, and it is driving me nuts. Wikipedia is an incredibly useful tool that should not be so easily disregarded as unreliable.

http://blog.ihatewikipedia.com/ Somebody even writes a blog on their hatred for Wikipedia. Seriously?

I am fully aware that ordinary people can create and edit posts on Wikipedia. But my question is, what if these ordinary people know a lot of stuff about random stuff? I do not trust Wikipedia 100%; however, I use it as a starting point for finding more sources. The well written articles have cited, and usually reliable, sources at the bottom of the page. I always start my online research by checking out the links on Wikipedia.

TeacherTube -- great for teachers and students!

TeacherTube!

I was messing around last night on TeacherTube and seriously lost track of time. There were great videos created by students, physical education videos, and even neat science activities you could do on a small budget.

I was jealous of the egg drop video. I, like most everyone I know, had to create a device that would hold an egg and not break it years ago. Unfortunately, I was not very successful.

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=3c2f0c7a0c722a1b12af

This guy knew what he was doing apparently way more than the 12 year old me did. Jeez, if only this video was made 10 years ago I might have had a chance to do well on that science project.

TeacherTube is a great resource for teachers AND students. I have already taken note of some great ideas to do with my future studentsJ.

I love Soshiku!

I have always been a successful student despite my lack of organizational skills. I am not incredibly messy or forgetful, but how am I supposed to keep track of the 35,899,812,901 assignments that I have to finish?
My new solution -- Soshiku! http://www.soshiku.com/

Soshiku is a free program that is designed to help you organize schoolwork. The site is laid out well, and I found it easy to add my classes/assignments. This is better than my notebook planner because you can opt for email or text alerts for assignments sent when you set it up to. I'm probably only writing this blog post right now because Soshiku sent me the text this morning reminding me to write a blog.

Google Latitude pros and cons

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/04/google.latitude/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

My first judgment of Google Latitude was not a very positive one. I found it all to be a little too scary and stalker-ish for my liking. When I took a second look at the article, I promised myself I would search for the pros.

Pros:

1. You have to sign up to use this service. Great! You get to choose who stalks you.

2. It plans to launch in 27 different countries which could be useful while traveling. If you’re lost in Paris and French isn’t your forte, then Google Latitude could reunite you with your group.

3. If you lose your cell phone, a friend could help by using their Google Latitude to find your phone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qluzka9KJdA

Reading the comments and watching this video makes me believe that most people enjoy their own privacy. However, these same Google Latitude haters post up-to-the-second updates on their facebook statuses and text someone while they're driving with the latest gossip. I think this too connected digital world might take the next step with Google Latitude.