sree.net > tips > newsletters > October 2001
Web version: http://www.sree.net/tips/2001oct.html

Sree Tips
A free monthly newsletter of Web tips and tricks

From Sreenath Sreenivasan
Columbia University journalism professor
WABC-TV's "Tech Guru" on Thursday mornings in NYC area
[ Tech Guru text archives at http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/technology/ ]

http://www.sree.net/ * sreetipsreax@sree.net

Sree Tips Newsletter
October 2001: http://www.sree.net/tips/2001oct.html

Sree Tips

A free monthly newsletter of tips and tricks about useful and/or fun Web sites.
Archive: http://www.sree.net/tips

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Manhattan, Oct. 29 -- Greetings, and welcome to the October issue of the "Sree Tips" newsletter. As you may know, this newsletter started as an offshoot of the "Smarter Surfing: Better Use of Your Web Time" workshops I teach around the U.S. and abroad: http://www.sree.net/web

As always, I look forward to YOUR tips, feedback and suggestions: sreetipsreax@sree.net. This month's tipsters include: Mervin Block, Jon Dube, Mindy McAdams, Naeem Mohaiemen, Al Tompkins, Mike Wendland.

Why wait a month for the next newsletter? Visit the constantly updated "Smarter Surfing" links at http://www.sree.net/tips/web.html

Ajeeb Arabic Translation - instant translation of Arabic sites to English
http://www.ajeeb.com
http://tarjim.ajeeb.com/ajeeb/default.asp?lang=1
As you may have recently read, Al Jazeera, the controversial Arabic all-news channel, is going to launch an English-language version of its site -- aljazeera.net (it's not dot-com) -- next year. If you can't wait that long to see what Al Jazeera and other Arabic sites are saying about the war in Afghanistan and beyond, then Ajeeb is the site for you. It provides instant, free translation of Arabic web sites into English. You can go through either the front page of Ajeeb.com and click on "Translation" or you can click on http://tarjim.ajeeb.com/ajeeb/default.asp?lang=1 (using the "Translate" box at the front of Ajeeb.com will not give you an English translation, so make sure you find your way to that inside page). You then type in the URL of an Arabic site and it will go to work on all the HTML text on the page, not the graphics themselves. I have been using it to visit AlJazeera.net, AlAhram.org.eg (Al-Ahram, the big Egyptian Paper) and www.bbc.co.uk/arabic (BBC's Arabic-language Web site). I almost never venture beyond the headlines, but that's enough to get a sense of what's going on. When I told a friend at a major newspaper about Ajeeb, here's what she had to say: "Great tip on Ajeeb. It does give us a different point of view, but the translation uses Arabic grammar, so it's a little difficult to figure out. Although, when it's too confusing to be informative, at least it's entertaining. Iespecially like anthrax translated as "the disease of the pulmonary firebrand" (on BBC). Not to mention "Hot coils by Washington wait in the commercial Doha conference" (on Al Jazeera). You made my day."

Daypop -- search engine for current events/news
http://www.daypop.com
One of the problems with typical search engines is that most of the links you get are for archived material that may be a few months or a few years old. But what if you want to just see the latest news that has been added to the Web? One option: Daypop.com, a search engine that scours 5,200 news sites and Weblogs (personal ruminations by various folks) to find you the latest news and buzz. Use the site's advanced search section and you can restrict your search to as few three hours or to as much as four weeks' worth of sites. You can also choose which countries you want to search and which languages. This is a smart, useful site that is perfect for times like this when there is so much information out there and little time to keep up with it all.

BrainPOP -- Web "movies" for kids and adults
http://www.brainpop.com
With all the confusion and alerts about biological warfare, I wanted to find a site that would explain some of what's going on for kids and nervous adults. That hunt brought me to BrainPOP, a site that uses short, animated Web "movies" to explain in simple terms tough scientific topics such as anthrax. The more than 50 movies, which are made using what is known as Flash technology, are very good "explainers" and feature characters that relate well to kids. I learned a lot myself, too. A sound card, speakers and access to a PC with Flash are required (but there's a good chance you have them all; check the site to test your machine's capabilities).

Online Journalism Awards 2001 -- a showcase of the best in Web journalism
http://www.onlinejournalismawards.org
http://www.onlinejournalismawards.org/pr-2001winners1.html
This past Friday, Columbia and the Online News Association announced the results of the second Online Journalism Awards, or OJAs, the world's largest new media contest. This site has links to the winners and the finalists of the awards, so you can see for yourself that some truly special work is being done online. That fact sometimes gets lost in all after effects of the dot-com mess and Sept. 11.

SAJA Briefing on Afghanistan, Pakistan & Islam -- understanding the region
http://www.poynter.org/web/101601Sree.htm
One of the things we have learned from the Sept. 11 events is that Americans know little about Afghanistan, Central Asia, South Asia and Islam. The South Asian Journalists Association offers an online briefing for journalists. Think of it as a mini-course on the region; a series of articles that every reporter, editor and producer should read. Even if you are not doing any foreign correspondence work, the articles will help you understand topics that are connected to domestic issues as well. The Islam resources, which provide information on basic aspects of the faith, as well as such concepts as "jihad" and "holy war," are worth visiting as well. A tip: The right pronunciation and spelling for the word describing a follower of Islam is "Muslim," not "Moslem." Most Muslims consider the other word a slur at worst and proof of the writer's ignorance at best.

Poynter Web Tips -- tips on better use of the Web
http://www.poynter.org/web/Archive2001.htm
This site provides uick tips about Web resources twice a week. Mike Wendland of the Detroit Free Press and I do one each (he on Fridays, I on Tuesdays). A whole range of topics are covered there -- from understanding medical lab reports to checking rumors to salary help, with more being added each week. It's an good way to get simple tips that might make your Web life easier (even if I say so myself).

ENCORE: See September newsletter which focused on the WTC attacks and their aftermath
http://www.sree.net/tips/2001sept.html
Helping the victims, tracking the news, e-mail alerts and more.

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MY DEFAULT SUCH & SUCH...
(my starting points for various things; may change monthly)

Search Engine:
Google
http://www.google.com/
The best search engine out there. 'Nuff said. But here's Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal on Google: "...simply the best search site I've ever used." If you know Walt's work -- and you should be following it religiously at http://ptech.wsj.com/ -- you know that he doesn't hand out such praise often. Be sure to download the free Google toolbar; it will change the way you search: http://toolbar.google.com/ (no Mac version right now)

Reference Site:
Refdesk
http://www.refdesk.com/
Excellent reference site. Don't just take my word for it. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told The New York Times this is his favorite Web site. Run by Bob Drudge, Matt's dad (though Refdesk doesn't run rumors).

Encyclopedia:
Britannica.com
http://www.britannica.com/
The Encyclopedia Britannica on the Web -- basic info free of charge (the full-access version, which used to be free, now costs $5 a month, or $50 a year). I also use, nto a lesser extent, Encarta.com from Microsoft (many free article, pay for others).

Dictionary:
Merriam-Webster
http://www.m-w.com/
In offices, dictionaries grow legs and walk. Hence an online dictionary is a must. This one addresses a major problem I have had with traditional dictionaries: You need to know how to spell a word before you look it up. Not here. Just punch in an approximation, and it will give you a suggested list. And nice etymology. Also see the new button for your browser; once you download it, you don't need to go to the site itself in order to lookup a word. You can do it right from whatever site you are in.

Atlas:
National Geographic's Map Machine
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
Leave it to National Geographic to make the best online atlas with these dynamic maps that will take you to any spot you choose and allow you to change what kind of map you see, on the fly. I had no idea there are three towns named Santa Claus in the U.S. or that my grandfather's village in India is an easy find.

Driving Directions:
MapQuest
http://www.mapquest.com/
For U.S. driving directions, MapQuest remains the best site. But I also like the new "straight-line" maps from MapBlast <http://www.mapblast.com>

World Time:
TimeAndDate.com
http://www.timeanddate.com/
The best set of world clocks and calendars. I like the personal world clock, which allows you to set and track time in up to 16 cities at one glance.

Media Goings-on:
Jim Romenesko's Media News
http://www.medianews.org/
Hosted by Poynter.org, this is news-junkie heaven. I read it more often and more closely than any other site.

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SELF PROMOTION...

Must-Sree TV
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/technology/
My "Tech Guru" segments on WABC-7 in the New York City area run every Thursday morning on channel 7 at 6:45 (yes, that's the a.m.). This is a link to archived Web versions of my segments.

"Smarter Surfing" Workshops
http://www.sree.net/web
Smarter surfing for people of all skill levels. Interested in scheduling a class for you and your colleagues? Learn more.

"Smarter Surfing" Links: Better Use of Your Web Time
http://www.sree.net/tips/web.html
Links for various categories of sites, annotated for your surfing pleasure.

Sree Tips -- the Web page
http://www.sree.net/tips
Links to my tips and thoughts on various items, including laptops, digital cameras, freelance writing, Web production and more.

Sree Talks
http://www.sree.net/talks
List of forthcoming talks and presentations in various cities.

Content is Still King: Lesson from the Online Journalism Awards
http://www.sree.net/talks/c&w.html
A keynote speech I gave at the "Computers & Writing" conference in May 2001 at Ball State University.

Info Overload & Moi
http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/columnists/mediasavvy/savvy1.htm
An essay for USAToday.com on handling information overload (yes, I am a major info polluter).

[Reprint requests: reprints@sree.net]

That's it for now.

Remember, you can track my "Smarter Surfing" links at http://www.sree.net/tips/web.html

See you (your inbox, actually) next month.

Cheers, Sree
http://www.sree.net/

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Copyright 2001 Sree.net

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sree.net > tips > newsletters > October 2001

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