Fake News

Hi All,

Fake news had been in the - well - news a lot lately.  For example, if you conduct a Google search for 'fake news' you get over 150 million results.  Interestingly readers get results from the 'Top Stories' section - at least as of 6/17/17 at about 10:34am - The Guardian, Fox 5 Atlanta and Newsweek.  All of which are verifiable news outlets and sources.

This blog entry is not a discussion on politics, political parties or people involved in the government. Its simply an entry in the blog that deals with fake news.  Onward!

Wikipedia has a very unbiased, lengthy and comprehensive entry on fake news.  Click here for the entry and click here for the link to a discussion of twentieth century and twenty-first century fake news.  It makes for interesting reading.

Snopes is a website that is fairly well known. It basically debunks urban legends.  However, this link discusses specific examples of fake news on the site.  This next link fact checks various articles and news events as well.

FactCheck.org is a  website that has, as its mission, "to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

So...FactCheck.org is unbiased, accurate, fair and a great place to learn more about fake news.  This next article is called 'How to Spot Fake News?' and was written in November 2016 - very current and timely and interesting.

In addition, the Viral Spiral page has a list of some of the claims they get asked about the most.  Finally, all of FactCheck.org's articles called 'Ask FactCheck', can be found at this link.

Finally, click on this link from the venerable New York Times - its basically a search of the site for the term 'fake news'. 

Other interesting and/or useful fake news sites include, HuffPost.com, Fake News-NPR and this link from the Guardian (a UK newspaper) titled, 'What is fake news? How to spot it and wha tyo ucan do to stop it?'

Enjoy the link and the articles and how to become an even better news consumer!

Regards,
Stu

World Backup Day

Don't Forget to Backup Your Data

Hi All,

Just spotted this article on backing up your data from the venerable New York Times.  Good stuff on backing up your data - whether its on your computer, your social media feed, your pictures or your music.  Don't lose your important data/info! Click here for the NYTimes article I just mentioned. 

Click here for a link from Microsoft to learn how to backup or transfer your data on a Windows based computer.  This next link discusses  'How to Back Up Your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch' - link comes directly from the Apple support website.  PC World has a link as well that discusses 'The Simple Guide To Backing Up Your PC' 

These next links discuss the advantages of backing up your data to the 'cloud'  But first, what exactly is the 'cloud'?  Click here (Mashable), her (Gizmodo) and here (PC Mag) for explanations of just what the 'cloud' is...

Backblaze has a site that discusses how to backup your computer.
Five Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Storage
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing
More Advantages and Disadvantages of Storing Your Data on the Cloud
 

Enjoy the links and remember, if you need to find more information about the cloud or backing up your data, just do a Google search with some of the key words you are looking for (cloud computing, backing up your data, backup, remote backup...etc)

Regards,

Stu

Even More News Sites!

Hi All,

Evidently I like news -  lots of news!

Why?  Because I've generated a whole bunch of blog entries regarding news sites over the last few months. Its easy and understandable why I'd like to blog about news sites!

News sites are common, important for folks to read and, well, they are just darn interesting. Add to the fact that you learn a lot from reading a newspaper (or reading the adjacent news website) and who wouldn't want to read about the juicy morsels of politics, elections, entertainment, science, business, movies/books, technology, sports, health, weather and other topics?

So...simply put, click on this link from Kadaza and you'll find a whole smorgasbord of websites related to the news.

And just for the record, you'll find links to some of the world's preeminent news organizations by clicking on this link. Included on the site are CNN, HuffPost, ABCNews, The New York Times, CBS News, NBC News, Washington Post and many, many more sites.

Enjoy the links and the sites and the news!

Regards,
Stu

Have You Heard? News Sites

Hi All,

News on the internet is free, readily available and covers every possible topic you can imagine.  There is a lot more news than just the Yahoo newsfeed or the Google newsfeed.  And while they are good for broad overviews of information there are other sites on the web that cater to other 'types' of news. 

Traditional news organizations were early to the 'news' game on the web.  Some of the more prominent news organizations that used the web to expand their presence include CNN, CBS News, ABCNews, Reuters, BBC News Online, MSNBC, FOXnews, USAToday, Time, Associated Press, the New York Times, and News.com.au.

Note that some of these news organizations cover different regions of the world - BBC, News.com.au in particular.  Also, some of the organizations are international in scope - Reuters, Associated Press and BBC in particular. 

Enjoy the links and the news!

Regards,
Stu

Get Your Newspaper Here, Get Your Newspaper Here...

Hi All,

Just found a very interesting news website. Its not like a traditional newspaper site like the New York Times or Newsday or the Washington Post though.

The site name is Paperboy and bills itself as letting readers being able to 'Choose From Our List of 12092 Online Newspapers and ePapers to Get Your Daily Newspaper Fix!'  That is pretty darn awesome!  Try subscribing to 2 newspapers, let alone a dozen or so.

Anyway, there is a search box at the top right side of the webpage where users can click on a dialog box to be able to search for a particular newspaper or to do a Google webs search or to search for news headlines.  Simple and straightforward.

A visit to the site lists the top 25 newspapers listed by circulation. The names of the newspapers - and links are included in the first section of the page. 

Further down the page is a link to the Top 100 US Newspapers and US Newspapers Listed by State.  Even further down on the page is a list of World Newspapers Listed By Country.

There are links to World Newspapers, US Newspapers, News Headlines and Front Pages at the top of the sites' homepage. 

Interesting website and it'll help you keep the conversation going at a cocktail party - especially with all the news that you have at your fingertips!

Enjoy the site.

Regards,
Stu

Hi All,

Last night President Obama gave the annual State of the Union address.  Click on the various links below to learn about the speech and to do some fact checking.

Click on this link for USAToday's summary of the speech. Next up is the New York Times.  This next link is the analysis and reporting from the New York Times. 

The Washington Post's view of the speech can be found by clicking on this link - hint: it has lots of numbers.  FoxBusiness's take on the speech can be read by clicking on this link.


Click on this link for the actual text of the speech - as printed in the New York Times earlier this morning.  Fact checking speeches, addresses and other public announcements is becoming quite fashionable lately.  Click on this link for just such a fact check of the speech.

Click on this link for the Republican rebuttal from the Washington Post. Here is the transcript of the speech - brought to you by FoxNews.

Finally, for a somewhat historic view of State of the Union speeches, click on this link from Wikipedia.  Especially note the links at the end of the entry that cover historic speeches. Interesting history at your fingertips!

Enjoy the sites.
Stu

N is for...

Hi All,

Onward and upward in my slow, but steady, project of finding interesting websites that represent various letters of the alphabet.

We are now up to the letter N....amazing.

Netflix - Users can watch movies & television shows online or streaming video right to your TV via Xbox, Wii, PS3 & many other devices. Free trials available before you decide to purchase.

Nordstrom - upscale retailer has lots of clothing for men, women, juniors, babys/kids and more. Other goods they sell includees shoes, handbag, 'stuff' for the house, jewelry and watches. Can get email updates and buy online.

NFL - great link to one of the big four sports in America today. Get stats, player news, team news, highlights, standings, play fantasy fooball, schedules, video, tickets and merchandise and more on the site.

National Grid - get customer service, pay bills, find products and services for your home or for you business and more on the site. Users can view and pay bills, learn about various billing programs, find out why your bill may vary, view bills and payments and more.

National Geographic - wonderful non-profit website with gigantic sections on video, photography, animals, environment, travel, adventure, NatGeoTV, Kids and National Geographic, buy NG related goods and more. Don't miss Photo of the Day, the section on Maps, Explorers and Blogs. You'll be here for hours and hours if you like 'things natural' and related topics. Users can also subscribe to the publication on the site as well.

New York Times - internationally known newspaper that covers the world of news. Don't miss sections include the Dealbook, Style, Arts and Opinion! Readers can subscribe for home delivery, sign up for podcasts, find obituaries, look in the event guide and much, much more.

Newsday - the local Long Island newspaper. One of the highest circulating newspapers in the United States! Users can find a limited amount of information since the newspaper makes users enter their account information to get the full newspaper...fyi, Newsday is owned by Cablevision.

Nook - the Barnes&Noble e-reader that competes with the Kindle, Ipad and other e-devices. Click on this link to go to the page that has informationon the Nook Simple Touch, Nook Color and the Nook Tablet. Nook users can get over 2.5 million books, popular magazines, newspapers, interactive kids books, movies, tv shows, music and apps. Whew - take a gander! And remember, you can download free books via the library website by clicking on this link to Overdrive.

NOAA - learn all about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Taken from the NOAA webpage, the NOAA is..."an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep citizens informed of the changing environment around them.

From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information they need when they need it."

Be sure not to miss the National Weather Service part of the site. Also, check the National Ocean Service link

Numerology - click on this link to Wikipedia that discusses Numerology. Sections in the link include various systems of numerology like Alphabetic Systems, Abjad Systems and Pythagorean Systems. More information on Chinese Number Systems is available as well. External links are available for numerology as well.

Enjoy.
Stu