The Internet in Real Time

Hi All,

Very interesting website alert!  The Internet in Real Time.

What the heck is this you ask?!  Great question.  

Readers can click on this link to watch as various internet giants (Twitter, YouTube, Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Netflix, WhatsApp, Yelp, Foursquare, Pinterest, Pandora and more) do what they do best! 

Users can see LinkedIn (the number of user searches), YouTube (the number of videos hours watched), the number of check-ins at FourSquare or the number of the reviews posted on Yelp or the number of files saves on DropBox or the number of Likes and Posts on Facebook or the number of hours watched on Netflix or the number of hours streamed on Pandora...and much more...

Very simple, colorful and entertaining website.  Here is the link again.

Enjoy the site - don't spend too much time on it!

Regards,
Stu

Earthcam and other Live Cams...

Hi All,

With all the red light and speed cameras, tv on the web (not to mention movies on demand - hello Netflix) It seems like we live in a world of 24x7x365 video. Oh, right...let's not forget about tablets and smartphones that have video capabilities...I guess we do live in a world of video.

So, without further ado - here is Earthcam.  What is Earthcam you ask?  Great question.

As the site itself proclaims, "EarthCam.com is the premiere network of scenic webcams and offers a complete searchable database of interesting places and views from around the world. The award winning website (Webby Award Winner – Tourism) is viewed by fans in 192 countries and ranks among the top 1% of all websites. EarthCam.com is the world’s favorite webcam network and the EarthCam Network cameras have been seen on top news shows, including CNN’s Headline News."

So there you have it.  Earthcam is a major site for watching LIVE Webcams.  Just on their homepage visitors can look at video from Times Square, NYC, Las Vegas, NV, Venice Beach California, Washington DC, Mount Rushmore and much more....

There is even an Earthcam Hall of Fame - this link will take you to that part of the Earthcam site.  Basically these are webcams that visitors to Earthcam submit. 

Funstuff for sure...just make sure that you don't obsess over the webcams. 

Other interesting webcam sites include:
Yellowstone National Park - webcam
123Cam
GeoCam.tv
VolcanoLive.com
CornellLab of Ornithology - bird cams

Enjoy the sites and the cams!

Regards,
Stu

Brief History of the Internet

Hi All,

So you like to use the internet to: send email, exchange pictures, post to Facebook, send birthday cards, download games, do online banking, check in with your favorite quilting site, buy books on Amazon.com, send Tweets on Twitter, search for movies on the Internet Movie Database, use Google to find out about gardening, stream movies via Netflix, check sports scores or write a blog entry?  I guess that means that you are a bona fide internet user!  Congratulations.

And now...that you use the internet, wouldn't it be at least a bit interesting to learn about how it came into being? Indeed it would be - its an interesting story filled with lots of technology, history, big names in computing, government sponsorship and much more!

Click on this link from the Internet Society for a very comprehensive (they call it 'brief') History of the Internet.  The article includes a timeline, has sections on internet concepts, proving the ideas, documentation and a very extensive list of footnotes.

Regular readers will not be surprised to see this next link from Wikipedia.  This Wikipedia entry goes to an article titled, 'History of the Internet'.  Similar but different than the prior article. One interesting link from the Wikipedia article goes to 'External Links'....

Another interesting article come from the Computer History Museum - and includes a very interesting (and extensive) timeline of the internet.  Cool stuff - and easy to digest and read.

Finally, click on this link from History.com for an article titled, 'Invention of the Internet' - while fairly brief, it introduces readers to some of the major players and the basics of the invention of the internet.

Enjoy the links - and of course - enjoy the web and the internet.

Regards,
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

Part II from 8/10/10 Entry Entitled ‘Alphabetically a List of Fun Websites’

Part II from 8/10/10 Entry Entitled ‘Alphabetically a List of Fun Websites’ (I hope its fun at least...)

Hi All,

Way back on August 10^th I generated a fun entry with the first half of the alphabet…here is a link to that post if you missed it. This entry is the second part of the alphabet – L-Z. Enjoy – there might be some interesting sites that you haven’t heard about or tried yet.

Stu

Don’t forget to friend the library on our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter!

L: LinkedIn – great networking resource for job searchers

M: MySpace – social networking forerunner that has been overshadowed by Facebook

N: Netflix – great site for downloading movies or having them mailed to you…pay site!

O: Orbitz – make travel plans here…Overstock – online shopping at clearance prices

P: Pandora – listen to free internet radio and find new music…Paypal – send money or pay online

Q: Quicktime – view internet video , HD movie trailers, personal media in a wide range file formats – free

R: Realtor.com – get real estate listing, school/neighborhood information and other important info you need to know before you move or buy a house/co-op/apartment

S: Skype – internet calls for free…SparkNotes: study guides and discussion forums on various academic subjects…

T: Translator-free online language translation service via Google Twitter-what is going on in your world in 140 characters or less TMZ – celebrity gossip and entertainment news and Hollywood rumors Travelocity – great travel site for airline tickets, hotels, flights vacations

U: Urban Dictionary – streetwise lingo posted and defined by readers/viewers

V: US Department of Veterans Affairs – provides patient care and federal benefits to veterans and their dependents

W: Weather.com – find weather across the country Wikipedia.com – free encyclopedia that anyone can edit

X: Xbox – games, uploads, info about the amazing Xbox

Y: Yahoo.com – news, weather, sports, business, science and much more …Youtube – homemade videos and some commercial videos from Google – easily searchable and lots of fun!

Z: Zillow – more free real estate information, search for homes for sale, home values, recently sold homes, mortgage rates, condos, co-ops, apartments and much more…Zip Code Lookup – find a zip code by entering an address (from United States Postal Service)