How Do I....?

Hi All,

I don't know about you, but I think the web is an amazing source of information.  From getting current events, to getting driving directions, to weather, statistics on your favorite baseball player.  From swapping photos of your grandchildren to getting email from a long lost friend and booking your seat on your next trip.  The web is amazing - and there is a huge amount to learn.

And that is the topic of today's blog post: where to go to learn how to do 'things'.  The site is called 'Howcast' and is similar to Youtube in the sense that videos are posted by folks - experts and non-experts alike - on how to do 'stuff'.

For example, as of March 18th at roughly 10am, the Howcast homepage had videos on topics like Irish Step Dancing For Beginners, How to Knit, How to Play Flamenco Guitar.

On the site itself there is a  very clear search box at the top center portion of the page.  At the top right part of the page is a link to 'Categories' that Howcast covers. Categories include: Style, Tech, Fitness, Home, Money & Education, Food, Recreation, Health, Family and Relationships.

Videos on Howcast are usually between 2 and 5 minutes in length.  In addition, at the bottom of the screen you'll find more videos on the topic.  In addition Howcast includes a list of similar videos on the right side of the screen.  Interesting stuff - and it can be educational.

Enjoy the site.
Regards,
Stu

NASA Picture of the Day

Hi All,

If you didn't already know it, NASA has an amazing repository of 'Astronomy Picture of the Day' going back to June 16, 1995.  Amazing photos of stars, suns, galaxies, nebula's, comets, solar system, nova's, moons, planets and more.  Here is the link to the archives for the pictures. 

Click on this link to search all the Astronomy Pictures of the Day since 6/16/95.  

Other parts of the NASA site that might be interesting include:
1. Astronomy Picture of the Day's Educational Links
2. Are you interested in partaking in a discussion about a particular Astronomy Picture of the Day?  If so, then click on this link for a discussion forum. 
3.  Click on this link to the main NASA website.  There are links to News, Missions, Multimedia and ways to Connect with NASA. 

Enjoy the site!
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

Duct Tape - How Cool Is That?

Hi All,

Duct tape. Very few people think about the myriad things you can use it for...unless you actually need some right now. 

Who knew that there are websites devoted to various aspects of duct tape?  Go figure.  Without further ado, a completely different and remarkably useful blog entry dedicated to duct tape - and just as useful.

For a history of duct tape - click on this link from Wikipedia. Is is duct tape or duck tape?  Click here to find out.

For a seriously outdated website - think early 2000's - click on this link entitled 101 Uses For Duct Tape. Alternatively you can click on this link - similar, but different then the last one though.

And, finally, click on this link from Reader's Digest entitled, 'Extraordinary Uses For Duct Tape'.  You know that you can make 'art' out of duct tape - click here for some examples of duct tape art.  Click here for another duct tape are website - link is from About.com and has more duct tape related links at the bottom of the page also.

And wouldn't you know it...good old YouTube is liberally sprinkled with video of duct tape art.  OMG! Click here for a bunch of duct tape related images from a Google Image search.

Finally, if you are a Farmingdale Public Library patron, come on down to a program that we are hosting on Friday, February 8th at  4:15pm...program is for kids in 3rd grade, 4th grade or 5th grade.  How cool is that?  A whole program dedicated to duct tape fun!

Enjoy.
Stu

All About the Big Game - Super Bowl 47!

Hi All,

It's back, its bigger then ever.  Louder, faster and with a great Halftime Show.  What am I talking about?  I'm talking about the Super Bowl.  Are you ready for some football?  We're up to SB47 now and click on any of these links for more information about the big game.

Click on this link to learn about the players and their thoughts on the big game - aka Media Day.  Interested in the players who are playing in the big game?  Click here folks.

Interested in the fact that the coaches of the two teams are brothers? Yep, we thought so.  And that's why pundits are calling this the 'BroBowl'.   

Click on this link to learn about the various matchups and get a scouting report on both teams. If you like statistics and number and such, click on this link from Pro-Football-Reference.com. I probably have mentioned this previously in the blog, but its a really, really great stats related site. Additionally, on the homepage they have links to other aspects of SB47 including team summaries (Ravens and 49ers), Super Bowl History

Okay, now that I've mentioned the 'who, what, when...' let's get tot he really good stuff.  Commercials. Click on this link for previous SB's commercials.  Interesting stuff in that it shows you the evolution of the complexity and entertainment value of SB commercials over time. Click on this link for a site that is covering -and will cover - commercials for this SB.

Click on these various links for blogs and 'super-websites' (in the sense of size and coverage and content) for more on the SB. In case you didn't know, you can do a Google search and enter 'NFL and blogs' and you'll get hundreds of results...here are a few of the better blogs that cover football.

1. Official Blog of the NFL
2. NFL Nation Blog
3. NFL - SBNation
4. NFL Gridiron Gab
5. Forensic Science Technician
6. 100 Yards and Running - The Score.com

So there you have it folks...if this list of links doesn't keep you busy than you absolutely, positively, must have football on the brain 24x7x365...

Enjoy the game and the links. Oh, and final score:  49ers: 34,  Ravens 14.   :)

Stu