sree.net > tips > newsletters > April 2002
Web version: http://www.sree.net/tips/200204.html

Sree Tips
A free monthly newsletter of Web tips and tricks

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

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

April 2002: http://www.sree.net/tips/200204.html
Archive: http://www.sree.net/tips

Subscribe: sreetips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (just one message a month)
Feedback: sreetipsreax@sree.net

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Welcome to the latest issue of the "Sree Tips" newsletter. As always, I look forward to YOUR tips, feedback and suggestions: sreetipsreax@sree.net. This month's tipsters include: Carole Ashkinaze, Keisha Clark, Jonathan Dube, Sandy Edry, Phyllis Joffe, Ravi Kumar, Charles Pappas, Bob Romano, Al Tompkins, Roopa Unnikrishnan.

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. If you are interested in having me do a session for your organization, civic group, school or hamlet, please visit http://www.sree.net/web

Why wait a month for the next newsletter? Visit the constantly updated "Smarter Surfing" links at http://www.sree.net/tips/web.html
Also see new "Web Tips" published every Tuesday on Poynter.org: http://www.poynter.org/web/Archive2001.htm

Reminder: Your friends can add themselves to this once-a-month list by e-mailing
sreetips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

An event en route:
SAJA CONVENTION: On June 14-16, South Asian Journalists Association is hosting its annual convention in NYC. Panels and workshops on writing, foreign reporting, media issues and more. 600+ journalists and guests from around the world will be in attendance. Keynote speakers include Steve Coll (managing editor of The Washington Post) and Sebastian Junger (author of The Perfect Storm), among others. You don't have to be South Asian or a journalist to attend! Prices start at just $50 for three days of networking: http://www.saja.org/convention

{Cheers, Sree}

New-ish USEFUL SITES
(sites I find useful in some way)

WABC-TV's Computers 101 -- computer and hi-tech help
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/technology/WABC_comp101_index.html
In mid-April, I hosted a half-hour "Tech Guru" special on WABC-TV in the New York area and this link is for the companion site. Among the topics covered: upgrading your PC, buying a new computer, keeping your kids safe online, smarter Web surfing, getting rid of pop-up ads and things I hate about technology. You will find all the tips from the show here, along with links and a couple of video excerpts. I will be updating this resource throughout the year, so check in often. The tips here are in addition to my weekly segments, which can be found at http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/technology

The Missing Link -- the Surf Guru's tips on finding info online
http://info.alexa.com/data/destination_site/missing_link
Charles Pappas, the "Surf Guru" for Yahoo! Internet Life magazine, has a new column called "The Missing Link" at search site Alexa.com. Here's how he describes it:
"a weekly column that reveals the kind of inside information that everyone else - governments, corporations, the rich and powerful - always seem to have but we don't." He's only been doing them since early April, but I have learned a lot from his pieces. His recent one analyzing the Nostradamus-predicted-the-WTC-attacks e-mail rumors was particularly informative - and funny.
Also check out his daily "Ask the Surf Guru" column: http://www.yil.com/daily/guru/archive.asp

How Far Is It? -- distance calculator
http://www.indo.com/distance
One of the great things about the Web, as you know, is that you never know what you'll find online. So I am not surprised by most things I find, but this one has me a little confused. For some reason, the best distance calculator on the Web is available at... Bali Online, an Indonesian portal. Put in two cities and it will tell you the distance between them. Works well for places in the U.S. cities, as well as about 500 non-U.S. cities.

ENCORE: Last month's NEW-ISH USEFUL SITES
from http://www.sree.net/tips/200203.html

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New-ish FUN SITES
(proof "fun" is a subjective word)

FootnoteTV -- explaining the news
http://www.footnote.tv
A lot of young folks these days learn about current affairs by watching entertainment shows, not by watching broadcast news or reading newspapers. Instead of just lamenting the information gap, Stephen Lee decided to do something to help bridge this gap. This former Chicago Tribune reporter-turned-New York lawyer has built a site that provides context and background to current events featured on such shows at "Saturday Night Live" on NBC, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Comedy Central, "The West Wing" on NBC and "JAG"on CBS. For example, a recent "Saturday Night Live" featured jokes about the arrest of actor Robert Blake, Al Gore's political plans and the crisis within the Catholic church. Each of these topics has an article by Lee explaining the context and providing analysis - an electonic footnote. Lee runs Footnote TV by himself, making this fun and useful site even more amazing.

OxymoronList.com -- collection of contradictory words
http://www.oxymoronlist.com
Here is the Web's largest collection of oxymorons. You can scan by alphabetical order, or see the top 20. That's a subjective list, of course. Some of my favorites from the site didn't even make it to the top 20: "benevolent dictator," "inexpensive house" and "customer service."

ENCORE: Last month's NEW-ISH FUN SITES
from http://www.sree.net/tips/200203.html

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GUEST TIP
(A SreeTips reader shares a tip)
Have a tip you would like to share? Send it to sree@sree.net

SANDY EDRY, NY-based writer suggests visiting WhoRepresents.com:
"It is incredibly useful -- especially for journos doing celebrity stories. It gives you the publicity agent and/or manager for practically everybody who's anybody." I agree: the site works well for Hollywood celebrities and it is worth going through the almost instant, free registration process to test it out. Of course, written out as a URL, the site's name becomes pretty funny: http://www.whorepresents.com
Sandy's e-mail: SEdry@aol.com
Last month's Guest Tip was from Betty Medsger: http://www.destaques.net
Have a tip you would like to share? Send it to sree@sree.net

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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. The New York Times quoted U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell saying 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 $7.95 a month, or $50 a year). I also use, to a lesser extent, Encarta.com from Microsoft (many free articles, 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.

Software Downloads:
Download.com
http://www.download.com
No need to hit the store to buy software. Almost everything you need is online and has free trials.

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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SREE-DOT-NET

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 -- now includes Real Video versions for the newer 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.

Poynter.org Web Tips
http://www.poynter.org/web/Archive2001.htm
Every Tuesday, I write a short Web tip for Poynter.org; MSNBC technology editor Jonathan Dube writes one every Friday. If you're in the news biz, you may want to subscribe to Jon's terrific Cyberjournalist.net monthly newsletter - "tips & talk for the wired world." Drop an e-mail to
cyberjournalist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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

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).

Content is Still King: Lessons 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.

[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 2002 Sree.net

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sree.net > tips > newsletters > April 2002



See text archives of my Tech Guru appearances on Channel 7 -- Thursday mornings at 6:45 in NYC area more...