Archive for the 'Websites' Category

If web technology is your thing — and chances are, it’s a huge part of your future, you’ll be happy to know that Google Code University offers courses and lectures on AJAX technology, web security, distributed systems, and languages. Fortunately, if you’re a computer science major, you’ll already have your foundation established to understand the basics, but even if you’re looking to delve into web technologies in the future and have no idea where to begin, this is a good starting point.

Of course, there’s also a search function for computer science courses around the world. Better yet, if you’re in San Francisco on May 28 and 29 of 2008, the Google I/O conference will be held where you can get a close look at all of these technologies and speak with Google engineers about how to build the next groundbreaking application. Student admission is only $50.

Have you ever seen Twitter? It’s an online site that is most similar to the Facebook status message where you can answer what you’re doing in 140 characters or less. While Twitter may seem like a tool that’s counter productive to getting work done, academhack shows that Twitter is more than that.

Twitter is a great way to chat amongst classmates. You can keep conversations flowing beyond the lecture hall.
Build relationships. Twitter is a tool that works well for community building. You no longer envision your classmates as a classmate but as a friend.
Get a sense of what’s happening out there. While Twitter is great for chat amongst classmates, it’s even better to see what’s happening in the world. You can track certain news agents (CNN, NY Times, etc.) to get a sense of what’s out there and can get results in real time (such as on your cell phone if you choose).
Track specific terms. Say you’re very involved right now in the 2008 elections and want to follow your favorite candidate. Whenever someone mentions the candidate’s name, you can find out what’s being said.
Track conferences. Twitter made its biggest debut during a tech conference. But what if, say, you’re interested in the Consumer Electronics Show or another conference? Chances are, someone’s covering that event and will be posting updates to Twitter.
Follow someone famous. You’re friends with Hillary Clinton on MySpace, but she has thousands of other friends. That’s not the case on the smaller Twitter community. Here’s Barack Obama’s Twitter account.

There are many other applications of Twitter beyond just the aforementioned items (and more on the list at academhack). What will you use Twitter for?

…but if you ever wanted to surf the web anonymously and bypass filters, use a proxy service!

Here are some services that may work for you.

AvoidFilter.net is a web proxy that allows users to browse the web anonymously. Our proxy service will allow you to unblock websites, unblock sites, bypass work filters, school filters and much more like Avoiding Filters.

wwwfilter claims: “we allow you to bypass restricted sites at work, school or college, including unblocking sites like MySpace, Bebo, Facebook and plenty more! The best thing is that we are free and simple to use, so check it out and tell your friends!”

Proxydoo: An anonymous free web proxy allows you to bypass local proxies and security restrictions and browse blocked sites or simply browse privately and securely without the need to install any software on your computer. If you browse the web through a public web proxy, the websites can not find your real IP address, and you also need not configure or update anything locally, everything is prepared and working. Access sites like MySpace, Bebo, Facebook and plenty more!

Unblock Anything is a free proxy that will unblock websites for your viewing pleasure. Our free service will allow you to unblock sites that may be restricted due to your network at school or work. Feel safe while you can anonymously browse the internet freely and securely. No compromising data will be given out such as your IP address or location. Access Myspace, Youtube, Facebook and others popular sites anywhere.

Surfing7 is a free anonymous proxy. The web proxies offers free anonymous surfing to protect your privacy. The server also can be used to easily bypass internet web filter, unblock websites Myspace Bebo Facebook from schools, help you share photos video and music.

Zero Anonymous Web: Never let your teachers, boss, or principal control your web browsing again! To bypass web filters, all you have to is type the URL of the website you want to unblock and hit ENTER! Protect your anonymity and remain safe with this site. Why wait any longer? Start unblocking sites now! Remember to bookmark us and to tell your friends.

What are your favorite proxies? Are they on this list? Have you had any bad experiences?

A 7-year-old chimp named Ayumu who is living in a lab in Japan has recently hit the news for outsmarting college students at a basic cognitive memory test. It’s your turn to outshine him.

Are you smarter than a chimp? If you’re up for the challenge, take the same quiz that he took. And if you really need the inspiration, watch the video of him doing it again and again and again.

CNN reports the findings as well:

“Think you’re smarter than a fifth-grader? How about a 5-year-old chimp? Japanese researchers pitted young chimps against human adults in tests of short-term memory, and overall, the chimps won…

When the numbers were displayed for about seven-tenths of a second, Ayumu and the college students were both able to do this correctly about 80 percent of the time.

But when the numbers were displayed for just four-tenths or two-tenths of a second, the chimp was the champ. The briefer of those times is too short to allow a look around the screen, and in those tests Ayumu still scored about 80 percent, while humans plunged to 40 percent.”

How well did you score?

Love Facebook? Want to go to college? Now you can apply to colleges through Facebook. To do so or just to explore your college of choice, install the College Planner application which will allow you to start looking at colleges and also to see what colleges your peers are looking into.

Weird, eh? Yeah, but this is the generation of new widgets and things to make your life easier. Plus, who in high school doesn’t live on Facebook these days?

Just be careful and make sure your Facebook application is presentable. You certainly don’t want to put any incriminating images up there!

[via Mashable via CNet News]

Need some practice on those SAT words? FreeRice.com gives you an incentive to learn those tough words: for every word you get correct, you donate 10 grains of rice to hungry countries throughout the world. Even if your vocabulary skills aren’t up to par, you’re still able to practice and build up the vocabulary with time while helping mothers, fathers, and children survive in their countries. The food is donated by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) which distributes the grains in over 75 countries. If you have time to kill or want to practice your vocabulary, this is a really great way to proceed.

Of course, if you want to practice your SAT vocabulary, this is just one way to go about it — and it’s probably the most altruistic of them all. Next time, we’ll walk through some good study guides on how to better your vocabulary in preparation for college.

Unhappy — or absolutely thrilled — with your learning experience? RateMyProfessors.com is a site that allows you talk about your learning experience and find the best professors for a particular discipline. It’s especially helpful if you’re still preparing for college and want to meet the best professor for a particular area of academic study.

College is all about many different things: education, social experiences, newfound freedom, responsibility, but above all, college is considered higher education for a reason. If you’re looking to build up a relationship with a professor, you’d want to get an idea of the subject matter and establish rapport early. And if you’re already in school but want to know the best professors for the task, you can research potential classes to take by seeing how your professors perform.

The 2007 Rate My Professors awards are now posted, so if you’re from Bringham Young University, congratulations! Your school has the best professors for 2007 as determined by your classmates. Other top schools include Southeastern Louisiana University, Christopher Newport University, Stephen F. Austin State University, and the University of Houston.

Don’t choose your school without taking advantage of the education it has to offer. Your professors can add to the learning experience, and forging those relationships can be quite rewarding for years to come.