Module 4: No 1 Most Relevant Site

The best or most relevant site was from the Community Learning Network, found at http://www.cln.org/lists/nuggets/tools.html. It was keyword searchable, fairly unbiased, had a wide topic coverage, and came from a very feasible author (CLN). Its currency was not that recent, but the information still had relevancy. As it came up through Google’s site link ranking system, it is likely other sites link to it, thus making it recognized.

Module 4: Most Relevant Links

Best Five Links related to ‘Advanced Internet Users’

URL: http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
Author: CIESE
Institution: Stevens Technology Institute, Centre for Improved Engineering & Science Education
Blurb / Summary: Advanced Internet Users Tutorial

URL: http://www.refdesk.com/factbeg.html
Author: Bob Drudge
Institution: None
Blurb / Summary: Well stocked resource page for Internet Skills.

URL: http://www.cln.org/guidebooks.html
Author: Community Learning Network
Institution: Community Learning Network
Blurb / Summary: ‘Guidebooks and resources which can assist teachers to learn more about the Internet. Most of the resources on this page are for novices, but there are some that even advanced users would find helpful.’

URL: http://www.cln.org/lists/nuggets/tools.html
Author: Community Learning Network
Institution: Community Learning Network
Blurb / Summary: Keyword Searchable and Indexed database of Internet Tools, Hints, and Announcements.

URL: http://www.msen.com/1997/adv_links.html
Author: MSEN .INC
Institution: MSEN .INC
Blurb / Summary: Links that ‘may be of interest to advanced users.’

In order to retrieve this information I used a combination of Copernic Metasearch, Google and Teoma, and Firefox webbrowser. I copied the URL via Firefox's copy URL function, and then pasted the information into a word document. I then copeid it into my blog.

Module 4: Boolean Searching

To find the biggest number of hits relating to ‘Advanced Internet Users’ I would enter: Advanced Internet Users

To find sources relating to skills based information on 'Advanced Internet Users' I would enter: ‘advanced internet users’ +skills -news

To find information on 'Advanced Internet Users' coming only from university sources, I would enter: ‘advanced internet users’ +University

Module 4: Pagesucker

I downloaded Pagesucker and played with it, but then failed to see its usefulness as my internet connection is 1.5mb/ps broadband. This could be useful for dialup users though.

Module Four: Bookmark Buddy

I downloaded Bookmark Buddy and immediately found it very useful. On most of my format / reinstalls of Windows I have saved my IE favourites, but since switching to Firefox I have been unable to save them for some reason which I have not yet figured out. Bookmark Buddy will be useful not only for this, but also for better filing and categorisation of links.

Module4: Metasearching

The 'Surviving the Storm: Using Metasearch Engines Effectively' link is broken, and I was unable to find it through google.

First I downloaded Copernic Basic and entered the search term 'Internet Governance,' just to test it out. It came up with a number of different websites of interest. I then did the same search in Google, and noted which of the websites that had appeared in Copernic Basic also appeared in Google. They all did, though not on the first page. Unfortunately, Copernic Basic is not also functional web browser; it opens links in Firefox, overriding whatever was already loaded. So using Google through Firefox is actually faster (Tabbed browsing, browsing plugins etc). I will continue to experiment with Copernic, but still feel that it may be more trouble than its worth.

I then undertook the task outlined.
I opened Google and searched for ‘advanced internet users.’ It came up with 116,000,000 Hits. First Hit was: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/global/asiapac/news/2005/pr_09-21.html, a news site about ‘China Supports Advanced Applications for Internet Users and Educational Centers.’
Used Copernic to search for the same term. It came up with 101 hits. The first link was http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/, an Advanced Internet Tutorial.
Copernic came up with less results, which narrows the resources to a more manageable amount. On first glance, Copernic’s results appear to be more relevant links.

Google Hits
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/global/asiapac/news/2005/pr_09-21.html
http://www.advancedis.net/main.htm
http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
http://www.advancedinter.net/
http://www.cert.org/

Copernic Hits
http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/usingwindows/internet/tips/advanced/2advanced_list.asp
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/global/asiapac/news/2005/pr_09-21.html
http://www.ciese.stevens-tech.edu/tutorials/advanced/cookiemonster.html
http://www.softstack.com/advink.html

Module 4: Assessing Player Software

After perusing the list of recommended programs that could be assessed, I noted that I already use or have used many of them, such as Adobe PDF Reader, Flash and Shockwave Players (I designed my assignment 2 with Flash), and all of the media players (I prefer Quintessential Player for music, and JetAudio for video files.

Beginning Assignment 3

I have just begun to research assignment 3. On doing so I found that the link to Information ecologies: using technology with heart given in the webct unit instructions appears to have changed. Using google, I found that it is now located at :
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue4_5/nardi_chapter4.html

Uploaded Assignment 2

I uploaded Assignment 2 to
http://users.tpg.com.au/archflip/Net%20Studies%20202/Intro.html

I used a program called Swish to make the site animated, as well as a combination of Homesite 5 and Word to create the web pages.