Top 10 US Social Sites and Blog Sites Rankings Issued
"Nielson/NetRatings has put out a report on the top 10 social sites and blog sites. I think there are some interesting findings such as Myspace still being on top of the social space. “MySpace.com continues to sit comfortably atop the rankings of top US social-networking sites with 58.6 million unique visitors in September, according to a custom list of top US social networking sites.”
Here are the Oct. 2007 rankings:
1. MySpace
2. Facebook
3. Classmates Online
4. Windows Live Spaces
5. AOL Hometwon
6. Reunion.com
7. LinkedIn
8. AOL People Connection
9. Club Penguin
10. Buzznet
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
The COLLEGE ISSUE
The New York Times Magazine - The College Issue - take a look at the September 30, 2007 issues. Is is full of articles for and about YOU!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Hey, Mom, can you spare me a buck?
10 little expenses that add up fast
Do you wonder where your money goes, especially if you're not a big spender? It's surprisingly easy to blow thousands, a few dollars at a time.
By Bankrate.com
It's easy to fritter away money on little daily expenses. If you fall into these money traps, learn to avoid them and pocket the savings.
Coffee: According to the National Coffee Association, the average price for a cup of brewed coffee is $1.38. There are roughly 260 weekdays per year, so buying one coffee every weekday morning costs almost $360 per year.
Cigarettes: The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids reports that the average price for a pack of cigarettes in the United States is $4.54. Pack-a-day smokers fork out $1,650 a year. Weekend smoker? Buying a pack once a week adds up, too: $236.
Alcohol: Drink prices vary based on the location. But assuming an average of $5 per beer including tip, buying two beers per day adds up to $3,650 per year. Figure twice that for two mixed drinks a day at the local bar. That's not chump change.
Bottled water from convenience stores: A 20-ounce bottle of Aquafina bottled water costs about $1. One bottle of water per day costs $365 per year. It costs the environment plenty, too.
Manicures: The Day Spa Magazine Price Survey of 2004 found that the average cost of a manicure is $20.53. A weekly manicure sets you back about $1,068 per year.
Car washes: The average cost for a basic auto detailing package is $58, according to Costhelper.com. The tab for getting your car detailed every two months: $348 per year.
Weekday lunches out: $9 will generally cover a decent lunch most workdays. If you buy, rather than pack, a lunch five days a week for one year, you shell out about $2,340 a year.
Vending-machines snacks: The average vending machine snack costs $1. Buy a pack of cookies every afternoon at work and pay $260 per year.
Interest charges on credit card bills: According to a survey released at the end of May, the median amount of credit card debt carried by Americans is $6,600. The average interest rate on a standard card is about 13%. Making the minimum payment each month, it will take 250 months (almost 21 years) to pay off the debt and cost $4,868 in interest. Ouch!
The big lie about credit card debt
Unused gym memberships: Costhelper.com reports that the monthly service fee at gyms averages between $35 and $40. At $40 per month, an unused gym membership runs $480 per year.
Published Oct. 11, 2007
Retrieved Oct. 19, 2007 from http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/10LittleExpensesThatAddUpFast.aspx
Do you wonder where your money goes, especially if you're not a big spender? It's surprisingly easy to blow thousands, a few dollars at a time.
By Bankrate.com
It's easy to fritter away money on little daily expenses. If you fall into these money traps, learn to avoid them and pocket the savings.
Coffee: According to the National Coffee Association, the average price for a cup of brewed coffee is $1.38. There are roughly 260 weekdays per year, so buying one coffee every weekday morning costs almost $360 per year.
Cigarettes: The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids reports that the average price for a pack of cigarettes in the United States is $4.54. Pack-a-day smokers fork out $1,650 a year. Weekend smoker? Buying a pack once a week adds up, too: $236.
Alcohol: Drink prices vary based on the location. But assuming an average of $5 per beer including tip, buying two beers per day adds up to $3,650 per year. Figure twice that for two mixed drinks a day at the local bar. That's not chump change.
Bottled water from convenience stores: A 20-ounce bottle of Aquafina bottled water costs about $1. One bottle of water per day costs $365 per year. It costs the environment plenty, too.
Manicures: The Day Spa Magazine Price Survey of 2004 found that the average cost of a manicure is $20.53. A weekly manicure sets you back about $1,068 per year.
Car washes: The average cost for a basic auto detailing package is $58, according to Costhelper.com. The tab for getting your car detailed every two months: $348 per year.
Weekday lunches out: $9 will generally cover a decent lunch most workdays. If you buy, rather than pack, a lunch five days a week for one year, you shell out about $2,340 a year.
Vending-machines snacks: The average vending machine snack costs $1. Buy a pack of cookies every afternoon at work and pay $260 per year.
Interest charges on credit card bills: According to a survey released at the end of May, the median amount of credit card debt carried by Americans is $6,600. The average interest rate on a standard card is about 13%. Making the minimum payment each month, it will take 250 months (almost 21 years) to pay off the debt and cost $4,868 in interest. Ouch!
The big lie about credit card debt
Unused gym memberships: Costhelper.com reports that the monthly service fee at gyms averages between $35 and $40. At $40 per month, an unused gym membership runs $480 per year.
Published Oct. 11, 2007
Retrieved Oct. 19, 2007 from http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/10LittleExpensesThatAddUpFast.aspx
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Young Librarians, Talkin' Bout Their Generation
Young Librarians, Talkin' 'Bout Their Generation, by Scott Carlson.
Most people are familiar with the stereotype of librarians. They are twenty- or thirtysomethings, with tattoos, cat's-eye glasses, and vintage clothes, schmoozing with famous authors, and playing DJ at parties in Brooklyn. Wait, that's just the stereotype in The New York Times. Last summer the newspaper declared young librarians hip — and, in the minds of some librarians, actually reinforced the other stereotype: that older members of their profession are reclusive bookworms and cranky old ladies.
Whether young librarians are hip or dowdy doesn't matter. What matters is what they think about the future of the library, particularly at academic institutions. Libraries are facing a series of immense challenges: the explosion of information, a rapidly changing technological environment, shrinking budgets, pitched battles over copyright, a new world of information literacy, and continuing deficiencies in old-fashioned literacy.
On top of it all, academic libraries face a crisis of graying leadership. Young librarians, hip or not, will eventually be the people dealing with these issues. This month The Chronicle contacted eight librarians under 40 and asked them a series of questions about the future of their profession, including: What will happen to the book? How will battles over copyright play out? What do you love and hate about librarianship? Here is what they said:
Read the complete article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed at: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i08/08a02801.htm
Most people are familiar with the stereotype of librarians. They are twenty- or thirtysomethings, with tattoos, cat's-eye glasses, and vintage clothes, schmoozing with famous authors, and playing DJ at parties in Brooklyn. Wait, that's just the stereotype in The New York Times. Last summer the newspaper declared young librarians hip — and, in the minds of some librarians, actually reinforced the other stereotype: that older members of their profession are reclusive bookworms and cranky old ladies.
Whether young librarians are hip or dowdy doesn't matter. What matters is what they think about the future of the library, particularly at academic institutions. Libraries are facing a series of immense challenges: the explosion of information, a rapidly changing technological environment, shrinking budgets, pitched battles over copyright, a new world of information literacy, and continuing deficiencies in old-fashioned literacy.
On top of it all, academic libraries face a crisis of graying leadership. Young librarians, hip or not, will eventually be the people dealing with these issues. This month The Chronicle contacted eight librarians under 40 and asked them a series of questions about the future of their profession, including: What will happen to the book? How will battles over copyright play out? What do you love and hate about librarianship? Here is what they said:
Read the complete article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed at: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i08/08a02801.htm
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Fiftieth Anniversary of Sputnik launch
Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age
"History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race."
Read more about this historic event at the NASA History Division site.
"History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race."
Read more about this historic event at the NASA History Division site.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Campus Event: Nationally-know Historian, Dr. Andres Tijerina
The Speaker Symposium Committee is pleased to announce the first speaker of the 2007-08 school year. Dr. Andres Tijerina, a professor of history at Austin Community College, will be speaking about the history of people of Mexican heritage in Texas. Dr. Tijerina is a nationally-known historian. His published books include "Tejano Empire: Life on the South Texas Ranchos" and "Tejanos and Texans Under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836."
Dr. Tijerina's first lecture will be at 7:30pm Thursday, October 4 in the Fain Auditorium (Rm. 102) of the Science Building. The title of his Thursday evening presentation is "Constructing a Tejano Memory."
His second lecture, which will be given in Spanish, is entitled "El Imperio de los Ranchos Tejanos." That presentation will be at noon on Friday, October 5 in the Multipurpose Room of the Dick Smith Library. A lecture given in Spanish is a first for the Speaker Symposium lecture series, and an event we plan to repeat later in the school year.
Both lectures are free and open to the public. Proof of attendance will be available for any professor wishing to award extra credit for his or her students.
Dr. Tijerina's first lecture will be at 7:30pm Thursday, October 4 in the Fain Auditorium (Rm. 102) of the Science Building. The title of his Thursday evening presentation is "Constructing a Tejano Memory."
His second lecture, which will be given in Spanish, is entitled "El Imperio de los Ranchos Tejanos." That presentation will be at noon on Friday, October 5 in the Multipurpose Room of the Dick Smith Library. A lecture given in Spanish is a first for the Speaker Symposium lecture series, and an event we plan to repeat later in the school year.
Both lectures are free and open to the public. Proof of attendance will be available for any professor wishing to award extra credit for his or her students.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Banned Book Week
Celebrate Banned Book Week - FREE PEOPLE READ FREELY!! The library has several displays on the main and lower levels showing just a few of the many books that have been questioned.
Also on Wednesday October 3rd, @ Noon - the library will host a Brown Bag Lunch: The Oppressed and the Oppressors.
Banned Book Week is a celebration of our freedom to read, to seek, hold, receive, and disseminate ideas, even if they are unorthodox or unpopular. Help spread the word! Encourage your friends and colleagues to celebrate their freedom to read. It's one of our most important democratic freedoms!
Friday, September 28, 2007
10 Technologies That Will Change The World
10 Technologies That Will Change The World
Scroll through this list of technolgies that ABC News thinks will change the world. Are you ready? Do you have any of the items listed? Are you going to get one? Please give us your comments and let others know if your Wii or iphone is changing the world!!!!
Scroll through this list of technolgies that ABC News thinks will change the world. Are you ready? Do you have any of the items listed? Are you going to get one? Please give us your comments and let others know if your Wii or iphone is changing the world!!!!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Today in the News...
Two years ago Hurricane Rita slammed into the southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana coasts along the Gulf of Mexico. With over 100 fatalities in Texas and almost $11.3 billion in damage, this was the second punch of the 2005 hurricane season, hitting just 3 weeks after the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Find out how these areas have coped with the aftermath in news stories at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/5158918.html or
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/24/national/main3290351.shtml
Check other news stories and events easily in the news databases made available to you by the library:
America's News Magazines
Dallas Morning News
New York Times
Newspaper Source
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/24/national/main3290351.shtml
Check other news stories and events easily in the news databases made available to you by the library:
America's News Magazines
Dallas Morning News
New York Times
Newspaper Source
Friday, September 21, 2007
New Casual Reading Corner at Dick Smith Library
Ravenous bibliophiles
Enjoy our Casual Reading Corner
And
Donate your old paperbacks to share!
Checkout our new Casual Reading Corner bookcase in the Dick Smith Library student lounge.
If you see a book you like... feel free to read it here or take it with you.
No due dates, no late fees, just fun reading!
Did you just finish a great paperback? Share it!
We are accepting donations of paperbacks (in good condition) at the Circulation Desk in the Dick Smith Library to add to the Casual Reading Corner.
Enjoy our Casual Reading Corner
And
Donate your old paperbacks to share!
Checkout our new Casual Reading Corner bookcase in the Dick Smith Library student lounge.
If you see a book you like... feel free to read it here or take it with you.
No due dates, no late fees, just fun reading!
Did you just finish a great paperback? Share it!
We are accepting donations of paperbacks (in good condition) at the Circulation Desk in the Dick Smith Library to add to the Casual Reading Corner.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Laptop ownership spikes among increasingly wired college students
Laptop ownership spikes among increasingly wired college students
Despite common wisdom about the poverty (and resulting legendary thriftiness) of students, American college kids are doing pretty well for themselves when it comes to gadgets. A new report from EDUCAUSE finds that nearly every college student in the US owns both a computer and a phone; 36 percent of students own two computers.
What type of computer do they favor? Laptops, of course. In only two years, laptop ownership on campus has surged from 52.8 percent of the student population to 75.8 percent, while desktop use peaked in 2006 and dropped to 62.8 percent this year.
If students no longer head off to campus without a computer, they also need a cell phone now. 86 percent of students say they own a simple one (without Web access), while another 12 percent have a smartphone. Though the report doesn't look into the matter, I for one would like to see some research into just why it is so difficult for students to silence their ringtones while in the campus library. My guess: the constant diet of pizza and Mountain Dew.
And then come the iPods. More students own an "electronic music/video device" (76 percent) than own a laptop. This has certainly cut down on the frequency of hard rock tunes blasting from an open dorm room window, but one sometimes wonders when these students find time to speak to each other. Between the allure of the little white headphones, the handset, and the computer screen (err, and the studying, of course), collegiate life is stuffed to the brim.
Students appear to take it all in stride, though. As the report notes, many students "have never known a world without personal access to information technologies, often take them for granted and integrate them seamlessly into their daily lives."
That integration takes plenty of time out of each week. The report found that engineering students spend an average of 21.9 hours a week doing online activities. The humanities are lower, at 18.7 hours, and education majors are at the bottom, spending only 15.9 hours a week online.
Disturbingly, a full six percent of those surveyed spent more than 40 hours a week online. That's either some serious dedication to learning or the result of a WoW addiction.
Despite common wisdom about the poverty (and resulting legendary thriftiness) of students, American college kids are doing pretty well for themselves when it comes to gadgets. A new report from EDUCAUSE finds that nearly every college student in the US owns both a computer and a phone; 36 percent of students own two computers.
What type of computer do they favor? Laptops, of course. In only two years, laptop ownership on campus has surged from 52.8 percent of the student population to 75.8 percent, while desktop use peaked in 2006 and dropped to 62.8 percent this year.
If students no longer head off to campus without a computer, they also need a cell phone now. 86 percent of students say they own a simple one (without Web access), while another 12 percent have a smartphone. Though the report doesn't look into the matter, I for one would like to see some research into just why it is so difficult for students to silence their ringtones while in the campus library. My guess: the constant diet of pizza and Mountain Dew.
And then come the iPods. More students own an "electronic music/video device" (76 percent) than own a laptop. This has certainly cut down on the frequency of hard rock tunes blasting from an open dorm room window, but one sometimes wonders when these students find time to speak to each other. Between the allure of the little white headphones, the handset, and the computer screen (err, and the studying, of course), collegiate life is stuffed to the brim.
Students appear to take it all in stride, though. As the report notes, many students "have never known a world without personal access to information technologies, often take them for granted and integrate them seamlessly into their daily lives."
That integration takes plenty of time out of each week. The report found that engineering students spend an average of 21.9 hours a week doing online activities. The humanities are lower, at 18.7 hours, and education majors are at the bottom, spending only 15.9 hours a week online.
Disturbingly, a full six percent of those surveyed spent more than 40 hours a week online. That's either some serious dedication to learning or the result of a WoW addiction.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Constitution turns 220!
The U.S. Constitution is turning 220 years old, having been ratified at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on Sept. 17, 1787.
Sept. 17 marks Constitution Day, a federal holiday that does not confer a day off from work, but does recognize the auspicious occasion brought forth by the Founding Fathers.
The Library of Congress Web site is rife with resources on the framing of the Constitution. A good place to start is the Law Library's Web presentation titled "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates." The THOMAS legislative tracking system also has links to a number of Library sites about the Constitution, including lesson plans for teachers.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Advertising on cell phones -- what do you think?
Marketing Charts (a marketers' magazine) recently posted the article "College Students Growing More Receptive to Mobile Ads," which probably forecasts what will be "ringing in" to cell phones and other mobile devices very soon -- ads, ads, and more ads:
"According to a study conducted at Ball State University, "College students are growing increasingly receptive to receiving advertising via text messages on their cell phones and other mobile devices." Over half of the students surveyed "said they would accept ads if they were to get something free in return."
What do you think about receiving ads on your cell? Think we'll have a choice?
"According to a study conducted at Ball State University, "College students are growing increasingly receptive to receiving advertising via text messages on their cell phones and other mobile devices." Over half of the students surveyed "said they would accept ads if they were to get something free in return."
What do you think about receiving ads on your cell? Think we'll have a choice?
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