Alumni Education

Interesting Facts for you to know
Ever wonder ... What is the difference between a podcast and a vodcast? What is a wiki? How can I use Google? What is all the buzz about YouTube and MySpace? Also, stay current by learning the newest words added to Webster's Dictionary.

Podcasts and Vodcasts
The word “podcasting” is an amalgam of the word broadcasting and the name of the popular MP3 player from Apple Computer called the “iPod”. It’s a bit of a misnomer in that it implies that an iPod is required to podcast. In fact, podcasts can be used with a variety of digital audio formats and play on almost any MP3 player or portable digital audio device - as well as any brand of desktop computer or laptop.

VODcasting (also called “vlogging”) - the “VOD” stands for “video-on-demand” - is almost identical to podcasting. The difference is that the content is video versus audio, and the content is more likely to be played on a laptop than a PMA (personal media assistant) due to their newness and relative expense.

Weblogs and Videoblogs
Blogs are websites where blog authors can pontificate about subjects of interest to them and host a commentary space for reader responses. Interaction between authors and readers is key, and blogs often link to other blogs with similar topics of conversation to generate community. Traditional blogs rely on text and images; vlogs, however, are blogs taken to digital video form. They are light on text and have media files embedded on the page.

Websters' New Words
Every year, Webster's announces new words to be included in the dictionary. In the 1940s, some of the new words included bikini, cheeseburger, fax, jet plane, quiz show, and TV. In the 1950s, they added aerospace, computerize, hash browns, junk mail, and weirdo. By 1960, we were beginning to see doofus, hippie, pantsuit, sitcom and space shuttle. 1970 brought the new words diskette, infomercial, trail mix and video game. the 1980s and '90s added compact disc, emotican, virtual reality, bad hair day, buffalo wing, internet and website.

In 2006, new words and phrases included...

Do you know what they all mean?

Google Secrets
Do you use Google? Just about everyone who has a computer does, which is why "googling" has become a verb. But many of us do not realize all the things Google does...some of which can be a bit scary. The book "The Google Story" lists dozens of hidden features, such as:

• A phone book: Enter "John Smith" and "Los Angeles" and up comes John's phone listing. You can reverse search too: just type in a phone number, and find the owner.
• Photos: Use Google Images to find almost anyone's photo. We found a shot of Paris Hilton we couldn't show on TV.
• Calculator: Betcha didn't know you don't need a calculator anymore! Type in a math question, such as 54 divided by 17, and Google answers.
• Dictionary: You don't need a dictionary either. Just type in "define" and a word, such as "extravagant." It even corrects your spelling, then defines it.
• Weather: Want a weather forecast? Type "weather" and a city, such as Orlando, where it was 65 degrees and drizzling on Mickey Mouse.
• Map and Directions: Need a map to get there?  Click on maps. Click on satellite, and get a satellite image with your map.

Before you blame Google for making your private information public, remember that dozens of similar search engines give out the same
info. And before the internet, the county courthouse had much of the same info in its public files. So don't sweat it too much.


What are MySpace and YouTube?
YouTube is a popular video sharing website where users can upload, view, and share video clips. Videos can be rated, and the average rating and the number of times a video has been watched are both published.

MySpace is a free service that uses the internet for online communication through an interactive network of photos, weblogs, user profiles, e-mail, web forums, and groups, as well as other media formats. This all-inclusive service is sometimes called a social networking interface. MySpace is a very active site, and additions and new features are being added constantly.

What is a Wiki?
A wiki is a website that allows visitors to add, remove, edit and change content, typically without the need for registration. It also allows for linking among any number of pages. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring. The term wiki can also refer to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) which facilitates the operation of such a site, or to certain specific wiki sites, including the computer science site WikiWikiWeb (the original wiki) and online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia.


Mindset List from Beloit College
View the list of Class of 2011 Mindset