Webwatch
with Gavan Reilly
“Who was the main guy in The Bridges of Madison County again?”
The dozen of you who actually read this page are probably broadly a similar sort: slightly more technologically minded than the average college-goer, and the type of person seen as being so permanently networked and dependable that your friends will often call you at all hours, asking you to check something for them on Google or Wikipedia. You’ll probably be more than familiar, therefore, with the slight hassle that comes with such a mantle: especially when you just know it’d be easier for your friend – who, often, is sitting beside you, on the internet – to check the fact themselves.
Step forward, then, Let Me Google That For You. Next time you’re on MSN or GChat with an annoying, lazy would-be Googler, simply pop along to http://short.ie/uo51, do the search for them, and send them the link back. Watch as the site loads for them very slowly, and very, very, very patronisingly.
Meanwhile, blaring on the otwo stereo (well, through the speakers on otwo’s iMac) a lot in the past fortnight has been this particular YouTube gem, showing exactly why the new media revolution has been particularly beneficial for sharing well, new media. An unsigned Jamaican reggae artist, Queen Ifrica, has put together – along with her equally dubiously-monikered friends – a video of actually quite commendable production quality, to go along with a song discussing the world’s vital themes in a resolute and hard-hitting way. Sadly, there’s something a little bit too LOL about ‘Daddy’, a song that deals with sexual abuse with… well, how about you just check it for yourself? There just aren’t the words to do it justice. http://short.ie/uo52
Elsewhere – at this time of year your life is destroyed by studying and projects, and no matter how organised you are, there’s always that one useful webpage that you’ll forget to refer to, or you see but forget the relevance of. A solution! MyStickies (http://short.ie/uo54) lets you put virtual post-it notes on useful sites so that when you return to them, you’ll know exactly what you missed. (Though, in hindsight, you could always just use your Bookmarks a bit more…)
Which leaves just enough time – thank God! – for Zorba, the Male Belly Dancer (http://short.ie/uo55), a college soccer match in which someone scores a goal from 95 yards (http://short.ie/uo56 – it has to be seen to be believed), and a collection of the best stupid questions from that ever-reigning source of stupidity, Yahoo! Answers (http://short.ie/uo57).
As ever, if you have any useful links, just send them to webwatch@universityobserver.ie.