In the News - Cool Web Sites and Social Networking While Learning a Language

A new web site is changing the meaning of being published. SciVee Televisionis a new site designed by scientists for scientists. The concept is simple, SciVee allows scientists to make their research available on the net by combining a published scientific article with a video to create an online presentation. Once posted, other scientists can view the presentation and engage in virtual discussions about that research. A cursory glance reveals two distinct areas, pubcasts that are connected to a published paper and another video section for those without published research. One nice feature is that with each video a simple scan over with the mouse reveals two options, a preview of the video or the full video. That allows the user to get a snippet first to determine if they do want to see the full product.

An article of great interest to us involves the notion of play. The New York Times Magazine article Taking Play Seriously offers some very interesting thoughts about the need for play. We are not talking about just kids here; the focus is on adults as well. As we prescribe more and more medications for mental health issues in children and adults alike the piece resonated with us. Take the time to read the entire article, it is lengthy but it likely has some aspect that will resonate with everyone else as well.

A web page getting bookmarked at a phenomenal rate is a site called LiveMocha. According to the site, “LiveMocha blends self-paced lessons, a vibrant community, and interactive tools to help you talk to the world.” It offers a combined social interaction concept with that of learning a language.

We wrote recently about America’s falling college degree attainment level when rates are compared to other nations. We see where James Altucher has penned a provocative piece entitled College: A Waste of Time and Money. Altucher writes, I have “no intention of sending my kids to college. I find the thought of college abhorrent, particularly for 18- to 20-year-olds. Kids have a lot of energy at that point, and to deaden it with a forced, unsupervised diversity of random topics taught by mostly mediocre professors is a waste of that energy.” Seems that business is the only way to go in his view.

And lastly, readers should check out 9 (More) Useful Web Sites You Should Know About But Probably Don’t. How about Chegg.com, a site that rents college textbooks and plants one tree for every textbook rented. There are explanations of Yelp.com, a site that provides local reviews in some of the bigger cities, Woot.com which sells one electronic product per day, and Google’s GrandCentral.com that allows the consolidation of phone numbers to one location.