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I-Series Computing Concepts
Stephen Haag, University of Denver
Maeve Cummings, Pittsburg State University
Alan I Rea, Jr., Western Michigan University


Cool Web Sites

The Web is a great place to learn more about any topic you can think of. Below, we've listed several categories of Web sites that we think will interest you. Take some time and explore them all.

Careers
Search engines
Public domain software, Shareware, and Freeware
Free images and backgrounds

Buying software
VRML
3-D
JavaScript
Registering your site on search engines

CAREERS

We hope it's safe to assume that you're going to school to either (1) prepare to get a really great job, or (2) continue to advance in your already chosen career.

Whatever the case, the Web is full of career Web sites, that offer everything from searchable databases of job postings to tips concerning how to dress for an interview.

Below, we've listed just a few of the many career sites on the Web.

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SEARCH ENGINES

A search engine is a facility on the Web that allows you to find Web sites by key word or words.

There are two types of search engines:

  • A directory search engine organizes listings of Web sites into hierarchical lists.
  • A true search engine uses software agent technologies to search the Web for key words and places them into indexes.

If you'd like to see a fairly comprehensive list of search engines, we recommend Netstrider .

Below we've listed just a few of the many search engines you can find on the Web.

Some search engines, such as Ask Jeeves, allow you to enter a question. For example, you could ask "What's the tallest mountain in North America?" (don't enter the quotes)

Directory search engines, on the other hand, require that you enter a list of key words. When entering a list of key words, you can make use of a minus sign (-), plus sign (+), and quotes to refine your search. For example, if you wanted to find Web sites with information concerning the Miami Dolphins NFL football team, you could enter:

  • "Miami Dolphins" -- would find only those sites with the two listed key words in that exact order
  • Miami +Dolphins -- would find only those sites with the two listed key words regardless of their order
  • Miami +Dolphins --mammal -- would find only those sites with Miami and Dolphins as key words and would exclude any site that listed mammal as a key word

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PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE, SHAREWARE, AND FREEWARE

All over the Web, you can find software that's free or almost free. These types of software are called public domain software, shareware, and freeware.

  • Public domain software is software that you can copy, distribute, and even modify without obtain permission.
  • Shareware is software that you can "test drive" or "try before you buy."
  • Freeware is software that is also public domain software, meaning that you can use it as you wish free of charge.

Freeware and public domain software sound the same, don't they? They actually are with one slight difference. Public domain software was the first name created for free software that people wanted to make available to anyone. When the term shareware was coined to describe "try before you buy" software, freeware was also coined to describe public domain software (Freeware sounds sexier than public domain software.).

However, with true public domain software you often get the source code, allowing you change how the software works. You often don't get the source code with freeware, so you may not have the ability to change how it works.

Below, we've listed just a few of the thousands of sites that offer public domain software, shareware, and freeware.

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FREE IMAGES AND BACKGROUNDS

If you want free images and backgrounds to include in your site, the Web offers more than you can imagine.

We did a quick search for free images and backgrounds and found over 100,000 sites. Of course, some provide questionable stuff -- be careful.

Below, you'll find links to just a few of the hundreds of thousands of Web sites that offer free images and backgrounds. Enjoy!!

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BUYING SOFTWARE

You can definitely find hundreds of places on the Web where you can buy software.

At some of those places, depending on what software you buy, you can instantly download the software. At other places, and again depending on what software you buy, the software you buy will be shipped to you in the mail.

Below, we've listed just a few of the many places on the Web where you can buy software.

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VRML

Virtual Reality Modeling Language ( VRML) allows you to create a virtual world in which users have the illusion that they are physically participating.

There are many Web sites that you can visit to experience VRML or even learn how to program VRML sites for the Web.

Many of the sites listed below also require you to download a VRML player or plug-in. Remember that a player is software that works outside of your Web browser and a plug-in is software that works within your Web browser.

The Web3D Consortium is a collection of VRML developers. Most VRML resources can be found at the Web3D Web site .

VRML Players and Plug-Ins

VRML Web sites

VRML Programming Resources

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3-D

Real three-dimensional ( 3-D) technology presents information to you in such a way that you have the illusion that the object you're viewing is actually in the room with you.

3-D is becoming more and more commonplace everyday.

The view 3-D on the Web, click on the links below.

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JAVASCRIPT

JavaScriptis a scripting language that allows you to add interactivity and other features to a Web page.

If you use JavaScript, you can build rollovers into your Web page and also create e-commerce shopping carts.

To learn more about javaScript, click on the links below.

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REGISTERING YOUR SITE ON SEARCH ENGINES

You know how to use meta tags to identify your Web site's content to search engines (Chapter 11 I-Witness). We also showed you how to find Web hosts to put your Web site on the Web (Chapter 12 I-Witness). Now you'll want to make sure search engines will find your Web site when people search for key words.

You can go to each Web search engine and submit your Web site's location and key information. We've listed some of these search engine pages for you:

Search Engine Submission

You'll notice that each of these search engines have very different policies and instructions. Google simply has you fill in your location and keywords. Yahoo! is more detailed in what it needs you to do. AltaVista has different levels for submissions: the more you pay the sooner your site will be indexed. You can still submit sites for free to AltaVista (like Google and Yahoo!), but it might take four to six weeks to be indexed.

You should know that almost all free submissions to Web search engines can take a few weeks to a couple of months to show up on Web searches. If you pay to submit information, the process is much faster. Many businesses use search engine services. These are companies that submit your Web site to multiple search engines for you:

Search Engine Submission Companies

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