If you were confused by the RSS feed talk today, check out this older post.  I have listed sites that I enjoy, as well as a video about setting up an RSS feed yourself.

I’d add Treehugger and Popmatters to the list.

Remember, comment below, telling me who you are (if it isn’t obvious from your name), which web sites you like to visit and anything else you care to share, like good music!  If you don’t have a site to share, click on a link that has been posted, have a look around, and report back.

Buy journals soon.  I’ll order About a Boy in a few days.

Amazing first day!  Thanks, guys.

Remember, we will be sharing articles on Tuesday.  Bring an article that you find interesting, something for the class to discuss.

To assist you in your search, I thought I’d share this with you:

I use the Google RSS reader, but there are others out there. (See links in video.)

Here are a couple of good article sources that I use:

• NPR.org breaks up the site sections into different feeds, which can be found here.  After you sign up with an RSS reader, click on the RSS button next to the section you’re interested in.  I’m subscribed to Top Stories, All Things Considered, World Cafe, Morning Edition, Topics: Music, and of course, Education.
• The New Republic is always a good source for opinion articles.  It’s a bit liberal, but always creates solid discussions.
• The Urban Tulsa Weekly is my favorite source for local entertainment and opinion articles.  The Most Recently Posted feed delivers all content for your perusing pleasure.
• Adbusters.  This one’s a bit liberal, too, but good for discussion.
• The New York Times RSS feeds provides all the content of one of the nation’s best newspapers without the cost.  Because $5 on Sunday is only okay if you don’t buy books with your hard-earned money.  Home Page, Movies, and Technology are all worth subscribing to.
• The New Yorker.  I subscribe to all feeds.  But then, I’m addicted to this.
• Time isn’t my favorite news source, but the photography is always amazing.

I’m a big fan of these last four.  You might say they’re the winning-est blogs on the web.  You’d be wrong, but the wordplay remains.  If you choose no other feed, subscribe to these:

• Windmills and Giants is always an interesting read, and a great place to discuss/learn about contemporary rhetoric.
• The Winsome Scholar, a site devoted to contemporary fiction.  It can be a bit heavy on music, art, and graffiti news, though.
• Winter’s Night Blog is a brilliant site that collects interesting news stories and discussion of contemporary nonfiction.  I hear the webmaster is simply amazing.
• Windfall Knitting is designed and run by K vOn MO and Kathryn, with occasional postings by yours truly.  Stop by for the latest Knitting Club information and projects.

If you have any further questions about RSS feeds or any other Internetness, post a comment below.  The next post in my Internet Goodness will be about the wonders of Google docs.  Never have to deal with emailing a report to yourself again!

I just ran across this episode from This American Life; thought I’d share.  Entitled "Shouting Across the Divide," it is a compilation of stories describing people divided by misunderstandings.  Worth listening to.

This hilarious article from the Washington Post gives a possible explanation of our compulsion to exclaim “five second rule!” before eating any dropped food. Don’t look at me like that. You know you do it too.

http://www.wikipedia.org/ Do not use this as a source for your papers in this class or any other. You can, however, wiki a topic and then follow the “References” or “External” links at the bottom of the page for more accurate sources. As always, be skeptical of anything you find on the internet. For example: http://www.ufocasebook.com/. (If I have offended any of you by claiming that aliens have never contacted Earth, please let me know. If you can convince me that anyone, anywhere has made contact with a sentient, extra-terrestrial being, I will make a public apology.)

www.aldaily.com This is an excellent source for news articles, essays, and book reviews. Search “Trashing Teens” to get started.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/ Has pop-ups. Sorry. Check out some of Kennedy’s speeches; they have pictures. Neat.

http://www.nytimes.com/ I suggest becoming a member of this site. The cartoons are excellent, and membership is free.

http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/ “Monitoring America’s Favorite Drug Dealer”

www.theonion.com “America’s Favorite [Satirical] News Source”

www.npr.org Everyone’s favorite yuppy radio station, now searchable

www.slate.com Great news source; this is my homepage. They have a weekly (or so) slideshow about an artist or art movement.

www.cagle.com Amazing collection of political cartoons. I think this is a sister site to Slate.

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html This is a collection of “Common Errors in English.” I do not expect anyone to remember them all, but I find it helpful when I can’t remember the difference between two phrases (E.g. “compare to” and “compare with”).

http://englishplus.com/grammar/contents.htm A smaller list of errors, but with a handy layout for finding what you need.

http://www.tulsalibrary.org/ Go there. They have free books. It’s like stealing books, but you have to eventually return them, but your mom doesn’t make you apologize. But then they let you get some more. Actually, it isn’t like stealing at all. Stealing is bad; books are good. Therefore, stealing books is neutral, morally. [See “syllogistic fallacy” in next link.]

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/ We will be doing a unit on fallacious arguments later in the year. Even though “Because I’m your parent” is not strictly a logical argument (this would be an ethical one), be nice to your parent. He or she is a person too. One who knows you better than anyone (really) and still loves you. This is rare.

http://www.refdesk.com/ This is a very ugly site, but extremely helpful.

http://www.soyouwanna.com/ Information on how to become a vegan, how to give a wedding speech, and how to eat soup, among other things. Cool if you’re bored but want to rationalize wasting time by learning random things.

http://www.instructables.com/ This site is like YouTube without lonelygirl15. This is a positive thing. Again, good time-waster, but you can learn how to build a bookshelf or make a cd case. Good times.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/ Keep up on the latest slang, written by those with an Internet connection and too much free time. Wiki warnings apply.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php Because sometimes you just need to know.

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/ Use for quotations from classic novels. Don’t read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on the computer. Bad for the heart. Really.

http://www.allmusic.com/ For all your music questions. It even lists album moods! Amazing.