Webwatch

Geography of the Planet

http://www.planetgeography.com
It is basically developed and maintained to act as a support website for geography textbook; this website is evolved to serve as a useful resource for geography students. You can not only learn about the book and its authors, but can also access some useful web links and wallpapers. And of course if you have the textbook, then you can access almost all the features of the website.

World at hand

http://www.micro.magnet.fsu.edu/
IF you think science websites usually features loads of text, then this website will excite you definitely, because it basically features photo galleries. These galleries mostly show the world under the microscope, so you can see all that is normally not visible around you. There are cross sections of tissues, cells and a variety of such minute stuff which you thought you could only observe under a microscope.

Picture perfect

http://www.microscopix.co.uk/
Consider this website as an extension of the above. It has loads of photographs, larger in quite a number of times. The interesting thing here is that the website is more readable and less technical than the previous one. So if you’re simply a beginner in the subject, you can at least understand by viewing.

Voyage inside brain

http://www.pfizer.com/brain/
This is yet another interesting and interactive website which is dedicated to the world inside our heads, specifically our brains. You can take a whole virtual tour of your brain complete with illustrations. There is a section for teachers as well, where they can learn how to enhance their science classes on the same topic. There are various projects and activities and a free download as well.

Webwatch

All things scientific

http://www.scienceagogo.com/index.shtml
Whether you are a student of any science subject or not, it really doesn’t when it comes to website as it is both for novices as well as experts. You can read the latest news related to science and can participate in some very interesting discussions on the forums. The most interesting section of this website is “Sci Shop” where you can browse through lots of crazy scientific stuff, even if you have no intention of buying it.

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Going nuclear

http://www.chemcases.com/nuclear/
This website would definitely be of great help to science teachers who want to introduce the topic of nuclear energy in their chemistry classes. The content here is in the format of a lesson plan with clear objectives set out for a couple of classes. The topics under discussion include the origin of nuclear energy, its usage in modern weapons and the long-term effects of radiation.

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Creating media from scratch

http://www.celtx.com/overview.html
If huge and complicated software scare you away from creating your movie masterpieces and animations, then this website may help you out. Featured here is software which can help you perform a variety of functions so that you can make the perfect video or animations. Read more about what this software does, take a look at the screenshots and if it appeals to you, head over to the download section.

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Textbooks galore

http://us.geocities.com/alex_stef/mylist.html
In case you cannot get enough of mathematics in your daily life, this website will make sure you do. It basically hosts web links to a wide variety of websites all over the internet which have free mathematics textbooks and lectures. All you need to do is point, click and download. Links are categorised into general mathematics, algebra, geometry and others.

Latest on the block

MOST people who use the internet frequently are also heavy users of Instant Messaging (IM) services – this isn’t a fact, just an opinion. And even though the past couple of years have seen an increase in the number of people switching to Google Talk or sticking to Yahoo! Messenger, the fact remains that MSN Messenger still rules the roost.

This has probably more to do with the fact that MSN Messenger has been around for a long time. Besides, it is a real hassle to switch to a different messenger when all your contacts are on MSN only. Over the years, the MSN Messenger has been the victim of many a forwarded email as well as myths which are circulated around the internet without anyone ever bothering to verify them.

There was this one email some years ago, and is still being circulated, which warned readers that if they didn’t “verify” that they were actively using Hotmail by forwarding the email in question to a specific number of contacts, their account would be deleted. Consequently, they would not be able to access MSN Messenger either. People fervently proceeded to forward that email to almost everyone they knew. Not surprisingly, it turned out to be a hoax.

Hoaxes pertaining to MSN Messenger have become the order of the day. The very latest of such hoaxes plays on the very basic instinct of internet users to know who’s blocking them. One can never understand what it is with people and their desire to know whose contact list they are on and who has severed all ties with them by removing them from it. However, the fact remains that such curiosity is characteristic of IM users – whether they are in Pakistan or live in a foreign land.

It all started when mysterious automated messages started appearing sent by a contact on one’s list. All these messages said was: “Did you know you can find out who blocked you on MSN? Check it out, it’s free.” Now what is all this about finding out who blocked you (simply known as the Block Checker), one may wonder, and what does it do? Well, its precise functions cannot be traced to its original website because it has long since disappeared – probably the creators didn’t bother paying for the domain name. However, its long-term effects continue to linger.

Here, one thing needs to be categorically stated. Irrespective of what that so-called software claimed, there is literally no way to know who is blocking you on MSN Messenger and who isn’t. If you are that desperate to find out, simply get a mutual contact to check if a certain person is online. If so, then check if s/he is online in your list. If not, then you’ll know you are blocked.

Another way to discover the same thing is to use the privacy tab (Tools>Options>Privacy). Among the various functions that you can perform on this option, you can also check who has added you to their list of contacts. If the person you are looking for is not on that list, it is safe to assume that s/he has removed you from their list of contacts – hence, you are effectively blocked.

These are, to date, the only two legitimate ways of finding out who has blocked you and who hasn’t. Block checkers are of no earthly use. But then, one may ask, what are they doing on the internet and why are they so popular? The answer to the latter, of course, is that they are popular simply because internet users are not only curious, they are highly sceptical as well. If someone on their list doesn’t come online for a very long time, they begin to wonder if they have been blocked. Of course, there are people who couldn’t care less, but the number of times the Block Checker was downloaded proves that such sceptical beings do exist, even if we don’t know them personally.

Block Checkers basically play on this instinct. You go to their website and you download them – but the question then arises: what are those who created these checkers in the first place getting out of it? It’s quite simple. These Block Checkers are simply spyware in disguise. I never downloaded it so I don’t quite know if anyone managed to find out who’s blocking them. However, simply type “block checkers are spyware” in Google and analyse the search results which come up.

The results are many and most of them point to computer-related troubleshooting forums, in which participants are fervently asking what to do about these checkers since they have installed numerous spyware on their computers. Plus, the suspicious software that they do install keeps on advertising these Block Checkers to everyone on their MSN’s list of contacts.

More specifically, the Block Checker actually belongs to the AdClicker advertising program. This means that once it is downloaded and installed on your PC, it can easily collect your browsing habits; that is, the websites you frequently visit and can send this information back to the parent website. And since you are required to enter your email address to operate this software, the result is a huge increase in your spam email. Moreover, it will also result in annoying pop-up advertisements.

This Block Checker was actually also supporting other IMs as well, including Yahoo! Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger. If you dig further, you will discover that these Block Checkers actually constitute a new kind of spam which is overtaking the Internet. This is called Spam over Instant Messengers (SPIM). This is a pertinent term considering that spamming is what the software/spyware in question basically does. SPIM has been in existence for a number of years but it is only now with these sophisticated software coming on the scene, that people fail to recognise them for what they are and instead, fall for them.

However, this is not to say that parent companies of IMs are sitting idle. Microsoft has come up with a security (read privacy) update for MSN Messengers which ensures that these Block Checkers can no longer work. Maybe this is why the parent website of a Block Checker has disappeared from the scene. Its remnants are on other websites though, thus it is best to exercise caution.

In the end, it all comes down to precaution. If a software sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you see any software making tall claims and advertising itself through your list of contacts, without their knowledge, it should be enough to raise your eye brows. In such a scenario, it is best to Google the term and see what it turns up. In nine out of 10 cases, you will find out the truth behind such software in seconds. Be a little sceptical at the right time and you’ll save yourself from falling for these spyware.

Webwatch

Hardware vs intelligence

http://www.transhumanist.com/volume1/moravec.htm
Artificial intelligence is one branch of information technology that can never fail to fascinate. A detailed paper featured on this website is also based on the same theme, with its emphasis on the fact that technologies for artificial intelligence will become more accessible and affordable by 2020. It also delves deep into what this technology really is and how it complements the functions of the human brain.

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Through the looking glass

http://www.longbets.org/predictions
There are plenty of people who love to make wild predictions about what science and technology will be able to do in the future. This website can easily be fit into same category. It contains a variety of such predictions with evidence to boot. So when you read that by 2040, 40 per cent of Americans who hit 65 will live to be a 100 years old, you will also discover why demographic data supports this claim.

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Cellular

http://www.biochemweb.org/cell_cycle.shtml
Whether you are a student of biology or that of advanced biochemistry, this website will definitely help you out if you need both basic and advanced information on human cells. Apart from the definition and various parts of cells, this website also goes into the tiniest details of all the processes taking place inside them and that of cell division. You can also go through various researches that have taken place on cells as well.

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Short circuit

http://www.interq.or.jp/japan/se-inoue/e_menu.htm
If you are an engineering student, this website will prove to be an absolute haven. Featured here are details of a variety of circuits related to electronics and how you can use certain software to make these circuits yourself. There is also a collection of data sheets which you can easily download and three-dimensional photographs.

Webwatch

Extremity unbound
http://www.extremescience.com/
There are many extremes in science: extreme weather conditions, extreme natural disasters, etc., which play havoc with the lives of people. But extremity can be interesting and so this website is dedicated to all such extremes. You can learn more about disasters like volcano eruptions, tsunamis and earthquakes, look at the world records related to these extremes and, of course, you can look at some of the extreme creatures in the animal kingdom as well.

Zipping made easy
http://krun.ch/
If you’re one of those people who constantly need to zip their documents, here’s a neat little break from WinZip and WinRar. Krunch is a relatively unknown but rather interesting online tool that you can use to zip and unzip your files. All you need to do is upload files from your PC to zip them and then download them once unzipped. The only bothersome thing is the limited number of files (10) which you are allowed to zip but even then, Krunch is a refreshing change from WinZip.

Green future
http://www.pfaf.org/
You don’t need a green thumb to appreciate the capabilities of plants. This website gives you some idea of the utilities of plants in a variety of medicinal and edible ways. This is not at all difficult; in fact, you can easily go through them and check out the top 20 plants. Not only this but you can also download the database of the species provided on the website. In all, this is a useful website, especially if you are a gardening buff.

Buttoning it up
http://www.buttonator.com/
Whether you host your own website or maintain a regular blog link, buttons are always a must-have for some much-needed promotion. This website has a very cool button generator; all you need to do is select the style of the button, colour scheme and text and your button will be generated through a mere click. However, you have to find some way of hosting the image of your button, if you want to use it as a link.

The good, bad and the ugly

IF YOU ever Google the phrase, “teacher quotes” you’ll get approximately 3,630,000 results. When you go through some of the websites which turn up only on the first page, you’ll come across some of the best words that could ever be used to pay tribute to a teacher. Consider the following examples, for instance: “What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation” (Cicero) and “those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well” (Aristotle).

Of course, words can never really do justice to a teacher/educator who plays an important part in one’s life, be it a school, college or university. One may ask then, what motivates students to rebel against their teachers? Why do they like some teachers and despise others? There are many reasons for that and one of them is incompetence.

There was a time when students had a completely devoted to their teachers. They couldn’t even imagine replacing their teacher let alone complain about him/her to the school authorities. A teacher was assigned to their class and that was the end of the story.

Now, however, there is a marked difference. Students over time have learnt to evaluate their teachers, often with a very critical eye and the result is that a teacher, who falls short of their expectations, comes under fire.

The quality of teachers is a determining factor in this regard. Previously in Pakistan, and even now in other parts of the world, teachers are selected on the basis on a very strict criterion often after they have passed a specific examination and have the necessary degrees.

With the mushrooming of private schools and colleges in Pakistan, the demand for teachers has considerably increased. Consequently, anyone, who has some free time on his/her hands and wants to make quick money in the easiest way possible way, opts for teaching. Thus, people who do not have the required qualifications start teaching subjects like science and computing, with the result that students end up learning nothing at all.

So, students are reluctant to accept whoever is assigned to them as a teacher because they believe they have a right to receiving quality education which they feel they can only receive if they have a good teacher at their disposal. But what happens when students don’t like certain teachers? What makes one teacher more incompetent than the others?

“An incompetent teacher is someone who doesn’t deliver. For example, s/he is very particular that you should submit assignments on time but will take forever to check them and make mistakes in the process. An incompetent teacher is also someone who isn’t enthusiastic enough about his/her subject, doesn’t follow up on developments in the field, and is not in a position to answer your questions; someone who speaks more of his/her personal life and achievements rather than the subject matter at hand, who is lazy and doesn’t understand the psyche of students,” says Mariam Rehan, an MBA student.

Faria Hussain, on the other hand, feels that those who enter the teaching profession just to make some extra money rather than impart knowledge are probably the most incompetent as they fail to inspire students to excel. “Teachers should equip themselves with the necessary tools to teach students,” she stated. “For example, teachers need to be well-informed and updated and should not rely on delivering the same old stuff they learnt at college themselves.”

Knowledge of the subject was cited by many students as the major prerequisite for competence. “Someone who is inept at answering questions and does not have a thorough know-how of his/her subject is definitely incompetent,” says Maria Ejaz, another student. “Attitude problems also count,” she adds.

As can be seen from the above statements, students have very clear ideas about competency or its lack thereof. Unfortunately for them, they do end up with their share of teachers who fall short of their expectations. So what do they do in such cases?

“We once had a young teacher who was my benchmark of the worst a teacher can be,” says Sarah Hassan, an Honour’s student at a well-known university. “We have a teacher evaluation form at the end of the term. I gave a very honest account of my experiences with her but unfortunately, I don’t think it worked because now she has been made a permanent teacher.”

“We have had many teachers who didn’t know what they were teaching and didn’t give us space to express ourselves. Moreover, they imposed themselves and their authority,” says Saira Shafaat. “But since we were A-level students and had a time constraint, we couldn’t exactly complain. Some of my classmates opted for tuitions and others just decided to study on their own.”

“When I was in the primary section, we had a teacher who taught only the first two rows and those who were sitting at the back didn’t follow a single word. I got my mother to complain at the PTA meeting, but it didn’t help,” complains Hira Anwar, who is now in her O’Levels.

Of course, there are students who are extremely pessimistic about the whole situation. They feel it is better to let the teacher do whatever s/he wants for the simple reason that if a teacher discovers that a rebellion is stirring within her class, those at the forefront can suffer numerous consequences. The most serious consequence which deters most students is fear of failure. Hence, students often decide to learn a subject on their own.

Bina Arshad feels very strongly about this. “Teachers usually cannot accept the fact that they are wrong. They have an air of superiority about them. Every once in a while, a student could be right but no one accepts this. And if they do, it is probably because they hold a grudge against the teacher. The problem is no one really likes criticism. If you have the gall to point out a problem to someone, you’re likely to pay sooner or later.”

However, there are schools which do try and take action at the request of students. “We had a complaint against our senior teacher and we went to complain to the headmistress. She was very understanding. But at the same time she told us she would remove that teacher only if we managed to get another one,” elaborates Faria.

Kinza Salim, a student of BE, agrees. “One of our teachers just comes in class, writes stuff on the blackboard and then leaves. No explanations are given. But whenever we complain, we are told to find another teacher on our own.”

It all comes down to a lack of good teachers. Of course, all this is not say that all teachers are incompetent. There are teachers who have gone a long way in positively influencing the lives of those whom they have taught. One sees these teachers even today, dedicating their lives to making a difference.

However, there are those who bring a bad name to the profession and it’s about time action was taken against them. It would be best to hold training courses for teachers before they are assigned to a particular class along with some sort of an evaluation at the end of each term.

So it isn’t as easy as it looks. Still, schools can take the initiative to ensure that the teachers they hire are qualified enough and have undergone some form of training. Till that time, students will continue to suffer.

(Names of students have been changed to ensure their privacy)

The ominous Ctrl-C

IMAGINE the following scenario: you have an assignment to submit on the most boring topic ever. The last thing you want to do is to go to the library to check reference material. You don’t even feel like doing any research over the internet. So you decide to take the easy way out by logging onto some essay websites and hitting Control C.

You repeat this process with several such websites, design a nice cover page and print out the whole thing to submit the next day. You know your teacher is not that tech-savvy so s/he will probably never guess that your assignment is nothing but a rip-off and you’ll breeze your way through it with an A. All’s well that ends well. End of story, right?

Unfortunately not. You have just fallen prey to one of the worst categories of websites which were conceived on the World Wide Web. These websites come under many different, jazzed-up names, with equally appealing headlines and alluring promises, but underneath their façade, they’re all the same.

They feature essays and term papers written by people like you and me. No matter which topic your teacher/professor gives you to write an essay on, you are sure to find something written on it on one of these websites, even if it comprises just a paragraph. At best, you can find a whole five to six-paragraph essay on it. They are all absolutely for free so all you do need is to hit Ctrl and C.

But before you hit those keys, stop and reflect for a while. Have you wondered why they are for free in the first place? If you have spent quality time researching on a topic, analysing it from all angles and then writing down something concrete, will you put it up online and let anyone copy/paste it for free without even giving you due credit for all that hard work? It’s highly unlikely.

On the other hand, if you know what you have written is a shoddy piece of rip-off from different websites from the internet, you won’t really mind if anyone copies it. After all, it wasn’t even yours in the first place, was it?

And therein lies the basic problem with these websites. The essays and papers grossly lack quality. Saying that the essays featured here are horrible would be the understatement of the year. They aren’t just horrible. They’re terrible to the nth degree, replete with spelling and grammatical errors. Even paragraphing leaves a lot to be desired and sometimes, the formatting of the webpage itself is so bad that you feel like closing the window immediately.

Moreover, most of the times, there is no coherence between paragraphs. One paragraph will talk about something which is completely different from the track the writer has taken in the next paragraph. This is something which can easily send your head spinning if you’re trying to read and make some sense out of it.

If you think this is an exaggeration, then check out the following sentences copied verbatim from one of the websites which was extremely popular among a group of A-level English General students a couple of years ago:

— “Computer crime first is a very new problem in our society today and it is crimes that are committed from a computer.”
— “I’m about to take up a position which is going to be deamed by some, if not all, as a terrible stand to take.”
— “That being suicide does have its merits.”
— “Why should it be looked upon as disgracefull, when some religions claim death the be the reward for people after their time on earth is done.”
— “Hacking is a process of learning not following any manual.”

As you can well imagine, almost every sentence of such essays is filled with such mistakes. There is no proper sentence structure and typos dominate the entire body of the written material.

Another problem with these websites is that the term papers and essays which they put up for free copy/pasting look as if they have been copied from different sources. If you go through the essays carefully, you’ll discover that in nine out of 10 cases, the content hardly ever relates to its title. It is as if the essay title says something and the body talks about something totally different.

Of course, this discussion shouldn’t serve to alert you to find an alternative means of copy/pasting. It is simply a wake-up call for you to realise that that what you are copy/pasting now is completely wrong in the first place. The fact is that copy/pasting is simply another name for cheating, no matter how much you try to justify it. The internet may have simplified matters but if you hit that Ctrl C key too often for your assignment, you are technically committing a crime.

The internet is there for you can find new information and assess its utility before you decide to include it as part of your assignment/thesis. One of the problems with this medium of information is that anyone can put up anything on any website. There is no accountability factor. On the one hand, it has allowed a great degree of freedom to ordinary people to get their ideas and opinions across. But on the other, there is no dearth of twisted facts and figures, which spread more misinformation than awareness.

Then, there is naivety on the part of students today who don’t even think about questioning the information they come across and include in their assignments. This unauthentic information is apparently lost on the educators and teachers who correct the essays which students pass off as their own work. This is indicated by the somewhat alarming frequency of comments by visitors to essay websites who thank the authors for their “commendable” work — between the lines it means that they got excellent grades on those papers.

Of course, it would be unfair to generalise. There are students who genuinely work hard and teachers who are tech-savvy enough to detect plagiarism. There are also websites which feature the hardwork and research of professionals. You will need to probe in deeper to find their websites but once you do, there’s no reason why you cannot rewrite in your own words any authentic information that you come across, as long as you give credit to the website and the author in your bibliography. So basically what you do need to wake up to is the fact that all those web sources which encourage copy/pasting are highly dubious. Copy/pasting may seem like the easy way out, but inadvertently, it’s spoiling your language and general knowledge. If this is the price you want to pay for your laziness, go ahead by all means. But remember that it would do you a world of good if you do your own work for a change.