A Scary Online Treat For Halloween

Here's a scary classic for you to enjoy on this Halloween:

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)




Happy Halloween!

Do You Know Your Emoticons? Take Our Quiz

When you run across emoticons-those "smiley" faces that convey emotion in online communication like e-mail or instant messaging-do you always "get" their meaning? How good are you at deciphering these sometimes cryptic symbols? Here's a short quiz to help you find out!

Test Your 'Net IQ #8

1. Which of the following emoticons expresses annoyance?


: - )

> : - (

( : - )

o : - )




2. Which emoticon lets the other party know you're winking at them?


: - (

: - )

> : - )

; - )




3. Pick the emoticon that expresses sadness:


: - (

: - }

; - )

: >




4. Which emoticon lets the other party know you're yelling at them?


: - }

: - ( 0 )

: - (

; - )




5. Which emoticon expresses sarcasm?


: / )

: - [

: - >

: - )

Good luck! :-)

Are You A Fan Of Ansel Adams?

If you're a fan of the photography of Ansel Adams and you check in to read The Senior Surfer every day, you're in luck. Starting immediately, we'll be placing a Google gadget on this site that displays a different Ansel Adams nature photograph every day for your viewing pleasure.

The Ansel Adams Nature Photo of the Day is located in the left hand sidebar. Enjoy!

There's A Funny Side To The Candidates Too

Campaigning to be the next president is serious business, to be sure-however, that doesn't mean there isn't room for a laugh or two. In these videos that aired on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman, and are currently featured on YouTube, the candidates get a chance to show off their funny sides.

Featured Microsoft How-To Video: "Demo: Burn a CD or DVD"

Have you always wanted to learn how to copy photographs or music stored on your computer to a CD or DVD but weren't sure where to begin? Relax. As this how-to video from the folks over at Microsoft proves, "burning a disk," as the process is commonly referred to, is easier than you think!



Demo: Burn a CD or DVD

Test Your Web Search Smarts

Think you're a savvy Web searcher? See how well you do on our short multiple choice quiz about Web search!

Test Your 'Net IQ - Quiz #7

1. _______ are computer programs used by search engines to help them catalogue Web content.


List servers

Spiders

Frames

Telnet




2. How do you tell Google to search for an exact phrase?


Put quotation marks around the phrase

Put question marks around the phrase

Put exclamation marks around the phrase

Put commas around the phrase




3. Which of the following terms tells Google to restrict searches to University Web sites only?


site:university

search educational resources only

site:edu

site:org




4. In Google, what symbol do you type in front of a word to exclude it from the search results?


&

+

=

-




5. What do you call a program that allows you to simultaneously use multiple search engines?


A bot engine

A meta-search engine

Usenet

A botnet

Good luck!

More Vintage World Series Footage On YouTube

For those of you who loved the old newsreel footage of the 1954 World Series hosted on YouTube, that we told you about last week, here's another video you'll love. This one's also on YouTube and it's a silent "home movie" that includes footage of the 1929 World Series between the then Philadelphia A's and the Chicago Cubs.

Talk about a nostalgic trip!

Watch John F. Kennedy's Speech About The Cuban Missile Crisis

46 years ago today President John F. Kennedy took to the airwaves and addressed the nation about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Now, thanks to the power of the Web and YouTube, you can relive that tense moment in history right on your computer screen.

Take a step back in time...

Is Web Surfing Good For Your Noggin?

You know all those friends who keep asking you why you spend so much time surfing the Web? The ones who rarely-if ever-go online themselves, because they just don't think there's much value to it? Well, you might want to show them this interesting article from CBSnews.com called Surfing The Web Stimulates Older Brains.

Who knows? It just might change their minds-literally!

Political Parodies Abound On The 'Net

Need a break from all the serious political stuff you've been inundated with recently? For comic relief you can turn to the many political parodies currently airing on the Web.

For example, here's one about the Final Presidential Debate that aired recently on Saturday Night Live:

The Vice Presidential Debate Has A Home On The Web Too

If you missed the only Vice Presidential Debate of 2008, but still want a chance to see it before the election, you're in luck. Like the three Presidential Debates, C-Span.org has also made the Vice Presidential Debate available to the public and posted it on YouTube.

Here's the full video:

Watch The Third Presidential Debate Online

The final Presidential Debate of 2008 was held last night in Long Island, New York and today, thanks to the power of the Web, you can view it in its entirety online through YouTube!

In case you didn't get around to seeing it, or you simply want to watch it again, here's the full video:

Quiz Yourself On Digital Photography

No one likes jargon, but, if you've taken up digital photography, you're likely to bump into some. Here's a short multiple choice quiz to test your knowledge of some digital photography terms you should be familiar with:

Test Your 'Net IQ - Quiz #6

1. Which of the following is used to connect your digital camera to your computer?


A motherboard

A USB cable

A dual-core processor

An image sensor




2. What's the best choice below to complete the following: A digital photograph is made up of _____.


USB ports

PCI

An expansion card

Pixels




3. From the choices below, complete the following sentence: I need a new ____ for my digital camera.


Boolean operator

Memory card

SEO

DNS




4. Which of the following is NOT a digital image file type?


TIFF

JPEG

SSL

RAW




5. Which of the following is NOT an online photo sharing site?


Flickr

Webshots

Tucows

Picasa Web Albums

Good luck!

Catch Some Of That Old-Time Baseball Fever

Now that we're well into the Major League Baseball Playoffs and the Fall Classic is just around the corner, do your thoughts ever drift back to the baseball days of yesteryear? You might be interested to know that you can find newsreel footage of baseball long past, as well as other nostalgic baseball videos, on YouTube.

Here's an example that will take you way back:

Discover Columbus Day Online

By now, you're probably well aware that Monday is Columbus Day, but how much do you really know about the holiday or, for that matter, Christopher Columbus, who inspired the holiday in the first place?

Here are a couple of sites worth visiting where you'll learn more:

• The History of Columbus Day - At this Web site from the History Channel you can watch videos, take a quiz and even learn more about the controversy surrounding Columbus.

• Today in History: Oct 12 - This Library of Congress Web site offers a concise history of the holiday and links to the online exhibit 1492: An Ongoing Voyage.

Have a happy Columbus Day!

Note: In observance of the holiday, The Senior Surfer will resume on Tuesday, October 14th.

Quiz Yourself On E-mail Pitfalls

E-mail is perhaps the most popular Internet application. Unfortunately, it's also rife with pitfalls. Here's a short True/False quiz to test your knowledge on the subject:

Test Your 'Net IQ - Quiz #5

1. The "Nigerian" E-mail Scam is sometimes referred to as the "419" Scam.


True

False




2. If you get an e-mail that's spam, complain by sending an e-mail back to the spammer.


True

False




3. Phishing scams never occur through e-mail.


True

False




4. E-mail attachments can harbor computer viruses.


True

False




5. Ideally, a "spam filter" reduces the amount of unwanted e-mails you receive.


True

False

Good luck!

Watch The Second Presidential Debate On YouTube

Yesterday, on The Senior Surfer, we embedded the video of the First Presidential Debate. Well, the Second Presidential Debate-the one that aired last night-has already been posted on YouTube, so today, we'll embed that one here as well-in case you missed it last night!

Who do you think won the debate?

Didn't Catch The First Presidential Debate? Watch it On YouTube

The Second Presidential Debate between candidates Barack Obama and John McCain will be televised tonight. But what if you missed the first debate? Don't worry, you can watch it in its entirety on YouTube.

For your convenience, we've also embedded it right here on The Senior Surfer.

Featured Google How-To Video: "Deadlines looming: Register to vote on Google!"

With election day drawing nearer, Google has endeavored to make your life a little easier by introducing tools to help you quickly find important voter information like voting locations and registration deadlines. This Google produced video shows you how, step by step!

Using The Web For Health Research? Check Out This Article From The New York Times

For anyone using the Web to research matters of health and well-being, there's a terrific article online at the Web site of The New York Times you might be interested in. It's called Logging On for a Second (or Third) Opinion.

In addition to chronicling how one woman used the Web to research her particular medical condition, the article identifies several useful health related Web sites-including many you might not have heard of.

If you're currently using the Web to look up health info or planning to do so in the future, this article is a must-read.

How Well Do You Know Your Computer?

How do you get onto the Internet? You probably use a computer, right? Then, in addition to becoming more savvy about the Internet, it makes sense to be familiar with computer and computer-related terminology as well-and that's exactly the subject of today's quiz!

Test Your 'Net IQ - Quiz #4

1. The term CPU is an acronym for which of the following?


Central Processing Unit

Core Processing Unit

Central Programming Unit

Core Processing Unix




2. Where would you most likely find a scroll wheel?


On your keyboard

On your computer monitor

On your mouse

On your bicycle




3. Which of the following terms is commonly used in relation to a computer's processing speed?


HTML

Javascript

Wi-Fi

Gigahertz




4. Which of the following is sometimes referred to as the "brains" of a computer?


The Monitor

The CPU

The USB port

The Modem




5. BIOS is an acronym that stands for which of the following?


Binary Internet/Online System

Basic Input/Output System

Basic Internet/Online System

Binary Input/Operating System

Good luck!

You'll Be A Big Fan Of These Sports Bloopers

YouTube isn't just a repository for news bloopers or game show bloopers as we've pointed out previously. It's also got its share of sports bloopers-and sports bloopers can be very funny indeed, as this popular video demonstrates!