fandomhigh | Computers 101, 1st Period [Friday]

Sam had been nice and turned on all the computers again before the students arrived, since so many of them had claimed to only have a little experience last week. Plus, it made up for how potentially mean he was about to be.

"Hey guys, welcome back," he said, smiling at them all. "So, I figured we'd start this week with the biggest reason people use computers these days - the internet. Now, I don't want to just set you loose to explore, because there's a lot of terrible stuff out there, so instead, I want to focus on a particular kind of website, namely the kind that are designed to suck you in and not let go. Whether it's encyclopedic information, lists, fiction discussion, or even pictures of animals, these sites are ridiculously addictive, but also a lot of fun." Sam showed everyone - or, at least, everyone who needed to know - how to get onto the internet and go to specific sites, and then looked around. "I want you to pick one of these sites, or another one that might interest you, and see how long it takes you to get back out of it. Then, we'll talk about what you guys think of this kind of crack." If nothing else, they'd have to stop looking when class was over, right?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh no, your teacher is secretly evil!

Nobody Owens

Caroline Forbes

Topher Brink

Seifer Almasy

Prince Alexander of Daventry

Bobby McCallister

Faramir

Surreal

Rilla Blythe

Surely, there's only so many tropes you can read in one sitting, right?

Bod ended up on Wikipedia. It seemed harmless at first but then as he followed more links and found more interesting articles, he was firmly believing that these sites were designed to keep people logged on and out of the sun for days.

Sam continued to be awesomely hot, but now he was giving Caroline a seriously excellent activity to keep her chipper.

Of course, with all her aww-ing over Cute Overload, there was the distinct chance she'd be emailing links and dragging others over to see what she was looking at because pictures of adorable puppies (http://cuteoverload.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/17.jpg?w=560&h=420) just had to be shared.

Topher? He found Runescape. Or more accurately, he chose Runescape because this seemed like the kind of class where he could get away with playing it. And he wasn't so much trying to escape from playing it as, well, playing it.

This class was fun.

Edited 2011-05-20 11:43 (UTC)

Seifer wasn't even trying to escape from Music Wikipedia (http://www.wikimusicguide.com/). Mostly because there was a LOT of stuff he was interested in.

Alexander ran the large risk of being sucked into something cute or, even worse, filled with terrifying cats, but, thankfully, the idea of informational websites caught his attention much more, and guess who spent his computer time in a deepening spiral trying to find anything on the Land of the Green Isles.

The occasional little grunts and expression of disssatisfaction ensuing from him were good indications that the search was not going successfully. And yet, he could not stop clicking fascinating links and was eventually finding his way toward a page about some film with Warwick Davis playing a little person in space...

The discovery of Wikipedia would have been rather useful to Faramir, hence it was rather a shame when instead he ended on a website with animals and strange text he had trouble deciphering.

He should have clicked away, but it was much too curious and now he had to find the meaning of it.

What did you think of the sites you looked at? And why do you think this kind of crack is so popular?

"The site I visited had an almost neverending well of information," Bod said in answer to the discussion question. "It meant that you could just keep clicking things and readings things that interested you. You didn't have to read anything you didn't want to read and the articles of Wikipedia weren't written in overly complicated language either. You could understand it easily."

"That's a good point about the language," Sam said. "Wikipedia's written by a lot of normal people, so they tend to be better at explaining things in a way everyone can understand. This does mean that sometimes the information is wrong though," he added, looking bothered by that idea.

"While I still prefer books as a source of knowledge," Alexander mused, still wondering if he missed one or two key links to his search, "I suppose the intrigue and appeal of sites like this Wikipedia lies in the fact that humans are naturally curious creatures with an urge to retain knowledge and wisdom. Whether or not that can be found on the Internet is questionable, but that does not refute the fact that we will continually search for it."

Or something.

"That's a very positive outlook on humanity," Sam said, looking impressed. "And I do have to agree that books are often a lot more useful for research purposes than the internet."

Alexander gave a faint smile at Mr. Winchester's praising words. He always was a little proud of his ability to still have that positive outlook, despite everything he'd been through in life.

"You can get to a wider range of topics easier on the Internet," he allowed, "but it's one of those cases where quantity most certainly does not reflect quality."

Who surely won't abuse his new power.

Bobby would surely be happy to talk to anyone, but he was currently reading through some of the wiki entries on astronomy and frowning at the inaccuracies.

Who will be watching to make sure no one tries to take over any of the websites.

I am not even remotely sorry. *cackle*

Computers 101, 1st Period [Friday]

Sign In! [C101.2]

Re: Sign In! [C101.2]

Re: Sign In! [C101.2]

Re: Sign In! [C101.2]

Re: Sign In! [C101.2]

Re: Sign In! [C101.2]

Re: Sign In! [C101.2]

Re: Sign In! [C101.2]

Re: Sign In! [C101.2]

Re: Sign In! [C101.2]

Try to Escape From an Addictive Site![C101.2]

Re: Try to Escape From an Addictive Site![C101.2]

Re: Try to Escape From an Addictive Site![C101.2]

Re: Try to Escape From an Addictive Site![C101.2]

Re: Try to Escape From an Addictive Site![C101.2]

Re: Try to Escape From an Addictive Site![C101.2]

Re: Try to Escape From an Addictive Site![C101.2]

Discussion! [C101.2]

Re: Discussion! [C101.2]

Re: Discussion! [C101.2]

Re: Discussion! [C101.2]

Re: Discussion! [C101.2]

Re: Discussion! [C101.2]

Talk to the TA! [C101.2]

Re: Talk to the TA! [C101.2]

Talk to Sam! [C101.2]

OOC! [C101.2]