class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/computerprogramming.png?323f2c" alt="" />If you’ve ever thought about learning computer programming, now might be a good time to start. The developers of href="http://www.codecademy.com">Codecademy invite you to make a New Year’s resolution to learn coding through their interactive programming lessons, emailed to you each week. So far, over 117,000 have signed up.

Their program, called href="http://codeyear.com/">Code Year, is a straightforward, fairly easy to follow three-part course for learning JavaScript, and two separate href="http://labs.codecademy.com/">Codecademy Labs for the object-oriented language, Ruby, and Python. You can complete the lessons in the site’s online text editor, and work at your own pace. The lessons are designed for beginners and those experienced with coding in other languages. And Codecademy says their labs are actually “designed to create your own programs and share them on Twitter and Facebook, and show your friends what you have learned.”

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/codecademy_1.png?323f2c" alt="Codecademy 1" width="580" height="156" border="0" />

As you complete tutorials, you are awarded points and badges designed to show off and track your progress. Learning code is like learning any language – it takes practice and concentration. Coding will enable you to build intricate websites, online or computer games, and mobile apps.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/codecademy_2.png?323f2c" alt="Codecademy 2" width="259" height="182" border="0" />

The Codecademy doesn’t yet include an online forum for students to troubleshoot lessons, but you can share your progress with friends, on Facebook and Twitter. The difficult part in learning say JavaScript is making sure you’re using the proper syntax, like surrounding declared names with quotation marks.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/codecademy.png?323f2c" alt="Codecademy" width="490" height="226" border="0" />

As writer Douglas Rushkoff contends, “If we don’t learn to program, we risk being programmed ourselves…program or be programmed.

Source: href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/03/codecademys-codeyear-attracts-100000-aspiring-programmers-in-48-hours" rel="nofollow">Techcrunch /> Image Credit: href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=86404090" rel="nofollow">Shutterstock

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/hockey300.png" alt="hockey websites" />For as long as I can remember I have had hockey skates strapped to my feet. I started off playing baseball and basketball when I was a very small child, but once I discovered hockey I quit those other sports and focused all my effort and attention on it instead. I play some other sports casually, but when it comes to where my main focus lies, it’s hockey.

That being said, hockey is a complicated sport filled with all kinds of intricacies that need lots of knowledge and years of experience. However, there are plenty of hockey websites on the Internet that can offer all kinds of information for the budding hockey player. They have information from the basics of skating, to the type of equipment a new player needs to get up and running. The key is knowing which websites have the best information, and that is exactly what I am going to show you today. So without further delay, check out these websites for everything you need to know to become a hockey superstar.

href="http://www.hockeygiant.com/hockey-giant-buying-guide.html">Hockey Giant Equipment Guide

The Hockey Giant Equipment guide offers an individual guide for every single type of hockey equipment. It teaches you how to properly fit everything from skates to goalie pads. They go into an incredible amount of detail about each type of equipment that players will need for hockey.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/howtobuy.png" alt="hockey websites" width="306" height="296" />

For each type of equipment they go into much more detail than just the sizing, but they talk about how different types will do based on price and quality. They explain what is actually different between top of the line equipment and the basic stuff, which will allow a new player to decide how much they need to spend on their equipment. No matter how you slice it, starting hockey is an expensive proposition, especially for a goalie, but a guide like this will help make sure you get the most bang for your buck.

href="http://www.hockeyplayertips.com/">Hockey Player Tips

Once you have all your equipment sorted out, the next step is going to be learning the basics of hockey. While Hockey Player Tips offers skills and techniques for advanced players, they have more content for people just starting off than any other website I have come across.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/playertips.png" alt="how to play hockey" width="574" height="160" />

They have basic guides for skating, and how to add more speed and power to your stride. They have tips for how to play defense and how to properly shoot the puck. Basically, if there is something in hockey that you want to learn how to do, they have an article explaining it in detail.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/onetimer.png" alt="how to play hockey" width="556" height="227" />

Many of their posts come with videos, so you can see the technique being executed step by step. In addition to videos, many posts also include practice drills, so you can build your muscle memory for executing the technique in the heat of the game.

href="http://howtohockey.com/">How-To Hockey

Eventually, you will reach a level where just the basics don’t cut it, and that is where How-To Hockey really shines. They focus a lot more on team play and strategy than most websites. They don’t neglect the basics, but their content in terms of advanced stuff is well above most other hockey websites.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/deke.png" alt="how to play hockey" width="448" height="533" />

They have so many drills to help improve your hockey game. Every technique from toe drags to saucer passes are covered (don’t know what those are? Then go check out the site and you will!) Their drill section is nicely organized by skill level, so you can see a real sense of progression as you move through the different sections.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cheat.png" alt="hockey websites" width="578" height="406" />

One of my favorite things on their site is the hockey href="http://howtohockey.com/hockey-cheat-sheet">cheat sheet. It offers a diagram of a hockey rink, and shows how you need to handle every situation depending on where you are on the rink. It is a really handy guide for coaches to give their players a quick overview of how they need to handle certain situations.

Conclusion

With these three hockey websites, everyone can learn to play. Starting all the way down at the bottom with purchasing your equipment and moving all the way to the highest levels of learning advanced dekes and plays, these three sites have you covered.

Where do you learn about hockey? Have these websites made you a better hockey player? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=hockey&search_group=&orient=&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&commercial_ok=&color=&show_color_wheel=1#id=65773066&src=b5a32dead4252786e1d08efb8662d5f8-1-1" rel="nofollow">ShutterStock

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Efactor01.jpg" alt="entrepreneurs social network" />You might say what’s wrong with LinkedIn and many of the Facebook groups that have sprouted around entrepreneurship. Actually nothing – but just as everything from cooking to travel needs its own niche community, entrepreneurship deserves one too. Come to think of it, the web we know today would be a large vacant space without the enterprising zeal of tech evangelists and the big barons of the web who started out as humble entrepreneurs.

href="http://www.efactor.com/">EFactor fits into that niche nicely. EFactor says that it is the world’s largest entrepreneurs social network. It may or may not be backed up by statistics, but one thing is sure…it sure has all the all the tools that a wannabe (and a well-worn) entrepreneur needs. It has valuable knowledge resources and a mix of free and premium (paid) tools for the  entrepreneur.

Let’s become yet another member here and see if it’s worth our while.

It Is a Large Business Network

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Efactor02.jpg" alt="entrepreneurs social network" width="580" height="403" />

With a member database of 900,000 and that too from nearly 168 countries, EFactor can lay claim to the title. The homepage itself tells you that the Finance Request Network has over 25,000 vetted investors to help you get your business off the ground. EFactor is all about match-ups between those with business ideas and those with funds or advice. It is also a virtual marketplace. EFactor works around 4 main themes – find funding, gain knowledge, save costs, and gain revenue.

Starting Out At EFactor with One-Click

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Efactor03.jpg" alt="entrepreneurs social networking sites" width="580" height="233" />

Just like any other network EFactor gives you a way to bring in your friends and contacts into your network. EFactor’s One-Click Network is your first matchup that will help you build contacts with similar interests. You can build up your profile by connecting your LinkedIn account too which is what I have done. But spend some time filling up the Knowledge Profile section.

The NOW Feed

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Efactor04.jpg" alt="entrepreneurs social networking sites" width="580" height="315" />

The NOW feed is like the control center for what you engage in at EFactor. It is a list of feeds from all the important sections on EFactor. As you can see from the screenshot above, EFactor filters and feeds you information depending on the profile you have set up. You can connect to these resources like News, Blogs, Get Answers etc. and explore them in more depth. For instance, on Get Answers you can seek advice from the EFactor community and use the search function to read up old Q&A’s.

The Toolbox

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Efactor07.jpg" alt="entrepreneurs social networking sites" width="580" height="352" />

The Toolbox is the resources page for an entrepreneur. It is a mix of a virtual marketplace and other real world resources. Most of them are premium services requiring payment. But there are some like EFactor Widgets and Biz2Credit which you can explore. Free tools are limited and I am not sure how useful they are in their scope.

The Knowledge Base

Knowledge and education is what you will like to seek as a fledgling entrepreneur. The Knowledge section on EFactor is chockfull of personal stories, whitepapers, PDF downloads, streaming audio files etc. You can use the filters on top to sift through the different types of media on the page. But a better way to go through the knowledge mine here would be to use the stages of entrepreneurial how-to as listed on the left. If you are a first time entrepreneur, begin from the beginning (Before you start), right on to Expanding.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Efactor05.jpg" alt="entrepreneur networking" width="580" height="313" />

There are many among the close to a million members who have advertised their services as mentors. EFactor gives each of them a separate page with complete bio, email addresses, and personal feeds. Again, you can filter them by area of expertise and the kind of entrepreneurial assistance you are looking for.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Efactor06.jpg" alt="entrepreneurs social network" width="580" height="257" />

If you are looking to use EFactor as a free only tool, then the knowledge base, business networking, and the Finance Requests tool should help you make headway. You could do without premium features like Events and entrepreneurial meet-ups via offline E.Lounges.

I am just starting out and learning my way through the niche entrepreneurial network. You can add the EFactor’s resources to the few we earlier covered:

• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-websites-show-how-start-business/">10 Best Websites That Show You How to Start a Business
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/big-idea-sell-openinvo/">Instantly Connect Idea Makers & Entrepreneurs Using OpenInvo
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-awesome-inspiring-blogs-entrepreneurs-business-owners/">10 Awesome & Inspiring Blogs for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-websites-creative-business-ideas-entrepreneur/">8 Websites For Creative Business Ideas If You Want To Be An Entrepreneur
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-free-tools-plan-visualise-startup-business/">3 Free Tools to Plan and Visualise Your Start-Up Business

I am starting to build my own entrepreneurs social network. What about you? As an entrepreneur in the making would you like to connect here? Do you think EFactor as a social network is worth your while?

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[SEO NOTE: Title could be "Learn How To Speed Read Online For Free (With Readfa.st)" and be just as effective, but those words have to appear in the title (read/reading both being useful words, so either is okay)]

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Readfast-Logo.png" alt="" title="Readfast Logo" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86054" />There are many reasons a person might want to learn how to speed read. Students especially, whether currently enrolled or just interested learners of a given subject, know that effective speed reading would give a huge advantage to the student. Much of the world’s best educational material is written down, so if you can read and comprehend that information quickly you will be able to learn a lot with your reading time.

Sadly, most people can’t speed read and the organisations which promise to be able to teach you are for-profit and out of reach of most students. But there are free solutions available, and href="http://readfa.st/">Readfa.st has proven itself to be a very good free solution at that. Readfa.st lets you easily line up your own reading material from the internet and at the same time to use the service as a game to teach you effective speed reading. You can even compete against your friends and check out what they’re reading. It’s fun and it works!

How To Get Started With Readfa.st

href="http://readfa.st/">Readfa.st is a free, online service which lets you set up an account quickly and easily either with an email address or a Facebook Connect login.

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Readfast-we-teach-people.png" alt="" title="Readfast we teach people" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-86052" />

Test How Fast You Can Read

The first thing to do using Readfa.st is to test how fast you currently read. This means Readfa.st can set your minimum reading speed and ensure all the documents you read are optimised just for you.

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Readfast-find-reading-speed.png" alt="" title="Readfast find reading speed" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-86050" />

After you have read the passage, Readfa.st can quiz you on the content to ensure you have understood correctly.

You can then continue to test yourself by reading passages from within Readfa.st or move on to reading your own chosen content. Readfa.st can offer you a list of its most popular content to read if you want to try something new and interesting.

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Readfast-Reading-test.png" alt="" title="Readfast Reading test" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-86051" />

Read Online Documents Faster

Using the href="http://readfa.st/bmlet">Readfa.st bookmarklet, you can quickly take the text of any web page and read it using Readfa.st.

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Readfast-Reading-article.jpg" alt="" title="Readfast Reading article" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-86053" />

Because Readfa.st makes a list of your documents, it can easily be used as a short-term “ href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/build-an-online-reading-list-with-read-it-later/">read it later” style list. Although, you wouldn’t want it to get too long or it would become unwieldy.

While reading, you can control Readfa.st by using “s” for slower, “f” for faster and space bar to pause/start the text.

Learn Speed Reading Online

Readfa.st doesn’t just offer you a speed reading experience, it helps to teach you how to improve your reading speed. With every passage you read you can record your speed, meaning you can see how you’ve improved over time.

If you have used Facebook Connect, your Readfa.st account can easily be used to compare your reading speeds with friends and have a little bit of friendly competition. If not, you’ll need to add friends manually at this stage. Hopefully soon they’ll make it possible for users who signed up with an email address to connect their accounts to Facebook later in order to find their friends and sync profile pictures.

If you have no friends on Readfa.st you can always compare your results with the top readers on the href="http://readfa.st/leaderboard">Readfa.st leaderboard.

Here’s some more great articles on speed reading you might like:

• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ways-learn-speed-read-online/">3 Ways You Can Learn To Speed Read Online
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-text-reader-apps-speed-read/">5 Text Reader Apps That Really Help You Speed Read
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-bookmarklets-boost-web-surfing-speed-productivity/">6 Bookmarklets That Will Boost Your Web Surfing Speed & Productivity
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/skim-ultimate-reading-study-tool-pdf-files-mac/">Make Skim Your Ultimate Reading & Study Tool For PDF Files [Mac]

How do online speed reading applications like href="http://readfa.st/">Readfa.st help you? Are there some texts which work better than others?

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/play_ultimate1.png?54167" alt="" />Ultimate Frisbee has been around for years but in the last few years it seems to have been making a serious resurgence. With so many new players out there, it puts a serious burden on the guys who have been around to try and show these new players how the game needs to be played, and all the basic techniques that are required. Thankfully, there are plenty of websites that can handle this load for the old school players, and help the new guys learn a lot about the game off the field, so on the field they can focus on implementing, rather than learning.

It’s easy to think “I’ve been throwing a disk around since I was a little kid, Ultimate Frisbee should be easy for me”. When I first started playing I certainly thought this. However, as soon as I stepped on field and I realized just how many different ways you can throw a Frisbee, I knew it was time to do some digging for knowledge. At MakeUseOf, we have previously covered  class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-great-sites-for-beginners-to-learn-how-to-play-golf/">Golf,  class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learn-fight-ufc-fighter-3-sites/">Mixed Martial Arts and many other sports, so now it is time for us to teach you all about Frisbee.

Best Websites To Learn Ultimate Frisbee

I hope to save you the effort I went through digging around for good websites on Ultimate Frisbee by showing you the ones that I have found to be the best.

1. class="vt-p" href="http://youtube.com">YouTube

Obviously, when trying to learn anything, YouTube is an incredibly valuable resource. It’s not going to be the most organized way to find specific information about Ultimate, but it certainly has a lot of videos. There are some very prolific users on there who are worth subscribing to such as class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/rjmcleod04">Ultimate Rob and class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/brodiesmith21">Everything Ultimate.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/tube.png?54167" alt="" width="674" height="496" />

The one major thing YouTube offers that can’t seem to be found elsewhere is full games. It is very valuable for new players to watch high level teams play to really get a feel for how they position themselves, and what throws they use in certain situations. Plus, it is downright entertaining!

style="height: 430px; width: 580px;" width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/P4Hx8oSsB4E?version=3" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="430" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P4Hx8oSsB4E?version=3" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always">

2. class="vt-p" href="http://ultitraining.wordpress.com/">UltiTraining

Their website is not the prettiest to look at, and it doesn’t get updated as frequently as some of the other sites on the list, but they do have a bunch of great articles to help new players learn some techniques. One of my personal favorites is their article about laying out (a layout is a technique for diving to catch a disc).

class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ulti1.png?54167" alt="" width="632" height="340" />

class="vt-p" href="http://ultitraining.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/learning-to-layout-practice-progressions/">This article features some great drills for practicing laying out without hurting yourself. After all, in Ultimate Frisbee, style points can be worth just as much as actual goals.

3. class="vt-p" href="http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/blog/">Ultimate Handbook

Ultimate Handbook is another great site for techniques, but they take it a step further with a lot of strategy. They are the only site that I have found that features charts explaining the different plays and formations of Ultimate Frisbee. These charts are actually animated, so you can actually see how the play should break down.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/chartsulti.png?54167" alt="" width="556" height="617" />

One of the most frustrating things for a new player can be to have one of the more experienced players on the field call out a set or a play, like a stack, and have no idea where they need to be. With the information in Ultimate Handbook, they can rectify the situation and learn the plays.

4. class="vt-p" href="http://www.ultipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">Ultipedia

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ultipedia.png?54167" alt="" width="579" height="203" />

It’s pretty hard to make a list of the top websites for any topic without including a community based Wiki. The fact is, when enough knowledgeable people get together and share that knowledge, we all win. This is no exception with the Ultipedia. There is pretty much anything you would want to know about Ultimate Frisbee here.

Ultipedia also includes breakdowns of all the rules of Ultimate Frisbee. If you ever want to know how a rule works, this is the place to check.

5. class="vt-p" href="http://www.ultimaterob.com/">Ultimate Rob

class="vt-p" href="http://www.ultimaterob.com/">Ultimate Rob is a name that came up during the YouTube section, and while his YouTube channel is great, his website is where the real action is. There is such a wide array of information on his site that is mind boggling.

He has sections for the basics, for advanced players, technique breakdowns for every throw in the game, and even drills and training anyone can do to improve their Ultimate Frisbee game. Ultimate Rob even goes into the psychology behind the Ultimate Frisbee player. I especially enjoy his class="vt-p" href="http://www.ultimaterob.com/2011/05/19/positive-feedback/">article about positive feedback for new players.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/rob.png?54167" alt="" width="681" height="573" />

Overall, just an incredible website with so much content that is a must stop place for any one who wants to play Ultimate Frisbee.

Now Go Out & Play!

Now you have all the information, you need to improve your game at Ultimate Frisbee. So hit the field and implement all these new techniques. For all you pros out there, share these links with some of the new players in your group, and prepare to be much less frustrated by how bad they are.

Do you have any websites you use for Ultimate Frisbee? Share them in the comments! />
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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learn-play-ultimate-frisbee-pro-5-websites/">Learn How To Play Ultimate Frisbee Like A Pro With These 5 Websites is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/humour-icon.png?54167" alt="hilarious blogs" />Laugh and learn by reading quick, to the point blog posts. A variety of blogs around the Internet are good not only for laughs but for learning valuable things about human nature and living in the online age. Just because a blog is amusing doesn’t mean it can’t teach you something. Even a seemingly inane gimmick can show you something and, hopefully, cause you to reflect on your own personal biases and shortcomings. You just need to be thinking about them.

Let’s take a look at four such blogs. I’ll tell you what lessons I think they hold, then let’s start a discussion. Tell me what you think the blogs mean, or recommend similar sites.

Literally Unbelievable

You think your beliefs are true. As such, you’re willing to believe outrageous things if they back up your viewpoint.

Case in point: “ class="vt-p" href="http://literallyunbelievable.org">Literally Unbelievable“. This is a blog that, using real Facebook reactions to class="vt-p" href="http://www.theonion.com/">Onion articles, points out just how insane we perceive those who think differently than us.

The Onion, in case you didn’t know, is a satirical newspaper; everything printed in it is a fabrication. The intention of many Onion articles is to point out that we all hold exaggerated versions of reality. Some people don’t get that part of the joke.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/literally.png?54167" alt="hilarious blogs" width="580" height="184" />

Hilarious. Of course Nascar doesn’t reward homophobic comments. Yet, in a way, it’s understandable that people think things like this are true if they have a low opinion of Nascar.

Check out Literally Unbelievable right now. You’ll laugh. If you like you can also read more about class="vt-p" href="http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/06/10/the-backfire-effect/">the backfire effect over at the “You Are Not So Smart” blog. It explores Literally Unbelievable and other examples for The Backfire Effect.

Not Always Right

We’ve all done it – treated someone in the service industry like crap. Maybe we were having a bad day, or perhaps we just wanted to deal with our problems quickly. If you have done this before, you might unwittingly be featured on class="vt-p" href="http://notalwaysright.com">Not Always Right. This site is a collection of hilarious stories shared by people in the service industry.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/notalwaysright.png?54167" alt="hilarious blogs funny" width="462" height="224" />

I always find a laugh, and the posts are rarely mean spirited. The lesson here is that people in the service industry are human beings. They laugh, they cry, and they post stupid stuff you say on the Internet. Treat them as such!

Also be sure to class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-hilarious-sites-freelancer-check/">check this article for some similar sites.

The “Blog” Of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

Punctuation is important, as placing them in the wrong place can change the meaning of what you’re writing. Putting words in quotation marks, for example, can make certain words sound sarcastic. Think air quotes.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/quotationmarks.png?54167" alt="hilarious blogs funny" width="473" height="211" />

That doesn’t leave you with a lot of confidence in the beer, does it? Read class="vt-p" href="http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/">The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks and learn to keep your punctuation in order, lest you be misunderstood.

You Suck At Craigslist

When classified ads were expensive, people were careful to get their money’s worth. Craigslist is free, and some people are less than careful on it.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/craigslist.png?54167" alt="hilarious blogs" width="580" height="147" />

The lesson here is obvious – think through what you put on Craigslist before you put it there. Just because those ads are free doesn’t mean you don’t have to think through your posts before you submit them.  Check out some of these posts over at  class="vt-p" href="http://www.yousuckatcraigslist.com">You Suck At Craigslist.

Can you think of any other funny blogs with implicit lessons? Suggest some in the comments below!

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-hilarious-blogs-learn/">4 Hilarious Blogs You Can Also Learn Something From is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/intro11.jpg" alt="" />The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea as it is more commonly known, is regarded by many as the world’s most isolated country. The volatile, far left state operates a tightly organised single party military dictatorship with “The Glorious Leader” Kim Jong-Il at the helm.

North Korea is a fascinating country as we know so very little about how the population of around 24 million people (2009 estimate) conducts its daily life. Over the years, more and more information has trickled out of North Korea, both from official government channels and defectors who have fled the country.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.korea-dpr.com/">Korea-DPR.com

Why not start with the horse’s mouth? Korea-DPR.com is the official website of the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea. Despite seeing fairly regular class="vt-p" href="http://www.korea-dpr.com/newsupdate.htm">news updates, much of it is the recycled happenings of 60 years ago or renewed promises from The Great Leader.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/koreadpr_com.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="467" />

You can also find information regarding delegate visits to the country (more on that later) as well as class="vt-p" href="http://www.korea-dpr.com/users/thai/trip.htm">photo galleries of foreign visitors enjoying a taste of kimchi and communism. Interestingly the Korean Friendship Association “ class="vt-p" href="http://www.korea-dpr.com/forum">forum area“ has received a class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-build-your-own-wordpress-site">WordPress revamp since the last time I visited, which makes it a blog and certainly not a forum.

Many of these “forum” posts have comments disabled, though make sure you read class="vt-p" href="http://www.korea-dpr.com/forum/?page_id=39">the FAQ, which answers many burning questions – including the obvious: where can I get a signed photograph of Kim Jong-Il?

At the class="vt-p" href="http://www.korea-dpr.com/catalog2">KFA shop of course.

Travel

For anyone who has ever fantasized about actually visiting North Korea there’s class="vt-p" href="http://www.koryogroup.com/">Koryo Tours. What better way to learn about this fascinating country than by going there? This won’t be like any holiday you’ve ever taken before. You’ll be accompanied everywhere you go by guides and restricted to your hotel once your arranged activities are over. No exploring!

Koryo Tours aren’t the only company that offer trips, but they’ve been successfully taking groups to the country since 1989. One thing you’ll find on the Koryo Tours website that you’re unlikely to see the last time you booked a fortnight abroad are class="vt-p" href="http://www.koryogroup.com/travel_travelAdvice_rules.php">these rules, which urge you to bow in the presence of statues and leave your chewing gum at home.

style="text-align: center;"> id="revver270792130875274166217378" width="480" height="392" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/player.swf?mediaId=270792"> name="Movie" value="http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/player.swf?mediaId=270792" /> name="FlashVars" value="allowFullScreen=true" /> name="AllowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392" src="http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/player.swf?mediaId=270792" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="allowFullScreen=true" allowscriptaccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">

If you don’t think you’ll be making it over there any time soon then be sure to take a look at class="vt-p" href="http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/recent_scenes_from_north_korea.html">this fantastic gallery from The Big Picture which features some stunning photographs of a country with gargantuan highways and very few cars.

Believe it or not The Lonely Planet also have class="vt-p" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/north-korea">a section dedicated to the country and class="vt-p" href="http://www.divinecaroline.com/22245/59401-eerie-amusement-parks-north-korea">North Korea has theme parks.

Wikipedia

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/coat_of_arms.png" alt="" width="330" height="386" />

If you enjoy a good Wikipedia article then there are some exhaustive efforts available to you on the topic of North Korea. Here’s a selection of the best:

• class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_korea">North Korea – A detailed overview of the country with plenty of statistics and history.
• class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juche">Juche – Meaning “main subject”, Juche is the political thesis of Kim Il-Sung the (now deceased) “Eternal President” of DPRK.
• class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone">Korean Demilitarized Zone – A thoroughly interesting article about the 2.5 mile wide, 160 mile long area that makes up the most militarized border in the world. Attractions include mines, checkpoints and a fake North Korean town.
• class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_North_Korea">List of cities in North Korea – Learn more about capital city class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P'y?ngyang">Pyongyang and pollution blackspot class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch'?ngjin">Chongjin amongst other large settlements. Only the luckiest citizens are allowed to live in the capital.
• class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_People's_Army">Korean Peoples Army – North Korea has a large army, as well as an interest in class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction">weapons of mass destruction.
• class="vt-p" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arirang_Festival">Arirang Festival – Often known as the Mass Games, this finely-tuned stage show happens once a year with an incredible display of synchronized acrobatics.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kimjongil.jpg" alt="" />

Propaganda & Uriminzokkiri

Despite not receiving the updates it once did, class="vt-p" href="http://www.nk-news.net/">NKNews is the place for archived North Korean propaganda in text form. Check out the class="vt-p" href="http://www.nk-news.net/hall_of_fame.php">hall of fame for some of the best stories over the last few years.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/propaganda_goat.jpg" alt="" width="564" height="431" />

The California Literary Review hosts a decent collection of class="vt-p" href="http://calitreview.com/875">North Korea propaganda posters as well as commentary and insight into the motives behind the messages and art style. If your Korean is up to scratch then you might find the official North Korean news agency’s class="vt-p" href="http://uriminzokkiri.com/">uriminzokkiri.com interesting, but class="vt-p" href="http://www.uriminzokkiri.com/newspaper/english/main.php">the English version doesn’t seem to work too well. There’s always the class="vt-p" href="http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm">Korean Central News Agency, which speaks to the people on behalf of the Korean Workers Party (this is essentially “the news” in DPRK).

North Korea (much like the rest of the world) has embraced a few other outlets – notably YouTube and Flickr. The class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/uriminzokkiri">news agency’s YouTube account tries as hard as possible to depict North Korea as a normal, happy and prosperous country (though it’s not that hard to see through the cracks).

style="text-align: center;"> width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ymGmMINS-Zs?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="430" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ymGmMINS-Zs?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always">

class="vt-p" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/uriminzokkiri">Uriminzokkiri’s Flickr account does little more than to confirm that class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-alternatives-photoshop/">Photoshop (actually, make that class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/gimp/">GIMP) has landed in North Korea – and they’re not afraid to use it.

Economy & Cartography

It seems odd to mix the two, but a website called class="vt-p" href="http://www.nkeconwatch.com/">North Korean Economy Watch has done just that with up to date, detailed analysis of the economic situation in DPRK and a Google Maps project. As well as news relating to construction projects, foreign investment and the controversial topic of private trade in the country, the editor Curtis Melvin has previously class="vt-p" href="http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2006/07/23/dprk-travel-2004/">visited in 2004 and class="vt-p" href="http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2006/07/31/dprk-travel-2005/">2005.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/korea_map.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="435" />

Also hosted on Melvin’s site is class="vt-p" href="http://www.nkeconwatch.com/north-korea-uncovered-google-earth/">North Korea Uncovered, a class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/google-maps/">Google Maps project that has been featured in the Wall Street Journal for its extensive mapping of North Korea’s economic, cultural, political and military infrastructures. This is apparently the most comprehensive map of its kind, though you’re going to need class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-plugins-and-resources-to-make-google-earth-more-fun/">Google Earth to view it.

Conclusion

Hopefully these resources will help expand your knowledge of this mysterious country, and though the resources are limited there is still a considerable amount of information surrounding North Korea online. There are also some great documentaries on the subject. If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy learning about class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/shortwave-numbers-stations-conet-project-online-education-espionage/">shortwave numbers stations, another mysterious topic that’s been covered well online.

Are you interested in North Korea?  Have you ever visited the country? Do you have any other North Korea-related links that we might be interested in looking at? Post your thoughts and links in the comments. />
/>Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/north-korea-demystified-selection-online-resources-learn-secretive-country/">North Korea Demystified: A Selection Of Online Resources To Learn About This Secretive Country is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/intro11.png" alt="learn computer programming"/>For a lot of students, summer vacation has arrived and it’s an ideal time to stretch out and relax, or alternatively, catch up in your favorite hobbies and perfect your skills. With the advent and growth of YouTube and plenty of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-12-sites-watch-videos-youtube/">other high-quality video-sharing websites and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/teaching-fun-efficient-proprofs-educational-toolset/">tools like flashcard software, learning new things visually by yourself has never been easier. Even though YouTube is used regularly to share href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/my-top-ten-favourite-funniest-youtube-videos/">comedic href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-funny-youtube-video-channels-worth-keeping/">clips, it’s without a doubt, a rich pool of educational videos . You’ve seen many articles on our site listing some href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-amazing-youtube-channels-subscribe/">amazing YouTube channels to become more educated in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/educational-youtube-channels/">a variety of general topics, to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-youtube-dance-lessons-learn-cool-dance-moves/">learn cool dance moves, even some channels for non-native speakers to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/youtube-channels-learn-speak-english/">learn and perfect their English, and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-youtube-channels-linux-enthusiasts-follow/">dedicated channels for Linux enthusiasts that learn about Linux news and issues.

Since it never hurts to learn something new, especially a skill set like computer programming in different languages, we will go over some of the best channels that will introduce you to the world of programming. Let’s look at which channels made the cut.

href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston">thenewboston

href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston">thenewboston is a truly great channel with an immense collection of programming tutorials. The href="http://www.thenewboston.com/">official website contains a list of all the tutorials made so far, which are well into the thousands (about 1500 videos as of this writing). Not only does it have tutorials for various programming languages, but it also has videos on href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston#grid/user/C315B2A086BA6AAF">building computers, tutorials for software like Dreamweaver and After Effects, as well as 3D-modeling software. The website now also has plans to present tutorials for a variety of other topics, like Math and Biology. Since all these tutorials are free, thenewboston is probably the greatest source of video tutorials for people interested in beginning programming languages. Bucky, the instructor behind most of the videos, explains concepts like a peer, so his tutorials are definitely very easy to follow and catch up to.

To jump into thenewboston’s tutorials for different computer programming languages, check out:

• href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston#grid/user/FE2CE09D83EE3E28">Playlist For Java Tutorials (87 videos) & href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston#grid/user/27BCE863B6A864E3">Playlist For Intermediate Java Tutorials (27 videos)

So you can get a taste of thenewboston’s teaching style, here’s a video from this Java series where Bucky explains href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymorphism_(computer_science)">polymorphism: