Blogs are everywhere. Celebrities have them. Companies utilize them. Everyday people have them. And it’s easy to see why: They are a fun and informal way of expressing your ideas and getting heard. The easy conversational style of blogs makes them easy for reading, and they are a great way to get caught up on news, sports, and general popular culture.

Blog is short for weblog, a website in which postings are listed and displayed in reverse chronological order (the most recent postings first). These posts can be about anything and it's up to the blogger (the person that authors the posts) what their blog is about. Since a blog gives people their own voice on the web and a place to collect and share things that they find interesting, it’s easy to understand why the number of blogs has exploded in recent years.

Blogs are also a great way to brush up on homework. Here is an example: students can use blogs to record what they learn and teachers can use blogs to record what they teach. A teacher can blog a course - specifying what homework and including links to Internet resources, on a daily basis. This application has many advantages: (1) a student can quickly catch up if they miss a class; (2) the teacher can use the blog as a course plan; and (3) the blog serves as an accurate summary of the course for later reference.

For more information about blogs:

The different types of blogs.

A list of blogs.

Start your own blog.

Imagine a place where you reconnect with people who you haven’t heard from in years, learn about new music, or discover people that share similar interests. Imagine a place where you keep in touch with friends, or network, or share photos. Now imagine that place being on the Internet, with a community of 50 million people. That place is MySpace, a free website space that combines an interactive network for photos, blogs, email. When you create your profile, you decide which resources you want to make available for viewing and sharing.

With more than 50 million users, MySpace is the world’s seventh most popular English language website. In fact, MySpace has become a daily part of life for teenagers and young adults. It’s a place to discover new music, meet new friends, and in some cases watch new TV shows. For instance, did you know that NBC’s hit show, The Office, premiered on MySpace?

To find out more information on this growing web phenomenon, check out the articles below:

Teens and MySpace. Create your own MySpace page.

Parental safety and MySpace. The MySpace Generation.

For anyone who loves listening to Internet audio programming but can't always catch to their favorite shows when they air, help has arrived. It’s called podcasting.

A podcast is a Web feed of audio or video files placed on the Internet for people to subscribe to. In many ways, a podcast is like a recording of your favorite radio show that you can download to your portable audio device, or computer whenever you want. Because it's a subscription, podcasts are very unique and hassle-free. When new content is available, it gets automatically moved to your audio player the next time you connect to your computer. Podcasts are a great way to stay current on your favorite music or radio shows, without missing a beat.

A list of podcasts. A New Twist on Net Audio.