While everyone’s excited for the new school year and on
top of their schoolwork for now, it’ll be just a matter of
time before the big-time procrastination begins.
Without a doubt, the biggest, cheapest place to procrastinate is
the Internet. After all, you’re still using a computer, which
technically is a tool for information, and could you really help it
if when you meant to click the Microsoft Word icon, you
accidentally hit Internet Explorer?
One of the most popular sites for wiling the time away recently
has been the Apple QuickTime Trailers Web site
(http://www.apple.com/trailers/). The site rocketed to popularity
last spring when millions of “Star Wars” fans went to
Apple’s site to see the QuickTime-only versions of the
“Attack of the Clones” trailers.
Apple’s site now has trailers for practically every movie
that is released in America, and it’s a great place to start
when looking for a good movie to see in Westwood.
For those who want to burn stress with some competition, another
popular spot on the Web is Yahoo games (http://games.yahoo.com/).
Literally hundreds of online games are now available at Yahoo, and
the more intense gamers can join leagues and tournaments.
From simple classics like Hearts and Solitaire to Deus X and
Civilization 3, there is something for everyone. Gambling types be
forewarned; gamers can even compete for cash, so Yahoo could
possibly break the bank for the addicted gamers/gamblers out
there.
Just as people sometimes get the urge to suddenly clean their
whole room in the midst of studying, you might decide your computer
needs a makeover.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to download new wallpapers
and application skins for programs such as Winamp and Trillian at
DeviantArt (http:// www.deviantart.com/). Anyone could spend hours
and hours on this site and never get to the end because people are
constantly sending in their creations. Best of all, the site is
free and there is no annoying pop-up that forces users to log in or
set up an account.
If you decide you need to add to your computer’s
repertoire, you can go to a comprehensive site from which all sorts
of programs and applications can be downloaded: CNET’s
Download.com (http://www.download.com). The only caveat is that
users must create an account and provide an e-mail address to use
the site. It’s a small price to pay for the millions of
downloads available here.
Some sites are just tried-and-true staples for all purposes. For
those who have not discovered the indispensable power of Google,
(http://www.google.com), it’s arguably the best search site
available. More advanced users may even want to download the google
toolbar (only available for Internet Explorer). This will allow
instant searches straight from the toolbar at the top of the
browser as well as the ability to search the Web site that is
currently being visited.
Of course, everyone knows about the UCLA library Web site
(http://www.library.ucla.edu/), but more important is a link within
the Web site that gives UCLA students access to archives of every
written periodical in the last 20 years. This database is called
Lexis Nexis (http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe). Lexis Nexis
contains so much information, that usually the hardest part is
narrowing the search results enough so that a search does not
retrieve millions of results. Yes, it is that comprehensive, and
that means there are millions of seconds to waste.
Word processing can also be an annoyance, especially if the
right word always seems to escape the mind. For a top-notch
dictionary and thesaurus, head over to dictionary.com
(http://www.dictionary.com/) or to the Merriam-Webster site at
http://www.m-w.com. Both sites are easy to use, and have fun word
games to play … to um, “exercise your verbal skills”
as you write that term paper.
Thanks to modern technology, obtaining information for
“academics” has never been so easy and procrastination
has never been so much fun.