Monday, October 29, 2007

Where to Find "How-To" and Instructional Videos on the Internet

Do you need to know how to make a swamp cooler? Do you want to make your own charging station for your cell phone, iPod, PDA, or other device? Or maybe you just get entertained by the creativity and ingenuity of others.

Well, there are many places to visit on the WWW that can satisfy your questions or curiosity. One of the most popular "how-to" sites on the web is http://www.instructables.com/. If you have never visited this site, you are in for a treat. Some the most watched Internet videos on the Internet originate at http://www.instructables.com/. These "instructables" are usually organized in one of nine categories: Art, Craft, Food, Games, Home, Life, Offbeat, Ride, or Tech.

The home page also lists the day's "Featured" list as well as a "Popular" list. Those two lists make for a good place to start your first visit to the site. Set yourself up with your favorite beverage and enjoy your session. There are many other sites geared to specific "how-to's" regarding camping, recreation, sports, techie stuff, etc. Here are a couple of recent items at the Instructables site to give you a taste:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Control-real-world-devices-with-your-PC/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Minimalistic-Desk/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Frail-girl-vs.-6-strong-men/

Another popular source of how-to videos can be found at the popular Internet video sites like YouTube, Google Video, and metacafe.

The easiest way to find a specific "how to" is just to enter a couple of key words or "tags" in the site's search bar. Just enter into the search bar what you are interested in. Not only will you be presented with a list of matching items but, as you watch them, the list will change and may include new topics. Sometimes that can be an interesting development or it may be frustrating since it can bring you off-topic.

These sites have much more than "how-to's". You can find a short video on just about any subject. For example, recently I was planning a day trip with my son and his friend to do some shooting in the Four Peaks area of Arizona - Tonto National Forest to be exact. So, before our trip, I searched for some YouTube videos, keying off the tags "4 peaks" "four peaks" "shooting 4 peaks" "quads 4 peaks", etc. You get the idea. I got just what I needed - reasonably good videos of folks enjoying shooting and quad riding in the same location that I was interested in. I've also done the same with my hometown in NJ, amateur related subjects, magic tricks - lots of stuff.

One of the most prolific makers of Internet videos covering everything from magic tricks to making your own under water video camera enclosure is "Kipkay". You will find many interesting videos by Kipkay at http://www.metacafe.com/. You can also visit his site directly at http://www.kipkay.com/. And best of all there are many folks like "Kipkay" out there.

I'm sure there are many other sites that you folks have visited. Just leave a comment here at the blog to share those with us. Till next time!