What's Second Life? What's an interactive whiteboard (etc)?

I've been teaching on "technology for teachers" seminars for the last three weeks (and a very late "Hello" to you all if you are attending!).

Many of the questions that the teachers ask begin "What's...?" Blogs, interactive whiteboards, ipods, mp3 players, podcasting, smartboards, Second Life... What are they, and how can you find out what they are?

Places to go to find out
Fortunately, there are places to go where you can find out what a particular piece of technology is. Note, again, how far down my list Google-is-Evil comes.

1. Ask a colleague, some in the family, one of your kids (your own or someone in your class)
   
2. Wikipedia, which is great for the basic information, and will provide links if you want to find out more. Wikipedia gets slammed for being inaccurate, but it provides you with information and has no interest in selling you anything, unlike Google and the sites that appear on it
   
3. YouTube, on which you can find great videos (ok, and some that are dreadful) of the technology in action
   
4. Teachertube, on which you will find the same, with videos designed particularly for teachers and teaching and learning
   
5. Somewhere else on the web, a blog like the one you are reading now, or a directory like TeachingEnglish.org.uk
6. Last and least, Google-is-Evil