Blog it yourself

#1 : Bring the necessary tools

As if you were going on an expedition, you need to be prepared. Going on the internet requires you to speak a specific language, made of strange words, like “hyperlink”, “wiki”, “blog” or “rss”… To help you understand the online jargon, here is a useful dictionary, called Netlingo.

#2 : Safety First

Watch out, the World Wide Web is Wild… And some people take this opportunity to misbehave. So be careful who you talk to, and try to control the information that you release.

#3 : Keep yourself posted

Internet is the land of innovation. New things are constantly happening out there. So don’t be afraid to break your own habits, and remember that three years ago, you didn’t know what “facebook” was… (and now you spend 2 hours a day on it…)
 

#4 : Have team spirit

Remember that web 2.0 is collaborative…

#5 : Get lost, be surprised..

#6 : ..But erase you traces

#7 : Share things

#8 : Beware of MediaAddictions

Go out in the real world sometimes

#9 : Post comments on my blog !

Any idea on the 10th rule ?

Is it the question ?

It was for Les Echos, the first French newspaper to launch an online version of the economic daily  on an e-book, in 2007. The device, made by IRex, came with a subscription to Les Echos’ website (365 euros/year), for the modest sum of 600 euros.

Despite its price, Les Echos’ offer was promising : the reader had the opportunity to read the newspaper on a digital book, that did not consume any traditional ink or paper. The digital text could be search automatically and crossed-referenced using hyperlinks. With an e-book, no need to stop by a newsstand : from 6am to 21 pm, the users could download the latest version of the diary.

A video presentation was made by Les Echos‘ team to introduce the technology.

Unfortunately,by the end of 2008, only 1000 subscribers adopted the device, forcing the media company to quit the adventure. The happy few expected other French newspapers to launch their e-book version… But they didn’t… Contrary to their European neighbours, like the Flemish newspaper De Tijd.

Today, if you want to read a newspaper on an e-book, the market offers  many different possibilities. You can pick IRex’s version, but their is also Amazon’s Kindle, or Sony’s eReader RS-505…

For now, I would maybe choose Amazon’s kindle, as I was seduced by this presentation made by Ben Higginbotham on Twin City Live

… About the web. 

Netvibes. I hadn’t heard of this website until recently thanks to our e-learning English class. Netvibes is not just a website. It is a platform that does not generate its own content but agregates many contents from other websites, like blogs, social networks or even your email box.

As this technology is based on RSS-feeds , it allows every user to keep up with the last updates of the websites he usually visits. And as each netvibes page is personalized, through customized tabs, feeds and modules, it is representative of web 2.0. 

E-learning 

Have you heard of this new way of teaching and learning ? As the “E” stands for “electronic”, e-learning designates a web-based and distanced education, sometimes difficult to define as it refers to many different practices. As the technologies evolve, e-learning methods change. 

We had a chance to interview a few e-learners on that matter, and they listed a few arguments for or against this practice : 

Wikis. Wiki is the Hawaiien word for fast. Ward Cunningham, the developper of the first wiki software in 1995, was indeed a fast-thinker. He invented a software that allowed every internet user to contribute to the content of a same website. 

Thus, he renewed the old Enlightenment‘s project to create a giant collaborative encyclopedia. 

But this time, with a significant change : simple references would become hyperlinks. 

What I didn’t know about wikis, was the many other ways in which they could be used, such as corporate intranets, personal note taking, and every type of knowledge management system. Here’s a good example on how wikis could be used to organise….  a camping trip ! 

Salami attack. That does not consist in throwing salami at your neighbours, it is actually a cybercrime. A financial one, to be more specific. The key is to make the alteration so small that in a single case it would go unnoticed.

A bank employee, for example, could steal only a few cents from each of his clients and make a significant amount of money at the end.

You may wonder why such name was given to these attacks. It comes from another expression, “salami slicing”. As salami slices are really thin, these actions are too small to be seen. These tactics were obviously not born with the cyberspace. In politics, the term has been used since the 1940’s to refer to a process of threats and alliances used to fight the opposition.