English test

I had to take two English on-line tests for Bob.
This first one was on the website of the BBC and the second one on a website dedicated to on-line tests.

Here are the results :

- BBC's one : 6 out of 6


- The second one : 8 out of 9 (Part four : Advanced)

Has internet journalism come of age ?

Yes, wiki ! (in theory...)

Record wikipedia by user8705499

Last week Bob asked us to write an article on Wikipedia. I was enthusiastic to write on this platform, real symbol of the web 2.0. Participate to this free, web-based, collaborative and multilingual encyclopedia was a way to get into this huge community of new thinkers. Nevertheless, be one of them was not so easy. To become a new thinker, a wiki-author, you need to be patient and to have talents in informatic.

First step :
the inscription

You need to create a count, to find a pseudo, to find a password. Well, that's no so complicated. But after that the tool, the interface is not very easy to use. It's not very clear and not user-friendly.

Second step :
write your article and the huge challenge of page setting

You can now write your article but, one more time, it is not so easy. To do the page setting you have to be experimented. When I wrote my article I needed to take my time...

Third step :
publish your article

That step remains a mystery for me. When I clicked on "publish" my article disappear in Wikipedia's stratosphere. I stayed calm, looking everywhere where it went. But I didn't find it.

Conclusion

Thus my first experience on Wikipedia was not a success. Obviously my vision is biased so I will do another attempt before giving my ultimate conclusions.

My ten commandments to survive (on the web)

Bob ask us to find 10 rules to survive on the net, just like if we were on a desert island.
So let's see :

1st commandment : Always be the first. You have to be an early-adopter and not a follower.

2nd commandment : Never give all your personnal information (the great threat of identity theft) otherwise you will share your identity, your adress and also your bank acount (and maybe your wife, who knows ?) with many people.

3rd commandment : Always check what is said and is shown about you, so always googlise you.

4th commandment : Never finish naked or drunk at a party (see the previous commandment).

5th commandment : Never become friend with your boss or with any higher-ups on Facebook except if you want te be fired few months later.

6th commandment : Always erase your tracks on a computer in order to hide your craziest fantasies.

7th commandment : Be present on social networks like Facebook, Netvibes, Twitter and so on. If it is not the case, you will be seen as a loser and you will neither follow new trends nor your friends' activities. Do you want to be a fringe element of society ?

8th commandment : On the other side, always remember that there is a life without internet. Don't spend all your nights on social networks otherwise you will become a "no life".

9th commandment : Never reply to the email of the Nigerian banker.

10th commandment : Internet is a jungle so if you want to survive on the web, don't use it, it's easier.

To ebook or not to ebook, that is the question.

The great debate about ebooks is not new, it's like the march of technology versus the weight of tradition and of habits. Who will win this hand-to-hand combat ? Will it finish like a death struggle ?

Obviously i'm a ardent upholder of the book maybe because of my literary studies. I strongly believe that the interest of reading lies in the support. The book, as an object, contributes to build the sensation of pleasure that we have while reading. It is so pleasant to turn pages and to smell the book (yes, I know it's so cliché) .

Nevertheless, we cannot fight too long against progress and ebook will make a breakthrough. Of course there are advantages with ebook like size, weight and so on. Because i'm not very keen on ebooks it was fun when my english teacher ask me for one of his exercice : "Which e-book will you choose? (model, type, features) Why?".

To answer to that question, I can say that I'll choose the Sony Reader -you can see the picture at the top of the article- but also in this video :

You can also look at these funny series (this is part one) :

My video resume

Bob wanted us to do a video resume. Here is mine or at least my first version. I don't like that one because I believe it is too long and there is not enough rythm.
The second version is coming soon.

Can you geek me ?

Last week, Bob ask us to write about what we don't know to do on the web.
Well, i'm not very gifted for the technical aspect of the web and of computers in general. Even if at the Celsa i'm in the CMM's class, the one which is well-known for its geeks community, i'm not one of those geeks.



Peer to peer, Html language, JAVA script or even posting videos are the dark side of the force for me. Most of the time i feel very lonely in front of the screen of my computer wondering why I don't know how to do this or that.
Obviously, i'm trying to improve my ability in these fields. Because when you want to work in media and communication it is essential to have some basic knowledge.
I remain optimistic about my chances to get better, nevertheless when I ask my friends about something related to internet or computer, I can see in their expression that the road is still long...
(special dedication to Thomas P., Nicolas and Guillaume : I'm sorry)

In the same vein, i'm not a gamer. I never understand how you can spend hours and hours on your computer playing videogames. Paradoxically, I like to play on my Playstation 2... Yes, what a paradox ! It is just because I don't like videosgames on computers. It's very difficult to play with the keyboard and it is not as comfortable as a joystick. Furthermore, computers are more likely to have virus and to have bugs, and it can makes you crazy :

I'm so scared. Don't geek me, please !

Why e-learning is a challenge.

Historically, education and teaching was done by a teacher in front of you, giving you punishments when you did mistakes. But nowadays, new technologies have changed dramatically this traditionnal "way of teaching". In fact, with computers, cameras and with the Internet, the teacher can be far away from his class and giving his lesson.

On the one hand you cannot denied the fact that it is an important evolution on a technological point of view. On the other hand, the loss of human contact is not a good thing. It's more difficult to explain some ideas if there is not a human contact. Moreover, for students it's not so easy to be as concentrated as in class.
E-learning is a real challenge because it is a rupture with the traditionnal aspect and changing customs is a long work.

Obviously e-learning present some benefits because in the workplace we have to be used to this impermanence of things. We have to be ready to get used to unbelievable situations. Furthermore, it is a way to learn some transerve competences. Look at this pattern :


To my mind, this pattern summerizes all the contributions of e-learning. This way of teaching is a bit frightenning but it can brings us some new vision and learns us how to work differently.

Catch me if you can - Cyber crimes

Every three and a half minutes, a crime is committed in the streets of New York. Every two minutes and a half, a crime is commited in the streets of Tokyo. But every three seconds, an identity is stolen on the web, what represents approximately 10 and a half million identities every year (2008 Identity Fraud Survey de Javelin Strategy & Research).

The Department of Justice categorizes computer crime in three ways:

1. The computer as a target - attacking the computers of others (spreading viruses is an example).
2. The computer as a weapon - using a computer to commit "traditional crime" that we see in the physical world (such as fraud or illegal gambling).
3. The computer as an accessory - using a computer as a "fancy filing cabinet" to store illegal or stolen information.

Identity thefts lead the classification of cybercrimes. Many technics exist : Use a false e-mail address or a name of misleading domain, create a false profile on Facebook... Others are more sophisticated: spywares (hostile running without knowing the user), spoofing (diversion of address IP), phishing (combination of a fraudulent e-mail and a distort web page intended to get back passwords).
During the last presidential election campaign in the United States, a student had managed to open Sarah Palin's Yahoo! e-mail box after having tried diverse passwords corresponding to the biography of the candidate that he has found on Wikipedia.
Which is terrible is that now cybercriminals give tools to anybody to do the same thing :


There is no law punishing directly identity thefts on the web. Moreover, the OECD published in the end of March, 2009 a report Online Identity Theft showing that most of the western countries have not a specific legislation repressing identity theft which is unbelievable.

Call me impermanent

The web is by definition impermanent. Everything on the web is always moving, evolving. Everything appaears as quickly as it disappears. Changes are going faster and faster and our brain has to follow this infernal rythm.

The problem is that there are too many changes that we are no longer conscious of the progress maid. Everything seems normal for us today. Communicate with people all over the world, exchange information, pictures, videos. On the web everything is passing, nothing remains. The only characteristic that remains is precisely change and alteration but also the fact that the future of the web is unpredictable. We cannot imagine what are going new evolutions and new technologies. Maybe it is what confers to the internet this magical and supernatural aspect.

Internet : new field for precious opportunities ?

It is impossible to denied the fact that Internet is the only media where you can do everything you want. You can become famous thanks to your songs, to your acrobatics on a video or to you points of view on a blog. What is amazing is that Internet concentrate so many possibilities that it widens your perspectives. There is no longer limits, constraints due to money, time or whatever. Now, in a simple click you can build you a new personnality, a new life.

Thus internet is a precious opportunity for people like you and me but also for institutions or associations that can communicate all over the world with less money. As an example we can talk about the case of the French Ministry of Foreign office. It is the only ministry present on Twitter, Facebook, Delicious and many others social networking websites. Internet enables the French ministry to adopt a new strategy and to become closer and closer with citizens all around the world.

In a certain way, the use of internet is a new opportunity to express freedom (for people who have a total acess to the web...) and to develop some talents. In fact, creativity has never been so important than during the last few years. That is why I believe that now it is the Internet who is the "fourth power" and no longer the press.

Another time, just for fun and because the subject with the word "precious" remind me this song, let's listen to Depeche Mode :

The invisible man - Transparency on the web

Transparency is usually understood as a way to be yourself on the net and that you cannot hide yourself behind some artificial characteristics. Transparency is also a political notion : politicians have to be always concentrated, to be on the alert because “Big brother” – medias - is always watching them. But I’m going to take that notion on the other side. To my mind, transparency is just an illusion. Transparency on the net does not exist on the common sense for the simple reason that Internet enables us to build many different personalities. On the net you are you, but also mister X and mister W or even mister Z.

Me and the others

Whereas everybody believe that on the net it is easier to meet people and to know who they are, I strongly believe that the person who is behind his screen is many people at the same time, that internet distort personality and that your are transparent in the sense that nobody “encircle” you. It is the same thing with politicians : on the net many videos about their speeches or their visits are posted. Nevertheless, these videos are incomplete. It is only extracts most of the time and as we know, sentences without a context do not mean anything. How many politicians, musicians have been trapped like that ?

On the net you are transparent, naked and it is the others who give you colours, clothes and characteristics. Your personality is built by the internet users. You cannot control your evolution, you are totally dependant of the vision of the others, you are always under construction.

All you need is...breaking your habit

On the web it is essential to keep in mind that everything is on movement. Your landmarks are short-lived because there are always new technologies, new gadgets, new websites that are invented and created.
When you read your newspaper you are expecting some frames that are more or less always the same. Thus you never feel lost when you are in front of a newspaper even if there are sometimes small changes.

Nevertheless, on the web it is all the contrary. Common frames and landmarks don't exist. Look at websites like Facebook or Twitter and more generally to the famous "web 2.0". Nobody was able to imagine these kind of websites 10 years ago.
It is the same with newspaper websites. They are always changing the layout and they propose frequently some new gagdets. For example Liberation or Le Figaro change generally their layout each year. Internet user can feel lost in front of this abundance of innovation and of movement.
New generations are used to this kind of impermanence, of constant evolution and they know that they have to break their habits but for older generation it is not so easy.
In this way, can we say that there is a barier of age on the web ?

Besides, just for fun you can listen to Linkin Park's famous song :

Linkin Park- Breaking The Habit

Angel or devil ? - The impact of the internet on music and musicians

I believe I’m not making a mistake in saying that we have never talked about this much than during the last few months even the last few years. Artists, politicians, citizens everybody has an opinion on the subject… Why ? Because this new century has given birth to a real revolution in the music industry. Internet has been accused being responsible for the music crisis. Yes, it’s right the hegemony of CD is going from strength to strength (it’s so expensive…) but the Internet has to be seen as a real opportunity to develop the influence of music.

I’m not going to talk about the political aspect of the subject and about the infamous Hadopi law because everything has been said about it and because (I’m not going to lie) I’m not really interested in the debate (sorry for my numerous friends who are musicians, …). I prefer to focus on an aspect that really strikes me : the change of temporality and also the change of the musicians’ status.

David against Goliath ?

Before the emergence of the Internet it was really hard to become famous thanks to music. The music system was really hard and to be introduced to it was a miracle. But with online music, everyone is now able to make his music accessible. Websites like Dailymotion, youtube, myspace or my major company are new vectors for musicians. Paradoxically, if it is easier to become famous on the net and if there is more room to make its music famous, the number of musicians on the web have also created a kind of confusion. The abundance of musicians makes things blurry and internet users have less of a chance to see your videos or podcasts.

Nevertheless, what really strikes me is the inversion of the balance of power. Before musicians were weak and they were crying at manager’s doors just to be listened to. Now managers and producers are going on the Internet in order to find the new gold nugget. In France, it was the case with Sliimy who remixed of one of Britney Spears’ song, Womanizer, and record company offered him a contract. Now musicians can highlight their talent on the net and record companys come to them instead of the other way round. But in this inversion of power, the new element is the internet user. It is him who gives weight and arguments to musicians to become famous. More you are viewed on the web, more you have the chance of being famous. Thus it is not only the way to listen to music that has changed but also the way that musicians are considered. Now they are short-lived with the web. Look at Kamini, a French singer who became famous with his song “Marly Gaumont”

Kamini - Marly Gomont

He wrote two more songs and then he disappeared. This new status is also a consequence of the abundance of artists that we have seen upside.

A marketing revolution

This new competition with the web make « traditionnal » musicians, the one who didn’t use the Internet to build their success, in a predicament and now they have to innovate. In fact, because people listening to music on the Internet more and more, how can they seduce the public and convince them to buy their Cds? The only thing to do is to change their marketing strategy and it is what they have done for some of them. Let’s take the example of Radiohead who, in 2007, launched their new album “In Rainbows” only on the Net. You were able to download it on their website and there was no price indicated : internet users paid the price they wanted. Another example are the Nine inch nails. In 2008, they launched their album “Ghost I-IV”. For this album they had a completely different strategy and thats whats made it original. They offered a wide variety of formats: downloading, a version double CD and a luxurious casket (300 dollars) in limited series (2500 copies). With those two examples we can easily understand that the Internet has changed the way that “traditional” groups have to cope with the new competition. Musicians on the web are powerful and the famous “buzz” can often overshadow other artists.

In fact, the Internet is not the devil that some people want to see. Music has changed with the Internet. But the Internet has opened a new field of opportunities and it has also permited to change the status of the principals actors in the world of music which is particular. Don’t be afraid of the power of the Internet, don’t try to control him because it is stronger than any other media, just let it thrive.