The ten golden rules of the I-land

I have been asked what would be the ten rules of the Internet in my opinion. My answer is quite simple:
1- Get a connexion
2- Get ready to break your habits
3- Open your mind
4- Experience new things
5- Become aware of the Internet's risks
6- Get involve
7- Enter the web 2.0 and become an actor of the evolution
8- Create your own vision of the web and make it real
9- Enjoy
10- Leave a comment on my blog!

The dictatorial power of screens

I used to study theatre, and I've been thinking for a long time about the use of screens on stage. Now I am studying communication and media, I realize how much it teaches us about the incredible power of screens in general. It's not something about the power of pictures, it's something else. Something I felt intuitively while watching these huge luminous surfaces, able to capture my attention without my knowing. Here is the much-touted power I was talking about.

I first noticed it when I was at Heiner Muller 's Quartett, staged by Matthias Langhoff in Paris. Although Muriel Mayette and François Chattot were brilliant, when pictures appeared on the screen, in a very pernicious way, my eyes were attracted to them like moths to a flame.

You can see the production I am talking about on the picture. There, maybe you would first look at the old car, the grass and the armchair, because they are very colourful. But this is a photograph. In reality, you would probably be more attracted by motion and light than colour. I first thought it was maybe something peculiar to my generation, raised in front of television sets, computers, mobile phones and so on. Now I think it is because of the nature of screens instead. Screens monopolise our attention, our thought. And as I began to become mistrustful towards this overweening power, I went to another show whose example seems particularly relevant to me.

It was Martin Crimp 's Attempts on her Life, staged by Joël Jouanneau. What was interesting was the fact that pictures on the screens were actually a live broadcast of the play, filmed while we were watching it. It created a disconcerting atmosphere, very disturbing. Moreover, the camera angles were not the same as the audience's viewing angle, which created a worrying strangeness (as Freud's Unheimliche). This is the moment I (and probably the rest of the audience with me) began to feel the oppressive nature of the power of screens. Then, it worsened. As a character was tortured on the stage, we saw an empty stage on the screens. As if it was a film taken by security cameras, but manipulated so nobody would ever know the truth. Spine-chilling.

Now I know why I love theatre so much. It opens our eyes. It helps us to distance ourselves enough from the world we are living it to understand it. On the contrary, screens snatch us.

This is precisely the limit of their power and the beginning of the power of theatre.

MM

Dematerialization on progress: Ebook or not?

Some people prophesy the death of traditional books and newspaper facing the new development of e-reading technologies. The growing importance of technological devices in our everyday life is indisputable. You are probably not reluctant to cellphones, mp3 players and so on. But from the moment that it deals with ebooks, the debate becomes highly controversial. As red-hot as the Battle of Hernani at the time. A modern rebellion against classical ideals and Bourgeois hypocrisy. Nevertheless, I am not sure that the Romantics would have defended the ebook. Until proved otherwise, the Romantics were strongly attached to the nostalgia of the past. The charm of the ruins, you know. Yet, books are not ruins yet. Not by a long chalk. But let's get back to the point: to ebook or not to ebook. Let's weigh up the pros and cons.



There are (obviously) advantages with an ebook: there are over two millions of free books available for download, they can use hyperlinks, multimedia clips and animated images, they can allow non-permanent highlighting and annotation, and they are supposedly eco-friendly (but as far as I am concerned, I am not totally convinced by this argument).
There are also many disadvantages. First of all, the price. Reading ebooks requires a quite expensive device (from 250€ in France for instance). Moreover, it's easier to carry a small book than a ebook-reader, and you will never be interrupted in your reading because the battery of your book got exhausted. And let's be honnest, one will never read thousands of books really well or over a short period of time, so the high amount held on an ebook reader becomes irrelevant.

In my opinion, ebooks will necessarily be a success, but a qualified one. Contrary to mp3 players or iphones, I think they will coexist with paper because needs and customs are very different. And what's more, passionate readers are strongly attached to books' materiality. The feeling of the papergrain, the smell of the pages, the smoothness of the cover... the act of reading is very sensual. I will definitely try ebooks someday, but to me, they will never be as glamorous as my paper books.

Do not hesitate to leave a comment.
Bye.

MM

Discovering (Part 3)... Pearltrees

A brand new discovery for me on the World Wide Web : Pearltrees. Their catchphrase is "have the stuff you like at hand". It is a website, very "2.0", that enables you to organize and store your favorite contents on the web. But that's not all. Pearltrees is also about social networking, because it allows you to meet people with the same interests.

The first interest of that website is that you can create a sort of map of your web. The maps help you to have much more contents and an easier access to them than the traditional favorites. Moreover, you can guide your friends or your reader : it actually turns you into a real editor. And finally, you can just surf on the maps of the other users, according to the principle of "serendipity": thus, you will discover a new web, made by other humans just like you, in a very participative way. Maybe you will discover that special something that we called in France "la perle rare"...

Have a nice surf!

MM

Discovering (Part 2)... the Hidden Web

It is called the "Hidden Web", the "Invisible Web" or even the "Deep Web". It sounds mysterious, maybe a bit scary. What is it? The Hidden Web (HW) is more than 500 times larger than the known (or indexed) portion of the web. The HW is the largest growing category of new information on the Internet. About 95 percent of this content is accessible and is not fee based. In 2003, more than 100 000 HW sites existed, and there are more of them now. So, why Google, Altavista or any of the other commercial search engines do not index the entire World Wide Web?

Actually, there are different types of deep ressources : dynamic content, unlinked content, private web, contextual web, limited access content, and so on. So, how can we access all these informations ? Bye-bye Google! You have to use something else to search the invisible web. Here are some tools: the Librarians' Internet Index, Genius Find, but it exists a lot of them. I let you discover by yourself this whole new world.

MM

Discovering (Part 1)... e-teaching/learning

I have just discovered a website called LearniT-TeachiT, a non-profit organization whose goal is, as said on the website, to share skills and opportunities that technology can bring to learning. Thats is to say, they provide ressources to promote the integration of new technologies into teaching and learning.




On this website, you can find lesson plans (classified by subjects, grades and technologies) and video tutorials to learn how to use today's technology. These videos are free and you can learn, for instance, how to create objects in flash and learn more about different topics such as online safety, web content production, networks to knowledge and so on.

I think what is interesting in e-learning is that grown-ups are rediscovering, thanks to new technologies, that they still can learn even if they left school a long time ago. It creates new habits. For instance, there are also websites where retired persons offer remedial courses to kids and students. For pensioners, it is a good way to prevent themselves from being victims of social exclusion, and for students, it is a great opportunity to benefit the experience of retired teachers. This kind of solidarity helps to fill the generation gap and to spread knowledge. The Internet, offering learner-centered opportunities, is about to redefine the way adults learn. Moreover, it is also a great opportunity for e-teachers: expertise in soft technology will give trainers new credibility. E-teaching and learning is a real revolution in education: don't miss this chance!

MM

My video resume (Barney's style)

Video debate about the Internet and Music

Here's a little video we made in class. A real CMM's (from Celsa) debate!

Computer crime and cyber terror

Everybody knows the basic rules while netsurfing, such as: install anti-virus and anti-spyware softwares, keep your security softwares updated, use passwords or do not install any programm you are unsure of. The question is : is it sufficient? Here's a frightening video of what cyber terror can look like. It has been broadcasted on the History Channel where Gregory Evans, the founder and CEO of LIGATT Security demostrates how computer can be used in cyber terror.




After the September 11 terrorist attack, groups of hackers began to talk in the Internet to express their anger. A group called the Dispatchers said they would destroy web servers and Internet access in Afghanistan and nations supporting terrorists. On the other side, muslim hackers started to attack american websites. This shows that the Internet has become a real battleground, and conflicts are taking a cyber dimension. Computer networks attacks have become a serious and growing threat. The website of the Computer Crime Research Center published an extract from a speech made by Richard Clarke, former special adviser for Cyberspace security to George Bush, in the December following the events of the September 11 : "Our enemies will use our technology against us... The fact that they may be form a Third World country should not in any way suggest to us that they will not understand how to use our technology. They will see the places where we did not think we needed to build in security and they will take advantage of those seams".

I don't know if you feel threaten by a terrorist attack by means of the Internet, and if you believe that an hypothetical Word War III could happen thanks to new technologies. Anyway, I am not sure we, individually, can do anything to protect ourselves against such a threat.

As far as I am concerned, I think we should take a less alarmist approach to the potential of an electronic attack but remain concerned.

MM

"Change the web", example of a precious opportunity on the web

With the Internet, you can almost live without getting out of your house. The web offers you precious opportunities for everything : you can find a job, sell and buy things, be published, broadcasted, meet friends or love. And even, contribute to "the greater good".

Maybe you have heard about the website "Social actions" whose catchphrase is "you make a difference, we make it easy". It is a kind of social network for philanthropists. On the homepage, there is a search field where you can find any kind of action you feel concerned about, such as climate change, education, poverty, animals, homeless or healthcare. Once you have choosen, the site will propose you a lot of actions : volunteer, donate, sign a petition or make a loan for instance. You can also propose an action to the other users.

And even if you are not Mother Teresa, this website can help you capitalize in good intentions. This is the purpose of the "Change the world challenge" they created on 2009.
The challenge has been a huge success. Here's the idea: as they say on their page, the challenge "encouraged the development of applications that share these opportunities to take action on the websites, blogs and social networks that people visit everyday".

Here are the three winners:
1st Prize $5,000, interactive map
2nd Prize $3,000 zemantas
3rd Prize $2,000 iphone app

That's exactly what we can call a win-win business. Netsurfers get both money and a clear conscience out of it (which is not at everybody's level...), and the website gets visibility and a publicity stunt out of it. Without being too cynical, we must admit it is a hell of a good viral marketing operation for Social Actions. I bet an advertizing campaign of that size would have cost much more than the 10,000$ they gave to the winners and what's more, it would have been much more difficult to infiltrate social networks and blug with "official" advertisements.

But if it is for a good cause, I suppose we just have to bow before this initiative.

MM.