As part of our HEA Centre for Bioscience departmental project, we are introducing a web 2.0 theme to the first year IT and numeracy skills module. I fully subscribe to the aims of this project : that we should be providing a first class experience of education and that does not include teaching them how to use Microsoft word but should include information handling skills, like using RSS.

So, after complaining that email was too easy, and bibliographic databases were too hard, we embarked today on RSS. Alan Cann bravely wrote some online notes, and today the students started signing up for Google reader. It was clear from the start that there were some problems:

1. Asking them to sign up to peer reviewed journal feeds: students were unaware of what a peer reviewed journal was and it is fairly early in their career to be considering this. Finding reliable sources of feeds for journals is a nightmare - why can't publishers get their act together?! Zetoc at least has some Table of Content feeds. Thank goodness for the british library
2. Assessing this exercise: unless anyone as any bright ideas (and please please day you have) giving weekly feedback on this is not easy (for 200 students). The options we have are commenting in the blackboard gradebook (not simple) or emailing individual students.
3. Integration with our other courses: I think we need a concerted effort to encourage other convenors to encourage the use of web 2 technologies by bringing tagging and RSS into other modules, or by adding relevant RSS feeds to their own Blackboard sites. We will probably need to work on this over the next academic year during the process of introducing staff to RSS themselves...

A steep learning curve for this year, but I still think it is worth the effort!

Рекомендую подписаться на RSS, чтобы узнать всё первым.

Убедительная просьба взяким интернет дегенератам не писать здесь гадких комментариев. Они не сделают вас умнее и не увеличат размер ваших ху**, которыми вы так любите раскидываться.

Ещё хочу сделать кое-какое дополнение.

В предыдущем посте под порывом злости окрестил cinemma.ru говноблогом. Хочу сказать, что по сравнению с другими блогами cinemma.ru достаточно достойный блог, поэтому полноценным говноблогом его не стоило называть.

RSS (really simple syndication) is something almost all websites use to broadcast their updates.  You can pick up all these "RSS feeds" in one place with an RSS feed reader.

There's a few different readers, but I'm going to focus on two: Google Reader and Microsoft Outlook.

Google Reader

www.google.com/reader

I use Google Reader because it's easy, free, and I don't have to download anything.  You need a Google Account* (they won't bother you, I promise!).  Just click the big "Create an Account" button and follow the steps.  Once you're logged in, check out the left-hand menu.  In the green box you'll see "Add Subscription."  Click there and type in a website you'd like to follow.  Google will see if it has an RSS feed.  The other way is checking on the site for the little orange icon (pictured to the right).

Outlook

I use Outlook for e-mail, but I'm not a big fan of their feed reader.  However, if you use Outlook for most of your organization you might want to try it out.  On the left, below your Inbox, Outbox and all the rest is an RSS Feeds folder.  Right-click the folder and you should see an "Add a New RSS Feed..." option.  Unfortunately, you'll have to know the exact address of the feed (which is different than the website; it ends in ".xml").  That means finding the orange icon (pictured above), right-clicking it and copying the link (in Internet Explorer it's "Copy Shortcut").

Wrapping Up

RSS is the best way to keep up with lots of websites without wasting a bunch of time visiting each one.  You get all the juicy content delivered to your virtual doorstep without leaving your virtual home.

*Google makes lots of free applications like Reader, and most require a Google Account.  Their stuff is almost always top-notch, so the account is well worth it.  We'll talk about more of their services in the future.

This is the error I'm getting:

var _STREAM_LIST_STREAM_PREF = {"streamprefs":{"user/05479955413994873644/label/people":[{"id":"is-expanded","value":"true"}, {"id":"subscription-ordering","value": "A9EFDAD0FAC453A7F59C622396B3A9518D45678E88FE5434A5579739F01DEEC71584DADF"}]," user/054799554139

Yeah... hot. My White Whine for the day.

Facebook Group We now have our Facebook group set up! Join it to participate in online discussions, share photos, and keep up to date on meeting events. Click Here to Join!

Flickr Group As if Facebook wasn't enough, we now have a Flickr account. Watch us on Flickr, a picture of you may even be uploaded!

Myspace We've had it for a while, but we don't want you to forget about it! Friend us!

RSS Feed For our more techno savvy ECO members, our new blog (here) offers easy RSS subscription. Just click on the link in the sidebar or here and let your Feed Reader wisk you away to a land of ECO-fun updates! Don't know about Feed Readers? Check out some more popular ones like Google Feed Reader, Bloglines, or (for the Firefox users out there) check out the best firefox feed readers.

I'm not going to write a full fledged review but it basically (ego*) incorporates all the relevant Web 2.0 apps of today: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, RSS and Weblogs such as this one.

Below is an example of the front page I'm greeted to every time I open the application:

Completely customizable, I've arranged it to show all my friends latest activities on Facebook/Twitter and YouTube on the left, all RSS weblog and news I've subscribed to (so rather than going to each page to check for updates I can just be informed when something new is written). And on the left are all my frequently visited sites.

I highly recommend this to anyone who uses any of these new Web 2.0 services in their daily lifestyle. This application brings them together quite nicely and seamlessly.

* in joke

Am 2 feed-uri la blog, pentru ca nu pot redirectiona feed-ul wordpress spre FeedBurner. Cel normal e updatat corect, cel de la FeedBurner, dupa vreo 2-3 resync-uri si 10 ping-uri:

Asta dupa ce articolele de ieri pe la pranz au aparut azi. Cei care folositi FeedBurner... voua va merge?

Jetzt soll laut Search Engine Land vielleicht schon Anfang November die reguläre Google Websuche nachziehen und mit RSS Feeds ausgestattet werden.

Diese Funktion wäre dann eine Erweiterung von Google Alerts, einem Service, mit dem man bislang Benachrichtigungen zu definierten Suchanfragen nur via email erhalten kann. Bis dato eine recht altmodische Variante, die zudem nach meinen Erfahrungen auch nicht besonders gut funktionierte. Die Erweiterung um RSS bietet endlich die Möglichkeit, die Suchanfragen viel komfortabler mit Hilfe von Startseiten oder Feedreadern z. B. für Monitoring Zwecke zu verarbeiten.

[via Google Blogoscoped]

Technorati Tags: google - suchmaschine - rss+feeds - google+alerts - suchergebnisse

Although I have never seen any statistics not even anecdotal, I am guessing I still in the majority of people not using an RSS reader (but that’s probably shrinking). The concept of needing to know immediately whenever any interesting sites are updated, made little sense as I am interrupted enough as things are.

About a year ago, our Digital Product Management tool RESCUE enabled an RSS feed for product alerts, in addition to the traditional email method. It seemed to me at the time, this was useful for this specific case. I guess I always thought of using the RSS Reader like instant messaging (which I also do not use due to the interruption factor).

But here is the thing that I realized (okay a little slow on the uptake) unlike IM I do not need to be listening constantly, I can use it to go gather the data (updates) and then look at them at that time or so I assume. I guess I am interested if and how others are using the RSS Reader function and why. Quite possibly I am missing the true power of a productivity tool rather than wasting time with the hunt and look method or worse waiting for the message to arrive in my inbox several hours/days later on things I am interested in.

So if anyone is out there listening, let us know how you feel about RSS Readers and what you recommend or at least what works for you.

1. The missionaries get a lot of funding from outside India. They distribute texts that mock Hinduism in many ways. They convert people by giving them some basic necessities of life. Agreed and I condemn them for this form of exploitation. But if not for the Christian missionaries, how long would the government even take to realize there are people inhabiting those tribal areas ? How long would the government/Bajrang Dal/RSS take to provide the same help ?

2. As far as I know, the Christian missionaries have not engaged in violent activities (the murder of the Swamiji in Orissa has been claimed by Maoists). When the terror strikes are said to be in retaliation of incidents like the Mumbai/Gujarat riots, we are quick to condemn them, even though it is a form of violence for violence. Then why do we not condemn a form of violence against non-violence equivocally, if not even more aggressively ? (and not blabber on about the cause of the issue, viz. conversions)  On that note, if tomorrow there is a terror attack which claims to be in retaliation for this incident, whom would you curse for your feeling of insecurity ? This switch to a violent form, in a chain of actions, is what is most dangerous according to me, because the chain never returns back to a non-violent form.

3. Assuming conversion is the main issue, why is it that we perceive Christiantity to be a bigger threat than Buddhism ? Kandhamal has about 40,000 more Christians from 75,000 in the last 10 yrs. But there are conversions where lakhs of people convert to Buddhism in a single day, where the vows include "I shall have no faith in Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara nor shall I worship them. (ditto for Rama, Krishna, Gauri, Ganpati)" and "I do not and shall not believe that Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu. I believe this to be sheer madness and false propaganda."

Is it just because Christians are easier targets than the Dalits in such huge numbers ? Is it just because they are not as violent ?

4. Now for the basic underlying issue. If you think religious conversion is fundamentally a wrong thing, none of the religions would have survived today if not for large scale conversions (and that includes Hinduism, Buddhism and every religion you can think of, all you need to prove it is induction).

5. And lastly, why do we have this general perception of Muslims as terrorists and Christians as converters ?

• les flux RSS
• les wikis
• les blogs
• les réseaux sociaux
• le bookmarking social
• google docs
• podcasting
• micro-blogging

autant d'idées pour des sujets de mémoire !

I am aware that there are some rendering issues with posts that contain multiple images, it appears the scrollbars do not detect the loaded content and react accordingly. I also need to better parse the RSS feed and improve font style rendering.

First, we need to make sure you have a decent anti virus and spyware protection. I was recently turned on to Avira Anti-Virus, and I must say I really like it. It's simple to use, and it's free! Avira has a Guard that, when set to Active, will scan all files coming into your PC for a virus, and stop any bad files before they can infect you. It will make a system beep, and pop up a list of actions to take with the suspected file. Make sure to keep the program updated so that your computer can be protected against the newest threats.

Next, you'll need some good spyware protection. I've been using Spybot Search & Destroy for a few years now, and I think it's probably my favorite. I've tried other anti-spyware programs, but this one just seemed to last longer on my computer. As soon as you download the program, download any updates that may be available, then immunize before you search for issues.

I suggest that you check for updates atleast once a day on both the anti-virus and the anti-spyware. Also, you should periodically scan your system for threats. How often you're on the Internet downloading things, will determine how often you should probably scan your system. If you're a casual user, you can get away with scanning once a week to twice a month, but still check for updates every day. For those of you who like to live on the Internet (like I've been known to do) and download tons of stuff, you might want to scan your computer every two or three days. You never know what can sneak in when you're not paying attention.

Recently, my Computer Forensics professor showed the class a neat little site with tons of free software. Open Source Windows is a site that has great free software that isn't loaded up with any viruses or spyware. There's stuff for webbrowsing (Mozilla Firefox), email (Mozilla Thunderbird), chat clients (Pidgin), RSS feeds (RSS Owl), to photo editing software (GIMP, Paint.net, Inkscape), 3D modeling (Blender), games and many more things.  Check out the screensaver Electric Sheep, it's visually stunning!

Next time I do a technology blog, I believe I'll do a phishing/internet security awareness article.

VCFS - Online collaboration, networking and reaching new audiences.

The media in the 20^th Century used to be the preserve of professional editors, journalists and writers, but in the last few years we have seen an explosion in citizen generated content.

Active citizens are generating the news; they have become the correspondents and photographers. These citizens are talking to each other, sharing their knowledge and experience and they are doing it online. Just having a website and hoping people visit is not enough!

Third sector organisations, voluntary, community and faith groups have lots to gain from engaging with new media and reaching new (particularly younger) audiences with their message. Online collaboration can help you create and share documents with your staff, members or clients involvement. Tools are available to make sure that the information you need regularly is delivered to your laptop or PC.

Would you or your Blackpool focussed group like to gain a greater understanding of the new online media services available and how you might use them effectively in your organisation?

If you would be interested in finding out more about:

• The bigger picture - what is happening with the internet and traditional media and why?
• An introduction to the main tools available and their different uses; Blogs, Twitter, Wikis, Flickr and social networking?
• Blogging and RSS?
• Strategic use of new media?

Then leave a comment on this post (we will not publish it unless you expressly want us to) and we'll get back to you about courses, training and coaching available.

Qu'allez-vous trouver sur ce site ?
Au fil de vos lectures, si vous restez un peu, si vous vous abonnez, si vous revenez, vous verrez que Mister Jukebox a une légère prédilection pour le rock, les indépendants, la pop, les artistes anglo-saxons. Mais pas uniquement. Par exemple, vous verrez que je parle d'Alain Souchon, une première fois, puis une deuxième fois. Ou encore d'Alain Bashung et un peu des Rita Mitsouko (dans le même article). Ou de William Baldé et son "rayon de soleil", le tube de l'été 2008. J'ai même écrit une lettre à Carla Bruni.
Bien sûr, vous apprendrez des choses sur Evan Dando, The Eels, Weezer, Ludo, The Ting Tings, Jason Mraz, etc...

La musique est un domaine subjectif et ce blog n'a pas la prétention de vous parler de tout. Comme tous les blogs, il s'agit avant tout d'une initiative personnelle. Vous ne trouverez donc pas d'exhausitivité, ni de critiques de tous les albums de la semaine.

Il s'agit d'un partage de passion avant tout (vous pouvez d'ailleurs laisser des commentaires et débattre). Vous trouvrez aussi sur ce blog quelques éclairages sur l'industrie musicale (les DRM par exemple), des astuces pour mieux utiliser la musique dans l'orinateur, des bonnes adresses de sites web sur la musique, et tout un tas d'autres trucs futiles ou pas.

Nous essayons également en permanence d'améliorer le site (vous pouvez maintenant écouter de la musique sur Mister Jukebox, et vous pouvez aussi vous abonner, par mail, ou en suivant le flux RSS du site).
On essayera par exemple assez rapidement d'améliorer le design et la lisibilité des colonnes noires...

Autre gros challenge : augmenter le nombre de lecteurs. Grâce à 23 000 années d'études, nous avons réussi à nous faire référencer sur google.com, mais curieusement, pas encore sur google.fr. Ça viendra...

N'hésitez pas à parler de ce site autour de vous. En attendant les badges et les autocollants "I love Mister Jukebox" (restrictions budgétaires... ;-)) pour faire de la promo, rien ne vaut un bon bouche à oreille.

Allez, je vous abandonne, je vais aller écouter la sexy Katy Perry et ses chansons funny pour vous en parler très vite.

Have fun on the blog.

Mister Jukebox

S'abonner à Mister Jukebox :
(c'est gratos)

par mail

par RSS

Now, I can see what everyone is doing, because i *do* read my RSS feeds.

Oh, and I hate ads, a lot.

Данный эксперимент был проведён с блогами cinemma.ru и блогом sed-plata. За пару дней после накрутки, на эти блоги подписалось более 20 подписчиков. Вот она сила! Кроме того, блоги поднялись на десятки пунктов в рейтинге.
Ещё расскажу небольшой секрет яндекса. Авторитетность блога в ЯППБ играет значение и при выдаче в результатах обычного поиска. А это уже дополнительный, столь нужный вам, траффик. Который легко конвертируется в зелёные американские деньги. Не упусти свой шанс или его возьмёт твой конкурент :).

Прочитал что Тёмма отказался от счётчика фидбёрнера. Что ж, жаль. Но всё же он не перестал ретранслировать свой фид через фидбёрнер. Да и неправильный у него подход.

RSS can REALLY save you time AND help you spot NEW opportunities!

If you want to know how RSS can save you time AND help you spot opportunities, take a look at this post from my marketing blog.  It also contains some useful links and everything you need to know in order to start benefiting from RSS!

Enjoy!