Bebo

DecTech <dectech>

"Student Technology"

	DecTech3: the internet	333 jours il y a
	I’m doing a multiple part series on a big topic called THE INTERNET AND THE WWW! This isn’t about text book definitions; it’s just to explain what’s behind the web services you use every day. The internet is a global network of linked computers. The World Wide Web is a set of documents linked together. The words Internet and the WWW aren’t interchangeable. The Internet can be used to access the world wide web along with other services like gaming, chat and email. The USA created ARPA, Advanced Research Projects Agency, in 1958 in response to Sputnik. ARPA created the ARPANET in 1969, which connected universities in LA and California. The term internet was first used in 1974. The World Wide Web was invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. It was published by CERN in 1991. Today’s internet has tons of cool new features including Blogs, Podcasts and Wiki’s. The word Blog came from web log, and is a page with regularly updated posts usually of a similar theme. Recent research found there were 112 million blogs on the internet. I’ll talk about Podcasts and Wiki’s in more detail soon, but basicly, a Podcast is audio or video delivered by a feed on the internet. Wiki’s are pages built and edited by multiple people. The most popular example of this is Wikipedia, however wiki’s can be useful for smaller projects as well. To get on the internet you need something to put up and somewhere to publish it. Content is what you want to publish on the internet. Lets look at some reasons to do this: -A club or society can use a website to promote events and let members keep in touch. -Having a personal blog with regular updates can help friends keep in touch with you and promote yourself to future employers. -The internet is a great place to run a campaign as all the services you’ll need are free. Perhaps the best place to start is Bebo. If you were to build a website yourself, users would have to register to post comments and use forums. Everyone is already on Bebo, so they have accounts and they won’t need to register. Most clubs and societies have a Bebo group and find it useful. I asked Sinéad Wright, Co-President of the GLB why they use bebo. “We use Bebo because we saw it as the most active network on Campus. It was blocked from Long Corridor because it was so popular that people couldn’t get a computer.” What features do you find useful? “The blogs and polls have been useful for the name change. The blogs allow people to respond to upcoming events.” I’ve just recently started using Facebook. It has similar features to Bebo, but a different interface. It isn’t as popular in Ireland, but it is growing, so keep an eye on it. If social networks aren’t your thing, why not check out Google’s Blogger. Blogger gives you a webpage where you can post updates with text, pictures or videos. There are really easy settings to change the look or what appears on the page. Just head over to www.blogger.com to check it out, and to see it in action, go to declan06.blogspot.com. But if lengthy posts aren’t your thing perhaps you want to start Twittering. Twitter lets you answer the question ‘What are you doing?’ Your posts are limited to 140 characters, so it doesn’t take too long to update. There is a big community in Twitter, and you can message other users. You can also send updates from your mobile phone. Get started at www.twitter.com or check it out at www.twitter.com/dagda. What if you want a combination of the above? The idea of Tumblr is to let you post whatever you want, if it’s just a few words, a long post or photo, audio, video or link. Check it out at www.tumblr.com or see it in action at dagda.tumblr.com. In a later issue I’ll cover more advanced web development Including how to set up a CMS and how to write your own site from scratch. If you have any questions or want something featured in DecTech, email declan.p.meenagh@nuim.ie and don’t forget to come to The Speakeasy every Tuesday from 1.30-2.30 if you want any help with computers or to talk about the column. No question is too stupid!
	posté par DecTech