Do you speak Celsa English ?

Posters to promote institutes that teach you a new language are everywhere to find these days, especially English ones.

It’s time to see if I should sign in one of them !

But first, I took a (free) test on this website after several other tests. It is called “Test my English” (how original!).

What I liked about this one is that there is an audio part when you are suppose to listen to a dialogue and there answer questions about it. It trains you to differentiate the various accents and adds a little fun to the test. I also liked the fact that the questions are getting harder and harder (well… not THAT hard!), so you have to stay focused until the end!

The questions can be about vocabulay, grammar or understanding, and that variety is a plus too… Besides, the end of the test is based on economy and company culture, which is pretty related to our field.

It took me at least 20 minutes to fill it, whereas other tests only took two (this is another criteria according to me to judge if a test is reliable or not).

Well, I am not going to keep the suspense much longer, here are my results!

You can also click there to find them!

I think I won’t need that English institute after all… !

Go Wiki!

Let’s face it : Wikipedia saved my life a couple of times when I was in preparatory school : an impromptu presentation, a quick biography or a few books references ? It never let me down (or rarely).

But before entering CELSA, I have to admit I never really cared to know where the content came from, who the authors were, and most of all, if they were reliable. For me, Wikipedia was just a never-ending spring from where I could draw all sort of information.

Until my internship last Summer, I did not know how it really worked “behind the screen”, meaning I did not know how I could post an article, which where the limits, how the articles were moderated… Then, my boss at the time asked me to write an article about the company I was working for. The dive into the backstage of Wikipedia begun. I had to become familiar with the very strict chart of Wikipedia (systematically give your sources), with its codes (how to build a hierarchy in your titles, a summary, how to put a picture, an insert…), and its… moderating system!

Indeed, once I finished my article about the company, I posted it, very proud to “leave a track” of myself in this institution such as Wikipedia. Alas! A couple of hours later, I received a mail from a moderator, telling me my article had been deleted because it was considered as a doublet. Indeed, I had copied several passages of my company’s website, and I was then considered as the ultimate usurpator !!

But fortunately, I could declare myself as the author of the text, and tried to send my article again. Once it was done (I had to pass several steps, very solemn to declare myself as the owner of the comments), I really thought the chase was over. I was wrong…

A few hours later, I received another mail telling me that my article had been deleted (again!), because my company was not famous enough to have its own article on Wikipedia!! Crazy isn’t it?

From this day on, I know for a fact that it is not that simple to write an article on Wikipedia, but it reassured me, because I know now that there is a strong filter between what you post and what appears in the end (even stronger than what I thought!).

For the sake of my English class, I have to try the “Wikipedia article” quest again. The hardest part about writing an article (since I already know how to use the Wikipedia tools, thanks to my internship) is first and foremost to find a subjet which hasn’t got an article yet, and that you master enough to write something interesting about. My choice fell on my hometow, Chambéry, since I noticed that the article was rather incomplete.

And here it is !!

Last time I checked, my article was still online, I finally managed to post on Wikipedia!

But I do not want to be misunderstanded, I think this screen from Wikipedia’s moderators is necessary, and even vital for this encyclopedia to survive. Paradoxically, it is those restrictions that allow Wikipedia to stay “the free encyclopedia”. It keeps indeed its credibility and reliability, the most important element about an encyclopedia, wether it is online or not.

For this reason and without any intention to sound prophetic, I think Wikipedia’s future promises to be under the best auspices…

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As I explained it in a previous post, books are omnipresent in my life. I cannot imagine leaving my house or going to bed without one.

But being faithful towards books in general does not mean I am faithful to one in particular. Actually, I am pretty flickle when it comes to read, I often start a book and never finish it. It frequently happens that I have three books underway, one for the subway (light in both senses of the term), one for my bed and one for school (boring!) or for my Memoire.

What if a tool could gather those three books in one, so I could choose which one to read over the course of my desire? Don’t look to far, here comes the e-reader!

I am still a bit reluctant to the object, but I have to admit it can be really handy : just as you bring your whole discography in your iPod, why not bringing your whole library in the e-book device? On top of portability and sufficiency, we can also add their readability even in the dark, thanks to their lighted screen.

But on the other hand, the battery of a real book will hardly ever let you down, whereas an e-reader’s one might. More over, I already spend hours in front of my laptop or TV screen everyday, I do not see myself  with another screen in my life, as long as I can prevent it at least.

So far, I am still not convinced of the viability of the e-book, I am not saying I will never have one, (“Never say never” says the adage), but I do not see myself buying one anytime soon…

But for the sake of hypothesis, my prerogative would be the COOL-ER for its elegant, uncluttered design that reminds me of my lucky iPod.

 

See this great article about the pros and cons of the COOL-ER. You can also watch the video below to see a demo of it :

For now, I have a book to finish!

 

Internet’s Ten Commandments

I have already compared Internet to a messiah in this post. It occurs to me these days that Internet has become a true religion to some people, and I would be lying if I did not include myself in them. If we were to invent a new internet ideology, we would soon come across the problem of the doctrine and the rules.

So what I offer today are the Internet’s Ten Commandments!

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall spend at least two hours a day worshipping me and learning about everything that is new in my vastness.

You shall buy an almighty antivirus software, so that you do not get lost with the wrong waves that circulate.

You shall learn how to worm your way into the millions of my other followers, by posting videos, music and pictures, so you can become fashionably famous.

You shall update your professional profile on LinkedIn of Viadeo in order to get a job without trouble.

You shall raise a virtual plant or pet that you cannot raise in real life because your flat is too small.

You shall master the internet language, with word such as “irl”, “lol”, “roflmao”, “afk”, “ty” or “stfu” (no need to put an hyperlink for that one!).

You shall learn how to make compatible your real life, real friends and real wife and your virtual identity, your online friends and lover.

You shall not download illegally, or if you do, you shall not get caught.

You shall live several lives in one, kill thousands of aliens, destroy barbarian hordes, become shaman of your guild, build legendary cities and finally… go to your small real bed when you turn your computer off.

I did not think following a doctrine could be so funny! I guess it is true, Internet’s God works in mysterious ways…

My video resume

Took me a while to edit this one… But here it is !

“There is no darkness but ignorance.”

Or so it seems, according to Shakespeare. Today’s theme is then modestly entitled “internet and ignorance”, in other words, what I don’t know (yet!) about the internet. I will start with one of my challenges this year : e-learning!

What about e-learning?

I think the video says it all!

E-learning is about learning fun, learning new, learning 2.0 and may be, someday, learning AT HOME!! (and I know someone who could use some rest (←)… ) But it is first and foremost learning online! Here comes a little confession : I took my first online lesson almost 10 years ago with the hilarious Adibou. Thanks to him, my brother and I convinced our parents to get internet at home, so we could study online and meet pupils from all over France. Of course, as soon as we got it, we quickly abandoned Adibou to explore new horizons online. My first experience with the web was then already connected to e-learning.

Internet, or the Packet Theory

But let us be honest here, there is a lot of other things we don’t know about internet, the first being the most obvious: how does it work? How come that when I type a letter on my computer, it can travel to the other side of the world within a second? How is it possible to share pictures, videos or else with anybody anywhere in the world? Here is a beginning of explanation that I found on this interesting website. Don’t worry, I cut the technical parts!

[...] The way information travels through the Internet is pretty neat. Take for instance, how data gets from point A to point B (say, the text and images from this webpage [...] to your browser). One way to do it is to open a channel from point A to B: data is transmitted in a dedicated circuit until all the data is transfered along the same path. It’s a pretty fast way to send information, but it comes at a high cost: a dedicated circuit has to remain open until the last bit of data is sent. This method is called circuit switching and it’s the system used by telephone companies.

In the early 1960s, Paul Baran, Donald Davies and Leonard Kleinrock, working independently, came up with a different way to send data. First, large chunks of data are divided into several small packets that are sent through the network. Each packet may take a different route to reach its destination. Once every packet has arrived, then they are re-assembled into the original data.

Packet switching may sound counterintuitive (it is slower than circuit switching and packets may get lost, thus requiring a re-send), but it has its advantages. For one, because there is no single path of communication, the packets can route themselves to avoid damaged or congested networks. [...]

blabla

It looks pretty clear to me now! Next time I will try to understant the TCP/IP protocol!

Is there a cameraman in the room?

Seriously, the other thing I don’t know about things I can do on the internet (for now, hopefully!) is how to edit a film! It is not very handy, given the fact that I have to release my video CV next Thurday, but fingers crossed! All I need is a little elbow grease to cross that red line!

Until then, check this website for more ideas of what you can do on the internet that you never even imagined…

Mom, meet my cybercriminal boyfriend

Pure fiction? Not quite. The cybercrime “industry” represents minimum 100 billions of dollars per year, according to the Kaspersky specialists (a company specialized in cyber protection). Cybercrime might then become a lucrative job and cybercriminals the latest suitable match!

A funny paradox

Cybercrime happens to be both trendy and scary.

Trendy, as in the Swedish bestseller Millenium and the mysterious, gothic, brilliant, computer genius Lisbeth Salander, who happens to be one the best hackers in Sweden. At the end of the first book, she embezzles millions of Euros from a crooked Swedish industrial, and squanders them in the second book. She holds a sort of fascination for the readers, myself included, and one does not blame her for a second to be a cybercriminal. It is also common knowledge, that cybercriminals end up working with the biggest computer companies (Microsoft, Norton…) in order to protect the same softwares they used to break.

Scary on the other hand, because TV shows and articles are multiplying on the subject, fuelling the general anxiety. Theft of information, telecommunications piracy, electronic vandalism and terrorism, sales and investment fraud, illegal interception of information are a number of examples that show the diversity and extent of the phenomenon.

Still, cybercrime is getting more and more common. We accept it as the little 1% risk consideration at the back of our head when we surf online, believing or hoping it won’t happen to us.

A tricky position

So I am asking myself a very French question: what the h*** is the Government doing? Well, the answer is not that simple. States are trying to organize to oppose this new kind of terrorism, (check about that the intervention about cybercrime of Michelle Alliot-Marie, the former French Home Minister) but it is always complicated to come across a common solution among so many countries, especially when some of them are profiting this black economy, and even encouraging it. Schools are opening in Russia with the support of the government, to train cybercriminals to spy on foreign institutions. If cybercrime brings in money or information to some States, why kill the goose that lays the golden egg?

A scary example

I will pass over the many examples of people who have been robbed or whose identity has been extorted, it is unfortunately common thing now. A curious case though relates to a “murder-for-hire” Internet plot : a 48-year-old woman, married and residing in Michigan held an Internet affair with a married man residing in California. Even though the couple physically met in some occasions, their romance was mostly conducted through electronic and telephonic communications. One day, she decided to place an online advertising on Craiglist.org titled ‘freelance’ employment, offering US$5,000 plus ‘expenses” to murder her Californian lover’s wife. Three persons responded to the ad, but luckily they went to the police instead of going to California.

This exemplifies how common criminal law cases are being transferred to the cyber world, and how the law has to adapt these new types of crime.

A justice issue

Cybercrime brings up new justice questions : how to reprimand crimes that are virtually committed ? How to quantify and measure actions that have been distorted by the internet prism ? In 2002, Spielberg was already addressing this issue in his Minority Report, where a cyber police was able to predict the crimes that were going to be committed. But when they arrested the “murderer-to-be”, he technically did not commit a crime, and sometimes did not know he was about to. Can we charge somebody for something he did not do ?