Bill and Melinda GATES Foundation

How is the web or the Internet being used for pro-social purposes ?

Bill Gates, pioneer in the field of microcomputing, is the most relevant person who can use Internet for a pro-social purpose.

Known as the richest man in the world, he created his Foundation in order to fight against poverty in third world countries. Just retired from Microsoft (since the 27th June of 2008), he now entirely devotes himself to his Foundation.

He created the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, with the objective to bring to the world population innovations as regards Health and Knowledge. Besides, he announced he will bequeath 95% of his fortune to his Foundation.

What is next is only one example of all to what his Foundation works for.


Mobiles classrooms reach rural Mexico

When Mireya Jimenez Rivera heard that Vasconcelos was coming to rural Cazones, Mexico, to teach computer and Internet skills, she thought it would be a great learning opportunity for her four children. But soon she was in the classroom herself. Vasconcelos helped Jimenez communicate online with her husband, who has been living and working in the United States for eight years. "I learned how to chat, how to create an email address, and how to search for information," she said. "I never thought that I would be able to learn these things.
The Vasconcelo Program : Jimenez is one of thousands of people who have benefited from the Vasconcelos Program, recipient of the foundation's 2008 Access to Learning Award. Created and managed by the secretary of education of the state of Veracruz, Mexico, the program provides computer access and training to underserved communities throughout the state. The Vasconcelos Program works to empower individuals and communities in Veracruz by helping people build technology skills that can improve their lives. Vasconcelos uses 24 all-terrain buses to bring computer access and learning opportunities to the state's underserved areas. These state-of-the-art mobile classrooms are equipped with laptop computers, self-directing satellite dishes with Internet connectivity, networked servers, video projectors, interactive white boards, and back-up generators.
Some Figures : Vasconcelos has provided education and support to more than 120,000 people. The program has also trained staff from 75 community technology centers, which are now thriving. To meet increasing demand, Vasconcelos plans to serve more than 200,000 people with nearly 50 buses by 2010.


"[...] This is a unique moment in history : Scientific and technological advances are making it possible to solve big, complicated problems like never before. In this century, our world has the opportunity to fulfill the great human promise that all lives have equal value." (Bill and Melinda Gates)

>> gatesfoundation

Allostreaming : free tv shows on-line !

What is your most exciting or innovative Internet tool or site ?

I have to tell you something before you read this paper... If you go once on this site, you will never be the same person again, you won't be able to go back...

Are you ready ? SURE ?

>> allostreaming

That's done, now.

So ?...

How do you feel ? OK ?

To tell the truth, a friend of mine told me about this site which broadcasts on-line tv shows and even some movies, but I visited it yesterday for the first time.

I could not leave it ; I had a lot of other things to do, more important and urgent, but I prefered to spend my time in watching tv shows whereas, strangely enough, I've always "hated" them...

You need some explanation. My parents, they... (Dad, Mom, I love you, whatever I can say...;) Well, Let's jump into the water !

My parents more or less forbade me to watch tv shows when I was younger, because they did not want me to spoil my time watching stupidities, even more when there were recorded laughs in them. They were right, in a sense. The result is that, today, I love going to the cinema. To be honest, it is my favourite hobby. However, I don't go to the cinema to watch crappy blockbusters. Well, There are some good ones, I won't generalize this thought, but I prefer, by far, to go to watch old "classical" movies, the ones who entered the cinema mythology ! I won't spread out over time on it, it will constitute full articles, later.

But, my parents' error was to generalize what they thought about tv shows. If thanks to them I was led towards the cinema, I missed some good things on tv too.

And since I'm studying Communication and Media, I took a decision, this year : I can't not to be open to what's going on tv. It is a media ! And to know it, to study it, I have to know what tv spreads, broadcasts.

What's more, there has been a lot of progresses in the scenarii on tv, and nowadays many tv shows are interesting thanks to the way they are thought by the today scriptwriters (more about this another time).

So you go on Allostreaming.com and can make a research writing the title of a tv show you particularly like. All the tv shows are not available, but you can be sure to find some mythical shows, even old ones.

And, above all, this allows you to discover new ones, and those you have missed when they were broadcast on tv !

You can also make a research by genre : action, animation, aventure, comedy, documentary etc. There are plenty different genres.

I wanted to make you discover an episode of the IT crowd (look at the introductory picture!), but unfortunately there are no available episodes (I was told there were some, so I don't know why they are not available), but to compensate I offer you the first episode of "How I met your mother".

http://67.15.249.191/1925/view_s.php?idep=1336&cat=S&id=20

Fun insured !

Wonderful Lexilogos...

What is your best English language learning tool on the Internet ?

The only real tool I use on the Internet and that helps me (but don't really teach me) is Lexilogos.

This is an on-line dictionnary, which is very usefull. I will not dare to say it is my best friend (oh God, I still have real friends, thanks... I'm not a geek yet!), but I'm happy and relieved if I can count on it to find a word I don't know in English and which is not in my paper dictionnary (which is not very complete).

The way to use it is very simple : you go on the page, you write the word you're asking for the translation, and you pick up one dictionnary amongst several like "Reverso", "Collins", "Cambridge", "Larousse", "Wordreference" etc. You can also look in special dictionnaries, like American ("American Heritage", "Century"...) or British ones ("Oxford", "Chambers"...). If you are not plenty satisfied with the one you chose, no problem, just pick up another ! Self-service... You can't be disappointed.

It also works if you are looking for a word you need to translate from English to French.

I don't know all the subtleties of this tool yet but one can find etymologies too.

Well, enjoy !

>> lexilogos

Internet or A place where Freedom is overwhelming

Here we are ! I've been thinking for a long time I would never have a blog, but... Times change ! And since I'm in the CMM class, in Celsa-La Sorbonne, it was time for me to try this kind of "new" possibility which is a blog, to express oneself. Thanks to Bob Spaulding, my new english teacher, I've got new objectives this year ! waow. But the question is : How to create a blog and feed it in an interesting way without telling one's life to everybody, especially on Internet ? Well, the main subject will remain e-culture and communication. Let's go !