English 4 the New Media

Thank You & Goodbye

2011-07-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

1843-2011

The UK's Sunday tabloid News of the World says googbye after 168 years and 7.5 million readers once some phone hacking allegations have been proved to be true. The paper apologised for it in a full-page editorial. The last edition frontpage contains a montage some of the most famous exlusives and scoops as it can be seen in the image above by Reuters.

Cyberspace Independence Declaration

2011-05-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

Nowadays there are people around the world who are working hard to change things in favour of Mankind. They want to speak loudly and be listened by a huge number of citizens without any kind of frontiers. Internet has become the bridge to do it and “Cyberactivism” is the name of this movement.

Cyberactivism takes advantages of all the resources that Internet provides in order to keep people in touch by using the social networks to pass on relevant messages. Idealistic and influential people have created websites where everybody can follow them and share their oppinions with the rest of the world.

One of the most active cyberactivist fellows is John Perry Barlow. He encourages Mediterranen bloggers to work together to change the current world. Recently, he was in Javea to explain his points of view and how everybody is important in this task to revome all the obstacles for a fairer world.

The Internet as a tool for change

2011-05-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

One of the main advantages that the Internet has brought to our society is its potential as a tool that allows citizens to organize themselves. People from different countries can arrange meetings and demonstrations with an ease that was only a dream just a decade ago. The first examples of this cyberactivism were the protests organized by the movements against globalization which followed the summits of the G-8, the G-20 and the IMF. But the real capacity of change that the Internet can bring to the free world has been seen in the recent protests in the Arab world. Although the official media can be easily controlled by totalitarian governments and dictatorships, the web has provided the people with an instrument to make public what their leaders want to keep hidden. Censorship is not as easy as it used to be, although some countries, especially China, have unfortunately succeed in their attempts to control what appears and what must be deleted fromn the Internet, as the tragic example of the late Nobel Peace Prize shows. Although Liu Xiacobo was already imprisoned when he was awarded with the prize, his conditions of confinement toughtened after that. Besides, his wife and other dissidents were also arrested. But none of these is known in

China

, as far as the government has achieved to block all the news concerning this matter on the Internet.

However, the uprisings in

Egypt

Libya

and

Tunisia

show that the Internet can also cause changes in the countries where democracy is a dream and freedom a utopy. The Net has been the main tool used by the people in order to organize themselves and to occupy the streets peacefully. Social networks such as Avaaz launched in 2007, have become a powerful arm in the quest for freedom in the Eastern countries. Besides, the new technologies have also turned these demonstrators into street journalists, as far as the images we can see from these revolts have been taken and transmitted by them. Their governments did not want the Western world to know what was going on in their countries, but we have seen what happened thanks to the common people. It has been proved that a mobile phone can be as dangerous as a gun, and the fall of Mubarak is a proof of that.

Let's Talk It Easy: Online Learning Communities to improve your English

2011-05-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

The Web offers nowadays a wide range of sites and resources to learn a new language. We already knew about the existence of a series of websites that are working as communities where you can learn and put into practice the language in an international environment. But which are the real possibilities these sites can offer us as language learners?. After browsing the web and getting a rough idea of the most popular ones, we designed a research procedure to be followed by everyone in our work team. The guidelines were as follows:

 1 - Country of origin (UK?France?Italy?USA?...) e-address, contact, how long it's been running

 2 - Is there any need of registration? is it free? do they ask you to pay for some fee? how much?

 3- Has it got a chat? videoconference? does it include oral and written production?

 4 - Profile of participants (number of members, sex, age, studies, nationalities/native speakers)

 5 - Are there any teachers supervising the language being used or is it just free production without

 any language control?

 6 - Is it easy to be used? is it regularly updated? would you recommend it to Spanish students?

 why (not)?-overall assessment of website (rate it 1-5)

BUSUU www.busuu.com

Overall assessment: ☺☺☺

The name “Busuu” comes from a dying language only spoken by eight people in Cameroon. Apart from creating a fine tool to learn languages, the two young founders of the website have ambitious plans. Actually, they are attempting to raise awareness about nearly extinct languages such as Busuu and Squamish (native Canadian).

Busuu website is a platform with a user-friendly and intuitive interface. Users are people from all over the world and both sexes, but mainly from South America, Europe, Australia, Russia and its surrounding countries. The age of the users ranges from 15 up to 75 years old, or even older.

Registration is needed. You must set which languages you speak as well as which languages you would like to learn, selecting the beginner, intermediate or advanced level. Nowadays, they offer seven languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Russian, but the number of languages is increasing. Two kind of membership are available: Premium and Free. Premium membership (payment, though free 7-days trial period) is great: downloadable & printable PDFs of units; audio files , audio podcasts, video units, listening comprehension exercises; grammar units and customized reviews. Free membership has more limited features than the Premium, but enough to start learning. Prices of the Premium membership range from €15.99 monthly fee (1 month) up to €5.99 monthly (12 months).

Although you can exchange conversation with native people, there aren't any teachers supervising the language being used, however, you can report an abuse. Another drawback is that your writing will be corrected by native people but not teachers...and what’s more, you will have to correct compositions of the languages you speak as a native or advanced level! José Luis Llorens

Palabea.net

Overall assessment: ☺☺☺

Matthias Spanic, a former teacher of Spanish in Berlin, founded this site, which is located in a German Server, in 2007. Its clear interface and simple design make Palabea very user-friendly. Once you have registered and declared which language you know and which one(s) you intend to learn, all the tools and resources that the site provides are free. So, what are you waiting for to sign up and start to improve your language skills?.

In the site, you can learn English with a lot of modern multimedia methods: textchat and/or videochat, podcasts, video lesson, dictionaries, and also submit, read and edit documents. The exact number of members is unknown, but most users are young people wishing to learn and improve a language. There aren’t any teachers supervising the language being used, which from my point of view is a great drawback, but the best of all is that you can contact native speakers quite easily. As soon as your profile is visible, you get friend requests (I got 7 in a week!).

Palabea doesn’t have any publicity interfering your navigation, but there are partners, such as languages schools and broadcasting companies sponsoring the website, and there is even a link where users can give away their donations to improve the web and a fan boutique with merchandising stuff. Carolina Cortés

http://www.lingq.com/. Overall assessment: ☺☺☺

LingQ’s online language learning system is developed by The Linguist Institute, a company located in Vancouver, Canada, and founded by Steve Kaufmann and his son Mark. According to Kaufmann, the LingQ method has everything you need to practice all the skills and become fluent in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, Swedish and Japanese. The website is up-to-date and new material is continuously being added.

All you need to join the LingQ online community is a computer with an Internet connection and register. If you are willing to pay for it, unlimited graduated lessons will be available; if not, a free account offers you 5 lessons and the chance to try resources such as getting help from a tutor, joining live conversations with students from all over the world, taking part in interesting blogs and forums, learning new vocabulary, listening and downloading podcasts and writing your compositions which will be corrected by tutors.

Although I enjoyed the experience of a two-week free trial, I think I would not pay for the subscription. The interaction in the website is quite nice, but the grammar and vocabulary sections are not very convincing since I did not find them quite effective, actually I found them a bit too boring. María Silva.

MY LANGUAGE EXCHANGE

www.mylanguageexchange.com

Overall assessment: ☺☺☺

“My Language Exchange” was founded in 2001 in Montreal by Helene Cournier and Dan Yuen with the purpose of helping students of foreign languages to meet native speakers of the languages they are studying. As the homepage indicates, over one million users from 130 different countries practice over 115 languages, from Armenian to Zulu. It is free to sign up as a regular member, a possibility that offers learners to participate in group discussions, post messages in the bulletin board and reply to gold members’ messages and emails. On the other hand, gold members must pay a fee that ranges from 6$ a month to 24$ a year. The advantage of being a gold member is that you can contact any member of the site, whereas as a regular member you can only reply to those gold members who have contacted you.

Language exchange with other members is carried out through the text chat and the voice chat, and there is also the possibility of meeting penpals. Other appealing aspect of this site is the bulletin board, a forum for discussions quite useful where members help each other to clear their doubts and make suggestions (for instance, you can recommend books or films that may be useful in the learning process). To sum up, “My Public Exchange” is an interesting web page for second language learners, although accessibility is limited if you are not a gold member. Ricardo Hernando.

WIZIQ http://www.wiziq.com/

Overall assessment: ☺☺ ☺☺

I've been browsing through different sites and signed up and ask for some information to see if their content is really regularly updated, which are supervised by qualified persons and so on, and the truth is that nobody has answered me. I have a bad experience with online courses so I am reluctant to learn a subject in this way. I've been navigating on Talk and learn and Busuu. Finally, I chose wiziq because I think it is the best site to maintain feedback with people not only with a teacher but with people in general. I spoke in a chat and conversations have been very interesting. Furthermore, WiZiQ community seemed the most reliable, and the best to advertise and communicate with the public. This community is in YouTube, Twitter and Facebook too.

WiZiQ is an online learning platform. The site is designed to help students and teachers meet partners and to provide an online virtual classroom learning environment.

The site was started by Harman Singh (India). WiZiQ's Alexa traffic rank for India places it among the top 1,000 highest traffic sites, and its global Alexa traffic rank exceeds many of its competitors (Edufire, Myngle, Sclipo, GuruFi). WiZiQ has also been featured on Mashable, ZDNet, NYTimes, Silicon India, Sramana Mitra's blog (who is a columnist for Forbes), and other blogs.The age of the users ranges from 18 up to 75 years old, or even older.Teachers provide lessons in standardized tests. The WiZiQ virtual classroom runs using a web browser and Adobe Flash. On the site one can find online tests, tutorials, and recorded classes. WiZiQ also serves as a social networking site to bring together educators and students from around the world. There is no vetting of the teachers on the site, as anybody can become a teacher and anybody can be a student. Teachers upload their profiles advertising what they can teach, tutorials, their experience and their credentials and students can run searches, find recorded classes to watch, tutorials to take, or teachers to work with.

One of the most distinguishing features of WiZiQ is that it offers class sizes of up to 500 people for a low price. In other respects it has similar features to other e-learning, web conferencing and other online learning platform providers. Estela Gomariz Calderón

www.kantalk.com Overall assessment: ☺☺ ☺☺

KanTalk is “a cool fun community, a free space where you can practice spoken English” (or any other language, there are many more from Portuguese to Slovak). It started in January 2007. After registering you can edit your profile and you can even record your voice so people can get to know you better. You can make friends by sending people you might be interested in a message and later be accepted by them, the same procedure as in Facebook. Actually, one of the best things about this community is that you can use your oral abilities by means of a Skype account but also by producing your own recordings (it’s really easy!) and sharing them with anyone who would like to listen to you and answer with any other recording. From my viewpoint, this video and recording option is one of the best things the site offers. I also browsed the list of groups and their interests. One of the most popular groups are for instance “Beginners English in Skype” with 333 members or “Pronunciation of English” with 211 member, but most of the groups are not very active, maybe because everybody can create a group. Groups can deal with many subjects of interest from Photo Poetry to 2008 Beijing Olympic Games or the videogame Call of Duty, but also with Grammar, Skills (Reading & Writing, Listening & Speaking) and even test preparation (FCE, IELTS, TOEFL). I decided to ask for permission to belong to a group (Book Club). Each group has got a Discussion Board with the possibility of participating in different discussion threads, so I took part in some discussion. Then, I made a Polish friend, Wojtek. Later, I followed some lessons about Brazil and Internet addiction, based on an interesting article from The New York Times: “If your kids are awake, they are probably online”). I discovered that I could contact through Skype with people who were online and I decided to talk to an interesting Canadian teacher, Kyran Kennedy, who lives in Ontario. He is a very active member of Kan Talk (he’s got 121 friends!) Of course I would recommend you this site (although better not keep high expectations). I am sure you will find someone interesting to talk to. Lola Alemany

Andrew Lansley Rap, a viral video: Success of a YouTube video criticising UK Department of Health

2011-04-12T01:27:00.001-07:00

Here’s that rare thing, a proper modern protest song – from a young guy from Loughborough who works on the bins.

MC NxtGen, aka 22 year old Sean Donnelly – aspiring hiphop artist and currently a dustman by trade – has skewered the motives behind controversial planned reforms of the National Health Service with his Andrew Lansley Rap – directed squarely on the UK Health Secretary who is pushing for reforms, including what have been described as the unlikeliest rap lyrics ever written.

Chorus:
Andrew Lansley, greedy,
Andrew Lansley, tosser,
the NHS is not for sale you grey haired manky codger. (x4)

So the budget of the PCTs, he wants to hand to the GP's,
Oh please. Dumb geeks are gonna buy from any willing provider,
get care from private companies.
They saw the pie and they want a piece;
Got their eyes on the P's like mice for the cheese.
I talk truth when I ride the beat, you talk shite when you speak,
see money when you close your eyes to
sleep.

So fall back -- your face looks like a shrivelled up ball sack.
The stuff that you chat is bull crap, I'm sure Andy Pandy snorts crack.
Health minister, I mean sinister.
You know your public will finish ya,
is your brain really that miniature?
Give yourself an enema.

Made filthy rich by those who represent Walkers Crisps,
Mars and Pizza Hut, proved your a health slut and your always talking shit.
A hundred and thirty four pound an hour every week, that's quite a lot of quids;
and you came to the conclusion that the food industry should be a little less strict.

Scandal disclosed that you flipped your second home.
You said your claims were within the rules, filled your pockets, took us for jokes;
so how would you cope when broke folk get ill, injured and broke,
but don't have the dough,
to get their life back on the road, so poor die slow, and the rich take control.

(Chorus x 4)

Lansley's white paper: "Liberating the NHS"
sets out a plan where we'll become more like the U.S.
and care will be farmed out to private companies,
who will sell their service to the NHS via the Gps,
who will have more to do with service purchase arrangements
than anything to do with seeing their patients.

He's been given cash
by John Nash,
chairman of Care UK:
a private healthcare provider,
who, if they have their way,
will be the biggest beneficiaries
of conservative Lib Dem policies
to privatise healthcare and pull apart the welfare state.

These plans have been slagged by patient organisations,
charities and unions,
nursing and medical institutions.
The Royal College of GPs even joined the attack,
looked closely at the proposals
and said they were crap.
Say yes for the NHS, Andrew Lansley can suck on David Cameron's breast.
His quest is for the rich to pay less, and the poor have to stress, it'll be one big mess.

Anrew Lansley, codicioso

Andrew Lansley, mamón

El Sistema Sanitario Nacional no está en venta, viejo sucio canoso

Así es el presupuesto de los fondos de asistencia primaria , él quiere pasárselo a los médicos de cabecera

¡Oh, por favor! Los cretinos van a comprarle a cualquier proveedor servicial,

obtendrán la asistencia de empresas privadas.

Vieron el pastel y quieren su parte;

Pusieron sus ojos en los médicos como ratones en el queso

Digo la verdad cuando cabalgo sobre el ritmo; dices mierda cuando hablas

Ves dinero cuando cierras los ojos para dormir.

Así que retírate – tu cara parece una bolsa de huevos reseca

Lo que dices es mierda, estoy seguro de que Andy Pandy esnifa crack

Ministro de salud, quiero decir siniestro

Sabes que la gente acabará contigo

¿de verdad tienes tan pequeño el cerebro?

Ponte un enema

Asquerosamente rico gracias a los que representan a patatas fritas Walker,

Mars y Pizza Hut, demostrado que tu sistema sanitario es una puta y siempre estás diciendo mierda

134 libras por hora a la semana, eso son bastantes libras ;

y llegaste a la conclusión de que la industria alimenticia debería ser un poco menos estricta.

Se ha revelado el escándalo de que tiraste tu segunda casa.

Dijiste que tus peticiones cumplían las reglas, te llenaste los bolsillos, nos tomaste por bobos

Así que cómo te las arreglarías cuando la gente arruinada enferme, herida y rota pero no tenga pasta

Para devolver su vida al camino, así que los pobres mueren lentamente y los ricos toman el control.

(Estribillo x 4)

Anrew Lansley, codicioso

Andrew Lansley, mamón

El Sistema Sanitario Nacional no está en venta, viejo sucio canoso

El libro blanco de Lansley: “Liberalizando el Sistema Sanitario Nacional”

Establece un plan con el que nos volveremos más Estados Unidos

Y la asistencia se la encargarán a empresas privadas

Que venderán sus servicios al Sistema Sanitario Nacional a través los médicos de cabecera

Que se dedicarán más a servicios de atención al cliente

Que con nada que tenga que ver con ver a sus pacientes.

Le ha dado pasta

Johny Nash

Presidente de Asistencia del Reino Unido

Una empresa proveedora de servicios sanitarios privada

Quien, si encuentran la forma,

Se convertirá en la gran beneficiaria

De las políticas socialdemócratas conservadoras

De privatizar el sistema sanitario para derribar el estado de bienestar.

Estos planes han sido denunciados por organizaciones de pacientes, de caridad y sindicatos, instituciones médicas y de enfermería.

Incluso el Colegio Real de Médicos de Cabecera se sumó al ataque,

Leyó con atención las propuestas

Y dijo que eran mierda.

Di que sí al Sistema Sanitario Nacional, Anrew Lansley le puede chupar la teta a David Cameron.

Su intención es que los ricos paguen menos, y los pobres tienen que soportar la presión,

Será un lío enorme.

(Estribillo x 4)

GLOSSARY
PCTs; Primary Care Trusts
“I mean sinister” juega con el doble significado de “mean”; querer decir (verbo) y miserable (adjetivo)
Quid; libra (coloquial)

Traducción realizada por Ricardo Hernando

Problems that can be caused by computer work

2011-03-06T12:03:00.000-08:00

Computers make our life and work easier... and quicker. Thanks to the innovation of computer and IT, what used to take days and even weeks will only take us some hours (or even minutes). But, just like anything else in this world, the benefits they bring come with some drawbacks too.

One of the issues being linked to consistent usage of computer are health problems that pose danger for one’s wellbeing. Working in front of the computer for several hours a day can take a toll on a person’s health. Below you will find some of the common health risks associated with frequent computer use and what you can do about it.

1. Eye Disease

Since we stare at the bright computer screen for many hours a day, our eyes are the first ones affected. Dry eyes, blurred vision, eyestrain, and glaucoma are just few of the many eye-related problems that can be experienced after prolonged use of the computer.

When we work in front of the computer, the bright screen can strain our eyes, and the fact that we do not blink as much as we do also contributes negatively to our eye health. To minimize the computer’s danger to our eyes, take a break every one hour and rest them for a few minutes. See to it that there is no glare on the screen and that the monitor should not be facing the windows.

2. Bad Posture, Back and Neck Pains

Sitting for a long period can have adverse effects on your posture, back and neck. These problems are often a result of poor seating posture and poor organization of computer equipment on the desk more than the actual use of computer. The best way to avoid these problems is to ensure the proper ergonomics of your work area.

For one, you should sit back in an ergonomic chair that has an adjustable height and tilting back. Make sure the top line of the screen should be at eye level or below it. Place the chair in an arm’s length from the monitor so that you do not stick your neck out. There should be a stable footrest that enables your thighs to be parallel to the floor.

3. Headaches

It is common to experience throbbing in the head after long hours of using the computer. It is also possible that this headache would be accompanied by dizziness and exhaustion. To avoid such problems, take regular breaks in between your work.

4. Hurting Hands and Wrists

Hands and wrists usually ache or feel numb after working in front of the computer all day. It even causes carpal tunnel syndrome at times. To prevent this condition, wear splints so that your wrists would not bend too high or too low. Give your fingers, hands, and wrists a break every few hours by holding a tennis ball and giving it a few squeezes to relieve joints and muscles.

It is also important to remember that old adage that says, “All work and no play make Jack a dull a boy.” After working in front of the computer all day, you need to get out, breathe some fresh air and do outdoor activities to give yourself a nice break that you truly need.

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Dry-Eyes-Headaches-and-other-Problems-Caused-by-Computer-Work

Social Networks and Job Finding

2011-02-27T14:12:00.000-08:00

1. LinkedIn is considered the number 1 spot for job seekers. With more than 35 million users.What you must do is optimize your profile, join and participate in groups, use its applications and exchange endorsements.

2. Plaxo is very interesting because of the address book that keeps track of all your contact information, including a Yahoo!Map indicating where your contacts live.

3. Twitter is an amazing tool although I must confess I still don't understand the way the conversations flow or how I can add to a discussion. Anyway, it is considered an amazing tool "if you can unlock its power"

4. Jobster is said to be a powerful platform for employers offering jobs and for employees searching for them. You can upload your resume, embed your video resume, show your picture, tag your skills and show links to your site.

5. Some more interesting websites

Craiglist, MyWorkster, VisualCV, JobFox, Ecademy

Will the Arizona shootings change our political culture? American people wonder

2011-01-11T03:07:00.000-08:00

A 22-year-old college dropout shot 20 people last Saturday in an attempt to assessinate a female politician in Arizona. There were six causalties.

The question is: "Is there anything that can be done (by politicians, the media or just ordinary citizens) to ensure something like this does not happen again?"

Read the comments about students participating in The Learning Network, an eduactional section in The New York Times and have a dare to share your own ideas.

November 25th: International day against Domestic Violence

2010-11-23T03:54:00.000-08:00

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread violations of human rights. According to UNIFEM, six out of every ten women in the world experience nowadays physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.

Gender issues in advertising are also a fascinating topic to be considered. You can watch this TV programme on Gender stereotypes in Advertising.

You can also listen to Behind the Wall, a beautiful but sad song by Tracy Chapman.
Can you understand the lyrics of the song?

Not as Web Savvy as we think: we may be giving Google too much credibility

2010-11-14T04:26:00.000-08:00

Google it! And that's what we simply do for nearly everything.We trust Google so much that we just click on websites that turn up at the top of Google searches thinking to ourselves: "Okay, if Google placed it number one, of course it's credible!". According to Eszter Hargittai, associate professor of communication studies at Northwestern. "This is potentially tricky because Google doesn't rank a site by its credibility."

If you were asked to bring up the page that's usually on their screen when you start using the Web, wouldn't it be Google's?

A recent study published by the International Journal of Communication: "Trust Online. Young Adult's Evaluation of Web Content", 102 students at the University of Illinois at Chicago sat at computers with researchers.The activity on their screens was captured on video as researchers gave the students a variety of hypothetical information-seeking tasks to perform online. Time and again, researchers watched students navigate to brand-name search engines--usually Google--and to brand-name websites to find information. Researchers also asked students questions about websites they chose.

"Many students think, 'Google placed it number one, so, of course it's credible,'" said Eszter Hargittai, associate professor of communication studies at Northwestern. "This is potentially tricky because Google doesn't rank a site by its credibility." Search engine rankings seemed extremely important. A website's layout or content almost didn't even matter to the students. What mattered was that it was the number one result on Google!
Some of the students did give more credibility to websites ending in dot-gov, dot-edu or dot-org. However, Hargittai said most didn't know dot-org domain names could be registered by anyone, and thus are not inherently different from dot-com sites.Aside from Google, other online brands that students mentioned most often to complete tasks were: Yahoo!, SparkNotes, MapQuest, Microsoft, Wikipedia, AOL and Facebook.

"Just because younger people grew up with the Web doesn't mean they're universally savvy with it," Hargittai said.
"Educators should show specific websites in class and talk about why a source is or isn't credible." Here you are some hints which can help you evaluate websites.
Think about your own reasons and benefits to get web-savvy!!!

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6)

2010-10-30T01:11:00.000-07:00

At first we felt rather disappointed. Nobody had bothered to tell us Jon Lee Anderson was not coming to the talk. All of us had made a huge effort to attend the conference and there was only one interviewer - Gervasio Sánchez- who was a real dark horse. Never ever had I imagined the shocking pics and info he kept in his laptop: the proof of so much disgrace, pain an unjustice being suffered abroad. As his talk went on, I wondered why South America, why Iraq, why had he been working for so long in faraway places...? And eventually he told us about his recent decision to stay for the next 5 years in Spain, following the controversial issue of the Spanish Civil War exhumations.
I did not agree with his disbelief in New Technologies. It is precisely because of them that alternative ways of doing journalism can be spread all over the world. We left the place convinced of the discouraging context of corruption and cowardice around us, being the media controlled by economical interests and greedy politicians. I wasn't starving any more when I took the bus home. I even felt 20 years younger thinking that there was hope of some kind if people like Gervasio do exist in the world. Congratulations for such a worthy and extraordinary working life. His incredible laptop contained hundreds of stories of broken lives who deserve at least a moment of respect and consideration from us.

A talk with Jon Lee Anderson

2010-10-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

Jon Lee Anderson (California, 1957) wil be visiting Alicante in one of the cultural events organized by the C.A.M. entitled "El Mercado de la Verdad". Two famous journalists: Gervasio Sánchez (Córdoba, 1959) and himself, will discuss about the implications of the media and the journalists in the telling of the real truth when dealing with armed conflicts or humanitarian actions which eventually become human catastrophes.

Here's a link to a talk with Jon Lee Anderson which was recorded as a podcast (30th June, 2008), you can read the transcript while listening to the mp3. I find it an interesting warm-up activity before next Tuesday's talk in the C.A.M. We can't miss it!

You may have probably heard of wikileaks, a controversial website launched in 2006, whose main interest is expossing oppressive regimes all over the world. Julian Assange - an Australian journalist- shows himself as one of the main representatives (=director?) of this international organization which publishes anonymous submissions (also called leaks= filtraciones) preserving the anonymity of sources.

INGLÉS PARA LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN- Nuevo plazo de inscripción

2010-09-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

En su novena edición, este monográfico amplía sus horas para poder adaptarse a todo un curso académico -
DURACIÓN: 19 octubre 2010 - 20 mayo 2011
HORARIO: todos los martes y 4 viernes (18:00-20:00)en el aula 4I (4º piso)
Tasas: 213,60 € (50% F. N. y/o minusvalía acreditada)
CERTIFICACIÓN OFICIAL 60 HORAS
INFORMACIÓN y MATRÍCULA:
Secretaría de la EOI Alicante (C/ Marqués de Molins 56-58)
COMIENZO DE CLASES: martes 19 de octubre de 2010
Sesión informativa sobre el curso: martes 5 de octubre en el aula 4I
Información: dolores.alemany@ua.es

"Facebook password reset confirmation customer support"

2010-05-21T02:18:00.000-07:00

It is the name of the new virus which is being sent to millions of Facebook users.
The e-mails of the 400 million Facebook users are the target of the computers hackers who created this virus. But don’t panic, the personal of Facebook is working in a new system of security, at the moment, they recommend you to delete e-mails which are unknown.

It is expected that hackers will be successful and that 40 millions of computers will be infected.

Beware Facebook-ers!

2010-05-21T02:13:00.000-07:00

David Cameron is the leader of the Conservative Party and ex-Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom. He has occupied both positions since December 2005.
The Tory leader is a charismatic man and his party has focused on areas such as education, local government, poverty, unemployment and international development.Cameron presents himself as the "modernizing" leader of the Conservative Party.
He is the present Prime Minister in the UK.

cuts, cuts, cuts

2010-05-21T02:09:00.000-07:00

The prime minister, Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced today in the Congress that the salary of civil servants is going to be reduced by an average of 5 % this year and that it will not be raised in 2011; pensions will be frozen in the near exercise and the help of 2.500 Euros for birth will be suppressed from January 1. With this set of measures, which are completed by another salary cut of 15 % between the members of the Government, who knows what comes next!!!. We feel even more shocked than he looks in the photo!

We are the champions...

2010-05-21T02:01:00.000-07:00

About 100.000 people celebrated the victory of Atletico de Madrid in the Neptune fountain after winning the European League title.
Atletico Madrid had been cursed into a slumber for ages and finally on May 12 bad luck went away.

For the first time since 1996 the team has won a recognizable title: the European League, Europe second most prestigious club competition, achieved by Atleti after beating Fulham.

Fernando Torres recently said, "Atletico fans are prisoners of a feeling, that of their colours". This has been a reward to Los Colchoneros. The next appointement for an important football final is the Copa del Rey.

Our country cannot afford to waste the talents of anyone

2010-05-04T11:45:00.001-07:00

James Gordon Brown (Glasgow, 20 of February 1951) (former?) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and member of the Labour Party. He was Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh

The most disputed British elections in history

2010-05-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Clegg , the dark horse married to the Spanish lady

Cameron, the posh who modernized the Tories

Gordon Brown, big mouth, wrong and unlucky

Gastronomy Festival Interview

2010-04-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

In our interview to Mercedes Pozo, the school director, she speaks about the Gastronomy Contest, which took place on the 29th of April.

Interviewer: For how long has the Gastronomy Contest been organized?
Mercedes Pozo: The gastronomy Contest has been taking place for fifteen years.

Interviewer: Has it always been carried out in the evening?
Mercedes Pozo: No, it always took place only in the morning. However, this year it is taking place in the evening too.

Interviewer: what is the objective of this Gastronomy Contest?
Mercedes Pozo: All the students at the Official School of Languages can share their different traditional dishes and speak about their cultural differences.

Interviewer: Who takes part in the jury?
Mercedes Pozo: one of the school teachers, a student and myself.

Interviewer: When will the results be published?
Mercedes Pozo: On 10th of May.

Interviewer: Thank you.
Mercedes Pozo: You’re welcome!.

Tasteful spring food experience

2010-04-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

Thursday late afternoon, tea-time at the language school, a great gastronomy festival is taking place on the second floor. More than sixty people gather together around typical dishes from all over the world. After a short speech by Mercedes Pozo, the headmaster, everybody rushes to try delicious cakes, pastries, pies, salads, brownies, Spanish omelette, scones, rock cakes, Galician octopus, ginger cookies and even baklawas and Easter roll from Poland.

Carol, an English teacher at the official language school of Alicante, has been living in Spain since 1969 and she says that she likes Spanish food much more than British food, because it is healthier and less fattening.

Carmen, who works at the secretary of the school and is one of the members of the jury, tells us that the criteria she will follow when choosing the winners will be the dish presentation, the elaboration and of course, taste.

A lovely festival for a wonderful evening out of the classrooms.

THE FORD´S SPORTIVE CAR

2010-04-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

Adrián Colilla,advertisement.

Family Guy keeps the FCC Busiest.

2010-04-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times Family Guy is the show that is keeping the FCC busiest. Apparently an episode that aired back in March last year has alone generated almost 200,000 complaints.
In 2002 Fox cancelled the series; and in 2004 Family guy returned to production and nowadays the show is contract to continue producing episodes until 2012.

Adrián Colilla,

Bye bye ash cloud, welcome back air travellers!

2010-04-20T13:36:00.001-07:00

After five neverending days of the unprecedented roaring of the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier, European airports are looking forward to coming back to their places.
Innumerable losses of money and patience on the side of millions of amazed passengers (whether worker or tourists) and air companies are still doubtful of their near future.
We wonder why nobody was able to predict what could have been otherwise a disaster. Anyway, friends, relatives and colleagues are expected to travel safely back home by now. Experts don't know for sure but, being the plume white and subsiding to below 3 km, airspace and daily life will hopefully return to normality.

Collaborative writing (Laura, Adrián, Ana, Mar and Lola)

Resounding success of the I Master in Marketing and Communication for fashion and beauty

2010-04-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

The first Master in Marketing and Communication for fashion and beauty, whose programme has been sponsored by the recognized designer Angel Schlesser. It started last Friday 5^th of March with fifteen students registered and with a large waiting list.

The first Master in Marketing and Communication for fashion and beauty has as its main aim to specialize future communicators in these two areas of vital importance for business management.

The development of the programme has relied on the designer Angel Schlesser, who completed the initial proposal with interesting matters fitting the particular needs of the current fashion and beauty companies in Spain, as well as with the advice of Carolina LLopis, director of Germaine de Capuccini’s communication.

Moreover, it counts with the support of the top most important companies in Alicante which will offer training to the students in the departments of marketing and communication such as: Revista Urbanwoman, El Corte Inglés, Magrit, Calmoda, Nacho Rivera or Pepe Botella, among others.

ESUMA has the project to create an agency of fashion and beauty in Alicante with job prospects for their students who will cover the needs in this field in the province of Alicante and in the Valencian Community too.

The Master has a fully practical approach with different visits and conferences from distinguished people in the field of fashion and beauty.

Only big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona were offering Masters of this kind, so this is something unique for Alicante right now and I am proud to be attending it.

Azor the Razor

2010-03-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

The Met in crisis

2010-03-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

The British police has been suffering a big crisis since last year because of the many changes in its organization and the operations that are carried out are very bungled.

One of the biggest failures were the death of the protester of the G20 summit and the wrong investigations of the sexual delinquents. All this situation has produced the need to introduce some changes inside the police, as for example changes in the high directions and the retirement of numerous officials experienced to introduce in the police new agents who give a change to the situation of crisis that nowadays is being lived.

Spring Outfit

2010-02-25T10:37:00.000-08:00

Typical but not boring!! Now that the weather is getting warm, what better than a mini dress with sandals, accompanied by a denim jacket and a big wonderful bag where keeping everything you could need!!
Here you have a nice spring outfit, just for whatever you do during your journey.
You can wear it for going to the university or for working, for having lunch out with friends or to go shopping!! Comfortable and practice as the same time that chic.

Eye-print silk dress by Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti (519 €), Satin ankle-cuff sandals by Vionnet (411 €), Paraty medium python bag by chloé (2.250 €), Embellished chain-link bracelet by juicy couture (167 €), Stainless steel tiger watch by Paul & Joe (571 €), The Snap denim jacket by Current/Elliott (333 €), Leo Wire Chalcedony earrings by Monica Vinader (122 €)

Outfit 1

2010-02-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

I would wear this lovely outfit for an evenig with friends: Diana and Paula. A paperbag mini skirt (€589) from Fendi which suits very well with this fantastic Stella McCartney’s sheer silk ruffle blouse (€675). The main piece of this look is the Moschino’s black crepe pearl-embellished jacket (€1,583).

I’m also in love with the fantastic bird Cage Jennifer quitted bag (€1,065) from Marc Jacobs, this patent leather shoulder bag drives me crazy!

This Marni’s maroon suede buckle breath-taking sandals (€404,69) are perfect for a different spring evening. The final touch? The disappeared arty oval ring (€120) from YSL, I unfortunately couldn’t find one for myself, it’s out of stock!

To sum up, I would like to congratulate the French alternative band Phoenix for the Grammy they won last week! Music is life, an outfit without music is not an outfit!

Yoda, the cat with four ears

2010-02-11T11:31:00.000-08:00

Yoda is a cat with an extra set of ears. His owners found him in Chicago, Illinois, two years ago. The extra ears do not detect sound; they are only flaps of skin. The cat was named after the character in "Star Wars" series.

Athough four-eared, he lives a normal life.

He has become so popular that he has recently been invited to "Tyra Banks Show" and "Good morning America" in the USA.

The travelling gnome

2010-02-11T11:23:00.000-08:00

This is a story about a gnome that was kidnapped from the Heard´s garden.
The curious thing was that the thief used to send postcards of the gnome to them.
After 13 years the gnome is back to Heard´s garden, with an apologize note for the owners, who are glad and pleased for having it again.

bizarre-but-true weird news

2010-02-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

STRANGE DOG

Dogs are famous for enjoying the simple things in life - notably chasing cats and eating meat. But that's not the case for unfortunate Joey, a dog who is allergic to cats, meat, and pretty much everything else except potatoes and porridge.

Joey is a Collie, who gets a rash if he eats meat or chases a cat. His allergy is also brought out by activities as diverse as running through grass or jumping into water.
Now his owners, Lisa McCormack and Scott Muirhead, feed him a diet of nothing but potatoes and porridge - as they're the only things the've found he isn't allergic to.

www.metro.co.uk

Best greens to play golf in Alicante

2010-01-27T10:28:00.000-08:00

Club de Golf Bonalba

Located very near Alicante and next to the Playa de San Juan, it offers stunning sea views and a perfect climate to enjoy the game at any time of year. With 18 holes of par 72, it is an excellent course built on gentle ridges, undulating greens and strategically located lakes. Its complicated design makes Bonalba an interesting and fun challenge for the player, the variety of holes means there is never a dull moment.
The vegetation is typically Mediterranean, full of palm-trees and pines.
Its privileged location on the Alicante coast makes it very convenient when it comes to finding different accommodation options. 6,096 metres.

Alicante Golf

It is located in Playa de San Juan, near Alicante, a modern field, balanced, and designed by Severiano Ballesteros.

The course is a par 72 with six par 3's, six par 4's and six par 5's. The abundance of water features to the field while considerably more difficult route.

It is plain, and rested in all holes let you see the green. There are two curiosities, the first is found in the 9th hole with an s-shaped lake surrounding the green, the initial of the designer, the second Roman ruins are located next to the hole 14 and forcing the player to lift the ball on them to reach the green. 6,057 metres.

Club de Golf El Plantío

El Plantío is a golf course in perfect harmony with the environment. A unique place in Nature that invites you to explore spectacular walks. The careful recruitment of plant brings to an exotic country and a different feeling, making each hole different. It pioneered the use of wastewater for irrigation. Located 3 miles from the town of Alicante it is more urban area and has an 18 hole and one 9 as much to benefit all players, it also has a driving range with covered tees on two surface plants, with capacity for 120 seats. It is an international golf school too.
The 18-hole course is par 72, the 9 is par 3 and it has been planned to build another stretch of 18 holes. 5,883 metres.

Golf & Country La Marquesa

Located 58 kilometres from Alicante by national road 332. It is located in a flat valley surrounded by mountains, the structure of the round alternates between long holes and short ones which are not excessively difficult, which makes any player to enjoy it. The most difficult factor lies in the characteristic layout of the greens, with their attractive and complicated slopes. The course is bordered by streams and lakes, which gives the course excellent views and beautiful scenery.
It is possible that top players find it too easy, but most golfers find it very pleasant and they will enjoy a good walk in a magnificent region. Pines and palm-trees accompany a varied and pleasant journey. A location where the temperature is pleasant in any season. 5,971 metres.

posted by Fernando Molina

Striking headlines

2010-01-21T04:50:00.000-08:00

ObamaCare is bad news for Big Pharma
(The Independent - Saturday 15 August 2009)

The LA Forum, the arena that once hosted sell-out Madonna concerts, has been transformed for eight days only into a vast field hospital. In America, the offer of free healthcare is so rare, that news spread rapidly and residents flocked for 36 hours to see the medical staff.

Wikipedia approaches its limits
(The Guardian - Thursday 13.08.09)

The online encyclopedia is about to hit 3 m articles in English - but growth is stalling as "inclusionists" and "deletionists" fight for control.
It is increasingly difficult to enjoy contributing to Wikipedia unless you are part of the site's inner core of editors.

Med, white and blue
(The Independent - Saturday 22 August 2009)

In summer the weather is always perfect in Santorini, or so locals say. But come rain or shine, prepare to be dazzled by its charming towns and a volcanic landscape steeped in Greek myth.

Bribery - the key to better public health

(The Independent)
Financial incentives offered by public health services (425€ to lose weight, 60€ in food vouchers to pregnant women if they stop smoking) prove to be effective.

selected ADVERTS (by Sonia Blaya)

Sales will start ticking over (Swatch)

The sweet smell of success (Chanel)

Get in the mix to produce your own frozen delights (ice-cream makers)

Blogs as a tool to teach English

2010-01-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

More and more teachers of English are making their own blogs to use as a complementary resource for their English lessons at school. We all know the web is a fantastic breakthrough for learning foreign languages and let’s face it, students do not learn in the same way as they did ten years ago. We can blame technology or we can use it to our advantage, so why not make the most of it in our lessons?

Teaching effectively is not easy since students are all different and are not interested in the same subjects. In the same way, the environment of students nowadays is not the same as the environment of most teachers. We teachers grew up in a text-based culture but today's students are "digital natives." They have grown up in an environment that has always included computers, the Internet, mobile phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players or iPods. Teachers, on the other hand, are "digital immigrants" and speak digital as a second language. We can no longer, however, teach in the same way. Even though digital may be our second language, as digital immigrants we can become more collaborative in our approach, while learning from the digital natives in our classes.

It is a well-attested fact that ESL students who use computers in the classroom have an added motivation to learn and show remarkable progress. And that is because they feel so at home using technology they can’t stop. They find it hard to open their notebooks or grammar books but sitting at the laptop to do their assignment seems as easy as pie, and really stimulating too. And that is what teaching should be all about_ entertaining when educating and instilling knowledge, as the Enlightened said back in the 18th Century.

Having a blog and sharing information, exercises, videos, songs, etc. is a perfect tool if you are lucky enough to teach at a high-school where students have real access to the internet and are provided with a PC each. In blogs you can find anything related to English, from all kinds of exercises on the four skills (speaking, listening, writing and reading) to really useful podcasts on pronunciation, situational English or specialized language. Lots of blogs provide you with general dictionaries, thesaurus, slang or phrasal verbs dictionaries, as well as translators and pronunciation or visual dictionaries.

· There are blogs aimed at helping teachers of ESL (English as a Second Language) by providing ideas, materials, tutorials, etc. Worksheets, powerpoints, etc are free for teachers to download and use in their classes. Myeslworld.blogspot.com is a good blog to get these resources from. Recursosparaprofesores.blogspot.com is another good example. It gives information about free online courses for teachers, interesting web pages such as The British Council, Google UK , BBC learning website or Bravenet (in the last one you can learn to make your own website)

· Many teachers use their blogs to give students projects to do. They later mark these assignments and post them in the blog, which makes students get more motivated and excited. There are also slideshare or powerpoint presentations on the grammar points studied in class and links to websites where students can practice what they have already studied. In iesplayadearinagaenglishwithlydia.blogspot.com you have a good example. And primary teachers also use blogs for their younger students. Have a look at beatriz_englishteacher.blogspot.com.

· With some blogs and willpower you could actually learn English online, since there are lots of self-study and reference materials. In fabiteacher.blogspot.com they supply a great deal of practice and reference material from all over the web in just one place. You can find you tube videos and podcasts, all kinds of dictionaries and thesaurus, idioms and slang compilations, listening and reading practice from the BBC learning English website and the British Council one , etc. It’s really complete and extraordinarily useful!

· Some other blogs give you plenty of ideas to get proficient in English by using all the means at your hand and on the web. And if you still need us, teachers, you could attend online lesson with Skype, a software videoconference programme thanks to which you needn’t leave your house to be in touch with other people. Get the information at El Blog del Inglés or just click on www.ebpai.com

Sonia Blaya Albert
yourenglishblog.blogia.com

The name of the new generation

2009-11-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

There are many censored blogs in various countries. For example in Iran, Cuba or Venezuela. I can speak about Generación Y. It´s a blog by Yoani Sánchez where she describes her life and her hobbies. Yoani has won prizes about journalism or art as Ortega y Gasset Prizes 2008 or the 25 Best Blogs Time- CNN 2009. She has had problems because she criticized the Cuban government.

For example, she was arrested together with two friends in the last week. She was in the march against the violence when she got arrested. Anyway, she is determined to follow her career: "I will continue writing in my blog", she said after the incident.

The history of TV in the USA

2009-11-10T04:17:00.000-08:00

The History of Television in America

Learning English surfing the Net

2009-11-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

Do you feel you lost halfl your life trying to learn English and you still don´t feel fluent enough? These lines are for those of you who maybe don´t have so much time to attend private English lessons and who would like to have some extra help. You've got the whole world in your hands - make the most of the Internet from today on and learn English from home. You are not on your own at all. Let me provide you with some links I find particularly useful.

First, El blog para aprender inglés, a diary by a bilingual EFL teacher who decided to teach English to everyone on the web. You can work on different skills (grammar, phonetics, vocabulary...) since lessons of all kind. You can also take part in the forum. Moreover, you can download many audio podcasts and what is more important, Mónica will answer you any question you have when learning English and will give you brilliant advice.

If you are looking for a prestigious site on the web to learn English that is the BBC learning English web service . Some people say there is no better English than the BBC one so this is a fantastic website that includes a blog service providing space for you. If you are studying English this is your site, whatever your language is: it is an international site. You can watch the real BBC news and many podcasts are available for you as well as a great forum to share your comments and questions. Following this trend, a bit farther geographically but as close as the previous on the web, you can try The New York Times blogs.

Many didactic resources are available in the blog aprender ingles online. It includes podcasts from the BBC, videos, translation service, exams, games for everyone and many more things.

Finally, I'd recommend estudia inglés. The important thing about this blog is that it provides you with a number of useful links while learning English for example the best dictionary on slang, social nets to learn English, best grammar books and so on. Related to this blog, you will find the course on learning English based on podcasts in inglés total.

Movie flash

2009-11-03T10:53:00.001-08:00

If you like movies and want to know more about anything concerning them, here are some blogs you might like.

Slashfilm is a personal blog which includes information about many kinds of films. It also follows film festivals and has other interesting contents like podcasts, discussions, news and interviews.

Another interesting blog is MTV movies. Here you can find trailers, videos and lots of photos.

The third one one we recommend is Movies About. This is Rebecca Murray's blog. She is a journalist and film critic. You can check here opinions about movies, directors and also interviews. It also has filmographies from many actors.

Tell it

2009-11-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

This website offers advertising from agencies very important in the World such as Ogilvy & Mather, Publicis, JWT, DDB, TBWA, Tequila, Proximity, Tribal DDB, McCann Ericsson among other. Great advertising from prestigious brands since 2003 until now.

If you want to know why advertising in the web is important you should visit this blog
It'll help you know what is best in Internet advertising. You can advertise your blog in this space.

If you are a professional in communication and you need some advice and keep up in the world of web communication come to this digital marketing, where you can find “news and expert advice for the digital marketer”

Freedom of the Press and the implications of new technologies

2009-11-03T04:22:00.000-08:00

New technologies are changing the panorama of traditional media. The main implications of new technologies regarding the Freedom of the press nowadays are the following:

1 - Terrestrial TV vs. Satellite TV
Terrestrial TV is relatively easy to manage and manipulate but Satellite TV is much more difficult to control as journalistic content can easily be broadcast beyond the control of individual governments.
Satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera, the Arabic language media channel, operates out of Qatar and often presents views and contents problematic to a number of governments in the region.

2 - Web-based publishing (e.g. blogging) vs. Traditional publishing.
Web-based publishing systems can be run using ubiquitous and inexpensive equipment and can operate from anywhere.
To get control over web publications, nations and organizations are using Geolocation software.

3 - Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) vs. Conventional telephony.
Modern VOIP technology can employ sophisticated encryption systems to evade centrlal monitoring systems.

Governments are responding to the challenges posed by new media technologies by deploying increasingly sophisticated technologies of their own. Take for instance the case of China's attempts to impose control through a state run internet service provider that controls access to the Internet.

Anyway, we might say that new technologies are "in favour of" freedom of ideas.

Rocking the web

2009-10-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

I’m going to recommend you three music blogs, because I think that you may like these blogs.

If you are a fan of R&B music, you can pop in here.

The second one is about pop music. This blog’s got lots of news, reviews and videos of your favourite singers.

And finally, my best tip for latin music is La Onda Tropical.

The voice on the network

2009-10-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Manuel M. Almeida is known in the blogosphere as “Mangas Verdes”:he began in the world of the weblogs in 2004. He is a journalist, blogger, expert in social networks and digital media. An interesting information on him is that he got the prize for best weblog on technology and the Internet.

Another website which invites to opinion, reflection and communication on journalism is that of Sergio M. Mahugo. Devoted journalist and university teacher, his blog is a tool as support to his lessons. In his weblog, he analyzes the influence of the social media and the civil journalism in the traditional media.

If you are a journalist and you like the world of technology, you can't miss the blog Xataka. It is one of the best technological weblogs at present. It deals with gadgets and the newest electronic devices for everyday users.

Green matters

2009-10-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

Based in Portland, Oregon, the environmental blog is a flashy green blog editing posts since 2006. Oriented to any age followers,I'd remark its originality in the way it offers tips, news or even nice T-shirts.

Being an expert on green issues, you'd better visit the website by the American Grist Magazine which also include videos and updated news and events on echology.

Still another USA brains for the earth tip for geeks on nature and technology. A nice discovery !!!
STAY GREEN :=) (Irene Vidal, environmentalist)

HEADLINES: OUR CHOICE

2009-10-26T02:04:00.000-07:00

MY COKE AND HASH WITH BRAD
When shooting the film The Inglorious Bastards, actor Brad Pitt showed his knowledge about taking drugs.
The London Paper - (Davinia Galera)

PREGNANCY DRINK WARNING IS "SEXIST"
The evidence for a link between moderate consumption of alcohol and harm to the foetus is not too clear as medical experts say. Telling pregnant women not to drink alcohol could be "sexist".
The Sunday Telegraph - (Carla Lázaro)

LEE CAN SEE THE WOODS FOR THE TEES
Lee Westwood, a former European number one in golf and teacher of Tiger Woods has come back after 16 years.
The Sunday Telegraph - (Manuel Valero)

FREE CASH AT TESCO - FRENZY AS TESCO MACHINE HANDS OUT FREE MONEY
A Tesco cashmachine in West London gave out double the account of money request. £3000 in extra £20 notes were taken before the glitch was spotted.
The London Lite - (Lola Alemany)

DYEING TO BREAK THE RECORD
A total of 500 people gathered at Shanghai University to create a new world record for the largest number of people dyeing their hair together.
The Post - (Diana Granell)

Obama and Zapatero herald "new era" in Spanish-American relations

2009-10-13T01:37:00.001-07:00

By: thinkSPAIN , Sunday, April 5, 2009

US President, Barack Obama, today expressed his desire to reinforce the 'solid' bilateral relations between his country and Spain and referred to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as his 'friend'.
After five years of cool relations between the two countries, the two leaders, who have met various times this week, at the G-20 conference in London and the NATO summit in Strasbourg, used today's meeting in Prague as the announcement of a beginning of a new era of collaboration between Spain and the USA.
As it was to be expected, the two leaders discussed bilateral realtions, the Middle East, Latin America, the global recession, climate change, renewable energy sources and international terrorism.
The spokesman for the US National Security Council, Mike Hammer, reported that Obama 'showed a keen interest in strengthening relations between the USA and Spain and in renewing the friendship between the two nations'.
During the pre-conference photo session Obama commented that Zapatero understood fully Spain's 'extraordinary influence' in the world and took his responsibility 'very seriously'. US press sources reported that Obama had said 'I'm happy to be able to consider him a friend' and that the meeting had been very 'cordial' and that they 'understood each other well'.
Zapatero, for his part, stated that realtions between Spain and the US were entering a new phase and that his intention was to collaborate with Obama to achieve greater peace and justice in the world, to combat poverty and lay the foundations of a stable future for the generations to come.

Here is an official report by the White House on the talk held by the two presidents.

Main parts of a blog

2009-10-13T01:29:00.000-07:00

A blog is formed of different parts that together create the whole site. Here are the main parts and elements of a blog, identify them in yours.

Header: This section normally contains the name and logo of the blog along with a short description.

Posts: When you visit a website you read articles and news, all the information is displayed as single articles some of them larger than others, but in a blog a piece of content is called A POST it is a single entry written by the blogger on his or her blog. Posts are usually categorized by topic or marked according to the time of publication. All posts are stores in the blog archives.

Archives: When you first visit a blog, you might think that there is not much information in it, you can only see a few links a logo, some entries and a menu, but the truth is that all information and posts in a blog are contained in what we know as ARCHIVES . Each time you write a post it is stored in your blogÂ´s archives which are like folder where you can access to previous entries and read them in chronological order, the archive is usually organized by month. This function allows a visitor to quickly jump to a month or year in the past, and view blog articles posted at that time.

Comments: A common website does not allow you to add your comments or your personal opinions but in a blog comments are very important. Not all blogs use comments but every successful blogger needs feedback on their posts. Your readers can write a reaction to each post, often displayed at directly following the blog entry. To leave a comment at the end of each post, click COMMENTS, and type your comment into the box. A great way to learn about a blog is to read its comments.

Categories: Not all blogs have categories but those with this function are easier to read and to navigate. Blogger does not allow you to add categories to your blog but there are many ways to do so, we are going to talk about that later. Categories are like archives where your posts are organized but this time by topic or subject. Categories allow users to explore your blog searching for posts they might like.

Last Posts: Or latest entries display the last updates of a blog.

Permalink: Sometimes when you finish reading a post you can see at the end of each entry that there is a line of information about the person who is posting, the date and the hour and something called PERMALINK well, this stands for permanent link it is a specific URL assigned to each post, each time you click this link you are redirected to the page where the post is.

Presenting a blog

2009-10-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

As part of today's task I would like you to search the blogosphere with Technorati and present a blog of your choice to the rest of your classmates next week.

See that Jeff himself commented our visits to his blog! I feel so excited about it!

Try as well to register on LinkedIn. It's a useful business-oriented social networking site with more than 45 million users so it must be worth belonging to it I guess.

Technology: Friend or Foe?

2009-10-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

After today's classroom discussion about the pros and cons of the use of new technologies, I asked you to leave a comment in Jeff Lipschultz's blog . His post is quite interesting and I am sure everyone has anything to say on that topic!

I am looking forward to reading your comments.

Disappointment in Spain as Olympic hopes are lost

2009-10-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

MADRID - Spain’s Queen Sofia Friday congratulated Rio de Janeiro for having been chosen to host the 2016 Olympics, though Spain was “disappointed” about Madrid having lost the race.

“Congratulations Rio,” the queen told Spanish National Television in Copenhagen, also congratulating Spaniards for the “good job” they had done in promoting Madrid’s candidacy.

Some 6,000 Madrid residents had gathered at the capital’s central Plaza de Oriente square to follow a live broadcast of the presentation of Madrid’s candidacy on two gigantic screens.

They jumped, waving their hands, balloons and colourful plastic hands which symbolized Madrid’s candidacy in the run-up to the IOC vote.

When the choice of Rio de Janeiro was announced, silence fell, and some people started crying.

Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon had expressed confidence in Madrid’s victory, and preparations had been made for a giant celebration Saturday.

Polls showed that nearly 90 percent of Madrid residents backed the city’s candidacy, and more than 100,000 people demonstrated in favour of it Sunday.

http://blog.taragana.com/sports/2009/10/02/disappointment-in-spain-as-olympic-hopes-are-lost-33669/

Countdown to a new monographic course

2009-09-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

The official language school of Alicante is offering this 2009-10 academic year a monographic course that could be of your interest: English for the New Media. The course is aimed at professionals and students who would like to improve, keep up or just brush up their English in a different context, working with a reduced group of colleagues and practising the language from the very first day.

The last decades have seen the rapid transformation of print and analogue broadcast models (press, radio, TV) into digital, networked information. As citizens of the 21st century, we feel the need to adapt ourselves to these changes in the mass media and find thus the way to keep our minds open to the potential new technologies can mean for us.

Learning a language is a lifelong process and you can always continue to improve your proficiency in English. With the growing importance of digital communication and the rise in popularity of social networking tools, the new media can help us update both in English and in the use of all these digital resources produced in English.

Speaking English well involves expressing oneself well in English, beyond just getting the grammar and vocabulary right. Social-networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook and thousands of blogs apart from podcasts, videos and multimedia sites are useful tools to learn about the global world we live in in English.

The contents of each Module (a total of four along the year) will cover aspects such as Google applications, multimedia sites, the main characteristics of the language of the press, TV and cinema matters, the language of politics, editing information in English and discovering websites and resources to learn English through the Internet. Basically the idea is to make the most of your present English in an intensive 30 hour-programmed course: to improve your skills to understand, select and produce information in English in a much more efficient way than you usually do.

To follow this monographic course you need an intermediate/upper-intermediate level. If you feel you can join us, don't think it twice. We're looking forward to meeting you soon!

Lessons will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays (19:10-20:50).

Module 1 will start next Tuesday 6th October.

If you need more information about the monographic course, please do contact me at dolores.alemany@ua.es