Internet Communication

The objectives of the study were to show the basic differences between Distance, Blended and Online learning, and establish their common challenges from literature. Approximately 35 categories/sets of research results or findings from more than 65 publications were reviewed and used for this work. Articles were obtained from sources such as Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Google Search Engine, and Elsevier. The key themes used for the search are Distance education, Distance learning, Online learning, Blended learning, Differences between face-to-face and online learning, and the use of the internet for learning. The differences between Distance, Blended, and Online Learning (DBOL) modes were summarized, and 11 challenges of DBOL were realized. These 11 challenges were summarized into six themes namely, lack of infrastructure, low or no IT skills, self-disciplinary problems, content issues, policy issues, and social issues. It was strongly advised that, for effective DBOL...

O estudo trata sobre a relação do jornalismo com o podcast, tendo como objetivo de análise os programas Café da Manhã, da Folha de São Paulo e O Assunto da TV Globo. A fim de mostrar a utilização de mais uma recente tecnologia em favor do Jornalismo e a entrada de grandes veículos da comunicação brasileira no mundo dos podcasts. Assim foi  foi conceituado o que é podcast, o seu sucesso nas redes sociais e como grandes conglomerados da comunicação estão adaptando seu conteúdo para essa nova rede de comunicação sonora sem deixar os valores-notícia e critérios de noticiabilidade.

Advancements in information and communication, especially Web 2.0 have provided consumers and businesses with tremendous opportunities to utilize social media platforms effectively. Although both consumers and online retail stores have a wide variety of online platforms to do shopping and run modern, seamless businesses and reach consumers instantly around the world respectively, social media platforms have proven to be one of the most preferred online environments by many consumers. Despite the potential of online shopping via social media, limited attention is focused on this booming research area in Nigeria. Hence, the present study aimed to close the literature gap by to investigating consumer acceptance of social media shopping. Employing the UTAUT model perspective, a survey questionnaire was designed and administered face-to-face to 380 undergraduate students selected using purposive sampling method from two Nigerian universities: University of Maiduguri and Yobe State University. Consumers' intention to do social media shopping was moderately high, with WhatsApp being the most preferred social media application for doing online shopping followed by Facebook.

The Internet may be free, but service provider’s indispensable to access services are not, to the extent that while the complexity and burden of the sites increases, it is becoming more and more expensive to surf the net. Blocking access under the guise of protecting us from offensive or sexually explicit content, to pages, chat rooms, newsgroups and other Web options is not anymore an excuse, but a lie. Government surveillance in the Internet, uncontrolled practices of data harvesting and restriction of free speech, open discussion of issues and even political activism has spread in the last 20 years to include countries that are considered democracies such as the U.S. Internet has become a battleground of power and therefore become increasingly militarized.

The current study yielded a number of important findings. We managed to build a neural network that achieved an accuracy score of 91 per cent in classifying troll and genuine tweets. By means of regression analysis, we identified a number of features that make a tweet more susceptible to correct labelling and found that they are inherently present in troll tweets as a special type of discourse. We hypothesised that those features are grounded in the sociolinguistic limitations of troll writing, which can be best described as a combination of two factors: speaking with a purpose and trying to mask the purpose of speaking. Next, we contended that the orthogonal nature of these factors must necessarily result in the skewed distribution of many different language parameters of troll messages. Having chosen as an example distribution of the topics and vocabulary associated with those topics, we showed some very pronounced distributional anomalies, thus confirming our prediction.

Монография посвящена вопросам информационной безопасности
современных государств в условиях информационного общества и интенсивного развития интернет-технологий политической коммуникации.
В работе рассматриваются основные особенности Интернета как
глобального пространства политических коммуникаций, а также анализируются современные информационно-коммуникационные онлайн-технологии, применяемые для дестабилизации национальных политических режимов, включая технологии массовой политической пропаганды и манипуляции общественным сознанием в интернет-пространстве.
В монографии показана практика использования механизмов и методов внешней информационной агрессии в интернет-пространстве с целью трансформации традиционных национальных ценностно-смысловых пространств, рассмотрены последние революционные события в арабском мире и на Украине в аспекте применения технологий политической интернет-коммуникации.
Ключевые слова: политическое управление, политическая коммуникация, интернет-пространство, общественное сознание, информационная безопасность, национальная безопасность, политическая пропаганда, политическая манипуляция, киберсимулякры, кибердейтократия, цифровая демократия, политическая стабильность, «цветная революция», интернет-коммуникация, ценностно-смысловое пространство.

The article is devoted to the analysis of acronyms and abbreviations as a part of the Internet slang and to the highlighting of the way they influence the development of the language. It underlines the specificity of acronyms and abbreviations in the process of communication in so called chatspeaks in the Internet and their possibility to assimilate and transform in accordance to the needs and rules of the target languages. The article examines the key aspects of acronyms' and abbreviations' changes in the process of live language developing due to the communication of English-speaking Internet users from the countries all over the world. It includes the comparison between the English and the Ukrainian variants and equivalents of addressing to the speaker in the process of Internet communication in social networks, chats and discussion boards. The article puts a stress on the importance of a context understanding and adequate interpreting due to the situations when some acronyms as well as abbreviations have more than one meaning which can be completely lexically opposite to the needed one. It presents not only examples and variants of possible acronyms and abbreviations but also highlights the transformations which have had a place due to the language development. The article works out the most widely used acronyms and abbreviations of the Internet slang in two languages-English and Ukrainian and provides numeral examples on the similarities in sounding forms of some units and differences in their actual form in the target language. It underlines the reasons of the Internet slang usage and the necessity of scientific researches of this field due to the relevance of the studies turned to the Internet communication including acronyms and abbreviations as well which help to form trendy and popular ways of chatspeaks.

Resumen.
Octavio Islas4 Amaia Arribas5
El valor comunicación
En la primera parte del texto, explicamos cómo fue concebida la teoría de los seis grados de separación, fundamental para comprender el desarrollo de las redes sociales. Enseguida presentamos información sobre las dimensiones del gran ecosistema digital, tanto de Internet como de las redes sociales. En la tercera parte del texto, centramos nuestra atención en Facebook, la red social más popular en el mundo.

Esse estudo tem como objetivo refletir por meio de uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre as principais particularidades do jornalismo literário, apresentando-o como uma possível alternativa para o jornalismo impresso na Era Digital. Para isso, revê algumas características do gênero que podem ser encontradas na reportagem e no livro-reportagem. Além disso, esse trabalho propõe uma reflexão sobre a atual cobertura jornalística e o papel que o leitor ocupa nela, ao optar pelo financiamento de pautas em busca de informação

Thinspiration images, meant to inspire weight-loss, proliferate online through platforms that encourage the circulation of user-generated content. Despite numerous alarmist critiques in mass media about thinspiration and various academic studies investigating ‘pro-anorexia’ sites, surprisingly little attention has been given to the processes of creation and the symbolic potential of thinspiration. This thesis analyzes the formal hybridity of thinspiration, and its use as an expressive medium. The particularities of thinspiration (including its visual characteristics, creative processes, and exhibition) may be considered carefully constructed instances of self- representation, hinging on the expression of beliefs regarding the mind and body. While these beliefs are deeply entrenched in popular body management discourse, they also tend to rely on traditional dualist ideologies. Rather than simply emphasizing slenderness or reiterating standard assumptions about beauty, thinspiration often evokes pain and sadness, and employs truisms about the transcendence of flesh and rebellion against social constraints. By harnessing individualist discourse and the values of mind/body dualism, thinspiration becomes a space in which people struggling with disordered eating and body image issues may cast themselves as active agents—contrary to the image of eating disorders proffered by popular and medical discourse.

Research concerning computer hackers generally focuses on how to stop them; far less attention is given to the texts they create. Phrack, an online hacker journal that has run almost continuously since 1985, is an important touchstone in hacker literature, widely read by both hackers and telephone and network security professionals. But beyond its instantiation as a compendium of illicit technical knowledge, Phrack was, above all, a rhetorical publication. The files in each issue of Phrack created a shared rhetorical vision concerning the place of the hacker underground within society and in relation to law enforcement officials, as well as what it means to be a hacker. This essay examines two important events in the evolution of the hacker movement through the lens of Phrack—Operation Sundevil and the arrest of Kevin Mitnick. How these events were framed in Phrack both shaped and reflected emerging shifts in hacker collective identity.

Considerable scholarly discussion has been given to the idea that we are moving toward a state of “posthumanism.” This essay examines some possible implications of a posthuman existence, specifically as it relates to that most basic of human needs—sexuality. I explore the spiritual aspects of sexuality to see what is lost and what is gained in technologically mediated forms of sexuality. To that end, I consider the interplay between sexual behavior and our conceptions of the sacred, how technologies are changing our views of—and realities concerning—our bodies, and the potential for a sacred posthuman sexuality.

Резюме: Статията разглежда една характерна особеност на интернет комуникацията -употребата на абсолютната превъзходна степен във форумите на българския онлайн портал BGMamma. На базата на примери с абсолютна превъзходна степен, използвани от потребителите на форумите BGMamma, са представени начините за изразяване на тази четвърта (по-висока от положителната, сравнителната и превъзходната) степен при компютърно опосредстваната комуникация. Засягат се и някои допълнителни проблеми, тематично свързани с целта на изследването: за относителната честота на употреба на едни модели спрямо други, за произхода на думите (книжовни, диалектни, домашни, чужди и т.н.), с които се изразява абсолютната превъзходна степен, и др.

Self-expression values are at an all-time high, and people are increasingly relying upon social media platforms to express themselves positively and accurately. We examined whether self-expression on the social media platform Twitter elicits positive and accurate social perceptions. Eleven perceivers rated 128 individuals (targets; total dyadic impressions = 1,408) on their impulsivity, self-esteem, and attachment style, based solely on the information provided in targets’ 10 most recent tweets. Targets were on average perceived normatively and with distinctive self-other agreement, indicating both positive and accurate social perceptions. There were also individual differences in how positively and accurately targets were perceived, which exploratory analyses indicated may be partially driven by differential word usage, such as the use of positive emotion words and self- versus other-focus. This study demonstrates that self-expression on social media can elicit both positive and accurate perceptions and begins to shed light on how to curate such perceptions.

Когато говорим за лингвистично изследване на интернет комуникацията, за нас са важни две други промени в разбиранията и очертанията на някои явления. Така например в интернет до голяма степен са заличени границите между устна и писмена комуникация, заличени или разширени са границите на това, което възприемаме като правилно и неправилно при употребата на езика. Както пише и Н. Барон, „преценката и действието […] са най-малкото непоследователни без разбиране на същността на езика и оценка на неговото възможно въздействие“ (Барон 2008: XI). Научният ни интерес е продиктуван точно от тази необходимост – да се разбере същността на речта в интернет, за да се прецени какво влияние може да окаже върху развитието на съвременния български книжовен език, както и върху книжовните му норми.

Abstract
This study was conducted to relate the productivity of the senior high school students of
Divine Light Academy – Bacoor to their internet connection speed at their respective homes. The
objectives of this research are: to know the different factors contributing to their weak connection;
the effects of having a weak internet connection, and to prove if having a weak internet connection
will result in being unproductive.
51 respondents of the Senior High School Department, particularly the class of Grade 11,
have participated in this research. The respondents are chosen through stratified data gathering
technique and thus arrived at having 13 students from the ABM-HUMMS Strand and 38 students
in the STEM strand, comprising of 51 students all-in-all. A mix of 5- point Likert scale
and multiple-choice questionnaires were used to gather the data in this research. The descriptive
method of research was utilized and the Pearson r technique was used for analyzing the data
gathered by the researchers.
Having a weak Internet connection could influence the students' focus which may affect
the timely submission and quality of their schoolwork. While those students with strong network
speed firmly show efficient and on-time submissions of academic requirements. Consequently,
they also exhibit productivity, from the data gathered they conduct advanced reading and utilize
other learning materials such as literary pieces; which is not expressed by students who have a
weak internet connection

Статья посвящена анализу особенностей функционирования Интернета как современного пространства политических коммуникаций. По итогам исследования сделан вывод, что интернет-пространство активно используется в системе современного политического управления в различных аспектах: в первую очередь для генерации сетевого информационного контента и его вирусного распространения среди интернет-пользователей с целью формирования коллективных смыслов в процессе горизонтального информационно-коммуникационного взаимодействия, а также для мобилизации сетевой общественности, имеющей высокий потенциал политической активности.

Introducción
En la primer parte de este texto describimos qué es el World Internet Project (WIP) –en castellano, Proyecto Internet Mundial- y explicamos porque es relevante la iniciativa del doctor Jeffrey Cole, director del Center for the Digital Future –en castellano, Centro para el Futuro Digital- en la Universidad del Sur de California en Annenberg, Estados Unidos. En la iniciativa del doctor Cole actualmente participan más de 30 grupos de investigadores en 30 países, observando las mismas pautas metodológicas.2 Además referimos cuáles son los principales aspectos metodológicos que distinguen al estudio del WIP de investigaciones similares sobre la apropiación social de Internet. Por último, para concluir el primer apartado referimos cuáles son los estudios más importantes sobre usuarios e Internet en México.
En la segunda parte del texto presentamos algunas de las principales cifras relativas a la penetración y uso de Internet en el mundo, según la Internet World Stats, y procedemos a comparar, con base en esa información, los resultados que arrojaron nuestros estudios.
En primer lugar recuperamos algunos de los principales indicadores estadísticos relativos a la penetración mundial de Internet en 2009, y enseguida procedemos a comparar algunos de los principales resultados que arrojó el estudio del WIP México con los resultados que se desprenden de otras investigaciones relativas al impacto de Internet en México, como la realizada por la Asociación Mexicana de Internet (AMIPCI) y los estudios de Millward Brown, IAB, comScore, Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática (INEGI), etc.

Internet es una realidad que hace posible tantas cosas, como que dos o más personas desconocidas, de diferentes países, idiomas, culturas y credos, se puedan conocer en tiempo real, interactúen y, en un momento dado, se encuentren personalmente. Todo ello como una sola experiencia de vida digital. Ahora, si se piensa en que uno de los cometidos de la Iglesia es favorecer a todo el género humano un encuentro personal con Jesucristo, ¿sería posible que este encuentro se diera en Internet como una experiencia real? ¿Cómo se podría realizar esto? Desde la reflexión pastoral y la ciberteología se buscan estas respuestas, aterrizando en una propuesta concreta para la Diócesis de Ciudad Juárez.

Computer and the Internet play a significant role in the education sector. The role of Information communication technology (ICT) in education at present is influencing every aspect of human life. The technology is playing an important role in workplaces, business, education, and entertainment. ICT is being recognized by the people as catalysts for change; change in working conditions, handling and exchanging information, teaching methods, learning approaches, scientific research, and in accessing information. Therefore, this paper discusses the roles of ICT, the promises, limitations, and key challenges of integration to education systems. The paper tells us about the benefits of ICT in education; the existing promises of ICT use in education systems of some developing countries and the limitations and key challenges of ICTs integration to education systems. But regardless of all the limitations, ICT benefits education systems to provide quality education in alignment with constructivism is a contemporary paradigm of learning.
Keywords: Computer, Internet, Information, Communication, Technology, Teaching Methods, Education.

Автореферат диссертации "Технологии интернет-коммуникации в системе современного политического управления" на соискание ученой степени доктора политических наук по специальности 23.00.02 - Политические институты, процессы и технологии. МГУ, 2016

The article is devoted to the specificity of memes using in the world of developing Internet communication due to the fast and uncontrolled spreading of that phenomenon. Communication does not stop developing and those changes depend on the numerous aspects which include lexicology, semantics, pragmatics, grammar, etc. The article highlights the key aspects of the memes usage, their origin and the influence they have on the developing communication in general. Moreover, the article provides its own definition of a concept “meme” and proposed the classification based on the linguistic and pragmatic characteristics of units, which implement memes in the process of Internet communication. So, after working out the most popular social networks, there are distinguished the following classification of Internet memes which is based on four main principles – belonging to a group of units, intention of the author or the Internet user, emotional intensity and means which are used to implement the idea of the author. Summing up it is important to stress out that the modern world of developing Internet communication spreads out using new technics, thus it is necessary for our research to highlight trendy means of interaction such as meme. Being cultural inheritance it serves to promote different intentions or simply to substitute words which are turned to show emotional state of an interlocutor to make the process of communication easier and to make the process of sharing emotions more picturesque.
The proposed definition and classification of memes which are based on their linguistic and pragmatic aspects will allow the further studies to examine the memes as a separate language unit as a part of linguistics and pragmatics as well as a key mean of developing Internet communication. Moreover, each step of the proposed classification is essential for determining meme as an independent mean of communication, which is empowered to share information as well as emotions in the process of interaction.

📌 Մի' գողացիր: Գրագողությունը պատժվում է մտրակի 100 հարվածով 😉:


Ուսումնասիրությունը նվիրված է հայերեն համացանցային առօրյա հաղորդակցման, մասնավորապես սոցցանցերի լեզվի առանձնահատկություններին։ Քննության են առնված գրության առանձնահատկությունները, բառապաշարային իրողությունները, համացանցային ֆոլկլորը։ Անդրադարձ կա նաև այլատառ հայերենի խնդրին։

İletişim teknolojisinin hızla geliştiği günümüzde hayat adeta dijital ortamlara taşınmıştır. Özellikle içinde yaşadığımız ve tüm dünyayı etkileyen pandemi süreci, bu durumu daha da perçinlemiş ve insanların zamanı verimli kullanma alışkanlıklarını tersyüz etmiştir. Dolayısıyla günümüzde dikkat edilmesi gereken en önemli hususlardan biri, zamanı boşa geçirten veya zamana değer katan eylemlerin farkına varabilmek ve buna uygun bir hayat tarzı geliştirebilmektir. Fakat içinde yaşadığımız dijitalleşme çağında bunu gerçekleştirmek gerçekten zorlaşmıştır. Özellikle herkesin her an yanında bulundurduğu akıllı telefonların, zamanın boşa geçirilmesi için her türlü imkânı hazırladığı düşünüldüğünde dijital çağda zamanın kontrolü ve verimli kullanılması güçlü bir iradeyi gerekli kılmaktadır. Günümüzde emperyalist güçlerin, teknolojiyi kullanarak dünyayı egemenlikleri altına almaya çalışırken kendileri dışındaki insanların zamanlarını faydasız işlerle heba ettirecek birtakım araç ve ortamları onlara sundukları gözden kaçmamaktadır. Böylece kendileri için gücün ve refahın yolunu açan teknoloji, başkaları için zaman öldürmenin yani tembelliğin aracı haline gelmektedir. Özellikle çocuklar ve gençler, kendilerini yetiştirmek için harcayacakları en kıymetli vakitlerini dijital oyunlar ve sosyal medyada adeta çöpe atmaktadırlar. Hayallerin dijital ortamlarda gerçekleştirilmesine olanak sağlayan, kişilere sanal bir kimlik ve çevre oluşturan oyunlar, gençlerin zamanlarını esir alarak adeta onlara sanal bir hayat yaşatmaktadır. Kapitalizmin tüm hayatı kuşatması nedeniyle dünyevileşen insanlar ve özellikle gençler, kısa vadede zengin ve ünlü olma hedefini yakalayabilmek için zamanlarının büyük bir çoğunluğunu sosyal medyada fenomen olma hayalleriyle geçirmektedirler. Bu durum özellikle gençlerde netlessfobi ve nomofobi olarak adlandırılan dijital çağın psikolojik rahatsızlıklarının çıkmasına neden olmaktadır. Kur’ân’da zaman kavramı ön plana çıkarılarak tüm insanlık bu konuda tefekküre davet edilmektedir. Özellikle mutlak manada zamana yemin edilerek başlayan Asr sûresi, insanlara kurtuluşun reçetesini sunarken zamana karşı tutumun da hayatî önemine dikkatleri çekmektedir. Bu reçete hayatın merkezine konulmadığı takdirde geçen her dakika insan için hüsrandır. Çoğu insan zaman nimetinin önemini idrak edemeyerek ömrünün sonlarına doğru büyük bir pişmanlık yaşarken hayatını güzel bir şekilde değerlendirenler ise ortaya koydukları eserler nedeniyle asırlarca yâd edilmişlerdir. Gerek dinî gerekse din dışı tüm alanlarda elde edilen başarıların temelinde yaşam sermayesinin etkili ve verimli kullanılması yatmaktadır. Zamana kayıtsız kalınması ve onun boş işlerle heba edilmesi, dünyevî başarısızlıkların yanı sıra uhrevî pişmanlığı da beraberinde getirmektedir. Literatür taraması metoduyla hazırlanacak çalışmamızın amacı, dijitalleşme çağında zamanı verimli kullanma problemi yaşayan gençlere bu sorunu fark etmeleri ve çözebilmeleri adına Kur’ân’ın zamana verdiği önemi hatırlatmaktır. Kapsam olarak gençlerin zamanını heba eden dijital oyunlar ve sosyal medya ele alınacak ve Kur’ân’daki zaman ile ilgili âyetlere yer verilecektir.

Since the beginning of the Internet, its features have been used to communicate knowledge between researchers in different universities or scientific laboratories, and later, with the increasing growth of the World Wide Web, knowledge became a collective good shared by its users. The current investigation has three main objectives: a) to describe the professional web forum as a discursive subgenre of the web, b) to illustrate the mechanism of knowledge transmission on the professional web forums, and c) to observe the variation across languages of the professional web forum as a subgenre of the knowledge transmission process.
In the analysis of the linguistic material of the professional web forum corpus we used a theoretical framework based on different linguistic trends and theories currently developed in France.
The analysed material consists in a comparable texts corpus, organised, in five sub-corpora, in function of the language the participants in the web forums use to communicate: English, Spanish, French, Romanian, and Catalan.
The analysis of the linguistic material of the professional web forum corpus provides essential information concerning the discursive features of the knowledge transmission process in different languages.

This book offers a unique model for understanding the cognitive underpinnings, interactions, and discursive effects of our evolving use of smartphones in everyday app-mediated communication, from text messages and GIFs to images, video, and social media apps. Adopting a cyberpragmatics framework, grounded in cognitive pragmatics and relevance theory, it gives attention to how both the particular interfaces of different apps and users' personal attributes influence the contexts and uses of smartphone communication. The communication of emotions-in addition to primarily linguistic content-is foregrounded as an essential element of the kinds of ever-present paralinguistic and phatic communication that characterises our exchange of memes, GIFs, "likes," and image-and video-based content. Insights from related disciplines such as media studies and sociology are incorporated as the author unpacks the timeliest questions of our digitally mediated age. Aimed primarily at scholars and graduate students of communication, linguistics, pragmatics, media studies, and sociology of mass media, Smartphone Communication traffics in topics that will likewise engage upper-level undergraduate students.

AN ARCHAIC SLAVIC BULGARIAN MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES REVITALIZED IN THE INTERNET SPACE(the tripartite system in the definite noun forms and in demonstrative pronouns)

The paper presents the tripartite forms for definiteness of nouns and demonstrative pronouns as an archaic Slavic-Bulgarian morphological feature, recently revitalized in the Internet space. The observations focus on the uses of the tripartite forms in the Facebook group "I speak the Rhodope dialect", whose participants are people of different ages and with different social status.  Therefore,  the spatial and  temporal meanings of these forms and their correlation with the verbal tense in different communicative situations are analyzed. We present the results of the survey conducted with the participants in the social media group and their attitude to the correctness of the specific definite forms within nominals and demonstrative pronouns in texts in the Rhodope dialect.

Key words:  tripartite definite, definiteness, demonstrative pronouns, Internet usage, dialect revitalization,social media

ЕДНА АРХАИЧНА СЛАВЯНОБЪЛГАРСКА МОРФОЛОГИЧНАОСОБЕНОСТ, РЕВИТАЛИЗИРАНА В ИНТЕРНЕТПРОСТРАНСТВОТО1(тричленната система при определените форми на имената и при показателните местоимения)

Резюме: В статията се представя тричленната система при определените форми на имената и при показателните местоимения като архаична славянобългарска морфологична особеност, ревитализирана напоследък в интернет пространството. Фокусът на наблюденията са употребите на тройните членни форми на имената и местоименията във фейсбук групата „Аз говоря на родопски диалект“, чиито участници са хора от различни възрасти и с различен социален статус. Анализират се пространствените и темпоралните значения на тези форми и корелацията им с глаголното време в различни комуникативни ситуации. Обобщават се резултатите от проведено анкетно проучване с участниците в групата от социалната мрежа относно нагласите спрямо правилността на употребата на членуваните форми на имената и показателните местоимения в родопски текстове.

Ключови думи: тричленна система при определените форми на имената и при показателните местоимения, употреби в интернет.

The objectives of the study were to show the basic differences between Distance, Blended and Online learning, and establish their common challenges from literature. Approximately 35 categories/sets of
research results or findings from more than 65 publications were reviewed and used for this work. Articles were obtained from sources such as Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Google Search Engine, and Elsevier. The key themes used for the search are Distance education, Distance learning, Online learning, Blended learning, Differences between face-to-face and online learning, and the use of the
internet for learning. The differences between Distance, Blended, and Online Learning (DBOL) modes were summarized, and 11 challenges of DBOL were realized. These 11 challenges were summarized into
six themes namely, lack of infrastructure, low or no IT skills, self-disciplinary problems, content issues, policy issues, and social issues. It was strongly advised that, for effective DBOL implementation and
operation, there must be in place a solid DBOL policy, adequate infrastructure, and constant training of stakeholders on the use of learning management systems and the development of related IT skills in general.

Scholars have long noted the role of the media in the sexualization of children and adolescents. However, with the advent of new media technologies such as the internet and cellular phones, children and adolescents are no longer merely consumers of this sexual ideology, but also creators of digital content that performs this ideology. Such content can range from the relatively tame “girls making out” images found on sites such as collegehumor.com to sexually explicit photographs transmitted through cellular phones within a circle of friends that draws the attention of law enforcement. In this essay, I discuss the practice of adolescent sexting (the practice of sending sexually explicit text messages) by reviewing some of the more prominent cases covered in the media; next, I explore the legal aspects surrounding the practice of sexting; finally, I consider the ethical issues surrounding sexting, exploring the issue of harm to both the individual and society by rooting the practice within a culture that celebrates, yet remains suspicious of, adolescent sexuality.

Today’s technology emerges from yesterday’s fantasies. And the technological materializations of the future are already present in the imaginations of the present. This blog post traces the history of the smartphone and points to the ecological problems and social potentials of globally networked communication systems that are kept going by the use of these miniaturized devices. The digital universe still contains a surplus of possibilities that can be activated in very different trajectories.

The Long Tail concept refers to the Internet-based economy that has enabled company success through a focus on highly specialized services and products that are not in high volume demand, but maybe in high-value demand. The concept of the post-tourist, for example, is a Long Tail phenomenon. Long Tail marketing approaches are proving success due to advances in communication technology and social networking that have given more people access to a broader range of goods and services and information. The Long Tail is not without its challenges, including increased global competition, and it has not abandoned geographic considerations. Geography, in fact, can help to differentiate niche products and must still be overcome to consummate the tourist experience.

KEYWORDS. The Long Tail, social software, marketing, geography, the Internet

This paper outlines and analyzes milestones in the history of the Internet. As technology advances, it presents new societal and ethical challenges. The early Internet was devised and implemented in American research units, universities, and telecommunication companies that had vision and interest in cutting-edge research.
The Internet then entered into the commercial phase (1984-1989). It was facilitated by the upgrading of backbone links, the writing of new software programs, and the growing number of interconnected international networks. The author examines the massive expansion of the Internet into a global network during the 1990s when business and personal computers with different operating systems joined the universal network. The instant and growing success of social networking-sites that enable Netusers to share information, photos, private journals, hobbies, and personal as well as commercial interests with networks of mutual friends and colleagues is discussed

Informal electronic communication respect consistently the principles of conciseness, clarity, simplicity. Therefore, the
orthography of this sort of communication is simplified: there is no semicolon or dashes, the period and comma are used for marking the short pause or where they are necessary, while the end of the text is always marked, but often with some alternative signal: ellipsis, emoticon, onomatopoeia... The question mark and the exclamation mark are used only when the question or emotion are emphasized, and the quotation marks are for citation or emphasis. The colon is almost limited to the announcement of direct speech. The other punctuation marks are used as usual, like the parentheses and slash, or almost disappear, like the hyphen, or have the specific usage, like the asterisk. Further, the new signs appear, such as, beside emoticons, the signs @ or #. The uppercase letters are used to emphasize in a broad terms, so it is possible to highlight the whole text, or one specific word, or initial letter, or any letter (usually incorrect on purpose) in the word. The diacritical signs usually miss, only for the comprehensibility the letter [đ] is written as [dj], and [dž] as [dz]. The use of English is common as the specific style, and sometimes instead of [l] may be written [w]. Even simplified, the language of informal internet communication fulfill its function – perfectly deliver the
message. Consequently it may be the good indicator of more and less important orthographic rules for everyday communication, and certainly hide the future changes in the orthography.

The aim of this essay is to outline and analyze milestones in the history of the Internet. As technology advances, it presents new societal and ethical challenges. Section II concerns the formative years (1957-1984).  The early Internet was devised and implemented in American research units, universities, and telecommunication companies that had vision and interest in cutting-edge research. Section III discusses the entry of the Internet into the commercial phase (1984-1989). It was facilitated by the upgrading of backbone links, the writing of new software programs and the growing number of interconnected international networks. Section IV concerns the massive expansion of the Internet into a global network during the 1990s when business and personal computers with different operating systems joined the universal network. Section V discusses the instant and growing success of social networking -- sites that enable Netusers to share information, photos, private journals, hobbies and personal as well as commercial interests with networks of mutual friends and colleagues.