alexmikro.net

alexmikro.net now has a shiny new look and feel based on the Streamline theme by 9th sphere web design. I’ve chosen it because of its technological design and its soft and attractive color combinations.

The horizontal space has increased from the old theme, allowing for larger images and widescreen videos to be embedded in posts. I have updated the YouTube videos in older posts with their widescreen versions, wherever these are available. I have also uncluttered the right-hand sidebar from the tag cloud and social networks icons, which I’ve moved to the bottom of the page, where there is more space.

Gravatars are also supported in comments. If you have a gravatar account (it’s free), your photo will appear automatically next to your comment.

Enjoy!

The emerging Social Web technologies, such as blogging, micro-blogging, podcasting, etc, can be seen as a threat to ‘traditional’ journalism. The fact that we can instantly report news from our mobiles on Twitter, post videos on YouTube, and start public discussions on our blogs seems to be the start of a new era for the mass media. Will the news corporations be able to adapt to this new environment?

David Schlesinger, editor in chief in Reuters, was in the World Economic Forum at Davos last week, keeping us constantly updated through Twitter. Answering to criticism for this move, he claims:

In a democratic world where publishing platforms are available to all, editors and institutions like Reuters MUST add great value if they are to survive the competitive fight with the unintermediated storytellers.

I couldn’t agree more. The future of journalism is in our own hands! The sooner the mass media realize this, the better!

The Social Web offers lots of opportunities for social networking. Through sites like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, you can connect with friends from real life, make new ones, and keep in touch with them. Also, through microblogging sites like Twitter, you can let your friends know what you’re up to any time of the day. It can get pretty addictive!

The Common Craft channel on YouTube has a series of clips explaining these (and many more) technologies in “plain English”. The following two clips are about social networking and microblogging:

Being back in Greece for the holidays, I caught a glimpse of New Year’s programmes on TV. Disappointing, to say the least.

Luckily, I can go back in time with YouTube (way back!) and enjoy some quality TV moments (in Greek). New Year 1988 ladies and gentlemen: