I'm a very big fan of the Olympic Games, both the summer and winter editions. These weeks are the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. The Olympic Games are very popular and the media are making use of this popularity. Because the Olympic Games are in Canada there is a time difference of nine hours. This makes it more difficult for people here in the Netherlands to watch their favourite sports live. All the sports at the Olympics are broadcasted here in the Netherlands live at night, but most people don't feel like getting up in the middle of the night, or they simply forget that a specific sport or part of sport is broadcasted.
For both types of people there is a solution. When you can't get up at night, because of work or because you just love to get a whole night of sleep, there is a summary every morning of the night before. Also, there is the possibility to watch every speed skating distance, without knowing what the results are. When you go to the website http://www.afstandgemist.nl/ you can look back the last distance. The major advantage of this site is that they don't already show you who won the race, and you can look back every couple that skated seperately. So if you only missed the last couple of races, you don't have to look back all the races, but you can start where you ended.
And for the people who will forget that a specific sport or part of sport will be broadcasted that they would like to see, the NOS offers a SMS-remindingservice. This remindingservice is only for the sport speed skating. When you make use of this remindingservice you can register for what distance(s) you want to be woken up. The NOS will sent you a SMS until three minutes before the distance will begin.
I think that this SMS-remindingservice is a very good example of how you can use information technology in order to allow people to follow the Olympic Games at night. Although I don't use this reminderservice myself, I think it is a great way of making sports at night more accessible for the people. Of course, there will always be people who will say: "why don't you just set an alarm", but I feel that this is a great way of offering an extra opportunity for the people.
However, it is a bit disappointing that the other Olympic sports aren't taken into account in this remindingservice. When this would have been done, this reminderservice would be even better.
Have a great time with the remaining days of the Olympic Games!
Kelly
maandag 22 februari 2010
A small adjustment
A small adjustment to my previous blog:
After I wrote the last piece about the upcoming election and the election tools, my mother pointed me at a column in 'de Gelderlander', the local newspaper of the region Gelderland. This column was a piece about the election tool for the region Gelderland. It said that the newspaper 'de Gelderlander' designed an election tool for the region Gelderland but there were a lot of problems with this election tool. Now, all the problems are solved and the people in Gelderland can go to the site www.degelderlander.nl and from there they can go to the election tool. The people can choose their own municipality and than several theses will appear.
Unfortunately, not every municipality wanted to cooperate, so not every municipality can be chosen.
Kelly
After I wrote the last piece about the upcoming election and the election tools, my mother pointed me at a column in 'de Gelderlander', the local newspaper of the region Gelderland. This column was a piece about the election tool for the region Gelderland. It said that the newspaper 'de Gelderlander' designed an election tool for the region Gelderland but there were a lot of problems with this election tool. Now, all the problems are solved and the people in Gelderland can go to the site www.degelderlander.nl and from there they can go to the election tool. The people can choose their own municipality and than several theses will appear.
Unfortunately, not every municipality wanted to cooperate, so not every municipality can be chosen.
Kelly
donderdag 11 februari 2010
Election
It's almost election time. On march 3rd all people in the Netherlands will vote for their town council. It surprises me that in 2006, with the last elections, there was an average attendance of 58.6%. Personally, I'm not very interested in the local authorities of Tilburg, but I do think that if you may vote, you should. Two years ago I turned eightteen and since that day, there was one election for the European Parliament. Although I didn't know very much about all this, I voted anyway. I did some research about the political parties who were in this election and I explored what they were standing for. I did this with the help of the site: www.stemwijzer.nl. I think that many of you will know this site where you can answer several questions, in order to find out on which party you could vote. This is the party that meets your ideas best.
With the upcoming elections for the local authorities, I feel there is a problem. When you will now visit the site of www.stemwijzer.nl you must select the municipality where you live. But, and here is the deal, not every municipality is represented. Almost the whole region of Gelderland is not represented on this site. I found this a bit strange, so I tried to search for some other election tool where you could find more municipalities. This was harder than you might think. StemWijzer recommends people to go to www.kieskompas.nl if their municipality isn't represented. On this site, there were a few different municipalities and also a few from Gelderland, but still not all municipalities in the Netherlands have an election tool.
Since my background lies in Gelderland, I was particularly interested in this region, so I tried to find an election tool where all the 56 municipalities of Gelderland are respresented. Well, I can tell you, there is none. The best site I found, was http://www.omroepgelderland.nl/web/Verkiezingen-2010/Verkiezingen-2010-Nieuws-Artikel/491741/Gelderse-gemeentes-lanceren-stemwijzers.htm. On this site there was an overview of every municipality in Gelderland that has developed an election tool. This was a shocking low number of 10. After a little search I discovered that this overview was just an overview of the municipalities in Gelderland that has developed an election tool for the site www.kieskompas.nl, only here they were grouped as 'the municipalities from Gelderland who developed an election tool'.
I think it is very dissapointing that only 10 out of 56 of the municipalities in Gelderland have developed an election tool. The people in the other 46 municipalities cannot use this great information technology of deciding who to vote for. I won't say this is the only way, but it sure is a lot easier than to read all of the election programs of the participating political parties.
For me, it doesn't matter this election, because I have to vote in Tilburg, a city that actually has an election tool. Not only a tool on the internet on stemwijzer.nl, but today I discovered an election tool oriented on the students of this city. There is a weekly newspaper at the University of Tilburg, called Univers and today I discovered that someone has developed an election tool for the students of Tilburg. Next week, this election tool will be spread over 1900 student residences. This poster contains 27 theses, where the student can either agree or disagree with, or can answer neutral. To know the results, the student has to define weight to each thesis by a range from 1 to 5. A weight of 1 means that the student couldn't care less about this thesis, and a weight of 5 means that the student thinks this is a very important issue. Next the student has to do a simple sum, and he/she knows what political party best suits him/her. I must say that I really appreciated this election tool because it really focusses on the students, so all the theses concerns students, unlike the tool on stemwijzer.nl.
Maybe it is an idea for the municipalities to create an election tool focussed on a particular target group. And by that I mean that the political parties should create different election tools such as a general election tool, an election tool for students, an election tool for the elderly etc. I think this really helps people to decide on which party they should vote, because the theses will be much more focused, so the target group can identify more with the theses.
Well, I'm glad that I already know on which party I'm going to vote. For everyone else who doesn't, good luck with finding out!
Kelly
With the upcoming elections for the local authorities, I feel there is a problem. When you will now visit the site of www.stemwijzer.nl you must select the municipality where you live. But, and here is the deal, not every municipality is represented. Almost the whole region of Gelderland is not represented on this site. I found this a bit strange, so I tried to search for some other election tool where you could find more municipalities. This was harder than you might think. StemWijzer recommends people to go to www.kieskompas.nl if their municipality isn't represented. On this site, there were a few different municipalities and also a few from Gelderland, but still not all municipalities in the Netherlands have an election tool.
Since my background lies in Gelderland, I was particularly interested in this region, so I tried to find an election tool where all the 56 municipalities of Gelderland are respresented. Well, I can tell you, there is none. The best site I found, was http://www.omroepgelderland.nl/web/Verkiezingen-2010/Verkiezingen-2010-Nieuws-Artikel/491741/Gelderse-gemeentes-lanceren-stemwijzers.htm. On this site there was an overview of every municipality in Gelderland that has developed an election tool. This was a shocking low number of 10. After a little search I discovered that this overview was just an overview of the municipalities in Gelderland that has developed an election tool for the site www.kieskompas.nl, only here they were grouped as 'the municipalities from Gelderland who developed an election tool'.
I think it is very dissapointing that only 10 out of 56 of the municipalities in Gelderland have developed an election tool. The people in the other 46 municipalities cannot use this great information technology of deciding who to vote for. I won't say this is the only way, but it sure is a lot easier than to read all of the election programs of the participating political parties.
For me, it doesn't matter this election, because I have to vote in Tilburg, a city that actually has an election tool. Not only a tool on the internet on stemwijzer.nl, but today I discovered an election tool oriented on the students of this city. There is a weekly newspaper at the University of Tilburg, called Univers and today I discovered that someone has developed an election tool for the students of Tilburg. Next week, this election tool will be spread over 1900 student residences. This poster contains 27 theses, where the student can either agree or disagree with, or can answer neutral. To know the results, the student has to define weight to each thesis by a range from 1 to 5. A weight of 1 means that the student couldn't care less about this thesis, and a weight of 5 means that the student thinks this is a very important issue. Next the student has to do a simple sum, and he/she knows what political party best suits him/her. I must say that I really appreciated this election tool because it really focusses on the students, so all the theses concerns students, unlike the tool on stemwijzer.nl.
Maybe it is an idea for the municipalities to create an election tool focussed on a particular target group. And by that I mean that the political parties should create different election tools such as a general election tool, an election tool for students, an election tool for the elderly etc. I think this really helps people to decide on which party they should vote, because the theses will be much more focused, so the target group can identify more with the theses.
Well, I'm glad that I already know on which party I'm going to vote. For everyone else who doesn't, good luck with finding out!
Kelly
donderdag 4 februari 2010
The beginning...
Hello everybody,
For my study I'm obliged to start a blog. I'm studying Communication and Information Sciences and I'm in my second year of the bachelor. I'm following this study at the Tilburg University in the Netherlands. The course which obliged me to do this is called Media Use in Organisations and we are expected to write about Information Technology. The course has just started, so it's not totally clear what we're supposed to write about, but I'm sure this knowledge will come soon.
Maybe it is time for me to introduce myself, so you'll actually know whose blog you are reading at the moment. I'm 19 years old and as I said before, I'm in my second year of the study Communication and Information Sciences and I chose the direction of Business Communication and Digital Media.
I must admit that I'm not really into all that twitter and blogging stuff, but I can see why it is usefull to know about all this, for the direction I chose. After all, what impression will you make when you study digital media and you don't even know what twitter and blogging is, let alone how to use it.
According to wikipedia, information technology is 'the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware'. But an easier definition is that information technology is the use of computers and software to manage information.
The intention is that I will give you updates about things that I've learned or faced in relation to information technology. I hope this will work out well and that you enjoy reading my blog. I'm happy to receive reactions, so don't be afraid to post comments!
Kelly
For my study I'm obliged to start a blog. I'm studying Communication and Information Sciences and I'm in my second year of the bachelor. I'm following this study at the Tilburg University in the Netherlands. The course which obliged me to do this is called Media Use in Organisations and we are expected to write about Information Technology. The course has just started, so it's not totally clear what we're supposed to write about, but I'm sure this knowledge will come soon.
Maybe it is time for me to introduce myself, so you'll actually know whose blog you are reading at the moment. I'm 19 years old and as I said before, I'm in my second year of the study Communication and Information Sciences and I chose the direction of Business Communication and Digital Media.
I must admit that I'm not really into all that twitter and blogging stuff, but I can see why it is usefull to know about all this, for the direction I chose. After all, what impression will you make when you study digital media and you don't even know what twitter and blogging is, let alone how to use it.
According to wikipedia, information technology is 'the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware'. But an easier definition is that information technology is the use of computers and software to manage information.
The intention is that I will give you updates about things that I've learned or faced in relation to information technology. I hope this will work out well and that you enjoy reading my blog. I'm happy to receive reactions, so don't be afraid to post comments!
Kelly
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