| | AgentLand Newsletter January 13 - June 02, 2003 |
June 02 2003
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Prepare your holidays64 millions Americans have used the Internet to prepare a journey, and 39 million have made a reservation online (source: Travel Industry Association of America, 2002). The online tourism market in Europe represented 7.3 billion euros in 2002, according to the Centre for Regional and Tourism Research. E-tourism is in a period of rapid growth. So why are Internet users so interested in online tourism? [>>]
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May 19 2003
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Peer-to-peer software to fight against SARSHas the utopian spirit of the 1960s disappeared for ever? In our consumer, capitalist, warrior society, is there still a place for much derided 'peace and love'? Even if many people would give a weary, fatalistic reply to these questions, the Internet continues to see the birth of initiatives that place humanity firmly in the centre of the picture.
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April 22 2003
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Do you "Grub"?The Internet, we've said it before and we'll say it again, it a wonderful, beautiful and above all practical thing. E-commerce, leisure, travel, culture: everything seems to be available on the Web. Although it is still only used by part of the population, the Web has become hugely popular. Using electronic mail, meeting people through online chat, making purchases online are all common practice now… The practical side of the Web has spread widely. But is this really the most interesting aspect of the Internet? What if the real interest was elsewhere? And what if 'Grub' had seized on it?
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April 07 2003
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Cookies and privacy: should you be concerned? Did you know that your computer can be cleaned? Most software stores information about how you use your computer: the documents you have accessed, the messages sent, etc. Web sites place cookies on your machine that contain information about your browsing. Therefore anyone is able to see what you have been doing. What's more, this stored information can take up a considerable amount of space if you don't deal with it regularly. What is a cookie? What are cookies for?
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March 24 2003
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News just a click away
In a hundred-mile-an-hour world, where technological and scientific advances as well as democratic and political upheavals follow on from each other at a frenetic rhythm, it is legitimate to feel caught up in a whirlwind. However, for the advanced Net surfer, solutions are available to keep your head above water in the incessant flow of current news.
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March 10 2003
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Pocket-sized MP3!The number of people using services such as Audiogalaxy or KaZaA is a sure sign of the success of the MP3 format for audio files. Manufacturers now sell a wide range of MP3 players, integrated in home stereo systems or car radios, etc. The MP3 compression format became popular thanks to the Net, in particular with the infamous Napster file-sharing platform. Now it has begun to be adopted outside the network, in living rooms and cars.
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February 24 2003
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How to avoid being tracked on the Net Ah… The life of a Net surfer is not always an easy one. Not only is it necessary to cut a path through the information jungle, to avoid the pitfalls of 404 error pages, to weave between pop-up windows, to cross the hurdles of sign-up forms, to battle with spyware and to eradicate spam e-mails, but also to be aware that information is being collected without your knowledge. Truly, being a Net surfer can be like completing the twelve labours of a Cyber-Hercules.
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February 10 2003
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Get your site referenced!
Your site is on-line, but despite all the effort that has gone into creating it, your mission is not yet over. Now you have to give it visibility, to bring it to the attention of as many people as possible – in other words, to generate traffic. As most people use search engines and directories when searching for information on the Web, it is indispensable to get your site referenced by the best-known and most-used search tools.
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January 27 2003
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Are your clothes intelligent? Over the next five years, intelligent clothing will become increasingly commonplace, particularly in areas such as sports, leisure and business. Smart jogging pants that give a rundown on a sportsman or woman's physical performances are just one example. Trousers that keep a track of the day's activities are another idea under development.
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January 13 2003
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The future of intelligent agents 2003… How is it possible to imagine what the technological future will be like in 1, 5, 10 or 30 years time? Now, when we watch '2001: A Space Odyssey', a sigh of regret accompanies the realization that the future imagined in this epic film has not come to be. That the artificial intelligence of Hal the supercomputer is still at the development stage, that commercial space voyages are still a rarity. This is 2003, three years after the year 2000, in which last centuries' scientists and writers used to imagine Mankind tearing around the earth in spacecraft, being served by robots, living in intelligent homes, and having developed intelligence and a lifestyle unequalled by anything that had gone before.
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