“Blog” is a term used to describe a specific type of website. The term “blog” comes from joining two words “web” and “log” into one. In fact, “web log” is a perfect description of what blogs truly are- online journals! Blogs are websites consisting of a series of regularly posted entries that are usually displayed on the web page in chronological order. Blogs can be written by one author, known as a blogger, or have many contributors (bloggers) writing entries about a common topic or theme. Blogs almost always encourage participation from their audiences and usually provide an easy way for readers to respond to an entry and publish their comments on the same web page.

How to use (this and other) blogs

Getting only the information that you want:

One of the most common challenges we all face in the Information Age is finding effective means of sorting through the vast quantities of info-junk available at our fingertips in order to find the information that we are looking for. Most blogs (this one is no exception) are equipped with category systems to help readers slice through content and locate only the entries that interest them the most.

In this blog you will notice that Marissa and Jon's latest entries appear on the homepage. Beneath each entry on the home page there will be a listing of the categories that the entry is a part of. Amoung other things our categories include “Artists Only” for entries that have anything to do with art, and “Nerds Only” for entries about computers, Linux, derivatives, and other geeky matters, the category “Fulbright Journal” will hold all entries that are officially part of Jon's Fulbright research, etc. By clicking the category name other entries in the same category will appear. In this way you, as a reader can easily access only the information that interests you most.

Examples:

• To see only Fulbright Research entries click here
• To see only entries that deal with art click Artists Only
• To see only entries that are about computers and information technology click Nerds Only

Receive notification of new information on a blog automatically with RSS (Really Simple Sydication) feeds:

Blogs are one of the most dynamic types of websites. New content and entries are usually posted to the website frequently. As a reader, it is an inconvinience to continually check blogs for new content. Most blogs (including this one) offer a cool technology called RSS feeds (Really Simple Sydication) which allows readers to receive automatic notifications when new content becomes available. To use RSS feeds you will need to download and install RSS feed reader program. To get started read this excellent tutorial written by the BBC World News Service using RSS feeds LINK HERE. You can think of an RSS feeds as electronic paper boys that bring news of new blog content directly to your doorstep. The notification of new content delivered to you will look much like an email, but will not be delivered to your inbox. The notifications are stored in your feed reading application. Notifcations will include the title and a short description of the new content so you can decide if it is worth reading or not.

Our feeds are listed on the bottom right hand corner of the website where it says “Feed Me...”. These feeds are categorized so that our readers can choose to be notified only when new content that is of interest becomes available.

To use the RSS feeds on this blog follow the instructions below:

1. Right mouse click one of the feed links
2. Click “Copy link location”
3. Paste the link into your feed reader application
4. You will now be automatically notified of any new content that Marissa or Jon posts to this blog

Blogging is a participation sport – airing your thoughts:

This blog, like most, allows our readers to post their thoughts to the website for other readers to read and comment upon. Comments posted to the site will appear as a threaded discussion directly below the full text of any article that Marissa and Jon publish on the blog.

To comment on an entry on the blog follow these steps:

1. Click the “add comment” link below the full text of any of the entries on the site
2. Type your comments in the text box that appears
3. Click submit

We will review your comments, and if they are hilarious or witty enough, approve them for display on the blog ;)