Arsenal Fans Site

Wenger - We'll answer our critics in time

2008-11-04T23:48:00.002+07:00

Arsène Wenger hopes he can serve Arsenal’s critics a sizeable slice of humble pie soon.

The Frenchman saw his side drop five Premier League points last week by drawing with Tottenham on Wednesday and then losing to Stoke over the weekend.

It has heralded a spate of negative headlines in the media but Wenger knows the football world revolves quickly. His side may be fourth in the table right now but they have plenty of time to turnaround both their situation and public opinion.

"Let's re-establish what we have not done well recently, defend together as a team and continue to play in a positive way,” he said at Tuesday’s press conference ahead of the Fenerbahce game.

“The same people who say we are not good, let them say it in three weeks when we are the best.

“We want to be guided by the way we want to play football, our spirit and not to go over-board. We lost a game but we are six points behind the leaders. It is the start of November and we have plenty of quality to get it back.”

Gallas, Walcott, Adebayor out for Fenerbahce

2008-11-04T23:38:00.001+07:00

Arsenal have lost two more first-team stars for the Champions League tie against Fenerbahce on Wednesday.

Theo Walcott (shoulder) and Emmanuel Adebayor (ankle) picked up knocks during the defeat at Stoke on Saturday. They joined William Gallas on the injury list after the captain damaged a hamstring against Tottenham.

At least Bacary Sagna has recovered after hobbling off at the Britannia Stadium but Emmanuel Eboue (knee) is still missing along with long-term absentees Eduardo (ankle) and Tomas Rosicky (hamstring).

The only one of those likely to return for Manchester United on Saturday is Walcott, though Gallas has a chance too.

"[Walcott, Adebayor and Gallas] are all injured,” said Wenger at Tuesday’s press conference. “It is not more serious than that. Gallas and Walcott are short-term but Adebayor is a bit longer, Eboue as well.”

When asked who might return for the crucial weekend clash with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, Wenger replied: “Gallas and especially Walcott.”

West Ham 0-2 Arsenal Match Report

2008-10-27T02:16:00.001+07:00

By Richard Clarke @ arsenal.com

West Ham United 0-2 Arsenal
Barclays Premier League, Upton Park
Sunday, October 26, 2008, 16:00

Real title contenders pull off victories like this.

Having won so comprehensively in Fenerbahce on Tuesday you could have forgiven Arsenal for being leg weary at West Ham on Sunday. After all, the weekend results suggest the travails of the Champions League did have an affect on Manchester United and Chelsea.

However, Arsène Wenger shuffled his squad at Upton Park and the XI he sent out produced a disciplined and committed performance against Gianfranco Zola’s equally determined side.

The vital goal came via the errant boot of West Ham defender Julien Faubert 15 minutes from time when the Frenchman turned in a shot from Emmanuel Adebayor at the far post. It came just as Arsenal were starting to get on top. They had made an arduous ascent.

West Ham had matched the visitors all the way for the first hour but Wenger’s men just managed to draw away in the final stretch.

Adebayor added another in injury time and that was perhaps hard on West Ham. Carlton Cole’s last-gasp red card also did not befit the effort they had put in.

However the very tightness of the game and effort required to win it will satisfy Wenger greatly.
Arsenal moved back into fourth with the victory but the spirit on Sunday suggested they may be higher at the end of the season.

With games coming thick and fast, it was not surprising to see Wenger makes changes. However the extent and the nature of them was interesting.

Those left on the bench told the story. Though passed fit, perhaps Bacary Sagna (knee) and Kolo Toure (shoulders) were still working their way back from injury. Despite his goal in Turkey on Tuesday, Abou Diaby was also lacking full match-fitness after a long lay-off. Adebayor, you presume, was simply rested and Nicklas Bendtner came in to the side.

Mikael Silvestre retained his place in the starting XI and William Gallas returned from a hamstring injury to join him at centre half. Alex Song moved into midfield alongside Cesc Fabregas with Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott on the flanks. Emmanuel Eboue continued at right back, Robin van Persie returned up front while Denilson was omitted completely.

In the build-up, this game had looked like a cracking Sunday afternoon affair. However, by kick-off, it had only third billing in London, let alone the division. Even Chelsea v Liverpool was trumped by the surprising managerial switch at Tottenham ahead of their game with Bolton.

In the openings stages, it was as if the fixture had been hurt by the snub.

Traditionally, West Ham v Arsenal has been spicy however the opening stages were pretty bland and it took 10 minutes for either side to fashion a chance. Van Persie’s loose pass was intercepted by Lee Bowyer, whose touch set up David Di Michele to let fly from 25 yards. Almunia acrobatically tipped the ball over the bar.

Arsenal had started like an old banger on a frosty morning. There were signs of life but only sporadically.
However, in Theo Walcott, Wenger has a Rolls-Royce player. The England winger had been on a couple of mazy runs before, in the 20th minute, he dodged around three West Ham defenders and fired in a rising drive at the near post. It flicked off the bar en route over.

After that, Arsenal started to flex their muscles.

In the 25th minute, Fabregas chipped the ball into the area and Van Persie cleverly chested it into the path of Walcott. Despite the heavy presence of Herta Illunga, he got off a decent shot from close-range but Robert Green made an excellent low stop with his right hand.

Buoyed with confidence, the visitors were now pressing forward. However that tactic nearly saw them caught on the counter-attack a couple of minutes later.

Scott Parker’s first-time pass sent Craig Bellamy clear with Gael Clichy in hot pursuit. The Frenchman was breathing down the neck of the West Ham striker but Bellamy still got away a low, angled shot. Manuel Almunia kicked the ball away with his trailing leg.

In response, the visiting fans chanted the name of their keeper for perhaps the first time. It said much about both his blossoming reputation and the importance of that save. Suddenly we had a real game on our hands.

Just past the half-hour Bendtner failed to connect with a header from Nasri’s cross. However the Dane redeemed himself in the 37th minute when he cut in from the left and forced another flying save from Green. An entirely self-made opportunity.

The half-time whistle was welcome respite. After a slow opening, this had developed into a rousing, end-to-end affair. At the midway point, both sides had cause for optimism.

The equilibrium continued after the start. The Arsenal defence missed Bellamy’s corner and the ball bounced off the chest of the startled Matthew Upson for Almunia to collect easily. At the other end, Walcott slid a dangerous ball across the face of goal and James Collins hacked it over from under his own bar.The pace was unrelenting with neither midfield having much control on matters. But West Ham were getting most joy down their left flank.

They had claims for a handball in the area against William Gallas. On the hour, Bellamy barged past Eboue, stormed in to the area and cut the ball back. Gallas half-stopped it and then had to show bravery to block as Bowyer attempted to convert the loose ball.

Walcott remained Arsenal’s best outlet, you could almost feel the nerves coming off the West Ham defence whenever he got the ball.

In the 65th minute, the 19-year-old found room on the right of the area and fired low across the area. Collins' clearance fell to Van Persie, who returned the ball with interest. However his goal-bound shot was blocked.

Seconds later, Wenger made changes. Adebayor and Diaby came on, Nasri and Walcott went off. The Arsenal manager was forsaking width for directness. However the change seemed to bring the best out of Van Persie.

First he cut inside two defenders and fired in a curling cross-shot that forced the best out of Green. Then he hit the woodwork with a cracking free-kick from just outside the area.

For the first time in the game, one side was sustaining pressure on the other. You sensed an Arsenal goal was coming.

It arrived in the 75th minute. Adebayor collected the ball just inside the area then used all his strength and tenacity to fire a shot across the face of goal. It was not going in until Faubert touched the ball in at the far post.

Now Arsenal went for the jugular. Bendtner crossed and Adebayor arrived to thump a low shot towards the near post. Green saved again and the Togolese striker sent his follow-up over the bar. Adebayor did grab another on the break in injury time to seal the game.

In the final seconds, Cole was sent off for going through the back of Song.

A sad end to stirring game.

Chairman - Squad investment is 'top priority'

2008-10-24T21:44:00.002+07:00

Chairman Peter Hill-Wood insists that spending money on Arsenal's squad is the Board’s 'top priority'.

The huge sums spent on redevelopments at Highbury Square and Queensland Road had led some to suggest that the Directors were more interested in property than players. Mr Hill-Wood did not agree.

Speaking at Thursday’s AGM, the Chairman was adamant that expenditure on players, both in salaries and transfer fees, was of the utmost importance.

“I promise you that expenditure on players is our top priority,” said Mr. Hill-Wood. “As a board we look at the total cost of players, not just transfers, but transfers and salaries put together as one total. We spent over £100m on that last year and we will continue to do that this year, probably more.

“Bringing in players is really down to Arsène Wenger, who has been an extremely good judge of who, when and how much we should pay for players. He is always looking to strengthen the squad but he has got a very good one here already."

Sagna has 'small chance' of facing West Ham

2008-10-24T21:39:00.001+07:00

Arsenal could have three defenders back for the trip to Upton Park on Sunday.

When he spoke to Arsenal TV Online on Thursday, Arsène Wenger revealed that William Gallas (hamstring) and Kolo Toure (shoulder) were fit to face West Ham while Bacary Sagna (knee) was on course to return for Wednesday's local derby with Tottenham.

The outlook was even brighter at Wenger's pre-match press conference on Friday with Sagna now ahead of schedule in his recovery.

"I expect William and Kolo to be fit. Even Bacary Sagna has a small chance to be fit," confirmed Wenger.

If Sagna recovers in time for Sunday's game, Arsenal's injury list would be down to two - long-term absentees Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky.
arsenal.com

Wenger - Bergkamp will be a fantastic coach

2008-10-24T21:34:00.001+07:00

Arsène Wenger thinks Dennis Bergkamp can be a coaching success in English football - but he doesn't expect the Dutchman to return to Emirates Stadium any time soon.

Bergkamp enjoyed a glittering playing career at Arsenal and has revealed his long-term ambition to return to England in a coaching capacity. The former Gunner is currently studying for his Uefa coaching badges while he works alongside Marco van Basten in a trainee role at Ajax.

Wenger expects Bergkamp to make his mark in his new career but played down suggestions that his former player will take up a role at Arsenal in the short-term.

"Dennis is learning at the moment," said Wenger.

"In the future we will see. I would like to see all our former players who have been as outstanding as Dennis and have a real Arsenal spirit back here, but there must be a position available as well.

"I think he will be a fantastic coach but I don’t know when that will happen. We are not out there to look for coaches."
arsenal.com

Class of 2008 join elite club of Gunners

2008-10-23T07:52:00.002+07:00

Tony Adams scores number three in a 7-0 win at Standard Liege

Arsenal’s glittering result in Istanbul on Tuesday night secured only their fourth five-goal haul on the continent in their history.

Only once before have the Gunners managed the same tally in the Champions League but they have also notched at least five times in both the Cup Winners Cup and the Inter Cities Fairs Cup.

Read on for all Arsenal’s record-breaking European results.

ARSENAL'S 5+ AWAY WINS IN EUROPE
Date Competition H/A/N Opposition W/D/L F A
21-10-2008 Champions League A Fenerbahce W 5 2
25-11-2003 Champions League A Inter Milan W 5 1
03-11-1993 Cup Winners' Cup A Standard Liege W 7 0
25-09-1963 Fairs Cup A Staevnet W 7 1

Wenger proud as Gunners find range

2008-10-23T07:50:00.002+07:00

Arsène Wenger revealed his immense pride as his young Arsenal FC side took a major step towards the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League with a resounding 5-2 win at Fenerbahçe SK. "Our experience and technique made the difference," said the Frenchman, whose opposite number Luis Aragonés bemoaned his players' overemphasis on attacking play but has not yet given up hope of rising from the foot of Group G to qualify – for the UEFA Cup at least.

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager
It was a very open game. Fenerbahçe are a very dangerous, attacking team but our experience and technique made the difference tonight. I am very happy that we scored five goals. We played really well and forced Fenerbahçe to come out. The average age of the players was 22 and I am really proud of them. We started the game strong, remained strong and finished strong. My players are very confident about themselves. We need one more victory to say that we will progress from this stage. We scored the first two goals early on and then the game became an open, attacking game. Manchester United also won tonight and this season English teams will again be very successful in the UEFA Champions League. Fenerbahçe have a great coach but he needs some time.

Luis Aragonés, Fenerbahçe coach
Arsenal pressured us a lot in the first eleven minutes and by then it was already 0-2. After that we scored a goal but it was not enough. We focused too much on the attacking side of our game and didn't concentrate enough on defence. We had a lot of goalscoring opportunities but we can't take the same positives from the defensive side. My players made a lot of mistakes tonight but we still have games to play and if there are more games there is always a chance. So we still have a chance to qualify, or at least progress to the UEFA Cup. We have to learn from our mistakes when we play the return against Arsenal on 5 November.

Line Up CL

2008-10-23T07:49:00.000+07:00

Fenerbahçe

* 1 Volkan Demirel
* 2 Lugano
* 3 Roberto Carlos
* 4 Edu
* 10 Alex
* 14 Daniel Güiza
* 21 Selçuk Şahin
* 23 Semih Şentürk
* 25 Uğur Boral
* 33 Claudio Maldonado
* 77 Gökhan Gönül

Substitutes

* 88 Volkan Babacan
* 7 Burak Yılmaz
* 16 Josico
* 18 Ali Bilgin
* 32 Gürhan Gürsoy
* 38 İlhan Parlak
* 53 Yasin Çakmak

Coach
Luis Aragonés

Arsenal

* 1 Manuel Almunia
* 2 Abou Diaby
* 4 Cesc Fàbregas
* 8 Samir Nasri
* 14 Theo Walcott
* 15 Denilson
* 17 Alexandre Song
* 18 Mikaël Silvestre
* 22 Gaël Clichy
* 25 Emmanuel Adebayor
* 27 Emmanuel Eboué

Substitutes

* 21 Łukasz Fabiański
* 11 Robin van Persie
* 12 Carlos Vela
* 16 Aaron Ramsey
* 20 Johan Djourou
* 26 Nicklas Bendtner
* 40 Kieran Gibbs

Coach

Arsène Wenger

Referee
Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE)
Assistant referee
Henrik Andrén (SWE) Magnus Sjöblom (SWE)
Fourth official
Martin Ingvarsson (SWE)
UEFA Delegate
Jacques Antenen (SUI)
UEFA Referee observer
Zdravko Jokic (SRB)

Fenerbahçe floored by rampant Arsenal

2008-10-23T07:42:00.002+07:00

Arsenal FC ended Fenerbahçe SK's 15-match unbeaten home European run in stunning style after early strikes by Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott gave them an advantage they never relinquished.

Frantic start
The first two goals were of similar style as Adebayor and Walcott sprinted clear within a minute of each other, and a Mikaël Silvestre own goal did not stop Arsenal's momentum thanks to Abou Diaby's strike. That was all in the first 22 minutes, and despite some frantic Fenerbahçe efforts, Alexandre Song made it 4-1 early in the second half. Although Daniel Güiza pulled another back, 17-year-old Aaron Ramsey had the last word and Arsenal look in control of UEFA Champions League Group G.

Early chance
Fenerbahçe coach Luis Aragonés opted to start with Chilean midfielder Claudio Maldonado, omitting Turkey winger Kazım Kazım altogether, but while Uğur Boral forced Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia into a save on four minutes, it was the visitors who were making the running. Önder Turacı's last-minute injury meant Gökhan Gönül started at right-back after a foot injection, but Fenerbahçe's defence were stretched by the pace of Arsenal and were soon breached twice in quick succession by the guile of Cesc Fàbregas.

Quickfire goals
On ten minutes the Spain midfielder's through ball was timed perfectly for lone striker Adebayor to beat the offside trap and slot past Volkan Demirel. Seconds later the goalkeeper was picking the ball out of his net again. This time Fàbregas found Walcott, who sprinted clear of Edu and rounded the goalkeeper before tapping in.

Comeback thwarted
However, Fenerbahçe's fans were not about to give up and hopes of the sort of comeback that took them to last season's quarter-finals were raised eight minutes later when Alex's free-kick fell to Güiza, whose shot deflected in off Silvestre, making only his second start in an injury-hit Arsenal defence. The visitors did not lower their tempo, though, and three minutes later made it 3-1 with yet another quick break, the fit-again Diaby marking his first start of the season with a calm finish. Yet that might not have been all of the scoring before the break, Güiza and Semih Şentürk coming close on several occasions.

Song goal
Those misses were to prove costly as within four minutes of the restart it was 4-1. Selçuk Şahin's attempted clearance from a Fàbregas free-kick hit the head of Edu and the grateful Silvestre nodded the ball down for Song to claim his second Arsenal goal. Aragonés soon introduced Ali Bilgin on the right, although the visitors had shut up shop and Fenerbahçe were not finding chances as easy to come by as before the interval.

Late consolation
Güiza did end his personal frustration with 12 minutes left when he pounced on Song's looser header to elegantly chip Almunia although appropriately the last word belonged to Arsenal, substitute Ramsey, on his competition debut, striking low into the net from outside the box. Arsenal now lead Group G by two points from FC Dynamo Kyiv; Fenerbahçe are bottom with just one draw to their name and desperately need a result in London on 5 November.

Almunia - It seemed like a training match

2008-10-23T07:39:00.001+07:00

Manuel Almunia has labelled Tuesday night's victory at Fenerbahce as a “strange” and “crazy” game.

The 31-year-old was handed a tough task for his first match as Arsenal captain – a European tie in Turkey.

However, Almunia saved from Ugur Boral at point-blank range in the opening moments and the visitors capitalised on that by scoring twice in 70 seconds around the 10-minute mark.

Mikael Silvestre then inadvertently put the ball high past Almunia however Arsenal responded immediately through Abou Diaby.

The visitors could have added to their lead before the break but Daniel Guiza, a former team-mate of Almunia at Recreativo Huelva, spurned two fine chances to pull Fenerbahce back into the game.

Alex Song seemed to have put the game beyond doubt early in the second half but Guiza did beat Almunia before substitute Aaron Ramsey wrapped things up in injury time.

The match finished 5-2 but it could have easily have been 10-4.

“It was a crazy game,” admitted Almunia afterwards. “There were so many chances it seemed like a training match.

“The game started well for me with that save. It made things easier. After that I found the game more comfortable.

“Personally I had a strange feeling about the match, everything seemed much easier than normal in the Champions League.

“But it must have been a great game for the supporters of both clubs.”
Arsenal.com

FIFA 09 – Adebayor Signing at The Armoury

2008-10-23T07:36:00.003+07:00

Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor will be making a personal appearance at The Armoury next week to celebrate the launch of FIFA 09 on the PS3. A special edition of the game, with an exclusive Arsenal sleeve* will be on sale in Arsenal stores and arsenal.com/shopping from 30th October. The appearance and signing session will be on Thursday 30th October from 15.30 until 17.30.

Experience the most authentic football simulation EA SPORTS™ has delivered, as you live the fantasy of playing as a professional player and customise the game to suit your style and ability.

We asked Emmanuel Adebayor what he thought of the game... here is what he had to say.

Q. How does FIFA 09 compare to playing in the Premier League?
A. All of my friends used to tell me that playing the game is very similar to playing real football, and it is – because you can put a lot of emotion and effort in to it. I really enjoy it so I will keep on playing!

Q. What was it like to play as yourself in FIFA 09?

A. Ten years ago, if someone had told me I was going to be in a game like this, I wouldn’t have believed them, so I’m very happy. When I wake up every morning I always tell myself that if you have a chance, you have to take it. That’s why I work hard every day, to be something tomorrow.

*The exclusive Arsenal version of the FIFA 09 game features a different product outer sleeve. All other features are as per other retail outlets.

Interview conducted by Match Magazine

Adebayor - The next step is to rule in Europe

2008-10-23T07:33:00.001+07:00

Fenerbahce 2-5 Arsenal

UEFA Champions League

Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 19:4

By Richard Clarke (arsenal.com)
Emmanuel Adebayor argues that Arsenal will only be satisfied by winning the Champions League this season.

The Togolese striker hit the first goal at Fenerbahce on Tuesday night as Arsène Wenger’s side stormed to a 5-2 victory that kept them top of Group G and looking to seal early qualification to the next round.

Last season, Arsenal went through in similar style and then swept aside Milan before being knocked out by Liverpool at the Quarter-Final stage. Adebayor demands improvement on that and, realistically, he argues that means lifting the trophy in Rome next May.

“What we did last season is behind us now,” he said. “We want to achieve something better than that.

“If you want to go further that really means to win it. Once you go past the Quarter-Final you only have the Semi-Final and Final so you have a lot of chance to win it.

“We have not lost a lot of players. We have only lost Hleb and Flamini but we have changed them. Nasri and Denilson have come in and are both playing good football.”

Van Persie looking forward to facing Fenerbahce

2008-10-23T07:29:00.001+07:00

By Jonathan Chong on Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Striker Robin van Persie says that he's looking forward to facing Fenerbahce tonight, simply because of their 'amazing' fans.

The Dutch international has a good chance of starting the Champions League group match and will be aiming to produce a performance that will silence the Turkish club's fanatical support.

van Persie said: "It will be really tough. I experienced it a few years ago and the fans there are amazing.

"It was really aggressive, but that is their style. You have to deal with the atmosphere. It is not nice but I think if you play for Arsenal you have to adapt and just play your game.

"It will be a good test for us and I will enjoy the game."

Toure out till November!

2008-10-23T07:28:00.002+07:00

By Jonathan Chong on Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Defender Kolo Touré says that the shoulder injury he has suffered will keep him out till November.

Touré suffered the injury in the game against Everton, which the Gunners won 3-1 after going a goal down early in the first half.

Touré said: "I hurt my shoulder badly, it was very painful but it is a job of a defender to take pain.

"And we won the game after going behind in our own stadium, and the injury is not too bad as we think I should be fine in ten to 15 days and ready to make a challenge."

Almunia under no pressure as captain

2008-10-23T07:26:00.002+07:00

By Jonathan Chong on Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia says that he is under no pressure as captain and actually relishes the responsibility that comes with wearing the armband.

The Spaniard took the armband from defender Kolo Touré when the Ivory Coast international went off injured at half-time.

Almunia said: "I am very proud to wear the armband. It is an honour. I am a bit surprised because although I am the oldest player on the pitch, I have not been at the club the longest.

"But it is nice because it means I have done well and I have the confidence of the manager.

"I will try to defend Arsenal 100 per cent and try to help my team in every aspect of the game.

"We expect a team like Fenerbahce to put some pressure on us in the first 15 minutes with all the crowd behind them but we have the experience to remain calm and defend well. It will be crucial to keep a clean sheet for the first 15 minutes.

"It is true I have a bit more responsibility but no pressure. But the only pressure on me is the same one I get every Saturday.

"I am very proud to wear the armband. I hope I can command my defence from behind and help my team get the points."

Premiership Sheikh-up - Arsenal looking isolated

2008-10-19T21:44:00.000+07:00

There was a time when Robinho was the hottest prospect in football. Clubs were tracking him but only the biggest of the biggest clubs were present at the bidding table. Real Madrid got the player as expected because such a talent only goes to great clubs. At the same time, Kevin Keegan was about to be replaced as manager of Manchester City, a regular mid-table club with no mass international appeal.

In August 2008, Robinho is now an established player who has proven his potential is real and is getting to the age where the best is expected to start coming. Manchester City is still a regular mid-table team in spite of brief show-biz flirts with Sven Göran-Eriksson and a politician in exile. Now a Sheikh's financial instrument - Abu Dhabi United Group - takes over Manchester City and Robinho is going to wear a blue shirt to play in front of an old fan who's supported City for all his life and who would not quite be able to believe what he's seeing as Robinho runs around wearing his team colours into the path of Joey Barton.

This is not our first Sheikh. There is Sheikh Abrahamovic, Sheikh Glazer, Sheikhs Hicks and Gillett, etc. And there are yet more Sheikhs waiting in the wings. There is Sheikh Usmanov and now apparently Sheikh Mohammed.

In reference to rumoured interest of Dubai International Capital in Liverpool, one website wrote: "Sheikh Mohammed - Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, seventh richest man in the world and perhaps the answer to Liverpool's prayers."

Are fans really going home at night praying for sugar daddies? I can understand walking home from a defeat at Fulham and thinking, "I wish a billionaire could just buy us Essien for £100m – no balancing of the books, just 'here-is-a-£100 million change, just go get him'." But I really know inside me that that's the last thing I want for football.

This take-over of Manchester City tells me that the pattern is now firmly established. It tells me that the financiers have watched the sport (the business side of it) and decided that there a good business. If you are a billionaire who wants status and certainly exclusivity (which is what billionaires resort to when they can afford everything else), then you can get it in football club while having a good business if need the money or a reasonable cost if you don't need the money. If you are a business man who wants a money-spinning entertainment business with stars who can be as big as holiday's B and C lists then football is attractive. There is now clearer proof of the link between money and success. If you spend the same as Manchester United with a good coach, you can beat them. Chelsea have proven that!

Imagine this: you are billionaire from a small Russian town or an extremely wealthy Sheikh from Dubai, but you can command from one town in a great Western country, the love and adulation from a lot of the young menfolk (fans) and automatically become one of the most important people of a city. It's nearly as good as an electorate – you can be more powerful than the MP. You can be one of the most important people in old and important towns like London, Manchester or Liverpool in a heartbeat.

Football is has a long history with politics, power and control. You can read Franklin Foer's book called "Football Explains the World" to find out just how football has been used by people seeking power and in conflicts and politics for decades.

The very people "answering our prayers" to win games and earn bragging rights for a year over our opponents might end-up taking the game away from us. There are many sports whose games you go to, especially in the US where sport has been seen as money-making entertainment business rather than an artistic and creative discipline, and you find a stale atmosphere completely devoid of soul. It becomes a day out for beers and popcorn. In the end, people care so little that they only turn up for spectacle events – only games between giants. The rest is just a tourist attraction and dumbed down popular entertainment.

It has become so difficult to win the Premiership without investing hundreds of millions that the poorer teams are becoming pawns that are there to make the race interesting rather than take part. Very soon, the only thing that will make sense is an international Super League. That's one negative view of the future.

Maybe someone has a better view of equalised competition as more people invest in teams to make them competitive and eventually create an exciting league where 10 teams are capable of winning. If such a future is what we will get then okay, but what's going to happen when a Sheikh invests £500 million and doesn't win anything in 5 years? Will he invest more and raise the stakes until it bursts or will he walk away and leave a club that has forgotten how to balance the books and collapses?

I'm open-minded about club ownership – afterall most clubs are owned by someone or a small group of people and one could say it is a bit prejudiced to consider an English gent to be okay and an Arab billionaire not okay. Indeed we have to be careful not to be simply xenophobic or being old-fashioned and unnecessarily suspicious of outsiders. That is why it is important to keep an open mind. I, however, am maybe not clever enough or positive enough to see the upside to this.

Arsenal now stands as the one big club not owned by some billionaire or some private financier with an eye on global profiteering. I'm not sure how to categorise our owners – they are certainly not ordinary folks like you nor I either. Wenger's philosophy suits (or is designed to support) this prudent and conservative bunch.

For years we have seen Wenger as the man showing the way for the future – youth, style, stability and balanced books. Yet the past 10 years has seen the growth of win at all cost, buy to win, buy the best players for your squad, don't throw points to blood young players, debt is no problem, money is no issue, etc.

Wenger's and Arsenal's trend is against the grain. After the purchase of Manchester City and Robinho, I am now wondering whether Arsenal is showing the way to the future or if they are living in the past – against the reality of money equals success. In 5 years the bubble might bust like the dot-com bubble and Wenger and Arsenal will stand proud and stable as other clubs fall around them. In 5 years maybe there will be better competitiveness in a league and different kind of global football entertainment with maybe a super league of which Arsenal is not part due to having fallen behind by not spending.

Wenger made a revealing comment talking about Barry: "These older players you pay a lot but can get nothing in return." He was referring to the resale value. A young player has resale value because there is still potential and time on their side. They cost less because the potential is not proven. But older players have no resale value. They are expensive because you already know what they can do – it's not just about potential.

But it seems either Wenger or Arsenal or both cannot spend a Dollar (or Pound) without the thought of what they could get back in hard cash rather than what total value he can add on the pitch. Maybe they don't want to finance their opponents by giving them money to buy key players instead of them taking the money from opponents for a player they grew. Wenger once said that for a player to be worth £40 million then he has to score every time he touches the ball. The Sheikhs don't see it that way. With that view, there are no players worth £40 million to Wenger and you can begin to understand why he will not even spend £20 million on a player since he probably expects someone who will guarantee a win every time he starts. It makes it even more amazing that he went up to £14 million for Alonso – he must have really wanted him!

I have always said that the team needs a defensive midfielder but that we can still aim for the league and Europe with what we have got and hope injury luck is on our side. I still believe that.

Fabregas prevents punters from writing off Arsenal's season

2008-10-19T21:33:00.001+07:00

By Joël Che, October 19, 2008

I didn't see Francesc Fabregas' goal. I left after the Sunderland goal. But I thought Arsenal might score so I kept my mobile phone on and kept checking. Had Arsenal lost, the punters would have been, rightly, asking the question this morning whether a team can win the league after losing 3 matches – especially given that Arsenal has had an easier start and the statistics of the previous years don't favour more than two losses per season for the title.

About the game itself, Arsène Wenger's take was this: "I like to think usually the team that takes the initiative should be rewarded, but it is not always like that in football."

True but more importantly, Arsenal should be ready for that by now. We have seen this now for five seasons, it should not surprise us.

Roy Keane's take was this: "We played Arsenal a number of times last year, we played Chelsea, we played United - we played United here and went 4-4-2 and we lost 4-0, and it could have been seven."

Also true. Roy Keane was right to pick his team for a draw or to minimize the chances of a confidence depleting thumping. Sunderland would not have deserved a win the same way Hull City did.

Since I'm a Gooner I have to wonder what we should have done to win. Wenger has been experimenting with an away team since the start of the season. It is clear that Wenger should not play Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott at the same time away from home in a 4-4-2 formation so he has been working with 5 midfielders with Alex Song, Denilson, Fabregas and Theo Walcott plus 1.

In Kiev it was Emmanuel Eboué. In Bolton it was also Eboué as the fifth man but it didn't work all that good until Arsenal scored. What really worked for Arsenal in that game was that although Bolton were compact, they were adventurous and allowed Emmanuel Adebayor time to take long balls.

Against Sunderland, the fifth man was Robin van Persie. Having him there is like wanting to have your cake and eat it. You can't want to play 5 in midfield but want to have 2 strikers. It is not easy to make it work unless you have a true winger / striker like Eduardo or Carlos Vela.

At half-time, it was pretty clear. Adebayor could not take long balls because Sunderland were extremely compact. If a team is compact and playing 5 in midfield and if your big boys can get the space to out-jump and out-muscle then you need different kinds of players up front. You need movement players. Cute players who can find the variation in small spaces to create chances in a packed defence.

At half-time, it was pretty clear that van Persie, Adebayor and Fabregas as a half-striker were not going to give Arsenal the cutting edge against a 10 man defence. For one thing, the two variations that Arsenal have (thankfully) added to their game this season – crosses and long balls were not working.

Bacary Sagna's crosses met with Adebayor surrounded by 4 defenders and a short Fabregas who was standing way outside the box and RvP way out on the left wing. Fabregas was too far forward to launch earlier long balls to Adebayor but when Kolo Touré or Denilson did, he was surrounded by three players.

Good news then that Wenger has learned to substitute earlier. Nicklas Bendtner and Vela are much better in movement. Nasri is also good in tight spaces but his vision is still extremely poor compared to just about any other player at Arsenal right now. I keep repeating myself that Vela has the most fantastic movement that I have seen at Arsenal for 12 years in the final third – better than Freddie Ljungberg at his best. Above all, Vela can take the ball in tight areas and so can Bendtner.

Bendtner came on and Arsenal changed instantly. He started a move that ended with an assist that RvP should have scored. I really wanted Vela to come in but instead Sunderland scored and I left.

My verdict on the Sunderland game is as follows. First we should know by now how these games work and not complain about teams putting 10men behind the ball. Like Roy Keane rightly put it: "The bottom line for any of these top teams, they will tell you, part of the game is breaking down the opposition."

Second, we should always try to score in the first 30 minutes because we rarely lose when we score first and early. It's almost worth throwing everything at a game early against a mid to low table opponent because you don't want 0-0 at 70 mins even 60 minutes. Most Premiership teams are good enough to score one goal against anybody.

Third, if a team is playing tight and compact let's start with mobile, movement players. Fourth, If we want to play 5 in midfield let really play 5 players in midfield not try to have our cake and eat it by playing a striker there. Lastly, if we are playing low-table teams away who play 5 in midfield should we really do that same? Should we not play a strong midfield quartet instead? They will only have one up front anyway so why go negative too and disrupt our natural balance.

Arsenal had the easiest start of the top four. Manchester United looked like they had lost their way. Right now after 7 games Arsenal are a notable distance behind and United whom we all agreed were in danger of being left out could go above Arsenal with their game in hand. It's definitely not over but it is difficult not to start asking the question now – can Chelsea be caught? They have played big opponents with a significant absentees.

Can we afford to keep Bendtner on the bench?

Out of contention before Christmas, what went wrong?

2008-10-19T21:07:00.001+07:00

By Asser Ghozlan on Friday, October 17, 2008

I had thought the defeat against Fulham was an all-season low and that we had recovered magnificently well, scoring goals freely and overcoming two banana-skins up north in the space of a week in admirable style.

And then came Hull City!

How wrong I was, as what was expected to be a standard two or three goal victory turned sour, and in turn, highlighted to us that our optimism regarding our chances this season, optimism that was somewhat reasonable I have to say, had been blown to smithereens by the mere novices of top-flight football. Whilst I am not taking anything away from Hull City's start to the Premier League season, this was a match that we simply had to win if we had any aspirations to winning the title after four painful years.

I might sound incredibly pessimistic, bordering on impetuous, but I cannot be blamed, and neither can the scores of Gooners, for thinking that we have no chance whatsoever having lost two games out of seven this season, against teams we would have expected a standard six points from. Once again, I am not arrogant enough in claiming that we have the right to win every match, because no team is unbeatable and everyone is entitled to the odd blip and shock result (a la Liverpool at home to Stoke), but two blips in the space of six weeks is just too much to take, considering there are 30-odd matches left, and with us having had the easiest start on paper compared to Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Speaking of Liverpool, there is a team that passed its early-season title credentials with flying colours. They might have got away with it at Sunderland on the opening day of the season (still managed to nick a late victory, whilst we could only draw, an interesting comparison). But they have since beaten their fierce rivals United, went to Goodison Park and won so comfortably and showed true mettle by coming back from a 2-0 deficit to fashion an impressive victory over mega-bucks Manchester City.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have added flair and creativity to their solid, methodical base, and that is why they will be favourites for the title, not least as they will be desperate to end Manchester United's grip on the title from the past two seasons. They have not had the best of starts in terms of performance by any means, but the key is their ability to getting results, wracking up three points after three points even when they are subjected to tremendous amounts of pressure by the opposition. And, with the strength and world-class experience of their squad (no matter how many injuries they have), it pains me to say that their "second eleven" could possibly be too much for our best team.

So what did go wrong? Well, a good start would be the fact that our rivals are all interested in developing a dominant side, able to truly challenge on all fronts, whereas we have been interested in developing youth on an annual basis; Arsène Wenger's biggest faux pas.

I listened to Wenger testify to our non-winning match performances, with one interesting, common statement standing out after our matches against Fulham, Hull and Sunderland:

"We were not sharp enough."

Toothless. Meek. Weak. That is what Le Boss had had to say after gaining a modest one point out of nine from three teams that will most probably fill the lower half of the table. The vaguest of statements without a true justification of why we are dramatically falling behind our rivals, and why, in a year or two, we could be looking at a situation where the likes of Manchester City and Aston Villa have jumped above us; due to the former's endless money pit, and the latter's astute management in combining youthful pace with power and experienced heads.

And looking ahead to Saturday's clash with a faltering Everton, I hear that we will have to make do without William Gallas and Bacary Sagna, with Francesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie classed as doubts. In other words, we are likely to have our extreme weakness and lack of depth harshly exposed for all to see yet again. All to see except our very manager that is, whose famously myopic vision has extended to missing the failings of his own stubborn principles, and may I add, his own team. I suppose the only comfort from the match against Everton is the fact that our opponents have not exactly been firing on all cylinders either, with one victory in their last six matches, including a disappointing 1st round UEFA Cup exit.

However, now is not the time to discuss our title credentials, especially with one more defeat to equal our league loss tally from last season. It is now time to start picking up wins on a regular and consistent basis, with Saturday being a good start.

I would love to be proven wrong come May. After all, I am as big a 22-year-old Gooner as you will see, and my depressing overtures source from my very love to the Club, and so I would love to be served a huge chunk of humble pie at the end of the season.

However, I somehow don't see that happening, do you?

Tips to Maximise Notebook`s Battery Life

2008-10-18T23:26:00.000+07:00

otebook batteries are designed specifically for different notebooks brand as well as models. Today notebooks are powered by lithium ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries are lighter, have a better power-to-weight ratio, can hold a charge longer, have a longer usable life, and do not have the memory effect to fail prematurely.

Lithium ion batteries are also inexpensive to manufacture as compared to the earlier generation of nickel metal hydride batteries. The only shortcoming about lithium ion batteries is as they contain lithium salt dissolved in a highly flammable solvent, there are chances of overhead which can result in short-circuits or even blow up in flames.

It is a common fact that all notebook batteries have provision for limited time of power supply. A good bargain is to check the battery power while buying a notebook. Here is one instant tip to optimize the battery settings in accordance with the energy saving mode of your notebook. These settings will put the hard disk into sleep mode whenever the workload is less and it will reduce the notebook microprocessor performance in order to maximize its battery life.

From the system preferences mode of your notebook, select view menu, then choose energy saver option from view menu. Right click on show details option and choose battery power from the pop-up menu. Finally choose longest battery life from the energy settings pop-up menu.
Tips to optimise your notebook batteries are described in the following:

It is better to keep your notebook on standby mode when not in use for certain amount of time. Standby mode ensures all current info is saved in RAM with minimum consumption of battery power.

It is a good investment to add more memory to your notebook as it saves battery power by reducing Windows' dependence on the virtual memory swap file on your hard disk.

Try to set the screen brightness of the LCD panel of your notebook to the lowest comfortable level as very bright screen tends to consume more power from your battery.

Charge your notebook battery frequently with a battery charger or AC adapter. It is very important to clean your battery's metal contacts every couple of months to make it dust free. You can use a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol to clean your notebook battery.

Turn of the unused features and technologies of your notebook which are not frequently usable. For example, it is better to eject the CD or DVD when you are not using them as the optical drive has the tendency of reading CD or DVD it finds very often and this process consume extra battery power.

Similarly it is better to get rid of the outer peripherals such as printers or digital cameras as they can still draw power from your notebook battery even when they are not used.

Turning off or at least disabling the PC Cards, FireWire devices and USB when not in use also saves battery power. In fact, disabling modem, network cards and USB ports consumes less battery power even when they are on. These devices are easily disabled in device manager.

To save power, it is good idea to turn off the AirPort, Wi-Fi, IR radios and Bluetooth option when it is not required to use. Virus scan should be set only during the time you are usually plugged in as full-disk virus check by the hard drive and CPU consumes additional power from battery.

Opt for the power console applet to customize the power profiles on your notebook. Do not worry in case your notebook does not have power console applet option for most of the operating systems (starting from windows 98) have Power Options utility in Control Panel.

You can use power saver option of your operating system to adjust the CPU processing power. Optimum CPU processes consume additional battery power and hence should be avoided if not required. Stop the auto start applications on your notebook, so that your notebook`s CPU can be stopped from doing unnecessary work.

With the above mentioned handy tips, you can truly increase the battery performance of your notebook.
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/tips-to-maximise-notebooks-battery-life-607954.html

Virtual Classroom Implemantation

2008-10-12T13:26:00.000+07:00

The decision to use virtual classroom as one of the tools in your learning process triggers a series of steps needed to implement the virtual classroom. In this article, we take into account, the planning, designing, implementing and maintaining of a virtual classroom, for the success of your learning initiative.

Planning

Fail to plan, plan to fail. Without proper planning of the implantation process, the virtual classroom project might bite the dust. Planning the implementation of the virtual classroom comprises of the following.

Listing the pedagogical goals of the classroom.

Listing the means to achieve them.

Zeroing upon the best method to achieve a goal, among various means to achieve them.

Limitations to achieve particular objects and finding ways around them.

Find out which aspect of learning will you focus upon. Will it be learning through interaction, practical simulations, feedback or the course content? Depending you’re your choice, decide upon a learning strategy and ways to meet it through the virtual classroom.

Constructing and circulating content

The creation and distribution of content is the backbone of a learning initiative. Hence, this step needs to be dealt with utmost care. Pick and choose from an array of authoring tools depending upon the type of audience, and nature of the course. Use a combination of various media to deliver the varied content. Choosing the best authoring tool can be done only by gaining thorough knowledge of different authoring tools and comparing their features to each other. Including images, videos, audio, animation and graphics can be done through specialized softwares for each. Also, all the web pages of the virtual classroom should ideally be hosted upon a sophisticated and fast machine, which has a high bandwidth net connection. If you are planning to use video in your content, you should set aside large hard disks to save the compressed and digitized video clips.

Interaction concerns

The success of a virtual classroom is based upon the interaction among instructor-learner, and peers. Address the issue with proper care, and you have already won half the battle. Choose the appropriate form of communication, by blending synchronous and asynchronous tools. Synchronous tools like audio and video conferencing, text based chat and whiteboards aid in conducting online lectures, while asynchronous tools can be efficiently used for the delivery of the course material. Allowing the students the liberty of posting queries and comments does not mean pandemonium should rein in the classroom. Try making it possible for the instructor to answer queries on a first come first serve basis.

Designing

Designing the virtual classroom is basically looking into the aspects of the course delivery. The designing part comprises of issues such as structuring the HTML pages, listing necessary elements of a web page, or the incorporation of fancy elements in them. The structuring of HTML pages should be done so that the navigation and maintenance of these pages is made easy. Though many regard the look and feel of the web pages as aesthetic vanities that can be done without, they are necessary to keep the flow of the course intact. It is highly advisable to develop a small number of pages with pilot content to get an idea of the look, feel and theme of the site, before converting the whole content into HTML format. If these pages look satisfactory, they can be used as templates for the whole course. The structure of each page needs to have a balance of ease of use and appeal. Like, the navigation must allow learners to know where they are, and how to go forward, backward, up, down or to the home page of the course. Fancy elements can be incorporated in the pages, but not at the cost of data transfer rate, requirement of special plug-ins, and the like.

Managing the virtual classroom

Managing a class encompasses a lot more than teaching in a classroom. The administrative work of the classroom needs to be performed for an efficient and smooth running of the class. In a virtual classroom, these tasks are made simpler with the help of tools that perform class management. In generic terms, class management includes scheduling and fixing the time table, checking learner progress, managing the personal and academic data of the students, counseling to help students, managing the assignments and grades, managing the archives of class related information and records.

Learner assessment

This can be done through quizzes, online assignments, and implementation of online tests. While quizzes provide instant feedback both for the learner and the instructor, online assignments help the instructor gauge the actual depth of the knowledge that the learner has acquired. It allows the instructor to check if the learner has a thorough understanding of the concept taught, or is simply acquainted with only the brass tacks of the subject. Online tests are specially designed quizzes that have limitations in the regard of number of attempts, time of completion, cheating and authentication of learner identity. Assessment of learners can also be based on evaluation by self, peers, and the extent of participation in classroom discussions.

Maintaining the virtual classroom

Although the creation of a virtual classroom involves a lot of spade work, it is only the tip of the iceberg in comparison with maintaining the classroom. Keeping scope for software and hardware updates is necessary in the wake of leapfrogs in technology. The most important aspect of maintenance is the provision of back ups. A fixed routine should be followed for the back up of the virtual classroom, which includes answering questions like – which content to get a back up for, their regularity, the place of storage of the back up, the date of performing back ups, the media to be used for the procedure, and who would overlook the procedure. There is also no escape for content maintenance. Fresh content with a regular revival of related links keeps learners coming back to it.

Happy learning! See more at comp-e.blogspot.com

How to Make a Website

2008-10-12T08:09:00.000+07:00

In todays day and age,where computer users are increasing by large numbers monthly,the website has developed as a means of self expression or as a launch point for business pursuits.
There are countless ways of learning how to make a website using such tools as the
WYSIWYG(What You See Is What You Get)HTML Editor.This is basically a point and click to create program.If you want a website fast,try it.
Good places for these are myspace.com or your internet service provider.They can provide you with a free website where you can really be creative with there (what you see is what you get editor)

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and was the standard language when the graphical user interface(GUI)was implemented
into the windows operating system.
There are other languages that can be used to make a website,such as Flash,xml,dhtml and a few others.In my opinion,the most flexible language and most easy to learn is html.
A great online source to learn html is html goodies(http://www.htmlgoodies.com).The online tutorials found here are second to none and range from basic to advanced.This is where I learned basic html and I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn the language.

Lets talk about the basic layout of your first page of your website.
Is this a personal website? Will it be a website showcasing products that you intend to sell?
If this is a personal website,You can start by having all your links on the left side of the page,your text content can be in the middle with images if you like.On the right side of the page can be more links and images.You will need to divide the page into 3 sections to accomplish this.It can be done with table commands or with the divison command.Please go to the html goodies(http://www.htmlgoodies.com)site for futher explanations of these and future terms in this article for the best clarification possible.

Now,lets say you want to make a website for your small business that your starting.For example,your going to be selling computer games.
You will want people to know about your website and this entails submitting your website to the major search engines and directories,such as google,yahoo.msn,altavista and others.
Here is a great list of directories,both paid and free.
(http://www.seocompany.ca/directory/web-directories.html)

It is most advantageous for new online business's to register a domain name.This is important for two reasons. First,with a .com domain,your business will look professional.Secondly,from a search engine prospective,a domain name with a .com suffix is more prudent.
You need to pick a domain name that is the most relevant to your business.For example,your selling computer games and accessories.
How about http://www.best-computer-games.com ? You can do a search for available domain names at http://www.namesearch.com
Relevancy is a big factor in how the search engines will rank your site,so keep this in mind when choosing a domain name.

You want your small business website to be informative,to the point,and to keep your viewers interested at all times they are on your website..Nothing turns off a website visitor more than the link to a page they click on(yours)to be slow loading into there web browser.

There are ways to speed up the loading process of a webpage into the web browser.If you have alot of images on your website,you should always denote the height and width of the image in the link.
An Example: after the second quotation mark in the word alt.The opening tag is < This goes right by the letter i in the word image. If I do that in this article,I will receive an error becuase there is no such file,its just an example to show you.
Doing this will make your web pages load very quickly into the site visitors web browser.Have a question about the alt""? Ok,I will explain this to you.Lets say your image is of a computer game.
If you would type inside of the quotes of the alt command:
alt="This is the best computer game" Now,when the page loads and someone puts there mouse over the image,what you typed in the alt command will be displayed as text.You can type whatever you want in the alt command,but if your looking for search engine relevancy,I would type in one of your keywords thats relative to the product that displays as the image.
As mentioned before,for further clarification of images,go to the html goodies site(http://www.htmlgoodies.com)for there image tutorial.

To keep the viewer staying on your website,you need to make sure all your links are operational and not dead links.Meaning,there is a page not found error(404) that displays when someone would click on one of your links from your main page.

Meta tags and Keywords are important so your site can receive the highest possible ranking and relevancy. To learn more about meta tags and keywords,go to html goodies(http://www.htmlgoodies.com)This is another topic all together that I wont go into in detail in this article.

I would just like to say that The WYSIWYG(What you see is what you get)html editors are good for the quick fix website,I dont get the gratification of building a website using that method. I code all my webpages by hand in windows notepad. This will take longer but I do receive more satisfaction designing my webpages this way.

There is a site that I recommend you visit. There are $0.99 video tutorials about website design tips and tricks.There are over 8 hours in video tutorials in all,plus other great memberships and programs.

Thank you all for reading and if you have any questions or seek advice,do not hesitate to comment on this article and I will respond to you providing you leave your email address.
or.. blogger ??? use it to make your own money !

issa_ibg@hotmail.com

Improving the Virtual Classroom Collaboration

2008-10-09T04:21:00.001+07:00

ntroduction
Virtual classrooms closely try to replicate the conventional ones, where face to face interactions between learners and the instructor make all the difference. And even though virtual classrooms have come close enough to their traditional counterparts in implementing a successful and rich learning experience, they are yet to equal them on counts of interaction and collaboration.

Communication in a virtual classroom
The technology put to use in a virtual classroom is sophisticated enough to provide for good communication and interaction among peers and instructor. But, there is an essential difference between achieving communication in a live classroom and a virtual one. Also the presence of communication in the virtual classroom cannot be completely denied. But, the interaction is rendered ineffective to an extent, by the fact that responses that are meant to be terse and precise, go haywire and turn into short speeches, thanks to the incessant urge of most of the teachers who like to lecture to a live class. Instructors simply tend to forget that the discussion in a virtual classroom needs to hold on to the learner’s attention, which might be lost by uninteresting, lengthy and vague responses. Lecturers need to understand that bragging to show their own knowledge won’t, in any way, help students acquire it. Real time online discussions often tend to become boring lectures with the instructor taking lead in waxing eloquent about the subject rather than stimulating students to post comments in order to understand the depth of their comprehension of a particular subject.

Improving communication
Before jumpstarting a discussion, forum or an online session, it is necessary that the instructor is trained in the virtual environment etiquettes. Instructors should ideally go through other successfully conducted virtual classroom discussions, and given lessons on how to work as a team or how to read seminar papers and post fair comments on them.

Here are some guidelines that could be followed to improve upon the quality of communication and interaction existing in the virtual classroom.

Decide upon the value of the discussion before starting it. See how it could help you to assess learners and the learners to develop specific knowledge based skills. Check if the same skill development could be done better with other means. Don’t start a discussion for the heck of it, and don’t hesitate to drop it if you are not convinced of its advantages.

If you are convinced about the reasons for conducting the discussion, prepare the learners for it by advocating to them the benefits that it can bring to their learning.

Moderate the discussions and direct students who falter in keeping up with the rules and etiquette of the discussion. Let them understand and learn through their mistakes.

Let the learners know that their responses and comments in a discussion would be assessed. This will curtail them from being lengthy yet vague in their comments. Be clear about what you expect from the students during a discussion, and mention the minimum number of responses expected from each student during a discussion.

Let students advice on the topics they would like to discuss. This would not only aid in building a bond with individual learners, but will also allow you to start the discussion with reference to the query of a particular student over a topic, and promote other learners to ask questions.

Reaching a consensus about the rules and conventions to be followed during the course of the discussion is important. A personal interaction with the learners before embarking upon the online discussion is a good platform to discuss issues pertaining to this, such as the writing style, the extent of terseness, etc.

Remember that the onus of setting an example for the students lies upon you. Take the responsibility to initiate a discussion. Focus upon the clarity of thought and preciseness of text while posting a query to be answered or an issue to be discussed.

Start a new discussion in cases where a new topic comes up in the course of a discussion. Decide if the topic should be discussed in a new online discussion or can be blended with the ongoing discussion.

Look out for significant signs of study, skill development, and comprehension levels of the learners. Like are the comments supported by research? Do they evaluate questions before responding and commenting upon them? If you are satisfied with the performance of particular students, encourage them through appreciation.

Start promoting student initiated discussions when you find that the students are comfortable enough with the new environment. Form a group, a couple or let students individually conduct and lead debates based upon the topics of importance in a seminar conducted by you. This will increase the amount of active participation form them.

Conclusion
Unlike asynchronous communication, a virtual classroom setting presents a perfect opportunity to communicate and interact. Keeping this opportunity underutilized is letting go the advantages of the medium. Some steps to enhance the communication within the virtual classroom can absolutely revolutionize the way learners perceive online communication in particular, and learning in general.

Win32 ? It's danger for my Computer system ?

2008-10-09T02:03:00.001+07:00

Win32 is the core interface Windows uses to communicate with the programs that run on it. It is important because without it, the programs can't communicate with Windows. And therefore they can't run on it!

This means that for a program to work on Windows, it must be able to communicate with the Win32 system. This also means that under no circumstances should you delete it! You wouldn't be the first person who decided to take virus infection into their own hands, deleting infected files and folders, only to find they had seriously messed up their computer!

Many malicious coders and cyber-criminals take advantage of this system's sensitive nature. They have deranged rootkits, Trojan horses, and backdoors that attach themselves to the Win32 files.

Rootkits are programs that give somebody else the power to run your computer! They can change your passwords and access any information you have. This can be especially dangerous if you let your browser save your email or banking login information.

Rootkits also allow cyber-criminals to use your computer as an operating point for nefarious activities. This means that, should someone illegally access the Pentagon (for example), the forensic trail will lead right back to your computer!

Many people have heard of Trojans but don't know exactly what they do. This is because many techs and programmers never properly explain it to the rest of us. A Trojan is any program that appears benign on the surface, but whose true function is to let malicious software onto your computer.

Fake antivirus programs like Antivirus XP 2008 are often Trojan horses that provide a download gateway into your computer for spyware, viruses, and other malicious software.

A backdoor is similar to a Trojan in that it contacts undesirable websites and downloads malicious programs ("malware") onto your computer. The difference here is that a backdoor doesn't masquerade as something it's not. It doesn't masquerade as anything, because it slips in undetectably in the first place!

Take for example the MTX piece of malware. It is a virus that gets into your system, and then "gives birth" to a worm (attaches itself to email) and a backdoor. The worm is an attempt to spread the malware to other systems (although sometimes it is defective on that front), and can also affect the email your receive.

The backdoor, on the other hand, opens your computer system to all kinds of threats. You never know what might come through a backdoor, but you can bet it won't be something that helps you out!

(Some kinds of malicious software that come in through a Trojan or backdoor are called "rogue antispyware". These fake security programs will pretend they can detect infections your other security software can't. Then, they will try to convince you to buy their worthless "upgraded" versions.)

All in all, if you see that anything on your Win32 system is infected, don't try and fix it yourself! Get some reliable anti-virus software-this is ur solution-preferably something with a guarantee!

Registry Ceaner in Windows 98

2008-10-09T01:51:00.000+07:00

The Windows 98 operating system has been around for quite awhile now, if you are still using it your system is probably getting a little bit older. Now don't get me wrong, Windows 98 was a great operating system, as long as you maintain it properly.

If you have had no major problems up to this point you're doing good. However, you may have noticed your system has been getting a little slower, or you're getting more frequent errors. Signs of a corrupt or bad registry are slow startups, blue screen errors, slow shutdowns, freezes, crashes, slow program load times, and another general errors.

Perhaps you have never had a registry problem or perform maintenance on it before. So far you've been lucky if that is the case. Registry maintenance should be performed on a weekly basis. If you have not scanned your system in a long time you'll be amazed at the amount of errors you will find. Each time you install or uninstall software, you create a registry key. Uninstall software usually does not remove the key when you remove software. This creates orphaned registry entries and over time your system becomes bloated and slow.

To repair and clean your system, you will need third-party software designed to do this. There are a few free versions that you can use, but they're not recommended. They don't deep scan your registry and therefore don't do a complete job. They are possibly designed that way so you'll buy their pro version or upgrade. You're much better investing in a professional version right from the start. Plus you will receive lifetime updates and professional tech support if you ever need them.

Not all Registry repair cleaners are created equal, so you want to do your homework before you make your purchase. One feature, you will want to look for is the option to perform scheduled scans. This way you can set it up and forget it. Plus the option to remove programs from your start up is nice. Removing unneeded programs from your start up will speed up your boot time immensely.

Most programs will let you create a restore point or backup before you change anything. This is always a good idea, just in case your system loses power or crashes before the scan is complete. Some computers will have such a corrupt Registry they will just shut off and reboot for no reason. Windows 98 is especially prone to this problem.

Properly maintaining your Windows registry is like giving your PC a good tuneup. You will be amazed at how much faster it boots and loads programs. In most cases, unless you have a hardware problem, it will also clear up any of your errors. You just may put off purchasing that new computer or upgrading your operating system a little longer.//org=mike tucker n me.