Under modernity, the future's sociological representation has turned around the notion of time as objective. This notion emerged in a context of large economic structures. With the arrival of new information and communication technologies (NICTs), however, space and time took on different meanings, due in part to the new possibility of communicating without reference to space and inside a temporal construct which, qualitatively, operated differently than the modernist "communicative time". In a qualitative study into how temporality is represented by daily Internet users at home, we observed a reconstitution of "lived time" which began to take the place of modernity's objective time. This lived time is characterised by distortions in how the past and future are represented, and by a predilection for representing the present as the "moment of execution". How may such a representation be characterized in psychological terms? It is precisely through this line of questioning that we examine what is, we believe, the "new temporal orientation" of daily Internet users at home.

This article attempts to examine the question of cultural diffusion via a technique which would contribute to culture's bankruptcy. Initially, starting from the Frankfurt School's work, we present the various analyses which, during an age of mass media, looked critically at the juxtaposition of technology and culture. We then link this analysis to that of multimedia, which reiterates a problem previously raised by Frankfurt School intellectual Walter Benjamin. Characterized by its digital and interactive features, multimedia nonetheless raises a number of questions, such as a concern that virtual visits from home compete with traditional site attendance. The study of uses, we shall see, suggests that we move beyond debates over whether mechanical reproduction degrades a work's value, or over whether two mediations (museum, and a museum's multimedia platform) compete with one another. Instead, museum-created multimediate products are instead welcomed as complementary techniques which broaden the museum's reach, not as substitute products.

In analyzing the societal teleseries Jasmine, I wanted to pick out the elements likely to register and even affect the many perceptions, constructions, attitudes, and behaviours of Quebeckers. I sought first to show how different social statuses and relationships -- between individuals and between social groups -- were staged through characters. These stagings were conveyed in a number of ways, among them the representation of the Other (ethnocultural, sexual, or generational). Following on from this, the identification of private/public pivot points helped underline moments which joined private and public spheres, working by way of the plot's intrigues to construct a number of social problematics and, within these, to sketch out characters both as individuals and as social subjects. My results led me to consider this teleseries as a communicational, mediated, and televisual relay for the renewal of a concept of citizenship upon which rests a Québécois political project for democratic nationhood.

The teaching of science communication in Brazil dates back to the 1970's. Today, there are still very few courses available in this field as many initiatives in the past were not pursued beyond the first or second year. Various reasons explain this situation, in particular the fact that science communication is not yet an established academic subject : the objectives and structures of the courses in this field remain quite diverse. An analysis and comparison of the programs developed until now is necessary to establish parameters of evaluation. This aim of this paper is to present a chronological summary of science communication courses in Brazil, a discussion of their objectives and structures, and a comparison with several international initiatives. The graduate course on Science Journalism offered by the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) is analysed in greater detail. Designed for both journalists and scientists, this course attempts to develop different ways of thinking and working in order to decrease the gap between these two professions. Although the contact between the two groups was positive, it was concluded that the nature of each profession, as well as their perceptions about science and society, do not change.

This article provides an introduction to the challenge of standardisation in computing. The emergence of standards -- defined as technical specifications which ensure the interoperability of different components -- presupposes a certain degree of cooperation among the various actors which produce, sell, administer, and use technological systems. Standard-setting models involve a series of economic, political, and social challenges, because they involve an uneven distribution of rights and abilities among actors. The construction of a public space based on the connection of computer systems is hence influenced by the properties of these models. These properties may be situated on a scale whose endpoints are defined by closed standards (controlled by a single actor) and open standards (elaborated in an open form and usable without restrictions). Here we focus on the advantages of open standards, illustrated through the examples of the Internet and of free software. At bottom, we attempt to demonstrate the necessity of a public critique of computer infrastructure's standardisation in light of Jürgen Habermas's theory of communicative action.

This article's goal is to investigate various examples of municipal electronic democracy seen as a framework in which increased citizen participation in decision-making could blossom. To this end, the author proceeds to the analyses of digital political communication, a necessary condition for the emergence of electronic democracy, in the South-west French municipalities of Aquitaine, Languedoc-Rousillon, and Midi-Pyrénées). The comparison of political communication categories used on the Internet sites of these cities between 1999 and 2000, supplemented by explanatory exposition of the author's observations, provides the article's initial groundwork. The author then attempts to trace the contours of electronic democracy in large and mid-sized cities and in rural districts in the same region. Finally, the results collected from the French South-west are compared with the results obtained through a separate sample, that of the member cities of the Association de Maires de Grandes Villes de France (French Association of Mayors of Large Cities). In contrast with the frequent assertion of the Internet's enabling of a more participative democracy, the author suggests that the successes of municipal electronic democracy are limited at best, providing several explanatory hypotheses.