Week 10
Today, we shall talk about the future of the internet.
Following the entires since week 1, where we talked about the history of the internet. The internet was started for military purposes, and now, it has evolved to something the people in the past may never even dare to think of. The same will be for the future.
In the future, another batch of students are probably going to be doing a similar project, where they refer to applications such as "Facebook" or "Twitter" as things of the past. Similarly, they will comment that what they have is something we the past generation may never even dare to think of!
One interesting view to take on the future of the internet is on the implications it may bring.
Take the cartoon above for example. With internet today, we cannot deny the implications it bring. Such as the whole sex videos saga, employers looking at potential employees' facebook accounts, etc. As the internet progresses, what other implications may it bring?
We may not even have to leave homes that often anymore in the future. With internet advancing so fast.
The cartoons above all demonstrated how the internet have brought so much convenience to our lives, that we used it to substitute many things we usually have to do ourselves. Therefore, it is logical to believe that in the future, there will be more applications and tools that the internet will have, to assist humans with shortcuts to life.Again as mentioned above, this may bring about implications. Then again, the implications it bring may be considered a small sacrifice with the amount of convenience it can bring.
This course has really widened my mind on the world of the internet. In the past, internet used to just be another 'thing' to me. After this course, I realise it is an entire new world which is always change and evolving. In fact, in my opinion, the internet is one which has no boundaries. It is limitless what it can evolve to.
I am glad that I have been exposed to this course, as it taught me to be more attentive to the evolution and implications the internet can bring!
Week 9
For this week, we covered on internet journalism!
To start off this entry, take a look at this article here.
It is a discussion if print is dead as a result of the rise of internet journalism. Kevin Fagan then made a very important point when he commented that "The core thing to remember is that it’s not journalism that’s broken. It’s the advertising model."
I do not fully agree on his comment though. Now as the advertising model is made easier, where anyone can become a reporter, just how reliable is the news? Therefore, is journalism really not broken?
The internet will definitely change the future of journalism. In fact, now many younger people who do not follow the papers get their updates from famous blogs instead! The internet is a tool that people can use to introduce politics and current affairs to the younger generation. This may also be a problem as nobody can assure that what is being fed to the readers are accurate.
Here is another article on internet journalism. In this article, it is believed that internet journalism will narrow the news agenda. This is a very different view as many would have believed that internet journalism will widen the agenda instead.
Here is a video of Wikipedia co-creator Jimmy Wales, as he debates with internet cultural critic Andrew Keen on this topic.
There are many interesting points brought up in the video above. There will always be critics in every step, thus it is of no surprise with internet journalism. I believe that with internet journalism, it may help to arouse more interest of current affairs among the younger generation. The younger ones may no longer turn to papers for news, rather sites and blogs, which is both a boon and a bane.
There is no correct answer to this, the only way will be to wait and see!
Week 8
This week, we touched on internet and the politics.
During this period of time, just a mention of the word "politics", everyone thinks of Obama! Looking at his campaigns, you can see how the internet was very wisely used. We shall look into the various internet tools he used for his campaign.
1. Youtube
During class, we were shown the music video for Obama's "Yes we can" campaign.
Not only was Youtube used for videos of Obama, his speeches are also uploaded here, such as his 2009 inauguration.
2. Facebook
He obviously have many accounts on facebook, however which is his real one is unclear.3. Website : http://www.barackobama.com/
4. Friendster(I am not on friendster, thus unable to get a screen shot of it!)
In fact, he uses so many internet tools that in an article titled "Barack Obama Being the First US "Tech President"", Obama is described as a technology-savvy politician. Read the entire article here.
Indeed Obama have proven that being internet savvy is very important even in the world of politics!
Week 7
For this week, we learnt about multimedia on the internet!
Very much like the image above, multimedia is not just any traditional form of media, rather it is a blend of media such as audio, images, video, animation; all of which adds interactivity and life. Not difficult to understand why it is also termed as "rich media".In fact, multimedia is all over! We use multimedia for our project presentations, for our own entertainment, and even for interaction among other users. Any website which uses not only words, but images or videos are considered multimedia. This blog, is a multimedia!
Other than multimedia, one interesting topic we touched on was on 'Kumo' vs Google.
Everyone knows about Google, but what exactly is Kumo?
Kumo is rumored to be the brand that Microsoft will be using as their search. It means "cloud" or "spider" in Japanese. Personally, I feel it will need a lot of work to compete against Google. Based on this article, it seems that this rebranding effort by Microsoft may just backfire instead as it may confuse users between Kumo and Live Search.
Although all great things have to begin somewhere small, thus, we shall wait and see how it progresses. As a consumer, it is definitely exciting to see companies coming up with new innovations competing with one another!
Week 6
For this week, we covered internet security. This is a topic which is rather important to me, as I have faced such issues in the past (which I will touch on later).
Class was certainly interesting as we went through these various terms:
1. Cybercrime
2. Virus
3. Worm
4. Trojan
5. Phishing
I will not list the definitions here as they were already explained in class. Among the above mentioned, I had gotten viruses before, but the worst I had experience has got to be phishing.
In the past, I used to keep a blog which only a few friends know about. Somehow it spread and before I know it, my account got cracked into, and the impersonator blogged as me fooling even my friends. I managed to get my password back in the end.
That incident taught me to be less complacent, especially when it comes to my password. Currently, I have changed all my passwords to be stronger. I have also done more research on cybercrime in Singapore itself. Look at this website for interesting information about the rules in Singapore.
Here is an interview I found on youtube with Jesse Hirsh in regards to online crime and computer security.
From my experience, I have learnt that it is better to be safe than sorry. It is truly a very scary experience having someone stealing your identity fooling even your friends. Thus I believe it is very important that we educate ourselves on internet security and even take measure to protect ourselves from them.
In an article I found, it states that the number of complaints about Internet crime soared by 33 percent since last year. (Click here for the full article) Therefore, people should not get complacent that it will never be them who become victims of such activities. I never thought I would have someone stealing my identity online!
Amid all the information and theories we learnt this week, my biggest lesson here will be to BE SAFE!
Week 5
For this week, we have to make a video from Windows Movie Maker.
This is the first video I have ever made. It is a story of
Other than the making of a video, we were also asked to explore a tool from Google. The tool that I want to share here is Google Blog!
I used it before when I was working. I shall not name the company here, but in the past, as I used to do events, I would often use this tool to search for response. As the events that I did targeted the youths, most of them have blogs. Thus via the Google Blog search, just enter any key word, and it will search out the blogs that contain that word!
It is really quite scary, as you can even google your name in, and look at blogs that talked about you. However in terms of my work, we used this tool to gather feedback from the youths' blogs.
I for one feel that Google is becoming very very powerful!
That's all for this week!
Week 4
For this week, we learnt about E-learning!
E-Learning has certainly came a long way. Today, anyone can even earn their degree online with the numerous online degree programs offered at websites such as www.elearners.com.Another interesting thing we learned during class is the growth mindset. People who hold the growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed, that the brain is like a muscle that can be trained. This leads to the desire to improve.
The chart above (click on it to enlarge) shows the differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. It states that anyone with a growth mindset embraces challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, see effort as the path to mastery, learn from criticism, lastly they find lessons and inspiration from the success of others.I personally feel it is important to adopt the right mindset. What is the point in putting a person in the middle of a reservoir of knowledge when he or she is not thirsty for it. Therefore, to change a person, it starts with the mind. Once there is a renewal of mindset, your behavior and actions will also follow.
When I was in Temasek Polytechnic, my mindset of life was to have fun and enjoy the ride. Therefore, I played very hard, and did not bother putting much effort into my studies. Needless to say, my grades suffered and I regretted not working harder. Thus now that I am in University, my mindset about studying changed and you should see the difference in my GPA! It came to the point that my parents were puzzled as to why I suddenly become so 'smart'.
This video above is a rather odd claymation video that depicts the fixed mindset vs growth mindset. It is about two 'blobs' that enrolled into a superhero school. You will notice that the blue 'blob' has a growth mindset, whereas the red 'blob' has a fixed mindset.
That is all for this week!
Week 3
For this week, we talked about e-commerce. Today with sites like E-bay, or Amazon, e-commerce is made easy and available to each of us. It is not common in fact to find friends around us who have their own sites which sells items. However, have you ever wondered how did e-commerce started? There is no other better way to learn about that than from the man itself, here is a video on Alexander Randall and the Boston Computer Exchange - the world's first e-commerce company.
Quite interesting isn't it! For more information on the Boston Computer Exchange, look at this website.
As Alexander Randall mentioned in his video, e-commerce is made so easy now that any Tom, Dick and Harry can have their own e-commerce website. How many of us know at least one friend who have a blog or a site which sells items? I am sure majority of us here can raise our hand to that.
Above shows a very clear picture of how e-commerce works. We place an order via the website, charge it to our credit card, and when the order is completed, it will be sent over.Very importantly, e-commerce should not be confused with e-business.
E-business is to use information and communication technologies to support all of the activities of business. E-business is more than just e-commerce,while e-business refers to more strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, e-commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy.
Still find them confusing? I find this website very useful in explaining the difference between E-commerce and E-business. Do click on it for further information.That is all for this week!
Week 2
So for this week, we talked about the social media and how it is such a big influence in our lives today.
The video above compared the social media to making ice cream, which surprisingly does make things a lot clearer. It covers the gist of social media, and even explains the need for it.
As of current, there are many popular social medias around, examples include facebook, blogs, second life, friendster, etc. I for one am quite stubborn in this area, I do not have a facebook and simply refuse to start one. I used to have an account that was meant for marketing purposes (when I was working at Temasek Polytechnic), but I closed it upon entering SIM. However, I do use the other social medias around. For the fact that the video I uploaded above is from youtube speaks for itself doesn't it!
However, contrary to popular beliefs, I am someone who is able to survive without social medias I am not dependent on facebook, friendster, youtube or even blogs. Though I must say that I learnt it the hard way. I used to have one of these social medias which I use quite frequently to update about my life, however it got cracked into and the person used it against me. Ever since then, I realise the danger of having a too detailed profile on the net and stopped relying on it.
Here is another video about second life. It portrays the sarcastic view on second life, and although I think it is quite lame, the meaning is there. During lessons, we have always been talking about second life. Thus it aroused my curiosity in it, and I decided to go create an avatar myself just to see what the whole big fuss is about!
Presenting Kayla in second life!
Here in second life, I can figure skate better than I can in real life (I did figure skating when I was a kid!),
I can also play the piano,
I even sat on a swan which brought me around!
Here is me making my first friend in second life!
It felt really weird to just go up to anyone and start chatting. Apparently the girl I was talking to above have been in second life for two years already! Haha.The thing I love best about second life is the scenery. Honestly! The places are beautiful.
Other than admiring the places, especially their night spots, I do not find myself addicted to second life. I made friends there who planned dates to meet again at certain clubs, but I always am unable to make it for those cyber dates as my real life has already gotten me pretty occupied! Plus after a while, the excitement for it begins to die down, thus I no longer log into second life.The conclusion of my little experiment above tells me that I am really not one who is very dependent on the social media. I can live with it, I can live without it. I find it quite tedious to maintain an account, or to have that 'obligation' to constantly update. It becomes a commitment that takes up time and effort on my part, something I can do without.
That is all for this week!
Week 1
Hello all!
So, this is my com 125 blog, where I will be talking about the wonderful world of internet!
Well, other than the above, there are certainly other reasons why the internet is such an awesome place. Just for the fact that one of our assignments now is on blogging, tells a lot about what the internet can do.
During our first week of lessons, we were taught on the internet and intranet. Being the computer idiot I am was, I was unclear of when to use which term. With examples given such as ubLearns, etc, I now know the distinct differences between them. With websites like this one, it got me more educated on this topic.
Other than that, we also covered on the history of the internet. What fascinated me was the fact that the internet started from ARPAnet, which then expanded to what we have today. As taught during lecture, the ARPAnet was created due to military needs. This bit of information caught my attention and got me researching for more. I then came across this very interesting opposing view of the origin of ARPAnet from Charles M. Herzfeld, the former director of ARPA. He claimed that ARPAnet was not birthed forth for military purposes, but rather "came out of our frustration that there were only a limited number of large, powerful research computers in the country..." Caught your attention didn't I! Those who are interested in this can go to this website for the full report.
I for one am grateful for the invention of the internet. With this global tool, I can communicate with friends who are living overseas, and even use the virtual space for marketing purposes. Having worked in the Corporate Communications Department for Temasek Polytechnic before, using the internet as a marketing tool is common. In fact, many companies are beginning to rely more on the internet than other publicity tools for their campaigns.
Look at 
for an example for the above. This blog was a project Temasek Polytechnic used to reach out to its target audience. In the past, the internet most probably was created for military purposes, yet it evolved to what it is today - a tool for communication or even marketing purposes. Who knows what it will evolve to in the future!
This module is definitely very relevant for most of us, and I am sure the knowledge we will learn will come to good use in the near future!
That's all for this week!
