Week 8, March 2, 4

Week 8 to-read-list
1. Multimedia, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia

Multimedia is such a part of our lives right now that we consume it without giving it much thought. Some multimedia sites where you get to do stuff for free...

Youtube (of course!!!)

Miniclip (for simple games to while away your time!)

Online Flash Games (more games!!)

Facebook (where you get to interact with friends and play games and do all sorts of silly stuff)

.. And much much more... You can really get lost in the Internet surfing these sites and engaging multimedia! Before you know it, your weekend is spent entirely on multimedia and you go to school on Monday looking and feeling like a zombie. It's that immersive and addictive.

Anyway, we are supposed to compare different multimedia ads so here are a couple of ads by market leading companies Nokia and iPod that are quite good in my opinion.

Nokia


I don't own a Nokia phone but I feel that this is an unique ad that enlists the use of multimedia to great effect. It really impresses me.

iPod


This advertisment was way ahead of its time in the usage of music and great graphics to highlight the iPod. I don't own an iPod but this was a breakthrough at the time it was released and really stirred up a lot of buzz and interest.

Multimedia is such a part of our lives that we don't even know that we are consuming it. Gone are the days when pictures can't move and words are just confined to paper and music is just on MTV or radio. Everything is becoming amalgamated into multimedia. Good or bad? It's up to you to decide for yourself.

(mouse over and click)

Week 7 Feb 23, 25

Week 7 to-do-list

1. Virus, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2. Spyware vs Viruses - Understand the Difference - Microsoft Security

So, we learnt about hackers and viruses and crimes such as phishing and fraud and all the nasty things about the Internet. Here are some of the crimes commited by our very own 'enterprising' Singaporeans not content to do it the 'normal' way... Money laundering

Singaporeans, being rather tech savvy, are victims more than perpetrators of the evils of the Internet it seems... Phishing

And here is a discussion about an Act being passed in Singapore.

Hackers, in the past, used to be depicted as this:

Now, they are like this:

What hope do we normal people now have? Smart AND good looking? We are doomed! Seriously, we should just give up all our passwords and personal information to the hackers right now. What hope do we have?

But seriously, the Internet is becoming a less safer place by the minute. You never know what link will lead to your demise, what download will cause your whole life's work to be erased in a second or what link will lead you to a porn site...

The basics of Internet security, at least from my point of view, is simple. And why am I qualified to tell you this? I have been using my computer and of course the Internet for more than 2 years and nary a virus or worm... So, here are my top 3 tips...

1. Don't use the Internet. Simple, but very inpractical... So..

2. Don't download things willy nilly... You never know when you are getting more than you bargained for... Use sites like Download.com for virus free programs...

3. Use a free antivirus and antispyware to regularly scan your system. I use AVG and Ad-aware by Lavasoft.

Bonus tip: Emails are less, but still an important area to watch out for viruses... But filters on free online mail services like Gmail or Yahoo Mail are rather good. Just don't open weird files. Nobody has a crush on you or free stuff to give away. Remember, if it is too good to be true, in the end you WILL get screwed...

That's it! Surf safe now, kiddies...