Week 6 to-read-list
1. Google Guide
2. Web search strategy
We are supposed to produce a movie using Windows Movie Maker and I decided to make a slideshow of the photos from my Korea trip way back in 2006. A younger, slimmer looking me with cheesy poses and weird photos. I tried to use different effects and transitions just to showcase them. And I sure hope that the colours match the music. Go on a trippy adventure with my embarrassing photos! So, enjoy laughing at me while I bury myself with shame and more shame.
Also, we are supposed to choose a Google online tool as well and I choose.... Google Language Tools! This is such a useful tool for me, especially when I am looking at clothes online at Japanese websites. By the way, Japanese have the best clothes to buy online, although it is not such a good idea to buy now with the ridiculous yen exchange rate.
Anyway, back to Google Language Tools. Although it is a pretty useful tool, it is not infallible. Just a simple test will show you why. Translate anything from English into another language, and translate it back into English. Chances are that the results will come out different, even if you didn't change anything! And if you are bi- or multi-lingual, sometimes the results of the translation will amuse you. This just proves that language is an art, with all its nuances and different usage and context that is difficult for computers (science) to deal with. Human beings are not obsolete yet!!! =D
That being said, Google Language Tools is still extremely cool. Where else will you get to see seldom used languages such as Pig Latin (no, not used by pigs but an ancient language), Hebrew and even one called Bork! Bork! Bork!... I am a linguistic person, so this tool fascinates me.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Week 5 Feb 9, 11
Week 5 to-read-list
This week, we learnt about learning. Interesting topic for an Introduction to the Internet class. I feel that in Singapore, learning is not as lauded as it should be; rather, perhaps due to our 'meritocracy' mentality coupled with our inherent 'kiasuism', learning has taken a backseat to raw grades. Afterall, people in Singapore don't care as much for intangible qualities compared to your qualifications. This has led to what people call a 'paper chase'.
Think that I am ranting against the system? Think again. Look at the work that primary and secondary schoolers are doing. In the past, there was a focus on rote learning and memorization. Does this reflect intelligence? I think not. But if you can't memorize well and don't learn by rote well, you are out of the 'game'. You get streamed... And now, schools are trying to make up by 'teaching' creativity! How do you teach creativity? You can develop and nurture but not teach creavitiy. That's the exact antithesis of creativity if you have to teach it.
Having a growth mindset means that you are open to learning and are motivated to learn. This is something perhaps Singaporeans should start to adopt. This is a mindset that I myself have to adopt even right now. Perhaps grades are not as important as one thinks it is. Rather than just striving for grades, I should be trying to learn as much as I can. But some teachers out there are so grade oriented that you feel like you can't learn anything from them. They are not open and they don't teach so good. Case in point:
Perhaps a growth mindset has to also start with instructors and teachers.
We also learnt about Bloom's Taxonomy and how it applies to us. I found out, well not exactly as I sort of knew it all along, that I am strong in the linguistics area. But it is still good to learn about the other areas that I am strong and weak in. Perhaps the area that I can work on is the area of music. I should pick up a musical instrument and listen to more songs. That doesn't seem like unenjoyable learning to me at all! And I thought that I was rather good in spatial-visual things but apparently not. I should draw more or even go out into space more. I heard that going into space requires a great deal of spatial-visual ability. Now, this sort of learning I don't mind.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Week 4, February 2, 4
Week 4 to-read-list
1. Electronic commerce, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. Consumer Privac, Blake T. Bilstad, Esq; Keith P. Enwright, Esq.
So, this week we learnt about e-commerce and all that jazz. Interesting topic, for someone who once harboured hope of setting up an online business and earning a bit of money on the side but just didn't have the time, the energy, the ideas and the resources to start an online business. That, and I am just plain lazy. :D
So, this is the top 10 reasons why e-commerce succeed, in my opinion and in no particular order. All must fall in place for an online business to work.
1. Product
The product is extremely important, and basically the foundation to build businesses, not to mention an online business. Great products are physical items, services and even ideas. I read in Reader's Digest that there is this 20-something year old, who set up a business based totally on fulfilling other people's ideas. And he is successful! Now, that is next level.
2. Timing
Timing is everything. A great product will fail if the timing is wrong.
3. Demand
4. Word of mouth
In the Internet, word of mouth travels so much faster in forums, via chatting and social media.
5. Good customer service, including customer dispute and returns
6. Fair pricing, including shipping costs and options (very important to me, at least!)
7. Proper security
8. Navigable and attractive website
A website must be user-friendly to really rake in the dough.
9. A dash of luck
10. Paying customers, what else? ;D
And here are the top 10 reasons online businesses fail, in my humble opinion again. ;)
1. Lousy or ill-conceived product
2. Wrong timing
3. Lack of demand
4. Negative word of mouth
5. Poor customer service
6. Unfair pricing, including exorbitant shipping costs and options
7. No proper security set up
8. Unnavigable and unattractive website
9. No luck
10. No paying customers.
1. Electronic commerce, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. Consumer Privac, Blake T. Bilstad, Esq; Keith P. Enwright, Esq.
So, this week we learnt about e-commerce and all that jazz. Interesting topic, for someone who once harboured hope of setting up an online business and earning a bit of money on the side but just didn't have the time, the energy, the ideas and the resources to start an online business. That, and I am just plain lazy. :D
So, this is the top 10 reasons why e-commerce succeed, in my opinion and in no particular order. All must fall in place for an online business to work.
1. Product
The product is extremely important, and basically the foundation to build businesses, not to mention an online business. Great products are physical items, services and even ideas. I read in Reader's Digest that there is this 20-something year old, who set up a business based totally on fulfilling other people's ideas. And he is successful! Now, that is next level.
2. Timing
Timing is everything. A great product will fail if the timing is wrong.
3. Demand
4. Word of mouth
In the Internet, word of mouth travels so much faster in forums, via chatting and social media.
5. Good customer service, including customer dispute and returns
6. Fair pricing, including shipping costs and options (very important to me, at least!)
7. Proper security
8. Navigable and attractive website
A website must be user-friendly to really rake in the dough.
9. A dash of luck
10. Paying customers, what else? ;D
And here are the top 10 reasons online businesses fail, in my humble opinion again. ;)
1. Lousy or ill-conceived product
2. Wrong timing
3. Lack of demand
4. Negative word of mouth
5. Poor customer service
6. Unfair pricing, including exorbitant shipping costs and options
7. No proper security set up
8. Unnavigable and unattractive website
9. No luck
10. No paying customers.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Week 2 Jan 19, 21
Week 2 to-read-list
1. Social Media, Spannerworks
2. What is RSS?
3. RSS, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So we had another COM 125 lesson today and I learnt something right from the very start of class; to have your blog on the 'honorable mention' list of our instructor, you have to:
1. Write interestingly, or,
2. Have lots of pictures, or,
3. Have music on your blog.
Well, I can't declare that I am able to write that interestingly but I can overload people who visit my blog with loads of pictures and the latest songs.. But I don't think I would be doing that anytime soon. So you have to just bear with my less than interesting writing. :P
Jesting aside, after today's class, I realised that I have not been using the Internet to it's fullest potential. I will be the first to admit, that I don't jump on the bandwagon of new technology easily and perhaps that has led to somewhat of a lagging behind. But I am resolved to in the words of Mr. Choy, to 'find the firewood in the forest'.
Web 2.0. We are living the Internet revolution. It seems to be like exciting times are ahead. A power shift, from the 'elite' to the 'people' is happening. But being the cynic that I am, it helps in times like this to pause and consider. Some people hop unto the bandwagon of 'revolution' like it's the Second Coming. But I take the wait and see approach. Web 2.0 with its interactivity and authorship and 'democracy' seems fine and dandy. But look beyond the surface and you will discover that it is not all fine.
Democracy works best when the people are knowledgeable and mature enough the handle the responsibilities of democracy. In Peter Parker A.K.A. Spiderman's immortal words, 'With great power comes great responsibility.'
(For more on Spiderman, click on the picture)
But take a look around the Internet; there are people who are able to publish their views without censorship and that not necessarily be a good thing. People being people, will abuse the democracy of the Internet, particularly Web 2.0 applications to propagate their misguided notions. Others who don't understand the difference between viewpoints and facts, between right and wrong are easily influenced by these kind of authors. Given the fact that more and more children are Internet-savvy, this proves to be a conundrum for the IT generation. What is right and what is wrong? WHO is right and WHO is wrong? Web 2.0 potentially has the power to blur these lines and create a wider grey area in every area of life. Information is available just like that, at a click of a button and 24/7; but to quote a famous book, 'What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul?' That's food for thought, don't you think?
That being said, I am still appreciative of how far the Internet has come. Something that wasn't mentioned in class that I feel is quite relevant is the proliferation of forums online. Forums are highly interactive, with users being able to view other member's posts and send them private messages. And I feel that forums have the advantage of amassing and distilling vast amounts of information into different 'threads' and caters to a wide spectrum of audience. You can find forums on the most specialized topics such as beatboxing, fashion, or even home repairs or cooking. Forums also provide people with the chance to interact with a community of like-minded people from all around the world. Superfuture, a lifestyle forum, is one such forum I frequent.
Sitting in class today, I learnt about new technology that I am interested to try out. Like mentioned earlier, I am very slow to jump unt0 bandwagons so don't laugh at me if you people out there are experts at these programs already. But one very interesting piece of technology is RSS, or Rich Site Summary. Read more about RSS from the links above. But this is something that could have extremely practical use for the heavy Internet user to save time and effort. I am going to try out RSS soon, using Google Reader. Tell you more about my experience soon!
1. Social Media, Spannerworks
2. What is RSS?
3. RSS, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So we had another COM 125 lesson today and I learnt something right from the very start of class; to have your blog on the 'honorable mention' list of our instructor, you have to:
1. Write interestingly, or,
2. Have lots of pictures, or,
3. Have music on your blog.
Well, I can't declare that I am able to write that interestingly but I can overload people who visit my blog with loads of pictures and the latest songs.. But I don't think I would be doing that anytime soon. So you have to just bear with my less than interesting writing. :P
Jesting aside, after today's class, I realised that I have not been using the Internet to it's fullest potential. I will be the first to admit, that I don't jump on the bandwagon of new technology easily and perhaps that has led to somewhat of a lagging behind. But I am resolved to in the words of Mr. Choy, to 'find the firewood in the forest'.
Web 2.0. We are living the Internet revolution. It seems to be like exciting times are ahead. A power shift, from the 'elite' to the 'people' is happening. But being the cynic that I am, it helps in times like this to pause and consider. Some people hop unto the bandwagon of 'revolution' like it's the Second Coming. But I take the wait and see approach. Web 2.0 with its interactivity and authorship and 'democracy' seems fine and dandy. But look beyond the surface and you will discover that it is not all fine.
Democracy works best when the people are knowledgeable and mature enough the handle the responsibilities of democracy. In Peter Parker A.K.A. Spiderman's immortal words, 'With great power comes great responsibility.'
(For more on Spiderman, click on the picture)But take a look around the Internet; there are people who are able to publish their views without censorship and that not necessarily be a good thing. People being people, will abuse the democracy of the Internet, particularly Web 2.0 applications to propagate their misguided notions. Others who don't understand the difference between viewpoints and facts, between right and wrong are easily influenced by these kind of authors. Given the fact that more and more children are Internet-savvy, this proves to be a conundrum for the IT generation. What is right and what is wrong? WHO is right and WHO is wrong? Web 2.0 potentially has the power to blur these lines and create a wider grey area in every area of life. Information is available just like that, at a click of a button and 24/7; but to quote a famous book, 'What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul?' That's food for thought, don't you think?
That being said, I am still appreciative of how far the Internet has come. Something that wasn't mentioned in class that I feel is quite relevant is the proliferation of forums online. Forums are highly interactive, with users being able to view other member's posts and send them private messages. And I feel that forums have the advantage of amassing and distilling vast amounts of information into different 'threads' and caters to a wide spectrum of audience. You can find forums on the most specialized topics such as beatboxing, fashion, or even home repairs or cooking. Forums also provide people with the chance to interact with a community of like-minded people from all around the world. Superfuture, a lifestyle forum, is one such forum I frequent.
Sitting in class today, I learnt about new technology that I am interested to try out. Like mentioned earlier, I am very slow to jump unt0 bandwagons so don't laugh at me if you people out there are experts at these programs already. But one very interesting piece of technology is RSS, or Rich Site Summary. Read more about RSS from the links above. But this is something that could have extremely practical use for the heavy Internet user to save time and effort. I am going to try out RSS soon, using Google Reader. Tell you more about my experience soon!
Week 1 Jan 12, 14
Week 1 to-read-list
1. History of Internet
2. Internet history timeline
3. From Wikipedia, the free encylopedia
4. weblogs: a history and perspective
5. Folksonomy, From Wikipedia, the free encylopedia
1. History of Internet
2. Internet history timeline
3. From Wikipedia, the free encylopedia
4. weblogs: a history and perspective
5. Folksonomy, From Wikipedia, the free encylopedia
The Internet is a part of our everyday lives, so much so that I feel that we have started to take it for granted. We use the Internet, but we do not have a clear grasp of how the Internet actually works and how it came about. I reckon that history of anything doesn't really appeal to our generation of quick fixes and short attention spans but as our instructor for COM 125 mentioned, knowing the history of something is for our benefit; so that we better know how to deal with the future.
Having a blog leads to the idea that we can be candid regarding what we are blogging about and so, I will stick my neck out a bit here. I have to admit that when I learnt about taking this course, I gave a little groan; after all, we are the IT generation and what else can we learn about the Internet that would be beneficial to us? We take to new technology like fish to water. And now we have to study the theory behind it?
But I have to admit, that the Internet actually makes for fascinating studying; not studying in an academic way but analyzing it and all that. And something that I realised in class, outside of the teaching, was that Internet has made it possible for simple ideas to really take flight and grow into a global phenomenon, which was unthinkable in decades past. Yahoo, Google, Youtube, Facebook and the wave of new Internet technology proves this point. It got me thinking, that I could become rich too, if I had an idea!
Also, being part of the generation that started off with DOS and typed commands, I am suddenly amazed when reminded in class about how far IT has evolved in a mere decade. Through IT and the Internet, I have my eyes opened to the wonders of online encyclopedias where information is literally at our fingertips, of search engines that can find any thing I desire at the click of a button, of social networking sites where I can reconnect with long lost friends and make new ones, of video hosting sites where you can find the most obscure videos, of online shopping sites that suck my money dry at the click of the mouse and much much more. Here are 5 sites that I visit regularly in my leisure time:
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
Check out these sites if you haven't. You may like them! (The icons are all hyperlinks.)
So what exactly have I learnt in class this week? That the Internet is growing and its potential is seemingly unlimited. I have barely scratched the surface of the Internet and this perhaps is a good time to start exploring the possibilities of the Internet; for my self growth and for a good grade for COM 125. :P
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