Future Uncertain?

Over the a short time span of 20 years, the Internet has grown at an astonishing rate. Of course, there's always room for improvement. This is just a personal wishlist that I would like to see in 5 to 10 years' time.

1. More 'realistic' gameplay through the use of Virtual Reality



Of course, this technology is still kind of expensive! Then again, if it were made affordable (like most things are these days), it will be a great form of entertainment!

2. More mobility

Yes, the Internet is becoming more accessible these days, all thanks to Wireless@SG. However, not every place has internet access. For example, our public transports, where people spend majority of their time away from the workplace. It definitely would be prudent to allow commuters to access wireless broadband services while they are on-the-move.

3. Definitely this one. Free Internet for everybody!

Maybe i'm just dreaming about this one. Oh well! It doesn't hurt to dream, right?

4. Last but not least, the cool spy-gadget stuff.





Every boy's dream fantasy. Hahaha.

So concludes the COM125 journey. Keeping a weekly blog has been no doubt tedious, but it does well in recapping the information that we have learnt over the past semester. Also, a big thanks to Abel for making class so entertaining. I wouldn't have the motivation to wake up for 8.30 am class otherwise.

So, till then.

Decimo Entrada: Social Media Part II

So I was thinking...

After what Abel said about FaceBook owning all information that has been posted on its website, I went to read FaceBook's privacy policy. Guess what I found?

5. We always appreciate your feedback or other suggestions about Facebook, but you understand that we may use them without any obligation to compensate you for them (just as you have no obligation to offer them).

So Abel was right.

If that was really the case, that means I wouldn't know who has a hold of my personl information, even though I'd set my privacy status to 'friends only'. Again, it would probably explain why I get so many spam phone calls from property agents and all the whatnot.

A scary thought.

What seemed conflicting about the privacy policy is this...

You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition,

1. For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos ("IP content"), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

If the intellectual property really belonged to me, then FaceBook shouldn't have any rights to sell out my information! Cheats.



The cat is probably right. FaceBook is doing it all wrong. And it's time people actually know about this. I mean, who really does rad the fine print, who does?!

Noveno Entrada: Internet 'Kaypoh-ism'

The Internet has become a part of our daily lives. Astonishing, considering that the 'Net has barely been available to the consumer for like, 2 decades. It is a powerful tool, empowering every single user and giving them a 'voice' to be heard online.

Internet journalism has worked where traditional media has failed. This is because in citizen journalism, every single person can be a 'reporter' of sorts, being able to cover multiple locations real-time. There are also cases where citzen journalism is able to function where traditional media is barred access to. For example, the 2009 Iran elections protests. In such cases, images and stories come straight from the people who are experiencing the events themselves. Thus, there is a feeling of... How should I describe it... Connectedness? To know that the report comes from a normal person just like us, it just makes the report more convincing, no?

Anyway, one of the more popular platforms for online journalism in local context.

The epitome of Singaporean 'kaypoh-ness'

Stomp allows the average Singaporean to post pictures and news that is 'out of this world'. Hmm, dubious if you ask me. I never really visited Stomp until recently, when another project group was presenting something about it. I found that Stomp was full of nothing but nonsensical news, such as this, this, and this. The main focus Stomp is about poor public transport etiquette, teens *ahem* making out in public, and such. Trivial news.

Which makes me wonder. Is Internet journalism really that useful, or is it only a platform for gossip and complaints? Perhaps Singapore is the only country with a platform for such trivial news. Potential research question for anyone taking ESL408 and reading this! :D

Octavo Entrada: Internet Por-Lee-Tics

Back to another post...


My pre-conception of politics was a tool used by politicians to pacify the citizens. And I guess I probably was right. Take a look at this video...



As you can see from this video, all politicians do is to spout pretty speeches and pray that they will come true. Of course, we all know the world doesn't work that way. Till this day, the American economy remains the same, if not worse than the Bush Administration times.

Well, at least online campaigns are cost efficient, meaning the average taxpayer's money doesn't go to waste on useless speeches such as the one mentioned above. It was mentioned that Obama's online campaign on YouTube was watched for 14.5 million hours, and buying 14.5 million hours on broadcast TV costs approximately $47 million. Talk about budget.

Having e-governance websites online helps to save time as well. For example, if I wanted to find information on a certain law that was passed by our government, I could probably run a search on Google which would redirect me to a government body website, that gives me more information on it. I can even find out about what's going on in my own country, though I may be a few thousad kilometres away from home. Some countries have even begun a trial of e-voting for political candidates. Citizens can now vote for their preferred politician from the comforts of their own homes. Such is the power of Internet politics.

Septimo Entrada: Multimedia!

Ok, for the lack of something better to blog about... I shall blog about Apple.



Though i'm not a fan of Apple, I must admit that Apple pod-ucts are well-marketed and advertised. Pardon the pun.



I remember the very first computer I used was a classic Macintosh. It looked something like this:


It definitely is much smaller than the present-day computers! But that's besides the point.

This commercial introduced the original Macintosh to the world.


This ad is simple and presents the Macintosh as a revolutionary tool of its time.







There. These are just a few of the many mac advertisements available on YouTube. Each ad lasts only about 30 seconds, and highlights the advantages it has over its competitor, Windows, such as Mac being virus-free etc. Short and sweet, in my opinion. No wonder so many Windows users are being swayed towards buying a Mac instead!

Sexta Entrada: Use Protection! (For Your PC.)

Ah, this topic is the one my project group will be working on...

As we already know, the world is becoming increasingly complicated, especially in the area of Information Technology (IT). Yet, we are not adapting to these rapid changes unfolding in front of our very own eyes. This makes us extremely vulnerable to attacks on our PCs, since we do not have the expertise to debug problems on our computers, even though we use them every day.

One such mode of attack is the use of viruses. Viruses are continuously 'evolving' - of course, this 'evolution' depends on the programmers who create and modify existing viruses. Not unlike biologial viruses that evolve and mutate on their own. I have been the unfortunate target of a virus attack just last year. I don't even know what that virus was, but it corrupted my operating system, such that my laptop would crash and display the Blue Screen of Death (BSoD). I tried various ways and means to remove it, such as searching online for solutions, seeking help at tech geek forums, and even downloading free antivirus software (a little too late, in my opinion), but I had to send it for repairs in the end. Talk about a hole in my wallet... No sooner was my laptop repaired, that the very same virus struck again! :(



Anyway, lesson learnt. I use antivirus software now.

Kaspersky!

Incidentally, I ran a search on the BSoD, and I found out that it happened to the founder of Microsoft himself, Bill Gates, as he was conducting a presentation on the Plug and Play feature on Windows 98. What a joke! Though it wasn't a virus but an illegal operation error, this goes to show that even experts may run into problems with computers.

So... In a nutshell...

1. Use up-to-date antivirus software

2. Get a firewall if you are an Internet user (Heck, everyone's an Internet user now.)

3. Update your computer software regularly to receive security updates from your OS distributor.

I hope that helps! :)

Quinta Entrada: Windows Movie Maker... Do Not Imitate Zack And Miri!

For those who were wondering what this blog post title was all about... Click here.

Ok let's get this started...

Windows Movie Maker is a fast, simple, and user-friendly software. It's a software designed to... Well... Make movies (Good going, Mr. Obvious). The best part of this software is that, it comes with every copy of a Windows operating system (OS for short).

In short, a free movie making software. How cool is that?

I've already used Windows Movie Maker to work on quite a few projects. Being a user of Windows Movie Maker for the past year, I find that it is a very efficient software to use. The user has to merely drag and drop video footages that he wants to include into the 'movie', cut out unwanted scenes, insert sound effects, and maybe some special effects to produce the desired video. Ta-dah! It's that easy! I didn't even have to read a manual to know how to use it.

Not meaning to show off, but let me showcase some of my works on this humble blog of mine. :D

#1: Sociology Day video presentation

#2: CSE111 Project 1 (Oh Mr Choy, I know you love my videos!)

As uploading videos on Blogger takes such a *#($^% long time, i'll just paste the link for the upcoming videos. Access this video here.

#3: CSE111 Project 2 (Just can't get enough of those!)

Access this video here.

I hope those videos provided a little entertainment to this otherwise boring academic blog. Stay tuned for another update brought to you by oh-touch-my.blogspot.com!

Cuatro Entrada: E-learning? Not learning?

Since i'm a *little* overdue... I'm back with another post!

I remember the days back in high school, when practically the whole school would cheer in excitement whenever we heard that there would be an "E-learning Day". Of course, every student made use of this opportunity to sleep in late, because obviously, "E-learning Day" meant "No-School Day" in student language. Hahaha.

Very obviously, nothing was learnt (on my part, at least...) during "E-learning Day". I think E-learning for juvenile students, such as myself, works better with close supervision. Then again, let's fast forward to the present day, almost a decade since the last "E-learning Day" i'd experienced in high school.

I discovered the wonders of the Internet by using video streaming websites (No, not the lewd content available on the web, you pervs!). Through sites such as YouTube, I am able to learn...

1. the basics of playing the guitar! (regrettably, my guitar strings snapped, oh well....)



2. how to tie a tie! (incidentally, i learnt how to do this the first time when I was in secondary school)



3. pretty much anything idiotic. (Hell yeah!)



Well, this goes to show that e-learning really works best under supervision! Imagine if your 4-year-old child learnt how to make pepsi bombs! ;) on a more serious note, workers taking up E-learning courses may deviate from their online syllabus in favor of the more interesting SNS phenomenon explained earlier. You have been warned!

Peace out.

Tercer Entrada: Mind Your Own E-Business!

MillionsBillions of dollars are just a click away!

Disclaimer: I do not earn billions of dollars by clicking endlessly on my computer...



That aside, I was out shopping for Lunar New Year clothes with the girlfriend. Not surprisingly, we ended up at Far East Plaza. While we were walking around FEP...



H: Eh, you know this shop...

*points to a shop named Ohsofickle*

The lady boss is a young, 19 year old girl, you know? She started out with a blog shop.



She probably earned enough big bucks online to open her own store in a physical location. Oh well...



I guess that example states one of the many successes that were made possible because of e-business. Young entrepreneurs such as the lady boss of Ohsofickle dared to dream, and they succeeded. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Of course, there are also e-businesses set up by well-established companies, example being Del Monte (Forgive the shameless advertising, my dad happens to be the sole distributor in Asia. Heh.).

However, not all e-businesses end up becoming successful. In fact, I've heard that out of so many e-businesses being created, only a handful actually survive. Perhaps this is because of stiff competition on the web? I think that if I were to set up an online bookstore, I would probably wind up in a few days, reason being that better, more established online bookstores are already available on the web (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc). Therefore, nobody would care for a small online bookstore thingamajig, right?

Perhaps the key to online business success would be to sell some unique stuff? Just a thought. :D

On a side note, happy Lunar New Year to all!

Segunda Entrada: what the fffffriendster?!

Okay, I admit, this second entry has been long overdue too... Honesty is the best policy! Heh.

Anyway, I recall that the second lecture was about social networking sites(SNS, kinda remind me of the SNES console, but that's another story for another time). We were shown an interesting, albeit slightly disturbing video about social networking wars. I shall paste the link here, just for readers' convenience.

Well, now, putting that video aside, let's talk about SNS.

Pretty much most of the world with access to the internet has been drawn into the SNS craze (MySpace, Facebook, etc). I remember way back in my lower secondary school days, when Friendster was The BOMB. Every one of my classmates would ask the other, if they had a Friendster account. Back then, SNS were lean, all you could do was to upload photos, write comments on your friends' profiles, or send private messages. To top it off, the user inteface was a boring grey/white color scheme *Yawn* just thinking about it makes me feel sleepy. I didn't really bother to do up my Friendster profile, since I didn't feel like it was interesting enough anyway. I'd be surprised if I can even remember my log-in details!

In contrast, Facebook will definitely be more successful than Friendster ever will (Sorry, Friendster). Sure, FB has been undergoing some crappy 'upgrading' of their user interface, but overall the site seems much more interesting than Friendster. You can invite your friends to events, share videos, buy/sell items, heck, it's even packed with game applications for the no-life users (Mafia Wars, in particular)!

However, I think that SNSes aren't the only ways in which we can expand our social network in this digital age.


Enter the Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)

In these games, users are not only able to interact with the other players in their 'worlds', also termed 'servers', they are also able to interact with the environment. Not bad at all, I must say.

Warning: Excessive social networking might affect your irl social life. For the lingo illiterate, irl stands for 'in real life'.

To end this post, here's an interesting video of The World of Warcraft (WoW).


I'mma firin' my fireball! :D

Not Another Introduction!

I guess i'm really behind schedule. Week 4's starting and this is my first post for COM125. No matter, let's get this show started!

If my memory fails me not, we learnt about the following few items on the list:

1. History of The Internet

2. Web 1.0/2.0

3. Networks

4. (*#$%#$ (???)

** A problem has been detected and Lester has been shut down to prevent further damage to his brain. **

Just kidding. Now, to start off...

1. History of The Internet

The launch of Sputnik by then-USSR in 1958 led to the formation of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the United States of America. DARPA eventually became the Internet as we know and love this day. As the name suggests, the Internet was initally a project of defense for the Americans. The father of the Internet was J.C.R. Licklider, whose ingenious idea of packet switching laid the foundation for ARPANET. The idea behind the ARPANET was to create a universal network.Yada yada yada... Let's use a history timeline to better illustrate the growth of the Internet.

Well of course, this timeline isn't exhaustive, so let me illustrate further with a video I found on the Internet! (Wow.)

Next!

2. Web 1.0/2.0

Well of course, none of those above would be possible without web browsers. Web browsers allow us to access information available on the Internet, in the form of text, sound, pictures, and even videos. Cool, huh.

What in the world is Web 2.0? Well, what better way to illustrate than a video, right.... (Not again!)

And finally....

3. Networks

As the name suggests, a network is an interconnected system of computers. Having the good fortune of taking part in setting up a network for my dad's office, I have observed that networks an be used to maximise efficiency. For example, a single printer can be shared amongst 4 or even more PCs. Of course, this maximizes cost efficiency, but it can be quite troublesome if the

printer were to break down as well. No more printing for you, buddy!

I guess this concludes my first ever post on oh-touch-my.blogspot.com ! Stay tuned for anoter academic update! (sigh.)