What will the Web become? How big can the Internet get? What are we going to do with all of this information?
Following is a fascinating documentary (about 14 minutes long) created by Kate Ray on the future of the internet.
Although the internet is only a few decades old, it has experienced significant changes in such a short time span. It serves as a platform for business, communication, entertainment and education. And you can connect to this enormous network through dozens of different devices.
SO WHAT’S NEXT ????
We can think of better touch screen smartphones, bigger screen phones with higher definition resolution, slimmer phones and many more. However, the answer isn’t entirely clear. But the possibilities of the future are definitely exciting. One thing that seems certain is that data transmission speeds will increase globally.
SOME OF THE PREDICTIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET !
AUDIO WEB SERVING (You will be able to command your device by voicing out using your headphones and mouthpiece. The device will then use voice recognition to execute the command)
WEB SERVE ON ANY DEVICE (It seems the tech industry is eager to integrate the Internet into every device these days. It’s the equivalent to adding a digital clock to a coffee maker.Adding a touch-screen to your fridge and other appliances might create new opportunities and challenges for interfacing.)
MULTI-TOUCH COMPUTING
MOBILE NETWORKING
Lets take a look at the future screen technology:
FUTURE OF LEARNING !
With future technology like the integrated interface technology. Schools will then be able to utilize such technology onto study benches, sliding tables in the lecture rooms and on necessary surfaces. This way students will not need to bring or purchase their own laptops as they will be able to use the technology provided by the institution. Thus, learning will be made easier and more convenient both for the lecturers and the students. For example, lecturers will be able to upload necessary notes onto the net and student will be able to retrieve them from the surface and be able to take down necessary notes too. Furthermore, students will be able to fully utilize the study benches when doing group project and no laptop is needed. Every member will be able to do the project simultaneously from the big interface provided.
The future of the internet is definitely unclear. But with all these possibilities, we will all be looking forward to it !
Citizen journalism is the concept of members of the public “playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. Itshould not be confused with community journalism or civic journalism, which are practiced by professional journalists, or collaborative journalism, which is practiced by professional and non-professional journalists working together. Citizen journalism is a specific form of citizen media as well as user generated content.
The advantages to citizen journalism are numerous. The first is that for media organisations, they allow them to have instant access to on the spot footage. It means that media outlets can carry pictures which they simply would never get if it were not for citizen journalism.
The main disadvantage is that there is a big danger risk to the members of the public taking this footage. The second danger is that these people have no media training and no knowledge of any laws which they may be infringing either during the capture of the footage or the release of it to the media – such as if children have been captured in the footage without their parents’ consent.
Like journalists, citizen journalists have to adhere to the ethics of online journalism. Here’s an interesting site on ethic of online journalism.
Yes, we do have a local citizen journalism site. It none other than STOMP.
STOMP also known as Straits Times Online Mobile Print is a Singapore-based web portal by Singapore Press Holdings. Its Singapore Seen section is a citizen journalism platform for Singaporeans to contribute news tip-offs, photos and videos.
Citizen journalist can contribute what they think is news worthy by uploading a news report followed by an image or video. Viewers can then voice out their thoughts by posting comments on that particular article. Most of the matters are trivial matters and are usually for entertaining purposes.
It is a great way to pass time and also entertaining.
These are some of the interesting articles reported by the netizens.
Can the internet really bring about political change?
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs.
The internet is playing a bigger role in politics nowadays.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of American Internet users went online in 2010 for news or information about the midterm elections or to communicate with others about the campaigns, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
EFFECTS OF THE INTERNET ON POLITICS
“If you want to get your message out, the old way of paying someone to make a TV ad is insufficient: You need your message out through the Internet, through e-mail, through talk radio”
-Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Chairman
Lets take a look at this video to understand how the internet affect politics:
This is a weblog on Singapore’s politics and current affairs:
Multimedia refers to any computer-based presentation or application that integrates two or more of the following elements: text, graphics, animation, audio, video and virtual reality. A PowerPoint presentation combining text, graphics and video clips is an example of a multimedia application. It is a noninteractive multimedia presentation in which the slides are displayed in a predefined linear fashion. Interactive multimedia applications accept input from the user by means of a keyboard, voice or mouse and perform an action in response. An interactive multimedia program allows users to select the material, define the order in which it is presented and obtain feedback on their actions.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF MULTIMEDIA
Linear
not interactive
no navigation control
e.g. cinema presentation
Non-Linear
interactive
can be controlled
self-paced
e.g. hypermedia
HYPERMEDIA ?
An extension to hypertext that supports linking graphics, sound, and video elements in addition to text elements. The World Wide Web is a partial hypermedia system since is supports graphical hyperlinks and links to sound and video files. New hypermedia systems under development will allow objects in computer videos to be hyperlinked.
USES OF MULTIMEDIA
Education
In Education, multimedia is used to produce computer-based training courses and reference books like encyclopaedia . A CBT lets the user go through a series of presentations, text about a particular topic, and associated illustrations in various information formats. Engineering
Software engineers may use multimedia in Computer Simulations for anything from entertainment to training such as military or industrial training. Industry
In the Industrial sector, multimedia is used as a way to help present information to shareholders, superiors and coworkers. Mathematical and Scientific Research
In Mathematical and Scientific Research, multimedia is mainly used for modelling and simulation. Medicine
In Medicine, doctors can get trained by looking at a virtual surgery or they can simulate how the human body is affected by diseases spread by viruses and bacteria and then develop techniques to prevent it.
SECOND LIFE
Second life is an example of multimedia. It is an online virtual world which was created in 2003. Users can create an account and they are called residents. These residents would then have to create their own avatar and meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another. Second Life is intended for people aged 13 and over.
Computer crime, or cybercrime, refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Additionally, cyber crime also includes traditional crimes conducted through the Internet. For example; hate crimes, telemarketing and Internet fraud, identity theft, and credit card account thefts are considered to be cyber crimes when the illegal activities are committed through the use of a computer and the Internet.
We are building our lives around our wired and wireless networks and it is important for us to defend them.
SINGAPORE’S CYBER CRIME RELATED NEWS
Lets take a look at this article from channel news Asia:
Singapore is a prime target for online cyber crime. Singapore’s global profile and overall affluence inevitably attracts a lot of attention – and not all of this attention is good. Cyber-criminals see this vibrant nation as a lucrative target for their ever-evolving, increasingly noxious array of scams, tricks and deceptions. The threats of cyber criminals should never be underestimated. Any organization – big or small – can become a victim. And any victim can pay an enormous price as a result.
Web threats can lead to irreparable damage for businesses
Lets take a look at this table:
It shows that businesses based in Singapore face an unusually wide variety of web threats.
TYPES OF CYBER CRIME
SPAM
FRAUD
CYBER BULLYING
DRUG TRAFFICKING (Believe it or not, drug trafficking is happening over the Internet. Many traffickers use encrypted email or password-protected message boards to arrange drug deals.)
CYBER TERRORISM
PIRACY
PROTECTION AND RISK-PREVENTION TOOLS
The list of cyber criminal activity is long and includes identity theft, credit card fraud, spam marketing, stalking, child pornography, computer hacking and the release of viruses, spyware and malware. Here are ways you can protect yourself.
TIPS
Be cautious about the information you share online especially on social sites like myspace and twitter.
Create difficult to guess passwords (alphanumeric) and vary your passwords every now and then.
Purchase a good and reliable anti-virus software to protect your computer from infections.
Be cautious when posting photos online.
Safe keep all of your personal information including your full name, address, phone number, social security number, account numbers, and passwords.
Check financial statements for no unusual transactions.
Make sure you are using a secure site when you shop online.
Use your email provider’s spam mail filters in order to block unwanted viruses on your computer.
Report any crime including harassment to the authorities right away.
Never go to see someone you’ve only met online unless you are with a group of people and are in a public place.
This week, we are learning about the various tools on the internet. I found out that the top search engines are namely Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. As we all know google is a popular search engine which aids us in our daily lives. But never did we know that google also provides us with a variety of different tools which can be useful to us.
GOOGLE TOOLS
Here is a list of google tools.
Google chrome
Google desktop
Google earth
Google pack
Google docs
G mail
Google translate
Google books
Google Reader
Google Shopper
So for this blog i’ve decided to write about Google translate as i like to travel alot and i find this tool very useful to me. It is also available as an i phone application which makes it even more convenient.
GOOGLE TRANSLATE
In the past, we use books and the internet to translate any language that we do not understand. But now with Google Translate, it makes translation so much easier and more convenient.
Google Translate is a freestatisticalmachine translation service provided by Google Inc. to translate a section of text, document or webpage, into another language.
The service was introduced in April 28, 2006 for the Arabic language.
Features and limitations
The service limits the number of paragraphs, or range of technical terms, that will be translated. It is also possible to enter searches in a source language that are first translated to a destination language allowing you to browse and interpret results from the selected destination language in the source language. For some languages, users are asked for alternate translations such as for technical terms, to be included for future updates to the translation process. Text in a foreign language can be typed, and if “Detect Language” is selected, it will not only detect the language but also translate it into English by default.
Google Translate, like other automatic translation tools, has its limitations. While it can help the reader to understand the general content of a foreign language text, it does not always deliver accurate translations. Some languages produce better results than others.
STEP 2: Select the languages ( E.g. English to Malay)
STEP 3: Type in the phrase/words/sentence that u wish to translate (e.g. Hey, you’re here! How are you doing? Where are you heading to ?)
You can even click on the listen button at the bottom left hand corner to listen to the translation.
Here is a video on google translate:
So for the next part of the blog, we are required to show a video we have made using Microsoft movie maker and show it in our blogs. So here’s the video :
E-learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The information and communication systems, whether networked or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process.
E-learning is essentially the computer and network-enabled transfer of skills and knowledge. E-learning applications and processes include Web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual classroom opportunities and digital collaboration.
E-LEARNING THROUGH DIGITAL MEDIA
E-learning makes learning simple with just a click of the mouse button. Through the use of e-learning, it makes learning faster and more accessible unlike traditional methods of learning. It is can be easily access anytime.
In my own experience, i’ve used e-learning through the use of websites like youtube. In my first semester, i was required to take the module on Trigonometry and algebra. I did not attend one of the lectures and thus, i did not understand a particular section on the chapter of matrices. The probelm was about a 3X3 matrix. So i’ve decide to make use of youtube to teach me the correct steps and method to approach such problems.
By watching the two videos above, i was able to handle similar problem sums.
E-learning has also helped my in my sociology statistics module.
Of course, academic learning is only part of learning. You can use the internet to learn other stuff too. Some examples are:
FUTURE DIGITAL CLASSROOM
The future classroom will have neither walls nor ceiling.
Say bye to blackboards, dusty chalk fumes, school uniforms and tables and chairs. It will no longer have pen and paper, heavy cumbersome textbooks or teachers to pay attention to.
The teachers will be replaced by administrators to upload the material onto the net and maintain the site. There will be no commuting costs to contend with as all classes are attended in the comfort of the student’s own home. Classes can be conducted in a digital classroom regardless of where one is located.
MICROSOFT SURFACE TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft Surface Computer is the first in a new category of surface computing products from Microsoft that will “break down traditional barriers between people and technology”. It is the next generation of computer interfaces those offer multi-touch technology. Unlike most touchscreens, Surface computer can respond to more than one touch at a time.
The Surface computer is a 30-inch table-top LCD that can be used by multiple people at the same time. The interactive display can recognize physical objects identification tags similar to bar codes, such as cellphones or chip-enhanced paintbrushes, but also enable users to engage in “hands-on” activities such as “digital finger painting” and interact with content through touch and “natural gestures”.
SUCCESS IN THE FUTURE ?
Yes !!! It definitely will be a success in the future. People value interactivity and more hands-on function. It is also useful in the workplace, classroom as well as at home for entertainment.
IS IT AN ELECTRONIC PUSH CART LIKE THE ONE BELOW ?
Lets look at a comic about e commerce:
Ecommerce definition and types of ecommerce
Ecommerce (e-commerce) or electronic commerce, a subset of ebusiness, is the purchasing, selling, and exchanging of goods and services over computer networks (such as the Internet) through which transactions or terms of sale are performed electronically. Contrary to popular belief, ecommerce is not just on the Web. In fact, ecommerce was alive and well in business to business transactions before the Web back in the 70s via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) through VANs (Value-Added Networks). Ecommerce can be broken into four main categories: B2B, B2C, C2B, and C2C.
10 SUCCEEDING KEY FACTORS !!!!
1. CUSTOMER SERVICE
Outstanding customer service is a major failing of many enterprises. Online customers have a choice, they are not restricted by geographical boundaries. If you don’t offer excellence, they will go somewhere that does. There is much more about critical customer service that is beyond the scope of this website.
2. IMAGE OF WEBSITE
The design of your website must look and function with a professional edge about it. Do not design poor and amateur web site.
Knowing your target audience is important as it enables you to design your business website more specifically suited to the target audience which will aid them by making it more accessible and user friendly.
4. MARKETING
It is important to get attention and awareness of the target audience and to stir up their interest in the product. This is to ensure brand loyalty which is very important for any kind of business
5. CUSTOMER POWER
Much more information is available to the customer to make informed decisions before committing to a purchase. Knowing this, they should always be treated with the respect of an industry expert. The likelihood is you really don’t know the level of their understanding.
6. DO NOT FORCE PEOPLE TO ORDER ONLINE
People are reluctant to give credit card numbers over the Web. There’s the perception that it’s not safe.” This in itself spawns an entire industry in expensive secure Web sites and encryption technology.
7. KEEP IT SIMPLE
Certified Banner Free Site! No Ads, No Java, No Banners! No Junk mail!!!
The minimal loading time greatly pleases customers. Remember: for a site that sells, looking lovely is a luxury. Keeping your selling message clear and uncluttered is vital.
8. SURPRISE CUSTOMERS
Surprise your customers with frequent changes in your business offerings. Add incentives by providing surprise offers, price discounts etc.
9. INCREASE WEB PRESENCE
Make web presence felt by carrying out intelligent marketing over the Internet. Perform SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIAZTION (SEO) for site, since the majority of buyers visit websites after spotting them come in the first three or four pages of search engine results.
10. MAKE HOT SELLERS MOST VISIBLE
Most consumers tend to buy wad is most sellable.
10 FAILING FACTORS !!!!
1. LACK OF BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE
2.LACK OF INTERNET SKILLS
3. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT RISKS AND SECURITY
Accepting credit-card payments can be a risk when a customer pays with a stolen credit card, because it is the business owner who is charged for that. Similarly, a business owner can be scammed by customers when an order is sent by mail and customers claim they did not receive the order and demand a refund.
4. NO DEMAND FOR PRODUCT/SERVICE
Neglect to research to determine whether there is a demand for a particular product or service, and if there is enough traffic for their area of business.
5. FAILED KEYWORD SEARCH
Keyword research tells them what words or phrases people use to search for a business like theirs and knowledge of this skill is imperative for an e-business to succeed.
6.NO MARKET RESEARCH
Tendency to concentrate on the broadest market possible, while focus should be on a niche market. Targeting a niche market gives the small business owner the advantage of being ahead of competition, as the competition may not even be aware of the niche market.
7.NO BUSINESS PLAN
8. POOR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
9.COMPLICATED SITES
Sites full of pop ups, banners, advertisement and spam mails will piss potential customer off.
10. NO FINANCIAL PLANNING
Waste too much money on unnecessary advertising.
What is eMarketing?
E-Marketing is a subset of e-Business that utilises electronic medium to perform marketing activities and achieve desired marketing objectives for an organisation. Internet Marketing, Interactive Marketing and Mobile Marketing for example, are all a form of e-Marketing.
HOW TO MAKE IT SUCCESSFUL?
E-Marketers must first understand the current situation of the company and its environment, profile, segment the target the right market and then strategically position the products as to achieve optimal response with the target market. This is generally achieved through SWOT analysis. By assessing organisation’s strengths and weaknesses and looking at current opportunities and threats one can devise an e-Marketing strategy that can improve the organisation’s bottom line.
WHAT IS SWOT?
SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture.
Strengths: characteristics of the business or team that give it an advantage over others in the industry.
Weaknesses: are characteristics that place the firm at a disadvantage relative to others.
Opportunities: external chances to make greater sales or profits in the environment.
Threats: external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business.
I’ve decided to try out one site from the top 15 list. Orkut sounds like a very weird name for a social networking site. So i’ve decided to try out Orkut since it sounds so weird.
WHAT IS ORKUT ?
I’ve found out that it is a site that is owned by google group. The service is designed to help users meet new friends and maintain existing relationships. So why name it ORKUT and not something related to google ? It is named after its creator, Google employee Orkut Büyükkökten. You can log in using your google account which i find quite convenient.
IT’S FEATURES
Orkut is your typical social networking site still in infancy. You create your profile filling in your likes and interests. However, Orkut has seemed to take a page from Facebook and does not have any customization options. You can upload photos, create albums and add apps.
You can also add scraps which includes things like YouTube URLs, widgets, photos, podcasts and more. It is specifically for friends. Other people just browsing your account won’t be able to see it.
Here are some of its screen shots:
COMPARISON WITH FACEBOOK:
What i LIKE about Facebook:
1. Games and quizzes
2. easy to search for friends and friend’s friend
3. Photo Tagging
4. Facebook chats
5. News feeds
6. Comments
7. Events alert
Facebook Dislikes:
1. group invites
2.useless gifts
3. bad tagged photos
4. notifications on all the comments
5. game requests spamming
What i like about ORKUT:
1. Security features
2.mini poll
3. advertisement free!
Dislikes about ORKUT:
1. Minimal networking options ( lack of features which facebook have like : tags, chatrooms, instant messaging, videos, events)
2. Minimal age of 18 to join
3. Do not have games
4.Difficult to search for friends. ( The search options only includes keywords and does not include email, name, school and interests)
ORKUT review:
SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES FOR BUSINESS.
I think social networking sites are really useful for business. Lets look at a group that i’ve joined which sells men’s apparels.
Businesses like blogshop (1st link) or even shops like Depression which is located at far east can create such business fan pages to promote thier stuff. They can post pictures of new arrivals to inform people of thier stuff. They can even post on thier wall as news feeds to update people on what’s going on. For example Depression is looking for full time retail staff which is posted on their wall.
Thus, social networking sites like facebook are benefical for businesses.
Here is a tutorial on how to create a business fan page:
Remember the video shown on tuesday’s lecture ? If you can’t, its perfectly fine. Here’s the video to refresh your memory!! So sit back and enjoy.
About The We Are The World Foundation
“We Are the World: 25 for Haiti” is a charity single recorded by the super group Artists for Haiti in 2010. It is a remake of the 1985 hit song “We Are the World”, which was written by American musicians Micheal Jackson and Lionel Richie, and was recorded by USA for Africa to benefit famine relief in Africa.
The song was re-recorded by new artists, in the hope that it would reach a new generation and help benefit the people of Haiti.
Some of the artists include:
Justin Bieber
Jennifer Hudson
Adam Levine ( Maroon 5)
Akon
Fergie
IS IT SUCCESSFUL ??????
The song received extremely negative reviews from contemporary music critics. The song was criticized for its use of Auto-tune, the choice of recording artists, and for the song’s rap.
However the song managed to clinch the 2nd position in the Billboard top 100 and was a worldwide commercial success, as it topped music charts throughout the world and became the fastest-selling American pop single in history, as well as the first single to be certified multi-platinum. There are more than 70 million viewers on youtube of which majority of them liked the video.
Hence it was rather successful in rasing awareness and getting people to donate.
You can visit the offical website for more details:
Let us take a look at another example of social media.
Pizza Hut Aims to Feed Hungry Through Twitter
According to Pizza Hut, all you have to do to help is post a tweet on Twitter that includes a link to http://ow.ly/qWn8, and the hashtag #pizzahut, and they will donate four meals to the hungry.
According to Pizza Hut, all you have to do to help is post a tweet on Twitter that includes a link to http://ow.ly/qWn8, and the hashtag #pizzahut, and they will donate four meals to the hungry.
This is another great way of appealing to the youths through social media as twitter is the new craze nowadays !
NOT ONLY THE WESTERNERS ARE DOING IT!
Let us look at this Mtv ( Hand in Hand) which was written by Wang Lee Hom and David Tao:
It was written in 2003 during the SARS period to raise awareness for SARS.
REMEMBER PHUA CHU KANG AND HIS SARS RAP ?
So remember to wash your hands !!!
Promoting Courteousy through social media. HOW? Watch This !
If You’re Happy & You Know It, Drink A Coke – Coca Cola
As part of its ‘happiness campaign’, Coca Cola installed an unusual vending machine in an American college. As it dispensed a variety of products – including a four-foot long sandwich – the reactions of students were recorded and uploaded online. 1m+ views in just over a week.
Cadbury Brow-ser – Cadbury
To support its highly watchable ‘Eyebrows’ ad, the chocolate bar brand launched an MSN-based social media campaign. Open for eight hours, it offered participants the chance to become the face of Aglassandahalffullproductions.com (the wider campaign’s title); within this short space of time, Cadbury received 6,000 video submissions, reaching 70,000 individuals.
Are you a fan of soccer? Do you know about the FIFA world cup?
The catchy title, tune, dance moves of the song “Waka Waka” informs people about the recent FIFA 2010.
The social media is a powerful tool as it serves many purposes.
uch technology onto study benches, sliding tables in the lecture rooms and on necessary surfaces. This way students will not need to bring or purchase their own laptops as they will be able to use the technology provided by the institution. Thus, learning will be made easier and more convenient both for the lecturers and the students. For example, lecturers will be able to upload necessary notes onto the net and student will be able to retrieve them from the surface and be able to take down necessary notes too. Furthermore, students will be able to fully utilize the study benches when doing group project and no laptop is needed. Every member will be able to do the project simultaneously from the big interface provided.
nikchng 