I exceptionally love the ones where Andy (Jason's mum's nickname) supervise Jason playing games. Parental supervision is something that we didn't cover much in our course.
Monday, April 25, 2011
I LOVE FOXTROT!!!
More foxtrot to de-stress. Credits to Bill Amend, the God of comic strips! HAHAHAHA
I exceptionally love the ones where Andy (Jason's mum's nickname) supervise Jason playing games. Parental supervision is something that we didn't cover much in our course.
I exceptionally love the ones where Andy (Jason's mum's nickname) supervise Jason playing games. Parental supervision is something that we didn't cover much in our course.
Examination Stress Reliever
Once again, it is the end of semester, the start of finals. Once again, we bury our heads in our books and bully our brains into working overtime. This year, life has been kind - I met a lot of fantastic people, had a lot of wonderful lecturers (yes, that definitely includes you sir!) and learned a lot of new stuff. I made quite a lot of new friends in every single module I'm taking. For instance, for COM 125, all of my project members are actually people I have never worked with before. And I had a really great time learning about how easy it is to infiltrate another person's email/facebook account when that person is not careful. All I have to do is download a script, run it, and it will give me a list of 'lucky winners' who are not securedly logged on to their accounts.
As usual, credits to the all-time fabulous Bill Amend.
In another module called UGC 111, which has the reputation of being the most daunting module one will ever take at UB, I met a lot of new friends too. The lecturer for this module is an extremely enthusiastic and competent educator - I learnt a lot under his guidance. However, his ideal of an average grade is C and I am definitely not too keen on being average in his class. So a couple of us took the responsibility of presenting the chapters so we can share notes and study overnight. While they were asleep, I violated their privacy by taking a video of them being dead to the world. The alarm rang since 7.15am and snoozed 6 times till 7.45am yet they did not hit 'off' button even once. They just let it ring till it stopped for the next 5min interval. This is just for fun and laughter - it is really good for killing examination stress! They saw the pictures I took and had a really great time laughing too.
Sorry for the unstable shooting - I kept giggling so my hands kept shaking.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Sharing Fun Stuff
I've got quite a few nice websites that I visit regularly to share.
This website was set up slightly more than two years ago and it remains as a bit of an unknown to most Singaporeans. What the creator does is that he will draw pictures on little post-its with inspirational quotes on them. He then pastes these post-its at various locations all around Singapore so that people may chance across his work and become more motivated. I've been looking around Marine Parade because this seems to be the place that he frequents most but I haven't been lucky enough to find his work yet. His quotes are usually reminders for some of the things that we tend to forget when we are too buried in our work or overly concerned with ourselves, neglecting others around us. In my opinion, some of them are quite pointless - I don't get them at all. However, there are some pretty amazing ones which make me keep going back to the website again and again. He actually made one of Steve Jobs!
This other website is managed by a Samaritan, Frank Warren, who wants to give everyone an opportunity to confess their secrets without revealing their identity. Every Sunday, he will select some of the secrets that are posted to him on a postcard and he will upload them to the website. Quite a number of secrets that I've read are extremely compelling. Some are full of joy but some are extremely poignant like those written by suicidal people. This website was introduced to me quite a few years back so I've been following it for quite a while and I've thought of posting something to him as well. One of the most compelling ones that I've read is someone about how girls think having sex on the beach is very romantic but she doesn't think so - because she has been raped on the beach before. And there was another one from a mother who said that she could not bear to tell her son that Santa Claus had sprained her back this Christmas and might not be able to pay the bills, much less to buy him his toy train. The really heartening thing is that many other followers of the website will step in to either counsel those who are depressed or extend financial help to those in need. It makes the world a better place, honestly.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Future of the Internet
Honestly, I am not sure what to predict of the future of the Internet because there are just too many possibilities. Some of the clips that we saw in the lecture were pretty amazing and it reminded me of a few things Mr Abel Choy said. One of the was "[E]verything is created twice - the first time is in your mind and the second time in reality." That statement got me thinking for quite while. It once again made me realise that the virtual and real worlds are overlapping more and more. Maybe, just maybe, whatever we see in Avatar will come true. Judging by the incredibly rapid speed at which technology is developing, maybe people will be able to connect to their laptops by inserting a finger into some high-tech port in their computers. They will have it taped to their nails using ever-lasting glue or have it surgically embedded into their fingers.
As usual, credits to the greatest cartoonist of all, Bill Amend!
For me, one of the issues I am most concerned about is still security. I'm really bad with technology but tonnes of people out there are extremely tech-savvy. The community of hackers will most likely increase as more people are using the Internet. Although I am not sure if it will happen in my lifetime, I am indeed quite curious about what the North Koreans will do when they are exposed to the wonders of the Internet. They will probably try and take over the world via the cyber world so the international fear of their missiles will also be translated to the virtual world.
Credits to Reporters without Borders. They are an organization that look into various issues and studies with regards to journalism freedom in all parts of the world. And, yes, they don't think very highly of Singapore. I don't think I need to explain why.
I was searching for images on 'North Korea Internet' and I came across some really interesting results. For some really odd reasons which my dense mind is incapable of formulating, they showed me tonnes of Justin Bieber images as well. LOL
Since I am not part of the Bieber Fever, please forgive me for making fun of him. Because I think I've finally discovered the biggest reason why North Korea refused to allow the Internet - to deter his quest for world domination. You think Kim Jong Il will ever allow that to happen? No way.
Google VS Apple
My favourite comic mentioned the Windows software so I cannot help but share this on my blog, credits to Bill Amend as usual. People either talk about Apple VS Windows or Apple VS Google - it seems that people like to compare with Apple the most.
Honestly I don't know what to say about them since I usually compare Microsoft with Apple. However, with the rise of smartphones, more and more comparisons are being between Apple's iPhones and Google's Android phones. I personally favour Apple's one more because of the variety of applications - Android has a lot too but not nearly as cool as Apple's. Moreover, Apple's OS is more closed (that's what my bro said) so it is less susceptible to viral infiltration like the more open platform of Android. That being said, it does not mean that iPhones will never 'kena virus' ok? Still must be careful about what we download and try to not jail break the phones.
Journalism & Internet
There is a new Communications module offered this semester that is about Journalism. Due to clashes in timetable, I can only choose between Journalism and Health Communication. I have great interest in both modules but I settled for Health Communication and one of the reasons is because Prof. Lance Rintamaki (my favourite lecturer because he is so nice and awesome!) mentioned that the lecturer for Health Communication is pretty good. Although it is regretful that I cannot take Journalism, but I do like what I am learning from Health Communication now. Another reason for not choosing Journalism is because I think Singapore's publishing industry is not just repressed, it is also going downhill. You may think I am making unsupported claims here but let me show you exactly what idiocy they are capable of. Below is the link to a letter that SPH released, in response to their publishing errors.
Any sane human being with basic analytical skills will understand that the SPH has made editorial mistakes so simple that even my little Primary School student can rectify. They have failed to uphold the basic principles of journalism, such as honesty and accuracy in their reporting. Lacking basic integrity in their work, I will no longer rely on The Straits Times as my major source of information. Since the start of the Tin Pei Ling fiasco, I have been waiting for them to say something more neutral about the issue. However, all I have read so far shows me that they are not even capable of neutrality - their reports only spoke of how the cyber citizens have been unforgivingly harsh and how she has 'grown' from the criticisms. Why did they not publish information regarding her lack of worthiness to represent us? I refuse to let such a frivilous character represent young females in Singapore and I absolutely will never acknowledge her us our MP. The criticisms that she has received does not even rival one tenth or even one hundredth of what Sarah Palin received. Yet she is grumbling about the netizens being too harsh - it just shows that she still has a loooooooooong way to go. Her fiasco just makes me feel more disgusted with the political party that endorses her nonsense. And all these events will not only reduce the local publishing industry to a pile of joke, it will also give the false impression of what idiots constitute Singapore. I definitely do not want to be part of this idiocy so I refuse to subscribe to the ideology of both SPH and PAP.
All in all, I am glad for online news and opinion platforms like the following below:
- 1) Though not as objective as I like, they are pretty up-to-date and accurate. In my opinion, this website is by the students, for the country. If anyone wants to have an insight into the way a varisty student may think of local and global issues, this is your best bet.
- http://kentridgecommon.com/
- 2) They represent the voices of many who are only allowed to pen their thoughts on the cyber platform. They are as objective as the cyber world can get because their writers criticise not only PAP, but all the other political parties as well.
- http://theonlinecitizen.com/
- 3) This one is a bit of a joke because even though the events they write about are facts, the commentary is not always very sound. But they are pretty entertaining if anyone is into political tabloids.
- http://www.temasekreview.com/
Politics & Internet
I think we've seen quite a lot of how the Internet helped various political groups and candidates reach out to the cyber community. I was exceptionally impressed with Obama when I saw his speeches online because they were tremendously inspiring. The change that he advocated and promised was truly alluring and the fact that a non-White could progress so far into the elections made me in awe of his capabilities. With Barack Obama, the results are definitely encouraging and so far, with the exception of the Saturday Night Live TV programme video, what we have seen in the lecture are mainly positive effects of the Internet on politics. There are actually a lot of cat-fights and with the upcoming General Elections in Singapore, our little world is also being messed up with all the 'scandals' published online.
There is a particular website, The Temasek Review, is a little like the Taiwanese tabloids. Sometimes, they have excellent pieces but most of the time, they just churn out gossips and stuff like that. They poke fun at the major political party, PAP, most of the time. Although their literary skills are not as compelling as the speech written by Obama's office, I do gain quite a substantial amount of information (or misinformation) from them.
There is a particular website, The Temasek Review, is a little like the Taiwanese tabloids. Sometimes, they have excellent pieces but most of the time, they just churn out gossips and stuff like that. They poke fun at the major political party, PAP, most of the time. Although their literary skills are not as compelling as the speech written by Obama's office, I do gain quite a substantial amount of information (or misinformation) from them. I have never been very interested in Singapore's political arena because I think it is just stifling and all based on propaganda. When I was a relief teacher in a Primary School, it made me realise how the government is trying so hard to brainwash kids nowadays. Most of the Civic and Moral topics are on Nationalism, which is both a good and bad thing, depending on what perspective you look at it. Good because it makes the students understand how fortunate they are to be born in Singapore. We have one of the highest literacy rates in the world and most of us know at least two languages. I am grateful that I received elementary and secondary education locally because it gave me an opportunity to master both English and Chinese fluently. However, when I moved on to JC and looked at the differences between our freedom in speech as compared to other countries, I felt disheartened. Anyways, here is the link to a note that one of my friends from JC wrote. Although a little biased against PAP, the facts are irrefutable. He is an excellent writer since the first day I've met him and he actually convinced me to not vote for PAP. HAHA
Entertainment & Multimedia
This is a video that I took when I was in Okinawa, Japan. It was the dolphin show at the Aquarium Park. I think that my video creating skills have literally diminished because as compared to what I made when I was in JC, this one is really nothing much.
This link to Youtube is for the video I made when I was in JC. I was in a couple of CCAs like Chess Society, Librarians Society and Science Society. Really geeky right? I know. I really love reading a lot so being part of the Librarians Society was quite a fun thing for me. We had to do some promotional stuff for our Society and I was pushed to be part of the 'Library Awareness Week' promotion video. It was really embarrassing but I had a really fun time when I was editting the video. Of course I did not do it alone. There was another member of the IT staff who gave me a lot of guidance. The quality of the video resolution is relatively low but it is cute. HAHA http://youtu.be/uQq-ol-GWKQ
Mid-Term Paper
Now is a very stressful period so I'm sharing some comics to reduce stress. As usual, credits to my all-time favourite cartoonist, Bill Amend.
I quite like this one. If only I'm as unique as Jason Fox, I will not have to bother about writing my name on my assignments anymore. Lazy? Yes, I am. HAHA
This is the typical act of the kind saboteur. They pretend to help you but backstab you instead. LOL
Bill Amend is actually an Apple fan - it is evident from the fact that Jason's desktop is called an 'iFruit'. There are also a lot of comics he drew that are related to the iPod. However, in this particular comic, he is poking fun at iPad's inability to support Flash videos.
One of my favourite pieces of work from Bill Amend.
I quite like this one. If only I'm as unique as Jason Fox, I will not have to bother about writing my name on my assignments anymore. Lazy? Yes, I am. HAHA
This is the typical act of the kind saboteur. They pretend to help you but backstab you instead. LOL
Bill Amend is actually an Apple fan - it is evident from the fact that Jason's desktop is called an 'iFruit'. There are also a lot of comics he drew that are related to the iPod. However, in this particular comic, he is poking fun at iPad's inability to support Flash videos.
One of my favourite pieces of work from Bill Amend. Internet Security, I Need You
The topic of my group project focuses on some aspects of online hacking by highlighting the flaws that are mostly avoidable. Therefore, the lectures on security on the Internet were quite important to us and I took quite a lot of notes, especially those stuff concerning worms and viruses. I'm not very tech-savvy because most of the problems that I encounter with my computers (be it my desktop or laptops) are all settled by my techie brother. Therefore, it is an understatement to say that I know nuts about protecting my computers against the vulnerabilities that the Internet (or rather, the hackers) presents. However, I try to be as careful as I am because I am very scared that I will lose all my fortune due to my carelessness. For instance, before I registered for an online banking account, I double-checked multiple times to confirm that the security of online banking services provided by DBS is really reliable and secured. Basically, what my brother told me was that the double-password system of entering the PIN and then the number on the IB token makes the procedure extremely secure. Although I still do not entirely understand the technicality behind this double-password thing, I hope that it is indeed secure or I will be in deep trouble.
Credits to my favourite cartoonist: Bill AmendOne of the funniest things I heard in lecture was about how some people would reply scam emails to scold them. It is not advisable to do so because the sender will probably know that the email account is active and the spam mails will not stop. The most ridiculous thing is that I am one of those people who will reply and tell the senders off. HAHAHA. I have been receiving some scam mails from an organization that claims themselves to be the Canadian Trust. I ignored them initially but I got irritated after the repeated flooding of my mail box and told them to try some better tactics because their scam was such a loser thing since I do not even own a account with said organization. I didn't know that I could filter out unwanted mails at that time so you probably will think that I am the stupidest thing ever alive who can use the computer. I don't blame you for that. I think so too. HAHAHA
Screenshot of the scam mail
Anyways, I subscribe to this channel called 'Howcast' on Youtube and they are a bunch of people who come up with reallygreat and sometimes ridiculous videos. They have videos like 'How To Fold A T-Shirt' and 'How To Break Up With Someone on Valentine's Day'. This video that I am going to share is a little old but I do think that some parts of it are very much relevant, like that password component. It is on 'How To Protect Your Computer From Snoops'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVWfg6je5Ow&feature=fvsr
Common Internet Tools- Google
Yes, I know that Google was mentioned a million times during the lectures on Common Internet Tools but I cannot think of anything else that I am familiar with. I use Google every single day, as long as I switch on my computer and have access to Internet. The Google search engine is my homepage so it is the very first thing that I see whenever I go online. The top right hand corner of my browser is dominated by the Google search engine tool bar - it is plain laziness on my side because I can skip the step of clicking on the 'Home' icon to go to Google, and just type whatever I want to search into the tool bar on top. However, I am not using Google Chrome or Gmail because I am already so used to my Hotmail account and the Internet Explorer browser. I tend to inculcate brand loyalty very easily.
The one thing so cool about Google is that they have this remarkable ability of creating something that looks so simple on the outside - the search engine page is so clean and easy to use. However underneath all that simplicity is a complex concoction of technical ingenuity. Another lovely feature about Google is how they often have very cool logos for special days and occasions. And when you click on those specially designed logos, they bring you search results of what the logos represent for the day. The most recent one was for Robert Bunsen, the German chemist who developed the Bunsen burner for laboratory experiments. All those times when I was doing science experiments, no teacher ever mentioned that the burner was created by Robert Bunsen and I only learn of it from Google, 10 years after I first used that thing. That is another flaw of the local education system.
Google is the teacher outside our classroom and I love it because it is so easy to consult. However, this 'teacher' may not always be the most reliable source of information thus it is up to the 'students' to establish the credibility of what is give to them. A lot of information that we obtain from the Internet, regardless of the search engine we use, are not as credible as we would like them to be (well, Google did create a really superb April Fool joke this year and I look forward to the next one). For instance, although many of us refer to blogs to get more information on the latest electronic gadgets or cosmetics, we can hardly use these sources for our research papers. Neither can we quote from Wikipedia due to the nature of editorship on the website. Yet, these sources are the most common links that Google provide when we search for anything. We can probably look to Google scholars for more reliable information but most of these links are inaccessible unless we pay for the information. Therefore, I was thinking maybe Google should buy rights of scholarly magazines instead of all those other fun things. It will make our researching routes far more easy. =D
The Flawed Concept Of E-Learning In The Local Education System
I remember that the first time I heard of E-learning was when I was in Secondary 1, which is at least 8 years ago. The principal announced that we will be taking a day off so that we can test-drive the new E-learning system. It sounded like a holiday initially, until I got to the E-learning day itself. Every student in the Express stream had 9 subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, Chinese Geography, History, Literature, Social Studies and Art & Music. When every single subject teacher posted just 1 homework each, the holiday was as good as any other normal school day. And when core subject teachers (English, Mathematics and Science) posted more than 1 assignment each, the school day just turned into a living nightmare.
This flawed system continues even till today, as I see my tuition kids struggle the complete the online assignments, as well as the paper assignments that they received from their teachers. I highly agree that consistency is important in the pursuit for knowledge but I think my tuition kids deserve a well-earned break after all the mental labour they had to endure during the entire school term. I deserve a break from all the torment of explaining and clarifying all their doubts for their homework. School holidays should not be homework days. I think that the current Primary School teachers have abused the E-learning system by only uploading homework, instead of using the extremely interactive features that the Internet boasts. The way I see things now, E-learning is just a means of saving paper because the material uploaded are exactly the same as the paper assignments that my tuition kids get. 
There are of course exceptions in this disgustingly flawed system. When I was in Secondary School, my Science teacher used to make crossword puzzles using the scientific terms that we went through in the chapter. If I typed in a wrong answer, pop-up boxes would appear with hints to the correct answers in them. I exceptionally adored the hilarious celebratory dance that would appear when I managed to answer everything correct on the very first try. The crossword puzzles were not only excellent ways to test and revise our understanding of the concepts, they were also very engaging and fun. I enjoyed learning online so much.
There is hardly any point in implementing E-learning if the results generated are going to be the same as a classroom setting. I wish the local teachers will wake up and do something constructive about it. Stop finding excuses and claim that those interesting assignments are too difficult to create because there are so many online resources available to make things easier. All one has to do is to learn how to use them. Is it not a contradiction that these teachers are supposed to help students learn but they themselves reject learning how to use those online resources? I say, stop those ridiculous online assignments and inject a bit more vibrancy, creativity and attitude into the education system!
Making MORE $$$ on the Internet
Most people who know me will also know that I'm learning Korean language now. I started picking up the language in 2009 so it has indeed been quite a while since my K-craze started. I have always wanted to learn another language and was contemplating between Japanese and Korean. Then I settled for learning Korean language because of a really ridiculous reason. I had bought this HUUUGGEEEE load of extremely cute Korean stickers and I realised that I could not understand the little Korean words on the stickers. And yes. I started learning Korean just so that I could understand what my stickers were talking about. LOL! In short, shopping made me learn Korean and learning Korean made me shop more. Why? Because I find this: 
This thing here is called GMarket and it works similarly to Ebay. However, GMarket is dominated by products manufactured in Korea so if there is something you need that is made in Korea and you cannot find it on Ebay, you will probably find it here. They even have GMarket.sg now because they realise that a lot of Singaporeans are buying stuff from them and these foreign consumers are unable to read Korean characters. You can choose English instead of Korean for the website language but the English description is really far inferior to that of the Korean ones. At times like this, I am grateful for my understanding of very basic Korean. I like that the buyer can combine shipping from different sellers because the items are sent to the HQ by the individual sellers and then packaged and sent to the buyers all over the world. It is cooler than Ebay in this aspect. 
Although incredibly successful, there are a few annoying aspects of GMarket.
This thing here is called GMarket and it works similarly to Ebay. However, GMarket is dominated by products manufactured in Korea so if there is something you need that is made in Korea and you cannot find it on Ebay, you will probably find it here. They even have GMarket.sg now because they realise that a lot of Singaporeans are buying stuff from them and these foreign consumers are unable to read Korean characters. You can choose English instead of Korean for the website language but the English description is really far inferior to that of the Korean ones. At times like this, I am grateful for my understanding of very basic Korean. I like that the buyer can combine shipping from different sellers because the items are sent to the HQ by the individual sellers and then packaged and sent to the buyers all over the world. It is cooler than Ebay in this aspect. Although incredibly successful, there are a few annoying aspects of GMarket.- The website does not work well with Firefox. Best on Internet Explorer.
- They accept payment via Paypal and credit cards but the exchange rates for these 2 are ridiculous.
- They sell GMarket points which consumers can purchase and then use these points to pay for their products. It gives the buyer some extra bits here and there, which is the benefit. But it annoys me that I cannot 'sell' the points back.
- Shipping is so expensive and because they go by volumentric measurement as well, it does the buyers no good when the sellers pack every single item in an individual box. Waste of boxes and shipping space! PS: You can find tips on many websites like:
That's all then. Enjoy shopping!
Making $$$ on the Internet
I guess it is no big news that one can make big money on the Internet. Just looking at Facebook and Google, it is not hard to imagine the potential of a virtual world. Many online retailers are also doing exceptionally well, like Amazon and major fashion houses F21 and ASOS. These online retailers provide international shipping thus making it convenient for online shoppers who do not stay in US or UK. However, I did not expect simple blogshops in Singapore to achieve impressive results that estimates to millions in revenue (no, I am not kidding) and a perfect example is Love Bonito. They are so prominent that they were featured on Urban (The Straits Times weekly supplement) alongside other successful blogshops.
Love Bonito started out as BonitoChico and they are a blogshop that sells clothes for girls. The initial concept of the blogshop was to get rid of some of their impulsive buys and this slowly built on to sourcing for clothes in Thailand to sell. Subsequently, they designed and manufactured their own clothes because they wanted to establish a reputable fashion label and maintain the individuality of their clothes. Now, their website is only for selling their own label and they continue designing their own clothes, shoes and bags. Love Bonito is doing so well and even Calvin Klein and Essential are marketing some of their products through their website. They regularly get sponsors from Lo'real as well.
Love Bonito started out as BonitoChico and they are a blogshop that sells clothes for girls. The initial concept of the blogshop was to get rid of some of their impulsive buys and this slowly built on to sourcing for clothes in Thailand to sell. Subsequently, they designed and manufactured their own clothes because they wanted to establish a reputable fashion label and maintain the individuality of their clothes. Now, their website is only for selling their own label and they continue designing their own clothes, shoes and bags. Love Bonito is doing so well and even Calvin Klein and Essential are marketing some of their products through their website. They regularly get sponsors from Lo'real as well. I think that their winning formula is the price and quality of their products. Most of their clothes do not cost more than $40 and they are comparable to major fashion houses like Topshop. Another component will be luck because they are some of the forerunners in Singapore and they have already established a large client base when every other small blogshop is jumping the bandwagon. They have even created a range called COVET which is supposedly the higher end range of their designs.
You can check up their websites here:
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