AN INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Future Beholds!

It is pretty hard to imagine what will the world will be like in the next 5 years. The technology is already improving so rapidly such that we do not know what these new technology is capable of. Just like the Internet, it has evolved and integrated so rapidly that we practically cannot live without it.

I shall discuss some predicted future trends of the Internet today.

Micro-payments will b more prevalent in the near future. Currently, micro-payments can be seen used within MMORPGS (massively mulit-player online role playing games). These systems use credits that are usually a fraction of a dollar to buy and exchange stuff within the game. Interestingly, there are numerous people that earn a living through these systems. Pay Pal is already offering support for micro-payments at a rate of 5% plus $0.05 per transaction. Amazon is also experimenting with micro-payments through its Flexible Payments Service (FPS). Dedicated micro-payment systems are also starting to crop up. Micro-payments in the future may be linked to hand phones where we can pay through it. I believe that this will open up a whole new area of economic interest and opportunities especially in areas where hand phones usage are more prevalent and you can do payments on the go much easily.

Moreover, i think that more and more print media will do an online integration sooner and later. Reason being to tap onto the online audiences and also to save trees. Many magazine come and go with little or no notice. Together with handheld devices have HD capabilities, the quality of magazines online will not be affected. moreover, the portability of our handheld devices have a better edge over printed media. I believe that magazine do go online, they have much more content. They will be able to link content to wikis, blogs, other sources and will be able to add audio files, videos on top of it. These will make magazine more interactive than before. Editors are also able to play with the format of these magazine, be it page flipping, blog-like, etc. Whatever format it is, the cost of printed media will go up but the web remain relatively cheaper and more creative.

Agumented reality will also play a big part of our lives in the near future. With research and testing on going as we speak, it is sooner or later before this technology will be used widely. Take for example in handheld devices, with the camera attached to it, we will be able to identfy places using agumented reality. You may also be able to identify people will pointing your phone at someone and read about his/her details. While many people still see augmented reality as the stuff of science fiction, the truth is that some apps are already available. Layar, a free augmented reality app, is available for both the iPhone and Android-based phones. It uses layers provided by a range of content providers such as Flickr, Wikipedia and Twitter to display an overlay of information on your mobile screen. Other apps will also likely follow.

These are some of the interesting developments that I would like to see it in future. Surely one day we will all be able to experience it!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Do You Youtube?

I will be discussing about Youtube in this post. I am sort of a Youtube fan and i absolutely enjoy the existence of this website. Also. i also believe that this site is very helpful in so many ways that is almost impossible to list them all.

Some background info about Youtube- YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005. Moreover, it was bought by Google in November 2006 for $1.6 billion and now it operates as a subsidary of Google.

Youtube has tide me over the most boring days with countless videos of ranging subjects. I think it is definitely a very good website for people who learn things visually. Let's say you didn't paid attention at all during Stats class today and you have a test 2 days from now. As you are afraid and shy to ask teacher to repeat what she has taught, you decide to go on Youtube to search for videos that teaches you Stats. BAM! Problem solved. Moreover, I also think that Youtube has a very good potential to be a educational channel where many users create their own educational videos with many of their own inputs that make the whole package even more engaging and popular.

As i said before, Youtube has too many uses for me to list down everything. You basically can get your daily fix of jokes, how-to, gaming, entertainment, sports, news clips, advertisements, travel, many many more. I personally subscribed to a few channels for my daily fix of entertainement. What i meant by subscribing is that upon subcribsion to a certain user, I will be alerted of the new videos that the user has posted. In that way, I will not need to keep going back to search for that particular user.

Also, many people has tapped onto Youtube to make money. Partners of Youtube are getting paid in accordance to the number of views that each video garners. Many business has also leech onto famous Youtubers to have product placement in their videos as the reach will go worldwide. Therefore I see Youtube as a very powerful tool for reach and the early adopters of Youtube has indeed had much money out of this system.

I personally feel that Youtube has a very very bright future ahead and that it will just get bigger in size and as well as popularity. As I always says, Youtube is like a blackhole, it just leads you on from one video to another and by the time you realised that you have been wasting too much time on it, its already too late for regret.

Some interesting figures and facts about Youtube! Check it out!!

Monday, April 4, 2011

The New Age of Journalism

The Internet has revolutionized much of the world. Journalism is also being evolved into many different forms. Tradition print such as those of magazines and newspapers are being threaten due to the existence of online news websites. Participatory journalism, citizen journalism and many others form of it has risen thanks to the internet.

Now, anybody is able to create a blog and report on news. However, the big question is- will the content be bias or false? Newspapers such as Straits Times have an online edition of their newspapers, however, these news are still controlled by editors and censors. They are usually news that have already happened. Websites such as Stomp, make use of the public to harvest news. Everyday citizens are able to record a video or take a picture and sent it to Stomp. This will thus become the latest news that full-time journalist may not be there at the moment to capture and report on it.

Nowadays, big media companies also harvest on these small blogs to run their stories. They may pick up a lead of a story on someone's blog and thus be able to go ahead and find out more due to more resources on hand. Communal news that directly affects certain communities or neighbours have been very beneficial to specified target groups as they will be get the news efficiently.

Moreover, many news stations have set up Twitter accounts and have many followers. This will allow them to broadcast pressing news as it happens to the followers. Not only is it real time, accessibilty is also easy.

Mainstream media no longer control the news flow. They were previously gatekeepers of news. Although the Internet is full of hundreds of thousands of blogs, the most successful blogs rise to the top by keeping high standards of journalism. Objectivity remains a crucial value for journalists and the best bloggers know this New media isn’t forcing journalism to die, but simply adapt.

In summary, technology has improved the processes of identifying stories that are newsworthy. Feeds from social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter provide a snapshot of events happening around the world from the viewpoint of first-hand witnesses, and blogs and citizen news sources offer analytical perspectives from the ground faster than print or television can provide.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Merdeka Singapura!

You may ask, are born apathetic? Are we concerned about what is going to happen in 20 years? Is PAP still going to be the main ruling party? Do our youths really care about their future?

Singapore has came a long way from a small fishing island to a metropolitan city. Due to the economic and social stability that is present nowadays, we have became apathetic.

Yes, it is true that we are taken care of by the government. Our parents have been constantly reminding us to study hard, get a degree, find a stable and high paying job and never get into politics. It is not so hard to understand why. Our founding fathers have fought hard to bring up Singapore to what it is now. Politicians such as Lee Kuan Yew dedicated their whole life in service to our country and it wasn't an easy one. Therefore our parents doesn't want us to step out of our comfort zone to pursue the life of a public figure.<\p>

Many people think that their voices will not be heard in country building. As compared to politicians who have countless years in nation building, people may think that how can they ever debate about the country's future with them.

Political correctness also has made youths of today much more fearful of expressing and opening up in public. many presumed that they must have an education in politics before they are able to grasp the guidelines to make politically correct statements. This is one of the deterrence that many faced.

Another reason is that Singaporeans live a very sheltered and comfortable life. This make them oblivious to the perils that Singapore may face in the future. This affluence made Singaporeans ignorant to the pressing issues and made many others materialistic. This shows how shallow our society is and that we lack of the maturity in national spirit.

It is therefore important to break the cycle of apathy. Students nowadays have myopic view of their future. They only pursue what is beneficial and valuable to them and they value the freedom that they have. not having to worry about money, politics, foreign affairs, etc. This selfishness must therefore be eliminated. As we progresses to working adults, the government policies may affect our livelihood and the amount of money we are able to take home. If we do not question our government's action to build a sustainable future, it might be all too late for any change to happen.

If we were to continue to be apathetic, we may become helpless working adults trying to instill the idea of being interested in Singapore to our kids. Our kids will enter the vicious cycle of self-centeredness that we are going through right now. This will lead to the next generation being not able to lead our country forward onto the next phase not because of the lack of knowledge but the apathy that is present.

It is important that we try to break this cycle of apathy now. We should think about our future as it many not be always smooth sailing like of the present. Afterall, it will affect us sooner or later. Make a change!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Quirky Multimedia!

Multimedia is a very fun part of the Internet. Multimedia has infiltrated into many parts of our life. It is pretty prevalent in areas such as advertising, education, engineering, journalism, etc. today, i'm forcusing on Multimedia Marketing and shall explore a few companies as of below.

Sour Sally

Sour Sally is a US premium non-fat yogurt that can be match with a range of toppings of your choice. Having flavors of original or green tea, they have since expanded into asia. There is one that is recently opened in Wisma Atria.

Their website has proved to be a very interesting one. Upon entering, you are able to control a character called 'Sour Sally'. By using your cursor, you are able to move her around to explore different objects. Using the mouse, you are also able to move around to explore different 'links' in this interactive page. Nicely branded, it has a good appeal for the ladies and easy to use.

Link: www.hellosoursally.com

The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter (Universal Studios Orlando)

This website promotes the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando. Starting off with an introductional video clip, it leads into a 3d map of the different places in the themepark. Using your mouse to roll over and click, it will lead you to the desired places to check out the street view and the rides that are available (similar to Google Streetview). Having a very nicely crafted theme and layout, it sets you into the mood of Harry Potter and the ease of access together with the interactivity proves that it is easy to use.

Link: www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

Saab

This is my favourite. This website make use of video clips instead of animations to do the talking. Having a very clean layout together with interactivity where users are able to click, drag to explore, it is definitely a winner to me. The marketing strategy used it fairly simple but its meaning is profound. I shall let the website do the talking. DO CHECK IT OUT!

Link: http://changeperspective.saab.com/global/en/

There is a new type of advertising which i recently take noticed of. This is called Guerilla Multimedia Marketing Campaigns.

Some interesting examples!

Absolut Vodka

Unicef

Volkswagen

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Hey There, Beware!

In a recent newsarticle, a Singaporean hacker was charged for posting a fake bomb threat on technology website in July 2005. Futhermore, his charges still include 60 counts of illegally accessing a wireless network.

Lin Zhenghuang, 21, was charged with warning of a bomb at a local bus stop - just after the London subways and bus bombings. Other site users reported Lin's post to authorities, according to an Associated Press report. Lin goes by the name of krisurf to do his misdeeds. He also faces 60 charges of illegally accessing 9 wireless network between July 2005 and Feburary 2006. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 3 years in prison. This means that he may face up to 180 years in jail.

A similar case is that of Garyl Tan Jia Luo, 17, was alsocharged with accessing the web by tapping into an unknown person's internet connection in November of last year. A neighbor told authorities that Tan had accessed his web connection in May 2006.

Through this cases, we can see that there are many people are helping themselves to unlocked wireless connections and can be also viewed it trespassing of property. Though many users still disregard the severity of this issue, it is still better to take precautions.

Else where in the world, hackers hack into the electronic signs in Denver and displayed messages such as "ZOMBIES AHEAD". There are instructions for changing the electronic signs on the Internet which explain what the default passwords for the signs are and explains how to reset the password if it has been changed. The control boxes for the orange signs are usually locked, but apparently some of the control boxes aren't.

in Houston, a similar case also surfaced. A person admits to hacking the detour sign and displayed messages like "POOP" and ":) LOL".

These real life cases thus show how real the threat is. You wouldn't leave your back door or your front door open and similary, you shouldn't leave your connections or computers open to hackers out there.

BEWARE!

Monday, March 7, 2011

MUAHAHAHA

Some lame stuff i was playing around with using Windows Movie Maker

Here is the Final Product!

(don't kill me, my dear friends!)