Mama, Internet Killed Journalism

Will you?

Dramatics aside, let me reassure you that journalism isn’t dead, it’s merely changing. In the wise words of Heraclitus, change is the only constant. With the rise of technology, it is plain foolishness to assume that journalism will remain stagnant. However, it is safe to say that journalism has changed to evolve with the times, whether it is for the better or for the worst, it is up to you to decide.

The advent of the Internet caused a significant change, the common notion is that everyone can be journalists now. And this understandably enough is cause for concern, for several reasons. The first of which would be credibility; any Tom, Dick or Harry can now churn out a few paragraphs and claim to be an expert in the topic. This thus leads to our second issue of reliability, how do we evaluate the trustworthiness of the source? Old-timers will say that these are crucial issues, as innocents in the quest for knowledge may be fooled by unreliable sources, however I think this is a moot point in this time and age. While it is certainly a point to be taken note of, most consumers of information these days should be inherently wary of fishy looking sources such as home-made websites or uncertified blogs.

With that said, one should not discount the importance of experience and knowledge. It would thus be ideal if individuals from the old guard are able to employ the Internet such that their knowledge would be able to reach a wider audience. In the words of the immortal Bob Dylan, times are a changin, and in order to succeed, we will need to change too.

Sometimes the little guy has more courage or capability to voice out his opinion.

We have seen the downsides of Journalism and the Internet, now it’s time to look at the upsides of it. The Internet is a medium that can be said to be a democracy, one that answers to no one. While this may appear to be dangerous and detrimental to some, it can also be said that it allows for greater freedom of speech. The Western culture prides themselves on their freedom of speech, however these days their press may very well be controlled not by the government but by the corporations who run it. Looking a little closer to home, Singapore is a good example of a country where individuals can use the Internet as a platform for their words. With a strictly controlled state-run media, the population will thus naturally look to the Internet for alternative opinions. The Temasek Review is an example of a site that supposedly acts as an “independent, balanced and unbiased” coverage of politics, but honestly enough to me, they appear distinctively anti-PAP with minimal balanced opinions. The point however is that the Internet allows for the ‘little people’ to speak up and get their stand heard by millions, something that would had been impossible in previous decades where print media is primarily owned by corporations.

The iceberg this time is the Internet.

With all that said, it is true that the face of journalism will never be the same again. Definitions will need to change, mindsets will need to be adapted. Print media will merely have to learn how to share the spotlight with Internet media, and figure out ways to work side by side. Established newspapers and magazines who have created websites are examples of such a partnership. This is a classic case of “if you can’t beat them, join them.” The Internet is the future, with any luck, journalism will be there standing proudly aside it.

Politics, Say Whut?

Politics was once the mainstay of adults, a conversational topic that arouses heated debates, but only among the elders who actually take the time to discover and read about the issues and candidates in question. Such information could mainly be found in newspapers, something that has never been a favourite of young adults and youths. However with the advent of the Internet, the medium in which information travels is vastly changed. Youths are more exposed to politics, be it through posts seen on FB, news seen on the Yahoo/MSN website, or even through following the country’s primary newspaper source on Twitter aka @stcom.

The significant aspect of this change in medium is that it is by far easier to connect with the youths, as seen in the recent GE2011. This may be my personal opinion, and it may not be reflected in a way that is significant in the bigger picture, but I’ve never seen youths and young adults investing so much time and interest in reading and researching the various aspects of the elections. My FB timeline was flooded with links, memos, and statuses as the election campaign progressed. Oftentimes the comments on a FB status can spiral into a heated conversation as people defended their chosen party.

An interesting example of an article that went viral among the Singapore FB network is one that compared electing a party to choosing a maid agency. The comparisons are extremely apt and the story summarises some concerns about the ‘maid from Profits Agency Pte (PAP)’, bringing it closer to the peoples’ heart.

“When she first came to work for me, I instructed her to clean the different parts of the house at least once a week. But for some time she has stopped taking care of the bedrooms of PP and H; they are now dirty and messy. I asked why and she told me that the kids had been disobedient, so she was neglecting their bedrooms as a punishment. (she has forgotten that she is paid to clean all the rooms).”

The extract is a jibe at the PAP’s well-known neglect of areas run by the opposition, namely Potong Pasir and Hougang. The article raises other issues that would intrigue those who were not aware and incite nods of agreement from those who were.

The catchphrase that launched him to fame, success and notoriety (Okay, not really).

In addition, Twitter was constantly buzzing as people debated passionately about whether Tin Pei Lin or Nicole Seah was better. On the night of the elections as everyone watched the television with bated breath, my Twitter timeline was moving so quickly I could barely keep up. Everyone was tweeting and retweeting everything they knew. As a result, Twitter users knew the results two hours before it finally appeared on television, voiced by the delightfully monotonous Yam Ah Mee. Yam Ah Mee in fact can be said to be the breakout star of the elections, as everyone was captivated by the sheer fact that anyone can talk like this. He inspired a FB fanpage, remixes, and even went on to participate in a NDP Flash Mob and in a Circle Line musical. I digress, but isn’t it amazing what a country of intrigued youths can instigate?

Crowd at a Worker Party rally of GE2011.

Even though the furor faded off after the elections, and naysayers said that these youths are merely ‘all talk and no action’ as they say in colloquial terms, however the very fact that there was the talk and the buzz is telling in itself. And it is not true that there was no action on the part of youths, many in fact attended rallies, signed petitions and shared information, which can all be considered factors when it comes to political participation.

#irony

My point is that the internet has thus changed the face of politics for everyone. The ruling government has minimal control over the Internet, as compared to the extent of control over the state-run media. Youths are thus more inclined towards trusting a medium that is not under the control of the government. With that said, do not think that all youths are automatically against the government. Contrary to popular belief and disdain from the older generations, the majority of youths do consider all the issues involved, they do not blindly support the opposition based on unfounded ideals of revolution and radical notions. There is balance and logic when it comes to supporting their chosen parties.

With all that said, my example is merely focusing on that of the recent elections, and it is a highly opinionated viewpoint. The frenzy has faded, everyone has moved on with their lives, but the memory of that amazing period remains, when the country’s youths were all intrigued by politics, and it spells hope for the future of Singapore.

The Advertisement Your Advertisement Should Be Like

There are ads you see, there are ads you remember. And then there are ads you replay at least 10 times before you decide that you should stop the silliness. It is hard to explain what exactly captures the imagination and interest of consumers, but here is an example of one that clearly works.

Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.

The video went viral, hitting 23 million views after 36 hours. And after watching it, it does not seem so strange but actually predictable. It is catchy, the jingle at the end stays in your head. Isaiah Mustafa’s (aka the Old Spice Guy) acting and delivery is impeccable. It is funny, the last line gets me every single time. “I’m on a horse.” If you have the time, you should have a look at the rest of the Old Spice commercials, they are equally hilarious. It sparked off a maelstrom of parodies and imitations, which is a positive thing, because as we all know, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And in the world of advertising, there’s (generally) no such thing as bad publicity.

Here’s a video from The Sun, a UK tabloid newspaper, paying tribute to the Old Spice advertisement. One can certainly say that their ad is more for the boys.

So what is it about the Old Spice advertisement that entrances us and causes us to injure our replay button? Well, it is in the form of a video, which is always an excellent form of advertisement. Posters and pictures are all well and good, but a 30 second clip can speak a great deal more.

Here are some other examples of catchy and memorable videos:

Carlsberg Biker Ad

Challenging social bias, creating humour AND promoting their product, I’d say that Carlsberg did a good job.

Heineken Walk-In Fridge Ad

Every man and woman’s dream.

Volkswagen ‘The Force’ Ad

Appealing to the childhood love of Star Wars that resides deep within many, tugging at the heart strings and hopefully loosening the purse strings.

In conclusion, I personally believe that videos are the best form of multimedia by which to convey an effective message at a lesser cost. These are some of my favourite advertisements, I hope you guys enjoyed watching them. Till next time!

An Apple A Day

No, not this kind.

An apple a day keeps the doctor viruses away?

Yes, this one.

There has always been a common train of thought that Apple computers are impervious to viruses, and as a result, anti-viruses are not required. This is of particular concern to many of us who use MacBooks for both our work and play. I’m sure many of you will feel handicapped if your MacBook was to suddenly black out on you, I know I would. So with this question in mind, I embarked on a journey to discover if Macs really are immune to viruses.

As you can see, I'm not the only one wondering.

Well, let’s examine the situation at hand. Why exactly are there practically zero viruses targeted at Macs whereas there are an abundance of viruses targeted at Windows? Well there are several theories out there to explain this particular situation which Mac users are certainly not complaining about.

The pie chart does not lie.

The first reason would be that while Mac is gaining popularity, the percentage of users are still in the minority. The effort required to create a virus that would only affect a very small percentage of computers is simply not worth it. With that said, there has been occurences of viruses targeted at Mac, an example of which would be Leap-A. It was a trojan disguised as an image that infected files and spread through iChat. And guess what, it infected a total of 49 Macs. While some thought that this would open the floodgates for Mac viruses, they were evidently wrong.

Poor Mac OS, outcasted from the virus club.

Secondly, it may be attributed to the fact that Mac OS X is build on UNIX, which is simply a multi-user system with a security architecture whereas Windows originated from a single user system with multi-user capability and security built in later. In addition, areas where Window viruses usually locate themselves (root, local setting folders and registry entries) are not accessible on a Mac, thus limiting the locations a virus creator may wish to manipulate.

That's what they said.

When all has been said and done, the choice of installing an anti-virus on your Mac is still completely up to you. Macs are not completely immune to viruses, there are just practically zero viruses out there at the moment. Whether this will remain constant in the future, it is hard to tell. As you can see from the image above, the Apple people themselves acknowledge the fact that no system can be 100% immune from every threat. With that said, here are two suggestions of free Mac anti-virus programs which you can try out if you wish. I have not personally tried any of it, but these are just suggestions garnered from discussions and reviews from other Mac users.

iAntiVirus

ClamXav

Well I’m done here, and I hope this post has been informative and not boredom inducing! Feel free to leave me a comment if you tried out the programs, if you have any others to recommend, or if you simply want to tell me anything. See you next time!

References:

http://macamour.com/blog/2009/07/02/why-there-are-no-viruses-for-os-x/

http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8&qpcustomd=0

http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/5-mac-antivirus-tools-for-os-x-and-do-we-need-them/

http://www.macworld.com/article/135900/2008/10/antivirus.html

http://www.macworld.com/article/49459/2006/02/leapafaq.html

Modern Family and the Internet

The task for this week was to have fun with video applications and make one of our own! Despite the early tediousness, I found it to be a refreshingly interesting task and I’m looking forward to doing more in the future. So let’s skip the talk and get to the main event! Modern Family is an engagingly humourous show that everyone should watch! The quality may not be that awesome but I would like to think that the content more than makes up for it. ^^

I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it! Here’s the FB link http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150508502966217 for it, like it or leave me your comments either at the video or below. Have a good day! (;

A Second Life of Learning

Ever since the meteoric rise of the Internet, the concept of a digital classroom has been the main object of speculation. How would this rising force shape or change the future of education as we know it? Up to this point, many local schools have ventured into forays with e-learning, however there has never been any consistent use of it.

Kids these days.

The world is evolving at a rapid pace, but educators still find it difficult to step away from the tried and tested method of traditional classroom teaching. However the students themselves are becoming more technologically advanced, and sooner or later, education has to adapt to the changing world. Here is one direction in which digital learning may take:

Second Life (SL), a popular virtual world, can be said to be the sole domain of escapists who do not wish to face up to the trials of the real world. However when employed in the right ways, it can be used as a powerful tool to the shape the image of future classrooms.

Joe Sanchez, as seen in the YouTube video you have just (hopefully) watched, is an Assistant Instructor in the University of Texas. He is a strong advocate of employing SL, and other similar virtual worlds, as a way to further the cause of learning. You might think that he is an oddity among educators, however over 300 universities all around the world use SL as a medium to teach. These universities include familiar names such as NYU, Harvard Law and the University of Edinburgh.

A Harvard Law School lecture in Second Life

To put it in a nutshell, educators can create virtual institutions in SL where students can create avatars and attend lessons. Instead of merely speaking about theories and blindly relying on students’ understanding, educators can present it through the usage of virtual building blocks called prims. Sure you may be distracted by people flying and Viking ships docked in mid-air, but the possibilities inherent in a virtual world are endless. History and geography classes can be conducted at the places and at the very time period in question. Physics, chemistry and biology experiments can be conducted without fear of explosions or disasters. Don’t even get me started on the possibilities for architecture students. As far as lessons go, the sky (and your technological expertise) is the limit.

Try organizing a field trip to Greece in reality.

However as wondrous and intriguing an idea it may be, education in SL has its drawbacks too. Purchase of land (also known as an island) in SL requires an initial fee coupled with a monthly subscription fee. Creation of buildings and terrain requires skill and time, aspects not every university or educator may be able to provide. In addition, both educators and students have to be well-versed in the mechanics of SL in order to maximize its educational potential. In other words, taking a step into the world of SL requires consideration and effort invested into making sure that it works.

The sky's the limit, literally.

With all that said, I believe that SL and similar virtual worlds holds great potential and may very well be the next step in the evolution of the Internet. Why, it may very well be the next Facebook, where having an account is the socially accepted norm. I would personally be very interested in attending a course based in SL, just for the experience, novelty, and just in case it does become the next big thing. As Leslie Jarmon, a senior lecturer at the University of Texas, says, “virtual worlds expand our ability to create, extend new knowledge and explore, and we’re only starting to figure out what questions to ask.”

References:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/education/edlife/07innovation.html

http://www.govtech.com/education/Universities-Use-Second-Life-to-Teach.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/apr/06/schools.uk

Money, Money, Money

Always funny, in a rich man’s world.

These are changing times. The saying used to be: “Teach a man to fish, and you would have fed him for a lifetime.” Now it goes more along the lines of “Give a boy a computer, and he can change his world.” (Insert she/her accordingly.) Of course there are minor details such as electricity, internet access and whatnot, but let’s not nitpick now shall we? There are simply so many ways in which to make a name, or at least some money, for yourself on the Internet, and no I’m not just talking about E-Business alone.

Let us look at the various platforms/areas where you can gain notoriety and fame be famous and hopefully make some money out of it.

1. Youtube
Case in Point: Epic Meal Time

"We make your dreams come true, and then we eat them."

A bunch of jokers films a friend stuffing himself with bacon. It becomes an instant hit. They film more episodes revolving around bacon, meat, alcohol, more meat, more bacon and occasional hot girls stuffing themselves with even more bacon. ‘Jackass in the Kitchen’: how can you go wrong? Now they are signed with Revision3, an Internet-based television network, and are rolling out a whole line of merchandise. All this borne from bacon and alcohol.
Lesson learnt: If your idea is retarded(ly awesome) enough, there will be people out there in the web who will love it.

2. Blogosphere
Case in Point: Xiaxue

"Everyone's reading it."

Love her or hate her, if you live in Singapore, you would have probably heard of her. By sheer virtue of penning down her thoughts, she has garnered notoriety, sponsorship deals, multiple blog awards, stints as a columnist and a TV show host, and also the adulation of thousands. You may have mixed feelings about her as an individual (or her pink hair), but it is hard to deny the effort she places into her blog, and the 40,000 unique hits. I’m not ashamed to say that I like reading her blog too. Interesting products, nice photos (who cares if they are photoshopped?) and an entirely nonchalant attitude. (Y)
Lesson learnt: Be yourself, it will get you everywhere.

3. Web comics
Case in Point: Questionable Content

Yes, he made a book out of it.

What is this you may ask? It’s a slice-of-life web comic drawn and written by Jeph Jacques, and it’s awesome. (Nope, no biasness at all.) It started off as a side project, as he felt that there were no good comics about indie rock (which is what his comic is now about) and it was an area he could explore. It is now his bread and butter, with merchandising and advertising being his main source of avenue. The engaging story lines (oh the melodrama), cute anthropomorphized robots (read it to find out) and witty lines make it a good read. While I should mention that very few web artists reach this level, he is an example to prove that nothing is impossible.
Lesson learnt: If something is missing, provide it.

4. Online shops
Case in Point: Love, Bonito (Previously named Bonito Chico)

Pretty clothes by pretty girls. What's not to like?

This area is probably the closest to traditional E-businesses, and this shop is probably the most popularized one. To cut a long story short, a trio of girls initially wanted to sell off their impulsive buys, which eventually lead to them sourcing for clothes in Thailand and wound up with them establishing their own label. Girls (and boys) all over the country have been attempting to replicate this formula, some with success, others not so much.
Lesson learnt: Clothes will change the world (just wait and see).

Do you see a common trend in all that I’ve listed? It all involves interest and passion in what they are doing, which leads to people liking them, and them earning a profit out of it. Which is essentially what most of us are hoping to wind up doing in the future right? We all wish to earn a living by doing something we love. And the Internet has made everything just a little bit less impossible. Sure, it may seem like a long shot, but we never know till we try. Till then, I’m out.