Reflections

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 10:27 AM | Posted by jkzlin
No, no, I will not be talking about the song Reflections sung by Christina Aguilera.

I will, however, be talking about the reflections from this assignment.

I personally have a personal blog of my own which serves as a portal for me to vent out my frustrations, pen down my thoughts and opinions about certain issues, and also to post about the events and activities I have attended.

The blogging experience from this assignment differs largely with the one I have gained from my personal blog.

Shriver (1997) states that text and images compliment each other in a document, where both coexists together to convey a message to the audience and to enhance the clarity and understanding of a message to the audience.

I have learned that you can not write the same way in blogs as you do in reports and other assignments. In blogging, it is important to make your post as interesting as possible, so as to attract readers and to keep them reading.

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Canon Helps Students

Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 10:08 PM | Posted by jkzlin
Summary of the article, taken from Star Online, dated 13th November 2009:

One of Malaysia's largest camera manufacturer, Canon Malaysia has decided to work with the Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology over the next three years to help its students improve their photography skills.

The deal, which was inked recently, is expected to benefit the more than 9,000 students at the Cyberjaya campus. According to Canon Malaysia assistant director, Simon Wong, the deal would include a series of seminars, workshops, exhibitions, and contests, as well as provide technical support to the students.

Not only that, students would also have the chance to interact with various photography experts who will share their knowledge and experiences at the seminars and workshops.

As a student, I feel that Canon is doing a tremendous favor by providing this deal to the students. As a student studying in Taylor's College, I am envious of Lim Kok Wing.

Since Taylor's College has opened a new designing school, which involves photography as well, I feel that Canon should provide this deal to other colleges and universities as well. "We want to help create more photography professionals in the country so that the nation can be richer in artistic and creative works", said Simon Wong. So wouldn't it be better for them to extend this deal to other institutions as well?

Maybe in the future they might. One institution at a time, I guess.

References:
  1. Canon To Arm Students With Photo Skills, online, retrieved on 13 November 2009, from http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2009/11/13/technology/20091113095202&sec=technology

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Choose Local IT Solutions

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 9:39 PM | Posted by jkzlin
Summary of the article from Star Online, dated 6th November 2009:

Goverment agencies were told that they will soon be required to use local software and solutions whenever possible. This move is to give the Malaysian ICT (Informations and Communication Technology) companies a chance to flourish in the local market and strengthen their products before pushing it into the global markets.

Our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that a circular would soon be sent out, informing all government institutions to give preference to local software and solutions.

The Prime Minister also called on the agencies to make more use of electronic media such as emails, SMS (Short Message Service), and social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to maintain contact with the public. For example, public service announcements and warnings could be sent to the public via SMS.


The reaction to this were generally positive, and I do agree that we should provide an opportunity for our local IT companies to grow and move on to the global standard.

Speaking from a student's point of view, it would be interesting to use a software that is locally designed. However, due to assignment constrains, international softwares such as Adobe Photoshop, and Dreamweaver are still considered to be more dependable.

I do agree that this circular should begin with government agencies first, and when it is more stable and fully approved by the public, then it should be passed on to the other institutions such as high schools, colleges and universities.

As good as this will be for the country, this act might give the wrong impression to other countries, saying that Malaysia is intending to opt for protectionism. When this problem arises, I personally feel that the government should make an announcement to those countries explaining the real intention for this circular. That we do not intend to cut out softwares from other countries, but simply just giving our local IT industry a chance to grow globally.

References:
  1. Steven Patrick, 2009, Choose Local IT Solutions, Govt Agencies Told, online, retrieved on 9 November 2009, from http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2009/11/9/technology/20091109170333&sec=technology

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Webisodes for Kids?

Friday, November 6, 2009 at 8:17 PM | Posted by jkzlin

What are webisodes?
As defined by itvdictionary.com, webisodes are short episodes of programming that is webcasted.

Other points to further define a webisode:
  • A new form of media called the web television
  • May be a preview of advertisements
  • May also include parts of established dramas and series
Most webisodes are within the time frame of 2 to 3 minutes. According to Chris Corbet, writer/producer of TinyTown, a webisode for kids, there's something about 5 minutes that seems too long for a webisode. Audiences tend to get distracted with other things on the computer if the webisode is too long.

Considering the boom in technology, webisodes may very well be the next television for kids. Guthrie (2007) said that the potential is appealing because more than 85% of US households are connected to the internet via broadband. And these numbers are bound to increase in the years to come.

However, some webisodes are not suitable for kids, such as Happy Tree Friends that feature cute soft-toy look-a-like characters committing gruesome acts to one another.

Parents should be aware of the kind of webisodes available for their kids, to ensure that they are watching the proper content for their age.

References:
  1. Guthrie, M, 2007, What's a Webisode Worth? online, retrieved on 6 November 2009, from http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/111311-What_s_a_Webisode_Worth_.php
  2. Definition of Webisodes, online, retrieved on 6 November 2009, from http://www.itvdictionary.com/definitions/webisode_definition.html

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Facebook Makeover Leaves Some Devotees Fuming

Friday, October 23, 2009 at 8:35 PM | Posted by jkzlin

I shall start with the brief history of Facebook:

In the beginning, it was Harvard and only Harvard. Mark Zuckenberg created Facebook, which was then known as thefacebook.com to get to know the other students at Harvard back in 2004.

Facebook grew so tremendously that it was soon opened to other colleges as well. By the end of 2004, it was also opened to high schools, and later on, to the general internet public, as long as you were 13 and older.

Overtime, Facebook grew by adding more features such as news feed, more privacy features, Facebook notes, the ability to add images to your page/blog and comments, importing other blogs into Facebook, instant messaging and much, much more.

Recently, Facebook has decided to give themselves a new look. A makeover, so to speak. This, was not accepted well with some of the devotees of Facebook even if it was done with good intentions.

Vice President of Facebook's Marketing said that one of the purposes to the changes made is to ensure that it is easier for people to push and pull information in the form of bite-size content rather than quickly.

Various groups and fan pages were created to oppose this change. I personally joined a group opposing this change, because I felt that the old Facebook layout was good enough, and that the new one, along with all it's new features might cause the page to load even slower than it already is.

But they went ahead and implemented the new changes with some of the viewpoints from the devotees taken into consideration. In my opinion, the new Facebook looks even better than the old one. Either that, or I have just gotten used to it. Either way, I feel that they made the right choice by going ahead with the makeover.

References:
  1. Linda Roender, Where Did Facebook Come From?, online, retrieved on 23 October 2009 from http://personalweb.about.com/od/makefriendsonfacebook/a/whatisfacebook_5.htm
  2. Facebook Makeover Leaves Devotees Fuming, online, retrieved on 23 October 2009, from http://www.australiananit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24328928-15318,00.html

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New Forms of Media Publishing?

Friday, October 16, 2009 at 11:56 AM | Posted by jkzlin
New media are emerging and vastly expanding in the World Wide Web era. While it may be good that media are now evolving, conventional media are faced with the possibility of becoming extinct.

Social networks such as YouTube, Facebook, Blogger and Twitter have the potential to fully replace papered journals and diaries. However, there are readers who still prefer to read and interact the conventional way. Naughton (2006) states that traditional media are considered to be the push media, whilst the web is the pull media, which further proves the supremacy of the new media.


Naughton (2006) also agrees that the newest trend in the blogosphere is the combination of digital convergence, personal computing and global networking such as Twitter and Facebook is increasing the pace of development and is giving fundamental shifts in the World Wide Web environment.

With this said, it may be possible for the existing media, be it conventional journalism or blogging to co-exists with the new media to come.

References:
  1. Naughton, J, 2006, Blogging And The Emerging Media Ecosystem, online, retrieved on 16 October 2009, from http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf

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Designing: Online vs Print

Friday, October 9, 2009 at 11:30 AM | Posted by jkzlin
How a reader reads and interprets a document differs from the print and online documents.

For example, according to Nielson (1997), reading from computer screens is 25% slower than reading from paper. Therefore, different design principles have to be applied to both documents.
The Star online article

The Star printed newspaper


There are a few designing principles that a writer/designer should follow when creating a document:

Balance – balance should be maintained between the amount of text and images in a document

Sequence – Jakob Nielson (1997) states that readers generally scan the pages online. Therefore, the sequence of the images and text is very important. The same can be applied with the printed document.

Consistency – Indentations, margins and typeface should be consistent in both documents so as to avoid it looking messy and unorganized.

The movement of the eyes play a large role in designing a good document. Nielson (2006) explained these movements with the F-shaped pattern theory for reading online content.

With these points taken into consideration, designers and even YOU will be able to design a good online and print document.

References:
  1. Nielson, J. 2006, F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content, online, retrieved on 9 October 2009, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html
  2. Nielson, J. 1999, Print Design vs Web Design, online, retrieved on 9 October 2009, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html
  3. Nielson, J. 1997, Reading On The Web, online, retrieved on 9 October 2009, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

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