LaST

the last blog entry for EIR:

my thoughts on this module are generally pleasant...
a nice module to take, but not that good with it clashes with FYP...

however, all in all...
it's quite beneficence ...

:)

REporT dRAft 2 rEviEW etc

manage to do finish the part 2 of report and submit it for review....

suppose to do editing of the part 1 & 2 report draft.... didn't

in the end, think I manage to do some bibliography, or is it all?
it's too little to say bah...

after taking back my draft 2, I feel that what is really needed is tons of details for every piece of work as all the information I had and stuffs I had opinion on ....
... it is for the compilation for my portfolio later on...

meaning I do more work in class, I don't have to do so much editing to do out the report part 1 & 2....

wiKi: EThiCs & InTerNet

my feel-lings about using Wiki to virtually collaborate and share your knowledge with others ar?

because it is a grp work, so ....
we chatted on msn and decided on how our thread is going to look like 0.O...

seeing that there's already one thread on definition of online advertising there, we decided to carry on from there.

what I did was just talk all about the things I know and feel about the topic stated there... and out comes all useful and crappy stuffs.

then one of us just combine and post it as one thread. it was quite fun to just say whatever I feel and just consolidate....

as to the meaningfulness of it, I think it is just another way/mode to present the thoughts and feelings as a group.
meaningful as to can group work, talk more.
meaningful as to can give what you know and take in what people think

like: life as a whole is an interaction, isn't it?
different kinds of communication, different people and also different answers...

if I need points and opinions or sometimes even views from people and experts outside...
ya, I will definitely use Wiki for my own diploma research.

in design, like product & industrial design; users are the ones using the end products.
and many times, they are very important to how the design may go...
so it is equally important in some cases that we do interviews, surveys to know and understand more about the end users.

although Wiki is not totally reliable , it sometimes still provides users with info that the user coincidentally need?

y0utuBE cASe sTUdy

we are suppose to discuss as a grp to assume as the CEO...



youtube play the role of entertainment in my life. I go there to search for videos, songs, mvs ...

I also go there to do research for maybe projects and to catch shows or animes that I miss too.

sometimes I also go to youtube to see magnificent drawings of experts, like for example, marker rendering or sometimes even cool airbrushing techniques.



a life without youtube huh...

if using life & death as an analogy : without youtube I might be sick as it's like a habit, a hobby and really, other than television or radio, it is another medium or means for entertainment. so of course, I can live without youtube.



like said earlier on, research can be done in different ways with youtube, much depending on the subject areas and the type of videos each user prefer.

for example, like for design, looking into people teaching how to sketch, render and airbrush etc.

and also taking effective internet research as an example, some can make videos on notes about it making it more interesting and more fun to learn.

p0RTfoLi0 pArT 2 ~ & bEforE CLaSs TeSt 2

today we continue with the portfolio report part 2, which requires us to complete practical 8 & 9 from yesterday.
that of course is to evaluate a website related to my topic from the earlier practicals.

other than that, ya... class test 2, I am suppose to revise lectures 6 - 10 for tomorrow!!!

I can confirm that, compared to lecture 1 - 5 for class test 1, I don't understand a lot more things because as lessons go further, the terms get harder....

haha, or to say, erm... because we did not go through much of the slides and I am too lazy to go through it myself???

but never mind, I will go through it before the test for sure... if not ... ... ...

P0RtfoLi0 pArt 2 * dREaM h0LiDAy XD

ohhhh...
starting portfolio report part 2, yes, that is evaluating a website that I have done research on in the earlier practicals. it is very tedious because there is many criteria to it.
when evaluating a website, I will have to learn it step by step, by completing the purpose, the coverage, authority, accuracy, currency, accessibility, presentation & arrangement, usability to overall quality.
Huuu... see, that's why I say I must take it step by step....

next on is dream holiday!!!
actually, to be honest, I have quite a few places I want to go for traveling.
-JAPAN
-HONG KONG
-TAIWAN
( arranged according to cost & communication barrier...)
but actually, I just want to go sit plane, ahhhhhh !!!

too bad huh, dream holiday only (though I have always been dreaming about holiday overseas)

I HAVE DECIDED TO GO FOR TAIWAN!
-due to its food
-no language barrier
-fashion
-and my cousin is studying there ( can tell him to bring me around :D )

after searching for multimedia websites for tourism/ travel related, it suddenly struck me that Taiwan have an official website for tourism : http://www.welcome2taiwan.net/cht/default.aspx ( you can choose to view it in English/Chinese)



Okay... I am also suppose to evaluate this website according to the criteria. and the criteria that I have chosen are mainly coverage, authority, accuracy, currency, presentation & arrangement, usability. that is quite a lot, because I think that it is my important dream holiday!

so, coverage is important because it is some place I have never gone before: I must understand so as to not waste time there.
authority & accuracy are definitely important as it shows the reliability and truthfulness, if not I might be confused about it after reaching there.
currency acts the same way as the 2 factors before, it must be updated to show users the latest information.
the website also have to be in working condition.
the presentation & arrangement affects a lot on the users' decision on whether to go for the trip or not.

eVaLUaTions

http://www.talkingcock.com/
just by looking at this URL, many people will have many ideas of this website. however, today, i am suppose to evaluate it using the criterias.

i have found the following on the website -
proving the purpose (which is more of entertainment with news and info):

'Founded in August 2000 as a forum for friends to share jokes with each other.'
'TalkingCock is committed to preserving and advancing the authentic voice of Singaporeans.'
'Singapore's premier satirical humour website!'
'TalkingCock.com aims to provide you with stories and features that are always tongue-in-cheek, sometimes foot-in-mouth, and most of the time, finger-in-nose.'
'Exercise free speech - keep TalkingCock!'

Coverage: I think there is no as to how detailed this website can get, as it is like a forum. The website will be mainly on making fun and more about Singaporeans and discussions of their actions.
Authority: I think that a discussion forum on like Singaporeans’ action does not need to be qualified as many and almost all are comments.
Currency: not that applicable because a discussion forum is dependable on the number of people who visit the website and forum. However, the rest are copyrighted from 2000-2003.

accessibility:
well… from the homepage, anyone can enter if they accept how the forum or website is going to be. A registration is required if the user want to get more involved with the forum. Other than that, anyone can read the information posted.
presentation:
the homepage is very eye-catching as the whole page is red. The presentation wise after entering the forum is organized and arranged, but the fun thing is there will be some fun and interesting logos around.
Making comparison with others:
comparing it to other discussion forum or website, I think people will find it more fun, refreshing. No matter if you are a Singaporean. But, the possibility is mainly Singaporeans as foreigners won’t understand so much of Singlish.

all and all, the overall quality is good when finding Singapore's culture and their honest opinions of jokes on Singapore & Sinagporeans. i will recommend to those will can accept those HONESTY! :P

If i were....
A Foreigner working / studying in Singapore

i will think that this website is very interesting on jokes about Singaporeans themselves. i will also help me understand better how to SURVIVE in Singapore. understanding the Singlish, the culture and more. and after i understand, i will visit the forum more often and particpate in them. very interactive too.

i used quite a few criterias to evaluate, like purpose, accessiblity, presentation and comparison. as to why i chose those is because i find them relevant to my evaulation as the rest of the criterias are not applicable to this website.

today's activity is fun as the talkingcock.com, is a lot of comments and like new facts and 'rubbish' there. i learn quite a lot of new things. a place to relax and laugh off! :D

iNVisiBLe >>> VIsiBLe

1. search engine

2. meta search engine

3. subject directory

comparing the above 3 with databases - the INVISBLE web...

truthfully, i really cannot bring myself to bring like database 100%. i personally think that database is suitable for some categories of topics only. The others for example search engine can search for other things like images, songs etc.

i most probably won't use database for my own diploma research because i find it too boring, and search engines although around the same functions, seem more easy and more user-friendly. regarding databases, it might only use it when the it is a requirement for researching. however, i know that there may be times where really indepth info can be found there, it's just that it's not the topics i'm researching on.

we also did tutorial worksheet 1 & 2, which we go to OLE discussion forum to post our views on the topic posted there. i feel that it is quite interactive, although it is only within the class it self, there is still similar and different views. in that way we also get to understand other point of views. of course i can express my views freely, but like any other, freely doesn't mean unrelated stuffs and bad words etc.

this experience is different as in i don't have present my views and ideas in front of the whole class. and also, online discussion forum has an advantage because you can do this anywhere with many people as long as they have internet & computers around them. unlike face to face, literally everyone must be present at the same place , same time.

this e-learning activity is slightly meaningful as like what i had said earlier on, we get to know people's views without inconvenience and also anybody who go to discussion forum can post their comment and thoughts. however, a disadvantage is anyone can post anything they like, no restrictions. so that is why it is only slightly meaningful. (though it works differently for everyone.)

PUBLISHED! :D

reViSe. REvisE. & +++++ rEVise times infinity~ ^^?

a day like normal, a day i slack, a day i worry & A DAY BEFORE THE CLASS TEST 1....
(*note... there's still class test 2?!)
unlike my title, i revise a bit nia, i not that siao... i think, but i think i am very kan chiong one...
well...in class, going through slides, all the way from lectures 1 - 5.
lecture 6 was not go through 2dae, as tomorrow is the test and it's not included.
so..."that's all, folks!" haha, ( is that infringement???)

...slowly, bit by bit, going back to my revision???

mETa & sUBjEct

the 2nd time to compare 2 search facilties - this time, it is between meta search engine and subject directory. i think it's my first time trying both, (ya... even if i had before, i might have forgotten...)
choosing between a list of meta search engine & subject directory, i chose Kartoo & Yahoo! subject directory. using the same phrase that i had use for the earlier one.

I would say that I will prefer the meta search engine due to it’s creativity of the website. However, if I were to talk about the effectiveness of both, the subject directory is easier to work with while the meta search engine gives off more information to the user. They both provide websites to the search and the currency of each result is not arranged according to date and some of them are not so up to date too. There is no speed of search shown for the meta search engine and the number of results displayed on each page is different. For meta search engine, it has 14 results per page while subject directory has 10 results per page. They are also same that they show the number of results at each page.

after using different search facilities, i found out that there is other very nice, user-friendly and even others that are too boring. although i may not be using all the types i have learned, it is quite interesting that i have also find out about a visual meta search engine. i like it a lot because it's super interactive! (oh.. did i mention it's kartoo...)

i also did a site feed on my this current blog, linking to 2 or more of my friends or useful link related to my research topic. well... how i feel about using site feeds; actually i didn't know that blog links and other links on the blog are called site feeds. er, i always thought they are called links...
saying so, i have definitely create links before, so i feel that it's good and fun to link here and there. having a personal blog and links to wherever i want, so too fantastic right? :P
and of course i will continue to use it in the future, it's an escape from reality OR NOT....

??? ??? ???

pRActicAL 3 - acTIVIty 4

did a Google & Google scholar research earlier on. had a table to compare both of them according to search features, functions. for the search results, the few factors to take note is the relevance, currency and the size. i personally feel that the size is not so important as it doesn't really help in finding the right source. i was somewhat impressed by the Google features because at first i didn't know there's a Google scholar search engine and also amazed by how i manage to use search engines without looking into many links that could actually help me more.

the participation in the discussion forum was quite fun, some comments and answers were really like ... "hmmm... totally agree" ( i thought in my head). and the answers available are quite helpful as it is. however, it might be the thread that was quite long ago so that's why i didn't get an comment or reply after waiting for one day. ( maybe one day was too short. -_-")

the reason on why must i do citation and bibliography is to prevent plagiarism and of course acknowledge the source of information. this way, people's design or idea will be shared and there will not be any duplicates ( the point is, there's still a lot of pirated stuffs around) ...

... ... ... ... ...

sEaRChiNG ***

a lecture more precise into researching...

firstly, looking into facilities that will help to find quality materials on the internet.
the different types of search engines are, search engines, meta search engines, subject directories and the database a.k.a invisible web.

and i found out that the spiders/crawlers are the very links that link us within each website. the name is so weird that at first to me it sounds like some virus, haha... weird right...

there were also special search engines, that are categorized but they are unlike subject directories...

and i also find that the brackets, AND, OR, +, - are all easy to use and helps greatly to narrow down results of the search. '*' are also commonly used and all these all called BOOLEAN operators.

the various search engines also got many other features that i didn't bother look at as if they were white elephants...

and i also came across Google scholar beta, the search engine, it is mostly articles and more wordy, unlike the main Google that allows images, websites and audio etc...

i think during this period of taking this module, i really will learn to compare more features at every website and will look very into each detail :P

0nLinE sHoppinG SprEE !!!

before i carry on to the really FUN part(not to say this is boring...), there's ppt lesson again.
recapping on the previous lesson, going through the current one - more deeply into some tips for research strategy.
ya (adding on to the things to learn for the test...)


-the shopping spree that is...
:::given $500 to go to various shopping websites to do shopping:::
on the account of finding out the difference between each shopping website.
and maybe because it's a fake shopping spree a.k.a window shopping :p , we need not spend all the $$$. (... ...)
i can't really recall any online shopping websites available on hand, so the easiest way was to GOOGLE it, haha...
so... many websites appeared...-_-"
then i identify the most catching to my eyes de website
i will look for accesories and stuffs... more interesting to me (appealing:P )
clothes are not a bad choice, but for online shopping, i will rather admire because even in retail stores, i also won't buy nice clothes for myself to wear...[i will only admire...]



i went to this website first, http://www.myzaak.com/, which is like the core that spreads out to other shopping websites. after that, the first picture that caught my eye *sparkling*


it was SOLD OUT, but never mind;
it's the 'legendary' superman watch XD XD XD
and the point that it's not that expensive, $2o each
that will be under the website: http://www.fashiondip-avenue-watch.blogspot.com/

on the website, of course there is the introduction of the blog owner(sales assistant), and there is other navigations to their other products. there is also terms and conditions listed there. the payment mode can be bank transfer or meet up and cash payment type. it provides contact like handphone number and e-mail address for equiries or orders. for short enquires, a tagbox/shoutbox is available at the side. other than that, another one is there for the owner's advertisement.

next on:
= BROOCHES =


Total Length 5cm, Pendant Length 3cm
Left to Right
1. Tick Tock with White Jade ribbon
2. Mr Bunny with Rose Quartz ribbon
3. A Kiss to Happiness with White Jade ribbon

Made of self designed pendant, brass pendant frame, semi-precious ribbon & gold plated pin
S$29.00 each inclusive of registered post
(info from http://www.highteajewellery.blogspot.com/)
a short description of the blog owner is provided too, terms and condition are there with the e-mail to order. however, this website only allows bank transfer(UOB/POSB)-no meet up or cash payments. in addtion to the previous blog, this shopping blog have promotions, like loyalty member program and 10% off for 3 items and above in a single order. this website also gives details about the materials of the products as it is self-made jewellery. the links to other products is different as each link is given a theme for the products. and it seems that there is a retail store selling the products too, called InQbox (Parkway Parade InQbox B1-45/46). however, there is no advertisements of their own products and a place for short equiries.


following up is the KAWAII animal watches:
(that's the exact name... i mean, i won't say 'KAWAII', rite?)


selling at $15 each, at http://unique-shopp--xanimalwatch.blogspot.com/, which is not there anymore. so the purpose i could only say the most basic one (business/marketing).

i think this coming website was found by google... not under MYZAAK.
http://chiisaiten.blogspot.com/search/label/Earpiece%20preorder



each pair is for $12.90, unique design from Japan
(the Japanese always manage to design the aesthetic stuffs...)
similar to the first shopping blog, introduction to the blog owner, contacts and navigations. the addtion is there is 2 tagbox/shoutbox for equiries, one when the owner is online, the other when offline. and lastly is there is another tagbox for their own advertisement. the other components are the update box, a link to a sample order form. the terms and conditions too include payment mode which is both bank transfer and meet up and cash payment, plus they state the mode of collection too.


Lastly is the hobby which i will like to take on>>>

collecting miniatures


these are under Re-ment.
but it's not a cheap hobby, each set cost $60... 0.o
http://toysofthoughts.blogspot.com/
most of the website's purpose will be under business/marketing, that's one similarity. the other one is the websites i visited are all blogs, maybe that's the common trend from MYZAAK. and how do they differ...
the first one had focus on watches and accessories, the 2nd one is solely jewellery. that means some online shopping blog i visited had different focuses.
overall, their purpose is all the same, to sell stuffs.

in the end, i don't think i spend near to $500, but the joy of shopping (window shopping...) is really good! maybe because it's born within most females :D

happily dotting off ... ... ...

tHE 1st

it started off with introduction ... very much like a story.
spend first half of the lesson talking, knowing each other ( like orientation)
more of e-learning based, went through with slideshow ppt ...
but i think, i caught one main point, there WILL be a test !!! -_-"
sooo, like before, it's at OLE, and we just pick up all the notes we need to 'revise' there.
everyday, main points will be picked out from the slideshow ppt...

we were asked, have you ever wondered how was internet 'created' (or so)...
...silence...
hint: 1990s stage
and i was like...hmmm, during my primary school life, maybe it's already a high level for me to use internet, not to say think how internet come about... :)

after touching on the first assignment, more parts of EIR is revealed to me. i was like 'Oh...', researching in different categories like discussion forum, blogs, online journals and WWW (worldwideweb). i know it has always exist, but me for one, won't clearly go care which category one's research is from. but now i realise that doing this enables me see more clearly what sources can be trusted and what sources are mere emotions writings.

IMPRESSION: not a bad start :D researching may not be as messy & more as b4 (like 1 whole chunk ... then PRINT!) not that now is very messy, just provides organisations-for me. and also, the reason i'm writing this post is because of EIR, quite cool... [cause for my personal blog, i won't have the heart to write everyday:P...]

that's what effective internet research is all about (is it?=X)