Week 9 Internet and Journalism

The other day in COM 242 class, Professor Armstrong distributed 3 articles on the same day, remarking that it may be coincidence, that newspaper is facing danger, and journalism is taking a new frontier.

http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/2009/03/13/local-newspapers-won%e2%80%99t-be-missed-by-42-of-americans/

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE52E0SY20090316

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/189934-Pew_Research_Center_Report_More_Troubling_Signs_for_Broadcast_Networks.php

the future of Journalism may well be centered on the Internet, as major newpapers and broadcasters have their own websites that offer very up-to-date news.

And since the use of Internet has become so prominent, it is not surprising that people turn to it for news, since it is significantly faster than printed newspaper or radio.

also, civilian journalism has gradually increased as bloggers are reporting on events happening around us. however, credibility is the major concern as the same story can have different versions on different sites.

at that point, we ask ourselves 'who do we trust'?

civilian bloggers who may have seen the incident first hand?

or the long established newspapers whom we trust to deliver news since a long time ago?

Week 8 Internet and Politics

No doubt the internet played a huge role in ensuring Obama's success in the recent elections happening in the US, and surveys have shown that Americans are turning to the internet as another outlet of politics.

It is not surprising at this, as many people, and previous posts have advocated that Internet is all-too-popular now and any updates will be online before any other form of media, except live broadcast of course...

Because of its scope and availability, citizens are able to participate more in the campaigns and elections. Given that the U.S is a huge country by itself, internet certainly helps brings people together and for candidates to reach out to more people while being in another place.

Unlike U.S, Singapore is fairly small. But certainly if internet were to be a medium in which politics are populated through, participants will increase and a more successful campaign can be obtained. Likewise, other factors like cost can be reduced greatly. Low-cost and wide target, which candidate wouldn't want that?

YouTube, forums, government websites are all examples of internet sources that candidates can make use to reach out.

They say Theodore Roosevelt was the first Media President.

Now they are saying that Obama is the first Social Media President.

Week 7 Internet and Multimedia

Of all the websites featuring phones, I believe Sony Ericsson's is the best.

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/home?cc=sg&lc=en

the webpage made use of animation, flash technology, and a comprehensive and interactive search so consumers can compare any phones they want, select which kind of phones they prefer to use. their filtering system is as good as Google, at least to me. they have a good filtering system to enable quick access to phones that consumers would want.

a preview of each phone is available, where in the window, users can click on the various buttons and functions, as if interacting with the actual phone itself. users can also rotate the phones to get a overview of how each phone looks like at different angles.

videos are available to let users view the phones in action and allows a more actual presentation of the phones, accompanied music.

comprehensive texts are used in a simple way for easy reading and understanding.

they have combined the many aspects of multimedia on the internet, animation, videos, music, text in a way that is both appealing and easy for consumer's use.

Week 6 Internet Security

I doubt anyone who uses a computer today has not experienced the agony of having to deal with viruses, trojans, spyware, adware and worms, the very essences of Internet and computer that make the experience sour and frustrating.

I remember the first time i dealt with viruses was when I was still a kid. Not knowing one thing from another, computer was basically something for me to play Lemmings and other games that have long gone into the records of history. It was this particular time I kept clicking on something (I can't remember what), and it just wouldn't load. So I called for my father, who was also helpless, who in turn got my uncle to come, and shed light on my first virus encounter. But being a kid, explaining virus to me was telling me what a benzene ring is at the age of 11.

So there came my first 'real' encounter was when my computer really malfunctioned. Turning it on was already a problem. So my uncle came once again to my rescue, and yes, at that time, I learnt to hate virus just like everyone else.

But to those virus originators, it seems like fun, to watch people's system falter one by one, and pardon me for my lack of sensitivity, they are no more better than serial killers.

Then after the encounter of not being able to turn on my computer, came adware, spyware, trojans that pop up every now and then to disturb my peace. Despite the installation of firewalls and anti-virus programs, they don't seem to stop. And for once, I did not know what download is, so I really have no idea what these things are doing in my computer.

So the verdict is, programs like these do have a certain lifespan because they are smart, but unfortunately 'serial killers' are smarter. Which is why we need even more smart people to come up with better firewalls, anti-virus programs or perhaps something even better to combat these things.

How nice wouldn't it be, if we have a program that is able to trace the origins of these annoying programs, and when they do find the source, turn it against them? But i'm sure they have their own way of destroying what they create in case it backfires or something...

But until then, I guess

1. Install Firewalls
2. Install anti-virus programs
3. Update these programs regularly to protect against new threats
4. avoid opening unknown emails
5. even with known email address, still take precautions when opening them
6. avoid downloading from dubious websites
7. don't disclose passwords or identification to others

will have to do.