When i first heard that I would be taking COM 125 this semester, I actually cringed, with memories of CSE 111 and programming a "robot" still very much too vivid for my own liking. But as the weeks passed, I started to realise that this was very much a different experience. There were a few things I didn't quite or expect though.
To me, the course seemed very un-communications-like. Alot of technical information, and less on the effects, impacts on communication. While it's fun and interesting to learn about how a blog or a social netowrking site works or how an umbrella can become a map, it's not exactly what I (or some others) would have fully expected. I was particularly puzzled over the "growth mindset" lessons, and up to this point fail to understand how exactly it relates to the Internet.
That being said, though, classes were alsmost always fun and enjoyable, though sometimes it seemed that many in their seats weren't exactly paying attention; sleeping, using laptops or just talking. Quite annoying, though that's probably not the fault of the lecturer. Happens alot everywhere, and maybe it's just a sign of the regard that others have for education, even if it's not what they expect.
Would I recommend COM 125 to others? Definitely. How could it be improved? I'm not entirely sure.
No essay questions please!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Futurama
I love that show, especially that robot dude. A total ripoff of the Simpsons, but they don't exactly deny it, and it's still enjoyable. Are we really going to have robots in the future? Well, Terminator predicted that Skynet should have taken over by now, and this is supposed to happen in 2005...
So what does the future really hold? Are we going to be stuck in a war with the machines? Are time travelling robots going to assasinate mothers? Will there be cars that can transform into huge speaking things that can cshoot lasers?
I doubt it.
The future? Faster and smaller, probably. I still remember dial-up. 14.4 and 28.8. Now people fidget if a page takes more than 7 seconds to load. Convergence seems to be the key concept to take note of, with the major players of the computer and internet industry moving to work in concert rather than in conflict. What does this all mean? Will we be at the mercy of one huge internet monolith, subject to their whims and fancies when we peons are just trying to watch another random video on YouTube?
Or will we live in a world where a table can transfer iamges from a camera to a phone, where something around your neck can project a video or watch onto a flat surface, or an umbrella can be used as a map?
Maybe both, maybe neither. I just hope the robots are friendly.
So what does the future really hold? Are we going to be stuck in a war with the machines? Are time travelling robots going to assasinate mothers? Will there be cars that can transform into huge speaking things that can cshoot lasers?
I doubt it.
The future? Faster and smaller, probably. I still remember dial-up. 14.4 and 28.8. Now people fidget if a page takes more than 7 seconds to load. Convergence seems to be the key concept to take note of, with the major players of the computer and internet industry moving to work in concert rather than in conflict. What does this all mean? Will we be at the mercy of one huge internet monolith, subject to their whims and fancies when we peons are just trying to watch another random video on YouTube?
Or will we live in a world where a table can transfer iamges from a camera to a phone, where something around your neck can project a video or watch onto a flat surface, or an umbrella can be used as a map?
Maybe both, maybe neither. I just hope the robots are friendly.
Politicking Me Off
It was famously sung that "the internet is for porn", but a casual glance at most congregations of faceless internet users hiding behind avatars and aliases (i.e. chat logs of populat multiplayer games) will show you that there are really only two things that the Internet is widely used for.
1. Chuck Norris jokes
2. Debates about American politics
While I'd really like to talk about the former, the latter is what seems to be the topic of interest today.
I'm a regular, avid, addicted player of the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, and on any given day, you would expect to see this:
Person A: hi im new can i get sum tips tnks
Person B: l2spel nub
Person C: You learn to spell, noob.
Person D: *newb
Person E: This is why America is going down the drain.
Person A: im not american
Person B: gtfo nub
Person E: You don't have to be racist, especially since we have a black President now.
Person A: america sux
Person B: u suck
Person C: You both suck, and so does Obama.
And so on and so forth. While this is hardly an academic and scholarly debate on a respected platform, it raises a key issue; the internet can serve as a powerful tool for the transmission of political messages. In places like the United States of America, where voting isn't mandatory, the internet (like how some populat television shows) may be used to reach the younger generation, typically less inclined to bother about matters they don't view as directly relevant. Putting Obama's campaign on Second Life and spreading news about McCain and Hillary on Facebook makes it relevant to them.
I would wonder if and when Singapore's political climate starts to ascend to the heights (or descend to the depths?) of the world wide web, but then, it's a whole different ballgame here, isn't it? And besides...
1. Chuck Norris jokes
2. Debates about American politics
While I'd really like to talk about the former, the latter is what seems to be the topic of interest today.
I'm a regular, avid, addicted player of the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, and on any given day, you would expect to see this:
Person A: hi im new can i get sum tips tnks
Person B: l2spel nub
Person C: You learn to spell, noob.
Person D: *newb
Person E: This is why America is going down the drain.
Person A: im not american
Person B: gtfo nub
Person E: You don't have to be racist, especially since we have a black President now.
Person A: america sux
Person B: u suck
Person C: You both suck, and so does Obama.
And so on and so forth. While this is hardly an academic and scholarly debate on a respected platform, it raises a key issue; the internet can serve as a powerful tool for the transmission of political messages. In places like the United States of America, where voting isn't mandatory, the internet (like how some populat television shows) may be used to reach the younger generation, typically less inclined to bother about matters they don't view as directly relevant. Putting Obama's campaign on Second Life and spreading news about McCain and Hillary on Facebook makes it relevant to them.
I would wonder if and when Singapore's political climate starts to ascend to the heights (or descend to the depths?) of the world wide web, but then, it's a whole different ballgame here, isn't it? And besides...
Less is not More
I want a PS3.
Any of you still have a phone that can't take pictures? Never used GPS? Think Bluetooth is what happens after drinking too much Gatorade? Are stuck on level 2 of Pac-Man? Still have ICQ installed and running?
The world's come a heck of a long way since Mario and Sonic...
You can hardly get by a day these days without being bombarded with multimedia. Taxis and buses have television screens, the internet reaches everyone and brings everything everywhere, and phones have morphed into little magic devices which let us do anything anyway we like it.
It's said that the media in this day and age has allowed a person, in a week, to consume more informtion than the average individual would in his entire lifetime two hundred years ago. That is simply mind-boggling. Imagine that.
Now I just want my PS3 so I can play all the ultra-realisitc 3D games with people halfway across the world.
Any of you still have a phone that can't take pictures? Never used GPS? Think Bluetooth is what happens after drinking too much Gatorade? Are stuck on level 2 of Pac-Man? Still have ICQ installed and running?
The world's come a heck of a long way since Mario and Sonic...
You can hardly get by a day these days without being bombarded with multimedia. Taxis and buses have television screens, the internet reaches everyone and brings everything everywhere, and phones have morphed into little magic devices which let us do anything anyway we like it.
It's said that the media in this day and age has allowed a person, in a week, to consume more informtion than the average individual would in his entire lifetime two hundred years ago. That is simply mind-boggling. Imagine that.
Now I just want my PS3 so I can play all the ultra-realisitc 3D games with people halfway across the world.
Sickening
I remember the first time I heard about a computer virus. I thought it was cool. Thinking about how awesome messing with someone else's computer would be. Then watching Independence Day where a computer virus saved the world. Cool.
But when reality sinks in and you begin to realise how essential computers are, you have to admit that virueses are pretty messed up. Sure, it's cool to irritate someone for a minute or two, but what if it happens to you? What if some malicious, file-eating worm digs its way through your firewalls and embeds itself deep in the bowels of your system, emerging to feast on a random 27 page document or critical system file? Or just simply decides to go "del *.*" on Friday the 13th?
So yeah, viruses are sick, making computers unwell. But what is worse is the fact that there are so many people who seem proud to propogate such acts. Trojans and hackers seem to be glorified in the movies...
... but no one is really truly happy about the existence of these people other than their known associates, are they?
So what do we do?
"Update your system!" "Use an anti-virus" "Be careful" are the often-repeated cries from those around us. But in truth, there is very little we can do, is there? Even the best fall down sometimes, and you only really know you're in trouble when it's too late. Just because Norton or MacAfee gives you a green light, is your system clean? I doubt.
A cycical view? Maybe. But a realistic one, no?
But when reality sinks in and you begin to realise how essential computers are, you have to admit that virueses are pretty messed up. Sure, it's cool to irritate someone for a minute or two, but what if it happens to you? What if some malicious, file-eating worm digs its way through your firewalls and embeds itself deep in the bowels of your system, emerging to feast on a random 27 page document or critical system file? Or just simply decides to go "del *.*" on Friday the 13th?
So yeah, viruses are sick, making computers unwell. But what is worse is the fact that there are so many people who seem proud to propogate such acts. Trojans and hackers seem to be glorified in the movies...
... but no one is really truly happy about the existence of these people other than their known associates, are they?
So what do we do?
"Update your system!" "Use an anti-virus" "Be careful" are the often-repeated cries from those around us. But in truth, there is very little we can do, is there? Even the best fall down sometimes, and you only really know you're in trouble when it's too late. Just because Norton or MacAfee gives you a green light, is your system clean? I doubt.
A cycical view? Maybe. But a realistic one, no?
Saturday, February 21, 2009
A Moving Image
My first attempt at making anything other than stick-figure comics with the use of what is readily-available on Windows, I decided to make something that would tell the story of what has captivated me for a significant portion of my life now.
When Class Matters
Digital media has opened up new, exciting avenues for the whole world. Interpersonal relationships, entetainment, business, crimefighting (and crime) and of course, education and learning. It is believed by many that to be a teacher is one of the mose noble things onecan aspireto be. With this digital dawn, will this change at all?
During my time as a student at UB, I've been able to experience several instances of this new-fangled "e-learning". I have to admit though, it's nothing really spectacular. The problm w fac with -lanring today, is that it is typically nothing more than a lacklustre conversion of what would normally happen in a traditional classroom and little else. Recording a lecture and uploading powerpoint slides to a resource managing portal or directory is not exactly making use of the vast possibilities offered by digital media. The same can be achieved with the simple use of a tape-recorder, photocopier and library. One might argue that "internet learning" today is much more convenient than that, and I would agree. However, many will also agree that by the same measure, it also takes away the essential motivating factors that drive individuals to learn. A grainy, jumpy recording of a lecture is hard to follow, even moreso when the subject matter is either complicated, dull or unfamiliar. Tests and assignments, done exclusively on the web, are open to a plethora of underhanded methods for students to "enhance" their grades. When delivered traditionally, other factors (like fear of being punished and/or humiliated by the teacher) might actually lead to better performances.
Of course, I am not lobbying for internet learning to be abolished. Only to be rethought. Those in the industries involved should take the initiatives, the risks, the chances that may open a whole new teaching model. A new way to learn. Be it via new methods or new technologies, this has to be done before the digital classroom becomes a viable possibility for our collective futures.
One of the new technologies that are emerging from the rapidly-advancing frontline of technology is Microsoft Surface. It takes the concept of "touch-screen" to wilder heights, to places few have imagined. If you are familiar with the films Iron Man and Minority Report, you may recall the futuristic, almost Star Trek-like computers that Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise fiddle with during the movies. At that point, most people would have dismissed the devices as science fiction, but in reality, the technology is close to being widely-available.
Early promotional videos for Microsoft Surface promise a radical new way to use and link the tools that have become so ingrained in our lives. The cell-phone, credit card, PDA, camera and of course, the computer. With this daring venture, could e-learning finally be somthing that UB students get excited over, rather than groan about?
Perhaps.
If nothing else, it allows a child to e-mail her finger-paintings to her teacher. And that's a start.
During my time as a student at UB, I've been able to experience several instances of this new-fangled "e-learning". I have to admit though, it's nothing really spectacular. The problm w fac with -lanring today, is that it is typically nothing more than a lacklustre conversion of what would normally happen in a traditional classroom and little else. Recording a lecture and uploading powerpoint slides to a resource managing portal or directory is not exactly making use of the vast possibilities offered by digital media. The same can be achieved with the simple use of a tape-recorder, photocopier and library. One might argue that "internet learning" today is much more convenient than that, and I would agree. However, many will also agree that by the same measure, it also takes away the essential motivating factors that drive individuals to learn. A grainy, jumpy recording of a lecture is hard to follow, even moreso when the subject matter is either complicated, dull or unfamiliar. Tests and assignments, done exclusively on the web, are open to a plethora of underhanded methods for students to "enhance" their grades. When delivered traditionally, other factors (like fear of being punished and/or humiliated by the teacher) might actually lead to better performances.
Of course, I am not lobbying for internet learning to be abolished. Only to be rethought. Those in the industries involved should take the initiatives, the risks, the chances that may open a whole new teaching model. A new way to learn. Be it via new methods or new technologies, this has to be done before the digital classroom becomes a viable possibility for our collective futures.
One of the new technologies that are emerging from the rapidly-advancing frontline of technology is Microsoft Surface. It takes the concept of "touch-screen" to wilder heights, to places few have imagined. If you are familiar with the films Iron Man and Minority Report, you may recall the futuristic, almost Star Trek-like computers that Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise fiddle with during the movies. At that point, most people would have dismissed the devices as science fiction, but in reality, the technology is close to being widely-available.
Early promotional videos for Microsoft Surface promise a radical new way to use and link the tools that have become so ingrained in our lives. The cell-phone, credit card, PDA, camera and of course, the computer. With this daring venture, could e-learning finally be somthing that UB students get excited over, rather than groan about?
Perhaps.
If nothing else, it allows a child to e-mail her finger-paintings to her teacher. And that's a start.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Srs Bzns
A long time ago, in a unit far, far away...
It is a period of uncivil boredom. Rebel storemen, sleeping in a hidden bunk, have won their first victory against the evil Regular Officers. During the training, company-line clerks managed to steal staplers and potted plants and the unit's ultimate weapon, the LAPTOP, a powerful device with enough power to display an entire planet. Pursued by the unit's sinister Officers, Corporal Nazreen races through the computer systems, searching for a way to save time and restore items to the unit...
When I saw B2B and the other little acronyms and the like, my mind sent me back to a time where uniforms and salutes were in order, where cameras were banned but guns were available, where food was plentiful but taste was non-existent. I was in charge of Finance & Logistics in a relatively large SAF unit several years ago, and a significant portion of my time in that role was spent making use of something called the ePS B2B Gateway.
The Electronic Procurement System, mostly-referred to as ePS was a system, as the name suggests, that allowed goods and services to be procured via an electronic portal, saving time and effort (and usually cost) for almost everyone involved. I used the system to purchase all manner of things; printer ink, photocopy toners, pens, knives, folding beds, a Twister set, laptops, projectors, fans, food, tree-pruning services, uniforms, pest-control, glow-sticks, laundry removal, paint, bags, badges, scissors, paper, repairs, light-bulbs...
The list is endless.
Which was what made it quite useful, especially for the lone person in charge of getting anything and everything for anyone and everyone in the unit. Making use of the internet, taking advantage of E-Commerce made life that much easier for all parties involved. No longer would you need to thumb though the yellow pages to look for vendors for an obscure item. No longer would you need to make a phone call and wait and try to find out how much a particular item or service costs. Doing business online was a tremednous time- and money-saver, when one considers the scale of the transactions that even a single SAF Unit is involved with per month (an example: printer refills can cost up to one thousand dollars per month).
When I hear of online businesses today, my feelings are mixed. Being the paranoid cynic I am, I'm less than willing to punch in my real address, much less a credit card number when making a transaction online. But then I actually purchased air tickets to Thailand less than two months ago, via Tiger Airways website, saving myself the trouble of either going to the airport (o travel agent) itself or calling them and risk being subjected to an incoherant customer service operator.
I hate it, but I use it. I also hate...
"I bought a new dress today!"
"But I thought you stayed home."
"Ya, I went to this blog..."
How many guys have girlfriends who do that? Yet I'm guilty of the same, having bought T-Shirts and video games online, when such items weren't readily avaialble in stores. One thing that has always annoyed me about following the girlfriend on a "shopping trip" is when she can't find something she likes; it makes the effort put into the actual "going out" seem worthless. But with online shopping such as the increasingly popular "shops" and "stores" that are based in and around blogs, the issue isn't really an issue anymore. From the seller's perspective, you also have to consider that they have little to no start-up costs. No rent. No having to vie for custormers with similar shops in the vicinity.
Or do they?
One of the most difficult things to come to terms with when dealing with the internet is the overwhelming barrage of information that you can get when trying to look for anything. I got over 4 million results when googling "LJ Shop". How am I supposed to know which one (if any) is reliable? Am I feeling lucky? Or do I hope and pray that it isn't #3161337?
There are limitations, of course. Some products and services simply can't be sold or puchased online without more than a little risk. How do you buy spectacles? Perfume? A pet? Even clothes are difficult at times, when you consider that a size "L" shirt may or may not be actually Large enough for some people.
How would I set up an online store, how would I run an E-Business, someone asked me.
It's a hard question to answer well, really. Well, perhaps it's only difficult if you want to make serious money from it. Small-scale ventures are easy enough; my younger sister sells her old (but still wearable) clothes through LiveJournal. Granted, the money she makes is then spent on replacing the lost apparel with more used articles of clothing from virtual strangers, but it goes to show that anyone can do it.
But not everyone can do it for a living, which is what the misconception is today.
How many have splashed the cash on such things only to realise that to create waves, you need to really have enough zeroes to your name? Most of them have ended up with just the one zero in the end, if not finished in the red.
So here's to E-Business and E-Commerce. Maybe one day we will be able to get everything online, and coins will only be used for magic tricks. I personally believe that day is still very far off, if it arrives at all. But then we do nearly everything online already, don't we? Even school assignments. Hmm.
It is a period of uncivil boredom. Rebel storemen, sleeping in a hidden bunk, have won their first victory against the evil Regular Officers. During the training, company-line clerks managed to steal staplers and potted plants and the unit's ultimate weapon, the LAPTOP, a powerful device with enough power to display an entire planet. Pursued by the unit's sinister Officers, Corporal Nazreen races through the computer systems, searching for a way to save time and restore items to the unit...
When I saw B2B and the other little acronyms and the like, my mind sent me back to a time where uniforms and salutes were in order, where cameras were banned but guns were available, where food was plentiful but taste was non-existent. I was in charge of Finance & Logistics in a relatively large SAF unit several years ago, and a significant portion of my time in that role was spent making use of something called the ePS B2B Gateway.
The Electronic Procurement System, mostly-referred to as ePS was a system, as the name suggests, that allowed goods and services to be procured via an electronic portal, saving time and effort (and usually cost) for almost everyone involved. I used the system to purchase all manner of things; printer ink, photocopy toners, pens, knives, folding beds, a Twister set, laptops, projectors, fans, food, tree-pruning services, uniforms, pest-control, glow-sticks, laundry removal, paint, bags, badges, scissors, paper, repairs, light-bulbs...
The list is endless.
Which was what made it quite useful, especially for the lone person in charge of getting anything and everything for anyone and everyone in the unit. Making use of the internet, taking advantage of E-Commerce made life that much easier for all parties involved. No longer would you need to thumb though the yellow pages to look for vendors for an obscure item. No longer would you need to make a phone call and wait and try to find out how much a particular item or service costs. Doing business online was a tremednous time- and money-saver, when one considers the scale of the transactions that even a single SAF Unit is involved with per month (an example: printer refills can cost up to one thousand dollars per month).
When I hear of online businesses today, my feelings are mixed. Being the paranoid cynic I am, I'm less than willing to punch in my real address, much less a credit card number when making a transaction online. But then I actually purchased air tickets to Thailand less than two months ago, via Tiger Airways website, saving myself the trouble of either going to the airport (o travel agent) itself or calling them and risk being subjected to an incoherant customer service operator.
I hate it, but I use it. I also hate...
"I bought a new dress today!"
"But I thought you stayed home."
"Ya, I went to this blog..."
How many guys have girlfriends who do that? Yet I'm guilty of the same, having bought T-Shirts and video games online, when such items weren't readily avaialble in stores. One thing that has always annoyed me about following the girlfriend on a "shopping trip" is when she can't find something she likes; it makes the effort put into the actual "going out" seem worthless. But with online shopping such as the increasingly popular "shops" and "stores" that are based in and around blogs, the issue isn't really an issue anymore. From the seller's perspective, you also have to consider that they have little to no start-up costs. No rent. No having to vie for custormers with similar shops in the vicinity.
Or do they?
One of the most difficult things to come to terms with when dealing with the internet is the overwhelming barrage of information that you can get when trying to look for anything. I got over 4 million results when googling "LJ Shop". How am I supposed to know which one (if any) is reliable? Am I feeling lucky? Or do I hope and pray that it isn't #3161337?
There are limitations, of course. Some products and services simply can't be sold or puchased online without more than a little risk. How do you buy spectacles? Perfume? A pet? Even clothes are difficult at times, when you consider that a size "L" shirt may or may not be actually Large enough for some people.
How would I set up an online store, how would I run an E-Business, someone asked me.
It's a hard question to answer well, really. Well, perhaps it's only difficult if you want to make serious money from it. Small-scale ventures are easy enough; my younger sister sells her old (but still wearable) clothes through LiveJournal. Granted, the money she makes is then spent on replacing the lost apparel with more used articles of clothing from virtual strangers, but it goes to show that anyone can do it.
But not everyone can do it for a living, which is what the misconception is today.
How many have splashed the cash on such things only to realise that to create waves, you need to really have enough zeroes to your name? Most of them have ended up with just the one zero in the end, if not finished in the red.
So here's to E-Business and E-Commerce. Maybe one day we will be able to get everything online, and coins will only be used for magic tricks. I personally believe that day is still very far off, if it arrives at all. But then we do nearly everything online already, don't we? Even school assignments. Hmm.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Social Piranhas
I vividly recall my first experience with Facebook. It went something like this:
Saj: I can't believe there is a Facebook group about me.
Me: What's Facebook?
Saj: Like Friendster, seems cooler.
Me: And what the heck is a group?
Saj: Just a random thing, like you can invite people who like the same thing or support a cause or whatever.
Me: And there is a group supporting you?
Saj: There is a group which was made to get me to shave off my beard! If it reaches 50 people I have to shave it all off!
Me: Hahahahaha!
(10 Minutes later)
Saj: YOU JOINED THE GROUP?!?!
The above conversation was carried out over the ever-so-useful MSN Messenger, and seemed to highlight the few things which have made Facebook (and other social networking) sites so popular in this day and age.
1. Coolness
"Facebook is cooler than Friendster" is the phrase heard more often than not when you ask about the two rival sites. MySpace is perhaps the other party, though from my limited experience among friends and online gaming buddies, the popularity of Tom's vehicle is limited to North America. Anyone remember when people thought Friendster was cooler than ICQ?
2. Signing up is easy!
How many times have we seen this very line plastered on just about every site which requires any sort of login procedure at all? But it's true, even my mother has a Facebook account, though she complains incessantly about her aged primary school friends who seem to suffer from Lack-of-Facebook-itis.
3. Diversity and Versatility
Via Facebook and other social networking sites, it seems one can do just about anything. I can share and read movie reviews done by peers, I can play Pacman and listen to Breaking Benjamin, I can view and distort photos, engage in multiplayer word puzzles, declare my undying love for a particular movie starlet, pledge support for a cause, find and locate once-lost friends and associates, purchase any number of items, share works of art... the list is endless. I got someone to go nearly bald with a mouseclick.
But what has this new-fangled Social Media done to us?
A while back, I received a call from a friend of mine, she sounded distressed, and because I lived less than five minutes from her house, my chivalry kicked in and I met with her in the dark of the night to talk her through her problem.
What was it?
She was upset that someone she once thought of as her best friend had grown distant, that now this other girl seemed to have devalued their friendship. While I thought it might have to do with a new love interest, one thing in particular that she said echoed in my mind.
"Nowadays we are only friends according to Friendster..."
That got me thinking. A long time ago, when Windows 95 seemed like the most technologically advanced thing since Robocop, I had a clear idea about what a "friend" was. What is a "friend" now?
Do I really have over 300 friends? Has social media degraded the value of friendship, the sanctity of interpersonal relationships? In my home, my brother and I are often separated only by a few metres and a single wall. Yet we communicate mostly via the internet. And it's not like he's a deaf mute.
One of the various "celebrity bloggers" that so many seem to worship commented sometime last year that they are very happy with their "social life", and that they have ten thousand friends, as proven by the number of contacts on their commercialised and rather witless attempts at online commentary.
Friends.
Saj: I can't believe there is a Facebook group about me.
Me: What's Facebook?
Saj: Like Friendster, seems cooler.
Me: And what the heck is a group?
Saj: Just a random thing, like you can invite people who like the same thing or support a cause or whatever.
Me: And there is a group supporting you?
Saj: There is a group which was made to get me to shave off my beard! If it reaches 50 people I have to shave it all off!
Me: Hahahahaha!
(10 Minutes later)
Saj: YOU JOINED THE GROUP?!?!
The above conversation was carried out over the ever-so-useful MSN Messenger, and seemed to highlight the few things which have made Facebook (and other social networking) sites so popular in this day and age.
1. Coolness
"Facebook is cooler than Friendster" is the phrase heard more often than not when you ask about the two rival sites. MySpace is perhaps the other party, though from my limited experience among friends and online gaming buddies, the popularity of Tom's vehicle is limited to North America. Anyone remember when people thought Friendster was cooler than ICQ?
2. Signing up is easy!
How many times have we seen this very line plastered on just about every site which requires any sort of login procedure at all? But it's true, even my mother has a Facebook account, though she complains incessantly about her aged primary school friends who seem to suffer from Lack-of-Facebook-itis.
3. Diversity and Versatility
Via Facebook and other social networking sites, it seems one can do just about anything. I can share and read movie reviews done by peers, I can play Pacman and listen to Breaking Benjamin, I can view and distort photos, engage in multiplayer word puzzles, declare my undying love for a particular movie starlet, pledge support for a cause, find and locate once-lost friends and associates, purchase any number of items, share works of art... the list is endless. I got someone to go nearly bald with a mouseclick.
But what has this new-fangled Social Media done to us?
A while back, I received a call from a friend of mine, she sounded distressed, and because I lived less than five minutes from her house, my chivalry kicked in and I met with her in the dark of the night to talk her through her problem.
What was it?
She was upset that someone she once thought of as her best friend had grown distant, that now this other girl seemed to have devalued their friendship. While I thought it might have to do with a new love interest, one thing in particular that she said echoed in my mind.
"Nowadays we are only friends according to Friendster..."
That got me thinking. A long time ago, when Windows 95 seemed like the most technologically advanced thing since Robocop, I had a clear idea about what a "friend" was. What is a "friend" now?
Do I really have over 300 friends? Has social media degraded the value of friendship, the sanctity of interpersonal relationships? In my home, my brother and I are often separated only by a few metres and a single wall. Yet we communicate mostly via the internet. And it's not like he's a deaf mute.
One of the various "celebrity bloggers" that so many seem to worship commented sometime last year that they are very happy with their "social life", and that they have ten thousand friends, as proven by the number of contacts on their commercialised and rather witless attempts at online commentary.
Friends.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Net Gains
I can still remember the sound of the 14.4 dial-up, back when a poorly-timed phone-call could spell disaster for an agonisingly incomplete and thoroughly illegal intellectual property infringement via our friends at Napster. Those were the days. The times of ICQ and mIRC, where the term "you tube" might only refer to an article of female clothing and "google" was a typo for swimming apparel. Nowadays people think Alta Vista is Microsoft's next big flop.
I myself have had many thoroughly memorable experiences with this "new media" as some term it. Some good, and some bad. One such experience got me an "A" in secondary school as I recounted it to a faceless invigilator who was smitten by my romantic wiles, but that is another tale for another time.
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what to write on this week; I'm facing some sort of mental blank, possibly brought upon by seven-hour-long MMORPG sessions and doing my best ninja impersonation to steer clear of certain people. The Internet does that to you, I guess. It gives you a second life, some say (sometimes literally). I would take another look at that statement, actually. To many, the internet doesn't offer a second life as much as it seems to become a person's life. To many, the term "real life" isn't so different from the persona or avatar or image or profile or character or toon or username or callsign or moniker that he or she (and even that can be a mystery unsolved) goes by on any given game, forum, chatroom, messageboard, newsgroup or network.
A few weeks ago someone I know but had never spoken to beyond "Hey, nice Man Utd jersey, is it an imitation?" came up to me and introduced me to someone else (who I actually had spoken to before), bringing her attention to some webcomics I had come up with over the past year or so. For a fleeting moment, I envisioned myself as the next A-list celebrity, though I have since not seen them or the expected horde of adoring fans clamoring for my autograph.
What is the internet? An outlet for personal opinion? A tool for fame and infamy? A facilitator for social networking? A matchmaker? A new, interactive form of entertainment? An addiction? An answer to boredom? A cause for academic mediocrity? A realm of smut and smugness? A source of information and illumination?
Perhaps it is all these.
I myself have had many thoroughly memorable experiences with this "new media" as some term it. Some good, and some bad. One such experience got me an "A" in secondary school as I recounted it to a faceless invigilator who was smitten by my romantic wiles, but that is another tale for another time.
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what to write on this week; I'm facing some sort of mental blank, possibly brought upon by seven-hour-long MMORPG sessions and doing my best ninja impersonation to steer clear of certain people. The Internet does that to you, I guess. It gives you a second life, some say (sometimes literally). I would take another look at that statement, actually. To many, the internet doesn't offer a second life as much as it seems to become a person's life. To many, the term "real life" isn't so different from the persona or avatar or image or profile or character or toon or username or callsign or moniker that he or she (and even that can be a mystery unsolved) goes by on any given game, forum, chatroom, messageboard, newsgroup or network.
A few weeks ago someone I know but had never spoken to beyond "Hey, nice Man Utd jersey, is it an imitation?" came up to me and introduced me to someone else (who I actually had spoken to before), bringing her attention to some webcomics I had come up with over the past year or so. For a fleeting moment, I envisioned myself as the next A-list celebrity, though I have since not seen them or the expected horde of adoring fans clamoring for my autograph.
What is the internet? An outlet for personal opinion? A tool for fame and infamy? A facilitator for social networking? A matchmaker? A new, interactive form of entertainment? An addiction? An answer to boredom? A cause for academic mediocrity? A realm of smut and smugness? A source of information and illumination?
Perhaps it is all these.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Science-Fiction?
So this isn't exactly "Internet Communication", but someone else's blog had the phrase "the machines are learning" or something, which got me thinking as well. Enjoy.
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