cant take my eyes off you. oh baby iLu.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

`look into my eyes
and say you love me ________

1. What are the factors that lead to the extreme popularity of YouTube, especially with keen competition from other social network services like Wiki, Blogs and Facebook.

I personally feel that there are quite a number of factors that lead to the extreme popularity of YouTube especially with keen competitors in the market.

Personally, video sharing is the major factor to why YouTube is extremely popular. YouTube allows users to upload video and share them, allow others to comment on them and also embed the video hosted on YouTube on other web pages that you like, example blogs or personal websites. Searching a video that has been uploaded onto YouTube is also a breeze. By posting a video on YouTube, one can get various comments from a wide spectrum of people ranging from students to professionals. By entertaining the valuable comments that viewers give, one may improve their next video or even their current to a better state by implementing the suggestions or come up with another improvement that sparks from the suggestion or comment. Personal videos aside, some users even upload videos from a variety show that they think it is interesting and want to share with others.

In my opinion, if one starts to upload a video, another starts to watch and spread about YouTube, more and more people would upload their videos and watch videos uploaded by others and comment about them. This snowball effect also causes YouTube to be popular among the masses.

2. The article discusses some downsides to YouTube. How would you deal with these issues?

Copyrights have always been a problem for the uploading or downloading of internet resource. To prevent users uploading videos that will violate the copyrights of that video, YouTube may assign videos that have been checked for copyrights issues a “Checked” sign. For those videos that are uploaded recently and have not been “Checked”, YouTube can introduce a limitation factor to restrict users from abusing the use of video sharing. Although checking the videos one by one is very tedious, it beats having to be sued due to the violation of copyrights committed by YouTube users.

Regarding the issue of losing the videos uploaded onto YouTube being loss if YouTube goes out of business, I personally feel that the issue can be solve quite easily. Users who upload their videos unto YouTube should have the original video with them and they can upload the same video again on other video sharing websites if YouTube goes out of business. Plus, if YouTube really goes out of business, it probably can only mean one thing and that is people are no longer uploading videos unto YouTube and the videos uploaded are boring and useless. Therefore, it is not a big issue if YouTube goes out of business and the video content would be loss.

Regarding the issue of changing of the functions of YouTube will cause the link of the video to be non-functional, the problem can be easily solve by redirecting the old link to the new link and the video content would still be available to the user.

3. What would be the future direction for YouTube?. Refer to the sections “Where is it going?” and “What are the implications for teaching and learning” for some ideas.

The future direction for YouTube will be aiming at creative videos, music videos or even educational videos whereby the user learns by watching the video. It can be in the form of tutorials and stuff whereby the video teaches the user how to achieve what the user has in mind. For creative videos, YouTube encourages users to be creative in creating their own video and upload it onto YouTube. Music videos may also prove to be popular as many people have started to post their own versions of songs, some modifying the lyrics or singing. These videos can be posted on other personal websites and there will be more comments for that particular video. All these comments and uploading of videos will result in an active community whereby users gather around a common interest.

fragility`
6:14 PM

`look into my eyes
and say you love me ________

I learnt that though search engines and Meta search engines are almost the same, the results that they show are different as Meta search engines compares the results of different search engines before displaying results that are the most common.

fragility`
6:14 PM

`look into my eyes
and say you love me ________

Practical 9
I have learnt that there are many types of search engine like Meta search engines (mamma) are different from search engines (Google). There are also different categories of websites; Business, Commercial, Entertainment and so on. Plus, I have learnt that not all information from the internet is reliable and accurate by doing the website evaluation. Learning how to evaluate a website is very important, be it now or in the future as there are lots of information in the internet but not all are reliable.

fragility`
6:12 PM

`look into my eyes
and say you love me ________

Name: Kenneth Lee
Class: P05
Title of Internet Resource: Talking cock
URL: www.talkingcock.com

Purpose
The purpose of the website is stated clearly before the user enters the forum.

Coverage
The main page of the site states clearly that the website is an online forum for people to comment on recent things or events, be it personal or public. As this website consists of mainly comments and posts from users, the subject areas and materials covered is unlimited. Topics can range from movies to topics like Mas Selamat.

Authority
The main page of the website clearly states that it is not an authoritative source and there are reviews in the forms of comments or replies post by other uses.

Accuracy
The forum is basically a place for people to voice their opinions and hence, the information found in the forum may not be accurate and reliable. The information may be influence by politics, ideology, biasness and so. Some of the information found in the website is purposely spelled wrongly in an attempt to show others their view on that topic.

Currency
The site is well-maintained by a group of people and is constantly updating the site.

Accessibility
The site is easily accessible to the public and no registration or log-ins are required to view the information in the forum. However, to start a thread or post anything in the forum, a short registration is needed.

Presentation and Arrangement
The information provided in the website is arranged by the date that the information is posted. It is grouped according to the different threads regarding different topics.

Overall
The overall impression of the quality of the website is fairly good. It serves as a basic forum for the public to post and comment about the things, events or thoughts that they want to voice out and let the public know.

Thoughts in my mind reading this website if I am:

Singapore’s Prime Minister
If I am Singapore’s Prime Minister and happen to chance on this forum, I would be shocked. There are forum chats that are talking around the topic of Mas Selamat escaping from the toilet window and linking the scenario to their own. Furthermore, some of the posts in the forum are quite racist and Singapore being a multi-racial country and me as its Prime Minister, I would probably feel annoyed while reading the posts in the forum.

Singaporean
If I am an ordinary citizen, I would find this website as a joke whereby I can read the posts on the forums as a form of entertainment and joke about the comments. I probably would not be annoyed by the posts regardless if the posts are racist, religionist or what so ever. I would read the forum with a light heart and treat the posts as a joke and never take it for real.

Foreigner working/studying in Singapore
I think that I would not be affected greatly by the comments or posts in the forum as the more sensitive topics are mostly regarding Singapore. Being a foreigner working or studying in a foreign land, I probably would feel that the thinking of people here in Singapore is different from us and the things that people posts on the forum are just joking.

fragility`
6:10 PM

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

`look into my eyes
and say you love me ________

Topic: Impact of Drugs on Youths
Done by: Kenneth Lee

Introduction
More people are abusing drugs today than in any other time in history, and many of those people are youth.Drugs, a psychoactive substance that people take to change the way they feel, think or behave. Drug abusehas many negative physiological health effects, ranging from minor issues like digestion problems or respiratory infections, to potentially fatal diseases, like AIDS. The effects also depend on the drug and on the amount, method and frequency of use. Some drugs which are very addictive, like heroin, can cause physiological dependence even if the user only uses it for a short period, which means that when the person stops taking drugs, he/she experiences physical withdrawal symptoms and a craving for the drug.

Finally, drug abuse damages the ability of people to act as free and conscious beings, capable of taking action to fulfill their needs.

Resources Used
The global youth network (2007, February 2). “Youth and Drugs” Retrieved July 16, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.unodc.org/youthnet/youthnet_youth_drugs.html

Summary of Resource
The website's main purpose is to raise up the point that that more and more people are into drugs nowadays and youths made up a big percentage of those and also to voice out serveral issues regarding the connection between drugs and youths. The website also covers a spectrum of topics in relation to the impact of drug abuse.The links to external sources provides extensive information and are quite useful.

Brief Evaluation of Resource
The website is an authoritative source as it is formed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes. The website also promotes readers to join and comment about their website. If the reader has any queries, he or she can also send an email to the global youth network team.

The facts that the website provides are accurate. There is no political, ideological or biasness in the website. The information they provide does not contain any opinions and the references are at the bottom of the webpage. However, there are a few minor grammatical errors in the website. Although the information provided on the website is not very extensive, the information provided on the website is up-to-date and well maintained.

The website is also easily accessible and does not need prior registration. The website have clear headings to indicate the individual topics which makes the website user-friendly. The side bar also provides easy navigation around the sites.

My overall impression of the quality of the website is average. Although the website is easy to navigate and search for information, the amount of information provided is too little.

fragility`
8:02 PM

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

`look into my eyes
and say you love me ________

Name : Kenneth Lee
Class : PO5
Title of Internet Resource: Global Youth Network – Youth & Drugs
URL : http://www.unodc.org/youthnet/youthnet_youth_drugs.html

Purpose
Yes, the website clearly states that more and more people are into drugs nowadays and youths made up a big percentage of those. The website also raises several issues regarding the connection between drugs and youths.

Coverage
The coverage of the site talks about the impact of drug abuse. The website is comprehensive as it mentions different areas regarding drugs like drug trends. It also covers areas like what is wrong with drug abuse and what is wrong with occasional drug use, when people have been using drugs for centuries. However, the website provides very few information regarding the individual areas. The website could have talk more about the impact of drug abuse on youths and what are the harms and challenges that they will face in the future if they are addicted to drugs. The links provide extensive information and are quite useful.

Authority
The website is an authoritative source as it is formed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes. The website also promotes readers to join and comment about their website.

Accuracy
The facts that the website provides are accurate. There is no political, ideological or biasness in the website. The information they provide does not contain any opinions and the references are at the bottom of the webpage. It is also free from grammatical, spelling and typographical errors.

Currency
Although the information provided on the website is not very extensive, the information provided on the website is up-to-date and well maintained.

Accessibility
The site is easily accessible and does not require any registration or log-ins and the information is absolutely free. However, the reader can opt to sign up and join the network.

Presentation and Arrangement
The information that the website is well presented and arranged. The headers for the different areas are also well highlighted. However, there is only a side navigation bar to navigate around the website and there is no search facility.

Usability
The website is easy to navigate around as the links are comprehensive and the user can contact the network if they require more information regarding the topics.

Overall
My overall impression of the quality of the website is average. Although the website is easy to navigate and search for information, the amount of information provided is too little.

Reflection
I feel that not all of the information found on the net is reliable and one must check the reliability and accuracy of the source before using it.

fragility`
8:00 PM

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

`look into my eyes
and say you love me ________

Activity 1

Qn2
The keywords that I would use are drugs, youths, impact, “impact of drugs on youths.

Qn3
Keyword Keyword Variations
Drug Medicine
Drug abuse Substance abuse
Impact Effect, harm
Youth Young adults, teenagers

Qn4
Search phrases
Effect of abusing medicinal drugs on young adults
Harm dealt to youths due to drug abuse

Qn5
Search engine example: www.google.com
Keywords used: effect drug abuse youth
URL: http://www.unodc.org/youthnet/youthnet_youth_drugs.html
Hits: 888

Meta search engine example: www.mamma.com/
Keywords used: effect of drug abuse on youths
URL: http://drugabuses.info/
Hits: 42

Subject directory example: www.lii.org/
Keywords use: drug abuse
URL: http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Prescription/prescription.html
Hits: 42

Comparison and Evaluation on search effectiveness

Characteristics that make all 3 search facilities similar or different from one another
• Database
• Speed

Strength & Weakness
The number of searches with subject directory and meta search engines are far narrower than search engines. However, with lesser hits, the meta search engine is very specific in their search which is efficient. Unlike the meta search engine, subject directories are inefficient as the database that they have is very little as compared to other search engines.
Overall, I would choose meta search engine if I want a precise search and a normal search engine if I want a large variation.

fragility`
10:15 PM