It is finally the end of Fall semester and also the end of my COM125 module. I am glad I learnt new things from this module. From the evolution of the web, internet security to internet of things, I am excited for what's to come in the future. I always prefer face to face communication and have emotional attachment, not really a fan of everything-internet. Although sometimes I myself am guilty of being addicted to my smartphone, I still wish that the internet will not take over our lives. As much as the internet has brought us much entertainment and networking, it is important to essentially take it slow and enjoy the little things in life like spending quality time with family and friends. The future of internet is coming at us so fast that I wish it would slow down just a little. We humans are always wanting better, faster, more efficiency but we have to know how limits and take one step at a time. This module has actually opened up my mind and have a deeper understanding about the internet. Every week, I learnt something new and useful in real life situation in the future like how to do social media marketing and what to expect for the internet in the future. Through the group presentations, I get a more in depth discussion about topics like the dark web, social media marketing etc. I think everyone did a good job, so give a pat on your back! You survived this sem!!! I also enjoyed the group discussions where we would take time and research about certain issues and then discussing them in class. However, I wished the slides had more detailed and in depth information or else it would be too difficult to study (like how I am struggling now hahaha). All the best for finals, everyone!!!
Merry Christmas in advance and Happy Holidays!!!
Ameow out. Mic drop. Peace.
Thursday 1 December 2016
Saturday 26 November 2016
Week 11: Internet of Things
It is actually my first time hearing this phrase "Internet of Things". It triggered my interest and here is what I found out.
IoT is the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles (also referred to as "connected devices" and "smart devices"), buildings and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.
It is a really cool concept because it helps us to live life more effectively. Here's a video of what IoT is about.
IoT is the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles (also referred to as "connected devices" and "smart devices"), buildings and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.
It is a really cool concept because it helps us to live life more effectively. Here's a video of what IoT is about.
According to Wikipedia, the IoT allows objects to be sensed and/or controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit. IoT can improve the way we live and work. The IoT is a giant network of connected “things” (which also includes people). The relationship will be between people-people, people-things, and things-things. There will be challenges, but I am hopeful it will change us and the world for the better.
Till then.
Saturday 19 November 2016
Week 10: Future of Internet
Omg we are slowly entering the future of the internet, Web 3.0!!! The web 3.0 is an intelligent web with semantic web technologies, distributed databases and intelligent applications like machine learning/reasoning. The semantic web is a powerful way to access info on the web. It links everything and machines can interact with data and humans can access far more accurate and useful data, how cool is that!
Let's go further in depth into the characteristics of web 3.0!
1. Ubiquitous connectivity (broadband adoption-mobile internet access)
2. Network computing (software as a service business models)
3. Open technologies (open source software platforms, open data, open protocols)
4. Open identity (open reputation, portable identity & personal data)- Not sure if this is a good or bad thing as our privacy may be compromised.
According to Forbes, these are 7 predictions for how the internet will change over the next 15 years..
1. Internet connection will become permanent and automatic. WHATTTTT. I really hope this is true hahaha because it is a hassle to always go to someone's house and ask for the wifi password (god it's so annoying) or public spaces and log into Y5zone or wireless@sg. Universal Internet is slowing turning into a reality and I can't wait!
2. Augmented and virtual reality will play a major role. As I mentioned previously in my blog post, AR plays a bigger part in our lives now. It will project the internet into real word via AR. Excitingggg.
3. Machines might take over your job. Not necessarily beneficial to us human beings huh? People may lose their jobs because of the future of internet. I mean like a machine/software can do faster and more effective things than us.. I am not surprised if machines take control of the world in the future.
4. Privacy will become commoditised. As I mentioned above, privacy will be an issue when the internet becomes an open data base.
5. The ‘Internet of Things’ will fully mature. This, I will talk about it in the next blog post!
6. Businesses and individuals will struggle to adapt to the increasing rate of change. The pace of development of the future internet is just going to be faster and faster. We may not be able to catch up with the pace and if we don't keep up ourselves and adapt quickly, we are just going to lose out to other people.
7. Earth won’t be the only planet with Internet access. By 2030, Mars may have internet access too, what!!!! SpaceX founder Elon Musk is on a mission to let Mars settlers communicate with their family and friends back in planet Earth. How cool!!!
I am optimistic about the future of the internet, but it worries me that it may get the best out of us and we will be controlled by machines. We'll see..
Till then!
Let's go further in depth into the characteristics of web 3.0!
1. Ubiquitous connectivity (broadband adoption-mobile internet access)
2. Network computing (software as a service business models)
3. Open technologies (open source software platforms, open data, open protocols)
4. Open identity (open reputation, portable identity & personal data)- Not sure if this is a good or bad thing as our privacy may be compromised.
According to Forbes, these are 7 predictions for how the internet will change over the next 15 years..
1. Internet connection will become permanent and automatic. WHATTTTT. I really hope this is true hahaha because it is a hassle to always go to someone's house and ask for the wifi password (god it's so annoying) or public spaces and log into Y5zone or wireless@sg. Universal Internet is slowing turning into a reality and I can't wait!
2. Augmented and virtual reality will play a major role. As I mentioned previously in my blog post, AR plays a bigger part in our lives now. It will project the internet into real word via AR. Excitingggg.
3. Machines might take over your job. Not necessarily beneficial to us human beings huh? People may lose their jobs because of the future of internet. I mean like a machine/software can do faster and more effective things than us.. I am not surprised if machines take control of the world in the future.
4. Privacy will become commoditised. As I mentioned above, privacy will be an issue when the internet becomes an open data base.
5. The ‘Internet of Things’ will fully mature. This, I will talk about it in the next blog post!
6. Businesses and individuals will struggle to adapt to the increasing rate of change. The pace of development of the future internet is just going to be faster and faster. We may not be able to catch up with the pace and if we don't keep up ourselves and adapt quickly, we are just going to lose out to other people.
7. Earth won’t be the only planet with Internet access. By 2030, Mars may have internet access too, what!!!! SpaceX founder Elon Musk is on a mission to let Mars settlers communicate with their family and friends back in planet Earth. How cool!!!
I am optimistic about the future of the internet, but it worries me that it may get the best out of us and we will be controlled by machines. We'll see..
Till then!
Tuesday 8 November 2016
Week 9: Multimedia on the Internet
Hello once again! Today I'll be discussing about the multimedia on the Internet.
"Multimedia is a computer-based interactive communications process that incorporates text, graphics, sound, animation, and video."
Multimedia includes Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. So what are the differences between VR and AR? Let's find out!
"Multimedia is a computer-based interactive communications process that incorporates text, graphics, sound, animation, and video."
Multimedia includes Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. So what are the differences between VR and AR? Let's find out!
1. In VR, users are engrossed in a virtual world, isolated from reality whereas in AR, users are engrossed in a virtual world too, but they are also in touch with the real world surroundings.
2. In VR, the world is crafted and graphically designed whereas in AR, one experiences sensations, graphics and images (basically more 4D). AR uses digital enhancements to an existing reality to make it more meaningful whereas VR recreates a real – life setting with computer generated layers.
3. To experience VR, one uses a handheld console. To experience AR, one uses a mobile device such as tablets, laptops and smartphones that alter both virtually and the real world interact.
4. VR blocks out your current environment and brings you to a whole new world. However, AR integrates digital elements into reality at the same time!
5. VR is more for storytelling whereas AR is for real with purpose to solve our problems.
Here's an example of virtual reality. It's funny at the end because Pewdiepie actually rode a roller coaster while experiencing it virtually too. Is the combination an AR? I am not too sure about that..
Here's an example of augmented reality. It does serve a purpose and helps us think twice before buying a furniture. It takes into account both the real world and the virtual world. Pretty smart idea I must say!
Till then, bye!
Saturday 5 November 2016
Week 8: Internet Security
Do you know that in Singapore, the number of phishing cases reported increased from 1015 in 2014 to 2450 in 2015?? That's a lot! Around 67% of the phishing victims are aged between 20 and 49, many of which includes highly skilled and educated professionals. Surprising right? As Singapore is generally a safe country, Singaporeans often lack vigilance and become complacent. As such, many phishers take advantage of Singaporeans’ negligence. One of the cyber crimes in Singapore that I have presented in my group presentation is the DHL PHONE SCAM.
The DHL phone scam is a type of scam called phishing.
“Phishing is a form of fraud in which the attacker tries to learn information such as login credentials or account information by masquerading as a reputable entity or person in email, IM or other communication channels”.
In one of the news article I read, 4 Malaysian suspects swindled 155 victims of $12 million between end March and June 2016. Over 3000 police reports made regarding the DHL scam (Koh, 2016). One of the victims, a 32 year old woman received a phone call from an unknown person claiming to work for DHL, who said her parcel was detained by Chinese customs for containing illegal items. The attacker posed as the police and acquired victim’s Internet banking credentials and One-Time Password. She then discovered $36,000 was transferred from her bank account to an anonymous account. I myself received such ridiculous calls too! I told them I would call the police and hung up on them.
1. Ignore such calls
2. Do not provide any personal particulars, bank account information and credit card details
3. Report the matter to the police immediately
4. Play along with them and waste their time HAHAHAHA like the video below!
Here's a funny video of how Ministry of Funny exposed these scammers. ORBI GOOD!!
The DHL phone scam is a type of scam called phishing.
“Phishing is a form of fraud in which the attacker tries to learn information such as login credentials or account information by masquerading as a reputable entity or person in email, IM or other communication channels”.
In one of the news article I read, 4 Malaysian suspects swindled 155 victims of $12 million between end March and June 2016. Over 3000 police reports made regarding the DHL scam (Koh, 2016). One of the victims, a 32 year old woman received a phone call from an unknown person claiming to work for DHL, who said her parcel was detained by Chinese customs for containing illegal items. The attacker posed as the police and acquired victim’s Internet banking credentials and One-Time Password. She then discovered $36,000 was transferred from her bank account to an anonymous account. I myself received such ridiculous calls too! I told them I would call the police and hung up on them.
With regards to this matter, the Singapore Police Force then released a video which alerts the citizens about the scam and how we can prevent such issue from happening to us.
2. Do not provide any personal particulars, bank account information and credit card details
3. Report the matter to the police immediately
4. Play along with them and waste their time HAHAHAHA like the video below!
Here's a funny video of how Ministry of Funny exposed these scammers. ORBI GOOD!!
Till then!
Wednesday 2 November 2016
Week 6: Youtube video
Hello! Here's a mini vlog I did during my trip to Seoul last year dec-early Jan. So blurry because I compiled my snapchat videos. But still, do enjoy!
Annyeong!
Monday 31 October 2016
Week 5: eLearning
I still remember in primary school we used to have learning days whereby we were not required to attend school, but instead stay home to do assignments and submit them through the school portal or physically the next day. I must say it is not exactly as effective or helpful as it is, but it did help me to learn independently.
The future of digital classroom would give students more opportunities to engage using digital devices such as laptops and tablets. My cousin shared an interesting article on Facebook and I thought I would share it with you! It talks about how of school curriculum should be and I think it is something Singaporeans can adopt.
https://brightside.me/article/the-school-of-the-future-has-opened-in-finland-13755/
They mentioned that "Laptop computers, in fact, are this school's version of the school blackboard." For your info, it is a school for younger children. To use laptops for classes may mean to prepare these kids for the future as we continue to live in a digitalised world. Start from young as they say. But I hope they restrict their usage though.
A video about eLearning
The future of digital classroom would give students more opportunities to engage using digital devices such as laptops and tablets. My cousin shared an interesting article on Facebook and I thought I would share it with you! It talks about how of school curriculum should be and I think it is something Singaporeans can adopt.
https://brightside.me/article/the-school-of-the-future-has-opened-in-finland-13755/
They mentioned that "Laptop computers, in fact, are this school's version of the school blackboard." For your info, it is a school for younger children. To use laptops for classes may mean to prepare these kids for the future as we continue to live in a digitalised world. Start from young as they say. But I hope they restrict their usage though.
A video about eLearning
Till then.
Sunday 30 October 2016
Week 4: eBusiness
A week ago, my sister shared with me the news about every girl's dream online store, Nastygal. The link to the article can be found here https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/nasty-gal-what-went-wrong.
With 2.3 million followers on their Instagram page, what exactly went wrong?
Nasty Gal is a Los Angeles-based e-commerce company found in 2006 by #GIRLBOSS Sophia Amoruso. They were forced to shut down all 17 physical stores in May 2016. They were filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 9 nov to secure financial relief while it restructures. Below are a few reasons why they are failing as quoted from the article.
- Many of Nasty Gal’s vendors were owed several thousands of dollars in back payments. Some were owed more than $100,000.
- When the company raised its $40 million round in 2012, spurred by a jump in sales from a reported $28 million in 2011 to $128 million in 2012, it invested heavily in fulfilment and logistics.
- “Our decision to initiate a court-supervised restructuring will enable us to address our immediate liquidity issues, restructure our balance sheet and correct structural issues including reducing our high occupancy costs and restoring compliance with our debt covenants,” said Sheree Waterson, Nasty Gal’s chief executive officer.
This showed that Nastygal was quick to expand and did not manage their finances as well as they should have. It is a pity that they would be gone sooner or later, even with a large group of supporters.
Till then.
Friday 28 October 2016
Week 3: Social Networking for Business
Seems like I kinda talked about social networking for business in the form of social media marketing in the last blog post. So I'll talk about the benefits of social networking for business! https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-for-business/
1. Gain valuable customer insights. This allows you to be aware of your target audience's needs and wants, habits and interests.
2. Increase brand awareness and loyalty. Social media can help engage your customers, build relationships with them to provide the best customer service, make them have trust in your brand and support your services/produces.
3. Run targeted ads with real time results. Social media is an inexpensive and effective way to market your product. It allows you to target based on location, demographics, behaviours, interests etc and also track and measure the results instantly!
4. Generate higher profits. In the State of Social Selling in 2015, nearly 75 percent of companies that engaged in selling on social media reported an increase in sales in 12 months.
5. Provide rich customers experience. Businesses can reply to customer's feedback almost instantly as customers always look for fast and 24/7 response.
6. Increase website traffic and search ranking. Not only does social media help you direct people to your website, but the more social media shares you receive, the higher your search ranking will be.
7. Find out what your competitors are doing. It is a competitive and cruel world out there hence it is important to be aware and see how to improve your business so that it is on par or better than your competitors.
8. Share content faster and easier. Well, we all like things short and sweet. Hence the social media is a way to provide information in bite size pieces that are easy to digest.
9. Geotarget content. Geo-targeting is an effective way to send your message out to a specific audience based on their location. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have tools that allow you to communicate the right kind of content to your audience.
10. Build relationships not only with customers but people in other industries to widen your network and social circle.
With so many people using the social media these days, businesses have to keep up with their consumers in order to give them what they want/need.
Till then!
1. Gain valuable customer insights. This allows you to be aware of your target audience's needs and wants, habits and interests.
2. Increase brand awareness and loyalty. Social media can help engage your customers, build relationships with them to provide the best customer service, make them have trust in your brand and support your services/produces.
3. Run targeted ads with real time results. Social media is an inexpensive and effective way to market your product. It allows you to target based on location, demographics, behaviours, interests etc and also track and measure the results instantly!
4. Generate higher profits. In the State of Social Selling in 2015, nearly 75 percent of companies that engaged in selling on social media reported an increase in sales in 12 months.
5. Provide rich customers experience. Businesses can reply to customer's feedback almost instantly as customers always look for fast and 24/7 response.
6. Increase website traffic and search ranking. Not only does social media help you direct people to your website, but the more social media shares you receive, the higher your search ranking will be.
7. Find out what your competitors are doing. It is a competitive and cruel world out there hence it is important to be aware and see how to improve your business so that it is on par or better than your competitors.
8. Share content faster and easier. Well, we all like things short and sweet. Hence the social media is a way to provide information in bite size pieces that are easy to digest.
9. Geotarget content. Geo-targeting is an effective way to send your message out to a specific audience based on their location. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have tools that allow you to communicate the right kind of content to your audience.
10. Build relationships not only with customers but people in other industries to widen your network and social circle.
With so many people using the social media these days, businesses have to keep up with their consumers in order to give them what they want/need.
Till then!
Wednesday 26 October 2016
Week 2: Social Media
Social media is dominating our lives. We use it for almost anything and everything.. To check the weather forecast, read the news, be a KPO and see what your friends are up to, watch viral videos, get information about products/services, post #ootd photos on Instagram, get inspiration, marketing products and the list goes on...... Without social media, I think we will feel lost because we rely on it so much. So, is social media good or bad? I personally feel it's for the better. It is a way to connect with people all over the world and be exposed to a wide variety of content that TV/newspaper/books don't present to us. Let's see some of the most influential social media campaigns that went viral!
1. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
The #IceBucketChallenge was a campaign to raise awareness for the illness, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. You simply throw a bucket of ice over your head if you are nominated, post it on social media and nominate someone else. This what made this challenge so successful. Easy, exciting and spreads like wild fire.
2. Dove Real Beauty Sketches
The Dove campaign was used to improve the mentality of women on how they view themselves. FBI trained forensic artist drew faces of the participants with the help of the participant's, family's and friend's description of themselves. The participants then realised they have overly criticised themselves. You are indeed more beautiful than you think. Within the first 10 days, this video was shared on Facebook 630,000 times! Social media campaign done right, I would say.
3. World Suicide Prevention Week
Something a little local.. The Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) and TBWA\Singapore partnered together to launch a new campaign - Wear a plaster. End the Silence. The campaign encourages wear an SOS plaster on their inner wrists to show their support for the victims. The plaster serves as a conversation starter so people can talk about it and prevent suicide. You can even change your profile picture to the SOS plaster or take a photo with it and post on social media to raise awareness and pass the word around. #howru? I hope you are doing fine. You will be fine :)
A bonus video that I really love and would like to share it with you. It's just so cute and it shows how girls (and boys and anybody) can imagine the possibilities!
Till then!
1. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
The #IceBucketChallenge was a campaign to raise awareness for the illness, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. You simply throw a bucket of ice over your head if you are nominated, post it on social media and nominate someone else. This what made this challenge so successful. Easy, exciting and spreads like wild fire.
2. Dove Real Beauty Sketches
The Dove campaign was used to improve the mentality of women on how they view themselves. FBI trained forensic artist drew faces of the participants with the help of the participant's, family's and friend's description of themselves. The participants then realised they have overly criticised themselves. You are indeed more beautiful than you think. Within the first 10 days, this video was shared on Facebook 630,000 times! Social media campaign done right, I would say.
3. World Suicide Prevention Week
A bonus video that I really love and would like to share it with you. It's just so cute and it shows how girls (and boys and anybody) can imagine the possibilities!
Oh, I found this which summarises how to get started on social media marketing!
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Monday 26 September 2016
Week 1: Web 1.0 2.0 3.0
Hello world! I am Amelia aka Ameow aka Amems aka Kahmunam. I am taking a COM125 module, Introduction to the Internet by Mr Abel Choy (Hi, if you're reading this!). This space is where I share my opinions, thoughts, knowledge and discovery about the internet. I hope I don't bore you haha!
I was just born when Web 1.0 came out in 1996. You could only receive information from the websites alongside with other 45 million users. I can't imagine how boring the websites looked last time, just simply black and white or flashy with bad graphic design skills.
Then of course, things got so much better in the 2000s. Web 2.0 came about in 2006 with more than a billion users. I am a huge fan of the internet. It not only provides me with information, it allows me to have a platform to say what I want to say, be it my thoughts or even this blog post alone to share my knowledge. I am able to interact with my friends and strangers online from all over the world. Youtube is the best form of entertainment. Beauty and lifestyle videos, music videos, comedy sketches, drama shows, recipe videos and the list goes on! Who needs the TV now! All these content creators online provides a even greater variety of entertainment to our lives.
I am pretty amazed by Web 3.0. Honestly speaking, I don't even know if I can handle it in the future! (or is it already happening?) Artificial intelligence, machine-to-machine interaction, computers that can read our minds? Not prepared for it.. hahaha.
Above is a summary of what impact Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 have on e-commerce and online advertising. "We believe this is what you are looking for." connects with me because everyone wants to purchase the right products for the right purposes. Unlike Web 2.0 which we read reviews and forums before buying things, Web 3.0 is so much better as it is more personalised and accurate in terms of decision making. Well, I guess advancing is not a bad idea after all. Cheers to making better choices!!
Have a great day everyone! Peace.
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