Week 7 (Internet Security)

As the Internet expands, there were be all kinds of users. Most of us use it for news, information, businesses, chatting, downloading, and etc.

However, there a group of people who use the Internet for crime, attacks, stealing, fraud, and many other illegal internet activities. Basically, these people are called hackers. These individuals are talented computer users who can find loop holes, backdoors, crash a system, change data and many other things thah most of us don't even know about.

In Singapore, a country where the Internet is virtually everywhere, cybercrime inevitably will occur. For example, a Singapore man called Lin Zhenghuang was charged for posting a fake warning of a bomb in a bus stop. This was after the London Bombings which made the fake warning more of a serious crime. He was also charged for illegally accessing wireless networks between 2005 and 2006.

In order to protect your computer, there are several things that are required.
Firstly, always update your Windows software as it will have patches to prevent security threats that occurred recently. Next is to buy and install an Anti-virus software. This further protects your computer from any potential viruses,trojans, and worms. Make sure that the Anti-virus software is always updated and buy the latest version each year. Anti-virus programs like Norton is a good way to start.
Another important step is to make sure your internet browser is up to date as well, as it prevents other threats that are online. Firefox is a good browser as it always informs you of their latest updates.

Week 6 (Internet+Tools)

We all know what is Google and all of us have probably used it many times. Interestingly, not many people are aware of Google Tools, a set of browser tools that help the user to search specific fields of interest.

Recently, i tried my hands on Google Earth, which is a program that allows you to view the world's places. It is real simple, type the place that you want to view and it goes to that location.

Since i had to learn and create a video using Microsoft Movie Maker, here is a small video i made. The video contains pictures of me, the artists that i like to listen to, and the games i play.



After making my video, i felt that it was a great learning experience. I always assume that making videos were very hard but movie maker made it much easier than i expected. It is user-friendly and making the video was a breeze.

Week 5 (Authentic+Learning)

Now with today's modern technology, learning has become easier and it is now more accessible than before. Digital media like the computer, internet, television, DVD players, mobile devices (cellphones) and many others.

Even with these wonderful devices, not everyone is able to use it effectively for learning. In my opinion, supervision is the first important step in knowing how to use these digital media tools. An expert who can teach and support anyone in the proper use of these digital media tools, will allow the individual to become an expert or further advance the usage of those digital media tools.

For me i think that digital media is an excellent thing to excel in, as it allows for further learning. For example, i admit that the internet is possibly the best digital media tool to use for learning. You can basically get any type of information u need with just the click of your mouse. For me, knowing how to use the internet has allowed me to do many research papers as the sources there and you just need to find it.

As far as i know, digital classes are still in the development stage as it has not bee proven to provide a full education. It has been done before in some classes but it still has not replaced the traditional form of the teacher and students in a classroom. So far, it looks good but people have to change their mindsets and slowly allow digital classrooms, and to see whether it will indeed work.

What is Microsoft Surface? In summary, it is a multi-touch product from Microsoft which is developed as a software and hardware combination technology that allows a user, or multiple users, to manipulate digital content by the use of natural motions, hand gestures, or physical objects.

How will this kind of digital media fare in the future? In my opinion, besides the fact it looks cool, it looks really expensive to obtain it. Using it may require training and time as it does look complicated to use. However it does look it will make learning more fun and interactive and certain businesses may benefit from it. At the moment, Microsoft Surface is standing on a fence, it can either be a total failure or a great success, only time will tell.

Week 4 (E-commerce)

Electric commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the internet and other computer networks.

E-commerce has grown a lot since the start of the internet, and it had many successes and failures.

In order to be successful in e-commerce, there are 10 key factors that ensure success.
1) A clear vision and goal
2) Patience and a long-term view
3) Taking calculated risks
4) Continuous improvement
5) Successful sites employ good advisors
6) They make decisions quickly and change their mind slowly
7) The consumer is king
8) Successful sites embrace technology and change
9) Be fair and honest with customers and suppliers
10) There is no such thing as easy money

However, there are some e-commerce that have failed.

The 10 reasons of failure are:
1) Your site is not based on achieving your website objectives
2) Your website is too generic
3) Your budget only included web design and development
4) Your site has no appeal
5) Your website contains little to no content
6) You have an intro page
7) Your web design sucks
8) You used hosting software to easily build your own website
9) You hired out your web design and development to a near-third-world-country
10) You hired your nephew

E-marketing is the next thing to be created during the spread of e-commerce. Many people have ventured into e-marketing and there are some ways to improve your chances to be successful. Firstly, the foundation to any online marketing campaign is a Search Marketing strategy comprised of paid search marketing (Pay Per Click - PPC) and organic search marketing (Search Engine Optimisation - SEO). With SEO and PPC it is relatively easy to ensure success if you follow the following tips:

1) Keyword - choose keywords wisely
2) Content Relevancy is key
3) Clear navigation
4) Call to Actions

Finally, there is the issue about the security, privacy and legal issues for e-business. There are many concerns about these issues like hackers who hack into many e-businesses and have stole or leaked vital information. Then there are some e-businesses that have violated certain laws to gain an advantage. Overall, these issues will always be there, and there are companies that are making a profit by ensuring security.

What is Social Media?

Social media are primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. (Source from wikipedia)

Social media have come in the forms of blogs, video sharing, podcasts, wikis, and so on.
However, there is a another form of social media that stands out from the above mentioned. That social media is called 'Second Life'

Second Life is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab that launched on June 23, 2003 and is accessible via the Internet. A free client program called the Second Life Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world, which residents refer to as the grid. (source from wikipedia)

Besides the official Second Life, online games like World of Warcraft have become like a form of Second Life to many people who play the game. Although many people do not take it too seriously, there are some who actually believe they really inside the game itself.

One more interesting form of Social Media is RSS (Rich Site Summary). RSS is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.

Well thats all for today (sorry for late post, busy preparing for Chinese New Year)

Week 1 (Introduction to the internet)

After the first week of com125, i have learned many facts that i did not before about the internet i used daily in my life.

Firstly, what is the internet? Most people would probably have their own definition. The technical term basically is that the internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that interchange data by packet switching using the standardized internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies. (Thank you Wikipedia for the definition)

The other important fact about the internet is its history. How was it created? The important word is 'ARPANET'. How does ARPANET got to do with the creation of the internet we use today? Basically, ARPANET developed by ARPA of the United States Department of Defense, was the world's first operational packet switching network. After ARPANET was created, the next stage was to add desktop PCs which connected through telephone wires. After the desktop PC stage, wireless connections were the next to be added to laptops. Currently, the internet is evolving to allow mobile phone internet connectivity ubiquitously using cellular networks.

In my opinion, the internet is has become so huge that it has somehow intergrated itself into daily lives.

I'm off to bed for now, that is all folks.