In the future, plain blogging will no longer be an assignment for COM 125 courses (If there is still one). At the very least, it will be modified.
In the future, there will be no such thing as typing down and posting your daily events, or even our opinions.
In the future, bloggers will be able to purchase a device, called the iblog, and whatever Microsoft wants to call it.
This device is extremely portable and it can be carried around with bloggers anytime, anywhere and everywhere. It automatic records down and saves any activity the blogger goes through, and even any thoughts or opinions he/she has about a particular issue. All these bloggers have to do is to choose, and of course, censors before putting up a blog post.
In the future, there will definitely be a clearer convergence between blogging, participation, and brainstorming.
If one is dirty minded, it is advisable to set his iblog to the safe mode. This is to save himself from troubles.
And of course, save himself from the penalization of grades by Dr/Mr Abel Choy due to an accidental explicit post. (:
Monday, April 25, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Different forms of communications. (Free Post)
As the saying goes, “It’s not about what you say; it’s about how you say it.”
Non-verbal communication is indeed a powerful way in expressing yourself. As all of us should have known by now that non-verbal communication involves sending a message to the receiver without words conveyed. Have you ever said something stupid to your other half and he/she merely rolled eyes without giving a verbal reply? Or have you ever told a bad lie to your mummy and she raised an eyebrow? Well, these are just typical examples of non-verbal communication which occurs frequently in our lives.
With some thought, I came to realise that non-verbal communication can be categorized into two different forms; intentional and unintentional. Well, which category of non-verbal communications do you think each of the earlier examples fall into? This, I would say is another story. It is psychology, which I do not want to delve into, especially when I am rushing my COMMUNICATION assignment. ): However, this little pondering that I just had did give me another realization; certain types of non-verbal communications can actually fall into both intentional, and unintentional. One of them would definitely be body language. In some circumstances, your body language does truly express your thoughts and feelings. For example, if you are one who is extremely afraid of the supernatural world, you will definitely cringe, or even scream loudly if you see a ghost. This is when body language falls under unintentional non-verbal communications. Such cases usually occur to children, whose adolescence caused them to be more self-centered. They therefore tend to not hide their feelings and whatever usage of body language would most likely be the true interpretation of their thoughts and feelings at that point of time. However, body language does fall into intentional non-verbal communication as one grows older. This is when maturity steps in, which complicates one’s character and thoughts. As one grows older, there will be more circumstances where his/her body language is not a true representation of his thoughts and feelings, as it could act as a tool to achieve certain purposes. For example, when a young man goes to a nightclub, his body language would suddenly become that of an “alpha male”. He may purposely walk at a slower pace or suck in his tummy in order to achieve his purpose; maximize his sex appeal. Such is an example of body language which falls under the category of intentional non-verbal communications.
During this time when different forms of non-verbal communication fill my mind, I suddenly thought of The Morse Code. It is a type of character encoding that transmits telegraphic information using rhythm and it uses a standardized sequence of short and long elements to represent the letters, numerals, punctuation and special characters of a given message. To me, it is a form of non-verbal communication as words are not being used to convey messages. And it definitely falls under intentional non-verbal communication. (You cannot “unintentionally” apply the Morse code?) The Morse code is definitely a very powerful and sophisticated way of communication and it is usually applied to achieve a purpose of huge importance. It is usually used to convey a secret message to another party.
From the movie, “Infernal Affairs”, the mole of the police force actually joined a particular secret society in order to spy on them. However, the method he uses to give out information of the activities of the secret society has to be extremely discreet in order not to put himself at risk. He can’t possibly just take out his cell phone and calls his superior in the police force, especially in the midst of certain dangerous gang activity. Therefore, he uses the Morse code to communicate with his superior and sabotaged the gang in many instances. That came to be very useful in many occasions of the movie. And eventually, not only did he manage to survive in the gang for a long time, he became the right hand man of the gang, trusted by the leader, and earned great respect from his fellow gang members. At 1:26 of the video posted, the Morse code is being used.
P.S. This is an awesome movie! A Must watch. (:
BUT, in the communication notes, it is written that non-verbal communication uses the right brain, while the application of the Morse code involves the left brain. However, again, the Morse code definitely does not involve any words. So is the Morse code non-verbal communication or verbal communication? Or is it neither?
Non-verbal communication is indeed a powerful way in expressing yourself. As all of us should have known by now that non-verbal communication involves sending a message to the receiver without words conveyed. Have you ever said something stupid to your other half and he/she merely rolled eyes without giving a verbal reply? Or have you ever told a bad lie to your mummy and she raised an eyebrow? Well, these are just typical examples of non-verbal communication which occurs frequently in our lives.
With some thought, I came to realise that non-verbal communication can be categorized into two different forms; intentional and unintentional. Well, which category of non-verbal communications do you think each of the earlier examples fall into? This, I would say is another story. It is psychology, which I do not want to delve into, especially when I am rushing my COMMUNICATION assignment. ): However, this little pondering that I just had did give me another realization; certain types of non-verbal communications can actually fall into both intentional, and unintentional. One of them would definitely be body language. In some circumstances, your body language does truly express your thoughts and feelings. For example, if you are one who is extremely afraid of the supernatural world, you will definitely cringe, or even scream loudly if you see a ghost. This is when body language falls under unintentional non-verbal communications. Such cases usually occur to children, whose adolescence caused them to be more self-centered. They therefore tend to not hide their feelings and whatever usage of body language would most likely be the true interpretation of their thoughts and feelings at that point of time. However, body language does fall into intentional non-verbal communication as one grows older. This is when maturity steps in, which complicates one’s character and thoughts. As one grows older, there will be more circumstances where his/her body language is not a true representation of his thoughts and feelings, as it could act as a tool to achieve certain purposes. For example, when a young man goes to a nightclub, his body language would suddenly become that of an “alpha male”. He may purposely walk at a slower pace or suck in his tummy in order to achieve his purpose; maximize his sex appeal. Such is an example of body language which falls under the category of intentional non-verbal communications.
During this time when different forms of non-verbal communication fill my mind, I suddenly thought of The Morse Code. It is a type of character encoding that transmits telegraphic information using rhythm and it uses a standardized sequence of short and long elements to represent the letters, numerals, punctuation and special characters of a given message. To me, it is a form of non-verbal communication as words are not being used to convey messages. And it definitely falls under intentional non-verbal communication. (You cannot “unintentionally” apply the Morse code?) The Morse code is definitely a very powerful and sophisticated way of communication and it is usually applied to achieve a purpose of huge importance. It is usually used to convey a secret message to another party.
From the movie, “Infernal Affairs”, the mole of the police force actually joined a particular secret society in order to spy on them. However, the method he uses to give out information of the activities of the secret society has to be extremely discreet in order not to put himself at risk. He can’t possibly just take out his cell phone and calls his superior in the police force, especially in the midst of certain dangerous gang activity. Therefore, he uses the Morse code to communicate with his superior and sabotaged the gang in many instances. That came to be very useful in many occasions of the movie. And eventually, not only did he manage to survive in the gang for a long time, he became the right hand man of the gang, trusted by the leader, and earned great respect from his fellow gang members. At 1:26 of the video posted, the Morse code is being used.
P.S. This is an awesome movie! A Must watch. (:
BUT, in the communication notes, it is written that non-verbal communication uses the right brain, while the application of the Morse code involves the left brain. However, again, the Morse code definitely does not involve any words. So is the Morse code non-verbal communication or verbal communication? Or is it neither?
Monday, April 11, 2011
Internet and the rise of Obama
Arianna Huffington, editor in chief of The Huffington post once said, “Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not be president. Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not have been the nominee.”
It is very true. Obama competed with candidates who were seemingly way more promising. Those nominees were of higher social status and power, and of course, not to forget, they were white.
But the significant role of the Internet has indeed greatly aided him in his way to presidency. At the same time, what Arianna Huffington had said also proved Barack Obama to be an expert in this form of media, as it is definitely not as easy as it seemed to be to work with the new media with his level of efficiency. Moreover, it was not as if the other candidates had no access to the Internet.
So, how exactly did Mister President do it?
Well, that you got to ask him yourself! It’s not that I am unable to analyze what and how he had effectively made use of the Internet, but I simply believe that putting it down in words is not enough. In simple words, he was able to reach out to the online community, which consists of many young people, and eventually captured their hearts. Just like how former president John. F. Kennedy did with the television then.
Well, I am able to let you (and myself) have a glimpse of how Obama extensively used the Internet. Not only that he took advantage of YouTube for free advertis let ing, where it was argued that the videos were more effective as viewers chose to watch them themselves instead of having their television shows interrupted, he even started a website called MyWhiteHouse.gov to talk to the citizens.
We all know that he was successful in capturing the attention of voters via the Internet, but do we know how successful? Let me give you a glimpse of that too!
His campaign’s official video on YouTube was watched for 14.5 million hours! (That would have cost $47 million on the TV.)
And of course, he made use of social networking sites as well!
Below is the list showing some facts of how Obama was "all over the place" in social media during his campaign:
• Obama has gained 5 million supporters in third party social networks.
• Obama maintained a profile in more than 15 online communities, including BlackPlanet, a MySpace for African Americans, and Eons, a Facebook for baby boomers.
• On Facebook, where about 3.2 million (during the campaign) signed up as his supporters.
And Facebook users did vote: On Facebook's Election 2008 page, which listed an 800 number to call for voting problems, more than 5.4 million users clicked on an "I Voted" button to let their Facebook friends know that they made it to the polls!
• About 200,000 offline events were planned
• About 400,000 blog posts were written
And more than 35,000 volunteer groups were created - at least 1,000 of them on Feb. 10, 2007, the day Obama announced his candidacy.
Are you impressed now?
You can even go and take a look at the full presentation here
All these facts also showed a substantial amount of efforts by him during his election period too.
Barack Obama on his blackberry during his election period, possibly working out something for his campaign via the Internet.
Last but not least, feel free to take a look at his YouTube channel! And you can go be one of the 202898 subscribers.
It is very true. Obama competed with candidates who were seemingly way more promising. Those nominees were of higher social status and power, and of course, not to forget, they were white.
But the significant role of the Internet has indeed greatly aided him in his way to presidency. At the same time, what Arianna Huffington had said also proved Barack Obama to be an expert in this form of media, as it is definitely not as easy as it seemed to be to work with the new media with his level of efficiency. Moreover, it was not as if the other candidates had no access to the Internet.
So, how exactly did Mister President do it?
Well, that you got to ask him yourself! It’s not that I am unable to analyze what and how he had effectively made use of the Internet, but I simply believe that putting it down in words is not enough. In simple words, he was able to reach out to the online community, which consists of many young people, and eventually captured their hearts. Just like how former president John. F. Kennedy did with the television then.
Well, I am able to let you (and myself) have a glimpse of how Obama extensively used the Internet. Not only that he took advantage of YouTube for free advertis let ing, where it was argued that the videos were more effective as viewers chose to watch them themselves instead of having their television shows interrupted, he even started a website called MyWhiteHouse.gov to talk to the citizens.
We all know that he was successful in capturing the attention of voters via the Internet, but do we know how successful? Let me give you a glimpse of that too!
His campaign’s official video on YouTube was watched for 14.5 million hours! (That would have cost $47 million on the TV.)
And of course, he made use of social networking sites as well!
Below is the list showing some facts of how Obama was "all over the place" in social media during his campaign:
• Obama has gained 5 million supporters in third party social networks.
• Obama maintained a profile in more than 15 online communities, including BlackPlanet, a MySpace for African Americans, and Eons, a Facebook for baby boomers.
• On Facebook, where about 3.2 million (during the campaign) signed up as his supporters.
And Facebook users did vote: On Facebook's Election 2008 page, which listed an 800 number to call for voting problems, more than 5.4 million users clicked on an "I Voted" button to let their Facebook friends know that they made it to the polls!
• About 200,000 offline events were planned
• About 400,000 blog posts were written
And more than 35,000 volunteer groups were created - at least 1,000 of them on Feb. 10, 2007, the day Obama announced his candidacy.
Are you impressed now?
You can even go and take a look at the full presentation here
All these facts also showed a substantial amount of efforts by him during his election period too.
Barack Obama on his blackberry during his election period, possibly working out something for his campaign via the Internet.
Last but not least, feel free to take a look at his YouTube channel! And you can go be one of the 202898 subscribers.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Google: "Let me help you with your running regime!"
Now that I am going to take my reservist IPPT in a month’s time, I am starting to see the need to go running regularly. As I put on my running gear for the first time after god knows how long last week, the ignorance of distance I would be covering came to me as a concern. Without knowing the distance I would be covering between 2 points, I would not be able to accurately gauge my improvements of subsequent trainings.
The first possible solution that came to my mind was to ask a friend who is a professional marathon runner, hoping that he would happen to know the distance between the 2 points that I plan to run.
So I called him up.
“Hey come on dude, how the hell would I know?! You can check it yourself at Google distance calculator though.” was his reply.
I have to admit that I am a mountain turtle when it comes to the virtual technologies. I didn’t know that there was such a thing before that day. But it is never too late to learn I guess.
From then on, I never have a problem in gauging the distance between any 2 points that I plan to carry out my trainings.
Have you guys ever been too ambitious and underestimated the distance between 2 points? The moment you started your run, you realized that it was a huge mistake. You ended up taking a bus home.
I had.
But with Google distance calculator, I can now gauge beforehand whether the distance between a certain 2 points is too far for me to conquer at my current fitness. How awesome is that!
Of course, this is definitely not the sole purpose of Google distance calculator. You can even find out the distance between 2 different cities if you are planning to go on a road trip or a backpacking trip!
I shall not speak too much about it and let you guys explore it on your own. Let me end off by showing you guys a screenshot of an example of my running plan, and of course, provide you guys with the link!
Diseases in the virtual world
We all know that if one practices unprotected sex, he/she may suffer the risk of contracting a disease or virus. That disease may sometimes be fatal, and most of the times extremely difficult to be cured and removed totally from one’s body. However, this does not only happen in the real world!
Watching and downloading sexual content from the Internet to your “unprotected” computer would risk it from contracting diseases from the virtual world too. And similarly, such “diseases”, once contracted, can be extremely difficult to get rid of from your computer as well.
Here’s a video to show you how such viruses can even auto-generate and multiply!
Just like condoms were invented in the real world, anti-virus software act as contraceptives to your computer in the virtual world too. But just like condoms in the real world, again, these software can never provide a 100% protection to your computer against viruses as well.
Now, this question that many of us have always been asking pops out once again!
Why do People Create Computer Viruses then?
Well, there are basically a few main reasons viruses are created.
1) To take control of a computer and use it for specific tasks
2) To generate money
3) To steal sensitive information (credit card numbers, passwords, personal details, data etc.)
4) To prove a point, to prove it can be done, to prove one’s skill or for revenge purposes
5) To cripple a computer or network
It will take forever for me too explain all of these reasons. Hence, I am just going to give a brief explanation of 1) and 3), the more relevant reasons for viruses to be found on pornographic websites.
It is indeed smart of the creators to create these viruses on pornographic websites. They tackle the human’s lustful nature to make sure that a large number of people, or rather computers would become the victim of their viruses, and eventually end up as slaves to their purposes.
To take control of a computer and use it for specific tasks
- This sort of viruses is known as the Trojans and they are one of the most commonly seen around.
- Once being infected, the particular computer becomes a slave to a “master” computer (the virus creator) and may become a scapegoat to perform certain tasks to another rival website so that the “master” computer can remain anonymous.
- The “master” computer can command each of these infected computers to send tiny bits of information to a web server and due to the very fact that there are thousands of computers doing this at the same time, it often overloads the server.
To steal sensitive information
Well, this probably does not need much explanation from me.
It is basically viruses created to detect the traffic going in or out of a computer for interesting or precious information such as passwords or credit card numbers and send it back to the virus creator.
These are basically 2 of the many reasons why viruses are created. If you people are interested in the rest of the reasons, you can go get some...virus!!!
Nah I am just kidding, you can go ahead and click on it! I am serious. (;
Of course, having said all these, there’s just one last similarity that I have spotted between the real world and the virtual world in this particular realm.
Prevention is always better than cure. (:
Friday, March 18, 2011
Congratulations, victim.
“Congratulations Mr Chik!
We are very happy to announce that you are one of the 6 grand-prize winners of our annual lottery draw!
To retrieve your cheque of 850000.00 Pounds, simply reply to the above email to acknowledge!
We look forward to presenting this magnificent reward to you, our valued participant of the draw.
Once again, congratulations to you!”
Does this look rather familiar to any of you?
I was extremely excited when I saw this email that I have received about 1 year ago, and immediately went on to reply to it!
“Oh my God! I thought you are smarter than that Chik!”
“What the heck Chik! Haven’t you heard of the saying that there’s no free lunch? You are so dumb!!”
Yes, yes, I see that coming, people.
But come on! Do you really think that I did not know that such emails are scams?
Is that what you think?
It doesn’t matter what you think! Because I know what I am doing!
Before any of you start to mock at me for being too darn naïve to fall for a scam like this, allow me to continue with this story. (:
But for those of you who are lost, this is probably the best link I have for you.
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/lotteries.php
Well basically, I replied to that email solely for experimentation. We have all heard of stories about how countless “winners” have been scammed by such organizations. Hence, I decided to proceed to experience myself (with caution of course!) to see how this entire system works, and possibly spot some loopholes.
To my surprise, I got an enthusiastic reply almost immediately from them requesting for me fill in certain particulars of myself so that they can verify that I am the true winner, or rather victim. I must say, honestly, that they seemed truly experienced and professional in handling the operation till now. They even stated that I have to reply within 2 working days or else the prize may be forfeited. This tactic would probably urge those skeptical “winners” to decide fast and reply to their email quickly, just in case that they may get busy and forget about it.
Finally, after all the verification work to be done by me, they sent me a final email confirming, and at the same time congratulating me that I am truly their long awaited and anticipated prey. At the same time, they gave me a description of how the parcel will be like just in case of the fact that I am not able to receive it. They even informed me in the email that I would be receiving a call from their company in UK for a final verification.
Now now now, the trap can finally be seen! In that email, they gave me 3 choices of how I want the parcel containing $850000 to be shipped to me.
Option 1: COURIER AIR EXPRESS ( 24 Hours )
£530.95 Pounds ( Equivalent to $1,050 US Dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Option 2: COURIER AIR EXPRESS (2 working days)
£500.95 Pounds ( Equivalent to $992 US Dollars!!!!!!!!)
Option 3 POST OFFICE MAIL (3 working days)
£470.95 Pounds ( Equivalent to $932 US Dollars!!!!!!)
Well, these figures may seem astronomical, but there are really still people around who are ignorant enough to think that such shipping prices are nothing compared to the huge prize money they will be receiving later on. Not. (:
Yes this is the whole point. In my case, they basically aim to tackle my greed and trick me into paying that shipping fee as I anticipate the arrival of the big prize, which will never ever come.
Did I mention that they really did call me? Apparently, this British guy really did so to congratulate me, and of course not forgetting to tell me to make my choice of shipment type fast. He sounded really sincere and willing. (Who wouldn’t if he is trying to get money from you?)
And of course, I took this opportunity to have some fun! :D
Me: “Can you transfer my prize money to my bank account?”
Him: “Oh there’s actually the prize money, as well as other fabulous gifts and vouchers as well. That’s why we need to ship it over in a parcel form for you, sir.”
Me: “Oh I see. Hmm how about that? Forget the gifts and vouchers. I know it’s my loss, but no worries. Just transfer to me the money?”
Him: “Ok sir, we hope that you can understand, but it’s our policy that when we give, we give our best. We want our winners to receive the best. Trust me, Mr Chik, you won’t regret it.” (I’ve got to admit that it’s quite a good answer.)
Me: “Oh wow. Ok in that case, I shall go and select my choice right now and reply to the email. Thank you very much.”
Him: “You are most welcome Mr Chik. Once again, I just want to say congratulations to you.”
Me: “Oh no wait. On another thought, I don’t think I deserve the prize…”
Him: “No, you do Mr Chik…”
Me: “No, I have made up my mind, please donate my prize to the UK National Kidney Federation instead. The patients deserve it more.”
Him (Sounding surprisingly disappointed and worried): “Mr Chik, look…”
Me: “Thank you very much. Goodbye.”
We are very happy to announce that you are one of the 6 grand-prize winners of our annual lottery draw!
To retrieve your cheque of 850000.00 Pounds, simply reply to the above email to acknowledge!
We look forward to presenting this magnificent reward to you, our valued participant of the draw.
Once again, congratulations to you!”
Does this look rather familiar to any of you?
I was extremely excited when I saw this email that I have received about 1 year ago, and immediately went on to reply to it!
“Oh my God! I thought you are smarter than that Chik!”
“What the heck Chik! Haven’t you heard of the saying that there’s no free lunch? You are so dumb!!”
Yes, yes, I see that coming, people.
But come on! Do you really think that I did not know that such emails are scams?
Is that what you think?
It doesn’t matter what you think! Because I know what I am doing!
Before any of you start to mock at me for being too darn naïve to fall for a scam like this, allow me to continue with this story. (:
But for those of you who are lost, this is probably the best link I have for you.
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/lotteries.php
Well basically, I replied to that email solely for experimentation. We have all heard of stories about how countless “winners” have been scammed by such organizations. Hence, I decided to proceed to experience myself (with caution of course!) to see how this entire system works, and possibly spot some loopholes.
To my surprise, I got an enthusiastic reply almost immediately from them requesting for me fill in certain particulars of myself so that they can verify that I am the true winner, or rather victim. I must say, honestly, that they seemed truly experienced and professional in handling the operation till now. They even stated that I have to reply within 2 working days or else the prize may be forfeited. This tactic would probably urge those skeptical “winners” to decide fast and reply to their email quickly, just in case that they may get busy and forget about it.
Finally, after all the verification work to be done by me, they sent me a final email confirming, and at the same time congratulating me that I am truly their long awaited and anticipated prey. At the same time, they gave me a description of how the parcel will be like just in case of the fact that I am not able to receive it. They even informed me in the email that I would be receiving a call from their company in UK for a final verification.
Now now now, the trap can finally be seen! In that email, they gave me 3 choices of how I want the parcel containing $850000 to be shipped to me.
Option 1: COURIER AIR EXPRESS ( 24 Hours )
£530.95 Pounds ( Equivalent to $1,050 US Dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Option 2: COURIER AIR EXPRESS (2 working days)
£500.95 Pounds ( Equivalent to $992 US Dollars!!!!!!!!)
Option 3 POST OFFICE MAIL (3 working days)
£470.95 Pounds ( Equivalent to $932 US Dollars!!!!!!)
Well, these figures may seem astronomical, but there are really still people around who are ignorant enough to think that such shipping prices are nothing compared to the huge prize money they will be receiving later on. Not. (:
Yes this is the whole point. In my case, they basically aim to tackle my greed and trick me into paying that shipping fee as I anticipate the arrival of the big prize, which will never ever come.
Did I mention that they really did call me? Apparently, this British guy really did so to congratulate me, and of course not forgetting to tell me to make my choice of shipment type fast. He sounded really sincere and willing. (Who wouldn’t if he is trying to get money from you?)
And of course, I took this opportunity to have some fun! :D
Me: “Can you transfer my prize money to my bank account?”
Him: “Oh there’s actually the prize money, as well as other fabulous gifts and vouchers as well. That’s why we need to ship it over in a parcel form for you, sir.”
Me: “Oh I see. Hmm how about that? Forget the gifts and vouchers. I know it’s my loss, but no worries. Just transfer to me the money?”
Him: “Ok sir, we hope that you can understand, but it’s our policy that when we give, we give our best. We want our winners to receive the best. Trust me, Mr Chik, you won’t regret it.” (I’ve got to admit that it’s quite a good answer.)
Me: “Oh wow. Ok in that case, I shall go and select my choice right now and reply to the email. Thank you very much.”
Him: “You are most welcome Mr Chik. Once again, I just want to say congratulations to you.”
Me: “Oh no wait. On another thought, I don’t think I deserve the prize…”
Him: “No, you do Mr Chik…”
Me: “No, I have made up my mind, please donate my prize to the UK National Kidney Federation instead. The patients deserve it more.”
Him (Sounding surprisingly disappointed and worried): “Mr Chik, look…”
Me: “Thank you very much. Goodbye.”
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