cArPe DiEm...

if i let u go...

2007-04-17T16:09:00.001+08:00

a shot @ singshot

2007-04-17T14:32:00.001+08:00

QotW10:Second Life:Reincarnation in the same life?

2007-04-06T23:02:00.000+08:00

Me!

Euphrosyne Whitfield is my name on Second Life. The reason behind the name? Well, my friends often tease me for my lack of imagination when it comes to creating user names. I wanted to prove them wrong by choosing something not too bad this time. I decided on Euphrosyne, as it was the name of the Goddess of Joy in Greek mythology and sounds actually nice. Remembering the name? Well, that is a totally different question. I guess I have to rely on my bad memory or write it down somewhere. But then again I may have trouble remembering where I wrote it down. Too much of digression. Let me continue talking about my avatar.

I entered the orientation island with much enthusiasm. I Could walk through water (not on water. I am not Jesus). However, I was soon faced with a barrier (literally). I encountered a high fence and was trying to get around it. A guy started chatting with me. However, I scared him away by flying over the fence. My failed attempts in flying made me end up in the bushes. My sister was standing behind me laughing her head off.Argh..Feeling tired of the routine of failing, I decided to teleport myself out of it to a club. I felt like a ghost because there were many who walked just past me.

After three days, I teleported myself to a place called “Dreams Come True”. It was really interesting. There were accessories, paintings amongst others sold there.

At Dreams

Come True

Siiting at the gallery

Then I decided to make my avatar look like me. I darkened the skin tone, made the hair rumpled and thicker, widened the eyes and lengthened the eyelashes. I know that I do not have a nice (I believe in euphemisms) nose. I did not realise the extent of it until I tried to alter my avatar’s nose. Oh my god! What a horrible nose I have. It is big And blunt. The truth really hurts. Wishing not to learn any more horrible truths about my features, I decided to slightly alter my clothes. I changed the tights into a skirt and the back of my shirt.

Asking for Directions

I remembered Kevin saying that there are many places on Second Life that offer free stuff. I decided to stay true to my Singaporean roots by going for it. I went to Hang Flame Plaza. There were a lot of shops there selling a variety of items.

I went to gallery there.The stuff were really good there.I decided to fly to have a better look at the pictures.

Spellbounded by the pictures

Flying at the gallery

I am not that good in Second Life as I am still new to it. It is social networking on another level. One thing I dislike about it is that it is time consuming.I hope to create a movie there some day after I have learned the technicalities behind Second Life.Until then,I will be contented to live among Real people in the Real world.

QotW9: STOMP. What is its real purpose?

2007-03-30T22:42:00.000+08:00

In her article titled Citizen Journalism and the Reporter’s Privilege , Professor Mary-Rose Papandrea states how citizen journalism has existed in America for a long time.The First Ammendement’s ‘freedom of press’ actually means “freedom to publish using a printing press, rather than the freedom of organized entities engaged in the publishing business”. Newspapers were seen as more of a tool to express views than to gather news by printers for financial gain. (Wikipedia, 2007)

Newspapers being used for citizen journalism for decades is encouraging but this brings to mind the evolution of some individuals who have more power and influence over the rest of the public.

Dan Gillmor points out an interesting fact that only certain priviledged individuals have the ability to influence or even control what prominent newspapers like “The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post” publish (Gillmor, 2004). Like we do not have clutter in the form of unwanted advertisements to deal with. This notion of controlling information is indeed scary as it depicts a world in which a powerful few help the key to everyone else’s mind.

Media has a tendency to exaggerate reality in order to bring in the big bucks.The conflict in Middle East brings to mind the persuasive effects of the media.The Palestine media constantly portrays its enemies as the bad guys while they are the good guys. This is the same for the Israeli media

However,citizen journalism,like blogs, allows people to listen or see both sides of story before they judge the issue for themselves. An analogy can be drawn to a book I am currently reading pertaining to the Israeli-Palestine conflict,titled “We just want to live here”. Amal Rifa’i ,a Palestinian, and Odelia Ainbinder,an Israeli, met on a student exchange program in Switzerland in 2000.However,they lost contact after the Intifada broke out a few weeks after their return. Sylke Temple,a longtime Middle Eastern correspondent, wished to show the perspective of the young people affected by the conflict.He came to know of these two females from Jerusalem and encouraged them to develop their friendship through letters. . The letters show the differing views of two ordinary,opinionated and open minded female teenagers. The walls of misunderstandings, perceived sterotypes and cultural differences they have of each other and of each other’s nations ,crumbles down as the days go by (A,O,S, 2003).Similarily,citizen journalism have more value than what is merely reported in the news media.

I am not a user of STOMP so for this assignment I decided(or should I say I had to) to take a look at the website. My initial impression was “I am not impressed”. In addition,many governement bodies are “friends of STOMP” in one sees at the end of the home page. I assume they are the sponsors of the website. I later learned that STOMP is an extension of the Straits Time.This undermines the credibility of the website and its efforts to bring in sousveillance.STOMP just seems to be another way authorities can keep an eye on the public. People may be hesistant or even fearful to post something controversial yet true as it might anger the authorities.It seems rather superficial that there is citizen journalism in ST Foodies Club and Singapore Seen, while the real issues that affect us like politics or freedom of speech are not allowed for public scrutiny. This brings to mind a question. What is the real purpose of STOMP? To allow the public to voice its opinions or to merely seem so?

In the article “We The Media”,it is mentioned how Majority leader Trent Lott had to step down after how voiced out his support for Republican Senator Strom Thurmond. Lott was not condemning the Senator but actually complementing him. He felt USA would better off if Thurmond “had won”. Thurmond ran for President in 1948.At that time, he was proposing a plan that advocated maintaining the racial divide among the people. The news media hardly commented about the racist remark by Lott. Citizen journalism stepped in (literally) to give a piece of their mind regarding the remark. The influx citizen journalists caused the entire issue to be headlined in the mainstream media days later. This caused Lott his resignation (Gillmor, 2004).. Can this happen here? A majority leader forced to step down because of bloggers? You wish! Only when STOMP gives the public this option, then only it can be considered an ideal form of citizen journalism.

References

Gillmor, D (2004,July ). Retrieved March 30, 2007, from We the Media:Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People Web site: http://download.nowis.com/index.cfm?phile=WeTheMedia.html&tipe=text/html#chap7

2007,28 March). Citizen Journalism. Retrieved March 30, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Citizen_journalism&oldid=118429022

Rifa'i,Ainbinder,Tempel, A,O,S (2003). We Just Want To Live Here. New york,NY: St. Martin's Griffin.

QotW7:Twitter..Is it or is it not..

2007-03-17T01:50:00.000+08:00

The context in which the term community is used, has changed due to the advances in technology. Initially,the feeling of belonging to a community was felt when one is within close physical proximity to others from his community. However, changes in technology have paved the way for the ‘global village’ as coined by McLuhan. These changes have modified the actual meaning behind the word community which is being in a community despite the fact that the members are not physically close to one another (Wellman,Gulia, 1996).An online community is a “a group of people who interact via Internet Web sites, chat rooms, newsgroups, email, discussion boards or forums”(Dictionary.com). McLuhan’s predictions about the technological determinism seem to be happening after all as the human race goes back to square one,that of the tribal age.

Twitter was launched in March 2005 . One can have pesudoymns in order to maintain their privacy. These pesudoymns may allow your real identity to be revealed.Hence,this may facilitate interaction between strangers or people wanting to make friends. It allows users to inform their friends what they are doing and thinking through short posts, because of the 140 word limit ,through IM(Instant Messaging) or SMS(Short Message Service). These short posts are considered micro-blogging. The posts get updated every two minutes.Wow!

The very idea of Twitter is pretty nifty especially since almost everyone owns a mobile phone.However,I would consider Twitter as an online community as it allows interaction among strangers and friends. Rheingold defines virtual communities as “social aggregations” that “emerge from the Internet when enough people sustain public discussions long enough to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace. (Fernback, & Thompson, 1995). Perhaps the real attraction behind Twitter is the fact that everyone gets to be a mini celebrity based on a couple of words they type on the display board. This is stark contrast to normal blogs where the writer’s writing abilities or content determines if they become a celebrity.

Twitter won the SXSW(South By SouthWest) Web Award for the “Blog” category this year.() This shows the huge extent of influence Twitter has over people.Furthermore,it highlights the fact that Twitter is not a fleeting piece of technology and is here to stay.

IRC(Internet Relay Chat) is a “multi-user synchronous ‘chat’ line that was designed for social…uses” which focused on specific topics. IRC can not be considered as a community if no textual cues were used to replace non-verbal language(Fernback, & Thompson, 1995).Twitter is similar to IRC in these two aspects. Critics of it consider IRC’s sole purpose to be that of “information processing”. Users can easily post anything and promptly receive information back. They feel establishing close relationships in IRC is not realistic. (Wellman,Gulia, 1996).I do not think this is the case, as I know of people who have fallen in love over virtual communities like IRC.

“Enthusiasts “who” hail the Net’s potential for making connections without regard to race, creed, gender or geography express the fascinating feature about online community. (Wellman,Gulia, 1996). The ability to communicate without being face to face with the other person.However, critics of it feel that the distinction between real world and the virtual world may become blurred as people are consumed into the raging fire of technology. This on going debate may never end like some conflicts around the world.

Trivia
A video about Twitter
http://www.laist.com/archives/2007/03/14/the_twitter_boys_answer_obvious_questions_in_austin.php
Picture of the guys behind Twitter receiving the award
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/418633438

References

Wellman, Gulia, B, M (April, 1996). Net Surfers Don't Ride Alone. Retrieved March 16, 2007, from Association for Computing Machinery Web site: http://www.acm.org/%7Eccp/references/wellman/wellman.html
Virtual Community. (n.d.). Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.6). Retrieved March 16, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/virtual%20community
Fernback, Thompson, J, B Virtual Communities:Abort,Retry,Failure?. Retrieved March 16, 2007, from Howard Rheingold Web site: http://www.rheingold.com/texts/techpolitix/VCcivil.html

Beale, Scott (2007,March,11). Twitter Wins SXSW Web Award. Retrieved March 16, 2007, from Laughing Squid Web site: http://laughingsquid.com/twitter-wins-sxsw-web-award

QotW5:To believe or not to believe. That is the question.

2007-02-23T00:58:00.000+08:00

Online Identity

“An identity is a complex social and personal construct, consisting in part of who we think ourselves to be, how we wish others to perceive us, and how they actually perceive us” (Wood,Smith, 2001).

The groups I own under Yahoo groups is an example of the online identities I own. There are 16 broad categories under Yahoo groups. They range from business, education, entertainment, and religion to hobbies. Each category has about as little as eight sub-categories or as many as 23 sub-categories. One group I have been part of for the past five years is the Hrithik Roshan fanclub. Currently, there are 7453 members in this group. Joining this group allows me to identify myself with other fans of the Hindi actor. We discuss the latest happenings around this actor; share the latest pictures and information on him.
Reputation

The Donnath paper states that most participants engage in creating an identity for two reasons. Firstly, it helps them to conceive their own reputation. Next, it allows others to recognize and identify with them due to similarities (Donnath, 1996). In the virtual world, the identity of a person is essential in establishing their credentials when giving away information for others.

By sharing pictures and credible information about this actor, I have managed to establish a good reputation for myself. It feels good increasing my online social network while helping others by offering advice. A female once who went by user name, viangels, was on the verge of giving up on her thesis paper. She shared her problem with the rest of the members. We managed to motivate and boost her self-esteem though we only knew she was a twenty one year old from Kuwait. Eventually, she managed to finish her paper. However, the anecdote below shows otherwise.

A family friend, who is radio deejay, once told jokingly about how he would never believe his wife anymore. His wife read online in a reliable medical website that eating fruits before a meal is better than eating fruits after the meal. He took her word for it and mentioned it on air. Within minutes after the show was over, he received a call from MOH (Ministry of Health). The caller said that such a health claim does not exist, as it has no scientific backing. He apologized to the listeners the next day, as he was thoroughly embarrasses by passing misinformation to the listeners.

This incident shows two things. Firstly, the fact that we are under constant surveillance in this nation does have its benefits as it lessens the likelihood of people being misled(but by whom is whole new question). Next, even a credible looking website may contain bogus information. Therefore, caution has to be exercised at every step in this virtual world.

This anecdote is characteristic of one of the things highlighted in Cialdini’s text, blind obedience to authority. In the virtual world, a person’s title is of particular significance. Anyone can claim to be medical doctor from a reputable university. Cialdini advises his readers to ask two questions when dealing with authority. The first question should channel our attention towards seeing if there is “evidence for authority status”. The second question should focus on the trustworthiness of the authority. For example, one can ask if the authority in question is truly an expert. Even though the person is credible, they may be financially backed by some organization. This may undermine the authority’s credibility especially if the advice given seems to benefit that particular organization (Cialdini, 2001).

Deception

The video manages to capture the true virtual world in a matter of ten minutes. It contains a string of contradictions as almost everyone is not what they are really are. Everyone is engaged in role reversal, as they want to seem different from their true self. Why would people choose to be portray themselves differently. Are they insecure about themselves or just scared to reveal information about themselves. In many of the scenerios depicted in the video, I think it is more of the former than the latter. For example, the partially bald man asks the young girl her age. She replies that she is 14, which is believable. However, he tells her that he is 15. That is a downright lie, which can be categorized as dramatic irony. Then, the young boy exclaims that he likes N’Sync, which the man in his fifties agrees to. What is the relationship between a boy band and an old fart?

However, identity theft is indeed a scary notion. Bruce Schneier wrote in his blog about online security in which he says that the mere term itself is an oxymoron (Schneier, 2005). How can someone’s identity be stolen? Seriously, the mere thought of it is ironic and hilarious. However, when one probes deeper into the whole thing, the humor fades and anxiety sets in. An invasion of privacy is something only celebrities had to deal with. Not anymore. Now, average Joes have this to consider when giving away personal information online.

Someone could decide to use my personal information to join the same groups I have joined. Then they could claim that my account is a hoax while theirs is not. They could then use flaming or spaming under my name. This would cause my online reputation to disintegrate in the eyes of my fellow group members.

Conclusion: A balance is the best solution

Our identity is like our fingerprint. There can be no two of the same kind. However, the advent in technology has made it easy for certain troublemakers to impersonate you. After a while, even your close ones would have difficulty distinguishing between the real you and fake you. Therefore, it is critical to strike a balance by not revealing too much information about yourself in personal profile page or to other online group members.

References

Wood,Smith, A,M (2001). Online Communication: linking technology, identity, and culture . Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Donnath, J (1996). Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. Retrieved February 22, 2007, from MIT Media Lab Web site: http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html

Cialdini, R (2001). Influence:Science and Practice. Allyn and Bacon.

Schneier, B (2005,April,15). Schneier on Security:Mitigating Identity Theft. Retrieved February 22, 2007, from Bruce Schneier Web site: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/04/mitigating_iden.html

Qotw4: Gift Economies…Is it as free as it seems.

2007-02-10T10:04:00.000+08:00

Lewis Hyde authored the book, The Gift: The Erotic Life of Property. He wrote about two types of economies, one a market economy and the other the gift economy. In the former, status is conferred to “those who have the most”, while the status in the latter is determined by “those who give the most to others” (Pinchot, 2000). The gift economy is especially prominent in the cyberspace with the advent of blogs, file-sharing and virtual communities.

Motivations
Peter Kollock states that the motivations for contributing in this digital age are reciprocity, prestige, efficacy and need, and attachment or commitment (Kollock, 1999).Therefore, there is no such thing as an individual wanting the public to benefit from it. In fact, their main motivation is to gain something back from their action. Newton’s Third Law of Motion, states that ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’. For example, the Internet appears to be a place where individuals give and receive advice in the case of virtual communities. Peter Kollack’s reasons seem to imply that the real intention behind a gift economy is not selflessness but actually selfishness. Selfishness may be a too strong a word, self-interest may be a better word.

Reciprocity
“By virtue of the reciprocity rule…we are obligated to the future payment of favours, gifts, invitations, and the like”. According to Cialdini, this human tendency to reciprocate makes it one of the most potent weapons of influence (Cialdini, 2001).

Prestige
Kollock mentions that prestige is a key to helping others as it can help you impress people. No one wants people to think badly of him or her. Hence, by willingly helping others, one can impress others or at times even widen their own social network. Maybe through this way, the average Joe can have his ‘fifteen minutes of fame’. “Abundant descriptive evidence suggests that the prestige benefits from public recognition of donations are an important reason why people give” (Harbaugh, 1998). Therefore, it is safe to assume that people share information to reap the same benefits.

Efficacy and Need
People who wish to have an effect on their environment normally want to feel important. Hence, they contribute “valuable information” to create that feeling. This need paves the way for attachment.

Attachment
The sense of belonging one feels from a gift economy can be the reason behind their contribution. This reminds me of an incident cited by a visiting professor, Dr. John Hocking. He once recalled going to a KKK (Ku Klux Klan) meeting as an observer. He came across a man who tried to intimate Dr. Hocking and his colleague because they were the only ones who were not wearing the uniform.

According to the professor, he felt that the man was lacking in self-esteem. As a result, the man was attached to the Klan, as it gave him a sense of belonging. The resulting increased in self-esteem caused him to try his hand at bullying outsiders. This does not mean that whoever who feels attached to something has a low self-esteem. The analogy drawn from this characterizes one of the effects of the gift economy, which is the ability to feel part of a bigger picture.

Though the ulterior intent behind these factors is self-interest, we can not deny the wealth of information or services provided by gift economies.

Example
The WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link) is an online virtual community whose members range from “authors, programmers, journalists, activists to other creative people” from all over the world, who come together for intellectual stimulation. It was known as "the world's most influential online community" in the feature story in an issue of the Wired Magazine (Salon.com community, 2001).

It is one of the oldest virtual communities with a current membership of 4000 (WELL, 2007).Steward Brand and Larry Brilliant created the WELL in 1985. Though its origins lay in California ,it is now based in San Francisco.

A notable member is Howard Rheingold who was inspired by his experience in the community,to write a book “The Virtual Community”. From this perspective,it is safe to say that Rheingold was pursuing a selfless act for the greater good. Perhaps,he was motivated by his writing abilites and decided to earn money from it.

Conclusion
On the surface, gift economies seem to be amazing. It shows how the human race is going back to its roots by acting based on the group interest, just like the tribal age. However, it is important to note that gift economies do have its limitations. As Kollock puts it, “it is very difficult to create and maintain a cooperative online community”.

References
Pinchot, G (2000,June,29). The Gift Economy. In Context:Business On A Small Planet, 41, Retrieved February 9,2007, from http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC41/PinchotG.htm

Cialdini, R (2001). Influence:Science and Practice. Allyn and Bacon.

Kollock, P (1999). Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace . Retrieved February 9, 2007, from The Economies of Online Cooperation Web site: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm

Harbaugh, W (1998). The Prestige Motive For Making Charitable Transfers. The American Economic Review, 88, Retrieved February 10,2007, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8282%28199805%2988%3A2%3C277%3ATPMFMC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9&size=LARGE
Salon.com community, (2001). Learn About The WELL. Retrieved February 9, 2007, from The WELL Web site: http://www.well.com/aboutwell.html

(2007,6 February). WELL. Retrieved February 9, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WELL&oldid=106008292

Hoodwinked n House!!!

2007-02-04T16:48:00.000+08:00

Fav scene from the movie...

Love that goat...

House and Wilson..

hahaha...

QotW3

2007-02-03T16:52:00.000+08:00

How can we accommodate both the interests of content creators and the public good? What technical and social structures are needed to do so?

Before doing the readings, I never really gave much thought to copyright or to the laws pertaining to it. I always knew that copyright was established to allow the creator or manufacturer, to gain some money and to protect the product from being duplicated without permission. However, I honestly never dwelled about the creative aspect of it as the mass media had successfully imprinted its stand against piracy, because of economic reasons. Upon doing the readings or seeing the Number of readings, I realized that there is definitely more to the copyright business than what actually meets the eye.

Copyright: Is it a right or a wrong?
Imagine my surprise this morning when I chanced upon an article in the review section about copyrighting. I actually did not know how to start this assignment. Basically, I was stuck. I felt that the article was godsend to relieve me of my anguish. Haha. It felt like being alive after a meditation session.

Moving on the topic under discussion. An article from today’s Straits Time, features the mess behind copyrighting. The writer, Andy Ho, is obviously a critic of the music industry licensing. According to dictionary.com, copyright is defined as the” exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio or video”. Andy Ho added that the aim behind copyrighting was also to “benefit society”. In stark contrast, the reality is that the “high transaction costs and prices are too high” for the consumers.

File –Sharing: Stealing or Sharing?
Napster changed the way I, like many others, listen to music. It was so easy to find songs. An added bonus was the fact that it was free. Speaking from personal experience, I stopped buying music albums after that as it was readily available online. Speaking from an economic point of view, I could channel my allowances towards more immediate needs like clothes or to hang out with friends. I guess it was people like me who caused this free service to shut down. The many lawsuits launched by the recording industry has now turned Napster into a paying service(Wang, 2004).

However, there is one general rule about humans. You can not give someone something for free and then take that right away from them. Once we have tasted that freedom, or in this case, free music, we may have a constant psychological need to gain back our right even if it means through undesirable means.

In contrast, Stanford Law professor Larry Lessig, claims that excessive control over media impedes creativity. He drew an analogy of the media to photography in an interview, saying

“the law was trying to figure out whether to allow people to take pictures without clearing permissions first or whether permission was required before capturing an image of a person or building. Quickly, the law decided you don't need permission — you could capture images and share them without worrying about
legal rules. That encouraged an extraordinary consumer market around photography, and that freedom was, in part, what made it possible”.

He feels that if the laws were reversed then the market for photography would be very small. This is what is actually happening in the case of intellectual property (Papadopoulos, ND). There is no real proof to show that file sharing decreases music sales, unlike what music companies have led us to believe. File sharing just allows users to sample music, which they otherwise would not have heard of
(Strumpf,Oberholzer-Gee, 2005).

In the traditional market, the producer was always right. He determined what and how much to produce and sell. However, with the advent of the electronic age the tables have changed. The consumer determines what to produce by the choices he makes just by a click. Music companies should learn to make the best out of the situation instead of constantly complaining. The reason people are downloading music online is because music albums are expensive. They should seek to resolve the root of the problem instead. If something, does not work, then maybe that method is not working. Try something else.

I am certainly not advocating piracy but there is a reason why it is happening. No one wants to do it the wrong way. But what do music lovers do when the right way is actually infringing upon their budget. The high cost of music albums versus the free music available online:One is wrong and the other is expensive. Consumers and producers should strive to seek a balance between these two instead of constantly bickering over something, which seems to have no end.

References

(2006).Copyright. Retrieved February 3, 2007, from Dictionary.com Web site: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/copyright

Wang, W (2004). Steal This File Sharing Book: What They Won't Tell You About File Sharing . San Francisco,CA: No Starch Press

Papadopoulos, G Control vs. Creativity. Retrieved February 3, 2007, from Sun microsystems Web site: http://www.sun.com/emrkt/boardroom/newsletter/0206leadingvision.html

Strumpf,Oberholzer-Gee, K,F (June 2005). The effect of file sharing on record sales:An empirical analysis. Retrieved 2 February 2007, from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Web site: http://www.unc.edu/%7Ecigar/papers/FileSharing_June2005_final.pdf

Simply Disgusted...

2007-02-01T16:38:00.000+08:00

2 different types of human traffic on one day within a space of a few hours!Quite a feat ah?? It can be both that both are religious occassions.One a soccer match and the other thaipoosam. Haha...

Soccer is definitely a passionate sport in this nation where everyone dwells over what happened in EPL. That does not mean one has to act like a hooligon. This judgement of mine is only reserved for a certain group of priviledged people.

Initially the spectators were scary with their sheer noise,number and choice of language but later that just became annoying. Cheering is fine but jeering?I can almost swear that there didn't used to be almost any form of jeering during soccer matches when I was young. Maybe a little. I used to have a great time then as everyone just wanted to have Clean Fun.But the spectators then were definitely better behaved than yesterday's.Actually,Anyone would be better behaved than the spectators yesterday.Being clean, green and even 'kiasu' is one thing.But being ungracious and Rude!That is certainly not tolerable. People my age were the source of annoyance.But what shocked me most was a group of Grown-Up Men (in the their thirites or even forties) in the front who were also hurling vulgarities at Thailand.One was on the verge of jumping over the railings. I do not know if these men have children.But if that was my dad, I would be definitely be ashamed of him.

I guess I was more fascianted by the "Real" Singaporeans than by the poor show Singapore was putting up on the field. The match was a joke. Getting agitated over a joke is kinda of ridiculous but defintely not funny. I was at the lower tier right behind Thailand's goal post(before half-time). At one point,there were four Thai reserves who were training on the track just behind the goal post. The "extremely polite" crowd I was surrounded by was using foul language to call the 4 poor souls. Feeling ignored by their lack of reply,someone from the crowd threw a metal drink at them. Minutes later,one or two water bottles followed.That was not all. One of the Grown-Up Men in blue threw his half eaten nasi lemak which was in plastic container towards them.Luckily,none of the items hit them. Then a cop appeared by his side and asked him about the stuff he threw. The man denied knowledge. The crowd which was chanting a particular foul word was now directing the chant towards that one cop. That moment was unforgettable as my friend and I froze in shock.He is a cop for goodness sake! But they were obviously not used to reading the minds of others as they could not hear my desperate thoughts. The cop could not do anything as he was obviously outnumbered. Hamsa was very tempted to tell the cop that the man in blue was the culprit.I pointed out to her that we would probably get mobbed after that. Having no other choice ,she fell silent.

Scariness-->Fustration->Numbness. I have never felt more numb at a soccer match.I attributed it to the pleasure I derived from the extensive use of "proper" words. The excitement I normally feel during a live match was negligible due to my numbness. Many others were annoyed by the rowdy group.Having fun is ok as long as it does not encroach upon another person.I hardly clapped or cheered after a point which was a huge contrast to the beginning of the game,where I was madly cheering after Singapore scored a goal.

And I thought thaipoosam was bad enough with a few bad eggs who use God's name to create havoc.I assume blasphemy is their forte. The hype during thaipoosam was nothing compared to the match.

The match made feel very embarrassed and Disgusted to be a Singaporean. No matter where I want to fly off to,home is still home.It is a place where you are comfortable,secured and sheltered.After yesterday's showdown,I doubt I will ever feel comfortable in another match here.

Towards the end of the match,there were lots of cops surrounding the Thai supporters as the crowd was getting out of hand. I was seriously fearful for their safety.

Hamsa and I thought maybe education does play a part in how a person behaves. This is just a thought. The haves and the have-nots. There is a fine line between being a fan and a hooligan. Those people definitely crossed that line.

COM 125 Week 2

2007-01-27T14:42:00.000+08:00

Email

Communication technology has gone a long way from the days of tying notes to the legs of pigeons to email. You do not have to worry about the postal service going on a strike if you happen to live in the world’s largest democracy. Sending messages has never been easier. Overseas letters could take up to
one to two weeks to reach the recipient. Now it just takes a couple of minutes because of Email. Fascinating? You bet! The mere term 'Email' refers to both Internet e-mail systems and Intranet systems (2007).

“No man is an island”. This famous quote highlights the fact that men can never live alone and has an inherent need to communicate with other people. However, this need of him became an obsession as he wished to connect everyone with access to Internet. This has made him reach great heights in the communication arena.

Imagine life without the Internet or Email? How would you keep in contact with your friends overseas? Through long distance phone calls, which makes you get a heart attack upon seeing the cost. The Internet has certainly revolutionized the way we think and function. As mentioned by Howard Rheingold, computers would have become a luxury only used by certain individuals if there were not visionaries like Douglas Engelbart (Rheingold, 1998). Live is indeed like the movie Sliding Doors. What would happen if we chose Path A over Path B? If Engelbart was disillusioned after his initial attempts to connect everyone, we would probably be still penning our thoughts on paper.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was developed by the United States Department of Defense(2007). The ARPANET led to the development of the Email and was the predecessor of the Internet. It is interesting to note that Email was founded in 1965, before the Internet. Electronic mail was initiated because it was “a way for multiple users” of a “time-sharing main computer” to interact with one another (2006). Six years later, Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer, created the standard format for sending e-mail, which we are familiar with. The @ sign was used to differentiate between the “user name” and the site name (2006) . A year later, Larry Roberts from Arpanet pioneered the “first email management program”.
It had the capability to list, choose, forward and reply to messages (Left, 2002). Emails comprise of two components; header and body. The header is structured and has the addresses of the sender and the receiver, the date and the title of the e-mail. Unlike the header, the body has an unstructured text and may allow the sender to leave their signature at the bottom of the e-mail (2007).

Personally, Email is a way for me to communicate with my friends both here and in overseas. At one point, my text message bills used to be very high. My father’s constant complains led me to start using Email more frequently, as he was the one footing the bill. This became a habit of mine and now I prefer Email to text messaging, as it is more convenient.

The benefits of Email are numerous. On the other hand, the wonders of technology always come with a price especially with the advent of Spam, viruses and privacy issues. According to www.dictionary.com, Spam is “unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups”. My personal experience with Hotmail has brought me to a point of irritation with all the Spam. The same website defines a virus as “a segment of self-replicating code planted illegally in a computer program, often to damage or shut down a system or network”. ACME is a computer virus, which destroys all files on a computer through e-mail. Viruses like these, makes it a must to scan any e-mail before opening it. Email privacy is a much-debated issue ever since emails became part of our daily lives. It is easy for others to “intercept and read messages” because e-mail messages go through “intermediate computers” before reaching their target (2007). In a hypothetical situation,the secret you were telling your best friend over e-mail is no longer a secret as someone else was able to read it too. Try to picture the anger and fustration that would arise from within you once you learn the truth. Chances are that you probably would not rely on e-mails to send intimate or personal information.

References

(2007, January 24). E-mail. Retrieved January 26, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email

Rheingold, H (1998). Chapter Three: Visionaries and Convergences. Retrieved January 26, 2007, from Howard Rheingold’s Virtual Community Web site: http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/3.html

(23 January 2007). Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. Retrieved 25 Januuary, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET

(20 August 2006). History of the Internet. Retrieved January 27, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_Internet&oldid=70771572#Email_and_Usenet.E2.80.94The_growth_of_the_text_forum
Left, S (2002,March 13). Email timeline. Retrieved January 26, 2007, from Guardian Unlimited Web site: http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,666750,00.html

feeling narcissistic..

2007-01-17T00:16:00.000+08:00

Joshie!!!

Hi my name is Shamala Devi Samikannu. You can call me Shamala.

As Woody Allen said in Scoop,"I was born into the Hebrew tradition,but turned narcissistic".Haha.That was a good movie.Matchpoint is also a highly recommended movie.Oh ya if you had not noticed, I am not Jew but was merely quoting him.I love reading,surfing the net, sleeping,irritating the people around me by being myself and advicing or counselling people. I will not exactly say I 'love' the last part,but my friends and sisters often (older) seek my advice because I tend to be objective.Most of the time.

I wish to become a journalist or pursue a career in the media.I and Hamsa(good friend from junior college) are currently thinking about opening a business together.It came up when she said that business was the way to make the big bucks.Like duh!Either that or marry a rich guy.But i would not want to depend upon another person for money when I am older even if it is my spouse.

See what boredom can do??Hamsa

and me..cranky while waiting to get

on the skyway in genting..

At that moment,I remembered that some say that businesses should not be done with friends or family. Which sounds logical. In times of profit,everyone would be happy.However,when losses are being incurred,there would be tensions.I pointed this out to her.Then we both got disillusioned and decided to continue having our drinks. I would have liked to say "decided to continue having our coffee" as it sounds nicer , but unfortunately I do not drink coffee or tea.Maybe Chinese tea.

Family...me,my sisters,'baldie'(cousin

whom we grew up with) n brother-in-law

I have two older sisters ,which makes me the youngest.Sounds like fun?Maybe not when your siblings try to cheat while playing dumb when you are young. In addition,my relatives Still do not trust me to pass a message to my parents because I am the Youngest.Argh.Apparently,I never grew up in their eyes. Then I wonder where they have been getting those white hairs from?Hmm. Then again being the youngest does have its advantages.

One of my sisters just got married in July.Really miss her.It is not that she lives very far away.She lives in Woodlands while I live in Yishun.But I guess it is just not the same anymore.Sigh!I hope I am not sounding wussy.

What more? Oh ya I can officially watch RA movies since last year march. Oh ya one very bad thing about me is that I hold grudges very badly. I forgive very easily but I never forget.I am really trying to change this aspect of my character. Another bad thing about me is that I am rather blunt.According to my sister, I "have no tack"(is that the correct spelling?).I think so.

I am kinda of sleepy so better hit the bed before I fall asleep during class tomorrow.

Haha..We don't know who that auntie is..her

expression is classic tho..