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Almooooost.
Written on: Thursday, January 29, 2009
Went back to class today. Uh huh, free and easy time. Went to 3D lab to continue my work instead. Continued to work on my portfolio 1. I'm really behind time though. Have got to buck up.Time: 2:24 pm I'm almost finished with this module. I'm kind of glad. Oh yes, this is the activity left from yesterday! 1. Describe in a paragraph, the most important lesson that you had learnt in your EIR journey. Hmmm, I would have to say that it is to identify which search facility would be of better use to me. In the past, I never used things like invisible web to do my research. I had always relied on search engines such as Google and Yahoo! EIR opened me up to new things, such as META-search and Databases. I never knew META-search existed until I learnt about it in EIR. As for Databases, I'm glad that I managed to learn about it before my FYP. I will definitely have to do a lot of researching in order to produce a good piece of work. Databases will provide me with the right knowledge to do well in FYP.  Oops.
Written on: Wednesday, January 28, 2009
I missed class! Still in holiday mood ahahaha.Time: 6:58 pm PREEEETTY IN PINK.
Written on: Friday, January 23, 2009
Yeahhhh~ Isn't my blogskin pretty? Custom made for me, myself and I. ;DTime: 11:37 pm Man, today's test, didn't do as well, even though I stayed up to do study again. Ahhh oh well. at least I passed. But seriously, the test was damn killer. All the questions were like the same. So confusing. And I can't memorize for nuts. So. Today's lesson was about Internet ethics. What hit me the most was the copyright issues. Nobody likes having their work taken and not being credited for it. It's horrible to see your work being thrown around and being claimed by others. Personally, I wouldn't want to put my work up on the internet because nowadays, it is so very easy to steal someone else's work and pass it off as their own. That's stealing. Nobody likes to be stolen from. That includes plagiarism. For students, it is very important to credit the work we get our research from. As students, we need to do studies on topics. We should not be copying what others have written wholesale. Instead, we should interpret it and write it in our own words. We must also cite where we get our information from. Alrighty... LONG BREAK FOR CNY! SO LONG! FAREWELL FOR NOW! Guarantee?
Written on: Thursday, January 22, 2009
Hmmmkay, so yesterday and today was prettttty much the same actually. Except today we didn't learn about evaluating, more like we found out how to check whether a website is reliable or not. We can check the web site's owners or sponsors on websites such as allwhois.com and internic.net/regist.html. This way, we are able to check out who is in charge of the website (authority).Time: 3:56 pm There are also some websites that lists some bogus websites for users to know what to avoid, and know what is reliable. The websites actually have survey forms for internet users to fill out to find out their views on certain websites. This offers users a say in what websites they feel should not be trusted. Another interesting thing we learned was about these things called Kitemarks and Seals of Approval for websites. Apparently these work like guarantee seals are supposed to. I'm suddenly reminded of those health labels on food products. These seals/labels are kind of like a badge to show users that " HEY! WE SAY IT'S OKAY! SO IT'S OKAY!" Then people will be like " OK! YOU SAY OK ONE HOR! IF ANYTHING WRONG I GET YOU!" Then they press. HAHAHA. I THINK IT'S FUNNY. But it's effective. So. Day 9
Written on: Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Today's lesson was pretty much boring...Time: 7:43 pm Turns out there's different ways to assess different kinds of websites. How weird is that? Why do I have a feeling it's only going to get more confusing...? Class test on Friday before Chinese New Year. Hope the topics will be easy though. Day 8
Written on: Monday, January 19, 2009
Today, we learnt about the different criteria of evaluating. The criteria are:Time: 9:14 pm - Purpose - Coverage - Authority - Accuracy - Currency - Accessibility - Presentation and Arrangement - Usability - Overall quality All of the above will allow me to assess whether or not a website is reliable and good to use. For example, the criteria of Currency (actually I thought this was about money lol) is about checking the last date of update. This is relevant because websites should be constantly updated in order to give the latest news for the benefit of users. Another example is Accessibility. Websites should be easily accessible to all users. Some website require certain plug-in and software for it to run properly. Thus, users sometimes have to install new software in order to view information. We were given the website, www.talkingcock.com, to evaluate. I find that the website truly lives up to its name. TalkingCock was created to provide humour to locals. And it has done just that. It jabs fun at anybody, even the government. Once, it was thought to be a political website, but it is stated clearly that the government has declared them a non-political site. What I like about this website is that it clearly states its purpose and also warns viewers about the contect of the website before they enter. Users are forewarned that the site makes up a lot of things, thus, are not advised to believe whatever they read. The website is updated constantly, to keep viewers entertained. The website is easily accessed - there are no heavy images and does not require any software to view the pages. The information is organized well and I had no problems navigating. Overall, I feel that the concept of the website is very good and is very humourous to the local population. However, I feel that this website is not for everyone and there is heavy use of local lingo, thus, not everybody, especially non-Singaporeans, will understand what the hell the information is all about. But other than that, I feel that TalkingCock is a well-thought out website. Class test 1.
Written on: Friday, January 16, 2009
Today we had a class test. The topics were about what was taught during our first five lectures. I actually bothered to stay up all night to study for the test. I seriously consider that as a once in a blue moon event. Seriously, a person like me never bothers to study. Well, studying pays off in the end. I scored 16/20. Kinda happy about that, I must say. I didn't slog my guts out trying to do my Portfolio 1 for nothing.Time: 4:34 pm Today's class activity was really fun. We had time to go on the discussion forum and interact with each other with the use of the forum. We had fun spamming the board. Actually I find that as a class, we don't talk much to each other, and we don't know what's going on. Some of us managed to talk to people from other courses, which was weird. But at least it's some sort of interaction. We pretty much talked a lot of nonsense, but at least we did some work, right? Meaningful or not? I didn't really think so... As I had mentioned in my earlier post from two days ago, I prefer to use Databases rather than the other search facilities like search engines, meta-search and subject directories. I think that Databases give more factual information without all the fluff that other facilities give. Using the other facilities, I found that the results given usually led up to other websites - usually organizational websites. While doing research, what I'm looking for is the hard facts. I'm fundamentally not interested in what these organizations have to offer. Since I have access to the Database, I will most definitely make use of it. It provides me with what I need and I do not have to filter through the results. For my Diploma, it is important to get accurate information. I'm in Moving Images, a course that does animation and video work. This is a medium through which audiences absorb information. what we put into our final piece of work is ultimately going to impact the audience. As such, knowing the facts is really important. Research research asdjhgfdsalkj!
Written on: Thursday, January 15, 2009
Right, so I actually spent the whole bloody night doing research on the topic of the development of research of HIV/AIDS. I serioussssly did not sleep and I thought like," Hey! I can do the rest in class." Time: 5:53 pm My mind was really blanked out. Oh well... Deadline's been extended anyway... So... Well, I think I chose a good topic because there has been a lot of studies on this topic. Not surprisingly though, there were a lot of misconceptions about HIV/AIDS in the past. But with the development of modern technology and the hardwork of scientists, professors, experts and universities, we now understand the disease much better than we did in the past. I actually did some back up research in the past. Back then, I was very surprised to learn that HIV/AIDS was thought to be a disease that only homosexual men had. (This could be one of the factors which led to discrimination against homosexuality! But that's besides the point.) The name of the disease back then was even directly associated with gays. It was called GRID, which stands for Gay-related Immune Deficiency. The next thing that studies showed was that there was a common group of people who got the disease. The name "the 4H Disease" came about as the 4 groups of people who got the diease were the Haitians, heroin users, hemophiliacs and homosexuals. However, their studies proved to be partly false. It turned out that it was not only the homosexual community that had the disease. Thus, the term GRID and "the 4H Disease" became obsolete. Instead, a new term for the disease, which is AIDS, Acquired Immune Disease Syndrome or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Also, I found out that in the past, there was no way to cure the disease, nor to slow it down. But today, there are ways to slow down the effects of AIDS/HIV. Unfortunately, there is still no cure for this disease. There are still ongoing studies to find a cure. Using the different search facilities, I actually found out that each different facility gave me varying results. But to me, I feel that I liked using the Database and Subject Directories best as they gave very non-opinionated information. But while using search engines and META search engines, I got very irritated. It is true that there are some proper results. But some of the results that came up were not giving me information about the disease. Rather, they gave me a lot of links to websites of organizations that have been set up to provide assistance to those with the disease. The worst thing about the search engine is that sometimes, I find discussion forums. When I click on these links, I find that there are a lot of opinions of people. They say very harsh and insensitive things that I don't even want to read. What these people say on the forums can affect a person's research. It may also sway feelings. Really don't want to use search engines. Results are very varying. Day 5
Written on: Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Okay, so today's lesson was about this thingy called invisible web.Time: 6:20 pm What's that all about? I hear you say. Well, it's this sort of like a place where you can get all sorts of information that's in the form of articles, journals, research reports and so on... It's quite a good place to get hard facts and not just website that don't give you much information to work with. This is better than using a search engine or a META search engine. The content is very straightforward and requires no navigating around a website. And about the portfolio, I have an idea of what to do now. I think it's coming along well. After looking at the transparency, I think I know what to do already. I hope that my missing the first few lessons don't affect my performance... New week, new start.
Written on: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Time: 12:47 pm Okay, last week was seriously quite hell-ish. And I don't really like having to skip class. As predicted, I have no idea what the class is about nor what work is to be done. OMG. Tsk. It's due on Thursday, and I have to read through all the lectures. Sad. But anyway, I tried to find out more about what I have to submit. I have a rough idea I guess. Chose my topic already. But wait a minute. Am I supposed to do actual research on my topic? Or is it about the process of research and what I think of different facilities? Augh, gotta find out more and get hold of them transparencies. Day 3
Written on: Friday, January 09, 2009
Well, looks like I've had to skip class again cause of Open House. Oh well. LOA!Time: 7:02 pm Day 2
Written on: Thursday, January 08, 2009
Went in to class early today to tell Rosalind that I wouldn't be able to attend today's and tomorrow's lesson. Will have to hand in my LOA once I get it from Ronald.Time: 5:02 pm Missed out on whatever was taught again. I seriously hope that I won't lag behind in terms of work. I have to take the initiative to find out what's going on. I'm glad that I have some friends in this class. It makes learning better. I have a very sketchy idea of what we're supposed to be doing for the portfolio. But I think I'll have to find out more on what is supposed to be done... Day 1
Written on: Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Hello hello. I don't think I can actually say much here since I didn't actually attend today's class. I wasn't feeling well you see.Time: 2:31 pm I hope I won't fall sick anymore in future so that I can attend all of the classes regularly and not miss out at all. |
