com125lo

uuurgggh

2007-04-14T04:05:00.002-07:00

urgggh...i hope the internet connection could be better...

had a hard time singing in singshot.....hmmm..

is my first attempt trying..not too good....

but hope u guys enjoy it!!!!

Inside the mind of a teenage girl

2007-04-14T04:05:00.001-07:00

urgggh..laggineeessss~

lalala

2007-04-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

im in a bloggin mood...seriously...

have been bloggin for a few hrs...wheter is the sch assignment or my own blog...haha..this is scary...

anyway...i haven't really been blogging anything real interesting and informal here yet...so here i am!!!!

todae is a super weird dae....

most ppl are wearing my fav color---yellow!!!!!!!

i wonder why most of us felt like wearing yellow todae...but aniwae..yellow is a nice color..i love love love yellow!!!!!!!

pic taken with elaine too..she is wearing yellow..

i even had my bdae party theme as yellow...everyone has to be dressed in yellow inclusing my family members or they will be punished..lol....

my bdae is some time ago...but i shall put a pic with my sim pals...real yellow rite??the cake is yellow too...

tis was my e-invitation...lol..done by my sister..

ok..im obsessed with yellow....

second life

2007-04-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

Qotw10: My new identity

Hey everyone, i am Jychris Yoshikawa.You must be thinking why this name. Well, Jychris is the initial and favourite name of my owner and as for Yoshikawa, i guess my owner suddenly had this interest for japanese names.

My owner had great difficulty 'giving birth' to me. There are too many problems encountered. My owner aborted my sister(my old account ), jchris zenovka as she is not really working well and healthy.

I am what my owner fantasized to be like. I am thin and has a slightly tanned complexion.My owner yearns to wear heels and wanted to dress more chic but due to some personal problems, she is unable to do that in reality.So here i am, wearing what she wanted to wear. My owner loves accesories so i surely have to wear a necklace.

I love how i look in second life and i am sure that i can make lots of friends here!

my first new friend in second life. Jaiden from chicago. she is actually a guy,trying to make more male friends there. I love this place--gukyeol. It has nice architecture and simply a less crowded place. It is like a nice park. Too bad i forgot to take some nice snapshots of the place.

another guy joining into our conversation about shopping and actually owns a shop. He wanted to teleport us there to his shop but too bad the school computer has some problems teleporting me over.

here with a London 18 year old guy. It is interesting talking to him as he reveals that many guys actually pretended to be girls so as to meet more guys.

wrk

2007-04-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

Bonus mission #2: Why is second life not a game?

Before Mr. Kelvin told us in detail about second life, I have to admit that I have no idea what the whole thing is. It seems to me that it is another online game that people gets obsessed in. Personally, I am not pretty much of a game person but since we have to do this for our assignment, I decided to give it a try.

The Sims

At the first glance of the second life, it reminds me of the other game that I used to play in—The Sims. With reference to the Wikipedia, The Sims is a strategic life stimulation computer game created by a game designer Will Wright. The game basically is about day-to-day activities of one or more virtual people in a suburban household located near Sim City. Players are able to control their ‘own life’ such as making decision on how their time should be spent. (The Sims, 2007) I recalled that I could build houses in the Sim city and design how I want my house to be like. Other than that, I have to move my characters around and make decisions such as going to the toilet and maintaining personal hygiene within my house area. I could even make my character and another character fall in love. However, they do not really communicate. I am not sure about the newest Sims game but when I played it, no words came out of them. Simply said, I got bored of the game as they seem to be like living zombies walking around and not really communicating with other people. It is a game, afterall.

Second life

Second life, on the other hand, is different from the Sims. Second life is an internet-based virtual world that enables its users, called residents, to interact with each other through motivational avatars, creating a social networking service. Residents are able to explore different virtual places, meet other residents, participate in individual and group activities and create or trade items and services to each other. (Second Life, 2007) The War Craft may seem similar to the second life as there is interaction among players and has its own economy. As mentioned in the ‘World of War Craft: Is it a game’, the gold and exotic armor and weaponry that players accumulate can be traded and sold in real money. Similar to the second life, avatars of your own characters can be chosen to represent you. (Steven Levy, 2007) However, the second life ‘does not have points, scores, winners or losers, levels, an end-strategy, or most of the other characteristics of games’. It is communication that takes place in the game setting. When I tried out Second life, I found myself not only trying to edit my own appearance and exploring the different virtual settings, but also interacting with other residents when I am in different locations. Within an hour in Second life, I can meet different people around the world, other than my own friends. I even met a person who has an avatar of a girl but actually is a guy. He admitted to me that he is gay, trying to meet other guys. I found that real interesting.

Second life definitely is not purely a game. There are lots of interaction and activities going on. Groups of the same interest such as our group com 125 can be formed to enable people to interact within their own arena. Most importantly, it is free. Unlike the Sims when one has to pay to get the software, Second life can be easily downloaded. It is another channel for interaction other than the normal social networking sites.

Let’s give it a try and welcome this new social networking environment!

References

Second Life. (2007, April 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved, April 5 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Life&oldid=120268909

The Sims. (2007, April 2). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Sims&oldid=119832651

Levy, S. (2006). In World of Warcraft: Is It a Game. Retrieved April 5 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/print/1/displaymode/1098/.

8th assignment

2007-03-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Qotw9: The STOMP to Citizen Journalism

Blogging has become such a common thing in this era. Not only we blog about our own lives, but things that are happening around us. It seems so easy for anyone to perform citizen journalism. With a click on your multi-purpose hand phone, pictures or videos can be taken instantly, sometimes without even being noticed by the person whom you are taking.

What is citizen Journalism?

According to the Wikipedia, Citizen Journalism, also known as "participatory journalism," is the act of citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information"

Basically, Journalism came from people and from there it began to flourish. (Citizen Journalism, 2007) With the emergence of the internet and more social networking sites such as web blogs, message boards and Wikis, It is very easy to participate and be part of the citizen journalism. Not only that, we are more well-informed compared to the past. These ’tools have roots in networks that encourage innovation’ (Dan Gilmor, 2004)

The STOMP

In relation to the rise of citizen journalism, Singapore has set up their website, STOMP (Straits Times Online Mobile Print). It combines content and activities that are in the print, online and mobile. STOMP delivers content that is interactive which enable Singaporean communities to be bonded by shared interests. According to the STOMP website, the aim is to allow a forum of lively discussions to be formed, whether it is heavy national issues or the daily happenings in our neighborhood. Anybody is able to contribute any news they find interesting and send it over via their mobile phones or send their thoughts over. (STOMP, 2006)

After browsing through the STOMP website, I find the news quite entertaining and close to our daily lives. Different sections are set aside for different interest groups such as the’ foodie groupie’ allowing food lovers like me to know the places that has good food. In addition, Singlish are being used almost anywhere, adding to the local flavor. With the rise of popularity in blogs, there is also a section set aside for star bloggers such as the well known bloggers xiaxue or dawn young. Readers can read their views on the most talked issues in Singapore and leave their comments too.

Main page of STOMP

the Talked-back sections

Really ideal meh?

I think STOMP is quite an ideal form of citizen journalism for Singapore. As I explored the website, almost anything under the sun is being discussed. Readers are free to comment on issues and non-readers are able to contribute news that they find interesting around us. It is a good way for Singaporeans to catch up on news that are unknown in the mainstream news such as the TV news or the newspaper. With the informal presentation of news, readers feel comfortable reading it and contributing news.

However, I realize politics are not really discussed in detail in this website. Most of the news that is presented is mostly juicy and fun news. An extra column for politics will be better for people who like discussing it. As there are still administrators moderating the news contributed for the website, if videos that violate political parties in Singapore are contributed firsthand, there is still a possibility of the website not presenting it. Therefore, I guess there may not a total freedom in the content that is provided.

Other than that, I feel that links of other popular bloggers like Mr. Brown can be added in the website. This allows readers to read up more broadly on different issues other than the fixed topics given to the only six star bloggers.

STOMP is near to the ideal form of citizen journalism. Singaporeans are able to contribute what they find interesting and discuss freely on different matters. However, due to the lack of total freedom, there is still room for improvement for STOMP.

References

“Citizen Journalism” (March 28, 2006) From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Retrieved March 28, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism

Gillmor, D. “We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People” (July, 2004). Retrieved March 28, 2007 from http://download.nowis.com/index.cfm?phile=WeTheMedia.html&tip

STOMP (2006) From Singapore Press Holdings
Retrieved March 28, 2007 from
http://www.stomp.com.sg/

politics

2007-03-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

Qotw8: Mr. Wang and democracy

I have to admit that I know nuts about politics. In fact, it is only through this class and the blog assignment that I know about political blogs existing online. Well, the only blogger I heard about in class and talks about the politics is Mr. Wang and so I shall talk about him in particular.

Blogger profile of Mr. Wang

Blog title and URL link:

Mr. Wang says so (http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/)

Mr. Wang bakes good karma

(Old blog) (http://commentarysingapore.blogspot.com/2000/01/art1.html)

Blogger’s Name: Mr. Wang

Blogger’s occupation: Citizen Blogger

Blog date of birth: 1^st January 2000 (old blog)

Technorati rank: 27,360 (328 links from 139 blogs)

2 blogs from mr.wang

After browsing through the two blogs Mr. Wang has, I realized he started out right in the beginning talking about Singapore; he talks about different aspects such as education, arts, culture, politics, social issues and anything that is related to Singapore. Articles mostly about Singapore issues are being put up and commented. Most of his blog entries are straight forward about how he felt about the Singapore government. I went looking for his earlier entries and I found one on ‘the dangerous blog where he talks about freedom of speech in the blogosphere.Though there may be other bloggers around who had no responsible in what they blog, Mr. Wang emphasize on the importance on some of the restriction of blogging. There must be a limit. (Mr. Wang, 2006) That entry leaves me an impression that Mr. Wang sometimes may be straight forward in certain issues but generally maintain a neutral stand. Questions are also sometimes asked to trigger thoughts of the readers. This allows users to comment freely and engage in a small debate of their own.

In a February 2007 blog entry ‘Duh, my head hurts”. He showed an article from ST forum on PM Lee emphasizing on family and pledging that the government will continue help fostering strong family ties. (Mr. Wang, 2007)Mr. Wang clearly felt funny with that statement and posted question out allowing readers to talk out loud about it. There were 42 comments for the post. Most of the readers responded to the questions and further discussed about the government incentives and even come out with policies that think would be more realistic for Singapore.

With relation to Mr. Wang blog, I really feel that blogs aids in greater democracy in Singapore. Political blogs like Mr. Wang’s gives Singaporeans a chance to express what they feel about different issues. Most of the Singaporeans are often afraid to speak their minds especially on political issues as they may get caught for that. Blogs create a platform for Singaporeans to freely comment what they want and is a place for them to vent out their disagreements on certain policies.

In fact, the government has seen this trend of blogs and even started blogging.Foreign Minister George Yeo was the first Cabinet minister to actually start blogging regularly. In his blog entries, surprisingly frank and insightful articles based on his interactions with foreign leaders can be found. (Giam, Gerald, 31^st December 2006) This allows Singaporeans to know about what is happening in the parliament and a chance to talk about it.

I do not know if the near future there may be laws on freedom of speech in blogs. However, the nature of the blogosphere is free itself. There are no real restrictions in what can be said or not said. Therefore, I truly feel that blogs allows people to converse freely and aids in freedom of speech (the government always emphasize improving on this), enhancing greater democracy in Singapore generally.

References

Giam, Gerald (31st December 2006), Review- The politics of Singapore’s new media in 2006.

Retrieved on 22^nd March 2007 from http://theonlinecitizen.com/2006/12/31/review-the-politics-of-singapores-new-media-in-2006/

Mr. Wang (2006), Mr. Wang bakes good karma,

Retrieved on 22^nd March 2007 from

http://commentarysingapore.blogspot.com/

Mr. Wang (2007), Mr. Wang says so,

Retrieved on 22^nd March 2007 from

http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/

new wrk

2007-03-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

Qotw7: The magical question: what are you doing now??

I was feeling bored and that is when Lirong approached me on msn and asked me to join the twitter. My first reaction, like everyone else is” What is twitter?? Is it another friendster look-alike website again?” Well, I guess I was bored to tears and so decided to try it out (partly due to the assignment too). It turned out to be something different from the usual online communities that I have been to.

What is twitter?

According to the wikipedia, it is a social networking service which enables members in the community to inform each other what they are doing or simply just chat freely on what they are thinking. Not only that, it allows users to send messages through their mobile phones or instant messaging. Apparently, users are able to receive updates messages from their friends via web, IM or sms. Twitter is also an example of a micro-blogging platform as they are able to type down their thoughts in that instant moment. (Twitter, 2007)

my twitter

Twitter = online community?

I have to agree that twitter is definitely a part of the online community. As mentioned from the article virtual communites: abort, retry and failure, “community within cyberspace emphasizes a community of interests, usually bounded by the topic under discussion that can lead to a communal spirit and apparent social bonding”. Users in the virtual community are able to exchange ideas on issues, have virtual business conferences, to communicate with friends or strangers and even to just gossip. (Fernback.J & Thompson.B, May 1995)

Twitter creates a space for friends to just pen down their thoughts or just gossips about any issues that is happening in school or work. Friends can be easily added to your own sphere and view your short messages of ‘what are you doing now” that was left online. A community is thus formed as your own circle of friends is added to the same space. Just like what Mr. Kelvin Lim has done for our com125 class, he simply just wrote down the link in the com125 website and everyone in class started joining the twitter. A class online community is formed; students exchanged ideas on twitter itself or just plain complaining of how boring the long break in school is. Once a comment is made, everyone will automatically respond to it and therefore discussion online can be continued effortlessly.

Twitter somehow serves as any online forum where people are able to chat and exchanged pointers. Also, it is like an smaller version of blog where one can write down that they feel; few words is sometimes enough to portray what one is feeling in that moment.

Besides that, twitter kind of reminded me of MSN messenger. MSN allowed users to chat real time online and the newer version enable users to see some of the offline messages that were left behind. Messages in both MSN and twitter are mostly short and concise. They are also in conversational style and informal in nature. With this feature, this makes sharing of thoughts and ideas less restrictive and encourages users to communicate more freely.

Another added feature twitter has is the ability to add and view each others’ profiles easily. This feature is similar to another popular community—friendster. Through this online community, people are able to increase their social circle as friends of friends or even strangers may add you to their friends’ list. However, friendster restricts users from surfing profiles or adding people beyond four degrees which is friends of friends of friends of friends. (Boyd Danah, December 2006) Twitter does not restrict anyone from adding more friends. Anyone can be introduced or added to the online community.

Twitter not so good

Well, twitter may seem to be something innovative as it resembles the instant messenger and friendster; it is very user friendly. However, not all people may favor twitter. The reason is that most Singaporeans already had a blogger, friendster or MSN messenger account. They are already used to communicating via these online communities. Not only that, too many of these similar online communities are surfacing out. I guess majority of the people will felt indifferent to another new online community.

Conclusion

Though there are some similarities twitter has with other online communities such as friendster and there may be some disadvantages of twitter, it is definitely an online community that aids in linking different social networks together.

References

Fernback.J & Thompson.B (May 1995) Virtual Communities: Abort, Retry, Failure? Retrieved on March 15, 2007, from http://www.rheingold.com/texts/techpolitix/VCcivil.html

Twitter (14 March 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on March 15, 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

Boyd Danah (December 2006) . Friends, Friendsters, and Fop 8: Writing community into being on social network sites. First Monday, volume 11, number 12. Retrieved on March 15, 2007, from
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_12/boyd/index.html#p4

schwrk

2007-03-08T08:22:00.000-08:00

Qotw6: Privacy = kiss and tell?

I used to keep a handwritten diary and wrote most of my private thoughts in that book. To me, inner thoughts and opinions are meant to be private and not be shared among other people. Ever since the appearance of blogs, my views changed.

I treated the blog as something personal and surprisingly I am not against the idea of sharing my thoughts online to anyone anymore. It became a place for me to vent my displeasures and stress, just like my old private diary. Have I forgotten about the issue on privacy and felt that it is fine for strangers to read my personal life?

What is privacy?

According to wikipedia, "Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to keep their lives and personal affairs out of public view, or to

control the flow of information about them. “ It is somehow related to anonymity as people may want to remain nameless so as not to reveal one’s real identity.” Privacy can be seen as an aspect of security—one in which trade-offs between the interests of one group and another can become particularly clear.”(Privacy, 2007) With relations to the internet, it is now very easy for one to reveal information about you by looking at one’s history or even checking a person’s IP address to know one’s real identity. There is no real privacy in the internet world. According to psychologists, “it’s important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread crumbs you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like.” In some cases, by just reading a blog post can reveal what you think. We are living in a world that is hard to keep a real secret. (Sullivan Bob, 2006)

Exposing myself

As mentioned earlier, I shared my thoughts, interests and even pictures of my personal life in my blog. It became a daily routine for me and I felt all right exposing myself to the whole public domain, including strangers. Well, I am definitely not the odd one out. Many citizens now do not feel embarrassed or uneasy to share their lives and pictures. It is a norm now to actually share personal information about yourself all over the net; it increases intimacy between people as your friends or strangers will be able to know something about you through your personal blog. I even have long lost friends who found my blog and we connected each other by just blog viewing. However, the bad point about exposing yourself online may also affect your offline relationship between people. A couple may no longer communicate properly as they can just view each other's blog to know their inner thoughts. Not only that, the rest of the world is able to know how you think as well and that depicts the purpose of having a real soul mate. (Rosen Jeffrey, 2004)

An example of my own blog with my thoughts and pictures.

To trust or not to trust is the question

We are living in the era where most people are open about their lives and self disclosed. But does that mean that all of them have forgotten about privacy? When a person blogs, I am sure that most of the people are still aware that this is a public domain and will be somehow careful about what they reveal. The online environment enables one to be able to create their online identity and of course their own characters. A blogger may avoid talking about negative things and try to create a positive outlook of them. One can control what they write in their blog and what they want to reveal in the end. There may be some authenticity in the blog content but definitely not all are true. Another problem of revealing private thoughts would be that the truth may hurts. I had friends who encountered incident of reading other friends' blog and found out that they wrote something nasty or impolite about them. Their friendship was destroyed right after the blog incident. As the blog is part of the public domain and everyone is free to express themselves, some people may then straightforwardly wrote down how they felt about things and whom they dislike. Being too honest may cause more misunderstandings to happen and relationships to drift away. I guess some issues are better to be kept within you as sometimes the truth hurts.

Conclusion

The issue on privacy online is controversial. People gladly expose themselves through blogs but it is important to note that not all thoughts and issues can be openly discussed. It is still important to protect one's privacy.

Reference

Privacy (7 March 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on March 8, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy#Internet_privacy

The Naked crowd (19 July 2004).Rosen Jeffrey. Retrieved on March 8, 2007 from http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CA5FF.htm

Privacy lost: Does anybody care? (17 Oct 2006). Sullivan Bob. Retrieved on March 8, 2007 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/print/1/displaymode/1098/

wrk

2007-02-15T21:38:00.000-08:00

QotW5: Is that really me online??

During my secondary school times, I recalled using nicknames such as Milky Way. There was a period of time that I run out of ideas on what nicknames I should use; I even went to check dictionary to find some weird terms but has a nice meaning to it and used it for my nickname. After frequently changing nicknames, I finally settled on Jchris. It sounded nice and it combines my initial and my favorite idol name in it. That was during the IRC (internet relay chat) days.

With the new fad of using Instant messenger, I simply just put my name and some words that describe how I felt that day. It is pretty amazing as through the short message that was shown, one can clearly see how you are feeling and what kind of person you are. Well, if you are the pessimistic kind of person, most probably, negative ideas or quotes will be frequently seen on your nickname.

Indeed, the physical invisibility characterises much online communication means that identity is no longer tied to any physical form; the self presented online is not fixed to a physical body. There is freedom that allows one to self-select attributes and present what they wanted to show others. It was mentioned by Joseph Walther (1996) that CMC permits communicators to “express themselves in ways more revealing of their … self-ideals than they might otherwise” (Chester)

What exactly is online identity?

As mentioned from the Wikipedia, “an online identity is a social identity that network users establish in online communities. Although some people prefer to use their real names online, most Internet users prefer to identify themselves by nicknames which reveal varying amounts of personal information. In some online context, including internet forums, MUDs, instant messaging and online games, users can represent themselves visually by choosing an avatar, an icon-sized graphic image. As other users interact with an established online identity, it acquires a reputation, which enables them to decide whether the identity is trustable.” (Online identity, 2007) However, due to the anonymity online, there is a possibility that people will “fabricate, conceal and exaggerate traits” (real me online). The person you are talking with may not be the perfect person you think he or she would be.

Trustable identity----> reputation

Back to the IRC days, there are operators who have thousands of songs that are available for anyone to download. I will identity their nicknames with their efficiency; there will be couple of these operators who has a good reputation of sending songs fast and having a library of the newest songs existing in the market. With ‘better service’ given, the users will most probably spread the word around, increasing the operator’s reputation.

Another example of a trustable nickname leading to high reputation would be online shopping. Why would some consumers send money to these sellers without the fear that their products will not be sent to them? These sellers must have a trustable identity and certain reputation. In some buying and selling websites such as the yahoo auctions and eBay, each seller will have a star system that show how trustworthy and reputable he or she is. The higher the number of stars, the more trustworthy the seller will be. Therefore, that will allow more people to buy from the seller.

Deception and identity theft

Like what I mentioned earlier, anonymity online gave anyone an easy access to be any person they wished to be. I have to admit that I did play around with nicknames while using IRC. There were times when I become a guy just to see how attractive I may be. If not I could change my nickname to ‘sweet gal’ and my avatar of a not so popular but pretty singer, you will not believe how many ‘Hey! Can I be your friend?” I can receive. It is amazing that even though there is a risk that the pretty girl may turn out to be a 40 year old lady, many people still fell into the trap.

The above example is a form of identity deception -impersonation. “If I can pass as you, I can wreak havoc on your reputation, either online or offline” Compared to the real world, the virtual world allows us to impersonate on chat rooms or even in eBay. There is no extra work to be done as one just need to alter the nickname to be exactly the same as yours and everyone else will think the person is you.( Donath ,1996) I encountered a similar incident. Someone used my nickname in IRC and chatted with my friends. Worse, the person even asked weird and obscene questions. Luckily, some of my friends called me personally and I made it clear that someone is impersonating me and stealing my identity. It is frightening that how easily a person can destroy one’s reputation online.

Solutions

Personally, I think it is hard to eliminate identity theft and deception. The characteristic of the internet-anonymity allows users to easily impersonate and trick other users. All of us thus should have the mentality that identity theft and deception can be easily done. In chat rooms, users should not trust other users easily unless he or she is a friend you may already know. Also, users must be careful of what can be revealed and what not to be revealed. Bigger companies such as bank companies have also tried to solve these problems by tightening the internet security in their websites.

Conclusion

I guess it is not easy to escape from identity theft and deception in the chat rooms or anywhere else in the virtual community. It is even harder to build a good reputation online as it can be easily destroyed by deception and theft. The internet is a very convenient tool for shopping, banking and making new friends. However, there is also risk involved. Everyone thus should be careful with who they may be dealing with.

References

Chester, Andrea .The Real Me Online: Playing with identity on the internet,
RMIT University, Australia. Retrieved on February 16, 2007
http://www.odr.info/unforum2004/chester.htm

Donath ,Judith S. ( 12 November 1996) Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community, MIT Media Lab. Retrieved on February 16, 2007
http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html

Online identity (8 February 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on February 16, 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_identity

3rd assignment

2007-02-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

QoTw4: The art of sharing and giving

We may think or feel that people living in this era are mostly self centered and selfish due to the immense competition that we are all involved in. However, this may not actually be the truth. Little do we know that most of us are actually sharing ideas and files free of charge? It has been such a common thing now to upload and download files online at the same time and share information with one another. We are all unknowingly involved in this exchange of ‘goods’ called the gift economy.

What is a gift economy?

According to the Wikipedia, the’ gift economy is an economic system in which the dominant mode of exchange is for goods and services to be given without explicit agreement upon a quid pro quo (the Latin term for the concept of "a favor for a favor"). Usually, the gift economy occurs in a context either of reciprocation- an expectation in the form of goods or services of comparable value to the giver, or of the gift is being passed on in some other manner. This can be considered a form of reciprocal altruism. In other cases, gifting is done without implicit expectation of reciprocation.’ (Gift Economy, 2007)The gift economy is also considered as the sharing community as people share what they have or what they find interesting to others. The receivers may also contribute in return by sharing with the rest with what they have. Some common examples of gift economy would be the internet and its free and open software that is available in some websites. Though there may be the commercialization of a lot of activities and software in the online communities, users have assured that the gift economy will be here to stay and continue to bloom. Tim Berners-Lee commented that the structure of the World Wide Web is structured in a way the aids in cooperation among participants. It is obvious that the gift economy will not be gone as it comes hand in hand with the internet. (Suárez, Maria)

So what motivates people to contribute to the internet gift economy?

There are several reasons that motivated people to continue playing a role in the internet gift economy.

The first reason would be anticipated reciprocity. It is in most people’s culture to return a favor when one person has helped you in some way or other; we tend to feel obliged to returning favors. Therefore, a person who is motivated to contribute valuable information to the group will have an expectation in mind that one will receive useful help in return. There is evidence shown that active participants who gave advices regularly in online communities receive more help compared to the non-active ones.

The second reason would be the effect on one self’s reputation. One’s contributions can be clearly seen in the online communities. The more a person contributes, maybe uploading files or giving regular and informative advices to others, will be recognized by the other users. Thus, the giver will be seen as reliable and of higher status.

The third reason would be a sense of efficacy. With one’s contributions on the online communities, the person will feel that they have an impact on the community or forum. According to the studies from Bandura, it has been said that making regular and high quality contribution can help a person believe that he or she has a certain impact on the community.

The last reason that motivates people to continue contributing to this gift economy is the need factor. One will have to contribute as there is a need for all those software and files. This is also one of the main factors that actually push people to give and take as everyone has their own kind of needs. (Kollock, 1999)

Example of gift economies

I have a keen interest in music and usually tend to look around for different languages and genres of music. To me, the gift economy is one of the best things that happened in the internet. I am able to share my views on music on different forums.

Reviews on albums are also given allowing me to make a decision whether I should get the album of a certain artist. Not only that, people from these forums contributes different music albums for listeners to download without infringing copyright. Most of these music forums that I went to did not just discuss and share music; they also share information they have in other areas of life such as tips on learning Japanese or interesting news. It is amazing that from a Japanese music forum, I am able to know and share information that is not purely music but other advices that may even help me in other areas of my life. Many of these people contribute voluntarily and that encourages more people to share what they have after downloading an album that is being posted by another user. Everyone should try joining some of these forums and experience what one can actually receive from it.

an example of a cpoop forum. music can be downloaded that is legal(sorry that is not too clear)

Conclusion

One may be thinking money is what drives the economy and everyone should be realistic about it. However, this is not the case in the current era. There are actually many people sharing what they have to the online communities without getting any monetary gains back. I feel that this is definitely a good trend that we should continue to encourage. So, let’s share what we have and keep this online gift economy going!

References

Kollock, Peter (1999). 'The Economies of Online Cooperation; Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace" Retrieved February 7, 2007 from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm
Gift Economy (2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gift_economy&oldid=105681971 Gift Giving in the NetSuárez, Maria .Gift Giving in the Net, FIRE, Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from
http://www.gift-economy.com/athanor/athanor_018.html

second assignment

2007-02-02T04:43:00.001-08:00

Q0tW3: should i or should i not?

“Sis, I downloaded the newest movies recently. You don’t have to spend money and watch in the theatres.”
“That’s great! Anyway, the Hana Yori Dango drama that you wanted me to download is ready too. We can watch it all tonight!” I answered.

I have to admit that it is an every day thing for me and my sister to download movies or music from the internet. It is hard for anyone not to download anything from the net these days. Honestly, would you rather buy a CD that cost around 20 dollars or download the whole album free of charge? Well, everyone wants a share of free stuff that can be easily downloaded. However, with more people downloading music and movies from the internet, the content creators are losing their own copyright. Artists and record companies are earning much lesser than before as the usual customers decided to switch to a cheaper channel to get their albums.

What exactly is copyright and its laws?

According to the Wikipedia, “Copyright is a set of elusive rights regulating the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. At its most general, it is literally "the right to copy" an original creation.”(Copyright,2007) For one to be eligible for the copyright protection, they have to achieve the following three points.
The creation has to be original to the creator.

1.The creator cannot copy someone else’s work
2.The creation has to be obviously creative and not copyrighted

3.The creation also has to be fixed in a tangible medium. Ideas cannot be copyrighted, but the tangible expression of these ideas can be copyrighted. (Ovalle, C,2005)

So how long does the copyright last? According to the copyright law, the time period a particular work can be protected by copyright depends on many factors such as when the work is created and when was it renewed. “The current copyright law lasts for a lifetime of the author plus 70 years, or in the case of a "work for hire" 120 years past the date of creation or 95 years past the date of publication, whichever is sooner.” (Ovalle, C,2005)

Copyright and file sharing

Copyrighted works can be easily copied onto the digital media through file sharing- the public or private sharing of computer data or space within a network. (Whatis,2007)For most people, we send files of music and movies through the standard messaging tools. In certain forums, music and moves are uploaded by certain users and shared broadly by many other users. File sharing usually follows the peer-to-peer (P2P) model where the files are stored on and served by personal computers of the users. P2P sharing is distinct in a way as in some of the networks, uploading of files is not required. However, there are some networks where incentives are given to those who upload files. (File sharing, 2007)

How copyright benefit content creators and public good?

Copyright ultimately does benefit the public as it helps accelerates the progress of science and useful arts. (Ovalle, C, 2005) With copyrights, creators are given exclusive rights to their hard work. This would help spur them to produce more and better work for the public. The quality of the public good will therefore increase. The public also benefits as more original works will be published. It is crucial for everyone to know that the copyright law is there to help establish a balance between the content creators and the interests of the public.

Real market VS the net

Due to the increased downloading and file sharing that is available along with the sales of pirated hard copies of CDs and DVDs, the recording and motion picture industries have resulted in billions of dollars of lost sales (copyright, 2007). Many of these industries thus accused some of the file sharing channels such as Limewire and Napster of causing the dip of their sales. The Recording Industry Association of America sued Limewire that it was profiting from unauthorized downloads. (Limewire, 2007) I recalled that when Singapore first started the copyright laws, many users who used Limewire to download music or movies were caught and fined. That created quite a huge buzz about what can be downloaded from the net in Singapore.

Solutions

It seems that neither the content creators nor public can be satisfied. Content creators would hope to earn more profits as hard work was put in. On the other hand, the public will search any possible channels to get their music or movies without paying.
One way of solving this problem would be allowing file sharing (P2P) to be used by users. According to Canadian Record Industry Association, downloading music may not necessarily hurt real business. Only 25% of the respondents said they never bought music after downloading it from the P2P. The majority still buys CDs and DVDs. (Canadian Record Industry Association, 2006) Well, downloaded music or movie may not give quality sound or images. Not only that, once one’s computer is down, downloaded music or movies will be gone; one may have to redownload it again. P2P can exist as long as it does not make extra profits. It can even serve as a community where undiscovered music can be found and maybe published.

Another way of benefiting both parties would be charging a small amount of money for a few downloads. It would be similar to getting real music from the music stores. For users who bought their music online may be able to get extra incentives such as getting free passes to see their idols or getting freebies. This benefits both parties as consumers will be able to get what they want in a cheaper price and profits can still be made by content creators. A new way of publishing music may be produced instead of the old traditional way of selling records.

Conclusion

As internet becomes part and parcel of our lives, more and more people will turn to the net for their favorite music and movies. However, most of us may be neglecting the copyrights that were given to the content creators. We should respect and acknowledge the work that has been done by them and not taking it for granted. A balance has to be achieved so that both the content creators and public will be satisfied.

References

Limewire (1 Febraury, 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved Febraury 1, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LimeWire
Copyright (28 January, 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved Febraury 1, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Copyright&oldid=104140398
Filesharing (1 Febraury, 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved Febraury 1, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing
Ovalle, C(2005). "Why do we have copyright". Retrieved Febraury !, 2007 from http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/%7Ei312co/2.php
Ovalle, C(2005). "What is copyright". Retrieved Febraury !, 2007 from http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/%7Ei312co/3.php
Ovalle, C(2005). "Copyright questions". Retrieved Febraury !, 2007 from http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/%7Ei312co/4.php
Whatis ( 2007). "file sharing". Retrieved Febraury !, 2007 from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212119,00.html
Canadian Record Industry Association Study (2006). "Downloading doesn’t hurt business". Retrieved Febraury !, 2007 from http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/murmurs/archives/2006/20060320_downloading.html

sch wrk

2007-01-26T02:16:00.000-08:00

com125week2: IM--Instant messaging

YoYo says:
“Hey! It’s been some time since we last chat. Is everything fine for you? “
Aqua says:
“Yeah, everything has been good. What about you?”

Do you find the above very familiar? In fact, most of us use the messenger, whether it is the msn messenger, IRC or ICQ every single day. Most of us converse daily with our friends or families via the instant messenger and it has become one of the most important communication tools in this era.

Instant messaging dated all the way back to the 1970s when it first appeared on multi-user operating systems such as UNIX. It was used to ease the communication with other users, allowing them to talk at the same time within the same space through the internet. The instant messenger made use of a client program that hooks up instant messaging service which differs from the email. (Wikipedia, 2007).

the old way of instant messaging

All conversations take place instantly; one seems to be talking over the phone as immediate response can be given. There is also a contact list that indicate who is in your list is offline or online. However, the early instant messaging only served the purpose of talking to other users through typing in a chat room and looked very simple.

The evolution--MIRC
I recalled during my secondary school days, I was quite ‘into’ using the IRC (Internet relay chat). The IRC is a form of instant messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is designed mainly for group (many- to- many) communication in discussion forums known as the channels and also enables one- to- one communication between other IRC users. (Wikipedia, 2007) It is also a good way to save on telephone bills as one can hold a conference in a chat room with people all over the world.(MIRC,2006) Not only that, it allows data transfer via private message or the main page. I remembered there were channels used only for getting music or videos.

Certain users are given a special privilege to be the IRC operator in the chat rooms. They are given channel operator status in every channel and have the power to kick any user out of the channel. However, as the IRC connections are unencrypted and typically span long time periods, IRC is a good target for hackers. (Wikipedia, 2007) It can be seen that the internet relay chat follows the earlier instant messaging quite closely. The chatting takes place instantly and allows everyone to interact more freely.

MSN Messenger

I could not remember clearly how the MSN messenger became a fad. It just seems that all of a sudden, everyone around me is using the msn messenger and I went ahead too. MSN Messenger is another form of instant messaging that was developed and distributed by Microsoft between 1999 and 2006. It is used by computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system and aimed towards home users. (Wikipedia, 2007) Over these years, the MSN Messenger has evolved from the basic MSN Messenger 1.0 to the current Windows live messenger. MSN messenger 1.0 included only the plain text messaging and a simple looking contact list without any additional features.

msn messenger 1.0

On the other hand, the current windows live messenger has gone beyond real-time chatting. Not only one can chat online through typing, the other feature Pc-to-Pc calling allows one to call your friend’s computer and converse verbally online. There is also a bigger size and better quality of video conferencing. (Windows live services, 2007)

video conferencing and 'making a phone call'

Files can be sent and shared among users and conversations can be saved even when one is offline. It has indeed become one of the most popular IM networks around and improved a lot on the standard instant messaging in the earlier days.

Conclusion

The above two instant messaging tools--- MIRC and MSN Messenger both worked on the basis of the oldest instant messenger- they offer real time chatting experience. However, they have progressed and evolved. Many instant messaging services such as the yahoo messenger have now begin to offer video conferencing services, voice over IP (VOIP) such as Skype and web conferencing.(Wikipedia,2007) Even our mobile phones are able to access the internet and use any instant messaging services to communicate online. The internet may have shortened the distance between people but it is the instant messaging that has increase the closeness and relationships among people whom you know and do not know. Well, there is a huge possibility that in the future no more email or telephones will be available. The multi-purpose instant messaging may take the place of the other communication tools and definitely will be here to stay for a very long time.

References
Wikipedia (24 January, 2007). "Instant Messaging". Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging
Wikipedia (23 January, 2007). "MSN Messenger". Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Messenger
Wikipedia (24 January, 2007). "Internet Relay Chat". Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat
Wikipedia (2007). "History of the internet". Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_Internet&oldid=70771572
Windows Live Messenger (2007). "Windows Live Services". Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://get.live.com/messenger/features
MIRC (1995-2006). "What is IRC?” Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://www.mirc.com/irc.html

bloggin experiece

2007-01-24T20:42:00.000-08:00

suddenly felt like blogging about my blogging experience so far....

i have been bloggin for i think 3 years...woooo!! time really flies...most people was telling me that it will be only for a shirt while..is juz a fad or sth...but nope...hehee...to me is like a diary....
at first..i used it to release my stress..i was qte stressed durin my jc daes..eve my skin looks more dull and sad...and all the posts are really wordy..

after my jc daes..i felt more relaxed and all...all my posting became more fun and interesting...

my blogs now consisits aof lots of pictures and lesser words..kinda feel that pictures tell more than words sometimes...

bloggin is now part of my life....tink it is a great way to know how others are doin through blog hoppin..hahaaa....and i tink will continue bloggin till..a really long time....

some more tings abt mi...

2007-01-17T08:43:00.000-08:00

felt like blogging a little more stuff abt myself...hmmm...

truely love singing...but more into cpop...i am a very chinese chinese...hahaa...i just finished my pop singing course and trying to pursue further by taking part in more competitions...i used to be in choir..for ard 6 years....love having fun and relaxing through singing...hahahaa

anyway...i have a bunch of good friends in sim.... some not here...

and my fav toy...one of my last xmas gifts....hahahhaa

shall share more of myself in the next entry....

my first entry

2007-01-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

heyyy...intro of myself...hmm..im lim jiayi..age 20..used to be in the nyjc.....my hobbies..i super super love singing...and of cos any music to me is great...i love shopping,sleeping and most importantly..eating..wahaha...to me,to be able to eat and to enjoy food is very important in my life...

yeap...well..my special abilities..i dun really have one very specialised one...but i did learn abit of pop singing some time ago...is my interest anyway..haha...me..

well..wad i do i know about internet...seriously i only used it for entertainment...like for blogging,frienster,watching videos in youtube..playing online games..and how can i forget...most importantly..to be able to chat online...yeah..i have to say that internet has been quite a big influence in everyone's life..it is soo much more convinent now...and also cost-saving. we don't really need to call our friends,we can just message in other through the internet...

also,not forgetting,online shopping! it has proved to be quite trustworthy and all...i had bought several goods through the internet..and they are all in really good condition...

my sis uses the internet almost every single day..it is like part of her work..or maybe her future career..she designs websites and all..so the internet is also super essential to her....

anyway,the internet has a lot of different functions that can be used..i believe there will be even more functions or more convient ways to communicate via the internet too...and im definetely a fan of the internet...haha