Reflections

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 10:27 AM | Posted by jkzlin
No, no, I will not be talking about the song Reflections sung by Christina Aguilera.

I will, however, be talking about the reflections from this assignment.

I personally have a personal blog of my own which serves as a portal for me to vent out my frustrations, pen down my thoughts and opinions about certain issues, and also to post about the events and activities I have attended.

The blogging experience from this assignment differs largely with the one I have gained from my personal blog.

Shriver (1997) states that text and images compliment each other in a document, where both coexists together to convey a message to the audience and to enhance the clarity and understanding of a message to the audience.

I have learned that you can not write the same way in blogs as you do in reports and other assignments. In blogging, it is important to make your post as interesting as possible, so as to attract readers and to keep them reading.

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Canon Helps Students

Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 10:08 PM | Posted by jkzlin
Summary of the article, taken from Star Online, dated 13th November 2009:

One of Malaysia's largest camera manufacturer, Canon Malaysia has decided to work with the Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology over the next three years to help its students improve their photography skills.

The deal, which was inked recently, is expected to benefit the more than 9,000 students at the Cyberjaya campus. According to Canon Malaysia assistant director, Simon Wong, the deal would include a series of seminars, workshops, exhibitions, and contests, as well as provide technical support to the students.

Not only that, students would also have the chance to interact with various photography experts who will share their knowledge and experiences at the seminars and workshops.

As a student, I feel that Canon is doing a tremendous favor by providing this deal to the students. As a student studying in Taylor's College, I am envious of Lim Kok Wing.

Since Taylor's College has opened a new designing school, which involves photography as well, I feel that Canon should provide this deal to other colleges and universities as well. "We want to help create more photography professionals in the country so that the nation can be richer in artistic and creative works", said Simon Wong. So wouldn't it be better for them to extend this deal to other institutions as well?

Maybe in the future they might. One institution at a time, I guess.

References:
  1. Canon To Arm Students With Photo Skills, online, retrieved on 13 November 2009, from http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2009/11/13/technology/20091113095202&sec=technology

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Choose Local IT Solutions

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 9:39 PM | Posted by jkzlin
Summary of the article from Star Online, dated 6th November 2009:

Goverment agencies were told that they will soon be required to use local software and solutions whenever possible. This move is to give the Malaysian ICT (Informations and Communication Technology) companies a chance to flourish in the local market and strengthen their products before pushing it into the global markets.

Our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that a circular would soon be sent out, informing all government institutions to give preference to local software and solutions.

The Prime Minister also called on the agencies to make more use of electronic media such as emails, SMS (Short Message Service), and social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to maintain contact with the public. For example, public service announcements and warnings could be sent to the public via SMS.


The reaction to this were generally positive, and I do agree that we should provide an opportunity for our local IT companies to grow and move on to the global standard.

Speaking from a student's point of view, it would be interesting to use a software that is locally designed. However, due to assignment constrains, international softwares such as Adobe Photoshop, and Dreamweaver are still considered to be more dependable.

I do agree that this circular should begin with government agencies first, and when it is more stable and fully approved by the public, then it should be passed on to the other institutions such as high schools, colleges and universities.

As good as this will be for the country, this act might give the wrong impression to other countries, saying that Malaysia is intending to opt for protectionism. When this problem arises, I personally feel that the government should make an announcement to those countries explaining the real intention for this circular. That we do not intend to cut out softwares from other countries, but simply just giving our local IT industry a chance to grow globally.

References:
  1. Steven Patrick, 2009, Choose Local IT Solutions, Govt Agencies Told, online, retrieved on 9 November 2009, from http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2009/11/9/technology/20091109170333&sec=technology

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Webisodes for Kids?

Friday, November 6, 2009 at 8:17 PM | Posted by jkzlin

What are webisodes?
As defined by itvdictionary.com, webisodes are short episodes of programming that is webcasted.

Other points to further define a webisode:
  • A new form of media called the web television
  • May be a preview of advertisements
  • May also include parts of established dramas and series
Most webisodes are within the time frame of 2 to 3 minutes. According to Chris Corbet, writer/producer of TinyTown, a webisode for kids, there's something about 5 minutes that seems too long for a webisode. Audiences tend to get distracted with other things on the computer if the webisode is too long.

Considering the boom in technology, webisodes may very well be the next television for kids. Guthrie (2007) said that the potential is appealing because more than 85% of US households are connected to the internet via broadband. And these numbers are bound to increase in the years to come.

However, some webisodes are not suitable for kids, such as Happy Tree Friends that feature cute soft-toy look-a-like characters committing gruesome acts to one another.

Parents should be aware of the kind of webisodes available for their kids, to ensure that they are watching the proper content for their age.

References:
  1. Guthrie, M, 2007, What's a Webisode Worth? online, retrieved on 6 November 2009, from http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/111311-What_s_a_Webisode_Worth_.php
  2. Definition of Webisodes, online, retrieved on 6 November 2009, from http://www.itvdictionary.com/definitions/webisode_definition.html

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Facebook Makeover Leaves Some Devotees Fuming

Friday, October 23, 2009 at 8:35 PM | Posted by jkzlin

I shall start with the brief history of Facebook:

In the beginning, it was Harvard and only Harvard. Mark Zuckenberg created Facebook, which was then known as thefacebook.com to get to know the other students at Harvard back in 2004.

Facebook grew so tremendously that it was soon opened to other colleges as well. By the end of 2004, it was also opened to high schools, and later on, to the general internet public, as long as you were 13 and older.

Overtime, Facebook grew by adding more features such as news feed, more privacy features, Facebook notes, the ability to add images to your page/blog and comments, importing other blogs into Facebook, instant messaging and much, much more.

Recently, Facebook has decided to give themselves a new look. A makeover, so to speak. This, was not accepted well with some of the devotees of Facebook even if it was done with good intentions.

Vice President of Facebook's Marketing said that one of the purposes to the changes made is to ensure that it is easier for people to push and pull information in the form of bite-size content rather than quickly.

Various groups and fan pages were created to oppose this change. I personally joined a group opposing this change, because I felt that the old Facebook layout was good enough, and that the new one, along with all it's new features might cause the page to load even slower than it already is.

But they went ahead and implemented the new changes with some of the viewpoints from the devotees taken into consideration. In my opinion, the new Facebook looks even better than the old one. Either that, or I have just gotten used to it. Either way, I feel that they made the right choice by going ahead with the makeover.

References:
  1. Linda Roender, Where Did Facebook Come From?, online, retrieved on 23 October 2009 from http://personalweb.about.com/od/makefriendsonfacebook/a/whatisfacebook_5.htm
  2. Facebook Makeover Leaves Devotees Fuming, online, retrieved on 23 October 2009, from http://www.australiananit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24328928-15318,00.html

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New Forms of Media Publishing?

Friday, October 16, 2009 at 11:56 AM | Posted by jkzlin
New media are emerging and vastly expanding in the World Wide Web era. While it may be good that media are now evolving, conventional media are faced with the possibility of becoming extinct.

Social networks such as YouTube, Facebook, Blogger and Twitter have the potential to fully replace papered journals and diaries. However, there are readers who still prefer to read and interact the conventional way. Naughton (2006) states that traditional media are considered to be the push media, whilst the web is the pull media, which further proves the supremacy of the new media.


Naughton (2006) also agrees that the newest trend in the blogosphere is the combination of digital convergence, personal computing and global networking such as Twitter and Facebook is increasing the pace of development and is giving fundamental shifts in the World Wide Web environment.

With this said, it may be possible for the existing media, be it conventional journalism or blogging to co-exists with the new media to come.

References:
  1. Naughton, J, 2006, Blogging And The Emerging Media Ecosystem, online, retrieved on 16 October 2009, from http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf

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Designing: Online vs Print

Friday, October 9, 2009 at 11:30 AM | Posted by jkzlin
How a reader reads and interprets a document differs from the print and online documents.

For example, according to Nielson (1997), reading from computer screens is 25% slower than reading from paper. Therefore, different design principles have to be applied to both documents.
The Star online article

The Star printed newspaper


There are a few designing principles that a writer/designer should follow when creating a document:

Balance – balance should be maintained between the amount of text and images in a document

Sequence – Jakob Nielson (1997) states that readers generally scan the pages online. Therefore, the sequence of the images and text is very important. The same can be applied with the printed document.

Consistency – Indentations, margins and typeface should be consistent in both documents so as to avoid it looking messy and unorganized.

The movement of the eyes play a large role in designing a good document. Nielson (2006) explained these movements with the F-shaped pattern theory for reading online content.

With these points taken into consideration, designers and even YOU will be able to design a good online and print document.

References:
  1. Nielson, J. 2006, F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content, online, retrieved on 9 October 2009, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html
  2. Nielson, J. 1999, Print Design vs Web Design, online, retrieved on 9 October 2009, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html
  3. Nielson, J. 1997, Reading On The Web, online, retrieved on 9 October 2009, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

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The Blogging Community and Methods on Building One

Friday, October 2, 2009 at 10:58 AM | Posted by jkzlin
According to Anthony from www.thetravelart.com, a blogging community is exactly that – a community. Basically, a few people with similar interests, views and passion would gather together for an occasional meet-up. Having a blogging community can increase your readership, and therefore your credibility as well, because you are no longer writing for yourself, but for other people as well.

How to build a community on your blog on your own? (Darren Rowse, 2008)
  • Take the lead and be the community that you want your readers to be – readers follow the lead of bloggers in how they’ll interact with each other.
  • Ask questions to increase interaction in your blog.
  • Give readers something to do on your blog, like trying out a new restaurant. You could even have a column where readers can be a guest blogger, giving advices to each other.
  • Link your reader’s blogs. Readers actually appreciate you taking an interest in their blogs too.
  • Answer reader questions – avoid ignoring questions. Readers actually appreciate it when you take notice of them.
  • Get your readers noticed. Celebrate your readers publicly on the blog. This will also help increase more readership.
  • Create projects where readers can participate in. The more active they are on your blog, the more loyal they’ll be.


References:

  1. Darren Rowse, 2008, How To Build Community On Your Blog, online, retrieved on 2 October 2009, from http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/04/26/how-to-build-community-on-your-blog/
  2. Blogs and Community – Launching A New Paradigm For Online Community, online, retrieved on 2 October 2009, from http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community
  3. Anthony, 2009, What Is A Blogging Community, online, retrieved on2 October 2009, from http://www.thetraveltart.com/what-is-a-blogging-community/


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Classification of blogs and opinion about the most appropriate classification approach

Friday, September 25, 2009 at 6:08 AM | Posted by jkzlin
Blogs come in all shapes and sizes, so to speak. Numerous classifications and genres have been created in order to differentiate blogs from one another. Here are some of the types of blogs available to us:

Personal Blogs:
Personal blogs are like online diaries or journals where users are be able to pen down thoughts, activities and such. This is possibly the most popular type of blog.

Corporate and organizational blogs:
Corporate blogs are usually made private and can only been seen by their corporate members and clients. Organizational blogs, are mainly used for marketing, advertising and branding purposes.

Blogs defined by genre:
These blogs are mainly distinguished by their content. For example, a political blog will contain all there is to know about the politics in a certain country or even the world. Other genre blogs are; travel blogs a.k.a travelogs, house blogs, fashion blogs, project blogs, education blogs, and classical music blogs.

Media blogs:
Vlog (video log), photoblog, sketchblog and tumbleblogs are catogerized under the media blogs because they focus on media content.

And lastly, moblogs:
Moblogs are blogs that are updated or created via the mobile phone.

Many blogs are a combination of styles, which makes identifying unique types difficult. In my opinion, a type of blog can be easily identified by the content of it, the format of writing and also the layout of the blog.

The content itself would be a give-a-way. By reading the introductory paragraph, you would be able to distinguish the type of blog. Pictures would also be helpful. For example, a fashion blog would contain an introduction paragraph about fashion, equipped with pictures of the latest fashion, and the language used will be very informal and conversational.

References:
  1. Wikipedia, online, retrieved on 25th September 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog#Types

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The Blogging Phenomenon

Friday, September 18, 2009 at 11:41 AM | Posted by jkzlin
What started out as an online diary has now grown into something that is actually beneficial to the world. Blogs have come a long way into becoming one of the top tools used for education, marketing and of course, for leisure.

There is no actual measurement to determine how large the current blogosphere in the world is. However, it has been agreed that blogs are indeed a global phenomenon that has hit mainstream.

Trends, stories and behaviors influence the rest of blogosphere and mainstream media. The latest trend that can be observed through the World Wide Web is blogshop where clothes and other accessories are sold there.

Other benefits of blogging in Malaysia include:
Blogging is now used as a learning and assessment tool in colleges (such as this blog right here)
Blogging also serves as a forum where other users can share discussions about certain things.
A new age marketing tool for small time business enterprises.

So far, blogging has given us the means to communicate better with the world outside of ours. This can definitely open our eyes to news things and different views.

Don't you think so?

References:
  1. Technorati: State of Blogosphere 2008, online, retrieved on 18 September 2009 from www.technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere

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What is a good document?

Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 5:02 AM | Posted by jkzlin
What exactly constitutes as a good document?

Considering the fact that the majority of readers and viewers don't always read the text in a document, but rather scans the document as a whole (Jakob Nielson, 1997), it can be concluded that the designs of the document play a large role in making it a good document.

So, from my point of view, a good document will need an interesting and eye-catching layout to begin with, followed by a witty, straight-to-the point text.

The purpose of having a good designed document? (Reep, Diana.C)
  • they guide the readers through the text by directing attention and also increases the reader's ability to remember the highlighted sections.
  • they increase the reader's interest in a document. Eye-catching and attention-getting formats keeps the readers focused on the intended document.
  • they create a document that reflects the image you want your readers to imagine and remember.
Below is an example of the presentation slides my group compiled for one of our presentations:

Based on the 3 purposes of having a good designed document, I shall now highlight some of the improvements that can be done on these slides:
  1. There is not set highlighted sections in this slide. Although all the points are crucial to the presentation, there should be highlighted key words in order for the readers to remember the points given.
  2. Since this was a class presentation involving students, a more friendly image could have been projected in order to keep the students focused and interested in the presentation. But the image reflected through these slides were straight-forward and clean, which sometimes does not appeal to the younger generations.
References:
  1. Jakob Nielson, 1997, How Users Read On The Web, online, retrieved 11 September 2009, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
  2. Reep, Diana.C, 2006, Document Design, Chapter 6, pp. 133-172, retrieved 11 September 2009, from Unisa Library

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The Purpose of This Blog

Friday, September 11, 2009 at 12:05 PM | Posted by jkzlin
Here is a more elaborated version of the purpose of this blog:-

Basically, what I aim to do with this blog is to create a certain awareness as to what exactly is a good document, along with it's elements, the essentials of it and how to create a good document design. I will also explain the purpose and importance of a good document design in the few coming posts.

The main target audience for this blog would definitely be my classmates as well as other communication students who will be or already are involved in this similar subject. Professionals and researchers of said subject are more than welcomed to comment on the posts and documents that will be posted up in this blog. The more, the better. And not forgetting, other students from other majors and colleges, and random readers who just so happen to stumble on this blog, you are all definitely welcomed too.

I think that should suffice as the first post. Hope you'll continue showing your support for this blog.

Please and thank you!

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