DEAR DUMB DIARY
1:35 PM
Today was the class test, and I'm just glad that I've passed. Although I've just passed, I could learn from the mistakes I made and do better for my next class test!
It was also fun watching the youtube videos and visiting
TalkingCock.com, and discussing over Singaporean issues. The website is most definitely interactive as it is orientated towards the locals, and through humour that is catered for Singaporeans. It is most definitely sustainable, unless if the government decides to ban it, which is quite impossible. However, I am sure the government understands that it is just a website for entertainment and allows fellow Singaporeans to interact and at the same time, allowing the government to understand the locals better.
For this practical, I was in the Prime Minister group. It was tough to think as a Prime Minister, because not everyone can be one. However, we had some fun participating in the role plays and the practical allowed us to interact more as a class.
9:32 AM
Today I've learnt some extremely cool websites called invisible web gateways, such as Academic Gateway and The Complete Planet. However, I don't find it very user friendly and the results I get are very few and irrelevant.
Whereas, the Temasek Polytechnic's E-books database ITPRO and the TP Digital Library Portal Research Gateway are definitely very helpful and I would definitely use them for research for my future projects. Although the ITPRO has much lesser hits than the typical search engine, it allows you to view the books entirely as TP has already bought the license.
The ITPRO allows me to view different chapters of the book easily, without starting from the first page and scrolling down all the way down to the page I would like to view like PDFs.
The TP Digital Library Portal gives much lesser hits but relevant results.
Similarly to the ITPRO, it allows me to view the entire text, however it does not give a clear heading to the chapters. Hence, I have to scan through the entire text like PDFs to find the relevant information I require. Overall, both ITPRO and the Digital Library Portal gives very few results as well, but relevant and detailed.
I've posted a reply to the discussion forum a few days ago, and today I've got another reply! This time, the person really helped me a lot by explaining certain things to me clearly. Now, I'm just at loss on how to reply and continue the discussion.
2:36 PM
A reply at the forum! That one reply helped me a lot by providing the right information and statisics on the robots being created for different purposes.
Quoted from the article, "First, industrial robots: there are now nearly 1 million units toiling in factories around the world. As for service robots -- which range from military bomb-disposal bots to home vacuum cleaners -- their number grew to about 5.5 million. All of which brings the world's robot population to 6.5 million."
Normally, people would feel nervous or awkward talking to strangers online or even real life. At the forum, I was just a beginner, and it was tough discussing to professionals without researching beforehand. It was definitely challenging for me as to how to reply to the posts. I thought at discussion forums, they speak formally, however, most of the time it's casual yet professionally done. They do credit the authors by doing citations, stating the website they quoted from, which makes it very professionally done and that's something I've learnt today.
10:59 AM
On Monday was Deepavali, but we were to stay home and complete our E-Learning, which was to participate in a discussion which marks as our attendance. It made me interact more with the classmates and find out more on what I was missing out in class. Most of the classmates find Google Scholar much better than Google, but I on the other hand, would prefer Yahoo and Google because of its wide range of results.
Personally, I would choose Metacrawler over Google Scholar because Google Scholar gives very limited variety of internet resources. I prefer Metacrawler as it picks out the best results from the popular search engines like Yahoo, Google and MSN. It also provides more variety of internet resources. However, due to the course I am in, most information that we require are usually found in books, as visuals are required to support on what we read. The other common website that I use with my coursemates is Google Earth, as we are required to do site analysis, meaning to analyse the surroundings of the site as well.
Today, I manage to find an online discussion forum related to my topic. As my topic is "Discuss the role of robots in society", I participated in an online discussion forum on robots. After a long search, I've finally found a forum that is active. My user is robotsnoob and here is the link:
http://www.robotspodcast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=195Right now, I just wish for at least a reply as soon as possible.
9:53 AM
We were taught Boolean operators, which widens or restricts on our search by using simple keys like "N/2" and "OR". For example, typing "mass N/2 media", would lessen your search by picking out only results with the 2 words near each other like mass media or media mass.
Whereas, replacing the word "OR' in between those 2 words would widen the search results.
Typing "AND" in between words, such as mass AND media would allow the search engine to give results that has only those two words. I've also learnt that adding an "*" or "?" behind a word. For example, typing abuse* in a search engine would give results including abused or abuses. Meaning, it would create a bigger amount of results.
One new search engine I've learnt that I would definitely use in future is MetaCrawler. It takes the best results out of the normal search engines such as Yahoo, Google and MSN, meaning more variety of internet resources for me.
3:18 PM
Today is the first time I've heard a search engine called Google Scholar. Before this lesson, I've always thought that Yahoo, Google and MSN were the only search engines available. Now that I'm exposed to more search engines, I've decided to try them out.
Compared to the normal Google search engine, Google Scholar finds results that are more relevant to what you're searching for. Both Google Scholar and the normal Google search engine has its own pros and cons. However, the results for Google Scholar are limited and lesser variety of resources, which makes me prefer the normal Yahoo or Google search engine to the advanced search engines. With wider variety of internet resources, I am able to compare and be exposed to more information and perspectives from different people as well.
I do use another search facility for books when they get borrowed out from school library. That is the Google Book Search, it gives a limited view or just the summary, which I find it useful. Despite no images or diagrams, it's better than not having the book at all.
11:12 AM
Second day of lesson, I didn't know that blogs could be used for research besides those organisational. Perhaps it's just much more unreliable as blogs are personal and are written from people from all over the world with different perspectives on different things. However, unreliable does not mean that it's useless, blogs could be used for comparison on the different views and used for reflection purposes. There are many purposes of internet resources, such as information, entertainment, personal, news, marketing and advocacy.
Part two was my favourite, which is online shopping! With $500, I would buy:
ASOS Military Fit and Flare Mac
Navy cotton military style mac jacket, double breasted with gold buttons
Shell: 100% cotton
Lining: 100% polyester
£55.00= S$143.00
taken from
http://www.asos.com/Asos/Asos-Military-Fit-And-Flare-Mac/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=326721&cid=2623&clr=Navy&sh=0Alicia Ankle Boot
Textured faux leather platform ankle boot
Ribbed outsole, padded insole
8.5" total height x 3.5" heel breast (4.5" back heel height)
100% synthetic
US$28.80= S$44.06
taken from
http://www.forever21.com/product.asp?catalog_name=FOREVER21&category_name=footwr_dressy&product_id=2054142729&Page=1#Sony Cyber-shot T2 Pink
8.1 Megapixels
4GB internal memory
Face smile detection
3x Optical, 5.1x HD Smart (16.9)
Photo TV HD
Real imaging processor
S$300
taken from
http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/Brand-New-Sony-Cyber-shot-T2-Pink_W0QQitemZ300268331012QQihZ020QQcategoryZ48543QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemTotal amount spent = S$487.06
11:57 AM
Introduction about myself, nothing much really, just a simple girl studying in Temasek Polytechnic Design School. Currently taking Diploma in Environment Design in the second year and have really amazing friends around. I'm the only child, so I guess I'm a little spoilt. Except the fact that I'm really straightforward and at times very unpredictable. So if I ever say or do things that you don't except me to, please don't be shocked. Oh and I really dislike Mac computers since I'm just so used to windows. =)
Back to school from the most fruitful holiday I ever had! I wish the holidays were longer though. Anyway, I came to school without knowing anything about the module I was taking. So the first lecture gave it away, of course, E.I.R. which stands for Effective Internet Research. The research topic I chose was "Discuss the role of robots in society". I've also realised that Wikipedia is not that reliable as I thought, because anyone has the rights to just change anything or any word on that web.
After going through my Lecture 1 notes, I've learnt that the word "podcasting" comes from the combination of "Ipod" and "broadcasting", which can be known as "portable on demand". Basically, after the first lesson I've had, I've realised that internet has many purposes such as entertainment and information gathering.
Navy cotton military style mac jacket, double breasted with gold buttons
