My Whacky Advertising Class - Com 443 Blog Entry No.2

What? Is that the way to publicize?

Lately, it has occurred to me of the large numbers of papers that were fluttering vigorously at our local bus stops.

Slowly, as i skulked up onto one of the fluttering ads, in the midst of heaps of numbers, words, and some printed self made articles consisting of blurred pictures, was truthfully, unpleasant. Although, some may argue that this ad space was purposefully provided , this notion of "free ad space" truly required a proper relocation altogether.

The introduction of sign boards behind or around these bus stops were meant for paid ad spaces, however, my observations have left me in doubt.

Simply, the pasting of papers of owners offering apartment space, missing cats or dogs, and seeking business opportunities, ought to adopt a better marketing approach to this, as this ultimately distorts and affects the true value of hard earned advertising.

Communication Gone Wrong

Undoubtedly, print ads, billboards, posters, flyers, or advertising agencies that supply advertising services, for example, JCDecaux, an International ad agency whose ad spaces are aimed at achieving maximum visibility to the general public, in which, faces a new challenge , and that is, changing the public's perception of good advertising.

It appears that the dissemination of messages in this notion, has created a negative outlook on all forms of advertising. In the same vein, not only does it appear to be aesthetically ugly, but it also reflects shoddily on the local advertising industry.

For myself, its free space that embraces nothing but a surface of abysmal promotion.

PR campaigns and the many firms that worked tirelessly into executing ethical, proper, and mindful campaigns for the general public are diminished. All of this has ended up with nothing but dreadful, terrible, appalling string of words that the public views as bad advertising strategies used by the few, done incorrectly.

Advertisements on these "boards" proved to be a clutter of propaganda to some. Also, it has devalued the proper aspects of advertising effectively and accurately.

Proper advertising requires lots of thought, research, planning, and mindfully earned media space advertised for a good cause. More importantly, to benefit, inform, educate,communicate, and perhaps, deliver value to those who consume print ads.

So it all boils down to

Professional ads versus "lousy ads"

On a Personal Note

Personally, this has only encouraged more and more unnecessary junk, "spam", and unsightly additions to bus stops. I am not saying that this is bad or it has out-rightly disrupted the local advertising sphere. Instead, however, i am implying that such free ad spaces that fosters self promotions, will eventually impact the advertising industry ultimately.

As American Author & stand up comedian George Carlin argues,

" The caterpillar does all the work, but the butterfly gets all the publicity."

On the whole, maybe, not now, or perhaps within the next ten years or so, but when it does transpire, the advertising industry would be facing an impediment, " free lousy ad space" which could have been vetoed. For that, let us celebrate high-quality advertising by appreciating, honoring, and recognizing those who have made advertising, enriching.

My Whacky Advertising Class Com443 - Blog Entry No.1

A Tribute to The King of Pop

With unfortunate sadness, the departure of a well-renowned pop icon that is liked by so many is finally at peace. Even after his death, his brilliant music will always be perpetual. "You will always be remembered Michael Joseph Jackson". For myself, growing up as a little boy during the late 80's, MJ's hits were always at the top of music charts. His music hits sold records after records in thousands of music stalls all over the world. Till today, somehow, my family and i still recollects MJ's tunes by bringing up old CDs of his successful albums. To name a few; Michael Jackon's Thriller Album, MJ's Off the Wall, MJ's BAD album, and finally Michael Jackson; MoonWalker, an old video tape that could only be played on an old VCR.

Media coverage over Jackson's world wide tours never failed to amaze me. Millions of fans from all over the world would pay high prices just to attend this this once in a life time musical experience and witness the atmosphere during his concerts. Every time the news reported on Jackson's next performance, enthusiastically, my family and I would be glued to the television sets, just for that few minutes to catch a glimpse of his whereabouts ,and concert updates. At times, during the early 90's here in Singapore, if i can recall, almost every occasion where a new album is released at music stores, television commercials would advertise on MJ's latest songs, albums, new CD releases, and news coverage on his upcoming tours.

Some of his songs that i remembered and really enjoyed comprises of songs like Billie Jean, Thriller, Beat it, The way you make me feel, and We are the World (a mixture of different singers) were some of my personal favorites. His songs addressed sensitive issues which included, race issues, political issues, poverty issues, and the corruption of several nations. "Man in the Mirror" swept every one off their feet when he performed it on stage with strong crowd all ears glued to him. I was blown away with the song lyrics, and it somewhat influenced me to become a better person every time i heard his songs. Specifically, i used to actually imitate MJ's dance moves and finish off by throwing the hat into the crowd. Apparently, i dun have a hat, any object would do. It might have been a Smurf's mushroom roof top acting as my hat? Lost memory? The one thing that really threw me off my seat was watching concerts after concerts of people who attended , seeing them faint, collapse or fall to their knees as though they were in a weird stupor.Thousands of people especially women and girls, shedding tear after tear almost uncontrollable every time he sang or did the famous pelvic thrusts towards the crowd.

Seriously, no one moved like MJ, no one sang like him, and no one could write songs of his caliber. In addition, his dance moves were uniquely different and well choreographed by his own unique talents. Originality. No one could ever deny Michael's famous "Moonwalk". This dance move alone thrilled Billions of fans including myself, and starring at it for hours made me want to attempt or try out the moonwalk instantly. No doubt, it was truly magical to watch him execute the Moonwalk flawlessly. When MJ released another one of his latest albums, called "Dangerous" which included songs like Black or White, You are not alone, Remember the time, Jam, Will you be there, and my all time favorite Smooth Criminal, friends including myself purchased his album instantaneously and we would listen to it for hours and hours over our pocket CD players.

MJ held only one concert here in Singapore and i was there to witness his every move. His concert was held at the Singapore National Stadium. When the media announced that he was embarking on his world tour and that Singapore was one of his stops in Asia, ticket inquires were flowing in non-stop, and people were willing to fork out any amounts just for a ticket to his concert. Finally, when it was confirmed that he was coming, everyone was so hyped up about his Asian tour. Unfortunately, on performance night, thousands of people including myself waited impatiently for his arrival and only to be informed of negative reports from his spokesperson, "Ladies and gentlemen, and fans, MJ is not feeling well today, and has left the stadium, please do not be saddened, the concert will go on tomorrow night indisputably, thank you for your understanding." Well, after crowding for almost 2 hours with the fans just to enter the stadium made me wonder, perhaps, he was facing time differences and jet lag upon arrival into Singapore. On concert night, it was an experience which i never forgot. Latest songs, upcoming hits, and all of his dance moves were showcased impressively to a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people in the National Stadium. His music was ever pleasing to every one's ear and there was never a moment for seating Everything, in the concert, was just magnificent.

Indeed, it was the most jubilant and memorable experience of the king of pop.

Despite the tabloids, the recent unscrupulous reports on his drug overdose, his unstable conditions, we loved him just the way he was. Michael Jackson was always against racial issues, his music was written to address these problems that the world faces, his song lyrics loom on national improvements for countries that were facing poverty, and his endless care for those who were less fortunate, never ceased to touch the hearts of everyone. Michael Jackson's unending quest to make this world a better place for all of us will continue to grow and we thank him for his wonderful music that is never-ending.

Our prayers will always be with him and i will always be a fan of a truly talented musician Michael Jackson.

Here is something to always remember him about..ABC.

NICE FACADE

Future Skills

Essential 21st Century Skills:

• Accountability and Adaptability—Exercising personal responsibility and flexibility in personal, workplace, and community contexts; setting and meeting high standards and goals for one's self and others; tolerating ambiguity.

• Communication Skills—Understanding, managing, and creating effective oral, written, and multimedia communication in a variety of forms and contexts.

• Creativity and Intellectual Curiosity—Developing, implementing, and communicating new ideas to others; staying open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives.

• Critical Thinking and Systems Thinking—Exercising sound reasoning in understanding and making complex choices; understanding the interconnections among systems.

• Information and Media Literacy Skills—Analyzing, accessing, managing, integrating, evaluating, and creating information in a variety of forms and media.

• Interpersonal and Collaborative Skills—Demonstrating teamwork and leadership; adapting to varied roles and responsibilities; working productively with others; exercising empathy; respecting diverse perspectives.

• Problem Identification, Formulation, and Solution—Ability to frame, analyze, and solve problems.

• Self-Direction—Monitoring one's own understanding and learning needs; locating appropriate resources; transferring learning from one domain to another.

• Social Responsibility—Acting responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind; demonstrating ethical behavior in personal, workplace, and community contexts.

Summary & Personal Reflections

Com 125 Weekly Final Blog Entry

Blogging

In this class, i learned how to blog. This alone, has allowed me to experience how blogging enables individual's like myself to share new ideas, receive updates from friends, google also allows me to ad sense, RSS from other bloggers whom i have never met, and finally, creatively decorate or design in various blog skins, blog text, to suit my own preference. Great Experience from blogging!!!!

Well, this course gave me the opportunity to accquire new knowledge about the Internet and definately, changed my perspective about the Internet. Not only have I gained a deeper understanding of the power of Social Medias, the empowerment of doing E-Commerce, but also, how business organizations engage in E-Business to improve their company's business strategies.

Additionally, appreciate and perhaps use the available Internet Tools to further leverage on my online communication aspects. Be it, blogs, to Instant Messaging and to Internet Phones, teleconferencing to skype, to many more...

As an undergraduate, Com 125 gave me new opportunities and avenues to supplement my research findings using the Internet Search Engines, web browsing, and using google as a means of added advantage for news, information, updates, and latest trends.

In particular, knowing that the Internet has impacts on society be it economical, sociological, political, and psychological impacts which are very prevalent today all over the world. Also, i have learnt of the DANGERS of the Internet, when it involves Privacy issues, and security issues where everyone is vulnerable to sites which are promoting radical extreme notions to go against society and be deviant.

In conclusion, attending lectures conducted by you sir (Mr Abel Choy) was both interactive and informative. We were always encouraged to contribute ideas and participate actively throughout your lectures. In addition, your videos (loved them all) taught us alot on podcasting, blogging,online virtual worlds, tools for E-business, E-commerce, social medias!!!, latest technology and others.

Its been a wonderful journey being under the guidance of your teaching sir, and i just want to conclude by saying thank you for all the lectures and all the smiles.

P.S. : the movie making week was also fun!! we all looked hilariously funny after posting onto youtube!!!

END

The Future of the INTERNET in 2019

Com 125 Weekly Blog Entry No. 10

My Life & The Internet at Present

So after having ourselves submerged into virtual reality so often, at times, we get lost and are completely unaware of our infatuation towards online consumption. I am no acception myself, having spent almost 4 - 5 hours a day on the Internet with my Social Networking Sites; Facebook, Friendster, Myspace, and my newly applied account on Twitter. Additionally, having to do extensive Research for my college papers due on the first week of April '09 and lastly, replying Emails or Instant Messaging.

That sums up how the Internet has consummate most of my online daily activities.

The Internet in 2019

How exactly my life will converge from the present Internet age to whatever is going to be in 2019 actually scares me. Let's say for example, everyone who uses the Internet has to manually enter a virtual world in order to access information, meaning really having to physically plug ourselves into the Internet so we can experience unlimited access and connectivity within the realm of virtual reality. So what do we get? Simply put, we are going to be appearing like the MATRIX.

Stuck in Virtual Reality and everything is controlled by Machines or perhaps one ruler?

NOTICE ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO??
KFC might be the Matrix architect?
GUESS AGAIN.....

Let's get Real

Let us reexamine this proposition from a different perspective, we have observed Microsoft Surface Techonology and how it is changing people's lives. We have seen the power of Multimedia and how it has also evolved around consumers. This may not be the best example featured, however, observe the technological advancements featured in this video clip and you will come to realize how much things would have transformed when we are in 2019.

Although this video merely highlights information which is the tip of the ice berg, imagine life totally wired up anywhere, and technologies that are limitless. E-cards, E-paper, E this E that, our lives will turn into a wired up island almost dominated by the people who control the networks.

Assumptions & Discussions

E-Business

Organizations and companies would increase their infrastructures and constantly upgrade their systems to meet the demands of customers. It would appear that E- Biz models would see a huge expansion of companies integrating the concepts for their individual business.

Like this diagram illustrates, there would be vast communication interactions occurring between clients and businesses yet, proper security measure would be in place. Although this may seem like any other business concept or diagram, imagine the possibilities of what this future model could do for generating profits. With a connection like that, businesses will benefit from their own Intranet systems along with the support of the Internet for allowing external intake of potential clients and customers.

E-Commerce

Unlimited access to information at the click of you mouse. The demands for E-Commerce would exceed its expectations and it will only continue to grow and grow as technology continues to evolve.

From this to.....this below

The entire world would be connected and it is going to be a global mess of more then 114trillion users from all walks of life accessing the Internet. We'd be all connected to the realm of virtual reality.

Education

Virtual classrooms, lecturers, technology, and a shift in the teaching methods. In certain aspects, students would experience a whole new structure to education and new insights and new teaching styles shall converge and utilize the Internet and the commuication capabilities that would be available to all schools.

Entertainment

Lives will be changed, people will no longer go to clubs, teenagers wil meet up on social networking sites to meet up and have a virtual gathering there. For example, online Avatars meeting up and having fun in a virtual club. Goodbye real life interactions.... Hello life on the Internet.

Honestly, this only increases the digital divide, and it passively affects real life communication. Social problems will arise, perhaps going to clubs is still a preferred choice for myself, at least, i know i have friends, and they are real.

Social Relations

Virtually, online communication will be enhanced. Onlie web tools like youtube for movies, twitter news for different updates, and many more other social networks which might promote digital mass teleconferencing which span across globes. Families, friends, professionals, medical practitioners, organizations, businesses, and online virtual relationships would benefit from the digitization of technology.

On the other hand, we must be aware of the consequences of being Internet Literate that it is always better to have real life communication with real friends and not be totally absorbed into online activities. As what Enya says in her song, '' who can say where the road goes, who knows only time."

How exactly will we appear in 2019?

Our future looks endangered, but the Internet realm looks like a world of no boundaries if you ask me. Machines will someday rule the world and that will mark the end of civilization. New lives are born and destroyed, computers decide your fate, rules are governed by machines, and human beings become monotonously robotic.

If you ask me, our future will look like this picture below.

Streets, towns, buildings, roads, transportation, and many more elements would be in the form of micro chips or miniature parts of a circuit world which is heavily wired into the Internet worldwide. No longer will humans be regarded as humans, we will transform into machines and become enslaved by the Internet.

No doubt, there will be wonderful outcomes which benefit people.On the other hand, if this becomes uncontrollable, then everyone would be sucked into the Internet. Another example which scares me is the fact that someone might one day decide to conquer the world by proposing that everyone becomes one with the Internet and it would be inevitable to ignore when governments, leaders, countries, the entire population becomes trapped and life existence becomes meaningless.

Will you ever come to know of your actual existence? Will new-born babies enter the world peacefully or mechanically?

Are you going to be enslaved and consumed completely by the Internet in 2019? Or are you going to be one leader who will help others to overcome Internet consumption.

Janna Quitney Anderson, lead author of the report The Future of the Internet II.
She added: "One of their big concerns is: Who controls the internet architecture they have created?"

Conclusion

In sum, although there have been negative connotations about the Internet, the future of the Internet still is a question which you and I have yet to witness. For now, we shall leave it as it is.

Let us enjoy, embrace, educate, inform, reform, control, and understand how the Internet can benefit and improve our lives instead of abusing it.

Internet & The Future of Journalism

Com 125 Weekly Blog Entry No. 9

The Future of Media

What will the future of media landscape look like? How will Web 2.0 effect reporting and how will future media be consumed? What products and tools will journalists and other creators use?

Blogs today, has changed the the way people view current issues and it has emerged as a new platform of reporting on current affairs. For example, Live Blogging, and how it has changed the media world. Indeed, Internet users can express themselves, write about a personal issue, or stay in touch with current media reports and input personal comments on these matters.

For this, let us first observe what others have to say about the future of Journalism on online blogging.

How Live Blogging is Changing Journalism

As we have observed, the News medium has already shifted from Print, to TV, and to the Internet. Below is a another video showing why there are going to be more lay-offs in Journalism because of the prevalence of the the Internet Phenomenon.


JourNalists Lay-offs

Everyone can Publish & Everyone will

Jay Rosen, a blogger and journalism professor at New York University, calls "the people formerly known as the audience."

"In this new world, the audience and sources are publishers," Mr. Rosen said. "They are now saying to journalists, 'We are producers, too. So the interview lies midpoint between us. You produce things from it, and we do, too.' From now on, in a potentially hostile interview situation, this will be the norm."

All these developments have forced journalists to respond in a variety of ways, including becoming more open about their methods and techniques and perhaps more conscious of how they filter information.

For one thing, the power of blogs is exponential; blog posts can be linked and replicated instantly across the Web, creating a snowball effect that often breaks through to the mainstream media. Moreover, blogs have a longer shelf life than most traditional news media articles.
A newspaper reporter's original article is likely to disappear from the free Web site after a few days and become inaccessible unless purchased from the newspaper's archives, while the blogger's version of events remains available forever. For this reason, the accessibility and convenience of retrieving a past document from the web, indefinitely, over shadows the reporter's article.

Why exactly do people engage in self-reports?

Some say its the news and the media that purposefully distorts the the actual story altogether. For example, news which were edited and censored so as to prime viewers accordingly with an agenda.
In addition, some say, reports in the newspaper yield uninteresting, untrue, and unclear facts which affect readers and thus, they turn to online information for a more credible source to satisfy these feelings of unrest when consuming news and information.
In Conclusion

What are your views on the difference between fact-based reporting or opinion-based reporting? Do you think Blogger's hiding behind laptops and monitor screens act as credible sources?

Are these opinion-based assumptions worthy of a right or wrong answer? Perhaps, this question still offers more room for discussion. Biasness is inevitable when it comes to expressing of one's own personal views on the subject matter.
Again, the decision is yours to evaluate if something is really true, or maybe, it may just be another bias blogger who is against such issues.

An END to an ERA of Accurate, Informative news.