Blogging? WHY???

Some people may ask, 'why do you choose to blog?'

Blogging is not just about expressing thoughts and comments but understanding issues on a deeper level. For instance, the media articles that I have blogged till date helped me to understand and think more than what was being reported from the news outlet.

One simple example would be the girl who publicly commented how upset she felt when her mother switched off the fan while she was still sleeping. Personally, I see that there are moral issues to be addressed and it is the responsibility of every bloggers to share what is beneficial to the readers. Blogs also allow some creativity to be considered such as designing attractive pictures, not just to be attractive but portraying the thoughts and desires that we wish to reflect.

Image courtsey from:
http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/comic-14.jpg.

Blogging is like a Double Edged Sword

A recent blog about a girl who cursed her mother for turning off the fan when she was sleeping generated an out roar within the community.

Blogging helps us to express our feelings and thoughts and perhaps draws the community closer towards one another. However, the above mentioned case was seen to create a lot of negative responds that the blogger probably did not anticipate.

Blogs are generally free and accessible to the public hence it is important to think before typing anything especially contents that hurt people's feelings or even any political issues.

References:
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/what_bugs_me/1022174/girl_curses_mum_for_turning_off_the_fan.html

2D vs 3D

2D and 3D refer to the actual dimensions in a computer's workspace. 2D is 'flat', using the X & Y (horizontal and vertical) axis', the image has only two dimensions and if turned to the side becomes a line. 3D adds the 'Z' dimension. This third dimension allows for rotation and depth. It's essentially the difference between a painting and a sculpture.

A classic example from the popular fighting game, Street Fighter showed what was the differences in their visual animation back in the 80s to current


Street Fighter in 2D gameplay



Street Fighter in 3D gameplay

3D animations improved gameplays in a more complex and interactive way to people

however it was not always the case that new technology will always be the savvy choice.

Street Fighter made billions of dollars in their initial 2D release however sales dropped when the 3D version came out. Fans did not enjoy as much as the original as it felt to be a complete different game.

It was in 2010 that Street Fighter released another version with a mixture of 3D effects and retaining the original 2D gameplay that gamers found enjoyable to play. The success was finding out what their targeted audience really enjoyed and executing a balance between new technology and originality.

Hence, it is worth noting that not all new invention works well but understanding the needs and wants is the key.





Street Fighter 4 - a mixture between 2D gameplay and 3D animations

   



Printed & Online, which is better?

TWENTY YEARS AGO information was a scarce commodity. So scarce in fact that people did some unbelievable things to secure it. They paid for it and waited patiently, for a week, a month, or more, to receive their favourite magazines.

I remembered I used to beg to my mother to purchase a copy of the monthly Young- Generation magazine.  It had printed contents such as study tips, comics and various educational materials. Once, I applied to be included in the pen-pal section and my profile actually appeared!
Technology constantly grows to a new level hence information these days is free and conveniently provided to readers via the Internet. It comes with many interactive features and flashy animation to attract readers.

Printed materials are still very popular in today's context especially for newspapers and magazine articles. Parker (2003, p. 270) states that reading from paper is much easier than reading from a monitor, as screen projects light, making it difficult for the readers to stare at for long periods at a time.

Online publishing has greater advantages by delivering interactive aspects to people. It has come to be a great help for publishers in terms of budget and also providing more features to their target audiences. Just like the pen-pal sections, publishers can now create online profile features and allow users to have instant access to others' information hence making friends a lot easier than what was before. However, printed or online only work well when they have good formats and designs.

Readers tends to read in detailed with the printed materials whereas they scan through in online reading.

In conclusion, both publications continue to deliver strong impact to readers and it is for the businesses to analyse which is the correct platform for their targeted audiences.

References:
Parker, RC 2003, ‘Designing documents for web distribution’, Looking good in print, 5th edn, Paraglyph Press, Scottsdale AZ, Chapter 14, pp. 269-293

NC16 for Seed of Chucky

Universal Studios Home Entertainment released its most popular and admired terror icon of the past 23 years in his fifth movie outing - Chucky, the notorious killer doll. Inspired by the greatly thriving 1988 film, Child's Play.

Here in Singapore, we are seeing the fifth installation of the Chucky series with the CENSORED version. It was rated as M16 for the DVD release omitting the many extras their America counterparts had planned for the audiences.

According to Singapore Media Development Authority, NC16 (No Childern under 16), was introduced to protect childern from viewing films thematically unsuitable for them and to bridge the gap between PG and R21.

A comparison between the the US Unrated versus Singapore NC16 may have left people wondering why there was a need for the cuts as the actual portrayals were not much less than what was intended.

The comparison: For the US's Unrated VS Singapore's NC16 version.

1 alternative shot = No (real) time difference
1 newly added scene = 67,98 Sec.


Chuckys masturbation scene
0.55.19
Alternative Material:

Unrated:
Close-up of Chuckys hand while masturbating along with a noise of squeaking rubber.
Note: Nothing to see here - the hand covers everything. It doesn't even look anywhere near real, because Chucky is clutching his fist and his penis would have to be as thin as a blade of grass in order to make it halfway realistic.
6,01 Sec. (incl. the shot of Chucky before this shot, to be able to compare with the NC16 below)

 

NC16:
Here the shot of Chucky looking down has been lengthened. The beginning of this shot is in the Unrated as well.

The new materials in the Unrated version offered what had happened after Jennifer Tilly has beaten her maid to death with the Tiffany doll and the camera zooms in on her eyes changing their color to green.



The cut features could have been released under M18 thus preventing children from watcing and at the same time, pleasing die-hard fans.

References:
http://www.mda.gov.sg/PUBLIC/MEDIACLASSIFICATION/FILMSANDVIDEOS/Pages/RatingsFilmsandVideos.aspx
http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=2247

The Phenomenon in Blogging

We are talking about weblog to blog so what exactly does it mean?  There is a number of ways we could answer this question ranging from the broad to the highly technical.


Lets find out some of the definitions by the following explanation:

‘A weblog is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects and data, arranged chronologically, that can be viewed in an HTML browser.’ Source

‘A weblog is kind of a continual tour, with a human guide who you get to know. There are many guides to choose from, each develops an audience, and there’s also comraderie and politics between the people who run weblogs, they point to each other, in all kinds of structures, graphs, loops, etc.’ Source

'A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.’ Source

Blogs are usually written by one person and are updated pretty regularly. It can be written on a particular topic or virtually any topic you can think of. From photography, to spirituality, to recipes, to personal diaries to hobbies – blogging has as many applications and varieties as you can imagine.

Whole blog communities have sprung up around some of these topics putting people into contact with each other in relationships where they can learn, share ideas, make friends with and even do business with people with similar interests from around the world.

Video courtesy from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI&feature=player_embedded

How technology has changed the way we communicate

Traditional communication to consumers such as face to face marketing or promotional papers has declined in favor of rapid, interactive, convenient and digitally-forward methods of communication in both our personal and professional lives.

The internet has provided various communication platforms such as Facebook and blogs.

They have become second nature to many people’s lives, expressing personal thoughts online and checking out friends’ postings.

An examined, my personal Facebook indicated that 6 out of 10 friends left a daily comment and an average of 100 were usually online between 9pm to 12 midnight.

This could have a significant impact on businesses as a pool of online users could become potential customers.

Companies need to carefully lay out digital marketing activities such as advertising in popular social plaforms to attract users to check out on their products. This would help in penetrating into the modern online market thus generating more sales revenue.

Image courtesy from:

http://www.makethelist.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/social-media.jpg