Reflections

Warning

2010-04-23T13:10:00.004+08:00

This blog is gonna be private soon due to the content that will be coming after this month!
In case the next trip you're here, do make sure you sign in ur email for me to verify ok?

I know its such a trouble but i hope its gonna be worth while :)

Stay tuned!

Clueless

2010-04-21T11:14:00.004+08:00

I have a big nose!!!

I dreamt about what should i make this blog into and i think im gonna work on it...Actually im not really sure if i actually dream or i think too much on what am i suppose to do with this blog...haha..but yeah, it will take some time so stay tuned ppl!

I hope it will turn out to be something good....

i have several loyal readers!! hahaha so happy!!! :)
I will fill in with some surprises so it wont disappoint you i hope....hugs

:)

Sweet and Tasty

2010-04-16T18:26:00.004+08:00

Credit: Vivien
Camera: Joyce

I'm changing my blog post ....im bored of all this boring post d...sometimes really do not have any idea what to quote and if i keep posting random pics of ppl, i will get killed!! haha especially those random shots..

I wanna write about PEOPLE this time...
especially those who i know too well!! and those i dun! :P

Or u have any better ideas? coz im im collecting info and doing interviews hehe...

Light

2010-04-13T22:53:00.002+08:00

Light is a guide in life that shows us the way we take
You won't be lost if it shine on you all the way
but never give up in searching for it even when we lost our way

Adventurous Frog

2010-04-11T23:35:00.003+08:00

Went Broga Hill and it was a tough climb there....
but we did it!!!!! Hurrayyy!!!!

Froggy was all wet and stinky too!!!

2010-04-05T19:56:00.000+08:00

What matter most is not what we see,
is how we see it...

In Memory

2010-04-01T21:48:00.002+08:00

My grandpa and grandma live together even till they leave this world.
They are part of me until today as they see me growing until their last breath.
I miss them.....i always wish that they could stay longer...i am selfish, because i wanna be with them and i wanna spend time with them...but now i could only see them once a year...

I wonder if they are around watching me during the happiest and worst day of my life...

I miss them....

Unwritten

2010-03-27T11:20:00.002+08:00

If you feel that your future is unwritten, you're wrong....
Yes, u could never predict what comes next but you plan what should be ahead of it..
Either it happen or not, it doesn't matter because you tried...

This plants have no future in hand, they never know what will happen to them next because we control their life...
People kick it, ppl step it, ppl pluck it and they're gone~

Your life is not control by anyone so take control of it urself!

Guessing Game

2010-03-24T18:55:00.002+08:00

Can someone guess whats this?

:)

River Cruise

2010-03-17T19:41:00.003+08:00

Melaka or even known as Malacca had been developing rapidly since i got back from US..
I was shocked with all its drastic changes and i shall say that im proud of my hometown!
We have good food, good hotels, good ppl of course, attractive place, big malls, tons of supermarkets, we have all big tall short stuff around...

But after so much things being done just to improve tourism, citizens around are still not able to move around easily, local transportation is super low class, nothing being done, taxi drivers are digging all your money out without warnings or action taken by the authority!

The public transport in MLC never change since i was born :( this is sad

Human and Animals

2010-03-08T09:54:00.005+08:00

Joyce gave is this cute cute dolls which represent each of us...
Well, im not gonna review it now as Esther have not receive the package! :P

Thanks girl!
But yeah i don't have to tell which is mine...

ITS SO OBVIOUS...zzz

Mum's smile

2010-03-01T14:08:00.005+08:00

My mum's smile and laughter makes me feel secure and happy...
She's been through a lot and she's always staying strong....
Whenever she smile, i feel a sense of relieved and comfort as i felt her true happiness when she's love by all of us....

Love u mummy....

Yee Sang

2010-02-23T13:41:00.004+08:00

I never ate so much yee sang b4 in my life!! I've been eating it so much during this new year and i kind of feel like eating it now as well for my daily meals..i feel that its part of my daily food d lol

Yee Sang is known as abundance, prosperity and vigor.
One thing i felt about yee sang is that it brings family joy and laughter together as it made every reunion and dinner extra meaningful :)

I love the lunar year!

Red

2010-02-12T15:49:00.002+08:00

Chinese have this unique beliefs in numbers, colors, flowers, fishes, animals etc etc...
Chinese people believes that RED brings good luck while Indians believe red represents purity while the Africans believe red as the symbol of mourning...

I like red since it is a strong color and it shows toughness and also sensitivity at the same time..
But it's not easy to get red clothes these days....

We're going through a revolution and modern tech changes how people think and wear as well. Will the tradition last longer or will it just fade like tat one day?

Age

2010-02-08T12:58:00.003+08:00

Key symbolize freedom, being 21....being independent....

I've reach to a point in life where ppl know me as being independent....
At this stage, i realized i just past being 21 and in just another half year more i'm gonna be 22!

Don't u think time just flies???
And every moment of ur life is so important that u cannot waste it?

Growing older means more responsibilities and more commitment....and i'm actually feeling it...
I'm gonna be a working lady next year and everything is gonna be so different...

im gonna miss going college.....

Madness

2010-02-05T18:17:00.002+08:00

Missing Esther, Su Ti, Ve Ting

Aren't my girls cute? :)
I love them!!! :P
but they can be dangerous u know! .....

Pisang

2010-02-05T17:27:00.002+08:00

"Fuh! Melaka made the best pisang goreng!"

There's this pisang goreng, or goreng pisang or whatever u call u is available at Ujong Pasir, the Malay shop just right opposite the road to Portugis. To me they serve the best goreng pisang in town with its delicious home made chili!!!!

When you deep your fried banana in the chili, fuh i tell u, u surely want more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shit, now im craving for it ...zzzzz

Identity

2010-01-20T11:44:00.002+08:00

A name card represents your identity, your position, your career and most importantly your status....which means its a new start of your career life...

Proud of u dear...
Don't be too workaholic, just do ur best :)

Girls

2010-01-19T19:28:00.002+08:00

So yeah we just love taking pictures, so whats the prob?
Guys always complain that we take too much pictures...the fact is - too much = a lot
but naturally, i'm normal..i love taking pics but not too much....
random me :P

Prawn & Flour

2010-01-18T14:27:00.001+08:00

These tempuras were fried with love :)

And it's been one of my fav jap food since young.....and it's always made with love....

Tortoise

2010-01-12T15:24:00.002+08:00

(Danny's tortoise at home, very kepo!)

I used to have alligators at home when i was young, i remember it was 3 alligators and 6 tortoises....and i think 2 turtles..can't really remember .... but i love them, i bath them and feed them and even bring them for a walk!

But not on those alligators, they will bite u !! And if they do, they won't let it go until the thunder strikes.... one funny thing about them is that when i touch their shell or bath them, they will always tend to bite my fingers.... it's some kind of posture that always makes me laugh because they can't reach my fingers.... :P ok i know u might think im crazy but if u have one, u will know what i'm saying....

they are not a campanion pet, but they are cute and adorable.... especially tortoise..as soon as they see you, they know who you are, they will start walking around or trying to jump out like crazy, i'm not sure what that shows but i guess they welcome you which don't do to strangers or they just happy to see you :)

B@boon

2010-01-11T00:29:00.002+08:00

Do visit Baboon house in Jonker street...Malacca
Love the drinks, love the wedges, love the place :)

Good place for a quiet romantic dinner or even a drink with friends...

COOkie!

2010-01-06T10:24:00.002+08:00

I miss Cookie!
Isn't she adorable???
She's a big girl now, tall, hyperactive crazy dog but still so adorable....

Michelle Soh, plz bring her back asap leee....
tame herrr! :p

Craziness

2010-01-02T10:58:00.005+08:00

I miss those Cheerleading times....
If only it was a long term thing, it would be even fun to hang around together....

Presents!

2009-12-29T01:26:00.001+08:00

I'm not a good santa but i love presents!!
Thank you girls!

Christmas Love

2009-12-24T10:33:00.002+08:00

From Home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other.

i wish

2009-12-17T12:14:00.003+08:00

In life, there's never enough satisfaction in us.
We tend to ask for more, we tend to take more....
Will we human ever give in?

HAHAHA

2009-12-13T14:41:00.001+08:00

We do look at our best when we laugh :)

Q & A

2009-12-13T01:24:00.002+08:00

Loku: Where ya sleeping tonight?
Reiji: With u la!
Loku: Got 2 beds wor
Reiji: I die die also wanna sleep with u ...

Kuala Lumpur

2009-12-03T15:35:00.002+08:00

What does it feels like when you're up so high?
Is it safe enough?
If tsunami comes or the earth crash, it is fine to see the whole city tumble down and be the last one to die?

I will write a book if i was lucky enough to survive....

Crab Sensation

2009-11-30T00:22:00.000+08:00

Danny loves frogs, but he loves eating crab as well...
and thats a very wrong way to eat it!!!!

* i love the crab drumstick*

Hello????

2009-11-25T16:04:00.001+08:00

I know i'm cute so what's your problem? :P

One of our best flyer in MINT...u go girl! :)

Froggie and Doggie

2009-11-19T12:05:00.000+08:00

Froggie and Doggie are bestfriends :)
My frog get along pretty well with dogs..... :P

Funnel Cake #1

2009-11-13T02:49:00.000+08:00

This is the board everyone will stare at for at least 5 minutes when they walked into our stand, its our memory, our achievement, our pride, our commitment and our team....

I wonder if its still there.....

Holiday

2009-11-11T14:54:00.000+08:00

Its not just about relaxing and having a good time....
Its the ties that counts....

and travelling makes friendship even closer....

Nothing to lose nothing to gain, just knowing each other.... and every ugly part of u shows

Proposal

2009-11-03T14:01:00.000+08:00

Ever wonder how your proposal will be like?
Wish to have the fairy tales story or those in the movies?
DON'T because each of us have a unique one that opens up a new chapter in our life.

Naughty

2009-10-30T10:20:00.000+08:00

I'm very very mischevious..
VERY!

Canada

2009-10-27T02:07:00.000+08:00

Pic from Esther Lee

Among the girls, i bet we surely wish to fly to Canada one day and meet this big sister of ours...
We have so much to catch up and so much to talk!

I really don't want her to come back, i want her to buy us ticket there :P

Hope to see you soon!!

When words seems clear, the thought always matters too!

Virginia

2009-10-23T12:53:00.000+08:00

The sexiest short i ever have

Honestly, i miss everything there.....
and if given a chance, i surely want to fly back there again....

The people i met, the food (well of course not every food :), the life, the environment, the danger, the buildings, the subways, the theme parks, the breeze, the summer, the beach, everything is just too awesome to forget and it's stuck on my head forever....

Danny

2009-10-21T00:11:00.000+08:00

He is one unique and adorable men in my life that i love so much....
We may not be a superstar or a glamorous couple but we show ourselves in our own way...

and i truly hope this relationship last till nothing do us apart...

The early 8th anniversary post for you (3rd Nov)

Sweet

2009-10-19T01:00:00.000+08:00

Even when we hate our own blood ties so much....that we sometimes will never forgive them
but the ties between the old and young makes it all happen.

Which reunite the family together again.....

and that makes love beautiful...

Buddies

2009-10-13T19:15:00.001+08:00

Picture by Ivan, edited by Vivien

It's like you know when they're coming.... :)

and forgiveness is everything....

Love Story

2009-10-11T00:35:00.000+08:00

When we lean on each other, everything will be ok :)

Weddings

2009-10-08T23:28:00.000+08:00

Its the day in your life where you behave like you just met each other and fall in love again......

I always have this drop of happiness from my eyes everytime i see someone get married...

It touches me a lot...

Staring at You

2009-09-30T10:43:00.000+08:00

One of the best moments in life is being with your mates,
knowing no limits on who and what we are...

The good thing is, these moments are capture and will not be forgotten!

Skin

2009-09-24T09:56:00.000+08:00

Yellow, black, white?
Who classified this?

It doesn't matter who what what we are, we are born in this world for a reason...

A same reason to cherish each one of us and make this world a better place...

When students get bored!

2009-09-22T10:59:00.000+08:00

This is what Taylor's students do when they are bored :)

Fingers

2009-09-17T20:57:00.000+08:00

Our fingers dance, they wanna look and feel good....
Tho its tiny, it works just on anything......

I have itchy fingers that just wanna do everything......
Do you ? :)

Weak

2009-09-15T18:00:00.000+08:00

I may look strong but....
i am weak......

I try to be strong.....
So that the people around me feels better.....

It aint easy....

Joy

2009-09-10T18:50:00.002+08:00

A relationship means nothing if you both don't enjoy being together.....
It doesn't just take commitment but it also takes trust, love and sincerity...
You can't name it all, but one thing for sure i believe

"love never fade when you keep building it" (Sya 2009)

It just happens

2009-09-05T11:45:00.000+08:00

When you don't expect for something too much, the more things will come to you....
Just like when you need love, u don't ask for it...
It just happens.

And we are all loved...

She's the one

2009-09-03T17:46:00.000+08:00

My mum may not be the more successful women in the world, but she's the one who brought me up and created a girl like me today...

Thanks to her, i'm accepted by all of u......

and she's the most generous person i ever know that thinks for others rather than herself.
She is really special and you would love to know her!

I love you mummy.....

Smile

2009-08-28T00:35:00.001+08:00

The thing is, u get happier as you grow older....

Its true....

:)

it should be that way

Being Crazy

2009-08-25T17:51:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, we just feel like having fun....

its amazing how crazy we could be.....

and showing our true self is something we should not be shy about..

2009-08-22T19:42:00.000+08:00

Sometimes we feel like jumping....
Just jump...as high as you can......

but don't hurt urself :)

Confidence

2009-08-20T14:52:00.000+08:00

Boast yourself, we all have our own special way admiring ourselves....
It doesn't matter what people say, just be youself

2009-08-17T21:44:00.000+08:00

We have to learn to love ourselves before loving others....
Who taught us love?

Everyone and everything around us...
Without love, life is not complete....

Learn to love yourself, be satisfied about youself,
this little thing is easy to say but never easy to do.....
Try it, as you will love and accept others the way they are.....

Gothic + Cute

2009-08-16T11:25:00.000+08:00

We still can be a little gothic and cute at the same time ....
She says "You have to dress up when you're young!! If old d, everything also cannot"

Well, which is true...... So enjoy the young, energetic body we have now!
Don't waste it :)

*slaps* myself, i'm the one who have problem doing it!!

Time

2009-08-14T22:31:00.000+08:00

Something i can never leave without, i have to have it on me once i'm out of the house or i'll get grumpy.

Time is very little as sometimes, i had too much to do...
I do wish we are given more time a day, but 24 hours is good enough....
There is a reason why 24 hours was created for us human....

Not too much, not too little...

Clicks

2009-08-13T21:18:00.000+08:00

There are times where you won't know when you will meet new ones, when both of you click along, it's the best thing that one could wish for...

New friends should be treasure, but never forget the old mates you played with since young, although they are not in front of you everyday, they are always wishing that they could be there for you everytime...

And they will stand by you until the day you rest in peace....

Path

2009-08-12T13:31:00.000+08:00

We choose our own shoe but we walk on the path created by others.....

Are we creating our own path and taking control on our own lives?

Food

2009-08-11T14:15:00.001+08:00

Who the hell on earth can resist avoiding late night delicious suppers?
Its our trend and its surely not healthy, why not make nice and healthy supper at home :)

My birthday food selection is based on calories and the level of cholesterol coz my dad is a vegetarian (very particular about the food we take, when he allows chicken to be in the menu its something i should appreciate since there are actually no REAL chicken for him these days), no one will come and eat if everything is vege or raw...
Don't expect for satay, beer, wine, bbq or nasi lemak.... :P

My Story

2009-08-10T16:28:00.000+08:00

I write my own story and i design it the way i want...

We all believe that our story line is created by God himself, but there are things which we can change....if we believe it will lead us to a better way

Dreams

2009-08-04T08:55:00.000+08:00

There are some dreams that will come true.....
Search it, grab it and never let it go...

Looking Back

2009-08-03T12:15:00.000+08:00

Reminds me of those days when we have no worries and commitment. *sweet*

How i wish we could turn back time or maybe just have a time machine for a day, and i'm satisfied!

Reborn

2009-08-02T00:31:00.001+08:00

I'm starting up this blog again... Not for my college project or assignment anymore but for my friends and public.. Still planning about the goals and objective of this blog and gonna put some post up soon.. continue to support ok ? Thanks !

Regards,
Anastasya Hong

The End

2009-06-15T09:26:00.000+08:00

I've surely learned a lot through the entire journey of writing this blog. It is very challenging to research about the new era today in the high technology world that does not stop inventing new things everyday.

I've also realised how the blog revolution actually hits the entire world through economy, political and education. I am a blogger myself and i realised my blog actually play a small role in the social community around me on what i write and review about without even realising.

Sometimes, being a fresh teenager who almost turn 21, we tend to express a lot of things without thinking and analyzing the issue. The issue on 'Blogging and Freedom of Speech' taught me that i should be careful with my words i live in the country where certain subject is sensitive towards the country and people, and the government has the right in taking action.

I've also thought that the traditional media such as newspapers, radio and magazine is dying, it comes out that people still favor traditional media since the online media is not interactive enough and the content length may be too short or too long. Again, the content decides on which media wins the audience.

Blogging may be a platform for 'citizen journalism', but i believe that as bloggers we should have our limits and our contents must interest the audience. As bloggers, we should not take advantage on writing things which is untrue or false. Proper souce and citations should be given to make your issue more trustworthy.

Earning Big through Blogs

2009-06-11T23:39:00.001+08:00

We have heard about how bloggers such as Markus Frind to earn as much as 3 million. Local bloggers such as Kenny Sia earns the most from Nuffnang advertising. It's not surprised to say that most of the blogger earning comes from advertising placement and sponsors. There are 2 very popular blog advertising in Malaysia known by many of us which is Nuffnang & Advertlets.

Tiah (right) and Cheo, founders of Nuffnang

(Source, The Star May 29, 2007)

The Advantages

According to Tiah (Timothy Tiah Ewe Tiam, 24 founder of Nuffnang), advertising on traditional media is very costly and passing flyers around which is a cheaper method is not effective. So he and Cheo Ming Shen came out with a system to allow international and local companies to reach bloggers.

One of the main reasons why people choose to advertise online especially in blogs is that bloggers see themselves as "citizen journalists." Rhodes University New Media studies head, Vincent Maher said that “Citizen journalism happens when ordinary people write about extraordinary events. Normally it comes in the form of eye-witness accounts or insider information that sometimes becomes newsworthy,” says Maher. The people today wants a media which does not control their content instead they want to have a full authority on their content. "They want their news on demand, when it works for them. They want control over their media, instead of being controlled by it." (Rupert Murdoch, 2006)

Almost everyone in the entire world can afford to blog now where it is low cost in writing an entry since anyone with an internet connection and computer can publish. "One can reach their clients instantly without incurring cost using traditional methods like mailing. The best thing about internet advertising is that you can measure the results." (John Rognerud, 2009) Blogging create a higher credibility since the bloggers have more ownership over their content in blogs.

Problems

Research shows that even if the blogs is filled with millions of visitors a day, unrelevant advertisements available on the blog will not be viewed by the visitors. According to Gareth Davies, only bloggers who write about very specific topics can use AdSense as the ads generated would be consistent and relevant to the content.

The blogging revolution can be found in South Africa today but the usage and availability is limited as the people there are poor and their have lower income.
Jeff Ooi also mentioned that blogger may probably earn some money with ads on their blogs, but it will not be enough to pay off their bills one day when they quit their job.

Blogging is now the trend and the future advertising media which replaced the old way of advertising online that annoyed us with pops up while surfing the net. Besides, it is also cheaper compare to publising ads in the traditional media such as newspapers and magazine that sometimes cause companies a fortune.

References

Lee, C, 2007. Blogging and big bucks. Viewed on 14th June 2009, http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2007/5/29/itfeature/17847964&sec=itfeature

Matthew Buckland, Print vs Online: Interview with MArketing Mix, Viewed 14th June 2009, http://www.matthewbuckland.com/?p=13

Matthew Buckland, The Blog Phenomena, Viewed 14th June 2009, http://www.matthewbuckland.com/?p=45

John Rognerud, Advantage of Advertising Online, Viewed 14th June 2009, http://www.jonrognerud.com/blog/advantage-of-advertising-online/

The Power of Photography

2009-06-09T13:13:00.000+08:00

We will be amazed on how much photography can affect us and how it changes the world today. According to Walsh (2006), written text is only one part of the message, and no longer the dominant part. Printed text used the be the major seller in most media but today, we all can see that visual plays a big role with text in delivering message to the people too.

During the Iraq war which started during the year 2003 which was entirely control by the troops of United States and United Kingdom. Through political view, the war was right but the president was wrong (Jonathan Rauch, 2007). There were bombs and air raids drop into villages in Iraq causing the innocents; more than one million people mainly young children have died as a direct result of the US led blockade on Iraq (Rania Masri). During the war,there were lack of food and medicine, women were not able to breast-feed their children, families were not able to feed them well which lead to a lot of them seeing their children died on the way to the hospital.

Image Source: War Photo Limited by Kate Brooks

Caption: Devastated by the magnitude of the bombing at the Tomb of Imam Ali mosque and unable to retrieve smoldering corpses in a nearby burning car, men become hysterical.

President Obama then took over to deal with the policies and torture created by Bush administration. He took very precautions steps such as discouraging private commission to further investigate the torturing and releasing Pentagon photos of abuses instead of opposed releasing it. During the National Archiver speech, he said "We need to focus on the future with a strong desire to focus on the past,"

There are millions of photographs taken during the war by journalists and photographers and being shared through the nets and galleries around the world. It allows the world to know in a global perspective way what actually happens during the world.

The problem is, text could not deliver the story like how photographs can. According to Wade Goddard "In the media, we have editos, publishers, who are sitting at their desks with their own political or ideological views of telling the story," Photographers were there when pictures was taken, and they were the one who smell, felt and touched the story. Juan C. Dürsteler said that "Visual information is generally better remembered than verbal information," Photographs of Iraq war may remain a longer time in our mind compare to written text.

The Iraq war gives a big impact towards the world through photographs taken during the war and the photographs as the witness to such events tells the world about the violence and injustice in many places these days what drives photographers to show the world.

References

Jonathan Schell, Torture and the Truth, The Nation on Iraq War, Viewed 8th June 2009, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090615/schell

Juan C. Dürsteler, An Image is worth 1000 words, Viewed 8th June 2009, http://www.infovis.net/printMag.php?lang=2&num=18

Rania Masri, The Women and Children in Iraq, Viewed 8th June 2009, http://www.ibiblio.org/prism/Mar97/iraq.html

Walsh, M 2006, The 'textual shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 24-37

War Photos Limited, Viewed 8th June 2009,

http://www.warphotoltd.com/?section=museum&page=3&item=1

Wikipedia, Iraq War, Viewed 8th June 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War

Zfacts, Reasons for Iraq War, Viewed 8th June 2009, http://zfacts.com/p/775.

The Future of Journalism

2009-06-07T20:37:00.001+08:00

The traditional media used to be the television, radio, and newspaper but the current platforms for journalists today are all of those above mentioned but can now view on screen that can do anything from anywhere around the world which is known as the Internet while blogging, tweeting and podcasting seems to be the new tools of the journalist.

The question is "Whats the future of journalism?," Since there are so many media platforms around, which media platform will survive?

Newspaper exists since 1950s and had been a very crucial media that updates and delivers the public with the latest news. Newspapers back in the old days only have printed words but as trend passed by according to Kress & van. Leeuwen (1998), the written text is no longer structured by linguistic means, through verbal connectors and verbal cohesive devices but visually, through layout, through the spatial arrangement of blocks of text, of pictures and other graphic elements on the page. Visual then creates larger attention in order to attract audiences.

However in the late 1990s, the 24 hour television channels and the Internet affects the business model of the newspaper. This lead to newspaper around the world to launch the online editions in order to keep up with the circulation of audience. According to The Guardian's uber-blogger, Roy Greenslade, "The reason that young people are not buying, is not simply about them choosing to go to the net, they are going to the net, of course, but they're no longer seeing the paper as part of the unifying element of the home." Young people are now equip with mobilise technology that they no longer consider the traditional paper that keeps them update.

There has been the degree to which text of all kinds necessarily 'participate' in genre and the extend to which they are likely to participate in more than one genre at once (Derrida, 1990). Therefore, since there are so many genre these days, newspaper may not be the first choice of the public's media. Again, people turn to the Internet where all news and information is a click away.

However, will newspaper die one day? CBS President, Leslie Mooves said "This is not a TV company, newspaper company, it's also not an online company, it's an audience company, and that is just what it's about, it's about audience, and the smart media executives and the smart media companies will be the ones who follow the consumer or the user, not the other way around like it used to be before.

Again, its about the content that matter most. It's the really good content that will lead the media to win, and it won't change the journalism practices as the result of it. In short, the best story will win.

References

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 1998. "Front pages: The Critical analysis of newspaper layout," Approaches to Media Discourse, p.186-187

Neale, S. , "Introduction: What is genre?," The Television Genre Book, p.1-3

The Media Report, Survival of media platforms for journalism, Viewed 7th June 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2009/2436717.htm

Blogging & Freedom of Speech

2009-06-02T18:28:00.001+08:00

Blogging usually have no restrictions of its content but countries like Malaysia, we have limited freedom of speech even in blogs. According to Davi d Sasaki ""Blogging, podcasting, and citizen media has not reached that tipping point in Malaysia because there aren’t enough people jumping off the rock. We need a concerted effort and a lot of people who are motivated to apply for some of these grants - who are willing to take the risk." Malaysiakini added that "If there are enough people to do it, then there’s not going to be any arrests because you have that critical mass." The question is, is there a big number of us who is willing to take the risk?

Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin (Malaysian blogger), known for his anti-government views, was sentenced to jail for two years due to publishing various claims about the bad stuff done by the government leaders on his site, Malaysia Today which also serves as his blog as well as a news portal.

In the Article 10 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia states that;

(1) Subject to Clauses (2)
(a) every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression;

(2) Parliament may by law impose -
(a) on the rights conferred by paragraph (a) of Clause (1), such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, friendly relations with other countries, public order or morality and restrictions designed to protect the privileges of Parliament or of any Legislative Assembly or to provide against contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to any offence;

In the Article 10(1), it state that every citizen guarantees the freedom of speech but that is not impose in Malaysia where Article 10(2) states the Parliament is allow to take action if it is considered danger to the country.

In the book, chapter of Culture as ideology, Billig (1988) & van Dijk (1998) said that "The term ideology is understood here as the social (general and abstract) representations shared by members of a group and used by them to accomplish everyday social practices; acting and communicating. Therefore, the social group who agrees with Raja Petra comes from the same background and understanding while other groups remain neutral or unknown. Bloggers like Raja Petra express the truth and gather its community through blogging because according to Billig (1988), the objectives of self or other representations and express opinions that represent and satisfy their preferred view of reality.

When public are not allowed to express the truth through media, they tend to move into the World Wide Web where freedom of speech is not restricted. However, every country have its own laws and rules which they might be detained (eg under ISA) once they are track and the government consider their work or acts that might harm the national security.

References

Chris Barker & Dariusz Galasiński, Culture as ideology, Culture studies and discourse analysis, pp. 65 -67

Fauwaz Abdul Aziz, Bloggers: Between Fear and the Tipping Point, Viewed 2nd June 2009, http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/73248

Lagallybawlg, Freedom of speech: How qualified is it in Malaysia?, Viewed 2nd June 2009, http://blawg.joshua3.com/?p=5

SK, Blogging in Malaysia: Fear Factor Vs Tipping Point, Viewed 2nd June 2009, http://www.skthew.com/2007/10/08/blogging-in-malaysia-fear-factor-vs-tipping-point/

Victor, Malaysian Blogger: Sentence for two years jail, Viewed 2nd June 2009, http://committeetoprotectbloggers.org/2008/09/22/malaysian-blogger-sentenced-to-two-

Media Publishing

2009-06-01T16:33:00.001+08:00

New Forms of Media Publishing

With better technologies these days and the wide use of World Wide Web, the emerge of online newspapers, online magazine, vlog (video blogging), moblog (mobile blogging), and many other more forms of media publishing had influence the users widely today.

Is the internet taking over the print media?

According to Andrew West, a journalist who writes both for traditional newspapers and on-line publications in the United States "Now I still love the idea of writing in ink and paper, I mean I make my living writing for a newspaper, I’ve written books, but nonetheless this is a very exciting medium in the sense that it democratises the media."

Media journalists are still coping the balance between online and print, and much have actually move into the blogging world where they have much more space for their opinion and immediate feed backs from a wide range of audience.

MoBlog

Mobile Blogging (Moblog) is when user publishes post directly to the web using mobile phone. It helps bloggers to post write-ups directly from their mobile phone and it is also popular among mobile users that send email or MMS.

It is also helpful especially for travelers when there is limited access of the Internet connection. Travelers uses this as an advantages when they can shoot anything with a GPRS or WAP enabled phone which easily upload pictures with text descriptions directly to their blog.

References

Suad Amiry, Big Ideas, Viewed 1st June 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bigidea/stories/s1485827.htm

Wikipedia, Mobile Blogging, Viewed 1st June 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moblog

Blog and Community

2009-06-01T15:34:00.000+08:00

Classification of Blogs & Methods to Build Blogging Communities

People with different interest and background creates different kinds of blog such as;
Food Travel Design Fashion Cars Pet

Blogs are also classified into;
Filter Blog - Is build through a whole commentary of hyperlinks.
Short Form Journal Blog - A much more personal experience blog writing on thoughts, observations and events.
"Red-flag" Blog - It uses the original blog entry as the starting point for the rest of the series of the posts, either as comments or reciprocal links. E.g Mike Davidson Blog

Building a Community

When readers are attach to you or they love your reading your blog a lot that they return to view it again and again, commenting on the issues you write on. Building a community in your blog is good to keep track on your readers and allowing them interact with you as well. It also creates a sense of loyalty and readers who like you will help you out in various ways (Daniel Scocco 2007). Through this, it makes your blog different from others and create a good positive impression among others.

Starting a community;

1.Show Map & Time
Show your readers where you are, and it also allows you and others to know where are the other readers come from. Timezone is important as they allows international readers to know when are you available for consultation.

2. Create a chat group
Allows fast and effective feed backs from your readers even if they do not have an account.

3. Commenters
Select the month's best commenter (chosen by yourself or the community). They may be inspire by to win again and make a greater effort to write comment regularly. E.g Huffington Post

4. Work together
Bloggers play their role by writing and allow others to read on it, on the other hand you can post a topic and asking them for tips and by allowing them to submit their tips via the comment section. Readers are likely to get involved in creating a role in the content.

5. Forum
Host a forum or use free online services forums. It will reach the extend where your forum might become popular creating a loyal community and meeting place within your own niche.
Even if it is small, it gives you the opportunity to get to know your readers better.

References

Barry Schwartz, Building your Blog Community, Viewed 31st May 2009, http://searchengineland.com/building-your-blog-community-10556

Daniel Scocco, Building a Community around your Blog, Viewed 1st June 2009, http://www.dailyblogtips.com/building-a-community-around-your-blog/

Motive (Ltd), The Motive Design Web Glossary, Viewed 31st May 2009, http://www.motive.co.nz/glossary/blogs.php

Blogging Trend

2009-06-01T09:26:00.000+08:00

Blog as the Current Phenomena and Benefits on Community

In 1998 there were numbers of sites of the type that are now identified as weblogs (named by Jorn Barger in December 1997). Public diaries are generally now refer to as Blogs. Blog has been around for almost a decade now, and the amount of users using it had been increasing rapidly and growing everyday. According to Luigi Canali De Rossi, about 120,000 new weblogs and 1.5 million posts are created each day. It is now a major trend which is use among the young and old in the whole word.

Why do we Blog?

There are different kinds of blogs ranging from political, corporate, genre, media, device and personal. Blogs are updated daily and often reflect the personality of the author (by Frank Catalano 2005). Blog do not usually have restrictions on the form of content being posted. It is web interface and easily accessible from any browser. The chart below shows the reason of blogging, a survey done by The Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Unlike any single piece of print journalism, its borders are extremely porous and its truth inherently transitory (Andrew Sullivan 2009). Blogging is a form of self global publishing that allows us to express ourselves and link others to related references and unlike other media,webs or journalism writing, there are restrictions and borders from getting us into a particular information, and writing an issue.

Benefits on Us

Many bloggers' these days had made themselves into the coverage community of young Malaysians and Singaporeans such as Kenny Sia and Xia Xue. Blogging is now another daily life thing, like brushing your teeth, watching television ads, commonly used by ordinary people, politicians, and celebrities. However, according to Perlmutter, "Blogging won't replace TV ads," and when different technologies come working together such as Blogger, YouTube, Digg, Google, can be a multiplier force in shaping our society.

Blog actually provide unlimited space of information, this lead to response from public opinion, arguments, criticism and freedom of speech. In the past, when a journalist did not manage to pick on something important on time, he might not have his news published at all or he needs t0 wait for an empty space in the newspaper or web but with blog, it changes everything. According to Martin Nisenholtz, senior vice president of digital operations for The New York Times Company “We have the bones now and the infrastructure to report about and edit the news continuously,”

References

Andrew Sullivan, "Why i Blog," Viewed 1st June 2009, http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/andrew-sullivan-why-i-blog

Brandis Griffith, Effects of Blogs on Politics, Viewed 2nd June 2009, http://www.oread.ku.edu/2006/november/20/blogs.shtml

Frank Catalano, Why Blog, Viewed 31st May 2009, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/17616

Mathew Ingram, "Can blogs affect Politics and Society?," Viewed 1st June 2009, http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2006/04/27/can-blogs-affect-politics-and-society/

Rebecca Blood, "Weblogs:History and Perspectives," Viewed 31st May 2009, http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html

Scott Karp, "The Evolution of Media," Viewed 2nd June 2009, http://publishing2.com/2006/07/19/3-million-bloggers-looking-to-make-money/

Document Design

2009-04-03T00:37:00.000+08:00

Creating a Good Document Design

"Document Design usually refers to the physical appearance of a document," (Reep 1997) Readers are usually captivated by the visual presentation of the text while printed words are used to support the message as well. To produce an effective document, the visual and text support each other well. Design exist to organize information and capture the attention of the readers. It helps to move your attention into certain important areas of the visual presentation. It establish tone and create a sense of the culture of an organisation.

"What is a good document?"

A good document is when readers understand what is the message lies behind a picture, advertisement, and so on. By following certain elements in document design such as balance, proportion, sequence and consistency, one could come up with a visual presentation which brings the actual meaning of the message.

In Newspaper, we tend to see a lot of text and visual comes together to create better understanding of the topic given. By knowing the salience, which is the elements of layout attract the reader's attention in different degrees (arrangement of background, size, tone, color, headings and so on). By framing each using white lines or shapes shows that they need to be read separately or independently.

Good document design enables people to use the text in ways that meet their interest and needs (Shriver 1997). A good document design comes with a clear visual and text that allows the readers to interpret the message correctly.

References

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 1998. "Front pages: The Critical analysis of newspaper layout," Approaches to Media Discourse, p.188-190

Reep, Diana C.2006 "Chp 4:Princples of Document Design." in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson Edu, Inc., New York, p.173-190

Schriver, A. K 1997, "Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers." Wiley Computer Pub., New York.

The Beginning

2009-04-01T16:02:00.001+08:00

The emerge of this weblog is to understand the concept and relation between visual, text, and how it reflects us everyday. As we enter the new world where technology grows every single day, we tend to see differences on how we perceived texts, images and the way it deliver messages.

We see visual seriously like we see text and how both of it comes together and form a perfect combination where we interpret the messages in our own way. It is important for us in the olden or new generation to know in forming a good publication and design that gather attentions in the eyes of our viewers in years to come.