on a break.

give me another week and i'll be back with my lunch rants or sorts.

been busy arranging for my trip for sodagreen concert.

thank you. meanwhile, watch some cat videos online. they're cute.

30 Minutes Lunch Rant - The Ask-Hole!

'Ask-Hole' is probably one of the latest net lingo to surface. It is essentially a combination of 'ask' as in incessant asking, and 'hole', plainly asshole. It aims to aptly describe the state of distress and dissatisfaction one experiences when being approached by subject, who keeps asking you on things and matters big and small, however, disregard your time and effort and eventually disregard your input. Alright, just one who asks you for advice and does the opposite.

Why ask? Why ask in the first place then. Typical of Ask-Hole. This kinda tops my biggest turn-off list. To be honest, I believe this Ask-Hole behaviour makes the list of many individuals as well.

You know, sometimes it's really okay to gossip, take part in senseless bantering or such. As a matter of fact, I also frequently ask my friends 'should I get the blue shirt or red one', and he/she probably replies 'red' but I still make my way to the cashier with the blue one. That I can understand, because many a time we already form judgement in our minds, and by casually asking, we just wanted someone to assure us that our judgement is right or acceptable. Therefore, when I go ahead with the blue shirt despite the suggestion, that is an over confidence on my judgement and thus a risk factor is added on. Doesn't matter, this is not an Ask-Hole example.

Ask-Hole works on a deeper level, a greater time waster. I had a friend named Hugh (not real name). So one day, Hugh decided to ask my opinion on which phone to get. Hmmmm say.. Iphone 5s vs Iphone 5c. Then, Hugh took me for grant and left me spending one whole day researching online, coming up with analysis and comparisons before finally coming to a firm conclusion. All the while Hugh was not keen on helping in the research, but focused on the conclusion. Finally, after much bugging, he got his answer, and that's it. I HAD a friend. 

Guess what was Hugh's decision? 'I decided to use the money to go for a holiday in Australia'. All in a day. If you had let me known earlier, I wouldn't had wasted my time isn't it? And why were you bugging me for the answer?

Ask-Hole.

30 Minutes Lunch Rant - You are not you when you're online?

A bit of cliche tongue-in-cheek snickers' tagline for the opening. You are not you when you're hungry. Likewise, you are not you when you're online?

Note how I ended my sentences. Hungry, fullstop. Online, question mark. Because the first is a statement, and the latter, a question!

One of the biggest problem of the Internet is how users perceived it. Most users that I interviewed for my dissertation felt that the Internet is a free space, or specifically, their free space. As such their perception of such lack of authority online led to undesire behaviours like irresponsible speech and actions. Of course, my sample size was merely the tip of an iceberg, however interesting enough to give me such results. 

No matter what anonymity is proposed to you, I would say, practise your responsibilities. There is no anonymity in the world as an earthly fact. All actions leave traces. All digital actions thus also leave digital traces. 

Bitcoin. So much anonymity and privacy? You thought so. It is just a matter of whether anyone took extra effort to trace the roots. That was how William Ulbricht was arrested. 

On the other hand, one may have thought that the NSA has superb infrastructures and talents in place to carry out surveillance. Actually I would believe that the team is no more than slightly above average analysts and computer experts. Because as users, we leave so much digital traces.

Simply put, whatever content that we post online, anonymous or under a pseudonym, carries with them meta-tag(s). Say for example, I upload a picture on Facebook, not only my account information is linked up, but where is photo is uploaded from, time and date taken, and a whole load of data is embedded within, and these are meta-tags.

Break it down even further.. If John sent me a word document, when i opened it, i would be able to see on whose microsoft office was the document worked on, as indicated by the author information displayed. If I worked on a private document on my company's computer, the word doc that you receive from me will read 'author: sony pictures'. Thus unknowingly I would had revealed these data.

Ultimately, you are still you when you're on the Internet, there is no escaping any legal, social or personal responsibilities. Therefore, be true to your actions.

Time for my snickers!

30 Minutes Rant: Safer Internet Day

Proud of my chinese roots. I think I can apply the Internet to our Chinese sayings & teachings (in bold). 

A lot of discussions of the Internet had centred around digital divide, access, privacy, cyber security, regulations, human rights etc. The scope of Internet Governance is so extensive, sometimes it seems impossible for any studies at all. Break it down, take them one by one. I would especially love to study internet governance pertinent to my country. Closest to where my heart is at. And.... The harder you try to clench water in your palm, the more water escapes. It is when you step back, that you will scoop water gently, successfully. Same thing to internet governance in Singapore. Minimum regulations requires maximum cooperation. 

While there are practical concerns in the fora, we may overlook some along the way, but it's alright. That is why internet studies is multi-disciplinary. Everyone has a part to play. Don't take more than you can manage. 

Back to Safer Internet Day, I would highlight just one aspect. Just one. The group most at risk for cyber-bullying. Children and teenagers. Just because cyber-bullying occurs, that does not mean we should deter usage. Rather, education. What? Education? Hadn't education been in place?

Yes. Cyber wellness education programmes, like the one I had in school focused on letting us know how to manage time, addiction, and a superficial understanding of cyber-bullying. I think bullying takes on a lot of forms and just a superficial graze on the topic is not going to meet its objective. Knowing about it won't lead to solution. Stop telling the kids to tell an adult and assume case closed. 

Tell the adults, and then.. We need to go above and beyond to let victims know that it's okay to be cyber-bullied. It happens to everyone! We also need to teach them how to manage. Manage their reactions, emotions and actions. It's a good growing up lesson. 

Let's all take on social responsibility to ensure a safer online environment. Be considerate for other users, and keep a look out.

Happy Safer Internet Day.

Karmapa Chenno!

一心顶礼大宝法王噶玛巴。噶玛巴千诺！
诸佛事业总集金刚黑宝冠噶玛巴，噶玛巴千诺！
大宝法王噶玛巴乌金赤列多杰诚祈请，噶玛巴千诺！

能够在此生通过网络闻知法王，我感恩这非浅的缘份。我皈依佛法僧，望有这万分福报可亲自顶礼法王，让法王传授于我皈依戒并赐予法名。若有幸，更希望能在第十七世大宝法王噶玛巴的见证下发愿生生世世护持三宝和法王的佛行事业。噶玛巴千诺！噶玛巴千诺！噶玛巴千诺！

'Like' and 'follow' too easy on social media!

Seeing Almeria's (soccer) twitter following jump from 13k to 27k in just a matter of 24 hours is prompting my reflection.

Are we not taking things too easily? The catalyst: social media.

Ten years back, were we able to 'like' or 'follow' our prime ministers? Calling social media a game changer is not an understatement. It changed the environment entirely if you think hard. 

Communication strategies have changed, even governance had been affected. 

One moment you can be next to nothing, next moment you could rise to fame with tonnes of followers. And then these could lead to a myriad of psychological complications that is seen in teenagers today. 

So much things to study of the internet and its users. I could spend a lifetime on it and not get bored. 

Personally, I practise self-censorship when liking or following. I think, do I really need to follow them, will they end up like spam messages on my feed.. I dislike the lax attitude that social media has brought about in me but there are times I can't resist but to click the devilish button. 

All those liking and following are too easy! 

30 Minutes Lunch Rant - "You get 70% of your knowledge from the Internet!"

I think this was the most hurtful thing I had heard in a while. "You get 70% of your knowledge from the Internet". I don't know if I should treat it as a compliment since usually, the public perceive the Internet as a giant classroom that has everything on offer. However, with my research interest in internet governance and internet studies, this comment is most damaging to my morale.

I read widely, that is why I am able to provide explainations to questions. I had least expected a senior to throw such a comment at me when I said that I always use factual evidence to back up my speech. The consumption of Internet is at a unprecedented high. Then, that must mean, people are at our new high in knowledge? Wrong.

Today I would like to share the findings of my dissertation project. For my dissertation, I embarked on the educational usage of Social Networking Sites and communication strategies adopted online by a selected group of students. I will be glad to share my entire dissertation with you but in essence, it was found that there is a weak role in the Internet as a main knowledge provider. It can be a good media, but cannot replace traditional learning. The Internet, can at most be complementary to learning. Therefore, getting 70% of your knowledge online though still possible, is a rather exceptional case.

In terms of being a good media, I would say it gives access. However, access without education, or other factors is equally useless. Let's say... ICT4D, or.. Bridging the digital divide by providing access. It is pointless and practically a joke if infrastructures are in place but nobody was taught how to use the technology. Or.. having Web 2.0 in place, but no countries take on the transition. All wasted.

Concluding today's rant, I'd recommend Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains". It is an easy to read book which is thought-provoking. It is definitely an easy read as compared to other books I've read about the Internet. Best of all, I did not purchase the book as it is available in our public libraries!

In the spirit of New Year, do good be good.

30 Minutes Lunch Rant - K-pop and Internet

30 Minutes Lunch Rant - Ep 1 premieres today!

Only thirty minutes to the end of lunch and that's when the itchy fingers strike! Thirty minutes is enough for constructive talk for the older me.

Not going to head off with those open-ended discussions or such. Rather, to touch base on what we are most familiar with. K-pop and Internet.

2013 has seen many instances in the rise and fall of Korean Pop idol groups and events. Not saying that any particular group went bust, but to recognize the several botched events in Singapore.

How did K-pop got into the rest of the Asia, and subsequently other continents?

Internet, Social Networking Sites.

With Internet, K-pop groups quickly gained larger exposure in comparison to traditional media. Prospective fans were, and still am able to get to know new fan-objects online. Resources aplenty, however, why should we say that it's the Internet and SNS that propagated the rise of k-pop?

Fans and audiences now are active and selective in their preferences. Most no longer go into broad based websites, like YouTube home page to wait for the site to feed them with recommendations. Instead, they input searches and straight to the point, get what they want. After locking in on their preference... Say... Perhaps I like LeeSsang, I go on to subscribe to their page on YouTube.

Not only can I find resources on YouTube, I can also favourite blogs, tumblr, Facebook pages, and also to follow offical Fanpages. The first step has been done. And then the wonder of Internet & SNS kicks in here. Ever heard of "popularity is attractiveness"? This is what Internet & SNS does. Not only do fans get "inducted" to the fan culture, but also, a continuation is produced.

Fans beyond the confine of object. Let's say I was attracted to LeeSsang's Gary through the Running Man show, even through the conclusion of the show, I still am attracted to LeeSsang. Post-object fandom to be precised. Why so and how? Because of the resources I get online!

When the show was ongoing, I get my bites online, forming a fan base. Following the conclusion of the show, the online environment continues to feed me with the necessary to continue this fandom. The support from fellow fans, the constantly resurfacing materials and photos, reminds me of my purpose in fandom. Thus this cycle is what the Internet and SNS can do to sustain the fandom, by luring new fans and to keep existing ones in the loop and it continues to grow from there.

I remember seeing a blog which posts the same exact photo of an actor daily. It may seem silly, but this ritual of reminder serves a very purpose in sustaining and growing fandom made possible by the Internet and SNS.

How fast 30 minutes past.. For further discussions, feel free to contact me.

Happy Chinese New Year!