The Future of Internet - Are we ready?

Internet. Internet. Internet.
We've sure come a long way, from Web 1.0 to 2.0 and I think we're already headed towards 3.0?

So what's Web 3.0?

The Internet of Things, but what exactly is it?

Let's do a tiny little recap, Web 1.0 is 'read-only', Web 2.0 is 'collaboration' and 'content sharing'.
Web 3.0 is like another level higher, with semantic Web technologies.

Imagine your fridge talking to you the moment you step into the kitchen, asking for what you want to eat!

Imagine receiving a text regarding the latest offers in the shopping mall that you are currently at! How cool is that! It even saves you the hassle from searching it on Google!

As the Internet becomes more intelligent, more connected and open, it will become another life-changer, just like when the Internet rose to its current state.

To be honest, I have no idea what will the future of Internet be, other than one fact that humans might become more lazy and observant to our surroundings. We rely on our devices so much nowadays, if we were to even rely almost completely on what we call our “smart" technology, the ones getting more dumb would be us, humans.

One of the definition of the Internet of Things states that:

By embedding short-range mobile transceivers into a wide array of additional gadgets and everyday items, enabling new forms of communication between people and things, and between things themselves.

And this is most evident in the Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID)

RFID is the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects. The tags contain electronically stored information. 

I'm sure all of you would have been in contact with such tags before! As I was enlightened, these tags are really, really common, like the part where you scan your library books also has an RFID tag. Though that wouldn't really fulfil the definition above.
I've experienced one that enable communication between themselves, low and behold for....
the changing colour lightsticks.

Seeeeeeeeeee! It's so awesome! Such cool technology being applied here

From what I know, the lightstick contains the RFID tag, and it is controlled by the production crew.

1. The production crew sets a fixed frequency for a specified colour
2. The colour comes on, altogether, when the crew sets it to that particular frequency. This is why the whole arena changes colour instantly, WITHOUT the control of the fans.
(Although some remains the default blue, either because of defect or counterfeit issues apparently)

I own one of these lightsticks, and that really kept me intrigued till the point I even went to look up about it and realized it had to do with RFID. Here's what experts have to say about it (Can't find a video that demonstrates and explains this in English, so I shall make do with Taiwan news coverage!)

Though this isn't in English, it's basically what I've mentioned above!

Perhaps this isn't quite related to the Internet, but it definitely counts as one the the developments of technology that lays the foundation for the Internet of Things. One day, we might find ourselves going to shopping malls where the goods will start talking to you! Maybe we don't need promoters anymore (Ohgosh, job retrenchment coming up?)

I can't help but feel a tinge of negativity about embracing IoT though, it's like humans trying to be smart with all these new technologies, but in fact we might be the ones getting more dumb? 

And it will be quite overwhelming if the products all came after one customer, then the next one walks in then you'll hear the overcrowding of voices again and again?

As innovation progresses, managing these innovations is crucial and a challenging process for governments. There's so many potential implications out there, threats waiting to unfold. Well, if goods can talk to you, I believe people can make use of such technology to do evil too, or spread hoax messages, and create a state of panic.

Coupled with the recent events happening around the world, even if we are a small little dot on the map, the lack of collaboration and governance will have terrible consequences. Perhaps the fact that we are small, makes us even more vulnerable to the many challenges of IoT such as tracking each and everyone of you down 

So, do you want your future of the Internet to be like this:

Maybe it's really time to think about the future of our Internet.....

How do we convince users that the IoT technology is able to protect their data and privacy? How can we ensure that users are safe? 

What is OUR future of the Internet? Are we ready to accept it? 

I think. I create. I INNOVATE.

So... what is the future of the Internet?

Hmm, not quite.
Throughout the past few months, we have been looking at the "humble" beginnings of the Internet, to what we now can picture as a "spiderweb" where everything is connected on the web.

But what exactly defines the future of the Internet?

The dominance of Google, our all-time best friend?
The striking back of Microsoft with their cloud technology?
or The continual expansion of Apple?
or.... the rise of new competitors in the market?

Because talking about this big three competitors is too mainstream, I'm gonna talk about something relatively new -  KICKSTARTER

Err... that wasn't what I meant, but the kick is the gist of it.

I guess we're all familiar with the term "crowdfunding", we've probably seen so many of these crowdfunding campaigns, or might have even participated in them!

There are many ideas in this world, some have surfaced, some have not. Why have they not been developed into real-world innovations you might ask, and the common answer will be: 

Not Enough Funds

Not everyone starts off lucky with a pot of gold in their houses, not all people are backed up by the big companies like Apple, Microsoft or Google. But this does not mean we undermine these innovations and let them exist only in the dream bubbles of those who may be life-changers with their innovations.

Kickstarter was founded in April 2009, and till date.....

They have 96647 successfully funded projects, and over $2 billion dollars pledged to kickstarter projects.
At this point I must say, I'm really impressed. Well this couldn't have been done without the vast online community anyways, considering it is accessible on a global scale.

It's easy to start a kickstarter project, it can be anything. A brief glance on the website will find you cubes made from recycled plastic trash, to a local project called the SmartEgg (omg this is so cool, but I can't even afford to fund myself, oops sorry!)

But you get the drift. Innovations like these are being heard on such platform, and this basically draws in potential investors or customers who are willing to pay for the product beforehand. There are different levels of pledging, with varying amounts and varying products to be given.

Then you'll be like, so how do these platforms even survive, like it is just a website.
After so many weeks, there is one key thing that cannot be unseen, which is the rise of social media, and the power of the Internet.

Bad things, spread fast. Good ideas, spread fast too. Everything is just a click away, you're just one "Share" button away from expanding the reach of the project that you are supporting, or one that you might be the creator himself!

Here's what CNET has to say about the power of social media for Kickstarter:

Social media is a startup's best friend
Social media shares can be the difference between Kickstarter success and failure. The firm found that funded projects received 250 percent more shares than unfunded ones, with most of the activity occurring on Facebook. Dance, photography, art, food and fashion projects all did particularly well on Facebook, while comics, theatre and craft projects found followers on Twitter.
A key to shareability, the report says, is a well-produced video, such as the one game console Ouya used to help raise over $8.5 million, or a simple and stylish infographic.

I think everything has to work hand in hand, to make ideas work, to make ideas come to life and become part of our reality. 

You can start your own project too! (But whether your idea will be well received and supported by the public, is another issue altogether.....)
Here's how you can go about it!

1. First and foremost, you definitely must have a project in mind, perhaps a well-thought out one so that it is more convincing? On the whole, projects that are greatly funded tend to reflect enormous research and quite a bit of hard selling which works. But the project can range from anything, really. Like funding for a theatre production, a new product, a new game! 

2. Set a project deadline (just like all projects do) and a minimum funding goal (In life, a goal is a must #thinkingdeep) I guess if you just wanna try things out, maybe you could start small, though it is dependent on the cost of your project if it were to be transformed into reality.
Note that if the funds collected fall below the minimum goal that you've set, no funds will be collected from your potential customers/investors. Which kinda means, you really have to pull people to your product, and eventually give the finished product to them who have supported you.

3. There are different categories of pledging (as what I've mentioned previously)
Taking the Singaporean lingo, it is just: You pay for what you get.
Obviously you will give your big investors more benefits than those who just pledge probably one-tenth of the amount that the investors pledged? You definitely want to impress your potential customers more by throwing in more stuff for contributing more to your project, isn't it!

And then once you're done with these three steps,
don't forget. THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA, (& maybe whatsapp, & maybe the traditional word of mouth too)

Don't forget to share them on whatever social media platforms that you have, or maybe post them to groups with related stuff, to get the attention of people who might jolly well be your potential customers!

Then, you can just sit back, but consistently "promote" your project to ensure that you get the funds, and perhaps start thinking about how to actually get the product out onto the market, to your customers when the funding has reached its goal. After all, this is a legitimate business, and you pay for what you get. When you don't, especially in Singapore, trust me, things will turn ugly....

So that's all I have for you today about innovations on the Internet!

See you next week, for we're wrapping up the future of the Internet very soon!

Mothership is the new straitstimes.... say whaaaaaaaat?

Before we get down to the YAY and NAY of citizen journalism, I would like to share something from the lecture about journalism.

We were introduced to "The Elements of Journalism" by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosensteil,

which so happens to be our prescribed textbook for those taking Journalism this semester.
Allow me to share some important things that a journalist should note:

As a journalist, your first obligation is to the TRUTH 

Journalistic truth is a process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Then journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of their meaning, valid for not but subject to further investigation.

and then you ask yourself, 

DO YOU SEE THIS HAPPENING IN THE NEWS WORLD AROUND US?

Since there are huge displays of STAR WARS at our very own Changi Airport...

How often do you even see yourself reading a news article without exclaiming: "Oh gosh this is just nonsense! This is so biased! This is obviously not true!"

But there you have it, all there, commonly found in our local newspapers, especially The Straits Times (the number one mouthpiece). To be honest, the interesting bits come in the comments section rather than the articles itself (especially when it is associated with politics, its like a keyboard war evolving)

So, are we really controlled by the media that feeds us information? Under the influence of the government body, with regulations of various broadcasting and publishing acts?
Not quite.

In this new age, we are allowed to look for our own information or even write information.
I present to you MOJO.

Wait... did you say mojo....jojo?

No, not him.
MOJO = Mobile Journalists, where people can publish new articles on-the-go with their mobile devices. I guess all you need is just the Internet, isn't it.

And because it is so easy to publish stuff from our phones nowadays, everyone can be a writer on their own, giving rise to....

Citizen Journalism aka. not mainstream media

And one widely read example would be......

It would come off as no surprise that people are actually turning to sites like Mothership, The Middle Ground for news. I wouldn't say that our mainstream media is really THAT terrible, but these sites are more fun and balanced to read!

Like you'll get things like this:

12 moderately cheem and atas foreign phrases S'poreans don't use because we have Singlish
November 11, 2015
Because Singlish is the most shiok to the ears and the heart.
Source: Mothership.sg

It isn't exactly a "news" news article to gain information about the world, but it is still information that you would be interest, and would benefit from read. So much more fun reading things like these as compared to typical news! Although you may spot uncanny resemblances to the comments you see on TST or CNA's facebook postings, like the one below:

What it means in English: Committing suicide

How we make do with Singlish: Khaw Boon Wan-ed
Source: Mothership.sg

(To be honest, I learnt about the Singlish association before actually knowing of the word in English)

Sites like mothership provides a platform to talk about anything and everything. The good, the not so good, the bad, the horrible. And they did a pretty good coverage on the recent General Election in Singapore in September, everything was just.... so on point.  (They have a tab titled "#GE2015" on their website you can go look at them!)

And the articles are rather neutral as compared to *ahem*
Politics and Journalism has to go together, they're tied to each other for life.
So here's one rather informative article about the reasons why the "strongest" opposition party lost in the polls, retaining only one GRC and one SMC with significantly less votes from last time.

Seems like a serious article? Don't worry there's so much more on the site! BECAUSE EVERYONE IS A CREATOR OF NEWS. 

And we have articles that capture funny moments during the entire election period

Poor reporter is tired from covering the news, mind you this is at like 1,2am in the morning?

Nonetheless, one of the epic moments from the elections.

Forget about elections.
Talk about common things. And see how different are they being reported in mainstream media and citizen journalism sites.

For instance, the closure of the last HMV store in Singapore. 

HMV to close last remaining Singapore outlet in Marina Square; plans future new store
Source: The Straits Times 

Versus this:

Goodbye HMV, it was nice knowing you.
Source: Mothership.sg

I think you probably know which one will you read first if you had a choice (and you definitely do in this new age)

So is citizen journalism really a good thing?
I mean like, even mainstream media are incorporating citizen journalism into their news, just check out their letters in the forum section will you? But at this point in time, I would like to alert you to one super ridiculous letter published on The Straits Times website on the 19th of November.

In the letter, the concerned citizen wrote about how dangerous it was for a woman to be sewing on a MRT train. And the fact that The Straits Times actually published it (though not on print but only on web) it speaks a lot about the level of professionalism they are allowing on their side. Once again, the comments are evoking laughter with their imitation of this article with their own spins.

For instance: 

Recently, i came across a schoolgirl laughing with an open mouth in the train. And i thought this was very dangerous. The train lurch sometimes and if she is laughing at a commuter in the direction of the lurch, she could be propelled towards the commuter and sink her teeth into his neck, this may cause extreme bleeding and waste all that blood, which unless if she is from twilight, that would be fine, but nevertheless that might cause bloody mess and inconvenience to the other commuters.
By the way, is there a button where i can eject people out the train if it is always too full?- Rei Poh

I guess it's up to you to decide what you should be reading, and what you should be WRITING as well. Never write for the sake of a slownewsday or nonewsday. Verify your facts, make sure it has some news value before even attempting to create your story.
The eight news values are: Impact, Timeliness, Unusual, Proximity, Conflict, Prominence, Currency, Necessity.

Don't say citizen journalism sites only bring out the worst of people not covered in mainstream media, for they are not the mouthpiece of the national body. Sometimes, the best of the opposing voices are clearly shown here.

Remember last week I ended off with a video with M.Ravi making a blunder, he made up for it here:

"7 moments of GE2015 that made us go HAHAHAHA, what the?"- Mothership.sg

Pursuant to the Parliamentary ... Oh wait, GE isn't over?

Remember the last time you heard this:

Pursuant to Section 49, Subsection 7E, Paragraph A of the Parliamentary Elections Act, I declare...

Remember the monotonous returning officer Yam Ah Mee?
And here it is on the Internet... Wait for it...

Clearly the best of GE2011, considering how I wasn't that interested in politics then.

But here we are in 2015, with the most recent election held on September 11.
And we have a new returning officer, which rose to fame similarly on the Internet almost immediately when people noticed the uncanny resemblance to...

So much for K-variety influence! 

After so long, you would have realised how EASY it is to get something up on the Internet! Be it something good, bad, or even the littlest things like the above that get us amused. 

With the Internet being so easily available to us in this age, I think that politicians are like tightrope walkers on the Internet, where every action must be conscientiously deliberated.

Just one wrong move, can lead them into the dungeons even before polling day comes.

And we have one not-very-fine example in this very election of our own.

Here's some background:
Macpherson SMC, three-cornered fight between WP, NSP, PAP
What happened: NSP candidate Mr C said during an interview that PAP candidate Ms T had just became a mother, and her being a mother is a weakness. He explained that if voters choose her, she might focus more on her child than on her voters.
Source: Tin Pei Ling's new status as a mum is a weakness: Cheo

Hah. Seems like normal political rivalry in action right? Guess you were utterly wrong. This didn't just take aim at the PAP candidate herself, but many others (especially working mothers) felt offended to have their status of a mother and an working adult labelled as a weakness.

Ms T had also took it to social media Facebook to post her response to his insensitive comments.

Last night, Mr Cheo Chai Chen in his rally speech said my new status as a mum is a weakness (see below). I disagree.
I am committed to MacPherson. I returned to work soon after delivery (two weeks to be more exact) because I want to continue to serve. I am confident that even as a mum I can continue to focus on my work in MacPherson.

Many comments poured in from the public, and that probably lost quite a number of votes for the man who was running for election, to represent the people.
I guess people would not want their representative to be one who downplays a particular group of people who are part of the community nonetheless?

And to make things worse, he later clarified that it was a JOKE, not meant to be taken seriously.

In my mind it ran: what is he trying to say now? True enough, his words were copied and pasted all over the Internet, like the spreading of wildfires just that we're not in Australia hmmm....

I think this makes the Internet look like a pretty dark place to be in if you're involved in politics right, but there are successful examples as well!

During the campaigning period, many candidates (from the various parties) made use of social media to engage with their voters, updating their whereabouts, updating about their plans for the community etc.Through engaging in social media through the Internet, the candidates are able to rope in volunteers to help out physically, or provide keyboard warrior support for the party or the candidate in particular. We also see people sharing the posts, and even seeing loads of wefies of the candidates with a bunch a people who are just like you and me!

The Internet is also a good platform to listen to voices of the ground, regardless of it being positive of negative (which seems to be the case, in this most recent election at the very least).

However, candidates ought to know one thing.

I know right, keyboard warriors are deceiving.

Though I didn't get to vote this time round, one of the most watched constituency this election - Aljunied GRC, I saw the unfolding of issues on the Internet right before me.

Like... the AHPETC issue, the many many analogies used in response to X to Y and to Z, widely circulated on the Internet.

Yes, it might have sparked my interest in politics for once.
I was a little interested in the last election but back then I only knew my own GRC well (cause it was the topic of the town, and it STILL IS.)
This time round I found myself following the news as if I was voting everywhere hahaha! (Then the irony comes that I can't even vote in my own area)

But no, the Internet can also bring negative impacts to politics when it is in excess use. I'm serious.
When you see like day after day, reading postings about the AHPETC issue again and again (albeit it is a main thing to talk about and pull votes), it gets tiring.

And nearing polling day, I was gradually turning to the "I don't care about this anymore, I want to know the final conclusion but meanwhile this is getting a little too much" attitude.

And the last thing that you want people to see on the Internet, while looking up for your campaigns is this:

It's only nomination day, chill yo! But before you know it, everything it up on the internet, at your disadvantage.

Next week, I'll be sharing some stuff about internet and journalism!
Till then, please be wary of the things you write on the Internet! The digital footprints are here to stay!

Augmented Reality: The Future that unfolds.

So, let's get started about the topic in question: Augmented Reality.

Let me share with you all what was my first reactions towards this term Augmented Reality:

I had learnt the term "augmented" few years back when I was still taking piano lessons which had the theory component as well.

+

What I hear about augmented reality, is that it's a money generator!

So here was I wondering, so how in the world do you make money based on just these "beansprouts" that make music!

BOOM! I was obviously wrong!

[Augmented reality is] an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (as a smartphone camera)

And so I thought such cool stuffs can only been seen overseas, like Layar wasn't a Singapore thing, nor was the Oculus Rift.

But then I ran a search on google (as always, it's our best friend!) and found some really cool stuff done IN SINGAPORE (#SG50, kidding)

In order of coolness:
1. Tiger Beer (Nope, this isn't rated)

I would say this isn't that interactive and cool, considering theres a limit of what you can do other than being amazed and taking pictures (while seeing thought bubbles pop out)!
But, I DIDN'T KNOW DHOBY GHAUT HAD SUCH STUFF two years ago!
Imagine if the wall was on the one nearer to the travellator hahaha! I think many of them would be going against the flow of the travellator to play with the wall, disrupting traffic haha!

So next up, we have a business plan presented through augmented reality!
And I checked the upload date, five years ago!

2. SingTel 

The quality of the video isn't that great, possibly due to the technology back then being not so well-developed. Nonetheless, it seemed like

This is a classic by the way. MAGIC!

So yeah, it's unbelievable how such cool stuff were already used in Singapore five years ago and even used to promote a business proposal about cloud computing! Futuristic at its finest!

It makes imagination and perception so much easier when you have augmented reality presented right in front of your eyes!

And so.... topping the list of coolness and unbelievable-ness (if such word actually exists) would be this!

3. Augmented Reality Winter Wonderland at Marina Square.

Ohwait, did you just say... Marina Square?

The one that went on news because of having rats in their buffet trays? (Well, thats not augmented reality, that IS reality)

So yes, you heard me right!
Two years ago, Marina Square became a place for shoppers to explore, to put themselves into the wonderland of Santa and polar bears through the various spots in the mall with augmented reality fixtures.

Just look at the polar bears omg!

Why didn't we know this earlier! (Oh but back then I was having national examinations I doubt I would be there)
But on hindsight, it's great that malls are even adopting AR to attract the crowd to the malls, and leaving shoppers with wonderful memories!

So.... Singapore isn't that backward after all?

After learning and looking at so many examples, here are some important points:
1. Augmented Reality is not just about generating revenue
With it being something relatively new, it gets the attention and interests of the general public and at the same time advertisers would be looking out for these technology to make their businesses develop and progress to the next level.

2. Augmented Reality is the future you imagine it to be
You have the choice to manipulate what's on your device! Up to your own understand, your own exploration, your very own adventures! Though it might have a standard set of scenes to put yourself into, whatever you do with what you are presented it entirely your own choice and have differing outcomes from individual to individual!

3. Augmented Reality changes how we live
This is probably a downside, as we are already being very much connected with our devices at this point in time. As we continue to explore augmented reality, we rely even more on our devices. Just look at Layar, you need a phone, an app, for you to play around with what you see in front of you. That's gonna make us even more glued to our screens though!


Sidenote: even our HDB is keeping up with the times!
Check this out: HDB App reality feature

See you next week as we talk about more about the Internet!