Thursday, November 27, 2008
For this week's lesson, i realized that the deep web, also known as the invisible web, is practically useless. None of the websites returned favourable results that were beneficial to my research topic. I conducted several searches on various deep webs and not one of them yielded any useful search results.
Here is a screenshot of an invisible web (Academic Gateway)
Figure 1
I feel that the deep web search is for heavily object-targeted searches. Examples of that would be searching for a specific book from a library using the online search tool by knowing and entering the book title, the author or the publisher; searching from educational institions' invisible web for articles and related publications.
All in all, I find that the usefulness-rating of the deep web is extremely low and would discourage friends from using that as a search tool for very obvious reasons.
ITS ME .
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Including site feeds into my blog...
I regretfully say that the worksheet does not provide any instructions at all with regards to how to include site feeds into my blog. Hence there is nothing I can do, because I do not wish to incorrectly include site feeds which may bring trouble.
I regretfully say that the worksheet does not provide any instructions at all with regards to how to include site feeds into my blog. Hence there is nothing I can do, because I do not wish to incorrectly include site feeds which may bring trouble.
This is one of my practical 4 & 5 research site screenshot
Figure 1a
What benefits do I get when using different search facilities to search for resources related to my topic?
I was really amazed at how the meta-search engine actually works. It was able to search and obtain results from the existing major search engines and therefore saves a lot of time for people who often need to search several search engines like google, yahoo, MSN etc. individually.
Based on a little search that i conducted via a wonderful site known as Search Engines Showdown (Meta Search Engines) http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/multi/,
different meta search engines crawl different search engines to yield different sets of results. For example, the meta-search engine "Dogpile" http://www.dogpile.com/ mentioned on Syahir's blog, crawls conventional search engines like these: Ask, Google, MSN, Yahoo!, Teoma, Open Directory. While Kartoo http://kartoo.com/, also a meta-search engine, crawls these search engines: AlltheWeb, AltaVista, EntireWeb, Exalead, Hotbot, Looksmart, Lycos, MSN, Open Directory, Teoma, ToileQuebec, Voila, Wisenut, Yahoo. Therefore i suggest that, before conducting a search on a meta search engine, define which search engines you'd prefer to search on before you hit the 'enter' key.
Screenshot of Kartoo
Figure 1b
Once again, i thank http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/multi/ for valuable information.
Screenshot of searchengineshowdown.com
Figure 1c
I have personally experienced site feeds in other people's blogs. I feel that site feeds are good as it constantly updates your blog with the latest news of other websites. These make users feel that your blog is relevant and up to date, and provide users with convenience when linking to other websites or refering to the updates of other websites.
ITS ME .
Monday, November 17, 2008
Confession: I really do not know why but i couldn't bring myself to settle down and complete my work. It's getting increasingly difficult to regulate my work hours and rest hours. I often find myself sitting in a hypnotized state, eyes transfixed in front of my laptop...... DOING NOTHING.
EIR has been a really interesting subject, yet the objectives have thus been rather unclear, or should I say I am TOO dimwitted where I feel so lost with regards to what needs to be done.
Oh and err... Mdm Roselind Nah applied for MC for Tuesday's lesson. Mmm wonder what happened. So, get well soon mdm!
ITS ME .
Sunday, November 9, 2008
I'm guilty of not posting an update earlier, but oh well, I hardly have the time to do so, especially with my terribly packed schedule.
Main Topic:
~ Practical 3
=> Activity 4: Include Site Feeds into personal Blogs
I have to briefly reflect on lessons learnt from this practical by answering questions below :
a) Whether I was impressed by google’s search functions/features? Why?
b) How I feel about participation in discussion forum? Is it helpful for my research? Do I feel anxious about talking to others I do not know?
c) Why must I do citation and bibliography?
Answers for the questions are as follows:
a) Indeed I was impressed by google's search functions, and in fact i still am. It is really amazing how the search engine is able to operate based on boolean operators and sieve out relevant information that i desire from the enormous World Wide Web. Many of the search results were relevant for my search, and even if they weren't, a change of keywords would yield even more search results. With such a strong search engine, there is a high chance of finding what i set out to find.
b) Originally i felt rather edgy and restrained about participating in a discussion forum. The other parties on the forum are mostly people that i do not know or have not met before, and therefore, an air of awkwardness lingers in the air. However, with the internet as a virtual barrier, the discussion forum definitely beats having to meet up face to face for a real-time discussion, which can be even more frightful and embarassing. I felt anxious communicating with people that i do not know, but I know that this will eventually be resolved because there is always a first time in making friends.
c) I understand that doing citation and bibliography is important as it recognizes the original authors for their work and effort and it also identifies them as the original producer of the work. However, things like royalty-free content often makes me confused as to why some things require acknowledgement while some things do not. Is it because of mankind's materialistic nature, or the craving for fame and popularity, or to mark something that they have worked hard on as their own? I feel that it is more of a recognition of efforts and hardwork than for the popularity and fame. That is why there are still many works that have been uncredited because those people work for the masses and do not ask for fame.
Dear readers, what do you think about bibliography and citation? Or about the search engines? Please feel free to leave a comment or leave me a message on my tagboard, thank you.
Also please take part in the OLE-BB's discussion forum at http://ole-bb.tp.edu.sg/
Alternatively, it can be accessed via TP's student portal.
ITS ME .
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Just a small musing here,
I feel we are really very blessed. We sit down inside an air-conditioned computer lab contemplating how to spend an imaginary $500 on anything we like, while people in South Africa and the developing countries sit down on the scorching sands, unsure whether they'll live to see the next day.
Whenever I put on my clothes, put a spoon of food into my mouth, enter a classroom for lesson, and even when I use the toilet, i would count my blessings. All these, and more, should not be taken for granted by us. I'm not being sarcastic here, but i even count my blessings when i look into my wallet and see that $1 left inside. Why is that so, you might ask. Well, I HAVE a wallet! Isn't that a blessing too? I am not being a sadist here. In fact, I have NO RIGHT to be one! The people struck with poverty still live their lives with as much courage and optimism as they can ever muster up. It is something really admirable.
Dear Esteemed Readers, please think about all that you have received and been through, I'm quite certain that many of them were blessings in disguise.
ITS ME .
Monday, November 3, 2008
Anyway, I am left with $1. I will buy 11 music pieces in Kitaro's Album "Live in Singapore 2005" at $0.09 each.
Figure 1 - Album cover
The music pieces are
1 - Peace Bell Symphony - 6:45 - $0.09
2 - Hajimari - 4:34 - $0.09
3 - Sozo - 5:17 - $0.09
4 - Orochi - 7:22 - $0.09
5 - Koi - 11:34 - $0.09
6 - Silk Road - 9:01 - $0.09
7 - Heaven And Earth - 13:05 - $0.09
8 - Caravansary - 5:59 - $0.09 < - I already have this song so I will not purchase this one.
9 - Water Of Mystery - 16:15 - $0.09
10 - Kokoro - 15:02 - $0.09
11 - Matsuri - 9:04 - $0.09
12 - The Light Of The Spirit - 11:24 - $0.09 http://www.legalsounds.com/download-mp3/kitaro/live-in-singapore/album_35207
That will be $0.99 in total
I will still be left with $0.01 which I will donate to charity.
$0.002 to Adventist Home for the Elders
$0.002 to Care Corner Counselling Centre
$0.002 to Children's Aid Society
$0.002 to Boy's Brigade in Singapore
$0.002 to Girl Guides Singapore
ITS ME .