Dream Holiday

My dream country to go to would be: JAPAN!!

I love japanese food, sashimi, sushi, the works! I know the menu listings by heart and never have to look at it whenever I order at a restaurant. Going there would be tasting the finest of these foods at its home country!

Also, the scenery in the summer would be great. The sakura is beautiful and cherry blossoms bloom which exemplifies the transient nature of life. The word 'sakura' means omen of good fortune and is also an emblem of love, affection and represents spring.

There is also Tokyo Disneyland is Japan! I've only been to the one in Hong Kong and would love to experience Disneyland in other countries as well :)

Practical 7

This week, we used the criteria stated to evaluate www.stomp.com.sg.

Stomp is a Citizen Journalism website, which means it provides information on particular incidents. Their coverage includes crime, social issues, gossip, forums and includes many types of materials like pictures, videos and reports. Their authority varies from being very reliable to those of netizens and social networking sites and blogs. In terms of accuracy, Stomp is more opinion based with everyone posting comments and not on real facts.

If I were to create my own version of Stomp, I would create formal and informal forums in which users are able to either have a serious or non-serious sharing of opinion. This would let people voice our their views with similar people as I have realized some of the users use extremely informal and foul language while it is apparent that some really want to have a serious discussion about the topic. This would make the website a healthier environment and a more educational one for users and for sharing their views.

Practical 6

This week, we learnt about the invisible web databases. These can only be accessed if we subscribe or pay for the service. An example is OPAC and Factiva, which are databases that TP uses. If we use these databases, the results would differ from those that we find from Google and other search engines. The results are more relevant and useful for our searches.

I learnt to use these databases just recently and it has really helped me a great deal in finding articles for projects that require them instead of spending forever on Google or other meta search engines looking for a suitable one.

Practical 4&5

By using the different search facilities in researching on selective mutism, I was able to figure out how the different search engines work and how I can use them to find different things relating to my topic and then compiling all the information I get in order to get a better range of results.

Using site feeds would create opportunities for better connectivity between people. They can be more updated on when I post and I can keep updated on their lives and blog posts as well.

Collaborating on Wiki was a good experience as I was able to see how others view the same things that I do in different ways. Also, more people contributing on the same topic is really beneficial as we are all sharing information and researching from different places on the web. It also feels as if everyone is helping each other out and doing the work together ☺

E-Learning Week

Went to Port Seraphine. First impression was that it is very posh-like. Since I had no L$, there was only one sign that appealed to me.


SALE! (I have no idea why but my avatar took forever to appear so I was left with a white spot)


Chatting with a stranger, asking her about Second Life.


Swimsuits~


In the pool!

To sum up my experience of virtual shopping, it was not that fruitful and I could not buy a lot of things that I wanted due to lack of L$. However, I was quite surprised at the items offered and that there were a wide selection of items. I also liked flying around! But I did not feel the satisfaction that I usually get from shopping as I can only see the items on screen and it did not feel very fun.

It is interesting to meet people and chat with them about how to use/play Second Life. I learnt a lot of things from them although some can be rather impatient and rude. Much like real life. It is quite convenient to see so many things just by moving around with the arrow keys!

(Sorry this took so long. Second Life wouldn't function properly on my macbook. Also, I tried to restart Second Life but still no avatar :()

Practical 3

Topic: Discuss the causes and effects of selective mutism on youths

Keywords: Selective Mutism, Elective Mutism, Causes, Impact, Effect, Youths, Teens, Children

Search Engine: Google

http://www.selectivemutism.org/ - Advocacy

Selective Mutism Group (SMG) is part of the Childhood Anxiety Network, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information, resources and support to those with a child suffering from Selective Mutism.

http://www.theselectivemutism.info/causes-of-selective-mutism/index.php - News

This website shares a lot of information on Selective Mutism such as causes, treatment, symptoms and frequently asked questions about it.

I used Google Scholar and got 10200 hits. Google had 33100. I felt that using Google Scholar was not a good option to use when I was searching about information on my topic. It focused more on scholarly literature and research and it was not really relevant to what I was looking for even though it had less hits and would have probably narrowed down the wide selection.

Shopping Spree

If I were given $500 to spend, these are the items that I would buy.

1) iPod nano 16GB - $278

I work out every few days, and I have always relied on my iPhone to listen to music and it can be kind of a hassle sometimes as it is quite big. With the new iPod nano, it would be so much easier to just clip it on my shirt and go! It also has an in-built pedometer so I can improve my stamina.

I would get the colour red as it is limited edition and with every purchase (only with red), Apple would contribute a portion of the profits to the Global Fund to fight HIV in Africa.

2) A giant gummy bear!!!

Is that not the coolest thing ever? And yes, it is really for sale.

Or maybe I would just save the money so I can pay for my university next time. Just online window shopping makes me want to work more so that I can afford to buy all these on my own!