Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Full Throttle
I wrote this motivational word (kind of to myself) because I am far from the finishing line.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Start of The End
Continue doing portfolio!
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Friday, November 07, 2008
The Start of Teamwork
Well eventually it was thought to be done in a group. However in the end it began to see like a class work because everybody just junk their stuff into the main board.
The topic selected : "Bullying on Cyberspace"
This is the first time I experience Wiki! and i guess the same goes for others.
Wiki! to me is quite a great place to gather information together. However I believe that some people will not like his/her work to be interrupted (as in moved, deleted, or edited) and thus, can be said that teamwork will produce the best work.
The Wiki! will then began to be a search material for those who search on bullying on cyberspace. The information we all gathered can be useful for someone else who happens to bum in and searching for information on cyberspace bullying.
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Thursday, November 06, 2008
The Second Test
The night before i started studying. Actually if I had paid attention in class more, I guess there is no need to write up notes. I wrote notes that covers an A2 size paper. Not that size matters but I love making notes on large paper. Weird.
In the end the test was kind of hard. Mostly thanks to the funny abbreviations that popped out of nowhere. Its the ones that fails me. Got an 8 out of 20. Excellent, not even a borderline. However I am grateful the first test score can balance this one. So for the tests, I passed! XD
After the test we watched Youtube videos that Ms Faridah display in the big screen. I usually search for music videos and entertainment videos in Youtube. But today Ms Faridah show something rather eye-opening. Its about a documentary about this guy who was born with no limbs and how he lives his life. Surely from there I can say we should treasure our life now and stop complaining because we are living a well-lived life. Hmm.
So then we were to get into groups to discuss about Youtube. Mainly is to brainstorm on the plus and minus of Youtube and also offer new solution or ideas for it. Our group came up with an idea whereby a Live Telecast of maybe the Grammy Awards, can be watched on Youtube. Isn't that great? To watch a live streaming telecast on Youtube? Lol. Yeah thats about today!
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Monday, November 03, 2008
Dream Holiday
ALASKA!!!










When browsing the internet for my search on my Dream Holiday, I decided to use the evaluation criteria, "purpose", to evaluate the sites. "Purpose" is the first filter towards evaluating a site and thus it should be the prime evaluation criteria one should look into while browsing a web page.
I know many people tend to go to places like Paris or Australia or London etc etc etc. Not for me! I will rather go to a place like Alaska, for one simple reason: Fishing!
Alaska is known to many anglers in the world as the "heaven of anglers". The magnificent water there explains the awesome fishes living in it. Going to Alaska and not fishing is like a sin! Since the water there are cold and icy, the main great fishes that roam there are halibut, king salmon, and rainbow trout. Let me introduce them.
<--- Halibut
<--- King SalmonAwesome fishes you ask me. They are the top catches in Alaska icy waters.
Great. Now I cannot wait to go for the overnight fishing with my friends at East Coast this Friday! Well sadly I have not tried fishing overseas. However if there is an opportunity, there is no way I will miss Alaska!!! XD
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Friday, October 31, 2008
End of 2nd Week
Time simply flies.
TEST
So today we had an online test covering what we had learn so far in EIR.
Lectures 1 - 5. I barely studied the night before and was just hoping I can somehow pass it.
Yes eventually I did. Relieved. Okay though its just 10%, everything counts!
LESSON
We then moved on to the next topic: Evaluation of Internet Resources.
Now that we already know which search facilities to use for which kind of research, and how to use them effectively, we must know how to evaluate the resources we had gathered.
There is a need to evaluate the resources because of many factors. It can be that the resource contains large amount of useless/irrelevant information, is out-dated, lacks quality, and many more. Therefore, these factors must be taken note of before using the information for one's work. Basically finding out the main purpose of the site is important.
ROLE PLAY
The 'fellow Singaporeans', the 'Foreigner', and the 'Government'.
Its a role play applied practically for this new topic of evaluating resources. So basically each of those party are supposed to evaluate a site called TalkingCock (click on name to visit site). The point of the role play - is to know that people from different walks of life (or whatever), see things differently.
For example in the role play, the 'Foreigner' does not understand the language of the TalkingCock site. He/she may not be able to pick up the humour of the site and so regard it as a useless site. Whereas for the 'fellow Singaporeans', they know what talking cock means. Furthermore being Singaporeans, Singlish is part and parcel of life and thus understanding the site which is full of those language will not be a problem.
Hence, evaluating a site from different perspective produce different results! And I think it is good to analyse the resource from different angles for we will understand it better. Guess thats all for now. Till next time.
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
'The Unseen'
Even though they are high-quality authoritative information, these Invisible Webs can be accessed through the world wide web BUT cannot be picked up by general-purpose search engines. The reasons are due to to technical limitations or intentionally 'hid' from the index of Web pages.
Though it may have possessed great information, researchers are not recommended to only use materials from the site alone. They must also be used in juxtaposition with other materials from other information resources.
A great thing our school digital library possess one "Invisible Web". It is called Books 24X7. It is said to contain over 6K titles covering more than 100 different topics and also possess its own search engine! Sounds great. I should check it out soon for my topic.
Invisible Web sure sounds 'underground', but digging it up is surely worth it!
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Deepavali Assignments?
Honestly its like any discussion forum out there in the world wide web. We share our individual views about the internet and basically the ways it have benefit our lives. Its great to learn how different people use the internet.
The only thing is that our discussion about the new Search Facilities, such as Google Scholar and Yahoo! Directory, are limited for we were totally new to it. We were only starting to get warmed up with them. Therefore, our discussion does not display high knowledge of those Search Facilities yet.
I believe that an open discussion forum (for students and lecturers) should be set up so we can communicate about school-related stuffs beyond the boundary of the classroom. Not only will it gives the opportunity to learn broader perspective views about a certain topic but also get to know each other better.
Yeah. Guess thats all for now.
Blog again soon!!!
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Search It Right
Learnt using different search facilities and extracting keywords to narrow down our search for our work. I realised that synonym to the keywords plays a big part too in helping to attain better and accurate results. The use of "*" and "N/2" kind of get my interests for I have never heard of them moreover use them. It seems that there are in fact alot of ways to filter my search. And it seems that only now that I am in EIR class, I come to know of them.
Aside from that, the proper construction of the sentence to be used for searching are also vital to achieve the best results. Proper usage of the Boolean operators like "AND" and "OR" can make a whole big difference when doing a search. Before I come to this class, I always tend to type the whole chunk of words into the query box to search for stuffs. Now that I know of the many good ways to make life easier, doing research can never be the same again!
Truly I believe life is going to be much more easier knowing that Google Scholar exist. It's search results is more narrowed down to relevance and its faster search time is a bonus. Google Scholar is a good search engine for those who requires research that are professionally done up and does not possess "holes" in the results. When searching for my topic, I was quite sad to see not much results, however the information in each, is of quality. I shall from now on extend my search using this search facility. It seems like it picks up the bestest among the best. And that, sounds good to me.
As for Google, it seems to simply grab all that it feels is related. Therefore the search results are high and you need to browse through them to find what you really need. When I was searching for my topic using this search engine, there are a few good results that I picked up. More than Google Scholar in fact. Well, whatever it is, Google will still be my default search engine. Maybe it is because I do not really mind browsing through tens of pages! But for schoolwork research, Google Scholar will be my choice.
Citing a source APA (American Psychological Association) style have become a norm for us in our research and schoolwork for design students. The reason APA is required when using/taking an information from a source is to simply acknowledge those "behind the scenes" that has helped you deliver the information that you need. "That is because we find inspiration for our work, referring to works from international designers or so on, and there is a need to, of course, tell ourselves that we are simply only using the material as reference and do not own them. One module had introduced us to a site which could even help us to write the APA. We just need to fill in the necessary information required to create the APA, press ENTER and there goes! Though it is convenient, it is also good that we know how to do it without the help of the machine.
Lastly, I managed to be a member of a forum! Honestly, I had always wanted to be a member of an open discussion forum because I love to share my views and opinions with others. Hmm. Its not nervous, but rather anxious. I have posted a thread and am now anticipating a reply. If it seems dead, I shall try on other forums. Yeah!
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
My Discussion Topic
This is a topic I came up on my own since most of the topics listed were already taken by others. I hope I can go deep in this topic for I am really interested in knowing how technology, in one way or another, can help to contribute to help the needy people around the globe.
First of all I already found an organisational site that relates to my topic. (Oh by the way, its great to know that personal and organisational sites can sometimes be working in the same direction towards the same goal, just that it operates in a different way. Cool yeah.) Posted in the previous post, it is the Free Rice Programme. For those who knew about this, or had clicked on the link I provided and checked it out, do you all feel great in playing the game? For those who have not tried, GO! You learn and donate rice at the same time. I love that feeling of helping those in need. It gives me that warm feeling.... Okay nevermind about that. Actually this site was introduced to me by my friend and I am glad that I could use it as a reference point to my topic.
Talking about finding sources that are related to my topic, I realised that aside from WWW site, resources from discussion forum, electronic journal, news, magazine and blog can also contribute greatly in my research. Usually I tend to simply chunk in the words that relates to what I wanted to research in the query box and SEARCH! What comes out does not matter to me as long as it is related to what I wanted and I will be pleased. However after learning about such internet resources, i think that my research findings can be more accurate and at the same time found in great abundance. More to that, I feel that all these while, it seems that I am, without knowing, limiting my research resources! If only I had taken into account of other possible research resources, I think work that involves research could have been done more effectively.
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Thursday, October 23, 2008
FREE RICE
However I will not blog about it now. In fact click this link ---> FREE RICE!
It will give you a slight hint about my topic (:
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The $500 Dream
I prefer to go to the shop itself to look at the stuff with my naked eye rather than through a computer screen.
Okay I shall not start any arguments about pros and cons of online shopping here.
Hmm...
Apparently now I have $500 and I am about to start E-shopping.
Glorious.
The first item on my hit list will be this Shimano Fireblood Reel.
Priced at $300 onward depending on technical specifications.

For those who wonder what is this, this is a fishing reel - Shimano Fireblood! It is a part of a released legend created by Shimano called the Flame of Desire. Being a cut above the rest, a breed apart, Fireblood possess a distinct visual matched by the finest performance. It is also designed to cope with the most extreme and demanding situations. Truely, Fireblood ignites the "flame of desire"in those who seek its power.
As an angler, I am attracted to the beauty of this baby. Even though I am just an amateur, I will not hesitate to get the Fireblood. Truly when I first glance at it, I cannot take my eyes and mind off it! Like what they call it: "Love at first sight." When I get my hands on the Fireblood, I am so going to hit the waters with it. But to think of it's value, I have thoughts of making it as a display in my room. XD
The second item on my hit list will be this Expedition E-Tide Temp Compass.
Priced at $150, its a watch worth value to me due to its feature!

This watch is a product of Timex, one of the most recognized timepieces in the world. This expedition watch is developed with a feature that can read temperature and tide, and not forgetting, acquires an electronic compass. Obviously I will buy this watch for those attributes so I can wear it when i go for fishing and read the tides easily. Really, one day I am so going to get this watch!
Okay my $500 dream is settled. By the way these dreams of mine were found on eBay and Amazon respectively. Both are an online market place of the world whereby people can browse or search for items from a wide variety of categories.
The difference is eBay is a site where registered users sell their items online whereas Amazon is actually a company that sells its products online. Therefore buyers in eBay buy items sold from sellers that are registered with eBay, while buyers in Amazon buy items directly from the site or also Amazon marketplace sellers.
Overall, to me, I think that eBay is a more better place to buy items online for it sells and provides better commercial services than Amazon.
I shall end my E-shopping now. Till next time.
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
School Reopens
It is a CDS formerly known as Using Internet as a Research tool (UIR) and now renamed as Effective Internet Research (EIR). However, of course, the name was not just changed for no reason. This course will teach and guide me on how to do research more effectively, using various ways of deriving good & correct information on the internet and most importantly learn Internet ethics.
Today, even though just a brief of the module, I think I know what is already expected at the end of this module and therefore I felt quite relieved. The reason being in most of the past modules at the end of briefing point, I will still be uncertain as to what is expected. Therefore hopefully I can score a good grade for this module.
I guess that is all for today's post.
black will paint over white
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
Me
Most importantly I shall say I am indescribable.
So since I do not fully know how to describe myself, its best we be friends so we can get to know each other better because misjudging a person is what I despise the most. (:
Black & Red is my thing & I love the name of Samarra.
A 2nd Year Student of Temasek Polytechnic (TP) pursuing Product & Industrial Design (PID).
The toughest design course in Design School, hands down, but I am not raising white flags easily.
Loves designing graphics in my free time and fishing too.
For those who does fishing too, please contact me!!!
I shall not elaborate about myself any further now as I dislike lengthy post.
Here I shall end my post.
black will paint over white,
& red will stain it.
` samarra .
