#12: Future predictions of the Internet by its inventor

Tim Berners-Lee, the man how invited the language of the Web, has more thoughts on what the future of the Internet would be. Here, he postulates two issues: 1) Facebook & Apple may threaten the future of the Web, and 2) Building a web for open, linked data.

ISSUE #1: Facebook & Apple may threaten the future of the Web

In an interview with The Guardian, Tim Berners-Lee fears that Apple and Facebook may pose a threat to the freedom of the Internet which we have enjoyed in the past 20 years.

He targeted Apple’s restrictive ecosystem of application and its exclusivity agreement granted to its devices. Time Berners-Lee felt that one should be able to make independent choices based on what he or she likes instead of letting the organization make the decision for him or her.

Instead, he favors web applications, which are relatively more open as they are accessible via any browser.

The Web is a place for information sharing, and only information shared from web applications will not be excluded.

The problem with Facebook, Tim Berners-Lee argued, was its irresponsibility with user information. This irresponsibility derives from Facebook not sharing the data it collected with its respective users.

Berners-Lee fears that “closed world” applications released by Apple, which cannot be indexed by web search engines, threaten the openness and universality that the architects of the web saw as central to its design.

Besides consumer products, however, Berners-Lee believes that Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, a proposed US billthat would increase the government’s ability to enforce patnets and copyright, may threaten the fundamentals of which the Internet is built – openness and universality.

ISSUE #2: Building a web for open, linked data
Tim-Berners Lee’s next project focuses on creating a web for open, linked data that could do for numbers what the Web did for words, pictures, video: unlock our data and reframe the way we use it together. An elaboration of his ideas can be seen from the video below:

#11 Apple vs. Google

In the world of computing, there is two religion: Applelism and Googleism. This article explores who has it better – Apple or Google?

APPLE

Step into an Apple shop and it would be like stepping into a old CD shop where we hung out. Inside the store, most of the devices could be readily picked and played with by a potential consumer. While Apple must have worn out its inventory, this is a smart move as it gets people hooked to the device. But of course, thanks to the introduction of The iPad 2012, it is almost impossible to penetrate the deep crowd surrounding the iPad table.

Despite the fact that the iPad does little that any other devices (e-book readers, iPhone and game consoles) didn’t already do, the iPad served to be Apple’s proof of Apple creating a brand, a lifestyle, and people hungrily consume it, simply because it was made by Apple.

This brings our attention to Google, a company who conflicts Apple.

GOOGLE

Google did not set out to make gadgets, but softwares instead. It has come up with smarter ways to find things on the Internet, and offers a huge variety of services – from Google Maps, Gmail and Google+. Now, not only has Google developed the Android operating system but it has acquired Motorola under its wings. For a company that has never made gadgets, Google has taken a big bet on integrating Googleism into our lives – as its biggest competitor, Apple, has done so.

SO SIMILAR YET SO DIFFERENT: THE 2 DIFFERENTS PATHS GOOGLE & APPLE TOOK
In the mobile war, Google and Apple have taken two entirely different approaches to acquire market share.

Apple values on is products’ exclusivity (applications licensed and created onto for Apple), while Google opens it Android operating system to a host of phone makers such as Sony, Samsung, LG, HTC and Motorola. Unlike Apple, Android’s code is open, and phonemakers can tinker with the program to suit their needs whilst having a basic set of standards.

“Google has a completely different world model,” he said. “The Apple view is coherently closed. Ours is the inverse model: the web, openness, all the choices, all the voices. And that experiment is running.” – Eric Schmidt

Another difference in Google’and Apple’s approach is our they introduce their products to the world. While Apple, under Jobs, has barely released a dud product, Google tends to put something out there and see what happens. This can be observed from Google’s failed product Google Buzz, a social networking site that was a crackpot of privacy disaster as its users’ contacts were constantly made available to the public.

It is interesting to note that that this two companies are going against each other head-on both softwares and hardwares, with different approaches.

We’ll just have to wait and see what other innovations they have to tempt us into either fandoms – Googleism and Appleism.

#10: Citizen Journalism – the by product of the Internet

Citizen Journalism is one of the epitomes of user generated content, riding on the latest wave of technological advances. Content can be created, shared and accessed anywhere and everywhere- at home, in school and on the go. The emergence of online blogs, forums and websites solely dedicated to compiling and broadcasting information has provided a platform on which this new aspect of journalism can flourish. The ability to transmit news and information worldwide has now been transferred from the large, strong hands of international media corporations to the nimble fingertips of the everyday blogger.
After all, getting a reward of $50 for posting a photo of a couple behaving inappropriately in public does seem like an attractive offer. That is how Stomp, run by content submitted by citizen journalists, has swept up numerous awards for being the Best in Social, Mobile and Digital Media at the Asian Digital Media Awards 2011 and 2010 respectively. It is also one of the top 10 websites according to hitwise, which conducted its usage survey during January to June 2010.

There is this thing about mangled cars at accident scenes and beautiful teachers that students never skip class for that seems to be inviting consumers back for more. Apart from pure entertainment, some resort to creating a fake online identity to increase their confidence and self efficacy by bringing others down and imposing their beliefs and viewpoints on such websites.

Keyboard warriors also take pride in hiding behind the cloud of Internet anonymity- flaming and posting insensitive remarks about others who they may or may not even know. This may escalate to cases of cyber bullying- another consequence of an increasingly technologically advanced world.

That being said, the ability to generate and access all sorts of content readily seems to degrade the entire concept of responsible journalism. Citizen ‘journalists’ post images, text and video, regardless of whether the content is reliable or even remotely accurate. This could lead to unnecessary conflict and distress should the facts be proven inaccurate, and could lead to a case of defamation, in which both parties will be upset and inconvenienced.

In addition, there is no such thing as copyright or a piece of breaking news anymore. A piece of news that breaks in China may immediately be picked up, translated and reposted in Africa. There is no mention of where the piece of news was taken from or any effort to credit the journalist who originally wrote the story.

News that would have been sold for a few cents may therefore become a worthless mass of black pixels that are arranged to form an alphabet, a word, paragraphs and eventually, what laymen would call a story.

However, not all about citizen journalism is negative. The ability of a person with Internet access to transmit information instantaneously cannot be undermined and may end up saving someone else time, money, or even a life.

#9: Kony 2012, viewed critically

Since March 5, there are more than 84 million views on the video Kony 2012 made by an American charity, Invisible Children. The video shares with us the plight of children in Uganda, who were at the hands of Joseph Kony, the leader of Lords Resistance Army (LRA) guerilla group. The LRA has been said to abduct almost 60,000 children as a form of recruitment; Boys were kidnapped and trained to kill their own parents to severe ties with them, and girls were kidnapped to serve as sex slaves.

I must admit that after watching the first 15 seconds, I instinctively hated the Kony 2012 Campaign. It reminded me of a better version of NKF videos pleading for donations. Yes, Invisible Children has good intentions about making us aware that Joseph Kony is an evil man who needs to be brought to justice. However, before you start donating to the cause, please consider 3 criticisms of the campaign.

1. Dubious Finance
From Visible Children:

Invisible Children has been condemned time and time again. As a registered not-for-profit, its finances are public. Last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services (page 6), with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production. This is far from ideal, and Charity Navigator rates their accountability 2/4 stars because they haven’t had their finances externally audited. But it goes way deeper than that.

From Jedidiah Jenkins, Invisible Children’s Director of Ideology:

Thirty-seven percent of our budget goes directly to central African-related programs, about 20 percent goes to salaries and overhead, and the remaining 43 percent goes to our awareness programs. […] But aside from that, the truth about Invisible Children is that we are not an aid organization, and we don’t intend to be. I think people think we’re over there delivering shoes or food. But we are an advocacy and awareness organization.

Yes, you heard it from Invisible Children: more money goes to awareness than to Africa.

2. Exaggerated Claims
From Foreign Affairs Magazine:

In their campaigns, such organizations [as Invisible Children] have manipulated facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA’s use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony — a brutal man, to be sure — as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil.

3. Support for Military Intervention
From Visible Children:

The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces. Here’s a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them,arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn’t been since 2006 by their own admission. These books each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending.

So if you really are inspired to donate money to help causes, I strongly suggest a background check on the organization before giving your dollar votes.

For more information on the USA’s involvement in Uganda, please read this.

#8: Multimedia Marketing

Multimedia is defined as

a computer based interactive communications process that incorporates text, graphics, sound, animation and videos.

With the advent of the Internet, organizations around the world have found creative ways to market their products across multimedia platforms. I have compiled 4 examples of multimedia marketing below, which may just be the forefront of a new age of multimedia marketing.

BACARDI: LIKE IT LIVE

Bacardi is all about getting people together.

To support this message, Bacardi launched a digitally led campaign Like It Live, Like it Together. The campaign was inspired by Facebook’s concept of ‘Likes’. To unify Facebook users around a simple concert, Bacardi created a Facebook tab that allowed fans to vote for a series of Likes (i.e. pizza truck vs. taco truck, hip hop vs. new wave) that are mixed and brought to life in a series of concerts held around the world.

By taking Likes offline, Bacardi’s social media campaign had increased engagement through social media. To get an understanding of what Bacardi: Like it Live is, watch the video below:

THE HUMAN JUKEBOX
In an attempt to advertise their humble-sized audio equipment store in Stockholm, Fredrik Hjelmquist, owner of Pause had to do something different to capture the eyes of the world.

What does this have to multimedia marketing?
Hjelmquist reportedly ingested a custom-designed ‘gutPOD’ wireless receiver, which transformed his abdomen into a walking human jukebox.
After swallowing the ‘gutPOD’, he then broadcast live music streams that were created by users on Pause website.

How it works exactly?
The Pause ‘GutPod’ contains an external transmitter that is connected to a computer with streaming music-service Spotify. Upon playback, the music is broadcasted via the FM-band to the receiver in Fredrik’s stomach. The receiver then pushes the sound through the amplifier, boosting the output through the tiny speaker inside the gutPod.

For more information, visit
http://www.thehumanjukebox.se/

AUGMENTED REALITY
The field of augmented reality has been adopted by many companies. Now, potential customers are able to interact with the products in a whole new way!

Below, I have compiled 3 ways of which augmented reality has been used: Advertising, Applications and Business Cards.

Advertising
1) National Geographic’s Live Augmented Reality
Don’t just read the magazine, watch the wildlife come to life!

2) Ford’s Grand C-MAX Augmented Reality Outdoor Campaign
Why travel down all the way to the showroom when you can see it for yourself anywhere, anytime?

3) Lacta Chocolate
Send love letters, electronically.

Applications
1) Heinz Ketchup Recipe Book
Know what you can cook with this product.

2) Augmented Car Finder
If you ask me, this is the best dang thing that’s ever created. Say bye bye to wasted times scavenging floors upon floors of carpark to find your car (I’m talking about you, Suntec City carpark!)

To get the application from iTunes, click here.

Business Cards
I believe that augmented reality business cards are the future of tomorrow. Why limit yourself to just a small card that speaks little of you when you can personally remind your potential clients of what you do without actually being there?

Pretty cool eh?

#7: Mobile Security & Malware Protection

These days, we are using our mobile phones to connect with everything – people, e-mails, encyclopedia, games, and banks. 

What most of us are unaware of is how dangerous using the 3G network to browse the net; our passwords are vulnerable to any hackers who wish to obtain it. 

To truly understand what the big deal is with using your mobile phones to browse, especially with the 3/4G network, I have provided an infographic below. It will summarize:

• What mobile malware is (similar to PC’s) 
• The dangers of mobile malware (stole bank account password, private information captured)
• How mobile phones are infected with malware 
• How they get to you (phishing, worm, wi-fi snooping, third-party applications) 
• Steps to protect your mobile devices 

 

I hope with this knowledge, you would be more aware of how to protect your personal information. Do not be a victim of malware, and poor mobile device security! 

#6 Video: How to make cereal

A home-made video on making my favorite meal of the day! :D

#5: E-learning for the future

From the video, we can observe how technology has been incorporated into our learning environment. Right now, we live in the age of digitalization. Technology is so pervasive in our lives that even a 6-year-old child can grab her mother’s iPad to load her YouTube Hi-5 shows; learning using technology seems so second-nature to most of us, 80s kids and above, that we barely consider its banes.

Let us take a look at the boons of e-learning:
1. Class work can be scheduled around work and family.
2. Reduces travel time and travel costs for off-campus students.
3. Students can study anywhere they have access to a computer and Internet connection.
4. Instructors and students both report eLearning fosters more interaction among students and instructors than in large lecture courses.

The banes of e-learning are:
1. Learners with low motivation or bad study habits may fall behind.
2. Without the routine structures of a traditional class, students may get lost or confused about course activities and deadlines.
3. Students may feel isolated from the instructor and classmates.
4. Instructor may not always be available when students are studying or need help.

With these boons and banes noted, it may be clear to us why e-learning sometimes work and sometimes don’t, in our current education system. Our current education system was built for students of the past, where technology was not pervasive. Even as we become more technologically knowledgeable, in our classrooms, we do not completely adopt technology in our learning. Yes, we go to the Internet instead of visiting a physical library when we need resources for research. And we may pick up the phone to google things we want to know, but our teachers are merely transforming what they used to write on the blackboard to Powerpoint presentations and making them available from the Internet. But that’s all we really learn from. Perhaps to really engage in e-learning that’s beneficial to eveyrone would be bringing the entire classroom into a virtual world such as Second Life. Despite NASA’s adoption of Second Life, the game has not yet been readily embraced by the masses as an e-learning method, which can ease hands-on learning in a virtual world.

Are we really engaging in authentic e-learning or just a more convenient form of learning?