HandPhone Dilemma

Yesterday as I came back home from college, I noticed a number of children waiting for the elevator of my condo block where I was standing. I'd say they were only roughly 8 to 12 years old on average.

But what really caught my attention was what was in their hands. Each child was holding a hand phone, something which I daresay was unusually rare back in my time (which was only a good 8 years ago, mind you). Not only that, I noticed they most of them had the latest models of phone, each of the five children utilizing a phone far more advanced than mine.

This phenomena is quite the norm in today's society. Seeing the children again got me thinking quite awhile. Is this really necessary? What were the parents thinking forking out such a huge amount of money to purchase latest model phones for little children that I doubt can even comprehend half of it's usage? Or am I ignorant of the intelligence of today's tech-savvy youth?

Do they not realize the danger they are imposing on their young ones?

Don't they know to what unimaginable extent strangers would do to steal the phones? Especially in today's society in Malaysia?

On the other hand, it is obvious that having a hand phone is now excruciatingly essential in our daily lives. The average age for an individual to possess a hand phone now has dropped lower than ever before. We need it to keep in contact with our family and our peers. We need it for that sense of security. Having one is today more of a necessity than a luxury.

I have seen how jumpy my own mother becomes when she cannot keep in contact with any of us in the family. Especially since I am a girl, mother strictly insists that I have a hand phone with me at all times , else she'd go nuts with worry and I myself will go nuts from being worried at. Funny how such a small device can provide so much emotional turmoil to an individual. We have come to rely on technology so heavily that I wonder if this is healthy?

I wonder how many of us can live our daily lives, minus the hand phones and still remain sane at the end of the day. =D

WebComics

One of my favorite past time, is to surf for online web-comics. So today I shall dedicate a post to this passion of mine.

Web comics are also known as online comics and are readily available on the internet. Usually they are published exclusively online. They are similar to self-published print comics in the sense that almost anyone can create their own webcomic and publish it on the Web. Obviously, web comics are not subjected to content restrictions of publishers or comic syndicates, enjoying an artistic freedom that is seemingly boundless on the net. Here, censorship is virtually non-existent. More often than not, such publications sustain a fair amount of followers by releasing new pages on a weekly or even monthly basis. Also because most web comics are in full color for every page released, they are referred as graphic novels instead.

For most artists making his/her own web comic is more towards a labor of love rather than money-making opportunity, with artists having to carry the burden of the costs for art supplies, server hosting and other expenses out of their own pocket while seeing little return. However there are the few that are able to make a living or earn commission through the publication of web comics from advertisements, donations, or even through the online sales of merchandises.

However the main focus today will be the few web comics that I would like to share with my fellow blog readers.

Have you ever watched The Adventures of Billy & Mandy on Cartoon Network?
Well, if you have (or even if you haven't!) then you will just love web comic published by Grim Tales From Down Below .The comic revolves around the time where Grim actually got married to a grown up Mandy, and the adventures they have with their two kids, Junior and MiniMandy. Graphic wise, the comic is excellent. One can see the extreme labor of love put into every stroke in every page. I find the story plot very entertaining and worthwhile, I even managed to shed a tear or two reading it! There's hilarity in it, as well as the familiarity of the original cartoon series, not to mention a heck load of cameo appearances from other shows such as Night before Christmas and HellSpawn. The comics are updated every Sunday.

On the other hand, VG Cat is an online web comic based on parodies of Video Games and movies using two gaming-freak cats as main cast, hence the abbreviated title VG Cats. Updated on Mondays, VG cats has a long successful archive of publications related to titles such as Pokemon, animes, Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Halo and even 300. A fair bit of warning though, most of the pages published contains adult content, abusive language and serious defamation of fandoms. Definitely not for the sensitive. =D

Remember, once again you can just click on the title of the web comics to access their website.

And since it has been way past my bed time, I shall leave this at that for now. Hopefully I can muster up the patience to introduce more web comics in the future. Till then, good night~

Credits : Wikipedia.org

Youtube Delight

Lately in class we have been introduced to the term Web 2.0. For a technological-term-ignorant person as I am, it was something new for me. For a second there, my mind went "WOW! What is that?!" followed by a surge of panic attacks. I thought I wouldn't know how to catch up in class. I thought I would fall behind. I thought "this is going to be hard....."

Little did I know how wrong I was soon going to be proven.

Despite not knowing the term Web2.0, I as well as millions of people out there who is just as ignorant of it had been/still is utilizing platforms of Web2.0. As if our lives depended on it. I have been using Web2.0 almost all of my teen life!

Among the few platforms that are of the norm to net users these days to the verge of being taken for granted includes Youtube, Google, Flickr, Wikipedia, BitTorrent, Webblogs and more. However for today, taking one thing at a time, I would like to elaborate on Youtube just a little bit more.

Okay. Question :

What is Youtube?
a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips.

How does it work?
By using Adobe Flash technology to display a wide variety of video content, including movie clips, TV clips and music videos, as well as amateur content.


Personally, I am a huge, huge fan of Youtube. One can find virtually anything one is looking for. One can upload virtually anything they want (of course there are copyright laws to mind, prohibitions of pornography...etc) For me, it is always a joy to find shows or video clips that cannot be found locally - ever. Youtube is an extremely efficient too for users who wishes to expand their limited horizons XD

With that said, I would like to share a number of youtube links that are my personal favorites. However I do not believe in posting the entire video on my blogs. I know for one that it takes an entire millennium for it to load on a web-blog. Therefore I've taken the initiative to provide links instead. Do click on the tittles, and I guarantee to you it will be anything but a waste of time. =D Enjoy!~

Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist
Jeff Dunham is a ventriloquist, and this is one of his better acts. Horribly funny =D

Gabriel Iglesias - Drink Driving
A stand up comedian with the best laugh inducing comics ever! I've been watching this over and over again so often and still crack up laughing like a maniac~ I recommend you find his other acts too, they're just so funny!

DO NOT LAUGH - Japanese Game Show
A Japanese game show that forces the regular comedians to sit and watch a video of another Japanese struggling with his horrifying English. Whoever that breaks into laughter during that duration are promptly punished painfully...... funny video XD

End of the World
An example of a home-made flash video uploaded to YouTube. It might be a little hard to comprehend on the first watch as the narrator talks rather fast, but it is interestingly humorous, the artwork just lovely <3

Stephen Lynch - If I Were Gay
A singer with a touch of sadistic/satirical/humorous/offending kick in his lyrics of his short songs. He's funny, as well as his various crazy songs. Do enjoy~

Video response

Today in class we were shown two videos, which I personally thought was extremely thought provoking.

Naturally, we were then encouraged to post a blog entry in response to the video. Surprise surprise =D

So anyway.

The content of the videos brought to light many issues regarding the educational society, some of that which includes the students, roles of lecturers and the effectiveness of our current education system across the globe. Issues that I felt needed to be addressed, issues that have been taken for granted and ignored.

Of the two, the one video that appealed to me more was "A Vision of Students Today", the brainchild product of Prof Wesch and his 200 strong students of Kansas State University's Digital Ethnography class. Why so? Partially because I felt could connect with the content better as I myself am now a college student in the same age gap (teenage life, we all know how stressing this period of time can be) facing the same issues on a daily basis. In a way, it was comforting to know that I'm not the only one out there that have to cope with college stress, with distractions, with debts after graduation, worries about my future career... etc. In knowing that it is actually normal to have these issues sort of clears the air abit more, making them easier to swallow... easier to handle with confidence.

Among the many reasons why I highly praise it would be the way the video was made. It gave the viewers the opportunity to understand the video through a unique student's point of view from the way it was presented, from the empty lecture hall to the scribblings all over to the students speaking out with pen and paper as well as digital text, each moment had managed to capture my fullest attention and kept me pondering through and through. That I think is extremely important.

I suppose I will not dwell into the content of the video as much as I would, as I firmly believe that once I get started, I am going to fine it very hard to stop. Nobody bothers to read blog posts that are ridiculously long anyway. I wouldn't even want to re-read mine!

*Click here to view the video*