Reflections

I have been working on this posting, and from this I have learnt that a weblog serves different purposes for different people. Moreover, I have conducted various researches regarding my blogging issues and some theoretical framework reading that supports my publishing issues. However, for this serious weblog, I focus on the current issues in the political and economic industry as well as the new technologies which happen around us inclusive of a discussion on media publication and design.

According to Schriver (1997), text and images complement each other to convey effective message to the audience. Therefore, with this combination of words and images it will enable the reader to understand better with more efficiency when reading my blog. Other than that, I also learnt that as a blogger, one should avoid sensitive issues such as religion, race, and cultural issues because weblog can be accessed globally and can be seen by anyone. Not only that, but bloggers should always write about the truth and be honest in posting articles or issues in their blog.


Besides that, the blog should provide hyperlinks to other sites which enables the readers to be able to find more information on particular issues. According to Walsh (2006) stated that, a multimodality of a document helps strengthen the message intended to be conveyed across to the audiences. Blogger should also keep exploring and learning in various issues such as political, publishing and media. Lastly, another important aspect in blogging is that it creates avenues for creativity, expression and interaction with people all over the world through the written word.

References:

Schriver, K,A., 1997, Chapter 6: Dynamics in document design: Creating texts for readers, New York, pp.361-44.

Walsh, M 2006, “The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts”, Australian Journal of language Literacy, vol.29, no.1, pp.24-37.

E- books popularity on the rise

E-book also known as a digital book is an e-text that forms the digital media, which can be read on a personal computer or a hand-held device. Personal computers and some cell phones can also be used to read e-books such as the Apple ipad and Amazon’s Kindle Book. This enables its users to go on the internet and download e-books for free, and it also provides convenience in the consumer or user's everyday life. Other than that, Internet sites have the potential to combine words and images such as logos, menu bars, hyperlinks, hot sports and etc (Walsh 2006). Hence, it is very simple and easy to purchase and download e-books through the internet.

Adding to this, e-books can be safely stored and carried from one place to another, compared to ordinary books and e-books provide links for easier access to more information and related websites (Sasson 2010). An article entitled “E-books popularity on the rise” which was featured on the 7.30 Report on 18 March 2010 reported that, the demand for the virtual book has gone vertical in the past year, fuelled by the recent global release of Amazon’s Kindle Book and text month’s world wide launch of the much hyped Apple ipad. Meanwhile, about 50 per cent of all book sales in most major markets are from e-book sales (Cornwall 2010).

Apple ipad

Apple ipad was designed from the ground up to take advantage of the large Multi-Touch screen and advanced capabilities of ipad. The users are able to purchase new books from the iBookstore, which can be downloaded the free through iBook application from the internet. Hence, it is also an amazing place to browse and shop for books anytime, anywhere that allows you to browse tens of thousands of books, and download the book, while enabling you to read right away (ipad, 2010).

Hence, with todays technology, e-books can be read anywhere, on the train, airplane and bus, and it is so convenient for people to purchase an e-book due to the 24 hours a day availability, everyday of the year, from the comfort of your own house or office, and even if you are on a vacation, whereby, most people are spending more time in front of their computers, as compared to sitting down and reading a book (Sasson 2010). However, some people still prefer to read printed books rather than an e-book. According to Nielsen (1997), it is stated that readers rarely read every word in web contents as the words are very small especially for the older generation as this will cause them to strain their eyesight even more.

References:

Cornwell, D., 2010, E-books popularity on the rise, The 7.30 Report, viewed on 15 June 2010.
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2849989.htm

Ipod, 2010, iBooks: A novel way to buy and read books, viewed on 15 June 2010.
http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/ibooks.html

Nielsen, J. 1997, How Users Read the Web, viewed on 15 June 2010. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a/html

Sasson, R., 2010, The benefits and advantages of Ebooks, viewed on 15 June 2010.
http://www.successconsciousness.com/ebooks_benefits.htm

Walsh, M 2006, “The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts”, Australian Journal of language Literacy, vol.29, no.1, pp.24-37.

The Power of the Photograph

The documentary photograph possesses the tremendous power to visualize history, to capture the movement and tensions within societies in the images which it projects. It exhibits the capability of ‘freezing history’ within the confines of the camera lens (Socialism Today 2000). Therefore, the infamous words of “A picture tells a hundred words” indeed is a very true statement. According to Kress & Van Leeuwen (2006) stated that, an image is the representation of ‘reality’. Therefore, this is essential to bear in mind.


Nowadays, most people enjoy spending their time taking photographs everywhere and at anytime in order to keep the memory of having fun with their families or friends alive. An article entitled “The power of the photograph” which was featured in The Media Report on the 4th of October 2007 reported that, Wade Goddard and Belgian businessman Frederic Hanrez developed the idea to open the war photo gallery. This photographic gallery seeks to remind people of what happened in Dubrovnik more than a decade ago, is now also occuring in other places in the world. This idea was produced with the purpose of increasing awareness of these conflicts happening in our daily lives which shows the meaning of dead women and dead children(Antony 2007). Moreover, some images you may not see in a newspaper, because oftentimes newspaper editors only select what they want you to see instead of what is actually going on.

Take a look at this picture, this image shows a boy crying and in pain because of the lost of his parents and home and is also terrified of the situation. Hence, the middle-age women look very worried and terrified and is also praying hard, hoping that the war will be end soon. The man in the picture is trying to protect the boy and the other women.


Besides that, another image as can be seen above shows the people in Dubrovnik having no place to go and no place to stay as everything was damaged by the bombings. The people are forced to live without shelter and without clean food and water. It is a very upsetting image from what happened in Dubrovnik, and these images can tell many story behind it. Hence, a picture is more impressive than words. According to Walsh (2006), an image have other effects that are different from words, particularly at affective, aesthetic and imaginative levels. The use of photos to increase a story’s effectiveness and quality are on a rise.

References:

Antony, F., 2007, The power of the photograph, The Media Report, viewed on 14 June 2010.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2051819.htm

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 2006, Reading Images: Grammar of Visual Design, Routledge, London.

Socialism Today, 2000, The power of the photograph, viewed on 14 June 2010.
http://www.socialismtoday.org/50/photography.html

Walsh, M 2006, “The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts”, Australian Journal of language Literacy, vol.29, no.1, pp.24-37.

Blogging is so yesterday, politicians turn to Twitter

I personally have one account on Twitter; and twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read message. It enables you to write brief text or message updates about your personal interest or daily experience with your life. According to Java, Finin, Song & Tseng (2007) stated that, Twitter provides a light-weight, easy form of communication that enables users to broadcast and share information about their activities, opinions and status, which is one of the popular microblogging platforms. Moreover, it also provides instant messaging (IM) tool which includes Gtalk, Yahoo, and MSN that have features allowing its users to share their current status with friends on their buddy lists.

Besides that, Twitter enables easy sharing status messages whether publicly or within a social network. This can be seen as our Malaysia politicians have been actively tweeting such as Lim Kit Siang, Tengku Razeleigh Hamzah, Anwar Ibrahim and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Hence, the updates or posts are made by succinctly describing one’s current status within a limit of 140 characters. Twitter’s emphasis on short status updates often on personal journals has made it more attractive. Moreover, Twitter has been designed specifically for 3G mobile users as it enables the user to send short postings (Zahiid 2010).



According to Walsh (2006) stated that, the layout of the home page consist of several framed sections, with links to other pages, which are each designed to engage us to not just learn about Twitter, but to become one of the members. Whereby, Schriver (1997) mention that, where text and images complement each other so as to catch the audience’s attention and understanding. For example, the users are able to add or search for new friends, and is also able to keep in touch with their friends overseas with just a click on the mouse. Moreover, it enables its users to add in any application of their choice.


Twitter has changed the way of providing few benefits from Twitter such as the research tool which allows us to tap into a community of people from around the world to find out about their culture and experiences while collaborating and networking in the interacting opportunities with amazingly talented, smart and insightful people on Twitter (Rowse 2008). However, Twitter is very attractive as it is constantly updated by people's thoughts, experiences and opinions about a particular issue, and the best way for the government to connect with the voters instantly, not like other media or televisions and newspapers (Zahiid 2010). As for blogs which are still very important, as it can gives you indept information as compared to Twitter's short messages which may lead to misunderstanding and confusion regarding the information.

References:

Java, A., Finin, T., Song, X., & Tseng, B., 2007, “Why we Twitter: Understanding microblogging usage and communities”, USA.

http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1348556

Rowse, D., 2008, 5 ways I benefit from Twitter, Twitip, viewed on 13 June 2010.

http://www.twitip.com/benefits-twitter/

Schriver, K,A., 1997, Chapter 6: Dynamics in document design: Creating texts for readers, New York, pp.361-44.

Walsh, M 2006, “The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts”, Australian Journal of language Literacy, vol.29, no.1, pp.24-37.

Blogger held over insulting posting

I am a huge fan of blogging, because blogging enables interconnection of communities where blog owners read and comment on each other blogs while linking to those of their choosing or through discussion or review in their content entries. Thus, I often update my own personal diaries every week and I am also interested to know the political issues and current social happenings in the local and national news. I personally know that, as a blogger, we need to understand the basic rules and regulations to post a blog to publics, and prevent and avoid insulting comments on the blog.

In fact, bloggers are expected to publish the truth, which to conform to ethical norms. According to Mattern (2009) stated that, bloggers should write honestly, the customers will be more likely to connect to your post and tell others about you thus increasing your traffic and growing your community. People find honesty refreshing. An article entitled “Blogger held over insulting posting” which was featured on The Star on the 26th of January 2010 reported that, blogger Aduka Taruna was arrested for posting an allegedly insulting comment on his blog following the demise of the late sultan of Johor. However, the blogger removed the posting and made a public apology, but the way the apology was made was perceived by many as an insult too. Therefore, Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) investigated the blogger for allegedly insulting the act. In the article, Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has advised the people to not continue with such uncivilized culture that was against “our lifestyle, laws and the 1 Malaysia Concept” (The Star 2010).

Aduka Taruna's blog

Aduka Taruna arrested by insulting the late sultan of Johor

Referring to Liebman (2006) stated that, a party defamed by content found on a blog can effectively remedy its harm by contacting the blogger or posting a comment countering the defamatory speech. Apparently, Malaysia has very strict media control. I believe that insulting the Sultan of Johor or people is not good manners; in fact it is a very rude thing to do, which shows “disrespect” in the posting on the social networking site. As a blogger, we should practice moral and ethics in all postings and insulting, pornography, racism and sexiest comments, or any topic that is variance with the law and human values should be prohibited. However, we need to understand and learn to participate and share, and the purpose of a blog is not merely to provide reading material, it is also enriched by contributions from the community (Iqbal 2009). Moreover, blogs also act as training ground for self-expression not just for the blogger but for readers of the blog as well.

References:

Iqbal, S., 2009, “Tricks and tips, practical advice and good manners for commenting on blog posts”, viewed on 12 June 2010.

http://youthinkblog.worldbank.org/tricks-and-tips-practical-advice-and-good-manners-commenting-blog-posts

Liebman, J.M., 2006, “Defamed by a blogger: Legal protections, self- regulation and other failures”, No.2, pp.101- 132, viewed on 13 June 2010.

http://www.jltp.uiuc.edu/recdevs/liebman.pdf

Mattern, J., 2009, Directory Journal: How to be a transparent blogger, keep readers happy, and keep the FTC off your back, viewed on 13 June 2010.

http://www.dirjournal.com/internet-journal/how-to-be-a-transparent-blogger-keep-readers-happy-and-keep-the-ftc-off-your-back/

The Star 2010, Blogger held over insult, viewed on 13 June 2010.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/26/nation/5547287&sec=nation

Document Design

A good document design is concerned with creating text that combine words and pictures, which enables the reader to use the text in ways that meet their interests and needs (Schriver, 1997). An effective design is very important, which enables and help the readers to understand the content and remember the information more effectively.

Slide 28

Slide 19

This can be seen in the examples of my group’s presentation slides which is shown above. After my observation during the presentation, most of the audiences prefer slide number 28 compared to slide number 19. Slide 28 is a combination of text and visual, as for slide 19, it only contains text and words. The audience will tend to feel bored which causes them to be unable to concentrate on slide 19. Therefore, using the combination of words and pictures is more effectively as the combination works together to provide complete information about the actions to take. The effective way of presentation should be explained in a simple, interesting and concise manner. Bernhardt (1986) suggested that the five laws of design, should include the law of visual identity; the law of equilibrium; the law of closure; the law of good continuation; and the law of similarity. Besides that, it should also content good writing, which uses correct words and sentences should also be clear, emphatic and concise.

References:

Bernhardt, S.A., 1986, Seeing the text, College Composition and Communication, vol.37, no.1, pp.66-78.

Schriver, K,A., 1997, Chapter 6: Dynamics in document design: Creating texts for readers, New York, pp.361-44.