KUALA LUMPUR: Two enterprising Malaysians have developed a mobile service that eases several problems faced by the disabled when they travel.
The service, based on cellphone technology, helps the disabled locate facilities reserved for them, such as dedicated parking lots, wheelchair ramps or other specially tailored entrances.
For now, the service is only for London but it can be applied to any city that has a cellular network, said one of the two Malaysians, Taufik Abdullah.
Taufik, who is president of mobile content developer Billadam.com, and CEO Amir Muhamad collaborated with London-based mapping company, the A-Z Map Company Ltd, to develop the service.
According to Amir, they decided to start developing the service for Britain because that country already has a mature smartphone market.
Also, he said, because about 20% of the British population are disabled and has a disposable income of about £80bil in total.
“This is a lucrative market and, the disabled community there comprises a large number of professionals and very independent individuals,” he added.
Both men were at the Multimedia Development Corp pavillion during the Klang Valley leg of The MSC Malaysia Great ICT sale recently.
The map service has been selected to be part of London’s Newham Borough community portal.
Extras
Taufik said a probable add-on to the service will be a tool that can be used to lessen the abuse of disabled-driver stickers and that of parking bays meant for the disabled.
The service will allow smartphone users to snap a picture of any driver whom they suspect of abusing such facilities and send it to the authorities for action to be taken.
“This will be a boon to the disabled because it makes abuse-reporting easy,” Taufik said.
Billadam also aims to improving the service’s user interface to make it more user-friendly. For example, it plans to offer a large-font interface to cater for users who are visually impaired.
Also, Billadam plans to include places of interest that offer disabled-friendly facilities, such as certain museums, parks, and shopping malls.
Taufik said they are also trying to rope in banks to subscribe to the service, to show where their automated teller machines (ATMs) for the disabled are located. Such ATMs are positioned lower to the ground for wheelchair-bound users.
Billadam plans to work with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, as well as several non-governmental organisations, to introduce its service in Malaysia.
As a Mimos Bhd technology recipient under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation’s Technology Licensing Programme, Billadam uses Symantec Corp expertise to develop its solutions.
Billadam had earlier worked with the A-Z Map Company to develop a mobile version of the London Streetmap.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
NEWS: Leg up for tourism apps development
KUALA LUMPUR: A partnership between tourism technologies company Creative Advances Technology Sdn Bhd (Cat) and pre-seed and development fund-provider Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd is aimed at spurring the development of tourism applications by local technopreneurs.
The partnership will see Cat providing the Sota (Standard Online Tourism Architecture) platform, on which technopreneurs can build their applications, while Cradle will provide funding for the technopreneurs.
Sota is a tourism e-business platform that connects government agencies with the travel industry and consumers. The platform includes components for travel packages, as well as hotel and flight bookings.
More than 750 travel agents, airlines, hotels and travel suppliers have been on the Sota platform since its introduction last year.
Rohizam Mohd Yusoff, chief executive officer of Cat, said: “As the developer of Virtual Malaysia.com — the official e-tourism portal for the Tourism Ministry — we know what makes the tourism industry tick.
“With our network, knowledge and expertise in this sector, we will mentor and provide the guidance that the technopreneurs need.”
The partnership will see Cat providing the Sota (Standard Online Tourism Architecture) platform, on which technopreneurs can build their applications, while Cradle will provide funding for the technopreneurs.
Sota is a tourism e-business platform that connects government agencies with the travel industry and consumers. The platform includes components for travel packages, as well as hotel and flight bookings.
More than 750 travel agents, airlines, hotels and travel suppliers have been on the Sota platform since its introduction last year.
Rohizam Mohd Yusoff, chief executive officer of Cat, said: “As the developer of Virtual Malaysia.com — the official e-tourism portal for the Tourism Ministry — we know what makes the tourism industry tick.
“With our network, knowledge and expertise in this sector, we will mentor and provide the guidance that the technopreneurs need.”
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
NEWS: Major makeover for Yahoo! homepage
SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo! Inc has spruced up its website’s homepage with a long-promised makeover that is supposed to make it easier to see what’s happening at the Internet’s other hotspots.
The revamped homepage, which made its debut in the United States on Tuesday, is part of an overhaul aimed at recapturing some of the buzz that Yahoo! has lost to increasingly popular online hangouts like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Even as Yahoo!’s star has faded, its website has remained among the Internet’s busiest. More than 570 million people worldwide came to Yahoo! in May, according to the most recent data available from online research firm comScore Inc.
The retooled page will be introduced in Britain, India and France later this week. It will roll out to the rest of the world during the next year, with the option to retain the old design starting to phase out this fall.
The Sunnyvale, California-based company is hailing the new look as the biggest change to its frontpage since Yahoo!’s website launched 15 years ago. It’s the first time that Yahoo! has overhauled its homepage since 2006.
“Every pixel on the page is relevant now,” boasted Tapan Bhat, a Yahoo! senior vice-president who oversaw the revisions. “We have taken out a lot of our own stuff that was creating a dead zone for our users.”
Facelift
After spending the past 10 months tinkering with the redesign, Yahoo! has a lot riding on the new look. The company sorely needs a lift, with its profits mired in a slump that has led to three different chief executives since June 2007.
Carol Bartz, the latest CEO hired six months ago, has predicted the revised homepage will help revive the company by re-establishing its website as an Internet gateway for more people.
If she is right, Yahoo! could get a better handle on its users’ interests and ultimately sell more of the ads that generate most of its revenue.
Yahoo! hadn’t intended to take the wraps off the redesigned page until the fall, but apparently felt like it had all the pieces in place now.
While Yahoo! was trying to figure out what it wanted to include in the new homepage, other online social hubs have become even more deeply ingrained in people’s lives.
Facebook, for instance, now has more than 250 million regular users worldwide, up from about 100 million last September when Yahoo! first began to publicly discuss its vision for the homepage.
Meanwhile, Twitter has evolved from a quirky obscurity into a pervasive communications tool for passing along blurbs of personal information, as well as links to news stories and photos.
Modifications
Yahoo! is betting its homepage will be more useful if it’s easier for people to connect with information and services available elsewhere.
Users can plant a variety of applications from other website onto a “My Favorites” section of the redesigned frontpage. The 65 applications initially available on Yahoo!’s new page include competing e-mail services from Google Inc and AOL as well as plug-ins for Facebook and MySpace.
Once the outside applications are set up, Yahoo! visitors can scroll over their favourite sites to get a glimpse at what’s happening elsewhere without leaving Yahoo!.
The frontpage’s news section will automatically feature stories from newspapers located in a user’s area and enable people to broadcast what they are doing or thinking, just as millions already do every day on Facebook and Twitter.
Yahoo! isn’t currently offering a Twitter application, but will eventually, Bhat said. The homepage preferences programmed on a computer can also be transferred to appear on mobile phones and other handheld devices. — AP
The revamped homepage, which made its debut in the United States on Tuesday, is part of an overhaul aimed at recapturing some of the buzz that Yahoo! has lost to increasingly popular online hangouts like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Even as Yahoo!’s star has faded, its website has remained among the Internet’s busiest. More than 570 million people worldwide came to Yahoo! in May, according to the most recent data available from online research firm comScore Inc.
The retooled page will be introduced in Britain, India and France later this week. It will roll out to the rest of the world during the next year, with the option to retain the old design starting to phase out this fall.
The Sunnyvale, California-based company is hailing the new look as the biggest change to its frontpage since Yahoo!’s website launched 15 years ago. It’s the first time that Yahoo! has overhauled its homepage since 2006.
“Every pixel on the page is relevant now,” boasted Tapan Bhat, a Yahoo! senior vice-president who oversaw the revisions. “We have taken out a lot of our own stuff that was creating a dead zone for our users.”
Facelift
After spending the past 10 months tinkering with the redesign, Yahoo! has a lot riding on the new look. The company sorely needs a lift, with its profits mired in a slump that has led to three different chief executives since June 2007.
Carol Bartz, the latest CEO hired six months ago, has predicted the revised homepage will help revive the company by re-establishing its website as an Internet gateway for more people.
If she is right, Yahoo! could get a better handle on its users’ interests and ultimately sell more of the ads that generate most of its revenue.
Yahoo! hadn’t intended to take the wraps off the redesigned page until the fall, but apparently felt like it had all the pieces in place now.
While Yahoo! was trying to figure out what it wanted to include in the new homepage, other online social hubs have become even more deeply ingrained in people’s lives.
Facebook, for instance, now has more than 250 million regular users worldwide, up from about 100 million last September when Yahoo! first began to publicly discuss its vision for the homepage.
Meanwhile, Twitter has evolved from a quirky obscurity into a pervasive communications tool for passing along blurbs of personal information, as well as links to news stories and photos.
Modifications
Yahoo! is betting its homepage will be more useful if it’s easier for people to connect with information and services available elsewhere.
Users can plant a variety of applications from other website onto a “My Favorites” section of the redesigned frontpage. The 65 applications initially available on Yahoo!’s new page include competing e-mail services from Google Inc and AOL as well as plug-ins for Facebook and MySpace.
Once the outside applications are set up, Yahoo! visitors can scroll over their favourite sites to get a glimpse at what’s happening elsewhere without leaving Yahoo!.
The frontpage’s news section will automatically feature stories from newspapers located in a user’s area and enable people to broadcast what they are doing or thinking, just as millions already do every day on Facebook and Twitter.
Yahoo! isn’t currently offering a Twitter application, but will eventually, Bhat said. The homepage preferences programmed on a computer can also be transferred to appear on mobile phones and other handheld devices. — AP
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
NEWS: PC penetration rate must double
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government needs to get more Malaysians buying PCs if it wants to achieve a 50% broadband penetration rate by end 2010, said the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom).
It said that only 35% of the population now have PCs in the home and this needs to double if the broadband penetration — which currently stands at 26% — is to hit the 50% mark next year, a goal of the National Broadband Plan.
“If so many Malaysians don’t have PCs, how do we expect to achieve that broadband target?” said David Wong, Pikom chairman. “(Neighbouring) Singapore, for instance, has more than 90% PC penetration.”
He said a 50% broadband penetration rate in 2010 would add another percentage point to Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product and would add 135,000 new jobs to the economy.
Wong was delivering his keynote address today at the Pikom Leadership Summit 2009, a conference held in conjunction with National ICT Month 2009. His address was titled: State of the ICT industry: The Way Forward.
How-to list
He said Pikom submitted a proposal last month to the Government on how to boost PC penetration.
Among the steps is a recommendation to bring back the PC ownership scheme that was provided to the people via the Employees Provident Fund years ago. Wong believes that the scheme, if brought back, would account for about 156,000 PCs sold to EPF contributors each year.
The scheme, introduced in 2000 by the Government, allowed a person to withdraw a maximum of RM3,500 from his or her EPF savings to buy a PC. The scheme was withdrawn after two years due to allegations of misuse.
It was reported that about 750,000 EPF contributors made withdrawals under the scheme, which amounted to a total of about RM2.6bil, but 87,000 of those contributors allegedly did not use the money to buy computers.
Wong said more would be done to prevent abuse if the scheme was reintroduced. For example, he said, Pikom could act as a clearing house for the purchases and the PC choices could be limited to machines from branded manufacturers.
Faster, please
He also called for better quality broadband services in the country, especially now that more and more Malaysians are accessing the Internet through notebooks, cellphones and other mobile devices.
“Most telcos advertise speeds of between 1Mbps (megabits per second) and 4Mbps but that is not what customers are getting in reality,” he said.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, who officiated at the launch of the National ICT Month 2009 and leadership summit, said the Government is always looking for ways to improve PC and broadband penetration.
“We are studying Pikom’s proposal,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
Ongkili said the Government also sees another way to encourge more Malaysians to own PCs — by making the computers cheaper.
Mimos, the national applied-research body, has produced its own laptop PC, called the Idola, which will retail for less than RM1,000.
“It should be rolled out very soon; we are finalising the (list of) distributors,” said Ongkili.
Busy month
The National ICT Month 2009 stretches from July 20 to Aug 20 and includes several activities. Among these is The MSC Malaysia Great ICT Sale, which will take place in cyberspace and the real world during the period.
The sale will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on July 20 and 21; at the Penang International Sports Arena from Aug 7 to 9; and the Persada Johor International Convention Centre from Aug 14 to 16.
To check out the sale in cyberspace, surf to
www.mscmalaysia.my/greatictsale.
The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), which organised the sale, has said that small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country are more willing now to engage in e-commerce and are seeking out such software and services.
MDeC is caretaker of the MSC Malaysia initiative. It is targeting a modest total of 400 SMEs to come to the sale and it expects about RM5mil in sales of software and services to be racked up by the end of the event.
Among the MSC Malaysia companies offering products are applications and web-hosting solutions provider StarFusion Sdn Bhd; accounting solutions provider MYOB Sdn Bhd; and Exa Bytes Sdn Bhd, which provides web-hosting and domain-name registration solutions.
Campaigns aplenty
Also on the itinerary for the National ICT Month 2009 is Pikom’s Buy Online campaign at mybeli.com. It hopes that RM100mil worth of goods and services will be sold during this campaign and that the sales momentum will continue till year end.
There is also a recycling campaign that seeks to educate consumers on the importance of ensuring that their electronic and electrical equipment do not clog dumpsites and poison the earth.
Pikom’s eWaste campaign will take place in Kuala Lumpur (from July 31 to Aug 2), Penang (Aug 7 to 9) and Ipoh (Aug 14 to 16).
The association will then study the results of this pilot programme, which will help determine the readiness of consumers and logistics infrastructure for a sustainable effort.
It hopes to propose a nationwide implementation of its eWaste programme to the Department of Environment.
Pikom will also be making available its inaugural ICT Strategic Review 2009 Report: ICT Landscape in Malaysia during the month.
It will list the top industry spenders for this year, the positive and negative indicators if the ICT sector, trends in the IT job market, growth forecasts, and ICT spending for the year and beyond.
Pikom spent RM2.5mil on the National ICT Month 2009 and hopes that the event will help increase ICT interest among Malaysian companies. It also wants to make this an annual event.
It said that only 35% of the population now have PCs in the home and this needs to double if the broadband penetration — which currently stands at 26% — is to hit the 50% mark next year, a goal of the National Broadband Plan.
“If so many Malaysians don’t have PCs, how do we expect to achieve that broadband target?” said David Wong, Pikom chairman. “(Neighbouring) Singapore, for instance, has more than 90% PC penetration.”
He said a 50% broadband penetration rate in 2010 would add another percentage point to Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product and would add 135,000 new jobs to the economy.
Wong was delivering his keynote address today at the Pikom Leadership Summit 2009, a conference held in conjunction with National ICT Month 2009. His address was titled: State of the ICT industry: The Way Forward.
How-to list
He said Pikom submitted a proposal last month to the Government on how to boost PC penetration.
Among the steps is a recommendation to bring back the PC ownership scheme that was provided to the people via the Employees Provident Fund years ago. Wong believes that the scheme, if brought back, would account for about 156,000 PCs sold to EPF contributors each year.
The scheme, introduced in 2000 by the Government, allowed a person to withdraw a maximum of RM3,500 from his or her EPF savings to buy a PC. The scheme was withdrawn after two years due to allegations of misuse.
It was reported that about 750,000 EPF contributors made withdrawals under the scheme, which amounted to a total of about RM2.6bil, but 87,000 of those contributors allegedly did not use the money to buy computers.
Wong said more would be done to prevent abuse if the scheme was reintroduced. For example, he said, Pikom could act as a clearing house for the purchases and the PC choices could be limited to machines from branded manufacturers.
Faster, please
He also called for better quality broadband services in the country, especially now that more and more Malaysians are accessing the Internet through notebooks, cellphones and other mobile devices.
“Most telcos advertise speeds of between 1Mbps (megabits per second) and 4Mbps but that is not what customers are getting in reality,” he said.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, who officiated at the launch of the National ICT Month 2009 and leadership summit, said the Government is always looking for ways to improve PC and broadband penetration.
“We are studying Pikom’s proposal,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
Ongkili said the Government also sees another way to encourge more Malaysians to own PCs — by making the computers cheaper.
Mimos, the national applied-research body, has produced its own laptop PC, called the Idola, which will retail for less than RM1,000.
“It should be rolled out very soon; we are finalising the (list of) distributors,” said Ongkili.
Busy month
The National ICT Month 2009 stretches from July 20 to Aug 20 and includes several activities. Among these is The MSC Malaysia Great ICT Sale, which will take place in cyberspace and the real world during the period.
The sale will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on July 20 and 21; at the Penang International Sports Arena from Aug 7 to 9; and the Persada Johor International Convention Centre from Aug 14 to 16.
To check out the sale in cyberspace, surf to
www.mscmalaysia.my/greatictsale.
The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), which organised the sale, has said that small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country are more willing now to engage in e-commerce and are seeking out such software and services.
MDeC is caretaker of the MSC Malaysia initiative. It is targeting a modest total of 400 SMEs to come to the sale and it expects about RM5mil in sales of software and services to be racked up by the end of the event.
Among the MSC Malaysia companies offering products are applications and web-hosting solutions provider StarFusion Sdn Bhd; accounting solutions provider MYOB Sdn Bhd; and Exa Bytes Sdn Bhd, which provides web-hosting and domain-name registration solutions.
Campaigns aplenty
Also on the itinerary for the National ICT Month 2009 is Pikom’s Buy Online campaign at mybeli.com. It hopes that RM100mil worth of goods and services will be sold during this campaign and that the sales momentum will continue till year end.
There is also a recycling campaign that seeks to educate consumers on the importance of ensuring that their electronic and electrical equipment do not clog dumpsites and poison the earth.
Pikom’s eWaste campaign will take place in Kuala Lumpur (from July 31 to Aug 2), Penang (Aug 7 to 9) and Ipoh (Aug 14 to 16).
The association will then study the results of this pilot programme, which will help determine the readiness of consumers and logistics infrastructure for a sustainable effort.
It hopes to propose a nationwide implementation of its eWaste programme to the Department of Environment.
Pikom will also be making available its inaugural ICT Strategic Review 2009 Report: ICT Landscape in Malaysia during the month.
It will list the top industry spenders for this year, the positive and negative indicators if the ICT sector, trends in the IT job market, growth forecasts, and ICT spending for the year and beyond.
Pikom spent RM2.5mil on the National ICT Month 2009 and hopes that the event will help increase ICT interest among Malaysian companies. It also wants to make this an annual event.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
NEWS: Internet reality show opens
ALOR STAR: The first Internet reality show, D’Graduate – The Star Graduate Search, was launched at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in Sintok yesterday.
The programme, jointly organised by MyPath Sdn Bhd and UUM, is aimed at promoting human capital development among the 300 UUM final-year students during eight weeks of competition.
MyPath managing director Jenna Loh said the programme, available at www.dgraduate.com, would expose the undergraduates to the expectations of employers.
She said registration could be made at the website and participants must submit a resume and a one-minute video of themselves on why they were keen in taking part in the challenge.
Good response: UUM undergraduates were seen queuing at the official launching of D’Graduate in Sintok, Kedah Tuesday.
“A total of 150 participants would be shortlisted. The successful candidates would be subjected to real-life job interviews and their response will be recorded and aired online. The public can see how they fair and eliminate the candidates.”
She said candidates would also be tested in a series of tasks dealing with different disciplines in business.
UUM vice-chancellor Tan Sri Nordin Kardi, who launched the programme, hoped the undergraduates would take part to expose themselves to the skills needed by potential employers.
“This programme will expose them to a new learning experience and prepare them for the real working world,” he said.
Jaring Communications Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Dr Mohamed Awang Lah and Star Publications (M) Bhd Multimedia chief operating officer Michael Aeria witnessed the launching.
The Star is the official media partner while Jaring is the official technology partner.
Prizes include a six-month contract as a management trainee with a selected organisation.
The programme, jointly organised by MyPath Sdn Bhd and UUM, is aimed at promoting human capital development among the 300 UUM final-year students during eight weeks of competition.
MyPath managing director Jenna Loh said the programme, available at www.dgraduate.com, would expose the undergraduates to the expectations of employers.
She said registration could be made at the website and participants must submit a resume and a one-minute video of themselves on why they were keen in taking part in the challenge.
Good response: UUM undergraduates were seen queuing at the official launching of D’Graduate in Sintok, Kedah Tuesday.
“A total of 150 participants would be shortlisted. The successful candidates would be subjected to real-life job interviews and their response will be recorded and aired online. The public can see how they fair and eliminate the candidates.”
She said candidates would also be tested in a series of tasks dealing with different disciplines in business.
UUM vice-chancellor Tan Sri Nordin Kardi, who launched the programme, hoped the undergraduates would take part to expose themselves to the skills needed by potential employers.
“This programme will expose them to a new learning experience and prepare them for the real working world,” he said.
Jaring Communications Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Dr Mohamed Awang Lah and Star Publications (M) Bhd Multimedia chief operating officer Michael Aeria witnessed the launching.
The Star is the official media partner while Jaring is the official technology partner.
Prizes include a six-month contract as a management trainee with a selected organisation.
NEWS: Hackers embarrass Twitter yet again
SAN FRANCISCO: Breaking into someone’s e-mail can be child’s play for a determined hacker, as Twitter Inc employees have learned the hard way — one more time.
For the third time this year, the San Francisco-based company was the victim of a security breach stemming from a simple end-run around its defenses.
In the latest case, a hacker got the password for an employee’s personal e-mail account — possibly by guessing or by correctly answering a security question — and worked from there to steal confidential company documents.
The techniques used by the attackers highlight the dangers of a broader trend promoted by Google Inc and others toward storing more data online, instead of on computers under your control.
The shift toward doing more over the Web — a practice known as “cloud computing” — means that mistakes employees make in their private lives can do serious damage to their employers, because a single e-mail account can tie the two worlds together.
Stealing the password for someone’s Gmail account, for example, not only gives the hacker access to that person’s personal e-mail, but also to any other Google applications they might use for work, like those used to create spreadsheets or presentations.
That’s apparently what happened to Twitter, which shares confidential data within the company through the Google Apps package that incorporates e-mail, wordprocessing, spreadsheet, calendar and other Google services for US$50 (RM180) per user per year.
Targeted
Co-founder Biz Stone wrote in a blog posting on Wednesday that the personal e-mail of an unnamed Twitter administrative employee was hacked about a month ago, and through that the attacker got access to the employee’s Google Apps account.
Separately, the wife of co-founder Evan Williams also had her personal e-mail hacked around the same time, Stone wrote. Through that, the attacker got access to Williams’ personal Amazon and PayPal accounts.
Stone said the attacks are “about Twitter being in enough of a spotlight that folks who work here can become targets.”
Some of the material the hacker posted online from the Google Apps documents was more embarrassing than damaging, like floor plans for new office space and a pitch for a TV show about the increasingly popular online messaging service.
Twitter says only one user account was potentially compromised because a screenshot of the account was included among the stolen documents. The value in hijacking a user’s account is limited, as those attacks are mainly used to post fake messages and try to trick the victim’s friends into clicking on links that will infect their computers.
Sensitive Twitter documents were filched, though. The hacker claims to have employee salaries and credit card numbers, resumes from job applicants, internal meeting reports and growth projections.
TechCrunch, a widely read technology blog, said it was e-mailed the documents and subsequently published some of them, including financial projections that Twitter drew up in February.
The forecast envisioned Twitter generating its first revenue in the current quarter, with sales of about US$400,000 (RM1.44mil) and about 60 employees. By the end of next year, Twitter expected to employ about 345 people with annual revenue of about US$140mil (RM504mil), according to the documents published by TechCrunch.
Stone said in an e-mail that most of the documents TechCrunch has access to are “speculative exercises.”
Lawyers called in
In his blog post, Stone said the stolen documents “are not polished or ready for prime time and they’re certainly not revealing some big, secret plan for taking over the world,” but said they are sensitive enough that their public release could jeopardise relationships with Twitter’s partners.
Stone said the company is talking to lawyers about “what this theft means for Twitter, the hacker, and anyone who accepts and subsequently shares or publishes these stolen documents.”
What the attacks on Twitter show is that websites don’t need to get compromised in the traditional sense to put its users and employees at risk.
Hackers don’t need to find a vulnerability in the site itself, or plant a virus on an employee’s computer, to sneak inside.
The easier approach is much more low-tech: All they need to find is an employee who uses weak passwords for his or her e-mail accounts, or has security questions that are easy to answer with a little information about the person.
It’s an old strategy that’s becoming more and more valuable as people’s personal and work lives merge online.
It can be trivial to guess someone’s passwords, as former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin found out during the election, when her personal e-mail was hacked and screenshots were posted online.
That attacker sneaked in by accurately guessing the answer’s to Palin’s security questions, based on information about her and her family that was already online.
Password-guessing programs are also a common hacking tool. An attacker runs the program against an account, and if it’s allowed to try lots of times and the password isn’t very complicated, the hacker’s in.
Not new
Twitter was hit twice before this year in similar incidents.
In an attack against Twitter in January, a Twitter support staffer’s account was compromised using a password-guessing-program.
The hacker got administrative access to the site. The Twitter feeds for Barack Obama, Britney Spears and other celebrities were used to send out bogus messages. A similar attack happened in May.
The attacks on Twitter serve as a reminder of why many corporations are reluctant to jump on the cloud-computing bandwagon. Outsourcing sensitive jobs can save money but also open up companies to more risk because their data isn’t entirely under their control.
Another trend online is for web-based services to streamline access by letting users log into each others’ sites with the same usernames and passwords. Facebook and other services have begun to do this, raising possible security risks.
The lesson from Twitter’s latest security troubles is an old one: Use strong passwords, which include some combination of letters and numbers, and for companies, be careful about how many accounts are linked to the same username and password combination. — AP
For the third time this year, the San Francisco-based company was the victim of a security breach stemming from a simple end-run around its defenses.
In the latest case, a hacker got the password for an employee’s personal e-mail account — possibly by guessing or by correctly answering a security question — and worked from there to steal confidential company documents.
The techniques used by the attackers highlight the dangers of a broader trend promoted by Google Inc and others toward storing more data online, instead of on computers under your control.
The shift toward doing more over the Web — a practice known as “cloud computing” — means that mistakes employees make in their private lives can do serious damage to their employers, because a single e-mail account can tie the two worlds together.
Stealing the password for someone’s Gmail account, for example, not only gives the hacker access to that person’s personal e-mail, but also to any other Google applications they might use for work, like those used to create spreadsheets or presentations.
That’s apparently what happened to Twitter, which shares confidential data within the company through the Google Apps package that incorporates e-mail, wordprocessing, spreadsheet, calendar and other Google services for US$50 (RM180) per user per year.
Targeted
Co-founder Biz Stone wrote in a blog posting on Wednesday that the personal e-mail of an unnamed Twitter administrative employee was hacked about a month ago, and through that the attacker got access to the employee’s Google Apps account.
Separately, the wife of co-founder Evan Williams also had her personal e-mail hacked around the same time, Stone wrote. Through that, the attacker got access to Williams’ personal Amazon and PayPal accounts.
Stone said the attacks are “about Twitter being in enough of a spotlight that folks who work here can become targets.”
Some of the material the hacker posted online from the Google Apps documents was more embarrassing than damaging, like floor plans for new office space and a pitch for a TV show about the increasingly popular online messaging service.
Twitter says only one user account was potentially compromised because a screenshot of the account was included among the stolen documents. The value in hijacking a user’s account is limited, as those attacks are mainly used to post fake messages and try to trick the victim’s friends into clicking on links that will infect their computers.
Sensitive Twitter documents were filched, though. The hacker claims to have employee salaries and credit card numbers, resumes from job applicants, internal meeting reports and growth projections.
TechCrunch, a widely read technology blog, said it was e-mailed the documents and subsequently published some of them, including financial projections that Twitter drew up in February.
The forecast envisioned Twitter generating its first revenue in the current quarter, with sales of about US$400,000 (RM1.44mil) and about 60 employees. By the end of next year, Twitter expected to employ about 345 people with annual revenue of about US$140mil (RM504mil), according to the documents published by TechCrunch.
Stone said in an e-mail that most of the documents TechCrunch has access to are “speculative exercises.”
Lawyers called in
In his blog post, Stone said the stolen documents “are not polished or ready for prime time and they’re certainly not revealing some big, secret plan for taking over the world,” but said they are sensitive enough that their public release could jeopardise relationships with Twitter’s partners.
Stone said the company is talking to lawyers about “what this theft means for Twitter, the hacker, and anyone who accepts and subsequently shares or publishes these stolen documents.”
What the attacks on Twitter show is that websites don’t need to get compromised in the traditional sense to put its users and employees at risk.
Hackers don’t need to find a vulnerability in the site itself, or plant a virus on an employee’s computer, to sneak inside.
The easier approach is much more low-tech: All they need to find is an employee who uses weak passwords for his or her e-mail accounts, or has security questions that are easy to answer with a little information about the person.
It’s an old strategy that’s becoming more and more valuable as people’s personal and work lives merge online.
It can be trivial to guess someone’s passwords, as former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin found out during the election, when her personal e-mail was hacked and screenshots were posted online.
That attacker sneaked in by accurately guessing the answer’s to Palin’s security questions, based on information about her and her family that was already online.
Password-guessing programs are also a common hacking tool. An attacker runs the program against an account, and if it’s allowed to try lots of times and the password isn’t very complicated, the hacker’s in.
Not new
Twitter was hit twice before this year in similar incidents.
In an attack against Twitter in January, a Twitter support staffer’s account was compromised using a password-guessing-program.
The hacker got administrative access to the site. The Twitter feeds for Barack Obama, Britney Spears and other celebrities were used to send out bogus messages. A similar attack happened in May.
The attacks on Twitter serve as a reminder of why many corporations are reluctant to jump on the cloud-computing bandwagon. Outsourcing sensitive jobs can save money but also open up companies to more risk because their data isn’t entirely under their control.
Another trend online is for web-based services to streamline access by letting users log into each others’ sites with the same usernames and passwords. Facebook and other services have begun to do this, raising possible security risks.
The lesson from Twitter’s latest security troubles is an old one: Use strong passwords, which include some combination of letters and numbers, and for companies, be careful about how many accounts are linked to the same username and password combination. — AP
NEWS: Undergrads get portal
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian undregraduates can now better communicate, share expertise and jointly enagage in various online activities with their foreign counterparts thanks to a new social-networking portal.
Declared the country’s first social-networking portal, it will also enable the university students to upload resumes in video format, search for job opportunities online, post blogs, manage special-interest-groups and publicise upcoming events.
The portal — youthciti.com — was launched yesterday and is a collaborative effort by its owner and developer, MyPath Sdn Bhd, the Students In Free Enterprise group at Universiti Utara Malaysia, and Internet service provider Jaring Communications Sdn Bhd.
To use the facilities, a student must first register at the portal.
Declared the country’s first social-networking portal, it will also enable the university students to upload resumes in video format, search for job opportunities online, post blogs, manage special-interest-groups and publicise upcoming events.
The portal — youthciti.com — was launched yesterday and is a collaborative effort by its owner and developer, MyPath Sdn Bhd, the Students In Free Enterprise group at Universiti Utara Malaysia, and Internet service provider Jaring Communications Sdn Bhd.
To use the facilities, a student must first register at the portal.
NEWS: PPSMI not goodfor rural kids
THE issue on the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (better known by its Malay acronym PPSMI) is indeed a sore topic amongst the teachers and students of rural schools.
To them, the matter is like trying to get a right-handed person to write with his left hand and then telling him to switch back to the right just when he was getting used to the change.
Although most are relieved that the Education Ministry had decided to reverse the teaching of Maths and Science back to Bahasa Malaysia, they are also upset that the PPSMI experiment had even been introduced in the first place.
During Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi’s visit to rural schools in the town of Lenggong, Perak, on Thursday, StarEducation had the occasion to interview several students and teachers and it was proven that it had been an uphill struggle for them since the policy was put in place in 2003.
One teacher who refused to be named said that in rural areas like Lenggong, exposure to the use of English language as the daily lingua franca was close to nil.
Dr Mohd Puad talking to SJK (T) Ladang Kota Lima pupils during his visit to Lenggong.
“Our students often converse to one another in the language that they are used to. English, to them, is just a subject they need to pass in the examinations.
“Unlike schoolchildren in the city, our students don’t often come into contact with the English-speaking community. Many are the children of farmers, estate workers or small-time businessmen who do not understand much English themselves.
“Bahasa Malaysia, on the other hand, is accepted as the common language between all the races so they are used to learning their subjects using it,” he said.
Hence when PPSMI was introduced in 2003, both students and teachers alike were left in a lurch, he said.
“The students were worried and so were we. Maths teacher Abdul Rahman Sidek (pic) of SMK Dato’ Ahmad, Lenggong,
said that despite the training course he had to undergo, it was still difficult for him to make the switch.
“I was trained to teach and learn the subject in Bahasa Malaysia. So were my students.
“Suddenly, I had to teach in English. If it was difficult for me, imagine how much harder it was for my students. At least I already understood the subject - they had to learn the subject and on top of that, learn the terms again in a different language,” he said.
He added that there were times when he needed to explain certain mathematical theories in greater detail but found himself stuck because his immediate reflex was to explain it in Bahasa Malaysia.
“Even their grades began to fall by at least 5% to 10% and they had to work harder than they used to.
“Sometimes when I am teaching them something new, I see blank faces staring back at me. Then one student would say, ‘Cikgu cakap apa, sebenarnya?’ (What are you saying, teacher?),” he said.
Abdul Rahman, however, does not oppose the idea of improving the quality of English language in schools.
“But this is not the way. We cannot blame our students for not performing well in Maths and Science when they are taught in English.
“It is not that they are bad in the language, but it is more because they were made to switch so suddenly,” he said.
Several students from the school agreed with their teacher’s opinion.
Fifteen-year-old Siti Basyira Farhana said that the switch had affected her grades tremendously.
“I scored 5As in my UPSR. When I was in Form One, however, I had to learn the two subjects in English, I only managed 2As.
“It was a great blow to me but I knew I had already tried my best,” she said.
Muhamad Afiq Mohd Azni, 14, said that although he managed well enough, he still preferred to learn Maths and Science in Bahasa Malaysia.
“I am aware that when I go to college later, I will probably have to learn my subjects in English.
“But for now, if given the choice, I find it easier to understand my subjects in Bahasa Malaysia. I am more used to it,” he said.
His Chinese and Indian schoolmates too agree that they would prefer to learn their subjects in either their mother tongues or Bahasa Malaysia.
M. Saraswathy, 14, and R. Mogilah, 15, said both their grades had dropped when they had to learn in English.
“I used to get about 70 out of a 100 for my Maths exams. When the switch was made, I began getting about 40 or 50 only,” said Saraswathy.
Form Two students Low Suet Yi and Low Suet Yee, both 14, said they would prefer learning the subjects in Chinese or Bahasa Malaysia because they didn’t understand English.
For Goh Kin Chye, headmistress of SJK (C) Yeong Hwa, Lenggong, introducing PPSMI was like jumping the gun.
“The main thing is, the standard of English must first be improved in schools.
She added that although SJK (C) Yeong Hwa was a vernacular school, her students’ grades in the English Language as a subject was not that bad.
“On average, they scored about 60%. It was not that fantastic but it was not that poor either.
“However, learning Maths and Science in English was not easy for them. Luckily, they were allowed to choose to learn the subjects in Chinese,” she said.
She agreed with the government’s decision to reverse the PPSMI policy, saying more needed to be done to improve the quality of the English Language in schools.
To them, the matter is like trying to get a right-handed person to write with his left hand and then telling him to switch back to the right just when he was getting used to the change.
Although most are relieved that the Education Ministry had decided to reverse the teaching of Maths and Science back to Bahasa Malaysia, they are also upset that the PPSMI experiment had even been introduced in the first place.
During Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi’s visit to rural schools in the town of Lenggong, Perak, on Thursday, StarEducation had the occasion to interview several students and teachers and it was proven that it had been an uphill struggle for them since the policy was put in place in 2003.
One teacher who refused to be named said that in rural areas like Lenggong, exposure to the use of English language as the daily lingua franca was close to nil.
Dr Mohd Puad talking to SJK (T) Ladang Kota Lima pupils during his visit to Lenggong.
“Our students often converse to one another in the language that they are used to. English, to them, is just a subject they need to pass in the examinations.
“Unlike schoolchildren in the city, our students don’t often come into contact with the English-speaking community. Many are the children of farmers, estate workers or small-time businessmen who do not understand much English themselves.
“Bahasa Malaysia, on the other hand, is accepted as the common language between all the races so they are used to learning their subjects using it,” he said.
Hence when PPSMI was introduced in 2003, both students and teachers alike were left in a lurch, he said.
“The students were worried and so were we. Maths teacher Abdul Rahman Sidek (pic) of SMK Dato’ Ahmad, Lenggong,
said that despite the training course he had to undergo, it was still difficult for him to make the switch.
“I was trained to teach and learn the subject in Bahasa Malaysia. So were my students.
“Suddenly, I had to teach in English. If it was difficult for me, imagine how much harder it was for my students. At least I already understood the subject - they had to learn the subject and on top of that, learn the terms again in a different language,” he said.
He added that there were times when he needed to explain certain mathematical theories in greater detail but found himself stuck because his immediate reflex was to explain it in Bahasa Malaysia.
“Even their grades began to fall by at least 5% to 10% and they had to work harder than they used to.
“Sometimes when I am teaching them something new, I see blank faces staring back at me. Then one student would say, ‘Cikgu cakap apa, sebenarnya?’ (What are you saying, teacher?),” he said.
Abdul Rahman, however, does not oppose the idea of improving the quality of English language in schools.
“But this is not the way. We cannot blame our students for not performing well in Maths and Science when they are taught in English.
“It is not that they are bad in the language, but it is more because they were made to switch so suddenly,” he said.
Several students from the school agreed with their teacher’s opinion.
Fifteen-year-old Siti Basyira Farhana said that the switch had affected her grades tremendously.
“I scored 5As in my UPSR. When I was in Form One, however, I had to learn the two subjects in English, I only managed 2As.
“It was a great blow to me but I knew I had already tried my best,” she said.
Muhamad Afiq Mohd Azni, 14, said that although he managed well enough, he still preferred to learn Maths and Science in Bahasa Malaysia.
“I am aware that when I go to college later, I will probably have to learn my subjects in English.
“But for now, if given the choice, I find it easier to understand my subjects in Bahasa Malaysia. I am more used to it,” he said.
His Chinese and Indian schoolmates too agree that they would prefer to learn their subjects in either their mother tongues or Bahasa Malaysia.
M. Saraswathy, 14, and R. Mogilah, 15, said both their grades had dropped when they had to learn in English.
“I used to get about 70 out of a 100 for my Maths exams. When the switch was made, I began getting about 40 or 50 only,” said Saraswathy.
Form Two students Low Suet Yi and Low Suet Yee, both 14, said they would prefer learning the subjects in Chinese or Bahasa Malaysia because they didn’t understand English.
For Goh Kin Chye, headmistress of SJK (C) Yeong Hwa, Lenggong, introducing PPSMI was like jumping the gun.
“The main thing is, the standard of English must first be improved in schools.
She added that although SJK (C) Yeong Hwa was a vernacular school, her students’ grades in the English Language as a subject was not that bad.
“On average, they scored about 60%. It was not that fantastic but it was not that poor either.
“However, learning Maths and Science in English was not easy for them. Luckily, they were allowed to choose to learn the subjects in Chinese,” she said.
She agreed with the government’s decision to reverse the PPSMI policy, saying more needed to be done to improve the quality of the English Language in schools.
NEWS: The online revolution
THERE was a mini crisis for some parents and students last month when certain schools were asked to close down for a week due to the A(H1N1) flu cases.
With SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in the past, the current pandemic and the unknown future, schools are left to wonder what else might befall them.
The swine flu, however, had sped up the discovery of a feasible answer: the Internet.
Some schools, such as Seri Cempaka International School, were lucky enough to have a well-developed online learning system where every child could attend ‘classes’ in the form of chatrooms. Not far behind are schools like SJK (C) Jalan Davidson, whose pupils could access the school webpage
www.davidson.edu.my to get important information during a week in June when the school closed down.
Students of SJK (C) Jalan Davidson accessing the school’s web portal while their teacher looks on.
Senior manager of Dynabook Computer Centre Sdn Bhd, S.C. Ling said his company had worked with the school to create the website and a “digital school” environment over a few years.
“Currently, the school has their own server and own web portal, and they’ve recently incorporated a platform called Learning Management System (LMS),” said Ling.
When the school closed down, pupils were directed from the web portal to the LMS, where some syllabus from Singapore were uploaded.
“When we decided to close the school, I took two steps. Firstly, I asked the company to give us 2,000 login accounts as we have 1,907 pupils and then I told parents that we had linked our website to the learning platform, which is already in operation in Singapore,” said the school headmaster, Pang Chong Leong.
The pupils and parents could also check the homework assigned by teachers and follow the instructions given. He added that these measures were important to “keep the momentum” going.
Pang added that it was during a situation like the A (H1N1) scare that people would consider developing a self-learning habit.
“We (Malaysia) have been talking about e-learning for so long, but have done nothing because we are in a comfort zone unlike Singapore and Hong Kong, which because of the SARS outbreak (in 2003), had to resort to other methods of teaching and learning,” Ling said.
“These countries are way ahead of us,” he revealed adding that some of the schools in Singapore actually request that their students stay home a few days so that they can get into the habit of online learning.
He said that for SJK (C) Jalan Davidson — and the schools that his company had been working with such as SJK (C) Chong Wen, SJK (C) Damansara, SJK (C) Chong Hwa, Kluang and SJK (C) Lai Meng, – the hardware and software were already in place and would benefit the students.
He added that it was a lengthy process that required years of ICT usage, teacher training and a big budget. It would also help, Ling added, if schools had a suitable “networking” environment and infrastructure — a problem that Malaysia was still struggling with.
He said it was time Malaysia jumped onto the bandwagon as the opportunities for learning on the online medium were endless.
“Many things can be done on the LMS platform. It can be opened up to parents and the public for forums, surveys, question banks, virtual classrooms and workspace collaboration,’’ said Ling.
Pang agreed, saying that in the future, teachers would be able to key in examination marks and prepare lessons from home.
With SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in the past, the current pandemic and the unknown future, schools are left to wonder what else might befall them.
The swine flu, however, had sped up the discovery of a feasible answer: the Internet.
Some schools, such as Seri Cempaka International School, were lucky enough to have a well-developed online learning system where every child could attend ‘classes’ in the form of chatrooms. Not far behind are schools like SJK (C) Jalan Davidson, whose pupils could access the school webpage
www.davidson.edu.my to get important information during a week in June when the school closed down.
Students of SJK (C) Jalan Davidson accessing the school’s web portal while their teacher looks on.
Senior manager of Dynabook Computer Centre Sdn Bhd, S.C. Ling said his company had worked with the school to create the website and a “digital school” environment over a few years.
“Currently, the school has their own server and own web portal, and they’ve recently incorporated a platform called Learning Management System (LMS),” said Ling.
When the school closed down, pupils were directed from the web portal to the LMS, where some syllabus from Singapore were uploaded.
“When we decided to close the school, I took two steps. Firstly, I asked the company to give us 2,000 login accounts as we have 1,907 pupils and then I told parents that we had linked our website to the learning platform, which is already in operation in Singapore,” said the school headmaster, Pang Chong Leong.
The pupils and parents could also check the homework assigned by teachers and follow the instructions given. He added that these measures were important to “keep the momentum” going.
Pang added that it was during a situation like the A (H1N1) scare that people would consider developing a self-learning habit.
“We (Malaysia) have been talking about e-learning for so long, but have done nothing because we are in a comfort zone unlike Singapore and Hong Kong, which because of the SARS outbreak (in 2003), had to resort to other methods of teaching and learning,” Ling said.
“These countries are way ahead of us,” he revealed adding that some of the schools in Singapore actually request that their students stay home a few days so that they can get into the habit of online learning.
He said that for SJK (C) Jalan Davidson — and the schools that his company had been working with such as SJK (C) Chong Wen, SJK (C) Damansara, SJK (C) Chong Hwa, Kluang and SJK (C) Lai Meng, – the hardware and software were already in place and would benefit the students.
He added that it was a lengthy process that required years of ICT usage, teacher training and a big budget. It would also help, Ling added, if schools had a suitable “networking” environment and infrastructure — a problem that Malaysia was still struggling with.
He said it was time Malaysia jumped onto the bandwagon as the opportunities for learning on the online medium were endless.
“Many things can be done on the LMS platform. It can be opened up to parents and the public for forums, surveys, question banks, virtual classrooms and workspace collaboration,’’ said Ling.
Pang agreed, saying that in the future, teachers would be able to key in examination marks and prepare lessons from home.
NEWS: Electronic learning
PRIMARY and secondary students will now have the chance to do additional exercises on most school subjects online.
A collaboration by Andaman Publications Sdn Bhd and Star Publications (M) Bhd, an e-learning system, would be launched in the near future enabling students and parentsto carry out extra work online.
Andaman Publications Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Adrian Chai said that the new portal included a built in artificial intelligence (AI) programme, so that the work done could be assessed immediately by the portal.
He added, “The system would also detect the student’s weaker areas and subsequent questions would be customised so that students could improve in their respective areas of weakness.”
Apart from being able to get immediate results, the portal would also keep a record of the student’s work and progress, which parents can monitor.
“Basically, the purpose of this is to make learning more fun and interactive in real time.”
Star Publications (M) Bhd new media group general manager Michael Aeria said, “We are always on the lookout for rich and interesting content, and since education has always been close to our hearts, this venture with Andaman seems like a good fit.”
The e-learning system would be available in the following subjects: English, Maths, Science, Chinese, Add Maths (Forms Four and Five) and Physics (Forms Four and Five).
A collaboration by Andaman Publications Sdn Bhd and Star Publications (M) Bhd, an e-learning system, would be launched in the near future enabling students and parentsto carry out extra work online.
Andaman Publications Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Adrian Chai said that the new portal included a built in artificial intelligence (AI) programme, so that the work done could be assessed immediately by the portal.
He added, “The system would also detect the student’s weaker areas and subsequent questions would be customised so that students could improve in their respective areas of weakness.”
Apart from being able to get immediate results, the portal would also keep a record of the student’s work and progress, which parents can monitor.
“Basically, the purpose of this is to make learning more fun and interactive in real time.”
Star Publications (M) Bhd new media group general manager Michael Aeria said, “We are always on the lookout for rich and interesting content, and since education has always been close to our hearts, this venture with Andaman seems like a good fit.”
The e-learning system would be available in the following subjects: English, Maths, Science, Chinese, Add Maths (Forms Four and Five) and Physics (Forms Four and Five).
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
NEWS: Have safety net for young websurfers
KUALA LUMPUR: The Internet can help expand young minds but some parents and teachers are worried that too much of it can lead to negative consequences.
Several parents and teachers at a recent CyberSecurity Malaysia conference on online safety expressed concerns that youngsters may get addicted to the Web unless its usage is controlled.
Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, president of the Parents Action Group for Education (Page), said Internet addiction can affect a child’s social development and the honing of his or her interpersonal skills.
She said children who spend excessive amounts of time on the Web are not free to build friendships in the normal way and so “they lack interpersonal communication skills.”
The parents of these children, she said, usually find it difficult to deal with the problem or may not even realise that there is something wrong.
And even more worrying, Noor Azimah said, a study shows that about 24% of youngsters using the Internet give out too much personal information — in the form of very descriptive text and detailed photos of themselves — which is accessible to anyone on the Web.
A number of teachers who attended the conference were concerned about cyberbullying, where youngsters use the Internet (and cellphones) to intimidate their peers.
Citing a study done in Britain, Lok Yim Pheng, secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession, said 43% of the teens surveyed were victims of cyberbullies.
“There are no numbers for the situation in this country but it’s best to act anyway,” she said. Victims of cyberbullying can suffer problems with self confidence and personal development.
Is dere a prblm?
Lok said teachers are also worried about how online communication and texting among students is affecting their language and writing skills.
She said some students are using abbreviations to the point where they do not bother to learn how to spell entire words, which leads to broken English and Bahasa Malaysia when they speak and write.
“Our youngsters are also coming to regard their computer as their best friend (instead of making friends with their classmates or schoolmates),” she added.
The parents and teachers suggested ways to prevent Internet addiction among children. They believe the best way is to limit the amount of time youngsters spend on the Web.
“I would recommend that a child spend only two hours each day on the Internet and be rewarded with a bit more Internet time on weekends for good behaviour,” Lok said.
Students’ Internet use in school computer labs should also be monitored and the schools should have programmes teaching the children how to use the Internet safely.
“Teachers must also create an avenue for students to debate and discuss the merits of the information they find on the Internet because not all the data on the Web is reliable,” Lok said.
Several parents and teachers at a recent CyberSecurity Malaysia conference on online safety expressed concerns that youngsters may get addicted to the Web unless its usage is controlled.
Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, president of the Parents Action Group for Education (Page), said Internet addiction can affect a child’s social development and the honing of his or her interpersonal skills.
She said children who spend excessive amounts of time on the Web are not free to build friendships in the normal way and so “they lack interpersonal communication skills.”
The parents of these children, she said, usually find it difficult to deal with the problem or may not even realise that there is something wrong.
And even more worrying, Noor Azimah said, a study shows that about 24% of youngsters using the Internet give out too much personal information — in the form of very descriptive text and detailed photos of themselves — which is accessible to anyone on the Web.
A number of teachers who attended the conference were concerned about cyberbullying, where youngsters use the Internet (and cellphones) to intimidate their peers.
Citing a study done in Britain, Lok Yim Pheng, secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession, said 43% of the teens surveyed were victims of cyberbullies.
“There are no numbers for the situation in this country but it’s best to act anyway,” she said. Victims of cyberbullying can suffer problems with self confidence and personal development.
Is dere a prblm?
Lok said teachers are also worried about how online communication and texting among students is affecting their language and writing skills.
She said some students are using abbreviations to the point where they do not bother to learn how to spell entire words, which leads to broken English and Bahasa Malaysia when they speak and write.
“Our youngsters are also coming to regard their computer as their best friend (instead of making friends with their classmates or schoolmates),” she added.
The parents and teachers suggested ways to prevent Internet addiction among children. They believe the best way is to limit the amount of time youngsters spend on the Web.
“I would recommend that a child spend only two hours each day on the Internet and be rewarded with a bit more Internet time on weekends for good behaviour,” Lok said.
Students’ Internet use in school computer labs should also be monitored and the schools should have programmes teaching the children how to use the Internet safely.
“Teachers must also create an avenue for students to debate and discuss the merits of the information they find on the Internet because not all the data on the Web is reliable,” Lok said.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
NEWS: Online sales still not widespread
THE battle for the skies has taken place in cyberspace again: AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines offered discounted tickets online over the weekend. For them, the Internet has become an effective medium to help boost ticket sales, judging from the way the discounted tickets were snapped up in record time.
While the airlines are thriving online, other businesses seem to have not fully taken advantage of the Internet medium to attract customers and make sales. Even though most businesses such as hotels and bus companies have an online sales mechanism, hardly any offer huge discounts in the magnitude of the airlines, which are able to make sales up front for the next one year.
AirAsia, for example, in its latest online promotion, is offering hugely discounted seats for travel up to January next year. This means that it is selling seats almost a year in advance. This strategy will make sure that the airline meets its sales target and keeps its aircraft to full seat capacity.
Promoting what you have online and advertising it in the paper will alert consumers of your offerings. Don’t expect them to search the Internet for discounts because only a few do; others prefer to be told.
It only needs one company to start this trend, and the rest will follow suit because of intense competition.
The market for this type of sales strategy, also known as business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce, is actually big in Malaysia. Locals are already used to online banking and have put their trust in e-commerce, but sadly, we still lack companies or businesses that really sell online.
Express bus companies, for example, can emulate their counterparts in the airline business to offer discounted tickets online. If they can sell their seats months in advance at cheaper rates or offer other incentives, they could get more passengers on board a particular trip. Then we will no longer see buses plying the highways half-empty.
For the bus companies, it shouldn’t be a problem to secure sales in advance because the nation enjoys quite a number of festivals and school breaks where dates are set early. Almost all the ingredients for a successful B2C business model are there. We just need more companies to jump onto the bandwagon.
According to research company IDC, the B2C market is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 24 per cent from 2005 to 2010 and that the growth will be dependent on PC and broadband penetration, which has been growing steadily.
Hopefully, more businesses will take on the online medium more aggressively and also let consumers know about their intention.
While the airlines are thriving online, other businesses seem to have not fully taken advantage of the Internet medium to attract customers and make sales. Even though most businesses such as hotels and bus companies have an online sales mechanism, hardly any offer huge discounts in the magnitude of the airlines, which are able to make sales up front for the next one year.
AirAsia, for example, in its latest online promotion, is offering hugely discounted seats for travel up to January next year. This means that it is selling seats almost a year in advance. This strategy will make sure that the airline meets its sales target and keeps its aircraft to full seat capacity.
Promoting what you have online and advertising it in the paper will alert consumers of your offerings. Don’t expect them to search the Internet for discounts because only a few do; others prefer to be told.
It only needs one company to start this trend, and the rest will follow suit because of intense competition.
The market for this type of sales strategy, also known as business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce, is actually big in Malaysia. Locals are already used to online banking and have put their trust in e-commerce, but sadly, we still lack companies or businesses that really sell online.
Express bus companies, for example, can emulate their counterparts in the airline business to offer discounted tickets online. If they can sell their seats months in advance at cheaper rates or offer other incentives, they could get more passengers on board a particular trip. Then we will no longer see buses plying the highways half-empty.
For the bus companies, it shouldn’t be a problem to secure sales in advance because the nation enjoys quite a number of festivals and school breaks where dates are set early. Almost all the ingredients for a successful B2C business model are there. We just need more companies to jump onto the bandwagon.
According to research company IDC, the B2C market is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 24 per cent from 2005 to 2010 and that the growth will be dependent on PC and broadband penetration, which has been growing steadily.
Hopefully, more businesses will take on the online medium more aggressively and also let consumers know about their intention.
NEWS: Freedom of expression with global community
INFORMATION and communications technology (ICT) has certainly transformed the way we work and live our daily lives. It has changed the way we communicate by giving us the freedom of expression, mobility and information sharing. For example, online users can access information at any time, from any location using an e-mail, Web site, search engines or social networking channels for self-expression.
The rise of blogs, instant messengers (IM), chat forums and social networking channels such as Second Life, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and other video and file sharing programs has brought more people online, as it is a fast and convenient way of sharing information.
In fact, the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies and the convergence of voice, video and data capabilities are making these social networking channels more sophisticated.
It is believed that the advent of voice as a transformative technology will change the way users communicate in the future and give more immediacy and dynamism in their interaction. Second Life, Webex and Skype are some of the channels using the advanced voice technology to simply provide users with reliable and quality voice calls just to catch up with friends, virtual gamers, lectures, training or even for business use.
Internet has created new opportunities for people to interact and create new online social communities, without boundaries and limitation.
The new media has given us a chance to explore global networking with an international community, in order to transmit ideas and communicate, and to form the next generation of online cultural spaces. It also provides the potential for large-scale mobilisation of global issues.
In my perspective, this is the start of a simple form of freedom of expression. Technology today governs our lives like it has never had before, and it is this technology that dictates and directs on many occasions how an issue takes on a completely different dimension.
Today, the dissemination, reaction and debate of public opinion are ignited by technology, which gives instant reaction. Whether its true or false, accurate or inaccurate, it has given ways for people to interact around issues that they care deeply about.
Technology could be a start for freedom of expression. However, there are many threats to the progressive potential of the Internet, ranging from censorship, filtering to loss of Net neutrality.
The rise of blogs, instant messengers (IM), chat forums and social networking channels such as Second Life, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and other video and file sharing programs has brought more people online, as it is a fast and convenient way of sharing information.
In fact, the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies and the convergence of voice, video and data capabilities are making these social networking channels more sophisticated.
It is believed that the advent of voice as a transformative technology will change the way users communicate in the future and give more immediacy and dynamism in their interaction. Second Life, Webex and Skype are some of the channels using the advanced voice technology to simply provide users with reliable and quality voice calls just to catch up with friends, virtual gamers, lectures, training or even for business use.
Internet has created new opportunities for people to interact and create new online social communities, without boundaries and limitation.
The new media has given us a chance to explore global networking with an international community, in order to transmit ideas and communicate, and to form the next generation of online cultural spaces. It also provides the potential for large-scale mobilisation of global issues.
In my perspective, this is the start of a simple form of freedom of expression. Technology today governs our lives like it has never had before, and it is this technology that dictates and directs on many occasions how an issue takes on a completely different dimension.
Today, the dissemination, reaction and debate of public opinion are ignited by technology, which gives instant reaction. Whether its true or false, accurate or inaccurate, it has given ways for people to interact around issues that they care deeply about.
Technology could be a start for freedom of expression. However, there are many threats to the progressive potential of the Internet, ranging from censorship, filtering to loss of Net neutrality.
ARTICLE: 帶他們戒網癮
“我是一個中二學生，面對網絡遊戲，深深陷入其中，我想擺脫，但是回天無力，虛擬世界簡直太精彩了……誰來拯救我？！”
這是某個網絡論壇上一個孩子的呼救。其實，在其它論壇有關“網癮”的欄目裏，來自家長和孩子們的求救貼子，不僅觸目驚心，更多不勝數。
沉迷或不當使用網絡，在損害青少年的生理、心理健康之外，也會給家庭和社會帶來重大危害；如何保障青少年網絡安全，拯救這些沉迷于網絡的青少年，成為社會面臨的現實問題。
雖然玩網絡遊戲成癮，是困擾已久的現象，但它不再是一小部分人的事了，現在已成了一個大眾問題……
王智弘： 溝通疏導 帶領走出虛擬
如何保障青少年的網絡安全，拯救這些沉迷于網絡的稚子，已成為社會面臨的現實問題。今天，我們與來自台灣的王智弘副教授，一起瞭解學生的心理和當下年輕人的文化觀。
剖析了學生沉迷網絡的行為后，期望大眾一起來協助學生，正確地使用電腦及糾正偏差行為……
“健明的成績雖不是特別好，但一直是個懂事的孩子。初中二時開始接觸網絡，每天放學后會晚回家15至30分鐘，因為沒影響學習，加上父母常不在家，所以也沒引起誰的在意。一年后，他仍然以中等成績升上高中。
三個月后，因為一些事故，學校聯絡上健明的父母，才知道兒子缺席了十多天的課，成績一落千丈。事發后，健明拒絕去學校上課，每天在家閑著，兩周后離家出走。
三天后，父母在學校附近的一家網絡咖啡廳裡找到他，把他帶回家，兩天后他再次離家出走。隨后的一個多月，他吃在網座、睡在網座，為了上網，還四處向同學、親戚借錢。
健明的媽媽一遍遍地哭著求他別玩了，要他回家，但他完全無動于衷。他的爸爸伸手拉他，反而被兒子一個強硬手式用力推開，幾乎跌倒！
短短時間內，健康活潑的健明變得萎靡不振、面黃肌瘦，體重減少了廿多斤。最讓人不能接受的是，他變得異常冷血，不管父母怎么哀求，都無動于衷，眼裡只有電腦遊戲……”
王智弘博士：“不要小看青少年沉迷網絡的問題，有些會因而蹺家、逃學，甚至還輟學流連網座，進而造成青少年犯罪。”
其實，健明只是眾多沉迷網絡的孩子之一。放眼望去，青少年網絡成癮狀況已經是許多國家嚴重的問題之一。沉迷于網絡不僅損害青少年的生理、心理健康，甚至社交功能，還會拖累家庭，引發一系列社會問題，如精神疾病、自殺、犯罪等，直接影響到社會和諧。
參考各個檔案故事，發現容易沉迷于網絡的孩子，都有著以下的狀況：
‧低自尊：對自己沒有信心。
‧人際關係不好：沒有朋友，無法與人溝通。
‧家庭功能有問題：父母不太關心孩子，或孩子無法從父母身上得到教育和關心。
‧學業挫折：因為成績不好而沒有成就感，藉著虛擬世界來逃避問題。
‧生活出現無聊感：對日常生活不感興趣，但是到了網上就很有興趣。
王智弘副教授小檔案
‧國立彰化師範大學輔導與諮商學系專任副教授
‧國立台灣教育學院輔導學系學士
‧國立台灣教育學院輔導研究所碩士
‧國立彰化師範大學輔導學系博士
曾任：
‧海軍明德班心理分析官
‧中華心理衛生協會副秘書長
‧彰化師範大學參議會秘書長
‧台灣教育部教科圖書審定委員會委員
‧中國輔導學會理事與倫理委員會主席
‧台灣心靈健康諮詢協會常務理事與倫理委員會主席
‧行政院青年輔導委員會生涯發展咨詢顧問
‧台灣國家考試合格咨商心理師
‧台灣心理咨商資訊網主持人
沉迷網絡六大症狀
王博士應董總邀約，過去四天南下北上主講《如何防止學生沉迷網絡》講座。
在找出解決沉迷的方法之前，先要釐清，什么叫“網絡遊戲沉迷”？
台灣國立彰化師範大學輔導與諮商學系副教授王智弘博士指出，一般上沉迷者使用網絡的時間都是超乎尋常，但卻沒有一定的數量。雖然一般上來說，每天使用網超過3小時的人，是屬于“重度使用者”，但他們卻不是上癮者。
沉迷網絡的人，一直有以下六大症狀：
1.強迫症：看到電腦網絡，他就會被強迫吸引，也不可自拔。
2.戒斷性：這是借用毒癮的一個名詞。平時有上網的人，突然叫他不上網，就會情緒不安、心理不舒服，他會焦慮、易怒。少數人表示會有一些生理問題，如冒冷汗、頭暈，這是不普遍的。
3.耐受性：上網時間越來越長，聲光刺激越來越強，他感到有一點麻痺，所以他要更強的刺激才能達到滿足。
4.人際關係出現問題：網絡沉迷者的人際關係通常會變得不好，因為他沒空和其它人交朋友。
5.健康出現問題：手腕僵硬、腰酸背痛是小事，有些人控制不住，上網到失禁，這很嚴重，會導致膀胱發炎、腎臟衰竭。另外，有些孩子曾上網到中風，另外還有發生視網膜剝離，甚至有死亡的情況等，這已經很嚴重了。
6.時間管理出問題：住宿舍的孩子沒人管，有些會逃課留在宿舍裡上網，他無法搞清楚白天黑夜，所以也管理不了時間。有嚴重者甚至被開除了，父母還被蒙在鼓裡。
1至3是三個核心症狀，4至5是相關症狀；前三者看起來像賭博和吸毒的症狀，后三者則不是像賭博和吸毒的相關症狀。
雖然如此，這些孩子都是身不由己，大腦沒法正常判斷該做什么，他們需要家長和老師的輔助，引領他們走出虛擬世界。
找出源頭解決問題
王博士與出席者交流，希望大家關注青少年，一起協助他們走出“虛擬世界”。
早天上網查資料、中午上網玩網絡遊戲、晚上上網寫部落格、半夜依舊在聊天室裡……這是部分青少年的生活方式。在他們的心中，缺少了網絡就像沒有了空氣一樣。
王博士指出，在資訊快速便捷的時代，網絡熱潮席捲青少年，在電腦網絡越發達的地方，網絡沉迷的危險性就越高。
“其實，在瞭解或解決問題之前，首先要找出源頭，為什么孩子會沉迷網絡呢？有許多原因，如因為網上有聲光刺激，隨時上網都有人跟你聊天等，于是孩子在其中欲罷不能，這情況和沉迷賭博的情況有點相似。”
他表示，網絡成癮有一個脈絡模式或條件，沉迷者在其中反覆掙扎卻又無法自拔。
“舉例，一個孩子面對現實生活的壓力（如功課、人際關係等）困擾著他。當這些問題存在了，一旦有機會又方便上網絡，就開始慢慢越陷越深……”
他使用網絡交友、玩遊戲，心情非常愉快。原本只用一小時，后來增加到數小時，甚至更多。
雖然如此，當他用到一定程度時，就會出現一種罪惡感（比如：功課沒做、學校沒有知心朋友等），他發現促使他逃避到網絡去的問題，並沒有因此而消失。
這時，他為了再度逃避罪惡感，也再度使用網絡逃避。困擾他的問題沒有得到解決，它們還是存在，這反而推動他再使用網絡。他在意的問題一旦沒解決，這情況就會反覆發生。
“網絡有各種吸引力，外在又有推動力把孩子推向網絡。所以，我們要瞭解孩子為什么會這樣，一步步協助他正視和解決，而不是說不可以玩就了事。”
瞭解狀況后才解決
王智弘博士勸告父母及老師，在處理孩子沉迷網絡時，不要用太激烈的手法，否則會招來孩子更激烈的反抗。
當你發現家裡的孩子都有網絡沉迷的症狀時，你可以做些什么呢？
在處理孩子沉迷的問題時，很多家長會選擇把插頭拔掉、把熒幕砸壞，若這些措施是在孩子開始沉迷的初期就採取的話，那是有效的。但若到了很嚴重時，這種方法就沒有效了。
“有些情況嚴重的孩子，就會離家出走、打父母，其實他並不是真的很壞，他會因為不能上網而焦慮憤怒，除了發脾氣外，絕食抗議的都有。
“其實，到了某個程度，就要進行疏導，我們會先建議父母和孩子都要有溝通，瞭解孩子的狀況是什么？而不是強制地做。”
王教授建議的方法如下：
‧與孩子建立友好關係：若你一開始就責備他，他怎么接受你的勸說？要與孩子建立友好關係，他才願意對你敞開胸懷。
‧到專業輔導中心進行心理治療和輔導。
‧提升孩子的自我覺察能力：可以玩遊戲，但是要有自制力，知道什么時候該吃該睡該做功課。若他在玩網絡遊戲時，生活還能正常運作，那就沒有問題。
‧改變環境：限制網絡設備的使用，不把網絡設備擺在孩子的房間或書桌上，環境誘惑會吸引孩子，因為誘惑就一直在身邊。
‧訓練孩子有比較好的人際關係，增進他們的人際溝通能力：很多人際關係不好的孩子，通常都是高危險群。所以，要訓練他的人際關係，讓他在現實生活中找到更多朋友。
‧鼓勵他參與活動：從中發掘他的榮譽感和自尊心，這是很重要的。
‧生涯協助：要幫助他找出為什么而努力，幫助他瞭解自己的生活目標，對自己的生活意義有一個方向感。讓學校成為有趣的地方，讓他想去學校，不會因此而覺得無聊。
王博士說：“其實，沉迷網絡並不是一個很大的罪惡，是因為無法控制自己，所以才會影響生活，因此需要大家來協助他。”
參考網站
＊台灣心理諮商諮詢網：www.heart.net.tw
＊台灣網絡成癮輔導網：iad.heart.net.tw
＊王智弘教授本身的網站：wang.heart.net.tw
這是某個網絡論壇上一個孩子的呼救。其實，在其它論壇有關“網癮”的欄目裏，來自家長和孩子們的求救貼子，不僅觸目驚心，更多不勝數。
沉迷或不當使用網絡，在損害青少年的生理、心理健康之外，也會給家庭和社會帶來重大危害；如何保障青少年網絡安全，拯救這些沉迷于網絡的青少年，成為社會面臨的現實問題。
雖然玩網絡遊戲成癮，是困擾已久的現象，但它不再是一小部分人的事了，現在已成了一個大眾問題……
王智弘： 溝通疏導 帶領走出虛擬
如何保障青少年的網絡安全，拯救這些沉迷于網絡的稚子，已成為社會面臨的現實問題。今天，我們與來自台灣的王智弘副教授，一起瞭解學生的心理和當下年輕人的文化觀。
剖析了學生沉迷網絡的行為后，期望大眾一起來協助學生，正確地使用電腦及糾正偏差行為……
“健明的成績雖不是特別好，但一直是個懂事的孩子。初中二時開始接觸網絡，每天放學后會晚回家15至30分鐘，因為沒影響學習，加上父母常不在家，所以也沒引起誰的在意。一年后，他仍然以中等成績升上高中。
三個月后，因為一些事故，學校聯絡上健明的父母，才知道兒子缺席了十多天的課，成績一落千丈。事發后，健明拒絕去學校上課，每天在家閑著，兩周后離家出走。
三天后，父母在學校附近的一家網絡咖啡廳裡找到他，把他帶回家，兩天后他再次離家出走。隨后的一個多月，他吃在網座、睡在網座，為了上網，還四處向同學、親戚借錢。
健明的媽媽一遍遍地哭著求他別玩了，要他回家，但他完全無動于衷。他的爸爸伸手拉他，反而被兒子一個強硬手式用力推開，幾乎跌倒！
短短時間內，健康活潑的健明變得萎靡不振、面黃肌瘦，體重減少了廿多斤。最讓人不能接受的是，他變得異常冷血，不管父母怎么哀求，都無動于衷，眼裡只有電腦遊戲……”
王智弘博士：“不要小看青少年沉迷網絡的問題，有些會因而蹺家、逃學，甚至還輟學流連網座，進而造成青少年犯罪。”
其實，健明只是眾多沉迷網絡的孩子之一。放眼望去，青少年網絡成癮狀況已經是許多國家嚴重的問題之一。沉迷于網絡不僅損害青少年的生理、心理健康，甚至社交功能，還會拖累家庭，引發一系列社會問題，如精神疾病、自殺、犯罪等，直接影響到社會和諧。
參考各個檔案故事，發現容易沉迷于網絡的孩子，都有著以下的狀況：
‧低自尊：對自己沒有信心。
‧人際關係不好：沒有朋友，無法與人溝通。
‧家庭功能有問題：父母不太關心孩子，或孩子無法從父母身上得到教育和關心。
‧學業挫折：因為成績不好而沒有成就感，藉著虛擬世界來逃避問題。
‧生活出現無聊感：對日常生活不感興趣，但是到了網上就很有興趣。
王智弘副教授小檔案
‧國立彰化師範大學輔導與諮商學系專任副教授
‧國立台灣教育學院輔導學系學士
‧國立台灣教育學院輔導研究所碩士
‧國立彰化師範大學輔導學系博士
曾任：
‧海軍明德班心理分析官
‧中華心理衛生協會副秘書長
‧彰化師範大學參議會秘書長
‧台灣教育部教科圖書審定委員會委員
‧中國輔導學會理事與倫理委員會主席
‧台灣心靈健康諮詢協會常務理事與倫理委員會主席
‧行政院青年輔導委員會生涯發展咨詢顧問
‧台灣國家考試合格咨商心理師
‧台灣心理咨商資訊網主持人
沉迷網絡六大症狀
王博士應董總邀約，過去四天南下北上主講《如何防止學生沉迷網絡》講座。
在找出解決沉迷的方法之前，先要釐清，什么叫“網絡遊戲沉迷”？
台灣國立彰化師範大學輔導與諮商學系副教授王智弘博士指出，一般上沉迷者使用網絡的時間都是超乎尋常，但卻沒有一定的數量。雖然一般上來說，每天使用網超過3小時的人，是屬于“重度使用者”，但他們卻不是上癮者。
沉迷網絡的人，一直有以下六大症狀：
1.強迫症：看到電腦網絡，他就會被強迫吸引，也不可自拔。
2.戒斷性：這是借用毒癮的一個名詞。平時有上網的人，突然叫他不上網，就會情緒不安、心理不舒服，他會焦慮、易怒。少數人表示會有一些生理問題，如冒冷汗、頭暈，這是不普遍的。
3.耐受性：上網時間越來越長，聲光刺激越來越強，他感到有一點麻痺，所以他要更強的刺激才能達到滿足。
4.人際關係出現問題：網絡沉迷者的人際關係通常會變得不好，因為他沒空和其它人交朋友。
5.健康出現問題：手腕僵硬、腰酸背痛是小事，有些人控制不住，上網到失禁，這很嚴重，會導致膀胱發炎、腎臟衰竭。另外，有些孩子曾上網到中風，另外還有發生視網膜剝離，甚至有死亡的情況等，這已經很嚴重了。
6.時間管理出問題：住宿舍的孩子沒人管，有些會逃課留在宿舍裡上網，他無法搞清楚白天黑夜，所以也管理不了時間。有嚴重者甚至被開除了，父母還被蒙在鼓裡。
1至3是三個核心症狀，4至5是相關症狀；前三者看起來像賭博和吸毒的症狀，后三者則不是像賭博和吸毒的相關症狀。
雖然如此，這些孩子都是身不由己，大腦沒法正常判斷該做什么，他們需要家長和老師的輔助，引領他們走出虛擬世界。
找出源頭解決問題
王博士與出席者交流，希望大家關注青少年，一起協助他們走出“虛擬世界”。
早天上網查資料、中午上網玩網絡遊戲、晚上上網寫部落格、半夜依舊在聊天室裡……這是部分青少年的生活方式。在他們的心中，缺少了網絡就像沒有了空氣一樣。
王博士指出，在資訊快速便捷的時代，網絡熱潮席捲青少年，在電腦網絡越發達的地方，網絡沉迷的危險性就越高。
“其實，在瞭解或解決問題之前，首先要找出源頭，為什么孩子會沉迷網絡呢？有許多原因，如因為網上有聲光刺激，隨時上網都有人跟你聊天等，于是孩子在其中欲罷不能，這情況和沉迷賭博的情況有點相似。”
他表示，網絡成癮有一個脈絡模式或條件，沉迷者在其中反覆掙扎卻又無法自拔。
“舉例，一個孩子面對現實生活的壓力（如功課、人際關係等）困擾著他。當這些問題存在了，一旦有機會又方便上網絡，就開始慢慢越陷越深……”
他使用網絡交友、玩遊戲，心情非常愉快。原本只用一小時，后來增加到數小時，甚至更多。
雖然如此，當他用到一定程度時，就會出現一種罪惡感（比如：功課沒做、學校沒有知心朋友等），他發現促使他逃避到網絡去的問題，並沒有因此而消失。
這時，他為了再度逃避罪惡感，也再度使用網絡逃避。困擾他的問題沒有得到解決，它們還是存在，這反而推動他再使用網絡。他在意的問題一旦沒解決，這情況就會反覆發生。
“網絡有各種吸引力，外在又有推動力把孩子推向網絡。所以，我們要瞭解孩子為什么會這樣，一步步協助他正視和解決，而不是說不可以玩就了事。”
瞭解狀況后才解決
王智弘博士勸告父母及老師，在處理孩子沉迷網絡時，不要用太激烈的手法，否則會招來孩子更激烈的反抗。
當你發現家裡的孩子都有網絡沉迷的症狀時，你可以做些什么呢？
在處理孩子沉迷的問題時，很多家長會選擇把插頭拔掉、把熒幕砸壞，若這些措施是在孩子開始沉迷的初期就採取的話，那是有效的。但若到了很嚴重時，這種方法就沒有效了。
“有些情況嚴重的孩子，就會離家出走、打父母，其實他並不是真的很壞，他會因為不能上網而焦慮憤怒，除了發脾氣外，絕食抗議的都有。
“其實，到了某個程度，就要進行疏導，我們會先建議父母和孩子都要有溝通，瞭解孩子的狀況是什么？而不是強制地做。”
王教授建議的方法如下：
‧與孩子建立友好關係：若你一開始就責備他，他怎么接受你的勸說？要與孩子建立友好關係，他才願意對你敞開胸懷。
‧到專業輔導中心進行心理治療和輔導。
‧提升孩子的自我覺察能力：可以玩遊戲，但是要有自制力，知道什么時候該吃該睡該做功課。若他在玩網絡遊戲時，生活還能正常運作，那就沒有問題。
‧改變環境：限制網絡設備的使用，不把網絡設備擺在孩子的房間或書桌上，環境誘惑會吸引孩子，因為誘惑就一直在身邊。
‧訓練孩子有比較好的人際關係，增進他們的人際溝通能力：很多人際關係不好的孩子，通常都是高危險群。所以，要訓練他的人際關係，讓他在現實生活中找到更多朋友。
‧鼓勵他參與活動：從中發掘他的榮譽感和自尊心，這是很重要的。
‧生涯協助：要幫助他找出為什么而努力，幫助他瞭解自己的生活目標，對自己的生活意義有一個方向感。讓學校成為有趣的地方，讓他想去學校，不會因此而覺得無聊。
王博士說：“其實，沉迷網絡並不是一個很大的罪惡，是因為無法控制自己，所以才會影響生活，因此需要大家來協助他。”
參考網站
＊台灣心理諮商諮詢網：www.heart.net.tw
＊台灣網絡成癮輔導網：iad.heart.net.tw
＊王智弘教授本身的網站：wang.heart.net.tw
NEWS: Facebook估值65億至100億美元
全球最受歡迎的社交網站之一Facebook，究竟價值多少？俄羅斯一家投資公司有意購入該網站的部分股份，並進行估值，估計Facebook目前價值65億至100億美元。
俄羅斯數碼天空科技（Digital Sky Technologies）投資公司周一表示，會向Facebook的離職員工和現職員工，收集該網站的股份，目標是購入總值1億美元的Facebook股份。如果一切順利，該公司將持有Facebook的3.5%股份。
換句話說，數碼天空科技願意付出每股14.77美元，買入Facebook股份，而照這個價錢計算，Facebook的總值高達65億美元。該公司並沒有與Facebook創辦人兼行政總裁楚克伯格（Mark Zuckerberg）直接接洽。
俄羅斯數碼天空科技（Digital Sky Technologies）投資公司周一表示，會向Facebook的離職員工和現職員工，收集該網站的股份，目標是購入總值1億美元的Facebook股份。如果一切順利，該公司將持有Facebook的3.5%股份。
換句話說，數碼天空科技願意付出每股14.77美元，買入Facebook股份，而照這個價錢計算，Facebook的總值高達65億美元。該公司並沒有與Facebook創辦人兼行政總裁楚克伯格（Mark Zuckerberg）直接接洽。
Monday, July 13, 2009
NEWS: Online tool for residential communities
KUALA LUMPUR: Voicing and handling complaints concerning neighbourhood issues can be thoroughly confusing, especially when there are multiple complaints about the same thing or there’s a sudden flurry of dissatisfaction.
Such situations led Adrian Teh of Leanis Consulting Sdn Bhd and business partner Yuvan Kumar Danabalan to build a software solution that organises complaints from neighbourhood residents while helping to bring the people closer together.
The solution is called Highrise and is a web-based collaboration tool for residential communities.
As a member of a condominium joint-management committee (JMC), Teh realised there was a need for a platform that allowed residents to share information and discuss matters concerning their residential areas.
“Part of the committee’s job is to get opinions from the residents which isn’t always easy, so why not develop a private portal where residents can voice their opinions,” he said.
Teh regards Highrise as an empowerment tool that enables residents living in gated and guarded communities to collaborate towards the better management of their residential community.
But Highrise’s use is not limited to these communities only. “It can also be used in more traditional residential communities such as a kampung. All we need is a single point of communication, in this case, the village headman would be a good candidate,” Teh said.
People’s portal
Each residential community is given a private web portal to voice their opinions. And best of all, this is offered free of charge.
The portal allows residents to post announcements, opinions and complaints and also helps them keep tabs on paying their utility bills. There are also discussion forums where they can talk about issues or even exchange household tips and recipes.
Users must first prove that they are a resident in a neighbourhood, though. “Users are required to fill up a form, and the information will be verified by the condominium’s management office or JMCs.
“The users will then be issued a username and password each,” explained Teh.
Highrise also aims to bring neighbours closer. Teh said Malaysians living in high-rise buildings sometimes go about their daily activities without knowing who their neighbours are.
“We know that practically everyone has a Facebook account these days so why not have a similar platform for a residential committee,” he said.
Teh believes that it is always good for neighbours to be familiar with each other. “You never know when you may need their help, or when you can lend them a helping hand yourself,” he said. He has experienced such situations himself.
Ad space
There are plans to further improve Highrise. Among these is to market the portal as an advertising medium.
“It can be an option for advertisers that want to target specific demographics living in a certain location,” Teh said, adding that the money earned could help covering Highrise’s development costs.
Highrise is already in use at Platinum Lakes 10 in Setapak and the community there is pleased with the solution.
It’s JMC chairman, See Quai Seen, a 54-year-old teacher, likes the way Highrise helps the committee keep abreast of its tasks.
“Residents post their complaints and we get to work on them. The residents can also keep tabs on what’s being done to resolve their problems or other issues,” he said.
However, he said Highrise is only as effective as the JMC that employs the solution. Residents would still need an active and responsible JMC.
One resident there, who wanted to be identified only as Lilan, 49, said Highrise has made things easier for him and the other community members.
“You can make a complaint or suggestion to the management from anywhere and at any time,” he said. “In the past, you had to make your way to the management office and only during office hours.”
For more information on Highrise, surf to
www.highrise.my.
Such situations led Adrian Teh of Leanis Consulting Sdn Bhd and business partner Yuvan Kumar Danabalan to build a software solution that organises complaints from neighbourhood residents while helping to bring the people closer together.
The solution is called Highrise and is a web-based collaboration tool for residential communities.
As a member of a condominium joint-management committee (JMC), Teh realised there was a need for a platform that allowed residents to share information and discuss matters concerning their residential areas.
“Part of the committee’s job is to get opinions from the residents which isn’t always easy, so why not develop a private portal where residents can voice their opinions,” he said.
Teh regards Highrise as an empowerment tool that enables residents living in gated and guarded communities to collaborate towards the better management of their residential community.
But Highrise’s use is not limited to these communities only. “It can also be used in more traditional residential communities such as a kampung. All we need is a single point of communication, in this case, the village headman would be a good candidate,” Teh said.
People’s portal
Each residential community is given a private web portal to voice their opinions. And best of all, this is offered free of charge.
The portal allows residents to post announcements, opinions and complaints and also helps them keep tabs on paying their utility bills. There are also discussion forums where they can talk about issues or even exchange household tips and recipes.
Users must first prove that they are a resident in a neighbourhood, though. “Users are required to fill up a form, and the information will be verified by the condominium’s management office or JMCs.
“The users will then be issued a username and password each,” explained Teh.
Highrise also aims to bring neighbours closer. Teh said Malaysians living in high-rise buildings sometimes go about their daily activities without knowing who their neighbours are.
“We know that practically everyone has a Facebook account these days so why not have a similar platform for a residential committee,” he said.
Teh believes that it is always good for neighbours to be familiar with each other. “You never know when you may need their help, or when you can lend them a helping hand yourself,” he said. He has experienced such situations himself.
Ad space
There are plans to further improve Highrise. Among these is to market the portal as an advertising medium.
“It can be an option for advertisers that want to target specific demographics living in a certain location,” Teh said, adding that the money earned could help covering Highrise’s development costs.
Highrise is already in use at Platinum Lakes 10 in Setapak and the community there is pleased with the solution.
It’s JMC chairman, See Quai Seen, a 54-year-old teacher, likes the way Highrise helps the committee keep abreast of its tasks.
“Residents post their complaints and we get to work on them. The residents can also keep tabs on what’s being done to resolve their problems or other issues,” he said.
However, he said Highrise is only as effective as the JMC that employs the solution. Residents would still need an active and responsible JMC.
One resident there, who wanted to be identified only as Lilan, 49, said Highrise has made things easier for him and the other community members.
“You can make a complaint or suggestion to the management from anywhere and at any time,” he said. “In the past, you had to make your way to the management office and only during office hours.”
For more information on Highrise, surf to
www.highrise.my.
NEWS: Be cautious when using Internet, cell phone while working
By The Associated Press
A few tips for employees regarding Internet and cell phone use:
_ Remember that anything you do on a company-issued computer or cell phone - in or out of the office - could be tracked by a boss, the courts or a regulator.
Many employers monitor Web site use, keystrokes, instant messages and e-mail. Some even archive text messages on work cell phones.
_ Avoid mentioning your company, boss or co-workers in online postings unless you have permission to do so.
_ Avoid using any device to take or transmit any company-related photos, videos or other recordings without permission from management.
This includes any images of company buildings or logos and embarrassing or unprofessional photos of co-workers or clients.
_ Know your company's policy on social networking, video Web sites, e-mail and other tech-related activities.
_ Regularly delete personal e-mail from your work account.
_ Remember when searching for a job that many employers check social networking sites, blogs and other online activity.
(Source: The e-Policy Handbook, 2nd Edition) - AP
A few tips for employees regarding Internet and cell phone use:
_ Remember that anything you do on a company-issued computer or cell phone - in or out of the office - could be tracked by a boss, the courts or a regulator.
Many employers monitor Web site use, keystrokes, instant messages and e-mail. Some even archive text messages on work cell phones.
_ Avoid mentioning your company, boss or co-workers in online postings unless you have permission to do so.
_ Avoid using any device to take or transmit any company-related photos, videos or other recordings without permission from management.
This includes any images of company buildings or logos and embarrassing or unprofessional photos of co-workers or clients.
_ Know your company's policy on social networking, video Web sites, e-mail and other tech-related activities.
_ Regularly delete personal e-mail from your work account.
_ Remember when searching for a job that many employers check social networking sites, blogs and other online activity.
(Source: The e-Policy Handbook, 2nd Edition) - AP
Sunday, July 12, 2009
NEWS: Small web firm sues Facebook
NEW YORK: In a counterpunch to the world’s biggest online hangout, a small web company called Power.com has sued Facebook, saying it doesn’t follow its own policy of giving users control over their content.
Power lets users simultaneously access several social networks, including MySpace and Twitter. But Facebook isn’t among them because the site has blocked Power. Last year it sued Power over the practice in a case that is still open.
In that lawsuit, Facebook accused Power of copyright and trademark violations and said the company gains unauthorised access to Facebook’s computer network when it asks users for their Facebook login and password information.
This, Facebook says, violates its members’ privacy and security, as well as its policy of prohibiting outsiders from asking Facebook users for their login information.
Power, though, points out that its practice is a common one on the Web and even Facebook asks its own users to provide login information for their e-mail accounts if they want find their e-mail contacts on the site.
San Francisco-based Power filed a countersuit Friday in US District Court in San Jose, California. Power claims that Palo Alto, California-based Facebook improperly restricts its users’ access to their private information when it prevents them from accessing it through a third party like Power.
Power’s CEO, Steve Vachani, compared Facebook’s policy to cellphone companies locking out third-party devices and applications from their wireless networks. To fight the case, the company has even hired Scott Bursor, a lawyer who successfully challenged this practice and obtained settlements.
“Data portability is an inalienable right,” Vachani said. “Facebook has historically been the one company that has dragged their feet on this.”
Own service
Facebook has its own platform for letting users access third-party sites using their logins for the social network. Facebook says more than 10,000 websites use the service, called Facebook Connect — though not Power.com.
While Facebook’s approach in creating a “walled garden” is in different from other social networks that are more open to third-party access, it is unclear whether Power’s claims can stand up in court.
Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of Harvard’s Berkman Centre for Internet & Society, said some of Power’s counterclaims won’t fly.
“In my view Facebook isn’t a monopoly,” he said in an e-mail message. He added that much of the rest of Power’s claims are of the “squishy” variety, and the court has leeway to decide what amounts to unfair competition.
In a statement on Friday, Facebook said called the lawsuit “without merit” and said it plans to fight Power aggressively.
“We have made numerous attempts to work with Power.com but after making commitments to comply with our policies, they continued to put Facebook user data at risk,” Facebook said.
Zittrain called the debate over user data a healthy one to be having, adding that Power’s lawsuit “will be among those forces pushing Facebook to maintain and possibly expand its openness.” — AP
Power lets users simultaneously access several social networks, including MySpace and Twitter. But Facebook isn’t among them because the site has blocked Power. Last year it sued Power over the practice in a case that is still open.
In that lawsuit, Facebook accused Power of copyright and trademark violations and said the company gains unauthorised access to Facebook’s computer network when it asks users for their Facebook login and password information.
This, Facebook says, violates its members’ privacy and security, as well as its policy of prohibiting outsiders from asking Facebook users for their login information.
Power, though, points out that its practice is a common one on the Web and even Facebook asks its own users to provide login information for their e-mail accounts if they want find their e-mail contacts on the site.
San Francisco-based Power filed a countersuit Friday in US District Court in San Jose, California. Power claims that Palo Alto, California-based Facebook improperly restricts its users’ access to their private information when it prevents them from accessing it through a third party like Power.
Power’s CEO, Steve Vachani, compared Facebook’s policy to cellphone companies locking out third-party devices and applications from their wireless networks. To fight the case, the company has even hired Scott Bursor, a lawyer who successfully challenged this practice and obtained settlements.
“Data portability is an inalienable right,” Vachani said. “Facebook has historically been the one company that has dragged their feet on this.”
Own service
Facebook has its own platform for letting users access third-party sites using their logins for the social network. Facebook says more than 10,000 websites use the service, called Facebook Connect — though not Power.com.
While Facebook’s approach in creating a “walled garden” is in different from other social networks that are more open to third-party access, it is unclear whether Power’s claims can stand up in court.
Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of Harvard’s Berkman Centre for Internet & Society, said some of Power’s counterclaims won’t fly.
“In my view Facebook isn’t a monopoly,” he said in an e-mail message. He added that much of the rest of Power’s claims are of the “squishy” variety, and the court has leeway to decide what amounts to unfair competition.
In a statement on Friday, Facebook said called the lawsuit “without merit” and said it plans to fight Power aggressively.
“We have made numerous attempts to work with Power.com but after making commitments to comply with our policies, they continued to put Facebook user data at risk,” Facebook said.
Zittrain called the debate over user data a healthy one to be having, adding that Power’s lawsuit “will be among those forces pushing Facebook to maintain and possibly expand its openness.” — AP
NEWS: Relive the Apollo 11 mission
BOSTON: Families crowded around black-and-white TV sets in 1969 to watch Neil Armstrong take man’s first steps on the moon.
Now, they’ll be able to watch the Apollo 11 mission recreated in real time on the Web, follow Twitter feeds of transmissions between Mission Control and the spacecraft, and even get an e-mail alert when the lunar module touches down.
Those features are part of a new website from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum commemorating the moon mission and Kennedy’s push to land Americans there first.
“Putting a man on the moon really did unite the globe,” said Thomas Putnam, director of the JFK Library. “We hope to use the Internet to do the same thing.”
The website — WeChooseTheMoon.org — goes live at 8.02am (12.02 GMT) on Thursday, 90 minutes before the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
It will track the capsule’s route from the Earth to the Moon, ending with the moon landing and Armstrong’s walk — in real time but 40 years later.
Internet visitors will be able to see animated recreations of key events from the four-day mission, including when Apollo 11 first orbits the moon and when the lunar module separates from the command module, as well as browse video clips and photos and hear the radio transmission between the astronauts and Nasa flight controllers.
JFK’s dream
The site also connects the mission back to Kennedy, who first set the goal to have a man on the moon by the end of the decade during a May 25, 1961, speech before US Congress.
The website’s name was taken from another speech Kennedy gave in 1962, when he said: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone and one which we intend to win.”
Kennedy was assassinated six years before Armstrong set foot on the moon but the website also features photos showing the President’s deep interest in the space programme, including ones of him watching Alan Shepard become the first American in space.
While the main goal is to offer people a chance to again experience the excitement of the moon mission, Putnam said he also hopes it inspires people to tackle the issues facing the country today, such as global warming or poverty.
“What is the next challenge? What is it that we want to achieve?” he said. “I think President Kennedy would want our leaders today to take on the biggest challenges and set those goals.”
Also check out
www.jfklibrary.org. — AP
Now, they’ll be able to watch the Apollo 11 mission recreated in real time on the Web, follow Twitter feeds of transmissions between Mission Control and the spacecraft, and even get an e-mail alert when the lunar module touches down.
Those features are part of a new website from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum commemorating the moon mission and Kennedy’s push to land Americans there first.
“Putting a man on the moon really did unite the globe,” said Thomas Putnam, director of the JFK Library. “We hope to use the Internet to do the same thing.”
The website — WeChooseTheMoon.org — goes live at 8.02am (12.02 GMT) on Thursday, 90 minutes before the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
It will track the capsule’s route from the Earth to the Moon, ending with the moon landing and Armstrong’s walk — in real time but 40 years later.
Internet visitors will be able to see animated recreations of key events from the four-day mission, including when Apollo 11 first orbits the moon and when the lunar module separates from the command module, as well as browse video clips and photos and hear the radio transmission between the astronauts and Nasa flight controllers.
JFK’s dream
The site also connects the mission back to Kennedy, who first set the goal to have a man on the moon by the end of the decade during a May 25, 1961, speech before US Congress.
The website’s name was taken from another speech Kennedy gave in 1962, when he said: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone and one which we intend to win.”
Kennedy was assassinated six years before Armstrong set foot on the moon but the website also features photos showing the President’s deep interest in the space programme, including ones of him watching Alan Shepard become the first American in space.
While the main goal is to offer people a chance to again experience the excitement of the moon mission, Putnam said he also hopes it inspires people to tackle the issues facing the country today, such as global warming or poverty.
“What is the next challenge? What is it that we want to achieve?” he said. “I think President Kennedy would want our leaders today to take on the biggest challenges and set those goals.”
Also check out
www.jfklibrary.org. — AP
Thursday, July 9, 2009
NEWS: ICT to preserve indigenous traditional knowledge
KUCHING: Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud wants the traditional knowledge of the state’s nearly 30 ethnic groups to be preserved through the use of information and communication technology (ICT).
He said many of these ethnic groups passed down knowledge orally from one generation to the next, through stories and songs for example.
“There is much to be learnt from these communities, the knowledge they have on health, history and way of life,” he said in a speech to open the sixth international conference on information technology in Asia at Kuching Hilton Tuesday.
Taib’s text of speech was read by his deputy Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam.
Taib urged Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), which organised the four-day conference, and other research institutions to identify ways in which ICT could be used to preserve traditional knowledge.
“There is a need, for example, to enhance speech-recognition technologies to speed up the process of converting speech to text so that the text can be stored and analysed.”
He said machine translation software, which Unimas was doing research on, should be developed for local languages.
The move, he added, would enable indigenous languages to be translated to English.
Taib commended Unimas for its successful e-Bario project, which enabled students and villagers in the Kelabit highland in northern Sarawak to connect to the world through ICT telecentres.
He said as the state was still short of competent and skilled IT and engineering professionals, Unimas could play a vital role in human resource development programmes.
“Unimas will be at the heart of the state’s Multimedia Super Corridor activities, particularly looking at the incubation facilities for technology startups and in addressing the state’s human resource development needs.
“This would assist very much in the Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy project which aims to create 1.6 million jobs with 10 social and commercial sectors to be opened up,” said Taib.
He said many of these ethnic groups passed down knowledge orally from one generation to the next, through stories and songs for example.
“There is much to be learnt from these communities, the knowledge they have on health, history and way of life,” he said in a speech to open the sixth international conference on information technology in Asia at Kuching Hilton Tuesday.
Taib’s text of speech was read by his deputy Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam.
Taib urged Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), which organised the four-day conference, and other research institutions to identify ways in which ICT could be used to preserve traditional knowledge.
“There is a need, for example, to enhance speech-recognition technologies to speed up the process of converting speech to text so that the text can be stored and analysed.”
He said machine translation software, which Unimas was doing research on, should be developed for local languages.
The move, he added, would enable indigenous languages to be translated to English.
Taib commended Unimas for its successful e-Bario project, which enabled students and villagers in the Kelabit highland in northern Sarawak to connect to the world through ICT telecentres.
He said as the state was still short of competent and skilled IT and engineering professionals, Unimas could play a vital role in human resource development programmes.
“Unimas will be at the heart of the state’s Multimedia Super Corridor activities, particularly looking at the incubation facilities for technology startups and in addressing the state’s human resource development needs.
“This would assist very much in the Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy project which aims to create 1.6 million jobs with 10 social and commercial sectors to be opened up,” said Taib.
NEWS: IPTV service to be fine-tuned
FINE TV, an IPTV service in the country, was launched in December 2005 and has about 1,000 subscribers nationwide now, with the bulk of these in the Klang Valley.
Its operator, Network Guidance Sdn Bhd, plans to increase its subscriber base to 22,000 by 2011.
“Before the end of this year, we will revamp our channel packages to have more appeal to our viewers, offer “killer content,” and engage in promotional activities,” Network Guidance president, Ida Rahayu Mohd Noor, told In.Tech.
There are currently 20 channels available on Fine TV and subscribers only need a 1Mbps broadband connection speed.
In the initial stages of rolling out Fine TV, Ida Rahayu said, one of the main challenges the company faced was bandwidth throughput which was beyond its control. Nowadays broadband speeds are much better, and will get even better over the next few years.
She said getting the right content for Fine TV’s viewers was another challenge.
“We cannot offer the same programmes as satellite and terrestrial TV stations; we must be different to attract our viewers,” she said.
This, she added, continually tests the depth of Network Guidance’s pockets.
According to Ida Rahayu, Fine TV viewers are attracted to the service because they have the flexibility to watch what they want, when they want.
They can also rewatch a programme as many times as they want, pause at any point during the show, as well as fast forward and rewind. — SUBASHINI SELVARATNAM
Its operator, Network Guidance Sdn Bhd, plans to increase its subscriber base to 22,000 by 2011.
“Before the end of this year, we will revamp our channel packages to have more appeal to our viewers, offer “killer content,” and engage in promotional activities,” Network Guidance president, Ida Rahayu Mohd Noor, told In.Tech.
There are currently 20 channels available on Fine TV and subscribers only need a 1Mbps broadband connection speed.
In the initial stages of rolling out Fine TV, Ida Rahayu said, one of the main challenges the company faced was bandwidth throughput which was beyond its control. Nowadays broadband speeds are much better, and will get even better over the next few years.
She said getting the right content for Fine TV’s viewers was another challenge.
“We cannot offer the same programmes as satellite and terrestrial TV stations; we must be different to attract our viewers,” she said.
This, she added, continually tests the depth of Network Guidance’s pockets.
According to Ida Rahayu, Fine TV viewers are attracted to the service because they have the flexibility to watch what they want, when they want.
They can also rewatch a programme as many times as they want, pause at any point during the show, as well as fast forward and rewind. — SUBASHINI SELVARATNAM
NEWS: Success hinges on content
INTERNET Protocol Television (IPTV) service providers have to compete aggressively against satellite and terrestrial TV stations in terms of acquiring content and getting subscribers.
According to Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Adeel Najam, an IPTV service will not be successful without a solid content strategy.
In-house content production by the IPTV service provider will not be feasible in the short-term, he said. The service provider will need to build partnerships with content owners.
“They can also offer niche content for different segments of the market that are not catered for by existing TV stations,” he said.
An IPTV service provider will need to aggressively market its service. It should bundle multiple services — voice, broadband Internet and IPTV — to maximise value for its consumers.
Initially, the service provider may need to offer free trial packages to allow consumers to sample IPTV.
Hurdles
Najam said IPTV services have been successful when they have been able to differentiate themselves from the services of other TV providers, as well as provide additional value for consumers.
In Malaysia, any IPTV service provider must offer innovative extras, such as ala-carte content packaging, time-shifted viewing, online shopping, and high-definition TV.
The tallest hurdle for an IPTV service provider would be exclusive content-ownership by TV stations, which can can hamper the growth of a new IPTV operator in the market.
Some IPTV service providers have had to struggle to obtain content that is in demand by consumers, and have had to make heavy investments as a result.
The other challenge is the availability of constant high-speed broadband in the country. A standard-definition TV channel on an IPTV network requires about 4Mbps (megabits per second) bandwidth while a high-definition TV channel requires 7Mbps to 8Mbps.
Multiple HD streams combined with bandwidth for Internet access and VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) phone service require bandwidths in the range of 20Mbps to 30Mbps.
In the Asia Pacific region, IPTV services have been successfully rolled out by carriers such as PCCW and HKBN in Hong Kong, as well as China Telecom and China Unicom.
The other carriers include Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, SingTel in Singapore, NTT in Japan, as well as SK Broadband and KT in South Korea. — SUBASHINI SELVARATNAM
According to Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Adeel Najam, an IPTV service will not be successful without a solid content strategy.
In-house content production by the IPTV service provider will not be feasible in the short-term, he said. The service provider will need to build partnerships with content owners.
“They can also offer niche content for different segments of the market that are not catered for by existing TV stations,” he said.
An IPTV service provider will need to aggressively market its service. It should bundle multiple services — voice, broadband Internet and IPTV — to maximise value for its consumers.
Initially, the service provider may need to offer free trial packages to allow consumers to sample IPTV.
Hurdles
Najam said IPTV services have been successful when they have been able to differentiate themselves from the services of other TV providers, as well as provide additional value for consumers.
In Malaysia, any IPTV service provider must offer innovative extras, such as ala-carte content packaging, time-shifted viewing, online shopping, and high-definition TV.
The tallest hurdle for an IPTV service provider would be exclusive content-ownership by TV stations, which can can hamper the growth of a new IPTV operator in the market.
Some IPTV service providers have had to struggle to obtain content that is in demand by consumers, and have had to make heavy investments as a result.
The other challenge is the availability of constant high-speed broadband in the country. A standard-definition TV channel on an IPTV network requires about 4Mbps (megabits per second) bandwidth while a high-definition TV channel requires 7Mbps to 8Mbps.
Multiple HD streams combined with bandwidth for Internet access and VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) phone service require bandwidths in the range of 20Mbps to 30Mbps.
In the Asia Pacific region, IPTV services have been successfully rolled out by carriers such as PCCW and HKBN in Hong Kong, as well as China Telecom and China Unicom.
The other carriers include Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, SingTel in Singapore, NTT in Japan, as well as SK Broadband and KT in South Korea. — SUBASHINI SELVARATNAM
NEWS: MDeC holds Great ICT Sale
KUALA LUMPUR: The inaugural MSC Malaysia Great ICT (information and communications technology) Sale later this month is to cater to the rising demand for enterprise software and services from the small- and medium-scale enterprise (SME) sector.
The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), which organised the nationwide event, said SMEs in the country are also more willing now to engage in e-commerce than they were a few short years ago, and so are seeking out such software and services.
To meet these needs, the Great ICT Sale will involve some 50 top MSC Malaysia companies offering their products, which will include accounting programs, e-commerce solutions, hosting services, and payment gateways.
There are more than 2,000 MSC Malaysia companies, but MDeC has pared this down to 50 for the month-long event. Among the criteria is that the chosen company must offer the best discount or enhanced value for bundled solutions.
However, handing out discounts is not the main goal of the event, said Saifol Bahri, MDeC vice-president of industry development.
“What we really want is to let the SMEs know what software and services are available to them, as well as to educate them on the concept of software as a service,” he said at the launch of the Great ICT Sale in Kuala Lumpur today.
MDeC, guardian of the MSC Malaysia initiative, estimates that there are 60,000 SMEs in the country.
More aware
A recent survey of 400 SMEs, commissioned by MDeC and carried out by researcher Frost & Sullivan, found that half of the SMEs that participated expect to engage in e-commerce within the next two years.
Saifol said that if the survey had been carried out five years ago, there would have been no positive feedback whatsoever by the SMEs on embracing e-commerce.
“The SMEs at that time would have asked, ‘What is e-commerce?’ Now, the SMEs are coming around because most of their clients are already on some sort of e-commerce platform and they do not want to be left behind,” he said.
MDeC foresees a boom in SME demand for software and services as a result of the sea change because currently only 11% of local SMEs are engaged in e-commerce.
Another catalyst for SMEs embracing e-commerce is the advent of software-as-a-service solutions, which help reduce the cost of an SME getting into e-commerce, according to Saifol.
Such solutions revolve around companies “leasing” ICT software as a service over the Internet which means they do not have to spend on costly infrastructure, such as servers.
According to the survey, only 25% of the SMEs polled had their own servers.
Where it’s at
The Great ICT Sale will take place in cyberspace and the real world from July 20 to Aug 21.
It will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on July 20 and 21; at the Penang International Sports Arena from Aug 7 to 9; and the Persada Johor International Convention Centre from Aug 14 to 16.
To check out the sale in cyberspace, surf to
www.mscmalaysia.my/greatictsale between July 20 and Aug 20.
MDeC is targeting a modest total of 400 SMEs to come to the sale and it expects about RM5mil in sales of software and services to be racked up by the end of the event.
Among the MSC Malaysia companies offering products are applications and web-hosting solutions provider StarFusion Sdn Bhd; accounting solutions provider MYOB Sdn Bhd; and Exa Bytes Sdn Bhd, which provides web-hosting and domain-name registration solutions.
The sale is among several activities of the National ICT Month, which is organised by the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) in the same period.
The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), which organised the nationwide event, said SMEs in the country are also more willing now to engage in e-commerce than they were a few short years ago, and so are seeking out such software and services.
To meet these needs, the Great ICT Sale will involve some 50 top MSC Malaysia companies offering their products, which will include accounting programs, e-commerce solutions, hosting services, and payment gateways.
There are more than 2,000 MSC Malaysia companies, but MDeC has pared this down to 50 for the month-long event. Among the criteria is that the chosen company must offer the best discount or enhanced value for bundled solutions.
However, handing out discounts is not the main goal of the event, said Saifol Bahri, MDeC vice-president of industry development.
“What we really want is to let the SMEs know what software and services are available to them, as well as to educate them on the concept of software as a service,” he said at the launch of the Great ICT Sale in Kuala Lumpur today.
MDeC, guardian of the MSC Malaysia initiative, estimates that there are 60,000 SMEs in the country.
More aware
A recent survey of 400 SMEs, commissioned by MDeC and carried out by researcher Frost & Sullivan, found that half of the SMEs that participated expect to engage in e-commerce within the next two years.
Saifol said that if the survey had been carried out five years ago, there would have been no positive feedback whatsoever by the SMEs on embracing e-commerce.
“The SMEs at that time would have asked, ‘What is e-commerce?’ Now, the SMEs are coming around because most of their clients are already on some sort of e-commerce platform and they do not want to be left behind,” he said.
MDeC foresees a boom in SME demand for software and services as a result of the sea change because currently only 11% of local SMEs are engaged in e-commerce.
Another catalyst for SMEs embracing e-commerce is the advent of software-as-a-service solutions, which help reduce the cost of an SME getting into e-commerce, according to Saifol.
Such solutions revolve around companies “leasing” ICT software as a service over the Internet which means they do not have to spend on costly infrastructure, such as servers.
According to the survey, only 25% of the SMEs polled had their own servers.
Where it’s at
The Great ICT Sale will take place in cyberspace and the real world from July 20 to Aug 21.
It will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on July 20 and 21; at the Penang International Sports Arena from Aug 7 to 9; and the Persada Johor International Convention Centre from Aug 14 to 16.
To check out the sale in cyberspace, surf to
www.mscmalaysia.my/greatictsale between July 20 and Aug 20.
MDeC is targeting a modest total of 400 SMEs to come to the sale and it expects about RM5mil in sales of software and services to be racked up by the end of the event.
Among the MSC Malaysia companies offering products are applications and web-hosting solutions provider StarFusion Sdn Bhd; accounting solutions provider MYOB Sdn Bhd; and Exa Bytes Sdn Bhd, which provides web-hosting and domain-name registration solutions.
The sale is among several activities of the National ICT Month, which is organised by the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) in the same period.
Monday, July 6, 2009
NEWS: omg! Look who’s on top
SANTA MONICA (California): Think of the most popular brands in celebrity news, and you’ll probably come up with a small list that includes Entertainment Tonight, US Weekly and People.
Consider the most successful celebrity news destinations online, and something else jumps to the top. For more than a year, one site has attracted more eyeballs than any other in the realm of celebrity gossip: Yahoo! Inc’s omg!.
With a dedicated staff of just five people, and more than a dozen shared with other Yahoo! sites, the company has settled on a formula that Yahoo! Media Group head Jimmy Pitaro calls “highly profitable,” though Yahoo! won’t reveal details.
The fact that Yahoo!’s entertainment site outdraws rivals that aim to break news — such as TMZ.com, which broke the news of Michael Jackson’s death — helps illustrate that success online doesn’t always mean being first and having exclusives.
It also marks a rare success for the struggling Internet portal, which has shed thousands of employees and shuttered several businesses, a process CEO Carol Bartz accelerated after being hired in January.
While Bartz said at a shareholders meeting in June that she felt too many entertainment stories make Yahoo!’s front page, Pitaro said she’s a solid supporter of the company’s media properties in general.
Omg! puts a light, positive spin on articles and other tidbits that mostly come from other news organisations such as Access Hollywood and The Associated Press. The vital placement of omg! links and blurbs on Yahoo!’s home page gives it access to some 500 million unique visitors a month.
The strategy has vaulted the two-year-old site past People and TMZ, both units of Time Warner Inc, as well as other popular celebrity sites like PerezHilton.com.
According to the latest figures from tracking firm comScore, omg! clocked 20.6 million unique visitors in May, a 65% increase from a year ago and more than No 2 TMZ and No 3 People combined.
The majority of the omg! traffic comes from people who click through Yahoo!’s homepage, which critics and competitors view as giving it an unfair advantage.
Although omg! readers view on average half the number of pages once they arrive — about 16 compared with 29 for all entertainment news properties — the site is still top-ranked in overall page views in the category.
Sitting up
Other large media organisations have taken notice. In February, Microsoft Corp and Hollywood production company BermanBraun jointly launched Wonderwall with a similar strategy of drawing traffic from a large portal — in this case, Microsoft’s MSN. Like omg!, Wonderwall runs on a small staff, about a dozen full time.
“Our traffic has been beyond any estimates that any of us had projected,” said BermanBraun co-owner Lloyd Braun, a TV executive and former head of the Yahoo! Media Group.
In April, the last month its data were broken out, Wonderwall had nine million unique visitors, putting it past People and into third behind TMZ had it been ranked by comScore among other entertainment news sites.
“They would not be there were they not affiliated with a Yahoo! or an MSN or these large corporate entities,” said Perez Hilton, the celebrity blogger who runs PerezHilton.com. “I think their numbers are misleading.”
Omg!, like its rivals, says it has been gradually succeeding at deriving more of its traffic “organically,” through search queries or people bookmarking the pages.
But there’s no question traffic from the portal helps it stand out among some 1,000 or so celebrity news sites that have popped up, and occasionally dropped out, over the past several years.
The tone of omg!, like Yahoo! itself, is bright, breezy and nonjudgmental. Blurbs written by omg! staff link to original stories and photos elsewhere on Yahoo! or at other sites.
Following Jackson’s unexpected death, omg! took a respectful, celebratory view of the pop icon’s life through photo galleries and celebrity reaction stories, leaving the hard-driving news pieces to Yahoo!’s front page and news site.
“We just like to tell the happy view on what’s going on in the entertainment world,” said Sibyl Goldman, an entertainment group vice-president.
Playing nice
That bright spin has attracted advertisers worried that appearing next to salacious scandal stories would turn off some consumers. State Farm Insurance Co has sponsored a series of short celebrity-mum interviews, targeting mothers in a conflict-free format that avoids some of the celebrity muckraking of other sites.
“It’s not all about traffic,” said Ed Gold, the insurance company’s advertising director. “Our goal is not to put State Farm into environments that aren’t appropriate to our brand. There are some (celebrity sites) that may go a little bit too far in what they cover.”
People.com Editor Mark Golin said that while such sites may capture a lot of visitors, reliance on a portal home page may not work in the long term. Although People.com benefits from links on AOL’s homepage and other sites — even omg! — Golin said most traffic comes to the site directly.
People writers work both for the magazine and the website although he wouldn’t reveal how many.
“We have our own reporters. We create our own centre of gravity,” Golin said. “Even should readers hear a piece of news somewhere else, they’ll still end up coming to us to make sure it’s true. You don’t necessarily get that with an aggregator.”
Benefiting from the largesse of a portal is nothing new: TMZ launched in November 2005 attached to the AOL homepage. What is astonishing about omg! and Wonderwall’s success is the lack of any aspiration to break news, while focusing on glossy, magazine-like packaging and photos.
“I think omg! is great for what they do. It’s different from what we do. We break stories,” said Harvey Levin, executive producer of TMZ. “You shouldn’t be reliant on another place for getting all your traffic .... It’s just better business.”
Levin said his reporters try to ferret out court documents, produce original video clips and obtain exclusive information.
Major breaks have included the anti-Semitic tirade by actor Mel Gibson during a drunk-driving arrest and racist epithets Michael Richards hurled at hecklers at a West Hollywood comedy club. TMZ also broke the news of Jackson’s death more than a half-hour before traditional news organisations.
Got a niche
In the fight for attention and Internet advertising dollars, Pitaro makes no excuses.
“If you consider our competitors who have siblings that are TV broadcasters, they get tons of promotion on air,” Pitaro said. “We’re differentiating ourselves by striking the right tone and aggregating the best content on the Web.”
Although the pageview count at omg!, Wonderwall and other entertainment sites is staggering, revenue is likely to be fairly small (Yahoo! doesn’t break out figures for omg!).
Companies pay roughly US$10 (RM26) or more for every 1,000 people who look at a webpage with their advertisement displayed.
With 321 million pages viewed in May, that’s an estimated US$3.2mil (RM11mil) in ad revenue — more than enough to cover five salaries, but peanuts for Yahoo!, which averaged about US$600mil (RM2.16bil) in monthly revenue last year.
Online entertainment news is also getting more crowded with well-financed players. Along with Wonderwall, February saw the launch of DailyFill from News Corp, though there are no plans so far to link it to the company’s traffic behemoth, MySpace.
Pitaro said the company intends to keep a tight rein on costs, while focusing blogs or videos on topics that Yahoo! knows its users are interested in, based on the most popular search terms, which are usually about celebrities.
He said he’s not scared of the new competition, either, even from sites that have mimicked omg!’s photo-centric navigation page.
“We love the idea that others are investing in the space, because together we’ll all be generating buzz and interest in this arena,” he said. “But hopefully we’ll all grow.” — AP
Consider the most successful celebrity news destinations online, and something else jumps to the top. For more than a year, one site has attracted more eyeballs than any other in the realm of celebrity gossip: Yahoo! Inc’s omg!.
With a dedicated staff of just five people, and more than a dozen shared with other Yahoo! sites, the company has settled on a formula that Yahoo! Media Group head Jimmy Pitaro calls “highly profitable,” though Yahoo! won’t reveal details.
The fact that Yahoo!’s entertainment site outdraws rivals that aim to break news — such as TMZ.com, which broke the news of Michael Jackson’s death — helps illustrate that success online doesn’t always mean being first and having exclusives.
It also marks a rare success for the struggling Internet portal, which has shed thousands of employees and shuttered several businesses, a process CEO Carol Bartz accelerated after being hired in January.
While Bartz said at a shareholders meeting in June that she felt too many entertainment stories make Yahoo!’s front page, Pitaro said she’s a solid supporter of the company’s media properties in general.
Omg! puts a light, positive spin on articles and other tidbits that mostly come from other news organisations such as Access Hollywood and The Associated Press. The vital placement of omg! links and blurbs on Yahoo!’s home page gives it access to some 500 million unique visitors a month.
The strategy has vaulted the two-year-old site past People and TMZ, both units of Time Warner Inc, as well as other popular celebrity sites like PerezHilton.com.
According to the latest figures from tracking firm comScore, omg! clocked 20.6 million unique visitors in May, a 65% increase from a year ago and more than No 2 TMZ and No 3 People combined.
The majority of the omg! traffic comes from people who click through Yahoo!’s homepage, which critics and competitors view as giving it an unfair advantage.
Although omg! readers view on average half the number of pages once they arrive — about 16 compared with 29 for all entertainment news properties — the site is still top-ranked in overall page views in the category.
Sitting up
Other large media organisations have taken notice. In February, Microsoft Corp and Hollywood production company BermanBraun jointly launched Wonderwall with a similar strategy of drawing traffic from a large portal — in this case, Microsoft’s MSN. Like omg!, Wonderwall runs on a small staff, about a dozen full time.
“Our traffic has been beyond any estimates that any of us had projected,” said BermanBraun co-owner Lloyd Braun, a TV executive and former head of the Yahoo! Media Group.
In April, the last month its data were broken out, Wonderwall had nine million unique visitors, putting it past People and into third behind TMZ had it been ranked by comScore among other entertainment news sites.
“They would not be there were they not affiliated with a Yahoo! or an MSN or these large corporate entities,” said Perez Hilton, the celebrity blogger who runs PerezHilton.com. “I think their numbers are misleading.”
Omg!, like its rivals, says it has been gradually succeeding at deriving more of its traffic “organically,” through search queries or people bookmarking the pages.
But there’s no question traffic from the portal helps it stand out among some 1,000 or so celebrity news sites that have popped up, and occasionally dropped out, over the past several years.
The tone of omg!, like Yahoo! itself, is bright, breezy and nonjudgmental. Blurbs written by omg! staff link to original stories and photos elsewhere on Yahoo! or at other sites.
Following Jackson’s unexpected death, omg! took a respectful, celebratory view of the pop icon’s life through photo galleries and celebrity reaction stories, leaving the hard-driving news pieces to Yahoo!’s front page and news site.
“We just like to tell the happy view on what’s going on in the entertainment world,” said Sibyl Goldman, an entertainment group vice-president.
Playing nice
That bright spin has attracted advertisers worried that appearing next to salacious scandal stories would turn off some consumers. State Farm Insurance Co has sponsored a series of short celebrity-mum interviews, targeting mothers in a conflict-free format that avoids some of the celebrity muckraking of other sites.
“It’s not all about traffic,” said Ed Gold, the insurance company’s advertising director. “Our goal is not to put State Farm into environments that aren’t appropriate to our brand. There are some (celebrity sites) that may go a little bit too far in what they cover.”
People.com Editor Mark Golin said that while such sites may capture a lot of visitors, reliance on a portal home page may not work in the long term. Although People.com benefits from links on AOL’s homepage and other sites — even omg! — Golin said most traffic comes to the site directly.
People writers work both for the magazine and the website although he wouldn’t reveal how many.
“We have our own reporters. We create our own centre of gravity,” Golin said. “Even should readers hear a piece of news somewhere else, they’ll still end up coming to us to make sure it’s true. You don’t necessarily get that with an aggregator.”
Benefiting from the largesse of a portal is nothing new: TMZ launched in November 2005 attached to the AOL homepage. What is astonishing about omg! and Wonderwall’s success is the lack of any aspiration to break news, while focusing on glossy, magazine-like packaging and photos.
“I think omg! is great for what they do. It’s different from what we do. We break stories,” said Harvey Levin, executive producer of TMZ. “You shouldn’t be reliant on another place for getting all your traffic .... It’s just better business.”
Levin said his reporters try to ferret out court documents, produce original video clips and obtain exclusive information.
Major breaks have included the anti-Semitic tirade by actor Mel Gibson during a drunk-driving arrest and racist epithets Michael Richards hurled at hecklers at a West Hollywood comedy club. TMZ also broke the news of Jackson’s death more than a half-hour before traditional news organisations.
Got a niche
In the fight for attention and Internet advertising dollars, Pitaro makes no excuses.
“If you consider our competitors who have siblings that are TV broadcasters, they get tons of promotion on air,” Pitaro said. “We’re differentiating ourselves by striking the right tone and aggregating the best content on the Web.”
Although the pageview count at omg!, Wonderwall and other entertainment sites is staggering, revenue is likely to be fairly small (Yahoo! doesn’t break out figures for omg!).
Companies pay roughly US$10 (RM26) or more for every 1,000 people who look at a webpage with their advertisement displayed.
With 321 million pages viewed in May, that’s an estimated US$3.2mil (RM11mil) in ad revenue — more than enough to cover five salaries, but peanuts for Yahoo!, which averaged about US$600mil (RM2.16bil) in monthly revenue last year.
Online entertainment news is also getting more crowded with well-financed players. Along with Wonderwall, February saw the launch of DailyFill from News Corp, though there are no plans so far to link it to the company’s traffic behemoth, MySpace.
Pitaro said the company intends to keep a tight rein on costs, while focusing blogs or videos on topics that Yahoo! knows its users are interested in, based on the most popular search terms, which are usually about celebrities.
He said he’s not scared of the new competition, either, even from sites that have mimicked omg!’s photo-centric navigation page.
“We love the idea that others are investing in the space, because together we’ll all be generating buzz and interest in this arena,” he said. “But hopefully we’ll all grow.” — AP
Saturday, July 4, 2009
NEWS: ICT boost for the underserved
KUALA LUMPUR: Rural areas in Sabah, Sarawak and Pahang can look forward to having better telecommunications facilities soon — an initiative that will be funded by the Universal Service Provision (USP) fund.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) said it will focus on the provision of telecommunications facilities and Internet access to the areas, under the national High-Speed Broadband (HSBB) project, during the next 16 months.
Local telcos are required to contribute a set portion or their profits annually to the USP fund, which is then used for rural ICT (information and communications technology) projects and to develop other underserved areas. There is reportedly RM3bil in the kitty now.
“There are still many areas without basic telephony and Internet facilities,” said Mohamed Sharil Mohamed Tarmizi, SKMM acting chairman, so SKMM has earmarked RM2.4bil to improve these areas nationwide under the HSBB project.
Some of these areas are in Sabah, Sarawak and Pahang, which have been classified as Zone 3 of the HSBB project. The zone contains areas recognised as having low economic activities.
Mohamed Sharil was speaking at a press conference after a ceremony to mark the commencement of HSBB project infrastructure works in the capital last week.
Speed boost
The HSBB project — launched last year under a public/private partnership between the Government and telco giant Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) — is aimed at improving the nation’s broadband Internet quality to offer speeds of up to 10Mbps (megabits per second).
Currently, Internet users can only connect at speeds of up to 4Mbps, although business users have the option of a higher 1Gbps (gigabits per second) connection under the TM Direct service.
“In rural areas, Internet connectivity is offered in community centres and there will be more of this in the next 16 months,” Sharil said.
Besides providing telephony facilities and Internet access, SKMM will also be involved in educating the rural population on the benefits of ICT.
Minister of Information, Communications, Culture and Arts Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, who officiated at the ceremony, said a team of officials from TM, SKMM and the ministry would be sent to Zone 3 areas to educate rural folk on ICT use.
“We don’t want the people to have the impression that the HSBB project is focused only on urbanites and areas with high economic activities,” he said.
Making it better
Between 2002 and 2006, Sharil said, the USP fund had been used to improve cellphone service coverage in rural areas. He declined to quantify the total amount disbursed.
SKMM disburses the monies in the fund after first identifying the areas with telecommunications facilities that are below the national average penetration rate.
Sharil explained that if a particular location is about 20% below the national average, it would then qualify as an area to be developed using the USP fund.
After the locations are noted, tenders would be called for and bids would be made by service providers wanting to provide the communications infrastructure for those areas.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) said it will focus on the provision of telecommunications facilities and Internet access to the areas, under the national High-Speed Broadband (HSBB) project, during the next 16 months.
Local telcos are required to contribute a set portion or their profits annually to the USP fund, which is then used for rural ICT (information and communications technology) projects and to develop other underserved areas. There is reportedly RM3bil in the kitty now.
“There are still many areas without basic telephony and Internet facilities,” said Mohamed Sharil Mohamed Tarmizi, SKMM acting chairman, so SKMM has earmarked RM2.4bil to improve these areas nationwide under the HSBB project.
Some of these areas are in Sabah, Sarawak and Pahang, which have been classified as Zone 3 of the HSBB project. The zone contains areas recognised as having low economic activities.
Mohamed Sharil was speaking at a press conference after a ceremony to mark the commencement of HSBB project infrastructure works in the capital last week.
Speed boost
The HSBB project — launched last year under a public/private partnership between the Government and telco giant Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) — is aimed at improving the nation’s broadband Internet quality to offer speeds of up to 10Mbps (megabits per second).
Currently, Internet users can only connect at speeds of up to 4Mbps, although business users have the option of a higher 1Gbps (gigabits per second) connection under the TM Direct service.
“In rural areas, Internet connectivity is offered in community centres and there will be more of this in the next 16 months,” Sharil said.
Besides providing telephony facilities and Internet access, SKMM will also be involved in educating the rural population on the benefits of ICT.
Minister of Information, Communications, Culture and Arts Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, who officiated at the ceremony, said a team of officials from TM, SKMM and the ministry would be sent to Zone 3 areas to educate rural folk on ICT use.
“We don’t want the people to have the impression that the HSBB project is focused only on urbanites and areas with high economic activities,” he said.
Making it better
Between 2002 and 2006, Sharil said, the USP fund had been used to improve cellphone service coverage in rural areas. He declined to quantify the total amount disbursed.
SKMM disburses the monies in the fund after first identifying the areas with telecommunications facilities that are below the national average penetration rate.
Sharil explained that if a particular location is about 20% below the national average, it would then qualify as an area to be developed using the USP fund.
After the locations are noted, tenders would be called for and bids would be made by service providers wanting to provide the communications infrastructure for those areas.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
NEWS: Facebook to simplify privacy settings
NEW YORK: Facebook is overhauling its privacy controls over the next several weeks in an attempt to simplify its users’ ability to control who sees the information they share on the site.
These privacy controls have grown increasingly complicated as the five-year-old social networking service has expanded its user base and added new features.
The Palo Alto, California-based company said on Wednesday that the new settings will give people greater control over what photos, updates and personal details they share with their friends, family and strangers on Facebook and, eventually, the wider Internet.
To make the settings easier, Facebook is consolidating its existing six privacy pages and more than 30 settings on to a single privacy page. It will also standardise the options for each setting so the choices are always the same, which hasn’t always been the case.
Facebook’s chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, said in a conference call with reporters that the changes don’t have anything to do with advertising or the information Facebook is going to make available to advertisers.
Rather, the site wants people “to be able to share information with as many or as few people as they choose.”
You choose
The changes come as Facebook tries to become a broadly used destination, competing not just with other social networks like Twitter and MySpace but also more established hubs like Google and Yahoo!.
To do this, Facebook needs its 200 million-plus users to share content and interact with more people than their close friends and families.
To make this more palatable, the site will let users assign different privacy settings to each piece of information they make available on Facebook. This includes photos, contact information and work info, as well as status updates, links and photos.
The site is also getting rid of its regional networks. Facebook said those separate zones have led to too much confusion over which information can be widely seen or kept relatively private.
In the past, someone who joined a New York network, for example, could inadvertently make personal information available to everyone else in that network, including complete strangers.
Facebook will continue to have social networks related to schools and work. — AP
These privacy controls have grown increasingly complicated as the five-year-old social networking service has expanded its user base and added new features.
The Palo Alto, California-based company said on Wednesday that the new settings will give people greater control over what photos, updates and personal details they share with their friends, family and strangers on Facebook and, eventually, the wider Internet.
To make the settings easier, Facebook is consolidating its existing six privacy pages and more than 30 settings on to a single privacy page. It will also standardise the options for each setting so the choices are always the same, which hasn’t always been the case.
Facebook’s chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, said in a conference call with reporters that the changes don’t have anything to do with advertising or the information Facebook is going to make available to advertisers.
Rather, the site wants people “to be able to share information with as many or as few people as they choose.”
You choose
The changes come as Facebook tries to become a broadly used destination, competing not just with other social networks like Twitter and MySpace but also more established hubs like Google and Yahoo!.
To do this, Facebook needs its 200 million-plus users to share content and interact with more people than their close friends and families.
To make this more palatable, the site will let users assign different privacy settings to each piece of information they make available on Facebook. This includes photos, contact information and work info, as well as status updates, links and photos.
The site is also getting rid of its regional networks. Facebook said those separate zones have led to too much confusion over which information can be widely seen or kept relatively private.
In the past, someone who joined a New York network, for example, could inadvertently make personal information available to everyone else in that network, including complete strangers.
Facebook will continue to have social networks related to schools and work. — AP
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