UIR-Rawkz - Recently Updated Pages

TP-TLG

TP-TLG — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:05:55 CDT

Where to Start?

Click on "Sign Up" icon on the top right-hand corner of this Home page to first sign up for a new wetpaint userid. Use the userid provided by your trainer. Each team will consists of 2 - 3 trainees.

Add a New Page

Assign one of your team members to add a page for the team as follow:

"Sign in" using your wetpaint userid. (Please use your real names)
Click on "Add a new page" hyperlink.
Combine all the members' christian name, alias or initials as a line for the "Page Name" e.g. John / Tiny Toon / KC.
Enter the keywords from each member's topic (separated with commands) under the "Keyword Tags".
Leave the option for "Start with a template" as "Blank page" and click on "Add Page" button.

Edit the Content

Each member will pen his/her experience and reflection in the team's page.

"Sign in" using your wetpaint userid.
Under the navigation section, select your group, follow by your team's page.
Under the page toolbox section, click on "EasyEdit" hyperlink.
Click on the "Save" button to keep your changes.
[optional] When prompted to "Add An Edit note", briefly describe your contribution to the page.
If 2 or more members try to edit and save at the same time, the site will prompt the latter contributors that somone else had made changes. It is recommended that the latter contributor select "Edit the new version and manually merge your changes into it" option.

Have fun creating your group wiki with your team-mates!

Firo/BoonSao/Kok

Firozaki — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:53 CDT

Game Engines
(Contirbuted by Yeo Kok Wei)

A game engine is a intergrated collection of various computer code objects that together run the video game. Depending on which game it is, various engines with different modules required will be needed to cater to the gameplay. The modules in each engines can be very complex and contain highly advanced algorithms. In certain cases, those engines were utilized for medical, military and science uses.

Different Engines
Due to the nature of the games, different engines would require different modules and characteristics to support the games. As such, over the years, developers have gave names to cartain engines that are being used to make certain games.

Isometric Engines
used to be 2D game engines (2-Dimensional), these engines are now 2.5D and some of them are even fully 3D supported. Reasons for using such engines are because being fully 3D, special effects can be implemented into the game as compared to 2D engines since they used sprites instead of models.

3D FPS Engines
One of the most popular genre of games, 3D FPS engines usually pushes the graphical aspect of the engines to the limits, providing stunning graphics and special effects. Due to that, FPS games are amongst the most sold games.

MMOG(Massive Multiplayer Online Game) Engines
MMOG engines and regular game engines doesn't have much in differece; probably just that MMOG engines would be more network based and data management since MMOGs usually involve server utilization and bandwidth usage. At present, most of the new MMOG engines are equipped with a state of the art 3D engine, comparable to that of a 3D FPS engine.

Summary

Basically, the resource breifly introduced game engines to the reader before going on to saying what kind of game engines are out there on the market which is used to produce different genre of games. It then goes on to introducting the reader to Torque Game Engine and its multiple features. The explanations were very detailed and helpful in helping readers understand how the engine works. It also introduces some third party softwares that can be used in editing certain parts of the game to the readers.

Resources
Game Engines - Features and Possibility. Retrieved July 20, 2008. From the World Wide Web: http://www.garagegames.com/uploaded/GameEngines2.pdf

NDS Games
(Contirbuted by Ling Pei Fen)

NDS games are video games that is played on Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite. These games can be organised into different genres like Action, RPG, Sports, Music and etc. However, most of the games have 2 or more genres in them.

Action Games

Action games challenges a players' speed, dexterity and reactio time. In often inlcude tactical conflict, exploration challenges, and puzzle-solving. Its the boradest and most inclusive genre in gaming.

RPG Games

RPG(Role Playing Games) are games in which the gamers assume the roles of game characters. Player determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions suceed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.

Sports Games

Sportss games are video games that simulates the playing of real life sports. Almost every familiar sports has been recreated with a game. SOme games focus on the playign of the sports while others focus on strategy behind the sport. This genre has been popular and extremely competitive.

Music Games

Music video game, commonly known as a music game, are video games where the gameplay oriented around music. It may take a variety of forms and are often grouped with puzzle games. Music video games are distinct from purely audio games in that they feature a visual feedback, to lead the player through the game's soundtrack,

Summary

In summary, NDS games are games played by Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite. Just like other game console games, it can be organise into different genres.

Resources

List of Nintendo DS games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved July 31, 2008. From the World Wide Web:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_DS_games

Action game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.Retrieved July 31, 2008. From the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_games

Music video game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.Retrieved July 31, 2008. From the World Wide Web:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_games

Role-playing game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.Retrieved July 31, 2008. From the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game

Sports game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.Retrieved July 31, 2008. From the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_games

Age of Conan
(Contirbuted by Tan Wen Zhi Eugene)

Age of Conan is a new MMORPG by Funcom. It was a highly anticipated MMORPG which many people were interested in.
Below are some of the features Age of Conan has.

Active Combat System

Age of Conan’s combat system lets you take an active role in combat. Rather than pressing an auto-attack button, you actually control every chop, thrust, and swing of your weapon. Their combat system also allows you to control your defense rather than relying on statistics alone, adjusting your defenses as your enemies attack, lending an element of skill to every encounter. Age of Conan also features a robust system for mounted combat, allowing you to charge to victory on powerful horses, deadly war rhinos, and even the mighty mammoth!

A World of Breathtaking Beauty

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures features the groundbreaking graphics of our proprietary DreamWorld engine, ensuring the world of Hyboria is rich, lush, and vibrant.

Tread In The Footsteps Of The Greatest Fantasy Hero Of All Time

Robert E. Howard’s Conan is one of the most famous heroes of all time. Follow in his footsteps and fight where Conan fought, explore where he roamed, meet friends and foes alike and, if you are truly worthy, meet the great King Conan himself. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has been developed in close collaboration with Conan Inc., owners of the Conan license, to ensure the ultimate Hyborian adventure, based on 75 years of lore and history from some of the most famous writers in fantasy fiction.

Unprecedented Character Development And Customization

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures allows an unprecedented level of control over your character. Define your character’s look and feel from their looks including hairstyles, markings, musculature, size, and other options—to their development, such as picking unique combo attacks and skills, their special abilities, and which deadly spells they bring to bear.

Unique and Interesting Classes

Age of Conan’s 12 classes include an array of unique and interesting classes, from new ideas like the Bear Shaman and Herald of Xotli to new twists on old favorites like the Assassin and Ranger. Our classes are set up across four archetypes: Priests, Mages, Rogues, and Soldiers, ensuring there is a class for every playstyle and taste.

Massive Player Versus Player Combat

Band together with friends and guildmates to capture powerful battlekeeps precious resources!

Resources

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Retrieved August 07, 2008. From the World Wide Web:http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&func_id=1089&table=PUBLISH&template=news_features_game&selected=1089

Development of a Role-Playing Game

(Contributed by Ivan Chia Yi Mun)

Role-Playing Games (RPGs) have been around since a gaming took off as an industry. But what really goes into developing a Role-Playing Game?Unfortunately, it seems there is no real difference between developing an RPG and other genre of games. Nevertheless, i will now proceed with explaining the game development process.

Stages of Game Development
Game development consists of several basic stages, where the team does the following:

1. Pre-Production
Planning, documentation, and brain-storming.

a. Conception
The basics of the game is discussed, where the game idea, basic storyline, some concept art and so on is made.

b. Game Mechanics, Art/Story Bible
The game mechanics of the game is planned out, along with the artistic look and feel of the game and complete storyline of the game. These are gathered and put into documents.

c. Technical Specifications
Engineers details the architecture of the game, defining and providing the technical information of the whole game.

2. Production
The actual development starts.

a. Gathering the Team
The complete team (or as many that is needed at the time) that is to work on the game is gathered and ready to begin work.

b. Alpha Stage
The stage where the game is first 'finished', usually very raw and filled with bugs. Does not look very good either, as complete graphics are not implemented yet.

c.Beta Stage
Alpha is refined and made into what the final game should look like, complete with graphics and working features. Still needs fixing, but already more than 80% complete.

3. Play-testing and Bug fixing
The game is tested for bugs and other problems, and will be attened to by the maintainance team as the play-test is on-going. This can be a long process and often is the reason why the game's release is delayed.

4. Final Release
The final version of the game is complete, often called the 'Gold Master'. This is the version that will be released commercially after marketing and packaging.

Different Methods of Game Development
There are many methods of going about developing a game in the industry, and here i will mention a few.

1. Waterfall Process
The waterfall process is the most common method of game development in the industry. it is a linear process consisting of the previously mentioned stages, and proceeds accordingly once each stage is complete.

2. Rational Unified Process
The Rational Unified Process (RUP) uses documentation as its main method of getting the whole team updated with the progress of the entire project. This is so that the whole team can see if there are any problems, and fix it accordingly. this process also encourages repeating of stages, returning to previous stages to fix problems that arose there but wasnt previously spotted.

3. XP and Agile Modeling
This process is similar to RUP, but is geared towards short cycle development and projects that is handled by several small development groups instead of one team as a whole. XP emphasises on early game testing, suggesting that testing start the moment development starts, forcing the team to think of the final version of the game before they begin.

Conclusion
Game development is no simple feat, and requires alot of careful planning, coordination, hard work and testing. RPGs tend to lean towards a good storyline instead of good gameplay, so the pre-production stage will probably take alot more time as compared to other games. Other than that, there is no obvious difference to developing any genre of games.

Resources
GameDev.net - Game Unified Process Retrieved August 7, 2008. From the World Wide Web: http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1940.asp

Jiahao / Tj / Kelvin

xacschrono — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:43:32 CDT

Jiahao's Topic: Latest Technologies in Nintendo Wii.

Introduction
CNET was more than happy to attend an exclusive roundtable Q&A regarding Wii Fit with Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto on Thursday afternoon at the Le Parker Meridien in New York. Miyamoto led the presentation with an in-depth look at the origin of Wii Fit and the challenges that came along in developing such an ambitious platform.

Resource used
Bakalar, J. (2008, April 18). Up Close with Shigeru Miyamoto and ‘Wii Fit’. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9922578-1.html

Summary
It is an article on the interview of the Wii mastermind, Shigeru Miyamoto by CNET staff. The topic that was touched on was the latest Wii Fit, a technology involving game play on a balance board. Of course, there are other information like Shigeru's future plans and a little of technical information on the Wii Fit.

Evaluation
Personally, I didn't know about Shigeru at all before reading this article. The article has broaden my knowledge on not only Nintendo Wii, but Nintendo as a whole. I won't think that I would bother to research or read so much about Wii if it weren't for the subject. Although the article was short and simple, I also learn some technical details about the Wii Fit.

TJ's Topic: Gameplay on World of Warcraft

Introduction
World of Warcraft is now the top MMORPG in the world, and is played by players all around the world. With its captivating gameplay, detailed graphics and its constant patches and expansion, it is a gamer's wonderland. The game play of world of warcraft includes many different components, and the main two components are raiding and 'pvp-ing'. Althought leveling, crafting, and instancing also play a big part in the success of the game, these two points are why players stay in the game even hitting the level cap.

Resource used
World of Warcraft (2008) Retrieved July 19, 2008 from http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml

Summary
The website contains information and guides for players of World of Warcraft, and also contains updates of the happenings and news in the World of Warcraft. Furthermore, the content in the website is very detailed, and cater to all classes of players, be it casual or hardcore. It also promotes the game itself, as the website itself is very captivating. The website also contains a beginners guide make the lives of new players easier. The website also allows players of the game to alter their account settings and manage their account. Moreover it also provides an FAQ, and links to its armory and forum hence allow players to navigate through different sites with greater ease. Lastly there are also links to techinical and in-game support hence making the players life in World of Warcraft as smooth as possible.

Evaluation
As a player of the game myself, i found the website very useful to my everyday gaming. As i could learn about different classes in the game, and make a better choice to which of these characters i wanted to play. Furthermore, even with the server down due to maintance or patches, I am able to manage my account on the website, hence making my life much easier.The updates in the website are also very informative to me, and I constantly check the site for any updates. Lastly, I have learnt many facts about the game play on World of Warcraft that even myself as a gamer did not know before hand.

Kelvin's Topic: Interest Groups of Final Fantasy

Introduction
This morning at its press briefing at the E3 Media & Business Summit, Microsoft stunned many in the audience by announcing that Final Fantasy XIII is now in development for the Xbox 360. Not only is the game coming to the console, but it will arrive on the same day and date as the PlayStation 3 edition of the game, with no timed exclusivity of any kind. However, when exactly that is remains a mystery, given that the graphics-intensive role-playing game still has no firm release date.

Resource used
Thorsen, T. (2008, July 14). E3 2008: Final Fantasy XIII 360-bound, Last Remnant dated. Retrieved July 30, 2008 from http://e3.gamespot.com/story.html?sid=6193730
Summary
The article is reviewing on the recent E3 game conference regarding the development of Final Fantasy 13, a much anticipated PS3 game that is currently under development by Square Enix. Before the announcement, the game, along with Final Fantasy 13: Versus were thought to be PS3 exclusive games. The article also comments about another upcoming game, The Last Remnant and its finalized releasing date.

Evaluation
I know that the news has brought a lot of hoos and haas among the Final Fantasy fans and community. Ever since Final Fantasy 7, the corresponding Final Fantasy games were all released on the Sony Playstation series, with the exception of Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 11, which were also released on the PC. This news regarding the releasing of a Final Fantasy game onto another gaming platform had caused many fans to become very unhappy. However, the fans seem to be forgetting about the fact that Final Fantasy games, particularly 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were originally released only on the Nintendo consoles, particularly the NES and SNES consoles.

JESSY, WENYAN, TERRENCE, TAIYOU MICHELLE

xiaomock — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:35:14 CDT

Topic: Discuss the Development of AIDS Research
DONE BY: MICHELLE GOH

Introduction
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a set of symptoms and infections resulting from the damage to the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

This condition progressively reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. HIV is transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV. This transmission can involve unprotected sex, blood transfusion or other exposure to bodily fluids.

There had been research concerning AIDS all around the world so that they can better respond to the growing threat to the world health and development caused by AIDs. Research studies have been conducted and policy makers and health systems throughout the world hope to adopt better ways of dealing with HIV/AIDS. Techical assistance is also given to these people for findings of the programme. Development research organizations have been built up for the AIDS research.

Resources Used
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/

Summary of Resource

Coverage is rather wide and comprehensive as informtion on Infectious Diseases are given. There is a search engine on the website and when the word "HIV" is being typed in the search engine, I get 12000 number of hits( from www3.niaid.nih.gov). Although the information is only from this site and there are no links to other websites, we get the details of information on HIV and Infectious Diseases that are reliable and supported with evidence and research.

This is an authoritative source. NIAID, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and NIH,National Institute of Health are recognised institutions with recognized knowledge and expertise. The authors can be contacted for more information. There are NIAID staff, NIAID Information Specialists that are at working for the health and research information counter.

Brief Evaluation of Resource

Currently, there are no reviews on this official website. The facts in this website are accurate. Clinical studies have been done to prove the sources' reliability. There is no biasness in the source. It is a factual site that contains mainly of information on sources relating to infectious diseases and allergy. Information and latest updates on research funding and funding opportunities are also up on the website.

The facts are accurate and precise. There are news, features and research with much manpower being carried out. Therefore, the sources are reliable. It is a factual website as it is made up of clinical studies and health and science topics. The references are stated clearly and are free from errors. The information is up-to-date and well maintained. Every two months there will be information on the latest funding updates. The site is easily accessible. There is no need for registration and log-ins to know about the website. The information are accessible for free.

Topic: Developments in the Area of World Fashion Design
DONE BY: JESSY PHUA

Introduction
Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time.

During the late twentieth century fashions began to criss-cross international boundaries with rapidity. Popular Western styles were adopted all over the world, and many designers from outside of the West had a profound impact on fashion. Synthetic materials such as Lycra, Spandex, and viscose became widely-used, and fashion, after two decades of looking to the future, once again turned to the past for integration. Currently, modern fashion has seen a reference to technology such as designers Hussein and Miuccia Prada who have introduced industrial textiles and modern technology into their fall collections.

Resources Used
Amber McNaught. (September, 2006). The Fashion Police: Fighting Crimes of Fashion. Retrieved May 17, 2008 from http://www.thefashionpolice.net

Summary of Resource
A well known website based in New York, with articles written using fashion as main topic, taking in reviews, thoughts of editors, and feedbacks of readers that made it popular with ladies, intriguing thoughts. A good place for ladies to visit for tips on how and how not to dress to be more glamorous.

This website majors in a collection of personal opinions about various items of clothing and celebrity fashion style. It is claimed to be a site that stimulate debates with opinions and perspectives, minoring with little statistics and facts.

Brief Evaluation of Resource
The purpose of the website is to provide fashion lovers with different perspectives on the different styles of dressing, be it good or bad. The main target audiences for this website are ladies. To be specific, ladies who shop online. The coverage of the site includes the different types of outfits such as dresses, jeans, skirts, etc. There are also articles on dressing tips for casual reading, such as dress of the day, wear or die, ebay fashion, etc. All these are covered under reviews on latest products, submission of thoughts by readers, evaluation of outfits, replies to readers' questions, news on celebrities wears, and a lot a lot more. Personally, I think the coverage would be a lot enhanced, if only the opinions, editors or readers, are supported in the articles with more professional views. On the side note, the links in the site are mostly unimportant advertisements for online fashion shopping purposes. There are however, a few useful ones which allow readers to navigate to more substantial pages, such as the credits, which supports the gist of their articles.

The Fashion Police is an authoritative website published by Midas Media, with help of many other producers. It was established in late 2006 and has been receiving approximately 200,000 page views per month since. It has also been featured and highlighted by other media sources such as The New York Times, DaveBarry.com and The Vanessa Feltz Show.

All the facts stated are accurate and reliable, though research is not used as a basis. This is because most of the information provided in the site is not regarding statistics or numeric facts, but perspectives by editors and thought-intriguing statements which gives readers more rooms for thinking and personal opinions. However, when there are references stated, they are clearly highlighted as the sources of articles gist. There are also neither political, ideological, or biasness in the source, nor grammatical, spelling and typographical errors. The website is very current, having been updated every weekday, high maintenance, yet well-maintained.

The Fashion Police website is very easily accessible, with no registrations or log-ins required. If the site goers are only there to read the articles, the information and articles are all there, available for reading, for free. In the case where any readers feel like providing any feedback or submitting any questions, or personal individual reviews, they can reach the editors via the email addresses provided.

All the information and articles are well presented and arranged, according to the date of publish. There is an index available for users to search for the topic they want to focus on though there is no site map available. The search facility provided by the site is very effective in helping the users to find the information they want, without having to go through much hassles. The reason why it is effective is because it filters all other unnecessary information that are not needed, and focuses only on the information related to the keyword(s) provided by the user.

There is no user support facility available, but I do not think it is needed anyway. Reason being that the navigation method throughout the site is simple and clear, very user-friendly. The 4 main tabs that accesses all the information available in the site are displayed on the top of the page, and there is a archive section for searching through past articles below the tabs. Above these, the search feature is at the bottom of the page, so if there are too much hassles to go through during the search, the user can key in the keyword and every related information, filtered and cleared will be displayed.

In term of overall review on the website, my impression is that it has a good quality of information and graphic display, with a right user of colour matching. There are however, still rooms for improvement when it comes to substantial article writting. More information, backed up by reliable and professional sources and views are needed to make it a better site for reference.

Topic: Issues on Global Warming
DONE BY: MOCK

Introduction
Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans.

Increasing global temperature is expected to cause sea level to rise, an increase in the intensity of extreme weather events, and significant changes to the amount and pattern of precipitation. Other expected effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, modifications of trade routes, glacier retreat, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.

Resources Used
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/earth_climate/global_warming/

Summary of Resource
The website provides brief headings of articles, mostly showing the after effects of Global Warming. Articles include Rising of Sea Levels, Depletion of Ice Shelves and Graphs of Temperature Changes. The website also allows users to navigate easily, and shows clearly the details of the articles when viewed.

Brief Evaluation of Resource
The purpose of the website is mainly to provide information about the causes and effects of Global Warming. Though little, it also mentions about how we can do to reduce and prevent further temperature rising. Website targets audiences who are concerned and want to know more about Global Warming. It provides detailed articles as well as graphs which supports and increase the source's reliability. It is definitely comprehensive as it covers a wide area on Global Warming. Though there are links to other useful websites related to my topic, it is rather difficult to locate them.

The website is from an authorative source, ScienceDaily, where information are updated daily. The latest article posted was on 22 July 2008, which is the day i posted this. It shows the efficiency of the articles and definitely there is quality in its accuracy. Most of the articles are posted after doing studies and analysis from researchers and professionals. In addition, the statistics can help support and increase its accuracy of the discussed area. All the references are stated clearly and there is no grammatical errors whatsoever.

The website and its information is updated daily, therefore being up-to-date. The information is well maintained, but the interface is rather difficult to read, as the placing of articles made the website look too wordy. The website is easily accessible, and also free from signing up and login in to read the aticles, which makes it more convinenent for users. It is free too. The arrangement as mentioned has much more to be improved, but the links are mostly located as the sides of the page, therefore users can find them easily. There are pictures relating to the articles to help users get a pictorial view of the effects of Global Warming, such as Retreating Ice Glaciers. Nagivation would not be a problem for users, and the pictures relating to the articles can also help link to the articles itself.

Overall, I feel that the website is a very good source of information and articles relating to Global Warming. However, the wordy-ness together with user interface of the pages must be improve to attract users attention to read more, or else it would tire our eyes out. If I am to rate the site, it would be 8/10.

Topic: Growth of the Gaming Industry
DONE BY: Tai You

Introduction
The video game industry is the economic sector involved with the development, marketing and sale of video and computer games. It encompasses dozens of job disciplines and employs thousands of people worldwide.

By the late 1970s, the computer game industry formed from a hobby culture, when personal computers just began to become widely available. The industry grew along with the advancement of computing technology, and often drove that advancement. Today, the video game industry is a juggernaut of development; profit still drives technological advancement which is then used by other industry sectors. Though maturing, the video game industry is still very volatile, with third-party video game developers quickly cropping up and, just as quickly, going out of business.

Resources Used

http://www.gameindustry.com/

Summary of Resource

A website of the Gaming Industry with information on current industry news, game reviews, interviews, industrial happenings and even industry companies stocks. The website is easy to navigate and read, and the search engine is convenient for visitors to navigate the website.

The aim of the website is to provide daily news of the computer game industry. Audiences targeted at anyone interested. The coverage of the site is on the Gaming Industry. It is comprehensive as it provides full details to the coverage. The subject areas and materials covered include gaming news, game reviews, interviews, industry happenings and even industry companies stocks. Some pointers such as including gaming development information can enhance the coverage of the site. The links to other sites are not useful as they are advertisement services by the website for the other customers. However, there is no authorization of materials made in the website.

The facts provided in the website are accurate. The information are acquired from reliable sources and compiled into news to display to public. There is no political, ideological or biasness in the sources. It is both a factual and opinion website as news is based on the news released by the industry whereas the game reviews contains gamer opinions. However, the references are not stated clearly. There are minimal errors in the site. The website is updated daily and well-maintained. The URL of the website is easy to remember and accessible to everyone with an internet. The website also loads quickly without having to wait. It does not require any registration and or log-ins and all the information are provided free of charge.

Brief Evaluation of Resource

The aim of the website is to provide daily news of the computer game industry. Audiences targeted at anyone interested. The coverage of the site is on the Gaming Industry. It is comprehensive as it provides full details to the coverage. The subject areas and materials covered include gaming news, game reviews, interviews, industry happenings and even industry companies stocks. Some pointers such as including gaming development information can enhance the coverage of the site. The links to other sites are not useful as they are advertisement services by the website for the other customers. However, there is no authorization of materials made in the website.

The facts provided in the website are accurate. The information are acquired from reliable sources and compiled into news to display to public. There is no political, ideological or biasness in the sources. It is both a factual and opinion website as news is based on the news released by the industry whereas the game reviews contains gamer opinions. However, the references are not stated clearly. There are minimal errors in the site. The website is updated daily and well-maintained. The URL of the website is easy to remember and accessible to everyone with an internet. The website also loads quickly without having to wait. It does not require any registration and or log-ins and all the information are provided free of charge.

The information was well presented and arranged neatly in the website. However, there is no site map or index in the website. There is a search facility which is extremely helpful in helping users locate both outdated and update information regarding the game industry. The website is easy for navigation and easy to use. Overall, the information of the website is sufficient and reliable. However, the design and outlook of the website can be improved.

Topic: High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)
DONE BY: YAN

Introduction
High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is a 3G (third generation) mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity.

Resources Used

http://www.novatelwireless.com/

Summary of Resource

A business website of the company Novatel Wireless that provides wireless broadband capabilities for mobile users. The site has a clear layout and allows easy navigation between pages. There is consistency among all pages improving the user-friendliness.

Brief Evaluation of Resource

The website is aimed to advertise and sell products that make use of HSDPA to provide wireless broadband solutions to their clients. Targeted at mobile users, they use strong phrases like "mobile broadband anywhere" to attract attention to their products. The site includes full detailed information about their different products, accessories, stock information, software solutions and news on latest developments on technology of the same type. Links are not helpful as they link to mainly the personnel information of the company.

Information provided on the page is easy to read with no colour clashes made up of short concise key points that allow the efficient transfer of information. News provided on the site show latest developments of HSDPA and other similar technologies. Fast loading speed and easy to remember URL helps in user-friendliness. With a search tool included and no registration or logins required further assist the user to find the information needed.

Well presented information and a site map allows quick and easy retrieving of data. However, the information provided does not assist in letting the user know more about what HSDPA is. Most information presented is based of their product with little to no elaboration on the topic. Overall, the site provides brief information on the topic which is reliable and up-to-date with a clear and neat layout.

Bibliography
Game Dev. (2005). Retrieved June 26, 2008 from URL:
http://www.gamedev.org/forum

Terdiman, D. (2008). “Future of Video Game industry taking shape at GDC” Retrieved June 28, 2008 from URL:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-9873852-52.html

CNET Networks, Inc. Game Spot (2008) Retrieved June 28, 2008 from URL:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/industry.html

Game Developers Conference 2008(2008, February 29). “Game Developers Conference 08", homepage.” Retrieved April 25, 2008 URL:http://www.gdconf.com

TheBiggDev(2005, October 4). “The BIG G's Game Industry Blog ", homepage.” Retrieved April 25, 2008 from URL: http://thebiggdev.blogspot.com/

BlackRock Studio(2008, April 25). “Games Industry", homepage.” Retrieved April 25, 2008 from URL: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/

Noble Order Press Enterprises Inc. (2008). “Game Industry News”, Retrieved June 28, 2008 from URL: http://www.gameindustry.com/
DONE BY: Tai You

Novatel Wireless. (2008). Retrieved July 20, 2008 from URL:
www.novatelwireless.com

Sliden, F. (2008). "What is HSDPA?" Retrieved June 24, 2008 from URL:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hsdpa.htm

3G Forum (2008). "3G HSDPA Modem Platform Achieves World-Class Mobile Broadband Performance" Retrieved June 23, 2008 from URL:
http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=75986

Icera. (2008). Retrieved June 24, 2008 from URL:
http://www.icerasemi.com/index.php

Carr, J. (2008). "More HSDPA/3G with Xbox360 and Wii" Retrieved June 24, 2008 from URL:
http://blogs.gnome.org/johncarr/

Luri, S. (2006). "HSDPA vs. WiMAX: Comparing Characteristics and Prospects of Datacom Technologies" Retrieved June 24, 2008 from URL:
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/mobile/wimax.html
DONE BY: Wen Yan

NIAID (2008). “National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases”, Retrieved July 18, 2008 from URL: http://www3.niaid.nih.gov

ARA."AIDS Research Alliance" Retrieved 2008
http://www.aidsresearch.org/scientific_research

"HIV AIDS News" Retrieved 29 July 2008
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/hiv-aids/

"HIV and AIDS - Medicines to Help You" Retrieved 2007
http://www.fda.gov/womens/medicinecharts/hiv.html

"International AIDS Society" Retrieved 2007
http://www.iasociety.org/

Carolyn(2007)."Texas AIDS Blog" Retrieved 2 Jan 2007
http://texasaidsblog.blogspot.com/
Development of AIDS DONE BY: Michelle Goh Sue Ping

Amber McNaught. (September, 2006). The Fashion Police: Fighting Crimes of Fashion. Retrieved May 17, 2008 from http://www.thefashionpolice.net
DONE BY: Jessy Phua

ScienceDaily LLC. (2008). “Global Warming Articles”. Retrieved July 15, 2008 from URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/earth_climate/global_warming/

Wikipedia. (2000). "Global Warming". Retrieved Feburary 2, 2002
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

The Wall Street Journal. (2005). "Global Warming Delusions". Retrieved October 21, 2007 from
URL: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010763

Topix. (2007). "Greenhouse Gases, Carbon Dioxide And Methane, Rise Sharply In 2007". Retrieved June 22, 2007 from
URL: http://www.topix.net/forum/news/global-warming/TDGQRHNDDRBATVGL9

The New York Times. (2008). "Global Warming - Science". Retrieved July 30, 2008 from
URL: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier#

William F. Ruddiman. (2005). "How Did Humans First Alter Global Climate?". Retrieved March, 2005 from
URL: http://ccr.aos.wisc.edu/news/0305046.pdf

Warmal Globing. (2003). "Late-Night Jokes About Global Warming". Retrieved May 14, 2003 from
URL: http://warmalglobing.com/index_files/latenight.htm

Greenhouse Effect. (2007). "Background Matrial". Retrieved April 12, 2007 from
URL: http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_3_1.htm

About.com. (2006). "Environmental Issues". Retrieved August 23, 2006 from
URL: http://environment.about.com/od/faqglobalwarming/f/globalwarming
DONE BY: Terrence Tay

Jun Wen

0702294J — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:33:58 CDT

Practical 6 a & b

Name : Teng Jun Wen
Class : P07
Title of Internet Resource: Impacts on Teenage alcoholism
URL : http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-alcohol-use/teen-alcohol-abuse-statistics.html

Are the aims of the website clearly stated?

The aim of this website is clearly stated, the statistic of impacts of teenages alcoholism. I can infer that the aim of the website would be to provide people a source of information for impacts of teenage alcoholism and Statistic to show the amount of what alcoholism cause.

Coverage
What is the coverage of the site? Is it comprehensive? What subject areas and materials are covered? Are there any pointers to further information that enhance the coverage of the site? Are the links to other sites useful?

The website cover most require information and additionally, provide the consequences and abuses of alcoholism in teen.It is very neat and userfriently, allowing people to understand the situation.At the side of the web, it provide other links to other types of situation, impacts, and problems.It is very useful for user to surf with this amount of information it provides.

Authority: This is an organization website that provides many different links to other related webs. Not much reviews are included

Accuracy: Are the facts accurate? Does it use research as a basis? Is there political, ideological, or biasness in the source? Is it a factual site or one that contains an opinion? Are the references stated clearly? Is it free from grammatical, spelling and typographical errors?

The web is accurate for its fonts, Capital letter. It have not grammatical errors. For this web, it is a factual sites showing the real cases and consequences of teenage alcoholism.

Currency: Is the information up-to-date? Is it well-maintained? The information is updated for the statistic as it must provide a accurate chart.It is well maintained and organized.

Accessibility: Is the site easily accessible? Does it require registration and log-ins? Are all the information accessible for FREE? If is completely free for the web without needing any registration and logins. Links at the side are easily accessible and useful.

Presentation and Arrangement: Is the information well presented and arranged? Is the information clearly, consistently and logically presented and arranged? Are there any features such as site map, an index or a search facility? How effective are the search features in helping users to find information?The Web is quite boring in fact, just text and links. But the arrangement is good and easy to navigate.

Usability: Is it easy to use and navigate around? Are there user support facilities?Its is a very simple website with just scrolling up and down. It provide alots of useful links.

Overall: What is your overall impression of the quality of the website?It is a very neat website to me, things are clearly stated and easy to understand.

Bibliography

Compiled By: Teng Jun Wen

Ensuring Solutions, Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems. Retrieved June 10, 2008 from WWW
http://www.alcoholcostcalculator.org/kids/teens/print-teens.php

Andrew. L.( 2007 July 26) Should Teens Drinks? Retrieved June 10, 2008 from WWW
http://andrewleigh.com/?p=1545

Ensuring Solutions, Alcohol Cost Calculator. Retrieved June 10, 2008 from WWW
http://www.alcoholcostcalculator.org/business/

Loran. A. (2007), Alcohol Reports. Retrieved June 10, 2008 from WWW
http://www.alcoholreports.blogspot.com/

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking: A Guide to Action for Families(2007), Teenage Alcoholism Effects.Retrieved June 10, 2008 from WWW
http://www.learn-about-alcoholism.com/alcoholism-effects.html

TeenHelp, Teen Alcohol Abuse Statistics. Retrieved July 28, 2008 from WWW
www.teenhelp.com/teen-alcohol-use/teen-alcohol-abuse-statistics.html

Sim Wei Jin/ Toh Wei Ming/ Wu Jie Jun/ Jing Wu

0705967h — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:45:01 CDT

Topic: Development of AIDS Research
Done by Sim Wei Jin

Introduction

AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, is a pandemic which is a set of symptoms and infections that result in the damage of the human immune system caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In 2007, an estimate of 33.2 million people lived with the disease worldwide, and has claim an estimated of 2.1 million lives, including at least 300,000 children. There is currently no cure or vaccine for AIDS, but there are treatment available which can slow the course of the disease

Resourced used

Forum for Collaborative HIV Research(n.d). Biomedical Interventions for HIV Prevention retrieved 27 July, 2008, from http://www.hivforum.org/projects/Biomedical%20Prevention.htm

Summary of Content

Research has been carried out to help to deal with AIDS, as there is still no cure or vaccine for AIDS, prevention is the key to stop AIDS. Examples of the new 21st century prevention methods are cervical barrier and male circumcision, which provide unique opportunities to design prevention campaigns that are suitable for a variety of populations with diverse needs.

As quote from the source -

“As new HIV prevention approaches move forward into advanced stages of development, the world faces serious financial, logistical, and ethical challenges in completing ongoing prevention trials, and in mounting the additional large-scale trials that will be needed to fully test new prevention tools and strategies.”

Evaluation of resource

The source gives a clear description of its background, explaining the situation of AIDS that is infecting a good number of the world's population and as well as how we as humans spend time and money to research new and better solutions to deal with HIV. It also clearly states its objectives for the Working Group, such as the review of the current prevention research landscape as well as the research agenda. The source also provide links to download the related resource of the actual forum that was held in Washington DC, such as the Meeting Report, Time Line for the prevention trials as well as the slides and notes that was presented by the presenters.

The site layout can be improved better, but overall it gives strong concrete information which are justifiable.

-End-

=================================================================================

Title of Internet Resource : Video Game Study Reinforces Negative Impact on Youth
URL : http://www.technewsworld.com/story/49858.html

Done by: JingWu

Purpose: The aim and objectives of the website are clearly stated in the About section of the site, so does the scope of the website and the intended audience which is for a targeted audience of buyers and decision-makers who need timely industry news and reliable analysis.

Coverage: The website covers nearly everything to do with the latest technology and the digital world and breath of coverage is quite broad as a lot news topic related to technology are covered. There are links to an even more websites that cover certain topics more specifically.

Authority: This website have authority, they feature an award-winning team of journalist who produce daily news and industry analysis. The author of articles are clearly stated. This website is frequently view by professionals in the industry.

Accuracy: The opinion cannot be said to be accurate or inaccurate since it is discussing about opinion. So it is bound to have biasness as it seeks to persuade you. The sources have been cited properly with reference to the source of information. There are no Grammatical,spelling and typographical errors.

Currency: The articles that are post are up to date as it is posted as soon as it happens however the article is not updated once it is posted.

Accessibility: This website is very accessible as the size consist of mainly text with a few supporting images. There is no restriction to the version of browser
to view the website or any requirement to register or log in to view the articles.
The information on the website can be access totally free of charge.

Presentation and Arrangement: This website is well presented and the links are well arrange so that there will be no trouble finding information, the site is also very
consistent with its presentation with no sudden changes to its layout. The Advertisement are appropriate as they are all related to the topics on the website.

Usability: This website is easy to use very user-friendly and intuitive to use , the links to other pages are clearly shown and the search function is easy to use.

Overall Quality: I find the overall quality of the website very good the information was well written and interesting , site was very well design. The articles often a
unique views of others.

Done by: JingWu

END

==================================================================================

Topic: Trends of the Asian Music Industry

Done by: Toh Wei Ming

Introduction

Asian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of Asian cultures. Asian music most often uses the pentatonic scale The music of Asia is as vast and unique as the many cultures and peoples who inhabit the region.

Resource used: A forum on Asia Music Industry
URL: http://www.getasianmusic.com/forum/index.php?c=15&sid=d70bb0ba6779ce02b13082611b179c37

Summary Of Content

A forum for Asian Music, users post threads and topics about their favorite singers. The website covers from Korean music to even Pilipino and Vietnamese Music. Evaluation of Resource The source is very wide and general, as it is posted by users all over the world. Hearing both good and bad stuff about the singers shows advocacy which is important in order to have a clear view that not everyone likes whoever you like, and not everyone have the same taste in music. What’s good to some may be awful to others. Overall the site is OK. The layout has pictures which are good, and personal opinions of the users are valuable feedback.

By: WeiMing

-END-

==================================================================================

Topic: Impact of media proliferation on youth violence

Done By : Wu Jiejun

Title of Internet Resource: National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
URL : http://www.safeyouth.org/

Purpose
A Federal resource for communities working to prevent violence committed by and against young people.

The mission of the NYVPRC is to provide key leaders in communities—local government leaders and community leaders—with dynamic resources to help support their efforts to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate effective youth violence prevention efforts.

I It has stated its purpose and targeted audience and is pitched at a subject expert level. It has many site links for specific types of people visiting the site and the content is very current.

Coverage

It has a focused coverage, with topics dealing with trends of teen violence such as :

·Alcohol Abuse
·Bullying
·Dating Violence
·Depression
·School Violence

It also gives information for people seeking help like:

· Prevention Programs
· Training Opportunities
· Funding Resources
· Locate Publications
· Subscribe to the E-Newsletter
· Crisis Hotlines

It has many links to other sites categorized for specific people:

· Professionals
· Parents
· Teens

Authority

The site has several publications and links from many established gateway sites such as Children’s Web which is also a virtual resource library for parents and kids.

Accuracy

It is a factual site with statistics from the government. It works to help government bodies and individuals with facts and methods to identity and deal with teen violence with weekly news and does not contain little personal opinion. The references are clearly stated by topic and it is free of spelling grammar and typographical errors.

Currency

It is completely up to date with weekly news updates and current government statistics. It also shows current teen violence events with event updates.

Accessibility

It doesn’t require logging in and all the information is free. It also has a high rank on Google with makes it easy to find.

Presentation and Arrangement
Is the information well presented and arranged? Is the information clearly, consistently and logically presented and arranged? Are there any features such as site map, an index or a search facility? How effective are the search features in helping users to find information?

It is well presented and is properly arranged into category tabs which make desired information easy to find.

Usability

Everything is in categories and has main/subtopics making finding things easy. It has a nice easy o look at layout with main topics bolded and easier to see.

Overall
What is your overall impression of the quality of the website?

Very professional website which is a reliable resource and accurate information with easy nacigation.

===================================================================================

Evaluation Template for Internet Resources

Name : Jonathan Foong
Class : P07
Title of Internet Resource : Impact of blogs
URL : http://www.sansan-cottage.com/?p=39

Purpose

The aim of the website is clearly stated to give us examples on what certain company are doing with blogs for marketing.

Coverage

The website gave the details on how the company uses blogs. It also explains their grounds on how blogs can improve the sales and the effectiveness of the blogs. Overall I think that the evidences is clearly stated and reliable.

Authority

The site is an authoritative source as the website is an organization webiste and can be contacted. It has a portfolio on the blogs that they had done.

Accuracy

The resource is quite reliable as it have websites to support their stand on using blogs for marketing which had results shown.

Currency

It does not provide up-to-date posts as no dates were stated on the articles.

Accessibility

The site is quite easy accessible as there are free information as well as examples of the works that they had done in the past. However, if you want in-depth, than you would need to pay for their services such as designing a website

Presentation and Arrangement

The layout for the website is very clear cut as it goes straight to the point and well arranged. The text are easy to read and all points are clearly stated.

Usability

It is easy to navigate as their aren't many navigation buttons in the website. Their are links that their provide for users to view their works.

Overall

I think that in a whole the website provides me with more or less all the information that i needed and it is easy to search.

Px/ James/ Joann/ Benjamin/ Donovan

pxpx — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:16:06 CDT

Title of Internet Resource: Computer Crime
Done by: Donovan Tan

URL: http://www.rbs2.com/ccrime.htm

Purpose: Are the aims of this website clearly stated?
This website is simply a very text-based website, written by an author filled with his opinions and his knowledge on Computer Crimes. Despite the sub-headings, a first glance at this website will not tell you what this website's aims are.

Coverage: What is the coverage of the site? Is it comprehensive? What subject areas and materials are covered? Are there any pointers to further information that enhance the coverage of the site? Are the links to other sites useful?
There are quite a number of links from the website out to other websites. However, they are simply there to assist the understanding of the reader, like a hyperlinked word that seems too sophisticated for a average user to understand. This will be convenience to the user to clic on the hyperlinked word if he/she does not understand the meaning. Other than that, the author also links that article to his other articles throughout his passage. It is comprehensive as there are many points and personal opinions from the user.

Authority: Is this an authoritative source? Are there any reviews about this site or has it been included in any gateways or virtual libraries?
There is not a section where one can post his or her reviews for the site, as it is a article for all to read, maybe the author does not want any comments for his article. Another reason is that maybe the author just hosted the article for his own purpose, without the intention for the public to read.

Accuracy: Are the facts accurate? Does it use research as a basis? Is there political, ideological, or biasness in the source? Is it a factual site or one that contains an opinion? Are the references stated clearly? Is it free from grammatical, spelling and typographical errors?
As there are some personal opinions here and there throughout the article, there is no right or wrong. As this article, I believe, is written by a student, someone non-political. However, despite the decent content, the author did not bother to care about his presentation of the article, such as using Capital Letters at the right times.

Currency: Is the information up-to-date? Is it well-maintained?
I believe that the article is not really under any maintance of anyone. It is like a "dead" article. I believe that the author had to write this article for a certain purpose, but after that particular purpose is achieved, its done for. Its just left hosted on a website for his own reference, and maybe, for others to read.

Accessibility: Is the site easily accessible? Does it require registration and log-ins? Are all the information accessible for FREE?
Yeah, it is easily accessible. Just click on the URL and you can instantly see the article. There are no pictures or objects that require heavy loading; just text. Anyone can access this from anywhere, anytime.

Presentation and Arrangement: Is the information well presented and arranged? Is the information clearly, consistently and logically presented and arranged? Are there any features such as site map, an index or a search facility? How effective are the search features in helping users to find information?
The site is considered a very simple website. Headings and sub-headings are used. However, it lacks of things like a content page or a side bar for the user to navigate, or even a anchor function would be good enough. It is not very effective when you want to find a particular information regarding Computer Crime; you would simply have to scroll through and read through everything before you know whether what you're looking for is there or not.

Usability: Is it easy to use and navigate around? Are there user support facilities?
It is very very easy to use. Just scroll up and down to read. Its a very simple website.

Overall: What is your overall impression of the quality of the website?
If you put this website in a fashion show, it probably would be kicked out in the auditions. But if you ignore the outlook and read what's beneath it, you might find that its not so bad afterall.

Bibliography
Compiled by: Donovan Tan

David, M. S. (1999, July 7). Computer hacking. Retrieved June 27, 2008 from WWW: http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/crime/hacking.htm

Metropolitan Police Service. "Computer Crime Unit". Retrieved June 28, 2008 from WWW: http://www.met.police.uk/computercrime/index.htm

Ronald B. S. (1999, 2002). Computer crime. Retrieved June 28, 2008 from WWW: http://www.rbs2.com/ccrime.htm

United States Department of Justice. (N.D.) Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section. Retrieved June 27, 2008 from WWW: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/

Wikipedia. (N.D.). Computer crime. Retrieved June 27, 2008 from WWW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_crime

====================================================================

Topic: Discuss the development in the High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) mobile telephony communications protocol
Done By: Tan Pin Xun

Title of Internet Resource: High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)
Resource: BookRags. (N.D.). High-speed downlink packet access. Retrieved June 26, 2008 from WWW: http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/High-Speed_Downlink_Packet_Access

Summary: The article give information about the development of HSDPA and how actually HSDPA come about, basically this site provides quite a lot of history about HSDPA which is useful to my topic.

Evaluation

Purpose
Are the aims of the website clearly stated?

Yes to a certain extent as the website is part of a research site, and the information given shows the history and development of HSDPA.

Coverage
What is the coverage of the site? Is it comprehensive? What subject areas and materials are covered? Are there any pointers to further information that enhance the coverage of the site? Are the links to other sites useful?

The coverage of the site is about the history and development of HSDPA. Subject areas covered will be brief introduction to HSDPA, technology and adoption. Type of materials use will be just plain text. The website is comprehensive as the website gives us information more than what just technology and adoption. It also gives us examples for more understanding and also timeline to explain the development of HSDPA. Thus, the breadth and depth of the coverage is comprehensive. I believed the timeline and examples of usage of HSPDA enhance the coverage of the site. Also the site information is taken from various references, so I believe that the information is reliable. Also at the starting of the page, there is a table of content which is useful if you are just researching for a specific topic.

Authority
Is this an authoritative source? Are there any reviews about this site or has it been included in any gateways or virtual libraries?

There are quite a few reviews on BookRags on popular website such as Amazon.com and TopTenREVIEWS. Below is the review from TopTenREVIEWS.

There is a reference list at the end of the article.

This site has a few virtual libraries for History, Encyclopedias, Films, News, etc. Also there’s a search engine to search for specific sections and most search engines on the net are able to have quite a lot of pages on BookRags. So I believed that this site is authoritative to a certain extent but it lacks of author reputation and also the only way to contact is through a form. The site does not provide any other means of contact.

Accuracy
Are the facts accurate? Does it use research as a basis? Is there political, ideological, or biasness in the source? Is it a factual site or one that contains an opinion? Are the references stated clearly? Is it free from grammatical, spelling and typographical errors?

The information taken is retrieve from various sources, so the facts should be accurate. And this site is a meant as a research tool, thus there is no political, ideological or biasness in this site. BookRags is a factual site as the information is all taken from references and the references are stated at the end of each article. I run a spell check which gives me no grammatical or spelling errors, thus I can say that this site accuracy is high.

Currency
Is the information up-to-date? Is it well-maintained?

The site information and references is from 2006 to 2008, which a lot of information is up-to-date. However, as this is a research site, the update frequency is not as much as compared to personal or business websites.

Accessibility
Is the site easily accessible? Does it require registration and log-ins? Is all the information accessible for FREE?

The site does not require any registration or log-ins to access information. However the information is classified into free or premium access. There’s a 7-day free trial for premium users. Free information are complied articles which can be found in many search engines where premium information are mainly articles taken from books or reputable sources.

Presentation and Arrangement
Is the information well presented and arranged? Is the information clearly, consistently and logically presented and arranged? Are there any features such as site map, an index or a search facility? How effective are the search features in helping users to find information?

The information on the BookRags is clear and the layout is always consistent. There’s always a short overview on the topic, follow by table of contents and at the end there is always references list and external links. There is a search facility in the site for user to find an article much easier. For the search features, there are a lot of options to further restrict the search.

And all the other links are clearly easily understandable and easy to use, so even a younger student wishes to do any research; the student can easily navigate through this site.

Usability
Is it easy to use and navigate around? Are there user support facilities?

The site is easy to use as it is very straight forward. And there are step by step FAQs if you are not sure with the site. Below is an example of a help on how best way to search for content on the website.

Overall
What is your overall impression of the quality of the website?

I believe this site comparing to other researching sites is much easier to use as the search feature is quicker in getting relevant searches. Also the internal database is of 8.3 millions of articles which are relatively large. And the scope of coverage is quite deep and the purpose of scope is properly addressed. BookRags overall layout is quite neat and even though not all information are free, but is able to compile all necessary information that is on the web. Overall, this site provides a lot of useful factual information.

Bibliography
Compiled by: Tan Pin Xun

Website

Bernd, H., Samuel B. & Volker B. (2004, January 5). 3G evolution towards high speed downlink packet access. Retrieved June 26, 2008 from

WWW: http://www1.alcatel-lucent.com/publications/abstract.jhtml?repositoryItem=tcm%3A172-18051635

BookRags. (N.D.). High-speed downlink packet access. Retrieved June 26, 2008 from WWW: http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/High-

Speed_Downlink_Packet_Access

Frank, S. (2008). "What is HSDPA?." Retrieved May 14, 2008 from WWW: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hsdpa.htm

Japan National Tourist Organization. (2008). Japan. Retrieved July 26, 2008 from WWW: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/

Kioskea. (2008). "Mobile telephony." Retrieved May 14, 2008 from WWW: http://en.kioskea.net/telephonie-mobile/reseaux-mobiles.php3

Planet Malasia Blog (N.D.). GSM, HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE, WiMAX & WCDMA. Retrieved June 26, 2008, from http://www.planetmy.com/blog/gsm-

hsdpa-umts-edge-wimax-wcdma/

SPG Media (2007, May 25). MobileOne (M1) HSDPA network, Singapore. Retrieved June 26, 2008, from http://www.mobilecomms-technology.com

/projects/mobileone/

UMTS World. (2003). "UMTS HSDPA." Retrieved May 14, 2008 from WWW: http://www.umtsworld.com/technology/hsdpa.htm

Wikipedia. (2008, June). WiMax. Retrieved June 26, 2008 from WWW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimax

Journal

Koh, D. (2007, May 25). SingTel second to roll out HSDPA in Singapore. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.zdnetasia.com

/news/communications/0,39044192,62015805,00.htm

Hardware Zone. (2006, Dec 04). M1 Introduces HSDPA Unlimited Services To Singapore. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from

http://ph.hardwarezone.com/news/view.php?cid=0&id=6088

Tan, L. (2006, November 28). S'pore to get commercial HSDPA. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications

/0,39044192,61970637,00.htm

Matsuoka, H., Nakamori, T., Lizuka, Y., & Ogawa, S. (N.D.). HSDPA terminal development and radio transmission performance. Retrieved May 14,

2008, from https://www.ntt-review.jp/archive/ntttechnical.php?contents=ntr200704sf5.html

Peter, J. (2005, March 8). Nortel demo proves reality of Super 3G. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://news.cnet.com/Nortel-demo-proves-reality-

of-Super-3G/2100-1034_3-5604490.html

Telecomworldwire. (2006, April 6). Elisa launches HSDPA network with Nokia solution. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://findarticles.com

/p/articles/mi_m0ECZ/is_2006_April_6/ai_n16121123

Magazine

Backbone Magazine. (2007, October 30). Embedded module to provide high-speed HSDPA wireless connectivity for next-generation mobile

resource management solutions. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.backbonemag.com/Press_Release/Items/press_release_10300702.asp

Mobile Marketing Magazine. (2006, June 23). HSDPA to boom, says Informa. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from

http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk/2006/06/hdspa_to_boom_s.html

Mobile Marketing Magazine. (2006, June 14). HSDPA to boom, says Informa. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from

http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk/2006/06/report_analyses.html

====================================================================

Topic: Discuss the latest trends in the music industry for teenagers.
Done by: Ng Zhong Ping Benjamin

Resource:
http://soft.com.sg/forum/music-kopi-tiam/17788-what-latest-trend-music-industry-teenager.html

Summary:
Discussion on how teenagers nowadays prefer to download single mp3s off the Internet rather than buying a full album.
Most of the downloaded songs are popular songs on the radio or MTV.
Teenagers do not necessarily have a preferred taste of music and just listen to popular songs.

Brief Evaluation
Purpose:
soft.com.sg is a website dedicated to the local music industry in Singapore. It provides a platform for music lovers, makers, educators, dealers and event organizers to come together and share their knowledge and spread their information to fellow users.

Coverage:
The website covers quite a large amount of information regarding the music industry, especially the industry in Singapore. Most of the information is very comprehensive with the use of discussions and links to other websites by the users to further enhance the coverage of the site.

Information that can be found include:
-News and Updates
-Open Discussions
-Upcoming Gig/Concerts
-Competitions
-Drum and Percussion
-Guitar
-Bass
-Keyboard and Synth
-Computer and Software
-Sound Engineering
-Vocals
-Marketplace
-Music Reviews
-Private lessons
-Commercial Offers

Authority:
The website is authoritative to a certain degree. It is a well-known portal to people in the music scene of Singapore and has a very good review on reviewstream.com which reviews websites. Most of the people in the discussions are well-experienced and give valid and meaningful comments.

Accuracy :
For the factual information on the website like news and updates, most of them are based on actual research and articles. However, more often than not, the discussions are based mostly on personal opinions among the users of the forum and tend to be biased towards their own personal preference, but there are some which use research as a basis to their findings with references to facts on the web. The factual information is usually free from grammatical, spelling and typographical errors, but the discussion forums take on a more informal setting.

Currency:
The information is updated every other week with thousands of people posting on the forums everyday at any single hour.

Accessibility:
The information can be viewed without an account for up to a certain amount of threads viewed. To view an unlimited amount threads, start threads, make a posting, you can sign up for a free account on their website at no cost at all and would take up only a fraction of your time. You can also subscribe to threads to receive information whenever someone makes a post on the thread.

Presentation and Arrangement:
The website is well presented with each topic clearly indexed and logically placed. The threads are arranged in chronological order based on the latest post in the thread. There is a quick search tool to briefly look for threads on a specific subject and an advanced search tool to make your findings more in depth.

Usability:
The website is very simple and easy to use. Navigation is quick with the clearly visible bar, indexed topics and has quick links to various information. There is an FAQ section to facilitate and support the user if he has any difficulties.

Overall:
soft.com.sg is a website which is simple and comprehensive. There are loads of people going onto the forums everyday to talk passionately about the music scene both globally and in Singapore. It has a very strong and vibrant community while providing information on the music industry.

Bibliography:
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Starbucks jumps on music trend. (2003, July 4). Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3044080.stm

Hiatt, B. (2006, Sep. 2). Teens Save Classic Rock : Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9257498/teens_save_classic_rock

Jeanine. (2006, September 11). Music Trends. Retrieved May 20, 2008, from http://musictrends.blogspot.com/.

Koh, E. (2006, Dec. 6). What is the latest trend in the music industry for teenager? - SOFT = Music In Singapore. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://soft.com.sg/forum/music-kopi-tiam/17788-what-latest-trend-music-industry-teenager.html

Music - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music.

TalkingCock.com - Singapore's most powderful satirical humour website. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2008, from http://www.talkingcock.com.

The Amsterdam Site - Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC). (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://www.holland.com/amsterdam/gb/.

Search Engine: Google (http://www.google.com/)

Meta Search Engine: MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com/)

Subject Directory: Galaxy (http://www.galaxy.com/)
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Done by : Fang XinJiang James

Introduction: As game is becoming more expensive to consumer because of the technology used to develop, hacker had found ways to pirate a game by removing the game protection and distributing it on the Internet. It greatly impact the game developer and the whole industry because this is what feeds them. if no one buy from them, they won't have money to maintain operational. This is the reason why some smaller company are reluctant to develop game on a large scale because it might cause them to wind down.

Resource used:
Nintendo Asks U.S. to Address Video Game Piracy Problems Worldwide. (February 14, 2008). Retrieved July 22, 2008, from http://wii.ign.com/articles/852/852233p1.html

Summary of Content:
The resource is about Nintendo outreaching to country worldwide to toughen up their law on game piracy. It also depict how they specifically wish each country can do to help.

Brief Evaluation

Purpose
The aim of this website is not clearly stated but from the type of content it provides(Reviews, press release, forums). I can infer that the aim of the website would be to provide people a source of information for the latest game news and at the same time, a forum to share their opinion.

Coverage
The website cover most of the gaming scene news. It is very comprehensive and user friendly. The website covers the entire game topic from game release, game company press release, game news, game patches and game trailers. The website is so extensive that the amount of information might be a bit too messy for user to find specific information. As it is always updating, some news might be pushed to the back without user even noticing. The links to other website is very useful as it is also other game themed website.

Authority
Yes, it is an authoritative source. There isn’t any review on the website, the website is a gateway itself.

Accuracy
Yes, the facts are accurate. It doesn’t use research as a basis. Yes, there is politic in the source. It is a factual site which report on latest game news. The reference are stated very clearly and it goes through strict check of grammatical error.

Currency
The information is very up-to-date and the website is well-maintained.

Accessibility
The website is easily accessible; it doesn’t require registration for article reading. Most of the information are accessible for free.

Presentation and Arrangement
The information is well presented and properly formatted. Articles are mostly clear and logically formatted. The website has features such as site map, index and search facility. It helps the user to find information on specific topic or article faster.

Usability
It is very easy to navigate and use the function of the website. There are also user support facilities, in term of forum and an e-mail support.

Overall
My overall impression of the website is that it is a very organized website with constant update of the latest game information and article. It is very useful for people to get any game related information from it.

Biblography

Anti-piracy in games: Why? - SquareBrain. (2007, Aug. 24). Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.squarebrain.net/2007-08/anti-piracy-in-games-why/.

Campaign against video game piracy - Breaking - http://www.smh.com.au/technology/. (2005, April 4). Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/Campaign-against-video-game-piracy/2005/04/04/1112489386775.html.

Campaign against video game piracy - Breaking - http://www.smh.com.au/technology/. (2005, April 4). Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/Campaign-against-video-game-piracy/2005/04/04/1112489386775.html.
Carroll, R. (2008, Jan. 12). Gamasutra - Casual Games and Piracy: The Truth. Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17350.

Everiss, B. (2008, April 23). Game piracy — Bruce On Games. Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/04/23/game-piracy/.

IGN. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://wii.ign.com/articles/852/852233p1.html.

Japan Travel Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e623.html.

Kalning, K. (2007, May 14). Game piracy runs rampant on the Internet - On the Level - MSNBC.com. Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18665162/.

TPM Chip Could Stop Game Piracy. (2008, May 26). Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=23349

==================================================================
Done by: Joann Lee Sing Yee

Title of Internet Resource: T
he Impact of Being a Gaming Parent.

URL:
http://www.2old2play.com/News/The_Impact_of_Being_a_Gaming_Parent

Purpose:
The aims of the website is very clear. This is actually posted by a parent whose child is a lot into gaming. As the title explains, the article will be discussing about how youth gaming affects their parent.

Coverage:
There are no further links to extra information regarding the impact of being a gaming parent. However, other people's views and concerns are also posted in this website. The article i shown is just one of the posts.

Accuracy:
There are no right or wrong in this website. The content are simply views of different people. Hence there are no facts accuracy in this website. However, the article is very useful in helping one to understand one another's point of view. The post is paragraphed nicely with no errors.

Currency:
The information is not updated as it is a one time post from people from all over the world. The user of the website can find up-to-date articles regarding different people's view but the post will not be in the same topic as the link i posted.

Presentation and Arrangement:
The website is well organised with clear links at the top of the page. There is a search facility within the website for easy searching. The posts in the website are well presented but that depends on the author.

Usability:
The website is user-friendly and easy to use.

Overall:
i find that the overall quality of the website is great. It is designed wisely as links are on the top and search function is just below the links. Followed by the articles and other related topics. The extra space on the right also includes some advertisement pictures so that the page would not look too "wordy" and boring to people.

Biblography

Jackson Times.(N.D.). ADACO To Host Workshop On Youth Gaming Addiction. Retrieved June 28, 2008 from WWW: http://www.JacksonTimes.micromediapubs.com

Jenkins, Henry. (2008, Jan 17). Games and Social Responsibility. henryjenkins : The Official Webblog of Henry Jenkins. http://henryjenkins.org/2008/01/games_and_social_responsibilit.html (Last Retrieved 2008, May 14)

Peppie. (2008, Apr 24). War and Games. Utopiatemple : Respectable General Discussions. http://forums.utopiatemple.com/showthread.php?t=76058 (Last Retrieved 2008, Apr 29)

Steinkuehler, C., and Williams, D. (2006). Where everybody knows your (screen) name: Online games as "third places." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4), article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue4/steinkuehler.html (Last Retrieved 2008, Apr 29)

Tan, Boon Huat. (2005, Jul 26). Developing Cyber Wellness. mha.gov.sg : Home Team Speeches. http://www.mha.gov.sg/news_details.aspx?nid=611 (Last Retrieved 2008, Apr 29)

Technology News: Gaming: Video Game Study Reinforces Negative Impact on Youth. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2008

Twistedcaboose. (2007, May). The Impact of Being a Gaming Parent. 2old2play : A website for the older generation. http://www.2old2play.com/News/The_Impact_of_Being_a_Gaming_Parent (Last Retrieved 2008, May 14)

Chua Yizhuan/Low Xiao Min/ Tung Wei Ting Jacqueleen/Nicholas Tan

RingKazuki — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:43:37 CDT

Topic: Discuss the impact of the Integrated Resort(IR) on Singapore's tourism industry
Done by: Chua Yizhuan

Introduction
A major project by the Singapore government announced during the year 2005 is to build the Singapore Integrated Resort. This is a strategy to help boost Singapore's tourism industry for example would be the casinos present in the IR when its done, this is also an intention to provide more job opportunities for Singaporeans. Licenses for the IR hav so far been given to The Marina Bay and Resorts World at Sentosa.

Resource used
Michael, V. (2007, November 5). "Singapore injects billions to boost tourism industry." Retrieved June 27, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/23255

Summary of Content
The content of the resource provides very clear estimated calculations of the intended investments and the revenue with the building of IR and its impact. Funds would be provided to train new tourism workers which sums up to a total of 74,000. The Singapore Workforce Development Agency aims to train and convert 36,000 non-tourism workers to take on various jobs in the IR job community. Students are trained as attachment as well to attract more workers in the future to join the industry.

Evaluation of Resource
A single articale but provides suffecient amount of information on the impact on Singapore's tourism industry. The aim is clearly stated above the informations in the grey box. Information is well organize and neatly arranged, especially the flow of information in each paragraph. As the article comes from the news, it is no doubt that the information provided is up-to-date and of no biasity at all.

Biblography compilation
Cheow K. K. (2007, November 12). "Minister: i'm proof gahmen's cost
of living solution works." Retrieved July 28, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.talkingcock.com/html/article.php?sid=2404

"Popular places of paris." Retrieved July 28, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.paris-tourisme.com/places/index.html

"Seasonal attractions." Retrieved July 28, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/seasonal/index.html

Michael, V. (2007, November 5). "Singapore injects billions to boost
tourism industry." Retrieved June 27, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/23255

"Integrated resort." Retrieved June 27, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Resort

irsinagpore2. (2005, December 20). Statement By Minister For Trade And
Industry Lim Hng Kiang.. . Message posted to
http://irsingapore2.blogster.com/statement_by_minister_for

Melvin, Y. (2006, February 8). "Tourism appeal most important factor
for Singapore IR bid." Retrieved June 27, 2008 from
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/192189/1/.html

Singapore Integrated Resorts. (2007, May 7). Casino Development in
Singapore. Message posted to http://singaporeir.blogspot.com/

(2008, April 24). "Integrated Resorts in Singapore". Retrieved May 14, 2008
from http://app.mti.gov.sg/default.asp?id=585

Khgjham. (2008, March 18). Discuss the impact of the Integrated Resort (IR)
on Singapore's tourism industry. Message posted to
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=1902214

Johnson, C. (2006, December 8). "Integrated resorts will boost and
fundamentally change Singapore's economy." Retrieved April 29, 2008 from
World Wide Web:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/246112/1/.html

Search Engines:
www.google.com
www.yahoo.com
www.mamaa.com
www.metacrawler.com
www.galaxy.com

Topic: Discuss the development of child slaves in third world country
Done by: Tung Wei Ting Jacqueleen

Introduction
The child slaves’ problems in the third world country are still occurring up to this present moment as there are too many poor families that needed to send their children off to work to earn extra income for the family. Most of the children are either kidnapped or trapped to work in factories or workshops where they suffered from constant tortures without any pay. They were beaten, whipped, chained up, and even sex abused by their employers. Most of the families did not know that their children are being abused by the employers as they thought that working for these factories is an opportunity for their children to escape from poverty.

Resource used
Child slaves in South Asia. (n.d.). Child slaves of South Asia. Child slaves in South Asia. Retrieved July 16, 2008, from http://www.anti-slaverysociety.addr.com/slaverysasia.htm

Summary of content
The resource has everything about child slaves in the third world country. It has different information and pictures about the children in different countries. It has different links to the related topic for users to browse and know more about the child slavery that is happening around the world. The navigation diagrams allows users to choose to whether to help the children by becoming a member of the society, becoming a volunteer, or do a donation for charity purposes. It also shows the different sponsors which supported the society and different campaigns held by the society. It has a newsroom to showcase different articles from the public.

Evaluation of Resource
I think that the aims of the website is clearly stated as it urge people to help the child slavery by becoming a member of their society, becoming a volunteer or make a donation for charity purposes. The coverage of the site is all about different child slavery happening in the world. The subject areas are vast as it has information of different countries' child slavery. It also has different links to the related topic. The coverage of the site is sufficient for the topic. This site is an authoritative source as the author can be contacted. The sources and reviews are available in it. However, there is no counter in the side to reflect the popularity of the source. The facts in the accurate as it use research as a basis. There are political reviews in the source and it is a factual site. The references are stated clearly where they took the reviews from. It is also free from grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors. This site is easily accessible as it does not require registration and log-ins. There are images in the site and also existence of thumbnails. It can be accessed through any internet tool. Also, all of the information is accessible for free. The information is well presented and it is consistently arranged. There are also features like site map so that users can find information effectively. The text is easy to read and the information is well-written. It is user-friendly because it is easy to use and easy to navigate around the source to locate information. Overall, I think that this is an informative and user-friendly site as it consist almost all of the evaluation criteria.

Anti-Slavery International. (n.d.). Child labour. Anti-Slavery - Child labour programme . Retrieved May 11, 2008, from http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/antislavery/childlabour.htm

ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. (n.d.). Child Slaves of South Asia. Child slaves in South Asia. Retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://www.antislaverysociety.addr.com/slaverysasia.htm

Chanthavong, S. (2002). Child labor in Cote d’Ivoire. Chocolate and Slavery. Retrieved May 11, 2008, from http://www.american.edu/TED/chocolate-slave.htm

CWC. (1989). Addressing Child Labour. Retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://www.workingchild.org/

Digitaljournal.com. (1998). ‘Slave-Children’ in India Making Clothes For The Gap. ‘Slave-Children’ in India Making Clothes For The Gap - DigitalJournal.com: The Power of Citizen. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/243496ower

Digitaljournal.com. (1998). Your Chocolate Bar May Have Been Made With The Use Of A Child Slave. Your Chocolate Bar May Have Been Made With The Use Of A Child Slave - DigitalJournal.com: The P. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/245585

ECLT FOUNDATION. (1989). Eliminating Child Labour - Home Page. Retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://www.eclt.org/

Human Rights for Workers. (n.d.). Free the Children. Human Rights for Workers. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.senser.com/ftctalk.htm

Human Rights Watch. (1996). THE SMALL HANDS OF SLAVERY. India. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/India3.htm

TalkingCock.com. (n.d.). TalkingCock.com - Singapore’s most powderful satirical humour website. Retrieved July 17, 2008, from http://www.talkingcock.com/

Stop Child Slavery. (n.d.). Stop Child Slavery. Stop Child Slavery. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://stopchildslavery.com/category/child-slavery/

Search Engines:
http://www.yahoo.com/
http://www.google.com/
http://www.metacrawler.com/
http://www.mamma.com/
http://www.galaxy.com/

Topic: Social Networking Services

Done by: Nicholas Tan Soon Kwang

Introduction:
The site speaks of Social Networking Services (SNS) and how it grows in popularity in our
20th century lives. Trivial uses like dating, for example, help make the SNS popular. Businesses
have also grown to use SNS to help their work. Finally the site answers questions brought
up by readers on how, why and what are the risks of using SNS.

Resource used:
Jardin,Xeni.(2008). “Online Social Networks Go To Work” Retrieved 16th July 2008 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5488683/

Summary of Content: The site and its content speaks of how Social Networking services ( SNS ) can help business
companies and it’s growing popularity. Simple questions were answered like how to use SNS
or what are possible risks if you should decide to use SNS. The site also speaks about companies
involved and what awards these companies have received. Content is neither judgmental nor is it
bias, thus is able to cover certain questions without treading into dangerous positions. Brief Evaluation of the Resource It seems to be a rest desired place in its design to answer formal questions and also
making it less stressful to read. Content is simple to understand and titles were used
to make sure readers know that the content has moved on to another sub topic. It is not
organizational, but it helps companies get information out (for desired outcomes.)
Thus in all, a good site.

Bibliography :

1. (2008). The Importance of Social Networks and How it Helps to Impacts People. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.forumsforsocialnetworking.com/.

2. Balto(2007). Security Risks in Social networking applications. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=268369.

3. Christopher Allen(2004). My Advice to social Networking Services. Life With Alcarity. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/02/my_advice_to_so.html.

4. Xeni Jardin(N.D.). Where personal connections lead to professional allies. Online social networks go to work. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5488683/.

5. Wikipedia(N.D.). Social network. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network.

Topic: Discuss the developments of Cancer research
Done by Xiao Min

Introduction
Not all smokers will have lung cancer, most of the lung cancer patients have defective gene. Lung cancers are cancers that begin in the lungs and other types of cancers may spread to the lungs from other organs. However, these are not lung cancers because they did not start in the lung. When cancer cells spread from one organ to another, they are called metastases.

Resource Used
Jeffrey Perkel.(2008). Common Genetic Variant Tied to Lung Cancer Risk retrieved July 16, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/05/27/common-genetic-variant-tied-to-lung-cancer-risk.html.

Summary of Resource
The purpose of the website stated very clearly and it explain why some nonsmokers develop the disease. The coverage of the website is about the risk of lung cancer. The subject areas and materials of this website have information of different health and lung cancer. This sites explain why people who never smoked can also develop lung cancer, it does not represent a pass for smokers.

Evaluation of Resource
I think that this site provided clear descriptions and user-friendly therefore it is easily to use. It is easy to use because there are navigate around the site so that the information can be easily search. The information is well present as the latest update is putting on top. The information is clearly, consistently and logically presented and arranged. There are no features such as site map. This site is easy to access since it does not require registration and log-in. The information accessible is free as it can be access through the internet and the images and video can be access for free. The information is up-to-date since there is a highlight of the new. Moreover it is well-maintained. This site is accurate as it is a report and a research as a basis. There is a political in the source. It has both factual and opinion, the reports are all factual. The references are stated clearly. There is no grammatical, spelling and typographical errors.

U.S National Institutes of Health.(n.d). Lung Cancer. Retrieved May 18, 2008, from http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/types/lung

Health Promotion Board.(2008). Health Tips.Retrieved May 18,2008, from http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/default.asp?pg_id=776

Kathleen, M., & Alfred, E.(n.d).Cancer news. Retrieved May 18,2008, from http://www.cancernews.com/default2.asp

Lynda.(2005, Nov 6). Laurianne’s Hope. Retrieved May 18, 2008, from http://lauriannes-hope.blogspot.com/2005/11/lauriannes-story.html

Senior Health.(2006). Cancer and Senior Health. Retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://seniorhealth.about.com/?once=true&

Jeffrey, P. (2008). Common Genetic Variant Tied to Lung Cancer Risk. Retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/05/27/common-genetic-variant-tied-to-lung-cancer-risk.html

Search Engines :
http://www.yahoo.com/
http://www.google.com/
http://www.metacrawler.com/
http://www.galaxy.com/
http://www.mamma.com/

Teo Chu Ping, Soh Jun Sian, Leonard Chin, Ng Cheng Lai

drkzeraga — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:23:02 CDT

Topic: Developments of animation in the last century
Done By: LEONARD CHIN

INTRODUCTION
In the last century, animation has changed drastically. Drawings of characters have changed from time-consuming hand-drawn to using just a specialized pen to draw on a monitor screen. Animation is also widely used these days and this can be shown by the number of students studying animation throughout the world. From just purely entertainment, animation has now become a prosperous industry where lots of applicable jobs can be found. So, just how much has animation developed in just one century? Well, we are about to find out some history of animation through this article that I have found on the Net.

RESOURCES USED
Tomlinson, L. (2006, May 12). "Animation History". Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://animationhistory.blogspot.com/

SUMMARY OF RESOURCE
Basically, the main purpose of the website is to display to the reader some history about independent animation, fine arts animation, international animation, and experimental animation. The blog displays some classic animation of DIsney's as well as some ideas and tools used in the past and present during animation. Also, the author also displays some of her fine works in her posts for readers to comment. The site also contains several links to other info related to animation. The blog is well-updated, with a post once every few days and the last one being posted on July 13 2008.

EVALUATION
The aims of the blog is clearly stated on the title. A brief description of the content of the blog is also displayed right below the title of the blog.

The author of the blog is from Lynn Tomlinson, an award-winning animator, documentarian and sculptor focusing on community arts. Also, information displayed on the screen can be checked with the author herself by sending an e-mail.

The articles was written by an authority in the field so there is some accuracy. Despite being a blog, the source does not contain biasness as it discusses about factual information about the history of animation. As the source is a blog, some of the posts contain general opinions of the author herself.

There are no known spelling or grammatical errors in the site. Yes, the information is up-to-date. Last post was posted on July 13 2008. The blog is well-maintained and updated once every few days.

The site is easily accessible. No registrations and log-ins are required unless you want to comment on the posts of the author. All the information can be accessed for free. Information is well presented. However, as the site is a blog, the posts are only sorted chronologically based on the time posted hence the information is not arranged. Instead, a list of the more recent posts can be accessed by clicking on the link by the side.

The blog is easy to use as all the information can be found on the same page. No clicking are required and the headings if each topic is shown clearly with a larger and bolder font. Descriptions of videos and pictures are also typed below them for the reader to know what they are about.

Overall, I think the quality of the website is excellent. The website focuses on my topic and even provides pictures of tools used in animation films in the past. If the reader feels that the info is not arranged nicely due to the fact that it's a blog, he can still look through the other links the site has to offer. Discussing about animation history is usually a boring topic but the site has enhanced the topic by including lots of related videos and pictures which reduced the usage of words in the blog.

Topic: 2-key authentication in banking industry
Done By: NG CHENG LAI

INTRODUCTION
With the advance in technology, hackers become more powerful. Ways have to be found to stop them, especially in a industry as important as banking. That is why 2 key authentication comes about. It combines the traditionally password as well as another external source to verify the user.

RESOURCES USED
Wikipedia (2008). "Two-factor Authentication". Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-factor_authentication

SUMMARY OF RESOURCE
This resource is an article on wikipedia regarding 2 key authentication. It does not apply only to the banking industry but instead cover the method used in 2 key authentication as a whole. It covers the different other types of authentication method beside passwords as well as the pros and cons of using 2 key athentication.

EVALUATION
This website seeks to provide information regarding the topic. It is able to cover most of the scope of the topic. It covers most parts in great detail, such as the different types of authentication besides the traditional password. External links to other relevant websites are also available.

This is an authoritative source of information. This website is being constantly reviewed and updated by viewers so the information should be reliable. This source presents information in a neutral manner, without discriminating both the pros and cons of the subject. References are clearly stated and the article is clean of grammar, spelling and typo errors. The information is maintained by a large number of users and information is being constantly updated, hence I think it should be accurate.

Wikipedia is a free access site. The information is available for viewing without the need to sign up or log in. Viewers do not have to pay to view information. The information is presented in a clear and logical order. The menu bar is found at the left side of the page and easily accessible. Users can navigate from article to article through link from keywords in the articles. There is also a search function for users to search for topics not related to the article. Wikipedia is generally easy to navigate around with. Links are found throughout the article to guide user to articles of interest.

Overall, Wikipedia is found to be generally a reliable and trustworthy site. Information is contributed by users of the site and the site taps into the wisdom of the crowd. The compiled article is well formatted according to Wikipedia’s guide line.

Topic: Discuss the impact of online gaming on youths
Done By: Teo Chu Ping

INTRODUCTION Online gaming is one of the most popular leisure activities that many youth today participated in. The impact of online games on youth is actually quite large, however negative it may be. For example, people might pick up the habit of swearing just by going online. Thus, we will now look at how large the impact of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) have on youths.

RESOURCES USED

Steinkuehler, C., and Williams, D. (2006). Where everybody knows your (screen) name: Online games as "third places." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4), article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue4/steinkuehler.html

SUMMARY OF RESOURCE
The site provides a lengthy but informative article on the effects of MMORPGs on youth. It provides a brief explaination on MMORPGs, states some of the projects they have done and in depth coverage on the topic. The site also includes examples in the form of images to aid the reader in understanding the article.

EVALUATION
This webpage has a clear formating complete with references.It also has a quick link on top, which, being a lengthy article, is a good function as it allows the reader to directly jump to a specific area. They have also provide the APA references so that other people can refer to this page easily. The article is credible as it is written by two assistant professors from universities. Overall, i feel that it is a page worth refering to if one is researching on the topic.

Topic: Discuss the impact of blogging on business
Done By: Soh Jun Sian

INTRODUCTION
Business is an important part in live to make money. Over the years people has found different means to advertise their products and recently blogging seems to be new on the list. Let us look at how blogs have an impact on business.

RESOURCES USED

Alboher, M. (2007, Dec 27). "Blogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool"
Retrieved July 4, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/business/smallbusiness/27sbiz.html?_r=2&fta=y&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

SUMMARY OF RESOURCE
This is a The New York Times article that comments about whether it is suitable to blog for business. It says that blogging for business is not advisable to big companies as blogging requires a large time commitment and writing skills. However there are some companies that benefitted from their blogs. Bloggers share their stories in this articles.

Coverage:
This article starts off by saying that recent people has turn to blogging to advertise their products. It also contains analysis by experts about the extend of influence on the market by blogging. This article has no link to other sites.
Authority and Accuracy:
This is an online article from the New York Times so it has been checked for accuracy
Currency:
This article is not up-to-date as it last published in 27 Dec 2007.
Accessibility:
This website does not requires registration and the information is free for all people.
Presentation and Arrangement:
It is logically and categorized. It has alot of information.
Usability:
It is easy to use and navigate around.
Overall and Evaluation:
As this is an online newspaper website, the formatting of the webpage is clear and it categorises all their articles clearly on the top of the page for easy accessibility. Those categories are further broken down to smaller factions so reader can find articles they want specifically. This website is also updated everyday to let readers know about the latest news within U.S. and throughout the world. On the right side of the page are news that are under the same category as what you are reading. What amazes me is the helping tip at the bottom of the page. All the reader have to do is to double-click a word in the webpage then a window will appear with the definition of that word.

Bibliography
Developments of animation in the last century by Leonard Chin
Animation World Magazine. (1996). Retrieved June 26, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://mag.awn.com/

About.Com. (1997). "The Walt Disney Company". Retrieved June 25, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://animation.about.com/od/industryprofiles/p/waltdisney.htm

ArtDuck.com. (2003). Retrieved June 1, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.artduck.com/animation.html

AWN Forums. (2004). Retrieved Jun 26, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://forums.awn.com/

Digital Media FX. (2001). Retrieved May 13, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.digitalmediafx.com/index.html

Fearing, M. (2007). "Illustration". Retrieved June 1, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://mfearing.wordpress.com/animation/

Tomlinson, L. (2006). "Animation History". Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://animationhistory.blogspot.com/

The Library of Congess. (1999). "Origins of American Animation". Retrieved June 25, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/oahtml/oahome.html

2-key authentication in banking industry by Ng Cheng Lai

C.O.M.O.D.O. (2006). "Topic: Two factor authentication, Banks and Fraud!". Retrieved June 25, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://forums.comodo.com/melihs_corner_ceo_talkdiscussionsblog/two_factor_authentication_banks_and_fraud-t474.0.html

Data Security System Solution. (2008). "2-Factor Authentication For Internet Banking". Retrieved June 30, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://dsssasia.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=103

Lautentiu Cristofor's blog. (2008). "A discussion of password authentication schemes". Retrieved June 30, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://blogs.msdn.com/lcris/archive/2008/05/09/a-discussion-of-password-authentication-schemes.aspx

Tom's Hardware. (2006). "Factor Authentication in Online Banking : The New Banking Factor: Online Security". Retrieved June 25, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/factor-authentication-in-online-banking-uk,review-19676.html

TynTec. (2008). "Financial Solution Portfolio". Retrieved June 30, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.tyntec.com/en/corporate-sms-solutions/index-banking.php?gclid=COaIseGeyJMCFQ4cewodT0Rgow

Wikipedia. (2008). "Two-factor Authentication". Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-factor_authentication

Wikipedia. (2008). "Phishing". Retrieved June 30, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing

Discuss the impact of online gaming on youths
Done By: Teo Chu Ping

Prac 1:
Gaia Online Forums. (2008). "Main Index Gaia Online" Retrieved May 06, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/

Steinkuehler, C., and Williams, D. (2006). Where everybody knows your (screen) name: Online games as "third places." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4), article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue4/steinkuehler.html

Wikipedia. (2008). "Online game". Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Game

Prac 2:
Tobold (n.d)."Tobold's MMORPG Blog ". Retrieved May 06, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://tobolds.blogspot.com/

Ohana Town Forums (2008). "Ohana Town". Retrieved May 06, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.ohanatown.org/

Prac 3:
Yahoo! Shopping. (2008). "Sony PlayStation 3 (40GB) Console". Retrieved Jun 24, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Sony%20PlayStation%203%20(40GB)%20Console:1951535388;_ylt=A0LaSNMqt2FIFAoAOgXv.XwD;_ylu=X3oDMTBuNnZvcTE5BF9zAzU3NjkwNDIxBGx0AzQEc2VjA3Ny?clink=dmss//ctx=sc:cconsoles,c:cconsoles,mid:59,pid:1951535388,pdid:59,pos:1

Prac 8:
TalkingCock.com. (2008). Retrieved Jul 9, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.talkingcock.com/html/index.php

Discuss the impact of blogging on business by Soh Jun Sian

Prac 2:
Wuorio. J. (n.d.). "Blogging for business: 7 tips for getting started". Retrieved May 08, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/marketing/online-marketing/blogging-for-business-7-tips-for-getting-started.aspx#Bloggingforbusinesstipsforgettingstarted

Kharif. O. (2004, Aug 9). "Blogging for Business". Retrieved May 08, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2004/tc2004089_3601_tc024.htm

Baker. S. and Green. H. (2005, May 2). "Blogs will change your business". Retrieved May 13, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_18/b3931001_mz001.htm

Robbie. A. (2005, Dec 20). "The Impact of Blogging". Retrieved May 13, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://rallenhome.com/essays/essay5.html

Prac 3:
Ornl.gov. (2003). "Human Genome Project Information". Retrieved Jun 1, 2008 from World Wide Web:http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml

Sony Singapore. (2008). Retrieved Jun 1, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.sony.com.sg/section/home?site=hp_en_SG_i

The New York Times. (2008). Retrieved Jun 1, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.nytimes.com/

Make: Blog. (2008). Retrieved Jun 1, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://blog.makezine.com/

Gamefudge.com. (2008). Retrieved Jun 1, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.gamefudge.com/

Prac 6:
Alboher, M. (2007, Dec 27). "Blogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool"

Retrieved July 4, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/business/smallbusiness/27sbiz.html?_r=2&fta=y&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Prac 8:
TalkingCock.com. (2008). Retrieved Jul 9, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.talkingcock.com/html/index.php

Other Findings:
Swamicrm (2007). "Business impact of blogs". Retrieved May 25, 2008 from World Wide Web:
http://www.slideshare.net/swamicrm/business-impact-of-blogs/

Isaiah Tan/ Zhen Ming/ Zulhairul

0702955F — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:22:41 CDT

Topic : Impact of Terrorsim on the Global Economy.
By :Neo Zhen Ming.

Resource : Roubini, N.(July 7, 2005) Economic and Finincial Imapct of Terrorism. http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/91206.

Summary: A terrorist attack in London can affect the global economy if it happens in a large country like England; however, as said in the report, investors may try to seek safer places to place their investments. As seen from it, “British Pound and the U.S. dollar while the Swiss Franc (safe currency in periods of geo-strategic tensions) and the Yen strengthened.” This clearly shows that even an terrorist attack in a far away country can affect other counties around the world as the global economy is affected by almost all major economic powers like US, Britain, and the Asian region.

Brief Evaluation
Purpose : The aims of the website are clearly stated in their About Us page. Included with their goal are also testimonials, a short history of the website and some services the website offers along with the features of each service. A target audience is not stated but from the information in the website it can be assumed that its audience are most likely working adults who need to know about what is going on in the world today.

Coverage : The coverage of the site is extremely wide as it basically covers nearly anything that has to do with global economics and finances, thus a wide range of articles that are relate to global economics can be found here. The depth of the coverage is quite deep as not only does it tell you the news about an issue or event, it also states related information such as currency rises and drops due to the event. The links to other sites are usually parts of information such as a phrase or event that is described in the article and thus a link is provided to another site which has a more in-depth coverage of the event mentioned in the article.

Authority : Yes, this source has authority as not only are there good reviews about this site but it can be easily found in search engines like Yahoo, Google and Metacrawler by simply using the words RGEMonitor. Other economic news sites also have links to RGE Monitor as a link to more detailed information.

Accuracy : The facts in the sites reports and news are factual and accurate. Research is used as a basis in some reports as they have links to others sources which provide more information on a certain event. The site is more or less free from political, ideological, or biasness as the reports are business and economically based but the user blogs may contain such instances. The site is free from grammatical, spelling and typographical errors. The site is both factual and contains opinions as not only does the site provide information on current events and links to other sources, however, for subscribing users they will be able to create their own blogs on the site hence they are able to share their personal opinion.

Currency :Yes, the information is up to date and maintained as news and reports about events that affect the economy are added to the site as soon as they happen. There is also a search function that enables user to find information that happened in the past.

Accessibility : Almost all the news and reports are accessible for free but subscribers have access to briefs, working papers, quarterly conference calls, Webcasts in addition to the local content in the site. So most of the information is available for free but for people who require extremely detailed and updated information it might be important for them to subscribe. However, for a normal working person, the information provided is more than enough to find out about the world’s economy.

Presentation and Arrangement : The presentation for the site is very well presented and arranged as on the left side, there are several tabs to take you to news and reports relating to the economy in different parts of the world, in the center is where most of the breaking news is placed while at the right side is the economy monitor for the US and some user content such as views about some news. Thus, the content is clearly, consistently and logically presented and arranged so information is easy to access. The site does not have a site map but the information is conveniently arranged so there should be no navigational problem, the search facility can also be used as a last resort to find information, it is also quite effective as the results are quite accurate.

Usability : The site is every easy to navigate around as the news has its own sections for some parts of the world and global news. Once clicking on the link, the page where the news is immediately shown. Usability wise there should not be a problem for users both experienced and new.

Overall : I find the quality of the website very good, not only does it look professional but the content is organized and easy to access. User blogs also provide an alternative source of information with views and opinions added. The news is also updated and the content is unbiased and factual, the website provides good information on the current economical state of the world.

-End

A compilation of resources I have used so far during UIR.
by: Neo Zhen Ming

Abadie, A., & Gardeazabal, J. (2007). Terrorism and the world economy. Retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~aabadie/twe.pdf

BD (2005, Now 18) The Economic Impact Of Terrorism http://piquancy.blogspot.com/2005/11/economic-impact-of-terrorism.html

Catherine, A. (2008, May 13) Banking Restrictions Ensue to Control The Impact Of Terrorism on Global Economy! http://www.articleblast.com/E-Commerce_and_Online_Businesses/General/Banking_Restrictions_Ensue_to_Control_The_Impact_Of_Terrorism

“Economic consequences of terrorism” Retrieved May 27, 2008 from World Wide Web : http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/11/60/1935314.pdf

“Japan : Overview” Retrieved July 21, 2008 from World Wide Web : http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/japan/

Kway, N. (July 16, 2008) List of Suspicious Charities. Formal Discussion Initiation. Posted to http://www.talkingcock.com/html/article.php?sid=2602

Roubini, N.(July 7, 2005) Ecnomic and Finincial Imapct of Terrorism. http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/91206

“USA Holidays – Travel Guide” Retrieved July 21, 2008 from World Wide Web : http://www.holidayhypermarket.co.uk/USA
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. (2007). A Military Guide to Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century. Retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terrorism/index.html
Search Engines : www.yahoo.com
www.google.com
www.metacrawler.com
www.galaxy.com
-End

Topic : Development and Trends in Podcasting
By : Isaiah Tan Cheng Kang

Resource : Villano, M. (January 1 , 2008) "Building a Better Podcast" T.H.E. Journal. http://www.thejournal.com/articles/21814

Summary : The article gives information on how to improve educational podcasts in order to make it an effective learning tool. Some existing educational podcasts out there are still irrelevant to teaching and learning. A list of guidelines is given on how existing podcasts can be improved so that their learning value is enhanced. Students who create their own podcasts as part of schoolwork should be guided by educators so as to make sure the podcast is well made. Hence, improving the learning value and quality of the podcast. Educators who use podcasts to teach students on the other hand should also follow the list of guidelines to ensure that their podcasts has real learning value.

Brief Evaluation
Purpose : The aims are clearly stated from reading the title. The article gives headers for each guideline podcasters should follow hence, you could tell the article was about explaining ways how a educational podcast could be improved. There is an introduction to fill in the details to the reader in order to get a gist of what the article is trying to aim at. The content is separated into different headers to differentiate the points of content. For example, the points to improve an educational podcast are separated into headers such as focusing on sound, editing wisely and consistency.

Coverage : The coverage of the article is comprehensive because it gives a list of points to improve on present educational podcasts. Each point has examples to help in the understanding. The points are very well explained and easy to understand. The reader can relate to the real world examples and understand easier. The points given cover majority of all aspects of a podcast. Hence, its broadness in ways to improve a podcast. However, there are no additional links referenced to the article.

Authority : There have been no reviews for this article yet. However the writer of the article has written for the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, as well as Newsweek, Sunset, Coastal Living and other magazines.

Accuracy : There is reference to Educational institutions on their use of podcasts in schools. These references include quotations from principals of schools to technology integrators from other educational institutions. The article provides information of ways to improve podcasts, educational podcasts in particular. Thus, there is no form of ideology or biasness. The article is free from grammatical, spelling and typographical errors.

Currency : The information was posted half a year ago. There have been no similar articles posted since. It is safe to say that the information is up-to-date.

Accessibility : The journal article can be found using search engines such as www.google.com, it is not a locked article and does not require membership to log in and view it. There is also a RSS news feed to keep you updated. The journal article belongs to an online journal which is free and accessible. You can subscribe to this website for the latest news, subscription is free.

Presentation and Arrangement : The overall content is well arranged having headers to divide the content neatly. Each point is separated into a few paragraphs to elaborate clearly. The order of arrangement is logically presented, giving an informative introduction at the start. The information presented gave no pictures to illustrate any examples though. However there are facts presented with quotes from people of educational institutions.

Usability : The information can be found easily since there are headers to separate various parts of the content. So specific search of information can be found easily.

Overall : I feel that the overall quality of the resource is good. There is factual evidence given, hence the information reliable. Content is free and usable with no accessibility constraints. If the information found does not suffice, users may subscribe to the site to find more pieces of similar informative articles.

Compilation of Resources used in Research
Compiled by : Isaiah Tan Cheng Kang

Edison Media Research (2008) Edison Research.
Last Retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://www.edisonresearch.com

Japan-guide.com. (2008) Japan-guide.com.
Retrieved July 23, 2008, from http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e623.html

Podcast Alley. (2005, Oct 18). Promoting Podcasts: The Next Step. Podcast Alley.
http://www.podcastalley.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125823 (Last retrieved May 14, 2008).

Podcasting News (2008) Podcasting News.
Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.podcastingnews.com/

Podcast Research (2008) Podcast Research.
Last Retrieved May 27, 2008, from www.podcastresearch.org

Podcast.sg (2008) Podcast.sg.
http://www.podcast.sg/ (Last retrieved May 14, 2008).

Podcasting Tools (2008) Podcasting Tools: resource for podcasting.
Retrieved May 20, 2008, from http://www.podcasting-tools.com/blog.htm

The mrbrown show (2008) mrbrownshow.com
Retrieved May 20, 2008, from http://www.mrbrownshow.com/

Villano, M. (January 1 , 2008) "Building a Better Podcast" T.H.E. Journal.
Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/21814

Yahoo! Travel. (2008) Yahoo! Travel Guides.
Retrieved July 23, 2008, from http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-191501636-japan_vacations-i

Search Engines :
www.google.com
www.yahoo.com
www.metacrawler.com

Topic : Impacts of Drugs on Youth
Name : Zulhairul bin Mohd Said

Resource : ANCD(2001) Brisbane Youth Forum report http://www.ancd.org.au/publications/forums/forum20.htm

Summary : In this era, the number of youths taking drugs are growing rampant. The Australian governing body has launched a oragnisation called the Australian National Councils on Drugs(ANCD). They are actually taking the trouble to hear to the masses’ concerns and worries.

Purpose
The aim of the website is clearly stated in the first paragraph. The purpose of the website is to listen and list down the views of the non-government and community-based organizations working in the drug and alcohol field.

Coverage
The coverage of the website is quite broad. The website touches on the following issues regarding drug abuse among youths.
-Characterisation of youth drug abuse
-Drug use as a legal barrier
-Lack of specific youth services
-Early intervention and prevention
-Waiting list after detoxification
-Rural and regional services
-Dual diagnosis
-School suspension
-Health promotion & prevention neglected
-Arts and Recreation- healthy alternatives
-School drug education
-Pilot Funding
-Resource allocation
-Domestic Violence
-Sniffing(glue)

The brief description of each point makes the content comprehensive.However for the same reason, I feel there is a lack of depth in the content.
The additional content, that comes in the form of “Other issues” and “Consultation-views”, have been added in the end to supplement the existing content.
Authority
The ANCD is an organization that was established by the Australian Prime Minister. For that statement, I believe that this website has some sort of authorative figure at the helm of the website.

Accuracy
Considering that this organization is a legit one in Australia, I assume that the content is accurate. Furthermore, the people who help contributed to the information were people who knew a thing or two about their line of work. For example, they got a principal to explain the consequences of students caught taking drugs. The forum also got a policeman to explain the legal issue of drug abuse among youths.

Currency
The particular website that I went to was published in 2001. The information was not up to date but the home page was updated almost daily.

Accessibility
The website does not require the visitor to register or pay any additional fees to browse through the contents. In terms of looking for the website in the Internet, it took some effort to find the website.

Presentation and Arrangement
The website is well organized. The layout of the website is clean. The menu bar is placed at the left side of the screen so the visitor can get oriented to the website easily.

Usability
As I typed above, the menu bar is positioned on the left side of the screen. That allows the visitor to orient to the website easily. There is also a low graphic menu at the bottom of the page. It allows users with very slow internet speed to excess the website. It also allows user to change sites without having to scroll all the way up again.

Overall
For a governing body website, it does its job of informing the public of its goals and aims. Overall, it quite a reliable source if you ever need to research about drug abuse in youths.

Resources used throughout UIR

ANCD(2001) Brisbane Youth Forum report.
Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.ancd.org.au/publications/forums/forum20.htm
Drugs -Youth Central.
Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/Health+&+Relationships/Drugs,+smoking+&+alcohol/Drugs/

Everton Football Club - What Do I do in Merseyside Region.
Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.visitliverpool.com/site/what-to-do/everton-football-club-p7991
NIDA(2000) Epidemiology of YouthDrug Abuse.
Retrieved July 29,2008, from http://www.drugabuse.gov/about/organization/ICAW/epidemiology/epidemiologyfindings200.html

TalkingCock.com - Singapore's most powderful satirical humour website.
Retrieved July 29, 2008, from http://www.talkingcock.com.

Search engines used:

www.google.com
www.metacrawler.com
www.galaxy.com

Michelle, Jessy, Terrence, Tai You, Wen Yan

xiaomock — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:56:36 CDT

Topic: Discuss the Development of AIDS Research
DONE BY: MICHELLE GOH

Introduction
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a set of symptoms and infections resulting from the damage to the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

This condition progressively reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. HIV is transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV. This transmission can involve unprotected sex, blood transfusion or other exposure to bodily fluids.

There had been research concerning AIDS all around the world so that they can better respond to the growing threat to the world health and development caused by AIDs. Research studies have been conducted and policy makers and health systems throughout the world hope to adopt better ways of dealing with HIV/AIDS. Techical assistance is also given to these people for findings of the programme. Development research organizations have been built up for the AIDS research.

Resources Used
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/

Summary of Resource

Coverage is rather wide and comprehensive as informtion on Infectious Diseases are given. There is a search engine on the website and when the word "HIV" is being typed in the search engine, I get 12000 number of hits( from www3.niaid.nih.gov). Although the information is only from this site and there are no links to other websites, we get the details of information on HIV and Infectious Diseases that are reliable and supported with evidence and research.

This is an authoritative source. NIAID, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and NIH,National Institute of Health are recognised institutions with recognized knowledge and expertise. The authors can be contacted for more information. There are NIAID staff, NIAID Information Specialists that are at working for the health and research information counter.

Brief Evaluation of Resource

Currently, there are no reviews on this official website. The facts in this website are accurate. Clinical studies have been done to prove the sources' reliability. There is no biasness in the source. It is a factual site that contains mainly of information on sources relating to infectious diseases and allergy. Information and latest updates on research funding and funding opportunities are also up on the website.

The facts are accurate and precise. There are news, features and research with much manpower being carried out. Therefore, the sources are reliable. It is a factual website as it is made up of clinical studies and health and science topics. The references are stated clearly and are free from errors. The information is up-to-date and well maintained. Every two months there will be information on the latest funding updates. The site is easily accessible. There is no need for registration and log-ins to know about the website. The information are accessible for free.

Topic: Developments in the Area of World Fashion Design
DONE BY: JESSY PHUA

Introduction
Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time.

During the late twentieth century fashions began to criss-cross international boundaries with rapidity. Popular Western styles were adopted all over the world, and many designers from outside of the West had a profound impact on fashion. Synthetic materials such as Lycra, Spandex, and viscose became widely-used, and fashion, after two decades of looking to the future, once again turned to the past for integration. Currently, modern fashion has seen a reference to technology such as designers Hussein and Miuccia Prada who have introduced industrial textiles and modern technology into their fall collections.

Resources Used
Amber McNaught. (September, 2006). The Fashion Police: Fighting Crimes of Fashion. Retrieved May 17, 2008 from http://www.thefashionpolice.net

Summary of Resource
A well known website based in New York, with articles written using fashion as main topic, taking in reviews, thoughts of editors, and feedbacks of readers that made it popular with ladies, intriguing thoughts. A good place for ladies to visit for tips on how and how not to dress to be more glamorous.

This website majors in a collection of personal opinions about various items of clothing and celebrity fashion style. It is claimed to be a site that stimulate debates with opinions and perspectives, minoring with little statistics and facts.

Brief Evaluation of Resource
The purpose of the website is to provide fashion lovers with different perspectives on the different styles of dressing, be it good or bad. The main target audiences for this website are ladies. To be specific, ladies who shop online. The coverage of the site includes the different types of outfits such as dresses, jeans, skirts, etc. There are also articles on dressing tips for casual reading, such as dress of the day, wear or die, ebay fashion, etc. All these are covered under reviews on latest products, submission of thoughts by readers, evaluation of outfits, replies to readers' questions, news on celebrities wears, and a lot a lot more. Personally, I think the coverage would be a lot enhanced, if only the opinions, editors or readers, are supported in the articles with more professional views. On the side note, the links in the site are mostly unimportant advertisements for online fashion shopping purposes. There are however, a few useful ones which allow readers to navigate to more substantial pages, such as the credits, which supports the gist of their articles.

The Fashion Police is an authoritative website published by Midas Media, with help of many other producers. It was established in late 2006 and has been receiving approximately 200,000 page views per month since. It has also been featured and highlighted by other media sources such as The New York Times, DaveBarry.com and The Vanessa Feltz Show.

All the facts stated are accurate and reliable, though research is not used as a basis. This is because most of the information provided in the site is not regarding statistics or numeric facts, but perspectives by editors and thought-intriguing statements which gives readers more rooms for thinking and personal opinions. However, when there are references stated, they are clearly highlighted as the sources of articles gist. There are also neither political, ideological, or biasness in the source, nor grammatical, spelling and typographical errors. The website is very current, having been updated every weekday, high maintenance, yet well-maintained.

The Fashion Police website is very easily accessible, with no registrations or log-ins required. If the site goers are only there to read the articles, the information and articles are all there, available for reading, for free. In the case where any readers feel like providing any feedback or submitting any questions, or personal individual reviews, they can reach the editors via the email addresses provided.

All the information and articles are well presented and arranged, according to the date of publish. There is an index available for users to search for the topic they want to focus on though there is no site map available. The search facility provided by the site is very effective in helping the users to find the information they want, without having to go through much hassles. The reason why it is effective is because it filters all other unnecessary information that are not needed, and focuses only on the information related to the keyword(s) provided by the user.

There is no user support facility available, but I do not think it is needed anyway. Reason being that the navigation method throughout the site is simple and clear, very user-friendly. The 4 main tabs that accesses all the information available in the site are displayed on the top of the page, and there is a archive section for searching through past articles below the tabs. Above these, the search feature is at the bottom of the page, so if there are too much hassles to go through during the search, the user can key in the keyword and every related information, filtered and cleared will be displayed.

In term of overall review on the website, my impression is that it has a good quality of information and graphic display, with a right user of colour matching. There are however, still rooms for improvement when it comes to substantial article writting. More information, backed up by reliable and professional sources and views are needed to make it a better site for reference.

Topic: Issues on Global Warming
DONE BY: MOCK

Introduction
Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans.

Increasing global temperature is expected to cause sea level to rise, an increase in the intensity of extreme weather events, and significant changes to the amount and pattern of precipitation. Other expected effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, modifications of trade routes, glacier retreat, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.

Resources Used
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/earth_climate/global_warming/

Summary of Resource
The website provides brief headings of articles, mostly showing the after effects of Global Warming. Articles include Rising of Sea Levels, Depletion of Ice Shelves and Graphs of Temperature Changes. The website also allows users to navigate easily, and shows clearly the details of the articles when viewed.

Brief Evaluation of Resource
The purpose of the website is mainly to provide information about the causes and effects of Global Warming. Though little, it also mentions about how we can do to reduce and prevent further temperature rising. Website targets audiences who are concerned and want to know more about Global Warming. It provides detailed articles as well as graphs which supports and increase the source's reliability. It is definitely comprehensive as it covers a wide area on Global Warming. Though there are links to other useful websites related to my topic, it is rather difficult to locate them.

The website is from an authorative source, ScienceDaily, where information are updated daily. The latest article posted was on 22 July 2008, which is the day i posted this. It shows the efficiency of the articles and definitely there is quality in its accuracy. Most of the articles are posted after doing studies and analysis from researchers and professionals. In addition, the statistics can help support and increase its accuracy of the discussed area. All the references are stated clearly and there is no grammatical errors whatsoever.

The website and its information is updated daily, therefore being up-to-date. The information is well maintained, but the interface is rather difficult to read, as the placing of articles made the website look too wordy. The website is easily accessible, and also free from signing up and login in to read the aticles, which makes it more convinenent for users. It is free too. The arrangement as mentioned has much more to be improved, but the links are mostly located as the sides of the page, therefore users can find them easily. There are pictures relating to the articles to help users get a pictorial view of the effects of Global Warming, such as Retreating Ice Glaciers. Nagivation would not be a problem for users, and the pictures relating to the articles can also help link to the articles itself.

Overall, I feel that the website is a very good source of information and articles relating to Global Warming. However, the wordy-ness together with user interface of the pages must be improve to attract users attention to read more, or else it would tire our eyes out. If I am to rate the site, it would be 8/10.

Topic: Growth of the Gaming Industry
DONE BY: Tai You

Introduction
The video game industry is the economic sector involved with the development, marketing and sale of video and computer games. It encompasses dozens of job disciplines and employs thousands of people worldwide.

By the late 1970s, the computer game industry formed from a hobby culture, when personal computers just began to become widely available. The industry grew along with the advancement of computing technology, and often drove that advancement. Today, the video game industry is a juggernaut of development; profit still drives technological advancement which is then used by other industry sectors. Though maturing, the video game industry is still very volatile, with third-party video game developers quickly cropping up and, just as quickly, going out of business.

Resources Used

http://www.gameindustry.com/

Summary of Resource

A website of the Gaming Industry with information on current industry news, game reviews, interviews, industrial happenings and even industry companies stocks. The website is easy to navigate and read, and the search engine is convenient for visitors to navigate the website.

Brief Evaluation of Resource

The aim of the website is to provide daily news of the computer game industry. Audiences targeted at anyone interested. The coverage of the site is on the Gaming Industry. It is comprehensive as it provides full details to the coverage. The subject areas and materials covered include gaming news, game reviews, interviews, industry happenings and even industry companies stocks. Some pointers such as including gaming development information can enhance the coverage of the site. The links to other sites are not useful as they are advertisement services by the website for the other customers. However, there is no authorization of materials made in the website.

The facts provided in the website are accurate. The information are acquired from reliable sources and compiled into news to display to public. There is no political, ideological or biasness in the sources. It is both a factual and opinion website as news is based on the news released by the industry whereas the game reviews contains gamer opinions. However, the references are not stated clearly. There are minimal errors in the site. The website is updated daily and well-maintained. The URL of the website is easy to remember and accessible to everyone with an internet. The website also loads quickly without having to wait. It does not require any registration and or log-ins and all the information are provided free of charge.

The information was well presented and arranged neatly in the website. However, there is no site map or index in the website. There is a search facility which is extremely helpful in helping users locate both outdated and update information regarding the game industry. The website is easy for navigation and easy to use. Overall, the information of the website is sufficient and reliable. However, the design and outlook of the website can be improved.

Topic: High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)
DONE BY: YAN

Introduction
High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is a 3G (third generation) mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity.

Resources Used

http://www.novatelwireless.com/

Summary of Resource

A business website of the company Novatel Wireless that provides wireless broadband capabilities for mobile users. The site has a clear layout and allows easy navigation between pages. There is consistency among all pages improving the user-friendliness.

Brief Evaluation of Resource

The website is aimed to advertise and sell products that make use of HSDPA to provide wireless broadband solutions to their clients. Targeted at mobile users, they use strong phrases like "mobile broadband anywhere" to attract attention to their products. The site includes full detailed information about their different products, accessories, stock information, software solutions and news on latest developments on technology of the same type. Links are not helpful as they link to mainly the personnel information of the company.

Information provided on the page is easy to read with no colour clashes made up of short concise key points that allow the efficient transfer of information. News provided on the site show latest developments of HSDPA and other similar technologies. Fast loading speed and easy to remember URL helps in user-friendliness. With a search tool included and no registration or logins required further assist the user to find the information needed.

Well presented information and a site map allows quick and easy retrieving of data. However, the information provided does not assist in letting the user know more about what HSDPA is. Most information presented is based of their product with little to no elaboration on the topic. Overall, the site provides brief information on the topic which is reliable and up-to-date with a clear and neat layout.

Bibliography
Game Dev. (2005). Retrieved June 26, 2008 from URL:
http://www.gamedev.org/forum

Terdiman, D. (2008). “Future of Video Game industry taking shape at GDC” Retrieved June 28, 2008 from URL:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-9873852-52.html

CNET Networks, Inc. Game Spot (2008) Retrieved June 28, 2008 from URL:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/industry.html

Game Developers Conference 2008(2008, February 29). “Game Developers Conference 08", homepage.” Retrieved April 25, 2008 URL:http://www.gdconf.com

TheBiggDev(2005, October 4). “The BIG G's Game Industry Blog ", homepage.” Retrieved April 25, 2008 from URL: http://thebiggdev.blogspot.com/

BlackRock Studio(2008, April 25). “Games Industry", homepage.” Retrieved April 25, 2008 from URL: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/

Noble Order Press Enterprises Inc. (2008). “Game Industry News”, Retrieved June 28, 2008 from URL: http://www.gameindustry.com/

DONE BY: Tai You
Novatel Wireless. (2008). Retrieved July 20, 2008 from URL:
www.novatelwireless.com

Sliden, F. (2008). "What is HSDPA?" Retrieved June 24, 2008 from URL:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hsdpa.htm

3G Forum (2008). "3G HSDPA Modem Platform Achieves World-Class Mobile Broadband Performance" Retrieved June 23, 2008 from URL:
http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=75986

Icera. (2008). Retrieved June 24, 2008 from URL:
http://www.icerasemi.com/index.php

Carr, J. (2008). "More HSDPA/3G with Xbox360 and Wii" Retrieved June 24, 2008 from URL:
http://blogs.gnome.org/johncarr/

Luri, S. (2006). "HSDPA vs. WiMAX: Comparing Characteristics and Prospects of Datacom Technologies" Retrieved June 24, 2008 from URL:
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/mobile/wimax.html
DONE BY: Wen Yan

Development of AIDS Research by Michelle Goh Sue Ping NIAID (2008). “National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases”, Retrieved July 18, 2008 from URL: http://www3.niaid.nih.gov

Developments in the Area of World Fashion Design by Jessy Phua Amber McNaught. (September, 2006). The Fashion Police: Fighting Crimes of Fashion. Retrieved May 17, 2008 from http://www.thefashionpolice.net

Issues on Global Warming by Tay Kun Hao Terrence
ScienceDaily LLC. (2008). “Global Warming Articles”. Retrieved July 15, 2008 from URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/earth_climate/global_warming/

Yong Sen/ Bao Guang/Kenneth

Kenneth_Lee — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:56:28 CDT

Topic: Impact of Drugs on Youths
Done by: Kenneth Lee

Introduction
More people are abusing drugs today than in any other time in history, and many of those people are youth.

Drugs, a psychoactive substance that people take to change the way they feel, think or behave. Drug abusehas many negative physiological health effects, ranging from minor issues like digestion problems or respiratory infections, to potentially fatal diseases, like AIDS. The effects also depend on the drug and on the amount, method and frequency of use. Some drugs which are very addictive, like heroin, can cause physiological dependence even if the user only uses it for a short period, which means that when the person stops taking drugs, he/she experiences physical withdrawal symptoms and a craving for the drug.

Finally, drug abuse damages the ability of people to act as free and conscious beings, capable of taking action to fulfill their needs.

Resources Used
The global youth network (2007, February 2). “Youth and Drugs” Retrieved July 16, 2008
from World Wide Web: http://www.unodc.org/youthnet/youthnet_youth_drugs.html

Summary of Resource
The website's main purpose is to raise up the point that that more and more people are into drugs nowadays and youths made up a big percentage of those and also to voice out serveral issues regarding the connection between drugs and youths. The website also covers a spectrum of topics in relation to the impact of drug abuse.The links to external sources provides extensive information and are quite useful.

Brief Evaluation of Resource
The website is an authoritative source as it is formed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes. The website also promotes readers to join and comment about their website. If the reader has any queries, he or she can also send an email to the global youth network team.

The facts that the website provides are accurate. There is no political, ideological or biasness in the website. The information they provide does not contain any opinions and the references are at the bottom of the webpage. However, there are a few minor grammatical errors in the website. Although the information provided on the website is not very extensive, the information provided on the website is up-to-date and well maintained.

The website is also easily accessible and does not need prior registration. The website have clear headings to indicate the individual topics which makes the website user-friendly. The side bar also provides easy navigation around the sites.

My overall impression of the quality of the website is average. Although the website is easy to navigate and search for information, the amount of information provided is too little.

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Topic : Impact of Internet on Piracy
Done By : Pour Bao Guang

A glance

Piracy had been a problem when people make duplicates of games and software out of the original and resell them at a much cheap price. However, it does not just end there. The arrival of Internet, and the improvements to the Internet, thus Web 2.0 is born. With the capabilities of Web 2.0, users can watch movies and even live previews from the stadiums. Adding to it, Bit-Torrent came out as well. By enabling Peer-to-Peer transfer, users can now download anything from the web, as long there are uploaders. With this, users can just upload movie into the web, and other users could download and share around with friends, and other downloaders too.

Therefore, the advancement of Internet did really cause the increase in piracy.

Resource[s]

Envisional (N.D).Retrieved July 18,2008
http://www.envisional.com/index.html

Summary on resource

This website is aiming at companies who wanted to protect their products from being copied illegally. They do use some special tools that allows the copyright holders to protect their software or any kind of material. Be it pictures, a game, a movie, even music.

Overall, they use their special technologies to help companies to protect their software against piracy.

Brief Breakdown of resource

Purpose

Yes, clearly in the homepage. About how their products would protect against piracy.

Coverage

It wants to let consumers that is in the IT industry, to prevent their work from being taken without permission, and tells them how good is their software and services.

Pointers are set to videos and external references, and also internal ones, to show future clients how wonderful and user-friendly are their products.

Authority

Not really, it is a company website advertising about their products.

Accuracy

It tries to link between external sources to proof that their products are fool-proof, and also have videos on how good their products are. It also includes client feedbacks that are posted on their website content. The language is near perfect without any errors.

Currency

Yes it is, external links that tells about how bad the effects would be under piracy is constantly updated with latest news.

Accessibility

Yes it is, the layout is constant, and they navigation bar is always above, easy to navigate around.

Presentation and Arrangement

There are no search devices; however their site map is useful. And the layout allows the content to be displayed clearly on the screen, and important content is placed right in the middle. So it is easy to allow users to find for information.

Usability

Yes, the site map is one of them.

Overall

It is good but it lacks a search engine to allow users to view specific articles they want to. But basically, it is user-friendly and easy to access around.

Topic:Manga Art
Done By:Ong Yong Sen

Introduction
Manga or also known as Japanese comics has came a long way ever since it was introduced. The art has also varied from artist to artist and each person has their own personal way of drawing the characters and the way of how the characters like the hair or facial expressions are always changing. It is still very popular among fans who like Japanese manga and their are distinct artists who dedicate themselves to this and their are fans who does things like doujin and translation of the manga from Japanese to English. Yes, Manga has affected most of us and it is here to stay for a very long long time

Resources Used

Manga Helpers Community(2007). Retrieved July 14, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://mangahelpers.com/

Summary of Resource

The source is rather informative as it focuses on the new famous manga titles chapters.They also do a translation of Japaese text into English and they have a portion of how to improve on their language speaking, drawing of certain characters, certain techniques on how to get certain effects and many more.

Brief Evaluation of Resource
As the site is a fan made website. There are a lot of reviews and certain posts might not be correct at all and that includes on how to draw the characters and stuff. The site is also rather difficult to find as it has almost no links to link in over here. Also the user is required to read a lot of posts before getting what they might require. There might be a search box but some of the post might not be helpful at all. Overall this site is quite good, however the user is required to do a lot of digging in order to get a topic on the drawing

BILIOGRAPHY

Done by: Kenneth Lee
Levois (2008, May 12). The NYPD's Secret Crusade Against Marijuana Furthers a Racist Agenda. Retrieved May 28, 2008
from World Wide Web: http://itismymind.blogspot.com/2008/05/nypds-secret-crusade-against-marijuana.html
Stomp (2008, January 4). Discuss the impact of drugs abuse on youths. Retrieved May 20, 2008
from World Wide Web: http://talkback.stomp.com.sg/forums/showthread.php?s=ec05a52d46b0a2550bca964377be6840&t=30829

StreetDirectory (N.D.) Of Drugs and Youths . Retrieved May 20, 2008
from World Wide Web: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/4783/kids_and_teens/of_drugs_and_youth.html
The global youth network (2007, February 2). “Youth and Drugs” Retrieved July 16, 2008
from World Wide Web: http://www.unodc.org/youthnet/youthnet_youth_drugs.html

Washington State Department of Health (2007, March 21). Alcohol, drugs and violence continue to impact state youth. Retrieved June 7, 2008
from World Wide Web: http://www.doh.wa.gov/Publicat/2007_news/healthy_youth_06.htm

============================================

Done by: Ong Yong Sen

AnimeNewsNetwork(2007). Retrieved May 18,2008 from World Wide Web:http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php

Gaijin1(2008)”Hot Japanese Art Book”. Retrieved May, 14 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.squidoo.com/japaneseartbooks

Japanime Co Ltd(2008).”Manga University, homepage”. Retrieved May, 14 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.howtodrawmanga.com/

Manga Helpers(2008). Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web http://mangahelpers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1699

==================================

Done by: Pour Bao Guang

Australia Internet Publisher.(N.D). Forum on internet issues. http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/ . Checked on 2008.

Bakar.S. (2006). Will Piracy Kill the Author?
in http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com/2008/04/will-piracy-kill-author.html. Checked on 2008.

Envisional (N.D).Retrieved July 18,2008
http://www.envisional.com/index.html

MSN news.(2008). Game Piracy runs rampant on the Internet. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18665162/ . Checked on 2008

Music Industry Music Investigation. (2006). Impact of internet music file sharing & CD burning.http://www.mipi.com.au/reports/internetmusic.htm.Checked on 2008.

Open Source Blog.(2008). http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/piracy/.Checked on 2008.

Rockista. (2006). Piracy and its Impact to Philippines in http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com/2008/04/will-piracy-kill-author.html. Checked on 2008.

Poh Zi Hao, Hong Yeu Wing, Low Kuan Wei, Leslie See Wen Jin, Kenny Hoe Jia Chang, Wee You, Eugene An

weeyou — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:53:52 CDT

Topic: Impact of Alcoholism on Society
DONE BY: LOW KUAN WEI

Introduction
Alcoholism, which means a dependence on alcohol, is a disease that includes alcohol craving and continued drinking despite repeated alcohol-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law. It includes symptoms such as craving for alcohol, impaired control, physical dependence and tolerance.

Worldwide, approximately 2 billion people drink alcohol of whom about 76.3 million are diagnosed with alcohol use disorders. Alcohol, globally, contributes to 3.2 per cent of deaths (1.8 million) and 4.0 per cent of the disability-adjusted life years lost (58.3 million). Alcohol is also the drug of choice among youth. There are approximately 5000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking each year.

Although responsible consumption of alcohol brings enjoyment to people, alcohol is a drink that is commonly abused by many people. The misuse of alcohol leads to health and social problems, including the cost of alcohol-related accidents, alcohol-related crimes and murders and socially inappropriate behaviours, causing a huge negative impact on society.

Resources Used
T, B. (2008). "Alcoholism - The Alcoholism Home Page." Retrieved May 6, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://alcoholism.about.com/

Summary of Resource
The main purpose of this website is to educate people about alcoholism, help people recover from it and provide support to the family and friends of an alcoholic abuser. The website covers a wide range of topics such as the 'effects of alcohol', 'symptoms/diagnosis' and 'treatment/rehab'. It also includes all the latest news regarding alcoholism. The website also include an option to subscribe to its newsletter and sponsored links to alcoholism treatments. The links to external websites are not really useful as they are mostly just advertisements.

Brief Evaluation of Resource
The website is an authoritative source. It is a part of The New York Times Company which is a highly reputable mass media resource hence the source of information and resources are clearly stated. The author has years of research and experience in this field and can be contacted through email.

The facts are accurate as the content of the article are all reviewed by a team of board certified physicians and certified health professionals from leading institutions. There are no political, ideological or biasness detected in the articles and the sources and references of the articles are also stated clearly at the end of the article.

The information on the website is quite up-to-date and well-maintained. The 'Alcoholism Blog' and the 'Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the News' is updated daily. However, some of the articles such as 'Types of Alcohol Problems' was last updated in Nov 2007.

The website is easily accessible, no log-ins or registration required and all the information accessible are free. However, the forums would require one to register before posting.

The information are all well presented with clear formatting and presented/arranged logically. It is also consistent in its presentation and layout. There is a search engine within the site and the topics are all listed by their categories, allowing one to look for relevant information easily.

The website has a simple layout with clear headings which makes it user-friendly and allows for easy navigation.

My overall impression of the quality of the website is quite good. The website is easy to navigate and search for information. All the information are also presented clearly and very accurate. However, some of the articles are not updated regularly, which might result in the information being outdated.

Topic: latest trends of IT and informatics in entertainment industry
DONE BY: POH ZI HAO
Introduction IT and informatics is an ever growing sector that has, and will continue to have a major impact on our life. One area which is heavily influenced by the influx of new IT products available over the past few decades is the entertainment industry. Entertainment is never the same again, be it games, movies, or even books and marketing strategies, everything about the entertainment industry has changed except their purpose to entertain people. But exactly what kind of change has taken place? I have located an article which gives us a brief insight into the kind of impact that IT and informatics can have on the entertainment industry, even the adult ones.

Resources Used

Blaise Cronin(2006). “Anatomy of the Adult Entertainment Industry” Retrieved March 7, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/news/story.php?story_id=1175
Blaise Cronin (2006). "Considering the hard question" Retrieved March 7, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/news/story.php?story_id=1164

Summary of resource

As quoted from Blaise Cronin in his article: “Despite the dubiety of many of the revenue claims made by and about this rapidly maturing industry, and despite the general difficulty of gathering reliable data on web use, there is little doubt that the Internet, with its global reach, interactivity and massive channel capacity, has transformed the market for pornographic goods and services.” In his article he gives a brief background of sexuality in everyday life as well as describes the emergence of mass market for both soft-core and hard-core pornography. He also listed a number of trends in the current adult entertainment industry including: diversification, consolidation, globalization, substitution, domestication, democratization, segmentation, customization, commodification, legitimation, corporatization, and ‘prosumption’.

Brief Evaluation of Resource

The purpose of the article is clearly stated and focus extensively on both structures and trends of the adult entertainment industry. The article provided historical background on representations of sexuality in everyday life, describes the emergence of mass markets for both soft- and hard-core pornography, and acknowledges the mutual shaping of Eros and technology. It also identifies a number of developing trends in the adult entertainment industry.

Reviews on some of the frequently cycled statistics on the dimensions of the adult market and its constituent parts and discussion on the pyramid-like structure of the industry and the factors that seem to confer competitive advantage are also included.

There are link to the personal webpage of the author, Blaise Cronin, and the link is fairly helpful for seeking out his other articles.The article is from an authoritative source, the author; Blaise Cronin is an established professor in his field and is concurrently a Visiting Professor in the School of Computing, Napier University, Edinburgh. From 1985-1991, he held the Chair of Information Science in the Strathclyde University Business School, Glasgow. The article is included in the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics web site, which is an information gateway created for resources relating to Social Informatics.

The facts are accurate; it uses research from a number of publicly traded and privately held bellwether companies. There exists no biasness in the source. The site is factual and is free from grammatical, spelling and typographical errors.

The article is up-to-date for the time of its release. However, aging 2 years, there might be some unforeseen development not included in the article. The site is easily accessible and does not require registration or log-ins, all the information are freely accessible as well. The information is well presented and arranged, the information are clearly, consistently and logically presented and arranged.

There’s proper indexing and the search engine for the site is effective in helping users to find information. On the whole the site is easy to navigate and fairly well made, with a simple but practical design.

Topic: Impact of Integrated Resort towards Singapore economy
DONE BY: LESLIE SEE WEN JIN

Introduction
Integrated Resort, a project by the government that has brought about much controversy. There have been people arguing from both sides of the coin as of why a IR should or should not be set up. Particularly from religious communities who felt that the IR which includes a casino would bring about negative social impact of gambling. Nonetheless, the final decision has been made and the IR is set to be completed by 2009 by Las Vegas Sands. The IR’s casino would also be its very first in Singapore.

Why the need to set up a IR?
The question that ponders people’s mind would be why set up a IR all of a sudden? The main reason why the government wants to set up a IR is to promote tourism in Singapore. The government hopes that with the introduction of the IR, it would attract a large number of foreign tourists to Singapore to boost Singapore’s economy. Moreover it would also create jobs in the service sector and result in huge spin-offs for tourism-related sectors of the economy. And this will benefit Singapore in the longer term. The large amount of new attractions that the IR can bring is expected to draw many tourist over to Singapore thus increasing tourism in Singapore.

Resources Used:
johnlo.(2008,Febuaury 27). Resort Worlds; IR @ Sentosa.Forum discussion initiation.
Message posted to http://www.myhometown.sg/Forum/tabid/84/view/topic/postid/2566/Default.aspx

Summary of resource
As of now the IR project is still in its developmental stage and is set to be completed by late 2009.Despite all the criticisms and objections to the IR, many believe that the IR would ultimately solve the tourism problem in Singapore. There is much to be expected of the IR, including high class beach resorts and hotels, various entertainment centers as well as the casino. The IR is expected to attract 10 million visitors and bring in 15 billion tourism receipts by 2015. In conclusion although some groups believe the IR would bring about negative social problems such as gambling, however the government has responded by introducing schemes which forbid low income groups to enter these casinos and tight security is guarantee to ensure safety in the IR. Hence I give my firm support to the introduction of IR as it would benefit the country’s economy greatly and what’s more we Singaporeans now have another leisure area to go to.

Evaluation
The source used is very detail as it provides a lot of valuable information of the IR. The website is actually a forum which allows individuals to share their views and thoughts of the IR. The particular member johnlo who post on the thread provides detail and relevant information of the IR.

He also includes pictures to support his sources. The pictures provide are also accurate as they have been extracted from Resort World at Sentosa: http://www.rwsentosa.com/. This is a organizational website hence the information is therefore accurate and reliable and it is frequently updated. The facts and figures provided are also valuable and up to date.

Overall, the website forum allows me to get a huge amount of information with realibilty and credibility from organizational websites.The different perspectives that i can get from different people about the topic also allows me to get a better idea of how the Ir would affect Singapore.

Topic: Animal Cruelty
DONE BY: HONG YEU WING

Introduction
Cruelty to animals refers to the infliction of suffering or harm on non-human animals. Animal welfare supporters believe that there is nothing wrong with using animals for food, clothing, entertainment and research, just as long as it is done in a way that reduces or removes unnecessary suffering. However, animal rights theorists feel that “unnecessary” and other words that justify the killing of animals could be interpreted differently by different people and those animals can only be truly protected if they are no longer used as commodities.

Resource Used: About.com(2008). About.com: Animal Rights. Retrieved July 9, 2008 from http://animalrights.about.com/

Summary
The site deals primarily with animal rights. The site covers subjects like basic animal rights, animal laws, organisations and activists, companies and their animal-related activities, and how you can get active to help animals. It contains the latest news about animal rights and its own newsletter and RSS feed which you can sign up for. The links to other sites are advertisements ad sponsored links so they are not very useful.

Brief Evaluation
The aims of the site are clearly stated in the title.

The site is a part of a respectable company: The New York Times Company and are written by reputable people or authorities in the field. The author can be contacted for clarification.

The articles are also written by an authority in the field so there is some accuracy.
There is no political biasness detected in the articles.
There are no spelling or grammatical errors.

The information on the site is up-to-date and well-maintained. They have a blog that is frequently updated.

The website is easily accessible, no log-ins or registration required and all the information are free and easily reached. However, the forums would require one to register before posting. The information is formatted properly and presented clearly. As the site deals primarily in news and text-based articles, there is a lot of text on every page. However this does not make the site any harder to read as the text is spaced appropriately. The site also has a search engine and a list of their articles so that users can search the site easily. The site is easy to navigate as most of the links bring you to the page that you need in three clicks or less. The search tool is also very easy to use, and the headings are very clear. Overall, my impression of this site was a good one. There is constantly updated information on the site, and are presented clearly and neatly. The site has a blog that is updated regularly, but the articles are not.

Topic: Latest trends on the music industry for teenagers
DONE BY: HOE JIA CHANG KENNY

Introduction
Music plays a part in every teenagers life. Music is contributed, shared and discussed among teenagers almost everywhere in the world. The trends in music have changed rapidly over the years due to many reasons, one of which is technological advancement. Latest trends on the music industry would mean the trends that are happening that impacts teenagers. One of the issues would be piracy in the music industry. As demand of the music industry changes, trends are spotted among teenagers. This webpage discusses about Youth Hip Hop Digital Music Production and its research feedbacks.

Resource Used:
Digital Youth Project (n.d.). “Youth Hip Hop Digital Music Production” Retrieved April 20, 2008 from Digital Youth Research Kids' Informal Learning with Digital Media: http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/node/44

Summary
This webpage shows the relationship between music and teenagers and certain trends that may arise. The site have results from researches that comes from projects that includes music and other digital media. It deals with informal learning for teenagers and how teenagers react to the digital media industry. The article poses question that allows people to observe and spot certain trends amongst youths. How music can affect the music industry as well as how youths can affect the music industry, it is an everyday thing that youths are engaged in the hiphop culture. The webpage wants to deliver the different focus on teenagers that ultimately contribute to hip hop. It oftens throw questions which we already have the answers to them yet it has never crossed peoples' mind in depth. The webpages takes in many aspects such as technology, race and identity that affects hip hop altogether.

Evaluation
The work from this webpage is funded from an organisation and is licensed thus a reputable organisational website that provides accurate information, much less spelling errors. There are no traces of biasness as it obtains information from a neutral stand.

It is an easily accessible website as no login is required to view all the information however, if any information were to be used, credit must be given and link back to the website. The articles are not updated regularly and would get out-dated soon thus it may not be useful in the future for sourcing the newest trends.

Topic: Impact of Terrorism on World Economy
DONE BY: LAU WEE YOU

Introduction
Terrorism is "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion." There is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism. Most common definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants. Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war. Terrorism is also a form of unconventional warfare and psychological warfare. The word is politically and emotionally charged, and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. One 1988 study by the US Army found that over 100 definitions of the word "terrorism" have been used.. A person who practices terrorism is a terrorist.

Resource Used:
Wikipedia(2008). Wikipedia: Terrorism. Retrieved July 16, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism

Summary
This site is a Wikipedia entry on the topic “Terrorism”. It provides information such as tactics used by terrorists, types of terrorism, and the causes of terrorism. It does not provide information on the impact of terrorism on the world economy directly.

Evaluation
The website provides general information on terrorism. Although it doesn’t give direct information about the impact of terrorism on the world economy, it does give a lot of information on Terrorism and hence provokes thinking about their big impact on the economy. For example, a part of the entry mentioned that some tactics of terrorism includes “dominance of territory”, and “Economic deprivation of a population”. These two points shows how terrorism can affect the economy of one particular country. However, if the country is a superpower in the world economy, it is inevitable that other countries would be involved, hence impacting the world economy.

Topic: Pets
DONE BY: Eugene Ang Yujian

Introduction: Since the past, people have been keeping pets either for leisure or working purposes such as house pets and farming respectively. Pets also generally seem to provide their owners with non-trivial health benefits;[1] keeping pets has been shown to help relieve stress to those who like having animals around.

Resource Used: Wikipedia(2008). Wikipedia: Pets. Retrieved July 16, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pets

Summary: The site shows me the different uses of keeping house hold pets and the advantage as well as the disadvantage. The website is most likely reliable as it’s a respectable source used by many people out there. The site also includes many other links that are related to pet rearing and pet keeping. The website displays how keeping pets may benefit the owner in terms of health conditions and health risks. The information is useful for people that would like to start keeping pets, it would be a stepping stone that the new pet keepers would have for a guide before buying a pet. As I said the website is easy available and no sign up is required. Pictures are easily seen and language is appropriate. The website is easy accessible too.

Brief Evaluation: The website is accurate and it does focus fully on pet keeping and pet rearing. The website is popular and it is being used and refered by people of all ages.Authorities are constantly checking the website to ensure the information in it are accurate. The website is very reliable and there are no signs of biasness shown, spelling and grammar are good. The website is being updately daily and so information are constantly kept up to date. The website requires no signs up and such so accessability are not a problem for the public. Information are all well kept and text are easy read. The layout is suitable and clean. The website is very easy to nevigate around.
The website is suitable for all ages that are keen to learn more about pet rearing. The public should visit such websites to get more knowledge and wisdom.
Overall, the website is good.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Done by: Low Kuan Wei
Practical 1
"Alcoholism - The Alcoholism Home Page" (2008). Retrieved May 6, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://alcoholism.about.com/

"The Alcoholism and Addictions Help Forum - by SoberRecovery.com" (n.d.). Retrieved May 6, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/

"The Impact of Alcohol Abuse on American Society" (n.d.). Retrieved May 6, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.alcoholicsvictorious.org/faq/impact.html

Practical 2
D. Estitute. (n.d.). "Sober N Clean" Retrieved May 13, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://sobernclean.blogspot.com

"Alcoholism: Information, Resources, Support Services, and Treatment Options." (n.d.). Retrieved May 13, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.learn-about-alcoholism.com/index.html

Practical 3
"Alcoholism: Information, Resources, Support Services, and Treatment Options." (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.learn-about-alcoholism.com/index.html

D. Estitute. (n.d.). "Sober N Clean" Retrieved May 14, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://sobernclean.blogspot.com

Medical News Today. (2008). “Alcohol News & Addiction News & Illegal Drugs News from Medical News Today.” Retrieved May 14, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/alcohol/

New Jersey Department of Human Services. (2008). “National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.” Retrieved May 14, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.ncaddnj.org/2008/Home/default.asp

Practical 4 & 5
"Alcoholism - The Alcoholism Home Page" (2008). Retrieved May 6, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://alcoholism.about.com/

Dennis, I. (n.d.). “Alcoholism $ Society | Help Deal With Alcoholism.” Retrieved June 24, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.greatalcoholismhelp.com/category/alcoholism-society/

eMedicineHealth. (2008). “Alcoholism.” Retrieved June 24, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/alcoholism/article_em.htm

Practical 6a & b
"Alcoholism - The Alcoholism Home Page." (2008). Retrieved May 6, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://alcoholism.about.com/

Practical 8
Cock, B et al. (2000). “TalkingCock.” Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.talkingcock.com

Done by: Poh Zi Hao

Practical 1

skth21(2008, Jan). Sony Bravis 32V300A & 32D - Best Deal & Discuss. Guys kindly updated any good deals & info about the above Sony Bravia 32" V & D series.Thank you. Message posted to: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=1921887

"Hardwarezone.com" Retrieved May 06th, 2008 from WWW:http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/home/

"Wii Fit Clearly For Weighing Pets Too" Retrived May 06th, 2008 from WWW: http://www.gameaxis.com/home/?blog=2179

Practical 2

J. Davis(n.d)."IK Entertainment" Retrieved May 13, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://blog.ikentertainment.net/

"Shin Megami Tensei 3" Retrieved May 13, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.primotechnology.com/2008/05/06/shin-megami-tensei-persona-3-fes-ps2/

Practical 3

Primotech, LLC(2003) “Primotech” Retrieved May 14, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.primotechnology.com/

Harted.D. (n.d.) “Birmingham Post- Business Blog” Retrieved May 14, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://blogs.birminghampost.net/business/

J. Davis(n.d)."IK Entertainment Blog >> Blog Archive >> ZenCartPros" Retrieved May 14, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://blog.ikentertainment.net/zencart-pros

Webomatica(2006) “Webomatica- Technology and Entertainment Digest” Retrieved May 14, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.webomatica.com/wordpress/

Practical 4 & 5

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc,(2001) “iPod – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” Retrieved June 24, 2008 from World Wide Web:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod

IEEE (n.d.) “IEEE Xplore - Login” Retrieved June 24, 2008 from World Wide Web:http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/iel5/7657/20918/00969725.pdf?arnumber=969725

Blaise Cronin(2006). “Anatomy of the Adult Entertainment Industry” Retrieved March 7, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/news/story.php?story_id=1175

Practical 6 & 7

Blaise Cronin(2006). “Anatomy of the Adult Entertainment Industry” Retrieved March 7, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/news/story.php?story_id=1175

Practical 8
Cock, B et al. (2000). "TalkingCock." Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.talkingcock.com

Done by: Hoe Jia Chang Kenny
Practical 1
Digital Trends. (May 29, 2006). The latest trends in the music industry for teenagers. Retrieved May 7, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://forums.digitaltrends.com/showthread.php?t=10623

Maney Kevin. (May 9, 2008). Free for all. Retrieved May 11, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.portfolio.com/views/columns/2008/05/09/Trends-in-Music-Distribution

Burke, John. (November 4, 2005). Teenage trends even scarier for newspapers' future. Retrieved May 7, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.editorsweblog.org//analysis/2005/11/teenage_trends_even_scarier_fo.php

Practical 2
Rollett Greg. (April 23, 2008). Effects of youth and Gen-Y entertainment spending. http://gregrollett.blogspot.com/2008/04/effects-of-youth-and-gen-y.html last retrieved 14/05/2008.

The Barna Group, Ltd. (April 26, 2004). Fewer than 1 in 10 teenagers believe that music piracy is morally wrong. http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=162last retrieved 14/05/2008.

Practical 3
Rollett Greg. (April 23, 2008). Effects of youth and Gen-Y entertainment spending. http://gregrollett.blogspot.com/2008/04/effects-of-youth-and-gen-y.html last retrieved 14/05/2008.

The Barna Group, Ltd. (April 26, 2004). Fewer than 1 in 10 teenagers believe that music piracy is morally wrong. http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=162last retrieved 14/05/2008.

Maney Kevin. (May 9, 2008). Free for all. Retrieved May 11, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.portfolio.com/views/columns/2008/05/09/Trends-in-Music-Distribution

The Times. (June 16, (2008). Average teenager's iPod has 800 illegal music tracks. Retrieved May 11, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article4144585.ece

Practical 4 & 5
Digital Youth Project (n.d.). “Youth Hip Hop Digital Music Production” Retrieved April 20, 2008 from Digital Youth Research Kids' Informal Learning with Digital Media: http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/node/44

The Age. (November 25, 2003). "Music labels tapping ilegal song-swaps to glean trends" Retrieved from World Wide Web: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/25/1069522572623.html

Practical 6a & b
Digital Youth Project (n.d.). “Youth Hip Hop Digital Music Production” Retrieved April 20, 2008 from Digital Youth Research Kids' Informal Learning with Digital Media: http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/node/44

Practical 8
Cock, B et al. (2000). “TalkingCock.” Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.talkingcock.com

Done by: Lau Wee You

Raman, B. (2008, May 13). "Why terrorist attacks on soft targets?" Retrieved May 14, 2008, from World Wide Web: http://ramansterrorismanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/05/why-terrorist-attacks-on-soft-targets.html

Terrorism Research Center. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from World Wide Web: http://www.terrorism.com/

Topix Forum. Retrieved May 7, 2008, from World Wide Web: http://www.topix.com/forum/news/terrorism

Harvard University. Retrieved May 7, 2008, from World Wide Web: http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~aabadie/twe.pdf

Wikipedia(2008). Wikipedia: Terrorism. Retrieved July 16, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism

Done by Eugene Ang Yujian.

Wikipedia(2008). Wikipedia: Pets. Retrieved July 16, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pets

"TalkingCock." Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.talkingcock.com
Dog Forums(n.d) “The Pet Forums – The Dog Forums” Retrieved May 5th, 2008 From www.dogsforum.com

Dog raising (n.d) “Dog Raising” Retrieved Mayb10, 2008 From www.dograising.com

Americian Kennel Club (n.d) “American Kennel Club” Retrieve May10, 2008 from http://www.akc.org/ BBC NEWS (n.d) “News Front Page” Retrieved May16, 2008 from www.bbcnews.com

Done by Hong Yeu Wing

Animal Aid: News Archive. (2008). Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/archive/ALL///.

Animal Rights Community Online :: Index - Animal Rights Community Online. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.animalsuffering.com/forum/.

ASPCA: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (2008.). Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer/ .

Cock, B et al. (2000). “Talking Cock”. (2000). Retrieved May

Cruelty to animals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_cruelty/.

Downing, A. (1999). Animal Abuses. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/animal_cruelty/24830/.

Google. (2008). Retrieved June 25, 2008, from http://www.google.com.sg/.

InfoSpace, Inc. (2008). “MetaCrawlerWeb Search Home Page.” Retrieved Jun 25, 2008, from http://www.metacrawler.com/.

Pet Abuse.Com – Animal Cruelty. (2008). Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/animal_cruelty.php

snbg. (2005, July 24). My thoughts on Animal Cruelty. Message posted to http://acnmee.blogspot.com/.

Yahoo! Inc. (2008) “Yahoo! Directory.” Retrieved June 25, 2008, from http://dir.yahoo.com/?skw=yahoo+directory/.
Done by: Leslie See Wen Jin

Practical 2 Gen. (May 2, 2008). Discuss the impact of the Integrated Resort (IR) on Singapore’s tourism industry. http://genuir.wordpress.com/ last retrieved 5/05/2008.

Lexicon, Ltd. (April 26, 2004). IR and the restrictions that it will have to prevent excessive gambling. http://www.smartinvestor.com.sg/ last retrieved 5/05/2008.

Practical 3 Institute of Policy Studies. (1996). Proposal of Integrated Resort. www.ips.org.sg/events/casinos/papers/Winston%20Koh.pdf last retrieved 7/05/2008.

Practical 4 & 5 "Singapore to have two integrated resort and a casino" (2008). Retrieved May 27, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.getforme.com/previous2005/

"Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort" (27 April, 2006). Retrieved May 27, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.arup.com/singapore/project.cfm?pageid=9434

Wikipedia(2008). Wikipedia: Singapore. Retrieved May 27, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore

johnlo.(2008,Febuaury 27). Resort Worlds; IR @ Sentosa.Forum discussion initiation.
Message posted to http://www.myhometown.sg/Forum/tabid/84/view/topic/postid/2566/Default.aspx

"TalkingCock." Retrieved July 15, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.talkingcock.com

Splitz / Loveless / Vestige

Loveless777 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:20:26 CDT

Topic: Innovative 3D techniques that turn Lord of the Ring real: Tan Yew Beng(Vestige)

Introduction

With the latest modern technologies, any imaginations that anyone can think of could be created with the help of 3D animation software. Thus, movies that incorporate with the help of 3D models and animations have been created through the years. Let’s take a popular example such as the movie of Lord of the Ring. Ever since the book release of Lord of the Ring in 1954, about 50 million copies have been sold. Therefore, the trilogy-volume had been chosen as the best book of the millennium in 1999. So Peter Jackson with partnership of New Line Cinema, and went into making of this epic storyline into a phenomena and breath-taking movie trilogy.

Resource Used

Barbara, R. (2001, December, 1). “Innovative computer graphics techniques” Retrieved July
10th, 2008 from World Wide Web: http://www.3dm3.com/forum/articles.php?action=viewarticle&artid=5

Summary of Resource

The article talks about how the trilogy of Lord of the Ring was produced. With details of the character used, special effects, 3D computer generated graphics, animation, sounds, voice and the places which they went to film the epic movie. One of the important facts is that how they create their 3D models and animating with the help of a series of graphics development, 3D software and tools.

Evaluation of Resource

After going through this website, it gives me a better understanding of how the movie is produced, especially the importance of 3D digital effects, characters modeling by using 3D software tools. The article also included images that allow readers to understand a little more about what techniques that Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema uses to make this epic trilogy real. Although the article lacks a little at formatting as some parts wasn’t formatted for better visual, but it is good enough for reads to browse through and understand.

Topic: Microsoft XBOX 360 and Video Games. Lim Choon Yaw Marcus (Splitz)

XBOX 360 is the second video game console released by Microsoft, which was developed in cooperation with IBM, SiS and IBM. XBOX 360 has an integrated device offers XBOX LIVE to the players to compete online with other players around the world.

The console was first released on November 22, 2005, in the United States and Canada, followed by another 34 other countries within the first year in the market. In addition, the XBOX 360 had one –year lead on both its competitors, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii.

On a few occasions, Microsoft has produced special editions on the console, these special editions are typically custom – colored XBOX 360 models or having the video game’s image printed on the console and are produced in limited numbers. An example would be like the E3 2007 press conference, Microsoft announced Halo 3 Special Edition of the console. It sports a Halo 3 theme on the console, wireless controller, play and charge kit and wired headset.

In 2008 at the Game Developer Conference, Microsoft announced there would be over 1000 video games available for XBOX 360 by the end of the year. Popular titles would be like Halo3, Call of Duty 2, Dead or Alive 4, Gears of War and many more. In addition, XBOX 360 managed to gain a simultaneously release of titles which were initially planned to be PS3 exclusive, including the infamous Devil May Cry, Ace Combat, Virtual Fighter and Grand Theft Auto 4.

Reference
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – Xbox 360. Retrived on 07July 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox360

Topic: Strategy Games (RTS & Turn-Based). Toh Jin Guan (Loveless)

Introduction

Among the games we play every day, one of the most played genres would be Strategy games. In this genre, it had quite an achievement for about 15years or so in computer gaming. During the early days of these games, only turn-base strategy games existed where players had to plan their moves carefully during their turn. After that, real-time strategy games were introduced and this type would resemble more to reality as time was limited in the games.

Summary
On this article, it talks about the future of real time strategy games. Like the real time strategy (RTS) games is starting to become a real time tactics (RTT) games as the real time strategy games are suppose to be a kind of game that you are to collect more resources than your opponent so that they do not wear you out and not a game that is to convince your opponent not to fight with you. And the quote stated that: -Victory will go to the best tactician, not the best strategist.- The article also discussed about what war in RTS means and comment on it such as it stated that war is politics but in games, it does show war but not the politics.

Evaluation
After reading the article, I got a better knowledge about Real Time Strategy games and some factor that it lacks of.

Reference
Gamasutra, The Future Of The Real-Time Strategy Game. Retrived on 17July 2008 from: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3515/the_future_of_the_realtime_.php?page=1

Terrence, Tai You, Wenyan, Jessy, Michelle

MichelleGohSuePing — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:30:46 CDT

Introduction -->
There had been research concerning AIDS all around the world so that they can better respond to the growing
threat to the world health and development caused by AIDs. Research studies have been conducted and policy
makers and health systems throughout the world hope to adopt better ways of dealing with HIV/AIDS. Techical
assistance is also given to these people for findings of the programme. Development research organizations have
been built up for the AIDS research.
Resources -->
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/
Coverage is rather wide and comprehensive as informtion on Infectious Diseases are given. There is a search engine on the website and when the word "HIV" is being typed in the search engine, I get 12000 number of hits( from www3.niaid.nih.gov). Although the information is only from this site and there are no links to other websites, we get the details of information on HIV and Infectious Diseases that are reliable and supported with evidence and research.

This is an authoritative source. NIAID, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and NIH,National Institute of Health are recognised institutions with recognized knowledge and expertise. The authors can be contacted for more information. There are NIAID staff, NIAID Information Specialists that are at working for the health and research information counter.

Currently, there are no reviews on this official website. The facts in this website are accurate. Clinical studies have been done to prove the sources' reliability. There is no biasness in the source. It is a factual site that contains mainly of information on sources relating to infectious diseases and allergy. Information and latest updates on research funding and funding opportunities are also up on the website.

The facts are accurate and precise. There are news, features and research with much manpower being carried out. Therefore, the sources are reliable. It is a factual website as it is made up of clinical studies and health and science topics. The references are stated clearly and are free from errors. The information is up-to-date and well maintained. Every two months there will be information on the latest funding updates. The site is easily accessible. There is no need for registration and log-ins to know about the website. The information are accessible for free.

The information is well presented and well-arranged. The website is of table-form and there is a user-friendly interface where buttons are placed neatly on top. The search engines are rather effective too. It is easy to use and navigate around. There are user support facilities. My overall impression of the website is that it is a reliable source and organized website.

...

MichelleGohSuePing — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:13:02 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Renamed from .

MichelleGohSuePing — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:11:27 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Gaspar / Shi Kang / Yufei / Pei Ren

0704031D — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:29:08 CDT

Game design
Contributed by Yufei

Introduction
Game Design is a very general term, it can be pointing to the designing of the Game Characters in the game and it can also be the Game Level design; basically any element that requires designing in a game is counted as game design.

My actual topic is Game Level design, but the lecturer advised me to use a more general term as it would be easier to research on.

Resource
http://finegamedesign.com

Summary of resource
In the website, news of the latest information relating to Game design is stated in the website.

Publications
Online source
Writing and Art
Interviews
Articles

This are some of the examples of the game design news that can be found on the website. There are links to link to the actual source in the other websites.

In short, this web is a combination of updates found in the various websites whose links are found inside the website.

Personal comment
I think that the website is quite useful as the last update was in june, and there are also a lot of information that are not usually found in other websites and that include lectures by game designers.

Game Review
Contribute by Shi Kang

Resources
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/adventure/metalgearsolid4/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabs&tag=tabs;reviews

Summary of resource
Metal Gear Solid has a good and lengthy storyline. The game is able to ‘tell’ the story to the player. The cinematic of the game is stunning. The audio of the game is excellent. By having these two factors, the game makes good use of these two factors to ‘tell’ the story. In other words, the game did a good job in portraying story to the players. Thanks to the story, the story make the player feel that they should care and complete their mission. Lots of cool gadgets and weapon can be found in the game. There are so many weapon that a player can play through the game without trying most of the weapon. So many weapons yet every weapon feel just right.

Personal comment
This game indeed does have a good storyline. The way they present their story is also excellent. There are a lot of weapons. Player can modify their game play to their playing style. This also provides high replay values to players. Even this game scores a perfect score in gamespot but games like human are not perfect. There are some flaws in this game. Example collision detection in this games has a bit of problem.

Sports in Games
Contributed by Gaspar

Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_game

Summary of resource

“Sports in Games” is basically computer and video games that are related to sports. It’s a huge and popular genre in the gaming world of the past and even today and its one genre that will never die down, ever.

1970s

One of the first video game was a sports game, “Tennis for Two” created in the year 1958. But it was in the 1970s born the main era for sports games, “Baseball” created in 1971 was the first ever baseball computer game created, with that, its creator continued to expand and improve on the game and eventually came out with other different baseball games like Intellivision World Series Baseball in 1983, Earl Weaver Baseball in 1988, Tony La Russa Baseball in 1991-96 and Old Time Baseball in 1995.

1980s

It was between the years 1980-84 that the first console war occurred between Atari and Intellivision, with Atari having covering more than just sports games and Intellivison with sports games creation backgrounds. In 1983 Electronic Arts created their first sports game, “Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One, which was also the first licensed sports game based on the names and likenesses of famous athletes, and the game was a major hit. Also in 1983, Intellivison created the first sports game that uses multiple camera angles to show the actions in the game, Intellivision World Series Baseball. In 1988 EA created the first high quality graphical action game with the combination of a highly accurate sim game.

1990s

In 1991, Electronic Arts, EA created a new organization, EA Sports. With released of many different great hits to the sports games market with games like “NHLPA Hockey”, “NCAA Football”, “Andretti Racing”, “NASCAR Thunder”, “Knockout Kings” and the one which had the greatest respond for consumers then and even lasted till today, “Madden Football”.

20th Century

In 2004-05, began deals that granted exclusive rights to several prominent sports organizations, starting with the NFL followed by AFL and ESPN, and with that born the major business of Sports Games in the gaming market. Today, the sports games genre is currently dominated by EA Sports and 2K Sports who hold licenses to produce games based on official leagues. Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer series have and had been a great contender against EA Sports and 2K’s soccer games and also with the FIFA series. Nintendo on the other hand have also been making sports games, before, they sports games created by Nintendo was not so much of official live once but more of games that had been in the hit like “Mario” and moving it to the sporting zone like “Super Mario Strikers” and “Mario Tennis”, but now having the Nintendo WII released, they are climbing up to the top list of the sporting game world, With that, there is and always will have a new birth of sports games and which will never make this genre and market die.

Personal Comment
I do think that the information given by the site is and can be useful to anyone one looking for the topic "Sports in Games" or something that is similar to it. No doubt it is from wiki and that people can just come in and edit it but, the information that were given were really very related to the topic that I’m looking for, for the history of it to the present and even details like went did it peek and stuffs like this. It was really quite interesting as well and it actually taught me something new for reading the information there. So in conclusion, I don’t think that the site is and can be a helpful side for my topic.
What is game promotion?
Promotion is the process of advertising a product to the market, and as for game promotion, it is advertising the game.

Resources
http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3

In the website of blizzard, there is a page for Diablo 3. Since Blizzard has featured some of the popular games (example: world of warcraft), having a page for Diablo 3 means that it will be another expected popular game. Being a recognizable company, Blizzard’s site will be equally recognized by the gamers. With a recognizable site to feature Diablo 3, Diablo 3 will get much attention by the gamers.

Diablo series are popular to gamers. Just by seeing the name “Diablo”, certain expectations are presented for the game. Games expect the game to be good thus they will be paying attention to this game “Diablo 3”. Therefore using name of popular games can be a kind of promotion for the games.

In the site, it gives information of new classes in the incoming game. Screenshots and artworks of the games are also available for the gamers. This is to get their likings for the game. Short clips of movie and trailer are available to get the gamers’ interests for the game.

Personal comment
Game promotion is the way of getting gamers’ interests for the game. Diablo 3 has a recognizable site and its name is from one of the popular series thus it sure already has certain promotion for itself. Plus the information provided on the site ( E.g: forum, trailers...etc), it sure manage to get the interests of the gamers. Therefore the promotion for Diablo 3 is sufficient and since the game is not out yet, more promotions still can be appearing (example: discount).

Meiyi / Yani / Kevin

homeiyi — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:16:29 CDT

Japanese Anime : Naruto
by: Kevin

Introduction
Naruto is an hot japanese anime and manga series Created by Masashi Kishimoto. He is hyperactive and young ninja who is constancely looking for recognition from his enemies and so is his fellow villager. He is inspired to become the Hokage of the village, which is also known as the leader of the village. Naruto first started off as a manga series in Japan by Shueisha in the 43rd issue of Shonen Jump magazine in November 1999. His popularity rise to the top as it has been also licensed in USA and more than 24 other countries as well. Naruto has been airing on every Wednesday night during Golden Time slot at 7.27p.m., and movies based upon Naruto animated series have been released every summer since 2004. About Naruto, it happened 12 years ago where a Kyuubi(a nine-tailed fox demon) attacked the hidden Leaf Village. Chaos reigned throughtout the village as it killed many people till the leader of the Leaf, the Fourth Hokage by sacrificed its own life and sealed the demon into a new born baby, Uzumaki Naruto. However, thinking that everyone would actually respected Naruto like what the Fourth Hokage wanted it to be. Thing changes and everyone avoided him treated him like nothing than a demon fox. Living a lonesome life throughout his childhood, his life come to a change when he graduate form the Ninja Academy. and gain recognition from all fellow ninja of his age n higher ones. Thus he find his way through to succeed as a Hokage.

Naruto Fan. Retrieved July 10, 2008, from World Wide Web: http://www.narutofan.com

Summary
This is the official fan website for Naruto. It consist of information about Naruto and how it comes about. It also have lots of fans art regarding Naruto and other hot japanese anime series. The website contain the lastest series of the anime, manga and also downloadable music used in the anime series. This website only allow users that is a member to download any resources about the anime. Memberships are free, however certain stuff is still off limit, which means there are things that might interest you but you will have to pay for it. Beside anime, manga, fanarts, they also give weekly updates for the anime so that the fans won't be lack out of information regarding the lastest series. Fans of all this anime such as Bleach and Naruto should view this website.
EA Games
by : Mei Yi

Introduction
Electronic Arts (EA) is an American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of computer and video games. It is established in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers responsible for their games. Originally, EA was a home computing game publisher. In the late 1980s, the company began developing games in-house and supported consoles by the early 1990s. EA later grew via acquisition of several successful developers. By the early 2000s, EA had become one of the world's largest third-party publishers. In May 2008, the company reported net annual revenue of US$4.02 billion in fiscal year 2008. Currently, EA's most successful products are sports games published under their EA Sports label, games based on popular movie licenses and games from long-running franchises like Need for Speed, Medal of Honor, The Sims, Command & Conquer and the later games in the Burnout series.
ELECTRONIC ARTS Singapore | Home. Retrieved July 10, 2008, from World Wide Web:
http://www.ea.com.sg/en-sg/

Summary
This is the official webpage for EA Singapore. It mainly consist of all the computer and video games produced by EA company. It provides sufficient information related to all the games, on top of it, user could also view the lastest updates of the games from the webpage. Games demo are also released in the website for user who are interested in trying out the games. EA games can also be purchased and downloaded from the webpage directly instead of buying it physically which makes it more convenient for players. News of the games will also be updated regularly for user to view it and get informed. Offers and promotions will also be flash in the website to inform the public. Most of the users will also be fascinated by the screenshots that are available in the webpage and can be downloaded for free. User could also get to know which are the coming up games that will be released soon. I think this website is definitely a excellent webpage to view as it shows many EA games and its information. User who are interested in any of the EA games could just view this webpage and will be able to retrieve more information on it.

Games Music
by: Yani
Introduction
Music is crucial in games as they can create ambience and feel of the games. Video game music are music that exist in a video game or being played on a video game console. Some compositional features of this genre continue to influence certain music today, though, game soundtracks currently tend to imitate movie soundtracks compared to the early days. The genre might also have been influenced by technopop bands such as Yellow Music Orchestra, Capsule and Aprils to name a few, which were quite popular during the period in which videogame music took its trademark sound. Wikipedia | Video Game Music. Retrieved July 10, 2008, from World Wide Web:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_music

Summary
Games music almost always have main sections or "verse sections" consisting of chord progression of four or more chords (similar to much of J-Pop and 1980s Western Pop), as opposed to the two chord progressions found in most Western Pop verses. The "chorus" of the songs also contain four or more different chords in their chord progressions. Often many songs feature a chord progression which is extremely popular in J-Pop, which (in the key of C) could be given as: F minor, C minor, G major, C minor, with C major quickly inserted before the series repeats again. Overall, there would be generally a higher number of sections of a song than a comparable pop song, as this helps to reduce the repetitive aspect of the music, which was generally played as a continuous loop. This also sets it apart from even J-Pop music or most other forms of popular music. Most of the music in games are created using electronics and electromechanical instruments. Examples of electromechanical instruments are the telharmonium, also known as Dynamophone, the Hammond organ which is an electric organ , and the electric guitar, whereas examples of electronic instruments are a Theremin, synthesizer, and a computer.

Some examples of different genres:

8-bit
8-bit is an old genre. It refers to a style of electronic music inspired by the sound of old computer consoles. This music will often reflect sounds from technology that is seen as primitive or "outdated" such as the Game Boy and home-made synthesizers.

Electropop
Electropop also known as technopop is a form of electronic music that is made with synthesizers, and which first grew from 1978 to 1981. Electropop laid the groundwork for a mass market in chart-oriented synthpop. Numerous bands have since carried on the electropop tradition into the 1990s and 2000s.

Picopop
Picopop is similar to Electropop as in the way it is being created. The difference is that this genre originated from Japanese experimental bands and the beats are relatively faster and the music sounds more frantic and ‘pop’.

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geoy — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:21:43 CDT

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