It is our task this time round so search for something on Ebay, so this is what i have come up with: Hori's Real Arcade Pro 2, a high end arcade stick for the Sony PlayStation 2.

The current bid was US$127, which is significantly higher than what it's Singapore sales price used to be, around SGD$130, but this arcade stick has now been phased out and is as much a collector's item as it is a top-grade piece of equipment for all serious fighting gamers.

Definitely something worth purchasing if i have this money, to complement my other HRAP.

So, UIR is finally coming to an end huh.

Been a long journey throughout, indeed.

Throughout all this time, i guess i HAVE learned some new things, such as the better manipulations of the standard search engines such as Google, and also about new ways to search using things like Meta Search and Search Directories.

However, as i found out, the simplest is still the best, because Google served me well where Meta Search and Search Directories couldn't even come close.

Also, apart from the challenges of doing the UIR activites, i must also say the physical side of it was definitely challenging.

Having to wake at 9am for 3 straight weeks was a daunting task, because i did want to sleep in so badly so many times. Also, the fact that i'm working full-time also contributes to the stress factor, since i have to go to work everyday after class, e-learning days just mean longer working hours, and i have to make sure my work is up to scratch, aside from my UIR.

Also, regarding this blog, i must apologize for it not being very updated because i have never been someone who blogged on a regular basis; my few attempts before were half hearted at best, and entries usually numbered 2 in a month; not exactly a very dedicated blogger huh.

At the end of the day though, i'm thankful for this chance to attend UIR, and it has been a very interesting 3 weeks.

Friendster VS Facebook

1. A weakness

2. A strength

3. Can they ever replace face to face interation? Why?

Friendster and Facebook are two very popular social networking sites used by many today.

A weakness of Facebook is the lack of an ability to code using CSS and/or HTML without hacking the site.

This same point is a strength for Friendster, which allows for some user customization using CSS and/or HTML.

No, i don't believe that these mediums are suitable substitutes for face to face interaction. At best, they complement it. But you can't really keep in touch with someone through these sites as you would with constant, live interaction.

There is a limit to how much you can interact with each other through these sites, such as through messages and comments. These are easily delete-able/editable and therefore cannot serve as a reliable form of communication on par with live social interaction.

Furthermore, annonymity only serves to be a greater weakness on such sites, since one can do much harm and get away with it.

Live social interaction is still unparalled on the internet, and will always be.

- My Dream Holiday -

Egypt. A country marred by much poverty and political turmoil. And yet this desert region is home to some of the world's oldest and most mysterious cultures.

Along with such strange cultures are equally strange places and structures, such as the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, and the Valley of The Kings. These are places documented extensively through modern history as appearing to be more than what they seem on the surface.

These then, are reasons why i would like to visit these places. To see for myself such apparently primitive lands that still continue to baffle everyone today.

Interesting fact: The 2nd picture shows the famous 3 Pyramids of Giza. While the centermost pyramid appears to be the tallest, it is actually a common misconception due to the way pictures are taken. The tallest pyramid is actually the furthest one from the camera.

Search Engines - A Comparison

Today's post covers the issue of search engines, specifically, Direct Search (Google), Meta Search (Meta Crawler) and Search Directory (Yahoo Search Directory)

I did a simple search using the following string:

(Teenager OR Youth) AND (Online AND Gaming) AND (Impact OR Effect) AND (Addiction OR Obsession)

Google - Google returned 385000 results, of which, out of the first 10 displayed on page 1, easily 7 of them were highly relevant to my query. Impressed.

Meta Crawler - 70 results found. The first one was a Wikipedia entry regarding internet addiction. Ok, not too bad. The second and fifth were links to DOWNLOAD GAMES. That is absolutely counter-productive.

Yahoo Search Directory - 9 results found, and barely anything relevant. In fact, like Meta Crawler, i find rather unrelevant results such as STARCRAFT LEGACY. Very lame indeed.

Compare the search results. Identify 2 characteristics that make all 3 search facilities similar or different from one another.

They all use keywords to search for results. They all link to different websites for their results, instead of retrieiving from a central database.

Do you find any strength/weakness of each of them, in terms of search capability?

Yes. While Google finds very relevant results despite returning thousands of hits, the other 2 engines return much fewer hits, but almsot none of them are relevant.

Overall, which search facility best meet your searching needs? Why?

Direct Search engines like Google are still the best to use because of their ability to find the most relevant results.