Go; Sebuah permainan intelektual

Pelihara Tradisi, Teggakkan Identity

Apa khabar kepada semua pembaca sekalian? Sedar tidak sedar, sudah lebih kurang dua bulan saya tidak menulis apa-apa yang baharu di sini.  Oh, segmen ini juga agak lama saya tinggalkan tanpa apa-apa pembaharuan.  Saya masih ingat lagi entri terakhir segmen ini berkaitan dengan violin China iaitu Erhu.  Tetapi kali ini, saya akan memperkenalkan benda lain pulak.  Sebelum bercerita dengan lebih lanjut, benda ini dikatakan sudah wujud kira-kira 4000 tahun dahulu, berasal dari Tanah Besar China.  Ianya bukan alat muzik tetapi ia merupakan sejenis hiburan juga, seperti Congkak.  Tetapi concep dan permainannya  tidak seperti conkak.  Ia memerlukan strategi dan taktik seperti catur, tetapi tidak juga dimainkan seperti mana permainan catur.  Permainan ini dipanggil Go.  Dalam bahasa Cina, ianya dipanggil Wei Qi. Dalam Bahasa Korea, ianya dipanggil Baduk.  Dan Dalam bahasa Jepun, ianya dipanggil Igo.

Permainan ini dikatakan berasal dari seorang raja yang mahu menjinakkan puteranya yang sangat nakal dan gemar bermain di luar istana.  Ada juga lagenda yang menyatakan bahawa permainan ini berasal dari dewa-dewa di langit.  Walau bagaimanapun, Go sudah pun mula dimainkan oleh masyarakat biasa pada zaman dahulu dengan tujuan hiburan dan/atau perjudian, hinggalah golongan bangsawan dan pemerintah / atasan di istana diraja.  Pada zaman sekarang, Go sudah menjadi salah satu permainan intelektual. 

Di Malaysia, permainan ini tidaklah terkenal seperti mana Catur dan Congkak.  Begitu juga di negara Barat seperti negara Eropah, Negara AS, Timur Tengah dan benua-benua lain.  Tetapi badan-badan berskala global sudah pun ditubuhkan.  Di Malaysia sendiri, kita juga mempunyai persatuan Go yang tersendiri.  Persatuan ini telah ditubuhkan pada tahun 2003, dan dinamakan Malaysia Weiqi Association (MWA).  

Okay, berbalik kepada infomasi umum permainan ini.  Mulakan dengan peralatannya.  Untuk bermain Go, kita memerlukan Papan, batu dan Mangkuk.  Papan harus mempunyai garisan melintang dan menegak membentuk petak-petak empat segi  sama ada 9 kali 9, 13 kali 13 atau 19 kali 19.  Batu-batu pula berbentuk seperti piring dan seragam saiznya, dan hanya mempunyai warna hitam atau putih sahaja.  Sementara mangkuk itu pula adalah untuk mengisi batu batu tersebut.  Satu mangkuk hanya untuk satu warna sahaja.  Semasa permainan, batu-batu ini akan diposisikan di atas titik pertembungan antara garis melintang dan menegak.  Ini bermakna batu-batu ini tidak ditempatkan dalam kotak tetapi di atas garisan.  Seperti Catur dan Congkak, permainan ini melibatkan 2 orang sahaja dan kedua-dua permain akan menempatkan satu batu dalam satu giliran di atas papan.  Proses ini akan berulang sehinggalah kedua-dua permain bersetuju bahawa permainan ini sudah  tamat dengan memberikan giliran kepada pihak lawan, atau lebih dikenali sebagai "Pass".

Hmm, mungkin anda tertanya-tanya, bagaimana permainan yang sebegini memerlukan strategy dan pemikiran, sedangkan ianya hanyalah satu permainan yang meletakan batu di atas papan.  Bunyi pun semacam bosan.  Sebenarnya, seperti Catur dan Conkak, permainan go mempunyai motif dan objektifnya.  Dalam Catur, kita harus mematikan Raja, sementara Congkak pula adalah untuk memaksimumkan bilangan batu dalam rumah kita.  Dalam Go, kita harus memaksimumkan keluasan tanah jajahan kita di atas Papan.  Ini bererti permain yang menang haruslah mempunyai tanah jajahan yang lebih luas berbanding pihak lawan.  Pada masa yang sama, kita juga boleh memerangkap batu pihak musuh dan menjadikan  batu-batu itu tawanan kita.  Secara singkatnya, kita boleh makan buah / batu pihak musuh kita dengan mengeluarkan mereka dari gelangang/papan sementara kita meperluas dan memburu kawasan jajahan yang baru.  Gayanya ada sedikit macam dam Apit, cuma cara dan peraturannya membezakan kedua-dua permainan ini.  Sesetengah pihak termasuk permain catur terkemuka pernah menyatakan bahawa permainan  ini adalah antara BoardGame yang paling kompleks memandangkan permainan ini mempunyai probability yang tinggi.  Jadi, tidaklah  keterlaluan jika kita katakan bahawa permainan ini memerlukan strategi dan perancangan yang baik untuk menang! 

Kerumitan permainan ini juga terbukti apabila pakar penulis program komputer sehingga hari ini masih tidak dapat menghasilkan satu software yang dapat menandingi permain-permain bertaraf dunia seperti mana deep blue dalam permainan Catur.  Tidak seperti minda manusia yang boleh bertindak secara spontan dan mengatur langkah seterusnya tanpa diprogram, sebuah software harus dilengkapi dengan arahan bagi setiap tindakan.  Ini juga bererti tindakan yang diambil oleh komputer tidak akan lari daripada apa yang diprogram.  Memandangkan kemungkinan dalam Go bergitu banyak sekali, maka arahan yang harus diprogramkan dalam software Go akan menjadi berkali ganda jika dibandingkan dengan Catur.  Ini belum termasuk dengan pemilihan langkah yang paling baik untuk giliran yang seterusnya.  Semua ini menyukarkan lagi penghasilan software yang kuat dalam masa terdekat.  Namun begitu, usaha-usaha ke arah menghasilkan software yang terbaik sudah bermula beberapa tahun dan usaha-usaha ini tidak akan berhenti sekerat jalan. 

Bersambung lagi~~

(Sekadar berkongsi)

Steps and elements of a new media plan

Hello people, so, I guess this is my very last blog entry for PR and New Media subject.  And the video above is me, (how embarrassing).  Actually it is a discussion on the steps and elements of a good new media plan.  In the video (in case you haven’t watch), I talk about the steps on how to come out with a successful plan.  And I guess it can be consider as elements too.  But the video has missed out another part which is the implementation.  So, here comes the writing

In the research stage, the planner should first have sufficient  knowledge and information, including the medium use, the trend and pattern of internal and external audience.  Let us take Carl’s JR Malaysia as example (since it is the one that assigned to my assignment group).  This means that Carl’s JR should know which new media channels that is suitable to use.  To be more specific, since YouTube is a video based platform, Carl’s JR can fully use to show the picture of their foods and restaurant environment with a good music and voice.  Even so, the production cost may be very expensive while Carl’s JR is still concentrated to a small region in Malaysia, and it is not that economic in its current status.  Therefore, YouTube is Perhaps not a good medium.  Next is information regarding the audience.  Here, Carl’s JR should have knowledge on what the audience’s (external) expectation on what should appears on the medium.  As for the internal audience (stakeholders), Carl’s JR should consider how the new media making their staff’s life easier. 

In the objective setting process, the achievement of the new media must be able to be measured.  Which means that Carl’s JR should have set a systematic mechanism to judge whether the implementation this plan is a success or failure.  The mechanism can be anything that shows comparison and figure (e.g. the view, the likes, the shares, the revenue record, etc.).  The set objective at the same time should be logic and very clear and precise.  This means that Carl’s JR should put a goal such as “to have one Carl’s JR restaurant in major cities in peninsular Malaysia in 2017 by encouraging citizens there to subscribe as franchisee” rather than just say that “Carl’s JR wants to have several restaurant around Malaysia”. 

In the Activity, or the action stage, Carl’s JR should come out with new media that is not far from the research data and the set objective.  By taking the “franchisee” example in the above paragraph, Carl’s JR should make its official site to include information such as “how to be a good restaurant manager” to the registered visitors who really wish to become a part of its business. The last two which is the measurement and the evaluation is much related.  Carl’s JR will organize all the figures and compared it to judge the plan.  Well, that’s all from me!  See you again in another entry!!

Go Viral

Okay people. This time, I decide to come with a video that use to be controversial.  If you are Malaysian, you most probably know this well.  No doubt that this video has spread widely and therefore there is one time when Malaysian started to make jokes on it.  Perhaps it is not as viral as Gangnam Style, yet it is still a good example I guess.  In my previous entries, “viral” has shown up quite a couple of time, but I provide no explanation for it.  And Today, I got the chance.  In my own words, Viral is viral, LOL, just kidding.  If you ask me, I will associate this word with “widespread” and “speed”.  Like the virus out there, the media content can go viral too.  Unlike HIV that requires blood contact, a message in a media require only our senses, typically the sight and hearing.  (Thank god, it is not virus in biology).  When the source (media content) produce stimulus (viewed by others), our sensory organs will transfer it to brain via sensory neuron (interpretation), and then the motor neuron for reflection (further actions, responds and feedback), bla bla bla.  

Now we come to the main business. This video is considered as a viral video not only because that it is popular among Malaysian, but it also has a good number of views.  As for this video I shared here, it has approximately 160 thousand views, which is a large number for me.  Besides, there is another video with similar content uploaded by somebody else with more than 130 thousand views.  Not to mention some other shorter versions which has more than one thousand views.  Adding all these numbers, perhaps it can hit 300 thousand or more. 

Next, it has widely discussed and shared around upon viewing.  When it is shared to others across medium (e.g. from YouTube to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus, blogs and microblogs, etc.), it become some kind of trend.  When it is a trend, more and more people started to adopt it to their daily life, and therefore there were jokers played their creativities by creating sarcastic video in various forms and presentations.  Not forgetting those who  have applied the “listen, listen, listen” phrase in their daily conversations with friends and relatives.  The whole cycle is characterize by the word “viral”. 

However, human curiosity will never ended.  And so, I include a recording to explain why is this video stand out from others and get all its way to be selected as a part of news coverage.  Before that, I will first point out the characteristic of a viral video by taking this triple listens as example.  As usual, all information in this entries is in my very own opinion, or I should say  it is a compilation of knowledge from class discussion and my very own view.  Well, I guess that’s all from me in this entry.  We shall see again in another brand new topic regarding the new media in next week or the week after.  Many thanks for your visit!

MejaLogam dan Kerja Kursus

Dengan takdir Tuhan, MejaLogam pun menjadi sebahagian daripada kerja kursus dalam salah satu subjek yang sedang saya belajar sekarang.  Sebenarnya, tulisan yang ditulis dalam bahasa Ingeris dan mempunyai tajuk yang berkaitan dengan bidang media massa dan komunikasi ini adalah tajuk-tajuk yang diberi oleh pensyarah.  Secara tidak langsungnya, saya tidak perlu mencari ilham untuk menulis!  Maklumlah, sejak kebelakangan ini tak ada apa yang hendak saya ceritakan. 

Sebenarnya, subjek ini sangat bagus kerana ia memberikan ransangan positif kepada saya untuk mengetahui kemampuan Blogger yang sebenar.  Sebelum ini, saya tidak tahu dan tidak teringin untuk tahu bagaimana untuk masukkan link, audio, video dan sebagainya dalam setiap entri yang saya terbitkan dalam blog ini.  Tetapi dengan tekanan yang positif daripada kerja kursus, saya yang tak mahu ambil tahu pun terpaksa tahu.  Dalam subjek itu juga, saya telah mengetahui banyak maklumat yang berkaitan dengan media massa dan juga laman social.  Maklumat-maklumat ini termasuklah applikasi dalam dunia pekerjaan dan implikasinya, fungsi dan perenan medium ini serta kesannya kepada corak komunikasi samaada pada peringkat individu mahupun masyarakat.  Selain itu, saya juga berpeluang mengasah penulisan saya dalam Bahasa Ingeris memandangkan saya masih lemah dalam bahasa antarabangsa itu. 

Selepas ini, saya masih ada beberapa entri yang berkaitan dengan media massa dan komunikasi, dan saya berkemungkinan akan merakam video dan audio.  Satu cabaran yang saya kira hebat tetapi menarik.  Walau bagaimanapun, semoga semuanya berjalan lancar dan yang paling penting, saya berharap tulisan-tulisan ini akan memberi manfaat kepada semua walaupun mungkin ianya bersifat pendapat dari seorang individu. 

(Sekadar berkongsi)

Is it a good mobile app?

This is why it is call the unbreakable Phone

Hey there!  Are you a fan of sports?  If “yes” is your answer, I assume that you may like this entry.  But then, if you are still using the unbreakable cellphone then, it may not be a good news.  It is because I am going to touch about Adidas miCoach.  If you have come across this apps, or even using it now, please feel free to comment on this entry by sharing some of your experience.   

According to Trew (2013), miCoach was announced on the coattails of two other high-profile Android-based watches (the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony SmartWatch 2).  And next, it was made to market shortly before Nike's new FuelBand SE sports tracker.  The Adidas miCoach is actually a device with multifunction.  It is mentioned to have several common-use features which includes watch, heart-rate monitor, rate monitor, accelerometer, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and etc.  To be honest, I really can’t imagine how the device can have such all-in-one crazy feature.  Whatever it is, the miCoach has its own hardware and software.  As for the hardware parts,  it is very suitable and secure to wear while performing a run, while the software is actually referring to the app that is compatible with smart devices such as iPhone and Samsung.  

In basic,

miCoach app provides you the information you need about your sport performances.  It is not limited to only running but it is also some other sports games.  In terms of measurement, it is using hustle as the measurement unit.  The app, with certain additional software or hardware, can help to track your speeds, acceleration the height of every jump, quickness in terms of changing direction, as well as how much ground you have covered (distance). 

In my own opinion, this app is good in a certain degree.  First off, the app is directly targeted to those who are in with sports, and Adidas itself is selling sports items.  In terms of target audience, both the app and the company is the same category.  The app offer a wide range of functions and it drive the sport lover crazy.  For those who plan to become professional players, this app provides a full package to them for what they need.  Whenever they have the app on their hand, with the combination of some devices offered by Adidas, it become something very special.  When customers enjoy the features, Adidas will have built favorable image in their mind.  Next, the app is a way of encouraging people to take sports in a more serious and scientific way.  Since the app can measure movements, it provides values for the users to compare and improve.  It is possible that a person will fall in love to sports just because he or she desires improvements and sometime to compare with others.  The app promote sports in an indirect way with the scientific elements.  As for those professionals sports players, it is a way of self-motivation for a better quality of playing.  Since every movement can be measured, it can be compare and recorded in anytime.  Everyone wants to break record and create new history isn’t it?  This is how the motivation is generated I guess.  Best of all, it is free to use!  In short, the app enhance sports experience to all users besides promoting the healthy way of living  in a very creative way. 

For further reading about this app, please visit  http://micoach.adidas.com/my/multisportapp

A Talk on Managing Online Presents In the Digital World

Special Thanks to Mr. Azhan Rabi for sharing his knowledge with Bachelor in PR (honors) Students in TARUC

"Remember, whatever goes online, it will be online forever!

Last Saturday, I attended a talk conducted in TAR UC by Mr. Azhan Rabi, a member of Resourcing team in AirAsia; and yeah, the topic discussed has proximity element to me and the Generation Y out there.  It was titled “Managing Online Presence in the Digital World”, and it did touch about social media usage, as well as how we can make use of platforms available online to search for a job.  Here, I includes what I have learn as well as adding in my own understanding and interpretations from the talk.  Let’s begin with some facts and figures!  According to him, approximately 97% of us has an online account, and 65 % of them login daily (The account here is referring to social media account, e.g. Facebook).  Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Skype and so on, whatever we have shown or we plant to show in these social media are actually reflecting ourselves.  Or in shorter terms, this is our digital identity.  I belief that most of youngsters like me out there are kind of very good when come to expression, either with words or with photos.  Whatever we placed online is considered as digital asset.  Besides that, we love selfie so much that almost every place we go should have one shot at least.  It Is fun and happy to see people “like” our status, our photos, our words and our posts.  It is some kind of acknowledgement for some people!  If there is no like then, some of us gone moody, emo and start to think negatively.  When more and more we exposed ourselves online, people get to know us more, and our data become more valuable to some business people or irresponsible parties.  Mr Azhan kept emphasize that what goes online will goes for ever.  You know why?  Even though we have remove the information that we don’t it to exposed to anyone anymore, it will still there for others because it probably has gone viral on internet.  If this data are put together, some people can actually use them to earn money by selling them to the business or advertising company.  As for the irresponsible group, our data is sufficient enough to be misuse against us.  In order to prevent this, all of us are advised to not placing any crucial information online.  But then, whatever we key in will become the assets of the service provider.  E.g. when we upload our status with a good written poems, or some kind of slogan on Facebook, with © some more, Facebook is still possessing them.  In the world of social media, everything changed very fast, including their functions and policies.  Try to imagine how it could possibly be if the social media service provider said that the all users profile can be viewed by others under the new policy.  It will definitely a bad things isn’t it?  Okay, now move on to another crucial point.  Some of the employers did taking account of our digital identity.  It even come so far that the digital profile can shake our reputation and good name.  Try to imagine if our employers saw all silly stuffs on our online account, would you think they will still accept us?  Most probably they will not because digital identity is an extension of who we are.  In short, Mr. Azhan advised that we should think twice before come with any post online.  Make sure that we will have no regret for it.  

Little Appreciation to Mr. Azhan for his wonderful time!

Note:, For those who wish to search for jobs via online platforms, we can actually tryout LinkedIn, a professional network.  Maybe many of us has come across the website such as JobStreet to search for work, LinkedIn can be used for self-advertise, or self-branding, or whatever they call, so that   the employers out there can approach us.  We also can approach  the professionals out there with a more detailed and holistic information.

That’s all for this entry, Have a nice day.