Health Minister's blog gets high praise, but other ministries not yet ready to follow suit

Netizens say bring it on
Leong Wee Keat Today Online 18 Dec 09;

SINGAPORE - His initial worry about blogging and replying to Facebook posts was that it would take too much time. Three months after venturing online to talk policy, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan's concerns have diminished.

"Typically, I spend less than 20 minutes per day," he said, adding he was "pleasantly surprised by the experience".

"I'm discovering its many uses, helping me in my work, in reaching out to Singaporeans in a direct and personal manner," said Mr Khaw in an email interview with MediaCorp.

More government bodies listen to views online

The aim is to start taking public sentiment into account in policy-making
Alicia Wong, Today Online 4 Nov 09;

IN A move that seems to give more attention to online voices, some government bodies are experimenting with what has become a growing practice among private companies - monitoring online chatter and applying appropriate feedback to policy-making.

From as early as June, ministries and agencies have been seeking social media intelligence services, as tenders on the official e-procurement portal, Gebiz, show.

The latest are the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM), which put up tenders for a three-month trial to monitor online sentiment in various areas related to their ministries last month.

Blogathon nets funds for Malaysian turtle sanctuary

New Straits Times 29 Oct 09;

KUALA TERENGGANU: They may have had a pot of coffee ready but it was adrenaline that kept conservationists Prof Chan Eng Heng, Pelf Chen Nyok and Chang Kew Fong blogging around the clock.

It paid off well as they raised RM4,500 for the newly-established Turtle Conservation Centre (TCC) in Setiu.

Wherever the Web is heading, it's going there fast

James Skinner, Senior Advisor, MobJet.com
Business Times 26 Oct 09;

The most important trend in Web 2.5 is 'externalization'. It is no longer about driving traffic to your site, it is about driving traffic to your message and having your message in many places!

Web 2.0 is so old school!

Web 1.0 is the world of home pages and information. Most companies are still there. They have a company page that has information on the company and its products. Just because you use the Internet in 2009, does not mean you are in the Web 2.0 world. The biggest impact of Web 1.0 was to allow information on various computers around the world to be shared and indexed in a common format - usually HTML.

How to change the world

Neo Chai Chin, Today Online 24 Oct 09;

Technology is changing the way individuals and companies give to social causes, and it is changing the way social enterprises reach out to beneficiaries and donors.

By holding a "run" on three-dimensional virtual world Second Life to mirror its real-life event, the Relay For Life, the American Cancer Society raised over US$270,000 ($376,000) this year. Various support groups in the United States also utilise Second Life to counsel members.

Newspaper readership holds firm in Singapore

Survey also finds use of Internet on the rise among adults
Felda Chay, Business Times 23 Oct 09;

NEWSPAPERS and other print media may be in decline in the West, but they continue to do well in Singapore, according to the 2009 Nielsen Media Index survey.

The study, conducted from July last year to June this year, surveyed 4,687 adults aged 15 and over. It found that print readership held firm from last year, with 75.3 per cent of respondents having read a newspaper the previous day - the same as in the 2008 survey.

High-Speed 'Other' Internet Goes Global

Robert Roy Britt, livescience.com 16 Oct 09;

A super high-speed global Internet devoted solely to science and education has just expanded to include half the countries of the world, and yes, you at home can be jealous.

The Taj network, funded by the National Science Foundation, now connects India, Singapore, Vietnam and Egypt to the larger Global Ring Network for Advanced Application Development (GLORIAD) global infrastructure, and "dramatically improves existing U.S. network links with China and the Nordic region," according to an NSF statement.

iPod in sync with schools

Applications include teaching maths, making music and taking students' attendance
Amelia Tan, Straits Times 1 Oct 09;

PRIMARY 1 pupils at CHIJ Kellock used to lug boxes of marbles and ice cream sticks to school to help measure objects during mathematics classes. But now, all they have to do is 'touch' to learn.

The school in Telok Blangah started using Apple's iPod touch portable media player earlier this year to teach units of measurement. Applications on the touch-screen device help the girls measure objects, such as leaves, window panes and table tops, around their school and during field trips.

How to get your blog listed here

We hope to feature here posts that raise awareness about

• Singapore's nature and/or
  
• Environmental issues in Singapore

How does the listing work?
When your blog is accepted for listing, it will be added to the standard "Blog List" widget on Blogger. This will automatically extract your latest post and display it on this blog.

What kinds of blogs are accepted for listing?

Only blogs. And only blogs which can be picked up by the Blogger widget. Which means you must NOT deactivate your feeds.

Only blogs that focus mainly on nature or environmental issues in Singapore. We suggest you don't submit a mostly personal blog which only occasionally mentions nature and the environment. Why not start a separate blog for such posts?

Why are there two lists of blogs?
For fair viewing of as many blogs as possible, there are two lists.

• "Latest posts" are for blogs that are very regularly updated, e.g., updated daily.
• "More latest posts" are for blogs that are less regularly updated.

In this way, those with blogs which are less regularly updated are not overwhelmed by more regularly updated blog.

I have an upcoming nature event, can I list it on this blog? That is not the purpose of this blog. If your blog is listed on this blog, you can blog about the event. You might also consider submitting your event to the wildsingapore happenings blog for listing there. More details here.

I would like to contribute ideas and experiences about blogging.
Wonderful! We would be glad to hear from you! Do feel free to leave a comment on the appropriate topic on this blog. Or email Ria at hello@wildsingapore.com

I have MORE questions and can't find the answer here. Do email Ria at hello@wildsingapore.com