Our eyes on the world

Hi there,

There were two interesting questions raised in 106:

Where do we place ebay.com within the classification of industries. Seeu Kun went to do some research and here are her findings.

There's still a question on arts goods being giffen goods..
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eBay Inc. is an American Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell goods and services worldwide. In addition to its original U.S. Web site, eBay has established localized Web sites in thirty other countries. eBay Inc. also owns PayPal, Skype, StubHub, and other businesses.

Type of industry: Auctioning
Products: Online auction hosting, Electronic Commerce, Shopping Mall, Paypal, Skype, Gumtree, Kijiji

An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the winning bidder. On eBay, items are put on auction and whoever is the highest bidder for that particular item will buy the item. On eBay, people are actually able to make money from selling their stuff.

Based on my point of view, eBay should be in the tertiary industry. In the tertiary industry, a more monetary based industry; it involves the selling of goods and provision of services and allows the people involved to make money. IT services are also part of the tertiary industry, as it facilitates communication between people, internet services, connects businesses etc. As eBay is an online auction and shopping website, it provides the service online, thus, we can conclude that eBay is in the tertiary industry.

She went on with more information and this is definitely some plus point information. :)

There are certain strategic advantages of an online auction business model:

No time constraints. Bids can be placed at any time (24/7). Items are listed for a number of days (usually between 1 and 10, at the discretion of the seller), giving purchasers time to search, decide, and bid. This convenience increases the number of bidders.

• No geographical constraints. Sellers and bidders can participate from anywhere that has internet access. This makes them more accessible and reduces the cost of "attending" an auction. This increases the number of listed items (i.e.: number of sellers) and the number of bids for each item (ie.: number of bidders). The items do not need to be shipped to a central location, reducing costs, and reducing the seller's minimum acceptable price.
  
• Large number of bidders. Because of the potential for a relatively low price, the broad scope of products and services available, the ease of access, and the social benefits of the auction process, there are a large numbers of bidders.
  
• Large number of sellers. Because of the large number of bidders, the potential for a relatively high price, reduced selling costs, and ease of access, there are a large number of sellers.

As highlighted through her research here, ebay actually springs from the tertiary industries, as a type of financial and service based business. However, now that ebay is a virtual meeting place for sellers and buyers to meet, it does take on a quinary profile. As mentioned in class, one company need not sit neatly in one type of industries only.

Citizen of the Planet by Alanis Morisette

Quite a powerful song in terms of style, in rock and roll fashion. The visual, for those who know what is editing, is done quite stylistically too, disembodied parts of people as well as the lack of a human figure to empathise with, shows how 'alienating' and 'placeless' globalization can be. Aptly named "Citizen of the planet". No mentioned of countries at all.



Lyrics:

I start up in the North
I grow from special seed
I sprinkle in with sensibility
From French and Hungarian snow
I linger in the sprouting until my engine’s full

Then I move across the sea
To European bliss
To language of poets
As I cut the cord of home
I Kiss my mother’s mother
Look to the horizon

Wide eyed, new ground humbled by my new surroundings

I am a citizen of the planet
My president is Kwan Yin
My frontier is on na airplane
My prisons: homes for rehabilitating

Then I fly back to my nest,
I fly back with my nuclear
But everithing is different

So I wait, My yearn for home is broadened,
Patriotism expanded
by callings from beyond

So I Pack my things nothing precious all things sacred
I am a citizen of the planet
My laws are all of attraction
My punishiments are consequences
Separating from source the original sin

I am a citizen of the planet
Democracy’s kids are sovereign
Where the teachers are the sages
And pedestals fill with every parent

And so, next few years are blurry,
the next decade’s a flurry of
amells and tastes unknown

Threads sewn straight through this fabric
through fields of every color
one culture to another

I come alive and I get giddy I am taken and globally naturalized

I am a citizen of the planet
From simple roots through high vision
I am guarded by the angels
My body guides the direction I go in

I am a citizen of the planet
My favorite pastime edge stretching
Besotten with human condition
These ideals are borne from my deepest within 

Taken from:
http://www.elyricsworld.com/citizen_of_the_planet_lyrics_alanis_morissette.html

Hi students!





Okay, Miss Chen is a little cranky from her research on Singapore so she's blogging here for a while.





A simple writing tip for you project


I'm currently writing a review of Singapore's development as part of my thesis. Part of a good review is to critically evaluate multiple sources and choose to paraphrase some historical accounts, bearing in mind what are the key information one want to highlight. In this case, I'm trying to narrate Singapore's development, with an emphasis on development aspects I see as having an impact on Singapore's educational policies and directions. Before you slap your forehead and wonder what Miss Chen is doing *I like doing my homework okay?*





Check out this EDB website that tells you about the economic development of Singapore. This is EDB's perspective. Just one of the many sources I consult. This website serves as a "mini peephole" into understanding Singapore's economic development.

http://www.edb.gov.sg/edb/sg/en_uk/index/about_us/our_history.html



Of course, you need to ask yourself what is 'missing' from their account. Since this is economic, there are the social, political, cultural and environmental aspects one need to think about. Remember SPECS okay? It reminds you to consider all factors (CAF).



Just some pointers: try to catch yourself asking these questions as you do writing:

1. What are the economic aspects brought out?


2. What questions do I have?


3. What will I like to know more about?


4. What are its inter links? Where should I see them? Justifiable in context?


5. Why do I see development this way?


6. What is my personal experience of growing up in Singapore?


7. What are the events that I'm most sensitive to?


8. Where are my biases?


9. Why do I have these associations?


10. How do I express it?


11. Why do I choose to write my sentence this way?


12. Is the information presented objective enough? Did I side with any of my materials' biases I consulted?

(written from Miss Chen's perspective, adapt for your own)

Think, think hah! Writing is a very thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating process. I hope you will learn to enjoy it as you prepare your module project. What I will encourage you to do is to "try to catch yourself asking yourself questions". I'm sure some of you do it to some degree. Try it!

The more you ask yourself and try to answer your own such questions, the better your meta-cognition, which is another way to make yourself smarter! Have fun. Gambate! ;P

Just a short report:

Based on the small willing sample of students that took part in the multiple intelligences survey, I found that the dominant intelligences are:

Mathematical-logical
Musical
Nature-loving aka systematic

As such, I will use more songs than I intended and talk more about human-environmental interactions where possible. We will probably have some fun debating over industrialization and environmental protection in the industrialization sub-topic of this module.

Dear students,

This is a new and very interesting development in humanitarian projects in water and sanitation where ideas on improving water supplies and sanitation systems are widely available and open to all via opensource to everyone out there.

This website is especially useful for your module project - which you ought to start on by now; you have about only a month left to submission.







http://www.akvo.org/