關於 my media life essay ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

Here’s a little-known fact about me - I absolutely HATED writing when I was in school. But surprise surprise, I am doing all the writing on my blog and social media now. Funny how life turned out. 😂😂😂

And it’s the turn of my boys now… because just how on earth does one teach essay writing, especially to secondary school kids??? All the different types of essay questions from argumentative, narrative, descriptive to even discursive (I had to google that last one), I struggle to even come up with topic-related essay ideas, let alone guide them on how to write a good essay!

So thank goodness for Prune.sg, which is an AI-powered essay writing platform for secondary school students. With Prune, both Ash & Ayd get guided practice and develop their ability to tackle a range of composition types. First, Prune helps them to analyse composition questions with its AI-powered brainstorming tools to avoid going off-topic. Then it helps them to develop creative ideas quickly to maximise writing time during exams. Finally - and that’s the most helpful tool for me as a parent - Prune helps to mark the essay too!!! They get immediate feedback on grammar, vocabulary, and style when they submit their compositions. Wah solid, I like.

You can zoom in on the photo to see Ash’s attempt at one of the essay questions. Yes, I could have just used a photo of Ash & Ayd staring aimlessly at a screen, which will be more IG-worthy. LOL. But I really wanted to show you that Ash really attempted to write an essay based on that and the result was he loved it. He liked how Prune broke down the various parts of the essay into different points by guiding him write down his views in a systematic manner, which really simplified the thought process.

There are tons of online learning tools and portals for pre-school and primary school kids these days but for secondary school kids? Not so many. Which is why I think Prune is truly a fantastic helpline for this group of teens. But don’t take my word for it - sign up and try it out for FREE for one whole month at www.prune.sg/register with my code: CMPRUNEL. No strings attached. 😊

#writewithprune

[Paul Graham and The Lesson to Unlearn]

I started off this morning reading an essay by Y Combinator Founder Paul Graham about how students in schools are being taught the wrong things -- namely, to win at tests, to prove they are competitive.

The link to entrepreneurship? Graham believes that young founders who are just starting out think that the key to becoming a successful founder is to somehow trick people into believing in you.

He points to a series of discussions he typically has when young entrepreneurs come to office hours to talk about raising money or "being noticed".

He says they come up with hare-brained ideas like "launching on a Tuesday" because Tuesday is when you are most likely to get noticed.

Graham wonders why are these founders making things complicated, instead of just working on a great product that people will love.

"Why did founders tie themselves in knots doing the wrong things when the answer was right in front of them? Because that was what they'd been trained to do. Their education had taught them that the way to win was to hack the test. And without even telling them they were being trained to do this. The younger ones, the recent graduates, had never faced a non-artificial test. They thought this was just how the world worked: that the first thing you did, when facing any kind of challenge, was to figure out what the trick was for hacking the test. That's why the conversation would always start with how to raise money, because that read as the test. It came at the end of YC. It had numbers attached to it, and higher numbers seemed to be better. It must be the test."

This makes me think about things like "Growth hacking," which is not a real thing. It's a mnemonic device that some people in Silicon Valley came up with because they know it attracts young people who believe that marketing is something you do to "hack" the attention of people that leads to growth.

These young founders would soon learn if they were marketing employees of any corporate brand with a digital presence, that these "hacks" were already being done, as long ago as 30 years ago.

But why is the allure of the hack so compelling? Back to Graham's point, everyone who is being taught is also being conditioned. The distance between knowledge building and working on real problems that use that knowledge is huge.

Being a founder, in my opinion, is truly about finding a passion for something and then making a solution built out of rules that resonate in other people's hearts in minds. In other words, it's working with other people, communicating with them, and building a solution for them that not only fixes a problem they have, but inspires them to live a better life.

You do that with three skills, I think:

1. Communicating your own thoughts about the problem to a person experiencing a problem
2. Listening to their response with the intention to understand
3. Working hard until you get the real answer

In doing so, there is no hackable way to solve their problem. You have to continually "quest" for the solution, by building and failing, and building and failing. The failing is the key point.

According to Graham, we are taught that the solution to everything is to be perfect at getting the grade, to prove we are smart.

In fact, out in the real world, we are only really learning when we are applying a solution to a problem, seeing it fail, and then asking deeper questions about how to get it right.

For founders, the spirit of learning is in getting it right. That takes a really long time. Before you try to get noticed by investors, by the media, by anyone you need to get noticed by the customer who has a real problem, and has also failed in solving it.

The true test of entrepreneurship is whether or not can you learn in a way that teaches other people, too.

On December 16, we close applications for AW#20, an accelerator class that is devoted to blockchain and AI founders. You can apply here: http://bit.ly/2rxLzLi

Source material
http://paulgraham.com/lesson.html

Doug Crets
Communications Master, AppWorks Accelerator

WARNING: Now it's official! It has been published in the media. Don't say I didn't warn you. Facebook has just entered an agreement with the anti-Christ, after the red moon eclipse on Sunday night. If you paste this message on your page, you will be saved from harm. If you fail to heed this warning, the dragon, the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth will come after you and show your naked singing in the shower on Youtube. Your video will go viral, and you’ll live the rest of your life out in shame. Better to be safe than be sorry, right? Channel 666 News was just talking about this change in Facebook's alliances. I have verified it through my dream last night when I fought Nero with my kung fu. By this statement, I give notice to Facebook. It is strictly forbidden to find my friends and me in order to put electronic chips into our bodies as a tracking device for the anti-Christ. The content of this profile is private & confidential information. This is legit. If you don’t repost by cut and paste, the three-eyed man with the red horns named Jim Bob sent by the dragon will knock on your door. By then, it’ll be too late. Copy and paste now, and be freed from the power of the Big Brother, aka Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook’s sinister alliances are yet one more reason why the aliens won’t talk to us. In other epic news, a book about the Umbrella Movement containing my essay will come out in English. The contract is signed. Another book in Chinese on HK political situation and the book of Revelation will be going into the printer very soon also. I just saw the book cover today. My new English book has just hit Amazon today also. Check it out. http://www.amazon.com/Right-Parables-Wrong-Pe…/…/ref=sr_1_3… How can there be so much bad and so much good in one day? Hmmm ... Remember to copy and paste this as well to tell all your friends.

The M.E. Series (The Millennial Experience). Created all on Mobile with #iPhone12ProMax

Weekend. Raining. Work had been hectic. Needed to take some time off to recharge. Covid. WFH. Blurred lines between work and personal time. No time to shut off from work completely. Found myself working from screens to screen. Laptop to phone. Even leisure is watching videos online.

In need of time for a digital detox.

Found a bookstore that was opened in Feb this year, in the heart of Orchard Road, Wheelock Place. Where the Borders flagship used to be. If you know what I’m talking about, you’re from my time. I recall the times when I was still in secondary school, hanging at Borders with my friends who love reading, and I will be there checking out the CDs.

Heard that it has a 2 storey space with a cafe and gallery as well. Heard that the ones in China open 24hours, although it’s not happening in SG yet

——

Zall Bookstore, an outlet with more than 30,000 books mostly in Chinese, also has a cafe and art gallery

——

“Ms Laura Yan Ge, 24, who is general manager of the Singapore store, said at a media preview on Friday that while the company did not anticipate the coronavirus outbreak erupting amid its expansion, it believes bookstores are especially vital during a pandemic.

‘Because of Covid-19, there is a lot of distance between people nowadays," she said in Mandarin. "We believe books will help to close this gap. They provide food for thought and people can use them to widen their worlds.’”

—

As a creator myself, I need to constantly find inspiration.

While I can readily find all sorts of information online, sometimes I found my mind being constantly overloaded instead. We read. Socialise. We basically live most parts of our lives in the virtual world, and now we have lesser and lesser reasons to get out there anymore.

So, why a new book store? When was the last time you visited a book store?

Being here made me realised that it’s not about the books. It’s about the space. It’s about the experience. It’s about being here and being present. And what happens when you unplug from the internet and be present in the moment? You’ll get involuntarily intrigued by the surroundings, the people, the architecture, the noise, the beauty of it all. You’ll find headspace. You’ll find your inspiration. You’ll even find a new you.

When was the last time you stepped outside, set aside time just for yourself, and experience life beyond the screen?