Reflection Post

Hello ALES204 & world!

So today was the last class of ALES 204 for me and it is time to reflect back on the course and what we have done over the semester.
First off i would like to give a big thank you to Dr. Jessica Laccetti (FOLLOW HER @JessL NOW!), Marie-Claude Roy, the #ales204 class, and the whole D4/D5 lab for making it fun.

Coming into the class in September (like most ales204 students), i had no idea what i was getting into. I took ales 204 primarily because it was a requirement for my degree and was hoping it was an easy course that will fly right through the semester. Yes, it was an easy course, but what i did not expect was how much fun the class was & how much of a difference this class has really affected me.

My view throughout the term in ALES 204

Over the course we learned:

• How to properly prepare for a presentation
• How to professionally present yourself through social media/internet
• How to effectively make a poster-presentation
• Introduction to Pecha-kucha
• How to properly make an academic paper
• What is a CV ; and how to make one
• How to analyze a scientific journal
• Proper citation methods & ethics involved with improper reference
• How to properly make a powerpoint 
• Professionally present an email
• How to edit and use Wikipedia lingo
• Introduction to Linked in, Twitter, professional Facebook page, Audioboo, blogspot, podcasts
• How to prepare for an interview
• Googledocs & its future in technology
• Peer reviewing and the importance of it

It may seem like a lot, but there should be a lot of overlap with some background knowledge most of us already know and use. The activities and learning objectives were clearly met with this course and will have an ever-lasting impression on your studies/career.

Thanks to this course, I've decided to use twitter a lot more (follow me @kelvinwwong) & am not embarrassed to take full advantage of social media to present myself to the professional world. If any future/current ualberta students are reading this and haven't taken Ales 204, i highly recommend taking it - especially with Dr. Laccetti. Not only will you love the course, but it will definitely guide you to a more mature individual.

For a more in-depth look at exactly what we did during the course - to see if you would like it or not please visit our class blog at http://ales-204.blogspot.com

As requested, here is five articles i found very intriguing and decided to comment on. Each one of these articles really did attract me in one way or another; by relation, eye-catching, or even by the amount of effort they put into it:

1. Jeremy Jamilano - I am Filipino ; I also dance
2. Kalin Herbach - Pecha Kucha: Sustain SU
3. Kelsey Macdonald - Reflection Post / Conclusion of Ales204 video
4. Xi Chen - Reflective Post
5. Filmon Tzeggai - Science Article Assignment

Don't forget to follow them!

I've also commented on a few other blogs as well, but i strongly believe these blogs are all worth following or even browsing. Same goes for this blog by Nancy Chau (another student in my ALES 204 class).

Thanks again ALES 204! & make sure you watch this video made by a few students in our class:



Kelvin Wong

"The Queen of Fruits"

For this blog entry, I've decided to write an entry that involves my interest in school and why I've decided to pursue my education in the faculty of ALES Majoring in Food and Nutrition.
If you've been following my blog, you will notice i have future hopes of working with a super-fruit in the future. It all really started in my first year studying a super-fruit called Mangosteen.

mmmm looks delicious

The Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) is considered one of the four most delicious and fastest emerging super fruit in the world. Its been crowned the “Queen of Fruits” by Queen Victoria for its vibrant colors’ and unique flavour. It’s first believed to originate in Southeast Asia precisely from the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas of Indonesia and Malaysia. Only a few wild trees remain in Southeast Asia, but the popularity of the ever-growing discovery has invited many individuals and local businesses to harvest them on the Asian grounds. Outside of these Asian islands, it is considered an exotic fruit and until recently, its been shown up in American markets.


What really attract people to this fruit are its potential health benefits on top of its delicate taste and attractive colors’. Located inside the dark purple fruit are rich bioactive secondary metabolites including anthocynanins, oligomeric proanthocyanins and xanthones. Its ability to relieve diarrhea, fevers, urine disorders, and skin disorders like eczema attracts the American medical and cosmetic media. Not just the fruit, but also the bark and leaves are able to introduce some health benefits for individuals.

Anti-oxidant qualities, skin-rejuvenation powers, and protecting against cancerous cells inspire fruit scientists to explore this fascinating product. With appropriate amount of research and study on this superfruit, I am almost guaranteed this fruit will be a huge success across the whole world. Its' given the name “Queen of Fruits” for a reason, right?


If any of guys ever get a chance to ever try this fruit, i highly recommend it ; its sooo gooood. 


So as you can see, i am really fascinated about this fruit and it is really my driving point in pursuing this degree in Food and Nutrition. I hope you guys enjoyed my article and continue to follow along on my journey of blogging!

Oh yes, don't forget to check out my fellow classmates blog, "the Healthy Caroline". She is pursing the same degree as me but with a minor in Human Ecology. She adds a little personality to her blogs so I'm sure most of you guys will really enjoy her blogging!

source:
[1] – Pascua, O. C. and Loquias, V. L. “Mangosteen Production

Technology.” Ed. Maghirang, R. August 2006 <http://hvcc.da.gov.ph/pdf/mangosteen_prodn.pdf>. [2] - International Centre for Underutilized Crop. “Fruits For the Future: Mangosteen” March 2003. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southampton <http://www.icuc-iwmi.org/files/News/Resources/Factsheets/Garcinia.pdf>

[3] - Palapol, Y., et al. "Colour Development and Quality of Mangosteen (Garcinia Mangostana L.) Fruit during Ripening and After Harvest." Postharvest Biology and Technology 51.3 (2009): 349-53.

Wikipedia Article

Wikipedia


Every University students favourite website...


...until of course, you have an assignment to fix a stub on the website. 





Yup, so as you can tell, for one of my classes this year, I had to edit a Wikipedia stub for the millions of people (or thousands) of people that visit the site. The topic i chose to edit was Starch Gelatinization. I chose this topic because it fit perfectly into my learning curriculum with my other class, NU FS 406. I had just finished a journal paper on Starch Derivatives, which was perfect in helping me write some information on the gelatinization of starch.
Don't get me wrong though, this assignment was not as easy as you think. This wasn't your ordinary add information into the article and voila! It consisted of rigorous frustration trying to figure out how this wikipedia encoding format worked. It took me forever and help from my TA to eventually figure out how to add an image to the stub. And adding reference and links was a pain, until i got help from a friend. Wikipedia introduced its own type of html coding into its article to confuse the heck out of people wanting to add information into their database.
Eventually i got over the whole unique style of writing and edited most of the article. Hopefully i get a good mark

I guess I'm only ranting because i didn't want to do this assignment.

Anywayss...

Read over my wikipedia stub and tell me what you think! Let me know if you see any misinterpret information on the article!


STARCH GELATINIZATION

Oh yeah! don't forget to check out one of my classmates, Jeremy Jamilano's blog. He too made a Wikipedia article about Laccase, an enzyme i am currently learning that has effects on our agricultural food products.

Facebook Professional Profiling

a photo by kelvinww on Flickr.


The 21st Century, the era of technology. 
What ever happened to the time when commencing professional networking was strictly based on face-to-face contact? or just by calling? or through a business card? Advances in technology is your answer. Technology is growing so quickly that it seems to be the new/best way of communication with the outside world. With new social networking sites, not only is technology making life easier to meet contacts, but it's also a less costly way to grab your target market. A simple click of a button allows you to make a profile page that displays your picture, credentials, interests, contact information all for a cheap price of just time.


It is the present and the future. But why is it important? Good old "Google" (and other search sites, but primarily google). Google launches out 34,000 searches per second, thats 2 million searches a minute! (Source :By The Numbers : Twitter Vs. Facebook Vs. Google Buzz) Its such a big buzz that even 98.795045% of questions asked by people are answered in "just Google it." But how does this link to professional profiling? Being a professional, you want to be reachable or noticed. Having a professional profile helps you achieve that goal by allowing people to search for you & your profession/service plus give a little background information about who you are. This also gives consumers a little comfort with knowing who/what they are dealing with. For example, you are looking for a nanny in edmonton, you search "nanny in edmonton", a "Jane Doe" pops up with contact information, picture, education and certificates, plus similar interests that you attain. This information will not only help Jane Doe find a job, but make her consumer comfortable with knowing and putting a face on the future nanny for her kids. It is a great way to expand yourself with the outside world without even spending a dime or time.


Professional profiling is also useful to reference or refresh other professionals about who you are. By adding a profile page to your signature to e-mails it gives the people on the other side of e-mails a chance to look over your profile and remind them of work you've done together. Big business professionals see hundreds of different names/face throughout the year. This can easily mislead them to who they are talking to. Putting a face to a name/company really reminds people who you are and what business you have to talk with them. Therefore, by concluding with a professional profile, it can leave a lasting impression to the recipient. 


Anyway, here is my first facebook professional profiling page that I hope one day may land me that sweet taste of success. Also you might be wondering "Why out of all topics, my second post is about professional profiling?" Well, an easy way for me to answer that question is to read and FOLLOW one of my fellow classmates here.


"Your reputation is priceless.  Your on-line reputation is the future of your property business.    Are you investing in building it?" - Vanessa Warwick

Hello Minions

Hello world (you too ALES 204)!

This is my first official blog post (and blog) & thought it would be best to give a little introduction about myself.

My name is Kelvin Wong and i was born and raised in Edmonton Alberta (Ugh.). I am currently enrolled in my fourth year of studies here at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences(ALES). I spent my first year here as a confused little boy enrolled in the Faculty of General Science with an unclaimed Major, before realizing my true interest and mind was always in front of me, food. From here i transferred over to the Faculty of ALES to Major in Food and Nutrition & hope to complete this never-ending journey of school...... next year. My main goals with this degree is to land a job outside the country (preferably somewhere warm and exotic) working with a new and/or emerging super-fruit and making millions of dollars. If not, i would very much be happy working for the government, or perhaps a product developer. Plus of course making millions of dollars. As per outlined by my prof @JessL, i will need to talk about social media and communications with its role on my life (yes this is homework); so this is what my first ever blog post will be about!

Over the years social media has evolved hastily & has taken over a good chunk life. From what started out as a simple "creating an email" through hotmail, back in elementary, has evolved to blackberries, facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. Social media started really taking big chunks of my life back in junior high when i first joined a local networking site to create a personal webpage for myself (edmontononline.net / closed down since). From here i learned a little about encrypting and using html to build webpages before switching over to a more easily templated, national networking site (nexopia.com). Then, a new emerging super social international networking site develops, facebook, which currently has the world buzzing to be the ultimate social networking site - i believe it iss now dying with all these parents joining (NO OFFENCE TO ANYONE). I believe the main (or only) reason for joining these social networks was to feel more connected with my peers; everyone was doing it and it was fun to be involved. Then recently due to work-related & school-related projects, twitter evolves in my life; as well as blogging. Twitter is my number one choice of social media right now, even though i am pretty new to this thing (follow me @kelvinwwong !!!) ; and you never know, blogging might soon be a daily/weekly ritual.

Communication has also played a big part of my who i am today. I am not talking about the communication that one has with their friends or family; but communication in a sense of being able to approach & teach an individual information on a topic or talk to a crowd full of strangers; professional communication. I use to be (somewhat still am) a shy individual that has no interest in talking with those outside my social circle (friends, family, etc.). These past 2 years though, professional communication has been a true eye opening topic that i have really respected and want to effectively improve on. I believe it is one of the keys to success, and the better a communicator gets, the more the doors will open. This has noticeably been acknowledged from working with The Alberta Canola Producers Commission over the last two years, which has helped me become a better communicator. I've learned that to be a good professional communicator, one must know what he/she is talking about & have the ability to not be shy, but to approach the audience and attract their interests. Being a better professional communicator has allowed me to expand on my professional contact list (special thanks to Simone and ACPC), and has created a positive side to myself, knowing others are able to comprehend and follow what i have said. As a result, this has really matured myself as an individual both physically and mentally.
Though i may have been able to build on my communication skills; i am still not perfect (or perhaps even good). As time progresses though, i know ill be able to crawl out of this turtle shell and effectively become a better communicator.

ANYWAYS THIS IS MY FIRST POST. HOPEFULLY I BECOME EXCITING AND INTERESTING FOR YOU TO FOLLOW ME AROUND. anyways i got a private jet to catch, see you later !


..i wish i had a private jet.