The final count down!!!

My final post... well well, how i will miss my NCT blog...
I'm pretty sure I have to do another one for another subject sometime.
I really like this course, mainly because it related directly to my everyday life, I could relate to the theory on a more practical level, so I found it more enjoyable than stressful in learning about the different topics. I came to appreciate the weird movies we watched, and like them in some way or another. The tutorials were practical and I will use most things i learnt in them at some time or another. I also liked the lecture and tutorial discussions, its good because it gives you an idea on other peoples perspectives, which are always good to know. I learnt a bit about things i wouldnt necessarily take my own time to learn about, like video games, but have come to appreciate them... prob wont become a gaming fanatic though. Overall I hope I get good marks!!

Thats a wrap...

farewell Blog!

Topic 12: Open Source/Digital Civil Liberty

Lecture: Open Source/Digital Civil Liberty
in the lecture some of the cases that the Electronic Frontier Foundation are currently defending were spoken about...NSA/AT&T alleged spying case, where the government allegedly wiretapped the internet communications going through San Francisco.
Creative Commons -
The creative commons is an alternative way to license content to put out onto the internet to share with other people. The creative commons scheme challenges regular copyright, by allowing the creator to specific the conditions of use of their work. This frees up content for remixing and reuse.
Free and open source software:
Source code- Instruction written in programming languages that tell a computer to do certain things.
software used to be free, these days it is locked so that only a few can see and change the source code.
Free software renamed: Open source software.
freedom 0: freedom to run any software, any source
freedom 1: freedom to study software and adapt it to yr needs
freedom 2: freedom to redistribute copies, to help neighbor
freedom 3: the freedom to make improvements to the company and release improvements to the community so everyone benefits.
The internet is open source.

Tutorial: No Task this week

Reading: Sarai Guide to free software

Topic 11: Is downloading movie/music wrong?

Lecture: Is downloading movie/music wrong?
Had a discussion on whether its wrong to download music and movies
Watched Steal this film 2-
Steal this film 2 talks about the technological and enforcement end of the copyright wars, and on the way that using the internet makes you a copier, and how copying puts you in legal jeopardy.
Quote from Mark Getty (Getty Images)
"Intellectual property is the oil of the 21st century" Declared war on the copy write laws
New media adapts itself to the suppression of information
sharing is at the heart of communication, the human urge to communicate is so strong we're pushed the tools available to us to the limit then gone beyond that.
Joseph Licklider (1972) came up with the concept of networking computers.
Arpanet- networking computers back in the past
Packet switch networks, todays computer networks.
In fighting file sharing the industry is fighting the fundamental structure of the internet
The league of noble peers is everyone, the general public

Tutorial: There was no tutorial task today

Reading: Article on Napster
When Pigs Fly: The Death of Oink, the Birth of Dissent, and a Brief History of Record Industry Suicide Blog by Demonbaby, Wednesday October 24th 2007.
Is a blog thats a commentary on the music industry - piracy, distribution, morality. Demonbaby was prompted to write the blog when the international police and anti-piracy groups shut down the world torrent site OINK was shut down. He speaks about the amount of money big record companies hes worked for throw around and how its an industry of excess. In the past mp3 file sharing was new and only due to having a cd collection of your own could u have digital music. He speaks of not conforming to digital file sharing and clinging to the old days of buying cds, then it all shift and has completely immersed himself in digital music, almost never buying cds anymore.

Topic 10: PK Dick- Living in the Future

Screening: Bladerunner (1982)
In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to create replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specializes in terminating replicants. Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when six replicants escape from an offworld colony to Earth.

Tutorial: Essay outline
Essay Draft
The shift in the public sphere, influenced by new communication technologies today

Intro
-the shift in the public sphere, influenced by new communication technologies, specifically MySpace
-How the public sphere and bourgeois public sphere was theorized by Jurgen Habermas
-the shift in the public sphere in today’s society due to new communication technologies and the World Wide Web and the internet.
-the social effect this shift has had on society’s communication
P1
-discuss Habermas and his theory about the public sphere and how he studies the social practices and the forms of sociability within the middle class.
- A sociologist and social philosopher Habermas was known to be a political animal and fighter for democracy (Gestrich 1996: 414-415).
-discuss the bourgeois public sphere due to the contemporary corruption of the public sphere in the late 1980’s (Gestrich 1996: 420).
-how the public sphere was shifting due to the media revolution of the early modern period and the new spaces of social communication, and the progression it has made to today
P2
-how the public sphere has shifted in today’s society
- According to Habermas, the public sphere has degenerated in a systematic way which has lead to a false space of manipulated publicity (Sikka 2006: 89-99).
-the new communication technologies such as the world wide web, that influence the public sphere today, including websites such as MySpace and face book
-Souls (2008) discusses how Habermas defined the public sphere as a virtual or imaginary community which does not necessarily exist in any identifiable space.
-the multiple public spheres that exist due to the internet having
- New information and communication technologies such as the World Wide Web may contribute to the fragmentation of civil society (Downey & Fenton 2003: 190).
-Particularly with teenagers
-Willoughby (2008) particularly discusses Adolescents who use technology at a high level also might have weaker friendships and lower well-being than those who use technology moderately, given that more time spent on the computer could be a result of less time spent with friend.

Reading:Extract- Blade Runner Book

human (a) 1/ of or relating to people or humankind
2/ having the nature, qualities or characteristics of people or humankind
3/ of or relating to humankind as distinct from God or gods, animals or machines.
(n) a human being
Cassell's Concise Dictionary (1997)

Topic 9: Virtual Philosophy and CyberPunk

Lecture: Virtual Philosophy and CyberPunk
Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre based in the possibilities inherent in computers, genetic, body modification and corporate developments in the near future. The work comes froma an amalgamation of the two words
Cybernetics: The study of communication, command and control in living organisms, machines and organizations.
Greek kybernetes meaning steers man or pilot, the concept developed during and after WWII to indicate the use of systematic approach to complex issues such as managing a large number of computers at distributed sights or understanding the operations of the brain.
Punk: A style of fast, loud, short rock music with an anarchist political philosophy and a DIY, anti-expert 'seize the day' approach to life.
Represented in the music of bands such as sex pistols, the Clash and Black Assassins.

Cyberpunk was developed as a reaction against the over blown and predominantly safe stories of "space Opera" such as star wars.
Some themes within Cyberpunk are Technology and mythology, Utopia and Distopia, Cities as machines, technological change and modernism to post modernism.

Tutorial task 8 (part 2): Internet field trip, 3D worlds and socializing on the internet.
Msn vs. Habbo hotel
Habbo hotel is a more visually interactive type of chat, where you are able to perform tasks and interact with other habbo’s by dancing, playing games, winning prizes and making money; you are also able to buy things for your hotel room. Where as msn is mainly text based with other small applications, like icons and emotions, though file sharing, such as pictures are able to be preformed on msn. With msn you only add and accept the people you want on your own list to chat to, so it is more private, in habbo hotel, you are still able to chose who you chat with though its slightly less private as it is a public chat space.
Required Reading: Plato's Cave and Burning Chrome
Burning Chrome written by William Gibson, Fictional Writer, key concepts are cyberspace and virtual reality, his work is of sci-fi genre.

Topic 8: Are Computer Games a Waste of Time?

Lecture: Are Computer games a waste of time?

In the lecture we discussed computer games and the research that has been done on them and the approach taken to studying them. In the lecture discussion topics where media effects and games, the persistence of effect, games and utopia. Video games as a new form of cultural practice thinking of them in the same way we now think about old media, newspapers, radio, TV and films. Narratology vs. Ludology, ‘Fun doesn’t always represent realism’.

Tutorial: Advanced Uses of Microsoft word

The First Couple of Tasks were easy and I already know how to do them as they are an everyday use application in word, such as opening a document, typing, saving, making text bold italic and underlined and making bullet points, also header Footers and double spacing. I did do the track changes task, which I could see as useful though I’m not sure how often I would remember to use it. I also did the mail merger task which I could see as useful if I was to be in a job doing a lot of mailing out, as I want to be in marketing this may be something I need to know for work experience maybe.

Required reading: Trigger Happy

Trigger Happy discusses how certain aspects of reality are represented in video games and are modeled in a realistic way where as other aspects are deliberately skewed and certain effects are created more characteristically specifically for the requirements of the specific game. This is done for the players as it is believed that true to life situation within a game specifically in weapons etc can become mundane to the player as it is too real world and people find this boring. Though wanting unrealistic more imaginative play, it’s also pointed out that gamers do want the games system to remain consistent and internally coherent. Incoherence is one thing that can wreck game play, there are three ways incoherence can affect the game, incoherence of casualty: if a rocket launcher can blow up the enemy but does not work when fired at wooden door. Incoherence of function: such as ‘single use function, a magic book that only works in one location. And incoherence of space or spatial management: not being able to simply drop an object on the ground but having to place in a chest, which u can then access 3 stories higher and retrieve the same object.

Topic 7: Cronenberg- Cinema and Technology

Lecture: Screening eXistenZ
We Watched eXistenZ (1999) directed by David Cronenberg. This movie explores the world of games and how excessive play can warp reality. I found the movie interesting in the approach to gaming and the use of the portal which connected the human body directly into the gaming world. Though it did get confusing at the end, which showed how ones sense of reality can get warped and even deluded by excessive play.

Tutorial: There was no tutorial this week.

Reading: The Military-Entertainment Complex: A New Facet of Information Warfare
Written by Stephen Stockwell and Adam Muir begins by discussing history of war and the direct relation to propaganda used within Hollywood and media to misinform people about the war and the military and how integrated the military is in the entertainment industry. It also talks about gaming and the use of military and war within games, starting from a simple board game then progressing into full blown simulations like flight simulations and shooting ranges for military training purposes. It is discussed that the military also employ directors and screenwriters to write terrorist scenarios for training the military to prepare them as many different situations as possible. Another point brought up is another development in the media sphere was the use of reality TV and the way it was used to merely entertain the general public then in light of war was changed again but in a more war oriented context to keep the general public interested in the militaries operations. I also though the point that the exercise of free speech comes at a cost for those who take alternative viewpoints in times of war was very valid, I also think it is more so true when relating Americas military to war, I feel its not as true in Australia.

History of the computer

Lecture: History of the computer
Charles Babbage- 19th century born 1791
Invented 1st digital computer it was mechanical not electronic
Computers first commercially produced by IBM 1950’s
Gordon Moore produced Moors law- the capacity of microchips doubles every 2 yrs
Xerox Parc Developed the mouse, graphical user interface (GUI) and pull down menus
1975 first PC was released named 0
Bill Gates wrote a language call BASIC for the Altair used for applications like word processing, basic accounting and games, and started Microsoft
Apple created by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
Produced Apple 1- consisting of single circuit board, no case, no key board
2 yrs after Altar Apple II was launched in 1978
1979 ‘Killer-application’ bought off Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston
IBM and Microsoft
Bill Gates Language and Operating system was sold to IBM and was payed royalties for every use of it
Internet- a network of networks, the sum of interconnected computer hardware and the software that runs it
Definition of Internet
i) is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the internet protocol (IP) or its subsequent extension
ii) is able to support communications using the transmission control protocol/ internet protocol (TCP/IP) suit or its subsequent extension/ follow ons and or othe IP compatible networks
7 servers across the world
www- World wide web
HTML- hyper text mark up language is language web pages written in
Internet is not same as the web, the web is just one part of the broader internet which includes many other things as well as the web.
Early internet applications Email (electronic mail), IRC (internet relay chat MSN), MUD, MOO’s, MUSHes (multiple user platforms)

Reading: 'Whats new about new media"
What’s new about new media? Discusses what is considered when deciphering between new and old media in terms of technological development of new media and remaking of old media. The World Wide Web is one of the fastest developing forms of new media today, though still coinciding with old forms of media such as the news paper and radio by digitalizing them on the internet. The use of the internet connects people and information through computers which connect to a high speed telecommunications network and allows for interpersonal and group communication.
The World Wide Web has four features that are important to the popularization of the internet.
1. Allowed the display of colored pictures, audio and music, data and text which introduced multi media capability to the internet.
2. Based upon hypertext principles, allowing for linking of information, links from one info source provide simple point and click access to related information available from other sources.
3. Hypertexts value became more apparent with development of web browsers which provided data bases of all info stored on the internet.
4. Development of http: Hypertext Transfer Protocol, which provided a platform- independent means of connection between websites and HTML: Hypertext Markup Language, a writing source code for the World Wide Web.
These factors and more are why the internet has become the fastest growing medium ever recorded.

Topic 5: Why I Hate Wikipedia

“Why I hate Wikipedia” Lecture notes:
Wikipedia was discussed for a long time and the fact that anyone can edit the articles on the site. I personally haven’t used Wikipedia before this subject therefore I have not much experience or understanding of it.

How do we know the truth?
Correspondence theory: Just facts- Observable, measurable
Coherence theory: Does it fit together and make sense?
Per formative theory: I do declare
Social theory: What can we agree on?
Journalists rely on 2 authorative sources with the same story to establish a claim to the truth, how valid is this if the sources are processing information from the same pool?
Necessary truth: 2+2=4
Conditional Truth: It is/is not raining outside
The Matrix opens up difficult questions about the certainty of the sense data that we rely on to make our observations of the world.
Do the corporate media have an influence on our identities and how they develop in relation to how film and T.V. production techniques develop?
Virtual reality: Virtual Rationality
New possible ways of viewing the world (virtual reality) where the line between reality and appearance is so blurred that there is no discernible difference between the 2.

Tutorial Task: Intervene on Wikipedia
Article 1… 1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entourage_%28TV_series%29#Upcoming_Season
Is this an accurate article?
This article is accurate in the fact that it lists all the actors correctly and its about the upcoming 5th season of the show.Does it cover all the basic facts that you'd need to understand this topic?
Yes it’s a basic topic so the article covers the basic need to know.Does this article follow the Wikipedia guidelines for useful articles?
yesIs this article fair and balanced, or is it biased towards a particular side or argument?This is more promoting the new season and discussing the reason the writers have included certain things in the new season.
What changes would you make to this article to improve it and make it useful for the wider wikipedia community? I wouldn’t change it.

Reading: Jorge Buis Borges, Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Terius (1940)
Jorge Buis Borges discusses the way that definitions in the encyclopaedia were changed and a fictitious place Uqbar was made up, a kind of imagined reality, evidence was found of this place which then questions the reality of the definition. Was it just fabrication of truth at a societal level? It questions how well we know the truth and what makes the truth the truth?

Topic 4: Old Communication Technologies & Theories

LECTURE: Old communication technologies and theories
Summary of lecture notes because there were so many…

History of communication:

Evolutionary bases of communication- 40,000 yrs ago human’s experienced anatomical evolution that gave better control over spoken sounds along with facial expressions.

Tribal Practices- consisting of costumes, paintings, dances, stories and songs that represent deeper mythological meanings, e.g. rock art

The origin of the alphabet- Writing has been around since 8-6 000BC including hieroglyphics in Egypt. Ugarit compiled the first alphabet in 1500 BC

Ancient text written by scribes first came from the Middle East, India and Europe where books were created and the first libraries came about Print then developed earlier in China but in 1452 Gutenberg printed the bible in Germany.

Telegraphy came about in 1837 by Samuel Morse

Telephone in1876 by Alexander Graham Bell

Phonograph in 1876 by Thomas Edison

Radio in 1895 Marconi invented wireless telegraphy initially carries Morse code. In 1930’s radio was modified and the radio industry was established. Australian radio broadcast pioneered by ABC.

Cinema- 19^th century inventors developed photography; the Lumiere brothers (among others) created an early form of cinema. The first full length feature movie was produced I Australia.

Television- In 1926 John Logie Baird first demonstrated television it was then marketed in the late 1930’s, though due to WW2 it wasn’t till 1940’s that T.V gained mass market in USA.

T.V first came to Australia in Sydney and Melbourne in 1956.

Video- Was first introduced in 1976 with the use of VHS this was challenged unsuccessfully by the Betamax system then challenged successfully by the introduction of DVD in 1997. DVD then overtook VHS in 2002.

Semiotics- The 20^th century saw a Massive increase in communication technologies.

Elements of a semiotic approach:

Semantics: The relationship of signs to what they stand for

Syntactic: The formal or structural relations between signs.
Pragmatics: The relation of signs to interpreters.
Reading: Walter Benjamin’s “The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction.”

Reading: walter Benjamin

Walter Benjamin's article 'The Work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction' written in 1936 discusses the way artwork is reproduced by man and the way technology has evolved has influenced the way man reproduces art. Benjamin also discusses how arts authenticity can diminish with the constant reproduction and how an artworks ‘aura’ diminishes due to mechanical reproduction. With the invention of photography and the influence it had on art being designed for reproducibility and wether photography was even considered and art. Then the development of film and how it was seen to represent an incomparable means of expression, and the way it changed acting in particularly the way stage acting’s ‘aura’ was changed by the use of flim.

It is a very long article and very hard to read and take in but i did find it interesting when I reminded myself it was written in 1936.

Tutorial Task 4: Questions
1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?

Onel de Guzman age 24, from the Philippines

www.altavista.com http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/06/29/philippines.lovebug.02/index.html

2. Who invented the paper clip?
Norwegian - Johan Vaaler invented the paperclip in 1899
www.yahoo.com

3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?
Ebola virus, named after a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) in Africa
www.webcrawler.com
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/Spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.htm

4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
Chile, South America in 1960, 9.5 on Richter scale
www.aol.com
http://www.extremescience.com/GreatestEarthquake.htm

5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
1,073,741,824
www.answers.com
http://www.t1shopper.com/tools/calculate/

6. Who is the creator of email?
Ray Tomlinson in 1971
www.20search.com
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/entdev/article.php/1408411

7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
W32.Storm.Worm is a worm that seeks out Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) systems that have not applied the proper security patches. Any such systems that it finds are then infected with the worm. The payload of this worm performs a denial-of-service attack on http:/ /www.microsoft.com
Infected approximately one million and 50 million computers worldwide
www.ask.com
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/oct/21/1

8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of australia directly,
what is the most efficient way?
www.msn.com
http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm
If you go to this website u can email the prime minister or mail him on this address which is also on the site.
The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School
of Arts) a member of?

10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
I have never heard of the term before but I just looked it up and its to do with using the web as a platform.

Topic 3: Alphaville and new wave cinema

Screening: Alphaville (1965) by Jean-Luc Goddard

Alphaville was a little bit hard to get my head around at first but once the story got underway i found it really weird but artistic and kind of interesting. I mainly found the concept interesting because i hardly ever watch really old movies and this being set in 1960 would be something that i would ignore this movie if it was on t.v. I really liked the science fiction side to the story, though i found the voice of the computer to be really over the top and it got hard to keep hearing by the end of the movie. It also took awhile to get used to the movie being set on another planet, because it looked like a normal city. It was clear that the director was portraying that technology is slowly “taking over”, I liked the concept of the 'Bible' which the detective finds is a dictionary and it was used to represent the increasing oppression of the residents living in Alphaville caused by the computer Alpha 60.

Reading: Article about Aphaville

There was a lot of interesting information in the articles about alphaville I found the film and screen glossary useful. I really liked the film review by Laura Bushell, it gave me a better insight into what the movie was trying to convey and the writes that the films alternative title was Tarzan Vs. IBM, which is more to the point of what the film is based upon, when the title is that straight to the point it makes people assume they will know the plot and not watch it, so Alphaville is a better name. She also writes that Goddard uses droll humour throughout the film such as the movie being set in the future but he only shoots the movie in real locations in 1960 Paris.

Tutorial Task 3:

I use alot of different types of technology to communicate with my family and friends. the Main sources i use daily are my mobile phone to call and text my family and friends i also use my mobile phone to take pics and video. I use the internet daily such as email which i use for uni and to recieve my phone bill and bank statements instead of recieving mail. I have a facebook and myspace to stay incontact with my friends, i find it to be the easiest way becasue these days everyone is hard to catch up with. I have been using these different types of technology for about 8-10 years since i was about age 10. I started with the internet at age 10 using my email and chatting on msn with friends from school, myspace has only been around for 4-5 years but i have had my account for 4 yrs. I think i would find it really hard if i didnt have my mobile phone or the internet in my day to day life.

Is email Dead?

I don’t believe email is dead even with myspace and facebook, because being a student it’s the easiest and one of the fastest ways to communicate with tutors, lecturers and other students. In the lecture we discussed spam and the types of email scams that are spammed through email, particularly Nigerian email scam. I often receive surveys through spam and also shopping website spam. I personally have never received a Nigerian scam email but have heard of it through friends. We got the results back from the survey and majority of people don’t believe email is dead. As a marketing student I found that email is one of the best new ways to market something as most people in society have an email account and the survey showed they used it daily.

Handbook for bloggers:

When reading the Handbook for boggers, I didn’t find the material very interesting to read, though I was able to see the usefulness of the material for someone wanting to create a more journalistic serious blog. It gives a lot of good advice like how to get your blog picked up by search engines, which is a major factor if the blog is about current events that may affect society. The best piece of advice I found was keeping a blog short and to the point, its how people want their information these days and I strongly agree with this.

Topic 1: Second Life

Setting Up my Blog was a really easy process, I haven’t managed to get my profile exactly how I want, though I will probably change it regularly just going by my MySpace page. It’s a really basic Layout so I want to see if I can get something more creative. The whole concept of the blog covering lectures and readings is something I find really convenient.

I found the concept of second life to be interesting because I had never heard of it before. It seems to me as though it’s just a more modern and visual version of a chat room in someway though. I figured that in a way for some people who may not have a lot of time outside of work that it could be beneficial for them in meeting new people, but it would also encourage less social people to be even less social as now they can literally live on line. I also read an article from the New York Times about company's who are now using second life to conduct real job interviews, which I found really strange because I honestly don't believe you would be able to find out what a person is really like without meeting face to face. In Second life you really can fake a personality because the only interaction is the key board therefore body language really isn't part of the interaction, so the person the company hires maybe different to how they portray themself online.

New York Times Article
The Job Interview, Starring Your Avatar
By MATT VILLANO
Published: February 10, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/jobs/10pre.html?_r=1&oref=slogin