Essay.

1501ART
New Communication Technologies
Essay
Megan Pope-s2676113
Thursday 1-3pm
Chris Mamo Zelos

How Television Interacts As A One Way Communication Platform.

Television was once a black and white box which showed us the technology of the future, but since its humble beginning the television has evolved into an interactive medium which influences the way we view programs.
The first television was created in 1926 by John Baird who created the first workable television set out of a series of strips of light and shaded images. In 1928 Baird “created colour television by scanning in primary colours” (Macquarie History Of Ideas, p 834) onto alternative strips of the shaded images to create a moving colour image. The television proceeded to evolve through time and in the 1930’s the invention of the iconoscope “saw a boom in television technology” (Macquarie History Of Ideas, p 834) with more companies getting involved with the television market. As this new technology developed so did the televisions development in Britain with a “total television system including a camera tube known as an Emitron”( Macquarie History Of Ideas, p 834) being created by a British research group. In 1938 another breakthrough occurred in the field of television with the creation of a “transmission system that could that could be received by both black and white and colour sets” (Macquarie History Of Ideas, p 834). After the basic transmission system had been created the worldwide invasion of television began with it soon invading households around the western world. (Inside the Magic Rectangle: Recent Research on the History of Television, J. Foot, 1992) (The History of Television, Jezek, 2006)

The use of programs on television has been labelled as a way “… to communicate the subject matter in ways that use the medium of television most effectively.” (B, Rustin, 1971, p.63) From what was once a device for informing viewers had become a vital part of everyday life with more and more people depending on it as a source of entertainment. With its news found power the use of the television began to change, it not only sold products but paid for its programs through the use of interactive methods. We’ve all noticed these subtle methods through out the television programming, “call now and win”, “it’s up to you” and my personal favourite “it’s your show”. By using these catch phrases and specific wording, programs are able to draw viewers into interacting with the television on a higher level than channel surfing. In most cases you wouldn’t realise that you are playing into the hands of the programs creators by taking an interest into the program and spending money to ensure its continuation. (The Impact of Television, T. Macbeth Williams)

Big Brother is a television program which based almost solely on the interactivity of viewers with there opinions helping to alter the foundation of the competition. Now you not only watch the program on your television but on your computer or phone as well which increases your interest in the program. The show works on the premise that viewers vote regularly for there favourite “housemate”to ensure they remain in the competition, every night a list of “housemates in trouble” are announced, this then provokes viewers to vote again for there favourite to ensure they remain in the house. On “eviction night” the hosts make the claim that “your favourite is not out of danger yet so vote now to save your favourite…” this provokes viewers to increase there votes and continue calling even though in some cases the price of voting has increased. “Most of us harbour some guilt feelings about spending, or ‘wasting’, so much time in front of ‘the box’ with so little to show for it…” (Television and its Audience, P. Barwise, A. Ehrenberg, p.137) but now with a result that a viewer can see in a tangible form some of this initial guilt will be removed. By doing this the show increases its daily audience and gains funds for broadcasting and prize money as well as making a profit all from phone polling through the television. (Television and its Audience, P. Barwise, A. Ehrenberg, p.137)
Interactive television has not only increased the amount of money people spend on programs everyday but has increased the amount of time we spend watching television to an average of “22.7 hours per week” (Statistics: Television, 2008) for adults and an average “38 hours (a week)” (Television Statistics, p1. 2008) for children. By using phone polls to help alter television shows, stations are able to monitor which programs are being watched more frequently and have the best effect on persuading viewers to vote. For example if more people voted during the ad break of “Rove” it would generally mean the audience which watches “Rove” are more likely to vote on other days therefore a company can increase the amount of promotions they put in each ad break as “enjoyment evokes responsiveness” (B M. Rustin, p. 63, 1971) in viewers. (N M. Hopkins, A K. Mullis, p. 177-180, 2008)
Television shows can connect with viewers on other levels excluding interactive media, some programs appeal to a person simplest flaw, emotion. Many television shows may not have the best content or the best budget but still gain high ratings by appealing to people’s heart strings. Shows like “Saving Kids”, “RPA” and “RSPCA Rescue” appeal to people not through phone polls but through the way in which a person can connect with the programs content on a deeper level. The synopsis on the “Saving Kids” website states the show is about “Little patients with big stories” (Saving Kids, 2008) This is another example of how television as a standard one way communication medium is able to communicate in a two way form.
In conclusion the way in which television has changed to incorporate new media technologies has allowed corporations to find yet another way to increase the amount of time we spend in front of the television. By incorporating phones and the internet into everyday programs, television was able to connect with a viewer on another level above the average one way communication technique. With its current status continuing to change it is no doubt that the future of interactive television is set to rise as it becomes less of one way communication medium and transforms into a two way communication form.






Bibliography
Book Sources

“The Macquarie History of Ideas”
Macquarie Library Pty. Ltd. 1983, p832-835.

“Television and its Audience”
SAGE Communications in Society Series, P Barwise, A Ehrenberg, p 137, SAGE Publications Ltd, 1988.

Journal Sources

“Inside the Magic Rectangle: Recent Research on the History of Television”
Contemporary European History, J Foot, p. 467- 475, Cambridge University Press, Unite Kingdom, 2002

“Family Perceptions of Television Viewing Habits”
Family Relations, Vol. 34. No. 2, N M. Hopkins, A K. Mullis, p. 177-180, National Council on Family Relations, 1985

“Looking at Television Isn’t Enough”
Music Educators Journal, vol 57. No.5, Technology in Music Teaching, B M. Rustin, p.63, The National Association for Music Education, 1971.

Internet Sources

“Television Statistics”
http://sociomedia.ibelgique.com/tvstats.htm, No Author, Date Accessed 22/04/08.


“Statistics on TV Viewing Habits (1994-2000)”
Media Awareness Network, http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/ research_documents/statistics/television/tv_viewing_habits.cfm, 2008.

“Saving Kids”
Synopsis, http://ten.com.au/ten/savingkids-synopsis.html, Network Ten, 2008.

“The History of Television”
Timeline of TV History, http://www.thehistoryoftelevision.com/, Geno Jezek, 2006.

“The Impact of Television: A Natural Experiment in Three Communities”
http://world.std.com/`jlr/comment/tv_impact.htm, T Macbeth Williams, J Redford, 1995.

Topic 12 - Electronic Civil Liberties / Creative Commons / Free and Open Source Software

Lecture
So this weeks lecture was a coninuation about peer to peer file sharing and also free software online. We spoke briefly about peer to peer file sharing again before we watched a movie by a corporation called "TED" which talked about how we once interected in a "read write" mode but now its more of a "read only" mode. The movie showed us clips of what people our age can create and made the point that while our parents are watching tv and listening to music we are making tv and making music. Whic is true considering this weeks tutorial task. After this point we began talking about free softwares and came up with a list of software we frequently use including, msn, internet explorer, windows office, photoshop, linus, mac OS, iTunes etc. we were then introduced into some other softwares which are free and work as efficently if not better than there expensive counter parts an example of this is GIMP *GNU Image Manipulation Program*. We spoke up the creation of the GNULinux platfrom and what provoke its creators to create free re-writable software.


Tutorial
so this is what i made on windows movie maker, which is non linear and i loathe it for that reason.
so yeah is my attempt it a montage of clips and effects of a band called all time low.



here is something more... non linear lets say...which was created on final cut pro.
not amazing work but still its better than that.




Readings

This weeks readings were "Why Software Should Not Have Owners" by Richard Stallman, FLOSS Is Not Just Good For Teeth and Cory Doctorow: Creative Commons. The readings talk about file sharing and open softwares on the internet. The creative commons reading speaks more against the concept of file sharing as it believes people have the right to create something and not have it stolen, in the same way however if you dont want your belongings stolen then you dont share it openly as such. The other readings speak about open software as well and that software should not be owned as a company as such but should be open to all users to use and modify in there own personal way. By doing this they could prevent people hacking systems and also use a broader amount of knowledge to increase the softwares potential.

Topic 11- The Ethics of Peer-to-Peer Filesharing

Lecture
This weeks lecture we watched Steal This Film 2, which was about the film industry and how it has evolved. It speaks about how copyright was produced and how its has effected the way films and other items are distributed. Another topic it discusses is the invention of the VCR, DVD and MP3 players, the VCR was considered a terrible invention by those involved in the film industry as it distributed movies. The basic television cable was also considered piracy as it was recreating the original tape from the studio. There are many other topics covered in this movie like if the product is on the internet shouldnt it be able to be downloaded and that once an item is put on the internet it spreads so quickly it is nearlly impossible to stop its spreading. Finally it speaks that while fighting file sharing they are really fighting the concepts of the internet.

Tutorial
Blog catch up and tutorial discussion.

Readings
This weeks reading was entitled When Pigs Fly: The Death of Oink, the Birth of Dissent, and a Brief History of Record Industry Suicide which was based on the music industry and how they make money. The reading spoke about how much money is wasted on miscellanious items that arent needed to produce or distribute music for example. dinners, holidays, flights and so on. It spoke about how to fill an new version of an ipod with legal music it would cost approximately $30,ooo when in contrast you can get it for free. He speaks about the concept that most cd's are created just to gain money for music business executives and in most cases not necessary to distribute music, a band who is considered mainstream for example"fall out boy" who have had several releases of there cd "infinity on high" even thought band members have stated that a re-release was not necessary. From that he suggests that if you like a band who is mainstream instead of buying there cd's buy there merch or tickets to there show, start a street team something that supports the band but not the greedy record executives. This will allow illegal downloading but still allow a band to make a profit and connect with there fans not there fans hip pockets.

Topic 10- Bladerunner

Lecture

This weeks lecture was a viewing of the movie "Bladerunner" a movie which is based about humans creating other human like creatures called "replicants". The movie was based in the future on the premise that humans created other beings as slaves or servants but in time they rebelled and were banned from the planet. The movie deals with different aspects of the future and what was perceived to be futuristic when the movie was created and how technology will dominate life. The movie showed how we depend on technologies and the negative effects it could have in the future on the technological revolution.

Tutorial
Draft work

Readings
This weeks reading was ‘Do androids dream of electric sheep’ by Philip K. Dick it related to blade runner, and gave a description that a 'blade runner" is: 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. It talks about the use Voight-Kampff machine which in the movie measures if peoples emotions are instinctive or simulated in turn is able to detect if a person is a person or a replicant. The book talks about how some androids are examples of what it is to be a perfect human and the general flaws of humans that could be removed in a robot or "replicant". In general the reading discussed how people believed that an androids could be perfect and how this movie encapsulates this idea.

Topic 9- Cyberpunk

Lecture

This weeks lecture was on the history of cyberpunk and how the movement first began, and its different themes. There are five themes of cyberpunk: Technology and Mythology, Utopia and Dystopia, Cities as Machines, Modernism to Post Modernism and Technological Change. Cyberpunk can be defined as " a science fiction genre based in the possibilities inherent in computers, genetics, body modifications and corporate developments in the near future". We went into the background of cyberpunk and how it has progressed in time, we then went on to watch a French film called "Lajate`" (i cant spell). The film was about the threat of nuclear war and the aftermath that could occur from a nuclear attack, by using a serious of black and white pictures to a French voice over the movie told the story of the survivors who lived underground. Some survivors who were not scientists were used as tests subjects and subjected to different forms of mind alterations in the hope of traveling through time to alter the past and the present. The movie itself had a good storyline and general background to the nuclear war but was slightly confusing as the voice over was both dialogue, movement, gestures and expression. Apart from these facts the movie showed a great insight into what effects nuclear war could have on the world and how it may destroy civilization as we know it.

Tutorial
Draft work.

Reading
This weeks readings were "Allegory Of Plato's Cave" and "Burning Chrome", we read a chapter from a cyberpunk novel by William Gibson. The book was set in the future and was based on a world were computers were the main form of control. It focuses its story on two hackers who are trying to gain profits by hacking in computers systems and stealing whatever they can find. The story in general seems to portray a vision of how dangerous the computer world can be and the we should rely on there use so much. It reminds us that on computers there is always a chance someone is watching and waiting for you to type your personal details for them to steal. The second reading Plato's Allegory of the Cave, the reading was based on how we as a species are conditioned to certain things and that we are in some ways unable to see the negative in things as we are conditioned to believe it its right. This shows how we are too well adjusted to things that aren't normally accepted in society just because they are what they are.

Topic 8- "Are Games a Waste of Time?"

Lecture
This weeks lecture was based on the question "are games a waste of time?". The discussion began with the topic of who plays games, why they play them and what games they play. The general consensus was that males play more video games than females and most video game players play the games for the purpose of escaping reality or accomplishing some level of respect through the game. We also discussed the different types of games which include arcade games, consoles, computer games, MUD's and MMOG's and how they vary from each other in the ways in which they interact. During the lecture we also watched a youtube video by tripod which was parodying the use of computer games in males and how they can affect relationships.

Tutorial
The tutorial task for this week was extremely easy as i was taught the basics of Microsoft word in high school. I encountered no problems with the software as all of the functions and tasks were items which I had previously done. I found the tutorial task too simple as i would like to know some more of the finer details in Microsoft word but in retrospect i can see how this software is useful to people as I always use it to complete assignments or typing pieces. The software is also helpful to format items before placing them on the internet as it allows you to utilize its easy components to set out your work.

Readings
This weeks reading was "Unreal Cities" from Steven Poole's 'Trigger Happy', the article was about the creation of games and how they are more based on entertainment than actual plausible circumstances. Games are based on entertainment and excitement rather than what could actually happen in real life and in turn creating an alternate reality. Poole also states that some video game companies do have math and science consultants who have a large input into games creation and assist in making the games more believable. The article talked about different aspects of games and how they entertain us whilst differing from real life.

Topic 7 - Cronenberg: Cinema and Technology

Lecture

This weeks lecture was a viewing of the movie eXistenZ, the movie was based on the thought that if you played video games for long enough the line between reality and games would become blurred and what you view to be real could infact be a game or a surreal environment in your head. The storyline of the movie was based on the creation of a new game which plugged into your spine and you played the game as yourself in a copy of your body in an environment which resembled real life but were slightly altered. Through out the movie the main characters are troubled by how they are not able to distinguish there real life from the game and with this they react by killing more characters and becoming slightly disturbed. In the end of the movie the main gamers appear to be the characters (rebels) who were trying to kill them in the game and it appears that the two main characters personal thoughts had altered the plot of the game and in turn made the game a portion of there reality. In concluding eXistenZ as a movie leaves you wondering if this is reality of merely a fake version of reality created in our heads.

Reading

The reading The Military-Entertainment Complex: A New Facet of Information Warfare talks about how the use of military based concepts in games is altering how we as a society view war. The commonality in which war games are created makes players view actual war as more excepted and even in some ways more aggressive towards the "enemy". By incorporating general aspects of war into games it leaves a younger generation viewing war as more as a postitive gaming experience rather than a devastating world altering fight which can lead to thousands of deaths. Even as war is currently taking place in countries hours from ours, the way in which the war is depicted seems to be of a lesser amount than previous wars and in some way this can be contributed to the extreme violence we see in games and even television which have in some ways numbed us to the reality of war.

Lecture 6 - A brief history of the computer and internet

Lecture

This weeks lecture was regarding the history of the creation of computers and the internet, we began the lecture with an introduction into the creation of the first computer and how that began the production of other forms of computers. IBM originally sold large computers to business as investment pieces that could work out the math behind there work, while at the same time "apple" was creating smaller computers for individuals using people they met at "Home Brew" meetings. After apple became popular for the creation of its smaller computer IBM started to make there own version of the smaller computer and used Bill Gates to help create the software and the platform for the new computers so they could be sold as a package. We then later went on to view several movies about how the past viewed what the internet would become aka virtual reality and also about how requesting a web page works from the point you click the link to the point where your page loads. Overall the lecture was very interesting regarding the history of the internet and how it has evolved into what it is today.

Tutorial
Wikipedia task - The Academy Is...

Is this an accurate article?
the article in regards to general information about the academy is... in the article is correct, however it does go into further detail instead it merely skims the surface regarding general knowledge of the band.

Does it cover all the basic facts that you'd need to understand this topic?
the article does cover the basic facts that are known about the band but lack in further information regarding there EP album "from the carpet"

Does this article follow the wikipedia guidelines for useful articles?
the article does follow the guidelines for a useful article however much of it does not appear to have a plausible source and most is just rumoured or common knowledge.

Is this article fair and balanced, or is it biased towards a particular side or argument?
this article does appear to be slightly bias as it appears to acklowedge the old guitar player as a main song writer, however the lead singer william beckett wrote the main lyrics and riff for both the sophmore album and EP.

What changes would you make to this article to improve it and make it useful for the wider wikipedia community ?
to improve this article for wider use more background information could be added as well as more indepth detail into there previous and current tours. Portions should also be added in regards to there previous television show "TAITV" and there current fansite "SANTIS LITTLE HELPERS".

Reading
This weeks reading New Media: An Introduction was an article which asked the question what can be regarded as new media. It speaks about how in comparison to older technologies the less "new" technologies still seem high tech and are qualified as new. For example a DVD player seems newer when compared with a VCR rather than a CD. The reading also goes into the point of some new creations and if they are really needed when there is already a peice of technology which can do those functions easily, creating digital downloads for music which in most cases gets burnt to cd instead of just releasing a cd in a music store. Some people would prefer a tangable peice of technology like a CD but with the new age of digital download it appears that CD's are slowly becoming a thing of the past. But as these technologies continue to develop new features are being created and with that allowing us to reduce the use of old technologies but still increase human interaction and communication.

Topic 5- Why I Hate Wikipedia

Lecture

This weeks lecture was on the topic "Why I Hate Wikipedia", it wasn't so much on why our lecturer hates wikipedia but rather on the premise that the internet can lend itself to create pure lies or untrue facts in a way in which they could be deemed reliable. The discussion began over a wikipedia article regarding Lee Cox, a former student who now teaches, however on wikipedia he is a well known doctor who has had a large dispute with another well known professor Steven Stockwell. Although neither of the articles main "characters" as such knew of there supposed involvement the way in which the document was structured would lead an unknowing web surfer to believe the "facts" included in the article. Although Wikipedia holds no real tangible source of fact for its articles it can still be viewed as a simple and semi reliable source for the basis of an assignment.

Tutorial

How do the ideas from Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply to contemporary digital media?

Benjamin’s ideas in regard to art can be applied to contempory digital media in some aspects depending on the situation. It can be agreed that anything can be considered art, but only some may view the work as art. If a photograph is of a sculpture then it could be considered art, if a photograph is of a blade of grass it could also be considered art if it displayed emotion or even an alternative view on what we may consider the purpose of grass. In theory Benjamin’s ideas apply to digital art but the way in which they do is complicated and confusing in some ways.

There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?

As the age of art has evolved so has the definition of an artist, what once was defined as an extremely talented artist who depicted the very lows and highs of life (Picasso, Van Gogh) in abstract or life like art has now become a generalised term for anyone who creates a piece or work which could be considered in some light art. The evolution of art has no negative side effect for the term “art” as even what we consider classic art had at some stage evolved from the original stages of art like rock art. In turn art will always remain art even if its true definition is deviated from as even the evolution of art can be considered art in itself.

Is a photo-shopped image "authentic"?

A photo shopped image in Benjamin’s theory is not truly “authentic” as it does not hold a tangible past or history of the piece. Although in some ways the history of the image could be traced its raw value or its original state would be considered the authentic piece of art. In the same reasoning however an animation could be considered a less authentic piece of art as it does not have the raw authentic background to it.

Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?

Benjamin discusses the fact that in regards to aura – “the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition”. In the theory of this an original piece of digital art could have an “aura” however if it was continually mechanically reproduced it would loose its history and its “significance point beyond the realm of art” (Benjamin, 1936, 4).

Reading

This weeks reading was entitled "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" talked about how information that is false can be perceived as true as long as a small amount of correct information is also given. In turn any lie can be seen as true as long as it has a portion of correct supporting evidence.

Topic 4- Old Communication Technologies

Lecture

This week’s lecture was about Old Communication technologies, it went into detail in regards to old communication practices and how they evolved into what we now use. We viewed many examples of different forms of old communication technologies including, rock paintings, hieroglyphics and body painting. The subject of semiotics also arouse as not only do we communicate with each other through written text or vocal words we also use body language and semiotic systems to help portray messages. The premise of semiotics is based up general assumptions for example a tribe that wore more red body paint than yellow would be considered more dangerous as we associate red with danger or haste. Some more modern communication practices in which we discussed included the use of the telegraph, radio, morse code, telephone, radio, cinema and television which are still currently used not only to help individuals communicate but to assist in the spread of media propaganda. From the lecture we could see that not only do we still adopt some techniques from the older forms of communications but it is these techniques which created the backbone for the technologies we now rely on so much in everyday life.

Tutorial

Who was the creator of the infamous "love bug" computer virus?

The creator of the love bug virus was Reomel Ramones.

BBC news- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/740558.stm

2. Who invented the paper clip?

William D. Middlebrook- The Great Idea Finder- http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/paperclip.htm

3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?

The Ebola virus gets its name from the Ebola river in northern Congo (Zaire)

Sci-Tech Encrclopedia: Ebola Virus-http://au.search.yahoo.com/search?p=How+did+the+Ebola+virus+get+its+name%3F+&fr=yfp-t-601&ei=UTF-8

4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?

The largest recorded earthquake in the world was a magnitude 9.5 (Mw) in Chile on May 22, 1960

Earthquake Facts- earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids/facts.php

5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?

1,073,741,824 KB = 1TB

Conversion Calculator- http://www.t1shopper.com/tools/calculate/

6. Who is the creator of email?

I DO NOT KNOW. MAYBE YOU?

7. What is the storm worm and how many computers are infected by it?

The so-called Storm worm is actually not a worm, but rather a family of Trojans(viruses).

What is the Storm Worm?- http://antivirus.about.com/od/virusdescriptions/a/stormworm.htm

8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of Australia directly,
what is the most efficient way?

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Or

http://pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm

Prime Minister Of Australia- http://pm.gov.au/

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

Stephen Stockwell writes music for the band Black Assassins

MySpace blog- http://blog.myspace.com/daniko

10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?

The term Web 2.0 refers to the world wide webs second generation of services, it allows information to be shared online through out different media forms.

What exactly does Web 2.0 mean?-

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/11/05/BUG78M5PHL1.DTL&type=business

Reading

The reading by Walter Benjamin entitled " The Work Of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" discusses the question when is a work of art completed. The question plagued leads us to wonder at what stage does a piece of art become art for example in a movie is it art when its a screenplay, a scene, a trailer or perhaps when the whole work is complete. The article also discusses what is an authentic piece of art and how true art can depict an "aura" of significance point beyond the realm of art. He discusses the fact that on any level it could be considered a form of art work it just depends on the way in which it is viewed at that time. In essence anything could be considered art it just follows the premise that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Topic 3 - Alphaville

Lecture-

The Lecture this week was a screening of a French new wave movie called "Alphaville" at first impression all i could think was that it appeared to be a rip off combination of perhaps the original mars attacks and the Maltese falcon with its story line being based on an unbelievable plot line which at the time would have been completely avant garde. The story was based on the premise of a computer controlling a society in another galaxy, in which it controlled human emotions as well as a multitude of other common human features. Women as a gender were classed separately to men usually referred to as objects or purely sexual beings. But as the movie continued its abstract plot line began to make more sense, perhaps the purpose of the movie was to not confuse you but to make you see that there is a new vision coming something so incredibly unbelievable in the world of film. In terms of structure the movie followed your general structure with your beginning middle and end, although i didn't view the end it was in my opinion obvious that he would save the girl after the extreme length he went to to get her free. To sum it up the movie was as good as could be expected for a movie of that time, but in the context of when it was created it did show great potential to lead the world in the new wave direction.

Tutorial-

I will admit that I use new communication technologies a lot, varying from: my computer, cellular phone, iPod, DVD players and television. I may be part of a small percentage of people who does have the ability to watch tv, listening to an iPod, use the internet and talk on the phone at the same time. In relation to friends I have on the internet, a large cluster of my current friends I met in person briefly first and we exchanged “MySpace” pages and then I became good friends with them. Some people I know purely on the internet but have still made a strong friendship them on the basis of talking online. Being only 18 years old I’ve been using these communication technologies maybe since I was 9-10yrs old. I first began the internet in primary school to talk to my friends on MSN, l but before that was taught to touch type in primary school. Privacy appears to be a current issue on the internet currently with predators and people posing as individuals who they clearly aren’t. To combat the abundance of weirdos on the internet I have a private MySpace page and only accept people I know. I still use new communication technologies currently and will most likely continue to in the future.

Readings-

This weeks reading was an array of information regarding the in class screening, varying from IMDB to critical essays it all appeared to be based on how impressive this movie was viewed as at this time. As i had written above in regards to the lecture it did appear like the movie was an opening into a new direction for movies of that era and after reading these sources it appears correct.

Topic 2 - Is email dead?

Wk 2 -Lecture

Lecture-

This lecture was based on the question ‘is email dead?’, I believe one of the main reasons this lecture subject was chosen was to make us wonder how much we used email in comparison to other forms of communication eg. Cellular phones or letters. After a brief discussion the topic of spam emails arouse as a common problem for most email users with the variety of spam varying from a multitude of sources including fake banks, names databases, chatrooms, dating services and advertisers. We then went on to discuss the results of a survey we had previously taken and compared it to results of other countries, and in turn found the answer to the question that once plagued our minds – email is not dead. From the results we could see that even though not everyone referred to email as ‘god’ no body had denied using its features within there everyday life. To conclude the lecture we watched a segment from the daily show on blogging and how other countries react to it and view it as a form of journalism.

Tutorial-

During the tutorial we began the first process of creating a blog; we started this process by joining a site called blogger.com. The main reason for creating this blog was to post weekly blogs regarding the content of the course, or really how to make a blog. Setting up the blog was simple process, enter your details here… select a layout and so on. At this stage some of us linked our pages to each others and began typing up our main blogs and putting the finer details onto our pages. We then spent the rest of the tutorials time discussing blogs, how we preferred to blog and if any of us had blogged before.

Readings-

The reading of the bloggers handbook continued and i read more into the aspects of blogging and the ethics which bind certain materials from being excluded from certain blogs.
The reading of the bloggers handbook continued and I read more into the aspects of blogging and the ethics which bind certain materials from being excluded from certain blogs. It then went on to further explain how a blog should be set out, the usual setting of the content in a blog, how to show your personal point of view whilst stile remaining to your main point. The blogging handbook seems to be a good source of information regarding blogging and how the world of blogging works.

Topic 1- Second Life

Wk 1 - Lectures, Readings and Tutorials

Lecture-

My first communications lecture kept in format with the general first week lecture structure we begin with the introduction of the course teachers followed by the inevitable course outline. To my surprise this was followed by a documentary featuring a game known as “Second Life”. The documentary followed the usually format with an introduction into the game, its basis, general components and creator. About half way through the main question in which this documentary was based became apparent-“Can virtual reality replace real life?” After a display of characters and slightly disturbing images the documentary came to an end, concluding with a general round up of characters, avatars and the prospective future of the game.

Tutorial-

During the tutorial I was pleasantly surprised by the content of the course being so steadily paced, as I was led to believe by friends that I would be left bewildered and neglected all semester, however contrary to there suggestions I was clearly told how to access the ‘learning@griffith” page, such a task had before worried me. The two hour tutorial then proceeded to introduce me to the basics of the study patterns of university and how the marking system works. We were then given a brief description of the next week’s tutorial outline before our tutor was thoroughly questioned on a number of different aspects of the class.

Readings-

The reading entitled “Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents Contents" appears to generally assess the issue of the blog. It begins by explaining how anyone can create a blog no matter what your personal background in journalism or in most cases lack of background in journalism. The basis seems to be that if you create content that people are interested in and can rely on then you have created a successful blog, it doesn’t matter if your reflecting on what you had for lunch, your political views or Britney’s latest breakdown as long as someone’s interested you’ve succeeded. The article also offers helpful advice to first time bloggers instructing that if your content is questionable an alias should be used to avoid ‘cyber police’. As far as I have read into this lengthy article it appears that the main idea is to teach you the basics of blogging and how to create a successful blog whilst still keeping intact your own beliefs.

Until Next Week....