"Indecent Media Exposure"

• When I woke up this morning, I woke up to the alarm on my phone my not so favourite song any more.
• I then had breakfast and read the front of the 'Milo' cereal packaging whilst waiting for the kitchen to be free.
• I then got ready and brushed my teeth, had to open a new toothpaste read the backing of the box as you do when you have nothing better to do.
•  I then called Julie to tell her I was going to be 5 minutes late.
• Drove to our meeting spot, whilst driving listening to the radio.
• Parked my car then went to the petrol station (our meeting spot) Looked at the price of petrol and was disgusted might I add.
• On the way to our meeting spot and to uni viewed multiple adverts on billboards, buses and bus stops.
• Followed street signs to the Gold Coast then when we veered closer to uni saw Griffith University campus signs.
• When we got to uni, I read Adam's CC shirt.
• Sat down in the lecture theater watched the the screen and projector that Adam had prepared his Lecture on.
• Viewed different types of videos.
• Received a text message.
• In our break made a call.
• Used my phone to access Facebook and to check emails.
• Bought a drink at the vending machine.
• Went to the cafeteria and read their menu.
• Went to the tutorial and used the computer and the internet to complete tasks.
• Went to the library to source a book.
• Went home following signs back.
• Went to the movies to see "The Green Hornet".
• Bought tickets, saw advertising everywhere!!
• Bought pop corn and lollies.

I never really took notice of all the media in my life until now, as it was just there a part of my everyday life. I'm sure I've also underestimated how much it affects me as a person from what brand of toothpaste I choose use to what I decide to wear that day. I'm also positive I've overlooked a lot of media as it is embedded into our lives that we just take it for what it is without asking questions.
It's very distressing to see how much we are subjected to media and the underlying messages it send us without questions asked.

"I made this. you played this. we are enemies"

When first encountering the works of Jason Nelson I was fairly confused. I didn't understand how his works could be under the same category as literature and poetry. When viewing the website all I could see was confusion with random text and pictures displayed on my screen. Half of the website looked to me as though a child had attempted to create a website.

However, when examining closer and looking past the already preconceptions of this website I was forced to step outside the box with my thinking and take it for what it is. Jason Nelson has conveyed some pretty cool yet sophisticated ideas in his works, they evoke questions and emotions whether that of frustration or success.

Jason Nelson has created a website that requires your full attention, if you don't then you will end up lost and confused as I did when I first tried to decode the messages that he was purveying. The tasks at hand enable you choose a path and according to that path change the meaning of the text and/or game which then alters each time you play. I like the fact that it's interactive and engages you even when you don't exactly know what's going on, it gives you the sense that you must play on to find out what happens next.

There was a beginning part to this blog, but it got censored... *apologies*

The Australian government have shown interest in filtering the internet, commonly known as censoring. Many countries have already implemented this filtering system (The Great Firewall of China), blocking content that may be 'harmful' to the community.

Understandably ‘filtering’ the internet has a place. However, distinguishing the 'grey area' of ‘unacceptable’ content for me, is the major issue of censoring the internet. It is this grey area that has people against internet censoring as it strips us of our rights of freedom of expression and speech. It’s these basic human rights, which are being undermined and disregarded by the government. 

Who has the overhand and control on what is seen as a threat? By removing all possible sites and internet space that is deemed unnecessary or a danger to the public of Australia, isn’t the government removing one key element of life?... choice. So asides from living day to day, voting when its time and paying our taxes, just what quality of life do they expect for us. 

If the government has the ability to deem content as unacceptable or unethical as they see fit, they’re giving up your right to make decisions as an adult. The government expresses that it will beneficial for the community. However, why have complete control over the internet which is seen as public domain. Who ultimately decides which is right or wrong for anyone person to see?

The Australian Government have already failed when trying to filter the internet, they opted for parents to download a filtering system called "Net Alert'. Two weeks after introducing the filtering program the password protection was cracked by a thirteen year old.
If internet censorship goes ahead, who's to say we won't have another re-occurrence of the  'Net Alert' joke?
Censoring the internet will only allow for more content to be obtained therefore more content to be leaked.

"The Fields of Play"

Even from the early starts of Backgammon, games have been the number one driving force behind the technological innovations that we are lucky to have today. They have helped shape and alter the direction of gaming progression depending on their popularity.

Games in general are a hot topic, as popularity of casual and serious gaming is on the steady rise. Elements behind games and the effects that it has on society as a whole and individually is quite astounding. With talks of negative impacts such as addiction, depression and anti social behaviour, it would be unfair to leave the scales unbalanced. Especially when all positive avenues of games are left unexplored or unanswered for.

Further study into games branch on to the general idea behind what user experience the developers have build towards (good v bad) or in many cases a sandbox structuring, which gives the user his own moral choice between right and wrong. Two main terms which helps describe the gaming ideologies that lay under the surface of most games is Narratology and Ludology.
Academic study of  Narratology and Ludology is a relatively new study area as the gaming world gets increasingly larger. These two main study areas are vastly different from one another however, both fields play a  great importance in understanding the social and cultural aspects of gaming.


People who study Narratology believe games can be studied the same way one would study texts (books, films etc,) Narratology is about literacy in a sense, based around a game that follows a more structured sequence of cutscense and story development. Users mostly play to attain a story built into a game like media and continue to play as the story unfolds in gradual progression.

Ludology is a game that flows on with minimal input from a story board, sometimes but not always has less character involvement and has stronger ties to multiplayer, positive aspects of a game such as this is that users have the ability to drop stop and then continue play without losing any detachment from the story. People who study Ludology argue story development is for 'decoration only' and game play elements are vital to understand the new gaming culture.

Day 8 Tutorial Responce

•   Sign an e-petition.

"The Federal Government is going ahead with plans to force all Australian servers to filter internet traffic and block any material the Government deems ‘inappropriate’. Under the plan, the Government can add any ‘unwanted’ site to a secret blacklist."
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet/442 

• What is Barack Obama up to today?

President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington. Tuesday 25th January

http://topics.oregonlive.com/tag/Barack%20Obama/index.html 

•  Find out who your local, state and federal representatives are.

 Local: Aidan McLindon

 State: John Reginald

Federal: Teresa Gambaro

What do you think of the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")?
The government have proposed a two tiered process for censoring the internet, the first is mandatory where the government seizes all unlawful and prohibited sites. The second tier is an optional filter aimed at families that additionally blocks more content.
Australia is already behind speed with the boardband technological advances, by censoring the internet it has been proven that it will slow our already slow internet by up to 87%.
With this said the filtering system has multiple bugs with tests showing that is misses copious amounts of 'inapporpriate' content, whilst blocking and black listing one in twelve legitimate sites.
I feel that the government need to rethink censoring the internet and fund education online safety and how to use the internet safely.

http://www.getup.org.au/files/campaigns/internetcensorshipfactsheet.pdf

Tutorial Questions Day 6

I was quite hesitant yet somewhat intrigued to see what sort of information was on the internet about me. The tutorial task required me to Google "Jodie Worth" into the search engine. Firstly, I searched the web and was very surprised. I didn't find any direct link to my facebook account however, this blog that I'm currently typing is on the second page.
I found some indirect links to me through the use of my friends. I found comments that I had posted on my friends wedding photographer's blog, and various comments that I had posted back in the years of Myspace and more recently Facebook.
I then wanted to see what photos there were of me in the images section of this search engine. The first picture of me (my friend posted it on Facebook), was of me in a low cut dress... Not an appropriate picture for my future students to see :|
This made me very nervous to what I would further find as a scroll down. The only other photo's that were directly of me were of me and the other Bridesmaids at my friends wedding. I found it extremely weird that I saw quite a few photo's of my friends photo's and their old Facebook profile pictures when searching my name.

Is there away for us to remove these photos?

• 1.     What is the weight of the world’s biggest machine? How much did it cost to build?

Knock Nevi's: World's Largest Ship Ever Constructed

Weight: 564,763 tons (Yahoo)

Cost: $9 billion. (ChaCha.com)

 

• 1.     Find a live webcam in Antarctica. Can you find a place to stay in Antarctica?

http://www.antarctica.gov.au/webcams/casey

Mil810 Hotel (http://www.virtualtourist.com/hotels/Antarctica/Hotels_and_Accommodations-Antarctica-TG-C-1.html)

 

 

•  When and what was the first example of global digital communication?

The telegraph in 1837 Line telegraphy perfected was one of the first examples of Global Digital Communication.

http://cseng.aw.com/catalog/uploads/Glover_Digital%20Comms_C01%20reduced%20file%20size.pdf

  

• What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne?  

Jet star $69.00, one way, two months from now

• Who is Douglas Engelbart? What is he know for?  

“Engelbart's most famous invention is the computer mouse, 1960’s dedicated his life to the pursuit of developing technology to augment human intellect.”

http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/engelbart.html

 

• What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Stephen Conroy?  (who is this guy?)

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator

Contact details:

Parliamentary office - Tel: 02 6277 7480

Ministerial office - Tel: 03 9650 1188

http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/

• How would you define the term 'ontology'? In your own words, what does it really mean?

“The structure of a system. A system model. The word refers to the branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of reality or being. It therefore refers to "what exists" in a system: all elements within all category hierarchies and the relationships between them.”

http://www.answers.com/topic/ontology#ixzz1C24yjUjs

 

 

• What type of camera is used to make ‘Google Street View’?

  

   

  http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9724604-1.html
  
  
  
  
  
  

"A day in the life of Chuck"

David Vs. Goliath

In today’s lecture, we were immense in the constant battle between the two main contenders of software, open source and proprietary software; definitely a David versus Goliath situation. Biased maybe, but when you can link most attributes to one of a major gas company where they focus on profits and market domination. Focusing on one of the strongest points of open source is the ability to cut all the red tape on the road to software upgrades. With the flexibility of pushing forward the development without having to wait for permission and without having to take any breaks (the rate of software development is increased). Main differences between proprietary software and open source are that open source software, is that it leaves the door open to programmers or anyone with any programming creativity to help improve the software for the greater good of the digital community. Definitely a hidden bonus when the dominate software on any users system is open source. With more regular updates than that of a software giant like Microsoft where they expect any little improvement to be worth a profit, users of open source gain the ability to stay in the development loop of software growth picking up all the extras and bonus functionality that comes with the power of a digital community backing. Unlike proprietary software, where it has been seen in the past where to recycle the same software code with minor security “enhancements” to only resell it as a completely new software operating system and expecting a tasty little profit (especially when they lock other programmers out of their software by means of Copyright infringements and the full strength of the law “money fines”. Open source defiantly the little guy here, trying to get the word out, that most users that are out there are completely unaware of the benefits of open source.

Forsake your privacy.... With 'Piratebook!'

We all demand privacy in every life situation. So why is it that we’re so oblivious when it comes to online sites?

Are we lead into a false sense of security when we join social networking sites? Facebook for instance, is a social medium designed to ‘connect people’. However, you are made to agree on certain terms and conditions that are subjected to change, even if you don’t agree with them or even in fact read them. You are then encouraged to ‘connect’ with and befriend as many ‘friends’ or people you have encountered with over your life span. You’re then influenced to post photos of yourself and tag your ‘friends’ in these photos. Provide information about yourself ‘so your friends know what you like and don’t like’. Without even noticing it, we have given all of our personal information to the highest bidder. Facebook is a business who makes their money selling your personal information to a company. Now when you go back and read those Terms and Conditions saying to yourself ‘they can’t do that’ if you can read past all the legal jargon. You will see they in fact can, and you have allowed this by ‘agreeing’ to the terms when you first signed up.

1. You can use your privacy settings to limit how your name and profile picture may be associated with commercial, sponsored, or related content (such as a brand you like) served or enhanced by us. You give us permission to use your name and profile picture in connection with that content, subject to the limits you place.
2. We do not give your content or information to advertisers without your consent.
3. You understand that we may not always identify paid services and communications as such.

Though they express that your content will not be distributed to advertisers without your consent, they however, do not disclose information on how you give permission. Through the use of applications, groups 'likes' etc., this is how they perceive you 'giving consent'.

Reference:

Day 4 lecture – Adam Muir

http://www.facebook.com/terms.php?ref=pf

Sorry I'm late, I had to walk my virtual dog...

Today's lecture certainly was an eye opener on the ideas that surround and that are behind virtual communities. To look further into the dynamics that flow through a virtual community, you must first understand some of the origins of the first and current popular cyber cultures that were behind some of the biggest virtual communities to date.

MUD; Multi User Dungeon, One of the first new big things where people of similar interests would gather and play in a text based fantasy role play dungeon game, Entirely text based so less so only simple beginnings of virtual community roots were raised.

To WOW; World Of Warcraft. One of the current new big things, where users play in a fantasy world, slay monsters and dragons, gain loot, partake in raids and share the experience and gold to improve their individual characters similar to that of a virtual individual identity, also commonly referred to avatars.

What makes these Virtual Communities so popular, so sought after, so desired? Most likely because where Reality Communities find restrictions, Virtual ones see no bounds. It provides a experience like no other, bridging people of all ages and ethnicity, cultures and beliefs a place to meet, a place to belong. Providing a link to people in all corners of the globe where distances mean nothing at all, *except lag*. In a Virtual Community it doesn't matter how big your pay check is, you have the ability and if you have the time you can attain quite some impressive amounts of sway or power in a Virtual Community that you are a member of.

These Virtual Communities are becoming so persuasive that users are becoming addicted to the nature of the Virtual World, that they become more detached from Reality. With the way trends are going, the idea of virtual communities is becoming more accepted within reality communities. Where current and new generations are using it less as a play pen and more of a tool for self growth. In a sense the Virtual Communities that are out there are actually reaching out of the the digital vale that they reside in and is adjusting culture development.

The power that is hidden behind Virtual Communities, where people can link together to share ideas on common interests, where people can connect and brainstorm in a more efficient manner is astounding. It provides a refuge for some and empowerment for others, in a place where rules can be adjusted and people can focus on one single idea or ideal the potential is phenomenal. Just think of the possibilities of Virtual Communities where people can link together some of the best ideas without distractions to achieve a greater goal.

"Technology overtook on the left lane!"

Where did computers come from? It’s a question not many people ask themselves while they post, tweet or even surf the web and it’s a question that many will never come into contact with. For all intensive purposes a computer is a technology that has evolved from very humble beginnings, its early days as a giant steam powered calculator that filled rooms upon rooms which required crews of engineers to maintain, to miniature laptops that can be taken practically everywhere! It is a technology that has provided a solution to problems over a time frame that continuously evolves. And like history usually dictates with technology overtime, development grows at an exponential rate. Even with purchasing a brand new top of the line desktop pc, within as little as six months that piece of technology that you bought it’s now outdated and old.  With today’s personal computer standard and with the near future of pc development and performance it’s quite exciting to see technology evolve and improve first hand. Like all technologies their purpose is to serve and they serve for our purpose.

"To Tweet or Not to tweet?"

To tweet or not to tweet, that is a question that people ignore. From one extreme to another people tweet regardless of the importance, the range of extremes goes as far as tweeting about eating an orange to running a marathon.
Some users become so involved with their own tweets it becomes exhausting, others use it quite effectively and use it as a means of powerful digital communication. Most of the time filled with fluff talk, they also use communication values that you would also discuss with your friends, a communication reach out to people that might listen or to people that are "friends" that are interested.

"Friend or foe?"

Accurately displays the boundaries and rules that normally apply in social interactions that are not necessarily respected and valued in the world of 'Facebook.' Common differences between virtual and reality interactions is that users can portray truth as fiction and false information as truth.
Its interesting to see the contrast of social dynamics displayed in a social network and that of day to day socialising between "friends" with the use of social applications such as 'Facebook.'

"Status: Its complicated"

We're now in a digital world where if your personal life is not broadcast over the internet, it's almost like it doesn't exist. Today social networking sites are the norm and posts/tweets are the way to keep up with family and 'friends'. It seems like this is the only effective communication. In order to stay up to date or keep up with the social craze you have to adapt and learn to use the digital world as one of your communicating mediums, you have that choice.. it all just depends on how involved with the digital world you want to be.

Blog 1

Holidays have come to a dramatic halt, getting back into uni mode has proven to be a difficult task in itself. Getting the body motivated and the brain activated back into ‘uni mode’ is now the task at hand.

The Communication Technology course that I’m in now has influenced me to join the digital world and create my own blog. The course has got me thinking of digital natives and immigrants and how I’m yet to find where I stand.