Week 5 - Tutorial Task

Greetings!

1. Where was the first University established and in which year?

Nanjing University (National Central University) in China was the first university ever founded, in the year 258. Used ChaCha Questions and Answers.

http://www.chacha.com/question/what-is-the-first-university-ever-created

2. What is Stephen Stockwell's band called and what does he play?  Can you name a couple of their songs?

The Black Assassins. Keyboard, and vocals.

I used Bing to search.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm

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

Using Bing to search I found the largest digging machine n the world. 45, 000 tons, and $100 million.

http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/Trencher.htm

4. Who is Justin Bieber's lawyer, and what is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact the lawyer?

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

6. Who is Hatsune Miku? What company does she belong to? What is her birthday?

Hatsune Miku is a character from Vocaloid, by Crypton Future Media. Miku’s birthday is August 31.

This wasn’t searched I knew it all already.

7. Find a live webcam in Belarus. Find a place to stay in Antarctica.

8. What song was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1991?

9. What type of car is used to make ‘Google Street View’?

Volkswagen New Beetle. Searched with Yahoo Search.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/01/take-a-look-at-the-vehicle-thats-taking-a-look-at-you/

10. Translate these questions into Spanish and then translate them back into English.

1. Where was the first University established and in which year?

2. What is called the tape of Stephen Stockwell and what does he play? Can you call a pair of his songs?

3. What is the weight of the machine of the biggest world? How much cost this to construct?

4. Who is the lawyer of Justin Bieber, and what the best way is (the the most rapid, the the most reliable) to get in touch with the lawyer?

5. What is the cheapest form of trips of the Gold Coast to Melbourne?

6. Who is Hatsune Miku? To what company does she belong? What is his birthday?

7. To find a camera connected to Internet lives in Belorussia. Find an accommodation in Antarctica.

8. What song was the summit of the letters of music pop Australians this week in 1991?

9. What type of car is used to do ‘ Sight of Street of Google ’?

10. To translate these questions in Spanish and then translate them behind in English.

Used Yahoo to find a translator

http://imtranslator.net/translation/spanish/to-english/translation/

Week 5 - Response to Content

Greetings!

In my last two years of high school, and my first semester of university I have studied subjects devoted to screen. I have learnt a lot about structure of plots, in particular the plot of romantic comedies.

Most commonly a romantic movie, like most any movie, is split up into three major acts, with important plot points in each. Act 1 is where the story is set up – the characters are introduced and the conflict reveals itself between the protagonist and their romantic interest, and the opposing force. Act 2 holds the majority of action of the film. The heroes are tested as they strive to reach their goals; a promising lead to a desired outcome presents itself, only to backfire and force them back to square one. They will become closer emotionally, only to drive themselves apart due to their internal conflicts. Act 3, the final act, is the resolution of the story, the suspense and the relationship between the heroes (Romance University 2009).

There are important elements of a film in this genre that establish what it is, and factors that go into the film to assure its success. For starters, naturally, the hero must be involved in some sort of romantic pursuit. They must also pursue some additional desire, to create conflict when the two desires inevitably come into opposition, and in the end the film must have a happy ending. Also important to the plot, is that the film involves some sort of deception. The characters themselves play important roles in creating a successfully entertaining plot. The audience, for instance, must fall in love with the romantic interest and root for the protagonist to win their love; if the audience doesn’t feel sympathy for the hero then they will lose interest (Screenplay Mastery 2005).

Romantic comedies strive to balance perfectly the amount of drama, comedy and romance to create a quintessential film that follows the classic narrative for that genre. Therefore a main point in romantic films is that they’re predictable. But in a way isn’t that what everyone loves about them? Because even if you know there will be a happily ever after, it’s the journey there that makes the movie.

A Michael Hauge Article 2005, Writing Romantic Comedies, Screenplay Mastery, August 27

2011,

<http://www.screenplaymastery.com/RomanticComedies.htm>

Plot Mapping 2009, Do All Roads Lead to Plot Mapping?, Romance University, August 27 2011,

<http://romanceuniversity.org/2009/10/19/do-all-roads-lead-to-plot-mapping/>

Week 4 - Tutorial Task

Greetings!

I agree to the Terms and Conditions. This is perhaps the biggest lie when it comes to any website. It’s very rare that you will find someone who actually takes the time to read any website’s terms and conditions. And that’s where they get you. Not all websites are trying to screw you over, mostly it’s inconsequential things that are hidden in the walls of text that is the terms and conditions.

A site, for example, such as Facebook has terms and conditions that could, perhaps, shock some of its members. As most people refuse to bother reading the information, it would come as a surprise that the website states that it has complete ownership over all content posted. For example were someone to post an image on Facebook, that belonged to another person, that image would become property of Facebook.

Recently Facebook has been accused of being unethical as it sells user’s information to advertising companies. But Facebook is very clear about its policies. It is all stated on the website, if someone took the time to read it, how Facebook uses user information, under the heading of their Policy guide: 5. How We Use Your Information. By ticking the little box beside I agree to the Terms and Conditions, you are implying you understand all this information. So really Facebook isn’t at fault.

Of course it is up to the user to analyse the degree of privacy invasion there is on Facebook. Yes they have the ownership of all posts, but they give users every opportunity to control how much information they take. There is quite a lot under Privacy Settings that deals with this. There is also just the notion of not posting personal information on Facebook. If a user only posts information they are comfortable with others seeing then really it should be no big deal. 


 Facebook Terms and Conditions, http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/terms.php

Week 4 - Response to Content

Greetings!

After watching eXistenZ I was left equal parts confused, disturbed, nauseous and fascinated. While it uses extreme methods to bring it across, the message is one of relevance in today’s culture. Technology is advancing evermore as years pass, and bringing with it whole new worlds; whole new realities. Video games are becoming more realistic, and eXistenZ is a prime example of the mental incapacitations it could cause. If the virtual reality is so realistic, how do you know when it stops being a game?

Some people believe videogames are having negative influences on players. Richard Abanes, in his book What Every Parent Needs to Know About Video Games: A Gamer Explores the Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Virtual World,  comments on the Columbine High School killers enjoying playing first-person shooter games, and a man who was obsessed with Grand Theft Auto killing two police officers. But he wonders if it is the games that motivated their actions. Many people, mostly “anti-video-game protesters, legislators and parents would answer with a strong yes” (Abanes, 2006). But can anyone really say for sure that video games are the cause?

Gamers who are strong willed are not easily moulded by the games they play. They can easily play a game, and when they stop they can know for sure that what they are seeing is real. But there are stories of people who are being affected fatally by their addictions to games. To find a reason why this is would suggest perhaps these people aren’t as strong minded as others, most likely having started gaming younger when their brains hadn’t developed completely. Would a way to combat this be to discourage younger people from playing videogames? Would it be to discourage videogames altogether? Devoted gamers would revolt at the mere idea of stopping the games. So what is the option?

And more important than all, at the end of eXistenZ, were they still in the game? So many questions.

Albanes, R 2006, What Every Parent Needs to Know About Video Games: A Gamer Explores the Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Virtual World, Harvest House Publishers, Oregon, viewed August 27 2011.

Week 3 - Tutorial Task

Greetings!

What was Stephen Stockwell's first article in an academic journal? What year? Provide a full citation. What database did you use?

Using Griffith University Library I searched for articles written by Stephen Stockwell, and found the earliest article published which was in February 1981. This led me to HeinOnline Law Journal Library.

Stockwell, S, 1981, ‘Kuranda Police Shooting’, Legal Service Bulletin, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 48–49, viewed 10 August 2011.

In which comic did Governor Slugwell appear? Which Issues? Give their full citation for the earliest. Where did you find this information? What database did you use? (Check the trial databases)

Governor Slugwell appeared in three Flaming Carrot issues. Using Underground and Independent Comic, I discovered that Governor Slugwell was a character from the comic and that he appeared in issues 7, 10 and 11.

Burden, B, 1985, Flaming Carrot Comics, Renegade Press, no.7, viewed 10 August 2011.

In Bladerunner, what is Leon's reaction when Holden asks him about his mother? Quote the 1982 draft script and provide a full reference. (Check the trial databases)

He shoots him.

HOLDEN

Describe in single words. Only the good things that come into your mind. About your mother.

LEON

My...

Leon looks shocked, surprised. But the needles in the computer barely move. Holden goes for the inside of his coat. But big Leon is faster. His laser burns a hole the size of a nickel through Holden's stomach. Unlike a bullet, a laser causes no impact. It goes through Holden's shoulder and comes out of his back, clean as a whistle. Like a rag doll he falls back into the seat. Big slow Leon is already walking away, but he stops, turns, and with a little smile of satisfaction fires through the back of the seat.


Fancher, H, Peoples, D. W. 1982, Blade Runner, Alexander Street Press. Screenplay, viewed 23 August 2011.

What does Paul Soukup say Walter Ong saw as the main paradox in 20th century communication? Cite your source.

“that a society given so much to the use of diagrams and to the maneuvering objects in space, should at the same time develop means of communication which specialize not in sight but in sound”

Soukup, P 2004, ‘Walter J. Ong, S.J, A Retrospective’, Communication Research Trends, Vol 23, No 1, viewed 23 August 2011.

Week 3 - Response to Content

Greetings!

When it comes to technology and the human brain, there’s a fraction of people that recoil and a fraction that exult. When some people picture the future of technology it isn’t actually that hard to conceive a world in which technology is actually a part of the human body. But is it a good thing? Some people would revere this incredible leap in technology, but others might view it as an invasion of privacy.

There is a book series called Uglies by Scott Westerfield that is set in the post-apocalyptic future, after civilisation has been rebuilt. In the series the world has developed far beyond anything mankind had managed in the past (our present). In the series, the protagonist receives a sort of plastic surgery in which she has computers embedded in her mind. She can use it to contact other people like a communicator, to research information like today’s search engines, and various other inhuman enhances.

Sue Halpern quotes a man in her article for the New York Review of Books, Mind Control & The Internet. Michael Chorost had received surgery that implanted a computer-esque piece of machinery in his inner ear that allowed him to hear after spending the majority of his life deaf. He is quoted saying “My two implants make me irreversibly computational, a living example of the integration of humans and computers. So for me the thought of implanting something like a BlackBerry in my head is not so strange. It would not be so strange for a lot of people, I think.”

It is quite possible this is the direction the world is headed, with the advances in technology. Would it be available to the general public? Would it be mandatory? It’s interesting to ponder, whether the technology will exist or not, what would be the circumstances of a life integrated with computers?

Westerfield, S 2005, Uglies, Simon Pulse, New York.

Halpern, S 2011, Mind Control & The Internet, New York Review of Books, vol 58, no 11, viewed 26 August.

Week 2 - Tutorial Task

Greetings!

 

(Find the videos here)

Did You Know 4.0 is a short video in a series that list interesting facts, by Shift Happens. Each video is a remake of the last, the video posted here being the most recent, and has the most recent statistics and information. I chose to post this video because it has a lot of interesting facts about social networking and the internet. 

 (Image found here)

The internet allows people access to 1,000,000,000 webpages!  But, as the internet is ever evolving, some users have created their own ways of making their favourite websites better. This can range from simple techniques such as Wikirank, which allows you to analyse trending topics on Wikipedia to find information faster, to Ebay Snipers, which are a automatic cheating bot that posts bids on items in the final seconds, allowing you to sneak in and buy an item that normal users would miss out on. 

Another example is a Poker Bot. Poker Bots allow users to set up a computerised online poker player, which, after paying a certain amount, assure a percentage of winnings in return. Bots used in this manner is a form of cheating, although the bots can also be used as legitimate opponents for players. Either way most cardrooms forbid the use of bots.  

These webpage bots are everywhere, for many websites. Some enhance the website, for the better of the community, other’s are cheaters providing only for the one user.




PART 2:

How long have you been using these communication technologies? What influenced you to start using these particular technologies?  How did you find out about them? 

My dad has been a computer technician since I was 3 years old, so I received basically anything I wanted in terms of electronics while growing up. I had videogame consoles and computers. So right from a young age I’ve been very fluent with computers, and, in turn, the internet. I grew up on these communication technologies.

Is privacy an issue for you when using new technologies?  What do you think of companies like Facebook and Google who collect information about their users?   (How do you deal with issues around privacy?)

Honestly I am rather a private person when it comes to the internet, so I personally am not very bothered by Facebook collecting information about me. I don’t put enough information out there for it to really affect me.

                                     

Do you have friends whom you know only from the internet and have never met in person?   Is this different to people that you know in person?  Describe the difference.

I have a few people I talk to on occasion that I know only through the internet, but I am not sure I would consider them friends. I am not quite close enough to them – personally not geographically even though they are from Chile and Canada! I think the difference would be that I don’t talk to them that much, so I feel detached. And when we do chat I’m very conscious of what I am saying. When I am with my friends in person everything is just so natural.

Separately my brother actually has a lot of very close friends that he met over the internet, playing videogames online together. He talks to them all the time and recently one even visited Australia, and he went and spent the day with him.

Week 2 - Response to Content

Greetings!

When looking at the history of communication it’s incredibly interesting to see how very very far we have developed. From rock art, with paintings drawn on the side of a cave or a rock or on the ground that tells a tale, to stories told by word of mouth, to alphabets, the written word, to books and onwards.

I personally am a great lover of books. I adore getting lost inside a world printed on paper, and to imagine where this all began is quite amazing. I imagine myself back in the days before the written word, when stories were communicated by voice or paintings. I wonder if I would have felt quite as engrossed in the world spun by words that were told aloud. I know I have difficulty as books develop with technology into e-books, that I don’t get quite the same experience without the pages between my fingers. It’s just not as intimate. However e-books seem to be the way the world is headed, with platforms for reading e-books becoming more prevalent. As Nancy K. Heather says in her article, ‘ebooks Everywhere,’ “E-readers continue to proliferate as more people turn to PDAs and other mobile devices for many reading applications ... the groundwork appears to be set to see ebooks take off even more rapidly in the coming year” (Heather, 2011).

I wonder if I will be able to change?

Heather, N. K. 2011, ‘ebooks Everywhere’, Searcher, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 22-31, viewed 23 August 2011,

<http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/875640395>