Week Five: Lecture Review

The lecture this week was an interesting one. 

The topics that were focused on where: web 2.0 and social media

Adam then delve into these two topics in more depth by exploring new media: visual community/ individual identify and Internet studies: web 2.0/ social media.

Although the lecture focused on topics I was unfamiliar with I found the lecture to be very interesting and I felt I had learnt a lot when it was over. I was most taken with the concept of identity play and the ego-centric social network and how the focus of 'shared interests' has been lost to self-exhibitionists. 

I thought the concept and phenomenon of web 2.0 was fascinating and it was covered and explained well in the lecture. I was left with the constant thought of: 

'are we the consumers or the creators?'

Extra Questions

• How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?

  I researched this question via none other than google and I came along some interesting sites that explain the ranking system a lot better than I could. This is what www.boutell.com had to say:

  Google ranks by how frequently other sites link to you, not by what you do or don't say on your site, although they do of course use what is on your site to determine whether your page is of relevance. When Google arrived, there was a "honeymoon period" of several years during which searches were extremely effective, because the Google rank of a site was essentially based on its true popularity, as measured by the number of sites that thought it worthwhile to link to it. At the time, no one had figured out a way to trick Google into artificially raising their rank.
  

• who, or what, makes one page (that you might get in your search results) more useful than another one, so that it is put at the top of your search results?

  I'm not sure about this question so I am just going to answer it off common knowledge. I assume that the more information I put into the search then more refined and detailed the results will be. I'm not sure if that answered the question!

• what are some of your favourite search engines? why do you like one more than others?

  I only use google. It is always the first thing to pop into my head when I need to find something out. The term: 'google it' is used well in my house! I like it because it is quick, easy and has tones of information and choice! 

WEEK FOUR: Scavenger Hunt Questions

Try to answer these questions without using Google or Wikipedia. There are no right answers. You gain marks for the most interesting ways of finding answers and your reflections on the mutability of facts. There are some notes in the Tutorial Folder at Course Content that may help. I have also put up lecture notes on the Language of the Screen - Josh Nicholas will be covering this material at the lecture on Wednesday while also reflecting on the shift of production focus from the big screen to the very small.

1.    What did Alan Turing wear while riding his bicycle around Bletchley Park?

A: A brown suit and gas mask

2.    On what date did two computers first communicate with each other? Where were they?

A: October 20th 1969 at UCLA

3.    What is Bill Gates’ birthday and what age was he when he sold his first software?

A: He was 17 years old when he sold his first piece of software for around $4000. He was born on the 28th of October 1955

4.    Where was the World Wide Web invented? 

A: The World Wide Web was invented at CERN

5.    How does the power of the computer you are working on now compare with the power of a personal computer from 30 years ago? 

A: A computer in 1979 had a 8088 8-bit processor, a computer in 2009 has a 2.60GHz 800FSB, 2MB processor I have no idea what that means but that's all I could find on it. 

6.    What is the weight of the largest parsnip ever grown? 

A: 2.3 Kilograms

7.    When did Queensland become a state and why is the Tweed River in New South Wales?

A: Queensland separated from New South Wales and thus became a state in 1859.

8.    What was the weather like in south-east Queensland on 17 November 1954?

A: There had been flooding in Southeast Queensland on the 17th of November 1954, it was raining. 
9.    Why is is Lord Byron still remembered in Venice?

A: He wrote some of his most famous work in Venice. Including: Don Juan

10.    What band did Sirhan Chapman play in and what is his real name?

A: Sirham Chapman played keyboard and did the lead vocals in The Black Assassins. He is none other than my lecturer for New Communication Technologies. I found this question very hard to answer so I did a little poking around in other students answers and I found this one! haha. 

CONCLUSION:

This was SUCH a hard task as I were not allowed to use google. I admite I still used a number of search engines including: ask.com, yahoo.com, altavista.com and answers.com These engines offered me answers but I still think they are nothing compared to google! It was so hard not to use google but I think overall I have answered the questions to the best of my ability. 

WEEK THREE: PART ONE: b) Youtube

Description:

This is just a silly youtube clip making fun of how much technology is advancing in the modern era. 

The three characters have phones installed in their fingers and noses, 

poking fun at how advance technology is becoming. 

The clip is a funny take on technology and makes you wonder how

much more advanced and sophisticated can technology become?

Week Three: Lecture Review

This lecture on Cin-speak was great!

I really enjoyed it. The first part of the lecture was focusing on different aspects of film. A lot of which I had learnt in the subject 'Introduction to Screen Analysis' which I completed last semester. But it was so interesting seeing and hearing terms like size shots and the 180 rule. All of which I could identify with. 

This lecture was so good because it intertwined my love for film/ screen with new media and technology. I found the whole thing so interesting. I was so happy to see these terms used in a new semester in a new and completely different subject. 

The lecturer was very enthusiastic and easy to listen too, I hope all the lectures to follow are like this one. 

WEEK THREE: PART TWO

Write a post about how you use new communication technologies to communicate with your friends and family.

I use facebook to keep in touch with my close friends, by sharing when we should meet up, what they are doing ect. But I also use it to keep in touchwith friends overseas. facebook allows me to view photos of them and keep up-to-date with events they have attended. It is fast and so easy to use. I check it nearly everyday.

I keep in contact with my family through email, text messages, phone calls and skype. My dad is currently overseas and skype is perfect when trying to chat to each other. It is free and you get to see them (via webcam). My mum has only just grasped the concept of text messaging and now she sends me a text every now and then to see how I am.

How long have you been using these communication technologies?

I got my first mobile phone when I was 13 and I probably had an email address at the age of eight. I went to boarding school at a young age and email was a perfect form of communication. I used to look forward to checking my emails in the morning after breakfast to hear how my family was.

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

My school introduced me to the concept of email. I'm sure my first email address was a school based one. Like I said emails were a big part of my life as it was a fun way to keep in touch with family.

Is privacy an issue for you when using new technologies?

Yes, privacy is an issue when dealing with technology but I feel that I wouldn't be able to control it. Even though I have my facebook profile on private I'm sure hackers could access anything they wanted whenever they wanted. I think my phone is pretty secure, but how would I even know?

Do you have friends whom you know only from the Internet and have never met in person?

No.

Is this different to people that you know in person?

yes it is, because I only accept 'adds' from people I know and people I want to keep in contact with.

The other side of this might be that you don't use new communication technologies for such trivial things as socialising. Explain why you don't use them. Is it a very conscious choice? Under what circumstances do you think you would consider using them?

I would say that I use communication technology purely for socialising. I also use the Internet and my uni email for uni work but I would say the bulb of my technology use is based on friends and family.

Week Two: Lecture review

I found this lecture very hard to take in. I mean there was a lot of information presented and I found most of it too much. Although the lecture was focusing on the internet, I found the history part of the lecture very boring. I don't know why, but I just couldn't seem to focus on it and wrap my head around it. 

I did find the section on the web interesting, the main thing that stuck in my head after the lecture was the phrase: it is important to understand that the internet is not the same thing as the web. Also the section on cyperspace was interesting but the history part just didn't seem to register with me. 

I hope in the next lecture I will be more 'in-tune' with the topic. 

Week One: Lecture review

So week one lecture one. I really didn't know what to expect when I found out that New Communications Technology was my compulsory subject for this semester. I had a read of the 'course overview' on the website and I basically got the idea that this subject would be teaching me how revolutionary ipods have been and how much facebook is changing the world... I really didn't think there would be much depth to the subject. 

HOWEVER

The first lecture was interesting. Afterwards I really reflected on how fast and how advancing technology/ new media has been over such a short period. When it was all presented to me in the lecture I was able to take in the enormity of the feat that is: technology. 

I later watched the clip: cocaine jesus and loved it! It was so basic and simply. I mean it was just white words flashing onto a black background yet I was held in suspense. I thought it was a great example of the simplicity of new media yet also exhibited the sophistication of it at the same time. 

I came out of the lecture with a new idea of what this subject will involve. I don't think its just about ipods anymore. It will be interesting to see how the lectures progress. 

My First Post

This is the first time I have ‘blogged’ and I am learning to do it in/ at University! I never thought that would happen. I am finding the whole experience interesting. I mean; technology is constantly advancing and leaning to blog and involve myself in the web and Internet as much as possible will only help when when I am finding my feet in a career.
Although I was hesitant when I first saw that New Communications technology was going to be a compulsory subject in Semester Two, I now feel more at ease, as I am able to relate to the subject in a personal way. For example facebook, google and myspace have come up in tute conversation and these sites I use everyday, constantly.

By posting two blogs a week – possibly more, I think it will allow me to fall more and more into the realms of the Internet/ web/ technology. I sometime find myself avoiding problems when it comes to computers and my mobile and palm them off to my dad or friends who seem to have a knack for solving technical problems.

I hope this subject will educate me in the possibilites of techologies and open my eyes a little more to what’s going on, and where this techology is heading in years to come. Because I know, whether I like it or not, techology is and will always be a major aspect in my life.

Alex