Today I finally succumbed to the cold my daughter has been struggling with this week. So I have missed the final lecture and tute. But I noticed that there was no lecture notes or tutorial task so hopefully I have only missed the summation of the course.
Part of our assessment is to write an evaluation blog on the course itself. So This is it.
Not having access to the complete course outline, I was not entirely sure what this course was about. I gathered it would be theory based rather than learning new applications. So I decided to give it a go. I now must proclaim to have thoroughly enjoyed the whole exercise. I found the course information revealing and thought provoking, the group discussion stimulating and the tutorial tasks became something that I looked forward to each day. This is not what I expected from this course.
The course information introduced many issues and perspectives that I had not considered before. As a frequent internet user, and a Googler, I had not really thought about what it meant to have this access. Issues like who sees or records what I do, who controlls what I have access to, who governs it, and who is making money from it.
I found Adam to be easy going and knowledgable. I enjoyed the fact that we could discuss content during the lectures.
I was disappointed that the guest lecturer, Stephen Stockwell, was unable to attend and I would have liked the lecture notes and tutorial tasks posted on the course site earlier enabling me to review the content before the lecture.
I would like to thank Adam for a great course.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Lecture notes Day 9
Interesting to discuss the different ages of the media.
First media - centralised dissemination = 1 source to many receivers
Second media - decentralised interaction = many sources to many receivers
Quote: As Bill Gates stated - the Internet made it possible for an individual to 'publish' to a huge audience (thanks mostly to the web, and initially web pages and html), but increasingly blogs and other mobile technology - phone cameras able to take photos or videos.
Marshall McLuhan believed that it was three media ages - Oral (spoken word) Literate (written word) and Electric (television etc)
Robert K Logan has added to this with the Mimetic age and Interactive / digital age.
So then we were asked the question, will technology provide us with the perfect world? A Utopia so to speak. Some movies have address this particular issue. The Island addresses the fact that humans can or won't accept a perfect world. We are by nature imperfect and although we all work towards perfection, once gained we can not accept it.
Quote from lecture notes: It seems that even in utopian societies (in the film world, at any rate) the peace is disrupted by people who seek to excercise their own human agency and free will.
First media - centralised dissemination = 1 source to many receivers
Second media - decentralised interaction = many sources to many receivers
Quote: As Bill Gates stated - the Internet made it possible for an individual to 'publish' to a huge audience (thanks mostly to the web, and initially web pages and html), but increasingly blogs and other mobile technology - phone cameras able to take photos or videos.
Marshall McLuhan believed that it was three media ages - Oral (spoken word) Literate (written word) and Electric (television etc)
Robert K Logan has added to this with the Mimetic age and Interactive / digital age.
So then we were asked the question, will technology provide us with the perfect world? A Utopia so to speak. Some movies have address this particular issue. The Island addresses the fact that humans can or won't accept a perfect world. We are by nature imperfect and although we all work towards perfection, once gained we can not accept it.
Quote from lecture notes: It seems that even in utopian societies (in the film world, at any rate) the peace is disrupted by people who seek to excercise their own human agency and free will.
Tute Task Day 9
Given all the things we talked about in this course, what do you think the future of the cultural internet might be.. say in the next 10 years?I'm not talking about flying cars or things like that. What would be a 'realistic' future?
Consider such themes as
* censorship* ability to put information and content online, * ability to communicate in new ways (mobile devices, instant messenger, social network sites, etc), * access to media / technology, * social sharing formations - like "folksonomies" (tagging of media), digg, del.ic.ious, * political forces like the google-isation of the world, or the impact of china's economic activity... * impact of education and literacy of younger generations and so on.
What I think the future of the internet might be and what I would like it to be are some what different. I don't think that things are going to change dramatically for the average Joe Bloggs (pun intended). I think we will still have access similar to what we have now. There may be (and possibily should be) some more regulating of the content and use of certain sites. By this I am referring to undesirable sites such as porn or others that may incite violence or prejudice. I think through the power of the people, we will still have access to ART being music, movies, etc. Sharing information through web home pages, blogs etc will continue and may even grow. But for the 'hard users' life on the internet may get more frustrating before it gets easier. I believe the internet should be available to everyone and we should all be able to enter our own content. However As with the invention of the car, we had to draw up laws to ensure we could all enjoy and benefit from it. So we need laws to ensure the enjoyment and full benefit of the internet for all users. But who is going to draw up and govern these laws? If this is a public domain then we the public should have a say. I don't believe that big business (those with money) should be the ones to dictate to us. TV radio etc are run by corporations that dictate the content etc. But we are only receivers and don't contribute content as we do / can on the net.
My vision for the internet of the future is one that is available to all, at realistic costs. (possibly free) The governing body should not have a financial interest in it and should only be the voice of the masses. Any commercial entity (ieGoogle) using the internet for financial gain should also be accountable to the governing body. To overcome the issues of information proprietorship, the producers (IE Musicians) should get online direct. I am sure most people would gladly pay a nominal fee for the right to download and copy music posted by the original artist. There is so much scope for progress, I just hope we are given the opportunity to realise it.
Consider such themes as
* censorship* ability to put information and content online, * ability to communicate in new ways (mobile devices, instant messenger, social network sites, etc), * access to media / technology, * social sharing formations - like "folksonomies" (tagging of media), digg, del.ic.ious, * political forces like the google-isation of the world, or the impact of china's economic activity... * impact of education and literacy of younger generations and so on.
What I think the future of the internet might be and what I would like it to be are some what different. I don't think that things are going to change dramatically for the average Joe Bloggs (pun intended). I think we will still have access similar to what we have now. There may be (and possibily should be) some more regulating of the content and use of certain sites. By this I am referring to undesirable sites such as porn or others that may incite violence or prejudice. I think through the power of the people, we will still have access to ART being music, movies, etc. Sharing information through web home pages, blogs etc will continue and may even grow. But for the 'hard users' life on the internet may get more frustrating before it gets easier. I believe the internet should be available to everyone and we should all be able to enter our own content. However As with the invention of the car, we had to draw up laws to ensure we could all enjoy and benefit from it. So we need laws to ensure the enjoyment and full benefit of the internet for all users. But who is going to draw up and govern these laws? If this is a public domain then we the public should have a say. I don't believe that big business (those with money) should be the ones to dictate to us. TV radio etc are run by corporations that dictate the content etc. But we are only receivers and don't contribute content as we do / can on the net.
My vision for the internet of the future is one that is available to all, at realistic costs. (possibly free) The governing body should not have a financial interest in it and should only be the voice of the masses. Any commercial entity (ieGoogle) using the internet for financial gain should also be accountable to the governing body. To overcome the issues of information proprietorship, the producers (IE Musicians) should get online direct. I am sure most people would gladly pay a nominal fee for the right to download and copy music posted by the original artist. There is so much scope for progress, I just hope we are given the opportunity to realise it.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tutorial task for day 8
TASK: Given the conventional wisdom that traditional media are still the dominant form for getting "news" out to the world, do you think the internet will effect the audience for those old media?Check out the local IndyMedia website. What kind of news is there, and do you think a website like that has a place in your life?Do you think the internet is (was?) an effective tool for politicians to reach out to their intended audience?What do you think about blogs as a way for people to get information out? What about their role as political commentary?
Attempt to answer: This topic was touched on earlier in the course and it was interesting to hear the varying opinions. I personally now have far greater exposure to 'news' because I access a computer every day and usually access news sites, as opposed to earlier days when I would have to buy a paper or watch the new broadcast on TV. I rarely bought a paper, one because I didn't always have access to a shop, two I didn't always have the time to sit and read a paper (and if I paid for it I would want to read the whole thing) and three because I usually feel guilty when I think of how many trees I am reading. But there were other classmates who like to hold the paper and take the time to read it. This again comes back to choice. But given our question, I think it is not just the Interent that will effect the audience, but an awareness of our environment combined with access to alternative sources of this information (news) that will make the difference. I hope so anyway.
The Indymedia site offers hope. If more local associations / news organisations and their audience had easy access to the internet we could eliminate the need for a huge amount of the worlds paper media. This service does not have to be free either. People pay for their papers now, so why wouldn't the pay to recieve them electronically. Subscription would help avoid spam etc, and people can still have their choice of what they are exposed to.
I don't think that the current level of internet use allows it to be an effective tool for politicians. But if the internet community was allowed to grow to include all levels of socio-economics then yes it would be an effective tool. But this would also allow it to be an effective tool for education, economics, commerce and community. We already hear statements like 'the internet has made the world smaller' ' has brought the world together'. Maybe we need to ensure that this wonderful 'tool' is for all.
In regards to blogs. At present I believe they are useful for a small amount of people to share information or to get exposure. But I don't think it is far reaching enough to have a great deal of effect on a world scale. However, this could and possibily should change. If we do embrace the internet as a world media source and make it available to the masses through realistic pricing of hardware and free or cheaper software, then blogs are a wonderful way for the everyday person to share their thoughts, ideas creations and their worlds.
Attempt to answer: This topic was touched on earlier in the course and it was interesting to hear the varying opinions. I personally now have far greater exposure to 'news' because I access a computer every day and usually access news sites, as opposed to earlier days when I would have to buy a paper or watch the new broadcast on TV. I rarely bought a paper, one because I didn't always have access to a shop, two I didn't always have the time to sit and read a paper (and if I paid for it I would want to read the whole thing) and three because I usually feel guilty when I think of how many trees I am reading. But there were other classmates who like to hold the paper and take the time to read it. This again comes back to choice. But given our question, I think it is not just the Interent that will effect the audience, but an awareness of our environment combined with access to alternative sources of this information (news) that will make the difference. I hope so anyway.
The Indymedia site offers hope. If more local associations / news organisations and their audience had easy access to the internet we could eliminate the need for a huge amount of the worlds paper media. This service does not have to be free either. People pay for their papers now, so why wouldn't the pay to recieve them electronically. Subscription would help avoid spam etc, and people can still have their choice of what they are exposed to.
I don't think that the current level of internet use allows it to be an effective tool for politicians. But if the internet community was allowed to grow to include all levels of socio-economics then yes it would be an effective tool. But this would also allow it to be an effective tool for education, economics, commerce and community. We already hear statements like 'the internet has made the world smaller' ' has brought the world together'. Maybe we need to ensure that this wonderful 'tool' is for all.
In regards to blogs. At present I believe they are useful for a small amount of people to share information or to get exposure. But I don't think it is far reaching enough to have a great deal of effect on a world scale. However, this could and possibily should change. If we do embrace the internet as a world media source and make it available to the masses through realistic pricing of hardware and free or cheaper software, then blogs are a wonderful way for the everyday person to share their thoughts, ideas creations and their worlds.
Day 8 lecture notes
Today we are talking about politics. that is politics with out the capital P. Politics refers to people to people. We discussed the digital divide - the have and the have not's - and I will come back to this later.
Then there was the topic of encryption. Is it an option in a democratic internet society. Consider this: to find the terrorists / porn just follow the encrypted lines. If we all used encryption, what then?
Public sphere: once upon a time we would all gather in the town square and share / exchange information. Here we could voice our thoughts and opinions and be heard. And this was also true of the Internet until privatisation. It is taking away our public sphere.
Now another thought. If the Internet is a world spanning thing how does that relate to our world of nations? Is it a nation unto itself? I think I would rather consider it a place where all nations are equal, where all people can exist? together and share their knowledge for the good of all. But for this to work I believe that we also need rules or controls. If it was open slather then what a wonderful tool for those that want to abuse it. I don't think the Internet should be exempt from some form of law or control. The issue then raised is of democracy. But, if we consider the Internet a world spanning thing and the world is not united under democracy then can the Internet be a democracy? I believe it should and that we as it's citizens should have a right to explore the laws that govern it, question them, discuss them, exchange information to enable us to make informed decisions, to amend or change the laws to fit with today's society. This is a process that needs to continue as society continues.
A youtube film was shown today that I suppose expresses these ideas with a bit more gusto. The speaker, Cory Doctorow is an unemployed writer (his words) but seems to have a great understanding of the effect the internet and subsequent controlling bodies has had on his country, the USA.
Two other things mentioned by Cory are:
a movie called 'This film is not yet rated'
an album called the Grey Album. You can get more info from this link http://www.illegal-art.org/audio/grey.html
Then there was the topic of encryption. Is it an option in a democratic internet society. Consider this: to find the terrorists / porn just follow the encrypted lines. If we all used encryption, what then?
Public sphere: once upon a time we would all gather in the town square and share / exchange information. Here we could voice our thoughts and opinions and be heard. And this was also true of the Internet until privatisation. It is taking away our public sphere.
Now another thought. If the Internet is a world spanning thing how does that relate to our world of nations? Is it a nation unto itself? I think I would rather consider it a place where all nations are equal, where all people can exist? together and share their knowledge for the good of all. But for this to work I believe that we also need rules or controls. If it was open slather then what a wonderful tool for those that want to abuse it. I don't think the Internet should be exempt from some form of law or control. The issue then raised is of democracy. But, if we consider the Internet a world spanning thing and the world is not united under democracy then can the Internet be a democracy? I believe it should and that we as it's citizens should have a right to explore the laws that govern it, question them, discuss them, exchange information to enable us to make informed decisions, to amend or change the laws to fit with today's society. This is a process that needs to continue as society continues.
A youtube film was shown today that I suppose expresses these ideas with a bit more gusto. The speaker, Cory Doctorow is an unemployed writer (his words) but seems to have a great understanding of the effect the internet and subsequent controlling bodies has had on his country, the USA.
Two other things mentioned by Cory are:
a movie called 'This film is not yet rated'
an album called the Grey Album. You can get more info from this link http://www.illegal-art.org/audio/grey.html
Monday, November 26, 2007
Day 7 lecture - Electronic Music
Todays lecture was to be on Digital Creativity, net.art and electronic Literature. But our guest lecturer was not available. Did this matter? Nope. We had a very interesting lecture on Electronic music. What is electronic music? Is it the production. Is it the delivery? I personally think it refers to the production or electronic tools used to make the 'music or sound'. In our technological age all music we hear other than live (to a degree) is is basically electronically delivered. But if we focus on how the music is produced or made then we can find three different catergories or classifications.
1. Tradition instruments played by hand, mouth etc. Including strings, wind instruments etc.
2. Electronically produced music. Made on computers from pure sound.
3. Mixed music. Original soundtracks etc mixed together or with electronic sounds to create a new sound.
It is the technology that we have today that enables us to create these different styles. It gives us the choice to create and listen to the style/s that we like.
On the video we watched, one guy commented that 'all music comes from the 70's or before. Over the last 20 or so years we have been creating music from loops and sample etc from the era'. I am not sure that this is correct as I have heard alot of original music during the last 2-3 decades. But I have also heard alot of old songs being re-hashed, re-mixed or just re-done. Some are great some are not.
In regards to pure 'electronic' music as per my previous definition, I have never really liked the stuff that I have been exposed to. Techno is my least favourite genre as is most of the music on the video from the lecture (Modulations). I have discussed this with many different people to work out why, and don't really have many answers. But interestingly, I also didn't like disco which was the BIG THING during my teens. One thing I have identified is the constant beat that seems to be prevelent in all this music. A bit like a heart beat. Many people that I have spoken to say it is this beat that they like and refer to African music. Strangely I love African music but feel very uncomfortable with our new stuff.
But at the end of the day my position is that we now have more styles of music than we ever had before and we now have a choice of what we create and listen to. This is a good thing regardless of whether we like it all or not.
1. Tradition instruments played by hand, mouth etc. Including strings, wind instruments etc.
2. Electronically produced music. Made on computers from pure sound.
3. Mixed music. Original soundtracks etc mixed together or with electronic sounds to create a new sound.
It is the technology that we have today that enables us to create these different styles. It gives us the choice to create and listen to the style/s that we like.
On the video we watched, one guy commented that 'all music comes from the 70's or before. Over the last 20 or so years we have been creating music from loops and sample etc from the era'. I am not sure that this is correct as I have heard alot of original music during the last 2-3 decades. But I have also heard alot of old songs being re-hashed, re-mixed or just re-done. Some are great some are not.
In regards to pure 'electronic' music as per my previous definition, I have never really liked the stuff that I have been exposed to. Techno is my least favourite genre as is most of the music on the video from the lecture (Modulations). I have discussed this with many different people to work out why, and don't really have many answers. But interestingly, I also didn't like disco which was the BIG THING during my teens. One thing I have identified is the constant beat that seems to be prevelent in all this music. A bit like a heart beat. Many people that I have spoken to say it is this beat that they like and refer to African music. Strangely I love African music but feel very uncomfortable with our new stuff.
But at the end of the day my position is that we now have more styles of music than we ever had before and we now have a choice of what we create and listen to. This is a good thing regardless of whether we like it all or not.
Day 6 lecture run-down
We have a choice! That was the swan song for today.
Microsoft started the process of proprietory software, but Richard Stallman is giving it back to the masses. Basically this topic deals with the fact that we do not have to be tied to the popular operating systems and programs as dictated by Microsoft etc. GNU (Gnu's not Unix) is offering 'free' software that is compatible to other OS's and has the basic functionality that we are all used to. Linux is available and more surprisingly is fully customizable. This is what really got my interest. Having run my own business for many years, and then training and setting up business on both MYOB and QuickBooks I really understand the value of customizable software.
But the deal is that if you do make changes and enhancements then you must share with other and offer the new stuff for free. I think this is really a fair deal.
Some relevant comments:
It is not about the money, it is about the choice.
Free software is a matter of liberty not price.
Not free beer, free speech.
Next topic was Creative Commons. This confirms most of what I was referrinmg to when discussing access to music online. Simply put, Creative Commons relates to any content that you can create. Free content. It allows you to set the level of control you have over it. Public domain is where all the content is free. (limited these days) Copyright is where the creator owns it all. And Creative Commons is the in between. The creator can opt to allow full access to their work, limit access to public not commercial, or put full copyright on it.
We heard from some interesting people including Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons.
A challenge was issued to our class to investigate some alternative OS's and browsers like Mozilla Firefox. So that's my task for the next week.
Microsoft started the process of proprietory software, but Richard Stallman is giving it back to the masses. Basically this topic deals with the fact that we do not have to be tied to the popular operating systems and programs as dictated by Microsoft etc. GNU (Gnu's not Unix) is offering 'free' software that is compatible to other OS's and has the basic functionality that we are all used to. Linux is available and more surprisingly is fully customizable. This is what really got my interest. Having run my own business for many years, and then training and setting up business on both MYOB and QuickBooks I really understand the value of customizable software.
But the deal is that if you do make changes and enhancements then you must share with other and offer the new stuff for free. I think this is really a fair deal.
Some relevant comments:
It is not about the money, it is about the choice.
Free software is a matter of liberty not price.
Not free beer, free speech.
Next topic was Creative Commons. This confirms most of what I was referrinmg to when discussing access to music online. Simply put, Creative Commons relates to any content that you can create. Free content. It allows you to set the level of control you have over it. Public domain is where all the content is free. (limited these days) Copyright is where the creator owns it all. And Creative Commons is the in between. The creator can opt to allow full access to their work, limit access to public not commercial, or put full copyright on it.
We heard from some interesting people including Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons.
A challenge was issued to our class to investigate some alternative OS's and browsers like Mozilla Firefox. So that's my task for the next week.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
High-tech
High-tech: This google image was spherized and fragment pixelated in photoshop. High-tech is a bit like this image for those that aren't in the know.Friends
Friends: I found this photo on google and thought it was beautiful as it orignally was. But using the photoshop accented edges has given the picture a blended look. Friendships should be blended.News
News: After the weekend I thought this photo (retrieved from google) needed to be adjusted. So now I think it represents the current news.
Games
Games:
I found this picture on google images. I stretched the boys faces in photoshop. To me they look like they are really 'into' the game. Literally!
Celebrity
Celebrity:
I chose this photo from google to represent celebrity. The caption on the original photo said world's ugliest celebrity so I didn't think I could make it any worst.
Successful
Successful: This photo was taken with my mobile phone. My youngest daughter competed in her schools cross country and won her own age race as well as third place in the next age race. She was the only one to win two places. Now that's success.
Summer
Summer: This photo was taken of my eldest daughter during her summer trip to Germany. Yep I said SUMMER trip. The photo was taken with her canon digital camera and emailed back to us. I then saved it to my USB key and have now used photoshop to add the comment. This was not on the original photo (surprisingly).Saturday, November 24, 2007
Day 5 lecture notes - video games and all that stuff
Today's lecture covered issues such as the future of the music industry, ownership of data and information online and our security of identity online.
Before this course I was aware that there are different formats of music files etc. But I have never paid that much attention to them as my husband has taken on the task of controlling all our music. We now have our whole collection saved on a portable drive and the kids load their MP3's as they please. My husband has an MP3 with huge capacity that he uses in the car through the cars own system. (no more CD's loose around the floor) At home our music is accessed through a media player and the entertainment system. Hope that is technical enough.
Anyway back to the course notes. The issue of illegal downloads etc raised some interesting points, like percentages of profit from the sale of CD's etc. The media hype up the loses to the musicians when people 'steal' on the internet. Yet they make the smallest percentage of profit and it is the record companies etc that that lose more. So maybe the muso's need to get technical and sell their own stuff directly to their fans via the internet. The cost would be greatly reduced for the fans and the muso's would probably make more money too. Hmmm food for thought.
We also touched on how to access without leaving your fingerprints everywhere. This is not something that I worry about just yet as although I use the internet substanially for research I am not doing business on there. This might be something I will look at later.
Video Games: Adams comment on his own experience of 'persistence of effect' was interesting. Also the comment in regards to the littel boy who wanted Dad to drive faster and bump into other cars 'just like in Mario Brothers' is a bit scary. I suppose this relates back to your own level of self-awareness. As with Adam, he became aware of his actions rather quickly. However, would this be the same for a less educated, less cognitively able person? I seem to be coming up with more questions than answers in this course!
Some of the benifits that I see in video games are the use of creativity in producing the graphics etc to begin with, the critical thinking needed in some of the tactical / strategic games and the fine motor skills in using the mouse, keyboard and joysticks etc. As a teacher's aid for special needs kids, I often use video games (educationally based) as a reward for effort etc. They kids have to use reading and comprehension skill to understand the rules and follow the instructions. They need to use fine motor skills to manipulate and navigate around the screen. A in some of the games the have to use critical thinking to make the right choices to help them win. We also use games that are not competing against other player, but rather are focussed on improving your own score, in other words working on improving their own skills.
The different aspects of the study into video games made sense.
Narratology being the study of the storylines behind the game, whether the stories are linear or not and the text or 'semiotics'.
Ludology studies the game play elements, deeming the story as incidental. (some games don't have a story). Questions raised here were 'if you don't need to know the story to play the game then is the story important? Why do we have it?'
Some new studies are looking into the hardware, platforms, consoles etc. They are also looking into the historical aspects, such as how chess ( a traditional games) has evolved to be played either against the computer or against other player around the world.
Good stuff!
Before this course I was aware that there are different formats of music files etc. But I have never paid that much attention to them as my husband has taken on the task of controlling all our music. We now have our whole collection saved on a portable drive and the kids load their MP3's as they please. My husband has an MP3 with huge capacity that he uses in the car through the cars own system. (no more CD's loose around the floor) At home our music is accessed through a media player and the entertainment system. Hope that is technical enough.
Anyway back to the course notes. The issue of illegal downloads etc raised some interesting points, like percentages of profit from the sale of CD's etc. The media hype up the loses to the musicians when people 'steal' on the internet. Yet they make the smallest percentage of profit and it is the record companies etc that that lose more. So maybe the muso's need to get technical and sell their own stuff directly to their fans via the internet. The cost would be greatly reduced for the fans and the muso's would probably make more money too. Hmmm food for thought.
We also touched on how to access without leaving your fingerprints everywhere. This is not something that I worry about just yet as although I use the internet substanially for research I am not doing business on there. This might be something I will look at later.
Video Games: Adams comment on his own experience of 'persistence of effect' was interesting. Also the comment in regards to the littel boy who wanted Dad to drive faster and bump into other cars 'just like in Mario Brothers' is a bit scary. I suppose this relates back to your own level of self-awareness. As with Adam, he became aware of his actions rather quickly. However, would this be the same for a less educated, less cognitively able person? I seem to be coming up with more questions than answers in this course!
Some of the benifits that I see in video games are the use of creativity in producing the graphics etc to begin with, the critical thinking needed in some of the tactical / strategic games and the fine motor skills in using the mouse, keyboard and joysticks etc. As a teacher's aid for special needs kids, I often use video games (educationally based) as a reward for effort etc. They kids have to use reading and comprehension skill to understand the rules and follow the instructions. They need to use fine motor skills to manipulate and navigate around the screen. A in some of the games the have to use critical thinking to make the right choices to help them win. We also use games that are not competing against other player, but rather are focussed on improving your own score, in other words working on improving their own skills.
The different aspects of the study into video games made sense.
Narratology being the study of the storylines behind the game, whether the stories are linear or not and the text or 'semiotics'.
Ludology studies the game play elements, deeming the story as incidental. (some games don't have a story). Questions raised here were 'if you don't need to know the story to play the game then is the story important? Why do we have it?'
Some new studies are looking into the hardware, platforms, consoles etc. They are also looking into the historical aspects, such as how chess ( a traditional games) has evolved to be played either against the computer or against other player around the world.
Good stuff!
News
NEWS: I chose this picture for news to contrast with this course. It is all about digital access and here we have half a dozen trees chopped down in order for people to get the news. This picture came from a google search for images of 'news'. "Google" you say with disgust. But I had seen this picture on a previous visit and really wanted to use it. That's my excuse!
Unconventional
Unconventional: This bridge is weird to say the least. I didn't take this photo and actually don't know where this bridge is. But I consider it rather unconventional. If anyone does know where this bridge is located, please let me know.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
High-tech
High-tech:
I don't really consider this really high-tech but it was as good as I could do here and now. Might find something better later.
Uni Life
Uni Life:A photo of this class taken on my Nokia mobile phone. I downloaded it onto the desktop.
Friends
Friends:
This is a photo taken of my youngest daughter at school (she is in red) sitting with her classmates. They have just been awarded their place ribbons for the cross-country. Maddi won her age race and came third in the next age group.
Summer
Summer: This photo was taken with my Nokia mobile phone at Sea World last summer. We were sitting back in the crowd and I was amazed how good the photo came out.
This second photo is of my youngest daughter Maddy. This was her first ride on the Corkscrew at Seaworld. I took this photo with my phone while sitting strapped in beside her. Not bad!!
What my blogger friend's have to say
Hey Ben has some most insightful things to say about todays topic, some of which I was going to mention until I got carried away with my soap box. Cartesian's Dualism is something we learnt about in 1002PSY and this lead to a very brief discussion on transplants. If we were able to transplant the brain, where would the person be, the body or the brain? Hmmmm...
Hayley's comment on the site regarding schizophrenia raised an issue I hadn't thought about. She is concerned that it could be very dangerous in the wrong hands ie other schizophrenic patients, and I agree. But I still think it could be a great tool in educating those that treat these patients.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
A Virtual Tour
Today we went on a field trip to activeworld, a 3D space where users can interact with each other, have conversations and boogie. I tried it out got bored and left. Ooops! should I be saying that? Anyway, I have never had the slightest bit of interest in even check out this sites let alone the need to find others through this medium. But I have done it now and, well, haven't changed my mind about it's worth to me. Hey if it tickles you then go for it. Have a look and make up your own mind. http://www.activeworlds.com/
I was interest and, I supposed, amazed at what 4 corners reported about second life. My mind boggles at the reasons people would have for living so much of their lives in a computer generated world. To pay money for clothing, houses, and even body parts that are just digital graphics is astonishing to say the least. I think some of these people just need a hug from a living breathing warm blooded human being. Ooops there I go again. But seriously people are making real money from this and as was eluded to people are getting hurt, maybe not physically but certainly emotionally. And where does the law come into it? I don't think there are any easy answers to that one.
Well my soap box is getting squashed from all the baggage that I have brought onto it today so I think I will call it a day.
'til next time...
Lee
I was interest and, I supposed, amazed at what 4 corners reported about second life. My mind boggles at the reasons people would have for living so much of their lives in a computer generated world. To pay money for clothing, houses, and even body parts that are just digital graphics is astonishing to say the least. I think some of these people just need a hug from a living breathing warm blooded human being. Ooops there I go again. But seriously people are making real money from this and as was eluded to people are getting hurt, maybe not physically but certainly emotionally. And where does the law come into it? I don't think there are any easy answers to that one.
Well my soap box is getting squashed from all the baggage that I have brought onto it today so I think I will call it a day.
'til next time...
Lee
Lecture for Day 4 - Virtual Worlds
What a great topic, so controversial. The Matrix opened up many different lines of conversation. Not sure that this is what Adam had in mind for us today, but.......
So much of today's conversational content was reminiscent of my earlier Psych lectures. What we see is not necessarily what is in front of us or what the person beside us is seeing. Our perception is a combination of the actual/physical item and our experiences of the past, or how we interpret the item.
But onto another issue raised in the youtube clip was our rights to privacy or invasion of liberties. We developed motor vehicles and then had to draw up rules and laws to modulate the use of them. So now we have developed the internet and now we need to draw up rules and laws to regulate the use of it. I don't have a problem with this at all. What I do object to is governments enforcing their laws or rules without first advising the populace. A sad reality is that our 'REAL' world is inhabited by bad people and as a society we need to maybe give up some of our 'GOD GIVEN RIGHTS' in order for us to deal with these bad people. These are my own thoughts and opinions and I certainly don't expect everyone to conform to my ways of thinking, but I do sometimes feel that we take the issue of rights much too far. So I think I had better stop now before I get on my soap box!
Now a comment made by our esteemed Adam really resonated with me. To quote "is there a universal truth? Do we all see the same world?" This is great food for thought and I don't think we as humans can ever answer this. But Deleuze's explanation was fascinating. to give a brief run down on my understand:
There exists a real world. Then there is potential, or what may happen. But we are in the actual world at this precise moment, oops now that moment is now a past memory. Now the virtual world is what has happened in the past (memories) plus what can happen in the future (potential) and the way in which we think about this. so virtual as opposed to actual. Get it? Hmmmmm......
I love this stuff. It keeps me thinking and makes the actual (here and now) much more interesting because is it really this or could it be that?
Yours in past, present, virtual, actual and potential - Lee
Oh me again, minus soap box. I just remembered something from the lecture that I wanted to comment on. The film clip introduced one use that I can see real value in. I didn't get the doctors name, but to use this technology to show students a day in the life of a patient with a psychological disorder, has merit. Schizophrenia is a serious condition, but one that is difficult to understand from a layman's point of view. So to be able to walk in the shoes of a patient and experience what they have to deal with could be a wonderful tool in teaching doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists and giving them much greater understanding and insight.
Well bye again.
Lee
So much of today's conversational content was reminiscent of my earlier Psych lectures. What we see is not necessarily what is in front of us or what the person beside us is seeing. Our perception is a combination of the actual/physical item and our experiences of the past, or how we interpret the item.
But onto another issue raised in the youtube clip was our rights to privacy or invasion of liberties. We developed motor vehicles and then had to draw up rules and laws to modulate the use of them. So now we have developed the internet and now we need to draw up rules and laws to regulate the use of it. I don't have a problem with this at all. What I do object to is governments enforcing their laws or rules without first advising the populace. A sad reality is that our 'REAL' world is inhabited by bad people and as a society we need to maybe give up some of our 'GOD GIVEN RIGHTS' in order for us to deal with these bad people. These are my own thoughts and opinions and I certainly don't expect everyone to conform to my ways of thinking, but I do sometimes feel that we take the issue of rights much too far. So I think I had better stop now before I get on my soap box!
Now a comment made by our esteemed Adam really resonated with me. To quote "is there a universal truth? Do we all see the same world?" This is great food for thought and I don't think we as humans can ever answer this. But Deleuze's explanation was fascinating. to give a brief run down on my understand:
There exists a real world. Then there is potential, or what may happen. But we are in the actual world at this precise moment, oops now that moment is now a past memory. Now the virtual world is what has happened in the past (memories) plus what can happen in the future (potential) and the way in which we think about this. so virtual as opposed to actual. Get it? Hmmmmm......
I love this stuff. It keeps me thinking and makes the actual (here and now) much more interesting because is it really this or could it be that?
Yours in past, present, virtual, actual and potential - Lee
Oh me again, minus soap box. I just remembered something from the lecture that I wanted to comment on. The film clip introduced one use that I can see real value in. I didn't get the doctors name, but to use this technology to show students a day in the life of a patient with a psychological disorder, has merit. Schizophrenia is a serious condition, but one that is difficult to understand from a layman's point of view. So to be able to walk in the shoes of a patient and experience what they have to deal with could be a wonderful tool in teaching doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists and giving them much greater understanding and insight.
Well bye again.
Lee
My New Blogger Friend's
I have been visiting the blogs of our class mates listed on the blogs of my blogger friend's. Does that make any sense to anyone?
Anyway, I have added blogspots to my list and I hope nobody minds. I wanted to visit blogs of people that have blogged before. My original blogger firend's are all new at it as I am myself.
So if I have visited your blog and left a comment, please feel free to do the same on mine. I welcome your comments.
If I haven't yet found you, and don't mind if I visit, please leave a comment on my blog and let me know your blog address.
Cheers and see you later today - Lee
Anyway, I have added blogspots to my list and I hope nobody minds. I wanted to visit blogs of people that have blogged before. My original blogger firend's are all new at it as I am myself.
So if I have visited your blog and left a comment, please feel free to do the same on mine. I welcome your comments.
If I haven't yet found you, and don't mind if I visit, please leave a comment on my blog and let me know your blog address.
Cheers and see you later today - Lee
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Day three's tutorial task
My Task:
Answer these questions without using wikipedia or google. Try some different search engine sources. Write a post in your blog with the answers, and include the source of the information.
How do you know that the place you got the answer is accurate? For many of the questions, I can't verify the information as I don't have much information on the source. However, it helps to check if it has been site, if the article has a listed author, if the site has full contact details and any offical affiliations. I would normally use academic journals or sites that have been academically cited. Usually I access these through databases etc.
1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus? Onel de Guzman from Manila. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/11/BU193239.DTL&type=printable found through AltaVista
2. Who invented the paper clip? 1899 Johan Vaaler, a Norwegian inventor.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpaperclip.htm found on Icerocket.com
3. How did the Ebola virus get its name? Ebola virus was named after the river, Ebola River, in northwest DRC (Congo) where it was first observed. http://www.answers.com/topic/ebola found through answers.com
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. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids/facts.php found through Yahoo.com
5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte? 1073741824KB = 1 terabyte http://www.whatsabyte.com/ found on ask.com
6. Who is the creator of email? 1966 Bob Taylor, Texan working at ARPANET. http://www.olografix.org/gubi/estate/libri/wizards/email.html found through hotbot.
7. What is unique about the political organisation of the Kingdom of Nri? Although advanced compared to their neighbours thru the discovery of bronze, the Nri believed in peace, strong moral character and leadership. http://www.kwenu.com/publications/anunobi/leadership_crises3.htm found through hotbot
8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of australia directly, what is the most efficient way? There is an online contact form that you can complete at the address listed below. However, if sending hard copies ie photos etc or super sensitive stuff you can use the following mail address:
The Hon John Howard MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm found through alltheweb.com
9. Which Brisbane punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School of Arts) a member of? He plays keyboard for the Black Assassins Brisbane's Ugliest Band( http://blackassassins.net/ )
http://live-wirez.gu.edu.au/staff/stephen/ found through Altavista
10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words? Web 2.0 refers to an enhancement of the WWW to allow user interaction. The use of platforms enables users to upload their own stuff as well as download for other peoples sites. The has seem the emergence of sites such as eBay, wikipedia and blogging where users actually interact this the information on the sites. IE on Wikipedia users can post information about topics and others can then add to this, either verifying or discrediting the information. On eBay users can make bids and/or purchases and on users are now able to make comments on many sites in regards to the information there ie news sites.
Answer these questions without using wikipedia or google. Try some different search engine sources. Write a post in your blog with the answers, and include the source of the information.
How do you know that the place you got the answer is accurate? For many of the questions, I can't verify the information as I don't have much information on the source. However, it helps to check if it has been site, if the article has a listed author, if the site has full contact details and any offical affiliations. I would normally use academic journals or sites that have been academically cited. Usually I access these through databases etc.
1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus? Onel de Guzman from Manila. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/11/BU193239.DTL&type=printable found through AltaVista
2. Who invented the paper clip? 1899 Johan Vaaler, a Norwegian inventor.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpaperclip.htm found on Icerocket.com
3. How did the Ebola virus get its name? Ebola virus was named after the river, Ebola River, in northwest DRC (Congo) where it was first observed. http://www.answers.com/topic/ebola found through answers.com
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. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids/facts.php found through Yahoo.com
5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte? 1073741824KB = 1 terabyte http://www.whatsabyte.com/ found on ask.com
6. Who is the creator of email? 1966 Bob Taylor, Texan working at ARPANET. http://www.olografix.org/gubi/estate/libri/wizards/email.html found through hotbot.
7. What is unique about the political organisation of the Kingdom of Nri? Although advanced compared to their neighbours thru the discovery of bronze, the Nri believed in peace, strong moral character and leadership. http://www.kwenu.com/publications/anunobi/leadership_crises3.htm found through hotbot
8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of australia directly, what is the most efficient way? There is an online contact form that you can complete at the address listed below. However, if sending hard copies ie photos etc or super sensitive stuff you can use the following mail address:
The Hon John Howard MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm found through alltheweb.com
9. Which Brisbane punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School of Arts) a member of? He plays keyboard for the Black Assassins Brisbane's Ugliest Band( http://blackassassins.net/ )
http://live-wirez.gu.edu.au/staff/stephen/ found through Altavista
10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words? Web 2.0 refers to an enhancement of the WWW to allow user interaction. The use of platforms enables users to upload their own stuff as well as download for other peoples sites. The has seem the emergence of sites such as eBay, wikipedia and blogging where users actually interact this the information on the sites. IE on Wikipedia users can post information about topics and others can then add to this, either verifying or discrediting the information. On eBay users can make bids and/or purchases and on users are now able to make comments on many sites in regards to the information there ie news sites.
Defining Media
Is that with a capital M?
I have used the word media for a couple different purposes and today I had to question myself. In my book, The Media refers to the whole industry. Newspapers, TV, radio or online, anyone that seeks out information and reports it to the world is 'The Media'. And thinking on it now, it also refers to the medium that these people use to send these reports. The physical papers, TV & radio waves etc are the media.
So I guess I have used both definitions of the word 'media' as referred to in the lecture.I like the quote from McKenzie Wark "they are the conduit (Vector) that allows some other process to happen.
Looking at the history of Media studies was interesting. I kept equating it back to what I have learnt in Psychology over this year. We have looked at the different perspectives and how they had come about.
As with Psych, studies in media started with vague ideas based on suppositon and theories. Someone comes up with an idea ie: Bullet Theory, and then everyone jumps on the bandwagon until some bright spark finds a flaw and starts to pull it all apart. This then leads to the next big thing and so the trend goes.....
But I guess this is how we humans learn! We theorize, we test, we conclude and then we move on.
Baudrillard has caught my attention though. From the first time (or perhaps before) I saw the Matrix I have questioned the possibility of reality. Back to psych; we learnt that what we see is actually an interpretation of the image that is processed through the eye. What I see in front of me may not be the same as what you would see when looking at the exact same spot. Hmmmmm... I don't go for all the conspiracy theories, but I don't just discount them either. I like to explore all possibilities before coming to any conclusions.
So in all I think today's lecture has given me much on which to ponder. Hmmmmm...
Happy pondering.
Lee
I have used the word media for a couple different purposes and today I had to question myself. In my book, The Media refers to the whole industry. Newspapers, TV, radio or online, anyone that seeks out information and reports it to the world is 'The Media'. And thinking on it now, it also refers to the medium that these people use to send these reports. The physical papers, TV & radio waves etc are the media.
So I guess I have used both definitions of the word 'media' as referred to in the lecture.I like the quote from McKenzie Wark "they are the conduit (Vector) that allows some other process to happen.
Looking at the history of Media studies was interesting. I kept equating it back to what I have learnt in Psychology over this year. We have looked at the different perspectives and how they had come about.
As with Psych, studies in media started with vague ideas based on suppositon and theories. Someone comes up with an idea ie: Bullet Theory, and then everyone jumps on the bandwagon until some bright spark finds a flaw and starts to pull it all apart. This then leads to the next big thing and so the trend goes.....
But I guess this is how we humans learn! We theorize, we test, we conclude and then we move on.
Baudrillard has caught my attention though. From the first time (or perhaps before) I saw the Matrix I have questioned the possibility of reality. Back to psych; we learnt that what we see is actually an interpretation of the image that is processed through the eye. What I see in front of me may not be the same as what you would see when looking at the exact same spot. Hmmmmm... I don't go for all the conspiracy theories, but I don't just discount them either. I like to explore all possibilities before coming to any conclusions.
So in all I think today's lecture has given me much on which to ponder. Hmmmmm...
Happy pondering.
Lee
Here's looking at you
So the task for today is to setup a blog list of my blog friends (great language this!) and see what they have been up to. So far I have met a great lady named Kristie, a helpful guy named Ben and re-connected with an old mate named Sue with whom I have attended psych lectures.
So what have they learnt or connected with from our first two lectures?
Ben seems to be a bit of a tech-head, sounds like my husband. I didn't understand anything he said in his first post, but then again I have never understood anything my husband has said about his babies (computers that is). His bit about his use of communication technology is something that I can relate to. Although I am not that reliant on my mobile, I really don't like to be too far away from it. My kids insist on texting me rather than voice calling even though voice calls between our phones are free whereas texts are not.
Kristie raises issues that I haven't yet touched on. Security of identity and personal information is one of the reasons that I don't 'play' on the net. Then in regards to time for social browsing, I don't have it, but I also don't feel that I need it. There are plenty of 'real' people out there.
Trekker Sue brought back some long suppressed images of big old machines that I was forced to learn while working in the UK. Can't remember much about them now but I am sure it must be fascinating to look back over the development of communication technology from personal experience. Hey, and my husband is a trekkie too.
I will be interested to see what other insights these clever people will bring forward over the next two weeks.
Cheers for now...
Lee
So what have they learnt or connected with from our first two lectures?
Ben seems to be a bit of a tech-head, sounds like my husband. I didn't understand anything he said in his first post, but then again I have never understood anything my husband has said about his babies (computers that is). His bit about his use of communication technology is something that I can relate to. Although I am not that reliant on my mobile, I really don't like to be too far away from it. My kids insist on texting me rather than voice calling even though voice calls between our phones are free whereas texts are not.
Kristie raises issues that I haven't yet touched on. Security of identity and personal information is one of the reasons that I don't 'play' on the net. Then in regards to time for social browsing, I don't have it, but I also don't feel that I need it. There are plenty of 'real' people out there.
Trekker Sue brought back some long suppressed images of big old machines that I was forced to learn while working in the UK. Can't remember much about them now but I am sure it must be fascinating to look back over the development of communication technology from personal experience. Hey, and my husband is a trekkie too.
I will be interested to see what other insights these clever people will bring forward over the next two weeks.
Cheers for now...
Lee
Monday, November 19, 2007
A trip down Memory Lane
Today's lecture was on the history of the computer and the internet. Having attended a number of IT courses, I have heard most of this before. But I am always on the lookout for what I don't know. I was interested to get a little more detail on Bill Gates vs the two Steves. I have watched, with interest, the developements of both the Mac and PC. To be honest, I have never used a Mac. My son, Brendon, is now in year 9 and has a passion for graphics and design. He also has an incredibly mathematical mind. (no idea what so ever where he gets that from!!) In grade 6, his school purchased a number of iMacs for the students and teachers use. Luckily his teacher was already an avid Mac user and taught the class how to use it. Brendon and one other student seemed to have a natural aptitude for this and were eventually given the task of teaching the other staff members how to use them. He is about to enter grade 10 and has enrolled in both graphics and film and TV studies. We are now considering purchasing an iMac for him as this is the prime tool used in both subjects. Hello APPLE here we come!
Anyway, back to the lecture...
I found the youtube clip on helpdesk very funny. I can so relate to this from both sides. In my early days of computers, I spent a lot of time hanging on the phone waiting for helpdesk people to walk me thru the 'new' program. This mainly relates to industry software. I was often very frustrated that the 'helpful' people could not (or possible would not) use common language to explain the problem or help me fix it. Years later, running my own computer training centre, I often found myself on the helpdesk side and again very frustrated that the plebs couldn't (or wouldn't) understand the instructions that I was giving. I was always very mindful of jargon and would try very hard to use as simple and straight forward language as possible. Maybe it isn't ONLY the language, but the medium we are using that confuses the message? Hmmmm!
The youtube clip on Apple Guy vs PC Guy was also quite delightful. My husband and I have always enjoyed these ads and had a giggle. We have three PCs and 2 laptops in our house and NO Macs. But as previously stated we may be in the market for a Mac very soon. Given this we still enjoy and fully connect with the (not so subtle) message that these ads are giving.
Another issue raised that really interested me was in regards to software ownership. Good old Bill Gates had an early awakening into the value of IP. I searched out the letter from Mr Gates to the hobbyist group and thought I might add it here for your reference. http://www.digibarn.com/collections/newsletters/homebrew/V2_01/gatesletter.html
This issue of licenced software and copyright etc has been an irritant to me in a business sense for sometime. As the owner of a computer training centre, I ran over 30 PCs all of which had to have multiple operating systems to enable us to teach on the particular version of Windows that our client was running. This meant that we needed multiple user licences for both '98 and XP. Sure we had access to the MS Certified Partner Program editions, but these still cost a bomb. I can understand why so many people use pirated copies!
The topic of old video games and the early computer also got me thinking. I remember the funny looking Apples that the schools launched to bring us out of the dark ages and into the world of technology. Their tiny little screens were so cute. I also remember the space invaders tables in all the cafes. I loved that game and thought it was great when my husband found an updated version that runs on XP. But I really couldn't remember any home video games. So I went exploring. I found some stuff on Wiki then had a laugh at some peoples stories on another site. Have a look and take a trip down memory lane!
Looking forward to more of this to come...
Lee
Anyway, back to the lecture...
I found the youtube clip on helpdesk very funny. I can so relate to this from both sides. In my early days of computers, I spent a lot of time hanging on the phone waiting for helpdesk people to walk me thru the 'new' program. This mainly relates to industry software. I was often very frustrated that the 'helpful' people could not (or possible would not) use common language to explain the problem or help me fix it. Years later, running my own computer training centre, I often found myself on the helpdesk side and again very frustrated that the plebs couldn't (or wouldn't) understand the instructions that I was giving. I was always very mindful of jargon and would try very hard to use as simple and straight forward language as possible. Maybe it isn't ONLY the language, but the medium we are using that confuses the message? Hmmmm!
The youtube clip on Apple Guy vs PC Guy was also quite delightful. My husband and I have always enjoyed these ads and had a giggle. We have three PCs and 2 laptops in our house and NO Macs. But as previously stated we may be in the market for a Mac very soon. Given this we still enjoy and fully connect with the (not so subtle) message that these ads are giving.
Another issue raised that really interested me was in regards to software ownership. Good old Bill Gates had an early awakening into the value of IP. I searched out the letter from Mr Gates to the hobbyist group and thought I might add it here for your reference. http://www.digibarn.com/collections/newsletters/homebrew/V2_01/gatesletter.html
This issue of licenced software and copyright etc has been an irritant to me in a business sense for sometime. As the owner of a computer training centre, I ran over 30 PCs all of which had to have multiple operating systems to enable us to teach on the particular version of Windows that our client was running. This meant that we needed multiple user licences for both '98 and XP. Sure we had access to the MS Certified Partner Program editions, but these still cost a bomb. I can understand why so many people use pirated copies!
The topic of old video games and the early computer also got me thinking. I remember the funny looking Apples that the schools launched to bring us out of the dark ages and into the world of technology. Their tiny little screens were so cute. I also remember the space invaders tables in all the cafes. I loved that game and thought it was great when my husband found an updated version that runs on XP. But I really couldn't remember any home video games. So I went exploring. I found some stuff on Wiki then had a laugh at some peoples stories on another site. Have a look and take a trip down memory lane!
Looking forward to more of this to come...
Lee
Me and New Technology - Day 2
I have been using computerised communication tools (ei: email etc) since 1993 when I ran my own travel agencies. Both Offices were computerised for online bookings with airlines and wholesalers, accounting and communicating with our clients and other agencies. At this time our agencies were leaders in the IT fields as many still had manual booking systems and sat for hours waiting on the phones.
Returning to full time work after having my children meant that I no longer had time to sit down and write letters to my friends and family spread throughout the world. I didn't want to loose contact with people I had met during my overseas travels, some of whom I had been writing to for 5 or more years. So I contacted them all and asked for email addresses. Surprisingly, most had already had an established 'cyber-presence'. It was much easier and quicker to drop them all a line on a regular basis than it had even been. I now keep them all up to date with regular emails and really enjoy getting not only their updates, but the funnies that seem to do the rounds.
However, I have never been into chatrooms, forums or other forms of communication online. I know of several people that have fallen into the trap of gaining friendships through chatrooms just to find out that it was all fantasy. Now I am not saying that this is always the case, but I have no need to use this medium to find friends.
Having said all that, I know the WWW can be a wonderful source of information and I have enjoyed many hours helping my kids research their interests and school projects. I am pleased to say that the schools are teaching the kids to assess the validity of the information they get from the net.
As mentioned in an earlier posting neither of my teenage children have developed an interest in 'myspace' or similar sites. They are much happier talking to their friends either face to face or on the phone. Interestingly though, my daughter has found that most of her friends would much prefer to receive a text message rather than speak to each other directly. The down side to this that their messages can sometimes be mis-interpreted. I have heard many stories were one friend has got offended by a message from another and then pasted this onto other friends. Worse than chinese whispers!!
So I suppose my opinion of this technology is that it does have it's place in today's society, but we should all be aware of it's pitfalls and short-comings.
Happy blogging
Lee
Returning to full time work after having my children meant that I no longer had time to sit down and write letters to my friends and family spread throughout the world. I didn't want to loose contact with people I had met during my overseas travels, some of whom I had been writing to for 5 or more years. So I contacted them all and asked for email addresses. Surprisingly, most had already had an established 'cyber-presence'. It was much easier and quicker to drop them all a line on a regular basis than it had even been. I now keep them all up to date with regular emails and really enjoy getting not only their updates, but the funnies that seem to do the rounds.
However, I have never been into chatrooms, forums or other forms of communication online. I know of several people that have fallen into the trap of gaining friendships through chatrooms just to find out that it was all fantasy. Now I am not saying that this is always the case, but I have no need to use this medium to find friends.
Having said all that, I know the WWW can be a wonderful source of information and I have enjoyed many hours helping my kids research their interests and school projects. I am pleased to say that the schools are teaching the kids to assess the validity of the information they get from the net.
As mentioned in an earlier posting neither of my teenage children have developed an interest in 'myspace' or similar sites. They are much happier talking to their friends either face to face or on the phone. Interestingly though, my daughter has found that most of her friends would much prefer to receive a text message rather than speak to each other directly. The down side to this that their messages can sometimes be mis-interpreted. I have heard many stories were one friend has got offended by a message from another and then pasted this onto other friends. Worse than chinese whispers!!
So I suppose my opinion of this technology is that it does have it's place in today's society, but we should all be aware of it's pitfalls and short-comings.
Happy blogging
Lee
A New Blogger
Day one sees me making a weblog for the first time. I have heard a lot about blogging and was exposed to more during an earlier course this year. Part of the Effective Writing course required me to speak about Writing for the Web and in particular Blogging. My assignment partner is an avid blogger and introduced me to her site. I must admit that I had a good look at the time but have never returned.
So onto the course....
The course has raised issues that I think are going to be interesting to explore. The future predicted in the video - http://idorosen.com/mirrors/robinsloan.com/epic/ -about Google is probably not too far from being accurate. Big business has a history of eating up all in it's path, so why should big cyber-business be any different? However, the issue of information security on the web is of more concern. The ability to share information around the world through the internet can be invaluable. But what about when we don't want to share with anyone other than our friends and families? How safe is it really? Maybe the questions and more will be answered as we progress through this course.
Til next time...
Lee
So onto the course....
The course has raised issues that I think are going to be interesting to explore. The future predicted in the video - http://idorosen.com/mirrors/robinsloan.com/epic/ -about Google is probably not too far from being accurate. Big business has a history of eating up all in it's path, so why should big cyber-business be any different? However, the issue of information security on the web is of more concern. The ability to share information around the world through the internet can be invaluable. But what about when we don't want to share with anyone other than our friends and families? How safe is it really? Maybe the questions and more will be answered as we progress through this course.
Til next time...
Lee
Why This Course?
Why did I choose this course? What do I think I will get out of it?
Well firstly I chose to do a course during the summer to make up for the first semester. And since I am heading towards education and believe that technology is integral to learning now and in the future, I thought New Communication Technologies sounded good. So I hope to enhance my IT skills by looking at different areas of this technology.
Another reason for choosing this particular course is to have a greater awareness of communication through the internet ie; blogging. I have two teenage children and as yet neither has shown much interest in things like MySpace etc. However, this disinterest may not last and I would prefer to know what I am up against and be prepared.
The course outline also mentions researching on the net; more than just Google and Wiki. I am sure that this will be very useful over the next three years of my university studies.
Signing off for the first time.....
Lee
Well firstly I chose to do a course during the summer to make up for the first semester. And since I am heading towards education and believe that technology is integral to learning now and in the future, I thought New Communication Technologies sounded good. So I hope to enhance my IT skills by looking at different areas of this technology.
Another reason for choosing this particular course is to have a greater awareness of communication through the internet ie; blogging. I have two teenage children and as yet neither has shown much interest in things like MySpace etc. However, this disinterest may not last and I would prefer to know what I am up against and be prepared.
The course outline also mentions researching on the net; more than just Google and Wiki. I am sure that this will be very useful over the next three years of my university studies.
Signing off for the first time.....
Lee
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