Week Five Tasks

Part Two:
1. The first University in the world is al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt in 970 A.D and was formally organised by 988 A.D.  I found this information on - http://www.ehow.com/list_6603611_list-oldest-universities.html - viewed on the 25th August. I found this specific website on Yahoo's web search under 'Oldest University in the World'.

2. Stephen Stockwell's band is called The Black Assassins and he plays the keyboard aswell as vocals. Some of their songs are called Death Take Me Now, Drugs and Azaria. I found this information on - http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm - viewed on the 25th August. I found this specific website on Bing's web search under 'Stephen Stockwell's Band, Brisbane'.

3. The World's biggest machine is the Large Hadron Collider. It weighs 42,000 tonnes and cost $10 billion to build. I found this information on - http://www.popsci.com/bown/2008/product/large-hadron-collider - viewed on the 25th August. I found this specific website on Bing's web search under 'World's Biggest Machine - Weight and Price'.

4. Justin Bieber's lawyer's name is Kenneth Feinswog. I found this information on - http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/the-big-comic-con-gaga-bieber-threaten-legal-action-20100908-150uo.html - viwed on the 25th August. The best way to contact him is most likely by telephone as I found this on www.pipl.com.

5. Jetstar has the cheapest fare from the Gold Coast to Melbourne at a rate of  $69 on special and when landing at Tullamarine. I found this fare by initially searching on webjet.com, but after realising that these weren’t the cheapest fares - I looked up the individual airline’s website/s. To calculate the amount of fuel needed to drive to Melbourne from the Gold Coast, I worked out the distance between the two locations by subtracting 70km from the chart distance so that we start from the Gold Coast, then calculate the fuel price on http://www.travellers-autobarn.com.au/fuel-price-calculator. The calculator said that at $1.30 per litre it would cost $144.46 to drive to Melbourne, therefore making the Jetstar flight cheaper.

• Viewed 24 August at - http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/special-offers
• Viewed 24 August at - http://www.virginaustralia.com/Personal/Specialsoffers/Bestfares/index.htm?city=OOL&dest=MEL

6. Hatsune Miku is an anime/manga character (originally a Vocaloid voice synthesiser) for the Vocaloid franchise. Her birthday is the 31st of August 2007. I found this information on -http://www.animevice.com/miku-hatsune/18-20703/ - viewed on the 24th August. I found this specific website through the Yahoo Search Engine.

7. A place to stay in Antartica is Vernadsky Research Base. I found this information on - http://getaway.ninemsn.com.au/fsantarctica/antartica/7929297/antarctica-adventure-151-part-two - viewed on the 25th August. I found this specific website on Yahoo's web search under 'Getaway, Antartica'. And a live webcam in Belarus is in Minsk. I found this information on - http://www.camscape.com/view/5976 - veiwed on the 25th August. I found this specific website on Bing's web search under 'Live Webcam in Belarus'.

8. The song that was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1991 was Everything I Do, I Do It For You by Bryan Adams. I found this information on - http://www.take40.com/music/number-ones/date?day=23&month=7&searchYear=1991&Search.x=50&Search.y=16 - viewed on the 25th August. I use Take 40 religiously, so I went straight to the site.

9. A Holden Astra was used as the Google Street View Car in Australia. I found this information on -http://www.smh.com.au/technology/biz-tech/smile-australia-youre-on-googles-candid-camera-20090616-cebb.html - viewed on the 25th August. I found this specific website on Bing's web search under 'News headlines - Google Street View Car'.

10. I was able to translate this question list into Spanish, and then back into English via freetranslation.com. I found this under Bing's web search under 'Translate.'

Spanish Translation:

Q1) Dónde estuvo la primera Universidad establecido y en que año?

Q2) Qué es llamada la banda de Stephen Stockwell y qué juega él? Puede denominar un par de sus canciones?

Q3) Qué es el peso de la máquina más grande de mundo? ¿Cuánto costó construir?

Q4) Quién es el abogado de Justin Bieber, y qué son la mejor manera (más rápido, más seguro) contactar al abogado?

Q5) Qué es la forma más barata de viaje de la Costa de oro a Melbourne?

Q6) Quién es Hatsune Miku? ¿A qué compañía pertenece ella? ¿Qué es sus cumpleaños?

Q7) Encuentre una webcam viva en Bielorrusia. Encuentre que un lugar para permanecer en Antártida.

Q8) Qué canción fue la cima del taponazo australiano traza esta semana en 1991?

Q9) Qué tipo de coche es utilizado para hacer 'Vista de Calle de Google'?

Q10) Traduzca estas preguntas en español y entonces tradúzcalos atrás al inglés.

English Translation:

Q1) Where it was the first University established and in which year?

Q2) What is called the band of Stephen Stockwell and what plays he?  It can call a pair of its songs?

Q3) What is the weight of the largest machine of world?  How much it cost to build?

Q4) Who is the lawyer of Justin Bieber, and what they are the best way (faster, surer) to contact the lawyer?

Q5) What is the cheapest form of trip of the Coast of gold to Melbourne?

Q6) Who is Hatsune Miku?  Why company belongs she?  What is its birthday?

Q7) Find a webcam alive in Belarus.  Find that a place to remain in Antarctica.

Q8) What song was the top of the Australian pop outline this week in 1991?

Q9) What type of car is utilized to do 'View of Street of Google'?

Q10) Translate these questions in Spanish and then translate them behind to the English.


Part One:
"Dramatic structure is the foundation of screenwriting.” On the website Syd Field (the paradigm worksheet) it explains that all, if not most films, have a beginning, a middle and an end – a point at which the beginning turns into the middle, and the middle turns into the end. This is evident when comparing this ‘dramatic structure’ to the movie Rubber. In the first act you see the birth of the tyre, arising from the junkyard (beginning). You then see the tyre learning its own abilities (middle) and finally using its own mind to ‘crush and destroy’ animals, objects and people (end). There is a clear beginning, middle and end to this first act.

On Clapperboard, “Exploring the Meaning of Movies” it states that,

“Dramatic action is not so much as what is said, but what is not said. By reading between the lines or watching the actions of a character, we are able to understand their point of view.”

This is apparent in the movie Rubber. The audience who is watching the tyre from afar tries to analyse how the tyre is blowing up certain animals, objects and people without even touching them. One little boy states, “I think the tyre is blowing it up with his mind!” Nothing was said to make this obvious to the boy, but the boy read between the lines by watching the actions of the tyre. In the end, each audience member will always take away different meanings from films, however everyone will always try and read between the lines.

References:

• Syd Field (2011) The Paradigm Worksheet retrieved online from - http://www.sydfield.com/featured_theparadigmworksheet.htm viewed online on the 25th August 2011
• Clapperboard (2008) Exploring the Meaning of Movies retrieved online from -http://www.theclapperboard.com/view_posting.php?posting_id=129 viewed online on the 25th August 2011

Week Four Tasks

Part Two:
LiveJournal allows their users to create and update online journals and communities. LiveJournal provides users with templates for creating and maintaining web pages based on content provided by their users. "Each LiveJournal user can create and publish a journal and /or join communities to post text, data, messages, information, and/or links to software, music, sound, photography, graphics, and video ('Content')". On LiveJournal’s Terms of Service it states that the user is solely responsible for the Content that they post. LiveJournal also has the "right to remove or disable access to Content at any time for any reason without approval or notice".

LiveJournal states that all 'Content' is the sole responsibility of the user who posted the Content. LiveJournal claims to have no ownership or control over any Content posted by its users. "The author retains all trademarks to all posted Content, and is fully responsible for protecting their own rights" (http://www.livejournal.com/legal/tos.bml).

LiveJournal states that they are "committed to making best efforts to protect their users’ personal information and to give their users as much control as possible over the privacy of the content that they post... LiveJournal realizes that any content posted over the Internet or a wireless network cannot be guaranteed 100% private or secure". Therefore, LiveJournal will make efforts to ensure their users privacy in the following way – Safeguards, Passwords, Encryption, Security Breach and Email (http://www.livejournal.com/legal/privacy.bml).

Part One:
What is cyberspace? Is it real? Where is it?
Today in the lecture Cyberspace has been described as a way to "understand the internet". In his book, 'An Introduction to Cybercultures,' David Bell describes Cyberspace as a hardware -

"a global network of computers, linked through communications infrastructures, that facilitate forms of interactions between remote actors" (2001, p.7).

Cyberspace has also been defined as a 'new universe,' created to sustain the world's computers and communication lines (Benedikt cited in Bell, 2001, p.7). Therefore it has been stated that Cyberspace refers to all the computer networks on the internet. It distinguishes the physical world from the 'virtual world'.

Jeremy W. Crampton describes Cyberspace as a

"mutual process of production between physical space and abstract or virtual space, as a series of relations, and as a process of becoming".

He continues on to say that Cyberspace is a 'replacement of the real,' (eXistenZ) a mutuality of "being virtually there" (2003, p.12). It could be said that Cyberspace rapidly increases the blurring of reality and virtuality. It is argued that Cyberspace provides us with a representation of the real, it undermines one's ability to differentiate between real and imaginary (Dodge and Kitchin, 2001, p.21). 

Cyberspace does not exist in any physical geographic location. You can be everywhere in Cyberspace - a site can be used simultaneously by many different people worldwide. Cyberspace goes further - "where communication travels at the speed of light" (Bertol & Foell, 1997, p.60).

References:

• Bell, D (2001) An Introduction to Cybercultures, Routledge, London
• Crampton, J (2003) Political Mapping of Cyberspace, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh
• Dodge, M & Kitchin, R (2001) Mapping Cyberspace, Routledge, London
• Bertol, D & Foell, D (1997) Designing Digital Space: An Architect's Guide to Virtual Reality, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Canada

Week Three Tasks

Part Two:

ICQ or ‘I seek you’ is an instant messenger program that was designed for the purpose to communicate with anyone across the globe – if you needed to contact someone urgently, then you would immediately be able to get a hold of them.

Developed in 1996, by an Israeli company called Mirabilis, ICQ was the “first instant messenger client to truly use a graphical user interface (GUI), and was easy to install and use for almost anyone”. Mirabilis relied little on marketing or advertisements and instead depended on the “viral effect,” that users would tell their friends about it, and so on (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-icq.htm).

There was a time when ICQ was the most dominant instant messenger client in existence. ICQ has amassed over 180 million users in more than 245 countries since its first official launch in 1996 (http://www.icq.com/products/whatisicq.html).

In 1997, AIM was introduced by America Online. Two years later in 1998, America Online bought ICQ from Mirabilis for the sum of $407 million. This therefore allowed America Online to have “virtual hegemony” over the instant messaging world – until MSN Messenger and Google Talk came onto the scene (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-icq.htm).

ICQ has certainly influenced the way we use technology today. ICQ was arguably the first instant messenger, and without it we still may not have a quick and easy way of getting in touch with people and friends. ICQ faded away in part due to a large problem with spam and aggressive marketing campaigns from the likes of AIM, Google Talk, and MSN Messenger. ICQ still exists, although is no longer in any means, the leading messenger client.

References:

• About THE Web's Community (2010) What is ICQ? retrieved online from - http://www.icq.com/products/whatisicq.html viewed online on the 11th August 2011
• wiseGEEK (2011) What is ICQ? retrieved online from - http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-icq.htm viewed online on the 11th August 2011

Part One:
1. Stephen Stockwell's first article in an academic journal was "Kuranda police shooting" published in 1981.
Stockwell, S (1981) Legal Service Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue Feb, pp. 48 - 49, viewed 11 August 2011 via  HeinOnline Law Journal Library.
I searched Griffith's Library database - I typed in "Stephen Stockwell" under the 'Article' link. I then refined my search further and chose 'Journal articles', choosing to sort the date as the oldest.

2. Governor Slugwell appeared in the "Flaming Carrot Comics" in issues 7, 10, 11.

Burden, B (1985) Flaming Carrot Comics, no. 7, Burbank, CA:Renegade Press, viewed 11 August 2011 via Underground and Independant Comics library.
I found this information in Griffith's Trial databases, I searched under 'Underground and Independent Comics' and typed "Governor Slugwell" in advanced search.

3. Today Tonight reports on the dangers of mobile phones. There has been a huge increase in the number of people injured, even killed because they weren't watching where they were going while using their mobile.
Today Tonight (Seven Network), January 21st 2011, Dangers of Mobile Phones; Duration 3mins, 40 seconds.

4. In Bladerunner, Leon's reaction when Holden asks him about his mother is: "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.

As Leon walks out of the room the Voight-Kampff begins to blink, faint but steady." 
Scott, R (1982), Blade Runner, film, Warner Bros. Pictures, Burbank, California.

5. Paul Soukup says Walter Ong saw as the main paradox in the 20th century communication: The 20th century introduced a paradox: “that a society given so much to the use of diagrams and to the maneuvering of objects in space . . . should at the same time develop means of communication which specialize not in sight but in sound”

Soukup, P (2004) Communication Research Trends: Walter J. Ong, S.J. A Retrospective, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 1-44, California, Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture - retrieved online from -

http://cscc.scu.edu/trends/v23/v23_1.pdf viewed 11th August 2011.  

Week Two Tasks

Part Two
How I use new communication mediums to communicate with family and friends:

Since the very beginning I have been using ‘new communication mediums’, I don’t really know a time when I haven’t – obviously when I was a young child, but who really remembers those years.

I think new communications is like a progression for everyone in a way. I mean first there is the use of computer games, my primary school favourite – tetris and even ‘Age of the Empires’ (haha) – the exploration of the internet for school projects (Google) – you can actually find useful stuff on there! Then it’s the instant messenger as a teenager – who didn’t have an MSN!? And who would be doing their homework over going on MSN for a chat every night!? A Highschool student who uses My Space religiously, talk of who had the best profile was always on the agenda. Finally, you become older and more computer savvy and ditch the likes of MSN and My Space and get a Facebook – well it is the trend isn’t it?

Trends I find play a big part in social media and communication contexts - why someone chooses to go on a site or get an iPhone - sometimes it’s all about the look of things, who has the most friends on Facebook or who has the iPhone 4 over the iPhone 3, and god forbid you have a brick for a mobile! So I guess in my case, friends are the main influence as to why I use Facebook or have an iPhone, I feel as if I would be out of the loop if I didn’t, how would I be able to communicate properly? It’s not like I sit at home all day on the computer, but to see someone I organise it over Facebook or just flip a text their way.

It’s all about word of mouth, you hear someone talking about the latest gadget or what someone has discovered on the internet and you find yourself coming home and going straight on the computer to find that site, or take yourself to the shops and investigate ‘what an iPad is’.

//When it comes down to it, I guess you just have to be conscious of what is potentially is out there on cyber space. It’s scary to think that young girls who think they are talking to young boys on the internet are actually talking to sexual predators. I have always been careful on who I speak too and what I have shared on the internet – I don’t want information about myself or pictures ever coming back to haunt me! My Facebook has been made private, so even people I have met once can’t add me, unless we have a mutual friend in common or they have been given a link to my site. I don’t leave any of my information or photos - just anything!- as public use and everyone I choose to accept as a friend on Facebook I know.

Another potential danger is the fact that Facebook can collect information about you just by what you share about yourself online. I see adverts trying to appeal to me about things I may like or groups I should join, my own ‘personalised social advertising’ (http://www.facebook.com/policy.php). This is based on what I have liked previously or on other groups I have joined. I guess you just have to be smart and choose wisely on what you share and who you share it with – a big NO to street addresses!   


Part One:

A video relevant to the study of communication: I chose this video as it predicts the future of 'New Communication.' It explores how rapidly technology can change, and what different things may potentially happen (Google buys Microsoft, Amazon buys Yahoo). But we must all remember that things can grow and change in ways we can't even imagine!

An interesting application (website) that allows me to use the web more effectively is:
http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_9261_use-photobucket-website.html

This website helps me understand how to use Photobucket and how to photo share on the internet. It even has eHow Videos (free!) that shows you detailed directions on how to create an account, how to locate and upload photos, and even tag friends who are also on the Photobucket website.

I also came accross other websites in my findings - a lot like this one http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/online-sharing-social-networking/how-to-use-photobucket-to-save-pictures-online.html - but they did not have in-depth detail or a clear how too.

eHow Videos are the most interesting analytical tool, as it is not just a worded description on how to use Photobucket, but something you can easily grasp and learn by watching a video!