So this is the last week of New Communication Technologies! As a result, it will also be the last little msg that i post on this blog! I've learnt quite a bit in this course to do with the wonders of Photoshop, MS Word and Excel, Virtual Worlds, how to make a blog, the emergence of blogs as a means of new communication, every word with the prefix cyber (eg. cyberpolitics, cybertherapy, cyberpunk etc. etc.) and in last weeks lecture i had the stunning revelation that Adam is a younger version of Richard Stallman (the pioneer Free Source Software movement). He definitely wants to be him when he grows up!
It has been a little frustrating that the lectures and tutes seem starkly unrelated in content but also a relief because generally, the tutes have been quite fun (thanks Jules!) and the lectures the complete opposite (so it's a relief that the ENTIRE course doesn't evoke the same reaction that the thought of a lecture does - namely a rather large GROAN!).
Anyway, thanks for the memories new comm tech and my little blog buddy, might see you in cyberspace somewhere (oh! theres another word that starts with cyber to add to the list!)!
So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu!
Emma :-)
Monday, May 28, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Excel(lent) not!
Ok so another truly riveting experience, this time with Microsoft Excel! oh yay. I know that i should be excited or whatever about learning new skills and how to put formulas in columns (which did give a moment of interest when it worked it out for itself i might add!) but i'm afraid to say that my interest factor is probably somewhere in negative figures. Also, because certain instructions are not the same as on my computer, the frustration factor is increasing well into the positives. Oh what a lovely way to waste time!
hmmm yep getting more and more frustrating by the instant! And the instructions are sometimes not written in complete sentences (eg.Highlight Row 4 by clicking on the number at the start which will select the whole row.... So when you select the row (which has a Loss) and then right-click on the Mouse on that number at the start..... yeah i thought what the? as well!
and when they say go back and "repeat this process" there is no indication how far back this particular process actually began or what needs to be done again because all the steps sort of blend into one ever increasingly frustrating sequence of GROAN!
yeah well i think we're getting the drift that this has been one of my favourite activities of all time now aren't we? HA
I managed to get one of the little button thingys working at the end Eureka! but that doesn't inspire me enough to get the other 2 working... i guess if i ever own my own business (which really isn't a current aim of mine) i'll have to employ a receptionist/administrator who finds excel to be a more interesting program than i do and will work it for me :-)
hmmm yep getting more and more frustrating by the instant! And the instructions are sometimes not written in complete sentences (eg.Highlight Row 4 by clicking on the number at the start which will select the whole row.... So when you select the row (which has a Loss) and then right-click on the Mouse on that number at the start..... yeah i thought what the? as well!
and when they say go back and "repeat this process" there is no indication how far back this particular process actually began or what needs to be done again because all the steps sort of blend into one ever increasingly frustrating sequence of GROAN!
yeah well i think we're getting the drift that this has been one of my favourite activities of all time now aren't we? HA
I managed to get one of the little button thingys working at the end Eureka! but that doesn't inspire me enough to get the other 2 working... i guess if i ever own my own business (which really isn't a current aim of mine) i'll have to employ a receptionist/administrator who finds excel to be a more interesting program than i do and will work it for me :-)
Monday, May 14, 2007
Microsoft Word
So this week we experienced the wonders of Microsoft Word... I am truly amazed *cough cough* and the fact that words can bold and be underlined and go into italics is a really new and interesting concept for me! I guess the one thing that i hadn't done before was the Track Changes thingy which highlights things that you have changed and deleted and shows you the editing process. I would never use it in the future though because you'd need to reformat the document.... that's part of the reason i much prefer handwriting things first and seeing what i've crossed out or changed to maybe use parts of it again or whatever and then once there's a solid draft there i'll type it up as is. Much easier! Anyway i'm enlightened as to the myriad of possibilities to do with Word and mail merging etc etc so another week has been completed! Until next time.....
Friday, May 11, 2007
Academic Essay
Web logs (blogs) are a relatively new communication technology. How has the development of blogs impacted on communication and information sharing?
Original blogs were link driven pages with a combination of commentary, personal thoughts, essays and links (Blood, 2000). These pages were created only by people who already knew how to make a website. Today, they are much more widely accessed and their content varies from being expressly personal to expressly journalistic, textual to photographic, paid to unpaid, link based, thematic, travel oriented, collaborative etc. (Cohen, 2006). There has been a general trend towards a change in the nature of blogs from filter style to journal style, however they are also emerging as an increasingly important means of public expression and opinion. As a relatively new means of communication technology, they have encountered both criticisms and popularity, and are expected to play an important role in future communication practice.
Listed on a ‘page of only weblogs’ by James Jesse Garnett, editor of Infosift, were the only 23 weblogs known to be in existence at the beginning of 1999. In July of that year, Pitas launched the first ‘build your own weblog’ tool, followed by Blogger and Groksoup in August (Blood, 2000). The launch of these free services enabled individuals to publish their own blogs more quickly and easily. The popularity and prevalence of blogs increased rapidly in the next few years, with research by Technorati (a leading blog search engine) finding the number of blogs doubling every 5 months since 2003, over 22 million blogs currently on line, and 70,000 new blogs being added every day (Allen, 2005).
Supporters of the emergence of blogs believe that they are a form of self expression, a way of making their voices heard with a unique opportunity to exercise one’s right to freedom of speech (Johnstone, 2005). Programs like Blogger and Pitas have given people with little or no knowledge of HTML or Internet technologies the ability to write about anything they want and potentially have a global audience (Allen, 2005). Blogs also encourage collaboration. The participatory nature of writing, response and counterargument on blogs allows for ongoing debate, critical refinement and ‘thinking in progress’. This form of public expression and opinion, developed largely as a result of blogs, is potentially powerful in improving public debate, however it could also be detrimental. Empirical research has shown that online discussions do not work towards consensus, are often short lived with little impact and can easily turn into ‘dialogues of the deaf’ and lead anywhere (Nguyen, 2006). Despite the notion that anyone can share their opinions and ‘be heard’, online participation forums are still dominated by the elite and those on the more advantaged side of the digital divide with a generally higher socio-economic status and social influence (Perkel, 2007).
In modern day society, there is a growing impatience with traditional methods of communication and the consumption of information. People want to find what is relevant to them as quickly as possible (Quinn & Quinn-Allen, 2005). As if in response to this desire for immediacy, blogs are endlessly updated with new thoughts and observations and are primarily concerned with the present (Eesley, 2005). “Online diaries are immediate, visceral and unpolished; qualities that speak to us directly and strike us as true” (Johnstone, 2005). Readers have faith in the authenticity of the blog despite notable absence of any reliable form of authentication. Although blogs are a good environment to read other people’s ideas, those ideas are not always fact based, insightful or politically or culturally correct. It is difficult to tell the difference between truth and fiction and the motivation of the individual blogger is hard to ascertain. Research by Johnstone (2005) suggests that it is because of the personal and seemingly intimate nature of blogs that readers invest their trust in the content presented without the scepticism that is increasingly applied to information from more traditional media sources.
However, as a new means of communication technology, the relationship between the emergent blog and its audience is at times considered to be oppositional (Nguyen, 2006). Traditionally, the right to be ‘published’ has been earned and reliant on literary quality (Gregg, 2006), however these factors are noticeably absent from millions of blogs published on line. Blogs have been criticised as boring, too personal or detailed and too apparently concerned with topics that are thought of as unworthy of public conversation (Cohen, 2006). Blogs never quite address a person (dialogue), never quite address a crowd (speech or public address), and are never quite speaking to oneself (monologue or soliloquy). According to Cohen (2006), bloggers could be considered to be narcissists, as they insist on endlessly remarking in a public fashion on very unremarkable things and publicising their boring lives. “The trouble is not that ordinary people write them, but that these ordinary people have become too visible, precisely in their ‘ordinariness’; their self interested individualism” (Cohen, 2006).
Blogs are reshaping our notion of how content is created and information is distributed throughout the world today. Although blogs encourage people to express their opinions and discuss them with a worldwide audience, the nature and distribution of technology means that this effect has a limited capacity. The shift in blogs from filter style to journal style has seen a rapid increase in publication of biased and subjective information, and the unmediated nature of blogs means that anyone from anywhere can create a blog containing information of little consequence. As a relatively new means of communication technology, they have received both opposition and support with respect to their validity as a credible information source. More recently, the potential longevity of blogs has been realised by industry, advertising, politics and media who are capitalising on commercial and organisational opportunities. It is through these investments and developments, as well as their ever-increasing popularity that blogs will continue to form an integral part of communication in the future.
References
Journal Articles:
Cohen, K. (2006) ‘A Welcome for Blogs’ Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 20(2): 161-173
Johnstone, R. (2005) ‘Spasms of Assertion – The Politics and Aesthetics of Blogging’ Australian Book Review p32-36
Quinn, S. & Quinn-Allan, D. (2005) ‘User generated content and the changing news cycle’ Australian Journalism Review 28(1): 57-70
Nguyen, A. (2006) ‘Journalism in the wake of participatory publishing’ Australian Journalism Review 28(1): 143-155
Gregg, M. (2006) ‘Feeling Ordinary: Blogging as Conversational Scholarship Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 20(2): 147-160
Websites:
Perkel, D. (2007) ‘Creativity and gaps in participation: Stories from the field’ http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/node/71 (accessed 8th May 2007)
Sramana, M., Allen, R., & Eesley, C. (2005) ‘What matters: Blogs and their impact on society’ http://alum.mit.edu/ne/whatmatters/200512/index.html (accessed 9th May 2007)
‘Humanizing your blog for intimacy’ http://www.rsspieces.com/2006/10/15/humanizing-a-blog-how-blogging-is-like-b (accessed 9th May 2007)
‘Recruiting the self centred’ http://blogs.targetx.com/targetx/emailminute/?p=124 (accessed 10th May 2007)
Blood, R. (2000) ‘Weblogs: a history and perspective’ http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html (accessed 9th May 2007)
Original blogs were link driven pages with a combination of commentary, personal thoughts, essays and links (Blood, 2000). These pages were created only by people who already knew how to make a website. Today, they are much more widely accessed and their content varies from being expressly personal to expressly journalistic, textual to photographic, paid to unpaid, link based, thematic, travel oriented, collaborative etc. (Cohen, 2006). There has been a general trend towards a change in the nature of blogs from filter style to journal style, however they are also emerging as an increasingly important means of public expression and opinion. As a relatively new means of communication technology, they have encountered both criticisms and popularity, and are expected to play an important role in future communication practice.
Listed on a ‘page of only weblogs’ by James Jesse Garnett, editor of Infosift, were the only 23 weblogs known to be in existence at the beginning of 1999. In July of that year, Pitas launched the first ‘build your own weblog’ tool, followed by Blogger and Groksoup in August (Blood, 2000). The launch of these free services enabled individuals to publish their own blogs more quickly and easily. The popularity and prevalence of blogs increased rapidly in the next few years, with research by Technorati (a leading blog search engine) finding the number of blogs doubling every 5 months since 2003, over 22 million blogs currently on line, and 70,000 new blogs being added every day (Allen, 2005).
Supporters of the emergence of blogs believe that they are a form of self expression, a way of making their voices heard with a unique opportunity to exercise one’s right to freedom of speech (Johnstone, 2005). Programs like Blogger and Pitas have given people with little or no knowledge of HTML or Internet technologies the ability to write about anything they want and potentially have a global audience (Allen, 2005). Blogs also encourage collaboration. The participatory nature of writing, response and counterargument on blogs allows for ongoing debate, critical refinement and ‘thinking in progress’. This form of public expression and opinion, developed largely as a result of blogs, is potentially powerful in improving public debate, however it could also be detrimental. Empirical research has shown that online discussions do not work towards consensus, are often short lived with little impact and can easily turn into ‘dialogues of the deaf’ and lead anywhere (Nguyen, 2006). Despite the notion that anyone can share their opinions and ‘be heard’, online participation forums are still dominated by the elite and those on the more advantaged side of the digital divide with a generally higher socio-economic status and social influence (Perkel, 2007).
In modern day society, there is a growing impatience with traditional methods of communication and the consumption of information. People want to find what is relevant to them as quickly as possible (Quinn & Quinn-Allen, 2005). As if in response to this desire for immediacy, blogs are endlessly updated with new thoughts and observations and are primarily concerned with the present (Eesley, 2005). “Online diaries are immediate, visceral and unpolished; qualities that speak to us directly and strike us as true” (Johnstone, 2005). Readers have faith in the authenticity of the blog despite notable absence of any reliable form of authentication. Although blogs are a good environment to read other people’s ideas, those ideas are not always fact based, insightful or politically or culturally correct. It is difficult to tell the difference between truth and fiction and the motivation of the individual blogger is hard to ascertain. Research by Johnstone (2005) suggests that it is because of the personal and seemingly intimate nature of blogs that readers invest their trust in the content presented without the scepticism that is increasingly applied to information from more traditional media sources.
However, as a new means of communication technology, the relationship between the emergent blog and its audience is at times considered to be oppositional (Nguyen, 2006). Traditionally, the right to be ‘published’ has been earned and reliant on literary quality (Gregg, 2006), however these factors are noticeably absent from millions of blogs published on line. Blogs have been criticised as boring, too personal or detailed and too apparently concerned with topics that are thought of as unworthy of public conversation (Cohen, 2006). Blogs never quite address a person (dialogue), never quite address a crowd (speech or public address), and are never quite speaking to oneself (monologue or soliloquy). According to Cohen (2006), bloggers could be considered to be narcissists, as they insist on endlessly remarking in a public fashion on very unremarkable things and publicising their boring lives. “The trouble is not that ordinary people write them, but that these ordinary people have become too visible, precisely in their ‘ordinariness’; their self interested individualism” (Cohen, 2006).
Blogs are reshaping our notion of how content is created and information is distributed throughout the world today. Although blogs encourage people to express their opinions and discuss them with a worldwide audience, the nature and distribution of technology means that this effect has a limited capacity. The shift in blogs from filter style to journal style has seen a rapid increase in publication of biased and subjective information, and the unmediated nature of blogs means that anyone from anywhere can create a blog containing information of little consequence. As a relatively new means of communication technology, they have received both opposition and support with respect to their validity as a credible information source. More recently, the potential longevity of blogs has been realised by industry, advertising, politics and media who are capitalising on commercial and organisational opportunities. It is through these investments and developments, as well as their ever-increasing popularity that blogs will continue to form an integral part of communication in the future.
References
Journal Articles:
Cohen, K. (2006) ‘A Welcome for Blogs’ Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 20(2): 161-173
Johnstone, R. (2005) ‘Spasms of Assertion – The Politics and Aesthetics of Blogging’ Australian Book Review p32-36
Quinn, S. & Quinn-Allan, D. (2005) ‘User generated content and the changing news cycle’ Australian Journalism Review 28(1): 57-70
Nguyen, A. (2006) ‘Journalism in the wake of participatory publishing’ Australian Journalism Review 28(1): 143-155
Gregg, M. (2006) ‘Feeling Ordinary: Blogging as Conversational Scholarship Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 20(2): 147-160
Websites:
Perkel, D. (2007) ‘Creativity and gaps in participation: Stories from the field’ http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/node/71 (accessed 8th May 2007)
Sramana, M., Allen, R., & Eesley, C. (2005) ‘What matters: Blogs and their impact on society’ http://alum.mit.edu/ne/whatmatters/200512/index.html (accessed 9th May 2007)
‘Humanizing your blog for intimacy’ http://www.rsspieces.com/2006/10/15/humanizing-a-blog-how-blogging-is-like-b (accessed 9th May 2007)
‘Recruiting the self centred’ http://blogs.targetx.com/targetx/emailminute/?p=124 (accessed 10th May 2007)
Blood, R. (2000) ‘Weblogs: a history and perspective’ http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html (accessed 9th May 2007)
Monday, April 30, 2007
Researching...
Essay Essay Essay! Today's tute is being spent researching for our essay, that I did actually have an idea for, to do with internet blogs (as i mentioned in Week 4 i think it was...). But don't you just hate it when the topic idea that you had is given as an example for the EVERY person enrolled in the course? Me too! haha
So all of a sudden its a couple of hundred people's idea too.. hmm now to think of how i'm actually going to do it and what to include. Today, however, I did discover that its due next Friday when for some reason i thought it was due this Friday so i'm relieved to have that extra week that wasn't there before! Well i guess it was always there but you get what i mean! Anyway, moving right along.....
So all of a sudden its a couple of hundred people's idea too.. hmm now to think of how i'm actually going to do it and what to include. Today, however, I did discover that its due next Friday when for some reason i thought it was due this Friday so i'm relieved to have that extra week that wasn't there before! Well i guess it was always there but you get what i mean! Anyway, moving right along.....
Monday, April 23, 2007
Active Worlds... ooooo
So the wonders of Active World have been revealed to the Tutes this week... hmm well it has no doubt taken its creators an incredbly long time to come up with and i guess the idea is kind of clever to tour around a 3D world with other users.
The socialising between regular internet msging is similar in the way that it is in text form and between users, but in this 3D environment, every user can read other users' conversations. So the privacy aspect that programs like MSN have (where your conversations are with one particular person unless a third user is specifically added to the conversation intentionally) is lessened in the 3D environment. Essentially though, it is still a relatively shallow way of communicating, with the limits of 2D text to communicate emotions and tone of voice that can still be misinterpreted. Its 3D nature does not extend to the socialising aspect, with all the "tourists" very similar in appearance and able to perform all the same 'physical' functions. Face to face communication just can't be beaten i'm afraid!
I guess the initial idea that there are these other users all round the world that you are interacting with and can write comments to is interesting... But it's only really interesting for about 10 minutes. Walking around and kicking people, waving, jumping, spinning, blowing kisses etc. is an especially good way of wasting time (and doing the macarena is totally random and very funny!) and aside from that, this whole Active World thing really has no point.
The socialising between regular internet msging is similar in the way that it is in text form and between users, but in this 3D environment, every user can read other users' conversations. So the privacy aspect that programs like MSN have (where your conversations are with one particular person unless a third user is specifically added to the conversation intentionally) is lessened in the 3D environment. Essentially though, it is still a relatively shallow way of communicating, with the limits of 2D text to communicate emotions and tone of voice that can still be misinterpreted. Its 3D nature does not extend to the socialising aspect, with all the "tourists" very similar in appearance and able to perform all the same 'physical' functions. Face to face communication just can't be beaten i'm afraid!
I guess the initial idea that there are these other users all round the world that you are interacting with and can write comments to is interesting... But it's only really interesting for about 10 minutes. Walking around and kicking people, waving, jumping, spinning, blowing kisses etc. is an especially good way of wasting time (and doing the macarena is totally random and very funny!) and aside from that, this whole Active World thing really has no point.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Frustration plus!
So here we go again with the ever so time consuming program that is PhotoShop!
This beautiful photo of my lovely friends Alyce, Brodie and Patrice at another friend's fancy dress 21st! In the task it comes under the categories of Friends and Unconventional. It has to at least come under those 2 categories because it took me such a long time to do! My computer decided to shut down and restart itself only going back to the beginning of my little PhotoShop experience so i had to start from a smidge above scratch again! GROAN! Ah well at least it's there now - They're my heroes! haha
This beautiful photo of my lovely friends Alyce, Brodie and Patrice at another friend's fancy dress 21st! In the task it comes under the categories of Friends and Unconventional. It has to at least come under those 2 categories because it took me such a long time to do! My computer decided to shut down and restart itself only going back to the beginning of my little PhotoShop experience so i had to start from a smidge above scratch again! GROAN! Ah well at least it's there now - They're my heroes! haha
Thursday, April 5, 2007
What a relief!
*sigh*
I'm finally caught up on all that I missed out on from being at the Australian Champs for surf over in Perth! It took a couple of solid days in the library but hey! From tomorrow it's Easter break so that should be good but there are still a few assignments and things I need to get into so it won't all be chocolate eating! I'm also going to see Tempo Rouge on Monday at the Casino - I'm taking one of my friends for her birthday so that should be fun!
Hmmmm I have no idea why I'm writing another post as a diary entry because it's really serving no purpose and probably no one will read it anyway! haha
Have a happy easter (just in case you are someone who did happen to read it!)
:-)
I'm finally caught up on all that I missed out on from being at the Australian Champs for surf over in Perth! It took a couple of solid days in the library but hey! From tomorrow it's Easter break so that should be good but there are still a few assignments and things I need to get into so it won't all be chocolate eating! I'm also going to see Tempo Rouge on Monday at the Casino - I'm taking one of my friends for her birthday so that should be fun!
Hmmmm I have no idea why I'm writing another post as a diary entry because it's really serving no purpose and probably no one will read it anyway! haha
Have a happy easter (just in case you are someone who did happen to read it!)
:-)
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Scavenger Hunt
1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin?
The weight of the largest pumpkin in the world is 1,502 pounds (681.3kg) achieved by Ron Wallace at the 13th annual Giant Pumpkin Growers Championship in Rhode Island.
http://www.49abcnews.com/news/2006/oct/09/worlds_heaviest_pumpkin_weighed/
2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Grant Hackett?
If you want to contact Grant, please write to the Miami Swimming Club, their address is:Miami Swimming ClubPO BOX 2461BURLEIGH QLD 4220
http://granthackettonline.free.fr/?page_id=107
3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?
An adult giraffe's tongue is 27" long
http://www.qeok.com/other/2843-qeok.html
4. How would you define the word 'ontology'? In your own words, what does it really mean ?
Ontology is the study or concern about what kinds of things exist - what entities there are in the universe.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212702,00.html
5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film?
Cronenberg's first feature film was a 1966 short film called "Transfer," about a psychiatrist being stalked by a patient.
http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/11/30/cronenberg/
6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?
January 8, 1986.
http://www.sosdg.org/~seneschal/manifesto/index.html
7. Why do all phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?
For many years, 555 was unassigned as a dialling code in the US and could therefore be used to prefix fictional numbers in movies. Due to expansion, the code has recently been assigned, but scriptwriters and others maintain the use.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2357,00.html
8. What is the cheapest form of travel from Crete to Rhodes?
The cheapest form of travel is a Ferry, costing around 120 Euros each.
http://www.athensguide.com/ferries.html
9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?
There were a few different sites that I found with No1 songs for this week in 1965 but they were for the US (Can't You Feel My Heartbeat, Herman's Hermits) and UK (The Last Time, The Rolling Stones), but this site didn't have a country so I'm going to assume its Australia for the sake of my sanity and my computer (these search engines are reeeeally getting me frustrated!) so the No1 song for the first week in April 1965 was 'Stop! In the name of love' by The Supremes. (Excuse me while I now break into song! haha)
http://www.popculturemadness.com/Music/Number-One-Songs-60s.html
10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?
The Black Assassins. They were a vital part of the Brisbane Punk scene which developed in the late 1970's and early 1980's. They played at every major venue at one time or another. Sometimes they got banned for outrageous behaviour.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm
Some Questions on Search Engines...
What is a Search Engine?
A seach engine is a way of navigating through the huge amount of information found on the internet. It allows you to access information on other sites by entering specific information and finding the sites that are most relevant to you.
How do search engines rank the information found on the internet? Who or what makes one page more useful so that it is at the top of the search results?
The search engine's "spiders" crawl the internet looking for suitable sites. Through these "spiders" the search engine looks at the numbers of words from the seach that are found on a certain page as well as where they are found (for example in titles and subheadings). This information is coded and the sites with the most compatibility based on this coding system are listed first.
What are your favourite search engines? Why those more than others?
The engine I use the most is Google because of its clear set up and accessibility. It is also a habit to use Google because it often opens up as the home page of the internet, the first thing that a user sees. The name is also catchy and easy to remember. In the Search Engine Scavenger Hunt task i found that some of the other search engines simply transferred you to a list of other search engine pages which is frustrating when you're trying to find results!
Some current news articles on search engines can be found at:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?portal_id=28&article_id=16967
http://www.seologic.com/search-engines/2003-07-14.php
The weight of the largest pumpkin in the world is 1,502 pounds (681.3kg) achieved by Ron Wallace at the 13th annual Giant Pumpkin Growers Championship in Rhode Island.
http://www.49abcnews.com/news/2006/oct/09/worlds_heaviest_pumpkin_weighed/
2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Grant Hackett?
If you want to contact Grant, please write to the Miami Swimming Club, their address is:Miami Swimming ClubPO BOX 2461BURLEIGH QLD 4220
http://granthackettonline.free.fr/?page_id=107
3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?
An adult giraffe's tongue is 27" long
http://www.qeok.com/other/2843-qeok.html
4. How would you define the word 'ontology'? In your own words, what does it really mean ?
Ontology is the study or concern about what kinds of things exist - what entities there are in the universe.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212702,00.html
5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film?
Cronenberg's first feature film was a 1966 short film called "Transfer," about a psychiatrist being stalked by a patient.
http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/11/30/cronenberg/
6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?
January 8, 1986.
http://www.sosdg.org/~seneschal/manifesto/index.html
7. Why do all phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?
For many years, 555 was unassigned as a dialling code in the US and could therefore be used to prefix fictional numbers in movies. Due to expansion, the code has recently been assigned, but scriptwriters and others maintain the use.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2357,00.html
8. What is the cheapest form of travel from Crete to Rhodes?
The cheapest form of travel is a Ferry, costing around 120 Euros each.
http://www.athensguide.com/ferries.html
9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?
There were a few different sites that I found with No1 songs for this week in 1965 but they were for the US (Can't You Feel My Heartbeat, Herman's Hermits) and UK (The Last Time, The Rolling Stones), but this site didn't have a country so I'm going to assume its Australia for the sake of my sanity and my computer (these search engines are reeeeally getting me frustrated!) so the No1 song for the first week in April 1965 was 'Stop! In the name of love' by The Supremes. (Excuse me while I now break into song! haha)
http://www.popculturemadness.com/Music/Number-One-Songs-60s.html
10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?
The Black Assassins. They were a vital part of the Brisbane Punk scene which developed in the late 1970's and early 1980's. They played at every major venue at one time or another. Sometimes they got banned for outrageous behaviour.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm
Some Questions on Search Engines...
What is a Search Engine?
A seach engine is a way of navigating through the huge amount of information found on the internet. It allows you to access information on other sites by entering specific information and finding the sites that are most relevant to you.
How do search engines rank the information found on the internet? Who or what makes one page more useful so that it is at the top of the search results?
The search engine's "spiders" crawl the internet looking for suitable sites. Through these "spiders" the search engine looks at the numbers of words from the seach that are found on a certain page as well as where they are found (for example in titles and subheadings). This information is coded and the sites with the most compatibility based on this coding system are listed first.
What are your favourite search engines? Why those more than others?
The engine I use the most is Google because of its clear set up and accessibility. It is also a habit to use Google because it often opens up as the home page of the internet, the first thing that a user sees. The name is also catchy and easy to remember. In the Search Engine Scavenger Hunt task i found that some of the other search engines simply transferred you to a list of other search engine pages which is frustrating when you're trying to find results!
Some current news articles on search engines can be found at:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?portal_id=28&article_id=16967
http://www.seologic.com/search-engines/2003-07-14.php
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Week 4 catch-up task...
So I've searched through the library catalogue for articles to do with my essay topic. Although I don't know my exact question just yet, my topic has something to do with how blogs and new forms of communication technologies have really become communication for the masses. They celebrate and congratulate mediocrity. People become obsessed with the instant messaging world and many people judge their self worth and popularity on things like MySpace friends and blog comments. People are searching for their 5 minutes of fame and fortune. On blogs, nothing has to be justified or researched, let alone gramatically correct, and more often than not the views expressed are purely opinion. Most of what is written is basically rubbish that isn't even worth writing. Conversely, if someone actually has something inteligent to share or discuss there is a very small chance that anyone else will actually find because of all the other rubbish that is there to sort through.
Blogs, because of their growing popularity and readership, and "friend" networks on myspace for example, also have an increasing power to influence attitudes and behaviours of the population. Political blogs and "Edublogs" as well as the day to day "trying to be connected and famous" blogs could be harnessed as a cery powerful tool for our politicians and activists in the near future.
Weeeell that's the general idea but I haven't formulated an actual topic as yet....
3 articles that I found that could be relevant are:
Gregg, Melissa. Feeling ordinary: blogging as conversational scholarship [Paper in: Counter Heroics and Counter-Professionalism in Cultural Studies. Gregg, Melissa and Burgess, Jean (eds).] [online]. Continuum (Perth), v.20, no.2, June 2006: (147)-160. Availability: ISSN: 1030-4312.
Nguyen, An. Journalism in the wake of participatory publishing [online]. Australian Journalism Review, v.28 no.1 July 2006: 143-155. Availability: ISSN: 0810-2686.
Quinn, Stephen and Quinn-Allan, Deirdre. User-generated content and the changing news cycle [online]. Australian Journalism Review, v.28 no.1 July 2006: 57-70. Availability: ISSN: 0810-2686.
Doing this task really got me thinking about what I want to say and what the actual point of all my earlier ramblings could be. Through these articles I also read about increasing trends towards "participatory" or "citizen" journalism with less reliance on the traditional forms (eg. newspapers). This is also interesting considering I'm actually doing a journalism degree so the nature of my future job may end up a little different! I hope it's not confined to sitting at a computer all day on a blog....not exaaaaactly my idea of fun! haha
Blogs, because of their growing popularity and readership, and "friend" networks on myspace for example, also have an increasing power to influence attitudes and behaviours of the population. Political blogs and "Edublogs" as well as the day to day "trying to be connected and famous" blogs could be harnessed as a cery powerful tool for our politicians and activists in the near future.
Weeeell that's the general idea but I haven't formulated an actual topic as yet....
3 articles that I found that could be relevant are:
Gregg, Melissa. Feeling ordinary: blogging as conversational scholarship [Paper in: Counter Heroics and Counter-Professionalism in Cultural Studies. Gregg, Melissa and Burgess, Jean (eds).] [online]. Continuum (Perth), v.20, no.2, June 2006: (147)-160. Availability:
Nguyen, An. Journalism in the wake of participatory publishing [online]. Australian Journalism Review, v.28 no.1 July 2006: 143-155. Availability:
Quinn, Stephen and Quinn-Allan, Deirdre. User-generated content and the changing news cycle [online]. Australian Journalism Review, v.28 no.1 July 2006: 57-70. Availability:
Doing this task really got me thinking about what I want to say and what the actual point of all my earlier ramblings could be. Through these articles I also read about increasing trends towards "participatory" or "citizen" journalism with less reliance on the traditional forms (eg. newspapers). This is also interesting considering I'm actually doing a journalism degree so the nature of my future job may end up a little different! I hope it's not confined to sitting at a computer all day on a blog....not exaaaaactly my idea of fun! haha
Photo task from week 5 continued...
Continuing on with this photo task, here are photos for...
University Life (no idea who these people are but they're having fun and as well as the work, that's a big part of what uni is about!)
Summer (it's all about sunshine, the beach and a bikini!)
Hi-Tech (ideas from the clouds people!)
and News (fancy reading a paper anyone?)
Now that task is finished! Along with the beautiful photoshop work of McDreamy and I! haha
Monday, April 2, 2007
livin' the dream! haha
And here I am snuggling up at the Golden Globes with McDreamy! aaaahhhhh... and as another aspect of the same task, this photo is under the category of unconventional.
Monday, March 12, 2007
So its week 2 of blog creation! And we're thinking about how we use new communication technologies to communicate with our friends and family.... Weeeeellll! Without my phone I pretty much wouldn't function properly AT ALL. With my family living over in Perth and me not having a land line at home on the coast I wouldn't be able to speak to them, let alone organise things with my friends over here. Mobiles have dominated communication in recent years and i'm definitely a part of that, given how much i rely on it! I could probably survive relatively normally without the internet if it wasn't for all the info from uni that so heavily relies on the internet being accessible for its consumption. If other people who need to communicate with me didn't rely so much on the internet to get in touch with me (for example if they called me instead), I wouldn't need to rely on it so much either. It's kind of a chicken or egg thing i guess...
Another thing about the internet... So often it just doesn't work! "Page cannot be displayed" is probably the most visited site on the world wide web! And all those little boxes with the red x in the middle telling you that theres a picture there but you can't see it - gee thanks!
I don't have MySpace and really only use the internet for uni research, looking at competition photos and emails! If I had MySpace I'd probably waste waaay too much time on it and face to face communication is usually better than text anyway. Things can be misinterpreted and theres no text for signs of tone or sarcasm so its pretty one dimensional. Isn't it something like 90% of how we talk to people is non-verbal? And texting is really only relying on that 10% verbal to get a message across - theres a lot left over there!
And meeting people on the internet? *cough* well it seems to work for some people but if you'd only met someone on the internet you'd have this idea of who they were and how they acted etc. in your head that could be so far from the truth! Doesn't appeal to me thats for sure.
But hey, who am I to argue that you can't find true love on truelove.com? I mean, they can do all sorts of things with the letters in your name work out who is 'the one' for you and there are so many honest testimonials and thank yous from happy couples that it must work! And if SexySam7 just happens to have all the same interests as you, is super good looking, really fit, smart, funny and a genuinely nice guy in his profile then a face to face meeting would certainly be love at first sight! Definitely start planning the wedding now (even before the meeting - go go go!) and can the genius behind that perfect match - the administrator at love happens.com - be top of the guest list? It was all thanks to her matchmaking skills afterall! Oh! and all that numerology and compatability training!
*Cough* That was all sarcastic incase you didn't know!
Another thing about the internet... So often it just doesn't work! "Page cannot be displayed" is probably the most visited site on the world wide web! And all those little boxes with the red x in the middle telling you that theres a picture there but you can't see it - gee thanks!
I don't have MySpace and really only use the internet for uni research, looking at competition photos and emails! If I had MySpace I'd probably waste waaay too much time on it and face to face communication is usually better than text anyway. Things can be misinterpreted and theres no text for signs of tone or sarcasm so its pretty one dimensional. Isn't it something like 90% of how we talk to people is non-verbal? And texting is really only relying on that 10% verbal to get a message across - theres a lot left over there!
And meeting people on the internet? *cough* well it seems to work for some people but if you'd only met someone on the internet you'd have this idea of who they were and how they acted etc. in your head that could be so far from the truth! Doesn't appeal to me thats for sure.
But hey, who am I to argue that you can't find true love on truelove.com? I mean, they can do all sorts of things with the letters in your name work out who is 'the one' for you and there are so many honest testimonials and thank yous from happy couples that it must work! And if SexySam7 just happens to have all the same interests as you, is super good looking, really fit, smart, funny and a genuinely nice guy in his profile then a face to face meeting would certainly be love at first sight! Definitely start planning the wedding now (even before the meeting - go go go!) and can the genius behind that perfect match - the administrator at love happens.com - be top of the guest list? It was all thanks to her matchmaking skills afterall! Oh! and all that numerology and compatability training!
*Cough* That was all sarcastic incase you didn't know!
Monday, March 5, 2007
So the beginning of the uni year starts with a blog. I'm writing it somewhat tired and a tad sunburnt from a weekend racing at the State Titles at Kawana on the Sunny Coast :-) Good surf and sunny days always a good combination!
Weell onto my thoughts on the course so far! I couldn't go to the lecture because of having to race on the weekend (again) so content wise i'm a little (make that a lot!) in the dark. So there's some reading that i need to catch up on!
Everyday life is incredibly dependent on communication. How people and cultures communicate and interact with one another is essential to the smooth running of things - pretty much everything when you think about it. Global trade, media, families, friends. If we couldn't communicate with one another how would we function? If we couldn't convey to someone how we were feeling or what we were trying to say, what would eventuate? Frustration and confusion would be everywhere. But then there's also how easily means of communication are manipulated to mimik the creators' intention. Propaganda throughout history has changed how people act, how they communicate with one another and in turn what they do. The media laws in Australia now are increasing the amount of power that a few high profile people possess to control and distort messages and information - it's actually kind of scary how much these people (eg. Packer, Murdoch) can manipulate and govern what information we consume.
The study of communication is interesting and relevant to my future career as a journalist. Being able to clearly communicate information and knowledge to readers or viewers is essential to a journalist's success. However the way this is done is also important and I am looking forward to enjoying a few years at uni while I try to master it!
I've definitely got a long way to go before I master this blogging thing though! Not exactly the most technologically advanced person going around, my computer experience is basically Word and Hotmail so this subject could be a rather steep learning curve!
Weell onto my thoughts on the course so far! I couldn't go to the lecture because of having to race on the weekend (again) so content wise i'm a little (make that a lot!) in the dark. So there's some reading that i need to catch up on!
Everyday life is incredibly dependent on communication. How people and cultures communicate and interact with one another is essential to the smooth running of things - pretty much everything when you think about it. Global trade, media, families, friends. If we couldn't communicate with one another how would we function? If we couldn't convey to someone how we were feeling or what we were trying to say, what would eventuate? Frustration and confusion would be everywhere. But then there's also how easily means of communication are manipulated to mimik the creators' intention. Propaganda throughout history has changed how people act, how they communicate with one another and in turn what they do. The media laws in Australia now are increasing the amount of power that a few high profile people possess to control and distort messages and information - it's actually kind of scary how much these people (eg. Packer, Murdoch) can manipulate and govern what information we consume.
The study of communication is interesting and relevant to my future career as a journalist. Being able to clearly communicate information and knowledge to readers or viewers is essential to a journalist's success. However the way this is done is also important and I am looking forward to enjoying a few years at uni while I try to master it!
I've definitely got a long way to go before I master this blogging thing though! Not exactly the most technologically advanced person going around, my computer experience is basically Word and Hotmail so this subject could be a rather steep learning curve!
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