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.....
Monday, April 30, 2007
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.
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