Week 8 Blog 2

Forgot to post this - For my essay I have decided on the topic - Does the extensive use of computer/video games have an adverse impact on the health of young people. What are the most recent papers? Clarify what both sides of the argument claim and only then offer your reasoned opinion based on facts.

Back in week 4, we were asked to discuss computer games and the effect they have on people. While writing about it in my week 4 blog, I found I had a lot to say on the matter and could've kept rambling on. So when looking at the topics for the essay, I thought I would go with the one I'd find most interesting to research and easiest to write; alas choosing this topic.

While researching back in week 4 I found a lot of useful resources that could help me with this essay. To me - Creative Commons is a great idea. I've been making videos and using them for assignments, YouTube projects and various other things in the past and I'd say I'm stepping on some copyright infringements every single time. I also use music - and have never thought of copyright laws. I suppose since my videos are not going anywhere special, the original publisher will never know. This is wrong, but at the same time I also think it depends on whatever you're using. If its a quote - definitely reference. But in situations like our short videos we had to make for New Comm, I don't think there's any reason to contact the original publisher of a song when it's used for 30 seconds in a clip where less than 30 people will probably ever see it.

Week 9 Post 2 - the Video

Here is the final product of our video. Enjoy.

Week 9 Blog 1

What opportunities can you find for political participation via the internet. How many of the following can you achieve while sticking to your political beliefs?

    * Sign an e-petition.


I used Google to search "Current Australian e-petitions" and it directed me to this link of Australian petitions. I then went to the petitions page and had a laugh at some of the petitions. Jokingly, I was going to sign the 'legalize marijuana' petition but as the blog states we're meant to stick to our political beliefs I decided I would keep looking. I then saw one to Ban the killing of pitballs in Melbourne, but hey, if Pitbull wants to tour in Melbourne I think he should. Joking. Finally I decided to sign for telecommunications access for deaf people. Having experience with deaf people I feel strongly to this cause and would happily sign the petition for the purpose of this task as well as self gratification. 


    *  What is Barack Obama up to today? Can you send him a message about the importance of freedom on the internet?


In an attempt to stalk Barack Obama I found it quite easy being directly linked to http://ochairball.blogspot.com/ which is in fact called 'Today with President Barack Obama'. It has everything you need to know about Obama, including a daily schedule which is perfect to answer this questions. Obama's day on the 22nd of September goes something like this:

1:00 AM	The President and The Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing Oval Office Closed Press
10:30 AM	The President meets with senior advisors Oval Office Closed Press
12:30 PM	The President departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews South Lawn Open Press
12:45 PM	The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route Cincinnati, Ohio Joint Base Andrews Travel Pool Coverage
2:05 PM	The President arrives Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport Open Press
2:30 PM	The President delivers remarks on the American Jobs Act Hilltop Basic Resources Open Press
3:50 PM	The President departs Cincinnati, Ohio en route Joint Base Andrews Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport Open Press
5:10 PM	The President arrives Joint Base Andrews Joint Base Andrews Travel Pool Coverage
5:25 PM	The President arrives the White House South Lawn Open Press

    * What are the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")?


I got this information by searching Australian Government's plans to censor the internet "clean feed", which was pretty standard. I got linked to this website which gave me this information.

"The Australian Federal Labor Government has a "plan" (since late 2007) to mandate that ISPs block adults' access to Internet content on a secret blacklist, compiled by a government agency, that the Government deems unsuitable for adults.

The Labor Government's "plan" has changed at least three times since they were originally elected in November 2007, and their 2009-2011 plan bears zero resemblance to Labor's November 2007 election policy. On 15 December 2009, the Labor Government announced the third version of their mandatory ISP-level blocking policy/plan stating (contrary to their 2007 election policy) that adults will not be able to opt-out, and that ISPs will not be required to even offer to block any adults-only material, i.e. X18+ pornography or R18+. Hence, the mandatory ISP blocking system will be utterly useless for a purpose of protecting children online.

The sole purpose is to require ISPs to (attempt to) block adults' access to content that the government deems unsuitable for adults. If implemented, the Labor Government would be the first government in a "western democracy" to mandate that."


http://libertus.net/censor/isp-blocking/au-govplan.html

Week 8 Blog 1

Today we began editing our video. We had a couple of problems, but nothing that we couldn't fix with a simple google search or with a little help from the 'Help' menu in iMovie. The first problem was that the photos were set on 'Ken Burns', which automatically, and slowly zoomed up on every photo which wasn't very visually appealing considering each photo was timed for 0.5 seconds in length. It was a bit like motion sickness. I then 'trouble-shooted' the problem by googling how to stop it from happening. We found an answer on Yahoo Answers which explained the 'Ken Burns' effect and how to get rid of it. 

Our other issue was the music. Finding the perfect song was not hard, we decided to use Port O'Brian's song 'I Woke Up Today', which is an upbeat song that suits the mood of the film as it is all a bit of fun - although we have to find our way around copyright infringements. At the moment we're planning to just use the song and see if we can get away with it. I've uploaded videos to YouTube years ago using songs that I didn't create and they are still online today so I don't think we should have a problem. If we do, Jess has recently made a song in one of her classes so I'm sure we'll use that. It's no Port O'Brian, but who knows - we may be launching Jess into the music industry if we have to use it. Finally we inserted the credits, which run over the final image of our clip before it fades to black and silence and our video is complete.

Week 7: Part 2 Response

Today me and my partners Jess Kelly & Lizzy Keen took photos for our short film. We wanted to do a movie compiled of images that formulate a story. Set at Griffith, both Jess and Lizzy star as the same character - the story tells a day in the life at Griffith University, where both Jess and Lizzy walk out of New Comm Tech, go down the elevator and out of G_23. They walk along a red wall, sit along a bench, teleport per metre square, with a mix of straight line walking and spinning all the way to a grass patch. There they walk around a tree, bump into each other, meet each other and as a clever twist we decided to make Jess dissapear, leaving Lizzy in shock. We're not planning a sequel, so unfortunately you'll never know what happened to Jess. All I can say is that there is a reason "the ute" is credited at the end. My lips are sealed. Just think about it.

So from here on we edit. We will upload the images from Jess' iPhone 4 onto her Macbook and use iMovie to edit. I think we've agreed on using a song over the top and perhaps adding some text to make it that extra bit abstract.

Week 7: Part 1 Response

Blog Post 1

How is Wikipedia useful?


While everyone snobs Wikipedia, I personally find it incredibly resourceful. I'd say I use it everyday. Not for the hard hitting news stories or for articles I can potentially use in essays, but for day to day information or whenever I'm curious about any sort of topic or person, I know I can rely on Wikipedia to get me what I want asap. Often when I go onto a Wikipedia page, I find myself going from link to link and it's interesting to see where one Wikipedia search can take me on the site - there's so much to look at.

Has anyone here edited Wikipedia? How hard is it?


I've never edited Wikipedia. One time, I tried - but the process of setting up an account seemed all too difficult and pointless when I didn't really care all that much. Was just trying to help out.



Why does Facebook work?


Facebook works because everybody either has it, wants it or at least knows somebody on it. It's everywhere and as long as its active everyday, we're all going to continue to use it.



What would it take for you to close down your Facebook account?


I've deactivated my Facebook account numerous times basically for the sake of my degree or my OP back in the day, but other than that I can only see myself closing down the account permanently if it was unsafe for me to have it. 


Is citizen journalism the end of traditional journalism?


Definitely not. While citizen journalism isn't professional and not always accurate, it is still really beneficial and useful. There is no problem with people publishing new information before a professional journalist because nobody cares how hard-hitting urgent news is announced, people just want the information instantly. Let citizen journalists enlighten the world with immediate news and let traditional journalists present it to us with more reliable info and a nicer article to read. 

Week 6: Part 2 Response

Exploring cheap AV production tools


This week I was unable to make class - but classmate and friend of mine Lizzy took it upon herself to assign me in a group with her and Jess, thankfully. She came to us with an idea of a short film comprised of still images - which is always entertaining and not too difficult to produce.

1) how you can add elements that you have created (photos, music, video from your phone etc) into the production?


If we decide to do a film with still-images I'm sure we'll be using a tone of photos, probably using our iPhone cameras and uploading the photos onto one of Jess or my Macbook's. It should be an easy transfer from the iPhone to the Macbook where I assume we will use iMovie to edit our film - Jess and I both have experience using this program from Youth and Society last semester.

2) problems you may have with copyright over elements that you did not create and 


We shouldn't have any copyright infringements. I can only assume the only problem we may encounter is the audio we use over our film as I'm sure we're all leaning towards a song as a soundtrack rather than a voice over - especially considering it's under 2 minutes in length.


I guess next week all we can do is brainstorm, think of a story that works for all of us and go from there. We're all pretty open minded people and I can't imagine there will be any conflict in story so this film should be a breeze.

Week 6: Part 1 Response

There is no denying that the internet has revolutionized new media and had an effect on every one of us. It is a technology so powerful, we are able to experience all types of media in the one place, canceling out the need for so many modes of entertainment. There's no doubt Hollywood cinema is struggling, with the dependence people have on the internet to provide them with entertainment, ticket sales and DVD releases are decreasing week by week and soon, Hollywood is going to struggle. 


At the moment, Hollywood and television are doing okay - it's what they're expecting in the future that makes them nervous. As it gets easier to illegally pirate film & television, more people will learn to do so - alas the beginning of the end of any cinema and television profit. Of course it is illegal to copy DVD's and upload on the content on the internet, but it is way too easy to get away with committing this crime. It happens so often and anonymously that there is no reason for people not to do this besides sacrificing your own morals. Personally, I think the internet is killing Hollywood. Cinema cannot rely on merchandise for every film. While several epics release a franchise of toys, posters and other memorabilia, a lot of films only release a DVD - and if it happens to be on the internet, earlier, people aren't going to waste their money on something they can have for free.


The only thing I can see Hollywood cinema holding onto is the fact that some old-school people, like myself, enjoy the concept of going to a cinema and sitting amongst a group of strangers and watching a new movie on a bigger screen. While we're all guilty of watching at least one movie on a pirated DVD or online, I'm sure I'm not the only person who wouldn't mind spending a few dollars to watch a new movie in a cinema for the first time. It's a concept people will look back on and wonder why we, a group of strangers, congregate together to watch a new film in a room - but for now, all we can do is wait until we all have a cinema in our own television set - whether we still pay for it or not, Hollywood will be around but the cinema will not.

Week 5: Scavenger Hunt

1. Where was the first University established and in which year?


Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, is considered to be the oldest university in the world. It was founded, in 969 AD. The first lecture was delivered in 975 AD. I found this answer on Yahoo Answers http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060729054252AAiUY0V
Accessed August 23rd 2011


2. What is Stephen Stockwell's band called and what does he play?  Can you name a couple of their songs?


Stephen Stockwell plays keyboard in The Black Assassins.  I found this answer on http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm. Accessed August 23rd 2011.
A couple of their songs I could not find without using google.


3. What is the weight of the world’s biggest machine? How much did it cost to build?


The world's largest machine is the Bagger 228 digging machine weighing at around 45,000 tons. It cost $100 million US to build. I found this on http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/Trencher.htm, Accessed on August 23 2011


4. Who is Justin Bieber's lawyer, and what is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact the lawyer?

Justin Bieber's lawyer, almost impossible to find is Kenneth Feinswog. 

http://www.manta.com/c/mms3lh1/kenneth-a-feinswog-attorney Accessed August 23 2011

5. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne?

At this very moment, $87 with Flight Centre economy class.  

http://www.flightcentre.com.au/product/1032390?WT.mc_id=dfa00011116 Accessed August 23 2011

6. Who is Hatsune Miku? What company does she belong to? What is her birthday?

Hatsune Mikuis a character from the Vocaloid Character Vocal Series synthesiser developed by Yamaha Corporation. Her Birthday is August 31st. 

http://www.animevice.com/miku-hatsune/18-20703/ Accessed August 23 2011

7. Find a live webcam in Belarus. Find a place to stay in Antarctica.

http://www.webcamgalore.com/EN/webcam/Belarus/Minsk/498.html 

That was hard to find, but Accessed on August 23 2011

8. What song was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1991?

My familiarity with the ARIA charts made this question very easy to answer. It was Bryan Adam's song "Everything I do (I do for you)"  http://australian-charts.com/search.asp?search=Bryan+Adams&cat=s

9. What type of car is used to make ‘Google Street View’?

According to http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2007/05/google-maps-street-view-heres-how-they.html, accessed August 23 2011, Google uses a VW Beetle with a roof mounted high-def camera.

10. Translate these questions into Spanish and then translate them back into English.

¿Dónde estaba la primera universidad establecida y en qué año?
¿Lo que se llama la banda de Stephen Stockwell y lo que él jugar? ¿Puede nombrar un par desus canciones?
¿Cuál es el peso de la máquina más grande del mundo? ¿Cuánto cuesta para construir?
¿Quién es el abogado de Justin Bieber, y cuál es la mejor forma para ponerse en contacto conel abogado (más rápida, más fiable)?
¿Cuál es la forma más barata de viajar desde la costa de oro a Melbourne?
¿Quién es Hatsune Miku? ¿Qué empresa ella pertenece a? ¿Cuál es su cumpleaños?
Encontrar una webcam vivo en Belarús. Encontrar un lugar para quedarse en la Antártida.
¿Qué canción fue cima de las listas pop australianas esta semana en 1991?
¿Qué tipo de coche se utiliza para hacer 'google Street View'?
Traducir estas preguntas en español y, a continuación, convertirlos en inglés.

And in English...

1. Where was the first University established and in which year?
2. What is Stephen Stockwell's band called and what does he play?  Can you name a couple of their songs?
3. What is the weight of the world’s biggest machine? How much did it cost to build?
4. Who is Justin Bieber's lawyer, and what is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact the lawyer?
5. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne?
6. Who is Hatsune Miku? What company does she belong to? What is her birthday?
7. Find a live webcam in Belarus. Find a place to stay in Antarctica.
8. What song was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1991?
9. What type of car is used to make ‘Google Street View’?
10. Translate these questions into Spanish and then translate them back into English.

For this I used http://www.spanishdict.com/translation which I accessed on August 23, 2011

Week 4: Google+

I chose to write about the newest website of the social networking craze, Google +. It has only been around a few months and is the next addition to having an online life. I think it's clever and with work and time it will take over Facebook, and with the ability to separate family, friends and colleagues it's only a matter of time before everybody activates their Google + account and the Facebook accounts start rusting with our myspace accounts.

The terms and conditions are here: Google+ Terms and Conditions

In terms of content it seems we have a lot of options when it comes to privacy settings. We're able to control a lot of what people see, which is very convenient. All they ask is pretty simple. No nudity or other inappropriate images. By experience through friends, it seems Facebook is pretty on the ball with their removal of 'forbidden' material online. It seems they have a big team of people working on removing the reported images. While I still see the occasional inappropriate photo with an added date from '07, a lot of images are removed within an hour.

Week 4: Lecture & Tute

Growing up I did enjoy a good video game, as I'm sure many of us did. At a young age I was entertained by pretty much any style or genre of gaming. Back then, anything was fun. As I grew up I played some violent games in my time, but never considered any of it to be realistic. When you play these kinds of games you have to realise that it's not promoting this behaviour, it's simply letting you experience it so you don't have the urge in real life. I guess this worked for me, but not for Anders Behring Breivik, an extremist who killed 85 young people at a youth camp in Oslo, Norway. David Johnstone says "It didn’t take long for reports to claim that violent computer games were found at Breivik’s house. Nor did it take long for some to use this for their political advantage. However, since Breivik has published a 1500 page manifesto detailing all sorts of things, it is worth looking at this to see what he himself says about games." His manifesto details all of the games he played and basically formulates his plan of attack on all of the people he murdered.


Not all murderers are video game junkies, but it does make you consider how much of an influence these games do have on people. To think  - without these games, could it have possibly spared the life of 85 people? Obviously he has issues beyond his own self-control, but it is hard not to think that these games pushed his drive over the line to commit the crimes he did. So I think video games are fine if they are in the hands of the right people. But in Anders Behring Breivik's case, maybe it's not such a good idea.


Reference


http://davidjohnstone.net/blog/2011/07/anders-behring-breivik-and-violent-video-games


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/8657475/Norway-killings-The-laughing-gunman-who-shot-85-young-victims-one-by-one.html


Accessed on August 18th 2011

Week 3: Old Internet Community

Having always been a fan of music and needing to own the albums I wanted, downloading them for free online always seemed like a smarter option and easier on the pocket money. From a young age I was downloading music as my two older brothers showed me the ropes. Way back we had Napster, but once the lawsuits started coming in for them, my brothers scouted out Kazaa, spelt 'KaZaa'.  It started out as a peer-to-peer file sharing application which almost instantly applied to music, soon becoming a very popular program to simply search a song and download it for free. 


However, Kazaa didn't have any virus protection and months down the line, the odds were that you were more likely to download a virus instead of a song. Alas, the end of our usage of Kazaa, as well as our computer. Since using Kazaa, we steer clear from all file sharing programs on our computers and laptops, even avoiding downloading Limewire for all the years it was popular. I'd like to say now we're loyal online customers for the iTunes store, and we were for a few years, but that's not the case anymore. Kazaa was a big contributor to my family's collection of music and now it's good to see that it is still active for people in the USA as an online store. It seems to be the direction of all the new file sharing programs to hit the net. Once they face legal challenges, they become a legitimate source for purchasing music.


After stealing millions of users from Napster, the appropriated file-sharing app Kazzaa slowly learnt that you can't get away with giving out free music. As for the future of free online file-sharing, it's still easy, free music is still accessible. More and more file-sharing programs are coming out along with websites simply feeding us torrents. So the future is looking rather repetitive and I think there will always be a new program or site for free music. Who knows, with the progression of Facebook's photo and file sharing now, maybe one day we'll be swapping music online while social networking.








References


http://www.dailytech.com/Kazaa+to+Pay+100+Million+to+Record+Labels/article3535.htm


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5220406.stm

Week 3: Databases

• What was Stephen Stockwell's first article in an academic journal? What year? Provide a full citation. What database did you use?
  

Stephen Stockwell's first article in an academic journal was "The Brisbane Model: considering a unique experiment", 1995 Urban Policy and Research Volume 13, Issue 2, pp. 89 - 96 via Taylor & Francis Online

• In which comic did Governor Slugwell appear? Which Issues? Give their full citation for the earliest. Where did you find this information? What database did you use?
  

Govenor Slugwell first appeared in a comic called 'Flaming Carrot Comics' by Bob Burden. He first appeared in 1985 in Issue 7 called 'When The Shoes Aren't Worth The Shine'. In order to find this information I searched 'Govenor Slugwell comic'. It was as simple as that and lead me to a database 'Underground and Independent Comics'

Burden B 1985, 'Flaming Carrot Comics', Issue 7. p 1-36

• What is the latest medical thinking on the dangers of mobile phones? Provide a full citation.
  

According to the Daily Mail UK, world health chiefs warn that mobile phones may cause cancer. "Mobile phone owners were urged to limit their use last night after the World Health Organisation admitted they may cause cancer.

The UN’s health agency advised ‘pragmatic’ measures to reduce exposure, such as using hands-free kits and texting instead of calling.

Fiona M 2011 'Mobile phones may cause cancer, warn world health chiefs' Daily Mail UK June 2011

• In Bladerunner, what is Leon's reaction when Holden asks him about his mother? Quote the 1982 draft script and provide a full reference.
  

"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."

Fancher H, Peoples D, Webb D, Kibbee R 1982, 'Blade Runner', Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Alexander Street Press,  via Trial Database and American Film Scripts.