The lecture was taken again by crazy man, Jason (minus the coffee in a jar this week!). As always a very interesting and entertaining lecture. The topic for this week according to our course outline was 'Cyber-Utopia' but I think it was more to do with learning how to use software.
The following instructions have been copied directly from Jason's notes.
Jason's all everything gigantic and super lecture on how to teach yourself software!
1. Begin by figuring out what you need to do.
2. But then maybe what you think you want to do, is not exactly what you should be doing.
3. Ok.... so you've figured out you need to learn advanced software in a few days.
4. You can't learn software in a few days.
5. Begin by plaing. Make something. Anything.
6. Common features of all software packages.
7. You better save your work dammit. And save it five thousand million billion quadrillion times. Save as something else.
8. Try the help file.
9. Ok so the help section sucks.
10. Search it dammit. (Specific searches)
11. Join forums and ask the damn question. (check for forums with replies to other questions)
12. Don't fear tutorial books and video tutorials.
13. Don't take a course.
14. Remember, as soon as you learn that software, either a new package will come along or new version will be out.
15. It's all about content dammit.
So they were Jason's words of wisdom on that subject!
This morning, President Obama addressed over 100 assembled representatives of the world's nations, emphasizing that although the challenge ahead of us is great, we hold the solutions to this global crisis. (Organising for America - Bradley Portnoy's Blog)
Find out who your local, state and federal representatives are
Local (Currumbin) - Jann Stuckey State - Anna Bligh Federal - Kevin Rudd.
Look up the Queensland or Australian hansard to find the last time your local member spoke in parliament
Let your local member know what you think about their last speech
I couldn't actually find any speeches from Jann Stuckey. I looked on the Hansard, but the only time her name was mentioned was in attendance, not actually speaking.
Read the lecture and the readings, pursue a couple of the topics that you find most interesting and then post your blog with your well-considered thoughts about the theory and practice of politics
I think the most obvious point that can be made about internet politics is it has opened up the chance of more people being able to be involved in politics and have their opinions heard. As a democratic society, this is a very positive outcome.
What do you think of the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")???
I had no idea about this, so I googled it and came across No Clean Feed website which was very helpful in explaining it all. I'm definately AGAINST the clean feed, and completely agree with the website.. like come on we're not China. Australia is a free democratic society. As far as it in terms of censoring of websites for children. This isn't the responsibility of the government, it is the parents.
What place does censorship have in a democracy?
I think above all, this is the most important factor. We can not claim to be a democratic society and then go and censor the internet.
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?
I think there is an abundance of oportunities for political participation over the internet. It makes it a lot easier to be involved then by participating in the real world. I will be honest I don't have any interest in politics, so can't really stick to following certain beliefs..
Interestingly enough when you search google images for internet politics and Australia that picture is the fourth result.. ah god bless Australia.
Well I will be honest, I didn't actually attend the lecture this week. I was lucky enough to be spending my time trying to write a 2,000 word essay. YAY for me! Anywayyyy.. I had a look at the lecture notes/novel Stephen Stockwell put up.
It was very full on so but from what I can can gather it is to do with the politics of the internet. Internet related terms used include:
CyberPolitics - politics as carried out in cyberspace, comprehending such concepts as electronic voting.(Wikitionary)
eDemocracy - E-democracy represents the use of information and communication technologies and strategies by democratic actors within political and governance processes of local communities, nations and on the international stage. Democratic actors/sectors include governments, elected officials, the media, political organizations, and citizen/voters. (Wikipedia)
Hacker: A slang term for a computer enthusiast, i.e., a person who enjoys learning programming languages and computer systems and can often be considered an expert on the subject(s). Among professional programmers, depending on how it used, the term can be either complimentary or derogatory, although it is developing an increasingly derogatory connotation. The pejorative sense of hacker is becoming more prominent largely because the popular press has coopted the term to refer to individuals who gain unauthorized access to computer systems for the purpose of stealing and corrupting data. Hackers, themselves, maintain that the proper term for such individuals is cracker. (Webopedia)
Cyberpunk: Cyberpunk is about expressing (often dark) ideas about human nature, technology and their respective combination in the near future. (Cyberpunk Review)
Can't exactly see the comparisons when thinking of what springs to mind about 'real' punk.
Well there was a teacher's strike, so we didn't actually have a tute for this week. I had a look at the New Comm Tech blog and our task for the week was to download one or more of the freeware apps that we learnt about in last week's lecture and write about it.
I downloaded Photoscape from download.com. This software is to used to edit photos.
I've edited some photos of my holiday earlier this year and have put the before and afters:
This week we had the funny guy again as lecturer and the topic was Open Source Software.
Before I get on to that though, just one thing that really stood out to me from that lecture, he was drinking coffee out a jar (like what was probably once a spaghetti sauce jar). Some one asked him about it and his response was 'well you trying drinking coffee when your driving.' Ummmmmmm... travel mug???
But anyway, back to the lecture. It was all about software that you can download from the internet. Some are called open source software, and this is where the code has been opened up for everyone to use.
Some advantages of this, is that you apart from being free in most cases, you are able to just get specific things. So incase you wanted just one program, you wouldn't need to buy the entire set of software pack.
The drawback to open source software is that viruses are more easier to form and that the programs won't automatically update and need to be done manually.
He also briefly spoke about Linex and Red Hat. Linex provide free software over the net.
Following on from what Josh showed us in last week's lecture, I decided to look at some more fan films and mash ups using fanfilms and thetrailermash.
SouthTrek Episode 1: Logic Has Nothing to Do with It 'This fanfilm is a spoof/parody of Star Trek (the original series) - South Park style. Lots of references to stuff from both shows.'
This was very clever, and pretty funny! I don't know much about Star Trek but I recognised all the Southpark references and jokes. They used all the same characters, though they had different names and outfits.
Bike to the Future 'A spoof on Back to the Future. Doc Brown needs Marty's help to test out his new invention. But this time machine is no Delorean.'
This one was pretty funny too! They had the same characters' names, but unlike the other one, they didn't look at all like the characters from the movie.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Thriller)
'I re-edited Ferris Bueller’s Day Off into a supernatural psycho thriller.'
Hahahahaha! I'm quite a fan of the movie, and this is just hilarious. It's amazing how it can be made to look like a completely different film.
A Clockwork Orange 'A Clockwork Orange becomes an ’80s teen comedy when Alex decides to take a day off, Ferris Bueller style.'
Very, very clever!! Anthony Burgess would probably be rolling in his grave though..
In this week's tute our task was to create a fictitious news report and upload to ireport.com. A CNN news website that allows the general public to upload news.
My group consisted on Tenneal, Alisa and Felix. Our news report was about alleged ghost sitings at Griffith Uni. I was the reporter on campus doing a story, Alisa was a witness and Tenneal was.. well a dead body really. Felix was the camera man.
It started with WS of the campus, panning around to stop at me. MLS shot of me introducing the report. MS of witness describing what she'd seen. Cut off by scream in the background. Camera pans to me shocked face and then changes to WS as I run to where a body is lying dead on the ground. CU of the body. MLS shot of me reporting of sign of ghost a handkerchief found in tree. I scream having seen ghost coming for me. Reporter and I run away WS shot. Film cuts out as the ghost gets the reporter.
Our news report was called "Attack on Griffith Uni Campus.. 37 already dead AND COUNTING". Strangely though it has been removed from iReport. Here is the link of it on Felix's blog. Our Report
Yep, pretty sure a six year old can draw better than me!
OTHER SITES
Our task was to pick 5 of the websites from the New Comm Tech blog and briefly critique. Following on from the comments made of our lecturer (can't remember his name!)about what will be the next big things to come in the internet, all of the websites below are specialised to particular interests.
"Vampire Rave is the social networking website for vampires and goths."
This website builds on the general social networking idea, but limiting it to only those interested in vampires or goth scene. What is probably the most surprising part is that there are 15,519 members. Sure it's no facebook phenonemon, but that's still an alright following.
"Lifehacker is a technology blog with a slightly different way of looking at the world. We see technology as a shortcut to life. If you’re tech savvy and looking for a better, faster way to do things, or you’re just starting to explore what you can do with technology, stop by Lifehacker to check out the latest tips, tricks and shortcuts."
It seems to have a bit of everything. The type of website where you would go to for tips on a multitude of things in life. There's a communicate, design, fix, money, organise, travel and work section. For example, in the travel section the top stories are: 'Create a single, reusable packing list' and 'Google Maps adds Australian traffic information'. I think this would be very useful site and because it caters for so many different things, it would appeal to a variety of people, the only problem is that, well I for one would have never have known it existed had it not been for this class.
"Mashable is the world's largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news. With more than 7 million monthly pageviews, Mashable is the most prolific blog reviewing new Web sites and services, publishing breaking news on what's new on the web and offering social media resources and guides."
Well I guess this website would prove quite popular with the proper social networking fiends. It's the site to go to when checking your facebook/twitter/emails every half hour still just doesn't quite keep you updated enough in the world. It's updated daily and features any news related do with facebook and twitter predominately.
"This blog is not about those machines used to change mechanical energy into electrical energy. It's about software that creates software. Software to play around and have fun with."
This website is a bit of everything as well. Everything internet related anyway. Some of the things on the home page were; make your own lego character, random youtube insult, photo effect toolkit. Similar to lifehacker in that because it's so varied in things to can do, you could use the website frequently and by many different people, but again I would never have known it existed and I think that would be the same for a lot of people.
"Polyvore is a free, easy-to-use web-based application for mixing and matching images from anywhere on the web. It is also a vibrant community of creative and stylish people."
This blog is a haven for the fashion conscious girl. It features female clothing and accessaries and it is sorted by outfits, brands, styles, celebraties, etc. I will admit I did quite like this site, and would probably actually use it again. This blog is very, very specialised and would only appeal to a very minute demographic.
This is about a teenager daughter that has died and the requests she has on her will. It's like a parody of My Super Sweet 16, etc. Some requests are that her dog crys pink tears, Zac Efron is in the coffin with here. Pretty silly, but it did really make me laugh!!!
Ctr Alt Delete
Set in the UK, whilst searching for free porn, Andy accidently deletes the internet. When his computer freezes he trys the ctrl alt del trick, and presses ok to the questions asked on the screen without thinking and ends up deleting the internet. THE US ring him asking what he did. Was pretty funny..
Black Button
This is such a clever film. A man, Mr Roberts is offered $10 million to press a button and which would result in somebody in the world's death. Mr Roberts hesitates about this for awhile trying to justify doing it, eg. people die every day. The man behind the desk tells him if he doesn't answer in 30 seconds he will withdraw the offer. At the last second Mr Roberts presses the button. It is then that he is told that he has already died and is in purgery and it was his test to see if he could get into heaven. Because he failed he is sent to hell.
