FINAL ESSAY

In today’s society, while the Internet has grown into a superpower of knowledge, information, money, shopping, music, relationships, etc. A number of extreme issues surround what is argued to be the most powerful leverage to find, manage and share information (Johnston, 2010). As the Internet itself has grown into Web 2.0, it has allowed for a number of sites and networks to branch out into a sub-culture of their own. These branches have then developed extremely contentious issues which over time are changing but are constantly present. While privacy has always been an issue surrounding Facebook in particular, a number of recent events have thrown Facebook and the like such as Twitter and YouTube and their privacy policies into the limelight to be questioned, analysed and severely criticised. In order to explicitly explore why privacy is such a contentious issue, this essay will investigate the recent suicide of homosexual student Tyler Clementi which highlighted this issue drastically and raised further issues such as the filtering and censorship system of social networking sites and how strict their privacy options really are.

On September 19, 2010, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei live streamed their roommate, Tyler Clementi’s, sexual encounters with a man. When Clementi, a devoted and passionate musician and student asked his roommate Ravi if it were possible to have the dorm room to himself for the night, Ravi set up a webcam which recorded Clementi and another man performing sexual acts, and streamed it directly onto the Internet. Two days later on the 21st, Ravi attempted a similar live feed and on the 22ND, Clementi posted on Facebook he was about to jump of the George Washington Bridge which he then did and died at the age of 18 (Forderaro 2010, p.1). Coupled with a Twitter message on the same day as the first live feed from Ravi, “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay,” (Forderaro 2010. P.1) the live stream of Clementi, without his knowledge or consent, has created a whirlwind of criticism of social networking sites such as YouTube and their censorship and privacy policies. YouTube’s privacy policy states that, “For content to be considered for removal, an individual must be uniquely identifiable by image, voice, full name, Social Security number, bank account number or contact information (e.g. home address, email address)” (YouTube, 2010). YouTube also maintains strict copyright laws, both this and it’s privacy policies should have rendered Clementi’s video inappropriate for YouTube based on the fact that Clementi was identifiable in the video, as was his counterpart, and the video was uploaded without his consent or knowledge. YouTube also, however, maintains it will only accept privacy violation complaints from the person themselves and only a third party if the first party does not have access to a computer, is a vulnerable individual or if the third party is a f (YouTube, 2010). Due to the fact that neither Clementi nor his family were aware of the video at the time, the removal of the video did not occur immediately. Patricia Lange in her 2007 article ‘Publicly private and privately public suggests’, ‘Intent, however, does not guarantee success, which depends upon the capabilities of interpreting parties, who may detect someone’s identity or decipher arcane meanings in videos’ (Lange, 2007). Clemetni’s death has certainly brought awareness to the state of privacy and censorship in social networking, particularly YouTube.

Ron Bowles brought extreme media attention to Facebook’s privacy policies when he collected private data from over 1 million Facebook pages and uploaded it to Pirate Bay, a bittorent download website (Chacksfield, 2010). Facebook defended their policies by maintaining that the information collected was off pages made ‘public’ by their users (ONE, 2010). They also then go on to ensure that, ‘People who use Facebook own their information and have the right to share only what they want, with whom they want, and when they want’ (Chacksfield, 2010). This particular happening, like that of the death of Tyler Clementi, launched Facebook into a frenzy of criticism and questioning which prompted a number of studies aimed at finding glitches in Facebook’s privacy system and consequently highlighting it’s danger.

Jones and Soltren (2005) explored the flaws in Facebook’s privacy system by surveying Melbourne Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard, NYU and University of Oklahoma students and explicitly analysing the system in terms of Fair Information Practices. They found that privacy on Facebook is undermined by three principles; users disclose too much, Facebook does not take adequate steps to protect their users’ privacy and third parties are actively seeking out end-user information on Facebook (Jones & Soltren, 2005). Jones and Soltren also noted that while Facebook does give users the option to disallow third parties to obtain their information, this method is not located on the privacy settings page (Jones & Soltren, 2005).

Govani and Pashley, in their 2007 study, explored student awareness of privacy implications when using Facebook (Govani & Pashley, 2007). By conducting a survey, it was found that majority of the students were aware of the possible consequences of providing their personal information on Facebook. While it was noted student’s seemed well aware of the possible dangers, it was also noted that they still felt comfortable providing it. It was seen that a vast amount of student’s knew how to protect their information but did not choose to do so.

Acquisti and Gross (2006) explored Facebook’s system by comparing data from a survey conducted among college students to the data retrieved from their Facebook pages. Acquisti and Gross (2006) then analysed the impact of privacy concern on the students’ behaviour and compare their actual behaviour with their stated behaviour. Also, when comparing members and non-members, it was found that those who displayed privacy concerns would still join up and reveal great amounts of personal information. Acquisti and Gross (2006) alluded to the possibility that some students’ manage their privacy concerns by trusting their ability to control the information they provide and the external access to it (Acquisi & Gross, 2006). They did, also, find majority of students were unaware of the size, composition and visibility of members profile on Facebook (Acquisti and Gross, 2006).

Through this exploration of Facebook, YouTube and a number of studies conducted on privacy matters, it should be noted that privacy is such a contentious issue because those who use such social networking sites are somewhat uneducated as to the extent their information can be used and by whom. While it seems gen Y are so implicitly involved in social networking, they are somewhat oblivious to how far their information can go, who may be able to view it and how it may be used.



References
• Acquisti, A., Gross, R., 2006. ‘Imagined communities: Awareness, information sharing, and privacy on the Facebook’, School of Public Policy and Management Data Privacy Laboratory
• Chacksfield, Andrew 2010, Facebook ‘hack’ puts private data into public domain, Viewed 12 October 2010,
• Dwyer, Catherine., Hiltz, Starr., Passerini, Katia. 2007, ‘Trust and Privacy Concern within Social Networking Sites: A comparison of Facebook and Myspace’, Americas Conference on Information Systems 2007,
• Forderaro, Lisa W 2010, ‘Private moment made public then a fatal jump’, The New York Times, September 29, 2010, p. 1.
• Govani, T., H. Pashley 2007, ‘Student awareness of the privacy implications when using Facebook.’ Unpublished manuscript retrieved September.
• Johnston, Andrew 2007, The Internet, Viewed 15 October 2010,
• Jones, H., Soltren, J.H 2005, ‘Facebook: Threats to Privacy’, Project MAC: MIT Project on Mathematics and Computing
• Lange, P.G 2007, ‘Publicly private and privately public: Social networking on YouTube’, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 361-380
• ONE 2010, Hacker Published Private Information, Viewed 15 October 2010, http://www.one.com/en/web-hosting-news/website/hacker-published-private-facebook-information$19918465.htm
• YouTube 2010, YouTube Privacy Guidelines, Viewed 15 October 2010,

Course Evaluation

As I previously mentioned, this course has provided me with an enormous amount of information. All of which has been somewhat difficult to fully comprehend but it has been interesting attempting to.

At first I admit I had a different interpretation of what the course entailed. I did not expect the amount of digital talent I required to complete some of the exercises. While I certainly lacked the talent I think I made do with the information I was provided with and the talent of those around me when it came to employing our knowledge into digital work.

The assumption I made that the information I provided with would open many a virtual door and encourage me to question the impact of technology on society and vice versa was certainly correct. This information from this course has prompted me to question not only the knowledge I already retained but also the information I was to acquire from it. It has allowed me to view the virtual world very differently, as something not so mundane. While I certainly understood the role technology played in society before this course, I don't think I fully comprehended the extent of it's impact; an impact so extreme, humans are somewhat failing to keep up.

Despite not-so-funny jokes and CRAZY ramblings from a few of the lecturers, I still enjoyed their teaching styles. I deeply appreciated their obvious knowledge of and passion for the big bad virtual world and this certainly made it easier to learn.

Overall I enjoyed the course, despite my lack of technological talent. It was sometimes confusing, sometimes frustrating but always interesting.

Week 9- Tutespark/Tute Exercise

The thought of this essay is somewhat, well, horrifying. It's as if the semester has provided so much information and now, in under 1000 words, I'm supposed to express what I make of that information? Fortunately, a few of the possible essay topics have provided me with a lot of food for thought :)

Being a member of Gen Y and a Facebook addict I found both the third and fifith essay topics the most appealing. The third being 'Why is privacy such a contentious issue for internet users? Discuss with reference to at least ONE social network service (or other web2.0 service)'. I found this particularly appealing because I can certainly relate to the issue and the information I would hope to find if I began research on the topic, would in some way benefit me and highlight privacy issues I may be unaware of. I would certainly focus on social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, but also delve further into the issue and also explore less renowned social networking and web2.0 sites.

If i choose to focus on the fifth possible essay topic, 'How do social media change our understanding of individual identity, with regard to the kinds of people we have in our social networks', I would focus again on social networking services and the way they have altered the definition of a 'friend'. For example, you may have ten people you went to high school with who, in reality, you would consider your friends. However in the virtual world it is very possible and common to have over 1000 friends and if your Lady Gaga, over 5 million. But would you consider one of those 1000 to be a friend just like one of the ten you went to school with? This is how social networking sites are changing what we consider a friend and to me, this is extremely interesting.

After contemplating the two topics I have considered, I find it likely I am to choose the fifth essay topic and focus explicitly on the way in which social media change our understanding of individual identity.

Week 9- Lecture

This weeks lecture focused explicitly on the world of cyberpunk (something which probably would have been more appropriate last week considering the tutespark...but anyway).

Daniel introduced us, firstly, to William Gibson; a leading writer for Cyberpunk and his work so far, something Daniel was quite clearly a fan of.

Daniel explored the direction of cyberpunk and its grotty themes; the lust-driven, money hungry, dark side of society a lot of us seem to ignore so easily, or in his words, "cold, hard, motherf$%&ing cash!"

I found the concept intriguing but unfortunately I did not leave the lecture with much food for thought. I was, however, motivated to get hold of a piece of Gibson's work, which Daniel clearly holds so highly.

Week 8- Lecture

This weeks lecture I found particularly interesting, despite the Einstein-Esq rambling of the lecturer. Virtual philosophy was discussed in detail in this weeks lecture, a concept I found particularly hard to get my head around, but still enjoyed trying to.

He began the lecture by introducing philosophy and some of its most famous faces, including Plato. The application of philosophy, a study of life that has existed for thousands of years, in the virtual world is an extremely interesting concept; something I have never even thought of, but the lecturer discussed it as if it was the most logical of ideas.

He discussed the way in which every image we see in the virtual world is a representation of life and the socialisation of a person allows them the ability to tell the difference. For example, when we see a box of tic tacs projected on the wall, we know, even though we cannot physically see the box of tic tacs, that it exists in reality. He then went on to explain that this was not always the case, but has developed over time immensely.

The lecturer explored the way in which the hierarchy that existed between reality and the virtual world has been destroyed, and that the two now exist in the same realm. He linked this concept to the film The Matrix and the way in which the film effectively applied this concept.

While this concept was extremely difficult to comprehend, it definatelty made me think about its existence and to question it immensely, not only in regard to the virtual world, but life itself and what allows us to believe what we see.

Week 8- Tutespark/Tutetask

In a society where technology and megacorporations rule pretty much everything, a sub-culture of predominantly technologically savvy people have chosen to paradoxically challenge the advances of technology that exist today. By creating a distopian world, cyberpunk effectively highlights a number of aspects including the negative impact of technology on humanity, the fusion of man and machine, the corporate control over society, uprising of the underground and ubiquitous access to information.

For this weeks tutorial, we were asked to create a cyberpunk of our own and in doing so, highlight one of the previously mentioned factors. I have chosen to bring attention to the fusion of man and machine by re-creating Richard Ingham's article, 'Scientists make artificial skin that can feel touch', by incorporating aspects from the 1999 film, Bicentennial Man.

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BIOTECH wizards have engineered electronic skin that can sense touch in a major step towards next-generation robotics and prosthetic limbs. The particular advancement is believed to improve upon the already rapidly rising success of the NBR-114. The lab-tested material responds to almost the same pressures as human skin and with the same speed.

Important hurdles remain but the exploit is an advance towards replacing today's touch-insensitive, clumsy robots and metal made,artificial limbs with smarter, touch-sensitive upgrades, they believe.

"Humans generally know how to hold a fragile egg without breaking it," said Ali Javey, an associate professor of computer sciences at the University of California at Berkeley, who led one of the research teams.

"If we ever wanted a robot that could unload the dishes, for instance, we'd want to make sure it doesn't break the wine glasses in the process. But we'd also want the robot to grip the stock pot without dropping it."


The "e-skin" made by Professor Javey's team comprises a matrix of nanowires made of germanium and silicon rolled onto a sticky polyimide film.

The team then laid nano-scale transistors on top, followed by a flexible, pressure-sensitive rubber.


A different approach was taken by a team led by Zhenan Bao, a Chinese-born associate professor at Stanford University in California.

Professor Bao's team's approach was to use a rubber film that changes thickness due to pressure and employs capacitors, integrated into the material, to measure the difference. It cannot be stretched, though.

"Our response time is comparable with human skin, it's very, very fast, within milliseconds, or thousandths of a second," Professor Bao said.

"That means in real terms that we can feel the pressure instantaneously."

The achievements are "important milestones" in artificial intelligence, commented John Boland, a nanoscientist at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, who hailed in particular the use of low-cost processing components.

This advancement in artificial intelligence will not only improve upon the already existing ability of robots to act as housekeepers and house sitters but also introduce robots as much more profound substitutes such as babysitters, friends and even lovers.

In the search to substitute the human senses with electronics, good substitutes now exist for sight and sound, but lag for smell and taste. This obstacle, however, will hopefully be overcome in the near future.

Touch, though, is widely acknowledged to be the biggest obstacle and this just may just have also been overcome.


Professor Bao added important caveats about the challenges ahead.

One is about improving the new sensors. They respond to constant pressure, whereas in human skin more complex sensations are possible.

This is because the pressure-sensing cells in the skin can send different frequencies of signal — for instance, when we feel something painful or sharp, the frequency increases, alerting us to the threat. The ability to feel pain is also believed to be somewhat of a learning curve, teaching Robots, to some extent, what is safe and what is not, again improving upon the abilities of the NBR-114 profoundly.

In addition, Professor Bao warned: "Connecting the artificial skin with the human nerve system will be a very challenging task.

"Ultimately, in the very near future, we would like to make a skin which performs really like human skin and to be able to connect it to nerve cells on the arm and thus restore sensation.

"Initially, the prototype that we envision would be more like a handheld device, or maybe a device that connects to other parts of the body that have skin sensation.

"The device would generate a pulse that would stimulate other parts of the skin, giving the kind of signal 'my (artificial) hand is touching something', for instance."

In the future, artificial skin will be studded with sensors that respond to chemicals, biological agents, temperature, humidity, radioactivity or pollutants.

"This would be especially useful in applications where we want to send robots into environments, including space, where it could be dangerous for humans to go," said Professor Bao.

"They could collect information and send it back."


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/robotics-breakthrough-scientists-make-artificial-skin/story-e6frfro0-1225920548036#ixzz0zSdN6ysc

Week 7- Tutespark

This weeks Tutespark is leaked to the difference between open source programs and proprietary programs. We were asked to utilise an open source program for a few days and decide for ourselves whether we like it or not.

For a few days I have been using Mozilla Firefox rather than good ol' Internet Explorer and I only noticed one difference. Mozilla Firefox supposedly being a safer alternative to Internet Explorer, I did notice a number of warnings when I entered certain websites. I would also be questioned if I was aware of certain risks and if I still wished to enter the website.

These warnings were the only difference I noticed between Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. While it is only a subtle difference, it could make a huge difference in regards to exposure to harmful viruses.

I would definitely say I do like Mozilla Firefox and will continue to use it.

Week 7- Lecture

This week Adam Muir explored the world of free culture and free society and what these terms actually mean in the big bad world of the Internet. He investigated the shift from 'all rights reserved' to 'some rights reserved' and the way in which the legal way has been somewhat forgotten.

People are switching to open source (free) programs because they feel they can identify with them. While corporations create the proprietary programs, it is the people who use them that and feel they can be improved, that chose to do so which leads to open source programs such as Limewire. Open source programing is so appealing because its free, easily accessible and made by those who wish to use them.

Adam explored the concept of Creative Commons, a great compliment to the already existing copyright laws. Creative Commons are basically copyrights laws only much more relaxed and flexible. They allow a creator to release whichever copyright laws they chose to which can be linked to the term 'some rights reserved'.

Week 6- Tutespark

Linking back to this weeks lecture, we were asked to question how much of what we put onto the internet we own and what rights we actually have to them.

1000's of videos are uploaded to YouTube everyday, for users all around the world. While the site is full of copyrighted music videos, movie scenes, TV snipits and so on, even when a user creates the video themselves, they do not have complete rights over the video. YouTube claims in their terms and conditions of the site, that:

"For clarity, you retain all of your ownership rights in your Content. However, by submitting Content to YouTube, you hereby grant YouTube a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, publish, adapt, make available online or electronically transmit, and perform the Content in connection with the Service and YouTube's (and its successors' and affiliates') business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Service (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels. You also hereby grant each user of the Service a non-exclusive license to access your Content through the Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display, publish, make available online or electronically transmit, and perform such Content as permitted through the functionality of the Service and under these Terms of Service."

So basically, YouTube allows users to believe they have rights to the video's they may have created themselves but at the end of the day, YouTube may do what they like with them, and so may the millions of people who also use YouTube, doesn't seem particularly safe or right does it?

In regards to social networking sites such as Facebook, while the site allows you to determine what the public can and cannot view, the administration of Facebook can access so much more than what you may allow. Simply by creating a Facebook account, gives the admin the non-exclusive right to access and utilise an IP content you post or are in connection with.

At the end of the day, while you may create a video yourself and upload it yourself, YouTube can do what they like with it, and while you may make your Facebook profile as private as possible, the admin can still easily access it and do what they like with whatever information you post and this is all 100% legal.

Week 6- Lecture

This weeks lecture focused immensely on the media and technology. Adam Muir explored the relationship between the two and the way they influence each other and the people who use them.


Adam went on to highlight both virtual communities and individual identities; two themes extremely prominent through earlier internet studies and the way the terms are used to describe people who use the internet and the way in which they do so. He elaborated by highlighting the way in which large amounts of people are not only forming relationships over the web, simply by sharing points of view and interests, but also creating idealised images of themselves for the virtual community to view. This idea of self-creating, I believe, has been shaped by the power of the media and the attraction of being able to be whatever you want over the internet.







Adam went on to also highlight the way in which people utilise the internet to come into contact with people who share similar interests to them, explaining that this is particularly popular in people who live in different geographic areas. He then goes on to discuss, however, that the focus on a group of people with a common interest has changed to an individual as the common thread, this trend is call ego-centric.......







The lecture explored the fall of web 1.0 and the rise of web 2.0 which changed the web entirely; emphasising the users personal experience rather than the groups of people who use the internet. Web 2.0 organises knowledge, for example tagging posts etc, focuses on user-generated content such as photos, images and text and allows open API, e.g. sharing data openly between services on the internet. Web 2.0 allows for ordinary people to contribute to the information shared in the form of social media such as web blogs, social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace) and content sharing communities (Youtube).

Adam also outlined the way in which Web 2.0 is somewhat of a free service for those utilising it and that those who are running the services are making little to nothing of a profit.

He explored the concepts of the attention economy; the people who want your attention, and the economy of accumulation; the people who gather the information about you. He then questions what it is they do witht this information and why. These questions link to this weeks tutespark.

Week 5- Culture Jam

When creating our culture jam, my partner, Kirsten, and I decided to focus more locally. We focused on the harsh terms of centrelink and the way in which it effects university students. In the nature of a culture jam, while not entirely true Kirsten and I utilised creative license in order to effectively get our point across.
The following is a link to CNN's iReport which we uploaded our video to and the link to youtube where we also uploaded our video.

http://ireport.cnn.com/people/Kirstcherie?numResults=10&view=documents


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tXNG7gyOqE

Week 5- Tutespark

As previously discussed, Culture Jamming is becoming more prominent as technology is advancing. While the internet may provide an easy means to disperse a message for millions to view it, it is not the most prominent form of culture jamming. Culture Jammers are getting their message across in many different ways and have done so for many years.

While culture jamming is said to have existed from medieval times, one particularly influential group existed 1950's until the early 1970's. This group callled the 'Situationists' somewhat brought meaning and light to the cause. The group of international revolutionaries hit their peak during the time of the general wild cats strike in France 1968 (http://libcom.org/thought/situationists-an-introduction).

Culture jamming exists in order to disrupt the norm and get a significant message across, it can also be damaging. For example, culture jamming hit the front page when two sixteen year old girls were charged with endangering health after leaving mild stimulants and pain killers wrapped in soft lollies in a McDonalds play pit (http://the-riotact.com/?p=10991)





Some of the most influential forms of culture jamming were the slurs on advertisements. For example, the following protest of the Iraq war recreates the famous iPod adverts to bring light to the death and horror of the Iraq war.

Week 4 Lecture

The lecture this week explored the world and the history of film and television; from the big screen, to the small. It touched on a number of milestones in the history of film and television including the beginning of television and its transformation from black and white to colour, the introduction of sound, 3D films and the oscars.

It investigated the way in which film has developed in time and the way in which it has advanced in order to remain as a prominent industry. For example, when television was introduced and audiences jumped at the idea of this kind of entertainment in the comfort of their own homes, the film industry was frantically trying to come up with something more technologically advanced to lure its audienced back into the theatre, and with this came 3D films. Audiences then became immensely excited by the action packed, 'real-life' sense of 3D. Of course television then became aware of the competition between the two not-so-distant industries and started broadcasting films onto television.

Exploring the history of film and television put into perspective just how far the two industries have come. From 3D films to 3D televisions, from no sound to high definition, surround sound. While we today appreciate the technological advancements we have, it is the less advanced technologies that have allowed us these advancements society seem to rely so heavily on now.

Week 5 Lecture

The past four weeks has flown and as week 5 has crept up upon me, it seems as though exams and assignments are slapping me in the face. Due to an exam I was stressing frantically about, I did not attend Monday's lecture. When introduced, however, to the concept of culture jamming in the tutorial, I was extremely intrigued. I was lead to do my own research to familiarise myself with the term and the concept behind it, what I found was both interesting and unfamiliar. I found the idea to be one of activism and non-conformity.



Culture Jamming is to be considered a mechanism for activists to disrupt mainstream cultural institutions, one of the main ones being corporate advertising. Those who partake in culture jamming change logos, fashion statements and produce images that challenge the idea of what is 'cool' and consumerism. It can be divided into commercial, political or social.

I consider Culture Jamming as a means of protest through the realm or media, consumerism and advertising.

Week 4- Tute Task

In today's society, millions of videos circle the internet everyday and millions of people view them. This was not, however, always the case and in this weeks tutorial we were asked to explore the development of video on the internet and how it came to be what it is today.



Usable online video began in when three former PayPal employees formed YouTube in February 2005. The San Bruno based company, originally allowed for individuals to upload videos of their choice to be seen by those who chose to do so. It has now grown into a miliion dollar company which other companies such as Vevo have chosen to do business through. The following video was the first video ever to be uploaded to the site in April of 2005, by one of the co founders of the website. While it is not particularly interesting, it launched the biggest video uploading website to date.




Throughout the history of film and television, studios have utilised technological inovations to lure audiences away from the comfort of their own homes into the cinemas. This was done in the past, and is still being done so, in the form of 3D movies. 3D film was first released in 1952 in the hope of bring audiences away from their new televisions and back into the movie theatres and this is still being done today. As TV has advanced even further, into high definition and advancements such as AUSTAR and MYSTAR, the majority of new release films are being shown in 3D- what is to be seen as more exciting and action packed. Television, however, has jumped at this advancement in technology and done the same by releasing the most recent innovation of 3D television.

While people are being encouraged to support Hollywood and their blockbuster feature films and also the not so successful ones, there is still quite a large arena for Short films and, yes, they are certainly still being made. These short films are being made for a number of reasons, for example, in order to create preludes to what may turn into a feature film in the future. Also, short films can be considered a genre in themselves. Movie makers may, in fact, wish to make a film shorter than a feature but to still include a vivid story line. Movie makers may even specialise in short films and are rewarded for their work in this particular genre, for example, Tropfest Short Film Festival. Short films may be funded by the individual who makes it or the film may be presented with a state or federal government grant. Large production companies sometimes fund them aswell.

The term viral, in the film and video areana, refers to when a video becomes extremely popular in the big bad internet world. These videos range from real life events to rehearsed comedy sketches. For example, the following video of The Lonely Island's Lazy Sunday is a video that could be considered viral because of its growing popularity.





Lastly, I was asked to investigate 'webisodes' and to be honest, until now I hadn't even heard of the term. I did find a number of webisodes and the following video is one in a series of many of the story of 'The Annoying Orange', one of the most viewed webisdoes.




Webisodes are turning the world of television shows into something much more flexible. They allow less technologically and financially advanced individuals to release their own entertainment and have it viewed by many. Episodes on the internet are also allowing people to follow their favourite shows in their own time. As television is supposedly replacing film, however, is it possible that the internet is replacing both and becoming the the means for everything a persons needs to be entertained?

Week 3- Tutespark

Today's society may be extremely advanced but this was not always the case. In relation to the tutespark this week, we were asked to find three non-digital communication technologies and they were certainly harder to find than what I anticipated. I did, however, manage to find three, the first being the AM radio.

The Noble prize winning invention of Guglielmo Marconi, the radio telegraph system, began it's first experimental broadcast on Christmas Eve of 1906 by a Canadian experimenter Reginald Fessenden. This influential piece of technology allowed for the communication of world news to the public, communication during war, live music, many other forms of entertainment and it also gave voice to those who lacked it. It has now transformed into the world of digital radio.

The second form of non digital communication technology I came across is one even older than the AM radio. Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information by means of clicks, lights etc. that is understood by a skilled listener. Made up of 'dots' and 'dashes', morse code was another extremely appreciated form of communication and is still used in some cases today such as war and even by those with extreme cases of disabilities.

The third non digital communication device I found was, of course, the landline telephone. The one hundren and forty year old device that transmits information through radio waves, is definately one of the more recognised forms of non digital communication device and while it has been somewhat replaced by mobile phones, it is still one of the most frequently used communication devices in today's society.

While non communication devices have been somewhat replaced by more advanced technologies, they have built the path for the technologies we consider so important today.

Week 2 Tutorial Activity- Trapped

Week 4- Tutespark

With the internet being what it is today, a rapidly growing world of anything you could imagine and more, it has become a ripe medium for short films. This is due to a number of factors. Being much shorter in length than a feature film, they are more easily managed and smaller in download size. This renders them easy to be uploaded to the internet and in effect readily available for home viewers of all modem sizes. With video cameras becoming more technologically advanced along with mobile phones, filming such short films and having them viewed by the masses has never been so easy. The have chosen to include the following short films purely based on the way they have inspired me. While I viewed all three of them for the first time today, each story was one of inspiration, hope and love; three things so important in my life.

This short film, 'Mankind's no island' won first place at the 2008 Tropfest Film Festival and was directed by Jason Van Genderen. Shot in New York and Sydney, entirely from a mobile phone, this film encapsulates a feeling of profound hopelessness and, paradoxically highlights unity and love. The director has captured an enormous amount of despair in the two cities by not only filming the story line simply in the form of words (street signs, advertisements etc.) but also filming the homeless of the two cities and purposefully capturing a sense of loss in their faces. He has also, in contradiction, encapsulated a huge sense of unity, love and hope by turning the story around at the end. He did this by making a point of acknowledging a homeless man who he had had previously ignored in the film. This scene coupled with the words, 'I will not look away' instead of 'I always look away' which were coupled with the previous scene, profoundly captures a sense of unity and hope. This ignited a great deal of inspiration and faith within myself, assuming it also ignited such emotions in others, there is no wonder this film won such a prestigious short film award and, despite its low budget and technology is such a huge success in the industry.

This short film written and directed by Erez Tadmar and Guy Nattiv idealises both racial separation and religious differences. The directors then turn the story around to be one of unity and togetherness. The director does this by capturing an Arab man and a Jewish man on a train, both intentionally displaying their religions by means of a Pakistani newspaper and a Jewish pendant around the man's neck. The director's have made the distance between the two men explicitly clear, making the tension between them extremely obvious despite the lack of dialogue. When a group of Neo-Nazi men then enter the room and take notice of the Pakistani and Jewish men, tensions builds to even higher extremes. The Pakistani and Jewish men join forces, despite strong racial and religious differences that have existed over time, to get off the train and away from the Nazi's. The way in which the Arab and Jewish man come together as one towards the end provides a sense of unity. This short film should be considered as extremely significant as such religious differences and racial separation still vividly exists in today's society, for example, the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The short film 'Signs', directed by Nick Russell and Kertie Morsaii is one of love, confusion, isolation, distance, silence and the human need to have someone there. The directors explicitly capture the feeling of isolation Jason, the protagonist, experiences throughout the beginning of the short film by repetitive scenes and negative emotions. Jason's life is turned around, however, when he notices a girl working in the building across from him. They grow to share a relationship based purely on written notes and smiles. The director's have captured the human need for company and the way which simply knowing someone is there provides a sense of hope and safety. When Jason experiences a temporary loss of his short distance interest, he loses the sense of hope and comfort he held so dearly. The director's end the film by reuniting the pair both in writing and person.

Week 3- Treasure Hunt

In the week three tutorial, in relation to this weeks topic, I was sent on a treasure hunt. No, not around the Gold Coast, not even around the university, a place much larger and frightening; the world wide web. I was not in search of precious jewels or gold, instead concepts much more random and mundane, for example, the quickest way to contact Ozzy Osbourne. So for all those tuned in, read ahead for a brief run down of my findings from my treasure hunt.



When asked to find the weight of the world's largest machine I found a machine so large it was overwhelming, not to mention its resemblance to a spider. The Bagger 288 is the world's largest digging machine, more specifically a mining machine sitting at 95m tall. It weights a hefty 13,500 tons and was designed and built my the German over 5 years and cost approximately $100 million

(http://www.bukisa.com/articles/40463_worlds-largest-machines-ever-built, 10-08-10).

I was then required to find the easiest, quickest and most reliable way to contact Ozzy Osbourne (for all those Sabbath fans out there). While I began searching the net and found the contact details for his manager, also being his wife Sharon, it occurred to me that Twitter would most definitely be the easiest way (https://twitter.com/OfficialOzzy, 10-08-10).

Unfortunately I found the third question somewhat difficult to answer.

When asked to find the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne I found that Tiger Air ways are offering $78 one way tickets inclusive of tax and fees. (http://www.airfaresflights.com.au/flights/Gold%20Coast/Melbourne-MEL/, 10-08-10)

I was then asked to find out a little bit about a character named Hatsune Miku. I found her to be the first installment in Vocaloid Character Vocal series in 2007, a Japanese owned software. Her birthday is the 31 August http://myanimelist.net/character/7156/Miku_Hatsune, 10-08-10).

I maganged to come across the following live webcam in Antartica, based at the Australia Casey Station http://www.aad.gov.au/asset/webcams/casey/default.asp. I also then looked into places to stay in Antarctica and found something quite different. Instead of staying in your typical hotels when travelling, Jarrod Kyte runs small cruises around the country in order to allow for an exceptional travel experience and also adhere to a number of environmental concerns (http://www.peregrineadventures.com/10-08-10)

I was then required to explore the Australian pop charts of the past 30 years and find the top song of this week in 1980.

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When asked to define nano technology in my own terms, I assumed I must first research this unfamiliar topic. After exploring a couple of websites focuses on the subject I have come to the conclusion that nano technology is the study of the controlling of extremely minute matter (http://www.crnano.org/whatis.htm, 10-08-10).

I then began to enquire about the camera utilised in 'Google Street View'. I found the camera used to get that 360 degree image was this fairly disco ball esque camera.

(http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9724604-1.html, 10-08-10)

I was then asked to translate all of the questions in front of me into Klingon, a language I was certainly not familiar with. However, on the web a person can find pretty much anything, even without Google. While I may have impressed you with my picture uploading skills, i haven't mastered the art of copy and paste on Blogger just yet, translating every question would, therefore be extremely time consuming typing every question is Klingon. So here is the first two question translated into perfect Klingon- fictional language of a warrior race in Star Trek.

1. What is the weight of the worlds heaviest machine? How much did it cost?

nuq 'oH vo' chay' 'arta'ta 'oH Daq chen

2. What is the best way (quickest and most reliable) to contact Ozzy Osbourne?

nuq 'oH HochHom Daq Ozzy Osbourne

(http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=9025, 10-08-10)

After a few grueling hours on the internet I have successfully completed this treasure hunt with the exception of a few questions.

Week 3- Lecture

When the lecturer warned us this weeks lecture would be somewhat boring and nerdy, I don't think I appreciated how boring and nerdy it would actually be. I think it was my own lack of interest in the subject, however. The way in which computers and the internet was born and has, for lack of a better phrase, taken over the world. How is it that I found learning about something in which a huge chunk of my life is basically devoted to so uninteresting?

Why is it that millions of people devote their lives to the internet, spend hours upon hours a week exploring the many wonders of it, but have no idea as to how it got to be what it is today, somewhat necessary?

While I unfortunately found this weeks lecture immensely boring and I don't mean to offend, it did, however, allow me to ponder the way in which the internet and computers in general have grown into a super power of the 21st century. As a member of generation Y, I find it somewhat difficult to comprehend how members of previous generations coped with such primitive technology. While at the time of its arrival it was indeed as mesmerising as the iPhone4 may be now, the way in which the world went around before the technology we have today is an interesting thought.

This concept then triggered the thought that while I find the world we live in to be technologically advanced, it's likely a 17 year old in 1975 did so as well. In another 35 years, will another seventeen year old be sitting on their laptop, or possibly the newly introduced computer in their mind, for lack of imagination, asking themselves how seventeen year olds survived in 2010 without their iPhone45.

In conclusion, week three's lecture, while somewhat boring in my opinion, did exactly what I want from this course and that is to encourage me to think about the world I live in and the way in which its growing.

Week 2- Tutorial

While I am still finding it difficult to become enthusiastic about an 8am tutorial, this weeks tut helped me alot in understanding this weeks topic of 'cine-speak'. We were asked to create a short film of sorts by shooting 30 frames based on a particular topic. My group, of me and two other people, shot over 60 frames based on the topic of 'trapped'. We based our frames on the idea of a person trapped in the mix of stressful university and family issues. We displayed this concept by highlighting some of the stressful issues surrounding university and the way in which outside issues can come into play. We focused particularly on the influence of family on a persons decisions, particularly a teenagers. We shot over 60 frames around the university and by doing so, hopefully capturing the idea of being trapped. We uploaded them to the computer and culled just under half of them. The next tutorial we hope to put the film together and complete it with music.

Week Two- Lecture

This week, due to my own selfish laziness, I did not attend the lecture. I did, however, revise the notes in the comfort of my own home. Week two's lecture focused intensely on the way in which camera angles affect the overall direction of a picture or film. I now understand the way in which a scene is shot, affects the way in which an audience understands the scene and the emotion evoked in the audience. It explores how different shots say different things and allow for more effective communication. While I was able to understand this part of the lecture notes, It is in fact somewhat difficult to fully appreciate the information on paper rather than actually being at the lecture.

Week 1- Lecture Review/Tutespark

The first lecture of semester two, new communication technologies, started off well when I realized a friend from high school had transferred to that subject. Having done a humanities subject in semester one I familiarized myself with a number of people so there were many familiar faces.

My first impression of this subject was that it appeared to be fairly laid back and hopefully encourage me and those surrounding me in that lecture theatre to question the way in which new communication technology has impacted upon society in the past and the way it does so today. I believe this subject will also allow an insight into the way in which technology will evolve and how it will impact society in years to come.

The lecturer, in between making a number of jokes and humorously insulting his colleague, raised a number of interesting points. He firstly defined a number of key terms including technology and communication. He also then went on to ask the students how we would personally categorise old and new communication technologies. This question did exactly what I hoped; made me question the society I am living in. I pondered his question and first concluded that today, an old communication technology might be defined as an analog television or radio and a new communication technology might be defined as an iphone or digital radio. It then dawned upon me that a new communication device becomes old when it becomes redundant. When a new technological device is introduced, it is a must have of all those who can afford it and those who force themselves to afford it. They do, however, then make themselves afford the next new fad when it comes out a month later. Technology is evolving so rapidly in society that as one piece of technology develops, others must aswell. This is then associated with the concept of convergence which was also discussed in the lecture. This is the idea that technology has developed the ability to help society communicate in a number of ways. For example, many popular phones in today's society allow one to call, sms, mms, video call, email, facebook, twitter and more. Having internet access on a regular computer now seems somewhat redundant when you have it at your very fingertips 24/7.

In conclusion, I believe a new communication technology becomes old when it is replaced with something more advanced that can do the same thing and more.

Week 1: Tutorial activity

So here I begin on page 1 of this particular chapter of university. One of the four subjects I am undertaking in my final semester of my first year of psychology, new communication technologies, is requiring I post regular entries onto a blog. Apparently detailing your relationships (or lack there of), career aspirations and social life on your own personalized website is one of the most popular fads of the 21st century. I, however, must admit I have no experience whatsoever in this technological craze, despite my addiction to Facebook and inclusion in the apparently technologically savvy generation Y.

Being a psychology student, while I am not completely up to date or good at blogging, I believe my great interest in how I think, how those who surround me think and the way in which society works as a whole, will allow me the ability to excel in this aspect of this subject. I am hoping this subject will force me to question a number of things surrounding the huge boom of technology in society today and consequently encourage me to answer those questions enthusiastically. This, I believe, will also advantage me in my psych degree which revolves a lot around questioning a number of things also.

I therefore look forward to the result of writing down a number of my thoughts each week regarding the subject, my degree and the way in which technology is impacting society today. I'm also anticipating the questions this subject will encourage me to answer and the way those answers will impact upon the way I use communication technologies.