Final Thought!

Well when I started this course I honestly didn’t think that I would get so much out of it! There have been so many issue raised that I would never think twice about. I’ll admit that although I use my computer daily im no whiz and I defiantly don’t have a wide knowledge on how to do extraordinary things with my computer but as I have discovered it doesn’t matter if you use your computer for basic things like emails, banking and social networking we all need to be aware of how our usage is affecting our identities, how we represent ourselves and who is watching us! Online activities are now primed into most aspect of our daily lives so its more than beneficial that we should all be aware of the network we are engaging with and information flows we are sending and receiving its only going to get more complicated and more confusing maybe this should become a compulsory subject at school I mean I will never use algebra again or trigonometry but the internet and online activities are only going to keep saturating the world around us!

Week 12!

Micro chipping people how very minority report, my question is are we getting a little head of ourselves in society i mean maybe because all the movies back in the day predicted that by the year 2020 that we'd have robots as servants and practically use computers to eliminate tedious tasks out of every daily routine including sex (demolition man) that we are trying to progress to these Hollywood prediction before other elements of society are up to speed! Are we trying to fill Hollywood expectation! I must admit though at the moment i wouldnt mind having a robot around as my boyfriend broke his leg playing rugby on sat and it has become my task to feed, clean and even shower him so hey bring on robot slaves could use one of those right now ! K a little off track just venting! but the whole idea of what lies ahead can be some what daunting i mean i.d. chips yeah i guess maybe a good idea to locate violent offenders, missing children and missing people in general but are we trying to evolve into a Hollywood movie and as we have seen there are generally negative connotations surrounding most futuristic films and the use of advanced technology and robots turning on there creators maybe we should slow down i mean there are other pressing issues such as global warming, poverty and disease maybe we should re-focus technological energies towards these issue instead of finding more advance ways to violate our privacy! Just a thought!

JOKE OF THE WEEK!

I KNOW I ALREADY POSTED ONE TODAY! But in case it was of bad taste and because i missed a couple of weeks here a few more to keep you going till next time!

There was a blonde driving down the road one day. She glanced to her right and noticed another blonde sitting in a nearby field, rowing a boat with no water in sight.

The blonde angrily pulled her car over and yelled at the rowing blonde, "What do you think you're doing? It's things like this that give us blondes a bad name. If I could swim, I'd come out there and kick your butt!"

K i have a couple more in case that wasn't your style -

George W. Bush was getting off of Airforce One in Israel, when he walked passed Moses, who didn't seem to notice him. He turned to Moses and said, "I am George W. Bush, the President of the USA, the most powerful nation on earth. Why didn't you greet me?"

Moses replied, "The last time I spoke to a bush, we starved for 40 years!"

K another one this is bad taste--- :) but got a few luaghs

	A blind man walked into a bank with his seeing-eye dog that guided him everywhere. He walked into the center of the bank floor, took the dog by the chain, and started swinging him around his head. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. The other customers were taken aback and some were very upset at the way the animal was being treated. One of the tellers ran up to the blind man and asked, "Sir, what are you doing!?!" The man turned toward the teller and said, "Oh, nothing - just looking around."

This joke is rated PG -

A man went to see his doctor. "You need to stop masturbating," the doctor said. The man asked, "Why?" The doctor replied, "Because I''m trying to examine you!"

UNTIL NEXT TIME KEEP SMILING!

Week 11

Okay im freaking out! after this morning discussion and this weeks reading, thinking about convergence as more than just a technological advancements but rather a process which alters the relationship between social relationships, the structure of industries, markets and the way we engage within these sectors, its kind of depressing to think that maybe in the future we may choose to work from home, choose to have a virtual conference with friends of family instead of going out to lunch - i know new media has offered us the capacity to form new social relationships, yeah this new social space and constant access with people who are spatially dispersed or constant flow of info throughout society but its kind-of scary to think about the possibility of what might happen to face2 face communication the constant social interaction, are we isolating ourselves to much and are we trying become more advanced 2 fast i mean as we spoke about last week there such a gap in society. I like the idea of a water cooler effect we need social interaction. Whether we are using the telephone the internet any medium, they are all real forms of communication but they will never be able to totally replace social interaction of face2face communication. Yeah they make life easier help us network, reduce spatial barriers and help facilitate the social function but im just freaking out imagining what might happen as we advance as a society what will happen to face2face communication will we slowly forget why we enjoy interacting within social environments or will we become to lazy and start to video conference Christmas dinner instead of traveling to see one another going through the hassle is media convergence making life to easy? i guess maybe its not all that bad but i just don't like change i like a little bit but its scary to think about it - hope didnt get 2 far off track have good weekend! :)

JOKE OF THE WEEK!

Back by popular demand!

Three Doctors are dicussing which types of patients they prefer.
Doctor Watson says, ''I prefer librarians. All their organs are alphabetized.''


Doctor Fitzpatrick says, ''I prefer mathematicians. All their organs are numbered.''

Doctor Ahn says, ''I prefer lawyers. They are gutless, heartless, brainless, spineless, and their heads and rear ends are interchangeable.''
(sorry to the future lawyers in the class!)

Week 10!

Do people need more than the basics to escape true poverty and social inequality in a “global” information economy?
So the digital divide, well if the world didn’t have enough problems we are now faced with the question of a digital divide well i think that after this weeks reading discussing convergence culture and the expanding opportunities for both producers and consumers in the 21st century it occurred to me that maybe divides occur in society because certain things are being neglected and other things are seen as our main focus, I mean our obsession with media consumption and the process of convergence within our media culture may be an influential topic but lets face it its not going to end world hunger or end poverty. The media industry is concerned with one thing making money, and we as consumers use it to make life easier and more enjoyable! I mean I don’t think we can ever eliminate social inequality it is always going to happen but maybe we can eliminate the extremes between these inequalities so maybe this whole looking beyond the basics to escape true poverty isn’t such a bad idea but in the end just surviving is difficult enough for people living in poverty so maybe this issue should be of a little more of importance. I mean in today’s society it is hard to imagine that these inequalities still exist when we have access to things we do its hard to understand why we cant be as involved or as innovative when it comes to the issue of social inequality than as we are with our pursuit of the production consumption of media

Week 9 - Surveillance

Well after this mornings discussion and this weeks readings im kinda understanding why our generation is not to fazed by surveillance. In the reading there was a discussion about George Orwell's novel 'Nineteen Eighty Four' all about the cocept of Big Brother! Well our generation has grown up watching a show which has turned this concept into entertainment "BIG BROTHER"!So what was seen within Orwell's novel as a warning about surveillance potentials of the nation state, has been completely re-framed into prime time entertainment where we take enjoyment into the total viewing of selected house mates daily lives for three whole months! So maybe the reason why before today i did not see the problem with surveillance is because shows like Big Brother re-frame this issue of survielance into light hearted veiwing material, that installs a relaxed and a sense of 'normality' around total survielence. Maybe shows like big brother are made only to re-assure us that 24 hour surveillance is no big deal but in fact so normal that we to choose to survey a group of random house mates for our veiwing pleasure! So there you have maybe my relaxed opinion of surveillance is only that because its been framed as something both acceptable and well entertaining!And maybe thats why big brother has survived so long on t.v. even though its a crap show, because we use it to reassure us that surveillance is normal in fact maybe comical!

Week 8!

I 2 must admit that i defied the laws of copyright but lets not dwell! after watching that movie yesterday in class i totaly agree that the law needs to be updated for new technologies! Its not really our fault that we are breaking these laws i mean like they said in the video freedom is the way to drive the economy rather than control! So i think that if everyones stopped sitting on their asses bitching and moaning about copyright law and got a little proactive than maybe we could find a middle ground so everyone gets a piece of the pie well that my opinion but who am i! well actualy im a consumer so shouldnt my opinion count or do they only care about me when they think im trying to rip them off by downloading a song! i mean can you blame me for wanting to listen to sweet music! Peace out have a good holidays everyone!

WEEK 7!

SO online and off-line identity: well to tell you the truth i found the reading somewhat depressing i mean the idea of "late modern intamicy based on talk rather than passion, negotiation rather than commitment and the advancement of self rather than the development of the couple suggest that the internet is UNIQUELY PLACE TO FACILITATE!" Is this what the world is turning into dating as a research assingment "a pool of resources" for which we pick and choose from! Like i get the whole like use the internet to overcome barriers like shyness etc but i grew up watching way to many disney movies and whatever happend to the whole "animal attraction" thing i mean since the beginning of time we have basicaly pused dating like hunting for pray i mean Dunedin on a sat night is a battleground filled with hunters (can be men or women) and animals (chosen partner) everyone gets drunk and pursues their chosen catch of the day! like im all for technological advancement but there are some things that should be sacred and thats the mating game! I mean i could be wrong in 20 years from now i might be using one of these sites (touch wood it wont come to that but who knows! scary) But as the artical says when the bodies of users are left behind they are able to choose and construct their virtual forms and identities - so really doesnt that mean we are living a lie through these internet realities? or maybe a sa society we are becoming way to damn picky so we use these sites to pick and choose or should i say NEGOTIATE romantic encounters! well thats all im going to say im sorry if i have upset anyone but that article worried me but whatever works for the individual! Thanks for reading until next week bye bye!

JOKE OF THE WEEK!

SO another week another joke i know everyone is excited.......... sorry last week was joke less it takes time for greatness so here goes..
...One day a blonde comes into the doctor’s office. Her ears are very red. "What happened to your ears?" asks the doctor. She replies,"Well, I was ironing my clothes when the phone rang. I accidently picked up the iron." "What happened to the other ear?" asks the doctor. "The bastard called back."

Week 6!

The power of the Weblog or should I say potential! Well after this morning’s lecture and this weeks reading I have been exposed to the wonders of the possibility of the power of the blog! So what I previously thought to be a boring simple hobby for computer enthusiasts I now realise like most things we study at Uni is a very broad system which cannot be so easily defined! So unlike other media the internet/web 2.0 has given us the power to choose whether we want a blog to keep in contact with friends or get a little more serious and start commenting on current affairs and put ourselves out there in the public sphere for all to hear(well as was pointed out in this morning lecture who ever happens to care or stumble upon our blogs) or even we have the choice to create these weblogs as a hobby or a professional operation that generates income through the commercialisation of the blog, or you can simply use the blog to ask people to give you money, wow,wow,wow! Who’d have thought that there’s so much potential! So I guess there’s really something for everyone AMAZING! Nothings ever really simple even trying to define the blog, well that took two readings and a lecture and then there’s further concern over the impact that A-list bloggers will have on the participatory nature of weblogs! Well like everything nothing last forever sorry to have such a morbid view on the subject! But technology as we have seen will progress and if all this is happened since 1999 then well whose to say we wont have moved on to something new and better to congregate and participate within and the whole process will be able to branch out and start again!

WEEK 5!

Wikpedia, friend or foe! So back to this weeks discussions and reading by Thomas Chesney reguarding the reliability of an encyclopedia which might or might not be reliable! But as this is my blog i just want to say that why the fuss wikipedia is utilisng the wonders of the web 2.0 to allow us to locate, add and revise infromation all at the click of the mouse. I mean isnt it better that we are able to access, sort and have the oppourtunity to share our knowledge! We as a society are becoming differently information literate, knowledge is becoming globalised and we are now having access to a broader field of knowdge. so seing we are broadening our horrizens why shouldnt we be able to edit and post information such as wikipedia without relying on the permission of some over paid editor who is just one person with one opinion to tell us or anyone else that our work does not make the cut! or that we are not right! if we are demanding a more diverse range of info and choices we should be able to remove the barriers that stop us from sharing that information! so go the wiki and there challenge to the notion of authors as the only authority, sharing is caring and if we have some amazing fact like couch burning in otago or etc then who says we cant share it with the world thank yo web 2.0 wow!

JOKE OF THE WEEK!

Q: Why did the man freeze his money?


A: Because he wanted cold, hard cash!

WEEK FOUR!

Virtual Communities: Well this week im going to admit that i found the readings a little boring! But i do agree David Holmes articale that computer mediated communication networks and virtual realities are environments rather than merely techonolgy used to "carry older forms in a new more helpful medium". The internet as we know it has completely restructured how we communicate, acces and exchange information bringing us oppourtunies that are not affected by boundaries of space, time or distance. The internet has created virtual environments that have the oppourtunity to constantly expand which we can use to continualy conncet and intergrate within through using this technological extension! Its pretty impresive how the oppourtunities the internet provides us with however, it is my opinion that the internet is not at all a substitue for face to face communication but complimentry to it. As the intetnet creates virtual environments which help us maintain and expand our relationships no matter where we are connecting us more closely to strength and lengthen our ties which further enhances face to face interactions when we are not able to be in the presence of others but still enable us the ability to exchange,interelate and communicate with on another.

JOKE OF THE WEEK!

Q: Why did the blonde get so excited after she finished her jigsaw puzzle in only 6 months?


A: Because on the box it said "From 2-4 years."

It joke of the week time again! wow how exciting hopefuly this one will manage at least a few laughs!

Week 3

Thoughts for the week!
I think the issue concerning a new age hacktivist being either a modern freedom fighter or a new age terroist seems to be a controvercial subject. But like eveything there are always two points of view i guess, as some people like corperate organisations may percieve hacktivist as cyberterroists, where as other percieve hacktivists as freedom fighters. I think like everything no matter what your opinion, these hacktivists are still people and whether engaging in reality or cyber-space we as people have a choice between right and wrong, moral obligation to society. So as we evolve within society people still have the same rights to demonstrate freedom of speech, the ability to speak out against injustice however, at the same time people still need to display there moral obligation as a human being to act responcibly, which i think people may forget when they are emersed within the virtual world wide web. So therefore hacktivists are simply people utilising there rights however, some of these people like in the real world forget there moral obligation and the rights of others., resulting in black and white hat hackers. So therefore there's a choice between right and wrong and who we are as people that will define us both in reality and cyber space.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

SOOOOOOOO i was talking with my flatties about my blog and how mine is kind of boring etc. and that i need to engage with my class members some how! (but my page has so far not really achieved that cause its boring!) :( How sad! So in attempt to get some online friends they suggest i add a joke of the week to my page......... so here goes!

What do you get when you cross a donkey with an onion?





A piece of ass that brings tears to your eyes!

So if that tickled your fancy stay tuned for next weeks joke cause there only going to get better! wow!

So Far………..

After completing week 2’s readings, lecture and of course the set up of my class blog, I have been realising more and more just how pivotal the internet is in maintaining and creating social networks like our class simulation.
Although this has not always been the case I agree with Ian Miles (2005) article ‘Be here now’, that the internet has allowed us to evolve and offered us opportunities to communicate within new information societies that enable us so much accessibility and diversity. An example of this in my life can be identified in my use of MySpace and Facebook, these sites allow me to create a social network which is compiled of new friends, old friends, friends that you met once or twice in town and even friends of friends. These communities allow us to be more accessible, expand our social networks and constantly let us be updates with each others daily lives no matter where in the world we are. However, with this accessibility also comes an issue of privacy, who else is getting access to these intimate details! This question relates to Berry’s (2004) article ‘Internet research…’, which highlights that with this new technology also come an emergence of issue which abuse this accessibility and violate the trust of other online users who interact online!
So I guess in the end you have to weigh up the pro’s and con’s of being able to access and communicate, but also the downfalls that come with this communication and then decide how much should we really expose about ourselves when using this sites! In the end I guess only we can decide what we want to reveal within these virtual communities!