A sad moment..

I came into this course feeling a little terrified and a lot apprehensive! While I use computers on a regular basis, the majority of my time is spent using msn, email, MySpace and Word. This being said I don’t consider myself completely computer illiterate, and normally find I can pick most things up just by spending some time using the program. However, considering this course is name ‘New Communication Technologies’, new being the operative word, I thought I would have a lot of difficulty in completing the tasks. Admittedly, I did struggle with some components of the course however, on the whole, found it to be rather enjoyable and interesting and am actually a little saddened to finish it.

Not being an avid fan of technology and computers, I was surprised to be interested in a majority of the lectures and found they all had relevance to many aspects of life, not just restricted to complex technology functions and information. I am appreciative furthermore that the lectures were structured in simple and easy to understand terms which also proved beneficial when studying for the ‘100 QUESTIONS IN 60 MINUTES’ test! While I’m on the subject of the test, I’d like to say a big thanks to Adam for designing the exam revision table which helped me enormously! Anyway, while I know most people hated the lecture on Public Relations, I found it very interesting and helpful to my decision in choosing Public Relations next year. This, along with Jason Nelsons ‘interesting’ lecture, was my favourite.

The movies shown in the lectures were the only negative I found associated to the course. I know they were relevant to the course content etc but I found them incredibly boring and would have liked to have studied movies a little more recent and that covered a broad range of interests, not just sci-fi, warped films. Sorry.

When I first realised the tutorials, as well as the lectures, were two hours long I was a little disheartened but they turned out to be fairly interesting. I liked the way we were able to work at our own pace and follow along with the instructions rather than it being like a formal lesson. The laid back approach made me more inclined to actually do my work as I didn’t feel as pressured and felt I had a lot of flexibility about how to do the tasks. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Adam for being an excellent tutor, who made the classes interesting and was extremely helpful.

Overall, I found this course helped me immensely in learning about new communication technologies and broadened my knowledge on many topics associated with issues such as the internet, cyberpolitics and new media. I have no doubt that I will carry and apply this new knowledge with me in any career I enter.

For the last time...

thanks,

Kate

week 12: Exam Revision

Nothing much to report this week.

Exam revision was very useful in the tutorial and it was great to learn some more on certain important definitions.

The lecture moreover was fairly interesting and it was good to learn about open source and free software.

Have a good weekend!
Kate

Microsoft Excel

Hey there,

I must start by saying that i thought this task would be easy like last week. I was pleasantly surprised however. So thank you.. =]

Anyway, as i have not used Excel nearly as much as Word, i found this task slightly more interesting, and complicated.

While i had no problems doing the first exercise, i found entering in some of the formulas, in the second exercise, a little more trying. For some reason the formula for the column 'gains/losses' would not work for me (i probably did it wrong) and as a result, i ended up just writing in the text. I did not overcome this problem as i don't no what i did wrong. I followed the instructions and copied the code correctly but it still didn't work.

Anyway, making the graphs came a bit easier and i had no troubles with the exercise. Completing the Advanced exercise on 'Macros' was more challenging however. While i followed along in the first few steps, it became increasingly harder and by the time i had to record things, i got stuck. This being the case however, i managed to realise what i was doing wrong and finish the task.

I believe Microsoft Excel would be extremely useful to business people as it is extremely beneficial in aiding them to arrange various pieces of data in an effective and comprehensible way. The only problem i find with Excel is that if you are unsure of the correct formulas to use, it can often be a complex program to use. That being said, i can see how this software is would helpful to many people, especially businesses and the like.

Thanks for another week,
Kate

Fun with Microsoft Word:

Hello for another week,

Well, the assignment is done, emailed and posted and I could not be happier that this week is almost over! Leaving assignments (yes that's right.. more than one) to the last minute has meant my week has been very busy, and consequently resulted in a severe lack of sleep.. one more night wont hurt though and my plans for tonight are all that has kept me going.

Anyway, onto this weeks tutorial task..
My new friend Brooke isn't here today so I haven't had much fun with word, but anyway, not long till my evening of fun begins! (I cant stop thinking about it)

Okay, so after completing the various exercises set out to learn more about Microsoft Word, I found myself, mildly put, a little bored.

I had no problems using Word and following the instructions on how to 'bold text' and 'insert headers and footers.' While the advanced exercise on mail merging was something new to me, I had no problems trying to use it and following along to the instructions. Furthermore, the track changes exercise was also a function I had never used but I didn't really see much point in it and how it could help me.

Overall, I didn't find the exercises too confusing, and while the first few were way too easy, the advanced examples got my brains working a bit!

Microsoft Word is one of my favourite programs. It is simple to use and allows me to do everything I need to do. As a result, I can definitely see how this software would be useful in creating various applications and documents and would be especially helpful when constructing a resume for example.

Creating letters, reports, documents etc is extremely simple to do using Word and, according to the Tutorial introduction, it is an important skill to know not only while at uni, but also in the workforce. Therefore, while I may have already known how to bold text etc, any extra knowledge which will help increase my word processing skills is valuable and thus a productive afternoon.

Anyway, for another week, good bye and have fun!

Music Piracy: New Communications Essay

Music is an art form which plays a significant role in the lives of many people worldwide, and has done so for decades. With the advancement of new communication technologies and music programs over the past few years, the question begs, ‘has the music industry been affected by the advancement of internet technologies and music piracy?’ Through thorough investigation into the history of music piracy, the flow effects within society and other various literature examinations, it can be found that while some aspects of file sharing may be beneficial to the economy, overall, illegal downloading and sharing of music has immeasurable consequences on the music industry and subsequent sales.

The music industry is typically dominated by four main corporations consisting of AOL-Time Warner, Sony/BMG, Universal and EMI. These four companies were responsible for 80 per cent of global music sales (Crewe et al 2005, p.177) in 2005 and hold significant importance in the music business. The ‘Golden Era,’ as it is often referred to, was a time in which the music industry ‘enjoyed fifteen years of steady growth in record music sales following the introduction of the compact disk, better known as the CD’ (Crewe et al 2005, p.177). However, since this time, the major companies have experienced a turnaround in success which is linked to falling sales due to increasingly popular internet downloading technologies. After the post war period it is said music truly developed and began to grow in popularity. Increasing levels of income in the 1950s were linked to teenagers and people in their early twenties who thus represented the majority of music revelers (Crewe et al 2005, p.184). From the 1970s onwards however, when music cassette recording was increasing in popularity, it was disputed that ‘home taping was killing music as the straightforward way in which cassette recorders could duplicate music encouraged large-scale counterfeiting activities’ (Crewe et al 2005, p.180). Such claims reveal music piracy is not a new activity and highlight the scale in which this criminal activity has magnified. With the increase in internet usage moreover, came the statistics from surveys released in July 2003 that ‘30 per cent of internet users felt entitled to download copyright protected music’ (Richardson 2003, p.95), and thus highlighted the emergence of the digital age in which companies such as US based Kazaa, introduced flexible, market based music downloading. While some believe free distribution of music is good for the industry in that it allows previously unheard of musicians to become more easily recognized, others claim such acts to be unlawful and among other things, stealing (Greiner 2006, p.58). Launched in April 2003, Apple iTunes developed a response to music piracy by distributing music online, selling ‘10 million songs in the first four months of operation’ (Richardson 2003, p.96). Such an idea is purposeful in developing strategies to decrease the number of people downloading music illegally. ‘From the development of cheap and simple tape recording technology in the seventies and eighties’ (Richardson 2003, p.90) to the illegal downloading of Mp3’s and other music files nowadays, it is evident to see how far technology has come and makes it necessary to discover the flow on effects within society before further action can be taken.

While music piracy is nothing new and with it being virtually impossible for an audio pirate to experience legal trouble – prosecution is extremely uncommon, it is not surprising that in 2000 alone, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) declared the global value of pirated music to be $4.2 billion (IFPI in Marshall 2004, p.163). With this in mind, it is evident there has been innumerable effects within the music industry, mostly of a negative nature. While, according to Francesco D. Sandulli and Samuel Matrin-Barbero, Associated Professors in Spain, ‘legitimate digital music sales have increased steadily, reaching an estimated US$1.1 billion in 2005 and accounting for approximately six per cent of global music sales’ (2007, p.63), global music sales on the whole have fallen by over nine per cent in 2002 alone (Crewe et al 2005, p.177). Such immense declines in sales have prompted most major recording companies to reassess their financial position and, at times, resort to terminating underperforming acts contracts in a bid to avoid spending money on material that may not regain sales. Such efforts have forced many record company executives to pay more attention to the ‘significantly increased rate of circulation of illegal copies of copyright music’ (Crewe et al 2005, p.179) and foreshadow the death of the music industry due to such practices. Moreover the fact that ‘only one CD sold more than ten million copies world-wide between 2001 and 2002’ is claimed by the head of IFPI to be the ‘direct result of the internet’ (Crewe et al 2005, p.179). A result in which the illegal copying and transferring of music over the internet is decreasing sales rapidly and forcing money that would otherwise be spent on discovering new talents, to be used to save the company. Despite the fact that illegal copyrighting of music has seen rapid declines in the profitability of record companies, other areas within the economy have also suffered.

While file sharing and other music downloading programs are damaging the music industry, there is also evidence to suggest that music piracy cannot be held solely responsible. Some claim that ‘the problems facing the music industry have not suddenly been manifested overnight, or even in response to on-line digital file exchange, but rather have accumulated over time in response to a set of broader cultural forces that have changed the role of music within society,’ (Crewe 2005, p.184) highlighting the versatility and vulnerability of the music industry and its ability to adapt in numerous ways. Other than the identification of music piracy as a reason for decreases in sales within the music industry, newer media and consumer electronics can also be to blame as the amounts of money people spend on such products subsequently reduces the amount of capital received by record companies. The Economist explains this best when stating ‘new passions, be it computer games, mobile phones or even the internet itself, have all attracted expenditure that, in many cases, was previously spent on music’ (2003). However, it can also be found that through music piracy, new businesses have been formed in order to take advantage of innovative modes of production, distribution and consumption. While this may be the case, it is indisputable that the music industry is a volatile and fickle market and is thus very difficult to predict with changes in fashion and taste also indicators as to the success or in most cases, failure, of the market.

Either way you look at it; there are certainly many factors to take into account when considering how the music industry has been affected by the advancement of internet technologies and music piracy, with it difficult to single out one reason. While numerous issues render the argument complex however, it can be said, considering the above information, that the development of music downloading has, overall, had a damaging effect on the recording industry and left its’ future in question.

Bibliography

.Bibliography.

Brander, Scott 2005, ‘Is it threat or availability?’, Network World, vol.22, no.4 (January), 26.

Cooper, Jon & Harrison, Daniel 2001, ‘The social organization of audio piracy on the internet’, Media, Culture & Society, vol.23, 71-89.

Crewe, Louise & French, Shaun & Leyshon, Andrew & Thrift, Nigel & Webb, Peter 2005, ‘On the reproduction of the musical economy after the internet’, Media, Culture & Society, vol.27, 178-208.

Economist 2003, Unexpected Harmony, http://www.economist.com. Accessed 4 May 2007.

Freeman, Miller 1999, ‘The musical internet’, Studio Sound, 1 Mar, 75-79.

Greiner, Andrew 2006, ‘Download dilemmas’, Down Beat, vol.73, no.3 (March), 58.

Harrison, John & Hirst, Martin 2007, Communication and New Media: from the broadcast to narrowcast, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Marshall, Lee 2004, ‘The effects of piracy upon the music industry: a case study of bootlegging’, Media, Culture & Society, vol.26, 163-181.

Martin-Barbero, Samuel & Sandulli, Francesco 2007, ‘68 cents per song’, The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, vol.13, 63-78.

Miguel, Renay 2005, ‘The problem with file sharing’, Technology Review, vol.108, no.10 (October), 39.

Richardson, Megan 2003, ‘Downloading music off the internet: copyright and privacy in conflict?’, Journal of Law and Information Science, vol.12, no.1 (November), 90-100.

Week 8 Internet Field Trip

Hello again,

Well i got all excited this week as i thought we might actually be going on a field trip! Afraid not...

This weeks tutorial task was in actual fact, all about 3D worlds and socialising on the Internet.

After checking out http://www.imvu.com and http://www.activeworlds.com i began to realise the differences between IM programs like MSN and other 3D type socialising providers.

Being a huge MSN fan and user, i noticed many qualitative differences when using these alternative 3D environment programs.

Beside the obvious difference that Active World is 3D and MSN isn't, many other aspects also differ.

Firstly, programs like Active World raise the very important theme of text vs visual and the effectiveness of both. This program, while still using text to communicate, uses a myriad of visual aspects which add an extra dimension to the environment. Including so many visual aspects in the program allows users to interact fully with the people they are communicating with in a fun and social environment.

While MSN allows people to communicate only by text, this program not only allows people to chat, but also visit incredible 3D worlds that are built by other users, make new friends and chat with people from all over the globe, play interactive 2D and3D games and finally choose from a vast range of avatar identities and chat with other avatars.

The kinds of socialising that happens in these spaces is different to those of programs like MSN as the visual aspect means people are able to interact in a different type of environment which is new and exciting and more interactive. The 3D aspect therefore, makes a huge difference to the way people communicate.

This sort of application may lead us to a more interactive world where people are able to see first hand, the people they are talking to. In the future, a program like this could easily be adapted from cartoon to real life etc.

Overall, i really enjoyed this task. It was fun to use a new program like this and explore the different communication programs on the internet and the alternative ways we can communicate globally.

Thanks for another week!
Cheers,
Kate

Working with Photoshop Part 2

hey everyone!

Id first like to start by saying that i know this layout looks bad but for some strange reason it wont let me have spaces between my images etc and as a result looks... crap basically (sorry) but yeh.. i dont no how to fix it!

Anyway, as the Friday of week 6 was missed due to 'Good Friday' (even better for us) this weeks tutorial is designed to catch up on any work. Therefore, i present you week 6's tutorial task below!

ENJOY!

TASK: The difference between this week's task and the week 5 task is that last week we tried to find an image that communicated an idea. This week we will create our own images and modify them and enhance them to help communicate an idea using Photoshop.

HERE GOES.. (I've never used Photoshop so this should be interesting)

1. Friends:

..still coming..


2. Communications:






When i think of communications i immediately think of satellites and the way they transport information world wide. In Photoshop, i added a filtered render of lens flare to make the picture look more technical and powerful.









3. Newsworthy:


I believe this picture represents the topic 'newsworthy' very well. The topic of Sadam Hussein, his capture and the war in Iraq are extremely newsworthy events which have been present in numerous news articles globally for a few years now. Using photoshop, i added layers and inserted two separate pictures. I then darkened the background picture to reflect the darkness of his capture and his feelings compared to the brightness and happiness he felt in previous years.


4. Australian:







When one thinks of Australian, thongs, the beach and beer are often associated. As a result i have drawn on various images to make this picture. I inserted the image of the beer and the shadowing in front of it.








5. Popular:






When i think of the term 'popular' my immediate thought is of celebrities. Using Photoshop, i have inserted nine separate photos to make up a 'jigsaw' like display of various celebrities, cropping them to size and centering them.





6. Games:



The term 'games' to me, reflects my new found passion for the Gold Coast Titans and the games i have attended. Using Photoshop, i inserted the football into the players hand and added the logo to the face of the ball.




7. Celebrity:



When finding an image that relates to the theme 'celebrity,' one can go no further than the Hollywood walk of fame. Using the image of Robin William's star, i then erased his name using Photoshop and typed my name onto the star. Although this looks easy, the eye dropper tool wasn't available and thus it took me ages to clear his name first.





Well, there is my tasks done for another week!
Enjoy the weekend!
Cheers, Kate

week 5: Gettin to know photoshop

Hey for another week!

Lets get straight into it..


Gathering phots:

Everyday people with cameras can go out and take pictures and through the medium of blogging, can publish their own pictures and their own stories. By doing this, we can become 'Citizen Journalists'. The following are some basic photos that are not modified in Photoshop which represent or communicate the following ideas:


1. Friends:


When i think of friends, i immediately think of the good times ive spent with them. This photo was taken at schoolies last year and to me, sums up what friends are all about. Having fun, smiling lots and just being there for each other like a big support group. Nothing could get better than this. Best times. Best friends.




2. High tech:




I believe this picture represents the theme "high tech" as when i think of such a theme, i immediately think of technologies which effect us as people. In addition, the 'maze like' lines in the picture give a similar feeling of being highly technical and advanced.








3. News





A picture such as this one reflects my representation of the theme 'news.' When i think of news, i think of something global, something which is common all around the world and thus the image of a foreign newspaper represents the diversity of news. Moreover, the first image that comes to mind when i think of news is 'September 11,' a day when the whole word stopped and news was the most important thing. Lastly, a newspaper was the most common style of reporting news i thought of when searching this theme.





4. Summer

When thinking about 'summer,' the obvious image that comes to mind is the beach. Growing up on the Gold Coast, the beach is like my second home and the first thing i think of when i think of summer. Therefore, sorry but I'm going to be boring, and use this image of the beach!



5. Unconventional:




Dictionary.com defines 'unconventional' as "not conventional; not bound by or conforming to convention, rule, or precedent; free from conventionality." An image like the one to the left is the type of picture i think of when i think of unconventional. It is an unusual image and something out of the ordinary, something which is a bit quirky and not what i typical wedding picture is like.


6. University



When thinking about the theme 'university,' the general consensus among students is that of being broke. Because of study commitments, most students don't have time work and therefore have no money. While i have a job, i am still constantly broke and therefore, believe this image is appropriate to the theme of university.


Well, there you go. My representations of some very random themes. Hope you enjoyed my take on the images.


Looking forward to learning and using Photoshop next week.. A little scared though!


Before i go, just a quick update on the whole assignment thing..


So far still thinking of doing the topic on communications in particular SMS. Will search the libraries resources this week to see if they have any useful books on the topic!


Until then, have a good week!
Kate

Tutorial 4.. Lecture and tasks

Well, another week is almost over.. can hardly believe it!

Good news.. I no longer have a 4-hr break on Fridays! Paid a visit to Student Admin and have now swapped my tute to 1-3! A 2-hr break i can handle, 4 hours i can not!

This week has proved the most busiest by far.. I'm beginning to realise that starting my assignments earlier would not have been such a bad idea..

But seeing as though i haven't, stress is becoming an increasingly more common word in my vocabulary and means my weekend activities will consist of work and study. Joy.

Anyway, the lecture this week was by far the best yet! I really enjoyed listening to Katie and .... (sorry i forgot her name) give an insight into a career in PR. It was really interesting to listen to an certainly made me consider the pros and cons of the job.

Alphaville confirmed my worst fears from last week... yes, i had no idea what was going on.. while i found it more interesting than the 1st half of the movie, I'm still quite unsure of the actual message behind the film and basically just whats it's really all about.

Anyway, our tutorial tasks for this week are as follows:

Scavenger Hunt:
1. . What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin?
The largest pumpkin ever grown is 1,502 pounds. It was grown by Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island. It was weighed in on October 7, 2006 at the Rhode Island Weigh-off. (http://www.pumpkinnook.com/giants/record.htm)

2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Grant Hackett?

3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?
A giraffe’s tongue can be extended up to 45 centimetres long (http://www.adelaidezoo.com.au/media/files/818.pdf)

4. How would you define the word 'ontology'? In your own words, what does it really mean?
Ontology is the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence or being as such. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ontology) It is basically a description of a relationship that exists for some reason or another.

5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film?
Cronenberg's first effort was a 1966 short film called "Transfer," about a psychiatrist being stalked by a patient (http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/11/30/cronenberg/

6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?
January 8, 1986 (http://www.puremango.co.uk/cm_the_manifesto_77.php)

Why do all phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?
it was agreed between the TV/Film industry and telcos, to 'reserve' the 555 prefix and NOT assign it to phone numbers, to save people being hassled by kids/cranks/whatever, in case the screen phone number, turned out to be an actual one. (http://radar.smh.com.au/archives/jack_marx_comment/000631.html)

8. What is the cheapest form of travel from Crete to Rhodes?
By boat, they are both different islands and therefore mean crossing water (http://www.theplaka.com/travel/getaround.htm)

9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?
week ending 27th March, I'll never find another you by The Seekers (http://www.onmc.iinet.net.au/topspot/1965.htm)

10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?Punk band, the Black Assassins (http://www.griffith.edu.au/text/school/art/staff/stockwell.htm)

11. What is a search engine?
A program that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found. Although search engine is really a general class of programs, the term is often used to specifically describe systems like Alta Vista and Excite that enable users to search for documents on the World Wide Web and USENET newsgroups.
Typically, a search engine works by sending out a spider to fetch as many documents as possible. Another program, called an indexer, then reads these documents and creates an index based on the words contained in each document. Each search engine uses a proprietary algorithm to create its indices such that, ideally, only meaningful results are returned for each query. (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/search_engine.html)

12. How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the Internet?
Pages listed are ones which contain text matching the search term. These are sorted in some kind of relevance order, usually based on the number of times the search terms appear, and whether they're in a title or header (http://hayleyshollers.blogspot.com/)

13.who, or what, makes one page (that you might get in your search results) more useful than another one, so that it is put at the top of your search results?
To get a top spot on the search engine your site must be "optimised" for the search engine.Optimization used to mean adding "keyword metatags" to your site header. This practice is virtually ignored by most search engines. You now need to use sentences to describe what the page is about. A picture is worth 1000 words, but of the search engine cannot see your picture, then it is not worth a thing.Optimising your website using search engine optimization means that you must make your website easily navigable by humans, so that humans can find what they are looking for quickly. The search engine algorithms, or programs, are built to promote sites that do this, and they do this using search engine rules. (http://www.computerengineering.ca/getting_started_with_web_hosting/)

14.what are some of your favourite search engines? why do you like one more than others?
I only ever use Google.. except for when I'm forced to use another one like today lol
It's just so easy to use and helps me with everything! I love it!

15.Can you find some current news stories about search engines? (for example, Google has been in the technology news a bit lately).

Court to hear Google-newspaper fight
11/23/2006

By Aoife White, The Associated Press

BRUSSELS — A Belgian court on Friday will hear Google's defense against local newspaper complaints that it stole content from their websites without paying them or asking their permission.
This will be the first time Google argues its case after the Brussels-based Court of First Instance ordered the California-based company to remove Belgian French-language newspaper content from its news index, threatening daily fines of 1 million euros ($1.28 million).
Google failed to appear at an earlier hearing that led up to that ruling and asked for another opportunity to defend itself against the charges made by Copiepresse, a copyright protection group representing the country's French-language editors.
Copiepresse had claimed that Google ignored its original requests to remove content. It said it had a much happier experience with Microsoft's MSN Belgian site, entering talks to find a solution.
Google's French- and Dutch-language Belgian news pages are now empty of much local content, largely containing reports from news agencies, news websites and foreign newspapers.
Google spokeswoman Jessica Powell said the company had complied with the ruling when it received it in mid-September, stripping out Belgian newspaper content from Google News and publishing the entire text of the judgment on its home page.
"We're glad to have the opportunity to argue the substance," she said. "We think that search engines are real benefit to publishers and drive valuable traffic to their websites."
The popular news site features small photos and excerpts from news reported elsewhere with links to entire articles hosted on news providers' own websites.
Google said its service is lawful and drives traffic to newspaper sites because people need to click through to the original publisher to read the full story. It now displays stories from news agencies, foreign newspapers and Internet sites belonging to local television stations.
Powell said the Internet search company strenuously tries to give newspapers the opportunity to be excluded from the site if they want, by telling the robots.txt information gatherer to avoid certain content and also by alerting Google directly if they want to keep their content off the site.
The company also tried to calm publishers' fears this month by releasing Sitemaps, a tool that aims to give websites more control over what content they do or don't want included in Google News. It is currently only available to English-language publishers.
Newspapers are working in a similar direction with the World Association of Newspapers launching a year-long project to help websites decide what they want listed in search engines.
Google News, which debuted in 2002, scans thousands of news outlets and highlights the top stories under common categories such as world and sports. Many stories carry a small image, or thumbnail, along with the headline and the first sentence or two. Visitors can click on the headline to read the full story at the source website.
The French news agency AFP sued Google for at least $17.5 million (13.8 million euros) in damages in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., arguing that the Google service adds little value because its news site looks much like those of AFP subscribers, albeit one where software and not human editors determine the placement of stories on a page.
Separately, Google has agreed to pay The Associated Press for stories and photographs. Neither Google nor New York-based AP have disclosed financial terms or other details because of a non-disclosure agreement. (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-11-23-google-belgium_x.htm)

Ideas for Essay:
The evolution of mobile based text communication

* http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7seEtmzK1uYC&oi=fnd&pg=RA1-PR14&sig=iKbcYuRQuWtvqgfHj9Og9iwLx_M&dq=changes+in+music+technology+%2B+records#PPA10,M1
Broad overview of mass media. Discusses the ways in which mass media has transformed and the ways in which it can indoctrinate societies' views through things like SMS.

*http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/corpinfo/publications/review/2001_03/files/2001031.pdf
With an estimated 15 billion SMS messages being sent throughout the world every month, SMS, or text messaging, has proved extremely popular within society. Technologies like SMS prove new communication technologies are ever changing and are an important part of the media culture. A NEW STANDARD FOR TOMORROW, READY FOR TODAY!

* http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ARTFuerQs6wC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&sig=OX7BMrS3Ri5BWaKcFCbnvzUqSAY&dq=evolution+of+mobile+phone+text+messaging#PPA75,M1
How Nokia changed the face of the mobile phone and mobile usability.

Such articles will provide background knowledge necessary for preparing my essay.

Tutorial Week 3

Hi again,

Well, we're into another week of uni and that means another lecture and uni blog to write..

So here goes...

"Every abstract machine is linked to other abstract machines, not only because they are inseparably political, economic, scientific, artistic, ecological, cosmic-perceptive, affective, acting, thinking, physical, and semiotic-but because their various types are as intertwined as their operations are convergent. Mechanosphere."

This quote, taken from this mornings lecture, summarises the issues covered in 'The Birth of the Computer' which we learnt about today.

This lecture made me really think about what our world would be like if certain technologies hadn't been invented and introduced into the market - such as computers in the 1950s and more importantly to me, mobile phones and ipods!

It also made me think about how far technology has come over even the last 50 years and how much further it will go.. kind of a scary thought!

Through the lecture i gained a greater understanding of how technologies develop. ie the first production of an IBM computer in the 1950s compared to the new and improved computers we see on desks now and the way computers used to just 'taking up space' ...alot different to computers nowdays which are not only compact but also far more aesthetically appealing.

While watching the first half of Alphaville, i became increasingly more confused but hope that by watching the second half of the movie next week, i will have a better understanding of the film.

Lastly, id just like to say that i think this assessment piece... blogging i mean... is actually alot cooler than i thought! I like the fact that if nothing else, i will now know how to write a blog and who knows.. i might even start one on my myspace! haha

Well that's all for another week!
Byeee!

09.03.07

Hey.

My name is kate.

I am a first year uni student at Griffith on the Gold Coast, studying Communications.

This is my first ever blog and part of my assesment for New Communication Technologies.

While im not completely sure what I want to do when I graduate, my ultimate career goal would be to work for a fashion magazine in New York.

As well as studying New Communication Technologies, I am also enrolled in Marketing, Effective Writing and Youth and Society.

I finished school last year at Varsity College on the coast and loved every single minute of grade 12. The formal, after-party and Schoolies where the massive highlights of my year and I am lucky to have shared these memories with the best friends anyone could ask for.

I have done some travelling with my family but hope to do a lot more when I finish uni in three years time.

In addition to uni, I work as a supervisor at The Warehouse. It sounds weird but I absolutely love my job and the people i work with.

I love the beach, listening to music, playing netball, SHOP till you drop magazine, having a 'good time' with friends and spending time with the family.

I hate winter (although i love winter fashion), violence and when your nails go yellow from wearing nail polish for too long...

Anyway, back to the whole reason of this blog...

New communication technologies are everywhere in society and I hope that through this subject, I gain a better understanding of such issues and basically just broaden my computer skills.

La Jetee was an interesting movie as I had never seen a film similar to it before. Although I didn't really understand most of it, I liked the way they used pictures and words to convey their message.. It was different to 'normal' movies and I liked that.

Anyway, thanks for reading.. hope I didn't completely bore you!

Kate.