Start of Net 205

Today I begin the new unit for Net 205. Though on 1st view I though it would be about ecommerce and how people make money from the internet... I guess I will get to know more about this unit as we move along.

http://wiggio.com/

I will be reviewing this site for my 1st assignment. Stay tuned :)

The next Unit: NET204

Wow, a chance to use  my creative skills. This unit is all about creating a online conference with my fellow students. I have written my paper on e-health... And after researching and collaborating my thoughts on this topic, I am really excited about this new system that the Australian government has in stall for us all!

But the most fun is just beginning, promoting the conference! I am working on a Youtube video using after effects. I am actually really excited about it... can't wait to get started. It's killing 2 birds with one stone. I get to improve my after effects skills and help promote this conference.

Please stay tuned for more information as it unfolds...

But in the meantime, see the logo i have created for the conference :)

WEB101 Week 10: Reflection

This week involved us looking at how we create our internet footprint. It also opened up my eyes to what I put up online. From status updates on Facebook, emails, to business website updates on www.oxyblumedia.com. Everything I put my name towards on the internet will forever be linked to my name. A great way to test what your name is linked to is just to Google your name. Granted this would only work if you have a very distinct name, and not a common name like John Smith. But in my case I can do this and find links that are about me. From posts on parenting website www.inparenting.com.au and the most surprising thing was that my LinkedIn account was at the top of the search. Followed by my Facebook account and then my posts on websites. I have joined up with LinkedIn but not really an active user, so that surprised me that it was at the top of my Google list.

General rules that lecturer Tamar Leaver taught us this week were;

• What judgments and conclusions might others form with my information?
• Are there some details about my life I would like to keep personal?
• Who might view or purchase this information about me?
• Will this information reflect well on me a year from now? Five years?
• Would I want my best friend to know this?
• Would I want my boss (or future boss) to know this about me?
• Would I want my mum (family) to know this about me? (Leaver, 2010, Curtin University Blackboard)

Always be aware of what you are adding to the internet. You never know who will be accessing this information in the future. Especially for the youth who are naive and would post anything up thinking that no one will see it.

I try to keep in mind of who would be seeing what I have written and contributed online. I have always keeps my discussions clean, and keep discriminating images off social networking sites. And to keep myself from ending up in compromising images that may end up on social networking sites. As I am starting up my own business you want to make sure that what you have said or posted in the past online wont bite you in the future.

Keep your internet footprint clean. Watch watch your post and watch what you upload.

WEB101 Assignment 2: Analyse the extent to which Blogs have changed and/or potential to change the way people communicate and collaborate

Since Jorn Barger logged the first blog in December 1997, the evolution of the weblog has made an impact on the way people communicate and collaborate. Blogs have been labeled “the easiest, cheapest, fastest publishing tool ever invented” by Jeff Jarvis, Director of City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism. (Wortham, 2007). With the ease of publishing your own “news” and relaying the “experience” of current affairs, a journalist is no longer the main centre of knowledge on a subject, the audience now knows more than the reporter. (Glaser, 2006). Blogs have made it possible to become famous or to create a career out of writing on topics that contain interesting, well written content, which is evident in the case of celebrity gossip blogger, Perez Hilton. But with so many blogs out there and new technologies and social networking sites launched everyday, what does the future have in-store for the blog?

"Businesses have blogs. Children have blogs. Seniors have blogs. Got a hobby? Blog about it. Got a passion, blog about it." (VanFossen, 2007) Blogs are "collections of website links and written commentary, typically on a single web page and sorted chronologically." (Baer, 2006) As blogs have evolved over the past 13 years, they have moved from digital online journals to corporate websites, individual’s subjects of interest, and news portals, creating a channel that has totally remodeled the flow of information. (Zimmer, 2006) Blogs are unfiltered, which allows individuals to have their say on a topic, without being censored and are also welcome for the public to comment on the content. "This instant and open sharing of information and opinion is transformative and ties communities of like-minded people together in virtual tribes that can wield substantial real world influence." (Baer, 2006) Getting involved online through blogs gives companies, politicians and industry experts a personal touch, showing that they care about their consumers and the public’s opinions. "Corporate executives, journalists, marketers, freelancers, advertisers, politicians, and citizens of the world have taken to publishing blogs, moving them from personal journals to a modern influential media form." (Zimmer, 2006) Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine, points out that blogging is “a tool that you can use to do anything. Change the world or put up your restaurant's daily menu, and anything in between." (Wortham, 2007)

As blogs have grown in popularity, it has allowed the average citizen to make their own news and distribute it globally, an act that was once the sole role of journalists and media companies. (Glaser, 2006) Bloggers can publish their experiences online through a variety of portals, be it a news network, their own personal blogs, or the use of micro Blogs like Twitter and Facebook. The term “citizen journalism” has many explanations, but it simply is amateur writers, distributing their thoughts and options on a particular topic or events. But this term can be blurred with professional journalists too. “Many journalists working within the media have turned to blogging as a way to disseminate their writing.” (Leaver, 2010) Professional news media groups use citizen journalists as “sources” for particular breaking news stories. “Blogs have become important news sources in their own right. Behind-the-scenes footage and reports emerged during crises like the South Asian tsunami, the Hurricane Katrina aftermath and the recent Burmese uprising, when coverage from traditional outlets was scarce.” (Wortham, 2007) This is called Network Journalism where “professionals and amateurs [are] working together to get the real story, linking to each other across brands and old boundaries to share facts, questions, answers, ideas, perspectives. It recognizes the complex relationships that will make news." (Jarvis, 2006) Stories, photos, and videos are broadcast on the news from citizen journalist who were there when an event unfolds. The recent Queensland floods are also an example of network journalism at work. Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, calls “bloggers the "pit bulls of journalism" and credits their persistent nature with reviving stories that would otherwise fade from newspapers' front pages. Bloggers' openness helps break through the media clutter to illuminate important issues, and is changing the way traditional journalism engages readers." (Wortham, 2007)

Celebrity gossip is a huge industry. When Perez Hilton launched his celebrity gossip website www.perezhilton.com in 2004, originally named PageSixSixSix.com, it “has become one of the leading go-to sites for celebrity news garnering over 300 million hits a month.” (Hilton, 2011) Hilton started his first blog site because “he had a lot of free time and started a website because it seemed easy. His new site takes full advantage of the immediacy of the Internet, consistently scooping even the daily publications." (Boardman, 2006) Hilton’s success is simple. He has never been motivated by money, he just wants to get as many people he could to visit his blog. The vindictive content of his posts on perezhilton.com, and the heavy web traffic that visit his site daily, has made Hilton a major player in Hollywood's star-making factory. (Caesar, 2007) But this fame does take it’s toll on Hilton who can work up to 18 hour days to keep his website as one of the most visited celebrity gossip website, currently ranked 123 most hit site. (technorati.com) Hilton does admit that "A lot of agencies actually send me their pictures, because they realise that one dude with a website who is doing it for fun, is being read by four million viewers. So having their photo on the site helps them to sell it.” (Caeser, 2006) If a blog has great content and interest, it can become a money making venture and generate massive web traffic and be one of the top ranked website for celebrity gossip, or any topic of interest.

As technologies are introduced to help enhance the Internet experience, the future of the blog is mixed. "There was a time when casual, personal blogging was your way to communicate with your friends on the web. Via posts, commenting, and blogrolls, bloggers formed niche communities on the web to socialize with each other.” (Perez, 2008) There is currently “a trend that clearly shows that blogging is losing its luster with today’s younger generation.”  (Carta, 2010) As new communication platforms have emerged over the past few years, the blog has become dull and unappealing to the younger generation. As viewer’s attention spans shrink, new life needs to be infused into blogs to make them more dynamic. With the growing popularity Tablets and Smartphones like Apples iPad and iPhones, many professional bloggers have made their blogs available as applications (Apps) for these devices, allowing their blogs to be readily accessible and available to as many people as possible. (Carta, 2010)

Another new platform that has recently become popular in social networking is “Lifestreaming”. "A “lifestream” is a time-ordered stream of documents that functions as a diary of your electronic life; every document you create and every document other people send you is stored in your lifestream.” (Freeman, Gelernter, 1997) Thought Lifestreams are an old idea, they have recently come to light with the ever-expanding social networking websites. Users can collaborate all their social networking information into one spot, be it their Tweets from Twitter, blogs, photo uploads to Flickr, or video content on YouTube. Social aggregation services “like FriendFeed  provide today's new discussion boards where conversation occurs surrounding the items posted and shared, leading to even more of a community feel, and one that's drawing more users every day. What's amazing about this site is that the elements of traditional blogging are mirrored here. Instead of posts, there's a stream. Instead of "Recent Comments," there are the "Recent Discussions." And instead of an "About Me" page, there's a link to the blogger's Facebook profile. Could this be the future of blogging?” (Perez, 2008)

Over the past 13 years, Blogs have changed the way in which people communicate and collaborate with each other. The blog has evolved from a personal online journal and a way to converse between friends, to a way to break news stories, share experiences and ideas on any topic or event and welcoming comments from the general public. Blogs have opened up a new avenue for people to use to voice their opinions to the world and a way to make a career as a professional blogger. Perez Hilton is an example of one man with a passion on a topic and turning his blog into an online money making venture just by posting his opinions online. But as technologies change, the way in which Blogs are used and accessed will change from a single chronologically ordered website into applications for Tablets and Smartphones, letting people access them whenever they want and wherever they are. Blogs need to become more dynamic to keep the younger generation interested in them, and to continue to use them as a way of online communication and collaboration.
REFERENCES

Wortham, J. (2007) After 10 Years of Blogs, the Future's Brighter Than Ever. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/12/blog_anniversary

Glaser, M. (2006) Your Guide to Citizen Journalism. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/09/your-guide-to-citizen-journalism270.html

VanFossen, L (2007) Blog Challenge: Have Blogs Changed the World? Retrieved from http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2007/01/16/blog-challenge-have-blogs-changed-the-world/

Baer, J. (2006) Blogs and the new transparency of communication. Retrieved from http://www.convinceandconvert.com/web-site-strategy/blogs-and-the-new-transparency-of-communication/

Zimmer, L. (2006) Blogs: Changing the Communications Conversation. Retrieved from http://weblog.modernmediasphere.com/2006/02/blogs_changing_.html

Leaver, T. (2010) Topic 2.1 - Blogging? [Course notes]. Retrieved from http://lms.curtin.edu.au

Javis, J. (2006) Networked journalism. Retrieved from http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/07/05/networked-journalism/#comment-86195           

Hilton, P. (2011) Bio - Who is Perez Hilton? Retrieved from http://perezhilton.com/?page_id=38

Broadman, M. (2006) Beautiful People 2006: Perez Hilton. Retrieved from http://www.papermag.com/arts_and_style/2006/04/beautiful-people-2006-perez-hilton.php

Caeser, E. (2007) The Star-Spangled Blogger: Rise and rise of a showbiz superbitch. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-starspangled-blogger-rise-and-rise-of-a-showbiz-superbitch-442545.html

technorati.com (2011) Retrieved from http://technorati.com/search?return=sites&authority=all&q=perez+hilton&x=13&y=13 on 27^th January 2011

Perez, S. (2008) The Future of Blogging Revealed. Retrieved from http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_future_of_blogging_reveale.php

Carta, D. (2010) The Future of Blogging. Retrieved from http://gigaom.com/collaboration/the-future-of-blogging/

Freeman, E., Gelernter, D. (1997) Lifestreams, Organizing Your Electronic Life. Retrieved from http://cs-www.cs.yale.edu/homes/freeman/lifestreams.html

WEB101 Assignment 1: Short Question & Answers

Q1: What is the Internet?

“The Internet is a massive global network connecting hundreds of thousands of computers together.” (iinet, 2010) The Internet is the connection between computers that form a network. It enables a desktop computer to perform real-time communication between different computers and networks.

For the Internet to work each computer is issued with an IP (Internet Protocol) address, “which governs the movement of the information, making sure it gets to the right place.” (Leaver, 2010). “TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a set of rules (protocol) used along with the IP to send data in the form of message units between computers over the Internet. While IP takes care of handling the actual delivery of the data, TCP takes care of keeping track of the individual units of data (called packets) that a message is divided into for efficient routing through the Internet.” (TechTarget, 2011)

“The Internet has no owner - no country, company or individual can claim ownership. Similarly it has no ruling body. This means that there is no committee to dictate the progress of the Internet or who may access it.” (iinet, 2010)

Q2: What is the World Wide Web?

The World Wide Web (WWW) “is a collection of files residing on computers called web servers, rendered in programs called web browsers, and transported via http (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) over the Internet.” (The University of Chicago, 2010)  It is a many to many communication network. WWW software such as Outlook (for email), Fetch (for File Transfer Protocol [FTP]) and Firefox (web browser) are a few examples.

The WWW use URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) that tells the browser where to find a webpage or file. The most common URLs are http://www (web), ftp://ftp (FTP), mailto:user@ (email) and news://user (Usenet). The language that is the backbone of the WWW is HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), which tells our web browsers how a page is to look. Another language used on the WWW is Hypertext, which is the “linking system that enables us to jump from one page to another by intuitively 'clicking' our mouse on a highlighted word.” (Leaver, 2010)

Q3: What is the relationship between the World Wide Web and the Internet?

“The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) work together, but they are not the same thing. The Internet provides the underlying structure, and the Web utilizes that structure to offer content, documents, multimedia, etc.” (Boswell, 2011) “The Internet's network is at the core of the WWW, and the WWW is like an attractive parasite that requires the Net for survival.” (dummies.com, 2011) Without the Internet, the WWW would not exist. They go together like a horse and carriage, and rely on each other to be useful functions in society.

Q4: What are three purported differences between the World Wide Web as it first emerged, and the more recent Web 2.0?

Web 1.0 emerged in the early 1990s where web pages were static information and could only be edited by its author/owner. The user had limited participation to websites. It was purely used for information retrieval, similar to a library, but all the information was available to the user with a click of a mouse.

Below are a few comparisons between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0

• “Web 1.0 was about companies, Web 2.0 is about communities
• Web 1.0 was about client-server, Web 2.0 is about peer to peer
• Web 1.0 was about home pages, Web 2.0 is about blogs
• Web 1.0 was about lectures, Web 2.0 is about conversation
•  Web 1.0 was about advertising, Web 2.0 is about word of mouth
•  Web 1.0 was about services sold over the web, Web 2.0 is about web services” (Barefoot, 2006)

Web 2.0 is about user participation and rich user experiences. With the introduction of social networking, blogging, wikis, and content sharing have made the WWW the place to collaborate, communicate and share with other people all around the world.

Q5: What is RSS and why is it significant to Web 2.0?

“RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.” (whatisrss.com, 2011)

RSS is significant to Web 2.0 as it encapsulates the Web 2.0 concept of the incremental web. “RSS is now being used to push not just notices of new blog entries, but also all kinds of data updates, including stock quotes, weather data, and photo availability.” (O’Reilly, 2005)  RSS can be used for all types of purposes, but it lets the user be up-to-date with their favourite websites and/or blogs content and/or comments without having to visit the website/blog.

REFERENCES

iiNet (2010) “About the Internet” – iiHelp – iiNet.net.au. Retrieved 4th January 2011 from, https://iihelp.iinet.net.au/About_the_Internet

Leaver, T. (2010) Topic 1.1: What is the Internet? [Course notes]. Retrieved from http://lms.curtin.edu.au

TechTarget (1999) "What is TCP? - Definition from Whatis.com." Networking information, news and tips - SearchNetworking.com. Retrieved 4^th January 2011 from http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/TCP

David N. (2010) “World Wide Web” - University of Chicago KnowledgeBase. Retrieved 4^th January 2011 from http://answers.uchicago.edu/page.php?id=15974

Leaver, T. (2010) Topic 1.2: …And the World Wide Web? [Course notes]. Retrieved from http://lms.curtin.edu.au

Boswell, Wendy (2011) “The World Wide Web and the Internet - What is the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web?” - About Web Search - Learn How To Search The Web at About Web Search. Retrieved 4^th January 2011 from http://websearch.about.com/od/whatistheinternet/a/worldwideweb.htm

Dummies.com (2011) “The Difference between the World Wide Web and the Internet - For Dummies” - How-To Help and Videos - For Dummies. Retrieved 4^th January 2011 from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-difference-between-the-world-wide-web-and-the-.html

Barefoot, Darren (2006) “Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0” - Vancouver Writer, Marketer, Blogger, Professional Speaker and Raconteur » DarrenBarefoot.com. Retrieved 4^th January 2011 from http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/2006/05/web-10-vs-web-20.html

whatisrss.com (2011) “What Is RSS? RSS Explained” - www.WhatIsRSS.com. Retrieved 4^th January 2011 from http://www.whatisrss.com/

O'Reilly, Tim (2005) “What is Web 2.0; Blogging and the Wisdom of Crowds” - http://oreilly.com. Retrieved 4^th January 2011 from http://oreilly.com/pub/a/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html?page=3

WEB101 Week 9: Reflection

This week we focused on Content Sharing. My eyes were opened to many new ways to share content with the rest of the world and the Creative Commons Licensing. Even though I am aware of this licensing but I was not aware it had a name until this week. In the graphic design industry we use this kind of licensing a lot, for graphics, for content and a whole lot more.

Other types of content sharing sites I was exposed to is Flickr. I was quite amazed by it's tagging by using this site http://www.flickr.com/map/. A bit like Google Maps setup, type in a location you want to see, and then it will load up images that have been tagged in that location. Go and have a play, the results will amaze you. There are many other tools that Flickr offer, but this one was a stand out for me.


This week I set up my Youtube account. I haven't uploaded anything as yet but for years I have put off signing up to this service. There are different genres of Youtube content that we were exposed to this week. These include;

Memes: a slice of cultural information that spreads and becomes popular largely through the Net. (Leaver, 2010)

Mashups: mixes elements from a number of different digital sources. (Leaver, 2010)

These forms of content sharing are of course subjected to copyright and so we learnt this week what exactly can be used without breaching copyright. Though this has been called the "Mickey Mouse Law".
Watch this short video to get the general gist of what copyright is.

Also, as mentioned before, we were introduced to the Creative Commons License. This information was the most useful bit of information. "Creative Commons licenses provide simple, standardized alternatives to the “all rights reserved” paradigm of traditional copyright." (Creative Commons, 2011)  Visit http://creativecommons.org/ and also watch this short video on what it's all about.

This bit of information makes creating my web presence much easier and looking for a Creative Commons License material and be freely allowed to use that content on my website.

So this week was a very interesting week for me as it helps my career and chosen industry knowledge and how I can create websites in the future.

WEB101 Week 8: Reflection

Sorry for being absent for some time now as I have been busy cramming in study, work and minding a baby.
I Week 8, we looked at Social Networking sites. The biggest one that I want to focus on is Facebook. There has been some great banter on the Curtin University Blackboard about what word best describes our experience of Facebook and it's privacy issues. Overall this weeks learning has been quite interesting on how people generally see what Facebook is.

The one word that best describes the facebook experience for me is Connection. As a new mum, it is hard sometimes to get out of the house and connect to other adults. It's been great to reconnect with old friends that i have fell out of touch with over the years, and I can ask me "friends" advice on topics, invite them to events and share photos and videos with them. It is a great tool of communication for me to keep connected with the outside world. (As posted on Blackboard by myself)

Other words that have been discussed are Community, Passive, Evil, Intriguing, Procrastination, and Reconnecting. The general consensus has been that Facebook is a great way to keep connected to family and friends all over the world, but also it can be the tool to invade your personal privacy. But as the old saying goes, buyer beware. don't give all your information out so freely, keep some things private and not posted on a social network for the world to see.
Fellow student Marina Okuneva had a great view on the privacy on social networks. Okuneva quotes;

"Facebook collects private information about its users not because they are evil, but to fulfil its purpose - be a social network (well, and to make some money while doing it of course ;-) ). People open Facebook accounts in order to socialise - to find lost friends(?), share information and communicate. Facebook is pretty clever at helping its users in making connections with each other very easy and straightforward. But  there is no magic - in order to connect you with other people Facebook needs to know something about you - and the more it knows the better it works. Users provide their information because they want it." (Curtin University Blackboard, 2011)

For our children sake, knowing the dangers of SNs and teaching them what not to do is well worth the lesson.  Also please note, when you are applying for jobs, potential employers jump straight onto facebook and look to see if you have a profile, so they suss you out before you even get an interview. If you have pictures of you being drunk or the sort and talking about discriminating things, your chance of employment are extinguished. Just bare that in mind when pictures, videos or status' linked to you are posted online.  Always be conscious that the whole world is watching you when you have a profile online. A great case to follow and use as examples are swimmers Stephine Rice and Michael Phelps. Both their names dragged through the mud from photos and videos leaked onto facebook and other SNs.

Privacy on SNs, it is up to the account holder to make sure they are aware of them and be very careful of what information they provide. I have gone to great lengths not to include bits of important information from my profile so my identity can't be stolen. Leaving out important information is one way to protect yourself. Though I do not understand why people will just post information like mobile numbers for all of the FB community to see.

As to Facebook using our information to advertise to us? Well to keep the service free to its users, they use your personal information to sell ad space to make money to keep people employed so they can in turn make sure your personal information can not be jeopardize. But like every thing on the internet, it is open to hackers, but if they didn't have people working for them, problems such as these wouldn't be fixed. So selling your information to keep you safe... its a catch 22. As a business owner I have used FB ads before to target my market. It really is no different to advertising in the offline world.

As you can tell there has been quite a stir on this topic this week and much interaction between fellow students and our ideas on Social Networking.