WEB101 Week 5: Reflection

Web 2.0 has me intrigued. I have just finished watching the talk from Clay Shirky that he gave at the Web 2.0 Conference in 2008.

Clay Shirky - Where do people find the time. Web 2.0 Conference 2008

Shirky brings up some very interesting points about how people "will" find the time to contribute to the internet collaboration. His references to the industrial revolution and to the 'sitcom' are agreeable. Before the industrial revolution he comments that people were all drunk on gin, and then they all stopped being drunk and poof! we have the industrial revolution. Similarly to Web 2.0, he was asked by a TV producer "Where will people find time?" Well his comments in regards to this question do get you thinking about how many mindless hours we have all wasted sitting in front of the 'idiot box' as we are drilled with advertising and sitcoms. We are now starting to shift our time towards other matters, such as contributing to internet communities. We are seen as 'wasting time' because we are on facebook or twitter, but at lease we are 'doing something'. We are contributing and sharing, not just consuming.
His final comments on his little girls reacting to the TV not having a mouse is exactly where I believe the future for the internet will be heading. As the older generation have to be retrained from the mindless TV watching, time wasters that we grew up as to contributors and collaborators on the web, the next generation is already there and will continue to make this 'fad' grow stronger and wiser. More of a reason why to take this course in Internet Communication. Weather we like it or not, it's here to stay and will become a bigger and more important part of our everyday life. Stop burying our heads in the sand and start contributing to something bigger than that box in the centre of your living room.

Still more reflections to come this week. Stay tuned.

References

Clay Shirky - Where do people find the time, 2008 Web 2.0 Conference (Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyoNHIl-QLQ Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNCblGv0zjU&feature=related)

Update on Net 102 results!!

Hoorah I have passed my 1st unit with flying colours... Now to continue this trend for the rest of the course.

WEB101 Week 3: Reflection

So this week we discussed what the Web is... Where it began, how it has evolved over the last 50 years. Yes 50 years. It's hard to believe that the concept of the web has been around since the 1960 with the introduction of the the first hyper text document by Doug Engelbart. Read more about Engelbart's discoveries at http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html
But not until the late 1980s early 1990s did the web become the interest of the public... Thanks to the developers of Mosaic... the 1st web browser application that was available "free" to the public. Imagine if these developers never released their web browser to the public domain and web browsers remained "commercial"? Would the internet have developed into what it is today? Would it be as popular as it has become? My guess would be that we wouldn't have been bothered to use this tool and it would of only been used for research purposes and the general public would not of seen it as a useful tool.
I did see on the "Today" on channel 9 this week a segment they had on "What the internet has killed". Looking back at the early 80s where in every household there was a book shelf full of Encyclopedia Britannica's, which was where anything about everything was to be found. I remember using these books for all my assignments during my school years. But now all we need to do is turn on your computer, get onto the Web and the world of information is at your fingertips, and no longer requiring a large amount of space to be stored.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AHNTK94HL._SS500_.jpg

  It poses the question on what you think the web will also kill in the future. You can rent Movies, download MP3 music, which could kill the video and music stores, you can send letters instantly at no cost via email as apposed to sending a letter via the postal system, you can shop online for your weekly groceries and have them delivered to your door, could this abolish a physical presence of a supermarket? You can do all you banking online from transferring money, to paying bills, without leaving the comfort of your living room.
I also leave this week with another question... will we become so antisocial that we wont leave our homes because we have everything we need at the click of a button? From cyber friendships on Facebook, to online shopping and virtual offices... could this destroy human nature as we know it?

WEB101 Week 2: Reflection

This week we were talking about "What is the Internet?" The Internet is not just the world wide web or email... these are things that need the internet to work. Learning about routers and packets and how the internet has evolved overtime, I was interested to find out that the 1st known form of the internet was way back in 1957 when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball. (Garber, 2007) In the race of world domination between the Russians and the Americans, the public feared that the Soviets' ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. (Garber, 2007) But from this monumental occasion came the beginning of something that would change how the people of the world would live their lives in the future.

The first ever network of computers was established in 1969 by ARPANET. BBN delivered the first Interface Message Processor (IMP) to Leonard Kleinrock's Network Measurements Center at UCLA. The IMP was built from a Honeywell DDP 516 computer with 12K of memory, designed to handle the ARPANET network interface.

I was also interested to find out when the 1st ever email was sent. In 1971, Ray Tomlinson invented the '@' address for emails and an email was sent from BBNA and BBNB computers (see image below).

The first ever email from BBNA and BBNB in 1971 (source http://openmap.bbn.com/~tomlinso/ray/ka10.html)

Apart from all this history about the internet, we reflected on our first personal experiences of the internet. After reading through a few fellow students reflections, you can see how peoples experience vary depending on their age, interest and location of where they first experienced the internet. It makes me wonder how my daughters first experience of the internet would be like and how it will vastly vary from what mine was in the 1990s.

We also had to visit http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/visual-tracert/ where you can trace the routing of your internet service provider and where each website you access actually lives in the world. Have a try of it and you would be interested to know where some of the websites you access actually live.

Learning a bit about the infrastructure of how the internet works and how it has developed over the years has given me a greater appreciation for it.

References

http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/
ARPANET - The First Internet http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_arpanet.htm
http://openmap.bbn.com/~tomlinso/ray/ka10.html

WEB101 Week 2: What was your first experience of the Internet? Has it changed over time?

I was still in high school when I first got the chance to use the internet. I was studying computer studies and we got to play around a bit on the web to get to know it. A group of friends and I started using a chat room. Little did we know that this chat room was run by a religious organisation and my friend had stupidly put her name as Lucifer. Well our IP address were tracked and the school was contacted in regards to the use of this name and us being on this chat room. This was my 1st glimpse on how easily and efficiently people can track you down just by your IP address. Imagine all the criminals out there sitting and waiting to catch your information without you even knowing they are doing it?  Since then I have always be cautious of how I use the internet and how much information I place on it. Also a use of a Mac also helps by not letting in those millions of damaging virus' out there.

So chat rooms have improved some what since the late 90s. We can now do video conferencing, instant messaging and viop calls using a variety of different software's to perform these tasks. (eg Skype, iChat, Messenger) The internet has certainly changed since y 1st experience of it back at high school.

Week 2 Web 101 Activities

Activity One - Routing in Action!
When you make a request to another computer on the Internet, that request passes through a number of other computers on its way to the host. We can see this in action:

• Click on this link to open a new page in your browser.
• Click the Proxy Trace button to see a visual representation of your request leaving your computer, passing through the web page's host in Los Angeles, and on to the Google headquarters near San Francisco.
• Now, change the remote address in the dialogue box to find the geographical location of the headquarters of wikipedia.org, amazon.com and flickr.com.
• Finally, see if you can find a popular website that is not hosted in the US or Australia.

It was interesting to see where your packets go to get their information. Looks like my packets always head down to Melbourne and then out to Signapore, then USA and then to where ever it needs to go.

I did find out that yes indeed www.oxyblumedia.com is hosted in America... Florida by the looks of it. www.istockphoto.com is in Canada.
www.flyeralarm.de is in Germany.
www.voice-pool.com is in Germany as well.

Activity Two - Who Owns What?
All domain names are registered either to a business or an individual. Now, we're going to use that knowledge to do a little snooping!

• Click on this link to open a new page in your browser.
• This page performs a search for the owner of a particular domain name. Enter curtin.edu.au in the whois lookup field and perform a check to find the owner (Hint: Scroll down to the registrant).

Registrant:                      Curtin University of Technology

• Now we know who owns the Curtin domain name - Curtin University! No surprises there.
• Now, perform checks on each of the following domain names to find who owns them:
• flickr.com

 

Registrant:
        Domain Administrator
        Yahoo! Inc.
        701 First Avenue
         Sunnyvale CA 94089
        US
        domainadmin@yahoo-inc.com +1.4083493300 Fax: +1.4083493301

• youtube.com

Registrant:
        DNS Admin
        Google Inc.
        1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
         Mountain View CA 94043
        US
        dns-admin@google.com +1.6502530000 Fax: +1.6506188571

 

• mickey.com

Domain Name.......... mickey.com
  Creation Date........ 1999-04-09
  Registration Date.... 2010-02-25
  Expiry Date.......... 2011-04-10
  Organisation Name.... Buena Vista Internet Group
  Organisation Address. 500 S. Buena Vista Street
  Organisation Address. 506 Second Ave. Suite 2100
  Organisation Address. Burbank
  Organisation Address. 91521
  Organisation Address. CA
  Organisation Address. UNITED STATES

 

• Now do a check for the following domain names:
• gooogle.com

Registrant:
        DNS Admin
        Google Inc.
        1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
         Mountain View CA 94043
        US
        dns-admin@google.com +1.6506234000 Fax: +1.6506188571

 

• yaho.com

Registrant:
        Domain Administrator
        Yahoo! Inc.
        701 First Avenue
         Sunnyvale CA 94089
        US
        domainadmin@yahoo-inc.com +1.4083493300 Fax: +1.4083493301

 

• Who owns these domain names? Why do you think this is?

Google and yahoo own these alternative domain names so that for those you mistype the address will still be redirected to their correct websites. Also stops impostor websites from emerging and mirroring their successful websites

Starting WEB101

So today I have started my next Unit for BA Internet Communications... The 13 weeks already lined up... but the unit outline looks exciting and full of interesting things to learn... I will be a lot more active on Twitter, and other social networking sites for this unit so you can follow me at http://twitter.com/kat18f

So what will I be posting here?
Every week we are required to reflect on our weeks learning so I will be using this blog as a place to "store" my weekly learning reflections.
I will also post the best replies to blackboard tasks and conversations, and also essays as they are submitted.

I hope you all will find the next 13 weeks worth of blogs interesting and don't forget to visit my business' home page www.oxyblumedia.com. We are about to launch a new look website so I will also post when that is up and ready to check out...

NET102 Assignment 4: Essay 2

The Internet offers a space where people may resist oppression on a daily basis; it overturns traditional structures of power and control. Looking at the Internet and how it affects our everyday life in the areas of health, gaming and politics, one can see how people resort to the Internet to escape the traditional structures of power and control. According to Marlow’s hierarchy of needs, it is human nature to know, to understand, and explore; to find self-fulfillment and realize one's potential, to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential. (Huitt 2007) The following essay attempts to evaluate the above statements, using the knowledge learnt from areas of module 1 and module 2 of NET102.

Looking at Marlow’s hierarchy of needs, there are 5 general types of needs, Physiological, Security and Safety, Love and Belongingness, Self-Esteem, and Self-Actualisation. Marlow’s theory is outlined in Figure 1.1 

Figure 1.1: Marlow’s Hierarchy of Needs

With Marlow’s theory in mind, to meet our security and safety needs some people resort to the Internet to escape oppression. They find freedom in the Internet. Some may take safety under an avatar where they can live a “different” life through online gaming, and also their need to belong is met. In their offline world, they may not get the acceptance they crave from their community, and find in the world they have created online, for example Second Life, they have control over their safety and belongingness.

In the world of politics, candidates take refugee in the new media of the Internet to seek approval, meeting their self-esteem needs. They seek the desire for a positive self-image and to receive attention, recognition and appreciation from others. (Samson, Daft 2009) With the use of the Internet, politicians can promote their intended policies and reforms, and also build a positive public image. Many now use the Internet as an integral tool in election campaigns. Not only politicians, but movement parties, for example GetUp!, use the Internet to spin propaganda, start petitions and get recognition.

The last type of need that will be addressed is Self-Actualisation. One becomes wiser (develops wisdom) and automatically knows what to do in a wide variety of situations. (Huitt 2007) In the area of Health in the traditional offline world, we would solely depend on the opinions and advice of professionals. But with the introduction of Medicine 2.0 (Figure 1.2), Web 2.0 users can research and connect with others via the Internet to discuss their health with professionals or other sufferers so they can get the full scope of their health concerns.

Figure 1.2: Medicine 2.0 Map (with some current exemplary applications and services)

As shown in Figure 1.2 people can now access a whole new arena of information and knowledge base. Not only can people learn about certain health issues, they can also connect with other “patients” and discuss experiences and learn more about themselves, in terms of their health. Not only is Medicine 2.0 helpful for patients, professionals can now easily access information from medical research and make a more definitive path of treatment for their patients.

How has the Internet overturn the traditional structures of power and control? Firstly, looking at the theme of online gaming, an important social element of online gaming is the creation of online communities. (Jones, Johnson, Clarke, Gonzales and Lengauer 2003). In the offline world a persons status, for example, maybe that of a loner, not many friends and not considered “popular” in their school community. But in their online gaming world, they might be considered “popular”. Just like it is mentioned in the lecture from Mike Kent (2010) “No body knows you’re a dog”. Under the security of an avatar, one can be who ever they desire to be. One can escape the oppressions from the schoolyard with their online community, overturning power and control in their world.

In the past, the media was controlled much easier and so government had a greater say in what did and didn’t make the news. But now with the introduction of the Internet, the government has little control about what people can post online, or research. Wikileaks is a website that provides an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to journalists. (Wikileaks, 2010) How it works is that people can submit anonymous “leaks”, and the origin of the information is protected. Wikileaks is fearless in (their) efforts to get the unvarnished truth out to the public. (Wikileaks, 2010)

A recent incident between Wikileaks and the Department of Defence back in October 2010 shows how Wikileaks has changed the traditional power and control of Government information. This unauthorized leak of military documents about the war in Afghanistan has been under investigation by the Australian Defense Force to determine the potential impact on Australian interests and personnel, including the protection and operations of forces deployed in Afghanistan. (Department of Defence, 2010) From this event the Defence force is now undertaking an extensive investigation of Wikileaks website articles relating to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Furthermore on the Australian Government and the Internet is its proposed censorship. The Government has stated that the proposed censorship laws are there to make the Internet safer for children. But so far this legislation has failed to convince the Australian public that this is not an act to silence our freedom of speech. On 16 March 2009, the Australian Communications and Media Authority added WikiLeaks to their proposed blacklist of sites that will be blocked for all Australians if the mandatory Internet filtering censorship scheme is implemented as planned. (Moses, 2009) Are these Blacklists really going to protect us? Or is the Government just trying to cover up tracks so that the public will never really know what the truth is? It’s a battle for power and control. The Government knows they have no control or power over what is available on the Internet, nor can they stop people publishing damaging articles, pictures and videos. But they are going to try to censor Australia from them. There are already some forms of censorship on Australian Internet. A resource for this can be found at http://www.efa.org.au/censorship/.

"Whatever its starting point and expressed intention, the end of the censor's road is repression of dangerous' ideas - not only about sex but about morals, politics, art and life. Opposition to censorship must inevitably involve us in defending things and people whom we may dislike and disapprove of (sometimes passionately). Voltaire's well known saying that 'I detest what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it' may seem trite to us but is as apposite as it ever was." - Antony Grey, 1995

In the area of health, the Internet has brought about many changes in the way people treat, diagnosis and research health issues. Medicine 2.0 applications, services and tools are Web-based services for health care consumers, caregivers, patients, health professionals, and biomedical researchers, that use Web 2.0 technologies and/or semantic web and virtual-reality tools, to enable and facilitate specifically social networking, participation, apomediation, collaboration, and openness within and between these user groups. (Eysenbach, 2008) These online services allow patients to share their experiences of a health issue with other patients diagnosed with a similar condition. The web has always allowed us to research facts, but with the introduction of Web 2.0 and social networking, people can now talk directly with professionals and other patients about their issues and what course of treatment they have tried and their experiences. The health professional is an expert in identifying disease, while the patient is an expert in experiencing it. (Eysenbach, 2008) The Internet has given power and control back to patients who now have the choice to learn more about health related issues outside a doctor’s consultation room.

A great example of where patients have the power to conduct their own treatments via the Internet is OnTrack (https://www.ontrack.org.au). There are many reasons why people can’t access health services ranging from distance to cost. The Internet has been able to bring these services to these people who would otherwise not be able to receive help. OnTrack services are available online, meaning that more people will be able to get help for their mental and physical health concerns, and best of all it’s free. (OnTrack, 2010) They offer fact sheets, online programs, quizzes and professional advice for mental health concerns from depression to alcoholism. This service is relatively new and was launched in 2009.

Online gaming can bring people together who would otherwise never meet, sharing similar interests, even if it is behind the security of an avatar. Internet and politics clash in the area of power and control. The Internet is a tool used to express people’s freedom of speech, and the Government wants to censor it and control what the Australian public can see. What their true prerogative with Internet censorship in Australia is yet to be seen. The Internet has had positive effects in the area of health. Patients no longer require to solely rely on professional advice when it comes to health concerns. Even for professionals, they now have easier access to recent research and new treatments and medication that are available, and can pass on this information to their patients. The Internet has given power and control back to patients where they can now make more informed decisions in their course of treatment.

The Internet gives peoples the choice to escape their lives oppressions, by offering a space where they are in control of their own world, online. No matter how their lives are evolving offline, people have the chance to reinvent themselves, creating an environment where they feel safe and secure, have a sense of belonging, can create a positive self image, and also further their knowledge in any area they wish, giving people the power and control of their own destiny.

REFERENCES

Huitt, W. (2007). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved 18^th November 2010 from, http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/regsys/maslow.html

Heiserman, David L. (2008). ‘Figure 1-2. Maslow's hierarchy of needs,’ Fundamentals of Nursing, 2^nd Edition. United States Army. Retrieved 18^th November 2010 from, http://www.free-ed.net/sweethaven/MedTech/NurseFund/default.asp?iNum=2&fraNum=010102

Samson, Danny and Daft, Richard L. (2009). ‘Chapter 16: Motivation.’ Management Third Edition, p 592-593

Gunther Eysenbach. (2008, August 25). ‘Figure 1. Medicine 2.0 Map (with some current exemplary applications and services)’ Medicine 2.0: Social Networking, Collaboration, Participation, Apomediation, and Openness. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 10(3). Retrieved 18^th November 2010 from http://www.jmir.org/2008/3/e22/

Jones, Steve., Johnson, Camille., Clarke, Lisa., Gonzales, Margaret. and Lengauer, Guenther. (May 2003) "College Students, Gaming and the Internet" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Marriott Hotel, San Diego, CA. p 5. Retrieved 18^th November 2010 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p112027_index.html

Kent, Mike. (2010) Community and Identity, Week 8 Lecture for NET102, Curtin University, Western Australia, p 3

Wikileaks (2010) About Wikileaks. Retrieved 18^th November 2010 from, http://wikileaks.org/media/about.html

Department of Defence (26^th October, 2010) Outcomes of WikiLeaks investigation. Retreived 18^th November 2010 from, http://www.defence.gov.au/media/departmentaltpl.cfm?CurrentId=10997

Moses, Asher (17^th March, 2009) ‘Banned hyperlinks could cost you $11,000 a day’, The Age. Retrieved 18^th November 2010 from, http://www.theage.com.au/news/home/technology/banned-hyperlinks-could-cost-you-11000-a-day/2009/03/17/1237054787635.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1&page=-1/

Grey, Antony (1995) EPA - Censorship and Free Speech. Retrieved on 18^th November 2010 from, http://www.efa.org.au/censorship/

Gunther Eysenbach. (2008, August 25). Medicine 2.0: Social Networking, Collaboration, Participation, Apomediation, and Openness. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 10(3). Retrieved 18^th November 2010 from http://www.jmir.org/2008/3/e22/

OnTrack (2010). About OnTrack. Retrieved on 18^th November 2010 from, https://www.ontrack.org.au/web/ontrack/about

NET102 ASSIGNMENT 3 - REFLECTION

After completing the last 4 weeks of study, it’s important to note how all subjects intertwine together. Economy, Power, Community, Identity, Society, Technology, Time and Space have all got their place in the world wide web, and one can not exist without the other.
Let’s take a look at Economy and Power to begin with. In this weeks study, Mike Kent explored how economy is changing from the analogue to the digital. The Internet has made reproduction and distribution, and access to good and services, easier. Now no matter where I am, I can buy and sell things to anyone. There are no barriers to (enter) or exit and there is equal access to production technology for everyone. (Kent 2010). The Internet also blurs the lines of copyright. Who the originator is and who has the ownership of an idea, product or service?
The Internet changes the meaning of power and control. Do we have control and ownership of what we put up on the Internet? I own and run a website called www.inparenting.com.au and here there are online discussion boards, the ability for users to comment on articles, and the ability to share articles on other networks such as facebook. The challenge I faced was the ability to control who and what is put up on this website. Comments need to be approved by the administrator before they are published. I have encrypted our sign up module so spam bots can’t randomly sign up users to the website, which stops the flooding of non-existent users.
Identity and Community go hand in hand. “In many ways the internet connects people that would not be able to be connected to in conventional ways.” (Comyns, 2010). I join communities because other users within that community have similar interests as me and it gives me a sense of belonging. It’s human nature to want to be connected and be apart of a community. The Internet brings a new dimension to those who would otherwise be bound by space. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, I can be apart of a community, and weather or not I show my true identity or weather I hide behind an avatar is my prerogative. Communities exist for the same purpose, both in my online or offline space, to give that sense of belonging.
“Social forces and the Internet mutually affect each other” (Kent 2010). In the week of Society and Technology I learnt that technology can affect how society operates. The introduction of new technologies affects daily tasks, by making it easier and quicker for me. In my online discussion on the blackboard, I focused on the developments in the banking and finance industry. I discussed the many changes from the first ATM to the online banking available today. As people responded to my post I agree with Karen Cooper’s (2010) comment “technology is redundant without society to make it useful and society also influences how technology can be used.” It is all about supply and demand, and the Internet is no different to any other form of business. If there is a need and demand for a faster anytime experience for banking, they will develop new technologies to meet these requirements. It’s the same in any industry.
We are living in the “Nowism” trend. “NOWISM represents a case of consumers jumping on something the moment they actually can. So, the need is never new, the new ways to fulfil it are… While the appeal and influence of ‘now’ has been building for years, societal attitudes, sky-high consumer expectations and new technologies are currently converging in such a powerful way that brands truly have no choice but to go ‘real-time’: in their business intelligence processes, in their customer conversations, in their innovation labs, in their distribution, sales, marketing and branding departments…” (Trendwatching 2010). This article I found on Nowism really sums up the topic of Society and Technology. Without us as consumers wanting to be the “first” at finding something “new”, new technologies would not be developed. It’s an interesting article and I highly recommend taking the time to read it.
The lecture by Matthew Allen on Time and Space completed the serious of module 2 by bringing all of the above elements together. Without these two elements the other topics would not exist.  Though I do tend to use the Internet as a place to “escape” time and space, but it is essentially just another form of the two. Time still passes; it does not stand still while you enter cyberspace, which you are physically not a part of.
As mentioned above “Nowism” is about consumers wanting it “now”, and so the Internet is now a tool used by many businesses where their goods and services are available at anytime, anywhere, overcoming the physical barrier of time and space in the offline world.
Grant Beatton’s (2010) example of the “Remote Presence Robot” where surgeons can operate from a remote location has intrigued me to research more on other new technologies that are being developed to make everyday life easier and changing life for the better.
Please read further on my understandings of these topics on the blackboard (thread address’ below in the appendices.)

Appendices

Economy and Power

• NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.1: POWER AND ECONOMY > ECONOMY & POWER > KATRINA COMYNS > 10/17/10 2:06 PM

Identity and Community

• NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.2: COMMUNITY AND IDENTITY > COMMUNITY AND IDENTITY > KATRINA COMYNS > 10/25/10 7:30 PM

Society and Technology

• NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.3: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY > Are technologies neutral? > KATRINA COMYNS > 10/29/10 7:25 PM

Time and Space

• NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.4: THE SHAPING OF TIME AND SPACE > TIME > KATRINA COMYNS > 11/6/10 6:22 PM
• NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.4: THE SHAPING OF TIME AND SPACE > SPACE > KATRINA COMYNS > 11/6/10 6:51 PM

REFERENCES

Kent, M (2010). The Internet and Everyday Life: Power and Economy. Retrieved 10^th October 2010 from http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?ut=3152

Comyns, K (2010). Community and Identity.  17^th October 2010. http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_40432_1%26url%3d

Kent, M (2010). Society and Technology (Facebook and Google). Retrieved 26^th October 2010 from http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?ut=3152

Cooper, K (2010). Are Technologies Neutral? 1^st November 2010 http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_40432_1%26url%3d

Trend Watching (2010). “Nowism” Why currency is the new currency. Retrieved 7^th November 2010 from http://trendwatching.com/trends/nowism/

Beatton, G (2010). Space 2^nd November 2010 http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_40432_1%26url%3d

NET102 Are technologies neutral?

I believe that technology does change society. All you need to do is compare the present with the past. Lets take banking for instance.
Back in the day a customer would have to make the special trip into the bank to deposit money, withdraw money, draw cheques, transfer money and even apply for credit cards or loans. The introduction of ATMs in the 70s revolutionised the banking industry. This made it possible to do banking at anytime of the day. But you still needed to leave to house and physically go to the machine to make your transactions.
As the internet began to sprout in the late 80s, so did internet “online” banking. “Banks would actually mail us a floppy disk with software that we could install onto our PC… using a dial-up modem, we could talk to the bank’s systems. We could check balances and make transfers but we usually paid for the privilege.” (Canstar Cannex 2010)
In the 90s, banks set up websites instead of sending out software for their customers to access their bank accounts. This let customers access their bank accounts any time of the day from the comfort of their home or office. Whats the next step in banking? Well with the new “smartphones” and its “apps”, banks are developing new tools, security and gimmicks to offer their customers to improve on their banking experience, making online banking available 24/7, anywhere in the world. Banking is now on demand.
Gone are the days of long queues in banks dealing with disgruntled customer service assistants… but with all this technology is this just making the banks pockets bigger as now they need less man power to run their banks? Will banking be converted to online permanently and the days of physical banks be that of the past? Lets see where technology will take us and will change society as we know it today.
References
http://www.atm24.com/newssection/industry%20news/timeline%20-%20the%20atm%20history.aspx
http://www.canstar.com.au/history/

NET102 Assignment 2: Music, The Internet and Everyday Life

INTRODUCTION

The music industry is changing. Since the launch of the Internet in the 1990s, the way people share, listen and obtain music has changed. The music industry have tried to fight the internet revolution of Peer to Peer sharing (P2P), torrents, online radio streaming and MP3s. Though in recent times there are artists embracing this new media and finding new ways to create revenue, to promote themselves and distribute their music. Is this the end of the music record industry? I explore these issues of how the Internet has changed the music industry.

I would like to begin with a song by MC Lars called “Download This Song”. Click here to watch the video[1] and/or click here to read the lyrics.[2]

MC Lars’ song sums up the change of the music industry and challenges the Record Labels to catch up with the times. In an article that MC Lars has written, “New Media Economics in Indie Rap – Welcome to the Future”[3], he states that “…there has been an ideological shift made very apparent by the new generation of artists and consumers; music isn’t really a physical product anymore, it’s a service that artists provide that they are then paid for (if the service they provide has cultural and/or emotional value).” (MC Lars 2010). It’s not just about record sales, it’s about promotion, merchandise sales, gigs (live performances) and touring. The business of music has changed and the way to make money out of making music isn’t about the billions of dollars they can make, but to make a comfortable living doing something that they love doing.
Dave Kusek has written a book called “The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution.”[4] Many Independent artist follow his principles and have stated that his book is a must read for any artist in the music industry, as many of his predictions about the future of the music industry have come true. Much of my research on the future of the music industry has been drawn from his online blog “Future of Musicbook”.[5]
In a recent interview with Kusek (Interview with Dave Kusek from The Musicians Guide in the UK, Marcus Taylor, 13 Sep, 2010) he states, “mobile applications are likely to become extremely important for musicians, as direct-to-fan marketing becomes a more and more popular approach and smart phone ownership increases.” Direct-to-fan marketing would help artist to promote and communicate directly to their fan base, making them feel like they are apart of an elite club. With the use of official website, social networking, eNewletters and smart phone applications, musicians can reduce their costs in promotion as the web is a cost effective and easier type of media to use and they can target a more narrow target market.
Pink Floyd’s ex-manager, Peter Jenner, has commented on how in the UK they have created an act that focuses on piracy and P2P file sharing. He quotes “… people [that are] not paying for music is not a problem. But P2P is just one of many ways in which you can access music for free. People have memory sticks, blank CDs, email, instant messaging, so I think it was a very facile look at the issue which was driven by the copyright industry.”[6] There is no possible way for the P2P file sharing to be stopped; the music industry should be focusing on ways that they can capitalise on this new technology. Jenner further discusses how the traditional record company has been built around selling “bits of stuff” to people in a retail environment. They view the Internet in the wrong way and should be using it as a service, not a retail environment. They should put their focus into what services they can provide with the Internet. (Jenner, 2010).
“Many people are listening to online radio and watching online video.”[7] In the book “Futurehit.DNA”, Jay Frank discusses a to generate revenue with the use of online radio. Many services, such as Pandora and Last.fm, utilise the zero play feature, where all songs start from zero seconds, and the skip button. “This allows the user, if he is uninterested in a song, to skip ahead to the next one selected on his radio station. It operates in a very similar fashion to the functionality on the iPod.”[8]. The skip button gives users the ability to vote with their skip buttons on their online radio services. Sites monitor song play and most will only register a track as played if it reaches 60 seconds. “The best way that an artist can avoid the over-utilization of the skip button (aside from making good music in the first place) is to ensure the listener for at least sixty seconds.”[9] If a song is skipped regularly and doesn’t receive much play, the online service has will stop promoting the song. (Frank 2009) The artist needs to focus on catching the audience in those first few seconds to ensure they get airtime and then they receive performance royalties.
Social networking sites are another tool the music industry use for promoting to, and also entertaining, their fans. Myspace is being used as a viral marketing tool where unsigned and signed artists can promote their music, upcoming gigs, and also broadcasting from their homes. When Sandi Thom broadcasted from her South London basement, she created a social phenomenon in which thousands of people believed they were the first to discover a new “real” artist. In fact, EMI had sent out emails in advance linking to the webcast, alerting the potential market. (Garfield 2006). Many artists utilised viral marketing, such as Lily Allen and The Artic Monkeys, to promote new songs, live gigs, simulcasts, blogs etc to keep their fan base in the loop.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the future of the music industry will continue to change from what we have known it to be. The Record Labels role in the industry will change from simply recording and selling albums to promotion of an artist and utilising new Internet technologies. Instead of fighting the P2P file sharing and trying to stop consumers from obtaining tracks for free, the music industry will need to find new inventive ways to make revenue from their music. Direct-to-fan and viral marketing are two useful tools in promoting new artist, songs and gigs to fans. As the world moves towards online radio streaming, performance royalties, and creation of attention grabbing songs to receive these royalties, is the new form of revenue for the music industry. “Music was a product, now it is a service”[10]. I look forward into seeing what the future holds for music, Internet and everyday life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

iobuffa. ” YouTube – MC Lars – Download This Song .”  YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. . N.p., n.d. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBkuiChImb8>.
“lyrics Download This Song lyrics MC Lars .” Welcome | Moron.nl | Lyrics | All lyrics | New Lyrics | Community |. N.p., n.d. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.moron.nl/lyrics.php?id=86710&artist=MC%20Lars>.
Lars, MC. “New Media Economics in Indie Rap – Welcome to the Future | Future Of Music.” Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads. N.p., 18 Mar, 2020. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2010/03/welcome-to-the-future-new-media-economics-in-indie-rap/>.
Kusek, Dave, and Gerd Leonhard. The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution. Boston: Berklee Press, 2005. Print.
Kusek, David. “Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads.” Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads. N.p., n.d. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.futureofmusicbook.com>.
Taylor, Marcus. “Interview with Dave Kusek from The Musicians Guide in the UK | Future Of Music.” Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads. N.p., 13 Sept. 2010. Accessed. 10 Oct. 2010. <http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2010/09/interview-with-dave-kusek-from-the-musicians-guide-in-the-uk/>.
Vizard, Sarah. “INTERVIEW: Pink Floyd’s ex-manager on the future of music :: StrategyEye – Industry Intelligence.” StrategyEye. N.p., 6 Aug. 2010. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010.
Frank, Jay. “Chapter 1: Online Radio and Skip rates.” Futurehit.DNA : How The Digital Revolution Is Changing Top 10 Songs. Nashville: Futurehit, Inc., 2009. 48-51. Print.
Garfield, Simon . ” How to make 80 million friends and influence people | Media | The Observer .”  Latest news, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk . N.p., 18 June 2006. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jun/18/digitalmedia.observerreview>.

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[1] iobuffa. ” YouTube – MC Lars – Download This Song .”  YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. . N.p., n.d. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBkuiChImb8>. [2] “lyrics Download This Song lyrics MC Lars .” Welcome | Moron.nl | Lyrics | All lyrics | New Lyrics | Community |. N.p., n.d. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.moron.nl/lyrics.php?id=86710&artist=MC%20Lars>.
[3] Taylor, Marcus. “Interview with Dave Kusek from The Musicians Guide in the UK | Future Of Music.” Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads. N.p., 13 Sept. 2010. Accessed. 10 Oct. 2010. <http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2010/09/interview-with-dave-kusek-from-the-musicians-guide-in-the-uk/>.
[4] Kusek, Dave, and Gerd Leonhard. The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution. Boston: Berklee Press, 2005. Print.
[5] Kusek, David. “Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads.” Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads. N.p., n.d. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.futureofmusicbook.com>.
[6] Vizard, Sarah. “INTERVIEW: Pink Floyd’s ex-manager on the future of music :: StrategyEye – Industry Intelligence.” StrategyEye. N.p., 6 Aug. 2010. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010.
[7] Frank, Jay. “Chapter 1: Online Radio and Skip rates.” Futurehit.DNA : How The Digital Revolution Is Changing Top 10 Songs. Nashville: Futurehit, Inc., 2009. 48-51. Print.
[8] Frank, Jay. “Chapter 1: Online Radio and Skip rates.” Futurehit.DNA : How The Digital Revolution Is Changing Top 10 Songs. Nashville: Futurehit, Inc., 2009. 48-51. Print.
[9] Frank, Jay. “Chapter 1: Online Radio and Skip rates.” Futurehit.DNA : How The Digital Revolution Is Changing Top 10 Songs. Nashville: Futurehit, Inc., 2009. 48-51. Print.
[10] Taylor, Marcus. “Interview with Dave Kusek from The Musicians Guide in the UK | Future Of Music.” Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads. N.p., 13 Sept. 2010. Accessed. 10 Oct. 2010. <http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2010/09/interview-with-dave-kusek-from-the-musicians-guide-in-the-uk/>.

NET102 Internet Access

Power operates in many ways on the Internet, let’s take one example, that of Internet access, to discuss power (no more than half a page).
We are invited to discuss the possible limits to Internet access this week with these 3 questions to focus on:
1.Are there limits to when, what (sites), how much, and where you access the Internet?
The internet in Australia currently is restricted by speed. And if you live in regional Australia, like myself, access to ADSL internet can prove to be difficult. The property I current reside in can not get ADSL at all. And I am in the Newcastle area in NSW. I constantly hear about people in the Hunter Valley area having all sorts of trouble getting ADSL internet access… Telstra running out of ports for the area your in… This county is monopolised by one telecommunications structure (where all other telco companies use infrastructure supplied by Telstra). The country waits on the Julia Gillard Government to pull through with their NBN and hope that this will shed some more speed to regional Australia… and also bring the price down too…
But also recently there has been the discussion of censoring the internet in Australia. I have heard from many people how this is going to set Australia back in the Western World of business.
The proposed “Clean Feed” that the Federal Government of Australia has been “pushing forward with a plan to force Internet Service Providers [ISPs] to censor the Internet for all Australians.” (http://nocleanfeed.com/) The category list that they are planning to censor include the following (and much more):
1) euthanasia,
2) controversial movies such as ‘Ken Park’ and ‘Baise-moi’,
3) games that are designed for people over 16 years of age.
4) child sexual abuse material…
For more info on the facts on the EFA Filtering plan can be found at http://nocleanfeed.com/learn.html
Is this policy just a way for the Government to control it’s people? Or will it protect your children from the big bad world? I don’t think that this filtering will fix the problems, but create new ones where they will be limiting Australian Business growth. When I rely on the internet to run my business, I really don’t want something to be introduced that can affect my ability to run my business and make money.
2.How can you transgress those limits and what are the possible consequences?
With the “Clean Feed” I can see how people would want some kind of censorship on Child Pornography, Bomb making and even terrorist websites. But who will be monitoring these sites? Who is the one that classifieds websites that are to be censored? What if a legitimate website is banned? How do companies overcome these issues?
A way to over come these issues would be, if this EFA filtering plan comes into effect, to make sure your websites do not contain any of the censored classifications and to monitor their websites constantly. But that would only work for websites maintained within Australian shores. Many overseas companies would not abide with Australian censorship laws, then this could interfere with business’ everyday practises.
3.Is it possible to lose your access and what are the ways this might happen?
Of course it’s possible to lose internet access. All it takes is one natural disaster, a while storm, or the fact you didn’t pay your bill, you lose your access.
If you only have a desktop computer, you are limited to where you can get access. If you lose you access in your home, it’s not easy to pack up your computer and move to a place where you can get internet access again.
Consider the access of people in other places and positions after you have thought about your own access. Does access vary?
In Australia, access varies greatly. I have lived in Sydney and Newcastle and the difference in the internet service is huge. In Sydney you can get any type of internet plan you wish… from naked ADSL, to wireless to super turbo ADSL 2+. Where I currently live, I can’t get ADSL and have to make do with wireless internet which drops out and slows down during peak usage hours.
Then compare Australia to other countries. A friend of mine lives in Germany and they pay very little for their internet access and it is faster than the speeds she had experienced in Sydney. But then she was working in the USA and the internet speeds there were phenomenal. With one click and your file is downloaded. Oh to have that internet access here… I will keep dreaming.

NET102Power and Economy

How do economic relationships conflict with or support existing power structures through the Internet?
In my Essay 1 I discussed how the internet has changed the music industry. iTunes Music Store is a classic example of how they have gained economic globalisation of the music industry. When Apple introduced their online store front on April 28 2003, at the time there was over 200,000 where available to purchase. Since then it has grown astoundingly and on February 24 2010, the store served it’s 10 billionth song download (Wikipedia, 2010).
Apple iTunes has obviously changed the way people browse and buy music, hitting the retail music chain stores hard. I remember back in the 90s, buying music albums and singles were a luxury. The average price of a CD was over $30 and for singles, $5 or more, just for the one song. Compared to the prices of today, $2.16 per track or $16.99 for an album. (prices as at 16/10/2010 on iTunes Store) Thats a vast difference, and if you compare this to the inflation rates over the past decade you would also note that back in the 90s that $30 was a lot of money… especially for a high schooler such as myself at that time.
But not just for the consumer has the the music industry changed, but the business of the the music industry. David Kusek, author of the book “The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution”, he predicted the new age of digitisation and how it would affect the business of music. Long gone are the days of the music label, new independent labels are the way of the future, giving artist more creative control over their final tracks. Unlike in the days of the Beatles and U2 where you needed a record label to get into the billboard charts.
Kusek is the Vice President of Berklee College of Music responsible for managing the online music school, Berkleemusic.com. This school is dedicated in training upcoming artist to be marketers of their own music career.
On Kusek online blog, he discuss’ many ways in which new media is affected the music industry. On his recent blog he talks about the new media, iPad. New technology, called reactable systems, fuses DJ culture, touch screen topography and electro-pop showmanship, coming to an iPad near you (Kusek, 2010)
I could go on forever on how the internet has changed the economy and the power of the music industry. The power is now not in the music record labels hands, but back to the music artist them self. Though no longer a place to make billions, but the internet has created new ways for music artist to make money. Watch this space, there is a bright future for the music industry, but not in the way we have known it to be.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Store
Kusek, David. “Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads.” Future of Music – music industry, music business, digital music and free music downloads. N.p., n.d. Accessed. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.futureofmusicbook.com>.
http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2010/10/react-to-the-music-around-you/

Corporate Power

Gilbert, in the reading, states
“People’s barriers are down and they fail to realize the extent to which corporations affect their online behavior”
Do you agree with this?
There has been much talk about how Facebook privacy issues are exposing their users to unknown corporations such as advertisers. But how is this any different to the information that people can access that the government gathers in their Census? The difference is that the Facebook information is more up-to-date.
Facebook is using an old idea in their social networking site. In the past, advertising company would research their target market using the Census gathered by the Government, to create an advertising campaign to entice you to their product or service. Now-a-days advertisers can reach their target market with the click of a few buttons, but using the most current information available to them.
To say that “people’s barriers are down and they fail to realise the extent to which corporations affect their online behaviour” (Gilbert, 2008) is a little naive, as advertising companies have always affected our everyday life. The internet is just a new media that they use to target their target markets.

Essay 1: Music, Internet and Everyday Life.

So here  I am researching on my selected topic, Music, for my 1st essay. I have found so much useful information on the internet, found out there are heaps of books on the future of Music in the digitized age, and so much on social networking as a marketing tool for music artist. But where do I begin to put everything into an academic essay?

So I have created a mind map using www.mind42.com. This site is very useful and I have been using something similar in the past, but it lacked to let me collaborate online with other people. This will help out with my business Oxyblu Media also… seeming my business partner is on the other side of the world. With the use of IM, Mind42 and the internet, we can get things done! If only I had a better internet connection. Yes Julia Gillard, you better fix this problem quick stix!

So below is my mind map. It will update as I progress along. Better get started as it’s due Monday morning… erk…

http://mind42.com/pub/mindmap?mid=38de9f8d-d1d6-4c34-af8d-e9734a39af7c

TASK 1.6 (ASSIGNMENT 1):

Navigate around and discuss two of the following sites in terms of the kinds of involvement they encourage. Your initial writing for this topic should not be above 500 words, although it is fine for notes and extracts from the discussion, and further reflection, to take you over this limit: (the 2 in bold are the ones I have commented on)

• www.pm.gov.au
• www.tonyabbott.com.au
• www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au
• www.getup.org.au

Getup! is a volunteer group promoting and encouraging the youth/Gen Y of Australia to register to vote and start taking a stand in Australian politics.  Their clever use of new media, such as the internet, helped to get their message across in the most resent Australian Federal election. The use of parody videos that have been created to entertain and “take the mickey” of the politicians and get attention in the media arena. Most of us would have been subjected to Getup! in the past few months. Below is a parody they created to encourage the youth to enroll to vote. Quite clever use of this medium to get their message across and capture the target audience. It was aired on the “Today” show in prime time. Which didn’t cost them a dime. Just their time to create the video and loaded up onto YouTube.


The Getup! website also in engaging by inviting people to become members of the website to receive updates and to also allow them to contribute to the website on issues they are discussing. It also has the tools to let you spread the word by telling a friend about them. Because Getup! is a volunteer organisation, they receive no government funding and solely rely on generous donations from the public. They have the option on their site for people to make donations to them so they can continue to provide their service which educates people on the importance of voting and current political issues in Australia. As they are not bias to any one government you can get an honest view on the current polices and issues going through Parliament.
They also run their own campaigns where the public can make pledges towards them. A bit like an online petition. So you can have your say in an issue. You can donate towards a cause, watch videos, create, read and comment on blogs, and receive RSS feeds on them.
Getup! get’s people involved, cuts out the jargon of politics, gives you an arena to express your political view, take action and become a part of a solution and also Getup! entertains you. Their involvement in the resent election campaign is evident with the result as it invited the public to take action in what they believe in, ignore the high school antics and look into the policies on the table.
After viewing and reviewing the Getup! website, the Prime Minister of Australia website is very stale and corporate. But I spose that that is the traditional politic approach. This website is great for those who want to know the progress and the where abouts of Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. It is good that the public can get access to this information so quickly and easily. Getting access to past speeches, media releases and interview transcripts is as easy as clicking the Media Center tab.
You can also find out who is in the Ministry and find out more about each Minister. Also you can find out about past Prime Ministers. Going through this information somewhat takes me back to the days of primary school and having to do an assignment on the current Prime Minister. How much easier would it be these days to get the information you require!
But the website also allows you to recieve newsletters, invites you to follow the PM on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr, but also get a RSS feed on updates from the PM from the website. You can also email the Prime Minister from here.
I would say that this website doesn’t really entice me to come back everyday or ever again unless I had a project on the Prime Minister again. You can get these sorts of serves from other information websites, like ninemsn.com.au, to get all your updates in politics and the Prime Minister.
REFERNCES
” YouTube – getupaustralia’s Channel .” YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. . N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/getupaustralia>.
“GetUp! – Action For Australia – www.getup.org.au.” GetUp! – Action For Australia – www.getup.org.au. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2010. <http://www.getup.org.au>.
“Prime Minister of Australia.” <http://www.pm.gov.au/>.

TASK 1.4 (ASSIGNMENT 1):

Select a particular health topic that interests you for any reason (it could be a friend or relative’s medical condition, for instance). Find out more about the topic using the Internet. While you are doing this, note down the main ways you’ll begin looking and your process of selecting useful sites. How would you say your knowledge of the topic has changed in the course of this research? What are the criteria by which you’d select sites? Finally, briefly describe 2-3 of the most useful sites and Internet applications and the ways in which they’d be useful to people visiting them. Not more than 500 words.
In May 2008, my mum started to show signs of pancreatic cancer. She had only one symptom… she had turned jaundice. She was well in all other aspects of her life. But at the time when doctors were determining her diagnosis, I turned to Google to research each step of her treatment and progress in determining her diagnosis. I did so to stay positive that the prognosis would be good and she would recover from her sudden bad health.
So my journey with using the internet as a tool to help me understand more about my mothers condition began after she had a minor procedure done to open her bile duct. The surgeon discovered a mass, not prepared to say it was cancer at this stage, but to prepare ourselves that that was what we may be dealing with. So I began to search the internet for pancreatic cancer.

The first website I looked through was http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au. After reading through this website on pancreatic cancer I was sure she didn’t have this disease. “She is only jaundice. None of these other symptoms apply” which, in hindsight, is why the doctors didn’t want to call it cancer until they were sure. The http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au was helpful as it gave full definition of the disease, the list of symptoms, how they would come about a diagnosis, links to other helpful websites and the last thing it said was;

Things to remember

• The pancreas is a gland that secretes digestive enzymes and insulin.
• The symptoms of pancreatic cancer are often vague and are common to many other disorders.
• Pancreatic cancer is often only diagnosed in its later stages, which makes it difficult to treat.¹

This last paragraph was what started me to worry a bit and to continue the research into what my mother could possibly have.
When I continued my research, I was shocked to learn about low the survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients was. Less than 5%! On website http://www.cancercouncil.com.au it read;
“Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer death with five-year survival rates of less than five percent.”²
Still with my positive hat on I wanted to believe that my mum will be one of the lucky 5% survivors because that had found the cancer before the symptoms had progressively got worse.
As each step of my mums treatment, from Whipple Surgery, Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy, I would  Google each step to learn more about what my mum was about to go through. It helped me to get through each stage of her treatment and understand better of what was happening to her. But also I could see how without your primary carer guiding you and you solely relied on the diagnosis of Dr Google, you could seriously scare yourself into believing you had some other lethal disease.
For carers of Cancer patients I had stumbled upon a website where you could share your experiences (the carer) with other carers of patient suffers. http://www.cancerforum.org.au. The Cancer Forum website is run by the Cancer Council. They are;
“Cancer Forum is the official journal of Cancer Council Australia and the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (representing health professionals working in cancer).
It is one of the world’s few issue-designated cancer review journals, providing the clinical oncological and cancer research communities with multiple in-depth reviews on key aspects of cancer.
Cancer Forum has been published continuously since 1974. It has been significantly enhanced and is now available to a much wider international audience with online publication from the March 2009 issue.
As Australia’s contribution to international cancer literature, Cancer Forum is made available at no cost to subscribers worldwide.”³
So how has my knowledge of this topic? Well from not knowing that pancreatic cancer existed before my mother was diagnosed with it, my knowledge on not just pancreatic cancer, but cancer as a whole, has somewhat grown. I now understand how hard it is to treat and why it is so difficult to find a cure as each cancer and type of cancer is different from the next.
The criteria in which I selected my websites for research was from the Google searches I used, and I primarily focused on Australian websites and ones that were .org.au or .gov.au as these sites were ones I trusted and are backed by the Australian government or Organisations.
I have listed below the references from which I drew the most helpful information in regards to the topic of pancreatic cancer in Australia. They are a good starting point, but there are many other helpful websites and forums out there to help people through their journey of learning about Pancreatic Cancer.
Sadly my mother passed away July 2009. After a battle of 14 months with the disease, Whipple surgery,  chemo and radiotherapy, she was passed onto palliative care and passed away a few weeks after her treatment had ceased.
¹”Pancreatic cancer | Better Health Channel.” Home | Better Health Channel. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Pancreatic_cancer>
²”Cancer Council New South Wales :: External Research by Cancer Site – Pancreatic Cancer.” Cancer Council New South Wales. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/editorial.asp?pageid=2420>
³”About Cancer Forum.” July. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.cancerforum.org.au/aboutcancerforum.htm>.

TASK 1.3 (ASSIGNMENT 1)

How far would a partner/spouse have to go online before it is considered cheating? Up to what point is flirting online acceptable? How ‘real’ is cybersex? Your initial writing for this topic should not be above 500 words, although it is fine for notes and extracts from the discussion, and further reflection, to take you over this limit.
Online relationship lines are murky. Most of the time you lack the emotions that are being expressed on screen.
Firstly I’d like to point everyone’s attention to an episode of Modern Family, Truth Be Told.

“Phil has 447 Facebook friends, with one of them being his old girlfriend, Denise (guest star Judy Greer). Claire is suspicious because the recently-divorced Denise wants to meet Phil at an intimate French restaurant. To dispel any thoughts that his ex has an agenda, Phil invites Denise over to the house to meet Claire and the kids… Claire admits that she was way off base regarding Denise. Or was she? While Claire is in another room, Denise slips Phil her hotel room key. She chases him around the house, thinking that he’s been flirting with her for a year online. This has Phil wondering just how many more of his 447 Facebook friends he’s unwittingly led on.” (“”Truth Be Told” Episode Recap Pg. 1 – Modern Family – ABC.com.” ABC.com – Official Site of the ABC Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://abc.go.com/shows/modern-family/episode-guide/truth-be-told/394450>.)

Watch full episode here http://www.wisevid.com/play?v=3A_f8bx5fx5b

How many people do you think have been in this exact situation? Some people just add friends to their Facebook friends without thinking that the person on the other end may be seeing the “add” to your portfolio of friends as an invitation to start “something”. This is also evident in CL Pascoe case study with teenagers. “…the plethora of publicly accessible information on a given individual provides a fresh way to “research” or get to know those on whom they have a crush.” (Pascoe, C.J. . “Final Report: Intimacy | DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH.” DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH | Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/book-intimacy>.). Teenagers would use social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace and become “friends” of a person they would have a crush on and then start casual flirting online. This is much less daunting than face to face interaction and lets the teenager build up the courage and knowledge base of the person they have a crush on. Though this can be classed as “stalking” and like in the Modern Family episode, it isn’t always reciprocated and can get people in all sorts of trouble.

But how far is too far? I spose it is in the eye of the beholder. Even in the ‘real world’ people in the community have different definitions of the term cheating. It’s up to each and every ones personal beliefs on how far is too far…
REFERENCES
“”Truth Be Told” Episode Recap Pg. 1 – Modern Family – ABC.com.” ABC.com – Official Site of the ABC Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://abc.go.com/shows/modern-family/episode-guide/truth-be-told/394450>.
Pascoe, C.J. . “Final Report: Intimacy | DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH.” DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH | Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/book-intimacy>.

NET102 TASK 1.2 (ASSIGNMENT 1):

What are the implications of the rise of casual and social games on the internet for online gaming and everyday life? Not more than 500 words
With gaming so readily available on the internet these days, people can play games with their “friends” via their online social networks, such as Facebook, or by creating a online profile on websites for Texas Hold ‘em Poker and play in “real-time” with other logged in players.
Some of these new casino style websites now allow their users to play for real money, opening the door to problem gambling into the home, workplace or on a commute to and from work or school. These sites should not be entered into lightly and you must be careful when entering your credit card details to such sites.
Also with the rise of casual and social gaming on the internet, employees who sit at an office desk that has a computer with access to the internet can be tempted to play their online social games instead of working. This can and will reduce the productivity levels within a business and could ultimately lead to a persons termination of employment. I worked in a workplace that heavily censored their internet access where you could not access websites that had descriptions with gaming and social networking to eliminate this from happened within their organisation. Though this led to more problems limiting research for the company and some employees were granted full access to the internet.
I have a flash back to an episode of “South Park: Make Love, Not Warcraft” where the boys were all addicted to World of Warcraft.

Here is a problem of online social gaming right there! People, young or old, lock themselves away in their houses and play World of Warcraft. I knew someone who would play for hours on end, have his room dark as night in the middle of the day and just play and play this game. This can lead to social impairment and be afraid to face the “real world” and live in their fantasy land they have created on their computer. He didn’t have a job or have the desire to go get one, and would rather stay at home and play his game than socialise with his “real” friends. With a lot of people there also becomes the problem of their health. They are either under nourished from lack of meal breaks, lack of vitamin D front the sun, or become obese because they eat and play computer games and never do any physical exercise. You really need to play these synchronous social games in moderation… a bit like alcohol really.

We would all remember the “Farmville” sensation on Facebook. I know that I was hooked on this asynchronous game. You get lost in building your fantasy farm, plant tomatoes, look after cows and make money off the land… It soon become something of a ritual to login everyday to tend to my Farmville farm. You would race with other friends who where playing the same game on Facebook to see who would get to the next level and be the “better farmer”. Potentially a time waster and great for people who wanted to procrastinate, but really is there a purpose in playing this game besides these 2 reasons? You would find yourself late at night harvesting your crop. Things we do to waste time.

So there are a few implications of online social gaming. It removes the need to have physical presence for people to socialise and play games together. It also can lead to problem gambling, unemployment or just not getting anything done. Players beware of the addictive nature of online gaming.
REFERENCES:
“Make Love, Not Warcraft – Episode Guide – South Park Studios.” South Park Studios. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1008>.
“FarmVille – Zynga.” FarmVille – Zynga. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.farmville.com/>.

NET102 TASK 1.1 (ASSIGNMENT 1):

Open up an account with a music discovery and streaming service like Pandora, Last.fm, or Grooveshark. Use their tools for discovering new music and other listeners with similar tastes and build upon your profile there. If you have an mp3 player, try to download playlists and music from the service. In your task portfolio, include a link to your profile and not more than 500 words reviewing the service (note: you do not have to write up to 500 words–this is a maximum limit only). For those of you who already have such a profile, describe your profile and how you use it in your everyday life and the role played by the internet on your music listening.
I have previously opened an account with last.fm when it was free to listen all day everyday. We used to listen to last.fm in the office where I used to work. We had decided to use this service as we were growing tired of the content we had on our iTunes and were looking for new, different and appropriate music for the office where everyone was happy.\
I particularly liked how you could search any artist that you like, eg Lilly Allen, and you can listen to a “radio station” that is dedicated to music of similar taste and genre as the artist you searched for. The beauty of this service is that you can stumble upon new artists or groups that you have not known about before. I remember discovering “Fannypack” on last.fm. We were listening to the M.IA last.fm station and their song “Camel Toe” came on. They are not mainstream and are not on the commercial radio stations. I liked their quirky lyrics and pop sound, and I went ahead and downloaded their latest album and searched on YouTube for their film clip for their song “Camel Toe”

A great feature you can do with these music communities is share your recent tracks on your Facebook as you are listening to your favourite station. So people anywhere in the world can know what your listening to and could strike up a new friendship and/or conversation.
The main problem I do have with last.fm is the fact that on my internet service it takes forever to startup a station. Living in regional Australia with ADSL not available to me at this point in time, my wireless internet service can’t cope with the streaming and eats up a lot of my data allowance. So, while I work and study from home, I limit my time using these types of services. Though, I do love the ability to search artists, find similar artist and uncover new ways to discover myself and express my personality.

I also created a new account on grooveshark.com. I found that is was quick to load up and easy to create an account with them. Though you can also listen and search music without creating an account. It has a “Windows” style interface which, for those who use PC, would be familiar with the interface and find navigating through the site easy. Being a Mac user myself, I considered this a con instead of a pro for the site. You can search for songs, create play lists, share your play lists with other users and if you are coming to the end of your play list, grooveshark.com finds similar genre songs so you have continuous music without you having to search for more.

But you don’t get as much variety as you do with last.fm. I found that with last.fm you could discover new artist much easier, move away from the mainstream music, and express your music personality more freely. But the slowness of the website is it’s downfall and the fact you have to pay to play (after a free 30 track trial). Both sites had easy access to download the songs or albums, both of them directing you to iTunes as a source. last.fm and grooveshark.com both have their pros and cons, but with my internet limitations, grooveshark.com would be my selected website for now. Though I do see how last.fm has massive potential for the music industry to expand in the future.

REFERENCES
“kat18f’s Music Profile – Users at Last.fm.” Last.fm – Listen to free music with internet radio and the largest music catalogue online. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.last.fm/user/kat18f>.
expertvillage. ” YouTube – Fannypack’s “Camel Toe” .” YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. . N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3I64m0x6wI>.
“Grooveshark – Listen to Free Music Online – Internet Radio – Free MP3 Streaming.” Grooveshark – Listen to Free Music Online – Internet Radio – Free MP3 Streaming. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/settings/services>.