pOst 10 - the essay

The idea of the internet as cyberspace has been a part of our contemporary culture for some time, particularly in the popular medium of film. But is the concept of cyberspace still relevant to our contemporary society? Discuss with reference to your own experience of contemporary media.

The term ‘cyberspace’ is derived from the two words ‘cybernetics’ and ‘space.’ The term has various definitions, yet there is one definition that is most commonly known and understood; (1)when objects and identities exist within a communication network and the events taking place are not happening in the locations where individual’s or servers are physically located, but ‘in cyberspace’.(1)
The term was created by science fiction author, William Gibson, when he wrote his 1982 story, Burning Chrome. The world first heard the term in Omni Magazine, a science fiction/science magazine, in 1982, when Gibson’s story was first published.
Over the past few decades, the term has made its way into many films, novels, magazines and of course online. Such films as The Net, War Games, You’ve Got Mail, Hackers, You Me and Everyone We Know, The Matrix trilogy, and Untraceable, are just some of the countless films which base their story almost solely around the internet. Yet only one of these films bases its entire story on cyberspace and the alternate reality it provides. This film is of course the 1999 film, The Matrix, directed by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, is the protagonist of the story. He, just like each and every individual around him, is living in a virtual reality or cyberspace. The events that take place in his daily life are not in fact happening in the real world, but instead in an alternate, virtual reality; this is the very definition of cyberspace. Therefore Neo is living in cyberspace. The Matrix is not as much based on the internet as it is the internet. The ironic thing about this film is that when Neo awakens to the ‘real world’ it is more like a game than the virtual reality in which he has been living.Although this film was made ten years ago, the story has not become obsolete. If anything, it has become even more relevant to today’s society, with a forever increasing number of households obtaining internet connections, the internet has worked its way into the daily lives of individuals, consequently allowing cyberspace to expand.
Cyberspace does not only refer to the virtual worlds seen in online games, it also refers to any virtual society online; for example, MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Habbo Hotel and other social networks. The ‘world’, in which these online events take place, does not exist in the real world. This is why these social networks fit under the category of ‘cyberspace’.
Each day, millions of individuals across the globe log on to their virtual world to update, research, explore and experience things which would not be possible in the real world. Online gaming has become increasingly popular over the years as the amount of individuals with personal computers has increased.


Popular online games such as World of Warcraft, Halo, Counter-Strike: Source, Guild Wars, Team Fortress 2, RuneScape, Second Life, Half-Life, Diablo, Age of Conan, Call of Duty, Final Fantasy and many more are just some of the games which have drawn millions of gamers into their extraordinary virtual world. The majority of these games use impressive graphics combined with violence, strategy and planning to keep players addicted to playing. This only aids the $46billion dollar online gaming industry. Players have a character which they must maintain to stay in the game, or alive. Like the real world, they must purchase shelter, weaponry, food and other commodities, with virtual dollars however. When playing, gamers do not usually use their ‘real life’ name; they use a screen name, adding to the effect of the online persona. Millions of players join their online world each day to see their personalised character undergo more experiences that would, usually, not be possible to accomplish in the real world.
Online social networks, such as MySpace and Facebook, have joined the flourishing online gaming industry, and have brought out their own games, which have become increasingly popular. Most of the games are strategy games and require you to involve your online friends to join you to fulfil your goal. MySpace games such as Heroes, Sorority Life, Bloodlines, Vampires, Mafia Wars and Mobsters, are just some of the many games which require the player to use strategy to successfully gain levels and. These MySpace games have already reached an audience of over one hundred million people.However, it is the Facebook game ‘Farm Ville’ which has taken the world by storm. On June 20 of 2009, after being out for only one day, it had 354 users. Astonishingly, it now has over fifty-six million players worldwide. It is believed to be the largest and fastest-growing social game ever. To put this into perspective of how fast it has reached over fifty million people, one could compare it to other technologies over the decades and how long it has taken them to reach an audience of fifty million people. The radio took 38 years, whilst television took 13 years, the internet only needed 4 years, the iPod spread in 3 years whilst Facebook’s ‘Farm Ville’ only needed 4 months.
This only proves how fast the world is growing and advancing. Technology has become more readily accepted into our daily lives, making us unaware how much technology we actually use. If social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace continue their pattern and become more popular across the world, so will the games with which they provide. So long as online games continue to improve their graphics and have creative ideas about gameplay, they will continue to draw in the millions of players from all over the globe. ‘Cyberspace’ is of course still relevant to our contemporary society. In fact, it is becoming increasingly more relevant. As we move through the 21st Century, we are becoming even more reliant on technology to aid us in our daily lives. The question now is; are we venturing into cyberspace more often than we are aware? When we work on our own virtual farm, drain an innocent on Bloodlines, make a headshot on Call of Duty, do we realise that we are drifting into cyberspace?



REFERENCES:

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberspace#cite_note-2
(2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8&feature=fvw
(3) http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070404124655AAr1ioG
(4) http://www.gameogre.com/reviewdirectory/topten.php
(5) http://www.gameogre.com/topinternetgames.htm
(6) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/
(7) http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/PCWorld/story?id=6226347
(8) The Gold Coast Bulletin, Monday, October 19, 2009, p.p. 14, 31.
(9) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omni_(magazine)
(10) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Koepsell

pOst 9 - artwOrk

This is a pair of shoes I got commitioned to
do for my neighbour's new baby.
Didn't take long.
































































This is my artwork. I make shoes.
A lot. I make them for bday presents
and for myself. This is a pair I made
for my cousin Liam.

pOst 7 - app + iReport

I downloaded the app 'Gimp' to my computer. It is a photo editing app that is a rip off of Adobe Photoshop. I used to use Photoshop when I did photography in high school, it isn't very user friendly and took the class a whole semester to figure out how to use it properly. I downloaded Gimp because i wanted an app that was more simple to use than Photoshop. AND IT WAS!! Gimp is so much more user friendly than Photoshop could ever dream of. Everything is put into 'idiot proof' terms for the not so savvy editors. However I'm not saying that it is EASY to use. In fact, I probably didn't have much trouble using it due to the fact that I eventually did get used to using Photoshop. It is very similar to Photoshop in that it has the ability to do similar tasks.
IN CONCLUSION - If you are looking to edit some photos... but not professionally... then I'd recommend Gimp. If you are willing to buy Adobe Photoshop to edit photos professionally, then be my guest.

otherwise, you can download gimp from the link below, FREE
http://www.gimp.org/downloads/



I also downloaded the 'Yahoo Messenger' app to my iPod Touch. If you're thinking that it is going to be as easy to use as Instant Messenger (on your computer) THINK AGAIN! It was a free download thankfully. I'm not saying that it is a terrible app and that you shouldn't download it; all I'm saying is that it's not as easy to use as MSN. It is very fidgety!! If you have fat fingers, STAY AWAY! Being an apple brand, the iPod makers have thought about looks rather than practicality. No surprise there. The keyboard that you use to type with on your iPod is ridiculously tiny! Even Barbie would have a problem with the size. However the app is great if you're bored on your lunch break or on uni break and want to catch up with mates. It isn't for full time use.
IN CONCLUSION - If you wanna talk to friends for free instead of texting back and forth at 25c a text, then Yahoo Messenger is for you! You need a stylus tho... something Apple is too stoopid to provide.

You can get Yahoo Messenger for FREE when you click on 'download free apps' in the apps store on your iPhone or iPod Touch.




I tried to upload my video to iReport, but it never went up!!! Its status was always on 'uploading' but it still never worked. I tried 2 different videos but nothing happened. SOOO I put the same video onto Youtube.
BOYCOTT iREPORT!!!


In Liverpool's North, in the bedroom of Candice Fielding, lies an eerie bobble head which moves only when it's owner, Ms Fielding enters the room.

She purchased it from a local market in the next town.

Liverpool science professors, Prof. Matthew Brown and Prof. Richard Cargill have both studdied the item and have stated that there is no scientific explanation for this phenomonen.

Sarah Washington reports.

pOst 8 - pOlitical gOOse chase

Sign an e-petition!




Above is a thanks I got from Get Up! Australia; I signed an e-petition for the internet to remain uncensored!!
I'm strongly against the whole 'Clean Feed' idea. It'll never work. It's a joke. I don't understand how the government actually believes that this idea will work. It would be impossible to moniter all sites with apparent 'inappropriate material' or 'harmful to your health' content. Who will be the official person deciding what is harmful for each and every individual in Australia to view?? Will assignment about touchy issues become impossible to persue due to this ridiculous idea? I HOPE NOT. This entire clean feed 'idea' will be a complete waste of tax payers money. Staff will constantly be needed to 'protect' society from the facts of life. http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet&id=771




Respond to a professional blogger at a major news site!

I responded to professional blogger, Will Temple, who posted the question: "What's the best thing since sliced bread?" He writes for the news blog 'news.com.au' Tempted to state the obvious and write 'basically everything' I of responded 'the internet'. The site is somewhat like ninemsn news. Could easily waste some hours on both these sites. FYI - Sliced bread first went on sale on July 7, 1928, in a small US town. The microchip also got a huge mention in the blog responses.
HAVE YOUR SAY - WHAT'S THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD??!!

http://blogs.news.com.au/index.php/news/comments/best_thing_since_sliced_bread/P160/


What is Barack Obama up to today?!

Today, September 21, US President Obama acknowledged two Albany Law School graduates, N.Y State Majority Conference Leader, John L. Sampson and the states Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo. He then visited Hudson Valley Community College. to talk about education, technology-based economic development (especially in the area of clean energy) and workforce development.
http://albanylawdiversity.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/president-obama-visits-the-capital-region-today-september-21-2009/




Find out who your local, state and federal representatives are.







Local Representative
Councillor Dawn Crichlow, OAM.








State Representatives
Peter Lawlor.

Federal Representative
Mr. Steven Ciobo MP.

Look up the Queensland or Australian hansard to find the last time your local member spoke in parliament.

The last time Mr. Ciobo spoke in parliament was on September 15, 2009. "She is treating question time with contempt!"

HE'S A REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE !!

Let your local member know what you thought about their last speech.

Councillor Dawn Crichlow, OAM. Well, the truth is, I couldn't find her last speech online!! BUT I sent a 'well done' like email to her at gbrown@goldcoast.qld.gov.au . I said that I thoroughly enjoyed her last speech and thought that it was very heartfelt. That the way in which she said it made her sound like a person for the people.

Read the lecture and the readings, pursue a couple of the topics that you find most interesting and then post your blog with your well-considered thoughts about the theory and practice of politics.

In the lecture notes, democracy is mentioned dozens of times, and the definition is given as a 'government of the people, by the people, for the people.' This definition was given by Abraham Lincoln. Most dictionaries defines democracy as 1) Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives. 2) Political or social unit based upon its rule. 3) A social condition equality and respect for the individual within a community.
In a perfect world, the people would have a voice in each decision the govenment makes. Yet this is obviously not in effect. We, as a society, have local representatives that speak for us, although they clearly cannot take every individual's thoughts into consideration.
Media and technology play a vital role in a democracy. They can greatly influence who the public will vote for. An example of the media involving themselves in politics, is the rather recent skits that were performed on Saturday Night Live (SNL), during the 2008 Presidential campaign. The skits went around the world, not only on sites like Youtube, but also making it onto national news stations. Tina Fey played Sarah Palin; she drew on comments that Palin had made throughout the campaign to make Palin sound rather dumb. Below is a link to a vid of just one of the skits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cf9NqaZ4fw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdDqSvJ6aHc&feature=related

Some celebrities even made commercials for the public to watch online, protesting the McCain/Palin Campaign. Knowing full well that the public looks up to them, they give their very harsh opinions in hope that the public will follow their lead. An example of just one celebrity who protested McCain was Hayden Panettiere. The following vid contains course language.



Saturday Night Live has been around for decades and has always commented on the various Presidential Campaigns. In 1976, commedian Chevy Chase played the part of President Gerald Ford. He portrayed him as a bumbling idiot and it is thought that these numerous skits over the campaign months, cost Ford being re-elected as US President.
David Letterman, Jay Leno, and basically every other stand up comedian with his own show threw punches at Palin and McCain during the 2008 campaign. Viewers quickly saw their campaign as a
complete joke and it became the laughing stock for the majority of Democrats.
David Letterman in fact let his audience know that he respects McCain because he fought in the Vietnam war, was held in a Vietnam camp for four years, and when told he was able to leave, he refused to leave because not everyone was allowed to go home. The vid is below.




Media and technology have the ability to impact on an election. Because we live in a democracy, the people have the vote! When the media convinces the public that a certain party is ridiculously stoopid, the public feels they have no choice but to vote the other way.
When the 2007 Election was on, channel 10 show Rove asked Jojn Howard to appear on the show, but he refused. Instead, Kevin Rudd was a guest and showed that he was easy to talk to and had a great sense of humour. This made Howard look like someone who didn;t have time for the public.
This could be one of the factors that helped Rudd win the election. After Rudd or 'Ruddy' appeared on Rove, they made a segment dedicated to him, called 'Kevin Rudd, PM.' It is a parody of James Bond. An eppisode is below.







What do you think of the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called 'Clean Feed')?
What place does censorship have in a democracy?

As mentioned at the start of this oh-so-long post, I gave my opinion on this crap clean feed plan.
IT WILL NEVER WORK!
The government has enough trouble trying to combat child porn on the internet, and is still unsuccessful! How the hell do they intend to block every site or page that may be harmful to our wellbeing? The answer: THEY CAN'T!
This clean feed idea is just that; AN IDEA! It was only mentioned by a politician and now it has been blown way out of proportion!
BUT the question is, what do I think about the 'plan.' I think it is a joke, it will never work. If they decided to do this, there would be a major uproar. The public won't stand for this.
Censorship has no real place in a democracy. A democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. If the majority of the county is against the plan, and it still goes forth, then we are NOT living in a democracy. Our opinion must count for something for this to be a democratic society. Why does the government suddenly feel the need to censor the internet? What happened? I can confidently say that I am the one who looks up the sites I visit and therefore it is my decision as to what is detrimental to my mental health. Who will be the one who decides what are 'good' and 'bad' sites to visit??
The clean feed plan is illogical! They don't only think that it is neccessary to block certain sites, they want to dictate how we communicate online.
Here's the Get Up! video.

pOst 6 - my gOOgle maps

2
View places i eat when im not eating people. in a larger map

pOst 5 - 3 shOrt films

(if your looking for decent short films/eppisodes to watch, go to www.clarkandmichael.com it is so freaking good.)

With the following vids, I chose them for various reasons. I do Film History and we have been discussing the different styles of films that have been created over the years. We have discussed montage films which emmerged around 1918, and became rather popular as it showed various independent shots. The shots did not necessarily come together to make a story, in fact they usually were of different locations, allowing the viewer to see various parts of the world :)
AND THEN!! I chose a 'slasher film' because these types of films took a while to come to cinemas, and when they did, audiences were horrified!!! 'Psycho' and 'The Exorcist' were films which horrified their audiences.
AND THEN!!!!! I chose a classic silent black and white. This is for obvious reasons.. Because silent black and whites were the first films. They amazed audiences (LOL I KNOW). People would flock to cafes in Paris to be one of the first people to witness 'films' that were simply very short (15sec) black and white clips.
AND THEN!!!!!!!! i put up an extra vid 'Please!' for you to watch. It has Gerrard Butler on it!! If you're like me, and think he is bloody gorgeous, you'll watch this film.
Here they are:


LOVEFIELD (I chose this one because it looks like a slasher film! They took a while to come out to cinemas.. around 1960!)






SNAP (This reminds me of when they used to make montage films... way back in 1922. Lev Kuleshov got together with some Russian filmmakers... and yea. Montage baby!)






PLEASE! (i KNOW it does go over the 10min max. but i thought id put it up as an extra vid if your interested... only because i liked it so much. So basically, this has nothing to do with anything).






VINCENT (I chose this short film because it reminds me of when movies were done in black and white and characters did not speak.. Back in the day...early 1900's)

pOst 4 - scaVenger huNt

EVER WANTED TO KNOW...

What is the height of the worlds biggest tree?
The tallest tree in the world is a coat redwood named Hyperion, after a person in Greek mythology. It's 115.55m tall or around 379.1ft! Although it is going to be remeasured by researches soon. Researches believe the tree is 600 years old or 20 years in human years. The tree was only discovered in 2006... I dunno how they missed it...
http://users.telenet.be/sequoiadendron/en/sequoiasempervirens.html#tallesttree


What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Madonna?
Madonna - mobile number 001113217502386
You can also contact her on Twitter! APPARENTLY her representative occasionally will allow Tweeters to ask her "anything you like" and the representative will type the answer.


What is the age of the oldest ever captive elephant? Is this older than the average wild age?
On average, an elephant lives between 50 and 70 years although the oldest living elephant was recorded to have reached 82 years old. His name was 'Raja' and he lived in captivity in Sri Lanka.
http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/wildlife/elephants/elephant_about.html


4.a) How would you define the word 'glycomics'? In your own words, what does it really mean ? b)What does the term 'seagull manager' refer to?
a) The term glycomics is derived from the chemical prefix for sweetness or a sugar, "glyco-", and was formed to follow the naming convention established by genomics (which deals with genes) and proteomics (which deals with proteins). The definition of glycomics has evolved to cover a range of scientific disciplines that are applied to study the structure and function of carbohydrates (sugars) in biological systems.
http://www.griffith.edu.au/science/institute-glycomics/research/what-is-glycomics

b) The 'Urban Dictionary' has two similar definitions for a 'seagull manager'.
1: The seagull manager flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything then flies off again leaving a big mess behind.

2: The type of business where your boss hovers around the office, takes the good ideas for himself/herself, and shits on every other idea you have.

"I'm tired of this seagull management! I want to be able to use my OWN ideas for MYSELF."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Seagull+Management


5. What was David Cronenberg's most recent feature film? Which of his films Had 'Blondie' in it?
David Cronenberg's most recent feature film - 'Eastern Promises' (2007)
He also has three movies in production Cosmopolis, The Matarese Circle and The Talking Cure.
Blondie appeared in 'Videodrome' in 1983!!!


6. When was the original 'Hackers' released?
Here are the release dates for around the world:
USA - 15 September 1995
Spain - 6 March 1996
UK - 3 May 1996
Germany - 13 June 1996
Australia - 11 July 1996
Japan - 4 October 1996
Portugal - 21 March 1997


7. Why do phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?
Because before they switched to using '555' they used random numbers that were real!
And then when fans would try calling the number, they would be calling an actual person! SO annoying! Now they all use 555 :)


8. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Cairns?
There are many cheap ass ways to get to and fro.
1. Walk.
2. Hitch-Hike.
3. Lucky 5c flights from Jetstar.
4. Raffle.
5. Bike Ride.
6. Climb aboard a slowly moving cargo train.
7. Steal a car that's full of petrol.
8. Ask your mum for a lift.


9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1970?
El Condor Pasa - Simon and Garfukel.


10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?
Little Stephen Stockwell is in the band Black Assassins.
Serious.