hear ye

Just a reminder that you'll find the reading associated with next week's lecture on gaming on CECIL. Alternatively, you can link to it directly by clicking here.

Apple iPod- More than just digital audio

I happen to own an Apple iPod Photo with a 60gb capacity. As stated on the box it allows for approximately 15,000 songs or 25,000 photos. As I am not a huge music fan I doubt that I will get anywhere near 15,000 or probably not even 1,000. And as I do not have a digital camera I doubt that I will fully utilize the 'Photo' feature; which could be quite appealing to those who do (have a camera) as it allows for high resolution output to a TV as a slideshow with music. This feature actually has many options including time per slide,music,shuffle and transitions.

I do however make use of the huge capacity by using it as a storage device to backup files and to transfer them easily, and with the 'Belkin' iPod mic (sold separately) I record lectures. Also included on 'the pod' are a few games (including solitaire) that can be played with music and can be surprisingly good time wasters.

BBC past and future

The BBC web site may be a bit boring on the interface front, but it's easy to use and it has content from sixty years of broadcasting. It doesn't just rest on the past either. Where PBS in America seems to be falling behind the crusty old beeb is doing stuff like developing new episodes of Dr Who in Flash, and even developing its own streaming codec.

Their radio shows stretch from live broadcast through to repeats of forty, fifty, even sixty year old shows. You can listen to the news or to the fifty year old Goon Show (think surrealism with laughs). These shows are transmitted in what a purist might consider very lo-fi but it is sufficient to play back on a PC or an iPod. My ears are pretty old so I even find music quality acceptable from rock (Coldplay and REM concerts recently) to classical. 44 kilobits per second is poor even for mid range MP3 (128kbps) but for most of this stuff it is enough. If you really must have 5.1 surround sound high definition you will need to wait a while, they seem to be experimenting with it but not outside Europe. Me, I'd rather have the range of shows that fits in with the multiplication model favoured here and in Europe not to mention meaning that I don't need to upgrade yet again.

The overall cultural philosophy is still quite Reithian in that the content is there for you to be taught, entertained and informed. More modern technology is represented, for example a complete Dr Who adventure done in Flash plus real actors. As yet interactivity is not a major feature though it is increasing. Back with that Reithian approach this tends to be educational like French lessons for schools but there is also the rather more subversive open source streaming project.

The BBC has always done a lot of its own research. Well now it is extending that to a co-operative community model where volunteers can help as programmers, testers and documentation writers. Look up dirac in the BBC site and you will find yourself at Sourceforge the major open source site. dirac is a video streaming codec that the BBC started and has now released to open source development. A streaming codec allows video images to be broken up at the provider end, transmitted, then reconstructed so, for example, a browser plug-in can let you watch video. In essence it is the plumbing underneath the pictures.

One reason they are doing this is that at present they use proprietary technologies like Real Networks player for radio and video replay. This is usually hidden in their own radio player extension to the browser which is excitingly called Radio Player. This is relatively easy to implement but it makes them dependent on proprietary systems which could become a problem for a public service broadcast provider – think cost, embedded adverts and data collection from clients amongst other things. With dirac they can be independent of that.
So, from the past they are letting us hear a lot of old programs (are you listening TVNZ) while they are encouraging enthusiastic volunteers to help them produce technology for at least one Internet future. It shows how much an old style organisation can use, even create, modern mediation technology to revitalize itself and its services. All this and they get to annoy the British government on a regular basis!

geeksta rap

Courtesy of my colleague (in da dept.), Adam White, comes this story from Wired. Check out the latest craze going down Stateside... "Tupac and Biggie, move over. A new hip-hop feud is brewing that glamorizes not guns and 'hos but Java and secure encryption algorithms." And dig these lyrics:

"I'm encrypting shit like every single day / sending it across a network in a safe way / protecting messages to make my pay / if you hack me you're guilty under DMCA." (MC Plus +)

and from his arch nemesis, Monzy:

"Your mom circulates like a public key / Servicing more requests than HTTP / She keeps all her ports open like Windows ME / Oh, there's so much drama in the PhD."

Warning: do not click the links if you are easily offended (by computer scientists).

Mobile Technology

I received a 'junk' email from Nokia the other day and I finally decided to open it. It was advertising the new Nokia N90 (which was the phone that Luke showed us in the Lecture the other week.) I have to be honest after checking out the website and I was quite surprised at what a mobile phone can now do.

It has a video camera function, like Luke described, which allowed for the competition of short films made on the N90. The claim on the website is that:

"with VHS resolution, the Nokia N90’s video playback might convince you to enter your footage into next year’s Cannes festival."

It is a normal pxt phone but you have the ability to be able to edit your photos on the photo (which is great for those photos that end up looking different than when you took them.)

Also that N90 has a large internal memory and a reduced-size Multimedia Card that is meant to be able to fit a feature length movie. The last thing that I found interesting was that since the N90 has the video function you can make video conference calls. I think that this is an attempt to get back to face-to-face conversation that the telephone has replaced.

The N90 is not just a mobile phone it is a video camera, digital camera, photo editor and video phone. With the advances in the technology that is now able to fit into a mobile phone that only weighs 173g my question is at what point (if any) does the quality diminish. So while it may be convenient to have a video camera on your phone (that you will carry around with you anyway) if it has poor quality would it not be better to have a separate camera?

For those of you that are interested the website is really fun and allows you to 'experience' some of the features. You can also check out the other phones in the N series. http://www.nokia.com/nseries/

Big Brother

Hey all. I thought that the Big Brother website (www.bigbrother.3mobile.com.au) was a really good example of the sort of site that is becoming fairly popular in public internet sites today. It seems boring for me to write about this I know but for me this makes understanding some of what has been said in the lectures a little more simplified, if not just giving examples of what we have been learning. It offers links to video communication between you (in the private sphere of your home) to the Big Brother house. It creates in a sense a one-way communication of the audience being able to see house mates, but housemates unable to see them, a form of surveillance as mentioned in the lecture in some sense. However this is not completely limited as housemates submit an online diary, communicating to the public with their thoughts or ideas. The 'live cam' allows for mediated live viewing. There are daily postings of videos, recording interesting events in the house to interest audiences as well. The public can be involved in a forum in a sense, by being allowed to instant message evicted housemates at an allocated time. While this is not a blog, I think it is still a good example of communication barriers being broken due to digitisation and the internet. Like Luke said in the lecture the renaissance of the diary in terms of both the housemates online diary, and the live web chat. This site offers multiple examples of digitised forms of communication, giving access to things such as online bidding for memorabilia, photos, contests, online posts, video diaries, it even includes ringtones in relation to housemates and Big Brother and more. Check it out if you want, I think its a good place to start in terms of following a few of the terms laid out in the lectures, if not for just interest in the site's many links, and different forms of media.

DVDs Unlimited

I have come across this really helpful website. It is www.dvdunlimited.co.nz. I had seen it advertised on television and it was in association with Sky Television and Xtra, so I was thinking it was pretty safe to assume it was a legitimate website. Basically you can rent any DVD that they have in their catalogue and it will be sent to your house. I originally thought it was as many as you wanted as often as you wanted, but there are different options that you can choose. For example for $28.00 a month you can have up to 2 DVDs at any one time. But as soon as you send one back they send you the next one on your request list. They pay for you to send them back as well so there is no pesky postage fee. Plans go up to 5 DVDs for $58.00 a month. I think that this is an interesting use of technology. It kind of shows that it is taking over everywhere, now instead of driving to the video store all you need to do is click a few buttons. And they will be in the mail. Its not only DVDs but Playstation games and Xbox etc. It’s a virtual video store. It also brings up the interesting point that for people who rip DVDs it’s the perfect solution. A base fee for as much as you want.
Emma

Community vs the Corporation.

Well I was going to do another post to follow up on discussions earlier of www.deviantart.com
but all hell has broken lose on this site. So begins the back story for this crisis to make sense. DA started as a site for art lovers of all natures. It began its life in 2000. There are three major players in the conception of this site. Well two (it gets complicated so stick with me.) There is a guy Scott Jarkof or as his username became, Jark. He did all the programming work for DA, getting it off the ground and into a real site. The second major player is a guy named Matteo which was also his username. He did all the yelling about DA getting people to join and getting it off the ground. There however is one problem with this happy little story, DA needs money, corporate money. That’s where this last guy comes in, Angelo. His username is Spyed. Ill let a post from one of the members lay it all out for you,

“Spyed worked for a company called Lynx Technology Group, which was the former parent company of DeviantART, Inc. -- DeviantART was a subsidary of said company at this time. Spyed, in a way, can be considered a founder. I believe what Jark is saying by 'true' founders are those who have been here from day 1. Angelo has only been around for the entire 'business' aspect of it, and only oversaw the financial/business end from DeviantART. From 2000-2002, Angelo was in charge of DMusic; it was making more profit/revenue at the time compared to DeviantART. Jark & Matteo have been here since day one, and have been the true contributors & foundations of this community in terms of early administration & community direction. They've evolved with the community as the community has evolved.

Angelo didn't step in as an official role & active participant of DeviantART until 2002. Which at this time DeviantART was 'bought' from Lynx Technology Group, and became it's own parent corporation. After this, Angelo proclaimed himself the CEO of DeviantART from that time. He is not a TRUE founder of sorts, he was there in the
early planning stages…”

I think that lays it out pretty nicely. This can be found on this piece of work which I urge you to take a second and read through and see. Its by Jark, and includes a screenshot of the first version of DA back from 2000 which shows Spyed as not being in the list. http://www.deviantart.com/view/21237926/

So now your wondering, why does this matter? Why am I getting the back story? Well this community has been growing at exponential rates since its inception in 2000. I joined in 2001 and have seen this puppy grow to what it is now. A massive living breathing community that has slowly been losing that community feel as its need to produce money grew with more members (now currently at somewhere around 1 million and a haft). With every artists hosting tons of photos (numbers go well beyond a 2 million pieces of art) the site uses a ton of bandwidth and resources and needs a large staff to keep it rolling. Here is where things finally get interesting, it’s the real kicker. Out of the original two, none remain. Matteo quit, not long afterwards, Jark was fired. Who remains? Spyed in charge of everything, who fired Jark? Spyed. Reason? No one knows. Its become the real issue at hand and what I hope this lengthy post will spark some conversation on. The community is in an up-rage about this. Almost overnight I saw a community come together and focus all of its attention on one mission, getting Jark back. Everyone has latterly banded together to get some light spread onto this situation. As you may have seen my comments, I have a piece I did that’s very yellow. That yellow feel was Jarks colors (he was called the yellow alien) and that yellow has spread all over the site. Everyone is putting up yellow works, Jark specific works, love and emotion and community to fight off what is most clearly a corporate based decision. Where does the line of corporate and community begin? We all thought this was our website, even though it needs money to survive, we always felt as though we could say something to see it happen, the community pushed enough, and we got it. Yet in this current situation, the community is kicking and screaming for truth, answers, anything, and all we got was a replacement to Jark, who to his credit sounds like he wants to bring community back, but to his dismay, no one wants to see him steal the job of the beloved founded who brought us community in the first place. It’s hard to fully bring everyone up to speed on this (none the less would I want to since I’m sure your bored of this already, again, applause for having made it this far) I do want to stress this line between a corporate website, and one where the community runs it. Obviously a lot of this comes down to money. One person who always stressed community first is being removed, someone who disagreed with the direction the self proclaimed owner and founded of DA is taking it. It’s an issue that’s been brewing for a while now, and to add to it, Jark is not the only person who has lost their job, there are a number of admins who have been let go. I guess all of this is also just a shameless plug to show my stuff off (http://myspivey.deviantart.com) Also, if you do join, one of our community efforts to fight this crisis is that on the 7^th of this month, we are having a silent protest where everyone who supports wanting the truth, explanations, jark back, whatever their specific reason is posting just yellow blocks or items, anything simple with yellow to show our support for the yellow alien, a silent protest to overload the servers full of items of yellow to show we will not accept not being heard in what we consider our community. (Comment on this as well as I would be interested to see an outsider’s perspective) So again to stress the question one last time, at what point does a site take away the need to hear the community that backs it? To let the need and desire to make money take precedent over all else? Thanks for listing to this length post and look forward to hearing yalls thoughts!

Spivey

I found Nabeels talk today really interesting. What especially caught my attention was the idea of the legislation that surrounds music production and distribution. He talked about the need for a radical change in the laws that allow or diss allow for creative re-use and re-mix and re-interpretation of others musical efforts. It seem that it is an almost impossible ask, with somthing like the music industry whose roots are tied so strongly in art and creativity - and so in this respect somthing quite impossible to tame due to the massive layering of interests within the creation of music - but also due to the fact that this creativity has been massivley glazed over with economic concerns - and so creating a whole other dimension of conflict and room for group interest. I dont personally know enough about how the economics of big music companys effect changes in law - but Im sure that in the UK and the US it would be extremely hard to make any radical kind of change within the legislation that exists.
What do other people think? Do you think its impossible to put a system that acutally works fairly and ethically onto somthing like the music industry which is so caught up in money, capatalism and ego in the first place?

Hello...hehe =)

Hi everybody! Just sending a testing blog (yeah i know we were supposed to have done them last week) so sorry for taking up valuable blogging space. Toodles! Rebekah =)

digital music and (il)legality in NZ

After Nabeel's lecture today I've spent some time looking up the NZ angle on mp3, file sharing, the ongoing absence of iTunes here etc. I realised that most of my knowledge of these issues is filtered through a US (and to some extent UK) frame of reference. Discovered that the NZ gov't are, in fact, looking to try and decriminalise those of us who rip a legitimately purchased CD onto a hard drive or mp3 player for our own personal use and assume we're not breaking any kind of law: yes, 'format-shifting' is technically illegal here, so keep that iPod / minidisc player etc. hidden from the culture police. They plan to introduce a limited right to make one copy for personal use (gee, thanks) but the recording industry is fighting it and asking that, if the law is amended, the government introduce a levy on blank CDs, iPods etc. to 'compensate' the industry (i.e. to compensate for something that is already happening as a matter of course: go figure). See this Stuff article for more...

Evolution of language

Do you think with the advent of the internet, mobile phones and the online communities that we are in the middle of a language evolution?

If you've read some of Shakespeares work you would have noticed the difference of sentence structure and use of words compared to the books written today. For example, in act 1 scene 1 of Hamlet, Bernardo says "'Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, Francisco." You could interpret that sentence these days as "It's 12 o'clock, go to bed francisco." English has developed into the form it is today, sentences written 500 years ago would not be written the same today.

Now, however, is a different story. The new language form (I guess you could call it txt speak) is dispersing itself in every communication medium today. Mobile phones seem to have their very own set of rules where vowels are no longer written, but taken out of some word's completely. Where once you said "How was your Saturday night?" this is now (generally speaking) replaced by "Hw wz ur nyt on sat?" or "wat u get up 2 sat?

Online forums are now riddled with abbreviations and acronyms and such poor English that I'm sure any English lecturers who read them would weep themselves to sleep every night. For example eg: "WTF? BS HAX! LOL! IMHO, ROFFLEMAYO, AFAIK U SHULD RTFM"could actually be a proper sentence that people would understand these days. From the unmoderated forums that I've seen, grammar and spelling have taken a back seat in the communication process. (I noticed their are certain people who police this though, I think they're called the oh-so-politically-correct Grammar Nazis).If you don't know what half of those acronyms mean then maybe you've being left behind in this evolution process? Or maybe you are simply a technophobe, which would be weird considering you're taking this course.

Maybe the language is evolving to include all classes of the future? Centuries ago only the high class and wealthy became educated in the written language - as you can probably tell by the style of their writing. With the public school systems of the 20th century, most, if not all children had the opportunity to develop their written comprehension schools. Nowadays with the global reach of the internet and the new technoculture prevailant in online communities we are seeing a development of the language that is alot more relaxed on the technical aspects of form and has placed the majority of it's emphasis with only the content. Formal has taken a back seat to Informal, Strict rules to Casual ettiquette, etc etc.

Maybe this new language form is simply just a bombardment of slang from all over the globe and will simply dissolve itself into history? Im nt 2 sure.

Missed Classes

Hey all, I've been feeling really crap today and missed classes due to illness, I was hoping someone could fill me in on what happened in tut and the lecture.
Thanks

Bluetooth

I was just browsing through the herald this morning when i saw an article on bluetooth, which reminded me of what Kevin was saying in the tutorial on monday about how it was breaking down barriers on the subways in london with people chatting to total strangers on the subway through their mobile phones and how people had formed friendships based solely on the fact that they catch the same train/bus to work..

Anyway it seems in the middle east, especially in restrictive societies it is being used as a way to communicate between sexes, where it previously was not possible due to certain taboos. And it also mentioned that it is being used in the sex industry where a client would get out his phone and use bluetooth to make a deal with the prostitute so as to not draw attention to themselves by doing it verbally.

heres the article if your interested :)

Downloading Music

I'm not really sure what to talk about for my first blog but since this weeks lecture is on music I thought I'd start there. I'm a frequent user of WinMX but lately I've been having a lot of trouble gettting many songs to start downloading. I've been using it for a while and usually don't have a problem, but with the more popular songs many just won't download and it takes heaps of attempts.

A friend of mine suggested that they could be putting up songs with anti-piracy software on them, so they won't download. (Is that possible?) Another friend said that because I use a wireless network that firewalls might interfere. But i can still download some other songs. I don't really know that much about it all so I'm a little stuck! Can anybody recommend another good downloader? Or can anybody explain why I'm having this problem?

Also what do you guys think of downloading? I think it's okay if it's just one song you're after, like you wouldn't buy the album because you only want one song. Also some songs are really hard to find in shops, so downloading is a good option. But it's not cool to download a whole album that you could otherwise buy instore.

But I find that I miss having heaps of cds to play. I like having stacks of them in a cd rack; they're cool to collect and usually have really neat covers with lyrics and photos which you obviously don't get when you download songs. However I've recently got an MP3 player so it's better to have MP3s or songs on the computer, rather than on cd. When I do buy cds I usually rip them down onto the computer to put them on my MP3 player. But it's so annoying when you buy cds that have copyright protection on them and so even though you've paid for them you cannot rip them down to put on an MP3 player!

Personally i think downloading is okay, but burning copies of cds is really not okay, especially when you're making another copy for a friend or someone who could actually buy it.

Podcasting Destroys Traditional Radio?

It destroys traditional radio, that is at least according to some people. In the United States, there is apparently a rising fear that radio as people currently know it will either be forced to change because of podcasting or will be taken off the air waves completely.

So what exactly is a 'podcast'? It is a home made amateur broadcast that can be downloaded from the internet to digital music devices (i.e. mp3 players, iPod, etc.). These podcast can be created by virtually anyone anywhere in the world. All a person needs to produce one of their own podcast is a microphone, computer with internet access and some type of editing software that can be found in numerous places online (ex. fleximusic www.fleximusic.com). A podcast may be easy to produce, but what makes them popular among people to the point that they will abandon their radios?

As a personal example, I've never actually listened to a podcast. I understand that there is a large variety of genres and styles to listen too, but what would make me want to switch of my radio? I suspect that I am like a large number of people in the states(yes, I am an American) in that we have become disenfranchised by today's radio. I have a growing concern about the way in which it is currently produced today. There are so many radio stations owned by so few now that you get virtually the same program on numerous radio stations, along with the same music and a barrage of commercials. This stems from some of the edicts of the 1994 Telecommunications Act, which allowed more radio stations to be owned by fewer businesses. Is that sufficient reason for me to want to switch my radio off though? Well, for me personally no. That is, at least not permanently and certainly not just to podcasting. I already enjoy another alternative to broadcast radio and that is internet radio. I feel that it actually is more threatening to traditional radio than is podcasting, however, it is widely believe that by the year 2010 the number of podcast listeners will have reached 60 million in the US. That is a large number of people, but radio is still likely to be around then.

Radio is a survivor. It faced destruction with the introduction of TV and it had to rework its self to survive, and it did. Actually, its newer formats have done so well, that it has not only survived, it has thrived. I feel that even with the growing popularity of podcast radio will still live on, still continue to adapt and will continue to thrive well into the future.

-gabeman133 (Gabe H.)

Internet Banking

Being my first blog i wasnt very sure what i should talk about, but after looking at Richards post about 'trademe' ive decided that internet banking is an issue that very much concerns me.
Having recently fallen into trademe's clutches, i have watched my account balance slowly dwindle downwards, and for the first time it hit me just how much more convenient and easy it really is to shop from home online. Being a novice internet banker, and someone that usually thinks twice before handing over my money, i was surprised to find the ease at which i typed in the $$ amount on the screen, simply clicked the 'ok' button, and watched the little black numbers decrease by the entered amount.
Credit cards, eftpos cards, and now internet banking, have all been created to make transactions flow more efficiently and smoothly, yet through this gain i feel that the physical sense of owning cash has been lost a little. Actually handing over say, a $50 bill, for me is possibly more difficult than handing over my card when purchasing something for $80. My mentality is, if i cant see it, then it doesnt matter so much. But then maybe thats just me.
Technology has increased convenience through providing these different means of transactions, although it has also become much easier for money to be accessed illegally... There is of course all the perks, such as getting all the grocery shopping done from home, paying the bills online, and if (unlike me) your an adamant saver, watching your balance climb. (Alternatively, you can transfer all your savings into your 'fun and games' account at the click of a mouse).
As mentioned in the Virtual Conference on Electronic Banking for the Poor, technology "offers the potential to dramatically decrease operational costs, improve the quality of financial information and make banking for the poor more profitable and less risky for mainstream financial institutions". Technology such as online banking is constantly being developed to help improve our lifestyles, yet I wonder if i'd be more financially healthy without it...

Virtual Air Traffic Control Training Software designed in New Zealand

Air Traffic Control training was once carried out by a dated system using wires and slow-moving cardboard models. Today, all that has changed for trainees wanting to take up the occupation of "pushing tin". This groundbreaking technology was designed with the help of Airways Corporation New Zealand, Animation Research Ltd. and Pathfinder Technologies. Animation Research Ltd (ARL) (www.arl.co.nz/home.asp) is the company who designs the graphics for this new ATC training system and their web-site provides an interesting look at the work they do as a company which includes designing graphics for high profile corporate clients and commercial institutions.
In addition to this the software developers, Pathfinder Technologies (www.pathfindertech.net.nz) outline their role in the development of this new technology. Virtual ATC technology introduces virtual photorealistic graphics, real time and can be configured to suit any airport in the world at short notice. The technology is now attracting overseas interest.

King Kong

Just had the tv on in the background while checking some stuff on the internet and heard King Kong on headliners, which reminded me of the website kongisking.net, done by the same people who made theonering.net.. anyway i only mention this because peter jackson has been doing a video production diary throughout the film and now during post production, not sure whether this is a first or anything, think the star wars prequels might have had something similar but its really interesting to see the production process of the film as its being made instead of in retrospect on the special features of the dvd release. It gives a whole new insight into the whole thing.. dont know if it is relevant to the course but just thought it was interesting being able to download production diaries of the movie off the net.

Kong is King

Andrew

AFS web

Hi All,

Has anyone heard of AFS WEB (Andrew File System). It is a internet storage that allows people to save thier files and you can access it with your user name and password any where for example the G-Drive in university you may access at home or anywhere that has internet. It is good for those who type up an essay at university and need to access it somewhere else other than the university to obtain it. Or a simple method would be to save it on CD or floppy disk or send it to your assignments etc to your own e-mail address, but for those interested in another here is the method:
1. go to http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/personal/
2. select AFSWeb - Access your AFS volume (G drive) on the web
3. type in your university username & password
4. access your G: Drive


I used this before when I needed to print out my essay and the infomations commons was full, I accessed it through another department computers using the help of my friend.

IM, Video, SMS, VOIP, SMTP, 180 Million Users

So what does this all mean? We have been discussing VOIP, and IM clients a lot on this blog so i thought i would throw one more out there thats bigger than MSN and AIM. Both of those programs have tons of users and have been around a long while, but none of them are trully international. The most internationally based program i have found with users all over the world boasting the most features is ICQ. A lot of people have heard of it, and yes, its still around. (http://www.icq.com/) I urge yall to check it out if your tryingt to find that one stop shop thats free that can do everything all these programs we are talking about. Some of the unique advantages i find in a program is how it links small communities of friends. If anyone here uses AIM, some might have heard of a website a while back where it would take your screen name and map out everyone on your list, who they know, and how those people then know each other. People were getting these huge tree/shrub/spider looking graphs showing the connections they all shared, almost like blog communities but in a volatile enviroment. With most chat clients, converstaions are not saved, they are one time events that then disapear unlike the blog. (that is unless you have add on hack programs that add items like logging tools and such) This is also starting to blur as AOL has introduced AIM Blogs which uses an engine they had in place already where you can send AIM messages to a screenname and it will process the entry and add it to your journal. (http://pc.channel.aol.com/aimblogs) An idea that is only matched by blogger in the SMS update. Back to the ICQ thing though, is this program has matched all of that into one, allowing for ICQ message and blog boards, phone updates and chatting, and a range of other things including a built in flash program that shows your ring of friends like the AIM website. I personally dont even use ICQ becuse none of my close friends use it (they are all AIM addicts so now i am one) but the program itself is amazing from when i did use it way back when. Its an intresting development in community software. The question i will pose from this is exactly how much farther can instant messenging go, and why has it gone in the direction it has? With the rapid growth of blogs will volitile mediums such as IM disapear in favor of kids messging back and fourth via blog? or is our world so fast paced now, not even the blog would be fast enough to satisfy a desire for quick communications. (IE using IM to get people together for a quick bite to eat or something of that nature were volitile would be better)?

Awesome communication & connection: Tencent QQ

Has anyone heard about QQ? It is basically a software for online chatting, and it enjoys its popularity throughout China or probably some other Asian countries since the last decade. Most western people may not be familiar with that, because it is not as internationalised as MSN. But to me, QQ is much more useful and convenient than MSN messenger.

One of the reasons I recommend QQ is that QQ does not only contains all function that MSN has, it also contains lots of new functions that could specialise your own software, such as QQ skin, QQ expression, QQ desktop and so on. When you talk to the person on line, you are able to send some colourful and cute facial expressions to him/her. Also, if you talk to your lover, let’s say, and you want to get more involved, you are able to set the chatting background as romantic as you wish. Therefore, QQ makes on line chatting more enjoyable and exciting.

Another huge advance QQ takes is that unlike MSN, it allows people to send message to some other guys if they are not on line. In MSN, if people are off line, you can not send them messages any more, and the only way you could do is to wait or to send email to them. However, if you use QQ, you still could send words anytime you want, (but not images). People could read them once they are on line next time.

As an international student, I find getting in touch with family is really a big deal when I am here, because of the 5 hours jet leg. QQ helps me get over this problem. It connects to cell phone and enables me to send message onto my parents’ cell phones immediately as I type the word onto QQ, and the thing is, it is incredibly cheap. Each month, it only costs my parents 5 RMB, which is about 1 NZD to get the message, and for me, it is totally free. Also, because it is connected to cell phone, it is mobileable. I could receive messages any time and response to it through QQ function in cell phone.

Now, QQ has invented its English version and Traditional Chinese version and it starts to become internationalised.Therefore, I think I could share my experience with some westerners or South Asians whoever wants to download QQ as a good friend.

Free download:
English version: http://im.qq.com/qq/mo.shtml?/download/qqe.shtml
Traditional Chinese version: http://hi.qq.com/intro/mo.shtml?d.htm

Digital Pictures

Carrying on from the post about digital cameras and how the main thing people made sure they escaped with in a fire was their photo album.. well coming home from uni today i was given a flyer from someone working for bond and bond about being able to get your digital pictures transferred into photos. Just goes to show that some people are reluctant to see the end of the photo album and that the technology has had to find a new method for solving this desire.. i personally still prefer the old cameras even though i own a digital camera.. im yet to fully embrace the medium as im still a bit skeptical over the lastability of digital pictures etc, and its a lot easier to accidently click the delete button or delete the wrong photo than rip up a photo by accident.

Original Post

Skype

I don't know if most people have heard about Skype. Created in 2003 by the makers of Kazaa, its a p2p program which is meant to make communication easier. Its a rather simple program which allows you to talk to, not message, other contacts; all you need is a microphone and a speaker or a headset. It makes life easier for people who are too lazy to actually sit and type (I'm not yet at that level) and for those who have friends all over the world. The best part is that there is a free version for those college students who can't even afford to pay that much.

Basically all you have to do is download the program at www.skype.com and then create a login name. Add contacts and then you can call them. I've talked to friends in Boston and in India and have had clear lines all through out the call. This spares the user from having to bear with calling cards and staticky sounds. Just a warning for those who will be using their speakers, you will possibly get an echo which can be quite frustrating; use earphones.

People with dial up connections will probably have problems as it would take a few minutes for the voice to travel. Skype was primarily made for broadband internet, so its not too smart to actually use it otherwise. Another problem I've found with Skype is that it does not transport your contact list, so if you change computers, you'll also have to add your contacts all over again.

Perhaps this is the future of the 'telephone'. Though Skype has all its faults it allows easy communication for people across the globe. Skype also has a messaging system similar to MSN Messenger so that it consists of more than just calls; but I don't know who would want to message someone else when they can talk instead.

I would understand that if a random person messages you before you actually talk to them and realise they are really really creepy. Its like Kevin was mentioning in tutorial today, about people you don't know sending you messages. Perhaps this is the future... hopefully someday it will be even easier to talk to a loved one across the world.

“I knew it was over when I downloaded Skype,” Michael Powell, chairman, Federal Communications Commission, explained. “When the inventors of KaZaA are distributing for free a little program that you can use to talk to anybody else, and the quality is fantastic, and it’s free – it’s over. The world will change now inevitably.” (Skype website)

I really do wonder how most people I talk to about Skype have never even heard of it, when it is just so convenient and easy to use. Maybe its because it hasn't been publicized too much, or perhaps it is because there is still so much more to be done in the study of Internet telephony.

So What do these things have in common? Read on....

There's this one website I find quite useful it’s www.trademe.co.nz, check it out its really cool!!!!...... OK seriously I am sure you have all heard of trademe, ebay etc. and I thought it could make some interesting blogging;

How much has this internet auction medium changed the way we buy and value items? How has this medium made it more accessible for people with like minds to find one another, and trade and discuss their hobbies? You can even find old friends on trademe. What implications does this have on a global society where anyone can be tracked down? Or anything can be sourced from any part of the world? Have you ever used trademe? Or ebay?
Is it just me or is there a bit of a trademe craze going on? Obviously there is; according to trademe Deloitte rated it as the fastest growing buisiness in NZ in 2004 (http://www.trademe.co.nz/careers/). It seems to have created a whole new culture where people can buy products from across the globe and have them shipped within a few days, and sell just about anything! http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/EBay is a “web-encyclopaedia” entry for ebay, at the bottom is a list of crazy things sold on the international site. I am no economist but the economic impact of this must be huge. The idea of your global shopping basket bypasses any local market inequalities such as living in a remote island in the South Pacific. For example my friend bought a camcorder on the net from the USA for half the price he could have got it for at Bond and Bond. How will companies like this survive in a future of internet bidding? You can list your house for fifty bucks on trademe, cutting out the commissions and hassles of a real estate agent. Here’s one of many debates about this on the trademe forum;http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/messageboard/show_messages.asp?id=5216824&threadid=5216824 . Which brings me to another point; it seems to me that these sites have created a whole new community and culture along with it. It’s like blogging but with more of a direct link to the physical world. You can not only discuss a particular item/hobby and share ideas but end up with it on your doorstep a few days later. On trademe I have also noticed sellers adding extra information with their auctioned item; something about their life and how they have used it. Why do they do this? Are they trying to reach out and find others with a common view? This is what creates a web community all these little stories that go with second hand stuff. A good example of this is http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-photography/Home-audio/Full-systems/auction-31990188.htm
But this interesting use of internet medium with a buying community could be seen in a negative light too. The idea of terrorists chatting on line and plotting rendezvous is worrying. I typed in AK47 into the trademe website and look what I found! http://www.trademe.co.nz/Sports/Hunting/Rifles/auction-28639755.htm
Anyway this is getting quite long and somewhere in here I was going to slip in that I am selling my car: (http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auction_detail.asp?id=32451931). This idea of a universal ‘going price’ for any given object is has had an impact on me too. The problem is another fifty others in NZ are selling the exact same model! Buyers can sit there at home and compare all the auctions and specs, and within minutes and see which is the best car to buy. Subsequently I have had to drop my price a few times. I am sure there is alot more to talk about surroundingthese types of website so comment please!
Otherwise if you're getting bored of this blog go buy yourself a can of sprite online http://www.trademe.co.nz/Antiques-collectables/Food-drink/Other/auction-32263271.htm

Richard

Genuine?

I have received an email this morning claiming to be the unreleased copy of Jamie Olivers new Cook Book. The email states that the book was accidentally sent to the wrong address and this person has wasted no time in sending it to everyone they know. I am skeptical though. It could have been deliberately ‘leaked’ in order to gain publicity for this new book. I am not alone in disliking Jamie Oliver so maybe he is using this to his advantage, releasing this product in a way in which people believe they are getting one up on the television chef. The reason I mention this is tied in with the idea of the identity on the internet and authenticity. I have no way of discovering the origin of this email, and even if I could find the email address there is no real way of verifying the person who made this document public. Is this even a genuine Jamie Oliver book or a publicity stunt?
If you want a copy I will be happy to send the word document on and you can make up your own mind.

Ads website

Here is a website for the public to watch many different kinds of ads which show on TV or in the cinema. http://www.visit4info.com/
I found this web last semester when I was trying to do my research essay for 204. There might be some of you have already been on it. People can search and re-watch their favorite ads from here. The web likes a big file that contains lots of different types of documents. Different types of ads are classified here and they can be found through the starting letter. Otherwise, you can choose the top rated ads by the public. Miniaturization is the main concept has been applied here. All the ads are compressed and using Quick time or Windows media player for viewing. This web is not like the video blog though. The only way for people to express their feelings is by rating the ad. Thus it helps to gain popularity of the ads as well as the product or the brand.

Have a look and you may find your favorite ads!

Minnie

Liberate your PDA

Last week I was lucky enough to be one thirty people chosen from my Information Systems class to get to trial an iPAQ pocket PC for the semester as part of a collaborative study between HP and the University into the use of portable computing in the tertiary setting (http://www.team.ac.nz/).
Aparently it’s supposed to help me in class etc., but a little exploring around the net to see what else could be done with the fancy little gadget, dredged up some ‘extra curricular’ uses to make the device a whole lot more exciting. It is astounding how many software applications are out there, and as many in the class may be looking to purchase or have one of these devices, a small rundown (and by no means extensive) on the best uses and applications I found for it in the last few days, would come in very useful as well as giving a deeper understanding to all of this aspect of ‘Technoculture’.

Websites
An excellent place for up to date info on everything in the Pocket PC/PDA world is a blog by Dale Coffing (http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/). Here he details information on the latest advancements and developments in this area. It’s also worth a look just to see some of the amazing things he’s been able to do with his Pocket PC.

Podcasts
Adam talked about podcasting in the last lecture, to those who are not aquatinted to podcasts there’s a good beginners guide at (http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2005/podcast.mspx). For pocket PC users I found the best RSS reader was Feeder Reader(http://www.feederreader.com/) and a quick visit to PocketCasting.com (http://directory.pocketcasting.com/index.php) gives an extensive list of podcasts of which Dave’s PDA place is very useful for picking up the latest on PDAs/Pocket PCs.

Playing DVDs on your pocket PC
Obviously Pocket PC’s don’t have a DVD drive, but with a few simple software downloads anyone can be watching movies on their Pocket PC. The crucial program to for this is DVD to Pocket PC (http://tom.file8.com/download/dvd_software/pocket_dvd.exe). This program takes a DVD and squeezes it into about 128MB easily fitting it on a typical memory card. From there it’s as simple as loading it onto the Pocket PC/PDA and playing it with a media player. I used pocketTV to do this (http://www.pockettv.com/#download) and was quite amazed at how a copy of the Matrix Revolutions came out in wide screen as well as very high and clear resolution.

Gaming
The pocketPC mag website (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_enc/cat.asp?cat=2&name=Software) has an extensive list of games that can be downloaded for pocket PCs/PDAs. I managed to download a copy of Age of Empires, which only took up 20MB of memory on the device and was basically exactly the same(and as good) as playing it on a PC but of course portable.

TV Remote
Very useful when the annoying situation of loosing your TV Remote arises- Pocket PC TV remote controller (http://www.pdawin.com/TVremote.exe) is a marvelous little software program that uses the infrared port on any Pocket PC to make it into a remote control for most televisions!

I feel that in a way that I liberated my iPAQ from a life of monotonous and boring use, and am sure this brief collection of links could easily work the wonders same for yours, do check them out.


Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan

technoculture new media

technoculture new media

Alright, I came across this. It's some guys blog, who
hired out a stars wars movie, a chinese version with english subtitles. The translation from english to chinese to english...it's hilerious.
http://americaninlebanon.blogspot.com/2005/07/backstroke-of-west.html
I guess it has to do with language barriers, not really with technoculture. But I thought it was so funny I had
to post it.

Apparantly, according to the spot on translation, Star Wars episode 3 is not "Revenge of the Sith",
but "Backstroke of the West". I guess that gives you a hint of how accurate the subtitles are. I actually laughed, out loud.
Maybe don't read this alone in the commons.

The US Goverment is watching us.

To further the incredibly amusing Epic2014 posted below, I thought I would share a great Flash video that was in response to policys being pushed through in the United States. The term big brother is watching us has never been so true. Click Here. Enjoy!

Spivey

Blu-Ray: The future of High Definition mind melting.

Are yall ready for the Betamax - VHS war again? How about Minidisc - CD war? Yep, that time has come again. Well at least in part. Sony (yes, im a sony salesman so im partial) has released the future of high definition viewing pleasure. A conglomerate called the Blu-Ray Disc Association (BDA) [http://www.blu-ray.com/info] which includes the founders, Sony, as well as support from your favorites like apple, HP, and a number of big hitters in the audio/video as well as computer foundations. Where the problem comes in, and reason we have not seen this on shelf's already (its been out in japan for about a year or so) is because of Toshiba, the founders of another format called HD-DVD refuse to let it be the big market. Both sides of the battle, as to spare consumers another huge battle (only us geeks have to deal with it) are trying to come to terms as to which one to release and in force. My preferences come to Blu-Ray like many geeks because of its greater advantage on the tech side. HD-DVDs main support is its "cheaper". If your interested in seeing the tech side, and a nice little graph showing some of the differences go here. If you know anything about media in this nature, you can see very quickly its advantages. I have personally seen a DVD playing off a Blu-Ray player on an HD tv, and I was just floored. It was like being in a 3D theatre. I worry about the movie theatre industry with the release of this on the mass market because of how simply amazing it is. Now, you start wondering, ok, well im not a geek so all those numbers dont mean anything to me. Well there is a lovely link provided here that will take you to a forum discussing the differences, and to save you the net account cost, here is a condensed version:

Blu-ray

Backed by: Sony, Dell, Apple(as of today), Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Mitsubishi Electric, Philips Electronics, Pioneer Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, TDK, and Thomson Multimedia.

Advantages: Getting the early start, Blu-ray has enjoyed more mindshare than HD-DVD, as well as a conglomerate of powerful backers that rivals President Bush's "coalition of the willing" in size and scope. Technologically, the biggest edge Blu-ray appears to have over HD-DVD is that it offers 30 percent more capacity and is designed for recording high-def video. Rewritable BD-RW discs, with similar features to Panasonic's current DVD-RAM discs, can play back content while recording to the disc at the same time. Also, Sony owns Columbia Pictures and recently bought MGM, which gives it a leg up on releasing content. And PlayStation 3 certainly will carry a huge chunk of clout in the marketplace.

Disadvantages: Real or not, the biggest knock against Blu-ray is that the discs--initially, at least--will be more costly to produce than HD-DVD media (Sony claims otherwise). Until recently, the other knock was that unlike DVD-HD, the Blu-ray spec did not include support for more advanced video compression codecs such as MPEG-4 AVC and Microsoft's VC-1, in addition to the MPEG-2 codec. But the Blu-ray Group recently announced support for those codecs, so they're now on even ground on that front.



HD-DVD

Backed by: Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, and Memory-Tech. Microsoft is also supporting HD-DVD in its next version of Windows (support for Blu-ray is on the table).

Advantages: The name itself, HD-DVD, is far more consumer-friendly than Blu-ray. HD-DVDs carry the same basic structure as current DVDs, so converting existing DVD manufacturing lines into HD-DVD lines is supposedly simple and cost effective. Memory-Tech, a leading Japanese manufacturer of optical media, stated that producing HD-DVD discs would initially cost only 10 percent more than for existing DVDs and
that it could quickly bring the cost down to match that of standard DVD.

Disadvantages: HD-DVD simply can't boast the same storage capacity as Blu-ray. It's confusing, but it appears that the rewritable HD-DVD-RW will go up 32GB, while the recordable HD DVD-R discs will only be single layer (15GB). The other downside is that with Sony holding the rights to Columbia Pictures and MGM movie and television libraries, there will probably be a hole in HD-DVD's content offering--don't expect to see MGM/UA's James Bond movies on HD-DVD, for example.

Now to follow the last point on this, notice how it talks about movie holdings and how HD-DVD wont have many top movies, thats another downfall as pretty much every major film industry company has backed Blu-Ray. In a war on formats, thats huge. Here are two articles talking about Hollywood (PC WORLD Click Here) and Fox Studios (Reuters.co.uk Click Here) backing the stronger format. After that, I hate say anymore so leave it into your hands to figure out which format you think is better.


Happy hunting.
Spivey

Google Search on Blu-Ray

References: All of the above linked. I also gained much of my expierence with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD in company training at Sony (yes, much of this info was unbiased coming straight from toshiba) so could not provide a reference or link to it, sorry!

Interesting Website

This is a website that I have been going to for awhile when I get really bored. It’s called Joe Cartoons and the website address is www.joecartoons.com Most of you may already know about this site as it has been around since 1997. The website was started by someone who was your average Joe (hence the website name) and he wanted to create some funny, entertaining and slightly disturbing cartoons, for people like me to watch when bored. He uses “flash mx” to create his cartoons and on the website he has given a link to where you can find this program. That link is www.macromedia.com this gives another people the chance to create their own animation. Joe also does all his own voices for the characters and again he has given us a link so that we to can add sound. The link being www.macromedia.com/software/sound/ my main reason for suggesting this website is that I think its pretty funny stuff, some people may find the content disturbing, but you need to keep in mind that it is only a cartoon. An example of one of his cartoons is Micro –Gerbil 2001. It’s a gerbil in a microwave and you push buttons up to the number 10 and each number makes the microwave go on higher power and the gerbil insults you and so on and so forth. Anyway the website is not for everyone but I know plenty of people that enjoy it : )
Emma S.

A New Form Of Documentary?

I have noticed an emergence of late of a new type of documentary, which can be seen in the documentaries “Capturing the Friedmans” and “Tarnation” These documentaries are different from past ones in that they are composed largely through home movies and tape recordings of phone conversations. This would not have been possible a few years ago before the advent of the video camera and offers a number of possibilities to documentaries of the future, allowing unprecedented access into peoples lives.

Capturing The Friedmans is about the Friedman family and how a normal family disintegrates into chaos after the revelation that the father and one of the sons has been (allegedly) molesting little boys in their basement. The most amazing aspect of the film is the chance to see this disintegration on camera. For some reason one of the brothers constantly had a video camera on and we see them discussing legal options, arguing over dinner about whether their father and son are innocent etc, it really is an interesting watch.

As for Tarnation, Jonathon Caouette, the subject of the film, had shot hours upon hours of footage as he grew up and it offers a startling insight into his psyche, one scene that I found particularly disturbing was from when he was eleven and shot himself playing a white trash prostitute. His mother had been given electrical shock treatment by her parents and this had a huge effect on Jonathon growing up so it seems he used the video camera as a method of depersonalization, in order to make some sense out of his life.

The film was written, directed and edited by him on apples new “imovie” software for a measly $218dollars. Gus van Sant saw it and decided to pick it up for distribution. The fact that this one guy could go out there and get a movie made for such a measly sum offers amazing possibilities for documentary making in the future. I’m not sure if the ease at which people can make movies now is entirely a good thing because for every Tarnation there’s going to be a hundred excruciatingly bad self important ones. With every man and his dog being able to make a movie could that possibly harm the studio system and see a huge rise in independent production? Well I’m not entirely sure about that because the studio system has become too entrenched but it is a possibility.

Some Links:

IMDB page for Tarnation

IMDB page for Capturing The Friedmans

"Tarnation" offical site

very useful website for film students..!

http://www.imdb.com/

Hi all, maybe most of you guys already know about this website I guess... Anyway this is my first post to the technoculture blog, and this is called The Internet Movie DataBase(IMDB).

This website supplies people who visit here that overall information and reviews about films. For the search a particular movie in your mind, here is a search engin on the top and left side of the homepage, and when the results come out, you can find reviews about the film as well. The reviews are divided as audiences reviews and formal reviews (newpaper or external). Also other details are liked to other world wide websites and blogs, people can find information what they want and so far.

IMDB has not only American movies but also European movies and Asian movies. Audiences can vote to the movie (10 stars for the best) which they have seen before and also can put their comments. I think this website is very helpful for film study students to choose movies or to share what you are thinking about the film with others.

Low Tech Hi Fi

I went to a gig on the weekend where one of the guest MCs (it possibly refered to more people than just himself - as in a crew of people) was named Low Tech Hi Fi. The name they had chosen for themselves got me thinking about its connotations and what it was that they were trying to say about who they were and the music they produce. Am I right in thinking that this is - low technology and high fidelity?? And do you think that this speaks of some sort of musical professionalism and/or expertise where by a DJ and MC use low forms/old school technology but through their skill still manange to produce high fidelty sounds? I wondered if in reality they really were using low tech or old school tecnologies to do what they were doing, or if this was merely a marketing device which referenced a fondness for old reggae etc etc and showed that this is where the influence of these sounds within their music came from (or where the choice of tracks that they mixed came from as of couse they were not their own creations).
It reminded me of a clip that Luke showed us in film,tv,media (was it 101 or 100?? cant remember), but anyway - it was a Ben Harper music video and showed Harper and his production crew recording and then physically producing the vinyl albums, which were then distributed by Harper from the wire basket on the back of his old bicycle as he peddled around a jamaican style setting. The recording 'studio' was an old run down shack and the actual musical track had scratchy references to a needle on vinyl and all that kind of thing. This for me connected with this idea of Low technology being able to produce a hi fi sound...but left me wondering in both cases, if it were neccessarily true or not.