Monsters, Inc.

I 've just watched Monsters, Inc. which was made by Pixar in 2001 and I felt it's fantastic ! I think I probably would rank it as my NO.1 CGI animation movie. There are aspects of this movie that intrigue me most:
First , from the aesthetic point of view, the visual effect is stunning. I almost couldn't tell a tiny flaw when camparing it with The Incredibles, so either The Incredibles is outmoded ( which seems impossible) or Monsters, Inc. has done perfectly beyond its time. The lighting was done smoothly , texture is very real and the model was rendered very well.
Second, the storyline is pretty imaginative and artful. The "monster version " of human society makes a lot of funny stuff . Form this kind of "holisticly transplanting human civilization to cartoon world " ,we can see it is much more mature than Toy Story and we may consider it as the predecessor of Finding Nemo. The polt of "send the kid back" makes the film very hilarious and entertaining.
Third,the "acting" is so unartificial that I can hardly believe they are man-maded character. Thanks to the motion capture and skillful animators , I can see the" real expressions " and various personalities in monster world.I vivdly remember there is a sequence that the little kid was hiding around toilet and Sulley pretend to be mad of her , the expression of atmosphere is so real that I actually thought they might have real-actors pre-acted the whole sequence.
I 'm after the kind of fantasy CGI film , Iike the lovely characters ,colourful world ,perfect picture and facetious story. Because I believe most people go to watch animation film for relaxing and the design of animation film is to come ture naive dream deep buried in everybody's heart ,both child and adult.

TRON

I have just been watching Tron, and maybe Im just a little slow on the old up take, but talk about a 1980s version of the Matrix!! oh my god. It really is very similar, with Flynn being the 'one' character like Neo, who has a whole lot of webby, techie knowledge/genius which allows him to move about within the matrix/computer world in a way that no one else has been able to do.
Its funny tho, how tiresome it is to watch old digital graphics, especially when they are accompanied by such 80's sounds. Not to diss the tron or anything - but - you know.

More Manners when on the Mobile, Please

I want to talk about people's manners when using mobile media. This applies particularly to cellphone use. I think it is very clear that mobile media is changing the way people interact with other people in public space. Even though Luke specified that pre-mobile media society didn't just walk around having conversations with strangers, I think that there is a noticable change to the level of general politeness and people's manners in public.

I work in retail so I experience many customers who don't think they need to be polite, and that's just typical of the position I'm in. But I've noticed lately that so many people will think it is okay to deal with a salesperson while on their cellphone. When I work at checkouts, many people come through talking on their cellphone, don't even look at me, shove money at me, and leave without saying thank you. Now I know that people in retail don't usually get great treatment anyway, but I almost always at least get a thank you from customers, even really agro ones, because it's just common courtesy, it's good manners. But there is this new breed of mobile people who seem to have forgotten how rude it is to just ignore someone. I mean, I don't expect them to hang up and talk to me for an hour about their day, but a simple mouthed thank you as they leave, or at least a nod in my direction to indicate that they're aware of my presence. These people make me want to leave on the security tags so they get stopped at the door as they leave. Muhahaha.

But don't get me wrong, there are still some nice mobile people, who make an effort to look appreciative, or if their phone rings while they're at the counter they apologise before answering it. How nice.

I think what people need to realise is that even though there is all this new technology that allows you to talk across the world and interact with people that aren't physically around you, you still have to deal with the people that are around you; they don't just disappear because you're on the phone. And just because you're on the phone, it doesn't make you any more important or superior than those that aren't. A little courtesy goes a long way, but it seems to have all but disappeared in todays mobile society.

XM Radio

I hope New Zealand would get something like this

http://www.xmradio.com

With user choice becoming so relevant in todays technocultural society, I really see Radio as lagging far behind the rest of the pack. I don't think I've chosen to listen to my radio over a cd in my car since I bought it as I find the constant advertisments and the coffee-overloaded DJ's to be a bit unbearable. (I find it hard to call them DJ's when they're really just over opinionated narcissistic social commentators) While there are some that listen to the radio to win prizes like CD's and concert tickets I really just listen to it, if I have to, for the music. Sometimes I can flip through 15 stations without hearing one song being played, and that is a frustrating thing to do when you think about why you're listening to it in the first place.

I've looked into XM Radio and it looks pretty kick ass to me, over 150 radio channels, 100% commercial free music. If news, traffic & weather is what you're after they have 50 dedicated channels especially for that. The way they make money is not through commercial advertising interrupting a flow of music, but by a monthly subscription. I'm not too sure on the logistical costs of setting it up, but I think conventional radio has become an outdated technology and there needs to be a better alternative to it, such as what has happened with television, eg.) Free to Air TV vs. Cable/Sky/Subscription television.

(speaking in generalisations, sure there are some good stations out there)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I went to see this film recently, as I am a huge fan of the original (which I have watched too many times). So I was eager to compare. What interested me the most was to see how the new film compared to the old in terms of how technology was employed.

The types of technology available in 1971, when the original was made, were very limited in comparison to today. Because the story is largely based on fantasy and unreal things, it must have been a difficult job trying to make things look believable. At the time it was first released, over 30 years ago, it would have been very convincing. But watching this film now, we notice all the little discrepancies, obvious flaws, and factors that “de-realise” the film. But I think this is part of why I love the original so much – because of the innocence and improvisation in trying to portray the impossible as believable.

I think while the original was simply aiming to make things look realistic and believable, the new film makes things look beyond believable. It employs extensive use of digital effects. In my opinion, this film seems to exaggerate the use of digital effects partly because such technologies are available. However, it does serve to absorb the viewer into the fantasy, and make it more of a spectacle, so I am of mixed feelings.

I think I like both films equally; each has its own unique aspects that make them special. Of course they are very similar in several ways, yet the 33-year gap between them sets them well apart. If you’re going to see this I suggest you take some chocolate because the film makes you hungry. I did not do this, so may have to go again :)

-Shannon Doherty

Ridiculous Q’s and A’s

So, everyone has their late nights/early mornings where you are supposed to be cranking out a paper or an assignment that’s due the following afternoon. But instead you are occupied and chatting it up online, proceeding to help out those friends across the way who are in the same situation as you are.
Soooo… just an idea to throw out there for you all. Lame as it may appear, it has provided me with some relief from unproductive screen-staring.
Basic idea, throw out a ridiculous question to your mate who is on the other end. This is where the creativity has to flow a bit, but it is generally worth it. Then they’ll hop on whatever random site they can find, typically nothing credible, and pose a ridiculous answer.
Just some examples to get you headed in the right direction…
(these were thrown my way)
“Why is it the universal signal for us to clap when showing our appreciation? Why not have it be a smack to the belly?”
“So you have the invention of cereal. And milk was obviously around at the time. But did they test out other liquids to put with the cereal before settling on milk? Why not orange juice? Or just straight up water?”
And some of the random places that were found in our late night q and a sessions are the following:
answers.com
&
http://flatrock.org.nz/index.html
So, have a go and see if anything upsurd comes to mind. It’s a great late night convo when your brain is fried anyways and it makes for some cheesy humor as well. And if you’re not feeling ingenious enough to pose some profound conundrum, then at least these sites might provide some mindless entertainment.
-claire

SMS Uni Announcements....

In response to jane harwood's post "I wonder how possible it is...", I think what you suggest is a really good idea, because we all have cell phones and you would get the message instantly. Good point that no one checks their email constantly throughout the day just in case a lecture is cancelled.

Someone suggested to me that students could get PDAs to check their emails on the move around campus. Apparently you can set them to check your email whenever. This is a good idea because PDAs are good for heaps of things like organising your calendar and stuff, but they're like $500 each and not many students have that sort of budget.

Also (so I've been told) with some cellphones you can use GPRS to check your email inbox and it will give you like the first 200 characters of an email. That would be quite useful, but only if you go to check your email, so it's the same problem that you have to just check your email all the time, unlike instant sms. Also if you're anything like me, I'm stuck in the stone age with the nokia 3315 because I can't afford a new one, and that doesn't have GPRS.

So it's a tough one, but I too miss announcements by not checking my emails constantly. I think the sms announcement thing is a great idea for urgent announcements like cancelled lectures, but could it really be done??

Hi
Just making a comment about the idea of being able to be contacted "24/7". Recently I purchased a Harrier PDA (telecom) for the big boss at work. You can use it to do just about anything a computer can do; make word documents, download files, mp3 player, calender, video camera etc- as well as use it to call people! As it turns out she left her charger at home whilst on a 3 day business trip. So that night she decided to take the battery out to conserve power.
- She lost everything; all her numbers, settings, ringtones, etc. According to the Telecom guy it's not supposed to be ever turned off- She had tried to find the off button but to no avail, itcould go into "flight-mode" where the mobile phone funtion is turned off but the PDA still remains on.

This I think has rather interesting implications; This piece of modern technology was designed to always be switched on. If you tried to turn it off you lost all your data. Is this the way technology is heading? It conjures up images of HAL and A.I. technology where machines dont want to be shut down; they become more than machines, they become alive in the sense that they never are "off".

Do you switch your mobile phone off at night? I dont. I am able to be contacted "24/7"- why? (if my freinds are ever in an emergency they know someone is able to be contacted) We truly are the generation of instant gratification!- (was that from FTV100?). What does that tell us about our culture today? I dont even switch my phone off in cinemas, I just put it on silent so I know what call I am missing. Is this reason created from the idea of needing to "get-ahead" in todays world? You must'nt let anything pass you by or you are missing out. I think it is taken to the extreme in American media- There are dedicated TV channels for weather, news, anything! When I came back from America I actually found myself agitated that I couldnt just flick to channel 22 and check out the weather for the next day. Or voyeristically see what the weather was like in Paris.

But it doesnt really matter how "good" your multi media phone gets because when you think about it there is still only 24hrs in one day. It doesnt matter that with technology you can hold a video conference with someone across the world and text at the same time, whilst surfing the web for your pizza order and listening to your fav mp3; people still have a finite amount of time in the day. When they are doing one thing it's actually less productive- and not going to 'get you ahead' - by being distracted by your myriad of information on tap. Call a one-track minded guy but all this continual multi tasking is becoming a nightmare!
Who here txts and drives?

Anyway if youre having trouble finding something to talk about go to the link below. Its a tech-digest blog with all sorts of new technology discussed.
http://techdigestuk.typepad.com/

traduzione sul web

We've all heard of online dictionaries and thesaurus (such as www.dictionary.com), but one day as I couldn't find my italian to english dictionary I discovered a new website. It's not an online italian to english dictionary, but it is an online translation site. The site not only translates english to italian or vice versa, but also does other languages like spanish, french, german, dutch, portuguese, russian, norweigan, and bit of chinese.

There are two types of translation: a free translation or a human translation. The free translation is at it says, its a free translation that is pretty quick, but of course is not so accurate as it translates words immediately. The human translation costs about $39.95 and it would take a while as a professional translator would actually do the translation work for you (of course, that would be crazy for a student to do! Not just the cost (I think its in American dollars) but also it doesn't really help you learn much). I decided to check out the accuracy of the free translation after I found the site so I typed in something random:

I would like to go to the party this evening and this is what I got: Amerei per andare al partito questa sera

In translating it by myself (its a prettty basic sentence), I got Voglio andare alla festa questa sera. Since the translation is only a basic translation it translates word for word, including "to go". Usually in italian a normal verb conjugation already has the 'to' in it, but the translator wouldn't know that.

Recently I've also seen that the website (www.freetranslation.com) has added a web translator which basically translates web sites for people, and its also free.

I only used the site for basic help when I couldn't find my dictionary or when I found that I couldn't understand the sentence no matter how hard I tried, but I think there are some ethical issues with the website for students, especially those who have to translate for their classes. And the one warning I give anyone who tries to use it, it is not accurate and you will not get a good grade if you don't do any work yourself. On the other hand it is quite helpful in a situation where you really don't understand too well, it's helpful as a last resort or as a minimal helper.

New PSP 2.0 version successfully downgrade

News from fourm last night, MPH has created a working downgrader from PSP firmware 2.0 to firmware 1.50.. I have tried this myself and have successfully downgraded from firmware 2.0 to firmware 1.50. Homebrew and UMD games will both work after the downgrade. But MPH says Although this has been tried and found working, this does not mean there is no risk involved so use at your own risk. It is a good news for all 2.0 psper, they now finally can play some 3rd party game and program. Although 2.0 still not been hacked, but in my opinion should be sometimes not to far from now.

A Crack in the new I-pod Nano !!

Hay I just heard on this website that in there seems to be a problem with the new I-pod nano. That it seems that the screen are easily breakable, and some seem to create cracks very easily!! This might be a good example of the newest smallest thing may not always be the best! Apple came out and said that they would replace any defective unit for free, and that the problem is a small one. But a small problem on a nano size product can be a big thing! haha


There is also I link to a video stream of a fair go segment that go on other people who had problems with their I-pod. And how apple say that you should treat your I-pod more as, “a mini laptop inside of just an ordinal pocket gadgets”

Mana-E

Follow up on web-based e-mail

A while back I was posting about my experiences when I changed to a web-based e-mail programme and decided against gmail and for YahooMail. As a follow up I surfed the net and found out that there is extensive beta testing of the new YahooMail version (unfortunately only to US based customers).

Screenshots of new YahooMail interface

The unofficial Yahooweblog

I can't wait and as it looks Yahoo will be able to get some marketshare back which they lost to gmail. And also this time it will be 100% compatible with Firefox. Yay!

Something about The Incredibles

This recent popular animated film does not just entertain audience by using the digital animation techniques. More important is that the film uses the digital technique to express the central idea of love especially the love in a family. I think that using animated film can persuade people to a more meaningful issue. Such like allegory, the animated film exaggerates the action of the characters and the fantastic storytelling brings the ideology of love to audience. The idea of love fully express through the Incredibles family. The members of the family use their personal unique super powers to save each others and destroy the baddy at the end. As a family, they collaborate tightly to against the enemy. The film reminds us to love each others because there is a lack of love in our world. The film uses digital technology as a tool to generate things that will not happen in our daily life. However these unreal characters simultaneously represent the common people like us although they have super powers. Within the film they want to be common but in reality, most of us want to be uncommon.

Anyway, this is a good animated film to watch and it is quite meaningful.

When Am I Going To Die?

When am I going to die? Isn't that a question we have all pondered and possibly wanted to know the answer to? Well, once again the internet contains the answer. Its almost a cure all in some ways. The answer can be found on deathclock.com. This is a curious site which has some sort of mathmatical algorithm (or possibly a forseeing eye to the future) that can determine your time of death.

Through a few simple fields of questions it can give you your out look on life....well, your out look ti'll death anyway. By typing in my birth day and of course selecting the optimistic mode, I was able to determing that I will be dead on Wed, March 5, 2059. Not only that, but I only have 1,686,077,650 seconds left to live....of course, that number will be much smaller by now.

By changing a my status to a smoker and increasing my BMI to 35 and then chaning the forecast to pessimistic my death date has been moved forward to 2037. Is it possible that this site might be some what accurate? It is believeable that by computing the average life span coupled with some other variables, that it could in fact reveal a close date as to my demise.

The interesting thought here is whether or not people will put any stock into it. If a person believes that they know when they will die, think how differently they may live there life. Fortunatley for some, there is a link on your personal clock that ask if you want to increase your life span. It turns out its not a link to the fountain of youth web page, but directs you to the Health Clock. Here, in an interesting parellel, you can find information on sicknesses or ways to improve your health life style.

So while the internet may not yet have an extremely accurate crystal ball into the future, it does provide some interesting food for thought. I would like to point out that I typed in the information for a recently deceased family member of mine and discovered that his predicted death was only off by 78 days....hmmmm....I wonder?

just a comment on shan's post.

After reading Shan's post on inflight features and entertainment, I was interested to see that they showed the passengers on board the airbus (the fourth airbus to have wheel difficulties if I remember the news coverage correctly?) live footage of exactly what was happening. Something occured to me today that I had not given much thought to at the time, around two years ago I was on a flight watching "The Core" (terrible terrible film) when the screen flickered while the team attempting to save the earth were flying in their plane like contraption, drilling through to the core of the earth...and so the story goes. Anyway my brother and I figured out they must have crashed, as after the screen flicked a bit they were no longer moving, we later saw the movie at home on television and yes their travelling craft did in fact crash. We firgured out that the flight we were on purposly cut out the crash, I suppose to protect the passengers?Not to scare them into believing that maybe they to could crash? I am really not all that sure, however the point to my story is that its quite unbelievable that we can go from cutting out crash scenes in films to showing passengers all live footage of what was happening to themselves and their plane as they prepared to crash land. How times and technology use change...!

Finally the networks come together...

Well finally Telecom and Vodafone have in a sense merged and quite clearly decided to put things behind them! Telecom and Vodafone customers can now send video, sound or photo messages to each other...and hasnt it been a fairly long time coming!?!

I definitely will (and have) utilised this feature as I am a loyal vodafone customer and the majority of my friends are telecom! So now all the crazy and funny photos can be forwarded to all friends with PXT capable phones as apposed to only some!

Im not sure the cost of sending from a telecom phone to a vodafone, but to send a PXT from vodafone to telecom cellphone, it does however cost slightly more! (50 cents compared to 20 cents, but I guess the difference could maybe be matched in the future...?!)

At least now, 'keeping in touch' via photo, voice or video messaging can be done between the two networks!!

This was announced yesterday, but for more information, go to http://www.vodafone.co.nz/services/pxt.jsp?item=pxt or http://www.telecom-media.co.nz/releases_detail.asp?id=3230&page=1&pagesize=10.

student rep meeting

Hi,

Got another student rep meeting next Wednesday so once again, if anyone has any issues they want to bring up (maybe about the upcoming assignment, or about the exam?) just gimme an email at dsad005@ec.auckland.ac.nz. It can be about anything to do with the course that you may have a question about but are too afraid to ask (or just haven't asked it yet). I'll bring it up in confidence at the meeting. Please don't make me have to make something up when she asks how 203 is going, I don't like uncomfortable silences!

Thanks,

Dan

DVD extra text - a Menu style Society bent on interactivity

When we buy a DVD we know that we are going to get those special features that put each of us a step closer to the original movie by giving us theatrical trailers and actors/directors opinions and viewpoints on the script and shots and so on and so forth. Very often we also have soundtrack and music video options for the hit song in the movie (this is true of the American Pie 2 DVD). When we buy re-release DVD's which have previously come out on video cassette we also naturally expect to find extra features that we didn't know about the movie originally all the way back in say 1986 and it brings viewers back to the theatre essentially, and even to the production process itself. However my point is that all these special features, whether offered on the DVD or not are presented in an interactive menu-style way. This is perhaps what society is coming to expect from everything. We can identify with menus from our home PC's and cellphones. We expect things to be packaged easily so we can find them in an interactive format which we can access easily and decipher quickly. Afterall the DVD is essentially a file that we are able to navigate around through the use of such menus. As consumers we are increasingly demanding more out of entertainment packages, hardware and software and we expect to be able to interact with a movie in ways we never previously could. Way back in the 1930s right through to the 1980s, actors used to tour the country with the studio publicity department to promote a film and concert halls were packed so as the public could 'interact' with the star (e.g. part of the movie package). Now that interaction comes through simply pushing buttons and skimming through menus. It makes the consumer complacent with the product and stimulates the market for which it is meant by offering this new level of activity. It is an attractive package for the consumer in terms of this interactive process, it helps to re-sell old movies, it helps to boost sales of new movies and is something that most people can easily interact with through its easily-recognizable menu format. Indeed the theatre is re-mediated interactively.

EVP

I recently watched the thriller White Noise, and found the movie to be kind of average. But what interested me the most was Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). Technology has proven that it has the ability to do anything and go anywhere and this is a prime example. Being able to communicate with the dead through technology in my opinion is quite incredible. I know that there are many critics out there who don’t believe in stuff like this and that’s fair enough because everyone is entitled to their opinion.
What makes EVP so versatile is that anyone can do it. I found this website, www.aaevp.com and it is really helpful. The only technology you really need is a simple tape recorder. Although it has been recommended that with the change in technology the IC recorder is a better choice. It is a better choice according to the EVP organisation because you do not need background noise, like you do if you using a simple tape recorder. After making a recording, it is advised that you can plug it into your computer and then that means you can filter out the background noise.
The whole process of EVP is electronic, and as technology advances so does the ability to make contact with things people don’t understand.

History in the Making

Last weekend I got a couple of DVDs out to entertain myself and my family if they chose to watch them with me, well it turns out my parents did want to watch Hotel Rwanda which was fine until my realized she didn’t actually know how to work the DVD player or more so which channel to have it on, but after a DVD player tutorial she was set and felt unstoppable and all because she learnt which channel it had to be on. It was then that I realized our parents unlike us aren’t used to modern technology and its fancy gadgets and well to them technology only complicates matters (that is until they understand it). But whilst I say that and using the DVD player to describe the technology deficit between our generation and our parents, it won’t be long until we are the parents asking our children how to work technology.

i wonder how possible it is...

I arrived at a lecture this afternoon having arrived at uni at 8am to spend the day working on essays I was certainly looking foward to the end of the lecture and going home. At 4pm I was starting to wonder if I was the only person who maybe hadnt read the course outline recently and the lecture was not happening? Two more people arrived and i questioned them as to whether they knew if we were meant to have a lecture today as they to sat in confusion in the empty lecture theatre, a few more people arrived then out tutor arrived to tell us that the lecture had been cancelled because our lecturer had commitments, how had everyone else known I wondered? Well of course an email had been sent around, but its not all that often that you check emails during the day at uni. I was just reading bec's blog on the new form of advertising and it got me thinking... I wonder how possible it is to use the very popular form of communication-cellphones, to send instant messages regarding important announcements from the university. Yes I know this could be a very contestable subject regarding cost, and maybe some would think it pointless, however I really do think if it was possible to have some kind of set up with Telecom or Vodafone, our leading cellphone networks, this could really be quite helpful. So many of us do have cellphones that we would check far more regularly than emails, and this would not have to be used often, just if there are possibly important announcments effective as of that day?? I am sure someone has probably thought of this before, and its not as novel as I originally thought but hey if a cost deal could be worked out, this could be a very helpful step foward in terms of instant communication around the university.

television television television

I am one of those annoying people who analyses, rubbishes, scrutinizes and rips apart all forms of shallow media entertainment, such as reality television, celebrity news, the latest american drama or sitcom, but who secretly watches all of them.

What I have realised is that winter has turned me into a total consumer of fake american style programming and culture. Never in my life before now have I known the ins and outs of the group politics of the one remaining survivor tribe, never have I had the incling that possibly the dead narrator of wisteria lane may not have commited suicide but been murdered, nor did I know or care that Teresa being voted off New Zealand Idol was a sign of not only typical patterns of male favouritism, but of how the poor idols are actually like little lab rats in a big wheel made for television and so far removed from anything really to do with music or a succesfull career in the industry.

A few things have happened to me over these winter months which I have decided are very specific 'symptoms' of being exposed to prolonged periods of bullshit. One - I have become disillusioned with humankind, believing that the range of our abilites and hopes strecth no futher than becoming a bunch of over sexualised housewives or a karaoke competitioning fleet of morons. I have lost faith (momentarily) that humans have any depth or creative ability. Two - the resulting loss of faith in the point of human existance has taken a large toll on my studies, and I find that after a full night of consuming these ideas and images, that I am so disheartened I can not bring myself to do anything else other than go to bed. I am exhausted with having to sit for hours upon end infront of a glowing energy sapping box with my mouth agape in horror. It takes energy to keep up the grimace.

Anyway - I think the point I am trying to get at in a very over explained round and round the mulberry bush kind of way is, that these programs pertain to 'offer' us something, but in many ways they take from us. They take away ideas of the massive 'difference' that exists within the human race, representing only those who fit a certain bill of 'normality' and providing us with an image of what this 'normality' is, and in most cases it is something or someone that 99% of the human race is not. It is SO telling of the powers that dominate the modern times, and of the greed behind it all. I know we all know this. but you know, I just wanted to say.

just want to know

Hi,

I just want to know about the readings for this paper, has the readings been given out in all lectures? I have been printing them out myself, until last lecture I realised that there was a box with the reading about digital... If readings have been handed out before lectures then have I been spending all that time printing out the long readings from cecil? (I admit I am usually late to lecture.)

Ways to view the news

Most days I get the news from a number of differnt sources, newspapers, television and the internet. Some mornings I walk down our driveway to see if our herald is waiting in the letterbox. Unfortunatly this is not usually the case (someone seems to be stealing our paper) so I have no paper to read while I eat breakfast. Reading the paper while eating breakfast has always been something I've enjoyed, however last year living at a hostel and having late classes I rarely ate breakfast let alone had a paper to read so I turn to technology. Most evenings at 6pm our tv will be tuned in to watch the news, we also tend to eat dinner around this time so we watch while we eat. Both newspapers and tv news have been around for quite awhile and I've always found them to be almost background. When living at home there was always a newspaper lying around to read so I simply did. The internet however has a wealth of news and information and I find when I'm bored or haven't read the paper lately I will visit google news. Google news brings together the news from a number of sources all over the internet. Often from google I will end up at the tvnz website which can be a very interesting site for news as you can watch the clips from One News on your computer. During the election you could even watch the converage in real time, streaming onto your computer. Of course the articles and clips from the site would only be really usefull if you missed the news. I think there is something pleasureable with newspapers in having a tactile object to hold over morning coffee to keep up with current events, most news sites do seem to be online versions of other media. I think for mainstream news the internet doesn't offer much more insight or information just an electronic version. Of course there are also plenty of other sites about other kinds of news, but these don't show up on the google news search page.

TV on the move

I found an article from Times online about a mobile phone network giving customers the chance to trial the concept of television on the mobile phone. The O2 network are letting UK customers in Oxford the chance to watch BBC and BSkyB channels from mobile phones.

The technology has been avalible for a while as mobile customers could download clips from shows like Big Brother and 24. Coverage for the trial consists of a continuous broadcast from the networks. The participants in the trial will be given a Nokia 7710 smartphone which has DVB-H (direct video broadcasting - handheld) transmission technology. The technology allows for the continous broadcast.

Mobile networks believe that the technology will be popular and many mobile users will become regular users of the technology. However the entertainment industry are not convinced that continuous broadcasting will be popular. Bruno Maglione, president of the film company Marvel Enterprises, says that It’s a mistake to take one form of media and put it onto another," and "I don’t believe in the idea of looking at a phone monitor for 30 minutes."

I do not believe that broadcasting television networks onto mobile phones will be very popular. Personally I would not want to be looking at my mobile phone for a great length of time. I do think that it is a excellent idea however, for people to keep up-to-date with programmes while still being able to do things that they want and not have to be at home in front of the TV screen.

wild parrots

I used to spend ages going to the different websites each week to check out the movies; it was really frustrating. But recently i have come across a website http://www.flicks.co.nz/ , this web page features all the cinemas in Auckland.

My favorite movie of the week is 'The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill'. The documentary is set in San Francisco and centers around a man named Mark, who developed a friendship with a group of parrots. For 15 years he was on the street trying to make a career of music, but realizes that his dream won't become a reality. He gets a job working as a caretaker on Telegraph Hill and is taken with a group of parrots. Mark names each individual parrot and tracks their lives. He discovers many of life meaning within the relationships of the parrots. It would have to be one of my favorite movies this year, the 2nd being 'The Grizzly Man'. Check out http://www.pelicanmedia.org/wildparrots.html to read his online diary.

More hacks on new PSP version

Just recieve some news from forum that the newest version of sony PSP almost been hacked. Hackers just realease a "hello world" program which can be run on firmware 2.0 PSP. Everyone are talking about this news recently.Last time i introduced that sony realease the new firmware to stop people running 3rd party program on PSP, but it seems hackers are more smart. Most 2.0 psper are waiting for the hacks online. Also someone realeased a chinese language interface on psp firmware 1.5, which make the psp more fun. Follow up new will bring to you people next week.

Nintendo Revolution

Everyone in the media has been going on about who is going to come out the winner in the next generation of game consoles - PS3 or XBOX 360? However they seem to have blisfully ignored the new Nintendo system coming out - the 'Nintendo Revolution' I am not too sure why this is, maybe because Nintendo have openly stated that their new system will not have as much processing power as the other two, or is it just because they are judging the chances of the Revolution based on the Gamecubes performance in comparison to the Xbox and PS2? I think the Gamecube actually did really well in Japan but i am not 100% sure on the figures.

Anyway, on to the point.. I just saw a teaser trailer for the console and it blew my mind! I think this system is going to be make or break for Nintendo because they have really taken a huge risk in their new innovative controller system which is either going to change the face of console gaming as we know it or just be another flash in the pan. The new controller system utilises bluetooth technology to communicate with sensors that are placed by your TV to orientate itself within a 3d space, so you actually have to move the controller around for it to respond, i think this new way of controlling the games will do wonders for first person shooters and sword fighting/lightsabre games, the stuff in the trailer i saw shows how endless the possibilities are with this technology (fishing, orchestrating music, swordfighting, opening doors in a haunted house, swinging a baseball bat, playing the drums etc)

The controller can also be put into a more conventional shell so that traditional games can be played, combating any possible fears that game designers might have over an increased programming difficulty.

As long as Nintendo can get the controller working smoothly without any problems and also ensuring it doesn't end up being too hard to work to get satisfaction from i think this thing will be a huge success, because it just makes it that much easier to immerse yourself within the gameworld, and i would argue that this new interface is a lot more instinctive. I remember back when i was
younger laughing at my brother and some of my other friends for the way they would hold a Nintendo controller, physically turning the controller in a racing game as if they were holding a steering wheel, it was only after a while that they realised this didn't really have any effect on the game at all, but it was the fact that they did it in the first place that intrigued me.. and if it wasn't just my friends being weird then there was a general desire to make the game experience more real, and this new controller for the Revolution addresses that desire.

And this new control system is not the only cool thing about the Revolution, as well as having backward compatibility Nintendo are going to have their whole back catalogue available for download.. i would guess you would have to subscribe for this service but i can't wait to bust out Super Mario Kart on the SNES or Ocarina Of Time on the 64 again!!

I am hoping that Nintendo will show the other two giants that it has the 'killer app' needed to survive amongst such intense competition, because i would be very sad to see the Nintendo go the same way Sega went, unable to handle the emergence of Sony as a new console gaming powerhouse :(

Anyway, take a look at the Revolution:


Teaser trailer for the Revolution

IGN feature article

Wikipedia entry

Nintendo press release

Internet thinking

Recently in England, some business men thought out a special idea to earn profit. They decorated passenger couches as moveable Cyberspace, Outside of the couches, they painted a big logo called Mobile Freedom, and inside, they tried to create a modern and high technical environment by putting couple of laptops for customers. It is reported that the couches were originally moveable libraries. Now they have been refitted as computer rooms to benefits computer fans. So instead of going to stable computer chatting rooms, People could ring the moveable couches to pick them up. It is convenient for people who live in the rural place and don't have laptop or computers at home. Also, the couches could also enable passengers to idle away boring time while they are doing long journey. However, unfortunately his kind of combination between buses and computers are not illegal in England because it does not have perfect security system and could not guarantee customers' privacy. The thought brought into my mind after reading this piece of news is the reason why business men switched the library couches into computer bars. This might be because the awareness of the superiority of computers to the traditional medium. Indeed, from the internet, we could get variety of information and different kinds of daily news events from the internet. Instead of taking time to look for books, we search the information we want by simply clicking the directory. Also, because the internet is open and free for everyone to use synchronously, we don’t need to worry about the situation when the materials we want are occupied or missing. Digitalisation retains the thing permanently for us so that we could access the thing whenever we want. Another goodness for computer is that people could get informed and entertained at that same time. Computer allows people to chat, play, listen and watch simultaneously as they do reading or research. Thus it increases people’s degree of freedom, and people’s life would be more efficient. For those with fast pace of life, it is no doubt that computer is the ideal tool for them to go for.

New advertising

I have just finished reading an article in Time magazine about the marketing strategy used to advertise Britney Spear's perfume "Curious". Which was in the United States the number one fragrance released, howeverused the least amount of mainstream media advertising. According to the article the marketers of the fragrance believed the company that produced the perfume-Elizabeth Arden- was too "old" to appeal to teenage girls, the main target for the fragrance. The media company used to promote the perfume decided that reaching the teen audience using new media technologies would help to create a different buzz around the product and push sales. Instead of the usual magazine advertising, five web sites ran a photo of Spears with minimal information about what the promotion was about, visitors to the sites were asked to type in their mobile phone numbers and postal codes. A personal voicemail message from Britney was then sent to the mobiles tlaking about her new fragrance, this was followed up by text messages from "Britney" which helped to keep up the buzz. This non-traditional form of marketing generated sales of US$36 million for the perfume last year. The campaign tapped into the technologies that teenagers use, it will be interesting to see if text messaging will be used in more advertising campaign such as this in the future.

Sometimes game is poisoning people

These days all sorts of games have been released, such as ps2 games, simulation games, online games etc... I think these games is poisoning part of people eg. my boyfriend... I remember when I was still a kid, game was just something that people play in the extra time as a entertainment or a hobby, but now it became part of peoples life. As you might all realize, now more and more internet cafes has been opened everywhere. If you step inside, you will see many guys and some girls spending hours and hours to play online games. It's not a hobby anymore, it's like a very important part of their life. Those online game lovers, they live in that cyber game space, they imagine they are the character, and it forms a virtual world. Many players don't go outdoor anymore, they spend days and days at home just to upgrade a level in certain game. Sometimes they even forget important things they have to do in their real life. Many teens skip classes for it too! Now I am sitting next to my boyfriend and watching him 'living in that online game'... I'm actually really worried. Many of my friends, friends' friends, they all do the same thing. I realized actually it's really poisoning part of people, they enjoy it too much, and they tends to forget what's important in their actually living life and lesser and lesser outdoor activities have been done, it also affects those people's health.

Phishing for information

I just want to add to the whole email scamming issue.

An internet scamming tactic that’s around has been dubbed PHISHING (pronounced fishing). Scammers will send emails claiming to be from well known corporations, linking them to fraudulent websites that looks identical to the authentic ones, such as credit card companies, banks, paypal, ebay….the list goes on. The recipients can be fooled into entering personal and financial information into the fake websites, such as passwords or credit card details for the scammers to obtain. The emails and fraudulent websites look very authentic; therefore users will not suspect a scam. Scammers use URL addresses that appear to be very similar than the originals -eg, using .com when the original site may be .co.nz, or they may replace a single character with one that looks similar- so that users will not notice any difference.

However, some emails will send you to a link which opens up a ‘pop-up’ where you can not see the web address. The pop-up, which will be a fraudulent web page will ask you to enter your private information. What will fool any suspecting users is that another page will open at the same time. This second page will actually be the authentic website of the company- not a fake one, so if you look at the URL it will be genuine. This trick leads users to presume that the pop-up window is associated with the genuine website and because you can’t see the URL that the pop-up is coming from, it is difficult to suspect that it is from a scammer!

There are thousands of resources regarding Phishing on the net. Many of them provide examples and how to spot a Phishing scam. Here’s three sites that I visited, recommend taking a look for more information.

FraudWatch International

Antiphishing.org

Phishing Info

It is easy to for us to say that people must be stupid to fall for internet scams. But there are thousands of people who just aren’t aware of internet scamming. Phishing is designed to fool not only the most innocent of computer users, but also the smartest and even cautious people. It’s so insane to think how people could come up with these scams, or even go to the effort of designing replica websites and emails, but it IS happening and scammers are making thousands and thousands of dollars. It’s scary to think that this is happening and people are falling for it. I think that lack of awareness about internet fraud is a major issue. More people need to be made aware of how scams, such as Phishing, are created and how they work- in order to stop internet fraud from happening.

Inflight features + entertainment

While watching news reports earlier this week about the plane that had to land with its front wheel turned sideways, I was interested in the fact that the passengers on the actual plane were able to watch live footage of their dangerous situation. Fortunately the pilot managed to land the plane safely, but imagine how freaky it must have been for the passengers prior to landing. Experiencing this while watching the whole thing live on individual televisions (along with millions of others on the ground) is a pretty whack situation.

This made me think about the features available to passengers on planes in general, and how far they have come from the early days of commercial flights. Individual screens for every seat is an excellent way for people to choose how to spend their flights. Entertainment features such as movies, games, and music, provide the passenger with a variety of things to do. Other features such as GPS imaging, current flight statistics, transmission of images from cameras on the outside of the plane, destination information, and live news programmes create a place whereby the passenger feels more aware of, and involved in, their mode of transportation.

The situation created in the above event demonstrates a unique experience through technology. Live news broadcasts onboard reduce the segregation from "Earth" that is created from being in the air, but I wonder if watching their plane live on TV increased or reduced the anxiety of the passengers? It would have enforced the seriousness of the situation and made people aware of the potential for disaster (not something people want to hear!). Yet, it may have comforted some in the form of knowing just what was happening. Pretty freaky stuff either way!

-Shannon Doherty

Reading an article in The Herald, I was reminded that for all the convenience and ease technology can provide, sometimes it can still fall short of old fashioned manual methods.

In this years (NZ) election, overseas voters had the option to visit the Chief Electoral Office's website to download voting papers. Once the papers were downloaded and then printed, the voter would simply tick the desired boxes and then fax the sheet through to the electoral office; a seemingly more simple and efficient method than collecting a form or having one sent to your home address, then sending it back via 'snail mail'. But as many people will know, computers seem to like to make these simple things more difficult.

Upon printing out these downloaded forms, some voters discovered party names were blacked out on the paper. This means
some parties may have been disadvantaged by not being properly represented on the piece of paper, and by people not noticing the error. Those that did recognise parties were missing and whom contacted the electoral office, were told it may be their computer printer settings, or that their version of Acrobat Reader was not up-to-date.

With over 13, 000 downloaded and faxed special votes to be counted, there is a concern by some parties around the validity of some of the votes. The electoral office (naturally) is playing down the problem.

While this special vote episode may turn out to be insignificant in the election overall, it's still a reminder that modern technology is not always the most effective method. (Right now I can hear old people around the world singing the praises of their trusty envelopes and stamps haha).

The author is not dead, just tired.

In last weeks lecture there was much exploration of extra-texts on DVDs. I find it puzzling that these tend to be explanations of what is happening in the movie in terms of both plot and SFX. In vaudeville where movies were first shown (as described in the lecture) the stage magician was the SFX master of the time. While he might explain some of his tricks in books the big magics were kept as a mystery. Understandable as his living depended on them.
I know that I used to love stage magicians and wanted to understand their tricks but I always felt really disappointed when I found out how the trick worked, maybe that's another reason why they never explained them.

On the other hand, for some reason, understanding the magic of the cinema has never disappointed. Knowing how it worked just seemed to add to the awe I felt when finding out what happened behind the curtain. That the Wizards of Oz wanted to be applauded for their cleverness is relevant even more today as their job is more and more to make magical worlds transparently realistic.

But it may be more than this. They do not want to be misunderstood? Perhaps they fear what used to happen to witches in the 17th century (or possibly in fundamentalist America today) and want to be really clear that it is not magic. As I understand it from the lecture is ia as much that they just want to provide their own deep structure for what is happening in the movie. This seems to be a defence against what is I think the post-modernist belief that there are many equally valid interpretations for a text. They are trying to wrest back control of their creations. “The author is not dead” is their cry.

IPOD Nano

Although I don’t have an IPOD, I think IPOD has already captured a major market share.. I remember the first time I saw IPOD Mini. I thought Apple couldn't shrink it any further without losing its remarkable usability, but I was wrong. I guess everybody has already heard about the latest changes made to Apple's iPod range. The nano measures 8.9 x 3.9 x 7cm, and weighs in at only 42g. You really don't notice it in your pocket. Compare with the rainbow-coloured Mini range, the Nano only comes in black and white. The Nano provides two capacities, 2GB and 4GB. And Apple reckons that the 2GB Nano will store 500 songs, with the 4GB holding 1000. Another plus that the Nano has over the Mini is the screen. The 1.5in colour screen is not big enough but it's in colour which means you can put your digital images in your Nano. Otherwise, with a “Armband” you can jog with 1,000 songs on your arm,. Pretty cool, huh?
More about Nano
Jxu063

Two Way TV

Sky digital hass recently released it second two way tv system, Mind games, this follows up the Playin TV system which previously has been created in order to make TV more interactive. I see this as clashing badly with the objectives of TV as only interactive in so far as it is open to interpretation. The main flaw with these systems is the graphics are poor and reminiscent of the Super Nintendo and Sega Master System game systems of the early 1990's. In addition to this the controls are clunky and poor therefore the games arent fun even for novelty value and I cannot see these games becoming popular as they alsoi cost money when far better trivia games, in the case of Mind games can be found for free on the internet. The gaming industry at this time will hardly be scared of this new system although it can be seen as a step towards the intergration of TV and Computer technology.

download the mp3 music

South Korea is the world leader in broadband Internet speed, affordability, and popularity.

South Korea’s dense population has augmented broadband development. With 70 percent of its 48 million citizens living in the seven biggest cities, and with many households in high-rise buildings near phone company facilities.

We can download music, movies, TV shows, and dramas from the entire world. The mp3 music download has been started about 10 years ago. That time we download the music freely on the modem internet. However about 3years ago, the music association of Korea started to claim the right of music and now customers have to pay for the download songs. We have to pay 500won ($NZ: $1) for each song. $1 for each song is not so a lot, however people do not use the song just one way. We download songs to listen and also to show other people. Most of Korean use color ring (It spends about $3). Color Ring Back Tone replaces traditional ringing tones with customer designated or generated tones, speech, music or other sounds. (For example, if I pay for Blue’s One Love for my color ring, someone who calls my mobile will hear the song instead of the traditional ringing tone.) Furthermore, most of Korean people have individual blogs to communicate to others. We have to buy the background song for our blogs too (It spends $1). Even we want to use just the song (for example Blue’s One Love), we have to download many time for using different functions. And now the music association of Korea announced that they will increase the price of the mp3 music.

So now, there are hot debate between customer and music associate people in Korea. The price is not quite a lot, but if they offer high quality of download system there would be not so big problem. For example, if I buy the song, I could use the song ever after even I back up my computer I could re-download the song freely. They should guarantee about the music, because we BUY the song as a commodity. From a cutomer's point of view, that's the first way they have to concern instead of increasing the price.

In New Zealand, where do you download the mp3 music? Does it same as Korea?

i just read rebeccas post on the new singstar game...and yeah shes right..i suppose it isnt really a typical playstation game...but its the only one i've ever played and i love it! i'm really not into these computer game things and have never played a single one. so i think playstations incorporation of such a game into its gaming repertoire is an amazing way of increasing its customers and addicting a completely different sector of the market to their gaming technologies.
my parents and their friends also really enjoy singstar but have always complained that there arent enough old songs on the cds and they havent been able to enjoy singstar to its full potential. so when i saw rebeccas post that also had the list of songs on the new singstar 80s game i knew my mum would be thrilled. as i'd predicted, she was really excited and cant wait to get it out. the idea of my mum and her friends playing a playstation game really cracks me up although i think its great that an older generation can be involved in new technologies and media.

3G technology

I have seen a 3G television advertisement, I think it’s in German but I’m not quite sure of the language myself actually. It started with the 3G logo saying “3G Video Messaging”, then a close-up of a face of a brunette girl luring to a black 3G mobile phone; obviously she’s recording the footage for the video message. Then there is a shot of the screen of the mobile phone, with an inner screen of the footage that's still recording and options of zooming in and front (that’s what it says on the ad, I’m not sure what that means sorry). The next shot was the girl holding the phone in front of her still luring and filming her body (she was wearing a set of white bikini, and has a very nice and attractive figure :p). Then the camera goes back up to film her face and next thing I notice was the brunette getting her head and arms out of a cardboard figure. Yes, in fact her ‘real’ figure is quite, ‘healthy’. I just find that this is a funny yet, something that’s real about the video messaging. Firstly, are we losing more and more of our own privacy? First was the mobile phone, which means people can get hold of each other no matter where they are, 24/7 ( unless you have you phone off) and now with the 3G Video Messaging technology. Our daily lives are just becoming more ‘public’ in a way.

Sorry if the descriptions w bad, blogger.com won’t allow me to upload videos, but for any of yous that would like a copy of it. I can send it to your emails :)

Dual Core Era

Dual- and multi-core processors are designed by including two or more full execution cores within a single processor enabling simultaneous management of activities. When combined with Intel's Hyper-Threading Technology, which allows each execution core to present itself as two logical processors, the Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition 840 can process four software threads simultaneously by more efficiently using resources that otherwise may sit idle.

With dual-core processor-based system availability, today is a historic date for the computer industry as PCs begin having "two brains" instead of one. This platform empowers computer users to take advantage of high-definition video, high-quality sound and 3-D visualization for their audio, video, digital design and gaming tasks," said MacDonald. "It enables increased capabilities and the power for people to do more with their computers, which will change how people use computing power inside and outside their homes.

Intel has more than 15 multi-core projects under development across the desktop, mobile and server computing market segments. The company will also introduce its mainstream, high volume dual-core Intel® Pentium® D processor-based platform this quarter, with systems to become available from leading computer makers.

The Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition 840 is priced at $999 and the Intel 955X Express Chipset is priced at $50 in 1,000-unit quantities.

My thoughts on PSP. . .

So the PSP has finally arrived. The Playstation for those "on the go". I have a PS2 and do enjoy a good videogame or two, but for some reason I am not interested in the PSP at all. The hook for this product is mobility. I'm not sure if it's just me but I cannot think of many good situations in which I would actually make use of the PSP's biggest selling factor. The only situation that I can think of is while on public transport, and this is depicted on the television advertisement. Is anyone able to list 10 practical PSP uses, in terms of its mobility?

Although I do have another semi-similar portable device, a portable DVD player. I found it lost its 'portable' appeal after a couple of weeks, and now I just treat it as a regular DVD player plugged into my TV. I'm unsure of all its features, but is the PSP capable of this? If it isn't, what would happen once the novelty of mobility wears off?

I can see how it would appeal to 'hardcore' gamers with the whole idea of high quality gaming "anywhere, anytime" but I thought that the whole idea of videogames today was to create more of an experience that makes you feel like you're in the game, with the help of bigscreen TVs and connected sound systems. But if one was to get hooked into a PSP game (or UMD movie) in a situation in which the only gaming to be had was 'portable' wouldn't it just remove an awareness of the 'real world' surroundings, or become just another anti-social activity?

Its interesting because unlike portable audio devices, in order to make proper use of the PSP you actually have to be immobile to be able to concentrate on what you are doing. I would like to see somedbody play while walking!!!

Anyway, I could go on but I feel as though I've said enough... For those who have one, I'm keen to hear (read) what you have to say. Cool.

SingStar 80s!

I'm not much of a gamer, but I do really like the SingStar series! It's a game that anyone can play, and most people are better at it when they're drunk (they're also more charming and good-looking and better dancers).
I'm so excited about the release of SingStar 80s, and other people are bound to be, too, so I stole the Track List from gameplanet.co.nz:

Alice Cooper - Poison; Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth; Billy Joel -Uptown Girl; Blondie - Atomic; Culture Club - Karma Chameleon; Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen; Dolly Parton - Nine To Five; Duran Duran - Rio; Erasure - A Little Respect; Europe - The Final Countdown; - Fairground Attraction - Perfect; Foreigner - I Want To Know What Love Is; Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power Of Love; Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill; Katrina And The Waves - Walking On Sunshine; Madness - Our House; Madonna - Material Girl; Marillion - Kayleigh; Nena - 99 Luftballons; Run DMC - It's Tricky; Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me); Soft Cell - Tainted Love; Starship - We Built This City; Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger; Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World; The Cure - Just Like Heaven;The Pretenders - Brass In Pocket; Tina Turner - Simply The Best; Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby; Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go

It's just going to be the greatest at home karaoke game ever in the whole world (yes I am a geek).

Blog accelerates the development of democratization

I read the article Bloggers told how to avoid censors from TVNZ website http://www.tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411419/613452
Blog challenges the government’s control over their citizen.

Adrian defines that “A blog is an internet based, personal publishing system”. Users are free to post their opinions and feelings of any particular event. In Chinese society, government draws up a strong censorship to media. Media could not publish any thing against communism, government and leaders. All the information that we get from media are good side of the government. Sometimes government forces media to cover up the event that could challenge the authority of the government. Blog will accelerate the development of democratization. It provides people a platform to talk about anything that they concern with.



Bloggers told how to avoid censors -by Reuters


Sep 23, 2005

A Paris-based media watchdog released a handbook on Thursday to help cyber-dissidents and bloggers avoid political censorship in countries as far apart as China, Iran, Vietnam and Cuba.

The guide, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) with the backing of the French government, identifies bloggers as the "new heralds of free expression" and offers advice on how to set up a blog and run it anonymously.

"Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure," wrote Julien Pain, head of RSF's Internet Freedom Desk.

"Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest."

Blogs are personal Web sites that are easy to set up and are often written in the form of an online diary. The name is a shortened form of personal "Web log".

The "Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents" can be downloaded from the RSF website, and the media organisation says it is available in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Farsi.

The guide is based on technical advice from experienced bloggers and experts, and provides personal accounts by bloggers such as Arash Sigarchi, who received a 14-year-jail sentence in Iran last February but is free pending an appeal.

"Internet journalism could advance freedom of expression and wider view points," wrote Sigarchi, who faced charges ranging from spying to insulting the country's leaders.
"Although I have been convicted by Iranian courts, I have not lost hope and I am sure that in coming years the rulers of my country will have to respect the flow of information and freedom of expression."

"Tools of freedom of expression"

"Blogs get people excited. Or else they disturb and worry them. Some people distrust them. Others see them as the vanguard of a new information revolution," RSF said on its Web site.

"Because they allow and encourage ordinary people to speak up, they're tremendous tools of freedom of expression."

The handbook offers advice on how to establish credibility by observing basic ethical and journalistic principles.

One chapter offers advice on technical ways to get around censorship. Others feature bloggers' experiences from such countries as Nepal, Iran, Bahrain and Hong Kong.

Publication of the handbook follows moves in some countries to crack down on Internet use.

RSF said countries which were trying to control what their citizens read and do online included China, Vietnam, Iran, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.

ATM in China will become a new platform for advertising

Before I came to New Zealand, I worked for a bank in China. Yesterday when I chatted with my previous colleague through MSN, I heard a piece of interesting news: ATM in China will become a new platform for advertising.

In China, every bank has its own ATM network. However, at the same time, all of those networks are technologically connected and led by the Central Bank. From this angle, the network of ATM in China is rather big and significant.

From October of 2005, ATM in China will become a new platform for advertising. When a customer withdraws cash from an ATM, he or she has to see a 15-second animated advertising which is played by that ATM. Although it is somewhat boring, customers can benefit from that advertising because the service fee for ATM will be reduced to Zero. The money paid by advertising companies to banks will cover those service fees.

From the perspective of the bank, they can make more money from their ATM network because advertising companies usually pay more than customers’ service fees. At the same time, customers’ burden is relieved.

The biggest beneficiary is of course those advertising companies. They will get a totally new advertising platform----ATM. In fact, in my mind, that platform is rather ideal for promoting. In China, there are nearly 50 million people who use ATM everyday.

I predict that maybe some years later, ATM will become a powerful new media that will bring people more information and services than now.

From Teachers to Learners: The Role of Adults in the Age of Technology

I was thinking the other day about how all this new technology requires so many new technology or media literacies. Not only do we have to keep learning how to use new technologies, but we have to learn this at a very fast rate. It's funny to think that only 30 or so years ago kids in school were learning just to read and write on paper, whereas nowadays kids have to learn not only to read and write with such old-fashioned tools as pen and paper, but also have to learn to use computers, internet, and then outside of the classroom mobiles, mp3 players and so on. In todays rapidly changing technology landscape, if you are to keep up with all the new technologies, you have to constantly aquire new skills. Kids are being raised to cope with so many different forms of media that they have to have so many different skills.

Which led me to thinking about who actually teaches technology or media literacies, and you will find that most of the time it's the kids teaching the adults. I remember one class in highschool where a lady came in to teach us to use photoshop (or some similar graphics program) and for most of the lesson a guy in our class was explaining the program to her. And think about how many times you've had to teach your mum how to text message or your dad how to use the computer.

What's funny though, is that although we (young people) are learning all these new technological skills, adults are learning them at the same speed as us. It's just that most adults can't seem to keep up, and often become confused by the fast-paced environment of technology, often expressing nostalgia for 'simpler times'.

I think it's interesting to look at how adults, who have typically been the teachers, passing on skills and traditions from previous generations, have now become the learners, learning to cope and keep up with technology from us youngsters.

VR in golf?

For anyone who had a look at my post last week bout GPS in golf, well Ive got another golf system for all you eager golfers. OK maybe im talking bout golf in my posts a bit too much, but its only cos "Cambo", (Michael Campbell), is doing so well in the golf world its caught my eye on why the pros are so damn good, shot Cambo for wininning the 1million pounds.

Well besides the GPS system for golf theres these interesting VR glasses also available, its main purpose is for the putting green only. The pro aim is a set of overlarge black glasses which I dont recommend wearing to the beach, but do recommend for the golf course. It uses military night vision technology that projects a grid that helps align the perfect putts, "virtual guidence grid" to be exact through natural light (sun, im guessing). It's a Breakthrough in Optical Science, ProAim is a golf training break- through which relies on “optical imprinting" to groove the perfect putting stroke right into your muscle memory, so its taking VR in a way to reality (its debatable though). Its used by over 100 pro golfers including Butch Harmon who onced coached Tiger, so its gotta be good right. Well for bout 150 bucks it should be. If you want to know more bout this I suggest you got to www.proaim.com .

Anyway go Cambo n the internationals, at this weeks Presidents Cup.