Essay

Digital Media is convenient and easy to use. To produce content of reasonable standard is much easier then it once was, as the tools needed to create the content is available to the everyday computer user. Creative fields are now being filled by amateurs producing content in short periods of time with new technology. In the past, to create this content took a lot of hard work and patience. With amateurs achieving these results to an adequate standard quickly, its uncertain where that leaves professionals and highly-skilled artists. This essay will discuss where the future of photography lies with the dramatic advancements of technology.

Photography is a creative field that has been put into practice since 1827 http://clearleadinc.com/site/photography_general.html. Over that time , photography hasn’t changed much at all. In the last 100 years, the process of photography consisted of a lens attached to a box which streams light in and is then recorded onto a film plane http://www.all-things-photography.com/the-future-of-photography.html.
Since the 70s and 80s, massive progress has been made in the technological advancement of the camera. With the technology trend catching on dramatically around the 1980s, Society produced the technology generation, changing perspectives, priorites and interests (Freund, G. (1980) Photography and Society). This happened by taking on lives that are fast paced and always changing to mirror the technology advancement (Freund, G., Photography and Society (1980)).
Although in most areas of society, technology has taken over the original way of doing things, photography still remains divided between digital and film http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/filmdig.htm. As with most new technologies, convenience overrules quality for many people (Ellis, J. (2005) Digital Photography, D&S Books Ltd; Devon). This has resulted in overpopulation of photography as a career as amateurs find it very easy with the aid of Digital cameras that are now produced to point and shoot without understanding the basics of photography.

Photography has always been related to art weather it was called an art form or not. In todays society it does have the label of ‘Art’ but much of the creativity has been lost by the lack of understanding by amateurs entering the field and by companies producing digital cameras, including SLR cameras that don’t require any understanding.

Photographer on Deviant Art website contemplates the future of professional photography, he talks about a Canon advertisement on television for their new line, that anyone can use this new technology and can take an image like a professional http://lukak.deviantart.com/journal/25369295/. This technology has taken all skill out of the practice. As previously stated, digital cameras are now produced with the simple process of point and shoot, taking away the artistic integrity of photography. Today, even professional cameras are designed this way and adjustments can be made on the camera as well as on the computer (Vandome, N. (2005), Digital Photography, in easy steps, Barnes and Nobles Books; U.K). While some may argue that if the job of taking a photo is really that easy and mechanical that everyone would do it and argues that this is not the case and claims it to still be an art form because of an ‘essence’ that needs to be in the photo to evoke a reaction http://www.intrepidnetwork.net/professional-photography. However evidence shows that it is that simple to produce a quality photograph. With technology as advanced as it is with photo editing on computers, the simple basics of even light and composition are no longer needs as it can all be edited into the picture as though it was there all along, including ‘essence’. In the past the process of photography was to originally get a quality photo that needed little adjustment and to manipulate in the dark room involved burning to make highlights and cropping manually (Cox,J. (2003). Digital Nature Photography, Amphoto Books, New York).

A link can be drawn between the growing amount of amateur photographers beginning to enter the professional world and the age group in the working world in today’s society. Generation x and y are the primary generation groups in the professional sphere and have the reputation of ‘slackers’ (zemke, R., Raines, C., Filipczak, B., Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers and Nexters in your Workplace). This is directly related to professional photography and why the people with qualifications and are highly skilled are being pushed to the side by amateurs who are using the new technology SLR cameras to enter the field. These generations have grown up accustomed to the advancements of technology and are evolving with it. While others who are familiar with film and older processes find it difficult to catch onto the trend and get left behind http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/rise-fall.shtml.

Photography has hit a point where people don’t work to understand the fundamentals of the practice because they don’t need to. In a technological society, people don’t have the patience to wait for the perfect photo or wait for the light to be right or understanding how light and composition affect the photographs and the quality. Today, one of the only necessities of being a photographer is understanding how to use photo editing programs, everything else can be corrected through the editing http://www.all-things-photography.com/the-future-of-photography.html.

Analysing of where the future lies for photography is difficult. A member on the ‘ATP Photography’ website has the belief that all things have a limit and often when a craft hits that point, it has the choice of going back the way it came, working back towards a more pure and basic form of photography. Ultimately, to get back to a point of knowing that the photographer has worked and studied hard to understand how to take a photograph as a work of art and had the patience to get the perfect photograph as naturally as possible http://www.all-things-photography.com/the-future-of-photography.html.

Week 9 Lecture

I didn't attend the lecture this week and its not on learning at griffith so i took at look at other peoples blog to see what the lecture was about. apparently everyone missed it. i did see that it was a different lecturer though and he was talking about 4chan which i don't know what it is but from what i could see on the net it has something to do with anime? and he was also talking about his digital poetry. other then that i don't know what happened.

week 7 Tutorial task

i know the point of the second one was to have film in it but the little film i had would freeze my computer every time i tried to add it and i've had enough troubles with these movie things so i decided that all i could do was another photo one (my live music experiences).

Lecture 8, Political Possibilities

Defining Democracy
Politics of the Internet. cyberpolitics stretches from - power plays around the structure and functions of the net and decided by Internet society and ICANN
- political activity on forums, blogs and games.
Edemocracy covers political campaigning on Internet and govt use of the net to raise awareness and debate issues.
gaps in mass media is increasing in concentration, centralisation and commercialisation and are going down avenues for democratic participation in existing representative democracy.
Free Speech and Censorship
its an American thing to free speech. it isn't a constitutional right in Australia. its only been recently that the high court found free political expression was implied.
battle between free speech and censorship
liberal assumes Internet is like newspaper and should have appropriate content.

Week 9 Tutorial task

for week 9 tutorial task, we are asked to do some research into our chosen assignment topic. the question i have chosen to do is 5:
Creative Commons is both a solution and yet another failure to deal with authorship and copyright on the internet. Discuss and give examples. (hint: if you're having problems finding CC resources there's a slide in the week 7 lecture which points to a large number of books about "free culture").
i haven't done research yet as i'm planning to do it over the week break.

Week 6 Tutorial Task

After spending the entire day trying to get this on youtube or anywhere to put it on here and converting it etc, my day is almost gone! this is for week 6 tutorial task the movie made of photos etc. its pictures from my home town and my reject photography photos so they are pretty dodge.

Week 8 Tutorial Task

Things to do that arnt against our political belief
Sign an e-petition. i signed a stop animal cruelty petition. i found it on petition.net i couldn't really find anything that i liked enough to want to sign it but i signed it all the same one more name to help the puppies and kittens and every other animal.
Respond to a professional blogger at a major news site. Nathan Weaver at the Guardian wrote a news blog on the dust storm which i responded to

What is Barak Obama up to today? i'm not too sure. there is a site called what is obama doing but they haven't updated it since june.

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


Look up the Queensland or Australian hansard to find the last time your local member spoke in parliament.well its brett raguse but i dont know when his spoken

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

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




What do you think of the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")??? i think it should be an option not a regime. the internet is the only way to publish stuff without it being censored so why take it away. its a good idea for kids and there should be a setting for kids but not for the whole internet land.

What place does censorship have in a democracy?

week 7 Creative Commons and Free/ Libre Open source software (FLOSS)

this lectures about copyright and how the net is like a copy machine. creative commons is a non-profit organisation and to consumers, contraccts are signed if some parts of your material, you want kept private.
Public Domain. has no rights, everyone can use/copy anything in there.
"access and control" is one option of sharing creativity on the net and you have the choice to share or not share.
almost all software must be paid for because of its popularity. The programs used to be free to use but large business' depend on them now too. when it was less popular, people used to share codes.
Richard Stallman started organisation called free software foundation. its aimed to share certain software with the public for free. He made his own licence made up of four freedoms
0- freedom to run the program for any purpose
1 - freedom to study how the program works
2 - freedom to redistribute copies
3 - freedom to improve prgoram.

Lecture 6 Consumption and Production

the lecture when talking about consumption is divided into 2 parts of what we use every day. big screens and small screens.
big screens are divided into 3 parts of cinema - shared with other consumers
tv- shared in the private sphere
PC personal private use

small screens are in 2 groups and are consumed everywhere. it includes, Personal media players, ipods, MP3 etc.
and Mobile Phones.
the problem with mobile consumption is the low quality but its popular but of its mobility.

Second Life

I find it interesting how they talk about second life. I think there are people out there who take this stuff too seriously and just exist through these programs. they say if you don't like something about yourself, just change it. in the real world thats not how you solve problems. its giving people bad habits that our world should be like second life because second life is apparently utopia. people in this world never have a bad day and everything goes perfectly and people start to wish they actually live in this world. but experiencing different emotions is how you become a well adjusted human being. The other thing this documentry shows is that these women are on second life and designing clothes however they don't limit it just to this program. as part of second life the money made in the program can be converted into american dollars and this is what they live off. they don't have a job! im not entirely sure how to comprehend that. Mainly, where does this money come from?? i guess i'll have to test out this program to find my answer..

Tutorial 5 3D Worlds

Besides the obvious differences (such as ActiveWorlds is 3D and MSN isn"t, etc) what are the qualitative differences between the regular IM program and a 3D environment?

What is different about the kinds of socialising that happens in these spaces? Does the 3D aspect make much difference?

I haven't really tried a 3D world before as far as i can tell its a lot like sims but your interacting with another actual person not just the program. I havent used second life before but all that i have heard about it has been all bad. You always hear about these people who fall for the stories people make up on the internet to suck them in, I think these 3D worlds allow those people to take it that step further because you creating a being that has a personality ambitions and you can basically live through this being if you have nothing better to do with your time but i think the problem even with the regular chat rooms shows evidence that people who have nothing to do all day can be extremely distuctive people if they can find others to fall for their crap. but for the casual people who visit i'm sure its a good time waster and there would always be plenty to check out. In answering the question i think the biggest difference between the chat rooms and 3D worlds is just that you can expand the limitations on the being that you make in 3D world in a more creative way and you can go deeper and make the character very much like someone who would be in the real world in a visual way that you can control.

Week 5 Lecture

Was on New Media, Internet studies and social media.

The Lecture starts with Technology and Media and how they link. Technology is the foundation and is the scientific study and how that can be applied to the world. Media is how the Technology is presented in a social or cultural setting for the purpose of communication.

Internet Studies goes into virtual community and Individual Identity and Indentity Play in relation to online chat society. It seems like in these social situations on the internet people are complusive liars and no one is who they say they are.

Web 2.0 is the new era in web history. the emphasis is placed on the users experience.

We were asked to think about our social netweorks and who owns our pictures and thoughts and what we would think if it was taken.

Obviously we legally don't own the stuff we put on websites owned by other people. Thats why theres a terms of agreement or whatever it is when you sign up to any of those social network sites. I guess I would have a few issues with people taking and using my ideas and photos etc. but thats the chance you take with the internet. They do give warning.

Week 4 Tutorial Task

How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?
By location and frequency. And I think also how many words match in the search.

Who, or what, makes one page (that you might get in your search results) more useful than another one, so that it is put at the top of your search results?


What are some of your favourite search engines? why do you like one more than others?
I generally only use google. I dont have many problems with it and i assume if I cant find it on google I probably cant find it on other search engines. From experience, other search engines seem to be more sensetive to wrong spelling and dont seem to locate relevant sites as easily.

Scavenger Hunt

1. What did Alan Turing wear while riding his bicycle around Bletchley Park?
A gas mask. I found this on www.bing.com after looking for what seemed like a century for an answer that wasn’t on a blog from this course

2. On what date did two computers first communicate with each other? Where were they?
20 October 1969? Between UCLA and a computer at Stanford.
(Found at www.search.com)

3. What is Bill Gates’ birthday and what age was he when he sold his first software?
28 october 1955 and aged fifteen when he sold his first software in 1970
(Found with www.yahoo.com)

4. Where was the World Wide Web invented?
CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), in Switzerland.
(Found with www.hotbot.com)

5. How does the power of the computer you are working on now compare with the power of a personal computer from 30 years ago?

6. What is the weight of the largest parsnip ever grown?
8lbs
(Found on www.yahoo.com)

7. When did Queensland become a state and why is the Tweed River in New South Wales?
1840
(www.yahoo.com)
Tweed head is in NSW
(I know where tweed is located)

8. What was the weather like in south-east Queensland on 17 November 1954?
Severe cyclone
(www.ask.com)

9. Why is Lord Byron still remembered in Venice?

10. What band did Sirhan Chapman play in and what is his real name?
The Black Assassins. His name is Stephen Stockwell
(www.yahoo.com)

Week 3 Part 2

Part two of Week three is to talk about how I communicate with my friends and family socially with new communication technology. There are two main technologies i use to communicate.
Mobile
I probably use my mobile the most out of any new technologies for communication but even so I don’t rely on it and my family and friends get frustrated trying to contact me because I’m never around when it rings. I bought my first mobile phone at the end of grade 10 (2004) which was quite late compared to the people around me. At the end of grade 9, I had moved to Brisbane from Atherton, a small country town where no one but business owners had mobiles and no one was interested in them anyway. On further reflection, maybe it was growing up in Atherton that influenced my disinterest in technology. In the end it was my change in environment that influenced me to buy a mobile because I was in a place where socialising or at least organisation of socialising was not done over a landline phone.
Computer/ Internet
I don’t use the computer anywhere near as much as other people in my generation. But like most others I have been using a computer since the 90s and started out playing kids games on a black screen with green lettering and display.
In a way, I’ve kept up with the change of the internet and social networks. From the when msn started out and you could see what people were saying as they were writing it to the modern day msn that keeps updating every few months, to the live spaces accessed through msn to MySpace, facebook and twitter. I’ve never been truly excited about any of these trends but have tested them anyway and quickly deserted them.
I think the biggest turn off for me with new technology is that privacy is almost nonexistent. I love convenience and easier ways to do communicate, but I’m a private person as well and the fact that on facebook you can’t do a single thing without every single person on your friends list being able to see it on the news feed.
I don’t like that many people value communicating with a machine as the middle man over speaking to them in person. It may be easier but I think in a certain way we are turning into an anti-social world. And a computer may be able to let off heat and keep you warm at night but it could also set fire to the bed.

Week 3 Task Part 1

Part of Week threes task is to find a video clip with something to do with new communication technology. I chose this Iphone ad because it is the epitome of the mobile world. As I said in my summary of Lecture 2, I prefer Apple products to its competitors. The future of mobile phones has so many uses that if not made correctly they become faulty extremely fast. I do think Apple puts the research into products that is needed. It is just the next step in evolution of the mobile phone. One day we will be able to watch cable tv on our phones instead of doodling during lectures.

Rule of Thirds

The Cina-speak lecture notes intrigued me. I’m very into photography and Visual Arts and those rules in the lecture notes can be applied to art and photography. In previous courses of art and my personal hobby of photography I have always known about the rule of thirds but not exactly followed it which could explain a few things about some of my art but i think i still to the rule of thirds pretty well with my photos.
The process involved in the rule of thirds is to break the image down into thirds both horizontally and vertically so there are nine parts. The point of this is that the frame then four intersections through it. The rule of third theory is that if the focal points fall over these intersections or along the lines it will make the frame more balanced.

Lecture 3, Cine-Speak

I didn’t attend the week 3 lecture as it was the Ekka holiday but I checked out the power point for this week’s lecture. It’s about the language of the cinema and talks about the type of shots that make up different frames in scenes e.g. Long shot, Mid shot, Close up shot, etc.
It’s broken down into who, what, where, how, why and when, and what types of shots are associated with each.

“Who” is related to the close up shot, I’m guessing because with a close up shot, the character is all you can see so it’s up to the “who” to tell the story in that type of shot.
“What” is mid shot because it’s far back enough to see some kind of action related to the character so the action/what is telling the story.

“Where” is a long shot because it shows so much in the frame, not just the character and their actions but where they are can explain a lot. It’s usually at the start of a scene to establish where the story is and where it’s going.

“When” – Time is hard to capture but depending on the scene, a wide shot may help more to catch it or a close up can explain it better.
The big close up can help answer “why” it can help reveal more about a character and their actions.

“How” – Single medium close up or several close ups can explain how an event came to be.

Head and Talking Room – The subject must balance in the frame. A good amount of space on both sides, and appropriate to what direction the subject is facing.

Rule of Thirds – Is a process of dividing the frame and the focal points following the lines to make it more balanced.

The 180 Rule – is a technique with the camera coming over the persons shoulder depending on who is talking it will focus on them from the point of view of the listener.

Lecture 2

A Short History of Computing and the Internet

Lecture 2 was about computer history and the evolution of computers and the internet. the foundation of computing history started with adding devices which were defined as the first digital computers, even though it was more mechanical then electronic. These machines sound basically like the average calculator as their functions were to calculate and print math equations. Charles Babbage was a major figure in this creation and therefore holds an important place in computing history, but his achievements were not fully completed during his life.

In the 1950s, computer were produced commercially by IBM and only available to the govt and corporate business' at a high price and oversized. Over the years, computers became smaller, cheaper and quicker at a phenominal rate.

Apple

The creation of Apple as I understand was a team effort by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They produced a machine with only a single circuit board and no keyboard and no case and sold 50.

From the late 70s, theydesigned machines that looked like consumer product. The next few years that followed, the popularity of Apple grew to a point where neither had to work again. Personally i prefer Apple computers and other apple products. I think Apple is a thing of the future and doesnt seem to get outdated at the same rate as their competitors

Introductory post

hello all, my name is Vanessa. I'm doing this blog as part of a University course called 'New Communication Technologies. I have never done a blog before and to be completely honest, I don't relish the thought. But I'm capable of trying new things which is good since i don't have a choice in the matter. I do love to write but not so much a fan of everyone in the world being able to access my thoughts. so this is task number 1, introduce yourself. now i just have to figure out how to do the rest of the tasks. so goodnight all.

Cocaine Jesus

Pretty cool story and sweet tunes. Pretty sad though.

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