ASSIGNMENT

Can new communication technologies, specifically mobile phones, have negative impacts on the social skills and self-esteem of adolescents and can they become addictive?

Adolescents today face an environment defined by many things. The ever changing world of technology and constant new ways of communication techniques has major influences on today’s generation. Craig (1996), states that the most prominent and influential is the mass media and mobile phones are largely encompassed by this. Deborah Rice of ABC Radio reports that adolescents with mobile phones can face huge bills and phone bullying and now clinical psychologists are reporting a link to depression as well (www.abc.net).

A recent study has shown that there are three distinctive groups of mobile phone users (www.avanova.com). The first is the older generation, whose main use of their mobile phone is for work or emergencies. A lot of parents have only bought a mobile phone for the purpose of keeping in contact with their children – if their children didn’t have a mobile phone, then they wouldn’t have one either.

The second is those people who use it regularly but can picture their life without it. They remember the days when mobile phones were non-existent and if they were ever without one, it wouldn’t be much of a hassle or major deal for them.

The last group is the generation that cannot remember life without a mobile phone and see it as an extension of themselves (www.avanova.com). If they had to spend a day or sometimes even a few hours without their phone they would not feel comfortable or complete. They have become totally reliant on it. It is this third group that I will be focusing on and discussing how the extensive use of mobile phones is damaging self-esteem and affecting the development of social and communication skills among adolescence.

Most adolescents have become dependent on their mobile phones for many reasons: to make contact with friends or family when needed, to keep track of the time, as a calendar, an alarm clock, a calculator, a camera and many more. But they also have become reliant on mobile phones to feel accepted among their friends. Receiving a text message from a friend reinforces a feeling of approval and acceptance. People even judge how popular they are, how well liked they are and how many friends they have by the amount of text messages they receive and this can certainly have a severe negative impact on the adolescent. Imagine what this does to a teenagers self esteem. Even some people in their twenties gauge their popularity by the number of messages they receive so you can only predict the impact this has on a vulnerable, unstable teenager whose biggest worry in their life is acceptance.

So if you look at it this way, the mobile phone can actually be seen to encourage low self esteem among teenagers through its constant availability. Because it is a personal accessory and is always available, an individual will feel rejected and unloved if they are not contacted regularly because there is no other excuse for it (Butler, N. www.childalert.co.uk). Receiving messages and calls is considered the new trend and if someone is excluded, insecurities will quickly develop. It is widely noted that being a part of a ‘clique’ is the most important aspect of social well-being during adolescence (Mussen, P. (1973) p. 100) and being left out of the mobile phone culture by a group of friends can lead to paranoia, tension, a feeling of unacceptance and subsequent rejection from the group.

This is also a major problem if a person doesn’t have a mobile phone. A family may not have enough money to supply their children with mobile phones and therefore these children would be socially rejected on these grounds. Mobile phones are sometimes just another way to separate and show social classes. We all know how important it is in high school to have the ‘in things’ – the cool brands etc. Imagine if your family could only afford a really old model mobile phone, or worse still, none at all. A 2004 survey conducted by The Australian Psychological Society found that while most adolescents described their mobile phone as a 'reasonable' (91%), many adolescents (60%) were keen to upgrade to a better model. This indicates that adolescents are not satisfied with merely having a mobile phone but are likely to want continual upgrades, resulting in added costs for adolescents and families (www.psychology.org.au).

Adolescence is also the time when individuals begin to cross over from the mobile phone being a sign of dependency (needing to call parents etc) to a sign of independence – a personal communication device that only they can use as a contact to the outside world (Funston, A. & MacNeill, K. www.ica.ogo.gov.au). Whether this device is in constant use or not, it reflects on the individual’s social status.
An alarming new incident that has developed from the use of mobile phones is abusive text messaging and mobile phone bullying.
“Mobile phones are a popular choice for bullies. They provide bullies with the perfect means of taunting their target with little fear of being caught as text messages provide complete anonymity. Many pay-as-you-go mobile phones can be bought over the counter and do not require proof of identity, nor is any record kept of the new owner. Calls made from these types of mobile phone are difficult to trace” (www.bullyonline.org/related/mobile).
It is for these reasons that this form of bullying is becoming so popular and widespread. Coupled with the fact that all confrontation can now be avoided, this is the perfect way to tease, ridicule and terrorize without getting in trouble.

Apart from self-esteem problems, the over-use of mobile phones among adolescents and younger children also causes major setbacks in the development of social skills. Using text messaging to avoid confrontation encourages children to always take the ‘easy way out’ when it comes to communication. Their personal skills go down the drain and their ability to communicate face-to-face and in a social environment deplete rapidly – that is, if they were ever developed at all (depending on the age in which they began using mobile phones). While the mobile phone offers convenience, it will potentially damage adolescent social skills for years to come.

Mobile phones have followed the trend of internet chatting with the introduction of text messaging in recent years. This can be very harmful to social development as it allows adolescents an ‘easy way out’ (Butler, N. www.childalert.co.uk) and they are no longer socially equipped to deal with confrontation. While traditionally, adolescence is supposed to be a time of rapid expansion of an individual’s social world (Erwin, P. 1993 p.21.), this potential for expansion is being reduced by the introduction of mobile phones because they allow the individual to say things that they wouldn’t dare to say in personal conversation. An important aspect of social behaviour is the ability to adjust behaviour in different social contexts (Barnes, P. 1995 p.249.) and communication behaviour is becoming so monotonous among adolescents that they are unable to exercise different skills. There is a decrease in ‘person to person’ communication which will make social interaction extremely difficult in adult years.

Arguably the most alarming danger of mobile phone usage among adolescents is the addictive behaviour it encourages. “Psychologists are now warning that some teenagers are becoming so addicted to their phones that their long-term health is threatened” (Elizabeth Jackson, 2005, www.abc.net.au). Not only does the individual damage his/her own social skills, their behaviour can harm others. Butler’s study of children aged between twelve and seventeen showed that they became irritable, restless and fidgety when kept away from their mobile phone for too long (www.childalert.co.uk).

Psychiatrist Andrew Fuller says the amount of effrontery that young people experience when he suggests they might switch off their mobile phone is extraordinary.
“I see in my clinical practices as well as the research that we're doing, many many young people who spend endless amounts of time on their mobile phones, and actually end up with disrupted sleep and poor social habits as a result of their addiction to their mobile phones. And so it certainly contributes to lowered mood, cranky behaviour in their families, and of course, greater difficulty in learning at school” (Andrew Fuller, 2005, www.abc.net.au).

Fuller believes they panic to think that they're actually going to be left.
“They just think that they're actually going to be left out of a discussion that's going to be absolutely vital… It seems that we just have created a round the clock culture. And it's one that young people are just unwilling to let go of, at any cost” (Andrew Fuller, 2005, www.abc.net.au).

There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of text messages sent internationally: from 1999 to 2000 there was a 900% increase, and from 2000 to 2001 there was a 1400% increase in the total number of text messages sent (www.news.bbc.co.uk). This has led to innovative ways of making text messaging cheaper so that children can feed their addiction. In fact, marketing tactics used by the mobile phone industry are similar to those adopted by the tobacco industry (www.cellular-news.com). It is dangerous for individuals to be displaying addictive behaviour so young. It is a time where they are under a fair amount of pressure to fit in, and unlike other addictive things such as cigarettes and alcohol, there is no law against mobile phones and consequently there is nothing stopping children from indulging in such behaviour.

In a society where young people are our future leaders who will decide our economic and political policies as well as our family planning, social and education systems, it is worrying that these people are lacking in social skills (Gibson-Cline, J. 1996 p.3.). Adolescents are setting a new standard for communication for generations to come. The mobile phone is a handy communication tool which keeps friends and family in constant contact – but at what price? Is it worth breeding a generation of addicts and bullies with poor social skills, no personal skills, low self-esteem and learning difficulties all in the name of mobile communication?

TUTORIAL TASK NINE

I found this task extremely easy as I use PowerPoint quite a bit. I find it great for oral assignments because not only does it look great and is more interesting for my audience to look at then my face for 15 minutes, but it also makes my presentation easier as I can just have 'dot points' on PowerPoint and then elaborate on them in my own words.

TUTORIAL TASK EIGHT

I was first introduced to tracking in MS Word a few months ago when I was writing an investigative piece for a uni assignment. When I first recieved my draft back with all this blue and red writing and lines and bubbles all over it I was quite shocked. I'd never seen it before and had no idea with to do with it. I was given a brief explaination but still didn't fully understand. I found this task very helpful as I can now use tracking quite comfortably. I think it's a great program and I'm glad I've been introduced to it.

LECTURE TEN - OVERVIEW

I got 16/20 today in our in class quiz without any study what-so-ever. I think that proves that this intensive course was taught well as obviously I learnt things (without even realising). I wish that, that was our exam and we didn't have an assignment. Wouldn't that be nice.

For someone who isn't very interested in video games, cyberspace, computers, virtual reality etc. I found this course a little too in depth at times. However, having said that, I now have more of an understanding of these concepts and so am more interested in them then when I first began. I think they never appealed to me before because they went right over my head, but now I can appreciate them and have formed more educated opinions on these new communication technologies.

LECTURE NINE

Watching 'Anamatrix' today scared me a little. I find it frightening that our world may one day turn into something like what was portrayed in that movie. I fear not that robots will take over the world, but that they will take away the simple human pleasures that we take for granted today and we humans will become like robots also.

LECTURE EIGHT

Stephen Stockwell returned today to lecture us on Cyber Democracy: the internet and the public sphere. Here's some things I learnt:

• Direct democracy is where people represent themselves - it's a traditional and historical way of government from Greece in around 600BC.
• They have a gathered assembly that made decisions on everything from how heavy a pound is to whether or not they should go to war.
• In this Greek system women, slaves and people not born in Greece weren't allowed to be part of the assembly - there was a lot of exclusion from citizenship.
• These assemblys would take place in 'public domain' or 'public sphere'. A common shared pool of culture and common area.
• Public sphere - the domain of social life in which public opinion forms (salons, coffee shops).
• Representative democracy is where you don't get a chance to go down to parliament and have your say down there. It's a democracy where certain people act as extensions of a social and political process - was used in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Freedom of speech is a crucial part of a democracy.
• Freedom of speech has a dual function - to generate the best ideas and let everyone have their say.
• Freedom of speech in a representative democracy gives us a whole lot of ways we can be involved in government processes even if its at an arms length e.g. letters to the editor, talk-back radio, protest.
• When the internet emerged in the early 90's there were a variety of opinions on its effects on democracy.
• Move to democracy on the web.
• Problems were: not everyone has access to the internet, decisions and polls could be rigged because hackers could change the results that were entered.
• Internet provides a lot of people the opportunity to have a voice.
• Arugument that the public sphere is diminishing. In the early days public debate took place often at coffee shops etc. but we are losing this interaction of political views. The concentration of media and the rise of effective Public Relations has limited peoples public debate.
• The practice of utilising the net actually teaches us a number of skills such as self-sufficency and self-empowerment.
• The battle we have with our computer is training us to operate computers and computer systems effectively to produce results.

QUESTIONS

• Do our computer skills turn us into a new form of citizen, capable of a new form of democracy?
• Is the internet a particularly effective way of creating democracy?

Which the internet and new media aren't going to change democracy they give us opportunities to inject ourselves and our opinions into government processes and decisions in our society.

TUTORIAL TASK SEVEN

I found the Microsoft Excel task quite easy - fiddley but easy. The only thing I couldn't work out how to do was change the name of the buttons on the task bar. The instructions said to 'right click on the first on your new buttons and change the name to 'gains'. I couldn't find this command and so left the buttons unnamed but they still have the Macro assigned to them.

The only other thing was when we were told to 'highlight row 4 and right click and push hide' that command wasn't in the right click toolbar. It was under Format in the main menu.

TUTORIAL TASK SIX

FRIENDS: people who love you no matter how ugly you are.


For this picture I made a collage of bad photos and placed them in a sillouette of myself.
Pentax Optio 6 megapixels


HIGH TECH - technology up high.

I chose the pyramids for this photo to really show how technology and man has progressed. The Sphinx is there to illustrate the 'heads' of the past and what men worshipped and the robot to show that of the future.

NEWS - reading the news on the radio

Pentax Optio 6 megapixels
SUMMER - the best of all the seasons

SUCCESSFUL - the faces of success (success in money and business that is. I wonder if they have success in the areas that really matter?)

CELEBRITY - Paris Hilton. Famous for being famous. But would she be famous if she looked like this?

GAMES - card games, computer games, video games and of course mind games and board games. Ever thought of the double meaning of 'board games'? You play a game on a board when your bored.

LECTURE SEVEN

Today our lecture explored the difference between computer and video games and the debate of narratology vs ludology - the attempts to understand video games, players and the interactions between theme. Some points:

• Ludology - the perception that a video game is first and foremost just a game that needs to be understood in terms of rules, interface and the concept of play.
• Narratology - the theory and study of narrative and narrative structure. The belief that a video game is narrated like a story and therefore should be studied like one. A term used by Jane Murray is 'Cyberdrama' - video games as a story telling medium.
• Computer games and video games often get confused as the same thing.
• Computer games are like a sub-branch of video games.
• You can think of video games as a medium of communication as they have a history with film, cinemal and television.
• Games have their own ontology and ontological position in their virtual environment.
• Aesthetics are things that make the game enjoyable.
• Role playing and playing games may be the oldest form of virutal reality.
• Internet games such as World of War Craft are persistent games that are constantly there whether you are playing them or not.

Some questions:

• Except that video games are games and fun, what are the parallels we can draw between video and computer games and the original forms of games (cards, backgammon, chess)?
• Why would someone play video games over cards?
• Are video games seen as mindless compared to 'a thinking man's game' such as chess?
• Do you study the game, the player or a combination of the two?
• Can we use a semiotic approach and study the game and the player seperately?
• How can we think about games as virtual environments?

I have never owned a Playstation or Nintendo of any description so have never been into video games. However, when I was younger, I really loved a few computer games. The games I played were like Spy Craft and Return to Zork. They were games where you didn't just run around shooting things to get to the next level. You had to collect things and discover how to use them in different situations and speak to people etc. I believe these were good games to have as they really made you think and develop problem solving skills.

My room mate has been sucked into the World of War Craft phenomonon. It has taken over his life. We are lucky to see him once a week. He lives upstairs in his room and barely emerges - not even to get food as he orders pizza delivery and one of his friends comes down and grabs it. There are about 5 people who constantly trek in and out of our house - armed with their laptop - at all hours of the day/night/unforgivably early morning. When I first met him 2 years ago he was a real party animal with heaps of friends and always out and about somewhere. I've now lived with him for 10 months and he'd be lucky to have gone out twice. He's quit his job and his uni. His computer game is now his life. I think it's sad.

LECTURE SIX

A few points from todays lecture:

• ICQ was one of the first real-time chat/instant message programs and dominated until MSN messenger took over in about 2000 as it came with Window's XP
• MP3's most common type of audio file
• P2P and filesharing set to expand however more copywrite laws are trying to come in.
• Lot of people turning to Voice Over IP or voice chat as opposed to talking over the telephone - especially to friends and relatives overseas as it is so much cheaper (the cost of a local call or less if on broadband).
• Free Software is available on the internet and the General Public Licence is there to protect those who created it from others selling it as their own

Having just done Media Law we learnt a bit about copywrite and that recently new laws have been put in place to protect the works of others for longer periods of time after death. For example, almost all forms of material (poems, photos, books etc.) now have copywrite for the life of the artist plus 50 - 70 years.

OTHER BLOGS

It's very interesting to read other people's blogs - especially the people on my list. They are all very intelligent and write well which really makes for a good read.

Although their views vary slightly, they seem to have much of the same values and beliefs. They appreciate the internet and new communication technologies and seem to have embraced them and all the advantages that come with them.

Their blogs are very informative and their opinions are very well thought out and conveyed. This is something I will strive to do better next week.

By reading my friends blogs I have realised how much I miss in the lectures. Hopefully next week I can improve on my attendance also.

TUTORIAL TASK FIVE

FRIENDS - people who will dress up like total idiots for you (note the unforgivable g-string leotards)

Pentax Optio 6 mega pixels

HIGH TECH - equipment that can make the sounds of even the most amature DJ bearable.
Pentax Optio 6 mega pixels
NEWS - you can't go past 'I'm Sandra Sully for Ten's Late Night News'

Internet Photo


SUMMER - BBQ's, cocktails, slip n slides, jet skiing, swiming, road trips and of course, countless days of lying of the beach (with a mattress for extra comfort and total laziness).
Pentax Optio 6 mega pixels

UNCONVENTIONAL - which tree are you?

UNIVERSITY LIFE - the ability to go out on a Wednesday night if one so wishes (so long as one admits they don't have the money to purchase drinks whilst out and devours a bottle or two of $5 wine before one goes).
Sony 4 mega pixels

LECTURE FIVE

Jason Nelson was our guest lecturer today and he discussed Net Art and digital creativity (among other things). I'd never known about net art until today and although it's not really my thing, I was fasinated by the complexity and orignality of his artwork.

I was immediately drawn to his work Pandemic Rooms. It gave me an eerie feeling. There is something spooky about it. It reminded me of the movie The Crow. I liked it even more when he told us the picture he used was from an old school hall in Kansas. On ebay they are selling these old schools and hospitals from places that were once overrun with people but are now almost ghost towns. This thought alone is unsettling but coupled with the bird shapes and the descprition of what the art is portraying ('our obsessions with microscopic species killers'), it makes the whole work quite disturbing.

Jason said that technology gives those without talent the ability to make artwork. He said he can't draw or paint but he can still make art through technology. What about those of us who can't pain, draw or make Net Art? Is there any hope for us?

A part of the lecture that I found particularly interesting as a journalism student was his thoughts on online publishing. Writing news for the internet is more specialised than writing for your local newspaper - you need to find different angles and have a different news values. For example, if I was writing for the Gold Coast Bulletin, a huge news value would be locality and proximity, however, if I'm writing a story that is to be publised for people nation and sometimes worldwide, this would not be so significant. Therefore I would need to find some other selling point for my story; another angle and news value to capture and retain peoples attention.

TUTORIAL TASK FOUR

Until today, I had no idea that 3D chat rooms even existed. It is an entirely new concept to me and at first I found it very difficult to see the point of it. But, as I fumbled my way through Active Worlds I have come to understand what they are used for and the differences between them, and MSN messenger.

I myself am not a user of MSN messenger. I had ICQ when I was younger which is similar to MSN. I know people who have MSN and so I know how it works but I am lead to belive it isn't for chatting to random people but pre-selected friends who are on your list. This 3D chat world seems to be free for all and although by reading some of the conversations you can see most of the people in the room know eachother, I don't think they are 'personal' friends but online ones only.

I think that chatting and creating 3D worlds really have no connection. You could do either of them without the other. I think the purpose of having these 3D chat rooms is so people who like to both chat and create have an outlet to do this and a place where they can meet people who have similar interests.

LECTURE FOUR

I was first introduced to Virtual Reality when I was a kid. We have a beach house and as children we spent all our school holidays there. Down our street lived who we aptly named 'the rich kids'. There were two sisters and a brother and at times they would come and join our army of cousins and friends and play. Every afternoon (quite religously), we played an ongoing game of backyard cricket - kind of like a month-long test match. One year, for Christmas, the 'rich boy' was given a virtual reality set. A big black mask that you put over your head and things that attached to your hands and feet. One of the games he was given for his virtual reality set was cricket.

The boy (and his parents) were very protective of his new toy but I was very persuasive and managed talk my way into geting a go. Not knowing very much at all about virtual reality I was very excited about the prospect of playing with such new technology. I knew this was an expensive toy that my parents could never afford to buy me so I wanted to make the most of my one and only chance to use a virtual reality set.

I eagerly put strapped the mask to my head and attached to rest to my hands and shins. I was shocked at how real it all looked. It was like I was playing the Ashes at the GABBA. It was amazing - for the first 5 minutes. I missed my friends. I felt very alone in the house; in my head mask; in my own little virtual world. I missed the interaction; the big anticipation when someone's hit a 'CATCH', the high-fives when I got someone out; hell, I even missed running for the ball when I hit it over the road and into the bush.

To me, virtual reality is an amazing technological accomplishment - but it's not an alternative to the real thing.

TUTORIAL TASK THREE

SCAVENGER HUNT QUESTIONS

What is the world’s largest pumpkin?

1,502 pounds - weighed October 7, 2006
http://www.pumpkinnook.com//giants/record.htm#bigones

What is the best way to contact Grant Hackett?

His website
http://www.granthackett.com.au/

What is the length of a Giraffe’s tongue?

46 – 50 cm long and blue-black in colour
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/

How would you define "ontology"? In your own words, what does it mean?

It’s ‘the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence or being as such.’ Ontology seeks to describe the categories and relationships of existence.
http://www.dictionary.com/

What was David Lynch's first film?

His first film as a director was a short film called Six Figures Getting Sick in 1966. His first full length film as a director was Eraserhead in 1978. His first film as an actor was The Amputee in 1974 where he played a male nurse.
http://www.wikipedia.org/

When was the original "Hacker's Manifesto" written, and by whom?

It’s a small essay written January 8, 1986 by a hacker who went by the handle (or pseudonym) of The Mentor (born Loyd Blankenship). It was written after the author's arrest, and first published in the underground hacker ezine Phrack in Volume One, Issue 7, Phile 3 of 10.
http://www.wikipedia.org/

What is the capital of Bhutan, and what language do the citizens speak?

Thimphu is the capital and the native language is dzongkha

What is the cheapest form of travel from Bergen, Norway to Ornskoldsvik, Sweden?

Walk

What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1972?

‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’

What punk band was Stephen Stockwell (head of the school of arts) in?

The Black Assassins

What is a search engine?

A software program that searches a database and gathers and reports information that contains or is related to specified terms.

A website whose primary function is providing a search engine for gathering and reporting information available on the Internet or a portion of the Internet.
www.dictionary.com

How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?

They are listed in order of which results match the 'keywords' best.

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?

Relevence to your search. For example, you may be trying to find the website to something in particular like 'Radio Metro' and so hopefully the correct site will be at the top or somewhere very close to the top. On the other hand you may be searching for information on something like 'Budget Holidays in Thailand' and not have a specific site in mind. This way the sites that advertise or have something to do with this topic should be up the top.

What are some of your favourite search engines? why do you like one more than others?

I'm a bit of a 'stick to what you know' type of person when it comes to computers and so I just stick with Google. I always seem to find what I need. Not always immediately but eventually in a round-about-way. Being a journalist student if I'm trying to find news stories or current affairs I usually search the ABC site as they archive all their stories and interviews from all their radio and television over the years.

Can you find some current news stories about search engines? (for example, Google has been in the technology news a bit lately).

I found quite a few stories regarding Google shares and a few about Google Earth discovering inland dunes in the shape of arrowheads that may be signs of mega-tsunamis. Also among others was a story on how doctors and clinicians use Google to diagnose disease.

LECTURE THREE

Unfortunatley I missed the first half of the lecture today due to work committments again and am disappointed to learn that it was on the media - a lecture which would have been much more interesting to me than computers and the internet as I am a journalism student.

From reading the lecture notes I have learned a few key points:

Media Defined

• Media can refer to a sense of 'intervening or intermediating agency or substance' (Williams, 1985).
• The basic idea is that the kind of communication you can use is determined a lot by the medium of commuication you are dealing with.
• That the 'news media' or 'mass media' is only one type of media. Through new commuication technologies we now have new forms of media such as the internet.
• Media can be seen as a conduit that allows some other process to happen.

History of Media

• The twentieth century saw the development of mass society and an explosion of broadcast media forms (newspapers, cinema, radio, and television) where messages were distributed from centralised sources to audiences around the world.
• Communication, Media and Cultural Studies were all invented to investigate issues around communication.
• Journalsim, Public Relations, Marketing, Advertising and Design were all more practically-orientated jobs which emerged from these disiplines.
• The rise of computers and other new communication technologies have prompted over fields of investigation such as New Media Studies, Cyber Studies, Internet Studies, Cyberculture Studies and Web Studies.
• All these disiplines began in France with Semiotics - the study of signs as part of social life.

New Media, Internet Studies and Cybercultural Studies

• Internet began in the early 1990's and people weren't sure what to make of it - whether it was a good or bad thing.
• Toward the end of the 1990's people began to take the internet more seriously and researchers started to look at individual contexts rather than the internet as one big whole.
• Critical cyberculture studies unfolds and explores the stories we tell about social, cultural and economic interactions online. For example, we use the terms and metaphors such as 'surf the net' to make it more approachable for those who know nothing about it.

LECTURE TWO

Today we were given a timeline of computer history from Charles Babbage's Difference Machine in the 1800's to the thriving and competitive computer business of today.

Alan Turning devised the first working computer called The Bombe during WWII which was used to deciper German 'Enigma' codes. IBM produced the first commerical computers in the 1950's for government, military and coporate use.

In the 1970's ZeroxParc developed the mouse, the graphical user interface (GUI) and pull-down menus that made the personal computers of today possible and approachable by the general user. In 1975 the first personal computer (PC) was released called 0 and Bill Gates began writing a computer language called BASIC for Altair.

The Apple II was released in 1978 - the first computer that was packaged as a real consumer product.

In 1980 IBM teamed up with Microsoft and they bought an Operating System from Tim Patterson named Kudo and redeveloped into PC DOS 1.0. Then eventually came Windows and the rest is history.

Today we also watched a lovely little short film which was supposed to explain the 'ins and outs' of the internet and how it works. I was quite excited as the film was beginning and was already imagining how impressive I would sound over the dinner table tonight when I explained to everybody in great detail the inner workings of the World Wide Web and the internet (note I didn't use a captial - something I learnt in today's lecture).

But alas; I think I've ended up leaving more confused then ever and in summing up I'll use the words of Gibson....

"inthinkable complexity".

However, I did learn some important things for example; the internet and the World Wide Web are two different things and the internet isn't just one network but many networks.

One part of the lecture I particually enjoyed was the reference to ice-cream. I believe the parallels were drawn between ice-cream and the internet because neither of them were a proper noun. Unfortunately I missed the next part of the lecture because I was day dreaming of a waffle cone overflowing with mango sorbet and ferrero rochere from the gellato store in Surfers. Perhaps Adam should reconsider using such comparisons - especially so close to lunch!

TUTORIAL TASK TWO

I'm afraid I'm not very good at using new communication technologies (especially those that involve the internet and computers) to keep in touch with, or find new friends.

I have no friends that I have met over the internet - only those I meet in person. I don't think I'll ever find a friend over the internet - partially because I'm not into internet chat and partially because I don't think you can really trust a person you haven't met in person.

I think it's often difficult enough to judge a person when you first meet them face-to-face, let alone having the added burden of not being able to see them. I believe it's much harder to lie to someones face then it is to a keyboard and computer screen. I think there is a lot you can tell about a person by their body language, their tone and their eyes; all things that simply can't be wittnessed over a computer.

Although I do use my email regularly, it is mainly to communicate with my employer and uni tutors etc. I enjoy recieving funny emails but don't go out of my way to pass them on (unless it is really good). I hate chain letters and those emails that tell you unless you forward it to 10052 people in the next 5 minutes you'll never be able to speak again and will die a slow but terrible death before the year 2009; nor do I believe that if I send a message to 7 friends my wish will come true at 11.05pm that evening.

However, dispite all my negativity toward new communication technologies, I do rely on my mobile phone emmensly and don't know what I would do without the internet.

LECTURE ONE

Unfortunately I was earning a living to feed 'the family' (pay rent and have a drink on the weekend) today and missed the lecture however, I have read the lecture notes and was quite taken aback.

I had no idea that the concept of 'communication' was so damn complicated. I'm still in shock after reading some of the definitions. How scarey. I suppose I've never really put that much thought into 'communication' before - not in that sort of detail anway. I think I'll need to re-read it all again a few times to really get my head around it.

One thing I did think of was an example of the digitisation of media. Early this year I worked for Nokia demonstrating the N70 and N90 moblie phones to retailers and customers. These phones were amazing - especially the N90. It had a 2 mega pixel Carl Zeiss retractable lense on top and the entire phone opened and twisted and turned so you could take a video or picture of anything in any direction. It had a video, photo, music and movie editor as well as radio, internet, email and a mini Microsoft Office... oh, and you could make a phone call too.

It still baffles me how it was labeled and sold as a 'moblie phone' when clearly it was a million other things first.

INTRODUCTION - Tutorial Task One

Hi!

My name is Karla and I am a blogging virgin. To be honest, things such as blogging and myspace really aren't my thing and I'm only attempting this as an assignment for uni. But who knows? My tutor Adam may be right and maybe he'll turn me into a computer geek. There's hope for my yet!!

I think it's important for me to explain why my name and web address for this blog is Squiddy. It's not due to some deep seeded obsession with slimy, eight-legged sea creatures (however, they do make good bait and a great feed), however, it is the name my father affectionately gave me as a kid...

Karla Maree is my name which, if you say it phenotically (Ka-la-mar-e) it sounds like calamari (see the connection?).

Anyway, I'll try my best with this blog (and to stay motivated and focused over what are supposed to by the uni holidays) and see how I go.

Wish me luck!!