Category Archives: Networked Media

My personal responses, discoveries, and thoughts during my Network Media Unit at RMIT University (second year).

HTML Coding: In-Class Test

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It’s finally over. That day that I have been dreading since week 1 of semester 2 2014, the horrifying HTML exam is DONE. To be honest, I am not quite sure why I was as nervous as I was. Maybe because I feel the need to be so particular, prepared, and anxious about any sort of “professional” job or task that I am being judged on. “I am at university, this is serious s**t, this is an exam, I need to do well”, was all that was running through my head. Upon entering the class I realised that I was not in the same boat, everyone was nervous to some degree…I mean…who wouldn’t be? I know that we had already gone through this process the week before, but I haven’t used HTML since my junior years at high school and I am afraid I am getting old.

So there I am, sitting in my chair, trying to remember all the different codes and little symbols for HTML before we were allowed to start. Let’s see…<> to start a command, </> to end it, h is header, p is paragraph, I am sorted. The sheets were handed out and we were allowed to start.

The one thing I forgot to do before I should have started anything else was to type <!DOCTYPE html> at the start of the code. I had already started doing everything else for my first page and completely forgot about this crucial step. Never mind, at least I remembered about 5-10 minutes into the test so it was no problem.

My memory was serving me well, I was following the sheet thoroughly and everything seemed to come back to me. The only real issue I had was forgetting to put the “.au” after “.org” for the Mediafactory website. Other than that, there were no troubles! However It did take me ages to do, and I can’t help but think about all the other different types of codes there are such as C++ and how people can do this all day, every day. I take my hat off to them. It really is a useful skill and I feel that the possibilities with yourself and the Internet are grown exponentially by knowing even the basics of HTML coding.

My website/HTML page/exam can be viewed here.

Internet1.jpg
“Internet1” by Rock1997 – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Potential Documentary-ist?

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I LOVE documentaries. Occasionally, it is hard sifting through the ones that fail to expand your knowledge, or are simply just full of ridiculous claims that are not backed up or credible in the slightest. But when you do find one, ENJOY it, and walk away honestly saying that it was interesting while learning and absorbing information, the feeling is great. It is actually something that I feel should be given a lot of praise (what with the amount of uninspiring teachers nowadays).

For my Broadcast Media course at RMIT, we have to create a 3-4 minute documentary about a topic that is related to the theme of “hidden“. Additionally, we have to tailor make the segment to fit the characteristics of an already existing Australian television network. My group and I decided to go with Catalyst on ABC, and are exploring the topic of how logging in Australia contributes to bushfire intensity.

Not only does the topic fit the style of the show perfectly, but the room for potential is extremely promising. With the information we have gathered up, a 3-4 minute segment on the issue is not a challenge at all in terms of core material. Because of this, my group members and I have agreed to take the project further and to create an approximately 10 minute “extended edition” of the piece.

I am excited to actually get out there and put what I have learnt during my first two years at RMIT into use. It will give me a great opportunity to experience the reality of making documentaries and to work with a good group of people. My group members are always willing to give constructive criticism and actively help others pursue their goals of being able to work with different equipment and in different areas of the project. For example, sound, film, directing, and producing.

Please feel free to check out Luke Egan’s blog, as he has also written about the same project.

Why Essays Are Ultimately Useless

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Essays…don’t we all just love them? Ever since I could remember, these things have determined the success of my future since school actually started to matter. Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather power through an essay than go through an exam (these are also non-sensical, but we will save that for another time).

The catalyst for these thoughts originate with Paul Graham’s article titled “The Age of the Essay”. He ultimately suggests that we are forced to hate writing essays about things…we hate, and that we have to do this for the majority of our school days. Moreover, a lot of these poor people find that the subjects they spend so much time writing these painstakingly annoying essays for are irrelevant. For example, despite the fact that I used to find geography interesting does not mean that I want to invest such a substantial amount of time and effort into even passing the subject – I do not want to pursue it for a career, so why should I have to regurgitate information coming from my teacher’s mouth and terrible print-out sheets? In fact, why do I even have to study it? Mr. Graham echoes this as he then goes on to say that a lot of these essays are just replications of words coming from the teacher’s mouth. These formulaic essays are meaningless and unless someone has a genuine interest in the subject, the content is easily forgotten or not even understood by the author himself (how embarrassing).

Does this then mean that essays are completely useless? Is there no use for them at all, or have we just got it wrong?

Paul Graham upholds, quite controversially, that essay writing is not about forming an argument. Instead it should ask a question, answer it, and search to find a truth of some sort. It should promote new information, original ideas, and should not be so particularly structured. I would personally find this difficult to uphold as I have a very specific structure and formula to my essay writing – exactly what Paul Graham says I should not do.

I must have an introductory paragraph, a paragraph for defining technical terms, then I make bullet points for each section following on from this so I know what to say and that my structure is logical and flows. Furthermore, I only start writing after countless hours of research and planning. However, Mr. Graham maintains that a general idea of the essay subject will suffice. The author’s ideas should gradually progress and develop with each paragraph and should contain a majority of information coming from one’s own thoughts. Why should I research and write an essay about what others have already written? What does this really achieve? Sure, I will be putting it into my own words, but I will be producing and sharing nothing new.

Don’t be afraid to try something new – go against the norm of essay writing and form a style that best suits you. Original ideas are best expressed when shared with others who can hopefully learn something from you.