Last semester in Writing Media Texts we had the task of creating a single shot video about the theme ‘consequences’. My group made the video sTrain.
It was so much fun to make and took many attempts (we had a few issues with nearby pedestrian’s phones ringing or them actually speaking to the actor during our takes!) It was a really great experience and I’d love to do a lot more of it in the future.
Sadly I was at home in Echuca due to illness on Tuesday so I could not attend this week’s symposium. I did speak about it with a couple of my friends though and they were both a little.. perplexed? Shocked? I don’t know how to describe it. I think they found it a bit confusing and said there was quite a large debate going on. Interesting. I guess I don’t really have a lot to say so ahhh.. here’s a photo of a presidential debate. See you next time.
Interestingly, Adrian’s book analogies come into play with this week’s reading. There is no set ending when it comes to the internet, unlike your average book. In fact, as the reading asks, “What if you had a book that changed everytime you read it?” Depending on your mood or attitude on a particular day, you can change what you read accordingly. The internet allows us to do just this.
Hypertext “describes a tool that lets us use the printed word as the basis for a technology that considerably extends writing’s reach and repertoire.” It is the way of the future, or so it would seem after these recent readings. It is a growing strand of communication and interaction which will only become more and more advanced as time goes on.
Reading Paige’s blog and her discussion of validity on the internet, I learnt something! About the internet! You can drag an image into the search bar to google similar images. I never knew that. What century am I living in? Cheers Paige!
Kenton, thank you for the hours (okay minutes) of entertainment whilst reading your blog. It is pretty funny, I particularly liked his most recent post on sleeping at RMIT. Shame on you, sleepers. The picture of himself at the top of the blog is also a nice touch.
Claudia spoke about the developments in photography and cameras. She made the comment, “Digital cameras and the progress in photography may always be advancing, but film cameras will never die.” I’m not so sure. About the film cameras. I feel like there might become a stage where digital photography is so far advanced that there becomes no need for film cameras. People of the future may not be so patient, and want their photos instantly. Who knows. I guess we’ll wait and see.
I have spent the afternoon attempting to do this week’s Networked Media reading, but to no avail. I am sick as a dog, and cannot help but simply rolling over and dozing off every 15 minutes. Why is this happening to me amidst one of the busiest uni week’s of the year? I had to miss my tour of parliament this morning because I could not physically get out of bed. I didn’t even have the strength to get up and take a Codral cold and flu tablet!! Anyway, I’m getting up now and going to sit my HTML test. Ohhhhh joy….
Something Adrian raised at the end of our symposium today was regarding being network literate. Knowing simply how to change the theme of your blog, does not make you network literate, nor a cyberspace mastermind. Who knows how many hundred/thousand lines of code are behind that. Lines of code of which someone very tech savvy has previously created (not you!). He also used this analogy. If your tyre goes flat, and you jack up your car and replace it, you are not instantly a professional mechanic. Highly trained engineers were the ones who designed the mechanics behind those steps and made it oh-so-simple for you. Without them, you would have been in struggle town. In the exact same way, it’s the very intelligent IT technicians who make the internet a tool that is accessible for everyone, even for your 82 year old grandma who grew up playing marbles, not Minecraft. Food for thought.
I’m actually freaking out because tomorrow is our HTML test. For all those who are unaware what this is, it basically just involves ‘coding’ to create a webpage. Coding. I know right? Isn’t that what those geeks on ‘The Social Network’ do all day and night? I am no Mark Zuckerberg. This whole thing is very new and unfamiliar to me and even though we went through what to do during our tutorial last week, I am pretty certain I am going to be sitting at my keyboard tomorrow with a look of both confusion and despair on my face. Not looking forward to it that’s for sure. It is only a pass/fail test. So I just need to.. not fail. Wish me luck.
Just need to borrow this guy’s brain for a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon!
This week’s reading by Ted Nelson was on the whole about hypertext. He defines hypertext as: non sequential writing – text that branches and allows choices to the reader, best read at an interactive screen. I suppose our blogs are made up of hypertext. Each post has been given a title which readers can click on, which then leads them into the post. The blog does not have to be read in a sequential order, although it can be, too.
The other reading is by Vannevar Bush, “As We May Think” in which he discusses the joint power of science and invention and where they can lead us into the future. He articulates that further progress needs to be made for the mind rather than just our physical presence. This was written in 1945, just following the completion of World War II. He predicts inventions of the future. It is amazing how far the world has come since then, and even more amazing when we ponder just how much further it will continue to develop. Scary, even. But if one thing’s for certain, technology is going to make up a HUGE part of it.
Something that was raised in the lecture was that we would all know how to write and publish a book, by going to a publisher to get it printed and bound. However, most of us don’t even know how to write our own web page! We, the children of the digital age, wouldn’t know how to do that. Actually, two of us in our lecture could. Luckily we are learning how to create HTML pages in class this week (:
The question of validity on the internet was also discussed. This is something I often wonder about. For instance just this morning I saw a post claiming Robin Williams had committed suicide. I was skeptical about its validity at first but after finding a number of articles reporting the same thing, I accepted it as truth. I don’t know if that’s how you should determine truth but that’s what I do anyway! I suppose I also take into account the source to determine whether it’s reliable or not, because anyone these days can chuck whatever nonsense they like up on the internet for the world to see.
Today the world is mourning the loss of famous, well loved actor and comedian, Robin Williams. Robin was found dead in his home, due to speculated suicide. He was a bipolar sufferer who was amidst an episode of depression at the time of his death.
Bipolar disorder is something very close to me and it saddens me deeply to see someone lose their battle to it. It is moments like this the importance of seeking help is highlighted. We can’t let lives continue to be lost due to such a monstrous, helpless disease.
Rest in peace, Robin. And as Evan Rachel Wood tweeted so profoundly this morning: Genie. You’re free.
