Ugh!

So it’s a beautiful morning and I was looking forward to a peaceful train ride to uni but no…it was not peaceful at all. I think there should actually be a crime to play shitty melbournian rap songs through your phone speakers at full volume on public transport. Seriously though, how hard is it for you to go down to JB and get a $5 pair of crappy headphones to go with your crap taste in music.

End rant!

As We May Think

This reading was interesting. At first I was not sure why we were learning about the development of science and scientific ideas. But I think I made sense of it. The reading talks about the history of inventions that could not be built at the time due to the lack of knowledge and experience. It compared these failures to today’s inventions which cost nothing and use minimal labor to create.

I found this interesting:

“Mendel’s concept of the laws of genetics was lost to the world for a generation because his publication did not reach the few who were capable of grasping and extending it”

Upon reading this, I immediately thought of our blogs and how it is important to try and make them as interactive as possible. A good blog with a great range of ideas and insights can be useful to many if they have access to it. And through the use of networks, everyone can reach this information if they are looking for it. Also, with these connections, the ability to learn and discover is far easier than it was before.

I’m probably reading this wrong but those were my first thoughts.

A REAL essay?

After reading Paul Graham’s ‘The Age of the Essay’, I was left feeling as though my whole high school career was a lie. I was arguing a point about a text or topic and through the use of examples and evidence I would be able to ‘persuade’ my readers. However, I have now learnt that this is not the correct way to go about it, which is frustrating. Graham states that “In a real essay, you don’t take a position and defend it. You notice a door that’s ajar, and you open it and walk in to see what’s inside.” This would have been so much more exciting than simply repeating knowledge that my teachers were already too familiar with over and over again.

When I thought back to the first essay I ever wrote (I think I was about 14), I was never actually taught how to write one. This is probably why most of us struggled. Then I tried to remember when I was taught how to write one. All I received was a piece of paper with a rough guideline and essay structure. Was it really that simple? Since then, it was but of course many were still confused because learning to write an essay was never implemented, you were just supposed to know how.

I do believe that had I used Graham’s method I would have run into many problems with actually passing my subjects. I do not however, think that this method can be used in all subjects. When writing about historical events, it would be far more reliable if the majority of the piece contained facts and evidence, not opinion. But I guess I guess I’ll never know until I try it.

It’s a Small World After All

So I was searching through the notes in my phone over the past week when I came across a link that Elliot had advised us to watch, the documentary “How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer”. And at 10pm on a Monday night I wasn’t feeling that intrigued but decided, why not? I admit I got lost in all the mathematical jargon (nodes, hubs, blah blah..) and was annoyed to find out that this networked media course has strong links to mathematics and science which are two areas I try my best to stay as far away from as possible at all times. However, I cannot deny that the overall piece was interesting.

It got me thinking about how many people I could be connected with. I have family in Europe, I have traveled to countries such as Thailand, Bali, Cambodia and Singapore which would increase my networks. I have often asked the question “Oh you work at blah? Do you know blah?” and the answer is usually “yes, how do you know blah?” But is it possible that everyone in the world can be connected? At first I was skeptical but it made sense at the end of the doco. It can be proven that yes, we are connected, if not through personal relationships, but through online interactions. I wanted to know more but of course when I googled “six degrees of separation” I found loads links to lyric sites for The Script’s hit song (good song btw).

Here is Wikipedia’s definition of the theory.

Comfort Zones

Ok, so I am still not completely sure about how to run this thing. Yes, reading Adrian’s article helped me understand what makes a good blog (entertaining, interaction, deep thought etc) but I am still lost on how to make this blog personal. This is probably because I have such a boring life and I haven’t given this subject enough thought as I should be. i don’t have a particular passion. Yes, I feel that my strengths lie within my writing but it is not something I do for fun when I’m wasting time at home on a Friday night. I admit that I am not an ‘out-of-the-box’ thinker. I have never been confident expressing my thoughts, mostly because I have never felt encouraged to. And this is where this subject becomes confronting to me. The fact that other people are actually reading what I am posting is nerve racking to me. I was one of those kids in school who hated writing essays or stories in class because I was scared that someone would read it. I am hoping that throughout this semester I develop a confidence that will help me succeed in this course but it might take a while.

Japanese Exchange Student

In the last week, Mum received a phone call from my old high school – my siblings currently attend – who were asking if we would like to host a Japanese exchange student for 10 days. For whatever reasons, one of the host families had become unavailable so they were almost begging us to take one in. Mum of course agreed. In a week, the house was given a complete spring cleaning for our new guest. We received a short profile of the student who would be arriving in a matter of days. Hirouki’s English handwriting was exceptional – much better than the Japanese sentences I could put together when I was studying it. In that profile we learnt some minor details about his likes and interests and we were very excited to meet him.

Hirouki has been here for 2 days now. He is very quiet and shy which is understandable – I couldn’t imagine travelling half way across the world on my own without a full understanding of a counrty’s language or culture. Eating dinner with him was awkward at first. He would not sit down or eat until we were all seated and permitted him to begin. Mum bought him a pair of slippers to wear around the house. I’m sure he brought his own pair, but wears these out of pure respect. I don’t think he realised how cold Melbourne would be since he has not brought clothes suitable for this weather. To the world, Australia is the sunburnt country with hot deserts and sunshine so Hirouki got quite a shock stepping outside this morning into 8 degrees. Tonight, after dinner he gave us some cute little gifts. Purses, hand crafted chopsticks, Japanese crackers and even some Hello Kitty washing bags.

To view information about Hirouki’s school in Japan, click here

 

Week 1 Reading

The first reading of the semester to me was a very abstract way of describing the idea of the course. I liked the use of the metaphor – the boat sailing over “a sea of ideas” – which I believe was successful in defining networked media and its various forms, practices and systems. To be on this boat might seem like a nightmare to some people. The idea of constantly sailing over large waves, swells and currents without finding land could sound exhausting to many. Much like keeping up with current media in all its forms and knowing as much as possible. It changes with the audience’s contributions and their overall participation. It grows as well with the progression of technology itself and the access that the community has to this technology. I am not quite sure how to answer one of the last questions “What does it even suggest, that things know?” Perhaps I will find out as the semester progresses.

First Tute!

Walking into the first tutorial of the semester, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was unable to attend the lecture – attending future ones will also be a problem – so I felt a little uneasy about what we were going to be doing. From what I had read on the media factory site, we would be running a blog from the beginning of this semester and perhaps for the rest of our media careers. I was quite nervous about this for the closest thing to a blog I have used is my tumblr page which I don’t post actual thoughts or observations on. I am also pretty intimidated by the technical things such as changing themes or settings – I remember asking my friends to change my themes on my Myspace page years ago.

The class was fairly straight forward. It was mostly spent figuring out how to set up our blog to be more personal. I feel as though this blog will encourage me to think a lot more freely about everyday life and the observations I make. To me this class is very similar to Writing Media Texts which I enjoyed. The idea of the blog reminds me of the journals which we filled with reflections, ideas and brainstorms. I guess the only difference I can see is that we are not creating something – a movie, photograph etc. However I am looking forward to the rest of semester as this opens up a range of new experiences.

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