Tag Archives: Networks

#First world problems

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Since arriving in Australia two years ago, I think I’ve been shut off from the world, without direct information on news in my home country it gets me annoyed sometimes. As much as I love Australia, I find myself seeking online platforms for worldwide news and looking out for what goes on around the world.

 

I’m in a bubble, so big I can’t seem to be able to pop it.

 

Alas, comes the help of the internet. But it didn’t help that I just moved into my new apartment and didn’t have any internet connection set up till a month in. We were gasping in desperation to be connected once again to society. We drove to Maccas for free wireless and got excited each and every time we saw a sign that reads “free-wifi” outside the store.

 

What has become of us? Are we really that desperate for the internet? Do we really feel that desperation to be connected to the world via an online network? We’ve become to dependent on the internet and I don’t know if that’s really a good thing.

 

Maybe because we’re so far from home or facing the computer screen has developed into a habit. A bad habit at that. It’s scary that there are even counselling services for those with computer games or internet addiction. No one had problems going about their everyday life before the internet came about. But we must not forget that the internet brought about a smaller world. Before the existence, the world seemed huge, everyone was literally trapped in their own bubble, in their own towns and  everyone knew everyone.

 

But now, as far away as Australia is from the other continents I still have my internet to keep up with times and what goes on in other cities. I want to know that my friends who are overseas are safe and that the economy isn’t affecting my family’s business back home. As much as I hate to admit my “addiction” it is the only way I am connected and networked to the world.

 

It’s a small world after all

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children-of-the-world

After going through the video recommended by Elliot and also the readings for week 4, to just simply put it – the term six degrees of separation is not something new to me. But i never knew that based on this theory that we were all only separated by 6 people came out further studies on networking and how the brain is synchronised.

 

 

But is the world really getting smaller? Is six degrees of separation possible without the aid and advancement of technology?  In fact, many people are being connected straight away because of the internet, the advancements of phones or walkie talkies, any mode of communication which does not require us to travel.

 

So basically the six degrees of separation has been cut short. In the video, there was an experiment done where people from all over the world are given a parcel to be sent to a professor in harvard, someone they do not even know. So they send the parcel from one to another until it reaches the professor at the end.

 

 

Look, If I was given the parcel at this point of time, I’d probably just search for his name and contact details online and send the parcel directly to him. I guess the point of the experiement was to show that we are all literally six people away from each other. But that was not what I saw in the video.

 

 

When you claim that we are six people away from each other, shouldn’t the fifth in line know the professor personally? Or is he just the sixth guy who so happens to live in the same city as him? It’s no long about the six degrees of separation but rather the networks that go behind it.

 

 

They always say, that networking and socialising is very important, it aids businesses, boosts economies indirectly and even improve bilateral ties between countries.  And i believe the very fact that we are able to connect and be able to network is because technology is bringing the world together. It is the reason why the world is getting smaller.

 

I love how the whole theory of networking eventually led up to a certain understanding of network with proteins in our cells and maybe one day an evolution. These two are completely different case studies working together. It is amazing to see the concept of networking behind the lines. Whether it is through technology, protein cells or even human social networking. It brings all of us together somehow one way or another.

 

What can I say? It’s a small world after all.

 

The world of Pinterest

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In the last class before the long weekend break, we were broken up into different groups once again and were given topics to work on. What we got for our Niki page this time, was something far more interesting and creative than the one I had prior to this. We were going to be doing up a Niki page on

NPinterest

 

What could be more interesting right? I’ve not been an active user of Pinterest but it’s no doubt one of the sites that I would go on to, together with Tumblr for creative inspirations and a platform I go to, to seek thoughts and whimsical aspirations as well. So what is Pinterest actually? According to wikipedia,

” Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, and hobbies. Users can browse other pinboards for images, “re-pin” images to their own pinboards, or “like” photos. ”

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They are inspirational boards which allows us to pin up pictures and images into different themed boards found on the site. We are able to share it with other people or set up private inspirational pinboard as a pictorial diary or for any purpose we want it to. We’re also able to create our own themes and add in inspiration for others to see.

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Therefore, instead of doing up a inspirational board on hand like the image above, everything is done online, without us having to move our butts. Also, there are millions of inspiration to be found online Pinterest shared by the rest of the world. Of course, if you love having to craft up your own inspiration board like the above is just as inspiring because most of us can’t be stuffed to do that.

 

Pinterest is not just a platform for inspiration but also a platform for businesses. Many stores has turned Pinterest into their biggest traffic drivers. Because Pinterest didn’t have a link back to where one could buy a store’s product. Most of the stores started linking all of their look books back to their website and integrated “Pin it” buttons on all their product pages.

 

Most stores also created their own relevant boards to use as inspiration for their brand and for photo shoot ideas. They use data analysis to help in purchasing decisions based on viewer’s styles, colors, cuts etc and are constantly seeing people pin and re-pin images back to their boards. The stores tend to see their images pop up on people’s inspiration boards, wish lists, style and clothing boards which drives prospective customers back onto their webpage to look for more.

 

I feel that, anything on the internet can be used to our advantage in so many ways, it gives inspiration and drives knowledge and creativity. It also helps businesses and creates a space for one to just dwell and seek comfort in. Pinterest is one of the many sites like that and a site which I hope will continue to stay for a long time to come.

 

 

 

Reading and Symposium 2.2

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hpt

Through my readings and understanding, I know that Hypertext is text displayed on a computer display or other electronic device with references or hyperlinks to other text which the reader can immediately access, or where the text can be revealed progressively at multiple levels of detail.

 

Hypertext also allows the reader’s own freedom of association, being able to decide for themselves where they choose to click next. It allows for easy revisiting of older or previously read material, and facilitates the sharing of knowledge through associative indexing, rather than a system of alphabetical or numerical filing. It makes life a lot easier for everyone using the internet.

But where did Hypertext arrive from?

It is good to learn that the concept of the memex influenced the development of early hypertext systems (eventually leading to the creation of the internet and personal knowledge based software. However, the memex system used a form of document bookmark list, of static microfilm pages, rather than a true hypertext system where parts of pages would have internal structure beyond the common textual format.

 

In our reading “As We May Think,” Bush describes a memex as an electromechanical device enabling individuals to develop and read a large self-contained research library, create and follow associative trails of links and personal annotations, and recall these trails at any time to share them with other researchers. This device would closely mimic the associative processes of the human mind, but it would be gifted with permanent recollection. As Bush writes, “Thus science may implement the ways in which man produces, stores, and consults the record of the race”.

 

The technology used would have been a combination of electromechanical controls, microfilm cameras and readers, all integrated into a large desk. Most of the microfilm library would have been contained within the desk, but the user could add or remove microfilm reels at will and many more intricate words and information that we were required to understand were just hard to comprehend.

 

All in all, these technology terms and jargons of words only tells us that in the end these technology are there to aid us in our daily lives, help us improve our future in the field of medicine, science and of course technology. I still do not really comprehend the readings that well but I do know that hyperlinks made things a lot easier for me in terms of my daily usage of the internet and also school work. I look forward to future readings and symposium sessions on hypertext to get a deeper understanding of it, with elliot discussing and breaking the readings down so i understand it a little better.