Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Production Consumption Conjunction (Essay)
The following is my essay in response to topic #3.
“3. Digital media put the tools of production into the hands of the everyday computer user making it incredibly easy to produce content. These creative skills used to be something that people worked to develop. Now it appears that amateurs can produce content of a fair standard within a relatively short period of time. Where does this leave 'professionals' and highly-skilled artists? Choose one area of creativity and discuss some of the challenges facing practitioners vs amateurs in producing digitalcontent.”
For the past century film and cinema has been controlled primarily by industries such as Hollywood with Independent filmmakers having to work extra hard to receive recognition. However, in the past decade the production and consumption of films has taken a major turn due to the internet and other digital technology. These new communication technologies are providing unique and effective ways of distributing content turning the entire world of production and consumption upside down.
Within the past few years, the number of videos viewed by the general public has increased drastically and is still on the rise. According to ComScore, in November 2008, America’s online audience had watched 34% more videos than the previous year, with 77% of all US internet users having watched videos (1). All in all, 97 million viewers watched 5.1 billion videos on Youtube alone, averaging in at approximately 52.3 videos per viewer (1). Furthermore, the mobile internet user population is predicted to more than double in this year and has already seen an increase of 74% in videos streamed (2). Thanks to websites like www.youtube.com amateurs, independent filmmakers and businesses can all upload their content regardless of quality and gain publicity. The popularity of these websites guarantee audiences and are changing the way the world of film works. Independent filmmakers are finally able to gain exposure and display their works within the continual onslaught of mainstream drivel.
The general public is wising up to the possibilities of the internet. On November 4th 2009, the U.S. election day, CNN.com gained 21.3 million video streams within the space of nine hours, over four times their previous record of 5 million viewers (3). Speaking in regards to the Obama inauguration, market research analyst Caroline Dangson stated “I think people realized that they had access to this in ways beyond television and traditional media” (3). While the internet is benefiting non mainstream producers and making production and distribution easier, the fact of the matter is consumption. While consumption of content has increased people are still mainly interested in what pop cultures dictates ‘good’ entertainment. The content may be there, but is it being seen? People seem to only be interested in the usual as evidenced by the fact those in Hollywood are losing millions of dollars of profit every year due to piracy over the internet. Anyone with the internet can download any movie released on DVD as well as bootlegs from a filesharing P2P network such as Limewire, Emule, or login to a bittorent network and download the files. Like when TV first emerged, people are beginning to stop going to the cinema and are buying movies less. Why would they bother when they can get them for free from the comfort of their own home? The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) conducted a survey of 3600 internet users in eight countries, including Australia with 24% of participants claiming to have downloaded a movie online (5). The change in technology seems to be directly relative, with countries like Korea where 98% of people run broadband, 58% of those surveyed claimed to have downloaded a movie (5). The MPAA estimates that due to this their industry is losing approximately $3 billion annually.
Despite this estimation, and in a time where most professionals are suffering due to the economic crisis, Hollywood seems to actually be doing better than ever with movie ticket sales increasing by 12% compared to last year (6). However independent filmmakers are feeling the heat “I’ve been in the business for seven years, and this is one of the worst times I’ve seen,” says indie filmmaker Rastogi, “films that could be made two years back - you can’t even think about them anymore. The companies we are talking and distributing with, half of them are not even in business right now” (6). These filmmakers are being forced to consider other options, fortunately, they seem to know where to turn “For independent filmmakers like me, we absolutely have to use the Internet,” said Fay Ann Lee, a writer, producer, director and actress who lives in New York. “It’s really the only answer” (6). The biggest innovation, and inspiration, for all independent filmmakers out there comes in the form of a film called Four Eyed Monsters, a film released exclusively and in its entirety on Youtube. Due to a deal with Youtube, the filmmakers make one dollar of profit for every view their video received. Filmmakers Weeks and Caldwell who were struggling to find a film festival to take their film were able to strike a similar deal with Youtube for their film 10 MPH and now receive 55% of the advertising revenues generated by their film (6).
(This is the trailer for the full-length Youtube feature Four Eyed Monsters.)
There are a number of similar opportunities available all across the web nowadays. Organizations like Indieflix is a unique film distribution company that will distribute chosen films across sites such as Hulu and Netflix and make profits for the filmmaker at a 30% commission rate (4). In a similar fashion amazon.com’s createspace.com offers filmmakers the opportunity to sell DVDs and video downloads. This change in the flow of production, distribution and consumption is creating equality amongst artists. People with good ideas finally have the chance to gain exposure when normally they’d have to live in America and work their way into cinema. Anyone around the world with a video camera, a small budget and a creative mind can catch a break nowadays. With technology getting cheaper, and distribution getting easier, everyone is starting to get their say rather than the same old Hollywood numbskulls, over and over again.
The fact is an interest in film is something one develops over the years. Whether or not one is privileged enough to break into mainstream cinema is not a sign of professionalism. The only boundary is the resources and the cost. But with new communication technologies on the rise, getting cheaper and better by the year, the world is entering a new age, where every man and woman can have their say. Whether it’s a phone camera, digital camera or handy cam, anyone can film their thoughts aloud, their actions, a collage of their feelings and place it on the internet for the world to see, react and respond. For all its whining about piracy, Hollywood has little to worry about in the long run, it’s the fact that independent filmmakers may start to outshine them that they should really worry about.
All webpages accessed on the 17th of October (2009).
(1.) http://blog.videoagency.tv/category/internet-video/
(2.) Novarra, 2009 http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=865207&afterinter=true
(3.) Rajagopalan, Pras 2009, Obama Inauguration Puts Online Video Consumption Into Focus, http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/01/21/online-video.html
(4.) Jones, Sean 2009, How Filmmakers Can Beat the Recession, http://www.independent-magazine.org/magazine/06/2009/beattherecession
(5.) Pruitt, Scarlet, 2004, MPAA: Movie Piracy Is the New Plague, http://www.pcworld.com/article/116842/mpaa_movie_piracy_is_the_new_plague.html
(6.) Chow, Denise 2009, Economy Leaves Independent Filmmakers Reeling, http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/pavement/in/economy-leaves-independent-filmmakers-reeling/
“3. Digital media put the tools of production into the hands of the everyday computer user making it incredibly easy to produce content. These creative skills used to be something that people worked to develop. Now it appears that amateurs can produce content of a fair standard within a relatively short period of time. Where does this leave 'professionals' and highly-skilled artists? Choose one area of creativity and discuss some of the challenges facing practitioners vs amateurs in producing digitalcontent.”
The Production Consumption Conjunction – The Internet and Film
For the past century film and cinema has been controlled primarily by industries such as Hollywood with Independent filmmakers having to work extra hard to receive recognition. However, in the past decade the production and consumption of films has taken a major turn due to the internet and other digital technology. These new communication technologies are providing unique and effective ways of distributing content turning the entire world of production and consumption upside down.
Within the past few years, the number of videos viewed by the general public has increased drastically and is still on the rise. According to ComScore, in November 2008, America’s online audience had watched 34% more videos than the previous year, with 77% of all US internet users having watched videos (1). All in all, 97 million viewers watched 5.1 billion videos on Youtube alone, averaging in at approximately 52.3 videos per viewer (1). Furthermore, the mobile internet user population is predicted to more than double in this year and has already seen an increase of 74% in videos streamed (2). Thanks to websites like www.youtube.com amateurs, independent filmmakers and businesses can all upload their content regardless of quality and gain publicity. The popularity of these websites guarantee audiences and are changing the way the world of film works. Independent filmmakers are finally able to gain exposure and display their works within the continual onslaught of mainstream drivel.
The general public is wising up to the possibilities of the internet. On November 4th 2009, the U.S. election day, CNN.com gained 21.3 million video streams within the space of nine hours, over four times their previous record of 5 million viewers (3). Speaking in regards to the Obama inauguration, market research analyst Caroline Dangson stated “I think people realized that they had access to this in ways beyond television and traditional media” (3). While the internet is benefiting non mainstream producers and making production and distribution easier, the fact of the matter is consumption. While consumption of content has increased people are still mainly interested in what pop cultures dictates ‘good’ entertainment. The content may be there, but is it being seen? People seem to only be interested in the usual as evidenced by the fact those in Hollywood are losing millions of dollars of profit every year due to piracy over the internet. Anyone with the internet can download any movie released on DVD as well as bootlegs from a filesharing P2P network such as Limewire, Emule, or login to a bittorent network and download the files. Like when TV first emerged, people are beginning to stop going to the cinema and are buying movies less. Why would they bother when they can get them for free from the comfort of their own home? The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) conducted a survey of 3600 internet users in eight countries, including Australia with 24% of participants claiming to have downloaded a movie online (5). The change in technology seems to be directly relative, with countries like Korea where 98% of people run broadband, 58% of those surveyed claimed to have downloaded a movie (5). The MPAA estimates that due to this their industry is losing approximately $3 billion annually.
Despite this estimation, and in a time where most professionals are suffering due to the economic crisis, Hollywood seems to actually be doing better than ever with movie ticket sales increasing by 12% compared to last year (6). However independent filmmakers are feeling the heat “I’ve been in the business for seven years, and this is one of the worst times I’ve seen,” says indie filmmaker Rastogi, “films that could be made two years back - you can’t even think about them anymore. The companies we are talking and distributing with, half of them are not even in business right now” (6). These filmmakers are being forced to consider other options, fortunately, they seem to know where to turn “For independent filmmakers like me, we absolutely have to use the Internet,” said Fay Ann Lee, a writer, producer, director and actress who lives in New York. “It’s really the only answer” (6). The biggest innovation, and inspiration, for all independent filmmakers out there comes in the form of a film called Four Eyed Monsters, a film released exclusively and in its entirety on Youtube. Due to a deal with Youtube, the filmmakers make one dollar of profit for every view their video received. Filmmakers Weeks and Caldwell who were struggling to find a film festival to take their film were able to strike a similar deal with Youtube for their film 10 MPH and now receive 55% of the advertising revenues generated by their film (6).
(This is the trailer for the full-length Youtube feature Four Eyed Monsters.)
There are a number of similar opportunities available all across the web nowadays. Organizations like Indieflix is a unique film distribution company that will distribute chosen films across sites such as Hulu and Netflix and make profits for the filmmaker at a 30% commission rate (4). In a similar fashion amazon.com’s createspace.com offers filmmakers the opportunity to sell DVDs and video downloads. This change in the flow of production, distribution and consumption is creating equality amongst artists. People with good ideas finally have the chance to gain exposure when normally they’d have to live in America and work their way into cinema. Anyone around the world with a video camera, a small budget and a creative mind can catch a break nowadays. With technology getting cheaper, and distribution getting easier, everyone is starting to get their say rather than the same old Hollywood numbskulls, over and over again.
The fact is an interest in film is something one develops over the years. Whether or not one is privileged enough to break into mainstream cinema is not a sign of professionalism. The only boundary is the resources and the cost. But with new communication technologies on the rise, getting cheaper and better by the year, the world is entering a new age, where every man and woman can have their say. Whether it’s a phone camera, digital camera or handy cam, anyone can film their thoughts aloud, their actions, a collage of their feelings and place it on the internet for the world to see, react and respond. For all its whining about piracy, Hollywood has little to worry about in the long run, it’s the fact that independent filmmakers may start to outshine them that they should really worry about.
All webpages accessed on the 17th of October (2009).
(1.) http://blog.videoagency.tv/category/internet-video/
(2.) Novarra, 2009 http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=865207&afterinter=true
(3.) Rajagopalan, Pras 2009, Obama Inauguration Puts Online Video Consumption Into Focus, http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/01/21/online-video.html
(4.) Jones, Sean 2009, How Filmmakers Can Beat the Recession, http://www.independent-magazine.org/magazine/06/2009/beattherecession
(5.) Pruitt, Scarlet, 2004, MPAA: Movie Piracy Is the New Plague, http://www.pcworld.com/article/116842/mpaa_movie_piracy_is_the_new_plague.html
(6.) Chow, Denise 2009, Economy Leaves Independent Filmmakers Reeling, http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/pavement/in/economy-leaves-independent-filmmakers-reeling/
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
My Art
Our final task was to show off some 'sexy' (my words not the task) art we had created. Best of all it could be something we'd done previously, so I present, from my 17th birthday... see below, I'll explain what I did first. I uploaded some digital camera photos, opened them all in photoshop, resized the images, chopped off the sides and parts I didn't need and gave them a unique hue. As a finishing touch I nabbed a Reservoir Dogs jpg and combined them all together placing the images of me and my friends on top.
The end result features me and some friends in the form of what I believe an overrated movie. I also included the original images so that it can be seen what was done to them.
Enjoy this bizzare collaboration of images.
The end result features me and some friends in the form of what I believe an overrated movie. I also included the original images so that it can be seen what was done to them.
Enjoy this bizzare collaboration of images.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Lectures 9 & 10 - Learning Software and Video Games
In week 9 our good buddy Jason provided a rushed lecture in which he essentially messed around with the latest version of Adobe Flash. The underlying point was how to teach one's self a new piece of software as even if you think you know something, each version has the possibility of completely changing the program in question.
To put it simply, when using any piece of software you need to find the easiest and simplest way of doing what it is you need to do. Don't waste time trying to figure something out if it doesn't seem to be clicking, mess around with the toolbars and all the available options and be sure to SAVE constantly. Keep different copies of the same project in case you do something irreversible.
Each program is in itself a learning process. When it comes to big programs like Adobe Flash or Photoshop you're going to have to master them over time over many different projects, such things are not designed to be mastered overnight. That is not to say they aren't user friendly, just that they are highly complex toolsets intended to acheive many kinds of outcomes.
Just take it easy and remember your objective and start with the basics. Everyone is familiar with the arrow tool, use it to drag objects, highlight or select an area to work on. Other icons are self explanatory, the paint bucket is a tool most people figure out quickly by colouring an object. Just do the same for every other feature, select it and see what it does.
If you're having troubles, rather than using the help section which isn't intended for beginnersd but rather to guide experienced users through additional features, check out some forums. Consider your wording, work out what you are trying to achieve, google it, and check out forums where users post step by step tutorials.
That's all it takes to teach your self software; patience, perseverance, and a little research.
Our week 10 lecture consisted of the Study of Video Games. Obvious to anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past decade, video games have been integrated into our day to day culture and has become commonplace. In the 90s or earlier, video games may have been considered nerdy, with gamers stereotyped as 18 - 25 males who live at home with their parents. In fact, the only study conducted prior to 2005 placed 18 - 25 males equivalent to 80% of the entire video game market and so this stereotype was formed.
Despite the past, stats have changed and sicne 2005 41% of the market is now dominated by females with males still leading by 59%. Whether its due to new diversity in gaming platforms or genre, its clear times have changed, gaming is now socially acceptable as are gamers. This new integration raises many new questions though as gaming exists as an important part of the entertainment industry.
There are three main approaches to the study of gamers: Social Science, Humanities and Industry and Engineering. Social Science exmaines the effect of games on people with the most common complaint being against violence in video games. Now, I personally believe that video games don't create a violent person and that it makes sense that a violent person would be attracted to violent games. The most prominent activist, and often regarded hilarious by the gaming community, is self proclaimed crusader against video game violence Jack Thompson. Thompson has a vendetta against basically any game with even a hint of violence or immorality, his exploits can be viewed here http://www.jackthompson.org/. For a concise list of his cases also visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(activist) complete with sources for each case.
The next field of interest when it comes to video games, Humanities, studies what actually attracts people to video games whether I be the narrative or some other kind of appeal. Humanities aims to study the context in which games take place and how they reflect on the era in which they were created. Humanities regards video games as artifacts of an era and a medium of art.
Finally, the Industry and Engineering approach is often ignored by casual gamers. It is thanks to the demand for video games as a medium of entertainment that other forms of technology are produced, including what reguarly boosts the speed of computers. To make games better, new technology must be produced and so gaming companies are always working away at creating better processors and better systems to enable more speed and better visual presentation.
Lastly, I would like to bitch briefly about Wiifit. Okay, so its no worse than people using a fitness video or something similar, but our lecture actually informed us that they are using these in Gyms in America. That is stupid, the game basically informs you of exercise activities that you could read off of a poster or do on your own, it does not require a game. I know I sound like a technophobe and that this is in fact an innovation, but it takes the fun out of gaming, it isn't really a game. With games becoming commonplace, new developers are messing with the market and piling it with crap. Yes, this does attract a whole new audience to video game consoles opening them up to not only Fitness based programs but a full library of games as well, but it jsut seems wierd that we need a video game console to tell us how to exercise. I guess I'm just having difficulty adapting to the new era of games.
Having always been a fan of game since I was six years old I'm glad to see people are coming around. Back then I never knew anyone to discriminate against gamers, but i would certainyl sya it was still a niche market. Today games ar emore commonplace and it makes it better for us long time fans as we now have more games, and more enthusiasts to interact with.
To put it simply, when using any piece of software you need to find the easiest and simplest way of doing what it is you need to do. Don't waste time trying to figure something out if it doesn't seem to be clicking, mess around with the toolbars and all the available options and be sure to SAVE constantly. Keep different copies of the same project in case you do something irreversible.
Each program is in itself a learning process. When it comes to big programs like Adobe Flash or Photoshop you're going to have to master them over time over many different projects, such things are not designed to be mastered overnight. That is not to say they aren't user friendly, just that they are highly complex toolsets intended to acheive many kinds of outcomes.
Just take it easy and remember your objective and start with the basics. Everyone is familiar with the arrow tool, use it to drag objects, highlight or select an area to work on. Other icons are self explanatory, the paint bucket is a tool most people figure out quickly by colouring an object. Just do the same for every other feature, select it and see what it does.
If you're having troubles, rather than using the help section which isn't intended for beginnersd but rather to guide experienced users through additional features, check out some forums. Consider your wording, work out what you are trying to achieve, google it, and check out forums where users post step by step tutorials.
That's all it takes to teach your self software; patience, perseverance, and a little research.
Our week 10 lecture consisted of the Study of Video Games. Obvious to anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past decade, video games have been integrated into our day to day culture and has become commonplace. In the 90s or earlier, video games may have been considered nerdy, with gamers stereotyped as 18 - 25 males who live at home with their parents. In fact, the only study conducted prior to 2005 placed 18 - 25 males equivalent to 80% of the entire video game market and so this stereotype was formed.Despite the past, stats have changed and sicne 2005 41% of the market is now dominated by females with males still leading by 59%. Whether its due to new diversity in gaming platforms or genre, its clear times have changed, gaming is now socially acceptable as are gamers. This new integration raises many new questions though as gaming exists as an important part of the entertainment industry.
There are three main approaches to the study of gamers: Social Science, Humanities and Industry and Engineering. Social Science exmaines the effect of games on people with the most common complaint being against violence in video games. Now, I personally believe that video games don't create a violent person and that it makes sense that a violent person would be attracted to violent games. The most prominent activist, and often regarded hilarious by the gaming community, is self proclaimed crusader against video game violence Jack Thompson. Thompson has a vendetta against basically any game with even a hint of violence or immorality, his exploits can be viewed here http://www.jackthompson.org/. For a concise list of his cases also visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(activist) complete with sources for each case.
The next field of interest when it comes to video games, Humanities, studies what actually attracts people to video games whether I be the narrative or some other kind of appeal. Humanities aims to study the context in which games take place and how they reflect on the era in which they were created. Humanities regards video games as artifacts of an era and a medium of art.
Finally, the Industry and Engineering approach is often ignored by casual gamers. It is thanks to the demand for video games as a medium of entertainment that other forms of technology are produced, including what reguarly boosts the speed of computers. To make games better, new technology must be produced and so gaming companies are always working away at creating better processors and better systems to enable more speed and better visual presentation.
Lastly, I would like to bitch briefly about Wiifit. Okay, so its no worse than people using a fitness video or something similar, but our lecture actually informed us that they are using these in Gyms in America. That is stupid, the game basically informs you of exercise activities that you could read off of a poster or do on your own, it does not require a game. I know I sound like a technophobe and that this is in fact an innovation, but it takes the fun out of gaming, it isn't really a game. With games becoming commonplace, new developers are messing with the market and piling it with crap. Yes, this does attract a whole new audience to video game consoles opening them up to not only Fitness based programs but a full library of games as well, but it jsut seems wierd that we need a video game console to tell us how to exercise. I guess I'm just having difficulty adapting to the new era of games.
Having always been a fan of game since I was six years old I'm glad to see people are coming around. Back then I never knew anyone to discriminate against gamers, but i would certainyl sya it was still a niche market. Today games ar emore commonplace and it makes it better for us long time fans as we now have more games, and more enthusiasts to interact with.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Essay Topic For Week 12
Out of the potential essay topics I have chosen #3.
3. Digital media put the tools of production into the hands of the everyday computer user making it incredibly easy to produce content. These creative skills used to be something that people worked to develop. Now it appears that amateurs can produce content of a fair standard within a relatively short period of time. Where does this leave 'professionals' and highly-skilled artists? Choose one area of creativity and discuss some of the challenges facing practitioners vs amateurs in producing digitalcontent.
This is the most applicable to my interests and I intend to follow it up in the near future.
3. Digital media put the tools of production into the hands of the everyday computer user making it incredibly easy to produce content. These creative skills used to be something that people worked to develop. Now it appears that amateurs can produce content of a fair standard within a relatively short period of time. Where does this leave 'professionals' and highly-skilled artists? Choose one area of creativity and discuss some of the challenges facing practitioners vs amateurs in producing digitalcontent.
This is the most applicable to my interests and I intend to follow it up in the near future.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Lecture and Tutorial 8 - Politics!!
Today Stephen Stockwell opened the door for us to do some independent research on a topic we often overlook when it comes to our precious New Communication Technologies. I'm talking about politics and how our use of communication technologies has an affect on this. Now, this is not just referring to politicians and the like, but the politics of life and the world in general, so lets keep that in mind (although I will be talking about politicians too).
Of course, as per usual, internet enabled computers allow us to participate globally and share our political and social opinion while engaging in debate. The internet has changed the way political party's handle their campaign's with many politicians nowadays making use of youtube, facebook and twitter in order to gain the support of the new generation. I recall Kevin Rudd doing this back in the day - everyone loved him because he posted a video on youtube and he added anyone who would have him on facebook.
Most of us are what is referred to as part of 'the public sphere' meaning, we don't have a lot more influence than our single vote. However, through media and technology, including: the internet, talk back radio and opinion polls, we all get to have a say and most probably influence many final political outcomes. Regardless of how powerless we may feel, in the long run, if a person has a good opinion and can support it, people are going to notice and agree. The internet is just the resource to make such a statement.
If you look a few posts back, you'll notice the Taylor Swift versus Kanye West debate. Not a situation of great importance, but within hours of it happening the internet was riddled with opinionated video responses, such is its power. The same can be done for any political debate. So if you have a good opinion, go ahead and throw it on youtube, chances are people will listen, even if just a few thousand.
Another attribute of Stephen Stockwell's lecture was his overview of the 'Cyberpunk' genre. Technology influences our culture and times very strongly, with Cyberpunk exploring uses of powerful technologies, including computers, the internet, and ideas of cyberspace all with an underlying theme of anarchy.
There were also a number of great readings offered by the lecture including Mark Poster's 'Cyber Democracy' and also We’re all hackers now: Doing global democracy.
This week for our tutorial we had a number of tasks. Firstly we had to sign an epetition.
Rather than sign one of the many ridiculous petitions located at a site like petitionspot, I opted to sign something that might have actual momentum. So I looked a little deeper and found: whalesrevenge, it already had over one million signatures so I was more than happy to contribute. It also had a little flashgame on the homepage made in the style of 'sinksub' where instead of a submarine you take the role of a whale and shoot high pressure water at the Japanese ships above. A clever and fun game that clearly illustrates the cause and concern in question.
The next task was to find out what U.S. Prime Minister Barack Obama was up to today. I was quick to find a website that enjoys stalking him. While they were yet to update on his activities of the day, although, maybe they had, I'm just not taking into account time difference. The articles go as follows.
"Posted September 15 12:27:51 PM
UPDATED: The event has ended, but we'll have more on the President speech at the AFL-CIO Convention later."
"Posted September 15 5:59:12 PM
Earlier today, the President traveled to Pittsburgh, PA for the annual AFL-CIO convention. He addressed the gather union members, thanking them for their support and laying out his priorities. He spoke about the Recovery Act, his priorities for rebuilding a new, greener economy, and how health insurance reform will help all Americans achieve security and stability when it comes to their medical care. Here are some excerpts from the speech: For over half…"
If you want to stalk Barack Obama too, I recommend www.barackobama.com.
Next I was to respond to a professional blogger at a major news site. I frequent ninemsn news as it pops up every time I log into messenger. I scrolled through some pop culture stories and replied to this one in particular.
http://music.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=486180&showcomments=true
Now I was to find out who my local, state and federal representatives are. This wasn't exactly easy, but after checking a number of government sites I managed to find the people in question.
www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au led me to CR John Wayne of the Gold Coast City Council, my local Helensvale representative. The others were a little easier with my State government representative for Qld being MP Peta-Kaye Croft and my federal representative for Australia being MP Stuart Robert MP. The prior two representatives were derived from these sources:
http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/attachment/factsheets/contacts-federal.pdf
http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/attachment/factsheets/fs357_government_members.pdf
My next task instructed me to find out the last time my local member had spoken in parliament and then to let him know what I thought about his speech. I wasn't able to find any info on his parliament speeches, it seems his focus is dedicated to the local community. All for his current exploits can be found here along with an email address (division2@goldcoast.qld.gov.au) at the bottom of the document where I was able to contact him and let him know he was a benefit to our community. If I really wanted I could meet him in person "I am at the Helensvale library to meet with residents on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 9am to 10am. No appointment is necessary."
Finally, with all that said and done, it's time to attack...
THE CLEAN FEED!!!
From the time it was first brought up there has been unanimous disapproval from nearly all Australians except for the evil Minister - Senator Stephen Conroy. My personal thoughts and feelings on censorship were already very strong. I utterly disapprove of censorship of any kind, I see censorship as denying reality and locking the bank of available knowledge. I agree things should be classified in age appropriate categories, that way, the parents and the individual gain the responsibility and the freedom to choose what they can and can't watch, view or interact with. That freedom is what we are about to lose should the evil Minister - Senator Stephen Conroy's plan to censor the world go through. I say this because the majority of all information nowadays comes from the internet. It's the greatest collaboration of human knowledge and creativity on earth and Stephen Conroy seems to be jealous. I am thoroughly against his evil plan.
The website www.nocleanfeed.com says it all in terms of good points. I highly recommend viewing it if you wish to learn more about the Clean Feed and what it means for Australia.
The following facts come from the aforementioned site.
"The filtering will target legal as well as illegal material."
"$44m has been budgeted for the implementation of this scheme so far."
"The clean-feed for children will be opt-out, but a second filter will be mandatory for all Internet users."
"A filter will slow Internet access down by up to 80% according to a Government report."
"Only illegal material published on web sites could be targeted, completely missing other methods of distribution such as BitTorrent."
(Which just happens to be the biggest method of illegal distribution from what I gather and hear from people that use torrents.)
"Most Australians don't want the filter.Support for this overly broad policy is virtually non-existent, even from child-protection organisations. A recent survey shows that 51.5% of Australian net user strongly oppose the plan, while only 2.9% strongly support it."
"The money is better spent elsewhere. The filter will cost tens of millions of dollars to attempt. Yet the Government's own studies admit education is more effective than filtering in protecting children, and that "content risks" are less dangerous than other risks."
It's unclear whether or not this plan is specifically being implemented in order to protect children from content or whether its focused on preventing illegal downloads, however, the very act of such viewership, the responsibility falls on the user themselves, and in the case of children, the parents.
"The protection for children is minor at best, an illusion at worst. The clean-feed does nothing to protect children from real threats like cyber-bullying, online sexual predators, viruses, or the theft of personal information. It may provide a false sense of security to parents, reducing effective monitoring of their children's online activities."
As my favorite quote from nocleanfeed asks "Who decides what material is "appropriate" for Australians to see?" The world is what it is and life would be better spent trying to improve the world directly rather than trying to pretend like certain things don't exist. Plus it's a massive waste of money - trying to spend money denying us the internet! How about spending that money so that people who can barely afford food might be able to eat time to time, let alone have internet.
Jeez, this filter thing has gotten me really worked up.
Craig Out.
Of course, as per usual, internet enabled computers allow us to participate globally and share our political and social opinion while engaging in debate. The internet has changed the way political party's handle their campaign's with many politicians nowadays making use of youtube, facebook and twitter in order to gain the support of the new generation. I recall Kevin Rudd doing this back in the day - everyone loved him because he posted a video on youtube and he added anyone who would have him on facebook.
Most of us are what is referred to as part of 'the public sphere' meaning, we don't have a lot more influence than our single vote. However, through media and technology, including: the internet, talk back radio and opinion polls, we all get to have a say and most probably influence many final political outcomes. Regardless of how powerless we may feel, in the long run, if a person has a good opinion and can support it, people are going to notice and agree. The internet is just the resource to make such a statement.
If you look a few posts back, you'll notice the Taylor Swift versus Kanye West debate. Not a situation of great importance, but within hours of it happening the internet was riddled with opinionated video responses, such is its power. The same can be done for any political debate. So if you have a good opinion, go ahead and throw it on youtube, chances are people will listen, even if just a few thousand.
Another attribute of Stephen Stockwell's lecture was his overview of the 'Cyberpunk' genre. Technology influences our culture and times very strongly, with Cyberpunk exploring uses of powerful technologies, including computers, the internet, and ideas of cyberspace all with an underlying theme of anarchy.
There were also a number of great readings offered by the lecture including Mark Poster's 'Cyber Democracy' and also We’re all hackers now: Doing global democracy.
This week for our tutorial we had a number of tasks. Firstly we had to sign an epetition.
Rather than sign one of the many ridiculous petitions located at a site like petitionspot, I opted to sign something that might have actual momentum. So I looked a little deeper and found: whalesrevenge, it already had over one million signatures so I was more than happy to contribute. It also had a little flashgame on the homepage made in the style of 'sinksub' where instead of a submarine you take the role of a whale and shoot high pressure water at the Japanese ships above. A clever and fun game that clearly illustrates the cause and concern in question.
The next task was to find out what U.S. Prime Minister Barack Obama was up to today. I was quick to find a website that enjoys stalking him. While they were yet to update on his activities of the day, although, maybe they had, I'm just not taking into account time difference. The articles go as follows."Posted September 15 12:27:51 PM
UPDATED: The event has ended, but we'll have more on the President speech at the AFL-CIO Convention later."
"Posted September 15 5:59:12 PM
Earlier today, the President traveled to Pittsburgh, PA for the annual AFL-CIO convention. He addressed the gather union members, thanking them for their support and laying out his priorities. He spoke about the Recovery Act, his priorities for rebuilding a new, greener economy, and how health insurance reform will help all Americans achieve security and stability when it comes to their medical care. Here are some excerpts from the speech: For over half…"
If you want to stalk Barack Obama too, I recommend www.barackobama.com.
Next I was to respond to a professional blogger at a major news site. I frequent ninemsn news as it pops up every time I log into messenger. I scrolled through some pop culture stories and replied to this one in particular.
http://music.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=486180&showcomments=true
Now I was to find out who my local, state and federal representatives are. This wasn't exactly easy, but after checking a number of government sites I managed to find the people in question.
www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au led me to CR John Wayne of the Gold Coast City Council, my local Helensvale representative. The others were a little easier with my State government representative for Qld being MP Peta-Kaye Croft and my federal representative for Australia being MP Stuart Robert MP. The prior two representatives were derived from these sources:
http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/attachment/factsheets/contacts-federal.pdf
http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/attachment/factsheets/fs357_government_members.pdf
My next task instructed me to find out the last time my local member had spoken in parliament and then to let him know what I thought about his speech. I wasn't able to find any info on his parliament speeches, it seems his focus is dedicated to the local community. All for his current exploits can be found here along with an email address (division2@goldcoast.qld.gov.au) at the bottom of the document where I was able to contact him and let him know he was a benefit to our community. If I really wanted I could meet him in person "I am at the Helensvale library to meet with residents on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 9am to 10am. No appointment is necessary."
Finally, with all that said and done, it's time to attack...
THE CLEAN FEED!!!
From the time it was first brought up there has been unanimous disapproval from nearly all Australians except for the evil Minister - Senator Stephen Conroy. My personal thoughts and feelings on censorship were already very strong. I utterly disapprove of censorship of any kind, I see censorship as denying reality and locking the bank of available knowledge. I agree things should be classified in age appropriate categories, that way, the parents and the individual gain the responsibility and the freedom to choose what they can and can't watch, view or interact with. That freedom is what we are about to lose should the evil Minister - Senator Stephen Conroy's plan to censor the world go through. I say this because the majority of all information nowadays comes from the internet. It's the greatest collaboration of human knowledge and creativity on earth and Stephen Conroy seems to be jealous. I am thoroughly against his evil plan.
The website www.nocleanfeed.com says it all in terms of good points. I highly recommend viewing it if you wish to learn more about the Clean Feed and what it means for Australia.
The following facts come from the aforementioned site.
"The filtering will target legal as well as illegal material."
"$44m has been budgeted for the implementation of this scheme so far."
"The clean-feed for children will be opt-out, but a second filter will be mandatory for all Internet users."
"A filter will slow Internet access down by up to 80% according to a Government report."
"Only illegal material published on web sites could be targeted, completely missing other methods of distribution such as BitTorrent."
(Which just happens to be the biggest method of illegal distribution from what I gather and hear from people that use torrents.)
"Most Australians don't want the filter.Support for this overly broad policy is virtually non-existent, even from child-protection organisations. A recent survey shows that 51.5% of Australian net user strongly oppose the plan, while only 2.9% strongly support it."
"The money is better spent elsewhere. The filter will cost tens of millions of dollars to attempt. Yet the Government's own studies admit education is more effective than filtering in protecting children, and that "content risks" are less dangerous than other risks."
It's unclear whether or not this plan is specifically being implemented in order to protect children from content or whether its focused on preventing illegal downloads, however, the very act of such viewership, the responsibility falls on the user themselves, and in the case of children, the parents.
"The protection for children is minor at best, an illusion at worst. The clean-feed does nothing to protect children from real threats like cyber-bullying, online sexual predators, viruses, or the theft of personal information. It may provide a false sense of security to parents, reducing effective monitoring of their children's online activities."
As my favorite quote from nocleanfeed asks "Who decides what material is "appropriate" for Australians to see?" The world is what it is and life would be better spent trying to improve the world directly rather than trying to pretend like certain things don't exist. Plus it's a massive waste of money - trying to spend money denying us the internet! How about spending that money so that people who can barely afford food might be able to eat time to time, let alone have internet.
Jeez, this filter thing has gotten me really worked up.
Craig Out.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
My Freeware Experience
As it turned out when I went to download some freeware programs I was to discover that I was already an avid user of such things
Firstly there was VLC Media Player. This program has always been a pleasant alternative to the default Windows Media Player, allowing different video and audio streams as well as the application of different sets of subtitles. To this day I still don't understand the workings, generally if you can't play a video you simply download a newer codec and that should do the trick, but not always, however, simply with VLC you can play nearly any type of file you desire. I highly recommend this if you're having any troubles in that area.
Yet another example of my already ample use of freeware was Mozilla Firefox which I have been using for years. Simply put, it feels smoother than the standard Internet Explorer, it has the option of downloading applications to make browsing a safer and more pleasurable experience. Such applications include the Video Downloader which allows one to save videos from sites such as youtube for offline viewing. While not too much different to Internet Explorer, the interface is slightly different and just feels more aesthetic, so again, a good recommendation.
Frets on Fire is a more creative application. I had never tried it, but my friend introduced me to the program a few years back and I was impressed. In the style of the popular video game series Guitar Hero, Frets on Fire allows users to take any song and then use their keyboard like a guitar to electronically play the song. This is a greta free program if you're too cheap to dish out for Guitar Hero and if you're not too embarassed about using a keyboard as a guitar. Though you have to program songs that don't automatically come with the program, most songs can be found by users from other sites if you're willing to seek them out.
Ah, and now we come to GIMP, a Godsend for anyone who doesn't happen to have a spare $1000 or so sitting around for something than they more often than not need in a computer class. GIMP is essentially photoshop, while minus a few features, all the essentials are there, including shade and colourization, chopping out backgrounds, multiple layers and plenty more. So don't be a chump and fork out for photoshop, get GIMP.
The world of freeware continues to evolve as wonderful individuals contribute a great array of programs to the already prominent catalogue. There's a bright future in the world of freeware, a world where you don't quite know what's around the corner, but you're sure it'll be good.
Firstly there was VLC Media Player. This program has always been a pleasant alternative to the default Windows Media Player, allowing different video and audio streams as well as the application of different sets of subtitles. To this day I still don't understand the workings, generally if you can't play a video you simply download a newer codec and that should do the trick, but not always, however, simply with VLC you can play nearly any type of file you desire. I highly recommend this if you're having any troubles in that area.
Yet another example of my already ample use of freeware was Mozilla Firefox which I have been using for years. Simply put, it feels smoother than the standard Internet Explorer, it has the option of downloading applications to make browsing a safer and more pleasurable experience. Such applications include the Video Downloader which allows one to save videos from sites such as youtube for offline viewing. While not too much different to Internet Explorer, the interface is slightly different and just feels more aesthetic, so again, a good recommendation.
Frets on Fire is a more creative application. I had never tried it, but my friend introduced me to the program a few years back and I was impressed. In the style of the popular video game series Guitar Hero, Frets on Fire allows users to take any song and then use their keyboard like a guitar to electronically play the song. This is a greta free program if you're too cheap to dish out for Guitar Hero and if you're not too embarassed about using a keyboard as a guitar. Though you have to program songs that don't automatically come with the program, most songs can be found by users from other sites if you're willing to seek them out.
Ah, and now we come to GIMP, a Godsend for anyone who doesn't happen to have a spare $1000 or so sitting around for something than they more often than not need in a computer class. GIMP is essentially photoshop, while minus a few features, all the essentials are there, including shade and colourization, chopping out backgrounds, multiple layers and plenty more. So don't be a chump and fork out for photoshop, get GIMP.
The world of freeware continues to evolve as wonderful individuals contribute a great array of programs to the already prominent catalogue. There's a bright future in the world of freeware, a world where you don't quite know what's around the corner, but you're sure it'll be good.
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