Research Essay

Is there enough literature available to determine whether video game use has a positive or negative affect on youth?

A common debate that is receiving increasing popularity is the argument as to whether or not there is enough literature available to determine whether video game use has a positive or negative affect on youth, or if it has any affect at all. Experts have completely opposing ideas on the topic and most research on the topic shows persuasive and truthful facts. This is where the argument is most prominent. Although there has been extensive research done on the topic, is there really enough literary content available for us to find a definite answer? Or do experts need to delve further into the subject matter to reach a solid, believable conclusion?

There is an extensive list of health issues associated with gaming. One of the most talked about and most common is Repetitive Strain Injury. Otherwise known as RSI. RSI is commonly known as a condition in which the extensive performance of repetitive actions with the any body part, particularly the hands, causes aches and pains or impairs the function in the tendons and muscles involved. Examples of activities that people can suffer RSI from are texting, typing and video games. There for it goes without saying that individuals that use video games on a regular basis are more likely to suffer from RSI than people who do not use video games. People who ritually play computer games or use a computer often in their workplace are at risk of obtaining a Repetitive Strain Injury. According to rsi-therapy.com, if you type 40 words a minute you press 12,000 keys per hour or 96,000 keys per 8-hour day. Approximately 8 ounces of force is necessary to press one key, your fingers daily will exercise almost 16 tones of force. (Reference 2)

Although this is extensive, RSI is easily treated if detected early. It is rarely a permanent injury unless it is a chronic case left untreated for an extensive period of time. Although Repetitive Strain Injury is common among gamers, it is not exclusive to them. RSI is more common among people who use computers for extensive periods of time in their workplace than in the gaming community.

Another medically diagnosed issue associated with gaming is depression. A report by Serena Gordon written for Health Day explains how Depression is linked to gaming and how there has not been enough extensive research done on the area for experts to evaluate if gaming is the sole reason for youth/gamers becoming depressed.

Although it is a fact that gaming can become an addiction, which can lead to depression, anxiety and other social disorders, it might not be the game itself that causes these mental disorders. Serena Gordon stated in the report

“It might be that kids who are socially awkward, who aren't doing well in school, get depressed and then lose themselves into games.” This is a common belief, but is often contradicted by others research on the subject matter. In this particular area of research, more investigation needs to be undergone before we can know the order in which people develop a gaming addiction.

Although the negative side to gaming is often being brought to the publics’ attention, there are companies who develop gaming software that can benefit the health of gamers. The development of the Nintendo Wii has been revolutionary in terms of the health problems associated with gaming. The original Nintendo Wii was released on November 19^th, 2006. It’s initial purpose was to create a new era of gaming in the sense that the buttons on the controls were secondary to the actions of the gamer, as it is motion censored. The physically demanding aspect of the game was always alluring, but it wasn’t until 2008 when Nintendo started releasing games specifically designed to be physically challenging and aimed to get the users fit. The release of the Wii Fit Plus saw a new era of gaming. It’s advertising campaigns makes the claim that the range of sports it offers in the form of a video game is equally as demanding as the real thing. This form of technology can easily counteract arguments claiming that the every form of video gaming is having a negative impact on the health of youths.

Glenda Cooper wrote an article for the telegraph about her experience with the Wii Fit. For the production of this article, she had a personal trainer assess her work out on the Wii fit and give his comments and feedback on the overall work out.

A direct quote from the article states: “Wii exercises are short (one to two minutes, until you have repeated them enough times to be considered "safe" to access the longer exercises), and it takes time to switch between the games. Stubbs is not impressed. "There's no continuity between the exercises as you would get in a class or with a trainer," he says.”(Reference one)

As a professional in the area of fitness, some people would take the advice of the personal trainer. But the spokespersons of the Wii Fit have heavily advertised real statistics that claim prove otherwise. This is another example of more extensive research needing to be done in this area.

Of course at the end of the day, the choice of game the youth wants to play is ultimately up to them. They can opt to play video games associated with health issues, or they can play video games that are good for ones health with proven results.

Although there have been a large number of academic reports, articles and investigations undergone in an attempt to find out if video games are definitely linked to health issues among youths, there are no solid conclusions that can be drawn. The findings in this essay prove that there is not enough literature available to determine whether video game use has a positive or negative affect on youth.

Bibliography:

Cooper, G. (2008). Health and fitness: Getting a Wii bit fitter?. The Telegraph. 1 (1), 1-2.

Rauh, S. (2010). Video Game Addiction No Fun. WebMD. 17 (1), 1-2.

Williams, L. (2005). RSI Statistics. Available: http://www.rsi-therapy.com/statistics.htm. Last accessed 16th Oct 2011.

Wii Fit Spokesperson. (2011). Fitness Game For Nintendo Wii. Available: http://wiifit.com/. Last accessed 18th Oct 2011.

Jones, A. (2010). Computer Games - Health Issues. Available: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Computer_games_health_issues?open. Last accessed 17th Oct 2011.

Unkown. (2011). Video games may fuel mental health problems. Available: http://www.tyackhealth.com.au/node/256. Last accessed

References:

1) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/dietandfitness/3354182/Health-and-fitness-Getting-a-Wii-bit-fitter.html

2) http://www.rsi-therapy.com/statistics.htm

Week 9 - Response to Content

Democracy & The Future
Cyber Politics & eDemocracy

Cyber Politics = politics of the internet that exist predominantly on the internet.
eDemocracy = Internets role in the real world politics that exist predominantly off the internet.

Week 9 - Tutorial Task

Part 1

The essay topic I've chosen is:
Does the extensive use of computer/video games have an adverse impact on the health of young people. What are the most recent papers? Clarify what both sides of the argument claim and only then offer your reasoned opinion based on facts.

I will be taking an open minded position in said argument. But dominantly leaning towards the idea that computer/video games are heavily advertised to seem as if they can be bad for ones health, but there aren't necessarily any facts or hard evidence supporting this.


Part 2
Charlie Pickering:
The 7pm Project is embarking on new ground this week with pollies week.
MP Bob Katter kicked if off tonight sitting on the panel with the usual suspects, while  Greg Combet MP, AM also joined the panel briefly to discuss the newly announced carbon offset package.
While such situations are usually cringeworthy, Bob was somehow engaging with his quirky annecdotes and long stories, that surely pushed the shows original schedule out somewhat.
Other pollies lined up for the rest of this week included Adam Bandt, Tony Abbott and even the PM herself tomorrow night. The full lineup can be seen on the The 7pm Project website.
Somehow I don’t think any of them will be quite as good as Bob, but we’ll have to wait and see. If only the pollies didn’t pop up only when they’ve got some new package to sell us.


My Response:
Clearly the way we view politics in the 21st century has become a joke of sorts. Pickers sarcastic remarks abounding Bob Katter's long winded responses and his excitement over which politics have lined up to appear on the show on seperate nights throughout the week. Pickers use of the sentence "Somehow I don’t think any of them will be quite as good as Bob, but we’ll have to wait and see." Is clearly referencing the fact that he views the politicians as a joke, and implying that their appearances on the show are purely for entertainment. If any of the readers of this blog post did not pick up on Pickerings sarcasm, all they have to do is watch an politically directed episode of the 7PM Project and see for themselves how the politicians are viewed and talked about. Although some episodes are quite funny, I don't necessarily agree with how Australia views the political world. We crave the respect of hard work of out politicians, but with professional news broadcasters like the 7PM project making a mockery of them, how can we expect anything more from politicians?


What is Barack Obama doing today?
Obama hosted the first White House LGBT pride reception

What are the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")? 
The Australian Government are planning to censor the Internet for all Australians. This is to ensure that they can filter a lengthy list of websites deemed prohibited and inappropriate by the Australian Communications and Media Authority with the agenda of ensuring children are protected from harmful and inappropriate online material.

What place does censorship have in a democracy? 
The concept of relying on an entire nation to do the right thing by simply not looking at websites deemed illegal is ludicrous. There will always be criminals that will purposely do the wrong thing for their enjoyment. This ranges from looking at websites related to the black market to child pornography.  The Government should take action to censor these websites to minimize criminal activity. If they have the power to filter illegal websites, and in term, minimize criminal activity on the web, then it's something that needs to be done.


When will the NBN get to your place? What are the benefits?
The National Broadband Network will get to my area of the second release. The benefits of this are a faster broadband internet connection. The NBA is capable of providing broadband speeds of up to 1 gigabyte per second.

Week 8 - Response to Content

Part one
Free Culture and Free Software

One of the major players of this concept is web 2.0, where the general public and put our own info on the web for the benefit of others.

The best example of free software is social media websites. These began with blogs/weblogs then slowly progressed into social networking. i.e Facebook/myspace/twitter

With the technology of free culture of software online, anybody with over 6 months experience on a specific social networking website considers themselves a social media expert. Although they do to refer to themselves as such.

With so many people using countless free social networking websites, it would see that the owners of web 2.0 wouldn't make any money as there is no usage fee. The reason these websites are so successful and their creators are so wealthy is the money they get from advertising. This is why the people who create and run these websites reserve the right to sell your details to whoever they want. This enables them to published advertisements that would be personalized specifically for each user in accordance to their details and the content that they post.

Part two
Creative Commons
Creative commons is a webstie that allowes anyone to use artworks/anything. It covers everything that copyright covers, but allows people to borrow/alter other peoples creations. It doesn't give people complete rights, but relaxes the rights so people can use images but must stick to the artists agreement.

When uploading something to creative commons, you are required to create a copyright contract that informs other users what they can and cannot do with your work.

A series of symbols shows other users what is and isn't covered in a copyright contract:

Non-commercial. This symbol means that you may not use the work for commercial purposes. The creator of the work has given permission for you to use the work, but not if you stand to profit from the work.

No Derivative Works. This symbol means that you may use the work, but you may only use verbatim copies. In other words, you may not clip or change an image or video licensed under an ND (No Derivative Works) license. The work must be identical to its original in your own work.

Share Alike. This symbol means that you may use the work in your own work, but only if you license your derivative works under the same Creative Commons License. In other words, the creator agrees to share his or her work with you only if you share your work, too. Be careful if you use works licensed under a Share Alike license—the terms under which you share your work must be identical to the original creator's terms. That means if they allow commercial use, you must also.

Week 8 - Tutorial Task

Click here to see my short film highlighting the importance of New Communication technology for an average person.

Exegesis-
I chose to do a short film of a realistic situation, apposed to an educational piece with statistics and graphs to prove a point. The purpose was to take a different approach and produce something different.
The film highlights the importance of technology in modern society. I chose the setting of a job interview as the interviewer can ask the interviewee questions that refer to their knowledge in technology.
Throughout the film, there's shot's of smartphones, GPS', Google Maps, laptops and facebook etc.. I incorporated all of these elements into the clip to present the ideologies of the clip in a realistic way.
One aspect of the clip which was decided a the end of the filming process was the last line in the clip. The interviewer yells at the interviewee "LOL JOKES, Piss off!" It was a concious choice of words because talking in texting/facbook language is becoming more and more common in society.  

Week 7 - Response to Content

The Evolution of Production and Consumption.
"Producage & Produsers"

Wikipedia Definition of Producage and Produsers is:
"In collaborative communities the creation of shared content takes place in a network, participatory environment which breaks down the boundaries between producers and consumers and instead enables all participants to be users as well as producers of information and knowledge - frequently in a hybrid role of produser where usage is necessarily also productive."

A much more basic definition is the way we watch and create creative mediums in accordance with copyright (mainly films) can be further developed with the ideologies of "Producage & Produsers". 

Producers spelled with a C are professionals that maintain heavy copyright on all their work, where as produsers spelled with an S refers to everyday people within the community that can share, edit and produce each others work under less specific copyright laws.

This concept enables
- Continual repurposing of content
- Out with the old, and in with the new concept
- Remix, reuse and recycle
- Celebration of the incomplete
- Democratization of professional production

The key principals of this are
- Open participation, communcal evaluation
- Fluid heterachy, Ad Hoc Meritocracy
- unfinished artifacts, continuing process
- Common property, Individual rewards.

Week 7 - Tutorial Task

Day 1 - Pre-production
Consisted of creating a three column script. It was a rough outline of how i wanted the clip to look.  I also considered different effects and transitions i could use in order to best exaggerate the concept of the clip.

Day 2 - Filming
I filmed all shots multiple times. I experimented with shot sizes and angles so i could have a variety of different clips by the end of the editing phase and i could choose the best ones. I had a few issues with filming. They were all relatively small and easy to fix/change. Lighting was an issue. As i filmed the clip in multiple different locations, the lighting often changed and the aesthetic value of the clips when edited together was weakened (I resolved this issue in day 3). The most annoying issue in the filming process was faults in the three column script. In my experience, I have learned that my ideas for the three column script sometimes don't transfer well to actually being filmed. The ending that i had written was actually quite week after I looked over the footage. To resolve this, I re-filmed an improvised ending which is on the final product.

Day 3 - Editing
The editing phase was much less time consuming then I initially thought it would be. The sound effects I've used in the clip are actually sounds that I recorded myself

Week 6 - Response to Content

The theme of this weeks lecture was the History of cinema.
The word cinema was first created on December 25th, 1895 in Paris, France. The word is derived from Cinematograph which is the art of making motion pictures.
Seven years later in 1903, the first ever Narrative film was created. The shots mainly consisted of basic daily activities such as sneezing and cleaning.

In 1906 the first ever full length feature film was made in Australia. As a result of the popularity of the concept of moving pictures, studios then began creating cereals in 1912. Each one was a shorter film released in episodic installments.

1913 saw the birth of the studio system with Thomas Harper creating the first. Up until this date, all films were independent and made by wealthy people with an expendable income. This was the birth of Hollywood. Another massive leap in the film industry was in 1927 when film makers had the technology to record dialogue and then sync the film to it. The Jazz singer was the first ever widely screened film featuring sound. Then after this development, 1929 saw the first ever natural colour film. It was a musical called 'On With the Show'. In the same year, the first ever Oscars were held in Hollywood.

In 1933, producers began experimenting with the ways in which viewers could watch their films. This was the birth of the first ever drive in movie theater. Then in 1937, the industry saw one of the most profound leaps in the cinematic world. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first ever full length animated feature. It was made on a budget of $1.5m and made $8m which was an astounding profit in it's time.

In 1939, television was formally introduced at New Yorks world fair in Queens. This was a major rival of studio companies, as there was a large decline in viewers visiting movie theaters when they could watch movies and news from the comfort of their home. Years later in 1952, movie studios introduced 3D films as an attempts to counteract television and get viewers back into their cinemas. It wasn't until years later that studio companies had the realization that they could team with the television companies and sell their movies to them to make profit that way.

These were the major developments that sculpted the way we can view movies and television today. Since the year 1952, there have been no major developments in the industry, but film quality has slowly progressed into the films that we can view today.

Week 6 - Tutorial Task

The concept of my short clip based on New Communication Technology is relatively simple. The film will be short, simple and creative. It will feature a woman running late for a job interview, and being unsuccessful in her because of her lack of technology knowledge. The clip will run similarly to an art film. I will represent the theme and ideologies of the clip dominantly through visuals and various shot angles and sizes. I will also feature how much and average person uses communication technologies on a daily basis by showing the lead up to the woman's job interview. She will use devices/software such as a smartphone, a GPS, a computer and google maps.

Week 5 - Tutorial Task

Where was the first university established and in which year?
By continent, the oldest universities are headed up by the University of Nanjing, in China, founded around 258 BCE. It was only formally termed a “university” in 1888, but it has offered education to Chinese without the issuance of formal degrees for centuries.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-oldest-universities-in-the-world.htm
Date accessed: 24/8/2011
I found this information using blackle.com

What is Stephen Stockwells band called and what does he play? Name a couple of their songs.
Stephen Stockwells band is called The Black Assassins and he plays the keyboard and vocals
Some of their songs are Death Take Me Now, Drugs, Azaria, Fuck Me Fuck My Dog.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm
Date accessed: 24/8/2011
I found this information using blackle.com

What is the weight of the world’s biggest machine? How much did it cost to build?
The worlds biggest machine is a 45,000 ton digger, built by krups in Germany. It can dig 240,000 cubic meters of dirt per day.
That is the equivalent to a football field size hole that is 30 meters deep.
http://www.neatorama.com/2010/01/26/bagger-288-the-worlds-biggest-machine/
Date accessed: 24/8/2011
I found this information using blackle.com

Who is Justin Bieber's lawyer, and what is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact the lawyer?
?

What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne?
To leave tomorrow, the cheapest form of travel is a Jet Star flight. It costs $159.
http://booknow.jetstar.com/Select.aspx
Date accessed: 24/8/2011
I found this information using blackle.com

Who is Hatsune Miku? What company does she belong to? What is her birthday?
Hatsune Miku is a fake/manufactured Japanese vocalist. She belongs to Crypton Future Media.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/11/japanese-pop-star-takes-the-stage-as-a-3-d-hologram.html
Date accessed: 24/8/2011
I found this information using blackle.com

Find a live webcam in Belarus. Find a place to stay in Antarctica.Live webcam link: http://www.camvista.com/usercams/webcam/315095236/belarus/minsk/minsk-capital-city-square-web-cam-in-belarus/
Accommodation in Antarctica: http://www.icemarathon.com/live/155.htmlDate accessed: 24/8/2011
I found this information using blackle.com

What song was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1991?Mariah Carey - Emotions
http://tsort.info/music/yr1991.htmDate accessed: 24/8/2011
I found this information using blackle.com

What type of car is used to make ‘Google Street View’?A Volkswagen New Beatle with a 360 degree camera attached to the roof
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/01/take-a-look-at-the-vehicle-thats-taking-a-look-at-you/Date accessed: 24/8/2011
I found this information using blackle.com

Translate these questions into Spanish and then translate them back into English.
1. Where was the first established University and in what year?
2. What is the band Stephen Stockwell called and what makes the game? Can you name a couple of his songs?
3. What is the weight of the world's largest machine? What does it cost to build?
4. Who is Justin Bieber's attorney, and what is the best way (faster, more reliable) to contact the lawyer?
5. What is the cheapest way to travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne?
6. Miku Hatsune is Who? What company does she belong to? What is her birthday?
7.Find a live webcam in Belarus. Find a place to stay in Antarctica.
8. What song WAS top of the Australian pop charts This Week in 1991?
9. What type of car is Used to make 'Google Street View'?
10. Translate Into These questions translate Spanish and Then Back Into Them Español.

Week 5 - Response to Content

In the tutorial, we watched the film Rubber. The film is centered around the concept of no reasoning and goes against the codes and conventions for generic movies. The film begins with a police man telling an audience in the vast desert that the movie is not going to be conventional or make sense. He pours a full cup of water on the ground before he walks away for no apparent reason to put an emphasis on the ;no point' concept. The film is about an unanimous object - a tyre -  blowing up objects, animals and people with it's unexplained 'mind' powers. 

The general theme and feeling the audience is supposed to have towards the tyre begins as curiosity. Through the theme music and sometimes violent visuals, the audience then comes to the realization that the tyre is a 'villain'. When the background music changes and the lyrics say "I just don't want to be lonely" (or words to that effect), the audience begins to feel sorry for the tyre. And although the tyre has killed a human and a rabbit, the audience accepts it because the unanimous object is clearly acting out of loneliness.
Click here for the official trailer of Rubber

As we also learned in the lecture; the shot sizes and shot angles play a vital point in how the audience perceive the characters. A prime example of this in motion is the shots of the audience in the film watching the tyre through binoculars. In the audience, some characters were annoying and thus had a lower status. They were filmed with high angle shots, as apposed to the higher status characters filmed with low angle shots.

Week 4 - Tutorial Task

Terms and Conditions of Twitter - What you need to know

In the "Your Rights" sector of the terms and conditions of twitter, this is what follow: "By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed)."
This simply means that whatever you choose to post online is no longer exclusively yours. Anything you post on twitter then becomes their property. This gives them the right to do whatever they please with anything you post. It then goes on to say that twitter reserves the right to pass on anything you post to any of their partnering companies without you being informed.

A common misconception on this topic is that you have the legal rights to anything you post, genuinely because you posted it. But most users are seriously uninformed and tick the "I accept" box for the terms and conditions without reading it.

Another vital point in the twitter terms and conditions is under the "Limitation of Liability sector". This section basically just informs the twitter user that ANY emotional, physical (or any other) damages they incur from using twitter, they will be held accountable for it and twitter will take no responsibility. With cyber bullying at an all time high, one would expect that it is twitters responsiblity to monitor cyber bullying etc and deal with cases accordingly. This could be detrimental for a variety of reasons.

twitter, 1 June 2011, Terms of Service, viewed on 25 August, 2011. http://twitter.com/tos

Week 4 - Response to Content

Week 3 - Tutorial Task

Familiarization with the Griffith uni database to answer the following questions:

1) Stephen Stockwell's first academic journal was "The Brisbane Model - Considering a Unike Experiment", in 1995

2) Governor Slugwell was in "Flaming Carrot" Comic, issue 7, 10 & 11. (Underground and Independent Comics, comix and graphic novels.)

3) Current research on medical thinking on the dangers of mobile phones is called Long-Term Mobile Phone Use and the Risk of Vestibular Schwannoma: A Danish Notionwide Cohort Study 

4) In Blade runner, what is Leon's reaction when Holden asks him about his mother? Quote the 1982 draft script and provide a full reference

Holden: Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about... your mother. 

Leon: My mother?

Holden: Yeah. Leon: Let me tell you about my mother. 

Leon shoots Holden with a gun he had pulled out under the table

Hampton, F, Peoples, D. W, Roland, K, 1982, Blade Runner, Draft script, electronic edition by Alexander Street Press L.L.C, 2007.

5) What does Paul Soukup say Walter Ong saw as the main paradox in 20Th century communication? Cite your source

Paul Soukup said that “Media Ecology” was 20Th Century communication and ”the new philosophical attention to openness appears not unrelated to the opening of previously isolated human groups to one another fostered by electronic communications media, telephone, radio and ultimately television”.

Soukup, P. A, 2009, ‘Contexts of Faith: The Religious Foundation of Walter Ong’s Literacy and Orality, Vol 5. No. 3 pp. 175 – 188, Journal of Media and Religion

Week 3 - Response to Content

Human Memory Slots

The concept of having memory slots and computer chips inserted into the human body for any reason has both pros and cons. Depending on the purpose for which the devices are being used, the concept can raise major debating as to it's humaneness and practicality.

An example of this is the concept of having chips inserted into our wrists to save our personal information and  bank details/money (as discussed in the tutorial). Personally, i think the idea is plausible and with major reviewing of the functions, wallets, birth certificates, credit cards, passports and cash etc could become completely outdated and replaced with the chip.

The opposing and still plausible ideas abound the health, safety and humaneness of the concept. The biggest point of conflict was the possibility of identity theft. As all of our details would most likely be saved in data bases, this makes it a possibility for hackers to steal our information. Especially with the likelihood of all of our information saved in the one place, identity theft is made that much easier.

Another opposing idea is the in-humaneness of having a mechanical object inserted into our bodies. Although people get facial piercings, tattoos and other body modifications, most people would still consider this concept strange and foreign.

Regardless of the debatable ideologies, human computer chips are already being manufactured and used for multiple reasons. Click here for here 10 links to different stories about human computer chips, ranging from 2002-2010.

Week 2 - Tutorial Task

* How long have you been using these communication technologies?
The first new communication technology i used independently was my first mobile phone. I began using it when i was ten years old and have gradually upgraded since then. I began using MSN messenger and myspace shortly after. Then once i matured around the age of 16, I started using facebook, twitter and tumbl.

    * What influenced you to start using these particular technologies?  How did you find out about them? 
I got my first mobile genuinely because my friends started using them and it was 'cool' to own your own phone. Then when it came to social networking sights and instant messaging, i changed the sights i used as trends changed so that i was using the same medium as most of my friends. That way it was easier to stay in touch and keep connected. 

    * Is privacy an issue for you when using new technologies?  What do you think of companies like Facebook and Google who collect information about their users?   (How do you deal with issues around privacy?)
Facebook privacy isn't a major issue for me because i only publish information that wouldn't land me in any trouble. Although, when talking to people on tumblr, i am VERY aware of privacy issues there. Genuinely because when you ask somebody a question anonymously, The reader has the ability to find the latitude and longitude of the IP address, put those digits into google, and pin point your exact location.

    * Do you have friends whom you know only from the internet and have never met in person?   Is this different to people that you know in person?  Describe the difference.

I have a few online friends who i have never met in person. Online relationships are very different to relationships formed in person. Online relationships are founded primarily on having similar interests, so there is always something to talk about. But i find it almost impossible to trust an online friend with any of my personal details because in reality, i know nothing of this persons personality or demeanor. You can be anybody you want to be online.

Week 2 - Response to Content

The invention television (particularly analogue and digital) has been a long winded process, with the first steps towards it's design commencing in the year 1775 when Count Alessandro Volta produces static electricity by friction. After this invention, it has been 236 years and we have now got crystal clear digital television. But not without the invention and subsequently outdated technologies along the way.
in 1924/1925, American Charles Jenkins and John Baird from Scotland both demonstrated the mechanical transmission of images using a television set. This is when the first television sales were made and a new era of new communication technology was born.

The first televisions were analogue. This is because it was easiest to manufacture, and when they were first invented, this was the only possible way of creating televisions. Analogue offers a more defined sound and image, but is now being completely over-run with digital television which can reach more places globally, and offers more channels, but is more expensive. 

The below image shows the difference between analogue and digital. The top image is analogue and shows that the crests and troughs move in a fluent motion, creating a more defined and richer image Where as the bottom image represents the way in which digital television is received. Not as a fluent motion, but as a digital/angular motion, resembling the lesser clarity of the two.

http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/events-timelines/08-television-invention-timeline.htm

Week 1 - Tutorial Task

Since i was nine years old, I've been a regular user of new communication technologies. When i was nine, i got my first mobile phone. It was a odd shaped Motorola with a black and white screen. My parents bought me the phone under the condition that it was only to be used for emergencies. My "emergencies" consisted of texting my friends, making prank calls and buying polyphonic ringtones.

Since then, i have owned multiple phones, laptops and ipods, etc. I slowly upgraded my devices every time something new was released. With more features on my new communication technologies, i found myself using them increasingly more. I currently own a blackberry, and although it's embarrassing to admit, i genuinely could not go a day without it... Well, i couldn't enjoy or feel complete for a day without it.

On my blackberry i use twitter, facebook, tumblr, youtube, gps and texting/calling. I am always having a conversation with somebody, and i even find myself taking notes on it during lectures because I'm faster at typing on my phone then i am at writing. That is a good indication as to how overused my blackberry is.

Although my addiction has it's flaws, it has also helped me keep in contact with friends in other states and countries as well as making it easier to keep my personal tumbr blog active when I'm at festivals, holidays, etc as i have unlimited wireless internet access.

New Communication Technology is particularly popular amongst generation Y. Most of our personal uses for it are trivial and in extension can become quite pointless. Click here for a CRUDE humorous youtube clip demonstrating the pointless and trivial things young people use the internet for. But as i said, the clip is quite crude and i don't recommend watching it if you have a stale sense of humor.

In conclusion, new communication technology addiction is the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me!

Week 1 - Response to Content

The main issues between New Communication Technologies are the most obvious and advertised. Instances such as cyber bullying and hacking are probably the two biggest issues in New Communication Technologies. A perfect example of this is Julian Assange and the still unfolding 'WikiLeaks' saga. New Communication Technologies are the only thing that made it Possible for Assange to gain access to and publish Government documents online.

We can distinguish between old and new communication technologies in multiple ways. The most obvious being the time of which a certain form of technology becomes availible to the public. For example; mobile phones became availible for the first time to the public in the 1980s. These phones were large and had to be transported in suitcases. On the other end of the scale, we have 'Smartphones'. Phones like iphones and blackberrys fall into the group of a smart phone. They are relatively new and their availibility and affordability has boomed since 2009.
This makes the old mobile phones a form of old communication technology and the new 'smartphones' a form a new communication technology.

For new communication technology to become an old communication technology, it must be replaced by something more effecient, easier to use, and serve a greater purpose. As proven with the evolution of mobile phones.