Microsoft NEW technology Microsoft Surface

This weird technology can let you do everything at a touch of a screen. You can order food by selecting it on a screen, hold your credit card to it and pay. You can sit a camera on top of it and it will automatically download your pictures.....just watch, it's pretty amasing.



(H-Ref 1)

Reference:

H-Ref 1:youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtKQNwqNLLk
Accessed Wednesday August 26, 2009.

The Samsung BeatDJ M7600

This is a new phone created by Samsung and another form of convergent technology to add to the list. This phone allows you to create your own music and remixes of tracks already on your phone, you can create scratches and listen to these on a built in surround sound system. This phone, like the i-Phone can also be used via the touch of a screen. You can also take pictures with this phone which has a 3 megapixel camera (H-Ref 1).



Reference:

H-Ref 1: gaj-it
www.gajit.com
Accessed Wednesday August 26, 2009.

Sex and the City

(H-Ref 1).

I chose to watch Sex and the City for the task where we had to see the different shots that show who, what, where, when, why.

WHO: I found that the introduction to the show, before the show even starts a close up of Carrie Bradshaw tells us the who.

WHAT: A mid shot in this specific episode is of a shrinks office, symbolising that the WHAT is Carrie Bradshaws problems.

WHERE: There are numerous wide shots of New York streets throughout all of the Sex and the City episodes, making it clear it is set in New York.

WHEN: There are various times within singular episodes shown, I didn't really think that any specific shot symbolised this as there were no specific times shown. Instead you could just tell by the shades of light etc.

WHY: Why is symbolised by close ups of Carrie where she is venting about men who cause most of her problems.

HOW: Close ups of Carrie being on her own again, in her apartment show how she has ended up at the shrink and how things haven't worked out.

Reference

H-Ref 1: Scene Stealers
http://www.scene-stealers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/2008_sex_and_the_city_002.jpg
Accessed August 24, 2009.

Scavenger Hunt

1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin? How long did it take to grow?

The weight of the world's biggest pumpkin is 693.08903kg and it grew within four and half months (H-Ref 1).

2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Lilly Allen?


If I wanted to contact Lilly Allen I would create an account with Twitter and add her on there. Twitter seems to be overtaking Myspace and Facebook to a certain extent and it's something stars use regularly. You could also create Myspace and Facebook accounts, but I think Twitter would be the best.

3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?


A giraffes tongue is 46 centimetres (H-Ref 2).

4. How would you define the word 'glycomics'? In your own words, what does it really mean ? What does the term 'seagull manager' refer to?

Glycomics is a term ascribed to the study of carbohydrates and more specifically sugar (H-ref 3)

To my understanding the seagull manager is someone who comes into a workplace and rather than helping as they should creates more havoc and causes a stir within the work environment (H-Ref 4).



5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film? Which of his films Had 'Blondie' in it?

His first feature film was Shivers and was made with the intent to create the first horror film in Canada (H-Ref 5).

Cronenberg's film Videodrome had Blondie in it (H-Ref 6).

6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?

It was written in January 1986 (H-Ref 7).

7. Why do phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?

The use of 555 is used to replace numbers that may be used to call real people. You are able to call numbers with 555 in front of them, however, it is likely to be a directory and therefore you wouldn't be calling a real person (H-Ref 8).

8. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Sydney?

I find this one a hard one to answer because there are so many variants. To drive it would depend on what car you have and how much fuel it uses to determine a cost. To walk it would depend whether you set yourself a budget and got free help on your way and what happens on your way. To determine whether flying is cheapest then you would need to know about the above first.

With this in mind the cheapest way would be to book a ticket on webjet for the 28th of August 2009 and you could get there for $99.00 (H-Ref 9).

9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?

Single on Decca which was created by a Dutch Band (H-Ref 10).

10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?

Black Assasins. I found this answer via Yahoo which led me to another new comm tech blog, this person found the info from:http://steveylee.wordpress.com/ (H-Ref 11).



References:

H-Ref 1: World Records 2008 2009
http://www.worldamazingrecords.com/2008/10/worlds-biggest-and-heaviest-pumpkin.html
Accessed Tuesday August 26, 2009.

H-Ref 2: SAN DIEGO Zoo
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-giraffe.html#Photos
Access Thursday August 27, 2009.

H-Ref 3:Griffith University
http://www.griffith.edu.au/science/institute-glycomics
Accessed Thursday August 27, 2009.

H-Ref 4:BNET
http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/seagull+manager.html
Accessed Thursday August 27, 2009.

H-Ref 5: New York Underground Film Festival
http://www.nyuff.com/2002/realarchive/8th/shivers.html
Accessed Thursday August 27, 2009.

H-Ref 6: http://www.hypercubism.com/pages/blondie2.html
Accessed Thursday August 27, 2009.

H-Ref 7: http://www.mithral.com/~beberg/manifesto.html
Accessed Thurdsay August 27, 2009.

H-Ref 8:Mark Cuccia
http://www.omegarobot.com/article/555.html
Accessed Thursday August 27, 2009.

H-Ref 9: Webjet
http://travel.webjet.com.au/webjettsa/home.aspx?flight_search_action=http%3A%2F%2Ftravel.webjet.com.au%2Fwebjettsa%2Fhome.aspx&TripType=Return&CityFrom=OOL&DateOut=2009%2F8%2F27&CityTo=Sydney&DateBack=2009%2F9%2F4&TravelClass=ECONOMY&NumAdult=1&NumChild=0&NumInfant=0&EntryPoint=Flight&RequestFrom=Outside&x=45&y=18
Accessed Thursday August 27, 2009.

H-Ref 10: Kelu McDonald
http://fever-sea.blogspot.com/
Accessed Thursday August 27, 2009.

H-Ref 11: Erin
http://2716085.blogspot.com/
Accessed Thursday August 27, 2009.

Cine-Speak: Lecture 3.

In the third lecture I learnt about different shots- the slang (BCU-Big close up, CU- Close up) and how these shots can be used to help create meaning.
This is an example of a close up, which helps the audience answer the who question. Who the character is. (Image H-Ref 1).

This medium shot helps to define what......the what here being dancing. (Image H-Ref 2).

The long shot can be used to show where, here it is show that she is at a party/club. (H-Ref 3).

Wide shots AND close ups are both used to show when as seen within these two pictures, the clock shows you the exact time, and the wide shot shows a certain period of the day. (Images H-Ref 4, H-Ref 5).

WHY- It was said in the lecture that the BIG CLOSE UP can answer the WHY question, when it comes to a still picture I find this concept hard to grasp, however within a movie a big close up may help to clarify the WHY question.

Medium close ups or a series of close ups can demonstrate the HOW. If the above picture were to be shown next to that of a pregnant person we would be able to see how that ocurred. (Image H-Ref 6).

The lecture also looked at head space and talking space which basically is about where a person is positioned in a shot. The rule of thirds was also looked at, however, the different shots was the most interesting part of the lecture for me, which is why I have concentrated on it for this blog.

Referencing:

H-Ref 1- Yahoo

http://l.yimg.com/img.movies.yahoo.com/ymv/us/img/hv/photo/movie_pix/paramount_pictures/save_the_last_dance/sean_patrick_thomas/lastdance.jpg

Accessed Thursday 20th August 2009.

H-Ref 2- Ashleigh E Smith

http://cndls.georgetown.edu/applications/posterTool/data/users/save.jpg
Accessed Thursday 20th August 2009.

H-Ref 3- The Internet Movie Database

http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://ia.media-imdb.com/images

Accessed Thursday 20th August 2009.

H-Ref 4- Time
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626481_1373607,00.html

Accessed Thursday 20th August 2009.

H-Ref 5- Weddingbee
http://www.weddingbee.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/10/8.jpg

Accessed Thursday 20th August 2009.

H-Ref 6-

http://minimousemaybe.xanga.com/
Accessed Thursday 20th August 2009.

New Comm Tech Tutorial

Language of the Screen

Step 1: Google
Step 2: found that I should look up "Film and Screen Analysis ECU WS MS" from the following blog site: http://skye-darksideofthemoon.blogspot.com/2009/08/language-of-screen.html
Step 2: Returned to Google and entered "film and screen analysis" AND "ECU"
Step 3: Was referred to http://sheleftanote.blogspot.com/2009/08/language-of-screen.html found that:

ECU- Extreme Close Up: a very tight shot of a detail, often of a part of a human body, which fills the screen (H-Ref 1).

Pic: (H-Ref 3)

WS- Wide Shot: Shot which covers the action of the scene in a wide or panoramic view (H-Ref 2).













Pic: (H-Ref 4)

MS- Medium Shot: Camera shot midway between a close-up and a wide shot (H-Ref 2)












Pic: (H-Ref 5)
Bibliography

H-Ref 1: Gavilan College
http://hhh.gavilan.edu/grichards/hum4/terms_000.html
Accessed Wednesday 12th August 2009.

H-Ref 2: Australian Screen
http://australianscreen.com.au/glossary/
Accessed Wednesday 12th August 2009.

H-Ref 3: flickr.com
http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/435547372_eb5b7f0184_b.jpg&imgrefurl=http://animalphotos.info/a/2008/01/04/extreme-close-up-of-llama-eye/&usg=__GcveUHVqASYXLqKCrf8oizgbflk=&h=989&w=1024&sz=594&hl=en&start=3&sig2=BJ7HumTFrkbiH9Wt8giBlw&um=1&tbnid=xDLt2lBwT-43dM:&tbnh=145&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3DExtreme%2BClose%2BUp%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1&ei=Xm2CSr64HpTW7APg5dGKCg
Accessed Wednesday 12th August 2009.

H-Ref 4: My Opera
http://my.opera.com/garytmarsh/albums/show.dml?id=823149
Accessed Wednesday 12th August 2009.

H-Ref 5: Blue Tongue Screens
http://www.bluetonguescreens.com/MyImages/Mid%20Shot%20Cropped%20Zebra.jpg
Accessed Wednesday 12th August 2009.

Time Line and History of Computing

I have actually summarised the whole lecture content of week two so the following are some very brief points which I found interesting. I've also included some pictures, including the history of apple.


1950's- Computers first commercially produced by IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, also known as "Big Blue"). (H-Ref 1)

1975: First Personal Computer was released, the IBM 5100 (H-Ref 2).

1978: Apple II is released. (H-Ref 3)




HISTORY OF APPLE:
(H-Ref 4)

Bibliography:

H-Ref 1- Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBMA
accessed Wednesday 12th August 2009.

H-Ref 2- Blinklights Archaeological Institute
http://www.blinkenlights.com/pc.shtml
Accessed Wednesday 12th August 2009.

H-Ref 3- Lic. Marisela Molina
http://images.google.com.au/
Accessed Wednesday 12th August 2009.

H-Ref 4- flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/slice/848436484/

Accessed Thursday 22nd August 2009.

Notes from Lecture Two Content

TURING AND THE BIRTH OF THE COMPUTER
(My Break-down of info)

The computer, to my understanding had its beginnings thanks to Charles Babbage and his creation of the “Difference Engine” which was used for mathematical purposes. Unlike computers today, this computer was of a mechanical nature, rather than electronic. Although Babbage was never able to fully complete the computer, he was able to create from one that although still mechanical, was steamed power. An interesting machine I would imagine, considering the lucky individuals of 2009 have everything a power button and a mouse click away.

The first working computer was created by Alan Turing along with mathematicians and cryptographers, it was used to decipher German “Enigma” codes. Moving on from these creations computers came to be commercially produced by a company called IBM during the 50’s. These machines as you could imagine were large and expensive, whilst the expensive part is still present today, technology has ensured that they can come in notebook size. This means that they have become much more practical for everyday use, hence why (I would imagine), the wider public now use them rather than just the military, government, and corporate workers alone.

Not only did computers decrease in size making them more appealing to the general public, but the creation of the mouse, graphical user interface and pull down menus made for easier use, which has been further developed throughout the years. Following these advancements the Personal Computer (PC) was released in 1975. Whilst this was an advancement in itself, it was not perfect and like almost everything it had its downfalls, users were not able to communicate with the computer due to its lack of a language. However, Bill Gates came to create a language known as BASIC which he developed intro a program and later developed a company MICROSOFT which he used to market this program.

Moving on from Bill Gates a well known name when it comes to computers, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are the creators of APPLE, a label, which unless you were born in the 1930’s like my dear old grandparents it would by highly unusual for you not to know. One of their creations was the Apple-I a machine which was made of a singular circuit board without a keyboard or a case. This invention sold for $666.60 in US Dollars and from this they worked to create self contained PC’s, with Wozniak looking to reduce all components of the PC. Two years after Altair was launched Apple II was made public, from there on Apple continued to grow over the years and the PC continued to transform into a toy and a useful business companion, thus causing Apple to consume 50% of the Market and catapulting Steve Jobs into a millionaire.

In the 1980’s IBM wanted to break into the PC Market, they took on a man called Bill Lowe who promised IBM they would have a product in one year. This was a major selling point to IBM as they were a relatively slow moving company that had never created something in as little as a year. Lowe’s product relied on shelf products from various companies that would be put together to form one package. This didn’t prove to be a problem, however the software then needed to be made.

In order to run computers there are two types of software required, the language and the Operating System. IBM considered Digital Research Inc and Mircrosoft for their software, deciding to go with Microsoft (Bill Gates). They then went on to find an Operating System called Kudos, Microsoft bought it from Seattle Computer Products for $50,000. IBM worked with it and it running within 4 months (known as PC DOS 1.0), licensing it out to the marketplace for $50 each.

IBM continued to grow over the years and attained a large amount of the market share due to its association with Microsoft. IBM and Microsoft created their own GUI (Graphical User Interface) known as Windows and by the time Windows 3 was launched it saw Apple go on a downturn. During this time Steve Job’s left Apple, but returned in 1998 to resurrect the Apple company, this came with the success of the iMac line.

In 1991 a Finnish Programmer (Linus Torvalds) created an operating system (GNU/Linux) with contributions from people around the world via the internet. This came to be a free operating system which was an alternative those of Windows, MacOS, and Unix.

THE INTERNET, THE WEB AND CYBERSPACE

The internet was created by RAND corporation in 1960, it was created with the intention to have something that could survive a nuclear war. This would be achieved, due to the fact that it had no central control, therefore being able to reform itself by communication services left behind. The internet (as understood today) consist of servers, mainframes and personal computers along with other devices that use Computer Mediated Communications, technology, loosely connected by the telephone and broadband cable and satellite services which links millions of people around the world into and information-sharing system.

As according to the US Federal Networking Council the internet is a global information system that:

(i) is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet Protocol (IP) or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons;
(ii)is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons, and/or other IP-compatible protocols; and
(iii) provides, uses or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services layered on the communications and related infrastructure described herein.

Researchers (during the creation of RAND’s interenet) were working on a system called Packet Switching (breaking down messages into small chunks and then transmitting them from one computer to another). This creation was believed to be able to connect computers across long distances. RAND was interested in this concept and went on to incorporate this into their already made system. This was funded by the US Defence Force, but was hi-jacked by researchers who wanted to share information at a distance, ARPANET was then developed. Originally it was used to download academic data, however this advanced to emailing which allowed hobbyists, hi-jackers and the counter culture to use it for their own purposes with Bulletin Board Servers and MUDs- Multiple User Domains.

WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW, OR WEB)
The web emerged in the 1990’s, it merges the technique of internetworking and hypertext which shares all information accessible as part of a seamless hypertext space. This was initially difficult to use until the creation of browsers such as Mosaic and Netscape (this took place in the early 1990’s). A common misconception of the web is that it is the same as the internet. The web is just a part of the internet, which includes a range of different aspects other than, but also including the web.

CYBERSPACE
Cyberspace and its concept was (we will say) created by William Gibson, who took the idea of cybernetics (the study of particular types of systems of control and communication to living organisms and machines such as computers and extrapolated it into a world where the economy was dominated by CMC). A working definition of cyberspace might be: A conceptual space where words, relationships, data, wealth and power are manifested by people using Computer Mediated Communication technologies.

EMAIL
Email is a virtual system which can send mail to one or more people at any given time, unfortunately this system can attract junk mail, otherwise known as SPAM. Those who use Microsoft Windows Operating Systems Email viruses, Worms and Trojans can be a problem due to the way particular windows programs addresses react with these viruses.

Mail software systems include Microsoft Outlook (which has a reputation for being a virus target) as well as open source applications such as Mozilla Thunderbird. Webmail and its many different services such as Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail etc now comes with the benefit of being able to access it online. In addition there is the added benefit of being able to have multiple accounts to meet your different needs when it comes to emailing.
Through the email, just about anything you can do on the computer can be sent (photos, files, animation, video, worksheets etc) a majority of mail applications allows you to use Encryption. This scrambles the content unless you have the correct key or password, which stops others being able to read your email.

FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a system which allows you to directly upload or download files from another computer onto your computer with minimal requirements for compatibility. It also allows you to upload a file, (including a web page) on to a server.

INTERNET RELAY CHAT (IRC)
Is a real time chat system which became popular in the 90’s as it allowed people to chat with each other in real time through type (known as Synchronous” medium of communication). It was once the best place to get music and other files, however, it still has a reputation as a place for hackers and other dodgy types lurking around.
On IRC you can create a virtual entity, have a virtual relationship, you can have a virtual house, do virtual housework and even find out whether you would like to be gay, straight or single.
Internet Relay Chat rooms are all over the world, in order to use them you need to get an IRC client which allows you to get onto the networks. (Chat-rooms on IRC a referred to as channels)

MUD’s, MOO’s, MUSHes, etc.
These are all variants on the same kind of program usually referred to as MUDs (Multiple User Dungeon, because it was based on Dungeons and Dragons). Rather than being graphics-based, MUDs are text only (when you logged in you would be given a text description of what the world was like and you would react to this world in text as well).

MORE RECENT INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Instant Messaging (IM)
Peer-to-Peer (p2p) file sharing
Portable Audio (MP3s, AAC, FLAC, OGG, etc) and Podcasting
VoIP and Voice chat (Skype)
Facebook/Myspace
Twitter

Catch up on Lecture One

Communication is a vital part of our lives as human beings. We are reliant on it in all its different forms. Not only can the means in which we communicate vary, but also the message we choose to send. These messages, whilst they may have remained the same over these passing years have been carried to people all over the world through a wide range of developing technologies. Within this lecture I have come to understand different aspects of both communication and technology and their different aspects.

It is commonly understood that communication of a message (in this case we will say information) is almost always open to manipulation. This is made evident as the passing of information by mouth, email, text and various other sources may travel through a number of different people before reaching its final destination. By the time it has reached this final destination, a personal interpretation of the message being sent may have taken place or a different take on the information may have been added. This is a simple interpretation that I created from the term INTERSUBJECTIVITY, this interpretation in itself may even demonstrate intersubjectivity as I am aiming to relay information given to me and a personal reflection on this information has taken place.

Another significant part of communication as once again understood by me, is INTERTEXTUALITY. Here I understand that no message or piece of information is complete. It's meaning can be contributed to during the process of passing the message. This is to say; as each person encounters information, their own knowledge (although not always correct) can be added to, to compliment information already layed out. Intertextuality, therefore means that as each reader encounters a piece of information, not only can they read an original message, but also additional information that other readers have adapted from their own personal knowledge, on top of that, the current reader is also able to carry out this action. This is what I imagine intertextuality to be when it actually takes place, not so much its definition.

In order to communicate these different messages or pieces of information people of the world have become reliant on technology. Technology as described by Marshall Mc Luhan is an extension of the human body. This extension is one that has developed over the years, making various parts of life, not only communication much easier. In regards to technology there are two important forms that must be acknolwedged, both analog and digital. It is my understanding that analog is a form of technology, that may be much more difficult to use as it consists of various forces which need to be (to a certain extent) shown what to do by the use of dials. Whereas, digital technology, whilst it does not have a complete mind of its own is a more precise piece of technology which leans away from the "shades of grey" that analog provides, moving towards a more "black and white" I either work or I don't kind of technology.


The world of technology has advanced past mere analog and digital variances. HERE IS WHERE I RE-ATTEMPT TO DEFINE CONVERGANCE

Convergance takes place when one or more technologies which may perform different puposes merge together to perform different tasks from one specific point. An example of this is the I-Phone. Here the internet, mobile phone and a range of different technologies come together to form this overall super phone which can be used not only to talk to people,read and send messsages, but to surf the world wide web,send emails, get directions among a range of other functions. Whilst there would be a number of different technologies converged into the i-phone, the two most dominant for me are the mobile and the internet. Therefore, it is my assumption that convergance is a positive in technology, making life that little bit easier although you may have to raid your bank account to afford it.

Progress in New Comm Tech

Coming into New Comm Tech I wasn't really sure what I was in for, the first class I was quiet mixed up about what all this is about. One of those cases where it's so straight forward you kind of look for a catch. This weeks tutorial was really interesting and I have come to find that this class is my favourite.

During this tutorial we searched for converged technology, a term I am still aiming to better define. On this mission to find such technology I found some pretty interesting stuff, an i-band, a completely flat plastic watch, a robot that can play the violin and materials that emit light (as you can see below this blog).

As I avoid doing anything out of the ordinary with computers, it was fun to learn how to incorporate videos into our blogs and also how to manipulate pictures. Yes I admit I am behind the times.

All in all, I am finding New Comm Tech very interesting and fun. I'm sure there is more to learn which I am looking forward to. For now I am quiet happy with my progress.

The Robot Violinist

Toyota have created a robot that can play a violin and I have created an edit of this robot, not as amasing as the invention itself, but it's something (Picture H-Ref 1).



(Video H-Ref 2)

H-Ref 1: dvice
http://dvice.com/pics/violinRobot1.jpg
Accessed Wednesday 26 August, 2009.

H-Ref 2: YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzjkBwZtxp4
Accessed Thursday 13th August 2009.

The i-phone.

H-Ref 1:


The i-Phone is a phone, an i-Pod and an internet creation of Apple which allows you to perform a number of different activities at the touch of a screen. You can surf the web, watch youtube, email, listen to music, get directions, take pictures and the list goes on. Above is a picture of the i-Phone and an edited version which I created (H-Ref 2).

References:

H-Ref 1:dvice
http://dvice.com/pics/violinRobot1.jpg
Accessed Tuesday August 26, 2009.

H-Ref 2:Apple
http://www.apple.com/iphone/
Accessed Wednesday August 26, 2009.

Light Emitting Materials

The Phillip industry has created materials that can emit light out of fabrics. This light has been merged into shirts, couches and even office chairs. As seen in this video it can be used to advertise the Phillip brand, show the time and illuminate pictures in shirts and household furniture (Picture H-Ref 1).


(Video H-Ref 1)



H-Ref 1: ADFREAK
http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2006/09/lightemitting_t.html
Accessed Wednesday August 26, 2009.

H-Ref 2: You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd99gyE4jCk
Accessed Thursday 13th August 2009.

Convergance and Communication

Skype is a social networking software. It allows people to make free phone calls around the world to anyone who has skype. (H-Ref 1) ( Image H-Ref 2)


H-Ref 1: Net Pedagogy Portal
http://www.thewebworks.bc.ca/netpedagogy/glossary.html
Accessed Thursday 13th August 2009.

H-Ref 2: Wordpress
http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://sisterrose.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/skype11.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sisterrose.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/50-awesome-ways-to-use-skype-in-the-classroom/&usg=__11pGxZ4iv5ZiTGuHSEPTI_1gCi8=&h=350&w=350&sz=70&hl=en&start=5&sig2=6PP7FlQ9EIxro5Zrrw292w&um=1&tbnid=t0xXvx0jNi_K_M:&tbnh=120&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dskype%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SKPB_enAU339%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=B4eDSqrRCZbm7AOzlY3lAw
Accessed Thursday 13th August 2009.

Editing Photos

Convergance

Technological convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks (H-Ref 1.)

Putting the above information into my own words, I would describe convergance as two or more types of technology coming together to reach a common purpose or perform a common task. An example of this is the i-Phone which is designed to make communication easier through incorporating the internet allowing emailing to take place, the use of applications such as skype which allows video calls to take place along with the original funciton of the mobile which is simply talking to others.

H-Ref 1: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convergence_(technology)
Accessed Thursday 13th August 2009.

Week One Lecture.

I couldn't make it to the first lecture for this course due to an emergency. I am hoping that lecture notes will be available on the university site as I would like to catch up on what I missed. Hopefully my friends got me some good notes that I can look at until more information becomes available. I might have to fill in the gaps myself until lecture two.

First Tutorial

I found the first tutorial pretty interesting. As you may have guessed by my blog I am not that great with technology and admittedly the thought of creating a blog was a little daunting. Although it is not a masterpiece by any means I am slowly getting there. The first tutorial for New Communication Technology was good as the step by step instructions made it pretty easy to learn the basics of creating a blog. I am still a little bit lost as to exactly what we are supposed to put in our blogs, I suppose it will become easier as the course goes on.

This weeks tutorial seemed like a bit of a warm up for what's to come, it was good to ease into it and concentrate on getting the basics of a weblog together learning firstly how to create it, then put the finishing touches on such as pictures (note the monkey), about me, fonts and colours. The weblog is still a bit daunting for me, but at least I am a little more comfortable with it.