D-War

D-War is a Korean film and directed by Shim Hyung Rae. It is a fantage action film that was its nation's largest-budgeted as of 2007. He completed to film, the D-war in seven years. This is the first time that Korean movie showing in Hollywood. He's a comedian originally. However, he started to make some movies. He has having hard times, but he had come back over and over again. He suffered countless criticisms but he stood up again like a tumbler. So he had done his job, coming to us step by step, to show them the very presence of Korea and himself. No one dare to challenge his efforts, passion, and devotion to this movie. I deeply owe to him, Director Shim, the one who stake his own life for his job in this small country.

There was a Korean subject matter and an atmosphere and from multi report it came out. Based on the Korean legend, unknown creatures will return and devastate the planet. Reporter Ethan Kendrick is called in to investigate the matter, and he arrives at the conclusion that a girl, stricken with a mysterious illness, named Sarah is suppose to help him. The Imoogi makes its way to Los Angeles, wreaking havoc and destruction. With the entire city under arms, will Ethan and Sarah make it in time to save the people of Los Angeles?

When the movie came out and the director Sim was successful endeavored as the D-war. However the contents compared in the expectation and it was behind too much and it was disappointed plentifully. The director Sim, will be evaluated and to afterwards to make a better work

Kim, Hye-In

One week till endadayz!!

So yeah I really have nothing knowledgable to say this week... Anyway here are a few interesting thoughts I've come by lately...

I found some article on the net about the creater of Limewire being taken to court by the music industry... see here if you care http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/14589/
Anyways, he's basically a little cocky over how the Courts will see him as an advocate for the people and he won't be in any trouble for the sharing files etc. As far as I'm concerned, why would I buy a CD if I'm really only going to like 2 or 3 songs... And its not stealing its 'sharing'. not that I do anyway, Lime Wire etc is just a bit too far past my radar anyhow. Prefer to burn CDs with downloaded music off friends anyway :)

And then in the Herald online theres an article about CSI moving into Second Life.. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10469502 So an episode of CSI actually shows one of the detetives going into the game to kill off a serial murderers avatar. Acombination of medias but also a intro for CSIs new developments of having actual episodes played out in 2nd Life... STRANGE world we're living in I tell ya...

Another hot topic lately, the All Blacks loss to France, unfortunately, YES THIS DID HAPPEN! So whats it got to do with our class, well... Pre and during the world cup, well up until that horrible day TV3 had exclusive rights over the World Cup coverage (it still does) but yeah Sky and some advertisers were getting a bit huffy over this so SKY started plaing games with the clips and eventually got warned by TV3 to BACK OFF. And then advertisers get huffy because they're losing out on PrimeTime... So TV3 find some loophole to let them show more ads, much to my disagreement. So yeah since the All Blacks have lost and Dougies playing drunken warrior in London, what happens now?? Will the ratings fall or will half of NZ be watching intently hoping that France will lose? Mind you small condolence.. Aussies out too!

Right and lastly to end my pointless ramblings.. Has anyone seen the new Prada phone being sold by Vodafone?? What a beautiful piece of technoloy that one is... Yes I sat stunned for a full 2minutes then realised that wow, it has no special features that are worth getting overly excited about, and really other than looking pretty its not that great... So yeah pretty vs. technologically savy?? Which would you prefer, I know my little old Samsung has lotsa special features and yet I only really use it to txt, and call and maybe the calculator every now and then... So maybe the Parada phone would suit me just fine...

Over and out

Lena x

20/20

This is a kinda random blog, I dont' realyl know what to write bout this week, the only thing that comes to mind is stuff iv seen on 2020! I'v been watching 20/20 lately as there's nothing else on tv on a thursday night, but sometimes they have some quite intresting stories on. yesterdays one with the guy that draws amazing pictures with that etch a sketch thing was crazy.. and he records himself and puts it on utube. They've had quite a few stories to do with technology, like the effect of technology on kids. it showd 1 year old kids with 2 cell phones, and experiance on the net. My little sister has more stuff then i do, ipod, laptop, 2 fones, more than i do! someone who did a thesis on young girls and popular culture argued that kids are growing up to fast and that they're skippinig childhood. which they kinda are i guess with everything thats avalibe to them.. wonder what it'll be like in 10 years time. It was kind of disturbing though as some of these girls meet people on the internet and think they're in 'love' when they're only 10 and one of the girls pretend to be a boy to trick one girl into commiting suicide..hmmm... i guess technology effects kids more than we realise. shows quite a few utube videos of a few things, like that unama(cnt relally remember what its calld) video. of that guy singing to the song on his webcam, i remember seeing that quite awhile ago, cant belive how popular that guy is now just from that!also the utube video of that prison that dance to michael jackson and they show it on the net. haha. kinda cool, but mean as it sed they're forced to dance or sumthing. anyway... i really dont know what to write this week, almost forgot again.. this blog things kinda a hassle sumtimes when you have heaps of other work on and when u cnt think of what to say. oh well, thats me for the week.. 1 more week to goo :)

Technologies with personality

Hey there 203. The discussion on Monday about how people are increasingly anthropomorhising technologies got me thinking. Although I had experienced it myself I had never thought very deeply about how a person could ascribe human emotions to an inanimate piece of technology. When I thought about it more the example of the man getting angry at the computer (prime example here by the way http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBVmfIUR1DA haha) seemed completely absurd. I began to wonder what kind of creature qualities, if any, do these technologies have to justify this emotion?

This question instantly reminded me of a report I had seen on TV recently (20/20?) about Tamagotchis or digital pets. I had long ago forgotten about these strange little egg shaped toys from my primary school years. But apparently the little bastards are making a comeback. The report discussed a variety of issues surrounding the seemingly harmless digital pets.

By their very design tamagotchis are made to be anthromorphisised. They are fed, housed, walked and basically share all the attributes of a real life pet (with the exception of physical form of course). This is where the problem lies. Children would take them to school in order to make sure their virtual pets were being cared for. Some versions of Tamagotchi would reputedly die if they were neglected for more than 30mins, therefore they required constant attention. many schools have attempted to ban the product entirely. However the more disturbing issue is when the tamagotchi 'dies'. Because many children treat them as real they are naturally devasted when it passes away. One mother claimed that her son even became clinically depressed after the death of his Tamagotchi. When asked why he did not just buy a new one the boy replied "because it just wouldn't be the same." This is evidence that people really do feel that their technologies can possess personalities.

I believe that the resurgence in popularity of the virtual pet is closely linked to the overall trend of people becoming more accustomed to the idea of technologies with personalities.

Stelarc in the news today

From the BBC: An Australian performer who has had an ear grafted onto his forearm in the name of art has sparked controversy.

SimCity: the melting polar icecaps edition

From BoingBoing, the next iteration of the SimCity franchise, SimCity Societies, will incorporate Global Warming. Produced in conjunction with BP, the collaboration "brings together world-class game building skills and industry expertise on energy, electricity production and greenhouse gas emissions to highlight the impact of electricity generation on the emissions of carbon dioxide that are linked to climate change. The low-carbon electricity choices and monitoring of SimCity's carbon emissions provide an entertaining, fully-integrated and accurate look at some of the causes and some of the major solutions available to combat rising levels of carbon and to help address the threat of global warming."

The University of Free Culture

In the NYT, File-Sharing Students Fight Copyright Constraints, detailing the rapid growth in recent months of campus groups like Students for Free Culture at US colleges. “The technology has outpaced the law,” said Brown University sophomore Zachary McCune, one of countless students in recent times to have been charged in illegal downloading cases in the States. Click below to visit the Free Culture site and learn more.

Interactive Filmmaking

A group of crazy Belgians is making an interactive movie, putting each scene on YouTube as it comes out of post-production. So far they've got two scenes. Here's how they describe the project:

"IP is a no-budget free-to-download movie that is being made scene-by-scene chronologically. Each time a scene is finished, it is put online so that people can already see the movie up until that point.

This way, the community can interact with the filmmaking process: we always have a good idea of where the movie is going in the next scenes but people on our forum can also discuss the scenes, give feedback and inspire us to deviate from our own script in the next scenes. We're going to try to do a new scene every week."

They have an RSS feed available, and apart from YouTube higher-def files are available at the site.

The first and second scenes have already been completed and put up on the tube; here's the first scene:

Curses

Alas, for i am also usually very guilty of Alan's aformentioned 'blogstination'. The last 1000 words of the last history essay i did- which should have taken me about half a day to do properly, actually took me almost two because of that damned internet. You know how it goes..... just typing away, then i need to use the net to check a date. then while im on the net i might as well check my e-mail. Ooh whats that link? hey cool video, are there any more? and next thing i know, two hours have gone by and my essay is still far away from completion. curses.
The problem is that the internet is too damned tempting. The fact that you can look up just about any topic means that it can cater to any random train of thought that cascades around the interior of my cranium. This is a good thing. Just not when ive got other things that i need to do. I mean, the way my mind works cannot really be fathomed, but often i have random thoughts of random things, like i'll suddenly realise that i must know all there is to know about say, defensive formations in American football. This WILL take hours to research. Even when im looking up stuff that is important to my uni work, it just takes a couple of links in the wrong direction before im totally off track and lost with little to no hope of returning to the straight and narrow for at least an hour. Curse the person who decided that the PC can have both the internet and MSWord. Curses to all.

Blogging and Technological changes.

Today I had a taste of technology. I went for a job interview only to be told that it would be a teleconference with people in Melbourne. My first thought when I went into the office and realised this was "here's something to blog about for 203". I know its going to sound really weird but it was more nerve wrecking than a face to face interview and it just felt so impersonal. I think technology is definitely going too far. On the other side though, it was good because they couldn't see my nervous gestures (which as you can imagine were quite high because going into an interview and then being told that you're going to be interviewed by two people in Melbourne with a note taker in the room) and it didn't matter what I looked like. They do say though that communication is 70% body language and so therefore the communication was reduced.

Alan I completely agree with your post about having a file open (hell I have one open right now saying "semester 2 - 2007" and it feels like I may do some work eventually - though I am now but unlike you I have no essays to write) and procrastinating through the internet. I do it all the time, but it teaches us. I would say that my writing skills have improved a great deal through the use of the internet and I'm sure the same could be said for other people.

Damn this paper, I'm really starting to enjoy the blog and it gives me a justifiable excuse for it. Earlier today I read Perez Hilton's website and I thought it was so trashy but about 10 pages later I was still in the website still reading. It is very easy to get caught up in things on the net and keep reading. And on that note I am heading to wikipedia...

Blogastination

Like every theorist, company and two year old is doing these days - i too am making up a hybrid of two words into one all encompassing word (or three words into one if you count 'blog' as a mash-up of 'web log'). For you media students you might have noticed recent classics include 'domesticom' - the contraction of the words 'domestic' and 'comedy' into one and yeah, that's all I can remember for now... (i-Phone?) Ha!
Anyway, yes I too have made a word. BLOGASTINATION. It is the mix up of the word 'blog' and the idea of 'procrastination' into one. How very original. Yes, I do have a point, now where did I put it? Ah!
Blogs, web communities, online gaming. When do we interact and interface with such entities the most? I will say it, you're all thinking it, we all do it - when we're procrastinating!!! Indeed, the surge in popularity of such gigantic web phenomenons as Facebook and Wikipedia can probably be narrowed down to the fact that, for the 21st century human being who requires the computer for most or all of their work, these sites are in the most appropriate place - right in front of us and only a mouse click away!
We write blogs, play, and socialise online with people just like ourselves - they should be working too - heck, it feels like we're all working because the Microsoft Word tab is visible clearly at the bottom of our screens - we might even open it now and then to stare blankly at the empty page that is entitled "Media Essay #2". However we are 'not' working because work is dull. We are told to do it - forced even - and we do not like this as typical human beings. We should be and are (thanks to the internet) FREE to do whatever we want.
Does it not seem odd then that, for the most part, when we blog we are in fact writing anyway? We write a blog as a form of procrastination - as a means of avoiding having to write an essay. So we are writing to avoid writing! It is quite intriguing, if not a little irresponsible.

Blogastination, my friends. We all do it. Perhaps that's why this blog might not be as successful as it could be. Why? It's because this blog is assessed - and thus, it can be considered work. Work is dull, and anything else is better. Perhaps, to really assess how well we use this online blog as a medium for class interaction, then, would be to instead check our facebook accounts. Many of them contain delightful, consistent blogging and online social interaction because Facebook is not work, and we all blog on that in order to avoid blogging on this. To assess how well we interact online as a class, then, one need only look at how well we blogastinate.

Til' next time - Stay classy, 203.
(Note: I wrote this as the lesser of two evils - as a form of procrastination from doing a larger, much scarier assessment - so this is my theory in practice!)

bloggy blog blog

the first thing i do when i wake up (apart from the usual stuff) is read my links of favourite blogs. then i check my email, facebook and so on. (sometimes, its facebook first though.. hahaha)

and yesterday i stumbled on this absolutely hilarious blog. it is a space to record your funniest and most absurd way of breaking something or hurting someone or something with your Wii controller or Nanchuk. (note: i don't own a Wii, but i have tried it out and all that) i think this possibly has happened to more of us hen we care to admit..

another blog i read often is Karen Cheng's blog. she is a mother of two sons, but also used to be a graphic designer, an artist and a photographer. her style and sense of creativity is amazing. plus, i really like the layout of her blog.. which obviously she designed herself.

being a typical girl, i like the typical trashy, gossipy and mindless blogs like Perez Hilton, Pink is the new Blog and the Superficial. they are mindless and 'plasticky' (if you've seen Mean Girls, you'll get it!) and for me, they just past time so quickly. useless information, but release in such an inviting, pleasing and entertaining manner.

of course, i also read my own friends personal blogs, but let's not get into that. mostly, i tend to read blogs more then i read the newspaper. the newspaper is so boring, and wordy. not enough pictures (can you tell I'm quite shallow..) I have been accused of being ignorant, because i have no idea whats going on in our country or the rest of the world, but i only or usually always know who is dating who and who went out on Friday night..

my point? blogs are great, mainly because they connect us to everything and everyone, but maybe blogs should now include the news. with nice layouts. and pretty colours, then maybe I'll enjoy reading the news in a blog version as well.. or maybe a visual version of the newspaper. with nice colours!

Wikipedia and Mac vs. PC

Oh my god, I totally agree with the post about Wiki being a great source of info. I have spent many hours on wikipedia before going from article to article, so much easier than having an actual encyclopedia where you have to go from page to page and find the article you are searching for. I love the way Wiki can be edited by anyone, anywhere at any time. It certainally makes info a lot more relevant and up to date.

Yes, Mac is different to PC. The desk top lay out and other programmes. It's weird though coz today my computer seems to be running a lot faster and better but I'm still fearful it will die on me. I use it first thing in the morning and right before I go to bed, who am I kidding? I use it in bed. I did change the security settings yesterday so maybe that has something to do with it and I won't be downloading from any sites that haven't got the security certificate.

Has anyone else had problems on this blog with posts not being able to be posted if they are not saved? Its so weird.

PC & MAC

Liz I suggest that don’t throw any expensive mobile to the wall, please. It will be definitely broken no matter what brand it is. For LCD screen mobile it may be ok, but not for TFT-LCD I supposed.

My first laptop’s brand was LEGEND, now it is called LENOVO. It is a Chinese brand. This laptop’s quality was great. It fell from my table down to the floor twice and got a crack on the keyboard panel, it was still working very well. The hardware is quite good and it is running very steady. I filled it up with many ‘indecent’ softs – piratical or cripple stuffs at that time, it seldom made me down. Now I still keep it as an antique. Yeah, I have to admit that it is not just a machine to me but more like a pet. LENOVO or IBM now is like a freak as some people comment - it has a big ‘head’ and a small ‘body’ which may relate to its compatibility. I don’t know it is true or not, I don’t have one.

I have got an ‘apple’. Soon after I bought it I was facing a big problem – how could I get the softs. I have never thought about to purchase them or all of them as being a contented ‘thief’ for many years. Liz you may need to think about it if you are a game lover or you want to make best use of your computer. However if you are a good cracker, you can ignore this problem. Mac is good looking and good for doing graphic editing, such as running PS, especially editing big photo, the speed is faster than PC. But some files you made in your Mac may not be read properly in PC or some printers, it is another issue. Also, if you buy an Mac, that means you join a new community - Mac World, where some people make Mac a part of their identity. As you know it is framed by the marketing strategy.

Anyhow, new technology is great. But don’t let idealistic bankrupts us. Liz, all the best to your new computer.

ten reasons why tech haters like me love the internet...

1. Wiki!!!!!
wiki should be added to Bart Simpson's lil' Bastard kit for essay writting. many a fact have i learned, many a plagerized essay have I seen, many a... wiki dance of wiki rain of knowledge and useless facts have I done!! Wikipedia is God. Sure it is blasphemy, sure I am making a false idol...but wikipedia helped god plagerize the earth remember???
2. talking internationally for free
if my grandparents can do it, so can you. save your self hundreds of dollars a year, on phone bills and acutally be able to see the person you are talking to, making faces at, etc (apparently girls strip on cam for you in the states...news to me)
3. Youtube...
I can't help it but I am it's slave!! I must watch mroe flight ofthe conchords, more skins .more oh random link!! boom five hours gone!! music videos, sreies episodes, daft punk girl everything amusing I ever needed to see is there!!!
4. Facebook.
no instruction needed, easy to use, and evenus neo luddites needs some sweet sweet online social networking/community building in our lives. I'd know I wrote an essay about it, and read about it on Wikipedia.
5. Porn
I'm not going to lie, porn online is awsome. mainly because it is always in your face, in your inbox, playing when your mum walks in, oh wait...waht ha ha ha awkward turtle. but on a side note, people can now annonymously buy pornography, saving themselves the embarassment of purchasing smut in from wierdoes that work in sex stores.
6. online comics
funnies delivered straight to your montier every day. need I say more. well I will... is your clock set to tokyo time so you always know when to drift race??? (If you get it I love you)
7. easy access to music
everything is better when it is free, escecially sweet sweet tunage for low low, or rahter non existant prices. I can buy the good tracks from an album, I can only buy the b-sides. I can affordable open my eyes to new artists, and never worry about wasting anything but my time.
8. Google
simply becuase it is now a verb. anything with kind of affect of the english language is okay with me.
9. lolcats.
one word...monorailcat.
1o. ha ha ha ha this guy!!
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/Spiritshot/Randomly%20Funny/I_Beat_Anorexia_T-Shirt.jpg

technology makes people even lazier

This post was originally going to be about the iphone but as stuff is my home page I stumbled across an article about a new car Nissan has created which will mean that people don't need to reverse if they don't want to. the article can be found here. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4231423a11275.html

I was reminded of the Simpsons episode from the 90s in which Homer's brother creates a very unpopular car. Look at the design. It has that same asethetics that the car in the episode had. Hopefully it will be unpopular in real life. I say this because I don't want people relying on technology and then not having the same driving skills that were once required.

RIM Blackberry 9000 Touchscreen Phone leaked?

The Boy Genius Report published a slightly blurry image of a BlackBerry phone that is supposedly the rumored BlackBerry 9000.
As there are no buttons in sight this would be the first touch screen mobile phone from RIM. It would compete head on with the Apple iPhone.

Nokia vs. Other Brands - the power of marketing

Li Guo I'm sure that if another brand of mobile was thrown against a wall it would also work. My last Sanyo phone for example got dropped several times. It even got liquid on it and still went. The second time it got liquid on it it did die but it was a pretty sturdy phone that was excellent quality. I have just never understood the appeal of the Nokia but I guess that people have different preferences and motivations when buying phones.

If we are comparing brands thenI think its time to compare computer brands. My last three lap tops over the last 4.5 years have been Hewlett Packard but I think when I get my next one I will go for an Apple Mac. They just seem more reliable (maybe thats the marketing) and have better features than Microsoft ones (that combined with my hatred for Microsoft seeing as my Word 2003 has a virus:-(

In one of the early lectures Luke talked about the fetishisation of technology and I thought it was such a ridiculous idea but I have to confess that I myself do the same - my last Sanyo died 2 months ago and I still miss it (the fact we even say "died" humanises it and shows our attachment) and the thought that I have to buy a new lap top shortly is making me cry a little inside. I can't live without it. This is a communications device that makes our life so easy.

Isn't it sad that we live in a day and age when we personalise technology?!

NOKIA

Liz Shaw once a friend of mine was going to sell his ‘three years old’ Nokia to someone. He threw it harshly to the wall, after hitting the wall the phone bounded back to a table and fell on the floor. Then he picked up the phone and switched it on, it worked perfectly. The buyer paid the money immediately. Quality is universal.

Random thoughts,

Interfaces have been constantly enhanced with the improvement of technology although every new ‘improvement’ created it seems there are constant let downs or disadvantages created. Whether it is the cold hard surface of a glass screen or the retro version of an appliance. A machine solely controlled by mind sounds exciting although it doesn’t give in to the satisfaction of all our senses.
I wonder when the day will come when we are all wondering around in high tech transparent bubbles that mould with our body while we walk, sheltering us from the rain. As for treating machines like equals, I’m pretty sure my car hates me at the moment the orange light appears regularly due to lets say…rise in petrel prices, poor guy!

Live well, mobile phone well.

The history of mobile phone development does not only represent the progress in science and technology, but also gives the witness to the development of human civilization. From stimulation to GSM, from GMS to GPRS, from single frequency to dual frequency, from sound to message, from the terminal to media……the speed of mobile phone development is growing day by day. Mobile phone has not merely been considered as personal communication tool, it has become a new media form influenced people’s daily life. By using the mobile phone, you can surf on the internet, manage the information, conduct stock transaction, make a credit payment, take photos, record sound, play games, listen to mp3, and watch movies, mobile phone has been closely connected to people’s life and become a multi-functional tool.

Having said a lot of advantages of mobile phone, I have been thinking some disadvantages of it. Perhaps different brands of mobile phones have different functions, so there is no necessary to discuss any particular disadvantage on function of mobile phone. But I have some personal experiences, for example, I lost my mobile phone last month, and nearly lost all my contact numbers, saved documents, photos and videos. My friends tried to find me, but they failed to dial my number. I was so upset. Although I have bought a new mobile phone, my budget only allows me to buy a cheap one. This one can only text messages and make calls. So now I realized how important the mobile phone to me and the disadvantage is you can not live without it.

Issuing ‘Cyworld’

Those of you would not so familiar with 'Cyworld', unless you are Korean background or have read my recent post about the typeface usage in the web world. For a simple and easy explanation for the majority readers expected to read this post, (who I guess would be non-Korean contexts), 'Cyworld' is a Korean version of MySpace. As I mentioned in my previous post, it is also known with its reputation as one of the most popular websites amongst Korean people and is having more than half of its whole population as its member. (so that means, there are about 22,000,000 (it's 22 millions) people who are 'regularly' using a certain amount of ‘acorn’ (a cyber money circulated in buying items and using services provided by Cyworld) to adorn their own ‘blog-like’ personal sites. That's a huge industry.

Just as what MySpace and Facebook are for English users, Cyworld provides a fine environment for creating and managing a social network for individuals with tones of other services suit to the interest of teenagers and young generations between twenties to thirties, or barely even forties (these services are mostly having a considerable relation with the trends from both the on and off line worlds, such as UGC clips and real time news about the celebrities and international issues)to make them 'bound into the portal for 24/7'. Although MySpace is obviously having better quality in its quantitative aspect (in terms of the number of joined members for service use and the scale of fame in the world wide), at least in my point of view, (not simply because I am Korean) Cyworld seems to have a lot more interesting point and better quality service in regarding ‘more intense human network management system’.

Having heard about a commentary for hundreds of time might not quench the thirst of curiosity in judging which sites actually has the better functions and quality; so I suggest you to visit Cyworld USA (http://us.cyworld.com) to find out more detail. Or else if you are deeply interested in searching of a fine social network system apart from MySpace and Facebook, I suggest you to visit www.cyworld.com so that you will have an exploration yourself to feel the 'shock of the new!'

ps. do not worry even if you do not understand the Korean language. What is this for is all about for you to wide your perspective from a limited vision of Internet navigation; just as there are hundreds of good places in around the world that we could not see and could not find, there are even more numbers of fine web spaces that you can not see and find under the cultural and social contexts.

Digital natives

The first “digital native” I really noticed was my friend’s two-year-old (this was five or six years ago) who would actually bodysurf the net by lying on the keyboard, which was not much shorter than she was, in order to peer at the monitor and reach the mouse. She would then navigate around children’s websites and print things out. I was astounded. Since then, most children I know have become capable of similar feats. My nieces have all used the internet before learning to talk. My five-year-old niece has her own PC, distinguishable from those of her parents by the amount of jam and mashed banana stuck to the keyboard. A friend of mine who has teenage kids told me “Jazmine doesn't really do email it's all msn or bebo. I tried emailing her but whenever she replied to me I needed an interpreter to decipher the cyber speak she uses. The kids use strange symbols and letters when talking on msn and bebo.” This is definitely a new generation gap. I’m in my thirties, but there is a technology gap between me and my elders as well. A few months ago I had a call on my mobile from a woman in her late forties whose number I had saved in my phone. When I greeted her by name, she was shocked and asked me how I knew who was calling, as if I might be psychic. I was shocked in turn that this technology that I have taken for granted for the last ten years could still be unknown to someone living in a tech-savvy country like New Zealand.

Mobile phones

Li Guo I don't personally hate motorolas but can relate to what you are saying. I have a hatred for Nokia phones. The Nokia phones aren't designed well and their menus are often hard to navigate. They also have horrible buttons and don't make flip top phones. I used to have phones that weren't flip top but the flip top is just so convenient to use.

Sanyo phones on the other hand, they are brilliant. They often have excellent features such as the flip top, an easy to navigate menu and excellent web browser. I haven't really used web browsers in mobile phones for anything other than email but I don't think they'd be able to support other websites.

Kevin, what day are we getting the essays back?

Week 11 is upon us.

Hi everybody.

We're in Week 11, which means that the semester is simultaneously winding down while the stress levels are rising.

Reminder: The blog assignment is due on Wednesday the 17th of October, which means that Week 12 is short. You will have Monday the 15th, Tuesday the 16th, and Wednesday the 17th until 4 pm, to contribute in Week 12 itself. Don't forget.

I'd also appreciate it if everyone remembers to treat the other students on the blog with respect. I've edited a post this morning to remove inflammatory content, and I'd appreciate not needing to do it again. The blog has been well behaved so far, and respect is required throughout the whole semester. It's particularly appreciated towards the end when we're heading into what is likely to be its busiest phase, and where arguments could actively get in the way of contributions by other students.

To summarise: It's been good so far and I'd rather it not burn around us now, of all times.

I have some resources which people have been interested in over the last week or so:

1) "Another Cold Morning," Transmetropolitan #8, written by Warren Ellis. This is the single-edition comic of the series I mentioned last week as relevant to anyone interested in the whole question of the internal cellphone, and other issues of mobile media. "Another Cold Morning" is a good introduction to the series.

2) I've had requests for the reading I mentioned for the DVD, discussing the possibility of preferred readings being encoded through the extra-texts. Here we have: Hiding Homoeroticism in Plain View - The Fight Club DVD as Digital Closet, by Robert Alan Brookey and Robert Westerfelhaus.

3) Information regarding the update for iPhones rendering them inoperable if they've been unlocked.

Interestingly, here's an article from Wired arguing that it isn't happening for malevolent reasons.

I have been unable to find any sites from which The Fanimatrix can be downloaded at the moment, but I'll work on it.

Good luck for all your assignments, and play nice.

- Kevin.

Typeface in the digital age

(Picture: Hangeul (Korean alphabet) is gradually taking importance in the design sector both from on and off-line world market of Korea)

Preface to this post:

The following post under this preface does not require you any extra knowledge in Hangeul (한글, Korean writing system) and understanding of the Korean web culture. It is posted purely because it is one of the ‘issued’ phenomena arose in and out of the web culture of Korea, where my home is based, and the place known as one of the ‘leading edge’ industrial countries with the highest proportion of Internet usage (80% of the whole population, according to the provided source from a news agency). I believe you will find the content of this post very interesting. : )

Here we go!

Digital age made us not to learn how to write a letter (English Alphabet for English language users) in a legible format, but instead allowed us simply learn how to type the keyboard in order to communicate with others. However, the ease of communication via the technology piece (computer) eventually resulted in the birth of a market that is sometimes necessary but sometimes unwanted. Observing a recent phenomenon arose in the web culture of South Korea does reveal about this very clearly. Today, I want to talk about the story of the typeface and its raison d´ tre in this digital age by introducing a case of South Korea.

SK Communication, one of the largest media conglomerates in South Korea responsible for servicing Cyworld*, launched a service of selling a ‘purchasable typeface’ (유료 글꼴, indicates not those genreally known and used typefaces like Arials and Times New Roman, but which are rather intentionally produced under SK Communication and other subcontractors working in this sector of business. See below)

(Picture: this is a screen capture of some 'purchasable typefaces' provided by Cyworld Blog service. The total number of 'purchasable typefaces' is close to few hundreds)

that is only applicable to their blog service since the dawn of the new millennium. Although in inception of this service was a little breakthrough to a blog culture of Korea (because there had been no case of categorizing ‘typeface’ as the purchasable item in a public use level), however, what SK’s got back from launching this unexpected project was an unexpected success; users soon enthusiastically embraced this commercial stratagem and became the most faithful consumer of it. According to a recent statistic reported about the tremendous success of Cyworld Blog service, the estimated profit earned by selling of the typefaces is now reaching close to one million dollar (US) every month, and a cumulative number of the download service up to the present day is approximately over 3.5 millions...

When typefaces were partly became purchasable in a Cyworld Blog service, it was more of less issued between Koreans (since typeface was not recognized as an important sector than other graphic formats of computer software), and this at least revealed one thing very clear to them; that the typeface as the most popular and freely used ‘language’ in the web culture is now requesting a credit card number in order to use it, and thereby typeface in on-line world is no more an essential part of a web language input through a key board, but rather a fashionized item of expressing yourself, your mood on time, and your uniqueness from others. The real problem here was that in the year 2000 when this service was opend to Korean general public, they were hardly believed the success of this business sector and had a great skepticism over the more and more commercialized web culture..

However, looking back in the history of mankind does reveal us about the fact that it is undeniable that human being has been spending money on purchasing clothing, music and diaries to express or emphasize their moods and selves. In this sense, some people are advocating that it is no a surprise that typeface must be recognized as one of the businesses that makes money under the idea of capitalism.

But as an opposition this idea, some says that the process of merchandising ‘what had been prohibited to be purchasable’ has always been regarded as a great shock too, just like the contradiction of selling and buying a bottle of water in the modern society; same way applies to the issue of purchasable typeface to our web culture (along with the bulletin board and blog sectors). Typeface to the web culture is as fundamental as the water to our physical bodies, simply because it is not just a piece of graphic format for fansy users but rather it is the representative writing format that governs the way of 'speaking out' (more precisely, typing out) our sayings and ideas to the others. You don't really pay a license fee to those ancestors contributed in creation of the English alphabets, simply because it is not only representing your uniqueness from others through a manner of usage but it is the basic requirement of you and others for communication.

Despite all these debates on going, sadly we are now facing the era where these necessities are already became purchasable. (although not all typefaces are became purchasable yet) But above all, it is very important to notice that the advent of purchasable typeface is something more than issuing the effort input by those typeface creators who contributed weeks to do this; what is the most important to recognize is that the complete commercialization of our web culture is on going its process, and this typeface issue is just a starting point preface to the prediction. First it was just a typeface, but who would guarantee that all other essential formats of today will become not useable unless you are purchasing a license fee?

Regarding this point lefts us a moot point that whether the developmental phase of our web culture is becoming too faithful to the theory of commercialism, or is it must be recognized as one of the rising phenomena in the true space of liberty and freedom.

So, here I ask you for your opinion. What do you think?

Extra source:

Here is the direct link to the Cyworld Korea, selling font service as one of the main profit earners: http://www.cyworld.com/mall/mall5_decoration_index.asp?effect_cd=35&decodir=edititem

Those who are interested in Cyworld rather than MySpace can also join to Cyworld USA! : http://us.cyworld.com/

* Cyworld is the most popular Blog service in Korea that almost half of the Korean population (that’s almost 22,000,000 people!!) is registered as a member. I will bring this issue in my next post!

ps. I've checked a comment left to my post and as a result, some contents and words are corrected now. Thanks for your advice!

Ok, Mobile Phone: essential technology:essential It is the 21st century' things either improve or become extinct. It is the new evolution, the strongest/savvy survive. I mean literally if you are not adept in technology you will always be two steps behind. For Auckland Uni, you need to constantly be checking your email for updates, mini-tests, appointments, then cecil provides you with class notes and even video lectures. Touch typing is also an essential skill given the typed essay format you need to comply with so either you learn fast just to be involved here at uni. or you fall behind and are always the only one that didnt know turnitin was down or the test you were suppose to take today had been postponed to yesterday. This use of technology has curtailed plagiarism, has zero tolerance to ignorance and found a way to keep time synchronized with that of the Uni. and its students. Leaving no gap for slackers to fall into without being recongnized. And if you were a paranoid conspiracy theorists you could speculate academics were trying to separate the educated from the uneducated by trying to implement technology so it was being used and learnt and therefore creating another barrier to the two types.( or it may just be my imagination getting ahead of itself? at 2am, its quiet...)

Ive also noticed that being an 80's child and being exposed to computers at the age of 10 which its only use was to play games and draw awkward straight lined Microsoft pictures. As well as only graduating to the Nintendo with its 2D SuperMario Bros I am less savvy than my 90's generation sister and brother. They jump on the net and search what I had been looking for previously to no avail, and because they have been brought up in this new era know what to type to get specific results and from there can get me a better site sort of like they have been programmed better. They did however get internet access at home and the Sega which then graduated to the Playstation although it could again just be the economic situation in my family which could have a part to play.

Blogging, I would not have one simply because I dont think what I have to say would be of interest and because it would again let people see how much I dont know. And it also opens you up to either disagreement or perhaps agreement for me this is a bit scary just cause Im like, someone took time to read my "stimulating" blog. However when reading others blogs you learn from what they have posted or you wonder why they would care to share their thoughts. It kind of feels like your reading their diary of thoughts on subjects or their email to friend done publicly.

Cyborgs:hyper-human?

Many sci-fi films have presented the ‘cyborgs’ in such extreme ways where always catastrophes involved. One of the dominant discourses of science dystopia is human getting harmed by the cyborgs; the man-made cyborgs are the ones who attack the humans after all. However, not all cyborgs are portrayed in bad ways. Based on the noble Cyborg by Martin Caidin, an American TV series The Six Million Dollar Man depicted a cyborg as a heroic figure and became a major pop cultural icon of the 70s. I remember back in the days I wanted to be a cyborg just like Steve Austin and tried to mimic his slow-motion action sequences (although there was no “electronic” sound effect available). Who knows? Maybe, one day, humans could ‘evolve’ as technologically integrated organisms that have supernatural power just like the Six Million Dollar Man.

Orkut

We are all part of a brand new globalized world, in which frontiers are almost inexistent. If you are from Japan or New Zealand you can buy a ticket today and tomorrow you are in a plane to Australia, US or England, hassle free, travelling has never been easier.

Now, I am not sure about you guys, but I love watching that program on TV, Border Security every Monday at 8pm on channel ONE. The reason I love it is because it plays with stereotypes so well it’s amazing. And if you are from Australia and watch that program it makes you feel proud of your system, how well it serves to protect you from unwanted people that may come from overseas. But remember something, like in physics, for every reaction there is a counter-reaction.

Finally after two paragraphs I reach the topic that I am really interested in telling you guys; a little Internet community with over 8000000 Brazilian members, Orkut, I will explain this a bit later. But as I told you before travelling has never been easier, but only if you come from a rich developed country; truth is for most people in the world travelling has never been more difficult than now. Take for instance myself; I was staying in Australia before I came to New Zealand. I bought a return ticket from Brisbane to Tokyo to Sao Paulo, but before I got into Brazil I had to stay in New York for a couple of hours in order to change planes, so far so good. But on my way back is when all the trouble starts; I already have a return ticket that will take me all the way to Australia, so all I have to do is buy a ticket from Brisbane to Auckland and I will e soon ready to start Uni. But now, if I want to stay two hours in New York I need to apply for a US Transit visa; that will cost me around USD$180, I will need to bring a whole bunch of documents and queue for almost five hours and have an interview with an Immigration agent in the US consulate in Sao Paulo, after I have told my life story to this agent I may wait for about 10 working days in order to get my passport back, with hopefully my visa stamped to it. Now I am ready to go to the Japanese consulate, luckily I don’t need a transit visa to Japan, I can even stay there for three days if I am on my way to a third country without a visa, but I wanted to stay there a bit longer; unfortunately my visa to Japan was rejected. They don’t need to give you a reason to reject your visa, but they told me that I am will potential overstayer; even though I am already enrolled and have paid my fees to study here in Auckland; does it make sense to you? That’s ok, I don’t need to stay there for a week or two; I can just stay there for three days while I wait for my plane to Australia.

I think this is becoming too long and you can get the point, travelling has never been easier, all you need to do is fill in the stereotypical image, that is why Orkut is so good. This internet community tells you everything you need to know, from the point of view of Brazilians living around the world. Take for instance New Zealand; inside Orkut you will find a community called “Brazilians in New Zealand”. Over there they will give you all sorts of tips, how to get a job once you get in, how to renew your visa, where to live… absolutely everything that you may possibly need, even how to cook a Brazilian dish if you are either homesick or would like to impress a señorita(o). But one of the most important things that it tells you is how to get through border security in the airport; it even gives you all the tips of what you need to tell an immigration officer if you are unlucky enough to be interviewed.

So next time you are in an airport and you see a Brazilian with a backpack, a camera hanging from his neck and a lonely planet on his hands, be sure to know, he isn’t a stereotypical tourist, he has just been reading Orkut.

My Cell Phone

Below I would honestly describe my personal experience of using cell phone as a reference for cellphone case study.

I have two cell phones, one is sleeping in the drawer, and the other I use it more often as a MP3 player. When I was working, I actually hated to be called. Because that means I have got more works to do. Even now, I am still quite lazy using my cell phone to contact people unless I have to. I am not a social person as I know. But cell phone is kinda of pushing me to associate with others, such as I have to answer the call or text. I use the camera function quite often. I like to use it to make my personal visual diary. It is a great function I explored from cell phone. Sometimes I play game when I am queuing or feel bored in lecture. Now I am using a PDA. I am going to use its PowerPoint to review and enjoy my Art History lectures and the artworks. I am not going to use it to connect Internet, because it is quite expensive right now. But if the price goes down, I would like to enjoy this function. My cell phone brand is Dopod. I stick to this brand for three years. For me, it is the best choice. By the way, talking about cell phone brand, I somehow hate Motorola, it is like a ‘playboy’ to me. Why? I just feel that way.

More Human than Human

This talk of cyborgs and amputees with prosthetic limbs got me thinking of a computer-game I played a few years ago and which im pretty sure was talked about in class called Deus Ex. The game is set in 2052 in a dystopian kind-of society where the world faces overpopulation etc etc. At this point humans have achieved nano-augmentation where they can (through technology) become physically and mentally enhanced - (see in the dark, jump extremely high, resist injury etc). I think it ties in with what that Australian artist talked about: that the body is limited and we can make it better even if it means through foreign material, like metal.

It makes you think, if we could become more advanced, even if it meant through artifical augmentation would people do it? I sure as hell would. Imagine where we would be in the future if we evolve side-by-side with with technology.

Post-humanism.

Mobiles and Myspace etc

This blog is really in response to some of the blogs that other people have made today in relation to both mobiles and online networking sites.

Personally I'm a recovered blogger and myspacer. A few years ago before it was all the rage I had bought my own domain and was going to set up my own online magazine (which failed because my heart just wasn't in it) and I posted on around 20 forums while having several blogs which I would blog on daily if not several times a day. I don't understand why though. I don't understand people doing it so much these days. I know what you're thinking, "but you used to do it all the time". I did, and it interfered with my life, not just online but offline as well and affected my social life in a really negative way. I gradually saw the light and stopped posting.

I wonder if they will set up a bloggers anonymous or something. I just don't understand why people would want to post details about their lives to strangers. It seems utterly pointless to me and yet I used to do it, before the craze kicked in. It's kind of weird to think of it.

I would definitely say that my life is better now that I don't have an online presence.

The notion that our blogs could be passed on in our will is a ridiculous one. I mean it is plausible that someone would want the blog of someone deceased, but for what reason? I mean you can access most of the entries by simply going to their page so why the hell would you want to own someone's blog. It's almost as ridiculous as the idea of buying pixels online or buying fake money in an online game.

Mobiles, mobiles mobiles? I agree that people used to get by without having mobile technology a few years ago, but I disagree with the statement that mobiles give people a chance to monitor us. They only do if you let them. Most mobiles have a lock function and you can delete messages you don't want people to read and also if you are having a conversation you want to keep private then texting is the way to go. In a way they have given us more privacy. it just depends on how you look at it.

when we die....

I'v read an article talks about now people start to consider where their blogswill go if they die. In this article, the author's name has been added on a friend's will ro inherit her blogs in the event of her death. This may sounds ridiculous at first, but it also plunged us into deeper though. We all agree that internet changed our lived dramatically, if the traditional paper diary was treated as an precious heritage of death people, then why blog or emails can't?

Has any of you ever download your memoriable emails on a hard disk, or re-type some really sweet cellphone meesages into a word documentary then save it? I have done that. We trust technology, so we believe they are there now and they will be there forever. Actually, digital data is more vulnerable, a virus or the lost of usb pen can easily destroy everything.

There are millions of myspace users in the world now. Some of them have died prematurely. There is a website Yourdeathspace.com, which collects dead myspace users. Another site, MyDeathSpace.com, goes further by aggregating links to the pages of MySpace users, along with stories, obituaries or blogs that detail their lives and how they died. Blog becomes something like a gravestone or the teenage bedroom that never been touched by parents if their children have disappeared. Myself have no idea about what fate awaits my blog when i die, but I think, no matter we believe in afterlife or not, we'd better make sure that the memories we have placed into these webs will be treated as what they deserve.

media saturated society.

This week I was writing an essay for another paper that I'm enrolled in and it was about media saturated society. It was quite interesting to find out myself how our individual lives are affected by the power of the media. so I though it will be quite relevant to share the things I found out on the blog. The essay was about the myth and ideology and truth that the film 'thank you for smoking' was talking about. it is deadly serious topic, really the film was really funny. the main character Nick was a lobbyist he talks on be half of the cigarettes, try to persuade people to continue smoking. and the idea of the job is to defend what is indefensible. almost everyone knows that smoking is bad for us, but did we ever think why its bad for ourselves? or have we ever try to find out what exactly is bad? or what kind of harm it has?

we all know smoking is bad mostly because of that is how we got taught and that is what most people believe. This is the myth and ideology but at the same time the truth because smoking is really bad for our lungs as we all know. In this media saturated society, we creates the media as human but at the same time we are being used.

Another form of ankle monitoring

Mobile phones, oh how they run our lives. I'm 21 years old and it was just 5 years ago that the thought of mobile phones being an absolute necessity in my life was farfetched and ridiculous. When I think of those mobile phone-less days, I wander just how on earth I managed to get around. How did I manage to keep in contact with people? Well, if I think just a little, it's called direct face-to-face contact, that's how I kept in contact with people. Oh, so obvious yet it is something that some people take for granted.

So what is it that makes mobile phones so invaluable to us. I would describe mobile phones as some sort of ankle monitoring device, but with special features to hide this basic function. When I say ankle monitoring device, I mean this in two ways. The first being the obvious, and that is the whole 'big brother is watching' aspect and the second being the people in your life. So the 'big brother' aspect is well known and yet not so publicly talked about, or the significance isn't made so well known.

However it is the second way that mobile phones act as a big brother that I find interesting. I think this is extremely relevant if you have a partner in your life. The accessibility of mobile phones proves to make excellent tracking devices for the people in your life, whether they be you other half, or your parents, or whoever. Going about in your everday life, a simple text or call by these people and it has been normalised that you immediately text them back saying where you are or what you're doing, or whatever it is they are asking. Vodafone hasn't made ignoring this instant reaction any easier with plans such as Best M8 and Txt2000. Therefore there is just no excuse! Sometimes you just want some time to yourself, and mobile phones are proving to make this option next to impossible.

Pimp My Cellphone.

The last time I was without a cellphone was two years ago, no thanks to a dirty thief at the Insidious Fix party at Studio on Auckland's K Road. My cellphone was part of my day-to-day living. It was my primary tool in organising my social life. It was my aid in dating, in flirting. It was my watch, my alarm clock. My constant companion. Naturally when it was stolen, I felt violated - was the thief going through my phone, reading my messages? Were they going through my contact list? - and abandoned. After days of not being quite sure what to do with myself, a completely new thought occurred to me - what if I don't replace my phone? What if, for the first time in six years, I didn't have a cellphone? As an experiment, why don't I see how life goes on without a cellphone? As I was leaving NZ to go traveling through India for two months soon anyway, I decided what better time to see what life would be like without a cellphone. Lo and behold, life went on, after a bit of re-familiarising with that ancient tool, the landline. And life didn't just go on, it was an improvement. There is something liberating about not having a cellphone, not being contactable, not waking up the morning after a drunken night with messages in your outbox you really wish you hadn't sent and of course phone calls in your calls history you really really wish you hadn't made. As I said, life went on. I still saw my friends, I still dated, I wore a watch and I got an alarm clock. Upon my return from my travels through India, I fell in love and began a long-distance (Auckland to Wellington) relationship. I decided to get a cellphone. There is something exciting about the sending and receiving of text messages as a way of flirting. It made me ask the question - have text messages become the new love letters? I believe the answer to this is no, just like I believe the novel will never be replaced by online versions of the medium or records by mp3s. Cellphones have become such an integral part of our (organising our) lives that they are almost an extension of our physical beings - an appendage - but are they a necessity? No. I agree with Jim McGuigan in the reading Towards A Sociology of the Mobile Phone when he says, 'Use of the mobile phone is an immensely significant social and cultural phenomenon. However, market hype and utopian dreams greatly exaggerate its importance.' However, although I can function just as effectively without a cellphone, almost two years on from wanting one to communicate in yet another way with my boyfriend who was in another city, I now want one that allows me to check emails, update blogs, be online wherever, whenever. And when the novelty of that wears off, I will want new and more exciting features and functions from my cellphone. I won't need them, and my life would go on if I didn't have them, but while I live in a society which places importance on technology and keeping up with it, I will succumb to the conveniences and the novelties.

Cyborg Soldier

This week i would like to comment on the relationship between cyborgs and humans with regards to a recent "60 minute" article on TV.

The documentary used the example of an injured US soldier who had returned from duities in Iraq having had his left arm and left leg blown off during an amubush. This particular soldier had to have both limbs amputated and they were replaced with prosthetic limbs. I was astounded at the sophitication behind the technology used in creating these imitations. For example, his prosthetic arm was controlled by sensors within his elbow, giving him the ability to simulate most of the movements of his real hand. previously there was little control over the pressure when closing the hand, however this limitaion had been rectified through the sensors which were governed by messages from the brain. Another key feature was the aesthtic look of the prosthetic. It replicated a real limb very well and made it very hard to distinguish between the real and fake limb. The Documentary went on to talk about the future of prosthetics where several other senses are in development including touch and feelings within the ends of the fingers, for example, hot and cold substances.

Through this increase in the techgnology of prosthetic limbs, humans are now making easier decisions around amputation as the option of a prosthetic becomes more attractive and not so limiting. The documentary illustrated the point that technology is getting to a stage where humans are now upgrading their prosthetics and eventually will have functioning limbs that are everlasting and far more functional and practical than real limbs of others in the same age bracket.

I feel that this technology is fantastic for those who have had to amputate certain limbs and i can see the technology evolving to a stage where it replicates the human limb so closely that there would be no difference in functionality. Who knows where the technology will head, but i wouldn't be surprised if these prosthetic limbs got to a point where they actually out performed the human limb. This would be great for aging people or people who had a problem with joints, limbs etc but never considered the option of amputation. From this example it is clear to see how, through technology, the relationship between the human and the cyborg is getting closer.

David Dunlop.

Thumb Culture

The mobile phone can be seen increasingly over the past decade, to have become a ubiquitous item in the hand, pocket or pursue of of most peopel around the world. It's lifespan of no more then twenty years has seen it develop from a new means of social communication to a more sophisticated role in everyday communication and interaction within society.

The ability now for a mobile phone today to have
- Internet
- 3.8 mega pixel camera
- Ability to play and store more then 2000 songs
- Dedicated gaming keys

has had everyone desiring to upgrade to the latest phone.

The development of mobile phone technology can be seen to have occured simultaneuosly with that of the interent. Both these mediums have produced a communication revolution with the past decade, and the combining of the two can be seen as the biggest yet.

The mobile phone of today represents a sphere that people have the ability to plug in and plug out from with the touch of a botton. They can be sitting on a train , but instead be really interacting on the online community Facebook or watching the lastest movie preview. (Or like me writing a blog ) This ability has also created a dependence, where if you dont have your phone on you, you dont feel 'tuned in' to the world.

It also can be seen as blurring of the public and privates realms of professionals, as they are bringing their work home with them everynight. Vodafone New Zealand has taken this to a new level, where they have mobile employees who do not have a desk space in the offices. Instead they have a mobile and a laptop and 'roam around' doing their work in public space.

My personal experiences of a mobile phone have caused me more pain then happiness, even so it will remain firmly within my grasp everyday of the year.

Ben

MySpace ruins lives

Dear myspace.

what have yuo done to me?? im a voyeur, an evesdropping.. nosy person now. You've has changed my life yes, but not in a good way. i dont trust anyone with a myspace? how could i? my boyfriend is a fiend also and how can i sleep at night knowing trashy girls (his favourite kind..) are 'adding' him and 'private messaging' him! why do we need the private message option? lets have everything out in the open please.. its like whispering. Remember when whispering was like torture in the playground? im one of those extremely paranoid people, who is positive that whispering is about me (arrogant i know wah wah wah) .. so of course 'messages' just freak me out. and those photos??? who poses for their myspace photos? poses in alluring positions and outfits (or with their shirt off) to garner some sort of myspace-attention. argh!

in fact.. myspace has ruined my life so much to the point that im now a crim! i hacked into my boyfriends account to read these private whispers (i can tell u because i just got caught..) how paranoid is that? its worse then reading his texts when hes in the shower. (but in all honesty i was totally in the right.. how else would i know he'd been talking to his gross exgirlfriend? haha hmmm...)

but its not only poor bf's page that im addicted to. reading peoples comments is interesting too... they're full blown conversations.. in fact, i have to be extremely carefull about what i bring up in real life...

them...'oh i cant sorry.. i have to do some family thingie'

me... 'no u dont? arnt u meeting whatshername'?

them.. 'what? how'd u..?'

me... 'ooo...um?'

see? you're ruining my social situations!


honestly... myspace leave me alone. im better off without you. i want my space back.

love maddy

This blog is retarded

I tried to make a blog just now about cellphones but there was a suppposed error so I guess this will be my blog for today instead.

run your own club

For years audiences have been encouraged to vote in reality television shows. The significance of voting in such shows are argubably pretty trvial. The winners of new zealand idol and pop's ultimate star are hardly going to go down history.
If you want to vote for something significant you could by a share in http://www.myfootballclub.co.uk/. Buy doing so you could be an active member in selecting a football team to buy, voting for a manager and vote on what players to buy and sell.
I think this is quite a development. It is an anti hegemonic practice as it gives the opportunity for fans to run their football club and not a billionaire and is democratic. I bet All Blacks fans (which i am not? im scotish) would like to have had a better say in how their team was run.

CYBORG, augment your physical strength

A cyborg is a cybernetic organism，today，the cyborg is often seen as an organism that has enhanced abilities due to technology, it is cybernetic technology that people use to repair or overcome the physical and mental constraints of their bodies.

Usually, the word "cyborg" is used to refer to a person with bionic, or robotic. Some people believe that cyborgs would enhance strength of human，even extend our life. Yet，there are also some people worry that，human are going to be replaced by robots in the future. I cant say its impossible，but still a long way to go.

Today, the C-LEG system is used to replace human legs that were amputated because of injury or illness. Sensors used in the artificial，aid the leg walking more significantly. These was the first real step towards the next generation of cyborgs. Furthermore，hearing aids, cochlear implants in the ear, and artificial hearts are all examples of cyborg augmentation.
Maybe in the future，we don’t need to learn anymore，everything could be save in chips，people can buy them and implant into their body. It sounds good，so，guys，If you could augment your physical strength or senses, what would you change?

--Xiaofei H

The current state of currency

Trading real dollars for virtual dollars. I realise it is not a new concept but i've always been intrigued by the thinking behind it. I guess it really comes down to supply and demand. If one desires something and has the means to aquire it then a transaction will be completed. BUT HARD EARNED 'REAL' CASH IN EXCHANGE FOR FAKE 'GAME' MONEY? It sounds ludacris to me, but it is opening up new doors and expanding horizons on how to earn a crust. WOW (world of warcraft) is a perfect example of the forementioned. I have heard that in asia people are employed to sit on a computer constantly roaming the same area killing the same beasts then doing the same when they re-spawn. Mindless killing all to stack 'Virtual' chips. REAL INCOMES for raising FAKE money. Characters and 'Gear' are being sold via auction sites such as trademe and ebay. People repaying REAL life debts by tributing a certain amount of gold. Anyway it beats me how it happened, I guess i will always be stunned by technoculture.

The Value of Free

Interesting article on the growing culture of free content (vis Radiohead's new album for example):

Artists and companies are queuing up to hand out free CDs, DVDs and books. But with so much stuff being given away, is culture becoming devalued?

Another one about the class blog

during the last tutorial it amazed at how stressed some students were about what to do with the class blog. Many questions ranging from what to write on and the length of each piece to "what is the point of the class blog?". The calss blog for me was pretty much the first time i'd ever blogged in my life. I find it strange or rather different to write about anything (related to the class material