Week 5 Tute Task

3D Chat Rooms

Online Chat Rooms have grown to a whole new level. It’s hard keeping up with it all. I have never personally used 3D Chat Rooms to converse with my friends before because I didn’t even know it was out there. Just by looking at it, it seems like a whole new world. The socialising that happens in these spaces seems a little different to msn messenger but it’s hard to tell without using it. I can imagine it would be interesting to see your own characters, which you can customise to look extremely similar to you, talking to your friend’s characters. Just by reading the website, I’m thinking of giving it a go. Wonderful, another brilliant time waster.

Week 4 Tute Task (Part 2)

How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?
Some search engines such as ‘Google’ are payed by users to get their web pages as highly ranked as possible. The content of the page also has a lot do with the rankings, as well as the keywords produced from the page and the popularity of it.

Who, or what, makes one page (that you might get in your search results) more useful than another one, so that it is put at the top of your search results?
If all of the keywords you type into the search bar match a specific page on Google that will make the page more useful to you than other pages Google brings up in the rankings.

What are some of your favourite search engines? Why do you like one more than others?
I would have to say Google is definitely my favourite search engine by far. The reason for that is probably because the school I went to has always only taught us to use Google as our main search engine. I began to use 'Yahoo' today for the Scavenger Hunt, and it just didn't perform up to the same standard as 'Google'.

Scavenger Hunt!!!

So for this week’s tutorial task we were told we had to do a Scavenger Hunt. However it’s not exactly a real physical Scavenger Hunt, it’s just 10 questions we have to answer without using Google or Wikipedia. Here goes....

1. What did Alan Turing wear while riding his bicycle around Bletchley Park?

A GAS-MASK – to prevent hay-fever. http://www.nels.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/GURPS/WWII/Turing.htm

2. On what date did two computers first communicate with each other?

1969

Where were they?

UCLA
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5842105.html

3. What is Bill Gates’ birthday and what age was he when he sold his first software?

OCTOBER 28
http://www.thocp.net/biographies/gates_bill.htm

4. Where was the World Wide Web invented?

In CERN.. physics research facility, Switzerland. http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/history/inventedwebwhy.html

5. How does the power of the computer you are working on now compare with the power of a personal computer from 30 years ago?

Every computer I have purchased over the last few years have each gotten faster in speed. It’s amazing.

6. What is the weight of the largest parsnip ever grown? Honestly.. that doesn’t interest me what so ever...

7. When did Queensland become a state and why is the Tweed River in New South Wales?

Queen Victoria gave her approval and signed Letters Patent on June 6 1859 to establish the new colony of Queensland.
http://www.about-australia.com/facts/queensland/history/

8. What was the weather like in south-east Queensland on 17 November 1954?

Cyclone Season

9. Why is Lord Byron still remembered in Venice?

Poetry
http://www.neuroticpoets.com/byron/

10. What band did Sirhan Chapman play in and what is his real name?

Black Assassins, Steven Stockwell
http://www.blackassassins.net/Party.html

Week 2 Tute Task (Part 2)

Over the last few years, new communication technologies have been coming out from every angle. There has been msn Messenger, Myspace, Bebo, Facebook, Blogger, Twitter and 100’s more. Before we know it they’ll be growing out of our ears. What they all have in common is the way they make communicating with friends and family a whole lot easier. However, there is one relatively new communication technology which I believe crushes and tears the living daylights out of each and every one of them, and that’s Skype. Not all of you may agree with me, but Skype has made my life a heck of a lot easier when it comes to keeping in touch with my family and friends from home. Ever since I moved to Brisbane, I heavily rely on this brilliant communication device to stay in contact with the ones I love. It allows me to see and talk to the person I’m conversing with all at once, and not to mention it’s either incredibly cheap or even free.

The first time I was introduced to Skype was at the beginning of last year when my family and I were overseas on Christmas holidays. My father had to use it to speak to clients and relatives back at home. Still to this day I’d have to say it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Privacy is not an issue for me while using Skype, but when it comes to Facebook and Myspace I feel I have to be more careful when allowing people to view my profile and pictures. Some people may not be happy with the idea of Facebook and Google collecting information of their users; however I believe it’s for their own benefit. If they have an issue with it, then they shouldn’t be putting that information up on their profile. As I mentioned previously, I’m careful with who I accept as a friend on Facebook, so therefore all my friends are ones I have met face to face and not just on the internet. It’s probably not the wisest move to add any Joe Blow and hope for the best.

New Technology

This is a funny video which I'm sure most of the New Communication Technology students and teachers would be more than interested in seeing, that's if you haven't done so already. Enjoy.

Week 1 Lecture

New semester, new subjects, new chapter to our lives. Some would be excited to get in there and take this semester’s studies by the horns, but unfortunately, I did exactly opposite. I missed just about every class possible as I tried to get myself back on track after an overly relaxing 5 weeks of sun and holidays in the beautiful, tropical, North Queensland. However, I still read the lecture notes for this subject on the internet, and it’s made me think about the way we know so little about technology and what goes on in order to create easier ways of communication and entertainment.

It’s obvious technology plays a large part in our lives, and thanks to the incredibly vast growing reliance we humans have on technology, it’s next to impossible to go for any length of time without it. Thirty years ago we wouldn’t of had dreamed of being able to download multiple gigs of free music off the web, transfer it to a gadget which can be as small as our thumb, and listen to high quality music for hours on end while anywhere in the world. Whereas now, people may find it hard to believe we use to live our lives without these current necessities, and quite happily too.

Everyone knows that the advancing of technology has significantly shaped the way we communicate to each other throughout each day. However, in week 1’s Lecture, it talks about Shannon and Weaver’s model of communication from their book Mathematical Theory of Communication:

“The speaker produces an effect on the transmitter which sends a message (which is degraded by the noise of the transmission process) that is intercepted by the receiver which converts it into an effect that is heard by the listener.”

It’s come to my attention that many people take this “scientific study of mechanical art” for granted and are not thankful for the people who discovered multiple ways our message can be sent with as little effort as possible. And when the next generation come through they will do the same, just with a whole new batch of technology and gadgets.

About me..

Hello Readers,

First of all I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my blog. This is all very new to me, so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

I am a student from Griffith University, Nathan, and I'm studying a bachelor of Communications. If you’re wondering why I’m studying a Bachelor of Communications, it’s because this is the only course that allows me to major in Public Relations, which at the moment, is the direction I want to take in life.

As this blog is an assessment for one of my subjects, all the information I post will be related to the topics my tutorial has advised us to write about. I hope you enjoy.

Concaine.. and a few minutes of bad luck!

Even without the music.. this short and simple presentation has the power to draw in your attention.