Well, here's to the end of the road kid...

Confession #1- I find reflections difficult and boring... until NCT. Yes, it sounds a little apple-on-the-desk, but I'm being completely honest. Thirteen weeks is not an enormous amount of time, and with so much squeezed in it makes for a blurred recollection of lecture-tutorial-assessment-lecture-tutorial-assessment-lecture (well you can see where I'm going with this.) NCT has not been like this at all. The reason for this is I have this beautiful reference called a blog! Every bit of work is on this neat little page, I have something credible to show for the past baker's dozen, and for that I am grateful. Grateful may not sound like the right word, but it is what I am. Amidst the craziness of assessments, exams and decisions over semester enrolments it can be incredibly daunting to go over material and recall your experience of the course. Fortunately for the NCTers, reflection preparation has been evident from the first week.

Confession #2- I dreaded the thought of keeping an online journal my peers could read. I have a Myspace www.myspace.com, but that's just crazy photos and funny answers for the 'interests' section. This is different, I am writing real thoughts and posting an ESSAY that isn't just for the tutor. For me, it's a scary prospect. Not a fan of harsh criticism, and assuming that would be the only feedback, my poor fingernails were practically non-existent. I was even worried about who would like the format I chose! My first post was on my experiences with technology, and within a week I had received two comments... It took me forever to read them, but was so glad I did. Both the lovely blogger's left me some great comments and enjoyed reading the dreaded blog. From then, I've felt more confident in my postings and the knowledge they may be read. What's more, students are generally busy being students. I've noticed how little time I've had to read as many blogs as I would like, let alone bother to say something awful about one (which, from what I've read, isn't a problem anyway.) Thanks to the blogs, I'm far less hesitant to show my work, which has been invaluable; especially when it comes to editing.

Confession #3- I thought this course would be my most boring class. See, you have to understand something, computers have never been my forte. I've used them a lot, but in a more leisurely manner. When it came to studying the processes of technology, I would have preferred to eat a cucumber sandwich. It was actually a slow process for me. Due to an unfortunate organisation problem, I was interstate when semester began, so I missed the first lecture. And then I accidentally missed the second one (it was a timetable problem!) I had read the textbook chapters, but I'm sure I dozed mid-paragraph once. By the third week, I knew I couldn't miss any more, so I downed to coffees and brought a Red Bull just in case... turns out there was no need. I understood what was being taught, and I can remember laughing a couple of times (with, not at...)! It's been a really interactive course, and I'm so glad I didn't back out. I've enjoyed the lectures and the colourful guests (erm, Jason...). I've gotten more from the tutorial tasks than I thought I could (who knew there was more to Word than just typing a document??) And thanks to NCT I pulled out the camera I had been too busy to use, and now remember why I love that object in my hand so much.

It's been a pleasure NCT!

Microsoft Word

I am an avid user of Microsoft Word. It's a part of every document I do (I sometimes cut and paste my blogs on to Word Doc to use spell check...sshh, don't tell...). Exercise's one two and three included nothing I hadn't used before in Word; opening a new document, typing its contents then saving to a desired file. I've done bulleting, bold and italics. I felt it was pretty basic, but definitely a worthy starting point. Exercise two, however, opened up a bunch of tools I didn't know existed on Word. I've used Header and Footer for assessment pieces, but was completely unaware of the Letter and Mailing options which then extends to merging, inserting and track changes. I'd actually noticed this on a returned assessment piece from a tutor recently, but had no idea how she did it. Now I do!
It took me a while longer than I had expected, but I didn't experience any difficulty while going through the exercises, the Word Document was most obliging!
A very helpful and informative task, which I will no doubt show off to the technophobe parents.

...and After

I decided to make this photo into more of a postcard. I used the border art effect and placed some text. Didn't change too much with the quality of the photo itself, just altered the lighting.

This was a little harder to work with and change. Obvioulsy the focus of technology is on the screen itself, so I just changed to shading of the background to black and white and highlighted the lighting on the screen. I added the text for something different, but I think it makes it look a little like an advertisement.

I mostly just wanted to use the effects to change the meaning of the photo. It started as my depiction of summer time, so I used tone lenses to create a completely different feel. This sort of feels like a 'war of the worlds' idea. The subject looks quite lonely, almost as though he's the last man left on earth. By changing the sunlight to a green haze makes it more of a UFO scene than a sunset.

I got this idea from the tv show 'Cheers.' There is a part where all the cast are in a photo which then turns into a painting. With this photo, I added the effect of charcoal and darkened the lighting.

This one was just a fun play around with the effects. It was taken at Fishermans Warf, which is outside. We were having such a great time that night, so to capture that feeling I made sure the focus was on our faces. I outlined our silhouette and changed the background to the darkest shade it would go. To add the idea of us being outside, I used the stars particle effect.

I really wanted to emphasize the two boys outside of the environment. Their faces say more than their surroundings as to the position they are in. For this effect I darkened the lighting and made a central spotlight. I added the text as more of a manovre to personalise them with the viewer. They are all of these things, and they are terms we can relate to in our own lives.

Before...

Something I had never seen until going overseas, (I don't know, is it on domestic flights...??) was the monitor on the plane showing the direction and location of the plane. Interesting to watch while you wait. I thought it was pretty cool at the time.

This is on the streets of Chiang Mai. We could give the little boy food, but there was little we could do for the young man's infected leg injury. I chose to use this as my news photo because it is such an issue in Thailand, and something I feel should be brought more forward in Western society. You are either homeless and below the poverty line, or living a wealthy (even to western standard) lifestyle in the city.

This was taken at Moreton Island last summer. It really captures the perfect summer's night.

I took this photo in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It's about as unconventional as I could come up with. That foot actually lands on this man several times, and hard enough for his body to bounce. It's a trick they learn from a young age (from both performers) and the trust is unbelievable.

This was taken the night after I got accepted into Griffith and my mate was on holidays before starting her Masters at Bond. It show's the precedent for the remainder of the semester...

I hardly knew anyone when I moved back to the Coast from New Zealand, but these lovely ladies have made the transition a whole lot easier.

Photo's taken on a Sony Cyber-shot camera, 4.1 mega pixels.

MSN vs 3D - Yourself vs your Other Self

I have used MSN for the majority of my internet life. I think it started when I was about 16, so my parents were very protective of who I was talking to, and so was I to be honest. The most of the MSNers on my friends list, were actual friends - people from school, dance class, relatives etc. Although I know some people let random users onto their friends list, and can chat away for hours with them, I've never really been that into it. Chat rooms can interest me for a bit, but that's because you can read other people's comments while you'r deciding your next one. Uncomfortable silence can extend across many a country. There's only so much I want to talk to a stranger about, and I usually get bored with the:
'Hi, how are you?'
'How old are you?'
'Oh, 56 and looking for a relationship... well, good talking to ya, bye now!'
So, from here I will introduce my experience of the 3D chat...
I knew it would be different - the 3D part tipped me off. But I absolutely did not expect to get into it so much! I used IMVU. I chose from a variety of different 'avatars' to turn into my alta-ego. From hair colour, clothes and choice of sunglasses, I had created the virtual incarnation of myself (well what I'd look like in 3D hot world anyway) Click on 'find a friend' and away you go. I was in 'Barbucks' chatting to Milly from Malaysia. I did this while focusing on the differences between this form of chat compared to MSN Messenger. Clearly, there are small things like the process of registering - in MSN you are only applying your email address, name and age. IMVU is a far more lengthy process. What I found most prominent though was the way you connect from one chat space compared to the other. In MSN, although you can alter certain aspects of yourself through what you type, you are essentially chatting as yourself. In 3D chat, you are creating a whole new world, complete with a loft, friends and perfect body. You are no longer saying you are/have all of these things; you actually do (in the virtual world). Although I only dabbled in the possibilities of IMVU, I was unusually drawn in. This idea does bring forward some scary prospects. There is already a situation in our society of people 'getting lost' in the realms of the internet and the virtual anonymity it creates (become who you want outside the reality of who you are). With 3D chat, the prospect of believing you are all these things is magnified because the notions are no longer in your head; they are right in front of you, playing out on your computer. 3D chat was loads of fun to create and be part of, and I think it could be a great creative outlet. But be prepared when the line between reality and virtual existence take on the inevitable shades of grey.

oops...

Just looking over my blog, it's a little confusing. I had the intention of writing my essay about the effect technology has had on war and society. I even had a little essay plan set out (an unusually organised action from me) But as I started to write, I could see it taking a slightly different turn. I became more interested in focusing on the society/media relationship, with just a reference to war. So, i found a quote that supported what I wanted to say, and went from there. So when you see my little blurb about the intentions for the essay, they are a little out of whack with the actual content.

Tick a box: yes or no?

‘…the accusation can be made that the uncontrolled growth of technology destroys the vital sources of our humanity. It creates a culture without moral foundation. Technology, in sum, is both friend and enemy.” (Postman 1993, p.xii) – From Communication and New Media textbook p.27

Technological advances are vast in almost every aspect of our lives. From the type of music we listen to, and how we listen to it, to the way we communicate with each other. In an age of mp3, mobile phones and satellite, instantaneous response is the order of the day. This is especially prevalent in the world of media news coverage, which is where I would like to lay the focus from Neil Postman’s quote. I learned just minutes ago that Paris Hilton’s jail time could be cut in half. I got this information without asking or caring. It’s all there for me when I log onto the channel nine news webpage www.news.ninemsn.com.au. Technology has allowed an acknowledgment of events never before presented. This can be said of sports coverage, celebrity culture and more in particular warfare coverage. Society’s understanding of global events has changed dramatically over the last one hundred years. The question is, however, are we better or worse off when it comes to the media’s technological growth? Can we trust the information we’re receiving?

The World Cup soccer match was prime news for many parts of the world, all cheering and crying at different times, depending on your team loyalties. www.wldcup.com. This is a vital example of the positives the globalisation of media coverage has brought to society. You didn’t need to be at the game to experience it. Although it is just a sport, it is also a culture. Idealistic perhaps, but the world didn’t seem to be at war during this time. I’m not an entirely sports oriented person, but for that while, everybody was in the spirit of the game. The technology available for allowing this sport coverage to be viewed by such a vast number of people, is a great statement of the advantages we face thanks to live satellite footage.

Celebrity culture has never been so prevalent than it is today. Thanks to the growth of media’s mass distribution and the technology to transfer footage from one side of the world to the other, celebrity privacy is practically non-existent. It’s not just the glossy magazines, it is master blogger’s like Perez Hilton www.perezhilton.com who dedicate their life to tracing the rich and famous and depicting their movements instantly on his site. But the situation with celebrity culture does not stop with just the knowing of celebrity movements, it is the culture part of the term that is slightly unnerving. I only have to look around at my own surroundings to realise its effects. The lighter side is the copy-cat nature of fashion and designer labels, but the emulation of behaviour does require some careful consideration. Society tends to reveal that if a celebrity conducts themselves in a certain way, it makes it somewhat acceptable. From driving under the influence, to engaging in drug use, these are all circumstances which should question the length to which celebrity culture will go in relation to it’s effects on standard society.
During World War One and World War Two, every nation involved used propaganda posters to assist with the recruitment of men (especially Britain in WW1, as it initially had no conscription in place.) "At the front! Every fit Brit should join our brave men at the front. ENLIST NOW!" www.firstworldwar.com The depiction of war was of comradery, bravery and when needed, guilt. Very little was revealed about the devastation of warfare, unless it was required to show how much the men were needed in battle - The National Archives ‘Power of Persuasion’ suggests, “words, posters and films waged constant battle for the hearts…just as surely as military weapons.” Weather it was naivety or ignorance, society was very unaware of the situations their men were being subject to. Government manipulation was certainly part of it, but this happens today. Harvard Professor Joseph Nye sums with, “Get others to want what you want…entice and attract, leading to acquiescence or imitation.” (War and the Media: Reporting Conflict 24/7. 2003 Ch 2 p:31 – 2002:8-9) Much of this was prevalent due to the lack of tools to create alternate avenues of information. Vietnam was the first war to be depicted in the real essence of what war was all about - killing, depravation, death, hunger and anger. As a consequence, riots, petitions and anti war protests were organised to stop the continuation of troops in Vietnam and to bring the already posted back home. (The ‘Uncensored War’: The Media and Vietnam, Daniel C.Hallin p.7) Censorship and editing was, and is, clearly rife in the media, but thanks to satellite and up to date coverage, much more is now known about the events in war.
There are certain pivotal moments in life where everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing. Neil Armstrong landing on the moon www.panoramas.dk.com, the death of Elvis Presley and Princess Diana, the OJ Simpson trial and, for me, the Port Arthur massacre. You know because you were probably doing the same thing each time… watching television or listening to the radio. You were receiving information only minutes old; you became part of the drama. I was witness to United Airlines Flight 175 crash into the south tower of the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11. www.cnn.com I did this while sitting in my lounge room in Hobart, Tasmania. The instantaneous media coverage brought an attack from the other side of the world, right into our homes. Every media outlet had this footage on repeat until you absorbed every detail, the sight of the burning buildings and distressed New Yorkers… and then, without fail, the photo of three Muslim men. America was attacked, and the western world was fearful and angry at the exact moment America was. The event happened, and we knew about it. But we knew about it from the mouths of western media, which brings on a certain amount of discrimination. It is hard to decide if we needed to know the details provided. Media supports power in conflict, and uses it’s tools to sway the population in the same direction. (September 11, Noam Chomsky.2002 Ch 3 p.30) It needs to be noted that although being oblivious to events is not the answer, media sensationalism exists on a large scale, and being oblivious to that is equally destructive.
In summary, technology is escalating rapidly, particularly when it comes to the mass media distribution. From the posters of WW1 and WW2, to the at-the-moment coverage we see on our televisions and computer screens today. Society cannot avoid the technology steam train, but must question its authority and necessity. I feel lucky to have such access to global issues, but I am aware that there is a possibility of both knowing too much and not being told the whole truth. So long as the awareness is prevalent and the media’s intentions are questioned, all we can do is watch technology and media grow and enjoy the ability to connect to a global network unavailable to so many before us.