Week 5 - Rubber by Quentin Dupieux

Rubber is a French film is by Quentin Dupieux and is by far the strangest movie I have ever seen. The elements of screenplay structure in the opening act were utilised effectively. In fact they were in my opinion move obvious than myself and viewers are used to. This is because straight away in the opening scene the viewers know the location and time of the story. This was done by a variety of shots; including extreme long shots, long shots and medium close up camera. The films "no reason" concept is first shown suddenly by the sheriff before the viewers are even able to encounter the main protagonist, which is a car tyre. Even though the tyre “Robert” is not a human being, the director has used personification in giving him human-like characteristics. This can be distinguished as we are shown Robert's journey as he travels from the junkyard, which is his “place of birth”. Something that also helps with understanding Robert’s desire is the soundtrack. It is so effective in fact that we can visualise how lonely he is. This opening scene was adequate in utilising the basic film structures for the rest of the film. Not only were the essentials of main characters, time and place were introduced but the meaning, sympathy and potential to develop a strong blog throughout the movie was also prepared. 

Week 5 - Scavenger Hunt 2

1Where was the first University established and in which year?

-       University of Bologna (1088), http://www.ask.com/wiki/University 25/08/11

2What is Stephen Stockwell's band called and what does he play? 

   -       The Black Assassins

Can you name a couple of their songs?

-       Pork, The Pits and This 5 Minutes.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm, 25/08/11

3 What is the weight of the world’s biggest machine?

-       Knock Nevi's: World's Largest Ship Ever Constructed

How much did it cost to build?

-       $35 million

http://www.vincelewis.net/viking.html, 25/08/11

4Who is Justin Bieber's lawyer, and what is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact the lawyer?

-       Justin Bieber’s lawyers name is Feinswog, Kenneth A Attorney At Law.

-       He can be contacted via work telephone on (310) 277-8211

http://www.manta.com/c/mms3lh1/kenneth-a-feinswog-attorney , 25/08/11

5What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne?

-       Rail $39

http://australiabyrail.com.au/deals/view/the_gold_coast_for_39?gclid=COji8_DC,6aoCFcqGpAodSHZwQA, 25/08/11

6Who is Hatsune Miku?

-       The first Japanese Vocaloid2 in the Vocaloid2 Character Vocal Series

What company does she belong to?

-       Crypton Future Media

What is her birthday?

-       31st of August 2007

http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/Hatsune_Miku, 25/08/11

7Find a live webcam in Belarus. http://www.webcamsmania.com/webcam/livewebcaminbrest

Find a place to stay in Antarctica.

-       McMurdo Base Antarctica

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Community/mcmurdo/mcmurdo_base_antarctica.htm, 25/08/11

8What song was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1991?

-       Bryan Adams “(Everything I do) I do for you

http://www.mp3lyrics.org/b/bryan-adams/everything/, 25/08/11

9What type of car is used to make ‘Google Street View’?

-       Volkswagen New Beetle

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/01/take-a-look-at-the-vehicle-thats-taking-a-look-at-you/

Translate these questions into Spanish and then translate them back into English.

1. ¿Dónde estaba la Universidad estableció por primera vez y en qué año?

1. Where was established and the first University in Which year?

2. ¿Qué es la banda de Stephen Stockwell se llama y qué hace el juego? ¿Puede usted nombrar un par de sus canciones?

2. What is Stephen Stockwell’s band call and what does he play? Can you name a couple of Their songs?

3. ¿Cuál es el peso de la máquina más grande del mundo? ¿Cuánto cuesta construir?

3. What is the weight of the world’s biggest machine? How much did it cost to build?

4. ¿Quién es el abogado de Justin Bieber, y lo que es la mejor manera (más rápido, más fiable) ponerse en contacto con el abogado?

4. Who is Justin Bieber’s lawyer, and what is the best way (quickest, MOST reliable) to contact the lawyer?

5. ¿Cuál es la forma más barata de viajar desde la Costa de Oro a Melbourne?

5. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne?

6. ¿Quién es Hatsune Miku? ¿Qué compañía no pertenecen a ella? ¿Cuál es su cumpleaños?

6. Miku Hatsune is Who? What company does she belong to? What is her birthday?

7. Encontrar una webcam en vivo en Bielorrusia. Encontrar un lugar para quedarse en la Antártida.

7. find a live webcam in Belarus. Find a place to stay in Antarctica.

8. ¿Qué canción fue la parte superior de las listas de pop de Australia esta semana en el año 1991?

8. What song WAS top of the Australian pop charts This Week in 1991?

9. ¿Qué tipo de vehículo se utiliza para hacer ‘Google Street View’?

9. What type of car is Used to make ‘Google Street View’?

10. Traducir estas preguntas en español y luego traducir de nuevo en Inglés.

10. Translate Into These questions translate Spanish and Then Back Into Them Español.

www.freetranslation.com, 25/08/11

Week 4 - The Terms of Service on Facebook.

A term of service is something that all users must agree to, to be invited into the site. Even though all have to agree to it there only a few people who actually read the Terms of service. This blog will focus on two of the main guarantees of privacy Facebook offers.

Firstly, Facebook is legally able to keep all its rights on everything you put on the website even after you remove it from Facebook, and delete your Facebook account. This is due to Facebook removing the sentences that specified that their rights terminate when your content comes down. This makes Facebook unique to many other social sites for in all other sites once you delete your content the site loses all rights to it (Petchey, P. 2008).

Finally, Facebook claims that it is able to do whatever it wants with your content if you put a Share on Facebook link on your web page. You are able to post links in Facebook to your profile by copying and pasting the URL. If however you want to make it easier for your friends to look at you can just put a link or a widget on your site. This is when Facebook is granted their rights. (French, A. 2008)

Bibliography:

Petchey, P. (2008). Clergy Terms of Service: Employment Law Issues. Ecclesiastical law journal. 10 (3), p.333.

French, A. (2008). Facebook terms of service compared with MySpace, Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Available: http://amandafrench.net/blog/2009/02/16/facebook-terms-of-service-compared

Week 4 - Did social media cause the British Riots?

I am 100% sure that the British riots was fueled by social media but saying that it was the cause of it is a much harder thing to claim. Firstly, social media would not have been the sole starter of the riots, it would have been a contributing factor. Secondly, it is not the social media itself causing the riot. It is the people in control of the social media that are causing it. It is just like if a person shoots another person; who’s at fault the gun or the person shooting? Some may see it as the gun that killed the person but it was not the gun that aimed itself at the other person; it did not pull its own trigger. The shooter, the person holding the gun with the will power to kill, is at fault. Therefore, I conclude that social media did not cause the British riots but instead was just the weapon of choice by the 'shooters'. (Bradshaw, T. 2011)

Bibliography

Bradshaw, T. (2011). Social media's role in riots investigated. The Financial times (London ed.). 1 (2), p34.

Week 3 - Scavenger Hunt 1

1.

First non peer reviewed journal article written by Stockwell, S

Stockwell, S 1981, ‘Kuranda police shooting’, Legal service bulletin, vol.6, pp.48, viewed 11 August 2011, via HeinOnline Law Journal Library

Year: 1981

Database: HeinOnline Law Journal Library

First peer reviewed journal article written by Stockwell, S

Stockwell, S 1995, ‘The Brisbane model: considering a unique experiment’, Urban policy and research, vol. 13, no.2, p. 89, viewed 11 August 2011, via Taylor & Francis Geography, Planning, Urban and Environment Archive 2009

Year: 1995

Database: Taylor & Francis Geography, Planning, Urban and Environment Archive 2009

2.      

Issues: 7,10, 11

Database: Underground and independent comics which was from the trial databases

Burden,  B  1985, Flaming Carrot Comics, Burbank, CA, viewed 11 August 2011, via Underground and independent comics

3.      

Gray, R 2011, ‘Pupils at risk from wi-fi and mobile phones’, Sunday telegraph, p.1,  viewed 11 August 2011, via Factiva

4.      

Leon's reaction when Holden asks him about his mother was “my” and looked shocked and surprised

Fancher, H; Peoples, D; Kibbee, R 1982, Blade Runner, Screenplay, Warner Brothers, Los Angeles, CA, American Film Scripts 

5. Paul Soukup does say Walter Ong saw as the main paradox in 20th century communication

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

How might the Internet be controlling our minds?

The Internet will influence our minds just as everything we see throughout our day such as billboards or TV ads (Gao, L. 2010). Due to the Internet being needed more and more its influence on the users becomes even greater. Whether the Internet “controls” our minds however is a far more difficult question to answer. Due to the Internet giving us the options but the final move will always be ours. If all of our choices are through the Internet then I guess in a way it will.

Are neural implants the way of the future?

This is an extremely controversial topic because there are many people out in the world that would be against this such as the Arish. Personally however, I do believe that if we are able to advance our technology to the stage in which it is able to be a neural implant it will be the way of the future for the majority of the world.

Bibliography:

Gao, L. (2010). Internet Culture Influence and Strategy for Political and Ideological Education. Asian social science. 6 (8), p.22.

Week 3 - Napster

Napster turns your Internet connection into the ultimate online jukebox, with millions of songs to choose from (Napster International. 2011). Shawn Fanning invented this technology whist attending Northeastern University in Boston. However, it was not done initially by himself with his uncle John Fanning being along side him every step of the way. Whether Sean Parker was a co-founder or early employee is an entirely other question. One thing for certain though and is that Sean Parker was a big part of the making of Napster. Initially, it was pictured as an independent peer-to-peer file sharing service mainly focusing on free online music. The service was first started up in June 1999 and ended in July 2001 for legal reasons (Harbour, A. 2001).

Before Napster was invented there were already networks that assisted with sharing files over the Internet, such as Hotline. Despite this, Napster is unique due to it specialising exclusively in MP3 music files and offered a user-friendly interface. At its peak there were 25 million users and 80 million songs, but the system never once crashed. Although the original Napster had to shut down for legal reasons it did lead the way for other such services like frost wire.

Like Napster, Facebook will soon run its course as the ‘cool thing’ of its time and be over taken by another company. What will overtake it is a totally different question. 

Bibliography

Harbour, A. (2001). Napster faces copyright charges. Computer fraud & security. 1 (11), p.2

Napster International . (2011). Learn More. Available: http://music.napster.com/napsterhome/videos.htm. Last accessed 24th Aug 2011

Week 2 - Evolution of Communication

This YouTube video shows basic elements of the evolution of communication.

What form of Communication Technology do you use most often?

The form of communication that I use the most would have to be my phone. This is because it is easy to access and can be taken almost anywhere. However, a problem that I am forever facing is that I am only able to have limited amount of texts and calls. This is problem that all people are faced with when it comes to mobile phone. That is whether to play the tones of money or go without.

What is your favourite?

My favourite type of communication would have to be Facebook. This is because you are able to talk to several people at once for free whist doing other activates. 

Great Google secrets

Google in my opinion is the best general-purpose search engine in the world. But do us the users really know how to us Google correctly and to its full potential. After researching this topic and reading the website below I know for a fact that I currently am not. For example I did not know that Google Alert monitors your search terms and e-mails you information about new additions to Google's Web index. Also after reading the website it has come to my attention that there are in fact special ways in which you should search your topics. Due to there being so many techniques and other advantages I suggest that you go to the website below and read the article.

This website shows the secrets of google.

http://flubber.hubpages.com/hub/effective_google_secrets

Week 2 - Own Experiences with Facebook

Even though Facebook has been around for many years I only really got into it around the time I started high school. The main reason for me using such technology was so I able to communicate with my friends at any time for free, who are also the people that got me into it. As a result of Facebook being able to do as they please with the information that they are provided with, I give them as little of my private information as possible. As to what they do with the private information they collect I have no idea. There are many things that they can do with it to make a large profit but whether they do it or not is another question. For if they sell out all of our personal information there would be a huge uproar and the uses would potentially stop using Facebook.

However, there are more positives then negatives when it comes to using Facebook. One of those being that it is easier to make more friends such as people you have never even met in person. Even though this is different to a face-to-face relationship because people cant filter what they say in real life it is always nice just to be able to talk with someone that you like talking too.