My last NCT blog.....it has been fun. The course on the whole has been very enjoyable, better than the other courses I've done. In this blog I'll just go over some general thoughts about the course.
The lectures were very informative. Steve has a good energy out front of the lecture theater which makes his lectures entertaining. Adam also was very good at giving lectures. The guest lectures were pretty good, Jason Nelson's lecture was hilarious and thoroughly entertaining. While Debra's lecture was a bit on the boring side but I'm sure if there was more stimulants to the topic of cybertherapy it would be a better lecture.
The topics were all interesting in there own way, cyberpolitics & virtual reality was fairly difficult to get my head around but I got them after extended reading, while the topics of games theory, cyberpunk & open source was very easy to understand as I had prior knowledge and had a interest in the topic.
The screenings during the second half of the lectures were very entertaining. La Jatee was my first experience with french new wave cinema and was quite a different experience. The use of a slideshow like form and the french voiceover made it an interesting film. Alphaville was also strange with flashs of E=mC2 all over the place. The story was also very dystopic which was good. eXistenZ was one of the strangest movies I've ever seen, the twists involved in that film were crazy and the wondering of whether it was real or virtual is quite fun. Primer was also good but I might have to watch another 2-3 times to understand what they were talking about.
The tutorials were also very informative and good. Chris was very helpful during the whole experience. The tutorial tasks were good but they could probably be structured better, with maybe reporting in the blog about the lecture, screening & textbook so that the revision is getting done during the course. Other than that the tasks were helpful and helped me during the course.
The textbook was a good read, the topics were all interesting. I especially enjoyed the histories of print, radio, screen & computers. The surveillance chapters were also very stimulating. The only problem was with the political economy chapter which was hard to read and to wrap my head around.
So in closing, NCT was a enjoyable subject which was very informative. All the texts, readings & staff were very helpful & the assessments were challenging while being very do-able.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
week 10 10-12
Welcome to what may be the last blog for NCT. This blog is similar to the previous one on MS Word only this time using a spreadsheet program known as MS Excel, as before I'm using OpenOffice instead so it's a bit different.
Exercise 1- Entering & Presenting Data
This exercise was basic and simple that required me to enter some data and then present some of it in bold. This exercise is useful because this is a spreadsheet's most basic function so everybody should know how to do this.
Exercise 2- Formulas
Another simple exercise where I inserted some formulas to allow for calculations. This exercise was simple once again but I did have to use the help menu because the last formula was different for Openoffice. This exercise was useful because this function of using formulas is a very important one and allows for tough & mass calculating to be done easily.
Exercise 3- Graphs
This was another fairly simple exercise which wanted me to insert a graph that used the information I entered into the spreadsheet. This was simple because there was prompts which made the graph-making simple. This is very useful once again because people like visual representations of data.
Exercise 4- Macros
The last exercise was much tougher than the previous ones. It required me to create some macro functions that allow for recording of functions so that they are simpler. This wasn't as simple and I needed lots of help from the help menu as it wasn't as easy as it seemed in the tutorial task. I eventually fininshed the task. The use of macros, like formulas allow for simplified use of a spreadsheet.
So there is my task for this week on spreadsheets.
week 9 10-12
Welcome to another blog for NCT. This week we are looking at some advanced techniques for using MS Word. Strangely though I shall be using OpenOffice but it's still a writer program so it shouldn't be much different. We have a multitude of exercises to get through so lets get started.
Exercise 1- Opening, Typing & Saving.
First exercise was to open a document, type up a job application letter and save it. This was simple and I had no troubles as I had done similar things before. This exercise is useful as it is completely basic and most people should know how to do such things. Also, to get jobs & to complete letters and the like you need those basic skills.
Exercise 2- Bold, Italics, Underline & Bullets.
The next exercise was to change some of the letter into bold, italic, underline & to add some bullet points. Once, again this was simple and useful for people to know because it makes the text more appealing for people to read.
Exercise 3- Headers, Footers & Double Spacing
This exercise was to add a header and a footer and to make the text in double line spacing. The header and footer was easy but it took me a while to find spacing options on openoffice but I eventually found it. This once again is useful because it makes the text more professional and appealing.
Exercise 4- Track Changes
This exercise required me to do some track changes to my document. I don't really understand why this is useful, but I'm sure it is in some way but I can't see it. This once again required me to go to the help menu to find out how to do because Openoffice is different to MS Word. Once I found out though it was simple.
Exercise 5- Mail Merge
This exercise was to do some mail merging. This exercise was much more advanced than the others and took me a little while to do. I had to go through the help quite a few times to overcome the problems I encountered. This exercise is useful for someone sending letters to more than one person & allows for mass emailing.
So there was the fun I had while while learning some basic & advanced techniques for using a word processor. Not long left in the semester so NCT is coming to a close. So far the subject has been really enjoyable and enlightening.
week 8 10-12
Hey everybody, it’s been awhile since of posted a blog but I’ll be doing a couple of blogs in a short time so, here we go.
This tutorial task required me to go on an internet field trip to 3D Instant messaging websites, and then answer a question on what differences these 3D IM’s have to regular IM’s like MSN.
Firstly, the most obvious answer would be that there is a 3D environment. But what else the 3D IM offers is a whole different way of socialising, to which a regular IM cannot replicate. A IM like MSN is purely what it is, a instant messaging chatroom, but you can customise and choose your contacts etc. But a 3D IM like Activeworlds allows for something entirely different. You don’t just talk to your friends but you interact with them in a 3D environment. You can play games, something which is also featured in a regular IM but not to this extent. Build yourself a 3D reality as activeworlds say. You can explore and shop while you meet all sorts of people. You can customise many things such as avatars.
The one feature that stands out the most for me that is very different is the actual exploring, you actually have something to do instead of waiting for a reply from someone. This also adds a whole other feature to which people can be drawn into using. I know that I am quite interested in the exploring capabilities of these 3d worlds.
The qualitative difference between these different mesaging systems is that the behaviour of the people involved can be expressed in many different ways in the 3d environment. Not only can you message in text as usual but emotions can be expressed in much more detailed way than in an IM which uses a mulittude of emoticons. Also, the environment has, I believe a huge effect on behaviour of the participants. The interactions between these people vary depending on where they are in the 3d world, for example, someone in a coffee shop might feel more inclined to talk about things there than out in the open.
I do have some reservations about these 3d messaging programs. It seems to me that these programs may be expensive to use, or eat up your download quicker. Also, if you have a slower connection this may affect the experience you have on these programs. And lastly, this may be seen by some people as a substitute for actually living, therefore preventing people from socialising.
Well, that's my thoughts on 3D instant messaging worlds. Also, you may have noticed my essay on Marshall McLuhan's Hot & cool Media theory below this post, give it a read if you like. It is good to have such an essay finished so now I can study for the NCT exam.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
HOT & COOL MEDIA: DOES IT FIT IN TODAY'S SOCIETY
Marshall McLuhan was a foremost media theorist with theories ranging from revolutionary to controversial. In this essay I shall talk of one of McLuhan’s most famous and controversial theories, the concept of Hot & Cool Media and how this concept relates into today’s society with the introduction of convergence & new media as well as looking at criticisms and changes.
Herbert Marshall McLuhan was a media scholar & communication Theorist who rose to popularity in the 1960’s & 1970’s with famous media theories such as ‘the medium is the message’, ‘global village’ & ‘Hot & Cool Media’. He was born in Alberta, Canada on July 21, 1911. His works include Understanding Media, The Gutenberg Galaxy & The Mechanical Bride. These works have been used by many other communication academics in their work as a reference point. To Read McLuhan’s Understanding Media go to http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/McLuhan-Understanding_Media-I-1-7.html
Even though McLuhan’s work is recognised as revolutionary within the media & communications field, he still received many criticisms. Most critics thought “His idea’s, were not logical enough” (McLuhan, Zingrone, 1997, pg2). Others didn’t like devaluing the significance of the message for the context it was in instead (McLuhan, Zingrone, 1997). After McLuhan’s death in1980, his reputation & legacy have endured & retained a prominent spectre in communication & media theory. For more information on McLuhan’s work go to http://www.mcluhan.utoronto.ca/
The theory of Hot & Cool Media was introduced by McLuhan in Understanding New Media in a 1964. It focused on media’s effect on the body. The principle as written by McLuhan is that a “hot medium extends one single sense in ‘high definition’. High definition is the state of being well filled with data” (McLuhan 1964, pg162 per E. McLuhan, Zingrone, 1997). Therefore, a cool medium is low definition because “little is given and so much has to be filled in” (McLuhan 1964, pg162 per E. McLuhan, Zingrone, 1997). McLuhan defines hot mediums as radio, photography & cinema while cool mediums are the telephone, cartoons & television. Extra information at http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dabrent/mcluhan/hotcool.htm
This theory has been explained in many different ways using metaphors, such as in Donald F. Theall’s book The Virtual Marshall McLuhan where Theall relates the use of hot & cool to Film & TV by using how “light was projected to create the images.” (Theall, 2001, pg 74). Theall speaks of film projecting light directly on a screen, while a TV uses a tube which then projects light onto a screen. (Theall, 2001).
Another metaphor is that TV promotes a “convulsive participation” while the cinema has a hypnotic effect (Marchessault, 2005, pg 188).
The most definitive way of explaining this theory is by using 3 dimensions to define hot & cool mediums. First, he McLuhan used ‘definition’ which I touched on earlier with hot being of high definition which is full of information while cool is low definition where little information is given. The second dimension is using the senses, where McLuhan claimed that a hot medium emphasised one sense and it dominated the others. Cool mediums however allowed for a “interplay of different senses” (Gozzi Jr., 2005, pg220 per Strate, Wachtel). The third & final dimension is participation, which sees hot, while full of information, thus requiring low participation & excluding the audience. For example, print is a hot medium written by the author, it cannot be changed by the reader (Kleinman, 2005, pg180 per Strate, Wachtel), is full of information & only extends the sense of sight. Cool however “invited participation as the information is sparse. (Gozzi Jr., 2005, pg221 per Strate, Wachtel). For example, a TV is low definition because the information given is not nearly as dense as the cinema, the sense of both sight & hearing are needed & the audience’s participation is also needed.
Basically, the dimensions used to define & categorize the mediums are based on the effects on “both physical activity & emotional activity” (Gozzi Jr., 2005, pg219 per Strate, Wachtel). Hot Things are active & emotional, cool things are still & reasonable. (Gozzi Jr., 2005, pg219 per Strate, Wachtel). Critics have found the hot & cool concept to be crude in it’s categorising (Marchessault, 2005) & they point out flaws such as why is radio of a higher definition than TV? Or that convergence with medium’s has lead to many senses to be used or that McLuhan hasn’t defined participation carefully enough. (Gozzi Jr, 2005 per Strate, Wachtel).
One scholar though, Ray Gozzi Jr., proposes some realignments to McLuhan’s theory. His proposal is that a third term be added, body temperature. Gozzi sees hot media inviting a emotional participation, cool media having a intellectual participation & his new term, body temperature being physical in participation (Gozzi Jr, 2005 per Strate, Wachtel)
Gozzi claims electronic medium’s such as the TV & PC be hot, Print medium’s be cool & into body temperature got the telephone and photographs which involves physicality such as speech & movement. (Gozzi Jr, 2005 per Strate, Wachtel). For other metaphors for hot & cool media go to http://www.collectionscanada.ca/innis-mcluhan/002033-2050-e.html
The Hot & Cool theory has been controversial since it’s creation, many critics panning it while others not understanding the concept. Many have since tried to modify the principles & fit it into today’s world of convergence. Due to the new media of today where the computer is a dominant feature of society & medium’s are cross-pollinating (Hirst, Harrison, 2006), where do they fit into the realm of hot & cool media.
The mobile phone has become more than a telephone, it’s now a TV, a camera, a way of reading text & a radio. The mobile phone contains so many mediums that we must wonder where does it fit. If you were to mathematically equate where it fits you would conclude that a mobile phone is cool, with it outweighing hot 3-2, but it is not that simple. The actual telephone is used much more than a radio on a mobile phone. Or, the text is used much more than the TV. So to what measure do we weigh their involvement? It could be said that the mobile phone in its most basic form is a telephone which is therefore cool, and that should decide it. So A answer to convergence may be that the medium in question should be decided on it’s most basic form.
Personal Computers now feature as a dominant media form in today’s society. So where does the PC fit into the sphere of hot & cool media. This is hard to say as the technology is constantly & updating. Originally, the PC would have been hot due to it’s print heavy content, but now the internet & other features have added more convergence therefore, bringing confusion into the spectrum. Some theorists believe the PC takes upon a intermediate status (Gozzi Jr, 2005 per Strate, Wachtel). Unfortunately, Marshall McLuhan is not here to inform us of the PC & mobile phones place in the concept.
Another issue of controversy that relates to convergence is the evolution of media and it’s effects on the mediums. The TV is a prime example for it has constantly evolved & created a “change of temperature” (Levinson, 2005, pg272 per Strate, Wachtel). TV has become hotter since it’s inception with the introduction of larger screens, VCR’s/DVD’s & services that allow recording & Choice. Although, while the TV is ‘hotting up’, it’s still cool due to the fact that these augmentations don’t change the 3 dimensions (participation, senses, definition). But, something could be said for the emergence of HD-TV & surround sound which allows the TV to display plenty of information, much like a cinema would.
While the TV is hotting up, the radio is cooling down, due to the popularity of talkback radio programs & it’s use of the ‘cool’ telephone. The Internet has introduced hyperlinks which have cooled down print. Both of these forms now require participation & offer less information than previous therefore being of a lower definition.
Marshall McLuhan’s theory of Hot & Cool Media is still, in the present day a topic of controversy, even more so with convergence and new technologies adding more confusion. But, what has developed from this controversy is a new understanding of how media effects us as a physical entity & how McLuhan’s theories don’t stay stagnate but develop over time.
For more information on McLuhan’s life got to http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/
LIST OF REFERENCES
Harrison, J & Hirst, M (2006), Communication & New Media: from broadcast to narrowcast, Oxford University Press, Melbourne
Marchessault, Janine (2005), Marshall McLuhan: cosmic media, Sage Thousand Oaks, London
Theall, Donald F (2001), The Virtual Marshall McLuhan, McGill-Queen’s Unniversity Press, Montreal
McLuhan, Eric & Zingrone, Frank (ed) (1997), Essential McLuhan, Routledge, London
Gozzi Jr., Raymond (2005) ‘Why Print Is “Cool” And Orality Is Body Temperature in Strate, Lance & Wachtel, Edward (ed) The Legacy Of McLuhan, Hampton Press Inc, Cresskill, NJ
Kleinman, Neil (2005) ‘How Cool It Was’ in Strate, Lance & Wachtel, Edward (ed) The Legacy Of McLuhan, Hampton Press Inc, Cresskill, NJ
Levinson, Paul (2005) ‘Way Cool Text Through Light Hot Wires And Thin Air’ in Strate, Lance & Wachtel, Edward (ed) The Legacy Of McLuhan, Hampton Press Inc, Cresskill, NJ
Herbert Marshall McLuhan was a media scholar & communication Theorist who rose to popularity in the 1960’s & 1970’s with famous media theories such as ‘the medium is the message’, ‘global village’ & ‘Hot & Cool Media’. He was born in Alberta, Canada on July 21, 1911. His works include Understanding Media, The Gutenberg Galaxy & The Mechanical Bride. These works have been used by many other communication academics in their work as a reference point. To Read McLuhan’s Understanding Media go to http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/McLuhan-Understanding_Media-I-1-7.html
Even though McLuhan’s work is recognised as revolutionary within the media & communications field, he still received many criticisms. Most critics thought “His idea’s, were not logical enough” (McLuhan, Zingrone, 1997, pg2). Others didn’t like devaluing the significance of the message for the context it was in instead (McLuhan, Zingrone, 1997). After McLuhan’s death in1980, his reputation & legacy have endured & retained a prominent spectre in communication & media theory. For more information on McLuhan’s work go to http://www.mcluhan.utoronto.ca/
The theory of Hot & Cool Media was introduced by McLuhan in Understanding New Media in a 1964. It focused on media’s effect on the body. The principle as written by McLuhan is that a “hot medium extends one single sense in ‘high definition’. High definition is the state of being well filled with data” (McLuhan 1964, pg162 per E. McLuhan, Zingrone, 1997). Therefore, a cool medium is low definition because “little is given and so much has to be filled in” (McLuhan 1964, pg162 per E. McLuhan, Zingrone, 1997). McLuhan defines hot mediums as radio, photography & cinema while cool mediums are the telephone, cartoons & television. Extra information at http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dabrent/mcluhan/hotcool.htm
This theory has been explained in many different ways using metaphors, such as in Donald F. Theall’s book The Virtual Marshall McLuhan where Theall relates the use of hot & cool to Film & TV by using how “light was projected to create the images.” (Theall, 2001, pg 74). Theall speaks of film projecting light directly on a screen, while a TV uses a tube which then projects light onto a screen. (Theall, 2001).
Another metaphor is that TV promotes a “convulsive participation” while the cinema has a hypnotic effect (Marchessault, 2005, pg 188).
The most definitive way of explaining this theory is by using 3 dimensions to define hot & cool mediums. First, he McLuhan used ‘definition’ which I touched on earlier with hot being of high definition which is full of information while cool is low definition where little information is given. The second dimension is using the senses, where McLuhan claimed that a hot medium emphasised one sense and it dominated the others. Cool mediums however allowed for a “interplay of different senses” (Gozzi Jr., 2005, pg220 per Strate, Wachtel). The third & final dimension is participation, which sees hot, while full of information, thus requiring low participation & excluding the audience. For example, print is a hot medium written by the author, it cannot be changed by the reader (Kleinman, 2005, pg180 per Strate, Wachtel), is full of information & only extends the sense of sight. Cool however “invited participation as the information is sparse. (Gozzi Jr., 2005, pg221 per Strate, Wachtel). For example, a TV is low definition because the information given is not nearly as dense as the cinema, the sense of both sight & hearing are needed & the audience’s participation is also needed.
Basically, the dimensions used to define & categorize the mediums are based on the effects on “both physical activity & emotional activity” (Gozzi Jr., 2005, pg219 per Strate, Wachtel). Hot Things are active & emotional, cool things are still & reasonable. (Gozzi Jr., 2005, pg219 per Strate, Wachtel). Critics have found the hot & cool concept to be crude in it’s categorising (Marchessault, 2005) & they point out flaws such as why is radio of a higher definition than TV? Or that convergence with medium’s has lead to many senses to be used or that McLuhan hasn’t defined participation carefully enough. (Gozzi Jr, 2005 per Strate, Wachtel).
One scholar though, Ray Gozzi Jr., proposes some realignments to McLuhan’s theory. His proposal is that a third term be added, body temperature. Gozzi sees hot media inviting a emotional participation, cool media having a intellectual participation & his new term, body temperature being physical in participation (Gozzi Jr, 2005 per Strate, Wachtel)
Gozzi claims electronic medium’s such as the TV & PC be hot, Print medium’s be cool & into body temperature got the telephone and photographs which involves physicality such as speech & movement. (Gozzi Jr, 2005 per Strate, Wachtel). For other metaphors for hot & cool media go to http://www.collectionscanada.ca/innis-mcluhan/002033-2050-e.html
The Hot & Cool theory has been controversial since it’s creation, many critics panning it while others not understanding the concept. Many have since tried to modify the principles & fit it into today’s world of convergence. Due to the new media of today where the computer is a dominant feature of society & medium’s are cross-pollinating (Hirst, Harrison, 2006), where do they fit into the realm of hot & cool media.
The mobile phone has become more than a telephone, it’s now a TV, a camera, a way of reading text & a radio. The mobile phone contains so many mediums that we must wonder where does it fit. If you were to mathematically equate where it fits you would conclude that a mobile phone is cool, with it outweighing hot 3-2, but it is not that simple. The actual telephone is used much more than a radio on a mobile phone. Or, the text is used much more than the TV. So to what measure do we weigh their involvement? It could be said that the mobile phone in its most basic form is a telephone which is therefore cool, and that should decide it. So A answer to convergence may be that the medium in question should be decided on it’s most basic form.
Personal Computers now feature as a dominant media form in today’s society. So where does the PC fit into the sphere of hot & cool media. This is hard to say as the technology is constantly & updating. Originally, the PC would have been hot due to it’s print heavy content, but now the internet & other features have added more convergence therefore, bringing confusion into the spectrum. Some theorists believe the PC takes upon a intermediate status (Gozzi Jr, 2005 per Strate, Wachtel). Unfortunately, Marshall McLuhan is not here to inform us of the PC & mobile phones place in the concept.
Another issue of controversy that relates to convergence is the evolution of media and it’s effects on the mediums. The TV is a prime example for it has constantly evolved & created a “change of temperature” (Levinson, 2005, pg272 per Strate, Wachtel). TV has become hotter since it’s inception with the introduction of larger screens, VCR’s/DVD’s & services that allow recording & Choice. Although, while the TV is ‘hotting up’, it’s still cool due to the fact that these augmentations don’t change the 3 dimensions (participation, senses, definition). But, something could be said for the emergence of HD-TV & surround sound which allows the TV to display plenty of information, much like a cinema would.
While the TV is hotting up, the radio is cooling down, due to the popularity of talkback radio programs & it’s use of the ‘cool’ telephone. The Internet has introduced hyperlinks which have cooled down print. Both of these forms now require participation & offer less information than previous therefore being of a lower definition.
Marshall McLuhan’s theory of Hot & Cool Media is still, in the present day a topic of controversy, even more so with convergence and new technologies adding more confusion. But, what has developed from this controversy is a new understanding of how media effects us as a physical entity & how McLuhan’s theories don’t stay stagnate but develop over time.
For more information on McLuhan’s life got to http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/
LIST OF REFERENCES
Harrison, J & Hirst, M (2006), Communication & New Media: from broadcast to narrowcast, Oxford University Press, Melbourne
Marchessault, Janine (2005), Marshall McLuhan: cosmic media, Sage Thousand Oaks, London
Theall, Donald F (2001), The Virtual Marshall McLuhan, McGill-Queen’s Unniversity Press, Montreal
McLuhan, Eric & Zingrone, Frank (ed) (1997), Essential McLuhan, Routledge, London
Gozzi Jr., Raymond (2005) ‘Why Print Is “Cool” And Orality Is Body Temperature in Strate, Lance & Wachtel, Edward (ed) The Legacy Of McLuhan, Hampton Press Inc, Cresskill, NJ
Kleinman, Neil (2005) ‘How Cool It Was’ in Strate, Lance & Wachtel, Edward (ed) The Legacy Of McLuhan, Hampton Press Inc, Cresskill, NJ
Levinson, Paul (2005) ‘Way Cool Text Through Light Hot Wires And Thin Air’ in Strate, Lance & Wachtel, Edward (ed) The Legacy Of McLuhan, Hampton Press Inc, Cresskill, NJ
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
week 6 tut 10-12
It's been a while! Welcome once again to Shane's NCT blog, this being blog No. V. (I missed last week but i'm catching up now.)
This week's task is to continue being creative on Photoshop. I have already 'enhanced' one image in photoshop which you can view by looking at my previous blog entitled week 4. Or you can just scroll down the page a tad, it's right below this one. Today a shall modify some more images.
This first image is as you can probably tell is of the great land known as Australia. What you inquisitive folk might notice though is that there's a kangaroo with boxing gloves on it! This represents Australia's grit and spirit, especially in sport, and the colours that are draped over Australia are our national colours, Green & Gold. This image is to represent the theme of
Australia and that the representation of the 'boxing kangaroo' and what it embodies covers the whole of australia and all it's peoples. I created it by getting a image of Australia from ausbrid.com and brushing the colours of green and yellow over it in a flag style, then I got the image of the kangaroo off deafsports.org.au and pasted it over the top.
The second image I have done is to do with the theme of games. I had a little fun with this one. I got a screenshot from the magnificent and wonderfully beautiful game Eldar Scrolls IV: Oblivion (a game i've spent more than 115 hours on, and still going!) . The screenshot is of a dremora, a bad guy. I then also got a picture of a funny looking broom from partydomain.co.uk. I copied the broom and rotated it so that it covered the sword, so if you look closely you should see him holding a broom. It also says "....Wanna Fight?". This picture represents the theme of games because, it's a picture from a game, and secondly it's fun, and games are meant to be fun.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Week 4 tut 10-12
Welcome to Shane's NCT blog, this one being blog IV.
This week's Tutorial task is an introduction to Photoshop & posting images on our blogs. We have to post an assortment of images relating to certain themes.
This week's Tutorial task is an introduction to Photoshop & posting images on our blogs. We have to post an assortment of images relating to certain themes.
This image is of me ( The one on the right) & my friend, Nick, which was taken at our year 12 formal using a digital camera of some sort. This photo represents the theme of friends, firstly, because Nick is my friend & secondly, formal's are a gathering of friends you have known for many years to celebrate the end of a major period in your life. This first image is pretty basic, all I done was select the background and filter it with a brush filter.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Tutorial 3 10-12
Welcome to Week III of the wonderful NCT blog!
Today’s Tutorial Task requires the class to search the library databases for resources that will help us with our essay topic. I haven’t fully decided on what my essay topic will be on but I did think that Marshall McLuhan’s work is interesting and important to this course, so he might be an intriguing topic for my essay.
The first part of this Tutorial task for this week is to find a resource on my topic that will help me ‘formulate’ my essay. The one that popped up first in my search was the book, strangely titled Marshall McLuhan by Jonathan Miller (sarcastic, as if you couldn’t tell).
The next part of this task was to find 3 academic articles related to my topic and summarise the key points. The first one was quite easy as it was one of the records in my first search entitled Marshall McLuhan: Cosmic Resource by J. Marchessault it focuses on McLuhan’s life and putting his theories into a global context. I used the database JSTOR: the scholarly journal archive for the next 2 articles. The second article I looked at was entitled McLuhan In The Light Of Classical Rhetoric by Patrick Mahony which talked about the influence of Rhetoric on McLuhan’s work. And the last article I’m using for this task is entitled The McLuhan Thesis: Its Limits And Appeals by Edward Lueders which was written in 1967 during McLuhan’s time and talks of theories and compares him to great theorists.
I have also been asked to give a brief summary of what my essay will be about. Some points of thinking of at the moment are His concepts/theories, His theories in context of today, His impact on media theory & Criticisms.
Another task was the joining of a mailing list that was related to media or technology. I found one called fibreculture.org which has forums, reviews, projects, events & a journal on information technology & new media.
I believe I’m over my Wordcount now, so for this week,
Cheerio
Today’s Tutorial Task requires the class to search the library databases for resources that will help us with our essay topic. I haven’t fully decided on what my essay topic will be on but I did think that Marshall McLuhan’s work is interesting and important to this course, so he might be an intriguing topic for my essay.
The first part of this Tutorial task for this week is to find a resource on my topic that will help me ‘formulate’ my essay. The one that popped up first in my search was the book, strangely titled Marshall McLuhan by Jonathan Miller (sarcastic, as if you couldn’t tell).
The next part of this task was to find 3 academic articles related to my topic and summarise the key points. The first one was quite easy as it was one of the records in my first search entitled Marshall McLuhan: Cosmic Resource by J. Marchessault it focuses on McLuhan’s life and putting his theories into a global context. I used the database JSTOR: the scholarly journal archive for the next 2 articles. The second article I looked at was entitled McLuhan In The Light Of Classical Rhetoric by Patrick Mahony which talked about the influence of Rhetoric on McLuhan’s work. And the last article I’m using for this task is entitled The McLuhan Thesis: Its Limits And Appeals by Edward Lueders which was written in 1967 during McLuhan’s time and talks of theories and compares him to great theorists.
I have also been asked to give a brief summary of what my essay will be about. Some points of thinking of at the moment are His concepts/theories, His theories in context of today, His impact on media theory & Criticisms.
Another task was the joining of a mailing list that was related to media or technology. I found one called fibreculture.org which has forums, reviews, projects, events & a journal on information technology & new media.
I believe I’m over my Wordcount now, so for this week,
Cheerio
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Week 2 10-12 SB
Welcome once again to my NCT blog for my Tutorial, this being blog II.
This week we have been tasked to choose one issue from either the lecture or any readings to which we should discuss. I have read the first four chapters of the textbook and one aspect that intriguied me was Marshall McLuhan's concept of 'hot' and 'cool' media. I found this interesting because McLuhan segregates the media of his time and places them in 2 catagories, 'hot' which means the medium is full of information and has less involvement for the audience, and 'cool' which means the content is not full of information and has a greater sensory particapation.
But I thought, what if today's ever expanding mediums were placed into these 2 categories?, or if the the 'old' mediums still belong in their categories?, and if they possibly cross into both categories.
Basically, 'hot' media contains radio, film & photography. These mediums are often content driven, and require a low participation. Film's and photo's are visually stimulating and does not require the audience to fill in any details, radio does the same with sound.
'Cool' media contains such mediums as television, cartoons/comics & the telephone and require a high participation because the audience would have to fill in details such as in a cartoon where the visual detail is low or with a TV where the amount of information is of a lesser amount than with a film.
So what McLuhan is suggesting is that different media create different levels of participation, but today, some 30 years after the passing of McLuhan does his media theory still apply?. Current media has changed alot in the past 10-15 years with new media such as the mobile phone and internet dominating today's culture. The Mobile phone, which is the new and improved telephone carries many mediums. Todays mobile's have the ability to watch live TV and download & listen to music. The Internet has the ability to listen to the radio, download TV programs & movies (naughty!) as well as many other things so it can be argued that the internet could be a 'warm' medium.
Television often has movies present- whether it be free-to-air or on pay-TV where there is channels that are dediccated to films. So does this mean that TV now crosses into the 'hot' category because it shows films? Or does it still have a 'cool' feel to it because you don't have to watch the movie like you do in a cinema?
What does the media of the future hold and what category will they fall under?, we shall see.
That's my blog for this week, I hope it ain't boring.
Shane
This week we have been tasked to choose one issue from either the lecture or any readings to which we should discuss. I have read the first four chapters of the textbook and one aspect that intriguied me was Marshall McLuhan's concept of 'hot' and 'cool' media. I found this interesting because McLuhan segregates the media of his time and places them in 2 catagories, 'hot' which means the medium is full of information and has less involvement for the audience, and 'cool' which means the content is not full of information and has a greater sensory particapation.
But I thought, what if today's ever expanding mediums were placed into these 2 categories?, or if the the 'old' mediums still belong in their categories?, and if they possibly cross into both categories.
Basically, 'hot' media contains radio, film & photography. These mediums are often content driven, and require a low participation. Film's and photo's are visually stimulating and does not require the audience to fill in any details, radio does the same with sound.
'Cool' media contains such mediums as television, cartoons/comics & the telephone and require a high participation because the audience would have to fill in details such as in a cartoon where the visual detail is low or with a TV where the amount of information is of a lesser amount than with a film.
So what McLuhan is suggesting is that different media create different levels of participation, but today, some 30 years after the passing of McLuhan does his media theory still apply?. Current media has changed alot in the past 10-15 years with new media such as the mobile phone and internet dominating today's culture. The Mobile phone, which is the new and improved telephone carries many mediums. Todays mobile's have the ability to watch live TV and download & listen to music. The Internet has the ability to listen to the radio, download TV programs & movies (naughty!) as well as many other things so it can be argued that the internet could be a 'warm' medium.
Television often has movies present- whether it be free-to-air or on pay-TV where there is channels that are dediccated to films. So does this mean that TV now crosses into the 'hot' category because it shows films? Or does it still have a 'cool' feel to it because you don't have to watch the movie like you do in a cinema?
What does the media of the future hold and what category will they fall under?, we shall see.
That's my blog for this week, I hope it ain't boring.
Shane
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Week 1- Tute 10-12 SB
SHANE'S NCT BLOG FOR WEEK 1
How's it goin,
Welcome to my first blog for my New Communication Technologies (which will from now be referred to as NCT) course. My name is Shane Bailey, I'm 17, Born in Campbelltown, Sydney and moved to Tweed Heads when I was around 9-10 (can't remember exactly). I'm studying a bachelor of Journalism at GU GC campus. Journalism has always interested me, especially the field of sport's Journalism. I'm Doing 4 courses in my first year, first semester, these being (Effective Writing, NCT, intro to Marketing & Writing for the Web). I'm settling in to uni pretty well, even though the bus trip from tweed and back is a bit of a hassle. I'm finding each course to be very intriguing, the most intriguing of them being NCT (sucking up a tad).
Since we will need to be reflecting on the issues and such arising from the NCT lectures, Tutorials and the readings, I may as well start reflecting a bit on week 1. First lecture for NCT was last week, It was one of the best lectures of the week, Aprof. Stockwell is very interesting, his booming voice reminds me of my old Software teacher in high school. I'm pretty happy with the assignments involved with NCT compared to other courses I'm doing. I've read the first 4 chapters of the textboook. It's pretty interesting, but i'll have to read them again for them to sink in.
Lastly I'll talk about my interests. I enjoy Sport (League, cricket & NFL), Film, TV, Video games & reading. I'll most likely give a better blog in coming weeks since It's my first, and also My actual first blog wasn't saved for some silly reason (my mistake probably).
Till Next week,
Cheerio.
How's it goin,
Welcome to my first blog for my New Communication Technologies (which will from now be referred to as NCT) course. My name is Shane Bailey, I'm 17, Born in Campbelltown, Sydney and moved to Tweed Heads when I was around 9-10 (can't remember exactly). I'm studying a bachelor of Journalism at GU GC campus. Journalism has always interested me, especially the field of sport's Journalism. I'm Doing 4 courses in my first year, first semester, these being (Effective Writing, NCT, intro to Marketing & Writing for the Web). I'm settling in to uni pretty well, even though the bus trip from tweed and back is a bit of a hassle. I'm finding each course to be very intriguing, the most intriguing of them being NCT (sucking up a tad).
Since we will need to be reflecting on the issues and such arising from the NCT lectures, Tutorials and the readings, I may as well start reflecting a bit on week 1. First lecture for NCT was last week, It was one of the best lectures of the week, Aprof. Stockwell is very interesting, his booming voice reminds me of my old Software teacher in high school. I'm pretty happy with the assignments involved with NCT compared to other courses I'm doing. I've read the first 4 chapters of the textboook. It's pretty interesting, but i'll have to read them again for them to sink in.
Lastly I'll talk about my interests. I enjoy Sport (League, cricket & NFL), Film, TV, Video games & reading. I'll most likely give a better blog in coming weeks since It's my first, and also My actual first blog wasn't saved for some silly reason (my mistake probably).
Till Next week,
Cheerio.
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