Lecture –
The lecture this week talked about free and open source. Free software was created by Richard M Stallman and he wanted to create totally free operating system. There were 4 Free Software principles. The name free source was not appealing as a marketing point so to break into the business world, the name was changed to Open Source. Open source’s key is to include everybody, anyone can make a contribution. Despite its good points, such as the fact that it is not controlled by a large money hungry company, Open Source has got a few problems. Such as it’s survival is dependent on public participation.
Reading –
There were three readings for the week, but they were too long and interrupted my study for the exam so I chose to concentrate on my essay and my exam instead of doing the readings.
Tutorial –
The tutorial was basically a catch up on previous blogs, finishing your essay or doing the tutorial task for the week which is making a movie for Youtube. I chose to catch up on tasks and finish my essay before sending it off.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Week 11 – Tutorial 11 – Copyright
Lecture –
I wasn’t at the lecture this week, however I read the lecture notes and saw that they watched a Youtube video called Cocain Jesus and another short documentary called Steal this film 2. There was a connection to a site that talked about Napster and his P2P invention. The notes discussed his program as a ‘peer-to-peer’ MP3 player downloading site that was shut down due to copyright. The article continues with discussions about how the video cassette recorder came under scrutiny due to the fact that it recorded a show at a particular time to be viewed at a later date, also an infringement on copyright laws. They said that this point was argued during the Napster case. In the end, Napster closed down. The discussion was interesting because it raises the question of where the fine line is between copyright and legal downloading/copying. Perhaps the public is doing illegal copying on an everyday basis without being aware? Why put a recording device on a video cassette if it’s illegal?
Reading –
I couldn’t access the reading for this week.
Tutorial –
There were no tutorial tasks for this week on the website and I couldn’t make the tutorial so I wasn’t in class to participate in any activity they decided to do.
I wasn’t at the lecture this week, however I read the lecture notes and saw that they watched a Youtube video called Cocain Jesus and another short documentary called Steal this film 2. There was a connection to a site that talked about Napster and his P2P invention. The notes discussed his program as a ‘peer-to-peer’ MP3 player downloading site that was shut down due to copyright. The article continues with discussions about how the video cassette recorder came under scrutiny due to the fact that it recorded a show at a particular time to be viewed at a later date, also an infringement on copyright laws. They said that this point was argued during the Napster case. In the end, Napster closed down. The discussion was interesting because it raises the question of where the fine line is between copyright and legal downloading/copying. Perhaps the public is doing illegal copying on an everyday basis without being aware? Why put a recording device on a video cassette if it’s illegal?
Reading –
I couldn’t access the reading for this week.
Tutorial –
There were no tutorial tasks for this week on the website and I couldn’t make the tutorial so I wasn’t in class to participate in any activity they decided to do.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Week 10 - Topic 10 - Blade Runner
Lecture –
The lecture this week we watched Blade Runner, a movie starring Harrison Ford. The movie raises the issue of how human machines may become in the future. It asks whether or not they can learn to have emotions. It starts with 6 replicas escaping and killing humans. This brings in Harrison Ford as a Blade Runner to catch and kill them before they kill anyone else. He finds a replica that doesn’t realise that she is one and has been modelled to feel emotions and remember a past that never even existed. The movie continues with him killing off the replicas one by one. The movie was interesting as it raised questions about how far technology may take us in the future and whether or not it will ever be possible to invent machines that will feel and think like human beings do. Although a good movie, it wasn’t as effective as eXistenZ in its message. eXistenZ was frightening as there are currently virtual reality games and each day there is a new, improved virtual reality games that one day may become as realistic as the games in the movie.
Tutorial –
The tutorial for this week was to discuss and complete our essay outline. To catch up on any of the activities we missed over the past few weeks.
Reading –
The reading was on the themes in Blade Runner the book. It gives quotes from the book that is relevant to the issues being discussed within the book. It’s just an overview. The title for the piece ‘An exploration of what it is to be human’ sounded more interesting than the reading itself. I’d prefer to have an in-depth piece of writing on the real discussion of what it is to be human rather than a review of a book which just touches on the subject. I think the topic would be extremely interesting if presented in a different way, rather than discussing a fiction book and movie.
The lecture this week we watched Blade Runner, a movie starring Harrison Ford. The movie raises the issue of how human machines may become in the future. It asks whether or not they can learn to have emotions. It starts with 6 replicas escaping and killing humans. This brings in Harrison Ford as a Blade Runner to catch and kill them before they kill anyone else. He finds a replica that doesn’t realise that she is one and has been modelled to feel emotions and remember a past that never even existed. The movie continues with him killing off the replicas one by one. The movie was interesting as it raised questions about how far technology may take us in the future and whether or not it will ever be possible to invent machines that will feel and think like human beings do. Although a good movie, it wasn’t as effective as eXistenZ in its message. eXistenZ was frightening as there are currently virtual reality games and each day there is a new, improved virtual reality games that one day may become as realistic as the games in the movie.
Tutorial –
The tutorial for this week was to discuss and complete our essay outline. To catch up on any of the activities we missed over the past few weeks.
Reading –
The reading was on the themes in Blade Runner the book. It gives quotes from the book that is relevant to the issues being discussed within the book. It’s just an overview. The title for the piece ‘An exploration of what it is to be human’ sounded more interesting than the reading itself. I’d prefer to have an in-depth piece of writing on the real discussion of what it is to be human rather than a review of a book which just touches on the subject. I think the topic would be extremely interesting if presented in a different way, rather than discussing a fiction book and movie.
Week 9 - Topic 9 - Cyberpunk
Lecture –
This week we discussed Cyberpunk and Burning Chrome, a book. We went into a discussion about Cyberpunk and reality. The Lecture discussed how technology has been viewed as a Utopia but nothing is really real in modern society, everything we do involves technology like SMS, television, Facebook, Email and virtual reality games. The concept of physical activity games (except for Wii) is becoming a thing of the past. The idea of playing Tennis or Football or games that would in reality require physical exhaustion are now available from the comfort of your living room. No physical activity required anymore. It’s a frightening concept. Off topic a bit there. After the discussion of Cyberpunk and the Matrix we watched another French Film.
Tutorial –
The tutorial activity this week was to discuss the difference between MSN and 3D programs. Without ever having used the programs I can only discuss what I know but as far I can tell MSN is a simple chat site where users are only able to write comments and use ‘smiley faces’ as an indicator of emotions. That is the only pictures available. However the 3D chat site involves choosing a character to represent you and choose a room or space to stand in. As far as I can tell it is more active and involves the use of a virtual universe where you can meet and chat with other users. The 3D environment doesn’t really make a difference on the outcome, it’s still a fake reality, and you don’t see the person that you are talking too. It’s only benefit is that it’s more exciting to use visually.
Reading –
The reading for this week was either a review of Burning Chrome or the actual book itself. I found it extremely hard to get into so I can’t really give much information as I didn’t understand it. When you first click on the reading ‘Allegory of Plato’s cave’ you are taken to a page with a drawing of the cave discussing prisons of reality. I then clicked on the second link taking me to Burning Chrome website. Without getting into a long discussion about a book I didn’t understand, I can tell you what the website says about Chrome and who she is. Burning chrome is a collection of short stories about a number of topics regarding technological advances – as far as I can tell. I’m not really sure…..
This week we discussed Cyberpunk and Burning Chrome, a book. We went into a discussion about Cyberpunk and reality. The Lecture discussed how technology has been viewed as a Utopia but nothing is really real in modern society, everything we do involves technology like SMS, television, Facebook, Email and virtual reality games. The concept of physical activity games (except for Wii) is becoming a thing of the past. The idea of playing Tennis or Football or games that would in reality require physical exhaustion are now available from the comfort of your living room. No physical activity required anymore. It’s a frightening concept. Off topic a bit there. After the discussion of Cyberpunk and the Matrix we watched another French Film.
Tutorial –
The tutorial activity this week was to discuss the difference between MSN and 3D programs. Without ever having used the programs I can only discuss what I know but as far I can tell MSN is a simple chat site where users are only able to write comments and use ‘smiley faces’ as an indicator of emotions. That is the only pictures available. However the 3D chat site involves choosing a character to represent you and choose a room or space to stand in. As far as I can tell it is more active and involves the use of a virtual universe where you can meet and chat with other users. The 3D environment doesn’t really make a difference on the outcome, it’s still a fake reality, and you don’t see the person that you are talking too. It’s only benefit is that it’s more exciting to use visually.
Reading –
The reading for this week was either a review of Burning Chrome or the actual book itself. I found it extremely hard to get into so I can’t really give much information as I didn’t understand it. When you first click on the reading ‘Allegory of Plato’s cave’ you are taken to a page with a drawing of the cave discussing prisons of reality. I then clicked on the second link taking me to Burning Chrome website. Without getting into a long discussion about a book I didn’t understand, I can tell you what the website says about Chrome and who she is. Burning chrome is a collection of short stories about a number of topics regarding technological advances – as far as I can tell. I’m not really sure…..
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