Assessment 3: Essay

Is e-mail dead to today’s generation?

E-mail is a method of sending electronic messages and files across a network or the internet (CAN SA Inc, 2008). It is an easy, convenient and cheap means by which we can communicate on a daily basis to people from all over the world. It's a handy tool for businesses, students, teachers and professionals to use in order to send information to one another. It is cheaper and faster than a letter, less intrusive than a phone call and less hassle than a fax. E-mail, compared to these other forms of communication, is effortless - at the click of a 'send' button you have given someone instant information. Sometimes this person may be on the other side of the world, or sometimes this person could be sitting at an office desk right across from you. What’s not to love about e-mail?

The rise in popularity of social networking sites and mobile phones in the past few years, however, has seen the decline in e-mail usage, particularly amongst the younger generations. Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook allow users to set up unique profiles which contain information about the user’s general interests, upload and share photos, write blogs and view or comment other member’s profiles. MySpace is the most trafficked website in the U.S (LeClaire, 2006). 68 million unique users logged on to MySpace in the last month and rival networking site, Facebook, encountered 26 million (Atal, 2007, para 2.) Although e-mail is still essential for businesses and the like, when it comes to instant communication and the generation of today, e-mail is definitely on the downfall.

The earliest and crudest form of e-mail began in 1968 when Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) was hired by the United States Defense Department to create something called the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). The purpose of ARPANET was to create a way for the military and education centers to communicate. In 1971, Ray Tomlinson of ARPANET made history when he sent the world’s first electronic message. Tomlinson sent the simple message by changing an existing internal mail program and linking it to a new network (Kolberg, 2004, para 2). After these years, e-mail took off and according to Kolberg, by 1994 more than 10,000 people used the system throughout the world. These days many of us can’t imagine life without this useful electronic tool.

However, as e-mails multiply, so do the problems. One of the major dilemmas with e-mail usage is the increase of spam and viruses. Spam emails are a type of 'electronic junk mail' and can sometimes be related to illegal activity. Mention the word spam to any e-mail user, and you will often get a reply that somewhat resembles the growl of a caveman. This annoying plague of unwanted junk e-mail not only clutters up mail servers, devours bandwidth and infects personal inboxes, it often carries with it viruses or spyware that put corporate security and businesses at risk. Lynn Greiner found that “the worldwide market for anti-spam products will hit $US1.7 billion by 2008, up from $300 million in 2003, achieving a 42 per cent compound annual growth rate. According to Ferris Research, up to 500 million seats of anti-spam software will be installed in 2008” (Grenier, 2006, para 1).

If the issue of spam was to be resolved, it would make the experience of e-mail a much smoother and easier task for everyone. Nonetheless, social networking sites are still a popular method of interaction amongst today’s generation, and it’s safe to say that this form of communication will only continue to rise with more and more teenagers and kids being exposed to the internet at such a young age. Compared to the basic options of hotmail, a free e-mail host on the web, MySpace and Facebook allows users to get creative with their personal profile and gives the user a sense of uniqueness and identity. "Your page is like your personality," Edwards, 17, says (2006, Kornblum). With MySpace, you can view photos of the person you are communicating with, listen to the latest music, see who is online at the time, view regular user status updates and even track down old friends. There is also the option of making your profile private, which assists with the issues of cyber bullying, stalking and pedophilia. In these ways, social networking sites offer their users a more personal, secure and enjoyable experience.

Although many think of MySpace and Facebook as an online socialising hub for teenagers, Beth Bulick found that “grown-ups are using the social-networking behemoth in ever-increasing numbers for networking, marketing and trend watching. Today more than 22 million adults aged 35 and older use MySpace, and more than 60% of unique visitors are older than 25” (Bulick, 2006, para 2). She also found that small business owners are taking advantage of this online phenomenon to promote and sell their products. Artists, bands, fashion designers, restaurants, and popular nightclubs are just some of the groups that are flourishing through the use of online social networking. However, Jupiter Research analyst David Card said while he believes MySpace has good ideas and a great audience, adult use of the site is uncertain. “MySpace is most useful if you're a heavy user, and for most adults who have a job, that's not really possible” (Bulick, 2006, para 5)

'E-mail is, like, soooo dead' is one of the headlines on News.com, where an article looks at youth attitudes towards communication mediums. "If I'm talking to any friends it's through a social network," said Asheem Badshah, a teenage president of Scriptovia.com, which is an essay sharing site. "For me even IM died, and was replaced by text messaging. Facebook will replace e-mail for communicating with certain people” (Olsen, 2007). Never before in the history of mankind has it been easier to reach out to people from all over the world. Sites such as MySpace and Facebook encourage members to set up personal profiles that suit their personalities so that they may be linked together through networks of friends.

“E-mail was a big advance two decades ago. E-mail made it possible to notify tens of thousands of students, employees or members of any large group in a fast, standardized way. It replaced the unreliable mailroom with technology that IT controlled” (Hayes, 2007). With the rise in popularity of social networking sites and other means of communication amongst today’s generation, will the world see the complete death of e-mail? Probably not, but it’s certainly not looking too healthy.





Reference List

Cansa INC. (2008). Resources, Research and Reading, Glossary of Recources. www.ccd.net/resources/guide/glosary/glossary1.html

LeClaire, J. (2006). Technology News. MySpace named most trafficked US website.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/51754.html

Atal, M. (2007). Business Week Online. MySpace, Facebook: A Tale of Two Cultures. p15-15,

Kolberg, V. (2004) Special K. History of e-mail. http://blogs.setonhill.edu/VanessaKolberg/004403.html

Grenier, L. (2006) Computing Canada. Enemy, thy name is spam. pg. 12

Kornblum, J. (2006) USATODAY. Teens hang out at myspace.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-01-08-myspace-teens_x.htm

Bulick, B (2006) Advertising Age. The man moves in on MySpace. pg. 9

Kirkpatrick, D (2007) Fortune. Myspace strikes back. pg. 128

Olsen, S. (2007) CNET News. Kids say e-mail is, like, soooo dead.
http://news.cnet.com/2009-1032_3-6197242.html

Hayes, F. (2007) Computerworld. E-mail failed. Pg. 34

Plan/Outline for my Essay

Topic covered in Lecture 2: Is e-mail dead?
I'm going to be focusing more on the side of today's generation and all the new types of media and communication available today that is more popular/efficient/effective than e-mail.

Introduction:
- Start with a quote in relation to the topic
- Introduce the topic I am writing about
- Raise some of the points that I will be writing about and discussing throughout the essay
- Perhaps ask a rhetorical question that will flow on to the next paragraph

Paragraph 1:
Go into detail about the history of e-mail.
-What year did it take off? Perhaps go into history of the internet and how long it took for e-mail to be introduced
- How long have I been using e-mail for?

Paragraph 2:
The convenience of e-mail for things such as:
- Businesses, personal reasons, job applications, cheap, easy to use, fairly instant.
- What do I use e-mail for?

Paragraph 3:
Problems with e-mail and some disadvantages
- Spam
- Viruses
- Cyber bullying, etc

Paragraph 4:
Other forms of convenient communication such as:
- Myspace
- Facebook
- SMS
- The popularity of these new forms of communication with the generation of today.

Conclusion
- Some up all my main points
- Draw a strong conclusion
- Possibly finish with a quote or something relatively interesting.

Websites:
http://www.360east.com/?p=196

http://email.about.com/cs/spamgeneral/a/email_is_dead.htm

http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2008/05/01/i-email-dead/
Journals:
http://proquest.umi.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/pqdweb?index=5&did=1041499351&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1210260834&clientId=13713

http://proquest.umi.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/pqdweb?index=41&did=1005209181&SrchMode=1&sid=4&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1210261214&clientId=13713

Using Microsoft Word and Visiting a Virtual World

Today in the tutorial we started off by completing quite a basic Microsoft Word task.
I found it fairly simple to do, as I have been using this program for many years and did a few computer classes back in high school. We had to type up a cover letter, make a few minor changes using various tools within the program and set up a mail merge. I found it quite difficult to work out the mail merge at first as it's been quite a while since I have used one.

I think that Microsoft Word is a very useful program to anyone. I find that I use it a lot for University assignments, resumes, cover letters, lyrics, etc. I also think the mail merge tool would come in very handy for a lot of businesses. However, I don't think that I would use this feature very much at all.

During the second part of the tutorial, we ventured into a little virtual world known as "Active Worlds" which is a 3D chat world environment that looks like a cross between a computer game, and a regular chat room. It wasn't very fun. There wasn't a lot of people there and they were all randoms. The aspect of it is fairly cool I guess, because you get to walk around, meet people from all over the world, and even fly on a magic carpet (I got stuck in a tree for about 5 mintues - it was hectic! Some dude with the user name "Zeppelin" helped me get out, which I was very thankful for. I then complimented his choice of username.)

Active Worlds, however, was not really my cup of tea. I'd prefer to use MSN or myspace where I actually know the people that I am talking to.

Evaluating Wikipedia

Wikipedia is one of the most popular reference sites on the Internet today and is a very useful source to find information and get up to speed on a range of topics. It's a place to start to get a feel for some ideas. However, it is not to be considered a scholarly, academic resource. I think this is the case because it is a site that allows the average joe/joanne to add information that he/she claims to know about a certain topic.

In this blogging task, we have been asked to find two wikipedia articles about unrelated topics that we know something about. I automatically took a shining to this task because it meant that I got to read and research something of my own choosing - unlike that devil article of Walter Benjamin's that gave me a brain hemorrhage!

The first topic I chose to research is my all time favourite band - the one, the only, Led Zeppelin.
Based on what I already know, this article has a lot of relevent information and facts on this timeless band and also included many things that I did not know. I found it very interesting to read as it started with the early days of the "Yardbirds", lead guitarist Jimmy Page's band prior to Led Zep, and finished with a section about their recent 2007 reunion (which, sadly I could not see.)
I think this article is quite fair and balanced, as it pretty much goes into detail of the different era's of Zeppelin throughout the years in which they were recording and releasing songs. However, there was a section that could be considered biased to some readers. "The Biggest Band In The World" is one of the sub headings, and although it is mine and obviously the author of this article's personal opinion, it may not be what everybody may think of this band. I don't think that there is much that I would change about this article - it has almost everything that someone would need or want to know about these eternal rock gods.



The second topic I chose to research on Wikipedia was the amazing Byron Bay music festival, Splendour In The Grass which is held at Belongil Fields each year. My friends and I have been on a natural high ever since the first line-up announcement was made last week and we are all extremely excited to be going. However, will be more excited once we get those golden tickets into our hot little hands!
This article on Splendour In The Grass was quite short and easy to read. It consisted of going into detail about ticket scalping, media coverage, previous line-ups and other facts about this two day festival. I did, however, find a mistake in the information that was presented in this article. The introduction states that "Splendour In The Grass is an annual music festival held in July." This is false, as it has been held in the first weekend of August for the past few years. Apart from this, the article was straight to the point and gave readers a general idea of the sort of music that is played at this festival. I can't wait for August. HORAY!

Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

Oh dear, this article really struggled to sink in the first time I read it... especially after the night I had last night! However, after going over it a few times and highing certain parts that I understood well and thought were interesting, it turns out this Walter Benjamin dude's writings on modernism are valued for being so illuminating and precise at a time when much confusion and derision surrounded the movement and have gone on to set the tone for a more recent generation of critics who continue to unravel the threads of modernism using his example.

"The Work Of Art in the Age Of Mechanical Reproduction" is a 1936 essay by German cultural critic Walter Benjamin. It was written in the effort to describe a theory of art that would be "useful for the formulation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art". In this very complex article, Walter Benjamin shares with readers his personal viewpoint of replicating art. The paper explains his very critical attitude towards replicating artwork.

Overall this article focuses on Walter Benjamin’s views of nearly every single form of art that existed in his lifetime – and some that came before. The views of its author are very clear. The replication of art in Walter Benjamin’s mind undermines the authenticity and uniqueness of the original work.

I don't believe that a photoshopped image is considered to be "authentic" and obviously Walter Benjamin would not think so either. With photoshop you're adding, cutting and mixing in elements that are not part of the original image, thus inhibiting the authenticity of the image.... or "aura" as Benjamin would call it.

Benjamin used the word "aura" to refer to the sense of awe and admiration one presumably experiences in the presence of unique works of art. In answering the question, "Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?" I would definitely say no from what I have read in this article.

Old Communication Technologies

The lecture opened with a discussion about Jean-Luc Goddard's movie Alphaville. I had a bit of difficulty understanding the film at first, but this discussion allowed me to get my head around it a bit better.

The lecture mainly focused on older ways that humans communicated before technology existed and how we have evolved since then. We looked at the history of different types of communication such as tribal practises, print, the telegraph pole, telephone, cinema, radio, television and even ancient means of communication such as rock art, hieroglyphics and body painting.

The lecture made it clear that we have adopted various techniques from older forms of communication which have helped mold the way in which communication exists today.

Searching For Something...

Internet search engines are special sites on the Web that are designed to help people find information stored on other sites. Some world renowned search engines include anzwers, askjeeves, yahoo and probably the most prominant out of the lot, google.



1. How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?
They follow a set of rules, known as an algorithm. One of the the main rules in a ranking algorithm involves the location and frequency of keywords on a web site. Search engines will also scan to see if the proposed keywords come up near the top of a site, such as in the headline or in the first few paragraphs of text. Frequency is the other major factor in how search engines determine relevancy. A search engine will analyse how often keywords appear in relation to other words in a web page. Those with a higher frequency are often considered more relevant than other web pages, hence why they are are ranked higher. There is a lot more to how search engines rank content out there in cyberspace, but these are the main factors.

2. 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?
I've always believed that the first few pages that pop after up you search for something are the most relevent and useful sites. However, this may not always be the case and it can take some further searching to determine whether or not these sources are trustworthy. I think pages and sites that allow user feedback and comments to be posted are very handy because it gives the public an opinion of the site content and it isn't just biased information because you can read what other users have written in regards to the information displayed on the site.

3. what are some of your favourite search engines? why do you like one more than others?
I have never really had a 'favourite' search engine, but I tend to use Google the most. I suppose it's simple and easy to access and I have been using it ever since I can remember. I also like Anzwers because it's Australian and New Zealand based. From the previous "Scavenger Hunt" task, I found Yahoo Answers to be quite good because it's very 'public oriented' and allows the general public to share their knowledge and ideas with other users around the globe.

A Few Questions...

1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?
Onel De Guzman was the creator of this virus that caused over 10 billion dollars of damage worldwide. It is considered to be one of the most spectacular virus outbreaks in cyber history. What a claim to fame!
http://answers.yahoo.com

2. Who invented the paper clip?
The paper clip was invented on the 9th of November, 1899 by a man named William D. Middlebrook who resided in Waterbury, Connecticut. Not only did Middlebrooke invent the paper clip but he also invented a machine to produce the paper clip. Pretty impressive thing to put on your resume if I must say so myself.
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/paperclip.htm

3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?
The virus gets its name from a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it was first recognized. It is a very contagious illness which is often fatal in humans.
http://ebola.emedtv.com/ebola-virus/from-what-place-did-the-ebola-virus-get-its-name.html

4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
Chile holds the record for the largest recorded earthquake this world has experienced thus far.
It took place on May 22, 1960 and killed over 2000 people.
http://www.askjeeves.com

5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
1 terabyte = 1 073 741 824 kilobytes
http://www.t1shopper.com/tools/calculate/

6. Who is the creator of email?
In late 1971, Ray Tomlinson developed the first ARPANET email application. To extend the addressing to the network, Tomlinson chose the "commercial at" symbol to combine the user and host names, providing the naturally meaningful notation "user@host" that is the standard for email addresses we use today.
http://www.askjeeves.com

7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
The storm worm virus is a backdoor Trojan horse that affects computers using Microsoft operating systems. As of Sept. 2007, it is estimated that between 250, 000 and 10 million computers have come into contact with the virus.
http://answers.yahoo.com/

8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of australia directly, what is the most efficient way?
Apparently the most efficient way is via Australia Post Mail. I really don't see the point, as if you're going to get a reply. Stick to complaining about taxes in your personal web blogs.
http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm

9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School of Arts) a member of?
Stephen Stockwell plays keyboard for Brisbane punk band, the Black Assassins. Apparently He also worked as a journalist for Triple J. Rock on, Stevo!
http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/art/staff/stockwell.htm

10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
"Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004, refers to a perceived or proposed second generation of Internet-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users."

Basically, this is sharing information over the internet using myspace, facebook, chatrooms, etc.
http://answers.yahoo.com/

Is E-mail Dead?

In answering this question, I have to say yes and no.

In general, I don't believe that e-mail is dead. It is an easy, convenient and cheap means in which we can communicate on a daily basis to family, friends, colleagues, etc. It's a handy tool for businesses, students, teachers and professionals to communicate with one another and is a hell of a lot easier than sending hand written mail which can sometimes take days to arrive at its intended destination. E-mail is just so effortless - at the click of a 'send' button you have given someone information. Sometimes this person may be on the other side of the world, or sometimes this person could be sitting at an office desk right across from you.

I made my first e-mail account with the ever so popular Hotmail when I was in year 6. I even remember my address - shimmerqueen100@hotmail.com. Quite an embarrasing one but hey, I was 12 years old!

In all honestly though, I can easily say that I use myspace and sms to communicate with friends these days rather than e-mail. I only really use e-mail for job hunting, study, newsletters and distant relatives who aren't in the whole myspace loop. My inbox is choc-a-block full of spam, annoying promotions and people trying to sell me viagra. I check my Hotmail account probably 2-3 times a week as opposed to myspace which is checked on a daily basis! So, to me, e-mail is very dead.

Second Life

After much time table confusion and clashing, I dropped a course and picked this one up. I'm glad I did now, because it seems to be very interesting and technology is something that I really like and use on a daily basis.

Apparently in the first lecture a report by ABC's Four Corners was shown about the online game Second Life. Second Life is an Internet based virtual reality world launched in 2003, developed by Linden Research, Inc which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007.

I actually remember watching this report while I was at home last year. Dad and myself were sitting there in utter amazement. I couldn't believe the amount of time and money that some people were putting into this online world! People were actually buying and selling virtual properties, clothes, goods and also themselves in some cases for real money.

I can think of better things to spend my money on, like a carton of corona's and concert tickets.
What a joke!

Greetings

Hello out there!

My name is Courtney, and I have just moved up to the sunny Gold Coast from a little coastal town in NSW called Port Macquarie. Fun times for the first few weeks when I moved up until reality kicked in and I had to start using my brain for Uni! I am studying a Bachelor of Communication full time at Griffith Univeristy. Absolutely loving it so far, although i'm finding it hard to get motivated living up here! The no money, no home cooked meals, and being independent thing kind of sucks though....
....I'd give anything to have a bit of Mum's home cooked chicken and vegetable pie and an ironed shirt right about now!

I graduated from school in 2006 and had a year off last year to work, save money, and spend time with my family and friends back in Port Macquarie after being at boarding school for two years. I can honestly say that they were the best two years of my life! I resented my parents for sending me there at first, but now I thank them everyday. Who would have thought?

I'd have to say the one thing I love the most in this world, besides family, friends and all that jazz, is music. I love nothing more than going to concerts and festivals. I'm no Hendrix, but I enjoy playing the guitar. I have been a bit slack the past year with it, so I'm hoping to get back into it once I settle in up here a bit better.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm pretty new to this whole blog thing, so bear with me while I try and make it look half decent!