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!