Hi again, The gold coast weather was perfect this weekend!! It amazes me that we're still in winter!! The endless days of perfect sunshine feel as though we're already in summer. So i've been very happy being able to soak up the glorious rays at Burleigh beach:) Anyway, back to the task at hand. Last tute involved Lauren returning back from holiday and to take over our tutes again. So now I'm thinking she probably wish's she could return to her leave after i most likely annoyed her with my copious amounts of questions due to me still being quite computer inept in regards to working my way around the apple and blogging tools. Never the less I did learn how to directly paste a utube video onto my page and that if you don't allocate your pictures you are uploading to be 'centred' your blog will pretty much resemble a mess of sporadically placed images, or worse result in them dissappearing! Frustrating lol. Week four's lecture involved a chronological overview (time-line) of how films moved from the big screen to the small screen. And yes, after refering to my post from last week, I am proud to say my attendance and punctuality were in check this week! The lecture also included a rather random but very amusing and funny snippet from an online video called (if my memory serves my correctly) "Troops". It was made in 1997 and was a take of Starwars, but it was really well made for the time it was produced. The additional example of BMW's short films (with Guy Ritchie producing it and Madonna playing the lead role) showed how technology in films has advanced over time (to branch into the internet) and was also highly entertaining on the humour front. So i though last week's lecture was actually really interesting and engaging. Anyway best get back to updating the weekly tasks. Talk soon:)

After watching Nicholas Spark's movie 'Nights in Rodanthe' (it was released this year and stars amazing performances from Richard Gear and Diane Lane, the film was made from Spark's novel and is one of the many movies which has been produced from his stories. Other examples are 'Message in a Bottle' and 'The Notebook') I wanted to use this film for our task of explaining the who,what, where, when, why and how in film shots. I absolutely loved this movie, Nicholas Sparks is my favourite author and his novels and films always make me cry at their beautiful stories. If you haven't read any of his books or watched his films such as The Notebook, I highly recommend!!

Below are the image shots I found which explain the who, what, where, when, why and how.




WHO: Close Up Shot-Shows character in detail (facial deatures)









WHAT:
Mid Shot.
Shows the character's performing in action





WHERE: Long Shot.
Shown at start of scene to present location
Also known as establishing shot.



WHEN: Wide Shot. This image shows when as you can see the dark of the night through the windows and the fact they're eating dinner indicates this scene is at night time.

WHY: Big Close Up
Reveals more about character's and actions. Show's their passion as to why they're falling in love




HOW: Series of Close Up's and Medium Close Up's
Explains events that are happenning.

Week Four's tutorial task asked us to find answers to the following q's

(without using google).

1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin? How long did it take to grow?

According to this site, Mr. Joe Jutras who is from North Scituate, Rhode Island, took a 1689 pound pumpkin to the 'Topsfield Fair GPC weigh-off in Topsfield, Ma' on the 29/09/07. This weight out-did the previous world record by a large 187 pounds. This particular site did not provide the information as to how long the pumpkin took to grow, however i found the second world record and that pumpkin took approximately 5months.

Reference: PumpkinNook-Premier Star Co. (2007) 'World Record Giant Pumpkin'
<http://www.pumpkinnook.com/giants/record.htm.pumpkinnook.com/giants/record.htm>

2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Lilly Allen?

I found a site called '123 people' and it provides phone numbers, email and home address's for celebritires. You could try and reach her from these details or contact her on her facebook/myspace site.

The sites link is http://www.123people.fr/s/lilly+allen

3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?

A giraffe's togue is approximately 18 inches in length but can stretch even further when feeding.

Reference:

'http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/Behavior/Spring2002/Kawwass/giraffe.htm

4. How would you define the word 'glycomics'? In your own words, what does it really mean ? What does the term 'seagull manager' refer to?

Firstly, before searching this online, i'm afraid to admit i'm actually not sure what glycomics means. After finding a definition on reference.com i now believe glycomics is the study of of glycomes which is the whole substance of sugars.

Reference.com (2009) 'Glycomics'. http://www.reference.com/browse/Glycomics

I discovered the term 'seagull manager' is a slang word which refers to a manger who is very critical, who acts by arriving to the work enviornment, criticizing emplyees harshly and the leaves. Basically a boss who flies in, creates a disturbance and then leaves after creating the mess.

Link: http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1481585101/seagull_manager.html

5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film? Which of his films Had 'Blondie' in it?

His first feature film he produced was called 'Stereo' and was in 1969. Debra Harry played 'Blondie' in his 1983 thriller 'Videodrome' .

Reference 1.

Taylor, A. (2003). 'Films of David Cronenberg'.http://www.close-upfilm.com/features/retrospectivearchive/davidcronenberg.htm

Referecnce 2.

Lugosi, B. (2005)'Videodrome' http://www.girlsgunsandghouls.com/videodrome.html


6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?

It was written on January 8, 1986 by an author named 'The Mentor'

Link: http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3&mode=txt

7. Why do phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?

Hollywood was encouraged to promote 555 numbers in their films in order to try and prevent true subscribers being hasseled by public members trying the numbers said on the screen.

Reference: Cuccia, M.(issue27).'Code 555'http://www.telephonecollecting.org/code.htm

8. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Sydney?

Aifaresflight.com. au offer the cheapset flights i could find on the net at the moment, starting from $98

Link: http://www.airfaresflights.com.au/flights/Sydney/Gold_Coast-OOL/

9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?

'Shaking all over' by Normie Rowe and the Playboys.

Reference: Milesago. (1995). 'Normie Rowe'. http://www.milesago.com/Artists/rowe.htm

10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?

Brisbane punk band the Black Assasins.

Link: http://live-wirez.gu.edu.au/Staff/Stephen/default.html

From the week three tutorial task we were asked to find explanations for the following terms:

VLS/WS LS MLS MS MCU CU BCU ECU

VLS: Very Long shot. This is a shot where the character or figure is show at a distance so that the location (geographics) are show to the viewer. Therefore the figure and surroundings are ncluded in the shot.

WS: Wide Shot. This is the widest used shot in order to present the viewer with a full screen image of location/area. It doesn't normally include a singled-out character, perhaps just a crowd or nopeople at all. It mainly focus's on establishing the geographical aspects.

LS: Long Shot. This shot presents a full head to toe image of the character. Therefore the person is shown in the foreground. It does show some of the location, however mainly focus's on what the figure is doing and how they look.

MLS: Medium Long Shot. Presents the figure from the knees upward. This shot focus's on establishing the character's body language.

MS: Mid Shot: Shows the figure from above the waist, therefore concentrating on a closer look at the person and their expressions-only presenting a small amount of scenery. Generally used for 'standard dialogue'.

MCU: Medium Close Up. This shot shows the person from the chest up, therefore focusing more closely on facial expressions (however does not get uncomfortably close). The MCU is also used for standard dialogoue.

CU: Close Up. This shows the person just up from the shoulders. It is a more emotionally intense shot than the MCU as it strongly focus's on facial emotions and 'non-verbal' reactions.

BCU: Big Close Up. This shot only shows the person's face, from around the chin to the top of the forehead. The intensity of facial expressions are zoomed in on even further than the CU. It aims to show the thought process of a character.

ECU: Extreme Close Up. This is the most intense shot as it zooms in on only one feature, e.g the lips or eye.

Although researching these terms refreshed my meory of their definitions, having studied the subject screen analysis last semester did help in developing my understanding of these screen terms.

Below is the link and reference details for the site that I sourced these defintions from:

Author Unkonw. 2008. 'Shot Sizes'

http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/online/ftvms101/flash/m1/Explain.swf.

The images were sourced from searching google image.

Hellooo,
After spending last week's tute frantically trying to figuire out how to get my four uploaded images and explanatory text (task for week two/three-to represent convergent technologies) to line up with one another and not look like a mess has exploded on my page, my posts were deprived of attention. Thankfully with help from jules, the end of the tute resulted in my page no longer looking like my messy room haha. Clearly this new experience of blogging and uploading various files/links/images is taking me a little while to get a hang of, but with each tutue i'm starting to feel more confident with working my way around the originally unkown apple domain. I will also be honest and say that due to sleep deprivation i didn't make it to last week's 8am lecture (perhaps i should not have admitted that to Lauren and Jules who will be reading this haha) but from reviewing the lectures notes, i best be off to complete the various weekly tasks. I wonder what new experiences jules will throw at us tomorrow in our blogging progress! P.s, i'll be setting the alarm nice and loud this thursday morning in order to ensure my lecture attendance! Bye for now... :)

Hello again,due to having internet troubles at home, and being busy with the work and uni schedule (and to be honest a weekend filled with not a great deal of study.. as I'm sure most of us can relate to with it being the first weekend back from the stress free holidays) I am now a tad behind with posting a second blog from week 1. Anyway... as I'm sure it'll be the same with the majority of new com tech students, and probably the lecturer's would agree as well-the 8am lecture is not an enjoyable time frame. There is definitely not a large sleep in to be had when having to leave an hour prior to the lecture from living at the other end of the coast. Also you would think at this time of morning, finding a park wouldn't be to tricky... not the case! Despite cutting the sleep cycle short, this lecture was one of the few i managed to not day dream, text or scribble in ha ha.. The content was easy to follow, relatable, interesting and the lecturer cracked a few funny jokes at his limited spelling ability. Anyway.. the alarm will be set bright and early for tomorrow's dawn lecture. Best get back to searching for some convergent technology images for this tute.. being week two. (See below for content)

Firstly, it is important to define what exactly 'convergence' means:

The follwing site http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=convergence states:
'convergence is the occurrence of two or more things coming together'.

Therefore, this definition can be related to our focus of technological convergence, where varied technologies come together to perform simultaneous tasks.

Source: The Trustees of Princet on University, 2009. 'Word Net' 'http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=convergence.. Last update: July 9, 2009

Now that technolgical convergence has been defined, the following pictures have been uploaded as an examples.The first picture is an example of a convergent technology that is also used as a means of communication. The web cam enables people to see each other and communicate on the internet via a camera. This can be viewed at:

http://www.techshout.com/gaming/2007/02/new-psp-camera-go-cam-unveiled-by-sony/

The second image is a second example of a communication method (the iphone) that is also an example of a convergent technology. The iphone works as a phone, has the ability to access the internet and email, it also acts as an ipod where songs can be downloaded to be played through itunes, along with numerous applications where weather, stocks, games and u- tube videos can be utilized. The following link presents images and information on the iphone: http://www.apple.com/iphone/

The third image illustrates a shoe and electric technology converging together, in order for the shoe to be able to light up. It is called the 'electric light shoe' and the image shows how the shoe is being charged up to glow. The image and information on the product was sited from:
http://cubeme.com/blog/2008/01/18/electric-light-shoe-by-freedom-of-creation/

Finally the last image shows how two technologies have converged into the one product, that being a hair curler and hair straightener. The image and information on the products features can be found at: http://www.ioffer.com/i/InStyler-Rotating-Hair-Straightener--113823913

Now that the images have been uploaded in their original form, another task we were assigned was to take one of the pictures and alter it through cropping, change in colour, size etc.

An original version of the chosen image-the iphone (the last uploaded picture) along with the altered images (with 3 examples, 1 being a crop and the second two displaying colour changes in background + saturation) are illustrated below.

Moving away from simply uploading still frames, this next task requires us to upload two utube videos, one displaying convergent technology and the other can be anything we wish.

The utubue video i chose to exemplify a convergent technology, is one which displays a car driving on land..then transfers into a speed boat which drives into the water. The two technologies of a road verhicle and a boat have merged together so that the product can be used for two purposes, land and sea.

The second video, which could be anything of my preferance, is an advertisment for corona beer, showing a couple having a quiet drink whilst overlooking the beach in summer time.

The add states "from where you'd rather be" and is somehwere i normally day dream of being whilst studying, being in uni lectures or slaving away at work. Pretty much i just enjoy summer, the beach and a refreshing drink on a hot day.

Can't imagine anything better or where else you'd rather be!

The final task for the week two tute, is in response to the week's lecture

(timeline of the computer and internet)

The lecture content was 'a short history of computing and the internet'. We were provided with a timeline of how the technology of the computer and internet first began, progressed over time, and came to be what it is today.

Below is my own personal summary of the information that i found vital and interesting from this lecture in regards to these two technologies.

Firstly, i had no idea that the begingings of devleoping computer technology came from the minds of Charles Babbage (born 1791), Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace (daugher to renowned poet Lord Byron) and then the more serious development came from Alan Turing (born 1912)-Turing aided in devising the first operating computer, called 'The Bombe' and this was utilised to crack confidential Germain codes during the war. None of these names or historical events were familiar to me before this lecture (clearly showing my ignorance) but the background information on how these minds began evolving computer technology gave me an insight into the foundations of how the first usage of the computer came to be.

To summaries the vital developments of the 20th century, it was IBM who first produced computers comercially in the 1950's. Although the first personal computer (PC) wasn't released until 1975. However, large computer was just the beginning of the technology(as it didn't operate a language) it was around these years that Bill Gates began to develop writing a computer language(called BASIC) which he would market through the small company he created in his garage called Microsoft. This information was very interesting to me as I've only ever known Bill Gates as one of the world's richest through the giant Microsoft Company. So it's fascinating to think he created his wealth and success after dropping out of college and starting up his own company in his house garage.

Whilst all this was happening, two men names Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, got together to form their own small company, called Apple (which is widely used and recognised today). From forming this company, Steve Jobs was estimated to worth over $100 million at the age of 25.

The final pieces of information which I found highly interesting and also was completely unaware of, was the fact that the internet and the web aren't the same thing. So I learnt that the World Wide Web (web) is only one part or use within the larger internet. Here I was thinking before this lecture, that the two were the same thing.

Overall I definitely gained alot more knowledge and understanding of how the computer came from a technology which was first used to decoded messages in the war, to today's position where using computers and the internet are part of our every day lives, with some of us not knowing where we'd be without them.