This is so much harder than I thought it would be! I thought I had left Photoshop behind last semester with Editing Media Texts and ‘Galaxy print’ leggings!? Guess not. My Photoshop skills, well actually most computer-y skills range from “where is the on button?” to “what?”… But at the same time I am really excited about which topic I am submitting for my final assessment. My group is collectively very good and between us I think we have the right skills to satisfy all the criteria. But, without giving away too much, our topic is the iPod, we are going to collaborate visuals (we are going to use Photoshop to design an album cover that portrays how that particular iPod will be conceived in society and culture ), audio (audio interviews with the developers of the iPods or perhaps the consumers, as they grew and advanced from first generation until now) and text (a little explanation). I am comfortable that our speculative entry will adopt an appropriate ‘persona’, but, what I am most concerned about is how we are going to relate all of this to ‘the Network’. What is/ was the iPod’s “place” within the network/ a networked system? Did it really help connections? The only ‘connections’ I can make so far, is that it was easier, or made the connection/ network between people and music more intense, and eventually it made the links between people and other people, photos, contacts, media, entertainment, internet (the world basically) easier when the later generation iPods came about… But is this what we are looking for? Are we exploring this artefact within the context deeply enough? This is what I need to pose to my group and peers. *Thinking caps on* 🙂

In a comic strip, the author only actually reads the text that is provided. The frames could jump from a woman carrying her grocery bags through a hallway in an appartment building, to an image of the same woman stabbed, dead on the floor… (Sorry that my first thought was so violent!) But to get the point, you need to ask, what does the reader ASSUME happened to the lady? General human perception leads us to assume that someone stabbed the lady as she was walking. But this was not actually told to the reader. It was imagined within the gap/ space between the two frames.

But how do people come to make these assumptions? I believe that our personal assumptions are connected to our upbringing and social relations and culture etc… In my instance I would assume a criminal stabbed the lady to steal her money because they are the sort of stories I hear on the news. But some people may automatically think a family member did it, or she did it herself- these two examples however rely mores on already learned knowledge rather than cultural factors. But in any case, it is the reader who has decided the cause to the effect for the story. Not the author.

This same thing applies in all different types of media. Take non-linear movie plots for example. Think of a movie that shows scenes that have occurred at the very end or the actual narrative that are shown at the beginning of the film, leaving the viewer to create their own assumptions on what happened.

Did you just turn that frog into a Prince? I, as your author certainly did not! You have such an imagination!!! 🙂

Now that the blog assessment has been submitted I feel like the incentive to do well on blog posts is going to deteriorate among my peers. But I have really enjoyed it so this is my pledge to continue to get 10/ 10 for my participation record for the rest of the semester, not only because I am a stress-head who freaks out about anything less than a HD, but because I want to stay in the habit of blogging. Like I said 6 weeks ago when we started this blogging adventure, I have always wanted to do it. And now that I have had a little taste I want this even more. As soon as the semester ends and I start my intensive summer course at the RMIT fashion school, I am going to create a brand new blog dedicated to fashion and beauty and random daily life things. I am an avid blog reader and I now have the motivation and skills to start my own. I don’t mind if my readership is small to start with, the record of my thoughts is simply satisfying for me.

I am actually really excited about doing this and my intentions are bigger than I even think possible at the moment. I’d like to start a youtube ‘vlog’ as well so I can start up a fashion/ beauty personality profile. I’d really like to know what blog spaces are best for this type of blogging. Do I need to pay for one? Can I desdign my own template instead of using one that is already created and available? What other websites offer blogs? I only know of mediafactory and wordpress. These are the questions distracting me from my homework! 🙂

An eye-opener. Check it out here.

A couple of things I thought about while reading this:

1. Old books/ singers/ movies coming back into the market. After being a “miss”, they can become a hit. Recently, I saw on the ITunes top 40 downloads of the week were 2 songs by the Backstreet Boys from the late nineties/ very early 2000’s. What?! And Disney is advertising their old movies like Cinderella and Snow White, they are back on store shelves at new release prices. They are eve taking these old movies which we haven’t seen sequels of in years, and bringing their stories back to like (Toy Story 4, Monster’s University). I am not against any of this, I just didn’t think it would happen.

2. I have a full day of work tomorrow -_-

3. My average CD costs $30. I get all the songs, but have also increased my carbon footprint, had to pay for the rent that cd was taking up in the store in terms of physical capacity, the workers, profit etc. However, if I buy just 1 song from that cd on ITunes, eliminating all those extra costs it takes $2.29 out of my account. I can get one CD with 15 songs for $30 ($2) each, or pay close to $35 if I purchase a digital copy of all the songs individually on ITunes. What benefit is this to ITunes? I can still transfer all the songs from my CD to my IPhone and I save money, so why should I, (and I admit I do) buy the digital version? Shouldn’t the digital copies be cheaper because they don’t require all that extra space and energy?

4. I have a full day of work tomorrow -_-

This is one of my favourite books. I say book because it is not a novel, rather a collection of short stories. However all the short stories can, with some reader imagination and willingness to make connections, inter-relate. Munroe uses the same character names in several stories, and the same character descriptions in others, but never does she say they are the same person. Furthermore, these stories do not have to be read in sequential order to make sense. As a collection the stories create a whimsical land full of people and characters and circumstances, which could be perceived at all in one time era, or in eras decades or centuries apart. This book, along with Munroe’s other collections of short stories could be said to make an inexhaustible hypertext. Great read, I recommend it 🙂

It’s not a secret that I’m not very technologically savvy… My Mum had joined MySpace and Facebook well before me (and frequently communicated with all my school friends while I was still overwhelmed by the whole idea)! So after months of contemplating purchasing a Mac computer, I finally caved. Yes, it was a really hard decision for me… I stink at using computers and I was just fine using Microsoft Word on my Dell laptop. However my trusty Dell weighed nearly 3kgs and was 17 inches… Additionally to this it only stayed charged for 2 hours so I had to lug the charger around everywhere too. It was simply impractical for me to take this to school. It was time I entered the 21st century and bought a Mac. A MacBook as I discovered they are called ,( “MacBOOK”? really? Books have pages and sit on my bedside table, this space-age alien piece of machinery is NOT a book! Ok, forgetting my old-fashioned mantra starting now…) is small, compact, light-weight and can be plugged in to the charger thingy at Uni! Win! But then it dawned on me, as I was about to purchase a Macbook Air in Dick Smith, there is no cd drive. How am I supposed to watch dvds and upload cds to my iTunes library (does anyone still do that?) ? My friend Mitchell tried to convince me that “everything is done online now” . But this did not satisfy me. I thought I really want this computer because its light and small (yes, that was the selling point), but I really want to be able to play discs on it…..

WHAT IF!?!?!   what if there was a device, that I could plug into the usb port, that was a disc player thingy… not as big as a whole dvd player, just big enough to read a disc and transmit the info to the computer or whatever it has to do? I WAS GOING TO INVENT ONE!!!!

Ok, so this thing already existed… 🙁  Its called a superdrive! But still, I bet that person went along the same thought process of me (just years earlier).

So yeah, thats my contribution to the future in science and communication technologies and inventions and stuff… If I come up with another one, preferably one that hasn’t already been come up with, I’ll let you know! I might be an inventor! But this is what I took from the reading. Never stop asking what if? Man has come a long way since our cave-man ancestors; we have developed in possibly almost every physical way to make our lives easier and more efficient. There is no telling where this can lead? Will we be able to improve our brain power through technological inventions? Can we create a cure for cancer? The possibilities are endless and exciting!

And here’s my lovely new (Bejazzled) MacBook Air !

This Tuesday morning I had decided that I wasn’t intelligent enough for the University degree that I was enrolled in, (Professional Communication). I had spent the first few hours of my day crying, convinced I would never reach my dream career aspirations. That was it, I was going to head into the city and seek an appointment with a professional in dealing with students that change their minds. I was going to become a primary school teacher instead. Im great with kids! I have 4 younger siblings, two of which have special needs (Autism, intellectual disability, epilepsy, ADHD) and I am a fairy already. Thats right, I just said I was a fairy. Although sometimes I am a mermaid. My part time job which I love is as a fairy party host for kids. Teaching would be less stressful, it wouldn’t be a big challenge for me and I’d certainly breeze my way through the course without the intense moments like this where I question my entire worth and ability… But then I realised, ok not straight away but the next day, that this was Mode 1. *Lightbulb*

I was AFRAID OF ERROR.I thought the easiest way to deal with this problem would be to CHANGE THE QUESTION. I was not going to challenge myself to find a new, better and more efficient way of doing something, I was just going to give up. I can admit to high levels of anxiety and stress, I mean, I even have the sedative medication to prove it. I have dealt with these feelings all my life. Despite all of my friends, family, teachers and grades assuring me that I’m in the right place, I’m just that sort of person. I will stress about the potential of failing before even starting something. But I eventually just sit myself down and get it done.

So thats what I’m going to do. I have wanted to work in the fashion industry my whole life. Why give up when I’m only a year and a half away from that dream? I’m not getting bad grades in the course that I’m in, and its highly unlikely I will fail. I’m going to continue my degree. If I feel the same way in a year and a half, I can look into teaching, Im sure there will be a good post-grad program out there right? So thanks a lot Chris Argyrus, and your theories of double looped and first and second mode and whatever the heck you were on about that didn’t make sense at first reading… IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!!! 🙂

I didn’t go see a career advisor. I went to the very lecture of the class that introduced me to these theories and new ways of looking at things. Hooray Networked Media!!! 🙂

Adrians passage personifies Networked Media as a person bobbing around in a boat in a vast sea. I saw this piece as a metaphor for the subject of Networked Media. I think the easiest way to explain my interpretation is through song! No I’m kidding, I’ll just break down the phrases and tell you how I interpreted them 🙂

“A boat. Certainly not a big one”

When I read this description, I immediately remembered the point that Adrian made in the lecture about how we have spent approximately 12 years learning how to write, and what he wants to teach us has to be done in 12 weeks.

“Doesn’t really have a sail but there is some sort of mast to pin something on, against, to. Or a motor”

Again, I reflected upon the unlecture. Adrian said that this subject would not follow the general hierarchy of teacher teaches student and student must sit and learn. To me, this quote personifies Adrian… He is not going to treat us in a dictatory way, but he is going to be there to lead us along, nudging us in the right direction and giving us the push every now and then to keep us achieving the task we should be.

“Sometimes it gets blown and washed around”

As Adrian explained in the unlecture and the reading pointed out, errors and mistakes should not be feared, but embraced.

“There is no shore”

What we learn in this subject doesn’t have to end after the semester. We can continue to use these skills in both our professional and personal lives. Especially the value of blogging, our blogs build up a portfolio for ourselves. (Check out the optional reading by Adrian which explains this).