Today during the  (un)symposium, elliot meg bryan and kim engaged with the topic of hypertext narrative and the effects it had on society and avid readers over the turn of the century. I found it interesting that we all agreed on the same level. We all came to the conclusion that having more than one definite conclusion leads to a fractured ending, a lack of closure or a sense of disatisfaction. It reminded me of the early Jumpstart games which I was obsessed with growing up!

I’m not entirely certain if I like the concept of a book with no decisive conclusion. For me, that has always been the great thing about a novel, (especially any fantasy adventure novel), to get swept up in author’s realm, with events occurring as they are imagined in my own mind. Reading has always been one of my beloved past times. I’ve always enjoyed getting absorbed in a good book, in a “ludic” state as mentioned in “The End of Books Reading”. When I discover a sincerely gratifying book, I can’t stop reading because I simply must find out what happens in the end. Would I feel the same way if I could pick the conclusion myself?

Maybe I would be unsatisfied by the fact that I could never find out the ‘actual’ end. I guess I would like there to be one. Nevertheless, having multiple possible conclusions would mean that I would get more enjoyment out of reading a book over and over again, trying to see where all my potential options would take the narrative. It would definitely be fun at times. The idea of hypertext fiction is nonetheless intriguing. It is an entirely different way for a story to be voiced. There would be distinctive understandings and analysis of the events each time you read it, the story itself therefore has the potential for greater complexity.

I concur with the author of the reading that books will never become nonexistent, I feel like they will always absolutely have a home in society so long as stories themselves do. I also think that interactive narratives will become increasingly popular in the future. There is a lot of potential for hypertext to develop into all sorts of unfound technological territory, and I think that’s exciting news…

Yes I know this may seem trivially simple to some, however there are users who struggle to link out of their blog post to another webpage/blogpost. To assist in this teaching process I’ll be using screencaptures of me linking out to a page on Siberian Huskies.

1. First Up you will need to start a brand new blog post on your site.

2. Next up, from your new post, create a title, any title, and in the text box write the name/title of the page/post you will link to.

3. From here you will need to highlight the text you wish to have ‘hyperlinked’ and then click on the chain link icon as shown.

4. You will now be prompted to enter the URL of the page you are linking to, so simply input the URL and make an appropriate title then click “Add Link”

And viola, your hyperlinked words in your text are now… let’s say… “clickable” and will link out to your desired page/post.

So Lecture/Workshop 1 were held back-to-back on Monday afternoon, consisting of mostly an introduction of the course and of whats going on in the next 6 weeks.

Elliot, started by going over some basic principles of the internet, e.g. how it was established under our generation and hence why our “mums are always asking for your help with the computer.”

Another key concept that was mentioned which I need to get my head around is the quote that was written on the board

“Research is the combined practice of both knowledge consumption and production”

I guess it has to do with the Idea that whilst we consume a piece of “knowledge” we are also actively interpreting under certain contexts, discourses and opinions, hence we are “producing” a somewhat unique form of research. – awkwardly phrased, yet still the way I have read the message.

So I made a bad judgement call last year. Thought Id be able to pass the subject with minimal attendance and participation. What it lead to was a 7/100 NN Fail. I’m glad for this chance to have a proper crack at involving myself further with my course and actually completing Networked Media over the summer.

Bottom line is that Im not bitter and sour about repeating the subject, I’m genuinely feeling pretty open minded about starting afresh in the new year. Hope everything runs smoothly.

This second reading by the same author carries on from network hubs and power laws. I must admit the utter fascination and interest in his words is contagious, making me read on… about network physics and fundamental law… Who would’ve thought? Basically what I grasped from his studies was that networks create similar “hubs” through a sort of budding process. The new nodes of a give network are added the most accessible nodes, i.e. when deciding where to link, new nodes tend or “prefer” to attach to the more connected pre-existing nodes.

Music can be extremely influential: It can improve emotional, it can stress certain words and offer enunciation in the piece; nevertheless it can be disrupting or inappropriate at times.

Reverb, Chorus, Flanger and Panning, EQ, Compressing, AUDIO DELAY: me and one of my good friends Dani Leever, came to the mutual conclusion that these terms are best learnt through trial and a bucket load of error. i.e. go to your computer dump your recorded work and fiddle with every transition, filter and manipulation tool available. All it will take then is time and repetition. Sure its no a certified or conventional way to learn a skill, but hey it works for us. J