Workshop

Reflection on the Network Media workshop.

Have computers made our lives easier?

by lukeegan

Yes. Computers have made our lives easier. With the touch of a few buttons I can contact my friends from overseas, check the weather, navigate to desired location and so on. Today’s technology interconnects us all so we may communicate with ease. A common argument is that all this modern technology adds more stress to our lives. Contrastingly, I can handle all my stressful commitments in the palm of my hand or behind a desk. I can pay my bills, manage my finances, book appointments, pay taxes and the most stressful activity at all… shopping, all on my phone or laptop. Computers not only make our lives easier but can decrease risk in dangerous industries. Furthermore, computers in the stream of medicine are constantly advancements resulting in more lives saved.  Moreover relevant to me computers allow students to advance their education while at home.

Computers are our friends.
Computers are our friends.

Computer technology not only makes us more efficient and productive, they make our lives easier.

Be human, use computers,
Luke Egan

Defaming Luke Vanderzeil

by lukeegan
What a Gronk!
What a Gronk!

What is defamation?

When I am typing this I should consider whether I am defaming anyone in anyway. Defamation is a communication to at least one person that lowers the reputation of an identifiable third person, where the communicator has no legal defence. So in simple terms I should not say things like “Luke Vanderzeil is shit at basketball because he can’t egan eat kebabs properly”. Luke Vanderzeil may get offended and decide to take legal action against me. I really hope he doesn’t.. because I’m a uni student and I spent all my money making that curry last night.

Can I be held responsible for defamation in my comments section?Something interesting to note is that you or I can be held responsible for any defamation that is in the comments section of our blogs. A easy solution to this is to make sure you have to approve comments before they go through. This way if the no good Luke Vanderzeil commented on this blog “Kenton is shit because he wears corduroy” then I can disapprove the comment.  By the way Kenton is not shit and he pulls it off.

Can I be liable for defamatory content that I link to?  

Yes. I am responsible for everything on my blog. I can technically liable if I link defamatory content such as this on my blog.

Can I be sued overseas?

Yes. Seeing that the internet is somewhat borderless I have to be careful of overseas laws as something that may not deemed defamation here may be deemed offensive somewhere else.

“I can say what I want? Freedom of speech and that…”

Freedom of speech is not a legal defence in Australia law.

Gotta get down on Friday

by lukeegan

Yep. I messed up my timetable and now I have classes on Friday. Its unfortunate but I have no else to blame but myself and alcohol which was still lurking in my system at 8am on the scheduled timetable day. Class on a Friday is like any other day except everyone is really just thinking about what they are going to do with their weekend. Oh and half the class is hungover. OK I guess it is like any other day then. Sophie is still struggling with technology, Flash is eating a pumpkin and ricotta ravioli and Elliot needs a coffee after talking for five hours straight.  Typical day at university.The class was probably more concerned whether to buy beer or goon for their weekend adventures albeit there was some academic interaction.

We discussed stories and their nature. I thought back to first semseter where I learnt about Kurt Vonnegut and his thesis on the universal shapes of stories. His basic idea was that a story’s main character has ups and downs that could be graphed on an axis to reveal the story’s shape. At the time his thesis was rejected as it was revealed to be too simple. It works for me though. Every movie I can think of at this moment can fit into one of these story arcs.

Here, have a look for yourself. Vonnegut’s work has been creatively re imagined into these visuals works by graphic designer Maya Eilam.

Shapes of Stories

 

Over and Out,

Luke Egan