hail the king of Gondor
“My friends. You bow to no one” – Aragon of Arathorn
The Lord Of The Rings, The Return Of The King (2003)
Author Archives: Flash
KFC: Key Friday Collaboration – Workshop
wicked wings baby
Aaaaahhhhhhh the HTML!!! Week 5, the week we had all been fearing, hoping would never come, but it did anyway. Sophie was armed with her how to make websites for dummies book and probably 10 hours of study while some of us had no idea and were armed with 3 hours of sleep and a zinger burger ultimate box meal from the Kernel, much more helpful in my opinion.
I DIDN’T TAKE ANY PHOTOS THIS WEEK! For that I am sorry but the test was more annoying than stressful and I had really greasy fingers from the wicked wings…so damn good. Basically we had to code two webpages which linked to each other, had paragraphs and pictures. The coding itself was the easiest part. Cyberduck was the real bitch, or duck rather…Moving those files was impossible, it just didn’t want to remember where the files were saved and when they were moved the server was just screwing around and not working. Eventually the network was so crap those who had not finished what should be a 10 minute task in 2 hours had to complete at another time. Thankfully I got it done in time. And can I say something? WTF is with these pictures:
why pomegranates?
what?
I will never fully understand network media.
Flash.
Same, Same. I Get It, Network Literate Or Die – Lecture 05
CONNECT OR DIE! (well...not really)
To be fair, I don’t think there are many ways to put a super fun spin on the network lectures here at RMIT. Really we discussed the same as last week, except this time, those that hold the power decided that 3 points were more realistic to discuss as a pose to week 4s 7 which inevitably were rushed through. Allow us to compare the pair, same age, same income, same…sorry;
Week 4 Q’s:
- How can you judge the validity of things on the internet?
- What are the limitations of network literacy?
- How does it differ to print literacy?
- What limitations do both literacies share?
- What strengths help compensate for each other?
- Can they work together?
- Are they destined to be rivals? Should network […]
Week 5 Q’s:
- How is hypertext relevant to us as media practitioners?
- What predictions about network literacy should we be aware of?
- What are the consequences of being network illiterate?
Those in italics can be combined into one, same as those in bold. Hence, we have 3 points to discuss. No doubt that there were overlaps between the two weeks. Now, perhaps I am just picking at the lectures because they are not all that interesting, or because I don’t like going, or because I am a uni student so therefore I have to not like all these things. I’m not too sure to be honest. All that I know is that these lectures provide discussion, discussion that is then essentially repeated and somewhat expanded in class time. Now don’t get me wrong but this just seems like a poor use of time. The advantages of having all tutors present at once are high, allows for many opinions which usually leads to Adrian’s conquering of the lecture, but if we had a reading to discuss, or perhaps something more engaging like a video then I think it would benefit all. Too many times does one go to class to discuss with his or her classmates about the amount of work lead to them not doing any of the readings and skipping the lecture so they could hand in the work for that week on time and have 10 minutes to study for the test.
A room of stressed faces. Yes I skipped around the main point of the lecture being network literate and the fact that network texts are pieces which can then be linked in an ever changing system giving each piece new meaning. For instances if you make a post it’s meaning is changed if people comment on it or of they then link to it on another blog or website etc etc, but we already knew that from last week now didn’t we 🙂
Flash.
I Knew They Would Return, Bolter Writing Space – Reading 05
bored yet?
Ah the classic university readings have returned! I was hoping they wouldn’t, but we were all thinking it in the back of our heads. What can I say, it is nobodies fault (well kinda is), not too much that can be done. It did take some things away from it though so it wasn’t a total loss. The example of driving a car or workers using large construction equipment and becoming accustomed to their use and it becoming second nature compared to that of the technical relationship to the writing space was rather interesting. The writer says that the writing space is always with us, much like the creative flow/feeling that I am accustomed to as a a film maker.
Writers write in their minds, on paper, on computers and in this sense spoken language can be considered a technique, tying back the theme of the chapter that the skill of the writing space is a skill and a technique like riding a bike or painting a portrait. The writer goes on to say that it is not important about the medium of way in which we write, i.e. computer or pen and paper, neither is more important or authentic than the other. What matters is the technical state of mind of the writer and all writers know this and have their writing spaces, physical, spaces in which they write such as a desk with a computer or an ancient clay tablet.
The reading goes on to discuss different structures in writing from parchment and quills to the latests electronic computers and tablets. I don’t like being given extracts because there isn’t enough context for the reading and even if you go away and do some extra research it is not the same. It would be like showing someone (LORD OF THR RINGS SPOILERS ALERT) the scene in The Fellowship Of The Ring when Boromir is killed and thats it. Wouldn’t you just find that so annoying? No context, nothing, you wouldn’t even know what is shooting him with arrows. Anyway, I much prefer when RMIT gives us short, concise and informative articles which have context and are properly engaging.
Flash.
"duuuuuuuddddeeee"
Crush: Dude? Dude? Focus dude… Dude?
[Marlin wakes up]
Crush: Oh, he lives. Hey, dude!
Marlin: Oh… What happened?
Crush: Saw the whole thing, dude. First you were all like “whoa”, and we were like “whoa”, and you were like “whoa…”
Marlin: What are you talking about?
Crush: You, Mini-Man, takin’ on the jellies. You’ve got serious thrill issues, dude. Awesome.
Marlin: Oh, my stomach. Ohh.
Crush: Oh, man. Hey, no hurling on the shell, dude, ok? Just waxed it.
Marlin: So, Mr. Turtle?
Crush: Whoa, Dude. Mister Turtle is my father. The name’s Crush.
Marlin: Crush, really? OK, Crush. I need to get to the East Australian Current. EAC?
Crush: [laughing] Oh, dude. You’re ridin’ it, dude! Check it out!
Finding Nemo, 2003
Challenge Accepted – The Exciting Tale Of The Potato Peeler
i dare you to read on
The Potato Peeler. Invented in 1874 by Jonathan Diggory, the potato peeler has seen leaps and bounds since its initial inception. With the introduction of the industrial peeler and the Y shaped peeler seen below, chefs and other companies around the globe have frantically attempted to improve their knives and other devices but to no avail as the peeler ascends its way to the top of the utensil food chain.
dat innovation
On ebay you can buy a potato peeler for as little as 1 pound 65 (plus postage and handling) but don’t let the cheap price of these deceptive ninjas fool you. The potato peeler is one of the deadliest utensils in a chefs arsenal. Jamie Oliver was quoted in Lifestyle Food Magazine saying the following statement; “You know like, I really like them potato peelers but they can just really get you, you know? Like I’ll be slicing away and that, before you know it you have sliced half your bloody finger off mate. Gotta watch out for skin sneaking its way into my pasta bake mate.”
“half your bloody finger off mate”
Each year the potato peeler claims the lives of 67000 index fingers and has been fatal in over 2500 cases. Emily Seagate attempted to take one of the major peeler companies, who shall remain nameless, to court over serious allegations of having lost her entire index finger and stating that she was entitled to 2.3million dollars to cover the costs of everyday use of her hand. The case was dropped due to poor attendance and inadequate jury duty volunteers.
All in all the potato peeler is used by almost every cook on the planet. We take for granted the easement of removing skin from vegetables and fail to see the violent nature of the situation. Personally I think we should use peelers but within reason. They can be useful but very dangerous, but then where would we be without the peeler? Don’t egan want to think about that. To conclude the Australian government has shown real independence in a Peeler Protection act in which they will provide peelers to Australian tax payers who earn less than$100,000 p.a. The peelers provided will have a five star safety rating and peeler insurance is included to cover all peeler related injuries. A real step forward for the Abbott government, bought the only useful thing they have done lately. Until next week when we discuss poached egg baskets, authentic or not? Read, share, like!
Flash.
See Luke Egans blog post on peelers at the link below! Do you egan blog?
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/luke-egan/2014/08/17/the-potato-peeler/
Slaves Of Technology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNvXKLFDb7U
This poem/short film is both moving, scary and saddening.
Flash
Slaves Of Technology…But You Still Need To Use It To Pass This Test
are you a slave to the matrix?
Aside from being slightly late to this class to grab some $9 asian food (CJ Lunchbar, Hardware Lane, ER MA GURD SO GOOD) when Luke Egan, #doyoueganblog and myself entered the room we were discusses, has technology made our lives easier, and the pros and cons of this. Unfortunately Elliot, our technological, articulate and cupcake master seen below only allocates us so much time for discussions each week and it is inevitable that we always go over time. I would have LOVED to have taken this discussion further because I have talked about it many times in the past and the varieties in opinion make it very interesting, especially in how many instances people can become quite aggressive on the topic.
to html or not to html?
What does Flash think? Are we slaves to technology? Of course we are, of course I think that. I am the biggest criminal of them all. I run a blog with my instagram, flickr, Facebook, smugmug, youtube, vimeo, wordpress and probably like 20 other things all connected. I have an iMac, iPad, iPhone, and Macbook all synced nicely in the iCould. Ew, feel sick even writing it, but its all true. I don’t know anyone my age of 20 who isn’t a slave to technology. Granted I know many who have there best attempts to make people ‘think’ they are immortal to these advances in technology but to be blunt they are just liars, its too convenient, its too easy. So what do we do because it isn’t going to go away, not is it? No. Its not, that is why these people are so wrong. You can’t fight it so don’t bother. I personally love technology and what it does for us but I know that there needs to be restrictions. I don’t like the fact that if I go out to dinner I can be contacted by anyone and everyone on at least 6 different applications all coming through one device…but I don’t know where the restaurant is, so I need google maps. Awkward yes, avoidable, yes again. Have a look at home before you go and then remember the directions, write them down on some good old fashioned paper.
Technology will always be there, right in your face, it is about how you deal with it, how you discipline yourself. Don’t blame society and the creators of this technology. No one is saying you have to use it. You run the technology, not the other way around. Anyway, I might do a separate blog post on this topic because I find it very interesting and this could go on forever. Back to the class!
#helpsophie
The preparation has begun for our deadly HTML test which is only a mere 6 DAYS AWAY and it would seem that many of us are not ready for it. I would do a massive blog on it but Elliot was kind enough to email us the basic instructions on how to prepare. Woo! Essentially it was an extension of the previous week, now incorporating a program called Cyberduck, which may or may not be for the test itself, I can’t actually remember but we need to download it and create folders etc. However be warned, this is really all Elliot’s emails discusses. The actually content is not included so, please refer back to my last workshop blog which can be found in the workshop categories (linked below 🙂 ). Everything is basically there but again we have to write up some code that has a heading, link to another page/site, incorporates an image, line break, paragraphs and something has to be in bold. I certainly hope that is all. Happy studying, see some of you in class next week!
Flash
p.s. I have linked a really cool/moving video below about being a slave to technology. Everyone should watch this and I will also post as a separate video link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNvXKLFDb7U – Slaves Of Technology
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/luke-vanderzeil/2014/08/12/the-grey-space/ HTML Help Blog