Monthly Archives: February 2014

Story Ideas & Story Outline

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Idea #2

Eli, after being in a coma for ten years finally wakes up to an empty world. With no memories of his past, he wanders aimlessly throughout the deserted setting…searching for signs that would explain what had happened during those lost years. Time goes on, and still Eli remained alone, a solitude life with none for company except the clothes on his back, and a colt 1911 with a single bronzed bullet. When not knowing the purpose to one’s life, depression becomes an escape: for what is life without purpose? Eli raises his arms, turned his pistol and slowly placed it into his mouth. Finger steady at the trigger. Eli takes three consecutive deep and long breaths, the last of his thoughts racing through his mind: thoughts of his life in its entirety… so dark, so aimless… so alone… and in a second, a blank. BANG. (pulls trigger). Feelings of warmth overtake all sensations. Through shuteyes, light yellow rays graze gently upon his eyelids. ‘Heavenly…’ he utters to himself. As he slowly opens his eyes, everything that was expected, everything that was hoped for dulled away back into the gaping chasms of reality. The world remained the same: cold and empty. With gun still in mouth and finger still relaxed on the trigger, Eli can’t help but to wonder, ‘Hadn’t I shot myself yet?’

Week 5.2 Workshop

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In today’s workshop we were asked to get into groups of 4 and given the opportunity to choose our own wiki topic. We chose Julian Assange from Wikileaks as our wiki topic.

Kim’s day with Julian Assange

• Into – with Midnight Oil blaring
• Embassy sign in
• Scours the newspapers over a morning coffee and finds articles on himself (could take this from documentary – direct quotes of footage)
• Chats with his friend, Bradley Manning on MSN (Manning is in jail still)
• Kim has lunch with Julian and staff AKA “family”
• Julian shows Kim his living quarters and the few photos he has framed. Could take a screenshot of him and his team in Iceland. Julian could tell a little story about his time spent there. Can also take story from documentary.
• Plays scrabble with Kim. Some of his beliefs could come out then.

Roles
• All members to write allocated sections (100 to 200 words). Don’t need to be too wordy as Kim L will edit
• Kim L to edit and compile feature article in first person
• James to upload Niki entry and to create Ecuadorian Embassy sign in sheet
• Kim and Shaz to take screen shots from Wikileaks documentary where necessary
• All to try gather one academic (peer reviewed) source to include or reference within the article. Topics of focus are freedom of speech from the public and in media as well as censorship

Week 5.2 – Database Logic

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Database Logic

  • Many new media objects don’t tell stories- don’t have a beginning or end or any development
  • They are collections of individual items- every item has same significance as others
  • Relationship b/w database and narrative?
  • Database defined as a structured collection of data
  • Data stored in a database are organized for fast search and retrieval by a computer
  • Different types of databases use different models to organise data

Men and their humour

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BrainTypicalMale

I’m not very witty with comebacks.

When my friends tease me, the best I can do is to say “Whatever dude.”

So, I bought myself this little book full of mean jokes and remarks.

They’re quite funny, but I would never say it out loud to people.

One day I found my brother flipping through it and laughing his head off.

So to share some of the humour with you…..

You’re very open-minded. Is that how your brain slipped out?

I like the material of your dress. You were lucky to get so much of it

I’m busy now. Can I ignore you some other time?

Do they ever shut up on your planet?

I like you, people say I have no taste, but I like you..

You’re so fat, when you get into an elevator, you have to go down

I thought of you today. I was in the zoo

Anyone who told you to be yourself couldn’t have given you worse advice

I see you were so impressed with your chin, you added 2 more

That’s what they mean by dark and handsome. When it’s dark, you’re handsome.

There was something about you that I liked, but you spent it

I can always tell when you’re lying. Your lips move.

Sigh…Men and their humour.

 

Week 5.1 Reading

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The Potts and Murphie reading was about key theories relating to culture and technology and our society. Here’s a list of the key points I took away from reading:

  • Poses the question are technologies neutral in themselves? So, does the way they are used determine their cultural impact? Or do technologies have intrinsic properties that shape the cultures into which they are introduced?
  • Technological determinism refers to belief that technology is the agent of social change
  • Technological determinism is linked to idea of progress
  • TD considers technology as an ‘independent factor with its own course of development and own consequences’
  • Ideas that we live in an Information society or Computer Age ‘betray the technological determinist notion that society is shaped by its dominant technologies’
  • Consider whether society is shaped by its technologies or are technologies shaped by the needs of society?
  • Alvin Toffler’s idea of the “Future Shock” which warned that ‘post industrial societies need to protect themselves from dislocating effects of automation and computer-based technologies’
  • Theorists focus on the way a new technology creates new potential and possibility for human thought, expression or activity

– McLuhan’s theory: All technologies are extensions of human capacities
tools and implements are extensions of manual skills, the computer an extension of the brain

– Media are technologies that extend human sense perceptions