Hello, my name is Rhiannon and this is the blog for my uni course New Communication Technologies (hence the not so creative blog title). i am so bad at computers and things like this that it is seriously unfunny so this will probably not be a very technically fun blog but thank god, it doesn't have to be. Over the next few weeks i'll be talking about the course obviously because that is the point of this. I will probably be complaining about how i am too dumb to understand a lot of the stuff and how my head is close to exploding. i will also probably attempt humor but i am not that funny so...
Have nothing to say about the course yet except that i think it's going to be interesting and probably for me, a little frustrating due to my computer illiteracy! If nothing else, i have now learned how to make a blog and that i am really not a very interesting person so i should never make a blog again but i am sure i will learn a lot more in the coming weeks.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Final.Post.Ever
Hello (for the final ever time!)
This is my last ever post on my first (and probably last) blog. This blog of course was a requirement for my uni course New Communication Technology and have to admit, despite being so new to so many of the different things we did and often having a slight fit due to difficulty I actually had a pretty good time with it.
I am now able to search without using Google on the Internet, I can tell you how big the world's largest pumpkin is (and if i ever actually need that information i will laugh), I can use Microsoft Word better, i can use Microsoft Xcel...well not a whole lot better and i can now do cool things with photos on Photoshop-okay mainly collages but still-whacky fun!
The course has been pretty fun although I have to admit (even if it might mean i fail) that i did sometimes struggle to figure out where it was going and how it would help me later on and in other courses. But now, as mentioned before i have learned new things and i am not quite as terrified by having to use the Internet as i was, which is always a bonus. Have learned a lot, have seen some kind of strange movies that i never would have seen otherwise which again kind of a bonus and have a newfound appreciation for hackers-even if they all do look like hippies. I am a fan of the hippy though so...peace.
This entry is supposed to be like 500 words long and i really doubt i will get there but just want to thank Adam once again for all his help. This course was pretty interesting and definitely introduced me to things that i never would have experienced otherwise. And i think that, as a budding writer and journalist i have learnt some skills which will help me further on in my life.
So thanks for reading my ranting weirdness. Be grateful you never have to read any more.
Bye (for the final ever time! Yay!)
This is my last ever post on my first (and probably last) blog. This blog of course was a requirement for my uni course New Communication Technology and have to admit, despite being so new to so many of the different things we did and often having a slight fit due to difficulty I actually had a pretty good time with it.
I am now able to search without using Google on the Internet, I can tell you how big the world's largest pumpkin is (and if i ever actually need that information i will laugh), I can use Microsoft Word better, i can use Microsoft Xcel...well not a whole lot better and i can now do cool things with photos on Photoshop-okay mainly collages but still-whacky fun!
The course has been pretty fun although I have to admit (even if it might mean i fail) that i did sometimes struggle to figure out where it was going and how it would help me later on and in other courses. But now, as mentioned before i have learned new things and i am not quite as terrified by having to use the Internet as i was, which is always a bonus. Have learned a lot, have seen some kind of strange movies that i never would have seen otherwise which again kind of a bonus and have a newfound appreciation for hackers-even if they all do look like hippies. I am a fan of the hippy though so...peace.
This entry is supposed to be like 500 words long and i really doubt i will get there but just want to thank Adam once again for all his help. This course was pretty interesting and definitely introduced me to things that i never would have experienced otherwise. And i think that, as a budding writer and journalist i have learnt some skills which will help me further on in my life.
So thanks for reading my ranting weirdness. Be grateful you never have to read any more.
Bye (for the final ever time! Yay!)
X-Celling
Hello, for the second last time! Yay!
This will be my last post, except for the evaluation one of course. The task was, once again a few weeks ago but i am doing it now so...
The task was to jump on Microsoft Xcel and do some spreadsheeting stuff. Have two words- Hated It! i did Accounting in year 11 and 12 and spent every lesson hating it, and in turn hating spreadsheeting. i am so beyond bad at it, it makes my photoshop ability look fantastic. Nevertheless got onto it feeling pretty okay, figured if nothing else i could just get really frustrated and that could be really entertaining for everyone else but mainly i just got irritated and then i got sick of it. But finished it, so it's all good. Had a few problems with the whole formula thing but that was always the bit that got me stuck back in Accounting, so hardly shocking. Despite that i did it! Yay!
I doubt i will really have to use Xcel a lot (thank god!) because i plan on having an accountant, or at the very least really smart friends who can do stuff like that for me. If not I have now got some basic knowledge which is always handy.
Bye (for the second last time)
This will be my last post, except for the evaluation one of course. The task was, once again a few weeks ago but i am doing it now so...
The task was to jump on Microsoft Xcel and do some spreadsheeting stuff. Have two words- Hated It! i did Accounting in year 11 and 12 and spent every lesson hating it, and in turn hating spreadsheeting. i am so beyond bad at it, it makes my photoshop ability look fantastic. Nevertheless got onto it feeling pretty okay, figured if nothing else i could just get really frustrated and that could be really entertaining for everyone else but mainly i just got irritated and then i got sick of it. But finished it, so it's all good. Had a few problems with the whole formula thing but that was always the bit that got me stuck back in Accounting, so hardly shocking. Despite that i did it! Yay!
I doubt i will really have to use Xcel a lot (thank god!) because i plan on having an accountant, or at the very least really smart friends who can do stuff like that for me. If not I have now got some basic knowledge which is always handy.
Bye (for the second last time)
Friday, June 1, 2007
Microsoft Word
Hello,
This week (actually a few weeks ago!) we had to do some basic Microsoft word stuff. Years of school assignments and writing have made me quite adept at basic things on Word-considering i use it every day you would hope i was at least not terrible at it! So for once i was not throwing a fit about how impossible it all is! I found this really easy to do, except maybe the mail merge part. i had done that before in year 12 but took me a moment to recall all that information! Luckily i had a very nice friendly person next to me who helped! And of course once again I bugged Adam a lot! It's the last week so i won't even again i promise!
All in all found this really quite easy and definitely uselful to revisit some of this stuff. Will definitly use later on in life-if not now!
This week (actually a few weeks ago!) we had to do some basic Microsoft word stuff. Years of school assignments and writing have made me quite adept at basic things on Word-considering i use it every day you would hope i was at least not terrible at it! So for once i was not throwing a fit about how impossible it all is! I found this really easy to do, except maybe the mail merge part. i had done that before in year 12 but took me a moment to recall all that information! Luckily i had a very nice friendly person next to me who helped! And of course once again I bugged Adam a lot! It's the last week so i won't even again i promise!
All in all found this really quite easy and definitely uselful to revisit some of this stuff. Will definitly use later on in life-if not now!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Modified Photo Time
Okay, this was the task for quite a few weeks ago and I have only just finished it as me and photoshop? Many, many issues there. We're no longer on speaking terms but i have finally finished it and i am done! Yay! So here are my photos.
Photo 1-Friends: This was my first attempt at using Photoshiop-EVER! So i decided the easiest way to do this assignment without my head exploding and me bursting into tears was to do a collage. Many different photos thrown in obviously, mainly ones that I liked. Especially love the cute dog with the ice cream!
Photo 2-Communication: Not really sure what i was thinking with this one but many, many, many thanks to Adam who helped a lot with this one and a lot during the others-I had many, many Photoshop issues! Nonetheless I really like this one, it's kind of funky and makes it look like I'm pretty okay at using Photoshop!
Photo 3-News-Worthy: Originally planned on doing something creative with Paris Hilton behind some prison bars but due to afore mentioned photoshop issues couldn't work it out so I did yet anything funky collage.
Photo 4-Australian: This is maybe a little bit more Kansas than Australian but I couldn't really think of anything else to do! I still like it.
Photo 5-Popular: This was the last photo I did and had no idea what to do with "popular" it is just so broad and weird, and since i am weird i thought of something weird to do. Watched the Logies and noticed that everything was "Popular New this" And "Popular Whatever else" and decided to do this fun collage. Notice a theme with my photos yet? Collages are easy!
Photo 6-Games: Again not so sure what to do, got a bunch of photos from the net and got interested in the whole Old Versus New idea with the whole technology thing and how it has advanced games and changed it. So this is my little ode to that.
Photo 7-Celebrity: Yes, another collage. Wasn't sure about this, and am annoyed at myself for putting Paris Hilton in there-she's not a proper celebrity! But then, what's the definition of a celebrity anyway? This pretty much gave me an excuse to tool around on imdb.com for a good reason for a change! And yes, there are three Firefly people in there and of course i had to add Joss Whedon!So those are my photos, hope you liked them, they took me a long time! Til next time. Bye
Friday, May 11, 2007
The Essay!
Fanfiction: Literature or Laziness?
Passionate fans will do extreme things for the art they love. This art can mean a TV show, a movie, books etc. An example of an extreme undertaking due to fandom is Alex Jessop, an 18 year old Supernatural fan who has organized a Supernatural-themed road trip around America…and she's from Australia. Alex, along with other fans whom she met over the Internet, plans to travel around the country visiting all the places the characters in Supernatural journey to (Campbell 2007:30). The biggest example of fan love is the invention and growing popularity of fanfiction. This essay will explore the use of fanfiction and the affect the Internet has had on fanfiction.
According to Wikipedia (2007) fanfiction is defined as “a broadly-defined term for fiction about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creators.” It is frequently referred to as fanfic. While fanfiction has been around for years, even possibly as early as the 17th Century it has really taken off with the invention and common use of the Internet (Wikipedia.org). This common use has made it possible to find hundreds of sites on the web devoted to fanfiction. Some, such as http://www.fanfiction.net/ cater to all kinds of fanfiction with categories including anime, TV shows, comic books, cartoons, songs and bands, movies and books. There are other sites which are narrower and simply have certain TV show fanfiction, such as ones for Wonder Woman, Dark Angel and ones for books such as Harry Potter and even Jane Austen novels. The Internet has made fanfiction more easily accessible to more people but this has been a double-edged sword as it also means that everyone can post fanfiction…no matter how bad it may be.
It is because of this that many people believe fanfiction has suffered due to the Internet. Having a technology that makes it possible for everyone to contribute is not always a good thing. Like with sites such as YouTube this means the quality of content is significantly lowered. Now, there are thousands of fanfiction stories out there and not all of them are worth reading.
In an attempt to counteract this bad quality some websites have filtering processes but how well these work is a matter of personal opinion. And despite this, practically anyone can make a website on the Internet so if someone else rejects them they can just make their own site; their own canvass to display this “art”. In this case of bad quality there are even websites which specialize in the worst of fanfiction. See http://www.godawful.net/ for examples.
Besides the issue of quality, there is also the problem of authorship to consider. “Fan fiction usually does involve surrendering some incidents of authorship.” (Tushnet 2007) Fanfiction writers are, of course not the creators of many of the characters and settings they use in their work and as such cannot claim to be due to the likely possibility of legal consequences. Some authors, such as J.K Rowling are fine with the creation of fanfiction based on their work. Rowling is even quoted as being “flattered” by it (Waters 2007). Despite this there is still always the problem of copyright. Some sites make fanfiction writers use disclaimers in their work. See http://www.fanfiction.net/ for examples.
So if fanfiction requires extra work, copyright wise and most of it is poor quality anyway, why do people bother to write it? In many cases it is fans wanting more. More stories, more creations, more chances to interact with, or at the very least read about the characters they have come to love. Fandom is a very powerful thing.
Fandom aside, surely it would be more profitable and worthwhile for people to create their own new and original art which actually has a chance of being published. This is probably true but there are some cases where fanfiction novels have been published. Called “novelizations” this genre includes new and original stories using already existing characters, just like fanfiction. TV shows such as Charmed, Bones, Dark Angel, Roswell and Buffy The Vampire Slayer all have their own set of novelizations by recognized authors. Many authors even specialize in novelizations but most also write original work. This is the same with many Internet fanfiction writers. Of course publication from a website such as http://www.fanfiction.net/ is not very likely and most writers are simply there to have their work read and reviewed. “Feedback is the lifeblood of fan fiction” (Freeman 2007).
In the case of reviewing the Internet is a huge help to writers. The ability to remain anonymous and receive reviews from perfect strangers can mean totally honest feedback. In the case of http://www.godawful.net/ maybe brutally honest feedback. There are measures up on most fanfiction websites to prevent “flaming”. Flaming is a word used in fanfiction speak which means “A negative, hurtful comment meant only to anger or upset a person.” (Freeman 2007). In most cases flaming is banned from sites and most fanfiction writers are careful to avoid it. No one likes to be flamed.
In conclusion it appears that the Internet has definitely helped fanfiction grow as a writing medium as well as a way to receive reviews anonymously and hopefully improve writing based on these. In this case a new communication technology has highly improved an already wonderful invention.
References
Websites
“Fan Fiction” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction (accessed 5 May 2007)
“Godawful Fan Fiction” http://www.godawful.net/ (accessed 5 May 2007)
“Fanfiction.Net” http://www.fanfiction.net/ (accessed 5 May 2007)
Freeman, Megan.(2003) “A Fanspeak Dictionary” http://expressions.populli.net/dictionary.html (accessed 6 May 2007)
Tushnet, Rebecca (2006) “43 (B)log” http://tushnet.blogspot.com/ (accessed 6 May 2007)
Online Articles
Waters, Darren (May 2004). “Rowling Backs Potter Fan Fiction” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3753001.stm (accessed 5 May 2007)
Magazine Articles
Campbell, Jill (2007) “I’ve Been Possessed By Supernatural” TV Week January 6-12: 30
For examples of Fanfiction check out the following websites
www.fanfiction.net
http://expressions.populli.net
http://marvelite.prohosting.com/surfer/fanfic/
www.valjeanfanfiction.com
And of course, there is
www.godawful.net
Passionate fans will do extreme things for the art they love. This art can mean a TV show, a movie, books etc. An example of an extreme undertaking due to fandom is Alex Jessop, an 18 year old Supernatural fan who has organized a Supernatural-themed road trip around America…and she's from Australia. Alex, along with other fans whom she met over the Internet, plans to travel around the country visiting all the places the characters in Supernatural journey to (Campbell 2007:30). The biggest example of fan love is the invention and growing popularity of fanfiction. This essay will explore the use of fanfiction and the affect the Internet has had on fanfiction.
According to Wikipedia (2007) fanfiction is defined as “a broadly-defined term for fiction about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creators.” It is frequently referred to as fanfic. While fanfiction has been around for years, even possibly as early as the 17th Century it has really taken off with the invention and common use of the Internet (Wikipedia.org). This common use has made it possible to find hundreds of sites on the web devoted to fanfiction. Some, such as http://www.fanfiction.net/ cater to all kinds of fanfiction with categories including anime, TV shows, comic books, cartoons, songs and bands, movies and books. There are other sites which are narrower and simply have certain TV show fanfiction, such as ones for Wonder Woman, Dark Angel and ones for books such as Harry Potter and even Jane Austen novels. The Internet has made fanfiction more easily accessible to more people but this has been a double-edged sword as it also means that everyone can post fanfiction…no matter how bad it may be.
It is because of this that many people believe fanfiction has suffered due to the Internet. Having a technology that makes it possible for everyone to contribute is not always a good thing. Like with sites such as YouTube this means the quality of content is significantly lowered. Now, there are thousands of fanfiction stories out there and not all of them are worth reading.
In an attempt to counteract this bad quality some websites have filtering processes but how well these work is a matter of personal opinion. And despite this, practically anyone can make a website on the Internet so if someone else rejects them they can just make their own site; their own canvass to display this “art”. In this case of bad quality there are even websites which specialize in the worst of fanfiction. See http://www.godawful.net/ for examples.
Besides the issue of quality, there is also the problem of authorship to consider. “Fan fiction usually does involve surrendering some incidents of authorship.” (Tushnet 2007) Fanfiction writers are, of course not the creators of many of the characters and settings they use in their work and as such cannot claim to be due to the likely possibility of legal consequences. Some authors, such as J.K Rowling are fine with the creation of fanfiction based on their work. Rowling is even quoted as being “flattered” by it (Waters 2007). Despite this there is still always the problem of copyright. Some sites make fanfiction writers use disclaimers in their work. See http://www.fanfiction.net/ for examples.
So if fanfiction requires extra work, copyright wise and most of it is poor quality anyway, why do people bother to write it? In many cases it is fans wanting more. More stories, more creations, more chances to interact with, or at the very least read about the characters they have come to love. Fandom is a very powerful thing.
Fandom aside, surely it would be more profitable and worthwhile for people to create their own new and original art which actually has a chance of being published. This is probably true but there are some cases where fanfiction novels have been published. Called “novelizations” this genre includes new and original stories using already existing characters, just like fanfiction. TV shows such as Charmed, Bones, Dark Angel, Roswell and Buffy The Vampire Slayer all have their own set of novelizations by recognized authors. Many authors even specialize in novelizations but most also write original work. This is the same with many Internet fanfiction writers. Of course publication from a website such as http://www.fanfiction.net/ is not very likely and most writers are simply there to have their work read and reviewed. “Feedback is the lifeblood of fan fiction” (Freeman 2007).
In the case of reviewing the Internet is a huge help to writers. The ability to remain anonymous and receive reviews from perfect strangers can mean totally honest feedback. In the case of http://www.godawful.net/ maybe brutally honest feedback. There are measures up on most fanfiction websites to prevent “flaming”. Flaming is a word used in fanfiction speak which means “A negative, hurtful comment meant only to anger or upset a person.” (Freeman 2007). In most cases flaming is banned from sites and most fanfiction writers are careful to avoid it. No one likes to be flamed.
In conclusion it appears that the Internet has definitely helped fanfiction grow as a writing medium as well as a way to receive reviews anonymously and hopefully improve writing based on these. In this case a new communication technology has highly improved an already wonderful invention.
References
Websites
“Fan Fiction” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction (accessed 5 May 2007)
“Godawful Fan Fiction” http://www.godawful.net/ (accessed 5 May 2007)
“Fanfiction.Net” http://www.fanfiction.net/ (accessed 5 May 2007)
Freeman, Megan.(2003) “A Fanspeak Dictionary” http://expressions.populli.net/dictionary.html (accessed 6 May 2007)
Tushnet, Rebecca (2006) “43 (B)log” http://tushnet.blogspot.com/ (accessed 6 May 2007)
Online Articles
Waters, Darren (May 2004). “Rowling Backs Potter Fan Fiction” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3753001.stm (accessed 5 May 2007)
Magazine Articles
Campbell, Jill (2007) “I’ve Been Possessed By Supernatural” TV Week January 6-12: 30
For examples of Fanfiction check out the following websites
www.fanfiction.net
http://expressions.populli.net
http://marvelite.prohosting.com/surfer/fanfic/
www.valjeanfanfiction.com
And of course, there is
www.godawful.net
Friday, April 27, 2007
Cyber Worlds
Okay, as per this week's task have just spent the last hour on a website called Habbo Hotel which is basically a chat room which has been spruced up to be a 3d version with little people walking around as the people chatting. Like cartoons kind of thing. So...Sims but with actual people.
I have to say I do like the game Sims but the whole online chatting thing...not my cup of tea...there just isn't any attraction to me. Maybe it was just the two I tried (ActiveWorlds and Habbo) but people did not seem very interesting. Nothing to say, nothing to do, felt kind of lost and overwhelmed.
The main differences between the 3Ds and the normal chat rooms is of course the graphics and the fact that you appear as a character on the screen rather than just a group of text. I guess this is more exciting in a lot of ways but for me it just seemed to make things more confusing. It is impossible to tell who is talking to who and what is going on! Maybe it is because I am so new to this and have never been on a site like this before or even a normal chat room experience but the whole thing just made me remember why I avoid the internet. Bad spelling and a lot of wasted time. No offense to anyone who likes it, I can see how it could be good, socialising in the comfort of your house (or in my case classroom), that I like. And also the whole being able to chat to people on the other side of the world, experience different cultures without travelling, that kind of thing. It's just I feel like losing that face to face contact means the conversation is very stilted. There are no emotions and no facial expressions, even with these new 3D worlds so things are still entirely based on the text. Yes you can snowboard or dance or walk around or whatever but...why not just step outside, get some sun and socialise the normal way? The best thing about this task is that I have now decided this will be my topic for my essay. I was going to do texting and the impact on communication but there is a lot more information out there on chat rooms and the internet so I think I will go that way instead.
Generally though I feel like the whole chat room thing is overrated, I'd rather hang out in person!
Bye for this week
I have to say I do like the game Sims but the whole online chatting thing...not my cup of tea...there just isn't any attraction to me. Maybe it was just the two I tried (ActiveWorlds and Habbo) but people did not seem very interesting. Nothing to say, nothing to do, felt kind of lost and overwhelmed.
The main differences between the 3Ds and the normal chat rooms is of course the graphics and the fact that you appear as a character on the screen rather than just a group of text. I guess this is more exciting in a lot of ways but for me it just seemed to make things more confusing. It is impossible to tell who is talking to who and what is going on! Maybe it is because I am so new to this and have never been on a site like this before or even a normal chat room experience but the whole thing just made me remember why I avoid the internet. Bad spelling and a lot of wasted time. No offense to anyone who likes it, I can see how it could be good, socialising in the comfort of your house (or in my case classroom), that I like. And also the whole being able to chat to people on the other side of the world, experience different cultures without travelling, that kind of thing. It's just I feel like losing that face to face contact means the conversation is very stilted. There are no emotions and no facial expressions, even with these new 3D worlds so things are still entirely based on the text. Yes you can snowboard or dance or walk around or whatever but...why not just step outside, get some sun and socialise the normal way? The best thing about this task is that I have now decided this will be my topic for my essay. I was going to do texting and the impact on communication but there is a lot more information out there on chat rooms and the internet so I think I will go that way instead.
Generally though I feel like the whole chat room thing is overrated, I'd rather hang out in person!
Bye for this week
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