How do the ideas from Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply to contemporary digital media?
"The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced"
ummm right so basically he calls that Aura. I'm guessing it means that an original piece of art has accumulated many things over the years, it has "witnessed" things it i a part of history. a copy of that piece of art does not hold the same "aura" as that of the original because it has not passed through history.

There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?
I think that digitally created things are still art. you still need some level of skill to create anything 'good' digitally, it's like saying just becauseI have access to a canvas and paint i can create a masterpiece. i think digitalization is a good thing because it is another medium and it broadens the range and possibilities for creation

Is a photoshopped image "authentic"?
it is authentically photoshopped. lol. what i mean is to take a photo and edit it in photoshop and then lie and say it wasn't edited at all and try and pass it off as it is is not authentic. but to photoshop a photo to display the techniques of photoshop and admit that it has been edited it is still authentic. the same can be said of photo that are edited in dark rooms.

Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?
original digitally created images that are presented as works of art should have an aura because they are created by a person who presents them as art works. just because they were done with a different medium doesn't make them any less arty. but then if it is just a print of some other art work then it would not have an aura

search engines

• How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?
  Web search engines work by storing information about many web pages, which they retrieve from the WWW itself. These pages are retrieved by a Web crawler (sometimes also known as a spider) — an automated Web browser which follows every link it sees. The contents of each page are then analyzed to determine how it should be indexed (for example, words are extracted from the titles, headings, or special fields called meta tags).

• who, or what, makes one page (that you might get in your search results) more useful than another one, so that it is put at the top of your search results?
  When a user enters a query into a search engine (typically by using key words), the engine examines its index and provides a listing of best-matching web pages according to its criteria, usually with a short summary containing the document's title and sometimes parts of the text. Most search engines support the use of the boolean operators AND, OR and NOT to further specify the search query. Some search engines provide an advanced feature called proximity search which allows users to define the distance between keywords.

• what are some of your favourite search engines? why do you like one more than others?
  ask.com, dogpile.com, blackle.com, but usually just google.com I don't really have a preference I don't usually need overly comprehensive internet searches so the formats of the engines don't particularly bother me.
  

Hrmm interesting

So this task is to answer these questions without the use of Google or Wikipedia. However I can use any other source I see fit. But then the big question is how do I know my answers are correct?

1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?

Onel de Guzman,
the alledged author of the Lovebug (AKA ILOVEYOU) virus (http://www.computerbytesman.com/lovebug/index.htm)

2. Who invented the paper clip?

Johan Vaaler, a Norwegian inventor with a degree in electronics, science and mathematics, invented the paperclip in 1899. (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpaperclip.htm)
but he didn't patent it and it isn't exactly the same design we use today

3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?

The virus was then identified as a filovirus and was named Ebola after the river where it had first emerged. (http://www.geocities.com/mockturtl/history.html)

4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?

Chile on May 22, 1960 at 9.5. But that is only since 1900
(http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763403.html)

5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?

The definition of a kilobyte is 1,024 bytes;
however many people think of it as 1,000 bytes.

The definition of a megabyte is 1,024 kilobytes;
however many people think of it as 1,000 kilobytes.

The definition of a gigabyte is 1,024 megabytes;
however many people think of it as 1,000 megabytes.

The definition of a terabyte is 1,024 gigabytes;
however many people think of it as 1,000 gigabytes.
(http://malektips.com/computer_memory_definitions_0003.html)

sooooo
Answer 1 terabyte = 1 073 741 824 kilobytes.

6. Who is the creator of email?

The Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) was begun at MIT in 1961. It allowed multiple users to log into the the 7094 from remote dial-up terminals, and to store files online on disk. This new ability encouraged users to share information in new ways. When CTSS users wanted to pass messages to each other, they sometimes created files with names like TO TOM and put them in "common file" directories, e.g. M1416 CMFL03. The recipient could log into CTSS later, from any terminal, and look for the file, and print it out if it was there.

The CTSS MAIL command was proposed in an undated Programming Staff Note 49 by Louis Pouzin, Glenda Schroeder, and Pat Crisman. These folks were working on the design of a new, improved file system for CTSS with many additional features. Numerical sequence places the note in either Dec 64 or Jan 65. PSN 49 proposed a facility for the system operators so they could inform users when lost files were retrieved from tape, by sending a message to a file in their directory.

(http://www.multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html)

7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?

Although it's most commonly called a worm, Storm is really more: a worm, a Trojan horse and a bot all rolled into one. It's also the most successful example we have of a new breed of worm, there are estimates that between 1 million and 50 million computers have been infected worldwide.
(http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/10/the_storm_worm.html)


8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of Australia directly,
what is the most efficient way?

Contact Your Prime Minister

Thank you for your interest in contacting the Prime Minister.

This form provides a way to make comments to the Prime Minister. If you wish to send invitations, message or meeting requests or correspondence requiring supporting attachments such as photos or documents, please send them via Australia Post mail to:

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

(http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm)

9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School
of Arts) a member of?

Black Assassins

(www.brisbanewritersfestival.com)

10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?

Web 2.0 is basically what some people see as the second generation of the World Wide Web. It focuses on the chance for people to contribute and share their information with each other online. It refers to the transition from the originally static HTML Web pages into a more interactive Web that is more organized, attractive and interesting.

all questions answered thanks to the help of dogpile.com and ask.com

omg you actually expect me to do work?

Write a post about how you use new communication technologies to communicate with your friends and family. Some things to consider:

• Do you have friends whom you only know from the internet and have never met in person? Is this different to people that you know in person? Describe the difference.
• How long have you been using these communication technologies?
• What influenced you to start using these particular technologies?
• Is privacy an issue for you when using new technologies? (How do you deal with issues around privacy?)

So this is how it's going to be huh?

me answering a bunch of questions in the hope I will say something alluding to my wonderful skills of listening in class. Fair enough I can play that game.

Q.1. Yes I have friends that I've met online and have no real chance of ever meeting(I like it that way) they read what I want them to read and vice versa. They are the perfect friends. Of course they don't actually beat being able to go out with my other friends, the ones that I've accumulated from more human situations, like school and parties. I find it somehow reassuring that I can sit and rely my days events to total strangers and that they seem to care (main word being seem) but then maybe that's just me, although I highly doubt it. the difference between the two is that people I've met in real life know the real me they see me in person they see when I have food stuck between my teeth or completely embarrass myself and somehow that makes us closer. people online see me the way I wish I was and I get all the compliments I need to feed my ego from the safety of my computer chair.

Q.2. How long have I been using Communication Technologies??? umm good question, I have vague memories of talking to relatives over the home phone around the age of 4 (by talking I mean them talking and me going "mmmhhhmmm, love you too Nan." For as long as i can remember my family has had a computer. That being said until I was in grade four it was a very OLD computer that was hooked up to a dot matrix printer, only took floppy disks and the most exciting game on it was wheel of fortune. Then we upgraded and what do you know we connected to the internet waiting for that dialtone to finally connect was the longest minutes of my thus far short life. By grade six i hade my very first hotmail address. Oh My God. Welcome to the Big Wide World. That being said I had a total of 23 contacts, including one of my aunties, my cousin and all the people I knew from school who were as technologically advanced as I was. After that is was a virtual landslide of websites and email addresses. I'm now 17, have had four different email addresses and 3 separate blogs. By the time I joined myspace in grade 8 every person I met I kept in contact with via the web. So in a nutshell I've been using communication technologies since I could type and think of myself as important enough that other people would want to read what I have to say.

Q.3. I think I started talking online more than in real life because I like to think about what I say before I say it. It gives me an opportunity to edit my stream of conversation before the other party reads it. I also find my voice to be sometimes annoying. Annal retentive? you may say. maybe. so what?

Q.4.Oh yeah last one!!! privacy has never been an issue for me. most probably because it's all I've ever heard since I first logged on. from parents and teachers, "don't give out any details about yourself, that innocent 14 year old girl could be a 48 year old guy with halitosis." Ok I get it. so basically I've never had any problems because I've never been stupid enough to say, "hay person I've never met I'll meet you in the alley at 4 in the morning." I know, I know I'm being a bit harsh what about the spammers. Still never been stupid enough to enter my bank details into a website that has the banner of a bank that I don't belong to. But seriously i think I've stayed safe mostly because I'm so cynical, I see "free ipod" and think " you're an idiot" but then that's not just when I'm online.

Now see, I could have written a post that seemed like I'd answered all the questions because I'd wanted to and had not been asked to. But that's just not how I roll.

The End. For now.

o Hai

O Hai everyone

I just added a whole heap of people's blogs from my class so now I can spy on them all and see what they write so i can figure out what I should write.

I bet lots of people have the same idea. they will be sorely disappointed by my blog, that's if they can actually understand my ramblings to begin with.

so yer ...
jo just threw a pen at me and it hurts, there is a big red lump on the back of my hand...
hrmmm
maybe I should sue

laters all.

Sup

This is the first of many entries.
I can guarantee that this will be a regular occurance.

Because I'm being forced to update it... yay Uni.

So lets get to know me.
I always manage to find this step in the process difficult. Why? Because I don't think I know myself so well.
I guess that's why I've created so many profiles and the like before because I was trying to find out what I was like, but in the end I'm never quite happy with how I've portrayed myself.
But this little one is safe because it has a purpose, it's not about self glorification or exploration, it's just about my new com tech class.

Sweet. Glad that's over and done with. (I realise I didn't actually write anything about myself in that little blurb... it'll come later hopefully)

I will try and make this as painless (I wrote painful first, accidentally. What a slip.) as possible. Unfortunately no guarantees.