Saturday, October 04, 2003

Dan - no offense taken, you're absolutely right. I know that APC are quite a mainstream band. I wrote that 'blog in a hurry and did not get around to editing it for a while. This problem has now been rectified. My shame is intense indeed, and I apologise from the bottom of my heart. I certainly did not mean to imply that A Perfect Circle was one of the difficult-to-find bands of the downloading world. That would just be ridiculous. But if you were trying to download an album from a small band, especially from a small-ish country, this might prove difficult. i.e. if you were trying to download a Trinity Roots album from a site such as Kazaa.
posted by Anonymous at 7:03 PM

How was life like before this era of 'free music'...u guys remember..?
We take it so for granted, at least maybe I do...this ability to get tons & tons of ur own preferece of music online.I mean its almost just like other technologies too that we tend to take as so ubiquitous now, our mobiles,pc/laptop, digital cameras etc.. its hard to imagine surviving life w/o any of them now tt we've had a taste of it.Just like mp3 downloading...now tt we know the possibility of getting it off free...its hard to go anywhere else really..
I mean there's been attempts made by retail shops that provide services or machines that makes u able to customize ur own cd contents and tt will burn it for u..at their shops.One example I personally know of is in Singapore, a shop called Vivamusic.com and it has what is called the CD Maker machines.In fact it claims to be 'Asia's leading Music Lifestyle network'.It uses multi-mediums/channels like the web presence,print,retailing etc etc...ie a network.Anyway, check it out yerself.
But i think these kinds of attempts still get pretty much nowhere in cutting down on the online downloading.because esp with the increased presence of technologies for our own cd-burning at home...wats there to go to such shops at all.its really the cost question.its soooooooo easy today for us to download ur own playlist and burn a whole cd ur own.In fact its a great gift idea for me these days.u can even make yer own compilation w the whole works of cd-art...! i mean, HP also provides u with the alll in one packages to do tt on their printers,equipped w cd sleeves stickers n all.So u can put personalized memory pictures compile 'special' songs n there ya a go a personal dedicated cd.
Its about price and control.The consumers today have this possibility for almost complete control to the way they want the consumption to go in terms of music these days.I can get what i want, in what format,keep it for however long i want it...
There's more options open for us, sure if u're a loyal freak n want to get the real stuff..go ahead.but others just want a listen.and when before, it was a lot harder, now the options there.
i aint complaining n have not much qualms in it really.
and think abt it,as i mentioned in some previous blog, new techlogies i feel really have a profound effect in enhancing our sense of indivuality..this is another one of them...u are able to have a greater personalizzzation to your own music preference.have a wild mix of diff music from diff genres if u like...
so again...its a sort of cultre enclosure in the sense that it makes u even more intuned to Your own particular interest...it makes it easrier for u to enclose ur options from other things..since u can just get there n download what u exactly want n u're outa there.
then again..the contradictn though is that, it actually also makes u able to precisely experiment n widen ur interests or exposure to diff genres/music at the same time...in a simpler way..I'm not sayin both of this wasnt possible b4..just tt its much more 'in ur face' now.


posted by Anonymous at 4:10 PM

Oh hell yeah man - just consider Mick Jones' work with Big Audio Dynamite II, with its sequencing, breaks, sampling (Baba O'Reilly! badass!) and scratches.
That McLaren EP wasn't so bad, the record sleeve had illustrated instructions for breakdancing and scratching. He also executive produced an album with Afrika Bambaataa and some punk named John Lydon, I think it's called World Destruction.
posted by Anonymous at 6:32 AM

The Clash and Grandmaster Flash?? I knew Malcom Maclaren ((sp) manager of the sex pistols) came out with a rap album... but I never heard about the Clash wanting to play with Grandmaster Flash. Out of it.
posted by Anonymous at 5:02 AM

downloading music and copyright has becoming a more and more hot & controversial topic in modern society.As the consumers today,most of us would like to download music from good qualitative music websites because we needn't cost any money to buy music CDs we favor it and it is so convenient to listen to the singer's newest song at first time due to fast speed and most updated function of internet. Also,majority of us who download music are not concerned about the copyright status of those music files. We are "copyright care-free". However, as the growing numbers of downloading music through the internet,more and more music websites are taking the mesaure of charging fees for downloaders and post their ads slogan:they will reserve the right of copyright.If u violate the copyright, u will be prosecuted by music companies. So in terms of this situation,when consumers are downloading the music,they must be careful and cautious! There is a website i would like to recommend referring to the guidelines for the use of music under copyright and it should be helpful:www.reach.net/~scherer/p/copyhelp/htm.


However,the real issue is that why the entertainment industry would like to charge money of downloaders nowadays.The entertainment industry,which includes movie,music,television companies,says illegal downloading means millions of dollars in lost revenues in the market.If all these products are pirated and stolen on the internet,then, nearly fifty percent of busniess income through the sales of DVD and video would be lost and the whole entertaining industry will collapse.So, the notion of copyright and the reducing number of websites for free downloading music plays a critial part in protecting the companies'profit. But on the other hand, as the buyers,our personal interests are getting smaller and smaller:we have few oppotunities to download free music;we must buy the CD album,although we are only interested in several songs in the album;we cannot listen to the newest and hotest song at first time and at fastest speed any more.

Anyway,this is not a good thing for consumers,isn't it?^_^
posted by Anonymous at 3:30 AM

In Wednesday's lecture I felt amazing to the electronic music which I seldom listen . Also I have much interest in Kraftwerk and their music. On my apart, thire music link the advanced things and the basic natural things. So when I listened their music, I had a strange familiar feeling. Finding some information about them.

KRAFTWERK are virtually the founders of modern electronic music. It all began when Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider were driven as a reaction to post-war Americanisation to strive for a 'European industrial folk music' which both addressed the modern age and was rooted in their native Ruhr.

The result was the electronic music of Kraftwerk which not only gave rise to a whole generation of English synth-pop groups, but also had a profound influence on Black dance music, as well as the evolution of house, techno and industrial.

Inherently modest, even shy, they view themselves as workers manufacturing music rather than as pop stars, and welcome the more-or-less anonymous production of dance music which they view as a technologically-induced democratisation of cultural access.

The key to their essence and greatness is the combination of avant-garde electronic wizardry such as the innovative genius of 'Autobahn', and good, catchy, tunes like 'The Model'.


Kraftwerk's de-personification and exteriality reflects a sort of 'neo-classical modernism' which they share with some of the more interesting exponents of the early twentieth-century avant-garde. Provoked by Coca-Colanisation, Kraftwerk reached back before the anti-modernist Hitler era to embrace the early modernist traditions of the Bauhaus. This has invested Kraftwerk with a certain 'retro-Futurism', a future seen from the past like watching Fritz Lang's Metropolis.



posted by Anonymous at 3:28 AM

what is MP3 anyway?

MP3 is an abbreviation for "MPEG 1 Layer 3." MPEG, in turn, is a compression technology that underlies a variety of other consumer electronic formats, including DVD. The MP3 format allows for compression of sound files down to one-tenth of their normal size, with very little noticeable degradation in sound quality. Because compressed audio takes up far less storage space, each song may be transmitted using far less bandwidth than standard uncompressed digital audio, such as that stored on a compact disc or digital audio tape. Compression allows for quicker uploads and downloads of audio files, making it less time-consuming and more realistic to transmit music files over the Internet.

copyright?

Musical works are protected by copyright. A copyrighted work may not be distributed or published without the author's permission. It does not matter in which format the work is distributed or published. Distribution in the form of an MP3-file therefore infringes on the author's copyright. This means that MP3s may not be offered on websites, distributed via a peer-to-peer file sharing network or even be distributed by e-mail.

A performing artist can also claim exclusive rights on his performance of a musical work. These rights are known as "neighboring rights". They hold even if the copyright on the work has already expired. For example, it is perfectly legal to reproduce one of the works of Beethoven (1770-1827). However, recording somebody else's rendition of the work and distributing that recording is not permitted. This infringes on the neighboring rights of the artist.



posted by Anonymous at 2:04 AM

Internet and connected net-world with one another.
Last January in 2003, only 300kb “worm. SQL. Slammer” virus paralyzed the whole Internet connection in Korea for 30 minutes. A number of Internet companies were damaged and it caused the huge loss of money. What I want to say is “Internet is Network of Network and it is public community.” It is possible to say that companies based on Linux were not damaged at all because the worm virus only attacks the companies based on Window SQL server. However, some Internet users could not access the sites of the Linux based companies through the infected SQL servers of other companies. As Internet becomes the crucial part of everyday life it will be useless if you are only a person who commits right things. It tells that Internet is not always a factor of civilization that guarantee our convenient life because even though I do not commit an error our computers might be damaged as a member of Internet community.

posted by Anonymous at 2:02 AM

MP3 and Copyright

One of the most commonly downloaded type of file is the MP3. Almost every song ever performed, no matter how obscure, can be found somewhere on the Internet. Even the most recent Top 100 songs can be easily downloaded from various websites. And even if a particular song cannot be found on the Web, then there's always the peer-to-peer file sharing networks like KaZaa. In summary, every song is freely available to anyone with a reasonably fast Internet connection.

An annoying detail is that music is copyrighted. This means that the maker of a work must grant permission before his work may be distributed over the Internet. In the vast majority of the cases the maker has not granted such permission, because most artists make money by selling CDs with their music. The music industry not surprisingly is complaining loudly about all the lost sales they claim to suffer because of all those free download
posted by Anonymous at 2:01 AM

____________

Friday, October 03, 2003

Hello, all. Have you seen "American Pie 3" yet? It's so silly and stupid, but just simply so funny! If you haven't laugh recently. I recommend you to see it!

7th entry: We had lectures on "New Media in Music" this week. I also don't download music from the internet. I know they are free and that is very attractive, but it takes ages to complete (at least for me)!! And I didn't have any equipments to carry the songs with me even if I download.
So I buy my favourite singer's albums every time they come out. It is because simply I like his songs, I want to listen to not only his singles, but also other songs, and for me, they are worth to buy, anyway. But I sometimes buy other singers' albums as well. When I listen to a song on TV or on the radio, and if I like it, I may buy the album since I want to listen to other songs of the artist.
Most of my friends never buy CDs in New Zealand. They say CDs are so expensive (I do agree!) and they can download free from the internet. And they told me that there are illegally copied CDs in China and they are much much cheaper than the real ones. So they buy heaps of them when they go back to their country even the quality is pretty ridiculous.
So I suppose the choice whether the person buys CDs or download from the internet, or other methods to enjoy music would depend on what is convenient for the person and what s/he demands in music they listen to.

Recently, I have bought a Net MD walkman, which enables me to copy the songs in my computer to MD and carry it with me. So I'm thinking about trying it. :-)

Have a nice weekend!
posted by Anonymous at 10:05 PM

*****BREAKING NEWSFLASH*****

Cool Site Alert:

http://www.electronicorphanage.com/neen/demo/clinger.swf

Try moving your mouse in different ways... try squiggles too, see what happens.
Hours of fun!

****************************
posted by Anonymous at 7:09 PM

I agree with Arvid Longly-Kay. Downloading music from Internet is quite controversial topic. I never downloaded any music from Internet before, but the reason for that is not because I have enough money to buy CD. The reason is the downloading process is too slow unless you got broadband, and you have to be aware of the viruses. And I didn’t know kazaa:-) the only website I know is MP3 website, but if you want to download any songs, you have to pay money then you can get access to download.

“For free” is an attractive reason for people who like to download music from Internet. The price of album is a little bit expensive; fewer than 25 bucks is a reasonable price for me. But I am always disappointed after I bought the whole album, because not all the songs are worth to listen. This is also one of the reasons that most people download music from Internet instead of buying someone’s album. If someday you don’t like this song anymore which you downloaded from Internet, you won’t feel you waste money on purchasing album. So I would like to pay money for each song that I download from Internet (if I got broadband) rather than buy the whole album. But for most fans if they really like someone’s music, they would like to buy the CD.

The loyal fans still are the major buyers of the albums. One of my flat mates never buy any CD, he thinks it’s too expensive and not worth to buy, so he is keen to download all kinds of music from internet. But he has Dido’s album. He told me that he likes her music, simple reason. The other reason for people who are purchasing album is that they get much more than downloading the whole album from Internet. One of my friends bought Delta’s album, it’s not just a single CD, and there is a DVD with the album that contains her music videos and one small notes paper. Just like Arvid said, you can get more about the album, the lyrics, the themes of the album etc.
Have a nice day:-)
posted by Anonymous at 5:19 PM

In our lectures last week we were discussing new media in everyday life, something that I use in everyday life is the new media child internet banking, yet Im getting a little frustrated with! I dont want to go into a bank yet I find myself limited by this service. I applied for a credit card from an online bank and was accepeted the next day only to find that I have to go into the bank anyway to finish my application which leaves me wondering what was the point of applying on line in the first place. I think such services indeed need the identification that the net just does not give due to its anonmity.
posted by Anonymous at 2:15 PM

____________

Thursday, October 02, 2003

No offense Jenna (not this time at least, hehe) but I don't think Perfect Circle are as non-mainstream as you think - I have little to no interest in their work, yet I know their band logo, what they sound like, the name of their 'Judith' single that came out a couple of years ago, I see people in their t-shirts etc. As for the teenybopper opposition, I remember kids in my fifth form class listening to them.
A cursory search of the WinMX network shows that 872 copied Perfect Circle tracks are available for download.
I don't think the 'Alternative' genre of the nineties can get away with its counter-culture claims any more - in fact, it died right about the time it was given that name much like punk, much like hip-hop.

Speaking of punk and hip-hop, did you know that in 1982 The Clash asked Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five to open for them? Flash and crew had just recorded The Message I think. Mick Jones and crew also had Kurtis Blow open for them a few nights.

Give the Man Behind the Wheels Some Credit
Chic 'Good Times', Blondie 'Rapture', Queen 'Another One Bites The Dust', Sugarhill Gang '8th Wonder', Furious Five 'Birthday Party', Spoonie Gee 'Monster Jam'
here's a list of the songs sampled in 'The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel'
- Dan
posted by Anonymous at 5:35 PM

I have to allude to Jenna's post, and I agree that if you are a loyal follower of a band, you go and buy their albums. Like, I am heavilly into Queens of the Stoneage, and Kyuss, who formally consisted of Nick Oliveri and Josh Homme from Queens. I have the ability to download heaps of their songs but its like- fuck it- for some reason I find myself purchasing album after album. This is not because, I really want to see them succeed in record sales- my individual effort is not giong to put a dent in their income. The reason buying CDs is so great is you do get the official product, with the atwork, record sleeve and track listing and stuff.

The argument that CD wallets eliminate the need for the material CD case and record sleeve doesnt really hold with me either. I mean, I have a CD wallet- I put the sleeves in the slots with the CD. For me, the record sleeve is pretty important. Its wicked to read lyrics, check out the art and stuff which is usually a reflection of the album and its themes (if it has any).

The only songs I really download are individual tracks that I enjoy, but would not necessarily want to go out and purchase a whole album over. Stuff like 'Barbed Wire Love' by Stiff Little Fingers- i love that tune but I am not willing to buy a whole album of their stuff for that one single. Or maybe some track that gets played on the radio a whole lot that I just cant get out of my head. Another reason for downloading I guess is to listen to tracks other people reccomend, or rare songs that you cant find on records... like bootleg copies and live tracks and stuff.

People who download a lot of pop, and 'mainstream' music (whatever the fuck you want to call it), have my blessing really. I couldnt give a toss about Nelly or Britney or whoever, their artistic integrity holds such little weight that I am glad people 'exploit' them, and rob them of their well deserved funds. HA! Personally, I couldnt be arsed waiting for the download time, but anyway....

So I guess the point is, online music has a purpose. And it is a really good one. In many cases it expands peoples appreciation and tastes in music, and gets people onto other artists. Artists who are not well known, but whos ability is awesome and is overlooked because of the great monopoly all the US and UK pop market has over all music. Bands like Kyuss, Elbow, Tosca, Mouthwash... (I cant remember my playlist). Anyways, rant over.
Thanks if you took the time to read all of it.
posted by Anonymous at 5:28 PM

The lecture on Wednesday seemed to apply mainly to mainstream/ pop artists (i.e. along the lines of Britney Spears). I believe that if you are a loyal follower of a certain band or artist then you are more likely to buy their album. These bands may often not be mainstream, as pop fans ("teenyboppers??") seem to have fast-changing tastes. If a band is really non-mainstream / underground then their tracks can not often be found on the internet anyway.

The new A Perfect Circle album just came out. A friend of mine downloaded the album off the internet (another friend tried, but many of the Kazaa versions of the songs were just loops of their first single 'Weak and Powerless', so I guess someone used some p2p album protection). My mate then copied the CD for me, which he had downloaded from PhantomDC.exe. Now, A Perfect Circle are among my favourite bands, and as I have band loyalty I still plan to buy the CD. As another friend put it "A Perfect Circle are not one of the richest bands, so as a fan i'm going to purchase their CD". However, I am planning to wait until the CD is $25, rather than $39 / $34.95 or $29.95, as I have seen them variously advertised in music stores. Just in case you're interested, here is an A Perfect Circle site: official site
posted by Anonymous at 1:57 AM

Top 5 Funky White Boys
5. All those San Francisco DJs
4. P-Money
3. Cut Chemist and DJ Numark
2. Rick Rubin
1. Arthur Baker
...and inroducing Mark Ronson

The rap industry has a tricky relationship with p2p. e.g. last night I downloaded Mark Ronson's new release and it had someone yelling over the top of it "Brand new from Mark Ronson...Hot off the press, spread the news, get it while its hot!" in the style of DJ Kay Slay, Clue or Funkmaster Flex - who are world-famous mixtape DJs. I also encountered this kind of tactic when I downloaded the X-Ecutioner's last album.
I suspect that record labels realise mixtape cultures are an essential element of hip-hop, anecdotal accounts from late-70's South Bronx describe parks where new mixes were hustled like drugs.
Lending credibility to this suspicion is the fact that major label rap artists like Nas, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes and 50 Cent use p2p networks to release diss tapes** which never make it to commercial release. p2p networks are also used to distribute exclusive freestyles, usually recorded live or during radio shows (such as the Wake Up Show with Sway & Tech). My only gripe is that the character of p2p users tends to favour 'underground' Enimem and 50 Cent recordings, rather than the underground EPMD, Chino XL and Kool Keith recordings.

Anyhow, the MP3 trick worked - I'm buying that Ronson CD as soon as it hits the shelf.

- Dan
posted by Anonymous at 1:28 AM

hi~~~

we learned about computer technology with music today's lecture....

how it's interesting????

well, we always bring and listen the music all the time,
there are many sorts of music combination with technology thing as i show u one of example down

u guys know David bowie?????? he's singer and his music genre is "Iggy pop"

i don not know really his music....but he's quite strange.... he wears unusual cloth and some stalystic props..... he appears some mid- characterstic between women and men.

also, he was came up very strange pop singer in 1970's England....

if u are interested in David bowie, i 'll link his some web pages, you can here his strange stlye songs....^^



above photo, that's him "Daivd bowie"

his famouse songs are Sound And Vision, Golden Years, Fame, Young Americans, Can You Hear Me, Wild Is The Wind, Knock On Wood, Its Hard To Be A Saint In The City, Look Back In Anger, The Secret Life Of Arabia, Beauty And The Beast, Breaking Glass, Boys Keep Swinging, Heroes...........

www.bowiewonderworld.com.......


posted by Anonymous at 12:34 AM

____________

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

How about I add to the music topic some more with:

Isn't it interesting how we don't really 'need' cd stores these days?

Technology has allowed us so many options... that even if you don't want to obtain the music for free, there are perfectly legitimate ways to get it from the net. Online CD stores and the like, and the whole pay-per-song for iTunes are pretty competitively priced. Most of the online retailers even provide 'samples' of the tunes in the form of streaming... so you don't even have to go into the cd store to 'test drive' a cd anymore.

And this leads to: how many retail stores do we really 'need' these days?

I was flatting in Dunedin last year, and my flatmate's mum thought she'd send us a surprise, so she ordered us groceries from woolworths on the net. The beauty of it all was - not only did everything end up the same price, they got DELIVERED to our door. LUXury man. [In dunedin, not many people have cars, so you end up walking everywhere, including walking home with a stolen trolley and your food, which is always a pain. And just on a side note: as trolleys are actually really expensive to make, the supermarkets started letting you borrow 'take-home-trolleys', which were actually pieces of shit disguised as trolleys. Hence, people still took the real trolleys.]

I think one group of retailers that will survive a while will be the clothing outlets. Shopping for clothes can be a very social experience, and shopping on the net really isn't the same as 'hanging out at the mall'. Besides, you want to see if the glove fits so you can wear it, we haven't really gotten into the whole 'virtual clothes trying on' era yet.


posted by Anonymous at 3:27 PM

I think today's lecture on digital soud was great.. really a great topic and many valuable ideas..
So I want to talk more about it for my 8th blog. After the lecture, it really makes me think..
It is a really hot topic throughout the world which I think there is really no right or wrong answer for this question.. Whether it is ethical to download the music for free or not..
We have to look it from many different perspectives..

1. From a consumer's point of view, we could argue we have right to download music off the net for free.. You have to admit that not every album is worth $29.99.. we probably just want 2,3 tracks from one album, and for us, poor students, certainly cannot afford for every album we want.. Besies every superstar is already get paid for million of dollars, they already have the fame and wealth.. why should we pay $29.99 for a shitty C.D?? Britney Spears might download other artist's songs via the net too..So ffrom an average consumber's perspective, I think it is ethical to download music off the net.

2. From an artist's point of view, why should people can download our "hard" work for free?perhaps there are some really terriable singers out there, but how about other talent and
hard-working artists that you might put out of market?If I let other people to enjoy my work for free, then I think I have the rights to enjoy other people's works or property for free.. There
are many other things we have to do before we finish an album. For instance, ad and tour.
For a producer, then it is not ethical to download mp3 from the net.

So I just want to show that each person has answer for this question, and it is really no right
or wrong answer for it. Today, I have heard of many people saying it is ethical to download the tracks for free.. But would you still think of the same way, if one day you were working in the musical industry?You might realise it is not that easy to produce one album (whether it is "good" album or not).

I read an artical from the internet a few years ago.. The musical companies wanted to legalise the mp3, and charge for it. One idea was that, in the future, consumers can go to a vending
machine, put in a coin and then select the tracks you want. After a few minutes, it will burn a cd with your preference. It's just like today's vending machine, where you put in the money and select the drink you want.
I don't know if it would work or not.. The vending machine could connect to a music store, and then download all the tracks you want in a minute. Then it would require very good technology, which I don't think it is possible with our current technology.
Anything could be possible in the future~
In 80's, who could ever thought that we can now download the music for free now?

posted by Anonymous at 6:00 AM

today made me think a little bit. should we be ripping off the hard working musicians etc... The point was made in class that who says they need to be rich seeings as they may or may not work any harder then say the cleaners of auckland university. For a start cleaners aren't entertaining millions of people. musicians make a product that is desireable to the consumer and anything desireable is bound to get its fair share of thieving. i mean im not gonna stiff the cleaner out of the job by frantically mopping my way round the university one room ahead of them, not cause i cant but cause i just dont want too. if they jazzed it up and made it disco cleaning they could expect some backlash. but they dont and music will always preceed it on the entertainment side of things so i reckon recording companies just need to grunt up and handle it. the technology was made so use it.
posted by Anonymous at 3:59 AM

We could never do 'downloading' before the technology providing this function. Then, now, this function becomes a part of many people's every day life. How could we stop it? Even most people agree that doing 'downloading' MP3 is illegal. I absolutely believe that the stop is never gonna happen unless we go back to pre-internet age. Yeah, I should admit that downloading MP3 is destroying the music industry. But on the other hand, does the music industry still stay in the imagination of pre-internet age?

Technology is changing the way of getting resource. When people find a way to get something more easily, cheaply, and quickly, they will keep on, but not turn back to use the former way. So it's clear to see that internet will not be disconnected because of downloading MP3 illegally. No matter how hard the music was produced and how much value it should be, sure people do respect the artists, but most people still choose to download rather than spending almost 30 dollars to buy it. That is the point; technology is challenging the music industry, forcing it to change to fit the level of technology. people are inventing technology, then when the technology becomes common to every one, industries(not only music industry), have to change because of most people using the new technology. This results in another new form of industries' work, and then another new technology comes out.

So who can imagine when a new revolution gonna happen, and what it is gonna be. Maybe from internet to mind-net, from cyberspace to mental-space? Maybe it's just tomorrow when we wake up.
posted by Anonymous at 3:55 AM

I really enjoyed todays lecture on how digitization affects production, distribution and consumption of music. The class discussion generated some extremely valid ideas, many of which I probably wouldnt have generated myself. I was thinking about the ethical debate on downloading music: do we as consumers have a right? are we being unethical? Putting myself in a successful musicians pair of shoes (probably prada ones) I can see how frustrating it would be, working your arse off to produce an album and then not selling enough of those albums in order to maintain their three houses in brazil , two estates in the country, and their city apartment. . in this sense im talking about the extremely successful musicians like madonna who have gritted their teeth at the rise of peer-to-peer networks. They are filthy rich, and is it reaching the point where they are becomming greedy?

Contrary, when it comes to struggling artists I fear that Kazaa and the likes can only hinder their chances in the music industry and in that sense I look down on file sharing on the internet.
An extremely talented friend of mine just launched her first C.D 'Goodnight Lonely Girl'. We went to high school together and ever since, I have seen the extremely hard work that she has dedicated to her music pre,during and post school. In this respect I am protective of her new CD, I wont let anyone "borrow" it in the event that they will burn a copy for themselves. I guess the point of my TOUCHING story is that when you actually see the amount of work NEW ARTISTS put into producing their passion, the time it takes, and their sincereness in wanting to share their talents with people like us- it sucks not to see it pay off.......
Im sure people could argue that its just the same for extremely successful artists, and I agree wholeheartedly but there just soemthing about the vulnerability and sincereness of new artists that people like me succumb to.

I was reading an article on the net today, its not that recent but i found it on this website www.bobbysays.org titled: "Music industry cracking down on downloading music
Posted by Bobby June 28, 2003." Bobby speaks of the RIAA (Recording Industry of America) announcing a renewed effort to crackdown against people caught downloading large amounts of music. They say they plan to file hundreds of lawsuits in the coming months. Anyways Bobby interviews this guy Gene Thorpe who has downloaded hundereds of songs for free and tells him about this renewed effort of the RIAA filing lawsuits etc. It is his response I find most interesting (yes it has taken me this long to get to it im sorry) -Gene says: "If you’re telling me that in two weeks from now I'm going to get a letter from the RIAA saying we are filing lawsuit such-and-such-and-such, I'd go home this afternoon, delete every song out of my hard drive and go, 'I don't know what you're talking about." Which is precisely what I would do and what everyone would do really. Its not like theres no way out of it in the event that you are singled out as a culprit.

In this digital age we will always look for a way around restrictions.

Goodnight xxx


posted by Anonymous at 2:46 AM

Who Stole the Soul?
Reasons To Not Like White Producers

'Eye for an Eye' by UNKLE is the worst thing since 'What's Going On' was used to advertise Farmers. Goddammit, who would turn The Temptations' soulful inner-city rage at the violent post-industrial into the soundtrack for the Nike world cup campaign? One's about the violent oppression of African-Americans in the US - racism, unemployment, poverty, drugs, excessive taxation of the poor, over-population, the disproportionate drafting of black troops to Vietnam.
The other one's about frikkin' rugby. shot.

Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration,
Aggrevation, humiliation, obligation to our nation
Ball of Confusion
- The Temptations, Ball of Confusion
posted by Anonymous at 2:03 AM

____________

Tuesday, September 30, 2003

I think that with claims that the big 5 record companies are slow to react to this percieved threat of the internet, might be slightly miss-judged. I think that they have reacted, but in a way that is not direct. Warners signed R.E.M. for a reported US$80 million deal, and made the comment that they will attract other smaller bands to join their stable of artists. So instead of fighting what possibly a endless war against file sharing, it appears that they are attempting to gain greater control over the music world. This also includes the deals struck with the indie lables. Most of the smaller lables, and even some of the bigger ones, have distribution deals. So given that the sales of LP's and CD's will never die ( Remember kids, they thought LP's would die, hell, I remember stores selling them for 10 cents!!, I also remember 1 cent lollies....sigh... I mean, 50 cents made you a rich man back then. Ahh well.), then the greater the control you have of the market i.e. amount of bands you have signed, or distribution deals, you'll never die.
More to come as it comes to mind.

posted by Anonymous at 9:36 PM

Today i thought i would discuss a topic that hasn't been discussed yet in any of our lectures or tutorials. It has some relevance to the lecture that will be presented by Scott Wilson - 'Cybersex' and the reason i've decided to comment on this issue is because i seem to be exposed to this type of material just by simply watching television or other papers refer you to sites about different forms of media.

For example, i was watching t.v 3 at around 11:30pm, 24.9.03 and i'm not sure what the program was called but it had 3 special guests that were discussing there lives.
One was a women who set up a support group for people who are going through divorce's, which seemed normal but the two groups of people that interested me was the following:
1. a couple who believed that argueing made their relationship stronger, because to them make-up sex was the best sex. (Totally weird but they look extremely happy, maybe not mentally healthy though)
2. a couple who met while making a pornography film, who got married and most of there friends thought they wouldn't last but they are still happily married and they make their own pornography films inside their own home and they have their daily life viewed by people online...so people are able to view them 24 hours a day and they feel comfortable with it...they make a living off people visiting their porn site.
The reason i thought that this is interesting to mention is because now that i think about it what can you classify as porn, is it people having sexual intercourse in a film, or just people being shown naked...so would you call participants on the huge reality t.v program 'Big Brother' running around half naked or fooling around as porn. How about photographs pictured in the 'Tabloid' newspaper the 'Sun' can they be seen as porn.
Here is an example, the 'Page 3 Girl' who is usually pictured naked or half naked in their tabloid newspaper and they are adament that these pictures are not soft-porn??? which to me is argueable.

Unfortunately i couldn't upload an actually picture 'cos the uni comps don't have the software on the comp. which would allow me to.
Visit the following sites and judge for yourself: http://home.freeuk.net/webbuk/page3/about.htm
or a go to page3.com - video shots which is a link.....
I'm not saying that i'm fascinated with pornography but what i am saying is that it seems to be spreading into all forms of media....no longer is it just restricted to videos...it has come a long way and it seems to be changing with the times...the biggest dispised and frowned apon industry just like prostitution...now look at NZL the government has legalised prostitution....brothels etc...Now their are things such as virtual reality porn sites..cartoon figurines that are playing out peoples fantasies...Personally i am looking forward to Scotts lecture because he is so enthusiastic and passionate about what he does even though some of the stuff he discusses are a bit far out...it'll be interesting to see what he has to say...

posted by Anonymous at 9:12 PM

Hey guys,

Firstly I wanted to say Hermione- that was a great and interesting blog on the digital divide. It has something that I have thought about alot since starting this paper. My mother is not the most educated when it comes to technical things she hates even having to phone me on my cell phone let alone use one - but we at least have the money and resources in which to buy one. In a quote from Doree Massey in our text book pg 171 she talks about if you could look at earth from way out in space you could see " Faxes, email, film and distribution networks....look closer and there are ships, trains, steam trains slogging laboriously up hills somewhere in Asia. look in closer still and there are lorries, and cars and buses, on down further somewhere in sub Sahra Africa, there's a woman on foot who still spends hours a day collecting water".
And this all exists in the same world.

I also was thinking about technology in my everyday life. I am someone who loves shopping no matter how much my credit card does not. Internet shopping has become a part of the norm - well for me anyway. Whether it is buying a DVD via Amazon- which before the internet buying from America or anywhere else in the world not so easy or buying your groceries. As long as you don't mind the delivery cost then it's all about convience. Foodtown and Woolworths promote it, by telling you all the things that can go wrong take up your time and show it like a shopping receipt at the bootom stating - time saved 51 minutes - because as we all know time is more precious than money.

Man has everday life evolved - I almost don't regonise it anymore!

Catch you on the blog side.
posted by Anonymous at 5:46 PM

In the spirit of the whole machines taking over and more human than human type talk, i thought id best add my two cents. Don't get me wrong, im not usually a stickler for not accepting technological advancements, but... How can anyone begin to conceive a technology that can think for itself and become more than its programming? the very nature of computing machinery is that it works on a binary system, how can yes no answers to set questions ever make something want to be more then itself? it's logistically fucked. the only semi-feasable explanation i've had is some shit about a G-Bit which overs the 1 and the 0 to create organic thinking machinery... "how profound" i thought, but this was quickly overshadowed by the realisation of the source. this being quite possibly the most inebriated man in whangamata, i say man cause there was a women who was a close competetor for pisstank of the year award. the conversation hit the gutter shortly after and i feared an embarissing trip to the proctologist if i didn't break my ties with the keg on legs... fast. anywho, if anyone can shed more light on the subject then a possible alcoholic suffering from a moment of clarity, do prove me wrong. hopefully one day my way of thinking will be lumped with the theory of a flat world, but fuck it, i think im right.
posted by Anonymous at 4:08 AM

Human beings replaced by machines on businesses asn result of new technologies. Businesses program telephone and give choice to customers, like a menu to give satisfaction and limit customer's choice. We can argue that machine are far better off than human because they are not having ups and downs as human being are, always the same energetic and helpful voice. But it takes away the notion of real thing and fake. The special moment of knowing that your talking to another person is vanished and made us be like another machine, holding a phone listen and be ready to choose the menu.

No matter what customer's mood is or their having a bad day the machine voice is not giving any sympathy words to the customer, while with a real person they might say something to make you feel better while pressing the order. More and more companies replace people with machines, this makes us ask ourselves what the future will be like.
posted by Anonymous at 3:24 AM

I'm somethin' like a phenomenon,
I'm somethin' like a phenomenon
- Posdnous of De La Soul, Ego Trippin' (pt. II)

Blogs offer the facetious a chance to escape the caspicious, vehuncular constraints of polite society. No, really.
- Dangor the Sarcastinator

p.s. Bruce Wayne constructed Batman as his alter-ego
p.p.s. the last words in Ego Trippin' are "Up and down the fuckin' stairs"
posted by Anonymous at 2:29 AM

I think Digital Audio or better audio qaulity is great. When watching movies or Juice at home, its cool to link up the TV to the stereo so you get that better sound, and have options on your stereo to choose to make it seem live or in a hall .. like all echoey. The quality doesnt go down cos its captured. Even better if you have the gears to create a full on home cinema experience. You can control the sound levels, or if you set up speakers behind the couch you can get get a full on surround sound which can make some movies seem more realistic and you get more involved into the sphere. Im sure we will find out but im think i watched a movie once with surround speakers and the sound, probly by Dolby, make like dialogue come from the front spekaers and wind and lightning etc from behind, so your ears are like eyes looking around to see where the sound is coming from, so it can be a bit chilling with unfamiliar sound come from behind you which can make the experince better. Digital sound is made up of 0s and 1s, my mates used to think if you dropped a CD the numbers get mixed up and thats why the CD got scratched instead of an actual scratch mark. Digital is way faster in ways, such as recording, if you record a tape you have to play it and record and wait for the whole song, but MP3s can tranfer in a few seconds from disc to hard-drive etc. You could have a party with Jetstream and just download songs as you go so people can choose their own favs. In saying this I think its still groovy when you put on an old record and can hear all the dust scratching. N`Syncs` song 'Gone' has this at the beginning of the song, not that I listen to N`Sync, but anyways that song is probably recorded digitally.
posted by Anonymous at 12:59 AM

THE NET AND ALTER-EGO'S

In today's society how we present ourselves will effect how we are recieved and consequently accepted. In our modern world there are various mediums which can construct, and reflect our identities. Although I would argue that not only through mediums such as computers, project our personalities but we can manipulate, exaggerate or even create an imaginary identity otherwise known as an alter-ego. Like Batman, we too can construct another indentity in cyberspace or virtual worlds. As Sherry Turkle explains that computers are like identity workshops (textbook 248). "Instead of the stand-alone computer reflecting aspects of personality, we now see a refraction of identity through role play and interaction with other users: The self is not only decentered but manipulated without limit. There is an unparalleled opportunity to play with one's identity and to 'try out' new ones."

This is seen constantly throughout the internet as people 'take on' cyber names and how they construct themselves on personal homepages, chatrooms and bulliten boards. On this blog, how people write or what they write about is seen as a reflection of identity. Even individualism is present through the use of a different font or colours or the use of an icon eg. when I see the Dragon -I automatically associate it with Matt.

It's an unsual concept, that billions of people can create whoever they want to be at a push of a button. But there will always be that invisible barrier between fact and fiction. Are they really that articulate?-or is an online dictionary and theasurus? at hand? Are they really that innocent?-or is there more that an FBI file might reveal? Or are they really that goodlooking?-or is it a photoshop blessing in disguise?

So in true Taipu style, I leave you with the last word from De La's ego trippin'-which you see so much on the net.

The answer to the riddle is me and here's the question..
Who can be (fresh)
Who can be (dope)
Who can be (nice)
Who can be (beautiful)
Who can be (word)
Who can be....

but we all know with the internet, anyone can be.
posted by Anonymous at 12:31 AM

____________

Monday, September 29, 2003

Hey everyone. I have to admit that this blog entry -- my sixth, which was supposed to be posted at the weekend -- is a little late. Okay, so it’s a lot late, but I have an excuse: my phone line has been playing up, and so I haven’t been able to dial-up a connection to the internet. That is, until now.

Anyway, I thought that seeing as we will be talking about digital sound this week in lectures and tutorials, I would take a look at some sites based around this topic. After typing “digital sound” into Google, I found that the websites for Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS), Digital Theater Systems (DTS), and Dolby Laboratories -- all of which are major brands providing digital audio systems for the motion picture industry, and in the case of DTS and Dolby, consumer goods -- are at the top of the search results. This wasn’t much of a surprise (for me, at least), when I considered what first comes to my mind when I hear the words “digital sound,” and I immediately thought of cinema and DVD. Clicking on the links to each of the aforementioned sites, I somewhat expected to be emersed in an auditory experience -- or at the very least, be welcomed to the site by one of those sound-effect-laden DVD openings that tell you that the film you are watching has been encoded in a DTS or Dolby digital sound format. But no, none of these websites even has an introduction, let alone one with sound. It would seem that the most likely reason for the lack of audio is the companies not wanting to associate their hi-fi digital sound products with the much inferior lo-fi sound system of the common PC. In any case, SDDS.com, Dolby.com and DTStech.com are all rather uninspired websites, although it can be said that the latter is aesthetically superior (and is justifiably positioned at the top of the Google search results).

Well that’s my two cents for this… last week.


posted by Anonymous at 9:24 PM

yo!!! if you guys has money making machine, what would u do???????

would be happy~~....zzz you can buy anyting u want and u would go somewhere around world-trip?????^^

anyway, i'll show one of moel of money maker ....


this is quite strange feature..and robbert...
it's made through 3-D graphics by using "max" programming...

posted by Anonymous at 2:50 AM

Let me know if he gets there and if he s still walking .

This is really interesting how someone did this.:

He's walking around the world - via e-mail!! Pass it on so he can get there!
He is suppose to be walking -- he was when I sent him - Let me know if he is walking when he gets to your house
untitled.bmp
posted by Anonymous at 1:35 AM

____________

Sunday, September 28, 2003

Hey guys, I’ll like to bring up the issue of the Digital Divide and share with you guys an article which provides an alluring, and cautiously optimistic view that the Digital Divide may be less of a ‘divide’ now. We all know that the Digital Divide is generally about how access to online resources on a global scale is largely uneven, making Third World countries even more deeply entrenched in the sort of poverty that seems to be trapped in a vicious cycle. The web was also thought of to further accentuate the gross difference between the “haves” and the “haves-nots” on the basis of race, gender, education and income. However, a recent article in BusinessWeek (19 Aug 2003) has argued just the opposite. Titled “The Digital Divide That Wasn’t”, it argues that there was once when the web was going to bypass the poor but now the gates to access are opened, just waiting for the guidance and the desire to use it.

Two interesting points from the article I’ll like to raise and briefly discuss:
1.The article introduces evidence that a greater percentage of African Americans and Hispanics are going online and the number would soon match their white counterparts. There’s also more women going online. There’s still a gap, but not as strenuous as previous literature have suggested. And the fact that broadband users are increasing means that competition will ensue and prices can be brought down.

To me, the notion then of “the market taking care of the digital dividers” is ostensibly alluring if one considers only the economic sense of it. However, going back to what the textbook mentioned, the problem seem to lie largely on those who are excluded from the labor markets from non-employment related reasons. These are the people that, despite the gates of access being opened, and the opportunities for training being available, might still be excluded perhaps due to reasons like illiteracy. There also seems to be a paradox here. We need the Internet to be affordable in order for people with less earning power to access it, but simultaneously, in order for Net access to be more affordable, we need a kind of “mass” consumption to engineer the economies of scale that is needed to bring down unit cost.

2. A huge amount of ongoing government support, in terms of financial capital, is needed to erase this digital divide. Efforts have been ongoing around the world to support web business in developing countries to setup “communication stations” so that the local community may have access to “pay per surf” opportunities. And it does seem that the efforts like these are encouraging more of the local communities to go online, with training and funding. And it is hoped that when more web businesses start blooming in developing nations, the cost of online access will begin to fall.

After reading this article, I think the digital divide may arguably be less prominent with efforts being pumped into alleviate the situation. However, I still believe that a gap exists as rightfully put forth by the article. But think about it, yes, when cost of computing continues to fall, and online access becomes available to a larger population of Third World Countries, but the privileged ones in the developed nations would, by then, have advanced into something more “digitally advanced”. That raises the bar even higher as the challenge for playing ‘catch up’ seems to be a breathless race for developing nations, and one that requires a constant stream of funding which in today’s troubled economies seem hard to be guaranteed.

For those interested in reading the whole article, you may access it here .
posted by Anonymous at 5:33 AM

"In the event of wanting to combine pizza consumption with moderate limb movement, I can heartily recommend Blitza Pizza in Birkenhead if you're ever in that vicinity." I'd agree with you Luke, but it costs.... boy does it cost.
I swear I can make a better one though....
You can either make your own base, or buy premade ones and add the toppings of your choice and make you own pizza. Not only is is less expensive, but you can actually then pretend you know how to cook!! And its real easy like.
Oh, the Kebabs over the road from the post shop up in B.H. is pretty minta too.
I can't make those.

posted by Anonymous at 5:08 AM

Hey All,
Well, it's far past my bed time, but the thought stuck me that I'd almost forgotten my blog... Ahh Gezz.
On reflection of Mrs Morris's lecture, the things that I'd thought of were, for me, confirmed. Film as we know it from Hollywood (the "blockbusters") are a delightful rendition of the past. We add new effects, new enimies and new processes, but basicly all I can see is the concrete mixture known as Hollywood. Same primary ingredients, but with a dash of different colour. Balls to it all I say. Now, I'll go see some of them, don't get me wrong, but I'll never laude a director nor screen writer who fails to admit to where the idea orgionated from.
On an endnote, those of you who missed the forum on friday, you missed out on a bloody interesting day. Words could never tell of the joy of seeing a well known member of the Bio dept slate the Uni for all its worth, nor Maryilyn Warring & Germaine Greer swearing freely. Mind you, seeing Stephen Turner and Brian Easton argue was pretty darn good too.
A thank you has to go to Nicky Harger for donating his time for a seperate interview after the long day. Cheers my man.
Nighty Nite kids.
posted by Anonymous at 4:46 AM

Hi, all. Late night, right? When I first read the word "cyberspace", I cannot understand what it is. Now, I am still not known that exactly. I read the book The Cyberspace Reader written by David Bell today. Where is cyberspace? It is answered that cyberspace exists in the network of computer, modems, communications links, nodes and pathways that connect users into something like the World Wide Web, the Internet, the information superhighway, and so on. So, cyberspace exists in our world and it spread from one place to other places. When we are in front of a monitor, fingers are working on the keyboard; we can present ourselves as we wish to. That is we can play one role or many different roles in this space. To build the figure that you appreciate to be, that’s cool. But, I think at the same time we have lost something such like the real self. I don’t know, but I’d lie to play myself even in cyberspace.
posted by Anonymous at 4:35 AM

Blog # 6( at least, i hope)

I found last weeks lecture on new media in everyday life quite interesting. In reading the chapter in the text book about this several questions were raised. Firstly i found a commnet about a study that was done of Internet use in Trinidad. The results by Daniel Miller and Don Slater found that for those studied Internet media such as email and websites "are experienced not as virtual but as concrete and mundane enactments of belonging". I think this is true for us (here in NZ) as well. There was a time when emailing and the searching internet were new and exciting but now email is primarily another medium of communication and websites a tool for research/ information searching and for some people pleasure/ a hobby.

Some of the key questions raised in the chapter (pg. 222) like if and how new media transform everyday life got me thinking about how huge a part new media's play in todays life. In the very basic sense think of communication technologies. When we fill in a mailing list form (for example) we are asked for details that a few years ago wouldn't have been asked for. Instead of just name, postal address and phone number we now get asked for mobile phone numbers, email address'. These have just quietly been added to mailing lists and the like to fit with the times.

Everyday we consume aspects of new media, if not directly then in the production of the images we are exposed to, the devices we use and through communication technologies. All these have recently been intergrated (largely through popular culture) into todays consumer culture.

Also interesting in the text book is on page 232: box 4.3 - The mobile phone: new media as gadgets. It touches on the topic that I (like many others) have touched on in previous blogs about the status symbol of mobile phones. (After that it starts getting technical and i wont get into that as i have written way more that 150 words!!)

Thats all for this week.
posted by Anonymous at 3:59 AM

Hey in light of the last lectures and from the reader I am going to summarize some of the basic points of new media in everyday life.

New media pervades individuals everyday life in both the domestic and urban environments with new technologies been introduced day after day with any impacting and changing the existing social and cultural structures.
As I have said before virtually all the media technologies we encounter are a transgression of previous innovations and they do not randomly appear but are the result of existing social and economic structures and market trends to satisfy our needs e.g for easier communication with mobile phones and the internet.
as result of new media technologies social conditions are in many ways transformed by the use of theses new technologies such as enrolling for uni which is now often done through the internet rather than through the mail and face to face.
New media technologies ultimately fall into place in society within existing routines and functions and others because of their cost, usability and accessibility etc. Will not catch on and often end up beyond the stable and established social structures of the consumer such as virtual reality among other reasons because of it's high cost.

On a different note all together I was surfing the web earlier today and came across a new product from Sony. In December they are shipping samples of a mini digital broadcast tuner module that would enable phones to function as televisions.
Smaller than a postage stamp the tuner module can be used in mobiles or personal digital assistants. What is so unique about it is it is currently the smallest of its kind and has the lowest power consumption selling for around $455.
posted by Anonymous at 3:26 AM

Wha happened? My link seems to have vanished so again 2manydjs
posted by We're Not Floating at 2:55 AM

Still no word from UBS on my text book. . A link to my most favourite music creators/mixers of the moment. The 2manydjs album and live stream is a blend of unusual sounds (Royksopp/Dolly Parton, Felix da Housecat/Bobby Orlando, The Stooges/Salt’n’Pepa).

It’s crazy enough to work and wide ranging enough in genre to excite most people whether house-monkeys or rockers. I guess I find the method of mix more intriguing than the sound though. The 2manydjs live album was mixed off vinyl, as the website illustrates but incorporates many loop and tempo control effects to make it seamless. It’s one of those albums I could babble on about its significance in the media area of sample usage and the cut & paste era that rap/mc'ing started but you really have to well “hear it with your own ears”. 2manydjs is a sample copyrighter’s nightmare (which probably explains the inflated CD price) and has become a landmark in the mix album battle in the music industry.
Having used vinyl for a while now for my own mixing I only last week had a demonstration of an American Audio CDJ. The range of effects on the players was mouth watering to say the least and the popularity of them compared to turntables is testament to the changing face of DJing. And very beneficial to the local producers who don't have the time or money to deposit on a vinyl pressing session. Example, Concord Dawn's current tour. They are able to play/promote their entire new album where before CDJ machines they might have only had 1 or 2 singles to play off vinyl.


I be to rap, what clip be to glock.
Cause I’m a fool like that…
Bumpy Knuckles-Devious Minds.


posted by We're Not Floating at 2:50 AM

Hyperlink overkill. Not intentional.
posted by We're Not Floating at 2:44 AM

OK - Nick talked a bit in the Wednesday lecture about increasing robotic technology being used to replace the imperfect human in certain job areas. In some cases, as in the robot space probe, robotic technology does not replace the human, but is able to go where the human is not - i.e. Mars. Robots were also used in early trials to space, which in my opinion is better than using a dog, as the Russians did in 1957. Granted, in 1957 robot technology can't of been that fantastic. But honestly, what was the point in sending a dog up there? Here is a link to a pretty interesting site with the latest news on robot technology: robots.net. It talks about an innovation called "Ccotex", a super computer able to imitate the human brain's own cortex. It is a 20 billion simulated neuron code artificial intelligence system. The computer is hoped to be able to replace expert systems, providing human-like knowledge and decision making capabilities. It's just like Terminator!!!



This is only a mock-up of what they thought the dog would look like in the shuttle, but poor dog!! OK, since I brought this up, for some reason, here is a link to a site about it: dog in space. The site reveals that the dog was a stray found running on the streets of Russia, and that it died within hours of the launch due to panic and over-heating. Oh, and the dog was nicknamed "Mutnik" by the press, heh.
posted by Anonymous at 2:05 AM

Hi, all. Have you started your essay for this paper yet?

6th entry: We had the lecture on new media and everyday life on last Wednesday and I read the article "The mobile phone: new media as gadgets" in our text book p232. The article instoduces Jean Baudrillard's argument that tools and machines in contemporary consumer culture lose their instrumental functions, their practical uses, their use value. They instead operate as signs, fashion, toys or games.

I don't know how many of you guys have mobile phones, but I have been using my one for over 2 years now and it is a useful machine for me rather a toy to play or fashion. The great things about cellphones for me are that simply I can contact my friends almost whenever I want, and my friends and even my parents in my country are able to contact me whenever they need. Oh, and don't forget- text messagings are so convenient when my message is not that important or urgent, or when my mobile doesn't have much credit in it. So for me, it has pretty instrumental functions.

However, I also think that mobile phones are becoming more playable than just making phone calls. The recent cellphones have games in it, you can compose your own ringtones, go to internet from it, download your favourite music and wallpapers for your screen or take photos with the built-in camera of your mobile. I reckon these functions are not as instrumental, but as toys to play.

What significance of playful technology and how important are they for you?
posted by Anonymous at 1:44 AM

Recently, i heard one of the interesting news which assoicated with the new technology. One of the people sending a forward e-mail and told people to genuflect a model in the toy shop in certain time in New York. Finally, many people genuflected to the model at that time. Actually that just a fun, but we can see that the power of the transmission on the internet.
Before, when SARS was uncontrolled in Hong Kong. One of the child made a rumour and then let some of the people went to supermaket to buy many food.

From above, we can see the power of media. Like the news in New York that is just a fun for people, and that is not a matter. However, in the second case, the rumour affected to the public and araise a worry of the public. Therefore, we cant totally believe all the thing from the net. We have to use our mind and get evidence to justify the fact.
posted by Anonymous at 1:25 AM

Hi All


I attended this workshop seminar when researching for my assignment on Politics 302 Special Topic last year--- Methods of Policy Research.

There was a seminar that I attended at Massey University that I thought fitted so well with the topic that we covered in the lectures last week. The seminar was about Media, Technology and everyday Life. I can't remember the name of the visiting lecturer but I do remember that he was from The University of Sussex.

He did mention something about a webpage that he found very insightful.....I tried searching for it on the web the other day...but could not find it. Its a shame that I never took down more info, but here are some notes that I did write down.

He was basically talking about the interlocking technological, cultural and social dimensions of information and communication technologies as they are encountered in everyday life. I think those were his exact wording that he had quoted.

He then ventured into historical and contemporary examples such as the telephone, the radio, the television, the vcr, the personal stereo, the computer, and the internet and how each of these mediums have shaped, re-shaped our whole experience and how we consume them.

As an exercise we he split the workshop into groups and we each had to comment on our summer holiday and as a group we had to relate the historical and theoretical approaches in our own experiences and in our everyday lives. It was a great exercise.

He then examined various, general theoretical approaches to understanding the nature of goods and consumption. He talked about the fact that goods are not acquired and used for merely utilitarian purposes.

He then closed off the seminar I think on the topic of Private, public, time and space. He talked about the role of the media in the creation of the public sphere and the influence upon the shifting boundaries between public and private life, and upon our relationship to time and space.

I'm sure he talked about more topics......
But all in all it was a very interesting seminar. I wish that I remembered to write down the webpage and books that he had quoted.




posted by Anonymous at 12:38 AM

I wonder when it was but Bill Gates of Microsoft said 256k of memory is big enough to use by everyone.
(Well, well... I saw that statement is ranked has 10 most non-sense talk in history as others like phone is totally useless, people will get sick and tired to watching TV after a month later, etc).
Anyhow, the era of 64 bit has began... The mircoprocessor make AMD company released the world first 64bit Processor 'Athlon 64 FX'.
Current 32bit processor's usable memory was limited to 4 Giga bytes therefore there were bit of difficulties to editing high quality moving-images and others but this 64bit Processor increased its limits to 180 Tera bytes that is about 45,000 times.

64bit processor could not used in Personal computers that use windows because of it does not made a match with 486 or Pentium.

posted by Anonymous at 12:26 AM

____________