(recap lesson) Media Influence

how Digital convergence

Technology; Cameras, Video cameras

Everywhere we go we are being watched, filmed, photographed; from speed and security cameras to home video and personal photographs. Today's world is all about technology that revolves around being recorded.

On something as simple as a phone, you have: a camera, video recorder, voice recorder and video chat. All of which allow you to record yourself and/or others in one way or another.

There is ongoing debate about whether CCTV is a good or bad thing in society. Some argue that it helps keep the streets safe, where as other say it is an invasion of privacy.

I think that although it is uncomfortable knowing that almost everywhere you go you are being viewed or recorded on camera, they have been put in place for good reasons. I do believe that they help to protect people and additionally help catch those doing wrong, breaking the law ect.

Other points:

Above are bullet point lists of positives and negatives I created to clearly show the good and bad points of having CCTV cameras. There are clearly more positives than negatives as CCTV helps to make society a safer place. With the threat of being caught on camera less people are likely to do something against the law as there is always the chance they can be caught and have video evidence held against them.

Books Vs. Electronics

How did books lead present technology and how do they compare t what we have now?


Since the beginning of time mediums as means of mass communications in the media have developed. A medium being anything from newspaper, television, radio ect. The original medium used was the book. Going from the book to electronically run devices is a massive jump.

Books have a clear structure, a beginning, middle and end, is it because the internet is a new advanced way that has no controlled path the lead to its success. 

It makes you wonder what other miracle media will be brought forth in the future, wowing the younger generation of today who will then by that time, be the grandparents of the children of the future.

The kindle vs. the book

Although this video is a little bizzare it has deeper meaning, the book is being phased out, not because it is useless but because something 'better' and electronic has been made. The media advertise the kindle as the a great new invention, especially for loves of book however in my opinion is is also a way for the creator of a basic and over exaggerated invention to get praise and gain money from the public. The book is being pushed out to make way for new electonic devices.

Search Engines

How do search engines work and how have they developed?

I find it so annoying when I'm quickly trying to search up a simple term, word or something of interest and the search engine brings up something completely different, for example typing the word 'mobile information' into Google, you get loats of different electronic devices, I simply asked for a mobile but I now have to myself search through useless and unnecessary information, just to find one web page of what I want.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/search-engine.htm

The link about takes you to a page that fully explains how search engines works and why we use them. This article explains that a search engine such as Google holds millions if not billions of pages, all with their own separate links. When a specific word is entered into the search engine the program is filtered and the site finds and suggests users with the best or most popular pages.
  
Search engine results are mostly based on what the public have entered into the search engine the most, almost like a popularity contest. if a website is often looked for more that another this site will appear high up in the list of search results. Some companies pay the creators of certain search engines so that their website appears first in the selection of websites that has offered to internet browsers.


An example of this can be seen if you type 'homer' into a web search engine such as Google.

Homer is a famous ancient Greek poet; his work had an enormous influence on the history of literature. however when searched under Google images there are 23 images of  'Homer Simpson' a children’s cartoon character before the actual historical 'Homer' from 850BC!

What a time waster. Some people may see it as a small problem, however it can cause a great inconvenience if in a rush and trying to find a piece of information quickly, additionally some may say that it is a great disrespect that a cartoon comes before a influential man that help evolve linguistics.

 When thinking of unreliable search engines, the 'Bing' advert comes to mind:

These adverts comically shows how annoying it is to be looking for a particular thing in a search engine and come up with something else that has no real relation to it. It could be a simple as a similar spelling and you receive on your screen a load of information that you didn’t want. Carew says, in 'Teaching our children' that 'reliable information is key...', 1990, it's true, getting the correct information when using it for academic purposes is very important, so it is 'key' that information is expressed to the public in the best way possible.

Eletronic Immersion

Eletronic Immersion; harmful or helpful?

Everyday people are working on what could possibly be a great new invention that can help the public. There so many new forms of ‘help’ in the form of electronic devices that are available to the public, the biggest and most successful being the mobile phone and laptops/computers.

In the past phones were used simply for making and receiving calls, now you can do almost anything that you can do on a computer or a mobile phone, you can use the internet, record yourself, upload music, play games ect. Because of this a mobile phone can be labelled as a electronic immersion as it combines a telephone with a computer (because of the internet and writing programmes) as well as a games console and a camera and/or video camera.

Many inventions and upgrade of technology are very helpful and benefit people every day. In one day for example a person may use their phone as an alarm to wake them up in the morning, they could check the weather on their phone rather than watching the television, listen to their own choice of music rather than the radio on their way to work, as well as emailing the boss if late to work or stuck in traffic; the list of things different technologies that all roll into one (the mobile phone) is immense.

But do these wonderful inventions help us or just make us lazy? Psychologist Marcus Zumbera researched whether doing online food shopping made people generally more lazy or actually helped them, it was discovered that food shopping online was a great benefit to the elderly or those with disabilities however many fit, healthy and able bodied people were choosing the ‘lazier’ option, Zumbera states that his later research will compare statics with the levels of obesity since the creation of online fast food purchase. This will enable us to see if this idea of which is a luxury to us in turn harms or helps.

Robots & AI

Are Robots and AI getting smarter?

robots
AI

how and ewhy they might be getting smarter...


What would the world be like if we had robots


like the film Irobot

... robots could become smart and take over... deep blue sea... film about sharks getting smarter
... all due to the evolution of technology.

A team of scientists in a sea based science lab, Aquatica, are searching for a cure for alzheimer's disease, when a member of the group goes against ethics as well as her team and genetically changes theDNA of sharks they are working on. The aim is to increase the sharks brain size in order to get more of the fluid and tissues needed that cures alzheimers. Unaware that giving the shark a larger brain for more tissue to extract will in turn increase the harks brain power; making them, smarter, stronger and even more dangerous. This

How does this relate to real life? 
 

http://www.chatbots.org/

osmose, avatars, msn chat bots and other chat bots

smarter child... an msn smart bot

Cyborgs and Artificial Life

Could artificial life be a step foward in eveloution? Is robotics, machineney and computer models an underestimated way foward?(Where would we be without the Internet today and what would come of the world if the Internet was taken away)



Artificial life could be a step foward in evloution, a step that we ourselfs have created. I would be a reveloution if we as humans could help

Touched on in the film iRobot starring Will Smith...
is this science fiction, action film a slight insight into what the future could be like? In the distant future people that suffer today could be cured, it may be possible for people that



Although this has only been seen with fictional characters or super heros it may be possible for something of this nature to have a great effect on the world
this could greatlly influence the world and in a positive way and in many different ways. There is already a mild version of this kind of thing available in the world.

 Having a disibality can be an everyday challenge, this can be reduced or even removed with the help of specific technology like that shown in the video above. If this scientiv experiment was practiced more widely, if there were funds available and if it was safe and secure it would be a great option for people that have lost a limb.


The growthh of science, and technology, especially when it comes to computers has allowed researchers to come this far