The Big Fight - Apple Vs Google

The reading this week is about the history of Android and Google is really attention-grabbing I would say. In today’s market we can see there is a battle going on between these two brands. With this new technology both trying to compete with each other to stay ahead in the market with coming out with new technologies and devices to gain their customer and increase their companies revenue.

I would say Apple is a consumer electronics company where else Google is an advertising company. Apple blocks apps that encourage illegal activities automatically and it is done by the App store team.

Apple is "deeply committed" to protecting consumers' privacy, and Apple does not share personally identifying information with third-party vendors without explicit consumer agreement. Apple's management style, on one hand, is as simple as it comes: namely, that when it comes to making any final decisions the buck stops squarely at the desk of one man, and one man alone.... Steve Jobs

This week article focuses on smartphones which are introduced since 1998 and tablets battle. Consumer these days are carried away with the new technologies and devices. Companies and schools are encouraging the use of IPad which will make things easier and faster. I would say the society today is more dependent on all this software and new media these days.

I would say Apple is definitely far superior at creating products that are visually pleasing, and in today’s society, people want stuff that looks good and convenient. It should not be a burden or bulky. Apple have certainly beaten not only Android devices, but basically every other technology devices that exist today in the market. Besides that the competitive nature between Apple and Google is mutually beneficial which a great thing I would say is. Both companies promote each other by just being in competition. These will benefit us because we will have more choices and there be new invention which will make our life much easier.

Have a look peeps at this video. It is indeed a very interesting video regarding the competition of both the devices. Have good day!!

Social Network Rebellion

The world today is no longer the same 20 years back. It has changed over the years so does the technology. The new media created new ways of communication. Social networking makes is it easier to communicate to one another from any part of the world as well it contributes to the politics.

EFFECTS ON THE SOCIETY

      POSITIVE

•     Communication with anyone and anywhere
•          Meet new people, make new friends
•          Increase of knowledge
•          Builds self-esteem

     NEGATIVE

•          Loss of privacy
•          Very small control over information flow
•          Ability for someone to use the information about you
•          Unprotected communication which may harm individuals

• 
  

I believe the aids provided by social network sites such as Facebook have made us better off as a society and as individuals. And now we can see an increase in the use of the internet in the politics and social life. Political meetings, voting, comments, rally are organized via Facebook and Twitter these days.

Social networking in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Arab culture has given the people a voice. People use the medium to vice out their perceptions and problems through it. Since internet is a very powerful tool even the government itself feels threatened.  The reading this week emphasizes internet is democracy. Morozov also mention that internet can be effective tool used by the government to create the organizations. I believe that mass media especially new media grant people power to against dictatorship. He also mentions the negative site of internet freedom. He told this after he has done research on the myths of social revolution. Today, we experience a feeling of isolation when our Internet connections go down, revealing just how dependent we’ve become on the connective power of the web. 

The Dark Site of Internet

Hackers, and Dark Site Of The Net

Who are hackers and what do they do? Hackers are people who breaks into peoples computer without their knowledge and delete, edits and even installs things without the ones permission. Usually hackers hacks ones computer, email, website to steal information and passwords without their knowledge.

Hacking = Unlawful use of computer & network properties

The author has mention a few things on this week reading called "Civic Hacking". Where the author tries to emphasis that people are not interested on politcs or moving politics on online. It is one of the topic that less interest them. I agree that if the person is not online how do we aspect or know it for sure that the person will reply our mail. I would like to share a personal story on this. Two weeks back I was sick and I was in  bed. One of my classmates asked all of us to send our personal pictures to her email to make a book with sticky notes for a lecturer who is leaving the country. Since I was not able to go online and check my facebook message I did not get message. The next day I was told by my peers that my picture and note was not on the book because I fail to send her one.  These shows how important does the media plays and takes control of our lives these days.

Well there are many arguments that hacking is legal or illegal issue. One side hacking is legal because it used as a hacking tool to test the security of a network or pc etc. In the illegal side criminals used to steal information, passwords, make free calls or use free internet. I would say Wikileaks is an impeccable example to show the relation between hackers and authority.  Personally, hacking is good for democracy. The author also mention that hacking is an e-democracy activity, it is does not help democracy within entire political system, which means hacking only does matter to online civilians who interested in politics . the author also said that

‘if you are not interested on politics, electronic politics will not help”.

According to his argument, it is not necessary to punish hackers because they are target to small group of civilian. Which is just a small group of them in our society.

Types of Hacking

Website Hacking    : This term denotes as to Collapses the information from any website to be hacked and Make changes in the information on this website.

Email Hacking        : This term denotes as to collect business data and private information stored in email of any person.

Network Hacking      : This term denotes to hack a network.

Password Hacking :This term denotes to hack any password protected data by guess password with password hint.

Wikileaks

It is a non profit organisation that reveals secrets and hidden messagges.Wikileaks' activities have earned it praise from some free-speech quarters and harsh criticism, or worse, from a variety of national and institutional interests.

CITIZEN JOURNALISM ( RESIDENT REPORTING)

WHAT IS IT?

The term Citizen Journalism  refers  to  a  wide  range  of  activities  in which everyday people contribute information or interpretation about news events.

WHO IS DOING IT?

The public is doing it. There are many sites that are used by the non professional journalist to contribute their news such as the Cyberjournalist, Nowpublic and etc. Besides that Wikis, Blogs, Forums, Photo and Video Sharing Websites, Online Journal, Online Diary are used to report or share their news and commentary.

HOW DOES IT  WORK?

The citizen journalist uses a range of technologies such as digital audio and video, online tools for posting and accessing stories, one can submit aor edit the content if necessary. The journalist uses Flickr Photos or YouTube videos  to support their story content. The use of Wiki’s and online editing tools  and some othe applications that ius convenient and easy to be used to reach the mass audience to link to online resourses are used.

 WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDE OF CITIZEN JOURNALISM?

The  content might be inaccurate, offensive, or otherwise lack credibility. And the trustworthiness of reporting might therefore result in a loss of confidence in the news. This because the news can be edited and rewrite.

These dialog is an example of people misunderstands the concept of citizen journalism. They think that whatever that is on online news is lack of credibility.

In the  reading Dr Axel Bruns had open me to view things differently. He mentioned in his article that the role of journalism has been constantly changing over the years. News are spread and reported differently. And we as the audience receive the news in different way too. The reason why it changes because of the advancement of the new  which now creates new opportunity for users to become prosumers. He states that "journalistic content is being overtaken by a flotilla of alternative options". These helps us to accesses information at anywhere and anytime of the day. He also mentioned that news that was delivered to readers are based on worthiness of the news and attention grabbing.

Lastly I would say that the traditional media has been changed since the new media has taken over and it is much more convenient easier to acessess. Not only that the New media gains greater audience too.

Note: We can actually find interesting and amazing stories. The iReport feature on cnn.com is a website caterred for people who wants to become citizen journalist. We can post what is happening around them and interact with other people about their own story or stories of others. 

WEBLOG

WEBLOG AND MASS AMATUERIZATION

Above is an example of how the internet has made it stress-free to share information and copy with less cost. At times we do not even have to pay for the cost. Kevin Kelly has discussed it in his article 'when copies are free, you need to sell things which cannot be copied’. I would say with the internet connection we are able to perform better now in terms like once information which are sold in a book can now be Google or downloaded on the computer. We do not have to spend hundreds and thousands to purchase the book. This makes things harder for writer or publisher to make money from the information they provide to the society which is now FREE.I think people need to find away from letting people to get information for free or else they be doing badly in the business.

Shriky discuses about weblogs affect the ways of publishing written works and influence the ways we generate income by using weblogs in her article. Weblogs simply means information can be written by the site owner or contribute by the users. It consists of series of entries arranged in reverse chronological order, often updated on frequently with new information about particular topics.

Mass amateurization means that one can reproduce and distribute the written work worldwide without any cost or low cost. It becomes a disadvantage to the publisher or producer of the original work. And the information after reproducing is not as reliable or maintains the quality of the original work because there no editors or porters to sieve it.

ADVANTAGES OF WEBLOG

•   A powerful tool for educators                        
•   Share information with no cost
• No doorkeepers to sieve info
• Can voice out personal voice
•   Reach wider audience
•   Can make money with blogging
•     Mostly free service
•    No barriers for publications
•     Exposure
•     Knowledge
•   New opportunities

DISADVANTAGE  OF WEBLOG

·        Laziness which contributes to health problem

·        Weak eye sight

·        blogs are easy to start and hard to maintain.

·        Some information are unrealiable

·        Lack of quality

·        There is no confidentiality as it is a public forum

Hey peeps please do let me know whats on your mind ?

What is Convergence Culture?

CONVERGENCE [Coming Together]

What does convergence means? It simply means different media merging together and incorporating new personalized services.

Wireless internet or a software platform like Android is an example of technology convergence. It is a set of devices contains similar technology used in multiple devices.

Netflix, Pandora is an example of Media convergence. Media convergence is when content and information is melded into multiple devices or touch points. The content and interactions between (smartphone vs. big screen TV, etc.)  often responds appropriately to the context.

Examples of activity convergence are Email and Browsing the Internet. Activity convergence allows users to perform activity regardless of the device.

In the reading, Henry Jenkins defines convergence culture as the place where new and old media combining. Consumers are encouraged to seek information from multiple media sources and this has change in the way the media is used by an individual. Jenkins explains with the help of new technology we are able to connect to one another when convergence occurs. At the end of the reading Jenkins discusses how the media is used to create new worlds that the audience was not expecting and it is called Trans media storytelling which refers to convergence culture.

It's quite amazing how connected we are to media outlets throughout the day. We check our Facebook, twitter, email at least twice a day? The convergence culture is very prominent these days. Over the years we can see how amazingly the media has evolved and shifted.  I can’t believe I would be blogging online, passing up my assignments online for a university assessment. Times have definitely changed.

Henry Jenkins states that Convergence does not mean the new replacing the old, but  the new and old merges together and creates a new dimension. We can already see the indication of it now. The video below is an example of convergence.

Note:

I can’t imagine a life without my phone.  I am 24 hour glued to my phone. Every single thing I feel I am dependent on my phone for information. I realize wethere for information, leisure or entertainment I bank on on my phone. It is like my twin. These show how the media have advanced over the years. Those days’ phones are used only to call and send text message. Now it is used to browse, social networking, entertainment, plays games, seek information, map, Email, market share, calendar, camera navigation, latitude, news& weather, etc.

What does convergence mean to you?

 Please do let me know in the comments below!

What does Copyright Do?

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT (EXCLUSIVE RIGTH)?

Copyright is an exclusive right given to the creator. It acts as an incentive for authors. Is a form of protection of the ‘original work’ If we wish to borrow the source idea from the author we have to seek for permission before we can do so. Only after the permission is granted we are able to use it because all the words lyrics belongs to the authors.

Remember copying someone else works directly, indirectly or accidentally is a criminal offense. For example, if a student is using an author’s/ scholar idea to complete your assignment, one is entitled to give a fully-documented reference to the work of others.

This week’s readings and lecture were on the issue of intellectual property and content control. From my understanding after reading and hearing the lecture I would say the reason why intellectual property right were introduced to produce more talented authors, artist  to keep producing and make people to write  more books, music, lyrics, animation, advertisements, paintings, movies, etc. for the benefit of the society. It also encourages individuals to create more things amazingly.

One of the Advantages of copyright is that the author is the only person can decide how he/she wants to distribute the work at certain period of time. Besides that this be like a reward and motivation to the author which will make them want to write and deliver more work. However copyright law is not forever, after certain period of time it expires. But the expiry date for a work is extended for very long time almost 95years. I feel by giving a very long expiry date only makes them subsist on the old work rather than producing new materials. The reason why the copyright expires because only then author will want to produce more work which will benefit the society rather than relying on the same work. 

However there is negative effect on the creation and distribution of intellectual property. As to the Disadvantage of copyright there are not many materials contributed to the public domain because it takes a very long time to expire. Besides that there are many limitations. Let say if one wants to see or use this work to create a new dimension or work you can’t simply use it. You have to go through many procedures and get permission from the author.

                                   A brief illustration on how Copyright Law works.

I personally feel that if there is no intellectual property than we will have a world without new books, songs, movies, advertisements, education, software’s, games etc. I am very sure that every one of us has download music, movies, and games for free from the internet. But we all are taught that doing so is wrong.  The reason why teenagers like us download for free from the internet because the DVD and CD are really expensive. I would suggest that artist and authors should price it reasonably to avoid piracy.In conclusion copyright preserves the authors work and gives credit.

In my opinion if you want piracy to stop then they should stop making programs and devices to copy with?? CAN THEY?