Week 9 - Tutorial Task

1. Signing an e-petition:
When looking for a petition to sign, I came across one that seemed really interesting- a petition to make Australia a Republic. While many of the people living in Australia do not have direct descendants to Britain, it is in the Australian constitution that no Australian citizen, whether born or migrated here, cannot become the nation's Head of State. Also, when the Head of State does visit, it costs the tax payers large amount of money which deems to be quite unnecessary. If Australia became a Republic, it would allow the government to spend the money in different and more demanding and important places such as health care and education. Here is the link to the e-petition.
http://www.independentaustralia.net/2011/republic/sign-the-petition-for-an-australian-republic/

2. Respond to a professional blogger at a major news site.
On the major news cite, CNN, there is a blog named "This Just In" that keeps readers updated on news that has happened fairly recently. One of the most recent stories was of the execution of Troy Davis, a man who was accused and convicted of killing a police officer in 1989. There was a lack of real evidence that linked the murder to him, only eye witnesses that didn't provide much of a stable argument. The blog was about the protest of his execution. I commented on the blog post under the name "EmilyGriffithUni." Here is what I said:
"The death penalty is definitely a subject that makes me quite uneasy. Although I have had an experience in the past that has made me believe that the death penalty is a good thing, my beliefs have completely changed. In this case, it was most definitely not necessary especially because of the lack of strong evidence. This type of torture really makes me cringe because of the seriousness of killing an innocent man. I do not understand how a country of such freedom could let something like this happen on our own soil. People go to jail for killing others. How does this make it any different?"
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/23/at-troy-davis-protests-people-talk-big-change/comment-page-10/#comment-860743 

3. What is Barack Obama up to today?
Today on September 25th, Barack Obama is headed west to Seattle for the next two days. 
http://ochairball.blogspot.com/ 

4.  What are the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet?
The plan with the internet is to censor refused classified content. At this point in time, that is all legal to view or process but soon it will appear on a blacklist and will not be able to be viewed.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/internet-censorship-plan-gets-the-green-light-20091215-ktzc.html 

5. When will the NBN get to your place? What are the benefits?
The National Broadband Network has a lot of benefits. It will provide more opportunities for small businesses and community organizations, will have more economic gains in Australian households, and provide more of a faster, cheaper, and easier way to use telecommunications. 
http://www.dbcde.gov.au/digital_economy/benefits_of_digital_economy_from_nbn 

6. Find out who your local, state and federal representatives are.
The Gold Coast have a city council that represents the area locally. Some state representatives are Alexander Douglass, Peter Lawlor, and Christine Smith. http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/attachment/factsheets/fs357_government_members.pdf As for federal representatives, there is a number of them. Mr. Bert Van Manen MP- Electoral Division of Forde (QLD), Mr. Stuart Robert MP- Electoral Division of Fadden (QLD), Mrs. Karen Andrews MP- Electoral Division of McPherson (QLD). Mr. Steven Ciobo MP- Electoral Division of Moncrieff (QLD), Hon Justine Elliot MP- Electoral Division of Richmond (NSW), Senator Hon Joe Ludwig- Senator for Queensland, and Mr. Scott Buchholz MP- Electoral Division of Wright.
http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/t_standard2.aspx?pid=4351#federal

7. Look up the Queensland or Australian hansard to find the last time your local member spoke in Parliament.
The last time that Mr. Langbroek spoke in Parliament was on September 8th, 2011. This can be found via http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/Speeches/spk2011/John-Paul%20Langbroek%20spk%20Surfers%20Paradise%202011_09_08_82.pdf#xml=http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/internetsearch/isysquery/2966931c-3f5f-45ab-8159-90627b358862/37/hilite/

Week 9 - Response to Content

New communication technology is impacting screen narratives in areas of production, distribution, story length, and content. With every generation, new types of technology advance the ways in which we view television and movies. For example, going to movie theaters to see a movie were once quite popular. Online websites such as Netflix and cable networks have replaced the act of viewing movies in theaters which changes the distribution of screen narratives. Also, the content in televeision shows and movies has changed drastically because of new communication technology. Emotional content has centered more around how technology has taken a larger part in people's relationships with each other. The comedy in screen narratives has changed from slapstick comedies to more of an awkward humor that deals with more every day situations. As the years progress, shorter humor spots have become very popular which might allude to a type of movies and screen entertainment that we might expect to see in the future. This essay will cover the new types of distribution involving new communication technology, the ways in which the emotional content and structure has developed, and what types of screen entertainment we may look for in the future.

Week 8 - Tutorial Task

This week, we have gotten a lot done with our video. All of our footage has been shot. We have also used the Creative Commons "dig" search to find two songs that we are able to use without breaking any laws. Today, the group spent the class searching for these items while I cut and edited the footage that we had. As a result, almost all of our video is completed along with the audio that will be placed over our videos and still frames. There are only a few other changes to be made. Our group will meet to embed the video into our blogs and upload the video to YouTube in a separate group meeting from class. In the description of the video, we will be sure to site the users on Creative Commons to give them credit for the work that we took from the website so we do not break any laws.

This is the link to our video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnfgRO2ZCOg

Week 8 - Response to Content

Free software and open software is virtually the same thing. It is an online community of sharing things such as videos and music to get the original creator's work out on the internet and gain more attention. It is a community that lives off of group participation in sharing these elements that keeps the website alive. An example of free/open software is Creative Commons. It is a website that has pictures, videos, and music that has given the user permission to use freely. It is legal to share these because the creator has given the public permission to.

It is not illegal to share food, clothes, or recipes because when creating these items, there each will be different. When making a dinner from a recipe, you are not recreating that dish, you are making a whole different version of it. The same goes for clothes and food. As for software, it is illegal because it would be an exact carbon copy that you would be using if it was shared.

Week 7 - Tutorial Task

The idea for our project is to create a video about the paranoia that text messaging has caused within teens today. Smart phones such as the Blackberry and iPhone have messengers or applications that display when a message is sent, received, and read. This feature can be very interesting when holding a conversation with another person. Feelings of happiness when someone reads and responds to the message immediately, and feelings of despair when the message is delivered and/or read, but not responded to.

Thus, our video is going display the insecurity and despair in a texting conversation that goes awry when one of the respondents fails to text back at the same rate as the previous messages sent. During this time waiting for a message back, the other texter's mind wanders as to all of the possible things the other one could be doing that would delay the message.

Today during class, we spent it filming the basics to our video. We filmed the texting conversation with an iPhone and also took screen shots of the conversation between the two teens with the iPhone. Also, as a group, we filmed the different scenarios and things that the other texter could be doing instead of responding to their message. Our filming is almost done! Next week, we will work on getting music and any other videos that we need from Creative Commons and editing the video!

Week 7 - Response to Content

Wikipedia is a very useful website because it provides a quick and easy way to access information. It is readily available with basic information that makes it useful at the beginning of research to get an idea of the basic principles of the topic. It also has a "peer governance" which creates a community that is based on openness, networking, and trust in the creater of that webpage (Kostakis, 2011). Editing Wikipedia is actually quite easy. I, myself, have done it numerous times. Although the changed information does not remain one the webpage for long because of its invalidity, the process is quite easy. All you have to do is click "edit" and write whatever you wanted in the text!

As for Facebook, I'm not sure how I will ever part with it. Unfortunately, I am addicted. I find it amazing that I can keep in contact with so many friends at the same time and post pictures and statuses to update your friends on how you are doing. In order to shut my Facebook account down, all of my friends would have to stop using it before I did. Facebook is such a vital source of communication even as people are growing older. Family members have been joining Facebook and it is really becoming more than just a social networking site. It is a way of life. A way to communication without actually directly communicating by "liking" other's statuses and pictures and writing posts tagging friends in them. I would love to know what the next big social networking site will be like.




Kostakis. 2011. Kostakis. [ONLINE] Available at: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2613/2479 Accessed 10 September 2011.

Week 6 - Tutorial Task

Windows Movie Maker is a great AV production tool that I have used several times over the past four years. My first video was for an English class that I took and it was a 30 minute video including music and sound effects, and took a lot of time to edit and organize. Since then, I have made numerous slide shows with music in the background using this software. It is a software that is very compatible with camera videos, videos taken on a mobile device, and videos taken from a webcam, making it an easy application to use. I find it to be very navigable with the tool bar at the top of the page and easy ways to edit the video.

Although it has been very easy to create videos using this software, copyrighting has become a very large issue. After making a slide show of pictures with music from my iTunes in the background, I was not allowed to upload the video to Facebook or YouTube because of the copyrighting infringement. This is a big issue when uploading videos because of the dangers of ‘stealing’ work from others.

As for defamation on the internet, there are laws that that “balance [the] protection of individual reputation with freedom of expression” (Defamation Laws & the Internet, 2006). Although in the United States there is a “freedom of speech” in the basic Bill of Rights, there is still some moments that you cross the line. It is important to obviously state the humor of mocking the person and/or state that the information stated is not based off of any events or persons. Doing this will help you to avoid the defamation consequences.


‘Defamation Laws & the Internet’, Electronic Frontiers Australia, viewed 14 January 2006 via http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Censor/defamation.html

Week 6 - Response to Content

The cinema has been around for 116 long years. As it has developed over time, each new technological advancement has helped to create a new type of cinema to keep the viewers involved and interested. Each new development has wowed audiences for a little while, then makes them want a more realistic picture and has been a challenge for movie makers to add more and more realistic elements. The first color movie came out in 1929, just 34 years after the first movie first came out and then 20 years later, the first 3D movie was released. The length in time between these new developments in cinema really explains the dependence of new technology to please audiences.

Today, cinema is different because of all of the new technologies that make it easy to find movies on the internet. Websites such as "YouTube," "Netflix," and other illegal sites that post movies online make it easy to watch movies from home without having to spend the extra money at the movie theater. Unfortunately, this is a setback for cinemas because people like to watch movies in the convenience of their own home. I do not specifically believe that it is killing Hollywood because without any movies, audiences would get bored with the same movies that they could find online. I do believe that it is starting a new wave in how movies will be viewed for the first time though. I'm not exactly sure how Hollywood will do it or charge people, but I believe that if they lose enough money with the dip in sales at the box office, they will take their movies to the World Wide Web for first time viewings.


Stephen Stockwell, 'Week 6 - From the Big Screen to the Very Small,' via Blackboard Academic Suite: Griffith University, viewed September 2, 2011, https://learning.secure.griffith.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_101249_1&content_id=_1804853_1