Twilight Book

well since i have been at uni i havnt really had much time to just sit back and read a good book and so i have quite a few books that have piled up that i want to read. So of course after seeing twilight at the cinema and having a big love for anything vampire i decided to read the books, i had also heard that they were even more amazing then the film and they were right.

Well i am only half way through the first one at the mo (Twilight) but its amazing, its just one of those books you cannot put down, and at the end of the chapter it ends in such a way that you cannot help but carry on reading even though its turned 2am and you know you should be going to sleep but your brain just keeps telling you one more chapter go on, it won't hurt lol. it has a way of drawing you in and not wanting to let go. Which in my eyes is always the best kinda book even though u have to deal with the lack of sleep lol, but thankfully i havn't got any early mornings at the mo so that is not a problem. The book is just amazing the way its written and the interaction between the characters normally makes me smile the whole time i am reading it lol.

I only have the first 3 books at the moment just waiting for the 4th one to come down in price and i will be getting that. i recommend this book to anyone and everyone its just sooooo amazing and a feel good book. i can't wait till i have read all of them and i will probably read them again just to make sure they are forever imbeded in my head.

Book 1 = Twilight

Book 2 = New moon

Book 3 = Eclipse

Book 4 = Breaking dawn

if you would like more information on the books then here is the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_(series)

New

ok now all uni blogging has finished i can finally post up some more interesting things - which will follow shortly

TV 2 into TV 3 – consequence of TV being taken over by the users

I would say that TV is one of the main multimedia resources, with TV programmes covering nearly everything different genres cover a broad range of programming types that entertain, inform, and educate viewers. These vary from documentaries, reality TV, fictional programs (E.g. drama, horror), and games shows. There are many different genres on TV and each one gives the viewer something different to experience.
If TV did evolve and the users where now in control of when and what they watch, would there be many consequences? I think for the viewer there would be no consequences because they could decide what they wanted to watch and when and pick from a vast range or programs, but I think that this would have an impact on TV stations and channels because they will not be in control which would cause them many problems. This kind of technology is already being used in the way that the user can pause and rewind live TV then record and watch it when they wish which is a big step forward for the users controlling what they watch and when.
You could even take this idea one step further and say that the audience can decided what happens in the program so they can control what happens, which would be good for reality TV instead of just voting for who stays and who go’s you could decide what happens which would make the experience even more interactive.
Also digital TV also already has the capabilities of doing a lot of things, you can play games, rent/watch films, go onto the internet which generally means TV’s are evolving into computers in their own right, with the capabilities to do nearly everything that they do.
But there would be many consequences for the TV being taken over by the users, which would cause problems, but do these problems out weight the benefits? I think that giving the users some control is a good idea but not giving them all the control, something’s do need structure and I think that television is one of those things

What would web 3 look like?

I think that as technology is getting more advanced web 3 could evolve into anything, web one was a read only source, web 2 was a read-write source so web 3 could be read-write and execute. The internet could be evolved in so many different ways.
Most thoughts have been about making the web better by using artificial intelligence to make the experience more exciting. I think that web 3 would probably upgrade everything. I.e. better graphics, always being connected to the web some possibilities with web 3 are that we could have wireless internet everywhere, so that everyone everywhere can use it at any time or place.
We could see intelligent applications helping us to find what we are looking for or predict using information off the internet – say the next song to be number one, which would be a very useful tool to cut down searching time on the internet.
The web could become 3D, so instead of just looking at the online world you would be ‘in’ it, which would take the idea of ‘second life’ that one step further, a 3D world to share and meet people would change the face of the internet.
but on the other side would this mean that our actions on the internet would be much more easier to track, would this take away some of our freedom? but this could help stop organised crime and the technology would take the web that one step futher.

Web 2 came about due to the changing trends in the use of the World Wide Web. They described it as technology and web design that aimed to enhance communications, creativity, secure information sharing and functionality of the web. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it doesn’t refer to an update to any technical specifications, instead its changes in the ways that software developers and people use the web. According to Tim O’Reilly “Web 2 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform” Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web), has questioned whether you can use the term in a meaningful way, since most of the technological components have existed since the beginning of the web.

Web 2 has led to the development and evolution of web culture and communities services. I.e. social networking sites, video sharing sites, blogs and wikis. O’Reilly split sites into his four levels in the hierarchy.
Level 3 applications – Exist only on the internet, i.e. eBay, Wikipedia, Skype
Level 2 applications - Can operate offline but gain advantages from going online. I.e. Flicker
Level 1 applications – Operate offline but gain features online. I.e. now days would refer to iTunes
Level 0 applications – work as well offline as online. I.e. yahoo Local, Google maps
(Non-web applications like email, instant messaging and telephone fall outside the above hierarchy).
Web 2 allows users to build on the interactive facilities of web 1 instead of just being able to retrieve information. The website are also more friendly to use and can handle more than a few people looking at them at once

So overall web 2 lets a user personalise their space and voice their opinions for the world to see and read and respond to if they want, this has revolutionised the way the internet has been used and to this day is still being used and relied upon even more. Web 2 has given everyone their own space on the net and many new ways to communicate with each other i.e. Msn, Face book, MySpace which are all sites designed for communicating and sharing which means that by logging on or using the internet you are never alone because you can always communicate with someone even if they are miles away or in a different country the internet connects people

wot happened on the 24th January 1984?

The first ever apple Macintosh advert aired on the 24th January 1984 during a break in the third quarter of the super bowl. The ad showed an unnamed heroine running through an Orwellian world to throw what looks like a sledgehammer at a TV with what seems to be an image of Big brother, this is then followed by an audio visual message which says “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984” after this the ‘rainbow bitten apple’ logo is shown on a black background.

This advert is now considered a “watershed event” and a “Masterpiece”. The unnamed heroine is used to represent the coming of the Macintosh which is indicated by the clothes she is wearing as a means of saving everyone from “big brother” these images were from George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, which described a dystopian future ruled by a televised “Big brother” this novel in itself has become famous for its portrayal of surveillance a increasing invasion on the rights of individuals, since this book was published terms like “big brother” and “Orwellian” have been used more commonly to describe this.

This advert showed people what was happening the “big brother” effect, where people were being watched and controlled using technology and that Macintosh were different they were there to stop the “big brother” effect and give people back there freedom. I think that this advert tries to show people that change can happen if they help it to happen and do something about it. I think this advert really did achieve something when it was aired and you can still see some of the effects today.

The book (Nineteen Eighty-four) in some respects has come true. In this day and age everyone everywhere is continuously being watched by CCTV which is put there to protect us or to watch us? This is the “Big brother” effect that Orwell mentions in his book.

Technology is a massive part of everyone’s life, without it where would we be? But some argue that it’s taking over, we have become to dependant on it, which in a sense is true, what would you do if there no phones, computers, internet, televisions? It is hard to imagine a world without them and a world without them wouldn’t be the same. Some people also argue that the internet is another form of watching us, but personally I see it as a gateway to the rest of the world without even taking a step which when you think about it is amazing.

Personally I am obsessed with technology, and try to keep an eye on what is being developed and created because it is getting more and more advanced and I don’t give much thought to this “big brother” effect because I see it as protecting me instead of watching me, but I will agree that some are just there to watch, but most do have a purpose.

How far can you trace back multimedia (lecture 1)

I personally had never thought about how far back multimedia could be traced back but after listening to a brief history I realised that in some way multimedia has always been around. I never considered that multimedia could have started as early as cave paintings (15,000 BC), but the more I think about it the more connections I can make between what happened in the past and how it could have influenced the multimedia that we have come to know and love to this day.

In my opinion everyone is creative but in different ways, some people won’t see what they are doing as creative, but everything tends to stem from something else, something they have seen or heard, which has carried on through time. Some people will say that you can’t trace multimedia as far back as cave paintings but I think you can.

If you look at modern day multimedia there are quite a few similarities between old and new, for example the cave painting were created for an unknown reason on stones and objects were people in that age would see them, which is like graffiti in the modern world people graffiti, buildings, walls where ever they feel there art will be seen and we don’t know the reasoning behind it, we are left to come to our own conclusion, some see it as an art form some see it as vandalising. It all balances on opinions and beliefs of that person.

Some cave paintings were found in caves with good acoustics which gets you thinking did they consider this when choosing a place to paint or has it always been that audio and visual run so perfectly with each other that half the time we won’t notice it, which is what makes today’s multimedia so interesting and complex.

It is amazing to think that artists, scientists, musicians, engineers, poets and cultural renegades all played a part throughout time to mould multimedia into what it has become today.