ISP - Democracy or Dictatorship?

Week 9; Post 2

Before I begin my exploration into the new ISP filtering system of Australia, This, I found interesting;

What is Barak Obama up to today? Can you send him a message about the importance of freedom on the internet?

             Amazingly, after finding the Whitehouse website, It is possible to contact the whitehouse directly. According to the Site <http://www.whitehouse.gov/> Yesterday President Obama met with World Leaders at the UN general Assembly. Contacting the Whitehouse directly is pretty simple. Simply fill in some of your details and you have added your thoughts to the government. 

What are the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")?

ISP Filtering is the governments attempt at blocking certain content for viewing on the internet. According to the governments site "The government has announced that it will introduce legislative amendments to require all ISPs in Australia to use ISP-level filtering to block overseas hosted Refused Classification (RC) material on the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) RC Content list." (Internet Service Provider (ISP) Filtering 2011) According to the government, Refused Classification (RC) includes, but is not limited to child sexual abuse imagery, bestiality, sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use and/or material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act. 

Due to the overwhelming fact that the ISP Filtering is based soley on the results of the classification of certain sites, the minister of broadband in Australia is undertaking the task of reviewing the criteria. Until that time, the filtering system will not be put into place. However, After looking through other, more opinional sites throughout the internet, it is evident that the ISP system is not in the good books for a lot of people. Whirlpool provided a list as to why; "Blacklisted sites are kept secret from the Australian public; Any blacklist would need to be distributed to all ISPs in Australia, and will provide anyone a concentrated list of the 'worst of the worst' web pages when leaked; It introduces delay and declined performance in internet traffic; It will increase the cost of broadband; Filtering products incorrectly block legitimate traffic" (Clean Feed, 2011) to name a few. Another problem in the eyes of majority of the Australian public concerned with the ISP filtering system, is what options will website owners have if they feel that there site was inappropriately place on the RC list. To this the government simply, and pathetically, writes "The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy announced on 9 July 2010 a comprehensive suite of transparency and accountability measures that will accompany the introduction of ISP filtering." (ISP Filtering - frequently asked questions, 2011) Seemingly, at the end of the day, the argument, irrespective of technological or legal reasons comes down to this "Australia is supposed to be a liberal democracy where adults have the freedom to say and read what they want, not just what the Government decides is 'appropriate' for them." (Taylor, 2008) The new system shows strong traits of a dictatorship style government, with Electronic Frontiers Australia even foregrounding the similarities between the new system, and previously implemented filtering systems in China, North Korea and Burma. Overall, this debate, as is shown by the date on the document for the Electronic Frontiers Australia page, has been continued for years. How will the system ultimately be put into place? who knows, However from what I can see, the government better watch their step, because one wrong move could spell the end of the minister of broad bands career. 

Internet Service Provider (ISP) Filtering, 2011, viewed 21 September 2011, <http://www.dbcde.gov.au/funding_and_programs/cybersafety_plan/internet_service_provider_isp_filtering>

Clean Feed, 2011, viewed 21 September 2011, <http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/cleanfeed>

ISP Filtering frequently Asked questions, 2011, viewed 21 September 2011, <http://www.dbcde.gov.au/funding_and_programs/cybersafety_plan/internet_service_provider_isp_filtering/isp_filtering_live_pilot/isp_filtering_-_frequently_asked_questions#8.0>

Taylor, G 2008, Media release - EFA Attaks Clean-Feed Proposal, viewed 21 September 2011, <http://www.efa.org.au/2008/01/02/media-release-efa-attacks-clean-feed-proposal/>

Beginning of Essay Preparation

This is the beginning of the construction of my Essay scaffolding;
My chosen topic;

"How is New communication technology impacting screen narratives in terms of production, distribution, story length and structure and emotional content, what options are emerging that point to the kinds of narratives we will see in the future."

INTRODUCTION;


Brief history of the film industry, how it advanced from the basic technology.
How technology slowly advanced to allow filmmakers more technical and creative possibilities;

• Blue screen
• Advanced editing
• layover effects
• animation and animated text effects

Detail how technology has advanced even further, reference a few movies that use advanced new technology, such as Transformers using CGI for the robots and explosions.


BODY;

What possibilities are available for production today, include;

• cameras (digital vs analog)
• advanced super computers, faster, smaller, networked
• networks allow for faster communication and transfer of files on set, as does mobile phones and their features, such as email and sms on the go, this makes the filmmaking process more streamlined and efficient 
• advanced editing suites
• CGI and sound effects
• new advancements in the industry technologically 

Proceed to explore how filmmakers feel about these advancements, quote famous (infamous, not known) filmmakers. What they see as benefits and drawbacks.

How do these features effect story content and length, include;

• more engaging effects, using CGI, allow for more enthused audiences that can sit and watch for longer
• SCI-FI movies that include whole other worlds and effects are now made with relative ease
• the film ballgame has become more competitive with the low cost of advanced effects, thus the stories are becoming more ingenious.
• continue with this exploration through research
• How distribution can mean people are able to stop and start the movie with ease. thus longer movies are possible

progress to explore new distribution channels, such as Foxtel and Austar's movie channels and the internet and its many portals to movies, include

• paid sites - iTunes & PS Network
• You-tube
• Foxtel's Box Office
• Blogs
• Pirated Movies

Proceed to explore how the internet has benefits to the film industry.

How the internet will destroy the DVD rental industry.

Explain why...

CONCLUSION;

How new technology has effected the industry...

Audio-Visual Production

Week 8; Post 2

Finally, the finished product,

Due to my illness at the beginning of the project, I was absent from forming groups. As a result of this I was formed into a group at the tutorial of week 7. However, after discussing our ideas and making a quick plan to execute the following week, two of the three other group members were absent when we had planned to film. In an unexpected turn of events I, and the remaining group member (Bryan) was put into a group with two others that had missed the previous two weeks. Ultimately we quickly filmed the project and had it finalised. As we began progression we hit an obstacle early. The phone that we had dedicated to filming the project went flat of battery, however, thanks to the ever increasing market share of Apple's iPhone 4 we were not in short supply. We then continued to film the remainder of the project. When we were ready to upload the project to my laptop that I had brought in, loaded with iMovie, we had some trouble transferring the footage. After restarting the computer and the phone, it decided to connect, and we were making progress once more. another problem that we hit, which was more annoying than obstructive, was iMovie being glitchy. This was predominantly due to my HDD being overloaded with excess data, slowing the machine right down. To overcome this I simply deleted some unnecessary files, of which barely made a difference, and just coped with the slow system. Fortunately, I was able to provide charger for the battery for the laptop before it too went flat. Once the editing was complete, I simply used an 'in-app-link' that allowed iMovie to upload the project straight to you tube, however this is where we hit another hurdle. I had forgotten my password, as I had not been required to sign in for years. After some futile attempts at logging in, I eventually came to the decision to just create a whole new account, it simply required a new user name and email address. An unexpected message appeared at the conclusion of the upload from youtube, warning us of a potential copyright infringement. Youtube stated that some elements of the project, the sound recording, may belong to Kontor New Media. Through some light research I discovered that this entity has been responsible for thousands of copyright infringement claims in the past, some for videos only containing natural background sounds from the cameras microphone. Through the forums it is evident that they are a large online media company that provides background sounds ideal for movies and songs. I was unable to find what content they had claimed on, however I believe that apple's iLife package purchases sound effects from the company. Although I was greeted with this copyright message, youtube informed me that the film will still be available for public viewing, however it may be banned from some countries. Just when I thought the process was complete it seemed that youtube was having difficulties recognising that my video had been uploaded. After eating hours for the video to appear in the search results, the only method for finding the video that is available to embed it in a blog, it still did not appear. After searching the forums and trying another upload, I discovered that youtube simply did not update their search database for days sometimes. Now it was a waiting game. Finally, after two days, the video showed up in the search results.

Free, Open Source and Commercial Software

Week 8; Post 1

As one would have usually expected, when downloading free or open source software, of any kind, from an unknown source on the world wide web, there were risks. With each download you were potentially vulnerable to a wild concoction of viruses, flaws and privacy risks. Although it may not have been on your last download, it could’ve certainly be on your next one. However, as we progress into the future it has become apparent that many websites and developers have dedicated resources to providing only legitimate software. Websites such as ‘SourceForge’ provide “leading resource[s] for open source software development and distribution. With the tools we provide, 2.7 million developers create powerful software in over 260,000 projects. Our popular directory connects more than 46 million consumers with these open source projects and serves more than 2,000,000 downloads a day. SourceForge is where open source happens.” (SourceForge, 2011).

 Furthermore, source forge actually offers a range of comprehensive developer tools to developers online, so as to provide services to complete, start or even progress on software projects. This means that developing is more appealing to developers, thus the applications they build are of a higher standard. SourceForge “provide the best tools to help creative people build innovative software and [their] platform is how they share it with a global audience searching for easy software solutions.” (SourceForge, 2011). This then begs the question, How does a feature like this help developers, and what is the distinction between open source and commercial software. Yes, the open source and free software may contain a few banners, maybe a GIFF playing in the background, and the buttons and links don’t look as ‘fancy’, however the main difference is how fast we as consumers get upgraded products. An interesting point detailed by Unisys World is the difference between a major upgrade for a commercial and open source product. If a major multi-language software company was to contemplate a change in one of their products, “First you would have to ask your manager for permission to hire some programmers who understood these six languages. Then you would have to do the actual recruiting, set up offices in different countries and coordinate the work...But consider the open source mode. The creator ...[would] not have to go out and find programmers. He merely published the code, and they found him. All he had to do was integrate their changes into the code base.” (Oualline 2000, p. 12)

In conclusion, although with free and open source software you are missing out on that professional sheik feel, with light grey buttons, and vaguely reflective, glass like backdrops, that commercial developers slug you hundreds of dollars for, with this software you get the ingenuity of all those hundreds-of-thousands of rogue developers out there, where it is getting upgraded everyday, and where the sky is the limit. 

SourceForge, 2011, viewed 14th September 2011, <http://sourceforge.net/>

Oualline, S. 2000, "Free vs. commercial software", Unisys World, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 12-12.

Production Progress

Week 7; Post 2

This week, due to sickness and absentees last week our group was formed and the ideas began to roll out. I am in a group with three others. This week we decided what we were going to film, how we were going to film it and what we should edit it on afterwards. The first problem we hit was deciding on what our idea should be, however we ultimately decided on an idea that would be simple to film, around the campus. It would be focusing on interactions, with nature, people, animals and technology. The protagonist would simply walk around, smell the flowers, talk to friends, feed the birds, and look on Facebook. A problem that we did have was coming up with what we should use to film the project. We could have used a handy cam, however that seems too professional, especially when our idea revolves around everyday life. Alternatively we had the choice of one of two options, the HD video camera that is a feature of the iPhone 4, or the video camera of one of the other group members DSLR camera. It was decided that it is most likely that we would use the DSLR camera, however we would make the final decision on the day. We did not make a decision on the editing software that we would use, however due to the fact that there are Macintosh computers in the computer lab that we work in, it is most likely we will use iMovie. It is most likely we will not use Final Cut, predominantly due to how complicated it is, and it does not suit the project, as it is only 30 seconds to a minute long. 

Issues In The Lecture

Issues in the Lecture
Week 7; Post 1

*How is Wikipedia useful?
Wikipedia is not only an extremely useful tool for knowledge, but it is used for a multitude of other features. These may include finding pictures, finding links to more reputable sites, finding names or just looking up random facts. Although it may be argued that wikipedia is only useful for trivial searches, that require no reference or the like, it is extremely useful as a first step. For instance when looking for information an a particular subject, that you have no prior knowledge of, wikipedia is a helpful first step on your quest. Furthermore it is efficient in the fact that on topics that may change frequently, the information can be edited to reflect its current position and information. However wikipedia is never an alternative for a peer reviewed source, as it can be misleading and falsified.*Has anyone here edited Wikipedia? How hard is it?
Apparently editing wikipedia is easy and hassle free, this indicates that information can be falsified with ease. however it also means that people who are passionate about sharing correct information are not deterred by any lengthy initiation or validity checks.* Why does Facebook work?
Facebook just works because it has built a network that now has so many points of access and information it is hard to be without it. You can access it on your phone, on your computer and your iPad & iPod Touch, and you can even edit Facebook through text message and email. Furthermore, with the vast amounts of people that look and share everyday, it is much simpler to post information, a question or a request on someones 'Wall' that trying to send a text message or have a phone conversation, especially when the reply is not urgent. It is also really effective at organising parties and events, in that you can simply invite all your friends with the click of a button. And most importantly; It's FREE!* What would it take for you to close down your Facebook account?
For myself to cancel my Facebook account would require a life or well being threatening situation or a fee charged. If i knew that someone was stalking me, or my family or someone was trying to force information about my whereabouts or contact details I would close my account. If Facebook was to start charging a fee, say even $5 a year, it would not be the cost that would deter me, rather the hassle of trying to pay, either by setting up a credit card or etc. However, if myspace is any indication of the implications of an overworked and unorganised system, Facebook may (or may not) meet the same fate as its once popular predecessor. It has already been noticed that more 'creeps' and 'weirdos' have made their way to the social network. Although, having said that, it does seem to be that Facebook has set-up pretty strong precautions and safety measures to ensure that it is a friendly environment, such as selecting who can see your posts etc.
* Is citizen journalism the end of traditional journalism?
I believe that citizen journalism and traditional journalism are two entirely separate categories. One, for the trivial and opinionated world, the other for the professional and 'real' world. citizen journalism is purely the medium for countless opinions and biased information, that ultimately, people who agree, are going to want to read. Whereas professional journalism is (meant to be) unbiased and purely a medium to state the cold hard facts. therefore I believe that they will continue to co-exist as similar, but not identical mediums of the news. 

Production tools

Production Tools

Well this week marks the beginning of a small production task, however as I was unable to attend the tutorial this week I will not be able provide the details of my idea, however today I will provide an insight to the usefulness of the websites offered in this weeks tutorial.

iMovie;

As a mac user (an fan) iMovie is at the top of the list. Not only is it easy for me to access, but it is one of the easiest movie making software packages to use, ever.

iMovie works with a basic 'Raw footage' and 'Project' window, of which the user simply has to drag the selected clips or segments to add them to the project. If one wishes to access the audio, visual or duration elements of the film it is as simple as clicking a button, and dragging whatever you want into the film. iMovie comes standard with basic audio and visual effects, as well as inbuilt themes, backgrounds and text animations.

Overall it is the small film makers dream.

Movie Maker | Xtranormal

This type of software would be excellent as an alternative to physically getting out there and filming. However, I am a passionate film student and take pleasure in getting the camera and playing around with shots. Although this type of animations seems to be cheap. If this type of software was to be used, it would be more efficient as a storyboard tool.

YouTube video editor

this type of video editing would be ideal for a really simple video, where audio and visual effects are not important, nor is precision editing. Although this may be good for some people, editing on the internet can sometimes cause problems, with unsaved work being deleted and bugs corrupting data.

At the end of the day I am more than likely to use iMovie than anything else.