Apps

Before talking about the pros and cons of apps I would first likely say that I do not own a smart phone. My $99 Nokia brick with only dialing and texting capability has not offered me a personal understanding of smartphone apps. I do however own an iPad so I do at least understand what an app is.

So an app.

Definition of app

noun

Computing

a self-contained program or piece of software designed to fulfil a particular purpose; an application, especially as downloaded by a user to a mobile device: apparently there are these new apps that will actually read your emails to you

When trawling the Internet trying to find the pros and cons of smartphone apps I found the same common issues that I have with my iPad.

Pros

• Able in touch and up to date with all the social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and email. Not just texting and dialing.
• Phones are no longer just a phone they can turn into a GPS navigator, a recipe book or even a yoga instructor.
• If you are not in the room it can make you feel connected either through a Skype chat.
• TV on your phone- most channels whether it be Foxtel, ABC or BBC have apps where you can watch missed programs. There are even specific apps such as NBA game time where you can watch every game live or at a later date (this is one of my favourite).

Cons

• You are constantly distracted by your phone- whether be from the latest Facebook or simply just having the option to mess around on your phone rather than doing your work.
• Everything needs to be constantly updated including your phone making it an expensive thing to stay on top of.
• Difficult to separate different aspects of your life when you can be at home but are still constantly connected to university or work.

So how did the apps phenomenon occur?

Apple leaded the trend for the apps with the release of the iPhone and iPod Touch they launched the first app store 2008. In the first weekend alone ten million applications were downloaded of which 25% were free. Blackberry leads the Android market soon after with only 50 apps available. By the end of 2008 the Apple Apps Store has 10,000 available. Since then Apple has been leading the app market race in terms of both apps downloaded and apps available. Other makers such as Nokia launched their own App stores but none other than Samsung have been able to rival Apple.

Recommended Apps

NBA Game Time                                  IMDB

Huffington Post                                    Gmail

Paper Toss                                                Angry Birds

eBooks

According the dictionary an EBook is:

Definition of e-book

noun

an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device.

But what the definition does not describe is way it has transformed the publishing landscape. Before their emergence in the early 2000s there was only one-way to read a book: go out and buy a physical copy. There was no convenience of having a library of books ready to be downloaded as it pleased and there was no Internet site that could recommend other books based on your past purchases. Yes the publishing landscape has changed in the past decade but whether it is for the best is still up for debate.

Pros

• Access to almost any book with an Internet connection.
• Store all books on one device rather having multiple bookshelves.
• No trees means no environmental impact.
• According to a recent study eBooks are easier to read for older people.
• No shipping costs when buying books online.
• Can change font size on the screen accordingly.
• EBooks have the option to embed video and audio.
• Can search the text.

Cons

• Piracy- eBooks makes copying and distributing books far easier and it is difficult to police and monitor.
• Copyright- Amazon is currently looking at setting up a marketplace for send hand eBook sales where customers can sell their eBook license.
• Substituting the feel of a book for a technical device- (sentimental reasons).
• Glare from the screen.
• Many different e-reader devices versus eBook distributors so formatting and layout can be issue when crossing brands.
• An e-reader can run out of battery.
• No one knows how long eBooks are going to last- real books can stay on your bookshelf.
Having an IPad I have explored using eBooks. I personally found that I preferred reading paperbacks mainly for sentimental reasons that I like to have a physical book. But also I can’t take my IPad to somewhere like the beach. It was also inconvenient having to make sure that it was properly charged. The big advantage however that I did find with eBooks is that it is cheaper so I mainly use it for light reads. The other advantage is that you can get all the old copyright free books for free.

Advanced Blogging: Game of Thrones Season 3

When I was scanning through the entertainment section of my reader I came across a headline for the third season of Game of Thrones (GoT) on the website Zap2It.

‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 trailer: Chaos is coming to Westeros

I was immediately intrigued as I love the show and with only 12 episodes coming out each year it’s a big deal when the first trailer comes out. Much to my disappointment I couldn’t get the HBO trailer link to work so I had to chase it down on Youtube. Although the trailer was only a teaser and no actual footage was shown it sets the tone for the upcoming season.

“Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder,” Littlefinger says as various “Game of Thrones” main characters are shown. “Many who try to climb it fail, never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some, given a chance to climb, they cling to the realm, or the gods, or love. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.”

Nevertheless it does show all the main characters and serves as an excellent warmup for the promotional material that I know will come ahead of the March 31 premiere date. I am subscribed also to the HBO Game of Thrones Youtube channel and they have already released promotional videos of behind the scenes for the upcoming season. I presume that a full length trailer will arrive soon.

Advanced Blogging: BAFTA Awards

Article Summary

I found this article on my google reader through my subscription to deadline.com. The article discussed the winners and some of the notable losers in relation mostly to their chances of winning an Oscar. It made big references to the following movies

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Argo
3. Skyfall
4. Django Unchained

The article talked a lot about Ben Affleck winning Best Director and not being nominated for an Oscar and also talked extensively about past Oscar snubs. These snubs included actress Marion Cotillard as well as the films Atonement and No Country For Old Men.

Mentioned Movies and their Awards

Django UnchainedOrginal Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor

Movie	Bafta Results
Argo	Best Film, Best Director
Les Miserables	Best Supporting Actress and 3 other wins
Lincoln	Best Actor
Zero Dark Thirty	No Awards
Skyfall	Outstanding British Film, Best Music Score

Link

http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/big-win-sends-argo-into-oscars-with-huge-momentum/

Comparing Search Engines

For the search topic I chose the Essendon F.C as they are currently a figure of controversy for drugs in sport and are part of a wider investigation nationally of organised crime that is making news around the world. The three search engines that I used was Google DuckDuckGo and Instagrok.

GOOGLE:

Google was the first search engine that I used. I typed in Essendon and the above results emerged. Google knew that by typing in Essendon that I was not referring to the town but the football club and immediately it brought to the top of the page all the news articles of their surrounding controversy. It was quick and efficient but most of all the news articles only took up part of the page and there were still clear options to look at the Essendon website and wikipedia page.

INSTAGROK:

Instagrok did not display the instant results like Google. Instead when I typed in Essendon it presumed I meant the term “Fessenden” and I had to clarify the term. Once I arrived on the Essendon page I found that the engine seemed practical if you were researching something as it presented a mind map and also had a list of facts down the right hand side including those to do with the recent controversy. However the page is not easy to navigate- there are too many options as it makes the layout confusing.

DUCKDUCKGO:

Duckduckgo was my least favourite of the search engines it only displayed facts pages such as the Essendon official website, its Facebook and Wikipedia pages and quickly the results changed to Essendon itself. This engine seems like a good platform for getting an understanding of what something is but not what is currently happening to it and its relationship to other things.

Therefore my preferred search engine is Google followed by Instagrok then Duckduckgo.

Flipped Lecture 3: Web 1, 2, 3

This third flipped lecture is a series of videos describing Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, their evolution and what the Internet will be like going forward.

The first video simply put forth the idea that Web 1.0 was simply a one-way conversation from producer to consumer. While Web 2.0 is a multi-directional conversation not just from producer to consumer and vice versa but also from conversations between different consumers or rather Internet users.

The second video explains this development from Web 1.0 to 2.0 by explaining that with the developments of Facebook, Youtube, Wikipedia and blogging the Internet was and is being shaped and produced by users. It goes on however to explain Web 3.0 which is where the internet starts to recognize what the user wants and can pull information that suits their needs. It also expands into the notions of the Internet not just being something on a PC but it also now being used in cars and mobiles and is expanding into things such as kitchen appliances.

The third video details the evolution of text from being something written and linear to something dynamic and changing. It then moves to describe how users grew to have more freedom on the Internet as blogs sites meant that users did not need to know code and that they could begin linking Internet information for themselves. This discussion of the evolution of text poses the question that we need to rethink ideals such as copyright and authorship.

The fourth video details the semantic web explaining that computers could only understand syntax not semantics. So when users used things such as emoticons it would not be understand the meaning. Going forward the video proposes the idea that for the web to develop it would need to learn semantics so it can be useful to the user as it can find things automatically relating to what the user is looking for.

The fifth video is with the inventor of the Internet Tim Berners-Lee who explains that the Internet is still exploding and exploding everywhere as users and creators move forward to creating the semantic web. He goes onto describe the values that it would have not only to individuals but also to industries and services as the Internet would be able to quickly collate the necessary information that could help cure diseases and help with disaster relief and responses. He emphasizes the importance of hypertext because that is one of the main factors bringing the Internet together.

The last video is a summary of the story of Web 1.0 to the direction of Web 3.0 by marking distinctive developments such as Yahoo and Google merging with Amazon to indicate that the Internet is headed to being the semantic web.

The collaboration of these videos explains the Semantic web and why the Internet is heading in this direction. When I researched the semantic web I found that it is somewhat of a controversy as essentially servers such as Google are building data files on users to guess what they want and need so that the computer can understand rather than mimic a user.

FLIPPED LECTURE 2- The History of the Internet: Search

The emergence of search engines in the 90s Internet boom was of high importance in commercializing the Internet. Before Google and Yahoo, users could only access websites through following the links on sites and it was simply luck to find something that your were specifically looking for.

This documentary is the second part of “The True Story of the Internet” and details the development of the search engines in particular Google and yahoo.

There were two main issues that arose from this documentary. Firstly it talked about the problems Internet companies have with making money. Second and finally it talked about the privacy implications that search engines have.

After witnessing the emergence of companies like Yahoo and Excite exploit the integrity of their search engines by simply showing advertising and smut Google wanted to set themselves apart. To be more user friendly they listed sites not by advertising but instead by calculating the most popular sites in relation to the key words searched by the user. This made the engine highly popular and investors soon flocked but it offered no key to making money. The founders did not want to compromise the engine and turn off users so they changed the way advertising was used. Allegedly Google stole the idea (but modified it) of having the advertising match or be in relation to the key words searched while still listing in the method of popularity that Google was known for.

The second issue discussed in the documentary was the privacy associated with recording people’s searches to generate data to know where to place ads. This is still a prevalent issue of the internet today where advertising matching your past searches follows you through different sites. Just this week in the news Google and Yahoo are joining in advertising deals to collaborate with this technology.

FLIPPED LECTURE- The History of the Internet: Browser Wars

This documentary entitled “Browser Wars” details the competition between Microsoft and Netscape during the 1990s over the launch and development of the Internet browser.

The documentary begins with the host making some grand statements about the prevalence of the Internet by describing it as one of the biggest and greatest developments in technology that the world has ever seen.

It tells the story from both Netscape’s and Microsoft’s point of view by consulting people that were involved at the time. The story however essentially follows Netscape rise and downfall by beginning with the launch of the first Internet browser Mosaic and ending with them being sold to AOL.

At the time of the mid 90s Microsoft was the computer software giant and their leader and founder Bill Gates was a formidable and competitive force to be reckoned with. However when a bunch of university students launched the first Internet browser and had a five million dollar backing from Jim Clarke they emerged as one of Microsoft’s biggest threats. Their software had massive growth and soon Microsoft arranged a meeting of which what actually happened is widely debated. Microsoft claims it was collaborative and harmonious while Netscape claims that Microsoft threatened them. Within the year they went public with their business a feat essentially unknown on Wall Street. They made massive profits but struggled to make money from their actual product and did not have the reserve to keep up with Microsoft. Before this however there was race for best internet browser where both companies were trash talking each other and had a “code more or die” attitude. When Microsoft retaliated with the launch of Internet Explorer, an app free with their software Netscape lost the browser war.

The issue surrounding this flipped lecture is the power of monopoly on the Internet landscape. According to Netscape and an investigation from the federal government Gates broke laws in attaining his monopoly in the computer world. Allegedly he threatened other companies with breaking their deals should they become involved with Netscape. This issue still has a role in the contemporary internet landscape with the domination of Apple.

When I googled browser wars to get more information on this topic it came up with a series of articles of the modern day battle. There are more competitors in the market with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and still Internet Explorer however they are not searching for dominance just in PC’s or Mac’s. instead the modern browser wars includes making the browsers suitable and compatible for mobile devices and combining the features of the browsers to collaborate well with the apps.

Google Alerts

The three topics I selected to receive updates of from google alerts was the TV show Nikita, the NBA team the Timberwolves and also movie trailers.

In doing so I was made aware of several news and information articles relating to the topics.

In terms of the Timberwolves the alerts system made me aware of an article declaring that their season was pretty much over as they have been plagued by injuries and there are not enough games left in the season to recover.

For the my guilty TV pleasure Nikita I was directed to a number of spoilers sites that revealed clues for the upcoming episodes. In particular one of the actors on the show had been making press rounds and he revealed that they were about to shoot the episode where his “dark” past is revealed.

The movie trailers alert put me onto a lot of sites that had collaborated all the trailers from the Superbowl including the Iron Man trailer.

Matt Damon’s Revenge

I was laughing throughout this video. Matt Damon is one of my favourite actors and I’ve seen all of the spoof clips Jimmy Kimmel has done of him.

Although this clip has been done for a talk show it structures itself like the introduction of a villain in an action or superhero movie. It builds the suspense by not specifically revealing Matt Damon until the second half of the video. Instead beginning with a close up shot of a tv playing a montage of the clips of Jimmy Kimmel insulting Matt Damon on his show. When it finally cuts to Matt Damon he is hidden behind a hood and is laughing evilly before announcing that he is going to take over Jimmy’s show.

The strength of this video is that although it ties into the running jokes of the show anyone can watch it and have a laugh. This is thanks to Matt Damon’s overacting and the way that the video has been cut in a cliched manner. Nevertheless it is very entertaining as it’s not often you see an actor take the upper hand over a talk show host.