Week 8 tasks Part 1 and 2:

During the Microsoft Office Exercises i had minimal trouble completing the Word tasks as i am familiar with this program, however it helped me realise that there were still a few things, such as adding contacts, that i had to learn. overall the word exercises didn't have to many serious problems, but for those little niggling problems i had i was able to sort them out myself. This software is useful to me as it enables me to write letters, that are meant for multiple people and only have to write them out once, it is also useful in writing and creating documents.

However the Microsoft Excel Exercises troubled me. Having not being familiar with this program or having much experience with it, i struggled completing the tasks. I found the entering and presenting data tasks easy, yet had problems with the formulas exercise. The problem was in how to set the formulas to the different cells. The solution to this however was through copying and pasting the formula. Next up was the inserting graph task, i found this task as relatively easy, however had a tough time picking which graph would suitable represent the information. Finally was the Macros task which yet again proved to be my kryptonite. I struggled to come to terms with the gains and losses idea, yet once fully explained to me i had the general idea, and the task was achievable. i feel that this software would be important in working with facts, figures, and numbers.

Virtual Worlds and Instant Messaging:
Being a local on the MSN scene, looking at the site Active World was very different form of instant chatting and messaging. Active World gives u a much more 3d look at the chatting world, and enables multiple conversations to go ahead at once. Also once inside the Active World it was quite clear that there is a social status. As being a new user i was being bullied, and attempted to be intimated by the frequent users. This i think is a form of the whole cyber bullying scene. With older, more frequent users controlling the conversations taking place in Active World, the messaging becomes less personal and harder to distinguish between who are people you know, and who are cyber strangers. With my however i am comfortable with the MSN version of chatting, as i am empowered in deciding who i talk to, and what the conversation is about.

Evaluating Wikipedia

The first article i chose is on the topic of the Newcastle Knights Rugby League Club. The article itself was easily accessible. The article appears to be accurate as it explains the clubs history, provides competition details,and current information on players and coaches, whilst also using links and footnotes from the Official page of the Newcastle Knights and the official page of the National Rugby League.
In order to understand the Newcastle Knights Rugby League club, an knowledge of the history, squad, coaches, premierships won, and most importantly the impact of Andrew Johns are required. The wikipedia article on the Knights includes all of these things, however it only focuses on the basic information. This thus empowers the people reading the article with the main focuses of the Newcastle Knights and the overall general understanding allows for basic knowledge of the club.
The article appears to follow the Wikipedia guidelines for useful articles, as it most importantly rejects objectivity, and does not include any personal opinions. It also has successfully enforced the use of the guidelines regarding to content, article inclusion, classification, editing, discussion, behaviour, and style. Overall the article displays an etiquette behaviour which allows for the article to meet the Wikipedia guidelines for useful articles.
The article is fair and balanced as it breaks the club down to the four era's; 1988-1996, 1997-2003, 2004-2006, and finally 2007 post Andrew Johns. By doing this it allows for the article to be viewed throughout the important era's of the club and portray an accurate look at the history of the club. However as anyone who is involved with the Newcastle club would know the major player in the club is Andrew Johns. He has impacted upon the Newcastle side like no other player has down to any other team. This I think then allows for a major part of the article to be bias to the importance of Andrew Johns and has successfully done that. The article overall displays a fair and accurate portrayal of the Newcastle Knights.
The changes I would make to tthe article on the Newcastle Knights would be to include a few paragraphs to the importance of the fans to the club, as the club has a strong fan base in the Hunter/Newcastle region and the value that the club prides on having the most loyal supporters in the League. Also i would include another paragraph on the homeground; Energy Australia Stadium, and the history of it, as once again it is a vital part of the Newcastle Rugby League Club.

The second article i have chosen is on the T.V show Scrubs. With the term scrubs having many definitions, this article took a little more time to find, however it in relation to the T.V show the article itself is accurate. It appears accurate as it focuses on the history of the program, the characters, producers, and episodes of the show, whilst also refering to a range of production techniques.
The basic facts needed to understand the program Scrubs include the characters in the program and the idea that the program revolves around the central character's eye's. The article includes the synopsis of the program, along with the many reasons as to why the program is produced the way it is. Through this insight a much broader understanding of the show is given, thus the article covers all basic facts needed to understand Scrubs plus including a more in depth look at the program.
The article follows the Wikipedia guidelines for useful articles, as it has followed the correct measures in reference to content, article inclusion, classification, editing, discussion, behaviour, and styles. By eliminating objectivity the article has successfuly followed Wikipedia's guideline's and has provided a truthful look at the T.V show scrubs in this article.
The article focuses on the synopsis, cast, episodes, awards, music, production details, and includes links and footnotes, thus allowing for it to be fair and balanced. However by including quotes by the creator, Bill Lawrence it is clear that the discourse presented throughout the article is that of Lawrence's which allows for the article, and ideas of the show to be witnessed as Lawrence's ideas. By including links to episodes and plot overview's the article allows for full insight into the show and allows for judgement to be made, thus reinforcing a fair and balanced article.
In order to improve this article to the Wikipedia community the inclusion of more quotes and opinions of the cast and crew, the article would have a more involved feeling thus giving a more appealing, informing, entertaining feel making it a better article.

This weeks reading was a chapter out of Terry Flew's Whats new about media. It looks a little at the history of media, and then goes onto look at the new technologies in particular the Internet and how new media is adapted. "The idea of ‘new media’ captures both the development of unique forms of digital media, and the remaking of more traditional media forms to adopt and
adapt to the new media technologies." (Flew 2005, pp.3-4)

Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

How do the ideas from Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply to contemporary digital media?

Throughout "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" the notion of the 'Aura' of art and the idea that the meaning of art is reproducible, are heavily conveyed and presented by Benjamin to ancient forms of art. However these ideas can apply to contemporary digital media, as although the styles of art may have changed, art still has the ability to be conveyed through different meanings, and perceived differently through use of different discourses and contexts. Ultimately however these contemporary digital media's such as music and photo shop, still conveys a strong sense of 'Aura' that Benjamin was so strongly referring to. Thus the ideas Benjamin was conveying throughout "Art in the the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply fittingly to the new art that is formed through contemporary digital media.

There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?

Previously being an 'Artist' was perceived as a profession, which traditionally linked art to the association of all things religious, feudal, power structures, nature, and other native rituals. With art now being 'created' by anyone who has a computer, it has ultimately been freed from the conservative natures of telling a historical tale or painting religious paintings. Now that any person can create their own perception of a topic, art has become liberated to convey meanings of several cultures rather than one dominant culture. For example with music as a form of 'Art' we are thus enlightened with different forms and genres of music which all convey a different aspect of a culture.

Is a photo shopped image "authentic"?

A photo shopped image cannot be seen as "authentic" as according to Benjamin 'The whole sphere of authenticity is outside technical – and, of course, not only technical – reproducibility.' This thus means that the photo shopped image which is a reproduced update of an original, is lacking its presence in time and space. Benjamin commented that 'The presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity.' As the photo shopped image is not the original and does not convey the original presence it therefore does not meet the prerequisite demands of the concept of authenticity, thus making it not "authentic".

Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?

Digital media's such as music, movies, images, and videos convey a form of art which allow for mass production, mass meaning, and mass cultural understandings. The "aura" Benjamin refers to a sense of awe at the viewing of artwork and he external attributes to the art. As these new digital media's have provoke feelings appealing to the senses, they can thus be seen as having an "aura". Digital media also allows for external attributes such as; meaning conveyed, senses appealed to, and cultural insights, thus allowing it to have that sense of "aura". Overall these digital "things" have the ability to be provoke feeling and allow for insight, so they ultimately have an "aura".

This weeks reading was Borges- tion, Uqbar, Orbis, tertius. This was another difficult reading that helped emphasis that fact and fiction can sometimes be inter weaved and it is hard to identify what is real and what is not.