Monday, October 12, 2009

Oh the Internet!

What would the world be without the internet? As I sit at my home computer with an internet connection that is currently non existent, this question springs to mind. Now normally I’d consider myself to be highly un-reliant on the Internet. Today however, I’m having second thoughts. I’ve been asked to write up an article on something that I attended over the weekend. My deadline is two days, three at most, to have a 700 word article and accompanying pictures. I have the photos; they just need to be uploaded to flicker. I have the majority of the article written; I just need to be able to access my email to double check sources and add some extra information. However, there is a slight hitch. No Internet means that neither of these tasks can be completed. What this means is that I’m going to be slightly more rushed than usual over the next couple of days trying to get everything done. The Internet has wormed its way into everyday life. Slowly but surely it has managed to make itself in-disposable, which today, I learnt is not a good thing. How this happened, I’m not sure. When it happened? I wouldn’t have a clue, but it has, and it’s a tad annoying!

Time for a History Lesson!

Let us take a trip down memory lane to class number two of Web Media. It was nearing the middle of winter. The sky was dark with rain clouds and we were all miserable. Ok I made that last part up. I can’t actually remember what the day was like (or the weather for that matter) but I do remember one thing, learning about the history of the Internet. It was originally developed by DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, as a way to share information on research, and went by the name of ARPANET. During it’s early beginnings it was only used for emails and FTP sites. As the years progressed the early developments evolved. During 1980, physicist Tim Berners-Lee proposed a prototype that allowed researchers in his organisation (CERN) the ability to use and share documents.


A bit of extra research shows that he did a more than just that. In 1989, he proposed a global hypertext project that was to be known as the World Wide Web. This project would allow people to work together by “by combining their knowledge in a web of hypertext documents.” Then on the 25 December, 1990, with the help of colleague and a young student staff, he “implemented the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server via the Internet.” This guy created the language that makes up the Internet. How cool is that?



Facebook: You know you have a problem when...

… you start referring to Facebook games in a way that suggests they are major player in a war against productivity.


Here’s one dedicated to those stupid Facebook games that manage to consume so much time without me realising, until it begins to get dark out side. Restaurant City, Farmville, Bejewled, Pet Society, Geo Challenge (and now Country Story), are the major players in the battle for time between sworn enemies: Procrastination and Productivity. They are weapons designed by geniuses that manage to reach beyond common sense to a place where competitiveness is fueled and nurtured.


These games have very little to them. When you think about what the do, or rather what they don’t do, you realise that they are completely pointless. There is no greater accomplishment then beating your friends who have also been drawn in to the battle. So you are all there having the same problem, thinking the same thing “just one more and I’ll beat them!” It’s crazy! It makes no sense! However, it happens. It seems the way they do this is by feeding your competitive side and allowing you the opportunity to indulge yourself in an ideal lifestyle. Who wouldn’t want to own a successful farm? Or open a classy restaurant, which you didn’t have to work in if you didn’t want to, and make a few thousand on a daily basis? If someone gave me that opportunity I probably wouldn’t say no to it. However, reality is a tad different to cyber space, and I’m sure running a farm, or a restaurant, isn’t as easy as the game makes out. It’s always nice to dream though!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Facebook and the 104.

Procrastination is a behavior which is characterised by the deferment of actions or tasks to a later time.”


It often comes as a result of thinking “I’ll just check my email and see if there’s anything new,” when you know that there will be, and you know who it will be from. Yes, facebook. I have never spent as much time in my entire life practicing this behavior since joining up to the social networking website over a year ago. I signed up because I kept getting friends request from people asking if I’d to join their network. Since then there has been no turning back!

The website was originally set up by a Harvard student back in 2004 called Mark Zuckerberg. It began as a hobby project that developed and spread at first through dorm rooms, then to Stanford and Yale and now it’s everywhere! Fathers use it, uncles, brothers, mothers, daughters, and even grandmothers. In fact the oldest known member on facebook comes in at age 104. Ivy Bean is a great grandmother who began using the Internet just over two years ago from her care home in Bradford, England. Her facebook account clocks her in at having an impressive 4,958 friends (which could soon be 4,959 if she decides to accept my request).

On her recent birthday, she was at the sites 5,000 friend limit. On the other social networking site she uses, twitter, she has over 47,000 followers. Rather epic I’d say! This social networking gran is quite the inspiration showing that you’re never too old to start using the Internet and you’re never too old to start a facebook (or even twitter) account.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Tweet tweet.

Here we go. A post dedicated to that site I seem to be so commonly associated with these days. That’s right guys: Twitter. People often ask what the appeal is to this site. My reply to them is simple: “it’s useful.” It’s a microblogging website with over five million users signed on from around the world. There are links to breaking news stories and major events posted as soon as they are available to a global audience. Up to date information of what’s going on in the world can be accessed with a couple of mouse clicks in the right places. All that’s required is the ability to get your message across in 140 characters or less. Nothing flash or over complicated. It’s simple. It’s brilliant! It came in handy over the weekend too. Unable to find a place to watch the big Tua vs Cameron fight, twitter was the first point of call for getting a result. Less than half a minute after the fight had ended, there was a status update posted by a friend in Gisborne using the TweetDeck “Shane is OUT. Tua WINS” that I read on my phone. The site is accessible from almost anywhere there’s an internet connection available which means you can get (or even give) updates almost at the drop of a hat!


I think it's cool, but what are your thoughts?


Sunday, October 4, 2009

The inevitable post.

It had to happen sooner or later. Having to sustain a blog on social media without mentioning it at least once is just crazy! - Especially if you're me. So here it goes: Twitter.

Whether you love it or love to hate it, there’s no denying that this website is something special. With over five million registered users, a number that’s continually on the increase, accessing the service to answer the simple question “What are you doing?” Twitter is “without a doubt the best way to share and discover what is happening right now.”

According to the great Google, Wikipedia and Gigaom are the top two places to get a brief historical overview of the microblogging website phenomenon. They can tell you who started it, where, when and how by using words, which is cool, but slightly boring. This does it so much better:
It has been referred to as being an annoying, complete waste of time, for self absorbed people looking for an outlet on countless occasions which indeed it may be. However, there are some useful aspects to this site. Businesses have the opportunity to get themselves known to over five million people. Political parties can do the same thing, and with a lot of free time, no social life, friends or family, so can you!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The Internet: Once it's out...

It seems as though things done on the spur of the moment for a bit of fun can sometimes have a way of creeping back and reminding you of your bad judgment call. Just ask Miley Cyrus. In the early months of 2009 she appeared in the news over a photo that made its way on to the Internet showing her making slant-eye poses with her friends. I’m sure Vanessa Hudgens could vouch for it as well. In her case it was a series of nude photographs that an Internet source says she took for her boyfriend Zac Efron during 2007. Can you see the common factor in both of these instances? I’ll give you a hint: it has nothing to do with them having their careers start on the Disney channel. Figured it out yet? It was the fact that the damning information was leaked by a third party over the Internet. It could have been by someone looking to make a quick buck or a genuine mistake by a friend. Either way once the photos hit the net it made world headlines. Cyrus and Hudgens' reputations gained an extra little something that’s going to haunt them for the rest of their careers.


In class we have been discussing the importance of being aware of what information the Internet can provide about you. “What happens when someone types your name in Google and hits return?” The potential of what those results could bring back could have huge implications. For future employers it could be the deciding factor in whether you get the job you applied for or not. It’s so important to manage your online reputation these days. Keeping a critical eye on what’s going out there is paramount, from now on, the judgment calls we make is what’s going to define our careers. So next time you do something somewhere, and someone captures that special moment, just think: if it’s something that could be a problem in the future, do what you can to stop it from getting on to the Internet. However, if that fails then you may want to have a damage control plan ready to use.


Sites with helpful tips on reputation damage control:
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5 Steps for Successful Social Media Damage Control

Your Online Reputation Damage Control

Sunday, August 9, 2009

How's your reputation?


The importance of having a good online reputation these days seems vital for workers in just about any major industry. For people looking for a career in the media it’s pretty much compulsory. With the ever increasing opportunities the web offers for social networking and self publicity, and the growing interest it’s collecting, more and more businesses are seeing an opening to a new audience and are turning to the internet to get recognised. It’s no longer uncommon to go onto a website and find an employees company blog or link allowing you to subscribe to an RSS feed or follow them on twitter. If anything it would be uncommon not to find one.

So what has any of this got to do with your online reputation? Well, if you want to be in the business, you have to be up with the play. If you’ve used sites like trademe or ebay, facebook, bebo, blogger, then you already have an online reputation. Everything you post, every picture you upload to share with your friends, adds to your reputation. What you put out there is what the rest of the world sees – even your future employers. What there is about you on the internet is what the rest of the world judges you by, comments, opinions, thoughts, they establish your identity and now, contribute to your future. So next time your searching for something, try typing in your own name, you might get a surprise!
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Links:

Manage your online reputation

Managing Your Online Reputation: A College Student’s Perspective

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Time for ressurection

No, this not a religious post about the church and it's flaws. It's not one about drugs either. Rather it's one about how plans have been made to resurrect this blog from the depths of the web.

I know, it has been a while since the last post. However, a lot of thinking has been happening over the past couple of months, about how one could possibly follow up the last two blog posts about P and New Zealand teenagers, and really that's about it. Now that it's a new semester, and the tutor said we have to do this, the blog is back to add some posts on the joys of Web Media! That's right! Eight posts over the coming months about the internet and judgement calls. Throughout they will be looking at how the internet can work for you and not against, things you can learn from the experiences of others, and sugguestions of ways to improve on what is already out there about yourself. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Stay tuned!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

The epidemic we face

The drug first came into this country by way of American motorcycle gang associates. It’s been 13 years since police first stumbled across one of its labs. It has gone from a stimulant used by night clubbers to take their experience to a new level, to causing an epidemic that’s threatening teenagers and their families across the country: Methamphetamine (P).

The allure is the instant high it gives, the euphoric and often instant sense of escape users feel as they inhale the smoke of a lethal substance. A substance first used by Japanese kamikaze pilots before suicide missions during World War II. However, it is not just the direct effect the drug is having on teenage users causing concern. There is also concern over the indirect affect it is having on them through their parent’s association to the substance. Whether they are manufacturers, dealers, or users, the impression left on their children is a life long one. Many are unaware of the damage it is causing, the damage they are inflicting upon themselves, until one day they are hit with a sudden and often brutal realization.

It is no longer seen as a “drug just used by criminals and gang members,” as the Methcon Group Limited website describes, but a drug that can be “found in large cities, small towns, rural communities, schools and businesses.” It is being used by people in all walks of life including those “such as high earning professionals, sportsmen and woman, celebrities and children and ordinary New Zealanders.”

The New Zealand Herald over the past few weeks has been looking at the effect this drug is having on our nation. Stories have been submitted by those who have experienced the effects first hand. One story was that of a young girl whose first run in with the drug was at the age of 14. Kristy Pearson first tried it at a friend’s party. She described its effect as making her feel “on top of the world”. “Home life wasn't great at all and school wasn't going too well and this made me feel amazing,” she said. A few months after her first experience with it she was being used by gangs to deliver getting paid each day with enough to feed her own addiction. Her realization came when she saw a friend, also addicted, ripping holes out of his arm with his teeth. Eventually she managed to get free from its hold, and is now working towards a better future. Kristy’s story is not an unusual one, there are many more around, we just haven’t heard them.

If you would like to read more stories from the Herald on this subject follow the link below,
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/p-epidemic/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=605



Saturday, May 23, 2009

Is it really the best thing to be known for?

New Zealand is a country full of sheep, and I’m not just talking about the four legged ones covered in wool. We have this tendency to follow. Trends, usually ones that someone else has already started, suggestions made by those considered to have influence, not all of them providing any benefit our society. Just look at the 6pm news and you will know what I mean. Stories involving alcohol, violence, crime, gangs and drug use dominate the first few pages in the papers, and sadly teenagers with their involvement are taking up a good portion of it. Why is this? Why over the past few years have we been subject to an influx of teenage drug associated crime?

The methamphetamine epidemic facing the country may have something to do with it. New Zealanders, according to the 16 May, 2009 New Zealand Herald article titled “Waging war on P”, are the number one P users per head in the developed world, ahead of both the United States and Australia. A shocking statistic made worse when you consider the other things associated to it. As one of the Kiwi Party press releases state “…drug abuse has a direct link to much of our crime rates such as burglary, child abuse and the increasing violent crimes that are shocking us all as a nation.” [Link]

The class A drug, also known as P, Crack, Meth, Smack, Ice, Glass, Pure, Base, Rock and Shabu, has become highly accessible. And mixed with a binge culture, like the one taking hold of New Zealand, of teenagers who rate parties by how much a person gets trashed, extremely dangerous. The drug is a stimulant. Some may take it to stay awake in order to work extra shifts while others may take it because of perceived heightened physical and mental performances. Whatever their reason, use of the drug, according to the Fight Against P website, can cause “dependence and addiction psychosis, stroke, dangerously high body temperature, and cardiac arrhythmia. Withdrawal often results in severe depression and paranoia.”

According to the Herald, research showed that regular users under the age of 25 lose control while under the influence 31 per cent said they had a car crash, 60 per cent had unprotected sex and 57 per cent had passed out.

We are in a country with a serious problem. Held captive by a drug threatening tomorrow’s generation. Is this the face of New Zealand’s future? Let’s hope not. Some trends are not meant to be followed.



Links
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Fight Against P website - http://fightagainstp.com/main/what_is_meth.php

Herald coverage, an overview of the current situation - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/pharmaceuticals/news/article.cfm?c_id=278&objectid=10572572

Investigative article written by John McCrone - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/361253

Finally!

A decision has been reached, and the topic for the two blog posts will be Teenage drug use in New Zealand. More specifically, Teenage P use in New Zealand. I've been reading up about it and whats come up is extremely concerning. This drug doesn't just effect the person taking it. It has, or could have, serious implications for all those around them as well. It has attributed to some of the biggest crime cases the country has seen in the past couple of years, broken the lives of many people, and destroyed families. The use by young people is increasing, and with that the rate of offences. Websites such as Fight against P and FADE have been set up to provide information on how to spot the signs that someone may be using, and what to do if they are. It is a concern. It needs to be addressed. This should be interesting!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

still going!

Alright, so apparently the type of blog I was thinking about is not the type of blog we are supposed to be writing as part of our assessment for class - perhaps that is a good thing. Apparently, it's supposed to be like an editorial rather than a personal opinion. Something with evidence of research.

As it's probably easy to see I still haven't figured out what I'm going to base these blogs on. There's so much to choose from! Might have to hit "I'm feeling lucky" button on the google search engine and see what comes back - could be interesting.

Speaking of interesting, - and changing the focus of this blog entry completely - on Monday I was in Wellington for a planning day meeting of the Commission on Communications. It was the second time I've managed to make it to one of its meetings since being elected on in May last year. - The first time that the two "newly elected" Maori delegates have managed to show up as well. - It became, by the end an interesting meeting that one. We got through a lot of discussions, managed to agree on a way forward, and even started looking at goals for the future. Overall, it was a success. However, like most other things, just how successful is something that can only become apparent with time. Lets hope in five years this thing is where we want it to be - and not just a case of where we've let it get to.

Friday, May 8, 2009

It has begun

Apparently, now that I have a blog up and running, I'm supposed to be using it to post about stuff relevant to a topic with the inclusion of at least two hyperlinks. Which is something I would do, if I knew what topic I was blogging about. Something to do with the media - Definitely...but what?

And so it begins...

I could go for Politics - National finally living up to New Zealands expectations by turnning Auckland into a Super City? Possibly, although people get enough of politics as it is in their normal everyday life. (I know I do.)

New Zealand Police - A waste of recources? Harsh call, but something worth thinking about.

or,

New Zealand Police - They'll get the job done, one way or another... At least with that angle it doesn't appear as though I'm just being extremely critical (bordering on cynical) of our national police force.

How about the justice system? - David Bain enters what? Week seven or eight of his retrial after how many years?? That could be interesting. It could also lead to long winded-ness and honestly does the world really need any more of that? I think not!

Maybe the health system - Swine flu anyone?

Wait, Ive got it, why not just base it on New Zealand Government? Then that would encapsulate everything mentioned above wouldn't it? Somewhat tragic though, having to resort back to something everyone can pull to shredds.

Well that brought up a whole lot of nothing. I shall endevour to keep this updated (would be a bit of a shame to think'd I set this up with no intention of upkeep or maintainence). As I am sure something will come up eventually - it's going to have to, the assessments due in a couple of weeks! - but until it does, this shall be my thinking space. Time to stop being lazy (as it is so easy to do) and start asking questions. Time to be, as Gail would say, a "(active) contributer". <- Look that only took a year and a half to sink in!