Topic 8- Technology and Media [2]

Is there a possibility to reshape the (new) culture today via new technology, How?

Yes, possibilities are endless for this, as cultures have been ever evolving side-by-side with technology at the time since the old ages, and it won't be different now and in future. Consider the fact that in this age, people are starting to multitask and want things instantly. Technology is accomodating this need all the time. New graphic card models, bigger memory drives or faster processors are being built and created everyday. However, in the long term, human's yearning for more face to face communication and slower paced lifestyle will return. Fatigue might develop from juggling too many work at the same time and having to push self to work faster and faster.

Besides, entertainment can now be obtained one click away. It's never been easier compared to now where compact and light music players can be carried around. Not to mention, the ever-increasing memory space for more and more songs allows you to transfer all your favourite songs to listen to. Besides, energy capacity is higher, allowing you to listen to music throughout the day and even overnight. From walkmans, it evolves to CDplayers as tape casettes is replaced by Compact Discs, mp3 player, ipods, and so on.

"Human culture and technology are continually co-evolving in a dynamic relationship. All technologies develop in a particular cultural context as the result of changing needs or constraints. But once developed, a technology changes the culture that gave it birth. When a technology spreads to another culture, the cultural context affects the speed or way in which the technology is adopted and how it is used. The diffusion of technologies to other cultures changes those other cultures as well. The changes in culture that one technology creates may then influence the development of another or different technology.”

http://fubini.swarthmore.edu/~ENVS2/S2003/Amanda/Paper2technologyculture.htm

The future is hard to predict as they're many factors that depends on each other.
In conclusion, technology that is created based on culture, will form another culture.

Topic 8- Technology and Media [1]

It’s typical for a new technology to be adapted within a culture and used to support existing patterns of behavior. With your own relevant examples, answer these questions.

What kind of culture influences through technology can you see from today’s world?

Plastic surgery can be tracked along the history all the way back in 2'000 B.C. It was mainly focused on reconstructing and repairing the body.

According to Wikipedia
Reconstructive Plastic Surgery is performed to correct functional impairments caused by:

-burns
-traumatic injuries, such as facial bone fractures
-congenital abnormalities, such as cleft lip, or cleft palate
-developmental abnormalities
-infection or disease
-removal of cancers or tumours, such as a mastectomy for a breast cancer, a head and neck cancer and an abdominal invasion by a colon cancer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgery

Physical appearance is highly influential and regardless of other positive qualities, looks give first impression. Beauty is highly sought after as people [with sight] prefers things with aesthatic qualities; not just in a person's looks, but also in art, architecture, and so on. With good looks, it is a plus, even in career.
Self-consciousness and yearning to change one's appearance at will creates a particular demand for such services.

With new tools and methods being developed, technology for plastic surgery is applied in cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery is enhancement or maintenance of physical aesthetism. Since the 20th century, cosmetic surgery mushroomed throughout the U.S.A.. Throughout the world, people who can afford the service will turn to cosmetic surgery as easy way out.People in this fast-paced age want things as soon as possible or instantly. Even heavy weight sufferers opt for liposuction instead of adapting a heathier lifestyle to lose weight fast.

The number of cosmetic surgeries performed in the United States has increased over 50 percent since the start of the century. Nearly 12 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in 2007, with the five most common being breast augmentation, liposuction, nasal surgery, eyelid surgery and abdominoplasty.The increased use of cosmetic surgery crosses racial and ethnic lines in the U.S., with increases seen among African-Americans and Hispanic Americans as well as Caucasian Americans. In Europe, the second largest market for cosmetic procedures, cosmetic surgery is a $2.2 billion business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgery#Cosmetic_surgery

With more and more people undergoing cosmetic surgery, there'll be people with similar desired features, causing lack of uniqueness amongst individuals. If this goes on, inner beauty will shine after all; as looks does matter, but differences between individuals will rely on one's personality and capability.

Week 11 Reflection.

Been a very stressful week. The week started with Media Culture lecture.
Ms Helena was having sorethroat during the lecture. Pity her especially when the kids at the back are inconsiderately noisy. Hope she is well now. Anyways, this lecture relates us to the age we're born in, the information age. So we're supposedly have mild ADD symptom or something that we can't focus on something that's non-moving. Okay i have to oppose that part cos many of us still love to read books. and we CAN pay attention to lectures. [especially us girls at the front row. ignore the ones at the back... they're just.... no comment] Anyways, the video shown to us was jawdropping!!! XDDDD Most of us were envious at the free iphone for every student of the campus and everything is so convenient. T_T... sigh... no such luck for us.

The part about chinese invented gunpowder for uses in firecrackers / flamed arrows and such; and the westerns sees it as potential to create deadlier weapons. I understand this cultural need shift.. erm.. was it paradigm? I forgot the term. Things happen for a reason, and it leads to another thing. ok.. I don't make any sense. All in all, it was an interesting lecture.

Topic 7- Media Imperialism

The fact that Third World countries is constantly fed by Western news is destructive to the local industry and manipulating people's thoughts is unavoidable. This reliance on imported tv programmes from larger, more influential countries, especially U.S., will shape a country's culture over time. Moreover, U.S. is the largest exporter of television programmes. As a result, other countries' media content is largely influenced. Fabricated news and content affects viewers' knowledge about what is truly happening in the world, mostly for the main force's interests. This is also known as "cultural synchronization" which leads to "cultural compromise"

A man, who can see the effect of media beyond his time, accurately put this by :

Societies are shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate
than by the content of the communication

(Marshall McLuhan)

Television, for better or worse, has made the world smaller for the Inuit people and for all Canadians. It is our TV viewing that shapes our understanding of the world and ourselves. However, it is saturated with U.S. influence and media imperialism. How much television has affected our culture and sovereignty is yet to be seen. Only time will tell.

http://records.viu.ca/~soules/mtheory/vol2/woods3.htm

Topic 7- Media Imperialism

The video "The Power of Nightmares (Part 3 - Shadow in the Cave)" by Adam Curtis shows an example of media imperialism. This BBC documentary invoke fear in the people after 9/11 event by making false statements and accounts of empty harmless caves in arab to be arabian's underground fortress, innocent teenager's recording in Disneyland as a video to find spots for bomb-planting, and etc. The influential force fabricated the news to achieve certain motives for their own advantage, instead of giving truth to the fearful public. This video raised questions about who is the real terrorist after the 9/11 incident. Main forces control over media causes people to be fed with fake information. The worst thing is, people tend to rely on the news at crucial times like that, as they were more cautious. The public have fear inside them all the time, even when walking along the street, fearing their own safety and also of their loved ones. Media imperialism is all about how people's thoughts and culture is dominated by influential people as they control output of media.


These are a few posts about the truth behind the Iraqi war

President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.

It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to Al Qaeda. This was the conclusion of numerous bipartisan government investigations, including those by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (2004 and 2006), the 9/11 Commission, and the multinational Iraq Survey Group, whose "Duelfer Report" established that Saddam Hussein had terminated Iraq's nuclear program in 1991 and made little effort to restart it.

President Bush, for example, made 232 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and another 28 false statements about Iraq's links to Al Qaeda. Secretary of State Powell had the second-highest total in the two-year period, with 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq's links to Al Qaeda. Rumsfeld and Fleischer each made 109 false statements, followed by Wolfowitz (with 85), Rice (with 56), Cheney (with 48), and McClellan (with 14).

http://projects.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/

The president said that while the administration never "said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated" with Iraqi help, "we did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda."

"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda [is] because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda," Bush said.

In the lead-up to the Iraq war, Bush made stronger statements alleging cooperation between Iraq and al Qaeda.

In a October 2002 speech he said, "Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/06/18/russia.warning/index.html

Topic 7- Media Imperialism

Topic 7:
The documentary entitled "The Power of Nightmares (Part 3 - Shadow in the Cave)" by Adam Curtis was shown in class on Monday. How do you relate the information given to you in the documentary to the theory of Media Imperialism that we talked about in lecture?


The Power of Nightmares - The Shadows in the Cave 3 of 6



http://www.wanttoknow.info/powerofnightmares

Week 10 Reflection

Was too preoccupied the night before with DF for Tuesday's 2nd assessment. So.. I overslept. -bows- Accidental.

The video "The Power of Nightmares" part 3 - The Shadows in the Cave was really interesting, and I can relate it to the influence of media world when it is monopolised or controlled. Large / powerful organizations can control the content of media, causing biased news and commercials. This is a common thing happening in the world now. I'll definitely watch the rest of the 6 parts of the power of nightmares after this.

Topic 6- McLuhan's "Tetrad of Media" on Instant Messenging

I have chosen to explain the effects of instant messaging on society using the “Tetrad of Media” theory by McLuhan.

Instant messaging are an extension of the human mouth because they are a tool of conversation. Its method of communication is through text.

The 4 laws of the of the Tetrad, phrased into questions, are:

What is enhanced?

Instant messaging (IM) enhances communication without any charge. It is convenient for fast-paced society as we can still chat with friends eventhough we are busy. We can catch up with multiple people at a time. IM also promotes socializing with clients or potential partners amongst workers while accomplishing task at hand. IM appears to satisfy our needs to connect with our loved ones.

What is made obsolete?
However, IM affects communication in real life, as quick and prompt texting still allows time to think of a response or editing it before hitting "SEND". With IM easily accessible, people seldom receive/make a call anymore unless the person is "offline". Personally, I've sent instant messages to my roomate, especially when we're both listening to music through headphones. This clearly shows how IM reduces "face-to-face oral communication". And no, that doesn't include having personal photo as IM avatar. IM distorts reality as a person might not have the same personality in real life compared to online persona. Not only that, written letters sent though the postal service is made obsolete in this information age.


What is retrieved that had been made obsolete earlier?
The new opportunities created by growth of IM is how people yearn for physical contact and oral communication with loved ones. As people get tired and confused with IM which the text language is increasing in abbreviations, people prefer a proper conversation. In a way, all the emotes of "hugs" or "mwah" does not satisfy human's longing for physical show of affection.

What is reversed when pushed to extremes?
The over-extension of IM will lead to increase in real life catching up or oral commucation.




References:
http://www.indranet.org/
http://www.masternewmedia.org
http://socialmediatrader.com

Week 9 Reflection

Today Mr Radzi Bedu gave us more details about the Assignment2- to write an abstract of maximum 800 words on Role of Media in Socializing; Discuss the human needs that the Media help satisdy in terms of News and Entertainment, which i had already finished. This time, he said that we have to use theories from week 1 - 12 lecture. That made me worry because I did not check whether the theory i used was in lecture. Fortunately, Mr. Radzi approved it but I still need to include list of references and resubmit. The lecture was interesting, but some parts he was too fast and his words are slurred and quick. I was intrigued by "The Media is the Massage".
I really thought it was a typo, till I read "mess age, message, mass age and massage". Really interesting. That a mistake by typewriter can turn into conveying his message perfectly. "Massage as man pummeled /molded? by media"

Topic 6- Media Effects Using McLuhan's "Tetrad of Media"

Using McLuhan's "Tetrad of Media" (see diagram below), choose a medium or media application or tool (e.g. newspaper, books, radio, tv, film, internet, computer games, handphone, instant messaging, blogging, online advertising, youtube, facebook etc.) and explain its media effects? Please refer to Week 9's lecture notes plus your own research to discuss this topic.


Media effects can be explored using these four McLuhan's original tetrad questions:

1) What does it extend?

2) What does it make obsolete?

3) What new opportunities does it create?

4) When it overextends, what does it reverse to?

I've attached the video below about how media is an extension of ourselves by McLuhan.

Obscenity, pornography and indecency [2]

The terms Obscenity, pornography and indecency are closely related, but they are different in ways such as:

Obscenity doesn't limit to matured content. Any act, verbally or non-verbally, that is offensive in nature in terms of religion, belief, and morals. Lewd comments or sexually suggestive acts are obscene as they are lustful. Not only that, torturing of innocent beings or acts of monstrosity that are disgustingly inhuman are offensive acts.

http://blog.hakmao.com

Obscene Interiors

South African artists Brandt Botes, aka Von Brandis

Indecency is viewed through the society, religion, or family's generally accepted standards of proper manners. The society's standard of moral acts and proper manners in old times are stricter than now. Any act that crosses the line of societal moral values will be deemed indecent. As an example, even now, Islam prohibits their female Muslim followers from joining beauty pageants as it'll mean exposing "aurat" [wrist, hair, ankles, chest area, waist navel, shape of body], especially in the swimming suit stage.

Pornography means creative works, such as painting, carving, filming, animation, drawing, etc; that contains sexual

[warning: matured content]
For example, the creative works below are pornographic material as they have sexual content or made to arouse lust.

The Cully Flaug'd

What Drudgery’s here, what Bridewell-like Correction!
To bring an Old Man, to an Insurrection.
Firk[1] on Fair Lady [,] Flaug the Fumblers Thighs [,]
Without such Conjuring th’ Devil will not rise

The work is obscene, as the work depicts matured content with views of bared private parts. The caption of the work states flogging as a sexual act that arouses men.

Lascivie

Engraving made by Agostino Carracci, Italy, 1585-1600.

credits to www.flicker.com

Obscenity, pornography and indecency [1]

Obscenity, pornography and indecency: What are the differences between these terms?

Obscenity is when a verbal or non-verbal act is offensive to others, while indecency is less so, but is still improper. Pornography is materials or works containing sexualcontents.

Obscenity

• the trait of behaving in an obscene manner
• an offensive or indecent word or phrase
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• Obscenity (in Latin obscenus, meaning "foul, repulsive, detestable")
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscenity

• Something that is obscene; An act of obscene behaviour; Specifically, an offensive word; a profanity; a dirty word
  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/obscenity

• obscene - designed to incite to indecency or lust; "the dance often becomes flagrantly obscene"-Margaret Mead
• obscene - abhorrent: offensive to the mind; "an abhorrent deed"; "the obscene massacre at Wounded Knee"; "morally repugnant customs"; "repulsive behavior"; "the most repulsive character in recent novels"
• obscene - lewd: suggestive of or tending to moral looseness; "lewd whisperings of a dirty old man"; "an indecent gesture"; "obscene telephone calls"; "salacious limericks"
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• obscene - Offensive to the current standards of decency or morality; Lewd or lustful; Disgusting or repulsive; Beyond all reason; Liable to deprave or corrupt
  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Obscene

Pornography

• creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer. It is to a certain extent similar to erotica, which is the use of sexually arousing imagery.
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography

• pornographic - designed to arouse lust; "pornographic films and magazines"; "adult movies"
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• pornographer - someone who presents shows or sells writing or pictures that are sexually explicit in violation of the community mores
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• Writing intended to provoke feelings of lust in the reader. Such works are often condemned by critics and teachers, but those which can be shown to have literary value are viewed less harshly. ...
  www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/glossary/glossary_p.htm

• Sexually explicit pictures, writing, or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal.
  www.choicesaz.org/resources/glossary/

• With the exclusion of the tasteful use of nudity in artwork, images depicting pornographic acts including intercourse, masturbation, abuse or bestiality, and/or links to pornographic or offensive websites will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
  myfolio.com/terms.php

• The explicit description or exhibition of obscene literature, art or photography, generally intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.
  www.qgcio.qld.gov.au/qgcio/resources/glossary/Pages/glossaryp.aspx

Indecency

• the quality of being indecent
• an indecent or improper act
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• lack of decency; the property or degree of being indecent; something showing lack of decency; something such as a word that is indecent
  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/indecency

• indecent - not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society; "was buried with indecent haste"; "indecorous behavior ...
• indecent - offensive to good taste especially in sexual matters; "an earthy but not indecent story"; "an indecent gesture"
• indecent - offending against sexual mores in conduct or appearance; "a bathing suit considered indecent by local standards"
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• indecent - offensive to good taste; not in keeping with conventional moral values; improper, immodest or unseemly
  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/indecent