Weird Beginnings and Bittersweet Beowulf

In case you hadn't noticed I really like books. I don't consider myself an expert or even a connoisseur, I just really like books. This semester I finally decided to go ahead and take a class at university called Great Books but when I saw the list of books we were yoked into reading I was more than a little disappointed. Luckily my disappointment proved misplaced and far from being a yoke, the books turned out to be a really good read....mostly. I think I understand why we had to read the book of Genesis and bits of it were actually interesting but geez those lineage lists were cumbersome and so boring and what was the deal with the weird wrestling match and the tendon on the inside of Jacob's thigh?

Anywho, the book we're currently reading has salvaged my respect for our heroic course convenor who gets up each week and patiently shares his educated insights with a class of nitwits, my band of brothers. Believe it or not I'm enjoying Beowulf. However surprised you are, I'm certain there's no one more surprised than me. It's beautifully written and I suspect that it will serve as the benchmark against which all other books will be compared. I feel spoiled but it's bittersweet: I'm not sure I can go back to the light reading of modern detective novels and actually enjoy them properly.

Journos - Can't Live With Em, Can't Live Without Em

I was walking past the TV earlier this evening and heard a journalist reporting a story about a refugee from Sierra Leone, he was all of 18 years old and his parents had been murdered. It was a sad story but the part that struck me was the journalist's reportage of the boy's life in Sierra Leone. I found it a little insensitive. Admittedly she was trying to do a piece on refugees in Australia and how much better their lives are now but she seemed to tear apart every single detail of that boy's pre-refugee existence. Even the stuff that might have actually been okay. She almost mocked the school he went to, calling it tiny and alluding to its resemblance to a stack of fibro boxes. I am sure that his life here in Australia is more comfortable but that boys friends studied with him in those fibro boxes and I bet he has some happy memories from his past there too. I didn't stick around for the rest of the documentary but I hope that journalist redeemed herself before the end of it.

A Moment Over the Ocean

Recent events have lead me back to my bookshelf and the unopened book my Grandmother sent years ago, Evangeline by Longfellow. My grandfather recently pass away and both grandparents are in my thoughts a lot these days. When I opened the book, I discovered a little card tucked in the pages. The paper was gorgeous, printed up to look like a little patchwork quilt of some sort and on the front my name had been written in my grandmother's handwriting. In the card she wrote about our family origins in Louisiana and and linked it with Evangeline, the poem by Longfellow. She hoped that I would love it as she does. I'm not sure whether she means the book in particular or the poem but I'm guessing she means the poem. So I decided to open my mind to Longfellow for my Grandmother's sake and read the poem so dear to her heart. I still haven't read it all, it is a long poem, but I have read a part of it and I can see why my grandmother loves it. Its more a story than a poem. It is whimsical and quite poetic but rather than evaluate each line I went ahead and just read it and I quickly got a feel for the forest in Acadie. I could hear the ocean far away and almost smell the trees. I'm not going to rush in and finish it now though, I'm going to savour each part, reading it slowly. It'll be like sharing a little something with Grandma. Gaining a little insight into her world from the other side of the world.

The Bookshelf

So I've finished with uni for the semester and all the good TV shows have finished for the season. Now I'm feeling a little lost. What do I do with all this free time in the evenings? I'm not a party animal, the weather is too cold to be going out exercising and I've read all the books in my house. Except two. Hmmm. The first one was sent to me by my Grandmother in California. Its a book of poems by Longfellow called Evangeline. I've never been into poetry especially. I means its all very romantic and whimsical but who actually understands it other than the writer. Poems seem to require large amounts of analysis to understand them. A definite turn-off for me. This is the reason I placed the book in my bookshelf without reading it. To be fair I put it on the special shelf. The shelf in my office where I keep all the books that have meant something to me over the years. It's a bit sentimental I suppose but it always makes me smile when I catch a glimpse of the books on that special shelf. I know that if I were to go over and explore it I would find not only books but memories of people, love and life. So that's where I put the book from my Grandmother. I placed it between The Deerslayer and a Nancy Drew book, The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk. The former, by James Fenimore Cooper, was my dad's favorite book and the latter, by Carolyn Keene, was the first book I ever read. With this in mind it's a pretty important position on the bookshelf.

The Stranger Piece

I've been studying for a Sociology exam and got a little distracted by George Simmel's definition of the stranger.  Perhaps Simmel's 'stranger' explains why the new girl always seems so popular. Simmel expands on his basic definition with the idea that strangers are more objective than others in a group - they are in the group but not of it - because of this they are often accepted easily as an open-minded confidant. The thing is, I moved around a lot as a kid so I'm always cautious with new people, I'm not the sort to use strangers as confidants. Maybe New Girl senses this and has misinterpreted my caution as nonacceptance. Or perhaps I'm misinterpreting my nonacceptance as caution. Something to ponder.

Intro Piece

So here I am, a student journalist, contemplating the competitive nature of the profession I have chosen to study. There are so many journalists out there. How can I make a difference? What's the point of this profession if we can't make a difference?

I'm a 35 year old mother of two, wife of one, mature-aged student, considering the meaning of life. Not exactly a rip-roarin bio but I'm comfortable here. I don't have an amazing career to go back to now that my kids are a little more independent but I do feel good when I'm writing. So here I am - feelin good.

So Long And Thanks For All The Fish

Well this is the last official post for my NCT class. I hope I haven't gotten carried away. I think this is my 18th post in 14 or so weeks. Is that too many? Is it too few? Am I too neurotic? I guess at this point its too late to really worry about it. I have enjoyed this class. When talking to classmates about the subject I have gotten mixed responses but I think it is a really interesting summation of how the different technologies throughout history have converged to bring us our version of modern technology and mass media. I had no idea what the textbook title "From Broadcast to Narrowcast" meant when I bought it so I feel I've learned a lot. I really hated the first few chapters of the book and that put me off for the rest of the semester to be honest. I skimmed through bits and pieces but only really picked it up and read it in preparation for the exam. Then of course I was disappointed that I hadn't read more of it throughout the semester because it was really interesting. If we had skipped those chapters and stuck them in somewhere else (no suggestions about where) I probably would have been more inclined to actually read more of the text. The whole "convergence as a dialectic" and "political economy of communication" was a bit too much for me so early on in the class. I just didn't get it. The class overall has really opened my eyes up to the possibilities in journalism and made me think about where the industry is going. It has also made me more comfortable expressing my written thoughts publicly (even though only a few people will ever read it) through the blog experience. I've shared a little piece of myself with the universe. Thanks for your help Adam.

Copyright vs Copyleft: Life Without Microsoft

I enjoyed Adam's lecture this morning about open source software as opposed to proprietary software. I hadn't ever heard of Gnu/Linux much less used it but I definitely like the sound of it. Primer confused me but I found the rehashing of the time travel parody surprisingly interesting. Especially after Adam's lecture spouting the glories of Gnu/Linux: as much as we resent and criticise Microsoft and its proprietary software regime, one has to wonder if it was the advent of these very programs which provided the catalyst for a more basic/user-friendly open source program such as Gnu/Linux. Any thoughts out there? Anywhere? Anyone?

Microsoft Excel

I've never considered myself to be computer literate but I generally feel that I am able to navigate around basic programs fairly easily. Not today. I had some difficulty with the excel spreadsheet exercises. Its definitely a case of operator error rather than computer error in this case though. This task was interesting because, while I have used the very simple excel applications before, I have never had the opportunity (or the inclination) to delve any further than the standard equations. I certainly never realised it could create colourful graphs. I can definitely see how it would be useful in organising household finances, though the idea of an expenditure graph frightens me.

Global Citizenship

More rambling thoughts inspired by my textbook readings:

As a dual citizen of the United States and Australia I often feel torn between my allegience to either country. Amid the tension and turmoil that is racism throughout the United States there is one thing that seems to bind American people together - patriotism. The pride that goes with being an American citizen. The intensity of it is matched in only a few countries around the world. So as a US citizen I have that pride, like or lump it. Unfortunately, during the Bush administration that pride fits more in the lump it category. It is difficult for many to separate Americanism from the often menacing global policies of its government. For this reason I am occassionally inclined to be silent for fear of being pigeon-holed as a result of my accent. Unfortunately, Australia doesn't offer a very robust option in the way of patriotism.

I've decided rather than choosing Australian or American patriotism I prefer the idea of global patriotism. Sound like a greenie? Not really - its certainly not my intention. While I am interested in preserving and protecting our earth what I'm talking about goes beyong conservation. Its a very naive and idealistic approach to patriotism. Global citizenship - respecting and appreciating different cultures, ideas and religions without the need to change, erradicate or possess them. Not a new concept but one that I like and one that I hope I can pass on to my children (along with a healthy Earth of course).

No Such Thing as Freedom of Speech

I've started reviewing our textbook, Communication and New Media, and comparing the lecture notes with the "appropriate" required readings for each week and I must say that I am completely confused. I'm into chapter five and looked over the lecture notes for week five and they don't match up. So, do I focus my review on the book or on the lecture notes?

On a completely different tack I was reading the bit on page 88 about poor Upton Sinclair. The passionate and disgruntled left-wing journalist who wrote The Brass Check in 1920. The basic idea running through the Brass Check seems to be the sell out (or prostitution as Sinclair implies) of journalism to big business. This brought to mind a talk I attended earlier this year at the Somerset Celebration of Literature. It was called "Freedom of Speech: The Highs and Lows of Journalism". It was led by journalist/writers Phil Brown, Karen Brooks, and Michael Jacobson. One of the first statements thrown out was "there's no such thing as freedom of speech as a journalist" which immediately peaked my curiosity and made me realise that my idea of journalism is too idealistic to be realistic. It seems Sinclair was right on the money after all. There were a lot of little journalistic philosophies given at the talk such as: "if it bleeds it leads" and "if in doubt leave it out" and repeated twice: "people should think about what they say rather than say what they think", but I found Karen Brooks' thought especially endearing. As a columnist, while she doesn't always agree 100% with what she writes, she sometimes writes an article to evoke thought and response. In my little idealistic world I think that's what more journalism should be about. Less propaganda and more thought provoking.

Perhaps the internet will help pave the way for this type of journalism - but will it put food on the table?

Anyway, back to the drudgery that is our textbook.

Microsoft Word

I didn't have any real problems with this tutorial assignment. I have a background in office work so I had a general idea of how to navigate around the Microsoft Word program. Most of my work has been on specialised medical programs though so the tutorial did highlight some issues I hadn't come into contact with before such as tracking changes to a document and the mail merge. I had fun with this task. I did not attend the tutorial this week so when I had problems I had to rely on the "Help" function offered in the program and this did manage to get me out of trouble. I think this tutorial task has been helpful and I will definitely track the changes I make to my next academic essay.

NCT Academic Essay

Digital Literacy – Destruction or Evolution of English Language?

From the battle of Edington where the Wessex of Alfred the Great fought for the kingdom of England and the survival of the English language in 878 (Hindley, 2006), to Shakespeare’s verse to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, it’s quite a journey. It’s clear that the English language is always evolving. The world is getting smaller, borders are becoming blurred and language is allowing for this. Does it allow for technology though? Is digital literacy simply another chapter in the evolution of the English language? It is obvious that digital literacy has impacted the English language over the last ten years however this paper will focus its discussion on whether that impact has been positive or negative and whether those influences will have a long-term evolutionary impact on the English language.

Throughout history the question of language evolution has been directed at correct usage of words and the evolution of meanings, interpretation and, when deemed irrelevant, the extinction of entire words. Bruce's literary transformations diagram (Bruce, 1998) demonstrates that, from primitive symbol systems to virtual reality, every transformation or evolution in the development of literacy has been driven by a development in technology (Guest 2002). Text messages, as a new technology, however involve the omission of punctuation and capital letters, intentional misspellings, and essentially creating a hodge-podge of letters, symbols and numbers to convey an idea.

While there are those who believe text messaging is negatively impacting the English language, Gibson’s affordance theory offers an alternative perspective. This affordance theory explicates that in any setting the usage of an object is limited only by the affordances given to it by its user (Gibson, 1979). A spoon affords eating. Water affords drinking and bathing, but also drowning (Maybin & Swann, 2006). The affordance theory extends to symbols and words as well. Their use is only limited to the creativity or inventiveness of their user. Gibson’s affordance theory also transcends English and is relative to all languages.

A recent study of text-messaging Hong Kong university students showed a percentage of students mixed the traditional language of Chinese with English words when sending text messages, creating a language they call “Singlish” (no, this word is not in your spell checker). The same study noted that most Hong Kong students found it easier to send a text message in English than in Chinese (Lin, 2005). With this in mind perhaps text messaging is actually lengthening the scope of the English language.

The Dictionary of the Future features a definition of thumb-typing which blames text messages for the possible evolution of “curiously small fingertips” over the next million years, but not the evolution of English language. This dictionary’s definition for texting includes the creation “of new social patterns and habits, as well as new language and lingo, as we struggle to compress our communication to fit into the 26-character limit” (Popcorn and Hanft, 2001). By this definition then, rather than simply evolving or inspiring creativity within the English language, texting is introducing a new language complete with jargon and lingo. The Hong Kong students’ Singlish is a perfect example of this.

Courier Mail journalist, Melanie Christiansen, tells us of a new English syllabus being introduced in Queensland schools. The new syllabus will include digital literacy in addition to the three R's. Leading the charge for digital literacy is Professor McWilliam who says "When a young person writes 'c u l8r', you can either look at it as bad spelling or as an impressive short messaging capacity. In the digital world being able to communicate quickly is essential; sometimes spelling can get in the way." (Christiansen, 2007).

Many disagree, mainly parents, with the decision to include digital literacy in the school syllabus. They believe the existence of digital literacy in the syllabus detracts from the traditional curriculum where the emphasis is on reading and writing using proper sentence structure and correct spelling.

Digital literacy has already had a perceptible impact on the writing skills of many recent university graduates, with an obvious decline in the writing skills of IT graduates in particular. Ben Reeves, president of the Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE) blames this decline on the fact that email and text messages are often the main form of written communication for many recent graduates, especially those in the IT industry (O’Keefe, 2006). An introduction of a course requiring a more formal writing style into the IT syllabus could be the answer for these students.

Linguistics professor Crystal believes text messages have had a positive impact on language and have even contributed to its enhancement. He says text message expressions have done more than just add to constructions of the English language and the roughly 200,000 words in common use today. " They extend the range of the language, the expressiveness... the richness of the language," (Ulaby, 2006).

Among so much debate it seems that digital literacy is not the destruction or the evolution of the English language. While text messaging may be a new technology, instead of transforming or evolving English, I believe it is simply creating a new jargon or slang. Digital literacy fits all the characteristics of slang. “Its rejection of formal rules, its comparative freshness, common ephemerality, and its marked use to claim solidarity”, as well as establishing a person’s social identity (Spolsky, 1998) make it more closely related to slang than formal English.

Digital literacy is here to stay like it or not. Its unobtrusive, quick and easy usage of language has assured its longevity. Whether using complete words or witty abbreviations, it’s difficult to surpass its ability to connect intimately to another person without verbal or body language. Evolution or the creation of a new language – either way it means change and change is the one thing guaranteed to make many uncomfortable. The impact of digital literacy on the future evolution of the English language remains to be seen.

REFERENCES

Bruce, B. (1998, May 6th 2007). "New Literacies." from http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=/electronic/jaal/Sept_Column.html.

Christiansen, M. (2007). Can't spell, can text? gr8 m8! The Courier Mail. Brisbane. March 29th 2007.

Gibson, J. J. (1979). The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, Publishers.

Guest, P. (2002, May 4th 2007). "Teaching English in the Digital Age." Literacy transformations, 2007, from http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/centres/sc/guest.htm.

Hindley, G. (2006). A Brief History of The Anglo-Saxons. New York, Carroll & Graf Publishers.

Lin, A. (2005). "Mobile text-messaging among Hong Kong College Students." Fibreculture Retrieved April 25th 2007, from http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue6/issue6_lin.html.

Maybin, J. and J. Swann (2006). The Art of English: Everyday Creativity. Glasgow, UK, Palgrave MacMillan.

O'Keefe, B. (2006). "Gen Y's Written Skills Fall Short." Retrieved April 2007, from http://www.careerone.com.au/jobs/job-search/pid/1630?matrix=1141682488822.

Popcorn, F. and A. Hanft (2001). Dictionary of the FUTURE. New York, Hyperion New York

Spolsky, B. (1998). Sociolinguistics. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Ulaby, N. (2006). "OMG: IM Slang Is Invading Everyday English." Digital Culture Weekend Edition, Sat Feb 18th 2006. Retrieved 5th May, 2007, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5221618.

Internet Field Trip

After logging in to ActiveWorlds I accidentally caught a glimpse of my avatar and was shocked to discover that I was ugly. I wandered around for a while and discovered that there were quite a few people who looked exactly the same and few, if any, of them were communicating. Fellow virgin, cheapskate ActiveWorldonians?

While wandering I pondered Adam's question about the differences between regular IM programs and the 3D environment. It seems to me that a better question would be to find the similarities. They are very different. They both allow a person to communicate however IM doesn't allow a person to get lost in the fantasy of creating a whole new persona complete with name, hairdo and funky clothes. The 3D environment allows a person to be less inhibited, to try new things, behave in ways they wouldn't be comfortable behaving in the physical world without huge consequences. Its a form of escapism. IM programs are great for everyday use. I think they're used in a different way with different purposes to a 3D environment. IM is generally used between people who already know each other as a form of basic communication. It doesn't allow for body language or any form of visual communication.

Apparently its possible to play games, chat with strangers and morph to different worlds. My attention span doesn't allow for all that carry on. Call me old fashioned but I'd still prefer to speak to solid, physical people. I appreciate the attraction of these different worlds for some people but I really don't have enough time to explore them in depth. Maybe in another life!

So, where might this 3D application lead us you ask. Well its an interesting question and honostly I don't know the answer. Perhaps we'll end up with square eyes and permanently attatched to a computer via a portal in our belly button, slowly evolving into computers ourselves.

Playing with photoshop

This is my rather dismal attempt to edit photos on photoshop. I prefer Ryan to the fish though.

Tutorial Task - Catch of the Day

Now all she needs a fry pan big enough. Okay, so you've seen this sort of thing before. If you've ever been to Pisa you were probably photographed holding that leaning tower up with one finger. This is along the same lines. Thought it was kinda silly - I mean its a big fish for god's sake. I think it fits into the unconventional category.

Tutorial Task - Photos (family)

This is the first photo from my tutorial task of posting unedited photos to my blog. It fits neatly into the family category. Its a picture of my husband, Karl, with our two boys, Aiden and Ryan, while on holiday at Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch. From the look on their faces the kids need a nap.

Do you like my new hat? Another unedited photograph of my family. This is Ryan with Dziadek (Polish for grandfather, pronounced Jadek) celebrating his second birthday. Looks like they both need a nap.

And My Money Was On the Chicken!

Admittedly I expected to be bored silly at today's lecture on video games but it was surprisingly interesting. Contrary to what Adam thought I had never heard the statistic that the video game industry was more lucrative than the film industry. I also liked the comment made by one of the students that Pac Man was his favorite video game. Nice to know the classics have stood the test of time though there was no mention of my personal favorite, Frogger.

At one point during the lecture I was wondering what video games have to do with communication technology. I've always considered video games to be rather antisocial and the antithesis of communication. Adam answered that question for me when he told us that video games have been "intertwined with the development of computer technology". Interesting. So which came first, Adam - the chicken or the egg?

Digital Literacy - Destruction or Evolution of the English Language?

I've chosen to write my academic essay on digital literacy, specifically text messaging, in relation to its impact on the English language. Is this impact simply part of the natural process of evolution or is it slowly eroding the English language?

Text messaging has become a phenomena over the last few years probably due to its ability to transcend many age or literacy barriers. However, in an age where time itself is a huge commodity people are cutting corners when text messaging, leaving out letters and punctuation marks that aren't deemed necessary to get their ideas across. Herein lies the problem. Text messaging has become so much a part of our everyday lives that many believe it is changing, and even destroying, the English language. If a person doesn't know how to spell a word it really doesn't matter when sending a text message. Capital letters? Irrelevant. Apostrophes? No chance. Also worth mentioning is the fact that text messaging is especially popular with our youngest citizens. The future of the English language is in their hands and many don't seem to have a clue how to use it properly. Or do they?

Courier Mail journalist, Melanie Christiansen, tells us of a new English syllabus being introduced in Queensland schools. The new syllabus will include digital literacy in addition to the three R's. Leading the charge for digital literacy is Professor McWilliam who says "When a young person writes 'c u l8r', you can either look at it as bad spelling or as an impressive short messaging capacity. In the digital world being able to communicate quickly is essential; sometimes spelling can get in the way."

Many disagree, mainly parents, with the decision to include digital literacy in the school syllabus. They believe the existence of digital literacy in the syllabus detracts from the traditional curriculum where the emphasis is on reading and writing using proper sentence structure and correct spelling.

Journalist, John Richards, became so frustrated with the obvious decline in the use of the apostrophe that he decided to start a club called the Apostrophe Protection Society. Their website is designed to educate those who don't know how or when to use the punctuation mark. Mr Richard states "The little apostrophe deserves our protection. It is indeed a threatened species!" http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/chairman.htm

Tutorial Task - Scavenger Hunt

1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin?
Ron Wallace's pumpkin weighed in at1502 pound at the Frerichs Farm GPC on Oct 7, 2006.
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/

2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Grant Hackett?

Access his blog: http://granthackett.bigblog.com.au/index.do

3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?

They have long tongues that measure 18-21 inches long. The inner part of the tongue is pink in color, and then changes to a purplish-black color for the last 6 inches that are commonly visible.

http://www.cmzoo.org/giraffeinfo.html

4. How would you define the word 'ontology'? In your own words, what does it really mean ?

The world ontology has many applications. In the communications sense its basically a system of categorising all the concepts, properties and/or objects in a certain field. Possibly a system of breaking down an idea or concept by labelling and classifying individual bits, parts or ideas to determine what makes it whole or how it works.
http://www.answers.com/topic/ontology-computer-science?method=6

5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film?
The director's first feature film slithered onscreen in 1975. "Shivers" (aka "The Parasite Murders" and "They Came From Within") is the story of a parasite, designed to help ailing human organs, that goes out of control with sickening results.
http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/11/30/cronenberg/

6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?
small essay written January 8th 1986 by Lloyd Blankenship, a hacker who went by the pseudonym of The Mentor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto

7. Why do all phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?
At one time, phone companies actually offered a service that helped the movie and TV industries come up with realistic-sounding dead phone numbers, but they reportedly ran out of them. Now, most of the time, the entertainment industry still falls back on 555, which was officially set aside for it in 1973. There is no real phone number beginning with 555.
http://www.eonline.com/print/index.jsp?uuid=15c80ea6-9c1f-4c67-8f5f-6af2efaf7145&contentType=answerBitch

8. What is the cheapest form of travel from Crete to Rhodes?
I'm gonna go ahead and guess boat rather than plane. The Bottom Line on Greek Ferries - Have lots of time and energy but not much money? Greek ferries are great, off-season or high-season. http://gogreece.about.com/od/hydrofoilsferries/a/greeceferries.htm

9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?
I'll Never Find Another You by The Seekers
http://www.onmc.iinet.net.au/topspot/1965.htm

10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?
Stephen played keyboard for Brisbane punk band, the Black Assassins
http://www.griffith.edu.au/search/search.cgi?collection=griffith&query=Stephen+Stockwell++band