Memories – Experience

I never really thought or researched into the theories and processes of the human memory. I always accepted it as being long-term and short-term. However, my mind has been opened and has expanded after this weeks readings. The memory to me is more to do with experience. The experiences I have in a certain environment and culture play a large part in the way I retain memories. I remember more about the experiences and the way I felt (feelings), rather than relying on technology. This is similar to the Ancient Greek philosophers who believed that technology would destroy out natural memory. For example, I find that if I am trying to learn something then it is more about the environment and what I experience in that environment that causes me to remember. I might have pages of notes that I need to understand and memorise, however I cannot simply read over the material and remember it. I need to create an experience that is different to what I do everyday. An example of this would be drawing mind maps, getting another person to test me, discussing it with another person, teaching another person and recording myself and hearing it played back to me. These experiences are more effective with helping me retain memories as compared to simply rewriting the information I need to know.

But how long will I retain theories and practices that I need to know for the course?

In my opinion the best way to remember is by involving your emotions. For example, when you are put out of your comfort zone, you tend to remember these experiences and they stick in your long term memory. If Andrew asked a student to come up to the stage in a lecture and discuss their feelings on a certain theory or practice, then they would most likely remember that for the rest of their lives. The reason for this is because it not a normal experience and has accompanied feelings of embarrassment, self-judgment, nervousness, insecurity etc. These FEELINGS are the essence in retaining long-term memories and are the reason you don’t remember things as they become routine. For example, you won’t remember how many times you have been drunk in your life, but you will remember those one or two times where you ended up…

When experiences aren’t a routine – such travelling, being in an uncomfortable position, or learning a lesson through a mistake – they tend to stick in your memory and can be retained at times.

 

What actually retains these memories?

Similar to the readings with a piece of cake, or a steps… I find that the physical things you touch, and environment you are in are a cause for memory. For example, I am sitting at uni writing this blog and before I sat down I remembered that I had coffee here with a friend the week before. This is short-term memory. Today I have added to this environment because coincidentally, writing this blog about memories, I spotted my year 12 mentor and Math teacher walk past. I haven’t seen her for 5 years and suddenly all of these memories came running back like the last day of school and my school years.

ARTS2090 FINAL: Question 4

Publishing is becoming increasingly harder to define due to the increasing platforms made available and at the speed in which these platforms are being created. Broadly, publishing can be described as producing content such as images, articles, information, music or film, and distributing it through a specific medium. This post will be describing two types of platforms and publication technologies and will highlight the changes between publishing in the pre-1900 and post-2000. Specifically, the publication technologies chosen are the pre-1900 printing press and the post-2000 social media. The impacts of these two very different ways of publishing are discussed in relation to the social relationships of their time and compared to each other; highlighting huge changes in the publishing industry over time. Focusing and expanding on examples such as the newspaper, SmartBrief and Twitter will clearly show the impacts of these varying publication technologies.  The biggest difference when comparing the social relationships of these two eras and their publication platforms are to examine the transition from the traditional platform of publication, to the digital platforms of publication we see today in contemporary society.

Johannes Gutenberg produced the printing press in the mid 15^th century. This platform for publishing created a revolution and led to the mass production of books and newspapers creating distribution and a relationship to society at the time. It was seen as an agent to change as the printing press allowed types of information to be distributed (Kreis, S. 2004). It fostered rapid development within society through the transmission of texts.  More specifically it improved human communication, allowing a rapid development and platform of distribution for the arts, sciences, religion and politics. The impact that the printing press had on society can be explained through discussing the new form of communication at the time, such as newspapers and how they changed the lifestyles of individuals and their culture.

Newspapers were one of the communication forms produced from the printing press and changed the way society was influenced as well as their mode of expression. They provided a forefront to the development of journalism and provided access for society to consume various forms of public opinion. The problem with the newspapers was that they were often funded and controlled by the political systems of that particular culture (Croteau, D. 2003). During this historical time, having political organisations handle the major contributions and opinions to the newspapers would not have presented an issue, as the societal culture was different and strictly controlled. Newspaper articles in the 19^th century were largely political publishing platforms used as a tool for assisting the political process as well as witnessing and informing society about particular events (Sloan, W. 1991). The governments during the 19^th century feared losing power to rebellion and conspiracy and therefore made attempts to keep social contribution silenced by imposing punishment and imprisonment for any false and malicious comments (Sloan, W. 1991). The newspaper, therefore, provided an impact on the social relationships between the every day citizens and those with political power. By censoring the voices of the masses of people, they were effectively under political control and were forced to consume media that could have produced biased opinions. The every day citizens had no authority to voice their own opinions or have them published because of the influential power of the newspaper media. Therefore, the social relationship that society had with the papers would have gone no further than reading the articles as they had no way of distributing their own opinions.

The reason behind censoring and imposing penalties on the general public was to stay in control and reduce the risk of social resistance. American Federalist Judge, Alexander Addison, stated, “Give to any set of men the command of the press, and you give them the command of public opinion, which commands everything”, (Copeland, D. 2010). The newspapers were important in the dissemination of information and therefore the political parties were aiming to direct the “moral compass” of people and set the agenda and the opinions for their nation (Copeland, D. 2010). This context exemplifies how different the social relationships were conducted pre-1900s as their opinions weren’t distributed and they received publications on a less regular basis. This approach has been challenged overtime and can be exemplified when contrasting to the 21^st century.

Digital publishing has evolved the publishing industry due to the creation of the Internet. It allows information to be posted and accessed efficiently with no barriers at all. The Internet itself has evolved since its introduction in the late 20^th century and Web 2.0 has created the formation of social media for the 21^st century. Social media has created its own digital community and is changing everyday as a communication tool. Within this digital society are characteristics that control social relationships. It is the social relationship with these publication platforms that lead to their success or failure. Society has contributed the success of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and blogging websites such as WordPress as it has become a social part of everyday communication. This social media movement has had a huge impact on the way society interacts with, and publishes content online.

The newspapers provided by the printing press were previously the best way to distribute information quickly to society. The distribution of articles within newspapers is still regulated within the publishing industry with editors who are selective when choosing appropriate material for their newspaper. This provides a barrier for society to communicate and voice their opinions. The relationship between society and newspapers is to do with the content published and whether or not it favoured by the consumers. Newspapers are still a profitable business and are largely managed by media conglomerates that have invested into their publications. The problem with this is that the masses of society don’t have the money to print and distribute their opinions and newsworthy information, as they don’t have the funds or the physical network. Social media has solved this problem for contemporary society and allows its publishers to post as frequently as they want, without editors telling them how and what to write.

As social media has evolved, society has adapted and changed their lifestyle due to the impact of this publishing system. There has been a major shift in the way we consume media post-2000. Society is now controlling the publishing industry and demanding what they want to read in contrast to newspapers that tell them what to read. There is so much information available to the everyday consumer that society now demands information that is relevant to them specifically. Therefore, there is a need for content aggregation to control the amount of data and direct it to the right consumer. SmartBrief are an online media publication platform that focuses on the demand for content aggregation and mobility. SmartBrief have adapted their business model to create the best social relationship with their consumers. They publish industry related information that is relevant by reading tops stories in the media and rewriting them so that the consumer gets the point of the article in less words. This is targeted towards industry professionals who need to be kept informed, however, lack the time to read excess words. SmartBrief therefore create a social relationship with their consumer in the way that it sends them publications that they have already subscribed to.

How Social Media Is Changing Publishing: A Merritt Colaizzi Interview – SmartBrief  (Stelzner, M. 2010).

Social media has become an everyday ritual for the common member in society and effectively established a strong relationship with them. It has provided everyone with the opportunity to be his or her own independent publisher. Twitter is a publishing platform defined by posting information in 140 characters or less. Society can post their opinions on a number of trending issues, or they can publish with a less serious approach by talking about what they ate for breakfast. Either way, Twitter has provided a platform for society to publish information that is not typically seen in mainstream media. Twitter provides you with an instant audience who can follow you and receive updates from you in the future. The social relationship between social media publishing platforms such as Twitter, have a strong following. There have been cases where breaking news has been published on social media before the traditional forms of media print it or broadcast it. This presents another impact of social media and how it has changed the patience of society. With the newspapers, consumers would have to wait until the next day for the printing press to publish news. There has been a shift in the social relationship of media, due to the mobility and access consumers now have to it. With Twitter, consumers of publishing are kept to date within minutes of an event, and this is what society expects.

Social media challenges the element of control in contrast to the pre-1900 publishing technology of the printing press and its newspapers. The societal culture has changed from when the government pushed censorship and controlled the information in the publications. Twitter provides the platform for any type social resistance, whether it is discussions on conspiracy or political parties.

Marshall McLuhan came up with the term, “the medium is the message”. It is used to describe how the platform of a publication influences how a message is received. The type of medium that is being used to publish a message affects society by the content delivered through the medium and the characteristics of the medium itself (McLuhan, M. 1964). This can relate to the medium of social media and how its characteristics have stimulated a relationship with society. A characteristic on Twitter involves having a 140 character limit in a “tweet”, providing the publisher with a challenge to present information in a brief, straight to the point manner. Another characteristic on Twitter would be the ability to follow other publishers and receive updates about their “tweets”. Most social media publishing platforms share the same ability to publish information, comment on other posts, and ‘tag’ other people in ones posts. McLuhan argues that all of these characteristics within the medium are what create social change and relationships.  McLuhan relates this to an example of a light bulb. A light bulb does not have any content and it “creates an environment by its mere presence” (McLuhan, M. 1964). It has a function of creating spaces during nighttime and therefore has a social impact and relationship. This can related to a newspaper or Twitter that have content being produced for the platforms but also have characteristics that share a relationship and functionality with society. For example, a newspaper is an object that society knows will educate them with the newsworthy happenings of their environment.

By creating a more interactive publishing experience with certain characteristics, and a worldwide audience, social media has been seen as a form of addiction and heavy routine. Societies relationship with social media has changed due to the introduction of technologies such as eReaders, iPads and Smartphones. All of these technologies share the common element of mobility. With the increase of mobile technology, consumers have become more dependent on using them. These mobile technologies can be used to access the social media publishing platform and create a cure for boredom or and addiction. Recent figures have been published in regards to social media access. Twitter has 465 million accounts, publishes 175 million tweets a day, and accepts 1 million new accounts a day (Bullas, J. 2012). 175 million tweets a day shows how heavily reliant society is on publishing on Twitter. The publishers who own an account on Twitter form a social relationship by interacting with their followers and contributing ever day. These followers could be strangers, celebrities or their friends outside the digital community. The mobility of technologies providing access to Twitter only improves the relationship between society and social media.

Overtime, publishing has been made possible through the invention of various technologies. Social media has developed its own digital society that society has programmed itself to follow. Social relationships have been discussed by contrasting the pre-1900 printing press, and the post-2000 social media. There are changes to society and the way we relate to publishing with the introduction and continued usage of each new publishing platform. As long as there are new publication technologies being created, they will always have an impact on society and change the way social relationships act. The relationship between society and media as grown stronger but presented more demands in regards to publishing. The current post-2000 society wants to be kept up to date constantly and has the mobile technology to access these updates. The pre-1900 printing press provided distribution of newspapers however; information was censored for political benefit and delayed.

____________________________________________________________________________________

References:

In terms of referencing, our social relationship with traditional academic articles from books and publications are changing. Students and professionals alike are moving towards searching and publishing through social media. Therefore, academic articles are being replaced with more interactive platforms such as video and blogging from experts in the field.

Bullas, J, (2012) Social Networking Watch: Significant Social Media Facts <http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2012/04/significant-social-media-facts.html> Date accessed: 6 June 2012

Croteau, D. (2003) Media Society: Industries, Images and Audiences (3rd Ed) Pine Forge Press

McLuhan, M (1964) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

Copeland, D. (2010) The Media’s Role In Defining The Nation: The Active Voice Lang, Peter Publishing, Incorporated

Kreis, S. (2004) The History Guide: The Printing Press <http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/press.html> Date accessed: 6 Jun 2012

Sloan, W. (1991) Perspectives on Mass Communication History, Routledge

Stelzner, M. (2010) Social Media Examiner. How Social Media Is Changing Publishing: A Merritt Colaizzi Interview <http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-social-media-is-changing-publishing-a-merritt-colaizzi-interview/> Date accessed: 5 June 2012

WEEK 11 – “Aggregation”

“Aggregation”

Discussed in the lectures this week was the idea of aggregation in living. Humans ‘hunter and gather’ in the way to go out and get something and then bring it back. E.g. going out to shoot the animal and bringing it back home to cook. In terms of distribution, publishing can be seen as a copy of a work that can be read or visually perceived. Distributing media is a form of publishing and is when the copies of data or new or information or images are distributed to the general public with the consent of the author. Aggregation is a form of gathering combining or bringing anything that can be distributed into a whole. This can be a  situation like gathering friends at a café for a coffee. “Gathering, combining or bringing text, images, sounds, code and platforms into INCREASINGLY FLEXIBLE AND VARIABLE new forms of organisation”(Lecture, Week 11). This can be analysed with one of the readings from this week.

Making is connecting (www.makingisconnecting.org) sets out to portray the social meaning of creativity. On the website it lists how types of text, images, sounds and platforms are a way of aggregating and distribution as well as connecting. For example, the platform of blogging: it develops a sense of community by following a blog, just like it does when you go and get coffee with your friends. The difference is the form it is in. People make a theme for a blog and then connect with their followers. This relates back to humans and the ‘hunter and gather’ idea.

The types of media that are distributed differ. For example, a newspaper is a good way to distribute to a lot of people quickly. The change in distribution is how it is becoming combined. For example, A company like DODO started off as an internet company. Through the ease of distribution channels now, they have gone into electricity as well as mobile phones. So it has enabled media to enter into areas that they weren’t in before because of distribution and aggregation.

“The state or manner of being distribute” was discussed in regards to who you become when you with the state and manner of being distributed. An example would be souring our and finding the best quality coffee on campus and the image it gives you. Another example would be the way you image yourself on social media such as Facebook. Those are both questions of distribution.

DAVID GAUNTLETT – WEB 2.0

PLATFORMS in media are a means to communicating something. They can include newspapers, magazines, the internet, blogs, advertisements etc. I have used one of the readings to expand on the Internet as a platform and how it has progressed and is used as a platform for communicating and creating in Web 2.0.

In the first chapter of David Gauntletts book, “‘Making is Connecting: The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0,’” he presents the idea of “making is connecting”. He believes that making things and connecting with things are actually the same process due to three reasons:

• making is connecting because you have to connect things together to make something new
• making is connecting because acts of creativity usually involve a social dimension and connect us with other people
• making is connecting because through making things and sharing them in the world, we increase our engagement and connection with our social and physical environment

David explains how Web 1.0 was similar to metaphorical seperate gardens (see image below). This basically means that although there were many websites, they were not connected in anyway and were separate with a fence in between each website. Web 1.0 is an alright platform and is still functional however it differs greatly to Web 2.0. Web 2.0 as a platform is the opposite and opens up these fences and each website works collectively in a shared space.

The essensce of Web 2.0 is its interactivity compared to Web 1.0. Web 2.0 has the idea that websites and services can be more powerful and join hands collectively to help each other and embrace each other. Examples of this are RSS feeds, Facebook and Twitter sharing and blogging. Youtube is a great broadcast channel that contributes to more than just bringing in an audience. It allows its users to play and individually contribute to the website by uploading videos. Gauntletts explains how the Web 2.0 is essentially an approach to the Web. It is about harnessing the collective abilities of the members of an online network, to make a powerful resource or service. He explains how users of the internet shape and create their own environments by stamping their individuality on the world. An example of this would be blogging. When someone makes a fashion blog, they are creating an environment for their own style and stamping their individuality all over the internet.

Reference: Gauntlett, David (2010) Making is Connecting <http://www.makingisconnecting.org/>

VISUALISE THIS – WILL, TARA, EMMA

IDEA:
This What is the invisible entity we are making visible?When you look at a bottle of coke you see bottle full of brown liquid.
When you look at a bottle of Schweppes Lemonade you see a clear liquid.
Our visualisation concept is based upon revealing what is hidden in several well known soft drink brands. We will focus on the sodium and sugar content specifically and its negative health effects. The coca cola website already has an existing comparative table where they compare the nutritional value between their own products. They also have an human outline image where they show how hydrating their drinks are. We have created the opposite of the existing Coca Cola promotional human outline of hydration and instead make a human outline showing the percentage of sodium in competing soft drink companies.

We turned INVISIBLE into VISIBLE?
HOW?
This concept already exists on the Coca Cola website through their human outline representing hydration and their comparative table.
We have decided to pick on the negatives of soft drinks and VISUALISE the sugar and sodium content of several soft drink brands. We have made our own version of the human outline VISUALISATION that represents the sugar content. The sodium content is represented in several graphs.
Here is one existing image:

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
It effectively VISUALISES two elements of soft drinks that were invisible; sugar and sodium. Through the graphs and the human outline we have effectively made our audience visually aware of the sugar and sodium contents and the health effects that come with the contents.

So, it effectively raises awareness for the public to understand the health effects of soft drinks in terms of their sugar and sodium levels. The difference it makes is by essentially reversing the Coca Cola human outline figure. They represented and claimed that their products are “hydrating”in their visualisation. This is just a marketing ploy to encourage consumption. We have created our human outline in order to discourage consumption due to the negative health effects that sodium and sugar can have on the body.

The problem faced is that the soft drink companies are forced to include the ingredients and additives on their products by compliance and regulations. However, people rarely read these labels and are effected by the products marketing “Coca Cola” sign. Our visualisation has been created to make a difference in the levels of awareness.

PUBLICS:
Active/Current Consumers
Potential Consumers
AGE: 6 years – 80 years (approx,)
Male – Female – Mixed
Soft Drink companies— Our VISUALISATION is, as I said, to discourage consumption due to negative health effects and not to encourage consumption due to their claimed “hydration” it could affect their sales if we reveal that their sodium content is relatively higher than the other products

SODIUM (mg) per 100mls
*Recommended:
1260mg SODIUM per DAY
Coca Cola 10.13
Pepsi 11.2
Dr Pepper 15.5
Kirks Lemonade 5.9
Schweppes Solo 16
LA ice cola 5
Diet Coke 15
Pepsi Max 13.3
Coke Zero 10.9
Schweppes Diet Lemonade 0

 SUGAR (g) per 100mls
*Recommended:
82g SUGAR per DAY
Coca Cola 10.6
Pepsi 10.6
Dr Pepper 15.5
Kirks Lemonade 11.2
Schweppes Lemonade 4.2
Schweppes Lemonade (Sugar Free) 0
Solo 12.106
LA ice cola 11.4
Diet Coke 0.05
Pepsi Max 0
Coke Zero 0

SODIUM – Health Cons
Heart = STROKE
Kidneys = DISEASE
Stomach & Bones
Hypertension = UNPLEASANT
High Blood Pressure = DEATH

SUGAR – Health Cons
Feeds cancer = NOT WORTH FEEDING
Increases cholesterol
Bad for teeth
Contributes to DIABETES
Can cause cardiovascular disease = DEADLY
Assists yeast infections = GROSS

References:
Human outline: unknown author (2009), ‘US army puts biological anthropists to work’, last updated 11 June, 2009, accessed online on 5 May, 2012 at <http://techropology.blogspot.com.au/2009/06/us-army-puts-biological-anthropologists.html>
Daily Recommended Intake: Healthy Food Guide, ‘Nutrition Information’, accessed online on 5 May, 2012 at <http://www.healthyfoodguide.com.au/about-us/nutrition-information?
Myfitnesspal iPhone Application

VISUALISING SCIENCE

The readings for this week expanded more on visualisation but focused more on the scientific research and visualisation in the communication of science.

Polar bears have been placed on the endangered list but how would someone represent this in a visualisation?

A polar bear stuck on tiny piece of ice that used to be a lot bigger is how to visually represent that question. This picture is eye catching and to the point in regards to the research and data that is written about. No action has been taken even though the Polar Bears have been placed on the endangered list. This photo visualises the desperation that the polar bear faces if no action is required. The image adds more to the informations and creates a deeper response from the reader. It is also an example of how visualisations are used in scientific research and how it communicates a specific theme. http://www.metro.co.uk/news/147937-struggling-polar-bears-put-on-endangered-list

NASA have created their own Scientific Visualisation Studio on their website, showing the communication of visualisation within science. One of their most popular visualisations is the Perpetual Ocean.
“This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through December 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience”. http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003800/a003827/index.html

The mere fact that there are no annotations along with this visualisation show how well it is at communicating the intended message – the purpose of visualisations. It isn’t every day that a person sees the earths currents over a certain time period. With this visualisation, it has allowed scientific research to effectively communicate the visual nature of the earths currents.

Do visual media work differently to other media forms? In my opinion it is a definite yes. An example was used above with the polar bear grasping for is life on a tiny piece of ice. The way it works differently is through the type of communication portrayed by the image. If the article only contained words, then a person just takes on board knowledge and current research findings of extinct polar bears. However, the image presents a chance for an emotional response and encourages the reader to do something about it, or simply continue to read the story as their interest has been provoked.

INFOGRAPHICS & VJING

Visualisation: From what I have read in the readings and researched, Visualisation is creating something that represents or is similar to a visual perception. There are varying types of Visualisation’s and I will discuss two of them extracted from the readings and the lecture.

VJING is a term for realtime visual performance. I had to laugh at the name for obvious reasons. It is a manipulation or selection of visuals that are presented in a similar way that a DJ would with music – combined and collaborated.
I looked for some examples of VJING on YouTube and of course, there were many options. I began watching the link presented below and within seconds I was completely engaged in the visualisation of the music. The visualisation is intruiguing and draws you in on a whole new level. When it is combined with the music it the visual takes you on an abstract visual journey that you would have never been on if you just listened to it. Therefore, visualisation has helped represent the music in another light – visually.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKEks24_jY0&feature=related

“Information graphics”, like VJING, are a type of visualisation. Infographics are graphic representations of different types of data, research or knowlege. The infographics help us understand information more efficiently and thoroughly in my opinion. Creating a visualisation of information can only help when trying to explain data, research or knowledge. That is because they are easier to remember and understand in contrast to just reading words of information.

The required readings had us look at the ‘infosthetics’ website. The website had many posts on infographic visualisations that depicted information in a clever and succinct way. I have chosen to use this infographic as an example – http://infosthetics.com/archives/2012/03/national_heat_map_shows_heat_demand_from_buildings.html
It shows a map that visually depicts the research and information of heat demand in England. The reason behind creating a heat map was to work out which “areas would benefit from development of local heat networks or support climate change strategies”.

I found the “dashed line” reading particularly interesting as it shows the enormity of uses that a dashed line can be used to visualise. http://www.nearfield.org/2006/09/the-dashed-line-in-use
It can be used as hidden geometry used in instructions so that the user can visualise the inside of a product and understand where things are positioned. Without this visualisation of the dashed line, we would have no clue how to set up IKEA furniture. The dashed line can also be represented as movement. For example used in the reading was an instruction to fold your shirt sleeve back over your forearm. It shows the dashed line of the shirt in its original position up the end of your wrist and it shows the full line of the position it needs to be. Therefore the dashed line creates a path and instruction for folding your sleeve backwards. Reading a blog about the dashed line made me realise how I would never have described or defined the dashed line as a visualisation.

Now I spot visualisation everywhere.

WIKILEAKS DEBATE

 

In class we were given the debate topic of  “The negatives of leaking outweigh the benefits”.

We were split into teams and were on the affirmative side.

By focusing on Wikileaks we decided that their were serious negatives impacts to leaking classified information compared to the perceived benefits.

These included:

• Political damage
• Privacy issues
• Social unrest caused
• Questioning moral issues
• No respect for ramifications
• “Whistleblower” mentality

Wikileaks says on their website that they “Publish and comment on leaked documents alleging government and corporate misconduct.”

What we debate is how no consideration and respect for the ramifications has been taken by Wikileaks.

i thought i was a theorist.

Unfortunately, due to an operation, I was unable to make the lecture and the tutorial this week. 

So after looking at the lecture online, I have attempted to write about it in this blog. 🙂

Archives:

I am currently archiving as I type. Look to your right. Archiving under March 2012. FANTASTIC!

I never thought of Facebook as an archive until this lecture. It was always seen as social media for me. It should be called social archiving or archiving social media. The new timeline on Facebook is a great example of this. You have the opportunity to post things up to the date you were born. This encourages parents to start a Facebook page for their babies and post photos of their children. When their children are teenagers then they will most likely look back in embarrassment at the social archives. However, will the current generation that begin to make Facebook profiles for their babies be deemed as normal behaviour? With the idea of social archiving, there presents a loss of privacy. Then again, maybe the loss of privacy is something the future is going to have to forget about and it will be the norms for all personal information to be known.

I just googled social media archiving because I thought I was a genius and made up a theory.
Guess someone is way ahead of me.

http://archivingsocialmedia.org/ 

Theory & Practice.

Practices are what we do in every day life. They could be cultural and social. An example would be one that follows a religion. With a religion you have to follow certain guidelines, rules, behaviours and even theories. Practicing a religion can lead to a sense of self and purpose.

Theory can be seen as concepts and ideas such as Social Darwinism, which is a term commonly used for theories of society that emerged in England and the United States in the 1870s.

The lecture brought up dynamics. I found this interesting as i have never thought about it or viewed something in a diagram like the one in the lecture. It shows how perceptions, beliefs, sensations, memories and possible future actions can be rotated through theories and practices.

The lecture brought up the point that theories are hard to avoid, but how do you know which is the ‘correct’ one to follow. I found this interesting because as much as I don’t particularly like following theory, in some instances I have no choice. Unless I purposely and unnaturally do so.

Due to recovering from my operation I have no idea what the secret word is.
INSERT SECRET WORD HERE. 

who was first to press print?

There wasn’t always a ‘print’ button. It was actually much more labor intensive. How times have changed!

Johannes Gutenberg and the Printing Press.

This discovery of a printing press was found by using block letters and a press similar to that of a wine press. Gutenberg was a business man who borrowed money to specifically make this invention. Little wooden letters (later they were metal) were used in the printing press and a sheet of paper was placed over the press with ink. This was apparently the standard of printing until the 20th century!

Little did he know that it would change the whole world and the way we communicate. This method of printing can be credited not only for a revolution in the production of books, but also for fostering rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of texts. It was seen as an agent to change as the printing press allowed types of information to be distributed. The information produced by the printing press allowed the masses to read one piece of information or a story. For example, Gutenberg produced the first printed Bible and allowed it to be read by more than just one person and the messages from the bible could be communicated, resulting in the spread of religion. This also lead to some religions challenging other religions because more and more people could read the bible and dissect the information, allowing them to question.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK – ASSEMBLAGES