Week 11: Real & Virtual

This documentary explores the rise of anonymous & the spread of hacktivist movements. Take a look and let us know what you think (FYI: it contains some strong language, so maybe don't turn it on if you've got kids in the room).

Is a DDos attack a legitimate form of resistance?

What about malevolent software? Is that ok? 

The first politically motivated computer worm was the WANK worm. It caused massive problems for NASA. It was a protest against nuclear power modules in rockets.You can read about the impacts from NASA's perspective in the first chapter of this book if you're interested. 

Does the legitimacy of a method of protest, like the worm or a DDOS attack, depend on what you're protesting and what you are disrupting?

Are the forms of protest outlined in the reading, lecture & doco effective? 

Does this even work?

 Why/Why not? 

How can/have the interwebs support(ed) & inform(ed) protest on the ground?
 

What about this?

Leave a comment, let us know what you think.

Week 10: Nature Networks

This documentary, from the 1980s, explores the overlap of a number of different networks and narratives, via a case study of the cane toad. Take a look at the chapter from Nexus (Buchanan, 2002) before you watch it. Then, while you watch, think about the different aspects of Buchanan's (2002) network theory (keystones, weak & strong ties, aristocratic networks, etc.) and how they relate to the overlapping social and ecological networks outlined in the film.

How can network theory help us understand the impacts of the cane-toad on the Australian eco-system? Or the impacts of extinction/invasive species in general?

What narratives of place and identity do you see at play in the film?

What power relations can you see between different actors in this case study?

What do you think of the analogy Buchanan (2002) draws between social and ecological networks?

Also, I know a lot of people are doing various ecological networks (or people/stuff/food networks with ecological impacts) so feel free to share interesting info, links, or case study related questions in the comments.

- Rhian

References
Buchanan, M. (2002). Nexus: Small worlds and the ground breaking science of networks. New York: W. W. Norton & Company

Week 10: Tutorial Video 4

This video provides instructions on creating a Pecha Kucha (PK) style powerpoint presentation. 

Pecha Kucha is a style of powerpoint presentation that began in Japan and has since spread across the world. PK presentations contain 20 slides, each visible for 20 seconds each, and a recorded narration. 

  Tutorial Video 4: Consolidating Pecha Kucha

There are detailed instructions on recording your narration and adding timed switches to your presentation on LearnJCU under assessment.

For more information on the PK style visit the Pecha Kucha Website.

Mum’s the Word – Dear Diary vs I think therefore I blog

A diary in many cases is used as a medium to express ones ' "true self"... unaltered, unmediated and truly private' (McNeill, 2011). The diary is a place, a confidant, a reflection of what has been and what could be. A home to the most raw and naked of thoughts. Of dreams and aspirations, of fears uncertainties and struggles. According to McNeill (2011) this is the view of diaries in the 20th century, portrayed as intensely personal and confessional, meant purely for the diarist to view.

As mentioned by Frow (2013), in the week 6 lecture,  genre enables and restricts meaning. Blogging also enables and restricts meaning, and focusing on reflection, like a diary, has the "ability to capture the small details of life, it privileges the viewpoint of the private citizen as well as the famous" (McNeill, 2011) and gives anyone the option to be heard. This contribution can be made publicly or anonymously. Blogging can, in many ways be considered a modern day diary, and could almost certainly fall under the genre of journal entries. 

The diary writer, like a mum, can be desperate for answers, for someone to listen, and physically expelling such frustrations, for example, often puts things in perspective, especially as a mother. If you are unable to say the words aloud, then writing them down is the next best thing.  In saying this however, the words in a diary are so personal that the writer keeps them for her eyes only. She questions her parenting abilities and would therefore, due to societal judgement, keep them locked within the pages of a tightly wrapped or well hidden diary. Cafemom enables the virtual answering of these questions. Confirmation or challenging of the statements. The writer is able to physically ask questions, write a 'diary entry' and send it into cyberspace to be answered by a face she will probably never see. 

References

A Brief List of Genres: Retrieved from http://multigenre.colostate.edu/genrelist.html

Dictionary.com. (2010). The Hot word.Dear diary . . . What’s the word for the qualities that make your writing unique? Retrieved from http://hotword.dictionary.com/diary/

Kasteler, J. (2010). Finding Answers Online: Social Networks Vs. Search Engines . Retrieved from:

http://searchengineland.com/finding-answers-online-social-networks-vs-search-engines-56343

McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0? A Genre Moves From Page To Screen, Language and New Media: Linguistic, Cultural and Technological Evolutions. Cresskill,New Jersey: Hampton Press Inc.

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our space: networks, narratives and the making of place, Week 6.Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Image retrieved from:

http://ummahdesignblog.com/2010/01/13/work-from-home-muslim-mums/