Object that BLOGSSS!??

Come on! Object that will blog? Are you kidding me? What's those object that are blogs? What they blogs?

This is how I think in my mind when I saw this term, "Blogjects." The object that will blogs. How can you imagine that? It's very abstract isn't it? It's makes me have a clear picture when I read through the article "Why Things Matter?" by Julian Bleecker. Blogjects is the objects that create an ever-expanding record of themselved, accessible over the net ---the objects that tell their own stories.

This reminds me of the Toy Story, the toys that will talk, which we didn't realize that they will talk. In the facts that actually every objects in this world even a tiny objects are telling something but they are in different form which the human can't be understand and realize. For the blogjects, it's expressing as a physical things over the web. They are participating in the exchange of ideas. They are more like a carrier that carry the information and waiting for it to be disseminate.

Same as our human bloggers, blogjects also have certain characteristic which are distinguished from us which are:

-Blogjects track and trace where they are and where they've been
-Blogjects have self-contained (embedded) histories of their encounters and experiences.
-Blogjects always have some form of agency--they can foment action and participant; they have an assertive   voice within the social web.

There is two reasons that the blogjects are existing. First is the cohabitation and next is the co-participation.


Cohabitation- The Question of Space and Place. 

Blogjects are existing with us but they are in different space and place. We can't see them but we can know what information that they have been exchange. The Internet of things can also upload, download, disseminate and stream meaningful and meaning-making stuff. Blogjects are able to capture the information about the happenings in its surroundings, communicate with other informatic social being and disseminate all of that anywhere in the world.

This let me realized that when we connecting to the Internet for the communication and informations, Blogjects are actually do the same. They are exists and also exchange the information like we do. They are like the CCTV that acts as our third eyes that spy and observe us over the Internet.

Co-Participation 


Blogjects is involving in our life. Remember the GPS that talks? Your iPhone 4G that tells you what times is your meeting? What you going to have for today's dinner? Everything are decided or been planed by the blogjects.


In short, Internet will be world that we going to live in it even though we are in the real life. The technology had take control over us. The object had the mind to think and everything is been arranged for us by using Internet. Internet is our second life or world.

Which to pick? The double A competition!

Have you cross your mind that one of the day that your phone are able to talking with you rather than just the sending SMS and also the calling function? Well, that's why smartphone are invented and works on your hand. In 2007, iPhone had created a huge hits of the smartphone and nowadays the traditional mobile phone are just don't have a place to stand. 


There were certainly had the competitor when you try to invent something new and it's popular among the global.  There was a best example in smartphone industry which is Apple VS Android. 

Apple VS Android: Which to take?

There are few aspect that we can looks through the difference between this two company.
The philosophy of these two company are totally different. Apple is looking for the closed system which is only able to used by only Apple user. It wanted the closed appliances tethered to closed ecosystem. However it's different for the Google company which they want the appliance to be open source and what's more important is that the product is connectivity. The company's theory was that if you make browsing by phone easy and fun, people will use it just like a desktop browser, with Google search as the main port of entry. 

In the device part, Apple choose a closed devices. Afterwards, they have come out with the Apps store which include many application that allowed the users to download free or with certain rates. In short, Apple want to have a complete control over platform, content, and also user within their own operating system. 

It's true that Apple are leading smartphone industry until today, as the Apple can be explained the situation: "iPhone: Apple reinvents the phone." However, they had also the big challenge and competitor that coming up, which is Google, or also known as Android. 

In the Android system, they are applying the open and free platform which is based on Linux kernel. Android was a fully customizable system which allowed users to customize themselves. They had millions of independent operating system and application devices which mean that this system didn't have the control over platform, content, and users. 

Will the Android take over Apple? 

Looks into Android, there were 300 000 activation per day,861.5% yearly growth in Android market but also 615% yearly growth in global market share. Unlike Apple, Android are not only apply in one phone but also apply in many others phone such as Samsung, Motorola, HTC, LG, ZTE, and so on. 

When comparing the smartphone features, there are a definitely go for Android because in my opinion, I think that Android had giving out the freedom to the users to decide what to do but unlike Apple, it's only sharing among themselves. And, Android will giving out another big hit in the smartphone industry which will give a huge challenge to Apple. 

In short, with the invention of the smart phones, I believed that phones were the way people wanted to connect with each other and with everything else rather than using laptop, card or the others way.  In the future, phones were going to replace PC's as the main gateway to the  Internet, and they were going to do it soon. There are always had the competition going, the question is how you going to make it better and maintain but not make it worse. Competition is for improvement. 

Reading based on Roth.D, "Google's Open Source Android OS Will Free the Wireless Web."

Facebook & Twitter -- New trend of revolutionaries

From telegraph, tape recorder, and also fax machine had eventually lead to the evolution of the democracy through the Internet. The reason of why the democracy was starting with the social networking sites is because of the immediate aftermath. It's sharing by everyone but the truth is no one is knowing each others.

From the article titled "Facebook and Twitter are just places revolutionaries go" by Morozov.E let me understand that social networking nowadays are not only to sharing, connect but also making something happens such as the political changes happened at Tunisia and also Egyptian. Millions of Millions peoples are connected even though they are an unknown to the other person but they have the common bond which they communicate through social networking sites.

In this articles, Facebook and Twitter are the main focus that the both social networking tools are only served as technology tools or a platform that allowed people to perform their freedom of speech. However, in my opinions, this latest technology tools are not the reason that had made the starting of revolutionaries. People will try whatever methods to try what ever they can just to do and spread the news that they want to, doesn't it? Facebook and Twitter can't take the blame of putting the country in danger, but we can said that through the social networking sites, we can actually know that how the public are thinking about the issues nowadays and they are trying to make changes on the conditions to become better.

Even though Internet had become the main environment that we involved and contribute to in our daily life, but  we also have the face to face communication. We couldn't escape the real face communication. The Internet is just like the post office center that send, received and store the messages. However, comes to think about it, how high is the percentage of you to believe the event was actually going on as you have no ideas of what this random people in your Facebook friend's list or your twitter's follower post? It's just a random event conducted by random people. You will not believed that what was happening when you eventually contacted with the people behind the social media.

"We don't have a choice on whether we Do social media , the question is how well we DO it." 

--Erik Qualman

I found out this sentences was really implying on what are we doing now every day on our laptop. We don't really think much when coming to Internet. As what Internet can gives us was not only entertainment but also EXPOSURE. We go for Internet not only for fun but also for how people can notices us, isn't? How many times you will check on how many people expose to your blog, to your Facebook profile, to your Twitter follower, to your LinkedIn connection, your Google+ circles, MSN friends and others more.

The reason of why Facebook and Twitter are been chosen by revolutionaries are because the immediacy of the information but also the high numbers populations of people in this areas. There had a video showing that if Facebook was a country, it was the world 3rd largest or maybe it would be the 1st world largest country as times goes by. But there were also have the competitor at the same time. People loves new things, new trend. When people are bored with the same things, they will go for other new things. For example, when the people had been bored of using social networking sites, they may go the blogger, Wordpress, MySpace or others websites to seek for more entertainment and more purposes uses.

What's is interesting about using social networking sites as the revolution place is that the information are uncensored and it will shared globally or certain areas to access through the information.

In the nutshell, social media are not encouraged for the use in spreading the uprising as at the end everyone have to walk out from the virtual life and make the significant changes in the real life.

Reading based on Morozov.E, "Facebook and Twitter are just places revolutionaries go".

Wikileaks--The transparency of Secret

Times Magazine will come out with the "Person of the Year" in every year. In 2010, with the famous trend of social networking sites, Facebook founder, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg had been selected as the "Person of the Year". But at the same time, the runner-up of the list had eventually creates a more global controversial issues which related to the secret document who is the founder of the Wikileaks organization: Julian Assange. 

Wikileaks 

Julian Assange had started his early life as hacker and had been accused by the court. You would be wonder what's the Wikileaks. This video can make you have a clear mind about how this organization works. 

Wikileaks, the online whistle blowing news generating phenomena, the biggest leaking in military document on the global news agenda. 91 thousand classified documents had been exposed to online since 2006 which the contents mainly about the military secret report and videos. In 3 April 2010, there was videos title "Collateral Murder" had been posted up to Youtube by sunshinepress which had get the views of 12,055,637. This is really shocking as the contents of the videos is about an attack at the Iraq by the American army which is been secretly keep in the American government. You can view the video here. 

Wikileaks's server 

Wikileaks had become a revolutionary force. But at the same time, it also be the most wanted organization that the American government as the organization had leaking secret documents to the public. The organization had many servers in different countries which is Iceland, the place they developed the project B which is the "Collateral Murder" video, Sweden with the secure server, Seattle,  France, Belgium and others place. Here is some of the diagrams of the Wikileaks's server places. 

The server were hidden in secret place and moreover, the server place with the computers had been surround by the auto bomb which it will automatically exploded and destroyed the computer when someone wanted to hacked into the system and get the document. The contents that they released are not only about America but also can said is globally.

          The official website of Wikileaks.

Wikileaks: "The future of Journalism?"

Wikileaks didn't works in team but works in with the mass. There are many followers that joined Wikileaks in helping to revealed more and more truth. IT Gorilla without the national place, coffee bar and study room had spread all around the world. Now we wonder where they get all those secret information from? Wikileaks had been collaborate with the mainstream media which is "The New York Times", "theguardian" from UK, and "DER SPIEGE" from German newspaper instead of posting online. 

"Information is important to the world, " said by Julian in a talk at TED Talks. Everyone had the right to know more about what's really happening and also this is one of the job that journalists should be reported. Wikileaks now are not only an organization that revealed more and more secret information. 

In my opinions, I think Wikileaks had make some awareness about the freedom on Internet. Also, Wikileaks had done the right things in revealing the truth as everyone had the right to know more about what's really going on. Wikileaks had let the peoples knows that media nowadays are not really putting their efforts in doing what they should do because mainly they are under government's control which every content had been restricted. In my point of view, I personally think that Wikileaks had give a power to the public and also the pressure to the certain organization. More importantly, it had serves a platform to the injustices event becoming fairly judged.  Wikileaks are more like a sender of the message and spread the truth to the public and let all the peoples around the world judge it.  Wikileaks gives us the freedom of speech!


To know more about Wikileaks, click the video below to know more. The lengths of the videos may be long but please take a looks on it! :)

Further reading: No secret, Julian Assange's mission for total transparency by Raffi Khatchadourian. 

Twitter- Your mini diary.

Look back to the title, it's not very hard to understand how eventually Twitter changed our way to express our self. We used to write diary on the book (If you had this habit and you still remember). But with the dot com burst, everything change. Books are needed no more. Everything is in the 2D screen format. You can get whatever you want and most importantly, is the way you express yourself to the world through Internet. From Frienster, Blogger, Facebook and Twitter. They had the common characteristic: Freedom of Speech, private space and also the mobility to access to the website.

Let me introduce Twitter, the latest social networking sites. It works within 140 characters. The term "Tweets" refers to the sentences that you post to the Twitter. Also, Twittter had the features of harsh tag which is "#". This is the interesting part which had maintain the numbers of users in Twitter ad even increasing. This is how harsh tag works, with the harsh tag, you can eventually see every tweets of different users from all around the world regarding to the same topic. Let's take #MondayBlue as example, when you go through the #MondayBlue harsh tag you can see the users had the common topic and it's happening in anytime.

The pictures above are the print screen of the Twitter harsh tag. It showed that every one were updating their tweets with the same harsh tag and it's keep updating with every minutes. In my point of view, harsh tag actually had the advantages of building the common bond within the Twitter users. It's like a starting topic for a conversation between the users. More than that, there is a features named "Follower", which is your friends follow your Tweets which is similar with the features in Facebook called "Friends".

Besides that, Twitter also allowed users shared the link which had showed in the pictures above. It involved the link sharing and also the @user name which is similar with the Facebook "tag". It's very convenient and it's update so frequently.

Twitter basically can be categorized in 4 ways which are:

(a) News & Opinions 

Much of people still rely on the newspaper no matter is in paper or digital form. But now there are also another ways to get the latest news without going through the bunch of words in the newspaper which is using Twitter to summarize the news in 140 characters and also some links-sharing which can give you a more customized and also more segmented news.

(b) Searching

As the search engine had evolved so fast which had become parts of our life. Twitter had eventually helped us in expanding the search engine searching. We no need to worry on how and what we going to search in the search engine but can get the information by the link sharing on the Twitter which is directly go to the sources. It saves time and also you can find more diverse information from other users.

(c) Advertising

This plays important in every people. People may advertise themselves to get more followers and popular, people may advertise themselves such as blog to earn some income, well, advertising is important not only for personal but also for the business. People can expand their business by advertising through Twitter with the latest deal or promotions, or even to create awareness as social networking sites are always timely. People can always update what's the latest news and others followers can get to know it in first-hand. For example, McDonald, when they update with the new menu promotion in the Twitter, the follower can eventually get the promotion in the first hand. What's more is that when the numbers of followers getting increase, the more message will passed through everyone in the Twitter.


(d) End user Innovation

No doubt that the Internet had eventually brought the invention of the social networking sites and also a new platform for people to interact and express themselves. It's basically pro-user based. People creates their content such as story sharing, link sharing, what's happening in your daily life.......just with the 140 characters.

It's hard to believe that we are no needed our small little book to records down what happening and feeling in our self. We now tend to open up to the world about what we are thinking right now, what we just had done, and what we going to do. It's like exposed to the outer about our self. This is a great things but come to think of it, when the more you exposed yourself to the outer world, did you notice that someone that you don't even know who is she/he are stalking or observing you and you are give them the chance to know more about you. That's the privacy problem that we should be aware in the cyber world. You should notice, and so do we.

Web 2.0

This was the person of the year that published in Times Magazine at 2006. You might think on why the cover page is not some celebrities or some business leader but is YOU. This is because 2006 is the starting point of the Web world. It start with the WWW which also known as World Wide Web. Basically it's made up of HTML--Hypertext Markup Language.

Web 1.0 features were less interactive and more information based. People are more on searching and accepting the information rather than sharing the information that they had. However, things change when the Web 2.0 is introduced.

But what is Web 2.0? What are the features that made it distinct with Web 1.0? In contrast, Web 2.0 is more likely to explore on sharing part. It's more interactive. It concentrates on the common applications/services such as blogs, video sharing, social networking and podcasting—a more socially connected Web in which people can contribute as much as they can consume (Paul Anderson, 2007). It provides more spaces for people to edit and share the information. They are called Prosumer which they produces the content but at the same time they were also part of consumers which consumes the information. Web 2.0 had no barriers.

In Web 2.0, there is more flexibility for the users. The contents of the Web are more user-generated content which is the users produce the information themselves. Thus, there were the social networking sites or so called social media such as Facebook, Flickr, Blogger, WordPress, YouTube to share out the knowledge. What can be more described is that social media had represented the user itself, it's like the mini diary. They are connected to the people surrounding them. What's more is that they are connected to the world.

Maybe there are no much difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 as what I can said is that Web 2.0 would be the extension version or can be understand as the evolution of the web throughout this few years. People were always looking for something new. Something that is fresh to them to let them try and experience it.

This is based on the reading of What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education by Paul Anderson

Past ---> Future. The convergence of media.

 

It's not very hard to understand the media convergence. If you not very sure, you can try to check out the picture above. Still remember when you used cable telephone at the past old days and now how long that you willing to put down your phone and leave it without you? Well, I guess you have the answer.

Now in this digital era, telephone maybe just used in the office. Nowadays, what people are prefer having a smart phone. I think this is because it makes you feel smart cause it really sounded quite smart, isn't? What can I said is that the purpose of using the phone. Life that we live at the past is different with what happen in our life now. Our lifestyle had changed now as the advanced of the technology nowadays had make our life more easier. 

Let's define media convergence again. According to Distinct Studio Blogs, media convergence is the merging of mass communication outlet. It allows the media professional to tell stories and present information and entertainment using variety of media. Media convergence not only provide a new way for media professional as well as consumer because they can choose the level of the interactivity while self-directing the media content delivery.  


Newspaper, the fundamental materials that had stayed in our routine life for a long time had a significantly changes. It had shift from the paper to the Internet. B & W to colorful. Flipping to clicking. It may sound so ridiculous that paper newspaper may be a history in the human life, but it happened unintentionally because everyone are shifting to the Internet. Even though you want to read a book, e-book may be your choice but the real book. 


Compare to the old days, the users now can be said have more freedom in choosing what content they want to be perceived. Even more, the users can produce their content and upload to the media platform. Have you faced when you can't watch the hit movies such as Harry Potter because there were so many peoples book it and there were no tickets left? Don't worry, you can go online and download it. Isn't amazing? We are no longer to wait for the contents to come to us, but rather we go find what content we want. The terms for this types of users we called it "Prosumer" which is we are the consumer, participant, collaborator, producer and also the users of the media.

"Convergence refer to a process, but not an endpoint." ---Henry.J 2004.As the technology are keep improving, media are everywhere now. With the Internet access, we can go everywhere we want just using a smart phone. 

Just a phone with all the apps that can helps you in everything! 

  

Don't panic if you are forgetting your anniversary, flowers, lost on track, or even how to create a romantic environment...just browse through the smart phone and it will take care of you! Smart phones now had evolved to a mini compass, entertainment, business,videos, photograph...Everything you want is all at here! It's all in one! 

Jenkins had pointed out that this media convergence culture will be uneven or imbalance in the culture as someone had the wealth and times to learn the new things. It's like the comparison between the youngster generations and the older generations. 

Blog is the example that derive from the media convergence. It can helps on sharing, discussion, get the latest news with the unfiltered content with the insertion of the pictures and videos.Below are the example of the blog website which is blogger, Tumblr and Wordpress.

What we can see that is we are no longer write diary on the books but rather share our daily routine life in the blog. The old media delivery had been replaced. For examples, floppy disk, cassette tape,vinyl. We can see that they are no long exist in our life anymore. 

What I think about the media convergence had been widely use and disseminate so fast is because the human demands are exceeding what they can afford. Peoples are taking advantage of the convenience that the advance technology or software can bring to them. They use the application to fulfill their desire. 

The convergence also had created risk to the creative industry. The term cultural industries refers to industries which combine the creation,production and commercialization of creative contents which are intangible and cultural in nature.The risk is that the new media have to rethink the old media consumption. What is the consumption of the old media before they shift to the new media delivery? 

In the journal title of "The Cultural Logic of Media convergence" by Jenkins.H had discussed about 9 points of negotiations between the producers and the consumers which are: 

Revising Audience's measurement

This had to see how the people view the content and media and how they willing connect the media content with themselves. For example, fans had become a trend of the idol they like it and the author had wonder will the fans communities become the new audience measurement? Because this will cause the other community being marginalized. 

Regulating Media Content

Content always had been the controversy issues that raised among the parents and the media. When the media try to applied the concept of self-regulate, they also want to broaden the content into diversity which is appropriate for every member in the family.But sometimes, it just can't be accepted. And would the content being restricted next time they want to try the other ways to broaden their content?

Redesigning the digital economy 

No doubt that when you want to publish a book, internet is your choice because of the low production cost. People who are interested can just use the subscription to read through the books they want. Same to the music, you can choose to listen the music from the iTunes and subscribe it.

Restricting media ownership

FCC (Federal Communication Commission) had come out with the law of the restricting the media ownership among the media company. This had make a worried of the future of media consolidation among the media industry such as Sony company had not only owns film studios but also music recording as well as electronic goods. 

Rethinking media aesthetics

  

When study the impact of the economics that had brought by the media convergence, we also have to look into the perspective of aesthetics. Take an example, Harry Potter had been transform from books to the movies. Same goes to Twilight. This had been a trend among the media as they will use the same materials but slightly different and make a new version of it. Will this practice make more diversity of culture or just the copy machine? 

Redefining Intellectual Property Rights 

Arts are belong to everyone. Everyone have to right to participants in producing the arts. But what happen is that when the arts had been controls by the government, religions community or even media company, will the arts still have the freedom to be participated by everyone? 

Renegotiating Relations Between Producers and Consumers

The authors had explained the two examples which are the recording industry and game industry. In the recording industry, the media company had choose to take legal actions to the  emergence of peer-to-peer technology rather than comes out with the new plans and also rebuilding the relationship with the consumer. Compare to recording industry, games industry had take other route which they will takes some opinions from the fans community rather than shutting down just because there are so many illegal games. They may always reconstruct the content of the games which may differ with the other games. 

Remapping Globalization 

What comes to your mind when you are given the word "Globalization"? Is it the Western culture comes to your mind? Well, many previous academic research had always start with that points. Western culture to the global market. Western country is monopoly the market. But have you wonder where is the place that Super Mario born? The answer is Japan. When is first KungFu showed come from? Bruce Lee or maybe Jackie Chan. They are all from Asian countries. Recently, they was a new trend which is the Korean wave, also known as K-Pop. It's not only created a fashion in Asian, but also to the Western country. But have you even wonder how long will this trend to sustain with the support of the fans and also the immigrant communities? 

Re-engaging Citizens

Citizens may be portrayed as a passive, incoherent, and disengaged among the media. For re-engaging citizens, they are engaging in political field. When the artists or media company had portrayed some sensitive contents in their opinions, their reputation may just dropped with the sales or even the names.

At the end, media convergence are more like the combination of all the information that we wanted but is with the new platform. What we can do is try to expand and discovers more things that we interested. To make the diversity of culture with the economics impact to the society. 

Based on the reading of Henry Jenkins: "The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence".

  

Thank you for reading & wish you have a good day!