By doing this blog, I have gain tons of experience which I never had. It teaches me all the aspects media publishing issues which I did not consider in a blog creation. I have started from the very basic elements of design principles and layout to the core of compositions; my knowledge about media publishing and designs has increase.
I have a personal blog before the creation of this blog. Honestly, after learning all the theories in this course, it makes me realise that my personal blog has tons of mistake from the background colour, text colours until the layout of the blog. Now, I can apply all those theories that I have learn during the process of the production of this blog into my personal blog to improvise it.
Furthermore, I have learn how to blog ethically by sticking to the ground rules. I am really thankful for having the opportunity to learn all the media publishing theories and hopefully the next time I create a blog, it will meet all the criteria of a good blog.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Is freedom of speech applied in the blogosphere?
As mention in one of my earlier post, blogging has been one of the most popular things to do these days. Mostly everyone will blog regardless of for their personal use, academics or even for advertising. Generally, people think that blogs are places where they have freedom of speech. However, without knowing that what is legal or illegal to write, many people offended some their specific readers which will lead to controversy.
According to El-Buri (2008) in ABC News, a Saudi blogger, Fouad al-Farhan was arrested by a Saudi security agent. It is believed by many people that he was arrested for writing about Saudi political prisoners and political reform although the Saudi officials mention that Farhan was arrested for non-security reasons. Even though many people sympathize with him and ask the officials to release him immediately by claming that he is only exercising his God-given right of speech, he is still detained. El-Buri then further his research by interviewing one of Farhan’s close friend and fellow Saudi blogger, Ahmed al-Omran (ABCnews 2008). In that interview, Ahmed said that although the boundary for freedom of expression in Saudi has been expanding over the past few years, but there are doubts in the country’s commitment to reforms that free of speech is a part of it.
In Malaysia, it has been pledged that there will not be censorship on the internet but bloggers are still bounded by the laws on defamation, sedition and other limits on speech (Lee 2007). For instance, an article in ZDNet Asia stated that popular bloggers Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan were sued by the government when their comments have attracted a following among Malaysians disillusioned with the country’s mainstream newspaper, which they recognize to be pro-government (Lee 2007). Further in the article, a law lecturer, Professor Abu Bakar Munir stated that it was a fallacy for bloggers to think that they are protected from such action. He further mentions that there are no special safeguards for bloggers where the law does not differentiate between the online and offline world.
Therefore, although many people assume that they are able to voice out their expressions in the online world without breaking any law, they are wrong. According to Nielsen (2000), there is an apparent danger to democracy anytime we suppress freedom of speech. Hence, bloggers should be more careful and sensitive in their posts in order to avoid such controversy.
References
El-Buri, R. 2008, ‘Saudi blogger: This country needs controversy’, ABCnews, viewed on 11th June 2008 at http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2008/02/saudi-blogger-t.html.
Lee, M.K. 2007, ‘Bloggers crackdown may hurt Malaysia’, ZDNet Asia, viewed on 11th June 2008 at http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,62031901,00.htm.
Lee, M.K. 2007, ‘Court cases unite M’sian bloggers’, ZDNet Asia, viewed on 11th June 2008 at http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,61994206,00.htm.
Nielsen, J. 2000, ‘WAP backlash’, useit.com, viewed on 11th June 2008 at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000709.html.
According to El-Buri (2008) in ABC News, a Saudi blogger, Fouad al-Farhan was arrested by a Saudi security agent. It is believed by many people that he was arrested for writing about Saudi political prisoners and political reform although the Saudi officials mention that Farhan was arrested for non-security reasons. Even though many people sympathize with him and ask the officials to release him immediately by claming that he is only exercising his God-given right of speech, he is still detained. El-Buri then further his research by interviewing one of Farhan’s close friend and fellow Saudi blogger, Ahmed al-Omran (ABCnews 2008). In that interview, Ahmed said that although the boundary for freedom of expression in Saudi has been expanding over the past few years, but there are doubts in the country’s commitment to reforms that free of speech is a part of it.
In Malaysia, it has been pledged that there will not be censorship on the internet but bloggers are still bounded by the laws on defamation, sedition and other limits on speech (Lee 2007). For instance, an article in ZDNet Asia stated that popular bloggers Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan were sued by the government when their comments have attracted a following among Malaysians disillusioned with the country’s mainstream newspaper, which they recognize to be pro-government (Lee 2007). Further in the article, a law lecturer, Professor Abu Bakar Munir stated that it was a fallacy for bloggers to think that they are protected from such action. He further mentions that there are no special safeguards for bloggers where the law does not differentiate between the online and offline world.
Therefore, although many people assume that they are able to voice out their expressions in the online world without breaking any law, they are wrong. According to Nielsen (2000), there is an apparent danger to democracy anytime we suppress freedom of speech. Hence, bloggers should be more careful and sensitive in their posts in order to avoid such controversy.
References
El-Buri, R. 2008, ‘Saudi blogger: This country needs controversy’, ABCnews, viewed on 11th June 2008 at http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2008/02/saudi-blogger-t.html.
Lee, M.K. 2007, ‘Bloggers crackdown may hurt Malaysia’, ZDNet Asia, viewed on 11th June 2008 at http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,62031901,00.htm.
Lee, M.K. 2007, ‘Court cases unite M’sian bloggers’, ZDNet Asia, viewed on 11th June 2008 at http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,61994206,00.htm.
Nielsen, J. 2000, ‘WAP backlash’, useit.com, viewed on 11th June 2008 at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000709.html.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Wikipedia or Britannica?
Source: Wikipedia & Webtraderuk.orgAs a student, I often use the internet for doing research and gaining information for my course. Wikipedia used to be one of my favourite sources in the internet until I was informed by my lectures that it is not encouraging to use the site. By then, I have move on to use Britannica.
The point that I am bringing up in this post is whether Wikipedia or Britannica is a better source. According to Terdiman (2005) in ZDNet News, a study that has been published in a journal, Nature stated that Wikipedia is as accurate as Britannica where the information gain in Wikipedia is as precise as the information gain in Britannica. However, Wikipedia has faces some problems when an anonymously written article linked to former journalist, John Seigenthaler to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and John F. Kennedy (Terdiman 2005). The article further stated that at the same time that the problem above occurred, the blogosphere was buzzing for several days about podcasting pioneer Adam Curry. It is mention that Adam Curry was being accused of anonymously deleting references to other’s seminal work on the technology.
By responding to those problems, the Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales stated that he has always maintained that the service and its community are built around a self-policing and self-cleaning nature in order to ensure its articles are accurate (Terdiman 2005). Furthermore, Jimmy Wales explains his plans to bar anonymously users from creating new articles whereby only registered members are allowed to do so (Terdiman 2005). Thus, information in Wikipedia will be more reliable as for new articles posted could not be done by anyone and the management of Wikipedia will be able to track the writer down.
Nevertheless, based on a study done by Nature, in every article from Britannica, there are 2.92 mistakes in average found (Terdiman 2005). As for Wikipedia, there are 3.86 mistakes in average found in an article according to the same source as above. Overall, it is stated in the same article where there are 123 problems found in Britannica and 162 problems found in Wikipedia.
Being a student, we always hope for the best and we usually search for information which is reliable. According to Morkes and Nielsen (1997), credibility is an important issue on the web. Both authors further states that people do not want to be fed with false facts.
Generally, people think that the information from Britannica is more reliable than Wikipedia due to those information from Britannica are peer-reviewed. Conversely, the research done on both Wikipedia and Britannica by Nature prove otherwise. Thus, Wikipedia is still usable for students’ research. However, to ensure that the information in Wikipedia is reliable, students are advice to search for more legitimate sources to support the findings from Wikipedia (Srinagesh 2006).
References
Morkes, J. & Nielsen, J. 1997, ‘Concise, scannable, and objective: How to write for the web’, useit.com, viewed on 10th June 2008 at http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html.
Srinagesh, S. 2006, ‘Perspective: teen’s warning on the gospel of Wikipedia’, CNet, viewed on 10th June 2008 at http://news.cnet.com/Teens-warning-on-the-gospel-of-Wikipedia/2010-1038_3-6104446.html?tag=item.
Terdiman, D. 2005, ‘Growing pains for Wikipedia’, ZDNet, viewed on 10th June 2008 at http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595-5981119.html.
Terdiman, D. 2005, ‘Study: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica’, ZDNet, viewed on 10th June 2008 at http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588-5997332.html.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Mobisodes
The popularity of mobisodes these days are increasing due to the development of technology. The question here is that ‘are mobisodes stealing the publics’ interest from television content?’. According to BBC News (2006), the size of a television or a computer screen seems to work for the long-form shows such as television series that can last about half an hour or an hour. As for the mobile phone and much smaller delivery systems, it is harder for the viewers to watch their programs in it for such a long period. Honestly, it is quite a hard work to watch ‘The Lord of the Rings’ on your iPod and probably the viewers never will feel right.
Title : Mobisodes and songs can be played in iPod
Source: appleinsider.com
However, as being said above, the popularity of mobisodes is rising. For example, in Korea, there are many Koreans who are watching their desirable programs pf mobisodes up to 90 minutes on their mobile phones everyday (BBC News 2006). In the same article, a principal analyst from Informa, Dave McQueen stated that “TV is a medium that everyone understands, and is mobile”. Nevertheless, mobisodes have some problems of its own too in the very beginning. According to Dawson (2007, p.235), mobile television's hardware aesthetic is pervasive, and has already endangered the establishment of repertoire production techniques that are geared towards small screens, reduced frame rates, short battery lives, and limited storage capacities of mobile television's central artifacts. One of the examples is the making of the ’24 Conspiracy’. According to Dawson (2007, p.236), translating the 24 original series (a profitable multi-media brand) to the two-inch screen required a number of formal and budgetary comprise. The outcome of the ’24 Conspiracy’ was beyond the original production due to the tight budget, unknown actors, and minimal location shots and so on. Moreover, such concessions to the technical limitations of the mobile phone become distractions when the mobisodes were collected as a special feature on the DVD release of the 24’s fourth season (Dawson 2007, 236). Therefore, it is hard to standardise the format of mobisodes from the original products.
Title : 24 Conspiracy
Source: Freewebs.com
Below is one of the 24 Conspiracy episode. As you can see in the clip, the graphics are not as good as the original series and the actors are different too.
Title : 24 Conspiracy: Minute 2
Source: TVheaven.com
Fascinatingly, multimodality plays a role in the mobisodes too. An explanation about how paradigm shift has taken place in the society ever since the multimodality was introduced to us is explained by Walsh (2006, p.24). Furthermore, Walsh explanations was supported by Kress and van Leeuwan (2006) where both authors have the same point of view as Walsh and they also stress out the point on the temporal composition in the film and television.
References
Dawson,M 2007,'Little Players,Big Shows:Format, Narration, and Style On Television's New Smaller Screens', pp. 231-250,viewed on 9th June 2008 at http://con.sagepub.com.ezlibproxy.unisa.edu.au/cgi/reprint/13/3/231
'Future of TV: the production company' 2006, BBC News, viewed on 9th June 2008 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6143350.stm.
Kress & Van Leeuwen 2006, 'Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication',John Benjamins Publishing Company,U.S.A.
Walsh M 2006, ‘'Textual shift”: examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts’, Australian journal of language and literacy, vol. 29, no 1, pp. 24-37.
'World Cup ushers in mobile TV era' 2006, BBC News, viewed on 9th June 2008 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5049698.stm.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Harry Potter Lexicon is legal
‘Harry Potter’ is one of the best selling novels in the market which is used to produced the blockbuster movies, and thus, like every other successful novel, television series and so on such as Roswell and Star Trek, the fan fiction ‘Harry Potter Lexicon’ is created using a website.
Title : 'Harry Potter Lexicon' webpage
Source: Harry Potter Lexicon
Title : 'Harry Potter Lexicon' webpage
Source: Harry Potter Lexicon
However, in 2007, J.K. Rowling (the original writer of ‘Harry Potter’) was unhappy and sued a small publisher in Michigan over its plans to publish a book version of the popular website dedicating to the boy wizard (msnbc.com 2007). In that article, it is mention that J.K. Rowling was originally supporting the fan-driven efforts and has singled out the ‘Harry Potter Lexicon’ website. Conversely, she was not supportive when the ‘Harry Potter Lexicon’ was being published as a book. She then claimed that the book version of the ‘Harry Potter Lexicon’ will then improperly interfere with her plans to write her own definitive ‘Harry Potter’ encyclopedia which is included in the new materials, but not in the novels.
Referring to Wu (2008), fan guides are actually not illegal as for there is an essential and healthy line among what the original author owns and what the secondary authors get to do. In this case, ‘Harry Potter Lexicon’ is more into a discussion of the J.K. Rowling’s work where Lexicon is writing the story based on the understandings and opinions about J.K. Rowling’s work. Therefore, J.K. Rowling should lose her copyright lawsuit against Lexicon as for there is no law that allows the authors to have that much control over the public discussion of their creations (Wu 2008).
Besides that, according to Mundim (2006, pp. 233-234), the fan fiction is an evidence of the power of the reader to express different meanings from what is being presented. In a simple sentence, it means that fan fiction is the evidence of the power of the reader to make public his or her interpretation of a favoured text. Therefore, ‘Harry Potter Lexicon' is just an idea or interpretation of a reader of the original ‘Harry Potter’ novel and is not consider as stealing or copying the idea of J.K. Rowling. Hence, J.K. Rowling has no right to sue Lexicon based on that reason.
References
‘J.K. Rowling sues to stop Harry Potter Lexicon’ 2007, msnbc.com, viewed on 5th June 2008 at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21568449/.
Mundim, I.S. 2006, ‘Roswell, textual gaps and fans' subversive response’, UFMG, pp. 229-245, viewed on 5th June 2008 at http://www.cadernos.ufsc.br/online/cadernos7/isabella%20mundim.pdf.
Wu, T. 2008, ‘J.K. Rowling’s Dark Mark: Why she should lose her copyright lawsuit against the Harry Potter Lexicon’, Slate, viewed on 5th June 2008 at http://www.slate.com/id/2181776/#.
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