Now Into The Future We go....

I wouldn't say I was huge Star Wars fan, I think they are amazing movies, and like other movies they show you possibilities of what may happen, or would could happen if you put your mind to it...yes I am talking about holographic messages. It has been thought possible thanks to a group from the University of Arizona.

According to this group of academics holography is 'a technique that is used to display objects or scenes in three dimensions'. Holograms can be seen by the human eye, and you can also see the environment from which they are coming from. The technology been used is juts the same as what television is using is based on polarization stereoscopy, which to be honest means nothing to me, just a big fancy word these people are using to make them feel smarter than you.

Holographic software is far from ready, some of the issues that this concept is facing is the amount of information that is needed to produce a high quality hologram is so large that making a real-time video-rate display has been limited by either size or resolution. On the other hand, it is hoped that this technology will continue to develop and lead to telemedicine. Where doctors performing brain surgery can use holograms to communicate with other surgeons around the world, and they can all contribute to the outcome.

This shows that the patient has suffered from cranial damage

The medical world has already started to work with holograms, however, there is one major limitation that it brings; ensuring patient safety with regard to the laser hazard issues and producing the necessary outof- plane motion in the living tissue. Furthermore, this militation is only arising dur to the change in methods, originally, this technique was used on cadavers. The technique is now been used on patients with cranial vault defects.

The circles indicate calvarial loss caused from a bullet wound

What about Apple?

The most sought after mobile phone have been investing in the thought of holographic phones.  The Black Hole mobile concept design was made for Apple, and is hoped to be out in 2020. The holographic phone has a central mouse ball that levitates and allows the user to control all the phone functions and applications in mid-air.

I think it would be great if this were to turn out to be true. What it would mean for people to be able to have a conversation with someone they rarely ever get to see, but still be seeing them in some way? Most of my family live overseas, and I haven't even met the latest additions (who are now 6yrs and 2yrs old), it would mean that we would be able to make connections with people we don't necessarily have to live round the corner from. I guess we will just have to wait and see...


Who doesn't believe in this technology?
My Dad.
For my family it is hard to believe that technology can progress to this when we get our power from batteries (solar). Maybe instead of trying to create something new, we should try improving what we have. What would be the point in 2020 for me to buy the Black Hole when I don't even get reception at my house? I mean to be able to communicate like they do in Star Wars would be a dream come true for alot of people.

References:

Amos, J 2010 'Hologram messaging coming of age', BBC News, viewed 28th May 2012
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11685582>

Blanche, PA, Bablumian, A, Voorakaranam, R, Christenson, C, Lin, W, Gu, T, Flores, D, Wang, P, Hsieh, WY, Kathaperumal, M, Rachwal, B, Siddiqui, O, Thomas, J, Norwood, RA, Yamamoto, M, & Peyghambarian, N 2010 'Holographic three-dimensional telepresence using large-area photofractive polymer', Nature, 468, pp.80-83, viewed 28th May 2012
<http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7320/full/nature09521.html>

Trendhunter: Art and Design 'The Black Hole Concept Phone for 2020 Has A Levitating Mouse Ball'
, Holographic Mobiles, viewed 28th May 2012
<http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/black-hole-concept-phone#!/photos/106794/3>

Webster, JM 2006, 'Holographic metrology: some examples of imaging in medicine and non-destructive inspection', Imaging Science Journal, 54, 2, pp. 80-85, EBSCOhost, viewed 28yh May 2012.
<https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_14_1>

Finding Love....In Cyberspace???

Can you really fall in love in cyberspace?

The answer is yes! Suprisingly... According to Second Life characters Modesty McDonnell and Dave Barmy it was love at first sight. But first of all, what is second life?

Meanwhile...

Amy Pollard

Back in real life, the disintegration of  the marriage of the 'real' Dave Barmy aka David Pollard and Amy Pollard was occuring. Confirming the end of their so-called love it was not only enough for Amy to be divorced in First Life, but also Second Life. It may not be a happy ending for Amy and David, but in Second Life Dave and his love affair Modesty McDonnel are married, and will soon make it official in Second Life.

David believed that there were problems with his marriage to Amy. According to him, she never did anything around the house, all she wanted to do was saty on her computer and play games. I think all three of these individuals need to get off the computer, and do things in 'First Life'.

   

David Pollard

Modesty McDonnel aka Linda Brinkley

  The love triangle of Amy, David and Linda aren't the only love stories coming out of Second Life. For Rhonda Lillie and Paul Hawkins they have found what they have been looking for.It all began four years ago atop a virtual waterfall overlooking a lush green valley, the likes that can only be found in Second Life. After just three weeks of constantly messaging one another over the net, they sealed the deal with a Second Life marriage. This was all done without ever even verbally speaking to one another!! For the couple, this is a fairytale come true. Both divorced with children in Real Life, neither of them thought that finding one another was possible, and even though they are oceans away from each other they believe that they have a strong bond.

On thr right the Real Life couple, on the left, their Second Life avatars.

Finding love via the net seems to be a growing trend, according to a 2006 Pew survey, one in 10 Internet users already search for love online, and 15 percent of American adults say they know someone who married or seriously dated an online match. However, some people have a different opinion...Psychologists say people use avatars to explore sides of themselves they aren't ready to share with the real world. Often, the lure is wish fulfillment.

 Finding love in Second Life, appears to be easy. The above couple a perfect example, his avatar looked interesting, so she instigated a conversation. However, you don't have to do it this way. On the Second Life website, residents can put posts up in forums asking for people to be friends with them, or to even have a casual relationship, and Mysteekmeg, did just that.


I don't know about how anyone else if feeling about moving your life into the virtual world. However, I don't want to spend the majority of my day on the net. What is going to happen with your Real Life relationships? I'm not just talking about an intimate one, but what about your family? How will this affect your way of interacting with actual people? I want to be able to talk face-to-face to people I think are important in my life, and help shape who I am. How are we going to develop as people when everything is on the net?



References:

Bennet, J 2009 'AGeek Love Story' The Daily Beast
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/04/13/a-geek-love-story.html>

 'Revealed: The 'other woman' in Second Life divorce...who's now engaged to the web cheat she's never met' The Mail Online, viewed 20th May 2012
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1085412/Revealed-The-woman-Second-Life-divorce--whos-engaged-web-cheat-shes-met.html> 


<http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Lifestyles-and-Relationships/New-And-Looking-For-Relationships/td-p/1526405>

iTherapy

Both the use and functions of a mobile phone has changed dramatically since the first generation appeared in Japan in 1979, from these analog days we have progressed to the smart phone. But what is a smart phone? A smart phone consists of a 3G or UMTS mobile phone that has the ability to surf the web, read and respond to e-mails and can install and run applications.

Gone are the days where our phone was used to only talk to someone. Smart phones have now taken the health profession by storm. With Apple boasting at having more than 500,000 apps, ranging from work to play, and apparently all things in between. One app that I found of interest is the iRecovery, this application is involved in tracking an individuals progress through their recovery process from addiction. However, this application can be used for any addiction, it can be tailored to the individual. iRecovery isn't the only way smart phones are being used to monitor health.

A case within Australia, showed the use of a smart phone to help monitor a heart attack patient. To help this man integrate back into his home, his doctor gave him a smart phone which read an ECG (via Blue tooth) which was physically attached to the patient at all times. To activate. basic information about the patient was put into the phone, which can be seen below. Furthermore, the type of rehabilitation for the patient was also selected.














Moreover, the smart phone is also set to suit the patients needs. For John, his sight isn't as good as his hearing, therefore, the doctor has set the phone to alert him of changed in his heart rate using sounds.This can be seen below.

 As can be seen above, the process for setting up the phone is still going... On the right, is the set up to how many beats per minute (bpm) John is allowed to go up to before his smart phone starts issuing warnings. All of this data is uploaded onto the computer at the clinic. John is also encouraged to upload information through the smart phone., such things including the addresses of the places that he frequently visits. Furthermore, John has had to take his weight and heart rate every morning to put into the phone, which is then sent directly to the computer. This then means that the patients records are constantly updated, and not just on the visits that they have with the doctor. In regards to the picture below, John was out walking his dog when he collapsed, the smart phone showed this, and as John was unable to press no, 000 was called. After an ambulance was called an automated message played saying what you should do to help John is you were passing by. In comparison to the first phone, technology has come a long way, and this is not the only way the health system has taken smart phones into their stride.

 The above two examples of iRecovery, and the heart monitoring are about applications that you can access through a smart phone, however, the use of short message service, otherwise known as SMS or texting, has evolved over the years. SMS is now been used for therapeutic intervention and support. The advantage for using SMS in clinical setting is that it is so widely used, with over 2 billion users, it has become a part of everyday life. Furthermore, it provides easy use for data entry, as it is similar to the applications mentioned above, that all the data automatically updates in the patients records. Within the health world SMS is used to remind and or prompt patients to perform a certain action. Examples include reminding patients when their appointments are, where evidence shows that with the sending out of SMS reminders there has been an increase in people attending their appointments.

SMS can also be helpful in more serious situations, such as people suffering from mental health disorders, and eating disorders. A positive outcome of the use of SMS with mentally ill patients occurred when ext messages of a suicidal nature were sent to a nurse, she was then able to get in contact with a local crisis team, while sating in contact with the patient until they arrived.

Despite the positives that using SMS provides to the health profession, there are also some ethical considerations to take into account. The main issue is security for both the transmitted and stored information. As all of the information sent from a mobile phone is stored in the phone company's data. Furthermore, the health professionals that are utilising smart phones need to ensure that the information that they are keeping for data entry is sufficiently secure, and they must inform patients to take the same measures from their end. Furthermore, some health professionals may not want to jump on the bandwagon as it may be seen as unprofessional to be SMSing clients.

As this is all so new, it is hard to see where it may go. I believe that people will embrace the applications such as heart monitoring. However, due to the ethical considerations that need to be taken into account, SMSing clients will either hit off, and be integrated effectively into the health system. Or it may be deemed unprofessional and/or damaging to the patient in some way and it will cease to exist. Only time will tell.

 

References:

Anthony, K, Merz, D, &  Goss, S 2010 'Chapter 3: Using Cell.Mobile Phone SMS For Therapeutic Intervention', The Use of Technology in Mental Health, Charles C Thomas Published Ltd, Springfield. 

Busk, NK 'Smartphone Etiquette: Do We Need a Smartphone Etiquette?', viewed 14 May 2012
<http://ninakirstineis.me/wp-content/uploads/BMMS-Nina.pdf>

Campling, SJ 2011 'Book Review; A Review on iRecovery-iPhone/iPad Application',  Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity:The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 18, 3, pp.188-190, viewed 30 April 2012
<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10720162.2011.607737>

Leijedekkers, P & Gay, V 2006 'Personal Heart Monitoring and Rehabilitation System using Smart Phones', International Conference on Mobile Business: The Comuter Society, viewed 30 April 2012
<http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=4124124&contentType=Conference+Publications>

Social Media + Politics = Cool

Due to a decline in interest and participation in politics and a lack of trust that the public have in politicians, one way for the government to recapture public interest is to use online communication. What is known as e-democracy has seen a use of blogs, microblogging, social networks, and photo- and video-sharing sites. This fits in with what people believe to be three periods of campaigning; a newspaper stage (pre-modern); a television stage (modern)l and a digital stage (post-modern). As can be seen with these three stages advancements in technology have decided how political campaigns run. It is thought that all poltical campaigns will eventually end up in the third stage,

American's have seen a rise in the use of the Internet when gathering political information. In 1996, only 3% of Americans stated that they used the Internet, yet in the 2008 Presidential elections America saw Barack Obama soar to the top, with this 40%  of American's used the Internet to gather information. Research has indicated that traditional media outlets, are also the dominant sites online. Traditional media sites are those that also come away from the Internet, and include NBC News, CNN and USA Today. However, during the 2008 election there was more of an interest in the non-traditional sites, with 78% of participants searching for campaign information on sites such as Weblog.

Even though there have been differences with where citzens are looking to find their information, there are underlying factors which exaplin why people are looking at either traditional or non-tradtional sites. These factors include age, education, and income, and the role that they play is still unclear. However, I believe that if political information was put across effectively using social media, then it needs to be on every available site whether it be traditional or non-traditional.

As effectively as social media worked for Obama, it can also work against politicians. As social media is so easy to use, people can take videos and edit them, then re-upload them onto the net. This can have very damaging affects on their campaigns, which was the case for John Edwards. One video is of Edwards helping with the clear up after Hurricane Katrina struck, which provides a positive image for him. On the other hand this next video does not...

For politicians to use social media without having negative impacts such as the case for John Edwards issues such as ownership, control and copyright need to be explored. Another downside of political campaigns moving onto the Net, means that we can see the digital divide much more clearly. Obviously, Internet access isn't available to everyone, so how will these people find out about what politicians are willing to offer? Does this mean that we will see another decrease in voting, as people who don't have the Internet may decide not to bother at all?

What about Australia?!

For the case of Australia, politicians prefer to use a personal website, this was for both 2007, and the 2010 campaigns. Where an astounding 76% of politicians having one.

But, how are they using social media?

Australian politicians used social media as a one-way form of communication, meaning they put out all the information about their campaign, but it didn't allow for the public to interact with them. The nature of what politicians are producing is mainly slogans, attacking opponents and political rhetoric. For Julia Gillard the majority of her tweets consist of her slogan ‘I’ll deliver a strong economy, better hospitals and schools.’ Seeing as there was an increase in the use of social media from the 2007 to the 2010 election, I expect that they will be another increase at our next election.


References:

Karlsen, R, 2010 'Does New Media Technology Drive Election Campaign Change', Information Polity, 15,3, pp.215-225, viewed 14 May 2012
<http://iospress.metapress.com/content/117550403871227t/>

McGinity,MS 2007 'Shaking Hands, Kissing Babies, and...Blogging?', Communications of the ACM, 50, 9, pp.21-24, viewed 14 May 2012
<http://www.ucalgary.ca/files/f2007stas341/p21-mcginity_shannon_0.pdf>

MacNamara, J & Kenning, G 2011, 'E-electioneering 2010: Trends in Social Media Use in Australian Political Communication', Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy, 139, pp. 7-22, viewed 14 May 2012
<http://uts.academia.edu/JimMacnamara/Papers/858419/E-electioneering_2010_Trends_in_Social_Media_Use_in_Australian_Political_Communication>

Parmalee, JH, Davies, J, & McMahan, C 2011, 'The Rise of Non-Traditional Site Use for Political Information', Communication Quarterly, 59, 5, pp.625-640, viewed 14 May 2012
<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01463373.2011.614211#preview>

Musage-Producing Music

With sites such as Yahoo! and Wikipedia, it helps sustain the community of producers within the music industry. The people already within this community try to encourage others to participate. Furthermore, social networking platforms are providing motivationto create as means of expression.

One of the ways that producing information has changed is the process of tagging. The producer can tag what they are uploading, and instead of the tedious task of organising, which original creators had to do, a simple search will pull up everything with this tag. An example that I have come across is when I havetyped a band into YouTube, a list of their videos appears, then in a smaller column on the right hand side, there are suggested videos. For example I type The Creepshow-Sleep Tight into the search box, the suggestions include; HorrorPops, Silver Shine, Wolfgang, The Leopards and the Hellfreaks etc. If you don't know who these bands are you are more than likely to click on them, as somewhere along the line they have been seen as similar to The Creepshow. And just for those who have no idea what I am talking about, The Creepshow's Sleep Tight video...

With the way technology has evolved, individuals are able to create a playlist within Apple's iTunes of all their favourite tracks. Once completed there are various sites which enable you to upload the playlist to receive feedback from others utilising the site.

Myspace's "music pages" as a perfect example of producing music online. Traditionally, artists and/or bands had to become a 'signed' band before making it big. Myspace pages allowed artists to produce their music then upload it onto their page. Once they had a substantial amount of followers, they would include it in their presentation to the labels. I think we can all agree that Myspace has lost the battle with Facebook, however, Facebook has taken the idea of band pages in its stride. I use it frequently to listen to music that I have never heard before rather than YouTube. For example, after seeing the Road Ratz at a pub I searched them on Facebook first, luckily they had one which allowed me to listen to their music. I find this of a higher quality to what you can get on YouTube. For the Road Ratz, producers have littered YouTube with poor quality videos of their live shows. This is my favourite Road Ratz song, slaughtered.... Just becuase you have the ability to produse, doesn't mean that you should.

Myspace and Facebook aren't the only tools that people of ur generation are using. Filled with much controversy is the iPad. An issue that producers are facing with the iPad, is how sensitive to touch it actually is, instead they need the resistive touch sensors which are much more sensitive. This means that the producer can use their fingernail, and this software does not respond to things such as sweat and alcohol, which are more than likely going to be present in a producers environment (pubs, and clubs). Another limitation, is that a producer won't be able to make small changes what they are working ondue to the sensitive touch of the iPad. However, people believe that there is plenty of potential for the iPad, with specific apps for people who want to musage.

For me, I believe that technology will keep adapting and growing, until we can't possibly go any further. When this day comes, I believe that everyone will be a producer. Even though it is easy to use now, it will be even easier, and hopefully less time-consuming for some. At this point in time, I think for people that are going to produce music of the quality found in the above video, then they shouldn't do it at all. On the other hand, I hope that you have enjoyed all of the Rockabilly/Psychobilly music :)



References:
Grogan, AA 2011, 'Today's producers', Engineering & Technology (17509637), 6, 11, pp. 32-35, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 18th April 2012.

Jenning, D 2007, Net Blogs and Rock'n'Roll, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, Great Britain.

Levinson, P 2009, New New Media, Pearson, United States.

We CAN Handle The Truth

Governments are under the impression that they are entitled to their secrecy, and don't bother to tell the public issues of interest. According to the people in "power", the general public is incapable of the "weight" that comes with the truth. One such excuse that is rolled out time and time again is that certain peices of information are a case of "national security". However, "national security" is never fully explained to the citizens, nor do any politicians question it, with the fear of being unpatriotic.

Secrecy for governments allows them to abuse their power. It is thought that citizens should be entitled to secrecy, and governments should exercise transparency. Nothing should be kepts from citizens, unless there is a good reason for it. However, it appears that there is a large amount of infomation, which the government has kept a 'secret', yet it may not have been necessary to have done so. This is where WikiLeaks comes to play.

The main idea behind the non-profit organisation that is WikiLeaks is that they shouldn't be any secrets, whether that be in action, agreements or promises; including people in both public and private organisations. Furthermore, it is a secure platform where whistleblowers can share what the government believe is classified information. One of the main reasons individuals have been providing information to WikiLeaks is to reveal the unethical behaviour by our governments.

There are many criticisms of WikiLeaks, one of which is that it will create distrust and fear within citizens, furthermore, it is thought that people will no longer want to express themselves as they won't want their words taken out of the context that they were formed. The founders of WikiLeaks are also assuming that the public want to know all that is going on with our government, this is not true. In some cases people do not wish to know what WikiLeaks has to offer the public. On the other hand, citizens wanting to put information on WikiLeaks have to ask themselves if by putting this peice of information up; will they endanger an innocent's life? In 2011, the US Defence Department hadn't reported that any informant has been killed or killed as  a result of WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks has also changed the media in numerous ways, one of which is that it has challenged traditional media. Journalists are now starting to ask the gard questions again. WikiLeaks have also changed the way traditional media presents itself due to the creative collaborations that WikiLeaks have done with them.

And now a video from Anti-Flag, their music includes their left-wing political views, and this particular song is  focusing on anti-war activism. This particular song, is about how much money the US Government is willing to spend on guns.

 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FREEDOM IN OUR SOCIETY

References:
Dreyfus, S, Lederman, R, Bosua, R, &Milton, S 2011, 'Can We Handle the Truth? Whistleblowing to the Media in the Digital Era', Global Media Journal- Australian Edition, 5, 1, pp. 1-6, EBSCOhost, viewed 17th April 2012

Sauter, T, & Kendall, G 2011, 'Parrhesia and Democracy: Truthtelling, WikiLeaks and the Arab Spring', Social Alternatives, 30, 3, pp. 10-14, EBSCOhost, viewed 17th April 2012

Siegel, D 2011, 'Secrecy, Betrayal and Crime', Utrecht Law Review, 7, 3, pp. 107-119, EBSCOhost, viewed17th April 2012