week ten-Does internet democracy will influence the government decision?

Nowadays, governments try to listen to citizen’s voice from the internet. For example, American government set up Whitehouse website for the netizens to present their view. It allows citizens to start and spread petitions, promising that any entreaties that get a certain signatures would receive an ‘official response’.

Democratic refers to the institutionalization of democracy, it become self-sustaining and secure from the threat of authoritarian regression and considered as “the only game in town”. (Linz & Stepan, 1996)Although it do like this, the problem cannot be solve follow the netizens voice. The internet makes some political activity easier. But it does do the real effect. In actual, Whitehouse website is more like a public relation platform. They selective answering and long response time for the Westboro petition, having long passed its ‘merits a response’ threshold had not got the replay.The petition to reduce gun violence only gets boilerplate answer. (Garber, 2013) No matter good or bad, White House's digital petitions represent a republican democracy.

Groshek’s (2009) cross-national analysis of relationship between progressive internet penetration and democratizen between 1994 and 2003 suggests the internet democratization is decided by the level of democracy of countries. The network of globalization also gets advantage and disadvantage. The information can be more widely spread, it increase the difficult of government to deal with the problem. More network power makes pressure to them. In order to stop the widely spread of serious even, government try to blockade the information. It is hard to say it is good or bad. The different county situation decides the result of digital democracy.  

The internet democracy influence the government decision is not certainly. However, the power of digital democracy cannot ignore.

References:

Linz, J., & Stepan, S. (1996). Towards consolidated democracies. Journal of Democracy.

Garber, M. (2013) The White House Petition Site Is a Joke (and Also the Future of

Democracy) The Atlantic. Retrieved from: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/01/the-white-house-petition-site-is-a-joke-and-also-the-future-of-democracy/267238/

 

Groshek, J. (2009). The democratic effects of the Internet, 1994–2003: A cross-national inquiry of 152 countries. The International Communication Gazette

week nine- Videogames object for more players

The computer games need overcome the gaming challenge no matter what kinds of it is. Players get what they want from the effort in the games. (Karhulahti, 2013) To know more about games need to know the different demand that players want to get from the games. The different demand for player also results in different game situations. The different experiences meet users’ requirements. The concept of automatic-play tries to use the game character to achieve the goal they want to get. In the role-playing games, socializing and exploring the virtual world is not the only thing. Leveling might be also a big attraction for users. (Paoli, 2013) Even just for wasting time, videogame is also a nice choice.

The attraction of game is the most important condition. For example, the simulation game, the game looks real will help players have better experience on it. The behaviors in the simulation games get interaction with each other. In this game player not in one time action, in fact, their participation is long lasting, continuous and intense.

The unique characteristic for a videogame have great value. Video game is a interact activity, players do the controlling, the result show in the game world. Just like the marketing knowledge, find the target market, service for the customers. The research and development of a game follow the different groups of players. It is a key point to keep good balance between work and play. The most important for player is to enjoy the reality that games take for them.        

References:

Karhulahti, V. M. (2013) A Kinesthetic Theory of Videogames: Time-Critical Challenge and Aporetic Rhematic. Game studies.13 (1)

Paoli, S. D. (2013) Automatic-Play and Player Deskilling in MMORPGs. Game studies.13 (1)

week eight-technological progress will decrease the creativity of people.

The development of technology brings a lot of convenience. And many of us are addicted to mobile, laptop or social network. The global internet users use average 16 hours per month online. Google and facebook is the first and second most visited web. (Vidyarthi, 2012) More time spend online means less used in the real life. The communication mode from the face to face talking to online talking. The reliable of the internet make internet become more and more important for user. Some original communication mode has change.

 Does technology progress will bring down the creativity? People relay on the electronic product will influence some skills. For example, the calculator has big influence of people’s calculation skill. From this aspect, the technology products reduce the capacity. As Mishra & Koehler (2008) said, “Creative solutions often go beyond mere novelty and functionality to a strong aesthetic quality. (Mishra & Koehler, 2008) However, our focus on creativity may in the physical objects, concept, ideas or theories. The visual result is the best showing of creativity. Technology could not decrease creativity. Especially in the electronic product market, the creativity function is a big attraction to customer. The history of apple products is a good example for this. It is still progress with the technology and attract customer. No improving of product is serious, but technologies have not too much obstruction.

The change of technology may cause people more relay on it. It is hard to say, in some functions, the machine is more reliable than brain. In my own opinion, I think creativity is endless.   

Reference:

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M.J. (2008). Introducing technological pedagogical content

knowledge. Paper presented the Annual Meeting of the American Educational

Research Association

Vidyarthi, N. (2012) How people Spend Their Time Online. Social Times. Retrieved from: http://socialtimes.com/how-people-spend-their-time-online-infographic_b97103

week seven-Free labour

Free labour is an underrate force in capitalist society. Free labour on the internet includes building web sites, modifying software packages, reading and participating in mailing lists and building virtual spaces without wage, and voluntarily given. Cultural and technical work is the central of internet. Free labours change the relationship between work as ‘servitude’ to self-fashioning and communal liberation. (Terranova, 2003)

The voluntarily work like internship is based on the people who want get something they need except for salary. For example, the purpose of internship is to be found in a lifetime paid employment, it is practice for uncertain career paths, and they can enjoy the flexibility. Internship gives us a chance to experience the ‘real’ work. No one would like to do an unpaid work that has no meaning for them. In fact, the free labour earn something that is valuable to them not only money. For the organization that using free labour could save money for them.

With the developed world, the world would lay on the commoditization of information, money do not stay the first status. For the mostly user, net is somewhere to work, play and learn with each other that do not strict by the physical distance. The free labour is an important part of create value in the digital economic. Free labour come from the current capitalist focus on the knowledge adding. Free labor is the knowledgeable consumption of culture into productive activities.(Terranova, 2003) In the internet world, free labours contribute a lot of information.  

In both of the actual and virtual world, free labors have its own special value.

Terranova, T. (2003) Free Labor: Producing Culture for the Digital Economy. Electronic book review. Retrieved from:

http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/technocapitalism/voluntary

week six-Scientific

We can easily see what the scientific and technological bring for us. The automatic production makes the produce more efficient. One side people enjoy the high technology bring for us. On the other side, more efficient working equipment replace people’s work. In this reason, efficient machine need less employee than before. People rely on the scientific, also meet problems with it.

Some people cannot leave computer. The computer have widely use, record the data base, deal with some information, social network and so on. All of these using show the important of the computer. This is also the technologies bring for us. Digital social make an electronic commerce become a new trading pattern. New patterns change the different life style.     

Marx thought the scientific and technological progress and the improvement of productivity result in the reduction of the demand of labour, cause unemployment. On the other hand, the use of scientific and technological progress and machine promote the production, it increased the need of labour. (Marx, 1992) In the short-tern, scientific will bring unemployment. However, technology increase the productivity, cause the need of materials and relevant departments, it raise the need of labour. The industry revolution is the product of science and technology. In the eighteen century, the high wages of British economy result the use, invent of saving technology like spinning jenny. (Allen, 2011) The changes usually have some reasons in certain time.  

Technology is the product of social development. It is also change the world. Scientific and technologies progress will bring persona, social, economic progress.

Reference:

Marx, K. (1992) Marx's Capital: a student edition / Karl Marx, edited and introduced by C. J. Arthur. London: Lawrence &Wishart.

Allen, R. C. (2011) Why the industrial revolution was British: commerce, induced invention, and the scientificrevolution. Economic history review. 64(2). P357-385. Database:Business source Premier.

week five-the robot

 New technology developments make increasing benefit of human. A lot of machines produced to replace the work of people. Like washing machine, automatic dishwasher, cleaner, etc. These machines make the work efficient, allow human not work on it directly. People just press several buttons to control working. The requirement of helping and replacing people’s work bring the Robot come out.

Robots make life easier, safer for human. People are accustomed to the coexistence with robots. However, the new worries about the development of robot arise. Would the robot become the host of human? If people cannot control robot anymore when the robot become too intelligent?

Robot also can help people do what we cannot to do. Like some dangerous, we cannot do, but robot can. In this way, the production of robots is good for us. There is a new report that a robot “killing itself” because of tired of doing housework. Link: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/worlds-first-robot-suicide-family-2786901

There is no specific legal statute in using of robot in workplace, but robot can working as agent on behalf individuals or companies (Chopra& White, 2011) Robots is produced by human, they thought is based on the program design. The technologies being used in driverless cars and other automated system more accurate than human, and cause less harm than human doing the same tasks. (Kirpatrick, 2013)   

No matter how robot development, it is still the achievements, human is always the host of robot. Even if the robots meet some trouble, people still can control it, we are thoughtful people. Robot will continue get benefit for human.

Reference:

Chopra, S. &White, L. F. (2011) A legal Theory for Autonomous Artificial Agents. US: The University of Michigan Press.

Kirpatrick, K. (2013) Legual Issues with robots. Communications of the ACM. 56(11), p17-19. 

week four-the advantage and disadvantage of surveillance

Surveillance is used in many industries. In this way, people can use the digital technologies to observe the activity of what they want to see.As the digital technologies product can record of the reality in time, surveillance can provide the in time recording  It is a big advantage for the organization to meet the reality record. Police and security staffs rely on video surveillance make their work more easily.

 With the development of technology, there is improving with monitoring technology. For example, in the underground station, it always has a lot of people. It is difficult to monitor in these place. (Elhamod, 2013)CCTV makes a big help in surveillance. It watches suspicious activities and transmit photos and videos back to the control station. It is the use for the reality life. In the virtual network, the data, information surveillance make the relevant organization get what they want. According to the American management Association and the ePolicy Institute(2008)that take a survey about surveillance approximately 300 US companies, there is a big proportion of fired employers for misusing the internet.(Allmer,2011) surveillance can bring reality and in time data. For the supervisor, it gets information for them. 

 The internet has created many new information and personal security issues. (Flew, 2008) The big issue of surveillance is the privacy security. For the individual, privacy is important. Under the surveillance, it is difficult to keep privacy. Economical and political actors use surveillance in order to control a certain behavior of people that do not know what they are surveilled. (Allmer, 2011) privacy and law embodies a confliction and value. 








References:

Allmer, T. (2011) Critical Surveillance Studies in the Information Society. TripleC (Cognition, Communication, Co-Operation): Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society. 9(2). P566-592

Elhamod, M. (2013) Automated Real-Time Detection of Potentially Suspicious Behavior in Public Transport Areas.IEEE Transactions On Intelligent Transportation Systems. 14 (2) 688-699.

Flew, T. (2008) New media: An introduction. Oxford:Oxford University Press

week three-How much information should be free and how to decide

Today, we can easily get information from the internet, and the internet is borderless. There is a problem come out. Do we need to pay for the information, and how much information needs to pay?

The information published in the internet, it makes the information be shared. However which kind of information need be paid is not easy to define. All information need be free (Levy, 1984) However, the owner of copyright cannot provide free information. At first, the owner cannot give free information with expense a lot of resources. In this way the user need to pay for their work. A big forward could be made by making information free and be welcome the interest for who want to know it. (Engelkamp, & Jahn, &Seiler, 2003)Paid information is not good for spreading. Pay or not to pay is difficult to decide. Based on the hierarchy of needs of user, decide the paid information may be the suitable choice. The value of the information can also decide the need of users. For example, professional projects need a lot of technical knowledge to support. The information need be strict the truth. In this time, the paid data will more reliable. Users also easier to choose pay for the useful information. Based on the need of information to decide how much information should be paid could be more reality.

Internet promotes new form of economy and new states that abolish scarcity of abundance, diversity replace standardization and replace hierarchy with participation and democratization. (Curran, J. &Fenton, N. &Freedman, D., 2012) Internet can bring profit from different forms.  From the perspective of the consumer decide information get fee or not will suitable for the network environment develop.     

Curran, J. &Fenton, N. &Freedman, D. (2012) Misunderstanding the Internet. London: Routledge Ltd. p.180

Levy, S. (1984) Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. New York: Anchor Press

Engelkamp, J., & Jahn, P. &Seiler, K.H.(2003) The item-order hypothesis reconsidered: The role of order information in free recall. Psychological Research. Vol. 67 Issue 4, p280-290.. 

week two-The value and problems of augmented reality in implementation.

Augmented reality is the combining of real and virtual information shows in 3D and effect the real word. (Kipper & Rampolla, 2013) Augmented reality combine the real and virtual information made the information interchange become real time interaction. It can be widely used in many industries, like military, medical, education, public safety.

   Augmented reality makes people’s life more convenient and also make the information extrude. It provides words information and image information. Digitization information can save a lot of space, and sometimes it is also more reliable. Augmented reality was applied in a variety of innovative with visible scene to people. It will enhance our lives in new ways and get benefit to people.

   Augmented reality need the corresponding equipment support. Object in real world and virtual work need stay in the same space properly. Technical challenge is the foundation of application implementation.  A lot of information and data was stored in these augmented reality device. Each wireless technology may cause security issues, and it depends on how well the encryption work. (Hyman, 2013 June) Privacy concerns are big issue of augmented reality. The encryption work is the solving of the problem from source. To enhance the encryption level and the difficulty of getting information keep the privacy.

  The development of digital technology make augmented reality put into effect easier. Technology service for people who need it make human progress. The issue from the technology and the social will get corresponding solutions. A product or a technology that suitable to the market and customer will stay long. In the future, more suitable one will improve or replace it.        

Kipper, G. & Rampolla, J. (2013) Augmented reality [electronic resource]: An emerging technologies guide to AR. Waltham, Mass.: Syngress.  

Hyman, P. (2013, June) Augmented-Reality Glasses Bring Cloud Security Into Sharp Focus  Communications of the acm. Vol. 56

week one-The basic introduction of media and cyberculture.

Medium is singular and media is plural. From the Oxford Dictionaries we get the definition of medium are: 1) materials or form used by an artist, composer, or writer, 2) An agency or means of doing something, 3) a person claiming to be in contact with the spirits of the dead and to communicate between the dead and the living, 4) the intervening substance through which sensory impressions are conveyed or physical forces are transmitted, 5) a particular form of storage material for computer files, such as magnetic tape or discs.(Oxford dictionaries,2013) The classic media contain film, radio, TV and other kinds of ways. The media exist in many different sorts of environment (like political, personal, historical) and influence the way of media and stories been told. (Stewart, Lavelle, & Kowaltzke, 2001)

Culture is a development process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic. (Storey, 2006) Cyberculture is a series of ideas, issues and questions about what happens when we combine the word cyber and culture. The prominent aspect of emerging cyberculture is the question of community. It contains online or virtual communities. Cyberspace is thousands of groups of people’s home where share information, discuss mutual interest, play games and carry out business. (Bell, 2001)

Why we need to learn media? In the beginning of twentieth century, many media began to arrive: first cinema, radio and TV. With the scale of the audiences grew of each new medium, the immediacy of what was being presented is important. Keeping the pace of the development of media could make it more close to audience.

Oxford dictionaries, (2013)

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/medium?q=medium

Stewart, C., Lavelle, M. & Kowaltzke, A. (2001) Media and meaning: An introduction. London: British Film Institute.

Storey, J. (2006) Cultural theory and popular culture: A reader. 3rd edn. Harlow, England ; New York: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Bell, D. (2001) An introduction to cybercultures [electronic resource]. London: Routledge.