Reflections

Writing this blog has brought me sweet memories. I even learn lot of new things that are useful for my future life. I feel so grateful to have learnt this subject and appreciate all the knowledge that has been taught by the lecturer. There are several skills that I have learnt in blogging or as a blogger. Firstly, as a blogger we must write ethnically and carefully to avoid defamation and copyright infringements. Secondly, we must be sensitive to cultures as we cannot insult or hurt others religion in our blog. Finally, a blogger must design the layout properly and nicely to produce a good document. This has been emphasised by Putnis and Petelin (1996) that a good document design must help the readers to read efficiently, focus on the most important contents and encourage readers to feel good about communication. These are what a document designer should develop in themselves.

Reference List

1. Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

Web TV is Everywhere

It is obvious that television has gone through some major revolutions over the years such as the colour, cable, digital and even TiVo. At the moment, the industry is undergoing another transformation that all of us are more than ready and get excited. In older days, we need to watch television from our devices at the living room. However, in this modern era consumers opt to access television-style video content from electronic devices such as computer, mobile phones and portable gaming devices. It is also more comfortable for the consumers as they can access it from anywhere they want. They also were willing to pay at any cost although it might be more expensive even if they need to add their monthly bills or fees. They even do not mind to rent premium content from the studio itself. The survey shows that nearly 25% of them willing to pay at any cost for the services as long as they can view the content on a computer or mobile device. Web TV is a new form of media. It is more up to date and undoubtedly the easier way to watch television in this modern world. We can also watch our favourite programs that we missed online using streaming media. Here is a list of websites on the net that allows us to view TV-programs, movies and music video (Marcofolio.net 2009):

• YouTube
  
• Your Daily Media
  
• All of TV
  
• Bedroom media
  
• Cinema Tube.net
  
• Crafty TV
  
• DivX Live
  
• Movie Flicks
  
• My Theater
  
• Watch TV Sitcoms
  

As we can observe, most of the audiences prefer to watch their favourite shows online using computer or laptop, mobile phones, portable video players and portable gaming players rather than the normal television. Hence, I have no doubt that the concept of web TV will definitely work compared to the traditional media.

Examples of web TV:

Source: Yahoo image search 2009

Source: Marcofolio.net 2009

Source: Marcofolio.net 2009

Reference List

1. Throw out your TV and watch your favourite programs and movies online 2009, Marcofolio.net, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://www.marcofolio.net/video/throw_out_your_tv_and_watch_your_favorite_programs_and_movies_online.html>

Harry Potter Author Wins Copyright Claim

J.K Rowling is the author of Harry Potter book that has just won her claim that a fan violated her copyright with the plans to publish it in a Potter encyclopedia. The judge said that it had been proven that Steven Vander Ark’s “Harry Potter Lexicon” would have caused her irreparable harm as a writer. Furthermore, the British author had also taken a legal action against Michigan-based RDR Books last year. This is to prevent publication of the book from claiming copyright violation. Rowling also stressed out that this book is from her own material and idea. Hence, it cannot be consider as a plagiarism. The publisher defended their lexicon as just a reference guide and did not invade into Rowling’s copyright as they used it fairly. Vander Ark also contacted an RDR books employee to inform that the publication of lexicon would not go against the copyright law. He also insisted that RDR books have already incorporate a clause that the publisher would defend and pay any damages in the agreement. An overview of copyright was provided in Wikipedia (2009), copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author of an original work exclusive right for a certain time period in relation to that work including publication, distribution and adaptation. Therefore, a copyright act can prevent other people from copying a work of authorship illegally. In this case, the Harry Potter’s author, Rowling was protecting his own work as she feels that other people are planning to copy her work. She decided to use the copyright law to protect herself. According to Tysver (2008) the exclusive rights granted by the copyright act are limited by several statutory and constitutional limitations on copyright law. The limitation is known as the ‘fair use’. The fair use is used to balance the rights of copyright owners and letting certain copying to happen in restricted conditions. For instance, the publisher is claiming that they did not copy any work or writing but it is a fair use acceptable by the law.

Copyright symbol

Source: Counterfeit Chic

Reference List

1. Copyright 2009, Wikipedia, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright>
2. Tysver, D A 2008, Fair Use in Copyright, BitLaw, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/fair_use.html>

Facebook makeover leaves some devotees fuming

This article is taken from Australian news website that talks about social networking site which is the Facebook that has came out with a new look and layout. However, not all users support the changes because they feel the old design is better and they are more familiar with it. Nevertheless, from the survey done more than thousands of people have registered as Facebook members. In addition, nearly 30 million of Facebook’s users have switched to the new format. Changes is made due to the feedback from users as well as the new trend in uploading videos, pictures and musings that they want to share with their friends. Facebook uphold that the changes will surely make the pages look livelier and better organised. People can also have more control over software applications they choose to install which they never had before. Nonetheless, not all gadgets were changed. Most of the mini-applications such as ‘walls’ and ‘graffiti’ were preserved. According to Boyd and Ellison (2008) one feature that differentiates Facebook from others is the ability for outside developers to build ‘applications’ that allow users to personalize their profiles and perform other tasks.

New Facebook Profile Layout

Source: Bandwidth Blog

One of the problems in changing design or layout is the defamation. Gatewood (2008) demonstrates that defamation is a false statement of fact that creates a damaging, negative image of a person or a group. In addition, audience’s acceptance is also a key step in changing the web design. The audience is the people that will visit our website. Hence, they should be our main target. We need to understand their purposes and know exactly what are they looking for when visiting our website. An overview of web design in Wikipedia (2009) emphasises that a clear goal of the website as well as an understanding of what visitor want to do or feel when they come to our website will help to identify the target audience. Although we are changing the layout, we must maintain the basic aspects of design such as the content, the usability, the appearance and the visibility. In my opinion, only a good design can attract the audience’s attention to visit our website.

Reference List

1. Boyd, D M & Ellison, N B 2008, Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://www.danah.org/papers/JCMCIntro.pdf>
2. Web Design 2009, Wikipedia, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_layout#Audience>

Indonesian weekly apologises over Last Supper Suharto cover

A copy of Indonesian news weekly, Tempo, depicting Suharto and his children in a composition based on Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper in Jakarta.

Source: Google 2008

This article is taken from AEDT that talks about Indonesia’s top news magazine, Koran Tempo apologised over their cover of its latest issue. The cover depicts the former president Suharto and his children in a mimicking Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. The cover also features a sketch of Suharto who had already passed away, taking Jesus Christ’s central place at a table surrounded by his children instead of apostles. This issue has triggered complaints and angered from the Christians as well as inter-religious organisations. An overview of Indonesian press, media, TV, radio, newspaper was provided in press reference (2009) the duty of press is to ‘strengthening national unity and cohesion’. However, laws relating to the media started to revolutionize due to quick progression. As suggested in press, media, TV, radio, newspaper et al. (2009) they started to eliminate press licensing, remove the ability of the government to ban publications and guaranteed freedom of the press in 1999. Hence, due to this law any news agencies are free to publish anything they want. This is because nobody can take any action as it is embedded inside the law. This is why the cover is published by Koran Tempo magazine as the law did not restrict the freedom and regulations in the press. Furthermore, the censorship control in Indonesia is not rigid enough and most of them did not take this issue into considerations as well as seriously. The Kopkamtib which was the agent that supposes to monitor the press and censorship in Indonesia. As shown in press, media, TV, radio, newspaper et al. (2009) rather than control censorship, the agency was more likely to hold a briefing telling what kinds of news should be printing. This is why the cover is release to the media and public without any block from the government. Koran Tempo magazine should also think twice before decided to use a composition that can hurt and insult the Christians although they had no intention of doing that. They must study the background of other religion, race and culture before publishing the cover. This is to respect other religion as we dislike people criticise our own religion. Schirato and Yell (1996) argues that culture make meanings from an enormous variety of signs systems, elements as apparently basic to human survival are transformed into complex sets of resources for meaning making. In my opinion, they should consider all these aspects before publishing a cover or article so that it will not hurt other’s people.

Reference List

1. Indonesian Press, Media, TV, Radio, Newspaper 2009, pressreference.com, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://www.pressreference.com/Gu-Ku/Indonesia.html>
2. Schirato, T & Yell, S 1996, Communication and cultural literacy, Allen & Unwin, NSW

New Form of Media Publishing

After a few years, newest trends or media has been introduced. It is after the life of broadcasting. According to Wikipedia (2009) new media is the emergence of digital, computerized or networked information and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century such as the internet, websites and computer multimedia. Hence, we can notice that the popularity of blogs, social networking sites and YouTube has increased a lot and it is a sign of the net’s encroaching centrality. However, new media especially blogs has its negative issues. Firstly, people can easily invade our privacy and accessed our confidential information without we notice it. People can also write anything they want until insult and hurt other’s feeling. This is clarified by McGovern (2004) who identifies that most people do not have very much to say that is interesting and are unable to write down their ideas in a compelling and clear manner. Blogs could also threaten an organisation because it is hard to maintain. Writing comprehensibly is one of the most difficult tasks for a human being to do. As suggested by McGovern et al. (2004) many blogs are not updated, thus damaging rather than enhancing the reputation of the organisation due to this problem. In conclusion, blogs has change communication in a new media ecosystem. Without a doubt, new media has a lot of disadvantages compared to traditional media.

Reference List

1. New Media 2009, Wikipedia, viewed 17 November 2009, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Media#National_security>
2. McGovern, G 2004, Blogs and Blogging: advantages and disadvantages, Gerry McGovern, viewed 17 November 2009, <http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2004/nt_2004_08_23_blogging.htm>

Print Design vs. Online Design

Designing for webpage such as the blog is not the same as designing for print media. Therefore, the main dilemma is that most of the designers got disorganized and end up designing an unpleasant document.

According to Nielsen (1999) newspaper designers have a huge canvas to play with. Their design can be a remarkable one and contain much more information than a webpage. Normally, we can notice that more facts and figures are imagined in smaller graphics around the page. There is a plenty of room to place a large amount of typography that is nicely integrated with the headlines, graphics and sub-headings in the layout to allow our eye to move freely to view the details. The best example is the Spanish newspaper below that is printed in a large and high-resolution.

Gold medal: Expansion (Spanish newspaper)

Source: Jakob Nielson's Alertbox 1999

An overview of Jakob Nielsen vs. the designers was provided in Webmaster (2008) web design is all about a balance between aesthetics and usability. A webpage has to be in balance in order for it to be regard as a well-designed site. A webpage is a scrolling experience as contrasting to a canvas experience. Online media has different design layouts compared to the print media because it need to suit their purposes. As suggested by Walsh (2006, p. 34) the purpose of these texts either in online or print media is to engage the reader to a literary narrative and affordances of the modes, verbal and visual.

Reference List

1. Nielsen, J 1999, Differences between Print Design and Web Design, useit.com, viewed 17 November 2009, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>
2. Jakob Nielsen vs. the Designers 2008, Webmaster, viewed 17 November 2009, <http://www.webmaster-source.com/2008/12/19/jakob-nielsen-vs-the-designers/>
3. Walsh, M 2006, "The Textual shift': examining the reading process with print, visual and mulmodal texts", Australian journal of language and literacy, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 24-37