I enjoyed this subject for the most part, things I didn’t enjoy were:

- Blackboard being down when I felt like doing work

- The coursework being a tad outdated and irrelevant in parts (the last module kept referring to an essay we didn’t have.)

- My brain going to sleep when I needed to be alert

Things I DID enjoy were:

- Talking on the forums and meeting a lot of fun and knowledgeable students and lecturers

- The achievement of finally completing the concept assignment which I thought may just kill me

- Learning the theory of online communication to expand on the practical skills I already had

I have enjoyed blogging, particularly in the beginning of the study period when I had a little more time up my sleeve. I do plan to continue to blog, and hope I can bring a little more personality into my posts when I am blogging about what I feel like talking about as opposed to what the course text suggests.

Thank you Cynthia, Peter and my fellow students – It’s been fun. And now with last drop left in my beer I shall part, farewell.

Cheers,

Kate

Environment : Online, print, books, television, media
Livelihood: Flow of information
Threats:  No interaction, one sided communication, lack of knowledge sharing, the deep web
Evolution: New media, new methods within new media, interaction, back links, relationship between human and computer

This type of  ‘ecosystem’ thrives on change and new capabilities.  An advanced internet user would not only use the internet as a tool for collecting information but also add their own information. They should, most importantly, when adding information – whether it be via blog, forum, webpage – link to the source of their knowledge to ensure valuable resources aren’t lost in the deep web.

To be honest, I didn’t really grasp this metaphor that well – not to the extent I should have anyway. It’s possibly because it is too early in the morning for the logical part of my brain to have begun functioning or maybe it’s a last week motivational problem. Probably a combination of the two.

Cheers,
Kate

Refrences:

Stadler, F. 1997, ‘Information Ecology’, Accessed on the 2nd of June 2009, http://felix.openflows.com/html/infoeco.html

So, for the last of my credibility’s sake, we are going to pretend that I used the search term ‘australian history’ in the last task. Having experience in PHP programming makes me no stranger to the OR, AND and NOT logic but I had never really bothered to use them when searching. I often use “” to get results containing my whole phrase which I find particulary useful.

I searched for my term ‘australian histroy’ on google using different methods and here are the results count:
australian history: 37,000,000
“australian history”: 776,000
australian OR history: 1,490,000,000
australian AND history: 80,800,000
australian NOT history: 1,160,000,000
australian AND history OR past: 94,900,000

Predictably, ‘australian OR history’ gives the most results since pages just need to contain either term, not both. The most accurate results I believe were given by simply “australian history”. I don’t think that method will always be the most accurate though, it’s probably more dependent on the term you’re looking for to which method is best.

These searching methods aren’t particulary well known, and it makes me wonder if Google or another search engine had instuctions on the first page if it would save a lot of people time.

The correct version has now finished downloading and has been installed – my first thoughts upon opening it is the interface is not as simple as what I think a search engine should be. After checking through the settings, I found it searches 14 search engines (or less – you can check which ones to search, interestingly Google isn’t one of the choices) and you can specify the maximum number of results per engine – the default is 10, maximum is 999, I set it to 999.

I did a quick search of my own name – matched as an exact phrase, it took around 20 seconds to bring up all results – which was 16. Google gives me 177 (my name is pretty uncommon).  None of the results on Copernic were pages I hadn’t seen before so, so far, not all that impressed. I tried a few other terms, such as the word ‘news’ which I knew was bound to bring up a fair few results. This search took Copernic quite a while, probably around 5 minutes, it took Google all of a second. Copernic gave me 1694 results, Google gave me 4,970,000,000 results. Now I know that in most cases quality over quantity is better but I find that a lot of the time when I am searching, I am not even completely sure of what I am looking for so quantity is usually a lot more useful. The top 5 results in both engines were pretty similar, except Copernic had decided to slip in a ‘FatLoss4Idiots’ sponsered link at number 4. Not cool, Copernic.

While Copernic does have a lot of fancy options, I can’t really see myself crossing over from Google anytime soon. I value the simplicity, quantity and speed of Google much more than I do Copernic’s options.

Cheers,

Kate

Finally gotten my groove back after having that time/life sucking concept assignment in the past. The course text in this module was about web tools – programs you can download to help you search, read or any other taskyou can think of using the Internet. I personally, do not see much use in these programs – why should I clog up my computer with sometimes clunky programs when there are plenty of browser based tools that do exactly the same thing. But for the sake of a grade, I decided to suck up my pride and install a few tools.

Now the course text regards programs such as Adobe PDF reader, Flash/Shockwave players and other media players but I think, as these tools can be used without the internet they aren’t really web tools. Maybe just tools. In any case, I already had all of these programs install so I decided to install another program it suggested – a search assistant called ‘Copernic‘. I chose the free version because I am poor. It had also suggested a bookmark manager named ‘Bookmark Buddy‘ which I veto’d because it seems like del.icio.us – a browser based tool does exactly the same thing. As well as a website sucker called ‘WebCopier‘ which I decided to veto because I can’t see many practical uses for this – in the days of ADSL2 and wireless internet – who’s ever offline anyway.

Back to Copernic – it’s basically a program that searches through files, emails, favourites and history for the word you’re looking for. I wasn’t surprised to see, that the only web tool component (a search engine) was browser based. And that is the way I think all web tools should be. Most of us use at least two computers per day – 1 work, 1 home and if everything is online there is no need to synchronise or install things on two computers. You should be able to access information from anywhere which is why sites such as del.icio.us are so successful.

I didn’t find this program all the useful for me – the main draw of it was it searches not only file names but through the text of files themselves. I like to think that I keep a naming structure to my files that is good enough that I would not need to use a program such as this. It might be useful for less advanced users who have miss-placed a document and are unable to find it using the Windows bundled search function but I can’t see it being something that would be used everyday. Maybe the non-free versions are better but I’m not willing to get out my credit card to find out.

Oh and for all my bitching about how web tools should be online, I should note that – I adore Mozilla Thunderbird. If you haven’t heard of it before – it’s an email/RSS feed manager. It’s extremely convenient having all of my RSS feeds and email addresses (I have a few) accessible in the one place. Until there is a browser based equivalent, I am willing to stand tall and hypocritical for this one. Best of all, it’s free. I love Mozilla.

Cheers,

Kate

Contents

1. Concept #1 Asynchronicty
2. Concept #3 Effective Internet communication combines technical and communicative competence
3. Concept #23 Human-Computer Interaction
4. Concept #28 The paradox of the World Wide Web

Concept #1 Asynchronicity

Asynchronous communication demonstrates a key function in all communication, specifically that the sender-receiver relationship is not simply one set of ideas transferred to another, but is always an active discourse between individuals.  In response to the expectation of reply in email as outlined in the concept, it should be acknowledged that there are other factors to be considered.  Firstly, the contention that email is asynchronous is one that can be disputed – delivery is instantaneous but a viewing by the recipient is not guaranteed.  When there is an expectation by the sender of reply upon receipt as well as the expectation that the recipient will be available to receive said correspondence, this is when people will expect a response faster than expected from an asynchronous communication form.  The sender empathises with the receiver and so begins a discourse, rather than a simple transfer of ideas.  The idea of empathy in communication is expressed by Robert M. Krauss of Columbia University when he claims,
“People experience the world from different vantage points, and the totality of each individual’s experience is unique to the particular vantage points he or she occupies. To accommodate discrepancies in perspective, communicators must take each other’s perspectives into account when they formulate and interpret utterances.” (Krauss, R) Anyone who sends an email empathises with the receiver, and knows that if they do not reply to it as soon as they get it, then they are in some way ignoring the correspondence.

The expectation of reply is noticeable in CMC (computer mediated communication), especially in social networking utilities.  When I receive a wall post on Facebook (a form of asynchronous communication) there is some kind of moral expectation that I am unable to use Facebook without responding to my friend who sent me the message in the first place.  Consequently, I will, if I see them online in Facebook chat (synchronous communication) I will actively avoid them, either by blocking chat or closing the website.  Therefore, while online communication (on the one-to-one model, not the one-to-many model) may appear asynchronous, the social convention is one of a synchronous reply, in that a reply is expected immediately upon receipt.

Given this example, the claim from the concept that,
“Asynchronous electronic communication is not the opposite of real-time, synchronous communication: rather it describes forms of communication that appear differently ‘located in time’ depending on the perspective of the sender and receiver” (Allen, M)
is appropriate, though it should also be acknowledged that there is a subconscious relationship between sender and receiver that incorporates an awareness of temporal differences.

This works to a limited extent on the one-to-many and many-to-many models as well.  While online teaching is effective via asynchronous communication, it is problematic for me, as I am working full time and like to do my uni work on weekends, that the Curtain website is often down when I am available to work.  Despite the fact that there is not a requisite for the all the parties on the forum to  be simultaneously involved in a discussion, there is a requisite element of synchronicity for anyone to be involved because they must be able to connect at a given point in time to contribute.

Annotations

Site 1: Roland Barthes – The Death of the Author

This essay, though somewhat dated, informs the idea that communication is not as author orientated as is commonly believed.  Barthes argues that in any communication form, the most important aspect is how the viewer interprets the information and that the sender’s intention is totally irrelevant.  While I do not totally agree with this idea, seeing as communication cannot exist without the sender, it does emphasise that factors such as context, time and the medium of communication undeniably alter the message.  This is useful in that within an asynchronous discourse we should have an awareness of the separation between sender intention and receiver interpretation.

Site 2: Psychology of Verbal Communication

Often while writing there are certain commonly held beliefs that we play into without really understanding their core structure.  Quite often in my blog I have made claims that I have not backed up with academic source.  This source I used because it was able to explain the idea of empathy in communication in a very concise manner and also because it was from a very reputable source, namely Columbia University lecturer Robert Krauss and was to be published in the International Encyclopaedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences.

Concept #3 Effective Internet communication combines technical and communicative competence

The development of communication practices online, insofar as it differs from print or “hard” media forms is based primarily on the fundamental differences between old and new media.  While previously all published communication forms necessarily existed in their final and complete form at the time of publication, new media has the capacity to change and be appropriated in other content.  Additionally, any text can actively interact with (by linking in and out of a web page, or by remixing a video for example) any other online text.  For the purposes of this post I am defining any writing, image, sound or video recording as a text.

“Because Internet technologies for communication are so much more powerful in their ability to manipulate, transform and process data (a pen, for example, can’t store words as well as write them), information processing and communicative skills must be developed in concert.” (Allen, M)

These new communication skills are closely tied not only to an understanding of the technical functions of Internet technologies, but also to a comprehension of the most effective way to use information in a hypertext environment.  George Landow identifies that hypertext writing, as it lacks finality in form most closely resembles a collage,

“Hypertext writing shares many key characteristics with these works of Picasso, Braque and other cubists, particularly in their qualities of juxtaposition and appropriation.” (Landow, G)

Here, the ability to move seamlessly from one piece of writing to another values the way in which we use a text over the intended purpose of a text.  The user develops new communicative skills in order to seek out what is in their interests, rather than what is in the interest of the author.  Landow’s collage works in two ways; the first is the way content is appropriated by other mediums, such as the reblog function, and the second is the way that the user interacts with a hypertext environment.  A surprisingly good way of understanding this concept is an amusing video that has gained a lot of popularity recently, www.collegehumor.com’s “We Didn’t Start the Flame War”.  It shows how various users interact with the content of websites such as youtube.com and digg.com as well as providing some insights into user-user activity on forums.

New communication forms are not only employed by information consumers but also by content producers.
“The implications of the distinction between hard and softcopy have been extensively explored in hypertext theory, and have been used to affirm numerous key qualities of hypertext as softcopy: screens are variable in their dimensions and may be multiple; work no longer need have a front, back, or middle; content can be changed at will; readers can manipulate the presentation of content through the alteration of font size and properties, window dimensions, text and window colour; content and structure can be variable during the reading or use of a work; a work may have multiple (and simultaneous) narrative architectures; and it may be unable to be represented or distributed in any adequate hard copy format.” (Miles, A)

The concept of fluid content, where everything is transient is being realised very explicitly in mash up videos such as this one and also aided by the creative commons initiative.

This concept, namely that effective internet communication combines technical and communicative competence is realised with no greater clarity than within the functions of wikipedia.org.  One of the most widely used websites in the world, it owes its success to a highly developed understanding of communicative practice, the machinations of the Google search engine and an acute awareness of internet practice.  The interlinking of all articles on the web encyclopedia ensures (in part due to the incredible mass of content) that there are a huge amount of links to each article.  When this is combined with Google’s prioritisation system, where sites with more links are ranked more highly than those with fewer it is extremely common that the first result for a search term is a wikipedia article.  Wikipedia, with full knowledge of effective communication practice and technical proficiency demonstrates via its success that new communicative skills must indeed be developed for effective internet communication.

Annotations

Site 1: Hypertext 3.0: Critical Theory and New Media in an Era of Globalization

George Landow is one of the premiere hypertext theorists in the world today. His examination of hypertext structure and especially the collage-like existence of many hypertext environments is applicable for not only networks and networked structure, but also for more literal interpretations, such as mash ups that are actively encouraged by creative commons licenses on Youtube videos and Flickr photos. Understanding hypertext is vital to understanding the new forms of communication that arise from its use, which is why this is one of the most appropriate sources for this concept.

Site 2: Softvideography

A friend of mine who is studying a similar course suggested this source to me as Adrian Miles is a renowned lecturer at RMIT who has some interesting points in this soft video article about possible progressions in online practice. His ideas about intertextuality tie in very closely with those of Geroge Landow, specifically in regards to creating work by amalgamating pieces of others – the collage that creates new communication skills. This source is more relevant in its support of Landow who forms a key part of my argument, however it is still from a highly reputable source and should be acknowledged as such.

Concept #23 Human-Computer Interaction

The Internet lessens the recognition of difference between humans and computers because, at a distance, it is often feels similar to communicate and act on the Internet regardless of whether one is speaking with a human or a machine. (Allen, M)

The importance of this concept isn’t the advances in artificial technology but the way the user interprets the information being given to them. The core human assumption is when engaged in online interaction is that the user is partaking in a human-human exchange. But this is not always the case.

“barry says, `Are your breasts well rounded or flabby? (I love all)’
Julia says, `I’d rather be overhauled by a Yugo mechanic, barry.’

barry says, `Want to get a room’
Julia says, `I don’t pick things up.’” (Foner, L)

In the case of ‘Julia’, the Artificial Intelligent IRC bot, the concept uses as an example, a young man code named ‘Barry’ was fooled for 13 days into thinking she was a real woman. In the above expert from the transcript was 6 days into Julia and Barry’s ‘relationship’ and shows a good example of him ignoring the signs that Julia was not human – most obviously her nonsensical answer to Barry’s question. In this case, I think the hormones of a teenage boy are greater than his common sense.

More recently, creators of ad ware have found a way to exploit this flaw in communication understanding through instant messaging programs. The basic idea is, the victim will receive an instant message from a contact, usually about weight loss pills containing a link. The recipient is fooled into thinking the message has been typed by their friend, therefore safe, and clicks on the link – infecting them and sending the same message to everyone on their contact list. The success of this form of viral distribution is predicated on the fact that a given individual unquestionably believes that they are engaged in an exchange with a real person – even though a message of such nature could be considered out of character.

This all paints an interesting picture for the future. If many people are unable to distinguish human from machine with obvious flaws in the machines intelligence, who’s to say that many customer service jobs couldn’t be replaced with artificial intelligence. If developers can master logic, emotion and reasoning, they could potentially make call centre workers redundant. This would remove the annoying call queues as the machine should be able to take an unlimited amount of calls . The voice technology is already there – banks, taxi and technical support lines are already using this technology in a small capacity asking you to state your query, address or problem to a machine. The voice could sound real enough, we wouldn’t even know if we were speaking to a machine.

Annotations

Site 1: Wired 8.04: Why the future doesn’t need us?

This text is about the reliance we place on technology and how it could potentially make human labour redundant. Bill Joy relates a lot of the issues back to personal experience as well as cultural references. I found this article quite interesting and useful as it also touched on the fear people have regarding this issue. Fear will be what stops us from moving forward.

Site 2: SIGCHI: “It’s the Computer’s fault”

This was a study done by Batya Friedman and Lynette Millett at Colby College on people blaming there problems on the computer rather than their own incompetence or a person – such a the computers designer. I found this interesting as in the example I have given about the MSN messenger, friends of mine who were infected were quick to get angry at the computer. However, they could have avoided being infected by not clicking on the link – something the computer cannot control.

Concept #28 The paradox of the World Wide Web

The internet is a free and open resource available for simple and effective dissemination of information to a wide audience.  Exon’s paradox lies in the complexity of programming, engineering the core structure of webpages in order to attain their user-friendly status.  While this is true, it is also true that,

“Advanced Internet users recognise the character of the Web, seek to utilise its advantages, ameliorate its deficiencies and understand that not all users have the same abilities as themselves in reconciling the paradox of the WWW.” (Allen, M)

Here, advanced internet users are not necessarily those with an affinity for the use of online environments, more those who are chiefly concerned with the development of specific online tools.  The world wide web is a democratising device – it allows users to interact and contribute on an equal playing field.  Yet this is not entirely true, as it in fact, when associated to a political system, more closely resembles a meritocracy, where the most proficient internet users are able to gain the upper hand.  The development and sub sequential success of Google with its prioritisation discriminating value amongst search results is predicated on the knowledge of the networked structure of the world wide web.  Everything is interconnected and, according to Google, is a criteria for higher value.

I worked on the development of an online game called CritticAge a few years ago which was indicative of this inequitable structure.  The game was text based, and, while the complexity of the design would have been familiar to anyone with a programming or HTML development background, one of the key considerations I was faced with was that this was not a product aimed solely at these individuals.  It was for use by the general public, so it was an important consideration that the interface was easily navigatable.  Web design typically ensures ease of access, not ease of contribution.

This being said however, in recent years the most successful websites are those that actively try to alleviate this idea that contribution is limited to a select few.  The advent of Youtube, WordPress, Twitter, Wikis and even Facebook, counters the idea that, “complexity can disempower those who lack the skills, time and opportunity to learn” (Allen, M) because within the confines of these tools, skill is not a requisite for contribution.  The mass of tools available ensure that a person can effectively partake in the online discourse without the barriers imposed by the absence of technical proficiency.

Currently this form of universal contribution only exists within specific confines.  Those lacking the capability to create their own websites are restricted within the aforementioned modes of distribution.  However, there is a definite trend away from this.  WYSIWYG programs such as Adobe Dreamweaver provide a simpler, more streamlined construction of HTML pages and one could easily foresee programs that go beyond this, making web development child’s play.  The inherent irony of this statement is that most children are better at designing web pages than adults.  However, this is not a totally acceptable reconciliation.  Any such programs undermine the knowledge of the core machinations of the internet as these are not required for the program’s operation.  Although, if everyone is able to contribute equally to the world wide web, I have to ask: does it make a difference?

Annotations

Site 1: Epic 2015

This is an incredibly interesting source though limited in its academic usefulness.  It is a speculative fiction video about the future of the internet and is very much concerned with the idea of universal contribution and consumption.  While it was created some years ago and much of its “future history” has already been proven incorrect, all of the ideas expressed are still tangible and perfectly realisable.  The main idea that I incorporate into my response to the concept is that contribution to an online mediascape is moving further and further away from technical proficiency and it is certainly a source that encourages thought about the potential outcomes of the way we use online media today.

Site 2: Internet and Democracy

A complex statistical analysis of the relationship between democracy and internet availability.  The study concludes that a higher level of internet availability has a positive effect on democracy and while this is not an absolute contention it is very strongly indicated.  The internet simultaneously promotes democracy through the egalitarian nature of available expression and also through freedom of information as many people can access or publish this information.  This is a valuable source as it helps us understand the way in which equality is promoted on the internet.

References:

Krauss, Robert (2002). ‘The Psychology of Verbal Communication‘  Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://www.columbia.edu/~rmk7/PDF/IESBS.pdf

Landow, George (2006). ‘Hypertext 3.0: Critical Theory and New Media in an Era of Globalization’. Maryland: JHU Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qqdomnPTL9cC&dq=george+landow+hypertext&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=VgkVSpmJNcqfkQW-_5z1DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPA398,M1

Miles, Adrian (2007). ‘Softvideography ‘. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://vogmae.net.au/drupal/thinking/softvideo01

Foner, Lenny (1993). ‘A sociological look at muds, Julia, and those who interact with her’. Retrived May 20, 2009, from http://lcs.www.media.mit.edu/people/foner/Julia/section3_3.html

Joy, Bill. ‘Why the future doesn’t need us.’. Retived May 20, 2009, from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html

Friedman, Batya., Millett Lynette. ‘“It’s the Computer’s Fault” — Reasoning About Computers as Moral Agents’. Retrived May 20, 2009, from http://www.sigchi.org/chi95/Electronic/documnts/shortppr/bf2_bdy.htm

Allen, M, Curtin University of Technology. Retrieved May 21, 2009 from http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_14736_1%26url%3d

Sloan, Robin.,  Thompson, Matt (2005). ‘Epic 2015‘. Retrieved May 21, 2009 from http://epic.makingithappen.co.uk/

Best, Michael., Wade, Keegan (2005). ‘The Internet and Democracy: Global Catalystor Democratic Dud?’ Retrieved May 21, 2009 from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/12-InternetDemocracy.pdf

To help get into the brainstorming frame of mind, here is a list of things I have been doing the past few weeks instead of Curtin Universities NET11 class, and why - at the time – it seemed more important:

1. Rugging up in many layers and doonas and watching DVDs. – I would like to think this was a way of expanding my mind and cultural ideas as the movies I chose to watch were all arthousey and high brow.
2. Consuming more white wine, long island iced teas and Hahns extra dry than what would be considered acceptable. – This is a way of getting the creativity flowing to begin the writing on my concepts assignment, many great artists throughout the years have had alcohol problems, I was endeavouring to be one.
3. Dancing to the likes of Little Red, Kate Miller Heidke and Jaguar Spring. – After all the mind expansion from the drinking and DVD watching, I required a way to let off steam.
4. Working insanely long hours thanks to fashion land being stupid and in that backwards world it’s almost time for summer again, meaning new clothes are required.  – This one is a little bit more justified seeing how I need money to pay to go to school. And live.
5. Cutting and pasting all sorts of inspiration into my scrapbook for a label I am starting with a friend. – Well, I found some of my inspiration from blogs, so that is kind of like doing course work.. right?

Okay, so I have been horribly lazy and I really need to stop procrastinating and actually do the assignment. I will defianatly make a start – later.

Cheers,

Kate

I have always been cautious (probably over cautious to the point I am not using any material I don’t own) about using other peoples pictures/quotes/video on my blog. So I was happy to see that this module touched on this and after a bit of research I feel much more confident about what I can and can’t use. Luckily, I don’t believe I have breached copyright law anywhere on my blog. Off the top of my head, I don’t think I’ve actually used anything I didn’t own so far.

The course text asked if we would be able to use the Curtin University logo the top of an assignment. The one tip I found particulary relevant to this question was:

5. Do use a company name or logo if you are talking about it: trademarks should protect a company from people trying to use its name or logo to deceive customers. If you are criticizing or analyzing a company, however, you can use its name or logo under a nominative fair use
(Scocco, D 2007, Copyright Law: 12 Dos and Don’ts, Daily Blog Tips, http://www.dailyblogtips.com/copyright-law-12-dos-and-donts/ )

If this is correct (take note : at the bottom of the page Daniel says he is not a lawyer), then I wouldn’t be in breach of copyright law by using the logo. I think using it at the top of an assignment would fall under fair use, I am quite obviously not trying to deceive anybody into thinking I am Curtin University. In fact, I am going to go right a head and post the logo below. I suppose I will find out if I was correct or not when Curtin’s mean, overpaid lawyers (not helping my case) send me a nasty court order.

Wish me luck!
Cheers,

Kate

I originally went through a state of severe distress and panic. I have been able to check my voice mail and most of the early calls to my brave, lonely phone are me screaming “where are you!! you’re missing!!” in the hope that maybe my iPhone will come to life and tell me exactly where it is – it did everything else.

The next stage was a lot more calmer with the realisation that it’s my own stupid fault for pushing through crowds of people with my bag wide open. My now rational self, realised that hurray – I had phone insurance! And this means, my beloved, scratch, orphaned iPhone would be replaced with a shiny new one. Zing!

But then, I began to wonder how I would get on with life until I could get a new sim card. I am not used to having to plan everything in advanced as opposed to planning my day as it goes with my phone. I have to use something that has been replaced by technology for oh so long – my memory! And I don’t like it!

So counting (yep, actually counting, no iPhone counting for me) down the days until I no longer need this crazy head of mine again.

Technorati did a report called the State of the Blogosphere 2008 with all sorts of interesting statistics relating to blogs.

One thing I noticed that I found interesting is that the majority of bloggers in the US and Europe are in the 35+ age bracket (58% and 52% respectively). This surprised me. Maybe I don’t give my elders enough credit, but I suppose I always considered the blogosphere to be ruled by the younger age bracket. Neither my mum (55) or dad (54) could give an answer when I asked them to explain what a blog is. Lots of academics jumping on board I think.

The majority of my favourite blogs have a very specific, niche topic. Since I am often strapped for time, quite a lot of these blogs are more image than text. A few of my favourites are:

Photo Blogs:
- Fail Blog : A collaborative blog where readers can send in image or video of ‘fails’. It has very little text, if any, and relies heavily on user contribution.
- Post Secret : Another collaborative blog where readers send in an anonymous postcard with a secret. Some of the secrets are quite confronting, while others are humorous. It’s a great project and the founder has gone on to have published several books as a result of his blog and regularly does motivational talks around various schools in America. A great example of a blogger turning a hobby into a career.

Text Blogs:
- The Dairi Burger: Okay, I admit, I used to be an avid reader of the Sweet Valley series. This blog is ran by a 20-something year old librarian who is re-reading each book in the series and blogging a humorous review, poking fun at the clichés and ridiculousness of the story lines. A good nostalgic laugh.
- Gaijin Smash : Gaijin Smash is the blog of a black american man teaching English in Japan. The majority of his posts are hilarious and it’s interesting to read about all of the cultrual differences he has encounted. He has said in a few of his posts that he hopes to get a book deal out of it, and judging by the amount of followers he has and how well he writes, I would not be surprised if he did.

Those are just 4 that I follow, but all up I follow around 30-40 blogs, which I keep up with using an RSS reader. Since becoming a blog-addict I have cut down on other entertainment such as television, magazines (pre-blog-convert I was subscribed to about 5 magazines a month) and books – I wouldn’t be surprised if many other people have done the same. I have previously blogged about the possibility of blogs making magazines redundant here. It would be interesting to know how much of an impact the blog-phenomenon had had on this type of media.

Cheers,
Kate