Old Communication Technologies and Theories

Creator of the ‘LoveBug’ computer virus was Onel de Guzman, a 24 year old computer school student from the Philippines. http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/06/29/philippines.lovebug.02/index.html

William D. Middlebrook invented the paper clip in 1899.
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/paperclip.htm

The Ebola virus gets its name from the Ebola River in the north of Congo in central Africa. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002205/Ebola

The largest recorded earthquake was in Chile on May 22, 1960 which measured at 9.5. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763403.html

1 Terabyte is equivalent to 1048576² Kilobyte. http://www.dis.unimelb.edu.au/staff/tanya/hwtute/How_to_measure_data/measure.htm

Ray Tomlinson was credited with creating email in 1972. http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/email.html


The storm worm is a computer virus on e-card websites. Computer users are tricked when they receive an e-mail alert that they have received an e-card, and inevitably visit the site resulting in their computers being infected with the storm worm.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Resurgent-Storm-worm-attacks-over-Web/0,130061744,339281298,00.htm

The most effective way to contact the Prime Minister is by post.
The Hon Kevin Rudd MPPrime MinisterParliament HouseCANBERRA ACT 2600
http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm

Stephen Stockwell is a member of The Black Assassins Brisbane-based punk band.
http://blackassassins.net/

Web 2.0 to some is argued to be a new conventional wisdom of the changing web. It is a step up from Web 1.0 in that is a universe of all the new expansions of the web and databases, such as Google (Netscape being it’s opponent) that have become the driving service. Blogging has evolved from the use of personal websites to express oneself. Web 2.0 enables users to collect more information at an available convenience and supports a wave of information sharing.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

Generally the websites that are most relevant to your search are placed at the top of the search results. The search engine identifies the keywords of your search and allocates websites to the results are found. A brief website description is found in the result to give you an understanding of what can be found on the website. From those two lines of information one can normally tell if that website is relevant to the information they need or not.

Reputable search engines are managed, unlike Wikipedia, and give websites that they think would be of true content. Some of my favourite search engines are Google and AltaVista. AltaVista is a great source for News and Facts, Current Affairs. Google on the other hand is for everything in between. Google is user friendly with simple applications and that is what makes it more appealing to people.

Generally the websites that are most relevant to your search are placed at the top of the search results. The search engine identifies the keywords of your search and allocates websites to the results are found. A brief website description is found in the result to give you an understanding of what can be found on the website. From those two lines of information one can normally tell if that website is relevant to the information they need or not.

Reputable search engines are managed, unlike Wikipedia, and give websites that they think would be of true content. Some of my favourite search engines are Google and AltaVista. AltaVista is a great source for News and Facts, Current Affairs. Google on the other hand is for everything in between. Google is user friendly with simple applications and that is what makes it more appealing to people.

Lecture:

The reading in the lecture was Walter Benjamin: The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. This reading demanded concentration and level of understanding of the ideas of what was being said. The Old Communication Technologies were the stepping stones to how we communicate today. Most are still in use as they still hold their purpose. Man has evolved and so has the way we communicate with each other. Communication cannot exist without the objects they enable us to do so.

The earliest forms of communication go back to the tribal era, where the use of symbols where used to tell a story from one generation to the other. This was a form of communication which brought about the concept of myths as interpretation of these symbols evolved and so the stories changed. Such Symbolism in communication could be found in Norway and South Africa in the forms of Rock art.

The development of the alphabet then took its form originating in the first cities of Egypt through hieroglyphics in about 1500BC. This then gave rise to the ancient texts which spread through Europe, the Middle East and China, scribed information and knowledge shared.

By 1452 Gutenburg’s memorable type was invented leading the way to the development of the telegraph, in 1845, by the use of Morse code where a dot and a dash soon corresponded with a letter or a sentence. This was the evolutionary basis of communication leading to the point-to-point telephone which today enables the web to be accessed by all. Radio, Cinema and Television soon followed opening up a whole new wave of communication from one part of the world to the next, effectively and efficiently, in comparison to its predecessor, Morse code.

In the 1920’s people started to realise how great an effect television had on people and the way they act. The power of Television was realised and became an interactive form of communication in that it got people to talk and discuss analysis of what is was they were watching.

Semiotics and symbolism is what affects us the most today in that the easiest was to communicate through cultural backgrounds is through semiotics. The use of symbols to identify universal things, have made such things iconic. Such an example would be the MacDonald’s sign. It is a multimillion symbol just through it being identifiable where ever you go. The evolution of communication has put man where they are today and has enabled us to develop new and exciting things.