A few questions...


1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?
A: Onel de Guzman (found at http://computerbytesman.com/lovebug/thesis.htm via dogpile.com)
2. Who invented the paper clip?
A: Johan Vaaler (found at http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpaperclip.htm)
3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?
A: named after a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) in Africa (found at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/Fact_Sheets/Ebola_Fact_Booklet.pdf)
4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
A: Chile (found at http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763403.html)
5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
A: 1073741824 (calculated at http://www.beesky.com/newsite/bit_byte.htm)
6. Who is the creator of email?
A: Ray Tomlinson (not an exact answer from http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/email.html)
7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
A: Storm Worm is an emailed virus.A PC infected with Storm will either be used to blast out millions of junk e-mails advertising Web links that when clicked attempt to download a copy of the worm, or it will serve as the destination for that link -- essentially hosting the latest copy of the worm for download. A Microsoft tool removed storm from 274,372 computers. (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/10/the_storm_worm_maelstrom_or_te.html)
8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of australia directly,
what is the most efficient way?
A: Send him a message via http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm
9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School
of Arts) a member of?
A: The Black Assassins (http://live-wirez.gu.edu.au/Staff/Stephen/default.html)

10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
A: A stupid term that was stupid 4 years ago and its stupid now. It tries to make it sound like the web has all of the sudden evolved out of no where, when really it has never stopped evolving and never will.

Onto some writing

Google first ranks results by sponsorship, then by relevance. Relevance usually just means the amount of times the thing that you searched is mentioned, but this isn't always true if the page is talking about your search word in a different context.

I obviously use Google the most, one because it's on the Firefox home page, and two because it gets the job done, can't say that its failed me before. Not much more to it than that!

Communications Technology

When i was playing online games I probably knew as many people through the internet as i did in reality. Well 'knew' is a kind of vague term when you know people through the internet because there is always the chance that people could be spouting bull shit. Although someone who I had played with for about 6 years sent me a postcard when he was in Mexico. Certainly felt like i knew him alot more in reality by using an old communication technology.

I used voice programs like Ventrillo, Teamspeak and a bit later on Skype. I think theres alot more of a personally feeling when your actually hearing someones voice and its not just pixels on a screen.

I used talking programs for about 6 years but now its only to talk to people I know, mainly when i don't want to for a phone call. One advantage i have noticed about communication technologies today is that I really haven't lost contact with anyone that I didn't want to lose contact with. You hear teachers and parents saying you won't see a third of your friends after you finished school but they never had the opportunity to communicate the way we do.

What influenced me to use certain technology was simply because the people i wanted to talk to used them and I would imagine it would be the same for them. It really only takes one person to join something out of curiosity, from there in its just a chain of inviting people to it.

Any person who says new communication technologies are a privacy problem would probably be the same sort of person who blames McDonald's for their obesity. The only things that go out are what you put it. There are nearly always options to put online profiles on private or invite only, so I don't see how someone could invade your privacy. I personally have my Myspace for everyone to view but I don't exactly post my full name and address on their.

I suppose the only problem with privacy and communications technology is the fact that my mobile number is in the phone book, there for, in the yellow pages my mobile number can be matched up with my address. But once again if they don't know my surname that would take a long time.

Till next week...

Introduction

Howyagoin??

My name is Dane. Im 17 from the Gold Coast. My interests would be Music (drummer), Martial Arts (3rd degree black belt) and Tennis (get beaten by my Dad). Im doing a Bachelor of Communications. My majors would be Journalism and Music Media and Culture.

I've always wanted to do Journalism, mainly because I think the line between journalist and entertainer has become a bit fuzzy in the Australian media, on commercial networks atleste. I think young people are pretty much oblidged to be the ones to pick up the slack. I picked New Communications Technology mainly because i think it would certainly help my availablity as a journalist. A digital presence aswell as a written or spoken presence.

As for the music i've been a drummer since grade 5 so i've always been heavily into music. I would love to combine the two and be a music journalist. I use a fair few communications technologies of a day. I podcast a couple of news shows and talk back shows. I also use discussion forums and instant messengers, myspace and what not. I used to play ALOT of online games a year or two ago, untill i realised you can amuse your self just as easily by trying to beat your high score of 136 on tetris, so that saved me about $15 a month.

Im looking foward to learning more about communications technologies and i hope i will have something more exciting to right about than myself in the future.

Untill then......