Considerations

Well I have been rewriting my learning proposal for Digital Media Technologies. I have managed to define what it is that I want to do in developing a complex interactive site. I want to make a web portal for solar technology and research – collect together all the websites regarding solar technology – the  providers, the research and costings – as well as government policy on funding, Research & Development Grants and tax incentives. Whilst showcasing technology from Around the world the site would be particularly geared to be relevant to Australian citizens and the shift to solar power. The website that I build will feature all this in linked detail – similar to a portal. I plan to create an open forum for Good News Stories regarding the sucess people have had with using solar. I want to make a site that would be able to be developed intio a business that would virtually manage itself.  But that is for future iterations.

 The Link to my learning proposal is below.

Learning Proposal v.2

Plans

I am thinking about the direction in which technology determines or is determined by the way they we interact as social being. Before the Internet we had to use libraries and read books and the newspaper. Now we simply scroll down web pages and scan information. In some ways the technology has changed our notions of information – that it should be free and transparent – yet in another way it has changed our concentration spans. We are now more stimulated by information than we ever were. And also its delivery is coming to us through multimedia that it both interactive as well as multi sensorial. We hear, see, look and key in our thoughts – wether it be a forum, email, blog or document. And the internet makes it immediately avaiable for all to see – if we decide to publish content on the web. In many ways we have become more transparent as people. A simple google search on someone can reveal more information than a job reference. In many ways because the technology has developed at such an exponential rate in both depth and breadth across the globe we are now confronted with issues of privacy. Take telecommunications as the classic example. All mobile phones are de facto GPS tacking devices – simply by virtue of the satelitte to SIM infrastructure. Have you ever seen the ads on tv for the mobile partner tracker where you simply enter in you loved ones mobile phone number and you are able to find their location. Now think about it for a moment. Sometimes it is good not to share your number with everyone. And also it is good to turn your phone off sometimes. So in some ways if we are no conscious about the technological tragectory we could simply be creating conditions that jepodise our freedoms.

Well now that I have properly introduced myself I want to talk about the vision I have of a ubiquitous IP communications revolution that i believe is at the moment a stategic possibility. The Internet Protocol (IP) revolution is still in its early stages but the future of ubiquitous communcation includes VoIP, IPTV, facilitated by WIMAX. WIMAX is an IEEE standard for long distance wireless transmission (1 WiMax Tower sends data to a 50km radius and costs about $50 thousand dollars). WIMAX is yet to be truely implemented and rolled out as the infrastructure to a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). But the technology would allow an affordable solution to creating ubiquitous metroplitatian area networks allowing high speed broadband, to enable mobile VoIP, Internet and IPTV. It would be especially beneficial for developing countries who wanted to quickly and cheaply create universal connectivity – especially for the pupose of telecommunications (VoIP). In the end I suppose that WIMAX will facilitate mobility and freedom as well as choice. There will be no need for the satelitte to Sim card GPS. Instead communications devices such as phones, PDAs etc would simply upload, download and stream through the IP layer, wirelessly. And eventually it would all be free. that is the future for much of the world. IPSOS. So I suppose then in building websites it is important to bear in mind not just that state of technology as it exists today but where the future possibilities are and how their development will determine new possibilities for the delivery of digital communications and interactive media.

Well I have spent much time setting up a web host on a virtual server and have reserved a couple of domain names. I am very excited about the possibilities of creating online platforms for communication. Building sophisticated web pages is my next challenge. So far I have simply been concerned just with content – but now I am looking forward to creating interactive, multimedia web portals. So I am thinking about web architecture as well as logical design.

Hello my name is Verity. This blog is ostensibly for the purpose of discussing my university research and ponderings within the course called Digital Media Technologies. I am currently a Masters student at the University of Technology. I am studying within the school of engineering and IT. My degree is in Information Technology but I am also taking subjects within the school of Interactive Media.

My background is in Economics. I studied at the University of Sydney for ten years. I achieved a First Class Honours and then I undertook a PhD in Economics while I taught as an academic in the Department of Economics at Sydney University. I never did complete my PhD – so you don’t have to call me Doctor – but I did undertake much writing for the five years that I was a doctoral candidate. I have published some of it on the internet and you can read it if you are interested. Click the link below:

My Economic Analysis

My interest in computers and technology has been alive and well ever since i was given a game called logic when I was 10. It had a led light display and a keypad of numbers. You had to logically deduct the sequence of numbers that the game randomly selected. It was very challenging but fun.

My interest in Interactive media is also an interest in the collective consciousness. I believe that we as people are sematically perceptive and computers and communications technologies and the rise of the visual image has created an all expansive collective imagination of the visual.  I am excited about the possibilities of multimedia and interactive technology.