Demon-ocracy

Week 8 Lecture: 

All about democracy and the political possibilities on the internet in relation to how it gives us free speech. Stephen Stockwell seems to really know his stuff, he can talk in so much depth about something so cyber and so political! Cyberpolitics! So here is what I gathered from the lecture...

Cyberpolitics: Politics of the internet that exists predominantly on the internet. It embraces all forms of social software like journalism, blogging and organisation building.

E-democracy: Internets intervention and contribution to real world politics that exists predominantly off the internet e.g. governments using internet to raise awareness and debate issues.

'Golden thread': Ability of people to communicate freely and the quality of participation of free speech regarding democracy.

Public sphere: domain of social life in which 'public opinion' forms.

Stephen talked about the question of free speech being crucial to democracy and that the biggest danger to this is censorship. With the mass media increasing in its power over society, democratic participation in representative democracy is wearing thin. Theorists are reacting and there is a growing potential to remodel what Habermas calls 'the public sphere'.

I caught the tail meaning of the term "Cyber Punk" somewhere in Stephens talk. This links in with the democracy of internet politics as the genre of cyberpunk studies the political possibilities inherent in cyberspace. Its like a 'matrix' - where the themes of cyberpunk are taken up and mused upon. 

*** I also discovered that we are to go and feed ourselves the 'Allegory of Plato's Cave' to read up before our exam? Sure?

"In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire.  Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see."

Here is an illustration of Plato's Cave:

Theory and practice of politics

*** I checked out Stephen Stockwell's We're all hackers now: Doing global democracy from the suggested reading on L@G. I had a read, but couldn't seem to waver my way through the whole stock of Stockwell so I just mused over the ideas that he was presenting in his wordy essay.

Stephen discuss' the idea of democracy as it adapts and prospers in the 21st century and talks about the "hacker" ethos, as hacking has become a creative intervention within mainstream media.

So hackers undoubtably have secured a bad name in modern times. 

hacker |ˈhakər|noun1 informal an enthusiastic and skillful computer programmer or user.• a person who uses computers to gain unauthorized access to data.2 a person or thing that hacks or cuts roughly.3 a person who plays amateur sports without talent or skill

Disregarding the third definition they all portray the 'hacker' in an unfavorable light. But in today's day and age we are all hackers. We all hack our way around bugs, through backdoors, using programs to sly the internets filters. Stephen in his essay says that -

"hacking can signify the free-wheeling intellectual exploration of the highest and deepest potential of computer systems. Hacking can describe the determination to make access to computers as free and open as possible. There is an attitude among hackers that 'beauty can be found in computers... (and) the fine aesthetic in a perfect program can liberate the mind and spirit'."

He then goes on the deflower the hacker values as - passionate and free work; the belief that individual imaginations can create great things together; and a commitment to existing ethical ideals, such as privacy and equality.

I was so consumed by this whole hacker ethos and how it opens up to become a tool in creating democracy within the realities of the information economy. Hackers sustain political structures and play their own part to repurpose the 'media machine' and explain the forms of equality in light of democratic values.

Stephen's essay was and is a very "powerful, challenging and scholarly piece!"

http://createworld2008.edublogs.org/2008/12/24/hacking-for-global-democracy/

http://ajax.acue.adelaide.edu.au/%7eallan/createworld/Stockwell_2008_Hacking.pdf

(All websites viewed on 20th September 2009)

Censorship - not clean just dirty

What do you think of the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")?

According to nocleanfeed.com the Government is committed to clean-feed the internet in Australian homes, schools and on public computers. Heres what we know so far of this plan to censor the internet:

Filtering will be mandatory in all homes and schools across the country.

The clean feed will censor material that is "harmful and inappropriate" for children.

The filter will require a massive expansion of the ACMA's blacklist of prohibited content.

The Government wants to use dynamic filters of questionable accuracy that slow the internet down by an average of 30%.

The filtering will target legal as well as illegal material.

$44m has been budgeted for the implementation of this scheme so far.

The clean-feed for children will be opt-out, but a second filter will be mandatory for all Internet users.

A live pilot deployment is going ahead in the near future.

This plan is bullocks! First of all there are technical issues, in that the internet does not work in such a way that would let a filter even come into effect. The internet is huge, there is so much content and I don't see how the Government could even come to terms with overpowering this vast cyber landscape with a filter. Second of all there are free-speech issues. If the Government controls what we can and cannot see then I believe this is taking away our rights of freedom. It steals Australians of an ability to make decisions about what content they can view.

Thirdly, what is this going to cost us? To attempt this filter, the Government will be throwing tens of millions of dollars into a worthless cause. The so called clean feed to protect our children is using money that could be better spent elsewhere!

Support for this overly broad Government plan though is virtually non-existent, even from child-protection organisations. In an Australian Broadband Survey results show that 51.5% of Australian net users are strongly against the plan, while only 2.9% strongly support it. 

So In my opinion, the Government should focus their time and money on more important issues in our nation. What they are trying to attempt will no doubt fail miserably and if they recognise the huge opposition to the 'Clean feed' then maybe they will find a better use of their coin...

http://whirlpool.net.au/survey/2007/

http://nocleanfeed.com/learn.html

What place does censorship have in a democracy?

Censorship does not have a place in democracy. Plain and simple, it does not fit the age of freedom of information in which we live.
"Even if freedom of expression is merely a tool for uncovering and communicating truths, censorship, even well-meaning and well-regulated censorship, cannot in its nature serve to promote equality and justice."

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/censorship+impossible+democracy/1696194/story.html

(All website viewed September 17, 18, 19, 2009)

Political eyewash

Week 8 tutorial:

Sticking to my political beliefs what opportunities can I find for political participation via the internet? I would really like to drop this task in gutter water and sell it as lubricant! I hate politics! But I shall manage..

Sign an e-petition

I thought that signing a petition relating to parliamentary action would be somewhat more relevant for this task then just signing something completely far fetched and meaningless. If Im going to sign an e-petition I should do it right huh, plea for something worthy!

So, I added my name to a 'GetUp! - Action for Australia' petition, telling the Government to invest more money in renewable energy rather than giving handouts to the polluters.

They say "It's time for less bickering and more common sense - investment in renewable energy means we can stimulate the economy and create hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs. Without a groundswell of support from the public the Government will continue to ignore the facts and continue to delay any real action to reduce Australia's carbon emissions."

Yeah I think its right to demand common sense, but then they wanted me to make a donation. Geez, they try and fleece you for some coin any way they can!

http://www.getup.org.au/

Respond to a professional blogger at a major news site

I landed here on 'Articulate' which is ABC News Online's daily take on arts news and events in Australia and throughout the world. I then responded to a blog 'Woodstock on Broadway' about turning the three-day peace, love, mud and music festival into a musical. Sophia Gardner asks at the end of her blog post 'Do you think a mainstream Woodstock musical could stay true to the festival's spirit?' and rightly so I followed suit to opinion against the dim idea..

I agree, there was only one Woodstock. The recent Ang Lee film 'Taking Woodstock' focuses on how the festival came together, so it takes a sensible spin and creates an essence of what it was all about. Turning Woodstock into a musical will surely kill it. If Lang says 'the production will look beyond the music' then he is at variance with the spirit of the festival. Wasn't the spirit of the festival the music? People came to Woodstock to experience the music? The music brought peace and the music was anti-Vietnam... 'Taking Woodstock' has already delved into "the human condition, stories affecting people's lives and something of what we experienced on that weekend." It has already focused it's lense on these ideas, so what more is Lang offering?

Posted by: Skye | Oct 05, 2009 at 10:43 PM

http://blogs.abc.net.au/articulate/2009/09/woodstock-on-broadway.html

What is Barack Obama up to today? 

Today, being September 17, I googled Barack Obama to see how his day was unravelling. I found a whole bunch of news stories and picked something at random. So heres what Obama's up to today...

"Barack Obama has abandoned the controversial Pentagon plan to build a missile defence system in Europe that had long soured relations with Russia. Obama announced the reversal officially at a news conference today. 'This new approach will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems to offer greater defences to the threat of attack than the 2007 European missile defence programme,' he said."

Read the whole story here - Obama abandons missile defence shield in Europe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/17/missile-defence-shield-barack-obama

*** I went ahead and found some Obama fans and included some photos that they have produced... Okay, maybe they're not fans but I got a laugh out of these...

Baby got back, baby get back!

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en-us&um=1&q=barack+obama+funny+photos&sa=N&start=320&ndsp=20

Find out who your local, state and federal representatives are.

Local:

"Local Government is part of the third or lowest level of government in Australia, often seen as being the most accessible to the people. The Local Government Directory is compiled by the Department of Local Government from information provided by councils and other local government organisations. The Directory contains information about Local Councils, County Councils, Regional Organisations of Councils and other organisations working within the Local Government sector."

So I live in the Tweed Shire, just south of the QLD/NSW border. My local representative is from the Tweed Shire Council and his name is Warren Polglase. 

http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/dlg_LocalGovDirectory.asp?index=1&CN=ALL#202

State: 

"State Government represents the second level of Australian Government. State Government members represent specific areas of the state."

My state representative is Mr Geoff Provest. 

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_the_state_representative_for_NSW

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/c8a9b0fc61cd9910ca256e7c000acca0/e70e06cc31bf3b5fca2572ae001b66cf!OpenDocument

Federal:

"The Australian Federal Government is the highest tier of Government in Australia and consist of two houses of parliament - the House of Representatives and the Senate.Members of the House of Representatives represent specific areas of their state (electorates). Decisions made by the House of Represenatatives are then reviewed in the Senate. Senators represent their state as a whole, rather than a specific electorate region - the List of Government Representatives of the Gold Coast Region is a handy reference of members of State and Federal Parliaments representing areas of Gold Coast City."

My local federal MP is Justine Elliot. She's the member for Richmond or Tweed NSW. I met her a couple of weeks ago actually and she seems to be high profiling herself around the Tweed whenever she can. Man she just appears out of nowhere! 

http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/t_standard.aspx?pid=4351

Look up the Queensland or Australian hansard to find the last time your local member spoke in parliament. 

Let your local member know what you think about their last speech.

The last time that Justine Elliot spoke in Parliament was Monday, 7 September 2009 according to the hansard. 

She spoke in response to MP Mike Symons questions: What action is the government taking to improve the quality of care for older Australians through investment in the aged-care workforce? How is it working to address workforce shortages?

http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;db=;group=;holdingType=;id=;orderBy=;page=;query=Dataset%3Ahansardr,hansards%20((SpeakerId%3ADZW)%20|%20(QuestionerId_Phrase%3ADZW)%20|%20(ResponderId_Phrase%3ADZW)%20|%20(InterjectId_Phrase%3ADZW)%20|%20(PresenterId_Phrase%3ADZW));querytype=;rec=0;resCount=Default

I sent an email to Justine Elliot not so much accrediting her last speech but her work in general. I can't say I'm all that interested in her action to improve 'aged care' and so letting her know what I thought of her last speech would probably sound a bit far fetched coming from a teenager of a non-political-absorbing ethos. I just commented on what she does around the Tweed shire instead. Much sweater.

(All websites viewed on 17th September, then again on 5th October)

Freeware, it's on the house

For our tutorial in week 7 we are to download some freeware apps, use them, muse them and write a little about our experience with them.

I downloaded this program called Celestia from Sourceforge. Its wicked! Basically its an application for a real deal 3D visual representation of space. Its a detailed model of the solar system with over 100,000 stars, more than 10,000 galaxies, and an extension mechanism for adding more objects. I played on here for ages and found myself scrutinising the dense layers of our galaxy. You can rotate the axis of a planet or star or whatever you find if you drag and right click, but I only discovered this by rare incident.. I took a few screen shots while I snooped around space and this ended up becoming a pretty interesting and informative waste of my time. I recommend this free app if you get yourself into a sweat of boredom or even just this site - http://sourceforge.net/

Halley's Comet

The Milky Way

Kale - Jupiters moon

Mars.. nah just testing your eyes, its Earth, der

I also downloaded Portable Apps for my friend to use which is basically your computer without 'the' computer. I use a mac and I sware by mac so I didn't really see the point in downloading a Windows program if I am to never use it again in my life but my friend thought it would be interesting to try. So I went about and downloaded it for her and played around with the applications available. Basically you can take them anywhere with you - they're portable! Oh and I ended up playing Sudoku for about an hour, the little squares are so un-holy, my eyes feel warped!

Find your way to the PortableApps website and have a geezer if your not a baptised mac user like myself, it seems pretty helpful carrying your favourite computer programs on a portable hard drive, and its easy to download too, a quick click and your sold!

(All websites viewed on 9th September 2009)

Free software

Week 7 lecture: 

So this week faced a return from the ever amusing Jason. He talked about freeware apps or for the technologically inept 'free software' that can be downloaded with ease from the internet with a mere click of a button.

All computers in some way or another will eventually be linked to the internet to use internet software. Jason mused through his lecture looking at a website called portableapps.com which you can readily download software so it can be used on portable means.

Other examples are freewaregenius and sourceforge. They are huge data bases for free software, worth having a peek at as I have found some real time savers and time wasters on here!

Basically he talked about these sites for most of the lecture and then discussed 3 open-source software issues, these being:

1. Viruses

2. The economy (i.e. getting donations for the download and use of someone's software) and

3. The fact that people just don't care and download it anyway.

I also learnt that there is freeware software to trace deleted files. When we delete something from our hard drive we're really only deleting the file name, so really there is hope when you think you have deleted your messages to god. Ha!

(All websites viewed September 10, 2009)

Consume and produce and consume and produce

Week 6 Lecture: In the lecture this week, Josh talked about the nuts and bolts of consumption and production. We are consumers of content. The mundane world we live in slaves on consumerism and this is broken down into the 'big' and the 'small' screens of life.

The big screens can further be broken down as:

- Cinema (shared with public)

- TV (shared privately within our own homes)

- PC (both personal and shared use)

And the small as:

- Personal media players (iPods and on-the-go devices)

- Mobile phones and smartphones (iPhones etc that are on-the-fly)

Consumption is more and more becoming 'personal', which can be especially noted with the boom in mobile phone use. Thick and thin, anyone who owns a mobile phone is a consumer.

Josh then went on to describe consumers becoming producers within a 'niche-market'. The classic example is Star Wars fans producing 'TROOPS' for other Star Wars fans (Where storm troopers are paralleled as cops). Its a vicious cycle.

This video is "Troops" which we actually watched in the week 4 lecture.

So consumers are then increasingly involved in the production of products, producing their own identities in this vicious cycle. This market is seen primarily in the dimensions of social networking sites like Facebook etc.

*** I interacted with a few websites from the NCT blog and came across a list of social networking sites on Wikipedia. So much for freezing out the use of Wikipedia! I guess this list is a good indication of the amount of social networking sites there are on the net and the amount of people that succumb to sheer depressive acts of communication. A shit load! Click here to catch the tail of my meaning.

Mashable - The social media guide also follows the rise and fall of social networking sites. It has comprised a list of 350 time thieves.

The future of social networking websites will be to narrow down into 'selective' areas to target 'specific' groups of people with common interests.

Here is a hierarchy ranking social networking sites in order of monthly visits. Not surprising, Facebook is number one, closely followed by Myspace and Twitter. Myspace though, in the not too distant future will surely waver, as its users are dropping like flies and crossing over to the dark side with Facebook. Then twitter is just another short fuse, it will stumble too when people get bored.

On Lifehacker, this guy called Daniel is planning to take a photo of himself every day before he turns 30. This is an example of a social networking website for all things useful on the net under the umbrella heading of 'design'. Personally I don't really get 'why' people have nothing better to do with their time.

And this site called Turbulence is an art portal for commissions and support for net art. I had a quick look through Michael Takeo Magruders work and it was pretty sweet.

Just a nice summary of this weeks lecture and a further study into the areas of what was talked about. Until the next eclipse...

(All website viewed on September 3, 2009)