Week Nine Summary

Week nine's lecture was titled Communications: Applications, protocols and benefits of ICT ( Information communication technology).

The class got introduced to the meaning of communication and how it is different compared to 20 years ago. We were also shown who can communicate. Communication can take place between two or more individuals or individuals and companies, between two or more companies etc. When a communication has taken place it is called a network.

Different types of networks are

• Chain networks e.g. "a" communicates with "b", who communicates with "c", who communicates with "d", etc.
• Circle network e.g. communication between people at the same level, "a" communicates with "b" who communicates with "c" who communicates with "a".
• Wheel network e.g. a team that reports back to an individual.
• All channel network e.g. where everyone communicates with each other such as in a group discussion.

There are four types of communication which was best shown on the lecture slides.

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The class was then given some examples of ICT's such as mobile phones, chat rooms, blogs, mayspace, laptops, electronic mail music devices (iPod, mp3) and video conferencing.

Currently there are issues concerning netiquette. Problem with applications like emails is that the recipient cannot understand the emotion the email was written in because emails do not convey emotion, emails are also informal and many people use slang instead of proper English. e.g. "ur" instead or "your" and personal emails can easily be accessed and read by others.

Benefits of ICT seem to conquer the bad things about ICT's. ICT's are easily accessible, easy to use and are portable making them very convenient. Podcasts are delivered immediately so recipients do not have to wait for journals, magazine articles etc. They also allow you to communicate to whoever you want, discussing topics of interest and allow people to work from home.

For the first task in the tutorial the topic i entered was "abstract art" and groups i found were; a group for artist doing abstract art, galleries showing abstract art. Many of the posts on on a group for digital abstract artist were artists asking others to help critique their work and links to go to a web page showing their artwork.

Benefits of podcasts for university students are that it makes quotes recorded more accurate then ones found on websites. Podcasts can also easily be downloaded onto student's iPods or mp3 players. However sometimes quality information can be difficult to find.

Screen shot of podcast results page. Search term "News"

Reading Summary One: Guide to using email

The first reading contains tips for Internet users when using email programs. The article was strait to the point and clarified things i already knew such as when sending an email you may not get a response straight away so it may be best, in some situations, to call the person. The text also provided information about email etiquette and how spelling and grammar is always important especially when emailing coworkers.

The reading also gave tips for the recipient of emails, informing them that emotion cannot be conveyed properly over email so if you are offended by an emails content to make sure that that was what the sender intended. Other tips were to help with organisation and time management.

Reading Summary Two: The problem with SPAM

SPAM is unsolicited bulk email. There are often SPAM blocks or filters on computers but it always manages to find away to pollute your screen. The problem with this is that a lot of the time the advertiser does not have to pay for these advertisements and so there is no limit, meaning millions upon millions of ads are sent out daily to our computers. these adds can often carry viruses which infect our computers. These UBE's cost the recipient time and money. The reading gives information which i found was just an extension of what i already knew. However the text does explain some solutions to this pollution problem and their effectiveness.