Small, Thin, Big, Wide
I have noticed that not only have the technology of mobile phones been changing but the shapes and sizes as well. Just in case if you are reading this and do not agree with me, what i will be discussing is solely my observation and i will be discussing with regard to the popular ones among youths.. comments are welcomed…I remember at one point, the size of mobile phones were getting smaller and smaller (such as the Nokia 8210) and more and more colorful when mobile phones were more of a fashion and leisure medium for the younger generation. I remember phones being smaller than the palm of the hand. After that the mobile phones started getting bigger (compared to the previous smaller phones) but slimmer or in other words thinner being on millimeters thin such as the Samsung wafer. Now phones have become wider.. the 3rd generation mobile phones. Most of these phones now include touch screen, internet capabilities a multimedia platform. Phones such as the iPhone developed and changed the mobile phone. Such phones have set a benchmark for future phones. Once such capabilities can be found in mobile phones, we can expect that future phones will be more like the iPhone. I wonder what the next generation of mobile phones will look like…
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Add me
Social networking sites have become increasingly popular nowadays. Social networking sites allow us to keep in touch and be in touch with our friends. I am currently using facebook and i have started to appreciate social networking sites. I was just thinking how hard it would be for me to keep in touch with all my friends if websites such as this did not exist. I very sure that i would have lost touch with more than half of my friends if it weren’t for friendster and facebook. With facebook, i am able to be in contact with my friends and the best part is that i have been finding long lost friends on facebook! Facebook allows me to interact with my friends, be it games, or commenting on their “wall” or photos.
However, with pros there will usually be cons. The scary thing about facebook is stalkers as well as hackers. The thing about social networking sites such as facebook is that we tend to disclose many details about ourselves especially posting pictures of ourselves and of course people tagging pictures of us. I know friends who have been harrassed on facebook. This happens when we add people who we don’t really know but we add them for the reason that they have mutual friends with us. Facebook also does not require its users to disclose information about themselves especially when any user can put up fake details about themselves. This poses a threat to the users of facebook.
Nevertheless, facebook and other social networking sites are good tools to help us keep in touch with our friends and it promotes communication.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Computer games
I think computer games are one of the most enjoyable and entertaining things to do when one is bored. I’m very sure that i find computer games extremely entertaining especially when i am bored be it an online or a game that is installed into the computer.
For me, computer games are one of the most effective tool to keep me entertained or simply a tool to de-stress. Believe it or not, i have learned quite a number of things from computer games. From historical events to learning how to fly an aircraft and of course and of course for strategy games, it helps me get my brain working e.g. where to attack from, how to attack and what measures to take. Some games also requires me to think quick and make decisions in an instance which allows me to excersise my brain and helps me in my decision making.
Apart from that, i am also able to develop teamwork characteristics amongst my friends who are playing the same game with me thus being able to interact with my friends.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)The Computer
Computers….. i was just thinking to myself how computers have become such an important tool. Most of my assignments are done using the computer and even the submission of the assignments are done using the computer (via internet). The computer allows me to do so many things, such as a source of entertainment, knowledge, for research as well as for work purposes. Even without the internet the computer can be used for so many things. For example, it can be used to watch movies, play games, graphic design and so on and so forth.
There are also numerous gadgets that need computer of some sort to operate. For example we first have to use our computer to download songs (of course via internet) to put into our mp3 player or mobile phone or pictures taken from digital cameras have to be copied out from the memory card using the computer.
Computers now are also being ued in the medicine field to help the disabled for example Professor Steven Hawking uses the computer to help him communicate in speech due to his disability.
Here is an example of how the computer is being used to help the disabled:
Add on
Being a computer game fan, i must admit that computer games can get pretty boring after playing a particular game over and over again. However, fans and producers anre converging with each other to create new things. Fans now create new mods, skins and maps, to be shared with other gamers. Which in tern develops a particpatory culture of gamers and producers. New mods, skins and maps are constantly created to make games more exiting and entertaining and thus prolinging the life of the game in other words, gamers can now be played on and on without getting bored and being able to explore new areas of the game.
In Hector Postigo’s article “Of Mods and Modders: Chasing Down the Value of Fan-Based Digital Game Modifications” he states that modders and mappers created modifications and add ons to contribute to their communities, an artistic endover, and a job opprtunity for them. In return, we gamers, get to enjoy the benefits of a more entertaining game that these people provide for us.
I am currently playing Flight Simulator X. In the game itself, there are a variety of planes that I can choose from.. However, after playing the game over and over again, i got bored of using the preinstalled planes. i wanted faster and more sophisticated planes rather than those provided in the games. So i searched the web and stumbled upon a site that provides the fans with a huge variety of aircrafts (ranging from aeroplanes to spaceships), textures, and maps that can be downloaded for free! I was mad happy! Now i can have a collection of planes of different shapes and sizes in my list of planes. If it was not for these modders, skinners and mappers, who are willing to share their creativity with the public, i would have stopped playing this game ages ago. But thanks to these awesome people who want to share their work with the public, i am able to carry on playing this game, being excited everytime i download a new plane.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Phone booth
Have you ever noticed that there are not many telephone booths around anymore (through my observation)? Nowadays most people have a mobilephone and the need for a phone booth is not as important or in other words, not needed as much as how it used to be..
I remember when the days when mobilephones weren’t as popular as it is now, i used to use the phone booth regularly to make calls whenever i am out and need to make a call. I recall seeing phone booths by the side of the road regularly as in it was common to see phone booths by the side of the road during those times. Just a few days ago i ran out of credit on my mobile and had to use a phone booth. I found it such an inconvenience, since i am so used to being mobile and being able to make a call on the spot wherever i am and not having to first, find a phone booth… a working one… and search my pocket for coins then try to talk as fast as i possibly can before my talktime runs out…and believe me, it ran out really,really fast…. i came across this article on the BBC News website the other day with an interesting title..it stated.. “Londoners create invisible mobile phone booths, while Parisians talk in the middle of the pavement and people from Madrid share their phone with friends.”.. With the invention of the mobile phone, we now have mobile phone
booths…and making a call in the public sphere has become so much easier..
If you are free, you can check the BBC article out at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3911527.stm
surrogates
Just a week ago .. i managed to catch the movie surrogates.. I found the show really interesting. In a way it shows how technology can help us the person whom we want to be. people can be whoever they want to be, whatever their fantasies are, someone whom they only can imagine themselves being.. now all made possbile by the wonders of technology. For example RPG games such as World of Warcraft, Second life, Habbo, etc. With this everybody can become whoever they want to be, however they want to look like… Relating, back to the movie surrogates, the movie shows a real world, virtual life and a real life, virtual life…. though living in the world but living a virtual life.
In the movie, there are numerous scenes where the characters (even the main character and his wife) do not look the way they actually are, but a more perfect looking individual being lived through a machine…. be it a male being a female character or vise versa, or a male character being a male and vise versa.. anyone can be who they want to be, look how they want to, act how they want to, work as what they want to. the same goes to this present age when the are numerous computer games giving individuals this virtual reality, a chance to be whoever they want to be and look however they want to look…. a place where individuals can go to and live a double life…a sense of escapism.
with this, i’ve included the trailer for the movie surrogates…. just in case you have not seen it before 
Are we getting lazier?
i think to a certain extent we have become lazier. for example, with the introduction of the internet, we can do so many things without having to use much energy. We, can now shop online, pay our bills online, we do not have to go to the library to search for books…we can search for books and information through the internet. all we have to do is, type and click and most of the time we are able to find the books, articles or journals we need without even having to get up from our chairs.
What about calculations, nowadays we dont have to go back to those old school days of pen and paper (and caluculator of course). the computer does nearly everything for us. It computes for us, it helps us see things differently… previously i was looking at some pictures of various aeroplane cockpits. and i realised that a lot of displays have changed (forgive me if i’m wrong… i admit i’m not a pilot but i am only commenting based on my understanding and observation).. i realised that many displays have become digital, and what i understand is that now a lot of things and information have been computed in it already. Thus, making things much easier for the pilots… the same goes with technology nowadays.. for example, we dont have to write letters anymore and send them to the post office, we dont have to walk out to go shopping anymore…..So, i was just wondering…is technology making us lazier?
Btw.. here is the comparison of the two aeroplanes…one digital and one analog…. they are both Boeing 747..due to copyright issues, i’m sorry but i cant post the pictures on this blog but just the links..note how everything looks much neater and much easier to use (i’m saying this with regard to my observation only)
Anoalog
Digital
Uncategorized | Comment (1)The Swiss Army phone part 2
I was watching a video the other day at my friends house about a mobile phone that can do almost anything. this brought me to post another post about mobile phones being like the Swiss Army knife.
People want to be mobile, being able to do multiple things while being in the public sphere. Mobile phones are constantly changing, companies upgrading their technology to cater for a more mobile and tech savvy society. A society where everybody is on the go and want results in an instance. Especially when public spaces becoming a site for work; a public office or a portable office (this also includes laptops and other gadgets too) … What was considered an object of the future is now something of the present. Companies are also adapting a more futuristic look to their mobile phones, challenging each other to come up with new, more convenient and innovative, ground breaking mobile phones (as seen in the videos bellow) that is intended to be a convenience to everyone who uses it. The mobile phone is now not only regarded as device for interaction, but also for entertainment, leisure and work. A Multifunction device that can be held on the palm of our hand…
I have the power…
I have the power…..
to pick up a call or to decide if i want to talk to the caller
I was just reading the other day on the article by Lee Humphreys.. It is interesting how in those days when there was no caller ID or answering machines the individual who has the “power” is the person who is calling alrather, the caller… The caller knows who he/she is calling and is the one who initiates the conversation.. however, with invention caller ID and answering machines the roles have changed and now the individual with the power at hand is the individual who is the answerer. Let’s take cell phones for example, he or she can decide if they would want to answer the call or not when the name pops up on the cell phones LCD. however, if and individuals name/number is not registered in the cell phone, the roles shift again to the caller being the individual who has the power… for example, if a number pops up on the LCD of our cell phone, we have a high tendency to want to answer the call up just in case it may be important or it is someone whom we know but just do not have the number stored in our cell phone. After reading this , i realised how true this observation is… and made me wonder even more if i am more of a victim to the caller or the one who holds the power to “cancel” or “ignore” the call
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