this time, it’s personal WORDS | Xandra

Macatangay

We're living in an era

where capturing

moments using our

phones is more

important than actually

living these moments

with whoever is beside

us.

This quote has been

floating around the

internet for a while now;

vandalised onto the back

of what appears to be a

train seat, the photo itself

undoubtedly taken with

and shared on, a phone.

In the 2000s, there used to be a room in my house called the computer room where the only computer in the house was.

My parents would use it to check their email and my sister

and I would use it to play neopets or something. Now, I have

my own laptop, my sister has two laptops, my brother has

two laptops and an ipad, my mother has an ipad, and my

father has more laptops and tablets than I care to count.

Nobody uses the desktop computer; we used to use it for

printing, but not anymore; I can do that from my laptop. Consequently, nobody leaves their room unless it’s to go to the kitchen for food.

Combined with the advent of convergence, our personal devices’ value has increased exponentially. Nobody has mp3 players anymore. Why would they need them? Their phone

can play music. And with cloud and syncing, you can access

all your content, across all your devices. For example, I am

sitting on my bed typing this article with my laptop.

Tomorrow morning, I can be sitting on the train editing this

article with my phone.

One of the best things about personal devices is private access to media. I’m sure everyone has something to hide in

their browser history (unless you use incognito mode, you

smart cookie, you) Even people who say they have nothing to

hide still feel a bit weird about letting other people see their browser history. It’s their personal space, after all. And we all

know those people who we hand our phones to to show them one photo, and, next thing you know, they’ve seen your entire camera roll, gone through your texts, and are renaming all of

your contacts.

The next generation of personal devices are forecast to be

eyewear or headgear with augmented reality capabilities. For

example, Google Glass is already allowing people to take their product out for a test run. Maybe we’ll eventually reach

personal devices that are body modifications: integrated into

our skin and eyes; the stuff of sci-fi movies.

A lot of people complain that personal devices are causing a decrease in real social interaction . As if me commenting on a friend’s blog post is a kind of fake interaction . Let’s be honest, it’s usually older people you hear saying this and maybe it’s because they haven’t discovered the endless fun that can be had. And, yeah, sometimes there’s a conversation and someone is nodding and mhm-ing along while looking down at their phone. But then they’ll look up from scrolling their newsfeed or texting someone and have a rad story to

tell you about their friend from New York’s mishap with a toaster.

This is how we pass information and how we interact. When we’re on our phones, we’re texting friends we don’t see regularly or who live in another country. We’re commenting on a blog post. We’re retweeting a celebrity. We may not be interacting with our immediate environment, but we’re interacting with the wider world. And that’s ok. There’ll be plenty of time for that when the wifi goes out.

a pirate’s life for me

THINK YOU’VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A PIRATE?

WORDS FAITH WONG

Not the Captain Jack Sparrow kind. I’m talking about the ones who sail the deepest

depths of cyberspace. The ones who hide

behind the safety of their computer screens.

The ones who swoop in and steal whatever

they desire, from whoever suits their fancy,

just with a few clicks of their mouse. If you’re new to this modern sea, you have

much to learn, cabin boy. Avast ye!

Firstly, if you find yourself in a pool of guilt,

note: Many companies are not fazed by pirates,

but instead, acknowledge that piracy can help

the company establish itself in emerging

markets and fend off threats from other

competing programs. As Bill Gates said, "And as

long as they're going to steal it, we want them to steal ours . So, in a way, you’re helping a good cause. Through pirated copies, the high

software standard of these products can be

established world-wide; made known to people

who are unaware of the existence of that

particular company, or are unable to afford

them (or cheap, like us pirates). Eric Goldman,

a professor at Marquette University, said that

this had led many experts and software

companies to regard us as less of a problem

than initially assumed and even part of a

comprehensive strategy. He described our

actions as a foregone revenue , a business model by accident and a business model by design . But, well, we don’t really care about that as long as we get our treasure, aye?

So, really, our cause may be morally wrong, but

economically, we are helping many companies.

Being a pirate and downloading copyrighted

material may not be as bad as you think.

Perhaps now, as consumers, we can shrug off

that feeling of guilt.

Secondly, we pirates need to protect ourselves.

No one likes to have his or her online activities monitored, especially when it’s illegal. In modern day society, it’s become acceptable to download pirated movies, music, and what not.

But many new pirates are unaware of the fact

that they can be monitored, and tracked in

some cases. According to the research

conducted by Birmingham University, there are

roughly 10 different monitoring firms logging

content, consisting of copyright-enforcement

organisations, security firms and even research

labs. If you happen to download a file that is being monitored, the content owners might contact your provider (ISP) who has your IP

address. In turn, your ISP would have to

monitor what you’re downloading, which you

could legally claim as an invasion of privacy.

But I suggest you just keep a low profile. Do not

reply to their letters. Just keep it cool, ignore

that black spot, and sail away as fast as you can.

Also, take note: this is nothing more than an

accusation from the rights holder. It is not

proof, and has no legal power. None.

Unfortunately, many new pirates think that

with new media, they can do anything they

want, be whoever they want to be, without

having to care about the repercussions. Such

naivety. All the information you post online is

easily available to the government and hackers;

phone calls, pictures and text messages are

recorded. In this day and age, everything you

do and say is monitored 24/7, and what’s left of privacy is limited to the realms of our

imagination. The seas never stop moving,

young one. As soon as you share information

through any form of media, it no longer belongs

solely to you; just like how the seas do not

belong to one individual pirate.

So, cabin boy, think before you act and always

be on guard. You don’t want to find yourself in Davy Jones’ Locker (or what we call jail

nowadays), aye? Now, raise your sail and go

wherever the wind takes you. Full speed ahead!

Plain Flour

home is where the heart is

the NEWS generation

As a user of new media, I can definitely

say that social media platforms have

slowly risen to become an important

facet of News and Current Affairs.

Whether it is the companies and people

themselves spreading the articles, or

being shared through the net by word of

‘mouth’, the end result is the same,

people get informed of what’s

happening.

News and current affairs are boring.

Perhaps it’s the way newscaster present

the information or the message they

choose to spread, Traditional impact

doesn’t have the impact it once did. New

media, on the other hand, understands. Behind the computer screen, maybe in

the house beside you, maybe on the

other side of the world, somebody has

the exact same interests as you.

Through Tumblr, or Reddit or whatever,

they share news that interests ‘you.’ The

news isn’t about the latest kitten that

got stuck in a tree or the new tween

celebrity that OD’ed, but rather, in depth

articles about Apple’s latest iOS 8 or a

video on a political debate from another

country with a more competent

government. (Soz not soz.) Just recently, quite a few events in the

world came into the media’s eye, and

even though Australia is an island in the

middle of nowhere (slight exaggeration

but full serious), I knew what was

happening. I am not a big follower of a current

affairs but I am a regular user of

Facebook and twitter. Honestly, just

scrolling through my news feed, I

become ‘updated’ of all that is

happening.

What exactly does news and current

affairs become when it isn’t ‘new’ or

‘current’ anymore?

After this long spiel, I guess the bottom note is

that new media is where it’s at. For the new

generation at least. A teens’ attention span only

lasts as long things are interesting. Basically, 2

seconds. With the internet in our grasp,

everything gets ‘old’ and ‘so last year’ as fast as

one can count 1,2-poof. The likes that rack up on the ‘#Pray for South

Korea’ posts or the hate Rodger Elliot got on

twitter. I knew what was going on before my

parents did. The internet is a wonderful thing and being

able to be in the comfort of your own home

while sharing and receiving knowledge,

opinions and the truth with the world is what I

think, is the true beauty of it all.

Of course, they have ‘breaking news’ but why

would a person search for the info from a

second hand source when on twitter or

Facebook, a million people are giving first hand

recounts, along with photographs and videos?

Even though large news agencies have made

the move from paper to the choice of digital, I

don’t believe it to be enough. Can traditional

news outlets compete with the rapid rate of

online posts?

-Cindy Yin

During the early months of 

2005 and much to his 

dismay, Jawed Karim 

couldn’t find video clips of 

the 2004 Janet Jackson Nip 

Slip online. He and his two 

friends Chad Hurley and 

Steve Chen came up with the 

idea of creating a video‐

sharing website on which 

users could upload, share, 

and watch videos, and thus 

YouTube was born. The site 

was quickly snapped up by 

Google and now, over a 

billion users later, it’s the 

biggest video‐sharing site on 

the internet. 

Since its humble 

beginnings – the first video 

ever uploaded to the site 

was an 18 second clip 

entitled Me At The Zoo –

 YouTube has evolved as 

one of the major players, if 

not the major player, in 

online entertainment. 

Livestreaming – the 

streaming of live events to 

a website – is becoming an 

increasingly popular way 

of connecting internet 

users to real events. An 

example of this is Amex 

Unstaged, the brainchild of 

YouTube, VEVO and 

American Express. 

Concerts by bands such as 

Arcade Fire and Vampire 

Weekend are directed by 

leading filmmakers and 

livestreamed to thousands 

of online viewers, who are 

connected to the show in a 

unique and innovative way. 

YouTube’s partnerships 

with various corporations 

are only one aspect of the 

site. YouTube is a way 

to upload and share original 

content with hundreds, 

thousands or ‐ in some cases 

‐ millions of 

subscribers. The more 

successful ‘YouTubers’ with 

high numbers of views 

and subscribers are paid for 

their videos. For YouTubers 

such as Benny and Rafi Fine 

(thefinebros), creating 

videos and webseries to 

upload to YouTube is a full‐

time career. The content 

that such YouTubers upload 

is professionally shot and 

edited, and with the creation 

of the YouTube Space – a 

venue at which production 

resources can be used – the 

content that YouTubers 

have been uploading is 

becoming of an increasingly 

high standard. With the 

immense popularity of 

YouTubers such as the Fine 

brothers, John and Hank 

Green (vlogbrothers) and 

Grace Helbig (dailygrace) to 

name a few, the YouTube 

fandom has grown and 

expanded to include 

millions of viewers 

worldwide. 

YouTube has grown to 

become an integral aspect 

of online entertainment 

among comedians, 

musicians and filmmakers 

alike. However, one can 

only speculate on its future. 

Will YouTube continue to 

grow and expand, 

becoming bigger and 

better? Or is the site 

destined for an epic, 

MySpace‐like burnout? 

(Don’t shake your head in 

disbelief – 2008 you 

probably never thought 

MySpace would become a 

social media wasteland.) 

One thing’s for certain – for 

now, the site remains a 

media giant.