Eighth Topic : New Technology and The Culture

It is typical for a new technology to be adapted within a culture and used to support existing patterns of behaviour.With your own relevant examples, answer these questions.

Critical Reflection : Culture Influences through Technology
First question:What kind of culture influences through technology can you see from today's world?
1. To me, technology nowadays has thoroughly brought a big impact to the current world. Along with the development, some devices of technology are getting more and more demanded by the mankind, for instance, the utilization of a personal computer. People are so into this useful gadget that almost every family owns more than one PC in home. With PC, people can easily get to know almost all the knowledge that ever existed in this world, and it even allows people to contact each other no matter how fat they are apart. Therefore, utilizing PC everyday has been a common practice for the current mankind, and at the same time, its existence has caused replacement for some other media forms in this world that presented ever since the earlier century.

2. Some other influences through technology I can observe from the world is that, technology will always keep on developing and it will always replace the outdated ones as well. To make the human being's life easier, technology has been developing non-stop since forever. However, when there is any new product manufactured, it will normally replace the older ones, which is not that advanced after comparing. This act seems kind of cruel and mean, but it is happening like almost everyday as people are commonly selfish in this aspect in order to bring themselves the easiest lifestyle, just like how a personal computer replaces the newspaper. Why is it so? Just like my brother says all the time:"who wants to waste money to get their hands dirty when we can read the same news with computer?"

Second Question: Is there a possibility to reshape the (new) culture today via new technology? How ?
1. Of course this probability is making sense, in fact, it is happening now. The will of humankind to make ourselves an easier lifestyle will normally drive us to creating new technology in order to fulfill this demand which is thought to be impossible at first. Unknowingly,this kind of development of technology is actually reshaping the culture today, and spontaneously, people will start to change to sort of following the flow of technology.

2. In fact, the reshaping of new culture happens under competition. Normally, improvement happens when there is challenge within oneself or among one another. When mankinds are exposed to different kind of challenges, most of them, especially scientists, will try to invent something out to overcome the adversity. And under the competition among each other, better invention will be created. Of course, when there is a better invention, people rely on it even more and start alienating those old inventions. From that, a new culture will be born. Therefore, I always believe in reshaping the culture is possible as competition never stops, and as it is still happening, new culture will be born unstoppably.


Personal Reflection on the Class.
In fact, I had a quite boring class for this week. it is not about the lecturers or the class, it is just that I never liked reading stuff, so that is why I somehow got bored. Anyway, just when I started to feel sleepy, our lecturer played us a video clip about the iPhone, a mobile phone which has been everyone's dream, and it successfully attract my attention. And from that clip, I learned even more about the iPhone and how convenient our lives can be with its existence. What I can say is that, I was totally amazed. So yea, a good day it was.

Seventh Topic : Media Imperialism

Critical Reflection : Media Imperialism
1. From what i can conlcude after watching the video on The Power of Nightmares (Part 3 – Shadow in the Cave) is that the 9/11 incident has left a big impression on world terrorism. The goverment of the United States are trying their best to protect their nation from being exposed to this danger. After all the actions of sending American troops to the middle east to find Osama, none of those missions were successful. In fact I sometimes wonder if all the accusation about Osama hideouts and military base inside a mountain really do exist.

2.I understand that the nation is extremely cautious of international terrorism and trying to do the best that they probably could be in safe zone. In fact countries all over the world are taking precautionary actions towards this matter but i believe that sometimes people are assuming and expecting the worse to happen which is probably the best way to be cautious but at times when it is done without any source of information and evidence to the truths of the incident can give a big impact on what actions to be taken. For example we cannot just enter a country where you think thats where the terrorist is hiding without the knowledge of where this person really is. Further investigation needs to be done to refrain from making a big damage.


Personal Reflection on the Class.
For this week, we were presented with a video titled The Power of Nightmares (Part 3 – Shadow in the Cave). The length of video is almost 1 hour, i almost bore myself. But i manage to get a few info regarding the video. From what i can digest from this video is that, politician are very much involved in the situation of keeping the country save from terrorist attack. But sometimes I feel that the politician themselves are continuously assuming too much. Like what the video mentioned at the end, "Politicians are creating strange fantasies" really hits me that maybe all this while it has all been on their mind that they are doing such actions.

Sixth Topic : Tetrad of Media

Using McLuhan's "Tetrad of Media", choose a medium or media application or tool (e.g. newspaper, books, radio, tv, film, internet, computer games, handphone, instant messaging, blogging, online advertising, youtube, facebook etc.) and explain its media effects.

Critical Reflection : McLuhan's Theory
[By referring to the "Tetrad of Media"]...
Windows Live Messenger which is an instant messaging client enhances communication between one another at a higher speed. Via this medium, we are able to not only chatter but also playing simple games, seeing each other's faces, and also calling one another by clicking on the "call a contact" or "video call" buttons.
This application is so reliable that it actually obsolesces normal phone calls, letter writing and also mobile phone text messaging, since it is free and user-friendly. Therefore, since it was released in 2005, people started depending on it as the main communicating client and it has nearly replaced the usage of letter and also phone call.
The good thing about this instant messaging client is that it has retrieved the practice of note writing and passing during old times. During sometime ago, we all used to passing note to chat with one another and it seems to be one of the entertainment. Nowadays, this application enables us to continue this sort of entertainment, only that we are using keyboard and mouse instead of pen on a trashed paper. As an addition, we can even insert pictures to make the whole conversation to be more colorful.
However, when we are way too much obsessed to this application, everything will be reversed into a wastage of time. Some people tend to forget to focus on other more important issues when they utilize this service excessively. This is definitely going to affect the daily works and it doesn't seem like a good thing to me.

Personal Reflection on the Class
For this week, we were shown the interpretation on the topic of "The Extensions of Man". In the class, lecturer briefed us about the McLuhan's concept on this very well known term- Media.
Throughout the class, we learned about the Hot and Cool Media that day, and of course the tetrad of media as well. However, this chapter seems to be kind of complicated to me, so I think I shall need to revise on it soon.

Fifth Topic : Obscenity, Pornography and Indecency

Obscenity, pornography and indecency: What are the differences between these terms?

Critical Reflection : The meaning of Obscenity, Pornography and Indecency.

• Obscenity-- Something, such as a word, act, or expression, that is indecent or lewd.
• Pornography-- Literature, pictures, films etc that are indecent in a sexual way.
• Indecency-- The state or quality of being unseemly or immodest.

Meaning taken from "www.thefreedictionary.com"

1. All these 3 terms seem be alike. However, each one of them carries a specific meaning distinctly.
Obscenity is actually to describe the behavior of displaying or depicting sexually offensive pictures or wordings. Majority of them are shown on some foreign reading materials and tee shirts, and due to the current era which is getting more open-minded, these works are commonly acceptable.
Pornography is more like a depiction of some naked people posing or performing sexual acts in videos or pictures in order to arouse people's erotic desire or pleasure. Some countries like Japan see this kind of production as the main source of income, however, it is illegal to produce in Malaysia.
While for indecency, it is to be explained as the exposure of acts or gestures which has breached the border line of morality. Some of these commitment of acts are against the law (exposure of private part in public unreasonably) while some of them will only arouse disagreement of other parties (an inappropriate outfit).

2. The similarity of all these 3 terms is that all of them are able to be found through media, like TV and computer. To me, it might be kind of cool to have some obscene wording on the tee shirt, however all of these sources bring nothing else but harm. It might jeopardize kids' mind with these pictures or videos as it can be easily accessed through internet. Therefore, to me, it is supposed to be banned everywhere regardless of movie, internet or what so ever as it's no fair to publish all these for the sake of sexual satisfaction of certain parties.


Personal Reflection On The Class
Well, class for this week has nothing important to be mentioned about as it was mainly about the briefing on our second assignment. So, yea.

Fourth Topic : Media Literacy

What is Media Literacy and why is it important for you as FCM students to have it?

Critical Reflection : Media Literacy and its impact on me
1. After referring to Wikipedia, I got to know that media literacy is about approaching, studying, analyzing, experimenting and also evaluating media which are in different kind of forms or genres. Such studies allow people to decode and also facilitate the message which is carried on that particular media form. By decoding message in this way, it actually enables people to know about the role and impact of media and thus being more appreciative.

2. As a FCM student, I actually find this study very useful. This study actually provides me the courage to start my so-called approach and analyzation on the media that happen to be surrounding me. From the research I did, I actually received a lot of extra knowledge compared to the previous time. In fact, sometime I even got inspired from the research I did and thus coming out with my own creation or artwork to convey my message based on some issues to the public. Therefore, I really think that media plays an important role in my life as it allows me to know some of the hidden messages of the artworks.


Personal Reflection On The Class
For this week, we were taught about media representation and cultural stereotypes. From the class, I actually paid more attention on the media representation topic as I really found that very interesting. As a fan for truth, I totally support media representation as most of the time, it is mediating the truth, unlike stereotype. However, I realized another thing as well, that the people nowadays actually prefer more on the stereotype as most of them found it funny to crack some jokes on other people. It creates misunderstanding and discrimination, but people seem to have covered up part of their conscience with all the stereotypes which they think it is delighting. No matter what, I am still preferring the media representation as mediating the truth will always benefit the people.

Third Topic : Media Stereotype

Critical Reflection : What is Media Stereotype?
1. To me, media stereotype is something that, even though it is not representative or classified commonly, it is being generally mediated like it is, with some exaggerations and sarcastic jokes in it as an addition, and results in creating a general misjudged acknowledgment or misunderstanding of the receivers towards those particular ethnic groups.

2. Normally, media stereotype is created with a biased judgment of the ones who mediate those "information" towards that certain groups such as the producers. The effects of this kind of stereotypes was thought to be harmless as it is treated as normal sarcastic humor. However, it is kind of influential and offensive as this stereotype will be endlessly mediated and it will create a misunderstanding of the kids in this current era to the groups that are being made fun of, and hence resulting in unnecessary discrimination within one another in the future.


Personal Reflection On the Class
No class for this week, since it's holiday. So I took a look on that article afterward and realized how those media producers and cartoon illustrators created the cartoons to crack a serious humorous but offensive joke on those particular ethnics. However, I feel kind of uncomfortable watching this kind of cartoon, as cartoon is meant to be bringing fun and joy to the kids nowadays, but not as a media for the adults to trigger the "mental war" among themselves. Therefore, to me, I seriously disagree with this kind of acts.

Second Topic : The Truth Shown Online.

Do you often take what is on the Internet as truth without thinking much about it ?
If yes, why? If no, why? Discuss this in your own words.

Critical Reflection on the Truth Shown Online
1. Well, as I said in the previous post, I do rely on the internet very much as it is almost like the only main source for the information I receive in my daily life. However, due to the advice given by my friends and also my personal experience, I do not really believe exactly what is shown in every website. Since the first day I utilized this service , I have been warned not to click on those pop-out article as most of them are either frauds or viruses. As time goes by, I started to learn about the hidden risk or danger in the internet. From the learning, I got to know that there are really some websites which are full of those fake articles being created by some unknown individuals, who has no other purposes but just to terrify or deceive the net surfers that are reading their articles, just for the sake of having fun, like the Stanley Baran's comic strip shown above. Besides that, there are also existence of hackers who created some articles to attract network users' attention and thus taking some hidden advantages of theirs while they are browsing that. We should bear in mind about this, just like how my dad used to tell me, "No one will be willing to provide you a fortune for nothing."

2. Normally, I will be ignoring all those articles shown in those anonymous websites as I deeply believe that most of them are providing untruthful information, just like most of the pop-outs articles online. Therefore, I will not get those demanded information from those websites. It is a must to know that, some news or information can be really influential to the public, some of them might even be able to cause injury or death due to the created misunderstanding, therefore we are supposed to take this issue seriously. While reading those articles, it will be more appropriate if we try to do some comparisons with some others well-known websites to ensure the truthfulness of those articles, as once we get deceived by those concocted articles, it will really arise an awful misunderstanding among the people of different races, religions, or even countries. Therefore, to me, in order to avoid misunderstanding, it is a necessity to spend some time in confirming the real truth of articles shown online.


Personal Reflection on the Media Culture Class
In this week, class was really in a chaos. Everyone was paying attention to his or her own topics. Therefore, I only got to learn something from the class, something about how media influence war. Firstly, we are ought to know that, media really brings a lot of impact in either initiating or preventing war. Let's take an example, if there's news about political issue which has been manipulated or bended by those unfaithful reporters, it will seriously create misunderstanding and thus igniting disastrous wars. However, on the contrary, if there are media everywhere to convey message about the importance of peace, such as newspaper, magazine, tv programs, radio etc, it will really arouse the awareness in ourselves, and thus increasing the amount of people going against this pathetic issue. Even though this is not going to cease the war right away, however, as long as these optimistic messages are being delivered, it will sure become a success in the near future. Therefore I once again emphasized, media is actually manipulating what is happening around us, and this class has really reminded me a lot about this.

First Topic : Social Media

-Discuss how this new phenomenon is affecting your life and the lives around you-


Critical Reflection on Social Media
1. Well, this clip has really shown how important this social media is. Using residents of Scoopville and ice cream as the metaphor, it has clearly stated that how social media has changed the current lives of ours. As we all know, magazine, newspaper, television, radio etc, are all useful social media. However, the one which affects my life the most will be the networks, so let's talk about the World Wide Web (WWW) then. For people who seldom watch television programs and newspapers like I do, the WWW plays an important role in socialization. For example, the common websites that I often browse are friendster, facebook, and deviantart. All these mentioned websites do help me alot in communicating or keeping in touch with all my friends, families or peers who have moved or migrated, thus sharing the different experiences that we are having in different places everyday. As the frequent user of Friendster, it even helps me to widen up my eye sight towards the world, as I am given chances to know more friends who are from different countries, and I get to understand more about their countries and cultures as well through all the chatters we had. Lastly, website provides the latest news about politics, entertainment, sports etc for us to read about, and indirectly, it gives us many topics to start a conversation with and discuss about, and thus widening our knowledge about the current world. Therefore, WWW as a social media is indeed an eye opener for the users.

2. Social media does help in establishing a bridge for the gap among the people, and from that, we are able to improve ourselves in this self-proclaimed "E-global village". Well, it is a fact that we will not be able to know all the people in this world, but at least with this networking which happens to be one of the social media, we can meet more and hence improving more. Let's take an example, website like Deviantart has helped gathering majority of art lovers and allowing them to exchange opinions based on the artwork of theirs, and it does help in improving their artwork through the feedbacks they get from each other, just like the improvement of the residents' ice creams in the clip shown above. People improve under other people's comments or perspective, and social media helps enhancing it. Moreover, just like the shown clip, many companies set up a website to get feedbacks from the customers who have utilized their products, in order to improve and come out with a new and better product. This does not only helps saving cost, but it kinds of getting a better response from the public than broadcasting an advertisement.


Personal Reflection on the Media Culture Class
Well, for this week, we were taught about "Media Society". In this class, I realized about how influential Social Media is, as in the current world, we are surrounded by all these media and in fact, we are more like living on them. However, social media has been so reliable until it has an ability to manipulate people's mindset. Therefore, we were reminded to be real careful when we are applying these media, as there might be some people who misuse that for a harmful purpose to fullfil their own selfishness. In a nut shell, this class was quite an interesting class, as we were told or acknowledged about something that we may not realize in our daily lives.

My Personal Intro.

Well, my name is Wong Jue Jin, and do call me J.J if you like to. I am a FCM student, that's also the reason that I am creating this blog of mine. As you may notice, I love drawing normal graphic alot, so in the near future, I might be posting some of my work here as well. So welcome to read my blog ya. Peace y'all.