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=CCT300LAB_WEEK2: POKEMON CASESTUDY=

Can Video Games be considered another new mass media? What makes Video Games a different medium from conventional movies and music? Why are video games catching on?
Given the current time we're living in, video games have become a prevailing epidemic. The reason behind this is the fact that with all the technology available currently, video games became a medium through which a lot of people can interconnect and interact with one another. Some might find that referring to video games as a "new mass media" unorthodox, but because users can log in from around the world and twine, it has owned its new label. It differs from movies and music because through video games, people are now cyber socializing. Where movies and music connect with us on a more personal basis, gaming now enables us to form teams online, to develop strategic thinking and provoke wider horizons never explored before; some even take up gaming as a career!

With all these qualities in hand, we can start understanding why video games are starting to catch on. It is the creation of our new found generation, something that holds sentimental value to a lot of gamers nowadays.

=CCT300LAB_WEEK3: GENRES AND THE WEB=

Why are new genres created? Why is the definition of genre controversial and not so applicable to the formation of digital genres?
New and different genres are continuously being created due to the different interests the lie within us. People have varying interests and goals, each design and create new genres that would cater to their own interest. The definition of the genre in the digital world is also being continuously challenged due to differing views on the topic. Some people agree that no digital genre can actually be created because of how the users perceive the rules of information spaces. Also a lot of the digital genres are considered to have evolved from a paper based origin. An example would be accessing newspapers physically and digitally (the latter arises from the earlier). These claims can however be counter argued. Since most of the pages online are user based, their content would be developed from pure self interest; creating what we know now as the "home page". Those who agree that digital genres exist, label the personal home pages as the first digital genre, mainly because it is user based. They would also differ that basing digital genres originate purely from paper based genres. Because the digital world is a much improved medium, more and more can be exploited through it, therefore reviving the chances of new digital genres being created.

In conclusion, the controversy lies in that the users can not come to agree that the word "genre" can be applicable in the digital world. Although they both offer justifications for their arguments, it seems that those in defense of the existence of the digital genre are thinking of a more contemporary technology. Because the web is more elastic, more can be altered and created. This could mean that we're looking at something beyond just digital genres.

=CCT300LAB_WEEK4: MCLUHAN AND COMIC BOOKS=

Do you agree with McLuhan when states comics are an extension of photographic media? Why or why not?
I do. The way he described comics in general is exactly what we do when we read comic books nowadays. Comics bring something different to the table. While images are there to allow us to interpret them in any way possible, comics offer a different approach. They're a bunch of images stuck to each other for a certain goal. Maybe the overall purpose is entertainment, but each comic holds it's own sentimental value. On the other hand, I wouldn't agree that it makes us passive viewers. The fact that we use our mind to interpret the missing links between each "bounding line" shows that we are actually thinking and filling in the gaps according to our own desires. The images are of different events, but the links are up to us to create.

=CCT300LAB_WEEK5: SECOND LIFE=

Do you see that conventional means of mass media advertising can translate into Second Life? Provide reasons why or why not?
I do believe that mass media could be incorporated into the second life realm. The reasons behind that is just like the article stated, the advertising companies have to understand that the virtual world is very different from the physical world we live in, and the way things run there are uncanny. The companies must wait on their brands to excel in Second Life because this new concept is in the process of being translated into an invisible realm. Certain artists have become more known and appreciated due to their performances in the virtual world. An interviewee also stated that Second Life's development is very similar to the dot.com bubble. If certain correlations like that could be drawn, then there is no reason why advertisements shouldn't succeed in Second Life, as it would be a great way for the companies to grow further more into a world they did not expect to shine in.

= = =CCT300LAB_WEEK7: CULTURE JAM=

This is a very simple and funny culture jam of DC comics, where Superman has allegedly replaced Batman's original calling sign with his own.

=CCT300LAB_WEEK9: WIKIPEDIA=

Wikipedia's growth has been astounding, and as more and more people dedicate more effort to build the website and maintain it, it is becoming a very reliable website. Its existence and on going development was and still is in the hand of the users who continue to monitor the website and make sure all the information entered is valid. Although its search engine was a flop when first initiated, it has grown to deduce grammatical errors, and is now offering spell suggestions that better the results. It is definitely updates on a very prompt basis, and cover all sorts of news and entries. When an entry is first entered, much maintenance is still required, so in order for proper links to be provided, a temporal period must pass by. Most of the entries provided have sufficient and reliable links, and those that do not, are often removed or given a certain amount of time for the link to be provided. To add more on sourcing, Wikipedia is a user based website, therefore the information provided initially can be biased and unreliable (though they try their best not to). Also because it is user based, that means the certain amount of information could be left out of a topic, therefore providing unreliable results. Whatever information provided must be backed up with adequate sources, which is what Wikipedia has been striving for recently.

=CCT300LAB_WEEK10: SOCIALGO=

SocialGo seems to be pretty similar to the wikispaces we currently use. However I did notice that SocialGo offers more of a webspace combined with a social interactive network. It enables you to create your own profile, add friends, share photos and blog! All these services in one websites seem to come in hand when it comes to working on major assignments, especially when working in a group. All in all, as stated earlier, it seems to represent the wikispaces we use a lot, but have more of a social touch to it, that enables instant messaging for example.

=CCT300LAB_WEEK11: TWINE=

What features of Twine did you find most relevant to Web 3.0?
Twine is an online web that contains many features, ranging from chatting to wikis to databases. It works by extracting information the user's preferences based on websites they visit and their search's keywords. It incorporates the new and rising semantic web, AKA Web 3.0, and works similarly to what this new Web entails. It basically goes down to research engine optimization, web ontology language and resource descriptions frames. Instead of simply searching a word, the web understands what the word means and provides better and more accurate results. Twine uses that feature when one can bookmark certain web-pages, which would then help them to find optimized research results, which could then be shared with other users and friends on Twine. From the bookmarks you have set on Twine, it automatically updates you with news it believes that may be of interest to you. Such features all entail the new growing Web 3.0, and Twine is using the semantic metadata pretty effectively and in immense relevance to the Web 3.0