Week 17 - Metadata, Tagging and Folksonomies

Why has ‘digg.com’ been successful?

Digg.com is website for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online websites to the most obscure blogs, Digg surfaces the best stuff voted by the users. The aim of the website is to ‘To provide a place where people can collectively determine the value of content and we’re changing the way people consume information online.’ Digg.com works by people submitting news, videos and images to the site. Once submitted, other people can view and ‘digg’ what they like best. The best submissions that receive the most ‘diggs’ are promoted to the front page for millions of people to see.



In 2008 the domain “digg.com” attracted around 236 million visitors, so what has been the criteria for success?. Firstly, the website gives power to the people by allowing them to decide what news is important, which in most cases is decide by a small number of people. The website is designed in a simple way for newcomers to understand and start to make a difference quickly.

Personally, I think the main reason for the success of digg.com is the power the people are given which has seen the rise in the website in recent years. However, as many people are use to the conventional mainstream news were a certain group of people decide what news we consume, how long will digg.com be able to compete against mainstream news. Will ‘digg.com’ be able to sustain the interest and following in order to continue to be successful in the future?.

Week 16 - Open Source Movement

Is open source technology good or bad?

Open source is free access to the source code of a program and extensive free redistribution rights for this software, examples of open source is Linux, Apache, PHP and MySQL. Source code is any collection of statements or declarations written in some human-readable computer programming language. Source code is used by programmers to specify the actions to be performed by the computer.

One prominent example of open source technology is Facebook with over 350 million users making it the world’s most popular social networking site. It runs on open source technology such as PHP, Memcached, MySQL and others. Facebook has become the most popular social networking site several English speaking countries which raises the question is opens source technology good?

Linux is a operating system based on open source technology which allows consumers to view the source code and even alter them. However, Microsoft are firmly against allowing consumers to view their source code and even have protected the right to keep it private. CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer describes Linux as being a ‘cancer’. The harsh description of Linux by Steve suggests they are familiarly against open source. Although it could also suggest that Microsoft may feel threatened by Linux as consumers may wish to have more control over the operating systems, which Linux offers. So is open source good or bad? I personally think it gives the consumer more control and freedom which can only be a good thing.

Week 15 - Intellectual Property, Creative Commons & DRM

Should the government have the right to access private information?

Article 8 of the European convention is the Human Rights Act 1998 - the right to respect for private and family life. Article 8 covers issues such as interception of correspondence (telephone, letter, e-mail), search warrants (at home or work), access to information about a person’s own identity and many others. However, In the UK, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act of 2000 allows a limited group of authorities to demand private information about people's Internet and mobile phone activities from the companies that provide connections.

New technology offers criminals new opportunities as it is estimated that 600 million people have access to the internet therefore access to e-mail causing the internet to be a source of private information. The British Government has increased the police’s powers to detect crime on the internet allowing access to private information. Critics fear that security forces such as police, customs and secret services will invade the privacy of British citizens. Access to e-mail and mobile phone information for authorities also brings up the issue that personal information will be collected and monitored even if it isn’t criminal activity.

This then raises the question that is our privacy being breached by the government?. Since the September 11th security has become more of a priority then privacy giving a reasons for governments to introduce new laws making Human rights Acts less enforcing. I personally, believe that the government are not invading our privacy but will find a reason to intercept correspondence even without sufficient evidence.

Week 14 - Intellectual Property, Creative Commons & DRM

Are 3D films being introduced to reduce piracy?

A 3D (three dimensional) film is a motional picture that provides the illusion of depth perception. A special motion picture camera is used to record images from two perspectives. 3D films have existed since 1890 but were a niche in the motion picture industry because of the high costs. However, 3-D films were featured heavily in the 1950’s and 1960’s in American cinema. These days 3D films are on a worldwide rise due the development in digital media and the invention of high-definition video standards.

3D films have benefited in the development of technology as it caused a resurgence in the film industry. However, the development in technology since the 1950’s and 60’s has also caused problems for the film industry as private or bootleg copies of films has been introduced because of it. Pirate DVD’s have been on the increase since the invention of camcorders which allow people to record films in theatres secretly. Introducing more 3D films or making a film available in 3D is a way for film companies to try and squash the piracy problem.



Films in 2009 were available to watch in 3D then ever before this coincides with the demand of 3D films together with film companies trying to persuade people to come back to watch films in cinema theatres. Avatar was a film released in December 2009 and was available to watch both in 2D and 3D. Avatar has now become in the highest-grossing film of all time. Personally, I think one the reasons why the film was a big success was because it was available in 3D. Although, 3D costs more then the standard viewing I think its been pushed to new heights because of Avatar and 2010 I think we’ll see a rise in 3D films. 3D may not eliminate piracy completely but I believe a major factor in reducing sales of pirate DVD’s.

Week 13 - Privacy, Surveillance, Everyware & Ubiquitous Computing

Are the new British passports an invasion of privacy?

In 2006 the British government introduced a new biometric passports also know as an e-passports. The new passports physical appearance haven’t changed significantly however, the new biometric passports have had radio-frequency identification tags (RFID) inserted in them. The purpose of the tags is for identification and tracking using radio waves, the chips are also used for products and animals. The RFID tags contain information on the passport owner which can be read and processed. The purpose of the new passports is to improve security particularly with increase in numbers of fake passports. However the new e-passports has sparked much debate on the privacy issue and whether the passports are actually secure.



Privacy activists have, in many countries the passports have been introduced in, stated the lack of information on the what exactly are on the chips is a problem. There also is a issue of the passports being traceable which for some people is an invasion of privacy as the passports are able to transmit radio waves. There is also the issue of e-passports being cloned as the information and the passport numbers on the chips are not encrypted meaning the information can easily be read if in the wrong hands.



Personally, I think the e-passports are not an invasion of privacy rather a form of a security warning to other countries to warn of criminals or any threats. After the events of 9/11 entering another country has become much more restricted and controlled. So I think this is why the e-passports have been introduced to allow borders forces to have more control and knowledge on who is entering the county as the new passports now allow this.

Week 12 - Videogame Studies

Why have balanced games been on the increase in the past couple of years?

Balanced games are usually novelty control interfaces such as a light gun, the Wii remote and a Nun-chuck etc. The advantages of balanced games are that it can improve immersion through ‘realistic’ control method. Also its very easy to understand because unlike unbalanced games there are no hidden moves and everyone can follow what’s going on with balanced games, a good example a balanced console is the Nintendo Wii. Since the release date on September 16th 2006 the Nintendo Wii’s monthly sales have been higher then its competitors. According to the NPD group the Wii sold more units in the United States than the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 combined in the first half of 2007. These statistics clearly show the Wii is the leading games console at the moment but why is this the case?



The Wii is the most developed recognised balanced console out at the moment which in itself makes it unique. I personally think this is the main reason why it has become so successful because its competitors such as Xbox, ps3 fall under the unbalanced category. Unbalanced console are usually targeted to a specific consumer. This usually means people who aren’t gamers will most likely not be interested in unbalanced games as there are too many rules and restrictions.



The Nintendo Wii on the other hand, is much more free, simpler and easy to use. Features such as the Wii lightgun, wheel and the balance board brings a completely different experience even for people who are not gamers. Games such as ‘Wii Fit’ have been very successful as people can now play games and exercise at the same time, something you can’t do with unbalanced games. The freedom and the simplicity of playing a Nintendo Wii together with the ability to exercise whilst being in your living room for me is the reason why the Wii has been successful over the past couple of years.

Week 11 - The Aesthetics of Digital literature

Will books be overtaken by computers?

Books vs. computers has been a topic of much debate. The introduction of the computer was said to eventually take over the book as a computer would also have the information that could be found in a book however, this has been far from the case. Books have been around since western Roman Empire in the 6th century. Books have been an integral source of research and information. The format of a book makes it very easy to use as there are pages numbers which means you can keep track of where you are in the book.

However, since computers have also been a source of information, in recent times especially since the introduction of the Internet, it has brought the idea that they will overtake books. An example were books can be found and read on the Internet is ‘Google books’. This saves a lot of time as the book is available to read on the Internet which is very easy to find instead of searching for the publication in a library.

Nevertheless, books have survived the development in technology and are still being used even with the computer and Internet. One of the main reasons being the aesthetics of the book. With a book you can follow your progress with page numbers which you can't do when reading off a computer. Also the simplicity of turning a page over to the next one which is something you also can't do when reading off a computer. Personally, I believe books will continue to remain integral for many years to come as information and research found from them is said to be more reliable and trustworthy.