unit 3 exam - Vj : February 2015

Friday 27 February 2015

Index

Thursday 26 February 2015

The masked Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John", who has been pictured in the videos of the beheadings of Western hostages, has been named.

He is Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man in his mid-20s from west London, who was previously known to British security services.

British police declined to comment, citing ongoing investigations.

Emwazi first appeared in a video last August, when he apparently killed the US journalist James Foley.

This was primarily found because of the videos that he has been sighted in, if it was not for the videos and the fact that the videos went viral, the news a wouldn't be able to identify this man.

NDM Story

Apple ordered to pay $530m for iTunes patents
Jury in Texas orders Apple to pay hundreds of millions to Smartflash for infringing three patents relating to iTunes

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/25/apple-ordered-to-pay-530m-for-itunes-patents

Apple has been ordered to pay more than $530m after a federal jury in Texas found its iTunes software infringed three patents owned by a patent licensing company called Smartflash.

Although Smartflash had been asking for $852m in damages, the verdict handed down on Tuesday night was still a blow to Apple.

The jury, which deliberated for eight hours, determined Apple had not only used Smartflash’s patents without permission, but did so wilfully.

The patents concerned digital rights management, data storage and payment systems.

Apple, which said it would appeal, said the outcome was another reason that reform was needed in the patent system to curb litigation by companies that do not make products themselves.

“Smartflash makes no products, has no employees, creates no jobs, has no US presence, and is exploiting our patent system to seek royalties for technology Apple invented,” said Apple’s Kristin Huguet. “We refused to pay off this company for the ideas our employees spent years innovating, and unfortunately we have been left with no choice but to take this fight up through the court system.”

NDM story

YouTube Kids app launches in the US for Android and iOS

Standalone app is free and ad-supported, offering a mixture of TV shows, educational videos, music and child-friendly vloggers

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/23/youtube-kids-app-android-us-only

YouTube is launching a separate app for children which will filter out inappropriate content, hide comments on videos and which will not allow them to register and log in to its service.

The YouTube Kids app launches today in the US for Android and for iOS devices, and the company intends to roll it out elsewhere in the future. The app will be free and funded by advertising, although YouTube says it will be carefully screening ads to ensure they are appropriate for children.

YouTube Kids groups videos into four categories: shows, music, learning and explore. Shows focuses on videos from familiar children’s TV brands like Sesame Street and Thomas and Friends; Music includes videos from nursery-rhyme channels like Mother Goose Club; and Learning gathers educational videos.

Wednesday 25 February 2015

NDM story

What is Trivia Crack and why are 100m people playing it?
The latest mobile game craze has launched in the UK, complete with questions about Prince George and Cheryl Cole for local tastes.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/26/what-is-trivia-crack-100m-people-mobile-game

From Angry Birds and Candy Crush Saga to Draw Something, Clash of Clans and SongPop: the mobile gaming world has had its fair share of crazes since Apple and Google launched their app stores in 2008. Now you can add Trivia Crack to the list.

The game has only just launched in the UK, but it’s already hugely popular in the US and Latin America, with more than 100m downloads so far and currently around 800k more every day.

So what is Trivia Crack, and why is it proving so popular? It’s the work of Argentinian developer Etermax, which launched the game in its home continent in late 2013, before adapting it for English-speaking players in mid-2014.

The game – currently available for Android, iOS and Windows Phone – is a trivia quiz where players answer questions in subjects including entertainment, art, science, history and geography, chosen by spinning an on-screen wheel.

As they answer more questions, they unlock virtual characters, while competing head-to-head against other players. It does for trivia what Draw Something did for scribbling and SongPop did for music, essentially.

Trivia Crack is free to download, and makes its money from a blend of advertisements and in-app purchases of spins, coins and boosts to the number of “lives” a player has. They can also choose to buy a premium version of the game that removes the ads.

News & Media

Snap chat discover
http://blog.snapchat.com/post/109302961090/introducing-discover

Snapchat Discover is a new way to explore Stories from different editorial teams. It’s the result of collaboration with world-class leaders in media to build a storytelling format that puts the narrative first. This is not social media.

Social media companies tell us what to read based on what’s most recent or most popular. We see it differently. We count on editors and artists, not clicks and shares, to determine what’s important.

Discover is different because it has been built for creatives. All too often, artists are forced to accommodate new technologies in order to distribute their work. This time we built the technology to serve the art: each edition includes full screen photos and videos, awesome long form layouts, and gorgeous advertising.

Tuesday 24 February 2015

NDM story

Social media, journalism and wars: ‘Authenticity has replaced authority'
Time, Vice News, Storyful and BBC Trending talk Twitter, BuzzFeed, hoaxes and whether breaking news is ‘bullshit

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/05/social-media-journalism-wars-authenticity

The growth of social media has changed the way news organisations cover conflicts around the world, but traditional journalistic values are still vital.

These, at least, were the main conclusions from a panel at the Web Summit conference in Dublin this morning, featuring representatives from Time, Vice News and News Corporation-owned social curation service Storyful.

“I’m not sure that the task of journalism has changed that much: we still send journalists to unearth stories and break news. But Twitter is our competition, and we have faced up to that reality,” said Matt McAllester, Europe editor for Time.

“All legacy media organisations in the US and UK have gone through that process. And some have not survived.”

While the panel shook their heads en masse when the phrase “citizen journalism” was mentioned, they admitted that on-the-spot witnesses are now as likely to be posting on social media as talking to a journalist.

NDM story

Ferguson’s citizen journalists revealed the value of an undeniable video

Until the police stops treating communities as war zones and people as enemy combatants, keep your phone handy

In Ferguson, Missouri this week, the public has turned the notion of “see something, say something” back on the state, via a digital tool of enormous power: online pictures and video. Their efforts – which began days before reporters descended when Twitter user @TheePharaoh posted pictures immediately after a police officer killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown – have helped bring international attention to both Brown’s death and law enforcement’s disproportionate response to the ensuing protests.

Antonio French, an alderman in nearby St Louis, spent days posting to Twitter pictures and a series of videos of the demonstrations and police actions that he captured on his mobile phone – and was reportedly arrested and then released on Wednesday evening. He is a citizen journalist of the best kind: a credible witness who has helped inform the wider public about a critical matter. Can anyone plausibly doubt that he and the two professional journalists who were briefly taken into custody after police demanded they stop recording were targeted because they were documenting law enforcement actions?

Ferguson isn’t the first example of this kind of citizen journalism, which has been going on for years in any number of other places including Iran, Egypt, Occupy Wall Street and Syria. But the videos, blog posts, tweets, and photos from French and others on the ground have complemented the work of the traditional journalists on the scene – and have reminded us of what is becoming a civic duty in today’s America.

Thursday 12 February 2015

NDM story

Russian lesbians stage selfie kiss plane protest
Women kiss on a plane from Moscow to St Petersburg in front of sleeping politician to protest against anti-gay policies

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/03/russian-lesbians-selfie-kiss-plane-protest-vitaly-milonov

Two lesbian activists found themselves sitting in the row in front of Vitaly Milonov, the architect of Russian’s anti-gay laws, on a flight from Moscow to St Petersburg.

So the women took a selfie of themselves kissing to protest against his anti-gay policies, featuring the sleeping politician in the background. The image went viral after they posted it on Instagram.

It is due to the fact the girls posted the image on Instagram that they were able to create such an impact, as the image went viral. It's through e-media and social network sites like Instagram that allow people to make a change and stand for something they believe in.

No More Page 3

1) Who started it and why?

The founder of the campaign is writer and actor Lucy Anne Holmes, who started it because she became sad that the most prominent photograph of a woman in the widest circulation British newspaper is of a young woman in just her pants.

2) What are the six reasons the campaign gives for why Page 3 has to go?

- It is 2015, page 3 was made in the sexist times, 1970's.

- Soft porn, families can look at that.

- Bad teachings for children

- Women are known for doing better things in the world

- Showing that women are only needed for sexual needs

- The Sun could be better without page 3

3)What are Barbara Ellen and Susan Boniface's contrasting opinions in the debate?
Barbara Ellen - Her debate is that the page 3 girls in the sun were fascinating in the 1970's as it excited the audience then. However now in the 21st century, we can find naked girls on the internet and that it's available to whoever wants to see it.

Susan Boniface - Her debate is that the girls have their own opinions and if they want to show their bare breasts, then they should be allowed to do so. And if people disagree with the fact that The Sun still has the page 3, then people shouldn't buy the newspaper.

4) How can the No More Page 3 campaign be linked to the idea of post-feminism?

This links in with post - feminism as buy removing the page 3, it will mean that women aren't being objectified in through newspapers, thus showing more equality between men and women in society.

5) What are your OWN views on the No More Page 3 campaign. Do you agree with the campaign's aims? Should the campaign continue?

I don't agree with the removal of page 3 form The Sun, as it would be taking away the models jobs. It also wouldn't male such a great affect on feminism as there are still a vast amount of other mediums that sexually objectify women, such as in cinema, music, print and online. Across all these platforms women are used as sex objects to attract a male and in some cases a female audience.

6) Do you agree that we are in a post-feminist state or is there still a need for feminism?

I would agree to a certain extent that we live in a post - feminism society, as females now do have more options and opportunities such as in the work space. There are now more successful independent woman than they may have been 20 -30 years ago, which shows that equality between men and women is balancing. However women are still objectified and used for their appearance and bodies.

Media Magazine reading

2) What are the two texts the article focuses on?

The two texts that are focused on are:

- Pan am

- Beyonce's - video why don't you love me?

3) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?

After reading the article, it talks about a Laura's weight being checked and her wearing underwear that supports the stomach and thighs, initially used to make her look more appealing. This would to make her look more appealing to the male audience. Furthermore there's a quote that says, "With a face like that, you will find a husband in a couple months." This shows that her beauty is used to attract 'men' this shows a male gaze as men will be looking at her, due to her beauty. Another example of the male gaze is, that in the show the actresses used their bodies to get access to places they want to be, and allowing the audience to appreciate there bodies. This would initially be enjoyed by the male audience, as they will be looking at the females in the program.

In the Beyonce music video, 'Why don't you love me?' we see her in a variety of costumes that bring her body out, she is always wearing clothes that allow the audience to appreciate her body and her curves, she can be seen wearing, tight high waisted knickers, a vintage style bra, fifties pedal pushers, suspenders and stockings. All of these costumes are very revealing and show off her assets. This would predominantly attract a male audience as they like to see females like this, thus showing a male gaze.

4) Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form?

I believe that there is a need for feminism and that this is sexism in a different way,as although Beyonce says or is known as a strong independent woman, she has still be overly sexualised and is used merely for her body. This can also be seen a vast majority of music videos, not only in rap songs but also in mainstream hip-hop, RnB, and other music genres. However this could show that society feels that feminism is not needed as it is so common, on the other hand I still believe that it uses females just for their looks and the beauty of their bodies, to attract and appeal to a male audience.

5) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.

Feminism – A movement aimed at defining, establishing, and defending women’s rights and equality to men.

Post-feminism – An ideology in culture and society that society is somehow past needing feminism and that the attitudes and arguments of feminism are no longer needed.

Male Gaze – The gaze referring to Laura Mulvey’s seminal article ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ which argues that main stream Hollywood films subject female characters to the ‘male gaze’ of the camera, fragmenting and objectifying their bodies.

Wednesday 4 February 2015

Index

Super bowl and Pornhub

Pornhub saw a huge spike in traffic in Boston during the Super Bowl

http://metro.co.uk/2015/02/04/pornhub-saw-a-huge-spike-in-traffic-in-boston-during-the-super-bowl-5048730/

Traffic on Pornhub saw a huge spike in Boston and Massachusetts following the New England Patriots’ victory in the Super Bowl, figures show.

Sunday night’s Super Bowl saw Tom Brady’s Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in a thrilling game that ended with Pats rookie Malcolm Butler making a game-saving interception on Russell Wilson’s throw.

And site traffic on Pornhub seemed to reflect the ecstasy of Patriots fans following the win, with Boston traffic increasing as much as 23 percent in the hours after the game ended. Data published on Pornhub’s Insights blog shows Seattle’s traffic, by contrast, decreased throughout the night despite an initial increase.

Interestingly, fans in Washington started accessing Pornhub at some time between 9pm and 10pm local, when the game was still going and the Seahawks were winning 24-14.

Instagram posts not being private

Your ‘private’ Instagram photos may not have been as private as you thought

http://metro.co.uk/2015/01/13/your-private-instagram-photos-may-not-have-been-as-private-as-you-thought-5021084/

Millions of ‘private’ photos posted on Instagram have been made available for public viewing due to a loophole on the social media site.

If an Instagram account was set to private but the user posted links to their photos on other social media platforms, those photos became public, meaning they could still be shared by copying their URL.

And the company has appeared to claim that the function was deliberate and not a flaw – though they have been quick to release a patch to resolve the issue.

Another spokesman told MailOnline: ‘In response to feedback, we made an update so that if people change their profile from public to private, web links that are not shared on other services are only viewable to their followers on Instagram.’Quartz said the loophole was the sort of ‘complexity’ ordinary users had to navigate.

BBC3 bid

BBC3 bid: ‘We’re trying to say that there is another way’

Jon Thoday and Jimmy Mulville detail their plans to buy the channel, answer BBC concerns, and say investors are queuing up

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jan/25/bbc3-bid-buy-channel-avalon-hat-trick

Thoday’s company, Avalon (Russell Howard’s Good News), and Mulville’s, Hat Trick (Have I Got News for You), are both successful independent TV production companies, together turning over more than £100m a year. Coincidentally, that figure of £100m crops up twice more in their embryonic bid to save the youth-focused channel from the low-budget, online-only future that director general Tony Hall plans for it. Avalon and Hat Trick have offered £100m as a one-off purchase price to buy BBC3 – but have also said they plan to increase its commissioning budget to £100m, up at least 20% from its current level.

Taiwan plane crash

TransAsia crash: Taiwan plane in deadly river crash

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31125052

A plane carrying mostly Chinese tourists has crashed into a river in Taiwan, killing at least 16 people.

Dramatic video footage emerged showing the TransAsia Airways plane clipping a bridge as it came down shortly after take-off from a Taipei airport.

The plane, carrying 58 people, has broken up and the fuselage is lying half-submerged in the Keelung River. Rescue efforts are ongoing

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Week 19

Top Gear, BBC4 and the watershed: what we learned from Tony HallBBC director general stands byJeremy Clarkson in Radio Times interview and says watershed probably won’t be around in 20 to 30 years

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jan/27/top-gear-bbc4-watershed-tony-hall

The 9pm watershed’s days are numbered. “The watershed is still a useful way of judging the content and sensitivities, and taste and decency issues. But has the watershed got a future in 20 or 30 years’ time?

Watershed will be going down in the ext 20 - 30 years. This coudl have a mjor effect on teh content that kids see and how they start to view things, as they will be open to more explicit content. This could have a negative effect on young children.

Week 19 - NDM story

Twitter turns promoted tweets into ad network
Company announces plans to let advertisers promote tweets onto other websites and app

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/03/twitter-promoted-tweets-ad-network

The company has just announced plans to let advertisers promote their tweets on to other websites and apps, in effect turning its ad platform into a full network for posting advertisements across the net.

The company is launching the service with partnerships with Flipboard and Yahoo Japan. Advertisers with promoted tweets, which let a company pay the firm to put a tweet in other users’ timelines, will now be able to pay extra to push the content on to the other two websites entirely.

Post colonialism

Alvarado - 1987:

Alvarado's theory was that there are four categories/themes that the ethnic minority (black Africans) fall into, these where represented in movies, TV programs and online. These categories are;

Exotic - Models, music, artist, food.

Dangerous - Crime, gangs, socially dysfunctional.

Humorous - Comedians, side-kicks, quirky)

Pitied - Poverty.

In every or a vast majority of TV shows, movies, or online content (online videos/programs) when we see a black African character, one or more of these themes will be portrayed upon the person or people. In British shows such as Top Boy and Bullet boy, the theme of danger is mostly expressed as that is how we tend to see black males in the society.

Frantz - Fanon - 1925 - 1961:

Frantz - Fanons theory of "Putting on the white mas". This means that black males now act like they are wearing a white mask to fit in to society, whereas in the olden days black slaves would put on white masks to mock on their masters. This has now become a norm in society, where a lot of black males or even people of ethnic minorities will act in a different way so that they feel accepted in society. This can be see very clearly in elite members of society, for example Barack Obama, he acts as if he is a white male as he has to be accepted by a nation of people, and they may not accept him if he doesn't follow this.

Frantz - Fanon similarly to Alvarado put black males and ethnic minorities in to four groups:

Infantilize - Such as the 'cute' children of the charity poster.

Primivitize - The exotic and virile (sexual potency) tribal warriors or bare breasted maidens with a natural sense of rhythm.

Decivilize - The gangsta, the pimp etc...

Essentialze - Undifferentiated mass, 'they're all the same to me'.

These are also themes or characteristics that we see in media when we see black males or other ethnic groups. We see it as the norm, it isn't usually questioned as in society we are used to seeing characters being portrayed in such a way.

Edward Said - 1978 Orientalism

The main theory that Edward Said came up with is that Europeans divided the world in to two parts, which were the East and the West or civilized and uncivilized. This was said as the Europeans thought that they were superior to everyone else and that they had to civilize the uncivilized. This was mainly laid on the basis or 'them and us' or 'theirs and ours'.

Yasmin (2004) again

Does it offer a positive or negative view of British Muslims?

The opening to the film shows a predominantly negative view of British Muslims, this is based on the evidence shown, we see the girl getting changed out of her traditional Muslim clothing and putting on 'Western clothing' this shows that she may be ashamed of being Muslim, which then to the audience portrays that being a Muslim in Britain is something negative. Furthermore looking at the Muslim/Indian actor that is shown, we see that he is very poor and quite uneducated. This can be seen as we see him eating, what seems like peanut butter, with his finger and to heat his tea, he makes a make shift fire outside his house.

These all give negative views on Muslims in Britain, or British Muslims, as we then see them as being uneducated and we see the culture as something negative.

To what extent does it reinforce or challenge Edward Said's theory of Orientalism - that the west is superior to the exotic or uncivilized east?

I believe that the opening to the film reinforces Edward Said's theory as when the film starts we see women walking in the middle of the road, and a man sleeping on the floor in his home. Furthermore, when see Yasmin go in to the pub, some of the white males look at her in disgust. This shows that they feel superior to her because she a Muslim, and they are white British citizens. Furthermore as Britain is in the West and Pakistan is in the East it further enforces Edwards theory, as the white males may feel as if they are all civilized and because she is Muslim, she is uncivilized. However this is counteracted when the police see Yasmin driving her car and stop her, she then comes out of the car and tells the police that it is a 35 mph road and then provides them with her drivers license without them asking. Which proves that she is educated and civilized as she knows what is right and wrong.

My clips & theory relation

Clip 1 - Alvarado - Music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6I2Ek_j_Xc

In this video we see a vast amount of gang culture and very sexual content. Relates to Alvarado's theory of 'danger', and 'exotic' as we see gangs popping gang signs and standing and dancing around each other. Furthermore as it is a black male that is singing/rapping it relates to the theme of exotic and the females that we see are very sexual and one of the two females is also an American black female.

Clip 2 - Frantz - Fanon - comedy show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO-EwelnvxU

In this clip we see a clear view of what Frantz - Fanon says, of "Putting on the white mask". The two comedians that we see talk about how they act white around white people and how they act 'black' around other black Americans. This shows that people act white to feel as if they fit in with society.

Clip 3 - Edward Said - Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UePZga3wAzE

In this final trailer of East is East, we can see Edward Said's theory being shown of Orientalism. As we see that when the boy from England (the west) to Pakistan (the East) he finds that the people and the ways there are much different, for example when he needs to go toilet, he is told to go in a field. This to a lot of people would seem very 'uncivilized' as in the West people use toilets when they need to go, and not a field. Thus it enforces the theory that the West is more civilized than the East.