Ajay's Unit 3 Blog: February 2015

Monday 9 February 2015

Media Magazine 40:

The two texts that the article focuses on a TV series called Pan Am, and Beyonce.
An example of the Male Gaze is how Beyonce in her music video 'Why Don't you Love Me' she looks down the camera playfully and winking at the audience.
Texts such as these do show that there is a need for feminism as although Beyonce's lyrics suggest that she is powerful and she is a feminist who actively has helped woman become more feminist, she still has to use her body and objectify herself to get her point across to the audience; therefore there is still a need for feminism.
Definitions:

Patriarchy: An ideology that places men in a dominant position over women.
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.

No More Page 3:

The No More Page 3 Campaign was started by writer and actor Lucy-Anne Holmes, and she had started the campaign 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.
The 6 reasons for No More Page 3:
Reason 1:
It’s 2014! Page 3 was first introduced in the sexist 1970s. A lot has changed over the last 30+ years in our society, we think it’s time The Sun caught up…
Reason 2:
It’s soft porn in the UK’s no.1 selling family newspaper that children are exposed to. Until 2003 the models were only 16 (and made to dress up in school ties and hats – seriously!) It’s never been OK. One day we’ll look back on this and think “oh my goodness, we did what?!”
Reason 3:
What does it teach children? They see page after page of pictures of men in clothes doing stuff (running the country, having opinions, achieving in sport!) and what are the women doing in this society they’re learning about? Not much really, other than standing topless in their pants showing their bare breasts for men. It’s not really fair, is it?
Reason 4:
Women say, do and think so many interesting and incredible things and should be celebrated for their many achievements. They are people, not things! Not ‘that’. The fact that we hear ‘look at the tits on that’ or ‘I’d do that’ is disgusting, disrespectful and objectifying. Page 3 of The Sun is the icon that perpetuates and normalises this horrible sexist ‘banter’.
Reason 5:
Every single weekday for the last 44 years in The Sun newspaper the largest female image has been of a young woman (usually of a very particular age, race, physicality) showing her breasts for men, sending out a powerful message that whatever else a woman achieves, her primary role is to serve men sexually. Pretty rubbish that really.
Reason 6:
The Sun newspaper could be so much stronger without Page 3. Because currently, any story they run about women’s issues such as rape, sexual abuse, harassment, domestic violence or the dangers of online porn is drowned out and contradicted by the neon flashing sign of Page 3 that says ‘shut up, girls, and get your tits out.’
Barbara Ellen's view of the No More Page 3 campaign is that it
My views on the No More Page 3 Campaign is that it is relevant and I agree with the campaign. It should continue as it raises a very current issue as it is outdated in a post-feminism era and that whilst women are growing to be more equal, the page 3 demoralises women.
I agree that we are in a post feminist state to an extent;

Weekly NDM

Amazon reportedly looking to buy hundreds of US retail stores

This article is about how Amazon is pushing for a traditional way of selling their items in a push to purchase hundreds of US stores to set up their own Amazon store to be used as a collection point for items and to showcase their products such as the kindle.

The Seattle-based company, which last week reported annual sales of $89bn (£59bn), is in talks about acquiring some of collapsed electronics chain RadioShack’s 4,000 stores, Bloomberg reported. Amazon did not respond to requests for comment. RadioShack declined to comment.
The proposed deal would be Amazon’s biggest push into traditional retailing and present a challenge to Apple, which has stores in cities across America and the rest of the world.
While the Kindle has been a sales success, the Fire – which was billed as a rival to the iPhone – has flopped.
Third-party sales figures published in 2014 suggested that Amazon had only sold 35,000 Fire phones. Amazon has repeatedly dropped the price of the phone, eventually bringing it to just 99 cents (on a two-year contract) down from $199. The failure to shift enough Fire smartphones contributed to a $170m writedown in the third quarter of last year.

Weekly NDM

Samsung rejects concern over 'Orwellian' privacy policy

This article is about how Samsung Smart TV Voice Recognition software could transmitt information to a third party as the policy warns. It suggests to their users not to discuss any topics that may be sensitive to keep you privacy at bay.

Users of Samsung’s Smart TV devices have raised concerns over the device’s privacy policy, which seems to suggest that they should not discuss any sensitive topics in their living room while the television is plugged in.

Samsung privacy policy warns: “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of voice recognition.”

The third-party mentioned is thought to be Massachusetts-based voice recognition company Nuance, which provides the technology to Samsung as a white-label service.

Orwell wrote: “Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork.”

Weekly NDM

Google Maps: a decade of transforming the mapping landscape

This article is about how Google Maps began 10 years ago and how the way we navigate has drastically revolutionised. It also discusses how Google maps had began and that although it wasnt the first of its kind, with Yahoo! and other institutions beating them to the idea, but it gained the most recognition.

While Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s nascent world wide web supported the first online maps in 1993, it wasn’t until the launch of Google Maps ten years ago today that digital maps began to enter the mainstream.
In 2004, Danish brothers Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen went to Google with an idea for a web app that would not only display static maps, but provide people with a searchable, scrollable, zoomable map.
Google acquired their company Where 2 Technologies - along with a second company called Keyhole developing the geospatial visualisation software that would become Google Earth - and the new team of 50 people set out building Google Maps.
Google Maps launched in the US on 8 February 2005 and in the UK two months later, though by that time it wasn’t the first digital map of its kind: Yahoo had beaten Google to it with a redevelopment of its long-standing Yahoo Maps in 2004.
Google Maps didn’t stand still. Later in 2005 Google launched driving and public transport directions, but it wasn’t until the launch of satellite imagery that Hanke saw how committed Google was to the project.
Street View has proved to be one of Google Map’s most controversial but popular features. Launched for select US cities in 2006, and rolled out to Europe, Japan and Australia in 2008, the service relied on building up pictures of every street in the city using a specially equipped camera mounted on a car.
Google Maps first appeared on a smartphone in 2007 on Apple’s first iPhone - a very different era when Google and Apple were partners more than rivals as they are today.
In 2010 it was revealed that Street View cars had also been capturing information about private Wi-Fi networks as they roamed the streets of US and Europe, prompting a $7m fine from US authorities.

Weekly NDM

Twitter shares soar after sharp revenue increase but growth still slowing

This article is about how Twitter, one of the largest social network sites has had a sharp revenue increase but the growth of the institution has continued to slow.

The company has struggled over the last year as its share price plummeted amid continuing signs of slowing growth. Twitter announced on Thursday that monthly active users rose 20% to 288 million by the end of December 2014, compared with 23% growth in the prior period. The number was lower than the 22% average forecast by analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The still loss-making company did, however, beat revenue forecasts. Twitter’s revenues increased 97% to $479.1m, above the average projection of $453.6m. The net loss for the quarter was $125m compared with a loss of $511m for the same quarter a year earlier. The chief executive officer, Dick Costolo, predicted a return to higher growth rates.
Twitter spent much of last year overhauling its management and strategy. It has been courting developers as it looks for new ways to embed real-time information into new applications and experiments with ways to make the service easier for new users. The company has also struck a deal with Google to make tweets appear in search results.
James Gellert, CEO of ratings agency Rapid Ratings, said: “They need to demonstrate the ability to broaden [Twitter’s] user base and become profitable. This earnings report demonstrated revenue that beat expectations, but user figures are much lower than expected.
Twitter is running out of patience from investors to demonstrate this. Management turnover is troubling and the market needs to see stability in leadership as well as the ability to capture and monetise monthly users.”

Weekly NDM

YouTube for kids edges closer as Google buys apps firm Launchpad Toys

This article is about how YouTube is expanding and is now aiming to provide videos for kids as they are now more than ever able to access technology with ease due to new/digital media devices such as tablets. It shows how Google, YouTube's parent company has purchased a kids app developing company.

Google has bought children’s apps developer Launchpad Toys for an undisclosed amount, in a deal that may well be related to its plans to launch a new version of YouTube aimed at kids.
“We’re proud to announce that our little toy company is pairing up with a great big team of tinkerers to empower GAJILLIONS of playful storytellers around the world,” explained Launchpad Toys.
“Launchpad Toys is joining Google to create even more amazing creativity tools for kids. Today, we’ve made our digital toys and tools free to creative kids everywhere. Tomorrow... well, we can’t wait to share.”
TeleStory – seems much more relevant to Google deciding to buy the company. Released in October 2014, it encourages children to “write, direct, and star in your own TV show” by choosing a theme, writing a script and then filming themselves performing.
ToonTube was essentially a mini-YouTube where all the videos were created by children, with Launchpad Toys also providing the tool – TeleStory – used to make those videos. Google buying the company is a big hint at its ambitions to do more with children’s videos on YouTube.
Some of the most popular channels on YouTube are already aimed at children. Toy-unboxing channel DC Toys Collector and Minecraft gamer Stampy were its second and fourth most popular channels in 2014 with 3.3bn and 2.2bn views respectively.

Friday 6 February 2015

Post Colonialism

Post Colialism Theorists:

Alvarado (1987) - 4 racial representations:
    Pitied- Feeling sorry for
    Exotic - Being exotic in their nature
    Humorous- Make us laugh
    Dangerous- Being a threat

Franz Fanon - 4 representations of black people.
    Primitivize- Tribal warriors/Animalistic
    Infantilize- Like children
    Decivilize- Acting uncivilised
    Essentialize- All categorised as the same

Edward Said wrote a book on Orientalism. He argued that the west, particularly colonising Europe constructed a meaning of the East that suggested it was different, dangerous and uncivilised.
Yasmin shows a negative view of British Muslims. This is shown as graffitti saying 'Paki's go home' was written on the shutter on the street. Also Yasmin is hown to be westernised and wants to hide the fact that she is a muslim by changing her clothes and taking off her religious clothing and driving to meet a man.
Alvarado:
Humorous:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVbQo3IOC_A
Dangerous:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WmMhircZOc

Fanon:
Primitivize:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OkzVYeNDds&safe=active
Infantilize:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meenVyNo2Uw&safe=active
Decivilize:

Monday 2 February 2015

Post Colonialism

Films: Bulletboy, Adulthood, Ill Manors, Attack the Block, Kidulthood.
TV programmes: 53 degrees north, Citizen Khan, Top Boy, Luther, Goodness Gracious Me.
Online productions: Venus vs Mars, Meet the adebanjos, Brothers with no game, All about the Mckenzies, The Ryan sisters.
Alvarado's and Fanon's theories link with Destiny's short films as portrayed in 'Tight Jeans' there are racial representations which can be compared to with Alvarado's theory, which are humorous and exotic. The characters are three young black males who are sitting on a wall whilst waiting for their friend, and make fun of each other and discuss black stereotypes. The exotic category is relevant as the youths have an African background. On the other hand, this clip goes against Alvarado's category of dangerous as they do not threaten the young white teenager who walks past them therefore the stereotype is subverted. Fanons' theory can also be applied as the young black males are infantilized, meaning that they act child like in the terms of which they speak to each other and amongst each other.

Ajay's Unit 3 Blog

Monday 9 February 2015

NDM Summary

Identities and the Media: Feminism

Weekly NDM

Weekly NDM

Weekly NDM

Weekly NDM

Weekly NDM

Friday 6 February 2015

Post Colonialism

Monday 2 February 2015

Post Colonialism