Today we were required to do a number of menial tasks using Microsoft Office - generally used for secretarial purposes.
Task one: Use Microsoft Word to "Track Changes" and "Mail Merge".
Tracking changes - a basic tool that allows one to see any edits to a document since turning it on. Essentially foolproof, there's not really anything (that I can conceive at least) that can go wrong with this. Got through it in a minute or two.
Mail Merge - more complex, more time consuming, one of the most boring uses of Word that exists. Took a few minutes to get through the task - writing a basic application letter and inserting a couple of people to send it to, no real difficulties.
Task Two: Creating a basic spreadsheet in Excel and making a couple of formulas, graphs and macros to go with it. Excel looks complex but it's a pretty basic system - glorified calculator. Macros took a bit longer than the rest, but it's all relatively easy once you know what you're doing.
Each task had a section at the bottom about people complaining about losing hours of work in office from not saving regularly; these people should play more computer games. Every gamer has experienced a crash after hours of monster killing. A few years of this will drill into anyones head the bonuses of saving every five minutes. Constantly hitting CTRL+S is automatic after every sentence these days.
Part Two: Compare MSN/IM to a 3D chat environment.
The basic differences I've noticed between communication on instant messengers in comparison to 3D chats is the level on which people communicate. Instant messaging tends to be more intimate and involved, with deeper and more personal conversations, whereas in the 3D environment, people are distracted by things they can see and do, and the conversation suffers as a result. 3D can be interesting for a while, but it generally gets boring and somewhat morose. It's also harder to find someone to talk to, as everyone else is also walking around looking for people. In 2D chat, you just click the name and off you go.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Accuracy of Wiki.
Today's task revolves around choosing two Wiki articles about topics that we have some prior knowledge of. We are to ask the following questions of each article;
* Is this an accurate article?
* Does it cover all the basic facts that you'd need to understand this topic?
* Does this article follow the wikipedia guidelines for useful articles?
* Is this article fair and balanced, or is it biased towards a particular side or argument?
Finally - What changes would you make to this article to improve it and make it useful for the wider wikipedia community?
The first article chosen is Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfenstein:_Enemy_Territory (yes, it's a game. Yes, it's nerdy). The accuracy of the article is adequate, in that I couldn't identify any specific elements within the article that are incorrect. I'm not too sure about what 'basic facts' would refer to, but it does appear to have enough to give an unexperienced observer enough to know what the game was about. From what I can tell, the guidelines aren't too strayed from. The only bias in an article about a computer game could be about whether the author approves or disproves of it. My interpretation is that it's reasonably balanced. It does however, lack an in-depth observation of the intricacies of the game. One such is Trick Jumping; the utilisation of the jumping on or over areas that are generally not able or supposed to be accessed. This is achieved by either first jumping on top of a team mate, or utilising the landscape in strategic ways. Trick jumping has been considered a major, though controversial, aspect of Enemy Territory.
The second article is one on the cocktail Black Russian; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_russian. The accuracy of this article is questionable. Although preliminary research (checking google) shows a number of sites that concur with the 1949 invention by Gustave Tops, The 1939 movie Ninontchka shows a scene in which it appears Black Russians are being consumed. I can't confirm this either way, so I will assume it is accurate in its statement and that in the movie is in fact not a Black Russian. The basic facts are not covered. The article states 'vodka' and 'coffee liqueur' are the main ingredients. While technically true, a Black Russian is traditionally created through the mixing of Russian vodka and Kahlua. The use of inferior products severely and detrimentally affects the taste and enjoyability of the drink - this should be noted in the article. Article is balanced. One useful addition would be suggested quantities of each vodka and Kahlua. For example; one variation includes 40ml vodka, 20ml Kahlua with a maraschino cherry as a garnish.
* Is this an accurate article?
* Does it cover all the basic facts that you'd need to understand this topic?
* Does this article follow the wikipedia guidelines for useful articles?
* Is this article fair and balanced, or is it biased towards a particular side or argument?
Finally - What changes would you make to this article to improve it and make it useful for the wider wikipedia community?
The first article chosen is Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfenstein:_Enemy_Territory (yes, it's a game. Yes, it's nerdy). The accuracy of the article is adequate, in that I couldn't identify any specific elements within the article that are incorrect. I'm not too sure about what 'basic facts' would refer to, but it does appear to have enough to give an unexperienced observer enough to know what the game was about. From what I can tell, the guidelines aren't too strayed from. The only bias in an article about a computer game could be about whether the author approves or disproves of it. My interpretation is that it's reasonably balanced. It does however, lack an in-depth observation of the intricacies of the game. One such is Trick Jumping; the utilisation of the jumping on or over areas that are generally not able or supposed to be accessed. This is achieved by either first jumping on top of a team mate, or utilising the landscape in strategic ways. Trick jumping has been considered a major, though controversial, aspect of Enemy Territory.
The second article is one on the cocktail Black Russian; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_russian. The accuracy of this article is questionable. Although preliminary research (checking google) shows a number of sites that concur with the 1949 invention by Gustave Tops, The 1939 movie Ninontchka shows a scene in which it appears Black Russians are being consumed. I can't confirm this either way, so I will assume it is accurate in its statement and that in the movie is in fact not a Black Russian. The basic facts are not covered. The article states 'vodka' and 'coffee liqueur' are the main ingredients. While technically true, a Black Russian is traditionally created through the mixing of Russian vodka and Kahlua. The use of inferior products severely and detrimentally affects the taste and enjoyability of the drink - this should be noted in the article. Article is balanced. One useful addition would be suggested quantities of each vodka and Kahlua. For example; one variation includes 40ml vodka, 20ml Kahlua with a maraschino cherry as a garnish.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Benjamin in a digital era
In his 1936 essay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", Walter Benjamin analyzes the impacts of reproducing artwork by 'contemporary' means, focusing on the 'aura' of authentic works. He theorises that original artworks possess an 'aura', not due to the inherent 'beauty' of the art, but rather a number of extrinsic factors such as "its known line of ownership, its restricted exhibition, its publicized authenticity, or its cultural value." (Wikipedia article: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction)
By this definition of 'aura', it is a reasonable deduction to assume that Benjamin would not have considered the vast majority of, if any, digital productions to possess one. Digital medias have a basic implementation of interesting, amusing, or otherwise appropriating a reaction from the viewer; none of which fall under Benjamin's definition.
A photoshopped image cannot be considered to be 'authentic' in an artistic sense, as the basic principle of photoshop is to alter a preexisting artistic interpretation. 'Authenticity' is generally defined as something that is new or original, not an alteration of another's work.
With digital art media (e.g photoshop, CGI editing tools, video and sound multimedia editing) now readily available to the general populace, every day citizens have the capacity to alter and interpret preexisting art in their own way. This leads to an ever-evolving digital creation which will forever change art in its original form; a far stretch from the cultural stereotype of 'high' or 'sophisticated' art, which was generally only considered to be produced and enjoyed by upper echelons of society; the art which Benjamin initially considered as developing the concept of 'aura'.
By this definition of 'aura', it is a reasonable deduction to assume that Benjamin would not have considered the vast majority of, if any, digital productions to possess one. Digital medias have a basic implementation of interesting, amusing, or otherwise appropriating a reaction from the viewer; none of which fall under Benjamin's definition.
A photoshopped image cannot be considered to be 'authentic' in an artistic sense, as the basic principle of photoshop is to alter a preexisting artistic interpretation. 'Authenticity' is generally defined as something that is new or original, not an alteration of another's work.
With digital art media (e.g photoshop, CGI editing tools, video and sound multimedia editing) now readily available to the general populace, every day citizens have the capacity to alter and interpret preexisting art in their own way. This leads to an ever-evolving digital creation which will forever change art in its original form; a far stretch from the cultural stereotype of 'high' or 'sophisticated' art, which was generally only considered to be produced and enjoyed by upper echelons of society; the art which Benjamin initially considered as developing the concept of 'aura'.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
