Sacrificing Quality for Convenience?

For my presentation I decided to explore the rise of online TV and movies. I wanted to examine the effects it is having on TV stations and movie studios and what they are in turn doing to combat this.

The first question I asked in my presentation is what compels people to watch movies and TV shows online? I'm sure that everyone has their own reasons for doing it but I decided to list the most common reasons:

1. You can watch new releases from the comfort of your own home: No need to worry about booking a cinema ticket in advance or finding a parking space near the cinema. All you need to do is stream the movie on your laptop, park up on your couch and enjoy the show.
2. You can watch it whenever suits you: You no longer have to be in front of your TV's at 9 tuesday night to see Grey's Anatomy. You no longer have to be a prisoner to the cinema timetable. You decide when you want to watch.
3. No longer have to wait weeks for TV shows to be aired on Irish television: The days where we had to wait up to 3 months after our American counterparts to watch our favourite shows are now over. We can view them online minutes after the show airs on TV in the US.
4. The most important factor to most people is the fact that it's free: The risk involved when you go to the cinema is now gone. You no longer have to worry about wasting 10 euro on a movie you're unsure about. You can watch and leave the movie at anytime knowing that although you've lost time you'll never get back at least you didn't waste your money.

The most popular sites that I came across for streaming movies and TV shows online were:
http://www.sidereel.com/_home
http://ch131.com/
http://www.free-tv-video-online.info/
http://www.megavideo.com/
http://www.tvduck.com/

When I visited these sites I started to wonder that with so much to gin from these sites what could possibly be the problem with watching all my favourite shows online?
The main problem with watching your favourite TV shows online is that the shows lose ratings on TV and thus run the risk of being cancelled. If the show is cancelled then you can't watch it anywhere whether it is online or on TV. Another big problem I found was the quality of the picture. Is it really worth scrificing the quality of the movie or show just to be able to see it a few days erlier than normal?

The next question that came up was what does this mean for the TV stations?
They’re losing out on viewers as audiences either don’t want to wait for it to be aired on TV or else don’t want to be constricted to having to watch the show at a particular place at a particular time. How are the they combating this? Well they're no longer risking the drop in ratings by holding off broadcasting tv shows months after they've aired in the US. Gone are the days when we had to wait months longer than our American counterparts. A large number of US shows are now being broadcast in Europe just days after airing in the US. The two biggest examples of this are Lost and Glee. Lost airs in Europe just 2 days after it does in the US, while Glee has it's European premiere on Irish channel TV3 the day after it's US airing.

TV bosses have put a plan into action but how are the movie studios reacting to this trend and the loss of revenue it brings? With the content available online cinema attendances decrease accordingly. Movie studios are realising that they’re going to have to find alternative ways to attract audiences to the cinema. They no longer have to sell just a movie; they have to sell an experience. The first of these is 3D:
The release of Avatar in 3D is another example of the studios attempts to draw in the crowds. Although James Cameron didn’t invent the technology as purely a gimmick to up cinema attendaces, most of Avatar’s marketing campaign was based around the "experience" of seeing the film in 3D. The end result was Avatar became the highest grossing movie of all time with gross of over $2.7 billion dollars. Studio bosses are so confident of 3D’s pulling power that they still believe there is more money to be made from Avatar. 20th Century Fox plan to re-release the movie in the summer. Other movies are following suit. Studios are now 3Difying their movies in the hopes of attracting bigger audiences. For the most part it is working but using 3D where it isn’t needed will only work for so long…..

So what's the alternative to gimmicks such as 3D? A good PR campaign can go long way. A prime example being The Dark Knight. In May 2007, a PR company named 42 Entertainment, began a viral marketing campaign utilizing the film's "Why So Serious?" tagline. They launched a website featuring the fictional political campaign of Harvey Dent, with the caption, "I Believe in Harvey Dent." The site aimed to interest fans by having them work and earn images from the film. For example they had to go on scvenger hunts and find clues that lead them to footage and audio from the film. The campaign went on for over a year from May 2007 until the film’s release in August 2008. The campaign was so successful that by the film’s release the fans’ excitement was at fever pitch. Warner Bros. Managed to keep copies of the finished film underwraps until after the opening weekend. The End Result? The Dark Knight took the record for the biggest ever opening weekend gross. It made $158,411,483 on it’s opening weekend and became only the 4th ever film to earn over $1 billion worldwide. Even when the movie was available to view online, people opted to experience it in the cinema instead.

Conclusion
There are many positives to watching TV and Movies online but do they outweigh the negatives? Is it worth being able to watch TV shows and movies online if we're hurting the industry that produces them? Is it worth diminishing the quality of a movie for the sake of convenience?
That’s for you to decide.

References:
http://batman-dark-knight.moviechronicles.com/category/batman-promotional/
http://friendsofharveydent.org/
http://boxofficemojo.com/
http://www.imdb.com/
http://www.empireonline.com/

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly sides of Social Networking

Social Networking:
Bebo, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Social Networking sites seem to be the most frequented websites on the net. It's very rare that you'll meet somebody who doesn't have at least one profile from the three listed above. Social Networking is allowing us to become more connected than ever before. But considering the risks that are out there; is it really worth risking our safety? In the following blog I'll be investigating the the pros and cons of social networking sites before coming to a conclusion.


The Good:

Social Networking sites have brought communication to a place nobody could possibly imgagined just a few decades ago. In the 1980’s, when so many young Irish people were emigrating to America, England and Australia, their means of contacting their loved ones back home were severely limited. They had to settle for a letter every couple of weeks or the odd phone call every once and a while. In contrast to this I’m currently able to have a conversation with my cousin in Canada while I take a break from writing this blog. It’s incredible to think that there is 3,500 miles apart and we have 5 hours of a time difference between us and yet I can talk to him on facebook chat right now and get instant updates on the Montreal weather. There are so many people that we meet in our lives that we form friendships with and enjoy keeping in touch with. Between school friends, college friends, work friends and relations, the number starts to become very large. There’s just not enough time in our lifetimes to keep in touch with everyone in person. Thanks to our status updates on the likes of Bebo, Facebook and Twitter we can see what all our friend’s are upto everyday with just the click of a mouse. Social Networking is bringing us all closer together.



The Bad:

Before I sat down to write my blog I was uploading old photographs I had to my own Fcebook account and it suddenly occured to me that I would be mortified if certain people saw some of the photos I was uploading. I imagined a scenario where I went for a job interview which went very well. The prospective employers were prepared to offer me the job until they did a quick background search on google and a link to my facebook account came up. A quick glance through some of the photos on my page and all of a sudden I become the last person that they want to represent them. Of course it would be my own fault for not having my settings set to "Friends Only" so that I can have some privacy. But it's not truly private even then is it? There are people I don't know in the world who can access my photographs and view them any time they want to. Employees of facebook can gain access to photos of me and my friends. Even some top tier employees can gain access to my account whenever they want with a "universal password". It's a little scary when you think about it. On top of that I have to contend with the fact that anybody can gain access to my account if they can guess my password. Makes you think twice about using your cat's name as your password doesn't it? Identity theft is becoming increasingly more common. Once somebody knows your name and has access to a photograph of you they can easily assume your "online identity", causing all kinds of harm. So the question needs to be asked; is being able to see what your uncle John is doing on his trip to Cambodia as it happens worth sacrificing your privacy for?


The Ugly:
In January 2010, Phoebe Prince took her own life after months of bullying in her school. Her tormentors didn’t think that it was merely enough to persecute her at school they also berated her on facebook also. Phoebe couldn’t even escape when she was in the comfort of her own home. Even when Phoebe had died and a memorial page was set up for her on facebook, her tormentors continued to say nasty things about her, leaving very hurtful comments for all to see. Facebook have strict no bullying policy for their site but event their administrators can’t see all and they’re powerless to help unless the bullying is reported. The problem is children who are being bullied often find it very difficult to work up the courage to report bullying to the authorities. Thus many cases of online bullying, such as this go unnoticed. Phoebe wasn’t the first victim of cyber bullying and she won’t be the last.

The Verdict:
So the question needs to be asked; are social networking sites useful? Yes they are. The are so many things that we're capable of now thanks to social networking sites. Things that were thought of as impossible just a few decades ago are now considered the norm.
Are social networking sites dangerous? Yes they are. It's very easy for people to become victims like Phoebe was. Traps can also be set by sexual predators and paedophiles on these sites which means the danger is very real. However I must say that overall these sites can be safe as long as they are respected and people exercise a certain amount of caution.
Overall the pros by far outweigh the cons in my opinion and I believe that we can now accompish so much through the use of these sites. It will be interesting to see how these sites will grow and how they will develop. I for one am very excited about what the future holds.

Activism and the use of Social Media

‘You are the Director of a grassroots level activist
organisation, NGO, or some organisation that is trying to mobilise mass
support through social media. Drawing tips from the Juris essay,
outline a strategic plan of how you might go about planning the use of
social media for your purpose. Try to make the organisation as real as
possible and define it’s area of work and objective at the start of
your plan outline’.


Reading: "The New Digital Media and Activist Networking within Anti-Corporate Globalization Movements." Jeffrey S. Juris


For this assignment I will be describing the actions of an activist group based in my home county of Laois. The organisations and situation mentioned are real, however the activist group and my plan on how to go about raising its’ awareness is fictional.

The Situation:

Eirgrid plc is a state-owned commercial company and is one of the leading organisations in the Irish energy business. In the autumn of 2009 they submitted a proposal to An Bord Pleanála to construct a substation in Co. Laois. The proposed substation is to to reinforce the network in the Laois-Kilkenny region thereby improving supply to the town of Ballyragget, Co.Kilkenny.
Eirgrid have picked an area south east of Portlaoise that covers the village of Ratheniska as well as parts of the town of Stradbally in its 4-mile radius. As well as being home to over 200 residents, the proposed area also has a school, a church and GAA facilities. These amenities mean that at least a further 100 people would be directly affected by a substation being built in the area. Another amenity is that of Cosby Hall, home of the Electric Picnic music festival, which welcomes over 40,000 people over the 1st weekend in September. As a resident in this proposed area I am wholeheartedly against the building of a substation


. The substation could severely harm the area for a number of reasons:
· Firstly there are the health risks of such a building. Although there is no conclusive evidence that such stations are harmful to people’s health there is also no conclusive evidence that these stations are not harmful to people’s health.
· The devaluation of the local residents’ land would be significant.
· Some residents could be forced to move away if the station is built too close to their homes.
· The area could lose out on the Electric Picnic which cold be detrimental for the local economy as earnings for pubs and shops around Cosby Hall peak on this weekend.

Because Eirgrid is a state owned company they can force a CPO (Compulsory Purchase Order) on any landowner in the area if the situation requires it. This means that any landowner that does decide to negotiate will never get a fair price as long as the threat of a CPO is hanging over their heads. Similar stations have been proposed in other areas throughout the country and not once was the story broadcast on any Irish news channel.

Aims:
· The main aim of this organisation is to convince Eirgrid that if such a substation needs to be built then it should be placed in a woodland area away from any homes or roads. There are plenty of suitable areas in the vicinity and we will continue to oppose the project until Eirgrid agrees the station cannot be built within at least 100 metres of any homes, roads or businesses.




How we will gather support for our organisation:
· The first step would be to set up a web page for our group so that people all over the country can access it and see what our aims are and how they can get involved.

· This is not the first substation that Eirgrid have planned to build and we are not the first community to oppose their plans. After researching online I found various cases where Eirgrid’s proposed projects were opposed by the local communities they planned to build in. There are several groups similar to the one I’m setting up that have been up and running for the last few years. The most notable of which is NEPP (North East Pylon Pressure) NEPP is the overall representative group for people who advocate that higher power electric cables should go underground rather than on the pylons currently used by Eirgrid. Although they’re issues with Eirgrid are slightly different they have managed to delay Eirgrid’s plans for over 3 years now. It would be essential to establish a ink between our group and theirs. I feel that once our own web page is up and running then our first step would be to establish a web link between us and NEPP’s web page, www.pylonpressure.ie

· The proposed area for the substation includes Cosby hall in Stradbally, Co.Laois , home of the Electric Picnic. I feel that the organisers of the event would not be pleased if there were a potential health risk to their customers and would look for an alternative venue. Thus, I feel it would be a good idea to email the organisers, POD promotions and raise their awareness on the issue. It would also be a good idea to set up a facebook page that allows fans of the event to be informed and get involved.

· As well as setting up on fecebook we will also create profiles on both twitter and boards.ie so as to reach the maximum amount of people.

· Another plan is to record a video blog and broadcast it on youtube so as to keep people up to date on the weekly goings on in the group.

· We will email the project manager employed by Eirgrid on a weekly basis to get updates on the stages that the project is in.

In Conclusion:
We will strive to raise awareness of this issue around the local area and throughout the country. We will not stop until people are made aware of this threat and until Eirgrid agree to negotiate with us.

Guinness is Good for you!

Choose any one product and explain how its production, distribution and consumption can be seen as a 'network'. Identify relevant nodes, ties and flows in this network. Pay attention to the role of ICT and indicate where technology might fit into the network. If necessary, make a sketch of your network design and then scan and upload to your blog along with a brief explanatory note.

A network comprises of the following three elements;
1. Nodes: are usually 'physical' or 'set' places or areas but they can also be people. For example, cities, industries and primary resources are all nodes but so too are consumers.
2. Ties: are the links by which the nodes are tied together. Like nodes they can exist in the physical world. Examples of ties are the trucks that transport products from businesses to the consumers (nodes). Ties can also be concepts or social relations such as economic or capital factors. The need of the consumer for a certain product is also classified as a tie.
3. Flows: are what is transported between various nodes by the ties. Flows can be products or people or even capital. Knowledge and relations would also be considered to be flows.

The product I have chosen is Guinness.
The History of Guinness:
· 1759: It all began with a signature. Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on a disused brewery at St. James’ Gate, Dublin in. It cost him an initial £100 pounds with an annual rent of £45.
· 1769: The first export shipment of six and a half barrels of Guinness beer leaves Dublin on a sailing vessel bound for England.
· 1803: Arthur Guinness dies. His son, Arthur II inherits the brewing mantle, ensuring the brewer stays in the family.
· 1840: The first shipment to be sent to America reaches New York.
· 1936: The first overseas Guinness brewery is built at Park Royal in London.
· 1950-1974: New Breweries open up all over the world, including Canada, Australia, Africa and South East Asia.
· 1997: Diageo is formed
· 2009: Guinness celebrates 250 years.

Production:
Until 2010, Guinness would buy the majority of its barley from the Greencore Group, a leading international manufacturer of convenience foods and ingredients. The Greencore Group would sell seeds, manure and sprays to Irish farmers who would go on to grow the barley. The farmers would then sell any grain that passed as malting barley back to Greencore. Guinness would then purchase the barley from Greencore and begin the brewing process. As of January 2010, Greencore sold its malting barley division to a French company named Axereal who are expected to do business with Guinness in the future. Another ingredient used to make barley is hops, which is used as a flavouring and stablilty agent in Guinness. Germany, the US and China are the biggest exporters of hops and Guinness is believed to purchase their supply from one of these nations.
The last ingredient added is Brewer’s yeast which is used to provide a nicer taste to the product.Once the Guinness brewery has obtained all of these ingredients then the brewing process can begin.

Distribution
Once finished brewing and once fully matured, the products are then packed up and ready to be distributed to consumers worldwide. From each of its many breweries around the world Guinness is transported to pubs, off licences and supermarkets worldwide.

Consumption
Guinness is sold in 150 countries around the world and in 2007 it was estimated that 10 million glasses of Guinness were enjoyed every day. One can purchase Guinness in just about every pub or off licence in Ireland.

ICT plays a big role in the Guinness network. The Guinness website allows the company to expand the variety of products that they sell. They’re no longer restricted to beverages but have also allowed themselves to sell merchandise such as hats, key rings, jerseys, etc. The website also acts as form of communication between the Guinness and their customers, allowing them to get feedback and to see where they can improve their product. I’m sure technology has also affected the brewing process making it much more efficient.

The illustration above names the specific Nodes, Ties and Flows in this network. The Nodes are illustrated by the large yellow font, the flows by the purple font and the ties by the smaller yellow font.

The Network Society by Jan Van Dijk

2.3 New Media Characteristics
According to Van Dijk, the New Media is defined by its characteristics of integration, interactivity, and digital code - elaborate on this definition.

In his text, The Network Society, Jan Van Dijk explains how the New Media is defined by its characteristics of integration, interactivity and digital code. In the following piece I will be elaborating on this definition as well as the characteristics involved. The only sources I used in constructing this piece were the text itself and any notes taken during class.

1. Integration
The first characteristic that Van Dijk claims the New Media is based on is that of integration. He proposes the idea that the most important structural new media characteristic is the integration of telecommunications, data communications and mass communications in a single medium. He calls the process convergence and because of this new media is often called multimedia. There are 5 levels in which integration can take place. These are:
1. infrastructure
2. transportation
3. management
4. services
5. types of data

Integration eventually leads to the merging of telecommunications, data communications and mass communications. These all create multifunctional, high speed networks that were once called electronic superhighways but nowadays go by the name broadband. Integration is enabled by two techniques;
1. Full digitalization of all media
2. Broadband transmission through all connections by cable and by air.



2. Interactivity
The next characteristic that Van Dijk claims the new media is based on is interactivity. Interactivity is generally defined as being a sequence of action and reaction. Van Dijk puts forward an alternative definition in his text which operates at four accumulative levels; space dimension, time dimension, behavioural dimension and mental dimension.
· Space Dimension: is the most elementary level of interactivity. It is the possibility of establishing two sided or multilateral communication.
· Time Dimension: this deals with the degree of synchronicity. An uninterrupted sequence of action and reaction usually improves the quality of interaction. However interactive media such as email are used for their lack of synchronicity. Sending and receiving emails can be done at self-chosen times and places, and one is allowed to think longer about a reply.
· Behavioural Dimension: this is defined as the ability of the sender and the receiver to switch roles at any moment. It is about the control over the events in the process of interaction. At this level interactivity means that the user is able to intervene into the program itself and make a difference.
· Mental Dimension: Van Dijk considers this to be the highest level of interactivity. It is acting and reacting with an understanding of meanings and contexts by all interactors involved. It is a necessary condition for full interactivity in physical conversation and computer-mediated communication.



3. Digital Code

Digital code is a technical media characteristic only defining the form of new media operations. It means that in using computer technology, every item of information and communication can be transformed and transmitted in the form of strings of ones and zeros called bytes, with every single 1 or 0 being a bit. It is an artificial code that that replaces the natural codes of the analogue creation and transmission of items of information and communication. The formation of digital code involves cutting into pieces a number of undivided analogue items and then recombining them in a digitized form. There are many effects of the use of digital code but the most important ones are;
1. The increase in the quantity of items of information and communication: this makes their production, recording and distribution much easier.
2. The transformation from linear to hypertext media: this is the break up of the traditional linear order of large units of information and communication in such a way that they can be transformed into hyperlinks of items liable to be perceived or processed in the order that the reader, viewer or listener wants.