Rise of A New Type of Labour

This week lesson and readings of the class are focused on the topic of Liquid Labour. It is a new kind of labour seen today and is done by many people today. Basically Liquid Labour is the of character traits of a person, that ties in personal leisure and work together, this makes it hard to differentiate whether work and personal leisure are two separate different things anymore. Even in DIGC202 tutorial class, we discussed on Google which are one of the companies outside that's said to be one of the nicest place to work in today. Why is it? Google Corporation contains almost every facilities one can ask for in return for working in this particular company such Foosball, Beach Volleyball, Cafes, Bicycles or Scooters for efficient travelling within the Google company or much more known as Googleplex (nicknamed by Google and many more other facilities as well.


Perhaps this video can serve a better view of the Googleplex or Google company on the company's working lifestyle and the facilities provided by Google Corporation.

Googleplex

Coming back to the point of Liquid Labour, Google are one of the many companies which have it's people or family to have indulge in the works state of Liquid Labour. Nevertheless, look at our personal life as a student as well, especially today. We're all working on the assignments which requires us to access a particular information or data required, for example Blogs - We tend to blog on things we like, but now in degree we are using blogs as an education platform for students to share their knowledge as part of their assignment task which is the online presence. Twitter - social networking site for people to post up a short post update on anything they want to share about, but Twitter is now part of an education platform for students of DIGC202 to share their main points of their blog post and reply to tweets regarding on their main points from other students. As described the examples, is becoming more of a clouded term which differentiate between work and leisure.


Look into the reading written by Mark Deuze, "Liquid Life, Convergence Culture and Media Work" mentions upon few of the following key points. Firstly is Social Theory, second is Liquid Modernity and lastly Media work. Work and life are becoming together as one whole singular subject which in the sense that work is becoming a way of life. Especially today in the 21st century, as mentioned by Deuze "Work and life are becoming a factor which no longer be something that will be different, in fact the term of work and life are beginning to mix up, thus spilling into each other becoming more uncertain which are dependent on the characteristics of the other." A liquid life as mentioned by Mark Deuze, a life which is filled in with many uncertainty especially in ways we handle our work or live in our daily life.


Particularly this happen due to the rapid change of technologies which are improving overtime. Look at the few technology gadgets we have today, laptops, Iphones, Ipad, Smartphones, Blackberry, and many more. One characteristics shared by this gadgets we have is convenient and mobility. Work can be done anywhere today, which no longer requires people to head to offices to do their work there. Take a look at college students today compared to the past of 1990's, internet access is limited and mobility of having them to finish up their assignment are also limited as well. Student's are bounded to use the big personal computers or desktop computers which during that era only provide them with such technology and because of its size one can say. It is inconvenient for the student to bring along their work along to anywhere they want to go due to is inefficiency such as its mobility. Today is a whole new different story as mentioned earlier even using the mobile phone today, people can type out their work using their phone. Submission of assignment or work report can also be done using the internet platform that can be accessed globally today from any hotspots such as cafe's or restaurant providing WIFI connection or having the USB wireless broadband that allows people to connect from anywhere in the world as long its within the area of a telecommunication service "the phone line".

In addition, the liquid labor has allow people to communicate more efficiently as well. Instead of having to go through a specific centralized system such as the snail mail posting, today e-mail provides the platform for decentralized method of communication which allows people to deliver messages easier to one another. In companies is accustomed that, there is a certain hierarchical structure staffs has to follow in meeting. Even looking into education, e-mailing becomes a formal form of invitation which students has to do in order to set up a meeting with their lecturers instead of having to go through a reception and having to book a time for the meeting and confirm with the reception but not the directed person whom you want to meet. Communication can be more direct instead of having to go through people to people to people, causing the message to be lost or have different meaning when it reaches the particular person.

In conclusion, many barriers of labour especially can be overcome today, time, place, location, and many more won't be a drawback to people in completing their work. Liquid labour provides the perfect explanation of today's culture on the way people has start to deal things especially with labour task, everything today is moving at a fast paced structure whereby everything is on-the-go. Using back the traditional could lead to a fall back for individual in completing their labour task. Work and life can be said as becoming mutually as a whole as time goes by. It is becoming something, soon to be very clouded  and hard to differentiate one another as time goes by every second.

Note to everyone: 

All this information are for educational purposes only, feel free to share your opinions with me in the comment box and do share your thoughts are there anything you'll like to correct me on? add on? We are all learning =D

Ecology, A Nature of Balance

"New Media are not bridges between man and woman: They are nature" 

Marshall McLuhan, 1969

Before moving into the details, the above quote as quoted by Marshall McLuhan can be explained as a nature of balance which is tied in with the concept of Ecology. Take a look at the internet for example as one of the new medias we have today, according to McLuhan the way I interpret the quote is that using internet as an example of the new media which is the dominating the world today, it says that the arising of new media helps develop communication between people in a natural way. Meaning arising of new media are the ones that helps brings the world forward by reflecting upon the older medias. In simpler words, it brings development between the way communication or information is being driven by looking at the past and improving from this past.

Based on the journal "Open Cultures and The Nature of Networks" by Felix Stalder, regarding on the topic of "The Nature of Network", the digital media is understood to be similar to the body of a human. Human, we know that the things we do, act, behave, are controlled by the brain. Thus according to Stalder in correlation with the digital media, it uses the concept of Ecology.  In the human body, we consists of two major transport system that helps transfer blood throughout our body which are the veins and arteries but for the digital media using the theory concept of Ecology, it can be broken down into nodes and flows which works mutually constitutive. As mentioned by Stalder "Nodes and Flows builds upon one another." Without organizing the flow of information, there will be just nodes with noises thus this noise can be in a form of unwanted data or info. 

Ecology according to Stalder, is based on Four main dimensions i) Interdependency ii) Change iii) Time-boundness iv) Differentiation. Reflecting upon the four main dimensions Stalder mention in Ecology, it is understood that this can be referred to as the way on how networks functions. Networks depend on other networks to function and to improve themselves, these networks will then form a change as mentioned by Stalder. The change from this could result in a positive manner or it can also be vice-versa. Networks or people are always bounded by time, looking at the journal and reflecting with reality is understandable that people everyday learn something new even if it is a minor knowledge like learning how to work a washing machine, the point is people tend to improve themselves every single day, with this it can be tied in with the point of Time-boundness. An athlete, a track & field sportsman are always racing to take the no.1 spot in any tournament but with this comes the pressure of time pressing against their chest as they run the time ticks and ticks and ticks not stopping for the sportsman/sportswoman. Same goes to networking, while spending time plotting or strategizing ways to penetrate the market share based on trends, the trend in the culture today is constantly at its feet and changing in ways no one can predict precisely. Even if a particular person does predict the way a trend changes, they have to considerate that there are competitors or rivals out there that are waiting to steal that idea and develop this idea to overpower you, Survival of the fittest one can say. 

Overcoming, this pressure there is one way as stated by Stalder will be Differentiation. An example of big companies that tumble down from being the major dominator of the social networking site is Friendster, which was completely pounded to the ground by social networking site Facebook. Or in particular to 1malaysia.com also a social networking site which resembles the functionality of Friendster and Facebook combine together. How come this particular social networking website is not dominating although it has the functionality combination of Friendster and Facebook? One reason as mention by Stalder will be Differentiation. Similarity will be seen to people something as cluttered which is invisible to people and will not arouse interest as one can say duplicated. But is not the same some may ask, looking it at a general point of view is just another social networking site which was brought up late after dominating organization Facebook and Friendster. 

Ecology, Instead of looking ways of fighting against an idea that's developed, look at it in a way that is a growth to a particular new something. As the quote by McLuhan says they are nature, is not just a platform that will remain the same always, eventually everything will grow especially media. Proof to this arising new media are around us and in different channels from file sharing, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Google+ and so many more. Google+, predicted will be the incoming take over of the social networking trend as talked by people around society today. Reason being I believe that, would be because Google has taken a step in developing from Mark Zuckenberg idea of Facebook to a more secured and personal social networking style that uses the concept of circles. (Do share your opinion on Google+ growth with me people! Are there anymore reasons to the growth of Google+ in relation with Ecology)

Note to everyone: 

All this information are for educational purposes only, feel free to share your opinions with me in the comment box and do share your thoughts are there anything you'll like to correct me on? add on? We are all learning =D

No Boundaries

Why No Boundaries? What does the title explains from just this 2 words "No Boundaries". Internet has shown it's worth in the world today on it's importance. Without Internet the world as we know today won't be able to function as efficient the way we are currently managing / doing things such as businesses, entertainment, socializing and etc. Internet has evolved to function in any ways that one human can think off and there's no limit to the growth technology of Internet.  In the previous post we can relate even internet has become a place for networking to grow. Today, as discussed in the class in DIGC202, Internet is the most or highest media which is consume by people all around the world today especially the young ones. Let's for a moment look at Internet in the past and Internet today, to help us realize the changes undergone in this particular media.

Internet, in order to access this particular media in the past, people have to undergo the process of dial-up connection that in comparison to today's internet, all are on high broadband speed, wireless, optic fibres are so much faster in comparison to the past at an amazing least of 1000x faster. Owning the dial-up modem in the past is considered a luxury item whomever owns it, but today everyone and anyone can go into the internet and search for information regardless of anything. It is also possible to surf the world wide web from anywhere in the world now, examples are such as cafe's & restaurant that provides WIFI Connection which allows people to go to this certain places or much more known as Hotspots to allow connectivity to the internet. Looking at the historical background of the internet just on the modem's it is easy to say Internet has become an influential tool that everyone must have today.

Which brings to my point of "No Boundaries". Internet is one of the newest media and also fastest growing media in comparison to the others. An example, look at President John Kennedy, 35th President of the United States of America which can be said that he won the election by conquering the growing media at his era which is the television to win over voters to come and vote for him in short. Then look at 44th President of United States, President Barack Obama which also follows a similar pattern with Presiden John Kennedy is that, himself too has utilize the media which is the internet as discussed in class today as well that President Barack Obama has approached people and communicating with them through the internet platform which have many more platforms in this internet such as social networking sites, blogs, webpages and etc. Looking at this structure, is easy to say that this platform, the internet has done its role to help politicians to win elections or even help solve certain problems for the representatives of a particular politician group.

    

Example of Hotspots Cafe's

Thus now we got an angle of Internet - Politician, which can be said to be the growth of this media "The Internet". Today Internet also serve lots of different platform accounts such as businesses, games, entertainment, socializing and so many more. Looking it in this particular manner is really a Utopian account towards the internet but Internet is growing as mentioned, thus when something grows or anything there is the tendency to grow in a bad manner which brings to apocalyptic accounts of the internet. Internet has brought lots of greatness, comfort to our life but it also becomes a platform for people to do apocalyptic moves which by something that will bring Internet a step back from evolving into something much better. In simple terms, means of hacking, scamming, pornography, viruses, worms, Trojan and much more. 


Looking in this manner in relation to this new media, it depends on the users, the way they the internet, for what purposes? Is it for negative or positive purposes? and depending on each of this purposes Internet will provide further opportunities for New Industries to come in. (Eg: if negative purposes such as scamming/ hacking ; new industries that arises are such as Antivirus / Firewall Companies to prevent this people from doing something relating with apocalyptic measures to ensure that Internet would be a safer place.)

To sum up the points of the long post; it really comes down towards the lecture of DIGC202 today that are as the following:

1) Internet has no central authority.

• It belongs to everyone, anyone can use it the way they want to. It is controlled  by the every individual who surfs the web. It's something which is shared. 

2) Internet has Different Rules/ Ethnics/Ways 

• Rules in the sense of Java coding & HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

• Proxy settings, TCP / IP concept.

• Internet may provide the place for freedom of speech but doing so does bring in consequencesto the people in reality, as in to face with the external laws of the users are living in which is   their particular area or country.

3) Internet Culture

•  Nationalistic culture (why?)

Internet is a place which culture all doesn't matter anymore as it is virtual. Meaning in virtual having the concept of everyone being a user, everyone is part of the community in cyberworld in a way such that everyone is anonymous to each and one another. In adding so, meaning everyone doesn't discriminate each other without having to have face problems such as the local culture (clothing, dialect, accent, local music, food, etc...) has. Nationality of the  Internet. 

 4) Transactions / Relationship / Deep Connections

• People though might not know each other but they can relate to one another in Internet. Particularly are places such as forums or a specialized website which people of different places might not know each other but they can relate to each other even if they never met before.

•  How people connect.

5) Virtual Reality 

• Could be created which leads to rising of new industries. (Players / Customers) 

6) New Industries

• Communication media, a place of new distribution of wealth. Clear cut example are such as Google, Online gaming, Online News, Online Music and many more. 
• It's a changing world and Internet is becoming part of the change based on today's trend. 

Note to everyone: 

All this information are for educational purposes only, feel free to share your opinions with me in the comment box and do share your thoughts are there anything you'll like to correct me on? add on? We are all learning =D