Week 9

Task 1 - Using Groups and Searching For a Particular Topic:

I opened Google.com and brought down the drop down menu to find the Groups link which I clicked on. In the search bar I typed in “The Beatles” as the task asked me to find a topic that interests me.

For an exact Group title matching that of what I searched there were 171 items. There were 10 Groups on the first page that included the word “Beatles” and many other pages of Groups that had somewhat relation to what I had searched.

The 171 items were under different subtitles such as:

Topic:
Arts and Entertainment (37) Recreation - Collecting (1) News (1) Other (2) People (2) Schools and Universities (1)

Region:
Central America - Costa Rica (1) Caribbean - Dominican Republic (1) Europe (2) Latin America (3)

Language:

Chinese - Chinese (Simplified) (2) Dutch (3) English (94) French (4) Indonesian (1) Italian (3) Korean (1) Polish (2) Portuguese (10) Romanian (1) Russian (1) Spanish (31)

Activity:

High (1) Medium (2) Low (167) Members:1000+ (1) 100+ (1) 10-100 (11) <10>

Task 2 - Investigating Messages in the Groups on Google:

On the most recent page of messages, some very off topic ones were found they included:

Gig Search Engine - come & check it out
Having nothing to do with The Beatles but about looking into new bands.

some jordan shoes for wholesale
Has nothing to do with the topic.

Backmasked satanic messages in hard rock music
Off topic.

Question on Beatle Remasters
Actually speaks of remasters about The Beatles and a group called The Purple Chick who have released unofficial versions of several Beatles albums.

OT: Hey Firefox users!
Off topic

13th Floor Elevators Photographs
Has something to do with photography, not related to the Beatles.

OT: The drug use of my youth is coming in handy now
Off topic

WWW.VOGUESONLINE.NET WHOLESALE CHANEL PRADA D&G LV SUNGLASSES ETC
Off topic.

This is supposed to be an election where all the votes are counted, not a Madonna concert !
Off topic.

"I Wonder If You Can"
Somewhat related to The Beatles, it is about a cover of a solo John Lennon’s song.

On the second most recent page there are more posts on topic such as:

Minor Question Re: Ringo's Sandwich in AHDN
Actually speaks about The Beatles personal life.

What would the Beatles have done
Talks about what The Beatles may have done or would ahev done if they hadn’t become musicians.

The Greatest song from the punk era
Speaks nothing of The Beatles, speaks of punk music which they were never apart of.

Wonderful New Article On George Harrison In "Pure Inspiration" Magazine
Speaks of topic related to the Beatles.

Maybe on Group boards the actual topic isn’t the main point of discussion but the people who like a certain topic can talk about things besides a certain topic they all may like.

Task 3 – Visiting and Viewing Two Podcasts:

I went to the Podcasts section on Yahoo.com and entered “The Beatles” in the search bar but the results that I received were not what I was looking for.

So I typed in “How to Use PowerPoint” which brought back no outcomes. I then decided to type in just the term “PowerPoint” which brought back several results, which I clicked on the fifth item on the list.

The page brought up two links, I clicked on the first and it took me to a page with a file consisting of “040825WE.ra.”

My computer does not play “.ra” files so I went onto the ECU Library podcasts to have a listen to some on there for the task.

When I tried to Download one of the podcasts from the ECU Library the link was not found so I could not continue with the task.

I therefore decided to type Podcast into the Google search bar and find what items would turn up, I found CNN had a section so I decided to open the link as it’s a trustworthy organisation.

I found a section for Audio Podcasts. The first podcast I chose to listen to was by Ali Velshi mainly about oil, Saudi Arabia and President George Bush Jr.

The second podcast I chose to listen to was called You Can't Make This Stuff Up by Jim Ribble. The presenter spoke about several topics such as an artist who gets thousands of people to strip so he can take a photograph of them it occurred in Austria this week, a blind man who plays tenpin bowling, “Walk A Mile In Her Shoes” for a domestic abuse shelter the participants were a group of men in high-heels, a man who wants to build a theme park like Disneyland in Baghdad, a man whom is arrested for throwing an M&M chocolate at a police officer.

Task 4 - What are the potential benefits of podcasts for university students?

The benefits of podcasts to university students would be that a lecture can be recorded and if they turned up late or missed a certain detail that the lecturer was talking about then they can use the podcast to find this information. It would also be a lot easier to reference what the lecturer has said as there is proof of it as it has been recorded. The downside to having just a audio podcast is that some students prefer to see the lecturer making hand gestures or show emotion on their face. Though there are video podcasts but I would be unsure as to how many lectures would want to be video recorded. It is up to the lecturer whether they feel comfortable with people recording what they say.


Lecture:

This week consisted of the subject Information Communications Technology. There was only one activity for the class this week which was:

You have been asked by your manager to draft an email to Big Com’s customer to concerning a recent spate of identity thief of Big Com’s Customer.

In groups of two people the class completed the task, and the lecturer asked several people basically what they had said in the letter. The rest of the lecture consisted of Information Communications Technology as well as tips and information on the exam.


Tutorial:

The tutorial involved our tutor going through the basic steps of the workshop task, showing how to find different podcats and play tyem. The podcast can be accessed when ever and where ever a person wants to view or listen to. Our tutor also explained the parts of out blogs and what should be found on them.


Readings for the Week:

14 Email Do's and Don'ts - Ways to make your messages more efficient and effective by Amit Asaravala speaks about when being the sender decide if it’s the correct tool to communicate with, ask or say what you want without rambling on, make sure that the person knows what your trying to say and don’t assume they know something and use correct English when writing an email.

It is explained when being a recipient that should not assume or jump to conclusions until you have read the message thoroughly, don’t create a war of words if something doesn’t sound right sort it out maturely, if something is not understood ask what the sender meant, setup your email to organize your organize your messages in a specific way and you don’t have to respond to a message straight away.

Essential Email Etiquette - Avoid common pitfalls when composing your messages by Wenkai Tay describes different problems that may arise in messages through email such as:

Use a suitable subject title,
Speak to people with appropriate levels of language, tones and titles,
Re-read your message before sending it off making sure you have said everything you wanted to and that there are no spelling errors.
Ask a recipient before sending attachments.

Email Etiquette found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BvC3ajgs60

Says that people need to make sure they realize what they are saying through an email as it may come out the wrong way when the recipient reads it. The video also states that a new language or abbreviations have been made by teenagers and people in their twenties. It states that there is a problem with what may be said in an email if its spelling mistakes, grammar, tone, etc. Writing skills are either non existant or fading away with the use of abbreviations and this can cause major problems when speaking to bosses, or teachers. It is also stated that before pressing send make sure that what you have written as once you click it, there is no turning back.

How To Practice Good Phone and E-mail Etiquette At Work by Howcast found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVd8MT9XyA

Describes several steps in how to be a good worker by
Not sending personal emails in office hours,
Do not use the loudspeaker on the telephone,
Avoid background noises when making an important telephone call,
Make sure that when leaving voice mail that it is straight to the point and some personal details are left.
Knowing what you are going to say before make a telephone call.
Keep the subject line in an email, brief and straight to the point.
Use spell check for grammar and punctuation as it can give a bad impression to the reader.
When forwarding an email to a co-worked make sure there is some explanation in the subject line of what it is all about.

The Problem with SPAM by Caube.com.au is a website against Spam or bulk mail. Which details the problems of spam, what can’t be done to stop it, being arrogant by thinking it's not my problem if it hasn’t effected me and solutions that may help to stop Spam mail.