Imperfections Gone!

The sudden boom in globalization and technology has impacted the world the world in influx and continuous increase of technology has impacted in several ways towards the world we live in, its society, culture and most importantly the individual's identity. Photography as mentioned before plays a vital role in the world we live in therefore it too is technologically related in our societies.

Unmistakeably, photography is related to digital technology as cameras have evolved from time to time. Within this digital technology digital imaging has come about; digital imaging also known as Digital Image Processing and Digital Photographic Imaging is a method of image editing in which a picture is scanned from an original document to digital information in the form of pixels that can be read and manipulated by a computer, and subsequently reformed as a visible image. This revolutionary technology to a certain extent has supplemented the changing of people's images thus creating false identities and at the same time has been at the hands of fraud. In terms of fraud, signatures on documents have been "airbrushed" to fit there criminal purpose. The popular term "airbrush" is the manipulation of photography. In other words "airbrush" is when one improves the image of a person or a thing by hiding its defects beneath a bland exteriors. When using this form of technology it becomes difficult for one to distinguish or identify the difference between the original and the "airbrushed" image. On the other hand this form of technology down-plays the whole objective of photography as a whole, as it completely opposes the essence of the photograph in the first place.

Alternatively, airbrushing photographs does to a certain extent have its perks as it can provide the user the options of rectifying imperfections and enhancing the image. At the same time this sort of photography does pose the question of whether or not people are in fact being truthful of what they are portraying or are taking advantage of this technology and presenting false images of themselves. Airbrushed photography can be looked at as an art form but at the same time can be argued that the art presented is not the true portrayal of what the artist really saw at the time the photograph was taken. In essence, photography should be seen has the creation of memories and the portrayal of an individual's identity.

Smile... You're On A Cellphone Camera!

Cellphone photography has become a new and emerging form of media. With cellphone photography one can share images of what is going on around them at an instant with someone far way from them just as it happens. Cellphones these days are built with cameras that can be compared and can some extent match those of actual digital cameras. The use of cellphone technology allows images to be to be taken, sent to a recipient and printed into actual pictures. Cellphone photography is a relatively new phenomena, but one that is steadily growing in popularity as camera phones become more and more sophisticated.

As this phenomena grows, so does the rate of sites that cannot be censored. This means that people can take images of themselves or of others unknowingly and use them in compromising situations. By saying this these images of the people that are not aware, at the same time people that are aware, are sent to certain websites that they have no knowledge of. Cellphone photography has led to a number of menacing activities and consequences of the actions an example of this is when girls are coerced into believing that the photographs that are being taken are not going to put up anywhere public only to find their faces pasted all over pornographic websites that can be accessed from your cellphone.

A case similar to the concerns aired above happened to a woman in Central Florida in the United States of America when she sent a photograph of her daughter's braces to family members from her cellphone. When the family members opened the image it was an image of Pinocchio doing something you would not find in the storybook.

All in all, cellphone photography is a innovative means of keeping track of what your loved ones and those you know look like, at the same time can pose as a threat in certain areas of the unknown.

The digital divide and the cell phones

The digital divide is the gap that has been created between those that have access to advanced communication (communication technology) and those that do not. Most of the time it is the people that are rich have more access to technology then those who do not. The cell phone or the mobile phone has bridged the gap between rural and urban. simply because the cell phone is fairly cheap, one can buy a sim card for as little as 99 c. one can fill air time on their phone when ever they need to and they can decide how much of air time they would like to purchase, for example Cell C lowest recharge card is only R5 . If someone does not have airtime they can said a please call me to the person they need to reach. The cell phone is also beneficial to people in rural areas to communicate with people in the urban area and this helps a farmer for example sell his crop with out him even stepping into the city, he can speak to his clients on his cell phone. the cell phone user in a rural area can also gain access to internet via there cell phone . so once again the cell phone has had a positive impact on the lives of people.

Simone L Abraham

cell phone in exam situations

With the good comes the bad, people always say, and that is true when it comes to new technology like the cell phone. For students it has been useful when it comes to contacting a lecturer or a class mate and through the use of the internet as well for social purposes where applications such as MXIT, Migg and Facebook are concerned. Students have taken the technology a step into the wrong direction by using cell phones to cheat in exams. The student takes their cell phone into the exam and text messages other students asking for answer. The student can also ask a person outside the exam room for a specific piece of information from the student’s notes. Cell phones are so advanced and the memory capacity has increased over the years that a student can easily save a whole semester’s workload onto their cell phone. It has become a common problem in most countries where technology is developed but lecturers and teachers have caught onto this devious fact and have banned all cell phones from exam rooms. This does not affect class test unfortunately that are held in the lecture room. Students will face disciplinary if he or she is caught with a cell phone in an exam room whether he or she was cheating or not.

Simone L Abraham

Does downloading seduce people to plagiaries?

It is so easy to tell a little white lie about something which you thought about but someone put your thoughts into words. In the academic field professor and lecturers have always had problems of getting students not to plagiaries. Certain university laws have been put in place and have re-worked on and still you get students out there who just take the chance. “Plagiarism at higher education institutions in KwaZulu-Natal is on the increase and academics are unable to curb the practice because of the information explosion resulting from the introduction of the Internet” (Philani Makhanya). Seeing that plagiarism has always been an issue with students not acknowledging their sources, this problem has only worsened with the emergence of new media technologies. Most students have the resources to download or upload information when conducting research for their assignments. By typing in a certain topic one gets thousands of sources which relate to that topic, in some cases… there has been an essay written about that exact topic. Finding ready a made essay on the net was just a fantasy or a dream for many students out there, but this dream has certainly materialized for students living in the UK. Two Oxford University students have made A-grade essays available for plagiarism on their new website, "revise.it".The website includes an "essaylab" specially geared to making cheating as effective and effortless as possible. This website has ready-made essays which cover popular topics and questions which have been asked. The homepage explain to users that there is a guide which they have designed in which you are able to customize your essay. Co-owner Nick Rosa who is 19 years old explains that in his first year he also never wrote his own essays, he passed through using his friends and then adapting them to suit his own style “I've never been very good at essay writing," he confessed.
"We don't see the essay bank as a cheating mechanism. It's an incredibly valuable resource. You can learn an awful lot by reading other people's work on the subject” (Mail and Guardian newspaper). Well who would not re reeled in by such website, which is readily available for you to use? It has been pointed out that the reason for plagiarism is attributed the problem to students' laziness and attempts by desperate academics to promote their status .

illegal and legal downloading... The Difference

When thinking about downloading music or movies one automatically thinks that your download is illegal. But it has come to my attention that there are legal and illegal downloads. It has been noted that if you're downloading music, movies or television programs from a licensed site such as iTunes and Napster, which charges the user a fee based on membership or on a per download basis, then it's legal. Downloading movies, TV programs and music for free and not paying any licensing fee is illegal and an infringement to that company. There are few problems one can encounter when downloading illegally these include; “You may get viruses, pornography, and spy ware … more than you bargained for with an illegal download. People have suffered from identity theft and have had inexplicable withdrawals made from their bank accounts. If you’re using file sharing networks such as peer-to-peer (p2p) this is especially true” (Marc Sandford). By using a legal movie download membership, you protect your PC, your privacy and your bank account. Believe it or not there are alternatives to illegal movie downloading, these include online movie download services offer membership prices similar to video store memberships or rentals and unlimited downloads. Another alternative is done through online DVD rental. With this DVD rental service, you can order movies online and receive them in the mail for a very low monthly price. Most of these services do not charge late fees and offer an extensive collection. There is nothing worse than watching a bootleg movie, with people walking across the screen or people’s heads leaning over. The images are always not clear and worst of all the sound quality is bad, so instead of being annoyed when you should be relaxing, just go rent the movie or even better buy it.

Your favourite artists' Album can cost less than R5

Downloading has many advantages which it comes along with. E.g. if you want to buy a CD but your not sure if you really want the CD, you can Just log onto Napster search the desired artist click on the album, and quickly browse through the CD. I know that this can also be done in an actual Music store but, you know how impatient the sales person can be with you if you ask to go back to another track. “I've bought CDs I first heard on Napster, like Real Big Fish and a lot of ska music," said Amy Osmon, a student at University of South Florida in Tampa. Not everyone is like Amy, there are those who just max out their downloading ability. These individuals solely depend on getting their music from down loading. They stay in the comfort of their homes download the latest track that blasting on the airwaves, while that artist doesn’t even get a cent from that download. Award shows such as SAMA’s have even created a category for the artist who received the most Downloads for their song. This just goes to show that record companies have been forced to move with the technological advances of the new media, and how it’s engulfed an ownership which once only belonged to the producer. By having such categories may even help in reducing piracy. Gone are the days when one would wait for the full album to be released for you to listen to your favourite Brandy or Linkin Park track. The smell of a new CD and the clean non-scratched cover is a distant memory for some; all they know is going to buy a re-writable to burn the albums of their choice, and not even being worried if that CD is scratched it only cost the less that R5.