Tuesday March 11, 2009

saba singh
Semantics web: fun and semantics aware applications. (6E)
6E
http://netgened.wikispaces.com/message/view/6E+Fun+and+Semantic-Aware+Apps/10045706


Research on the semantics web:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGg8A2zfWKg (this video is mentioned on the horizon report)
Summary: the video gives a brief introduction to the semantics web. I understood the basic meaning of semantics – it is the meaning of the sentences and words.
• The horizon report:
Summary: a good example on the horizon report was when a word that has more than one meaning such as ‘turkey’. When entered into a search engine, (a sentence with this word such as the history of turkey) it could give results on the bird, the country and the food showing the computer has only searched the word, not its meaning.
• http://computer.howstuffworks.com/semantic-web.htm
Summary: explains the difference between human brain processing and computer processing. It is explained that computers cannot understand the semantics of phrases and commands entered into their search engines etc. They search based on syntax and hence irrelevant search results can be obtained.
METADATA is an important word mentioned on this article. It means to know about the data rather than the data itself, and is described as an extension to the World Wide Web.

Another example on this site was when a movie is ordered for on the web. There could be several conditions on this purchase such as you want the lowest price available, don’t want to wait too long for delivery, you want a firsthand product and widescreen. There are two things that can be done here,
1. You could manually look for all these criteria and hope to find a perfect product. This would take a long time and would be a waste of your time.
2. The second option is more feasible. With the Semantic Web, you could enter all these into a computer ‘agent’ which would look for the best option and place your order for you.
• http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/
Summary: an important point of this article is that the Semantic Web is about two things:
1. The language of the data and how it relates to real world objects.
2. Formats for integration and combination of data that has been drawn from different sources.
Notes on the movie
Netgened: I worked with my team mates in certain discussions and posted some good links to information about the subject.
Grownupdigital: gotten in touch with my team mates.

CRITERIA E

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Barns, Brooks, 11/01/09
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/business/media/12film.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=technology%20in%20theaters&st=cse
• Howstuffwokrs.com, 18/01/09
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/imax2.htm
• howstuffworks.com, 29/01/09
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/imax1.htm
• howstuffworks.com, 31/01/09
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/home-theater5.htm
• Imaxmelbourne.com.au, 18/01/09
http://www.imaxmelbourne.com.au/index.aspx?pageId=27#
• investorwords.com, 9 February, 2009
http://www.investorwords.com/1653/economy_of_scale.html
• knowledgeatwharton.edu, 9 February, 2009
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/mobile/article.cfm?articleid=1779&page=2
• Rose, Steve, 6 January 2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/jan/06/1
• Rusby, Ruth, January 2008
http://www.worldoil.com/magazine/MAGAZINE_DETAIL.asp?ART_ID=3417&MONTH_YEAR=Jan-2008
• Sugi, Jon, 23 May, 2007
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/247696/imax_or_regular_movie.html

CRITERIA D

Of the above stated issues, people will be impacted the most by the price difference in between IMAX tickets and normal movie tickets. If more theatres begin to air 3D movies, it could result in a decrease in production of non 3D movies; hence most tickets would be available at higher prices.
To avoid this, IMAX should consider using different pricing methods to increase their target consumers. Promotional pricing, ranging price according to movie and time of the show, will attract more customers.
IMAX should also consider spreading knowledge about their unique technology so that more people will be aware of the technology behind the IMAX experience. This will not only help in employment but will also be a step towards upgrading more theatres for a cheaper price.

CRITERIA C

The people concerned with the technology and use of IMAX projectors are the creators, the customers, the owners of IMAX (Richard Gelfond) (Knowledgeatwharton.edu, 9 February, 2009) and the owners of the theatres that are to be upgraded. The main stakeholders of the business are MFC Global Investment Management (U.S.), LLC, First Wilshire Securities Management, Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group.

Since IMAX and other 3D projector technology is too expensive, all theatres cannot be upgraded at present. As future predicted results show, IMAX projectors would begin to get cheaper as they become more common around the world – this is called economies of scale (it is when the price of a product or service is decreased due to the increase in production) (investorwords.com, 9 February, 2009). Theatres all around the US would see a slow increase in the use of 3D technology at a cheaper price. More people will begin to trust technology. But, this could also be a disadvantage in many ways. The price to watch such movies will be much higher, and hence unaffordable by some groups in society. While on one side, the spread of such technology will enable more people to gain access to this form of entertainment, on the other hand, it could increase the gap between people and machines due to its high pricing strategies. (An IMAX movie costs about $11 per head, while a regular movie costs between $4.5 and $6) (Sugi, Jon, 23 May, 2007).

One of IMAX’s greatest issues is that it needs specialist in every field e.g.: a special IMAX projector, a special IMAX technician, special IMAX cameras etc. (Rose, Steve, 6 January 2004). Hence, the spread of this kind of technology will result in great amount of redundancies and will require retraining to be done so people can catch be educated about IMAX. This will be extremely expensive for businesses and will use a lot of time.

CRITERIA B

IMAX theatres’ astonishing quality is achieved by using film shots that are about 10 times larger than the regular 35 mm film stocks. These are square when shot and hence are not in the same proportion of the sides of the screen - they need to be compressed. The 75 mm ones give about double the resolution and are in the proportion of the screen sides. IMAX film shots are 70 mm high and 15 perforations wide (perforations are holes in the film stock that keep it steady)(howstuffworks.com, 29/01/09). Their projectors are different to the regular ones in several ways:
• The film in their projectors moves through horizontally rather than vertically.
• The shutter in these projectors opens for a longer time (rather than for a second) so more light in shone through.
• Bulbs in general theatre projectors are about 150- 200Watts while the IMAX lamps are 15, 000 Watts.
• The IMAX projectors weight approximately 2 tonnes
These projectors project the movie to a large dome which is approximately 30 metres wide – large enough to fill one’s field of vision.














Layout of an IMAX dome
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/imax1.htm

IMAX also uses a six channel surround system for its sound technology. This, in a typical home theatre system consists of 6 speakers – three front speakers (right, left and centre), a left and right surround speaker and a rear speaker – and a subwoofer (it is usually referred to as a 6.1 surround system due to the addition of the subwoofer) (howstuffworks.com, 31/01/09).
Also, IMAX uses 3D technology to enhance their films. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) shutter technology, combined with polarized lenses (here, two synchronised projectors, with two different polarisations air the movie on the screen) makes IMAX movies very different to the others (howstuffworks.com, 31/01/09).

ITGS PORTFOLIO - ENTERTAINMET AND LEISURE criteria A

The art of movie making has evolved significantly over the decades – especially when it comes to 3-D production. From “Creature from the Black Lagoon” to “cars” and Ice Age” with the slow extinction of the stiff cardboard glasses and violent camera movements, 3-D movies seem to have gotten much more technical as time has passed by. The image and sound has improved considerably due to the increase in demand of such movies, IMAX Theatres raised the status of 3D film making since they first arrived in San Diego in 1973 (imaxmelbourne.com.au, 18/01/09). Hollywood now creates several 3D movies each year – perhaps too many. Walt Disney itself owns about 15 3D movie theatres while Twentieth Century Fox has over 30 3D movies on the way(Barnes, Brooks, 11/01/2009).
One of the major concerns with the number of 3D movies being produced is that US theatres cannot seem to cope with it. With the increase in income of 3D movies, movie studios seem to have started making many more 3D movies than earlier...and there aren’t enough number of 3D movie theatres to air the movies (Barnes, Brooks, 11/01/2009).
Apart from the regular theatre technology and projectors, the IMAX branches of theatres involve some very advanced IT systems such as dome technology, 3D technology, advanced sound systems and a forty-eight-frames-per-second video quality (howstuffwokrs.com, 18/01/09).
Only 1300 of North America’s 40,000 theatres have three dimensional technology. Financing the rest would take about $100,000 per upgrade (Barnes, Brooks, 11/01/2009). Bringing in more 3D theatre equipment would be too expensive. So, is it worth the IMAX experience?

ITGS PORTFOLIO - ENTERTAINMET AND LEISURE

ART AND LEISURE ARTICLE

http://www.theage.com.au/news/digital-life/smart-phone/iphone-games-put-the-heat-on-sony-nintendo/2008/11/24/1227491429903.html

CRITERIA E

Bibliography
• GCSE bitesize, 18th October 2008, http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/measurecontrol/0computercontrolrev3.shtml
• ITGSQA, 9th October 2008, http://itgsqa.qataracademy.wikispaces.net/11+Ethical+Issues
• LaMonica, Martin, September 18 2008, http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10044239-54.html
• Makower, Joel, 24th October 2008 http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003671.html
• Petterson, Gary, 24th October 2008, http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-Smart-Grids-the-Wave-of-the-Future?&id=1419720
• Shiels, Maggie, 18th September 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7622347.stm
• Smalltimes.com, 15th October 2008, http://www.smalltimes.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?ARTICLE_ID=269575&p=109
• U.S. Department of energy, 24th October 2008, http://www.oe.energy.gov/smartgrid.htm
• Wikipedia, 2008, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_grid
• Wikipedia, 2008, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_grid#Technology

CRITERIA D

Perhaps of all the issues mentioned above, the one which will impact society most is the price of the grid. As stated before, the price is higher than that of its predecessor –this could be disadvantageous not only to potential customers, but also to the business itself. Since the grid is an environment-friendly product that both businesses intend to expand the use of in the near future, it is not a luxury product and hence the target customer group is the middle class society (people with an average income). But if this price is low, the business might not benefit due to low income and the product manufacturing could be shut down completely. The price, therefore, should be at a competitive level (at least to start with) and then the tactic of promotional pricing could be used –this is when the price is slowly raised as the sales of the product increase with time. Psychological pricing is another effective method of pricing where the price of the product seems less than it actually is. (E.g.: $499, $999.99 –these prices don’t seem as high as $500 and $1000 when, in fact they are almost the same!) Google and GE should conduct market research and perhaps find out the price that most people would agree to buy the smart grid for (they could compare the price of their competitors’ and their product and evaluate the results to find out the perfect price for the grid-which would attain high sales at a reasonable price).The promotion, advertising and marketing of the grid should also be appropriate, to make the public aware of the product.

CRITERIA C

Criteria C
The main stakeholders of the grid system would perhaps be Google, GE, the potential consumers, the technicians that have worked to create it and electric companies that provide electricity to homes in the community. (http://www.oe.energy.gov/smartgrid.htm)
The introduction of the grid would affect the society to a great extent. While on one hand the introduction of several new features gives the consumer a wider choice and more desirable results, on the other hand, it perhaps widens the gap between man and machine as it is very hard to keep up with the pace of technology. This could lead to loss of trust in technology. There is also another major issue brought up here. Is this gadget as reliable as its predecessor? Will a common man who has an average knowledge of gadgetry be able to ‘communicate’ with the grid or will it just be too complicated? It can be argued that with these new features, the new grid is in fact more reliable as it gives several more options to chose from and is safer but it could also be too complex to be understood by the public. In 2003, the grid was described by some as a bit ‘too smart’ as just its automation caused several nuclear stations to shut down. (http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003671.html) Also, the price of the grid is much higher than that of its forerunner. This not only means that the businesses are perhaps putting in too much money into this project and this money could be used for other more important issues, but the selling price might make the grid out of reach of an average person, hence bringing in the issue of equality of access. (http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-Smart-Grids-the-Wave-of-the-Future?&id=1419720)

CRITERIA B

The IT system used in the grid consists mainly of sensors and two way communication. Sensors use ‘feedback system’ to regulate the conditions in a system. There are 3 main parts to a sensor. These are: the input, the processing and the output. For instance, in temperature sensors in microwaves, temperature at which an object is to be heated is input manually by means of buttons. The processing would involve the system sensing the temperature and decreasing it if it gets higher than the input temperature and increasing it if it gets lower. The output is a beep sound or light. Such temperature sensors are used in the smart grid to monitor transmission line. Other kinds of sensors being used are: sound sensors (acoustic sensors) and sensors to measure the motion of underground cables for detect mechanical errors. (Smalltimes.com, 15th October, 2008).
The grid has improved and become more technical and is expected to continue to do so in the near future. The old grid, while being cheaper, had a few consumer choices and limited price information as to the choice of companies to buy electricity from. In contrast to this, the new grid not only has several consumer choices, it is digital and also less prone to blackouts and brownouts and has a ‘self healing’ system (this detects errors in the system using sensors and automated controls) (Wikipedia, 2008). Perhaps Google and GE are trying to improve and eventually dominate the sales of the grid so more ‘clean energy’ is used. If this does happen, it is possible that the effects of global warming could be reduced significantly. The grid is also expected to become more technical and environment friendly in the future.



This is a diagram of the feedback system involved in a water regulating system.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/measurecontrol/0computercontrolrev3.shtml

Criteria A

As non-renewable sources of energy get depleted at a faster rate, the world has come to focus on the efficiency of renewable sources. ‘Clean energy’ is now the centre of attention of several major industries of the world. Two of these companies, Google and GE (General Electric) have teamed up to promote and use a ‘smart power grid’, better known as the ‘smart electric grid’ to provide safe and efficient electricity to the state of California (Shiels, Maggie, 18^th September 2008).

The Smart Grid uses modern technology more intensively than perhaps ever before. It includes advanced sensors and multiple computer technology. Another kind of knowledge being used in the new grid is the microprocessor chip (Wikipedia, 2008). In comparison to this, the old grid only transmits electricity form a power station. Despite the fact that the old grid is perhaps cheaper than the new version, it contributes to several environmental issues, a major one being the greenhouse effect.

The concern for efficiency in today’s world brings up an important question: will this system match up the requirements of an average person in society? Both companies are aiming at making this technology easily accessible to the common man-but is it advantageous to have the smart grid or will it just broaden the gap between man and machine? With more advance gadgets being created virtually every day, people have begun to find it hard to keep up with technology.

Financing this project will be much more expensive (LaMonica, Martin, September 18 2008). This is bad news not only for the business but also for their potential customers as the product itself would be quite high-priced. So is the smart grid beneficent or not?

portfolio 1