Broadband Research (new)

1.      What is broadband? Broadband is a high-data rate connection to the internet. Broadband technologies supply more than the 60kbit/s rate dial-up connections are limited to.


2.      Outline the methods of delivery of broadband (wireless, cable, ADSL and fibre)? Identify the speed of each method. The speed from wireless broadband internet changes depending on the distance between your device and the router itself. Speeds are faster when you are closer because the signal is stronger, and there is no interference from other wireless networks. Cable broadband Internet connects a device (normally your home computer) to the internet using the cable television infrastructure and bit rates can be as much as  400 Mbit/s. ADSL is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. ASDL services normally range from 25kbit/s to 20 Mbit/s downstream depending on line conditions and service level. Fiber Optic Cable lines are connected directly to buldings and will deliver broadband internet upto 100 Mbit/s.

3.      Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Advantages with wireless broadband is that you don't have to be connected to your internet source, meaning there are no cables required. Instead, as long as your device can use Wi-Fi you can go online with your hand held devices from around 20 metres from your home router. If the wireless is connected to a Yagi antenna then up to kms. Disadvantages with wireless broadband is that the signal can get disrupted by other devices or other wireless signals around the area. Advantages for Cable Broadband is that it's faster and unlike wireless, the internet connection is less likely to be disrupted. Disadvantages for Cable Broadband include the fact that there are wires to be connected and it is normally available for one device. Advantages for Fibre Optic Cable Lines include that they are powerful and help spread the internet to large amounts of devices (such as work offices in a building) at a fast rate.

4.      Give examples of broadband providers and identify the costs.
      Optus Broadband, BigPond Broadband, and Virgin Mobile Broadband. Optus costs $79 for 120GB ADSL2+, Bigpond costs $98 for 100GB with a bonus 75GB, Virgin Mobile Broadband costs $39 for 10GB. All of these rates are per month.


5.      The Federal Government is thinking of rolling out a national broadband network (The NBN). Research the NBN and find out:

a.       what method of delivery it will use The Federal Government plan to lay fiber optic cables to 93% of Australian homes

b.      the expected speed It will provide boradband speeds of upto 100MB/s

c.       the expected costs  NBN will be provided and installed by NBN Co. NBN Co’s Corporate Plan assumes no cost for the connection of this equipment within an end user’s home. A charge may apply for non standard installations.

6.      Do you think Australians should invest in The NBN? Justify your answer. I believe that Australians SHOULD invest in the NBN because it benefits households, businesses, healthand aged care, the environment, the telework, government services and regional Australia. This service isalso cheap so I believe that Australians should take advantage of this. The internet is used by many and having a service such as this will prove fruitful in school work, where students shouldn't have an excuse about not being able to hand in their work, and businesses can research more and be more successful.

The World of Multimedia

1.   Where do you commonly use multimedia in your daily life, list as many examples as you can.Multimedia technology is used in different ways, in different places. Wi-Fi can be used at home, or at Wi-Fi Hotspots such as McDonalds and Gloria Jeans.

2.      What multimedia device or service would you find it hardest to be without? Discuss                        I personally believe that it would be gaming consoles (example Playstation Portable and Nintendo 3DS) because I play games a lot and it's something I treasure... However for most people it would be their mobile phone. This is because with a mobile phone they can reach people immediately by calling them or sending them a text message inside or outside of your home. You can also access the internet on your phone with special phone plans and Wi-Fi hotspots.

3.      The video on future directions (third video) has already to some extent come true. What multimedia technologies displayed in this video are already commonly used?
Some technology in the video include smart phones, smart watches, iPad, GPS and the TV screen.

4.      Do you see any advantages/disadvantages to the use of such multimedia technology?
Advantages that I see in this video is that the new technology is smart and advanced making it easier to move around in the day. An example is the television where he can use it like a computer to email his working assistant by voice. The man therefore is able to get dressed and respond to his assitant at the same time. Disadvantages however is when people forget about the different things they have in the video (example the smart phone and smart watch). People are relying so much on technology that they would not be able to do many things without technology by their side. If the man forgot his while he was jogging, he wouldn't have known about the change in meeting time, if the man's television blacked out he wouldn't have been able to contact his assistant either. Being too reliant on technology isn't a good thing.

Data Compression

What is data compression? It is the process of process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use.

What is a data compression ratio? Data Compression ratio is also known as a compression power, it is a computer science  term used to quantify the reduction in data-representation size produced by a data compression algorithm.

Why is data compression an important technique for the online world? Data compression is important online because when someone is trying to upload an image, file or video a website normally has a size limit which is when data copmpression comes in handy. Data compression allows us to make the image or video smaller to fit the data size the website allows.

What is the difference between Lossy and Lossless data compression? Lossy data compression is a encoding method which compresses data by losing some of the original data. Lossless data allows the exact original data to be reconstructed by the compressed data. Lossy data only allows an approximation of the original data to be reconstructed, in exchange for better compression rates.

Which method offers the greatest compression ratio? The method that offers the greatest compression ratio is lossy compression. The compression ratio of lossy video codecs are generally better than audio and still-image.
The video can be compressed at a 100:1 ratio 
Audio can often be compressed at a 10:1 
Still images are also often compressed at a 10:1 ratio.
The compression rate of lossy compression is about 5-6% while the rate of lossless compression ranges from 50 60%.

Comparing the results to the Original Synopsis (a summary of what happened)

Our group created a reality show that was run buy a group called 'EFECTZ' and in the video we were to feature RANDOM DARES. Efectz would be sent letters from anonymous viewers to perform random dares. These dares are not dangerous and they are performed only to entertain the show's audience and make them laugh and smile. Giving the 'SMILE EFECTZ'.


2 dares were performed, one by Emily and one by myself. My dare was written by Therese and Emily's dare was written by Camillus. Each dare would first start off with the person reading their dares then there would be a cut to the scene of the dare. These are the dares;


Emily (by Camillus) - Emily walked into a year 9 Visual Art classroom in her PJ's with bed hair acting as if she was part of the class, doing random things.


Me (by Therese) - Walk into Dobson Green during lunchtime and dance the macarena and giving out random hugs.


After the dares we asked for feedback about our dares from the audience and thanked the viewers.


*All the people seen in videos that were not in our group [example people in the Visual Arts Classroom and people who recieved random hugs] were asked permission prior to being filmed in the video.


DIFFERENCES


- Camillus' and Therese's dare were not filmed
- Our dares had small changes.


These differences did not make dramatic problems in our video project.