The video we watched during ICT was pretty scary. It was about internet bots and how it can affect computers. An internet bot is a software that can run automatic tasks over the internet. People buy and sell these bots for large amounts of money. The ‘owners’ of the bots can send spam mails to get bank account numbers to hack into their accounts. The bots can also close down a whole website because of them going on at the same time. That is known as the Distributive Denial Of Service, also known as DDOS.

In the video we watched, the bot was ordered to send thousands of spam mails to two certain e-mails. It only took a few hours to send 2000 or more e-mails to the e-mail accounts. The interesting part is that all the e-mails were sent with a different title. No wonder why people get tricked into these spam mails.

This video made me wonder if my laptop was a part of a bot net. I wonder if there are people out there who knows all my passwords and private information. I hope that my laptop isn’t affected with it and I should be aware of the spam mails that I receive. We all should be aware of what can happen to our computers and make sure that we are safe.

For more information:

http://www.tech-faq.com/botnet.shtml

http://antivirus.about.com/od/virusdescriptions/a/botnet.htm

Picture Credit

http://politech.wordpress.com/2007/09/03/zhelatin-worm-botnet-spread-to-10-million-pcs-now-via-automated-blog-postings/

This is a video I made with Xtranormal about the Millennium Development goals. I explained what the Millennium Development goals are and explained my idea of helping achieve one of the goals, universal primary education. I used the blog post I have posted before to make this video.

I think this Xtranormal video is an easier way to explain the Millennium Development goals and my idea. However, actually writing about it allows you to analyze and define your thoughts better. In a video, you should only have the big, main points so you can’t really clarify the information and thoughts specifically. On the other hand, making a video would be a more creative way to share information than just writing about it. Watching it would make a bigger impact on people than reading a plain text. More people would be interested in watching something, not reading something. Having a visual post and a lingual post are both unique and great ways to share your thoughts and information.

Here is the video I created:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjJLLf55KYY[/youtube]

Extra normal is a program where you can just type in dialogues and make movies. Our class had to make a video explaining what extra normal is and what you can do on it. I think extra normal is a great and creative way to make presentations and videos. However, it would be better if there were more settings, actions, and fluent accents. The voices sound extremely awkward and too robotic. Overall, I think it is a great program to use.

Here is my video :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZQDsgyqIY[/youtube]

All we see on TV, magazines, and advertisements are skinny, beautiful, slim, perfect women and men. Everybody knows that the photos published are photo shopped.

You’ll see stomachs flattened, skin blemishes removed, breasts made fuller, navels made ‘perfect’, limbs made skinny, and waistlines lose inches. (Celebrity Retouching: 10 Reasons to Revise Your Reality)

Even though we know that the pictures are not actually them, we assume that they are the perfect models and that we should be like them. We lose our confidence of our own bodies and realize that we are not perfect at all. People are too impacted by the “perfect bodies” and tries to be like them, which is basically impossible.

Being as skinny, pretty, and beautiful as the photo shopped images are almost impossible. However, numerous people try everything they can to achieve that goal. Not all of them choose a healthy way. Some people have eating disorders and become anorexic or bulimic to lose weight. Some teenagers become depressed, anxious, or sometimes even suicidal because their dissatisfaction with their body. Approximately 8 million people in USA has eating disorders and 90% of them are female.

Statistics say that eight out of ten women are not satisfied with their appearance. 80% of children are afraid of being fat and more than 50% of 10 year olds wished they were thinner. However, the “perfect body” is only achieved by 5% or less of the female population.

The photo shopped images destroy people’s self-confidence and health. People should be proud of how they look and accept themselves.

Believe in who you are. (The Beauty Myth-youtube video)

Research

“Celebrities BEFORE & AFTER Photoshop – XciteFun.net.” 1 Oct 2009 <http://forum.xcitefun.net/celebrities-before-and-after-photoshop-t12707.html>.

When you are avoiding merges, you should look for plain backgrounds that won’t grab attention from the audiences. To avoid merges, you should line your eyes to the screen of your camera and leave some space around people. If you want to avoid near merges, you should leave some space between the lines or objects and the main object because it can lose the interest of your audience.

This is an example of a merge because the background as an unnecessary object that is taking away the focus and is irritating the audience.The lines of the background and the main focus are too close to each other which is a bad composition

This is an example of avoiding merge because it has a plain background with no other object, and also has some space left in the picture.

When you frame, you should frame the main focus with the objects in the foreground. You should also avoid merges to have the focus on the main object.

This is an example of framing because the main focus is with the foreground, the body parts,  and it has avoided merges.

You can draw attention by using geometric shapes in photographs for balance. A good balance is a way for good composition and good balance should have shapes, colors, areas of dark and light well balances.

I think that this is an example of balance because the two basketball hoops are equally on each side of the photograph. They are rectangular, which is a geometric shape, and the colors of the hoops are the same which also gives balance.

Lines are important in pictures. Diagonal lines are dynamic and you can use it to lead a way into the picture and to grab your audience’s attention. You can also use S-curved lines, such as roads, to also grab your audience’s attention.

This is an example of lines because the handles of this walk way is in a diagonal shape and it leads the audience into the picture and grabs attention.

The rule of thirds is a way to focus the main object in different places on the photograph. You divide the picture into thirds(3*3) which gives you an idea of where it would be best to put the focus on.

I think that this photo is an example of rule of thirds because I focus the light bulb on the right, high corner which emphasized how high the light bulb is because it shows the ground floor in the background.

Simplicity is when you give the center or your interest in the photograph. You should select an uncomplicated and simple background for the main object to stand out and make the photograph clear so the audience would be able to understand the topic of the photograph. Try to avoid unnecessary objects and putting the main subject in the center is the best idea.

I think that this is an example of simplicity because the main subject is in the middle and also has a uncomplicated background. The main subject is clear and in the middle. The flash made black corners, but I think the background is still simple enough.