Networks

Networks

The other week, we studied a thing called networks. Not just any old 'network' but networks which have meaning to corporate strategies, animal behaviour, banking and open source software.

From what I can see in the diagram above, I can identify that each of these networks have different properties and effects which determine how successful they are in the outside world. The centralized network is based on the princple of one Master identity, for example Microsoft - They have their central director/president (now Steve Ballmer) and links are distributed from him to upper management stations who control the companies assests and co-ordinate corporate strategies and inspect work areas. If the Centralized diagram continued, then the links are distributed from these managers to supervisors/workers stations who they are in control of. So it's some sort of hierarchical approach going on here... the higher you are in the chain, the more powers and control you have in the company. This is a weaker network when it comes to controlling all the stations and links in the company. There is too much to manage for one Master Identity to control, causing a collapse in communication.. especially in banking sectors. Too much demand for money can cause the links to shatter causing poor co-ordination to parts of the company meaning these stations to dissolve (loss of jobs or loss of customer support/interests).

Decentralized networks still has the principle of 'Master identities' but power is distrubuted across several stations which have links to each other, but have their own spread of links to seperate stations (this could also spread into more and more stations depending on the size of the business or entity. Decentrilized networks can be used in an example such as an Armed forces role. Each ranking General command lower ranking stations (people) such as leutenants who will command whoever is lower ranking than them. If the Decentralized network was expanded in the diagram, the leutenant stations would form different links down to the next ranking station which is most likely to be majors. The lower the rank toward Sergeants, the more soldiers there are to command. This Decentralized model is fairly ideal for this kind of commanding job as it shares powers to different areas whether it being Army, Navy or Airforces. This helps distribute the command to head Generals who can co-ordinate and communicate each force easily in military campaigns and is ideal for organisation but only to a certain degree because links are not distributed to other commands. This network is again like a Hierarchy but it is more distributed and no central master entity exists. So power is distributed between the links more carefully.

Distributed networks is very common in the animal world with flocks of birds and schools of fish. All stations in this network have links to each other and there is no actual central identity so power and organisation is equal sharing. So for animals, the flock of bird and the shoals of fish look out for each other, when a bird is ill the other birds will guard it, when the shoal is under attack from a shark the fish will form a mirage to try and trick the predator. Distributed networks are not always the best choice for huge businesses as it is based on how much resource is available such as communication and the speed in which is is delivered. Terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban use distributed networks to share power between their infidel splinter groups which is useful individual tactics in terms of espionage and sabotage. Because Communication technology has developed so quickly, radio, internet and mobile capabilities have made these small terror groups efficient against larger stationary armies.

The Distributed network idea is commonly used in computer networking. Social networking websites such as Facebook, Bebo, Myspace where users of the site add people who they know. When the person accepts the friendship request a link is joined with the person who added them. This can continuously grow and grow until there are no more people left that the person knows. There is no master identity in networking as friendship adding and social networking is only involved. No individual person can take control and everyone has the same amount of control as the other person does. The Internet as a whole is a Distributed network because everyone can access entertainment such as Online Tv, Online games, social sites, the latest news/weather; music and radio all at once. Everyone has free access to this, all you need is a computer and an internet connection and you're up and running.

Open Source is Freedom?

Freedom to do whatever you want is exciting and very rewarding in terms of gaining free useful software from the internet which brings me to my next topic: Open Source Software. Open-source software is a new approach of giving the public free-software for them to use for Free and only free - no catches. Open-source gives the freedom for developers to give something to the public for free. Many people actually donate money back as a sign of good will depending on how great the product is. For some companies, Microsoft and Apple dislike the idea of Open Source as it undermines their corporate strategies and makes them look greedy. (Fair enough if they want to keep profits). But this isnt a good idea when listening to public opinion. The public want cheaper software from these big companies. They want it as convienient as possible so they can carry on with their lives enjoying the products they need for computing. Open-Source operating systems such as Linux churns out some great O/S' such as Ubuntu which normally gets updated every 6-12 months to even better software is regarded as one of the best free-sources ever. Recently Microsoft has released Windows 7, and I tell you it wasn't too bad for price. Students can earn the software for just £20-£30. I recently purchased a laptop from Comet and they offered me Free Windows 7 upgrade if I paid just £10 P&P and a week later Windows 7 was on my doorstep. It shows that at least some big corporations are look at different strategies to selling their products as cheaply as possible to the general public. However, Open-Source really does benefit in popularity and is starting to make Apple and Microsoft compete to gain the upper hand in the 'Popularity Market'.

Update 29/10/2009

A website called Dreamspark is available for university students. It's made by microsoft and is designed to offer free software such as Visual Studio 2005,8 and even 2010! As long as the student has a valid university email and hotmail account, they are allowed to access many software which is ideal for most university courses.
This is a great example of Microsoft trying to compete with open source. http://www.dreamspark.com/

Social Media?

We have recently learned of the History about Social Media and how it affects our societies all over the globe industrially and socially.

This is quite an opinionated subject to tell because other people may have different views to what I may have or they may have the same as mine. So saying the right thing maybe incorrect to others.

Social Media is designed from human needs and social interactions using many sources mainly through the Internet and the World-Wide Web. It can also be from newspapers, televisions, word of mouth, prints and public speaking. All of these techniques feed Social Media and it's influence across the globe.

Industrial media is normally named as Mass Media. Industrial media has the capability to reach the largest of audiences and even small ones.

Comparisons between Social and Industrial Media:

Reach: Social and Industrial Media enables anyone to reach global audience

Accessibility: Media tools are available to everyone through Social Media. Industrial Media can be private or government owned. Huge corporations normally abide through this system.

Usability: Industrial Media requires special skills, training and years of experience, however social media does not require as much skill. Social media is open for everyone as long as they have the computer and software to work with.

Time Scale: The time industrial media gets to its audience it could be days or even weeks. Social media is obtained instantaneously through the web such as Blogging.

Permanence: Magazines (made by industrial media) are permanent and cannot be changed, whilst Social Media can be altered through editing or comments.

Social Media as a global system has been increasingly growing since 2006 due to increases in networking, socialising, blogging, instant messaging and other forms of communications electronically. This has really changed the perspective on the World we see today. It has been used for so many positive things. It has helped all of us connect together with people all over the world, it helps us communicate whenever it needs be and is really useful for addressing emergencies and problems between two people, businesses and even through the global media spectrum.

Since the 1930's, Media was basically advertising through posters, newspapers and radio broadcasts. In my opinion this is when the first series of ' Military Propaganda' took strides to calm and grip the nations. It was used in graphical posters such as comical art and daring artist drawings to inform, amaze and even scare citizens into submission. War Propaganda, especially in Germany was used visually and by mouth (one-to-many) through special radio broadcasts to encourage the German population to continue support for Hitler's Nazi Germany.

These techniques were used heavily for the German war effort and has made media so effective for bad and negative actions.

The Road To War for Britain however took strides to calm the Nation after the economic crashes, using different types of propaganda using Slogans, Repitition and Oversimplication to continue work effort and keep peace from the opposing threat of Nazi Germany.

Capitalism or Communism?

Capitalism is a socioeconomic system which deals with means of production known as capital. Many first world countries are reknowned as being a Capitalist country. Market is the main operator for dealing with generating profits which fund labour, technology and industry.

Social classes matter when Capitalism is involved. A Hierarchy can be created using principles of income, social status (such as rich, poor, military, royalty). The richer you are, the higher you are in the capitalism hierarchy. In my opinion, this isn't fair for poorer, hard working classes to get little profit after a long days work. They are the ones who generate the profit in the markets whilst the ones working in the offices and in management work little and achieve more wages. However, the ones that work in the offices and manage the factory for example supervise the workers below on the workshop floor for build quality and to find any risks with production. Money spent on items such as Ipods, foodstuffs and transportation gets put back into the system and is paid through the hierarchy. Meaning that the managers and chairmen/women achieve the greatest profit whilst the working classes recieve lower wages.


Capitalism uses Social Media and Industrial Media in every way possible to sway the country in favouring products, interesting them in new technologies and keeping the country running as a whole. Without media advertising in social media forms, every Capitalist country in this day in age would not be successful in achieving market profits and the system would crash miserably.

Social and Industrial media has such a great effect on our society, it governs everyday things such as television adverts, radio broadcasts, internet pop-ups and webspaces. It's even still in print process such as magazines, newspapers and billboards. Media makes the world go round with Capital is involved as it's the only catalyst for citizens in each country to become encouraged or intrigued to purchase products.

Communism is another socioeconomic political ideaology which is known as classless and apparently lacks a heirarchy system. This means that common ownership owns the means of production and property in general. The use of socialism is its primary goal to make the population believe that everyone is equal and every product made through the means of production is equal to all and that profits are equal to everyone within a factory or business. In my opinion this is not true in the ideal world because the dictatorship that governs these ideas are not equal to the working people or 'proletariat'. Instead of the profits being measured equally through the society, the governing head takes as much profit as possible just like in a capitalist hierarchy.

I'm not a fan of Communism because of the ways that the working people are treated. When Stalinism was in force, the working people were forced to work sufferable hours in poor working conditions. Fatalities from these poor working conditions are too high to count. The system becomes corrupt when the governing power takes more profit and distributes 'low pay' equally to the working people even though they have been promised equal profits from everyone.

Communism today still uses propaganda through social and industrial media. Especially in places such as the Peoples Republic of China and North Korea. These communist states shun out Capitalism and try and endorce their policies using media types such as internet, radio, newspapers and televisions to keep the working people under the governments control. Living under fear using slogans and strong communist footage to brainwash the population works on the misguided. Using these tactics makes the working people work for anything just to make a substantial living.

Social and Industrial Media can be used in different way. In some ways good and some ways bad. Now it's being mixed with politics which can be used to either inspire the population or to break their spirits. Whilst in industry and businesses, Social media and Industrial media can be designed to inspire professionalism and this will easily lead the population into believing different ideas and to try new products and items.

Mind Mapping

We were given a task in IDAT101 to create a mind map about ourselves. It can contain anything as long as it's about yourself and the things around you that make 'you', YOU.

I came up with this mind map using a handy tool called FreeMind, I would recommend you all to use this.

However it is hard and confusing for the majority of beginners to use the program.

It basically creates the mind map in a simplistic way once you find what controls you want to use to draw the mind map together. It took me a few hours to grasp this program and to complete the mind map.

Enjoy!