Synthetic Personalisation

The advertisement uses synthetic personalisation to make them believe what is being said is intended directly for them. This is done by the use of the words “your” and “you” that is used in the piece. The use of the words “your life” is a clever use of personification which makes the person believe that their phone is their life, and therefore they deserve the best phone. The use of the words “At last” is also useful as it gives the reader the perception that they have always needed what this new phone has to offer, even though they may not have known it. The words at last create the connotations of need and desire which will therefore make the reader want whatever they have been missing with their current phone. 

Mini investigation - Language and Technology

I set out with the hypothesis that linguistic features remain at a constant level in terms of linguistic features and/or distinctive features in a particular person whatever form of social network is used.

I attempted to test this by going onto some famous peoples Facebook and Twitter pages. I am aware that some famous people have hired people to manage their social media accounts and to in response to this possible issued I made sure I looked at well known people who are known to be very opinionated and an icon who people would be listened to and followed so therefore would be highly unlikely to have someone write their status'/tweets.

I realised that on most of the celebrities social networks, their posts were completely identical on all social networks, I then remembered that it is possible to synchronise Twitter to your Facebook accounts so that status' and tweets are the same.

I must therefore adjust my hypothesis so this has been put into consideration

Transcript Writing

Our task was for Liam to draw several abstract images and shapes. Me and him were back to back, Liam then had to describe to the best of his ability what he had drawn. He was directing me on what to draw, as I could not see what he had drawn, the objective of the task was to try and get identical pictures but more importantly to record what was said in order to practice transcript writing.

Here is an extract from mine and Liam's dialogue.

Liam: To the top left draw a diamond.

Me: (7) Yeah.

Liam: About the space of your little finger (.) on the (.) right edge of the diamond (.) stick your finger out and draw a snowman with a small head(.) but it's got to be joined.

Me: Small head.

Liam: Then a big body going down but don't separate the head (.) don't put a line (2) if you get where I'm coming from.

Dwayne: Yeah.

Liam. Um (3) below the diamond (.) probably a finger space below it do an equal sign.

From this extract you notice a lot (.)'s, these are pauses in Liam's speech. This was because Liam is thinking of the directions in his head before he tells me them. This prevents him from telling me the wrong thing. In this extract you also see a very long pause before I say yeah "Yeah". This is because I was processing in my head what Liam had told me then actually performing the act by drawing the object. After Liam gives me a set of directions, I repeat back to him a part of what he said by saying "Small head". This is a use of back channel agreement, doing this shows that I have heard and understood what he has said, he then also has the opportunity to correct as he has heard what is on my mind.

Coursework Part 2 - Travel Writing

New York, the city that never sleeps.

Finally, after several hours of exhausting trekking, I arrive in the center. Shivers run through my spine. I recognise my surroundings now, it’s exactly how I pictured it - only more perfect. With my coffee in one hand, and map in the other, I have all I need to continue my adventure.

As the snow continues to fall, the freezing icicles absorb into my furry hat. My gloves struggling to cope with protecting me from the raw cold that besieges me. With the flaming flask in my hand being my only form of warmth, I walk through and all I can see is gleaming lights of warmth, shelter and homeliness surrounding me. Businessmen zooming through the streets, taxis beeping their horns, groups of teenagers hurrying around, young men prancing around trying to earn money, old men on the sidewalk begging for that spare dollar. I am wary that I may accidentally walk into the rush.

As I advance further though my trip, I see fast white clouds emerge from the ground. Panic rushes through my head as I furiously ponder on what this may be. My head spins rapidly to see everyone else’s reaction to this, however everyone seems oblivious to it. Can they not see what I am seeing? Is this of the norm? I reach the conclusion of the latter.

It abruptly dawns on me that I have lost track of where I’m going - I am lost. But I don’t mind, is there really a better place in the world to be adrift?

As I continue walking through the city, I pass what two minutes ago looked like a insignificant, microscopic dot. To my surprise it has transformed to this sizable, substantial skyscraper that now alludes me instantly. My perception of where I am eventually returns.

Whether I am lost or found, there’s some things I can’t escape - McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, Krispy Kreme.. The list goes on.

As the daylight begins to fade, snow continues falling from the sky but is now easing up. The day is getting later and the darkness is starting to spread, however the city is only getting brighter. As if a magician has cast a spell, the city transforms from a formidable fortress surrounded in slush to a gleaming mirage of shimmering wonder. I wouldn’t change this for the world.

The cold still smacks my face, with the wind whooshing through as if it is trying to knock me off my feet, the only thing that has any chance of doing that are these sparkling stars that follow me on my every move. I walk on and make it to my hotel, as I breeze through the security greets me with a ‘Good evening sir’, as I walk further in, a sudden rush of warmth flows through my body, the scent of homemade cooking runs through my nostrils, I feel at home. I’m at the right place.

Coursework Part 1 - Newspaper Article

Dear Britain, can we stop being so cheap for tourists?

Sickening figures show that tourists are costing the NHS £2bn. Someone call the doctor. 

Dwayne Jones
Thursday 24th  October 2013 16.34 BST


A breakdown of the freebees available to tourists.

We have an emergency.

Or perhaps, according to some of our leading politicians, there is no virus spreading at all.

On one side we have Sir David Nicholson, shrugging off all criticism towards him concerning funding, workers and numerous scandals. He insists that he has done a good job and will continue to do so.

“I am absolutely proud of my NHS record” he told BBC Radio 4’s today programme, however he did concede that there is room for improvement, saying “We could always do better”.

However on the other hand we have his to-be successor, Simon Stevens, who is adamant Nicholson is doing it all wrong. Mr Stevens has seems to have drastic plans to remedy the horrifying statistics that exist today. There has been suggestions of a paid for ‘American-activated’ healthcare.

To me, this radical scheme is just a desperate attempt to salvage pride after the department of health released some quite disturbing facts on how much tourism costs the NHS.

Reports show that Britain is now considered the country with ‘some of the most generous rules in the world’. Further statistics estimate that £388 million goes on tourists who are wrongly given free treatment, and a further £300 million is used on tourists who simply take advantage of Britain’s leniency on healthcare. All this contributes to the most frightening statistic of them all… The estimated £20 - £200 million spent on tourists has been increased up to 100 times more than that. An appalling £2 BILLION.

Soft. That’s what Britain has become, soft. Now, I am all for world equality and I appreciate that health is one of the most important things in life and some are not fortunate enough to not be able to afford the healthcare they need. But given our country’s financial state still being on the edge, we cant afford to give millions of people healthcare freebees.

Jeremy Hunt has said “It’s time for action to ensure the NHS is a national health service - not an international one”. I can only agree with him, if this situation continues, I can see it getting very, very difficult for the economy.

Britain have become the Shepard…With the tourists being the sheep… However our barn is not big enough to accommodate everyone (especially those who don’t need looking after.) So therefore we need a solution or this country may start facing some problems.

Big problems. New ideas need to be put in place to show the world that this is not a place where we hand out free operations to people who ‘just need to check they’re alright’ or free eye tests because they ‘saw two fingers instead of one’.

One idea that has been put into consideration is to charge foreign students £150 a year for healthcare and £200 a year to temporary migrants - this is anticipated to generate approximately £200 million and consequently be a form of recovering the money previously lost.

It looks like there is going to be a change, I like the sound of this change, we must have a change - so maybe let’s hold of dialling 999, for now anyway.











Bibliography

Sir David Nicholson quote “I am absolutely proud of my NHS record” - Interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme - The Telegraph, 11th July 2013

Facts

“£388 million goes on tourists who are wrongly given free treatment”
“£300 million is used on tourists who simply take advantage of Britain’s leniency on healthcare”
“£20 - £200 million spent on tourists has been increased up to 100 times more than that. An appalling £2 BILLION.”
“Charge foreign students £150 a year for healthcare and £200 a year to temporary migrants - this is anticipated to generate approximately £200 million”  - All from Daily Mail - The TRUE cost of health tourism, 22nd October 2013

theguardian

TECHNOLOGY BLOG 

Started from the bottom, now its here 

Twitter: What have they done to get to the top?

With now it being reported that there is over 100 million people using this, we look at some statistics on how this powerhouse of a Social network got to where it is now.

The sign we have all become so familiar to.

Waking up, eating your toast, brushing your teeth, having a shower, having 140 words to say what lies ahead of your day. The latter has become so much the norm to so many of us. The opportunity for anybody to share their life and whatever is going on in it which gives them the impression the whole world actually cares, is simply irresistible as it is believed that 50 percent of the 100 million users that exist log in and use the service everyday.

Twitter has triumphed over other social networking sites such as MySpace and Bebo and after defeating the powerhouse of social networks.. Facebook, Twitter can now call itself the leader of these other huge names. However the question I now believe we must ask ourselves is how much longer will the recognisable tweeting bird can stay 'top of the tree'?

Holiday Text

So after a two hour trip to the airport, a five to six hour plane flight and an hour long taxi journey, I finally make it to the place that everyone's talking about. Someone tell me of a place more talked about. I can now tell why. Is there anywhere more bright, lively and intriuging? It's electric atmosphere galvinates the people in the city, and can you blame them? The sparkling lights, the collosal buildings and the numerous food restaurants that surround this city makes it something for everyone. Being there on those February nights, you see the luminous lights contrast with the icy clutter beseiging the roads, is there anything better? It's no myth that it is "The city that never sleeps". It's a no brainer that you must go to this kewl city. You're guarenteed to have a blast!