I just posted my blog entry over on Core. Per my own directive, I’m attempting to segregate topics, but that sometimes proves difficult. When I first read this article on New Scientist, William Gibson’s “The Winter Market” came to mind and reminded me that for all the technological and scientific advancements humanity makes, we still have a lot of social ground to cover and related issues to resolve – and most of those will be documented in psychological journals; issues I now see bleeding into the “virtual” interactions around me. Perhaps the researchers who use simulations to study real world problems could extend their focus to the seemingly “normal” people who populate them. No doubt we could all use a bit of advice.
Tag Archives: #virtualworlds
Wired: Second Life Lessons
Here’s a short but interesting write-up over on Wired regarding Second Life and the sometimes unexpected (but uplifting) uses to which the application is put. Having a virtual neighbor involved in one such activity has also raised my awareness of these kinds of possibilities (beyond the press clippings I’d previously read). In a world where people can don any visible appearance and change it at will, coming to terms with how I form judgements on even those obvious (mis)representations has been enlightening.
And kudo’s to Gwyneth Llewelyn, who is both mentioned in the article and whose blog – along with the news reports regarding Tringo – finally got me involved in this virtual community.
(p.s. Wired does realize they’re quoting a virtual persona, right?)
SL Product Design
Not actually the first design I’ve created in Second Life. I’ve already constructed a monopod vehicle (that requires some additional code to limit rotations to prevent it from “shoveling”), a hoverpod (that’s sluggish in the turn), and eye glasses that play streaming video (cool, but only a test). And this. It’s actually the second in-world vendor terminal I’ve modeled. The first, unfortunately, had “copy/modify” permissions improperly set (ok, I’m a noob), and as a result may now be in use somewhere in Second Life without my knowledge. It was intended for a virtual world competition, but given its possible… likely… emancipation, I opted to design a second one – the above. That object was entered and soundly defeated (so much for my ego). However, it marks a turning point in my second life, so I decided to document that here. And apart from it’s magical ability to defy gravity, I’d like to see a kiosk like this in real life (it looks better in-world. honest.)
The Virtual Office
I’ve been spending a bit of time in Second Life. Having bought my virtual land, I’ve learned the modeling tools and built a virtual office (cleaner than my RL office, sad to say).
And if you want to read a real blog entry (and I’m getting tired of typing tbh; in-world “chatting” is killing my fingertips – getting hoarse, so to speak), feel free to drop in on the Core77 Software & Technology blog where I post related (and often overlapping) entries. If you read my previous entry here called “The Anti-Sony“, today’s entry on Core is essentially a continuation. The dance is the same, just different partners (didn’t some character in STNG say that?)
Going Virtual
Sooner or later this was going to happen: I’m now the proud owner of virtual beachfront property (probably as close as I’ll ever get to owning real waterfront turf). I’ve sent emails out which include a snapshot similar to the above, and now need to begin terraforming I suppose… well, after I figure out what I intend to build.
This certainly doesn’t look anything like the images of cyberspace I imagined while reading Gibson’s short stories (collected in the excellent “Burning Chrome“) or how Robert Longo depicted one of those shorts in the movie “Johnny Mnemonic“. I’ll admit I wonder why that is. There’s an easy answer: we just aren’t prepared for 3D spatial orientations that challenge years of experience about what we understand as “reality”. And then there might be another, simpler explanation altogether: we like sand and sun. Even if it’s virtual.