Sympathy for the Devil

Well, this could be my finnisher. The last of many (17) blog entries on this site.
Could be, but maybe I'll be asked to do something more.

So, I guess I should do a bit of a round off here. I've actually really enjoyed this class. SL was fun, modelling (a bit) and scripting (well, programming) are what I've been doing for the last 4-5 years, and this was a quirky little platform where I could play with my skills (would said skills pay the bills? I hope so...). Blogging was enjoyable, and I always enjoy playing a little bit of the Devil's Advocate!

I wont pretend for a second that this blog doesn't contain my own opinions, but I will maintain that most of these feeling were not as strong as this blog will have made them sound (Am I Bovvered?).

Here's a round up of what I found to be interesting in this module (if I forget anything, then it probably wasn't that interesting... (they're only OPINIONS))

• Blogging - fun for writers, those who like to speak thier minds, and advertisers. For most purposes, a good forum will work better
  
• MUVEs - why bother if it's not a game? I see the popularity of it, tho. Quirky, and griefable
• MMOGs - AYE! I was always into this idea, even when the net was young. Need more free worlds tho.
• MUDs - Been there, lol!
• Griefing - Get a life. (extra life?) (second life?) Griefers suck, yes. But really, where's the harm? Take a chill pill, not like they're taking the food from your mouth.
• Real life jobs in second life - what? sorry, What? two words "Job Security". Get a life, again (would that be a third life?). I suppose that you make your money where you can, so good luck to you. Not for me tho.
• Online learning - I like the idea. I would like to see an increase in the online support of conventional courses. On the other hand, I like people, and I think that the theft of the university experience (those of you who stay on campus are getting the most out of this) is a bad thing, and will lead us away from nirvana, utopia or wherever we should be heading. Also, pick a path. otherwise youll get lost.
• Web 2.0 - well, well, well. Whoever thought that the web was now in only it's second incarnation had to be a nutter, but aside from that, whoever wanted to put thier private (copyrighted) writings on the net...
• Online religion - surprise surprise.
• youtube - funny. supposedly being closed down for copyright reasons. it's the internet, and my blog is copyrighted to me... Of course theres copyrighted material in it.
• majiti - now here's copyright issues. isn't this unlicenced reproduction and public performance...

OK, so there it is. you'll see that this list has very few complimentary things to say. that's just me, I did enjoy it. Keep up the good work Daniel. watch out for furries next year tho. ;-)

Running Commentary

I hate post-it notes.

I think that the little yellow sticky detracts from the aesthetic feeling of anything. 

The fact that the little yellow sticky might contain some pertinent information (such as the statement that "the decision to utilise elongated lexicon is entirely unnecessary") doesn't make that intrusion any less disgusting.

I really dont see a use for them.


Fridge magnets. They do have a use. Still, these can destroy my calm, roomy (yeah, right) kitchen space.

The size and shape of the magnets is not important. It is thier number and the wieght of paper that they hold up.

Some of you will understand the concept - especially those with siblings - of fridge space. (those who don't, see "the simpsons" when bart is going to be kept back a grade).

A fridge door is valuable real estate, and it is very limited.

Sure, there's room for layers, but who ever digs under the topsoil of fridge pictures/letters/memos. When it comes to fridge clearing time (an annual event, if you are doing it right) pictures that you had forgotten existed suddenly re-appear, taking on a new life, a new power.
Or in most cases, being filed under "B".


So, I guess you are reading this (well, you should be, cos there's gonna be a test :P) and asking yourself (and your yellow sticky covered monitor) what this has to do with monday's class.

Well, some of you will have figured it out. Well done!

The class centered around a video clip (not a very good one, granted, but...). This was created by someone who had, among other things, an aesthetic aim.
The dark screen, varying text size and colour, timing etc. was all done deliberately for the look, the FEEL of the thing.
Along comes Daniel (don't take it personally, but youre just an example), and he doesn't like it. He wants to STICK YELLOW BITS OF STICKY TO IT! The creator's vision is destroyed.

OK, so the comments weren't yellow, but they weren't a part of the original aesthetic. Commentary, yes. All over my creation, no.

My second point was the real estate point.
When Daniel is done putting his painting of a house up over my video, someone else comes along and puts up a shopping list, then a permission slip, a crayon picture of "Mum" and so on.

Where's my video, Mum? I can't see it on the fridge, Dad.

The comments have completely covered the video, and now there are people commenting on the comments. My creative masterpiece has become a mass of slightly irritated (irritating?) text.


Admittedly, it isn't all that bad.

You see my point though.

Capitalist Virtual Environments

Had fun during the last meeting discussing the collaborative merits of Second Life. Being members of the same group was not enough to make the collabotative building and scripting of objects easy. In fact, it was decided that it was easier to put a price on an object than to allow its modification by other group members. (this is perhaps a slight exaggeration, but objects made copyable and modifyable were not scriptable, and their contents not viewable by other group members.) We thought that, since the sale of objects is such a large part of second life (probably second only to the role-playing element, which is not of much interest to me) This made Second Life more of a Capitalist Virtual Environment that a Collaborative one.
It was suggested (in jest) that perhaps collaboration would be better served by a Communist Virtual Environment (Groucho Marx and John Lennon- that'll be the day) where everything is shared by everyone, and therefore copyable, modifyable, scriptable and (here comes that most obvious of downsides) deletable, griefable, thiefable.
What a debate- I'd love to be involved in a serious attempt, but the FBI have already warned me off  ;-p

On a more serious note, I'll do a real post later.

A working class hero is something to be, apparently.

Coats Memorial Pix

http://picasaweb.google.com/Davie.Farrell/AVitualEnvironmetalist?authkey=klxzV34DGaI

I don't know which one of these will work better.

This post is more of an assist to a teammate. Here you go Karsnik

A Vitual Environmetalist

Griefing is Culture

I don't really agree with the title, but it seems that Future Publishing's PC Gamer does. Theres a four page report in the april 2007 edition on imaginitive greifing!

Incidents described include walling players in with furniture (forever) in Ultima-online, Secon-Life's duplicating party hats (which shouted "terror will rain down upon the unfit gods and the flock that they govern, from now until the end of days") which crashed the ENTIRE GAME, and luring high level monsters into populated areas to rampage through crowds of unprepared players (training is the name for it apparently).

I hasten to add that there is no mention of the type of incidents that we read about this week, (although World of Warcraft priests can get an ability called "Mind Control" not dissimilar to the voodoo doll, although time limited. It seems that a bug allows "Mnd Control" over player's ghosts, which is not time limited.) and that most of the griefing described WAS pretty imaginative, and harmless (if a virtual knife to the head is ever harmless).

I wanted to point out this report for a couple of reasons: 

1. Online Worlds with greifer punishment systems (Archlord's Villain Points and Roma Victor's crucification of perpetrators)
2. Griefer's homepages (CLANS of griefer's)
   

Villain Points, btw, give increasing punishments as they are accumulated, from not being allowed to trade with players and causing guards to attack you, to XP loss and the inability to satrt fights (the point of online games).

here's the links

www.playtocrush.com

www.darkwolves.com

w-hat.com

Reposte/ Re-Post

A little calmer today. I realise now that yesterday's post was just a bit biased. Actually, the paper in question details a rather disgusting episode, which could be harmful to the mental health of the individuals it was purpotrated against. Yes, this kind of thing should be policed in some way, but not at the expense of the freedoms that the internet has provided. file sharing IS collborative, for instance. It is the original use of the internet, and (in the case of documents) has been the reason for science's huge leaps in recent years.

A cursory glance at some of the other blogs from my classmateshas brought to my attention another of the papers given out at the (missed) lecture. USA today's report "Faithful Build a Second Life for Religion Online". Here's a thing, religion is a major influence in life and society, the most basic laws came from religion, human burial and the proper disposal of the deceased (sorry, eloquence escapes me here) came from religion. No matter which religion you practice, or whether you are a devout atheist, religion effects YOUR life EVERY DAY. I might be bold in suggesting that the beginning of the separation between us and the animals was the beginning of religion. Is it so surprising that religion appears online?

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

I'm a bit religious, I confess. RC, actually, and it surprises me just how much the teachings of the various religions promote brotherhood.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " (Matthew 22: 36-39)

Teachings like these would surely help to put an end to the evils in the first part of this blog.

In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. (Acts 19:20)

I've known people who were helped through hard times by the bible, God, and religion. I am a little opposed to the pushing of religion on people. Wars have been a major part of religious history, and they've been used for oppression on more than one occasion. It's not for everyone, and I won't force my beliefs on anyone, but here, for those who might want help, solace, advice or inspiration, is a link to a biblical database. The topical bible is best for these purposes (It's the same bible, just points you to passages appropriate to particular problems/ needs/ worries/ questions/ etc.

http://www.biblegateway.com/topical/

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa-Raḥmatu l-Ḷāhi wa-Barakātuhu.
Peace be with you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessing.

Reality Bites!

So, I've been in the doldrums recently. The bad money management practiced by most students (if the stereotype is to be believed) has caught me, and the decimal points needed moving. Purse strings have been tightened, so I planned to make the half hour walk to uni today (at least the sun is out). I hadn't planned for some real-time greifing. The fact is that in the real world, crimes of opportunity are more than just a slight annoyance. My niece (who is really just my long term girlfriends niece, but lives downstairs, so it seems more like that type of relationship than "a freind of a friend's daughter") was out playing. Just a child, she left her (pink) nintendo ds lying around, and someone took it. I spent a good hour on the (cold) trail of two guys with a burgundy car. When I eventually left for uni (late again) the police hadn't arrived yet (they took statements about 2-3 hours after being phoned, but i guess it isn't something that warrants an immediate response). 
Anyway, this is definately off-topic. the point, I suppose, is that i missed the lecture. I am led to believe that it concerned extreme cases of "greifing".  My judgement somewhat clouded, I say that this is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. There is never any point when my virtual property, my virtual identity and/or my virtual (second) life come close to comparison with my real life, job, property, identity. Having lived though high school, and not far from the bottom of the food chain, I can understand that bullying is menatlly scarring, and that little things can disrupt our overall mood for long periods of time, and having scanned a little of the "A Rape in Cyberspace" paper, I agree that punishment should be a consequence of these actions, but real crime is still more of a problem than words/pictures on a screen will EVER be. Bad news, yes. In the long run, though, what's been lost?

Before you post a comment, realise that I'm just a little irritated at the moment, and there will probably be a re-count in the next post.
I promise not to read the comments 'til I've washed this red paint off of my eyes.

Just in case you wondered, Rachel (6) is ok. She's made of sterner stuff. Thank god.

more like the MUVEs for ya

Got a little sidetracked. Sorry.
Last week's lecture was interested in MMORPGs, MUDs, MUVEs and, most memorably, Greifing. An interesting little history lesson, stating with Adventure! ("There's a coffin!"), on to MUDs (I played one or two of those), through Ultima Online, Lineage and World of Warcraft (too expensive, get a job!). I always had fun playing these types of games, co-operative adventure/RPGs. It's one of my favourite genres. Paul, though, has had bad experiences with online RPGs, and I can see how that could happen. His expeiences are not due to griefers, more due to (bad analagy time) "religous" gamers who, zealous in thier beliefs, want to "convert" players to thier own personal gameplaying style. (apologies to anyone who dislikes my analagy)

Having been told about griefing in the lecture, we then went on to experience it in the lab. The lab was fun. A SL speed building challange. Best Allan's chip shop in 2 hours wins. So, off we hopped to a public sandbox, starting to make some little progress, when people started flying off the sim in cages. Turns out that some eejit (I've been censored) called Grimm was firing things at us. This slowed us down for a bit, but the other group won out- and this looked to be the most likely outcome in any case.

Far from the madding crowd, however, I've made a kilt, sporran, sgian dubh, montrose doublet, and crevat. and I've scripted a box that sells them. my group were looking for a box to put stuff in, I can do it now. So, I've finally made myself useful. lol

I want to make stuff, but I have to work on my project! MUST DO PROJECT! PROJECT!

Wiki-Wiki-Wow

Covered a lot of ground today. Felt like I had to use a bit of a delta function (yep, i gave them a kick in the pants!) to get us going, but as it turns out, the work was being done all along. Actually, I already knew that it was, but the wiki didn't.
As a matter of fact, and this is probably the first positive thing ive posted on this blog, I'm confident that we will have a good coursework now. The way things are going, (theyre gonna crucify me!) everything might just start to come together pretty quickly.
I have to be honest, the wiki was worrying me, and I wasn't sure if it was being taken seriously (i mean, It's all fun and games, we can be free to post funnies, but we need to POST) but there's progress reported on it now, along with a few links.
Also, after the skype meeting, which was a laugh, we even seem to have started doing some of the things that we said we would! Gasp!

Well, Well Done Us!

Just as well someone was taking notes tho- eh Karsnik?

Harsh Reality

OK, so I was a bit harsh yesterday when talking about Kevin Thompson's Ultraversity. My opinion stands, however. I think the guy has a groundbreaking idea, and the delivery method is a good idea, but I still don't see what you get out of the degree. But then, I have never seen any point in teaching art, which is supposed to come from the heart.
That said, as I was writing yesterday, I knew that I was being a little too scathing, and I am never one to advocate prejudice. I wouldn't knock it till i tried it.
I'm sure that part of my opinion is born of the fact that I went to university knowing that if I did my work, I'd leave with a set of skills that could be put to use in a trade. I suppose that the point was more of a call to move forward from ancient academia into modern learning.
Another point, though, is that I like paisley university, because I can talk to my lecturers, none of whom are monsters, cloaked in mystery, or even unassailable. If I had not met them regularly, and seen them buying their coffee in the same shop as me, I might not be of this opinion.

Yes, I was harsh. Perhaps I sounded heartfelt. But I'm just keeping it real!

The Kingdom of Strife

Today's CVE class was interesting, a lecturer from Fife who lectures down south through the internet gave us a lecture over the internet.
I'll give you a second to catch your breath after that. The guy advocates "distance learning", which is the use of communication technologies (including the internet) to facilitate teaching. This in turn means that he needs only visit his university three times a year. He never needs to meet his students until graduation. This is an interesting concept, and the portion of the lecture that pertained to this concept was rather good.
The lecture went on (and on) about various internet sites devoted to the empowerment of the average person. YouTube, for instance, where one can upload a video for anyone to see, and Bebo, where friends can leave messages. there were a few site mentioned that I hadn't heard of. I really enjoyed this part of the lecture.
Nextly, though, the lecturer talked about the course he was teaching. He himself admitted that it was curriculum free, and that this was a problem for some people. He told us that the course introduced many of the web (2.0) 's tools for the sharing of information and communication (he had "4 Cs") and that the coursework was research based, with no firm structure. Sounds good, but what do you learn? It sounded to me like you would come away having learned how to use web tools that were outdated by the time you had finished your course, and that apart from that, you would have a degree that was a bit of an "IT engineer's" qualification.
Yes, I came away with that low an opinion of this degree. IT engineers, those who call themseves such, have succeeded in giving computers and programmers a bad name, one which we are only just beginning to lose. They are the people who have self taught computer skills, and demand high pay for simple tasks, because of the fear of computers. This fear is evapourating due to web 2.0, and this guy is teaching a degree in web 2.0 so that we can have web 2.0 experts. Surely it's web 2.0 that needs to be simpler, not professional. Of the people, for the people, by the people. Bah!

Use web 2.0 as a tool for teaching- good idea
Teach the use of web 2.0 as a tool- bad idea.

Do you like my blimp?

After writing yesterday's blog entry, i had a wee peek at some of the other blogs (Peter's obviously been practicing, his blog is by far the longest and most regular). Got a bit of a reminder from Paul's blog, and I figured that it would be a good idea to mention it here.
Last week's class was quite interesting. We met (in Second Life) a professional Second Life builder. He will hereafter be referred to as "Dreadlock Guy" and he had a blimp floating around his head. He was kind enough to show us around some of his creations, including Dell's SLHQ. I have been impressed already by some of the buildings in Second Life, but most of his creations were top notch. I personally visited Dublin, which was one of his creations, and found it to be rather good. As to whether it mirrors the real Dublin, I couldn't really comment. Dreadlock Guy gave each of us a handy building tool, which will help to make larger shapes possible.
Notibly, the meeting included sound, transmitted using Skype. This was far better than the last meeting, where the sound transmitted suffered a two minuite lag. 
Although this was interesting, and I have since then been doing a little more modelling, I dont think that this type of career would interest me. Also, who really thinks that this career is in any way secure. Second Life Second Edition or even Second Armageddon would render the skillset in question (questionable?) (outdated?) less useful in any case.
Now, do not misunderstand me. I don't for an instant believe that a career in 3d modelling is hopelessly insecure. No, I simply suggest that a specialisation so platform specific could handicap ones future prospects.
I'm trying out the Opera browser at the moment. It has a couple of nice features (zoom, built in BitTorrent client, etc.) but writing this blog was a little annoying on it, as some spaces acted like blank letters, not allowing an automatic carridge return at the end of a line (like a shift-space). Strange.
But I digress. The last order of business is the mention of the models that i have been working on. They are:
Stephenson's Rocket - the first "modern" steam locomotive, and
A Pedal Powered Bicycle - a Scottish Invention, With Pneumatic (spell what?) tyres- another Scottish Invention

Ramble On- Perhaps it was a Led Zeppelin.

The beginning of the beginning of the middle of the end

So, Coursework season has begun. This is the season when student's like myself fart about and prtend that we should be feeling the weight of the workload. Those of you who have been good at getting started early on your courseworks will be used to hearing the last minuite complaints of the rest of us. This time, however, we have another, newer problem with this (tried and tested) strategy. Wikis.
You cant get away with reporting "I thought about doing something, but decided that I'd leave it till later" on a timestamped, signed Wiki page. So this time (and I've said it before) I'll get an early start on my CW. Maybe.
So, having started building Stephenson's Rocket, I placed some web pages on the wiki (http://www.pixelheaven.net/wiki/) then remembered that i was supposed to write a short novella here.

Esta aqui es mi blog. No me gusta mucho, porque no es bueno. Pero, es aqui y lo tengo.

Professional Blagger

Yes, we've all heard of them. These are the people who phone major companies to blag some of their stuff. They might start by getting the name of a supervisor, whose name they might drop later in search of bigger fish. Their aims can be small, like a discount on their broadband, or big, like inside info on the companies trading position. Blaggers, the lot.
Seems, however, that there's a new breed. Professional Bloggers. Now, you might just think that this is another little dig, and that I'm just going after a little sympathy at having to write more than once a week in this thing I call blog. Not so. I remember, not so long ago, that there was a case where a blog was used as a product launch advertising campaign (apparently not very successfully, as i can't remember what the product was).
In fact, professional bloggers do exist! I was surprised to find these headlines on google news:

Kiwi blogger logs on to make a living
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand - 18 Feb 2007
Read/WriteWeb attracts more than 600000 page views per month and is linked to over 4000 other blogging sites, making it the world's 51st most popular blog

Tools of Trade: Blogging to Inform
Carolina Newswire (press release), NC - 27 Feb 2007
A popular off-line reader is Feed Demon (feeddemon.com). There are scores of popular blog aggregators available.

Could your blog earn you £70000?
BBC Berkshire, UK - 28 Feb 2007
"I just entered my own blog and got a phone call one day. One judge said I was better than Jeffrey Archer..."

Viral Buzz Takes Blogger from 30 to 32000 Visitors and a Two-Book ...
PR Web (press release), WA - 2 Mar 2007
The Blog Squad are co-authors of "Build a Better Blog: The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Business with a Professional Blog"


Hmm... and I thought it was all just a load of guff.

Freebie Kings!

Well, as we all know, we got our coursework assignments today. Education, education, education. Need to think of something to teach.
Next up, Daniel has posted a blog defending blogging. At last, somebody has found a use for blogging! Argument! I like this, a good argument is hard to find. On the other hand, where's the point if you can't see how red in the face you're making them.
I'm not ranting, much, but I am pretty sure that those of us who wish to be creative in our writings could previously spout drivel onto paper, where no one had to read their mad ramblings. I know this, in fact, because of the brotherly urge to read a sister's diary. I got hung over the banister by my ankles when she found out tho!

Oh! The title, yeah. Umm... found some free junk on Second Life. Freebie Heaven. Plenty good. Anvil dropper, and umm... less PG things. Haha.

Please don't wake me, I'm only sleeping (in)

OK, so i kinda slept in for class today. Never a good thing, but never mind, as i got logged into second life on time to see Daniel, Ben, and Peter on there. This means that ill be able to get the lab exercises (not exactly lab work, more like virtual exploration) done.
At the moment, second life looks like a bit of fun, but im not getting the immersion that makes for a great world. I do think it'll be an enjoyable experiment working in there tho.
This, on the other hand, doesn't float my boat. In my humble opinion, blogging is the scourge of the internet. You might read my blog, looking for some information, inspiration, intellectual stimulation. The only thing you're likely to find is rambling incoherent drivel.

But, maybe ill be converted by next week. Who knows...

Copied from bebo

Well, I've done one of these before, and back then it was kinda like writing a diary. Unfortunately, my life's not that exciting, but it'll be fun for me to mess about with anyway.
It was my first day back at uni today, and im looking forward to this module, cos it seems its about all kinds of internet communications:- blogs, forums, virtual communities, etc.
could be fun, or could be geek central. either way, ill fit in.
well, if i ever do another entry, i might just let you know how it goes.
Later, y'all