Coming to an end...

As the semester wraps up we finish up all of our assignments and have time to reflect on the course. We just finished our last podcast last night and took the time on it to explain our favorites about the class, the adjustments from a regular class, and some suggestions. I enjoyed this a lot and I think everyone had a lot of positive things to say about the class in general. Looking back I'm so glad I took this class, even though at first I was on the fence about it. It was a good experience for me and honestly I don't think I will get much more of an opportunity to take another class like this. It opened my eyes to new books and technology that I have never heard of before. New things never hurt anyone, they just make them more experienced. I feel like that is what this class has done for me. Thanks!

Reader Response 10

This quote is from Dibbell as he has to go to San Francisco for awhile.
"...operations here at Play Money are somewhat in disarray at the moment and may remain so for the next few days or even weeks. I have no way of logging in to UO, and no way of delivering the items...I have no idea when or how I will be able to sort all this out....I miss my data. I miss my home. I don't even know where my home is right now."

This virtual selling of goods has obviously had a huge impact on Dibbell. With out it he seems to be lost and confused. He also seems to be worrying about it a lot. This "job" seems to consume your life, much like any job in reality can do. It obviously can become a stress as well as shown in the quote.
Dibbell goes on to say....
"What the hell is wrong with me? My gloom was understandable, I guess, but really: A hard-drive crash is a set-back, not an existential crisis."
He is trying to figure out why he is so thrown off by a system crash. He is realizing how much this virtual world is meaning to him. He gets all bent out of shape because of his hard drive crashing, and to him it is a real crisis.

We can judge this life style and business phenomenon all we want, but it seems that until you yourself become involved you don't fully understand what keeps these people coming back (besides the money). Nor do we understand the pressures and standards put on these people to make money just like we try to do in reality.

Neovox Article #2

I hard a hard time thinking about what to write about for the last neovox article. I thought at first I would write about Second Life, but the website was so confusing and I couldn't even figure out how to make an avatar. Needless to say I don't know enough about it to write a paper.
However, with this semester wrapping up I decided to reflect on this semester. That's when I came up with the idea to write about my online class experience and what I thought were the pros and cons. Having it be my first experience I thought it would be good to really think about and to figure out if I would do it again. I learned a lot from taking an online class and it was like nothing I ever experienced before, so I think it's a good topic for me. So I will be brainstorming the next few days on what I liked and didn't like about my first experience with online classes.

Not my kind of Book

So I have been on the fence with this book since I started reading it. I have finally decided that I can't get into it for many reasons.
Firstly, the virtual selling and buying of goods is appealing to me, but too foreign to me as well. All the words used in this book about this virtual world I feel I don't understand. Not understanding certain words makes the whole book seem confusing. I spend more time looking up words on the computer, then sitting and reading. The words seem to be just jargon in my mind.
Also I have a hard time keeping the characters straight in my head. I feel like every chapter he introduces a new character says a few things and forgets about them till a couple of chapters later when I have forgotten who they and what they have done. I feel as though names are just thrown out there and there's not a lot of explanation about them.
Finally, the last reason is that he mixes reality and virtual. I get into the virtual aspect of the world and in the next sentence he's talking about his life in reality and his family. The talk of "gp's" in the virtual world and real money. I have no idea what money is real and what is just millions online.
I think this book is far over my head and it's making me not as interested. I have tried to look up words and concentrate, but I just can't get into it. I know it's because theres so many reasons all piled up to make the book not so appealing to me.

Reader Response 9

Chapters 17 and 18 in Play Money made me think about this new virtual business the author is starting to get involved in. In chapter 17 a conversation between two virtual sellers is shown throughout. It is an arugement and accusations from one seller to another ("Destiny" and "Rich"). Destiny thinks Rich is coming after him and lying to him, while "Rich" claims to know nothing about the "ex's" and says he had everything stripped of him.
This made me realize this virtual business seems different, but still has the same main issues as real businesses. There is still an underlying competition between people and a reason to succeed to support their family and be successful. It is just as much as a cut-throat business as any other. People are out to benefit themselves and accusations are bound to occur jut like any other business.
Also in Chapter 18 another aspect of any business was seen in this virtual business, as with real busniesses. The last line in chapter 17 says, "I'll tell you what, he said finally, and that was when my situation began to change". This refers to when Dibbell receives help from Bob, an already successful virtual seller. Once Bob put trust into Dibbell and allowed for help him out it was then it gave Dibbella step in the door. After this Dibbell was able to succeed and make more of a profit off from the virtual goods. This is like any business. Many times when your first starting out you must know someone and make connections before becoming successful.
People say "it's all in who you know"...and this seems to be just as true in the virtual world.

Reader Response 8

This is a quote that Dibbell says from Play Money that I found to be shocking...
"The twenty hours a week I was devoting to the game (lizard game) were no big deal compared to the sixty, seventy, and even eighty hours some players put in"
I'm giving this whole online gaming stuff a chance. I actually decided that before I judged this book (because at first it didn't really interest me) that I would join some form of an online game. I joined a website called pogo.com that offers tons of free online games. I started playing a couple of games and tried to figure them out. I actually became somewhat addicted to a couple of the games. The competitive side of me, like Dibbell says, took over me. I wanted nothing more than to beat that game. Just about all week when I have free time I sit down and play the game. I would say I have put in a good 5 hours. I have a lot of other things I have to do, then play a game all day.
That made me think about the fact that these people put in more hours in their gaming then into a full time job, and even overtime. I found the games to be fun, but between 60-80 hours a week. Who has time for that. Do these people work at all? Or do they just make this their full time job? Do these games bring out such a competitive side of these people to succeed that we make them our main focus?
All the power to these people that have the time and make the effort to play these games, they are probably much happier people because of amount of enjoyment they get out of them.
I have decided that online games are for me, but most defiantly not to that extreme.

Play money???

I have just now finished the first part of Play Money. So far I'm confused and I do not find the book to be that interesting at all. Before I started reading I was excited to see what this book had to offer because the title actually interested me. After the first few chapters I'm not all that interested. I think it's crazy people pay an insane amount of money for a house on the internet that is not even real. I mean good for the people that are selling this virtual loot and making money, but you buyers in my opinion are wasting your money. Maybe you have to become involved in an online game like this before you can judge it. I don't know, but as of now I feel it's a waste of money. I'm hoping the book becomes more interesting as we read on because I really don't want it to drag out and read something that's not enjoyable. I'm going to continue to read with an open mind and hope that at some point it becomes interesting to me.

Reader Respone #7-games...educational?

I just read the "Play" chapter of A Whole New Mind. The part that struck me the most was the video games. Pink praises video games in saying that they are great and everyone should try them. He says to go get a demo and play it and you will get hooked and not regret it. The he goes on to state, "At the very least, you'll begin to understand the powerful new grammar, narrative pattern, and thinking style those games are teaching"
When I first read all this about video games I jumped to the conclusion that video games are leisure activities guys do that seem pointless to many girls. Reading about the military game that was made for the soldiers to help them do training and learn aspects of the army made me think about other games. The more I read into the chapter and Pink talked about how these games are allowing people to learn new things in a whole different way, I got thinking...
I actually agree with him. He made me do a 180 turn on my opinions just in that one chapter. I mean every time I watch my boyfriend sit down and play video games I think about how worthless that seems to me (he is still playing them at the age of 23, almost 24). However, the more I thought about it they actually require to him to think and learn a lot. For example, his favorite game is an ATV game where you race four wheelers. Seems simple enough. When I try it though all I do is fall off and break the four wheeler. He has learned how to run the four wheeler, what gears work, and what not to do. Something I have not done because I have not taken the time to. I mean learning about a four wheeler isn't something your going to use everyday but he understands them way more than I do and that is because of some help from the video game. The video game allowed him to learn more about gears, and riding, which is something he really enjoys. If the game allowed for him to learn so much about something he loves, then go for it.
Also I babysat a little boy this sumer who was four years old. His mother gave him homework to do such as spelling, or letters. He never wanted to sit down and do them. However, he enjoyed playing video games. His mother got him a Leapster, which is a child's video game. You can buy educational programs or games that teach kids about different aspects of life. Once he got this he didn't mind doing his homework at all. The video game became a way of teaching him without him even knowing it. If this is a form of education that children are willing to do, I say good.
Who would have ever known if you really thought about it video games can actually be helpful in learning many new things for many ages.

No computers??? how?

I have come to really really appreciate having my own computer at school. All this talk about technology and how far it's come. I couldn't imagine going to college without a computer.
This past week I did not have my computer because it was getting repaired. Wow, you would think I lost my arm. It was such a pain to not have a computer sitting right there on my desk. I had to go to the library to use a computer and many times one wasn't available so I just had to sit and wait. What a waste of time. I wrote a paper, which would have taken me two hours if I were home on my computer but instead it took me four in the library. I couldn't check my email or be on IM. I can honestly say I felt disconnected from the world. I never realized how much not having a personal computer would affect me.
Really though our parents went to school without a computer. They passed, and they managed. So, why is it just in a generation we feel as though we can't live without them. Hell of a question.

Reader Respone #6 - Design Design

I have now finished the first three of the six senses. The first three include design, story, and symphony. All of them are interesting however I found design to be the most interesting.
I like the way the design chapter is presented. First and foremost though, Pink says that no longer is function enough but you also need design.
As quoted:
"It's not longer sufficient to create a product, a service, an experience, or a lifestyle that's merely functional. Today it's economically crucial and personally rewarding to create something that is also beautiful, whimsical, or emotionally engaging."
I completely agree with this statement. I don't know if it's just because I'm a girl, but these days it seems to be all about design. Our tissue boxes are even designed. I am completely suckered into these designs. If you have choice between a plain box and a decorative box of tissues I would pick the decorative one. Also there is such an emphasize on designer clothes, shoes etc. Even if you are not typically into that sort of thing, you are somehow suckered into what everyone else has to have. Somehow the design gets people to buy whatever it is.
The examples he uses for design prove his point over and over again. The examples about the fonts and the fact that I could pick them out in a quick manner shocked me. I would have never thought about the fonts even being designed on our computers. The other one that really caught is shown through this quote by Ohga saying, "At Sony, we assume that all products of our competitors have basically the same technology,price, performance, and features. Design is the only that that differentiated one product from another in the marketplace". Everything from cellphones, cars, clothes, etc. are all made with design as the main focus. As consumers we buy what it is we find appealing to us and the marketplace is using that in all there products to sell.

intrigued

I have never read a book by Pink before. Reading this book makes me think I should if he has any other books. I really enjoy his style of writing. The more I read the more I get pulled into what he has to say. Many points he brings up are common good examples I would have never thought of, but are easy to relate to. He doesn't use big words people can't understand. He seems very down to earth and someone you can relate to very easily. He even shows a drawing of himself that no one would be proud of. Good for him he has no shame in show casing his artistic abilities. The way he splits up the chapters and explains everything with such detail really helps the reader fully understand his points. I just find the book interesting and the author as a whole even more intriguing. It is by far my favorite book we have read so far in the class.

Short view proposal

I had a hard time trying to pick just one idea for the video. I finally came up with one I find fascinating. My mother as well as teachers have said to me how lucky I am to have a computer while going to school. They used to have a typewriter and had to go back through papers and rewrite the while thing if they made a mistake! WHAT!? I, in this day in age, could not imagine that. Thinking about this made me come up with the idea to compare the technology in the lives of people our parents age, only one generation, from the technology of our generation. I will compare the technology itself as well as how it affected the students of each generation in college. That's my proposal if anyone has any feedback let me know!

Reader Response #5

I have finished the first few chapters of A Whole New Mind. I find it to be very interesting and easy to read. I strongly agree with the chapter on Abundance, Asia, and automation.
He explains abundance by explaining about a shopping mall that has everything you could every want. All the big department stores like target, Walmart, and Best Buy. He brings up three good points about this "abundant era". These are how everyone just in the last 30 years now owns a car and a home, self storage (for all of our extras), and all the throw away products or objects we own. There is no doubt that we are people who have everything in abundance; clothes, shoes, cups, etc. We have way to much of so many things we could never use them all, but we continue to buy them. He makes the point that the abundance lessens the L-directed Thinking. Products are more about the color, the designer, beauty, etc. All of which are appealing to the eye. If it doesn't catch your eye you don't buy it. In this sense it make R-directed Thinking more significant. I agree with him completely. Rarely does anyone buy something based of a rational or logical choice it is more based off what catches your eye and you find to be appealing to you.
When he speaks of Asia he is talking about how white collar jobs will become almost non-existent in the U.S. This is because a person in India, Lalit, and other foreign countries have people that will do it for way less money than an American. This leaves these white collared L-directed Thinkers migrating to other countries. This leaves R-directs Thinkers to forge relationships and synthesize the big picture. Being able to have people in a different country replace higher end jobs in the U.S. is becoming a reality and Pink points it out well. There are a lot of people in foreign countries willing to do work for way less than an American, so American jobs are slowly perishing.
The last "A" Pink speaks about is Automation. This brings up the man vs. machine problem. Who can do it better....the man or the machine? He brings up some jobs that may soon be replaced by a computer that are often time L-directed Thinkers. Two are lawyers and physicians. When talking about the lawyers he says there is now an online site that does divorce paper and settles a divorce for only $249. There are also websites that make up forms for clients for way cheaper than the thousands a lawyer charges. This is going to force down the demand of lawyers and they will have to charge less for their work. As for physicians he points out how many people go online to find symptoms and problems instead of going to the doctor. I know I do that all the time, rather than paying for an outrageous trip to the doctor, you type in you symptoms and try to self medicate.
This chapter points out a lot of good indicators showing how R-directed Thinkers will succeed and benefit in the future. It makes me think and keeps me intrigued into the book.

A Whole New Mind

After reading the first chapter of this book I found quite a bit to be interesting. I like how he introducing the book by explaining the functions of each side of the brain. He explains what jobs and interests left brain people and right brain people do. I really enjoyed how he explain the contra lateral movement of body function. For example how the left brain controls the right side actions of the body and vis versa. Pink used real life examples to show this as he asked the reader to do different actions. This allows for the reader to get interested in the book very quickly. The most interesting part I found was the part about the brain and language. Of course that would interest me though, I am a speech major. We haven't taken neurology yet in our major so really it was an insight for me into what that may be like. I never knew that the left hemisphere specializes in text and the right hemisphere specializes in context.
This book holds my attention completely so far. I think out of all the books we have read this one will be the most appealing to me. I am also left handed so who knows how my brain works. I have never been checked to see what side of my brain is used for language. I have always been interested to find out and this book makes me want to find out even more.

neovox

I finished my paper for neovox yesterday. I was really dreading writing this, as were others I'm sure. However, I actually really enjoyed my topic on Myspace and Facebook. I never realized how against them I really was till I sat down and started writing about the pro's and con's. I never took the time to realize everything that goes on with these sites. This paper allowed me to realize how anti I am to these sites. Who would have that it. It just made me realize all the dangers that could really come out of these websites and how I'm not so sure if I want to be a part of it.
It seems as though this class was beneficial for me to take. I seem to me learning so much more about things that I probably would have never thought twice about.

Reader Response #4 - Raven

After finishing Snow Crash and looking back on it and the characters involved I am drawn in by a certain character. Surprisingly the character I found to be the most dynamic and interesting throughout the book was Raven.
The beginning of the book portrays him as a horrible, man killing human being. He his mysterious in every way as well. When he is first introduced in the book you can't figure out who he's working for, how he's killing everyone, and why everyone is so interested in him. Everyone says to avoid him at all costs.
Nearing the end of the book however you see a whole different side to Raven. It starts when Y.T. and Raven are "dating". You find out his background and see more of a human side to Raven rather than just an image of a murder. You find out he is a Aleut. He is very angry about the Russians and the American nuking his town. When he grew up he began working on oil rigs where he was the typical bad boy. On night while having way too much to drink while floating around in the water , Raven floats away and lands on Kosiak Island. The Russian Orthodox church found him, took him and and cleaned him up and that is how he became a part of the Raft. This allows you to see what he has been through that has brought him to where he's at in his life now. It adds more of a humanistic character to Raven.
As the book goes on Raven becomes more and more interesting to me. You find out more as time goes on in the book. Finally near the end it is revealed that it was Hiro's dad and Raven's dad that escaped together. This brought more anger to his character and you can see the pain that Raven deals with when it comes to America and them killing his father.
All around I found his whole story and developing character to be the most interesting in the book. Usually I am person that find the protagonist the most intriguing, but Hiro did not effect me at all.
I'm glad I read the book now I have finished it. It was a book I would have never sat down and read on my own, and it allowed me to experience something I normally wouldn't.

Metaverse? Not so far away?

Reading this book made me think how far away this kind of life in the Metaverse is in our lives today. At first I thought it wouldn't become reality for at least a couple of years. After watching tv the other night I'm not so sure we have that long before this is a reality to us all.
I was watching a ridiculous show called The Hills. Really all it is a bunch of little rich girls who go out and have fun, but have more drama then anyone could handle. Really don't know why I watch it, but oh well. Anyhow, at the end of the show they advertised for this thing they called the virtual hills. I would say it's sort of like SIMS. You make a character based off what you want to look like and are able to go out, talk to, and be a part of the life of the hills girls. So , basically you can act as though you are their friend and do everything with them over this virtual world. My eyes lit up. There it was, the "metaverse" coming to life before my eyes. Unreal! It really surprised me. They even show glimpses of the characters and they look real life as well as the settings and places they were at. Judging by this I think my first opinions of when this could really happen is a little off. It may be here sooner then any of us can believe.

Neovox

I have heard of the Neovox's online "paper" before this course. One of my roommates wrote for the paper freshman and sophomore year. I did not know that anyone that wanted, could write on it. I have thought about what is best for me to write about for the article. I tried to come up with what I feel most strongly about and really cared to research more about the pros and cons of it. I think I have decided to write about online organizations that keep people in contact. AKA...MYspace, facebook, blogs, games you name it...it's out there. I use some of these things without knowing a lot about them when I joined, so what better time ti figure it all out.

who would have thought?

So the more I get into this book, Snow Crash, the more I surprisingly start to like it. I'm not huge into Sci-Fiction novels. In fact I try to avoid them. I have probably only read two or three and they weren't appealing to me, so I tend not to buy them. At first I was just lost in this book because of confusion, now I'm lost in it, as in I am enjoying it a lot. I even had a dream about it at one point. Kinda creepy. This book has opened my eyes to a whole new world that may one day become a reality to me. I'm not all that into video games and second life nonsense on the internet. Stephenson almost makes it sound appealing though. I feel as though this book is easier to relate to than Smart Mobs. It's a more interesting and informing way of introducing people to the "future". It does bring out a lot of negatives in the future however. I don't really understand why we can't focus on the positive aspects. It might make feel a little better about the future we are entering into.
The only part I can't seem to get a grasp on yet is what this "Mafia" is all about. At first I thought Enzo just wanted Y.T. in a sexual way, but the more I read it doesn't seem like that. I'm curious to find out why her? I guess I can only continue reading to see. Until next time...

Reader Response #3

"He is not seeing real people of course. This is all a part of the moving illustration by his computer according to specifications coming down the fiber-optic cable. The people are pieces of sftware called avators"-Stephenson

This is a paragraph in Snow Crash about the Metaverse. This is a virtual community that Hiro is a part of. My impression is that people join to meet new people and be a part of another world in which they can be who ever they wish. As quoted by Nelson:
"Your avator can look however you want it to, up to the limitations of your equipment. If you're ugly you can make your avator beautiful. If you've just gotten out of bed your avator can being still wearing beautiful clothes and professionally applied makeup."

People can use this virtual world to become someone they are not in reality. They can change their height, their eye color and even their breast size. Do these people do it for simply something to do or do these people do it so they can be someone their not? Who knows? It does allow people to become someone they are not if they do choose to. No one would ever find out who was lying because you only know these people based on their avators personality. So , really this virtual world is made up of people who are the same as reality and others who are posers.

Even your social standing in the virtual world can be different than reality. Take Hiro, for example, he lives in a not so nice place and delievers pizza for a living. However in the virtual world he is seen as high class and respected and even allowed into a prestige club like the Black Sun. Would he be allowed into a private club in reality I would highly doubt it.

I have mixed feelings about the virtual world. In seems appealing if someone like Hiro can jump and be considered rich and respected compared to his life is reality. I think it allows people to join a community in which they can become physically and socially ideal in their minds. Whether that can hinder or help someone's real self image, I don't know.It's a little to early to really know what's going on in the book, but it is obvious that this virtual world is playing a huge role in Hiro's life and it looks to only get more intense.