A Second Life?

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world created by its Residents. It first opened to the public in 2003 and now has millions of "residents" from all over the world. Thousands of new residents join each day and create an avatar. These avatars explore the world and meet new people on this virtual world. They can buy, sell, and trade virtual land. On this virtual land people can build anything they want, their own paradise. Each avatar can be designed to the users preference, including their name and appearance.

I do think this could be a good way for some people to pass time. And even though it is nothing that I would be interested in, some people like that kind of stuff. I opened an account on there to see what it would be like and to be honest, there are some things that caught my attention. But overall, I was more confused than anything. For me, I would have required more help to get things done on that virtual world.

Im sure there are some people on this site that devote many many hours to building, buying, selling and trading things on there. I dont think there is anything wrong with this concept until people place their real lives on hold to accomplish something on the virtual world. When that happens I think that is just too much. No person should ever put some virtual world before what they really have. Doing this can cause a lot of problems. People could sometimes forget how to interact with people face to face.

Creating a whole new identity on here could also cause some problems. Its not too bad when someone creates a "perfect" person in their eyes on this site, but for some people it comes to a point where they feel like this avatar is who they are now.

Im not against sites like this, I am just not one that has time to go online and try to run a completely different life. I have enough trouble trying to handle the one life I already have. lol

Obscenity

In my media law and ethics class, we are currently talking about obscenity. There are so many things that the media has to be careful about it is very concerning. I mean, from saying offensive words to showing offensive images. I am a complete supporter of filtering out extreme sexual inuendos in daytime and primetime television shows. I do think there is a line that shouldnt be crossed. Yet, it seems like more and more shows are coming closer to that line every day. There are some things on television that truly surprise me. For example, there is a commercial I just seen the other day. It was an Arbys commercial. It didnt have any direct obscene material in it but just the way it was insinuating certain things shocked me. Parents have to be so much more aware of the things they let their kids watch. And, yes, I will probably end up being a protective parent about what my kids are viewing when I have kids, but there is a certain age where some things just should not be put into a childs mind. We have to have boundaries to where the television shows go and to what they show or say. Is it wrong or close minded for a parent to worry about what their kid is exposed to? I definitely dont think so.

Imikimi.com

So I have been kind of slacking on my technology knowledge. I have seen on many different peoples pages on sites like MySpace.com and MyYearbook the users posting up pictures with gif animations with it. I never knew exactly how to do this. I always felt like I was behind in the social networking world because I havent posted similar pictures. Well I recently discovered a website,imikimi.com, that makes it so much easier for those that are not familiar with gif animations. It lets you pick from their own templates or create your own. You can add any of your own animations or any that you find online or where ever. It ends up with very creative ideas and products to post up where ever you would like to. Here is a sample of a picture I created using this website...

Video Game Timeline

Timeline

1947:

-Device called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device patented in the U.S. by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann.

1952:

-A graphical version of tic-tac-toe created by A.S. Douglas at the University of Cambridge.

1958:

-Tennis for Two created by William Higinbotham, featuring a gravity-controlled ball.

1961:

-Group of students at MIT programmed Spacewar!

1966:

-Ralph Baer created a video game named Chase that displayed on the T.V. set, the first to do so.

1971:

-Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney created a coin-operated arcade version of Spacewar!, calling it Computer Space. Release of machines in November, first mass production of video game.

-Star Trek created by Mike Mayfield

1972:

-Gregory Yob wrote Hunt the Wumpus, first text adventure.

1974:

-Both Maze War and Spasim appeared, pioneering examples of early multi-player 3-D first person shooters.

-Brad Fortner and others developed Airfight as an educational flight simulator.

1977:

-Kelton Flinn and John Taylor create the first version of Air, first-ever graphical online multi-player game.

-Atari released its ROM cartridge based console called the Video Computer System, later called Atari 2600, became the most popular of all early consoles.

1982:

-The Commodore 64 was released to the public.

1983:

-The "crash" of the video game industry, as well as the bankruptcy of several companies.

1984:

-The IBM PC compatible computer became a technically competitive gaming platform.

1985:

-The arrival of the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga marked the beginning of a new era of 16-bit machines

1989:

-Nintendo released the Game Boy, the first handheld console

1992:

-Alone in the Dark, planted the seeds of the survivor horror genre of today, such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill.

1994:

-Sega released the Sega Saturn and Sony made its debut to the video gaming scene with the PlayStation.

1996:

-Nintendo released its 64-bit console, the Nintendo 64.

1998:

-The Dreamcast was introduced.

-The Game Boy Color introduced.

2000:

-Sony opened the new decade with the PlayStation 2.

2001:

-Nintendo followed a year later with the GameCube.

-Microsoft Corporation introduced the Xbox.

-Game Boy Advance is introduced by Nintendo.

2004:

-Nintendo introduced their DS and Sony premiered the PlayStation Portable (PSP) within a month of each other.

2005:

-Microsoft stepped forward first with the Xbox 360.

2006:

-Sony introduced the PlayStation 3.

Relearning cable

Me and my room mate, Ms. Laurie Pierce, have only been living in our apartment for about 2 months now. And, finally after a 6 month drought of having no cable at all we decided to sign up with Comcast. And, I am barely getting acquainted with OnDemand. I believe this was one of the best ideas that cable could have come up with. Because it allows me to watch all the CSI:Miami episodes that I missed. It also lets me watch movies that I dont have in my own personal collection at any moments notice. This makes it so convenient for all the viewers subscribed to Comcast. I am sure that this feature has attracted many subscribers. I know it is a feature that probably is age old to some people, but being without any cable for a while I am barely learning now how much to appreciate and how to work with all the amazing features that come along with it. :)

Twitter?

So today in class we talked about the different types of interactive media the two presidential campaigns are using. We found out that both candidates have twitter accounts. Barak Obama has 103,000 followers while John McCain had only 3,800 followers. This only proves to me that Obama really has won over the younger audience. It was said that McCain is not so focused on the younger generation because he knows that they already support Obama. The twitter accounts are just an example of the different demographics that each party is focusing their attention on and which demographics each of them has won over. I personally am not affiliated with any party but it is pretty cool to see how these types of interactive media really reach out to the younger crowds and it does show effort at least from both parties.

Big Fan of Fancast

I recently became very interested in this new website Fancast.com when one of our very own classmates did a presentation on it. I think it is amazing to go watch all these different shows and movies from one central location. It is a "free library of full episodes and clips from top networks and movie partners." Well thats what it said when I was reading more about it. It includes clips from networks like CBS, NBC and Fox (provided by Hulu), MTV Networks and BET Networks - movie trailers, short videos and interviews. It has over 3000 hours worth of different media, all free to the public. This really boggles my mind because it has me questioning how or why they are offering so many things and something like that for FREE? I mean Im not complaining because if anything is free I will take it. I love visiting this website, because lets say for instance that I missed a couple episodes of my show because I had to work or had other things to do. And, lets say I dont have TiVo or DVR. Well I can than just search on Fancast.com and bring up the episode I missed and, poof, Im sitting there watching the episodes. Watching them at my own convenience and in my own timing. This than allows me to pause it when I need to so I dont miss any of it. I think this is such a good idea for these networks to offer these shows to the public. It will soon be booming with site visitors and will become big. Well at least thats how I see it. This creates a free, convenient way to keep up with all my favorite shows, allowing me to keep on top of them and remain yet another faithful viewer!

Phishing License?

I just finished my powerpoint presentation for my Interactive Media class about Phishing. In my research to finsh this presentation, I was kind of shocked at what I found out. Phishing, a way for con artists to get peoples personal information like social security numbers, credit card info, and other very important and private information, is NOT illegal. It got me thinking about why or how this could be. I dont understand how something so wrong can not be illegal. The information these phisher's get can and most likely will be used for identity theft. This does not seem morally or legally right at all. Congress is trying to decide if passing a legislation against phishing is violating the First Amendment. I believe that not passing a legislation is violating the First Amemndment. What about the rights of the people who are getting phished? They're whole lives could be on the line, with the key to so much of their lives being wrongfully taken. Who is protecting all these people who have fallen victim to these phishers? Isn't it violating them by not passing laws against the stealing of very important information. This information could be used to do many damaging and harmful things to these peoples reputations, credit, and lives. I think that Congress needs to see that phishing is most definitely wrong and they need to pass laws against it. There needs to be some kind of punishment for phishing!

Interactive Media Timeline-1960's

· 1960 - Development began on Project Xanadu
o Project Xanadu was pretty much the inspiration for the World Wide Web and for HyperCard.
§ http://www.xanadu.com/xuhome.html
· 1962 - Douglas Englebart started work on NLS
o in 1962 started work on Augment, and as part of this effort he started working on NLS (oN-Line System).
o http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_engelbart.htm
· 1964 - RAM is invented by John Schmidt----(actually was invented by Robert Dennard)
o One of the most significant creations in computer technology: "RAM."
§ http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/Dennard.html
· 1965 - Ted Nelson coins the terms “hypertext” and “hypermedia”.
o Nelson coined the terms in a paper to the ACM 20th national conference.
§ http://www.w3.org/WhatIs.html
· 1968 - Ted Nelson invents hypertext
o Nelson originally invented the word hypertext for "non-sequential writing”
§ http://www.w3.org/Xanadu.html#Nelson
· 1968 - Douglas Englebart gives Mother of All Demos
o Engelbart and a group of 17 researchers presented a 90-minute live public demonstration of the online system, NLS.
§ http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite/1968Demo.html
· 1969 - UNIX created by Bell Labs
o UNIX came from an effort in the early 1960s to build a dependable timesharing operating system.
§ http://www.bell-labs.com/history/unix/

Texting your TV?

It has become a very common thing for television shows to encourage viewers to use their cell phones in order to interact with it. It has been more popular with shows where the nations votes are required to keep the show going. Some examples of these kinds of shows are American Idol and Americas Best Dance Crew. As we all have probably been a viewer of these types of shows at one time, we can all be witnesses to this use of texting or calling in. But now this use of interactivity is going above and beyond. There are even television shows, mostly soap operas, that allow viewers to text in what they want to see happen in the next weeks show. They can let the show know what their ideas for the plots are and what they would like to see be done and who to. The producers, writers and directors of these shows take into account what their viewers want and create the plot of the next show around what their viewers really want to see. This is amazing to me because this opens new doors for everyone. The people behind these shows are able to give the viewers exactly what they are looking for and in return are able to boost their ratings easily and quickly. And, on the other hand, viewers have more of a connection to these types of shows and are able to feel more connected to the show because it is their ideas that are being shown on TV. In this case, all viewers have the chance to be a writer of a television show. I believe its a huge step in the right direction for the interactive media world.

Who is Kari?

Well first off, my name is Kari if you havent already figured that out by now. I am 21 years old and am currently a Junior at Colorado State University-Pueblo. I am majoring in Mass Communications with an emphasis in New Media. That, if you dont know, is Digital Audio and Video Production and Web Design. I dont really have a clue yet as to what I am going to do with this major, but I do plan on doing big things. I come from a pretty big family which consists of both my parents, fortunately, two brothers and five sisters. We are all very close and really love to do things together. I feel very lucky to be apart of such a loving family because nowadays, a tight knit family has become more and more uncommon. I have been called a "good girl" my entire life due to the fact that I dont drink or smoke and I grew up being actively involved in my church. Presently, I am not so involved in my church as much, but I still support it and all that it does and stands for. I have a lot of faith in God and my beliefs and I will not back away from them or turn on them no matter what life has in store for me or what I face from day to day. I am very anxious to see what my future holds for me and my family. So anxious in fact that thinking about it scares me. I know that there are plenty of opportunities out there for me, but I dont even know where to start. So for now I am going to try hard to succeed at everything I do and enjoy what I have and who I have now. I mean, how could I not be thankful for a loving family, an amazing boyfriend, and loyal friends. I have decided that I am going to start living for today like it is my last day.