The bookbag that never dies...because I won't let it!

So today it occurred to me that my book bag (often used synonymously with backpack) is over eight years old today. I think such a thing deserves applause! *clap clap clap* It's an early 2002 Outdoor Products bag, with a black, gray, and orange theme to it with two main pockets and one front pocket, along with securing straps for the chest as well as across the book bag itself for internal support. It's officially classified as an "extreme sports" model and has the Outdoor Products "lifetime guarantee," which I mean to hold them to should the bag ever spontaneously explode. Over the years, this bag of mine has had approximately 17 rips and tears in the fabric and liner that I myself have patched with a simple needle and thread (who'd have thought those home-ec classes would come in handy?), and with each repair I've gotten closer and closer to it. This bag is mine, and has a lot of history in the fabric. But considering how many times I've had to fix it, which has in fact only increased over the years, is it time to simply let it die?

My answer to that is no. Just throwing out a perfectly good bag because it happens to have a few rips in it is ridiculous, and incredibly wasteful on every level from price to pollution. "Use it until it breaks, then get a new one" seems to be the American motto for most things, and considering that most items manufactured today are of poor quality it's not such a bad philosophy. Still, entropy's running. The energy in this universe will be completely used up someday folks. If you can take something you've owned for years, and for less than a dollar fix it yourself AND add to its sentimental value (thereby preventing the need to manufacture, sell and then have you buy a new one), it seems like a win-win situation.

I mean with the strong level of individuality in America, you'd think that being able to boast that you've had a jacket you've fixed and repaired yourself would be a very cheap way to distinguish yourself from the masses. But self-expression takes a back seat to laziness and apathy, it seems. Why spend all that work trying to fix something when you can go out and buy a new one? It's so much easier. Honestly though, personal pride in small accomplishments are terribly lacking these days (like say what you'd get from knowing you fixed something yourself). Everything about our "self" is already pre-made and waiting on a superstore shelf, and all we have left to do is just pick and choose our favorites. It may make the buying process easier, but it cripples the buyer's ability to maintain a personal image. We're stuck with brand loyalty; consumers use a particular brand rather than a particular product to express themselves. And yet companies are frustrated because consumers are fickle, and product life-cycles are continuously shortening. It's self-induced, my friends. Make the item customizable, repairable, reversible, or whatever other characteristics you can think of and make sure it has that potential when it comes out of the factory. THAT makes a self-image.

But of course, this is simply a rant. I'll go on sewing my backpack whenever a new rip shows itself, or patching a hole that I got from a bike trip along the Erie Canal while the rest of the world buys new ones. I can't change societal norms myself, but at least I can take a small but of comfort knowing that my book bag is 100% unique from virtually any other that has been made, or will be made. It's as much "me" as I am.

And it's cheaper too.

China uses Virtual Worlds to teach kids English?

With all my "wonderful" experiences in virtual worlds lately for my digital media class at RIT, you can understand why hearing news that China has begun using them to teach their children English caught my attention more than it normally would.

Apparently a "virtual school" (in every sense of the phrase) called Wiz World Online is the pioneer that's getting attention. It's run through a computer company in Massachusetts called 8D World, and is a digital haven for Chinese-speaking kids wanting to learn the English language. As typical for virtual worlds, each player in Wiz World gets an avatar to customize. But in order to get through the game and their score, players need to pronounce words properly in English by speaking them into a microphone that uses the latest in speech recognition and pronunciation assessment software. Depending on the success of this campaign in China, the company plans to create a similar school for Korean Children, and then perhaps Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian kids as well.

Honestly I'm all for them trying a similar technique for foreign languages here in the United States. Japanese has been a hard language for me to master because the nature of it is obviously not Latin-based, and many of the sounds and grammar are brand-new. Something like this, even for adults, would be an amazing interactive experience that would help increase language skills exponentially, especially in today's times that are becoming increasingly technologically interdependent.

Liminality and War

Senator Joe McCarthy once said that “a good war has clear sides,” where there is absolutely no question as to which nation or people in question is “right” and the other “wrong.” Psychologically this makes sense; it is easy to fight for a cause when a person believes he is totally justified in his actions, and thus free from any wrongdoing. But if each side has that same view, what higher power decides the true essence of justice? True Morality? Causality? Unfortunately there is no way to tell for certain; each side stands true to their “right” and “wrong,” and history decides which one prevails. This was not a new idea in American cultural history; the American frontier’s “war” had been “fought” with virtually the same ideological fuel: the savage Native American threatened “civilized” American, and had to be vanquished. Two different generations of Americans fighting two different battles, where cultural differences were not resolvable because the enemy was simply incapable of understanding. For the Americans and the Japanese, their World War II in the Pacific was not fueled by political differences or disagreements but rather by cultural nationalism. The same thing occurred shortly after September 11th; there was an outcry against any follower of Islam; anyone with black hair who happened to pray several times a day was ostracized and became the iconic image of "the enemy."

I've always found such things to be a perfect example of Liminality's truth: human beings need clear boundaries and limits to survive. It is the only way that they can create ambition or willpower to accomplish anything at all; having a defined goal also generates clearly defined endpoints and restrictions on how to reach it, which defines "self" propose. In times of chaos therefore human beings will resort to creating limits and boundaries to reestablish stability. We create a clear image of the enemy, who he is and what he represents, in order to direct our energies for war. Without that, we find ourselves in much the same situation that occurred in the Vietnam war.

Makes you think, eh?

Second Life Presentation is a hit!

Alright, so this may be a bit late but I thought it would be nice to have some more images on Second Life posted up here, especially considering that part of my grade in a class I'm taking actually is directly proportional to all of the "wonderful" posts and participation I make on our activities in class in-game. Last week my team mates and I (along with the other teams in class) put together a presentation on the current status of our virtual business plan, and here are the results.
Here is a screenshot of my entire group, sitting together and waiting for the next presentation to begin. This is the first time we met amongst our classmates and sat together as a whole group. Honestly I didn't think we'd be able to fit on the couch together, but surprisingly we did. Yay for us!

Here is a screenshot of one of the presentations inside Second Life. This group did a great job actually building a virtual conference room for which the entire class could sit down and watch the presentation. Props to them, I say!

Overall I thought that, at least in terms of presentation potential, this class actually made me rethink Second Life as a terrible game environment. Don't get me wrong, I still think its kinda bad. But the aspects involved in presenting materials are something to keep an eye on.

LED Projector for less than $200?!

High Definition Projectors are a very good way to get 70-inch-plus-sized video imaging at home, but the price of initial purchasing and bulb replacement can accumulate to many thousands of dollars. Generally the average cost of a standard HD projector with mid-range resolution is about $1600.00, with bulb replacements running about $130 each. More than anything the "constant" need to replace the bulbs themselves has been the biggest deterrent for this television alternative (each bulb has roughly 2000 hours of life, compared to the average plasma TV life rated at about 60,000 hours). But what if it was possible--with a little work and some home repair skills--to make an LED projector yourself?

Besides the incredible long lifetime of LEDs eliminating the need for lamp replacement (the average LED is rated at 70,000 hours at maximum efficiency), other advantages of LED projectors include instant-on operation and improved color tones. Ordinary LED technology doesn't produce the intensity and output required to provide the same illumination as arc lams. PhlatLight LEDs changed all that (designed and manufactured by US based Luminus Devices).

With a little ingenuity, we can all get our very own projectors. Find the link here!

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Multimedia-LED-Projector/

Bones: TV Drama meets Indiana Jones

Since my apathy today is unusually strong, I'm going to talk about one of my newest favorite television shows: Bones. A good summary of the plot would be best described as a forensic science drama, with each episode focusing on different FBI case files concerning the mystery behind murder victims on behalf of FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth and the forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan. The action and drama of the series itself is good, but not groundbreaking on its own; the two starrring characters played by Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz have an amazing chemistry and charisma with each other on screen that brings emotion and real life relevance to the everyman's intellectual and emotional battle. More than anything this back-and-forth between them is what has made the story and show great, (the fact that they're both attractive actors nonwithstanding).

The series has been running since late 2005 and is currently in the middle of its fifth season, with a scheduled 6th season contract recently renewed for next year. Honestly I love the fact that the show is going to be around for another year at least, seeing as how the supporting cast has helped to add a lot of depth to the storyline especially in the past two seasons. Though I am a bit worried that they lost a crucial comedic relief source in the socially inept but brilliant Zach Addy played by Eric Millegan. After the third season his character was largely removed from the show as a constantly reoccurring role, with small cameo appearances in various episodes throughout the fourth and fifth seasons. The writers and directors haven't replaced his character with any substantially-accommodating new character, and as such it feels like a aspect of the show has been lost.

I will say that anyone who gets a thrill out of discovering unique and interesting facts and connections with areas of the world's politics, economy, culture, and jokes (while secretly being a hopeless romantic with a touch of optimism) will love this show. If you can't classify yourself as such don't worry in the slightest however; Bones will make you fit that mold in due time.

Too far?

Currently only out in Japan, Konami just released their newest game "Love Plus" for the Nintendo DS that is classified as a dating simulation game, letting the user "court" several different virtual girls and in the end (hopefully) one of which will start to fall for you.

Then in real time, the gamer has to take his fake girlfriend out on dates and even start "planning" the couple's future together. Depending on how good you are at the game, she might ask for a kiss (which requires touching her on the lips with the stylus) or even ask you to whisper compliments and praise to her via the DS microphone).

Love Plus apparently has generated a lot of talk in Japan, both good and bad, as some wives are getting angry that their husbands are 'cheating' on them by spending too much time with their virtual significant others. Of course it's just a pixelated 2-D girl on a screen, but apparently that's enough to cause tension to mount among spouses. What the heck does this mean for society's future? Crazy talk, that.

The Chirstmas Gift Inventory

So I was wondering what I should blog about on this eve of the new year, and I thought what better thing to rant on than my holiday loot gained from various family and friends? I'm a terrible person to buy for (so I'm told, and I believe them), and thus most of the gifts I receive are usually complete hit-or-miss things, but this year was surprisingly good.

I got a brand-new Lands End terrycloth bathrobe, which was a lovely gift from my mother to replace the old one I'd been given about six years ago which has gotten ragged and noticeably short on me compared to my high school sophomore days. I also received a lovely "reading blanket" that's extra-soft and goes great with my new hangout area in the basement. From my aunt and uncle I got a wonderful pair of black deerskin gloves with down lining inside that are incredibly warm and snazzy, as well as my favorite gift of all: an antique cast-iron clock reproduction that fits my personality so well I can't begin to describe how touched I was when I tore off that wrapping paper!

A few misses (though good efforts) were a netbook case for my new Samsung N510 that was a bit too small and a Do-it-yourself manual that I believe my relatives purchased in bulk to save money. Don't get me wrong, once I get the right size netbook case that one will be a hit, but since every other male over 16 in my family received one of those manuals, I'm thinking "personal touch" wasn't in their thoughts when they gave it to me.

All in all, a good year I think. Good enough to count for my final gift set of the first decade of the new millennium at least.

Blu Ray Vs. DVD: is it time to switch?

With the emergence of the Blu Ray disk, which is currently being pushed heavily by Disney and Sony alike, many people are heading towards an inevitable idealistic decision of whether or not to switch from DVD-based video technology to the latest tech that allegedly has better sound and video quality. But is it worth it to switch, and for what reasons?

In my case, I still have DVD's and likely will not switch to Blu Ray technology, but it's not simply because I'm a poor college student who can't afford to purchase both a new video player system as well as replace my movie collection (though price is a small factor, no doubt).

But let's face the facts here: the TV in my room is an ancient 32" Zenith that has no HD capability to speak of, and the largest TV in my house is an off-brand 37" TV that's not quite as old, but only has S-Video ports and nothing else. Blu ray is a little pointless. No point in upgrading to better video playing technology until I have better video display technology to match it.

But again (for everyone else that's not me, why bother) DVD technology was the drastic improvement from VHS tapes, going up in quality and performance for both sound and video. But then that was during the age where television was still king, and the fledgling internet media market was virtually nonexistent. It was easy to see what appeal a media library transformation to DVD would have on the average consumer when the center of his or her world-connectivity was a massive, landlocked glowing machine. Today however with the internet and the surge in portable computers and cell phones all with the power to bring high-definition movies and television series at the click of a finger, television just isn't as crucially-important to society as it once was. Convenience coupled with digital video makes the computer web browser more important than a home entertainment system, and that in turn has diminished the interest in home-based media such as Blu Ray technology. At best the TV is used as a background noise-producer, or to act as a substitute for another presence in the room; the computer is the new baby of the family, and thus the new favorite.

And in all honesty, if you don't have a TV at least 42" or larger it wouldn't even be worth it to go through the physical and financial strain of upgrading. A Consumer Reports Study found that most people sit at least 6' away from the TV when watching, and comparing that distance ratio to that of 32" or 22" screen size demonstrates no real obvious difference in clarity and quality. Even with new HDTV's of either the Plasma, LED or LCD variety, the 720p and 1080p sets or their equivilants would make no difference to a Blu Ray player or DVD of an average-sized TV (42" or smaller). It's just not big enough to make the details matter, so why bother paying all that extra money?

Stick with what works, in my opinion. Wait for the virtual holograms beamed directly into your brain. I'm sure there'll be an app for that soon enough.

Some more Pictures

Hey guys, here's some more pics of me checking out second life. Yep, I'm here on the raft, chillin'.

Some SL Screenshots

So I was in SL again today looking around at a lot of different places for the first time, and here's what I had there.

The Start of Winter Quater, and my first experience with Second Life

Alright, so to inform those otherwise curious minds, this past week was the start of yet another quarter at RIT: Winter 2009-2010. In combination with an online class and an independent study, both of which are class types I've never tried before, I'm also taking a Business Strategy class and a Digital Business class entitled "Commercializing New Worlds." My professor Raj Murthy brought up the instructor Niel Hair and his courses before, which put the "bug in my ear" as my family is fond of saying about the class itself. I am a polymath of interests (technological developments included), and so another course dealing with the new advancements in the digital age was right up my alley. Dr. Neil Hair, or just "Neil" as he says we can call him seems to come across as highly-energized ball of charisma with a sly and painfully-honest dry sense of humor that loves to strike out whenever he feels the conversation is getting too settled. He seems to have high praise for his own talents but at the same time is free to recognize and acknowledge his faults, giving him a sense of credibility. Class lectures at least promise to be interesting, to say the least.

So far, it seems to me that the entire course is structured around a digital world called "Second Life," similar to an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) such as World of Warcraft. Second Life however is meant to be more than simply a game, but literally a "second life" to engage in over the internet, complete with dating, conferences, and even making it possible to engage in actual business within the game to make money. Inside the game, it's possible to build primitive objects and set up "islands" encombasing an entire organization's digitally-brick-and-mortar facilities, meant to be explored using the customized "avatars" or digital "self" projections.

However as of now, I'm not impressed.

Second Life is far too advanced and complicated to be "enjoyed" as a typical game with a similar platform, or at least unsofar as the general public is concerned. As truthfully there is no real object or purpose to the game itself, the idea that you can "do anything" is more than a bit overwhelming and creates a sense of unease and uncertainty about how the user is supposed to find entertainment, becoming more of a bane than a boon. Even the avatar creation program, or the process by which a user is supposed to design their own digital representation for the game is tedious and one might even say painful. The fact that anyone can design multiple varieties of objects from cars to houses to furniture is a daunting process, needing the specific size and point-by-point parameters necessary for making three-dementional objects from scratch, even with a system built for such designs. Our class visited the "sand box" where item and object creation can be done without restriction, and the entire process had so many variables and options that it was impossible for anyone without a solid level of training in basic graphic design to take advantage of the system.

I myself barely managed to get my avatar to a form that I liked, and even then I was forced to settle on a lot of points due to system crashes and resolution issues. Though I did design my avatar with a musical instrument and casual clothing because that's how I feel most comfortable, and I enjoyed how I was granted the ability (however difficult it was to actually carry out) to make my character look however I wanted right from the beginning.

More often than not, it's been my experience that while users want a game system to meet their demands, they do not want to have the nuts-and-bolts of creating the basic system to be left to them. The initial limits, and then the gradual expansion of exactly where said boundaries lie as one progresses through the game are what makes for fun and entertainment. Being given a blank canvas is nice, but most people don't like to draw.

Of course having said that the potentials for the purposes of the course are pretty amazing, at least from a business perspective. Market Research capabilities are incredible, as one could use the item and environmental creation aspects of Second Life to develop new products and services and then test them in a limited digital environment with real "people" for hardly any cost at all. Because the game itself is so complicated (much like real life), those things that the majority of users cannot do or create for themselves such as avatar upgrades and item creation can be satisfied by those who can (for a small fee of course). So on par with the course expectations, Second Life is a good example of digital business in motion.

Even if it's not a great game.

The Passing of a Legend.

So this isn't really a part of what I wanted to do for a blog post, but at the same time it came to my attention that something had happened way back in May that went largely unnoticed by the general public, and is a great loss for many of us that have enjoyed a particular cultural icon since the 70's.

I'm not sure how many of you know this, but on May 18th 2009 Wayne Allwine, the man that played the voice for Disney's Mickey Mouse in every video game, T.V Show, commercial, advertisement, and move, passed away. A sad day for the world, folks. Apparently it was due to diabetes-related afflictions, which is something he was struggling with for many years. His final role portraying the voice of Mickey was done for the Fall 2009 release of the latest Kingdom Hearts game, Kingdom Hearts 358 Days/2. The game was dedicated to his memory.

Remember him, everyone. Honor the man that made the modern soul of Mickey Mouse.

Dead Writing Day

Alright so I'm not sure what I should put here other than a few little interesting tidbits that I've come across in the last week and a half or so of reading, TV-watching, and just simple discussion among friends.

For Example:

-The traditional "flat hat" worn in almost all commencement ceremonies for universities and high schools was coined by the College of William and Mary, and more specifically, but the "Flat Hat Club" of which Thomas Jefferson was one of the founding members.

-The now-common "three-camera" technique to show various points of veiw on television sitcoms was first made famous (not pioneered; its important to understand the difference) by Desi Arnaz, or as he is more popularly know "Ricky Ricardo" from I Love Lucy.

Something to think about folks!

Initiation

Well this was supposed to be a blog made simply for my Internet Marketing class's requirements, but I thought I could take the oppertunity to make it a way for me to indirectly "publish" some of my own fan-fiction works here online. I enjoy writing but often don't have the oppertunity to do so in a way that's satisfying, so maybe this will be a way around that. Followers can expect me to try and keep my posts/story updates going at least every week or so, provided I'm inspired enough to continue on with the story. "Dead Writing Days" may appear from time to time as I find myself unable to write anything more, but they'll be filled with tidbits and such to keep everyone entertained for the short-term. Otherwise, check back for updates and enjoy!