Navigating Second Life as an obese man

My professor challenged us to change our appearance in Second Life to someone fitting some kind of stereotype. I decided to make my avatar heavier, or at least as heavy as Second Life would allow me to make myself. At first I thought this challenge might be a bit interesting, but then realized that it wasn't very challenging at all.
After navigating through Second Life for a bit, I tried to make myself visible to all the other newbies, as I was still on Orientation Island. Being that I was now larger, I also tried to get the attention of other avatars by deliberately bumping them. I did this because I figured I was larger and they might be intimidated. It didn't necessarily work. People would still just rush off as they had when I was just a slender avatar. I'm wondering if I should have done more, such as giving myself some kind of handicap. I just didn't know if it was possible to do so.
It just seemed to me that the more I tried, the more I realized that the discussions we had in class regarding the time and effort Second Life took, was true. I'm a very lively person, and always the social one. So for me to try and talk, or even meet someone as an avatar, just didn't do anything for me. There was no thrill in it. It's been time consuming and just plain uninteresting, but all in all, a different experience. I think I'm glad I at least gave it a shot.
I hope that others who find Second Life more interesting than I did, are able to have a good time and enjoy the experience. It just wasn't what I was expecting.

Twitter to Casa Blanca (The White House)

President Obama, I'm worried. I'm worried because our country is trillions of dollars in debt, yet we're creating bailout plans for major corporations, that I can only imagine will use this money selfishly to help themselves and then get themselves back into the very same mess we helped them get out of. Is this really wise? I say we look into ways to ensure our economic growth, especially seeing as to how bad a state we're currently in. How sure are we that these bailouts are not a way of allowing these corporations to get themselves into further trouble later down the road?

Phil Hardberger and Wayne Wright...same person? Hmmm....?

Have you ever noticed how similar San Antonio's mayor and the cowboy lawyer look, or is it just me? I seriously wonder. Just moments ago, I left the KSAT-12 web site where I was watching interviews with 3 of our mayoral candidates: Julian Castro, Trish Deberry-Mejia, and Diane Cibrian...Diane Cibrian? Seriously?



I was very fascinated by what each person had to say and what each candidate brought to the table, even more so than I have been in the past mayoral races. What really makes me laugh though, is the fact that Diane Cibrian really thinks she has a chance...seriously? Diane Cibrian?



Just listening to her interview with Steve made me want to tell her to get out and get a clue...seriously! She claimed that she helped keep "strip clubs" out of "our" neighborhoods. First of all, I never said I didn't want one here. Second of all, If I recall correctly, it was one strip club, Diane.....ONE!!! She also stresses how she hired more police officers to help protect us. Oh really? Protect us? It looks to me like it's more of a waste of our tax dollars than anything else. I haven't been protected by these people. And from what I've seen, they're usually just parked somewhere in some secluded parking lot doing absolutely NOTHING! Thanks Diane. Thanks for looking out for my best interests.

What really bothered me about her interview is how she rambled on and on and on about her so-called proven track record and the fact that she's been on city council. Well guess what, lady? So has Julian, but he's not using it as his tag line! This lady is a complete joke. And from the looks of the interview, she's definitely not a good public speaker either. And I've seen some of our city council meetings. Even there, when she speaks, it doesn't come across very well.

So Diane, I beg you, please drop out of the race before you cause yourself anymore further embarassment. I mean seriously. I haven't seen her interview with FOX 29 yet, but I hear that one really takes the cake. I'll look for that one tonight. Diane Cibrian....LOL! Seriously???

Wiki...Wiki...Wikipedia, Yo!

I apologize for the awkward title. I was just in a mood. Just a little over a week ago, we were asked, in class, to make a couple of changes to something on Wikipedia.com. I chose to visit the page for "Friday the 13th (franchise)," you know, with all the hooplah from the new film from New Line Cinema? So anyway, being a big Friday fan, I decided to visit the page and make two tiny changes to it. Only a week later, as I visited the page again, all was well, as if I had never touched it. Oh those Friday fans. You have to give them credit.

So I'm really stoked over this new film. It's been years since I've seen a decent sequel in the franchise. I think the last movie that really thrilled me was Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI. Just the opening sequence itself was flawless ( a spoof of the 007 movies)! Before that it was Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (so people thought). The first few sequels were slightly amusing, and yes, still a hoot to watch now and then. But the latter films were just a hot mess! Come on now, Jason walking the streets of Manhattan? Really?? What about Jason menacing everyone aboard a space ship in the year 2455? What were they thinking???

With this new film, theres a chance for redemtion from the last 5 mistakes. Sounds a bit harsh, but true. I don't mean to start ranting about something totally off the subject, but It just started raining and there's hail outside as I type. I hope my car is ok. Anyway, from what I can tell with the new film, as far as movie teasers and spoilers, this reinvention takes place some years after Mrs. Voorhees is killed by a camp counselor whom she blamed for the death of her son, Jason. Blah, blah, blah, Jason comes back to avenge his mother. Marcus Nispel, the director of the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is taking the reins for this one. I enjoyed Chainsaw, so I'll just have to see how this one goes.

Second Life who???

So this past week we were supposed to create an avatar in the virtual world known to those in cyberspace as Second Life. It's a place where anybody can be anybody. Oh wait, I remember that when I was younger. But from what I can recall, they were known as chat rooms. I really don't think of Second Life as being that creative or even being that new a concept. The concept has been around for years.
Chat rooms have been around since the mid 1990s, if I recall correctly. The only difference is that with Second Life, we have something to actually see, rather than trying to visualize it in our heads. Back then, we could be whomever we wanted in a chat room. We could create a profile consisting of information describing our appearances, our interests, and descriptions of our lives. Anyone who looked at our profile could create a mental description of the type of person we were, and then further make judgement by chatting with us in the room.
The only thing that makes Second Life different is that you actually see people moving about on your monitor. It's a bit odd though to see people flying around. As an assignment for class, we were to create our own avatar and maneuver through Second Life; I did. We were asked to explore Second Life and get somewhat familiar with the surroundings; I did. We were asked to create an alter ego, so to speak, and meet new people; I did.
I have to say that at first, I was very frustrated. This was partly because I didn't know where to go in this virtual world, and partly because I could see new avatars appearing left and right, and nobody really having a clue as to what they were doing. In other words, I was standing there helpless. Finally, a mentor walked to me (seeing as to how I was lost) and helped navigate me through for about 15 minutes before I got hungry and had to eat...in REAL life. I'll admit that I greatly appreciated his/her help because it was beneficial as far as being a beginner in this new world. It's always nice to have that one person who is willing to help out a newbie. I haven't been back since, but it's only been a few days. I'll get my feet wet again soon.

Cyberethics Response

In the last ten years or so, many new and newly outdated forms of communication have managed to affect society in one way or another. The internet has made communication instant and instantly interactive. Society can now get it's news at the moment it happens. But not only can people instantly get news, they also have the ability to comment as it's reported. Let me give you an example.

A couple of days ago, a double murder suicide took place just across the street from my house. In fact, it happened just 15 minutes after I left my house that evening. As I was driving to class I received a text message from a friend informing me of the incident. When I arrived home, just before 10 p.m., the three major network affiliates were already at the scene ready to go live. After watching the story on tv, I quickly ran to my computer to find the story was also online. Some of the web sites even had comments from readers already, with replies to those comments.

I can remember when I had to literally rush home from work, or make sure I scheduled time to be home and watch the news, seeing as to how I wasn't an avid newspaper reader. Now there's no reason to have to rush home or even put it in my schedule. I can simply sit at my computer and go to any station's web site to follow up on all the latest news.

It still amazes me how fast we can get our news, but what's even more amazing is how younger people don't realize that this kind of technology was not possible 20 years ago. The world is only moving forward at a high velocity. We've gone from moveable type allowing the masses to distribute news to far off regions, to wireless internet where you no longer have to leave your seat to get news from around the globe.

In the last few years, technology made internet communication wireless, allowing people to use their laptops to access the internet anywhere a hot spot was available. Soon after, people were able to access the world wide web via their telephones, enabling people to send emails and access to limited internet capabilities. Just a couple of years ago, Apple introduced the I-Phone, allowing people to not only to make phone calls, but to access the internet even faster than previous mobile devices, and allowing more sophisticated internet searches than prior mobile devices had allowed.

As a society, I'm sure we all know communication via the internet will only advance further. Once I complete this blog post, I can only imagine how fast and how many readers will comment on it. If I get a comment immediately, it only proves what I've discussed. It's an interactive discussion board. Someone will comment, and if I wish, I can go back and comment on their comment. I do welcome everyone's input. So now I ask, what do you think the future of internet communication holds for us?

Image Source: Apparent Double Murder-Suicide Victims Identified. Tim Gerber/ksat.com. http://www.ksat.com/2009/0127/18570043_240X180.jpg