Ok, I know I am in a midst of my final examinations. The make and break of this semester. But hey I need to let out my frustations!!! The weather has been shitty these past few days and with the exception of my Marketing exam, so has the past 2 papers i have encountered. Nutrition 109 and Com125. ARGHZZZZ, prior to this exams, I was overjoyed and filled with unquestionable emotions over my grades so far. For the first time since May 05( Start of first semester) a pontential GPA of >3.1 was possible. I was on As for 2 subjects and A minuses for 2 subjects. With the exclusion of Nutrition, doing well for these exam was going to definetly skyrocket me to infinity and beyond.
Sadly, as I emerged from the cold examination room this morning, the only ironicly comforting situation I was facing, was that my everone of my peers wore the same look. The look likened to that of being hit by a sledgehammer or maybe worst a few sledgehammers. F@#k !!! What the hell was that??? A paper which everyone was so confident of, suddenly became the paper that made some feel the confidence of jumping our 5 storey school building. Even the elites of the class came out shaking their heads and for the first time, we all did not make it to Hollywood.
Okay i guess its back to Com 242, please please please, may things get better. I want that A.
"Tomorrow is another day, another boxing round to play, Already I lost an A and if God helps me maybe I can smile again"-----Derek
About Me
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Friday, April 6, 2007
Bonus Mission #2--The New World
I’m sure most of you have played a game some time in your life. Be it a board game or a video game, the most important characteristic of playing a game would be the achievement of an objective. In the world renowned board game Monopoly which has been around since 1935, a player wins once he/she has dominated the entire game’s market. (Monopoly (game), 2007) In the online game World of Warcraft (WOW), players control a character avatar within a persistent game world, exploring the landscape, fighting monsters, and performing quests on behalf of computer-controlled characters. (World of Warcraft, 2007) As you would have probably realized both games although from different eras, share similar objectives which is to eliminate other players.
In today’s age, online games such as “WOW” provide a virtual environment whereby gamers are given the opportunity to interact with one another. As one user describes “Warcraft is the new golf, I actually closed a deal with a company I met through WOW.” (Levy, 2007) As such a game such as “WOW” without a doubt provides people to live a virtual life online. Using avatars and nicknames as a form of identity, players in this virtual world trade with one another ad forge relationships which in the past would only be available in an offline context.
Second Life (SL) is an internet-based virtual world which became prominent during late 2006. In it, individuals who register accounts are called residents. Once inside this virtual world, elements of the real world come into play. For instance, residents are able to work in order to earn Linden money. This of which could be earned through a variety of jobs from “camping” whereby one’s character sits at a spot, to even acting as another virtual character’s bodyguard. The interesting thing with regards to this virtual currency is that one can actually purchase Linden money with real money. Though the exchange rate fluctuates, as of February 2007 it has remained reasonably stable at around L$ 270 to US$1. (Second Life, 2007)
In this virtual world, residents travel to different places via teleportation. Within the realms of a certain place. The most common mode of transport would be by walking. However, certain functions such as flying also enable users to travel from point to point. Besides these means of transport, users are also able to ride bikes, drive cars and even fly hot- air balloon. With the exception of walking, all the means of transport in Second Life may seem hard to achieve or even physically impossible in the real world. However, with the creation of Second Life, there are no boundaries to what one can do in the virtual world.
Although Second Life does share similar characteristics to games such as WOW whereby individuals are able to choose, personalize their own avatars and then interact with other players from around the world, the main reason as to why I would not consider Second Life a game would be based on a few reasons. Firstly unlike most games, Second Life does not enable its users to save a certain setting. That means that once a user decides to log out, the virtual world would not wait for him/her. Things can change while the user is offline. For instance, new buildings may be constructed and the surroundings may be upgraded.
Secondly as mentioned above, in a normal game, gamers are most often tasked to work towards a greater objective. However in Second Life, there is no objective. Users are able to do anything they want to do without having to go through various steps. They could take a stroll down a virtual beach or even party at a virtual club. In other words, the only most likely objective in the virtual world would be to interact with the thousands of other users.
However although greatly different, Second Life still share a few similar characteristics of any other game in terms of interaction. Although, users do not necessarily have to work with others towards a main objective, communication between one another helps foster friendships and relations which eventually would develop into another kind of world which we live in.
References:
Levy, S (2007). World of warcraft: is it a game?. Newsweek Technology, Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/
Second Life. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved Apr 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_life#Parody
World of Warcraft. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft
Monopoly. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly
In today’s age, online games such as “WOW” provide a virtual environment whereby gamers are given the opportunity to interact with one another. As one user describes “Warcraft is the new golf, I actually closed a deal with a company I met through WOW.” (Levy, 2007) As such a game such as “WOW” without a doubt provides people to live a virtual life online. Using avatars and nicknames as a form of identity, players in this virtual world trade with one another ad forge relationships which in the past would only be available in an offline context.
Second Life (SL) is an internet-based virtual world which became prominent during late 2006. In it, individuals who register accounts are called residents. Once inside this virtual world, elements of the real world come into play. For instance, residents are able to work in order to earn Linden money. This of which could be earned through a variety of jobs from “camping” whereby one’s character sits at a spot, to even acting as another virtual character’s bodyguard. The interesting thing with regards to this virtual currency is that one can actually purchase Linden money with real money. Though the exchange rate fluctuates, as of February 2007 it has remained reasonably stable at around L$ 270 to US$1. (Second Life, 2007)In this virtual world, residents travel to different places via teleportation. Within the realms of a certain place. The most common mode of transport would be by walking. However, certain functions such as flying also enable users to travel from point to point. Besides these means of transport, users are also able to ride bikes, drive cars and even fly hot- air balloon. With the exception of walking, all the means of transport in Second Life may seem hard to achieve or even physically impossible in the real world. However, with the creation of Second Life, there are no boundaries to what one can do in the virtual world.
Although Second Life does share similar characteristics to games such as WOW whereby individuals are able to choose, personalize their own avatars and then interact with other players from around the world, the main reason as to why I would not consider Second Life a game would be based on a few reasons. Firstly unlike most games, Second Life does not enable its users to save a certain setting. That means that once a user decides to log out, the virtual world would not wait for him/her. Things can change while the user is offline. For instance, new buildings may be constructed and the surroundings may be upgraded.
Secondly as mentioned above, in a normal game, gamers are most often tasked to work towards a greater objective. However in Second Life, there is no objective. Users are able to do anything they want to do without having to go through various steps. They could take a stroll down a virtual beach or even party at a virtual club. In other words, the only most likely objective in the virtual world would be to interact with the thousands of other users.
However although greatly different, Second Life still share a few similar characteristics of any other game in terms of interaction. Although, users do not necessarily have to work with others towards a main objective, communication between one another helps foster friendships and relations which eventually would develop into another kind of world which we live in.
References:
Levy, S (2007). World of warcraft: is it a game?. Newsweek Technology, Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/
Second Life. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved Apr 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_life#Parody
World of Warcraft. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft
Monopoly. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly
QotW10: My holiday in Second Life
DJMark Straaf originally known as Rek DaggerIn Second Life, I took up the avatar name DJMark Straaf after deleting a previous account due to technical gliches. Although I did not manage to find a one particular place which I really liked, travelling around to a variety of places enabled me to learn more about the different rules and practices in different places of Second Life.
The main area in which I spent most of my time at was Lion City. It was here where I met Mr Alvin Loo, who through IM gave me some tips and pointers as to where I should go for particular special interests and how should I go about snapping pictures. However I would like to mention that our initial meeting was not by freak chance, rather it was because he warned me about breaking certain rules.
The main area in which I spent most of my time at was Lion City. It was here where I met Mr Alvin Loo, who through IM gave me some tips and pointers as to where I should go for particular special interests and how should I go about snapping pictures. However I would like to mention that our initial meeting was not by freak chance, rather it was because he warned me about breaking certain rules.
In the real world, Singapore Law states that her citizens should not own any firearms. Therefore the minute i could play around with my reality, I was roaming the streets of this virtual arena with a machinegun. Before long, Mr Alvin Loo approached me, warning me of my cyber crime.
Posing with a Virtual Black Mercs
Posing with a Virtual Black Mercs
A Posed pic with Singapore builder, Mr Alvin Loo
Commiting a "crime", this land I shall "Protect"
Flying around with wings which i got free
However, although it was interesting to be able to observe how people interacted with one another in this virtual world, I was quite shocked at how some have taken this "second life" of theirs abit too far. As I explored the most popular places in Second Life, one place which caught my attention was the "Free Sex Orgy" place. As my avatar ventured around, I noticed 3D characters engaging in certain activities which less then a decade ago would be considered impossible. Virtual Sex. I mean honestly what thrill is there in watching your avatar have sex with someone elses. Being camera happy, I decided to snap a picture in order to share with others the extent of which the virtual world of social interaction has evolved into.
Amazing ways of social interacting
Anyhow as I carried on venturing the world of Second Life, I came across sports shops where soccer posters were placed up for sale at 20 Linden dollars. Being a fan of Manchester United, my trip to this virtual shop could not have been finished without a picture with the club's badge.
Ain't a Chelsea supporter, I rather stick with Man Utd
Basically, that was my entire trip around the virtual world. Now some of you who know how I look like in real life might be wondering why do I suddenly resemble a neo-nazi skinhead. Well the reason behind this dressing derives from a variety of reasons and not because of a sudden urge to worship Hitler. Here they are.
1) I am bald because my lap top lags so much, that instead of seeing myself with a baldspot, I rather see myself bald.
2)I got the Leather jacket for free. plus since I could not make a Leather trench coat, I might as well stick to the next coolest thing.
3) The tight faded jeans was cool too. Since I had the rebel/ punk/ skinhead look. Hey!! Why not go all the way?
Now lets discuss about my avatar's body. Yes it may appear to some that I have over done the muscle bit. In the real world, I have a pack, in the virtual world, I have 6. But hey , if i could create a dream self why not right? Anyway, I believe that the only resemblence that I shared with my avatar, is the burning cigarette, oh and not forgetting the same gender.
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