Will I ever use any of this?

Well, I know that MMPORPG's were a lrage part of the course, but I have to admit that they didn't really get me. I tried a couple of them, namely Second Life and after several experiences, even though parts of it were cool to me, I just wasn't moved enough to become seriously involved with them in my life. However, if I ever have to use this sort of thing later in life, I will have a bit of a head start as I am somewhat savvy with them now.

I get a much bigger kick out of wikis and online discussions and things like that. My experience with the group project and contributing to it by editing our wiki was pretty cool. I also like online discussions. I mean, It's likely that I'll never meet most of the people in this class, but I enjoyed the discourse we shared on topics and the mutual courtesy that was exhibited as well as the feedback that was provided amongst people. It makes me look forward to another oppurtunity to do this sort of thing again in the future. With the wiki experience, I foresee wikis and online discussions being an integral part of the future and will approach them confidently if I ever have to use them. And that's not to say I'll only use them if I have to. I'm on Wikipedia at least once every couple of days now and learn a great deal from it. So, I may even end up making my own or actively contributing to one someday. Who knows?

So, yes, I will use some of the things I learned from this experience.

Reflection on the course

First, I have to address my group (1) and peoples' efforts and my opinion of the end result. I am pleased with it and am proud to have worked with the people I did. If I could go back, I would have began participating earlier on, as my participation in the course in general went through a lull in October. I would have written more.

But that aside, this was a cool course. I did learn a good deal from it. What I learned had more to do with how things that are pertinent to this course work and the usefullness of them. I see the merits in virtual worlds, online collaborations, social networking, etc... I see how the real world had become involved in it and I wonder if it might someday become totally immersed in it. I wonder if this is the beginning of some new big leap in progress. From what I've learned and seen, I would this is a possibility.

We want...Information!!!!

This has to do with the election and the internet. I mention a view or two of mine. Big deal.

I don't know what people did during an election year before the internet. How did they find out about the candidates? It must have been excrutiatingly difficult if you missd the candidates TV appearance or if no one canvassed your street. This was the first year I ever really payed atention to politics. I guess I could have been considered complacent beforehand, but oh well..I'm not anymore.

So...at the begining of the year, I was really juiced up about Ron Paul. I learned about him through a friend and decided to check him out. I wen to his website a bunch, watched all his interviews on Youtube, looked at his stances, yad yada yada...I did all I could to find out about the guy. ****I also looked into the other GOP candidates, but RP kept my entusiasm through the course of the GOP debates and primary season. I bypassed the democrats, mostly because I figured they'd win anyway and I wanted to keep tabs on my guy. I became increasingly excited as time went on. I was glued to the TV for every second of the debates, on the internet all time and I even donated a small amount to his campaign.

All that aside, I got all my info about al the candidates (I just realised the word "candid" makes up most of "candidate"...interseting epytimology there haha) from the internet (youtube was a popular stop) and TV which leaves me wondering...what did people do before the internet? I know this is a silly question, but there's actually a grain of sincerity to it.

Second Life as used by businesses and education

I read the article on Scond Life being used by businesses and education. I know I always say this in regard to virtual world phenomena, but I'm not surprised that is has taken the path it has, or at least that many are using it that way. Second life is fun. I consider it to be like lucid dreaming. That where you're dreaming and realise you are, so you egin to manipulate the dream in a way. Can you see the paralell?

Whenever I'm on there ad I see someone cruising around, I like to fly up to them and ask what they're doing or just other smal talk. I've talked to people from al over the country doing this. I haven't had anything that amunts to formal dialogue yet, though. It's usually just "Hi, what the heck is going on here?" and then flying away soon after. I think I'd like to participate in a class setting on there if given the opportunity.

I read game communities

I have never been involvd in any kind of virtual world, MUD, MMPORG, or anything like that. I've never even played Xbox live. The idea of it turns me off. Like it said in the article, many players want the virtual world to be their own private space. I guess I'm the same way. The idea of geting blown away within the first five minutes of lay is not too apealing. I suppose it is like anythng else, though.

I'm not surprised that the gamers have tried to form what amounts to a constitution or bill of rights. Otherwise, you'd have anarchy, right? That makes sense. Of course, with the degre of anonimity offered, and as it said in the article, some people are gonna run around and misbehave, uch to the dismay of the serious gamers. I'll give them a try and see how I like them.

Facebook Studies and Popularity

I read the thingabout how scholars are using Facebook as a field for their social science studies. I'm not surprised. I don't how successful they'll be. Most of the people on here have private profiles, so a stranger can't view them and find ou about their stuff. Oh well...more power to them. I think Facebook is public domain, as is the rest of the internet. Facebook is just a virtual public, only it allows the user the options of anonimity in viewing others, and privacy in others viewing them.

Now...why is it so popular? Human curiosity. I've said before that Facebook and Myspace allow you satisfy your curiosity and allows extreme efficiency in gathering important social information. People have called me to enquire as to why I changed my status on Myspace. They didn't have to call or see me to know I was 'smitten' . I myself have done similar things. You can keep tabs on 40 people simultaneously while sitting in one spot. It's all about the info.

Facebook + School

I read the thing about facebook becoming a hub for businesses and school. Well, I'm not surprised. I think it's a fine idea. Facebook is kind of fun, and when you can make any obligation more fun, you will obviously enjoy it more and people will respond and participate more enthusiastically.

I think this frees you up as well. I can contribute to important discussions whenever I want. Also, it allows you jot something down when the idea is fresh in your mind, making it available for everyone to view and digest before you forget about it.

I think it would be great if there was a meeting in a couple weeks, and the boss says Ok, everyone post ideas on Facebook before the meeting and participate with one another. In that time, the people could feed off each other's ideas, allowing for collaborative thinking, which will be available at everyone's own convenience. It's great, in my opinion. I hope the company I work for could adopt something like this.