New Blog

Yeah so like that.... I got a blog on my honours website along with a new redesign (see blog). Please subscribe and have a look at my new site design and comments are welcome.

www.port4lio.co.uk/blog

thanks all from here guys.... see you over there

My contributions

Liam Friel

Contributions:
Research on wildlife
Built the SSW website and functions (SLURL) and contact form
Built the SSW sign in park
Built URL posts and notecard giver posts
Walkway in attraction.

I feel that my contributions to the group have been plentiful, when I began this course I felt that I would not be much use considering my 3D modelling skills and I have never used programming languages before (mainly scripting). I decided to play to my strengths - which was web development, image manipulation, documentation and organisation.

I still wanted to contribute to the cause with some objects, so I created the URL posts that lead users to more information about the animal. I also created the notecard giver posts, if there was interesting information about the animal then the user could carry the note card around with them.

I also created the path for the attraction after daniel pointed out that there was no logical route to take when the park is visited. Using my own skills I modified the jurrasic park image so that a nessie bone structure is included instead of a velociraptor, this is used as the welcome sign in our attraction.

As my course is multimedia I feel I would be best at creating the website for the group, the original concept was a wiki, but through permission problems on my server I had to change the idea to this website. I think this choice was better as I have more control over the look and feel. I did neat things like contact form and the SLURL of our park.

I also assisted with the research of animals, after my attempt to model a deer, I felt that realistic non-blocky object were outwith my reach as a modeller. I found the script that would be modified (by callum) and used as our pet companions.

I came up with many Ideas for this attraction the "adopt a pet" idea was created by me and callum and varous t-shirt ideas came to mind.

In all I think my contributions were useful and helpful to the rest of the group. I did things the rest of the group didn't have as much experience with, and took care of the simpler things so that the rest of the group could focus on their important tasks.

What is tha weuld cumin to!

Yeeah! Just watched a "news report" of 6 girls attacking one, while 2 boys stood outside. This "report" was 90% of the video uneccessarily brutal. The attack went on for 35 minutes.

I feel sorry for the girl - and glad that all 8 people involved were arrested (and probably playing the latest console:P), but now there is a lot of solid evidence to try them. The most sickening part of all is the video was made because the teens wanted a "viral video".


I love youtube a lot but when it is used to broadcast sickening acts that I talked about earlier (brutality, murder etc) it is all too obvious how the warped the world becomes around the internet!

Caution! some people may find this video offensive!

Pointless

I just watched the news for the 4th of april (yes I know it's the 7th but myspace had that on the front page). Apparently sex offenders now must register their e-mail addresses with the law and MySpace can block them!!!! Oh NOES says Mr pedophile.

I mean it's admirable that MySpace are trying to rid their networking site of sex offenders, but MySpace etc accept hotmail and gmail addresses which are easily obtained, therefore this method should have about 0% effectiveness.

In other news £500,000 of taxpayers money buys video games for prisoners...... prisoners!!!!!!!!
I mean wheres the cool half million buying us law abiders games? or spent repairing some of the damage criminals do? I mean prisoners are hardly punished these days without giving them 6 months of leisure playin the latest consoles most families can't afford(because they are payin the ridiculous tax that buys games!) .

And finally, an inmate was awarded £50,000 for cuttin off a fingertip in a workshop, after I obtain my honours degree i'm gonna rob an old woman, and play some ps3 for 6 months then sue the prison for causing wrist and finger strain for all the gaming i've been doing!

No more heroes censored!

I just realised that America and Asia got uncensored versions of my favourite wii game so far No More Heroes. Seeing the video on youtube makes me want these versions :D




GUTTED

Hmmm morality on the internet?

Every few months there are booms of movie genres that get released i.e. superhero, meteor hitting earth, etc but recently there has been a rise in movies that use the Internet to broadcast murder and other crimes. The sad thing about these movies is that the websites seem to be incredibly popular!

The condemned had 10 prisoners fight to the death - it received 40 million subscribers, a journalist stated that she was angry for at the producer of the show, but now she is sad for mankind. So the movie industries views of people are that they like violence, always have and always will.

Untraceable is a newer film in which a person is hooked up to a device that there more people that access the site, the faster the victim dies, this is streamed live online.

In old times it was a passtime to watch death at the arena, people would cheer and enjoy the bloodlust, I feel that people still enjoy violence (boxing, UFC, etc) and if any of these films came to pass - there would be a market

Putting the "real" in virtual reality

Introduction

Virtual world have existed for well over a decade with the boom of the Internet, creating limitless possibilities for alternate and better existences. These realities however are still virtual (real in many ways but not the same as the physical world), some spend most of their time on the Internet, making this virtual environment more important than their physical environment. Are these virtual environments real? In a physical sense, no, but people's perceptions of what is real can deliver some strange results. I can go on all day about different areas of peoples lives that the virtual world affects, but for now i'll stick the topics of careers and love.

Money, sex and power are the three-legged stool of modern culture¹.

Why do so many people trust in these fantasy worlds?

On the Internet, people have freedom to behave as they wish without fear of retribution, due to the anonymity of the web, this is where the worst in human beings come out. Forums, Chat Rooms and Discussion Groups are the most widely used resource on the web, developed for collaboration between enthusiasts on a set topic.

This freedom allows people to be relieved of their social status, regardless of who they are in the real world - in the virtual they can have a voice. Online you can be who you want to be, and talk to almost anyone. This leads to relationships forming, friendships and love interests. These relationships are formed more quickly because in the virtual world people are willing to be more personal, more sudden than in reality².

Finding love online is easier than ever, there are now hundreds of different dating sites and social networking sites that can be used as dating tools. People find it easier to communicate online and it is easier to ignore someone if you do not like them3.

The relationships that are developed online are more appealing to people they get what they want out of it, cyber-sex for example that may lead to a real-world relationship. Everything on the Internet is just the manipulation of data, but to a person, their imagination creates their ideal world using the visions they get from this data showing on screen.

It is when people discover these freedoms, they start to enjoy the power they have, becoming tempted, obsessed and addicted to having their way. Real life no longer satisfies them, they resort to being online more often and believing more that they are this person they want to be, beliving they are flawless and righteous.

The annonymity of the web also have positive and negative influences, again you will say what you are afraid to say in the physical environment, but alas this is not alwasy a good thing. Adultery online is not something new - some people in marriges or long term relationships still seek other people to share their passions or secrets unjudged by those around them².

All these factors create more realism to relationships developed in the virtua world. Money and sex are two of the most important aspects of the modern world, the more a person has of these two factors the happier theyare with life.

The virtual world does have people who seek a partner and a serious relationship (be it friendship or love), a kind that can only be found by scouring the globe far and wide. If the web provides these things easily, people become immersed and no longer look for love and/or friendship in their local area.

The 3D online world is the final step in making the virtual world real. With people interacting with people and objects as they would in real life, the illusion of reality becomes more warped. It is clear how the virtual worlds can affect different people. Second Life is a virtual world that had no objective and no endgame, people just live there. The linden dollar ($LD) is the currency of second life and it can be exchanged into US dollars, this allows people to gain an income from this virtual world.

There are many ways to make money online, ebay, amazon, cafepress and even second life⁴. Online buisinesses provide the most sporadic of services. Many advantages of online businesses is that you may not have to pay taxes or legally list it as a buisiness, depending on your country. Also you can sell just about anyhting

Conclusion

The Internet has provided the modern world with the ability to interact and communicate cheaply and efficiently, it will not be long before these virtual environments become more influencing to person's behaviour.

Is it a question of morality when pixels can harm a human being? When you are behind a monitor, how do your actions affect others in and out of the virtual world? If your wife catched you having cyber-sex, will she not feel betrayed? People have become more desensitized, making them seek greater thrills and dramas in the virtual world, thrills they would normally be ashamed of in the real world.

The virtual world is perceived as real in a personal sense, but how does this affect the persons business life. People quit their jobs to spend more time online, some completely immerse their business in the online world. Words like addiction spring to mind again, questioning the objectives of the virtual realities people create.

Reference:

1. Messenger K, Money, Sex and Power, [accessed 28 Mar 2008]
   
2. Singer H, Virtual Relationships, Logging onto love, [accessed 28 Mar 2008]
3. Snyder B, Finding Love Online, [accessed 19 Apr 2008]
4. Channel 4, Second Lives, [accessed 19 Apr 2008]
   

Virtual Architecture

Virtual architecture is one of the many advantages of 20^th/21^st century technology and advances in computer systems. Virtual architecture was born in 1982 when the first version of Auto-CAD¹ (Auto computer aided design) was released.

The power of the virtual world

Auto-CAD is used in a large number of fields (product design to civil engineering) and it allows the user to create a virtual product. The evolution of 3D engines and advanced programming has allowed virtual architecture to be precise, this allows blueprints and plans to be created and edited very quickly (similar to word processors vs. typewriters).

An advantage of the computer interface and process is the ability to run a sim (virtual simulation) of how your product can react with the real environment with materials used². Architecture is also a mathematical science and computers understand numbers best, limitations and rules can be applied³.

Second Life is also a popular for designing buildings (and cities) very quickly and cheaply. Though it does not have the same power as auto-cad, it is much faster for creating the design of a building as opposed to its structure. The SL virtual structures will also hold less detail than CAD or physical designs due constraints on the area and the number of primitives (objects) used to create said structure. A fine example of this is the virtual London hospital in the healthlands area of Second Life. The physics engine of SL currently cannot replicate environments the same way as auto-cad but in the future the havoc engine will create opportunities for second life architecture.

The unrealistic sense of the SL modeller has its strengths. Structures impossible in architecture can take shape in the virtual world. Imagination is more important that knowledge⁴ in second life.

These processes are usually used to create real world buildings; they can be used as a grounding for developing real world projects and are usually the starting point for any architect.

The dark side of virtual architecture

The problem with this system is that it is not perfected; humans have learned to build houses and developed the art of architecture from the beginning of our existence.

“a computer does not help you do your job better – it helps you to do what you do faster”⁵

As most projects go, theory and virtual simulations are not enough to create a perfectly working model, modifications, trial and error and overhauls are a part of project lifecycles and sometimes the computer can cause more problems than it can solve i.e. if the overhauls are extensive hand drawn plans may be better as more thought is put in to their development.

The computer is not perfect, neither is the human, computers do what humans tell it to do, I believe that virtual architecture will evolve in the future but for the time being, virtual developments should stay mostly in the virtual world. People rely on spellcheckers/calculators more than ever, how long will it be before we rely on computers to tell us our mistakes (or what computers think are mistakes) in architecture?

Reference:

1. Auto-CAD, Auto-CAD Wikipedia article, [accessed 02 Mar 2008].

2. Advance Concrete, Advance Concrete Plugin, [accessed 03 Mar 2008]

3. Mario Salvadori, “Can there be any relation to mathematics and architecture”, [accessed 02 Mar 2008]

4. Albert Einstein, “Albert Einstein quotes”, [02 Mar 2008]

5. Tom Caira, “Professional and Ethical Issues in computing” Lecture Notes, University of the West of Scotland, 2006

Evolution of blog submission

It has been three weeks since I started collaborative virtual environments and in that time - I have enjoyed the class thoroughly mainly for the reason that I ask myself questions on how teaching and learning should evolve! If blogs were used as a means of submitting course work, it would make life much easier on the student, the lecturer and the environment (less paper!). Typically a student report would reference webpages in this fashion:

Glogowski, Konrad (2007), "http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2008/02/04/towards-reflective-blogtalk/", [accessed 17 Feb 2008].

Using an online report this could simply evolve to:

Glogowski, Konrad (2007), "Blog of proximal development", [accessed 17 Feb 2008].

This method saves the teacher having to check references by typing every character individually, also with the proper html encoding can take the lecturer to the exact paragraph the student had referenced from.

The use of blog as a learning journal/diary should be considered, The blog can be browsed by week or by post if necessary and the lecturer can check up on a students progress AND leave feedback. This has a knock-on effect of the student feeling secure in their working environment and improving their skills through this feedback.

Although there are always problems with online documentation, such as security or reliability. A student fills out a blog for 11 weeks straight and on the last week it is hacked or lost due to a hardware problem on the server! Hopefully the student has kept back-ups but all to well do we know how often that happens!

So in conclusion blogs are an advancement in technology and education but we must make the teachers/students/users how to blog safely and appropriately.....and how to make back-ups!

What are the strengths and weaknesses of blogging for supporting collaborative working?

Introduction

In the time before web logs (blogs) collaboration was done through e-mail and newsgroups, this was a very functional and effective for it’s time (mid 90’s) but in the 21st century, new technologies are constantly changing the way people learn and how they are taught. Blogs “take as much skill as sending an email”¹, and enable the technically “challenged” post articles about progress and concerns and receive feedback from those in the community or the entire web depending on the blog settings.

“Blogging is not about choosing a topic and writing responses for the rest of the term. It is about meaningful, thoughtful engagement with ideas.”²

Strengths
Collaborative working is strengthened by blogs, most blog websites can be searched for “labels” or “categories” and the search function will return blogs with similar labels/categories. This allows the user to view international blogs, do research on similar articles and possibly begin networking with other bloggers. Blogging reinforces the learning/working environment, peers, colleagues, teachers etc can leave comments with their opinion and suggest ways in which the student, colleague can improve or expand.

Blogs can be used as an inexpensive but effective distribution tool; many of the features in a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) can be recreated, such as controlled access to content and students accessing tasks online. The virtual environment also has more advantages for the user in terms of being able to communicate across a broader audience, submit work from any computer and voice opinions they may be too shy to say in a physical environment.

Weaknesses

Human interaction is fundamental to learning³ and development, with the increase of distance/web based learning this idea becomes obsolete and users will lack the ability to interact or communicate outside a virtual environment. Relying on blogs as distribution tools may encourage the learner adapt a “don’t need to go in” approach to learning. This has a negative impact on the user, causing them to miss physical classes and socially interact with their peers. The power of collaboration in the virtual environment is damaged also and many people would see it only as a means to distribute tasks and collect work when collaboration is much more effective in learning.

Reference:
1. Richardson, William (2006), Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms
2. Glogowski, Konrad (2007), "Blog of proximal development", [accessed 17 Feb 2008].
3. Walder, P. (2007), Learning Technologies Lecture Notes, University of the west of Scotland

Project Chanology

I am making this post because I believe it shows the relevance, now more than ever, why callaborating environments of the web are both awesome and dangerous.



Not all networking sites are meant to be social, there are a number of sites that allow people to post anonomously. These site were built for the purpose of hate mongering. The websites in question include:

• 4Chan
• Encyclopedia Dramatica

With users allowed to post anonymously the problem arises that the user can post/say whatever they like and not fear any (physical) retribution from their post. This group of users (known as anonymous or /b/tards) have hated a lot over the years. Some of their projects have been for the ideals of the jedi good, but many have been evil and just hound people they believe do not have a place on the internet. Anonymous bully and harass people such pedophiles and rapists (which is a moral standpoint, these people have no place on the internet) to the mentally ill and attention seekers(people who don't know any better). Their latest project was against scientology and in less than a month they organised a global protest against scientology, you can view results here.

I think one important point to make is that scientology pickets usually amount to about 5 or 6 people, when anonymous got invlolved thousands of people gathered at each of the picket points.

Your answers suggest you are a Leader

The four aspects that make up this personality type are:

Summary of Leaders

• Natural managers who strive for efficiency
• See the big picture and make strategic plans for the future
• Think of themselves as bright, independent and logical
• May overlook other people's need for emotional support

More about Leaders

Leaders are strategic thinkers, planning ahead and anticipating difficulties. They quickly spot inefficiency and organise people to make improvements. Leaders like solving problems at the organisational level, but would rather leave the detailed work to others.

Leaders are most likely to say they enjoy their job, according to a UK survey.

Leaders enjoy discussing complex issues and will challenge people’s views to spark a debate. They admire people who defend their beliefs by arguing persuasively.

In situations where they can’t use their talents or are unappreciated, Leaders may become detached, critical or aggressive. Under extreme stress, Leaders may feel isolated and doubt their abilities.

Leaders are often so ambitious in their careers that they sacrifice their personal life in the process.

Leader Careers

Leaders are often drawn to jobs in management where logical analysis and strategic planning are required.

It's important to remember that no survey can predict personality type with 100 percent accuracy. Experts say that we should use personality type to better understand ourselves and others, but shouldn't feel restricted by our results.

Overall results

The graph below shows the percentage of people with each personality type out of everyone who has taken this test.

Big Thinkers
Counsellors
Go-getters
Idealists
Innovators
Leaders
Masterminds
Mentors
Nurturers
Peacemakers
Performers
Providers
Realists
Resolvers
Strategists
Supervisors

First Week of CVE

Hello,

This is the first week of Collaborative virtual environtments. I feel that I should start collaborating by telling you folks a little about me! I'm 22 and I study at the University of paisley the west of scotland. My interests include being most interweb related things, such as youtube, MMORPGing and trolling forums for lulz! web forums.

I took this module as I hate video editing and enjoy online collaborating very much as I have very unique tastes and hobbies; and the internet allows me to communicate with similar people.

Anyway I shall update this every week as it is part of assesment so please check back ;)

Liam
Second Life handle: Leeam Doobie