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]