NeoPets

With the trouble I have been having with Second Life, I thought I would try something a little bit more simple. Since I am studying to be a teacher, I thought I could get away with joining the Neopets site, because I should be keeping in touch with what the young students are interested in, right?

The site is more complex than I first imagined, which is a good thing. It was very simple to set up the neopet, but there are many choices involved. It is nothing like Second Life in that way.

I created a little puppy named Jaxlee (a combination of my real puppies' names), and clicked around to explore. All of the characters are, ofo course, child-friendly, and the games are entertaining and can be addicting. I like the Ball Bounce game. There are some educational elements, but in my opinion, it is not meant to be an educational-site, more a fun site that incorporates a little bit of math, letters, and grammar. Though, having a virtual pet and taking care of them, as well as creating online friends, does help a student develop some character skills and communication skills, as well as helping them become more responsible.

I like this site because it does not feel as overwhelming as Second Life, but they are so completely different it really is not right to compare. I will continue exploring these sites. Any recommendations??

"Second Life" Attempt 2

This attempt was a little bit more successful, because I actually figured out how to do some things. I started in "Harvard's" Berkman Hall and began working on my appearance. At first it seemed overwhelming because there are so many options, but after 20 minutes I found myself sucked in to making my avatar my exact copy.

I didn't talk to anyone, but a fairy-looking person kept flying around me, I was too busy for her.

After a long time of going through the appearance options, it crashed again! So, I lost all that I had been doing...how frustrating! Does this happen often? Is it my computer?

Oh, well...I will try again later.

Second Life, Attempt 1

I just created my account on Second Life, and got to the little island, "Help Island". I read the Tutorial, which didn't really help at all. I have spent the first 5 minutes trying to Change Appearance, and cannot figure out how to do it. Then, I asked someone next to me. He just responded, "Hi".

A second later some big guy ran past and tackled me. I walked in a few circles trying to find the Appearance option, saw a very obese "woman" with a bikini and a mohawk, then Second Life crashed.

Not a great first experience. Can anyone give me some tips on how to get started? I want to go into the Change Appearance option. Thanks, Dana

Second Life

This is my "before" blog related to MMORPG's and Second Life-type of worlds. That means that right now I know nothing. I am going to have to dissect every piece of literature and link Professor Mabrito gave us to write our paper and learn more about these worlds. In a few weeks I will write another blog, hopefully as an expert on these virtual worlds.

Right now the only experience I have is watching my boyfriend play X-Box Live. In this "world" he has been able to play with friends and family that are far away keeping their relationship going by chatting and "bonding" through mutual Halo 3 infatuations. Also, the only time I have heard about Second Life was from an episode of The Office when Jim makes fun of Dwight for creating a character. To properly do this Jim creates his own character basically becoming part of his own joke. What I gather from this is these worlds must be somewhat intriguing and addicting once you get involved. Wish me luck!

The Creepy Side of MySpace

In a previous discussion board we were talking about how MySpace can be creepy, a tool for stalkers. Or, in a less creepy way, just a way for ANYONE to check up on your life and learn details about you. My boyfriend recently started an externship at the Lake County courthouse and he said yesterday he ran into this girl he knew in middle school. He had not talked to, or seen her in over 10 years. She came up to him and said, "Oh, Josh how are you...blah, blah.." and they talked for a minute, then she said, "Your dogs are so cute....you have a basset and a beagle right"...and she continued with all these details about him that she found on MySpace. He has pictures of our dogs on there. Anyway, he knows this girl so it is not like a scary thing, but it just shows you that you never know who is looking at your profile and what information they can use against you...or to find you.

Also, I have a friend who had a pretty bad break-up. She would go on MySpace and look at her ex's comments to see where he planned to hang out that weekend, then she would go there. It just creeps me out a bit. I have even been on MySpace pages of old classmates just clicking around and I sometimes feel like a snoop or something. Hmmm...isn't it strange that we have become so open and free with our personal life information in a time when identity theft and things like that are on the rise?!

Social Bookmarking??

I have read the articles they Professor Mabrito gave us, and looked around at delicious, but I still don't get it...what exactly is social bookmarking? Say I am reading an article about the election that really interests me, what do I do next? Does every website have an option to "Bookmark It"? Someone please explain this to me...I feel like an idiot. Can't you simply bookmark the page on your computer in favorites, or bookmarks? Is delicious, and other bookmarking sites, simply a way for you to show other people articles and things you thought were interesting? Hmmm....I'm confused.

VCARIOUS Travel Site

I was having a hard time finding a site that looked like it would be any fun to critique. So many of them looked like MySpace rip-offs, so plain and boring. One, phusebox, only has about 2,400 members. So, I saw http://www.vcarious.com/, a site about traveling and it looks really cool. I am going to check it out and I will let you guys know what I find. Is anyone else using this site?