Today, dear readers, I post this in disappointment. I am disappointed that in a country built on freedom of speech, only a tiny amount of you wonderful people out there are showing the world what you think, by using the guestbook on the Supermegauberblogofmedia!!! I'd really like your feedback and such, that's why I faffed around getting a decent comment system in the first place; so please, use it and tell me what you think, or insult me if you want (this is the internet after all). Do it for me, for democracy, but mainly... for freedom.
++ Message of the day ++
"You may take our lives, but you'll never take our makeup!"
Until next time, Live long, and prosper.
- tom_349
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Friday, 23 January 2009
The world in 3D
Hello again dear readers! Unfortunately, I don't have much time to write right now as it's the end of a seminar and I want to go home. So, to attempt to halt your disappointment I'm going to leave you with my first piece of 3D work ever =]
Look! It splats at the end =D
Look! It splats at the end =D
Until next time, Astalavista, baby...
- tom_349
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
My online identity...
Well, I never thought I'd be doing this, but today I'm going to be writing an evaluation; an evaluation of my personal identity on the Internet. I'm going to take you, my dear readers, through all of my Internet personas (or at least as many as I can remember) and try to remember what kind of character I made - or am still making - myself out to be. So, here goes...
First, I have my overall identity, which is tom_349. The origin of this persona is shrouded in mystery and is only truly known to myself. I feel it gives me a slight air of secrecy... Nah, only joking; it was one of a choice of random numbers (assigned to me by hotmail for my email address) and I took a liking to it. I use tom_349 to represent me for everything. It is my PlayStation Network (PSN) name, and I also use it as my account name on EVERYTHING. It sometimes gets shortened to tom349 if the website won't allow symbols in account names. So, if you see tom_349 anywhere then you know who you're dealing with =] I even use it on this blog... I like using it because it doesn't make any assumptions about how I view myself or give too much away (except my name of course), for example, a player called "MasterSniper1990" (i don't know if this name actually exists, it's just an example) seems pretentious to me, as it implies the user sees themself as some form of gaming wonder when playing FPSs like COD4. It does however give another player great satisfaction to beat someone like "MasterSniper" at his/her own game =] BY SHOOTING THEM IN THE HEAD! *ahem* Anyway...
However, I also like to create characters in games with a narrative behind them, if I'm given the choice to design the character myself. I feel this is what separates certain members of the internet community from others. A lot of users see their characters as a representation of themselves. They make their character look like they do and maybe give it their real-life name, thus reducing it from a character to an avatar, which, as you know, is a representation of the user. I don't personally like to de-characterise my creations, and see them as they're own entity almost. I control the character, but I am not the character itself. That is why I don't use tom_349 for character names. My character in World of Warcraft is a female Night Elf called Mtriirel. It would have been M'triir'el but WoW doesn't let you put anything other than letters in names (It's pronounced Mer-treer-rell, by the way). I made up the name with inspiration from Tolkien's elvish, as once again, I like to make a narrative and persona for the character that seems believable. I have, however, seen characters on WoW called Scaryme 0_o
Mtriirel
Although it may seem like the internet is an entirely different world to the one we live in, there are still pockets of it that supplement real-life. Social networks like Facebook for example allow people to communicate in a new way. The fact that users display their real names and images means they cannot create a new identity for themselves, and instead allows them to promote their existing identity.
Well, I'm done for now. I hope you enjoyed this, and so...
Until next time, Don't eat the yellow snow.
- tom_349
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
I'm actually a genius =]
So, here we are again. I’ve got a special treat for all you loyal readers out there today; I had a spare hour between lectures, so I decided to do some work instead of wasting my ever-so-precious time. Enjoy…
I thought I might as well get some research done and actually make it look like I’m putting the effort in, so I scoured the internet for something about virtual 3D environments. My search led me to an article on www.terranova.blogs.com written by games designer Bob Moore. You can find the full article here.
Moore’s article is titled “On the Convergence of Virtual Worlds and Social Networking Sites,” and deals with the issues surrounding the merging of social networking sites (such as Myspace and Facebook) with online virtual environments (like Second Life).
Moore states “Virtual worlds and MMO [games] [(“Massively Multiplayer Online,” for those of you not in the know)] enable you to interact and play with friends online, add new people to your buddy list, monitor their online status and in some cases view their custom profiles. But there are important differences between World of Warcraft and Second Life on the one hand, and MySpace and Facebook on the other. First, virtual worlds not only provide social networking features, they also provide the world in which you meet people and play with them. The social networking features tend to be secondary to the simulated world itself. In contrast, social networking sites provide only the profiles and buddy lists, not the world.” Moore’s point is informed and relevant, as any gamer will tell you they rarely make their in-game avatars look authentic to represent their real-life image. Games and Virtual worlds allow the player some escapism, to become who they want to be, not who they are. Moore makes an observation on the phenomenon of internet-based escapism, “Behind one out of every two female characters is a male player.” I, myself, know this firsthand, as I made a female character in World of Warcraft (not because I want to be a girl, but because I don’t like the way the male characters are modelled). And yes, feel free to leave a comment calling me a geek; you know you want to…
I recommend you read the full article, as it makes interesting reading.
Anyway, the reason I posted this was to make a point about the course, and to contextualise my work within the modern climate (See, now who says students don’t listen to lecturers?). My point is that the concept of virtual environment is not an original one, it is a blend of games technology and the popularity of social networking. Therefore, I plan to study these two areas (as they are roots of the virtual environment) to assess and understand the concept of self-identity (our current module =P) on the internet and in the virtual environment. So, expect lots of work in the near future.
Until next time, I'm losing original ideas for farewells =(
- tom_349
I thought I might as well get some research done and actually make it look like I’m putting the effort in, so I scoured the internet for something about virtual 3D environments. My search led me to an article on www.terranova.blogs.com written by games designer Bob Moore. You can find the full article here.
Moore’s article is titled “On the Convergence of Virtual Worlds and Social Networking Sites,” and deals with the issues surrounding the merging of social networking sites (such as Myspace and Facebook) with online virtual environments (like Second Life).
Moore states “Virtual worlds and MMO [games] [(“Massively Multiplayer Online,” for those of you not in the know)] enable you to interact and play with friends online, add new people to your buddy list, monitor their online status and in some cases view their custom profiles. But there are important differences between World of Warcraft and Second Life on the one hand, and MySpace and Facebook on the other. First, virtual worlds not only provide social networking features, they also provide the world in which you meet people and play with them. The social networking features tend to be secondary to the simulated world itself. In contrast, social networking sites provide only the profiles and buddy lists, not the world.” Moore’s point is informed and relevant, as any gamer will tell you they rarely make their in-game avatars look authentic to represent their real-life image. Games and Virtual worlds allow the player some escapism, to become who they want to be, not who they are. Moore makes an observation on the phenomenon of internet-based escapism, “Behind one out of every two female characters is a male player.” I, myself, know this firsthand, as I made a female character in World of Warcraft (not because I want to be a girl, but because I don’t like the way the male characters are modelled). And yes, feel free to leave a comment calling me a geek; you know you want to…
I recommend you read the full article, as it makes interesting reading.
Anyway, the reason I posted this was to make a point about the course, and to contextualise my work within the modern climate (See, now who says students don’t listen to lecturers?). My point is that the concept of virtual environment is not an original one, it is a blend of games technology and the popularity of social networking. Therefore, I plan to study these two areas (as they are roots of the virtual environment) to assess and understand the concept of self-identity (our current module =P) on the internet and in the virtual environment. So, expect lots of work in the near future.
Until next time, I'm losing original ideas for farewells =(
- tom_349
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Happy new year!
Yeah, I know it's a bit late for happy new years but whatcha gonna do? Just be thankful for it =]
So, with the new year comes a new module and lots of new work (as well as lectures on fridays now... BOOO!). And, as you know, most of that shiny new work will appear right here on the Supermegauberblogofmedia!!! (yes, the exclamation marks are part of the name, I'm not just over excited) for you wonderful people out there in internetland to enjoy. Also, a quick thankyou to all the people IRL who tell me that I have a good writing style, *in cockney accent* it makes me feel like a big man it does =]
Well, that's about it for this post...
Oh, and I think I'm gonna start adding in little inspirational messages and advice (mostly twocked from other people) to help you, my dear readers, live a happy and fulfilling life. They'll appear now and again presented in the format below.
++ Message of the Day ++
Shake it once, that's fine. Shake it twice, that's okay. Shake it three times? You're playing with yourself.
I hope you take that nugget of wisdom on board (yes, it was serious) and use it to enrich your lives.
Until next time, keep on truckin'...
- tom_349
So, with the new year comes a new module and lots of new work (as well as lectures on fridays now... BOOO!). And, as you know, most of that shiny new work will appear right here on the Supermegauberblogofmedia!!! (yes, the exclamation marks are part of the name, I'm not just over excited) for you wonderful people out there in internetland to enjoy. Also, a quick thankyou to all the people IRL who tell me that I have a good writing style, *in cockney accent* it makes me feel like a big man it does =]
Well, that's about it for this post...
Oh, and I think I'm gonna start adding in little inspirational messages and advice (mostly twocked from other people) to help you, my dear readers, live a happy and fulfilling life. They'll appear now and again presented in the format below.
++ Message of the Day ++
Shake it once, that's fine. Shake it twice, that's okay. Shake it three times? You're playing with yourself.
I hope you take that nugget of wisdom on board (yes, it was serious) and use it to enrich your lives.
Until next time, keep on truckin'...
- tom_349
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