*** First of all, I apologize to Julie and my group for the late blog! I was sick friday through sunday, just soon after I had my thoughts together for this blog. My luck showing again lol.
Out of the 4 selected readings, I chose a passage from Silva's "From Cyber to Hybrid" chapter. I enjoyed that reading the most and felt most comfortable in reading it.
The particular passage I am going to summarize is in the CR, pages 759-761.
The passage compares hybrid spaces vs. virtual reality spaces vs. augmented reality vs. mixed reality spaces. Hybrid space is defined as the combination (merge) of digital space with physical space. This is seen with cellphone or other mobile technology users that browse the web without even thinking about how they are actually on the internet. Digital devices are used to help users out in physical spaces, such as locating places and finding the nearest restaurant. As Silva states, "a hybrid space is not constructed by technology. It is built by the connection of mobility and communication and materialized by social networks...". People want to communicate whenever they can without having to sit in front of a desktop computer only at home. Virtual spaces are those spaces, such as communities that we have studied, that involve people who would never otherwise have been able to contact each other. Augmented reality is a little complex in definition. Augmented reality is basically stated as seeing (usually but not always with some sort of head equipment and computer graphics) the "real" world environment mixed in with graphical or computer images and data. But, augmented reality can also be a view of real and virtual environments completely blended. The latter definition stated can also describe what is mixed reality. These spaces are not clearly labelled as "real" or "virtual" because there is a complete real/virtual blend of environmental factors seen that keeps one from distinguishing the type of environment.
In my life, I carry my cell phone everywhere I go. When I get that certain ding, I know I need to check my Facebook. I don't think of checking my Facebook as being connected to the internet, no matter where I am. I can transfer money from my savings account to my checking account with my phone from anywhere. This is a hybrid space. Once in a while, I use the GPS navigation as a guide to finding a place or two. I connect to the internet with this ability, but it's not like connecting to the internet to browse the web like I do at home. However, I can connect to the internet to look for anything from anywhere with my phone, no matter where I am physically standing or located. This is hybrid reality. I agree wholeheartedly with the definitions given by Silva and the others in Silva's article about hybrid spaces and the augmented, virtual, and mixed realities. As far as my preconceived personal definition of augmented reality before I even read this article, I agree most with Milgram and Colquhoun's second definition that states "any case in which an otherwise real environment is 'augmented' by means of virtual (computer graphic) objects". I see many pictures on the web and with friends that have objects floating in the air next to them that weren't really there, or friends in environments they really were not in. For example, my friend Steve likes to place pictures of landmarks (Taj Mahal, etc.) behind him in pictures of himself outside so it looks like he was in India or another country. Another friend, Jeff, made a very realistic picture of himself lifting 10,000 pounds by adding more barbells to his weights he was actually lifting in a real picture. I mentioned Jeff because he relates to this summary. He recently bought a HYBRID car that was CONNECTED to a battery. OK, so that wasn't so funny.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Virtual Communities (DTC 475)
First off, my personal definition of a "virtual" community is a group of like-minded individuals that share at least one common interest and gather from various locations in cyberspace together to chat and share ideas and media/multimedia. The group has a very "flat" or no hierarchial structure. No one member of the community has control or very much control over the others. They are there to socialize, share ideas and other media, have discussions, and share in common goals and interests. This "technological mediation", as Willson states in her article, "Community in the Abstract", lets individuals "choose the level or degree of interaction". Some of the community members, as in a "real" community, stand at the forefront, and others stand to listen in on the community without input. As in a real community, the persons at the forefront need to encourage those in the background to speak up and be more active in the virtual community.
There are at least 4 virtual communities in which I take a regular part in. They are Facebook, MySpace, GSN (Game Show Network community online), and PWSForums (all Pro Wrestling entertainment community). Everyone knows Facebook and MySpace. They are mostly friendly and active social networking communities. I sign in to each of them at least 3 times a week to check my inbox, chat with friends, play games, change my profile design, and other activities. GSN.com is an online group of a large number of members that follow GSN on television, play games for oodles, win prizes, play games against others, chat, buy GSN merchandise, or just shoot the breeze. My wife and I are each members of this large games community. We log in at least 5 times a week for various activities. Finally, PWSForums is a huge and popular community for Pro Wrestling fans from all over the world. Members share videos, pictures, thoughts, and opinions of the many wrestlers in WWE, TNA, and elsewhere.
I log in to PWSForums at least once a week to chat and read the latest happenings in pro wrestling entertainment.
In all 4 of the mentioned virtual communities, I chat at one time or another with people from all over the United States and the world. With Facebook and MySpace, some of my friends are "virtual friends" since I have never met them, but some remain concrete or "real" space friends. It's about 60% "real" space friends and 40% the other. On Facebook and Myspace, my interaction with the people is more confident and personal, because I have known them longer and know them better. I consider GSN a complete "virtual" community as members don't ever meet in person (or rarely do) and there was not an original "real" space GSN group of people that started meeting on the web. I really don't know who I am going to run into in the chat rooms they have. I am a little more secretive yet still very open. PWSForums is another community I find completely "virtual" for the same reasons as the GSN community. I chat in the manner I do on GSN; to the point, but not very personal as I do my friends. I found, that on Facebook and MySpace, that I am more open, joking, and fun with those friends on my friends lists that I know in "real" life. I can open up more and be less secretive and shy when I know I have met them in physical form. I still do, however, have my "virtual" community friends, those of whom I have known for a little or long time, but have never met. They are the secondary group that I open up to the most. I also have those on my MS and FB that are acquaintances (mainly from the store I work in). I don't tend to chat with them nearly as much but I do email them every so often. It can be said that my "real life" friends that I have also in my virtual communities are the ones that I chat with and email the most. I am not letting the virtual community involvement take me too much out of the "real" world. There is, however, a part of me that withdraws "from the active political sphere of real space" when I am active in these virtual communities.
I find myself to be more personal to friends and people in the "real" community and space.
I am myself no matter what community I am in. I never change my persona, character (OK, so maybe I act a little tougher text-wise in the wrestling community chat lol), attitude, or anything really whether I am in a virtual community or outside in the "real" community. I am always a nice guy at heart and I respect people wherever I am.
I have found that I can experience ideas and conversations in some of these virtual communities that I hardly or never see in embodied experiences. For example, none of my "real life" friends want to chat about game shows. GSN is a place I can go to, even if I don't personally know anyone in the chat rooms, where we chat about game shows and playing games online. Likewise, most of my friends hate wrestling (yes, I know it's FAKE, but it's entertaining to me), so I know I can go to PWSForums to talk anything about wrestling to many who really want to listen and give feedback or opinions about it. If there is something uncomfortable I cannot discuss with friends I have in physical form here, I can always get online and chat with friends from far away that I have known for some time, but have never met. This is especially important if the subject matter is such that gossip might start or someone might get hurt here in town if I spoke to one of my "real life" friends about the matter outside the virtual community.
There are certain barriers to membership in each of these virtual communities I take part in.
Facebook and MySpace require members to be at least 13 years old, have a computer and internet connection of some sort, sign up for a membership, know how to set up their profile in a rule-prescribed manner, and follow a set of rules in how they interact (no profanity, racism, etc.), what they say, and what they post (pictures, text, etc.). There are no ethnic, location, monetary, sex, education, or gender barriers as discussed in the digital divide. All they need is a computer, connection, some computer and internet savy, and a halfway-decent way of being. If you don't have a computer or way to connect to the web, you're probably not on Facebook or any other virtual community. The GSN community has the same barriers and requirements, except that you must be 18 years of age or older and you must like or love playing online games. You should know how to play the various games as well. Finally, if you choose to play certain online games for prizes, you must pay to play them. This can be a financial barrier to many. There are similar rules to behavior and activities in this community as there are with FB and MySpace. This is especially true in the chat room. PWSForums has the same barriers and a very similar set of rules as the other communities. You only have to be 13 years old and be a wrestling fan. Also, you must somewhat regularly post wrestling-related pictures and videos to remain a member of the PWSForums community. They are not very tolerant of "background" community members. Everyone must be a willing participant in sharing and posting only wrestling-related multimedia. The ignorance of each community's rules will get a member banned or suspended for some time or permanently. This is especially true of PWSForums and GSN.
I have found in my lifetime that "real" space communities have their limits that some virtual communities can help overcome for many. Virtual communities can be a "way out" for some with problems that they cannot relate to a "real" community. However, too many people are becoming dependent on virtual communities and completely or mostly escaping the real communities we live in. I don't believe this to be healthy. As Willson states in the Conclusion section of her article, there is a " 'thinning' of the complexities of human engagement to the level of one-dimensional transactions and a detaching of the user from the political and social responsibilities of the 'real space' environment." People can still be "together" with others and have fun in virtual communities, but they need to detach themselves more from the "virtual" and not the "real". If the forementioned trend continues, our real communities will suffer great loss. We need more involvement in the "real space".
~Mike Payne~
There are at least 4 virtual communities in which I take a regular part in. They are Facebook, MySpace, GSN (Game Show Network community online), and PWSForums (all Pro Wrestling entertainment community). Everyone knows Facebook and MySpace. They are mostly friendly and active social networking communities. I sign in to each of them at least 3 times a week to check my inbox, chat with friends, play games, change my profile design, and other activities. GSN.com is an online group of a large number of members that follow GSN on television, play games for oodles, win prizes, play games against others, chat, buy GSN merchandise, or just shoot the breeze. My wife and I are each members of this large games community. We log in at least 5 times a week for various activities. Finally, PWSForums is a huge and popular community for Pro Wrestling fans from all over the world. Members share videos, pictures, thoughts, and opinions of the many wrestlers in WWE, TNA, and elsewhere.
I log in to PWSForums at least once a week to chat and read the latest happenings in pro wrestling entertainment.
In all 4 of the mentioned virtual communities, I chat at one time or another with people from all over the United States and the world. With Facebook and MySpace, some of my friends are "virtual friends" since I have never met them, but some remain concrete or "real" space friends. It's about 60% "real" space friends and 40% the other. On Facebook and Myspace, my interaction with the people is more confident and personal, because I have known them longer and know them better. I consider GSN a complete "virtual" community as members don't ever meet in person (or rarely do) and there was not an original "real" space GSN group of people that started meeting on the web. I really don't know who I am going to run into in the chat rooms they have. I am a little more secretive yet still very open. PWSForums is another community I find completely "virtual" for the same reasons as the GSN community. I chat in the manner I do on GSN; to the point, but not very personal as I do my friends. I found, that on Facebook and MySpace, that I am more open, joking, and fun with those friends on my friends lists that I know in "real" life. I can open up more and be less secretive and shy when I know I have met them in physical form. I still do, however, have my "virtual" community friends, those of whom I have known for a little or long time, but have never met. They are the secondary group that I open up to the most. I also have those on my MS and FB that are acquaintances (mainly from the store I work in). I don't tend to chat with them nearly as much but I do email them every so often. It can be said that my "real life" friends that I have also in my virtual communities are the ones that I chat with and email the most. I am not letting the virtual community involvement take me too much out of the "real" world. There is, however, a part of me that withdraws "from the active political sphere of real space" when I am active in these virtual communities.
I find myself to be more personal to friends and people in the "real" community and space.
I am myself no matter what community I am in. I never change my persona, character (OK, so maybe I act a little tougher text-wise in the wrestling community chat lol), attitude, or anything really whether I am in a virtual community or outside in the "real" community. I am always a nice guy at heart and I respect people wherever I am.
I have found that I can experience ideas and conversations in some of these virtual communities that I hardly or never see in embodied experiences. For example, none of my "real life" friends want to chat about game shows. GSN is a place I can go to, even if I don't personally know anyone in the chat rooms, where we chat about game shows and playing games online. Likewise, most of my friends hate wrestling (yes, I know it's FAKE, but it's entertaining to me), so I know I can go to PWSForums to talk anything about wrestling to many who really want to listen and give feedback or opinions about it. If there is something uncomfortable I cannot discuss with friends I have in physical form here, I can always get online and chat with friends from far away that I have known for some time, but have never met. This is especially important if the subject matter is such that gossip might start or someone might get hurt here in town if I spoke to one of my "real life" friends about the matter outside the virtual community.
There are certain barriers to membership in each of these virtual communities I take part in.
Facebook and MySpace require members to be at least 13 years old, have a computer and internet connection of some sort, sign up for a membership, know how to set up their profile in a rule-prescribed manner, and follow a set of rules in how they interact (no profanity, racism, etc.), what they say, and what they post (pictures, text, etc.). There are no ethnic, location, monetary, sex, education, or gender barriers as discussed in the digital divide. All they need is a computer, connection, some computer and internet savy, and a halfway-decent way of being. If you don't have a computer or way to connect to the web, you're probably not on Facebook or any other virtual community. The GSN community has the same barriers and requirements, except that you must be 18 years of age or older and you must like or love playing online games. You should know how to play the various games as well. Finally, if you choose to play certain online games for prizes, you must pay to play them. This can be a financial barrier to many. There are similar rules to behavior and activities in this community as there are with FB and MySpace. This is especially true in the chat room. PWSForums has the same barriers and a very similar set of rules as the other communities. You only have to be 13 years old and be a wrestling fan. Also, you must somewhat regularly post wrestling-related pictures and videos to remain a member of the PWSForums community. They are not very tolerant of "background" community members. Everyone must be a willing participant in sharing and posting only wrestling-related multimedia. The ignorance of each community's rules will get a member banned or suspended for some time or permanently. This is especially true of PWSForums and GSN.
I have found in my lifetime that "real" space communities have their limits that some virtual communities can help overcome for many. Virtual communities can be a "way out" for some with problems that they cannot relate to a "real" community. However, too many people are becoming dependent on virtual communities and completely or mostly escaping the real communities we live in. I don't believe this to be healthy. As Willson states in the Conclusion section of her article, there is a " 'thinning' of the complexities of human engagement to the level of one-dimensional transactions and a detaching of the user from the political and social responsibilities of the 'real space' environment." People can still be "together" with others and have fun in virtual communities, but they need to detach themselves more from the "virtual" and not the "real". If the forementioned trend continues, our real communities will suffer great loss. We need more involvement in the "real space".
~Mike Payne~
Thursday, January 14, 2010
DTC 475 Blog Assign #1
In reading Michael Benedikt's essay, "Cyberspace: First Steps", I actually agreed with three of the descriptions of cyberspace. I read each description three more times and chose one certain selection that resonated the most with my preconceived notion of "cyberspace". I chose the third description.
I completely agree with the description of cyberspace as "Accessed through any computer linked into the system; a place, one place, limitless; entered equally from a basement in Vancouver, a boat in Port-au-Prince, a cab in..........". I believe this states cyberspace in a very general but precise manner. You cannot enter cyberspace without a computer of some sorts. You must "link" into an ISP or server to enter cyberspace. Cyberspace is certainly a place to be; a vast collection of sub-places and sub-places after that and so on. Each new large or small piece of data that is uploaded via the internet creates an even more vast and spreading space. This space is infinitely growing and limitless, unless one complete person in charge of the internet pulls the plug. There is no one person that can pull the plug on the limitless growth of cyberspace in the entire world. Cyberspace will always grow. Anyone that has a computer of sorts, has the link via the internet, and has a space to go to via the internet, can equally enter the vast cyberspace. You can be anywhere provided you have the right equipment, means, and destination.
I really like the ending of the description: "a laboratory on the Moon". While we have not gone that far quite yet to allow internet on the Moon, the Moon has been visited and that would likely be the next place in the universe that cyberspace will be visited. Benedikt thought only a short time ahead in his older essay. You can be certain his essay and this description I used will become 100% true in the future, near or far, when cyberspace is visited on the Moon. When that happens, cyberspace will start to branch out into actual outer space and become even more limitless. For now, his preconceived account of cyberspace chosen here has become very accurate, clear, and evident on this semi-universe we call Earth.
I completely agree with the description of cyberspace as "Accessed through any computer linked into the system; a place, one place, limitless; entered equally from a basement in Vancouver, a boat in Port-au-Prince, a cab in..........". I believe this states cyberspace in a very general but precise manner. You cannot enter cyberspace without a computer of some sorts. You must "link" into an ISP or server to enter cyberspace. Cyberspace is certainly a place to be; a vast collection of sub-places and sub-places after that and so on. Each new large or small piece of data that is uploaded via the internet creates an even more vast and spreading space. This space is infinitely growing and limitless, unless one complete person in charge of the internet pulls the plug. There is no one person that can pull the plug on the limitless growth of cyberspace in the entire world. Cyberspace will always grow. Anyone that has a computer of sorts, has the link via the internet, and has a space to go to via the internet, can equally enter the vast cyberspace. You can be anywhere provided you have the right equipment, means, and destination.
I really like the ending of the description: "a laboratory on the Moon". While we have not gone that far quite yet to allow internet on the Moon, the Moon has been visited and that would likely be the next place in the universe that cyberspace will be visited. Benedikt thought only a short time ahead in his older essay. You can be certain his essay and this description I used will become 100% true in the future, near or far, when cyberspace is visited on the Moon. When that happens, cyberspace will start to branch out into actual outer space and become even more limitless. For now, his preconceived account of cyberspace chosen here has become very accurate, clear, and evident on this semi-universe we call Earth.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Who is Micheal Payne? (DTC 475)
Hello everyone!
My name is Micheal Payne. I am a hard-working, honest, and fun guy. I am very happily married to my wife of 7 years, Kimberly. We have a half-lab dog named Pickles (she picked the name out lol). We don't have children yet (still in the trying phase). I am a WSU Computer Science major going after my B.A. Degree. I hope to have earned it by the end of 2011. I have 2 jobs. My main job right now is Sunmart on 1st and Washington in Kennewick. My second job is computer consulting and networks clerk for a small group called Techyz Computer Consulting. I stay plenty busy with those 2 jobs. In my spare time, I like to spend time with my wife, hang out with friends (they're the best friends ever!), watch football, work on house projects (always numerous), surf the web, and exercise. My wife and I walk about 12 miles a week in Howard Amon or Leslie Groves Park. If that's not enough exercise, we stay rather active in running around with our 62 lb. dog. She's certainly more than a handful at times!
I am definitely a family man. I have 2 younger brothers and a best friend that is like a sister to me. My mom and grandma are the best! My wife's family rocks too! Most of my family lives in Spokane and in Tri-Cities. I am originally from Spokane. We moved to Kennewick in 1983. My wife and I bought a house and moved to Richland in June 2008. We love it here.
You can catch me on myspace or facebook. I chat on myspace IM's usually after 11:30pm on the weekdays. Feel free to add me/request I add you. I don't turn down anyone lol.
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mikepayne2008
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/micheal.payne10
I am taking DTC 475 in Spring 2010 at WSU Tri-Cities. I know this will be a fun class for all. I am looking very forward to this semester! Have fun everyone!! Go Cougs!! =D
Sincerely,
~Micheal Payne~
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