willismg
Wandering Mendicant and enjoying it
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Posts: 45
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« on: April 23, 2010, 02:06:35 PM » |
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Does anybody find the brouhaha going on in the comments on the Second Life banning of some "university" as distasteful as I do? I mean there are comments that go on and on and on about this virtual individual starting it answered by even more verbose comments about some other virtual individual saying the equivalent of "But, MOM, they touched me first!!" With a suitably long harangue that boils down to "I know YOU are, but what am I???"
Gawd...
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The only people impressed by titles are those who can't get them and those who should never be allowed to get them...
Self-esteem is for losers...
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scampster
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« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2010, 02:07:55 PM » |
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Link to the article?
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When you are a scientist your opinions and prejudices become facts. Science is like magic that way!
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willismg
Wandering Mendicant and enjoying it
New member
Posts: 45
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« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2010, 02:10:40 PM » |
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The only people impressed by titles are those who can't get them and those who should never be allowed to get them...
Self-esteem is for losers...
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scampster
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« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2010, 02:16:50 PM » |
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I didn't realize people actually used Second Life...
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When you are a scientist your opinions and prejudices become facts. Science is like magic that way!
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johnr
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« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2010, 02:52:08 PM » |
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I don't even have enough time for my first life.
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"When I die, I hope it's in a committee meeting. The transition from life to death will be barely perceptible."
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larryc
Hu hatin'
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 18,285
Eschew the hu.
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« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2010, 02:54:34 PM » |
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I have a friend who used to bug me to join Second Life and get together with some of the other historians who apparently mingle there. But I kept thinking--what if I do it, and it turns out that my friend has an avatar that looks like Elvira, or a human squirrel hybrid in a bikini? Awkward.
(I have never been on Second Life but have a vivid imagination.)
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willismg
Wandering Mendicant and enjoying it
New member
Posts: 45
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« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2010, 03:00:23 PM » |
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I have a friend who used to bug me to join Second Life and get together with some of the other historians who apparently mingle there. But I kept thinking--what if I do it, and it turns out that my friend has an avatar that looks like Elvira, or a human squirrel hybrid in a bikini? Awkward.
(I have never been on Second Life but have a vivid imagination.)
I"m with ya, Brother... I've never been, either. But from the sound of it, it's the "adult" version of World of Warcraft, something my son outgrew at the ripe old age of 14... I'm really sorry to be so snarky, but this really has me going. |
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The only people impressed by titles are those who can't get them and those who should never be allowed to get them...
Self-esteem is for losers...
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jonesey
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« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2010, 03:27:35 PM » |
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A friend of mine got a sizeable grant to use Second Life for his class.
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Jonesey, I know you're a being of sensitivity and refinement. |
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mended_drum
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« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2010, 04:00:43 PM » |
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I checked out Second Life, but didn't much like it. But I'm a little amused at the idea that Woodbury's "125 year reputation" may be seriously damaged because the Justice League Unlimited had their virtual campus disconnected. Hopefully, there's more to the institution than a simulation that can be knocked out by the work of fake superheroes.
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willismg
Wandering Mendicant and enjoying it
New member
Posts: 45
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« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2010, 04:06:04 PM » |
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A friend of mine got a sizeable grant to use Second Life for his class.
In my experience, you can usually get somebody to throw money at just about anything. Ask P.T.Barnum... |
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The only people impressed by titles are those who can't get them and those who should never be allowed to get them...
Self-esteem is for losers...
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farm_boy
losers are underrated
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 1,455
recalcitrant and trollish
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« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2010, 05:41:45 PM » |
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I started reading the article, but I gave up because it's written in some foreign language which with I am not familiar. Although I think I saw several metaphors.
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Screw you... You're not a troll. You're just posting pathetic jerkish, troll-wannabe, crap. (mystictechgal, Member-Moderator)
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kedves
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« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2010, 05:55:59 PM » |
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Why was it so important to them to have a Second Life presence? Does this enhance their name recognition or brand identity with a target student? Or was it the students who were into it and the university went along?
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egilson
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« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2010, 03:12:07 PM » |
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I have played around in Second Life and still do. The good thing about it is that, with a free account, you have access to easy to use 3d modeling tools with which you can create permanent objects on the Second Life grid: clothing, jewelry, furniture, buildings, and, using their fairly simple scripting language, vehicles. I've seen some good things, including detailed models of the Köln Cathedral and Le Courbusier's "Villa Savoye" that you can walk around in and a chilling interactive environment (done at Dartmouth, I believe) that recreates some of typical audio and visual hallucinations experienced by those with schizophrenia. I've also run into a few interesting and articulate people.
Then there's the rest of Second Life, which is most of it and which is usually far worse that anthropomorphic squirrels in bikinis (or without bikinis and with... ick). Remember, for some time Second Life's ad slogan was, "Your World, Your Imagination." I think even Linden Lab was shocked to find out that most people's imagination makes your average Tijuana Bible look like Guido Reni. The sort of playground p!ssing match you see in the comments here is yet another typical SL game, as is the promulgation and elaboration of rampant paranoia and conspiracy theories. Second Life is really not a game but is instead an 3d "world" for content creation supporting social interaction. Unfortunately, it seems that much of that interaction is with the sort of people you avoid making eye contact with on public transportation.
I honestly hope that Linden Lab continues to develop and perfect the software behind Second Life, which I think has a lot of potential. I wouldn't even mind participating more fully in a private area of the SL grid that was effectively walled off from the rampant idiocy of the main "world," which is possible (and which I'm sure some institutions do). The public areas of SL, though, are a mess and usually not worth the time dredging through them to find something interesting.
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To anyone who is not a blockhead, all the sciences are interesting. - Marc Bloch
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chaosbydesign
"I like to lyse bacteria. Did you know I'm utterly insane?"
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 12,367
I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.
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« Reply #13 on: April 25, 2010, 03:18:10 PM » |
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I didn't realize people actually used Second Life...
Second Life is the subject of an entire research group at a nearby university. Something to do with analysis of real life situations in a virtual environment. I tried it once after reading something one of the researchers had written, but got bored very quickly after flying my avatar into the sea and not being able to get her back out again. |
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Seriously, I tried to lick my own face. Ah. Typical ivory tower pedanticalness.
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seasalt
New member
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« Reply #14 on: April 25, 2010, 03:29:34 PM » |
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I don't get this obsession with Second Life. It is frequented by a small subculture.
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