In the beginning there probably was some word... There were lots of words in the beginning of the Internet... then pics... I mean, no time to write PICtures anymore. We live Acronyms!
I lost so much, nearly four years of content of a forum game I ran myself.
Perhaps I didn't realize before... Perhaps we were doing art while playing? Like kids? This is only the intro to my own character back then...
The secret dialogues were more delicious... Find the rest at http://cyberpunk.co.uk
Always loved the site.
And find a little of my own making right here:
"Hey, Mister, three dollars entry fee!"
I mustered the guy behind the cheap plastic counter of the Junction Bar. He was a smallish black in his late teens, but the fact that he was backed up by a bouncer that looked as if he could easily make me eat the pavement gave me second thoughts. Flashing my badge at him was out of the question for now. I reached into my coats pocket and produced two crumpled dollar notes, then reached into the other and began to count my cents onto the counter.
"Yeah, gimme a break, mister. Go in.", he said and I thanked him and went into the bar. The bouncer stopped me and checked me for weapons, his big hands working their way down my coat, he really looked like he could strangle an ox while eating a sandwich. He looked me straight into the eyes.
"Ya go in, but ya don´t do no stress!"
"Sure, pal.",I said, "I´m here for the music. Guy named Keith Dorn playing today?"
"I dunno."
He wasn´t such a lover of the fine arts after all. And he wasn´t a good bouncer either. I passed through the bar and removed my .38 automatic from the more private parts of my trousers and back into the inner pocket of my coat. I returned to the bar´s main room. It was still early but already a crowd had gathered to listen to what was already gaining quite a following as the "Horrowitz of South Central". Listen to a skin job, damn it.
I went over to the bar and ordered a tequila gimlet.
"Gimlet? What´s that?", the barkeeper asked me.
"Shot of Rose´s lime juice in there... Crushed ice."
The barkeeper nodded and mixed me the drink. I took a sip and cringed.
"Hey, what´s your name?", I asked him.
"Toot Suite.", he answered.
"Fitting name, toots.", I said.
Then the lights dimmed. The crowd suddenly went silent and a large man entered the room, wearing a cheap black suit and white shirt. He didn´t look much like an artist and not much like much trouble either. But then again, with skin jobs, looks could be deceiving. And I hadn´t finished my drink yet. I didn´t know if I ever would. I didn´t like to retire anyone while sober. I didn´t much like this sugar syrup either. Then again it sadly harmonized with the cheap interior of the club. Fake oak bar, fake tough barkeeper... Only thing real here was the skin job.
They had nailed him with the standard Voigt-Kampff test, while he was still living in St Louis, but he had escaped.
The blade runner on the scene had been a certain Paolo Dominguez. Mr Dominguez said the replicant had attacked him. As far as I knew, he got away with a few bruises. Yes, Mr Dominguez, sharp biz we are in, very sharp, indeed. Sharp as a blade. I wondered why the replicant hadn´t killed him. Probably some programmed survival instincts.
The skin job sat down at the piano and began to play. That´s where I wanted him in the first place, at that piano, metres from the next watcher, a clear target. I had planned to shoot him right there. After I perhaps finished that drink. I had planned to make it fast and easy for both of us. I hadn´t known how lovely he would play.
The moment he started his playing I felt mesmerized. My ex-wife had always loved the true Horrowitz playing, had spent so much money on recordings. Somehow I had shared her love for that music, as we shared many things back then. How could a machine, a skin job, create such beautiful sounds? How could he touch my heart like that?
I felt anger for him doing this to me. I pushed myself forward through the crowd.
The crowd´s attention was focused on the player, the skin job. They didn´t see me, didn´t notice me grabbing for my gun.
But he saw me. He turned his head and faced me, looked me straight into the eyes and I could see he understood instantly, he knew who I was.
My first shot missed him entirely. I had expected him to jump to his feet, but after that one glance at me, he just turned back to his piano and continued to play. The crowd looked at me horrified, the spell of the music broken by the harsh sound of my gun. It was a one on one show now. The rest of the magazine struck home, right into his side. He looked at me one last time, his hands closing the piano. He was smiling, a sad smile. Just as his music had been sad. I felt sorry for him. I felt sorry for myself, I should have waited.
Someone grappled me from behind and threw me to the floor like a puppet.
"I told ya ta not make any trouble!",the bouncer said and kicked my gun away.
"Simms, Ryan. Bladerunner. 5637. Phone the police.", I said. I waved my badge at him.
He nodded. I stood up and stumbled over to my so-called gimlet. The club was empty by now. As empty as I felt.
My career as a blade runner in Los Angeles began when my career as an officer with the narcotics squad in the NYPD ended. And my marriage with Theresa.
I remember the day we met very clearly while I sip my gimlet and wait for the cops to clean up the mess I left behind. Happy young Theresa, so full of dreams and so happy. She always wanted to be a painter. She had no talent, but she tried and she never tired. We were complete opposites, like the two poles of a magnet. I had talent with what I did for a living. Too much of it perhaps. And while I went out and arrested drug dealers, and watched them go to jail, and arrested their suppliers and watched them walk out of the court as free men, I began to feel tired.
Though I never gave up completely. I learned the true rules of the game very fast. Planting evidence was easier than to hope for them to make a mistake. And my partner knew the rules, too, and he looked away when I roughed up witnessess.
The captain knew us for what we were, though. And when the #### hit the pan, he didn´t care for us backing each other.
"You killed that man, Simms. You shot him in the back, three times. He was unarmed."
"Unarmed, ####. He had .45 with him, captain. That what you call unarmed?"
"You planted that gun on him. We´ve got a witness, Simms."
"Witness, eh? I got a witness, too, captain!"
The captain had looked at me with disgust.
"It´s not the way we do our work here, Simms. I know I can´t prove anything, but as long as I got some sway with the NYPD, you´re out! Get out of my city, I´ll even help you to get away. You´re a piece of ####, Simms."
He got shot a year later in a bust on a gang hideout. I actually liked him.
"Hey, Simms, see you got that little #######. Good boy. Your first skin job, eh?"
Bryant padded me on the shoulder.
New city, new captain. I didn´t like him. I had thought that killing replicants would be more honest. They were only machines after all. They wouldn´t go to jail, there would be no lawyer pleading for them. No money could save them. Machines...
"Yes, sir. I retired Dorn. I want to go home now, if you don´t mind."
"Good. Don´t forget to collect your bonus, Simms. Good boy. I knew you have it in you."
I nodded and left. I had the feeling I had destroyed something beautiful. It made me feel sick and I longed for another drink.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Nation States!
Some not so little time ago there was a novel... Called: "Jennifer Government"...
By an author named Max Barry.
Said author realized that he'd need some PR to publish said novel.
So, he (with the help of some knowledgeable friends) created www.nationstates.net.
Which must be considered a hype even today!
You can create your own nation. You can even get your friends to ... get real close, virtually geographically speaking!
These days you can even plan your own disasters for all the assigned nations. And.. well... it is a helluva fun to play with a few friends. Even if only for a few days, try it. Try it longer, if you really get "the feeling" for Nationstates.
And DO buy Jennifer Government! You will appreciate any Nikes you own that much more afterwards.
And if not, you will enjoy your nation, like I do enjoy mine (third or so...):
http://www.nationstates.net/baadovia
If you searched WebHypes this second...
On Google:
You'd find my bloody blog! This is scary!
Dudes, don't kill me! Whatever mean things I said I didn't mean them!
Or did I?
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Chess Online,,,
Haven't played chess for... 10 years or somewhat close. At least not for real.
I always expected to start again would be like... traumatic!
It is! I'm a babe in the woods here... Still:
A site were people are really easy going and nice can be found here.
I need loads and lots of training, but: Hey, it's fun being slaughtered there!
I always expected to start again would be like... traumatic!
It is! I'm a babe in the woods here... Still:
A site were people are really easy going and nice can be found here.
I need loads and lots of training, but: Hey, it's fun being slaughtered there!
Just imagine... Your very own Personal Assistant!
We all know the current global trend: The US and Europe are declining in economical power for manifold reasons. Our own companies desert us.
The first thing many companies out-sourced, was production. Now, with growing education in China and India, administration and R&D more or less slowly follow. Sure for good reasons:
I mean, we fought for a few hundred years to get to certain standards in wages, environmental controls, limited work hours, a human pension age. Even job safety in case of illness! We shoved all of this down the throats of our companies. Surely they - and their shareholders - deserve better!
They found paradise in Asia: Unlimited ressources when it comes to workers. Convenient tax laws. No troubles with the trade unions. And if the odd design is copied because certain other laws aren't as established as in the US or Europe either: Hell, they still profit from globalization a big deal!
And now it's your turn to do the very same!
Work is getting more and more stressful? You don't really have the time or energy anymore to arrange your shopping, find a good christmas gift for your significant other? Surf the net for spare parts? Get a reservation for the theatre?
No trouble at all, because now you can hire your own personal assistant!
Yes, someone in India or Singapore, assigned to arrange whatever you want them to arrange, reachable 24/7. Happy to make your life easier. Four hours work by your far-away assistant each month will cost you 48 GBP. At current rate that's just 68 Euro!
Check it out for yourself here.
Anyways, I'll sure as hell get that one week trial period, too. Wouldn't know what to really do with a PA. So far I managed my life pretty well on my own.
Surely I'm doing it totally wrong!
The first thing many companies out-sourced, was production. Now, with growing education in China and India, administration and R&D more or less slowly follow. Sure for good reasons:
I mean, we fought for a few hundred years to get to certain standards in wages, environmental controls, limited work hours, a human pension age. Even job safety in case of illness! We shoved all of this down the throats of our companies. Surely they - and their shareholders - deserve better!
They found paradise in Asia: Unlimited ressources when it comes to workers. Convenient tax laws. No troubles with the trade unions. And if the odd design is copied because certain other laws aren't as established as in the US or Europe either: Hell, they still profit from globalization a big deal!
And now it's your turn to do the very same!
Work is getting more and more stressful? You don't really have the time or energy anymore to arrange your shopping, find a good christmas gift for your significant other? Surf the net for spare parts? Get a reservation for the theatre?
No trouble at all, because now you can hire your own personal assistant!
Yes, someone in India or Singapore, assigned to arrange whatever you want them to arrange, reachable 24/7. Happy to make your life easier. Four hours work by your far-away assistant each month will cost you 48 GBP. At current rate that's just 68 Euro!
Check it out for yourself here.
Anyways, I'll sure as hell get that one week trial period, too. Wouldn't know what to really do with a PA. So far I managed my life pretty well on my own.
Surely I'm doing it totally wrong!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Good luck, Green Gnomes!
This is just a quick post to congratulate CallinTv.de to their - at least temporary and hopefully soon final - victory in the lawsuit against a certain Call-In TV station.
Mork, keep up the good work!
You can read the full story of the law suit here.
Mork, keep up the good work!
You can read the full story of the law suit here.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
About Linux & Windows I
Windows, Linux (and Mac OS X).
All three of them found a home under the humble roof of our house.
(WARNING: I will not get deeply into Mac OS here. I don't use it frequently, my last real experience with Apple itself is ... dow... 8 years or so back. Linux distros and Windows will be the main candidates here.)
My girl friend has a Mac, I have a desktop computer running Win XP & (currently) Linux Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon as dual boot. I also have an old notebook with SUSE 7.1 running happily on it.
Every few years the Operating Systems war starts all over, with zealots for all of them eager to join their comrades in the trenches, not so eager to look beyond...
Joining one camp ain't that easy, as far as I am concerned. I mean, what do I care about market shares for Microsoft, Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, Mandriva... and Apple?
Honestly, I'm driven by egoism: What can the different OS&distributions provide for me? How much must I invest?
So, trying to look calmly at the current situation: Where are we right now?
The open source and proprietary worlds got more mixed up during the last few years than many folks might realize.
I think a nice and entertaining approach to the subject would be to... fantasize a bit... Let me explain my view by creating some fictional characters here...
Walter Harris - Your typical Joe Average user
So Walter decided to buy himself a nice new desktop computer.
Walter mainly uses his computer to write emails to his friends, the occasional letter to the industry to complain about the rising prices of cat food.
Sometimes, after his usual eight hours work, he feels like being creative.
He might want to create a database of his whole stamp collection, perhaps edit some pictures.
And then there's this friend of his who just had a bachelor party and Walter wants to surprise him with the edited movie he shot.
On the side Walter enjoys the occasional game.
Walters company uses Windows. Hey, he even knows some hotkeys to save time!
These days - with some suppliers - he can save about fifty bucks NOT having Windows as a pre-installed system, but using a free Linux instead.
Well, Walters pay-check ain't that bad after all. So he decides to have the Windows XP or VISTA OS pre-installed, pays the extra fifty and gets his new beauty home.
Now, the barebones programs supplied with Windows aren't bad... But hardly ful-filling either. A very much down-graded office suite, a paint program even kids would laugh at... Video editing? Neat database?
A whole lot of extra bucks to spend for poor Walter, going down the Microsoft road.
Upgrading his OEM version, buying MS office suite...
So one day he grabs that copy of Linux Magazine, a neat up-to-date (mostly) free Linux distribution supplied on a shiny brand-new DVD!
Should he get rid of good ole Windows?
My answer would be a definite: NO!
All he is looking for is some free software. He can get his free office suite for Windows at OpenOffice.Org. [Edit: Also available for MAC... (see comments)]
There is a version of GIMP for Windows around for photo-editing.
Let's face it, many of the more commonly asked for open-source programs ARE now available for Windows!
The change certainly will be easier for him than to switch to Linux or Mac OS X.
And if he can afford the Windows Office or a better version of VISTA? Go for it! Work with the stuff you have known all your life. You don't need Linux. Don't even try it, you might be disappointed.
So Linux and Mac OS X have no crowd? Well, wait for my next example in another posting.
All three of them found a home under the humble roof of our house.
(WARNING: I will not get deeply into Mac OS here. I don't use it frequently, my last real experience with Apple itself is ... dow... 8 years or so back. Linux distros and Windows will be the main candidates here.)
My girl friend has a Mac, I have a desktop computer running Win XP & (currently) Linux Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon as dual boot. I also have an old notebook with SUSE 7.1 running happily on it.
Every few years the Operating Systems war starts all over, with zealots for all of them eager to join their comrades in the trenches, not so eager to look beyond...
Joining one camp ain't that easy, as far as I am concerned. I mean, what do I care about market shares for Microsoft, Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, Mandriva... and Apple?
Honestly, I'm driven by egoism: What can the different OS&distributions provide for me? How much must I invest?
So, trying to look calmly at the current situation: Where are we right now?
The open source and proprietary worlds got more mixed up during the last few years than many folks might realize.
I think a nice and entertaining approach to the subject would be to... fantasize a bit... Let me explain my view by creating some fictional characters here...
Walter Harris - Your typical Joe Average user
So Walter decided to buy himself a nice new desktop computer.
Walter mainly uses his computer to write emails to his friends, the occasional letter to the industry to complain about the rising prices of cat food.
Sometimes, after his usual eight hours work, he feels like being creative.
He might want to create a database of his whole stamp collection, perhaps edit some pictures.
And then there's this friend of his who just had a bachelor party and Walter wants to surprise him with the edited movie he shot.
On the side Walter enjoys the occasional game.
Walters company uses Windows. Hey, he even knows some hotkeys to save time!
These days - with some suppliers - he can save about fifty bucks NOT having Windows as a pre-installed system, but using a free Linux instead.
Well, Walters pay-check ain't that bad after all. So he decides to have the Windows XP or VISTA OS pre-installed, pays the extra fifty and gets his new beauty home.
Now, the barebones programs supplied with Windows aren't bad... But hardly ful-filling either. A very much down-graded office suite, a paint program even kids would laugh at... Video editing? Neat database?
A whole lot of extra bucks to spend for poor Walter, going down the Microsoft road.
Upgrading his OEM version, buying MS office suite...
So one day he grabs that copy of Linux Magazine, a neat up-to-date (mostly) free Linux distribution supplied on a shiny brand-new DVD!
Should he get rid of good ole Windows?
My answer would be a definite: NO!
All he is looking for is some free software. He can get his free office suite for Windows at OpenOffice.Org. [Edit: Also available for MAC... (see comments)]
There is a version of GIMP for Windows around for photo-editing.
Let's face it, many of the more commonly asked for open-source programs ARE now available for Windows!
The change certainly will be easier for him than to switch to Linux or Mac OS X.
And if he can afford the Windows Office or a better version of VISTA? Go for it! Work with the stuff you have known all your life. You don't need Linux. Don't even try it, you might be disappointed.
So Linux and Mac OS X have no crowd? Well, wait for my next example in another posting.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
MySpace vs Facebook IV - Finals
As already stated, the first difference between Facebook and MySpace you will notice is the rather hurting number of ads. And I'm talking blinking, shifting, annoying GIF- and Flash-ads here. This is only what you endure on your configure page. The page visitors see is almost ad-free (one header ad at last count).
You can edit your profile to tell the uncaring world about your favorite music, world views, heroes, etc., just as with Facebook. You can enter HTML&CSS to the fields, JavaScript is not allowed and using CSS to get rid of the ads is a No-No, too.
Photos
Pretty much the same as in Facebook. It lacks the ability to tag your friends, but allows you to create a diashow, which you cannot do with Facebook. Albums can be private, your friends only or for all to see.
Videos
The MySpace integrated video option is better than the application I saw at Facebook.
Almost all common file formats are possible and each movie has a maximum 100MB file size.
Calendar
The Calendar feature much reminded me of Outlook at work. You can search for more or less local events via the calendar or post your own.
The last two standard features are a Blog and an adress book. The blog is steady enough, but I'd advice using Blogger instead. One nice feature is that you can link a Podcast to your blog. I didn't try that.
The Blog also allows you to see who your faithful readers are.
The adress book is fairly standard issue. I made a quick jump to my MySpace Inbox from there. They installed a new spam-filter lately which might explain that offers from the liberal ladies mentioned earlier are on a decline.
Now I could be going on for hours and hours. Yes, there are also forums and TV shows and and and in MySpace. I saw no direct way to integrate pre-chewed applications as in Facebook.
In a final comparison between MySpace and Facebook I'd say:
If you are looking for a real contact network, to keep in touch with your friends and have fun with them, Facebook IMHO is made for you.
If on the other hand you are an unknown band or movie maker or photographer or you're looking for a free page to advertise your podcast, you should go for MySpace.
I myself will stay with Facebook for now. But I have the feeling that once Google manages to make a whole out of the services they bought up and form it into one big empire they will be number 1.
You can edit your profile to tell the uncaring world about your favorite music, world views, heroes, etc., just as with Facebook. You can enter HTML&CSS to the fields, JavaScript is not allowed and using CSS to get rid of the ads is a No-No, too.
Photos
Pretty much the same as in Facebook. It lacks the ability to tag your friends, but allows you to create a diashow, which you cannot do with Facebook. Albums can be private, your friends only or for all to see.
Videos
The MySpace integrated video option is better than the application I saw at Facebook.
Almost all common file formats are possible and each movie has a maximum 100MB file size.
Calendar
The Calendar feature much reminded me of Outlook at work. You can search for more or less local events via the calendar or post your own.
The last two standard features are a Blog and an adress book. The blog is steady enough, but I'd advice using Blogger instead. One nice feature is that you can link a Podcast to your blog. I didn't try that.
The Blog also allows you to see who your faithful readers are.
The adress book is fairly standard issue. I made a quick jump to my MySpace Inbox from there. They installed a new spam-filter lately which might explain that offers from the liberal ladies mentioned earlier are on a decline.
Now I could be going on for hours and hours. Yes, there are also forums and TV shows and and and in MySpace. I saw no direct way to integrate pre-chewed applications as in Facebook.
In a final comparison between MySpace and Facebook I'd say:
If you are looking for a real contact network, to keep in touch with your friends and have fun with them, Facebook IMHO is made for you.
If on the other hand you are an unknown band or movie maker or photographer or you're looking for a free page to advertise your podcast, you should go for MySpace.
I myself will stay with Facebook for now. But I have the feeling that once Google manages to make a whole out of the services they bought up and form it into one big empire they will be number 1.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
MySpace vs Facebook III - Let's face it!
Let's start with a more detailed review of Facebook. The reason is simple, I have much more contacts there, which kind of seems to be the reason to start the whole contact network thing at all - right?
So the first screen you get to when logging in shows the latest news, starting with your friends and then your network(s). A nice way of getting a quick overview of how your friends & contacts are faring and who has hugged, thrown a drink at or bitten whom recently... The network news are often comprised of far less mature content and thus less inspiring for the educated mind.
The next page you may want to check is your profile. It's here you can:
Generate new photo albums:
Each album is limited to 60 pictures and a Java-based upload program is used. It's simple but quite effective, perhaps not as appealing as a desktop solution like the one Picasa offers, but that cannot be expected.
After the upload completes, you can add captions to the pics and - a very nice feature I think - if another of your Facebook friends is on the picture, you can "point" him and add a remark, that he is on it, too.
Groups
You can also join tons of Groups at Facebook, sorted by Networks, interests, or not sorted at all. And of course you can also start your own group. Topics range from history, photography to rather obscure ancient cults like "Hasslehoff is God".
Events
As the name states, you can post your own events here or browse for a multitude of events posted on Facebook at the moment. So when (and if, in my case... I never find the energy to clean up) you plan your next big party and only want the Internet nerds amongst your friends present, post it here!
The last standard appication is a marketplace. This is not Ebay, but more like your good ole neighborhood mini-ads newspaper.
I found some free music to listen to in the freebies section, so it's not all bad.
You also have your Wall - for exchanging world press news with your friends - and a Posted Items section.
So far your profile will look much like anyone else's profile. If you want to spice it up, you will need to install new applications. And there are tons of them!
A warning in advance (thanks to Astrid for this) - check the security profile options after you install applications!
I went for a Vampire/Werewolf plugin, because they are probably even older than I am, but still have appeal.
Also, music & video are standard at MySpace... So I added two applications to get even.
All in all you get quite some out of it at Facebook with minimum effort, I'd say. A nice way to waste some time. Correcting my previous post about Facebook, though: I actually did NOT see a way to enter custom source code (as in HTML, CSS, JavaScript) yet.
So the first screen you get to when logging in shows the latest news, starting with your friends and then your network(s). A nice way of getting a quick overview of how your friends & contacts are faring and who has hugged, thrown a drink at or bitten whom recently... The network news are often comprised of far less mature content and thus less inspiring for the educated mind.
The next page you may want to check is your profile. It's here you can:
Generate new photo albums:
Each album is limited to 60 pictures and a Java-based upload program is used. It's simple but quite effective, perhaps not as appealing as a desktop solution like the one Picasa offers, but that cannot be expected.
After the upload completes, you can add captions to the pics and - a very nice feature I think - if another of your Facebook friends is on the picture, you can "point" him and add a remark, that he is on it, too.
Groups
You can also join tons of Groups at Facebook, sorted by Networks, interests, or not sorted at all. And of course you can also start your own group. Topics range from history, photography to rather obscure ancient cults like "Hasslehoff is God".
Events
As the name states, you can post your own events here or browse for a multitude of events posted on Facebook at the moment. So when (and if, in my case... I never find the energy to clean up) you plan your next big party and only want the Internet nerds amongst your friends present, post it here!
The last standard appication is a marketplace. This is not Ebay, but more like your good ole neighborhood mini-ads newspaper.
I found some free music to listen to in the freebies section, so it's not all bad.
You also have your Wall - for exchanging world press news with your friends - and a Posted Items section.
So far your profile will look much like anyone else's profile. If you want to spice it up, you will need to install new applications. And there are tons of them!
A warning in advance (thanks to Astrid for this) - check the security profile options after you install applications!
I went for a Vampire/Werewolf plugin, because they are probably even older than I am, but still have appeal.
Also, music & video are standard at MySpace... So I added two applications to get even.
All in all you get quite some out of it at Facebook with minimum effort, I'd say. A nice way to waste some time. Correcting my previous post about Facebook, though: I actually did NOT see a way to enter custom source code (as in HTML, CSS, JavaScript) yet.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Political Talkshow Chats
I watched a political Talkshow today, which probably says a lot more about my current state-of-mind than I am readily willing to admit... But!
Did you guys notice that all of them now have this nice and probably mostly harmless super-strictly moderated after-talk Chat?
Now, after they finished I decided to join the chat. I expected at least a thousand others there. There were fifty-five top.
I think it would be easily manageable to "conquer" such a discussion. And I think I really would enjoy that after only one of my questions was even published by that moderator from hell! (Yeah, kid gloves for their oh-so-special special guests! And I was being civil!)
Anyone in to join me, please post me a comment with your email and we'll go for some real ridicilous discussion!
Anyone interested in the transcript of the discussion I joined: Leave a comment and I'll mail it to you. It's not very interesting, but more interesting than the guests at the show (including the guy answering the questions...)
And once again german. I'll go for more international topics again, I promise!
Did you guys notice that all of them now have this nice and probably mostly harmless super-strictly moderated after-talk Chat?
Now, after they finished I decided to join the chat. I expected at least a thousand others there. There were fifty-five top.
I think it would be easily manageable to "conquer" such a discussion. And I think I really would enjoy that after only one of my questions was even published by that moderator from hell! (Yeah, kid gloves for their oh-so-special special guests! And I was being civil!)
Anyone in to join me, please post me a comment with your email and we'll go for some real ridicilous discussion!
Anyone interested in the transcript of the discussion I joined: Leave a comment and I'll mail it to you. It's not very interesting, but more interesting than the guests at the show (including the guy answering the questions...)
And once again german. I'll go for more international topics again, I promise!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Call-In-TV on YouTube
I usually am a strong supporter of Gruenegnome.de and other sites and organizations fighting the good war against Call-In TV.
For those who don't know:
You wake up in the midst of the night after having fallen asleep while half-eye watching this movie you absolutely had to see. You wake up because some obnoxious guy is screaming at you at the sound level of a Heavy Metal concert...
You open up your eyes and see some riddle the answer to which even in your half-dazed condition jumps to your mind instantly. (Add a drained bottle of Vodka to that, you still could solve it...) You jump to the phone and dial the number: Hey, you could win 5000 Euro!
Yes, that's Call-In TV shows.
I once saw a spot of an old lady that had a telephone bill of 3000 Euro, because she kept calling there (at a rate of 50 cents per call, no matter if you get through or not...). This was cruel!
All that said, even these programs can come up with some entertainment and amusement... If at the costs of others...
I apologize to any reader who doesn't understand German... Life just ain't fair!
For those who don't know:
You wake up in the midst of the night after having fallen asleep while half-eye watching this movie you absolutely had to see. You wake up because some obnoxious guy is screaming at you at the sound level of a Heavy Metal concert...
You open up your eyes and see some riddle the answer to which even in your half-dazed condition jumps to your mind instantly. (Add a drained bottle of Vodka to that, you still could solve it...) You jump to the phone and dial the number: Hey, you could win 5000 Euro!
Yes, that's Call-In TV shows.
I once saw a spot of an old lady that had a telephone bill of 3000 Euro, because she kept calling there (at a rate of 50 cents per call, no matter if you get through or not...). This was cruel!
All that said, even these programs can come up with some entertainment and amusement... If at the costs of others...
I apologize to any reader who doesn't understand German... Life just ain't fair!
Saturday, September 1, 2007
MySpace vs Face Book II
After creating an account at both sites, most features were identical at first look.
I could allow for my Email contacts to be searched, so I could find my "friends".
(I even found my old advisor at the bank... Tsktsk... Shouldn't go Facebook with her company account!)
Those not already signed up, I could invite, if I wanted to, which I didn't.
The first thing I did was to tune down my profile. I wanted only those that I accepted as friends to be able to see my profile. And also, with both MySpace and Facebook, I removed myself from all internal search engines.
This point so far went to Facebook... Even though it should be impossible, I received two invitations from barely clad ladies who offered to be my "friends". And though there is nothing to say against almost nude ladies in general, I have my doubts in MySpace security options.
The menues of both networks I found slightly straining, not very intuitive or neatly organized.
Then again by just surfing MySpace a bit, I found a lot of unknown (to me) bands who promoted their music there, some even offered downloads.
Another thing though: MySpace proudly proclaims to be "powered by Google" now. Google did buy a lot of interesting services lately, more than one could shake a pointed stick at.
But the integration of those features into a big Google family is still lacking. I think that within a year or so, if they manage to make it possible to swap and interchange data, it will represent an all-round offer hard to resist.
So far I found it impossible to link this Blog to my Myspace site as Blog, for example. Or directly load pics from Picasa into the Blog. I can go to Picasa and have a link generated that I can then enter into a Blog entry.
Both Facebook and Myspace allow for integration of your own HTML&CSS code.
When it comes to ads, MySpace is worse in my humble opinion. Hey, time to check out what I can do there and what I can't.
I could allow for my Email contacts to be searched, so I could find my "friends".
(I even found my old advisor at the bank... Tsktsk... Shouldn't go Facebook with her company account!)
Those not already signed up, I could invite, if I wanted to, which I didn't.
The first thing I did was to tune down my profile. I wanted only those that I accepted as friends to be able to see my profile. And also, with both MySpace and Facebook, I removed myself from all internal search engines.
This point so far went to Facebook... Even though it should be impossible, I received two invitations from barely clad ladies who offered to be my "friends". And though there is nothing to say against almost nude ladies in general, I have my doubts in MySpace security options.
The menues of both networks I found slightly straining, not very intuitive or neatly organized.
Then again by just surfing MySpace a bit, I found a lot of unknown (to me) bands who promoted their music there, some even offered downloads.
Another thing though: MySpace proudly proclaims to be "powered by Google" now. Google did buy a lot of interesting services lately, more than one could shake a pointed stick at.
But the integration of those features into a big Google family is still lacking. I think that within a year or so, if they manage to make it possible to swap and interchange data, it will represent an all-round offer hard to resist.
So far I found it impossible to link this Blog to my Myspace site as Blog, for example. Or directly load pics from Picasa into the Blog. I can go to Picasa and have a link generated that I can then enter into a Blog entry.
Both Facebook and Myspace allow for integration of your own HTML&CSS code.
When it comes to ads, MySpace is worse in my humble opinion. Hey, time to check out what I can do there and what I can't.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
MySpace vs Facebook
I'm pretty sure anyone who ever surfed the net a bit has stumbled over MySpace.com and Facebook.com.
The idea behind both is pretty simple: You get your own little homepage to tell others about your hobbies, work, music, favorite sex fetish(s) or whatever else comes to your mind.
Then others around the globe can hug and kiss you and add you to their friends, or you might want to search for your own RL friends that already signed up.
In the true spirit of the Web 2.0 ideology, you don't need to know any HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PERL or - god forbid - Java or Flash to get a neat looking homepage. All you need is creativity and a bit of patience.
My girl friend first invited me to Facebook. A musician friend of mine then told me he promoted his songs via MySpace. I decided to take a look at both, to see which has the cooler features and applets to integrate. And which allows you to fiddle&customize more...
It appears to be a pretty static work compared to Second Life and WoW. But, hey, I need a rest!
The idea behind both is pretty simple: You get your own little homepage to tell others about your hobbies, work, music, favorite sex fetish(s) or whatever else comes to your mind.
Then others around the globe can hug and kiss you and add you to their friends, or you might want to search for your own RL friends that already signed up.
In the true spirit of the Web 2.0 ideology, you don't need to know any HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PERL or - god forbid - Java or Flash to get a neat looking homepage. All you need is creativity and a bit of patience.
My girl friend first invited me to Facebook. A musician friend of mine then told me he promoted his songs via MySpace. I decided to take a look at both, to see which has the cooler features and applets to integrate. And which allows you to fiddle&customize more...
It appears to be a pretty static work compared to Second Life and WoW. But, hey, I need a rest!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Second Life - Final
I planned to finish my adventures in Second Life this weekend after exploring a few more islands. Luckily either Linden Lab or God himself intervened - I couldn't log on from my computer anymore.
Looking back, I'm almost happy. It was fun to explore Second Life for a little while, but all in all it's a boring, even sobering experience.
Why? The world is too much like our own. There is nothing to do in Second Life and most of the "hip" islands are crowded by a dressed-up fake in-scene people that I wouldn't like in my first life either. Since basically you can be anything you want to be in Second Life, does that mean most people want to be smartly dressed, sexy in-people? Shouldn't they strive to be that in their First Life instead and be something fun otherwise? Are we humans that shallow?
It's also far too commercial and houses too many phony web enterprises, that wouldn't stand a chance to get any users, were it not for the promise of a few L$.
I would have loved to try out some of the design features. Creating things usually gives me more kicks than just consuming them.
But now I'm looking forward to banish the whole of Second Life from my hard disk.
All in all what you get out of Second Life is a 3D Chat and a good chance to go on a foto-shooting tour like I did most of the time. No doubt - there are nice places hidden somewhere amongst the thousands of islands, but personally I lack the energy to search for them any more.
Perhaps some day there will be a Third Life - and perhaps it will be a world worth spending time in.
Looking back, I'm almost happy. It was fun to explore Second Life for a little while, but all in all it's a boring, even sobering experience.
Why? The world is too much like our own. There is nothing to do in Second Life and most of the "hip" islands are crowded by a dressed-up fake in-scene people that I wouldn't like in my first life either. Since basically you can be anything you want to be in Second Life, does that mean most people want to be smartly dressed, sexy in-people? Shouldn't they strive to be that in their First Life instead and be something fun otherwise? Are we humans that shallow?
It's also far too commercial and houses too many phony web enterprises, that wouldn't stand a chance to get any users, were it not for the promise of a few L$.
I would have loved to try out some of the design features. Creating things usually gives me more kicks than just consuming them.
But now I'm looking forward to banish the whole of Second Life from my hard disk.
All in all what you get out of Second Life is a 3D Chat and a good chance to go on a foto-shooting tour like I did most of the time. No doubt - there are nice places hidden somewhere amongst the thousands of islands, but personally I lack the energy to search for them any more.
Perhaps some day there will be a Third Life - and perhaps it will be a world worth spending time in.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Cyberathlete Professional League
Another hype I stumbled across by sheer accident. I was getting my weekly dose of David Pogue, who does technical articles for the New York Times. Since David is great, but this weeks video didn't really interest me, I checked out some other online videos at the Times.
And then found this video about Cyberathletes.
I watched all of the videos and then went on to search some more.
CBS featured a full documentation of Jonathan "Fatal1ty Wendel, one of the star players. You can find it here.
A guy playing First Person Shooters earning 300.000 dollars in price money? Is this a real sport? It pretty much seems so, as most of the "cyberathletes" actually are not the couch potatoes you would imagine, but are also physically quite fit.
I'm not the worst with First Person Shooters myself, my reflexes are usually sufficient to get me through the games. But just watching the sheer speed and accuracy of those guys scared me. They actually practice several hours a day to get that good at wreaking havoc to virtual enemies and bust each other.
Wikipedia features articles on the players, NVIDIA and other biggies on the computer hardware market name their products after the stars. Fatal1ty has his own merchandise.
I don't want to waste many more words. Go and see for yourself. But truly, this IS a Hype.
And then found this video about Cyberathletes.
I watched all of the videos and then went on to search some more.
CBS featured a full documentation of Jonathan "Fatal1ty Wendel, one of the star players. You can find it here.
A guy playing First Person Shooters earning 300.000 dollars in price money? Is this a real sport? It pretty much seems so, as most of the "cyberathletes" actually are not the couch potatoes you would imagine, but are also physically quite fit.
I'm not the worst with First Person Shooters myself, my reflexes are usually sufficient to get me through the games. But just watching the sheer speed and accuracy of those guys scared me. They actually practice several hours a day to get that good at wreaking havoc to virtual enemies and bust each other.
Wikipedia features articles on the players, NVIDIA and other biggies on the computer hardware market name their products after the stars. Fatal1ty has his own merchandise.
I don't want to waste many more words. Go and see for yourself. But truly, this IS a Hype.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Second Life - Tourism on Lonely Planet
Yesterday made me feel fed up with SL. I try to be fair and give each Hype a sufficient testing time, but: Most islands are empty. Those that are not are filled because of campers only. They pay to be popular. The out-fashioned graphics began to tire me. The constant lag - besides my quite fast connection - begins to get on my nerves.
So I decided to take a guided tour instead, grabbed the latest issue of the AvaStar and teleported to the places they described as great.
Juke Joint Blues
As the name suggests this is a Blues Bar in the midst of what looks like the combat zone. It was skillfully done, but the Juke Box didn't work for me and the next Gig was due next Wednesday only. The only people - or avatars - around were staff. They were nice enough, but due to lack of anything to do atm I went on.
Support for Healing
By what I read on that Island it's a fundraiser for various RL projects trying to help people with serious problems. As in: Depressions, child abuse, etc.
It's also meant as a meeting place for such people. Graphically, this was a mix of Stonehenge and Buddhist temple settled in a japanese garden to my eyes. I will not share more thoughts on this one.
The Internet site behind Support for Healing is here
Since I felt well-enough and out of place already and there was no-one around to talk with, I just went on.
The gardens of Apollo
This island is covered by temples and lush gardens. For "one of the most popular" meetings places around, it was quite empty. It's a no-sex, no-stalking, no-dirty talk zone meant for private rendezvous of the more eloquent type. Which I appreciated.
It is also locked in eternal sunset mode.
It did look quite good. But I'd rather visit the real Taj Mahal then to spent too much time here on fantasy island.
SciLands
The Island teaches astronomy on a fairly sophisticated but still understandable level. I liked it! I actually learned something there! As might be expected, except for me there was only one other Avatar on the island.
I have Celestia installed on my computer, which is a nicer way to learn about the universe surrounding us perhaps. But still: I was impressed.
The analytical sciences needed to explore were also covered, along with 3D models to explain the workings of Mass- UV- and IR spectroscopy. There even is a small lab, where you can try around. A fairly interesting place all in all.
The Star Trek Museum (located at TokaDok II
This one really made me feel a bit better about SL. A sci-fi fan at heart and very fond of the Star Trek universe, the Star Trek Museum was a lot of fun for me to visit.
Download-Links to free Star Trek games, a StarTrek-StarWars movie in their cinema, a starport with 3D ship models - including their history. This place was made with lots of love. It was also designed within the limits of SL Engine, so don't expect too much detail, accept the occasional graphic glitch and if you're a Trekkie, you might like it.
I met a nice Paladin there, complete with amour, sword, all that and helped him to a few dragon-chasing photos. He had a real impressive Pegasus with him. This was the first time I really had some interactive fun, for a short time. He gave me a few addresses for Islands with fantasy and sci-fi backgrounds. So, perhaps I will even stay another day to check them out.
One other thing that fascinated me, was the Library of Primitives. Here you could actually find tutorials to build your own objects in SL. I think, that could be the actual fun part of this game for me. My voyages so far left me tired enough, though. So I called it a SL day and went off for now.
So I decided to take a guided tour instead, grabbed the latest issue of the AvaStar and teleported to the places they described as great.
Juke Joint Blues
As the name suggests this is a Blues Bar in the midst of what looks like the combat zone. It was skillfully done, but the Juke Box didn't work for me and the next Gig was due next Wednesday only. The only people - or avatars - around were staff. They were nice enough, but due to lack of anything to do atm I went on.
Support for Healing
By what I read on that Island it's a fundraiser for various RL projects trying to help people with serious problems. As in: Depressions, child abuse, etc.
It's also meant as a meeting place for such people. Graphically, this was a mix of Stonehenge and Buddhist temple settled in a japanese garden to my eyes. I will not share more thoughts on this one.
The Internet site behind Support for Healing is here
Since I felt well-enough and out of place already and there was no-one around to talk with, I just went on.
The gardens of Apollo
This island is covered by temples and lush gardens. For "one of the most popular" meetings places around, it was quite empty. It's a no-sex, no-stalking, no-dirty talk zone meant for private rendezvous of the more eloquent type. Which I appreciated.
It is also locked in eternal sunset mode.
It did look quite good. But I'd rather visit the real Taj Mahal then to spent too much time here on fantasy island.
SciLands
The Island teaches astronomy on a fairly sophisticated but still understandable level. I liked it! I actually learned something there! As might be expected, except for me there was only one other Avatar on the island.
I have Celestia installed on my computer, which is a nicer way to learn about the universe surrounding us perhaps. But still: I was impressed.
The analytical sciences needed to explore were also covered, along with 3D models to explain the workings of Mass- UV- and IR spectroscopy. There even is a small lab, where you can try around. A fairly interesting place all in all.
The Star Trek Museum (located at TokaDok II
This one really made me feel a bit better about SL. A sci-fi fan at heart and very fond of the Star Trek universe, the Star Trek Museum was a lot of fun for me to visit.
Download-Links to free Star Trek games, a StarTrek-StarWars movie in their cinema, a starport with 3D ship models - including their history. This place was made with lots of love. It was also designed within the limits of SL Engine, so don't expect too much detail, accept the occasional graphic glitch and if you're a Trekkie, you might like it.
I met a nice Paladin there, complete with amour, sword, all that and helped him to a few dragon-chasing photos. He had a real impressive Pegasus with him. This was the first time I really had some interactive fun, for a short time. He gave me a few addresses for Islands with fantasy and sci-fi backgrounds. So, perhaps I will even stay another day to check them out.
One other thing that fascinated me, was the Library of Primitives. Here you could actually find tutorials to build your own objects in SL. I think, that could be the actual fun part of this game for me. My voyages so far left me tired enough, though. So I called it a SL day and went off for now.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Second Life - Island Hopping
For a another great second opinion on Second Life check out Odd Todd's Page.
A lot of real world companies have a second life representation. One example would be the T-Online Beach Party (116-47-22).
It was fairly frequented with a lot of Germans hanging out to chat and earn the occasional L$ camping on beach towels or dancing on stage.
The ads were mild and the animations well done.
On the other hand, it was just another good-looking place to be bored at. The chats people had amazed me: How do five people manage to talk about nothing at all with so many words? I mean, seriously, they must have been bored to death already. So I decided to hop on.
Perhaps I should get a partner for this project, as it can be tiring to be so alone in such otherwise neat surroundings.
A little later I made friends with a small fuzzy white wolf. Afterwards I went offline for a few hours. When I returned almost the same group of people was still around. Sitting on the campers seats doing nothing.
I actually had a short conversation with some other Germans hanging out there.
Finally I decided to try out the new voice chat feature. OMG... It's a bit disillusioning: You have hundreds of totally amazing Avatars around you, but of course behind them are fairly standard human voices. The first one to built voice filters to monsterize or beautify spoken dialogue will definitely become a SL millionaire!
I should go out buy some helium before I ever use that feature.
So what does a lizard do when it gets night? Go dance of course!
A shame there is actually not much music to listen to and the few snippets sound like a best of Ballermann CD.
I Island hopped quite a bit afterwards, without finding anything but shops, deserted private islands and finally: A place where people had sex. Hum... I must say this was fun to watch. The silly typed comments and the even sillier movements... I found it hard not to fall off my RL chair, laughing my ass off.
The last thing I visited today was the Public Townscape Island. This is a social experiment by a German student of landscape architecture. Anyone may build here and anything built is permanent. Or would be if you could actually still build anything, as the PRIM limit (maximum number of objects) has been reached.
The island is a chaotic mess. But to read how it became what it is now, can be quite interesting. Find the documentation here along with pictures and movies.
That aside I also found several American universities have representations in SL.
A lot of real world companies have a second life representation. One example would be the T-Online Beach Party (116-47-22).
It was fairly frequented with a lot of Germans hanging out to chat and earn the occasional L$ camping on beach towels or dancing on stage.
The ads were mild and the animations well done.
On the other hand, it was just another good-looking place to be bored at. The chats people had amazed me: How do five people manage to talk about nothing at all with so many words? I mean, seriously, they must have been bored to death already. So I decided to hop on.
Perhaps I should get a partner for this project, as it can be tiring to be so alone in such otherwise neat surroundings.
A little later I made friends with a small fuzzy white wolf. Afterwards I went offline for a few hours. When I returned almost the same group of people was still around. Sitting on the campers seats doing nothing.
I actually had a short conversation with some other Germans hanging out there.
Finally I decided to try out the new voice chat feature. OMG... It's a bit disillusioning: You have hundreds of totally amazing Avatars around you, but of course behind them are fairly standard human voices. The first one to built voice filters to monsterize or beautify spoken dialogue will definitely become a SL millionaire!
I should go out buy some helium before I ever use that feature.
So what does a lizard do when it gets night? Go dance of course!
A shame there is actually not much music to listen to and the few snippets sound like a best of Ballermann CD.
I Island hopped quite a bit afterwards, without finding anything but shops, deserted private islands and finally: A place where people had sex. Hum... I must say this was fun to watch. The silly typed comments and the even sillier movements... I found it hard not to fall off my RL chair, laughing my ass off.
The last thing I visited today was the Public Townscape Island. This is a social experiment by a German student of landscape architecture. Anyone may build here and anything built is permanent. Or would be if you could actually still build anything, as the PRIM limit (maximum number of objects) has been reached.
The island is a chaotic mess. But to read how it became what it is now, can be quite interesting. Find the documentation here along with pictures and movies.
That aside I also found several American universities have representations in SL.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Second Life - My second day...
I island hopped a bit, and since it's sunday, I think I'll keep the text short and let the pics speak for themselves.
Money Island (84,89,22)
Even Avatars needs Money, so I went to Money Island, see how I could earn some. The place is quite crowded at all hours, so I guess I'm not the only one out of dough.
The most prominent feature is a replica of a large bank building... And the dozens of ATM machines standing around everywhere.
Accessing one of theses machines - although they promise "surveys" - will lead you to dating sites, career sites, etc., where you have to join for a few Linden dollars. (range being 150-300... That will not buy you a penis yet, I'm afraid!).
There is also a camping chair there where you have to stay for a certain amount of time (75 secs, if I remember right) to get one of a hundred freebies.
Otherwise the usual shops are scattered around.
I was surprised how many people were using the ATM machines, probably using fake emails and names. I don't see the win-win situation there. So, after an admirer copied my Dragon Avatar, I went on to another Island...
The Edge (208,135,21)
The edge promised life-music and other events, when I came there, a mud-wrestling contest was going on. Which is fun, too. All these graciously styled avatars... I would have bet on the lady in the shit-kicker cowboy boots, but the crowd voted differently. There was a camper's chair there that gives you 1L$ per ten minutes. Perfect to write a bit in my blog and read through the many notecards I grabbed everywhere!
One notecard really got my interest there, it was about scientific projects, sponsored by universities and other institutions. So perhaps there is another side to Second Life I didn't see yet? These will be my next targets.
And by sitting on my dragon butt for a while, I actually earned 4L$. So there are jobs out there less-well-paid then what I do during the week. ;)
Yes there are! Watch my dragon hard at work here:
Money Island (84,89,22)
Even Avatars needs Money, so I went to Money Island, see how I could earn some. The place is quite crowded at all hours, so I guess I'm not the only one out of dough.
The most prominent feature is a replica of a large bank building... And the dozens of ATM machines standing around everywhere.
Accessing one of theses machines - although they promise "surveys" - will lead you to dating sites, career sites, etc., where you have to join for a few Linden dollars. (range being 150-300... That will not buy you a penis yet, I'm afraid!).
There is also a camping chair there where you have to stay for a certain amount of time (75 secs, if I remember right) to get one of a hundred freebies.
Otherwise the usual shops are scattered around.
I was surprised how many people were using the ATM machines, probably using fake emails and names. I don't see the win-win situation there. So, after an admirer copied my Dragon Avatar, I went on to another Island...
The Edge (208,135,21)
The edge promised life-music and other events, when I came there, a mud-wrestling contest was going on. Which is fun, too. All these graciously styled avatars... I would have bet on the lady in the shit-kicker cowboy boots, but the crowd voted differently. There was a camper's chair there that gives you 1L$ per ten minutes. Perfect to write a bit in my blog and read through the many notecards I grabbed everywhere!
One notecard really got my interest there, it was about scientific projects, sponsored by universities and other institutions. So perhaps there is another side to Second Life I didn't see yet? These will be my next targets.
And by sitting on my dragon butt for a while, I actually earned 4L$. So there are jobs out there less-well-paid then what I do during the week. ;)
Yes there are! Watch my dragon hard at work here:
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Second Life - Genesis & Start
In the beginning, there was an idea.
In 1991 Neal Stephensons Cyberpunk novel Snowcrash was published. In the grim future he described people went to the virtual world of the Metaverse were they were represented by Avatars - graphical representations of theirselves.
Neals characters would go there for fun or to do business.
When I first read the book I asked myself how long it would take before technological advance would make the Metaverse possible. I was very certain that it would not take long. And for a change I was right!
Second Life was created very much along the idea of the Metaverse.
To get started you will have to download the Second Life installer for your OS. At the time of me writing this there was one for Windows, MacOS and an Alpha Version for Linux (announced).
Compared to the World of Warcraft download, Second Life was a piece of cake, done in about thirty minutes.
Afterwards, you also need to create a Second Life account. The process is straight-forward, you can choose your own first name and must then choose your family name from a drop down menue. You will be asked for your birth-date and your email address.
You can also choose between a limited basic free account or a paid-for account. I like freebies, so free it was and I started out to explore my Second Life.
Before you start you can choose between several very basic Avatar types. Don't waste much time with the choices, once you are in SL you can change your appearance easily to match your personal tastes.
You start out on Help Island. The first thing I saw was a whole army of Avatars floating in the air. That's what you look like when you're editing your appearance. Never being one to waste much time on trivialities I immediately set out to explore the Island instead.
You will have to pass some very basic tutorials before you can go out of this area. Movement, communication, flying(!), using inventory. That's it!
The next area you get to is mainly comprised of a freebie store, where you can get some cool stuff for your Avatar. I found a nice Rocket-Dino body there and settled for it. Of course I also grabbed everything else I could get my hands on. Just in case.
Graphic-wise SL cannot compare to WoW or any other modern online game IMHO. I have visited some really nicely edited areas, but the details are kind of limited.
The first "Mainland" Island I teleported to was a German "Altstadt" style area (located at 134,115,23). If you've ever seen a german Altstadt, you will remember they do not look like a giant bazaar. Shops, shops, shops... Most for rent, the rest selling all the important stuff - like a vagina or penis for your Avatar. Hell, yeah, if you want a virtual sex life, you must pay for it.
And it only starts with the ehm... main equipment. Want an ass that others can play with? The Whores'R'Us shopping mile.
I decided that my lizard Avatar was kind of a prude and a bore and instead grabbed the newest issue of the AvaStar. A PDF file download started. As I already knew that this e-paper was produced by the Springer-Verlag, I wasn't much surprised by the layout. Bild for Germans, Daily Sun for the English. Big letters, many red boxes. If you're interested, you can get it at the Avastar homepage without connecting to the game of course.
It's about as informative as the real life equivalents, also sharing the same style of journalism and focus on boulevard news. Despite all this, I must admit, they had some interesting articles, too.
So with this little screenshot from my first day on Mainland Second Life, I end my rant for now and will continue the search for something interesting.
I mean, there must be something somewehere out there, right? Otherwise it wouldn't be a Hype!
In 1991 Neal Stephensons Cyberpunk novel Snowcrash was published. In the grim future he described people went to the virtual world of the Metaverse were they were represented by Avatars - graphical representations of theirselves.
Neals characters would go there for fun or to do business.
When I first read the book I asked myself how long it would take before technological advance would make the Metaverse possible. I was very certain that it would not take long. And for a change I was right!
Second Life was created very much along the idea of the Metaverse.
To get started you will have to download the Second Life installer for your OS. At the time of me writing this there was one for Windows, MacOS and an Alpha Version for Linux (announced).
Compared to the World of Warcraft download, Second Life was a piece of cake, done in about thirty minutes.
Afterwards, you also need to create a Second Life account. The process is straight-forward, you can choose your own first name and must then choose your family name from a drop down menue. You will be asked for your birth-date and your email address.
You can also choose between a limited basic free account or a paid-for account. I like freebies, so free it was and I started out to explore my Second Life.
Before you start you can choose between several very basic Avatar types. Don't waste much time with the choices, once you are in SL you can change your appearance easily to match your personal tastes.
You start out on Help Island. The first thing I saw was a whole army of Avatars floating in the air. That's what you look like when you're editing your appearance. Never being one to waste much time on trivialities I immediately set out to explore the Island instead.
You will have to pass some very basic tutorials before you can go out of this area. Movement, communication, flying(!), using inventory. That's it!
The next area you get to is mainly comprised of a freebie store, where you can get some cool stuff for your Avatar. I found a nice Rocket-Dino body there and settled for it. Of course I also grabbed everything else I could get my hands on. Just in case.
Graphic-wise SL cannot compare to WoW or any other modern online game IMHO. I have visited some really nicely edited areas, but the details are kind of limited.
The first "Mainland" Island I teleported to was a German "Altstadt" style area (located at 134,115,23). If you've ever seen a german Altstadt, you will remember they do not look like a giant bazaar. Shops, shops, shops... Most for rent, the rest selling all the important stuff - like a vagina or penis for your Avatar. Hell, yeah, if you want a virtual sex life, you must pay for it.
And it only starts with the ehm... main equipment. Want an ass that others can play with? The Whores'R'Us shopping mile.
I decided that my lizard Avatar was kind of a prude and a bore and instead grabbed the newest issue of the AvaStar. A PDF file download started. As I already knew that this e-paper was produced by the Springer-Verlag, I wasn't much surprised by the layout. Bild for Germans, Daily Sun for the English. Big letters, many red boxes. If you're interested, you can get it at the Avastar homepage without connecting to the game of course.
It's about as informative as the real life equivalents, also sharing the same style of journalism and focus on boulevard news. Despite all this, I must admit, they had some interesting articles, too.
So with this little screenshot from my first day on Mainland Second Life, I end my rant for now and will continue the search for something interesting.
I mean, there must be something somewehere out there, right? Otherwise it wouldn't be a Hype!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
World of Warcraft - The testing ends, the game begins
So I actually played WoW for a while more. I must say I really liked it in the end, but how one could get addicted to the game is beyond me. After a few hours of hacking, getting better items and - with or without help - solving some quests...
After a few other chats and a swim in the lake with a druid lady...
I don't think I'll become a regular. There's so many other Hypes out there to see!
The graphics are great, especially those of the BIG monsters and protectors.
The music I just loved. I think if I feel like it, I'll buy a pre-paid card and do some more sight-seeing. I do not think I would feel like playing every day. It's a shame you cannot pay for the time you actually spend there.
In the end I like games better that allow you to choose whom you play with, so you can focus on whatever you want to focus on.
But thumbs up, Blizzard, I think every fantasy gaming geek should at least have a look at WoW.
After a few other chats and a swim in the lake with a druid lady...
I don't think I'll become a regular. There's so many other Hypes out there to see!
The graphics are great, especially those of the BIG monsters and protectors.
The music I just loved. I think if I feel like it, I'll buy a pre-paid card and do some more sight-seeing. I do not think I would feel like playing every day. It's a shame you cannot pay for the time you actually spend there.
In the end I like games better that allow you to choose whom you play with, so you can focus on whatever you want to focus on.
But thumbs up, Blizzard, I think every fantasy gaming geek should at least have a look at WoW.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
World of Warcraft, my Second Session
"Kill X of monster Y and bring me back Z items from it's corpse..."
80% of the quests I encountered so far follow above recipe. The few remaining quests, I had to find somebody and help him (usually involves lots of monsters, too.) or fill some vial with a bit of water from the different elven village ponds.
After a few more levels this quickly tired me, especially since - although there are tons of other players - , there seems to be next to no conversation going on. Perhaps I should suggest a new type of quest to Blizzard?
"Tie up five Players and don't have them leave until they had a decent talk with each other."
I met one guy whom I chatted with for a while, out of character that is. He had been playing WoW for a while, but said he had never found a Server dedicated to Roleplay. Some few individuals seem to enjoy it, but it's like a needle in a haystack.
When someone made a remark on the channel open to all players that "You Roleplaying geeks are seriously nuts...", I finally gave up.
Hell, here is a neat looking game with some great game mechanics (learned to cook, find herbs, some alchemy) - and all it's used for is stupid monster bashing?
To recuperate I took a long walk with my girl friend, then went back to my good ole NWN server, met with a few others and we talked about and investigated the attempted assassination of a druid friend. We did kill exactly one "monster" in a few hours, which was more or less by accident. And still we had a great time and a sophisticated plot going on. Ending the night at a campfire, talking about politics within our different communities.
Still, it would be unfair to judge WoW after only two sessions, I guess, so I will force myself to re-enter the game and give it another try. Maybe I should view it more like a solo type of game? Like Diablo or Dungeon Siege II. But what is the use of a Multiuser game, when you end up solo or only group up to slay something you can't slay alone?
80% of the quests I encountered so far follow above recipe. The few remaining quests, I had to find somebody and help him (usually involves lots of monsters, too.) or fill some vial with a bit of water from the different elven village ponds.
After a few more levels this quickly tired me, especially since - although there are tons of other players - , there seems to be next to no conversation going on. Perhaps I should suggest a new type of quest to Blizzard?
"Tie up five Players and don't have them leave until they had a decent talk with each other."
I met one guy whom I chatted with for a while, out of character that is. He had been playing WoW for a while, but said he had never found a Server dedicated to Roleplay. Some few individuals seem to enjoy it, but it's like a needle in a haystack.
When someone made a remark on the channel open to all players that "You Roleplaying geeks are seriously nuts...", I finally gave up.
Hell, here is a neat looking game with some great game mechanics (learned to cook, find herbs, some alchemy) - and all it's used for is stupid monster bashing?
To recuperate I took a long walk with my girl friend, then went back to my good ole NWN server, met with a few others and we talked about and investigated the attempted assassination of a druid friend. We did kill exactly one "monster" in a few hours, which was more or less by accident. And still we had a great time and a sophisticated plot going on. Ending the night at a campfire, talking about politics within our different communities.
Still, it would be unfair to judge WoW after only two sessions, I guess, so I will force myself to re-enter the game and give it another try. Maybe I should view it more like a solo type of game? Like Diablo or Dungeon Siege II. But what is the use of a Multiuser game, when you end up solo or only group up to slay something you can't slay alone?
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
World of Warcraft: Character Creation & First Impressions
I started the WoW Client and hoped that there wasn't any new update due to download.
I made the same choices as last time (Roleplaying Server please!), the same German server was suggested... and I started character creation.
I chose a Nightelf as character race and druid as his class. The choices as to hair color, body, hair-style, etc, are... well, sufficient. If you expect the detail of character creation you can have in Oblivion or even NWN2, you will be disappointed. But a multi-user fantasy game of this seize likely has it's limitations.
There was no text-field for a full-description of the character or for his background story.
The in-game graphics are good, though a bit too manga-esque for my personal tastes. Still liked them, except that I associate elves with "fast, nimble" not "Iron Man League bodybuilder". Seriously, that elf of mine has some biceps to show. In other worlds they'd ask for a DNA test, before allowing him into an Elf community.
So, after character creation, I stranded in a real impressive starting zone for elves. Surrounded by a lot of pigs and small sabre-tooth tigers. I started towards the first character with a "!" floating above his head - quest giver.
Sure enough he realized I'm a druid and bid me to re-establish the natural harmony. Birth rates of pigs and sabre-tooth tigers had been too high this year ("You don't say?"), time to slaughter some of them. Actually, in the distance, I could see other would-be hunters already hard at work.
The first nice surprise came, when suddenly the local druid leader approached me and greeted me. We talked a little while - it actually felt like Roleplay!
After she left I accomplished my first few quests, which all consisted of killing a lot of beasts of different kinds and were so easy I was level 5 in absolutely no time. There's always another quest ahead it seems... And with (almost) each quest one does get better equipment, so I had to get rid of my "Novice Robe" and "Novice Pants" pretty quickly.
Which in a way is a shame. By comparison: My character on the NWN1 server has at least four different sets of clothing, just to dress correctly for different social occasions.
Another thing that struck me odd is that for a server dedicated to Roleplay, everybody seemed to be too busy for communication (except for the nice druid lady...). Hell, yeah, as I said, there's always another quest to do.
Looking at the names of some of my fellow elves, I honestly didn't much want to talk to many of them myself. Mis-spelled Native Indian Style nicknames... Lots of Drizzt variants or direct copies from Lord of the Rings characters (in some cases: names of Buildings...).
Busy bees those elves, which is no wonder, since monsters re-spawn at breath-taking speed.
So, did I enjoy my first stay? I'd say, yes. I did.
I so far am not convinced that WoW is a good system for Roleplaying.
But it has enough of a nice fantasy-manga world going on, so I will continue my experiment.
I made the same choices as last time (Roleplaying Server please!), the same German server was suggested... and I started character creation.
I chose a Nightelf as character race and druid as his class. The choices as to hair color, body, hair-style, etc, are... well, sufficient. If you expect the detail of character creation you can have in Oblivion or even NWN2, you will be disappointed. But a multi-user fantasy game of this seize likely has it's limitations.
There was no text-field for a full-description of the character or for his background story.
The in-game graphics are good, though a bit too manga-esque for my personal tastes. Still liked them, except that I associate elves with "fast, nimble" not "Iron Man League bodybuilder". Seriously, that elf of mine has some biceps to show. In other worlds they'd ask for a DNA test, before allowing him into an Elf community.
So, after character creation, I stranded in a real impressive starting zone for elves. Surrounded by a lot of pigs and small sabre-tooth tigers. I started towards the first character with a "!" floating above his head - quest giver.
Sure enough he realized I'm a druid and bid me to re-establish the natural harmony. Birth rates of pigs and sabre-tooth tigers had been too high this year ("You don't say?"), time to slaughter some of them. Actually, in the distance, I could see other would-be hunters already hard at work.
The first nice surprise came, when suddenly the local druid leader approached me and greeted me. We talked a little while - it actually felt like Roleplay!
After she left I accomplished my first few quests, which all consisted of killing a lot of beasts of different kinds and were so easy I was level 5 in absolutely no time. There's always another quest ahead it seems... And with (almost) each quest one does get better equipment, so I had to get rid of my "Novice Robe" and "Novice Pants" pretty quickly.
Which in a way is a shame. By comparison: My character on the NWN1 server has at least four different sets of clothing, just to dress correctly for different social occasions.
Another thing that struck me odd is that for a server dedicated to Roleplay, everybody seemed to be too busy for communication (except for the nice druid lady...). Hell, yeah, as I said, there's always another quest to do.
Looking at the names of some of my fellow elves, I honestly didn't much want to talk to many of them myself. Mis-spelled Native Indian Style nicknames... Lots of Drizzt variants or direct copies from Lord of the Rings characters (in some cases: names of Buildings...).
Busy bees those elves, which is no wonder, since monsters re-spawn at breath-taking speed.
So, did I enjoy my first stay? I'd say, yes. I did.
I so far am not convinced that WoW is a good system for Roleplaying.
But it has enough of a nice fantasy-manga world going on, so I will continue my experiment.
World of Warcraft I: Download
So full of energy I began my experiment with World of Warcraft yesterday.
First I went to the European WoW Website (http://www.wow-europe.com), where I promptly found a link to a Teaser trial version, promising ten freebie days with a limited account.
To start I first had to create a new WoW Account. Since I'm a little paranoid, I actually read through all of their numerous terms of business.
So after agreeing to join the good fight against cheaters by allowing Blizzard to spy on my hardware, software and probably the good lineage of my ancestors, I finally had an account created.
So I waited for something more to happen, like the promised download of the WoW Client to start. I checked and double-checked everywhere on their trial site for the promised download link. There simply is none. (There is a functional link on the less fancy US trial site).
With the help of all-knowing Google, I finally found the link on an external Fansite. And the download orgy began. Three (!) whole Gigs, and then seemingly endless patches from a rather tired Server.
So my first advice to anyone interested in WoW would be: Hunt for that 2 bucks Demo CD they promise. Check your local store or gaming mags. Since I wanted a German version but no longer live in Germany, that option wasn't open to me.
At around midnight the downloads were finally finished and I could start the client.
I was asked what kind of server I would like to play on (Player versus Player, Player vs Environment, with or without contested area, Roleplay or ... Hack 'n Slay I guess). As a hardcore Roleplaying geek, I settled for a Roleplaying server with limited PvP and Blizzard auto-assigned me to one.
I had a quick look at the character creation system then, but even though I already knew what I wanted to play (I read through the whole 131 pages of the manual while waiting for the downloads), I thought it a wiser choice to call it a day and go to bed.
So today I will start out on my voyage to Azeroth. My expectations are mixed: On the one hand I have heard so much about this game, read through all the articles on Wikipedia, watched movies on YouTube... read articles in magazines and even visited a "Widows of Warcraft" forum, where neglected wifes and the occasional husband were discussing their experiences of losing their loved ones to a computer game.
In the past, cool graphics alone could never convince me. I'm still a happy member of a Neverwinter Nights community and all in all I am most fascinated by scripting and building for my own worlds, instead of consuming the world of others.
And with NWN I know most of the people I'm playing with, the server is a true Roleplaying/Persistent World server with no Hack'n'Slay at all.
I am also not a total newbie to Warcraft, I played Warcraft I, II and III. I enjoyed it all of them, but graphic-wise, sometimes they were a bit too much on the comic side for my tastes.
Also, this game costs about 15 Euros a month...
Well, enough said... Let's venture off. See you all later unless I'm eaten by a troll.
First I went to the European WoW Website (http://www.wow-europe.com), where I promptly found a link to a Teaser trial version, promising ten freebie days with a limited account.
To start I first had to create a new WoW Account. Since I'm a little paranoid, I actually read through all of their numerous terms of business.
So after agreeing to join the good fight against cheaters by allowing Blizzard to spy on my hardware, software and probably the good lineage of my ancestors, I finally had an account created.
So I waited for something more to happen, like the promised download of the WoW Client to start. I checked and double-checked everywhere on their trial site for the promised download link. There simply is none. (There is a functional link on the less fancy US trial site).
With the help of all-knowing Google, I finally found the link on an external Fansite. And the download orgy began. Three (!) whole Gigs, and then seemingly endless patches from a rather tired Server.
So my first advice to anyone interested in WoW would be: Hunt for that 2 bucks Demo CD they promise. Check your local store or gaming mags. Since I wanted a German version but no longer live in Germany, that option wasn't open to me.
At around midnight the downloads were finally finished and I could start the client.
I was asked what kind of server I would like to play on (Player versus Player, Player vs Environment, with or without contested area, Roleplay or ... Hack 'n Slay I guess). As a hardcore Roleplaying geek, I settled for a Roleplaying server with limited PvP and Blizzard auto-assigned me to one.
I had a quick look at the character creation system then, but even though I already knew what I wanted to play (I read through the whole 131 pages of the manual while waiting for the downloads), I thought it a wiser choice to call it a day and go to bed.
So today I will start out on my voyage to Azeroth. My expectations are mixed: On the one hand I have heard so much about this game, read through all the articles on Wikipedia, watched movies on YouTube... read articles in magazines and even visited a "Widows of Warcraft" forum, where neglected wifes and the occasional husband were discussing their experiences of losing their loved ones to a computer game.
In the past, cool graphics alone could never convince me. I'm still a happy member of a Neverwinter Nights community and all in all I am most fascinated by scripting and building for my own worlds, instead of consuming the world of others.
And with NWN I know most of the people I'm playing with, the server is a true Roleplaying/Persistent World server with no Hack'n'Slay at all.
I am also not a total newbie to Warcraft, I played Warcraft I, II and III. I enjoyed it all of them, but graphic-wise, sometimes they were a bit too much on the comic side for my tastes.
Also, this game costs about 15 Euros a month...
Well, enough said... Let's venture off. See you all later unless I'm eaten by a troll.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Web Hypes launched...
Web Hypes is meant to be both my private Web Diary as well as a way to track, test and remember Hypes on the Internet.
I have been on and with the Internet since it's very creation as a public network. I have seen great sites come, go (or be bought up by Google)...
Do you remember your most favorite Online game that started as a free community and then suddenly warped itself into a commercial giant - before vanishing into oblivion... Now all that is left is some obscure gaming groups playing their own hacked versions on some hidden LAN.
Or that great free service you enjoyed for months, before suddenly the provider ran out of money and you lost your famous journal, forum or whatever to anyone except Archive.Org?
This will not be the most active of Blogs. I make it purely for my own... and enjoy my real life as much as my net life. But you - stranger - are free to have a look at any time and leave your comments.
Which then I must scrutinize and read carefully before posting, just for the kicks of our local government(s). Which will be one of the first topics, amongst my testings of WoW, Second Life, Blogger Scene and WEB 2.0.
Perhaps you will find a PERL of wisdom from time to time. Anyway, no-one will force you to read through my rambles.
Have fun!
I have been on and with the Internet since it's very creation as a public network. I have seen great sites come, go (or be bought up by Google)...
Do you remember your most favorite Online game that started as a free community and then suddenly warped itself into a commercial giant - before vanishing into oblivion... Now all that is left is some obscure gaming groups playing their own hacked versions on some hidden LAN.
Or that great free service you enjoyed for months, before suddenly the provider ran out of money and you lost your famous journal, forum or whatever to anyone except Archive.Org?
This will not be the most active of Blogs. I make it purely for my own... and enjoy my real life as much as my net life. But you - stranger - are free to have a look at any time and leave your comments.
Which then I must scrutinize and read carefully before posting, just for the kicks of our local government(s). Which will be one of the first topics, amongst my testings of WoW, Second Life, Blogger Scene and WEB 2.0.
Perhaps you will find a PERL of wisdom from time to time. Anyway, no-one will force you to read through my rambles.
Have fun!
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