Avatars Have Feelings Too!!

Cinderella and I, It and I or how should I refer to my extension, since we are not the same? This is the question I now propose since it has been brought to my attention that I have been assimilating myself too much with my avatar, Cinderella. To what extent can an avatar be considered a person? If avatars are not people, well virtual people, what is Cinderella? A virtual computer thing just shaped like a person?  It's not me, it's a digital copy, just an online representation of my personality, or is it?

Ahhhh! All those many questions are daunting me and just roaming around in my head. I have actually contemplated and reflected on them randomly many times already in my classes. I still cannon figure out the best way to refer to my avatar without always saying "my avatar." I believe that Cinderella is a part of me, an extension of my personality, so I don't see any reason not to say "Cinderella and I" but is that correct way of referring to it/her? I do not believe that I am at the point where my avatar and I have become one, as some people have mentioned to me, because my avatar lives in a completely different world than I do. Possibly on some rare visits Second Life, Cinderella and I have become one, only because I have found myself being immersed in SL as I am sure many of you have. I do still know the difference between reality and virtual reality and i have not blurred that boundary yet. So Cinderella is not me, but then again what is it/she? I created her and control her and tell her what to say, so what does that make it/her?

Has anyone else encountered this problem? I feel like I have gone around in circles trying to figure theses questions out and so now I am asking for help. My question to everyone is..What is your avatar to you and how do you refer to him/her/it? I am so confused!!

Another Virtual World to Explore?

Another account activation + another software download + another avatar created and appearance changed + a ballon ride to Egypt= joining the Heritage Key Virtual World. A few days ago I joined the Heritage Key Virtual world and began to explore. Even though all the control buttons were the same to handle the avatar, congruently there were multiple differences between Heritage Key and Second Life virtual worlds. 

Some differences were Heritage Key avatars were uglier, in my opinion, and the world was much more based for education than Second Life. Heritage Key is a re-created simulation of the excavation of King Tutankhamun's tomb which gives it a historical base and Second Life has places that are educational, but it is not based in education, more for just entertainment. Also there were still very few places to visit and explore in Heritage Key and the world is not fully developed. Joining this new virtual world was another assignment for my English class that we will have to learn how to save the Isis mural that was destroyed when the tomb was first discovered. This is going to be a difficult task and I am going to have to do an abundant amount of research about archeology to even start to tackle this task.

Heritage key could be so much more interactive than it is now by telling us the history of the tomb or what the hieroglyphics on the walls mean. Some parts are really amazing replications of ancient Egypt artifacts, but the world is still under developed. I need to explore much more to see the real benefits of the new Heritage Key virtual world.

BURN IT ALL DOWN!

Time for the final curtain call! As the Burning Life 2009 Festival draws to close this weekend, the final "burning" events have been taking place before "POOF" everything is gone until next year. The temple is ready to be burned down. Cinderella and I were in attendance for the epic burning of the temple and it was an unforgettable visual that is seared into my memory, even though I wasn't technically there, Cinderella was. I have never seen anything like it even in real life! A building burst and was engulfed into flames in a virtual world, and that just makes it all the more amazingly cool.

One minute the temple is visually in front of me and the next it's a fireball of red, yellow, and orange and then reduced to tiny pieces. Everyone was cheering in the wake of the destruction of this beautiful temple, a pack of pyromaniacs, encouraging the fire to keep burning the temple to the ground. It was really a sight to see as certain parts of the temple would burn and then it would switch to another section, and then the whole place would light up again. All avatars that were there were yelling, dancing and having a great time and being rowdy. There was even a avatar that was on fire literally! The sight was just unforgettable!

As the temple was reduced to ash, it symbolizes the end of the Burning Life Festival in Second Life. The week long festival will vanish now until next year when the "burning" starts again and avatars get revved up for another week of astonishing events. Cinderella now has to retire her burning hat and store it in inventory for next year's festival when it can be worn again. Cinderella and I will both miss Burning Life. Goodbye until next year!

A Change in Plans

I am sorry! I am apologizing because as promised in my last blog, I was supposed to write and post pictures about a fashion show in Second Life during the Burning Life 2009 Festival, however I must retract that promise, as the fashion show failed to measure up to my expectations. When I teleported Cinderella, my avatar, to the fashion show I was expecting to witness a event with unique clothing designed by creators of the avatars wearing them. I was sadly disappointed when I only saw one outfit that I considered unique out of six.

This outfit was the only one that I was fascinated by because if its color, design of the skirt and the avatar's accessories. The rest of the outfits were just plain tops and skirts. I was very disappointed in my first Burning Life event experience, but I was not deterred from attending other events. I went to a dance party and a fireworks show and they were much more impressive, but the event I loved the most was because of its "ridiculous incongruity," as the Second Life event listing describes the event.


Bumper Snails was described perfectly in the event listing as "ridiculous," but was a whole lot of fun. It was the best event I have attended in Second Life since joining. Figuring out how to wear the snail costume was tricky, but the event's specific camp builder, the person in charge of the event, helped me and then I got to have some "snail" fun. Once the arena started to fill up with many avatars, the party really got started and the bumping fights began. I have never been so fiercely competitive and addicted in my life! I was bumping and being bumped for over a hour until the event was over.  I was so sad when the event closed. The event was so unique and the snail costume was so life-like except for the objects on the shell..a treasure chest? I have no idea what the objects were, but it didn't matter because I was so concentrated on bumping the other snails. The snails even left a slime trail behind them. I just had a great time!
I did learn a little bit about Second Life culture that users can come up with some very unique ideas. The Bumper Snails event was just ingenious. Competition was also fierce and I learned that avatars can become rowdy, because they did at this event. Bumping avatars was also allowed for this event only, because usually it is impolite to bump another avatar. Manners were suspended for this event. I loved it! If Burning Life is held again next year, I am definetely going to return to the Bumper Snails event. Hope to see some other new faces there next year!!

"Burning Up" My Life

I once heard a song that went "One is the loneliest number," and this song applies directly to my Second Life experience. So far in my adventures I have been exploring alone. All the sites that I visited have been sparse of people and I haven't spoken to many other avatars either. I want this all to change and that is why I have made the huge decision to attend the Burning Life Festival, beginning this weekend in Second Life. The only problem is, I have no idea what Burning Life is!!

The basics that I know about Burning Life are that there are going to be thousands of avatars attending and this fact makes me a little apprehensive, but I still want to break out of my so-called "comfort zone" and join in the festivities. I am pretty positive that I want to go to the Burning Life Fashion Show. I love shopping and buying clothes and I have never been to a fashion show in real life before, so why not in my virtual life and this one promises to be unique. I have no idea what to expect, but I cannot wait until Saturday at 9pm, when the event begins. I really hope that all goes well because there are other fascinating events that are coming up later in the festival that I also want to attend. The second event that I want to attend is the Temple Burn, but I want to see what my first experience is like before I decide to attend this one. Again, I don't know what Temple Burn is about or what is going to happen, but I am "burning" with desire to find out.

I hope to amass a great deal of information about Second Life and virtual worlds from this event. I want to see the millions of avatars that are out there and that Second Life is not so (using a suitcase word) "creepy," meaning that there are actually nice people in SL and not just stalkers, as some people think. I also want to compare virtual worlds events to real life ones. Do people get as rowdy in virtual world as they do at lets say a football game? What is the etiquette? I am going to find out.

Deciding to go to Burning Life is going to be a unique experience because I am usually a "play it safe" type of person, and going to Burning Life, I wouldn't exactly say is not safe, which it might not be, but it definetely is not going to be boring. I am going to see if I can get a friend's avatar to come with me and maybe that will make me less apprehensive. This event can't begin soon enough and I am bubbling with excitement thinking about it. Burning life begins in a day and a half!

So Many Fascinating Places..So Little Time!

Been anywhere exciting lately? I have!! My avatar, Cinderella Caffarelli, visited the scientific wonder that is Genome Island, explored to the depths of the unconscious, and fell upon the mysterious sandy shores of a beach island in Second Life. Cinderella has never has such an exciting adventure, even compared to her first exploration of Second Life, the second time around was even better!

First stop, Genome Island. I learned about this island from my teacher, when I expressed interest in learning about Second Life's scientific capabilities. I wanted to know how Second Life could enhance a student's understanding of topics such a DNA. There were an abundant amount of resources on Genome Island about DNA that Cinderella could interact with. All I had to do was click a button and all the information would just appear for me to read and try to understand. This would have been a great tool to use when I was in biology class studying DNA. Another biology topic that was enhanced by visiting Second Life was about human cells. I was able to refresh my memory about all the parts of a cell and take quizzes about what I remembered. I even got to stand in a cell!

Doesn't it look cool? Each individual part of the cell possessed the capability of being clicked on so a window with links to information about that part would pop up. I received a weeks worth of in-class biology lessons in a few minutes. There is a mitochondria right by Cinderella's head! I am just astonished that before a few weeks ago I never knew such technology even existed because I am no technology guru. Now, I have virtual cell parts floating by my head.

Next stop, a mysterious beach island that was adjacent to Genome Island, upon which Cinderella happened on in her travels around the scientific island. This island wasn't a landmark that my teacher gave me, but then the greatest discoveries are the ones we don't know about and find on our own. Cinderella was able to ride a jet ski there, a surf board, then she hopped in a pink convertible for a spin around the block.

Cinderella went from exploring about DNA to laying out on the beach getting tan in just a few minutes. There was even a virtual school on this island as well, that I actually got to explore and a thought occurred to me that someday in the future children might be virtually attending school online or in a virtual world such as Second Life.

Finally Cinderella's last stop was a dive into the unconscious as explained by Freud. Cinderella took a tour of the Second Life's representation of Sigmund Freud's theory of the three part psyche. Cinderella and I examined how the Id, Ego and Superego played a part in Sigmund theory and how each worked, like what impulses our Id tells us that our Ego and Superego suppress. I studied about Freud in my psychology classes, but never in this interactive way before. I got to experience first hand about each part of the personality as explained by Freud and even participate in some exercises about each, learning about my brain's impulses and desires that never reach my consciousness. This exploration was my favorite because I am very interested in studying psychology and Second Life can actually aid me in doing so.

So another adventure down, still many more to come. I have not even scratched the surface of all the places that I want to visit in Second Life. Cinderella and I are not sure where we want to go next but I know it will be interesting and educational. Until then...goodbye!! Sweet Dreams.....

Does a Virtual World have any Limitations?

    Do virtual worlds have limitations? It seem unlikely to me because the Sistine Chapel, Mexico, the Globe Theater, rockets, cars, people were all able to be created in Second Life. I have seen limited evidence that any idea a user comes up with could not be created for others avatars to enjoy. Avatars fly, teleport, and can actually speak to one another through microphones, if they are built into the computer. They can make land rise and fall and appear with clicks of a button. What cannot be done?


    Only a few years back, technology such as this did not even exist and now look what me and millions of other people are able to enjoy at our fingertips. Education programs, like mine, have been enhanced because of Second Life's seemingly limitless capabilities. My chemistry teacher wants to learn how to hold virtual labs, after I informed him that it was a possibility. Today, my English teacher asked the class to be bodyguards for a conference that is going to take place in Second Life, where trouble is expected to happen. A fight could break out, just like in real- life! How could technology like this get any more advanced? Are places going to become even more realistic, are they going to pop out of the screen? I don't know and I will have to wait to find out what computer scientists invent next for virtual worlds, but right now it seems unbelievable that anything better could be invented.


    I am highly interested in investigating further the limitations that still hold Second Life back from being the "real- world" on a computer. Do these limitations even exist? If so, what are they and how are they being overcome? After completing extensive research, I could then write a paper, mostly likely a long paper, to present my findings and answer my question. It would be one of the most interesting papers I have even written! When can I start?