Posts Tagged ‘Second Life’

Website link on Berkman’s Cyber Island

Thursday, November 16th, 2006

I caught Becca one day, setting up some “boards” on Berkman Island that link us to the course Web site. She had been talking about (and actually working on) creating a robot that would serve as a tour guide for the island, but making a tour guide is apparently not an easy task that requires extremely advanced scripting skills. So she decided that the first thing to do was to let people know what we’re doing at Berkman, and that providing a link to the Web site would do just that.

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Whenever I talk to Becca through chat, I feel very comfortable with her and only sense her as a very intelligent, young woman. However, when I actually hear her speaking, it is an entirely different story. There is something very empowering about her voice that awes you. It is funny because Professor Nesson also has a very empowering voice, only their styles are completely different. He is the mesmerizing, hypnotizing chanter, sending out heavy puffs of his own logic that settles around you like a thick incense. She is as clear and crisp as an early winter morning, her thoughts ringing out like bells.

Gene, Penguin Instructor for CyberOne

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006

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This is Gene, my instructor for Cyber One. In Korea, I would be calling him Prof. Koo, but apparently everyone else addresses him by his first name. It is still something I feel very uncomfortable about.
It was interesting that he chose to make a penguin. The lives of male penguins are not exactly those to be coveted; starving for months sitting over the eggs! Poor things. Gene says he is working on making a mini penguin that will follow him around. I was going to ask him if he were working on making any mini penguins in real life, too, but decided against it. After all, I am a student and I’m sure that would seem extremely rude. Btw, Gene looks nothing like this penguin in RL.

Meeting Adam Reuters

Saturday, October 21st, 2006

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After reading about Reuters, I teleported to the island and was taking some aerial shots when Adam Reuters IMed me.

-I like your dress. I was on the roof and thought I saw a parachute, he said.
-Ah, waiting for Superman now, are we? I said.
-I’m no Clark Kent, he said.
I didn’t tell him that it was Lois Lane, not Clark Kent, that had been waiting on the roof for superman. Besides, Clark Kent was the shame of all journalists. I don’t remember if he ever actually did any reporting. I did appreciate Adam’s great taste in fashion, though. (I was wearing an outfit of my own design, called Paradise)

We sat on the edge of the roof and had a short conversation, sipping Pina Coladas, but only because it wasn’t his official working hours yet. In RL, Adam was on the phone for most of the time, but in SL, at least he was sitting there smiling and sipping his drink while I blabbed on and on about nothing in particular.

The island and the architecture were beautiful, and quite a number of people were there. In the lobby, some people were interviewing a man from Electric Sheep. Outside, there were people lined up to meet Adam. One of them pointed out that his online presence may turn out to be annoying to him, especially since it makes it easier for anyone to meet him. Interesting, on the banners inside for “top news” there was a huge picture of Kim Jong Il. I bet Mr. Kim doesn’t even know his face is hanging in virtual Reuters headquarters.


Adam gave me a newsfeed banner (sort of like Google Toolbar) that you can put in the corner of your screen and click on for updated news, which will take you to the news link. I was impressed that Reuters was so net-savvy as to implement these functions in Second Life. But then again, I don’t really want to have Reuters news hanging in my window all the time. Even in RL I have disabled all the IM-type RSS newsfeed services that most newspapers and broadcasting companies offer.

Design and Copyright in SL

Wednesday, October 11th, 2006

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I was at Dazzle, one of the most famous shops for women’s clothes, and saw a bag that was unquestionably a Louis Vuitton knockoff. Of course, the monogram was entirely different, so I couldn’t say it was counterfeit, but more on the lines of being cute, but it still raised questions in me just where the lines of copyright come in when it comes to cyberspace, especially designing in SL.
Now that I have started making my own clothes, I am undoubtedly inspired by my favorite designers, but as to where I take that inspiration, I’m not sure just what the limit is. The other day, I saw a marvelous Dior couture dress and I saved a photo of the dress because I loved the texture, but then when I thought about it, I suddenly got scared and wondered whether or not I was stealing from John Galliano.
But then, even artists copy from each other and no design is truly original. Why even Gogh copied paintings of Hiroshige.

Sometimes I see some very original artwork, furniture, or architecture in SL and I wonder just how original it is. I’ve seen things that seem very original, like this frog chair, for instance. But if you think about it, certainly copying someone else’s work is not something that is overly difficult, if you have the skills. But then, if copyright becomes so unimportant, I believe I would be left with a sense of futility and be discouraged.
But perhaps that is the way of the world. Sometimes I see that articles published in our paper are rewritten with almost no changed under someone else’s byline for some other publication. But being a media in a small country, there are limits to what you can do about it. In the end, it all comes down to ethics, but not everyone has the same standards or sense of what is ethical and what is not. So if you can’t prove your financial or emotional damages- you basically don’t have a case. It’s just a bitter pill you have to swallow.