Nov. 20

I know this class hasn't actually occured yet but I have things to post about Web 3.0 that I can't cover in my presentation. The Semantic Web is all well and good but it's boring Vannevar Bush "OMG so much information!" problem-solving stuff. It's the bones of what is to come and I'm more interested in the meat and the non-Semantic Web things that are also being associated with the term Web 3.0. When I thought about Web 3.0 before the readings for this week popped up online there were two things I had seen that came to mind and I figured I'd post them up here because they're interesting and a little different from what we're covering today.

First up is Kevin Kelly of Wired talking about cloud computing. In many ways I feel what he's talking about in this talk is far more important and cool than some snazzier search functions.



And second is this Aurora concept project by Adaptive Path. They're looking at what using the internet on your desktop, television and mobile device could be like in the future and while the presentation is hilariously bad, the ideas are great.

Aurora (Part 1) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

Aurora (Part 2) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

Aurora (Part 3) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

Aurora (Part 4) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

Nov. 13

More Second Life. Hooray. I really don't know if I have anything left to say or think about Second Life. That virtual campus was kind of nifty and that organic, growing life simulator is a bitchin' idea but I'm not really sure if/how it could work all that well in Second Life. It seems like something that would be better off as a standalone thing, not dependent on the restrictive framework that Second Life provides.

I wish there wasn't so much business talk in this class. It bores me so much. Frankly, I think Second Life would work better without a monetary system at all. Sure, it would be tougher for Linden Labs to support it and make money off it but charging for land and charging for the ability to import textures and models from outside Second Life are such bullshit monetary barriers to entry for content creation that it sours the idea of making anything in SL for me entirely. It's not like people need to be able make money off the things they make to be motivated to make things. Isn't that what deviantART and youtube and Flickr have proven?

Nov. 6

Oh Second Life. You are so very bland to look at and so very boring to me yet so dearly loved by the academic community. I hope someday there will be virtual worlds with vibrant communities and custom content and teaching potential and all that crap that don't look like complete a gross boring pixelated polygonal mess. The only virtual world I can really buy into is one that is beautiful in some way and I can't find much beauty in Second Life. Plus I'm tired of hearing about it. Second Life is like the third year IASC buzzword. It is what the word "interactivity" was in all the first year curriculum.

On the other hand, that Gorean community is hilarious. I really want to read one of those books. I never thought I'd see such an amazing meeting of Fantasy lameness and BDSM wierdness. It's great, I love it.